Houston getaway weekend

Nona and Pappy were so sweet to keep Colby this weekend so that we could take a roadtrip to Houston to visit Chana and Dan! I was worried that Colby was going to be fussy all weekend because of a new tooth, but I think it broke through just in time. :)

I really don't even know what to say about our weekend...haha...it was a blast and very eventful. :)

We got there late Friday night. The guys went out to the deer lease to hang out and the girls put the little girls to bed and then went out to the Melting Pot- YUM!!! I had never been there before, but it was awesome!! Thank you to the girls for catering to my picky eating.

Saturday we slept in and then shopped at the Woodlands Mall. It was a really neat place, and we all picked up something that we just couldn't live without.

We met up with the guys Saturday evening and went to eat at Goose's Acre for Kevin (Chana's brother)'s birthday. We hung out there for a little while and listened to the band, and then we ended up at BIG TEXAS dancehall. This place lives up to it's name! haha...it was SO fun watching people dance and even showing off some dance moves ourselves.

The night ended with some guy getting tazed on the dancefloor (thank goodness no one in our group!) and the dogs killing a possum in the backyard when we got home!!! (The poor babysitter called us panicking because something was attacking the dogs in the backyard...we came home to find a humongous dead possum in their dog run...EW!!!)

Sunday morning we celebrated Kevin's actual birthday with Arturo's breakfast, "gift" cards as Chandler would say, and gift opening.

Thank you Kevin for letting us come celebrate with you. Thank you Dan and Chana for inviting us for an oh-so-fun weekend, and thank you Lisa and Mike for letting us stay in your home (even though you didn't invite us...haha). We can't wait to hang out again!!

getting ready to go out on the town

xoxo

check out how ripped her arm is! :)

Dan- you're so bad

Travis getting his shoes shined....he must have forgotten that he didn't have any cash on him! Thanks for bailing him out boys :)

fun girls

"dead" possum in garbage bag at 3am!!

Hope's baby shower

Baby Rhett will be here before we know it!! Last weekend we threw a baby shower at my mom's house to celebrate. We made it jungle themed since that is the decor in his nursery. Hope got tons of adorable outfits, blankets, toys and more for baby Rhett...I think she and Jeffrey are definitely ready for his arrival now. We can't wait!!

Mr. and Mrs. Collier

Natalie and Ty's wedding night was soooooo beautiful and amazing!! It was such a happy and fun night, and Natalie, of course, was STUNNING!! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (which, by the way, I had my mom's camera and took 320 pictures!! Maybe got a little carried away....)

dancing queens

These 2 are up next!! I can't wait!! :)

high school buds

Mary Helen and Sally!

Such a fun night- Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Ty Collier!!

CRAZY FUN

That is the definition of my life right now...completely crazy but also so fun...

Colby is AWESOME...I have no recent pictures/videos because 1) I lost the lens cap to my camera so I can't just throw it in my purse, and 2) because the battery is dead and for the life of me I cannot remember to charge it. :) SORRY!! He is a MANIAC in his jump-a-roo...I'm talking an hour of straight jumping...not just bouncing...full fledged jumping! He's really starting to "talk" alot. Almost like he's having a conversation with you, but you have no idea what he's saying. I love it! He's gotten his 3rd tooth on the bottom. (thank goodness this explains the moodiness last week...poor baby) And today he moves up to his big boy car seat!! We're done with the infant seat. (Honestly, I thought the infant seat lasted until 12 months when they could face the front...why didn't anyone tell me that this was untrue???)

Life is GOOD! We are doing great, getting settled into our new normal, and loving our crazy little life. Hopefully tonight after Colby hits the hay, I can post pictures from Natalie and Ty's beautiful wedding and our super-fun Houston getaway this weekend. But for now, as Colby jumps away, I need to find something to feed my husband for dinner!! :)

xoxo

God is Good...all the time...

Has anyone else noticed the amazing sunrises and sunsets in the past few months?? God is so good to us! I am truly in awe of his creation every day...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLBY!!!

HAPPY 8 month BIRTHDAY Colby Lee!!!

