Saturday Sunrise

Nate was my coffee buddy this morning. Well, he had tea, but it was still nice to sit and enjoy our hot drinks and watch the sunrise together. Stephen and Evie slept in. I think Nate has my sleep genes and Evie has Stephen's - you can count on Evie to sleep in, and you can count on Nate to wake up early. Anyway, one of my favorite things about Texas is the sky. It's so wide and open - no hills or mountains to hide it. And even though I have times when I really miss hills and mountains, Texas sunrises and sunsets are the best! This morning's sunrise was worth getting up for.

Nate asked me if I put sugar in our coffee and tea. I told him I put a very little bit in because we want to enjoy the taste of the coffee and tea, and not just taste sugar. He said, "But I really want to just taste sugar." Can't say I blame him!

 My sweet early riser.

 He drank every last bit.

Our view of the sunrise. 

I know you can't really tell it, but the sky was a bright red/pink color. Beautiful!

Puzzled

Nate and Evie have been in a puzzle stage, and Nate worked his first 100 piece puzzle all by himself! I was surprised by his ability to stay focused on it, and he was very proud of himself for finishing it without help. We had worked it a couple times together already, so I'm sure that helped!

 Nate with his Toy Story 3 puzzle.

Evie was proud of him too!

Kentucky

Still catching up from December. We made another drive to Kentucky! Pretty soon I'll have every Chick-fil-a and Starbucks memorized between here and there. We drove during the day and the kids did really well. I usually say I couldn't have asked them to do any better than they did, which means they were a little whiny, but that's to be expected when you've been in the car for 15 hours. This time they didn't whine or complain at all. Seriously, not even once. They watched a couple movies that they got for Christmas, and we took some clipboards so they could color and draw in their car seats, so I guess that was a winning combo. Every once in a while Nate would ask, "What country are we in now?" We're pretty sure he meant "state," but he has been talking a lot about going to China and Europe, so maybe it was wishful thinking. He asked Stephen if he could go to Europe for his "five birthday." If you know my husband, you know he's taking that question very seriously. Anyway, our children are to be commended for their car behavior! Here are just a few pictures from our visit.

 The Blan cousins - Nate and Evie with Cameron and Katie.

The Iles cousins - Nate and Evie with Samuel, William, and Ethan. 

Sorry Ethan, but Nate was awfully happy to be holding you!

 Katie and Evie

 Our first game of Pacardy (not to be confused with Bacardi).

 

A rare picture together!

 Nate teaching Granddad how to play checkers. :)

 Elizabeth with sweet baby Ethan.

One of Evie's favorite things - holding Ethan.

Christmas Pictures

Time to catch up! We took these pictures downtown Fort Worth the Sunday before Christmas. I thought it would be fun to go downtown after church to get some pictures. If the kids hadn't been hungry and tired, it might have been a good idea. Here's kind of how it went:

 Nate, stand next to Evie. Nate, stop jumping.
Nate, stand up! Nate, stand still! Now smile.

 Okay, then just sit down in front of the window. Evie, put your feet against Nate's feet.

 No no, Evie. Stay there. Evie, scoot back. Smile!

 

Let's go home.