Cummings Family

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T11:09:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas celebrations began Friday, December 23rd! Shhh...don't tell the other kids but Santa visited us FIRST! He got word that our Fiesta Texas trip had to be changed from Wednesday to Friday due to bad weather AND Maddie would be back at her Mom's Christmas day. So, he came Friday morning before we left. It's been nonstop fun since! Today, as we celebrate our Savior's Birthday, we will be surrounded by my side of the family. We have two extra special things to celebrate today. First, my cousin Jeremy will be home from Japan as he is serving in the military and second, my cousin Nick proposed to his girlfriend this morning!!! We have much to be thankful for today. I truly believe God helped this Christmas be extra special so that we wouldn't be having pity parties about our house not being sold yet. For those that do not know, our buyers were not approved for their loan days before we were supposed to close. We have been praying that our new house will be held for us and we get a quick buyer. We've actually had three showings this last week. Pray for us! We love our new house and don't want to start all over!!!

Friday morning...

Around 9:00 AM we headed to San Antonio with Todd's brother, his girlfriend and kids. For three years in a row now, we've gone to Fiesta Texas for their Holiday in the Park. There is something about that place during Christmas. We all leave feeling like a kid again! Cooper and Chloe LOVED it this year because they were able to ride so many rides. Their cousins and Maddie were troopers because they rode all of the rides with them. So fun! SOOOO COLD!!!!

In front of the Christmas tree at our hotel. This year, our decorations for our house were all in storage so we had to go the "Charlie Brown" route at our house! Those that know me know that this stressed me out. But, look how cute she is...oh and by the way...still unable to get all three kids in one picture!

Went down to the Riverwalk first to see the Alamo and eat.

Here we go! Oh what fun!!!

We spent Christmas Eve back at our house. First, exchanged gifts with Cummings side. Made fajitas and tamales for dinner! The drive back from San Antonio was a nasty one! Very rainy and cold.

Then, we went to our church's Christmas Eve service.

After the service, we exchanged gifts with my Mom and brother. This is another tradition for us.

We hope your day is Merry and Bright today! May you be surrounded by the ones you love! There will be another post of today's events. My kids are overjoyed with all the presents. Chloe is chanting, "Oh boy oh boy, I like presents!" Oh...and apparently today is also Tinker Bell's birthday!

Life is Crazy!

2011-12-13T07:02:00.000-06:00

Last post title was "Life is Busy!", now life is just plain CRAZY! My house is filled with boxes ready to be moved into our new house. I did a walk through yesterday with the builder and blue tapped everything that needed to be fixed or touched up. Along the way, the builder gave me a run down on all things about the house and even made me go up in the attic. Where was Todd you ask? He was home with a stomach bug. It was a ton of details being communicated to me that I may have gotten about 20% of! My realtor took good notes and I plan on walking through with Todd with the notes hoping it all stuck in my brain somehow.

All of us have been sick over the last few days. First Cooper got sick, then I got food poisoning or stomach bug (we are thinking it was a stomach bug since Todd now has it), then Chloe got sick and now Todd. Good thing Maddie has been at her Moms house.

There have been some issues with our buyers. We think it will all work out but now our closing date is being pushed back even farther...like now just two days before Christmas Eve. (breathe in, breathe out...) My current house is filled with boxes and not one Christmas decoration is up. Now, it's just pushing it to close to Christmas so I'm thinking I need to figure out how to decorate somewhat at our current house. This year my kids are loving the lights, music, magic of it all and squeal with delight when they see a Christmas tree. It breaks my heart that I am not doing this for them. It's killing me actually. So, this weekend, we are going to figure out a way I can put out a few decorations, decorate a smaller tree and then move it all to the new house when the time comes. (breathe in, breathe out...)

So, life is crazy! (breathe in, breathe out...)

I was even waiting to buy Christmas presents until we moved, you know, back when the move in date was the 17th, on a weekend! (breathe in, breathe out...)

It's time to shop! That should make me feel better, right?

Some pics of our almost ready house with landscaping...

Last weekend we took Cooper and Chloe to Santa's Wonderland in College Station. Our friends Meredith and Jason and their kids, Ethan and Kate joined us. It was so fun! I absolutely loved it and the kiddos did too. We will be going back for sure.

If you guys could have heard Chloe through the whole thing. "I like it!" "That's so cute!" "That's cool!"

I saved this picture with the file name "stud". Seriously!?

Sweet thing! This is when she started feeling under the weather!

These goats were aggressive. They would just take all the food. Cooper started getting very authoritative over these goats. He would tell them, "Just a little." "Share." Then, he would pull the cup away and say, "That's enough."

Life is Busy!

2011-11-29T13:38:00.000-06:00

I am so far behind on blogging. I have so much to say and this time very little pictures. I find myself constantly without a camera and that is so not like me!

First, let's start with Maddie's Baptism. This wasn't given the recognition that it deserved! We are so proud of Maddie for taking this step! We had gone to church that morning and they had a special presenter from the group called, Team Impact. He talked about the program that they would perform that evening and for everyone to come back to see it. Maddie had volleyball that afternoon and asked if after we could go see the program. It's funny thinking back on the evening about how after the day was over, we were actually debating on not going. I remember whispering to Todd, "Babe, we need to go, Maddie asked to go." So, we all headed up there (including the twins) to watch. Halfway through the program, the twins were getting antsy so I took them out to the lobby to wait. I could tell the show was over because of the flood of people that were exiting the doors. It took Todd quite awhile to exit and I remember thinking that it was strange because they were right by the exit doors. He came up to me and said, "Maddie went forward during the alter call." He explained that when people were walking forward, Maddie turned to him and said, "Did you do that?" He replied, "Yes." And that was that...she got up and walked forward. How precious that her Dad could respond, "Yes." About 30 minutes went by without us knowing where she was or what she was doing and we received a text, "I'm getting Baptized." WHOA! We found someone in the "know" to get details of the baptism and hauled over there, tired twins in tow, so that we could watch. How precious that the twins sat on the steps watching their big sister "take a bath". :)

And, how precious that she did it all on her own.

Maddie had been baptized when she was a small child which was a special time as well. But, how precious that she wanted to do this on her own. We are so very proud of her.

Strangely enough, I remember sitting in church that very morning wondering (in my head only when I should have been paying attention to the speaker) if our children would take the step on their own to be baptized. Funny how God works!

Now that my eyes are tearing up, we'll move on to the next thing I haven't blogged about!

OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!

The whole process is soooo crazy! First, we had to sell our current house and that seemed to take FOREVER! That was a very happy day when we got the offer and came to an agreement. In the meantime, our new house had begun construction and seem to be moving along quickly! Now, the plan is to close on our old house on the 15th and on our new house the 16th! I'm oh so happy because as our new house was being built, I was getting more excited and more attached to it. It would have been devastating for us if we would have had to back out because our current house didn't sell. Going to the design center was so fun and I'm loving my choices as they are added to our house. Talk about a busy time to be doing this! Cooper and Chloe's Birthday, Christmas and moving all in December! I'm already exhausted! We will need all our friends support and muscles during this crazy time!!!! Hint Hint! A sneak peak to my favorite part....

