Four Great Boys

Alex and Reagan

2012-01-21T22:15:00.006-06:00

These 2 boys turned 15 last month and they've been friends almost since their days of birth!!

I thought it would be fun to look back at some happy times with these two .... especially since they rarely smile for the camera anymore!!

Here they are at Alex's annual Spring Creek Birthday Dinner ...... so happy to finally be 15!!

After their first official game as high school basketball players!!

This was at basketball camp last summer. Alex had already enforced his no-smile policy while Reagan had not yet decided to commit to that line of thinking.

At the 14th birthday dinner at Spring Creek ..... all smiles!!
Game faces .... 7th grade football ...... the only picture ever to have these two playing football together. Long live #88 and #89!!!

Teenagers!!! Yikes!!

Twelve year olds!!

Halloween 2004 ..... 7 years old!!

5 years old!! Nice smiles, guys!!!

Three year old Soccer players!! These guys were THE cutest ..... so funny to watch!!

In my scrapbook, I have all the pictures of them in their first attempt at team sports. I had written that Alex started off the season and was really excited about playing but as the season went on, he began to lose interest. By the end of the season, he only wanted to play when Reagan was playing so they could play together!!

Love the friendship these two have .....it's a great thing!!

Baby Luke

2012-01-12T07:00:00.003-06:00

The big NINE year old was known as Baby Luke for a long time!!!

Here's the 2 year old version ....

The 3 year old baseball player .......

Graduating from The Grace Place at 5 ........

And just for fun, look at these little goofballs!! I'm thinking they were about 3 and 1 ..... and probably weighed about the same!!!

Sweet babies!!!

Luke is NINE!!

2012-01-11T22:04:00.006-06:00

The sweetest, most huggy boy on the planet turned 9 last week. Coincidentally, his birthday fell on the same day as the first game of the Upward season. I'm honestly not sure which one he was more excited about!! Throughout the week leading up to the big day, I would hear he and Landry doing the countdown ....4 more days .....3 more days, etc. Invariably, they would follow that with ...until Upward starts, not "until my birthday!!"

Luke is such a great kid. He's very kind and sensitive. He works really hard to keep up with his 2 big brothers and also stays busy bossing his little brother around too!! He's thoughtful and considerate, always quick with hugs and "I love you's".

He had been wanting an ipod touch for forever and had waited patiently for it. This Summer, his good buddy, Kaleb, had his old ipod for sale and Luke really wanted to buy it. I was a little hesitant for him to buy it, as Kaleb had bought it in used condition, and I was worried that it might not last too long. Luke reeeealllly wanted it and could not WAIT to get his money and exchange it for the ipod.

Before the decision was made, I gave Luke a piece of paper with a line drawn down the middle. On one side, it had a + sign. On the other side, it had a - sign. I told Luke to sit down and list all the good reasons to buy Kaleb's ipod under the + and to write all the bad things about buying it under the -. After a few minutes, he had one thing in the + column and several things in the - column. I asked him what he wanted to do and he calmly said, I'll wait to get a new one. When I asked him if he was sure, he said ... Yes ... there are more bad reasons than good ones, so I'll just wait.

And that was it .... he waited patiently and finally got his ipod for his birthday!!

I thought at the time that it was so simple for him once he saw the pros and cons in black and white!! Wouldn't it be so nice if all decisions were that simple?!

Here he is with the beloved ipod touch!!

Mom and the birthday boy!!

Legos!!!

The cake that pretty much took care of my sprinkle collection!!

A few days before Luke's birthday, I was in Central Market and noticed these cinnamon rolls!! This is the same brand of bread that we really like so I was so excited!! We have not had cinnamon rolls since Luke was diagnosed with Celiac almost 4 years ago!! I made regular cinnamon rolls for the rest of us (from the can, of course, and ohmygosh .....they were sooooo good!!! It's been a long time!!!) and I made Luke one of these. He was kind of excited about it except he's always so nervous on the first day of Upward!! So, he might have eaten half of it before reminding me that he just can't eat much before the first game!! Silly me .... what was I thinking!!??

Happy Birthday Luke!! You totally rock!!!

Sharing the Christmas Love

2012-01-09T22:49:00.005-06:00

Oops!!

These should have gone in the Christmas Day post ..... a little family love in Granbury!!

How can I fix those darn red eyes?? I even tried on Picnik and couldn't get it to work!!

The Merriest Christmas

2012-01-09T21:38:00.011-06:00

This Christmas was a really great one!! Well, they all seem really great at the time, but then they just seem to get better and better!!

We did most of our celebrating on the 26th because that's when Ryan and the girls arrived. No one seemed to mind waiting an extra day ... it almost made it funner!!

Of course, Santa still made an appearance on Christmas Day. Here are the highlights ...

(Excuse the red eyes ... it seems to be a problem throughout the pics!)

The littles with the cookies and milk for Santa .... Santa loves Chocolate Milk!!!

Some of us had a slow start ....

#1 Baylor fan . . .

Awwww look .... the little ray of sunshine perked up when Santa brought him a phone!! No more flip phone for Alex = much happiness!!

And the Baylor boy got a new phone too!!

Legos and Hot Wheels ..... always good presents!!
Presents, Church, Family, and a trip to Granbury made for an awesome Christmas!!

Finally ......the Tooth Fairy!!

2012-01-09T21:24:00.005-06:00

Landry is 6 years and 8 months old and finally, has lost his first tooth!! Most of his little friends have big giant teeth in their cute little mouths, but Landry's teeth have stubbornly held on tightly.

Until now .....

Happy times!!

Somebody's gonna have a Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-17T15:19:00.010-06:00

Landry came home with this little activity last week and he happily sat down to complete it. When he was all done and brought it to me, I couldn't help but smile!!

(In case you don't read 1st grade writing often, this says Legos, M&M's, and Lollipop!)

This Christmas list is totally doable and I know one little boy who is going to be pleased on Christmas morning!! I have a feeling Santa is even gonna spring for the M&M's in the candy cane this year!!

If it would only stay this simple!!!

FIFTEEN????

2011-12-16T23:06:00.007-06:00

How can it be that this little, tiny 9 pound baby . . . . .

1 month

3 months

6 months

1 year

3ish years

. . . . has grown into this FIFTEEN year old young man??? Happy Birthday Alex!! It's been 15 of the fastest and best years of my life!! I can't wait to see what the next 15 bring!! Love you!!

Run Parker, Run!!

2011-11-02T06:40:00.004-05:00

Parker finished an awesome football season last night with another great game!! He returned a kick-off and had a great run! During the season, he had 2 touchdown catches and several other great catches and tackles! The best part? He had a great time doing it!!

Emily managed to get this video of his run last night. This is going to be so cool to have when he's playing in the NFL!! Ha!!!

Congrats on a great season, buddy!! You were awesome!!!

Pumpkin Fun

2011-10-31T21:48:00.007-05:00

This year, the pumpkin carving was put off until almost the last minute!! Thankfully, we managed to get it in and enjoyed some beautiful weather while doing so.

The only before shot . . . Luke won the prize for the hardest pumpkin to get a knife through!! Look at the excitement on that face!!!

Here's the worst part . . . the guts!!!

Then the funner part . . . the carving . . .

Such concentration!!

Finally . . . the finished products . . .

The boys really look forward to doing this little Halloween treat. And as much as I enjoy it, I'm really glad it only comes around once a year!!

Say What??!

2011-10-28T07:18:00.003-05:00

Driving in the car the other day, Luke says . . . .

Mom, when you wear dresses, do you wear petticoats??

Ummm ... I'm gonna go with NO!!

Just another day at the golf course

2011-10-25T21:22:00.005-05:00

Alex had his first golf tournament yesterday, playing on the Varsity Golf team of the amazing Brewer Bears!!! Nerves definitely made an appearance at the ol' golf course . . . both his and mine!!

An unwelcome surprise showed up early in the morning . . . FOG . . . and lots of it!! The drive to the course (Trophy Club Country Club) was a beating as you could only see 2-3 cars ahead. The golf course was no exception and when I arrived, there were golfers everywhere, waiting for the fog to lift. Finally, after about an hour delay, the tourney started.

There were over 2oo golfers participating and Alex headed with his team to hole #8. Here he is waiting for his turn to tee off.

In his group was a really good player from Boswell (a Senior), a good player from Kennedale (a Senior), an ok player from Decatur (a Junior), and Alex (the lowly Freshman!!). Alex started ok with a bogey and a par on the first two holes, then he began to struggle a bit. He definitely had some interesting shots but he stuck with it and began making some good shots.

Here are all the guys . . . by the end of the day, I felt like I'd spent a week with them!! :)

Here's Alex contemplating the meaning of life while he waits . . . .

This picture shows the foggy, messy day it started out to be. Everything was so wet and gross!! But finally, as the morning went on, the fog lifted and the sun began to shine. Alex settled in a bit and ended up the round with a 102. While there is definitely room for improvement, he did a lot of things well and should be very proud of his first outing on the golf team! Good job, Alex!!

A little trip to Aggieland

2011-10-25T20:29:00.012-05:00

On a warm Saturday in October, we loaded up early and headed south to College Station, Texas for a little college football. We got to go along with our favorite friends, even though there was a little division amongst our friends. Baylor was playing A&M and hopes were high, as was the temperature!! (It got a little hot for a mid-October game!!)

Having never been to an Aggie game in College Station, I was anxious to take it all in. The first thing that became very obvious was that there were a gazillion people at this place!! This is the student side . . . like I said, a gazillion people!!!

And this is one of the endzone sections. This was very impressive to me because all of the other college football stadiums I've been to (with the exception of OU) have very few endzone seats. This was a monster section, looking like it reached up into the sky!!

Among all those people, we found our seats and settled in. Here I am attempting the self-picture yet again and making remarkable progress, since the Seattle adventure!!

And here's Payton showing me how it's really done!! Bragger!!!

Here are Parker and I enjoying the game . . . .

Here are all the girls . . . .

And here are all the boys . . . .

Halftime was incredible . . . . a very impressive show! Here's the youtube link to the show the day we were there!

After the game, of course the boys wanted to go play a little ball down on the field. A few other kids had that same idea!! Alex, Parker, and Reagan are the ones in maroon!!

Awwww . . . . Alex and Parker with their Mommy!!

And the crew . . . minus Emily!! (Why didn't we get someone to take a pic with all of us?? Did we and I just didn't get it?? Hopefully!)

This picture makes me laugh!!! :)

Sooo . . . the Aggies came out on top this time, but Emily was a great sport and didn't let it spoil a fun day!! All said and done, it was a really great day!! It's such a neat experience for the boys to be able to put their feet on college campuses and dream for their futures!! Thanks to great friends who make fun days like this happen!!

The Golfer

2011-09-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Alex made the Varsity Golf team this year and is spending a lot of time on the course after school. I snapped this pic with my phone last week after he headed off to play "the worst 9 holes in a long time!" :)

Golf is a game in which you yell "fore," shoot six, and write down five.

~ Lee Trevino

First Grade

2011-09-27T20:22:00.011-05:00

Landry is really enjoying First Grade!! This is one of his favorite activities . . . . .

But it's soooo exhausting!!

