Landry McQueen

My three year old LOVES the movie CARS by Pixar. I really have to laugh at this little boy and his obsession! Even his room is all CARS. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't find a Lighting McQueen in the washer, in his little hands as he falls asleep, or him zooming around the hard wood floors yelling at his brother and sister "Look out Queen is behind you". It cracks me up! He will line them all up (as you can see) and put them in order as to his most favorites to his least favorites. I am guessing there are PLENTY of little boys out there like him (uuhmm....one down the street! ha) who share this obsession. It is soooo bad that we even make trips to certain stores (Target, Toys R Us, Walmart, and HEB) to make sure there isn't any new ones in. Also, we even have our best buds on the look out if they see any at the store! I know, I know I am not helping his obsession by encouraging this but it is so darn cute to see him so happy when we get a new CAR! I think the CARS people know that kids get hooked on these so they only release a FEW at a time so crazy moms like me can travel around town waisting $$$ gas for a dang toy! haha. Oh my goodness! I just realized I too share the obsession! haha. Oh, I love this little boy with all my heart. I probably am spoiling him but I sure cherish these times with him. Love you Lanny McQueen!!!!

Friends Forever

Lauren has a best friend Hallie who is like another daughter to me. Hallie fits in over here! Casey and I love her like one of our own. She and Lauren have the best times together. Their personalities are different but yet they compliment each other. Does that make sense? Hallie is bold, brave, and in a good way out spoken. Lauren is reserved, careful, and sensitive to others needs. The two of them together bring out the best in each other. They have been in the same classes together since kindergarten. I am thankful for this sweet girl in my beautiful daughter's life.

Landry's black eye

About a week ago, Landry was playing on the blow up slide and ran into Luke. He cried for a little bit and said his eye hurt. Casey and I didn't think much of it until the next day. Wow! Poor buddy. It has changed many colors this past week. Here it is today still black and blue. We went to church this morning hoping that his Sunday school teacher didn't ask us what happened. ha! He is still pretty darn cute to me even with his little beat up eye.

Pet Shop Party 2008

Lauren invited a couple of sweet neighborhood girls over to have a Pet Shop Party. She is into these tiny little plastic animals that are dressed up. Her friends are also into them so we decided to have a party celebrating Pet Shops. Abby and Jillian came over Friday morning and they painted pet shop bags, painted magnets, decorated cupcakes, ate McDonalds (which happens to have pet shops as their toy. Woo-hoo!), and did some swimming outside. It was a fun day at the Reed house. Even the boys got to do some pet shop things and loved it too.

Luke's Pumpkin

Luke helped us plant the garden this year. He picked out a package of pumpkin seeds to plant at the store. We gave him a little spot in the garden and let him do whatever he wanted. Oh my! He has the best pumpkins you ever saw! The rest of the garden is so-so but Lukey's pumpkins are beautiful. The little boy has a green thumb. ha! I always thought pumpkins are more of a fall plant and they are not ready to pick until then. As you can see Luke has a perfect, round pumpkin. He was so proud of himself (as we are too!). He is such a great kid:)

Trains, Trains, and more Trains

One of our favorite friends came over the other day to play with Lauren, Luke and Landry. They always seem to have the best time when Walker comes over. I was doing a little cleaning around the house when I came around the corner to see "Train City". The kids had put together all of the train tracks. It is so fun to watch kids play! I love listening to their little ideas and seeing their creativity. I want to cherish days like this and I hope they will always remember the fun they had with their childhood friends.

4th of July Fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Fourth of July from the Reeds! This past week Casey and I have been without the 3L's due to our sitter being out of town. My sweet mother in law took them all week for us. Wow, what a quiet house! ha. Casey and I worked and then spent some much needed time together. Like most parents we sometimes don't get to be alone with each other without a little one interrupting or a crisis that came up. Casey and I were lost the first couple of days without them. We soon quickly adjusted to being the two of us and enjoyed our time together. I love you Honey! Now we are ready to see them!!! It just reminded us that as hard as it is being a parent some days it is the best job ever to be a parent. We sure do love those guys. Today we are celebrating Freedom (thank you soldiers and their families) and we are celebrating our family back together. We hope you have a WONDERFUL fourth with yours!

July 1st we were in Sulphur Springs watching fireworks with sweet pea Zoe. Here are pictures from that fun weekend.

