Home Sweet Home

I am happy to say that we are no longer surrounded by boxes (for the most part).
Even though they were fun to climb on...

We are loving our new house and neighborhood, and we are having fun fixing up the inside. We need to paint before we can do much more. Not loving the stark white walls, but at least they are not wallpapered! It is so nice to have more room for our growing boys. Carson and Cole love having a much bigger yard to play in and a new trampoline (an early birthday present from Nan) to work off all that energy!

Five Years Ago Today...

...our first baby boy was born (two weeks late). After months and months of preparation that included attending useless childbirth classes with our friends (I have never laughed so hard!) it was finally the big day. Mark and I had dinner at Chili's the night before I was induced (our "last" meal before becoming parents) and then headed to the hospital. We brought baby Carson home on Halloween Day. We carefully laid him in the bassinet in our living room and then sat looking at each other, wondering what to do next. (We figured it out pretty quickly).

Today he turned five years old... so hard to believe. Everyone warns you how fast the years fly by, but you never fully understand it until your babies are no longer babies!

Carson had a fun day with Cole and our friends Brenna, Chloe and Hayden. We took the kids to the Rainforest Cafe in Grapevine and had a great time. Of course, both of our camera batteries were dead so we have no pictures to document the occasion. Tonight Mark brought balloons home, we had a spaghetti dinner (one of Carson's favorites), and cupcakes. He opened a couple of presents and went to bed happy and content to finally be five!

One down... one to go.

Yea! We closed on our house today!

State Fair

Last Friday night we took a hiatus from packing and went to the fair. We all had a great time. We watched the parade, ate, went to the petting zoo, and Carson and I rode the big ferris wheel together! I could not believe he was brave enough to ride it, but he was not the least bit scared.


Cole walked around the fair with his hands behind his back just like we do at preschool! It was so funny.

Howdy Folks!

Big Tex did not speak today, but that is what he usually says. Today my dad "Grandaddy" and stepmom Deniece "Niece" invited us to the annual unveiling of Big Tex at Fair Park. They volunteer with the parade at the fair each year and we get to enjoy the perks! We all had a great time! Here are some pictures from our day:

Big Tex is under that sheetCole is getting a little nervousWell... a lot nervous!Carson enjoying the golf cart... And he's up! Big Tex got a makeover this year including a yellow shirt and new boots!I attempted to keep Cole out of the water, but who am I kidding?Checking out the floats in Granddaddy and Niece's tent

After we left Fair Park, Deniece and I took the boys for lunch at Campisi's (my favorite) and then back to her house to feed the fish.

Right after this, Cole fell into their hot tub.

The State Fair opens on Friday and I could not be more excited. My dad has taken me every year since I was a little girl, and now we take the boys at least once (usually a few times) each year. I am hoping Carson will be brave enough to ride the ferris wheel with me for the first time.

I love everything about the fair; being outside, the car shows (even though I hated this when I was little and couldn't wait to get to the midway) the rides, and most of all... the food! I do not get excited about the new fair food each year, such as chicken-fried bacon, fried banana splits, etc. I am perfectly satisfied with the tried and true fair food... a Fletcher's corny dog, funnel cake, tornado twisters, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. You know... all of the healthy stuff!

Happy Birthday, Julie!

This weekend my cousin Julie turned the big 3-0 and we had a fun girls' dinner to celebrate her birthday!

Wacky Wednesday and a Couple of Videos

Carson was absolutely thrilled about Wacky Wednesday at Preschool this week. Seriously... you'd have thought he had been to Disney World! Our preschool has one day per month that the 4 year olds can go for a fun day with enriching activities. Oh. my. gosh. Carson talked my ear off the entire way home about how Ms. Leah popped popcorn ALL BY HERSELF in a Mickey Mouse popper IN THE ROOM, not in the microwave, and the popcorn went down the slide into a bowl and it was JUST LIKE BEING AT THE CIRCUS! And they painted with "dry soap!" That stumped me at first, but then it occured to me that he has probably never used any soap other than liquid soap and so he thought the bar soap was SO cool. Who knew that Wacky Wednesday was going to be just like the circus! I bet Ms. Leah felt like she had been at the circus as well!

This weekend I was talking with my cousin Laura and I was trying to get Cole to say her name. He kept pronouncing it "DORA." I started laughing and tried to correct him, then he got mad and would only say "NO!" Here are some videos of him saying Laura (Dora) and Carson (Sarsen).