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!