Coming to an End

I have noticed lately how much Owen has grown. Not that long ago Owen would cry every time I dropped him off with his teachers. Now, he wants to WALK (not be carried) into his class with his backpack on. He doesn't even really tell me bye anymore. It's bittersweet.

Brady now has lots of friends of his own and he even gets invited to birthday parties of his own friends that he has made in class.

Today was their last School Spirit Day of the year and we took our traditional picture on the stairs. As you can see, Brady thinks "O-dig" is pretty cool.

P.S. "O-Dig" is Brady's nickname for "O-Dawg" which is the nickname we gave him. It's a long story...

Getting to Know You

Now that we have had Bruiser for a few days we are really starting to learn about him. As you can see, Luke is getting more brave and held him today! He did get a little nervous and dropped him though (yikes), but Bruiser recovered well.

We like to take him in the backyard in the afternoons and let him roam around and get some freedom. I think he likes it too :) 

and the boys can see him a little closer when he's out and about.

It occurred to me today that I need to do a little check to see if it is safe for him to be out of water for long periods of time since he is technically an aquatic turtle. (oops)

 
He sure it friendly though- he's starting to grow on us!

An End To A Great Season

Last Saturday Luke had his last soccer game of the season. He is signed up for flag football in the fall, so we aren't sure if or when he will be returning to soccer. It has been a great sport for him to start with and we have met some really cool friends as well.

Here are some pics from his game on Saturday.

What a fun season!

We've Expanded Our Family

Meet Bruiser Griffin Allen!

How did he get such a name? Well, if you know anything about my boys you know that they love the Baylor Bears, right? Well, Bruiser is the Baylor mascot and Griffin is after RGIII who was our awesome quarterback. Brady wanted to name him "Gwiffin" and Luke wanted to name him Bruiser so we compromised and went with a first, middle, and last name.

I have been thinking a turtle would be a good pet for our family and had been looking into different types of turtles and their care. My cousin Courtney had a friend who was giving their turtle away so she hooked us up! truth be told, Bruiser is actually a girl- but that is on the big time DL! The boys are all into the whole "girls are gross" thing right now, so we will just tiptoe around that topic.

After we got Bruiser, I found out that he has an abscess in his left ear- random, I know. So, I am not really sure how long he can go on with such an illness. He seems fine now though so we are just gonna do our best to care for him as is.

All three boys love him! Luke feeds him in the morning & Brady feeds him at night. He is super friendly and loves to get out of his tank and walk around the backyard. We are looking into new ways to enhance his habitat which is really cool. Once we get him all set up, I will take more pics.

"MO"

O-Dawg loves him some good corn on the cob :)

He is starting to talk a little more these days, so when he finished his corn he said "Mo" (translation = more)

Awanas 2012

This semester we enrolled Luke into an Awana Program at a local church near our house. I had always heard good things about this program, but didn't have any first hand knowledge. I am now a firm believer in this program for kids. It is a Bible based program which kinda functions like a Cub/Girl Scouts. Luke has learned SO much from scripture memorization to Bible facts. The cool thing is that Brady has learned through Luke even though he doesn't attend. (I love how that works)

Last Wednesday they had closing ceremonies to reward the kids for their hard work all year. Along with the ribbon he got tonight, he has also earned several merit awards for his vest.

I am so thankful to Fellowship Bible Church for opening their doors for kids all over to join this program. What an awesome way to partner with parents in providing a firm foundation for our children.

And it's gone...

The day finally came and I didn't even get to see it all happen. Luke's tooth had been loose for a little over a week and last I checked it seemed to be hanging in there pretty good. He went off to his normal Friday night at Grammy & Papa's house and about 8:00pm I got the call.

"Mom, I pulled my tooth out!" I was happy, but sad I wasn't there to see it all happen. I know, I am really weird about stuff like that.

Although from the picture it seems like this would be his third lost tooth, this is only his first. The one on top was knocked out at school with he was only 18 months old. The other gap on the bottom left is nothing more than just that- a gap. The bottom right is the tooth he lost tonight.

He did say he was gonna wait to put it under his pillow until he gets home tomorrow which made for one really happy Tooth Fairy :)