The Horned Frog Graduate aka the CURVE buster!

This weekend we made a looooong drive to Fort Worth to watch my cousin, Jake, graduate from TCU.  We had a great time seeing friends and family, so it was totally worth it.  Do I want to do it again?  NO WAY!  (at least not this weekend!)

We are so proud of Jake.  He graduated Summa Cum Laude.  For those of you who didn't know... (I had to look this up- which means I was most definitely none of these!!!)
Graduation with honors is granted to undergraduate students who achieve high grade point averages. Excellence is recognized at three levels: Cum laude (3.50-3.64), magna cum laude (3.65-3.79), and summa cum laude (3.80-4.00).

Funny story...  I was being completely sarcastic with Jake's sister, my cousin, Kate.  She is going to Baylor, obviously no dummy, but not REAL concerned about graduating with honors!!!
We were sitting next to each other at the graduation ceremony and she was flipping through the program (which probably cost more than the dress I was wearing.)  She asked why Jake had "summa cum laude" underneath his name.  I explained to her that it was a fancy word to mean that he was super smart.  I then showed her that others had magna cum laude and cum laude.  Sarcastically, I said, "basically, cum laude are the dummies of the 'laude' group."  Kate quickly responded, "well, then that's definitely what I'll have under my name when I graduate!"  I couldn't keep from laughing...  but then again, we're always laughing "with" Kate!

All jokes about the horned frog aside, we were so honored to watch Jake receive his honors and his diploma from TCU.  What a huge accomplishment!

Uncle Mack, Aunt Barb, Jake & Kate

Jake & Brinley before the ceremony

Kate & Miss Brin

Aunt Lela getting to see the kids for the first time.

(This is my grandmother's 90 year old sister!)

Nana, Cayden, Aunt Lela, Bob, Kathy & Brinley

Cayden's favorite thing to do during the ceremony!

Papa getting a break with Brinley

Pap, Nana & Brinley

The Culli family with the horned frog graduate!

McCollum-Hill-Culli family (plus Aunt Barb's brother, Don)

Congratulations Jake!  We are so proud of your accomplishments, and we were so honored to watch you go across the stage.  We are excited to see where life takes you next...  after you get back from the Holy Land, that is!  Thank you for letting us be a part of this special day.  We love you more than words can express.  Thank you for loving us the way you do.

love,

Matt, Christy, Cayden & Brinley

Returning to Our Normal Life

I referred to our "normal" life in the last post and laughed after I typed it.  I'm not sure what normal is anymore.  I think normal is chaotic, dirty, messy, silly and unpredictable!

The last night that Emily was here, we received a note with a phone number on our door... "Are you willing to sell your house? Please call."  That was the beginning of the craziest week we have had in a long time.  We called and within 20 minutes, we had a couple walking around our house and asking us to sell it to them.  We tossed out a price that I had posted online at Zillow.com. They have a "make me move" price that you can set for your house.  I did that four months ago when we thought we were moving to Austin and forgot to take it off.  They found it and, although the price was ridiculously outrageous, they wanted to buy it. We spent the week looking at houses online and picking out an apartment to move in to temporarily. 

Crazy right?  At this point, we weren't sure what 'crazy' really was.  Is turning down a ridiculously good offer for your house crazy, or is leaving your nearly perfect neighborhood with amazing neighbors crazy?  We prayed and prayed, but never felt a peace about either scenario.  After talking to several people about the financial aspect, we decided to move forward and let the chips fall where they may. 
After another spontaneous showing at 10:00 one evening and several phone calls back and forth, they decided on another house.  Were we crazy for not dropping our price even a dime?  I don't think so.
We have amazing neighbors.  I call them barefoot neighbors.  We literally can walk to the houses on our street without our shoes on, (and Matt does!) sit and visit with our neighbors about anything.  Wonderful, Godly people.  That is priceless to me. 

I have a built in support system on the other side of my shutters.  No amount of money can replace them.

So- Are we crazy?  Probably, but let's face it. We've got a GOOD thing going on here.  God has blessed us in so many ways, and we never want to take that for granted!

Here are some snapshots from the week.  I felt really guilty for spending so much time on the computer. 

Cayden likes to join Brin on the play gym.

...LOVES wearing our shoes!

Wow!  Mischevious, if I could say so.

Hugging or choking? Jury is still out!

Flashback to the 80's

...waving to the birds...  literally!

Can we say social?!?

...and yes, those are my shoes.

We may have outgrown the sink... just a little.

Reinforcements Arrive

Sunday night, my parents arrived with my other niece, Ansley.  They spent the night and took Emily home with them Monday after lunch.  It was fun seeing my parents and having all of the kids together.  However, it was nice resuming a "normal" life after they left.

Morning sugar!

When Emily got up, they had a group hug... totally spontaneous!  I'm so glad I didn't miss it!

Brinley's 1st Bikini! 

Absolutely hilarious...  That's all we have to say about that!

