Another Cousin Update

We found out this week that Aunt Jodi and Uncle Robert are having a...

GIRL!

We're counting the weeks to March 12!

Fall Parties

One of my favorite things about my job is that I get to see Micah and Joey throughout their days at school. They still get to do their own thing and I get to do mine, but I get a glimpse here and there of them doing their thing.

Yesterday we had our fall parties. Joey dressed up in his Spiderman costume, and Micah (surprise, surprise) refused his Batman costume and settled for his (much more comfortable) skeleton shirt.All of the classes got to go trick-or-treating in the church offices, and then play at a little parking lot carnival. Micah's class didn't get to go at the same time as mine and Joey's classes, but I did get to see Joey in action.Later that morning, all of the classes had their parties. I was unable to leave my own class, but Bret was able to come to Joey's and Micah's. Joey was having a ball. What a ham.Micah was playing camera-shy,But Bret got a few shots of him when he wasn't looking.Fun, fun!

Nice to Meet You, Griffin!

Cousin Griffin was born a couple of weeks ago, on October 15th. But because of a week in the NICU, and our being a little overly cautious about coughs and runny noses, the Wellscousins didn't get to see or meet him until last night.

So we got dressed up and Red Dragon Ninja Conner, Skeleton Micah (yes, he does have an actual costume, but Mr. Comfort would much rather wear his favorite tshirt), and SpiderJoey went trick-or-treating.

Look at what a cute mommy and baby giraffe met us at the door!

The Ninja-Skeleton-Spiderman trio got their candy and then got in line to hold Griffin - but only after Aunt Rachel and Uncle Bret had a turn! Conner was, of course, very gentle and sweet with him. I just love how Griffin is looking at Conner in this picture.

Micah was quite the proud big cousin, too. He was supposed to find something last night that started with the letter "G" for show and tell today. A picture of him with little Griffin Giraffe would be perfect! (And wouldn't you know that little stinker made me cute his sweet face off the picture, so that it was only Griffin Giraffe in the show and tell?)Joey was much more interested in playing with Ollie (the dog) than Griffin. Knowing Joey, that was probably for the best anyway!

Griffin, you are such a cutie! We are so blessed to have added you to our family. We've got all kinds of tricks to teach you soon, so watch out Aunt Lydia and Uncle Chris - paybacks. :)

Jack-O-Lantern Teamwork

We carved our jack-o-lantern the other day. In the past, Bret's done the design and all the work while the boys "help"...or throw pumpkin guts at one another.

This year was a little different. Don't worry - Bret was still in charge of the knife. :) But the boys did help with the design.Micah drew the eyes, Joey drew the eyebrows, and Conner drew the mouth.It wasn't until after the carving had begun that Conner realized that the top teeth were upside-down. But we decided it was okay...kind of cool even.

And Joey, fire-loving Joey, just had to sing "Happy Birthday" to the jack-o-lantern after we lit it's candle so that he could then blow the fire out. :)

And while we're on the topic of Halloween, we also made a gingerbread-type haunted house that turned out pretty cute.

Now we're just looking forward to costumes and candy!

Crazy Hat Day

It's Red Ribbon Week, and today was "Go Wild About a Drug-Free Life and Wear a Crazy Hat" Day at Conner's school. So he dug out his authentic coonskin hat (from Aunt Lydia years ago, I think?) and excitedly wore it to school this morning.

When he got home he was very excited. "We had a hat contest today, and I won 2nd place in my class!" (Followed by many more details, like that it was his idea, how the contest worked, who got first and third places, etc.)

"Wow," I said, "That's great!"

Then later when he told Bret about it he said, "Well, the contest was just in my imagination."

Bret and I together exclaimed: "You had a contest in your imagination and didn't win?!"

"I did too win, I won 2nd."

That kid and his imagination! At least we know he's learned that it's not all about first place...

Woolly Bears

Apparently the weather we've had lately has been great for the woolly bears. We find them at home, we find them at Conner's school when we go to pick him up. Anytime we spot one, the world comes to a stop until we've captured it and are able to take it with us. It always causes a scene at school. All three boys love them and all three will pet them, but it's funny that Micah's the only one that will catch one or pick it up.At one point we had six of them.Micah and Joey have both taken them to school for show and tell. Teachers and students alike were fascinated. And I'm not gonna lie - I've been pretty fascinated, too. First of all, I had no idea that caterpillars pooped so much! Oh. My. Goodness.

The rule we try to follow is that at the end of the day, we let anything that we've caught go. That way the boys can carry it around and enjoy it, but (hopefully, anyway), we're not killing everything, either. Well, the other day Bret let the woolly bears go in the little bed of spearmint next to our front porch. And then the next morning when the boys went out to play, they were still there. (At least, I think they were the same ones.)

So now, everytime we catch a woolly bear, we put spearmint leaves in the jar with them. Apparently they love spearmint. It's crazy, we've actually been able to watch them eat a lot. And then at the end of the day, we let them go in the spearmint bed...and the next morning they're still there. I think we've been catching the same poor little woolly bears everyday for about a week now. You'd think they'd wise up. But they don't. So the boys continue to enjoy them.

This morning Micah and Joey took it to a whole new level. They didn't catch them immediately like usual. Instead they just played with them. The woolly bears were put into the unattended flower pots that were begging for some kind of life anyway. Micah gave them a napkin to poop on, and a ball to play with.But I don't mind. It's kept them busy and occupied, so it's been kind of nice. :)(See all that poop? Yeah, that's from two caterpillars over a couple of hours. And all that spearmint they've been eating makes it smel minty fresh. Good grief.)

