A conversation overheard at Easter Brunch

Friend (laughing):  Hey Brandon, what were your thoughts on the pastel sweater vests your wife forced your kids to wear?

Brandon:  I am a big fan.  I am secure enough in my manhood to wear pastels and am teaching my kids the same . . .

(Tate walks into the room)

Friend:  Hey Tate, is purple a girl color or a boy color?

Tate:  There is no such thing as girl colors or boy colors.

Friend:  Well played,Tate.  Well played. 

Happy Easter!

We had an eventful weekend full of lots of Easter themed activities . . . breakfast with the Easter Bunny, Easter brunches, and more egg hunts than I can remember.  The kids had a blast.  This is the first year that Tate would agree to have his photo with the Easter Bunny. 

Coy, however, made it very clear with screaming and holding on for dear life that he would be going no where near this horifying creature.  And, really, do you blame him?

He was a fan of the egg hunts though, especially when he discovered the eggs held candy.

We hope you had a great Easter holiday, too!

Dear Santa . . . . the follow-up

For those of you dying to know, Tate must have impressed Santa because he got most of the things on his list, including the long coveted "bumble bee head with the power". 

Coy didn't do so bad himself.  If you notice, the lighting in Coy's photo is much different.  This is because he slept through most of the entire early morning festivities. 

Of course, the night before he was also awake well past all the other kids and may or may not have witnessed Santa's arrival.

Dear Santa . . . .

I am sure this will leave you no questions as to what he wants for Christmas, unless, of course, you are unfamiliar with this year's ever popular toy "bumblebee thing with the power that has the head"
(And yes, he can write his own name - I am so proud)

Christmas through the years . . . .

Each year at Christmas, I take a photo of the boys each wearing a Santa hat. Typically, I have used these photos for the Christmas card. This year I opted for something different on the Christmas card, but to keep the tradition alive, I still took the photos in the hats. Here is a montage of how the kids have changed . . .

TATE!

COY!

Is Christmas really only one week away?

Whew! The last few weeks have just flown by. . . . here are some quick updates on what we have had going on.

Grandma Tanya and Grandpa Val came out for a visit over Thanksgiving. We had lots of fun, though not many pictures to prove it -oops! We got to go see the ICE! exhibit, which featured scenes from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" carved out of ice. It is very cool, especially because this story is one that Tate LOVES. The photos are few and not great, but here's what I got (we took most of the photos with Grandma's camera and I forgot to download the photos before they left).

A week or so ago, we got bundled up and went to Christmas light parade.  It was mostly old classic cars spruced up with Christmas lights, but the kids had fun.  Plus, it was a small town parade, so they threw candy. 

We have been preparing for Christmas and the kids are getting really excited. Even Coy, who recognizes and calls out EVERY Santa we see with a "Tanta, Tanta".

Whew! Since when was Halloween a week long event?

Here it is, 10PM on Halloween night. The costumes have been worn, the candy has been gathered and I am exhausted. We have definitely had a VERY eventful week. It started on Tuesday with a Halloween Carnival at the YMCA. On Wednesday, it was the "Fall Festival" at Tate's pre-school. Then on to Scare on the Square on Friday - a very cool trick-or-treating event put on by our city. It is in the historic district of downtown McKinney. The city blocks off traffic to the historic "square", and the restaurant and show owners line the sidewalks to hand out candy to the kids. We were amazed at how many people showed up (we tried to capture the crowd in the photo below). It was very cool. The grand finale was, of course, tonight. We started this afternoon with pumpkin carving (I know, a little bit late). Then on to dinner with friends, and then out for the gathering of the candy. The kids had a great time. Through all the events, Coy was perfectly happy as long as there was a lollipop in his mouth at all times. And tell me this, have you every seen a cuter Monkey?
For the record, if you ask Tate, he is a "bonehead pirate" and Coy is his "monkey friend". For those of you unfamiliar with this particular "Tater-ism", a bonehead is a skeleton.

