A few more weeks of summer...

Today was the last day of Rainbow School! What, you may ask, is Rainbow School? It's a program done by the local Church of Christ here and I taught the school aged group. I had 5 kids ranging in age from 6 years old to 9 years old. Here is my motley crew:

(Hannah, MacKenzie, Ryan, Tyler and Kathryn)

And here is Haylee eating lunch with her good friend, Ella! (they were across the hall from my class with Ms. Carol)


We spent 8 weeks together (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Our theme was "A Safari Through God's Creation". We had a lot of fun... our class made "light" and "dark" pudding when we learned about the first day when God made light and darkness, we painted clay pots and planted seeds when we studied about Day 3 when God made grass and flowers and trees, etc. They are such a good group of kids! Today was our big program for the parents. The kids sang songs and then we had cake and punch. I'm glad it's over but I will miss the kids.

Now Hannah has about 3 more weeks until 1st grade starts. I have 1 week off before I get to start preparing for the other program I teach at during the school year.

Here's to a few more weeks of having the girls to myself!

Philmont in a nutshell

Rick took a lot of pictures while he was at Philmont (306 to be exact) so I thought I'd share a few so you could see what they did for 2 weeks.

Here they are in front of the motel they stayed at the night before they went up on the trail. The motel is good enough to change out the Troop #'s for each group as they come in.


Here is the large pack that he carried every day. It had all his personal items, sleeping bag, food, tent, etc.


Here is Rick and Jamie's home away from home:


Here is the other adult in their group, Mr. Grimes:


Since they had "smellables" with them (toothpaste, food, etc) they had to put these items in Bear Bags and string them up in the trees every night so the bears couldn't get into their things:


They did a lot of fun things on the trail. Here is a short list:

Archery. Notice the bear in the background...sometimes the boys had to catch their own dinner and he was standing so still!:

(K, the bear wasn't real... this was 3D archery and it was a styrofoam bear as a target)

Rifle range:


Rock climbing:


Wall climbing:


A service project:



They hiked, and hiked and hiked:


They often filled their down time with Ultimate Frisbee:


When they came down off the trail, they went out for some "real" food and boy, could those guys put it away! Rick said the pizza was probably just average, but since they hadn't eaten real food in 10 days, it was the BEST they'd ever tasted!


On their way home, they stopped at Cadillac Ranch for a few pictures:


Looks like a lot of fun!

He's ba-ack!

"I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home"

I'm so glad when daddy comes home,
Glad as I can be;
Clap my hands and shout for joy,
Then climb upon his knee,
Put my arms around his neck,
Hug him tight like this,
Pat his cheeks, then give him what?
A great big kiss.

A great day...

Today was such a great day! I had been a little concerned about one of my incisions from the surgery. I went to the Dr's today and he checked them all out and removed the stitches. He says everything looks great. I'm still having a some discomfort but he said that's normal. "With 3 tiny incisions, it looks like we didn't do much. There was A LOT of work done internally so you'll have this pain for a few more weeks.". That actually made me feel better! It's normal pain! LOL

After my Dr's appointment, the girls and I grabbed bite for lunch. While we were eating my cellphone rang. Guess who it was?!?! It was Rick! We haven't talked to him in 2 weeks and it took a minute to register that it was his name on my caller ID. He's down off the mountain and in base camp. They will be on the road tomorrow and here tomorrow night! We're all so excited! The girls made him a very special "Welcome Home" sign!



We're looking forward to seeing him tomorrow night!

And the other great news we just heard is that The Jonas Brother's have recently purchased a new home about 15 minutes from us! Can you stand it? HA HA HA! The rate of sleepovers in the homes of the girls living in the neighborhood are bound to skyrocket. Here's their new pad...



It's always exciting in the DFW area!

Kids today have it so easy!

Remember back in 1974, when the McDonald's jingle used to be "Twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesonions-
onasesameeseedbun"? It took weeks for a kid to be able to master this jingle! Now the jingle is "I'm lovin' it!". Come on, where's the imagination in that?

Anyway, my girls are definitely "lovin'" McDonalds! If you ever ask them where they'd like to go for lunch, it's almost always McDonalds... although Hannah will sometimes surprise me with "PeiWei!" So we went to McDonalds today for a little lunch and the girls and Kaiya had a lot of fun playing in the play area.

