3rd Grade Bibles

Today at church, all the 3rd graders got their first Bibles. In the Methodist Church, when you enter into the 3rd grade, it is a time when you know how to read so they give you a Bible of your own to read. It's a learning Bible. There must have been 50 3rd graders it was awesome.

Allison getting her Bible.

Saturday - Trip to The Woodlands

Yesterday, Christy, Kendall, Mom, Allison, Alex and I all loaded up in Christy's Suburban and went to The Woodlands to do a little shopping, carousel riding and just spend time out of College Station. Bill and Chris were at the first game, it was just too hot to take the kids to the game, so instead of sitting around the house all day, we had a day of shopping. We went to Sammoon and then to The Woodlands Mall. The kids had a blast riding the carousel! After riding the carousel, Alex got a haircut and then we went shopping for Allison, she was in real need for new dress shoes and dresses. We had so much fun until all the kids and Mom got tired. I think Christy and I could have gone a couple of more hours, no biggie when it comes to shopping.

Kendall and Allison at Sammoon.
Alex, Kendall and Allison looking at the water fountain outside The Woodlands Mall. I thought this was a cute picture.

Alex after his haircut. He's so handsome.

Our Newest Baby - Belle

We are so excited about our new addition! We adopted a 2 month old kitten yesterday from the animal shelter. We surprised the kids after school with a trip to the animal shelter to "see" if we could find a perfect kitty for our family. As you can see we did. This was the first kitty Allison saw and immediately said, "this is the one." As parents we weren't so sure, but this kitty laid on Allison and all of us when we held her, very sweet, perfect for us. She is a white calico tabby. We get to bring her home on Tuesday after our vet does her little girl surgery. Apparently, the animal shelter is really strict about that and will not let anyone take a pet home unless they cannot make babies. We were very fortunate our vet was on their list to do the procedure, we have a wonderful vet here. Her bed is ready, Allison just informed me.

Allison and Belle at the animal shelter.

Allison, Belle and Alex.

F-16's Fully Loaded

Bill was reading on a website today, we were going to have F-16's fly over tomorrow for the game and they were going to be parked at the airport. He loves airplanes, so after lunch we headed out to the airport looking for the planes but could not find them.....we did see Arkansas State getting off their plane. Not a show stopper. After we picked the kids up from school, we went back by to the airport looking again, obvisouly not satisfied the first time, we drove around to the backside of the airport by the fire school and there they were parked in the very back corner. Bill flew out of the car with the camera in hand and here's the proof.....
I guess we will be going to the airport the day before each home game.

Swim Team Practice - It's begun

This year we gave Allison a choice to do an activity or just come home after school. She liked swim team so much, she wanted to continue into the fall. She is swimming for Aggie Swim Club and tonight was the first night to swim. The pool she is supposed to be swimming at had pump issues, so they moved the practice to A&M Natatorium. This place was so cool, I just had to take a few pictures. By the way, Allison thought it was cool at first, then....she got into the cold water, she changed her mind. Apparently, A&M does not heat the pool like the pool she's been swimming in. Who knows how long this will actually last but at least she's getting some great coaching.

The First Day Of School - August 25, 2008

Wow, we are now big 1st and 3rd graders. I can't express how we feel in our house. It's going by way too fast, I guess that means, we are having fun and enjoying life. :-) Alex did wonderful this morning, he feel asleep around 7:30p.m. last night and I still had trouble waking him up at 6:40a.m. this morning. Allison got up, got dressed and was ready. They both looked so cute. When we got to school, Alex went right into his classroom, sat down and started playing play-doh (the fun of 1st grade). Allison also went right in, looked through her desk and took an inventory, inspecting everything, don't want anyone taking our stuff. They were awesome.
Allison's teacher is Mrs. Jones and she is beyond wonderful, we just adore her, she's perfect with Allison's personality. Alex's teacher is Mrs. Schmitt and she is also wonderful. I already knew Alex's teacher and know he's going to have a great year with her.
Bill and I still cannot believe we have one in 1st and one in 3rd. Taking Alex to 1st grade was really weird, we had just been in that hall for the first time 2 years ago with Allison and now taking Alex to the same hall was mind boggling. Allison moving to the opposite side of the school building and being one of the older kids in the school was also mind boggling. The only word I can use to express our feelings are, wow, oh my gosh....they are growing up way to fast.

