Monkey Party -- Tommy Turns 1

We went to Tommy's birthday party in Houston this past weekend and it was very fun and quite the success. Here are a few pictures.

Here is Tommy eating his cake!

Here are the cupcakes I made for the party, I was pleased with the way they turned out.
Elle and Emme with the monkey masks. They had a great time with Tommy and the other cousins

Tommy

Just wanted to post this to make you smile. Tommy is having a Monkey party this weekend, I can't believe he is one year old!

I Never Believed Other Moms When They Said

When other moms said, "my kids always tell me they want that toy on the tv advertisement." I never believed it. I don't know why.



I work for Pepsi, so I pay attention in the news when they say kids are impacted by advertisements, but again, didn't believe it,or guess I never thought i would have a kid who would be influenced.



Well, i was wrong. And I am sure there are other things that I have already done that I swore I would never do or that my kids would never do.



Every freaking morning, Elle is like "mommy mommy come here" in this frantic voice. All turns out to be something she wanted to show me on TV. And heaven forbid i miss the product advertisement, she breaks down in a fit.



So, we have started making a list and everytime she sees one thing she likes, we write it down for Santa. This is what she looked like before school today, begging me for some gerbil or hamster roller coaster thing, called Zhu Zhu Pets. Does anyone know what these are? She just kept saying "this is it, this is it."
We are painting the living room/dining room. The girls were helping with the priming. They actually did really good. They were great help.

Also, today is a big day... It's TOMMY's first Birthday. Can you even beilve that 1 year ago today, he was just 1 lb 13 oz... and it looked like a very scary road ahead. I am going to his party next weekend and can't wait!

First Day at School

I wanted to call attention to the needs that God has met in our lives…. he always meets our needs, but I never stop to take the time to really analyze and recognize the specific things he does. As a working mom, there is a great deal of stress in deciding where your children will go during the day. Last year, the Montessori was great for Elle and Emme. It taught them a lot about structure and education. They also learned a lot about our diverse world we live in. When my neighbor told me she was going to give her kids a break from school for the summer, I thought that was an awesome idea. I found Abby! Or Abby found us… or, the Lord brought us together! When summer was coming to an end, I was in denial of having to find a day care for the girls. I wasn't worried about it at all. there was this peace over me that God would work it out. I didn't know how, but He did.

Long story short, Abby is with us for the fall and the girls are in Pre School 2 days a week. The Lord had it all under control -- from knowing how the girls would be picked up a 2 pm on those days, to meeting Abby's financial and career needs. I didn't know how to put this in my own words, so I started looking for verses online and found this one: Matt 6:31-32 "So do not worry, saying "what shall we eat, or what shall we drink or what shall we wear For the pagans run after all of these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." The author on this one page, stated this: When we recognize God’s abilities, we can be confident that God knows what we need and that he will take care of us.


CCDC is where the girls go and I couldn't be happier with the school. I look forward to the new learning's, friends and growth that Elle and Emme will experience.

They have a lot of friends at the school -- including our pals Hadley and Hunter
Elle, so excited!

Emme, all grown up!

This past weekend, I went to one of my best friend's baby shower. I just get so excited when my friends are having babies! I just know that they have so much to look forward to and their lives will never be the same. I am so hapy for Jill!!

This weekend, Chase got baptised. He is the first kid in our group that has made this decision. It was a fabulous ceremony and it sparked very good conversations with Elle and Emme.

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The Smouse Family-- Four under four! Emme just had to be in their family picture.

So, here was our family picture, Emme woudn't come over for it. Is she trying to tell us something?

Random, Interesting (I think) Thoughts

1. I usually put off going to the bathroom until I really have to go! When I am at work, I practically run down the hall, and everytime, I mean every darn time I round the corner, I see the yellow signs "Bathroom being cleaned." Of course, me, who really doesn't care about these rules, rush right in and look at the lady and say "I gotta go." Everytime I am in there, she is talking away in Spanish. I am like who are you talking to while you are cleaning these toilets? I saw her today and she wears an ear piece for her phone while she cleans.

2. While I am working, I like to listened to church sermons, so if your church has a great one that I need to listen to, please send to me. Today I listened to two messages. One from my church, IBC, and our pastor was back after 6 weeks of being out with cancer -- and his cancer is getting worse and he spoke. Also, other leaders spoke and led me through praying for me, my children, their teachers and our community. If you want to listen to, here is the link: http://www.irvingbible.org/index.php?id=1274

I also listened to a sermon on Life Saving, by Ed Young. This message was about how we has Christians need to be life savers... it was very good.. listen if you have a chance http://www.fellowshipchurch.com/currentseries

3. Here is a picture from BRAT's. Can you tell that Steven and Joe are related?

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The BRAT's Go To Conroe!

Well, chalk up another great BRAT's trip! This was our 4th Annual Trip, and this year, we headed to Conroe. It was full of great activities and good family time!

My parents celebrated 40 years of marriage, can you believe that? Joe and I are so lucky that both of our parents have been married so long and have given us a great example of love, perseverance and priorities. Ann, Brian, Joe and I took them to Perry's for the celebration.

Thursday afternoon, all of the guys went fishing and caught a crazy number of fish. They had a great time! The ladies took the kids to The Children's Museum. They had so much fun.

Carlee Jo, Emme, Elle and Spencer are playing in the sandbox.

Thursday night, we went to Grampy Larry's, a neat little restaurant on the lake. We all wore our shirts. This year, they were so neat! Of course, I had found these dresses before I knew we were wearing the shirts that night, so I just had to take a picture of them!

Here is the family (well, extended family)... Missing Ann, Brian and Tommy & Meredith and Steven. But, they joined us the next night!!

On Friday, the guys treated us to a Limo, shopping and eating at PF Changs! What an afternoon!

On Saturday, we had a big cook out! Here is Papa Joe making the food. My dad got him this apron, it's so cute and food was so yummy!

We rented a bounce house and Water Slide... it was perfect for the kids.

Steve and Meredith kayaked the lake. They were gone for like 2 hours!

Here is the Waterslide... all adults got in on the fun too!

Tommy and Carlee Jo! Too cute!

On Sunday, we rented a boat and had a great time... the cousins look too cute!

So, the 5th Annual BRAT's trip will be a RV Trip to Disney World. We are not going to stay in the RV, but just a means of transportation!

Rock Star & Princess Camps

Elle and Emme have had a great summer. Abby (our nanny) has been a wonderful addtion to our daily life and praise the good Lord, she is going to stay through the Fall. The girls are more than excited.

Here are two of the fun things they have done this summer

They went to Princess Camp and Rock Star Camp. Both classes taught them a dance and they made crafts

Here is the group shot for Princess Camp. Elle, Piper, Emme and Lindsay are all on the top row, starting from the left

Lindsay and Elle
The girls being silly in the front yard before camp

Sweet Emme performing the dance

Here is Rock Star Camp. Lindsay and Sydney (in the pink sunglasses) and Elle in the green boa, are all on the top row on the right. Emme is bottom row all the way to the right.

Emme, Elle, Lindsay and Sydney

I set up a mini stage at our house, so they could practice, they loved it!!