What a JOY this baby boy is in our lives. 8 months is my favorite time so far! (yes, I have said that every month) Colby is so engaged and playful. He can see you from across the room. He is not quite crawling yet, but he still goes wherever he wants by rolling there. The other day he rolled over to his little toy box, grabbed a ring out of it and rolled back to where he was to chew on it. It was amazing! Such a smart little boy.

His face lights up when he smiles. My favorite time is when I get to get him out of bed. He is SO happy and sweet. His cuddle moments are also so fun. I love when he's tired enough that he just wants to lay on me. (The opposite is his back arching moments...not my favorite)

He is still eating everything in sight. He is still in size 3 diapers, 9 month clothes, and 0-3 month pacifier. :) He can grab his paci all by himself and put it back in his mouth- yay!

In the past few weeks he has gone on his first big shopping outing with Mimsy and I in Round Rock, sat in his first restaurant high chair, and today he even visited mommy's school for the first time. (he was so good!)

I just love him to death and I'm so thankful for him and the joy he brings to me every day. (he has also brought alot of exhaustion, but that's ok- he's too cute to dwell on that.)

Here are some recent pictures. I'm sooooooooooooooooo excited about Christmas decorating and Thanksgiving get-togethers in the next 2 weeks. This is MY FAVORITE time of year!!! I love that I get to share it with Colby this year. :)

loooooooooove this sweet face in the morning!!

Colby loves to bounce, bounce, bounce

wow! Bad hair day!! :) (maybe it's time for another haircut?)

Goodnight, Sleep Tight!!

Don't let the bedbugs bite. :)

why I love my job...

Today our school held a moment of silence at 1:34...24 hours after the shooting in Fort Hood began. I had already given my students a thorough speech about how serious this was and how important it is to be respectful during these times...

After the minute was complete and we were ready to move on to our next activity, one of my students was still laying on the floor- face down. (we were about to watch a video about our government, so some of the kids were on the carpet)
me: M- why are you still on the floor?? Sit up please!
M- (looking up at me with his sweet little 7-year-old face) Mrs. Anthony, I'm not finished praying!

:)

Trying to find the words....

My heart is so heavy today after the terrifying mass murders in Fort Hood. I cannot even begin to fathom how this could have happened. It is all just completely unbelievable.

Yesterday, at about 1:45, our assistant principal announced that we were going into a soft lock down and it was not a drill. Soft lock down basically means that we lock our classroom doors, no one goes in or out, no movement in the hallway, no kids outside, etc. We can continue teaching like normal, so the kids weren't too alarmed. I even made the comment "we're fine...it's probably just a mouse in the hallway or something!" Thank goodness I had no idea what was actually unfolding at the time. When I checked my email I realized that something very scary was happening in Fort Hood which is about 30 minutes away from our school. At the time, details were so uncertain, and officials were concerned that there may be other shooters on the loose. I immediately had the same feeling in my gut that I did on 9/11. Not just a sickening, "I can't believe this" feeling, but the feeling that this may not be over...it was all still happening right at that moment...we didn't know if this would be a single shooting or if the nightmare had just begun. I was so thankful that my students were safe, locked inside my classroom and completely clueless of the evil that was going on at that moment...but I also couldn't help but think of all of the people I knew who might be in Fort Hood, and people I know that have loved ones who work in Fort Hood (including the teacher in the room across from mine). I went into prayer mode...that's all I could do, so I knew I needed to do it! Soon after, I got texts informing me that 2 of our friends were working in the hospital on base. My heart just dropped...I knew they were probably fine...and I knew that they were probably going to be a huge blessing to injured soldiers who were coming in...but I was still scared of the uncertainty and I was hurting for their worried wives.

Luckily, the TPD felt that it was safe for us to dismiss our students as normal. We had several officers on campus as well as a SWAT officer in full uniform...including a humongous gun! Scary!

Sorry this is turning into such a long story...but it's one of those days that I will never forget. I watched the news for hours when I got home. Travis went up to the hospital to try to give blood, but thanks to our amazing community, there were already about 200 people waiting in line. WOW! I am so thankful for pure love of people....

Luckily, we got a little break from the madness, because it was date night!!! Nona and Pappy came to put Colby to bed, and Travis and I went to Cheeve's for dinner and a few drinks.

