The Pools

2009-08-14T21:43:00.008-05:00

Finally...more of the story. :)

The day after we got home from Houston, we had to repack for SOAR in Grapevine at the Gaylord Texan. Eli loves going to SOAR, and he really loved the hotel this year. We had such a great group go, and we had such a good time. Eli was especially glad that Abi, Zack, and Jordan got to go.

We went a day early to go to the Ranger's game. Eli was in a rare picture taking mood. I'm going to have to post most of them, because they all make me laugh.

LOL!!! I had never seen Michael pose silly before. If I ever need a laugh, I can just go look through these pics.

The next morning, we went to the mall for shopping and lunch before SOAR began. Zack took Eli on the carousal.

In between sessions we got to play some Wii at the SOAR villages big screens.

The second day of SOAR, there was a long break, so we went to Six Flags. Eli had fun riding all the rides for his age, and Ethan even got to ride some too.

I couldn't believe that Ethan got to ride these airplanes, but he had so much fun. He thought he was a big boy.

Ethan enjoyed Eli's popcorn chicken while Eli was riding the rollercoaster.

That day was also July 2nd, Uncle Zack's birthday, so when they got back from Six Flags (Mommy, Abi, Eli, and Ethan left early). We have Zack his cookie cake. I think that Eli looks so much like Zack in this picture.

I only had one picture from the actual SOAR conference. We really did go, and we heard some wonderful messages about fellowship along with this fun.

2009-07-29T21:49:00.015-05:00

We had so much fun on our vacation to Houston. It was so good to spend that time together. For those of you who don't know, we chose Houston because Eli is into "rocket ships" this year. He has been looking forward to his "rocket ship" birthday party, that since the trip has turned into a "space shuttle" party. We left early on a Thursday morning to be at the Houston aquarium when it opened. Eli was scared to death at first and wouldn't even walk. Ethan wanted to touch the fish.

Our favorite part inside the aquarium was the white tiger oddly enough. We watched him play with his ball for a while.

Eli also got to ride the carousal.

After the aquarium and lunch, we went over to the Science Museum. Again, Eli was scared to death of the huge dinosaurs in the museum, but he wasn't too afraid to act like a dinosaur in the gift shop.

That night we went to the Galleria for some shopping and to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The next morning we headed to NASA. Guess what...Eli was scared. He wouldn't even walk in at first. We finally got him in and got him to start participating in some pictures.

After NASA we headed to Galveston to the beach. I didn't even change the boys into their swimsuits, because I really thought that there was no way Eli would get in the water. I was wrong. They both loved it. Eli's favorite part was jumping the waves, and Ethan would take off crawling into the water and not stop until we stopped him.

To get back to our hotel, we took the very long way around to go let Eli ride the ferry. He will tell you that it was one of his favorite parts. We drove along Crystal Beach and through High Island, which I have heard so much about in my life. Michael also got to eat at Cracker Barrel, his favorite, on the way back. We ate at the Cracker Barrel in Baytown, which turns out to be right next to Zack's new apartment.

The next day we took a very quick trip to the Houston Zoo. We watched a Sea Lion show first, and then went on to see the other animals. Eli pulled up and said, "Yep. There are the giraffes. Let's go to the next animal." Michael and I were fine with that though. It was extremely hot.

Since the boys liked the beach so much, we decided to go back the next day for a longer amount of time and more prepared. They loved it again. Ethan loved the water and getting dirty. At one point he had picked a handful of sand and put it right on top of his head.

The funniest part of the whole trip was Ethan's new friend that he met on the beach. LOL He saw this man with his wife and two teenage daughters who had been eyeing him and smiling at him but did not speak English. Ethan began smiling back at him and then started holding his arms up to him. They were still a little ways away though. The man would just raise his arms too. Then Ethan started crawling towards him. He stopped, raised his arms, and the man raised his arms back. So Ethan kept crawling until he got to the man, who picked him up. Ethan just looked at him and played with his face. All the man kept saying was, "Beautiful baby." He tried to put Ethan down once, and Ethan clung onto him. It was so funny, but I was wishing that Michael would come back to the beach from out in the water. Ethan enjoyed making a "nuevo amigo."

The boys slept so well the last night of our Houston vacation.

Catching Up

2009-07-28T22:38:00.006-05:00

I'm so behind! It seems like we have been going nonstop all summer, which is not far from the truth. To catch up I'm just going to have to just post some of my favorite pics from all summer.

