Annie

Annie is such a sweet, loving, kind, caring, energetic, spunky, beautiful, fun loving, wonderful little girl, and I am so lucky to be her mommy! I am getting a little sentimental now that she is about to turn 4. I don't get to have time alone with her very often, but I love it when we go on our little "dates" to the mall or to Target together. She is such a girly-girl...loves all things pink and glittery! I love watching her grow up and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her!

Where did my baby go???

I think sometimes you look at your kids and you think...when did they get so big? It just seems to happen over night. I took a few pictures of Cason the other day, and as I was looking at them on my camera, he just looked older to me! Sometimes I just want time to stand still...I want to soak it all in. It just reminds me to enjoy every second with my children...they are going to grow up so fast!

Pictures of the kids and my new favorite food...bet you can't guess what it is!!!

I promise to post more about our busy life later, but for now here are a few pictures of the kids!

The kids love riding the rocking horse!

our little dancer

Mr. Silly...he loves playing on Annie's bed!

Miss Annie taking little brother on a ride in her pink Mustang!

We are excited about playing in our yard and in the water!

Mr. Cason loves playing in the little playhouse!

I have discovered my new favorite food...zucchini! My friend had a veggie tray at her house the other night, and I thought she had cucumbers sliced lengthwise into strips, but after I ate one I realized it wasn't a cucumber! It was zucchini! I have never eaten raw zucchini before, but it is so yummy dipped in a little light ranch! Mmmm! Tonight I ate an entire zucchini by myself while I was fixing dinner! You should definitely try it!

The prayers of a sweet little girl

We have been saying prayers with Annie since she was a baby, and over the past couple of years have been encouraging her to say prayers too. Tonight her prayer just brought a huge smile to my face. She prayed, "Dear God, Thank you for my Mommy and Daddy and Cason and me. And thank you for Natalie. God, I want to see you in heaven one day. Help me not to be scared to go to heaven. Amen." I just have to smile...and I know God is smiling down at my sweet Annie too.

Cason's Birthday Weekend

What a happy boy!

Grandaddy and Cason at Chucky Cheese

My second batch of farm animal cupcakes

It's so fun to make a mess!

Grammie Go and Grandaddy

Sweet Annie going to ballet

Look at that kite!

She's a pro

We celebrated Cason's birthday on his actual birthday with my mom, and then Chris' parents and brother Daniel came for the weekend. Cason was feeling much better by then and was back to his happy self. We went to Chucky Cheese and had lots of fun. Annie was super excited to go and Grandaddy and I really had fun playing Deal or No Deal! I made another batch of my farm animal cupcakes and Cason enjoyed getting to make a mess with his! We took the kids to an empty lot down the street to fly kites, and Cason loved watching Annie fly her "Ariel" kite. It was a great weekend!

Retail Therapy

I used to buy just what I needed for the week...two rolls of paper towels, a regular size bag of diapers, etc. My friends have tried to convince me that buying in bulk can save you money, but I never liked having to find a place to put all of the paper towels and toilet paper. Well, I finally gave in and got a membership to Sam's in December. I would have chosen Costco but there isn't one here in Beaumont (Costco is way better!). I made my now monthly trip to Sam's yesterday, and I really am starting to see where I can save money. Some things are not such a great deal...I don't need three cans of scrubbing bubbles! But I think some things are a great deal...like the rotisserie chicken I bought for $4.98 (I spend $6.98 at HEB!)! While I was shopping I was thinking, why does it feel so good to shop? I am one of those that really feels like shopping is therapeutic! Chris has asked me about retail therapy before, and he just doesn't understand. To be honest, I don't really understand! I went to Target earlier today...the place where I get the most therapy! I enjoy just walking around and looking at everything from furniture, toys, baby items...you name it! I usually try to stay away from the children's clothing, but today I just wanted to wander through and look. Now I am sitting at home looking at these two adorable dresses for Annie and cute little outfit for Cason and thinking, what happened! I just went in for pledge mutlisurface and overnight diapers! For whatever reason, retail therapy just feels good...even if you get a little buyer's remorse later!

It's my party I can cry if I want too!

pigs, and chicks, and cows...oh my!

I got the idea from this magazine article...isn't it cute!

Mommy and Annie making cupcakes for Cason!

pretty cute!

At Chick-fil-A for Cason's birthday...someone is not very happy!