Mrs. Carr gave this to Brinley.  It's a good thing we tried it on her now! 

...quite the model

...'Who's that lady?!?!'

Cayden's Papa

Brinley's Nana

Outnumbered

My niece, Emily, came home with me from Houston!  I know, I am crazy, but I thought it would be fun to spend some time with her and give Cayden an extra playmate at the same time!  I was most scared about the ride home, but that turned out to be the easiest thing all weekend! 

The kids were so cute in the car!  Cayden wanted to hold Emily's hand every time they got in the car.  Emily obliged him most of the time.  Sometimes Emily initiated.  It was super cute.  Cayden would watch Emily. When she fell asleep, he fell asleep watching her.  It was a beautiful thing...  and I drove as quickly and safely as I could!  I managed to snap this picture while still looking forward. (pretty good huh?!!?)  All three were asleep!!

We only had her three nights, but it was a lot of fun.  Matt and I were definitely outnumbered.  We never had a chance to eat as a family.  It seemed like we were always jumping up to get something for one of the kids or to help them.  We didn't have time to develop a rhythm, so we always ate after they finished.  Sometimes that meant eating at 9:00 after everyone was asleep in bed.  By then, I could have skipped it.  I was exhausted!

Cayden wore one of his shoes and Emily wore the other... why??!?

...because they're almost two!

Who Knows!

...everywhere we went!!!

Matt dressed Emily every day in order to help me out, but refused to change diapers!

I guess that was a good trade off!

We couldn't figure out how Cayden got so wet, so we followed him.

Apparently he knows how to open the front door now... and he helped himself to the water in the fridge.

He brought Emily water from his efforts!

He was SOAKED!  How did his back get wet??  We still can't figure that one out!

uh oh... did we just get caught?!?!

Everyone loves bath time!

Emily wasn't crazy about the tent idea, but she liked playing with Cayden's only baby doll...Elmo!

Time for church!

Uncle Jeremy got his BOY!

Last week we went to Houston to see my one and only nephew!!! I felt like I was on a suicide mission.  I loaded up the kids and drove to Houston by myself!  We stopped at a gas station in order for me to nurse the baby and let Cayden run around a little.  It was a sight! 
I took Cayden to a nice big sidewalk at the gas station entry and told him to run around a little. So what did he do?  He literally ran in circles.  People walking in were laughing at me.  I wasn't sure if I should just let him do it (as ridiculous as he looked) or stop the insanity.  I decided to let him do it.  He fell a couple of times from being so dizzy.  We're not sure why he likes to be dizzy, but he spins and falls frequently! Anyway- it started raining on us, so we ran back to the car and continued on our journey.

We made it to their house around 3:00, and I put Cayden down for a short nap because he didn't sleep AT ALL in the car! It ended up being about a 10 minute nap because my brother called and said they were about to start pushing!  UP we went and headed to the hospital!!

It was so sweet seeing my little nephew.  I started to cry because I was thinking about Cayden and how quickly time had flown by.  It seems like yesterday when I was in the hospital with him!  When we went back, they had Cody in one of Cayden's outfits.  That was even worse!  Cody looked so tiny and so precious.  As I looked at my BIG boy, it made me sad and happy all at the same time!  What a wonderful family we have!

We lined the kids up... Ansley (3), Cayden (23 mo.), Emily (20 mo.), Brinley (4 mo.)

Grandad, Brinley & Memaw

It was so great seeing my grandparents!

Amanda & Cody

Volunteers are Special!

We have gotten several laughs from this picture. 

A picture paints a thousand words!!

Apparently Cayden volunteered to be quiet IF given the balloon!  :)

I love these girls!  We have several pictures like this. 

(Usually the baby in the picture is the one just born!)

What a special time!

Aunt Jojo & Brin

Cody Dale! 7 pounds, 6 ounces

Cayden gave Cody lots of kisses.

Papa's boys

Uncle Jeremy, Nana & Cody

Cody, we pray that you live a very long and happy life.  We also pray that you will grow up to become a mighty man of God.  Whatever you choose to do in life, we pray you do it to the best of your ability while bringing glory and honor to Christ.  We can't wait to watch you learn and grow.  We are so happy you are here, and we look forward to sharing many wonderful memories with you!

Love, Uncle Matt, Aunt Christy, Cayden & Brinley

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

Brinley turned 4 months on April 12th. Three short days later she rolled over! She can roll over either shoulder, but she prefers to roll over her left shoulder from her back to her front.  It started a little slow, but now she almost rolls automatically when you put her on her back!  It's so great.  Cayden never really rolled over.  It's fun to watch, and you know Matt is proud of this milestone!

Cayden's Cave

When Cayden needs "alone time," I find him in here.  It's pretty hilarious.  He asks me to "quwose it" (or 'close it,' for those of you who don't speak caydenese)!
Brinley and I just let him do his thing.

OH- Silly Boy!