The Vasquez Voice

Christmas 2011-Part 2

2011-12-31T23:01:00.000-06:00

EVENTUALLY I will post all of our Christmas pictures, I'm just not sure how many posts it will take :)

This was Christmas Morning!

Jace woke up at 7:30, pretty normal for him right now, but we made him wait until 8 to wake Bren up.

The first thing they wanted to do was check to see if the Reindeer ate their food we left out and if Santa ate the cookies!

Brenley got to open her gift from Santa first!

A Tinkerbell watch, just like she asked for!!

And then Jace's turn!

An Aggie helmet, jersey, and pants, just like he asked for!! I don't think he took them off for 3 days!

Then the craziness began! Boxes and paper everywhere!!!

A few months ago when the kids were with me at Hobby Lobby and Jace saw this A&M fleece. He told me he wanted a blanket made out of it. And Bren was quick to pick out a pink cupcake print and requested her own blanket. I decided it would be a great gift I could make for them! and they LOVED THEM more then I thought they would! They have slept with them every night!

After football season, Jake gave me this LONG speech about how he didn't want me to get him anything for Christmas, and that he just really appreciated me taking care of the kids and the house while he worked such long hours. Well of course I couldn't NOT get him something, but I really had him convinced that I didn't! :)

Look at that smile when I pulled out his gifts!

AANNNNDDDD have I mentioned what a GREAT job he did in picking out my gift!! Yes that's a little BLUE box!

Tiffany Earrings!

Stocking time!

It was such great ~~morning~~ Christmas season! The kids were just so into the holiday! The Christmas songs, the decorations, and the Christmas Story. They have several children's books about the Christmas story and the true meaning of Christmas and they would pick one out to read every night. I love these memories we are making!

I am so looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us!

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-30T23:14:00.002-06:00

Christmas 2011- Part 1

2011-12-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

This Christmas we fit in as much family time as possible! Christmas Eve we had a late lunch with my mom's side of the the family. We had a traditional Christmas meal and it was DELICIOUS!

Oh I just LOVE this little guy! I can't get enough of those cheeks!

Don't you just want to eat him up!!??

My sweet little Girly Girl!

Papaw and his little Cowboy's Fan!

When we were done there, we headed to my parent's house to have our "Little" Pimentel Christmas.

Last year we changed our Christmas Tradition and exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve and it worked out again this year.

The kids made cookies for Santa together! They all took turns adding ingredients and mixing the dough.

Greyson was in on the fun too!

And of course we had to make food for Santa's Reindeer!

Grandkids and Grand-dog! Gavin wasn't here this year, but thanks to technology, they were still apart of our family time through SKYPE!!

This boy LOVES his Mommy!

GIFT TIME!! This is when it gets CRAZY!

We sent Gavin's gifts to him the week before, so he was able to open his gifts with the kids too!

We were happy that they were able to be apart of our family time, but we still missed them REALLY being with us. But we are SO EXCITED that Gavin and Aimee will be home to visit in a few weeks!

Princess Bren was SO EXCITED about her new car!!

Stay tuned for Christmas Part 2!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T10:52:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving has always been my FAVORITE holiday! I just love everything about it! I love the family time. I love the Fall season. I love the GREAT FOOD! I love that it is a STRESS FREE holiday! And I just love the whole meaning of it. I love that it's a time where we stop and think about all that we have to be Thankful for.

Since Jake is SO busy in the fall, we don't get to see his family much after summer. If they have wanted to see him, they have had to come here...and go to his game... and get to talk to him for about 10 minutes after his game... you get it, he's busy!

Over the past few years Thanksgiving Break has been the first chance he has had to really spend time with his side of the family. THIS year he season wasn't over yet, but luckily, his family planned to have Thanksgiving in Houston! He had practice Thanksgiving morning, but we were still able to make it to his Uncle's house for Thanksgiving lunch!

We were SO HAPPY to see these girls! I think Easter was the last time we saw Elise and Mia.

I am SO thankful for this little Turkey!

Elise loving on her little cousin, Andrew.

SMILE!

These three played football most of the afternoon! They were all born within 4 months and get along so great!

Vasquez Family Picture!

Grandma with her Grand and Great Grand Children... that were there :)

I am so Thankful for my Family!

I am thankful for a husband who works so hard. Who loves me with all of his heart and reminds me of that everyday. I am thankful to have him as my best friend and partner in life.

I am thankful for such a sweet son who has the most tender heart. I am thankful for his sweet laid back nature and SO THANKFUL that he doesn't think he's too big to let Mommy love on him!

I am thankful for such a spirited baby girl. I am thankful she is my little buddy who loves all things girly! I am thankful for all of the smiles she brings with her wide vocabulary :)

I am so blessed and have so many reasons to be thankful, and I hope throughout the whole year I can remember to give thanks always!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-14T10:45:00.000-06:00

It's mid November and I am just now posting about Halloween! I am behind!!!

This was the first year Jace had a real opinion about what his costume was. He had several ideas and finally decided on a skeleton. A SKELETON!!??? What happened to the cute animal costumes?? So I was determined to find a somewhat cute, not at all scary skeleton costume! I think it worked out pretty well! But I think my little man is so cute no matter what he wears :)

And I really had fun with my girly girl! She was a Scarecrow, tutu style!

We always go trick or treating in my parent's neighborhood. The whole neighborhood really gets into it!

And of course the kids were so happy to have Greyson come too!

I love seeing big brother take care of little sister! I hope there will be a lot more of this as they get older!

Isn't he the cutest little dragon you've ever seen!!??

About 3 houses into trick or treating Bren decided she needed to sample the goods along the way! It was not easy cutting her off!!

We usually meet Ty and Hallie along the way and finish up together, and that is what we did again this year! Jace and Bren love theirs buddies, the Green Lantern and the bride!

Papaw's Boys!

2011-11-11T14:08:00.000-06:00

Over the past two weeks Brenley has been OUTNUMBERED! Gavin and Aimee were here for about 2 weeks and not only did we have so much fun loving on our sweet Gavinator, but Jace LOVED having a buddy around!

While they were here we celebrated this little guy's HALF BIRTHDAY!! It's something we started with my kids and just kept doing ;)

I can't believe I've had these adorable cheeks to kiss for 6 months already! (I know he's not MINE, but I just love him so much! I mean, look at that adorable face!!)

Jace and Gavin excited about CAKE!!

My Dad got all of his boys Cowboys jerseys at the beginning of the season, so of course while Gavin was here we had to take pictures of them ready to cheer on their team! (or Papaw's team!)

I think Greyson had a talk with Uncle Jake about how football players don't smile in their pictures because he had his game face on! Gavin, on the other hand, pulls out the cutest squinty eyed, squishy nosed smile when you tell him to say "Cheese!" And I think Jace was just in a daze. He was ready to get back to his football game!

Oh! A little smile for Greyson!

I miss this little California kid already!

Gavin giving Jace a pre game pep talk!

And my guy is ALL FOOTBALL ALL OF THE TIME these days! He is his Father's son!

There's that smile I love! I could just eat him up!

I have lots more to catch up on! And don't worry, lots of pics of the princess will be included on the next post!

Holy Moly!