The first week that school was out for the summer was VBS. We all had such a good time. The first two pics are from two mornings before VBS started in my classroom. I was actually Eli's teacher, and I loved my class. They were the cutest and so fun.

During that week, Michael, Eli, and I also went to the Gladewater Rodeo with Abi, Poppy, and Henry.

One day, after Eli had gotten a hair cut, he wanted me to spike his hair. Then he took several silly pics for me.

I was so glad that Stephani came over one evening with Noah. I had such a good time visiting with her, and I think the boys had fun playing. Ethan and Noah were making a good team.

The morning after that we left for Houston. Soooo many Houston pics to come...I promise.

2009-06-21T12:44:00.005-05:00

The Friday after school was out, Mom, Eli, Ethan, and I made a flying trip to Austin for my cousin Kelsey's graduation. Dad couldn't go, because he had to be here for Harmony's graduation. Poor Ethan really did pretty well for riding straight there, and Eli was just so ready to see Grandmama, Grandaddy, Uncle Jay, Aunt Lisa, Kelsey, and Clay. As soon as we got there, Ethan crawled around for a while. Eli went outside to see the deer with Grandmama, and then to play football with Clay. Clay ended up sending the football that they played with home with him, and he is so proud of it! It was really good to see and visit with our family, and Kelsey had a very nice graduation ceremony.

Eli & Ethan during graduation.

We were looking for Kelsey. Eli was taking advantage of the fact that Clay would carry him around.

You can see in all the pics that Ethan is ready for some sleep.

Grandmama and Grandaddy's GRANDkids minus Zack. :)

Our trip home took many more hours than it should have. We got to stop several places and visit with Mimi and John for a bit. As soon as we got home we had to get to work on VBS. The rest of our weekend was spent preparing for Monday morning, and things have not stopped since then.

2009-06-04T09:29:00.002-05:00

We had pics taken with Brandy at Hugs & Hissyfits. I can't put the actual pictures on my blog, but here's the link if anyone is interested in looking at them. Let me know if you want one too.

http://www.hugsandhissyfitsphotography.com/proofs/

2009-06-02T14:32:00.003-05:00

The four of us went swimming together at Mom and Dad's for the first time yesterday. Eli has been with Grandaddy, but it was the first time for Mommy, Daddy, & Ethan. Ethan loved the water. He's going to be just like his big brother.

We can't wait to spend more time in the water this summer.

2009-06-01T23:40:00.004-05:00

Eli played on a slip n' slide for the first time last week at Maddie's house. He has decided that he loves it, and we have to get one (which also excites his daddy).

When he first started he was tip-toeing down the slide.

Then he started running faster...

and decided that it was so much fun that he had to sprint!

2009-05-27T15:21:00.006-05:00

After leaving Great Wolf Lodge, we all met at the Rainforest Cafe. Eli has been to one other one, and was terrified the whole time. He screamed until we left when he saw the frog mascot. You can notice in these pics that he can't take his eyes off of his suroundings long enough to take a good picture. Ethan, on the other hand, loved it and loved eating Maddies corn.

After leaving Rainforest Cafe, we had some time to waste in the mall before leaving for the Ranger's game. Tiffany and I had already shopped our way all the way around the mall before the men and kids got there, so we took the kids to play at a Thomas the Train play place. They got to ride the train a couple of times and play in the other play areas.

As you can tell, Maddie loved the train ride.

Ethan was in his stroller, but still enjoyed himself. Look at that molar. He's had it for a while.

There were other, bigger slides, but Eli likes this little one best. It must have been fun. It threw him on his face every single time that he slid down it. We got some laughs.

The Ranger's game was pretty warm, but we all had a good time. Eli even liked the fire work show afterwards.

We had a wonderful mini vacation and can't wait to go by to Great Wolf Lodge. I'm so glad that we got to go with Tiffany, Patrick, and Maddie. We had a lot of fun with you guys.

2009-05-22T23:42:00.012-05:00

I know that I am so behind on this blogging thing. Sorry that I haven't updated in so long.

Last Thursday we went to Grapevine to stay at Great Wolf Lodge with some great friends, Tiffany, Patrick, and Maddie. It was so much fun. We spent all day Thursday at the hotel, and then the next morning after breakfast Eli and Michael stayed at the waterpark and played with Patrick and Maddie while Tiffany and I took Ethan and did what we do best. Shopping. :) Eli and Ethan both loved the water park. The place was perfect for them.

