The Morrisons

Clark's New Haircut

2011-09-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

Random Pics

2010-12-05T23:10:00.001-06:00

Been awhile since we updated. As always we’ve been staying busy. Clark has really gotten into superheroes lately. Audrey is constantly reading and learning.

How to Riverdance

2010-11-15T19:42:00.002-06:00

More Soccer

2010-11-05T23:42:00.001-05:00

Audrey’s Soccer

2010-11-05T23:39:00.001-05:00

Costumes

2010-10-27T22:44:00.001-05:00

Indoor T-Ball

2010-10-11T19:42:00.002-05:00

Update

2010-10-03T20:35:00.001-05:00

Just some pics I couldn’t help but take when I saw how cute they were being.

Big kids

2010-10-03T15:27:00.000-05:00

Galveston Trip

2010-09-05T22:10:00.001-05:00

Like we did last summer, we made a trip to Galveston right before school started. We took Molly again and the cousins had a great time together. Even though Molly couldn’t see out of one of her eyes with her goggles on she still managed to get a lot of mud on me.

2010-09-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

First Day of School

2010-09-02T22:56:00.001-05:00

Clark in Salado

2010-08-17T22:19:00.002-05:00

Tweety and Audrey

2010-08-15T17:07:00.001-05:00

The Rascal

2010-08-14T00:06:00.001-05:00

This kid is crazy and I am in love with him.

Shannon’s 30th Birthday

2010-08-14T00:04:00.001-05:00

I can’t tell you how grateful I am to everyone who contributed to the book we made for Shannon’s birthday. It was pretty overwhelming to read how many great things were written about my beautiful wife. Here’s some pics of her opening and reading it.

Free Chick-fil-a Day

2010-08-13T23:50:00.001-05:00

We made our 3rd annual trip to Chick-fil-a on Cow Appreciation Day. I’m surprised more people don’t take advantage of this, but we had breakfast and lunch there. It happened to be on Shannon’s birthday this year, so I took her out for three meals. Here was Clark’s outfit. He matched the fireman cow for their recent spicy chicken sandwich promotion.

Colorado 2010

2010-08-13T23:46:00.001-05:00

We had another great time in Estes Park this year. We stayed in a cabin with Bebe, Pop, Patrick and Molly. Gigi and Dada came up later in the week and stayed at the YMCA as well. This year we hiked to Black Lake which was a 10 miles roundtrip. The kids came with us to Bear Lake and Clark hiked to Bible Point.

Clark’s Scary Pose Black Lake Dad’s MacGuyver Hummingbird feeder

Bear Lake

Father’s Day 2010

2010-06-20T21:54:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. We haven’t been taking many pictures but have been up to a lot lately. Last weekend, we went to New Braunfels for a conference. We managed to have some time to make it to Schlitterbahn. The kids are crazy. They want to ride every ride, no matter how much Shannon is scared of it.

We had a great Father’s Day today. A very laid back day spent with our good friends, the Cartwrights. My lovely bride made a great pot of gumbo. Be warned grandmothers- she’s getting really good. This is a pretty important quality if you are married to a Beaumont boy. We went to Toy Story 3 and my little man sat in my lap the whole time. So other than having both kids sit with me, which isn’t to practical anymore, it was as good as it gets. The kids and Shannon decorated the pigs across the street with some of my ties. I also woke up to find my favorite breakfast waiting on me made by the only and only Fur-fur. Clark went with me and Grandpa to Warren on Memorial Day weekend. As if I needed some more reasons to enjoy being a father…instances like these are becoming more common with my son.

The Hollows

2010-05-25T00:10:00.001-05:00

We celebrated David’s graduation from UT this past weekend. Uncle Lloyd let us go to his land down at the Hollows on Lake Travis. It has some amazing pools, that the kids swam in for about 4 hours. We loved getting to see

baby Calvin and Stephers. Congrats David! You can always share a room with Fer-Fer if you fall on hard times.

Clark’s Terrible Eyes from Where the Wild Things are.

End of Soccer season

2010-05-12T22:51:00.001-05:00

Audrey finished her first soccer season. We were really surprised at how much she liked it and she’s looking forward to playing again.

Rangers Game

2010-05-12T22:41:00.001-05:00

We had a quick trip to Fort Worth to go to Sarah’s baby shower and see the Lowes before they had off to Missouri. Then we had a Boy’s night at the Rangers game with Wes and Danny. We even took Clark to the Waffle House after the game. Sure would be nice to have one of those here in Temple.

Clark hits the links

2010-04-25T22:57:00.001-05:00

We took Clark to the golf course for the first time. No matter how many shots he took he remained persistent. If you ever want to feel better about yourself with any sporting event, Clark is your man. Constantly he would say "Good shot Dad" and "Wow that was a good one". That was just because my ball went a little further than his. I didn't really hit many good shots.

