Paintin' it up!

With plans to drive to Florida to visit Disney World, we decided it was time to take advantage of the state's clear air credit and trade in our old car for a new(er), sweet Swagger Wagon! Best of all, as long as we could drive the car into the dealer, it didn't matter what it looked like (it was going to the dump)...so we let the kids have a little fun.

BEFORE

DURING (= pure bliss!)

AFTER

A FINAL GOODBYE

She was a good car...all those years. May she rest in peace in car heaven!

What it's like to have kids

I tried to summarize what it's like to have a kid by making this short video. It's entitled "Having a Baby: Simply Stated." Hope you enjoy it.

Having a Baby: Simply Stated from Marc Strong on Vimeo.

(For those who prefer YouTube, you can view it here.)

The Value of Grandparents

When you see a smile like this, you know the value of grandparents. This is a fun picture of my dad giving Eme the biggest smile ever. We always love having the grandparents visit. After all, someone has to spoil our kids...and it can't be us (at least not any more than we already do!).

Cute Faces

These are all part of the "photo shoot" I took of the kids when I was doing my "BroWars" editing assignment. Most of the shots didn't make the cut...but I thought the kids were cute nonetheless. I loved all of Eme's expressions.

New Year's Fun

We went to the San Antonio zoo with some friends to bring in the near year. After enjoying the animals, we went to the River Walk and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Good times...

A White Christmas

We had a great time visiting my family up in Dallas for Christmas. It's nice to be within driving distance (it definitely saves on the travel budget!). The kids are to the age now where they really appreciate getting to see and play with their cousins. And between my two sisters, there are plenty of cousins to play with! (Ok, maybe not that many, but six is a lot to me.)

And did I mention that it even snowed? Who says it doesn't get cold in Texas. What the schnikes?!



Our semi-serious time was when we dressed up and enacted Christ's birth.

Our cute little shepherds.


Our silly time was when Andrea and my mom and my sisters did a skit to "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" with my dad singing alternate lyrics with reference to JuicePlus and the like (for those of you who know my mom, she's a big fan of JuicePlus).



We don't have Wii at home, but Mackay loves playing it at his cousins' house. Here's a fun little video of the kids steering their cars, with a bit of commentary by Beckett.

Mackay the Runner

Mackay decided he wanted to do a running race, so we took him to this one promoted by his school district. He was one of only a few kids in his school who had the cajones to take the challenge. It was a 1k cross-country race down by Town Lake in downtown Austin. The conditions were a bit challenging because it had rained that morning and there was plenty of mud present. Nonetheless, the kids did great and Mackay was a trooper, running through the pain to finish in 4 minutes and 58 seconds--roughly an 8 min/mile pace.

I decide to make his race into a video: en-dur-ance. Enjoy!

en-dur-ance (2010) from Be Strong on Vimeo.

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.

Bed Phobia?

We bought a bunk bed for the boys, but unfortunately Beckett hasn't taken to it like we wished--maybe it has something to do with being on the bottom bunk, who knows.

Here are the boys sleeping on the floor back in June shortly after we bought the bed.

And here's Beckett in the play room sleeping on an old trunk (that he could easily fall off) instead of his own new bed! (Don't worry, I of course moved him shortly after he fell asleep...right after I took the picture!)