Carter is 4!

Carter turned four on Wed! This year has gone by so fast. He has turned into a big boy so quick. He is now old enough to argue, talk back, and fight with his brother! But, he is also old enough to give lots of hugs and kisses and say "i love you mamma" fifty times a day! He is such a sweet little boy. He makes us laugh so much. I've posted some pics from his birthday. He is not having his party until the 15th. Last year my grandma gave me a pampered chef "celebrate plate." It's a special plate that you can use for birthdays, anniversaries, victories...all sorts of stuff. This was our first time to use it. Carter loved it. We made him cinnamon rolls for breakfast and he got to eat them on the celebrate plate. He loved that. We got him a birthday boy ribbon that he wore to school, and he got to open one present...a new Thomas train. There is also a picture of Carter with his friend Caitlin (Darlene's daughter). Thank you for the mystery machine Mrs. Darlene! Carter had a great birthday- he even stayed on green at school (now that's an accomplishment)!

Goodbye Singleton!

Well, we had our old house on the market for 2 DAYS and we got an offer for our full asking price! Because of the storm, everything got thrown way of schedule. We received the offer at the end of August and we finally closed on Wed! It was a little sad because it was our 1st home and we have brought both of our children home from the hospital to that house! Lots of memories made. We made that home our own. It's ironic that we finally got to the point where we could really start fixing up the place, and then we moved. Eric redid the bathroom and both bedrooms. He did such a beautiful job. But, we feel blessed every day to we wake up in our new home! We love this place so much. We can't wait to make all new memories in our new home. It sure was worth the wait. GOODBYE SINGLETON!

Fall Fest 08/ Colt's 1st Halloween!

Well it was weeks in the making...but Fall Festival has already come and gone! We had a great night. We had about 450 people squeeze into our Family Life Center last Friday! We had such a great turnout. This was the first year that we have done major advertising for this event. Darlene Johnson and I went on 2 news stations! It was such a whirlwind of a week. Lots of long hours...but it was worth it. Thank you so much Darlene for being there with me every step of the way! I would not have made it without you! And thank you so much mom, dad, Natalie, & cousin Jess for helping out with my children. Eric had a game on Friday night so I was the Fall Fest director and mom of 2 at the same time! (an impossible task) Jessica helped all day and took Carter around all night! He had so much fun. Angie brought Colt to the festival for me (after watching him all day) and mom and dad helped out with him until I was finished cleaning up! Colt had a wonderful 1st Halloween. I even got to take a break from work and go on a hayride with the boys! Thanks again everyone! We love you.

Thanks Aunt Jessica

Aunt Jessica sent us some fun halloween clothes for Halloween. Thanks so much Aunt Jessica...we love them. Carter loves the shoes but his favorite is the hat. He decided that it was much more fun to wear it as a mask. Colt didn't enjoy it as much. After playing with it for a while Carter said, "Hey momma. I got a great idea. I can wear this to cover up my face when it snows so the snow won't get on my face!" As you all know...snow is a VERY BIG problem for us here in Beaumont! Thanks again Aunt Jessica & Uncle Ted! Love you guys.

Carter's 1st Field Trip

Carter went on his first field trip this past Tuesday. I was able to take off work and go with him. His class went to Wesley's Pumpkin Patch. They had such a good time. They all road the bus over to the pumpkin patch. When they arrived, they heard a pumpkin patch story, and then they roamed around the pumpkin patch looking at all the different pumpkins. Before they left, they were able to pick a little pumpkin that they wanted to bring back with them. They were all so cute. We went back to the school and had a picnic lunch outside. After lunch, his friends enjoyed the cookies that we made the night before!

YUMMY!

We stayed up Monday night and made cookies for Carter's field trip. We were going to make pumpkin shaped cookies, but I did not have all the ingredients I needed and brother wasn't cooperating (thanks to the teething thing). So we decided to just make plain sugar cookies and ice them and put sprinkles on them of course. Well, after about three cookies Carter decided that it was more fun to eat the sprinkles that fell onto the plate than to actually put the sprinkles on the cookies. After I took over and put sprinkles on about 10 cookies, Carter snatched the sprinkles from my hand. I asked, "Would you like to do some now?" He replied, "No, there just aren't any more sprinkles on my plate!" He then poured the sprinkles on his plate, handed the container back to me, and began eating them off the plate again! I died laughing. Kids are so smart...they just go straight for the good stuff!

THE TEETH ARE COMING!

Well, it's been a long hard road...but the teeth have arrived! :) Here are some pics of his swollen gums and some little specs of white. I know that 9 1/2 months seems late to be cutting his first tooth, but he is one month ahead of his brother!

Our little army man

So, Colt has mastered the art of not crawling, but dragging himself around on his elbows. He looks so funny pulling himself along. He does his own little version of an army crawl. He has been doing this for months now. Well, the other morning I was changing him out of his PJs. I put him down a minute to get some clothes out of the dryer. To my suprise, I looked back and he was following me ON ALL FOURS. Apparently it's worth the extra effort to get up off the floor when your stomach is dragging. It just proved that he can crawl, he just doesn't want to!

Fun in Little Rock

So here they are. I am finally getting the rest of our pictures up from our evacuation. We spent some time in Little Rock and went to the zoo, downtown, and road the trolly. There are so many things to do there. I wish we could have stayed longer. Here are some pics (a month later)!

