Crazy Landry

Here are a couple of funny Landry moments . . .

Me: I need to take some shoes back to DSW really quickly then we can go do our other stuff.
Landry: Do they have a drive-thru??
(ummmm .... no!)

Me: Do yall wanna go to Toys R Us?
Landry: Yes, but can we please go look at the toy section?? I really wanna see the toys!!
(ummmm ... I guess!)

Landry: How old is Ms. Estes?
Me: 28
Landry: (big, surprised face) And she can drive a CAR????!!!!
(ummm ... yes!!)

Silly boy!!

Gratitude Poem

Luke does a really good job at school. He has a really great teacher this year and takes his work pretty seriously! He brought this home in his folder last week and I think he either didn't understand the directions or was having a little trouble focusing!! Either way, it made me laugh!!

Gratitude Acrostic Poem

G- Grandparent

R- Rangers

A- A guitar

T- Texas is the biggest state

I- I LOVE TCU Horned

T- Turkey is good

U- U are my friend

D- Dog Town

E- Eating is asome

I think we definitely need to revisit the gratitude concept!! :)

Letters from the past

Several months ago, my mom gave me a cardboard box of all things Kristy. It included my Kindergarten workbooks, several school projects, lots of report cards, and a few random items.

Today, I finally transferred it all into a big Rubbermaid box so that it would stack easily in the garage. And as much as I wanted to look at everything single thing, I just didn't have the time. But one envelope with the word "Mom" scrawled on it grabbed my attention and I opened it to see what was there. Here's what I found: (I'm guessing I might have been an early teenager?? Mom??)

Mother Dear,

I just wanted to let you know that I have, in fact, done something useful today! For example:

1. Made 55 cookies
2. Washed all dishes whether they be mine or someone else's
3. Folded 1 load of clothes
4. Ran dishwasher
5. Made 1 pitcher of tea
6. Emptied ice 1 time
7. Cleaned my room
8. Made Ryan 2 glasses of tea
9. Cleaned out my purse!
10. Put stuff in my scrapbook (you need some more rubber cement!)
11. Talked on the phone a little!

I'm not bringing up the $20 again, I'm just letting you know I can be useful!
Love,
Kris

Apparently, my mom didn't think she was getting her money's worth out of me!!

Pumpkin Guts and Fun

Today was a great Sunday . . . church, out to eat with Nana and Poppy, and pumpkin carving!!

Here are our attempts with the carving . . .

Well, I thought I took a few more "before" pictures, but apparently, I took a lot of "after pictures!"

Choosing what we wanted to carve was a bit of a challenge. Everyone wanted to go with the traditional jack-o-lantern until we looked up some different templates online. I figured Parker would really want to try something crazy, but he told me that he thought he should go with something easy because we hadn't had a lot of experience doing this!! Ha!! Finally, after looking at a lot of options, we settled on a spider (Parker), a kinda scary face (Luke), a kinda happy face (Payton), and a guy screaming with his hands on his face (Landry). I tried to convince Landry to go with regular eyes so it would look a little more real, but no can do!! He and Payton teamed up to give him some awesome triangle eyes!!
And the nighttime view!!

So, I must say, this little project wasn't one I was really looking forward to just because I knew my patience limits might be tested a bit! But, after all is said, done, and the seeds are roasted, it was a super fun time and I think I might even do it again . . . but not for another year!!!

Gutter Diving

The boys were outside playing catch with the football one night and as luck would have it, the football fell down into the gutter. Eewwwww!!!

Alex, Reagan, and Parker were playing and Alex felt certain it was Parker's fault (of course!!). So, we got flashlights, we strategized, we plotted and planned, but neither Alex or Reagan were willing to risk life and limb and dive into the gutter!! (Parker had given up on it by this point and was back inside!)

Alex, still certain that since this was really Parker's deal, he should be the one to go diving, continued to plead his case. Finally, I told Alex to go get Parker because this kind of crazy thing would probably be right up his alley!! Sure enough, he came out, we explained the situation, and he was happy to help!! We lowered him down, he grabbed the ball, we pulled him back out!!! Here's the last-minute picture of proof!!

I still stick with my original statement ... EEEWWWWWW!!!

Fall has . . . . .

. . . . Fallen??

What does Fall do exactly??

Here are a couple of pictures to prove that cooler weather is here and maybe the changing of the season is just around the corner.


Acorns on the little baby oak tree!