Second love...

Back Patio!

Front of the house without stone yet...

The part without brick will be stone...

We did take the time to go to Disney on Ice! However, we don't have many pictures! Chloe LOVED it. Cooper liked it but not that excited silly happiness that Chloe exhibited!

My cute Minnie!

These lights were $22 a piece y'all! Seriously! Nana bought one and I bought one! They are still playing with them so that's good!

This football season we went to a few Cinco Ranch games and let Maddie go with some friends a couple of times. There is something about FNL! I don't think I will ever stop enjoying it. It brings back such good memories too! Maddie will be a 9th grader at Cinco Ranch HS next year! EEK!

Another sweet thing...

Cooper and Chloe love being with the "big kids"! Especially their cousins, Trevor and Brett! Love that they have that relationship!

We also enjoy snuggling in Mom's bed watching movies...

And, somehow we make time to spend with friends! We went dancing the other night and had a blast! I'm fond of these three guys. Shhh...don't tell them! I like to pretend that I think they are nothing but trouble for my husband! Wayne and Matt are Todd's best friends from Highschool.

I'm sure there is so much more to say but this is all I have right now! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I didn't take ONE picture that day! I'm losing my touch! I felt like I needed to blog before this weekend's birthday party for the twins!!! My babies are turning 3!!!!

Pumpkin Patch Pics!

2011-10-29T21:03:00.000-05:00

Today, we met our friends, the Caraways and the Richardsons, for our third annual pumpkin patch pictures. They are all such cute kiddos! Chloe has a Snow White and Spider Girl costume. We'll see what she picks for Halloween. Today, she wanted to be the Spider Girl!

There is something that happens to Cooper when he puts his Spider Man costume on, he immediately starts running around really fast!

Zach the Fireman!

Nathaniel!

Running again!

Chloe was so funny today!

2009, 2010 and 2011...

More fun pics from today!

Madison's Baptism!!

2011-10-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

You may want to go full screen to see it better. We will blog about this later, but want to share the video! Very exciting!!

Quick Trip to Sea World!

2011-09-05T21:32:00.004-05:00

We took a quick trip to Sea World this weekend since we have season passes. It was oh so hot and oh so packed! Thankfully, since we have season passes we feel okay for just going for a few hours at a time. I'm thinking we won't be going back until the weather cools down though! Cooper LOVES Shamu! Chloe loves it all too but Cooper talks about it nonstop! He is in love with Shamu, dolphins and sea lions! I think the sea lions stole his heart this trip!

We went straight to the Shamu show, I don't think Cooper would have let us do anything else. When we got there, the stands were already filled up with another 20 minutes to go for the show. We were forced to sit in the first row. Oh no! The guy came by to explain that there were water features right in front of us and as they went off, Cooper and Chloe were scared. Great, we haven't even gotten splashed by the whales yet! As I'm sitting there, I'm thinking, "This is not going to go well when we get soaked!" I decided to take the kids and leave. I could not let this ruin our day. They went running with me up the stairs not even complaining. As we are halfway up, we feel the splashes on the back of our legs so Cooper will tell you Shamu got him wet. BUT...Maddie and Dad REALLY got wet! SOAKED!

I don't know if you can see Todd's head but he is sitting with Maddie on the front row. I actually was blessed to find seats that a couple had just left as I was walking up. They were great seats. We watched Dad and Maddie get soaked! hehe

This was just water from the thing that shot up right in front of them...

This is when three whales got involved...

Feeding the dolphins...Maddie and Chloe were the only ones willing to touch the stinky fish!

I think we just need to realize that they are moving past being carted around in a stroller or wagon!

Shark...move away from my son!

What is it about Sea Lions? They are just so great! I can spend HOURS in San Francisco watching them on the pier!

There is a story about this bracelet Cooper is playing with. We were walking along and all of a sudden a woman reaches down and grabs Cooper's hand to put this bracelet on him. She didn't say a word to us, it happened so fast, my Mama Bear self kicked in out of some place inside of me, and I jerked my son back behind me and told her NO! As this was all happening, in my mind, I thought this woman was putting something on Cooper that was attached to her. Anyway, after my heart was put back into my chest, the woman explained that she found this bracelet that would only fit a small child and we would get free drinks the entire day. I was teased a few times from my family but we all agreed that she did it very weird. Nice lady after we figured it all out.

Happy girl! Loving it!

Someone needs a diet!

This was taken from my I-Phone while we were waiting on the front row before the show started. Shamu was playing Peek-A-Boo with us. The babies were totally getting a kick out of it. Chloe kept hiding behind her hands and then saying "Peek-A-Boo" to him!

We love the Hilton right by Sea World! They have a great pool, little fire pits with lots of rocking chairs and this time they showed Nemo on the side of the building! The hotel also gives out little individual baggies filled with smore making stuff! When we go again, we might be partaking in those!

For some reason, I can't get a space between the two pictures above...

We are so over hauling the playpens and blankets when going on trips so we requested the hotel to put two of their baby beds in our room. They look like baby jails! They served their purpose though and we were able to make only ONE trip down to the car at check-out! Whoo hoo! They were so tired after the day at Sea World, swimming and watching Nemo that they asked us to get in their beds. They went straight to sleep while we watched TV and chatted! We even told them they could lay down in our beds first and we were told no! I was hoping to get some cuddle time!

We had a busy weekend but it was good. Friday night we went to the Cinco Ranch HS game for the first time. That is where Maddie will go NEXT YEAR! We had a great time and will be attending more! Something about the Friday night lights!

This is totally random, my boy is loving Dinosaurs these days! Isn't this so cute? Such a boy!

First Day of School

2011-08-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

Maddie's in 8th grade now! WOW! Time has flown by! Next year, she will be in High School!

Maddie and her friend Shannon. They have grown up together!

Ah, sweet!

She was into it this morning!

He was not...

So, I added these!

Summer Activities!

2011-07-22T21:42:00.002-05:00

Some pics from a few of this year's favorite summer activities...

My kiddos went to VBS for the first time and LOVED it!

I'm so grateful I was able to serve with great girlfriends and our kids got to be together!

She went from serious face (above) to sad...

TO THIS....

Such a cute craft...

We have spent ALOT of time in the pool this summer...today we went to the Noah's Ark pool with the gang!

Watching Coop make the climb for the slide...

She never went! Wasn't in the mood today, I guess.

I love that Cooper's friends, Zachary and Nathaniel, are on the side cheering him along!

There is also a pool with diving boards!

