Sanderson Family

Rest of the December 2011

2012-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

The Tuesday after Christmas my parents, Kate and all of us headed back to Folsom. My parents stayed with us for a week (we all LOVED having them here), Kate had to leave after 3 days to go back to work, but the boys, Dave and I had a great time with all of them.

Our cowboy in his new gear.

Little brother is almost big enough for Charlie's old boots...I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Juicing those oranges from Mamaw and Papaw's backyard.

The light in our front sitting room (ironic since there's no seating), started falling so the boys got right to work to fix it.

They are such good workers and helpers.

Charlie must be winking

Lovin' those dimples

Just a typical day at the Sanderson's :)

Love this one

He is such a goof-ball...just like his daddy.

Happy New Year!

Mamaw and Papaw's

2012-01-09T18:53:00.000-08:00

Since we didn't get to visit with Mamaw and Papaw at the Sanderson get together we visited them on the 26th at their house.

The boys love their backyard!

Lemons!

Oranges!

Getting a lesson on how to use the orange picker.

Getting the orange out...he's so proud!

It's a team effort

They got one! Their trees were full. We left with at least 10 or 15 oranges. (We made fresh orange juice a couple days later)

Mamaw and Ben

Playing catch with a green lemon

Love these sweet little moments!

One thing is for sure when we go to Mamaw and Papaw's house...they have COOKIES!! The tin was already out on the table all ready for Charlie and Ben.

It was a good visit and the boys sure enjoyed themselves :)

Christmas Night

2012-01-09T17:26:00.001-08:00

So, one piece of info I failed to mention before was that we celebrated on the 24th since Kate had that day off. It worked out really well, especially since Sundays are busy enough with church services.

Mr. Rob and Ben on the Ipad

Both the boys with Mr. Rob

Charlie said he wanted to do the dishes....why have I not thought of this before!!???!!! (that's Kate, not me)

Charlie always started out in Papa and Gams room, but he usually woke up in the middle of the night scared or was too awake to fall asleep back there. Gams left him back there with Charlie Brown Christmas on for a couple of minutes and this is how we found him.

Super Funny Story: So since it was really Christmas Eve on our Christmas, a Christmas Story was on tv that evening. While Charlie was back in my parent's room we were out there watching the movie. Of course Charlie comes out and heres the part when they are in the car singing Jingle Bells and then they raspberry at the end of the song. So, he comes out hear's them sing it, then he says he needs to go potty. He goes into the first bathroom (within ear shot) and while he's peeing he starts singing kind of quietly, "Jingle bells, Jingle bells, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh *raspberry*" Then he starts giggling at himself. It was seriously one of the cutest, funniest things he's done in a while!

A Very Merry Sanderson Christmas

2012-01-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

We gathered at Uncle Rich and Aunt Dal's house this year. It was a party as always, but we missed Mamaw and Papaw. Mamaw had been in the hospital due to a bad reaction to some medicine. She had just been released from the hospital that day.

Singing carols and visiting

Opening cousin presents

Putting a princess puzzle together with Kayden and Jordan

Let the Playing Begin!

2012-01-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

First Game is the Fishing Game. He loved it!

Poppy gave it a whirl

Of course, Ben wanted to try it out too.

Charlie wanted to go to the backyard to try out his new cap gun. I snuck out there so I could capture the moment of him shooting his gun for the first time with the "bullets"

"You'll shoot your eye out kid"

...nah...he did great! He thought it was a little loud, but overall he enjoyed it!

Christmas Morning - Santa Came!

2012-01-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

It was fun being a kid on Christmas morning, but I think being the parent is so much better! Loved seeing their little faces on Christmas morning!

SANTA CAME!!

I woke up at 6:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. I was too excited! So in an effort to keep my self busy until 7 and so I wouldn't look wretched in all the pics I pinned up my bangs and put some make up on. I was counting down the minutes and could not believe that of all the mornings they didn't wake up before 7 it had to be Christmas morning!

I have the cutest video, but it's having trouble loading. I'll keep working on it, stay tuned.

Christmas Part 2

2012-01-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

Ben has his own chair with his name! He was pretty excited.

Checking the plate for Santa evidence. Papa is showing him the reindeer's teeth marks.

Santa left Charlie a bell from his sleigh and yes he could hear it ring...we all could :)

We always do a puzzle. When Charlie went to bed the night before the puzzle wasn't completed. So he was suprised to see it all done on Christmas morning.

Ben opening his police car

Love that little face when he raises his eyebrows.

Charlie got new boots from Papa and GamGam

Charlie got the ambulance he asked for from Dave and I.

So far so good :)

Charlie got his first cap-gun, Papa's getting it all set up for him.

The phone Ben has is from Aunt Kate, it was a big hit. If you notice he's holding it in almost every picture.

THINK CHRISTMAS STORY, WHEN RALPHY OPENS UP THE PRESENT FROM AUNT _____ AND SHE GOT HIM THE PINK RABBIT OUTFIT.

Well, we had that same moment this Christmas. My mom saw these monkey hats and "scarffens" (a scarf and mittens in one - I made up the word) and bought them for the boys.

Trying it on for size.

Look at that face

Charlie do you want to take it off?

Dave gave it a try and Charlie said, "Dad that's mine" :) It wasn't that bad I guess :)

Ben got one too, but he wouldn't even try it on .

He's a good sport :)

Christmas Part 3

2012-01-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

Opening Presents continues....

Ben and his phone :)

Charlie opened up a new cowboy hat from Gams and Pops

From Aunt Kate the boys got....

100 ball pit balls to go inside the big Thomas train tent

Benny opening something...maybe the airplane from Lala

Dave started a tradition last year with Charlie. He takes him to the dollar store and he picks out presents for the family. This is hard because he wants to pick out what he would like. But he did pretty good this year.

Papa got an orange wolf

Gammers got pink rope....Charlie thought she would like that it was pink.

Out of order picture....airplane from LaLa

For Kate, he got her a pretty plate

For me he got me new pruning sheers so I can come some flowers to bring inside.

For Ben , he got him a bus.

Hugs for brother

Playing with the plane

hmmm...I'm going to guess the name of these. Lightening McQueen Velcro mits for the boys ?

I could see the boys getting a lot of use out of these.

Christmas Part 4

2012-01-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

The last presents opened

Playing with the velcro mits...they both need to work on their aim :)

Ben opening his big dump truck

This is how they play. Charlie rides and Ben pushes. Some times they both ride. Boys are so much fun!

Stockings!

Charlie got an orange, toothbrush, toothpaste, treats from Santa and a new bible with his name on it.

Ben got a banana, new electric toothbrush (hot dog!) and treats from Santa

Me and my boys!

Sanderson Family on Christmas Morning!

Poppy's Christmas

Poppy received a custom calendar loaded with pictures of all the great grandkids and grandkids. I think he really liked it :)

Mom and Dad got him some USC gear

Papa & GamGam's

2012-01-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

We headed down to Papa & GamGam's for Christmas this year. We headed down thursday morning. We were on the freeway by 6am and the kids didn't complain or even ask for a book for the first 5 hours! AWESOME! They never cried and rarely complained. They were soooo good! I get carsick, so I drove the whole way down. It was a good trip and it was nice leaving so early because we still had a good portion of the day to play. We arrived in my hometown about 1 and headed straight to the junior high to see my mom. The kids were so happy to see her. Ben kept giving her hugs, it was so sweet. After 20 minutes or so we headed to their house. We walked in the door and Papa told Charlie he needed help putting the train together.