2011-11-10T22:52:00.000-06:00

I am SOOOO behind here! Tomorrow night Jake's team will play their first round play off game. It's really play offs time???

Yes!

So here is the quick rundown of the games since I last posted.

(So sorry I can't remember the scores any more, but the important thing is

THE CRUSADERS FINISHED THE REGULAR SEASON UNDEFEATED!!)

Week 7

Saders vs. Pope John Paul- Saders WIN!

Week 8

vs. Ft. Bend Christian- Saders WIN!

Week 9

vs. Westbury Christian- Saders WIN!

Week 10

vs. Second Baptist- Saders WIN!!

They were District Champs and this is the first time in school history that the football team has been undefeated!

So tomorrow night the kids and I will be there to cheer on our favorite team as they play TMI!

I have lots of pics to share, but it's late so it will have to wait :)

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

I really can't believe it's that time again... is it really the end of October already?? Time has seem to fly by lately. Although I'm not super excited about time zooming by, I am happy to realize that we are in the home stretch of football season, and I didn't even realize it!

I usually pride myself in being a pretty good "planner," but two things I didn't plan well... my wedding date and when I had my children.

With the wedding, we had been engaged for a year and a half, so I went for the first date my venue had available which happened to be November... translation...playoff season. Jake was coaching part time then, so I didn't REALLY know what it was to be a "Coach's wife!"

When we decided we'd stop preventing the chance of getting pregnant I thought, for sure, it would take at least 4-6 months. (Don't ask me where I got those numbers from!)

then BAM!!

Four weeks later, I had a positive pregnancy test. Of course we were excited, but I had Jace on a Friday and Jake started two-a-days that MONDAY!

Bren was our ~~surprise~~ blessing from God, who came a week before Jake left for Coaching School, which was followed by Camp, then two-a-days and we didn't see him again until November...

SOOOO, football season has usually been a pretty exhausting time of year for me, but this year it really has just flown by! I know it has alot to do with the fact that the children are older and easier to handle on my own, but I've come to accept that this is our life. Well I think that sounds bad, but I just know that this is not only Jake's passion, but his calling. And I know that what he does goes way beyond the football field. I can not tell you how many times parent's come up to me and tell me how much they and their child appreciate Jake and how thankful they are to me for supporting him even though his job can take away from his family time.

OK, so I have gone WAY off course here... so let get back to it, why don't we!

Last weekend we went to visit the pumpkin patch at a local church.

We have gone there every year since Jace's first Fall!

You can see those posts

HERE

and apparently I didn't post pics of our Pumpkin patch outing last year :(

But here are my two big kids this year!

My handsome little guy! Always ready to smile for Mommy!

Trying to find the PERFECT ONE!

Trying to get brother to do all of the heavy lifting for her??

I still want to kiss those cheeks every chance I get!

I finally got a smile out of Bren after bribing her!

...and she's done!

Football Update, Catch up!

2011-10-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

So I've been super busy and haven't been able to keep up with Football Updates...so I'll catch up now! :)

Week 4

Concordia 41/ Lutheran North 0

Week 5

This was Homecoming! Mimi, Po, and Dominic came into town for this game! We had so much fun and it was made even better when WE WON!!

Concordia 21/ Northland 14

Week 6

Concordia 55/ Lutheran South 13

This week the Saders will be at home again, taking on the Pope John Paul! And I will be sure to include pics of the babes next time!!

Crusader Football- Week 3

2011-09-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

Friday the Saders were back at home so we went out to cheer them on!

And my Mini Cheerleader was ready to CHEER!

(Sorry for the horrible picture quality! They were taken with my phone!)

And this week the Saders beat the Mustangs!

Concordia 41/ Houston Christian 7

This was a big win for the Saders, who haven't beat Houston Christian since 2008!

Insta Friday

2011-09-16T23:46:00.000-05:00

Another week of Insta Friday! Here's our week in review...

Sunday Jacob and I went to the Texans game and had pre game sideline passes! It was such a fun date with the hubs!

Sunday night we were watching the Cowboys game and when they showed the National Anthem this is what my little man did.

Jace did a family portrait at school this week and it was so cute! The front page was Daddy...

...and on the back was Bren, in pink, Jace, with a green mask on, and Mommy, in blue!

Tonight was another home game for the Saders, and my little cheerleader when on the sidelines with the Real Cheerleaders!

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-13T21:12:00.000-05:00

Last week the kids started back to Mother's Day Out.

My four year old boy started Pre-K... I am still trying to wrap my head around that! Since he is in Pre-K he now goes to school FOUR days a week instead of three. This will give Brenley and I a girl's day together every Monday! This is also his first year to not have a REAL nap time. They do have a 20 minute rest time, but that's really not enough for my little man who can still take a 2+ hour nap! He has a full week with writing, phonics, math, pe, computer, spanish, music, art, and more!

Brenley is having a harder time adjusting. She is always clingy with Mommy. She keeps telling me she can just go to work with me. :) She has great teachers who are so patient and love on her when I'm gone. Aunt Lo promised her a surprise if she's a good girl tomorrow, so we'll see if that works.

Here are a few pictures from their first day.

Before we left the house... it was so sunny but they smiled big for Mommy anyway!

Arriving to school!

Jace's classroom. He has two great teachers and his best bud is in his class again this year!

Brenley was all smiles for the camera, but when she realized I was leaving and she was staying, she started the melt down...

We were all so exhausted at the end of the week, but this week is going a little more smoothly!

Crusader Football- Week 2

2011-09-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

Last Friday's game was away, so the kids and I didn't make it. The team traveled 70 miles south to Hitchcock and the boys came out with another win!

Concordia 28/ Hitchcock 24

Insta Friday

2011-09-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

This week was an exhausting one! The kids started MDO and we are all adjusting to our new schedule. Jace is in Pre-K and doesn't have a REAL nap time anymore. He has a short rest time, but for my guy who still takes naps, 2+ hours naps, he's really adjusting. The first day he said "Mom, I only had a very very short nap today!" He was the only one who actually went to sleep during the 20 minute "rest time." His second day he told me "Mom, I'm in Pre-K, I have too much work to do so I can't take a long nap!"

Bren is having a hard time adjusting to not being with Mommy all the time. She is a bit dramatic about the whole thing... "What!!?? Bren, Dramatic??"

My little loves before we left for their first day!

We weren't even home 5 minutes after their first day and my little princess was already in Time Out for hitting brother with a wooden sword!

This is her pouting face.

Not many phone pics this week, so that's all for now... I'll do better next week, Promise!

Crusader Football- Week 1

2011-09-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is a week late, and yes, they are playing week 2's game

AS ~~WE SPEAK~~ I TYPE!

But... here's the recap of Week 1!

This was their second game of the season but their HOME opener! Since we missed the first game, we were all three excited to see and cheer on our Saders!

We went early to watch the girl's volleyball game that also happened to be at home a few hours before. We just happened to run into our favorite coach as we got to the school!

My little football player couldn't wait for the game to start!

He knew he couldn't talk to the boys before the game, but he likes to get as close as possible to them :) I think it's his way of feeling like a part of the team!

He sat to watch the first half of the game, but he couldn't sit still any longer then that. The whole second half he spent playing his own game.

And sister cheered him on!

