It's been too long again

I really need to keep up more often, but life is so busy! This spring has been crazy so far. I've tried to include pictures from most of the things we did...that means lots of new pics for everyone to see! Novice blogger that I am I uploaded in reverse chronological order, but you'll get the idea.
We took the kids to the the Humble Rodeo and the Houston rodeo 2 times. They had blast all three times. The only problem with the Humble Rodeo was that it was below freezing that night and the wind was blowing straight through the outdoor stadium where we were sitting on metal seats BRRR! Micah and Sophie didn't seem to mind, we had to convince them it was time to go. We stayed to see Gary Allan and The Eli Young Band and they behaved fantastically even though it meant they didn't get to bed until after midnight.
Easter was fantastic this year. I may get slack from some of you guys, but we have decided no to let our kids believe in the imaginary characters that surround Christian holidays. I think it's fun and silly, but I don't want them to get confused with the truth of what Easter and Christmas are all about. So this Easter we attended Good Friday service and came home and read the story of the crucifixion and made hollow cookies. We did hide the Easter eggs but I let them pick the candy they wanted inside and they got to find them when they woke up Easter morning. They were so involved it was awesome.
Our most recent adventure was the Go Fish concert. Our kids love these guys and they are fun for B and I to listen to as well. I pretty much shot my fun budget on t-shirts and a DVD, but their smiles made it worth it! If you have never heard of them you should look them up www.gofishguys.com
Now onto what the kids have been up to. Micah seems to be reaching so many goals lately. Just in the past two months he has learned to snap his fingers, pump on a swing all by himself, and ride his big boy bike with NO training wheels! That doesn't include everything he's doing at school. He is now sounding out and reading one vowel words like a pro!! Everywhere we go he's sounding things out or asking me how to spell a work he thinks of.
Sophie painted her own finger nails for the first time yesterday, no I didn't realize she was doing it at the time, but she did pretty good and was really fast:) Her most obvious accomplishment lately is not one that I am particularly proud of...she is so sassy!! She says things like "it doesn't matter" "forget it!" and "you don't know anything." Trust me these are quickly corrected, I can't stand disrespect! I am glad that she has such an independent personality I just hope we can channel that before she becomes a teenager...scary!! She just amazes me with the things she understands and how mature she is (most of the time). She likes to play with the big kids and does real well.

Being Snazzy with the Go Fish guys!

Hunting Easter eggs

Micah's first performance with the kids choir at church.

ROAR!

See what I mean?!? Sassy

Go western day at Humble Christian School

zoo day...it was so cold!

Humble Rodeo

Micah and Arthur

Sophie dancing

So Sweet!
Thank you Lord for these beautiful children!!
Psalm 127:3-5

A day at the museum

So I know I've mentioned how much the kids and I enjoy story time, well the last time we went we received a free family pass to the Children's museum. We all went on Saturday and had a blast. These are only a few of the tons of pictures I took. They apparently have done lots of construction since the last time we were there. We were thoroughly impressed!! The kids had spent the night with Nana & Papa the night before so they were a little tired. Once we got there they perked up and were excited to try all of the new things. Micah said his favorite part was "everything". Sophie said her's was the puppet show, although she didn't quite understand how to stay behind the curtain. They of course both crashed in the van on the way home. It's so cool to watch them learn, and be excited about it!

Oh Cecelia, your breaking' my heart......

What a beautiful baby girl, and oh so sweet! This is my sister's baby Cecelia Elaine. Carolyn and Charlie I feel so blessed to be her aunt! I love you guys so much, thank you for letting us take care of her for a couple of hours. My kids had a blast and didn't want to put her down. The only problem with this is that she was very content to lay on her blanket and watch her rattle and to see us smile. My poor children don't understand the phenomenon of too much touch.

Sweet Kisses from Micah, he wanted to take a nap with her on his bed!

Can you tell she likes to pose? "Say Cheese"What a sweet expression, usually he opts for a silly smile.Cecelia liked playing with cousin Sophie!Even Esther liked having Cecelia around.

