Rocket Town

Logan and his Papa Dude built a rocket last week... and of course sent it home for us to test out at the park. :) After going to several hobby stores to find the right "engine", he and Luke finally got it working and that sucker flew about 300 feet! Very fun. Thanks Chris for making this so much fun for our boy!

First launch... a success! (just landed in the creek....) 2nd launch also a success! (but the parachute never opened....) Check out these funny videos.

My Beth-girl and I...

Look at these cute girlies...

....we're going to have lots of fun together over the next 50 years or so....

Galveston Reunion Fun

Fun times with old friends this past weekend! We gathered a few families together from the past and had some good hang time. Scott Torn put it well when he commented about the wonderful sense of community we all feel together. It is amazing that after almost 10 years we just felt like we were able to pick right back up where we left off. These are a particularly special set of friends for Luke and I because we shared so many of our "firsts" together... We got married the same year as the Torns. I still remember Secily and Scott's crazy honeymoon hurricane nightmare! We all rented our first old antique houses together...the Torns and the Chiles actually lived upstairs/downstairs from each other! Luke and I were over on Avenue K living next to our 99 year old landlord who we affectionately called "Ya-Ya" (grandmother in greek). We got our first dogs together... well, we actually got one of Maddie's (Scott and Secily's dog) puppies....and the Chiles got sweet Rufus! We were all pregnant together for the first time and had our first babies the same year (Abby in May, Sam in September and Logan in October). And we all moved to Fish Village and bought our first houses together. We have great memories of strolling through the neighborhood together with our little ones....and countless suppers at each others houses. And the Sheets were a constant through it all. Cori Layne was born in Galveston while we were all there...so many suppers and Sunday afternoon meals at their house...lots of late-night sing-a-longs and games of Broom-a-game (I don't even know if that's how you say it!)...and of course dozens and dozens of batches of chocolate chip cookies. Such good memories.
We were having so much fun catching up this weekend, that I forgot to take any pictures! (Plus my little guy wasn't feeling so well...) So Luke grabbed the camera on Sunday and took some random party pics for me. Thank you, sweetheart! :) Secily and Sarah seemed to really be the photographers this weekend, so I can't wait to see what they send out.


Zach and Will

Little Tag needing some extra-loving...

Chris and Lenore's youngest, Luke Chiles. What a cute boy!

The Chiles' oldest, Abby, with Faith Anna and Beth. They were fast friends this weekend! Had a secret hide-out with a secret code and everything!

Scott and Secily's youngest, Anna Scott. She and Tag are just days apart in age. What a sweet little angel-girl!

Kara with Levi and Miss Gini Sheets...who is headed to ACU this coming Fall. Wow...how can that be?!

This was the favorite pastime of the weekend...lots of games of hoop going on. This is Sam and Jack Torn, Logan in the orange shirt, Emma Chiles in the green, and Luke Chiles standing by the pole. They all had so much fun together.

The boys.. Luke Chiles, Logan, Jack and Sam Torn

Chris and his daughter Emma... she's the same age as Faith Anna.... very sweet little girl.

Ben, Luke, and Landon. The Sheets sisters threw a fun Tool Shower for Landon this weekend..and all the men attended. We hear they ate lots of good breakfast and gave Landon marriage advice. Hmmm...wish I could have been a fly on the wall!

Kyle, Bernita, and Lenore

Tucker Torn (Scott and Secily's third) and Anna Matlock (Brian and Kim's little girl). These two were little buddies...

Scott and Ben

Anna making her mad face with mommy, Kim... so funny!

And here's that sweet smile we were looking for... :) Anna was a cutie-pie. She was very fascinated with baby Tag...loved to touch him and check on him. And was also very curious about where the milk came from. hee-hee. :)

Can't wait to see you all again! Thanks for a wonderful weekend. So refreshing to re-kindle old friendships...

Tag is 5 months old

Our little man is 5 months old! He spent his birthday in Abilene visiting some of our old friends from Galveston. We had a reunion weekend and got to visit with the Torns, Chiles, Matlocks, and Sheets families. Mr. Tag actually got pretty sick over the weekend with a pitiful chest cold and has been under the weather all week! But I've been able to snap a few smiles here and there despite the yuckiness... :)

Check out the drool soaking the shirt... Seems to be his signature thing these days.

Not feeling so hot... but much happier on Daddy's chest.

Grabbing some sunshine at the park...

Sweet smiles

Lots of work to smile that much...