After the game I wanted to get a few pictures of them together. I told them to hold hands but Jace just wanted to make "funny faces." Brenley was not having it! She wanted him to hold her hand!

FINALLY! (but by this point she was mad and didn't smile!)

That is a BIG smile you see on Jake's face! Because Week 1 was another W!!

CONCORDIA 27/ BOLING 0

Jace had to get in a few more plays before he headed to the locker room.

While we were waiting for Jace, Bren got in a few more pics in her adorable leader cheerleading uniform!

Insta Friday

2011-09-02T23:46:00.001-05:00

Only a few more minutes of Friday, so I have to be quick!
Here is a run down of our week in Instagram!!
Almost time for the kid's check up with the dentist :)

Bren actually played super heros with Jace this week.

I got a new watch for my birthday a few weeks ago and when Bren saw it, she said she wanted a PINK watch! I finally told her we would look for one at Target... And she did pick out a pink one!

Jace has heard her talk about wanting a watch and never said anything about wanting one, but when he saw this, he had to have it!

School starts next week, so this week we went to meet their teachers! So excited about the upcoming year!

Have a great holiday weekend!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Crusader Football, Week 0

2011-08-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

Although this was the first game of the season, it's called Week 0... not sure why that is...

On the schedule this week was St. John's High School. This week was a W for the Saders!

Concordia 32/ St. John's 14

This week's game was away and I wasn't up for traveling with both kiddos by myself. Since we didn't make it to the game, I don't have pics this week, so I will leave you with a picture of my sweet FOOTBALL CRAZY boy from two years ago.

How cute it he!

My First Insta-Friday

2011-08-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

I saw this on a blog I follow and thought it looked like fun. There are lots of times that I snap pics of the kids doing something silly and cute with my phone, so why not blog about my phone pics from the week!?

Since this is the first week of football games, I thought I'd share how we are gearing up to cheer on our Crusaders!!

I found someone on Etsy who made adorable little cheer leading outfits for toddlers, so I thought it would be fun to order lil' princess one. I wanted Jake to get a picture of the actual uniforms at his school so I could have her make it as similar as possible. Well when Betsy offered to give me some old uniforms to use to make her one, it became a new challenge for me. I spent ALOT of time with my trusty seam ripper taking the uniform apart, then cut it down to tiny girl size and put it back together!! It is FAR from perfect, but it'll get the job done!

And my little football player couldn't be MORE excited about the new season! Daddy got him a real mouth piece to go with his gear! He wears it all the time! Any thing that makes him feel like a REAL football player make this little dude happy!

I will be linking up HERE

It's August already?!

2011-08-24T17:58:00.000-05:00

This year is just FLYING by! The summer was so busy and went by in a blink and now we are almost done with August! July and August are BUSY birthday months for my family. Mom, Lorie, and Bren are all July babies. Jace, me, and Scotty are August! So it seems like every other week we are celebrating and eating LOTS OF CAKE!!

My sweet little guy turned FOUR at the beginning of this month. Four short years ago my life completely changed. I was adjusting to life with a baby and now he is getting ready for Pre-K.

He was so excited when he woke up that morning and it was his ACTUAL BIRTHDAY and he was finally FOUR!!

Greyson spent that morning with us, so Lorie could go to a workshop for school, and we sure had fun lovin' on him!!

Jace wanted to help decorate his birthday banner!!

He picked Red Lobster for his birthday dinner. He LOVES the chance to see the lobsters in the tank!

Happy Boy!

And of course he LOVES his Kendal Time!!

Scotty does too :)!

ICE CREAM!!

And the reason for his choice... the LOBSTERS!!

Last week we had a little going away family dinner for my ~~littlest~~ youngest brother, Scotty. My parents are now empty nesters, they have sent their youngest child off to college. This was just one day shy of my 30th birthday, which means my parents had children in their home for almost 30 YEARS!!! My mom made a wonderful dinner and we had such a great time together! And just because they may be considered "empty nesters," their house is hardly empty :)

We have really enjoyed getting a lot of swimming time in this summer! Recently Bren has wanted to be independent in the pool. She didn't even want the float she could sit in, so it was time to teach her to float with arm floats. She caught on RIGHT AWAY and loves that she doesn't have to be carried!

Jace isn't scared of the water by any means, but he would rather stay where his feet touch the bottom.

Look at those cheeks!!

Several Sunday afternoons this month we have enjoyed time swimming with the Dittoe's!

We are now into football season and this week kicks off the first real game of the season. My plan is to post a Sader Football update each week! My Mr. has great expectations for this season, so I won't be surprised if I spend another Anniversary at a game :)

Catch up with phone pics!

2011-08-17T21:36:00.001-05:00

So, not only have we been busy celebrating birthdays and getting ready for the start of another school year, but my computer is currently out of commission, so excuse my lack of posting!
I will leave you with a few pictures from my phone as a little update!
This little girl has been really into picking out her clothes, and MUST ALWAYS have accessories!

Here, she not only picked out purple glittery flip flops that DID NOT exactly match, but she put them on the wrong feet! When I tried to fix them she said no!

Just for fun she put on my wedding dress!

This big guy is pretty much always in SUPER HERO mode! He is growing into such a big kid with such a big heart!

He LOVES to spend time with his little cousin!

Football season has started so say a little prayer for my Mr. He works such long hours this time of year but of course he wouldn't trade it for anything! The kids and I are ready to cheer on our Saders!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy 4th Birthday Jace!

2011-08-03T22:27:00.000-05:00

Today my sweet little boy turns 4 years old...where has the time gone? I can't believe it has already been four years since I first kissed those big cheeks! I don't know why it seems so hard to believe he is growing up so fast. He is growing into such a sweet little man but he will always be my baby boy. I love when he lets me hug on him and I love to hear him say "I love you Mommy." I love that I'm still "Mommy," although I do get the occasional "MOM" and I'm reminded that he's not a year old anymore. He is such a smart kid, so kind hearted, and such a good big brother (he really puts up with a lot from sister!).

So although he is a big FOUR year old now, I will never forget this sweet baby face!

So to my sweet Jace Face, I love you more and more everyday! I am so proud of the BIG KID you are growing up to be! Happy Birthday!!

Boy or Girl??? What is Baby Dittoe??

2011-08-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

This weekend was busy, but filled with great times with friends and family!

I spent all day Friday shopping, baking, and organizing for the TWO parties I had on Saturday. Luckily, Jacob was home, his last Friday of summer, and he was extremely helpful!

First was the Dittoe's Gender Reveal party over brunch. The crazy thing about this gender reveal was the parents-to-be, Brad and Jordan, were finding out with everyone else!!

Most of you reading my blog know that Jordan and I have been friends since we were 5! So I was so excited to be able to help host. I must admit, I was not the creative mind behind the great theme and decorations. My friend Corey is an AMAZING party planner! She really should do it for a career! So enjoy the absolute cuteness that is to follow!

Everything was Turquoise and Pink. These cookies were not only cute, but super tasty!

The theme was Mustache or Bow???

These were adorable mustache shaped chocolate favors.

The reveal cake! Will it be pink icing or blue???

Brunch isn't complete without Mimosas, and look how cute the cups are with mustaches and bows on them!

Strawberry Crush Soda added a cute detail to the Pink and Turquoise color scheme.

