Tony and Leslie's Blog

Snow Day 2011- Part II

2011-02-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

Why not start the day with sprinkles on your yogurt?

Their workshop was covered!!

Jake's snow angel

Tony probably should have refrained from the snow angel making.

Where's the car?

The boys decided to help our neighbors tidy up.

Our friends Cambry and Ava looked like little snow bunnies.

Snow Day 2011

2011-01-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Halloween is Just Around the Corner

2010-10-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

"Tough Guys"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you what you have in that cup there."

"Sir, I know you hear me. I need a answer."

"Alright Bubba, What do we do?"

"Hmmm.. cool"

Fall Picture Day

2010-10-31T18:53:00.001-07:00

Galveston, Oh Galveston

2010-08-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful trip to Galveston with all of Tony's family this week. The boys LOVED the beach, the house, and going on excursions. I know I've been away for a while and it's all because of the work we did on the house. Now that we are settled back into the house I will get busy with my blogging again. Hope you enjoy :)

First steps into the ocean

Sunscreen, suits, and hats

By day 6 they were officially versed in beach attire (mud).

Spring Break 2010U

2010-03-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

The boys are at a wonderful age and we had so much fun over the break. Luke ended up getting sick at the end of the week and has had a stomach bug for 12 days!! Thank goodness Tony's mom, grandmother, and sister-in-law are all angels and were able to pitch in and help us out after we maxed out our days off work. Alas, here are the pictures from 2 weeks ago.

Snow Day

2010-02-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

The pictures say it all!

Church

2010-02-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

We started taking Jake to "big" church before Christmas and he's been doing a great job. This Sunday, at the end of the service, Pastor Brent said "and Tony Rader's going to come forward and pray for us." Jake looked up and put his arms up for me to lift him up. He said, "I want to see. I want to see." He still couldn't see so I creeped to the edge of our aisle so that he could see all the way to the front and then Jake said, "I want to see that Tony Rader pray."

It was too cute!

8 Christmas'

2010-01-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

We had our last Christmas today so I thought it fitting that I posted some Christmas morning pictures. It was so fun this year because Jake was able to really understand and look forward to that morning. We had a great season with ALL of our family. We are so blessed to have such a big family.

We were settling in with snow falling outside.

Luke got into the spirit with a beautiful rendetion of Rudolph.

Jake and Luke spread the reindeer food they had prepared at school.

We made sure Santa had plenty of snacks for himself and the reindeer.

Jake took in all that Santa had left for them.

Luke jumped into action in his new firetruck tent.

Tony got a Texas Tech picture for his office.

Jake's first stop when he got downstairs was to examine the evidence.

Granny helped Luke dig into some Christmas pastries.

Of course, Jake wasn't up for food, but he was excited about his Thomas firestation.

We were so glad that Santa was able to get this huge playset all the way to Meme's house!

They are going to enjoy it for years.

It Must Be Christmas

2009-12-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

Parade

2009-12-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

We watched the Adolophus Childrens Parade from City Hall this year. It was GREAT! I'll load more pictures when I get off work next week, but here's a preview. The boys took in a video before the parade began. They look like men, hard at work.

Fall Fun

2009-11-29T19:43:00.000-08:00

"Cruisin'... on a Sunday afternoon"

I'm sure he's not up to any kind of mischief...

Now we see him,

Now we don't.

Randy and Gina gave Jake his 1st fishing pole. Watch a learn.

Step 1: Cast

Step 2: Reel

Step 3: Concentrate in true "Kneggs" fashion (notice the tongue)

Step 4: Show your sense of accomplishment

Better Late Than Never (Halloween Pics)

2009-11-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

Another Halloween on Houston Street. Mom, Ray, and the Bakers joined us as we trick-or-treated. The puppy dog got tired early after a very rambunctious start. He went home with Noni and Papa while the fireman had a wonderful night of chasing friends and eating WAY too much candy.

Garren's Birthday

2009-10-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

Garren turned 11 this weekend and we celebrated Sunday afternoon with a costume party. It was so much fun!!

Scarecrow Festival

2009-10-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

We lined the streets early Saturday morning for the annual Scarecrow festival parade. The boys got tons of candy and had a blast. Graham, however, did not enjoy the fire trucks. They were a little too loud. Garren rode on his Karate schools float and we got to watch him fight on the main stage after the parade. It was a great day!

It's a Bright Sonshinny Day

2009-10-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Luke started Sonshine school on Tuesday and I couldn't believe what happened when I picked him up. I expected to walk up and see him sitting in his teachers lap. I imagined he'd be tired and clingy. No, no,no. I walked up and started looking for my baby somewhere in that big gym and he was gone! There was a toddler running around with all the other kids. I couldn't believe how big he looked! I was torn between saddness and excitement.

Ms. Pam said he had a wonderful day. She can't believe how night and day different he and Jake are. She also couldn't believe how he tackled Jake when they got together that afternoon. She said he talked to her more in one day than Jake did in the first 6 months.

Today's note home said that "Luke ate a good and that he REALLY loves lunch time." Ha, ha... he's my little He Man. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful place for my children.

Halloween is Just Around the Corner

2009-10-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Bribe

2009-10-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

After months and months of trying to get Jake to "take care of his business" on the potty, he is finally FULLY potty trained!!!!!! Last weekend we paid off on the bribe we have been telling him about for months. After Laura took their halloween pictures we all loaded up and drove to Dallas to hop on the TRE to Fort Worth. The kids had a blast and now every time he goes he says "it's time to go on the DART." I guess he didn't realize there was a one time pay day.

Uncle Carl was there too, but I didn't manage to get a pic.

Jake intently watched to scenery on the way there. On the way back he worked the map and would announce the next stop. At one point the train waited a little too long so he shouted, "All Aboard" as serious as a train conductor, everyone on the train laughed.

This is Luke eating corn pop 2 of 3. We actually had to give him one in the stroller and he ate it as we walked around Fort Worth.

School Time

2009-08-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

As I prepare for school to start next week I want to revisit a quote that inspires me everyday in the classroom. Enjoy

"I've come to a frightening conclulsion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or deescalated and a child humanized or dehumanized."
- Haim Ginott

God has given me an awesome gift to work with children every day. I will rely on him to give me the strength to do it well. Here are some pictures of my classroom. For all of my friends that teach high school.... this is the reason I'm up there all summer. Also, Thanks Thanks Thanks to Laura for coming up Wednesday night and working in my room unitl 9:00. Your creativity is priceless!!

(For those that don't know...every year you have to completely take down your room, store everything, put the furniture in the middle and then come back all summer after the room has been cleaned to put it all back together again)

Math supplies, games, lockers

Classroom library, supplies, class store, discipline chart

Student computers, calendar, math skills

Rocking chair for teaching whole group, table for reading, my desk

Sign for the hallway. We have a Rock n' Roll theme this year (again THANKS to Laura for all your help!)

