Tag You're It!

See-- Jes I fixed it! :)

So I was tagged to post the 4th picture in my 4th album on my computer! This is my picture! Ethan had just turned 2 and was eating his first powdered sugar donuts one Saturday morning. By the looks of the picture he didn't like the donuts or did not like the cute skeleton pj's I had put him in!

I now tag Courtney Albright, Amanda Kilgore, Cori Anderson, and Kim Hood! Can't wait to see your pictures!!!

Kandy turns the big 30!

My boys help me blow out my candles!

Ethan singing Happy Birthday to me!

Where David and I went for my birthday!

The entrance to Lost Pines!

David in front of Lost Pines!

Me making smores!

David and me snuggling by the fire!

The large Gingerbread house of Lost Pines!

Cute Couple!

That is the dress David bought me!

For those of you who have not heard about my romantic birthday weekend....here it goes!

On Friday, December 5, I drove into my driveway around 6:00 pm and saw my parents car parked in my drive way. David walked out of the house wearing a very large smile. I asked him why in the world my parent's car was in the driveway. He told me they were here to babysit. I was a little confused because it was Friday, and he had told me earlier in the week that on Saturday night he was taking me somewhere for my birthday (which he had bought me a black dress from White House/Black Market and a pair of new shoes to wear for our date that night) and he had already arranged the babysitter for that night! I told him I didn't understand. He then smiled and told me to get out of the car because we were leaving right now to spend the weekend away at Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, TX! I was shocked and so surprised. I walked into my house to find my parents holding a birthday present and screaming surprise! I also found my bags packed, my house cleaned, and supper ready and on the table! That alone was heaven and a wonderful birthday present! David took and the afternoon off from work and was busy getting the house ready and bags ready for the trip!

Once we arrived at Lost Pines, it was totally romantic. If you have never visited Lost Pines, you must...it is wonderful! Check out their website! It was decorated for Christmas and everything was beautiful! The weather was cold and perfect! David scheduled me a manicure, pedicure,and massage on Saturday. I spent several hours in the spa! It was heaven! We watched football together, had breakfast in bed, ate at a fancy restaurant (which I wore my new dress to), made smores by the fire pit, snuggled by the fireplace, and looked at stars snuggled by each other while we sat at the fire pit! We left on Sunday and really did not want the weekend to end! But back to reality and children we came!

It was the best birthday ever! David was so proud of himself, and I think he is just the best husband ever! So that is why when he asked to leave this weekend to go hunting in Louisiana...I said sure----it's the least I could do.... considering!!!!

I love my HUSBAND!!!!

Snow Day

BRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! It is really winter in Houston! We had snow yesterday evening in Houston. I was working late at work in afterschool and was able to play in the snow with the preschool children! Ethan was thrilled and enjoyed running around in the snowflakes! He especially liked eating the snow! The children were all so excited! It was really something magical to watch their joy and excitement of snowflakes falling! At church later that night, everyone (even adults) were smiling and talking about the snow. It made us all feel that it was really Christmas and winter even in Houston! Ethan told his Daddy all about the snow. He told David he liked it better when it was hot outside because he got to go swimming! Spoken like a true Texan!

It's SNOWING in HOUSTON!!!

Ethan eating the snow!

Ethan catching the snow!

Mommy and Me in the snow!


Ethan feeling the snow on his face!

Autumn Leaves are Falling Down

We took some pictures in Louisiana at Thanksgiving that really show the beautiful fall colors. Fall is my favorite time of the year. We don't get to see or enjoy the beautiful trees at this time of year in Houston. This is something I really miss about Pineville. I love when we drive home for Thanksgiving and get to see all the beautiful colors. My boys on the other hand enjoyed playing in the leaves, but of course they all had snotty noses afterwards..... thanks to allergies! But I have some really great pictures! Isn't that tree gorgeous!

Ethan had fun with his cousin, Kameron, over the holiday! He was so excited to see her!

My sweet baby Will! This is the smile he wears everyday!

I just LOVE this picture!

They are playing with a leaf in the wagon.

Look closely and you can see Will's little foot! How Cute!!!

Please Pass the Turkey Leg!

