Monday, December 12, 2011

Justin and Emilie's Thanksgiving Reception

During our Thanksgiving celebration at my grandparent's house, we had a small reception for Justin and Emilie since they just got married the day before.

Invitations were sent...




The tables were set....a little bit of Dr.Pepper {Justin}, a little bit of Harry Potter {Emilie}, a little bit of Renaissance {Justin and Emilie}...






A Dr.Pepper toast to Justin and Emilie!  Cheers!


And wedding cake for the Mr. and Mrs.!


Justin and Emilie's Wedding

My brother got married the day before Thanksgiving.  The ceremony was small, but it was perfect for Justin and Emilie.  Here's a few photos my mom took of the day...

Justin showed up with the price tag still on his jacket.  I guess he was hoping to be able to return the jacket afterward the ceremony.



We're both here so let's get this party started!


The ceremony...


It's official!  A happy husband with his marriage lisence.


Husband and wife...gorgeous photo!


Justin and Cullen, his "best man".


Emilie and Tara, the "Maid of Honor".


Emilie and "The Flowergirls".


All right gang...1,2,3...to the lake to celebrate!


Emilie's sister, Amie, giving the new couple a champagne toast.  Cheers to Justin and Emilie!


Cake time!


Justin's family...minus Matt.  Welcome to the family Emilie!


Monkey Hats and Turtle Stools

At Halloween time Brazos wouldn't have worn a hat, but as soon as the weather turned cold and mommy said, "You have to put a hat on if you want to go outside," then Brazos was happy to wear a hat.  I absolutley love it when he puts his hat on!  The other day I walked outside just to get something out of the garage and as I was walking back to the porch there was a little boy holding my hat in his hand with the expression, "Mommy, if you go outside you have to wear your hat!"


We converted Brazos's crib into a toddler bed so he could get used to having a "Big Boy" bed before someone else stole his crib from him.  It's been four days and so far so good.  We just wake up about two hours ealier than usual. 

Here's a picture of the little step stool he uses for his bed, although he doesn't really need a step stool.  My Grandpa Lyles made this for me when I was little.  I recovered the fabric shell with fabric that would match Brazos's room.  I kept the vintage fabric that it was covered in underneath because it was just too cute to remove, but it had a stain on it from when a squirrel broke into our house and decided to use the bathroom on it.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Visiting Santa

Yesterday evening Santa Claus arrived at Blue Bell in an ice cream truck!  We didn't get there in time to see him arrive, but we did have the joy of standing in the long line to take Brazos's picture with him.  Actually, the wait in line wasn't so bad because we had the company of Grandma Cindy and Brazos's playmate, Natalie, was in line behind us.  It was nice to visit with everyone in line.

It was Santa's birthday yesterday so Brazos brought him a candy bar with a little card that said, "Happy Birthday, Santa!  Love, Brazos".  (Brownie points for an extra good present.)  Brazos was such a brave little boy and walked right up to Santa, but then immediately turned around and walked back to mommy.


We walked him back to Santa and he did a great job sitting on Santa's lap.  He just refused to smile, but it's still a beautiful picture.  I'm so proud of him!


Just to go back and remember, here was Brazos's picture with Santa last year at Blue Bell.  He has the same expression!


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Cody's Birthday Party

About a month ago my sister-in-law asked if she could have our nephew, Cody's birthday party at our house.  Cody wanted a "Four-wheeler" party where all his friends could ride a four-wheeler.  We have the perfect place for a four-wheeler...an open yard, a long driveway, and pasture land.  Matt happily told her "Sure! As long as you help clean the garage!"  So this week we have all been busy cleaning house and cleaning the garage.  I enjoy having people over at my house because it actually makes me clean parts of the house that usually get neglected.

Saturday was Cody's party.  He had a great time playing with his cousins, especially Caleb because they are closest in age. 



The boys enjoyed running around the yard and riding the four-wheeler.  Lots of yummy treats were shared by all guests and Nana made delicious stew for dinner.  Cody was all smiles as we sang "Happy Birthday" and he had no trouble blowing out his candles. 





Of course opening presents was the highlight of the event.   A Wii, Wii games, clothes, remote control cars, Scooby Do stocking cap, targets and safety glasses, legos, and a watch were some of the gifts Cody recieved. 







Cody's dad gave him a B-B gun and boys of all ages enjoyed trying to shoot at aluminum cans.


 
The day was perfect and all of Cody's closest friends and family were happy to share their time with him.  Happy 6th Birthday,  Cody!  May all your wishes come true this year!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving Festivities

Our family Thanksgiving was amazing!  Every family member on my mom's side of the family came together at my grandparent's home on Thanksgiving Day.  It's been a long time since every single person was there, but we all made it this year!  I wish I had good pictures to show you, but I have a camera monster that screams and hollars every time I take my camera out and he doesn't stop throwing a fit until the camera is in his hands.  So most of my pictures look like this....