Cooper had a ball on it!

Another place we have gone quite a bit this summer...

Monkey Joe's. I've decided I like it the best. The employees do all the work and it's super clean. It doesn't smell like stinky socks yet. I'm thinking since they don't allow kids older than 12 or adults to jump helps the stinky sock smell issue! I'm also thinking that this is where we are going to have their third birthday party. They LOVE it! As you can see...

So excited!

Memorable Summer of 2011

2011-07-05T23:56:00.000-05:00

The Summer of 2011 will definitely be a memorable one for us. We've experienced many "firsts". Some good and some bad! First, let me say that we have lost our good camera's battery charger. My pics are not so good.

Father's Day

We actually made it to church, I have to admit we haven't done so well lately in that area. We are letting too many things come first. We are doing better! We have decided to go back to Second, the church where we met each other. We love the church we had become members of, especially the pastor. However, we miss our friends at Second! And, they have a fabulous children's ministry. We feel at home at Second. After church, we went to Pappasitos. YUM! We hadn't been in a long time and it's a favorite!

My Son LOVES cheese enchiladas!

The Caraways had a special birthday dinner at their house for Todd's and Maddie's birthdays. There aren't too many friends that would have a birthday parade for you! Thanks for the memories Caraways!

I so wish I knew how to load an I-Phone Video on the blog. The video of the parade was hilarious!

Love this picture!

We celebrated Todd's and Maddie's birthday together since both were having milestone birthdays.

40 and 13!!!!

Highschool Buds...

One of Cooper and Chloe's babysitters, we love her!

Sweet Kate and her Daddy Jason!

My brother-n-law, Jim and his wife Alisa came to Texas this summer. We hadn't seen them for over four years! And, Ricky doesn't seem to want to smile! Ha!

Maddie's friends playing volleyball!

Dad and daughter after they blew the candles out on their cake! Cute pic!

The day after the party, the Cummings gang went on a vacation together! A first! We stayed in a Lake house on Lake LBJ/Llano River. It was gorgeous! Highly recommend this place. Unfortunately, Cooper and Chloe were really out of sorts. They didn't sleep or eat well and were very clingy to Mommy. After the second day or so of two all over me, I was out of sorts too!

Busted Lip! :(

Cousin Nick!

Cooper and Chloe LOVE cousin Brett! Especially Chloe!

Cooper's first tube ride!

Grammy and Chloe

Chloe's turn...

Looking a little tired! Perhaps you should sleep some!

I've always loved to tube and this made me happy to do this with my son!

Maddie showing off...

Family birthday celebration!

Cooper sailing off in the sunset!

Last morning on our way out!

Going to Second's Sunday School for the first time...

Church on July 4th weekend...

I love service on July 4th weekend!

We've had to move to toddler beds because of this....

And this...

They have done really well in the toddler beds! Yes!

Fun 4th of July pics...

LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!

Gymnastics!

2011-06-20T22:12:00.000-05:00

Quick Catch Up!

2011-06-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

When I was packing up my desk I came across this...

Maybe Chloe does look like me!

The staff at Stephens presented this to me as a goodbye gift. I will now be the Assistant Principal at West Memorial Elementary.

This was funny...

The first weekend of Summer Break we headed to Seaworld!

They LOVED the dolphins. They wanted to see them several times.

Bright sun!

Waving to Shamu who is now his best friend!

Can't forget the souvenirs!

His Shamu doesn't leave his side!

Swimming at the hotel pool!

Day 2...

"Happy Feet!"

Started Gymnastics...oh so fun!

Very tired afterwards...

Maddie loves going with them to the Inflatable Zone! Perfect!

We love to go swimming!

Adult Swim!

Wondering if this will be my future home lot?

And if I will go with brown cabinets or antique white?

This kitchen is the reason I'm leaning towards the antique white...

Oh, I'm hoping our house will sell!

And, I started potty training. I'll spare you pictures! :) Cooper is doing wonderful. The first two days were ROUGH but then Cooper started showing signs of progress. Chloe never really caught on so we will try again with her. We have had two full days of successes and NO accidents with Coop! I am so proud of him! And, I will be equally proud of Chloe when it's her turn!

Our Memorial Day Weekend!

2011-05-30T22:03:00.000-05:00

We had a great weekend! We were very busy spending fun times with friends and family. Our weekend started with Chloe getting her very first haircut. I was trying to hang on to those curls as long as possible. It was time! She did a fabulous job.

Cooper was fine in the car until it was his turn...

No, want to sit in Daddy's lap. Mind you, he's had a TON of haircuts and this is how it goes everytime!

After, us girls went to get mani and pedi's! Just Maddie, Chloe and Mom! Chloe LOVED it!

Before getting nails done, one must go get a Sonic drink to sip on! I believe Chloe has now been trained!

After the pampering, we headed out to Deer Park to spend some time in my Aunt's pool.

Then, Sunday we headed out to Conroe to spend some time with our friends, the Applebys! It was oh so fun and Cooper and Chloe had a blast swimming for the 2nd day in a row!

Cooper was taking the game of washers very serious with the men!

Today, we shopped some and then headed over to our friends, The Richters, to swim for the THIRD day in a row. We had a blast!

By Day 3, Cooper was owning the water!

She was supposed to be sharing this piece of cake with me!

It was a good one!

Crazy Busy!

2011-05-15T21:07:00.000-05:00

We have been so crazy busy! Out of control busy! And, I don't see a relaxing weekend in sight until July! All weekends are booked through June!!! Crazy! Isn't it? I'm tired tonight but I am feeling very blessed to have so many people in my life to be busy with! :) Todd has been traveling for work as well and left this morning again. In June, we have some special birthdays to celebrate, Todd is turning the Big 40 and Maddie is turning 13! I'm looking forward to celebrating their big days! Todd's brother and sister-n-law are coming in from California as well and his Mom is coming from Nevada. We haven't all been together since their wedding which I believe was at least three years ago. So...good times to be had in June! We have rented a lake house where we will get some good quality family time!

Here is a recap from the last post (Easter) until now....

Our nephew Trevor got confirmed and received his first communion the weekend after Easter. We attended the service and then went to their church carnival after. We had a great time and again, I am so very proud of my nephews!

Funny pictures from one of our evenings out during the week to the neighborhood park. I don't think Cooper ever goes more than a few minutes without a ball in his hand.

Maddie then was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. Words can't even express how proud we are of Maddie.

Then, Mother's Day weekend was spent in San Antonio for a volleyball tournament in the Alamodome. This time, we took Cooper and Chloe and they did great! We had a great time!!!

It started with Hilton upgrading us to a two bedroom, two bathroom suite! SWEET!

I slept in one room with the babies and Todd and Maddie slept in another. We did this so that they could get up early and get ready for the tournament without waking us up. On Sunday, when I woke up, I found this card on the floor by the door. Maddie slid it under the door before she left. Ain't she the sweetest?

