The Gath Family

Out with the old, In with the new!

2011-12-31T14:33:00.000-08:00

So the last time I blogged was May. I definitely haven't kept up with that, and I definitely haven't kept up with the crafting part of the blog I said I was going to do. I'm catching this up and getting on with thew new, okay? Okay. So, 2011 started off to be a rough year for us, but it did get better. It all started out with Mike's mom being diagnosed with cancer just before the New Year, then in January my dad had a heart attack. In February we had to put our dog Chloe to sleep after she had a slipped disc, surgery, and ended up being paralyzed in the back legs. We would have had to make her a wheelchair dog and express her bladder everyday. Along with that she was having stomach issues and not able to keep anything down. She was 12 and we opted to have her put down, feeling it was the best decision. We still miss her a ton!
During all of that I had a gum graft done on one side of my mouth and had stitches for about 4 weeks. It was so uncomfortable to eat! Mike ran his first every marathon in February and did awesome! He will be running again this coming February as well. We continued on with spring t-ball and had fun with that.
We enjoyed Easter with friends and family.
My hydrangeas were in full bloom again this year. I do not have a green thumb, but for some reason these come back bigger and better every year.
In May Bryson graduated preschool. He has been at that school since he was 18 months old! Such a big day!
Then we headed into the summer time. We took a small family trip to Hyatt Wild Oaks in San Antonio, and loved that getaway. We ate good, slept good and played hard.
We watched some baby birds hatch from a nest on our back porch, watched them being fed for weeks, and then actually saw their first flight out of the nest, all 4 of them. It was the sweetest thing!
Finley started her first dance classes, and has fallen in love with that.
We spent some time at the lake at Mimi and Poppi's house.
Bryson lost his first tooth just before heading to kindergarten.
In August Bryson and Finley were in my cousin Amber's wedding as a flower girl and ring bearer along with cousin Eisley.
Shortly after, Bryson started kindergarten. He has loved it and has a great teacher! We love her!!! Over the first few weeks of school he made some new friends in class and the teacher says they are all so cute she says she envisions them being college roommates because they are so tight. :) He took her some of her favorite cookies to start the year off right.
Soon after he started school, Finley started back at preschool 3 days a week, and we love her teacher too! Bryson had Ms. Marie when he was at this preschool too :)
We then celebrated Bryson's 6th birthday at the jumpy castles with a baseball theme.
He then lost a second tooth soon after.
In the fall Bryson started playing coach pitch baseball. He has done great, and was loving it!! We are looking forward to picking it back up in the spring after we have a winter basketball season.
For Halloween this year Finley wanted to be Minnie Mouse, and made a darn cute one! Bryson had gotten a Rangers jersey for his birthday from his Mimi and Poppi and wanted to be a Rangers baseball player for Halloween.
In October Bryson and his class enjoyed their first field trip to Crowe's Nest Farm, a place I went to on a field trip when I was little too :)
In early December we celebrated Finley's 4th birthday with a Rainbow Art Party at home. They painted, played and had rainbow cupcakes that Finley and I made. She had a blast, and the cupcakes were a hit!
In December, right before Christmas we were able to surprise the kids with a trip to DisneyWorld that we had known about for a while. They were so excited!! We had a great time!

At the airport we ran into Santa before boarding our plane.
We explored our hotel grounds when we got there that evening.
More around the hotel...
We rode some rides, watched some shows.
We had tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade, and that was lots of fun!
The kids at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique with a princes makeover and knight (with pirate face-separate thing)
We met with lots of characters, but here are just a few of our favorites.
Hoping 2012 brings much more happiness and fun for us all!

Mama Bird

2011-05-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

At the end of April we noticed a couple of birds building a nest on our back porch. We have curtains up along the inside of the porch roof and they have built a nest in the very corner on top of the post near the curtains. They worked really hard on the nest. I did some research and they are a couple of house finch birds. They are so cute. The mama is very petite and the daddy has a red chest and head. They built and built, until one day I saw mama start sitting on the nest 24/7. She sat like that for about a week and a half, rarely ever leaving the nest. When she did, she would be right back, but we did get a chance to sneak up and take a few pictures of the nest to see what might be in there. We were excited to see 4 little blue speckled eggs up in the nest. They just hatched sometime over the last day or two and we took another picture while the mama bird was away and there are little furry chicks in there. I can't tell how many made it (hopefully all 4 of them), but I am so excited. I just want to help mama bird out, but I know she probably wouldn't appreciate it. Hmpffff. Little does she know it might be nice... or, maybe she's done this a time or two. I hope they come back again next year!

I hope to get some more pictures of the birds at some point, but don't want to upset anyone up in the nest, so I'll see what I can do over time. From what I read the babies should be there for around 2 weeks. We've already seen the mama and daddy bird appear a few times to feed the little furballs. Some of these are hard to really tell, but it was hard to get the camera to focus when we couldn't really see what was up there.

Around the same time of all of this happening, Finley had made a little mama chick and 2 baby chicks in her class at school. With it just having been Easter Bryson and Finley found some matching empty Easter eggs and put the chicks in those and made their own nest out of a blanket. It was cute, so I had to take a few pictures ;) I love my little chickadees!