A Night with the Baylor Bears

2011-09-25T00:32:00.008-05:00

Yesterday, the boys and I had the fun opportunity to head south with our favorite Baylor Bear for a little football. After an uneventful trip, we arrived at the stadium and the boys were thrilled to let me snap a quick pic!! (Posing for pictures is so overrated!!)

We watched the Bears hammer the Rice Owls for a while, then headed out to play a few little games and such. One of the highlights of the night was when we played a little 3-on-3 football in Touchdown Alley. Here's the fierce team of Alex, Landry, and Emily. A couple of them really took it seriously!!

And here's the dominating, beastly team of Luke, me, and Parker! We can smile and play football at the same time!!

We really needed the entire Touchdown Alley to ourselves and that just didn't happen. There were multiple games happening all over the place, often intersecting into each other. I was mostly quarterback because my boys really wanted to make the touchdowns and because I have a mean spiral!! But once, Luke was QB and when I got open, he threw a beautiful pass right into my hands. I immediately took off, running in the lightning fast way that I do, knowing the fierce team was right on my tail! As I dodged players of other pick-up games, left-right-right-left, imagine my surprise as one young boy said, "Man, she's awesome!!" Heck yeah, I was!! When I made it to the endzone, the only people who were following me were my own teammates!! The fierce team hadn't even tried to catch me!!

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!!! :)

Finally, Landry had had enough . . .

We went back to the game and because Baylor fans apparently don't stay until the end of the game, we scored some super close seats.

It was kind of difficult to actually see what was happening from this angle, but it was really cool to see the players, TV crew, and everything else that was happening so up-close. (Notice Jim Knox in the white shirt/khaki's in above pic.)

After the big win, the boys like to go onto the field and play a little football. As we were heading that way, a couple of college girls asked Alex to take their picture!! Uh-oh!!!

And finally, Jim Knox from ESPN, was there. He borrowed the boys' football for a bit and the boys played catch with him and his son (we presume).

And a good time was had by all!! Thanks Emily!!

The Hot Dog and the Taco

2011-09-19T23:37:00.012-05:00

This is probably one of those stories that was way funnier when it happened . . . but I'm still going to document because it will be funny to me!! :)

Alex, Luke, Landry, and I were in the car tonight taking Alex to the high school for a little basketball. Alex was acting the part of a normal teenager, quietly grumpy, not smiling or enjoying the ride nearly as much as the little boys and I were.

Landry and Luke began discussing how they can make their tongues into "hot dogs." I knew immediately what they meant . . . the ol' rolling the tongue trick.

For demonstration purposes, here is the hot dog . . .

So, I kind of pause when I hear Luke say, "But . . . can you do the taco??" I'm like . . . . whaaat?? When I turned around and saw this . . . .

. . . I busted out laughing!! Alex turned around and tried really hard not to laugh, twisting his face in all kinds of ways, but finally gave in and started laughing!! He said . . . that doesn't even make sense!!! To which I replied . . . And THAT is why it's so funny!!

#5

2011-09-07T21:37:00.005-05:00

There's a new football player in the house!! Parker has officially begun his football career playing on the 7th grade team of the Fightin' Brewer Bears!!!

Parker's passion on the field is obvious . . . and a little surprising to this momma!! He played hard and would have won the award for most enthusiasm had there been one!!

He is loving every minute of this and I'm so happy for him!!

I cannot eat it . . . I will not write it!!

2011-09-07T20:59:00.016-05:00

I was looking at Luke's homework this week and started laughing when I saw his Spelling list.

Notice the obvious omissions!!

The missing word here is "wheat" . . . .

The missing word here is "oats" . . .

Funny boy!!

Oh Happy Day!!!

2011-08-22T16:24:00.009-05:00

I am happy to report that the first day of school 2011 was a huge success!!

We had a great Summer and to be honest, I would have been ok with it continuing on a little longer!! But, ready or not, school had arrived!! And now that it is here, I am so happy!! :)

I love, love, love the routine and though they wouldn't admit it, the boys do too!!

The littles have super great teachers this year!! Landry has this lady and she is wonderful!! When I asked him how his first day was, he said, "great great great great great great great great" at least 25 times until Luke asked him to stop!! He is so excited and I am so glad about that!!

Luke has the amazing dream team of 3rd grade and he was not disappointed!! This lady and her partner do great things with the kids and Luke proudly said that she was nicer than his teacher from last year and that's quite a feat since she was the nicest teacher in the school!! And don't they look cute together!?!

Since Parker didn't really need or want his mommy to walk him into middle school, we settled for a picture beforehand. Parker will be playing football and playing in the band this year, in addition to taking all Honors classes!! He's going to have a great year, I'm sure!! At the end of a long day, I asked Parker to describe his day in 3 words. His words were FANTASTIC, AWESOME, and COOL!! As for his thoughts on football practice, his words were HARSH, CRUEL, and KNOCKIN-PEOPLE-OUT!!

And the high schooler . . . . yikes!! Here is Alex on his first ever day of high school!! He had a good mix of excited and nervous happening today. At the end of the day, he knew which teachers he already likes, which classes might be a little harder, and he managed to take a detour to the counselor's office to find the right place to be!! Fun times ahead for sure!!!

Within being home 5 minutes, somebody had already laid his clothes out for tomorrow (without being asked) and had gotten started on his homework that is due Friday!! If only this excitement will last all year!!! :)

The Piano

2011-08-21T19:42:00.010-05:00

It is a little late to be blogging about last Christmas, but I never told the story of the greatest Christmas gift of 2010!!

Early in the Christmas season, a giant present appeared at Nana and Poppy's house. The boys had spent some time in Granbury and came home telling big stories about the biggest present ever. The problem with the biggest present ever was that it didn't have a name tag on it. And Nana's lips were sealed . . . she would tell no one who the present was for!! This led to speculation from everyone under the age of 18 that it belonged to them!!

So, we all go to Nana and Poppy's for Christmas and everyone under the age of 18 is crazy excited to see who gets the present . . . all sure it is for them!! Here's Lexie . . . hoping that it's hers!!

As the night goes on and the presents are opened, it gets to the that part of the night where everyone is down to one present. Imagine my surprise (and everyone under the age of 18) when Poppy said the present was for me!! It had never once crossed my mind that that would be mine. I had no idea whose it was, but I absolutely knew it wasn't mine . . . I had never entertained the idea. And, of course, I had no idea what it could be. My dad had built a wooden crate around it to give it some shape (so it could be wrapped) and that only confused me more!!

Here I am feeling it thinking . . . what the heck is this thing??!!

Finally, I open it and am totally shocked, but so excited!!! This is an amazing instrument and I was/am thrilled to have it!! Here's Mom, reminding me how to play it!! :)

And here she is at home now. I absolutely love playing it . . . . it brings back lots of memories from my younger days and is an amazing reliever of stress!! I love it and am so thankful for it!!

Best Christmas Gift . . . . Possibly Ever

2011-08-12T00:40:00.002-05:00

This little beauty was quite possibly the best Christmas gift ever!!

Maybe this weekend, I can actually upload the pictures from my camera and tell the tale of how it happened!! It's a great story!! And music is an incredible stress reliever!!

Can you say HAIRCUT??????

2011-08-09T00:01:00.003-05:00

This boy and his hair . . .

He has always had great curl/body.

It is a blessing and a curse.

He just wants to get up and brush it and go.

It just doesn't work that way.

But he does it anyway!!

I gave up cutting it myself . . . now, it's a job for a professional!! :)

Fourteen years . . . First stitches

2011-08-08T23:35:00.017-05:00

With fourteen years and four boys, it's a miracle that we're just now experiencing stitches!!

Alex had an accident with the hedge trimmers back in April and here's how it happened . . .

This is pretty GRAPHIC so fair warning . . .

Alex decides to pull back some of the tall grasses of the plant he was trimming with his left hand while simultaneously using his right hand to trim the grasses. It didn't work out too well for his left middle finger!! I go and get him from Scott's to take him to CareNow. He is extremely pale, shaky, and has already thrown up twice!! Poor guy!! :)

His finger was just a mess of little cuts on top of little cuts . . . no straight cuts to be found!!

FOURTEEN stitches later . . . . he's almost as good as new!!

We return 10 days later to get them out. Here, he's planning on the pain that he's going to feel when they remove them. What a dork!!

I don't have a current picture of what it looks like now, but it healed up really nicely! I was very impressed that it looked as good as it did!!

Lesson learned . . . no more hedge trimmers for Alex!!

Road Trip 2011

2011-08-08T22:42:00.018-05:00

The Summer of 2011 proved to be a Summer of new things!

I decided late into the summer to take the boys on a little road trip. So, we loaded up one day and headed south to San Marcos to do a little tubing on the San Marcos River. I work with a lady who has a home down in the area and she was invaluable to me as I planned an impromptu getaway for the boys and I.

The trip down was great until we got off to take a quick bathroom break on the side of the road and when we started back up again, the gps decided to take us on a little adventure. I wish I had taken a picture of the gps because the little purple line was just a huge zigzag . . . .the craziest thing I'd ever seen!! Alex took the gps in hand and began to call out directions and I was a little concerned!! At one point, I snapped this pic and hoped we would be able to find 35 again soon!! Thankfully, we did!!

So . . . we arrive at our hotel where we have reserved a suite . . . . 2 Queen beds with a couch/sleeper thingy. We are told that there are no more of those kinds of suites even though we have a reservation for such a suite as that. The manager is called out . . . softly mentions "Celebration Suite" to the lady helping us and the next thing you know, we are give the key to the biggest suite in the hotel!! It was basically 2 hotel rooms put together with a King bed/huge bathroom where 1 normal hotel room would be and a kitchen/table area/couch/TV area as big as another hotel room!! It was sooo awesome!!

The boys had already seen a Luby's on the way in and they were PUMPED to get to eat there!! So . . . who am I to say no to Luby's?? (Or Arby's, as Landry called it!) And the best part ??? The next night when suppertime came?? Guess where these little grandpa's wanted to go?? Luby's AGAIN!!! We had Luby's both nights we were there!!! :)

We went back and had a little fun in the pool . . .

And then headed to the river the next morning.

You really can't take your camera on the river if you want it to survive so there aren't many shots of us actually tubing down it. It was a nice, easy float . . . well, it could have been if the boys weren't boys!! We moved along nicely . . . and stopped to swing from some ropes!!

(that could have been Luke and Landry, except I didn't have my camera!!)

After about an hour of floating, you arrive at the "Dam," as the girl who gave us our floats so eloquently called it. It is a dam that has a small opening in the center that you can ride your float down. There are actually 3 little dam/waterfalls, each getting a little less "violent" (another word the girl used to describe it!!). With that kind of description, there were a couple of us who weren't completely looking forward to that part!!

Here are the boys the next morning standing right in front of the dam/waterfall.

The first waterfall . . . very fun!!

Looking down at it . . .

Looking down to the second and third waterfalls . . .

This part of the river was super fun!! Landry was the most hesitant, but after sitting up on the dam watching for a few minutes, he was good to go!! In fact, he wanted to stay longer when most everyone else was ready to go!!