Cooper and Chloe LOVED the riverwalk. They stayed in their stroller and took in all the sights. This isn't a good picture but I love how tan Chloe's little leg looks! They loved watching the river boats.

Fitting in a nap!

And a meal...

This was so cute to see on Mother's Day weekend!

The only way to be in the pictures is to take corny ones of myself!

First way to survive a day of volleyball tournaments with two toddlers...give them LOTS of snacks!

Maddie played awesome!

They won the GOLD in their bracket!!

The coach is pulling out the medals...look at Maddie!

Do you think she's excited?

Her coach....

So fun!

Second way to survive the day with toddlers...

Monica! Maddie's Bestfriend. She spent lots of time playing ball with Coop!

Third way...

Backpacks full of toys!

Fourth...digging...

(hehe...Chloe don't be mad at me for posting this! Why are you obsessed with your nose?)

Fifth...

Videos on the I-POD!

This is Bubs when we got back home, he fell asleep waiting for his turn for a diaper change and to get his PJ's on!

Remember how busy we have been...don't judge when seeing the mess all around her!

Focus on the sunglasses (upside down) and pink furry boots!

She is a cracker upper these days! She is a MESS!

Yesterday, Mom, Aunt Donna and I drove to Austin to see my cousin's daugher, McKenzie, perform in her Spring Show. She is a great dancer and it sure did bring back some memories from my days of dancing!

There was a Mommy dance...this is my cousin Shay. I think she's a little nervous. hehe

Getting her groove on...

Here we go...

When it was over, all the girls were crying because it was the last year for many of them with this company.

Kenz and her bestfriend Lily.

Shay and Kenz

Hope everyone has a great week!

Easter Events

2011-04-25T20:22:00.001-05:00

The night before Easter, we attended an Easter Vigil at my brother-n-law's catholic church. His son, Brett, got baptized, confirmed and received his first communion during the service. It was from 8:00 - 12:00 y'all! His brother, Trevor, will be getting confirmed and receive his first communion next weekend. That service will be an hour. And, while I'm talking about these three guys, can I just say how proud I am of Ricky (brother-n-law). He is a single dad raising two boys on his own. He is doing such a great job and his boys are growing into such gentleman!

Grammy flew in for the weekend.

Six hours later...

Easter morning!

Later in the afternoon we went to my Aunt Donna's.

Cousin Lily and Chloe holding hands...

Easter baskets from Nana...

Sweet Lily is finally letting us take her picture! ADORABLE!

The hunt is on! We started with 209 eggs!

He figured out it was quicker to put his basket down and grab a bunch!

Chloe pointed to the eggs for Trevor to get for her! Hilarious!

Bella Boo!

Cousin Lindsey...

Lily is the winner!

Now can I go swimming?

One of the twins...it's Caiden or Connor

They belong to my Aunt's brother-n-law

This picture cracks me up!

All the kids!

Shay's family....

hehe...

(props...strictly props)

Cummings gang!

This warms my heart....

I changed this big tough guy's diapers! Chase was such an adorable baby too!

We had a great Easter weekend! I'm exhausted today but my heart is happy. We started the weekend with knowing that I was going to continue being an Assistant Principal which was a huge relief. I hadn't planned on the change but now getting used to the idea. We went to a new restaurant nearby on Thursday and enjoyed the time together. They have an awesome kid friendly patio which made it easier to enjoy ourselves. Then Friday, we spent time with great friends. We went over to their house and swam. Cooper, my little fish, stayed in the water for four hours! Saturday, we were with Todd's family the whole day and then Sunday, with mine and Todd's. We are truly blessed to have so many friends and family to spend our time with! Cooper and Chloe LOVED the eggs and seeing what was inside them. They ate more sweets than I believe they have eaten in their entire life. They woke up eating candy, as you can see from the pictures. They were so cute this year. The only thing that could have made our Easter better was if Maddie and McKenzie were with us. We hope your Easter was just as special!

First swim of 2011!

2011-04-09T21:13:00.001-05:00

Today, we went to my Aunt's brother-n-law's surprise 40th birthday. His wife threw him a big one! My Aunt and her husband have been together since 8th grade. They have been together since I was 3 or 4. Scott, Joe's youngest brother was always around as well. So, they really are family! We all feel that way anyway. They have a beautiful home on Clear Lake so taking our first swim of 2011 at their house was just fine with me! I did have some anxiety over the fact that inside there are hard wood winding stairs and outside there is a pool and a lake. I truly didn't think I'd be able to relax. We bought these floatie contraptions and they worked the best ever! Better than what we've tried so far and we've tried a ton! As soon as I saw how well they did with them, I was good. Cooper felt so safe that he began jumping in the pool and kicking all the way to get across it. He did this over and over. No fear! Chloe preferred to remain on the step. She didn't want to mess her hair up! Needless to say, they were asleep on the way home within fifteen minutes.

Still scoping things out...

The guests...family and friends...

hehe...

There he goes with the ring first...he ditched the ring quickly and swam all over the pool with his floatie contraption.The arm floaties are attached to the piece that goes around the chest. It works great!

My Aunt's hubby and kids...

Do you see the dimple I love so much?

She loved the seesaw they had on the side of the house...

Dad chillin'...

Pictures, Baby Neighs and Pretty Flowers

2011-03-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

My favorite pictures from our professional photo session!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Chilling after we were finished taking the pictures...

Hanging with Dad!

"Pretty flowers Mama!"

Getting prepared for the "baby neighs".

Just saw the baby neighs...

Runny fast...

"Big neigh, Mama"

Getting tired...

So sweet!

Loved seeing the pretty flowers but not into taking pictures!

Just wouldn't look at me!

He sat in the flowers for me!

Attempting to take a picture with my children!

There is a miniature horse farm in Brenham. It's really pretty out there but it's about an hour's worth of entertainment. The drive was pretty though and we stopped at our favorite blue bonnet place to take a few pics. Relaxing day!

Mama's Spring Break Trip

2011-03-18T22:19:00.001-05:00

I am back from my trip and really enjoyed the time to have to myself. In order for me to feel as guilt free as possible, my hubby sent me pictures daily of the kiddos. This gave me peace of mind that they were happy and doing well without me. I missed them greatly but definitely needed the getaway! When I would call home, Cooper would answer the phone with an enthusiastic, "Hi Mama! I Wuv You Mama! Bye Mama!" Then, this would prompt Chloe to say hi to me as well in that sweet voice. That did my heart good. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures Todd sent me throughout the four days that I was gone.

This is PRECIOUS! I don't know what I love more, the fact that they are holding hands or that Cooper is strutting around with his backpack and hat on backwards. Todd said he did this all on his own!

From a different day...

All ready for bed...

Pics from our trip!

