Slideshow of latest family pictures

We had fun at the park last week having these pics taken of our family. Notice how Kamden wore his Superman cape in EVERY picture and how somehow Buzz showed up in almost every pic with Kale. But these really represent our family well. Just the fact that we took probably 15 family pics and only had 1 or 2 where we were all looking somewhere in the vicinity of the camera can tell you about our stage of life right now - CRAZY...but so much fun! I am overcome with emotion every time I look at them because I am reminded how blessed I truly am as a wife and mom. Hope these make you smile like they do me :)

A Not So Good Morning

What a day. I began the morning in the best of spirits - a solid 30 min. of quiet time with the Lord while sitting in my favorite recliner with a good cup of coffee. I felt like I was ready for the whatever the day brought me. Well...I wasn't. The boys woke up and loved on me a little before beginning with their usual morning needs - feed me breakfast, feed me more breakfast, get me something to drink, clean up my spill, change my diaper, get me dressed, make my bed, play with me, get me a snack, put my superman cape on, take my shirt off, put my shirt on, etc., etc. Then, we had to get ready for a picture appt I had scheduled for Kale's one year appt at JCPenney's. Now, for those of you who don't know or don't remember what goes into getting ready for portraits, let me give you the run down of our prep this morning. First, I had to make sure they were all in good moods - slept well, fed well, not sick or teething. Then the process of getting them loaded in the car with all of their outfits and props for the pics. Then we had to unload everything at JCPenney's. Then we waited...and waited...and waited. Three workers in the store and not one of them is trained they later tell me. They're just figuring things out as best as they can. I can't even put in words the emotions I went thru in that store this morning. Kade and Kamden were climbing on everything and running around the studio. Kale chose not to cooperate at all for the pictures once we finally were seen (20 min. later). Plus, the lady taking the pictures didn't do one thing to put him in place where she wanted him. She didn't even know that he needed to be on the red light!! I would think that is a basic. I am not even a photographer, just a mom who has had a lot of pics taken of her kids, and I know that! Finally, I gave up trying to get even one good pose because I couldn't get them to pose and smile and corral the others who were not in the picture all at the same time. I thought I was going to go insane. But it actually got worse. One of the ladies told me it would just be five minutes before I could view the pictures she took. 30 minutes later I had to call Keith to come help me because the boys were being so bad and I was dealing with A LOT of frustration over the whole morning. My deal is that they should have just called me to reschedule if they knew that none of them were capable of running the studio. I had to even pull up my pictures on the computer for the lady because she couldn't figure out how to do it. All of these girls seemed young and probably didn't have any kids, so they've never experienced the pain that is involved in trying to get a couple of good pics of you children. But when you do go to all the trouble - it is a real bummer to not have someone who knows a little bit about what they are doing. She didn't even get one picture of Kale looking at the camera and smiling. I hate to just rant - so I'll end with the fact that I just had a great evening with my husband who cooked a great dinner for me and then we enjoyed a little family time before putting the boys to bed and now he wants me to come cuddle with him and watch Heroes. A good end to a not so good morning.

First Haircut and Movie Night

Tonight we all watched "Firehouse Dog." It was really cute -but Kamden was cuter. He is like his mom in that he really is not too into movies. He just keeps busy the whole time. Towards the end of the movie, he went and got a balloon for him and a balloon for Kade. Then he disappeared to find his fireman hat (thanks Granny!). This was what the couch crew looked like when the movie was over.

Kale had his first haircut on Friday. My good friend, Tomi, has been trying her hardest to teach me how to cut the boys' hair. I did go ahead and cut Kade's hair myself, but I did not trust my technique with a squirmy one year old - so Tomi graciously gave him his first little haircut. Yes, I did keep his curls that she cut off - I am one of "those moms." Tomi did an amazing job considering that Kale was trying to get up from the chair the whole time.

Today Kale came around the corner sporting this new 'do. Kamden comes walking up behind him telling me that he did baby's hair (with his lotion)! I don't think Kale will ever let Kamden "do" his hair again after this first attempt :)

Kamden is so proud of the hairstyle he gave his brother.

We gave in and bought Kamden and Kade a pair of crocs this past Friday night because I couldn't take anymore putting Kamden's shoes on and taking them off 20 times a day. I wanted him to have a comfy pair of shoes that he could totally manage himself. Well, they were a huge hit, so much so that Kamden will not part with them...even to sleep. I think he has worn his crocs every night to bed since we got them.
I was cleaning out the playroom yesterday and Kade and Kamden were quick to find a cool new hiding spot for "hide-and-seek." I have so much fun everyday with our three boys. They keep life entertaining, that's for sure!

Boys at Play

I took the boys to a place called Ready, Set & Play this past week for a playdate with a couple of friends. It was so much fun! It is filled with all different kinds of inflatables for the kids. One of the inflatables is specific for kids 3 and under and there is a sectioned off part of the room with soft mats and blocks for the little ones like Kale. There are couches all down the center of the room for moms to sit and talk and/or read. Then they have a whole section with tables and chairs for you to bring your own food for snacks/lunch and eat lunch there. It was a little pricey, but I thought the money was well spent for the great fun that was had by all.

Slideshow of Boys

Video of Kale Walking

I mentioned this on my last blog I think, but Kale has been walking since last Tuesday. Now, he still likes to crawl if he needs to get somewhere fast, but he has improved so much since taking his first steps last week. As of today, he is walking from one room to another and even trying to bend down to pick something up in the middle of his trek across the room. He hasn't quite mastered that trick yet, but he has a good excuse - a very big head! Just like his brothers, when he bends over, the weight of his head sends him tumbling down every time. They have their daddy to thank for that - Keith says that it's because they have to have room for their big brains. Hmmm... No, if they're anything like their daddy when it comes to smarts, then that reasoning is probably accurate. I just enjoy giving him a hard time. I don't think my hubby would expect anything less of me than a little teasing everyday. I hope you enjoy the video (especially granny, mama E. and papa ;).

