Visit with Friends

Friday we left St. John and headed to Sterling to stay with Chris & Teri. Their kids were really excited to see us when we arrived. Hans was so cute with Barrett. He'd lay there and talk to him for a long time! He really loves babies! Erin was really excited to see Brody. Remember this post?
Saturday morning Mike and Chris left early to go hunting. Goose hunting with Garet was first on their agenda for the day. Teri and I stayed behind with the kids. We were surprised to look out the window after breakfast and see big snowflakes falling from the sky! The kids ran outside to watch the snow. I think Erin knew that it wasn't going to stick (notice her bare feet and short sleeve shirt!!)

By mid-morning the kids were starting to get a little stir crazy. Teri and I loaded up their minivan and drove into town. We took the kids to the Broadway Market (an amazing coffee shop for a small town). I love this quiet little coffee shop! The kids got hot chocolate and Teri and I had coffee (I think it'd been awhile since I'd had so much caffeine and it made me a little jittery...sorry Barrett!)

Staci, Barrett (in the sling...you can see his hand if you look closely), and Teri at Broadway Market.

When we got back Debbie (their neighbor and my former midwife) came over to see the boys. Brody, of course, turned shy and wouldn't say anything...but Barrett was all smiles.

Around lunch time Mike & Chris showed up. They'd had a very successful goose hunt and were happy hunters. They ate lunch and then headed back out to go pheasant hunting.

Saturday afternoon Brandi (our former preachers wife) and her kids stopped by for a visit. It was fun to catch up with her! After she left Brody went down for a nap, Chris & Teri's kids went downstairs to play, and Teri and I decided to take Barrett on a walk (you can do that when you live out in the middle of nowhere...leave the kids at home for a little bit to go on a walk down the desolate, dirt road). It felt great walking away from the house, but when we turned around to walk back the wind had a bite to it!

Just before dinner time the guys arrived and announced that they'd had another successful hunt. Mike told me that it was a perfect hunting day. They saw lots of birds, the weather was nice, and he got to hunt with one of his best friends!

Here's a picture of them cleaning the pheasants. Notice Alan looking on. He's an eager future hunter if I ever saw one! I think he was in every picture that I took of the birds!

While Teri prepared dinner and the guys cleaned the birds, Erin and Collin showed Brody how to jump on a trampoline. He thought it was so much fun! I hear lots and lots of laughing from their direction.

And then all of the sudden I heard loud crying!!!!

Brody bounced and somehow busted his top lip. It was bleeding pretty good! He stopped crying when I cleaned him up and then he immediately asked to go back outside and jump on the trampoline!

Brody played and played and played with all the kids. Several times different kids would comment to me, "Brody wears me out!" I would just laugh and tell them it was payback for all the times we'd babysit or just come over and play with them! Brody especially loved the Spiderman dart gun (however he had to have someone cock the gun everytime he wanted to shoot it...he's just not strong enough yet).

Just before bedtime the Wilsons stopped by for a visit. Here's a picture of Erin, Brody, & Sydney.

Sunday morning we went to our old church. It amazed me how much children can grow in just a few months! I didn't even recognize a few of them because they'd grown so much! It was harder to leave on Sunday than either of us had anticipated. We finally had to take one last deep breath of country air, climb in the car, and drive away. We miss the country and our friends there but were soon reminded of one of the many reasons that we moved to Texas. Teri told us that Brody said to her, "I'm not going back to your house today. I have to go back to Texas to see Daddy Steve and Namaw!"

More Beans Please

After the visit to "the farm", we left Plains to head to St. John. Grandpa Jim and Great-Grandma K were waiting for us to eat a late lunch (which turned into more like an early dinner...what can I say...travel takes longer with 2 kids).

4 generations - Grandpa Jim, Great-Grandma K, Barrett, & Mike

Jim was excited to get to see Barrett for the first time.

Brody spent some time playing with Molly the dog before we ate dinner.

When we ate dinner, Brody only had one thing on his mind. Beans! He loved Jim's baked beans...and wanted more! I have no clue how many helpings of beans he ate. I was just sure that we'd pay for it on the car ride to Sterling...but they didn't seem to bother him!

Goin' to the Farm

As soon as Brody found out that LH had tractors, he was asking to "go to the farm". This morning LH and Mike took Brody to see LH's farm equipment. Brody thought it was super cool to get to ride in the front of the pick up.


Mike and Brody climbing on the cotton stripper.

Farmer Brody drivin' the tractor.

Brody playing with all the levers on the tractor. Notice the sucker in his mouth.

"Driving" the bobcat.

Thanks, LH, for showing Brody all your tractors! He loved it!!

Family Pictures

This morning everyone came back over to LH & Thais's house. I set up the camera and we got a picture of the family.

Barrett looked very interested in whatever LH was saying to him.

Mike's cousins (Kelly, Holly, & Heidi) really loved playing with Brody.

LH, Thais, Holly, & Heidi were our hosts for Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed getting to stay at their house. We watched movies, played games, talked, laughed, and ATE!!

Thanksgiving Day

This morning Brody was rarin' to go outside and play! He didn't remember how cold the wind can be in Kansas...but I don't think it really mattered to him. He was finally able to convince 2 of Mike's cousins, Holly & Heidi, to go outside and play basketball with him.