Our trip unfortunately was delayed five hours which had us actually lose a day of our vacation. That was a bummer but we made the best of it. After the 3rd or so announcement of the flight being "delayed" we found our way to The Bunkhouse. I mean, really, is it a delay after the third announcement with a different reason? There was just no plane for us!

Trying to make the best of it...

We finally arrived at our hotel on Hilton Head Island, SC at 10:00 that night. Mind you, it was supposed to be around 4:00! Grr...

This lovely card and fudge sand dollar was waiting for me! I got a kick out of it. You see, my husband travels for work very often. It is okay to enjoy the perks of his travels, right!? Those perks allowed me to fly for free (didn't even have to pay a baggage fee), rent a car for almost free, have hotel accommodations for free along with a free breakfast on the last day! You cannot beat that!

We flew into Charleston, SC and immediately drove to Hilton Head Island, SC (2 hour drive). We stayed in Hilton Head the first two nights and then spent the last night in Charleston. We flew out on the fourth day around 5:45 PM from Charleston.

Our view from the hotel in Hilton Head...

The first night where we are deliriously tired and slap happy to be there!

Cousins! Both with Monkey Toes!

The next morning we visited the Harbor area where we shopped and dined. It was a gorgeous day and Hilton Head is a gorgeous place! Not so much for a family with young children kind of place. More for a ladies trip or couple's trip.

There were many red rocking chairs to sit and rest from the shopping! These chairs were occupied mostly by men! This is my cousin Shay who is four years younger than me. She's my only girl first cousin on my Mom's side of the family.

When we returned from shopping we spent some time down at the beach.

Love this picture!

The beach was right off the deck of our hotel.

Aunt Donna (Mom's sister) and I....

Toni and I were roommates when we first graduated college. We student taught together and started teaching the same year. She is now a Librarian at a Jr. High.

A cute couple walked by while we were taking pictures. The husband gave us advice on how we should pose and such. He pretty much took over our camera and took a picture of the four of us. He told us where to stand, what angle, who should be where, etc. He even told Shay to stand a certain way so her hair wouldn't blow in her face. We were cracking up as you can see in the second picture.

This picture was taken in the courtyard of our hotel in Charleston. Charleston is also beautiful. It has a lot of history, beautiful churches, beautiful homes and buildings and beautiful flowers! We could have used another day here. Highly recommend it for a couple's getaway or girl's trip.

On the last day, before heading back to the airport, we toured a plantation home.

These pictures make me laugh. It seems that if one person took a cute picture, we all wanted to take the same pose.

Donna in front of an old slave's house on the grounds of the Plantation.

I didn't bring our better camera for this trip and wish I would have. I didn't want to have to carry it on the plane. I can totally tell the difference and know that these pictures would have been so much prettier!

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

2011-03-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

I went to the Rodeo on Monday with a friend to see Tim McGraw. Todd, Maddie and I went to the Rodeo on Thursday to see Rascal Flats. Both were fantastic shows. It was Cooper and Chloe's turn to enjoy the activities that the Rodeo has to offer so we took them on Saturday. Of course they LOVED the animals.

They liked the "Baby Pig".

I think he was hungry.

Hmmm....

Time to start feeding all these animals...

Still not ready to get down and join the animals...

Loved the Baby Baaaa's.

Cautiously getting a closer look...

She's ready...

Snack time...

And now time for the 30 minute wait for the pony rides...

"Honk Honk"

It cracks him up!

We're next!

Loved it!

Faces I love!

2011-03-06T21:24:00.000-06:00

Even with messy hair!

Go Texan Day!

2011-02-27T20:05:00.000-06:00

Go Texan Day on Friday at Miss Shelley's...

Mama even had Go Texan Day at her School!

Katy Rodeo

2011-02-26T19:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, while sitting in the waiting area for Maddie's doctor appointment, I read about the Katy Rodeo's kick-off parade that was scheduled for this morning and thought about how much Cooper and Chloe would enjoy it. This morning, I decided to just drive over there and see if it was something I could handle on my own with them. According to the article I read, it was going to parade around The Merrill Center. I arrived at 9:40 and it was a ghost town. The article said it was going to be at 9:30. Hmmm... I drove through the parking lot and headed towards the carnival, that wasn't open, and building/arena where the animals were. I asked a cowboy who had his leg propped up on the gate, cup in hand (no doubt it was for the wad of dip in his mouth) and staring at a gorgeous horse if the area with the animals was open for the public. He told me yes and I decided to go for it. I had no stroller, no wagon, no diaper bag, no sippy cups, no snack and NO camera other than my I-Phone camera. We were living on the wild side!

Needless to say...they loved it! And, there was no crowd! In fact, we were the only ones in there.

This guy below scared Cooper greatly! He was snorting away at us.

Lord, I promise I'll be good! Please let me out!

Cooper told him to "get down!"

Chloe, must you dangle your skinny cute arm in front of this enormous animal?

What's up?

So, I loaded the kids back up and was content with our outing. I assumed we missed the parade. As I was pulling out, I saw a ton of cowgirls riding up on "neighs" and a fire truck following close behind. I assumed again, that this must be the tail end but they would enjoy it nonetheless.

A lady even stopped and gave them candy. She even made a comment about us being at the end.

I pull out of the parking lot and within minutes I'm sandwiched between cars and can't go anywhere!

Yep...we saw the WHOLE parade, from our car where we weren't allowed to get out b/c we were sitting on a major road.

Waving at the people and animals!

Thirty minutes later, they stopped the parade to let those of us who were "stuck" go.

It was fun and free entertainment. I always love participating in a community event! Makes you proud of where you live. And, who wouldn't love Katy? As far as any of the rodeo events that are held there, I have no clue when that takes place. I bet it would be kind of fun to watch.

Randomness!

2011-02-25T21:55:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!

Cooper has been sick and now he is well. Chloe is her happy self too. Todd is out of town and honestly on my way home tonight I was thinking of all the things I would rather be doing than sitting at home on Friday night. It didn't sound fun at all especially with the weather being so nice. But, they both were in such great moods and we had some good quality time. But, the big Cummings kid needs some prayers. She has the flu. She was with me last night when she got sick and I took her to the doctor this morning. She's back at her Mom's now. Hopefully, we won't get it from that short time we were with her but I'm more concerned about her getting better.

We have a little thing we do each night when I wrap them up in their towel. For a moment, they let me swaddle them in their towel and cradle them like a baby. I usually dramatically say, "You are my baby Girl/Boy" and rock them back and forth. They just go along with it for my sake, I think. They typically don't let me do that any other time. Can I just ask that they always let me have this moment? I can just see myself when they are teenagers!

This is from the other night! Not last night, when she had the flu!

Each time Maddie tries to do her homework they want to be right there with her. This evening I gave them some colors to use to see if it would help the situation.

