Country Boy

Every now and then you can find Brazos at the water trough.

Why?

Because he's thirsty.  This little boy eats with the dogs and drinks with the cows.  What can I say...he's a country boy.



Donating, Glass Jars, and Saving the World One Chew at a Time

This past week I've been cleaning house in places that I usually neglect such as the dining room, utility room, and our bedroom.  I usually take time to clean Brazos and Sandy's room but when it comes to my room I just start making piles. 

I had a huge pile of clothes on the floor on my side of the bed, maily because I don't have any space for it.  The teeny tiny closet if full.  The two dresser drawers are full and under the bed there is just no more room.  I know it sounds like I have a lot of space with a closet, 2 dressers, and under the bed, but if you saw my tiny room you would understand that I really have no space. 

So this pile next to my bed was consumed of skirts and dresses that no longer fit.  I have an attachment to clothing, which I think comes from my grandmother, to wear I remember why I bought each piece and I just can't seem to part with it.  For example, I had the skirt that wore on my first day of teaching in my very own classroom.  I loved that skirt but I'm pretty sure i won't fit back into it.  I tell myself that maybe Sandy will like it one day, but then I realize that it'll be another 20 years until she can wear it and that's a long time away.  Then I ask myself what do I want to leave around for Sandy as momentos and I know pictures and stories of our lives is more important than leaving her my clothing.  She'll get my wedding dress which she may like more than an old skirt. 

So I decided that I would donate my clothing to Hospice Boutique in downtown Brenham.  After I gave the sweet ladies my boxes, as I was walking out I heard them talking about what nice clothing I had in the boxes and how I folded them so neatly.  It made me feel good about donating it...and I began to walk a little slower to hear what else they might say. ;) 

At night, it felt good to not have a pile of clothes to step over, although I still find myself wanting to take a big step over the clothing....it must have been there for a while to have a habit of stepping over it.

I also have a hard time parting with Brazos and Sandy's clothing.  I did get one bag full of clothing, blankets, and some maternity clothes that I was going to donate to Sweet Repeats, the children's resale clothing store downtown.  When I brought her the bag she only accepted about 1/3 of it which bummed me out a bit, because it was a big deal for me to get rid of some of it.  I'll give it to MOPS for their annual garage sale.

When shopping for Sandy's baby food I came across this:

I was so excited!  At first I had filled the cart with the plastic Gerber containers which I hate.  Every time you open those containers they squirt some food out which usually lands on my clothing.  I miss the glass jars.  Just as I was about to walk away I saw this box hiding on the shelf.  You can buy a box of veggies and a box of fruits with 16 GLASS JARS each.

Then as I was checking out this gum and mints caught my eye. 

I've seen it before, but I read the fine print carefully this time and as I placed it on the conveyor belt I felt like I just made the choice to save the world.  When I popped a piece of chewing gum in my mouth I got that feeling again, "I just planted a tree!"  The gum plants 7 trees and the mints feeds 7 people.  Amazing!

Five Months Old

Dear Sandy Samantha,

     On Sunday, June 24th, you turned five months old!  Although you are still my baby girl, at times it seems that you have already morphed into a young lady.  You are absolutely beautiful and I adore you more than you will ever know.

     You are a momma's-girl and I love that you follow me with your eyes as I walk past you, and how you keep your eyes focused on me when you are in the arms of another person.  It makes me feel loved and wanted {and exhausted at times}.

     You are trying your hardest to sit up.  You love to stand with support and don't want to miss a thing.   You can roll from you back to your tummy, but you get frusterated after being on your tummy for a few seconds.  You have discovered your hands and feet and often sit and gaze at your tiny fingers moving.

     Brazos entertains you and you love to watch him play.  He gives you lots of hugs and kisses.  When you cry he'll ask, "You okay?" and he'll say, "I sorry" if he thinks you're crying because of something he did.  You two have begun a wonderful relationship and I'm grateful that you have one another to journey through life together.

     This afternoon you were crying in the house, so I decided to take you outside to sit on the porch.  You immediately stopped fussing.  You relaxed to sound of the water sprinkler and fixated  your eyes on your little fingers in front of you.  Then I decided we should take some pictures to remember your five month milestone.  Once again, you're beautiful.

                                                                             Love always,
                                                                                Mommy

Even in black and white your eyes still shine!

June Days

Here's a glimpse of what our days of June have been filled with...

Brazos dog sat for his Nana while she was on vacation with Popo.  Brazos had lots of fun walking Rhett Butler around, but Rhett was super happy to go back home when Nana came to pick him up.

Sandy has been trying her hardest to sit up while laying in her chairs, so we decided to buy her a Bumbo chair to help her sit up straight.  Here she was enjoying her chair and watching her brother play in the front yard.

 

This little man is obsessed with TRAINS!  Our days at home are spent watching Thomas the Train, reading train books, building train tracks, and drawing trains.  Here he was sitting at the kitchen table drawing more trains.

 

For his birthday in March we bought Brazos a playhouse.  I'm kind of disappointed that he doesn't play in it more often, but one morning he ran outside and I found him playing by it.  So I had to capture the moment.  I'm hoping one day Brazos and Sandy will enjoy the playhouse together.

Sandy has lots of chairs to sit in...a swing, a bouncer, a Bumbo chair, a high chair, a beanbag.  She only enjoys each chair for a short amount of time.  Here she is in the bean bag piled with a bunch of toys hoping they would make her enjoy the sit for a little bit longer. 