"Howdy ya'll"

It it hard to believe that Cason is now one! When I think back to this time last year, I remember how exciting it was! The night before Cason was born, I sat on the couch in denial that I was going into labor, while my in-laws tried to convince me that this was really going to happen! Then, once I realized it really WAS going to happen, I couldn't convince Chris that we were going to have to go to the hospital that night. He sat on the couch in disbelief saying, "I just have too much work to do to go to the hospital tonight." I finally convinced him to pack a bag and install the carseat. Around midnight, we drove to the hospital. We checked in around 1 am...I was far enough along to be admitted to a room around 4 am...and Cason Garrett Clark arrived at 7:26 am! We were blessed with a healthy baby boy and now we just can't imagine life without him!

Cason...2 days old

my sweet baby boy

For his birthday this year, we had a small family birthday party and my mom came down to celebrate with us. I found a cute idea out of a family magazine to make a farm cake with animal cupcakes. I decided not to make the barn and silo, but I am really pleased with how good the cupcakes turned out! We all went to Chick-fil-A (our family's favorite place to eat!) and came home to open presents and eat cupcakes. Cason had been feeling bad all day, so we didn't do any thing else that we had planned. He pouted and cried all day, and didn't sleep well for naps or at night. I took him to the doctor today for his 1 year well check, and it turns out he has a bad ear infection. This is ear infection #3 since Christmas. We celebrated through the pouting and tears...and even got a few smiles out of him! Happy Birthday Cason! We love you! Cason and MaMal...finally a smile!

Please pray for Baby Cox

Our dear friends Rod and Kamara Cox are in need of prayers right now. Kamara was 24 weeks pregnant and went into labor last night. Their tiny baby girl was born this morning, and as you can imagine she is fighting for her life. They also have a little girl, Aubrey, that is 20 months old. Please pray for this sweet family. Their blog address is: http://thecoxcorner.blogspot.com/. God is good and we have faith in him!

Birthday weekends

Since my birthday is 11 days after Chris', I enjoy that we are the same age for almost 2 weeks! He is a year younger than me, so he enjoys the fact that I turn a year older...it makes him feel young! We went to see the Clarks the weekend after Chris' birthday. We enjoyed celebrating with his family, and we also celebrated Grandma Garrett's 92nd birthday and Chris' cousin Amy's 22nd birthday. For my birthday, my parents came to Beaumont to see us. Chris and I enjoyed going on a date, I got a massage (thank you Chris), and my mom cooked one of my favorite meals for dinner. It was a nice, relaxing weekend, and I really enjoyed my birthday, although I can't quite believe I am 32! Here are a few pictures from both weekends!

Busy January...

We have had a busy month! Here is a little of what we did in January:

The Smiths - Our good friends, Todd and Adrienne Smith, and their kids Saige and Cy come to visit us a couple of weeks ago. We became friends when we both lived in Midland, TX. Now they live in Frisco, TX, so we are a little closer! The kids had a blast and just played and played! Adrienne and I took the girls to see a movie, and enjoyed some "girl time". We had a great weekend!

Saige, Annie, and Cy...just being silly!

Tea Party - Annie loves to have tea parties in her room, so one night while Chris was out of town, I decided we would have a real tea party. Annie was SOOO excited! She got all of her little plastic tea cups and plates out and I washed all of them. I also got out a special tea set that Great-Grandma Garrett gave her. It is a real tea set that Chris' mom played with growing up, so that was a special treat for Annie. Annie set both the dining room table and the kitchen table. In the kitchen we had strawberries, oreos, and apple juice. In the dining room we had chocolate milk, strawberries, and cookies. We put the chocolate (ovaltine) in the sugar bowl and each made our own chocolate milk. Annie loved it and I enjoyed getting to be a part of her special tea party!

setting the table for the tea party

pouring the milk...and being so careful!

mixing the chocolate (ovaltine) in the milk

The kids - Annie is just as sweet as can be! I can hardly believe she is going to be 4 years old in a few months! She is just an absolute joy and I love spending my days with her. Cason will be a little one-year-old in a month and is as busy as can be! He loves to crawl, climb, and get into things he isn't supposed to get into! He LOVES water, and he doesn't care where the water comes from...Molly's dog bowl, the bathtub, the toilet...he couldn't care less as long as it's water! I have to really watch him, because he will sneak off to go find water when I'm not looking!

The kids are really starting to play together more, now that Cason is able to crawl around and stand up. One of his favorite things to do is to play with Annie in her kitchen. Annie likes to cook and Cason likes to wash the dishes. Here they are busy in the kitchen!

Here are a few more pictures of the kids!

Annie loves feeding her baby Cinderella...and Cason just follows her everywhere! Big sisters are sooo cool!

