My ear....My ear!!!!

So, I'm driving down the road with all 3 of my children the other day. I could hardly think as they were so very loudly playing together. Three children laughing and yelling all at the same time in the same little car is sometimes just a lot to handle! BUT, they were having so much fun, I didn't say anything. Well, a few minutes into the good times, Reid yells: "Mommy, look at us!" Course I'm driving and can't turn around. He was persistent that I look. When I was able to stop at a stop light, I turned to see my sweet Ella yanking the boys by the ears. Both of their ears were red, but they were still laughing and Ella was looking at me like "What Mom?!"

So, Reid says, Mommy take a picture. Reid honey, I can't, I'm driving. Pull over Mommy! So, indeed I did. What's a mom to do? She's gotta get this. I figure I should have this as a reminder to the boys that they love their sister to boss them around. And let me tell you, she does. She doesn't take anything from them. Course, they give into her ALL the time. Not good as she thinks that all other children should give into her as well! But you know, those brothers love her so much. They may give into her, but they are protective of her as well.

Pilates Works 4 Life

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you my mom's newest blog! She is a certified Pilates trainer and she's awesome at what she does. She has just completed her first series on the POOCH! If you do not have a pooch, then there will be NO need for you to read her blog...just bypass this post. But for the rest of us, we should really look at this series. We all want that flat tummy for summer...well, pilates is a GREAT way to go.

Simply visit Pilates Works 4 Life.


Mom's a very entertaining writer...but my fav part of this series are her pictures. If you do not have a POOCH, you should at least check out the fun pictures.

Seriously Daddy....

Oh me if I don't have yet another story to tell on Bryan! He seems to just have so much faith in his sweet boys and I'm sure one day Ella. We have him leaving Reid in Ella's baby room (before she was born) with scissors that Reid kindly took to Ella's BRAND NEW CUSTOM BEDDING, we have the black permanent marker to our sofa, and the list goes on.

Well, I was having MAJOR computer issues yesterday and had to go to the Apple store. While I was gone, Bry thought that it would be ok to leave Cole in a room by himself while he went upstairs to get Ella and change her diaper with a pair of scissors. Yes, scissors! And this is what happened!!!





I was like "Ummm, honey?" Bry says: "Cole told me he would only cut the paper!" Seriously? He's 3! Oh me oh my. I told Bry he was lucky I had taken the kids Easter pictures that morning BEFORE the beautiful new hair do! What am I going to do with him?

Boys at play

Reid had a friend over last night to spend the night and play today. Cade is in Kindergarten in Dallas and they are on Spring Break this week...so we were excited when his mommy called to see if he could spend a day here!

I am so thankful that the weather was nice today. The boys (all 3 of them) were literally in the back yard from 8:30 this morning until we left for soccer practice at 5:15. Cole came in for his nap and Cade and Reid did come in for about an hour to have "rest" time. Course, I'm sure you can imagine how rest time went with the 2 stinkers!!!

As you can see in the pictures below, they were covered in dirt/mud. They were collecting worms. They drowned a couple (totally by accident). They were so sad to know that they probably killed the worms. But they got over it fast and found more. They put them in a yellow bucket and put it on the stone ledge in our back yard. They then climbed up on top of Ella's playhouse. You might be wondering..."What are they doing?" Well, I'll tell you. They are calling out bird calls hoping that birds will come to eat the worms. Now, mind you, these are the same boys that were sad they had killed the other ones. Guess, they didn't want the guilty conscience...let someone else do the dirty work!

From playing football, in which Cade was Romo and Reid was Barber, to playing soccer and then fighting/wrestling over who Ella belonged too, they had a fun-filled day. No real fighting went on. Reid was sad to see Cade go. Hopefully we will all sleep well tonight.

Check out those muddy tooshies!!

Sshhhh....we're bird watching

Isn't Cade a doll? I get to do a photoshoot of him soon with his brother!! They will look great on my upcoming photography website!!!

One last story....Reid kept calling Cade...Kate! Cade would say: "My name is CADE with a D!!" Too funny.

Trip to Kansas

I thought I would update everyone on our trip to Kansas. We went to Kansas to watch my niece and nephew play in their basketball tournaments. This will be the last year that we will be able to make the trip most likely as Reid will begin Kindergarten next year and will be in school 5 days a week.

It was a very quick trip which was a bit brutal to be honest. Traveling 6-7 hours in the car with 3 kids is trying and tiring. But we went.

On our way, we stopped off to see my girlfriend Robyn and her family. We had our traditional sushi dinner with them (don't tell my mother in law...she thinks we will all die eating sushi!). The next day, Bry took the boys to the first of the tournaments and Rob and I (along with Ella) carried out our tradition of SHOPPING! Rob spoiled me for my birthday. We tend to celebrate the entire month of March. We treated ourselves to a wonderful birthday lunch and had a great time.

