Cotton Family News

Few Pics

2011-11-14T16:05:00.001-06:00

Here are a few fall pics to let you know what we are up to this fall. Jase has picked up on the idea of hunting. Thank goodness he has also figured out that he can only go deer hunting when his Daddy is home. Whew!

Cubby homework......we had to make rainbow cookies. Ooops...I took a short cut and had the kids make rainbow toast.

2nd six-weeks she pulled off the A/B honor roll again. You go girl!

We squeezed in a fall hay ride at the Royalty Pecan Farm. It was very educational.

Just a very windy day. We kept getting dust in our eyes. But the girls still looked beautiful as usual even with wind blown hair. LOL

I love Eliana's face in this picture. Too adorable!

Tic Tac Toe anyone?

Jase's last Upward Flag Football Game.

He really picked up on pulling flags. You go son!

Good luck deer hunter. I know you are anxious for your Daddy to come back home so that you can go deer hunting again in our back yard.

All our Exciting News

2011-10-15T18:12:00.001-05:00

Life is just moving by way too fast! Jase has learned to ride his bike with NO training wheels!

Our Baby Girl is growing up to be a beautiful princess (well, at least she thinks so ;-)

We are loving another year of Awana's. Jase is in Cubbies with his Mommy again this year!

Cassandra is a big girl and goes to SPARKS!

Cassandra enjoyed the Lil' Vikes Cheer Clinic again this year! She got to hang out with the big girls!

Go Vikings! GO!

Sissy gives her lil' butter a hug for good luck before his flag football game with Upwards!

That's my boy.....he got the most "Christ like" player star.

Holley turns 9 years old.

But still loves to play with her little sissy...Cassandra!

Loves her cupcake necklace that we got her for her Birthday!

And of course, loves her Mema!

Sebastian doesn't look very happy that his sister is nine!

Cassandra's old friend, Makenzie celebrates her Birthday at Gatti Town! It was great to see her again along with some of our old friends!

Summer 2011 continuation

2011-09-13T16:51:00.000-05:00

We were able to put Cassandra this summer at the same daycare where she went last year but will not have this luxury next summer. I was able to attend the Dr. Pepper Museum field trip with her this summer and take Jase along, and after the class headed back to College Station, we took a detour and visited the Mayborn Natural Science Museum in Waco and LOVED it. It was really a neat place.

We attended a friend's VBS and the theme was cooking. The kids really enjoyed the apron and chef hat that they received.

My darling husband surprised me for our 12th Anniversary to a trip to New York while he attended a management school there for 3 days. It was a great trip. We were able to meet up with Pastor Mark, our music minister from our church on the first night and then met up with by boss's son, Tim Reinhart on Monday night who lives in New York. I also met a great lady named Lu Laswell, who became my touring buddy on days 2 and 3. I really had a blast this time when I went to New York. This was my third visit to the Big Apple, and this time I really enjoyed it. I gained a new appreciation of it....maybe because I purchased a private tour of the Rich and Famous, and learned a lot about the people who live there. Very interesting place.

Our son.......well, what can I say.....has a very vivid imagination of what he wants. He always wants us to build something for him. It was a space ship one day, a sail boat.....ugh, I can't remember all of them....this picture is of a surf board with a pokey thing (fin). I think now, he wants his Daddy to build him a motorcycle. This will be interesting.

As soon as we came home from New York, we packed up the kids and went camping again at Jellystone but this time went to Waller. It was fun because the Parish and the Peter's family joined us, but it just wasn't the same as Canyon Lake. The people were to urban, I guess?

They were real strict on the per person per camp ground rule of "6" so, I guess it's a good thing that only 3 Peters joined us. We had plenty of room in our camper though.

I remember the water gun hay ride was a very brutle for the little ones....older kids were throwing water balloons at us and it was like being hit with a baseball. We had to get off the hayride because the kids were in tears for being hit so hard by water balloons.

Well, that basically sums up July and the beginning of August. Other than swimming lessons, attending 3 VBS and the many Birthday parties we attended the summer just flew by. But we are well and happy and we hope that you are as well!

Pliar Tooth Pulling

2011-09-13T16:02:00.004-05:00

Don't watch this video if you don't like blood.....but basically this is a movie clip of Cory pulling Cassandra's 2nd tooth with a pair of pliars. I'm pretty sure it's an event that we will never forget, but I thought I'd put it in my blog just in case we go back and look at these one day. Not fair...she trusted Dada to pull it and not Momma!

June-July 2011

2011-09-13T15:57:00.001-05:00

Eeeeeks, I have fallen behind on my blog. I'm sure this doesn't surprise some of you who have been in my shoes before. Raising 2 kids is no small task, especially if 50% of the time you are a single mom. Well, I thought I'd only throw in a few pics and give a little summary of what I barely remember about the Summer of 2011. I think our biggest discovery and continuation of "loving" our camping experiences is Yogi Bear's Jellystone camp grounds. On June 22, 2011 we went to the one at Canyon Lake and fell in love. It was such a friendly family place with a pool. They had so many activities for the kids, including root beer chugging contest, water gun fight, laser tag and glow in the dark hay rides and western dudes dress up contest. We were also happy to have Lucas that entire week as well, and made it our summer vacation trip. We floated the Comal River, went to Schlitterbahn, and even went diving at Canyon Lake. The Parish family also joined us, which is always fun to have them around. I think they really enjoyed Laser Tag and Uncle Richard tried diving for the first time and is seriously considering taking up the adventures of diving.

We call these our Super Beatles. We haven't found an exterminator yet for them, so we just let them hang out at our house. You have to admit they are pretty colorful little creatures!

We have really pushed Cassandra to read over the summer but felt like we were loosing ground. We took it upon ourselves to have her tested at Sylvan Learning Center and we didn't like the results. They basically said, she would struggle a lot in the 1st grade if we didn't get her some help. Well, after receiving great advise from my boss, we were able to find a private tutor from A&M's Reads and Counts Tutoring service for about half the price. (no, it is not Lucas) Anyway....we strongly feel like our investment is starting to pay off. She loves reading again and loves her tutor, Jennifer Tropeano.

We have decided to add onto our house. This is Jase playing Cowboys and Indians in the dirt work before the slab was poured in July.

And if you didn't think we did enough for our kids, our dear sweet neighbor, Sarah Truax gives horse back riding lessons. Well, with her being just next door, we signed little 6 year old Cassandra up for riding lessons. Sarah has her do it all, including helping put the saddle on, cleaning the horses hooves, and spraying "Thunder" off after lessons are over with. I have to admit, I get REALLY nervous when I see Cassandra leading this 1,000 pound horse around, walking him as if he was a little poodle pup. I have to look away, but Cassandra shows him that she is boss, and Thunder does what she says. So far, no injuries!!

Summer 2011 to be continued on the next blog......

Camping

2011-05-30T11:23:00.005-05:00

We broke down and decided to buy a used camper. It was too good of a deal to pass up. It was a 1995 Salem camper for $3,000. We decided that we needed to go cheap, since the word out on the street is, you buy one and then basically just park it and watch it rott away. Hopefully, we will at least get our money's worth out of it. We have already started making great memories on our first trip out to Lake Bryan.
We took on, 5 of our favorite kiddo's to join us. Rylee, Holley, Sebastian, Cassandra and Jase.

They made our guacamole for us. Too be honest, it was really good! Do you think it was the hands that made it, which made it taste so good?

Cory couldn't bring himself to eat it. So, "note to self" don't repeat this exercise!

Yea....can't beat camping without AC and TV. We are set up!

And a beautiful sunset over Lake Bryan!

We were really roughing it... a restaurant on the premises. Life is good!

