We love you, A&B!

Bad news, good news. The bad news is we had to go see the Doctor for shots! Ouch. The good news is that Jude weighs 16lbs and gets to start food. So here is his first bite of oatmeal. I knew he would like it; everyone else in this family likes food.









Jude loves his new Bumbo! I wish I had one of these for the other boys...it is awesome! However, I am wondering how long those thighs are going to fit in there...we'll see.



















Jude also loves his saucer. I'm sure he loves "sitting up" and watching his brothers. (See the pictures to the left of Jude? They are all of John. Jack looked so much like John that I didn't change the pictures, and now...well, Jude looks just like the other two...oh, and I'm lazy.)

Happy Helper.

Brad loves baseball...anytime, anywhere. He played catcher in high school. Once a coach told him he had a "catcher's butt", so I guess it was inevitable. Growing up he went to Chicago every summer to Cubs games with his dad. He has some hilarious stories about peeing between the buildings in downtown Chicago, but I won't go into all that. He hopes to carry on that tradition when our boys get a little older (the games, not the peeing). I have been to a several games at Wrigley with him (and once when it was closed...a security guard asked us to leave..."oh sorry, I didn't know you couldn't just waltz into a closed stadium during the off season...my bad"). On game days we HAVE to walk around the outside of the whole stadium, be there early for ALL of batting practice, and eat as many dirty water dogs as we can...gross. He made me promise to consider the names "Clark" and "Addison" if we ever had twins. (If you know what C & A is you must be a real fan, or married to one, I guess). Anyway, my point of this post is to tell you that our home has been consumed lately with the College World Series. To say that Brad is "into it" is an understatement. He is a faithful CWS follower every year, but this year the Aggies almost made it and, with the wonders of DVR, we aren't missing an inning. Ok, so the final game is tonight... and both teams are the "Bulldogs". I don't really care who wins, but Brad likes Fresno State...they are the underdog bulldogs. I think he really just likes that there is a tough outfielder who is playing with a broken thumb, but I like the fans with the signs that say "Fres-yes!" Go Bulldogs.

Brad cuts a Mohawk! Aaah! Oh well, John loves his "summer hawk" and we will be getting a proper hair cut before school starts. I particularly like the little curl in the front (a la Danny Zuko).

One of my friends from Canada (yes, I have several) officially became a US Citizen yesterday. It was a very interesting ceremony with lots of countries represented and one hilarious rendition of "God Bless America" sung by a local attorney...I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be funny. Unlike my friend, many surely had suffered hardships to come to America from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, Cuba, etc. The ceremony also made me proud of our American freedoms, but most importantly reminded me that "our citizenship is in Heaven, from which also we eagerly await for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."( Philippians 3:20)
Praise the Lord our real citizenship is sealed in Him!
Congratulations JLP!

Still waiting for the book club to catch up.
One friend from Tennessee (yes, I have several)
said that "everyone" in the South has to read this
in middle school. Sounds good to me...plus, I like
the cover.

by Randy Pausch

While I'm waiting for my book club to catch up (c'mon, girls!), I have been reading this book. Some quotes worth repeating...
1) "When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you." (pg 37)
2) "I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term. Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface." (pg 133)
3) "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." (pg148)
Check out the author & story behind the book here.

Happy Birthday, Bradley!!!!
We love you and thank God for you!
You are an amazing husband
& a Super Dad!















Besides lots of golf, the thing Brad always asks for his birthday is "Chicken Legs" (NO, we are NOT talking about KFC). This is an old, old, old Dutch recipe from his great Aunt Frieda. It is basically veal scallopini and very thinly sliced pork alternated on a skewer (no chicken, I know), coated in cracker crumbs (the real Dutch people use "rusk"...i do not know what this is, but Saltine crackers work), pan fried and then baked in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. This may sound simple, but it took Brad's mom & I about 7 hours or so. He has had this meal for almost every birthday and I am glad to say it gets easier and easier. The first time I made this was by myself in Mt. Ida, Arkansas...I'm pretty sure I couldn't find veal scallopini at Bob's Food City. Anyway, the boys like them too, so I may be making these twice a year from now on.

The boys picked out this Yoda cake from a book at one of our favorite
local bakeries. Then lady asked us, "Did you say this was for
a 3rd birthday?" "Um, no...a 33rd." Oh well, some of you might
remember the Spiderman groom's cake we had at our wedding
reception.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

"Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she smiles at the future." Pr 31:25

We love you Mom/Grannie!

Grandma & Grandpa are coming today! This means our weekend will be filled with golf for the boys, shopping for the girls (& baby), & celebrating Brad's bday.
The other big news around here is that Rudy's opens today! I realize that you big city folks see this sign all the time, but for us, this is huge. Brad claims he could smell them cooking on his run this morning; however, when the baby needs a new diaper he says he didn't notice because of his "bad sense of smell"...hmmm.

I confess I am a cheater when it comes to cooking and baking. I make very few things "from scratch". It feels a little more like real baking (I mean, you do have to add an egg) when you get creative with the combinations.
So here are a few of my favorite cheater cookies using the Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes:
1. Oatmeal Cookie Mix with craisins and walnuts.
2. Oatmeal Cookie Mix with raisins AND chocolate chips.
3. Peanut Butter Cookie Mix with milk chocolate chips. (Brad & Boys' fav)
4. Yesterday I mixed Oatmeal Cookie Mix with walnuts, chocolate chips & coconut...yummy.
I never measure out these ingredients, but it's about a handful (or 1 cup) of each add-in, except for #3, I will sometimes add the whole bag (2 cups) of chocolate chips.