Happy Father's Day

Father's Day Pictures.

We had a little informal photo shoot.  I didn't have any great shots of the kids being silly or dressed up.  To get ready for Father's Day I try to get some cute photos of the kids for Mark and the Grandpas.  This was what the kids came up with.  

All except the first one.  I wanted a new picture of just the kids for our wall.  I don't think this will work but it was cute anyways.  

We have inherited a few costumes for the boys.  This is Asher's version of a bad guy: A ninja outfit, a crusaders shield and a light saber.

Jude just loves Batman, he is always so upset if his pjs aren't clean

Eve, well just too cute!

We did get some silly shots too...

...stay tuned for the final pictures.  Just waiting for Father's Day.  I don't want to spoil it for Mark.

November to April

We haven't taken a lot of pictures over the past few months.  This wouldn't be horrible except that we celebrated 2 birthdays and Christmas during that time.  Here is the quick version of what happened:

Eve turned 6 in November and she had a 'Super Mario' party.  In this shot she is getting ready to pin the mustache on Mario.  We also popped balloon mushrooms to get coins and threw beanbag fireballs at Bowser.  With a coed party we had to choose a theme everyone would like; it took us a while to convince her the boys wouldn't want to attend a princess party.  

Christmas

Mark's dad came out to visit us for Christmas and we had such a great time.  

Here Asher and Jude are enjoying their spoils before we head off to church. 

 Eve all dolled up for church on Christmas morning 

 Being new to the south, we are still getting used to celebrating Mardi Gras.  This year we headed to town square where they had a family friendly celebration planned.  Eve dressed up with some of her friends and was able to be on a float.  Fun times!

Asher turned 4 in April.  What was the theme?  'Star Wars Angry Birds' of course. He is obsessed.  Seriously. 

The cake was one of the storm trooper pigs.  Tricia dislikes decorating cakes but this was easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

Mark was the hit of the party (don't worry we will post a video).  He dressed up as a Jedi and taught the kids some sweet moves with the light saber.  We knocked down pig balloons off of boxes and threw angry birds at the Darth Vader Pig.  Finally there was an pig pinata filled with all kinds of 'Angry Bird Star Wars' treats.  

It isn't too often that we are all clean and neat at the same time, so last Sunday when Mark noticed we were all neatly pressed and dressed  before church he had to capture the moment.  Enjoy this because it doesn't happen often.  The only sad part was Mark looked fabulous too but someone had to take the picture.  Next time we will use a timer and tripod.  

Our handsome boys all cleaned up for Church. Anyone at church will be shocked at how neat they look, by the time we get to church their hair is messed and their ties askew.  They are also often times covered in crumbs from snacks.    

There you have it.  Six months in 8 shots.  We can now buckle down for what will most likely be the hottest summer Houston has ever had.  Why? Because every summer we have lived here that is what everyone has told us...each summer being hotter than the last...

Our Adventure!  

It has been cool this weekend, and in Texas that is a big deal.

Since we knew we were on borrowed time we decided to take advantage of the last cold front we will most likely see until the end of September and went on a walk. A long walk.  

We are off and away.

I am not a photographer, not remotely, so this is the best I could do with an older camera and little knowledge on how to even work it.  

We can't believe how big the kids are getting, Eve is so tall!  I think back to when she was a baby and we were so worried she wouldn't have any hair!  Well, our worries were for nothing, she has hair (I know you were all as worried as we were;).

Asher, well Asher is our Drama Man.  I don't think I have one picture of him making a normal face.  He is so crazy...really.  I love this one of him, because that is so often the expression on his face. I can't believe he is 4.  I tried to do his hair for the picture but he will have none of it; he insists on brushing his very straight lock of hair over his face.  What can ya do?

Jude, or Juder-bug (that is what he thinks his name is and I am not sure how to break it to him that it really is only Jude, he might be a grown man before he realizes it).  He is so adorable, and loves to make us laugh.  2 and a half is a great age for that.  All our kids were little clowns at that age.  They aren't self-councious yet.  Just goofs.  It did take me awhile to get one of him where he wasn't scowling, he is the youngest and so gets his way a bit too much.

Eve and Jude getting ready to jump.  You know how I mentioned my lack of photo skills?  Well, the jump shot didn't work out, so you get the pre-jump shot. They are just so cute it doesn't matter.