Bloody Marys in mason jars... so cute!

Loved the water bottle labels!

There was SO MUCH great food!

I couldn't stay away from this Strawberry Butter!!

Aunt Lauren, cousin Zoey, Greyson, and Lorie couldn't wait to find out what Baby Dittoe would be!!

So Sweet!!!

Beautiful Mommy and Auntie Lauren!

Time for the REVEAL!!!

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!

Of course we are SO EXCITED to have a little girl to dress up and spoil!!!!

Congratulations Brad, Jordan, Ty, and Hallie!! We are so excited for your family and I can't wait to meet baby Ruby in November!!!

The Princess turns 2!!

2011-07-19T22:27:00.000-05:00

Almost two weeks ago our little Princess turned two! I really don't know where the time has gone. It seems like I just blinked and my baby is TWO! The past two years have been crazy amazing. She has had our hearts from the very beginning. She is definitely the PRINCESS. Here are a few things she's doing these days:

She LOVES to sing
She loves to read! Her favorites right now are any of the Pinkalicious books
She loves to swipe her brother's toys, as he's playing with them, and run off. She then throws them before he catches her
She says the CRAZIEST things!
She likes to be called "Bwren"
She eats like a bird
She is A GIRLY GIRL! She loves clothes, shoes, and jewelry, like crazy!
She is potty training!!!!!
She talks NON-STOP!

Here are a few pictures from her BIRTHDAY!!

The birthday girl in her cupcake pj's. When you ask her to show you how old she is this is what she does.

Birthday Breakfast!!

She wanted a Tinkerbell birthday this year. I don't know where she came up with that because she had never seen Tinkerbell, but she insisted!

We decided to do small family parties for the kids this year. I have a BAD problem of going over board sometimes. We had my family over for her birthday dinner!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this little guy!

Aunt Aimee and Gavin got to join us via Skype! Isn't technology just great!

The day after her birthday I thought we'd just give potty training a try. I thought it would be no big deal if she wasn't ready because Jace was 2 1/2 before he was potty trained. I felt since we had waited until I knew he was really ready it was such a breeze, and I was hoping for the same experience with Bren. Well she is doing GREAT!!

Here she is enjoying her Potty Prize!

That weekend we headed to Victoria to have a birthday celebration with Jacob's side of the family!
Here is Brenley showing off her new Tinkerbell pajamas from Nana and Papaw!

MORE TINKERBELL!!!!

She hasn't given up the binky yet....

We had so much fun celebrating our baby with all of our family. She is definitely spoiled by everyone!!

Blogging App!!

2011-07-17T23:11:00.001-05:00

So my sister discovered the blogging app, and I had to check it out!
Just be warned, there will probably be an increase of RANDOM posts :)

And FYI, a post of Bren's 2nd birthday is coming soon!!

Seaworld!!

2011-07-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we took a weekend getaway to SEAWORLD!! My little animal lovers were so excited!! We stayed at a hotel that had a shuttle service that made things SO MUCH EASIER!! When we got into town late that afternoon we figured we should get in some fun at Seaworld since the hottest part of the day was behind us.

First thing on Jace's list to see, Alligators!! He was a bit disappointed that he couldn't get closer to them, I assured him the fence was necessary!

And his second request, Penguins!!

It was such a nice evening! It was cooling off, and there wasn't a huge crowd!

Brenley decided she wanted to push the stroller instead of ride... so it took us a while to get around after that!

At this point, they had both had a long day, and weren't in the mood for pics either.

Late night snack at the hotel before bed.

The kids LOVED the shuttle! Of course they did! But this Car Seat Crazy Mama wasn't a huge fan!

When we were waiting in line the next morning for the park to open Shamu and the Penguins came out to greet everyone. Jace was SO EXCITED!! Bren liked to wave to them from afar, but DID NOT want to get close!

Look at that pure happiness! It makes my heart happy!!

We were told if we wanted to feed the dolphins we should go first thing in the morning, and I'm so glad we did! This was probably my favorite part!

More penguins, and more smiles!! He LOVED THEM!!

And of course we couldn't go to Seaworld and not see SHAMU!! I must admit the show gave me goose bumps...maybe it was the music??

We left the park around lunch time, had lunch at Rudy's (LOVE!), and had a much needed nap!

We played at the hotel then headed out to dinner.

After dinner it was back for a little more Sea world fun!! Again, the sun was starting to go down and it felt great out! We had fun in the Bay of Play!

Mommy and Jace

Daddy and Bren

We saw more animals and Jake and I even got a chance to ride a few roller coasters!!

The next morning we did a little swimming at the hotel before heading out.

Jace and his new goggles!

The little princess was pooped!

I'm so glad we took the time to get away from "the everyday" to have this family time!

Little Tumbler!

2011-06-23T22:47:00.000-05:00

SO BEHIND HERE!

So sorry for the lack of posts! SO much has been going on that I need to blog about, but since SO much has been going on there is little time left to blog. But I will try my hardest to catch you up to speed in the next week! Just be warned there will be lots of pictures and few words...

First is Gymnastics! Jace finished his first semester of gymnastics at the end of May. Jeremy, Aimee, and Gavin happened to come into town, for Scotty's graduation, just in time to come to his program!

Gavin LOVED the gym! After being on a plane all day, he had so much fun running and jumping all over the place!

Baby Greyson even came out to show his support!!

Jace waiting for his turn to be announced. Such a little cutie!

...forward roll!

Warm up...

Balance Beam!

High bar!

He even got a medal when he was all done! After we left, he said he "wanted to pretend the medal was for football." Is he a coach's son or what!

He had so much fun and can't wait to start again in the fall!

Summer Break is Here!

2011-05-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

Last week was the last week of the school year for my kids, which meant the End of the Year Program! Even though I asked MANY times to hear a sneak peek of Jace's songs, he wouldn't sing them for me, so this was the first time I heard them! Jace looked like such a big boy up there, singing his little heart out!

Uncle Scotty couldn't make it, but Kendal did!

And Aunt Lo and GREYSON!!! Brenely and I both had pink eye earlier that week, so this was the first time we had seen him in about a week. We were all SO HAPPY to get to love on him again!! Nana and Papaw came too, but left before we stopped to take pictures.

Family Pic!

Love this little guy! And we still fight over who gets to hold him!

Jace wins most of the time! Such a proud BIG cousin!

We still have to keep an eye on little princess when she's near Greyson. She hasn't quite gotten the concept of "GENTLE!"

The kids just LOVE IT when I make them sit still for a few random pictures...

can you tell?

This one made me laugh... look closely at Bren's nose!

Little lights of my life!

Oh how this little lady has Dad wrapped around her finger!

So the end of school means the begining of SUMMER!! We didn't waste anytime getting out the Backyard blowup pool! My mom found this one when she was cleaning out her garage and gave it to the kids. IT'S HUGE!! So huge I haven't filled it all the way up because it makes me nervous with Brenley in there! When we first got it out, the kids couldn't even wait for it to fill up, they had to get in it right away!!

And their are lots of projects my Mr. is working on for me, and his summer hasn't even officially started!! Pics of our little home improvement projects to come soon!!