Daddy Daughter Fun

Sunday February 24th was the Daddy Daughter Valentine Dance. You have to be 5 years old to go...so this was Faith Anna's first year. She was so excited! Luke said they had an absolute blast and danced the night away. When they got home, I asked Faith what her favorite part was... and she exclaimed, "The YMCA!" It is so fun to see them starting these wonderful traditions. Such good memories.





Faith Anna chose her own outfit...complete with tall black boots. :) But notice the corsage... Luke added that little surprise for her and she of course loved it! Beth called it her "massage". In fact, we just got dressed for ballet today (Monday) and Faith already has the corsage back on her wrist to show her ballet teacher. Pretty cute.

A friend sent these next few pics from the dance. Can you tell that she is proud of that corsage? Excuse me, "massage"...

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And not to be left out of the fun...

... Miss Beth Lauren had her own "Daddy Daughter Date" in the afternoon before the dance. She got to pick the activities which included the car wash (!), chocolate ice cream at Braham's, and picking out her very own bouquet of flowers at Tom Thumb. It takes so little to make them happy! I asked her what her favorite part of the date was and she replied, "Watching all the rainbow colors on the windshield at the car wash!" She is a cutie-pie!

4months old!

Tag Wyatt is 4 months old! He is so much fun. Weighing in at 15 lbs 8 oz, he loves to smile and laugh. Favorite activities include kicking in the bouncy chair, laughing when someone tickles him under his arms or on his chest, being entertained by his siblings, snuggling his silky blue blanket, chewing on anything he can get into his mouth (and if he can't find anything, then his hands will do), and sitting up in the Bumbo seat. Least favorite activites include tummy time (although he can hold his head and chest up so well!) and settling down for a nap (although his thumb has aided in this process.) He is nursing just 4 times a day now, every 4 hours, so we're starting to experience a little bit more mobility! And probably gonna start some rice cereal sometime here in the next month or two. That should be fun!

I love this picture...such a pouty-looking face. He really does love the Bumbo...

Jes came over for a visit the other day and had on her pink "Life is Good" T-shirt. Beth quickly disappeared and re-emerged wearing her matching shirt! She loves Aunt Jes.

Jes took this of Tag and I. Such a sweet boy... We're currently taking bets on his eye color. Do you think we'll have one child with my brown eyes? Hmmmm....

Bikes and Haircuts

Faith Anna rode her bike (actually Logan's bike) for the first time without training wheels on January 24, 2008. She was so excited! A little too excited and nervous for me to take pictures or video that day... so this is a week or two later once the sun came out again. :) She was so proud of herself!

These are some fun videos of the memorable event. Not sure who is working harder... Luke or Faith Anna!

Beth had her first "professional" haircut this week. Not trying to say that Luke isn't a professional, because we all know he is.... But this is my good friend and hairdresser, Melissa, working her magic. Ok, so she only trimmed a few inches off the ends... but it was still really fun according to Beth. And it only took a lollipop to bribe her into the chair... :)

What a cutie-pie! Melissa cuts hair in her home and I've gotta admit, being able to bring your kids along to the haircut is really nice! Tag slept most of the time...then nursed under the black cape (ha!), and all three of us girls got a fun haircut. All in a days work....

The Power of a Smile

I was just thinking about how powerful a smile is. When Tag has been fussing in his crib, then one of us walks into the room, he just breaks out into the biggest smile. It is so cute. And it seems to make all the craziness just melt away in a matter of seconds. You know, he communicates so much without words. Don't you wish we were like that more? Sometimes I wish I used less words. Or was just more intentional with my words...you know the whole "slower to speak" thing. Makes me also realize how much we communicate with our body language! Oh, how I want to be better about that. Maybe it's also because I am around the two cutest little 5 and 3 year old girls all day that just fill my world up with words! :) Especially sweet Beth. That child talks non-stop from the moment she wakes in the morning, until the second she falls asleep at night. Whether it's intentionally talking to a person, to herself, to her dolls, to her stuffed animals, or just singing all the time.... she is at no loss for words. And she is SO expressive with those words and with her gestures. She is a cutie-pie. My parents have told me that their nickname for me when I was a little girl was "motor mouth". So maybe I'm just getting back what I dished out all those years ago. Ha! But that's ok. I'll take it in a New York minute!

Here are some fun pics from the last few weeks...

Love that smile!



At 3 1/2 months, he's really enjoying laying on his activity mat and playing with toys. It's so fun to see him discovering his hands and feet!

Still sucking that thumb


My snuggle-bugs in the mornings...


Hope everyone is enjoying their February...