And, I get all three of them together and still can't get them to look at the camera! UGH!

And then, even sisters 10 years apart can have their little spats. Chloe was doing the typical little sister thing. When Maddie would start to write something, Chloe would put her foot on her. Maddie would tell her to stop, Chloe would "shh" her or give her the pointer finger. Chloe was doing everything she could to get a bug her big sis. So, that's just a natural thing? This was taken with my I-Phone. Wish it was better quality. Chloe just jabbed her finger towards Maddie but didn't look her way.

I feel like this week both Cooper and Chloe matured more. It's crazy. I had many moments where they amazed me at something they said or do. Cooper for one was super mature at the doctor's office. It has NEVER been an easy task to take him to the doctor. He heard their telephone ring and he asked with expression and very clear words, "What is that Mama?" I told him it was a telephone. It was the way he asked. He's never asked a question like that. It sounded so much like a curious little boy instead of baby talk. Then, he stepped right up on the scale to get weighed. He's NEVER done that. Then, he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out when she asked. By this point, he is typically screaming and burying his head in my chest. He had sores ALL over his tongue.

May they always give me my moments to cradle them like babies!

My Little Man! So Funny!

2011-02-18T14:26:00.000-06:00

Miss Shelley took these! Hilarious! And, why can she get him to sit still for pictures??? Miracle Worker!

This one below cracks me up out loud!

My cute bubs!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T19:20:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Taste Test!

2011-02-13T19:12:00.000-06:00

I have laughed at each one of these pictures! Do you think they enjoyed them?

Yesterday, Nana watched Cooper and Chloe while we went to Maddie's tournament. She brought stuff to make them strawberry cupcakes for Valentine's Day but I didn't have eggs! OOPS! So, she left it all for me to make. We had already discussed bringing some to Miss Shelley's house so that the kids could have a little Valentine's party. Today, I let them try them out to make sure they were worthy of bringing to Miss Shelley's.

Bought by Nana...

Nothing but crumbs left!

Ready for tomorrow!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Valentine's Day tomorrow! Todd and I are so bad. We exchanged gifts today but I'm not sharing until tomorrow!

We've been busy!

2011-02-10T20:32:00.000-06:00

We have been so crazy busy. This week I've been exhausted and going to bed pretty early every night. I think I'm worn out from last weekend! And, it is already Thursday! Here is a recap!

This is actually a short video from the tournament in San Antonio.

Girls who have been at a tournament all day find ways to entertain themselves...

Even though Maddie and Monica are no longer playing for the same club team, they hung out with each other as much as they could...

This cold weather is miserable for me! I am so not a cold weather type person. Bring on the heat any day! This was taken the first day of the freeze before schools decided to shut down! A friend of mine made these hats for them and they didn't want to take them off! Dad doesn't like Cooper's. He thinks its too girly! I think he looks absolutely adorable!

Then, on Thursday, KISD decided to cancel school for Friday. Maddie had Monica spend the night Thursday night to wait for the snow (that never came). We took the opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine with Monica's parents after Cooper and Chloe went to sleep. Ahhh...the joys of having a teenage daughter! While we were out, I was invited by Claudia (Monica's Mom) to go to the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce Gala the next night!

This is us Friday night before the Gala...

It was fun to dress up and wine and dine with ADULTS!

Then, Sunday morning (Superbowl Sunday) Maddie had another tourney!

A few weeks ago, Maddie asked us if we could have a get together with Monica and Mallory's parents for Superbowl. Monica is a HUGE fan of Todd's brisket and requested it as well. So, we decided to throw a small gathering and smoke a brisket.

The girls made Green Bay shirts for the game!

The plan for a small gathering quickly changed and more people were invited...basically, if you ran into us you were invited!

Todd set a TV up in the backyard (we have wired speakers already out there) so it allowed kids to play while parents enjoyed watching the game! It was fun! And, my favorite part about the party. I LOVED having all the kids playing in my backyard. Cooper and Chloe had a blast too!

Todd's best friend Matt's kids!

(Cullen, Catherine and Connor)

My work bunch!

Monica's older sister Kristen and her friend Kelly. Kristen has babysat for us a few times and she is awesome!

Mallory's parents (Chris and Christina) with their youngest, Brady!

Monica's Dad, Pete!

I didn't get very many pictures of all our guests. I really was having a great time!

I know this post isn't flowing very well, like I said, I'm tired!

And, today we found out that we have to work on Saturday, Feb. 19th to make up for not being there on Friday. UGH!

Last two weekends...

2011-01-30T18:56:00.001-06:00

Last weekend, Maddie had a volleyball tournament in San Antonio. The tournament was in the Alamodome. Maddie played very well. It's amazing to see how much she has grown as a player. Cooper and Chloe stayed with Nana so that we could enjoy ourselves.

Aren't these shirts adorable? Love them!

Last night, we went to my Uncle David and Aunt Kim's house. There were two reasons to celebrate, Kim's birthday and Jeremy leaving for training for the Marines. For my friends who were at our wedding, Jeremy walked my Mom down the aisle. On my Mom's side of the family I have seven boy cousins. Jeremy is the oldest of the seven. When he first walked up in his uniform we all just stood there. It was like we didn't know if we could hug him or not!

Jeremy and our Grandmother, Rennie.

The party started at 6:30 and Cooper and Chloe go to sleep at 7:00. I'm happy to report they held out until 9:00!

This is Little Miss's new thing. She will shake her finger at you and shush you, tell you no, etc. We're going to have to put a stop to this once we all stop laughing over it! (sigh)

Right after she sasses you, she'll give you a brief moment of love.

This is Jon (aka Jon Jon)...this is Jeremy's youngest brother and that is the Mom of these cute boys in the corner, Aunt Kim!

My children LOVE stairs!

The middle brother, Josh.

All three of these boys are the sweetest ever! So handsome too!

Todd has once again gone out of town for work so I went over to my Mom's house today. Chloe got herself a new outfit from Aunt Donna and new shoes from Mama! She knew she was looking cute.

More...

"No, No, No."

Back at home before bed...

Watching Mickey Mouse together. I can't imagine how their little worlds would be without each other!

Love these stinkers!

Please keep praying!

2011-01-23T20:30:00.000-06:00

Little Gage still needs prayers....

His Mommy's last post from today:

Update: Gage stopped breathing 2 times last night. It sounds a lot worse than they think it is. His seizure med was on the lowest setting of therapy, so the med was increased. That should fix the apnea problem.

Post from earlier today:

The Nurse and Neuro assessed Gage and said all his reflex and eating is great which is not what they were expecting. He is acting like a baby and showing signs that the medication is working. He is such a little trooper and I am so proud of him!

We can not thank everyone enough for all the prayers. We read each and everyone of them and it touches our hearts!