Summer Pictures

2009-08-23T16:53:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick look at some summer fun.

Hanging out with "Lil Ray-Ray"

Swimming in the backyard with Granny

Jake had to break in his new Mickey Mouse bedding.

Of course, Luke did too!

Jake driving the Hetmers golfcart. He's wondering when we'll get one at Mimi's house.

Luke had to take it out too!

My boys at the Kaufman 4th of July parade. Aren't they handsome?

Cousins and second cousins were in attendance for the event.

Garren getting serios at Vickie's 4th of July party.

Jake's first firecracker.

They love the fountains at the Harbor in Rockwall.

Enjoying some ice cream on a hot day.

Memories of Our First House

2009-08-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the house is rented and Tony and I spent some time reflecting on our time there....

- Painting cabinets, tiling, painting rooms, changing fixtures, hanging sheet rock (okay, we have lots of remodeling memories)
- Brining our puppy Hailey home
- My 25th birthday party- so many friends, so much fun (we won't talk about the cake incident)
- Late night dominoes on the huge patio
- Living on my own while Tony traveled to TN for work (It was scary there!)
- Setting up a nursery and bringing home our first child
- Putting Jake to sleep in his swing in the laundry room with the dryer running so we could demo the bathroom and not wake him up
- Jake's 1st bday party
- Playing in the blow up pool all summer
- Walking down Houston street every morning for 2 summers (we got to see everybody!)
- Bringing home our second baby
- Lukes 1st bday party

Some things we won't miss:
- It's TINY!!! Seriously, 1100 sq ft.
- Can anyone say "Gorch?"- Ah, what will it be like to have a garage?
- Low, low ceilings

All in all it was a great first house and I can't wait to figure out what's in store for us next.

Staycation '09

2009-07-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

We took the boys on a little "staycation" and stayed 2 nights at the Gaylord in Grapevine. Acres of trails, trains, and waterfalls were wonderful. A few moments from the trip in words and pictures are below.

1. After Jake went through the revolving door at the entrance he said, "dat amazing!"
2. As soon as we opened the door to our room Jake started taking his shoes off. When I asked why he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "To jump on the bed Mamma."
3. The model trains set up through out the hotel delighted the boys everytime we walked by. Luke would start working his arms like a train each time a new one went by.
4. We had the best view in the house. A cement truck was pulled up outside of our window and they proceeded to hook up hoses to it and run them down one of the hallways in the hotel and out into the atrium where they were pouring concrete for a deck. Jake chose to watch this as opposed to going to the pool with Luke and I.
5. Ice cream at 9:00 at night at a hotel resturaunt is ALWAYS a good idea.

All of the boys got ice for our room while mommy unpacked. Of course they had to partake when they got it back to the room.

Jake and Luke breaking in the beds upon arrival:

My little sharks were dressed and ready for the pool.

Luke found a cruiser in the toystore at the hotel.

Why not go to Chuck E Cheese when on vacation?

Luke caught a shark at Bass Pro Shops.

Daddy taught Jake the appropriate technique.

Back at the hotel the boys were waiting on the next train to roll by.

All aboard at the Fort Worth Zoo.

Lazy Days of Summer

2009-07-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Who cares if it's 9000 degrees outside when you get to take a 2 hour nap with both boys. Rested Mommy = Happy Mommy

Spoke Too Soon

2009-07-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like the house is not going to sell for now. It's apparently valued WAY less than what we bought it for because the only comps in the area are old frame houses that were either horrible and sold for a very low amount or they were forclosures. No good sales in our area means no good comps :(

We always intended to keep this house as a rent house so I guess it's time to put that plan into action.

3rd Times the Charm

2009-07-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

The house is under contract and we're set to close on the 28th!!

Long Overdue

2009-06-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy end of the school year and start to summer but now that I have more free time I'm going to get back to the business of blogging. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to...

Wanda the Walrus got married at Sonshine school. Jake had a great time at the reception.

Jake had his end of the year program. He sang R-E-D red and Lord I Lift Your Name.

He signed and sang.

My cousin Marcie got married. It was a beautiful wedding.

Tony and I went to Hot Springs for our anniversary. It was a great weekend of hiking, fun, and relaxing.

The field next to Mom's house flooded and our cousins struck up a game of football.

Too much fun! I was seriously tempted to join in!

Jake's Ktown friends.

Garren shared his skim board mat with Luke.

He should have been born a beach bum.

Luke discovered the goodness of DingDongs.

Almost There

2009-04-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is the time of the year that makes it all worth while. My kids are all reading, writing, and best of all THINKING! I am amazed at how far they have come. Here's little snipit of a conversation we were having today about matter.

Mrs: "Okay class, would sand be a solid or a liquid?"

Class: "SOLID"..."LIQUID"..."SOLID"..."LIQUID"

Mrs: "Please tell me why you think it's solid or liquid."

Student 1: "It's a liquid because you can pour it"

Mrs: "Next"

Student 2: "Well, if you look at it, like, uh, at a microscopic level it keeps its shape so it has to be a solid."

Mrs: "Wow, you are exactly right."

Happy Birthday Luke!

2009-04-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

I know it's a few days away, but here's the montage of his first year. Pause the music player at the bottom of my blog and then hit play... enjoy.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Spring Break

2009-03-29T09:50:00.001-07:00

Settling down...

2009-03-01T18:04:00.001-08:00

Things are settling down at the Rader household. The house is officially listed so let the offers start pouring in. I'm ready to get back to my blog so here are some new pic's....

Minute Drill

2009-02-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the last practice for my Upward basketball team. It's a great experience and opportunity to share the story of Christ with kids. That being said...

I opened the gym early tonight so that I could get a little work out in before the girls arrived. Well, let me just tell you how depressing that was. After 15 minutes of semi running and shooting I was weak and tired. It made me wonder how long it would take me to run a minute drill if I actually had the courage to do it.

I was, okay still am, obsessed with being first. I would have to "win" every minute drill even though it wasn't a race. It was punishment most of the time. It was 5 trips up and down the court in under a minute. It was never a problem in high school, but there were times that I would cut it close.

With that thought in mind I think I have to conclude that it would probably take me 2 1/2 minutes to do it and even with extended time it is still likely that I could have a heart attack and die.

I think I'm going to start running next week....

New Camera

2009-01-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

Prepare to be bombarded with pictures.... I got a new camera for Christmas. Enjoy

2009 Looks Good

2009-01-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

As we start to get ready to go back to work on Monday and get settled into the new year we have to take a moment to think about how blessed we were in 2008. So in no paticular order here are some of our many blessings...

1. We had a beautiful baby boy
2. Tony and myself found new jobs that we couldn't be happier with
3. We found a great preschool for Jake
4. We have a new sister-in-law
5. We have a new nephew
6. Everyone in the family is happy and healthy

Now that the boys are both healthy again we're looking forward to this new year and everything that it migth hold.

