Brayden's been enjoying all his "friends" when he sleeps, but one of his favorites is Big Bear (creative...) and this image from his nap a couple weeks ago was priceless!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The kids are constantly playing (all the time) and we absolutely love the playland at Chick-fil-A, especially when the heat index exceeds 100! I thought you might like to see them playing, too.
Layna, our little monkey, plays with the big kids like it's her job! She's completely fearless and will climb everywhere and throw herself anywhere to keep after the big kids. It's fantastic!
Meanwhile, Brayden just runs circles around her... up and down, up and down (with the occasional break):
...then back to chasing Layna!
Layna, our little monkey, plays with the big kids like it's her job! She's completely fearless and will climb everywhere and throw herself anywhere to keep after the big kids. It's fantastic!
Meanwhile, Brayden just runs circles around her... up and down, up and down (with the occasional break):
...then back to chasing Layna!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Catching up
So I'm committed to catching up on this blog, promise. Let's begin an update on the kids. Layna's fine, although she's been a bit whiny of late. I think she's reached the age when she needs to learn that whining does not equal winning. I'll get that straight with her (wink).
(WARNING: this next paragraph is potentially TMI)
Brayden... ah, Brayden, our potty-challenged little boy. He has finally (fingers-crossed) mastered the peepee part of potty training, but he cannot seem to cross the threshold of poopoo-ing in the potty. So, we've reached the end of our rope and have two options: 1) praise and 2) punish. We're going with praise so that we can keep it upbeat! We went to the store and purchased a brand new Veggie Tales movie... for Brayden, just about the BEST thing in the whole world. Now that movie sits unopened on our mantle. He knows that he can have it when he goes a whole day without a single accident and poops in the potty. So, it's day three of the ransomed video and still no success in the more complex of the potty project.
So to celebrate his lack of any TV at all, I thought I'd show you what the kids do NOT look like right now...
In other news, I wanted to share a quick picture of some of the lilies in our backyard. They came from Nama's (maternal grandmother) yard in North Carolina. They inspired the sermon I preach last week: you can read the lessons here and then the sermon here.
(WARNING: this next paragraph is potentially TMI)
Brayden... ah, Brayden, our potty-challenged little boy. He has finally (fingers-crossed) mastered the peepee part of potty training, but he cannot seem to cross the threshold of poopoo-ing in the potty. So, we've reached the end of our rope and have two options: 1) praise and 2) punish. We're going with praise so that we can keep it upbeat! We went to the store and purchased a brand new Veggie Tales movie... for Brayden, just about the BEST thing in the whole world. Now that movie sits unopened on our mantle. He knows that he can have it when he goes a whole day without a single accident and poops in the potty. So, it's day three of the ransomed video and still no success in the more complex of the potty project.
So to celebrate his lack of any TV at all, I thought I'd show you what the kids do NOT look like right now...
In other news, I wanted to share a quick picture of some of the lilies in our backyard. They came from Nama's (maternal grandmother) yard in North Carolina. They inspired the sermon I preach last week: you can read the lessons here and then the sermon here.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Bach... like you've never heard
Sorry, this is not a kiddie post... but I'll get to that very soon. Until then, get a load of this!! It's so great I had to post it here:
Friday, June 12, 2009
VBS 2009
Last week was Vacation Bible School at Saint Luke's, and the kids had a marvelous time! The theme this year was the "Boomerang Express" and the locale was meant to be Australia... to that end, one of the other priests and I became crocodile hunters for the week! I was Crocodile Chris and made appearances during the week, getting the kids excited about trying to find a rogue crocodile loose in the church. I kept the story going by telling the kids that I had seen the croc, but couldn't catch him. BUT, I took some video. So Wednesday night at the big family event, I unveiled "the video" and thought you'd enjoy a quick peek. Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Fun with the cousins
Here are a few more pictures from the Memorial Weekend visit, including some cute ones of Jillian:
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Put it on!