I just had to share this picture of Ethan. One night after Thanksgiving, Ethan asked for turkey...you gotta love thanksgiving leftovers! I got the yummy fried turkey that Uncle Brett made for us out of the fridge and started to cut off some for Ethan. He stopped me and said, "No, I want a turkey leg!" Puzzled I looked at him and said, "Are you sure?" He replied, "YES!" So because when you are on vacation --- rules can be broken (least that is what I think)--- I gave him the whole turkey leg! He started chomping down on the leg without any hesitation. I left him there at Mems' island to eat. A few minutes later my mom, sister, and David started to laugh at him. He was enjoying it so much. My sister and mom looked at each other and almost at the same time they said, "We have a picture of you (Kandy) doing the same thing with a turkey leg at Thanksgiving!" I remembered the picture. I quickly snapped a photo of Ethan.......and here is his Mommy....enjoying a turkey leg in 1979.

Believe it or not...these pictures of Ethan and me were taken in the very same kitchen........just a 29 year gap between pictures! The kitchen has seen major updates in the recent years, but isn't that neat!

Dance With Me

On our trip to Louisiana for the Thanksgiving holiday we spent lots of time with family! One afternoon Ethan asked Mamaw (my grandmother), "Dance with me Mamaw!" This is the picture I took with them dancing together! I just love this picture. Don't they look like they are having fun? I am so thankful that he gets to make memories like these with his great grandparents. I know that she treasures every moment she gets to spend time with all her great grandchildren.

On a side note--- Ethan loves to dance. He will ask David and I to dance with him all the time. But don't worry--he gets his rhythm from his Daddy--not Mommy! And for that we are very thankful!!!!

You Are My Sunshine

Mems (my mother) came last week for Ethan's Grandparents' Day at school. He was so excited to show her around his classroom. His grade level sung, "You Are My Sunshine" at the program. Ethan is the sunshine on the front row sitting on his knees. He has been practicing for awhile. We had to reschedule Grandparents' Day because of Hurricane Ike-- so you can imagine how many times David and I have heard this song!!!! Which is quite ironic because when he was a baby, we would sing this song to Ethan to help him fall asleep! Brings back sweet memories! Every once in awhile Ethan will ask to be rocked. He will say, "Sing to me!" He is still our baby deep down!!!!

Grandparents' Day was a hit for both Ethan and Mom. She checked him out of school and they spent the day together. Mems is defiantly a special sunshine in Ethan's life and as you can imagine Ethan is a BIG sunshine in Mems' life! Ethan's other grandparents could not make the trip because of work, but we can't wait for next year's Grandparents' Day!

Thank you God for wonderful Grandparents!

Just wanted to share Ethan's first school picture with you all!

Isn't he so handsome? Must take after his Daddy!

Our Very Hungry Caterpillar Turns ONE!

Will turned ONE on October 30, 2008. We had a Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party this past Saturday to celebrate. Check out our huge caterpillar cake! It was adorable, but way bigger than I expected or ordered! Needless to say our party guest received one very big slice!

The party was a big hit! We made butterflies, played with bugs in the sand table, crawled in tunnels like caterpillars, and even had story time! Party guest received their own cocoon with a special surprise inside when they left. We also sampled some Very Hungry Caterpillar food! If you are at all familiar with the book, then you know that the Very Hungry Caterpillar eats many things, but is Still Hungry. Well, our very hungry caterpillar Will is always Still Hungry. So this theme was just right for him!

I had a blast planning the party! I know David was probably thinking this is just a bunch of nonsense for a baby who does not know what in the world is going on and will not remember this party ten years from now. But his mommy will and for that we planned BIG! I am not sure if Will's favorite part of the party was the Very Hungry Caterpillar giant balloon that his Daddy made him or the yummy birthday cake...... which ever he enjoyed his day and so did Mommy!

I was very emotional about Will turning one. This took me by surprise because I did not have these emotions when Ethan turned one. I can't believe that one year has already past, and Will is no longer my infant. I have enjoyed every midnight feeding, every smile, every coo, every diaper change, every footed outfit, every spit up cleaning, every diaper bag packing, every bottle cleaning, every moment the baby monitor has spoken to me in the middle of the night, every pumping session, every milestone reached, every bath time, every bump on the forehead, every cry, every highchair cleaning, every tiny sock lost in the dryer, and every lullaby sung at nightime in the rocking chair. Thank you God for giving me these memories. They will all be treasured because a year really does fly by way to fast!

Happy Birthday Baby Will! We love you!!!!

Ahoy! Mates

Happy Late Halloween from the Bozeman Pirate Family!

We were pirates for Halloween and we even had our very own parrot! Will was precious in his homemade parrot outfit. David made the costume! He is quite the Susie Homemaker sometimes! Ethan was very excited about Halloween this year. Probably because he now understands you get candy, but he was also very excited to dress up like Daddy. We had a blast trick or treating at our church's annual Treat -N -Trunk.