Hummm.....maybe we should try to go camping without the kids....Live band, beautiful sunset, just think of the possibilities.

But I have to admit the kids added a lot of joyment to our trip. Cassandra learned how to ride her bicycle without training wheels.

And Jase....well, it want be long, and he will be asking for his training wheels to be removed as well. I also have to share with you what he said to his Daddy on his way back from swimming. He said, "Dadda this is the best trip ever, thank you for taking me camping, I love you Daddy". Awe....Cory said, that paid for the entire camper in itself.

As I was saying, we were really roughing it. Cell phone signal where Cory could call his buddy on the phone. Whoa....what an awesome camping trip with our new trailer. We had fun.

You should come join us next time ;-)

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-04-24T13:42:00.004-05:00

I thought this would make Cory's Birthday special! I hope it worked! To all the other viewers, you might want to wear ear plugs ;-)

Easter Sunday 2011

2011-04-24T13:23:00.004-05:00

What a day of rejoicing it was at the Zion Church of Kurten. The choir did a beautiful Easter cantada. The breakfast was perfect. I was so glad I took my entree in the night before, I wasn't near as rushed this morning as I could have been.
The kids were anxious to take a bath this morning and look beautiful and handsome. No one complainted about what I picked out for them to wear this morning! Praise the Lord!

Now, getting them to sit still long enough to take a picture was a little stressful!

But when I said, it was for Daddy, some how they managed to stop a second and give a smile!

After church, we made a mad dash to Mema's church. They were having an Easter egg hunt at noon, so we were able to catch the end of their sermon and participate in their Easter egg hunt.

Not sure what to think about Mr. Jase, he still is not into Easter egg hunting. Last year, I remember he was sick and was running fever....but this year, he is fine.....he just don't like it.

Now Cassandra on the other hand, is starting to ask if an Easter Bunny is really real? I told her that is something that she had to figure out on her own.

Holley's Easter basket was over flowing! She was having fun!

And of course, Sebastian didn't have any trouble either in filling up his basket as well.

Now, it is time to compare....who got the most?

And, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get a family photo of the 5 Rodriguez's

So, cute!

And we might as well get a picture of the three of us!

The end.....let's go home and take a Sunday siesta, where we can play some more at Mema's house this afternoon!

Coloring Eggs and Monkey Bars

2011-04-23T21:57:00.011-05:00

Cassandra is so good on the monkey bars

She truly amazes me. She can go from end to end without any help!

But the little feller still needs a little help.

Tomorrow is Cory's B-day......so, Happy Birthday honey from us!

We love you Baby.....that's why I'm staying up late loading these pictures tonight....and loosing beauty sleep!

We are set and ready for Easter tomorrow.

All the eggs are colored!

with unique designs

Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt at Zion

2011-04-23T21:41:00.003-05:00

Please overlook the mo-hawk, it was one of those mornings that I didn't want to fight the battle, so, he asked for a mo-hawk and I said, "OKAY".
Believe it or not, everyone was still saying, Oh how cute.....

Then I was really in shock when Cassandra decided to wear this outfit. She hates Capri's, but today, she thought they were cute.

My beautiful Holley...

the whole crew is here....listening to the Easter story!

Now it is time to hunt the eggs!

Cassandra said her egg hunt was hard!

Then she gave most of her candy away.

Yes.....even the chocolate that Momma usually gets to eat. Ugh....what was she thinking??

They had fun as usual!

51, we think!

2011-04-13T13:41:00.003-05:00

We snuck down to the Edge Country Store and had Ribeye steak's on Saturday night and wished Cory a Happy 51st Birthday. He had to go back to work, so he will not be here on his actual Birthday.
He was surprised that I even thought about his Birthday.
Needless to say, he was HAPPY!
Or was that an affect of the BYOB?

Bluebonnet Picture Time

2011-04-07T12:25:00.004-05:00

I can officially mark this off my to do list for this year. This wasn't even planned, but it worked out so perfectly. I left early from work on Tuesday to meet Cory at his school in Conroe, and we drove past these beautiful FIELDS of bluebonnets on Hwy. 105 and lucky for me...I had my camera with me and we had a few minutes to spare. Not, to mention that we were all marooned out for the Girls National Championship Basketball Game, and all had matching Aggie maroon shirts on. Whoop! So...yea, here are the results of my lucky day!

I told you they were beautiful and abundant! I hope you enjoyed the pics!

Cassandra's B-day celebration

2011-03-16T16:42:00.004-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of Cassandra's special day of turning 6.
She doesn't like chocolate and she doesn't like cake or cake icing, so I went to the Great American Cookie place at the Mall and ordered her an oatmeal raisin cookie. She loved it, except according to her, it still had too much icing on it.
But she was still happy to share it with all of her classmates at school. And thanks to her teacher I figured out how to cut it into 20 pieces for all the kids to share (which was cut it like a pizza, then, cut another circle all the way around in the middle of it, so instead of 16 pieces of cookie slices, you have 32, enough to take home and save some for Daddy to eat when he comes home)
NO LITTLE BROTHER.....these are my candles to blow out!
Make a wish!

Feb. 2011 Recap

2011-03-04T15:27:00.004-06:00

Oh my, I cannot keep up. Well, my weekend is already booked and I don't have time to send pictures to Dadda over the weekend....so, I'll just send a quick collection of pictures of what happened in February. Enjoy....
Sebastian turned 6 years old and celebrated with all 4 of his brothers and sisters! His baby sister was hang'en out with the big kids!
Cory wrecked his tractor.
Yep....not nice. He was able to buy the supplies to fix it himself, so, yea...we didn't have to claim it on our insurance. Whew!
Cassandra participated in Jump Rope for Heart at school.
We combined Cassandra and Jase's Birthday party and held it at Arctic Wolf ice skating. It was fun....even for the adults. We had 45 skaters!
God has truly blessed me with a beautiful family and wonderful friends. THANK YOU GOD for all my blessings!
Learning how to skate with a cone!
Dadda fell down and I think everyone must have saw it! I guess he hit hard!
Jase has started another 6-weeks of T-ball and Dadda is helping him!
Holley was in the 2nd grade play and was an elephant. She sang like an angel. Way to go Holley...you did great!
Cassandra received her 2nd award this year from her teacher for having a "pleasing personality". Hopefully, one day she will get an academic award. Sigh.....
Cassandra participated in her first gymnastics meet. It was fun!
Dadda came and danced with his little girl at the Sweet heart dance.
Can she stay little forever????
Totally the best dressed at the dance and the cutest couple, I might add. But I might be a smidge bias!
Jase crashed that night after the dance. He danced his tale off!
The kids celebrated Dr. Seuss Birthday at Awana's. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish! Too cute!
Now.....let me erase my memory stick and start a new one for March. Time flies when you are having fun!

Snowman

2011-02-05T10:11:00.003-06:00

Yea.....we still had enough snow left today to make a snowman. We had to scrape it up, but with a little team work, and a jug of water, we were able to mold our little snowman into shape. He is about 3 feet tall.

I hope that scarf helps his little head stay in place. We did build him under the shade, so it will be interesting to see how long he lasts. Poppy said, it was going to get up to 50 degrees today. Sigh......it was fun while it lasted!

Snow Angels

2011-02-04T14:55:00.003-06:00

Coolest Day Ever

2011-02-04T14:13:00.005-06:00

Well....according to the kids.....this is the coolest day ever....they got to stay home from school and we have about 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground! The first thing they said was, "Thank you God for the snow, your the most awesomest man ever". It was too cute!

We immediately went next door once we knew that they were awake (by looking at their facebook page to see that they had already posted snow pictures).

I'm cold and wanna go back inside Momma!