As Brayden was opening some gifts, he stumbled upon two sets - one group from Nama and one from Aunt Elyse - that contained gifts to wear. So what would any reasonable 3-year-old do? He put everything on at once!
And, of course, it only took Layna 30 seconds to try and steal something... which produced one of my all-time favorite pictures (and the new wallpaper on my phone):
And, of course, it only took Layna 30 seconds to try and steal something... which produced one of my all-time favorite pictures (and the new wallpaper on my phone):
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Birthday Gifts
Brayden opens gifts over days and days... not surprisingly, since any kid would want to play with a new gift! So here are some pictures of B opening gifts over a few different days:
NOTE: The CD (above) is awesome! It's a bunch of songs with Elmo... but Elmo talks right to Brayden. I mean that Elmo says "Brayden" dozens of times on the CD! It's a little crazy, but they sell many of these CDs with specific names featured, and we found this one for him! He loved it!
Stay tuned for one more set of gift pictures... that are hilarious! It's worth the wait!
NOTE: The CD (above) is awesome! It's a bunch of songs with Elmo... but Elmo talks right to Brayden. I mean that Elmo says "Brayden" dozens of times on the CD! It's a little crazy, but they sell many of these CDs with specific names featured, and we found this one for him! He loved it!
Stay tuned for one more set of gift pictures... that are hilarious! It's worth the wait!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Brayden's Bowling Birthday Bash
BBBB was on Sunday night, and it was a ton of fun! We went to the bowling alley very near our house - one that is extremely family friendly - to celebrate B's big day.
Of course, Nicole did her signature birthday baking, this time, some more animals!
The lions were filled with vanilla cream, while the giraffes were filled with chocolate cream (holy mess!!).
Then it was time to dig in!
...and nobody digs in like Layna!
Later in the week, Layna enjoyed another cupcake... and I couldn't resist a video. You'll love it, too!
Of course, Nicole did her signature birthday baking, this time, some more animals!
The lions were filled with vanilla cream, while the giraffes were filled with chocolate cream (holy mess!!).
Then it was time to dig in!
...and nobody digs in like Layna!
Later in the week, Layna enjoyed another cupcake... and I couldn't resist a video. You'll love it, too!
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Jillian's Baptism
...so apparently I'll continue working about a week behind... Memorial Day weekend was full of activity -- lots of family was in town to celebrate two big events: Jillian's Baptism (our niece) and Brayden's Birthday!!
Jillian was the first baptism I've performed solo, so I was thrilled to share that moment with family. Here are some pictures from the ceremony:
Jillian was the first baptism I've performed solo, so I was thrilled to share that moment with family. Here are some pictures from the ceremony:
Monday, June 01, 2009
BIG weekend
...so apparently I'll continue working about a week behind... Memorial Day weekend was full of activity -- lots of family was in town to celebrate two big events: Jillian's Baptism (our niece) and Brayden's Birthday!!
On Friday, B's actual birthday, we celebrated with a few gifts... but the biggest fun was a special delivery from Aunt Suzanne -- a huge bouquet of balloons!! There were 2 dozen of them, and he loved them!
Brayden would run around the house pulling the balloons behind him. He'd yell, "Come on Ethan, come on Layna!" and take off around the house. Then he'd run into the playroom and jump into the middle of the balloons. He'd roll around, squealing with laughter. Then, when he was tangled, he'd stop (with his feet sticking up in the air) and say, "I'm okay!" Too much...
More pictures to follow.
On Friday, B's actual birthday, we celebrated with a few gifts... but the biggest fun was a special delivery from Aunt Suzanne -- a huge bouquet of balloons!! There were 2 dozen of them, and he loved them!
Brayden would run around the house pulling the balloons behind him. He'd yell, "Come on Ethan, come on Layna!" and take off around the house. Then he'd run into the playroom and jump into the middle of the balloons. He'd roll around, squealing with laughter. Then, when he was tangled, he'd stop (with his feet sticking up in the air) and say, "I'm okay!" Too much...
More pictures to follow.
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