Celebrating our Independence in the heart of America

Over the 4th, we packed up the car and traveled out to the Ozark mountains in Arkansas to celebrate Independence day "country style". Our friends have family that live in this area and they were nice enough to invite us along. We had a blast.
We stayed in an out building of a 100 year old farmhouse. Or more specifically, we were bunked out in the 5th wheel trailer parked behind one of the barns. Tate thought his bed, which by day was the dinette, was awesome.
There were 4-wheeler and tractor rides, exploring, and generally just relaxing. At a hour away from the closest town, we had to get creative for ways to keep the kids occupied. But, we had a blast. For those of you who haven't been to Arkansas, it is truly beautiful and I was happy to get to see it for myself.

Don't file a missing person's report, I have been found

I got online today to do some work, check my facebook account, and catch up on all my blog reading when I saw it and was horrified . . . . THE DATE OF MY LAST POST -- GASP! March 19, 2009. I can't really believe it has been that long since I put something on the blog. The worst part is I don't have any good excuses. I am utterly embarrassed and if there is anyone left who is checking back, I promise I will do better. . . . here are some highlights on what we have had going on (in no specific order).

1. Coy is finally crawling. And though I was really anxious for him to start (solely because the doctor gave him a crawling deadline), I am now wishing he would stop. So much for trying to get anything done when he is awake . . . .


2. Tate has been learning one of life's hard lessons: Although little brothers are really fun when they laugh at all your tricks, they also do things like to touch your things and wreck your toys.

From Living, Laughing & Learning

3. G-Ma Mellie and Grandpa Scott came out for a visit. We didn't do much, but we had fun just hanging out.
4. We had a new patio cover put on the house and we now have a new "outdoor living space". It's AWESOME. Those of you familiar with the Texas sun can attest to how valuable this is . . . Some more photos to come once we get everything cleaned up, some flowers planted, and all the junk hauled away (see number 5)
5. It has been raining and/or overcast for what seems like 2 weeks straight. The ground is over saturated and can hold no more water. The result is a swampy yard and a mud covered patio. The good news is the sun came out today. Now, only if the landscaping would magically appear and the mud spontaneously disappear.
6. I spent a weekend in early April in Utah to celebrate my grandpa's 80th birthday. It was so nice to have some time alone time with my sisters and to visit with my family.
7. The Easter bunny was good to Tate and Coy this year . The best part for Tate was the Easter Egg hunts and discovering what was hidden in the eggs.

Merry Christmas to us!

Christmas was especially fun this year because it was the first year that Tate really "got it". And, boy, was he excited. We started out the season with a new tradition. Our family had a visitor, an elf named Zeke, who stayed with us from the beginning of December through Christmas eve. Zeke watched the kids (and the adults) to make sure we were behaving, and listening closely to find out what we wanted Santa to bring for us. Each night, Zeke would travel back to the North Pole to give Santa the update and when he returned he would find a new place to hide in the house. Tate loved to find Zeke's new spot in the house every morning. And, given the fact that he continues to ask "Where's Zeke?", I think it is safe to say he is excited for him to come back next year. When I was growing up, my friend Texie had an elf during the holiday season and I was always so jealous . . .

Tate must have impressed Zeke because he got the one thing he asked for from Santa -- a BIG race track. In the raw video footage, the time counter is over 10 minutes before we can distract Tate from the race track to show him that there were other presents for him. And to think, Santa could have saved some big bucks by just bringing only the race track.

After the gift unwrapping marathon, we had some friends come over. The kids played with the toys and the adults ate too much. All in all, a great Christmas. We hope yours was great, too!

Another Crazy Trip to Utah . . .

Another year and another Thanksgiving . . . it is times like these that I wish we all lived closer and could spend more time together. And, I hate that I didn't take enough photos to capture the memories: the cousins playing football in the backyard, the entire family gathered in the living room to eat turkey dinner, Coy being held by his great grandma for the first time. I have two cameras . . you would think I could make it happen. Maybe I will put in on the list of resolutions for next year. The big question is - should it come before or after "stop letting the topic of poop rule conversations with other parents"?

For what it is worth, here are the memories I did happen to capture. . . . I miss you all and can't wait until next time!

Uncle Chris & Coy

Grandpa Val & Coy

Kate

Tate & Zach

(or "Za-yack" as Tate pronounces it with his southern accent)

The boys getting a lesson before their beating, uh, I mean, fun family outing to the indoor surfing center

Tate and Ella coloring

(right before the fight broke out over the orange marker)

G-Ma and the boys!

G-Pa and the Boys