Carson's 6th Birthday

2011-01-31T15:09:00.008-06:00

A picture says it all.....or should I say a CAKE.

Finding their super hero rings in the goop (grape and red jello)

Eating the goop! Yep.....they all had spoons and started eating the jello.

Shoot the villans with silly string.

Ooops......they must have mistaken you as a Villan!

This cat definitely has nine lives.....because we saved this cat last year at Jase's Birthday party. LOL

I hope you remember your Birthday at our house, forever Carson. I hope you had lots of fun going down the zip line!

I am surrounded with Super hero's!

THE END!

Starting Memories already for 2011

2011-01-31T14:44:00.005-06:00

When we came back from our vacation in Montana, we were already booked for the weekend with events to see Rachelle while she was down from Utah. Saturday, Teresa invited the family over for dinner at her house. We must say the addition to her house was REALLY NICE. Everyone had plenty of room, which inspired us to give some serious thought about adding onto our house this summer.
Katie and Rachelle helped cooked dinner.

Maybe it was having Michael in the kitchen that inspired them? Not sure but what I am sure of, the dinner was DELICIOUS! Have you ever heard of a swing car? Well.....we gotta them for the kids this Christmas.

And they seemed to like them!

But...not for sure, how long they will think they are cool?

Maybe until they realize they are not NEW anymore!

Teresa will have to mail Carson's to him.

And we will leave ours at Teresa's house, because she has more concrete than us!

So Rylee, might get bored with hers pretty soon!

But maybe not!

Okay....I'm not a good editor......but I'm doing the best that I can!

Enjoy this edition of COTTON FAMILY NEWS

Where Aunt Betty will take a picture of anything!

And of everybody!

Does anyone ever read this stuff? Or do you just look at the pictures? Just curious! Well....until next time......(which is just a few minutes away....because I have more pictures to upload for my darling husband who is whining....SEND PICTURES....I AM LONELY AND HOMESICK ;-) I love you honey!

2011-01-12T11:29:00.001-06:00

Yea....we had a wonderful trip
We are just sad that it had to end!

Skiing Bridger Bowl with Lucas

2011-01-12T11:25:00.005-06:00

We checked the kids into ski school, while we tried to stay up with Lucas.
Of course, he takes us straight to black diamond slopes!
Piece of cake for me!
But not necessarily for Cory! Just call him Sonny!
But at least he keeps me warm!
Thanks Lucas for taking us out with you! We had fun trying to stay up with you! He promised me he was smiling in this picture....what do you think?

Our last night in Montana

2011-01-12T11:08:00.003-06:00

Hard to do.......

Our 4th visit to Yellowstone National Park

2011-01-12T10:44:00.006-06:00

I remember on this trip humming to myself the song...."We serve an AWESOME GOD he reins on heaven and earth...." check out this picture and I think you will agree and might even start humming the song yourself!
We also TRULY have some WONDERFUL friends! Thanks God for putting them in our lives!
Hummm....do you think we might love our kids a smidge too much? Naaaaa

All aboard the Snowcoach!
Let's go see the wildlife......
And Old Faithful!
Being good.....this is a good thing!

Now it is nap time for the long trip back to Mammoth Hotel.

Aunt Sharon loves her Cassandra (or was she just trying to steal her body heat?)

VACATION in Montana

2011-01-12T10:30:00.004-06:00

Let our FAMILY Vacation BEGIN........
Of course on our first night, we had to get a hotel with an INSIDE swimming pool and for some strange reason....Cassandra slipped on her Daddy's boots. At least my kids are normal....they do what every one else has done in the past!

Yea.....then we finally arrive at the Nardin's! Happy New Year! Let's make 2011 feel like we are in heaven!

Well....starting out with 11 degrees below zero, was not actually the best start to a new year, but at least it warmed up over night.
Somebody is going to have to keep me warm tonight!
New friends....
Then....the kids are still having CHRISTMAS!
Maybe a smidge spoiled, you think?

Nooooooooooo...........just loved AN AWFUL A LOT!!!!!!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T21:31:00.005-06:00

It's just the three of us this year and we tried really hard to not dwell on it, but it was still sad to not have Dadda home. It just felt like something was missing! I guess you can say, that he puts the "Merry" in Christmas!

The kids were in our church Christmas Eve play again this year and both had one liner parts in the play. Of course I was beaming, I was so proud of them for just being up there and they did say their lines. Whew!!!

After the play, there was also a manger scene and Cassandra was an angel with a halo of course and Jase was a shepherd.

Then, it was time to come home and open presents from Aunt Teresa and her family and Aunt Missy and her family. The kids really got tickled about unwrapping Jesus underneath several layers of wrapping paper. It was really funny!

Everybody was here, except Cory, Poppy, Rachelle's family, Uncle Konan and Uncle Teddy Bob

Pardon Jase's picture in the family photo shoots.

I helped Mr. Dylon do a scavenger hunt for a Promose ring that he gave Jessica. He is such a sweet young man and so polite. You have to admit, they do make a cute couple!

I'm so glad that y'all came and I hope y'all enjoyed the Christmas play.

Here is lil' Miss Cassandra with her sticker earrings. Thanks Aunt Teresa for that idea, she loves to wear stickers as earrings! Good thinking!!!

They love their Curious George DVD about winter. They have all sorts of ideas to do in the snow when we go to Montana for our family vacation on Dec. 30.

Yea, they remembered to leave Santa some cookies and milk and told Alfie and Ollie goodbye.

Everytime Jase visited a Santa Claus he would tell them that he wanted a truck. Well, Santa came through for him and did get him a truck but actually I think Jase really just wanted the box that it came out of. I couldn't believe my eyes when I turned around to find my son all boxed up, he even closed the lid by himself. Too funny!

Then, he took his "Buzz Lightyear Operation" game and layed his Buzz Lightyear on top of it and went operating on his Buzz. Oh that boy.....cracks me up!

Well, that's pretty much the highlights of our Christmas. We did make a mad dash to Cleveland the day after Christmas and visited my parents and dropped off gifts for my two brothers. And the other big memory for this Christmas is the little episode that happened with Cassandra at Aunt Missy's house while Jessica was watching them. Cassandra was in the hot tub and got too hot and started throwing up and almost passed out. Scared everyone to death, but other than that, she is fine! Whew! We still pray for Poppy, the holiday's are still a very rough time for him and of course it breaks our hearts to see him in that condition. There is nothing that any of us can do, except love him unconditionally, it's in the Lord's hands!

Thank you Lord for a wonderful year!

New Neighbor

2010-12-21T08:43:00.003-06:00

On December 2, 2010 we received a new neighbor, Miss Eliana America May Rodriguez, she weighed 8 lbs and 10 ozs.

The kids are always asking Aunt Aliria, can we "pet" her?

Cassandra can't wait to feed her.
Jase is ready to take her on the trampolene and jump with her. Oh my....
We love you........... Love always, the Petting Zoo!

Worldfest & Circus

2010-11-13T18:17:00.006-06:00

It's been another action packed weekend for us. I was blessed to have my sister-in-law help me with the kids this morning by taking them to the Worldfest event that was held at Wolf Pen Amplitheater while I attended a half day seminar with IAAP. After I was released from my meeting I met them for lunch and was able to take a few snap shots of the kids and I.

Hummm......yes, I got a haircut, it is a lot shorter. I needed to cut off all the dead ends and start all over. Not sure if I like the short cut or not?!?!?!?!?!?!

There is Mr. Jase, about tired of all of this picture business.....does it sound like someone else you might know? What's the ole saying, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.
The kids love their Aunt Teresa. She does so much for them! I'm so fortunate to have her so close by!

