Kona, Kona, Kona

It's that time of year again!! The Houston Rodeo started last week. Part of the Rodeo is a large trail ride by all of the local clubs. We came out of the store and found this coming down the feeder road.

The boys could not believe their eyes. They were so excited to see all the horses and cowboys!!

This perticular group started in Prarie View and were making their way down to the rodeo at Reliant Park.

Having grown up in San Diego, it's still weird for me to see something like this!!

Later that day we went down to the airport to pick up Katrina. She brought us a new friend. KONA KONA KONA. She is a beautiful 4-year-old black lab. She is so sweet and well behaved. We LOVE having her.

The boys have been wanting a "big" dog for a while and so have adopted her from Katrina.....for now.

On Friday at the boys' school had a "Go Texas Day" at school. The boys got to wear their cowboy boots and their cowboy hats. They also got to wear the new shirts that I made them.

Another look at those super fab shirts that I made.

I was asked to help with the "Cowboy Luncheon" at school and felt it only appropriate to dress in proper cowboy attire. Since Katrina was in town, she decided to help out. Here we are with "cowboy fare"-- which is, of course, corndogs.

All set for the buckaroos.

'Smores for the cowboys and girls. Made from Nutella and Marshmallow cream.

Momma Cowgirl with her cowboys.

On Monday Katrina and I had a nice morning of pedicures planned. That is until Grant woke up with PINK EYE!!

So Pink Eye Pete got to come with and sit in a big chair. He was a really good boy though and played with my phone the whole time. Not a peep out of him.

We LOVE it when Katrina comes. She reads to the boys and just gives us an extra set of hands. Come back soon, please!

We decided to go up to the lake for the weekend since the weather was so nice. We got all ready to go out to the island. It was a bit windy, but we didn't think much of it. (before)

Kona was very excited. She had been out the day before with the boys and LOVED it. :) (Grant)

Getting a hug and a kiss before we start to make our way out.

The after photo. The waves were so big that we got sparyed by the water with almost every dip. Katrina and I were soaked by the time we got to the island. It would have been welcomed in the hot summer months, but in these cool spring months it was chilly to say the least.

One of the most exciting parts of the trip is the fact that it was Ian's FIRST boat/island trip!! He was SO good. He liked the sand and played for a few minutes before he fell asleep in his momma's arms. He's such a good baby.

The island adventurer.

Time to head back to the house. Katrina hanging with the boys (to see a video of Kona at the island head to the bottom)

The weather was nice and the fishing was great. The boys could hardly NOT catch fish. They caught one of the biggest catfish they have ever caught on this trip. Whit also caught this beautiful bass.

Monday night Katrina and I had a dinner date at Peli Peli. I had a Groupon so we decided to have a date night. :) Love you friend, miss you.

Lastly, I know you are all anxiously waiting a recent pic of the aerogarden. We have successfully sprouted on 5 of the 7 herbs!!

Kona at the Island.

February Fun!!

The past 6 weeks have been CRAZY busy!! We ended Jan. with a trip to the dentist. This was the first time the boys had their teeth cleaned. We've been to the dentist before but have always just had our teeth looked at and deemed in good condition.

I was so proud of both the boys. They did a great job and didn't cry or bite. The dentist did say that we needed to stop using our pacifiers at night/nap because they were starting to affect their bite. So that afternoon we stopped cold turkey and haven't looked back!

The rest of Jan. and beginning of Feb. have been spent with sick boys!! They have gotten one thing after another! Grant had a cold which lead to a sinus infection which lead to an adverse reaction to amoxicillin!! Here he is recuperating on the couch with nurse Archie.

After Grant was almost better Reed came down with RSV!! Not life threatening at this age but did require us to use a nebulizer. And of course after he had it, Grant had it, then Mommy and Daddy. ARGH!

While Grant was down with his round of RSV, daddy and Reed went to the lake. SO mommy and Grant had a nice breakfast out at IHOP.

It was really neat to have only one boy. Their behavior is better (but different) and they were so fun!! No fighting goes a long way! Grant with his smiley face pancakes.

After/during all the illness we've had different cold fronts come through. This is funny to Jeff and I because of our three years in Utah. They take it seriously here and remind you to wrap your pipes, cover your bushes, and hunker down!! ARCTIC BLAST!!

Best part about the "arctic blasts" is the fires that we make at night. Puppy loves her some fire place time. :)

The worst part of them is that they had to close schools and roads because of it. But lucky for us that meant that Lacey and Ian came to spend the day with us. Whitney couldn't drive into work but needed to work in a quiet house. So Lacey braved the roads and drove up to our house with Ian. :) Ian and I watched Vampire Diaries together. He's a big fan.

In true Texas form the next weekend was sunny and 70 degrees. Jeff headed down to Whit's house to hang so that I could set up for the John Wesley Child Development Program 2nd Annual Silent Auction. I somehow managed to land myself as Chair and had a LOT to do the day before it started. Here are the cousins hanging before a walk in the park with all the dogs.

The last day of the auction was Mom's and Muffins day at JW. It was a lot of fun to have some muffins with my guys. :) Don't they look thrilled?

Part of the auction was individual framed art by each child. Here's Grant's (right) and Reed's (left). Jeff has offered to hang them in his office.

This brings us to Valentine's DAY!!! It's one of my favorite days of the year. I love hearts, pink, red and purple. It's a great day. I started by making the boys heart shaped pancakes. I thought I had a heart shaped cookie cutter but didn't so I had to trim them into a heart shape.

My sweet Valentine's. I had them wear their new shirts that I MADE!! It only took a few hours but I think they look good.

My Reed Valentine.

Brother love.

The boys had a party in their classes for Valentine's day and got lots of Valentines from their friends. So we got to go through it all when they got home. Grant with all his love notes and candy.

Reed asking for the millionth piece of candy.

I got the boys a Valentine's balloon for our special dinner with daddy.

And all of our Valentine cards for each other.

For dinner we ordered a heart shaped pizza! It was delicious.

I guess great minds really do think alike. Jeff and I got each other the exact same card. What are the odds?

And for dessert we had chocolate dipped strawberries. It was a fun night.

Since I never check my mail I didn't get my Valentines cards from Katrina until the next day!! LOVED my Twilight/Eclipse talking card. Thanks friend.

The boys got cards from Grandpa and Emmy. They also had cards from Katrina. They had stickers in them which quickly got ripped out and stuck all over their shirts.

Reed holding his Buzz Lightyear card and wearing his stickers from Katrina.

Reed doing push-ups in the office. I'll try and get a video because it's really funny.

On Thursday we headed to the zoo with mom's group. Hedgehog.

We got to pet her.

Grant petting her. Ms. Prickles

The Parana tank.

It was feeding time.

All of the mom's group kiddos. It's so hard to get that many kids looking in the right direction!!

The boys with a couple of friends. The red sign may or may not say "don't climb on the fence".

But who could say no to those faces?!?!

Yesterday we went up to Brenham for Granny's 83rd birthday!! Karen was nice enough to host us and to make so delicious food for us.

Lacey and Ian with the birthday girl.

She doesn't look a day over 75!!

Jeff and I with the birthday girl.

Ian the party Animal.

Granny about the make a wish.

We hope she wished for many more birthdays!

We decided to get the aerogarden going again. Right now we are in the germination phase with our herbs. We will see how it goes. Last time we had great success.

Puppy loves the cool weather. She also loves to run in it. It's funny.