First Day of School!!!

Just found this unfinished post that I started awhile back, so figured now was a good time to finally finish and post it. Better late than never I suppose!

TJ packing his lunch the night before the first day of school. This was also his first assignment- to bring a picture of himself doing something to get ready for school and then they shared it with the class.

Very sleepy kids at breakfast!!!


Now a little more awake and ready to go...

Alli couldn't let TJ have the spotlight to himself.

Showing off his Star Wars backpack and lunch bag.

I always love the pictures of Daddy walking them in.

Posing together in front of the school.

We dropped Alli off with her class in the gym and then headed down the hall to TJ's classroom!

At his seat excited that it is his turn to start kinder this year!

He did great and never seemed worried or concerned (that didn't come until week 2). It certainly helped that he had Alli's kinder TJ from last year. He already knew and felt comfortable with her! And she loves him too (God is so good!)

So, after hanging around for 5 or 10 minutes, Dwaine and I looked around and realized we were the only parents left, so decided it was time for us to leave too! Even though I knew he would do great, It's hard to walk away 'cause I just want to watch and see everything he does.

Chilling with Daddy after a long first day at school.

And no, we didn't break the thumb-sucking habit before kinder, but he says he doesn't do it at school. You better believe it hits his mouth as soon as we get in the car though. Oh well, I don't suppose he'll do it forever. I'm certainly not going to stress about it.

Green Eyed Planet

Alli's first ALPHA (Advanced Learning Program for High Achievers) project... All year, they will be learning about the 20th century (big stuff for a 1st grader). She came home with the giant green glasses and instructions to decorate them with anything having to do with the 20th century. She really wanted to learn more about the Hindenburg blimp and kept talking about that. Daddy had the idea to expand on that a little and follow the advances in flight through the 2oth century. We were told it was a family project, so the 3 of us teamed up on it and this was the end result. I think we make a great team if I do say so myself! Now we just have to type up a report and help her remember all the info so she can present it!! Really wish I could be there to see the presentation :-)

My Belly at 23wks!

This is the fun part of the pregnancy- feeling little kicks and punches, but not yet huge and uncomfortable. This baby does not seem to be quite as active as the first two were in utero unless maybe that is still to come :-)

By the looks of my love handles (Dwaine grabbed one the other day and asked if I had a baby there too) and the widening of my rear end, I'm guessing girl, but I suppose I could be wrong. And no, Dwaine is not in trouble for his comment- he meant in in a fun loving way and I laughed 'cause it really does look like it sometimes. I have started taking long walks in the mornings to keep it at bay though. Chili must think he won the lottery with all the walks he's been getting to go on now that the kids are in school!

Jellystone Park and SeaWorld!!

We recently had a chance to spend a couple days with the Westinghouse family as they were vacationing at Jellystone Park on Canyon Lake. We went out to spend a day with them at the Park...

The kids on the giant jumping pillow- Autumn, TJ, Alli, & Shelby. I tried getting some cute action pics but they came out blurry.

After jumping on the pillow- Alli covered in sand and dust and Autumn after she took a little swim in her clothes. They still look adorable. Steph and I took the kids to the pool right after this and let them all jump in fully clothed to get all that dust off of them before we had to drive home. People probably thought we were a little crazy!

A couple days later, they drove into San Antonio to spend the day at Sea World so we met them there. It was hot, hot, hot so we let the kids ride one ride then we hit the water park and that's where we hung out all day.

My big boy riding the Shamu coaster solo. Shelby does not like roller coasters so she did not join the kids on this one.

Alli and Autumn in the front seat!!

Lots of fun posing with all the Sea World characters. Poor Steph was standing in line for food for a solid 30 minutes so we had plenty of time to get cute pics of the kids.

On stage with Shamu. Autumn was all about striking a pose.

It was a super fun day!!!!

Last Days of Summer Break

Squeezing the last bit of fun out of summer during the week before school...

Playing with the water hose on the back porch. It's pretty bad when it's so hot and dry that the kids want to stay on the porch in the shade and away from the crunchy grass to play with the hose.

Floating pecan shell boats in the stream of water.


Somehow the water play turned into making mud pies. This girl is not afraid to get dirty. Unfortunately it made a terrible mess of the porch and a big mud hole where there used to be grass next to the porch. That's going to take some repair work (sounds like a fall project).