Charlie was eager to get to work and he was good about listening and being patient while everything was put in its place.

The track is layed, now they just need to get the train cars on. This the train I grew up with too. We have so many good memories with this train.

Caboose on

Transformer connected and working! Let the fun begin! He loved it!

Kate and Ben playing with Legos

Papa helping Ben with the nerf gun

Charlie helping GamGam with the snowball cookies. He's putting the snow (powdered sugar) on.

One family tradition growing up was watching the Muppet Christmas Carol. This was Charlie's first year watching it.

When Grover said it was written by Charles Dickens, Charlie said, "Hey, that's my name."

He will also randomly say, "Sir, I want some cheese"

Setting out the milk, cookies, and carrots

I love this age!!!

Pre-Christmas

2012-01-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

Charlie is loving The Polar Express....especially the "Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Chocolate" song. Through Spotify I get the song for free so I put it on one day and Charlie started dancing around the room with his bowl from snack time. He was trying to hang on to it, but it kept falling down. So I took a black dessert plate (from his Lightening McQueen party - they were the wheels of the cars), hot glued a red plastic cup in the middle of it, then hot glued a black ribbon on the bottom so his hand could slide in and he could hold it like a waiter. Well, it was perfect. It has given us countless minutes of entertainment.

Here's our boy dancing around. I love him!

The next day Jenny brought the kids over and they loved Charlie's plate and cup so we made some for them too. They were having a blast!

Charlie was in his room and he called Dave and I to come see what he built. When we walked in he said, "look it's downtown." This boy is getting used to traveling! He was so proud of himself and did it all by himself. Such a smart guy!

Christmas Cookie Time!

2011-12-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to do this with Charlie this year! We both had a wonderful time!

rolling and using our christmas cookie cutters to cut out cookies

This is one of his favorite parts!

Me and my sweet Charlie boy

Ben LOVED them!

He couldn't get it in fast enough :)

Meanwhile, Charlie took his time and cherished his cookie :)

Such a good, fun memory!

Polar Express Part 1

2011-12-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

For our Sanderson Christmas Family Event this year (we usually do brunch with Santa at the Jelly Belly Factory), we went on the Polar Express in Downtown Sacramento. Grandmops (Alyce) made us ALL matching jammie pants and she did a wonderful job! We were some of the comfiest riders and we definitely looked the most festive :)

It was a suprise to the kids, so once we got to downtown we told Charlie :)

All the kids and I about to get to the train station in our matching jammies!

Here we are on the Polar Express

Anticipating the train ride to the "North Pole"

These two were my favorite to watch

Charlie got his ticket

The baker/hot chocolate server sat with the kids for a picture

He even showed them some tricky hand movements

Aunt Kris, Grandmops, Grandpops, and Uncle Ed (yes Uncle Ed did not wear his PJs, he claims he was running behind at work...don't worry he was harassed by us all night and all the people we passed commented on his Grinchness/Scroogeness/Humbugness-it was really quite funny)

Bouncing around on the seats while the Polar Express song is on

The kids getting their tickets punched by the conductor

Pretty aunt Kris

"hot, hot, hot, hot chocolate". The kids were mesmerized by the dancing waiters.

Cousins!

Chase is kissing Charlie...those two!

Looking to see what's coming next! (hot chocolate and cookies)

Goof-balls

ahh...snickerdoodles

Polar Express Part 2

2011-12-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

Eating cookies, sipping hot chocolate and looking at the scenery

The conductor read the story out loud and the baker walked down the aisle with a book. Our grandmops was on top it though and she brought her own copy. Quincy held it so the kids could all see the pictures and read along.

There's the bum!

How does he do that? Crazy Sanderson tongue!

The North Pole!

They loved it!

Ben was seemingly impressed. He did like the cookie :)

We were on the Kris Kringle car and he kept looking up at all the little Santa Decorations and saying, "Santa"

The humbug himself

Lights, Santa's sleigh

and....elves!

SANTA SIGHTING!

Waiting for their turns

Santa gave everyone a bell.

Ben did like the bell

I think Cole's didn't have a ringer, so Santa replaced it.

Looking at Santa

Chase and Grandpops

Santa and the bum

Still eating that cookie

Dave and the baker

All of us after the ride

Dave at the restaurant afterwards. The lady in the backround cracks me up.

Cole was tired and was being a sloth

ben getting some wiggles out

Home Sweet Home!

2011-12-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

We got to the house and immediately took down the tree and the house decorations and decorated! Within an hour and a half we were done and it felt so good to be home and see our house decorated for Christmas!

Here's Dave and Charlie putting the last few decorations on the tree. As you can see the boys already brought out toys. Charlie saw his fire truck and said, "I love my fire truck."

What every woman dreads finding in her house! A lizard! I called Dave when I spotted him and luckily he was on his way home. I tried to keep him contained (I know lizards can climb walls, but I was hoping to just keep him in one spot). My barracade worked. Dave arrived home and caught him and then proceeded to give Charlie a lesson on lizards. At first he was afraid, but he did touch the lizard. I told him it was important for him to not be afraid, because someday he will be the husband and daddy and he'll need to catch lizards for his wife and kids someday.

Our good friends moved away right after we returned. Here is Nolan and Charlie on their last playdate. We're going to miss them!

Last Week In Texas

2011-12-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

Once December hit I was ready to come home! I LOVE the holiday season! I wanted to back cookies, decorate my house and watch christmas movies. So, we did the best we could while we were in Texas for the first two weeks of December.

First attempt at snowman pancakes. They were a hit with the kids!

First time seeing the The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We also made our first batch of cookies :)

We went back to Salt Lick for another round to get us through the next month. Except this time we ended our bbq-full bellies with some blackberry cobbler and ice cream. Have sweet mercy it was good!

Brotherly Love

The boys were SO good while I packed everything up!

The furnished apartment came with two laundry baskets. THESE HAVE BEEN THE BEST TOYS FOR THE BOYS! They played in them ALL the time! Moms and Dads get your kids some laundry baskets to play in. They will stay busy for a long time filling it up, dragging it around, pretending to be a train, truck,...great investment!

Nashville Part 1

2011-12-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

Dave's sister, Katy, lives in Nashville with her hubs and handsome, sweet son "baby Daniel". Katy and baby D picked us up from Lauren's house. Here we all are in the van she/we borrowed.

Dinner at Chipotle. Look at these 3 handsome boys!

Ben was notorious for stealing Daniel's puffs.

Love our family!

And we had to have a cousin bath with baby D!!!

Look at those happy boys.

Then chaos sets in :)

Katy took us to the agricultural center??? Where all the police horses are. It was VERY cool. I'd go back.

This is in front of the pasture where the horses are grazing.

Walking to the stalls

All the horse stalls. They were all empty, with the exception of...

good ol' saber

Ben was not too sure

Nashville Part 2 (I just realized my pics are not in order)

2011-12-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

Another shot of Dave, worried Ben and Saber

Photo Op

Such cute boys.

Tractor

After the Agricultural.... Katy took us to the "Dragon Park" Charlie loved it. It was pretty neat.

Climbing on the dragon

First time sliding down the pole by himself!