New York City Trip

2010-04-16T23:22:00.000-05:00

We had a great time in New York City! Audrey acts like a teenager going around the city since she's already been once before. The trip got off to a rocky start as Clark couldn't handle the turbulence and he let loose all over the front of his shirt. We did a ton in just a couple days. The weather was great so we spent a lot of time outside. We revisted Battery Park (where we got engaged). Clark was selected/volunteered to be in a street performance in Central Park. He even got paid to be in it. The boys caught a Knicks game while the girls went to Mary Poppins. We rode the ferris wheel at Toys 'R Us and went to Dylan's Candy Bar. As we took a car back to the airport, Audrey broke down saying, "I want to stay in New York City." She finally calmed down after the promise of 13 more trips to New York. Not sure how I'm going to deliver on that.

Waco Hike

2010-04-04T18:32:00.002-05:00

We went to Waco in early March while Gigi and Dada were in town. Clark had been begging me to take him to a Baylor baseball game so we went to the baseball game and met everyone else at Cameron Park. Audrey loves hiking, so she led us on a hike.

More Soccer

2010-04-04T17:30:00.002-05:00

Audrey had a game on Thursday and scored not one but two goals! She was very excited. Just thought everyone would like to know how much progress she's made. Clark is Audrey’s best cheerleader. The last game he wore a red shirt, black pants, and red socks. Just in case someone gets hurt, he’s ready to go in.

Clark’s 3rd Birthday Party

2010-04-04T17:20:00.001-05:00

Clark and Kendall had their joint birthday party yesterday. The Lord again gave us perfect weather as we had the party outside. Strangely most of Clark’s presents involved sports. Jacob and Kalan came as well and took the kids to an Easter egg hunt.

Audrey Soccer

2010-03-07T17:11:00.001-06:00

Audrey had her first soccer game yesterday. She is number 7 on the Falcons (red team). I am an assistant coach for her team. She did pretty good for only having one practice. Clark practiced the next day doing his best Audrey impression.

Audrey’s Party

2010-02-27T22:43:00.001-06:00

We finally had Audrey’s birthday party today. It was the perfect weather and we had a ton of kids over. Shan, Fer-fer, Brigid, and Gigi made some fantastic decorations for it. We had an athletic team party, where everyone was encouraged to wear something from their favorite sports teams. So our main theme happened to be Baylor.

I’ll save everyone from the emo-dad post. Yes, there have been some tears today as we watched the annual slideshow from the past year. I can’t believe this is the same little girl that we had five years ago. We actually have conversations with her, she can read, she is “besties” with her brudder.

T-Ball Debate

2010-02-27T19:27:00.001-06:00

The Temple little league said they would take a 3 year old (Clark will be three by the start of the season) for pre T-ball. Apparently the difference between pre T-ball and T-ball is that T-ball is competitive. That’s just what 5 and 6 year olds need, but that’s besides the point. We’d like viewer input on if Clark is ready for pre T-ball. Please post your responses.

Snow Angel

2010-02-23T22:20:00.001-06:00

Snowy day

2010-02-23T21:30:00.000-06:00

Disney World

2010-02-21T14:31:00.001-06:00

Audrey has looked forward to her 5th birthday for the past three years. When she was two, her grandparents told her that when she turned 5 she would get to go to Disney World. She talked about that almost every day for the past three years. So with the one of the best birthday presents ever, Bebe and Pop took Audrey to Disney World two days after her birthday. She had an amazing time!

Baylor Game

2010-02-17T00:17:00.002-06:00

After beating Texas Tech, we stayed around after the game to meet some of the players. This is Audrey and Clark in Coach Drew's seat waiting to get in the game. Clark got to meet his favorite player, Quincy Acy aka The Cookie Monster. Clark shoots and then runs to the rim to hang on it. Then he says, "I dunk, I cookie monster." He also got his picture with AJ Walton, a freshman guard. He said, "There's AJ. He's my friend."

happy birthday

2010-02-10T21:55:00.000-06:00

Christmas Day

2010-01-28T21:38:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve

2010-01-28T21:36:00.000-06:00

Pictures from our annual Christmas eve dinner with friends. Better late than never.

Welcome Baby Charlie!

2010-01-16T09:50:00.002-06:00

Fun at the Train Museum

2009-12-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

The Temple Train Museum always has a Christmas event. This was by far Clark's favorite visit to Santa because he handed out fruit snacks to the children. Clark devoured about 4 packs in 2-3 minutes.