Allison and Alex on the 1st Day of School.

Alex standing outside of his 1st Grade Classroom.

Alex sitting at his table in his classroom.

Allison standing outside her 3rd Grade Classroom.

Allison sitting at her desk in her classroom.

Our Big Weekend

Dad came into town on Thursday night, but we didn't get together until Friday at lunch. We all went to Johnny Carino's and the kids couldn't get enough of the their PaPa. They crawled and played all over him. They really miss him when he's not here. Allison and Alex have figured out what retirement is and spent pretty much the entire time asking him when it would be. Never know.

Eating at Johnny Carino's.

On Friday night, Dad came over and played Wii with Allison. Check out the bunny slippers.

Saturday night we got together again and went to Chuck E Cheese's for dinner and games.

Dad and Allison riding the rollercoaster game.

Mom and Alex riding the rollercoaster game.

Alex and Mom playing another game.

After spending Friday and Saturday night playing with Dad and Mom, we all went to church Sunday morning then grabbed a bite to eat and then said our Good-Bye's to Dad.

Saturday Afternoon

On Saturday afternoon, we all piled back in the car and headed back to Houston. We went to see Allison's best friend Morgan in a program. After we saw Morgan perform, we ate lunch then hit the new outlet mall on 290. We did a little last minute shopping before school begins tomorrow. Boys are so easy, shirt, shorts, socks, and new tennies: Girls - wow that's all I can say, 4 pairs of shoes and multiple outfits with hair everything to match. Love it!!!!!!

Allison and Morgan posing for a picture with their new outfits at Limited Too.

Another Lost Tooth

On Wednesday Allison lost another tooth. She was so excited. We now have been visited by the Tooth Fairy 3 times this summer. Alex lost 2 teeth and Allison lost 1. Wow, the Tooth Fairy's been busy at our house!

The tooth she lost was the bottom left corner, it's a big tooth.

Watch The Count Down - Allison's Birthday

12 Years Is Fast Approaching......

A New Friend

The fun of living in the country brings a new friend just about everyday. If it's not the deer running across the front yard or the bunnies and squirrels trying to escape the furious dogs, then it would be a little reptile who has made his home on our front porch. A baby lizard has joined the family. If it were up to Alex the lizard would be in his room sleeping with him, but since a lizard is a creature from God, his home is outside in nature (that's what we have to tell Alex when he finds a living creature we do not want in the house). We discovered him on Sunday morning sandwiched between two pillows I have on the porch swing out front. Allison was able to catch him and return him to the Crepe Myrtle by the porch, she thought this would be a nice home since it's covered in flowers right now. Later in the day, Bill and I were working on a flower bed and our little friend returned on the opposite side of the porch, so we now convinced the lizard is here to stay.

U-Paint It - A Friday Afternoon

The week has been quite boring around here. It's been hot and it rained one day, so we just stayed home. Since the kids have been so good playing and helping around the house, I rewarded them with a trip to U-Paint It. U-Paint It is a pottery painting store you paint the piece or in our case, pieces, and then they fire them for you.

Last night I told the kids I had a surprise for them today, I gave them a few clues but never told them where I was taking them. This morning they both wanted to know where we were going, all I said was get dressed, make your beds and we will go. Surprisingly they got dressed and made their beds, the surprise was on me now!! AHHHH...The dream came true, the kids are self sufficient. :-) We had a few errands to run and get lunch before the surprise would be revealed. There was a constant guessing game going on in the back seat but I kept quiet. After the fun of guessing wore off, the frustration set in, I told them I would drive by the place on our way to eat lunch. As we are driving down the street U-Paint It is located on, I was watching them look out the windows, Allison never looked at the store, but spotted another store she recognized on the other sided of the street, putting two and two together, she said, "I figured it out, we are going to U-Paint It!"

Alex's patience and concentration with painting is getting a lot better. Allison just loves anything art, so she was happy and content the entire time, meticulously picking out color and making sure the pieces looked exactly like she had envisioned. I always have to paint something, usually I pick something the kids can leave their mark on, but today I picked a pumpkin that said Gig'Em, it's cute, but forgot to take a picture of it, that will be a follow-up blog.