Ike Evacuation

Some may so that I was over-reacting, but actually I was just being prepared. After all, who wants to be stuck in traffic for hours with a baby and an active 3 year old? So, I went ahead and packed our bags Wed. night after we watched the news. I would rather have to unpack than have to leave in a mad rush and get stuck in traffic when an evacuatin is called. So when the evacuation was called at 6:15 on Thurs. morning, we were out the door in less than 20 minutes! We had no traffic and made great time. However, we both knew that this evacuation would be much different than the previous one. However, after the hurricane passed and we found out what damage we (and our friends and family) had and after we knew everyone was safe, we decided we might as well enjoy our time in Arkansas. We stayed with my cousin Carly and her husband Cody in Conway, Arkansas. My cousin Jessica stopped in several times while we were there (and watched the kids for us as well!) We saw some beautiful mountains and took Carter to do some really cool things. There are some pics below of Carter "mountain climbing" (2 feet off the ground) and acting like a bear in some caves that we found. Carly and Cody took us to a beautiful park in Arkansas that had mountains, waterfalls, caves, and rivers. It was beautiful. We also took Carter to a park that had a lake and he played in the water. We went to Little Rock for a day, but those pictures will have to wait. I can't find my camera cord. As for our house(s), they both faired very well. We are under contract with our old house, so we were relieved to find only trees and fences down...no serious damage. Our new house has some roof damage. The water seeped in from the roof and into Carter's room. We are in the process of tearing out his ceiling. We are thankful that we only had minor damage...and to rooms that needed to be redone anyway! Here are some pics from out trip! Hope everyone is well. Love you guys.

Evacuation #1

Here are some pics from out "Gustav" evacuation. After we realized that it wasn't going to hit Beaumont, we were able to relax and have fun! Our family from Texarkana was actually planning on coming to Beaumont that weekend. So instead, we all went up there. We had a birthday party and went to the park. We stayed at a hotel with my cousin Carly and her husband Cody. We are referring to our Gustav evacuation as a "hurrication." Little did we know what would happen two weeks later...

Bathtime Buddies

It's official....Colt is not our precious little baby anymore. He is jabbering, scooting, hitting, sitting (kinda), and playing! I still can't believe how fast it is going by. Here are some pics of Carter and Colt in the tub together for the first time. Carter loves to help give Colt a bath. I wonder how long that will last? :)

Natalie's Masterpiece

Natalie's Masterpiece

This past Sunday was promotion Sunday at our church. I decided to move the kindergarten department out of the preschool department and into the children's area. The only problem was they did not have a room. Of course, I had to redecorate a room just for them! I wanted to do something extra special, but I have ZERO artistic ability. I envisioned an ocean room with lots of fish and sea creatures. I took the idea to my sister and this is what she created. It is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! The kids LOVED IT! I think I should move my office to this room...it is so peaceful. I cannot believe how talented Natalie is. Needless to say, everyone who walks into the room is stunned. Thank you so much Natalie for your hours of hard work. Carter will get to use this room in two years! :)

GO TIGERS!

Well, after much prayer and lots of discussion, Eric decided that he really wanted to get back into teaching and coaching. Since graduation, he has been working at Star Graphics. Eric has taken a job teaching at Silsbee Middle School! He will be teaching 7th grade Texas History. He is so excited. School officially starts on Aug. 25. So, he (we) have lots to do in the next week and a half. He will be helping with middle school and high school football. GO TIGERS!

Home Sweet Home

WE'RE ALL MOVED IN!

Well, after a hectic week and a half, we are happy to say that we are all moved in to our new home! We couldn't be happier. We are so blessed to finally have our family in a safe neighborhood! Our new home is so much bigger than our old one. We have an upstairs that we aren't even using yet. Carter was supposed to sleep upstairs, but he likes to sleep in Colt's room because "Baby Colt will keep me safe!" But, when he is ready, Carter will have his very own room upstairs. He does like to go play up there now. We went on a walk through our new neighborhood last week and took Carter to get a snocone. Now he wants to go for a walk everyday...I wonder why? :) Our favorite things about our new home are: the old glass doorknobs; the built-ins in the dinning room and living room; the mail slot; the old phone built-in; the original black & white tile in the bathroom; the side-by-side fridge; and most of all THE QUIETNESS! We haven't done a single thing to our new home...but we can't wait to get started. If Eric knew how large his honey-do list would get, he probably wouldn't have let us move! We are so excited. Thanks to everyone who helped us move: Doree's parents, Eric's parents, Bryan Thomas, & Jim & Darlene Johnson. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family & friends! We love you all so much.

SO HAPPY!

I took some time off this week to finish moving things in our new home. Colt has had lots of "tummy time" while I've been working around the house. He is so close to crawling. I can't believe how fast it is going by with our second one. We love our boys so much!

OUR NEW HOME!

While we have been completely blessed to have our home on Singleton, we are ecstatic to let everyone know that we are buying a new home! After a long string of events over the past 1 1/2 months, we have decided that it was time to move on up! It won't officially be ours until the end of July, right after we are finished with VBS at church! We couldn't help but choose another older home. It is right off of Gladys street in Beamont. It is a story and a half and has the original wood floors on the bottom story and old glass doorknobs on all the doors. The best part about it is that Carter will have his own space upstairs- he calls his room "the soft room"because it is the only room with carpet! It also has a huge backyard with plenty of space for all of Eric's toys (lawn equipment and tools!). We will post more pictures later, but here is a few for now. WE ARE SO EXCITED!

What A Big Boy!

We can't believe how fast Colt is growing. He is grabbing for things, putting his pacifier in his mouth all by himself, and he loves to sit up on his own...with the assistance of a bumbo seat or exersaucer. The second baby seems to grow up so much faster than the first. We love both our boys so much.

SUMMER FUN!

We took Carter for an overnight trip to Galveston. He didn't really understand the concept of sleeping somewhere else, but he forgot all about it once we got to the beach. He had a wonderful time playing with daddy in the sand. He also loved the ferry boat ride. We had a great trip.