Something new!

I started this post on Friday...then decided I didn't want to spend another minute on the computer and just left it alone! I love it!! :)

Before school, the kids and I all pile in about 2 minutes until 8:00. School starts at 8:20, but the drop-off line here is a bear. I would rather not fight it, so the kids and I get there just after 8:00. Yet, we still wait in about a 5 minute line.

Everyday we have just been sitting there...chit chatting, talking about what they are going to do...you know, kids to mom talk. Then it hit me. Why in the world am I not taking that time to pray with my kids before they start their day??

So, on Thursday we started praying in the car. The kids close their eyes and bow their heads and I pray over my babies (okay, they aren't babies anymore, but I can still say it) with my eyes open (I am driving in the drop-off lane) and it feels GREAT. Just a huge wave of relief comes over me after they got out of the car. Everyday. They know we love them and we pray with them every night before bed, but why not before they start out their day?

I have no idea why it has taken me 4 years of Grace's school career to do this, but I am so thankful that we do it now!

Friday was spirit day at the girls school. When we went to "Meet the Teacher" night, you could purchase school spirit shirts. They had already run out of Susie's size and hopefully they will be in next week. Until then, I made Susie her own, black and red spirit shirt, complete with "bling"...she was pretty proud of that shirt and I was excited that she liked it! :)


Last week was great. Sus is loving Kindergarten and Grace is thriving in 3rd grade (like we knew they would.) The GT teacher called this week and told me to get our "parent checklist" turned in quickly so that they could get her in the program ASAP....It looks like all of her test scores are great and she won't have to be re-tested!! Yes! They told us at first that she would have to come in on a Saturday and be totally re-tested because we are coming from another district. Thankfully, our old school district uses the same tests and she is good!
Parker has started to take an interest in my digital camera. He loves to take pictures...just thought I would show you some of his fine photography skills. He must take after his Papa James!


We had a great weekend. We really didn't do much, but it was nice to just be together after a crazy first week of school. Aaron and the kids were trying to make me breakfast in bed Saturday morning, but I woke up just as they were fixing my coffee, so I ate my food with them at the table. Love them! Grace and Aaron made me a David Cook CD for the car, too. They know how much I love Mr. Cook. :)

Yesterday we placed membership here at Cinco Ranch Church of Christ. We decided to quit being visitors and jump in and get busy being active members. Besides, we can only sit and do nothing for so long. It felt good to let everyone in the church know that we wanted to be a part of their family. Granted, it doesn't feel like "home" yet and I don't know when it will get to that point. It's just so hard leaving a place where you have family....I mean, a real church family. Legacy was that for us and we loved it. We hope that Cinco will be that for us and our kids. They are on their way. The kids are making friends and really love bible class. We are making friends, too. Don't get me wrong.

We had lunch with our friends, the Kleins. We are so thankful for them. They have 3 , super well behaved kids, that our children love. Honestly, I know that God sent both of our families to Cinco Ranch at the same time. It is so funny. They went to Harding the same time that I did and we didn't know each other. Yet, we know so many of the same people....Small world. We went over to their neighborhood pool and ate pizza for lunch after church. It was great. Easy, low key and great. We tried to go out to eat and the wait was going to be over an hour, so they just picked up some pizza and we just hung out by the pool.

We were leaving their house and were at the stop light outside of their neighborhood and we ran out of gas. Completely. It was so funny. We have never run out of gas. EVER. In 11 years of being married....Kyle bailed us out and I'm still laughing that we ran out of gas! :) So funny!

I just loved being able to talk to some of my friends last night on the phone. I really miss that connection, but know that we will always have it...it will just have to be through Skype and the phone. And that is fine with me!

Okay...enough jibber jabber....I'm off to play on the upstairs computer with Parker. He loves playing on Playhouse Disney. Tomorrow is his first day of pre-school here and he is sooo excited to go....The next question to answer is...what am I going to do tomorrow with a whole day to myself?? :)

It's her turn!!

Susannah is a Kindergartner!!

This morning was full of excitement and fun! Grace was ready for school before I could hardly turn around...Sus, on the other hand, is just like her mother and is a slow morning mover. They ate breakfast and went up to get dressed. I had to go up and check on Susie. She had put a t-shirt on under her dress because she was afraid her "girl parts" would show because her dress was too low. Okay, look at the pictures people...was not too low. Silly girl. I have made my girls paranoid with all of the tank tops that I wear under my dresses and low cut shirts! Oh well...better this than the opposite, I guess!