The Worldfest was pretty awesome. There was a lot to see, everything was free except the food and drinks. The kids were able to make a few craft items and got their face painted.

Pose with your fan!

The trio........

Cassandra is trying to pose and be a little model. Isn't she just a hoot. I love her so much!

Jase is my little turkey! But I love him so much too. He is so funny!

Boy, get down from there!

Now, at mid day, I took over and let Teresa go home and I took the kids to the circus at Lake Bryan. It was pretty good, but Cassandra was disappointed there wasn't any tigers. I thought for the price, it was actually a pretty good deal.

Here is Cassandra and Rylee riding together.

And Mr. Jase had to ride with another little boy. But you can still tell who the little turkey is. Hold on Jase!

Dentist Visit

2010-10-26T12:59:00.005-05:00

Yes, they were a little too happy to go to the dentist today. Even the front desk receptionist made a comment that they should do an advertisement for their dentist about how much fun it was to go to the dentist.

My pearly whites!
See no cavaties!
Weee......going to the dentist is so much fun!

Tada.......we got a good report from the dentist today.
Today was all cameod out dress up day at school today....so Cassandra is wearing Mommies t-shirt with quite a few modifications.

Bonham Fall Festival

2010-10-26T12:51:00.003-05:00

Oh my....I have officially learned what being involved with the PTO means....WORK!!! We did have a lot of helpers, so it wasn't too bad. But I was exhausted after it was over!
OH Spidey

Say Cheese.....
We've got too many things to go and do, we don't have time to pose for a picture...ugh..
Cassandra has learned to strike a pose when ever I say "let me take your picture". I'm 100% positive she learned this from Sissy.......Holley

Pumpkin Diving

2010-10-26T12:25:00.003-05:00

Now we can add another first to our list of things that we have done together. We went pumpkin diving at Blue Lagoon. We didn't find any pumpkins but it was a lot of fun.
Just about to see how cold the water really is. Awe.....actually it wasn't that bad at all.

Not much going on!

2010-10-03T16:12:00.006-05:00

I know I'm slipping.....no pictures in a while. I even forgot to take my camera to Holley's 8th Birthday party last weekend at the park. I'm ashamed to even say that, but it's okay, Mema was there with her camera at hand. Hummmm....well, the first picture below is of Cassandra holding some chop sticks that we got when we took Holley out to eat and to the movies for her Birthday. Of course, this picture was taken some time during the week, when I was in the mood to take pictures once again. Don't ask me why I've been slipping on taking pictures....it just sometimes happens! Ha

We have had a pretty laid back weekend this weekend and WE ARE LOVING IT! Yesterday, Jase wanted to build a space ship, so, here you go....

Sis is helping him push his wagon so that it will turn over.

They are taking it to Mema's house.

Proud space ship owner!

He is so proud of his space ship. I sure was wishing his Daddy was home to do this, because it certaintly looks like something from outer space. But we had fun pretending to know what we were doing. Jase also, promised to make Better Butter Batter Peanut Butter cookies for his Cubby friends on Wednesday night, so today, we made cookies together after church. Whew, he kept his promise!

Now the kiddo's are next door playing with their best friends. I'm trying to send Daddy a few pictures so that when he wakes up, he'll have these to look at.

We are looking forward to you coming home! We miss you Uncle Cory and Daddy!

Bye we love you!!!!

We are missing Mema too. She went to Washington to attend her Mom's funeral. She passed away Thursday night, very unexpectadly. Sorry Mema she is gone, but she is in a much better place now

Outside Play

2010-09-19T12:39:00.004-05:00

We find ourselves at home today. Saturday, Jase was really feeling pretty bad and was coughing with every breath. I ended up taking him to urgent care and we discovered he had a double ear infection to go along with his bad cough. So, we started him on an antibiotic and we made it through the evening but Cassandra and I were really worried about him. I had called someone to teach my Sunday school class on Sunday, and Cassandra and I prayed really hard for Jase to get well soon. We didn't expect and instant recovery, but if you look at these pictures below you can tell that God heard our prayers! He is so much better today. He is coughing a little bit but nothing like he was on Saturday. To God be the glory in making this such a wonderful beautiful Sunday that kids and I can relax and be together as a family. We just needed a time out and a day for some serious R&R!

Possum grin like his Daddy!

Push me PLEASE!

Who said I was sick?

Two means trouble???

YEA..........brother feels better today and we can play all day!

Camping on our 11th Anniversary

2010-08-30T05:34:00.008-05:00

What a great weekend, just the 4 of us! We went to New Braunfels and borrowed Aunt Missy's camper. Cory and Cassandra were a little sick, but we didn't let that slow us down.
I love the 10 second timer on my camera....I can get a picture of the four of us, without any help! Whoop! It's the little things that are important, you know!

Redo....Jase's knee is covering his face!

The kids love snuggling with their Daddy.

Doesn't take much to make Jase happy......as long as he has his pink milk in the morning, he is ready to go!

Hummmm.........Jase took this picture.....maybe one day he will become a photographer! Just a little crooked!

And this one of Mommy still in her PJ's.

And this one of his Sis!
More snuggling time with Daddy!

Then, this is where we ventured out into the COLD, COLD, COLD Comal River. At our camp site, there were stairs at the front part of the camp site and stairs towards the end of the camp site area......so, just a little ways down, but it was perfect for our big tubbing outing. I didn't even go in the first day because the water was just too cold for me!

Poor Jase, just didn't have enough body fat, he was freezing cold!

Momma.....I am so cold!!!

Me too!!!

Our favorite part.......cooking marshmallows over our $10 BBQ pit and eating them!

I think he would eat the whole bag if I would let him!

They would make a smore, but wouldn't eat them because they didn't like the chocolate. Oh well....more for me ;-)

I also took a lot of pictures at Schlitterbahn with a water camera. We were really proud of Cassandra and Jase for not being scared on the tube rides. We did the Raging River tube ride, and the White Water tube float, and a few others. But all in all, they were enjoying the thrill of it all and were not scared! And of course, when it was time to leave, they were not ready to go. They were enjoying all the slides and wanted to keep going, and going. True little fish!

Cassandra and Jase's 1st Day

2010-08-23T16:53:00.005-05:00

Yea, I think we made our first days in our new school/new classes without too much tear loss. Sebastian even did good too!

This is Maci, Cassandra's little friend, she is in a different class, but will ride the Powersports bus together.
Here is Cassandra's teacher, Mrs. Hausenfluck. We worked hard all weekend in pronouncing her name with the "l" in it.
I went to visit her from 2-2:30 and she was doing great but you could tell she was getting very, very tired because she was getting whiney.
Here is my little Sunshine Boy. He is in the sunshine class now.
He was excited that Kindergarten had Pink milk. Life is GOOD!
My little angel. I'm so proud of her! She was a real trooper on her first day at Kindergarten!
Brother giving her a little loving!
Yep...ole Monkey Face strikes again.
Silly boy.
Ooops.....I needed to work with her about opening her milk and her silverware packet. She struggled a little bit in getting them open, but I told her who to go to when she needed help.
One last hug Sis....we gotta go!
Yea.....she survived her first day at Kindergarten. Way to go Cassandra, we are so proud of you!

Last outing with Dad before he leaves.....

2010-08-05T14:28:00.003-05:00

I have to admit.....Cory is ONE AWESOME DAD!!!! He let the kids play HOOKIE from school and took them out to the Lake for one final outing with Dad. Despite the 100 degree temps in Texas!

Everyone had fun. Thanks DAD for being the BEST DAD in the whole wide world!!!!
Oh so....the story on this picture is....Holley got grounded, but Sebastian was quick to take over being Cassandra's playmate while his Sister was away. All four of these kids play so well together. We also have the best neighbors in the Whole Wide World!!!

