Eme Learns to Clap

This is a cute little video Andrea shot showing her and the boys teaching Eme to clap. We love our cute little girl! She's already getting so big! Now we just need her to sleep through the night.

Full of Imagination

One of the things I love about picking Mackay up from school is hearing how his day went. He'll often come home and sit and draw and make other art projects. Nearing home recently he said:

I need to draw. I have too much imagination and I need to get some out.

Hearing him say that brought the biggest smile to my face. I often tell Mackay that he has a great imagination and is so creative. I guess he has so much some times that he just has to get it out on paper! Ah the small joys of parenting...





















As an example of Mackay's imagination at work, he just went on a school field trip to a local farm and decided to draw the experience.



Here he is describing his drawing.



And here he is describing some of his other recent art...and how he loves art more than Legos...and even Star Wars (love how he flops around).
















Mackay used to spend hours building Lego ships and other cool creations (this picture is from back in June). Beckett of course helped too (he's becoming quite the Lego builder in his own right). Now Mackay spends hours doing "art."

Of course, Mackay still plays with Legos...even the big ones sometimes. Here he is building a Lego zoo back in September.

Boys Love Their Sis!

Mackay and Beckett both seem to really love their sister. It's funny how even the craziest kids (e.g. Beckett) can still be so gentle with little babies. I'm sure it will wear off with time, but it's fun to see them both be such great big brothers (note their shirts!).


















Here they are welcoming her home with their Aunt Melissa (on June 12th).



Don't you love their Big Brother shirts? (Andrea made them.)


















Here they are taking good care of Eme...got to love how Mackay is holding her hand.


















How cute is Beckett (Eme is 3 weeks, 1 day old)!

Guitar Jammin'

Mackay likes to do air guitar and (in this example) real guitar when we listen to one of my favorite live songs--Two Step, performed by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds (at Radio City). Admittedly, the camera I think made him a bit shy. But you can get a sense of his sweet moves near the end. He sure has his eyes fixated on the camera! If you listen carefully near the beginning, you'll hear Beckett giving some sweet vocals...and I love his "Hi Dad" near the end.



In case this video seems familiar, it's because I posted something similar last year. What a great duo Mackay and Beckett are!

Patience is a Virtue

Well, we're still waiting. If the baby doesn't decide to come by Tuesday, Andrea is scheduled for a c-section. Andrea is definitely hoping the baby will decide to come on her own...naturally. Say a little prayer for us!

Mackay and Beckett eating some cherry tomatoes from the garden and talking about baby sister. Beckett likes to call her "Flopsey." Apparently he's decided that's her name.

Andrea's Officially Old!

Can you believe Andrea is 30 already! She's almost as old as me! I made this little picture montage in honor of her first 30 years. In case you're wondering, the song I set it to is her favorite--it's called Juliana and talks about what a bad girl Juliana is..."Juliana que mala eres." If you look closely, there's a chance you might be in it too. Love the new iPhoto '09! (Note that you should be able to watch the video in HD by pushing play and then clicking on the triangle at the bottom right of the video and clicking on the HD option.)

Car Traffic Jam

Mackay decided it would be cool to line up all of his and Beckett's Cars movie cars along the back of the couch. I thought it was cool too!

DaBoyz: Kazer and Beckett getting their groove on...

I know, I know...it's been way too long since I've posted something (only a month, but with all of the holidays in there, I should have been able to post something!). I just downloaded picts for the last month and expect to add a few posts soon. So stay tuned (note that I'll will pre-date them to the correct date). 

In the mean time, here is a short video I just made of the boys. It's not my best work (after all, I'm limited with iMovie 08--although the new version is much better!), but it was a fun process nonetheless. The boys LOVE to run around the couch like it's a race course and dance to whatever tunes we're playing. The "music video" should at least give you a flavor for their sweet dance moves and what it's like to run around the "track" that is our living room! Enjoy...

Musically Inclined

Mackay and Beckett were having a great time playing their ukulele (that we got them in Hawaii) and singing in their microphone. Oh, and they added some sweet dance moves to finish out their number. I guess you could say that we've been watching too much Dancing With the Stars around here!

Too bad we didn't have audio for this video...

A Full Life

After going to Maui, we all headed down to Gulfport, Mississippi for a little shindig with my family to celebrate my parents 60th birthdays (they were born a day apart!). My sisters created an amazing book commemorating their entire lives. Check out Amy's blog for all the details. My contribution was this video of their lives...it's 35+ minutes of good times...called A Full Life!

A Full Life from Be Strong on Vimeo.

Mackay the Musician

Mackay loves to play his ukulele and sing fun songs. Here's an example of his sweet skills!

Trampoline Time

Mackay and Beckett love playing on their grandparents' trampoline.

Round and round they go...

The Winners

Here it is...see the world debut...

The Winners...my movie about the half marathon.

It's better full size and full resolution, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway...

The Winners (2008) from Be Strong on Vimeo.

Chasing the Train

I made this movie of our trip today with Andrea's parents and her sister (and her boyfriend) and brother down to Kemah Boardwalk--the boys loved riding on the merry-go-round and the train. It's the first movie I've made with iMovie '08. Fun to make. Perhaps I missed my calling in life! :)