We were off and running early so we went outside to take the first day of school pictures. Okay...just kidding...those won't load right now. I'll get back to the outside ones later. Don't you love the way they are holding hands...yeah, didn't tell them to do it at all, but I love it just the same!! :) Aaron had to be at work early so I took lots of pictures for him to see the big day!

When we got to their school, we had to park a ways away and walk up. There was a line to get inside the school and we were more than 20 minutes early!! As soon as we got through the line, we started to the Kindergarten wing and Grace said, "I'll go on to my class!" and she was gone. That was it...Really. Gone. Man, WAY too fast for me!!

Parker and I walked Susie to her classroom and took the necessary 1st day of school pictures. You could tell she was ready for us to leave. Sus sat right down and got to work on her assignment and we were gone. That was it. I started to think about tearing up leaving her behind in that huge school (the school's here are WAY too big for my liking, but that is another post so I'm not getting on my soap box just yet) and then Parker wanted me to pick him up. He hugged my neck really hard and said, "It's okay, Parker is here." and he patted me on the back. Love that little man.

Susie is was acting like she was so ready for this day and I'm pretty sure she is...I just don't know how I'm doing with all of this quiet. Just me and Parkerman. WOW! Well...off to jump on the trampoline and have fun with him before it's his first day of Kindergarten. Grace and Susie's went by too fast as I'm sure his will too. Gotta take every fun time while I can!!

Mom of the year...HA!

So, most of you know....we are new in town. We found out we were moving right before Parker's birthday so we decided NOT to take he and Grace in for their Birthday Well Checks until we moved here. That way, we would have a dr. and get the well checks all taken care of in one swoop. They both have summer birthdays (11 days apart) so usually they go together for their check.

We went yesterday. They were super nice but a little confused. Yeah, it seems that Susie was behind on her shots...WAY behind. How in the world did I not get Susie her shots last year? I have no earthy idea. Really. I was trying to think of what I was doing at the end of Sept. last year (her birthday, when we go for her well checks) and I have not a clue why I didn't take her in for her shots. That just makes a gal feel great.So, because of this mindless mommy, Susie got 4 shots PLUS her Flu shot yesterday. I felt so bad for her! Grace and Parker just got the flu shot and checked out. Poor little Sus...I am totally surprised that she could even walk out of there with all of the pokes in her legs!

An immediate trip to Sonic was in store for all of the great shot troopers and their mother of the year! Let's just hope I remember their shots next year. Tonight we are all off to "Meet the Teacher" night for Grace and Susie. Let's just hope that Susie can walk on her own into the front door of the school.

11 years? It feels like just yesterday!!

This past weekend Aaron and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. Okay, it feels like I just blinked and then we were married for 11 years!! It just goes by in the blink of an eye. All of those people at our wedding were not kidding when they told us that so many years ago! I love you, Aaron and I'm so thankful that you have put up with me all of these crazy years...here is to 70 more!! he he he!

Grace made it home from camp. She loved it. She came home with stories from canoeing and getting stuck and being super excited that she got mail and a package at camp! I was glad to have all of my little chicks back in their nest. We picked her up Friday afternoon and Aaron flew home on Friday night.

Aaron thought he was being sneaky Saturday morning when we were lying in bed and he tells me that it is 10:30. YIKES! I hopped out of bed and ran to the shower. Grace had a scheduled eye dr. appt. at 11:30 so we had to get on the ball. Yeah right. I put in my contacts (I'm soo blind without them in) and took a shower. After I'm fully awake and walk into the bedroom and look at the clock. It was 8:00 AM! I had gotten up before 8:00 on a Saturday morning!!! Oh the drama! :)

We had choc. chip pancakes for breakfast and then started hanging pictures around the house. We have only a few left to do and then most everything will be done around here. We'll finish this weekend. I took Grace to the eye doctor. Ends up that she has her mommy's eyes and will be getting her glasses at the end of the week. Not real happy about that. Really. She was so disappointed about it until I told her that Aunt Jess has glasses and then it wasn't so uncool.

We came home...ate...just hung out. Then all 3 kids come running up to me in their swimsuits and yell, "Happy Anniversary, mom! We are going to the beach!!" It was so sweet. They packed a cooler full of junk food and sandwiches for dinner and we got in the car to go to Galveston Beach.
This time we drove a different direction down the beach and it made all the difference. We went to Jamaica Beach. It was great!! We had the beach almost to ourselves. I loved it. We ate our dinner out there, had so much fun playing in the waves and the sand. It was the perfect way to spend our 11th anniversary.

Missing Grace!!