The Good Part of February

2011-05-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

My husband. My idol. This post is long overdue. My husband is unique. He is funny, caring, and responsible. He balances me out on that last part. I'm responsible, yes, but you know what I mean... Anyway, when he puts his mind to something he sticks with it. He is THE most reliable person I have in my life. I love him for that! He decided that he was ready to run a marathon this year. He signed up, started training and never looked back. He stayed on track and did so well mentally and physically. He ran his first marathon (first race more than a 5K for that matter) and finished proudly and well deserving. I never doubted him, but he just amazes me. Here are some pictures from that race day...

We Are Exploding Hearts Around Here

2011-02-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

We stayed in a lot last week with the colder weather and snowy days. I just didn't feel like getting out! We got busy painting and coloring hearts, and I made a random banner for the fireplace with the painted ones, and then taped the colored ones to the pantry door. I promise I'm not really THAT into Valentine's Day, I just happened to have some extra time on my hands this year. I think it has something to do with my kids getting a bit older :)

As many of you know, my dad stayed with us for a few weeks after being released from the hospital after having a heart attack. He actually had to go back into the hospital for a few more days after being here with us for about a week because of a rapid heart rate, but now that is all stabilized and he went back home from our house this past Saturday. We already miss having him around here, but so glad that he is feeling better and getting back in the groove of things. Anyway, we was here with us when we painted the hearts so he painted one as well. It was a fun activity for us and the kids.

Snow Day

2011-02-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a snow day here in Austin, and the kids loved playing in it. We got around an inch, which I'm sure is really funny to the northerners, but it's a lot around these parts and I love that we had 70 degree weather a few days later :)

I love the way the sky coloring is completely different in the following 2 pictures. These were taken at the same time that day, just one view looking down the street one way, and then the other way.

Valentine's Wreath

2011-01-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

A month or so ago I found a wreath online that I wanted to make and have out in time for Valentine's Day. I cannot find it for the life of me to link up the tutorial, so this is my version.

Be warned, this took me some time to do each step, but I was able to do it in waves. I talked on the phone while I traced the circles, I watched t.v. while I cut out the circles late one night, and I also watched more trash t.v. while I pinned the ruffles on. It requires some patience, but worth it for a cute Valentine's decoration.

In total this wreath cost me around $11 to make after buying everything at Hobby Lobby at either 30% or 50% off.

These are the supplies you will need. A foam heart wreath form, scissors, sewing pins (preferably small ones that will hide easily), and 9x12 inch felt pieces in the color of your choice (I used 16 pieces in total). You will also need a ribbon for hanging the wreath, but I don't have that pictured here.

You will also need to make a circle form to trace and cut out the felt with. I used part of a Swiffer Sweeper box that I had just emptied and traced a Carnation evaporated milk can for the size I wanted.
I traced as many of the circle forms on the felt piece that I could and was able to fit in 12 per page.
After tracing the circles, I cut them out. Try to cut inside the pen line so that it is not seen when ruffled up for the wreath.

Take a circle and fold in half, then in half again, and put the pin through the ruffle near the folded edge. You then stick it down into the foam wreath form and just keep folding and pinning into the wreath. You can play with it to make it look the way you want.

After all of the ruffles are pinned in, cut a piece of ribbon the length that you want to hang the wreath from, and pin to the back of the heart. I did not make ruffles on the back side of the heart so that it would lie flat against the front door, but you could do the whole thing if you wanted to take the time for it.
Here is the finished product. I love it!! Happy Valentine's Day!

Changes for the blog in 2011

2011-01-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

I have always been a crafty person. I love to make new things and be creative. I have decided that this year I am going to start adding to the blog by showing project tutorials and new crafting ideas as well as any good recipes or cooking ideas I might be trying out. I can't say my posting will be more frequently, but it just might :) I will still post family pictures and stuff on the blog as well though, so you will see more of what I have going on along with us as a family still. I will be putting up a tutorial shortly for a Valentine's wreath I made for the front door.

State Park Fun

2011-01-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

My dad gave us a years pass for entry to the state parks for Christmas. We used it for the first time a few weeks ago and on a Saturday headed to Bastrop State Park. We cooked out, made smores, and went hiking. It was a beautiful day outside! We will definitely be doing more of that this year with our state park pass.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T22:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

I didn't capture too many pictures over the holiday except when we were with my family and the kids were busy occupying each other. We had a great holiday and got to see both of our families, and the kids enjoyed their new gifts from Santa!

1...2...3...JUMP!

Waking up Christmas morning at home.

Miss Finley is always playing "hair shop" with my hair. She usually uses Bryson's tool set to pretend to cut and dry my hair, but now she has her own hair styling kit to play with. She was so excited!!

Both of the kids got scooters from Santa, and Bryson also got a Lego Batman Wii game. Finley also got a big girl car seat that she was asking for like Bryson's, but pink. She still can't use it yet, but it sits in the living room and she likes to sit and read in it until she gets bigger to use in the car.
We had a great Christmas, and hope you and yours did as well! :)

Pre-Holiday Gingerbread House

2011-01-01T21:12:00.001-08:00

This year we decorated a gingerbread house with the candies the kit came with. The kids loved it, and it turned out super cute!

