"Oh! That Josh."

Tyler and Ann brought Brody home from Collin's house on Wednesday night (after Barrett's surgery).  Before they left, Tyler told a story that had us all laughing.  It was a conversation he had with Brody on his way to pick up Ann from work in Grapevine.

Tyler, "Those are the apartments Josh lives in." (He pointed to the apartments where our cousin Josh lives as they drove past.)

Brody, "No.  That's not where Josh lives."

Tyler, "Yes it is."

Brody, "No it's not!  Why do you think he lives there?"

Tyler, "Because he told me that's where he lives."
Brody, "When did he tell you that?"

Tyler, "I don't know.  Maybe it was at your birthday party?"

Brody, "Josh wasn't at my birthday party!"

Tyler, "Yes he was."

Brody, "No he wasn't.  I know Josh wasn't at my party."

Tyler, "Yes he was!  He swam with us in the pool...remember?!?"

Brody, "No.  I know he wasn't there."

Tyler, "Ok.  Whatever." (Knowing full well that Josh WAS at Brody's birthday party...he gave in rather than continuing to argue with a 5 year old)

It was silent for a minute or so in the car and then all of the sudden Brody said, "OH!  THAT Josh.  Yeah, he was there!"

Tyler, "What Josh did you think I was talking about?"
Brody, "Josh Hamilton."

LOL!  What can I say?  The Texas Rangers are never far from that boy's mind!

Campbell Kids

I had so much fun taking pictures of Lauren, Katelyn, and Collin the other night.  It was SUPER hot outside (100+ degrees), but they were troopers!  Julie and I were drenched in sweat by the time we got back to our cars...but I think it was worth it.  Not only did we make some memories, we got some stinkin' cute pictures!

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Barrett's Eye Surgery #2

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Baseball Conversation

Brody: "What if I get to meet one of the Rangers when I go to the Rangers game with Tyler?" (Tyler and Ann got him tickets to the September 9th game for his birthday.)

Me: "What?  Are you gonna yell 'JOSH' from your seat since you'll be so close to the field?"

Brody: "No!  We're not sitting on that side."

Me: "Oh.  Where are you sitting?"
Brody: "In right field.  Cruz plays right field."
Me: "Ah.  So are you gonna yell 'NELLY!!!'"

Brody: "I don't know how he'd hear me.  He plays shallow right field."

Duh.  Why didn't I think of that.  Lol!

Then he said, "We better find out what color jerseys they're wearing that night so I can make sure to wear the right color shirt!" (He got a blue Hamilton shirt and a red Kinsler shirt for his birthday.)  Anyone know how you find out what jersey the Rangers will be wearing?

Choosing Joy

When I wake up in the morning I have a choice.  I can focus on the chaos of the day ahead (everything I have to get done) and I can let it stress me out and bring me down....or I can choose to be joyful and focus on the hope and grace that comes through Christ.  Today I choose joy!!

Learning to Drive

For the past few weeks Barrett's been waking up a little early.  He stumbles into the kitchen and says, "I want Daddy!" (not something we're used to hearing from our mama's boy).  Then he follows Mike around as he finishes getting ready for work.  When it's time to leave, Barrett runs ahead of Mike to the Jeep and climbs up into the drivers seat!  Mike let's him sit in his lap and hold the steering wheel as he backs out of the driveway.  Barrett thinks he is big stuff getting to drive with Daddy!  He loves this routine so much that it has become his favorite part of the day! 

For Cindy

Because  I know how much my aunt loves me taking pictures of children in high places....here's Brody testing out Daddy Steve's birthday present!

Hot Bat!

We subscribe to MLB.tv so that we (meaning Mike and Brody) can watch all the Texas Rangers games.  Lately the Rangers games have been Brody's quiet time.  Barrett goes down for a nap and Brody watches the previous day's baseball game.  Whenever there's a commercial break, Brody runs to my office to give me the rundown of every play that happened so far in that inning.  It amazes me that he can remember every single play that happens!

During the first commerical break today he came out and said something that made me laugh....."Mom, we haven't scored any runs yet, but we have a hot bat and a good line up.  Mike Napoli, Mitch Moreland, and Yorvit Torrealba are coming up to bat!!!"  (Yes, I had to google their names for the correct spelling.)

It was the way he said "hot bat" so matter of factly that had me laughing! 

I need to write down one of his inning recaps sometime so you can fully understand his obsession with the game!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

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Can he really be FIVE?!?

Last night as I tucked Brody in bed I said for the last time, "You're my favorite 4 year old in the entire world!"  Never again will I get to say that to him...now I'll have to tell him he's my favorite 5 year old in the entire world!  I still can't belive that Brody turned FIVE today.  It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it's been 5 years since we were in that little hospital in Lyons, KS holding our son for the first time.  It has been an amazing 5 years.  Brody blows us away with his compassion for others and his enthusiasm for life.  It is a true joy to be his parents!  This morning he walked into the kitchen, gave me a huge hug, and said, "Thank you so much for having me!  I'm so glad God made you my mommy!"  He definitely knows how to melt my heart!

We reserve getting donuts for special occasions...and this morning was one of those days.  The boys were super excited to go to the donut store and pick out donuts for everyone (Grammy and Mark & Angela are still in town).  We sang Happy Birthday to Brody with his breakfast donut (and then re-lit the candle for both Barrett and Jayden to take turns blowing it out! lol)

My how he's grown.  It's happened WAY too fast!!!!

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After church this morning Grammy got out something she thought the kids would have fun doing with her....origami.  She didn't realize that it wasn't kid level origami (it was hard for us!) and that it would lose their attention fairly quickly. 

Brody absolutely LOVES babies.  He had fun holding Laney and showing her one of his baby bears.

