Austin "Wildlife"

I'm not a fan of bugs!!! They bite and sting and well certain types (spiders) I believe are simply demonic! Yeah I said it; DEMONIC! I give thanks that I was raised in Oregon where bugs aren't really a problem. Bees and mosquitoes are really it. No spiders as big as your hands or spiders that can oh I don't know KILL YOU! No ants that bite or sting or as Connor wisely states "blow fire". And no caterpillars has big as a hot dog!! This little fella was on our back porch the other day and scared me to death! I'm sure that he was perfectly harmless, but really who wanted to check. My boys spotted him too and were so excited to play with him. My (I'd like to call it rational) fear of insect creatures kicked in and I wouldn't let them. It was just too big and I had no idea if it was dangerous or not. Quite frankly I'd rather let my boys play with a snake or a rat. I did take a quick picture to prove that it was as big as I would later tell Adam he was. I've been living in the south for 7 years now and I'm still not used to insects that are as big as small creatures. I'll continue to try and be the awesome Mom who is cool about dirt and bugs, but I couldn't handle this THING!

Bryce melts my heart

Bryce had for the longest time decided that he preferred to either talk like a caveman (using grunts and gestures) or just not talk at all. Like most Moms out there who worry about the stupidest(I know Connor "We don't say stupid, but well you can't read yet) stuff. I worried about his lack of verbal communication a lot comparing him and his small vocabulary to his older type A first born brother. I will do this a lot I'm afraid and hopefully each time will be reminded that each of my children are beautifully and wonderfully made AND are and always will be very different.
Bryce has finally decided to start talking and it's wonderful! Connor loves teaching him new words and Bryce loves giggling as he tries to say them. He has the cutest little high pitched voice and has taken a liking to using absolutely no verbs. Mommy, Bryce cup white milk drink, please! Nanner(How he says Connor) me stairs up socks(His socks are upstairs). He has also decided to call me Mommy and I couldn't be more thrilled. I love how he says Mommy well expect when he his whining, we don't whine in the McManus house!! Mommy just sounds so adorable and I never thought that I would love it as much as I do. Especially when my older child has decided calling me "Mom" like a 14 year old is how he would like to address me. If he starts rolling his eyes I might be back on here soon asking for some advice.
I look forward to hearing more from our littlest man!!

A Sadler Weekend

This weekend we had our first guests! Our great friends the Sadlers came down for a visit and stayed at the "Hotel McManus". Justin had passed his CPA earlier this year and the state ceremony was at the UT campus this last weekend. We had a wonderful time showing the Sadlers around town and eating out for every meal. (We ate outside each time we ate at a restaurant too...in NOVEMBER!!!)

(Men just love it when you try to get a picture of them together)

Adam and Justin got to have a guy day on Saturday after the ceremony. (Amanda and I had to take the kiddos home for a much needed nap) They played Gowalla all afternoon and walked all over Austin downtown. We met up later with them and ate at a spectacular restaurant called the Iron Cactus. It is right on 6th street and we got a table on the roof. The food was the best and the 4 desserts we ordered.....well they were awesome! It was kind of funny because by the time we were getting ready to leave the "Saturday night crowd" had started showing up. Bachelorette parties, couples on romantic dates, and a class of 99 reunion. How funny did we look with 4 kids sitting two tables over?!!
Bryce abosulutly fell in love with Amanda and Justin's little boy Reed. I think he got a kick outta bossing someone littlier around. "Reed come here" "Reed play cars" "Reed no-no" -Bryce with his cute little high pitched voice. My camera batteries died during the weekend and I didn't get any other pictures. Guess the Sadlers will have to come down for another visit. DARN!

Dream Big

When I graduated from High School I sang a little song at graduation and at church the Sunday before called "Dream Big". It was perfectly cliche and was meant to inspire my class to go out into that big ole world and well...."Dream Big". (Man if only I had a video of us singing that song it would be Youtube gold.)
Recently my heart has been restless and I have been challenged again and again to want...no...need more. I don't mean more money or stuff or even more happiness. I have everything I have ever wanted or needed. A loving family, still head over heals in love with my husband, healthy kids, a roof over our head, food on the table, (and a TV to watch Glee). I'm extremely happy and love life, but there are so many out there who don't. That is where the more comes into play. I want to do more for others, change the world, show those who don't have hope the love of Christ, feed the hungry, and help the poor. I want to do big things for Jesus, but have no idea where to start. So today I'm making my dreams public hoping that this will push me to not only continue to dream big but to strive to complete some of those dreams. It's not going to be easy but I will trust that with the Lord anything is possible. Here is a list of just some of my big dreams.(not goals but dreams) Please pray for me as I journey towards making big dreams come true.

1) Foster kids whose family can't take care of them. Show them the love of Jesus while loving and providing for them. A whole house full!