Ok . . . only 1 picture! I think my camera might have died. I have put 3 sets of new batteries in it and it just can't do it!!

This whole post was started in my mind because my awesome friend Shellee made a really cool Fall wreath for my front door. We had talked about how easy it would be and that Hobby Lobby had everything on sale and that it would be so easy and did I mention that it would really be nothing at all to make??

So, I head out to Hobby Lobby on Saturday and immediately find myself surrounded by fall leaves, berries, pumpkins, flowers, beady things, corn, and so so so much more stuff to make a wreath with. (Be careful though . . . you might accidentally run into the Christmas aisles, already filled with stuff!!) I immediately text Shellee with a now-what-exactly-am-I-looking-for text and she, thankfully, agreed to meet me there! As we walked the aisles, she easily picked out things and stuck them into the grapevine wreath. By the time we got to the register, the wreath was made and we tried to convince the guy that the whole wreath was just $4.99 (the price of the plain wreath!). He almost believed us!!

So, to my good friend Shellee . . . you certainly have a gift!! Thanks for sharing a little of your creativity with me and my front door!!

Now if this post actually had a picture of that wreath, that would just be awesome!!! Will somebody drive by and take a picture and email it to me?? That'd be great!!!

Updated to add . . .

Yay for Emily . . . she did a drive-by and got this picture!!! Thank you thank you!!!

Happy Birthday to the Greatest Grandma and BigPa!!

Birthday wishes are in order to two of the greatest people on the planet . . . .

Grandma's 80th birthday was today and BigPa's 81st is coming up in the next few days so we headed to the Silver Fox for some amazing food and a really good time together!!!

Here's my food . . . a 6oz petite filet, mashed potatoes, creamed corn from off the cob, and snap peas. Wow . . . it was so incredibly good. I didn't get a picture of the III Forks Salad which is famous, according to the waitress!!

And for the birthday boy and girl . . . 5 layer chocolate cake which they were so kind to share!! One of my favorite lines of the night was when everyone was so incredibly miserable from eating so much and Grandma and BigPa were trying to finish their cake. Grandma says to BigPa, "Wayne, now you know you don't have to finish all that cake." To which BigPa says immediately, "I will!!" And he did!!

Here are my dinner mates and amazing family . . . Dad & Mom, BigPa & Grandma, Deb & Jeff.

Thanks to all of you for an awesome night of awesome food and an awesome time together!

BigPa and Grandma, you mean the world to me. Thank you for giving of yourselves so freely and for loving so deeply all these years!! Love you both!!

Rocket Nerds

For his birthday in May, Emily gave Parker a rocket set (for lack of a better word!!). He was super excited about it and one look at it told me it was probably going to be best for his good friend, former teacher, and fellow rocket nerd, Ms. Estes, to help his build, paint, and launch his rocket.

Now it took the better part of the summer to actually find the time to methodically complete each step of the rocket. I must admit, it was much more involved than I thought!

Here's the beginning . . . lots of pieces!!

Here's the rocket after everything is glued together . . . lots of drying time!!

And here she is painted, and ready for launch!!


The following pic is what is an incredibly important part of the process, I'm sure!! Though I'm not entirely certain, I think it is where Emily connected the little tiny jumper cable-like-things to the part where it would blast the rocket off!! (See now why Emily should help him with this??)

The future NASA engineer with the controls and ready for blast-off!!

The head engineer gives the ok

I wish I had a picture of the crowd, mostly children, hiding in the playground equipment at Blue Haze!! We were all a little nervous about what was actually going to happen and we didn't want to lose any body parts or faculties by an erratic rocket!!

The countdown began and . . . watch for yourself!!

School Days 2010

The first Six Weeks period is just about wrapped up, but here's how we looked on the first day of school, 2010!!

Red seems to be a popular color!!

Cute littles!!


Luke . . . the big 2nd grader!!!

How is Landry already in Kindergarten???


Here they were just 3 short years ago!!!

It's gonna be a great year!!!

Chicago #2

Ryan and I decided to drive back to the city on Saturday because the traffic would be a lot less, but the day was a little on the dreary side. By the time we got there, the rain had pretty much stopped and the city was, as always, busy and active!

We headed to the Navy Pier to take in the sights and get a really cool view of the skyline. It was a pretty awesome sight, one that is even better on a clear day.

This was a really cool sight . . . 7 stories (I think) of the downtown Macy's store. This store was massive . . . took up a whole city block. This was a picture I took while standing on the first floor looking up at all the floors above.

