My Loves!

My super talented sister Kelsey took some pictures of my kiddos and Blayze this weekend. I won't say that the session went perfectly smooth, but it is hysterical to think about what fools you make of yourselves while trying to get three kids to look in the same direction and smile! :)

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(Sorry for the tiny pictures....I think they are in email resolution.... Click on them if you have time to see their sweet faces!)

Cason being patient while Cassidee gives him a kiss!

Pretty girl!


Three cutie pies!

Seriously, love these kids!!!

So sweet! Hope it lasts a while!

Cassidee and her baby Blayze!

Thanks for the fantastic pictures, Kelsey!

State Fair 2010

We have been going to the State Fair every year since Cassidee was 6 months old. It's obviously a little more fun every year the kids get older! They loved it this year and I love taking pictures of them in the same places to see how much they've grown!
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One of my favorites we take every year!

My little cow and piggy!


Showing off their money - or tickets, according to Cason - that they got for working on the farm.


Love this pic of all my loves!


- Posted from my iPhone

Cassidee's 1st Soccer Game - 2010

We were excited when Cassidee told us she wanted to play soccer this fall. I'm not sure she totally enjoyed it last fall. (Being 3 and new to the game, it was a big experience for her last year.) This year, though, she was PUMPED! Jeremy told her the night before her first game that he'd give her $5 for every goal she scored.

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Here is her team getting a pep talk before the game.....they are in the orange.

Cassidee came out ready to play! She did such a great job of going for the ball and really hustling!

And then, about 5 minutes into the game,
SHE SCORED A GOAL!
Do you see the look on her face?
We're guessing it was total shock. She never showed any emotion about it!


I, on the other hand, was beside myself. I was jumping up and down, screaming for her. The video I was taking is ridiculously bouncy and I'm yelling so loudly into the microphone, it's annoying! I made her come over and give me a kiss.....luckily she wasn't too embarassed by me!

After that goal came 3 others!

But, she did get hot and asked to be taken out of the game towards the end. We played at noon, and I don't blame her one bit. I was melting just standing on the sidelines. She spent most of the 2nd half trying to fan her shirt and stay cool!!!

She was so excited about her goals and couldn't wait to go to the fire station and tell her daddy that she had scored. He was pretty sad that he was working on the day she scored her first goals, but I'm sure she'll do it again for him. I took her up to get the money he had promised her and luckily for him he decided to cap the amount at $10. She looked at him and said, "You owe me 20 bucks!" We all busted out laughing!

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We are super proud of you Cassidee and can't wait to see how well you are going to do this season!

We will never forget....

I remember where I was that day and what I was doing....

I remember praying that all my family members were safe.....

I remember wishing I would wake up and this would be a terrible dream!

I remember....

2,606 in the World Trade Center

87 on American flight 11

60 on United flight 175

125 in the Pentagon

59 on American flight 77

40 on United flight 93

and 19 that don't deserve to be remembered.....

I didn't know at that point that I would one day be married to a fire fighter.

But, 343 fire fighters were lost that day at Ground Zero and since then I have a whole new respect for "service" men and women. The fire fighters, police officers, etc. who do brave things on a daily basis.

And, although my husband and most every other fire fighter I know does not want to be recognized for the work that he does, here is my one little corner of the world to tell him how proud I am of him, the guys he works with, and fire fighters all over. Jeremy does things that I wouldn't ever dream of doing, sees things no one should have to see, and goes places that most people would never go. Jeremy is one of the smartest, kindest, bravest, toughest and most gentle person that I know. I have seen him interact with patients. I know that he cares about people and truely wants to know the outcome of their situations once he leaves them at the hospitals. I know he loves his job and the thrill of fighting a fire. I have heard his heroic stories of saving people and their belongings. I've heard his goofy stories of falling into a swimming pool in someone's back yard with his full gear on and sinking to the bottom. I've heard his scary stories of almost falling through a ceiling when the second floor gave way when he walked in. (I don't like to hear those stories much...) All this to say, I worry about him day and night when he is gone, but I'm so proud of the job he is doing to help others when he is away from us.

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Here is my hero.

Excuse the not-so-flattering picture of me. This was May of 2008 when I was 8 months pregnant with Cason and we were at Jeremy's medal banquet.

Cheer Clinic 2010

(Half my pictures are blurry for some reason....sorry!)

Cassidee and good friend Alix (A's daddy is a firefighter with Jeremy) did the CHS Cheer Clinic last weekend and they got to perform with the high school cheerleaders before the football game on Friday night. Cassidee is bound and determined to be a cheerleader now! She may not have fully participated the entire time (she is only 4), but she LOVED being a cheerleader!

Here is Alix and Cassidee on their day of practice.

We dropped the girls off and took their brothers and daddies to breakfast and to the park while they practiced. There is a backyard of llamas right by the park so we went to check them out.

Cason and TJ didn't plan to match, but they looked awfully cute!

Cason enjoyed the park and extra attention from mommy and daddy while Cass was gone!

He especially loves it when daddy makes him fly!

When we got back to cheer clinic, we got to watch some of the girl's practice.

I don't know what they liked better:

Playing with the big girls pom poms or getting held by the big girls!