I just love summer time! I love the pool, I love getting TAN!! I love having Jake home more!! Yesterday I booked a little weekend family getaway to Seaworld!! Jace can't wait, the first thing he asked when he woke up this morning was

"Are we going to Sea World today??"

Well I'm off to shower and make a dessert for our Pimentel Family dinner tonight!! Jeremy, Aimee, and our sweet Gavin are in route to Texas as we speak!!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!!

In case you are in the area...

2011-05-17T13:44:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to help spread the word about the Wetherell's Family garage sale. Jake and I have known Cory and Andy since college. We don't get to see them, and Little Whitt, as often as we would like, but are thrilled about this journey they are on!

So if you are in the area, stop by and check it out!

Just a little Bragging...

2011-05-16T17:55:00.000-05:00

I just had to take a minute and do a little bragging on my Mr. He has just finished another track season and his Lady Crusaders won the State Title for a 3rd year in a row!! I don't have any pics from that meet because Jace and I weren't able to go after all, but I did want to give a little sneak peak to the collection that has started...

Jake isn't one to flaunt his successes or make a deal about anything, so these hang quietly in his closet, seen only by him, and me when I'm putting away his laundry :)

Tonight, the Mayor of Tomball is naming this day "Concordia Lutheran Lady Crusader Track Day" to honor their accomplishments! I am so proud of Jake and his team and all of the hard work that they put in!

Greyson Max Chesser

2011-05-11T16:20:00.000-05:00

Meet the newest addition to our family, Greyson Max Chesser!

My sweet little nephew FINALLY decided to come out of his warm cozy spot on Friday,

April 29, 2011 at 3:21 am. He weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 21 inches long.

I was so scared I was going to miss him debut! I dropped the kids off at MDO Thursday morning and went to the hospital, waited there all day, then picked the kids up from MDO. We went back to the hospital until Jake came to pick the kids up when he left work. Then I waited all night as the hours slowly crept by (I know they crept much slower for Lorie!) I knew, no matter what, I had to be back home by 5 am so Jake could leave for work. (He doesn't normally leave that early, but that day he had a Regional Track Meet and they were leaving the school early.) As we were reaching the early morning hours I was so worried I would miss him, but finally after over 2 hours of Lorie pushing, he was here! We were standing right outside of the door and heard his first little cries! I got to go into the room to see him about 10 minutes (which then seemed like FOREVER) after he was born.

This is one of the first pictures I got of his sweet little face. He was already enjoying snuggle time with his proud and very tired mommy! I am so proud of Lorie and the LONG almost 24 hours she endured!

We LOVE Dr. Cheng! She delivered both of my children and is just amazing!

I can't get enough if this little cutie!!

Greyson meeting Papaw...

and Nana!!

Shane is probably talking about Fishing to him...

And he got to meet his SUPER PROUD sister that morning after she woke up to find out her baby brother had arrived!!

Love those cheeks!!

Ava really couldn't get enough of him!

Beautiful Mommy with her baby boy!

Ready to go home...or maybe not...

The Chesser's were so excited to have another boy!

Big Sister and Little Brother!

Jace just LOVES his little cousin! I don't get to hold Greyson near as much as I want to because Jace ~~hogs him up~~ loves him so much!

Brenley loves him too, but we are still working on being "Really Gentle" with him!

(Something that doesn't come easily to my little lady!)

Such a little angel!

We love you so much Sweet Greyson! And I can't wait to see you grow up into a little man! (But please not too fast!!)

Easter 2011

2011-05-09T14:15:00.002-05:00

One of the perks of Jake's job is holiday breaks. We were able to head to Victoria early Friday for our Easter celebrations! I love Easter with his family because it's one of the few holidays that EVERYONE makes it to and they have so many Easter Traditions!

First is coloring the eggs for the hunt! The kids just LOVE THIS!!

Everyone eager to start!

They all picked their colors! Of course Jace picked BLUE, like father, like son!

Mia

Dominic

Brenley thought the color tablet was candy aaannnnnddddd tried to eat it!

Elise wasn't really interested in the egg thing, but she looked so cute in her little apron!

All done!

They had a bounce house! The grown ups enjoyed it too!

Of course, an insane egg hunt! There were so many eggs, the kids (there are only 7 of them) got tired of picking up eggs and just left the rest out in the yard!

There was LOTS of candy....

and swinging!

And a pinata!

They even had a pinata for the "big kids!" I'm not posting pics of that because we all made pretty horrible faces as we tried to break that thing! We also do an egg toss. Jacob and I usually do pretty well, and we did this year too, but this year our egg broke all over my face! I know, "never catch it in front of your face!" but it was getting dark and by the time I saw it, I didn't have a choice! You do know who my husband/egg toss partner is, right??? Not catching it was NOT an option! I would have NEVER heard the end of it!

Sunday after brunch, we headed to Navasota for the Pimentel Easter!
The Pimentel egg hunt is always BIG because there are SO MANY KIDS!!!

So handsome!

We had a great Easter holiday, and although it involved alot of driving, we enjoyed spending time with all of our family!

Jace's first soccer season!

2011-04-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

My little guy is growing up so fast, too fast for this Mommy. A few weeks ago he started his first soccer season.

We were so excited to go out and cheer him on!

Look at my little cutie!

He takes his sports VERY SERIOUSLY! He ran his little heart out! He fell and scraped his hand and just jumped back up and went after the ball!

He also loves having Uncle Scotty as his coach!

Jace with his teammate/buddy, Hallie!

And on another note, I will have a new Nephew at the end of this week! Can't wait to meet little Greyson!

Pics will come ASAP when her arrives!!

Texas Relays 2011

2011-04-18T14:11:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Jace and I went to Austin to watch Jake's track team run in the Texas Relays. (Sorry I didn't upload the pics in order) The girl's 3 relay teams made it in! I was so excited for them to have the opportunity to run in such a huge meet. All three relays ran great in the prelims Friday and all qualified for the finals! Saturday was a LONG day. First up was the 4x200. As you can see from the pic below, it was a CLOSE ONE! In lane 4, they came in .03 seconds behind first place! The girls ran an amazing race!

The second relay was the 4x100. I didn't get any good pictures because I didn't realize they were running until right before they started and didn't have a great view. The girls placed 7th.

We ended the long day with the 4x400.

Beth got the girls off to a great start!

Leslie pulled them into 2nd place!

It didn't take Katy long to pass first place...

...and Jessie finished the job! The girls made sure this wasn't a close finish! They set a new school record of 3:57.4!! Jacob has been waiting for them to break 4 minutes so he was doubly excited!!

4x400 relay team with their coach who couldn't stop grinning ear to ear!

My little traveling buddy! It was so great to have some quality Jace and Mommy time! Look at my little Handsome!

I'm a lucky girl, I have TWO handsomes!

Even though the stadium was so big and the gun shots weren't loud, Jace HAD to cover his ears every time! If we were walking and he heard "On your mark" he would stop and cover his ears. Or when he was eating a snow cone, he would put it down EVERY TIME! Silly Boy!

NERVOUS COACH!

Jacob's cousin and her family live in Austin and were kind enough to let Jace and I stay the night. We had so much fun spending time with them! They even came out to the meet on Saturday. Jace loved having Mia there to help time pass! These two are only 6 weeks apart and get along so well!