Man being cute can wear you out. Uncle Brandon needed a rest from all that cute-ness too!!

Who loves Chuy's?

I don't know about you guys, but my kids love Chuy's. After we picked Brandon up from work tonight we got to have a special treat for dinner. While sitting in the booth Sophie decided it would be fun for her to climb all over me. Well not touchy as I am, I was getting pretty overstimulated so Brandon took both kids on his side. We didn't realize that we would get such cute picture ops out of it. Check it out and see what you think.....

Merry Christmas 2009

So having all of our family living in the same city is really fantastic, especially for the kids. However it sure makes for some crazy busy holidays! We hit a total of 5 houses and Christmas eve service at Church, which included good laughs, presents, and of course good food! The kids were on their best behavior (most of the time) sleep deprived as they were.

Christmas @ Grandmommy & Grandaddy's house

Christmas @ Aunt Naomi's with Big Mema

Sophie & Teagan

Kaitlyn, Caden, Micah, Landon

Off to Nana and Papa's

...Back at home, the kids big Christmas present was a TV/DVD player. It's getting plenty of use!

The kids had a blast at Uncle Greg and Aunt Connie's house. They got to drive a truck, chase a cat, look at deer, and oh yeah sit on a fence to take pictures. How Cute!!!

Final destination...Uncle Josh and Aunt Theresa's house to hang out with Kaitlyn & Addison.

I'M BACK....AGAIN

*****Okay I really am going to try to keep up this time...I promise.

I finally got a ton of pictures downloaded so I'm going to try to keep up with the downloads so I have something to talk about and show you.*****

Here's a little update on the family.

Brandon: Working hard as usual. He just passed his 5 year anniversary as an "outside plant engineer" at AT&T. He is currently in training to run his first marathon in January 2011. He is also working on a website to help men stay strong in their spiritual growth even when surrounded by worldly temptations. What a great dad, though he usually doubts himself in this area, our children adore him!


Natalie: I've been working hard staying at home. Along with our beautiful children I have also been taking care of 3 other children. DonTerrius (5), Charlee (5), and Krisslyn (2 3/4). I love being able to take Micah to and from school, and going to story time is one of my favorite bonding times.



Micah: He's fantastic, and oh so smart. In August he started the K4 program at Humble Christian School. He is really thriving there. He has already learned to write his first name in print and cursive, write numbers 1-10, add single digit numbers, and he is memorizing a new Bible verse every week. He's been working hard at home too. I've recently taught him to tie his shoes. He got a new scooter for Christmas and is riding like a pro. Daddy is always happy to have him help outside because he is actually helping now, not just watching. He is also maturing as a big brother. He has learned to be so much more gentle and is sharing so well--most of the time;). His favorite show is Phineas and Ferb which he likes to watch on the computer. He has also found a new liking for internet learning games. Starfall and pbskids.org have some really cool games that he does very well. Sometimes he surprises me at what he understands. This fall he played soccer with a team from church. His last game he scored 2 goals. I was so proud. our next giant step- taking the training wheels off of his big boy bike.

Sophie: My little sopapilla. What a blessing God has given our family. I never knew how much I would enjoy having a daughter. She amazes me constantly. She has learned to spell her name, sing her ABC's and dress herself. She is completely potty trained (overnight and all) as of about a month and a half ago, that's right 2 years and 2 months old. Told you she's amazing! She is such a girly-girl. She definitely didn't get that from me, but it sure is fun to watch. My sister gave her a purse for Christmas complete with toy cell phone, lipstick, keys, and nail polish. She pretended to paint her toenails immediately after opening and has barely put it down since.

Esther: The new addition--our kitty cat that the children love and Brandon pretends to hate. I think he's just jealous because she gets more snuggles than him. He saved her from the side of the beltway and she's been agitating him ever since. Her favorite place (besides the Christmas tree) is on me so that irritates B even more.

That's probably enough typing for now. I'll add some pictures and try to keep updated on things as they happen from now on!