San Antonio Trip

2009-12-28T18:59:00.003-06:00

I don't like sitting around the house for more than two consecutive days when I'm off work, so we took a quick trip down to San Antonio. It was one of those times where I was completely and perfectly happy. I have every reason in the world to have these moments every day with what the Lord has blessed me with. However for some reason, I very rarely get overwhelmed with joy. This was one of those times though. The kids were perfect all day. While Shannon was at the outlet mall, we went to Wonder World in San Marcos. The kids liked seeing the cave and feeding the deer. From there we took our last visit to Fiesta Texas for the year. They even had a sledding hill with snow (or Sonic type ice). Audrey is a getting big! She rode the Road Runner Express ride twice. Apparently Shannon screamed the whole time, while Audrey laughed. From there we went to our hotel on the Riverwalk. We walked around, went to the Alamo and saw all of the lights. We almost went to The Lion King as it was being performed right two blocks from our hotel, but didn't want to pay $125 a ticket. We then topped the night off with some Hagen-Daaz ice cream. It was some flavor Shannon found a couple years ago in Boston but has been unable to find since. Audrey summed up the whole day perfectly when she yelled at the top of her lungs on the Riverwalk, "I love my family."

Christmas Program

2009-12-27T20:03:00.000-06:00

Audrey performed very well in her Christmas program at school.

Fashion

2009-12-16T21:54:00.001-06:00

Two different senses of fashion.

In Which Clark Challenges Joel to a Duel

2009-12-16T19:51:00.001-06:00

Open Gym

2009-12-15T22:02:00.001-06:00

We took the kids to local gymnastics place for open time. The kids loved it! I don't think Clark stopped running for 2 hours. He routinely cut in front of kids. We couldn't believe they would let Clark on this harness but he loved it. Audrey and her friend Emily had a blast jumping on the trampolines.

Snow Princess

2009-12-14T21:58:00.001-06:00

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Audrey went to a great birthday party today for her friend. The party favor was this cape which I'm sure will be worn daily for many months.

Cute note

2009-12-13T22:17:00.002-06:00

I got home from the grocery store to find this post-it note on the front door:

Whee or goweeg too Masees too get mom a speshll treet at Masees.

This writing just kills me. It's so funny and she does it all day every day (can you tell we learned the digraph wh this week?).

Unfortunately the "speshll treet" she had picked out for me was a $450 ring. So they didn't pick it up. :( She even offered to help pay for it!

Tree Decorating

2009-12-13T21:50:00.001-06:00

The kids got ornaments from our Estes Park trip this year.

He's a Morrison

2009-12-12T21:34:00.003-06:00

You might not know the Morrisons well enough if you don't know why this is funny. For those of you who would like to be filled in. We ate a lot of meals by ourselves. Mainly cereal. Love you Bethers. But anyway, we need some sort of reading material anytime we sit down to eat.

Watercolors

2009-12-12T16:51:00.004-06:00

Audrey's favorite activity these days...here is Elmo with Dorothy.

Big news!

2009-12-07T20:19:00.009-06:00

Today we received a letter we have been waiting for to make our big announcement...we are adding to our family!

We have begun the process of adopting from Rwanda! We are all so excited and ask for your prayers along the way. Everything has moved very quickly (astonishingly so) up to this point and now the waiting begins.

I'm sure you'll have lots of questions so I have tried to think of the most common ones we get and list them here:

Why adoption? Why international adoption? Why Rwanda?
We have always wanted to adopt in a general sense. We've met and hugged and cried for orphans in the US, Haiti, Belize, and Mexico and knew that adopting was definitely something we wanted to pursue. We have always wanted a large family and it just made sense for us to grow our family in this way. Josh took an amazing course last year called Perspectives and through all that he learned in that class we decided we wanted to do international adoption. Josh first fell in love with Africa in college when he took Swahili so we narrowed it down to that continent (where there are approximately 50 million orphans). Our dear friends the Lowes and our cousins the Medinas both did Ethiopia so we looked into that, and then our friends the Bowers told us that they had just begun the process of adopting in Rwanda. We immediately loved the idea of Rwanda. We've had a deep affection for Rwanda ever since we saw Hotel Rwanda, and our church has a partnership with ALARM, an amazing ministry based in Rwanda (this video from ALARM's website is amazing). Celestin Musekura's sermon at our church had brought us to tears. When I investigated it further, the program sounded ideal. It's a small country (10 million people) with a small international adoption program (17 adopted to the US last year). It's less expensive than some other programs, and the wait can be shorter too. Best of all, we discovered a couple of unique things about the program that addressed some of our anxiety about adopting. In Rwanda it is illegal to abandon your children (in some countries families unable to feed their children drop them off at orphanages and may or may not return). So orphans in Rwanda are true orphans (their parents are dead or they were found on a street corner with no identifying information). In addition, there is no fee to adopt in Rwanda. So the combination of those factors made us feel certain that we would not be prey to any "baby-buying" schemes.

