ColieAndBrenda.us

I just built a shed in the back yard. It has been a long time in the planning but finally put it up. Mac loves to go ‘hiking’
(what he calls taking a walk)
Although he did really well hiking out at Enchanted Rock last weekend.
Riley likes to chase Mac around the house. Every once in a while we find him ,like this evening, playing in the toilet. This time it was with the rubber duck. Last time with some of mom’s Tupperware.
Brenda and the boys are heading out to Cali for Heather’s Senior Recital this month. I’m toying with the idea of taking a motorcycle training course while they are gone. Not sure if I will or not. The Bluebonnets are the most prolific I have ever seen them. Wildflowers everywhere!!!
God Bless.

Not a ton going on here but I thought I should send out what is.  We are HOT here.  This weekend and the beginning of the week were over 100 degrees already.  The pool shortened their hours which makes it really hard for us to get there, and by the time Colie gets off it is closed.  So we get there maybe on the weekend… Bummer.  We are waiting patiently for Krystal’s 2nd baby girl to come.  She is due on the 22nd, but really could come anytime.

Colie is working quite a lot. They are on 4/10’s but have been working Fridays as well some weeks.  The next two weeks he will be out of town a few days.  Last week he went to Big Sandy TX overnight.  We miss him when he is gone.  They have a school coming up that will take a lot of time and it is about 2 hours away… we aren’t sure how that one is going to work yet.  He has had consistent side work if he is not working for Hill Country on Fridays… Helped on or done a few roofs already this summer.  We praise the Lord for his provision of work.  The weeks that were slow were really hard for him… he hates sitting around.  So he is glad it is busy again.

Mac will be 3 in Sept.  For his B-day we are flying out to CA to spend both Aspynn and Mac’s b-day together, and go to the LA County Fair, something Mama really misses!!!  I am excited we get to fly, we got a really good deal, Praise the Lord!!!  He talks, but really chooses the words he learns…  Many times he will not learn the word, just the sound of something, like “whoo whoo” for train.  I think he doesn’t really feel the need to talk much. 

Riley is a small little thing.  Still hasn’t doubled his birth weight.  The Dr. has us coming in for weight checks.  It was once a month, but now he wants to check every 2 weeks. He is crawling all over and getting in to everything he can!!!  So he is doing everything else as normal so I try not to be concerned.   I know God is in control!  

I am enjoying watching the kids grow and learn.  I spent quite a lot of time trying to clean out.  We had two garage sales and made about $600.  I am so glad to get rid of some of the stuff.  I think there will be one more sale at Colie’s grandparents house, then most of it will go to goodwill!  I am no longer doing Tupperware, I just haven’t had the time to keep up with it, or the money to keep active.  I did enjoy doing it, but now is not the time for it!  This Summer will be a quiet one compared to last summer.  That is a bummer in a way, but we need the rest with Colie working so much.  My parents will come out sometime in July we think and we do have a few places we want to go then.

Well that is about all!  God Bless!

Well last Sept. my ‘97 Gmc started to chug and died on my way home from a side job…. Last weekend i finally got it running again. Only had to replace the intake manifold gasket. I thought for sure the heads were cracked or something else serious from the white color of the oil. but Praise the Lord it was just a blown gasket. I learned alot trying to pull that thing apart.
The same weekend i got serious about ‘fixin’ it, Our new dodge decided to blow its crankshaft while Brenda was going to pick up some pizza. Sooo it was towed to the dealership and got a new engine. It was finished the same weekend I got the other truck running. so we went from one to three vehicles in one week. Anyone want to buy a truck???
Although it is hard to part with an old friend( think your favorite hound dog, or your horse if your a cowboy) I placed Ol’ Betsy (the 97 GMC truck) on craigslist.
We’ll see if she’ll be appreciated (pun intended)

Mac has had a chest cough for a couple of weeks, Riley has an ear infection. Brenda didn’t feel well for about a month after Christmas, And I was down for the count for a week and a half (maybe pneumonia)…. We will be glad to be over all the sickies.