Little Elise was such a good girl at the meet! And she LOVED getting to eat popcorn while Grandma and Grandpa were watching her!

Trying to find shade on the sunny Texas day.

I am so proud of the Lady Saders and the great job they did! And of course so proud of Jacob!

We had so much fun, but missed our little princess! So thankful that my sister and mom took such good care of her while we were gone!

Recipe Roundup!

2011-04-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to write this post for a week now, so FINALLY! I love it when my fellow bloggers share recipes. I sometimes feel like I make the same things every week, so I love finding new EASY and great tasting ideas for dinner!

First, if you haven't discovered this little gem, you need to try it soon! This is great for nights when you don't have a lotof prep time. I actually used this tonight with fettuccine noodles and shrimp. I just cooked the noodles, sauteed the shrimp. Once the shrimp was cooked, I added the cooking creme and noodles... that's it! SO SUPER EASY PEASY!

Last week I made THIS, Island Chicken, and it was delicious! and again, EASY!

I am a huge fan of armommy.com and their weekly meal plans. These are on my list for the week...

feta chicken with zucchini and

crock pot pork chops!

So incase you haven't noticed the common theme in these recipes, I LOVE EASY! and recipes that don't require a long list of ingredients I don't already have in my cabinet :)

Enjoy!

My little cuties!

2011-03-23T21:38:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure why I've been so bad at blogging lately, we haven't been super crazy busy. I guess I've just been busy with my little ones and doing a little redecorating of the house. But I must get better at posting, because it's so fun to look back and see how much they've changed in such a short amount of time...well fun but a little sad at the same time...

A few weeks ago the kids had Rodeo Day at MDO! Jace loved wearing his boots and hat to school and I made Brenley a cute little outfit too! Here they are ready to go!

(Mimi sent Jace a new cowboy hat and Bren a denim purse, but I forgot to put them on for the pic, we were running late, as usual!)

We also recently dog sat our favorite little "puppy friend," as Jace calls her. Francis stayed with us for almost a week and slept in Jace's room every night. He loved having her!

Brenley loved to patronize her! (and yes, she is still wearing Christmas pj's)

We spent last Saturday morning visiting GG and PawPaw! We had so much fun and the kids were worn out!

Last week we were so excited that Gavin AND Ava were in town! It's not very often that all four grandkids are together. Ava lives in Dallas and Gavin in San Diego. My kids had so much fun getting to play with their cousins!

Of course we had to set them all down for a group picture!

I just can't believe how quickly my little babies are growing.Here's just a little of what they are doing these days...

Brenley is just as ~~wild~~ energetic as ever!
She talks NON STOP! She repeats EVERYTHING! Some of my favorites:

"Pequino"=Mesquito (we still aren't to sure why it comes out like that)
"Why??" she asks this EVERY time I tell her to do, or stop doing something.
"Tudory"= tutoring
"Said so?"= Because I said so (Jake's answer to her when she asks why)
"Mewly"=Milli (my parent's dog)

She loves all things girly, like braclets, nail polish, and make up
She now has an opinion about what she wears, right down to her shoes!
When she gives you a kiss, she must also give you a hug

Jace has learned to write his name! He goes to turtoring with Aunt Lo once and week.
He started gymnastics last month and LOVES IT! He starts soccer next month!
He is more into football right now then ever before (I didn't think that was possible) He loves to watch highlight film that Jake brought home for him.)
He REALLY wants a "puppy friend." He loves animals and I think we may have to give in soon.

So there's a quick update! And I have a great and easy shrimp taco recipe I will share soon!

Go Green!

2011-02-28T20:07:00.001-06:00

This post is very late, but better late than never!

Well it looks like we will be wearing GREEN AND WHITE next football season! My youngest brother, Scotty, signed a letter of intent to play football for Lon Morris Jr. College this fall! We are so very proud of Scotty, and are even more excited that he will be close enough, less then 3 hours away, for us to make his games!

We were all there to watch him take part in the National Signing Day!

Here is Scotty's biggest little fan!

Congratulations Scotty! We can't wait to cheer you on as a Bearkat!!

Sunny Days!

2011-01-31T11:36:00.001-06:00

We have just LOVED this beautiful weather we've had all weekend!

Friday was just too perfect to stay indoors, so we packed up a lunch and headed to our favorite park! We played and played and played, then took a quick break for lunch. The kids found a stray cat that caught their attention so we had to give him water and a few Cheerios. Finally we headed back to the playground and saw that one of Jace's classmates had come to play, and his sister is in Bren's class, so they both had little buddies to play with! Needless to say, we ended up staying alot longer then I had planned, but the kids were just having too much fun!

Saturday morning was spent playing outside with Daddy! And after naps, it was off to Nana and Papaw's to play while Jake and I had dinner with college friends that we haven't seen in a while!

Sunday was church, lunch, then naps, but after naps we headed out to the school playground by our house. (Did you know that school playgrounds are open to the community when school is out? My Kindergarten teacher sister informed me of that! Which is great because there is an Elementary School RIGHT across the street from our neighborhood!)

So before the rainy and COLD weather comes tomorrow, I leave you with some sunny and adorable pictures of my sweets!

Look at that hair blowing in the wind!!

Happy Monday and STAY WARM!! :)

January Catch-up!

2011-01-27T15:30:00.025-06:00

Where does the time go?? January is over in a few days and on to see what February has in store. Well for our house, we know February means the beginning of track season. I am so excited to cheer on the Lady Saders as they try to win another State Title!

So what's been happening in our house?? Well a little of this and a little of that, alot of rain filled which means it has been hard to get outside to play. It's a good thing the kids got LOTS of fun new toys for Christmas!

A few weeks ago our little Bren had her very first hair cut! It wasn't really NEEDED, we just trimmed a bit in hopes that getting rid of the baby hair would cause her hair to really start to grow! (That, and the back was starting to resemble a mullet!)

Here she is before Ryan got started, not really sure what to think about the whole thing... At first she seemed ok... ...but then decided she didn't like it!! When it was all over she had a cute little girl bob! Well, in the back, in the front she still looks like she is going bald.

Cold, Rainy days...

...meant we went through ALOT of these!

The kids also had Pajama Day at school this month! Jace thought it was SO COOL to get to wear jammies to school!

We spent last weekend in Victoria visiting family!

One reason was for Great Grandma's 80th Birthday! We had such a great time with everyone celebrating this great woman's life and accomplishments this far! I am so happy that my children have the chance to have her in their lives, and they just LOVE her!
Dominic, Great Grandma, and Jace.

Silly cousins!

Mia loving on Bren.

All of the kids at the party!

The other reason we were excited to visit, was to meet our newest member of our family!

Here is Baby Andrew...

...and this is Baby Nathan!

Jace with Nathan.

and Bren with Andrew! Well that's the quick overview of our month! But I'll leave you with ANOTHER recipe! This one is from Miss Rachael Ray! I made it with chicken, but I think it would also be great with shrimp, or even no meat at all!

Recipes!

2011-01-15T13:20:00.006-06:00

I have really been on the hunt lately for great recipes to try. Sometimes I feel like a get in a dinner rut, and make the same things over and over and over and over (you get the point) again! I love when my blogging friends share recipes so here are a two I've tried over the past few weeks...