The Reeds at Six Flags

What fun!!!! We left Friday afternoon and went to Dallas to spend the night so we could get up early to be at Six Flags on saturday. We had a BLAST and it was HOT! The kids loved every bit of it. Lauren wanted to take a picture with every character she saw. She has come a LONG way baby on this! She has always been so scared of people in animal suits. As a child she couldn't understand how there was a person in there. This year she seemed to have out grown this fear. Yeah! Luke is our thrill seeker. He cannot get enough of rollercoasters. The poor child is going to have to find different parents to ride with on that scary Batman thing. Yikes! He cried when we left because he wanted to ride more. ( he was was so hot and worn out) Then there was Lanny Bob. ha! Oh, we should be turned in for the worst parent award with him. He kept saying he just wanted to watch the rides. We told him that we all were going to watch so stay in line. As the bar strapped him in the ride he was wide-eyed! The ride would take off and bounce him around with his little hands gripped to the bar but it never failed each time he would be giggling at the end of it. What a fun time with the 3 L's!

Good times

You just can't leave the room for a second these days without hearing the 3L's giggling over something. Who knew that McDonalds boxes on your head could turn you into a robot. I love their imaginations. I don't know if your kids are ready but mine are counting down the days till Wallie hits the movies!

Funny pictures

My camera was missing the other day so I asked Lauren if she had seen it. She said yes and that she took some pictures with it. I didn't think anything of it until I downloaded some recent pictures to my computer. This is what I found! I know someday Luke will want to beat her up for this picture. It gave me a good laugh.

Lola's girls

Our English bulldog gave birth to 6 puppies 9 weeks ago. It was hard work and lots of fun helping her with the puppies. All of them are gone to a new home except for two. One which we are keeping and the other pup that my brother is coming to get this weekend. There is nothing like watching puppies play. The kids have enjoyed them so much. Some of you have asked about a recent picture of the puppies. Here they are. We got to keep some of our good friends kids the other day. Here is Dylan watching them through the window.

Summer Fun

Summer is here and it is HOT in Texas! We are blessed to have some wonderful neighbors who let us come swim at the Conner Resort. One Hoodie brought Pina coladas to drink for the adults. Life couldn't get any better! We couldn't live in a better neighborhood full of wonderful families.

Happy Birthday to Hoodies Elizabeth and Trudi! We love you guys~

Praying for you Iowa

It is hard to see the images on TV of where we used to live in Iowa. Casey and I moved to Iowa City, Iowa in 1999 when Lauren was just only 6 months old. Iowa is a beautiful place with lots of rolling hills and rivers. We lived only a few miles from the Iowa river that ran thru the middle of the town. Today on CNN it showed our church and Lauren's little preschool was completely under water. This leads me to believe that our little blue house is probably in big trouble. That house is full of memories from us. Lots of little girl laughter and newborn cries from a little baby boy we brought home to it. It breaks my heart to see this happening. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of our old neighbors and friends who still live there.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! We love you soooooo VERY much. Love, The 3L's.

Sleeping Prince

There is something about a child sleeping. It always melts my heart. Landry is the type of kid that goes ninety to nothing. He plays HARD in life. Whatever he does he goes at it full force and whole hearted. It amazes me at how tough this little guy is. He goes until his little wheels fall off. Here he is all tuckered out. I love this little guy! He is so much fun and gives the best hugs. Love you Lanny Boy!

Fruitloop necklaces who doesn't love these?

Today I taught the kids a craft I often did as a kid. I can't believe my oldest is 9 and I have not done this with her yet. It was a huge hit with the 3L's. It cracks me up that cereal can bring so much joy! Luke has decided to save his. Lauren decided to eat all the red ones first and then do the green ones,etc. Lanny boy didn't even make it to tying it around his neck. He ate all of his before he could make a necklace. ha! I love the summer time.

One of my favorite recipes

Brownies – Quick & Easy
Just five ingredients


1 Cake Mix
1 Stick of butter/margarine (softened, not melted)
1 Egg
1 Can of Eagle Brand Milk
2 Cups of something (*see below)

Mix together and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

*2 cups of one of the below or make up your own combinations:

• Chocolate Chips
• Chocolate Mint Chips
• White Chocolate Chips
• Butterscotch Chips
• Raspberry Chips
• Reese’s Chips
• Snickers – chopped up
• Milky Way – chopped up
• Butter Fingers – chopped up
• Heath Bits
• Malted milk balls


Coconut cake with two cups of coconut
Strawberry cake with two cups of white chocolate chips
Banana cake with Reese’s chips (Elvis would love it!)
Chocolate cake with…..endless possibilities
Yellow cake with…….endless possibilities