The next morning, we stopped by Aquarena Springs and took a trip in the glass bottom boats. This was really interesting . . . I learned a LOT about the area, the springs, and the plant/animal life there. I know . . . sounds boring, but it was really cool! I think even the boys would agree!!

Landry hanging out the window . . .

They had a little boardwalk thing that went out over a wetlands area. The guide had told us to look for the tilapia who had laid their eggs in the shallow water. He explained that when the baby tilapias got frightened, they would immediately swim into their daddy's mouth!! So if we saw a big fish that looked like he was eating a lot of little fish, it was probably ok!! It didn't take long before we started seeing the little areas the tilapia had carved out for themselves . . . very cool!!

One last pic at Aquarena . . . . such genuine smiles!!! So pretty and green!!

And what's a road trip without stopping at the Texas Stop Sign?? Dairy Queen Blizzards always make for a great trip!!

All in all, this was such a great trip!! I'm so glad we could do it!!

BOYS!!!

2011-07-09T00:39:00.008-05:00

I should blog more often . . . . in a 3 month period, we've had 2 trips to CareNow for stitches!!

Recognize these broken parts??

Larry, the Kirby Guy

2011-07-08T23:03:00.009-05:00

Interesting little story . . . .

Tonight, we were enjoying a nice evening. The boys were doing their thing, I was working on supper, a meatloaf was in the oven, Emily was hanging out, and the doorbell rang. We assumed it was a neighborhood boy, but quickly I was called to the door where I was met by a man with an interesting proposition. He had a new vacuum cleaner and he wanted to clean a room in my house with absolutely NO obligation!!

You may know where this is going and you would probably be right but, at this point, I was thinking about the fact that within the last week, I had been on my hands and knees scrubbing carpets AND had considered renting a carpet cleaner thingy to perk up the dull floors. This man was telling me he'd do it for free with no obligation and just a few minutes of my time.

It honestly NEVER crossed my mind that he would throw out a full-fledged sales pitch that would include nearly TWO hours of my time!!

Here's what I learned about my new friend who, by the way was very nice, in the time he was in my home . . .

* He grew up in Hurst and graduated from L.D. Bell.

* He's married with 2 kids . . . a son and a daughter. His son looks like Tom Cruise with clubbed thumbs and his daughter married an Aggie and hasn't given him any grandkids.

* He loves meatloaf (which I have in the oven) but his wife doesn't and won't cook it for him.

* He's lived in the Houston area, Sugarland specifically, for the last 30 years and has worked for Kirby for 40 years.

* He fell off a ladder a few years ago and crushed both of his heels into 40-50 pieces!!

* He's a Dallas Cowboy fan, but they drive him to drink!

And this is only the beginning!!

The tricky part is that as he continued talking, vacuuming, shampooing, polishing, and cleaning, the meatloaf was near burning, the potatoes waiting to be mashed were quickly turning to potato soup, and we were all getting hungry!! I was supposed to meet my neighbor to walk at 8:00 so I started trying to work around my vacuuming friend. First, I mashed the potatoes. I cooked the green beans. I finished the meatloaf. I sat the boys down to eat and all the while, the Kirby man kept talking. Finally he started talking numbers and we quickly reminded him that we were teachers and as much as we'd love to have one of his machines, it wasn't going to happen!!

One of the best parts is that because I was having to save dinner, Emily took the brunt of his sales pitch and she knew from the beginning I should have never let him in!! That worked out ok because while my vacuum was a piece of junk, apparently, her system is WAY worse!!! :)

He continued talking while he began to pack up and Emily and I sat down to eat. He finished, took his stuff to the porch and told us that his ride would be by in a few minutes. Imagine our surprise as we watched him plop down in the chair and continue to talk to us while we ate!!

To say it was an awkward moment would be an understatement. I wasn't sure what to say or do. I asked if he needed anything and he declined . . . .just needed to take a load off!! So, basically, I have a vacuum cleaner salesman just hanging out in my house!!

I found myself thinking . . . this is one of those situations where you just don't have any idea what to do!! A very nice man is in the house during suppertime, has taken way more time than promised, and I have somewhere I need to be!

I'll leave you with his motto . . . . .If the Kirby goes, the dirt stays. But if the Kirby stays, the dirt goes!!

The Original Dream Teams

2011-06-27T10:10:00.007-05:00

Found some old pics . . . and yes, I realize I have PLENTY of current things to blog about . . . but these are awesome!!!

This is a great group of friends, circa 2005, I'm guessing. We loaded up a team and played for WSYA . . . .these were pre-Upward days!!

Jordan, Meagan, Baylee, Reagan, Matthew, Ben, and Alex

with an incredible coaching staff of Ryan, Tim, and Shane

Aren't Reagan and Alex totally rocking the headbands??!!?

It's all about the trophies and goodie bags for Jordan and Meagan!! How cute are they!??!

And speaking of Dream Teams, here's an oldie but goodie!

There wasn't much these four brains couldn't do when they put their minds to it . . . .

. . . . even though it might have made us a little craaaazy at times!!!

Brace Face

2011-06-26T20:57:00.006-05:00

We dove into the world of braces last week with Alex. We love our orthodontist, Dr. Mik, and are hoping for super straight teeth in a few months!!

Here's the happy boy . . . before . . .

during . . .

and after . . .

Good times and sore teeth straight ahead!!

Mastering the Self-Portrait

2011-06-15T19:10:00.008-05:00

I've been given a little trouble lately about the serious neglect of the blog and I would have to agree. I thought I'd jump back into the bloggy world with a fun post about myself and one of my favorite people.

Deneise and I had the awesome privilege to take a weekend trip to Seattle back in May. And while the pictures and stories of that trip will have to wait for another time, we did have a really fun time trying to master the art of the self-portrait. (Is portrait really the right word for this??!) I have seen many a person reach their arm out to take a picture of themselves, usually with very good results. I have seen MANY a picture on a blog or facebook where it is obvious that is what is happening, again with good results.

Why Deneise or I thought we were capable of this skill escapes me, because we obviously aren't capable. Though I should say, I think I was the only one who attempted it, so maybe it's just me!!

Prepare to be amazed . . . . .

From the Space Needle . . . .

Yikes . . . .

Not exactly . . . .
Better ?? . . . .

Didn't get faces or the water in the background . . . . .

Almost . . . . we forgot to tell our faces we were taking a picture . . . . .

At least I got Deneise's glasses in this one . . . not much else though . . . .

And this one has to be my personal favorite . . . . maybe our best picture of all time . . . .

wait . . . . . .

It was a bit windy at the top of the ol' Space Needle!!

And the most interesting part of this little story is that people were constantly passing us as we were trying to take our own picture . . . . and not one time did anyone stop to ask if they could take a pic of us!! It's a touristy place people!! If we can't work together at the top of the Space Needle to get our pictures made, where can we??

All in all, a super fun trip . . . . with a lot of funny pictures to prove it!!

Lots o' Ball

2011-03-26T20:51:00.005-05:00

After an all-too-brief break from organized sports, Opening Day came bright and early today. With three out of four boys playing baseball, it's going to be a busy Spring!!

Luke and Landry drew the short straws and both had games at 8:30 . . . in the morning!! They both played hard and I ran hard back and forth between their 2 games. When it was all over, Landry's team came out on top and Luke's team took a loss. Luke took the loss pretty hard which, interestingly enough, pitted the Rangers (Luke's team) against the Giants. Just like in the World Series, the Rangers came up short!

We had a nice break at home then headed to the baseball field to watch Alex play later in the day. Alex hasn't played baseball in a couple of years so I was kind of interested to see how he would do after such a long break. He did well, making a couple of great catches and hitting the ball. It was a great day for baseball . . . until the cold front (that most of us missed the memo about) rolled through.

The funniest thing I heard today was spoken in the car. Landry (who won today) and Luke (who lost today) were talking about their games and how they did. Landry matter-of-factly says to Luke . . .

Luke . . . I bet if my team played your team, we would definitely win yall!!

Luke respectfully disagreed!!

Say What??

2011-03-22T23:28:00.003-05:00

I have been reading way back in the ol' blog ... back to 2007 ... and I have laughed so hard at the stuff I'd forgotten!! This blog ... it's a good idea!! Here are a couple of my favorites from tonight .... Parker was making me laugh back then too (12/12/2007), Landry was just a little 2 year old learning some crazy stuff about his body (12/2/2007), and a good reminder that you can't say "thanks" too often (11/2007).

My computer is sick ... really sick ... so there won't be any pictures until it gets better.

But I was reminded by reading back that early in the bloggy days, I would just write a quick story or tale of something someone said that was funny ... or just something I didn't want to forget. I think I'm gonna try to do that more often!!

Parker ... interesting boy that he is ... uses his post bedtime moments to make some pretty serious choices about his life.

For example, a few weeks ago, long after he should have been asleep, he came out of his room all cock-eyed and messed up, and said, "Mom ... don't be mad ... I HAVE to tell you this!! I have finally decided what I want to do with my life!!!" I say, "Awesome ... can't wait to hear it."
Parker - "I'm going to be a professional hockey player!!!"
Me - "????"
Parker - I know, I know .... I don't know how to ice skate but I'm going to learn. Will you take me?? Can I take lessons??
Me - Say what??!?!

Then tonight, another night of having trouble falling asleep, he comes out and has some more exciting news to share.

"I need vocal chord surgery!"

Say What???

"Well, yeah ... I think I wanna be on America's Got Talent and my voice really isn't that great, so I'm gonna need some surgery to fix that!!"

Dream big, baby .... dream big!!

Wrestlin'

2011-02-05T10:56:00.018-06:00

I am not a big fan of letting the boys wrestle.

If I was, they would do it 23 out of every 24 hours. It's the perfect occasion for the saying ...

It was all well and good until someone lost an eye!!!

It just never seems to end well!!

But . . . when Ryan comes to visit, wrestling is a given . . .especially where Landry is concerned. In the days preceding his visit, Landry begins the smack talk.

This is how a phone convo might go . . .

"Hey Ryan! When are you tumin to my house?? . . . Ok . . . . Ummm . . . Ryan . . . you're goin DOWN!! No . . . uh-uh . . . YOU'RE goin down!! Nooooo . . . YOU are!!!"

And when Ryan finally arrives, he does not disappoint!! These were taken at Thanksgiving . . .

Landry's usually the first . . .

But he always get some help . . .

Everyone always feels like they won . . .

Thanks to Ryan for being such a good sport!!

(Wrestling is hard to get good pics of ... amazing photographer that I am!!) :)

It's sooooo COLD!!

2011-02-01T23:19:00.008-06:00

Obviously, we got snow and ice. But the temperatures are what are so stinkin crazy this time around!! I went outside to snap a couple of pics and realized very quickly that I would not have any playtime in the snow today!!

It's like crazy cold ... and windy ... and just cold!!

Enough of that . . . here's all I got!!

Notice that only ONE of those pictures was actually taken outside!!! :)

And . . . we get to do it all over again tomorrow!! Wooo-hooo!!!

Stock Show and Rodeo

2011-01-31T19:15:00.014-06:00

We had the privilege of going to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on Sunday with my parents. We don't do this every year, but it is always so much fun when we do it!

