Thanksgiving Pics from Nana & Papa Rau's House!

Enjoying a deliciously tasty Thanksgiving meal with cousins.

Kade and Brady with cousin Luke.

Kade and cousin Luke.

Kade, Mr. Photogenic.

Kade flying high.

Little Man, Brady.

A Thanksgiving full of Thanks!

What better way to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday than with the ones you love and lots of food. We are very thankful that we have our family and friends nearby so that we are able to spend time with and visit everyone. Our holiday stops actually started the Sunday before Thanksgiving at my Granny Loewe's house. She is 88 years old and still has the entire family over for the holidays, and it is not a small family. With eight grandkids (who are all married with kids except one), twelve great grandkids (with two more on the way), and aunts and uncles, Granny's house is quite full for the holidays. We had a great time with all the cousins. Every year we draw names at Thanksgiving for Christmas. It's always fun to find out at Christmas who got your name.
On Thanksgiving Day, we headed over to Nana and Papa Rau's house for lunch along with the Hardy family and Dane's Great Aunt Mimi Nienast. We always enjoy our time over there with everyone. The boys thoroughly enjoy playing with their cousins, Jenna, Leah and Luke. We spent the afternoon over there, and Brady and I managed to get in a nap.
That evening we were invited to the Maurer's home to watch a little football; A&M vs. Texas. It turned out to be a really great game, but those Aggies just couldn't stop those Longhorns from taking home yet another victory. Kade and Brady always love playing with Avery, Austin and Caleb.
That Friday after Thanksgiving, the boys and I decorated the house for Christmas. That was quite interesting. What they call "helping me," I call "getting in the way." Nonetheless, we got it all up, and it looks great. The boys liked decorating the tree and hanging on all the ornaments. It was a funfilled holiday weekend full of many things and people to be thankful for.

Good Shot Mama!

My new philosophy in life is "If you can't beat them, join them." With a husband, two boys, and a third boy on the way, you could say that I am out numbered in our household. Since I don't see any prom dress shopping trips, wedding dress shopping trips, or just shopping trips in general in my future with my own children, I figure I will have to enjoy the things they enjoy doing like hunting, fishing, and sports. The funny thing is, I love doing all of those things, and being able to do them with my favorite guys makes it all the more enjoyable. Almost thirteen years ago, Dane took me hunting with him and let me shoot my first deer at the Longbranch Ranch in Fredericksburg. I guess you could say I have been hooked ever since. It turned into kind of a hobby that Dane and I love to do together. Dane's family has a little place off of Hwy. 105 where we hunt each year. It's our Washington County lease you could say. Anyway I went hunting out there last weekend. I really didn't go so much to hunt as I did to just soak up some quiet time and catch up on some reading. I took the gun and binoculars just in case. Well, last Saturday afternoon, I looked up from reading my book and saw a pretty decent buck walking across the field. Dane and the boys had been on my case about always going and not shooting anything, so I went for it and ended up with a nice 8 pointer on the ground. Kade told me "Good shot Mama," and Brady told me "Whoa, Mama got a big buck." It was all worth it to see the proud reactions on my boys' faces. A wonderful husband, two amazing boys, and another little Rau boy on the way, what mom could ever ask for more? I've got it all.

It's Another Boy!

Dane and I went a couple of weeks ago for the ultrasound of baby #3. We really went in not knowing if we wanted to find out the baby's gender or not. The nurse asked us right away before we started if we wanted to know the sex of the baby, and we told her we weren't sure; just don't say anything, and we would see if we could tell on our own. Well, that first shot of the legs there sure looked like there was something in between those kicking, little legs. Neither one of us said anything because the shot was really quick, but the second time she she focused on the legs there was really no mistaken that there was definately something there. I told the nurse "Oh, it's a boy, isn't it?" She said "I'm thinking so, but lets make sure it's not the imbilical cord." It wasn't. She was able to differentiate between the two. I am very excited about having three boys. I think Kade was a little disappointed when we first told him. He really wanted a little sister. He told me "How am I going to take care of two brothers?" He has come around though and is excited about another brother. Brady, up until last week, said it was a girl no matter how many times you told him it was a boy. His cow was getting ready to have a calf, and he told me "My cow will have a girl," as if to say "you couldn't get the job done, but I bet my cow can." He was right; she got the job done. No matter what, we are very excited about another little Rau boy running around up here on the Wiedeville Hill. The most important thing to us that we pray for everyday is that he is growing normally and born healthy. We can't wait to meet you Nate Brandon Rau.