Paula Deen recipes NEVER fail me, and this Lemon Pepper and Rosemary Roasted Chicken didn't either! I used chicken quarters, 1. because I had already been to the grocery that week, and that's what I had, and 2. my little family can't eat a whole chicken in one setting... yet.

This recipe was a fun way to get the kids involved! I didn't find the flat pita bread (maybe I didn't know where to look) but I found Deli Flats by Pepperidge Farms in the bread section, and they worked just great! I also substituted the olive oil and tomato sauce for spaghetti sauce. The kids loved "cooking" with Mommy!

Well my kiddos are napping so I think I'll try to do the same, but the Little Lady had her first hair cut today, so pictures of that will be coming soon!

Christmas Part One!

2011-01-08T14:21:00.001-06:00

Finally! Here are pics from the first half of our Christmas season!

The kids had fun putting together their first gingerbread house this Christmas. Well, I should say Jace had fun working on the house, Brenley had fun eating the candy and licking the icing off of her fingers.

Their masterpiece!

On the last day of Mother's Day Out, before Christmas break, the kids had a Christmas Program. This is the first year they even included the little ones in the program. I wasn't sure how Brenley would react on stage with so many people there. She wasn't scared, but she also didn't sing. She did dance around just for a bit and then did this.....

...THE ENTIRE TIME!!!! Yes, my little pretty princess picked her nose through both songs her class sang!!
When she got done Daddy went up to get her! And then it was Jace's turn!

And Jace did GREAT! We had been practicing his songs for a few weeks and he sang his little heart out!

I love this picture, it's Jace and his buddy, Maddox.

The best part of the program??? THE CAKE, of course!

The weekend before Christmas we went to Victoria to spend Christmas with Jake's side of the family. The kids had so much fun playing with Dominic and spending time with Mimi and Popo!

Mimi showed the kids which basket of gifts were theirs. ...and then there were toys EVERYWHERE!

Brenley loved her baby doll with bottle and her baby stroller!

She even got her first pair of diamond earrings!

The weather was so nice that weekend and the boys had so much fun playing outside all day!

Well these three will be joined by TWO more in less then a week! My sister-in-law will deliver her twin boys FRIDAY! I'll post pics of the new additions soon!

My Sweet litte ones, and a sweet treat!

2011-01-05T21:18:00.006-06:00

Why is Jace making this face at his sweet little sister??? Because he knows this is coming!
And guess who has a new BIG BOY bed!!
And I had to share this recipe I heard about here
that she got from here
They are SUPER EASY! and SO DELICIOUS!!

Christmas 2010, Part One...well actually 2

2011-01-04T19:28:00.001-06:00

I don't have the pictures from Part One of our Christmas yet, so I'll start with Part 2!

Christmas Eve dinner was spent with my Mom's side of the family and all of our immediate family was there! Ava was down for the whole week with Shane and Lorie and we had so much fun getting to spend time with her.

Here is Dad with his two oldest grand kids! Here is GG and Pawpaw (my mom's parents) with their "Pimentel" great grand kids. My grandma could win a "Most Beautiful Grandmother" contest :)

Jeremy and Gavin
Our normal family tradition is to open gift all together Christmas morning. Even since I've had kids, we would go over to my parent's house Christmas morning, after opening our gifts at home, in pajama's and open gifts and have breakfast. And let me tell you, I liked the way things have always been. But the past two years we haven't ALL been there. Two years ago Lorie was in Dallas Christmas morning and last year Jeremy was in Afghanistan. So this year we decided to change it up a bit so we could all be together again, especially since Ava was with us. We decided to have our family Christmas on Christmas Eve, after we left the big family Christmas. We put the kids in their pj's, and they made cookies for Santa and food for his reindeer together! The kids had so much fun and it was great to all be together!
Quick family picture before changing the kids.

Scotty and Kendal!

We thought it would be cute to get a picture of the kids all together in their pajamas, everyone was on board except for my little princess. There are no words to explain how it went, so I'll let the pictures show you...

...and of course we had to include Milli in a few :)

Cookie Time!Everyone had a turn to mix.

and we couldn't forget about the reindeer.

The Chesser's

Time for gifts!! And there were ALOT of them!!!

Scotty thought he was getting an Ipod Touch, and was shocked when he realized it was an Iphone 4!

I love my new Stella and Dot ring! Once the cookies were done, Brenley had to try them out!

It was late when we got done and back home, so we put out Santa's cookies and milk and the reindeer food, and the kids went straight to bed!

The kids, ready to go downstairs to see what Santa brought.

Santa brought Jace a pillow pet, just like he asked for!

Jace loved his pillow pet so much that he opened his gifts like this...

...a new diaper bag for her baby doll stuff!

Jake got a Cowboy hat!

Jace testing out his new football tee. Brenley got Hello Kitty toenail polish in her stocking, so I gave her a quick pedi!

That afternoon we had Christmas with my Dad's side of the family.

Nana and Bren.

Jace playing with the puppy.

...love him!

Jeremy and my sweet Gavi! Papa's little Cowboys Fans!

I will get pictures up from our Victoria Christmas soon!

...what we've been up to since October...

2010-12-26T20:27:00.007-06:00

Here's a quick little update since my last post...

The kids love anything that involves crayons, markers, and PAINT. They especially love when they get to do a little face painting! We spent Thanksgiving in Victoria this year. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins! We took our annual trip to Santa's Wonderland early in December this year! The kids had SO MUCH FUN!! They loved the petting zoo, seeing Frosty, the hayride to see the lights, and of course visiting with Santa!!

Jace is such a huge fan of Uncle Scotty so we couldn't miss his Football Banquet! Uncle Scotty received an All District award as well as The Wendell Duffy Memorial Award! We are so proud of you Uncle Scotty!!One of Jace's FAVORITE parts of every Conroe High Football game was when the players ran through the Tiger head, so he was SOOOO EXCITED to be able to walk through it himself at the banquet!!!

More pics and updates to come soon! I promise!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T15:00:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was Wonderful trick or treating weather!! We go to my parent's neighborhood, because the families there really get into it! Of course we had to take a few pictures before the kids started getting tired and in Brenley's case, covered in her sticky sucker!

Mommy and Daddy with our

"Little Stinker" skunk and Abby Cadabby

(Abby's from Sesame Street, in case you don't know)

And by the way, I have no clue what's going on with the picture placement in this post!

Brenley really has her Daddy wrapped around her finger! She made him do all the work for her!

And once she got her first sucker, she was done!

Jace and Bren found their buddies along the way!

Once he had Ty and Hallie with him, Jace didn't need us to help him anymore.

Go Tigers, Go!!!

2010-10-31T17:43:00.002-05:00

Friday was Scotty's last home game. His last game is next Friday, but this was his last game at Moorehead Stadium. We have had so much fun cheering on our Favorite Tiger this year, but I think Jace enjoyed it more then all of us!! Jace after the game with Uncle Scotty! Lorie and I with Scotty.

11 years and 11 inches between my Little brother and I :)

My Little Loves!

2010-10-25T19:59:00.002-05:00

I LOVE these little faces!!

Fall Festivals and Football!

2010-10-24T19:52:00.005-05:00

Sorry again for the horrible job of blogging lately :(.

But here's a little of what we've been up to...