Later we tried to get a picture of Grammy with her grandkids (Barrett, Jayden, Brody, & Laney).  You know how that goes!  Either someone's talking, someone's not looking at the camera, or someone's crying in every picture! 

Brody's 5th Birthday Party

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What's that wet stuff?!?

The day has finally arrived....Brody's 5th birthday party!  He's been worried about the weather forecast all week.  He would fret over the weatherman forecasting rain...and then he'd decide that it'd be a great birthday present from God (since we're drought stricken right now).  He could never decide which he wanted to happen (rain for the grass....or no rain for his pool party)!

This morning we woke up to a sound we haven't heard in months....water falling from the sky...RAIN!!!!  It was a slow, steady rain (without any thunder or lighting) and Brody & Barrett were excited to go outside and run around in the wet stuff falling from the sky!

#44 - "Play in the rain!" is now checked off of Brody's "Things to do this summer" list.

My brother...Master Tyler

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Caleb's Birthday Party

July 16, 2011

Audria invited us over for a brunch this morning in honor of Caleb's 29th birthday.  That's right...only one more year in his 20's!  She had a delicious spread including her famous pancakes and homemade banana nut syrup!  Yummmm!  After brunch the kids convinced Caleb to turn on his xbox Kinect for them to play.  They had fun playing the track and field game.  I was too busy talking (surprise, surprise!) and didn't take many pictures...but I did get a great family picture of Tyler, Ann, and Luke!  It seems funny for this to be the only picture I post from CALEB'S birthday party...oh well!  It's too cute not to post :)

Night at the Ballpark

Yesterday one of Daddy Steve and Namaw's neighbors gave us Texas Rangers tickets.  She gave us tickets for both last night's game AND tonight's game!  Since Mike had a softball game last night, I invited Daddy Steve and Namaw to go with me and the boys to the game.  It was a little warm the first 30 minutes because our seats were directly in the sun...but once the sun went behind the stadium it didn't feel bad!  The Rangers played a GREAT game (won 9-2) and it was fun to watch!  Barrett actually watched some of the game this time, however, his favorite part is when they play music that causes all the fans to clap along!  He loves music!

Brody, on the other hand, was 100% into the game.  It was so fun to listen to him talk about the game!  I'm amazed with how much he knows not only about the Rangers...but about baseball in general!  It was funny to watch the fans around us eavesdrop on Brody.  Some of them turned around and began to engage him in baseball talk!  They were shocked that a 4 year old (yes...I still have 5 more days before I have to admit I have a 5 year old!) knows that much about baseball!  Here he is explaining the scoreboard to Barrett...

I tried to get him to smile at me between innings...but he wouldn't take his eyes off the highlights video they were playing on the scoreboard! lol

Barrett found other things to keep his interest during the game...like the gallon zip loc back of peanuts that I brought to the game.

Seeing how the game didn't start until 7:05 (and Barrett's usually in bed by 8 pm), Barrett soon got sleepy.   He never fell asleep, but he did climb up in my lap and suck his thumb. 

It was a GREAT night at the Ballpark in Arlington!

PASS!!!

While we were in Galveston, Mike was in St. Louis.  His trip wasn't a trip for pleasure though.  He spent 16+ hours each day studying for his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.  He obtained his CAPM (certified associate in project management) before Barrett was born and has been working towards his PMP since then.  He took a boot camp prep class in St. Louis to help him prepare for the exam.  On the first day of the class the instructor advised the class to schedule their exam for at least a month after the prep course ended so that they'd have sufficient time to study.  Oops!  Mike had already scheduled his exam in Bedford, TX for the day after the prep course ended!  He was able to push it back a day (to Saturday morning) so that he'd be sure to have a good night's rest before the exam...but he decided to go ahead and take the exam. 

We got home on Friday evening from Galveston to a bleary eyed, brain fried Mike.  He said he was starting to go cross eyed looking at his computer screen!  We were all exhausted from our week of fun (and the trip home), so we turned in early with him.  (We were in bed by 9:15!)

Mike's exam started at 8 am on Saturday morning and I wasn't expecting to hear from him before 12:30 or 1 pm.  I was shocked when he called at 11:45!  I knew that since the test was electronic he would find out the result immediately...so I held my breath as I answered the phone.

"Well...we need to save up a few hundred dollars." he said with a dejected tone in his voice. (The retake costs a few hundred bucks.)

My heart dropped.  "Oh no!  You didn't pass?!?" 

"I didn't say that," he said.  "We need to save up a few hundred buck to get me a PRESENT BECAUSE I PASSED!!!!!!!"

YAY!!!!!!  I am so proud of him!  I knew he could do it...but it was great to hear the excitement and relief in his voice when he said those words! 

Goodbye Ocean!

This morning Namaw and Grammy decided they'd had enough of the salt and sand of the ocean and they volunteered to stay at the hotel and pack up to leave.  Barrett wanted to stay with them (and swim in the hotel pool) but Brody wanted one more morning of beach volleyball.  Tropical storm Don was headed our way and we could see lots of storm clouds on the horizon.  I took this picture of Brody (using my iPhone) not long after we arrived at the beach...

Thankfully the storm cloud blew over and we kept right on playing. We played in the waves and in the sand until it was time to go shower/pack. 

We had so much fun this week at the beach.  I loved seeing the boys excitement over the enormity of the ocean.  I also enjoyed spending the week with my mom and my mother-in-law.  We made lots of memories that will last a lifetime! 

Sunset Walks on the Beach

After dinner tonight we went down to the beach to walk in the sand.  Since it was sunset...I had to take a few pictures!

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Mario's

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Clams and Body Boards

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Watching the Waves

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