Eli's favorite part was shooting water from one of these "wave runners".

Eli was a little scared at first, but after he warmed up he loved the slides. The green one is one of the biggest ones he did. This was the last time I saw him go down it, because he came down head first on his back and got a little too much water.

There are my three boys shooting at eat other.

Ethan was so tired after playing in the water park for several hours. He may not look like it, but he really did have a good time. He even took a good nap in all of that noise.

Eli was not so sure about story time. He's still not to fond of moving talking animals. Ethan spent story time eating and then crawling all over the place.

After everyone left story time we tried to get some cute pics of the kids.

Disney On Ice

2009-04-30T13:14:00.010-05:00

Eli, Ethan, & Mommy got to go with Tiffany & Maddie to go see Disney On Ice. The show was so cute, and it really made Mommy want to go to Disney World! In the show the Incredibles take their family vacation to Disney World. While they're there the bad guy takes Mickey & Minnie and they have to save them. They go through each part of the park trying to do so. They showed Space Mountain, Pioneer Land, Alice & Wonderland and the teacups, Small World, the Haunted Mansion, and The Jungle Book. I can't wait to take the boys!! I would love to take Eli, but Ethan would probably not be very fun there right now.

Intermission=Photoshoot

After the show, we went to the Boardwalk for lunch and shopping.

The kids always like to ride the Carousal at the Boardwalk. Eli always has to ride the "Harmony Eagle".

At lunch, Eli & Maddie spent most of the time face to face, talking, probably scheming. It was cute though.

Before we left we stopped for some pictures by the fountain.

Sweet Friends

THE END!

2009-04-22T10:23:00.004-05:00

We had so much fun at the Rangers' game. We hope to be able to go several more times this season.

Eli and Daddy got a ball during batting practice, and then got it signed by one of the pitchers. Eli got to hit a couple of balls off the tee. That was pretty exciting for him. Look at that little lefty batter.

Thankfully, Dump went with us, and got Ethan to sleep for a short nap.

Eli took 2 dollars of his for the game and the one thing that he wanted to buy was popcorn. Two dollars would not buy popcorn at the field, but he got to get some anyways. It was pretty funny watching him carefully go down the stairs carrying his big bucket of popcorn.

Just had to add that this was after Kinsler hit for the cycle. He and several others had really good games, and it was fun to watch.

Thanks Dump & Grandaddy!

2009-04-17T13:13:00.006-05:00

Ok, this was our last Easter celebration/family get together. We had a wonderful lunch at Abi & Poppy's with another part of the family. Eli had so much fun playing with the bigger kids, and loved hunting eggs with them.

2009-04-16T11:32:00.005-05:00

Eli was so surprised, confused, startled Easter morning to wake up and find Dump, Grandaddy, Grandmama, Grandaddy Jerry, Zack, Jordan, and Abi all at his house. He didn't know what to think at first, but then he got into all of the baseball goodies that the Easter Bunny brought him.

The boys are checking out their baskets for the first time.

Ethan liked Eli's candy filled eggs the best.

Eli had to get Grandaddy Jerry to help him get his new glove ready to play.

The Easter Bunny had to hide the eggs in the house, because it was storming. Eli wasn't too sure about hunting eggs inside.

The boys got to play a little while we finished getting our big breakfast together.

I love these pictures. Ethan wanted both of the eggs. This is one of the first of I know, many, many times that they act like brothers, trying to take things away from each other.

Before we went to church, I wanted to get a good picture of Eli, but he would not put that glove down.

We had a wonderful Easter morning with family.

2009-04-16T11:15:00.003-05:00

On Easter Eve, we had a "party" (as Eli called it) to color eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide at Dump and Grandaddy's house. Eli was so good at it this year. Eli would not allow the party to begin until Grandaddy got home. We got the boys ready for bed, and then when Grandaddy got home, we got busy coloring eggs.

2009-04-13T20:03:00.007-05:00

On Saturday Bill, Delaine, & Jackson hosted the cutest Easter Egg Hunt. There were lots of kids, some fun activities, and they all had such a wonderful time. Eli enjoyed it so much.

During the actual egg hunting Ethan had a photoshoot.

Eli enjoying his Nerds & the bubbles.

Eli decorating his Easter pizza.

Eli had a blast, and now he's about to crash.