Allison starting to work on her Kitty Keepsake Box

Alex concentrating very hard on his Cowboy Boot, check out his tongue.

The finished products.
Allison painted a mouse and a keepsake box. Alex painted a cowboy boot and an alligator.

What to do on a Sunday night?

The kids are starting to get antsy about school starting, so to break up the evening, the kids helped me in the kitchen bake a cake (yellow our favorite) and make vanilla pudding with homemade whipped cream, yummy! Whatever Allison will eat, I will fix, even if it's fattening for the rest of us. Allison is getting really good at reading recipes, using measuring spoons and measuring cups. She has learned a lot about fractions and measurement just by helping in the kitchen. I use pasturized eggs, so the kids love licking everything that has batter on it. It was hilarious, Allison stuck her entire head in the bowl.

Check out the kids aprons, they are wearing their artwork. They are so proud of them. Allison's picture is of a drawing of her room. Alex's picture is one of the monsters from the story "Where the Wild Things Are". Too cute!MixingGreasing the pan.

Enjoying the batter.

NASA

Today, we headed back to Houston. We took the kids to NASA for the second time this summer. We have family passes, so we don't have to do everything in one day and it has gives us the opportunity to come back whenever we want. Bill has a job 10 minutes from NASA so it works out perfectly, he checks on his job then we head over to Houston Space Center(the visitor center to NASA). It's a fun educational place to take the kids. We love Rocket Park, it is our absolute favorite place to visit at NASA. Rocket Park is where one of the Saturn 5 Rockets is on display. It is an amazing site to see something so big lying on it's side. On this trip we saw a movie How to be an Astronaut and then went to Rocket Park. We also spent more time learning about the rockets that are going to take us back to the moon: Aries I and Aries V. At Rocket Park they have a time line hanging on the wall depicting the Apollo progrm and I was able to read the events that took place in chronological order, very interesting. We enjoyed this trip because we didn't rush to see everything and we took more time to teach the kids, it was fun. At the entrance to the Space Center

We are waiting for the movie to start and Allison was practicing taking pictures with her camera. Not bad.

Bill, Alex and Allison standing by the Saturn 5 Rocket

Sitting by the Saturn 5

Family Wii Night

Thursday night, after going to the pool, it was time to play a little Wii Sports. Well, let's just say Allison is pretty good at Wii and there was full on competition between Bill and Allison. Usually, you let your child win, oh no, not Allison, she's good. They played golf, bowling, tennis, baseball, boxing and then they played Wii Play. Allison is very competitive, but a good loser. When she loses she figures out how to win, she doesn't give up until she's got a strategy figured out. She killed Bill in tennis, which as hilarious. She has figured out how to move the controller a special way and serve the ball so fast, you don't even have time to swing your controller. She's so proud of her tennis moves, a little evil laugh comes along with the the I beat you dance. Since I was to tired too play and had to get up early Friday morning, I watched them play and mediated the arguments between the kids. Alex hasn't really gotten into video games yet....he likes Wii Play and is really good at the Fishing game, it's easy and a lot of fun for him, good for his age level. Allison and her bowling moves. She had 3 strikes in a row with her "special" swing.

Bill and Allison getting ready to Box.

FINALLY!

Yeah....it's time to celebrate at our house.....it's finally done! No, I did not just graduate. I finally had my diploma framed! After 12+ years I finally broke down. Micheal's was running a 1/2 price on the total framing job and I took advantage of it. It is now hanging in the kids playroom, which is really a reading room with the kids crafts stuff in it. I took all our A&M artwork and hung it on the walls in this room, so the diploma's fit in perfectly. I am not only proud of being an A&M graduate but now the proof is hanging on the wall of my accomplishment. Now the kids will stop asking me, "Mommy where's your diploma? Daddy's diploma is hanging on the wall, did you graduate too?" It's sad when a almost 9 and 6 year old don't believe you graduated from college.

Bill's on the left and mine is on the right

Back to the Pool

Christy and Kendall joined us today at the pool. Kendall is 2 1/2, loves the water and loves the kids. It was hot but they had a blast. Kendall went down the slide over and over again with Allison. Allison loved playing with Kendall, she played with her the entire time we were at the pool.

Allison, Kendall and Alex getting ready to go down the slide.

Playing in the pool.

Kendall posing.

Christy and Kendall