Christmas Show and Tell at Dance

Kate loves dance! I love dance! Monday was her "show and tell". We got to sit inside the class and see eevrything they learned this semester.

Kate and her new friend, Olivia, got Perfect Attendance awards.

They had no idea what that meant!!

Daddy came from work to watch ... and she kept looking back to see him there!

And she kept talking to him during their performances.

And she kept smiling at him!

He is her favorite person on this earth ... mine, too!

Mrs. Lynn and Mrs. Jeanne are the most precious teachers!! We adore them!

to ballet, tap and tutus ...

Catchin' Up

Caleb was a carpenter from the 1700s in his living history project at school. He loved sharing with all of the classes about his trade.

We enjoyed a wonderful week away before Thanksgiving. We went to Austin for a few days, took Kate to her first Aggie game in College Station and enjoyed seeing family.

view from Mt. Bonnell in Austin

swimming at the hotel

room service for dinner - one of the kids favorite parts of the week

the State Capitol

Kate's first Aggie game with her cousins

our seats were above the birds - literally

Kate was in a Thanksgiving program - too cute! She kept pointing and winking at Chris - and mouthing "Hi Daddy! You're here!!" Yes, I was there also but ... well ... Dad rules in our house right now!

on to the holidays ...

Veteran's Day -Patrick Henry

Caleb's class performed a Veteran's Day program for the entire school and a large group of veterans. He was Patrick Henry and did a super job.

Give me liberty or give me death ... way to go Caleb!

Trick or Treat

The entire family enjoyed a pumpkin carving party and neighborhood trick or treating! We had Mattie the dog-ballerina, Josh the Aggie football player (wearing the same helmet his Dad trick or treated in as a child), Caleb the hunter(and yes, I let him put on some scars as if attacked by a bear) and Kate the angel.

We were blessed to have both set of parents come in for Grandparents Day at our school!
to Fall!

Eight Years Old

Eight years ago today our family was blessed by the birth of Joshua Matthew. We would have never guessed how funny, how tender-hearted, how dramatic, how smart he would be ... I thank God for him and for the joy he has brought to us! Happy Birthday, Josh!

We had a flag football with our classmate, Tyler! They had a blast.

Happy Birthday to the JTrain! We love you!

October ... already?!?

Kate got her face painted before an Aggie game.

Josh running out for a pass.

Caleb at quarterback.

with my boys on Game Day

Kate and Champ (her favorite part of the Grace games)

We have been so busy with school, flag football, dance, preschool, Aggie games, Cougar games and lots of volunteering lately. I had a blast meeting Dominique Dawes (Olympic gold medal gymnast) who was very inspiring and cute as a bug! The boys love football. Caleb plays quarterback for half of the game and loves it! Josh is loving defense and making tackles (pulling flags). They both claim they are ready for tackle football next year ... don't think so!!! Kate is thriving in school and dance! She loves dance more than anything she has ever done ... she is so obedient and pays attention to every move the teacher makes. So far we have learned to tick-tock (shuffle) in tap, a few positions and point in ballet and to bear crawl and roll in the tumbling portion. They have fun songs and extras like the parachute or bean bags during each class ... it is adorable!

to cooler weather and football season and family ...

Dance

Kate loves, loves, loves her dance class. Most of the pics are blurry because I take them through a glass window ... here is our trying everything on picture. She ended up wearing pink tights (instead of the nude tights) with this little purple dress because "it's pretty and matches!" I don't know about the matching portion but we had fun!!

Kate is the one in purple with her back to the camera ... a natural!!
She puts on "pretend" glue to keep her hands on her hips.
This sweet little class brought tears to my eyes ... these girls were so excited and tried so hard. I was really impressed by all that they can learn in 45 minutes!!
to tutus, to tap shoes, to ballet, to purple and to pink ... to all things Kate!!!

Aggieland

Caleb and Josh in the end zone after the game.

after the game fun

John David Crow (won the Heisman at A&M)

the Aggies never lose a halftime

before the game ... Kate bawled when she found out that she wasn't going to see the Aggies. She'll be there next time!!!!

We love football season and obsess over, adore, root for, cry for, pray for the Aggies! I know, I know ... we might be considered extreme fans! This past Saturday was the opening game! We have our traditions ... we wake up and march out the Aggie flag in our pajamas with Chris's Dad, we eat a huge meal before the game and everyone wears maroon from head to toe! Then, we leave for the game at least 2 hours early to watch the band march in, to get our face painted, to try and get on the Jumbotron (Caleb did last year), to watch the team warm up and sing the Spirit song with the Twelfth man (students) ... we reminisce our college days, our dates, we kiss on every touchdown (the kids already do this), we pile way too many people in our car and we pick up chips and queso for the after game celebration at the Glenney's house that lasts well into the night. We rarely have "visitors" outside our family group of 12 that goes together to the games. That makes for like-minded Aggie-loving fun!! After the game, some of us saw John David Crow (who won the Heisman trophy when he was at A&M) and took our pic with him. We also play on the field after the game and the boys love pretending to run the game winning touchdown into the end zone. Anyway, to one of my favorite places on earth and to my family who is just as brainwashed as I am about the Aggies ... Gig 'em!!