So what's next?
We have to get a couple of documents authenticated in Washington DC and then deliver them to the Rwandan Embassy. The Ambassador will issue a "non-objection letter" and then our dossier will be on a plane to Rwanda! It will be sent to the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion there, where they will review our file and then issue an approval (usually 4-6 month wait). About 8 weeks after approval, the nuns that run the orphanage will give us a referral with pictures, medical report, and age. We have 24 hours to accept or reject the referral, and our court date happens pretty quickly after that. Usually parents travel 2-6 weeks after referral. We'll spend a week in Rwanda and then head to Nairobi for US immigration processing.

What are you requesting?
We've requested one or two children younger than Clark.

What agency are you using?
We are not using an agency. The Rwandan government prefers to work with independent families so we have chosen to try the DIY route. We used an amazing agency, Generations Adoptions, in Waco to write our homestudy report. It was hands-down the best experience we could have hoped for, and a much better experience than any of our friends have had as well. I can't recommend them enough!

Thanks so much for your support and prayers. If you have more questions, please feel free to comment and we'll try to answer them! Let the waiting begin!

What's on the menu at Audrey's Restaurante

2009-11-22T17:33:00.000-06:00

Why, we have chips and queso, extra tortillas, taco soup, enchiladas, quesadillas, ice cream and M&Ms cookies.

*Edited to add, sorry to those of you non-grandparents who might be tired of the phonetic spelling.

This fall's new trends

2009-11-21T15:30:00.000-06:00

Audrey recommends pink and red striped sweater, green t-shirt, patchwork skirt, black polka dot leggings and rain attire.

Crazy Hair Night

2009-11-19T23:15:00.000-06:00

Mt. Bonnell

2009-11-19T22:31:00.003-06:00

We had a great day today in Austin. We started out with breakfast at a fancy ChickFilA!

Then we headed to Mt. Bonnell for a little hike.

More fonetik spelling...

2009-11-17T16:01:00.001-06:00

Dog Cat
Dofin kilr wel (dolphin killer whale)
mustr lidl mustr (monster little monster)
baby mustr horbll (baby monster horrible)
baby god he wus born
in chrismis
papp brfday happy brfday
too you i love lord jesus

Before and After

2009-11-17T10:32:00.004-06:00

Here's our little guy this weekend. I don't remember when his last haircut was, March maybe?

Glen offered 4 different times to give us money for a haircut, and two old people at Northside clinic thought he was a girl, so I figured it was time.

And a little Derek Zoolander action.

You owe me $10, Glen.

How to Exercise while watching TV

2009-11-08T22:43:00.004-06:00

This is what Clark does anytime there is a football game on TB (what he calls TV).

Halloween

2009-11-08T22:33:00.001-06:00

Audrey's Race

2009-11-08T19:13:00.004-06:00

Audrey ran in a .5 mile race today and finished without walking once!

Cuties in costume

2009-10-31T19:46:00.002-05:00

Ariel and Harvey Penick had a great time handing out candy tonight.

Still Football Season

2009-10-28T23:27:00.004-05:00

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Clark's souvenir from Chicago was Bears jersey (yes, I know Grossman doesn't play for them anymore but for $10 what can you expect). We made a special trip to the Shedd Aquarium gift shop to get Audrey's beluga whale souvenir. Here's yet more pics of Clark with his football.. Let me first say that I am not a deadbeat dad and I throw, catch and play tackle him daily. However, Clark's love for football is so much he has resorted to throwing the ball to himself, catching it, running around and tackling himself. Audrey didn't want anything to do with football and resorted to the ole reliable tire swing.

Lazy Sunday

2009-10-11T19:35:00.003-05:00

We had a pretty quiet day around the house with the rain we got. Audrey asked me, "What is the name of the football team we like?" So I got her cheerleader outfit out and Clark then demanded his Texans shirt. Audrey made a sign for the game and when she finished she said, "Dad-you can hold me up like a cheerleader now."

Fonetik Spelling

2009-09-30T22:54:00.003-05:00

But Mom I luv giteng sunbrn wif my cusin molly but my ant ferfer puts her loshin on me my.

More Baseball Pics

2009-09-29T21:32:00.003-05:00

We aren't exaggerating when we say that all Clark likes to do all day is play some sort of sport. I took him to the driving range today and had to drag him home. "More golf. More golf, Daddy!" Here's some recent baseball pics from our recent San Antonio trip.

I'm seeing a theme here...

2009-09-17T19:45:00.004-05:00

Almost word-for-word what I just heard from Clark in bedtime prayers:

Thank you God for

baseball game
ChuckECheese
animals on YouTube
Astros
Express
Astros ball
Astros bat
glub (glove)
Baylor hat
Baylor Bears basketball goal
Handy Manny ball
football
Spiderman bat
Daddy soccer ball (this means it's a big one)
baby soccer ball (this means it's a little one)
golf club
the other golf club
and the other golf club
and Audrey.

