More Colorado

Wish we were still there!!!

COLORADO part I

We had an awesome trip to Buena Vista, Colorado at the end of the summer. We were blessed to stay at the home of some great friends of the Leavelle's and it's an incredible house on a beautiful lot. Here are just a few of our 100's of pictures from the trip. Cooper and Cayden rode the zip line over the creek. Cutter just played with big sticks! We went to a ghost town and fed chipmunks from our hands, shoulders, laps, and even heads. (more pics of Cayden feeding these little guys will come later.) It was a wonderful trip- despite the drive.

4 Year Shots- OUCH

Today the twins had their 4-year-old shots. Scott actually took them for this appointment. (I was dreading this one more than most because they are old enough to know what's coming.) I posted these pictures because who would have guessed they'd be so big now. Cutter and Cooper both started life not even on the growth chart but quickly made their way onto the graph! Today, Cooper was 75% in weight and 75 % in height and Cutter was 80% in weight and 90% in height. (Cayden's a haas also at 75% in weight and 80% in height.) Who would have guessed they'd some day be so HUGE!!! We are blessed with three healthy and active kids!

4th of July Fun

Cooper and all the other kids from church were doing sparklers when one ended up on the ground. Cooper found it!

SOCCER CAMP

The kids had a full week of soccer camp. Cayden went for 3 hours and the twins went for 1 hour. It was the hottest week with record breaking highs. There were lots of breaks for Gatorade and water. The poor coaches were just over from England and still getting used to sunshine and heat. They did a great job though. All in all it was a very fun and very busy week.

Field Day

That recent cheer of the crowd and thrill of competition you sensed coming from central Texas was the product of the Thorton Elementary's annual FIELD DAY. (Think X-games just safer) This year was cool because the Army showed up to help. Soldiers from Fort Hood came over to run each of the game stations and they did a great job. Here are a couple of pics of Cayden in the various competitions.

Closing Ceremonies

Cutter and Cooper finished another year at the Western Hills Christian PreSchool. Thanks to Ms. Donna and all of the teachers who care for our kids.

Here Come's the Bride

Cooper LOVES to play dress up. One of her favorite outfits is a princess dress that looks more like a wedding dress to me. In this pic she is wearing the veil part of the outfit. Every time I see here in this my mind races toward the day that she will be wearing one for real. Oh my!!!

Zoo Day!

Cayden has a field trip to the zoo today. It is hard to believe that his 1st grade year is almost over.

You notice he took his camera with him, maybe we will post some of his nature photography.

Superman!

Cutter and Cayden enjoying one of their favorite sports: Competitive Couch Jumping.

Enough Said

Sunday Night Reflections

As today winds down just thought I would post some of the great blessings of today.

• Brandon's message/charge to our graduates. (It is great to be on a staff team that has more than one preacher.)
• Over 400 in worship today!
• Watching Chad baptize his son Seth - AWESOME
• 2 new families became covenanted members
• Hearing each of the dad's give a blessing to their graduate
• Watching our shepherd's take their role so seriously and humbly all at the same time
• Experiencing the sense of family during our sandwich supper after service.

I am truly grateful for all that God is doing in and through Western Hills.

Everybody Needs a Cutter

Driving down the highway the other day Cutter said he wanted to go swimming. I told him it was still too cold and that the water would be really cold. I then reminded him, "and you don't like cold water, Cutter." Cutter paused and then replied, "I like cold chocolate milk. . . and hot chocolate milk."

Cutter is happy with any activity that involves eating food or even talking about food. He's a "glass-half-full" kind of guy. . . and in his case it's half full of cold chocolate milk.

The other day we went to the Salado district track meet and from the complete opposite end of the field Cutter said he had to go poo poo. We made a dash for the restrooms. While in the bathroom, he proceeded to only tee tee. I said, "Cutter, I thought you had to go poo poo." He answered, "My brain's tellin' me tee tee."

One day Cayden said, "Is David (Kelley) a fire fighter?" I said, "Yes, he is." Cutter said, "No, he's a fire fighterman." Then Cayden said, "No, he's second in command." Cutter said again, "He's a firefighterman. (Long pause) I like Donna. (pause) I like Donna and David."