Then we took a trip to Fiesta Farms- a little petting zoo right down the road from us. I've always wanted to check it out but had never gotten around to it- better late than never! This baby goat greeted us when we got there.
Piglets!!! They were so stinkin' cute. They had signs: "pot bellied pigs for sale $150." It was hard to resist, but I know Dwaine would NOT have been happy about that and I'm sure I would regret the decision shortly afterward too :-)
Alli feeding the sheep and goats.
More piglets!!! And these were way tinier- only 5 days old. I was way more excited about them than the kids were, but I just couldn't get over how ridiculously cute they were.
2 pony rides were included with admission too! So fun.
This was the biggest horse Alli has ever ridden- there was one bigger and she really wanted to ride it, but she didn't get a chance. We may have to take her for a trail ride on a full sized horse sometime.
More pics of the piglets- they looked way cuter in person and I kept trying to capture it.
Our little goat again. He was 2 or 3 mos old and apparently his mom didn't make enough milk for him so they had been bottle feeding him.

Alli named him but I can't remember what the name was- I'll have to ask her when she gets home from school.

Thanks to Alli- I actually made it into a picture!

Feeding the bunnies!

They had a little playground too with seesaws and a tire swing that the kids enjoyed playing on...

Alli fell in love with this dog....

She was super sweet and would just sit outside the fences of all the different animal pens and watch over them.
Is that not the most adorable thing. She must have sat next to that dog for 10 or 15 minutes straight. They were just loving on each other.
Holding a chicken- I know it looks a little like she smashing it, but she was really being pretty gentle.
TJ with one of the chicks.

The kids had a blast and would have wanted to stay longer but we had to bolt when it started to get unbearably hot. They kept asking when we would get to go back and talking about how big the baby goat would be next time we see it. But I'm thinking with both of them being school, it's not likely we will be back anytime soon- maybe next summer!

TJ's 5th Birthday!!!!

TJ is 5!!!!! I can't believe it. It just doesn't seem possible...

The gift Alli picked out and wrapped and decorated for him- that's some kind of Star Wars aircraft and 2 SW men with light sabers. He asked daily for about a week or two when he would get to open these presents. He is very persistent.

Enjoying cupcakes that Aunt April prepared for the birthday boy. They happened to be in town for a trip to Fiesta, TX on his birthday. We passed on joining them at the park- I didn't think I could handle the heat, but we enjoyed lots of fun with them at the house.




Yummy sprinkle cupcakes!!!
And that's one of the lego sets he got to pick out from Aunt April at Target!

Celebrating with cousins Maddy and Lainey!!

Now for the big birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. He was certain after seeing the CEC party commercials that he wanted to have his party there and couldn't wait to do the ticket blaster. For some reason I never thought a CEC party sounded like a very good idea, but that's what he wanted, so that's what he got. It turned out to be great and he absolutely loved the whole thing. I am really glad we did it on a friday and not a saturday though- that place is crazy on Saturdays- still don't think I would ever do that.

The whole party crowd minus a couple who must have been playing games. TJ's cousins Cade and Gavin even drove out from Katy which was exciting. TJ thinks they are super cool 'cause they like Star Wars and they are his only boy cousins. And Alli got to invite a friend so she wouldn't be the only girl at the party.

TJ with best buds Grant and Jake.

And cousins Cade and Gavin- handsome blondie boys!

I outsourced the cake to a sandwich shop/bakery in Boerne and I think it turned out great- super delish too! This may be the end of my cake baking and decorating :-)

The birthday King

The birthday boy and Alli with Chuck E.

And the long awaited Ticket Blaster...

He got to pick one person to come in with him, so of course he picked big sis Alli! He had received lots of coaching (from mommy and daddy) and knew exactly what to do. He stuffed tickets everywhere. So much fun!

We love you so much TJ!! You are so full of life and energy. You love being silly and "tricking" people and keep us laughing lots. You can often be found hiding around the corner waiting to jump out and scare us. You are a very deep thinker asking philosophical questions that are beyond your years. You love to snuggle up while watching TV and give the biggest, best, tightest hugs ever. One of your favorite things is rastling with dad- you never get tired of it. You love to swim, fish, drive your gator, swing and you're a great shot with your bb gun. The ranch is one of your favorite places and you never pass up a chance to go. You bring so much joy to our lives and I can't wait to watch you as you continue to grow!!!