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

Question and Answer

2008-12-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

Q: What do you do with 2 sick boys?
A: Cage them in and make them rest...

Q: Where will Jake work when he grows up?
A: Kneggs Electric of course
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Q: Who has the craziest hair?
A: Luke, but he sure is cute

Q: What do you do to protect the knees of a crawling baby that lives in the house of tile?
A: Never take his PJ's off.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry, sorry, sorry

2008-11-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

So that post titled "Help" was going to be a cute post with a video of Jake and Tony playing on the bed. You see, I asked Tony to "help" fold some clothes and I end up walking in on he and Jake wrestling on the bed instead.

Well, with a 7mth old and a 2 1/2 year old my blogging session was interrupted last night and I forgot to go back and finsh the post before I crashed in bed around 9:30.

So, thank you for the calls and comments. We're all fine here and have mounds of laundry to be done. I'll post more late :)

Help

2008-11-19T16:38:00.001-08:00

A New Cousin

2008-11-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Graham Winslow Baker was born on November 4th at about 10:30. He was 8.3lbs and cute as a bug. I swear he looked like Garren from day 1. Mom and Dad are great and of course learnng to adjust to his schedule. Hope you enjoy the pics....
Having a child that can help with #2..... genius!

Jake was very interested and already likes Graham a lot, but has already said "no" to taking him home with us.

Proud Meme....

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

It was a struggle getting Jake into his costume, but his Dad took him in the kitchen said who know's what and he came out happy and ready to go. I'll post new and better costume pic's ASAP (Trey and Neely had their camera). We had a great night of Trick or Treating and hanging out with family and friends.

New twist to Star Wars... Obie attempts to eat Chewy!

Luke got plenty of "OOhs, and Aahs" walking down Houston St.

Jake was amazed by all the costumes and candy give away.

Here's part of our group (Aunt Neely and Trey, Papa and Gradma Dale) we lost Gunit and the Baker crew but met up again with them later at the Halloween hangout.

Jake loved getting free candy!

These 2 boys have spent all 3 of their halloweens together. We've evolved from a pepper and Elvis, to a golfer and sick child, to a frog and Chewbaca.

Once the trick or treating was over the boys settled in to explore Beaux and Charlie's playroom.

It's cookie time!!!!!!

He was actually pretty good at this part.

Who knew you could have bowls, and bowls of icing?

A little sprinkle to finish the job off.

The finished product.... yum!

'Twas the night before Halloweeen, and all through the house Mommy was getting things ready as quite as a mouse.

Family pumpkin carving on the back porch. Tony and Nell had a good time. The boys lost interest after about 10 minutes and decided to just play in the backyard.

Here's a video of Jake trying on his costume the night before. You can see Chewy in action.

October Events

2008-10-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm really tired, but I'm thinking about crawling.

Here I go....

Now I'm tired and defeated. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

On our way to the Scarecrow Festival parade (Our first parade).

He know's those fire trucks are coming.... any... minute...now.

"Wha-hoo!"

G-Unit turned double digits this weekend. Chucky Cheese was a must.

Jake loved that Chucky Cheese was "noticing" him but he still didn't want to get too close.

Grandparents, be warned. His favorite part is putting the coin in. He could care less about the actual game (except for this one which was a huge slot machine. I think that was Lila's influence). Also, you can just buy the silly prizes now instead of messing around with all that ticket business. Meme bought him a lovely rolling Chucky Cheese backpack.

Let's play "What Were The Rader's Thinking"- Jake, "Man this ice cream is the bomb". Tony, "I wonder if Leslie would notice if I sneak away to play skeeball?" Luke, "Please, someone put me to sleep." Leslie, "Yuck, that bday cake has like 5,000 calories. I'll have Dr. Pepper instead."

The Annual House Divided Game

2008-10-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, the ags lost today but 2 great points must be made:

1. We hung in there.
2. I taught Jake how to Whoop and he's pretty stinking good at it.

Ktown Posse

2008-10-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the boys future classmates and friends. We all walked down to the pumpkin patch on Houston St last nigth at the Methodist Church. Family fun night...

Our boys were joined by the twins Cambry and Ava and our neighbors Beaux and Charlie.

No ball, no problem. We've got pumpkins.

We even found some to take home.

Fair Day

2008-10-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

What a great day we had at the fair! It was still misty when we got there but it turned out to be a great day. Enjoy the pics...

Luke was ready and set to see Big Tex.

The petting zoo was quit a hit. Jake was amazed by the giraffe and zebras.

Jake's first taste of cotton candy. He wasn't all that impressed.

Jake driving a mustang. I knew he'd be a Ford man like his Daddy.

Luke spent most of the day passed out(we had his 6 month checkup before leaving town so the shots kind of knocked him out).

Jakes'"na-os" were delicious!

Thank goodness this little girl rode with Jake. That thing cornered like it was on rails.

He loved the fun houses. This one was straight out of Grease. The maze was even better. He cracked up every time he ran into a glass wall.

Happy Fall

2008-10-06T05:38:00.000-07:00

Cousins

2008-10-05T07:01:00.001-07:00

Well our new nephew is almost here. Here are some pic's from Janell's shower last weekend. We can't wait for him to be here!

News From The Bio-dome

2008-10-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

Although he's still sick, he's as happy as can be. He loves his floor toys and tries to grab everything in sight. Too cute!! Jake and his Papa and Grandma Dale Jake, obviously not wanting to do something. He likes to act like he can't hear us. Sorry the video's a little dark, but here's a quick look at the new song we taught Jake. I'll try to catch his new moves and post those also (he can act like a monkey). Also, he can identify the letter "C" when he sees it!!!! Yea!

Hello World II

2008-10-03T04:20:00.000-07:00

I don't have enough time to give the whole story, but we are on day 9 of Luke's stomach problem. He's been booted from daycare until it stops. I had it last week. Janell had it this week. Somehow Tony and Jake escaped it's clutches, thankfully!

I have a funny story that goes along with this. Let me just tell you that it involves getting a "sample" by means of a diaper, a ziploc bag, and duck tape. It also involves the most selfless brother in law, Brandon. I'll share this weekend when I have a little more time.

I just wanted everyone to know that the reason that we haven't stopped by is because we didn't want to spread the yuckies.

Hello World

2008-09-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

We've come out of the beginning of the school "fog." That is to say we've finally gotten a routine down and I'm working less than 50 hours a week (Yea!). So hopefully I will be able to update the blog more often. For now here are some picks from the last couple of weeks:

This is one hungry boy, and we're so lucky! He loves his veggies.

Big man on campus. We're loving our new preschool. We even give big hugs to our teacher Ms. Pam when we leave.

August

2008-08-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Observations this August....