Amen.

Golf Clubs

2009-09-15T23:06:00.002-05:00

So I had a dilemma when we moved to Temple and we had children.

Problem
#1 Not many of my friends play golf here in Temple.
#2 I don't like to spend 4 hours away from my kids on the weekend.

Solution

Call the Bullpen- "Bad Throw"

2009-09-06T19:21:00.005-05:00

Clark isn't too happy about my pitching. He does insist on having batting practice everyday for about 30 minutes though.

I will become by earth, presidents, and heaven.

2009-09-02T15:36:00.001-05:00

um guess who needs a haircut

2009-09-01T23:05:00.000-05:00

First Day of School

2009-08-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

one girl, many faces.

2009-08-30T22:44:00.004-05:00

Last Weekend of Summer

2009-08-23T21:53:00.004-05:00

I'm not 100% it counts but we did make a quick trip this weekend to Galveston/Houston. So it depends on your definition of swimming holes if we completed our task or not. I do think we will try to visit some in a couple weeks down in San Antonio. I (Josh) had a great time being with my kids as Shannon went on a girl's weekend trip. We went down to Galveston with Gigi, Dada, Carol, Lauren and the kids. Then we had a great suprise as Bebe, Pop, and Molly showed up. There had been rumors they may come but in somewhat typical Bales fashion- no direct communication to confirm.

After the beach, Clark went to his first Astros game. He was in love. The pic from the rail is when he first got in the stadium and ran to see what it was all about. It was another of those times when I can say that I would have rather done nothing else in the world. Holding him and watching him take in everything was really special. His expression in the up close picture tells it all. He yelled "Go Astros" and kept wanting to go find that rabbit (their mascot, Junction Jack). After we bought his Astros logo ball (tradition for all the ball parks he visited which I do have to rebuy thanks to the guy who broke in our house), he wouldn't let it go at all. Kudos to Brigid for getting me a Biggio collectible even though we weren't one of the first 10,000.

Fort Worth -#4

2009-08-18T23:21:00.005-05:00

Our great friends Chris and Anna recently returned from overseas missions and brought home two really cute children, Ezekiel and Nehemiah. Please check their blog out to see how richly the Lord blesses those who follow his commands. We celebrated Anna and Ezekiel's birthdays along with the Billmans in Fort Worth. Since we were in Fort Worth already, we decided to visit Burger Lake to cross #4 off our list of swimming holes. I'll have to say it was probably my favorite so far because there was so much to do with the kids. It's a spring fed lake but obviously from the pics they've added some slides and diving boards. Next time we go up to Ft. Worth, we'll try to go back for sure.

Krause Springs-#3

2009-08-09T18:50:00.006-05:00

We got to mark off #3 on our swimming holes goal. Krause Springs is in Spicewood close to Marble Falls. They had a rope swing and a cliff to jump off. Jake and Kalan came up to share in the fun. If you look close in our family pic you can see a guy doing a flip off the cliff. Or you could just look at the other guy about to eat it off the swing.

Swimming Holes

2009-08-09T18:34:00.002-05:00

So we set a summer goal of visiting swimming holes. #1 was Pace Park in Salado which we've gone too. For my birthday Shannon surprised me with a visit to Blue Hole in Georgetown for #2 on our list. Often times I hear people complain about there not being anything to do in Temple, but when you come from the Beaumont swamp where the Neches river is your main water source there is plenty to do here in regards to water activities. We visited the Monument Cafe before dinner. I like this picture of the three of us at dinner. Kind of like a cheesy band photo were no one looks at the camera.

Hiking in His Creation

2009-08-03T22:41:00.005-05:00

Josh and I took the beloved Sky Pond hike which is a long and somewhat challenging hike up past the timberline. but boy is it worth it.

First you get to Alberta Falls.

Then the Loch Vale.

Climb up Timberline Falls,
then you'll be at Lake of Glass.

A short climb later and you're staring at Taylor's Peak (the continental divide) overlooking Sky Pond.

It's absolutely breathtaking (even the fifth time). I kept singing to myself the old hymn, Fairest Lord Jesus. You know the first verse, here's the rest.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring: 
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and all the twinkling starry host: 
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful Savior!  Lord of all the nations! 
Son of God and Son of Man! 
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine.

2009-08-02T16:26:00.004-05:00

Clark's knees are the result of 9 falls during our 1 mile hike to Alberta Falls. I do have to commend the lil dude because it never deterred him and he continued to run the whole mile down the mountain. We found out the Clark loves mini-golf and you can't hit your ball until he is completely finished. They both had a fantastic time riding the ponies. Apparently, I'm also the meanest dad in the world because I made Clark's trout bleed.