Here is the Dynamic Duo heading up the stairs to get into the crazy maze of tubes.



And here is Haylee at the end of one of the tubes.



And here is Hannah looking through a window in a tube...



Kaiya enjoyed playing in the toddler section but did make a break for it and try to climb the stairs before Tristen got a hold of her:



Before we left, the girls all climbed into the ginormous tube slide for one last picture:



On another note, I have come to the realization that school really isn't that far away. Hannah starts 1st grade in only 36 short days. Since we were in Grapevine, where stores are abundant, we were off to Kohl's to see if there were any good sales on school clothes. We did find a few good deals and the girls couldn't resist posing with the mannequins:



Work it girls!

A movie to see...

I've never been a fan of ABBA...I'm not sure why. They have some good songs but I've never felt the need to own any of their music. When the movie MOMMA MIA! previews started showing up, I just wasn't interested. But I guess the previews wore me down and I actually told Tristen, "let's go see it!" and I was excited! I didn't have any big expectations (and you shouldn't if you see this movie) but it was a lot of fun! (however, I did tire of the "old lady cleavage")

I'm not sure who told Pierce Brosnan he could sing, but it really didn't matter. The whole cast was great and I really enjoyed myself. I laughed, I cried... you get the picture. The scenery of the movie was gorgeous, the interaction of the cast was perfection and it's a movie I'd like to own when it comes out. It's just FUN!



Go see it!

Recovering...

Many of you know that I had surgery this week. It was a little scary for me since I've never had surgery before (except wisdom teeth removed). I have a EXCELLENT OB Dr. and knew he would do a great job but still... =} The surgery went well and I was sent home to recover. Thankfully I had help from many wonderful friends...one to take the girls, one to drive me to and from my appointment, one to stay with me that night, and many to bring us dinner for a few nights after. I am so thankful for their, and many others, willingness to help our little family!

It's now been 4 days since the surgery and I'm feeling much better! Still a little sore but I'm ready to bust out of this place! Tristen is going to come get us so I can ride a motorized cart around Target, chasing little children down the aisles. =} Yee haw! Thanks to everyone who has called to check in on us. We're surviving!

The day before surgery we made a trip to Southlake. Here are our Texas girls gathered around one of the Stampede Steers (Tristen is actually behind the steer, holding baby Kaiya up there, so please, no calls to CPS! She photoshopped her legs out of the photo... nice job, huh?) :


Have a great day!

And he's off...

Rick is on his way to Philmont Scout Ranch located in Cimarron, NM. Philmont Scout Ranch is a national camping area, owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. Philmont is large, comprising 137,493 acres or about 215 square miles of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) range of the Rockies. He left with 2 other adults and 9 young men. They will be on a 10 day hike, traveling approximately 65 miles while carrying about 45-50 lbs in their packs. Sounds like fun, huh? NOT! It will be pretty warm during the day but cool at night. There will be no showers during the 10 days... YUCK! Fortunately they let them shower before they get in the vehicles to travel back home. I doubt anyone wants to be trapped in a car for 12 hours with a bunch of stinky guys!



We are definitely going to miss daddy while he's gone! Here are the girls and Rick, just before he gets in the car. Notice the haircut? That is courtesy of Jen's Crazy Clippers, my new salon!

James Seal is one of Rick's traveling companions. The girls and I went over to commiserate with Tristen about the guys leaving and decided to take in some of the best therapy known to woman-kind... SHOPPING! We also invited Hattie and her 2 girls. Here is the whole crew at the Rainforest Cafe.



Notice the not-so-happy look on Haylee's face? She's not a fan of this dining establishment. She doesn't like all the crazy animals and loud noises but she really loves the fish there! Kaiya was enthralled with everything going on around her. There was also a balloon man and he made all the girls fun things... Hannah and Haylee got balloon kitties and Lauryn got a balloon flower. Here they are showing off their balloon art.



After the mall we went to Walmart for a little more retail therapy and Tristen is now the proud owner of RockBand for the Wii. I can't wait to go over and play!

Miss ya boys! Be safe!

Ah, so refreshing...

We are very blessed to live in a neighborhood with a community pool. I guess it might be nice to have our own but then you have the constant headaches of upkeep and worrying that the kids will get out there without you, etc. We live within walking distance of our pool which is a bonus. We try to get down there a few times a week but that doesn't always happen. When we do, it's always fun to go with friends. This time we went with the Cruson's and you guessed it... the Seal's! Here is Haylee just after she got her life-jacket on, ready to go!