We started in the exhibitions and the little boys were amazed by the tractors!!

They got to see the inside view from a horse trailer . . .

Playing on the big digger thingy . . .

Next, we headed to the FFA Children's Barnyard. I LOVE this place!!! My favorites are definitely the baby chicks hatching. Here's the fam watching them in the different phases of hatching. There was one yellow and one black that had just barely made it out of their shells ... all wet and trying so hard to stand on their feet. There was another yellow and another black that had been out for a little longer ... so cute and tiny!!

I also love the little ducklings where they have the little pool for them. They're so cute to watch as they try to get a drink and end up sliding down the slide into the water!!

We then went to the barns and came upon these sheep that had just lost their wool!! They looked naked and cold!!

This young lady came up to us and asked us if the boys would like to pet some sheep. Of course they did, so we followed her over to her little pen. She let the boys come right in and put their hands all over the sheep!!

She really wanted Alex to come in too, but he was way too cool to go in and pet the sheep!! One of the best parts of the day was when she said to Alex, "What's the matter??? You CHICKEN????!!!" And then she starts flapping her arms like a chicken right at Alex!! The look on his face was priceless!!! What made it even better is that she's 11 years old!!!

She was a really sweet girl ... lives up near Gainesville ... and was really great with the boys. Even Landry enjoyed it and didn't freak out at all!!!

There weren't many rabbits to speak of but this one made up for it!!! He was the furriest little guy with the longest ears and pink eyes . . . he looked like a real, small version of the Easter Bunny!! So cute!!

Parker tried his hand at roping and did pretty well for his first attempts . . .

Next came the Midway and I can honestly say this is my least favorite part of any experience like this. There is no amount of money that will satisfy the desires this part brings. The games are rigged and the rides are expensive. And when you realize that the toothless man smoking a cig who hasn't had a shower since the beginning of the Stock Show put this whole contraption together, it doesn't bode well!! And it was nice and cold by this point!! Here we are huddled up, trying to stay warm!!!

We walked through the Midway telling the boys to find that ONE thing that would make this whole experience complete for them. After lots of contemplating and debating, the big boys decided on a fun house kind of thing. But this . . . was Landry's dream . . .

As soon as he saw it, he began to talk in his very loud, very excited voice!! OH! MY! GOSH!!! I. WANT. TO. RIDE. THAT. SLIDE. RIGHT. THERE!!!!!!!! Are you sure, I ask?? YES!!! THAT IS SOOOO COOL!!!! Ok ... that's easy! I like a boy who knows what he wants and doesn't waver in his decision! Poppy went to buy tickets and the other boys debated on the merits of one of the fun house options. I again ask Landry, "Do you want to do this one with the boys??" To which he answers, "NO!!! I WANT TO DO THAT SLIDE RIGHT THERE . . . THAT ONE BEHIND YOU!!!" Okie-dokie!! The boys do their fun house and we head over to the slide. We pay the man our tickets and begin to climb what seemed like Mt. Everest!! We get to the top, settle ourselves in right next to each other, get the signal, and GO!!! We slide down together and had, what I thought, was an awesome time!! We get to the bottom and I look over at Landry. He has the saddest, most scared look on this face!! He jumps out of his sack and into my arms and immediately starts crying!! Apparently, it was a little scarier than planned!!

Of course, I had to laugh because it was such a complete and total opposite reaction of what I thought I would see!! He'll probably never get on a slide that big again!!

We had just enough time to go through the petting zoo before the rodeo. This is always fun and the boys, especially the littles, had a great time here!!

I had to capture these two guys (with a little girl's hand!). We decided they must be brothers because they just kept at each other!!

The tears are gone and Landry loves petting animals, especially when separated by a fence!!! (I've definitely got some mad photo skillz!! Not everyone can capture random kids' hands and snap the picture at the exact time the eyes close!!) But the smile is what counts, right??!!

Lots of goats!!

And finally, we made it to the rodeo!! I didn't take any pictures with all the moving and lack of light. But it was, as always, a good show with lots of amazing stunts, tricks, rides, and feats. It is a totally different world but it is always a neat one to visit!!

Much thanks to Mom and Dad for a super fun night!!

A 14 year old???

2011-01-29T22:22:00.013-06:00

Alex celebrated another milestone back before Christmas . . . he turned 14!!!

It just doesn't seem like 14 years have passed since I birthed that big ol' baby, but I guess it has!!

Here are some things you should know about Alex . . .

* This was the year he grew taller than me . . . I'm 5'8" and he's a bit taller now!

* He also caught up to me in the weight department . . . 120 lbs!!! HA!!!

* He gave up his lifelong dream of being a professional football player after one year of playing middle school football and this year, chose the less-traveled path of tennis!! He did quite well for having never played before. We spent a bit of time at the tennis courts and learned some things and had some fun!

* He's still holding on to his dream of being a professional basketball player. I do encourage him regularly to at least give a Plan B some thought . . . you know . . . just in case!! He has yet to do that!!! :)

* The boy can eat his body weight in Snickers and Dr. Pepper!

* He started to stink this year!! Well, maybe it was last year, but still . . .

* When Alex is home, there's ALWAYS a game of something going on . . . basketball on the driveway, football in the backyard, soccer in the house. The boys is always moving and usually dragging his brothers along for the fun.

We went to eat for his birthday at Spring Creek and here's the little ray of sunshine himself . . . doesn't he look so happy it's his birthday???!!

Yes, this would be ipod #2 and the last one that will be purchased with my money!! Emily and I gave up one-and-a-half hours of our lives on Black Friday for that and that is not something I will do again!!!

When I asked Landry what we should get Alex for his birthday, he immediately said "deodorant!" (See above!!) So, deodorant is what we got!!

Emily got he and Reagan tickets to watch 2 basketball games at the American Airlines Center . . . both Baylor and A&M were playing that day, though not playing each other. Fun time for the boys!!

Basketball cookie cake

Landry wasn't feeling so good this night . . . poor guy!!

After much begging, pleading, and threatening, the birthday boy finally

put a semi-normal (?) look on his face and took a picture with his Momma!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!

Just an average Fall day

2011-01-28T21:38:00.003-06:00

Thanks Emily!!

Countdown to Christmas

2011-01-28T21:20:00.005-06:00

Most of the boys LOVE Legos! So when December rolled around, Emily found the perfect way to count the days till Christmas . . . enter the Lego Advent Calendar!!

This really cool gadget had 25 little "doors" that we carefully cut open. Inside was a little bag of Lego pieces and a picture of how the pieces went together. This was Day #1 . . . a snowman!

Here are some of the creations . . . skateboard ramp/skateboard/helmet, dude with sword, piece of machinery that I can't think of the name of, and the snowman.

The boys really looked forward to doing this every day. It was cool to see what would be behind the door!! Very neat idea!! Thanks Emily!!

Out with the old . . .

2011-01-28T20:57:00.007-06:00

I've had this chair for a really long time. It was tired. It was dated. A lot of the time when I looked at it, I thought it was ugly!!

Lucky for me, I have a friend who is amazing at taking ugly things and making them beautiful!! So, she took my chair, spent some quality time with it, got into a fight with it, got injured by it more than once, but ultimately prevailed and made it beautiful!!!

And comfortable, apparently . . .

And who, you might ask, could do something so incredibly amazing????

Well, Shellee, of course!!!

Thanks Shell . . . . awesome job!!!

Arrrggghhh!!

2011-01-24T20:29:00.002-06:00

Trying to change the blog design . . . isn't working . . . frustrating!!!!

The flu has come to visit . . .

2011-01-18T21:12:00.003-06:00

He's praying that he'll be better before his basketball game on Saturday!!!

Crazy Landry

2010-11-30T15:03:00.004-06:00

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

2010-11-15T20:55:00.005-06:00

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

2010-11-01T15:37:00.004-05:00

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

2010-10-24T22:16:00.008-05:00

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

2010-10-15T16:44:00.004-05:00

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 . . . . .

2010-10-05T20:46:00.007-05:00

. . . . 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!!

2010-10-02T21:41:00.010-05:00

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

2010-09-27T21:10:00.006-05:00

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

2010-09-26T22:15:00.002-05:00

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

2010-09-26T00:23:00.008-05:00

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

2010-09-22T22:56:00.002-05:00

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

2010-09-13T22:27:00.013-05:00

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!!

2010-09-11T23:29:00.007-05:00

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!!

An awesome weekend . . . a beautiful wedding

2010-07-12T14:56:00.012-05:00

This weekend, I found myself with a lot of family and friends in the great city of San Antonio.

This beautiful couple was getting married . . . Congrats to Jayson and Brooke!!

We went down on Thursday and got to have a little fun before the big day. The first night we ate Mexican food on the Riverwalk with the fam.

The second night, I got to eat Mexican food on the Riverwalk AGAIN!! Awesome!! This time I went with Meagan and my cousin Karla from Florida. It was super fun!!

This girl and I had lots o fun!!!

When we weren't eating Mexican on the Riverwalk, we tried to spend as much time as possible at this place. The wedding was at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and that place was amazing!! I really wish I had taken more pictures because it was so beautiful!! The pool area was so cool, complete with water slides and a huge lazy river. Here, my mom, Meagan, and Lexie are sitting under the umbrella waiting for a rain cloud to pass. Sadly, this is the only pool pic I have!!

Finally, Saturday night came and after much primping, we headed down to the big event. I had a little taste of girl life as we got ready. Meagan wanted her hair curled, Lexie wanted hers straight, and I just hoped mine looked decent!! It was a funny sight as I curled Meagan's hair while she blow dried Lexie's!! And the best part?? After being outside for maybe 10 minutes, Lexie's was curling up and Meagan's was falling!! Seriously?? Here's everyone all pretty . . .

Meagan, Mom, and Lexie waiting . . .

With all of the extended family in one place and looking so nice, it was a great time to take some pics!

Brothers . . . wedding preachers . . . Dad and Joe waiting for things to get going . . .

Mom and Dad

All of the siblings . . . Joe, Audrey, Darrell, Joy, Jane, Mom, and Dad

Joe, Audrey, and Karla

Deneise and I

Payton and Lexie

All in all, it was such a great weekend . . . lots of fun with family and friends . . . lots of relaxation . . . a beautiful wedding . . . good food . . . and the list could go on and on . . .

Happy Birthday Landry!!

2010-07-07T09:41:00.001-05:00

As hard as it is to believe, this little baby boy turned 5 in April!! We celebrated at Pump It Up and it was super fun!!

Here's his cast of friends . . . Andy, Ben, Reagan, Payton, brothers, and Ryan, Meagan, and Lexie were in town so that was an added bonus!!!

Almost everyone got in on the sliding fun . . . even Poppy and Nana!!

Payton and Lexie . . .

Ryan, trying to hold his own wrestling the big boys and girl!!

Lexie Lou

Cute boy!

This was a super cool present from Landry's favorite Baylor fan ... thanks Ms Estes!!

And here he is all decked out!! That is a fun, fun place to party!!

Landry plays the baby role well but also holds his own against his big brothers! He is so excited to be in Kindergarten this year, has a very healthy (a little too healthy) fear of dogs, would prefer to only eat popsicles, is a big question asker (his fave is ... how long till we get there ... even if we're just going to Walmart!!), loves puzzles and playing "doggie" among many other things! He's a great, funny boy and he's 5??? Really??!!