Elgin Tree Farm

2010-12-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

We headed out to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm again this year to get our tree. The day we went out there it was really cold and windy. We went with my sister and her family, and the kids had a great time together exploring. They were excited when we got out of the car and got all bundled up!
On the hay ride out to search for our tree we had some silly girls with us!
We searched and searched for the perfect trees to cut down and take home!

We hauled them back up front on the tractor and hay ride.And we decorated it at home. We ended up with a pretty good shaped tree this year. It is such a fun experience!!

Happy 3rd Finley!

2010-12-19T13:44:00.000-08:00

On December 5th our little Finley turned 3 years old!!! Hard to believe, but she acts like she's 3 and then some :)

The day before her birthday we had a party for her with some of her little friends from school. She wanted to have her party at Chuck E Cheese and it was a great time! They took care of everything for us there, and I was able to enjoy the little things and was able to make her this little outfit to go with her Fancy Nancy party theme.

Here are some pictures from the party.

She wasn't too sure about Chuck E. Cheese when he came out...
she warmed up a bit...

Until he had to put her birthday crown on her, and she wasn't so sure again :)
Bryson was not afraid of him at all!

She blew out her candles like a champ, but the cake didn't look so hot. I made the purse cake to go with her Fancy Nancy theme, but the icing slid down the sides overnight, so I just spread it back up and it looked really messy.
Here are the before pictures.

The birthday kid is allowed to go into the ticket machine and try to collect as many tickets as you can, but Finley was afraid of doing it. Bryson really wanted to, but didn't want to do it alone so Mike went with him. :)

The next few days were spent dressed up in her fancy clothes and accessories. She just wouldn't take it off! She is definitely a girly girl!
That next Monday at school, I brought cookies for her to share with her friends, and they sang Happy Birthday to her. She was so proud, and came home with this little hat her teacher made her. She loved her birthday this year!!

Family pictures 2010

2010-12-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

Last month we went out with my sister to take some family pictures of us. She has taken a photography class and has a good camera that she likes to play around with. She is much better than she'll give herself credit for. We were VERY happy with the pictures she captured of us. Here are a few of them :)

This one was our favorite, and made our Christmas card!
Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Kids first UT football game

2010-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we took the kids to their first UT football game after finding some cheap tickets, and they had a blast! On the way in we saw the Budweiser horses and stopped to look.

Respect for the National Anthem...
I made Mike put up his horns for every touchdown and he was a good sport.....for an Aggie. I even saw him clapping along with the crowd a few times ;)

Fall t-ball 2010

2010-11-21T14:38:00.001-08:00

T-ball season has come to an end for the year, and Bryson had the best time this time around. He really got into it more and more and we spent most everyday in the backyard practicing hitting and throwing and catching. I think Mike really enjoyed coaching as well for his first time, and think he did a great job! He asked if he could play basketball next and so we are starting that in January, and Mike will be co-coaching with a friend of ours. We are excited to try out something new :) Here are some pictures from the last few games and receiving trophy at our t-ball team party.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-21T14:32:00.001-08:00

In preparation for Halloween we carved pumpkins with the kids the week of Halloween, and they really liked it this year.

We had a Wolverine and a Strawberry Shortcake this year. They picked out their own costumes and could not have been happier. :)

Austin Steam Train

2010-09-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today was Austin Museum Day where some of the local museums were free and open to the public, so we chose to go to the Austin Steam Train and let the kids walk around and in the old train cars. They loved it!

If you look real closely in this one you'll see Bryson on the left and Finley on the right in the top windows.

Fun at Hula Hut

2010-09-18T22:19:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to Hula Hut for lunch today and I just happened to have the camera with me, so I snapped a few. We had fun!

First day back at Preschool

2010-09-18T22:13:00.001-07:00

Last week the kids started back at preschool 3 days a week. They love it, and so do I!!

Evening football

2010-09-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

The kids want to go outside almost every night and chase after footballs, so I sat out and snapped away last week.

Fun with the camera

2010-09-18T21:25:00.001-07:00

Our latest obsession has been the fishbowl effect on our new camera. We can't stop laughing. Every single one comes out different...

And this one is just cute, even with the pudding :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Bryson!

2010-09-08T09:31:00.001-07:00

Every year since Bryson was born I have attempted to take a picture on the morning of his birthday, first thing in the morning, not even of good quality. I am positive I took one last year on birthday #4, but cannot find it anywhere!! Here are the others though, up until yesterday, his 5th birthday. Can't believe he is 5 now. It's all going way to fast!

Interviews with a 2 and 4-year-old

2010-09-07T20:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I interviewed Bryson and Finley to see what answers they would give me on a few topics. There was no coaching involved. Finley is pretty quiet though, and I repeated everything to make sure you guys out there could understand. Here is what they said...

First necklace

2010-09-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Finley has been working on potty training again as the first time around was a fail. She's been doing pretty good this time, but I'm not calling it done at this point. Anyway, one of her rewards was a new necklace, and she got to go pick one out herself. This is the first necklace that she has had of her own that wasn't a hand-me-down from some of mine when I was little. She is super proud of it, and loves to wear it everyday. Cute little cupcake.

