Party Time!

Last weekend Maddie and Brennan had their 'joint' birthday party with friends.  We did the same thing last year, and while they were opposed to the idea before last years party, afterwards they enjoyed it so much they asked if we could do it the same way this time!  We happily agreed.

This year's theme was easy to decide on since the fall has been filled with a growing love for cheerleading and football.  The perfect combo for their party!  And, as an added blessing, some of the cheerleaders and football players from the kids' school agreed to come to the party and teach cheers and throw the football around.  It was truly sweet to see the big kids being such amazing role models for the little ones.   One of the mom's told me she heard a kindergartner say to one of football players, "Big kids, you are going down!"  CUTE!  And, the 5 and 6 year old boys really believe that they beat the big guys at football!  Ahh...the joys of childhood. (sorry about the quality of some of the pictures - there was something on my camera lens.)

stopping to smell the roses...sort of

My sweet, sweet Macy!  She is at the age where she is interested in everything.  She has a huge imagination and keeps us entertained all day.  For the last few weeks at the gym she has taken a special interest in the skeleton in one of the trainer's offices.  She affectionately named him 'Mr. Bones' and she insists that we pay him a visit each day.  One day as we were waving to him, she asked if she could go in and look at him close up.  The trainer gave her the ok, so she marched right in, looked at him for a minute, grabbed his hand, looked at me and said, "Oh, Mommy isn't he bootiful (beautiful)?"  Then, the very next day, she walked right up to Mr. Bones, grabbed both of his hands and said, "Mr. Bones, you are so bootiful.  Would you like to dance with me? "...and they danced. :)

A date with Papa!

My parents stayed with the kids for two nights last week, and the kids enjoyed a little spoiling!  Each of them got to go on a date with grandpa-which is a much loved tradition.  One time Brennan told me that Papa loved McDonald's.  When I asked him what made him think that he told me that every time Papa comes to town he just has to go there with Brennan! Hehe.  Well, on this trip Macy got to take her first date with Papa- to Chick-fil-a.  She loved it.  Although, my sneaky little one asked Papa to buy her an ice cream cone - even though she knows she can't eat dairy...luckily Papa didn't get tricked into that one!

Halloween

We had a fun and low key Halloween this year! I have never been in a place like Austin when it comes to Halloween. People go all out- I think as many people here decorate their houses for Halloween as they do for Christmas. Yes, some of it is creepy, but for the most part, it is a really fun place to trick or treat. Tons of families sit out on their driveways to hand out candy and there are so many people out with their kids- it actually gives a real sense of community. This year we went with our friends the Niemann's and their two kids.   Brennan went as a football player, Macy was a princess, and Maddie was a cheerleader.

All the kids ready to go...

All tired out after a hard night's work!

OOPS!

As I was writing about my precious boy's bday, I realized that I never posted about my sweet Macy's birthday in September.  Macy turned 3 on September 4th.  She is a little one with a huge personality!  She has a flair for the dramatic and loves to act out the scene in Cinderella where the step sisters rip her dress and she has a million dramatic/ humorous facial expressions to go along with her dramatic scenes.  She still hates to sleep and will stay up late in her room reading and singing!  She is the artist of the family, and will literally spend hours coloring and drawing.  Since the first time we put a pencil in her hand she has had a knack for art and amazes me with her fine motor skills.  She can write her name, and 'mommy' and colors beautiful pictures.  She loves to go to the mall and point out 'her' store (Macy's).  Here are a few pictures from her birthday...

BIRTHDAY TIME!

We just celebrated Brennan's 6th birthday yesterday and I am having a hard time believing that he is 6!  What a joy he is!  The list of wonderful things about Brennan goes on and on...his huge heart, his optimistic attitude, his inquisitive mind, his love for God's creation.  We ae truly blessed with Brennan!  He makes each day more wonderful!!!
Brennan's birthday started with an early soccer game - (he scored a goal!), brunch with his team after the game (at the playground- which to him seamed like a bday party, even though it was just an end of the season party), and an afternoon of playing football and eating cake.  It was a super day!

New Ideas??

So, I found this really great idea on Pinterest for organizing all of the girls headbands.  You take an old oatmeal container and cover it to make it cute and voila, you have the perfect place to store all of your headbands.  So, as soon as our oatmeal was gone, the old container became our new headband holder.  I did not aspire for mine to be super cute like the one on pinterest, I just aspired for all of the headbands to be off the floor!!  I did cover mine with cute paper...but the truth be told, it was just a plain oatmeal container for a while before I got around to putting a little paper on it.  I was quite proud of this new little organization piece...but then, Brennan came up with a new way to store all of the headbands.  And now...I am just not sure which to use!

First Day of School!

Brennan with his teacher Mrs. Bunch

Waking up has been the hardest part of the whole deal!!!

Maddie with her teacher Mrs. Anderson.

Well, the summer came and went...went too fast...but it was wonderful!  And so, we move to the first week of school.  Emotional for me as always.  I love to have all of the kids home, but it is also wonderful to see them confident to walk into new situations.  Maddie started second grade (so hard for me to believe) and my little man, Brennan, is now a kindergartner!  So, so hard to leave those babies, but I love both of their teachers and they have had an excellent first few days.  It is fun to have them at one school- they are finding a shared identity in it...and this week is has been cute to see them bond over 'school stuff'.  And, Macy is relishing in having all of the attention at home, although she does occasionally ask if we can go get Bren and Maddie.