1. Rain- When was the last time we had this much rain in August? We actually have mushrooms growing in our front yard.

2. Daycare- It should be considered a four-letter word.

3. School- Thank goodness my husband knows how stressful the start of school is EVERY year. He's been really helpful!

4. College Football- It's almost here!

Galveston

2008-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

We went on a family vaca this week to Galveston. It was a semi family reunion as our Houston crew joined us over the weekend. It was great to relax, play cards, and enjoy each others company. We even celebrated 2 birthdays, Reagan turned 2 and Janell... well she had a birthday too.

Luke the beach bum....

Jake loved the waves but hated the taste of the water.

Mommy and Luke got all dressed up to go to dinner.

We stayed on Crystal Beach so we took the ferry over to Galveston to go to dinner and to get to our beach house. Jake thought the boat was awesome!

Apparently the boys were dolphin watching while we were taking this picture.

Here's the entire crew. Yes, it was very kid friendly and I think they all had a good time.

Mrs. Kneggs

2008-08-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

There's a new Mrs. Kneggs.....

My brother married Neely this weekend in a beautiful ceremony at the Victorian House. I'm so happy and lucky to have such a wonderful sister-in-law! It was such a fun weekend. We had an awesome dinner at FourWinds Friday night, all the guys came and ate hot dogs at our house Saturday and then we had a blast at the wedding. Here are a few pics. It was so fun to hang out with Trey's friends who were all like my big brothers in high school and college. It was like we hadn't missed a beat. I'll add more pictures as I get them.

This was the biggest Aggie crowd I've seen at a wedding. Not pictured below is Garren who was waving his longhorn symbol and Tony who was giving guns up.

Me and Dad dancing the night away. I hear Southern Junction calling our name.

Goodbye to the bride and groom. Have fun in Alaska.

Wow

2008-08-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

My grandmother(the same woman that just learned how to turn the computer on a few years back) gave me a hard time about not updating the blog so.... behold new pictures and features.

Turn up your volume to enjoy some of our favorite tunes!

Busy, Busy Summer

2008-08-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

More pictures from Memphis (rooftop view of The Peabody Hotel)

A growing boy needs his sleep...

More swimming and he learned how to "cheese"

We met my college roommate Amy, her sister Alicia, her highschool friend Erica and Amy's new niece Hannah for lunch in Dallas.

Jake enjoyed showing off for the girls.

Hannah was born just 1 week before Luke. They enjoyed babbaling at eachother.

Jake even had a playdate with his friend Connor at the house.

Jake has figured out how to doctor his own booboo's. The bandaids don't last long but they seem to take the pain away.

I spent last weekend in Austin at Jessica's bachelorette party. I have a whole montage of pictures of the 4 of us spanning almost 10 years. I'll share those when her wedding gets closer. Tony spent that weekend working like a slave at his mom's house on her flagstone patio which I am beginning to think is never going to be finished.

Milestones

2008-07-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Luke can sit up on his own in his baby chair (pictures soon).
Jake can help Mommy read Go, Dog, Go although it sounds like doe, dog, doe.

Life and Times

2008-07-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday my great-grandmother passed away. She was 92 and had lived a full life and had a wonderful family. We were amazed at the funeral by the list of names of descendants that had preceeded her in death, 1. She had 7 children, 13 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren. Wow. She married my great-grandfather two years after the great depression began. Wow.

I really thought a lot about the difference between her generation and mine. They didn't use credit cards. They paid their houses off, even bought lake houses and paid those off, stayed with the same company forever, saved, saved, saved, and weren't completely overwhelemed by the amount of things they felt and were told they needed. She lived in a modest size house (which was more than adequate for our family gatherings) and she knew which soda and food that each grandchild preffered. She set a great standard for our family.

Also, my sister came over and spent the day this Monday. How fun! We haven't spent much time together really since I left for college. Jake hit the door running when he saw her and wrapped himself around her legs when she was half way down the walk. We watched the boys swim, snooze, and we even worked on a little project.

A Tale of Two Brothers: Part II

2008-06-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who either boy looks like at this point. I just know they are both wonderful and adorable. Here's a similar shot for comparison.

Luke at 2 months

Jake at 2 months

Kaufman

2008-06-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Our weekly copy of the Kaufman Herald arrived yesterday and I couldn't help feeling amused when I saw an advertisment created by the economic development committee. I really am grateful for their efforts in trying to attract new business and families to our fair town, but I think they might be stretching the facts a little with this advertisment. I'll list the items that were in the ad:

- Best School System in the County (?- Forney, Crandall???)
- State of the Art Business Park (?- Yes, with 1 building in it)
- Lake Ray Hubbard to the Northwest (?-I googled, It's 46.8 miles away)
- Cedar Creek to the Southest (I'll give them that one)
- Turn of the Century Town Square (not sure what that means but ours needs TLC)
- Largest Hospital in County (true!)
- Surronded by Golf Courses (None of which are actually in Kaufman)
- Home of TVCC Nursing College (true!)

Again, love this town and plan on staying. I'll try to come up with some ideas that are a little more realistic and post them soon.

Luke

2008-06-25T08:47:00.001-07:00

Here are some updated pic's of baby Luke. He is cooing and laughing now!

Bathtime

This is Lukes' great-great Grandmother Helen Webb. We are so blessed. Jake and Luke have 3 great-great grandmothers.

Lightning Bugs

2008-06-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

Summer is officially here. We have lightning bugs all over our yard at night. It is such a gift to get to watch Jake squeal every time he sees one. Of course, Tony runs around too trying to catch them. Here are some summer fun pictures.

Birthday Month

2008-06-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Jake's birthday month continued with a celebration at Tony's Mom's and presents at our house. Vickie has given us a lot to live up to by making Jake's first car a caddy. He absolutely loves it. Just drive by on a Saturday morning and you'll see him cruising down our side street.

He's changing stations. It has a real FM radio. He loves to rock out to the bone.

Also, notice he hair cut? We got a little crazy with the clippers on Saturday morning. I cried a little and now he looks like a 4 year old. Yikes!

Memphis

2008-06-07T12:21:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful trip to Memphis last weekend for my cousins wedding. We had a little bit of a rocky start by way of some car trouble near Texarkana, but once we had our rental we were back on the road.

Thank goodness Carl (a very skilled mechanic) and Ray were with me and the boys when this happened. Also, probably a plus that I wasn't driving when the wheel almost fell off.

We arrived pretty late in Memphis and headed straight over to the Waffle House where Jake and Carl had a chocolate milk drinking contest.

I'm hopeing that from this picture you can try to understand the magnitude of this church. I'm pretty sure it was a just a tad bit smaller than Town East mall. WOW

We had to take this opportunity to have a family picture taken.

Their wedding was beautiful. The pastor shared comments that they had written about each other such as the qualities they liked in that person. It was a very personal ceremony and touching.

We ate at BB Kings on Beale St that night. We had a live band playing as we chowed down on yummy Memphis BBQ. Really, I had no idea how good it was.

Jake helped us check out by driving the valet cart to EVERYONE's rooms.