Colorado Vacation

2009-08-02T14:40:00.004-05:00

This week we met my dad's family in Estes Park for an awesome vacation to Estes Park (where we went every other year when I was growing up). We're officially hooked. We haven't been since our honeymoon (7! years! ago!) and we're planning on going back next year. So here's your official invitation to join us! Somewhere around July 17, 2010 is the likely date.

Here's the most vivid rainbow I've ever seen. It was actually a double rainbow (though it didn't come out in this picture) and I learned for the first time that in a secondary rainbow the colors are inverted. We also could see the end of the rainbow on the ground (another first for me).

The view of my parents' cabin's front porch:

The hummingbirds went crazy for this food--at one point we saw seven hummingbirds crowded around it.

Audrey with my cousin Dani who is 6.

And this is Steven...one of Dani's big brothers. He is all-boy...or couldn't you tell?

Josh and Clark found a fishing pole and Clark quickly learned how to cast and reel in the line.

Jacob and Kalan's Wedding

2009-07-21T23:24:00.006-05:00

Sorry it's taken so long to put these on, but I just got the pics of the Shutterfly website. Please check out that website to see how beautiful Kalan looked and what a fun reception we had. Here are the pics of the kids. We didn't practice Audrey throwing the petals in rehearsal so when it happened, Clark just stood there looking at the petals. As if to say, "Audrey- you dropped something." We are so thankful to have Kalan join the family and all the joy that she brings to our family.

Mom's in jail

2009-07-20T15:45:00.006-05:00

Audrey has been drawing a lot lately so I interviewed her about what was going on in this picture. Be forewarned--there is a bit of nudity. Click on the picture to enlarge and read the captions.

The Rascal

2009-07-15T22:51:00.003-05:00

Clark got hold of Shannon's mp3 player and then got into Sarah's lip stain. I've never heard of lip stain but as the name implies it stains. We have not been able to get this stuff of his face or hair. If you look closely you might see that Clark frosted his tips red (tribute to Uncle Lloyd).

The Fireball

2009-06-23T20:51:00.004-05:00

Many have been victimized by it and no one for sure knows exactly what it is. A Fireball is the favorite. A growl? A spell? Who knows but it was captured on film and follows as such....

Nac

2009-06-23T20:44:00.004-05:00

Little man caught his first fish at Bebe and Pop's. He loved it as long as it stayed in the bucket. Audrey caught one as well. As you can see, she always likes to stay dressed up even at the lake.

Saturday Part 2

2009-06-14T21:06:00.002-05:00

Well Clarky is really sick. He's got a bad stomach virus with high fever. So the rest of the weekend was spent trying to keep Audrey and Maddox away from Clark so they wouldn't get sick too. We went to the mall last night and saw Up (or at least part of it until Clark started spewing).

Today Josh, Audrey, and Maddox went to the park, Sam's, the mall...anything to avoid this hot house!

We've had so much fun with this little guy and know his mom and dad are missing him big-time. See you tomorrow!!

Saturday

2009-06-13T14:50:00.007-05:00

After our Saturday morning tradition of Josh's blueberry muffins for breakfast, we decided to go to Pace Park today on Salado Creek. So the kids watched Cars while Josh mowed the lawn and I packed the bags. My favorite houseplant suffered an early demise while we were packing up. The boys used the leaves as swords. HOW do little boys know how to turn anything into weapons??

We love Salado! Marla, Nate and the boys met us there and we had fun with water guns and the boogie board. Nate and Josh are the best dads ever for such a fun family day--Marla and I just lounged chatting in the shade.

Audrey with her four brothers again.

Here's Audrey working on her obliques--never waste a moment!

Nate was a huge hit--he took huge 18 inch rocks and threw them in the creek so it would make a huge splash. Clark rewarded him with the loudest, fakest laughing I have ever heard and then pointed and said, "He's funny!"

We got a couple of delicious homemade pizzas from RoyT.'s for a Pace Park Picnic and headed home for naps. Unfortunately it looks our A/C is out again (third time in 2 wks!) so if you need us we'll be upstairs!

Friday

2009-06-12T23:42:00.005-05:00

So glad Josh is home for the weekend!

We woke up and ate breakfast and I read in the paper it would reach 100 degrees today! I was just commenting last week how mild the summer had been so far--I guess I jinxed us. So where's cool and kid-friendly? The library of course!

I have a near perfect library system:

I always do my research at home and get the list of books I want with the catalog numbers so I don't forget a book or have to watch the kids while searching the online catalog. I bring a stroller so whoever walks out of my line of sight gets a time-out in the stroller (plus I can stuff all 19 books in there). I always go to the adult section first so that the children's section is a reward for good behavior.

What's that quote about best-laid plans?