Port Aransas 2010 Vacation

2010-08-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

This past week we drove to Port Aransas for a week long family vacation just like we did last year, with my sister and her family, and my mom also. We had a really good time! We relaxed and played on the beach, went to the Corpus Christi State Aquarium, swam, swam, and swam some more. The kids had a blast hanging out 24 hours a day with their cousins, Eisley and Everett. I had a ton of pictures from the trip, so I combined most in a video. Enjoy!

Summertime!

2010-08-11T20:57:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know. It's been a few months. Again. We haven't been taking many pictures because our camera has been broken, so I have very few of my own over the past few months. Some of these were taken by others. However, we just ordered a new camera and will be receiving it this week just in time for our beach vacation next week. In the meantime, here is what we've been up to so far this summer. Enjoy!

Carrot Crop

2010-04-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here is our carrot crop that we planted in the fall (still experimenting), and they just grew big enough to pick. We picked them last night and they are soooooo good!! We've already finished them off today! We are getting ready to plant some more seeds to hopefully have more by the summer.

Bluebonnets

2010-04-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I took the kids to the dentist (good reports!) and then went and ran some errands. We decided to stop off and take some pictures in the bluebonnets. I didn't really have them dressed for pictures, but I still think they are adorable as ever. :) I couldn't really see their faces in the camera because it was so bright out, and there is only one of them with both kids not squinting, but these are the ones we got.Looking back at the ducks in the pond that swam by.

Round Rock Express

2010-04-21T12:36:00.001-07:00

On Monday night the boys went to the Round Rock Express game together while Finley and I stayed home and I gave her a pedi. It was fun all around. These pictures are from the Express game.

First ball Bryson caught!
He ended up with 3 balls at the end of the night!
It was a very late game. Mike sent a text around 10:30 saying it was only the 11th inning and Bryson wanted to stay. He didn't have school the next day, so we let him, and they didn't get home until midnight!! I can't believe he was able to stay up that late! He slept in the next morning, and when I went in to wake him up I found him and Chloe cuddling. :)

T-Ball and Spelunking

2010-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Bryson had a t-ball game and it was also area cave day. We have a cave right here in our own neighborhood, so that is how we knew about it. It is only open 2 times a year. Those 2 times a year they also open a few others in the area that you can climb down in and tour. After Bryson's game Papa came over to head to the cave in our neighborhood to see it, and we decided to go from there and explore some others that were open.

Here is a picture from the game of the Rattlers team.

Here are a few pictures from the first cave that is in our neighborhood. It was by far the cleanest and most interesting inside.
The second cave was by far the muddiest, but had the most to explore further down. There were also some tiny bats inside this one.

The last one took a long walk to get to. At first there was a pathway for hiking and then it turned into a long sidewalk that lead to an old wooden cabin. We walked along a stream the whole way. We kept hiking for a while after that to get to the cave that was more of a huge rock overhang. It was so pretty out there though, and was probably our favorite to explore!

Finley loved picking flowers along the way.

We also saw so many flowers out there, and one of the coolest groups of flowers I've ever seen before! They were star-shaped, some open, some not. We had the BEST time!!! Can't wait to do it again :)

T-ball Has Begun Again

2010-04-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

We are so excited that t-ball season has started up again. Bryson was really looking forward to it this time around, more so than last time. He has been really into sports lately and waits for the practice and game days to come around. He is #8 this season, and their team is called the Rattlers.

Finley likes it too! :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

This year, the day before Easter we went down to my sister's house and dyed eggs with the kids and they also hunted Easter eggs while we were there. Nick's family was there as well, and we all had a great time!

My sister, Dad and I walked the kids down to the park to take some pictures while the 'Easter Bunny' made his appearance to hide eggs back at the house. My sister took these pictures of the kids while we were down there.
Back to the house and the hunting began...
And the chocolate began as well...
Then Uncle Nick played with some of the kids toys...
We also captured some family pictures...
We felt baby Everett kicking around in there. He should be arriving by the end of this week!! :) We are so excited!

Fun with the Dunmires

2010-04-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

Last month Mike and Bryson headed to New Braunfels to hang out with the Dunmire boys. They did all sorts of boy things and Bryson and Wyatt had a great time playing together the whole weekend. They are really looking forward to the next time already!

Texas Stars Hockey Game

2010-04-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Fun for the family :)

Finley loved the cheerleaders!!

Snow Day - February 2010

2010-04-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

In late February when we had a snow day, the kids and I were at home and so we went out and played in the snow for a while, and then did again when Mike got home from work later that day.

Ring Around The Rosies...

2010-04-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Pack-and-Play Fun

2010-04-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Monster Trucks - January 2010

2010-04-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Bryson and Mike traveled to Houston back in January to go to the monster truck rally with Wyatt and Jason again just as they did last year. The boys always have a great time at the rally!

Spurs game with Parker

2010-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Bryson is good friends with our neighbors that live 2 houses down. He and Parker are buddies. One night Mike and Earl (Parker's Dad) took the boys to San Antonio to go to a Spurs game and they had a great time together!!

Christmas with Papa - 2009

2010-04-20T13:14:00.001-07:00

We spent the Sunday after Christmas with my Dad, and the kids had a blast playing with their new toys and we ended up outside at the end of the day playing kickball. We had a great Christmas!