We stopped at a Cracker Barrell on the way home and had a great time stretching our legs....

Aunt Laura bought Jake a "claw". He enjoyed it but I'm pretty sure that Tony, Trey, Ray, and Carl had a better time with it.

It's A Boy World

2008-05-22T11:10:00.001-07:00

Garren set the precident and everyone else has followed suite... Brandon and Janell are having a boy! Brandon just called with the exciting news. I think we were all kind of hoping for a girl because it seemed somewhat impossible for Vickie's boys to have a girl. Well, I think MeMe is going to need to pad the walls of her playroom. She'll be having her 4th grandson in November. We're so excited!!

Rebel Weekend

2008-05-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Arkansas for Tony's neice, Kerri. She graduated from Highland Highschool. Home of the fighting Rebels. Don't doubt me when I tell you that the school has rebel flags hanging everywhere. Apparently the memo about policital correctness hasn't quit reached Arkansas yet. We're so proud of Kerri. She got a scholarship to play basketball and will leave in August after a summer of working and running basketball camps.

We had a great weekend and even made time to take Jake to a carnival for his 2nd birthday. He made cupcakes and as you can see in the picture he loved sharing them.

Yes, the basketball star is ducking so that I won't appear to be quit the midget that I am... thanks Kerri.

A proud mother and her baby girl...

Kerri showed Jake how to throw water balloons.

They had 3 cats in all. Jake was fascinated and even managed to squirt toothpaste all over Momma cats leg. Yikes!

This duck pond was all he really wanted to do at the carnival. He won a beach ball.

Papa helped him ride the horses.

This dinosaur ride was tons of fun until it lifted in the air. That movement was followed by two solid minutes of crying until it came back down.

We made cupcakes and a cake loaf. Yum

Jake handed out cupcakes and we all enjoyed.

We spent much of the weekend playing hand and foot. It's addicting!

A Tale of Two Brothers

2008-05-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

Jake at 19 days old...

Luke at 1 month...

4 Years

2008-05-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today is our 4 year anniversary. I can't believe we've been married that long. We've learned so much about each other and how to communicate with each other. We've made it through 1 move, 1 house renovation (ours & various other projects at our mothers houses), 2 pregnancies and now we are facing the perils of having a new born and a terrible 2 year old.

I'm so thankful to have a husband who is such a firm believer. I know that no matter what challenges and joys we experience together we both know that God will take care of our family. I'm looking forward to many, many more anniversaries with the man of my dreams.

Here are the suggested gift items for a 4th anniversary:
British- fruit, flowers
American- linens, silk
Modern- appliances

Our gifts: a weedeater/edger and a camera (I guess we're modern/practical)

A Trip To Rowlett

2008-05-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last week we needed a day out so we loaded up and drove to Rowlett. We had lunch at the office with great grandparents, Pops, Great Aunt Jan, and cousin Matthew. After that we headed to Grandmothers house to feed the ducks that live near her house. Then Mommy got to take a trip all by herself to Super Target. It was a great day. Here are some pictures of the duck feeding adventure.

Cookies

2008-05-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today Jake and I decided to bake some cookies. He loves to help cook especially when the mixer is involved. He was a little hesitant to try the cookie dough, but as you can see from the pictures, once he got his first taste he was hooked.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

2008-04-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

My very talented sister, better known as Aunt Laura, took these wonderful pictures of our boys. Enjoy...

What a Beautiful Life

2008-04-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Adjusting.... two children under the age of two....sounded easy enough. Thank goodness I had such wonderful help last week from both of our Mom's and grandmothers. I've been making it great this week, but for your entertainment let me give you a break down of last Thursday.

Luke woke up with an upset tummy making it very difficult to get Jake ready for preschool. Luckily my Grandmother (Shirley) came over that day and cooked, cleaned, and showed me just how to hold Luke to ease his pain. She had everything in ship shap order when she left here at 4:00 that afternoon. Who knew that at 4:05 it would all change. The crying started, the dirty diapers started... I couldn't keep up. By the time Tony got home at 6:00 there was a shampoo bottle spilled all over the tile floor, 2 children staring at him with dirty diapers, 2 children crying, and toys spread out all over the house. I threw my hands up in the air and told him I'd only been alone with them for 2 hours.

Thank goodness Tony's Mom came by early Friday and took Jake to her house for a play day. He stayed until 4:00 and came home happy from having a day with his Meme's.

It has been much easier since Thursday. Luke hasn't had any more stomach problems and Jake has been the best little helper.

I'm A Big Brother

2008-04-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

This has pretty much been the best week of Jake's life. Every grandma and grandpa have been here to see him. People have even come at night to visit and he has gotten tons of new toys as evidenced by the pictures below. He even overcame his OCD tendencies and got in his new sandbox. Next week sure is going to be a let down, but at least Mommie will be home :)

Surprise, Surprise!!!

2008-04-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hello All-

This is Laura, Leslie's little sister. The reason I am writing this for her is because she is at the hospital with the newest edition of the Rader Family.

Early this morning around 3:30 a.m. Leslie and Tony headed towards the hospital after they realized that these contractions were for "real" this time :). Once they arrived to the hospital, they said that today would be the day!

Expecting to be there for quite some time they made themselves comfy and waited for the meds to kick in. Our mom, step dad Ray, Trey & Neely were at the hospital visiting when all of the sudden, as Trey says,"The SWAT TEAM came in and told them all to leave. Unexpectedly Luke's heart rate dropped, so they wanted to deliver immediately. After about 7-10 minutes (yes it was a super sonic delivery and we are all jealous) a beautiful, healthy baby boy came in to the world.

Luke Wallace Rader
7 lbs. 6 oz.
19 3/4 inches
was born at 12:15 p.m.

After a few McDonald's chicken nuggets Leslie, Luke, Tony & Jake are all doing great! It may take a little while for Jake to get used to having a little brother around, but I am sure he will be the BEST big brother Luke could ever ask for.

We are all so blessed to have this little guy in our family and I especially am blessed to see how happy and whole my big sister has become! She deserves it!

Pictures below - ENJOY!

Welcome to the world baby Luke!

Big Yawn

Stretch!

A mothers touch

I am loved...

Luke - meet aunt Laura. She will spoil you rotten!!!!!

Worst Food In America

2008-04-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

I saw this little headline as I was logging into yahoo and I had to check it out. Much to my dismay I'm afraid I might not ever take my family to Snuffers again. The #1 worst food: Aussie Cheese Fries from Outback. These don't even compare to the greatness of Snuffers fries yet look at the stats on these puppies...

2,900 calories
182 g fat
240 g carbs

YIKES!!!! I think that equals 5 lean cuisins in the calorie department and I can't even think about the fat.

Here's a link to the article and a few others:
http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/the-worst/

Ready and Waiting

2008-04-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at school I was having some pretty intense lower back pain and then I started having what felt like contractions. I timed them and sure enough they were five minutes apart. I got a concensus from all the mom's down the hallway and everyone thought I was in labor so I headed to the office to start making phone calls.