Dive with us

2010-06-29T15:40:00.002-05:00

I have been trying for over a week now to put some of our dive movie clips on my blogspot, and I have either run out of time or out of patience. Always something goes wrong while it is uploading. I'm going to try one more time, or give up. So, let's see if this works out!

Here is a short clip that will make you sea sick because the water was really choppy and I recorded this while snorkeling. So, I apologize in advance, or take this warning and skip this one and go the next one! Cassandra did pretty good snorkeling but this time Jase really disappointed us. He didn't like the salt water, of course, Cory lost his patience with him and I kept trying and trying, but finally gave up as well. Maybe next time!

I believe this is the clip of the stingray.

Our first nurse shark sighting.

Cory and I were second guessing ourselves, once the nurse shark turned around and headed right back toward us "IS IT REALLY A NURSE SHARK OR A GREAT WHITE HEADING RIGHT AT US?

This is Mark waving hello and pointing to Lucas to record the sea turtle sighting. Shame on whomever the diver is, it's a big no-no to touch anything while your in the water. (Lucas and I learned the hard way when we were diving in Cancun because our dive master got onto us)

And this is me, about 105 feet deep, sucking up my air pretty quickly and trying to tell Cory, "hey, I only have 1,500 psi left". So, this clip gives me fond memories of running out of air on the way up on this dive and having to buddy share air with Cory at the safety stop. Yea, I lived to tell about it, oh what fun!

Florida Keys Vacation

2010-06-20T18:41:00.012-05:00

Oh where do I begin and end about telling you about how wonderful our vacation to the Florida Keys was?

These pictures were taken at a restaurant that had a glass bottom. They gave the kids a container of oatmeal to feed the fish with. Jase was so excited, he layed on top of the glass and I guess he was trying to figure out how he could become a fish. Don't know...

Don't ask me why.......I just love cute signs. We also saw another sign at the boat gas station that said, free beer tomorrow. We kept going back everyday filling up with gas, but there was never any free beer. When will tomorrow ever come????

This picture is funny to me because of the bathing suit that Cassandra has on....I remember her coming out of her bedroom, all out of breath saying, "Momma, momma, you gotta do some laundry, this is my last bathing suit." Priorities, priorities!!!!!!!!

Whew........this was a hot day. We drove 100 miles to mile 0 where the road ends but paradise begins in Key West. The guys went diving at 5:30 a.m. while Sharon and I drove up at noon to meet up with them. Needless to say, we got there way too early. We should have gotten there in the afternoon when it was cooler and when the street entertainment began at 5:30 p.m. The kids were wore out!

Feeding baby chicks at Mallory Square. This was really an awesome place, they had all sorts of street entertainment. A gymnist who was 52 years old, doing push-ups upside down and jumping through a small hula hoop. A man spray painted in silver who worked on his bicycle making a squeeking noise, a man who had trained his dog to collect dollar bills while he played the banjo, jugglers, balloon artist and not worth mentioning was a guy in a red bra strumming on a guitar. Whatever????

Enjoying the mall that had AIR CONDITIONER!

This guy put sunglasses on his dog. Too funny....

The silver tin man, painted Cassandra's nose silver. She froze solid when she went up to him. She looked scared to death, then poor Jase SCREAMED bloody murder. He was very scared of him.

Gotta love the beach shorts.

Just before sunset pictures.

Time to pose.

Lucas too!

I liked his sunglasses!

Jase loves to wear a swim shirt now with his swim shorts. Of course I couldn't just buy him one without buying the princess one too.

One happy pappa!

Daddy's Girl!

Momma's Boy!

We miss you Uncle Mark and Aunt Sharon and Cousin Lucas. This was our last night when the Nardin's left for the airport. We hit the road the next morning.

Posing

Still in love after 12 years (10+2)

We were so proud of Jase he ate 8 baby back ribs and here he is showing us his MUSCLES!

Pretty good place to eat but both of us had stomach issues the next morning. Was it something that we ate??

This was at a Mexican Food restaurant on our way home. Cory told me that I was driving so needless to say, the buy one get one free margarita's went to waste. Well, one of them did.

Wow.......look at me....no makeup, no hair do's for 10 days. I look rough but HAPPY!

Katie's Wedding

2010-06-20T16:08:00.007-05:00

I put all of these pictures up on facebook, but here are a few of them to

remember the occassion on my blogspot. It was a beautiful wedding!

Matching Bathing Suits

2010-06-20T15:50:00.002-05:00

Wow.....how lucky can I get. Jase already had a red, white and blue bathing suit and then my friend told me that Wal Mart had the cutest little girls red, white and blue bathing suits but I better hurry up before they sold out. So, I had Juanita stop by on her way back from lunch and sure enough....they were the cutest bathing suits and the kiddos look great together in them. Well.....at least that is what a proud Momma thinks.

Awe........don't they look adorable!

I can't wait until the 4th of July. I'll let them wear their bathing suits all day long!

I think we have a baby palm tree.

Best buddies forever....I hope they always stay close to each other!

And yea....it looks like the freeze didn't kill our palm trees. They are starting to come back! Yea!!!

Great Wolf Lodge Family Outing

2010-05-09T20:41:00.013-05:00

I couldn't just pick a few pictures of this wonderful trip...so I uploaded a bunch! Basically the pictures tell the story....we had a blast at Great Wolf Lodge! Thanks Konan, the Peters Family and the Parish family for joining us for the weekend. A lot of great memories were made!

The wedding diet starts TOMORROW. Katie announced that she is getting married June 5!

Teresa and Missy

Dillan and Jessica

We can pretend that I'm in the picture, right?

A closer look, says NOPE...I was the one taking the picture!

Story time at Great Wolf

Waiting for the big bucket of water to turn over on top of them.

Come down.....it is time to go!

Kodak moment!

Awe.....they look so happy!

Rylee had fun on the arcades!

Cassandra was happy to get lots of tickets!

I love my Aunt Betty!

I love my Mommy!

And I love her too! Happy Mother's Day!

WE love you Mommy!

and Daddy too!

Just missing Richard and Jason. Party poopers!

Don't take a picture of my fat side!

My dive camera takes really awesome underwater pictures, but not so good for on shore.

We are freezing cold!

ANother pinacolada PLEASE!

Peace man!

awe.....swimming under the water!

Hi Kenny and Kristi

2010-04-18T07:19:00.002-05:00

Whew....we were about exausted from all of our Saturday outings but this outing I had to make a priority. Kenny O'Quinn was having a spaghetti supper fund raiser at Glory Inn off of GrassBur road. It was so good to see him. I truly felt like I was standing next to a Godly man. It was so good to see him and Kristi and their family. There were so many people there, wow....what a support team! We'll continue to pray for you Kenny. You are looking great and getting stronger and stronger every day!

Viva Las Vegas-A girls weekend!

2010-04-13T16:02:00.009-05:00

Let the fun begin....I was invited by my friend, Sharon from Montana, to join her in a girls weekend out to Las Vegas to see Cher. At first....I didn't think the idea was even possible at all....How would I ever leave my babies? But....after talking it over with Cory, he said, "I should go, it would be good for the kids to be away from me for a while and it would also be good for me to get a break". So....I guess that is all it took....because the next thing I know....I was booking my flights!