When we first got there, 2 men rushed in the gate behind us. They told us they were there to shoot some video for a local tv show called "Hot On Homes!" They show different communities and tell a little about them. They asked if they could shoot a little video of us playing in the pool. We said, "Sure!" because we knew this would be our big break! =} So, for those of your local, check out their show Sunday, August 3rd at 10:30am.


Haylee still needs to wear her life jacket while she's in the water, she's not yet a super swimmer, but we know it will happen soon!


Hannah, on the other hand, has really done well this year. She loves to jump in and swim everywhere. She's doing flips in the water and diving down for the diving sticks she and her friends play with. Here she is with her friend, Savannah.


We are usually down there for a few hours, so we bring a lunch. The girls all get together and eat quickly so they can get back in.


We also have a really nice little "kiddie" pool there. It's small and shallow and blocked off from the big pool so you can relax a little knowing that your little ones can't get away without your knowing it. It also has a seal in the middle of the pool so we had to take a picture of Kaiya Seal with the seal.


The other great thing about the pool is it really tires the kids out! =} We had a fun day today and will be heading back down to the pool tomorrow night. We are having our Cub Scout Pack Meeting there with all the crazy boys!

And the rockets red glare...

Last night we celebrated the 4th of July in a way that is now a tradition for us... with the Seal's! We picked up some fireworks at the "Largest Fireworks Stand In Texas" on our way. (everything's bigger in Texas!)


Once we arrived, the girls all donned their suits and headed out back for some splashin' fun. Kaiya wasn't too sure what to make of her new pool... was the water too cold or were those big girls just too scary? The kids entertained themselves while the men grilled the burgers.


After dinner we walked next door and used the Peterson's driveway. They had also joined us for all of the festivities! We set up camp chairs in their driveway and got ready for the excitement (l to r: Haylee, Lauren Peterson, Hannah, Kaiya with Hattie Peterson and baby Eliana (2 months old) in back):


We started out small, letting the girls play with sparkelers.


Kaiya wasn't too interested in the sparkelers, she was busy showing us her newfound independence! You go girl!


After we got that out of the way, the boys lit the big stuff. Ok, we really didn't have any BIG stuff, but we had plenty to keep everyone entertained. The girls all loved the show!

But really, 4th of July is more than just the fireworks. It's about celebrating our independence, our freedom... which we wouldn't have if it weren't for the men and women who sacrifice their lives on a daily basis. So I thank them... thank you to my dad, thank you to my father-in-law, Dick; thank you to my brother-in-law Chris and others who have served our country and Thank You to those who are fighting for us now!

Little Princess Ballet...

Haylee is just now getting old enough to start taking classes of various sorts. She thought ballet sounded like a good idea and we heard rave reviews about the teacher at our local recreation center. So we went off in search of the perfect ballet outfit because we all know it's not really how good you dance but how good you look! And as you can see, Haylee looks perfect! So sweet in her little sparkley leotard! Here she is showing us how to stand for first position (notice her feet):


She was a bit shy at first... she didn't want to join in the class and clung to me for dear life. Even though she had a bit of a rocky start, all she talked about after that was her class. She would show anyone that would look her way how to stand in first position! "First position, number one. First position, number one!" That was her new favorite chant. Her teacher really is excellent! She takes ballet down to their level, teaching them how to do the movements using things familiar to them. Here is Miss Rachel helping Haylee:

"Make sure you don't hold your leg like a wet noodle!"


And when she wants them to hold their arms gracefully like a prima ballerina, she tells them to imagine they are carrying a huge beach ball in front of them:


Hannah loved to go and watch her sister. She loved it so much that she wanted to try it herself. So off we were again in search of the perfect leotard. Hannah opted for a little pink number. Here she is with Miss Rachel, making sure her legs didn't look like wet noodles:


And here she is "jumping over the moon" (see the picture of the moon on the floor).


After finishing out her month, Hannah decided that even though she liked ballet, it wasn't really for her. She is much more of a soccer girl! She misses playing on her team and she is now signed back up for the fall! Haylee is now the only ballerina in the house. It's nice having two such different little princesses in our castle!