Surprise!!

Last week my wonderful husband turned 30 (hehe) and to help him celebrate I got some friends together for what was supposed to be a surprise party...would have been nice if traffic had been better, but we still had fun. It also would have been nice if it hadn't been so windy so that the (30) candles on his cake would have stayed lit, but again...it was alright! I ended up spending most of the party on the playground with the kids, so that's where I got most of the pictures, but hey, it's all about them anyway on here right?

His party was Friday night and then Saturday we drove over to Houston for Trey's surprise graduation party, so we had a weekend full of surprises! In reality, it was a weekend full of really good food and lots of cake and Hershey bar pie (yummy!!) so it was all good! Here are the few pictures I managed to get and happy late birthday Brandon!!!!

A Boy and a Girl

We were blessed to be able to spend time with some wonderful friends this past weekend. Brandon's best friend since childhood, Trey, graduated from his Master's program and his wonderful wife Christi threw a surprise party for him to celebrate so we loaded up and drove over to Houston to help them celebrate. We're so proud of both of them and happy to have them as friends!

While we were getting ready for church yesterday, I took a quick picture of Timothy and Elyssa (the two of them are just just a few weeks apart) and I was telling Christi that I was pretty sure I had a picture of the Timothy and Elyssa from almost every time we've all been together in the past four years...so I had to check today and share them with you all.

Hopefully one day these will make either great blackmail or wedding photos :) They had both grown from cute little babies into cute little preschoolers, love them both!!

Preschool Program

Timothy's preschool had their graduation program tonight and even though Timothy wasn't graduating, his class still got to perform. I got a video of the songs they sang but I'm having trouble getting it to load, so I'll add it in later. I was able to get a picture of him with one of his teachers, but we couldn't find the other one once the program ended. He really has had such a great year there, his teachers were wonderful, and he learned so much. We can't wait for him to go back next year and I'm just hoping I can keep from bawling at graduation next year!!

Brother Sister Photo Shoot

I tried to get a picture of them together, it didn't work out too well...Charlotte didn't want to hand over her half-eaten waffle and Timothy was making a lot of silly faces...but this is as good as it gets around here!
And then we introduced Charlotte to ring around the rosy (which she LOVES) and I got a couple shots of them playing together, fun times!!

Sea World!

We finally got Sea World passes this year and took the kids last week on Brandon's day off. They both loved it and we did too! Charlotte really liked the sea lion show, Timothy wasn't too crazy about any of the shows, I think they were a little loud for him. They both loved the kiddie splash park and Timothy loved climbing up the pirate ship with daddy. Charlotte's favorite part was watching the dolphins, she laid on the wall for such a long time just watching them, I think mostly because she was hot and tired, but she did get excited when one came up close to the wall. They're both excited to go back, and Timothy is convinced that when he's finished with swimming lessons this summer that he'll be able to swim with Shamu, I told him we'll see :)

Watching the sea lions...they both weren't too sure what to think at the beginning!

This is how Charlotte looked during most of the shows...happy to be there and see the animals!

And this was how Timothy looked when he wasn't covering his ears...cautious and not too sure about what to think...but still enjoying himself :)

Look at that whale!! And yes, we sat on the top row, mostly because I was worried about Charlotte sitting for that long and I knew they would freak out if they got wet...and partially because I have a fear of deep water and whales...

Brandon and Timothy climbing to the top!

And while they climbed, Charlotte entertained herself by climbing all over the rocks...not sure why that seemed like fun to her, but she enjoyed it! Can't wait to go back soon!!

This Is How We Do It!!

Apparently, this is how we eat yogurt in our house...Brandon and I fight over who has to clean her up on yogurt nights (and spaghetti nights), and to be fair, he usually wipes her down!!