Sharon was invited by her friend, Cindie who also invited Lisa from California to join us. These ladies were great.
Oh the Vodka tasting at Red Square was very interesting. We didn't do the vodka vault because Sharon and Cindie were not too interested in going in below zero temps, since they just left those temps in Montana. Who could blame them?
We tasted the Around the World vodka and found that they were very different from each other. Can't say all vodka's are the same any more!
oopsie...getting tipsie on sipping vodka!
They took my camera away during the Cher concert but I was able to take a few pictures of Cher's wardrobe cases outside the theater. I didn't realize how skinny and short she is. I think she wears a size 2.
Then...get this....during the concert, Cindie and I sneaked out to to to the potty and walked pass the souvenior stand and saw Dr. Phil's wife, Robin. I had my cell phone with me and I asked her if she would let me take a picture with her and she said, yes. She was really sweet!

ooopsie....getting kisses from a stranger on the street.
Outside of the Mirage
Yes, that is a starbucks cup in my hand. I was on a winning streak and I could afford to drink Starbucks!
We had a blast! Thanks Sharon for inviting me!
She got a manicure.....
while I got a pedicure!
This is Cindie!
And this is Lisa.
And this is the gang!
Don't ask me why I had a knife in my hand.....I think I was trying to protect my carrot cake!
Very nice hotel...except our electricity in the bathroom blew a fuse 2 different times. Arrggh....both times while I'm trying to get ready!
I should have taken a picture of our shot glasses....I found some that said, "WHO LET THE GIRLS OUT". I thought they were really appropriate.
oh....yea....one more tall tale.....Cory gave me the wrong wake up time on the day that we were leaving. I asked him to wake me up at 4 a.m. Las Vegas time and he said, that would be 2 a.m. his time, which I didn't question it....I was too tired to think. Needless to say.....it should have been 6 a.m. Ugh....so instead he woke me up at midnight Las Vegas time. I tried and tried to go back to sleep....but that wasn't working so, I went down stairs and played some Texas hold'em and did pretty good. It was a fun game (when you are winning).

We found these really awesome Lampwork glass necklaces and they were very cheap. I just found them listed on ebay too. I'm going to buy each of my secretaries one for Administrative Professionals Day on April 21. We also liked the Iris Impressions wrap around skirts, and I also found them A LOT cheaper on Ebay as well. Whoop.....I just love EBAY and being a BARGAIN HUNTER! Dave Ramsey should be proud of me! Speaking of, I got a whole lot of compliments on my silver heart necklace that I wore this day. They would ask where I got it and I was proud to tell them at a garage sale for five bucks. Their jaws dropped every time!
Shopping on Fremont Street.
We really enjoyed the Nathan Burton Magic and Comedy show at the Flamingo Casino. I think our tickets were $28 and included a dinner buffet that had snow crab, prime rib and duck. They also had a chocolate fountain and made crepes upon your order. It was really good!
Even Santa Claus was in Las Vegas this weekend....taking a break from his winter activities.

Okay.....I better explain the next picture....I really felt lucky this weekend, because I kept winning a little bit of money here and there. I ended up coming home with the same amount of money that I took (in other words...I won enough money to cover all my expenses while there...including shopping). But if I need to give credit where credit is due....I should really thank Sharon for dragging me away to the next activity. If it wasn't for her....I probably would have gambled it all away. But anyway......my biggest earnings were in shooting dice. I basically played the pay line and covered the 6 and the 8. I was raking in the chips, and when I cashed out, I tried to not count it, I just tucked it away in my luggage, or purse somewhere. But when I got home and unpacked, I was well pleased to find all that money tucked here and there. It was like winning all over again. So....I couldn't resist taking a picture of my "lucky" toes. Aren't they funny.....dice....so that everyone knows I went to Vegas.
I had a great time and I really, really, really appreciate Robin for taking care of my kids, Cory for encouraging me to go and for Sharon for inviting me. We are already talking about making this an annual event. I'm READY!

Early 50th B-day wishes for Cory

2010-04-07T11:52:00.003-05:00

Cory was going to be working on his Birthday, but his schedule got changed where he will be home, but I had already assembled everyone to be together on Easter Sunday. Since....it would have been hard to get everyone together again....we went ahead and celebrated Cory's Birthday a little early. We couldn't let this birthday just slip by without acknowledging it....we needed to give him a little extra something to help him remember that he turned the BIG 50 this year.
He was pleasantly pleased to get the majority of the family together. He really enjoyed his little book of Birthday cards and notes. He felt really loved and appreciated as a Husband, Father, Brother, Uncle and Nephew!

Thanks everyone for helping make Cory's 50th Birthday special.

The Peter's family! We were missing Rachelle and Carson. We wish you could have been here! We were also missing Poppy and Konan. Sigh.......

The whole crew....

Uncle Teddy Bob and I traded out in this picture. Okay....see everyone again on Mother's Day weekend when we go to Great Wolf. It's going to be fun!

Easter at Home

2010-04-07T11:18:00.003-05:00

The little man is feeling a little sick and wants to cuddle on the sick couch.
Sissy...on the other hand wanted to color eggs. We got lucky because Robin still had all of her egg coloring stuff still out on the picnic table....so, we just brought our eggs over and used her stuff. Have I told you lately how awesome our neighbors are? Well.....should I say more?

Awesome.....a pink and blue egg make PURPLE. Cassandra is amazed.

Wow.....look at all the pretty colors.

Mommy made a camouflage egg.

Then, of course Mr. Cotton had to put his spin on the Eater activities at home....He brought home lobster for dinner. I would say how sweet.....but we are suppose to be on the Dave Ramsey plan....is this in our budget???? Rrrggghhhh......

Bad boy!!!!

How was the concert, guys?

2010-04-02T08:10:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm not too sure what to write about this big event in our lives, except our money and our nephew went to this concert on our behalf. We were all set to take Lucas to this concert and bought the tickets and were ready to go until I discovered it was the same night as the "Last Supper" play that Cory was in, therefore, we came up with a plan B. We asked our wonderful neighbor boys to take Lucas for us. I'm pretty sure they had a good time. They came home about 10 p.m. but Lucas stayed next door until about 1 a.m. playing X-Box. I think ;-) He is still sleeping this morning, so I haven't gotten all the details but I know Lucas' Mom would enjoy these pictures right away........

Thanks Elias, Isaac, and his girlfriend Erin for taking Lucas for us.
Okay Rodriguez boys.........lets smile a little bit!!!!
How was Granger Smith? I hope it was fun for you guys!
And.....I hope you weren't too embarrassed to hang out with the dude with the funny hat.
Yes.....feel free to make fun of him......he is in Texas....NOT MONTANA. Just kidding Lucas, we love you, hat and all!

My Disciple

2010-04-02T07:57:00.003-05:00

I am so proud of my husband! He was in a church play last night at Zion Church of Kurten and he did a great job. He really worked hard to memorize his two lines and was really stressing over it, but he pulled it off. Isn't this great.....13 men were in this play. I missed the pose picture, but it was really awesome. They had all the men pose like the "Last Supper" picture, with their hands in the air and it was really cool. I'm kicking myself for missing that shot!

Isn't he handsome? Well....you don't have to agree, but you have to admit, with his beard, he looked the part! He was Thaddaeus.
True actor.....listening to the words that Jesus spoke.
Again.....I wish I got the posing picture. Ugh.....
turn up the volume and you can hear him say his part!