Grandpa and Grandma B arrived just before lunch time and were excited to get to see Barrett for the first time (although you wouldn't know it from the expression on Grandpa B's face! lol)

Everyone else was busy hovering around the food in the kitchen. Ron made an excellent cheese ball that I ate my fair share of...and that was just one of the appetizers! (Notice how beautiful LH & Thais's remodeled kitchen is!)

We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving lunch, a great Dallas Cowboys game, a snooze here and there, some domino playing, and lots of talking/laughing. Brody also enjoyed a blue sucker (proof in the picture below).

Nancy brought some Christmas socks for all the girls. Grandma B had a hard time picking out a pair. Here she is telling Barrett that his toes are to little for her big socks!

Driving to Kansas

We left for Kansas today around noon. The boys and I drove to Mike's office to pick him up and then headed out of town. Brody was VERY excited about the trip. He kept asking if he'd get to see Remington. I think he really misses Remy. I crawled in the back seat for a little while to entertain the boys. It was a TIGHT squeeze between the 2 carseats!

Barrett traveled extremely well! When Brody was this age he would cry anytime he was awake in the car. It made the trips between KS and TX very loooong. I was worried that Barrett would do the same. It was a pleasant surprise when he was a content traveler! I think it helped that he had his brother to keep him company in the back seat. The only time he cried was when he started to get hungry.

We typically head straight up I35 when we go to KS. Since we were going to Plains (western KS) we took a different route. I never knew there were mini mountains in Oklahoma!

We stopped for dinner at a small town in OK. Brody was going stir crazy so we found a park to take our Sonic to. He wasn't ready to get back in the car when it was time to go. It was a pretty cool park!

We arrived in Plains a little after 9:30 pm. It was a long trip (9 1/2 hours!). We look forward to seeing all the family tomorrow and sleeping on a soft bed tonight!

Check it out!

Daddy Steve has been having a lot of fun with the boys lately. Check out his blog for posts on:

Mondays at the Library
Look Out!
Campo Verde Lunch
Snocker
Brody & Barrett

Friend Day

Today Megan brought Logan and Camryn over to play. Brody was so excited all morning about them coming. Then as soon as they walked in the door he turned into a shy boy who wanted to hide behind his mommy's legs! He finally came out of his shell and took Logan back to his room to play and then outside to play with all the outdoor toys. There were a few meltdowns over sharing (on Brody's part), but (just as they were about to leave) I looked out he back door and saw them playing together so sweetly! Camryn and Barrett enjoyed having another baby to "talk" to while Megan and I talked. Camryn is such a cutie! She's also a pretty big baby and makes Barrett look like a shrimp!

I'm not sure what Brody enjoyed more...playing with Logan or talking to TWO babies at once!

Megan and I always enjoy our visits...even if they are interrupted by the constant questions of toddlers and being spit up on by babies!

Dinner Down the Street

Today we had lunch at Ron & Jan's house. It's very convenient since they live just 2 doors down from Daddy Steve and Namaw (who live just 2 blocks from us). We were celebrating all the November birthdays in our family (Sissie, Julie, and Josh). Here's a cute picture of our family out in their front yard. As soon as we arrived Brody headed to the sunroom where all the toys are. Sissie followed him out there and let him show her how to use all the tools while GG held Barrett in the living room.

Ron & Jan were busy in the kitchen making homemade pizzas. They were yummy!!!

Audria and Ann were pinned down on the couch by little children eager for their attention!

It was a fun afternoon with family. I'm so glad that we're close enough to once again be apart of family get togethers!

Baby Blues

Turkey Cookies

I signed up to take cookies to Brody's school tomorrow for their Thanksgiving Feast. I thought about taking the easy way out and making some cookies from the cookie dough that we bought from the school's fundraiser...but that wouldn't have been any fun for Brody! So...I decided to make something a little more interesting...and Brody was excited to be my helper! He put the cookies on the cookie sheet, poured ingredients into the mixing bowl for the icing, and ate/licked anything I'd let him! After licking the spatula for the chocolate icing.

Here's Brody's Turkey Cookie!

And my Turkey Cookies! Aren't they cute :) Notice that there's 1 that's not like the other. Brody added a few more eyes to his Turkey Cookie (click on the picture to see the detail on the cookies).

I had a lot of fun making these with Brody. He was really good while I was trying to decorate my turkeys. I think it's because he was scarfing down the candy corn without me noticing! I was starving come lunch time...but I could hardly get him to eat anything! I let him have some roomtime while I cleaned up our mess. I'm usually a "clean as you go" type of baker...but it's kinda hard to do that when a 2 year old is helping you.

Sweet Boy

Last night Mike and Brody went to the grocery store for me. It's become their thing to go to the grocery store together. Even though Mike is still weak from being so sick, when I mentioned that I needed to go to the store he said that he wanted to go. He said that he and Brody have fun together! When they got home Brody had a surprise for me. He walked in the door with some flowers for me. The first thing he told me was that he wanted me to smell them. He said, "You don't eat the flowers...just smell them." Mike said he didn't tell Brody that, so I guess that's just something Brody wanted to make sure I knew! When he finally handed the flowers over to me, he gave me a big hug and a kiss. I love that boy!!!