Papa's Retirement Party

Helping Daddy clean before the big party.

Papa was completely surprised!

We had a great turn out!

The boys swinging together.

Cole, Carson, and Anna

Opening presents.

Enjoying the fire.

Last night we threw a surprise retirement party for my dad. He has worked so hard for so many years, so we had to take some time to honor him and this special time in his life. I know we are all so excited for him to start this new chapter of his life, and are looking forward to spending even more time with him!

We had a great turn out at the party, even though they had to make the drive way out here to Magnolia! :-) Papa was completely surpised, even as he was walking up to the door I could see the confusion on his face. It was so special to be able to do this for him and to see the joy it brought him. We love you papa!

Bubba Ath!

"BUBBA ATH!!!"

Pure joy!

Isaac has always enjoyed bath time, we had to switch him from his baby tub to the big tub pretty early on because he splashed so much he would get the entire bathroom wet! Recently we moved on to bubble baths, and oh my goodness, his love of bath time has grown even more! He will even come in from outside (which is always a challenge) if it means he gets a "bubba ath." I used to always give Isaac his baths, but as my belly grew and my back started to hurt, Carl took over for me. It is now a sweet time for them to play together, and I know Isaac loves his bath time with Daddy. I took some pictures of him playing in the bath the other day, and I just had to share them, such a fun time!

My boys...

I actually have a few quiet minutes to myself today because Isaac is napping again, yay! First one since last Tuesday! I thought I'd take a minute to share some pictures from last week, I love my boys...including the four legged boys.

Date Night

Boots!

Sweet Guys

A couple of family pictures before we left for the Rodeo (no we did not take Isaac to the Rodeo).

Last night was a fun night out for me and Carl. We went out to the Houston Rodeo to see the Eli Young Band perform, and what a great performance it was! I might be a little biased, but trust me, it was good. Eli from the band graduated from THS with me, and we knew back then that he would one day make it big. I still remember my senior year of high school when my dad heard him sing a Garth Brooks song at the Talent Show he said, "That boy is going to be famous one day." Well, he was right, their band is huge now, I mean really they played the Houston Rodeo! It was so humbling and inspiring to see someone perform in that arena and you can just tell that they are genuinely excited and honored to be there. He talked about coming to the rodeo as a kid to see George Strait, and now he is living his dream playing on the same stage, wow! I guess dreams really do come true.

Playtime

The two cuties swinging together!`

Deep in thought...

Swinging!

Cousins

The last few days here in Magnolia have been the most perfect Spring days! Isaac's favorite thing is to play outside, so we have spent the entire week outside playing. We were blessed with two fun playdates, so we played outside with them, too. Isaac loves when people come over to play, and playing outside with those friends is just the best!

I must say that this weather has been perfect not just for playing outside, but for me and my pregnancy. =) I am so thankful it is not too hot yet, this weather is still comfortable and allows me to be outside without being miserable. I hope that the heat stays away for many more weeks, so I can truly enjoy our outside playtime. Since I'm on the topic, I will update you all on my prenancy. I am 32 and a half weeks, yay! I have been feeling good, and so far cannot complain too much. Ha! I am thankful to have had a great pregnancy so far, and just pray that these last few weeks go just as well. I know as I continue to grow it is going to get harder, so I am trying to focus on the blessing of the gift of pregnancy and enjoy what a miracle it truly is. I am also trying to savor everyday I have with Isaac as my only baby because I know once baby #2 joins us the dynamics will change and I won't ever get this special time back. In the same breath, I cannot wait for the little guy to get here!!! I am so excited to see Isaac interact with him, to see their similarities and differences, and to love on our new little guy!

Happy Day!

I have to share my joy today...Isaac actually slept during nap time!!! He has not been napping lately, like for weeks he hasn't been napping, just laying in bed talking, not sure why, but man it wears me out! He didn't even nap after our fun day at the rodeo, he must have been exhausted! Today he decided to sleep, yay! That will make for a happier evening for us all! Plus it gave me time to blog. =)

Rodeo

Fun on the Farm...planting his pepper seed, as well as Taylor's because she was not as into it as him.
Petting Zoo

The Baby Deer!

When you ask Isaac was animals he saw at the rodeo, deer is the only response you will get! Ha!

The intention was that they sit on the bull and we take a picture, unfotunately they didn't like this idea, so we all ended up in the picture. Isaac wouldn't wear the hat, but Taylor looks adorable in hers! Love her boots, too!!!

Last week, my good friend Kristin and I, took our little ones to their first Houston Rodeo. We had a blast, maybe even more fun than expected! The kids were awesome, so content and enjoyed everything we did, although could have done without sitting on the big bull! Ha! The petting zoo was interesting, we thought we'd all love it, but didn't quite turn out that way. Taylor loved it at first, but soon after got really nervous and wasn't sure about it. Isaac was the opposite, really nervous at first, but loved it after a few minutes. His favorite was the baby deer! Who would have guessed they'd have a deer in there, but they did and Isaac does have a fascination of deer, so that was really exciting for him. The deer was very sweet and enjoyed the attention. It was so cute to see him petting and try to hug on the deer, goats, sheep, etc. just like he does with our dogs. I must say that some of the bigger animals were a little intimidating to me! =) We also went to the pig races, which were so fun! Both kids truly enjoyed that! And we took part in the Fun on the Farm, which was a neat experience. We thought the kids were too young for it, but they proved us wrong and had a great time going through all of the exhibits, Isaac especially loved planting the seed in the dirt, and concluding with a farmer's market at the end. The toughest part of the Farm was returning the pretend orange, Isaac thought it was a ball and was devasted when he had to sell it at the Market. Poor guy, just didn't totally get it. Overall it was a fabulous day and I'm so thankful to have had the experience with Isaac and our sweet friends.