Encore, encore.......Bravo, Bravo! You did it! Way to go Babe! I'm proud of you! Can't wait to see the next play that you are in. Haha

Lil' Patch of Bluebonnets

2010-04-01T12:23:00.004-05:00

Yea....I was so glad to see that my bridal wreaths came into full bloom while Lucas was down visiting. Well...I was glad...I'm not too sure if Lucas was glad though. He was beginning to wonder exactly how many pictures was I going to take.
And one by yourself...
A few more with Cassandra and Jase.
Now....a few bluebonnet pictures. This is just a small patch in front of my neighbors yard.
Keep smiling....I'm not finished yet!
Nope....we are not finished....just keep smiling!
Yes! You have to! Now, a group photo!
Cassandra loves Lucas. He is her buddy!
And Lucas loves the kids....even enough to put on the kids bicycle helmet for them....ugh...a little small don't you think?
Now....let's throw rocks.
And I've been taking Cassandra's picture in this green chair ever since she was a little baby. She keeps growing and growing.
and every year....she gets cuter and cuter!
And of course...this is my favorite picture. Aren't they cute together?
Now....a picture of my little monster.
Yep....he is growing up way too fast too. No more little babies. Sigh....
Until next time..........The End

Keeping Lucas Entertained

2010-03-30T10:26:00.004-05:00

We are having a great week this week, Lucas came down from Montana while he is on Spring Break. We are enjoying his company and he is keeping us busy!
I love this picture of him holding Cassandra's hand. She keeps going into his room and talking to him and playing with him. I bet he is thinking.....I wish she would leave me alone. Haha
Don't be too proud of him for catching this fish, Mom and Dad....I had to bait the hook for him because he thought the grub worms looked gross.
Elias was glad we finally caught something.
I love the tree in the background of this picture because it had moss hanging all over it, so I made Lucas pose for a lot of pictures in front of it. Needless to say...he was getting irritated with me.
Nope......I still need one more picture Lucas....keep smiling!
One more.....come on....PLEASE!
Okay....last one!
Oh......yea....I took Lucas to a refresher scuba diving course on Monday night. We enjoyed the class and picked up a few pointers. I got Cory on an April Fool's joke when I called home and told him that they had to rush Lucas to the hospital. It was so funny....Cory, kept saying..."calm down, just calm down, we'll call Sharon and have her fax a medical release to us, everything will be okay." Hehe......I guess that was a little mean.....but you have to remember....Cory got me good this past Christmas, when he let me go 8 hours thinking he got "let go" from his job. Ugh...pay back time!!!!
Smile Lucas.....last picture I promise ;-) Thanks Lucas for coming to visit us. We feel special that you wanted to come and we hope you will come back every year ;-)

RIP Little Bit

2010-03-25T18:37:00.003-05:00

This was a rough day for the Cotton's. We had to say good-bye to Little Bit. Cory took him to the vet today and they put him to sleep.
Needless to say.....this was one day, that I wasn't in a big hurry to come home. I noticed Little Bit's absense as soon as I walked into the door because no one was there to wag his tail and greet me hello.

Long time ago..... Dave Brunson had Cory and I meet him one day, at Traders Village in Sept. 1998 and needless to say, we immediately fell in love with this little bundle of fur. He was as cute as ever. Even Cory couldn't tell me "No..we can't have him". So....$250 later, we brought him home and everyone loved him.

I could tell in Cory's voice, that he was having second thoughts about doing the deed, but we felt like it was necessary. He had a really bad rash that we treated several times, but he never did get over it. He couldn't get up and down the stairs without us helping him. And we were thinking he was beginning to loose his sight in his one eye. Ugh...poor feller....and he groaned when we picked him up, which made us think he was hurting all over.

Cassandra, said...no problem, we can always get another one and she said, that we could always play with Mema's dogs because she had plenty to share.

May you rest in peace Little Bit. We love you!

Wow.....it looks so pretty

2010-02-24T13:32:00.007-06:00

Unbelievable how much snow we received on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010. It was so cool. The kids were so excited and so was I!
This is our road on LaFountain Lane. It was just amazing how much snow was on the side of the road and in the trees. It reminded me a lot of our snow skiing trips. Just gorgeous!

Home sweet home. Isn't it pretty?

oh....isn't it cute....these little guys with snow caps!

Oh no....don't hit Wally with a snow ball. Mema will get you!

It definitely paid off to have our snow skiing clothes. We were cozy and comfortable and played in the snow for about 2 hours.

They were having a blast.
Confining in one another and planning on hitting Mommy with a HUGE snow ball. Not NICE guys!!!!

Our FAT snow WOMAN.
Cassandra has started collecting buttons and was so upset when our snow Woman fell and we lost her buttons in the pile of snow. I tried to tell her once the snow melted, that we would find them. So...hopefully this will come true!
And of course we had to rebuild and make another one....but this time it was a SNOW MAN. It was huge. I'm not sure if I should admit this...but I didn't know how to build a snowman. I kept piling up snow with buckets and buckets of snow and it wouldn't stay packed and kept falling apart and then I remembered that I saw someone rolling a ball of snow into a big ball one day and I thought I'd try it. And of course it worked like a charm......then, I felt so stupid after filling up those buckets of snow. Okay.....hopefully no one will read my blog too closely and they will never know how TEXAN I really am. ;-)
Tada.......hurry take a picture before it falls again!

Valentine's with my sweeties!

2010-02-16T16:47:00.002-06:00

Wow....my darling husband did me right this Valentine's, he sent me a fruit arrangement from edible arrangements. It was delicious and I shared it with my co-workers. We especially enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries! Thanks Babe!
Then, Friday afternoon, I treated my darling husband with a couple's massage at Healing Touch Massage Therapy , and dinner at Messina Hoff, and then the next morning, I woke up and made my family french toast. Cassandra helped me sprinkle on the powder sugar and cut them into hearts. (She was enjoying eating the scraps from the heart cut-outs).
Aren't they sweet? They love each other so much! I hope it stays this way FOREVER!
Cassandra is doing a curtsy. Ugh....she is growing up so fast. Almost five....oh my!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Snowed in Texas Feb. 11, 2010

2010-02-12T08:28:00.003-06:00

I better write this day down....you never know when it will snow again in Texas. We had the kids all settled into bed with their pj's on and got a phone call from Robin telling us it was snowing outside and it was a lot. I heard Cory say, "really?" "really?" "really?" several times on the phone. And Wow...we were REALLY surprised how much we got. It had been pouring down rain all afternoon, so it was REALLY a surprise to see a white sheet of snow everywhere. We were glad we got the kids out of bed to see it, because most of it was gone this morning.

Future Cheerleader

2010-02-11T10:13:00.002-06:00

Well.....I'm not too sure about Cassandra's future plans....but she has told us that she wants to be a cheerleader! Do you think she'll make the try outs? HeeHee

Of course the Monster Boy had to get into the action! Isn't he adorable?

My Little Super Hero

2010-02-04T15:22:00.002-06:00

It's official, I no longer have any toddlers. My boy is a big boy now. He is THREE! He fell in love with Buzz Light Year just before Christmas but I had already planned him a Superman party. Ugh....he did this to me last year. He was so into Curious George, but just before his 2nd Birthday he fell in love with Nemo. Hummm....next year.....I think the "theme" party has got to go! Despite the cold weather and the rain, we were able to pull off his party indoors but man was everyone sandwiched in. I need a bigger house! Haha......not really, that would mean more to clean!!!

Christmas Morning

2010-02-04T14:58:00.004-06:00

Yea....Santa brought the kids exactly what they wanted for Christmas. Then, we made a quick drive to Cleveland and had lunch with my family at a restaurant in Cleveland, and then turned around and came right back home. Whew...what a crazy drive. Not too sure if we will repeat that scenario in the future. We sure do miss Grandma!

Zion Church Play and Christmas Eve

2010-02-04T13:54:00.006-06:00

I think these pictures are listed in reverse order of occurrance. The kiddo's were in a church play at Zion and Katie, Rylee and the Parish Family came to watch them. After the play we went to our house for a little Christmas gathering on Christmas Eve. I found a "Family Feud" game on-line that we played for a little while and we found the green pickle in the Christmas tree. We are trying a few new traditions to see which ones stick for the years to come. Ha This is a picture of Jessica and (her now) Ex-boyfriend Dillon.