A few weeks ago, Lorie invited us to a fall festival at her school. Jace had so much fun playing the games and Brenley had so much fun just running around!

Here is Jace showing me the duck he picked out! ...tossing the rings!
We were heading to Uncle Scotty's football game after the festival, so Jace decided to have a tiger paw and Uncle Scotty's number painted on his face!
Here he is waiting his turn. Tiger Paw!

...and Uncle Scotty's number! We couldn't leave without riding the train!

The kids waited patiently...

... and finally it was our turn!!

Last Sunday we went to our first Texans Game! Jace soaked it all in for the first quarter, but quickly got bored with no room to run!

We had so much fun, but since the kids missed their naps, we had to leave early due to a cranky princess... AND MISSED THE TEXANS COMEBACK!! I know, we couldn't believe it either!! Today our church had their annual Celebration Sunday, so it was an afternoon filled with games and fun jumps!

The Firetruck is always a big hit too!

Jace trying his skills at the hole in one contest! Gavin showing off his "Cheese" face!

Little Princess!!

Ok, I hope to be back soon! :)

Our Little Dancer

2010-10-13T12:02:00.000-05:00

Last Friday the kids and I finally made it to a Sader game! It was Homecoming, always fun! And they WON! Of course everyone was excited after the game, but I don't think anyone Celebrated as much as our Little Dancer!!

We're still here!!

2010-10-11T11:04:00.002-05:00

Well, we are still here, just still busy! Here's the quick rundown of whats been going down...

The kids are settling into their new classes at school. I knew Jace would do great, like always, but I was a bit worried about little B in the beginning. She had a rough first week or two, but now she is doing GREAT! She is little Miss Social!

Jake's football season is going great! I wish I could say the same for the Tigers... but that's ok, we still LOVE going to cheer on Uncle Scotty! Jace is all football, all the time! We never leave home without his helmet and ball!

Last week we went downtown (Conroe) for the Homecoming Parade

and pep rally!

Here are the kids waiting for Uncle Scotty to come by. Gavin is here for a few weeks and he LOVED seeing all the kids and

hearing the band!
Brenley and Aunt Lo waiving to everyone!

Finally Uncle Scotty came by!!

Here is Jace during "Tiger Boogie!", such team spirit he has!!

We have been loving this beautiful weather and spending as much time outside as possible! Jake will be home early today, so we are planning to search the pumpkin patch for our perfect pumpkins for carving!!

First Week of School Run Down and a Recipe

2010-09-09T20:47:00.008-05:00

My little babes started back to their Mother's Day Out program this week. They go Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9-2:30 so I can go into work for a few hours. Monday night Jace was so excited when he went to bed because he was ready to start back. They had meet the teacher the week before and he got to see his friends again so the whole weekend that was all he talked about!

Well here is the quick run down of how their first week went...

Day one: Jace did wonderful! Went potty like a big boy, played nice, ate all of his lunch. He didn't sleep during rest time, but stayed quiet and rested. Brenley refused to eat or drink anything, a "floater" teacher spent the whole morning with her, and on her daily report she had check marks next to "cranky" and "tired."
Day Two: Jace again great! Went potty, but aimed poorly once and had to change his pants, did sleep during rest time, and painted two beautiful pictures! Brenley, again refused to eat, insisted on sitting in the high chair to watch the other kids play, rather then actually getting down and play with them, and was again "cranky" and "tired."
Day Three: Jace, wonderful again, great aim all day, ate all of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich I surprised him with in his lunch, and took a good nap. Brenley, was actually sitting on the ground in a teacher's lap, somewhat interacting with another kid, when I picked her up. Ate her graham crackers from her lunch (I packed about 5 different things, hoping she would see SOMETHING she would eat), drank almost all of her juice, and only had a check mark next to "tired!!" They both have really great teachers, and Brenley's are so patient with her and understand that she will just have to get adjusted to her surroundings.

We were running late, so I didn't get many pictures of their first day, but I will leave you with one I took right before we left the house. It's a bit foggy because we walked out of the cold house into the muggy outdoors... and Jace is still a bit tired :).

Ok, well I had a request for my Chicken and Rice recipe, so I thought I'd share with everyone. It's really not mine, it's my mother-in-law's. It's Jacob's FAVORITE thing she makes, (it's actually "Arroz con pollo" so after we got married, I had to learn to make it :). It is SOOOO easy it's not even funny but also SOOOO yummy! I don't have exact measurements, I have just gotten better at it from making it so much...

First you just boil chicken. You can use a whole chicken and pull it from the bone once cooked, or just cut up a cooked chicken breast or tenders.

In a medium sauce pan (or large, depending on how much you are making) pour in a little oil (just enough to almost cover the bottom of the pan) and your rice over medium heat, and let your rice brown. To feed our little family I use one cup of rice, and we have plenty left over for Jake to take to lunch the next day. Once your rice has browned a bit, add in water. (Double the amount of rice you used, so for one cup of rice I add in 2 cups of water.) And get ready for steam and sizzle!

Add in tomato sauce, the more sauce you add the more red your rice will be. I usually use about 1/4 to 1/3 of the can.

Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and cooked cut chicken.

I use a lot of salt. When I think I've used enough, I add a bit more. And I don't use a lot of pepper, because I don't want it to be too spicy for the kids.

Stir everything together, you can also dip your finger in the liquid and get an idea of the taste. You can definitely tell if it's too bland or needs more of something (in my case, it's usually salt.)

Put a lid on your pot and turn the heat to medium/high for 6 minutes. Once that is up, turn the heat down to low for another 6 minutes. During this time, DO NOT LIFT THE LID!!!

AT ALL!!! FOR ANY REASON!!! Jake's grandma just stressed that to me, and I haven't had a problem since I've followed her orders! :)

When the second 6 minutes are up, I just turn the heat off, still not lifting the lid, until we are ready to eat. The steam just continues to cook the rice. By the time the whole 12 minutes are up, I am still pouring drinks, or getting kids in their seats, or waiting on Jake to get home, so I just leave it.

When you are ready to eat and you finally do lift the lid, you will need to turn the rice a bit to mix everything a little more, but you should find perfectly fluffy rice in your pot!!

I hope someone can use this as much as we do! I love to make this when I don't have much time to cook, or it's a day when the kids are needing "extra" attention from me and I can't pull myself away for too long!

I hope everyone has a happy weekend!!

Brenley's First Year at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-09-08T22:14:00.001-05:00

Two months late, but it's FINALLY done!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Two of my favorite little faces!

2010-09-03T12:53:00.006-05:00

Here are just a few pics of my cuties that I've gotten over the past week with my new toy!!

Brenley LOVES her play jewlery! She likes the real stuff to. Most of the time I have to take off the necklace or bracelet I'm wearing because she wants to wear it!

This was Jace when we got home from his 3 year well check up where he got a shot... poor baby!
She loves when mommy makes chicken and rice!!

Fun at the park!

She's not afraid to try anything!

And Jace was feeling brave too!

She reached the top, with a little help!

Sadly, I bumped my camera lense that day at the park, and my auto focus stopped working (I really wanted to cry!), so it is being repaired at the moment. At least I still have my trusty point and shoot to capture these adorable little babies of mine!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T09:32:00.003-05:00