Christmas with Granna - 2009

2010-04-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

The weekend after Christmas we celebrated at my mom's house, but once again didn't get many pictures. We were too busy trying to keep up with the kids tearing through the presents. We had a great time though!!

Christmas Morning 2009

2010-04-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning the kids woke up early and came and got us up. We had stayed up late the night before playing Santa and putting together the train table that was the big present this year. We covered it up with a sheet so the kids wouldn't see it right away when they came out in the morning. Bryson was trying to figure out what it might be and was quite excited when we uncovered it!

Christmas with Gaths

2010-04-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

This Christmas the Gaths came to our house the week before to celebrate. We had a great time, and the kids tore through their presents. It was a fun age at Christmas this year with the kids!

Finley turns 2 - December 2009

2010-04-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

The morning of Finley's birthday I took pictures when I went in to wake her up. It's become a tradition the morning of every birthday for our kids. The birthday girl was out! One thing I've absolutely loved about little Fin is that she is happy instantly almost every single time we wake her up. She is just such a morning person!

The actual day of Finley's birthday we had her birthday party with her little friend James at the park in his neighborhood. They are 4 days apart, so we figured we'd just combine the fun. Unfortunately for us we woke up that day and the weather was freezing!! We decided to go ahead with the party and let the kiddos have their fun. There were a few of our crazy friends that showed up! We had a great day. Here I am with Kristin (she is my friend and James' mommy).
Me and my Dad.
My beautiful niece, Eisley!
Finley at home opening her presents and playing dress up. She loves dress up, and is serious about taking care of her babies! She's a good little mommy :)

Santa picture

2010-04-20T12:38:00.001-07:00

Many of you have already seen this one, but here is our picture with Santa from this Christmas. I find these kind hilarious, and I'm sure she will someday as well :)

Thanksgiving - Georgetown

2010-03-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

The weekend after Thanksgiving we went to my Dad's house and spent the day with them. The kids always have a blast out there as they live on a big piece of land and there are lots of things to explore. There was lots of fun had by all.

Thanksgiving - UT/A&M game

2010-03-17T14:56:00.001-07:00

On Thanksgiving we had some of my relatives to our house and watched the UT/A&M game play out. We took the grandkids to do pictures with Granna first.

We didn't get any other pictures except for this one of Bryson. He couldn't keep up with us so late, and eventually passed out as everyone was leaving.

San Antonio - November 2009

2010-03-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

In November we took the kids on a trip to San Antonio for a night and then spent the next day with Mike's family for Thanksgiving. We went to Sea World and took the kids to a Spurs game all in one day, and it was a long one!

-Flashback to 2007 -

Santa underwater. You can hardly see us, but we are there!
After a long day at Sea World, this is how Mike and I ate dinner, in the car. They were both sacked out, so we figured we better take advantage of it since we still had a late night Spurs game ahead of us.
The next day at Mike's parents house, Bryson pretended to take a ride on Chad's motorcycle.

Sleepover

2010-03-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Back before Thanksgiving, we had our first sleepover with cousin Eisley staying with us. The kids had lots of fun together, and we look forward to many more!!

The 2 girls having a little snack after nap time.

Eisley playing with Uncle Mike and a CareBear.
Playing with the house.
Silly face, kinda like the cowboy face, C&N ;)
Eisley making silly faces. Excuse Bryson in underwear only as he was going through that phase back then of shredding clothes as soon as we walked through the door.

Story time at bed time!
The next day we took the kids down to the neighborhood park. We had lots of fun!

T-ball 2009

2010-03-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Back in November I took some pictures of Bryson playing t-ball. We are now onto our new season and start practices in a couple of weeks. We are excited to start up again soon. We will have a few of our friends on the team this time, so it is going to make it even more fun! Here are some cute pictures we took near the end of the season last go around.

Our little #7 running after the ball...along with the rest of the team.
Happy little t-ball guy :)Cousin Eisley joining in on the cheering section.Done with the game and taking a break.
This is how Finley felt about taking a picture at that moment. All the grandkids with Papa.

The big 3-5

2010-02-12T21:46:00.001-08:00

Happy birthday to my honey :) Hope you have a great birthday with us, and hope that 35 isn't too hard on you this year. Love you more than ever! -L, B & F

Day at Zilker

2010-02-12T21:24:00.000-08:00

Back in early November we met up with my friend Staci who was in town with her 2 kids from Pennsylvania. We met down at Zilker park to play for a bit, and the kids had a blast. I loved seeing you Staci! :)

Staci's sweet Jocelyn.

Little Jackson

Hopefully this is the last time we see him behind bars in life :)

He was a hit with the old men...

We're Back

2010-02-05T22:36:00.001-08:00

After a long absence from the blog we are back, and have more time to keep up with this thing than we have in the past.