Are we opening up presents before it's your turn?

I just dearly love this picture. Doesn't she look happy!!!

Mommy was proud of you Jase! You did a good job being a sheep!

Camel on wheels!

Mommy's Work Christmas Party

2010-02-04T13:44:00.005-06:00

I can truly say that I work for the best department on campus! Well....at least I think I do! I know I have the best boss! There is a picture of him in here somewhere! Anyway....we had our Christmas party at the Briarcrest Country Club and it included childcare. Whoop....now we are talking. LOL it's just fun to be able to bring them with you and they are there with you, just downstairs at arms reach. I really like it! Anyway....here are a few pictures and we got extremely lucky this year and got Dada home 5 days earlier than what we originally thought. Which reminds me.....he played a dirty trick on me and told me that he got "let go" which left me to thinking he got laid off. I was practically in tears before I picked him up at he airport when he told me that they just had too many people scheduled and needed bed space, so they let some of the people go home early, WITH PAY. So.....whew... Thank you LORD for sending Dada home early!

Zip Line

2010-02-04T13:32:00.004-06:00

Oh boy....Daddy came up with this really cool idea about putting up a zip line in our yard for Jase's Birthday party, so that all the kids can fly like Superman. The KIDS love it. It almost made me want to try it out....but NOT REALLY!

Rylee turns 3

2010-02-04T13:25:00.006-06:00

Rylee had her birthday party at McDonald's on Rock Prairie. What a great deal. The party package included a movie, the party room, cake, goodie bags and the meal for each child along with access to the play area. I think Teresa said, it was about $7.00 a child. The kids loved it and had a blast! Wow.....now, why do I work so hard to do these "other" parties for my children? Hummm....I must be just crazy! No comment...please!!!

Cassandra's Dec./Christmas Dance Recital

2010-02-04T13:20:00.004-06:00

Awe....brother is so proud of his dancing sister. She did a great job performing at the George Bush Presidential Library. Thanks, Aunt Missy, Jessica, Dillon, and Jason for coming to watch me. Wow.....the library put some money into this event.....they were giving away delicious cookies and punch and as many crafts that you were willing to do....all FREE of charge. I really like that word....FREE ;-)

Exterminator Needed

2010-02-04T13:16:00.005-06:00

Okay....no, I don't really need an exterminator, but when I saw Jase climbing into my cabinet, he reminded me of a great big bug climbing into the cabinet. Too cute....but also.....scarey.

So....is this just one of those cute things BOYS do right? He climbs up on everything. Doesn't he know the law of gravity yet? So scary....I'm so worried he is going to fall and bust his head wide open. Oh my....I have to keep an eye on that boy!

John Deere Outing---New Desire for Blogging!!!

2010-02-04T12:45:00.005-06:00

Okay fellow followers......I have some bad news and good news. I learned from a friend that you can print your blogs (sorta like a scrapbook) and I saw my friends book and it was really good. It was compact and very nice looking. I'm not a 100% sure yet....but I'm leaning towards....NO MORE SCRAPPING. It's going to be hard to quit because somehow I've managed to stay current but it so expensive and I have SO MANY books. I'm running out of storage space for all my books. I'm thinking I'm going to create 3 blogs. One to focus on Jase's world, one for Cassandra's life, and the other for the family, (kinda like my scrapbooks). So, I'm going to try to get current on my Dec. pics. Then....start my new blogs for 2010. Wish me luck. I'm not sure if I'll follow through.....but I have good intentions.

So....these pictures are from our John Deere outing on Dec. 5. These guys put a lot into making a nice outing for families for Christmas and it is all FREE. I was eating a lot of sausage on the sticks. I think I ate mine, Cassandra's and Jase's. Yummy...they were good! Sebastian and Holley were there and also Cassandra's friends Makenzie and Faith. We are starting to learn a lot of people's name that live in B/CS now. Pretty cool!

Jase was not too interested in Santa Claus....I guess it's not his year. But Cassandra has learned that old St. Nick is a really cool guy. He gives you presents. So....she was eager to tell Santa she wanted a digital camera.

Trimming the Tree

2009-12-13T15:18:00.004-06:00

We have started a tradition that Daddy is reponsible for always putting the angel on the top of tree, it cannot be done unless Daddy is here to help do it. So....yea, I convinced him that we needed to put the tree up before he left to go back to work. It's a cheap one....we plan to just throw it away after Christmas. And I'm okay with that because this one was a whole lot cheaper than buying a fresh cut tree and throwing it away.

Yea....job well done!

Someone else had to get into the action. He is pretending to smooth out the angel's dress.

Mission complete!

Now Momma's happy!

I think Cassandra took this picture......a little crooked!

Let's start putting Christmas presents under the tree. Cassandra wants a digital camera and Jase wants Buzz Light Year.

Could they be any cuter?

2009-12-13T15:15:00.001-06:00

Ooops....I forgot what these pictures were about. OH yea....just looking cute!

The End!

Tire Swing

2009-12-13T15:01:00.003-06:00

Okay....I found two spare minutes to do a little blogging. I'm waiting for Jase to wake up before I go to a church friend's house for a cookie exchange at 4 o'clock. I really love this time of year but it is hard to get it all done. So...I wanted to put these pictures up because I thought they were so cute. Before Cory left to go back to work, he hung an old tire swing up for the kids to play with. I thought that was sweet of Cory to do that for the kids even though they have a swing set already. I think he is also going to hang a second one some where else in the front yard when he comes home at the end of this month.
Jase helped his Daddy drive his tractor.

Waiting patiently for the tire swing to be hunged.

Yea.....I love it!

Wow......a lot of people can swing at the same time.

WE love it Daddy! THANKS!

Now all we need is a push!

Turkey Day 2009

2009-12-06T06:42:00.004-06:00

I had to force myself out of bed this morning and put some pictures up on my blogspot before my darling husband started complaining he hasn't received any pictures. So.....here we go....after looking at my memory card I didn't realize how many pictures that I have taken since my last post. Ugh....bare with me...there will be more to come but I MUST GO WRAP a few gifts before we go to our next activity today. Whew.....these kids keep me so busy...GOING, GOING, GOING. I LOVE IT ;-)
Self explanitory.....our four turkeys!

It's so sweet how much these two girls love each other. They play so well together!

Definitely a lil' turkey!

Handsome in an understatement!

Then we go to a trio of turkeys! Yes.....I made the turkey t'shirts for the kids to wear.....of course my wonderful neighbor helped me MAKE MY IDEA A REALITY. Thanks Robin....your the best neighbor I could ever ask for!

Cutie putie!

Aunt Teresa was our Thanksgiving host. She had a pudding painting craft for the kids to do. Awe......she is so AWESOME! Thanks for having us Aunt Teresa!

Does it taste yummy????? We never been able to taste the finger paint before....you do it because I'll get into trouble! Aunt Teresa thought of everything....including paint "baggies".

I Want My Daddy

2009-11-11T09:29:00.001-06:00

Yea.....DADA comes home TOMORROW! Somebody is going to be HAPPY!

Weekday School Fall Festival

2009-11-11T09:25:00.003-06:00

We really have enjoyed our kids daycare. Last night they had a Fall Festival and they did a great job. And did a lot for the kids. It wasn't over whelming....it was just enough!

Sissy, helping brother get his face painted. Got love it!
Our friend, Makenzie!
Doing the cake walk!
Of course little brother had to do it too and of course we came home with TWO cakes, just like we need it! I'm giving them away!!!!