2) Adopting kid(s) I don't know how or when, but Adam and I will adopt. What a perfect picture of the gospel. Taking in a child who no one wants and making him/her a perfect part of our family.

3) Write a book. I'm not a writer, but it's a dream of mine.

4) Speak at children's camps around the country and the world. I have a passion for engaging the younger generations. Over and over again I'm blown away at what kids can do when someone challenges them to dream big. I want to be one of those people.

5) Start a program in my community that gives families an opportunity to serve others. A lot of people are willing to help others, but don't know how. I'm one of those people right now. I want to help, but don't know where to start or how to do it with young kiddos.

6) Go on a trip to a place where Jesus' name is not on every street corner as a family. We don't feel called to drop everything and become missionaries(although that sounds so exciting), but I want my kids to experience mission work outside of the United States sooner rather than later.

7) Provide a support organization for stay at home moms. Again I'm here. I yearn for a place where I can hang out and talk with other Moms. A place where my kids can play safely with other kids. More importantly I want this community of Moms to be ready to help each other and show other Moms the hope they can have in Christ.

Well there's my list! Whew I feel so vulnerable right now, but am excited about taking steps towards one or more if not all of these dreams. Watch out world here I come!!

What about you?! What are some of your dreams???

Happy 5th Month Birthday Baby Alexis

Baby Girl just turned 5 months old! She has been such a blessing to our little family. I can barely remember what life was like with just two little rambunctious boys. Now I can't picture life without this sweet little girl. Alexis we love you so much and can't wait to continue to see this beautiful little personality grow.

Alexis - 5 Months Old from Adam McManus on Vimeo.

Race Weekend

I grew up in a sport lovin' family. We watched most sports and a few very passionately. I have crazy memories of watching super bowls with various friends and there being so much yellin and cheering that we could hear it from outside. We loved and cheered on the Portland Trailblazers, the Denver Broncos, and even the Dallas Cowboys(a little). Big sporting days were holidays in our house and always included great friends and lot's of food. One sport I don't remember watching was Nascar. But in the last 7 years my Mom has become fantatic about the sport along with her sisters. My first experience with Nascar was when Adam and I lived in Alabama. I had never watched a race nor planned on it. But we lived a short drive from Talladega and my Mom wanted so badly to go. So we went together. I learned very quickly that not only is Talladega "the race" to go to, but it's like the red-neck-nascar-lovin-good-ole-boy "super bowl". It was a crazy experience and if you want to have a good laugh ask me about the stories sometime. Since then my family has become more and more crazy in love with Nascar. And now 7 years later we have been to Talladega, Las Vegas, Daytona (I missed that one) and Fort Worth races. This last weekend was our second time going to Texas Motor Speedway for the race. This year was particularly special because the true fans camped out at the track all weekend long. Here some pics of our Nascar weekend.

The first night we went and visited the ladies (my mom, my aunt; Diana and Cindy, my aunt; Darla and her daughter Jo) at the Nascar campsite. The boys had a blast and haven't stopped talking about going camping with the race cars. (What do you think Adam, family vacation at the track next year?)
Alexis and Aunt Nana (We have a picture of Nana holding me just like this when I was Alexis' age)
How funny is it that all of us forgot our cameras the day of the race. So sad because Jo made us all matching shirts! We did look super cute and super ridiculous at the same time. It was a great race and a great day. This is the picture Adam took of me right before I left. Here is what Adam said about the picture; "There are a few days each year that I take no responsibility for @jenwpc. Today is one of those days: http://yfrog.com/j7imghij"
Me and my beautiful cousin; Jo!
Bryce and his Gigi. We stayed at our great friends house. The ladies all came over one day and played with the kiddos.
On Monday we went to Cabellas and had lunch. Here's Aunt Darla, Jo, and baby Alexis!
The whole gang!

Halloween 09

Halloween was especially fun this year because both boys were so excited about wearing costumes and going trick or treating. It was also our first year enjoying Halloween in Austin. And Austin loves Halloween. I came down with some kind of horrible flu (I refuse to admit that it is pig related). So just the boys went to a party at the gym.

It looked like a fun party.

Mommy's little pumpkin!

So cute.
Ready to go trick-or-treating.

Our new neighborhood was packed with families all hunting for candy. I refused to miss this fun memory just because of a little flu, so Alexis and I joined the boys. We took a short trip around our block and got A LOT(both boys buckets were over flowing) of candy! There was a lot houses who went all out which was really fun. Just a little side note: Bryce was very excited anytime a neighbor let him pick what candy he wanted. So excited that he took a good 30 seconds each time. So funny watching him trying to make a decision. It was the most trick or treat traffic we have ever seen, we went through a whole bulk bag of candy from Costco. It was a fun night and Connor is already planning what he and Bryce will be next year.