Brenda & The Boys

Its too cloudy and rainy to swim today. That is not stopping my boys from having some fun. KP got this boat for Father's Day.

I guess it is no surprise by now that KP and I and the boys travel quite a bit. As a matter of fact we are about to embark on an new vacation/adventure on Wednesday. It still has not sunk in that we will be at this place yet.* KP and the boys last year in San Francisco. One of our favorite places. So speaking of travel. KP and I have been together 20 years now. It is neat how even after 20 years I am still learning things about my DH (dear husband). I asked him on one of our last trips if he has always liked to or wanted to travel. I knew he liked traveling. I wasn't sure if he always wanted to. He has traveled for work a lot and I just thought he went and liked it. Anyway, he said yes. When he was a boy growing up at home he said he had a map on his wall. He would lay in bed and think about all the places on the map. He wondered what they all looked like. He would dream about going to all the places he saw on it. He even marked a place that he wanted to live. He loves maps! KP...

Dear University of St. Thomas-Houston, Thank you so much for these brothers from other mothers!! They have grown from boys to men right before my eyes. It gives me such comfort knowing that these guys are in my life. They are the best friends/brothers a girl could have and ever dream of. We have all been through so much together. Our bond just continues to grow stronger. I love them. Thank you, UST for bringing us all together.  Love,    

Its been 20 years today that KP and I had our very first date.

While I held our place in line for Santa. My silly boys went into Barnes and Noble to look around. I looked up after a while and look what I saw. I heart them!

Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! Always, Snooki, Colt McCoy, Darth Matt, and KP (in his annual costume).

Nothing says Fall and Halloween like The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! This time of year is my favorite. Hope you are enjoying it where ever you are tonight. Happy Fall Ya'll! Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

There have only been 15 days of December so far and we haven't even gotten to the best part...Christmas!! Me and the boys have been busy the last couple of weeks. We have had so much fun. I don't want it to end. First off on Dec. 4th, Matthew, had a "white" birthday! Matt had snow on his bday!! It was super fun and cold day. We made soup and sang to Matt and gave him his present. The next day was his party where the celebration continued. No snow the next day though. It just stuck around long enough for the boys to play in it and make a snowman. Matthew celebrated his birthday at Kids in Action in Kingwood. He picked a SpongeBob theme. It was a fun party. After the cold and wintery day on Friday, Saturday turned out to be sunny and nice out. Made his party day fun!! He loves being four! And he has been celebrating every day. He doesn't know quite yet that his birthday is only one day in December not the whole month. He is still going around saying its his birthday...

Carving pumpkins is always big fun!!

The following pictures I took in the spring. It was spring soccer season at the YMCA Lake Houston. It was Matthew's first time to play soccer. Kevin coached the team. The Horsies. Yup. That is what the kids picked as their team name. Gotta love it! Kevin has played soccer since he was 4 or 5. He still plays on an (old) men's team every Monday. Their name is Rejuvenated Elders (and I thought Horsies was bad). Anyhoo. The following pic is of Kevin and two of his high school soccer teamates. Jesse Alvarado and Eddy Espinosa both played with Kevin in high school. And now like their dad's, their kids played on the same Y soccer team this year. Cash Alvarado, Isabella 'Izzy' Espinosa, and Matthew all played on The Horsies together! The dads and their kids.

This is a new segment I am going to call 'like father like son'. The following photos make give you an idea why. ;) Aww, I just love my guys!!

Tomorrow we are heading to South Dakota! We are excited. We had a week to recoup from our week at Crystal Beach. I can't wait to come home and post pics and catch everyone up on Brenda and The Boys! I hope you are all having a great summer. We have. It is whizzing by though!! Talk to you guys soon! -Brenda

We took the boys to the Water Wall outside of Transco Tower near The Galleria area while my sister was here for her birthday a few weeks ago. It was a gorgeous day! We had a great lunch in Katy and on our way home decided to stop. They loved every second of it. I had not been there in years. My sister's friend Christina was also with us and she had never been so it was fun showing her a new place, too. I forget that there are places like this that don't charge admission to see and that can also be so much fun to do. The boys have since asked to go back. Next time I think we might pack a lunch and sit and eat our lunch on the grassy area out in front. It was fun!

On President's Day , we made a day trip to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, Texas . Steve, my brother in-law, called and said he and his kiddos were going to Blue Bell and they invited us to come along. Kevin had the day off and none us had ever been to Blue Bell, so we took him up on his offer. We packed up and made our way to Brenham . Before we made it to the creamery we had lunch at the Brenham Municipal Airport . We ate at the Southern Flyer Restaurant at the airport. It is a 50s style diner. The waitresses are decked out in poodle skirts and the whole nine. It was fun. Afterwards, we watched a few planes arrive and depart. Then we were off for our 11:30 tour. It was so fun to watch how the ice cream that we eat at home is made. Matt and Alex especially loved the ice cream sandwiches being made. They are a Parks staple. If you have never made the trip to the creamery, I highly recommend it. At the end of the tour you get a sizeable sample of ice cream. They let you choose ...

Kevin and I went to the Houston Symphony with some friends from church, Donald and Stephanie , a few weeks ago. We heard the music of John Williams . It was really fun. There was of course a lot of Star Wars pieces as well as a few characters . Thanks for the tickets Steph and Donald! We had a great time.

Last Friday, Kevin, the boys, and I went to a Houston Aero's game. We had a great time. Especially the boys. They took pictures with the cheerleaders, The Dynamics. We even saw Buc-ee Beaver. We had great third row seats where we cheered on the team from. We watched for flying hockey pucks (puffs). Matthew calls them Hockey puffs. I can't forget about all the junk food we ate. It was fun!

Back in December our friends Dawn and Burt invited us on an adventure. A Taste of Mexico they called it. They had read an article in Texas Monthly magazine called The 63 Tacos You Must Eat Before You Die . So, when we heard tacos and possibly margaritas would be involved, well, they had us at tacos. Kevin and I were totally on board. I could not wait. So, we picked the night and we were off. With several of the 63 Tacos on the list in the Houston area to choose from, we picked four places/four tacos to try. First stop on our journey was, Laredo Taquería. There we had #63 on the list the Nopales taco. If you are not familiar, nopales are cactus leaves. Yes, that is what I had said. Cactus leaves. I can remember my dad eating them growing up. This was only my second time to try it. It was not bad. Not my fave, but not bad. A very unique flavor. Kind of like cooked bell pepper in texture. But a much sweeter taste. What did rock was that the corn tortilla. It was homemade! Yum. 63. Nopales...