Baby Riley arrived in this world at 6:32 Pm October 7th 2008
One ounce heavier than his brother at 7 pounds 13 oz.
A Long Boy at 21 inches he has almost 3 inch long feet
His face looks like mac but he has darker hair..
Praise the Lord for answering prayer for this labor and delivery,
18 hours after Brenda’s water broke he finally decided to come with only 15 contractions during delivery.
20 min. of pushing there He is ……. pictures on photo page.

We purchased a 2008 QuadCab Flaming Red Ram 1500 this last week. Brenda is ready to get Riley out of her tummy!
Mac is ready to see the “baaaby” as he calls him.
We had fun at the Comal County Fair last night… walking around petting all the animals. I think Mac was little scared of the calves that were trying to lick him.
He did like chasing the baby pigs though.

It has been way too long since we wrote. So sorry about that. We are now expecting our second child. He/or she is due in the middle of October. We have been doing ok. I have had lots of morning sickness of course!!! Mac cut his head open when he pulled Colie’s bike over on himself, but it seems to be healing alright. This summer will be quite a time, we have lots of company coming and a family reunion to go to. My mom and dad will arrive mid June for a 3 week visit, which will include the Baird family reunion in OK!! After they leave we have a week then Heather arrives for her 2 weeks!!! A blessing since she has only been able to come for very short times previously. Within another week or two, I haven’t figured out exactly how long, Joel, Melissa, and Emma Kate will arrive for their 10 day visit!! We are so happy that they are all getting to come. We will be doing lots of things while they are here I imagine, but not too much since I will be getting closer and closer to the new baby. We are hoping next month to find out what it is. I am sure there is more to say, but this is a brief overview of what is upcoming! Hope you are all doing well!! Thanks for checking out our news!

hmm. been a while since we have updated!! I now have a laptop so I am on the internet a little more often than before. Mac is now walking, albeit a little on the shaky side. Just today Mac used sign to say please!!!! We are so proud of him. He is using it for all kinds of things; a shower, a cookie, getting into the cabinet, (pick me up!) He is sooooo much fun.

We all went camping a few weeks ago. Stan, Krystal, and Kaila, Brenda, myself and Mac, and my four youngest siblings. Galveston was fun but very wet and rainy.
The next weekend we went up to missouri to see Tim and Kalyn, and Matt and Trina. We had a blast just hanging out with them. The highlights were….. Lambert’s (home of the throwed rolls)
Branson, shopping and Golf.

Work is busy, like usual.
Brenda is busy with Mac, Interface, Tupperware, and working at Hill Country Plumbing one day a week.

Sorry for the inconsistency… you would think I would have time to update this more often. We have kept very busy since March. Let’s see… in March Mac was 6 months. Now he is 9 1/2 months. He is moving – from one cheek, to the other (and no that is not the cheek on his face!!!) He gets on his knees and goes backwards, but has only gone forward a few times. He has 6 teeth and has taken his second trip to CA and first to OK. Some of his firsts… he is sucking through a straw, what a blessing (since I have been forgetting his bottle!) He turns over at night in his crib, and we finally had to lower it. He is going to be an older cousin in Oct and/or Nov. Of course his teeth have all come in starting Easter Sunday. Some of the days he has experienced for the first time, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day. I do realize he has no concept of that but we have enjoyed each of those days with him.

As mom I have kept really busy. I started selling Tupperware – can’t remember if that was on the last blog or not. I have 8 Piano students. I worked in Vacation Bible School at the beginning of June and Krystal helped me with the class. We had 1st & 2nd graders. It was fun and we had one student come to know the Lord. If you think about it his name is Owen Moore and his father died the Tuesday after VBS. We know that God brought them to TX from Las Vegas so that they would have this chance to hear the gospel. Pray for the family. Since then I have been spending a few hours a couple days a week in the office of Hill Country Plumbing, yes this is where Colie works. I have been answering phones, filing, and whatever else I can do to help. I have enjoyed that! But since those hours are spent in Wimberley I have been having to work extra hard to get things done at home!!

