Patience Loved Ones...It's A Virtue (I've been told...)

I promise I am not behind again on purpose. I am NOT techy and the blog system is telling me I can't add more pictures. I am working on figuring it out and praying it is updated before we leave on Saturday! So stay tuned for parades, baby Liam (praise! he is home now!), soccer awards, birthday party and Thanksgiving....

 

Oh, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING LOVED ONES!!!!!!

Seriously?!

Not cool America. Not cool.

Four years of Obama was enough. Not thrilled to endure another four.

Why? I just don't get it.
(I have a night's sleep under my belt, and wish to add how grateful I am to know that God is in control. May His will be done and may we never stop fighting to spread his love, truth and good will.)

ON FIRE!

 

 

The Dude was on fire today! He scored two goals in one quarter and made an assist in the other! He still loves soccer and today was a great game!!!!

Prayers

 

Liam James Brodie was born on November 1st!

We are so super psyched to welcome him to our family and to the world!

He weighed in at 8lb7oz and measured 21.5 inches!

Liam is Caleb's fourth cousin and the son of Brian's sister, Ashley.

 

But we need your prayers loved ones. Liam took in some amniotic fluid when he was delivered and has developed pneumonia. He has been in NICU and his older brother and sister have not been able to meet him yet. He will likely stay in the hospital another 7-10 days. Please pray for sweet Liam and his family. We love him to pieces and want him to go home with Mommy and Daddy!



Iron Man Takes On Halloween

The Avengers took over Montgomery Drive on Wednesday night. The Dude, aka Iron Man, paired up with soccer buddy Jack, aka The Hulk, and DOMINATED! This is the first year that Caleb really got the idea of trick-or-treating and they RAN to each house, super excited over all of the loot they collected. It was so much fun to trail behind them and watch the process!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Art

This year Caleb designed our pumpkin. He drew his design on a piece of paper and we got to work.

It is proudly displayed on our front porch for all to see!

What Training Wheels?

Caleb told us he wanted to take the training wheels off of his bike, so Monday night we went out to the track and did just that!

 

 

 

 

 

He did it! He was so brave and had fun and was fantastic.

Then he asked us to put the training wheels back on....

We told him we would try again in a week.

YeeHaw

Last weekend we went to Frisco Heritage Village to check out their Cowboy Days. It was great y'all! Caleb got to play with pioneer tools and toys, check out Texas animal pelts and log cabins, watch Armadillo races (seriously!) and whittlers and even an old western shoot-out. It was a beautiful day and we will totally go back next year!

 

Making Butter!

 

A Natural Cowboy.

Wish you could have heard his giggles when the horse started talking to him!

 

Yup. Armadillo Races. HILARIOUS!

 

Our Little Frisco-ite!

We LURVE Frisco!

 

Words can't say how much I love them!

 

Learning from the pros.

 

Thrilled to love on the bunnies.

 

Sneak Peek

We leave for Disney World in just over a month, which means that Caleb's birthday party is less than a month away! A fact that really hit home this weekend. Tonight we did Caleb's photo shoot for his invitations and it was so much fun that I wanted to share a sneak peek! He is having a superhero party but I won't say just yet how these photos will be used in the invites...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup. Brian is SuperDad. He took a beating but didn't stop laughing the whole time!

 

 

 

SCORE!

 

We had a wonderful weekend! Saturday was so beautiful that we spent the whole day outside! Soccer, yardwork, play and barbeque. We didn't even come inside to eat! Caleb's soccer season is almost over and he made sure to get in a goal this week, which was FABULOUS! Being the laid-back Daddy-mini-me that he is, he totally downplayed his achievement. But we know how much he wanted to make a goal and couldn't be more thrilled for him. Every week he improves on the soccer field!

 

 

We love the fall and the chance to be outside! Brian's allergies don't always allow him to enjoy it as much as he would like, but it is amazing to see how much discomfort he will put aside to spend time with us. We are really enjoying spending time with each other and our families, getting things done, not getting things done and enjoying the freedom that comes when we do not have school schedules. This is all going to change next fall when we start a new adventure called homeschooling. How is it this fall already? When Caleb was born, his fifth birthday seemed an eternity away. Kindergarten wasn't even a blip on our radar. I have loved staying home with Caleb and will miss this time together! Yup. I am mushy people. Don't expect it to get better between now and August either.

