It's official...

or at least has been for a couple of weeks now. My brother Bryant and his girlfriend Stephanie are finally engaged and are getting married June 6th. We are sooo excited for you two and can't wait to get up their to celebrate.

I must say that Bryant's proposal is one of my most favorite yet. The night he proposed he started off by taking Stephanie to dinner at (Flemings-my most favorite restaurant). Afterwards they walked to a nearby book store where they casually browsed the relationship book section when suddenly Stephanie stumbles across a book that Bryant had had professionally made for her. Bryant said that Stephanie was really confused when she found it because it was obvious that this storybook was their love story. At this point Bryant walked her over to a stage in the children's section, sat her down, and read their love story to her. He then reached over and grabbed some flowers sitting nearby (my brother Breck had stashed the flowers their just minutes before) pulled out the ring and proposed. Down below is the pic. of them in the bookstore with their storybook...I love this love story.

Congratulations you two! We LOVE you. :-)

OnE rAiNy AfTeRnOoN

An hour before I took this pic. the boys (including Brandon) were saying that there was a lake outside and they wanted to go for a swim. When I finished making dinner I went to take a peek and this is what I saw...

Ahh, how I love the rainstorms in Texas . :-)

Finally...

( Kai chose a blue cast so he can pretend his arm is Anakin's light saber.)

Kai got his cast one week and three Dr.'s later. After the E.R. Dr. decided to splint Kai's arm due to swelling we went to an orthopedic surgeon the next day who refused to cast Kai's arm because of swelling. One week later we went into that same orthopedic surgeon who again refused to cast Kai's arm so we finally got a second opinion from Brandon's Orthopedic Surgeon who put Kai's cast on immediately. Finally, with the new cast Kai is much happier and the new cast has cut out most of the pain:-)

The Strawberry Patch

This past Monday we headed to a strawberry patch with friends. Brandon was home for the day so I dragged him along in hopes that we would be able to make this strawberry pickin' activity work with a baby and a broken armed child. The day couldn't have turned out better!!

This furry little thing was one of the many bugs we came across but, coming from a person with a true bug phobia I must say I expected the bug situation to be much worse.

Scarlet enjoyed watching EVERYTHING!!

All in a days work...
And, the somewhat final project...And, the final project...

Monsters vs Aliens outside

With Kai breaking his arm this weekend we had to forgo our plans of going to the beach, the Katy Mills Carnival, riding bikes, and playing baseball in the backyard. Friday night we decided to head to a fun little restaurant called Steak N' Shake that originally started in Normal, Illinois in the 1930's and has since expanded to other states. We then headed to the Steamboat Drive-In theater in Tomball, Texas to watch Monsters Vs. Aliens. The kids and B had a blast and for me it brought back many childhood memories.

Scarlet slept for most of the movie. :)

Starting Easter Break in the E.R.

Thursday night I was loading the dishwasher right before we were heading out to dinner when Brandon came running in with Kai saying he broke his arm. Kai had been jumping on the trampoline with B and Jace when he fell through the net door (that was not zipped) and landed on his arm.

When we got to the E.R. they told me that there were six people ahead of us. After waiting about half and hour I told the lady that his bone was sticking out and if they were going to make him wait they needed to give him some pain med. A nurse came out saw his arm and thankfully rushed him back. She told me an I.V. for pain meds. would be started and then his arm would be X-rayed but, even without an X-ray, it was definitely broken.

I really try to keep my cool in life but, this was not the night to let things go. The X-ray lady came in and said, "Oh, where's his I.V.??" I told her they hadn't given him one yet and she refused to wait. As I stepped out into the hallway with Scarlet you could hear Kai screaming throughout the E.R. I asked the nurse kindly to get the Dr. to authorize an I.V. when only a couple of minutes later I turned around to see him drinking some juice. I asked, "Did you talk to the Dr.?" His reply was, "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot." Are you kidding me you seriously could hear Kai screaming throughout the E.R. Needless to say after some yelling on my part and after the X-Rays were finished they gave him some Codeine.

Then, someone came in to give him a temporary cast and Kai continued to scream and cry even on Codeine. I asked the guy once he was finished if he was sure that was the right way to wrap his arm. He said, "Yep, you see he's crying out of anger if he was in pain there would be tears rolling down his face." Well, the rest of the night was horrible. Even on Tylenol with Codeine Kai didn't fall asleep until 3:00am and woke up about every twenty minutes after that. At one point (and this totally broke my heart) he said, "Mommy, I can't do this anymore".

Well, by 9:00am I had picked up the X-rays from the hospital and had him in the Orthopedics surgeons office. The surgeon came in and said, "Good news, no surgery but, because of all of the swelling we can't put the permanent cast on for five days." I told him that we couldn't have another night like the one we just had and he said that Kai should have no pain at all. As he unwrapped Kai's cast while Kai was screaming and sweating in pain he realized his arm had been wrapped completely wrong. The E.R. did not wrap his elbow (the break is right below the elbow) so he could move his arm around all night causing the horrible pain. AND, they wrapped his fingers so tight there were blisters between all of the fingers. Thankfully they created a second temporary cast. Not too tight around the fingers and he now has his cast well above the elbow.

With all of that said we do feel good and trust this orthopedic surgeon so we are now waiting for the swelling to go down and to finally get the permanent cast. And, I cannot wait to get that customer service survey in the mail from the hospital. It never gets easier seeing your kids in pain...it's a horrible feeling but, I am so happy to see that he is starting to do better. I love you little Kai. :)

Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt at the Lake

Looking at these pics. of the kids on their Easter Egg Hunt with our playgroup made me realize how quickly our kiddos are growing up. When we first started coming to this playgroup Kai was eight months old and Jace was two years old. I guess you could say that time flies when you're having "fun".

Jace made the "hat" on his head before we left the house that morning...he says it's his pizza hat??

Only seconds later and they are already into the candy...

I assumed Scarlet was doing this the whole time but, my friend Stacy informed me otherwise.

I must have been pretty preoccupied with the boys on their egg hunt because Stacy walked by Scarlet's stroller, heard her squirming around and found this (thanks for the pics. Stacy)...

Off on their own on the other side of the lake. Us moms discussed who would jump in and cross the lake if any of the kids fell in. We decided they all know how to swim pretty well so they are on their own in that area. :)

Jace's Easter Party and Egg Hunt at School

I love coming to Jace's classroom. He is always sooo excited to see me and even more excited to see his little Scarlet.

Jace with his two best friends this year Andrew and Logan

Listening to the rules that he has to finish collecting eggs once he has twelve...


Counting the eggs, and so proud that he had the most (it sounds like home is not the only place he tunes out rules).

The Party...
The boys in Jace's class love Scarlet almost as much as Jace does. Two of the boys specifically have told me in the hallway that they are going to marry Scarlet one day and the rest of them make sure they peek in the stroller every morning to say good morning to her. Glad that she's taken care of. :-)