I discovered a new effect on Picasa: Cinemascope.  Love it!  Even with shots that were a tad out of focus you get a cool effect.  The next three are my shots.  Since I am not sure what is a good shot, I like them.  I still can't really tell if the picture has good lighting or not. 

After our 'Adventure' was done (we picked dewberries, pink and orange mixed flowers, and ran up the only hill in all of Kingwood), we headed to the park for a little 'Star Wars' play time.  It works out perfectly:  I only have one girl so she always gets to be Princess Leia, and the boys get to be Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.  

*They have never actually seen Star Wars, except for a very small clip, but that doesn't stop them.

Jude.  Why? Because he is C-U-T-E!

I hadn't really gotten any pictures of Asher for a while; since it was his birthday last week I thought I should.

This is my favorite of the birthday boy, I think I will get one framed.

Here Asher is patiently waiting for the bubbles to come.  This was a great $14 spent.  It keeps them busy and running around.  

My life.  More often than not, Jude and Asher make each other cry.  Here I actually think I was asking Jude to smile.  He simply didn't want to.

Big Huge Update!

It has been a long time since we updated everyone on our family.  So much has happened since the summer.  We had a few birthdays, Christmas and Tricia ran her first marathon.

Halloween is always a fun adventure.  The kids change their minds several times during the week. 

Here is the two days that we went out to celebrate.  The first was a trunk or treat at our church.  Eve wanted to be a princess mermaid and Asher wanted to be Donkey Kong. Jude didn't get to choose.

  For Halloween, Eve choose to be Tinkerbell and Asher refused to wear the Donkey Kong tie.  Jude, once again had no choice.

Our baby is 2!  Well, now he is almost Two and a half.  He wanted a Thomas cake and here is the best I can do with the little talent I have.  I love looking at pretty decorated cakes, I hate decorating cakes...hate it!

He didn't care, to him it was a masterpiece.  Good Boy!

Family came to visit and so we were off to the beach in November.  The weather was perfect.  I had to slip this one in of Asher because he is so darn cute.

Eve turned 6!  For her birthday her Dido (grandpa) got her tickets to the Houston Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker.  It was great.  Just her and her mom enjoying some girl time.

Eve also fell in love with skating, which we tried out during the Christmas break.  This is Tricia desperately hanging on to Eve, Tricia hates ice skating.  

  Finally, on New Year's Day Tricia ran her first marathon.  It was tough, but it is done.  Mark and the kids were wonderful.  They had signs and loves for her while she ran.

That is it!  You are now up to date, including the previous post which is actually the most recent event.

Mark and I were invited to an Indian wedding.  Mark's good friend Rohit was the groom and I was thrilled to attend.  I have always wanted to see an Indian wedding, I wasn't disappointed.  It was so full of energy!  The dancing during the 'Barat' ( I am sure I spelled that wrong), when the groom comes in on an elephant or horse and the wedding party dances around him, it was marvelous.  The food was delicious and  everyone involved so kind. 

Eve was able to come with us to the wedding ceremony and she loved it.  The sarees that many of the women were wearing were breathtaking.  

 This is Rohit on the horse.  The music was loud and the horse skiddish.  I don't think he has ever been on a horse.  I have to admit, it was kind of funny watching him swear at the horse.

 Inside the temple waiting for the ceremony to begin.  Shoes off and snacks in hand (delicious mango juice).

 Rohit and Tina.  Our shots aren't that great.  Her wedding saree was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and heavy.

 Family photos at the end, just before we had to leave we tried to snap a few more to see the detail on Tina's dress, unfortunately, it didn't turn out.

Our Summer

Our summer was full of fun, family, and HEAT

We had a great time enjoying the 4th of July Parade 

I am amazed we survived it, it was HOT!

It is a toss-up  with the heat, humidity, and sun here:  Cover up and no sunburn but sweat and suffer, or dress in the littlest clothing you have and burn!  I am thinking the cool weather in Canada doesn't sound so bad after all.

Eve and Asher waiting to collect the goodies at the parade. 

Next it was birthday time.  Both Mark and I  have summer birthdays.

The kids were thrilled with all the cake and parties.

Mark was sweet enough to surprise me with  tickets to  visit my sisters and attend my nephews wedding. 

Eve started school this year. Hooray for her!  She loved it.  What else is there to say.

 Jude visiting with his Auntie Marnie.  This is the first time they met.  It was a wonderful time. I don't know what he liked more: visiting with his Auntie, Uncle and their family or playing with their dog.