HOORAY!!
A lot has happened since we last posted. We have been busy keeping up with our 2 and 4 year olds....oh my gosh....how they have grown so much! We enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas this year more than ever. I quit my job working from home to stay home with the kids full time as there was a chance that I would be laid off anyway with the company losing a big contract they had with the area hospitals. As it turns out just a few short weeks after me leaving, 75% of the company was laid off. I'm so thankful to be putting my 100% into the kids as I didn't feel that I could give 100% to anything before, I was spread so thin. We have all been happier without me working and having more time to spend together as much of my time was spent working when Mike was home since I couldn't get much done with the kids at home with me. We will be celebrating Mike's birthday this coming week and I have just been catching up on a lot of things around the house. It has been productive and freeing all at the same time. We are really looking forward to the rest of 2010. We will have another cousin on the way that the kids are extremely excited about. My sister is due with their second child on May 3rd, and we can't wait for his arrival!!! Mike's sister will be getting married in October this year, so we have lots of big events this year to look forward to.

I'll blog and be catching up over the next week or so, so hang tight if you want to see what has been going on with us! Much love :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the kids were able to wear their costumes to school and they trick-or-treated at school and also had a pizza party. They were so excited. Last night we carved pumpkins, and the kids loved it!

Tonight we went trick-or-treating with our neighbors, Bryson's buddy Parker and his family. We had such a great time! The boys were running around like super heros, and Finley walked most of the way and occasionally got carried to a door just like a princess should :) Both of the kids were really into it this year, which made Halloween that much more fun!

Hockey for the boys

2009-10-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Recently Mike scored 2 free tickets to a Texas Stars hockey game here in town at the new Cedar Park arena. Bryson and Mike headed to the game last weekend and had a blast! Bryson loved the game and kept the old ladies sitting around them entertained with his giggles as the players hit the glass right in front of them. He thought it was great!

Papa and Bryson

2009-10-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

My dad (Papa to Bryson and Finley) came out to Bryson's t-ball game the other night that was one of our make up games. We haven't had any practices because they keep getting rained out. Anyway, this was a good picture of Bryson and Papa that we took after the game.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the pumpkin patch at the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm. We had such a good time! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :)

Visiting Mimi and Poppi

2009-10-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed out to Mimi and Poppi's house in Sunrise Beach on Lake LBJ. The kids had a blast playing in the tubes that were blown up and sitting in the house. They also had tons of fun watching the boats drive by.

Finley yelling BOAT!

Finley yelling boat again :)

ACL Fest

2009-10-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, Mike and I went (thanks for watching the kids, Granna!)...

It was muddy...

It was crowded...

But we still had a blast!!

More T-ball

2009-10-01T07:53:00.001-07:00

Bryson is still loving t-ball, and looks forward to it every week. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks...

After the game...

Doing what big brother does....always.

T-ball has begun!

2009-09-26T22:05:00.001-07:00

Last week on Monday we started having t-ball practice, and this weekend we just had our first t-ball game Saturday. Bryson is playing on a team called the Scrappers, and he seems to really like it. Here are some shots and a video from practice this past week.

And, here are a few shots and video from the t-ball game on Saturday.

Finley hanging out at the game :)

Bryson happy after a great game, enjoying a donut that was brought for the team!

One more video from the game...

Booty dance

2009-09-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Bryson has been teaching his sister wild behavior....at least we think it was him. He has this down too!

Cuddles

2009-09-26T21:51:00.001-07:00

These 2 kids are so sweet to each other for the most part. One night we heard Bryson asking Finley if she wanted to cuddle, and she curled right up. Just melts our hearts!!

First day of school - Fall 2009

2009-09-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

Bryson and Finley both started back up at preschool after being out for the month of August while the school was closed. We had a great summer, but we were so excited to get back to school! Here's a picture of Bryson and Finley the morning of school before rushing out the door. :)

Bryson's 4th Birthday

2009-09-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

On September 7th Bryson turned 4, and we celebrated with a party that weekend before. We had some of his little friends join us for a party at a park close to home that has a sand pit with digging toys to dig for big cement dinosaur bones. Bryson chose to have monster trucks as the theme, and he had such a good time! Can't believe our baby is already 4!!

Hotter -N-Hell and Great Wolf Lodge

2009-09-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Back at the end of August (yes, I'm catching up again...) Mike was going up to Witchita falls to ride in the Hotter-N-Hell 100 mile bike ride. He went up Friday with a group of friends and stayed at a host house, and the kids and I drove up by ourselves Friday and stayed in Grapevine at a hotel.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast, and then headed for a 2 hour drive to Witchita Falls to meet Mike at the bike race. The kids had fun watching the bikes come in through the finish line.
We finally saw Daddy come across the finish line, and couldn't be happier to see him! So glad he finished and had a good time.

After the race we all took the drive back together to Grapevine and headed to Great Wolf Lodge to stay Saturday and Sunday night. We had such a good time, playing at the waterpark, playing in the arcade, watching the nightly shows in the lobby, and enjoying uninterrupted time with each other. Lots of pictures to enjoy! :)

Of course they were worn out, and the ride home looked a lot like this...

Bathroom Humor

2009-08-28T17:48:00.001-07:00

We found the kids in the bathroom one night before getting in bed doing this...

Silly kids...

Port Aransas 2009

2009-08-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

From August 11-14 we headed down to Port Aransas with my sister and her family, and my mom. We had a long drive down there, stopping frequently for Finley to use the potty, but we finally made it! We rented a great house while we were down there, and we spent most of our days at the beach. The kids all had a great time, as well as the adults! We can't wait to go back next year :)

Sea World

2009-08-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

On August 3rd I took Bryson to Sea World after dropping Finley off at Granna's house. I have been wanting to take him by himself so we could enjoy the whole day and use the water park too! Finley had a great time, and so did we!!