Charlie loved the huge Dragon...and I love my handsome hubby :)

Sweet Ben

Mischief

Playing in CoCo's dog bowl

Peek-a-boo. It was pretty cute because Ben would start crawling when he would "play" with baby D.

ladders are so much fun!

Patting baby D

Hugs for baby D

These two little boys look just like their daddy's.

Charlie helping Aunt Katy decorate their tree...he was so excited!!

When he went to bed that night he asked if when he got up in the morning if the tree would be decorated from top to bottom. After I said yes, he then asked if it was christmas tomorrow too. He can't wait! I love it!

CoCo - a major highlight of visiting Uncle Daniel and Aunt Katy

holding the door open for CoCo to get in her kennel

Dave, me and all the boys :)

Well it took almost our whole trip, but Charlie would finally sit close to CoCo without getting scared. Ben was still scared, but he could be in the same room as her by the time we left. :)

CoCo kisses

Thanksgiving

I'm making gravy and pacifying (sneaking him turkey) Ben, while Daniel is carving the turkey.

It was a feast and it was DELICIOUS!

It was a wonderful visit and we look forward to the next time we get to see them!

KY Part 2

2011-12-02T12:00:00.001-08:00

It was in the high 30s low 40s on this day. But since it wasn't raining, Charlie was just itching to get outside. After being stuck in the apartment this poor boy needed some room to play :)

Thank you Candee Dickey for the AWESOME beard and hat! I love it, he likes it, and let's face it (pardon the pun) he looks adorable!

Play, play, play.

So many fun ride-on toys at the Keller's house

Here is Ben getting a turn too. This little boy would just knock on the door and point out the window wanting to go outside and play too.

Uncle Travis and his lawn mower...a big hit with my boys. They stopped in their tracks.

Charlie got a turn.

Driving all by himself

Having a blast!

"okay mom, I'm waving, now let me enjoy my ride and figure out how to drive this mower."

All the Sanderson men were in desperate need of a haircut! Lauren had no place to recommend and we were in walmart....so....

nothing says a trip to Kentucky like a Walmart haircut :)

He's right beneath the 20% off sign in the left bottom of the picture. The gal did a good job, no complaints from us :)

Ben all snuggled up watching a show.

Lauren has more pics and when she posts them I'll add more. We had such a good time! After we left BG we went to Katy's house in Nashville. The first day Ben walked around her house yelling, "Lala"-it was cute and pitiful at the same time.

Kentucky Part 1

2011-12-01T19:09:00.001-08:00

We had a 7:30am flight and the boys were GREAT!! The flight was 2 hours and overall it went smoothly and quickly :) As we walked through the Nashville airport I was telling Charlie how exciting it is that we were here. Then we spottedTyson and Lauren waiting for us and Charlie just took off running towards them. He tripped about 10 feet before reaching them, stood up, looked at me, and I yelled hug them! He did! Then when we got a little bit close I let Ben go and he ran right to Lauren too. It was so sweet! Ty and Charlie held hands through the airport...again so sweet! The drive to Bowling Green was uneventul. Then we arrived at Lala's house. Both the boys were ready to get out and play. Well, Lala's house is full of fun stuff to play with. They were in shock after having practically nothing at the apartment. Over the first few days the boys just played and played and played. There were a couple of non rainy days so we were outside. The boys LOVED it! Lauren has a HUGE backyard and they ran, and rode on the gator tractor and played in the sand box and all the fall leaves. They had a blast!

We, of course, had to get a bath picture. The problem is getting 4 little boys to sit still (in a slippery tub no less), and all smile, and look at the camera at the same time. I took about 20 pictures and I'm sure Lauren took an additional 20. So, I was having a hard time deciding...so you get 7. :)

Love how Ty is dumping a cup of water over Charlie's head

Charlie and Rex...two peas in the same pod

they're still, but not smiling or looking at the camera

still and all looking, but no smile

As close as it's going to get

craziness

Ben looks worried :)

Rex takes violin lessons twice a week and he practices a couple nights a week too. Charlie was very interested (we'll get him in lessons when he's 5). He saw Rex playing the violin so he ran upstairs and brought down the guitar. This boy loves music.

After Rex practiced, Ben gave him a big hug. So sweet!

Charlie's turn for a little lesson from Lala.

Now Tyson's turn, but of course Charlie has to add a little Rock N' Roll to this lesson

Tyson goes to preschool twice a week for 2 and a half hours and his teacher told Lauren Charlie could come too. Suh-weet. On Tuesday he didn't want to go, but by Thursday he was READY!!!

Here we are in the car dropping Rex off at school, then we're going to drop off Ty and Charlie at preschool.

Walking up to the building...they're holding hands again....SO CUTE!!

In their class...he was SO SUPER EXCITED!! Had no issue with me leaving at all. Kind of made me sad and proud at the same time.

Lauren, Ben and I stayed fairly close just incase we needed to come back. But we went to Starbucks, Target and Hobby Lobby. It was my first time in Hobby Lobby...what a cool store! Ben thought it was pretty neat to have us all to himself too :)

Here are the boys when we picked them up. So happy with their Indian hats on. Charlie was on top of the world. He now asks all the time when he gets to go to school. Such a fun memory.

First Night in the New Apartment

2011-12-01T19:04:00.001-08:00

So we decided to change apartments.

A. Intel gets a discount at the new apartments

B. Daves commute to work is now 10 minutes instead of 30-40 minutes. (major reason for switching...the downer is that we're now 40-70 minutes from the church building)

The new place is great. It has more carpet which is nice for the boys to play and wrestle (with Dave) on. It's also a lot closer to other shopping and restaurants. Plus it's fun to experience a different part of Austin.

So, the first night we were in, the boys beds were right next to eachother. We decided to give it a try....hence the video. (I'm writing this after 2 weeks and they beds are still next to eachother...so far no problems)

Sorry it's so dark, but their giggles and Ben waving at the end melt my heart.

Last Week in Spicewood Springs Apartment

2011-12-01T18:50:00.001-08:00

Sharing a lollipop. When Charlie takes a good nap and stays in his bed, then he will often times get a treat. Since it was just Halloween we have plenty of treats! He chose a lollipop (dum-dum) today and it was a big hit. He even shared some with Ben...sweet boy.

...mmmm...

We drove Dave to work and he showed us this view from the top of the parking structure at the Intel. Beautiful downtown Austin.

We were on our way to Salt Lick and saw these signs. "Bubba's Country Store" and "Willies BBQ and Ribs" Only in Texas :)

So Salt Lick is a really popular BBQ restaurant here in Austin. I've been told that people fly in for the weekend just so they can eat here. On more than one occasion I have called it Spit Lick :) The meat was decent, the sauce was heavenly!

Charlie approves of the rib bones :)

Our feast

Where the magic happens. Now that's a barbeque.

The boys playing. Boxes are great!

San Antonio

2011-11-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

So we left the animal park and headed over to the DeWese's Tip Top Cafe. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Thank you Rachel Bonner for the recommendation) and it was said to have AWESOME onion rings. Well, if you know Dave, you know he LOVES onion rings. So going here was a dead ringer (pardon the pun).

Daddy and Charlie

Ben and I

Onion Rings...they were delish!

Ben liked them too :)

Now we're in downtown San Antonio

Dave turned to take a picture and asked me to look in the window... My response was "Why are you taking a picture of a desk and books?" At my angle I couldn't see the reflection, as you can see by my slightly annoyed stance.

As we turned the corner to see the Alamo this coyote went running by us and Charlie yelled, "Hey Coyote, come give me a hug" :) Fortunately he was hugging other people on the way so we quickly caught up with him and Charlie got his hug :)

The Alamo

It was pretty neat, but the boys were not impressed.

Here is Ben listening to the audio tour Dave bought (it was not worth the $6)

Ben is wondering why he can't hear Papa.

Charlie and a canon. I'm not sure if this was an actual cannon from the alamo or if it was just the right time period. Nonetheless, Charlie liked it-it was a big gun :)

From the Alamo we went exploring

Silly Mirrors, Charlie thought they were hilarious...as you can see in the picture below, Ben was alittle unsure about them

Ahh...the famous 99%-I still don't get it.

So now we are at the River Walk. It was really neat-almost like a little Venice! San Antonio has rivers that run under the city. So they have this river walk that is lined with shopping and restaurants. You can see in the bottom right of these photos the river and the people dining. The stairs behind Ben in the first picture takes you up to the street level where the roads are.

Charlie wanted to take a boat ride so badly! We could have taken a tour of the rivers on a boat, but we decided against it for money and time sake. But if we were to do it again I think I'd pay to take the tour :)

From the River Walk we walked at least a mile towards Hemisfaire Park (where the world fair was in 1968) and where the the Tower of the Americas is too.

On the way we past the convention center where a huge US map was on the ground. We took the opportunity to show Charlie where Texas, Califonia, Kentucky and Tennessee were. So, here we are in Texas, in Texas :)

I'm showing Charlie the tower and where the elevator is that goes up the tower. You can pay $11 for adults and $9 a kid to go up - no thanks.

Dave, Ben and Charlie are sitting at the bottom infront of the water fountain...it was really tall! I couldn't even get it all in one picture.

So at the top is a restaurant with a view of San Antonio. It is supposed to be neat, but too expensive and not very interesting to the boys.

Lastly we stopped off at this park. It looks just like "castle park" by Aunt Jenny's house. We let the kids play for a little bit then we headed off to do some more exploring.

We were exhasted at 5. We went to Rosario's for dinner (thanks again Rachel Bonner and AAA). It was really good, the kids were DONE! It was a fast dinner and then we headed back to Austin.

It was such a full, fun-packed day! We made some great memories and we will do our best to remember the alamo :)

Natural Bridge Wildlife Park (1 of Many :) )

2011-11-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

So when we were at Papasitos (great Mexican restaurant) the first weekend we were here a man at the table next to us recommended we go to a wild animal park down highway 35. Well, I looked it up and it is not just any wild animal park, but one where you drive in your car and the animals actually come up to the car and you. They gave us a bag of food to feed the animals if we wanted. Of course they recommended not hand feeding the animals for liability I'm sure, but if you can...why not? :) Warning: there are seriously a TON of pictures, but if you hold out for the deer, zebras, and donkeys, it will be worth it...I PROMISE!

We just entered through the front gates and what do we have here....buffalo!

I guess this is his buffalo face :)

Our first Long horn cows!!!

Alright, so for $3 we could buy a book to identify all the animals, but Dave and I are WAY to cheap to spend $3 on the book. Especially when we know my dad can name EVERY animal. So dad, what is this one with the curly antlers?

Another cow...moooo!

Cont'd

2011-11-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

I don't know...dad?

Goats! Charlie is not too sure at first...

...but then he smiles (love that dimple)...

...then he gets his food ready...and he fed it:)

One good picture with us and the goat

...and one with the goat by itself :)

Dad? Looks like a worthog/cow

Dave and the goat

Ben the whole time

reindeer

deer and warthog/cow

Dave and the doe

I knew he had a thing for brown eyes, but sheesh, she was trying to get as close as possible to him :)

ha!

Continued

2011-11-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

Ben, he's trying to look out and see what's out there :)

Dad?

Dave feeding an animal :)

Me feeding a deer? I was terrified

Charlie driving us

I love this one of him really looking to see

deer

me feeding a deer again I was terrified, but it was thrilling

more driving...he loved it until he had to turn the wheel then he said he wanted help

this buck? was really light in color, very unique

Ben hanging in there

Dad?

ahh...the ostrich. By far the most terrifying animal that approached the car (you'll see more in a little bit)

These two animals were running around it was like they were playing chase. It was pretty neat to see.

an animal :)

reminded me a little of the movie Swiss Family Robinson when the zebra is stuck and Roberta is trying to help the zebra

Dave, animal, and Charlie - Charlie was very brave

Smiling animal :)

ZEBRAS!

Zebra wanting a close up :)

Continued:) We're coming to the good ones :)

2011-11-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

more zebras :)

Charlie is saying, "It's okay Ben don't be scared." (Ben was not crying nor did he appear to be scared/worried:) Charlie was getting a little nervous with the zebras so close to the car.

Dave must have just told a funny joke :)

The zebra is not trying to bite Dave, he just wants some food

The zebra is just puckering up for a smooch :)

This is just to show you how the animals just wander up to the cars...we had fun watching the people behind us too :)

stocky zebra

rhino-I'm glad this guy was behind a fence...I dont' think I'd want him roaming around and bumping my car

Dad?

camels

emu

ostrich

llama?

The ostriches were by far the scariest animal out there. This ostrich is blocking the whole road and coming straight for us.

Dad?

little emu

ostrich...scary, pecking at my window

staring us down

Continued...

2011-11-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Llama?

emu/ostrich?

donkeys! The best is coming :)

Me and the donkeys

Dave and the donkeys...brace yourself :)

Say, "cheese"

That's a nice smile donkey

ha!

Now it looks like he's serenading Dave...we were laughing SO hard!

Charlie didn't mind rolling the window down, and poking his head out of the car for a passing duck. He and Ben quacked at it too :)

Continued...Last One :)

2011-11-07T17:51:00.000-08:00

Well that was a blast! Dave and I had a good laugh at the zebras and donkeys. Even now when we look at the pictures we can't help but laugh out loud! If you are ever in San Antonio or have a chance to go to one of these wild animal parks I can't recommend it enough!

We are out of the car now and heading over to the petting zoo. Ben is so happy to be out of his carseat and walking around.

He's pointing at the birds and saying (in the highest pitch he has) "tweet, tweet"

Parrots

Walking toward the barn

Charlie saying come on guys

The Barn=Small Goats

I was the goat whisperer...I had the food

They were hungry little fellers

Charlie was not too sure about all the goats and he especially didn't like it when they jumped up. I didn't really like it either :)

He found this small black goat in the back and decided he was was safe to feed, so he did :)

Having a little chat with his goat friends

This picture cracks me up because it looks like he's riding a goat! ha!

He's getting a little more brave and willing to feed several at a time

more food please:)

thumbs up...it was a success

WASHING HANDS!!!

Sweet Brothers

He loves him SO much!

Giraffes. The boys wouldn't take their eyes off it for the first few minutes

Finally they look at the camera

I guess this was their view...kind of intimidating if you are a small child :)

Benny exploring

Finding more animals

Turkeys and a red kangaroo

Helping Ben down the stairs to the parking lot

Week 3 in Austin

2011-11-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Limited resources means using your knoggin to keep kiddos entertained. The most entertaining and long lasting game I've found so far is baseball. The ball is a made from foil and the bat held paper towels.

Charlie's up to bat and Ben is pitcher :)

swing batter, batter, batter, swing

Well, everyone from this side of the US always says that Blue Bell Ice Cream is the best. So we gave it a whirl. It was good, but I don't know that it was any better than Dreyer's or Breyer's. But I'm definitely not a professional or even an ice cream lover. The boys certainly didn't mind giving it a try :)

"I wonder if he'll give me a bit?"

So since we've been in Texas we've heard Grease's "She's the One that I Want" on the radio at least a half dozen times. Well, Charlie has picked it up. It is Halloween in this picture and we're on our way to go trick-or-treating and he's just singing it...he is so funny...and really very musically talented I think :)

Halloween 2011 - Austin, Texas

2011-11-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

8am he's all dressed and ready to go (minus the superman shirt) and he says, "ok mom I'm ready to go trick or treating". I broke it to him gently that we don't trick or treat until after dinner. He was a little disappointed, but he enjoyed wearing his cowboy costume.

I love how he looks like he just got off a horse :)

We were invited to go trick-or-treating with a couple of families from church. Their neighborhood was full of kids and we all had a really great time!

All dressed and ready to go

My little cowboy and indian

Halloween 2011

The mustache kills me

Ben was such a good sport

first house...he was hooked :)

Shelby and Charlie

leading the way to the next house

I LOVE THIS ONE!

Our last house. I was complimenting Charlie on remembering to use his manners and saying thank you. I think he remembered to say it everytime. Such a proud momma :)

Finally Touring Austin

2011-11-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

This is walking down South Congress waiting for Allen's Boots to open up

My and My Boys!

In Allen Boots

$899 are you out of your mind???

Really overwhelming!

Charlie and downtown Austin

One of the many cow statues...

...and of course he had to sit on i t:)

it looks like he has straw in his mouth :)

Grabbing the bull by the horns

This was written on the side of Joe's Coffee...I had to get a picture!

I love it!

Now Ben needs a turn too

Charlie said he was going to take a nap

Austin Duck Adventures! Charlie was in shock. He couldn't believe we were going to get on a bus/boat?

It was awesome!

We all got "quackers"

Ben figured it out too!

It was hilarious! Any pedestrian we saw we were instructed to quack at them...Charlie loved it!

Charlie's face when we hit the water! It was our favorite part! Very cool!

He couldn't believe it! Later on he asked if all cars could go in the water? :)

Then we stopped off for som Hopdoddy burgers...they were delish!

Finally Feeling Good

2011-11-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

What we've been up to:

We have one rental car, which usually goes with Dave to work, so the boys and I are kind of stranded every day. Here they are playing church. Charlie says he's the song leader and Ben is the preacher. Charlie likes to tell the "congregation" (me) if we would please be standing, and then he tells us we can be seated too...so funny!

At the clubhouse getting our cookies..it was cold that day, but the cookies were warm and gooey:)

We went to Kobe House, a japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you. Ben was not too sure about all teh clanging and fire, but Charlie loved the show and trying to eat with the chop sticks.

Here we are!

We went out for some Krispy Kreme doughnuts after Kobe House. Charlie had never been and I knew he would love watching the doughnut machine and then of course eating a doughnut. Ben thought it was pretty neat too

opening up our box of doughnuts

His pumpkin doughnut

Love this one of Ben

I have no idea what I'm thinking here...maybe how many doughnuts can I eat tonight without feeling too guilty? :)

mmmm...Krispy Kreme!

It's a Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood

2011-10-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Crazy Night, but Normal Day!

Crazy night: Charlie was up every two hours starting at 12. He would go back down each time, until the 5am one he came into our room. I was so tired from being up all night plus he told me he had poop on his leg...so I nudged Dave and told him it was his turn :) Dave took Charlie back to bed and he did not have poop on his leg (I don't even know what to say to that other than thank you Lord!) he must have dreamed/dreampt (what is the proper way to say dream in the past tense???) it. Then Ben woke up at 5:45 and was pretty much ready for the day. I tried giving him milk, turning on his turtle (lullaby machine). But every 30 minutes or so he would wake up. After Dave was up at 7 and done getting ready for work he got both the boys up so I could sleep a little bit longer (Thank you Dave).

Normal day! HOOORRRAAAAYYYY!!! We had a lazy morning. I made pancakes. In fact, they were Mickey Mouse pancakes (fancy right...one big circle with two small circles for ears) Charlie was excited when I showed him, he said, "Cool pancake mom, can you make me a Handy Manny one next?" My reply (after laughing out loud), "I dont' think I can make a Handy Manny pancake buddy". Then he said, "okay, how about a pumpkin?" I told him I could handle a pumpkin and he was happy! We were dressed and out the door around 10:30 to empty the trash and then we headed over to the clubhouse to ask a couple of questions and of course...get some cookies. The boys were pretty happy today. THEY TOOK AWESOME NAPS!!! I even got an hour and half nap today (DOUBLE HOORAY!). For dinner Dave was up to trying a restaurant so we went to Chuy's. It was cheap and good. we spent less than $15 and we were all stuffed! The boys are in bed as I type this and the world is at peace :) Here's to hoping our fun Austin, Texas adventure can start!

We did meet our neighbor today. She was on her way out, but introduced herself and told us she was a professor. She had to leave because she was running late for a class so we didn't get to chat much, but Charlie was happy to meet her. Later this evening when we returned from Chuy's Charlie told Dave we met our neighbor. I asked charlie if he remembered what her name was and he said "professor" I said well that is her job, but what is her name? His reply, "Professor Von Drake" Dave and just about fell over! Professor Von Drake is from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! HE KEEPS US LAUGHING!!!

Ben's words: Dada, Momma, cracker, baby, bible, up, down, water, stinky, papa, joe-joe, brother, ba-ba for gam-gam, ball, and he has a word for banana that sounds like nana.

He still signs please, more, food, and milk

Ben's sounds: choo-choo for the train, ding-dong for doorbell or whenever bible class is over :)

Animal sounds: snake, bird, horse, cow, sheep, dog, lion/tiger/bear (oh my!),

One of my favorites is when he wants to know where something is and he sticks his hand up by his face to ask the question of "Where is...?" It is the cutest!

He is also really good about understanding and following directions: He'll take Charlie his cup when I'm done filling it up, if I ask him where his socks and shoes are he'll go get them or at least look for them. He's so smart :) Tonight he helped buckle his carseat - he's getting so big - I love it and I can't stand it!

"Scratch That, Reverse It"

2011-10-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, things went from bad to worse!

Friday (part of the bad...did you read my post from last week :) I walked a mile (while pushing both kids in the double stroller) to get to a "public park" only to get there and find out that it is on school grounds and cannot be accessed by the public until after school hours. UGH! I even called Austin's Park and Rec to make sure and they said it should be fine. Friday night we went out to eat at Macaroni Grill, a Sanderson favorite and it was delish!

Saturday (the worse) I woke up with the kids at 7 so Dave could sleep. We planned to go to Zilker Park so the kids could ride the train, and then do some more exploring. However, by 8:30 I was so incredibly nauseous that I couldn't go. I got back in bed and slept almost all day. Dave took the kids out so they could run around and play (AWESOME DAD AWARD) and I slept and layed down all day long (it was my only relief). I at 2 crackers and a 1/2 glass of water all day. I never threw up, but I wanted to. Saturday night Charlie was up a few times and Dave took care of it. Sunday morning I still felt horrible so Dave got up with Charlie when he came into our room and said he had spit up in his bed-he had thrown up. He threw up again within 20 minutes. I was of no use and Dave took care of it all (GOOD DADDY!). Dave and Ben went to church that morning and Charlie stayed home with me. After Charlie's 2 "Spit-ups" he was great the rest of the day and back to his normal Charlie self. I, however, slept in bed until 11, while Charlie played in his room and the front room (with the tv on the whole time-bad mom). But once I woke up at 11 I finally felt a little bit better. I came out and sat with Charlie until Dave and Ben returned from Church. Dave brought Subway home for lunch and I felt like I could stomach that and some Sprite. The rest of the day I continued to improve and I was ever so grateful to be feeling better.

Monday morning 3am - Dave caught it! He ended up staying home on Monday and worked from the apartment, so I had the car-woohoo! The boys and I went to the grocery store, then to a park! They had a blast! It was good to get out, but I was still tired from being sick. The rest of Monday I just tried to keep the boys busy and away from Dave while he was working (see below pics).

Halloween sneak peek - Charlie is going to be a cowboy. He's actually saying, "I'm the cowboy!"

Those eyelashes!

Ben is an indian, and less than pleased about it.

It's like Ben is looking at Charlie, and thinking, "He gets to be a cool Cowboy and I have to be an Indian wear fringe?"

I LOVE THIS COSTUME-thanks Lauren for mailing it. He can't stand the wig, but it really makes the costume. I'll just need to have him wear it for a couple of minutes every day so he can get used to it. (That's what worked for Charlie last year as Captain Hook)

Now that we all have had this stomach virus - hopefully we are in the clear! Things can only get better, right? :)

While the boys and I were at the store I bought them each small pumpkin and Charlie was so excited to draw faces on them when Dave was done with work for the day.

Things are Looking Up

2011-10-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday, the day after our crummy wednesday and the last day of our first week in Austin. But things are starting to look up. Both the boys slept through the night last night (YAY!!), Ben woke up feeling like his normal little cuddley self, all the rest of us are healthy, and Ben popped a tooth through (that explains why he was getting up at night the last few nights-at least it's kind of worth it :) ).

Noteworthy from today:
1. The boys and I took our first walk to the grocery store. It is .3 miles away and a great way to get out, get a little exercise and let the boys see some new faces and walk around a bit.
2. We went to the clubhouse today for some fresh cookies (Charlie's favorite part about going to the clubhouse - he's in with the "cookie man")
3. Dave got home tonight and said we should go out for treats tonight. Now for those of you who don't know Dave this is a VERY RARE OCCURANCE so I jumped on it (casually of course..."If you think we should, then I would be ok with that :) ). We went to Marie Calendar's they were having a whole pie for $7.99 - now if you don't know Dave he loves a good deal :) It was delicious - double cream with blueberries. Yes Sir!
4. On the way home from Marie's we were listening to bluegrass and Charlie said he wanted to listen to white grass. Too funny! But the cherry on top was when Dave was "riding the horse" (a.k.a. slapping his leg and flapping his arms like he's really riding a horse) to the bluegrass music, and Charlie said, "I'm riding the chicken" Just about lost it in the car :)

It was a good day. Thank you God for this wonderful, beautiful day!

Austin Adventure (Part 1 of many I'm sure :)

2011-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

So, we're going to be in Austin for almost two months! I had made my list and started packing on monday knowing full well that it will take me ALL week to get packed and ready to leave by friday morning :) We're going to be staying in a furnished apartment for the first month then the boys and I will fly out on monday the 14th to visit Lauren, Travis and the boys. Dave will arrive that friday. From there we'll spend the weekend and beginning of the week with Lauren then we'll head down to Katy's for Thanksgiving. (WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE!!!)

Here we are waiting for our plane...Charlie was especially excited!!

He looks a little concerned :) The boys actually were AWESOME, better than I could have hoped on the plane! I, however, suffered from motion sickness (I am my father's daughter). I was pretty useless so Dave was pretty much doing all the entertaining, book trading, car playing,...I'm getting some Bonine before our trip to Nashville that was miserable!

We got off the plane and walked through the tunnel to the airport and as we emerged from the tunnel, Charlie said in a slightly disgusted and disappointed voice, "This is texas?" I said something like, well this is the airport, just wait you'll see Texas. He's been asking me everyday, multiple times a day when are we going to Texas...he couldn't wait to get here.

Here's all our luggage (and children) Dave had the cart and balancing carseat act, while I pushed and steered the stroller and pulled the two bags on the right. It was all going pretty well, until we got to our rental car and realized it wasn't all going to fit into our camry sized car. (We opted to not get a van to save some money). They luckily had a van available for us to rent so we unloaded the already loaded carseats from the camry sized car (it was a chevy something) and loaded up the chrysler van. We were all in when the lady I've been working with to get our furnished apartment called saying the gas company did not light the pilot light so we have NO hot water and NO working stove. She said we could go to a hotel until Monday and not be charged the rent in the apartment for those days. It just so happens that UT was playing some big game against Oklahoma and there were NO two room suites available in the Austin area. I called 10 places and they were all booked. So we settled on a one room suite from Embassy Suites. It worked out okay. The boys had the actual bedroom while Dave and I slept on the pull out couch. As you can see below Charlie loved having his HUGE bed all to himself and since the place was packed there were no Pack'n'Plays in the whole hotel available so we had to make our own. Mom, don't be horrified :)

How to make a Pack'N'Play in a hotel:

Step 1: remove lamp from bedside table.
Step 2: turn bedside table around so mischievous kids won't play with drawers and hurt fingers.
Step 3: take cushions from couch (from front room) and lay them down on the floor.
Step 4: cover with a sheet-it is a hotel room :)
Step 5: put a suitcase in front of cushions to contain said mischievous child (see in 2nd and 3rd picture)
Step 6: Pray that it is safe :)

It worked and he never did escape. The second night they had a PNP available for us. So we used it. I covered it completely with sheets it kind of grossed me out.

Saturday: Before we arrived in Austin I had looked up some fun stuff for us to do while we were here. One of those things was a cattle drive on saturday. I figured Charlie would get a kick out of it and it just seems really Texas to go to a cattle drive. :) We wrote down our directions and had our garmin with us and we could not find the park it was supposedly at, at all. We even called my mom to make sure we wrote down the right directions. It was frustrating! So instead, we went to Zilker Zephyr Park. It is a HUGE park in South Austin. There is a 25 minute kid train ride around the whole park - it must be big! We tried to get tickets for the ride but it was 97 degrees that day and I was two people off from getting on the next ride, so we skipped it. Charlie was disappointed but he played at the playground and still had a good time. He still asks when we're going to ride the train at Ziller Park :)

Great idea to incorporate an old fire truck into the play structure. It doesn't look like he's having a good time, but he really enjoyed it!

Charlie asked all day today when we were going to be in Texas. I finally asked him what he thought Texas was and reply was, "We need dishes, and beds and a door." Poor guy thought we were going to live in the hotel room I think. Hopefully once we get into the apartment it will be better.

Sunday: We went to services at the Cedar Park Church of Christ. They were a very welcoming group of people (much like Folsom COC) and it ends up that Dave knew one of the gals from FC Camp and he went to church with her and her husband when he lived in Arizona - small world! After services that morning he jetted back to the hotel to check out. I figured we could live with cold water for one night...we were getting tired of the hotel and the boys were really squirreley.

This is sunday afternoon. Peter Pan is on and Dave (and Charlie) are setting up the internet. :)

On Monday we had the gas turned on, our internet checked, our smoke alarm fixed (read wednesday for full detail), a door stopper installed in our bathroom that was missing and a huge flying bug killed. (luckily the maintenance guy was coming so I didn't have to take care of it myself)

That night we ate at Torchy's Tacos. It was decent. The queso sauce was good. What you see before you was $23 - not quite worth it. They are known for their sauces and their fried avocado. I tried the fried avocado and I thought it was a waste of an avocado. One thing I love about avocados is their freshness and having it fried just seemed wrong :)

Brushing Teeth

Both the boys LOVE brushing their teeth. Ben especially will brush anytime. He even opens his mouth and says, "ahhh" Charlie is getting good at actually brushing and remembering not to swallow (yay!) and with Ben I'm lucky if I get two good swipes on the top and bottom. Although Ben will chew on the brush for about 5 minutes after each brushing - surely that counts for something, right? :)

We opted not (rather we didn't have any more room) to bring his feeding seat and refused to pay $1 a day to rent one from the apartment complex. So here is our big boy sitting at the table. HE LOVES IT and thinks he is such big stuff! I made spaghetti last night and with the towel and me being super careful we managed to keep the chair clean - amazing!

Tuesday!
The boys and I walked down to see the clubhouse and where the pool was today. This is is such a nice apartment complex. The clubhouse opens at 10am and they serve fresh cookies everyday to their guests - the boys were so excited to get a cookie and Charlie can't wait to swim in the pool.

Snuggle Time!

One of the things I read in the reviews about our apartment complex is how there is so much natural vegetation so the deer come by all the time. Well, on Monday we saw two deer, on Tuesday we saw two deer and this morning (weds) we saw at least ten! Here's the picture above of 4 deer, stinkin' screen :) Charlie loves looking for them every morning out the window in the front room (same window in the picture of dave and charlie on the computers). It is really neat!!

THIS DAY - Wednesday - WARNING: this next section contains a decent amount of sleep deprivation and throw up - enjoy :)!! So, let me back up just a little bit-just to set the sleeping scene. Friday night the boys didn't go to bed until 10:30pm Austin time, 8:30 CA time. Saturday morning they slept in until 8:30ish. Saturday Ben took a 2 hour nap charlie didn't take a nap. Saturday night the boys were in bed by 9:30, asleep by 10. Sunday morning we were all up by 7:45 so we could be at church by 10:30. Ben took a short nap during church service and then neither of the boys took an afternoon nap (boo). Both the boys were in bed at the apartment by 8:30. Ben woke up Monday morning at 1:30am and did not fall back asleep until 2:30am. Then I woke up at 4:30 to a really loud beeping. I woke up Dave and told him to go check it out. It was the smoke alarm. But not any smoke alarm, it was the one that was 15-20 feet up the wall. There is NO way I could have slept through the every 15 second beeping. So we pushed the couch over to the wall, I supported Dave as he climbed (scaled) the built in book shelf, so he could stand up on an eighteen inch ledge to reach the smoke alarm. He got it down, took the batteries out and it still beeped a few times. So rather than wait to see if it would stop, he put it in a bath towel, and put it in the dryer (no he did no turn the dryer on). CRAZY NIGHT! Both the boys were up by 7:15 monday morning. Monday both the boys took an afternoon nap (YAY!) and were both in bed by 8 (double YAY!) Ben woke up at 1:30am and didn't fall back asleep until 2:30ish. Both boys up by 7. Both took a nap (yay!) Both in bed and asleep by 8:30pm. 1am Weds morning Charlie wakes up crying. I go into the room and he's saying something about being pushed into the sea (we watched Peter Pan the other day) I told him he was in his bed and that he should close his eyes, he's just fine and go to sleep, I tucked him back in. But he was scared and continued to cry thereby waking up Ben. Now I'm irritated because Ben would have probably slept through the night, but now he's awake. Ben didn't fall back asleep until 2:30 (UGH!) Both boys up at 7am because Dave accidentally kicked a toy car into the wall (double UGH!). I'm exhausted, Dave leaves for work. Not 2 minutes after he leaves Ben throws up on me (have sweet mercy). Twenty minutes later he throws up again. I emailed Dave to see if Ben had had anything to eat that morning. His reply: He drank out of a milk cup on the ground by the couch I wasn't sure how old it was. So I dumped it and put new milk in it. Well, I quickly found that milk cup dumped it and sure enough it had a ring around it. I forgot to clean it up after the boys went to sleep (UGH!) By this time I've changed my shirt twice, have a little throw up in my hair and have bathed ben twice. So I put on Ben's rubber bib and wait for the next round. the bib was amazing! It saved us both! After the third time I waited 45 minutes and then layed him down - he was tired (from not only puking but being up so much at night). I let him sleep until he couldn't any more (about an hour). When he woke up he seemed happier and a little hungry so I gave him some cheerios and some plain oatmeal. That went down well so I let him have 1/3 of a banana. Everything was going well until I was about to take him back to his room. He threw up again - 3.5 hours after the last round. It fortunately wasn't that bad, but I then had the thought of...oh no...this is a virus not old milk and now we're all probably going to get it (fortunately no signs of that). He woke up from his nap really happy and asked for crackers. I gave him some and waited a while - he seems fine now. He was in bed by 7:20. Here's to hoping both boys sleep the whole night through and none of us wake up sick tomorrow :)

Charlie and Ben (Ben is finally feeling better)

We knew this was going to be an adventure, but it really has been an adventure. We're still having a good time! Hopefully, we can get all this crummy stuff out of the way our first week, then it will be smooth sailing for the remaing 6-7 weeks :)

Texas stuff:

1. freeways are kind of funky with the frontage roads, but I can definitely see the advantage to having them.

2. Water tastes like dirt...reminds me of Florida water - bleh

3. bugs are larger here - I DON'T LIKE BUGS ( I saw one spider seriously about 2 inches long outside on our walk to the clubhouse)

4. Austin looks A LOT like Folsom. It is hilly and there are a ton of oak trees - maybe that's why Charlie keeps asking when we're going to Texas. I pictured it a little more desolate and lot more country.

Our October So Far...

2011-10-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Almost every night when Dave gets home the boys are ready wrestle and get "horsey rides". On this particular night it was Ben's first time getting a "horsey ride" and he loved it!!!

Love this picture!!!

First Rain!!!

I had to get them dressed in their rain stuff before Ben grows out of it all!

They had a blast!

Apple Hill September 2011

2011-09-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

Apple Hill! Every kind of apple, yummy apple and other fruit pies and APPLE DOUGHNUTS HAVE MERCY!!! I didn't get to go last year and it made it all that much sweeter to go this year!!! For those who aren't local. Apple Hill is about 35 minutes away from us and it is a ton of apple places/orchards who sell various food items (usually related to apples) and offer different things to do (i.e. pumpkin patch, hay rides, horse rides,...). It is very cute! I've only gone to High Hill and some day I'd love to check out some of the other places too. FYI: we went up to celebrate maggie's birthday!

BEWARE A TON OF PICTURES WERE TAKEN!!!

Ben fell asleep on the way.

YUM-O apple donuts!

Charlie waiting for his horsey ride....

Ben watching the horses go around...I don't know what it is about that fence, but it makes for a cute picture!

Charlie wanted the white one...my little prince charming...er - cowboy :)

He was so excited to get one, then once he was on he wasn't too sure. As long as Dave was by him he was happy and giving me the thumbs up. My cute little cowboy's first ride!

I like to think he's tipping his pretend hat and saying, "howdy ma'am" :)

I know it's from the side but this is Ben's excited face...it cracks me up!

He just spotted Charlie :)

My Cowboys

love charlie's little smile in these two pics

Sweet Ben and silly Charlie :)

I can't get enough of that sweet little face

He's getting so big!

RIDING TRACTORS

Cute boy!

I love this boy! He has such a good imagination!

Ben walking with Charlie's hat!

Goodbye Apple Hill we'll see you soon....those doughnuts are already calling me :)

Gam-Gam, Katelyn, Papa, and Poppy Visit

2011-09-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Everyone came up to celebrate Maggie's 6th birthday! It was wonderful having everybody together!!

Poppy and Charlie reading books

Ben and Kate snuggling

Charlie on Gams Ipad....he loves it!

Ben having some morning "coffee" with Papa and Poppy. I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

Guest Room (a.k.a. Poppy's Room) Re-Do

2011-09-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

So one of our guest rooms (we always call it poppy's room because he was the first guest to stay in this room) was in desperate need of a paint job and sprucing up! It was painted that same brown/tan color as our master. I found a picutre on pinterest that I loved and pretty much recreated the wall color, curtains, and bedding. It is now a peaceful and relaxing room :) I forgot to take before pictures, but trust me you're not missing out on the before pics.

Here it is:

Bedding on! No curtains yet...see next photo

The curtain's are drop cloth curtains. They are 117.5 inches long and I paid just over $20 to make them. They came out perfectly!

Loving our new room!

Price breakdown:

Paint: Behr's Hazelnut Cream (I used one gallon $35 of primer and paint in one and another $25 normal gallon-I still have 1/2 gallon left over)

Curtains: about $25

Sheets and pillow cases: Ross $35

Blanket on sheets: $35 from amazon

Blanket on end of bed: $25.99 from Costco

Bed Skirt: $15 from Target it is their cheap one and it is crazy see through...I regret going cheap on this.

Equalling about $196 Not bad for a new room! The lamp we had and the "night stands" are tv trays we had too. I still need to do some accessorizing but that will come when I find what I like and it's at the right price.

The Beginning of September

2011-09-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Daddy and the boys running through the sprinklers/kid-wash (made of pvc with holes drilled in it so the water squirts everywhere)....so much fun!

Sunday morning - getting ready for worship service

My 3 handsome guys all ready for church!

More sprinkler fun

Stomping in the mud

LOVE BEN'S AND CHARLIE'S GIGGLES!!!

Eating a snack at the kids table (it was used by my sisters and I when we were little)

Both the boys had just woken up from naps..it's amazing how a little milk can make them so much happier after waking up :)

I was taking a nap and Dave said the boys were just waiting and laying on the steps waiting for me to get up.

August Happenings

2011-09-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Train Museum with Grandpops and Grandmops

We needed to renew our membership to the train museum in Sacramento, so asked Grandmops and Grandpops if they wanted to meet us there and they did! It was a wonderful morning! On Saturdays they have train rides down the river (20 minutes there and back). So here we are on the train! Grandmops/pops got the boys their matching outfits for their birthdays....so cute! I'm a sucker for matching outfits :)

Love this one of Ben

Happy Birthday Daddy and Miss April!

Mis April's Hubby was out of town on her birthday (which happens to be Dave's birthday too) so she came over to celebrate with us! She has two SWEET little girls and we all enjoyed some homemade pizza and funfetti cake :)

Benny and Emme smoochin'

I sat Charlie down and asked him some questions about Dave:

My Daddy's name is Dada

He is I don't know years old, big enough tall and weighs far

His favorite food is pizza.

It makes my daddy happy when Aunt Jenny comes over. (HA!)

My favorite thing to do with daddy is wrestle with him.

I know daddy is mad when he makes a mad face.

My daddy loves to hug you.

My daddy is really good at driving the car

My daddy always tells me to obey and listen

My daddy loves me because he hugs you.

Charlie and His Mustache

August 10: After he was all dressed up like a cowboy and we were getting ready to head out the door (shirt, jeans, belt, boots, and hat), "Ok momma, now just draw me a mustache"...just about fell out of my chair laughing. I felt bad for not drawing one that day so the following week he asked me again and I did indeed draw him a mustache. He loved it and everyone who saw him loved it too! Such a cute boy!

August 11: Favorite quote from Charlie today, "Momma will you kiss my stinky tootsie I bonked it on the table" Funny boy!

Folsom Lake August 2011

2011-09-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends invited us out on their boat on Folsom Lake. We jumped on the opportunity because it was a. a GORGEOUS EVENING, b. Charlie loves the water, c. Dave and I hadn't been out on Folsom lake since before Charlie was born...it was about time...especially since it's about a mile from our house :)

Ben was not too sure at first. Once we stopped and got to where we were going so the kids and adults could wake board and go in the biscuit he was better.

Charlie helping Dave A. drive the boat

Dave and Charlie in the biscuit....Charlie loved it!

tricks

My little boy in a big lake having a blast!!! I love it when he waves :)

Here is Charlie by himself. He was having so much fun!!!

Can't believe he was so brave! Don't worry, Dave was holding the rope and was fully prepared to jump in and get him if he fell off.

Updating Our Master Bedroom - Yippee

2011-09-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

We went from these tan walls to a soft gray blue. I tried a couple different samples and ended up with Behr's Dophin Fin - it's not any of the ones on the wall just below :)

Goodbye Brown/Tan!

Hello soft and soothing, relaxing room! I LOVE IT!!!

This last brown wall I have a couple of ideas. I'm either going to stencil a pattern so it looks like wallpaper or I'm going to put a type of batten and board up. Whatever I do will look better than it does right now!

I also added new window trim to our window - I love it, it is craftsman style and I hope to do this to every window in my house. I also hung some curtains, but I guess I forgot to take pictures...will post soon.

Cars Birthday Party

2011-09-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Since Ben had hand, foot and mouth we had to postpone the party and since I had a little bit more time I added a few more details besides a cars cake :) Almost all of these ideas I got from pinterest...I'm addicted!

I had this hanging in the kitchen by the pizza, fruit salad and cake.

Guido's Car Wash

Here are the cars! I spent 4 late nights constructing and painting them...it was a labor of love.

The cars are lined up so the kids can have a race around the yard.

Sarge's Surplus Balloon Hut

The cake! The blue dyed your mouth, but it was a really good white cake with raspberry filling. Good Job Raleys!

Cars Food and Cake

2011-09-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Uncle Kody, Grandpops, and Papa waiting for Pizza

Kiddos eating pizza!

mmmm...Charlie's favorite!

CAKE TIME

Trying to give Ben a taste

...and he pretty much hated it!

Charlie on the other hand LOVED IT!

Present Time

2011-09-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

Big glasses from the Marrs family-they are still a hit with all kids

The balls are always a hit with my boys!

Showing Papa his new ball

Ben reading his card

This boy loves balls!

Charlie and his new book "Smash Crash" - it's a hit.

The best part was after they opened all their presents Charlie said, "I have everything I need"...it was too cute! He's such a sweet boy!