Yesterday's post:
Talked to the nurse this morning and the culture from the lumbar puncture came back positive. The gram negative cells are still active. Not sure what that means yet, waiting on the dr's to do rounds. Today is going to be rough. Please pray for these germs to leave his little body and allow him to heal!!!!!

Thanks so much for praying for this little boy that is loved by so many! His three sisters are wanting their baby brother to come home!

If you by chance have a few extra moments to pray for my family, I'd really appreciate it. Todd, Maddie and I were in San Antonio this weekend for a volleyball tournament. We came home tonight to Chloe laying on the couch with my Mom shivering with a fever of 102.6 and Cooper playing but with a 101.4 temp. Chloe is hoarse and coughing. Cooper's cough is still lingering. Whatever this bug is it hit Chloe hard tonight. She has me worried. Miss Shelley said that two siblings that she keeps are staying home tomorrow with the same symptoms. Cooper and Chloe have been sick since Jan. 6th! Todd also has his appointment tomorrow with the Urologist.

When I'm not so tired, I will post pics from this weekend!

Prayers for Healing

2011-01-17T20:39:00.002-06:00

First prayer for healing....

This little guy needs LOTS of prayers. This is Gage Aaron Domec. He was born on January 6th. He has been in Texas Children's Hospital since Saturday. He has bacterial spinal meningitis. There were some improvements today! His parents are Lance and Kelly Domec. (Lance is Ryan's youngest brother.)

His Mom posted this today on Facebook:

Today already started much better! No issues over night and they already took off the eeg lines from his head. They didn't see any seizure activity and may even take him off the seizure meds. They believe he has plateaued and hoping for a less active day. He needs a break!

Second Prayer for Healing...

Today, I woke up to Todd pacing the floor in excruciating pain. His entire body was in a full sweat. My Mom came to watch Cooper and Chloe while I took Todd to the ER. He was immediately taken to a room and was well taken care of. He has two kidney stones. One nurse and the doctor told me that it was the male version of labor. Anytime Todd moaned, someone was immediately in the room to give him more medicine. I am able to kid with Todd now about the whole experience. There seem to be an abundance of male nurses and doctors this morning and they gave Todd more attention than when I was having my babies! Who goes to the ER at 8:00 AM and is out of there by 10:00 AM? But, all kidding aside, he is in pain and has to make an appointment with an Urologist tomorrow to decide if surgery is a better option.

My sick boys...yes...Cooper is still coughing! Oh by the way, I've been practicing smiling with Cooper. We've made a game of it and Todd was telling him he was practicing too. This is my second good one of him!

Snuggling with Dad....

I was sent to the store for this...well...maybe just the cookie dough ice cream.

I'm having sympathy pains so I decided I needed some too!

Third prayer for healing...

My brother's knee is really hurting him and he had to go see a knee specialist today. He can barely walk. They want him to go in for an MRI to see if surgery is needed. He just started a new job and already has to take time off.

Fourth prayer for healing...

It almost seems selfish to ask for prayers for Cooper's cough when there seems to be such greater prayer requests, but we all know God doesn't work that way! His cough just won't go away and it's wearing him out. The sun came out finally this afternoon so we went for a walk. We have been trapped in the house for too long! I took this picture today...I think he's lost weight from being sick! Look how skinny he looks! He is looking at Reba through the fence.

Here is some randomness...

This is the first picture that he is practicing smiling!

I hate that it's poor quality. It was taken with an I-Phone.

Doesn't she look older here?

Another I-Phone photo. My Uncle says she's out of control pretty and that he is

glad her brother will be around to keep the guys away!

I have started working on turning the blog posts into a book. Oh my! It is sooo much work. And, the max pages only allows me to include a year of posts which turns the project into two projects! I've worked on the first book for almost 10 hours and I'm still not finished. I'm getting closer! It has been fun reminiscing though. I truly think it will be something we cherish for years.

These are pictures of my computer screen. I haven't decided on the background color.

I'm off to eat some mint chocolate chip ice-cream! YUMMY!

Two Year Well Visit!

2011-01-07T20:10:00.000-06:00

We finally got to the doctor today to have our two year well visit. Nothing too exciting. She's okay with Little Miss's weight because she's still growing, she's just smaller than Coop!

Coop's Stats: 29.63 lbs (66%) and 35 inches in height (57%)

Chloe's Stats: 24.63 lbs (19%) and 32.50 inches (11%) - I think her height could be a little off (or Cooper's). She was very cooperative and actually stood against the wall so that they could do her height. Cooper was not so we had to lay him down where they make the marks on the paper above his head and below his foot. One of them is a little off, I don't think Cooper is 2 1/2 inches taller. He is taller but doesn't seem to be that much taller? Maybe.

On another note, this week Cooper and Chloe got sick with a high fever but really no other symptoms. It was kind of bizarre. One morning, Cooper did throw up his breakfast but seemed fine right after. It was a weird week. I returned back to work on Monday. Cooper went to bed the Sunday evening before with fever. Todd was home with them including Maddie on Monday. He took Cooper to the doctor and they said it was viral. UGH! I hate that, give me some antibiotics! I remember crying in the doctor's office one time when I was teaching because he told me whatever I had was viral. What!? No medicine?? You mean I just have to feel this way until it's moved on?? Anyway, Chloe went to bed with a fever Monday evening. Todd left to go out of town Tuesday morning. I've been off for two weeks and the week I return this is what happens. You guys, I actually had Maddie take care of Cooper and Chloe the entire day on her own and she did GREAT! I got many update text messages throughout the day and when I got home the house was even relatively clean. I even had her put a lasagna in the oven. She did tell me she would never be a Mom. HA! Maddie had to go back to school Wednesday. I got the babies up to take her to school and then stayed home with them for the day. It was really rough until about 3:00. I think they broke their fever during their nap. By Thursday afternoon, I was able to take them back to Shelley's and they were so excited to see her again.

This was taken by my I-Phone on Wednesday after he started feeling better. A boy gets to wear (or not wear) and eat whatever he wants when he's had a high fever for 3 days! He's got a roll of ritz crackers.

It was so exciting to see their smiling faces again. This was Wednesday evening!

They LOVE bubbles! I think the bath felt good too!

My baby girl doesn't like to be messed with when she's sick. She doesn't want to be held at all! She does tend to bounce back a little quicker than her brother. My baby boy clings on to me and wants to be held the entire time. It's so interesting to see how different they are. It's also interesting how Cooper has been the first to get sick. I really don't think Chloe has ever gotten sick first.

All is well now in the Cummings household. Maddie and I went with them to a Mexican restaurant this evening to celebrate the completion of the week! It was actually a pleasant experience!!! One can always find a reason to eat Mexican food!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T13:21:00.000-06:00

We hope that 2011 brings as much joy to you as these two have brought to us!