Anyway, today both Clark and Maddox desperately wanted to ride in the stroller. So whoever wasn't in it sobbed loudly. Then, I couldn't find my list of books and catalog numbers anywhere! I dumped out my purse on the table, emptied the stroller. No list. I finally got the boys quiet and then Audrey said she had to go the bathroom. Since the ladies bathroom was in my line of vision and I knew it was a single stall, I sent Audrey to the bathroom by herself. While she's in the bathroom, I find my list! Chewed up in Maddox's mouth! Will he be the list-eater in 18 years when Baylor finally makes a bowl?!

I upset Maddox pulling the paper out of his mouth and then to quiet him I put him in the stroller which makes Clark scream. Then I realize Audrey's been in the bathroom five minutes and is frantically knocking because the door is to heavy to pull open. I get her out and she is scared to death bawling her eyes out. So I had three wailing preschoolers in the quiet adult section. It is a gross understatement to say all eyes were on me. I felt so bad for Audrey and apologized three times. She said, "Mom, you didn't make that door heavy!" What a little cutie.

We went to the foyer (pronounced foy-ay just for Black Sarah) to regroup and I'm proud to say we returned and had a successful trip to the library.

Lunch and nap went smoothly--today Maddox wore a tortilla as a hat but I couldn't grab the camera in time. I also decided to make some Kraft Macaroni & Cheese--I thought Maddox would like it and I vaguely remember Josh liking it, though I couldn't remember cooking or eating since I was pregnant with Clark. But I found a box and whipped it up. It looked a little strange--almost burnt orange. Sure enough, I guess the last time I bought mac&cheese I was pregnant with Clark!! The box expired in August 2007! So we dumped that and had peanut butter crackers with fruit and cheese.

He took a monster nap for 3 hours and 5 minutes. Why is it we can never just enjoy those crazy-long naps? Of course I went up to check on him every 15 minutes starting at the 2 1/2 hr mark.

Maddox got to talk to his mom and dad on the phone and it made him really sad but he recovered quickly. He is definitely missing them but overall having a great time, still exploring the new toys and admiring Audrey. When Josh got home from work I said, "Daddy's home!" Maddox ran to look, and then looked at me like I was crazy. "Josh!" The message was clear--that's not my daddy!

We did a little painting after nap and had tacos for dinner. Then a long bubble bath followed by stories and bed by 8!

I love how sweetly they all play together. We had good sharing today and fun art projects. Sorry no pictures--they were cute all day of course but I couldn't get in the habit of picking up the camera.

Except for this.

Guess who's been out of town all week? That's right! Sydni Cartwright.

Thursday

2009-06-11T21:16:00.004-05:00

What a fun and busy day! We woke up early and watched Elmo's World. Then David, Ashleigh, and Ella Grace came over to play. They loved the tire swing and pushing the stroller and shopping carts.

Maddox bit Clark right on the thumb to get a toy (I was secretly glad Clark got a taste of his own medicine) but was very appropriately sad afterwards. We ate a big lunch when Josh got home.

Maddox used his slice of cheese as a hat.

Audrey was happy to pass on her old Baylor cheerleading uniforms to Ella Grace.

David and Ashleigh headed off to Austin after lunch. After nap, Shepherd and Owen came over to play. Here they are at dinner. Audrey said, "Look Mom! I have four brothers!"

Joel came over to help corral the kiddos.

Tonight the clouds were so freaky looking. I've never seen them look like this--almost like a painting. Tonight we have a tornado warning so hopefully it will cool off a bit.

Fun with Maddox

2009-06-10T22:10:00.004-05:00

This week I'll be doing a bunch of detailed posts about our days because Maddox is staying with us! Sarah and Bret are on a getaway to NYC without their little man so I promised I would keep them up to date with all of his cuteness.

We had a great first day. Maddox woke up at 7:40 and we headed out the door to pick up donuts and go play at Cole and Kate's house. When we got in the car Audrey said, "YAY! We have another brother! God gave us a new brother!"

Cole and Kate live on Belton Lake and have an incredible backyard! It was nice and overcast and everyone played really hard. We brought Caroline and Abby home with us and I dropped them off with Audrey and Clark while I took Maddox to the grocery store. He was a little cutie pointing to all the produce and the lady at the checkout lane said he looked just like me! Hah!

We had grilled chicken and fruit for lunch, followed by a 2 hour nap. Maddox's favorite toy is the shopping cart, followed closely by the piggy bank. He woke up from nap with a runny nose but he seems to be feeling fine.

When Josh got home from work we all got on the bed for wrestling and "efe-hache" (family holding). Maddox seemed a little overwhelmed by all of this but he played along with our craziness. Dinner was spaghetti, corn, peas, and apple. He amused us all by sucking the sauce off his spaghetti and then kind of flossing his teeth with each noodle before sucking it up.

Quick bath, then stories.