Watching a movie on the way down with his dog, Wags.

Waiting for the sea lions to come out!

Leaving the park after having so much fun!

Siblings

2009-08-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

I see the resemblance....do you??!!

Saving Money

2009-08-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

A while back Bryson was given a coke can piggy bank from my Aunt Laura and Uncle Jim. He loves it, and we tried to give him spare change here and there whenever we have had some laying around. Recently we started giving him a quarter to help with small jobs around the house like picking up and bringing in the trash can with us. He was asking me for some toy that we got a friend for his birthday, and so we counted his money to see if he had enough to buy it himself. Otherwise he would have to wait. He had just enough, so we bagged it up and took it to Target to purchase a toy with his very own money for the very first time. He was sooooo excited and proud of himself!

Coke can piggy bank.

Money all bagged up!

Bryson with his Batman helicopter.

So happy!

Eisley's 1st Birthday Party!

2009-08-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

On July 30th our niece, Eisley, turned 1!! This past year has flown by! My mom aka Granna, also celebrated her birthday that day, but I'll spare her age here :) Eisley had her first birthday party ever that following Saturday at her house in the backyard. There was a ton of fun things to do!

Finley in the sandbox that Uncle Nick, his brother Eric, and his dad Mitch built.

Bryson and Finley eating cupcakes with Daddy

Eisley digging into her cake head first. Girl knew just what to do!

Cutie pie with Granna!

Cousins playing in the sand/water table.

Later that night we met up for dinner at Chuy's to celebrate Granna's birthday. It was a great day!!

Baking Cookies

2009-08-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

One afternoon Bryson and I baked some cookie goodness! I got some cute pictures of him in the process...

My Birthday

2009-08-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

On July 12th I celebrated my 28th birthday. That Sunday my family had us over for some dinner, swimming and play time. We had a great time!

Potty Training

2009-08-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months Finley has been telling me when she pees or poops in her diaper, and one Friday after coming home from school, as I was trying to put on a new diaper she started screaming 'potty!' and fighting me to not put a new diaper on. That was the weekend of July 12th, and we ended up staying home and working on potty training with her. I felt she was giving me a lot of signs to say she was ready, so we've been working on it, and she has got it down at home. She prefers to go naked at home and hardly ever has an accident here. If we are out in public, I can get her to sit on the potty, but she won't go. She'll just ask over and over again to go, and then sit for a few seconds and get off. She is definitely dedicated to her own little potty and her potty seat at home. She just recently started going on the big potty at home with the seat. I have her in pull ups during the day since she can't really go to school in underwear. If I put underwear on her she occasionally starts to go before getting to the potty. Anyway, we've made significant progress, and she has definitely been easier than Bryson was on this issue. It sure is nice to save a *little* money on buying diapers that get changed multiple times per day :) I'm guessing it'll be a long process with her to transition her to being comfortable going on any potty we come across, and to solely wearing her panties. In the meantime, we take the little potty most everywhere we go. So, if you see us on the side of the road going potty in the trunk, just honk! ;)

Finley's First Movie

2009-08-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

Every summer in Austin they have free movies on T, W, and Th for kids at 10 a.m. I thought I'd try taking both kids this year. Bryson is good sitting in movies, but Finley is a bit on the young side. She made it about an hour into the movie though, so that was pretty good. We went to see Whorton Hears a Who. I forgot that we had seen that one before, until we were in the movie already. Since we had to leave early because of Finley I was able to leave Finley with Aunt Courtney for a few hours a few weeks later, and took Bryson to see a movie by himself. He loves the movies!

Bryson's New Bike

2009-08-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Bryson recently got a new big boy bike, and loves to go for long bike rides in the hot sun :)

Finley was excited to get her brother's hand-me-down, and also loves to go for long bike rides in the hot sun :)

July 4th 2009

2009-08-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

This year on July 4th we had plans to walk down to the park with some neighbor friends and watch the fireworks. I got sick with a horrible case of Strep and was trying to stay in the bedroom away from everyone in the house to keep from spreading it. I had a 103 fever with chills a few days in a row, so I wanted nothing to do with the park that day. The fireworks didn't start until 9 p.m. this year, so Mike put Finley to bed around 7:30 at her normal time, and then he and Bryson went with our friends and enjoyed the night.

Bryson walking down the street to meet the neighbors.

Waving hello!

Bryson with his friends, Max on the left (who recently moved :( back to Canada), and Parker on the right.

Chain reaction

2009-08-10T13:51:00.001-07:00

Bryson and Mike were playing with Jenga pieces one day and entertaining themselves!

July 006 video

Dress Up

2009-08-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

Bryson and Finley had an afternoon of dress up at home one day. Finley wanted to put on her boots and Bryson's farmer hat, and instantly became a cowgirl. Bryson wanted to put on his doctor's costume from Halloween 2 years ago. It is quite small now resulting in the half shirt and capri pants.

