The African Queen

Last night Brett and I had such a great 'date night in.'

Everything fell into place perfectly.

The kids were in bed and asleep by 8:00, so we got to eat a quiet dinner, watch a movie, and get to bed ourselves before 11:00. We ordered a pizza, since the kids just had watermelon for dinner (and couldn't have been more delighted) and then we popped in a classic movie.

"The African Queen" is, without a doubt on my top 10 list of favorite movies.

And it definitely takes the number one spot for a date night movie. The first 15 minutes were a little rough. But once it was just Bogie and Hepburn on a boat, it was pure magic! It was filmed on location in Africa (before that was the norm) and the writing and acting are so completely charming. And the story is totally fabulous! It makes you want to go on an adventure with your one and only so badly!

It's hard not to write about my favorite parts,

but I don't want to spoil it for any who hasn't seen it.

Be sure to try mimicing Bogie and Hepburn's distinctive accents. I think I said, "Uh, Mr. Allnut?" almost as many times as Katharine did in my attempt to get her accent just right. Such characters, those two!

Dinner and a Dance

The mini mariachi band at dinner tonight was wonderful.

Clementine clapped enthusiastically after every song.

They came over and played "La Cucaracha" for her.

Of course she had to get up and dance and of course she needed a partner.

Thank you Aunt Emily and HAPPY BIRTHDAY. After this number they even played Elmo's World for her.

You should have seen the stars in her eyes.

Masterpiece

I love children't books.

And I am so delighted that Clementine AND Sammy do too!

Right now this is one of our favorites. The illustrations are completely darling, and the story is really sweet.

My dad read it to her the other night, and I think I may have seen misty grandpa eyes.

Plus, it's SO fun to hear my three year old say 'masterpiece.'

It's such a great word.

It feels so important and exciting, doesn't it?

Clementine loves to say it.

She doesn't just say, " I want to read this book."

It's always, "I want to read Sophie's MAsterpiece tonight Mommy."

(I'm trying to signify a dramatic accent on the first syllable there).

Sharing...

Minnie requested that we have family home evening tonight. Afterwards, Minnie says that it's time for our treat, and Amy says that she can finish the chocolate bunny that the Easter Bunny brought her.

Minnie seems content, but I wanted a couple of the little Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that the Easter Bunny stashed in the pantry. I brought two of them to the table, and Minnie promptly grabbed one. The following conversation took place:

Daddy: Minnie, those are Daddy's treats.

Minnie: I'll have this one, you can have that one...that's sharing. Heavenly Father wants us to share.

Touche', Minnie. Touche'.

Happy Easter!!!

Here's wishing all our friends and family a Happy Easter. Please enjoy this video of Minnie, in which she sings of Hot Cross Buns, expounds the Resurrection, decorates Easter eggs, and states multiple times that the sparkles (glitter) will help her fly.

Houston. Snow. Now.

Six Month Update. What, You Expected More?

Wow, funny how six months just fly. In all fairness, a baby tends to take up large amounts of time. Whether that's enough of an excuse to justify my neglect of this blog is up for debate. Sam has, of course, grown. A lot. He's a big boy. Not terribly chubby, but he's built solid and has long arms and legs. He's sitting up and has been on the cusp of crawling for about a month now. He can get up on his hands and knees and rock, and somehow moves backward, but can't seem to move forward.

Minnie is growing into the cutest little girl. Ever. I know, she's my daughter so I must be biased, but I'm telling you, she's cute. She's a talker. Some of her favorite subjects include (1) the fact that mommy, grandma and grandpa all love to eat lobster and that "They're delicious;" (2) The fact that she now is, is currently turning into, or someday when she grows up will be a mermaid; (3) the fact that today is her, my, or your birthday, regardless of the date; (4) the fact that she is too little to do what you are asking her to do, especially if she is not, in fact, too little (such as, "Minnie, you need to stop crying." "No Daddy, I'm too little.") (5) the fact that she will someday get married in the temple (variations on this subject include needing to marry me, baby Sam or her tiny plastic dalmation toy).

Anyway, so that's where we are in a nutshell. More to come...

Introducing Samuel Randall Breeden

We're thrilled to announce the birth of our son, Samuel Randall Breeden. He was born November 10, 2008, around 1:00 p.m. He weighed in at a healthy 8lbs, 8oz and was 21 inches long. Amy and Sam are both healthy and recovering well. He's named after his maternal grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather, etc. His takes his middle name from his father and paternal grandfather. He looks decidedly more like his mother than his father, especially when comparing baby pictures. Minnie is loving having a new baby around and is adjusting well. We absolutely adore him and can't wait for you all to meet him. More photos can be found here.

Ike Update...

Just a quick note. Hurricane Ike has now come and gone. Amy's parent's home (where we're still living for now) didn't sustain any major damage. They lost a few fences that were pretty old, but otherwise, mostly leaves and small branches. Minnie started getting sick on Thursday night, starting with some vomiting and then a fever. So we had a couple of really rough nights with Minnie running a fever of over 103 and the wind and rain making all kinds of noise. Her fever finally broke this morning. Luckily, Amy's parents bought a generator this fall so we've had fans, fridges, and occasionally the TV and computer on which has kept things sane. The power is still out, and as they were reporting that most people in Houston had their power out, it could be days (or even weeks).
We were supposed to close on a house on Sept 23rd and I drove by it yesterday to see if there was any damage, and besides a few shingles and damage to a gutter, the house is OK. Sadly, we lost the largest tree in the front yard (it fell on the neighbors house). It was some sort of oak, so we were bummed to lose it. Hopefully, the current owner will get things fixed and we'll still be able to close on the 23rd or soon thereafter.
We'll let you know as things progress.

We're having a...

BOY!!!

