Ellie and Brennan...

This is Ellie and her friend Brennan.  They've known each other since birth.  The other day Brennan told his older brothers, "Me marry Ellie!"

I wonder if he knows what he'd be getting himself into?

My spunky little lady.

(Thanks for the pictures, Kelly!)

T-Ball Opening Day...

Today was Little League's Opening Day, and the start of Mason's second year to play t-ball.  He has been very excited to play again this year--lately his prayer at night has even been something along the lines of "Thank you God that we get to have lots of practices this week."  Mason did a great job today, and he even got to have his grandparents in attendance cheering him on as well.  It's amazing to see how much he has grown and improved since last year. 

  Mason and Bryson, his best buddy of nearly 3 years:



Our Acting Debut, Sort Of...

A couple of weeks ago, someone from the city office contacted the school where Matthew teaches .  They were looking for a staff member and his/her family to be in the introduction to a promotional video for the city of Bryan.  The school secretary immediately thought of Matthew and our family...

So here we are in our first (and probably last) family commercial, pretending to have just bought a house.  (Apparently our actual home on middle-class avenue was not sufficient for the shooting of this video because they had us come out to the 'fancy-schmancy million-dollar home on a golf course' neighborhood.)  Our appearance lasts only the first 15 seconds of this 5 minute video, and we have no lines.  Well, except for the one little line that Matthew had.  I guess that one year of participation in his high school's one-act play, in the year nineteen-ninety-something, must've greatly prepared Matthew for this day.  :)  Every time I see this video of us, I fight back giggles and laughter...

Shopping With Sister...



Playful Picasso, Mischievous Monet...

The other day while I was cooking dinner Ellie came into the kitchen exclaiming, "I need to paint!" (These days, most of her phrases begin with the words I need...)  So I told her I was busy making dinner and that we'd have to paint the next day.  I heard her go back out into the playroom where she was previously playing, but it wasn't until a few minutes later that I realized things were much quieter out there than they were before.  In my past experiences with Ellie I've learned that this can be cause for concern, so I decided to go check on her.  I didn't realize that she had discovered how to get into the sealed container where I keep my craft paints and open them by herself.  I'm not sure why this fact had eluded me.  She's been a master of getting into things since she was a baby.  So as I'm rounding the corner I call out, "Ellie what are you doing?"  This is what I found.  She had used the easel's tray as a paint palette, and the dry-erase board as her 'paper'. 

I looked around and she was nowhere to be found.  Her guilt had caused her to scamper off like a little mouse when she heard me coming.  A few moments later I heard her giggling and hiding behind this chair:

What a little mess!

Mini Relay For Life...

This week was Mason's school's "Kicking Cancer" week.  One of Mason's fellow kindergarteners has a baby sister who is battling liver cancer.  She is only 6 months old...a hard reality for me to think about every time I look at my healthy baby girl.  This week's activities were to help raise money for her cure.  (Please be in prayer for baby Kayelyn and her family as she continues to battle this illness at such a young age.)  Every day each student was asked to bring a dollar to participate in a daily activity.  Some of the activities were to see their principal kiss a pig, to sign a cancer banner which will be sent to a local cancer center, and to watch the staff have a kickball game against the class who raised the most money.  Today, to wrap up the week's events, a mini relay for life was held.  Families were invited to attend, so the girls and I went to show our support.  I love the way Ellie joins in with Mason and his class. 

Members of the Texas A&M soccer team even came out to help teach the kids some skills for "kicking" cancer:

Five Months Old...

Love that girl!  ...Those eyes, those chubby cheeks, what a little sweetheart!