Parent/Teacher Conferences!

This past week, we met with Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Hoppens for Brady and Kade's parent/teacher conferences. The purpose of the conferences is to discuss how much progress you child is making. They have one in the fall and one in the spring. Monday was Brady's conference. Mrs. Schmidt said that Brady is doing fine. He has a couple of things to work on, but she said because he is one of the youngest in the class is the reason he lags behind in a couple of areas. She says he will catch up in no time in the next few months to come. She informed us that Brady is a very headstrong little boy and extremely independent. He is going to do what Brady wants to do and there is no changing his mind. Although these may not seem like great qualities to have right now, she said they will be great qualities to have as he gets older. He will be a leader in the future and not a follower.
Kade's conference went great as always. He is right on track or ahead of where he needs to be. He is considerate of others feelings, uses good manners, listens well, participates in centers, loves to read and listen to stories, wants to please everyone, and is always willing to learn something new and be challenged.
WOW! What a difference. It is so crazy how different their personalities are and they are raised in the same home, by the same parents, the same way. I guess that is the difference between your first born and the second child.

Brady, my middle child!

Well, I have always heard that the middle child is the worst child. Even though the new baby isn't here yet, Brady is beginning to prove that there is truth to that statement. About a week ago he was in "one of his moods" you could say. When I picked him up from school, Mrs. Connie said that he just wasn't quite himself that day. He had been kind of whiny and just in a bad mood. Needless to say that mood followed us home. When we got home, I took the backpacks and mail in the house. The boys stayed outside to play. Kade came running in yelling "Mom, come quick. Brady." I thought something happened to Brady, but when I went out there, he was on the back of the mule dumping out fish food by the scoops full all over the carport. I disciplined and told him to go play on his play set. While I was sweeping up fish food, he proceeded to dump out the dog food. Once all the food was cleaned up, we went inside, and Brady told me he was thirsty. I gave him a PURPLE grape caprisun juice that he took in my bedroom and squirted out all over my light colored carpet; the entire juice. I sent him outside with Dane while I cleaned that up. While outside, he took the key out of the mule and hid it from us. When we asked him where he put it, he said "It proly in da house." I said no it's not. He said "It proly on top of da car." I said no it's not. We finally found it under the mule hidden up under a lip. Back inside the house, Kade was watching TV. Brady was being loud, so Kade told him to go in the other room because he couldn't hear his show. Brady marched in the kitchen, took out two pot lids, and got in Kade's face and starting banging them together as loud as he could. Before the night was over he managed to break an entire box of crayons in half and throw them all over the floor in his room. While cleaning them up, he decided to do a little artwork all over the carpet with a black crayon. By then, Dane and I had had it. We did some major disciplining. This was all in just one evening, and I was exhausted. Thank goodness this isn't an everyday occurance. It's hard to imagine how that innocent faced little boy can be so mischevious. No matter what or how much mischief he seems to get in though, we still love and adore him. He has a personality and a sweet side to him that can melt your heart. Let's just hope for future purposes that we see that sweet side much more often than the spiteful side.

First Deer Hunt of the Season!

A couple of weekends ago, Dane, Kade, and Papa Rau headed to Fredericksburg to go deer hunting at the Long Branch Ranch. Wallace and Delores Klussmann invited us up for the weekend to do some hunting. Because their place is high fenced, season starts in October rather than having to wait until November. Dane and Kade did all the hunting while Papa just relaxed and took it easy from work the whole weekend. Their first afternoon out, Dane and Kade shot a cull buck in the "Big Oats Patch." It was a six pointer with really wavy horns. Kade called me and told me that it looked like it had gotten a perm so he decided to name it "Squiggly." The next morning they went out rattling with Jon. Kade really like that. He said there were bucks everywhere and some of them came really close to where he was sitting. He said he can't wait for me to go up there with them so he can take me rattling because "it is so cool, Mom." He really had a great time with Daddy and Papa on their "all guy" hunting trip. I love the fact that three generations of Rau's get to make memories like this together. Kade looks forward to many more hunting trips with his dad and his Papa Rau.