This morning, on my way to work, I was listening to KLOVE...trying to get my mind in the right place. I knew that today would be difficult. This horrifying event was impossible for me to understand...I can't imagine what might be going through my second graders' minds...thank goodness things like this don't happen every day...so they don't know how they are supposed to react or what to do and say. As I was planning my truthful, but non-detailed statement for my kids, I heard the chorus of a song (that's not my favorite song, but for some reason I didn't change it!! :)) that says "we live, we love, we forgive and never give up. The days we are given are gifts from above, and today we remember to live and to love." This made me think of 2 things...1st...God calls us to forgive...wow...2nd...today is a gift!! Live today...love people today!!

Thank you father for teaching me new things every day. Help me to learn to forgive those who trespass against us. Help me to love people...your people. Help me to reach out to those around me who need your love and grace. Most of all, today I am asking you to surround Fort Hood with peace and comfort. I know that you are holding all of us in your hands...but please hug a little tighter today on those who need you the most. You are all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present...thank you for your AMAZING everyday blessings.

Visiting Gram

A few weeks ago, my dad's mother (Gram), has moved into a beautiful assissted living home, Garden Estates. It is very close to my parents house and I think that even though it is a difficult situation, it's great for her! In fact, her first night there (about 3 weeks ago), she was asked to play 42 with a group, and I think she's been playing just about every night since then! She even stayed out so late one night that they called my dad looking for her! :) I'm so glad that she is having fun with old and new friends and that we all know that she is being well taken care of. She says that the food is a little bland, so I think we finally got her hooked up with some pepper sauce...haha...but other than that, I think everything is going really well. We have been up to visit her several times already. The last time we went, Colby was determined to eat her necklace...we finally had to take it off so that he wouldn't break it. I enjoyed watching Colby roll around and play in Gram's living room, and he even let her hold him for a little while. I love precious moments like this!

A 1st for me!

As most of you know, I am a bit of a picky eater...ok...it's really bad!!! You could maybe even say OUT OF CONTROL....but I think you will be proud of me after you hear this story.

Last week in my class, we did all kinds of activities with pumpkins including roasting pumpkin seeds! I have never done this before...and to be honest, the smell of pumpkin guts makes me want to puke, but I wanted to do it for the kids! I know that so many people enjoy doing this every year after carving pumpkins, and I wanted my students to be able to experience this as well, soooooooooo....I sucked it up, coated them in butter and Lawry's seasoning salt, and roasted them up. I will admit that after they had been sizzling for about 5 minutes or so, they actually started to smell really good! I passed out the seeds and the kids LOVED them! One even said "they taste like french fries!" I decided that I could at least just tryyyyy one...I could spit it out if I didn't like it...turns out that they were soooooo yummy!!!! I loved them, and now hope to make that a tradition that Colby will look forward to every year. Thank you 2nd graders for talking me into trying something new!!!

oh...and here's the picture that uploaded when I thought I was uploading the punkin' seeds the first time...what is wrong with my computer?? :) I love these two boys!!

Our little Monkey!!

We had sooooo much fun "trick-or-treating" on Colby's 1st Halloween. We started at Nona and Pappy's house where we got to see Uncle Dylan, the Thompson M&Ms, and Reese and Ginny! Then we headed over to Harry and Debbie's house to meet up with Jackson and Jayci, Jordan and Justin, and then finally to my parents' house where we got a visit from the Martin family and the Schneiders. It was so fun seeing all of the babies and friends! I have a new love for Halloween. We were also so lucky that Trav got to take a study break to join us. :)

in the front yard waiting for daddy to come home

Colby the monkey and Reese the pirate!

Pappy, Dylan, Colby and Nona

picture that Lindsay took of our little monkey boy!

with cousins Jayci and Jackson (Jackson did not appreciate Colby tearing up his costume!!)

Me and Lizzy with our baby boys

ok....I had like 60 pictures from Halloween night, but it has taken me an hour just to get these up...my computer/blogger/maybe the operator is all messed up and it is uploading the wrong pictures!! ugh...anyway- here are some precious ones anyway...Happy Halloween!!