Granny and Jake drove me to Baylor and Tony met us there. I was hooked up to all the computers and they determined that I was in labor but it was still early in the game. I had progressed since my appointment on Friday but apparently not enough. So we were sent home after about an hour.

We were sure something would happen last night but alas here I am getting ready for work. I'm afraid that if I stayed home today I would just sit on the couch and stare at my belly so I'm headed to work to hopefully walk myself into full labor. As my friend Wendy said, "A watched pot never boils." I'll keep you updated :)

Nesting

2008-03-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

This disclaimer should be given to couples who are toying with the idea of having children:

Warning! Fathers, be aware that your wife will agonize over shelf/cabinet organization, bed linens, lamps, rugs and attempt to have you purchase new carpet, blinds, couches, or anything else that she might think a brand new baby will need in your home.

In the last month I have had a serious case of "nesting." The new couches, blinds, floor lamp, and shelving system look great. The new carpet will be installed on Wednesday. I can't wait. I want to take the day off just so I can start re-organizing closets as soon as it's finished. Please do not stop by this week as I will be checking and re-checking to make sure everything is "in place."

I know this is completely irrational due to the fact that I will be home for 4 months after Luke is born and will be dying for something to do, but I can't help myself. Only 3 more weeks until d-day!!!

Mommy and Me Week

2008-03-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

Monday was Mommy and Me day at the Dallas Arboreteum so Jake and I loaded and headed to Dallas. What a fun day we had! I've never been chased so much or been so tired. I wasn't sure we'd actually make it to the car afterwards. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Snow Day

2008-03-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

I know this was a week or two ago but I couldn't resist blogging about it now that I have some free time. What a wonderful morning! We woke up to snow outside at 6am. School was delayed by 2 hours and I tried to go back to sleep, but Jake was having no part of it. When we finally got ready and headed out to Mimi's house it was already melting off, but there was still enough for Jake. His favorite new word it "Uh-oh" so he was pointing to everything that was covered in snow he was saying "Uh-oh."

When we arrived at Mimi's Uncle B and G-unit were building a snowman on the back deck. What a great day!!

A Day at the Stockyards

2008-03-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

One Sunday a couple of months back we got out of church and it was an absolutely beautiful day so we decided to take advantage and took a short trip over to Fort Worth for the stockshow. We headed down to the stockyards (only to find out that the stockshow actually takes place at the Will Rogers Colliseum in town). While down at the stockyards we did a little walking and happened into this great boot store. Well, with Jake being from Texas and all of 20 months old we thought it necesary to purchase his first pair of boots. I know they don't really go with the outfit, but they were cute and loved the sound they made on the wood floor when he walked. Luckily for us they had a western day at preschool last week so he acutally got some use out of them and really liked them (he wouldn't let me take them off when he got home that afternoon).

So here's a picture of him dressed up for western day at school complete with John Deere pants and his shiny new boots:

Presidents Day

2008-02-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

I have to share my experience from class today:

I read a book about going to visit the president. I showed and discussed a poster about the White House. We then discussed what the President does and what the children would do if they were President. I explained that we would be writing to the prompt: If I were President I would.... As I was dismissing them to go to their chairs and begin writing a boy raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Rader, what are the girls going to write about?"

Happy Love Day

2008-02-13T18:31:00.000-08:00

So I am stealing from the cartoon Love Is. Here we go...

Love is:
- sugars from a 21 month old
- my husband listening with interest as I talk about 5 year olds
- falling asleep at 8:00 on the couch and being okay with it
- feeling little kicks and jabs in my ribs throughout the day
- giving Valentine's gifts early because we just can't wait to share what we got eachother (I got jammies for the hospital and a bluetooth ear thingy and Tony got a police scanner b/c we live near the station and he's always dying to know what's going on)

New Job, New Couch....

2008-02-10T15:50:00.001-08:00

So quit a few interesting things have happened at the Rader household in the past few weeks. Tony got a new job!!!! Goodbye Vistawall, hello City of Dallas. We are very excited that he will be able to scale back from 60 hour work weeks to 40 hours. He'll actually get to wear nice clothes and not mess them up, and best of all there are endless job opportunities within the city.

In celebration we went out and picked out a new love seat and couch for our living room. It's only been 3 years since Hailey chewed holes into the top of our sofa so I guess you could say it was time. They will be here in 2 weeks. We can finally have more than 2 people over comfortably, yea!!!

Next on the list: a few cows (as investment/hobbie for my Hubbie)

I promise some pictures soon.

Question

2008-02-08T04:31:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me in an email and I thought that it might be fun to pass around on the blog so here are the rules: 1 word answers only

Leslie's Answers
1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your significant other? shower
3. Your hair? straight
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? smart
6. Your favorite thing? Jake
7. Your dream last night? late
8. Your favorite drink? DrPepper
9. Your dream/goal? home
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your ex? Progressive
12. Your fear? alone
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? family
14. Where were you last night? Vickie's
15. What you're not? timid
16. Muffins? Yes
17. One of your wish list items? carpet
18. Where you grew up? Crandall
19. The last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wearing? robe
21. Your TV? big
22. Your pets? tolerant
23. Your computer? kickin'
24. Your life? blessed
25. Your mood? fun
26. Missing someone? friends
27 Your car? big
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29 Favorite Store? Gap
30. Your summer? babies
31. Like someone? everyone
32. Your favorite color? red
33. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
34. Last time you cried? Tuesday
35. Who will/would re-post this? Amy

Tony's Answers
1. Where is your cell phone? Jacket
2. Your significant other? Lester
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Vickie
5. Your father? Robert
6. Your favorite thing? cows
7. Your dream last night? Nope
8. Your favorite drink? OJ
9. Your dream/goal? Happiness
10. The room you're in? Living
11. Your ex? NA
12. Your fear? Failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Farm
14. Where were you last night? Terrell
15. What you're not? Spelling Champ
16. Muffins? Maybe
17. One of your wish list items? F250
18. Where you grew up? Kaufman
19. The last thing you did? Shower
20. What are you wearing? Underwear
21. Your TV? Nice
22. Your pets? Dog
23. Your computer? Dying
24. Your life? Great
25. Your mood? Good
26. Missing someone? Grandparents
27 Your car? F150
28. Something you're not wearing? Pants
29 Favorite Store? Tractor Supply
30. Your summer? Leslie's
31. Like someone? Nope
32. Your favorite color? Blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? Last Night
34. Last time you cried? Idon'tknow
35. Who will/would re-post this? Brandy

Easter

2008-01-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend someone posed the question of why Easter changes so drastically from year to year. Seth thought that it probably coincided with the end of Lint. This made perfect sense. I added that maybe Pentacost is set by something weird and that makes lint start and that's what throws Easter off. (If you are reading and become offended by our lack of knowledge on the subject please cease and desist).