Catching Up

Homework Break at the Park after school

Caleb had a little sleepover. 10 year olds can eat!

4 dozen doughnuts were demolished!

What a precious crew!

Kate started preschool again and loves her new teacher!

She came home the first day singing "Today is Tuesday!" and "The Wheels on the Bus". And finally - there were no tears this year just smiles and hugs goodbye!!

Happy 10th, Caleb!

"real" cake to come at his party this weekend

Words do not express how much we love this guy! 10 years have flown. We wish we could just stop time because this is the perfect age! Independent in many ways but still loving Mom and Dad! Caleb's obedient heart, humble attitude, and love for others melt us every day! He is honoring God with his life and we could not be more excited and proud of him. I cannot wait to see what God has planned for him for the next ten years ...

New Dance Shoes

The boys had gone for the first day of school and Kate and I were a bit lonely in the quiet-for-the-first-time-in-three-months house ... so ... we went shopping! Kate needed her first pair of tap and ballet shoes. She starts a ballet/tap/tumbling class in a few weeks and is soooo excited. She even told the checker at the grocery store about it! I remember when the boys were 3 and started their first season of soccer ... they were just as excited about the shin guards, socks, cleats, and uniforms. When we got to the dance studio, I realized that I could outfit a soccer player, a baseball player, a basketball player and a football player from head to toe but had no idea where to start with dance attire!!! I was lost! Thanks to the precious Rameys and an excited little girl who was more than happy to try on shoes and outfits and to twirl and sing, we came home with new tap shoes, new ballet shoes, a new little leotard with a tutu (purple) and a new leotard with a little flower at the top (pink). She tried on her new attire for Daddy when he got home and stayed in it the rest of the night. The shiny black tap shoes already have scuffs around the toe ... you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl!!

to a new adventure in dancing, tutus, tap shoes, and more ...

Kate was thrilled to try on her new ballet shoes!

She could not even close her mouth she got o excited ... here she was literally oohing and ahhing!

First Day of School

I always feel a little weepy on the first day of school ... it just forces me to realize that time is flying by and my kids are getting older. The boys both have wonderful teachers and I know they will grow by leaps and bounds this year! I still get weepy, though! Why can't summer last forever? swimming, sleeping late, family bike rides, vacation, reading books ... I love summer and spending quality time together as a family. I know this happens during the school year, too ... but teachers, coaches, and homework seem to get a massive chunk of that quality time!

Kate tried to sneak off with the boys lunch ...

Josh sporting the Spiderman lunchbox this year for 2nd grade.

Caleb went with the Transformer lunchbox for 4th grade.

Here's to a new year ...

Beach 09

I took over 500 pictures ... really! I had to randomly choose a few ...

in Seaside after dinner

Caleb

me and the kiddos

Josh

crab hunting at night

loaded down at 4 a.m. ready to go

ice cream before watching the play "The Stone that Sings" in the Seaside amphitheater

our little slice of beach heaven

always gotta have a muscle pic

the most beautiful water with fish nipping at your toes

our "Home Away from Home"

our favorite treat in Seaside ... mmm, wish I had a Frostbite right now

the Taco Bar in Seaside - food was so-so but atmosphere and drinks were a perfect 10

the mamas about to show their boys how to ride a wave

my fam

on our morning bike ride

at the amphitheater in Watercolor watching "Go Dog Go" by Dr. Suess

at the Back Porch in Destin ... the view overlooked the ocean and the food was YUMMY

our bike ride for breakfast at FlipFlops -beignets that make my mouth water just thinking of them (think funnel cakes for breakfast)

a gorgeous sunset on the beach

the Adams - great travel buddies (lots of laughing, staying up late, kids playing, and more)

could not have dreamed of all of these kids getting along so perfectly for a week

Trent and Josh on the last day -worn out

Beach Buddies

more Beach Buddies

and more Beach Buddies

We had the best family vacation ever in Seagrove, Florida with the Adams family. We went to the beach, to plays in the amphitheater at night, to the wooden go-carts in Destin, to some fantastic restaurants, did some shopping, enjoyed some cooking in our place, swimming, played tennis, relaxed on the front porch swing, ate homemade (thanks Chris) ice cream, went crab hunting, went bike riding, did a little jogging (not enough to equalize the food intake), stayed up late talking and laughing, built sand castles (and oohed and awed over the really good ones down the beach), caught many waves on the boogie boards, snorkled and saw fish (very happy that was all we saw), watched firworks, kept our kids up until midnight at an amusement park, woke up with the bright beach sun every morning (yup, 6 a.m.) .... I feel like it cannot be put into words. It was beautiful. It was relaxing. It was fun. I am very thankful and very blessed.

to the beach...