This child literally keeps us laughing on a daily basis and doesn't even know it. He is such a unique little boy that he delights us and at the same time scares us! I'm afraid public school won't know what hit it in 2010.

GOOOAAAALLLLLLL!

I got lucky and snapped this picture just as Cayden scored.  He's doing a great job this year in soccer.  We are so proud of how hard he works.  He is exhausted after the games because he runs the entire time!  My Salado kids said he looks like a beast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINS

Four years old today!   Hard to believe.  We had a busy day with church, a quick bite for lunch, and then a birthday party with a pinata, moon bounce, and two cakes!  Their cute friends from church and school joined them to help celebrate the big day.  

This year's cake theme was not as easy as a "blue frog."  Cooper wanted High School Musical and Cutter wanted Batman.  We did our best to satisfy both big four-year-olds.  

Thanks to everyone that helped make this day extra special for our kids.  They loved their birthday wishes, cards, gifts, hugs, pedicures (just Cooper), and phone calls.

I Wanna Be A Cowgirl

Today was "Cowboy Day" at preschool.  Scott caught this cute image of Cooper being her normal self.  She wore a cute denim skirt with a ruffle on the bottom, a hand-me-down black and white check cowgirl shirt, a second hand hat, and furry winter boots!  She was not convinced that the shirt was a girl shirt but she wore it anyway- until she convinced Ms. Donna that she needed a different shirt for part of the school day!

Cutter was less than impressed with the idea of dressing up in character and would not look at the camera for Scott.  He actually made quite an intimidating cowboy in pictures with his attitude.  By the afternoon he loved his outfit and didn't want to change and was one of the cutest two cowboys I'd ever seen.  (He looked pretty much like another cowboy I knew in Ms Donna's class about 3 years ago!)

Best Buds

Through the wonder of facebook, I told Cayden's buddy Will that when we made out the guest list for Cayden's bday party he wanted to invite him.  I explained that Will lives far away and has a real job now.  (Well, kinda a real job.  He wears shorts to work???)  Anyway, Will started asking questions and then made the long trip to attend a seven year-old's birthday party.   Not only did he get Cayden a very cool birthday present, Will said he was not above buying the twins love and affection so he brought them both small gifts also. 

 The first picture is Cayden's face when he saw Will at his party.  It was a total surprise.  The last picture is of Will and his super sweet and super cute girlfriend.  We think she's a keeper and if he doesn't do everything in his power to keep her around we may have to disown him!

(Debbie, I offered him a razor but he turned me down.)

CJ Bday

Cayden wanted S'mores for his birthday.  I thought he wanted that instead of a cake.  He quickly corrected me and said he wanted to make S'mores and have a S'mores cake also. 

Here is the cake before transporting it and topping it off with a graham cracker cake.  Scott cut off my pun to the right.  It said, "Happy Birthday Cayden! . . . and many S'more!"

Kids fishing off the dock and parents baiting hooks.

What a good looking group of kids!

We had a beautiful day to enjoy the great outdoors.

Quirky Cutter

Cutter is the child we find ourselves laughing at/with the most.  He is a unique little boy and we love him for that.  Some people may not be able to appreciate his quirkiness but we adore it.

One night at supper Cutter looks up at me from his dinner and said, "Mom, I love bacon."  We weren't eating anything with bacon in it.

The other night Scott was putting Cutter to bed and he was laying down when suddenly he jumped up on his feet, threw his arms in the air, and cried, "Shaushage wrap!"  (That's Sausage Wrap)

Last night at Chick-fil-a, Cutter was eating some ice cream.  He kept saying, "This ice cream is go-od"  (with two syllables).  Scott finally asked, "Is it better than bacon?"  Cutter replied, "No."  He ate a few more bites and then said, "Better than waffles."

In case you can't tell, food is very important to Cutter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAYDEN

Like we say every year, it's hard to believe Cayden has been with us for seven years now. He has been such a blessing to us.