This leads me to tonight when I called Seth to check on Miranda (she's doing great by the way, she's even walked the hallway at the hospital already!) Seth said that he hadn't had a chance to do full research but was sure that Pentacost didn't set Easter. So, I googled and here's the crazy answer:

Western Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar which is very similar to a Hebrew calendar to set the date of Easter. It takes into account the date of the Paschall full moon which was set by ancient tablets (325AD) and don't actually coiniside with full moons. As a result Easter can vary between March 22nd to April 25. That short and sweet explanation comes as a result of reading a small essay about the history of this date. It still doesn't make a lot of sense, but at least I know that it was indeed a difficult answer and therefore I don't feel quit as ashamed to admit that I did not know what rule, date, or law set Easter.

Party Animals

2008-01-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

We were up until 12:30 Friday night!! It's been a long time since that has happened. What was the motivation? We were rearranging our living room. This activity started with dinner with my Mom and Ray. They came back to the house after dinner so that Ray could help Tony figure out how to build a corner tv cabinet for our new tv. While they were drawing, discussing, and being kind of boring Mom and I started making small changes. We moved a desk here, a side table there. Then we would casually ask them to move a couch every once in a while.

Before we knew it we had discovered a way to use the hutch we already own as the tv console. We also finally found the best way to arrange furniture in this long space. It was probably only about 10 at this point, but now Tony and Ray had to turn the hutch into a tv console. Drills were brought out and even a little vacuuming was done. Finally at 12:20 we were satisfied, messy, and tired. The living room won't be complete until we get a new sofa and loveseat, which will hopefully happen in the next month or two. I'll post some pictures when we're finished!

I'm still alive and bloggin'

2007-12-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

I apologize to my dedicated readers for my lack of posts in the last month. What can I say... Christmas. We have had a family Christmas every weekend since Thanksgiving and we have our last this Sunday. Well here are some pictures to catch you up with the family (mainly Jake).

He found his sidewalk paint while Mommy was cleaning up the back porch...fun!!
Hailey has been inside a lot because of the cold weather and I'm starting to have second thoughts about Jake needing a brother. He's got all the friend he needs in Hailey.
We can't keep him out of it!!!!
They have a great relationship. He feeds her, she likes him.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Of course he is a natural. He knew exactly what to do when he saw this wonderful toy. Oh how I hope he gets his Daddy's height.

Whoop!!!

2007-11-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a good whoop after Thanksgiving to make all that turkey and dressing go down nice and easy. What a strong victory by the Ag's last night! Why didn't we look like that all season? I was a little disappointed that this great victory had to be overshadowed by Coach Fran's resignation. Now A&M is down one head football and one head basketball coach this year :( Enough business talk, let's be merry and give thanks for a wonderful victory over t.u.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

After a wonderful dinner the kiddos broke into their Christmas presents a little early. We're going with a ghetto theme.... I hope ypu have a great Thanksgiving!

A Weekend Away... or Not

2007-11-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

So we planned a weekend in the Austin and San Marcus area this weekend. We both took off on Friday (Tony never takes off), and then..... Jake started getting sick. We took him to the doctor and he has pnemonia! We caught it really early, but needless to say we canceled the reservations, picked up some medicine, and settled in for a slow weekend. Downside, no shopping. Upside, snuggly, cuddly baby (even though he is is crying most of the time). So keep Jake is your prayers as he begins to heal. We're hoping for the bacterial version which goes away in 1-2 days. If it's of the viral variety he'll be under the weather for 2-4 weeks :(

Baby #2

2007-10-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

Baby #2 is now the size of a prune and weighs in at one ounce. I'm in week 12 and I think the tiredness might be wearing off a little.... just a little. We'll find out the sex of baby #2 in December (yea!). Also, I'm already trying to come up with some color schemes as having a boy and girl in one room could prove to be challenging. So, if you have any ideas there please feel free to share or come by and help me brainstorm.

27.....30

2007-09-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Just for the record: 30 is terrifying! I hadn't really given it that much thought until 27 rolled around on Friday. Tony was 27 when we got married and I thought he was soooooo old! Now I'm old and boring like he was. Not that I don't like being old and boring. It's just that it snuck up on me. Tony and I talked about it last night while we were out on our "date." He said he knew it would happen to me eventually and he's loving it. I have three more years, but the part that really stinks is that all of my girlfriends are anywhere from 8-11 months younger than me (which was really cool at 21), not so cool now. I hope they are kind when the big day finally arrives.

Movies

2007-09-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, this blog was partially inspired by Bezner's blog almost seemingly devoted to movies and the coincidence that we just upgraded our cable package to include Fox sports. Little did Tony know that this package included such great channels as AMC, TCM, Bravo, etc. I just might be the luckiest person ever to have upgraded the weekend before Hitchcock week was going to start. So far I have watched Rear Window and The Birds. Tonight's main movie is Vertigo which is being Tivo'd as I am blogging. These movies of course are just teasers leading up to Saturday nights showing of Psycho. I can't wait.

Here is how our downfall into TV slavery began:
1st year of marriage- 1 TV, no cable. I'm talking channels 4,5,8,11, and sometimes 33.
2nd year of marriage- 2 TV's basic cable (by this of course I mean satelite).
3rd year of marriage- 2 TV's upgraded cable leaving virtually no time to converse as there are too many great programs on at all times. There would probably be more TV's at this point, but really our house is tiny. We can already watch it in every part of the house.

Who knows what the future holds for us....

What Else Can I Get Into???

2007-09-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

I walked in to the kitchen to discover what Jake had found. He quickly threw it off and ran. When I came back with the camera he wanted the camera badly so we made a deal. He put it back on, let me take a picture, and then he got the camera.

A Day at the Cattle Auction

2007-08-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

I had soooo much fun this Saturday. Tony and I loaded up the cattle trailer and headed off to buy some calves for his mom's farm. Who knew it would be so difficult and involve so much adrenaline?? First off all we were about 40 years younger than the average person there, and it was apparent the moment that we walked in that we didn't know how it worked at all.

Question: Who in the world can understand those auction guys??? Why do they have to make all those random sounds the whole time they are calling the bids? Is it just to confuse you, to prevent ackward silences, to make the crowd laugh??

It took us about an hour to figure out how it worked and then Tony started bidding. He was slow at first. He maybe raised his card for every 10th cow, but then he really got into it. I'm suprised we didn't come home with twice as many cows as we needed. It's really tricky because you bid on a per pound price and you don't know the weight until after you buy the cow. Also, they auction them in about 20 seconds so you have to make your decisions really quickly. It was so much fun! We laughed and laughed as we tried to figure it out. Here's an actual snip-it of a conversation we had while there:

Tony: That's a brahma.
Leslie: Yea, all brahma's are bulls so you should bid on that one.
Tony: Really?
Leslie: Yea, my cousins had one.
Tony: Really? Because they would be extinct if they were all bulls....
Leslie: oh, right.... ha, ha, ha.