Thursday night, while Rob got to go to the Carrie Underwood/Keith Urban concert, I was privileged to go to the basketball games with all 3 kiddos! Ok, so I was a bit jealous that she got to see Carrie. I love Carrie! Seriously, can you believe that her husband Mike didn't give me his ticket? Who cares how much they cost! Where's the man's priorities! ;-)

I want to share a story that happened on Friday at the tournaments. There is a couple that was there who adopt down syndrome children. I think that it is awesome that they have a heart for these sweet children. One of their little boys was not much older than Ella and let me tell you, they had a ball playing together. They chased each other and just giggled. It was precious.

After a little while, Reid came over to me with a bit of a confused look on his face. He said: "Mommy, that little boy keeps looking at me funny. Why is he doing that?" My sweet Reid. It was a great teaching opportunity for me to explain to him about the little boy having DS and that he wasn't looking at him funny. I tried to explain how God made him very special, he was just different. I told Reid that we are called to love everyone we encounter no matter the differences. I wasn't sure if I made any sense to my sweet Reid, but I will tell you after that, Reid ran over and began playing with him and became a bit protective of him as well. My heart melted at the sensitive heart of Reid. He truly has compassion that I know is a God-given gift. Another priceless moment as a mom!

It honestly wasn't that bad with the kids at the games. They played in the bleachers with some toys that my sister in law brought and for the most part was content. At the game on Friday night, Ella played with her new little friend. They were so sweet together.

I was also able to see my cousin Becki. She lives about 30-40 minutes from where we were, so she came up one night and we got to chat like old times! Not that we are getting old, mind you! ;-) I'll just keep telling myself that!!!

I know photography group...no picture! I didn't even take the camera. Who would have thought that I could have taken any pictures at a game while trying to contain 3 children? And truly, I wouldn't have been able to. Bad...Bad...Bad...I know!

One reason I love being a mom....

There are many reasons that I really love being a mom and feel very blessed each and every day. Even on the hardest days or the worst days with my children, I still feel blessed to be called mom. This is just one of the greatest gifts God ever gave.

I was cleaning the upstairs the other day and the kids were in Ella's room playing. When I walked in, Ella was sitting in Reid's lap and he was reading her one of her books. When Reid finished the book, Ella got up and went over and sat in Cole's lap for him to read his book to her as well. She went back and forth several times. Seemed like the perfect picture moment to me.

Ella loves to be read too. I generally read to her every day, but to see her brothers reading to her was precious. She sat there contently while they read.

Moments like this are ones that I don't want to forget as they remind me why I love being a mom. I just wanted to squeeze them all.

Let it Snow....Let it Snow....Let it Snow....

It's hard to believe that it has been snowing this week in Texas, while we were in Kansas. What's funny is that in Kansas, it was anywhere from 20 degrees to 35 degrees and here in Texas, when we arrived home, it was around 50 degrees! And there was no snow in Kansas. Such irony, isn't it?

Well, before we left for our quick trip, the kids and I did some playing in the snow and had a little snow ball fight! It was a blast feeling like a kid again myself. The boys couldn't stop laughing as they would team up against Mommy and throw as much snow as their little hands could possibly hold.

The boys wanted to know if this meant it was time to put up the Christmas tree again and if Santa was coming soon! No boys, it just snows in Texas in March!!! They loved it all the same.

Uncle Ray

I wanted to share that my Grandma's brother passed away this morning. It's a very sobering moment as this will be my Grandma's last living relative for her immediate family. She has outlived them all. I would ask that you please pray for her today as mom tells her the news. She is going to be heartbroke and will want to attend the funeral. He lived in NC, so we are not sure if Mom will be able to make the trip with her. We'll see.

Grandparents Day

Since Reid was having his picture taken with Gran, Cole and Ella wanted to do the same. How could Gran resist?

Reid had Grandparents day at school yesterday. This meant that his not so old Gran (Grandma) got to come to school with him. He was really excited to spend the day with just Gran. The morning started at school with him going to his class to prepare for the day, while Gran enjoyed coffee and breakfast down the hall. Then the Grandparents came in and the kids gave them sweet projects that they made for them. One was a laminated project with the child's picture on it with a poem about Grandchildren. Then Gran went to chapel with him and the kids performed several songs for the grandparents.

When the busy day was done, Gran took Reid to lunch to California Pizza (Reid's favorite place to eat). She spoiled him with his favorite dish as well as dessert. Then she took him to Barnes and Nobles and bought all 3 of the kids a book.

What a fun day for Reid. He really loved having Gran all to himself for the day. He was so happy when he got home and is still talking about all the fun he had.

I love this tradition at Reid's school. It definitely makes great memories for both the children as well as the Grandparents.