Blogging Backlog...

2009-06-09T10:21:00.005-05:00

Here's some pics from the last few months...

Audrey on Cowgirl Day at school

Every holiday people dress up the pigs at this park (for Mardi Gras they all had beads, for Easter they had bunny ears, etc.). They wore these masks during the Swine Flu frenzy.

Slip-n-Slide

2009-05-29T23:07:00.003-05:00

First time for the slip-n-slide this year. It seems to always kill my grass, so we might not get it out too often. Clark always seems to end up with his clothes off though.

Ready for Football Season

2009-05-20T22:58:00.002-05:00

These guys already bought their season tickets and are ready to see #10 in action!

New vampire in town.

2009-05-19T16:59:00.001-05:00

Clark bit me twice on the hand in ten minutes, breaking the skin both times. Any helpful hints from other closet-parents-of-biters?

My little girl is into cars...

2009-05-18T09:21:00.003-05:00

Audrey is really making me laugh with her intense interest in cars. She asked my friend Marla, "What kind of car is this?" and Marla responded, "A Nissan Pathfinder." Audrey said, "Oh, that is not made in the United States." This is coming from a relative of Ann Falloure who, after purchasing a brand new car, could not name the make or model!

She has also taken to asking God to please give us "a Chevrolet Suburban."

One of the members at our gym drives a SmartCar and this fascinates her.

She spotted it first last week and shouted, "SmartCar!"

I said, "That is a really tiny car, isn't it?"

"Is it really tiny, Mom?" she said skeptically, almost scolding me for exaggerating. "I mean, it's not like you could lift it with your hands or anything. A really tiny car would be one on a Christmas ornament."

Well I guess you can't argue with that.

Museum

2009-05-16T23:12:00.002-05:00

Our little pioneer children.

Addendum to Mother's Day Post

2009-05-16T23:07:00.002-05:00

In all of my praise of Shannon for Mother's Day, I forgot to mention that she takes pretty good care of me as well.

Clark's Swing

2009-05-11T23:40:00.002-05:00

If you can't see his swing so well, it's because I've had to back up to avoid getting hit.

Tribute to Mom

2009-05-10T13:02:00.003-05:00

Shannon is the greatest mother that I could ever imagine to raise my children. I know that my children are being raised in a environment of unconditional love where the learn Biblical principles daily. There is never a dull moment in our house with Shannon but we wouldn't have it any other way. Some of these pictures are repeats, but they are my favorites of a great mother and our precious children. Shannon- thank you for everything you do. You have a incredibly hard, never ceasing job but I think you can see some of the fruits of your labor if you look our children's faces in these pictures.

Breaking news...

2009-05-03T18:37:00.001-05:00

We've been working on potty training with Clark this week and he's been doing great! Today is his first full day with no accidents! (Unless Anna comes along and says he had one during Sunday School). He still has not successfully used a public toliet so I am unfortunately dragging the toddler toliet everywhere I go, but anything to save some $ on diapers!

Picking your battles

2009-04-20T18:26:00.004-05:00

I have chosen not to fight the wardrobe battle obviously. I put Audrey down for nap in a perfectly respectable shirt and skirt and when she woke up she was wearing this.

I have to give her props for wrestling those tights on without assistance.

She got lots of looks at Sam's this afternoon and one sweet lady said, "Don't you wish you could hold up a sign that says 'She dresses herself'?"

nyc trip--part 2

2009-04-13T10:47:00.012-05:00

After the zoo we did some shopping. Here's the standard big piano pic from FAO Schwarz.

Here's an action walking shot. Everytime we saw people crossing the street Audrey said, "Wow! Those people in the street are really brave!"

We grabbed a quick lunch at Speedy's and met Sarah who had just returned from a trip to London. I'm sure she was exhausted but she was a real trooper! She took us to SweetiePie, an adorable restaurant in Greenwich Village that she read about on Alston's blog. Audrey was enthralled. She summed it up pretty nicely, "Ooh, this place is so lovely and pretty and pinkish!"

These cupcakes tasted as good as they looked: strawberry lemon mousse and peanut butter chocolate.

Our super sweet waiter who had the major hots for Crystal

There were lots of "cheers" during our meal here.

We said goodbye to Crystal who had to go back to work. Here's the last shots of the BFFs in Penn Station. Yes, Crystal stole electricity to charge her Blackberry nearly every place we went.

On Sunday we weren't able to make our morning flight back for Kalan's shower. We were really sad about that. But in the end it turned out great because the weather was best on Sunday and we got to spend a little longer with Sarah.

We slept in Sunday and shopped in Union Square then ate a great lunch at Max Brenner's. So fun. I love this little hug mug.

We headed down to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty and Audrey actually got to pet and touch these snakes! Sorry for the random picture, I didn't have my camera.