Cousin Griffin

Most of you have heard already, but I've got to document it here, too - Cousin Griffin is here!!

Griffin Wayne Robey was born to Chris and Lydia last week on Friday morning, October 15. He was 7 lbs, 6 oz and 18 inches long.

There is quite a little story to his birth, but that's really Lydia's story to tell, not mine. Basically, he was born about 4 weeks early (I know, 7 lbs 6 oz doesn't sound like a premie, does it?!), and his lungs just weren't quite ready. So he spent all of this last week at Cook's. Lydia and Chris were able to join him there on Saturday, and we have all spent this last week loving on the three of them as much as we can. (I don't know if you can tell here or not, but this sweet baby has the chunkiest little legs! The running joke has been that he spent all of his energy getting big and chunky on the outside instead of getting his insides ready. :)

The Wellsbrothers have some special Big Cousin shirts, and Griffin has a tiny Little Cousin shirt. And even though they haven't actually gotten to meet each other yet, my boys were/are so excited about it all that they have insisted on wearing their cousin shirts every time we've gone up to the hospital.(No, she doesn't look like she had a C-section 2 days before, does she?)

Immediately after Micah heard that Griffin had been born, he became very excited and insistent about giving him one of his Softies. I'm still not real sure when or how it happened, but my sweet little blonde baby, that the church nursery workers wouldn't take unless he had his Softie with him :), has stopped carrying him around as much, become embarrassed for people other than his family to see him with Softie, and is now giving them (he's got four that we rotate) away?! It's still a little more than my mommy-heart can take without tearing up. When I went to see Griffin on Wednesday (the first day I got to hold him!), not only was he wearing one of the little outfits that all three of my teeny-tinies wore, but he was wrapped up in Micah's Softie. Once again, a little more than my mommy-heart could take without tears. And then today, after what's probably been the longest week of their lives, Chris and Lydia got to bring their precious little treasure home. The picture they shared is peaceful...

...but I'm praying their nerves will find some peace and allow them some sleep tonight. I remember how scary it was (especially with our first), to lay down and try to sleep, wondering if the baby would be okay, if he was breathing or not. I can only imagine how much more intense those feelings must be after such real and serious breathing issues!

Cousin Griffin, as your Yogi has said, you've treated us to the ultimate in 3-d sonography. We are so excited that you are here, so excited that you've gotten so strong and are doing so well, and we just can't wait until you're strong enough to meet the Wellscousins! Chris and Lydia, congratulations. You done good!

Pirates

Yesterday was Columbus Day, and Conner had the day off school. Bret wasn't home, and we needed something fun to do. The weather's been gorgeous, so we should take advantage...and all three of the boys have been really into playing in sand/dirt lately...the beach sounded like the perfect place!

So we headed out to the little "beach" in Granbury. Before we left, the boys were talking about playing pirate while we were there. So I stole a few minutes and went digging in my craft closet. I had kept a few treasures that we had found in MeeMaw's craft drawers when we were cleaning out her house last fall, and there was a handful that I knew would be absolutely perfect for today.

I showed our jewels to the boys and taught them that the red ones are rubies, the green ones are emeralds, and the blue ones are sapphires.

Then I scattered and buried our treasure and marked it with an "X." The pirates were ready and super excited - "Aaargh!"Micah quickly declared the blue "pacifiers" his favorites. :)I was pleasantly surprised when it actually took a little bit of time and effort to find our jewels. Really, there was at least one of them digging for treasure for most of the morning.But eventually we did all move on...to sand castles,
and buried treasure of other sorts. :) As we ate lunch, the ducks came to visit - literally the moment the last bite of the last sandwich was eaten. Luckily, I still had a few of my peanut butter crackers left. I hope peanut butter is okay for ducks?

Finally it was time to gather up our pirate tools and pirate booty to go home and take pirate naps - but not before each of the pirate brothers chose a small handful of jewels to leave buried in the sand. Who knows, the next kid that comes along might really think he found buried treasure!

The rest of our day was spent playing "store" - which meant dragging out all of the toys so that they could be bought with the new-found jewels.

And even though I was careful to lay Joey on top of the covers and shake them out after his nap, even after they all had baths last night, I still felt sand all in their sheets this morning. And when I did the laundry a little while ago, I found jewels in the bottom of the washing machine - undoubtedly the jewels Conner had snuck to school this morning, his "tri-source of wisdom, power and happiness."

There is absolutely no telling how long those jewels sat in MeeMaw's craft drawer. They could have easily been there for 20 years or longer. But I know without a doubt that MeeMaw was hanging onto them just in case someone needed them someday. Even in her last days, when she couldn't do much but sit and watch, I know she would have been delighted. I can just see the grin that would envelope her face, and the twinkle that would appear in her tired eyes. I so wish that we could have shared this adventure with her.

Firefighter Appreciation Day

This summer, Christ Journey began an attempt to have a regularly scheduled time of worship through service. It's been a little hit-or-miss...but we have certainly learned a lot and done some great things in the process.

This week is National Fire Prevention Week, so one of our friends suggested that we honor some local firefighters. Then another friend went ahead and made the call to arrange a time and place for us to do just that. So we visited Burleson Fire Station #1 yesterday.

These pictures are mostly of my kiddos, but you can see lots more of our Christ Journey friends on our facebook page.

We washed one of the trucks,dried the truck,swept the bay,and cleaned pretty much the entire work and living areas.It was fun to see just how big the fire truck (and even just the tires!) were compared to our kiddos.Then we ate lunch together,and enjoyed the beautiful weather.It was a wonderful way to worship yesterday, serving and fellowshipping with our friends and family!