Happy Birthday ... kind of!!

2010-06-22T23:04:00.008-05:00

So ... the blogging is very far behind indeed, but I promised that I would blog TONIGHT, so blog I will!!

We had the super fun privilege of attending John Wesley and Emma's birthday party tonight. The best part about the party is that while Emma's birthday was on Sunday, John Wesley's birthday was in February!! Shellee ... that is one of my favorite things about you ... that the birthday party doesn't necessarily correlate with the actual birthDAY at all!! So awesome!!

Anyway, the party was perfect ... swimming, kids, great night to just sit outside and enjoy!

There were some crazy tricks going on in the pool

That would be Luke!!

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of the actual party because there was some other really, REALLY cute stuff going on right close to me . . .

Like this sweet little girl ... how cute is she?? Poor Abri had swimmers ear and couldn't swim but it didn't seem to dampen her spirit!!

(Notice Glory's buns in the background of the pic ... that was a whole other something cute!!)

And look what I got to do . . . I had forgotten how much I enjoyed little baby girls with yellow polka dotted swimsuits who will fall asleep right in your lap!! So much cuteness!!! Daylee Grace is a doll!!

But this is the best . . . the combination of all the cuteness . . . Abri holding Daylee and having so much fun!!!

Thanks for a fun night, Powell family . . . even though I felt a little weird as I told John Wesley "happy birthday" when we left!!!

He's got some moves

2010-05-15T20:57:00.004-05:00

Landry's school does a program every Spring and it was well worth the price of admission (if there was one!!).

I've seen a few school programs in my day and this one never disappoints!!

My pictures of him on stage never turn out but at the end of the program this year, all of the kids came out to line the audience and do one more song. Crazily enough, Landry ended up right in front of us and I got some great pictures (minus the red eye, of course!!).

BOYS!!!

2010-05-02T21:24:00.003-05:00

Someone informed me tonight as we were getting ready for bed that . . .

"One time . . . I looked in the potty and the lid to the toothpaste was in there!!!!" (insert big wide smile here)

I responded with an "Eeeewwwww!!"

He went on to add, "I reached in to get it . . . and I got to feel the water!!!" (insert another big wide smile here).

I said, "Please tell me you put it in the trash??"

He says, puzzled, "No . . . I just put it here on the counter!"

Which means I probably put it back on the toothpaste the next time I saw it!!

A visit with the animals

2010-05-01T09:16:00.007-05:00

When Ryan and the girls were here, we all took a day off from school/work to head to the zoo!! It was a super fun day!!

The new part, affectionately called "The Snake House," was really cool!! Here are all the kids in front of it.

The aquarium was really neat ... you could see it from outside or inside and on top of or under the water.

Checking out a crocodile from under the water.

Yikes!!

Luke and Lou enjoy a little ice cream!

Funny how there are NO animals in the background!!

Landry and Luke with the giraffes . . . I know it's cliche, but they are TALL!!

Luke handling some snake skins!! Eeewww!!

Meagan and Alex with the flamingos . . . not sure about that face!!

All in all, a very fun day. Thanks to Nana and Poppy (how did yall not make the pics??) for a great time!!

What'd you say???

2010-04-23T21:17:00.002-05:00

Luke just came into the office and asked me if I knew what H.E.B. stood for. I misunderstood what he said so I didn't give a very good answer. (if you don't know what it stands for, go look it up ... it's a name a little boy can't resist laughing at!)

Anyway . . . I told Luke that he should be thankful his parents gave him a really cool name!! He said, "and it's a Bible name." I agreed and asked him if he remembered what the Luke in the Bible did for his job. He said that he was a doctor and I told him he was right.

Then he thought for a minute and he said, "but he was also a fusipican." I gave him a funny look and said a WHAT?? He started laughing and said, "you know ... a fusipican ... that's what it says in the Bible." By this time, I'm cracking up and I made him say it over and over because it was so funny!!

Finally I say, "Luke, I think you're thinking of PHYSICIAN!!!!"

fu-sip'-i-can - n. a Bible name for physician

Use that in a sentence!!

Easter 2010

2010-04-23T21:04:00.007-05:00

This Easter was a really great one!!

Ryan and the girls being here made is extra special and the boys just always clean up so nicely!!!

The boys had a choice this year with their clothing options. The choices were 1) plaid short with a solid shirt, 2) plaid shirt with solid shorts, or 3) a shirt and tie. I only threw in Option 3 because I knew one little boy would happily make that choice!!

And, just for the record, one little boy didn't go with any of those options, but it was ok because he looked so handsome!!

I had the awesome privilege of straightening Lexie Lou's hair that morning!! And that was a LOT of fun!!! I fixed a lot of hair that day!!

It was a great day!!

Fun with the Fam

2010-04-18T16:10:00.005-05:00

Ryan, Meagan, and Lexie came to visit over their Spring Break which fell from Easter weekend through the following weekend. They stayed with us the first weekend and we had SO much fun!! Cousin time is hard to come by and they made the most of it!!

Friday night, we had some friends over to hang out. Saturday, we woke up and Ryan took over the kitchen and made us all a huge breakfast! On the menu was eggs, bacon, and pancakes!! Yum-o!!!

After breakfast, we loaded up and headed to the mall because us girls needed a pedi!! Not sure why I don't look very happy in this pic, but it was a very happy time indeed!!

After the pedis, we were standing around talking and thinking about what to do next when Ryan noticed that Carter was having a blood drive. If you gave up some blood, you got 2 tickets to the Rave! Ryan was planning on giving blood at some point while he was in town anyway so it just seemed like the thing to do!! After much paperwork ... seriously LOTS of very interesting questions that make me hope I never need a transfusion ... we were ushered upstairs to the special room where the magic happens!!

The kids were all tagging along, as this was a very interesting twist in our day!! Emily and Ryan began the process, talking one on one with a person, taking of vitals, etc. I brought up the rear and before we knew it, we were all hanging out together and the blood was aflowing!!

The kids took turns with the camera and this is the best shot we got of the three of us! The funny part of this little story is that Emily and Ryan were going strong when I sat down but my blood was apparently very ready to leave my body because it just came on out!! I was finished and cleaned up before Ryan or Emily finished!! While I was basking in the glow of finishing first even though I started last (as though it was a race!!), the technician calmly mentioned that if I were ever in a serious trauma situation, I would probably bleed out before I could be helped!! That put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm!!

Another interesting part of this little blood giving adventure was that you could call after a couple of days and get your blood type and cholesterol reading. The cholesterol wouldn't be exactly accurate because we had eaten that morning but it would give a ballpark figure. Ryan and I discussed the fact that our huge breakfast might skew our numbers so imagine my surprise when I called and my cholesterol was 126!! Yay me!! All that healthy eating I do is totally paying off!! Ha!!

All in all, it was a great weekend! Easter's next!!

Landry-isms

2010-04-16T18:45:00.007-05:00

On Easter morning, Landry comes into my bathroom as I'm getting ready and says, "Hey Mom -- Look! There's a bug over there!" So I look and he says, "Happy April Fools!!" I laugh and kind of look at him confused and he says, "Oh man ... I mean Happy Easter!!"

On the way home from PuttPutt, Landry says in his super whine-y voice . . . "MOM ... I keep burping and I can't put my sucker in my mouth!!!" He's got some real problems, that boy!!

Tonight at the supper table, Landry says in a puzzled, Valley-girl voice . . .

"Everyday, Alex says he's cool . . . . . but he's not!!!
Every day!!"

Everyone should have a little brother!!

It's baseball season

2010-04-12T22:01:00.006-05:00

These guys aren't having too much success in the Win column, but they are having lots of fun!!

And look how cute they look!! I really like their red shirts!!

(that totally sounded like something Deneise would say!!!)

Good buddies . . . Luke and John Wesley . . .

More Baylor Bears

2010-04-11T21:24:00.000-05:00

The Bears had such an awesome season that they found themselves in the Elite Eight during March Madness!! How awesome is that??

One very special person to our family found this extremely EXCITING . . . so exciting that she bought tickets for the big game(s) in Houston and made not one, but TWO trips to Houston in three days!! Any ideas who that might be???

Not only did she go, but she took along two of her favorite kiddos and they were happy to put on their Baylor gear and cheer for the Bears!!

Emily took Alex, Reagan, and Shane to Houston on Friday, March 26th to watch the Bears kill St. Mary's. That earned them an opportunity to play again on Sunday.

So, after early church, Emily, Reagan, Alex, and I loaded up and headed south. It was a very fun trip, including Sonic onion rings and Dairy Queen blizzards!!

Getting to our seats proved to be a little difficult as Emily and the boys weren't really that happy with where our actual seats were. So....we had to do a little sneaky, possible illegal stunts to get into a section with better seats. It was VERY stressful for me hanging out with these rule-breakers. My favorite Emily quote during this time of the day was this ... "It's not like you have to sit in YOUR seat when there's all these empty ones." This was the line she was planning on using when asked by security why we weren't in our seats!! I almost wish we would've gotten caught so I could have heard Emily say that!!

But finally, we got to some seats that we hoped we were going to get to stay in and settled in for a great game. The biggest negative about our upgraded seats was that they were right in the middle of Duke territory!! This fact is kind of fun when Baylor was doing well and was stomping on Duke. But, in the end, it didn't work out so well for us as Duke ended the game ahead of the Bears.

It was a somber drive home, but we made it and were all very happy that we'd made the trip. It was a super fun day!! Thanks to Emily for sharing her excitement with us!!

Baylor Bear Basketball

2010-04-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

On the first Saturday of March, we had the awesome privilege to head south to Waco to watch the Baylor Bears take on the Texas Longhorns. Of course, our favorite Baylor Bear went with us . . .

and her little brainwash-ees!!

It was an awesome game with the Bears coming out on top!! If I had blogged anywhere near the time that we actually went, I would remember what the score was!! If my memory is right, it wasn't even really that close!! But it's always fun to see some great college basketball in person!!

After the game, we went down to the floor . . .

. . . and because Scott knew somebody who knew somebody, we were able to go back into the locker room and practice areas and take a little tour. This was our first stop . . . the lockers, complete with little flat screen TV, some kind of fancy computer, and their choice of a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. The boys were sold at this point. At least 3 of them are planning on going to Baylor to play basketball!! But not to worry, Emily will help us pay for it!!

This was a really cool wall right inside the locker room. It has Coach Drew's favorite verses and represents the values that are important in his program. This guy is the real deal and it was really neat to watch him and learn about how he coaches and how he does life as a Godly man.

The boys also got to meet some of the players . . .

That's Quincy Acy . . . #4

These guys were so nice to sign autographs for anyone. . . such great attitudes!!

This is a Damien James, a bigtime Texas player (that's what they tell me!!) who might be going to the NBA.

And this is Dexter Pitman . . . These boys were TALL!!!

This pained Ms. Estes greatly to see Luke do this!!! :)

All in all, this was a super fun day!! The boys had a great time and the Bears won!!! All good!

Happy Birthday LANDRY!!!