Every year we have had an indoor birthday party at the church building because his birthday is in January. This year Scott had a great idea and we took a leap of faith and planned an outdoor party. The Leavelle's were gracious enough to let us invade their farm and fish and cook out. For about two weeks we have been checking the weather and the initial reports were mid 50's and partly cloudy. By the day of the party it was 70 degrees under beautiful sunny skies. Dana said it was because I was living right but then clarified that it was actually because I was married to the preacher. Whatever the reason it was a beautiful day and we had a blast. The fishing was not very good but the kids really didn't seem to mind. Total the kids caught three fish.

Today our family went back to drown the rest of our worms and in a little over an hour we caught about 10 bass. (Actually, I caught 8 that I shared with the kids, Cayden caught 1 and Scott caught a little perch.) We have played all weekend and the house shows it and now it's time to start a new school week. We will have to share some pictures of the cute kids that came to celebrate with us soon.

We also need to mention all the wonderful friends that called, sent cards and cash, stopped by the house with gifts and birthday wishes, or drove two hours to attend a seven year old's birthday party. All of you are greatly appreciated. Thank you for loving our son almost as much as we do. Happy Birthday Cayden. You're the best!

Never A Dull Moment

1. Last night at church Cutter went outside on the "porch" at church and proceeded to pull down his pants and tee tee off the porch. When I heard this I wasn't too shocked or humiliated because his older brother did the same thing at about the same age in front of all the elder's wives! A friend's mom watched him do this and said he went on forever and ever and made quite a puddle. Next thing she knew he pulled his pants up and jumped off the porch directly into the puddle; splashing it all over himself. 95% of the time we do baths before church but because we were getting a replacement "Rebound" yesterday afternoon we were running late and the kids went to church filthy. We went straight home after church and took a bath. My friend called today and told me about him splashing himself and I was so glad we went to church dirty!

2. Tonight I was getting the kids into pajamas and Cooper was saying that she was going to be a mom when she gets big. I told her I thought she would be a great mom. Then Cutter said he would be a great dad. They both agreed that Cayden would also be a great dad. I asked them if they knew what that would make me when they are all moms and dads. They were not sure so I told them I would be a grandmother. Cooper thought for a minute and said, "You'll have to walk real slow if you're a grandmother."

3. I have a necklace with an Icthus on it. After I got Cooper in PJ's I was getting Cutter dressed. He said, "Mom, what's that fish's name on your necklace?" I said, "I guess Icthus." He then said, "I think it's name is Rebound." (See the last post if that makes no sense to you.)

We do have a new Rebound. He is a real pretty bright blue- not red like the old Rebound!

REBOUND

Rebound was a fish.

Cayden did VERY well on all of his spelling tests last semester; in fact he got a 100 on every one. Because of this we decided he deserved a treat. For his treat he chose a fish. So, about two days ago we went to the pet store and picked out the perfect dark red Beta fish, named Rebound. Rebound was a good fish. . . for two days.

This afternoon, after a rough day at school, Rebound was found dead. There were a lot of tears and reminiscing of time spent with Rebound. All three kids thought he was really cool.

Finally, Cutter asked, "Did he die on the cross? Or, did he just die in his water?"

There is a silver lining though- if you buy a fish at Petsmart and anything happens within 14 days, you just bring in your receipt, along with the deceased animal, and they will replace it free of charge!

Tissers and Creatures

Cutter and Cayden got lots of Lego's for Christmas. Cutter and I were building a truck the other day and he kept asking me if it had "tissers." "Where are the 'tissers'?"
I finally cautiously asked, "What are tissers?"
Cutter answered, "You know, the things that go, "Tissssss, tisssss." (The air brakes!!!)

Last night at supper I asked the "Chick-a-flay" (Chick-fil-a) kids meal question on the bag. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Cayden answered, "A firefighter." (Probably because he wants to be like David Kelley.) Cooper said she wants to be a teacher. Scott asked the kids who they know that are teachers. Cayden began naming them, "Ms. Donna, Ms. Cindy, Mrs. Neighbors, Mrs. Phelps, Mrs. Pena. . . " Scott kept saying, "Who else?" He was trying to get him to make the connection that I am a teacher. Finally he gave him some hint and they said, "Mom is a teacher."
At that time Cooper said, "Mom's a teacher and Dad's a creature." We think she meant preacher but who knows.

PRICELESS!