Grace is at camp this week! We really wanted her to go to Camp Takodah in Arkansas, but with the move and the sessions and the way they worked....well, it just didn't work out this summer. BUT! The first Sunday that we went to Cinco Ranch, Grace saw that the kids were going to camp and really wanted to go. My first thought, "I don't know ANY of these people and I don't even know if I want to go to church here!" But, it's church camp and alas...she is there this week and I'm sure she is having a blast! On Monday morning, Parker runs in my bedroom at 7:30 am..."MOMMY! Where is Grace?" He was quite worried about his big sister and the fact that she was not home to cuddle with him and then turn on the TV!! He can't wait for her to come home tomorrow and neither can I!!

Parker loves to be with Grace. They are quite the pair...I have countless pictures just like this one. He will sit and watch her play the DS and wait his turn! Of course, now he doesn't have to wait quite as long. Susie and Parker put their birthday money together and bought their own Nintendo DS. Aaron told them that they had to agree on a color (we thought they would argue about this for sure!) Literally, one minute later they came back with their decision. "We want the pink one, Mommy!" said Parker. PINK?? For my little boy. Come to find out, he just wanted a DS...he didn't care what color it was!! Smart guy. We bought a black Nerf cover for it anyway, so you really can't even see the pink.

I had to document all of the moving boxes...there was still another stack just as tall on the other side of the dining room and we gave a stack away to a friend and had the garage full of the boxes full of the packing paper! The moving guy who came to pick them up said that we had over 200....WOW! And we thought that we were pretty good at not keeping stuff! :) It is really nice to have everything unpacked. This next week is full of doctor appts, meet the teacher night and going to bed earlier to get ready for school to start!!

The kids all left for camp on Sunday morning before church in a big school bus!! Yikes!! I was a little shocked at that...I thought when they said chartered bus, it meant, you know, nice and big charted bus. A big yellow dog was not what I ever pictured...that made me a little leery, but I guess I'm over it now...

Aaron and Grace waiting to get on the bus...She was so excited to go to camp!!

She waved at us right before they left and then stuck her little nose in a book and didn't see all of us waving as they pulled out!! She does like to read!! We know she is having fun at Camp Bandina and but we can't wait for them to pull up in the church parking lot tomorrow afternoon!!

The beach

A little background here...Aaron is from Florida, well, mainly. He grew up around some VERY beautiful beaches in Destin. I went to high school in Tallahassee, Florida. I too, spent much time at some very pretty beaches. Aaron and I both LOVE the beach. Have we been in the past 5 years? No. Have we wanted to go? Oh my word! YES! We miss the beach and the fun times in the sun. The last time we went to the beach with the whole family, Susie was 9 months old and we were in Destin for Aaron's 10 year high school reunion. Yes, Susie will turn 6 in September so it has been awhile. She obviously does not remember the beach.

Parker has never been to the beach and then Grace was like what, 5 years old when we went last? Who knows? It has just been a stinkin' long time. So with that, we decided that we should take the kids to Galveston. I mean really, we aren't that far from there. Right? Wrong! We forgot to take into account Houston I-45 traffic. OH. MY. WORD! But, you know us, no big! Grace read a book, Sus and Parker slept. It was a nice (really nice) break from the unpacking of boxes and I wasn't driving so I was GREAT!! :)

We drove to Stewart Beach. You pay $8 to go in and park on the public beach. I have never and I repeat NEVER been to such a crowded beach. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there! I think everyone in Houston decided to go to the beach on Saturday. I mean who could blame them though. It was a beautiful day! Not too hot, there was a great breeze and we loved it!

The kids LOVED the beach. REALLY! They must have some of us in them for sure...they were begging to go back before we even pulled out of the parking lot! They jumped over waves and made sandcastles with their little hands. There wasn't a minute that they were not having fun and for that I am so thankful.

Galveston may not be the most beautiful beach in my eyes, but in my kids eyes it was on Saturday! So, when are you going to come down for a visit??? The kids want to go back and explore some other beaches that Galveston has for us to all see!

Walking out to the beach!!

Feeling the water...testing it out for the first time.

Here we go!!

Parker worked on this sandcastle for the longest time. I have never seen that little guy so intent on finishing something like that in his little life! It was so neat to watch his creation just using his hands and sand. Such a fun time, for sure!!

Things are getting a little back to normal...

You can tell when things are getting back to normal in our house. I get time to blog again! Well...not really, I should be unpacking the few boxes left in my room, but who wants to unpack boxes when you can play on the computer? Here are some pictures from the last week with the move and all. I just realized that there are no pics of the kids in their new rooms. Guess I better get on that one!