2010-04-07T22:49:00.005-05:00

This exciting, sweet, crazy little boy turned 5 today!!!

This little boy adds so much joy to our lives . . . can't imagine our lives without him!!!

He has always wanted to be FIVE and now he is!!!! Happy Birthday Landry!!!

How 'bout them Mavs???

2010-04-07T22:29:00.004-05:00

This story just HAS to be shared because it's just that good!!

Our good friend Debbie has season tickets to the Mavs games and maybe once a year, if we're lucky, we get to have a girls night to go to the game. So, back in February, she told us the date she had and that we could have the tix. It was decided that Deneise, Emily, Debbie, and I would go to the game and we were sooo excited!!

Sadly, a few days before the game, Debbie's husband, Todd, realized that the night we were planning on going to the game was the night the Mavs would be playing the NBA Champion LA Lakers and that that would be a HUGE waste of tickets for just us girls to be going to see such a great team!!! So, Todd, drawing from his Indian heritage, basically snatched the tickets back from us!!! (as if we'd had them in the first place!!)

So, of course Deb felt terrible and immediately came up with another date for us to go just the next week. We were again all super excited and began to plan for the big night of watching the Mavs play a nobody team!! No matter ... it would still be fun!!

Finally, the night arrives and we decide to eat at Abuelo's. The problem with Abuelo's is that it is in an area of town with HORRIBLE traffic and, of course, we were going during rush hour on a Friday night.

Insert Deneise into the picture. If you know my good friend Deneise AT ALL, you know she has serious issues with carsickness. By the time we got to Abuelo's, Deneise was GREEN!! She looked horrible and felt horrible and I think she promptly went to the bathroom and got sick!!

She hardly ate at all while the rest of us chowed and felt sorry for her!!

We got back into the car to continue on and a little further down the road, Deneise quickly lets Deb know that she needs to pull over. So we pull over and watch and wait as Deneise loses her little bit of dinner on the side of the highway!!

Deneise says there's no way she can go the rest of the way and she decides to call Shane to come and get her. We inform her that we're not going to leave her at the Dollar Tree (her request) to wait for Shane. While debating what we should do, we go into the Dollar Tree so Deneise can buy a toothbrush and some Kleenex!!

After much debate and a walk through Albertsons for good measure, Debbie makes a phone call, gives the tickets away, and we all go home. It is now dark and the traffic is light and all is well again!!

Well, except that we didn't actually make it to the Mavs game for the second time in two weeks!! But . . . no matter!! It was a fun night anyway . . .well, maybe not for Deneise, but for the rest of us!!

The funnest part is we were all wearing our Mavs shirts so when we got back to Deneise's, we decided we should take a picture since it wasn't likely that we would be getting back to the Mavs game anytime soon!!

One of my favorite Emily sayings is . . . it doesn't matter what you do, it's who you're with . . . and that definitely applies to this night. While the plans didn't go anything like they were supposed to, it was a great night with a lot of great memories!!

Thanks a LOT Deneise!!!! :)

Happy 7th Birthday LUKE!!!

2010-04-07T22:08:00.007-05:00

Ok ... seriously ... the blog?? Just haven't had the time ... blah, blah, blah!!

So, I'm going to try and catch up!!

I decided to use my camera as my guide to see which pics I hadn't uploaded and then I would know where I had stopped blogging.

And when did I stop blogging???

On Luke's 7th birthday . . . exactly 3 months ago from today!!!

Ironically, TODAY is Landry's birthday!! Crazy!!

Anyway, we went to Pump It Up and had a really great time!

The birthday boy . . .

The birthday friends . . .

Reagan beating Alex up with his amazing muscles!!

Ms. Estes and Emma . . .

Parker . . .
Even Nana got in on the fun with Landry . . .

Luke proudly showing off his new A&M shirt with Reagan . . .

This was a really great party for a really great boy!! Luke is such a sweet, kind boy. He has a softer side to him that none of the other boys have (at this point in their lives anyway!!). He is very sensitive and caring but can be as rough and tumble as anyone else! He loves any sports and plays hard at whatever he does!! He adds so much to our lives!!

There's been a blog hi-jacking!

2010-03-23T22:01:00.003-05:00

Hello! I'm a friend of Kristy's and she entrusted me with her password to do a couple things to her blog. My little project is finished but I wanted to take a quick minute to say a few words about my amazing friend!! :)

The Top 10 Reasons Kristy is an amazing person and friend:

10. I have yet to meet anyone else who understands the importance of Diet Coke in one's life.

9. She delivers Diet Coke and other goodness to me at school.

8. She is so incredibly kind, caring, and thoughtful. See #9!

7. She's fun! Nobody tells a story like Kristy.

6. She lets me brainwash her kids into becoming Baylor fans! Sic 'em Bears! She even let me buy an u-g-l-y pair of green and yellow shoes for Landry's birthday (don't tell him). He'll probably only be allowed to wear them around the house. :)

5. She gets more done in a day than I could imagine doing in a month! Seriously.

4. She's an amazing mom and she takes such good care of her boys! This includes being a great cook! She has graciously allowed me to enjoy many meals at their house.

3. She's been one of my biggest fans. She's always supportive and encouraging. I'd probably be working at the Walmart if she hadn't come along when she did.

2. She's seen me at my best and my very worst, and as far as I can tell, loves me just the same.

1. She loves Jesus and does or says something daily that prompts me to love Him more myself!

Kristy, I could have listed a 100 things that make you an amazing person and friend!! I'm so incredibly blessed by you and your family, I could not even imagine doing life without you guys. Thanks for everything you do for me and for being all of these things and so much more! Love ya!

Ok, I'm finished, you can change your password now! :)

Sunrise

2010-02-16T16:51:00.002-06:00

Did anyone see the beautiful sunrise this morning??

It was really amazing!

When Luke saw it, he said, "Wow...if I was God, I would have made a sunrise as pretty as that one too!!"

Psalm 19:1 -- The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Praying this . . .

2010-02-14T22:32:00.001-06:00

My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

More Snow???

2010-02-12T10:10:00.000-06:00

For the third time this winter, it is SNOWING!! This is getting a little crazy!!

Today we woke up to snow, drove to school in the snow, worked in the snow, ran into Walmart in the snow, picked up the kids at noon in the snow, drove home in the snow, built snowmen in the snow, and now, late in the day, it is STILL snowing!!

Here's the latest measurement --

We went out after we got home and stayed out for 2 stinkin' hours!! I was seriously contemplating Googling the symptoms of frostbite when we came in!! It didn't seem that cold while we were out in it until the end.....then it was way cold!!

The boys had a blast and I was determined to make the best snowman ever. We strategized and planned and I quickly realized that my dream of the perfect snowman probably wasn't going to happen!! It was harder than it looked to make it just right!! The thought might have crossed my mind that I should have done a little research to figure out just the best way to make it work!! (I can take the fun out of just about anything!!!) :)

Anyway, here are our best attempts --

Me...trying to get the rolling action down!!

Landry is delighted at the progress we're making!!

And here are the finished products --

I've learned that we aren't a very crafty family (which I already knew) and that we were going to have to get creative with what to put on these guys! I ended up in the produce drawer of the fridge and used carrots for his eyes, a shriveling jalapeno for his nose, and some celery that was on its last legs for his smile. I'm guessing fresh celery wouldn't bend into a smile??!?

We then got a little over-ambitious and decided to make a snow family! From left to right, they are Scott, Alex, Parker, Luke, Landry, and me. Yes, I did make myself a little taller and thinner than I probably actually am, but I was the one creating!!

At first, the ideas for decorating were just a-flowing. You can't really tell, but Parker's guy has legos for his eyes and mouth because Parker loves Legos! My girl has blue marble eyes because my eyes are blue (which ironically, one of the marbles kept falling out....I'm sure that's a metaphor of my life in some weird way!!), and I'm holding a mini-back-scratcher which doubles as a broom!! How clever, I thought!! My mouth is actually a snake (which I hope is NOT a metaphor of my life!) that is from some Indiana Jones Lego thing!!

We went downhill after that!! Scott and Luke have pretzel eyes...no correlation at all....and out of sheer desperation, I grabbed some bark from the flower bed and made Alex and Landry's eyes!! Everyone has a carrot nose and we threw out some balls because we play a lot of ball!! This is the point where I cannot feel my fingers or toes!!

The saddest part of this little tale is that I looked out the window just a few minutes ago and our big snowman has already lost his top 2 layers!! WHAT???! All that work?? So much for the perfect snowman!! :(

A very little bit about Christmas!

2010-02-12T07:51:00.005-06:00

Christmas of 2009 was a good one, though a different one!

It seems kinda weird now that it's mid-February to go back and post a pic of everything that got opened! So, here are a couple of highlights from the times when I actually had my camera. Of course, Christmas Day, the time spent with family that you only see once a year.....my camera decided not to make the journey!! :(

Christmas morning . . . . Santa actually came?? Impressive!!!

Apparently, that was the only official Christmas pic I uploaded!! Maybe I'll go back and revisit the pictures and add some more!

This is something that Parker got from Nana and Poppy. . . . the Lego Agents Command Center. This bad boy had over 1000 pieces in it and Parker pretty much sat down and got busy on it immediately. A couple days later, here are the results --

Parker is definitely a builder!! Yay!!

And a funny from Christmas. . . . when we got all the decorations down from the attic, we started to hang up the stockings and Luke's felt a little funny. I was a little nervous because of my issues with mice in the attic once, so I peeked into his stocking and found this - -

A little 3 Musketeer from last Christmas!! It's the gift that keeps on giving!!

Landry wanted to know if he could eat it!! :)

Alex is a ...... teenager????

2010-02-11T19:45:00.003-06:00

Can it possibly be that my sweet, little, giant of a newborn baby is already 13 years old??

Sadly, it is possible!!

Alex turned 13 on December 16. He opted for a family party instead of a big, crazy party, so we went to Chili's to have the fun! Nana and Poppy, BigPa and Grandma, Reagan and Ms. Estes were on the guest list and here's how it happened:

The table ...

Opening up a gift....I have no idea what it is but Luke thinks it's hilarious!!

Reagan and Alex showing off a common 13-year-old gift this year....the ipod touch! Reagan had managed to score one of these for his birthday also!

Here are the goofy boys as they sang Happy Birthday! Alex was adamant that he did NOT want to be sung to but, of course, they knew we were celebrating a birthday. It worked out perfectly because we said it was Reagan's birthday too, which it pretty much was, and being embarrassed together is not nearly as bad as doing it alone!!

Reagan was totally getting into swinging his napkin until he saw me with my camera! He then covered up his eyes as though we wouldn't be able to tell who he was!!! Silly boy!!!

All in all, it was a very fun get-together and not having to clean up was an added bonus!!

Alex is an amazing young man with a deep, thoughtful side and a carefree, clueless side!! He is a huge help to me when I need him and can usually be counted on for a good laugh. Things have certainly changed since the doctor handed me that heavy baby over 13 years ago, but I wouldn't change any of it! Love you Alex!!

Thanksgiving 2009

2010-02-11T19:27:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving......let me think.....what were we thankful for???

