Mommy and Daddy are very proud of our MVPs. They were good sports through the whole game and followed Coach Marcos’ instructions. Can you believe how big they look in those uniforms? Mommy thinks they are adorable, too!

Top news of the game… Josh scored a goal! We all had a blast. Sonny’s mom, Momo to our kids, also came out to cheer them on. Go Tiger’s!!

Most of these photos were taken by our new sister-in-law, Sandra. Some how she “borrowed” Michelle’s camera and was secretly taking pictures, including a few self portraits.

ANGEL: Last night I was working on some photography orders in my office. While I was uploading photos, I was also watching Ice Age 3. Towards the end of the movie guess who happens to stroll in, pull up a chair, and sit next to her daddy. Yes, Little Mo. I loved how one desk lamp lit her face then faded to black all around. Luckily my camera was sitting next to me and, without her noticing, I fired off a bunch of shots.

What a great start to my early weekend. I get home from work Thursday afternoon and Michelle greets me in the kitchen. “Guess what your son did today? Lemme show you.” Me being a creature of routine, I asked her to wait while I change clothes, put away my things, and “freshen up.” After I’m done, Michelle leads me to a window at the back of the house. I raise the shade and there is a piece of newspaper covering one of the panes of glass in the window.

The Story: Joshua is playing in the back yard. He is throwing a tennis ball on the roof of the house. When it comes rolling down Maggie, our dog, will retrieve it. Joshua needs to come inside the house. He goes back outside to play, but forgets the tennis ball inside. So, what’s the next best thing to throw on a roof? A ROUND ROCK! (see exhibit A below) Michelle is in the kitchen and hears glass shatter. She runs over to the window and hears Josh shouting at her through the closed blinds. “Don’t worry, Mommy.” Michelle yells back, “Didn’t you hear the glass break?!” He replies, “Yes, but it didn’t make a hole!” Technically, from his height, he didn’t see the hole…. we’re guessing. Josh comes inside and Michelle walks him over to the window. Before they get to there Joshua repeats himself, “Mommy, there’s no hole.” They walk up to the window and Michelle points to the hole, “What’s this?” He response, “oooooh.” He is sent to his room for punishment.

Michelle and I had a difficult time keeping a straight face while trying to discipline Joshua so she left the room. First of all, he gives you a blank stare like he has no idea what just happened. Combine that with the sad puppy dog eyes and Joshua already has the advantage. He’s too cute. While I’m trying to explain what he did wrong all I could hear in my head was, “Mommy, there’s no hole.” ROFL! The talk was brief. I told him not to get out of bed and think about what he did. About 30 minutes later we went to check on him and the boy fell asleep. UGH! What kinda of punishment is that?

On Friday, my father-in-law found a hardware store that still cuts glass. Lowes and Home Depot will not cut it for you. All this on one of the coldest days of the year. It was below freezing for several nights in a row. Saturday afternoon, we installed the glass and afterward everybody was treated to some good eatin’ at Rudy’s BBQ. Needless to say, the only thing Joshua is allowed to throw towards the house are leaves. My father-in-law came up with that one. Thanks Earl for the idea and thanks for the help with new glass installation…. not for the laughing at us when Michelle first told you what Josh did to the window. LOL! Oh, the memories. (Told you Josh is just like his Uncle Brian!)

This is the actual rock Joshua tossed through the window.

We saw a wide range of artistic skill. The milk cartons start out glued to the plate and then the kids add the frosting and decorations. I think they are very creative. Checker pretzels make good windows, lollipops make mailboxes, and Chex cereals make fences. M&Ms were popular with most of the kids, both in architectural design and snack time! (Yes, the parents sneaked a few treats, too!)

It started in our area around 8:30am. It was really coming down by 10am. Sonny took the day off and by lunch I was ready to pick up the twins from school. We stopped by at noon and I caught up with both of their classes heading out for recess. After seeing both of them playing in the snow, I was satisfied that our kids got to share the experience and waited for 3pm to pick them up.

It continued to snow through lunch and about an hour after the twins came home. We all went back outside to play. (Mommy was as giddy as the kids!) Sonny caught some beautiful moments of my parents playing with Josh and Morgan in the front yard. Sadee had just gone back inside. Her pants and shoes were still wet from going outside several times at school and she was too cold. I’ll see if Sonny will let me post a few photos from my camera, even though we know they aren’t quite as sharp, but our pretty princess won’t mind. Although, photos or not, I’m sure none of us will forget this wonderful winter weather!

Faby set the bar high. This was the first birthday party she organized for one of her daughters. Disney Princess bouncing house in the front yard, pink and purple balloons tied to everything, pizza, punch, mermaid pinata, huge Ariel cake, DJ, and face painter that also made balloon animals.

A pinata at any birthday party is a winner! Lined up by size, Morgan was one of the first. She got the hang of things within two swings. Josh had fun and did most of the damage to the mermaid’s hair. Sadee was further down the line and thankfully so. She knows what she’s doing when you hand her a big stick and say hit it hard. Two fists and over the head swings will do some damage fast.

We all got in line for some “ink” and looked at a sheet of drawings. Check out the photos below to see what we picked. Totally fun day!

They could barely stand the wait.  It could not get dark soon enough.  “Can we go now?  Can we go NOW?!”  We were one of the first families on the street to ring doorbells because the time change did not come until that evening.  Most kids waited until it got fully dark and we heard some families say they got trick-or-treaters until 10pm.   (We made it in by 8:15.)

We walked a couple blocks up and back around the next street over.  The houses with the most decorations drew the biggest crowds.  A few were very cute and young kids friendly.  A couple others were very scary.  The home owners go all out with music, smoke machines, lighting, and “cast members” in creepy costumes ready to scream or sneak up on you.  Mommy had three trembling kids attached to my arms and legs.  Wow, what they will do for candy!

The kids love Hallow

It’s hard to believe that just five years ago we began here, the NICU of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. Fast forward to today and the twins are starting a new journey, Kindergarten at Greenwood Forest Elementary. They have waited for this day for 2 years. Michelle would drive past the school while going in and out of the neighborhood and the kids talked about that being “our school someday.” As new parents, we thought we had all the time in the world. We make a great effort to spend quality time with all 3 kids and record all of the milestones and fun activities. This is not just another milestone, limited time vacation, or bump in the road. This is the beginning of a multi-decade learning experience.

We know how smart and sweet Joshua and Sadee are with our family and close friends. Now it’s time for them to go out into the world and show everyone how wonderful and important they are to each other, new friends, teachers and everyone they meet!

This is one of those times we really want everyone to leave a comment. Please tell us your favorite memory of Josh and Sadee from the past five years.