 

Watching Caleb takes my breath away. He is going to be five in a month and he is growing up to be a truly compassionate and thoughtful, well-rounded little dude. I know that I am blessed to get to stay home with him every day and pray that we will cherish every moment that we have with him. It takes a lot of sacrifice to stay at home and we have no doubt that it is worth it! God gifted us with this marvelous little boy and entrusted him to our care. It is our responsibility to raise Caleb to know God and to someday leave our home to walk with Him and start his own life alongside ours. I am so excited to see what Caleb will do with his life. Just like every other preschooler, his options are endless and his potential enormous. I am honoured that God would entrust this role to us and allow us the opportunity to raise one of His own.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy (Belated) Canadian Thanksgiving Everyone!

We held our second annual open house and invited our friends and family over for yummy treats and snacks. We had a great afternoon of fellowship with our loved ones and we really enjoyed watching Caleb play with his friends. He hasn't seen gal-pal Celina in a while and they were really cute playing together again. McKenna fit right in and the trio were on a team that he quickly dubbed the Red Devils (his soccer team). Their antics involved silly dances for the parents, races and blanket animals. It was noisy and beautiful. A wonderful thanksgiving. Same as last year I managed to not take any pictures at the open house but we got a few beforehand. Most notably, Chai's tutu. If you know me, then you know if I had a daughter she would be sporting a tutu most every day. When Caleb and I found a Chai-sized purple one, it was a no-brainer. Isn't she adorable!?!

 

 

 

MS Walk

Last weekend Brian and Caleb took an overnight trip to Waco for the annual MS Walk. Caleb was super excited to see his cousins and to take a Daddy-and-Me roadtrip. It was the first time I slept alone in our house since Caleb was born...I missed them A LOT! But Canadian Thanksgiving requires a lot of prep work and that kept me home. Apparently the boys had a lot of fun and Caleb enjoyed playing with Madison and Gabriel. He really loves his cousins and has developed a big attachment to his Houston grandparents. He came home chanting "MS stinks." Very sweet. Brian sent me pictures of the Dude while they were gone and recordings of the dude saying he loves Mommy. I am just glad that they are home. Home Sweet Home.

Pumpkin Patch

Fall means Pumpkin Patches. Just ask Caleb. So when we had to the opportunity to go to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch he was ALL for it. Grammy's friend, Janet, was watching her two grandchildren and wanted to have a playdate. Caleb hasn't seen Savannah since they were babies but the two immediatly reconnected. Little brother Colton shares a love for all things fireman, so needless to say the three had a blast. They reunited this week during Grammy day and Caleb came home quite happy. Apparently Savannah thinks he is her boyfriend and he isn't objecting much.

 

Grammy and Pop Days

It took a long time for me to give up my Dude for even a few hours, but eventually my Mom and Caleb started the tradition of Grammy Days. Once a week, they get together to play and it is a much cherished occasion for them both. Since my Dad's retirement, he has become a part of what is now Grammy and Pop day. I feel very blessed to have my parents close enough to be able to do this and their relationship with Caleb means a lot to us. I only recently discovered that I do not have any pictures memorializing this tradition! That had to change! So this is the first in what I hope to be a series. Caleb starts Kindergarten next year and these weekly visits will become much less frequent. He is growing up so fast and I am absolutely getting mushy. We filled out his Kindergarten application this week and we will be going for a campus visit on Tuesday. Yup, I am getting really mushy.

 

Yee-Haw

Two weekends ago, my parents had tickets to Lewisville's Western Days and Caleb spent the entire week in anticipation of seeing the cowboys. However, once faced with said cowboys, he got rather cozy with Mommy and Daddy and lost all sense of adventure. At moments like that, we are reminded that our amazing little boy is still only four. He is still very little no matter how big he acts. The big bbq shaped like a pistol did not interest him and the mock-up shoot-out was not at all fun. He spent the whole time cuddled into our necks with his hands on his ears. We weren't complaining. We still love our cuddlebug's cuddles. He did love the pet expo with the friendly Husky and the car show though. And the rain didn't bother any of us in the least. Not even Chai.