Sweet Memories

We just got back to Austin after three weeks on the road.  It is great to be back home, but we had such a wonderful time connecting with ministry partners/friends I am sad to see the summer end.  We had some really special times with the kids.  It is great to expose them to Montana and all the things Mike did as a kid. We hiked, fished, slid down tons of water slides, picked huckleberries, swam in ice cold lakes, picked gallons of cherries, ate gallons of cherries, picked raspberries, made jelly, went to Mike's high school reunions, and spent time with people we dearly love.

Our first stop was in Lubbock with our dear friends the McAdens.  The kids had so much fun playing they could have stayed there the entire time!

After a 12 hour day of driving, when the entire family was about to meltdown, we hit traffic about 10 minutes from our hotel.  But before everyone fell apart, we looked out the window and saw this amazing double rainbow!  It was so fun to talk about God and his promises- it changed the mood in the car and we finished up the day on a great note!

My heart was filled up in Colorado spending lots of time with my dear friend Megan.  It was fun to see our kids play together and to have a chance to catch up on life face to face.

This is the amazing cabin we were blessed to stay in while in Montana.  Mike's friend Steve built it!  No phone, no TV, no Internet...it was heaven!  Such a special time as a family. It has become a place where our family has been able to make so many wonderful memories.

Beautiful MacDonald lake in Glacier National Park.

Brennan was in his element.  The little boy in him just came alive on this trip.  He is like his daddy...he has a love for the outdoors and adventure. 

We took the ski lift up Big Mountain in Whitefish and then hiked down.  It was so beautiful.

The weather was amazing, and the flowers were absolutely breathtaking.  I couldn't get enough of them.

Picking huckleberries.

Thankfully, this is the only bear we ran into this summer.

Mike made us huckleberry pancakes every morning!

Picking (and eating) Flathead Lake cherries.

A chilly swim in Flathead lake after picking cherries.

Spending time with wonderful friends while at Mike's reunion. 

Glimpses of summer

Me and my sweet girl!

Maddie's teacher taught her how to make paper hats and she came home and made tons of them for all of her little stuffed friends!  So cute!

Macy enjoying a meal with her daddy and Uncle Jack.

Macy moved into her 'big girl' bed...and I cried- they are just getting big too fast!!!!  But...it is fun o see her so excited- and she has actually stayed in bed- truly amazing!!

4th of July

Here is my best attempt at catching some of the 4th of July fun! We celebrated with our wonderfule French neighbors at the neighborhood parade!

A daily dose of sweetness!

We've had a bumpy week with Brennan.   Lots of behavior problems, lots of discipline.  Not fun.  BUT, right when you feel at the end of yourself, God interjects a sweet moment that fills your heart and reminds you that it is all worth it (not that you really doubted it, but it is nice to get a little 'hug' from Jesus!) 
Brennan: Mom, I just like to spend time with you.
Me: And I love to spend time with you too.
Brennan: Sometimes I wish I could be with you all the time, every day.  Just you and me and daddy everyday.  Sometimes I get sad to go to school or to church because I am just happy to be with you.
Me: Sometimes I am sad when you go too, because I love it when you are here with me.  But, I am also happy because you are learning and making friends.  And I know you love your  friends and they make you smile.
Brennan: Yeah,  I am glad about that too.  But you and me...we are like Q and U...we just go together. 

Gosh- I love that kid!  Thank you Jesus for our precious boy!!

Brennan's FIRST soccer game!!

It's soccer time!  Brennan had his first game today, and he did a great job!  His team is called 'Blast' and he's lucky enough to have one of the best coaches in the league...his dad!

The snow day

So exciting!

Brennan, "Mom, I'm frozen stiff!"

Yummy!

I don't know why Macy added the safety goggles...but hey, why not!

Well, we got our one snow day for the year!  The kids got to stay home and play, play, play.  There wasn't quite as much snow as last year, not enough for a snow man, but enough for a little snow ball fight.  In the morning we got the kids all bundled up and let them play in the snow on the deck while we sat nice and toasty warm...in the hot tub! :) (I think that is only the 3rd time I have been in that thing in the 3 years we have been here!) Ahhh...that was nice.  After the fun of the 1/8" of snow wore off (20 minutes) we spent the rest of the day making cookies and Valentines.  We had a new cookie making adventure.  I got all of the ingredients for Maddie to make regular chocolate chip cookies and also everything we needed for Brennan to make dairy and soy free chocolate chip cookies!  It was more of a success than I ever imagined.  They worked side by side...doing the same steps, but no fighting over who gets to put the scoop of flour in!  It was great- and the dairy/soy cookies were...amazing!  So much so that I had to pop them in the freezer asap!
The only bad part of the day...by late afternoon I was out of ideas and I was letting Brennan play with my camera...I think he took about 20 videos of his toes.  Then, a few days later when I went to Maddie's school to video the first graders reciting 1 Corinthians 13 to the entire school...I discovered my camera battery was dead.  So sad.  Maybe I can find someone who videoed it and get a copy- it was so precious, I cried!