Best Buddies

These boys like to be together in everything they do. From the time they get up until the time they go to bed, pretty much the only thing they don't do together is sleep.

Bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub is more fun than the regular tub.

Even when Mommy is cooking dinner, they watch t.v. together on the same cushion of the couch.

Building a sandcastle in the back yard.

Easter and stuff

I don't know what is wrong with Blogger, but I can't move my pictures around after I upload them, so these are kind of in a random order. Austin is "helping" me upload to the blog since he didn't take a very long nap today, so I really don't have time to fix anything.

Here are the boys at Grandma and Grandpa's house after church on Easter Sunday. This was the best I could do to take a picture of them together in their matching outfits. I figure I've got a little more time to dress them the same before they start to have their own opinions.

Austin actually ate the chocolate bunny ears. He supposedly doesn't like chocolate, but I guess if the Easter bunny brings it to you, you'll like just about anything.

Braeden (who loves chocolate, just like his Mommy) thought he was in absolute heaven with such an enormous chocolate bunny!

Here's the Easter bunny loot. We had Easter eggs all over the house from the Easter Bunny when we woke up too. It was raining and wet outside, so he left them all over the house for us.

The Saturday before Easter is the annual Guthrey family reunion at my Great Grandmother Guthrey's old home in Louisiana. I have gone pretty much every year (minus the one time we were living in New York), and I love to see the boys doing this tradition. Something amazing is that this was Andy's 18th year to go too. He started coming with me when we started dating in high school. Every year we eat crawfish, fried catfish and shrimp, oysters, and tons of other food. We always have a pinata for the kids. Our kids are lucky because the last few years has included a inflated jumping house...something they didn't have when we were kids.

Braeden's first time to do the pinata. He loved it!

Austin's second year to hit the pinata. Serious face there...I think he really wanted to get to the candy inside!

That is a live crawfish. These boys have no fear! Austin was a bit more careful since he learned the hard way about how a crawfish pinch feels.

It is in the genes.

Austin wore his cowboy hat in honor of Poppy (his great grandfather) who always has his straw hat on. Look closely and you can see Poppy behind Austin to the left. He just celebrated his 90th birthday!

The Rocket Launcher

This was one of the boys' Christmas presents from Danny and Laura. We get so much energy out playing with this toy, thanks guys!!

Bluebonnets are for girls!

Tree climbin' is for boys!!

Bug hunting is fun in the middle of all these bluebonnets.

We pose this picture for you, Mom, not because we want to, but because you want us to. That's it, that's your one free pose in the flowers. Any more will cost you. And we aren't putting down our stick and leaf, that's asking too much!

Well, at least I didn't make them get dressed up to pose in the flowers. I let them where Spiderman and Mr. Mischief shirts.

Older women and baseball stuff

Coach Larry teaching Austin "baseball ready" position. That's Larry's son, Ryan, on the right in the football shirt.

This is Avery. Isn't she just the cutest thing you ever saw. Braeden thinks so too (despite the fact that he is checking the messages on Mommy's phone during this picture). So much so that he risked sitting in a pink chair just to sit next to her. She is the daughter of Coach Larry. For those of you who know us from high school or ATM, Larry (you know who he is) is one of Austin's t-ball coaches and his son Ryan plays on the team too. Mommy thinks it is pretty special that he is Austin's coach since she has known him as long as she has known Daddy, but she's just sappy like that.

Fishing with Daddy

A couple of weeks ago we got to take Braeden out on his first fishing trip. He had a blast! Aunt Jennifer got to join us, so it was even more extra special!

Here is Daddy showing the boys the ropes. Austin is already an expert and had his fishing line in the water on the other side of the boat.

Aunt Jennifer had fun too!

Braeden is now helping Aunt Jennifer since he "dropped" his fishing pole into the water and lost it. So long Batman pole!

Older brothers are great at showing you the ropes!

Austin looks like an expert to me! This is just the beginning of his fishing career. Who knows, maybe one day we'll watch him fishing on one of those shows Daddy constantly watches on the tv. Hey, there's an idea...a father and sons fishing show. I don't know, they probably already have one, but I think it's a good idea.

Austin's first t-ball game

Austin's first t-ball game was a couple of weeks ago, but I never got the pictures posted. Before the game they took their hats off and said a pledge.

Austin "catches" a ball. This is pretty funny, because all of the boys run to get the ball off the ground, and they kind of fall all over the place until one of them gets the ball in his glove.

Daddy gets to be on the field with him during the game to help coach (all the parents do).

Waiting on the sidelines to bat, next to best buddy Owen. I am sorry to say that I didn't get a picture of him batting, but there will be lots more chances to do this.

All of the kids together!