Hurry...take the picture Mommy...before Cason gets away!

My sweet blue-eyed little boy...a little bit sneaky, but so so sweet!

New Haircut - I got a new haircut, and I must have felt brave because I decided in the salon to get the same haircut the girl ahead of me was getting. It's not like me to venture out! I really like it and am happy to have something different!

Chris' turns 31 - Chris turned 31 on January 26th! We had a little birthday party at home and went out to eat at Outback. I should have gotten a babysitter so that we could actually enjoy our food. For those of you who have kids, you know what I mean! We get to the restraunt and Annie is yelling to everyone, "It's my Daddy's birthday!" We are really working on using an inside voice. We imediately say to our waiter, "We just want to order everything at once." So we order our 1/2 order of cheese fries (yes we know they are horrible for us but mmmmm...so good!), drinks, and entree's. We also tell the waiter that if the kids food is ready first, to just go ahead and bring it. So we get our salads before the cheese fries, busily try to keep the kids happy and fed, and try to keep Annie from eating 2 loaves of bread and hurting herself with all of the forks on the table! Life is always entertaining!

Happy 31st Birthday Chris!

Recipe

I decided to post this recipe because we LOVE it and I have made it quite a lot lately! My friend Jill gave me this recipe, and I think about her every time I make it! (miss you Jill!) Here it is:

White Chicken Chili

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 4oz can mild green chilies, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
2 16 oz cans great northern beans
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream and grated cheese for garnish

Over medium high heat, heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion and saute until translucent. Stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, cayenne pepper, and oregano and saute 2 minutes. Add undrained beans, chicken, and broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add cheese and stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream and cheese if desired. Serve over tortilla chips or with cornbread (we use chips). Enjoy!!!

Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and were happy to get to spend time with family, since last year we weren't able to come home for Christmas. We had our little family Christmas on the 23rd and enjoyed spending the day together as a family. Annie's favorite present was her pink Mustang powerwheels! I love looking out the window at Annie driving down the street with her Daddy trying to direct her away from the middle of the street. Cason even got to ride with her in the garage, since it has a little velcro seatbelt.

We left on Christmas Eve and drove through Nacogdoches to see my family at the Farm in Chireno. We ate lunch and exchanged presents and enjoyed spending time with them. My dad warned us that there was a Winter Storm Advisory for DFW, but we weren't very concerned...I mean, we're talking about Texas here! Obviously we were wrong! We were trying our hardest to make it to Granbury for Christmas Eve with the Clarks, but about 15 miles away we made the call to stop at a hotel. We were sliding all over the road and the people driving around us were getting stuck. Luckily there were plenty of rooms available when we checked in, but as we were unloading the car, we overheard that they had closed down the road and the hotel only had 8 more rooms available. Chris' brother Daniel was about 3 miles ahead of us and turned around to come stay with us. God was really watching over us and we are thankful we stopped when we did. The hardest part was telling my 3 1/2 year old little sweetheart that we weren't going to be able to make it to Grammie Go and Grandaddy's house. She was SO upset...I mean DEVISTATED! I haven't seen tears like that from her in a long, long time! I felt so bad for her. "But Mommy, where is the Christmas tree?" "Where is the chimney?" "Santa won't know I'm here." I convinced her that Santa would find her and that luckily we had brought our reindeer food to sprinkle outside for the reindeer. So, we bought some cookies out of the vending machine for Santa, and believe it or not...Santa found us! We will never forget our Christmas Eve in the Cresson Inn!
Putting out the reindeer food for Santa's reindeer...that cheered her up!

We will never forget the Cresson Inn!

We enjoyed the rest of our Christmas and went to Red River, New Mexico after Christmas. Annie loved playing in the snow, sledding, and making a snowman...she named him "Bert" from Mary Poppins. Cason got sick, but tried to have a good time! Chris and I loved skiing, especially since we haven't gone in 3 years. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Grandaddy and Annie spent lots of time making "Bert"!

Look at that cute little red nose...she doesn't seem to mind being cold at all!

Sweet little Cason!

Look at her go!!!

We hope you had a Merry Christmas too! Happy 2010!!!

I am in love

Yes, I am in love! I have just found the mop of my dreams! I am in love with my new Shark Steam Mop!!!


I love the fact that it only uses steam to clean, not chemicals. I love how it cleans those sticky, messy, hard to get spots off of the floor that I have been trying to get up with my regular mop but couldn't. I love that I don't have to worry about my little Cason crawling on the floor, now that I finally have clean floors. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed mopping the floor last night! :)