Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

...these are what little boys are made of!

Little did I know at the beginning of my pregnancy four years ago, that my days would consist of icky, creepy, crawlies. Or that I would somehow enjoy it! Well, some of it...

So far this summer, we have allowed many creatures to creep into our home and into our sons arms.

Each night, as the sun goes down, we go hunts for toads with our flashlights throughout our neighborhood. Carson likes to make "friends" out of the toads, which consists of us finding our first toad and carrying him/her around the neighborhood (Carson does the carrying) until we can find another toad to match him/her up with. And then we set them free! Sometimes we find other "friends" as well. As you can see from the picture below, Carson & Dada stumbled upon this treasure, which they decided to bring to the house to show me (oh, joy!):

As if we don't discover enough icky creatures on our own, our families help to bring more into our lives! Carson's cousin, Jakob, just celebrated his birthday by having a snake-themed party. I luckily didn't attend, but have now been informed by Carson that when HE turns 5, HE wants a snake party too...(hooray...) Here is my innocent 3 year old holding these slithering, leg-less creatures:

While we were shopping for birthday presents at our favorite toy store, Learning Express, we came across these totally cute little frogs! They come in pairs, with a little snail included, for like $25. What sold us was the fact that the upkeep is so easy. You feed them twice a week, and change the water 4 times a year! That's it! The bamboo supplies the oxygen, the snails cleans, and the frogs swim around!

Carson named the frogs appropriately; Good Boy & Smiley Face. The snails name is Gary, just like on Sponge Bob.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Carson introduced us to his first imaginary friend today. They are both pictured above (Carson has his arm around him). As you can see in the picture (ha!) Carson's new friend is a little red bear, whose name is Faucet Driver. According to Carson, Faucet Driver lives under the bathtub in the guest bathroom. He has big legs and red nails, and likes to eat peanuts, noodles, and fruit snacks.

Brian had the pleasure tonight of taking Carson & Faucet Driver on a walk. Carson held the rope.

I heart Jesus

This is my all-time favorite video from a church in Kansas (I think). It makes me tear up every time I watch it.

Our family is blessed to have a wonderful church to worship every weekend, and even more fortunate that we can raise Carson with the love of Jesus!

Here is a link to our fabulous church: www.newhopechurch.tv If you don't have a relationship with God and would like to, this is a FABULOUS place to be introduced (or re-introduced)!

Flabbergasted

Okay, I love my husband and the many fabulous things he brings to our relationship, but surprises have never been his strong point. I don't think in the seven years of us being a couple he has ever truly surprised me, not because he can't be sweet and romantic, but because he just can't keep fun secrets to himself.

Yesterday was our four year wedding anniversary, and I must say, the BEST one so far! Joni watched Carson so that Brian & I could celebrate. Brian made us reservations at my favorite restaurant: Melting Pot. Melting Pot has the yummiest food that is prepared at your table fondue style. Our reservation was at 8:15 pm last night, giving us time to get ready after work, especially me b/c our school had Park Day yesterday & I was a sweaty, dirty mess.

We had a fabulous dinner, as always, and our waiter was especially entertaining throughout the meal with funny jokes and details about our meal. He started off the meal suggesting the best drink (which I am holding in the pic above) called the Yen & Yang. I wanted something fru-fru last night and this drink was so cute & tasty, it definitely did the trick! He helped us decide our cheese & chocolate fondue as well, and they were equally satisfying. By the time our meal was over we were hurting.

Brian drove us home while I cursed myself for eating so much. We were on the street behind our neighborhood, which is especially narrow & has really deep ditches that run along side it, when Brian pulled out his phone to make a call. His driving scares me enough without deep ditches and cell phones being involved, so I asked him to wait until we pulled into our neighborhood to call work.

The call went something like this:

"How's it going?"

"Are you still busy?"

"Okay, bye."

By this time we had pulled on our street and I could see a truck parked outside our house. I looked at Brian confused not knowing what was going on...as he looked back at me smiling, saying "Happy Anniversary".

All week long I had been telling Brian that I wanted him to call about getting our carpet cleaned and how I wanted to spend the first week of summer doing the heavy-duty cleaning to our house that had been neglected because work has been so crazy. So, while we were dining at my favorite place, my sweet husband had scheduled someone come clean our house and another person to steam our carpet!! How sweet is that!?! I walked from room to room tearing up at the sight of our gleaming house and the fact that Brian had given me my first surprise in seven years!

I'll have to keep him around!

Memorial Weekend

Grapeland has to be one the most peaceful places on earth! It is so nice to be able to drive a couple of hours outside of Houston and be out in 166 acres of "country." My parents retired out on the property that has been in our family for at least 4 generations last year. Brian's parents have never been, so it was so nice to hang out with them out there too!

My dad took us on quite an adventure in this '68 Jeepster Commando
(spiders, bumps and creaky bridges)

Carson somehow convinced Pops to get him 3 drinks...he thought it was hilarious!


The boys wrestling with PawPaw

It took all four "boys" to catch this lizard

Meme took Jakob & Carson butterfly hunting

Our favorite destination in Grapeland is the animal safari!

Haha, the buffalo was licking his chops!

Grandma & Carson calling the llama

Later in the day we decided to take the boys fishing at my aunt & uncles pond. They didn't have any luck the first day, so PawPaw & Pops took the boys back for another try. Jakob caught a bunch, and Carson had fun just playing with the minnows...

Jakob looks so proud in this one!

Company Picnic

Brian's dad's company picnic was couple of weekends ago. Brian had to work, but Carson and I went with Gerald, Kollette, Jakob, and Gerald's mother. I love company picnics and their free food, games, rides, and bingo! Kollette won $50 at bingo, making it her 2 year winning streak! It was also nice to enjoy the beautiful weather outside before it gets too hot and we can only view it from the inside of our air conditioned house!

Carson & Jakob had a blast as you can see by the pictures.

Carson getting batman painted on his face.

Modeling his batman face painting, while bravely taking on the bull!

Jakob rode the bull too!


Carson was a fan of the ponies as well.

This picture is my favorite of the day!

They look so excited going through the obstacle course

(even if it was the 2nd time so I could get the pic just right...)

Too Funny Not to Share

A few months ago I stumbled upon the most entertaining blog; I now frequent it on a daily basis for a good chuckle: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

The name of the blog pretty much sums it up: Cake Wrecks. The website is dedicated to PROFESSIONAL bakers and their "wrecks." People around the country email the blogger pictures of horrific cakes that were either made for them or that are being displayed, many times at grocery stores, and then she just compiles the pics on her blog with humorous commentary. I will let some of the pictures speak for themselves.


This is the picture that baker was working with:

This is the outcome:




The next picture was put on display during Easter, so we are going to assume this was intended to be an Easter Bunny (haha):

It kinda looks like a Gremlin, minus the green color...

The next two were also Easter Bunnies:

Both are so depressing!

I'm sure all of you know what Sponge Bob should look like, this is definitely NOT him:

Possibly a distant cousin?

And finally, an attempt at a cute pregnancy cake gone VERY wrong:

Really, was the stomach line necessary??

I now cannot go into a grocery store without stopping by the bakery section in search of wreck material that I can email my new favorite website...