And this is a picture from the 7th floor looking down below. Soooo cool!!

On the top floor, the ceiling was done in this amazing design of Tiffany glass. It was really pretty . . . just a picture-perfect store!!

The days spent in the city were amazing!! So many interesting people, lots of unbelievably loud ambulances, TONS of honking drivers with serious anger issues, too many steps taken to count, some really great food, and just a hugely diverse population.

To wrap up a great weekend, here's some randomness . . .

the man with his dog . . .

Me with my teenager niece . . .

And what you see more of than anything when driving in Ryan's little neck of the woods . . . corn, corn, and way more corn than I've ever seen!!

All in all . . . a perfectly great trip!!

Weekend in the Windy City

Last weekend, I had the BEST weekend!!! I went up to Chicago to spend some time with Ryan and we had an AWESOME time!!! It was soooo fun ... I just can't say it enough!!!

This may be way too many details for you but here's how it went . . . Thursday afternoon/evening, I flew up and the second I stepped off of the plane, I could tell a huge difference in the temperature!! It was so great ... mid-60's to low-70's all weekend!!!

Friday morning, Ryan had to work for a bit so I was on my own!! I slept in, then showered and walked down the street to a local diner and had some breakfast!! Again ... perfect weather!! I had some things to mail so I walked over to the post office and got that done. I saw a salon/nail place and stopped in to see if I could get a pedi. Could I come back at noon?? Of course I could!! I had a little time to kill, so I walked over to the Library and worked/played on the computer. Then it was time for my pedi!! As I just casually walked around the town square in the nice cool air, I thought more than once . . . who am I and how did I get here?? It was like an out-of-body experience!!!

Ryan got back with the girls and we got on the train and headed to the big city!!

Random buildings!

John Hancock Building

Lights at night

Lex and Meg on the street

Eating at Gino's . . .. soooo incredible!!!

The pizza that was totally worth waiting an hour for!!! Can you say hungry???


We went and saw "the bean" . . . don't think that's the real name for it but it's a really cool piece of art that is in the shape of a bean and it's huge!! I realize now that I should have gotten a picture of the whole thing but we were too busy taking pictures of ourselves in the reflection of it!!


Here we all are with part of the city in the reflection!! Really cool thingy, it was!!

After an afternoon/evening of fun, we had to head back home. We boarded the train and here's what Ryan promptly did . . . .

After a power nap, he was good to go again!!

I have more pics to post but it will have to be later!!!

A little football

Over the weekend, Parker, Luke, Landry, Ms. Estes and I traveled south to watch the Baylor Bears take on the University of Buffalo!!
BU vs UB!! :)

Alex got to go to the A&M game so we all enjoyed a little Big 12 football that day!!

It was, as always, a super fun time as Emily tries her best to persuade a little Bagg boy to plan his future at Baylor!! We stopped by the bookstore on the way to the game and the boys were excited to find a "wid" as Landry calls it!!

I just had my phone so the pictures aren't all that great, but you get the idea!!

The game was a good time and a win for the Bears!!

Before we headed home, we stopped at a favorite of Uncle Ryan's so we had to send him a pic and rub it in just a bit that we were eating at Whataburger!!

Good times with the Bears and good friends!! Thanks Emily!!

Summer 2010 ... it was a good one!!

Summer 2010 was a really good one!! Now that it is over, I wish I had blogged a little more faithfully!! Here's a little glimpse of some of the things that kept us busy. Some of them I will give a little more detail about later!!

A fun night at the Ballpark . . . have you ever sat on the very top row behind home plate??? You should try it!! Good seats!!!


We got to spend a couple of weeks with these ladies . . . and had tons of fun!!



Landry decided to "be friends" with dogs . . . well, sometimes!! Here he is shooting water at our neighbor's dog, Elijah!!


We visited some places we hadn't been before . . .


And climbed to new heights . . .


We had a little fun with a rocket . . . maybe we have a future astronaut in our midst?? (Not sure why this pic is so small!!?)



And, we enjoyed a few snow cones this summer!!! Have you ever had a scoop of ice cream in your snow cone??? You should try it!!! Pretty good!!

All in all, it was a good summer with lots of down time, staying up late and sleeping in, swimming, and all around good fun!!

Was I ready for school to start?? Like never before!!! The predictable routine of life . . . it is my friend!!