Father's Day at the Lake

2009-08-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

On Father's Day this year we were supposed to head to the lake to spend time with Mike's family, but the day before, and that morning Finley had a fever. We weren't sure if it was from her shots the previous week, which the doctor told us could happen a week later with those, or if she was getting sick, so the girls stayed home, and Bryson and Mike headed up to the lake. They had a great time, and we were sorry we had to miss out!

Bryson ready to head out on the boat.

Could life get any better? Sucker and a boat ride?!

Bryson found Poppi's binoculars!

Bryson and Daddy taking the canoe out.

Super Bryson!

2009-08-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Bryson saw some friends with capes recently and asked to have one himself. I have a friend who makes some really cute ones, and I considered buying one from her, but decided to make a day out of it with Bryson and we headed to the fabric store and whipped one up ourselves. He wanted one that looked like Superman, but with a 'B' for Bryson. Turned out pretty good, and he LOVES it!

Father's Day Bowling

2009-08-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

The weekend before Father's Day we met up with my dad (Papa), and the Weynands, and headed to Dart Bowl to do some bowling. It was a little chaotic keeping the kids entertained and focused on bowling, but we made it through 1 game, and then darted out of there for some burgers, ice cream, and play time at Phil's Icehouse.

First slumber party with the Weynands

2009-08-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

On June 5th it was our 5th wedding anniversary, so we booked a weekend away at the Lakeway Inn and took the kids to Aunt Courtney and Uncle Nick's house to spend the night and play with their cousin Eisley. The kids had a blast, and Court and Nick got some great pictures of the kids. It was a great get-away and I can't wait to trade off more slumber parties for the cousins :)

Finley's First Day of School

2009-08-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Back in June Finley started school for the first time. Our preschool has a June and July session and then is closed the month of August before starting up again in September for the fall semester. Finley was 18 months in June and so she was able to start as that is their starting age. She did great! She had a great first day, and her teacher is the same as Bryson's first teacher, Ms. Lorena. We just love her!

Backpacks packed and lunches ready to go the night before.

Ready for school.

On our way to school.

Walking in.

Finley with Ms. Lorena. I posted the picture of Bryson below on his first day too. Finley has her eyes half closed in hers, but I didn't want to be the annoying mama asking for repeated pictures, so I just went with it. I'm sure Finley will appreciate it later. HA!

Austin Zoo

2009-08-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Finally! Was having trouble with Blogger! I'm getting caught up on blogging after a few months, so these next few blogs will be more pictures than anything. Back on May 28th we headed to the small Austin Zoo with Aunt Courtney, cousin Eisley, and Papa for a day with the animals. We all had a great time even though it was quite hot outside!

Bryson with a peacock in the tree.

Bryson and Papa looking in on a black bear.

Finley and Eisley hanging out in their strollers.

Feeding the goats.

Sweet Finley.

Finley having a chat with the goat. They speak the same language.

Bryson feeding the goat.

Taking a lunch break.

Pretty girl.

Finley and Eisley riding the train.

Sweet Eisley.

Bryson and Papa.

The girls.

Wow, really?

2009-08-02T19:30:00.001-07:00

It's been over 2 months since I last posted. That's a LONG time. Life has been very busy lately. I will be updating the blog within the next few days, promise. Thanks for being patient! :)

Finley's New Favorite Thing

2009-05-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Finley LOVES dogs. She loves balls, especially basketballs. She will spot a basketball from far, far away. She loves to dance. She loves to imitate her big brother she loves oh so much! She loves to give kisses. She loves to suck her thumb, and loves her soft pink blankie. She loves to eat. She loves to sing songs with us. She loves to clap. She loves to be tickled. She LOVES to read books. And, she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES shoes. She brings us a new pair at least 3 times a day to change into. She is a true sweetheart, but out of all of these things, her most favorite thing to do lately is throw a tennis ball for Gunner (our yellow lab) and have him fetch, just to do it all over again. She wears him out!

Muddy Buddy 2009

2009-05-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last week Mike competed in the local Muddy Buddy with his friend Ken. Its a 5 mile run/bike race where you compete as a team using just one bike. There are 5 legs that are a mile each. At the end of each mile, there was an obstacle to complete. A rock wall, inflatable slide, cargo net to climb, etc. At the beginning, I started off on the bike and Ken ran.

At the end of 1 mile, I did the obstacle, left the bike for Ken and took off running. After completing the second obstacle, Ken showed up with the bike. I rode away to the third obstacle, etc. I made it to the very end about 3 minutes ahead of Ken. At the very end, you finish the race together. We had to make it through a 100' mudpit, then run across the finish line.

We finished in 48 minutes which made it 214 out of about 900 teams, so we were pretty pleased. Here are the pictures below.

Schlotzky's Bun Run 5K

2009-05-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, May 3rd we ran in the Schlotzky's Bun Run 5K here in Austin. The day before the race we went down to pick up our packets and we walked around a bit around Lady Bird Lake, and then we went to dinner and took the kids to get ice cream. It was so nice outside, so we tried to make the most of it!

The day before:

The next morning we all woke up bright and early and headed down to the race. We ran about 2.75 miles of the course taking a few walking breaks in between. We let Bryson get out and run across the finish line with us when we were almost there. When we were done both kids got to run around a bit before we loaded up and headed back home. We all had a great time!

Day of the race: