Date with Mammaw

So, our little boy is learning all about numbers. No longer can Mammaw say, I'll see you next week or in a few days. Seth knows that a few is 3 and is counting the days. Recently, Mammaw said she would come visit in about a week. This just didn't work for Seth, he wanted to know how many days... so she said 7 or 8. Well, 5 days passed and all of a sudden he was saying, she'll be here in 2 or 3 days. Well, I knew full and well that she would not be here anytime that week, so I gave her a little ring-a-ling and informed her that he was counting down the days to her mysterious arrival... oops! So, this morning she called him up and asked if he would like to go to a movie with her instead..."No" was his reply! Actually, he said he would rather go eat at LaMadelline's with her (man after my own heart - love that kid!), so we met Mom half way at our favorite little spot and had a great lunch. Then Seth and Mammaw had a little ice cream date... Seth had "Superman" ice cream and Mammaw had strawberry (those are important details that he wanted me to share - lol). It was a great day!!! Below are some pics of other things that happened today...


Karsyn loves to go shopping in her sling! She is a people watcher and does not like to be cooped up in the infant carrier that mommy thinks snaps so easily onto a shopping cart. She also likes to help out in the kitchen while in her sling... loads of fun!


Seth does a safety check on Karsyn's new form of entertainment. Seems she is not the only one that will be entertained by the blast off noises. :O)

Karsyn says... Exersaucer-walkers for the win! I'll keep this fun toy!

"If I could just get a hold of this, Scotty could beam me up.... hmmph?"

Rice cereal AGAIN? Yippee!

4 Months Old

Hard to believe, I know, but our little Karsyn is 4 months old! We visited our pediatrician today and Baby K had 3 dreaded shots. She weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs. 3 oz. and was 24 inches long (although the nurse NEVER stretches her out all the way). Our Dr. gave us the okay to start "yummy" rice cereal, so tonight, Baby K and I gave it a shot. She probably spit out more than she actually took in, but over all she did pretty good for her first time. She thought her new sippy cup was AMAZING and kept staring at it. Finally, she let me know with her little "mad" cry that she wanted to eat they way she enjoys best! ;) It was a fun experience though, and we'll give it another shot tomorrow.

Fun in the Sun

Sweet cousin Tess came over for some fun in the sun today. . . She loved the water and Seth thought it was great fun to go down the slide and splash the girls. Karsyn would sit on the step and was just fine as long as she was watching and no water touched her. When Seth would go down the slide, the water would rush up on the step and let's just say, Baby K let it be known that she did NOT like it one little bit. The water was a little cold, so I don't blame her. The sun was beautiful though and Apryl and I enjoyed our Sonic and watched the kids play.

Isn't Karsyn's pineapple bathing suit cute! Thanks Alisha!

Rolling Over!

After a few weeks of trying and getting frustrated with her shoulder that she thought was in the way... our Baby K finally rolled over back to front. For those of you that don't know, this is a much more difficult feat than the front to back roll. Drew, Mammaw & I were all there to see it and we clapped and cheered. So proud of our little Karsyn and this new accomplishment!

Easter means LTC

In the weeks and months leading to Easter, we are turning our focus to the cross and our Lord's resurrection. Although we do this every Sunday when we take the Lord's Supper, Easter is a special time of remembrance and praise. HE IS RISEN!!! Praise the Lord!

For my family, Easter also brings Leadership Training for Christ (LTC). My brother, Joseph, and I were involved in LTC many moons ago (beginning in about 1990), and now my baby bro and sis, Caleb and Sarah, are involved in this incredible event. For months leading up to LTC (which always takes place on Easter weekend), they are preparing and getting ready for many events. Sometimes they get wrapped up in the preparation and how they will do (what medal they will be rewarded), but ultimately they are learning to be leaders in the Lord's church. How amazing is that? They have fun and build awesome leadership skills that will continue to bless others as they spread the message of the gospel to the world. Caleb and Sarah have some wonderful spiritual gifts. Most people think of them as great singers, and they do have beautiful voices (we love singing together as a family), so they are always involved in chorus and song leading. They also are great at sharing the message of Christ and the event, speech, is an event that they both SHINE in! I am always so proud of them! Way to go Caleb & Sarah!


Seth & Karsyn after morning worship at the Anatole...

This year, the Easter bunny brought sleet and cold, so we took pictures instead of hunting eggs. (Don't worry, in coming weeks Seth and I will "hunt" eggs many times in the backyard.... over & over & over again... he loves it!)

Sarah prepares for song leading...

Caleb & Karsyn play with her taggie...

Pooching their cheeks & goofing off between events...

Sarah is suffering from overload - rofl!

Finally, a family shot...

My sweet parents & little bro (Big Ben - as Seth calls him), and of course Seth (because he thinks every picture is better with him in it)...

LTC in Dallas also means that I get to see Annie! YEAH! This year she brought her adorable neice, Sara, who just loved Karsyn! Annie was also kind enough to take Seth to her church's Easter Egg hunt on Saturday. They had some awesome door prizes in the "gold" eggs. Annie primed Seth for the hunt... and my sweet boy came back with a basket full of ONLY "yellow" eggs. How cute is that!

It was surely a blessed weekend!

Texas Bluebonnets!

Okay, so I'm suppose to be packing for our weekend trip & I got sucked into the blogging world, yet again! I was reading my friend Kim's blog (you should check out her cute kids!) and realized that I hadn't even posted pics of my kids in the beautiful Texas bluebonnets.

Spring is one of my favorite times of year, as the sides of the highway and fields are covered in blankets of wildflowers, my favorites are of course the Texas state flower! Earlier this week, my sister-in-law and I ventured out with the kids in search of the perfect spot & we found it behind her church building-YEAH! We were prepared with multiple outfits for the kids, toys, bumbo, and blankets so no one would complain about the itchy grass. Even with all of our preparation (which was in quick haste btw), we could not prepare the kids attitudes for the beloved "picture time." They ranged from squinty "sun in my eyes," to grins, to crying, to faces of boredom, to "can't catch me" with that camera you can't! All in all, we got a couple of cute ones, and lots of others for the honorable mention list. We did find out some new things while we were out tromping through the fields though...

1. Seth wants to be in the middle of every picture!
2. If Seth is not the center of attention atm, he will run wildly around and distract those who are.
3. If that doesn't work, Seth will run in front of the camera just in time for the photo snap.
4. Karsyn won't look at a camera no matter how much you ooh and gooh at her.
5. When Karsyn is not in the mood, she won't even look at Seth!
6. Tess's bow matched her dress even better than we thought - way to go Apryl!
7. A 10-month-old will promptly push a 3-month-old over when placed in a picture pose together.
8. When Karsyn doesn't want to have a picture taken of her, she will just pull her dress over her head.
9. Baby K's dress was fluffy as can be, but still would not cover the bumbo for a pretty pic.
And finally... number 10. Skinny little 5-year-olds can sit in a Bumbo (seat made for 3-14 month olds).

We had fun and hope you enjoy the pics!

Beautiful Tess

Okay, so my kids don't always take the best pics, but my sweet little niece does! She usually pops a big smile for any camera that comes near her, but she's teething right now (working on number 3 & 4 I think) and her gums come first. LOL! She is precious though and we are so glad to live so close to her. She and Karsyn are going to be great friends! There is no telling what kind of trouble they will get in to. So, here's our little shout out to Tess... We love you!

And one more little thing, okay kind of a big thing... Apryl... thank you SO much for your help yesterday! I couldn't have done it without you! Drew's face was priceless when he got home... I'll have to tell you more about that later. ROFL!

In the Garden

Sunday, my little helper (aka. Karysn) helped me out in the yard. We watered the plants and herbs on the deck while Daddy mowed the lawn. Then we (Mommy) had fun taking pics of our little cutie while Daddy finished up. Seems baby K is a little camera shy... I have the hardest time getting her to actually look at the camera. She just seems to be in awe of God's many wonderful beauties and soaks them all in! In these pics, check our her toes... lol. She always seems to have her left toes curled and her right toes "catching the wind."


After we finished with the plants on the deck (really not that many), we headed out in the yard. The bumbo sqeezed into our little red wagon perfectly & Karsyn had fun riding around while I continued to water plants. She would fuss when we stopped, and then was happy again when we were moving. What a picky little one. Maybe this means she will like roller-coasters though... I would love that! Girl after my own heart.

Baby K checks the "time." Are we done yet?

My sweet sister-in-law started sharing some veggies with me and I had no where to plant them, so we created a little spot. This is my little garden experiment for the spring/summer... tomatoes, onions, peppers, squash, etc... It's been fun. We'll just have to wait and see if I can keep these sweet little plants alive though.