A New School Year - Third Grade!

Good morning third grade! Grayson woke up excited and ready to go to school this morning. He couldn't wait to see his friends and be in his new classroom - his classroom is upstairs (in the 5th grade hall)! His teacher seems really sweet, Mrs. Ali Sanabria. Before I could even get upstairs he was seated at his desk checking out all of his school supplies. I am sure it is going to be a good year for him even though my nerves say differently! After all, this is the year that TAKS testing begins! Ugggghhh, the anxiety! Oh well, one day at a time....right??

Jessie and I went home to make breakfast and have some girlfriends over for a little back to school celebration! She helped me make (I use that word loosely, we "warmed" them) quiche, cut fruit and put bagels on the tray. Stacy, Jeanine and Shari came over for a couple hours of girl time. It was fun! After they left we played a few games of farkle and now she is begging me to do puzzles! I'm loving my life right now! Maybe I can catch a nap before we head back to the school for pick up. I can't wait to hear how Grayson's day went!!!

What??

I guess this is what I have to look forward to when I have teenagers!! Kendall and I were invited to a last minute birthday party for our friend, Terry, tonight and this is what greets us when we came home! No doubt it was meant for the Bower's next door, but they used our tree to finish the job! I am a laid back kind of gal and can usually laugh at these kind of things, but I also take my yard seriously. So, if I am cleaning my yard after church tomorrow, I will be mad. Watch out Coppell teens...I will get you back!!!

The End of Summer Basketball

Saturday was the end of another basketball league for Grayson and Ian. We keep hoping that if this team stays together long enough, they will actually be good...we keep hoping! The main thing is that they have fun. Grayson keeps improving and is really good on defense now. So our Saturdays are free for a while and it's a good thing since college football is right around the corner! We can't have too many interferences from watching our SEC teams!!!

Practicing lay ups before the game

The "after" celebration at Dairy Queen

Cooking Out with Friends

Rob and Niki invited us over for burgers and fun in the back yard! When the kids were finished with the slip 'n slide, we headed inside for a friendly game of Farkle! (thanks to Eric and Ro for teaching us how to play!). It is so much fun catching up with good ol' friends and watching the kids play. I will never take for granted how lucky I am to have the friends and family that I am blessed with!! By the way...if Kendall doesn't buy me a new camera, I am going to kill him!!! These pics are horrible!!!

Lilly got in on the Farkle action...

Playing in Lilly's room...

Can we have dessert now...
Rob (our host) and Kendall enjoying the chips and dip...

Sand, anyone???

Robyn, Me, Niki

Brody, Lilly and Jess

They all played so great together!

Me and Niki!!

Jessie gets the camera...

Another Swim Day...

Old Friends...

Last Saturday night we got to have dinner with Lanny and Amanda Huggins. They were the first couple we really became friends with at FBC Coppell. We used to sit at Chili's in Las Colinas and talk about how we (Kendall and I) didn't want kids!! Funny how God takes over!! We had a great time catching up with them. I can't believe we usually only see them every six months when Amanda cleans my teeth!!

Our Little Patient

Jessie was a great little patient today for her renal tests. She did so great during the sonogram that the nurse let her choose a Beanie Baby before the anesthesiologist came in. She was soooo cute in her little hospital gown! Don't ya just love her?

More From the Beach...

I forgot to upload these in our vacation pictures. They were too cute not to post! This was our first night there while we were waiting on the condo to be ready. The kids were in their clothes instead of swim suits. Sand everywhere!!!

Family Night at FBC

Family night was tons of fun! Jump houses, face painting, water slide, sausage on a stick, roasted corn, spiral potatoes, popcorn, cookies, popsicles...what more could a kid want? I was EXHAUSTED when the event was over. It was my first time to coordinate and event this big and I think it went pretty well. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I have already started planning for next year if they let me do it!

VBS - Cosmic City

I didn't have time before we left for vacation to post any pictures from our superfantabulous VBS at FBC! Cindi, Courtney, Mary and Brenda did an awesome job coordinating the week. All the teachers were awesome and both of my kids had an out of this world experience! I had a great time hanging out with them everyday at the church. I'm not a teacher so I didn't really do much. I think I took the easy way out coordinating the family fun night on Thursday. Can't wait 'til next year!

Kyler, Grayson and Michael

Yes, that is my kid standing in a pew!
singing during opening ceremonies

Me and my buddy, Cindi

Jessie and Chase finishing up a project

Look what I made!

Happy Birthday Eric!

Our friend Eric turned 29 last week. So, the Friday before we left for the beach, we had a little party time at Fireside Pies and The Glass Cactus! We were actually going to leave that Friday for Destin, but postponed until the next day so we could celebrate! Good times, good times!

I'm not sure what the story was about, but I sure looked interested!

Heeeeyyyy! It's my birthday!

Still not sure why the waitress picked Kendall to give the Bellini Martini to!

The whole gang!

Cindi and I warming up for dancing later that night!

THE BEACH! THE BEACH!

DESTIN WAS GREAT! Clear, blue water and soft, white sand. Just what you expect in Destin. We got a little rain on a couple of days which drew in some jellyfish. It didn't hinder the kids from swimming or boogie boarding. They grabbed a bucket and a net and started catching them!

This was the first time Jessie has seen a real beach. We took her to Galveston a couple of years ago...NO COMPARISON. She loved playing in the sand. Not much of a fan of the ocean! We stayed in a little condo for the first 3 nights and then moved over to a resort property for the rest of the stay. Once she discovered the pool at the resort, she definitely preferred swimming there!

We had some much needed family time and a great time with the Mckiernan family. I DO NOT want to get on a scale after this trip! We ate so much!! Some of the fun places we played and ate included feeding the crocodiles at Fudpucker's, listening to music at Hard Rock, and watching the boats roll in at Dewey Destin's.

Look ma', real sand!

Hangin' ten!

Boogie boarding was defiantly Grayson's most favorite part. He literally stayed out there for hours each day! He said he might move to the beach so he could do this everyday! I tried once, but when my swim suit bottoms started coming off, I decided to give it up! Kendall won't admit it, but he loved boogie boarding as much as the kids did!

Catching some rays with her favorite guy!

Since my kids love Spongebob so much, I had to take a picture of this. A guy a few doors down the beach from us spent the day sculpting this! Pretty good job! The day before he made a motorcycle! I couldn't even get the sand molds for sand castles to work!

What a great view from our balcony...and a sweet pic of the kids!

Our little beach model!

On Thursday night we bought flashlights and took the kids out looking for sand crabs! A fun treat for all until I found a big one and just about scared the pants off Jessie!

There are plenty more pics, but you will have to come over and see them in our photo album! The kids are already asking where we are going next!!