olive you!! {i love you!!}

Mom took lots of great pics of our time with baby Olive. Here are a few more of my faves...

 Seeing Olive made me realize how BIG Carter looks at 3... oh my!!

 He loved being on "pacifier duty" for Olive... I think it made his Uncle Dave just a bit nervous. ;)

 Paula was so sweet to have a water gun waiting for Carter (and Grayson) at her house, and she even let Carter squirt their cats. He thought that was great!!

 Olive was soooo awake and bright-eyed on Tuesday morning. We had so much fun hanging out with her!

 You can't go to Texas and not make a stop at DSW...
(check out Carter's feet -- he loves trying on shoes just as much as we do!)

 I think it's funny how many pics it's apparent that I was "talking" to Olive... my eyebrows are raised and I have a crazy expression on my face. Oh well ;)

Love those eyes! We miss you, Miss Olive, and we can't wait to hang out in July!

meeting olive

Mom, Carter, and I all drove down to Ft. Worth for a quick visit to see David, Kristen, and Olive. I was so excited to finally get to hold her and have some auntie snuggles. :)

 After seeing Uncle Brentley, Uncle Dave came out of the house holding Miss Olive!

 So, I immediately snatched her!! :)

 Mom, Claire, Kristen, Olive, me, Dave, Carter, and Brett

 with the proud parents

 Carter was just checking her out...

 ...then he thought I needed some help feeding Olive!

 Look at those sweet little toes! Love!!

 Nana with Carter and Olive

Sweet Claire brought Carter a Pez dispenser -- which he loved!! Thanks Claire!

More Texas pics to come...

do you play ladderball?

Aunt Laura graciously invited a whole group of people to her house for Mother's Day lunch! Our family of four, Mom and Dad, the Brookses, and AL's neighbor, Sherry, all had a fun time eating and hanging out. Our lunch was a delicious spread of caesar salad with flank steak, fresh tomatoes and avocadoes, garlic bread, and then cupcakes for dessert. Yum!

 AL gave Mom, Miss Kay, and me cute "Queen" tiaras to wear :)

 after lunch, we all headed out back to play a rousing game of ladderball!!

 boys vs. girls

Carter decided he needed to take pics with Nana's camera

 the girls WON the ladderball game! woo-hoo!!

 Carter getting ready to dig in to both an ice cream bar AND a cupcake. This child LOVES anything sugar!

AL's cute flower cupcakes for dessert :)

why I love my mom

Happy Mother's Day!

 My mom has been the greatest example to me of how I should be a mom to my boys. Her love and patience, her ability to encourage, her desire to grow in Christ, and her daily example to others, all shines through to those around her. I consider myself so blessed to be called her daughter, and am so thankful that we get to spend so much time together!!

She is an amazing Mom and a spectacular Nana!

Love you, Mom!

U7 wichita knights

Grayson's soccer team had a fabulous last game of the season. They won the game, 6-3, and finished their spring season at 5-3. They all improved so much.

As Gramps said on the way home today, "Grayson's games are the highlight of my week."

Awww... thanks, Gramps!! :)

 pre-game instructions

 Grayson taking a corner kick

 halftime conference :)

 Grayson and Ben trying to get a stop!

 cheering from the sidelines -- right now they plan 4 on 4

 Grayson scores!! He had four goals today!!

 front: Wes, Trenton, Elliot, Ben

back: Grayson, Coach Casey, Clay

(we were missing Charlie and Dakota today)

Love these boys and their families!! Go Knights!

field day {2012}

It's hard to believe that Grayson's 1st grade school year is coming to an end! All of a sudden it's May! And with the end of the year comes Field Day! :)

Thanks to Nana for taking some great action shots of the big day...

 Grayson getting ready on the scooters

 this is classic Carter -- loves to cheer for his big brother!

 ready for action :)

 more activities

 a little mini-golf outside

 his fave -- he shoots...

...he scores!

Happy 1st Grade Field Day!!

the happenings as of late...

It's been a good spring. A weird spring.

It was 90 degrees here today. Ugh.

Our AC is on... I'm thankful! But I wasn't really ready to give up those cozy, chilly spring nights of sleep.

I think I could live in Seattle and be okay.

Here are some snapshots of what we've been up to...

 lots and lots of soccer! grayson is in gray, on the far left

 flying kites with dad -- i forgot how much kids LOVE kites! :)

 the Pioneer Woman came to town! she was so fun to listen to, and I was able to get my PW Cookbook autographed...

 planted some flowers

 our azaleas were in full bloom for about a week -- it always reminds me of when we bought our house 2 years ago -- they are so pretty and pink for about a week or two and then they're green for the rest of the year

 this little turd sweet puppy is still getting out of our yard. she can still get her head through our rod iron fence. for the right amount of money, she's all yours. ;)

 we celebrated jerry's 35th birthday at aunt laura's house!!

35 is halfway to 70. haha

aunt laura made some delightful cupcakes to celebrate jerry! and we also celebrated AL's new job! she will be working at the same hospital that i do -- woo-hoo!