Our church hosted Vacation Bible School a few weeks ago.  Brazos was old enough to participate this year and he really enjoyed it.  I taught the Arts and Crafts section and it was fun to watch him come into my classroom and sit at the table with his other classmates and create works of art.  Here is a photo of all the kids and their palm leaves at the opening of VBS.

Of course my mom, Granny, had her camera with her during VBS and Brazos doesn't miss the opportunity to take pictures.  He loves to take pictures with her camera and her iPhone. 

 

Brazos had gotten a hold of Granny's phone after VBS and him and friend, Avery, took turns taking pictures of each other.  This is how he posed for his picture.

We also went on our family vacation in June and I'll tell you about that in another post, so yall come back!

Father's Day 2012

Father's Day morning we went to church and Brazos gave his Grandpa a sweet kiss as a gift.

Sandy hung out with her daddy while Brazos went to Sunday school.  This was her first Father's Day with her daddy!



Me and My Daddy

After church the whole family went to eat at Country Inn II.  We met my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all there and enjoyed an hour or two chatting with everyone.

Once we got home Brazos and Sandy gave their daddy his gift.  A few of us stay-at-home moms started a Mommy and Me Book Club for the summer.  The week before Father's Day the mom who hosted the book club provided us with the supplies to make this cute and simple gift.  You may have seen the idea on Pinterest as a Valentine's gift.  We had to wait to give daddy this gift after we ate, because if Brazos had it his way he would have eaten all the M&Ms and no lunch.  Brazos and his daddy really enjoyed sharing the candy together.

It's a shovel full of M&Ms!

Later that evening Matt enjoyed playing with his Father's Day gift that he baught himself - a pressure washer.  Isn't it the prettiest pressure washer you've ever seen!?  I told him it looked like a sports car.

The Return of Paula Deen

     Before Sandy was born I started my own Paula Deen Challenge where I would cook every recipe in one of her books/magazines.  After Sandy was born I wasn't cooking much, but about three months later I took up the challenge again.  I haven't made much progress, but here are the few dishes that we've tried in the past few months.



Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms

    

     The title of the recipe pretty much sums it up.  Pan fry the sausage with some garlic and onions.   After cooked stir in 4 ounces of cream cheese.  Spoon filling into mushroom caps and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Simple...just not my cup of tea.

Hamburger Stroganoff

   

      Pan fry beef with butter, mushrooms, onions, and garlic.  When browned stir in onion gravy mix and 3 tablespoons flour.  Stir in 1 can chicken broth, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in 2/3 cup sour cream.  Serve over hot cooked egg noodles.  Delicous!

Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

     Pretty much make your mashed potatoes the normal way just add in garlic, salt, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup half-and-half, and 1/4 cup butter.  So fluffy and yummy!

Split Pea Soup

          In a large stock pot cook combine chicken broth, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and split peas.  Cook until veggies are tender.  Tranfer some of the soup into a blender and process until smooth.  Return the puree to the rest of the soup.  Stir in cooked ham and bacon.  Not bad!

     So these are condensed versions of the recipes, so if you really want all the ingredients and directions I'm sure you can Google "Paula Deen's Split Pea Soup" to find it.  We also made Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup which were both good!

Our Little Aggies

     When I was younger I always said that I would not go to Texas A&M University because the campus was too big for this small town girl. Well as the college years drew near I had met this boy named Matthew that I was crazy about, so Texas A&M was looking better and better because it was near by. Also the scholarships from Texas A&M helped me make up my mind to attend the school. Who doesn't like free money, right?

     After finishing my college years, I look back now and wouldn't have changed a thing.  I'm pretty sure God led me to Texas A&M to meet some of the best friends a girl could ask for.  The friends and memories I made during college will be with me always.

     For Easter gifts this year, Brazos and Sandy's Nana gave them Texas A&M t-shirts.  One day while Brazos was playing outside, I laid a blanket down on the porch for Sandy and of course Brazos wanted to lay down next to her.  Sandy was already dressed in her A&M clothing, so I quickly went in the house to grab Brazos's t-shirt.  Here are the precious pictures I captured of my two little Aggies that day.

     I sometimes wonder where Brazos and Sandy will want to go to college.  It really doesn't matter to me if they choose Texas A&M or not.  But if they do, won't these pictures be precious for them to look at when those college years roll around.  Gig'em Ags!

100 Days of Summer Festival

Our little family attends the church that I grew up in, but a few weekends ago the Catholic church that Matt used to attend held their 100 Days of Summer Festival to kick off the summer season.  I've always wanted to take our kids to visit St. Mary's, especially when it's all decorated for Christmas, but they woulnd't sit through a service, so that'll have to wait.  But the festival was perfect for Brazos and he had so much fun playing all the games!



After Brazos picked a duck, his prize was a duck and
he wanted to put his new duck back in the pond. 
He didn't understand that he got to keep it, but now
we have a new duck for our growing duck collection.

He was super excited to go fishing with daddy!

He loves any game where he can throw things.

This bowling game was his favorite!
We had to go buy more tickets so he could play again.
We couldn't get him to stop even after his turn was over.

Playing golf for the first time.

"Maybe it's easier if I sit down."

Keeper of the Prizes
I think she would have rather played.

Brazos on the train ride.
He waited all day for that train ride.
He enjoyed sitting in the parked train, but once it started
rolling he wanted OUT!

Let the summer season begin!