2009-04-13T19:37:00.002-05:00

Eli was so excited about all of the egg hunting that he was going to get to do through Easter. It all started on Wednesday night at AWANA. He got to hunt eggs with all of his friends in Cubbies.

On Friday night we went over to Mrs. Ava & Bro. Joe's for dinner, and Andrea came prepared to color Easter eggs. Eli had a lot of fun coloring eggs with Henry & Ryder.

Here is just another cute pic of Ethan that I can't help but share.

2009-04-13T19:12:00.006-05:00

I just like this picture of Eli, Zack, and Dad walking on the field at the trackmeet.

Go Meredith!

It's a Fun, Fun, Sunny Day

2009-04-07T23:14:00.006-05:00

For some reason, I'm liking song titles for the titles of my blog posts. This one is a Barney song, which you may see often, because I know lots and lots of them. :)

Last week, I decided to get out with the three boys. I don't know how smart that was, but they had a lot of fun playing. We went to the library in Longview with Tiffany & Maddie, and then to eat at our favorite lunch spot.

I love these kids, and I absolutely love watching them play together.

Jackson loves playing at this playplace.

Maddie likes Jackson and thinks she's his little babysitter. :)

Just had to put this of my handsome little boy at the bottom of the slide.

Ethan was with us, but he slept all through lunch and playing. This is him after we got home trying to crawl. It won't be very long. :)

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

2009-04-07T23:08:00.002-05:00

Eli had so much fun flying his new kite outside with his Daddy last week. He got so excited when it first started flying each time. He would just start jumping up and down, laughing, and yelling.

Daddy kind of liked it too. He stopped on the way home from work the next morning to get more string so they could fly it even higher.

Singing in the Bath

2009-04-07T18:55:00.006-05:00

One night we were having such a good time during bathtime, that I thought it might be a good time to get Eli singing Count Your Blessings. He got through the first line, and then got silly. He really can sing it better, but I don't know if I'll ever get it on video...unless I bribe him with something really good. I also was not thinking about being able to edit the video. Hope it doesn't hurt your neck.

I also got this cute picture of Ethan after his bath.

Count Your Blessings

2009-03-29T23:39:00.003-05:00

I don't know what was going on, but Eli was extra silly tonight. It must have been that he spent last night and most of the day with his grandparents. There will be no pics with this post, and you will be thankful.

So, Eli will just go to the bathroom by himself, and if he needs my help afterwards (if you know what I mean) he will call me to come "help" him. So he called me tonight. I go to the bathroom and the light is off. I turn the light on, and Eli is sitting there with his hands over his eyes. He takes them off and yells, "Surprise! Jesus Christ! Count Your Blessings!" I laughed out loud then, and I am laughing out loud now. Aunt KK said that he was singing Count Your Blessings this afternoon, but I didn't even know he knew that song. That must be his new saying and song, but it was definately funny considering.

Later, I was changing Ethan's diaper. Eli comes up behind me, pats me on the bottom, and said, "I magic you into a tiger, so you don't have to change diapers anymore."

I wonder which grandparents' house he got which from. :) He has just been so crazy tonight. We just had to call Daddy and share some with him. Eli sang "Count you blessings, name them one by one" over and over to him. Maybe tomorrow I can get a video of him singing that song and upload it.

Golfing with Grandaddy

2009-03-29T23:09:00.006-05:00

Eli loves to go play golf with his Grandaddy. Actually, I don't really know which one of them enjoys it more. I even got to go play (and by play I mean take pictures, drive the cart, and hit a few balls) with them one day over spring break, and it was pretty fun. Hopefully Eli will continue to play, so he can teach his mommy and daddy. I wouldn't even mind if he made a profession out of it.

Right now, Eli plays with two clubs that Grandaddy had cut off and fixed just for him. He has a putter and a club that is used for everything else. I think that his favorite part is putting, but on this day he had a lot of fun hitting the ball as far as he could and then racing the cart to it to hit it again. Thankfully, we were at Big Sandy, the course was not that crowded, and Eli was able to play a lot.

2009-03-23T20:43:00.003-05:00

Ok. So I'm going to skip a couple of posts. We may come back to them, but I just couldn't wait to post these pictures.

We had the boys pics taken last Wednesday evening. The photographer, Jessica Eubanks, had 5 week old live bunnies, and I took one of each boys' Easter outfits. Eli was too nervouse about the bunnies to take a good picture with them, and Ethan felt so bad, had a runny nose, and was so sleepy by the time we got to those pics. But before and after bunny pics I think we got some good ones. I only have these two back yet, but I can't wait to see the rest!

