Silly Kids

The kids are constantly saying things that crack us up. On Sunday I was sitting on the couch with Cooper looking over the Sunday ads out of the newspaper when he said, "Kmart Smart!" I looked at him and asked him what he said. He pointed at the lightbulb on the Kmart ad and again said, "Kmart Smart!" We just died laughing. I didn't even know that was their slogan and couldn't remember the last time I saw a Kmart commercial, but their advertising sucked in my 3 year old!

The other day Tyler came home from school and asked if I knew how to get to Beau's wrench? I was totally confused, but I knew Beau's family often goes to their family ranch, so I asked him if that is what he meant. Yes, his ranch. I guess they had been discussing it at school.

I love when they mispronounce words. Tyler calls granola bars chewnola bars and it cracks me up every time he says it.

I don't think I've mentioned this on the blog yet, but Travis is going to be a part of a production of Oliver Twist. His boss is one of the directors and convinced Travis to do it. He plays Mr. Bumble and he has quite a bit of speaking lines and 3 songs! Well, one night Travis took the boys to play practice and they came home singing, "Halibo, Halibo!" instead of "Oliver, Oliver!"

Lately, we have been talking with the boys about eating healthy foods and we often tell them certain foods will make you grow big and tall like Daddy. Well, yesterday, an A/C repairman came by the house to take a look at some stuff. We were talking with him and his teenage son and something came up about how Tyler was going to be tall and Tyler shouted, "Yes, because I eat a lot of lettuce!" We all had a good laugh!

Sweet Boy

I love this picture I captured the other day. Cooper must have been napping because he would have definitely wanted in on the fun.

Tyler has a special friend in his class named Lily. She lives in our neighborhood and goes to our church. She is the cutest little thing. He colored a picture for her the other day and we left it in her cubby. She then gave him a silly band in the shape of a "T" for Tyler. So today he said he wanted to make her some more pictures and he wanted to put it in our mailbox and let the postman deliver it. I tried to talk him into just putting it in her cubby at school, but he refused. So I helped him write a note to her so she wouldn't get a random picture in the mail from him. He wrote most of the letters himself and he was so proud!

Lamp Makeover

I've been looking for lamps for our bedroom for probably over 6 months, but every time I would find something it would be way more money than I was willing to pay or it would be the style I liked and the wrong color. Well, a few months ago I came across this design blog that I liked and she did a tutorial on how to paint lamps. After I saw this I was on the hunt for some inexpensive lamps to paint! I searched Marshalls and TJ Maxx high and low, but didn't fall in love with any that I saw. I was hunting for something like these Potter Barn lamps, but I definitely didn't want to pay the $100 they were asking for each lamp base.

One day I was in Target and spotted a great lamp. It wasn't in the regular lamp aisle, it was in one of the special decorating aisles. And all of you regular Target shoppers know that those aisle ALWAYS go on clearance at some point. So I waited and waited and waited. Every time I was in Target I would go down that aisle to see if my lamps were on clearance. Finally the other day I saw the big red clearance sign hovering above my lamps! I grabbed two and put them in the basket excited for my next project. They were $25 each! Great deal for a lamp. I went and bought the needed spray paint supplies and got to work right away. Here is the before:

And Afters:

I love how they turned out and especially for the price I paid! I think I need to add one more coat of the gloss sealer to make them a little bit more glossy. I love having lamps in our bedroom and the way it warms up the room with a soft glow. Now I just need to finish the rest of my projects for the Master Bedroom!

6 Months!

Claire turned 6 months on the 16th and I'm just now getting around to posting! I guess that is what happens when you have three kiddos running around. We took her to the doctor last week and she weighed in at a little over 17 pounds (75%) and she was in the 90% for height. Here is a list of things I want to remember about Claire at this age:

• She is a great eater! I have started feeding her veggies (squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, and peas) and she loves all of them so far.
• She is sleeping great at night. She sleeps from around 6:30-7:00 or even 7:30. Her naps aren't as consistent, but I think it is because we are always on the go with the boys and she doesn't always get to nap in her bed.
• She is a very happy baby, but just this past week she has become more aware of when the boys or I leave the room and she has been letting us know that she doesn't like it!
• She sleeps with a little lovie blanket and she is already very attached to it. She rubs it in her face when I give it to her and it is never far from her when she is asleep.
• She rubs her eyes when she is tired, just like her daddy!
• She loves blowing rasberries at the moment and she thinks it is fun when you blow them back at her.
• She is starting to sit up on her own, but definitely still topples over. Those cheeks are just to heavy to hold up!

Blowing rasberries at Mama.

Showing off her new skills of sitting up by herself.

Cooper is never far from his baby sister. He loves her so much!

Blog Makeover

I was recently the recipient of a blog makeover from Penny Lane Designs. I love the new look for the blog! She had lots of cute pre-made designs to choose from and it was hard to settle on just one design. If you are looking to makeover your blog, check out pennylanedesigns.net!