This is a common sight, all four of the kids looking out the window together in the morning at the birds and squirrels on the bird feeder. Maggie and Jack are dying to chase the squirrels!

Driving the tractor!

The weather has been beautiful this week making it possible to get outside and enjoy some sunshine. The boys had a blast the other day driving their tractor. Stopping along the way to look at a bug or puddle doesn't happen often, but Braeden was really interested in the bug he saw on the ground. Austin hasn't taken his cowboy hat off since we got it at the rodeo, too cute!

Chatting as he drives, Austin doesn't really watch where he is going!

This is right before they ran into ME!! Notice Austin is excited with this notion, because he thinks it is funny. Braeden appears to be bracing for the fact that they are about to collide.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kiss Me, I'm Cute!

Not Lucky, Just Cute!

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo 2009

Every year is always so fun at the rodeo. This year it was cold and rainy, which made it a little crowded inside, but that didn't stop the fun! Here are the boys waiting so patiently to ride a pony.

Finally, after all that waiting, they had a blast riding the ponies. Austin didn't need any help, but Braeden wanted me nearby, so I got to walk with him. The ponies were going pretty fast, and snapping a picture was pretty tough. Andy got this picture with both boys on their horses. Braeden was interested in the mechanics of the wheel that spun around as the ponies walked....hmmm, future engineer? We'll see!

Petting the piggy!

The sheep had just been sheered when we got there. They must have been cold without all their wool!

Of course, what's a trip to the rodeo if you don't drive a John Deer?

Notice the skill Braeden has with this. He has one hand on the wheel, and one on the stick!

Bump, sick, sick, and sick

Last week wasn't such a fun week around here. It all started when Braeden somehow "fell" down and bumped his head on the dog bowl (Austin said he "fell" but I have my reasons to think otherwise). Notice the blue and purple knot on Braeden's head (between his eyes). Poor kid has had quite a number of bruises on his head in the last few weeks.

Then later in the week both boys were sick prompting two separate trips to the doctor...not an easy task with both of them when they don't feel well. At least they LOVE Dr. Miller, so they don't mind going, it is just trying to keep them away from all the other sick kids there so they don't catch something else that proves difficult.

Blue the Hippo can make Austin feel better. Austin was diagnosed with a sinus infection.


Braeden had an ear infection. It didn't stop him from having a great time pulling all of the tissues out of the tissue box (look behind him on the couch and floor)! I should have known that it was too quiet in the room and something was going on.

This is something you can rarely see. Austin laying down on the couch. He rarely sits still long enough to capture a picture.

Even more rare would be two boys laying down on the couch together!

Lastly, the second trip to the doctor was because Austin got this horrible red rash on his cheeks. It started with the cheek on the right, and then went to the other cheek. I thought it was fifth disease (a virus that causes a rash like this), but it never spread from his face to his body. Dr. Miller said it was probably either due to the sinus infection or the crazy weather we were having (freezing cold one day and then in the eighties the next day).

Andy and I also got sick with them. I was lucky enough to get a visit to the Doctor to get some medicine for an ear infection, but poor Andy is just riding out his sniffles and cough on his own.

Eeeeewww!

Braeden is such a blessing in that he will eat just about anything. Well, he'll try just about anything at least. The only thing is that he likes some pretty weird combinations of food. Here are a few of the disgusting combinations from recent meals.

• refried beans with vanilla ice cream (this got a big "Mmmmm" from him).
• vanilla creme cookies with ranch dressing (dipped not just once, but several times).
• and BBQ sauce with mandarin oranges.

It sure is a good thing that he will try just about anything, but YUCK! These are combinations I would never put together.

A little chat

For those of you who read into things and think you know more than us about our lives, let me start by saying this has nothing to do with any status of Andy and I . We are NOT trying to have a baby. This is just a conversation that Austin and I had after I was explaining to him that I have two brothers and he has one brother.

Mom: Austin, how many brothers do you have?

Austin: two

M: No, you have one brother, but there are two of you.

A: No, I have two.

M: Ok, whatever.

A: I have a sister too.

M: No, you don't have a sister.

A: Oh, you are right. When we get one, we have to throw him (pointing to Braeden) in the trash can.

M: What!?!?! Why do we have to throw him in the trash? We can't throw our baby brother in the trash can, we love him!

A: A pause, then no answer to my question. Momma, can I have a snack?

This is a true conversation, and I am not sure what he meant by that, but I wasn't going to press into it. He immediately went over to Braeden and hugged him and said "I love you Braeden" so I don't think he wants to get rid of Braeden. I just thought it was cute.

Jesus loves the little children

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world!

After church today, Austin kept singing it over and over. So cute, and I was lucky to get it on video. Most of the time he won't do this stuff when I pull out the camera. It may help to push pause on the playlist music on the bottom right of the blog first so you can hear him better.