I absolutely love this picture of Ethan. I don't know what else to say. :)

This collage of Eli and Maddie is my favorite. The day before we had the pics taken, we went to play with Tiffany & Maddie. Eli & Maddie started making silly faces at each other in the car with Tiffany. Any time that Maddie gets upset now, Eli will make a silly face, and she just bursts out laughing. It is so cute. Eli went on and on making silly faces and poses here, and she did too. I just loved watching them. Even Michael said, "I could watch that all day long." I'm so glad that Jessica kept her camera out and captured it. They're so sweet.

Photoshoot

2009-03-23T20:11:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday night, Delaine and Bill had the whole family over for steaks. The food was so good. After playing for a long while with Jackson's toys, we decided to try to get a good photo of all four boys. It wasn't so easy.

At first Henry was just happy to get to sit on the stairs. Then he tried to get away.

As you can see, we tried several different poses. Then we decided to try the couch.

I did get one of Ethan showing us his bottom teeth. Ethan is 7 1/2 months and has 9 teeth.

I knew when I started this blog that it would be hard to keep up. I am so behind. I have several posts to do in order to catch up. Hopefully they will be coming soon.

Zoo

2009-03-07T10:01:00.005-06:00

On Friday, we had so much fun meeting some friends at the zoo. We saw "a wot" of animals, and then had a picnic before we left.

The first place that we went was to pet the goats. Eli would not get near them. So I went in with Ethan. I stood Ethan up on the ground and he immediately went in to pet one. Then Eli decided that he at least needed to be as brave as his baby brother.

Eli was NOT in a picture taking mood. We were lucky to get these.

This is how Ethan spent most of the time at the zoo...spleeping.

When he woke up we were letting Eli feed the fish and ducks. Eli actually wanted to take this picture in front of the lovely green water.

Ethan then got to go with us into the Wild Bird Walk About. Eli takes after his mommy and was scared to death. I was very proud of myself for holding on to the stick and letting birds walk on my arm. Eli was squating and had his hands over his head and face from the moment we walked in. Ethan on the other hand was reaching for them everytime I moved them close to him on the stick. That must be why he got bit.

Elmo

2009-03-06T17:04:00.004-06:00

I thought that Elmo day deserved its very own post. It was such a fun day. Eli, Tiffany, Maddie, and I went and saw Elmo last Tuesday morning in Shreveport. The concert was so cute and the kids really enjoyed it. Then we all ate lunch and the mommies got to do our favorite thing: SHOP!

After lunch we went next door to the Krispy Kreme place for dessert. Eli was in a posing mood.

Today we went to the zoo with friends. It was Ethan's first time. Hopefully I can get pics up from that soon.

Thanks to Daddy for keeping Ethan so Eli and I could go play. :)

2009

2009-03-06T16:02:00.004-06:00

I've started a first post for this blog like 5 different times and have never gotten through with it. My first post was going to be in early January, and I was posting my favorite pics from 2008, but we'll just have to skip that.

I'll start with my favorite pics so far from 2009 then...

I love dressing my boys in matching clothes. These were the first matching clothes that I bought them. I also love these pics because you can tell how much Eli loves his little brother.

This is after the first time that Ethan rolled over all by himself. He doesn't smile for long after he rolls over though. He does not like to stay on his stomach.

Eli has had so much fun going to some SFA basketball games this year. He loves going because he gets to see Grandmama and Grandaddy, he gets to see Zack and friends, he gets to go with Dump and Grandaddy, he loves basketball, he loves the band and the SFA fight song, and he loves SFA (axe'em jacks). He will argue with you forever that he is going to college at SFA to play football. This was a special game and he got to get his face painted by an SFA cheerleader too.

We always have fun when we go play with Tiffany & Maddie. One of Eli's favorite places to go is Pump It Up. It won't be long and Ethan will be enjoying it just as much.

During the week before Valentine's Day, Tiffany & Maddie came over, while Jackson was already there, and we made Valentine's cookies. We all had fun that day!

This may always be one of my favorite pics of Ethan. I love his cheeks and that smile.

Ok, I hope I gett better at this and am able to do it a little quicker. I don't know if these beautiful little boys will let Mommy spend this much time on here very often. :)