Beautiful Day

This past week we finally had some beautiful weather come our way, although I think by tomorrow it is supposed to be back in the 90's. UGH! But we have been trying to enjoy the nice weather as much as we can while it is here. This past week the boys decided that they would like to have a picnic in the treehouse. I thought it was a fun idea and so we all climbed up in the treehouse to enjoy dinner. I figured we might just be able to get through dinner without any whining or complaining about what was being served because they would be having too much fun, but I was WRONG!!! Oh well, at least we could enjoy the lovely weather!

Cubbies

We are Awana Cubbies, we're happy all day long.

We know that Jesus loves us! That's why we sing this song.

We hop because we're happy and we jump and shout for joy.

For Jesus is a friend to us. He loves each girl and boy.

It's that time of year again! Both of the boys are in Cubbies this year and they love it. Cooper was so very excited when I told him that he would get a vest this year and would be able to earn patches. I was a little worried that he wouldn't be brave enough to tell his teachers his verses, but he has done great and is working really hard at memorizing them. Tyler must have grown tremendously over this past year, because his vest is tiny on him! I can't imagine what it will look like by the end of the year!

ZOO

The boys have been begging me to take them to the zoo lately. I promised them that once the weather got a little bit cooler that we could go. This week we got a small cool front and it made it bearable enough to be outside, so we took off to the zoo with some friends and Aunt Kelsey. The kids had a great time and especially enjoyed the new playground that recently opened. It was an amazing playground that resembled a huge tree house. We had a great morning and topped it off with some Chick-fil-a before heading home for naps.

Tyler, Beau, Cooper, and Brooklynn

Tyler and Cooper checking out the animals.

All the kiddos looking at the tigers.

Claire enjoyed her leisurely stroll through the zoo.

Several giraffes came right up to where we were standing.

Close up

Nap time

Callie enjoying the slide.

Some more monkeys we saw at the zoo!

5 Months!

I'm late posting this, but Claire turned 5 months last week! I caught some cute pictures of her this past week and so I thought I would share. Claire is such a joy to our family. I was looking up the meaning of her name this week. Tyler means a Tile maker and Cooper means a Barrel Maker, so I'm obviously not a name your kid based on the meaning of their names kind of gal. But when I pulled Claire's name up it said "Bright" and I think it fits her so well. She is a bright light in our little family and she brings so much happiness and joy to all of us. She is a super easy going little baby and I hope she will continue to be like this. She flashes that beautiful smile at anyone who will look her way. We love her to pieces and are so thankful for God's precious gift to us!

Gianna Jessen

I had never heard of Gianna Jessen until last night. Travis and I attended a fundraiser and we had the privilege to hear an amazing woman by the name of Gianna Jessen give her testimony. When Gianna's biological mother was 17 years old and seven and half months pregnant, she went to Planned Parenthood clinic to seek a late term abortion. The abortionist performed a saline abortion in which they inject a high concentration of saline into the mother's womb, which the fetus is then bathed in and swallows, which results in the fetus being burned to death, inside out. Within 24 hours the results are normally an induced, still-born abortion. Gianna is an aborted late-term fetus who was born alive. The high concentration of saline in the womb for 24 hours resulted in a lack of oxygen to her brain and as a result Gianna was born with Cerebral Palsy. The doctors though she would never survive, but the doctors were wrong! VERY WRONG! She has an amazing story and we were so blessed to have been able to hear it last night. Check out this video and hear part of her incredible story!

Guest Bathroom

We finally finished the guest bathroom this past week. This is one of the areas that I had Layla from the Lettered Cottage help me with. I think it turned out pretty good and it was probably our cheapest room to remodel. Here are the before pics:

And After:

In this bathroom we painted the cabinetry, installed new hardware, installed new lighting, put in a new butcher block countertop, installed a tile backsplash, built and installed shelves, and painted the walls.

The tile backsplash was not in the original plans, but once we ripped out the old blue tile countertops some of the cabinetry on the right side was messed up and so we needed something to cover it up. I think it turned out good. We reused the faucet and the sink was a sink Travis had from one of his old houses that never got used.

Travis built and stained the shelves.

A better look of the overall room. The shower curtain was the same one we had in the old house. The stool was a find at Canton.

This bathroom is also used as a pool bathroom. That door leads to the backyard and pool area.

I'm so glad one more room is done. Our Master Bedroom and Bathroom are the next major projects on the horizon. We have started the bedroom, but the bathroom has yet to be touched. In fact, it is a total disaster area!

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend we headed up to Katy to help Shelby celebrate her 3rd birthday. The boys had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and enjoying all of the birthday festivities.

Cooper's first question of the day, "When are we going to eat cake?"

Shelby was just a little excited about her presents and the bounce house.

The birthday girl

Bailey and Shelby showing off their party hats

Grandma getting some loving from Claire

Bailey and Tyler playing on the bounce house

Daddy and Claire Bear

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids

The big kids being silly. The boys have so much fun playing with their cousins!