Hill Country Bible Church - Round Rock North

Well, has it ever been a busy month! We launched the church last week on the 9th. Can I just say that I am a very blessed woman indeed to get to serve in ministry alongside my husband? It has been such an amazing ride to see how God has grown him over the past 12 years since he trusted Christ as his Savior. I remember when he preached at our home church for the youth-led service at the end of our junior year. I just had a feeling then that God was going to lead him into the ministry. And I'm so thankful that God began preparing me way back then for what I was going to need to be a help-mate to Keith. Not that I have it down, because I know I fail at this whole help-mate thing a lot! But that makes me all the more thankful for grace. And Keith is wonderful to show me that grace A LOT, just like God does. I think we had somewhere in the range of 130 new visitors - awesome! With the visitors, charter members, precious family and Ovilla family that came to celebrate with us, we had around 330 adults between the two services. It was neat to see a lot of those visitors return this morning. I so desire to see our church filled with unbelievers getting to come face to face with the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ and then getting to see their lives truly changed. Keith is preaching a series that would be so good for every unbeliever to hear because he is addressing eight questions that unbelievers typically wrestle with. I am pretty sure that you can listen to the podcast somewhere on our website: http://www.hillcountrybible.org. If you are ever in the Round Rock area on a Sunday, come visit us at the YMCA or if you have any friends in the area that do have a church home - send them our way. You wouldn't believe how a gym can be transformed into a church sanctuary. We even got to take communion today as a church body. Our core team for the church plant is full of servants - people who have poured countless amounts of time, energy and money to see this church get up and going. Keith and I are just extremely blessed by the people we get to serve in ministry with. And most of you know that Nick and Jada Shock and Douglas and Darin Hallam have moved to Round Rock with us to be a part of the plant. Most of you know them because they have been a part of our lives long before we even knew about the Hill Country Bible Church Association. Nick is the Family Pastor and Douglas is the Worship Pastor. These two couples have sacrificed so much to see people in Round Rock touched by the gospel. They are couples whom Keith and I are challenged by everyday. Changing the subject, I just got back from a Children's Ministry Vision Meeting and we have about 55 Children's Ministry workers - for those of you who have never been a part of a church plant - that is simply amazing! We might have more than that now because we had some new people come to the meeting to get plugged in. I'll quit being wordy for now and just post some pics of the special people who came to see the church launched last weekend. I didn't get pics of everyone though - including my mom who came in last Thursday to help watch the boys while we ran around like crazy. She really is such an awesome granny. We are definitely spoiled in having really great parents/grandparents. You'll notice the first pic is of Keith's mimi and nanny. Both traveled to get to be here for the first service. We were so honored to have them here. Also, Keith's sister worked a night shift on Friday, then jumped on a plane and then rode in a car for 3 hours in order to be here.

Kale and Kamden playing!

OK, I have a lot to blog about regarding the launch of the church - but I just learned from a precious friend how to put video on my blog, so I am going to attempt it before I forget. I will blog about last weekend and post pics of the launch soon. Kale took his first steps on his 13th month birthday, this past Tuesday, the 11th. I so want to get some good footage of him walking, but he is not cooperating today, so instead I took a small video of him playing with Kamden. Hope you enjoy - that is, if this even works ;)

Happy 1st Birthday Kale!

Here is a fun pic of our precious little one year old!

The next 5 pics are of Kale getting to have his cupcake. Let's just say he enjoyed every bite and then some!





Here is Kale with his buddy, Leif Shock. They are only 3 months apart and I pray they will be the best of friends as they grow up together.

I know this is crazy, but I have never put a pair of shoes on Kale. So our good friends, Douglas and Darin, thought it would be good to give him a pair of shoes so that he didn't have to go thru life barefoot. He loved them! I took them off after a little while so that he could go swim and he crawled right to the bag I put them in, took one out and tried to put it on his foot again.


opening presents with mommy...
Kale only swam a little at his party. Most of the time he stood right here by his little table and ate off of all his friends' plates as they would come to eat a snack. Have I ever mentioned that Kale loves to eat? He does - all the time!


Bret, Tomi, Henry (shown in pic) and Eli Ostendorf
mommy, daddy, Kade (shown swimming to daddy) and Kamden
Adam, Kendall, Ainsley and Cori Brunson



Douglas, Darin, and Kinsey

Kurt, Dionne, Jacob and Emma

Happy Birthday Papa!!

We thought it would be fun to pay a little tribute to papa by posting pictures taken of him with the boys these last three years. I won't get too mushy, but he truly is the best papa to our boys and the greatest dad and dad-in-law to Keith and I. He has a couple of quirky hobbies that every papa should pick-up: such as collecting McDonald's Happy Meal toys, finding really good diaper prices and then always arriving with a couple of packages in hand, collecting baseball cards and maybe the best hobby is figuring out how to get the most out of the uPromise college accounts for the boys (which includes gift certificates to the boys' favorite place: McDonald's). Plus, he is always ready to read to Kade, Kamden and Kale or throw a ball around. Sometimes he tries to fool us by acting as if he doesn't know what to do with them: like when Kale had a penny in his mouth and he asked what he should do. But I just think he's really smart and knows how to keep from ever having to watch them by himself.
For Keith and I, he's a great source of wisdom when it comes to life, especially in the area of finances. And he's a great role model for Keith when it comes to loving his wife and family. Not having had an engaged father growing up, I appreciate that my husband did have an engaged dad who taught him faithfulness, integrity and also inspired him to be the best he could be.
Now I'll stop and just leave you with some fun papa pics (in no particular order).





























We love you Papa!!