A sneak peak of the camera monster: Self-portrait
 On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, my brother vowed to love and cherish his fiance forever.  He got married! Justin and Emilie had a private wedding ceremony at the courthouse.  Once again I don't have any great pictures because the camera monster followed me to the courthouse.  The camera monster was obsessed with shoes.


I do have a few good pictures of our Thanksgiving table decor, but Brazos is awake, so they'll have to wait till next time.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Brazos's 2nd Halloween

Brazos had a great Halloween and it wore him out!

I racked my brain trying to think of what he could be for Halloween.  I knew he wouldn't keep a hat on so that cut out A LOT of options, because almost all the costumes at the stores had hats or masks.  Also, I was challenging myself and wanting to make his costume instead of buying it.  My first idea came when I found a tiger's tail at Wal-Mart.  I bought the tail and a black t-shirt.  I tried painting orange stripes on the t-shirt, but that ended in disaster and was thrown away.  Now he just has a tiger's tail to play with in his toy box.

About three days before the Halloween festivities began the idea hit me.  He could be Einstein!  He has the perfect hair and all I have to do is buy a white shirt.  I found a cheap white button down shirt at Sweet Repeats downtown.  Then I took it to Brenham Trophies and they embroidered "Little Einstein" on the back for me and "E=mc2" on the front.  At home all we had to do was tease his hair, drown some wrinkles and a mustache, and put on his sunglasses that he had popped the lenses out of.  Here was his final costume!



We started our celebrations on Saturday evening with my nephew Cody and his mom Kristin at the Burton Elementary Halloween Carnival.  I had taken Brazos last year, but he wasn't old enough to enjoy any of the games.  This year he could play almost all of them with the exception of the Haunted House and the Jumper (big kids would topple him over).  He loved any game that involved throwing something, like a bean bag or pennies.  Even when he threw the last bean bag and was handed a prize, he didn't realize it was a prize and kept throwing it.  By the end of the night though he had a bucket full of prizes.



After the carnival we met the rest of the family at Matt's parents' house.  When we first walked in, it was all about the boys!  Brazos and Cody had to pose for pictures in their costumes.  (There's another little grandson, Cullen, but he was sound asleep in his playpen.)  Then we enjoyed a big bowl of chicken soup, rolls, and dessert.  The rest of the evening was spent watching the boys play and gobble up a few Halloween treats.

Cody as Iron Man

Rhett Butler as a pumpkin

Brazos playing with Uncle Ryan

Watch out on the roads!  Crazy driver coming!

Cullen playing with his daddy's fingers


On Halloween day Brazos first had to go to the doctor for his vaccinations.  He got four shots and was such a trooper.  There were a few tears shed, but once he recieved his balloon he was all smiles.

Once Matt got home and Brazos was dressed in his costume the running started.  First we went to town to grab a bite to eat at Sonic.  Then we drove to my grandparent's house to trick-or-treat.  Who knew the paparatzi would be there!  As soon as Brazos strarted walking up the sidewalk my grandpa was snapping his disposable camera!  After picking out a few pieces of candy from the bucket my grandma walked with us to her neighbors' who had their lights on for trick-or-treaters.  One house didn't have their down shut all the way and as soon as Brazos began to knock he fell right into their house! 



Next we drove all the way back out to our house to trick-or-treat with our neighbors.  They had called us the week before to make sure Brazos would stop by their house.  Once again, the paparatzi was there and Brazos posed for more pictures.  They surprised him with a big witches pot filled with goodies.  Let's just say he still has lots of Halloween treats to snack on.



When we left our neighbor's house we noticed another neighbor with their lights on.  We had never met them before so we thought that trick-or-treating would be a good way to meet them.  We knocked on the door and big dog started barking at us.  Brazos was excited and began barking back.  We could see our neighbors in their kitchen but no one was coming to the door.  We assumed this meant that they didn't want trick-or-treaters so starting walking back to the car.  Then we heard the door open and they yelled, "No wait!  Come back!"  The man held the dog from jumping on Brazos and the lady ripped open a bag of candy, poored it in a bucket, and let Brazos pick out a few pieces.  They were so startled that I don't even think they heard us say, "We're the Supak's and we live down the road."  I think it's safe to say we were probably their only trick-or-treaters.



Then we drove back into town to the Fall Festival at the fairgrounds.  This place was packed!  They estimated that about 5000 people were there.  My mom was working at this event.  We stopped by her popcorn booth and played a few games and won a few more pieces of candy.  We also saw my dad on the way there at his job and stopped so he could see Brazos all dressed up.



Our last stop was out in Welcome at my friend Stephanie's house.  She had her could all decorated for Halloween with bats flying on her front porch, handpainted candles, spider web, lights, the works!  She too surprised Brazos with a bag of Halloween treats.  She had even made her own chocolate-dipped-marshmallows-on-a-stick for him.  He really enjoyed eating those!



By the end of the night and all the in-and-out of his carseat, Brazos was out like a light!