Happy Easter!

Today we spent the day with Thomas! I have to admit, I didn't really want to do this...it's so crowded and expensive. But once we got there and I saw how THRILLED the boys were to see Thomas and saw the excitement on their faces, well, I nearly cried. We had beautiful weather, so in addition to taking a ride on Thomas the boys got to blow bubbles, play in bounce houses, and, their favorite, peddle some "race" trains on a track by using their arms and their muscle.

More Ranch pictures:

Dixie Dude Ranch!

We just got back from a weekend in Bandera with the H gang. It was a wonderful time. I couldn't believe Dominic was considered big enough to ride the horse on the trails all by himself. He absolutely loved it and wasn't scared at all! Christian loved riding double with me. We had a great time hitting the trails twice a day, hanging out with family, roasting marshmallows, eating delicious home cooked meals, and enjoying the great outdoors. The only lowlight was that Andy was sick in bed the entire weekend and didn't get to enjoy any of the wonderful things the Dixie Dude Ranch offers. He'll have to wait till next year! Another highlight for me was having my family visit for the day and taking an advanced class with Johnny & Susan. The trot was a little scary but a lot of fun at the same time. We can't wait to return! Thanks, Dr. Dad & Nanay for the wonderful experience!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I wanted to post a cute picture of the boys dressed in red, but my camera died a few weeks ago and I am still shopping for a new one. I thought of posting some pics from last year, but our computer crashed this time last year and I lost all those pictures. Technology...can't live without it, but sometimes you wonder why we're so dependent on it! So I'm going waaaay back to 2005 to post a Valentine's day greeting to all our family and friends. :) Know that we are thinking of you and that you are loved!

PS...below is a Valentine that Christian made. The little happy face is so cute I had to share it! Dominic made a wonderful 3-D valentine with tissue paper, but it was too big to scan.

Christian is quite the little chatterbox, and I'm often tickled by the things he says. Sometimes I forget that he only recently turned two, because he speaks so well.

We were at the park the other day and he made a funny growling noise. I turned to Dominic and said, "What was that? Is there a monster here?" To which Christian replied, "No, I'm not a monster. I'm just pretending." I had to laugh!

Later that night we were reading our bedtime books, and he pointed at the letters on a car and asked, "What that writing say?" He will often point to signs, papers, calendars, etc. and ask what it says or what the number is. Dominic has been asking a lot about numbers and letters recently, and I think Christian is copying him. This is definitely one of the pluses to having a big brother!

Kids say the cutest things. Here's an exchange I had with Dominic in the car this weekend:

Me: "Aren't you lucky?"

Dominic: "I'm not a dog! I'm not Lucky! I'm Dominic!"

Christian (copying his brother): "I'm not Lucky! I'm Christian!"

Hee hee.

Never a dull moment!!

May you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year!!

Love from Morena, Andy, Dominic & Christian

Birthday boys!!!

Dominic turned 4 on September 20th, and Christian celebrated his second birthday on October 21st. Here are the boys' birthday portraits:

There be pirates here!!

It's that time of year again, and the boys decided they want to be PIRATES! My mother made these adorable costumes for them, and they tried them on the other day and starting warming up for the Halloween day performance. Enjoy!

Milestones

Time sure does fly. Dominic just turned 4 and Christian will be 2 this month (I'll post birthday pictures later) and are hitting lots of milestones. Dominic started PK and LOVES it, and he also plays soccer now. Christian moved into a "big boy" bed and is thrilled with his new independence.



I posted more threads below, but they're a little out of order...feel free to scroll down to see what's new. :)

Other milestones...Andy and I got new wedding bands for our 10th anniversary. Our old ones were too small, so we both went up a size. That's what time and happiness do to you. Andy also gave me a beautiful anniversary band to go with it. It's stunning...too brilliant for my camera, so I couldn't post pictures. Remind me to show it off next time I see you. :) I tested again in my karate class, and am now a blue belt (8th kyu). I'm slowly working myself back to where I was in Okinawa. I'm still enjoying myself, though, so the belt color doesn't matter too much (I keep telling myself. :)

The great flood of August 31, 2006.

So I'm doing laundry and fixing dinner on a Friday night. I hear water running, and I realize that the washing machine has stopped. I go to investigate the source of the running water and walk into a squishy, wet, hallway carpet. I open the closed bathroom door and water rushes out at me. I run to the sink and find the drain closed and both the hot and cold water faucets are on full blast. A small toy is in the sink.

We had purchased some toys that grow when you soak them in water. Dominic liked to fill the sink with water, put the toy in to soak, and then check on it every so often. This time he forgot to turn off the water. He really felt bad about it and kept apologizing and trying to help clean up. At least he was contrite!

I don't know how long it ran, but the bathroom was flooded, along with the hall and two closets. That was fun to clean up. I'm sure this is just the first of many little misadventures these boys will take us on!!

Summer fun!

It has been a horribly hot summer...we were over 100 degrees for almost the entire month of August. Still, we found ways to keep cool. A sprinkler and slip-n-slide were a great investment! We've also found some great indoor places to hang out at, like the play area at a local church, and indoor bounce house, and a big playroom (similar to Monakids jungle in Okinawa). Here are some pics of my monkeys having fun!

Home sweet home...

It's hard to believe we've been here a year. Here are some pictures of our front and back yards. I'll work on getting pics of the interior up soon.

Meet the Wiggles!!

We had the pleasure of attending a Wiggles concert last weekend! The boys had such a wonderful time! My face still hurts from smiling so much! The next morning they woke up and asked to go see the Wiggles again...I'm so glad they enjoyed it! Dominic got to talk to Murray when he gave him a rose for Dorothy, and Anthony was so sweet to Dominic when he accepted two bones for Wags the Dog. He asked Dominic's name and spoke to him for a minute. I liked seeing how genuine they are...they really seem to care about their little fans!


You can watch two short video clips, one of Dominic dancing and the other of Christian singing, here: http://www.dropshots.com/morenahockley

We went to Disney World!!! It was such a FUN vacation for all of us! The kids really enjoyed all the sights and the rides, and especially got a thrill out of meeting some of their favorite characters! While in Orlando we also went to Universal's Islands of Adventure, where the highlight for both boys was meeting Spiderman! They both still talk about their friend, Spidey, and love the pictures they took with him. Here are some pics from the trip...can't wait to do it again!