I hate to steal my wife's thunder but she hasn't jumped at the chance to post this so I figured I would. We found out Tuesday morning. I'll leave it to Amy to post pictures of the proof if she dares. We're extremely excited to have "one of each."

In other news, we've been shopping for a house. It's a little scary with all the craziness that is the housing/mortgage market these days, but Houston has always been reasonable when it comes to housing prices and we haven't seen the kinds of increases (or recent decreases) in home prices that so many other areas have seen. There are still a decent amount of foreclosures out there as well as homes up for sale so hopefully we'll find just what we're looking for. Luckily, we've been able to spend the last year here with Amy's family which has allowed us to save up a little for a down payment (as well as pay cash for the baby--though it's surprisingly more affordable than you'd think).

Anyway, we're truly blessed and totally excited these days and we're so glad to share the news with you.

See you around...

Announcement

Wow! It's Amy here. This is my first time to blog! My sister Bertie who is a blogger extraordinaire has been nagging me endlessly about doing this, as have a few other loving people, so here I go! Hopefully I'll become converted and start to do it more often...like a couple times a month or so.

Well, here is our announcement! We're expecting baby number two! We are so so so thrilled. I've been wanting another baby since Clementine was born, and Brett can't wait either. The due date is Nov. 16th, but we'll probably have the baby a little earlier because the ob-gyn I'm seeing insists on delivering C-section babies a week early. We'll have an ultra sound on July 2nd to see if it's going to be a boy or a girl. I LOVE ultra sounds. I can't wait! I don't care which one we get...boy or girl, and Brett doesn't care too much either, but the rest of the family on both sides really seems to be rooting for a boy.

Here's a little picture from the ultra sound they did a little over a month ago. So exciting!!!

4 Down, 1768 to Go

Today marks the end of four weeks at my new job. So far things have gone pretty well. I've finally learned everyone's name (I don't know why I find it so hard--I'm great with faces but I always forget names) and I feel like I'm fitting in OK. The work consists of writing Title Opinions, which are basically opinions as to who owns what concerning oil and gas interests in a particular piece of property. When a company decides to drill a well, they send us information about the property in question going back to when it was patented (granted) to some individual by the State of Texas (or sometimes by the Mexican government or even the King of Spain). We review the information and make a determination about who owns what, and point out any potential problems with the title. You'd be surprised how messy it can get at times. Anyway, it's a good place to start and I 'm grateful to have a decent job. Plus being home with Minnie and Amy each evening is a real treat. Amy and I are still living with her parents and we'll probably keep doing so while we look for a home. We're thinking about buying some time in the next six months and look forward to putting a little money away in the meantime.

And for good measure, as no post can be complete without some picture or video of Minnie, here's a shot of her in a dress her Great-Grandma Sally made for her. It's a precious dress and my Grandma spent many loving hours smocking the front of it by hand.

Clementine's First Birthday

We celebrated Minnie's first birthday this past week. We started out the celebration last Saturday with the Breeden side of the family up on the north side of town. There were cupcakes for all and Minnie had a blast playing with her cousins.


She also had a chance to play her favorite game: run away from Amy on the trampoline as Amy tries to keep her from running right off the edge.

Then, last Monday, we celebrated Minnie and Grandma Young's birthdays (both born April 21st) with Amy's side of the family at Benihana, which is a Young Family tradition. She loved pretty much everything at Benihana, but especially the mushrooms from the soup and the fried rice.

When we told Minnie to blow out the candle, she did the only "blowing" she knows how to do: blow a kiss.

She's such a sweetheart and we love her so. We can't believe she's already a year old!!!

H-town here we come, I mean, stay, I mean...

We have some good news to share (and no, this isn't an April Fools joke). Yesterday I was offered a position at a boutique firm in Houston called Labanowski & Associates specializing in oil and gas law. This is very happy news as on many levels but especially because it means I won't have to work up here in Ft. Worth anymore away from the family. I interviewed with them a couple of months back and Amy and I decided to hold off making any decisions about moving up to Ft. Worth until we heard the final word from them. It took a while, but the waiting paid off and now I'm set to start there on April 14th. We're sad that we won't be near many of our friends up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area but we're so happy that we'll be able to stay close to both of our families in Houston. And for the occasion, I've put together a top ten list. Enjoy.

You know you've been living (and working) at a hotel too long if:
1. Maids ask how your daughter is doing by name every time you see them.
2. You only leave the hotel once a day, usually to get dinner, from which you promptly return.
3. Your sleeping cycle has become confused as the industrial strength window curtain doesn't allow the sun to "rise" normally.
4. Walking down to the gym where they have filtered water has become a much anticipated "break."
5. You can't remember the last time you made your own bed.
6. The last line of "Hotel California" hits a little too close to home.
7. You've actually filled all the available drawers in the hotel room furniture.
8. Chatting on a grainy webcam has become "quality time" with the family.
9. Your daughter waves at TVs, computer monitors and pictures because she thinks they're alive, just like her daddy on the webcam.
10. You actually look forward to a 4 1/2 hour car ride every Friday afternoon because it means seeing your family.

Minnie's Walking!!!

First of all, the big news from the Breeden Bunch is that our little Clementine is walking. She really started a few weeks ago, and I even cut together a video a couple weeks back and posted it on YouTube, but I failed to post anything here. Anyway, it's below for your viewing pleasure. It doesn't show her very first steps, but she only started to really walk 2 days before we took this video. The cowgirl outfit it courtesy of Aunt Lisa.
As for us, I'm working up in Fort Worth (living in a hotel for now) doing doing Oil and Gas work. Amy and Minnie are still living with her parents while we try to find a place to live up here (should we buy, should we rent, apartment or house?). The long distance thing is tough, but I see them every weekend and we invested in webcams.
Anyway, enjoy the video below.