On Friday night we went to the football game and Cassidee headed off with the cheerleaders.

Cason and daddy were looking photogenic, so I snapped some pictures!

My little boy blue!

Not sure what got this funny face from him!

Once again, Cassidee got carried around by a big girl!

Giving hi-fives for looking cute....that's what she told me....

Going over the plan one more time....

....and practicing her cheer one more time.

*I didn't post any pics of the actual performance on the field. I took some, but she was so far away that she is hard to see, so it just looks like a mass of red and black kids.*

My little cheerleader!

(I kinda hope she is cheerleader at CHS so I can have a 4 year old/18 year old cheerleader picture comparison)

Cute girl!

She and Alix with their very own poms!

And then I got one more pic of Jeremy and Cason. I used to think Jeremy's green eyes were awesome.....and then I fell in love with Cason's blue eyes....

Handsome boys!

(and I love Cassidee posing in the background)

This one is getting printed and put on my night stand!

I'm a lucky girl!

She's a big girl now!

Cassidee became a real big girl the other day, according to here, when she got her ears pierced. Here she is getting marked.

Then she got the done at the same time. She is still kinda smiling in this picture....


And she never cried! I did!
She looked brave/scared/hurt/happy all at the same time and then just asked to see a mirror!



Cutie pie!


It took lots of convincing to let Jeremy do that to his "little girl!"
I am not kidding when I say that she has already asked him for a nose ring......holy cow!


- Posted from my iPhone

It's like Christmas morning!

The kid's Halloween costumes arrived today!

Woody and Jessie have been running around my house all day!


Cutest little cow pokes I know!

- Posted from my iPhone

"I am Jessie forever!"

I hear this quote multiple times a day as my kids are constantly playing "Toy Story." Cass is always Jessie and Cason goes back and forth between Woody or Buzz.

Cassidee got a hooded Jessie towel and evidently fell asleep while wearing the towel and playing with Jessie and Bullseye!

Any guesses as to who she is going to be for Halloween this year?!

- Posted from my iPhone

Dinosaur World, Lake, and Sea World!

We have had a crazy busy few weeks, and it finally looks like our summer is slowing down. We took the kids to Dinosaur World last week, and I'll say that we will be going back soon. It was small, but they LOVED it! Cassidee kept telling us what dinosaur was what. I had no idea she watched so much Dinosaur Train at home! The kids wanted their picture in front of EVERY. SINGLE. DINOSAUR., but I'll spare you the redundant pictures!

Did you think these were T-Rex's? We sure did, and took tons of pictures of them.....

Only to walk up, look at the sign, and notice they aren't t-rex dinosaurs. Oh well!

We decided to leave when Cason kept trying to climb the fence and pet the dinosaurs!

We left Dino World and headed to LBJ lake. Jeremy's grandparents live right on the lake! We went to the lake with the Way Family last year and we decided that it needs to be an annual trip for sure! We love going out on Grandad's boat!

These kiddos also love the boat! (Minus Charlie's bout with motion sickness)

Cassidee is completely F.E.A.R.L.E.S.S when it comes to riding in the tube. You can't ever go fast enough for her! She loves the bumps, jumps, twists and turns! Definitely my little dare devil!

I wouldn't call Cason a dare devil, but he rode the tube without crying in the end. He's not a huge fan of water, so he was a little intimidated at first. He warmed up to it in the end!

He preferred to hang out on the boat and wear gay hats instead!

Love this pic!

Gotta brag on my honey for a minute....

He's never wake-boarded ever. He got up on his 3rd try and did really well! I think he liked it!

Amie and I found some super classy tattoos at Walmart for the kids. (is that an oxymoron---classy tattoos?) Anyway, Charlie and Cass were well covered. Cason opted for a small, tasteful tat that was some kind of heart and wings (?) and I wrote MOM above it in sharpie. CLASSY!

Looking tough with his tat!

Our next stop, after two big lake days, was Sea World!

Probably not the smartest idea since we were so tired from being on the boat. Regardless, the kids did really good. We had fun waiting in line for 30 minutes to ride the Shamu roller coaster. Cass and I are in the very back car and Amie and Charlie are in front of us. (I'm pointing at Jeremy in the picture)

Cason wasn't tall enough for the coaster, so he just sat and looked cool in his stroller!

This may be the only picture I got of the two of them together all day. The waterpark was a hit since it was SO STINKIN HOT all day!

I tried getting a pic of the 3 of them.....emphasize *TRIED :)

I snapped a couple of pictures of Cason that just looked cute.....

(This one cracks me up because I just told him we were going to see animals and he yelled at me, "I see sharks?!" :)

Checking out the sea lions

And we got to feed the dolphins. Cassidee could have stayed and petted them all day!

Feeding them some slimy little fish!

Another attempt at a group picture. I was so irritated at Cassidee because the boys were actually looking and she wasn't.

And then when she did look, she struck this pose. Really?! :)

Last show of the day....Shamu show. Hot, tired, sweaty, stinky, hungry, & sleepy, but LOVED the Shamu show!

We had good seats and Jeremy got some great pictures of the whales.

I loved Sea World! I think I'll just go when it's not so hot next time!