We were thankful that Meagan and Lexie were here and we got to spend lots of quality time together!!! We took lots of pics of the kids together and my plan was to use something from those to send as Christmas cards. Since that didn't happen, here are the pics and just imagine them on a cute Christmas-y card with the words..... Merry Christmas .... from the Bagg Family .... Scott, Kristy, Alex, Parker, Luke, and Landry

This was our attempt at taking a picture while looking into the sun!! I think Lexie's face shows how that worked out!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! :)

Our Loss....Heaven's Gain

2010-02-11T19:10:00.007-06:00

Due to my very severe lack of blogging lately, I'm going to attempt to get semi-caught up.....starting back in November.

November 13, 2009

As I was dropping off Luke at school, I got a call from Scott , his voice heavy with emotion and the words, "My Mom died."

At first, I thought I must have misunderstood. Bernadine, though fighting gallbladder cancer, was doing well. She had done amazingly well. But I hadn't misunderstood. Bernadine had indeed, gone to Heaven and while it was sudden and unexpected for us, we know that it wasn't a surprise at all to the God of the universe.

Bernadine was an amazing person, wife, mom, and grandma. She juggled many hats throughout her life and managed them all well. It was a true honor to know her and to feel her love for our family.

Scott and I went to New York to spend time with the family and attend the services in her honor. The funeral was beautiful and was a really neat tribute to her life. It was a great time with the family and a huge shout-out to everyone that helped us out with the kids....my Mom and Dad, Emily, and the Rothenbergers. We could not have done it without you....thanks!!

Oh Happy Day!!

2010-01-18T22:16:00.004-06:00

Today was an amazing day!!

We had the day off, thanks to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. We had no plans, just a lot of laundry and a rented movie!!

Not long after I had gotten up, Luke came to me and said, "Mom...go get your Bible...I'm ready to ask Jesus into my heart!!" Have you ever heard better words??

We sat down on the couch and read some verses, talked about sin, and why Jesus came to die for him. He was so ready...knew the answers proudly!! (We have been talking about this for weeks, maybe months.)

I was reminded, yet again, of the simplicity of salvation. Through a child's eyes, it all makes perfect sense. May it always be so for Luke!!

Matthew 18:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of salvation!!

2009-12-24T15:17:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas!!

It's been a fun, busy week but this song has been playing over and over in my mind and definitely reminds me of the real reason for this amazing season!!

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!!

Guess who??

2009-12-07T22:13:00.008-06:00

I think even with the horrible quality of this picture of a picture, you can still see the obvious resemblance of a certain boy in this house and this little Scotty boy:

Them there's some strong genes!!

Happy Halloween 2009!!

2009-12-06T16:04:00.006-06:00

Yes, the weather is freezing cold and we're listening to Christmas music, but here's our Halloween recap!!

This year we had a clown, 2 ninja's, and a Batman. The weather was perfect, the Harvest Festival was super fun, and a good time was had by all!!

This is the only pic I got of all of the boys, and our cousin, Justin the Jedi joined in. (wow...nice use of consonance/alliteration!)

Luke and Landry, aka Ninja and Batman -

Luke sliding -Reagan and Landry. . . Bacon and BatmanBatman -

And the bestest friends on the face of the earth!!

Future NFL star. . . . probably not!!

2009-12-02T20:53:00.011-06:00

Seventh grade football . . . those words conjure up some amazing memories for me now!!

Haha!!

Alex played his first season of football this year when he entered the 7th grade. He had literally been waiting his whole life to do it! It was something he's always wanted to do! The excitement and anticipation was almost more than we could take!!

But, of course, that leveled off eventually!! And it finally took a nosedive!! :)

Seriously, he had a great season and and a lot of fun! Alex isn't what you would call an overly aggressive kid, so football gave me a bit of a challenge in that area. He really wanted to hit somebody really hard . . . but it just didn't happen that way much!! He really wanted to make a lot of really great tackles . . . but it just seemed a little more difficult when you were actually called on to do it!!

(Totally not trying to diss Alex AT ALL, but I want to document this next part for my horrible memory!!)

Alex kind of got a reputation with those of us in the stands as being a "last responder." He was really good at running up on a pile of players after the runner had already been safely tackled and he would often give someone a little push or a little slap on the helmet, as though it couldn't have happened without his final touch!! It was hilarious to watch!!

So, it is safe to conclude that Alex is a fairly non-aggressive football player!! Oxymoron?? Maybe!!

When asked if he'll play next year, he says no. But I wouldn't be surprised if he did! He had lots of fun and really enjoyed it, for the most part.

Here are Alex and Reagan at the last game . . . I asked them if they could smile and this is how they responded:

Never underestimate the power of #88 and #89!!

What makes you Gouchy??

2009-12-01T19:52:00.003-06:00

From Luke --

Translation -

I was gouchy because I did not get enuf sleep.

He definitely comes by that naturally!!

Projects, projects

2009-11-30T21:39:00.004-06:00

School has been going really well so far this year. It's hard to believe that in three short weeks, the year will be half over!! Crazy!!

I haven't been posting much because I couldn't find the cord that connects my camera to the computer; thus I haven't been able to upload anything!! The funny thing is that the cord was right here in the office all the time! Awesome organizational skills I have!!

Anyway, Alex and Parker did a couple of cool projects a few weeks ago and I wanted to document them here.

First up, Alex had to do a model of how blood flows through the heart, showing the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. I was really proud of Alex as he did this project pretty much without any help. I really like things like this because I think the kids get a much better idea of how it actually works than just doing in on paper. After he did this project, he had a great understanding of how the heart works.

Parker has been studying Mesopotamia for a good part of the year and he was presented with a list of projects to create and he chose to build a Mesopotamian Ziggurat. The funnest part of this project was to see people's reactions when he told them he was building a ziggurat....definitely not something you come across every day.

Being the insightfully creative person I am, I sent Parker to spend a couple of days with his Poppy so that they could, together, create the ziggurat of their dreams!! And boy, did they not disappoint!!

This was really, super cool when they finished it and I was surprised at how Parker just jumped right in and wanted to learn about this ancient structure. He has a great time learning/building this little project.

One of my favorite parts of this project was the very end when Parker got out the Sharpie to draw on the lines and write a cool title. His first attempt was crazy . . . all over the place and not neat AT ALL!! So, we covered that up with his picture of the model they used and started again! The next time was a little better until he starts writing in big bubble letters right in the middle!! Then he finished it off by writing his little-known nickname - PK - under his real name!! PK?? Seriously?? It almost sent me over the edge, but I kept myself in check and let him express his creativity!!??! His teacher's reaction?? FANTABULOUS!!

Good work guys!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

2009-11-30T21:25:00.003-06:00

Belated birthday wishes go out to two of the finest people you will ever know.....my Grandma and BigPa!!

(This isn't actually at their party, but it's such a great picture!!)

Their birthdays were actually on October 2nd and October 11th and my mom and Debra gave them a surprise 79th and 80th birthday party on Sunday, the 11th! It was so fun to watch as especially BigPa was completely surprised!! Several people spoke about good memories and special times with them. I had the privilege to speak about what amazing grandparents they are to me. . . . . I once again retold the story of BigPa's cat-like reflexes as he squashed a mouse (or rat, depending on who's telling the story!!) in my garage a few years back! That story never gets old!!!

I gave a little insight into their generous hearts as I told them about how just a couple of weeks prior to that, Parker had been sick and when they heard, they immediately wanted to bring some chicken noodle soup by. In true BigPa and Grandma fashion, they brought soup, made with Luke's special noodles and extras in case we needed them, two different kinds of cornbread, two cartons of ice cream, and hot fudge to boot!! They are and always have been so over-the-top with their giving!

Many times when I offer my appreciation to them for whatever they've gone out of their way to do for me, the response I usually get is. . . . "Glad to!" I know that they mean that when they say it, for they are always happy to help. It's never a burden, never an imposition; they truly are glad to!!

BigPa and Grandma - - - I cannot tell you how many ways you have blessed my life and the lives of those I love!! You are truly the best and I love you!!

(sorry so belated!!)

Pastor talk

2009-11-01T19:48:00.003-06:00

Today was an exciting new day for our church. A new pastor took the helm at our great church!! While this means a lot of things to a lot of people, it was different for me because a member of my family has been the pastor at Grace for as long as I've been alive!! That's pretty wild when you think about it!! I'm looking forward to the future of Grace in the hands of Bro. Donnie, a non-Williams/Martin family member!!

When Landry got up and going this morning and realized it was Sunday, he immediately said, "Is today the day that the new pastor comes??" I answered yes and he said in a little voice, with his hands raised, "yay!!" Evidently, he has big plans and high expectations for Bro. Donnie!!

And on the way to church, we were reviewing Luke and Landry's verses when Landry pipes up, "I know a verse!!" So, I said, "Tell us...what is it??" To which he responded, "No man can serve two PASTORS!!" After I cracked up laughing and someone corrected him, I thought to myself....there might be some truth to that!!

Good times ahead!!

Princesses...according to boys

2009-10-27T20:38:00.002-05:00

I have so much fun stuff to blog about . . . BigPa and Grandma's birthdays, Alex and his school projects/football adventures, and other important stuff I'm forgetting.

But this was a bit of insight I gleaned tonight from Parker, Luke, and Landry.

They were being silly, calling each other Scary Potter, Princess, and other equally charming names. The whole "princess" term made me wonder how many of the Disney princesses these crazy boys could name.

So, I asked . . . tell me the names of the princesses.

And here they are . . . all they could come up with!

1. Snow White

2. Cinderella

3. Girl with the long hair

4. Fiona

5. Queen of England

I wonder if Disney has thought about marketing the Queen Mother? She'd make a great princess!!

All in a day's work

2009-10-20T20:08:00.004-05:00

I thought it might be interesting to occasionally share something that I've learned as I work with my students. Because I teach (and I use that term loosely) several different subjects, I am always being reminded of things that I remember learning when I was in school, or I am constantly learning new concepts or new ways to teach concepts.

So, this is the problem for the day. This comes from some Algebra 3 work that a student and I worked through today. Read slowly and this is totally doable!!

Find 2 consecutive natural numbers such that the difference of their reciprocals is 1/4 the reciprocal of the smaller number!!!

Let me know what you get!!

A wonderfully boring Saturday

2009-10-10T20:55:00.007-05:00

Aaahhh...another Saturday! I love Saturdays!!

Here's a peek into what's happened around here today.

Saturdays are great for playing. Football usually reigns for Alex and Luke, but Landry has his own ideas of fun.

Take this guy. . . Perry Medic, I believe.

Get it.....PerryMedic.....paramedic!!

He's been around for a long time but now it is Landry's turn to grow his imagination with this guy. (Landry took this pic)

According to Landry, today has found Perry flying in his rocket ship for a long, long time and he was really, REALLY tired. He needed a nap and the best place for that was in Luke's bed. So, Landry carefully bedded Perry down, took apart his rocket ship, and surrounded him with it. My favorite part of this was that Landry had found Parker's glasses cleaning cloth and deemed it a perfect blanket for Perry!!

Since Landry seemed interested in helping all the tired toys get their naps, I suggested to him that "Baby" might need a nap too. He happily agreed and went and found Baby and promptly wrapped him up in a blanket and put him to bed with Perry!! Here's Baby sleeping (Landry also took this pic!)

