More Please...

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Southern Belle In A Gentlemen's World

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Indoor Campout

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Sub-freezing temps, a week long chronic cough, and a few other outside factors forced Jaxson and I to cancel our weekend boys camping trip at Cedar Hill State Park. To make it up to, I set Jaxson up with a "fort" and a campsite in his room.

A few flashlight guided stories later, Jax called it a night and enjoyed camping - even if it was indoors.

All things considered, waking up and crawling out of my bed at 1:30am to a dreadful cough was much easier than it would have been in a tent with ice hanging from eyelashes.

End Of An Era

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The Momma Milking Machine has officially been put out to pasture. Almost eleven months of supplying Miss Belle with an endless supply of milky goodiness has come to a close, four months longer than Jaxson - not a bad stat sheet.

We go from this:

To This:

Human Canvas

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Why God made washable markers:

Driving Miss Belle

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Acting Like Animals

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Sadly, being a life long Fort Worthian, you take local attractions for granted and sometimes can't see the forest for the trees.

The Fort Worth Zoo became one of those sad stories. The last time I was at the zoo was about 20 years ago (man, I sound old saying that) and our van was broken into and all my Nintendo games and various other goods were stolen - and I had stayed away since; must have been some sort of tragic mental scar.

It was time that was erased.

With clouds and rain looming on the horizon, we took a gamble and headed to the zoo with our new zoo membership cards and a little red wagon. Needless to say, all the bad memories were erased seeing the kiddos mesmerized by all the going-ons at the zoo.

A Thousand Times Over

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Three years and five months ago, I started this blog to capture the moments, both expected and unexpected, as Robyn and I entered parenthood. The main objective was to create a digital scrapbook that would capture our growth as parents and as a family. Farthest from imagination was how integral the blog would become in my day-to-day interactions with my kids.

Since it's inception, the blog has become an obsession. Photography has become an integral part of the blog; and I find myself taking photos that are chasing stories; rather than just freezing moments in time - the images over the last few years have been determined by the blog. Can I tell a story with this photo? What will I write about this photo? Will the photo visual capture what I am experiencing?

Needless to say, Crayons & Keyboards has become more than just a blog to me. It, in essence, has become a dynamic part of my life.

Blog entry #1,000 is more than a milestone. It is a reflection on what my family means to me. Without Robyn, I am nothing. Without Jaxson, I am nothing. Without Annabelle, I am nothing. Without our extended families, we are nothing.

Families are precious. So thank you all for allowing me to document our lives together and record moments that are forever deposited in our memory banks.

Love you all, and I hope their are thousands more ahead for all of us.

Cheers.

With Sprinkles?

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Standing Strong

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Pregame Smiles

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Texas Backroad Little Lady

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Da' Boys

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Booger & Boogie

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Two of my favorite little ladies: Booger (Jaycee) & Boogie (Annabelle)

Inside The Lantern

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Working With The Road Stimulus Package

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A Tale Of Two Towels

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Jaxson

Annabelle

Two Man Crew

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Doing It Museum Style

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Newly opened in November, the just completed Fort Worth Museum of Science & History has once again allowed Cowtown to climb one rung higher on the ladder of coolness when it comes to blending culture with cowboy boots, and doing it successfully.
Tagging along with Bex, Berky, and Pappa Long; the Wheat boys spent a lazy Sunday afternoon exploring cattle drives, dinosaurs, light & shadow, and wooden train tracks. Common actions for a Sunday afternoon...

Red In Winter

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Tower Of Trouble

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Snowy Family

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Watching The World

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Absolutely enthralled by the local wild life.

Being in the middle of nowhere in a cabin does have it's distinct advantages. More deer than you can count and an occasional turkey or two.

Laughing Ladies

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Snow Gazing

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First True Snow Adventure

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While in Maryland, we all loaded up and took a small 3-day road trip to Davis, West Virginia. With ample snow and freezing a** temperatures (averaging about 16 degrees during the day) Jaxson was exposed to what winter really is and it's fun brutality.

Thigh deep snow made for great runway.

Focused.

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Some of us were a little more focused on the Cowboys / Redskin game; others were not as focused. They will learn, especially when you are in enemy territory.

Already Nagging...

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Colton is just barely 4-months, and Belle is already telling him what he did wrong.

More Colton

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Meeting Colton Casey Coon

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Besides being in Maryland for New Year's Eve and seeing Robyn's brothers, the big "To-Do" was to meet our nephew, Colton Casey Coon, for the first time.