Her Happy Place

Charlotte's new favorite place to play is on Timothy's bed. She loves to lay down and pretend like she's "nite nite" and play with all his animals. I'm so not ready for her to be in a big girl bed yet though, so she'll just have to be content with playing on his bed for now! Timothy figured out how to climb out of his crib a little before his second birthday and I'm hoping it takes her longer than that to become a little climbing monkey...we do have her big bed already though, still have to get mattresses, but it's in our room, ready and waiting. I'm hoping it can be a Christmas present? I'll keep her in the crib as long as we can!! Anyway, here are some cute pics of her playing on Timothy's bed!

Happy Mother's Day

There are so many things to say about my wonderful mother, those of you that know her know what an amazing person she is and how much she inspires the people around her. Her faith amazes me. But I also know that she doesn't like big long sappy cards or speeches or blog posts...so I thought this year that I would share a few funny stories about my mom :)

One time, a long time ago, when Brittany and I were much younger, we had to stay home alone for a very short amount of time while my mom finished up class and my dad was at work (you know where I'm going with this, don't you mom and Britt?). For some reason known only to God and herself, Brittany managed to flood the downstairs bathroom and subsequently the entire downstairs of our house. I didn't know that you could turn the water off at the toilet in the bathroom, so it just kept going and going and going. We tried to call dad, but he wasn't at his desk and in a moment of desperation I called and told his co-worker who came out to our house and turned off the water and fixed the drain in the basement (because the water was going down the stairs into the basement). When my mom got home and heard the story, she very dramatically threw her school bags down and we were sentenced to our rooms. I really thought we were going to die and I was so mad because I didn't do anything and I had mopped it all up!! Looking back now, I can't believe I called my dad's office, and I can see why she was so upset, but it's also quite funny to think that we just sat there and let the house flood.

One of the best memories I have is when I was in college and she would come to visit and I would get to go stay at the hotel with her and we would go to Wal Mart and buy those really yummy creme horn things and sit in bed and eat them. I can't even tell you how much I looked forward to those visits!!

And speaking of college, I remember moving in my first semester of freshman year and discovering I had a roommate from you-know-where and her crazy mom (who wore panty hose with shorts) telling my mom that she needed to iron my curtains. I learned from my mom how to smile through anger that day!!

I remember her being so upset that Brittany and I fought so much in high school and telling us that we needed to treat each other better so that we would grow up and be friends one day, and boy was she right! Thankfully we were able to get past our differences of who was wearing the right pair of jeans and who stole the other's shirt and become friends anyway :)

I remember going to Gulf Shores on vacation growing up and playing putt putt and singing inside the volcano, so much fun!!

I remember that she taught me how to put on makeup the right way, to wear a slip so I wouldn't have panty lines, to drive with my knees when I needed both hands, that a Starbucks or a Diet Coke can fix most bad days...I'm so glad I inherited from her my love of reading, the ability to see the big picture in things and to remember that no matter how bad life gets or what problems are thrown at you, nothing is too big for my God!!

I love you so much mom, and thank you for all these happy memories and life lessons, thank you for always being there for me and for listening to me, and for teaching me and most of all for loving me no matter what. I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

I Turn My Back For One Minute...

...and this is what I find! Oh well, they had fun and I actually cleaned out a lot of their toys when I picked it up. I finally got rid of all the silly little happy meal toys and broken toys and things that just needed to disappear forever :) They sure had a lot of fun playing though!!

Birthday Party Catch Up

Sorry for the long blog absence, things have been a little crazy and I just haven't been motivated to download pictures and all that and then when I tried to the other day the camera battery was dead and had to be charged. So anyway, yes it's been a while since Timothy's birthday party, but hopefully this post is better late than never!!

He decided that he wanted a Chuck E Cheese party this year so that's where we went. Since none of his cousins could come, we got to invite more friends from church and school and had a really fun time. He got so many fun toys and each one has been a big hit. I'd have to say his favorites so far are his new camera, his bubble sword, his books and his cars. I love all the new clothes and Brandon loves the new Wii fishing game :) Charlotte's favorite is the busy bee hop toy, she tries so hard to jump but hasn't figured it out yet! Timothy also loves his new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie (or as he calls it, Alvin and the Girl Squirrels)!

Here are some pics from the party, I'll try to do better about posting more often!!