Baby, who has never been named anything other than Baby, has been a part of the family since Alex's first (I think!) birthday!! So, he's almost 12 and is really aging well!! It's so funny to see how the boys have played with Baby through the years. It definitely brings out their nurturing side!!

At least, until Baby wakes up from his nap and everyone has moved on to football. They are having trouble finding the right football to play with so Landry offers up Baby!!

"Hey guys....we could use Baby as the football!!"

That is so wrong!!

As for other exciting-ness. . . we pretended we were at the Barber Shop!

YUCK!! I hate this job!! It is so almost worth paying the $50 bucks every month to get it done!!

And, on another exciting note, I had a little run-in with the Bleach today!!

Those used to be Luke's long sleeved shirt on the left (that I had dug out now that the weather is cooler!!), Luke's boxers, and Scott's black sweater vest. He's going to croak when he sees that!! There were other casualties, but I just grabbed these first!!

I hate bleach!! It is a useful and necessary part of my life, but it is so dangerous!!

So, that's another exciting Saturday in the books!! The best thing about this weekend?? It goes on for an extra day!! Yay for Columbus!!

Kids Speak

2009-10-05T18:28:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple of funnies from the last week or so . . .

Landry, while sitting at the bar . . . "I always lick the bar first before I eat!" (WHAT??!!)

Parker, while waiting for our good friend/chiropractor Dr. Todd to adjust him . . . "All of a sudden, I'm feeling the need to go green!" To which I reply, "meaning??" And he says, "you know recycle more, turn off the TV, take a shower instead of a bath, unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, MOM!"

Darn flu!

2009-09-28T17:29:00.003-05:00

For the first time in the history of this little family, we have the flu!!

Parker was the first to go down...started Saturday with fever and cough. When he never got out of my bed all day, I used my deductive reasoning to figure out something might not be quite right!! He ran fever most of Saturday, all of Sunday, and slept about 40 out of 48 hours from Saturday to Monday morning.

So, today started with a trip to the doctor and a flu test. I was really surprised to see that he tested positive for Influenza A. His doctor explained that 95% of people that have Type A have the Swine Flu!! Yikes!!

So, he has Tamiflu, Scott's and my doctor called us out a prescription for it, but the kids can only get the drugs once they show symptoms. So, hopefully, everyone won't get it, but realistically?? We'll see!!

As for other news, there's not much!!

Alex's team won his first game last week 34-0 over Granbury!! Very exciting, indeed!!

We might have some future Baylor Bears on our hands, thanks to my good friend, Emily. Go here and here to read about their fun! Alex found himself at the Texas A&M game on Saturday so 3 out of 4 of the boys got to watch a little college football live and in person! Poor Parker was at home with the flu!! :(

And that's about all the craziness and excitement I can come up with! Unless you count the unbelievable amount of laundry I did over the weekend. Note to self -- it never pays to NOT do laundry during the week!! And I got an amazing new IRON!! Now, that's exciting!! A good iron is an incredible thing for sure!!

That's it!! Happy Monday!!

The author

2009-09-15T18:40:00.006-05:00

Luke is starting his fourth week of First Grade, and other than getting up little earlier than he'd like to, he's enjoying it. He really enjoys getting "real" grades and proudly shows us his good grades as soon as he gets in the car!

He brought home a book last week that he had finished and I wanted to document it here in case it got lost at some point in the future!

Here's the cover -- Luke's Family

He did manage to put me in my fave color - blue - but somehow we are footless and I'm the only lucky one with hair!! Yay me!!

Translated - My whole family went to New York to see my grandparents. And just in case you thought that might be God looking down from the sky, you're wrong!! It's the Statue of Liberty surrounded by water!!

It rained everyday that we were there. Well, not exactly, but it kinda seemed like it at the time!!

My whole entire family that lives in New York went to Cooperstown. We went to the Hall of Fame. That is Uncle David in blue, the three older boys, and Scott in pink!!

Not a great picture...but he made a 100!! I think he might be an author someday!! And maybe an illustrator too!!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL??!?!!?

2009-09-13T18:32:00.004-05:00

Alex is playing some football!!

Last Tuesday was his first time on the field...for a scrimmage. He did well, though he slyly admitted afterwards that the only time his hands touched the ball was during warm-ups!! I think his main goal was to just make it through the game alive and intact, and that, he did!!

He has his first "real" game tomorrow and he's already informed me that he's not afraid of getting tackled or tackling someone else. My deductive reasoning tells me that perhaps he was afraid last week, but now, he's ready to play!! :)

Here's his good buddy, Reagan ...

Alex had to bring home all of his pads this weekend to get cleaned up and so Luke and Landry took full advantage of the opportunity to put on all of his gear! How cute are they in his stinky stuff??

And here's Luke wearing the nastiest pants and jersey EVER!!

It came and went so quickly!

2009-09-07T20:53:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend it was ... Labor Day Weekend '09!

Here it is in a nutshell (and in no particular order) --

. . . laundry (duh!!)

. . . Brewer Bear football . . . and a win, too!!

. . . Saturday morning trip to doctor resulting in one "hearing infection" for Mr. Luke

. . . Watching the very first Harry Potter movie (and beginning to read the fourth!)

. . . Washing the car

. . . Ironing at least 72 pieces of clothing (yes, I keep count. . . it's more rewarding that way!!)

. . . Church (another duh!)

. . . Swimming, for possibly the last time, this summer

. . . Spending some good time with the fam down in Granbury

. . . Shopping for my 7th grader who will play in his first-ever football game tomorrow. He must wear pants, a dress shirt, and a tie to school tomorrow!! Can't WAIT to see that!! He's gonna be so handsome!!

And while the weekend was great, we're ready for another great week! Bring it on!!

We are BREWER BEARS!!

2009-08-29T15:05:00.004-05:00

Last night I had the awesome privilege to go to the first game of the Brewer Bears football team! While normally, I would be happy to go and cheer on the team, last night was special because I got to sit in the super-nice VIP seats. These were up on the fourth floor with all of the important people. There was lots of food and drinks, and perhaps best of all, it was air-conditioned!! These seats were available to me because of the company that I keep!!

If you remember last Spring, two of my finest friends, Emily and Jenny, were awarded Teacher of the Year at the respective schools. One of the perks of that award is that they and a guest get to sit in the VIP seats at the first home game!! So...that's how we scored these great seats!!

The game was a great one! Even though we didn't win, the score was 50-something to 40-something so that meant a lot of touchdowns!! It was so fun to be up high screaming and rooting for the team!! Here's our view --

The quality of these pictures isn't great, but it was kind of difficult getting good pictures with glass there!!

Even Reagan and Alex managed to get up there with us for a few minutes!

All in all, it was a great game and loads of fun! There is so much spirit among the students and the community this year...makes for some good times, indeed!

Alex is playing some football!!

2009-08-29T14:52:00.006-05:00

Alex is one week into his life dream of playing football!!

And while I'm not sure it has lived up to every possible expectation he had of it, he's doing great and having a good time!

The hardest part is getting up at 5:45 to be at practice by 6:30! But they got their pads yesterday, so now they are bigtime!!

Before the first practice with pads, we had a little homework....the mouthpiece!!

I remember Ryan doing this when we were in high school. I thought maybe they would've come up with a more high-tech way of doing this in the last 20 years! Guess not!

We also had the privilege of having practice today, the first Saturday after the first week of school!! It was a short practice where parents were invited to stay and watch and then attend a meeting after practice. It was pretty cool to see the whole team dressed out and acting like a team already! Here he is running in a couple of drills. He's #55.

Check out the knees of his pants!!

It's gonna be a great season!!

Back to the School House 2009

2009-08-26T19:41:00.005-05:00

Monday morning came bright and early as our laid-back, sleeping-in, be-lazy summer came to a screeching halt!!

The 2009-2010 school year brings with it this unique opportunity -- all 4 boys are at 4 different schools!! How fun is that??!!? If my calculations are correct, that won't happen again!

Alex starts his day first with football practice. What we thought was a 7:00 start time has morphed into a be-on-the-field-at-6:50-stretching-and-in-all-your-pads!! He's been leaving at 6:15 but we may have to bump it up a bit!! Ouch!! The great thing is that he's having a great time! He likes football...every day has brought something new to look forward to. He also likes lunch where he has so many food choices and can sit where ever he wants!! It's the little things!! Here are he and Landry on the first day!! Notice the slight sunrise in the background!!

Parker started at the Intermediate school and is really loving it! He likes his teachers a lot and seems very pleased. He has a team of teachers that his cousin, Meagan, had when she was in 5th grade. That connection has already been made and he's loving life at the big school!! He didn't even want me to walk him in so this is the best I could do with the pic!!

Luke is in first grade and his teacher is Mrs. Ball!! How cool is that?? (Landry called her Mrs. Bald for the first couple of days!!) He's having a good week and is really excited that he gets to buy his lunch tomorrow!!

Landry actually went to school one day last week since they have to open when the teachers go back. We went ahead and took a first day picture then because he really felt like that was his first day!! He was so excited to take his new backpack that lights up and wear his new shoes!!

He has had a good week...seeing old friends, playing in centers, reading and coloring. I'm so glad he's so happy there. I thought it would be fun to revisit last year....remember this??

Not such a happy boy here!! But now?? All smiles!!

Here's to a great school year!!

Good-bye Summer '09

2009-08-23T19:54:00.003-05:00

To the Summer of 2009 --

You were a good one!! I don't think I'd ever looked forward to a summer like I did this one. Maybe it has something to do with working full-time???

Though it went by so fast, we had so much fun!! We swam, slid, tubed and got soaked at NRH2O. Our season passes proved to be more than a great value as we were there just about every week!!

We traveled across state lines to visit with family and that provided many new adventures. New York City was awesome, as were the subway and Yankee stadium.

We stayed up late and slept in late...more days than I care to admit!!

We shuttled Alex back and forth to Conditioning Camp and watched his BB guns turn into BIG guns!! Haha!! Not really, but he thinks so!!

Alex and Parker spent a week at Kids Camp and spent some time with Nana, Poppy, and Meagan on the Guadalupe River.

Luke spent some time with Nana, Poppy, and Lexie in Dallas.

Landry got a big boy haircut!

We went to visit the Great Wolf Lodge and had mucho fun there!!

We watched a lot of movies.

We spent a LOT of time together!!

And while I sometimes wish it would go on forever, sometimes I'm glad it doesn't!!

For right now, at 8:04 pm, everyone under the age of 13 is in bed and THAT is a great thing, indeed!

Good-bye Summer '09!

Welcome 09-10 School Year!!

A new, old friend

2009-08-15T23:00:00.003-05:00

Reagan is certainly no stranger to our family. He and Alex have grown up together and were great friends before they drew their first breaths!! But now Landry has taken Reagan as his new friend, and fast friends, they are!!

We've enjoyed a lot of time with the Rothenbergers this summer and it was worth it all when Landry declared the night this pic was taken....

Readan...you're my best tousin!!

Though there's no blood relation between them, you couldn't convince Landry that Reagan's not just another member of the family!!