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!

Great Day

I am experiencing some technical difficulty so I will just post a few pics the old fashion way.

Today we had a great day. We stayed home all day, played outside and had a picnic.
At the end of the day Cayden pulled a front tooth that had been sticking almost straight out and Cutter made it all day without having an accident.

Last night I was totally frustrated with our failed attempts to get rid of diapers and did what any good mom would do. I surfed the web! I decided to take a new approach today and what do you know-it worked!
Last night I told Cutter that I was sorry that we have been frustrated with him for having accidents and that he would start wearing underwear and I would not say anything else to him about going to the bathroom. If he had an accident it was his job to clean himself up and change his underwear. First thing this morning I gave him a basket with four pair of underwear and the box of wipes and he didn't have to use either one! He didn't tell me when he needed to go to the bathroom, he just went. I know this sounds very mundane to most people out there but if you know my Cutter you know that this is HUGE!!! I never guessed it could be so difficult to potty train a kid. People say, "Every kid has their thing." I used to believe that until Cutter.

Woo hoo!!!

Right now all three kids are sound asleep in Cayden's little tent with a tooth in a zip-lock bag taped to the top waiting for the tooth fairy. Today was a great day! What a way to end 2008!

Easy Bake...

One of the gifts that Santa brought Cooper was an Easy Bake oven (still using the same "light bulb cooking technology"). She was very excited and couldn't wait to try it out. Here she is demonstrating her cake decorating skills.

Ok..How many of you had one of these growing up? Feel free to post your favorite Easy Bake recipe here.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

For those of you that did not receive a Christmas card this year, please don't take it personally. We had a bit of technical difficulty (by the name of Cooper or Cutter) and lost our address list.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tradition #2

Sausage wraps, hamburgers, fried potato things that are like half french fry/half potato chip, horse drawn carriages, lots of local school kids, a live Nativity scene (which was not set-up the night we went), several Santas within a few hundred yards of each other (makes for interesting questions), a trip to Solas Gallery, look for Linda at Main Street Place, and kettle corn- all at the Salado Stroll!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Just wanted to spread some holiday cheer!

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

ROAD TRIP!

I filled up my dry as a bone Suburban today and it cost me $45.00!!!! (This summer the pumps at Sam's would cut off at $100 whether you were full or not. I experienced that many times.)