Now the big question everyday from Ethan is..... Mommy, can I have just one piece of my candy?My answer is...Yes, but I get to choose!

Yesterday he asked me.....Mommy, can I have one piece of candy when we get home and I get to choose? So for yesterday only...he got to choose!

Until next Halloween............we are already thinking of our family costumes for next year!

This is what you do after you come home from trick or treating..... You are to full of candy and to wired to go to bed... so you play in your costume (or half of it) till you drop in your bedroom! Will was so cute crawling around playing with his parrot tail still attached. I tried my best to get a picture of his tail. This is the best one I got. He is just to fast and will NOT be still for just a second!

Fun memories!

My Preschooler

I wanted to share with you all just how big my Ethan is getting! He is such the little preschooler now days. Last week at school the three year old classrooms were in charge of chapel. On Monday, Ethan stood on stage for the pledge and the I am Proud to be an American song. Then he lead the school in a prayer! His prayer went a little like this...

Will you please pray with me?

Dear God,

Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, and our teachers.

Thank you for this day.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, and Will.

In Jesus name Amen. (the last line was said really really fast!)

He was so proud of himself and so was I! During the week his class preformed songs and skits for the school. Ethan had no problem going on stage and preforming! I was so happy that I was able to see him each time his class did something special in chapel. It reminds me why I wanted so badly to be working at the school he was going to attend! I am so thankful for my job and the opportunity to be with him during the day. Daddy even came too!

OK.....so now I have to brag a little more on my little preschooler! Check out his name above and how well he is writing it! He loves to write his name. Every paper he gets his hands on he puts his name on it! If you ask him how to spell it, he will say.... E T hump A N. We are working on saying H! I know this is probably just the preschool teacher in me, but it has been so much fun lately! He is finding E's everywhere... at home, in the parking lot on cars, in books, etc.... He thinks every S is Sharon's name (a girl in his class) and every T is Tyler's name ( a boy in is class). He has started to ask what my name starts with and Daddy's. I am having a blast with him, and he thinks it is pretty cool too! Thanks for letting me brag a little bit!

Girls Weekend

These are "My Girls"! We all meet in college at Louisiana Tech! We try to have a girls weekend at least twice a year. Last weekend we spent the weekend together in Dallas hanging out talking, shopping, eating, and lounging in our pj's. Most of the time when we get together we usually have something to celebrate---wedding shower or baby shower! But this time we just had a girls weekend of talking and lounging around.... so we thought. When we arrived, we found out that Holly W is expecting her first baby in May! So we did a lot of talking about baby stuff and celebrating over her exciting news! We even had one of our newest girls, Baby Bailey, to tag along for the weekend --isn't she the cutest!

I look forward to our girls weekends every year. I probably count down the days until I leave town on Friday afternoon. Yes, it is a treat to be away from home, the husband, the babies, and the responsibilities for the weekend. But most of all it is just so much fun to be with my girls! It is like we pick up were we left off 7 years ago when we graduated college. Even though we are all approaching 30, we are still very close to one another! Aren't they the best looking 30 year olds you have ever seen? There is something special about being with people you can just be yourself and enjoy the time to relax and talk! I am so thankful to have each of them in my life! I love you girls!

Until the next girls weekend....... I am counting down!

This blog was dedicated to Holly W! Because she LOVES it when bloggers blog about other people on their personal blog! Love ya'

Ethan turns 3!

Ethan Bradley turned 3 on October 2! We got to spend the morning of his birthday with our family in Pineville. He had his favorite thing for his birthday breakfast.....donuts! On Saturday, we took Ethan and 2 of his best buddies to Dewberry Farm. They had a blast. The farm was such a neat place for kids as well as Mommies and Daddies! We rode on a hay ride to a REAL pumpkin patch. I think I was the one most excited about the real pumpkin patch! We saw pumpkins in all stages of development...vine, flower, small green, medium yellow, and ripe orange! I love the fall and pumpkins! I felt like I was living out one of the many children's books I read to my students each year during this season! We rode a train, feed goats, ate BBQ, saw farm animals, and had rubber ducky races. I think Ethan enjoyed the rubber ducky races the best! It was a great day, and everyone was ready for a good nap afterwards!

David and I can't believe that Ethan is growing up and is now 3! We are really enjoying this stage of development. Ethan is starting to have the neatest conversations with us and it is so much fun to watch him explore and interpret the world around him.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ethan Bradley! I love you!!!!