"If he is anything like me"

This song makes me smile and not just because it is Brad Paisley singing it : )



Of course I didn't know Chris as a kid but I have heard stories. The line about spending summers in a cast reminds me of a story I have heard. And I'm sure I will lose my temper and some sleep (already have). I know God is getting a good laugh because I can already see a lot of myself in Christian and I can see lots of Chris in Archer so far.

Hail, Smail...who is afraid of hail

Not our house anymore. We have a new roof, with SUPER DUPER hail proof shingles. Okay, the might not be hail proof, but they are supposed to stand up to hail pretty well. We went with a much lighter shade than most of the neighborhood, but we do have the newest roof on the block, as of 5pm today. I was doubtful at first that it would look good with our brick and trim color, but it is growing on me.

Here is the before shot, with the supplies up top, stored for the weekend.  It was kind of scary because at 10 on Friday night a big box dropped off the roof and it sounded like an elephant fall off our house.

View from the front yard

 view from the back yard

Blast from the past

I was cleaning out some email and found this, from circa fall 2003.

Ant Teri and the Grasshopper Chris

In a field one summer's day a Chris was hopping about, chirping and singing to his heart's content. Then Ant Teri passed by, bearing along with great toil the thank you notes she was having to write and the wedding gifts she was wrapping.

"Why not come and chat with me," said Chris, "instead of toiling and writing in that way?"

"I am writing them now instead of waiting until the last minute," said the Ant Teri, "and recommend you to buy your groomsmens gift and make your hotel reservations too."

"Why bother about hotel reservations or gift?" said Chris ; I have got plenty of time for that later."

But Ant Teri went on her way writing thank you notes, planning the wedding and buying gifts.

When the wedding came Chris' groomsmen were so sad watching the house party open their pretty present and they had nothing. Chris was so embarrassed and had to sleep on the floor of his parents hotel room because the Hyatt was sold out for the weekend.

Then Chris knew: Teri is always right and It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Never one to let a little croup get him down

Here is a busy boy cruising around the living room. Really this kid is supposed to be sick?!?!?!
Now you know why there is a need for the make shift baby gate.
I just noticed our Bosu balance ball in that other picture too.

Ingenuity

This is what happens when you can't find your other baby gate and have to get creative.   Pillows, laundry baskets and misc. other stuff...Daddy is at home with a sick ARcher and this is what he just sent me on my cell phone......now we will see how often Chris reads the blog. He doesn't know it but his KSwiss shoes are hiding under a blanket in that laundry basket.  I put them there because they are always laying out in the middle of the living room floor : )

Where does the time go?

I can't believe Archer's 1st birthday is just around the corner.  This year has flown by. 

From Archer Jonathon

From Russell and Melissa Wedding

From Archer's first day at school

From Archer 3 month

From Marble Falls

From Christian's 3rd birthday

From Archer 6-7

From Archer April

From archer may

From Father's Day 2009

From picture day

From kingwood weekend part ii

From Independence Day

From Goerlitz weekend in Austin

A few things about our little man.   He loves most any food...not picky like his brother, at least not yet.
Don't think about taking his toy away without giving him something better...you will hurt his feelings so much he will not know what to do with himself, except to cry and cry. 
This goes for taking food away from him too.
He loves changing table time with Daddy because Daddy will always get him laughing.
He loves his brother, he loves to watch him and take his food and touch his prized toys.  Christian loves to touch Archer's face, poke his nose, splash him with water.  This bothers Mom way more than it bother's Archer...Archer usually laughs.
His first word seems to be "yeah".."Archer, want your bottle?" "Yeah!"
He can wave bye bye, well most of the time.
We are also taking bye, bye as his sign for when he wants to move on...if he is done with dinner he will lift his hands, open and close his fists and say "ba, ba"
He is always a happy boy when he wakes up and all in all pretty laid back, except for the taking of toys and food. 

quick stuff

mmmmm tortilla
Bubbles

Robe

Kids these days

I often have to catch myself from saying that phrase...."Kids these days!" They just don't get it...they don't have the same work ethic, they just think they are entitled to everything...blah, blah, blah. Lucky for me there are shining examples of how great "this generation" truly is. I'm related to several. However, this post is just going to focus on one in particular.

This one.....