That is how the conversatin went all day as we were making up things just to feel like we knew what we were talking about. We ended up buying 6 really fine looking calves (one being a brahma), and were just under our spending limit. It was so much fun!! I can't wait to go back.

God Is Good, part deux

2007-08-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard..... drum roll..... we're pregnant!!! Our new bundle of joy is due in April. We should know the sex by Christmas so I'll keep you posted.

While You Were Out

2007-08-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, you know the basic concept of the show... you lure someone out of town and then madly work to make-over a room in their house. Janelle, my sister-in-law, and I decided to take on this challenge when our mother-in-law Vickie went for a quick trip to Santa Fe. We did some of the shopping the day before she left and then hit the ground running when she pulled out of the driveway at 11:30 on Thursday. Oh, let me add another twist to our challenge: we had two children with us the entire time. Let me give you an outline of what we did and then I'll try to describe the room beyond the picture.

Thursday:
11:30- begin to unload the room (wow, there was a LOT of stuff in this room)
12:30- attempt to remove wallpaper, had to resort to using a steamer. At one point myself, Janelle, Garren, and Jake were all peeling wallpaper
1:30- tear down cracked tape and bed from corner and begin to patch
2:00- paint, 3 walls mocha, 1 wall chocolate brown
6:00- drive to Combine to get Tony's tools
8:00- begin sewing drapes (doesn't get far b/c we don't have thread, pin and iron only)
8:45- Tony and Brandon start making headboard
9:30- go home and show Tony pregnancy test.... that's right if you haven't heard the news we're expecting

Friday:
8-10:00- shopping, Garden Ridge and Wal-mart
10:00- last minute paint and more patch in cracked corner
11:00- drive to Rockwall (home depot, tj maxx, kirklands, wal-mart) Again remember that we had 2 small children with us.)
3:00- attach foam to headboard, start to put room back together and organize clothes, shoes, memorobilia
5:00- Tony built cornice board, we upholstered headboard, Tony attached
8:00- Tony puts shelves up in 2 closets
11:30- finally go to sleep at Vickie's instead of our house b/c we have so much to clean in the morning before they get home

Saturday:
8:00- all up and cleaning house
10:00- finally able to sit down and rest
11:45- Tony and Jake leave for Rockwall
12:30- Vickie and Lila get home, mill around, and then finally she goes to her room and proceeds to scream with shock/delight. Tears abound and we have so much fun telling her about everything we did. She loves it!!

God Is Good

2007-08-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

Remember the post about Job?? Well, I have to let you know how good God has been to us. We received a random check in the mail from our insurance company, Tony's work sent out an early gainsharing check, we only had to pay 1/2 our deductible to get our car fixed, and because of the sale of Tony's company we should be getting a large check in the mail by the end of the month. All of those extra expenses will be taken care of and we might even have some money left over. I knew at the time that all of those things were happening that God would provide and he did. God is good!

I Can Fly!!!!

2007-08-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

I don't want to make anyone feel bad, but we really do have the best kid in the world! We had to fly down to Houston for a wedding a few weeks back and we were not really sure how Jake was going to do on the plane. Well, we shouldn't have been suprised when he was an absolute angel. The flight crew and even the other passengers on the plane loved him. Here is a picture of his flying adventure.

Word to fellow parents: Do not board plane at last possible second with baby!!! People can give the meanest looks when that happens. I thought one man was actually going to throw something at us.

Sewing Part Deux

2007-08-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you that know me well you will not be suprised that I did not let sewing "beat me." Although the class was overwhelming I decided to give it a try. I bought a simple pattern and some cute fabric, circa Lucille Ball, from Walmart and decided to make an apron. Being the prudent person I am I also decided I was in need of adult supervision for this first project so I loaded everything up and went to Granny's house. She helped me lay out the pattern, put the pieces together and make some key decisions. I did all the sewing and really got comfortable with my machine. It was so much fun and only cost about $20 to make. Here is a picture of the finished product.

Pretty cute, I know. Please try to limit your orders to 5 per day.

Fast forward 2 weeks and I'm getting pretty gutsy. I decided to turn my big, ugly pine coffee table into an ottoman. This project had 2 objectives. Objective 1 was to disguise the big, ugly table. Objective 2 was to hide all of Jake's living room toys underneath the table. I must say mission accomplished! Pricing the foam for the top of the table was scary, but luckily JoAnne's was having their Christmas in July sale so I got everything 1/2 off. Here is a picture of our new ottoman/coffee table. Please feel free to come by and see it in person too!

Have You Ever Felt Like Job???

2007-08-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

I really hadn't until recently and maybe it's because we're studying this book in our Sunday School class. So, here's a run down of our summer:

leak in roof creates hole in ceiling, luckily this happened over the patio (roof repaired ceiling not)
outside a/c unit goes out (inside went out last spring)
have to have wisdom toothe removed... yuck!!
Jake running high fever rush to ER, en route have blow out causing damage to vehicle, Jake had 2 ear infections but is now back to 100%
have to have cavaties filled
now have serious case of poison ivy covering much of body and almost all of face, hence no picture for this posting
obviously no vacation as financial crisis in area of house and vehicle

I know that these really don't compare to the trials that Job faced as he proved his devotion to God, but like I said I really did see some correlation. As we have joined a new Sunday School class and have been meeting with this great group of people for bible study on Wednesday nights we truly have grown closer to God. I know that he will not put anything in our path that we can not face, and I have to add that both mine and Tony's jobs are great right now, Jake is a joy and blessing, and we have a beautful home, and two working vehicles.

I know I don't normally include "deep thoughts" on the blog and if this scares any one of my six devoted readers away please let me know and I'll try to curb my free flowing thought postings.

A Day at the Retirement Village

2007-07-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

What a day! Jake was a smash hit as we went to visit his great-great grandmother in Greenville at her posh retirement village. When I say "posh" I mean that each resident has their own little mini apartment, the place looks and smells great, and the food is faboulus! They even play 42 and bingo here. Mama Kneggs is quit the 42 player so she is usually first to find a partner.

We arrived just before lunch so we had time to visit in Mama Kneggs' apartment before showing Jake off to the the whole place at lunch. He had a great time. After checking out all of her cabinets and her A/C unit, it was very similar to the type you would see in a hotel, it was off to lunch. The residents here that need walkers all have these really cool colorful one's that include a little bench seat. They were all thrilled to have Jake pushing their walkers around and they really wanted him to take a ride.

We enjoyed a delicous lunch which Jake even ate and then watched him as he went from table to table entertaining everyone in the room. There was a phone on the wall that would ring occassionally and interrupt his act as he had to go and see who it was for. After lunch we were beat and had to start back home, but Mama Kneggs really enjoyed our suprise visit and we both can't wait to go back.