My Aunt's backyard is a photographer's paradise. I'm sure any professional photographer would love to use it for a photo shoot. She received a fancy FANCY camera for Christmas and I played with it today. Here are several I took this morning! I believe my Aunt took a few too.

Enjoying our new toys the day after...

2010-12-26T21:42:00.001-06:00

Today we made ourselves stay at home, get some rest and enjoy all our new presents! I received another camera that is smaller in size for when I can't bring our big fancy camera with me. It also is able to create videos which makes me oh so happy! You can see that I also played with my toy today too!

I did take these two pictures yesterday when I first opened my gift to test it out...not too bad!

Today, they took their bikes out for a spin and somehow knew the way to the park! Todd and I kept trying to turn around and head back home but we were told, "No, slide!" They are also loving the swings these days. "Go high Dada!"

It was so cold outside and thank goodness no one saw me! I was not dressed to impress!

Okay, notice Chloe is riding Cooper's bike? Little Miss threw a fit when it was time to leave the park to ride Cooper's. Cooper was oh so nice and gave it up...

He kept saying, "No, pink!" He wouldn't ride it! He wanted to push it instead! He walked all the way back home from the park (and it was cold) while Chloe rode his! I wonder how many more times those crocodile tears will win her brother over! He's so sweet to her, most of the time.

Here are some cute videos of them playing with their new toys today....

Cooper's laugh is making me laugh out loud while I watch these...

My sweet Chloe being such a girly girl...

They still need some more practice!

I think Cooper and Chloe enjoyed having some quality time with their Mama and Dada today! All is well, they took good naps today, ate well, played hard and went to bed at normal bedtime. Now, it's Mama's turn to hit the hay!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:41:00.000-06:00

Christmas this year was so special. We always cherish our extended time with Maddie and Cooper and Chloe really loved everything about the holidays, especially passing out presents to everyone and opening them.

Our Christmas traditions include going to the Christmas Eve service with my Mom (this year my brother joined us :)) and then going back to our house to eat tamales w/ chips and queso and opening presents with my Mom and brother. Then, on Christmas day we get together with my entire family.

Maddie was not with us for Christmas Eve until 9:00 that evening. Chloe was into taking pictures before church much more than Cooper. Cooper wasn't having it. In fact, he lasted about 5 minutes of the church service and then walked around outside the sanctuary with Dad until the service was over. Chloe lasted about 15 minutes and then joined Dad and Cooper. We could tell that Chloe knew she was looking cute by her prance!

Yep, wasn't having it...

Okay, just one Mom...

The only one with them together, ha!

Opening Nana's presents on Christmas Eve...

Santa came!

Handing out the love...

Christmas with my family was hosted by us this year!

Cooper was playing Santa and handing them out, so cute...

Aunt Donna got all the little ones boots...

Big Girls...

Tummies are full and it's movie time...

Sisterly love...

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

More fun...

2010-12-23T07:31:00.001-06:00

The River Oaks neighborhood is especially beautiful at Christmas time. Last night, Nana, Aunt Donna, Maddie, Cooper, Chloe and I piled in the suburban to drive around looking at the lights after meeting for dinner. My Aunt had already driven around prior and found out that Santa sits in front of a house. People park and actually sit on his lap to take pictures so we gave it a shot. We had been talking up Santa to the babies and hoped that their fear had lessened.

This is our picture with Santa...

This was the house with Santa...

Less scared of the plastic reindeer...

Chloe was scared of it all, she clung on to Big Sis the whole time! She preferred looking at the pretty lights in the car!

Going back on his own for a closer look...

He gives out candy canes, how bad could he be?

It's worth the drive, some were out walking with strollers and others were viewing the lights from their cars. It's beautiful and this one house makes it worth the traffic you drive through to get there.

We haven't made it to Prestonwood yet. If you haven't gone there before it's fabulous. Each street has a different theme. There is one Disney themed street with the Disney castle at the end. I've gone there since I was a child and it has never gotten old.

Christmas festivies have begun!

2010-12-20T08:36:00.000-06:00

First, it starts with watching Christmas movies together!

Then, it's going to the church's Crazy Kid Christmas Show and eating sugar cookies!

Next, it's dragging Grammy through an amusement park (Fiesta Texas)!

And Grammy buying them HUGE Lollipops!

And her hair getting shellacked to her face!

And being with a best friend!

And cousins!

And watching a tree lighting ceremony that includes Christmas carolers, cartoon characters, Santa, fireworks and snow!

(We have a video of it on the cell phone that Todd can add later!)

Wrestling with cousin Trevor...

Snuggling with Dada...

Being forced to take pictures....

Also includes for some to ride a crazy scary one...

And, finding time to ride the kiddie rides too...

Staying in a big hotel room with family....

Of course looking oh so cute...

Helping out...

And deciding it's best to let the big people take care of it...

Finally, wrapping up the big weekend at Uncle Ricky's house!

Fortunately, Grammy was able to come visit for a longer period of time and get to be apart of a new tradition of going to Fiesta Texas each year for Holiday in the Park. The big kids LOVED it so so much last year that they wanted to make it a tradition. Funny, us adults love it too. Uncle Ricky said he felt like a 10 year old again. If we are able, we will try to continue it each year. It's truly the best time to go, riding the roller coasters in the dark (and cold) is way cool, the Christmas music and lights put you in the Holiday spirit and nothing beats being goofy with your family! We ended the weekend with dinner prepared by Uncle Ricky and opening presents. Grammy is here for another day and will be coming over with Trevor and Brett soon. Cooper and Chloe LOVE playing with Trevor and Brett. We have another video from last night of Cooper and Chloe wrestling (more like attacking) the boys that Todd will have to add later as well. It was really funny! It was also sweet to watch Cooper and Chloe getting into handing out the presents and helping each of us open them!

Club season has begun!

2010-12-12T19:33:00.002-06:00

Maddie's first club volleyball tournament was this weekend at the George R Brown Convention Center. They came in 8th place, not bad! We do love the tournaments but they are long. Between playing, we took Cooper and Chloe over to Discovery Green to play. I had never actually walked down in the park. It was really nice. As you can see, the babies really enjoyed it and we got some super cute pictures!

Katy 13 Black!

Playing on the chimes at the playground...

If he wouldn't have had his jacket on, this picture would be magazine material, right? Or, am I just saying that because I'm his Mama and the photographer! We had the lens on our camera that we use for Maddie's action shots. I think they changed the quality of the pictures. I'm quite impressed and might be using it more often!

They LOVED running around. In the shade, it was cold, but out in the sun, it was perfect!

Love this picture!

Chloe Pie!

You guys, nothing is more cuter than Cooper calling Chloe "Co Pie".

Happy girl!

Standing on top of the hill looking out!

Looking for fish...

"Dada, where did the fish go?"

Back at home! They were so tired but being so sweet. Cooper kept asking me to go "night night". That meant he wanted me to lay down next to him!