Grace was at a friend's house in Ft. Worth when I took this picture...the kids were watching their stuff get loaded on the truck and wanted to see where all of their toys were! :)

In front of the new house...waiting for Aaron to come back with the key so we can go inside!!

Susie and Parker loved playing in all of the boxes that will hopefully all be gone on Thursday when the moving company comes by to pick all of the empty ones up!! What am I doing on the computer when I have a deadline...oh yeah, putting thing off. I am so good at that!

Me and the kids in the bed at the hotel the night before we closed on the new house....we were all cuddled up watching Hannah Montana, I think. By that time, I was so tired, I just wanted to crash!

It is official. We are in the house and the dress up clothes have been unpacked. We are ready for company!! Go supers!!

Empty House, full heart!

I'm sitting on a blow-up mattress in our kitchen, writing from Aaron's laptop. The movers have come, packed up all of our stuff and have gone and the house is now empty. The kids spent the night with good friends and are with them today while we clean here at the house. The carpet cleaner men are here right now so I'm trying to stay out of their way...yes, I can blog!! :)

I just want to say a "Internet thank-you" to all of our friends and church family that have gone way above and beyond the call of duty the past few weeks. I KNOW we could not have done this move without them. We love ya'll so much and are so thankful for such a loving church family. We've had some wonderful send-offs from friends and our small group....tomorrow is our last day with our family at Legacy Church of Christ. Man, that is going to be a hard one.

I'm going to go and wash some windows now...the carpets guys are out of this room and I can get up!!

We may have an empty house, but our hearts are full of love for all our friends!!

Love ya'll, Mean it!

Denial....

I think that is the state that I am. Denial...not Texas.

I keep hearing people talk but I have just been putting all the "miss you" comments in the back of my head and not really hearing them because I just don't want to think about it. Really, I don't. Tomorrow the movers come to pack up the house. Today is my last day with my things in our house. Our house that we picked out to raise our kids in, the house that we picked out to have people over for dinner and pool parties (the pool was coming in next summer). And I really know it's not about the house and the things. If anyone knows that...it is us. Really, I could care less about our stuff...it's not that great in the first place....really, with 3 kids we are not into "stuff."

Goodness, I'll have all of these things when we get to Houston. I think it is all of the things that I wanted to do in this house with my kids and our family HERE. I know, I'm thinking selfish but this is about the time that I break down in the moving process and for some stinkin' reason (you FRIENDS!! :) ) it is so much incredibly harder this time than it has ever been. Watching the kids with their friends at church here is what makes it all so hard for me. I know that is what is making it so hard with this move. Our kids have never been old enough to have those "best friends" that they will actually miss. Looking at them and wanting them to have those relationships when they go to high school and college...ugh!

I know, I'm being a baby now, but it's my turn to cry and then I'll be done until we get in the car on Sunday. At that point, I think I will cry all the way out of town. I know the kids will meet other kids and life will go on. I do. I'm not a moving rookie. I've been though it before. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.....

This time it just hurts. Plain and simple. I love our church family here so much and it just hurts to go. Our lives and relationships are centered at our church and I love that. At any given time, I can come back go to church and see everyone that I want to see here in the big city. And I love that. We will find a new church in our new city....right now it just hurts to leave here. I know God has a plan and I'm all for it. Just right now, I want to cry and be sad for a little bit.

Love ya'll....Mean it.

The birthday girl!!

Today Grace turns 8!! She is growing up so very fast and having such a wonderful time while she does it!! :) We will celebrate her birthday on Monday night with some of her good buddies from church with a Nancy Drew Mystery Party here at home. She is planning almost all of it herself so she is very excited. Grace shares a birthday with one of our favorite babysitters, Jenna! Jenna turns 18 today! :)We went with Jenna's family this past Monday night to Dallas to eat at the Magic Time Machine. It was great...well, other than our waiter. At the Magic Time Machine you get to sit in a certain booth...we got the Elvis Booth, full of Elvis records, posters and pictures. The kids really wanted to sit in the bus or the space shuttle but they were already taken up.

Oh, back to our waiter. All of the waiters are different characters....why in the world we didn't get Snow White or Ariel, I have no idea. He was a nice Devil...I guess. The next time I will ask for someone else, though. Several comments that the kids didn't have a clue about but oh my word....not real appropriate!
It was a fun time, but today for her real birthday we just went to the local water park with friends. It was great but now we are all worn out! Only one week until the movers come to pack the house up...it's coming up way too fast for me, for sure.