Colie is doing so well at work that people are asking specifically for him to the boss! That is good news!!! Of course it means he is extra busy too. But he still enjoys it and is doing a great job.

Before heading out to CA we took a long weekend and went up to visit family and friends in OK. We left Friday morning and got to Edmond at about 4:30 or so. We spent the evening with Janet Sokoff (AKA Aunt Nanny – even though she is really a cousin). Then on Sat we headed out to the Blackwells in Chandler. Matt’s parents have a beautiful place in a pecan orchard. Matt, Trina, Tim, & Kalyn came down so we had a wonderful visit with them. I also had a friend from my time in Chicago who lives in OKC who came up to see me (there at the Blackwells). We came back on Monday and on our way home we stopped for dinner. When we were done we were waiting for the bill and waitress came back to tell us that it had already been paid. We never did figure out who had covered it. Our California trip included Birthday celebrations (Heather turned 21) and also Mother’s Day. It was nice to be there. Colie worked with Brandon doing air conditioning, something different and challenging for him! He really enjoyed that. When we came home from CA (on Tuesday) Trina was here for a visit, she came in as a surprise for Mother’s day. On Thursday I picked up Tim and Kalyn from the San Marcos airport also for a surprise visit! On Sunday they left and Katie came in so there was a lot of family time right then! Since then my cousin and his wife came down from Dallas for their anniversary trip. We met them in Driftwood for dinner then went down with them to their hotel in San Antonio. They also came and spent the night at our house before they left town. After they left town another friend I knew from Chicago was here in the area so we got together with them for dinner. So as you can see it has been very busy, but we have had fun with the family and friends who have been around.

6-26-07 Mac is now Crawling forward as well as backwards…..

Mac is now 6 Months old. I looked at him yesterday and still couldn’t believe I had a son, and this after 6 Months!!! Can you believe that? We have been busy, but are enjoying life! Colie built me some shelves on Saturday afternoon… over the washing machine, in our future water softener closet, and a very NICE shoe rack in our room behind the door.

I have been making jewelery, a quilt, scrapbooking, teaching piano, and just started selling tupperware (want to have a party?). I don’t know what will work, but I would like to find something to bring in a little extra cash! With Mac and all the other things I have been keeping really busy.

Colie is studying for an upcoming plumbing test. It will give him a tradesman license. I will let him give you more info on what that will do for him!

The Tradesman license will allow me to oversee all new construction plumbing except commercial buildings. The exam is on March 30th.
Studying up on three seperate codes in about 7 Code books has given me much more confidence in my own work. I can actually ask intelligent questions now.!!
A pay raise is also a great added benefit..
I’m now driving a truck and trailer for Hill Country Plumbing.
A crew cab Ford 3/4 ton and a 20 ft. gooseneck full of plumbing parts, sometimes hard to park and back down driveways, but always worth it. Having the parts you need when you need them is invaluable…

We had a GREAT week… Frozen in and all! It was nice to have Colie home on Tuesday and Wednesday. He enjoyed seeing Mac in his daily routine. I wasn’t in my normal routine because he was home! We just relaxed all day on Tuesday, did a little work on Wed. It made me wonder how Noah survived all those days on the ark? After only 2 full days inside we were ready to be out and about.

Mac has started squeeling (fun… it gets my ears sometimes!) I am trying to keep him from doing it as much as possible. Mac had his 4 month Dr. appointment on Monday before the freeze. He now weighs 15 lbs. and 5 oz. and is almost 25 inches long. I am really enjoying him! Yesterday someone smiled at him and he started crying… this is new. When he saw the person again he started crying again. I felt really bad because he has never done that before. Anyway I don’t know if he is starting to teethe or what because he has been a little fussy. But no matter, he is still sleeping well, and mostly happy. Boy am I grateful for having a good baby.

I am reading again “The Greatest Thing in the World” by Henry Drummond and here is a quote for you. “It’s the man who is the missionary, it is not his words. His character is his message.” If you haven’t read it I would highly recommend it.