This one contradics most of those phrases I mentioned earlier about "kids these days". He is a bosses dream worker. Show him something and let him go. Entitled...this kid doesn't act entitled at all. He is humble and knows the sacrifice that has been made for him by his savior. He is smart. smart as a whip. and he gets it...he gets that it is about more than himself. He is a college graduate, with honors.

His name is Shane and he is my family. He is now taking off on the adventure...maybe the adventure of a lifetime, but I'm betting he has lots of adventures ahead of him. Shane is heading off to Africa....yes, Africa. He talks about his trip here in his recent blog post.

Oh, did I mention he is funny to...very witty in fact. notice in the picture above he has a nice camera smile on his face...just before that picture was taken, he said "FAKE CANDID!!!"

Shane and I go WAY back...well every since he was born :) I used to babysit him and his brother Cameron (one of those other good kids I'm lucky to be related to). When he was in 8th grade I started to attend his church and would take him and Cameron to church on Sundays. Then when I started singing in choir I would take him to choir practice. Then when he was a college kid at home during the summers looking for work I suggested him working part time in my office. He is also god father to my youngest son.

So Shane good luck and God's speed on your next step in life. There are big things out there just waiting for you.

Daddies in charge

What happens when two Dads are left in charge of 3 children, all under the age of 3 when the Moms go to a chocolate party???

This is what happens....






One child out of the three is bound to get stuck in a toy.

This series of pictures was too funny not to share and yes...I had to grab my camera....it was prime blog post material.   Rapheal wasn't stuck for long, just long enough for Mr. Dragon to get taken apart....Mr. Dragon did get the toy death sentence...he is still in a black garbage bag in the garage.

So much...

I'm a bad blogger.  I have been slow in posting.  I have had some much to blog about and no time to do it.    We had another swim lesson.  This time Mommy took Christian.  I loved going and watching, but I think Christian wasn't as happy that I took him. 

He was pouting in this picture because I made him take his shoes off before sitting down.  He continues this pout until it was his turn to swim. Then he was happy.

We also went to Margret and Joe's Wedding.

From Margret and Joe Wedding

From Margret and Joe Wedding

Little Addi girl was the flower girl.  She is out of her pretty outfit here, but she was adorable.

From Margret and Joe Wedding

How cute are these guys?!?!?!



We had a mini family reunion.

I'm just putting up all the pictures on this one. There were lots of family from my Grandmother's side, aka Grama Nita.

This weekend the Goerlitz Gang came to Austin for a visit.

Mark, Emmanuelle and Raphael. Raphael and Christian play so well together...hmmm much like their Dads to, part of me is very afraid of this...very very afraid. Their Dads have been friends since middle school and have had many wild and crazy times together.

OH! I forgot to mention that this little guy was sick from about the time of the wedding thru this weekend.

From Goerlitz weekend in Austin

He had a record 10 dirty diapers on Wednesday. He is doing much better now, but was sick with a tummy problem and a serious case of diaper burn.

This week is lining up to be just as busy. Vacation bible school, swim lessons and Mom and Dad are going out of town for a Conference.

Swim Lessons

I have tried several times to get Christian in swim lessons.  Summer before last I tried two different classes and they never had enough students.   This year we went straight to the YMCA.  We think now is a great time to get him more comfortable with the water and have him learn some basic water safety.  Yesterday was his 1st class.

From swim lessons

I think he is eyeing all the pool toys in this one.
Dad took him to his 1st class. He did a good job of getting some pictures before the camera battery died.
I asked Christian about the class. He mentioned silly little fish and teeny tiny rings. I think I can see what he was talking about now.

From swim lessons

looks like mainly boys in his class....don't think that little girl over there is too happy about it.

From swim lessons

Now it is his turn with the teacher.

From swim lessons

In the water.

Happy Independence Day 2009

Office space, before and after

We have another new addition to our house. A new desk. Here is the space (cleaner than usual) before. I had already take about 1/2 the clutter down.

Here is the space waiting for its new addition.

Here is phase one...just a few pieces added.

And here is the desk in its new home with the computer all set up.
There is more to come. We are going to add two rows of shelves on the back wall. That way we can hold more stuff..photo albums, cameras, video players, boxes with software, files. Oh files! I almost forget. We are going to get a file cabinet with a wood finish that will roll and store under the desk. We have more plans to replace cords with newer flatter heads and get a better surge protector.
But the desk was the first step and it looks great!

Something about the hats

There is just something about a Wenck boy in a hat...of any kind