End of Summer Blog

It's Facebook's fault!

I could just go ahead and relent that I'm not going to keep up with my blog, so instead, I will try to commit to a quarterly post. Maybe more. Let's start with quarterly.

School starts in two weeks. Julia will be in fourth grade. She says she's not looking forward to it, that it will be too hard. Apparently someone told her that fourth grade was the hardest grade in elementary school. I'd like to find that person so that I can slap them for telling a kid that. She will continue with Drama Kids this year. This is her third year, and she is now a Foundation Student. The only real thing to that is that she gets a bigger trophy at the end of the year, but even better, our tuition is cut in half. Sweet! She has also informed us that she wants to be in choir, so we will look into that as well. We are hoping to hear this week who her teacher will be. If she's half as awesome as Miss Lubojasky was last year, we'll be happy.

Hayden is our big first grader. He's really looking forward to going back. We are praying for a good teacher this year. He really struggled last year, and that was really disappointing. We hope his new teacher recognizes his need to be challenged, and can look past behavior that might be triggered by his boredom to recognize what a really, REALLY cool kid he is. Give that kid the proper encouragement and he'll give you the world. He will play Fall Ball again, and Michael has signed up for a head coach position. Keep your fingers crossed because Mike will be an excellent coach!

Brandon goes with the flow quite well, thinking he can do anything and everything his brother and sister can do. I must say that he is the orneriest kid of them all! He is SO very set in his ways. I try to comfort myself by saying it will serve him well someday. But for now... whew.... It's a good thing he's so dang cute!

Julia and Hayden attended the school district's Extended Day Summer Program. Their activities included a Astros game, Children's Museum, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and finished up two solid weeks of swimming every day. The geniuses there have determined that the program should end two weeks prior to school starting. I guess the assumption is that ALL parents can take two solid weeks off during that time.

So, we have planned our vacation for a little over a week, and we're looking forward to getting away next Friday. We've planned a Camping Texas Road Trip. In a tent. With all three kids. In August. That said we are forging ahead with high hopes!

We are camping in three different spots, each point making a large circle that boomerangs back to Sugar Land (because I'm not fond of road trips!) Our first stop is Perdenales Falls. We are still planning activities around that area, but on our way there we are stopping at the Blue Bell Ice Creamery for a tour. The kids are especially excited about the free samples. (So are Dad and I...) Our next stop is Garner State Park, and the final is Krause Springs. Michael did a lot of research on these parks, so he really should be updating this blog in regard, but we know he's done a good job and they will be really nice.

We wanted to do a trip that allowed the kids to run, yell, and explore. Something that doesn't require us to keep a hand on them the whole time. I wouldn't be surprised if both boys come back home with a preference for peeing in the woods as opposed to the facilities... (that would be kind of funny, though) Michael has made the two big kids journals that have a good description about the places we are staying, each complete with a place they can draw pictures and write their own stories about their experiences. What a cool thing they can take to school when their teachers ask what they did this summer!

We had a hitch installed on my new (sexy) truck so that we can tow the small trailer behind us. That way we can take our bikes with us. It should be... quite an adventure!

Best. Prank. EVER.

Before I begin, let me just say that I have no allegiance to Texas A&M or the University of Texas. I think they are both stellar institutes of higher learning. Several members of my family attend or attended both Universities, and while it makes our weddings, reunions, etc. very interesting, I personally have no preference. So please, take my prank for what it is, and don't barrage me with hate mail. Kay?

Ok, here we go!

My dad thinks he's an Aggie. He did not attend A&M yet he feels a strong allegiance to the school. Nothing illustrates it better than the guest room at his home. This room is AGGIE'd OUT! Maroon and white EVERYWHERE! A&M bedspread, curtains, pillow shams, bath rug, shower curtain, lamp, wall banners, etc. You get the idea.

A couple of weeks ago, Mike stayed with them while he attended a class for his chiropractor license. He came home, shook his head and said "We have to do something about his Aggie room. We have to get him!"

We totally did.

We bought a large number of vinyl UT Longhorn stickers and hid them EVERYWHERE. He will be looking for weeks. Stickers are under things, inside things!

About 30 minutes after we left, my dad called. We were expecting this. He said "Kathy went upstairs, and a minute later she called down and said 'Glynn, you need to come look at your Aggie room...'"

I will never tell him exactly how many stickers we hid in the room. I think we will just enjoy the paranoia!

Holy Cow! A BLOG POST!!

Yes, Dawnie, I'm finally posting a blog.

As I told my cousin last weekend at Dennis' wedding, I've become so enamoured with Facebook that I've totally neglected my blog. I guess I'm hoping that she will join, but maybe it's better that she keeps up her blog. That way I can feel guilty about it and eventually make a new post now and then.

Now, yes, I know, my decoration is a bit outdated in that it is no longer spring, but hey, one thing at a time...

Anyway, the reason for my renewed interest in my blog today is because I've had too many great things happen today that would be too long for one status update on Facebook. And at first I thought, well, I could just post something different every hour, but since I know you all are SOOO interested in everything Masters-related, you might miss something... so here goes...

As usual, Sunday mornings for us now start off with our anticipation of a morning at River Pointe Church. Most of you know that we started going to River Pointe back in March, and we've been enjoying it ever since. We have met so many fantastic people, had the pleasure of meeting with a very dynamic - and normal, relateable Senior Pastor (HI PATRICK!) and the kids love the River Kids Children's Ministry. Mike and I are excited about a marriage series coming up called "Happily Ever After" that we started last week.

So anyway, we look forward to Sunday mornings are very much. Our routine is to get there a few minutes early because you just never know what JJ is going to start with. JJ is one of the Music Worship members and he's just amazing. One morning he started out with an electric guitar driven song that really woke every one up and got the blood pumping. Another time he played a rousing instrumental version of "Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz. Yes, in church. My very first visit to River Pointe he opened the service with "You Found Me" by The Fray, and from then on, the music had me. But this morning was the icing on the cake! He had a special treat for me when he opened with "Show Me What I'm Looking For" by Carolina Liar, which is quickly becoming one of my new favorite bands. (And for those of you who know how much I love Keane, that's really saying something!)

I leaned over and told Mike now I can add this song to my playlist! I've created a playlist on my iPod called "The Best Of River Pointe" and on it I've added every song I already have in my music library that has been played at church, usually led by JJ. They include "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, "1-2-3-4" by The Plain White T's, "You Found Me" by The Fray to name a few. Now I get to add Carolina Liar! And then Chad Strader took the mike to play "Saved", an awesome song off of his "Roots and Wings" CD. (You can find it on iTunes, check it out!)

Lots of music this morning and I almost didn't want it to end!

But there was more good stuff coming when a friend of mine had his daughter dedicated at the church. Devyn is so delicious I could just eat her up!!!!

A nice surprise is that Patrick was there this morning to lead the service. I don't know why I thought he was going to be gone (maybe because he posted on Facebook that he was thinking of driving in from Austin for the service today??? I LOVE FACEBOOK!!!!!) but it was nice to see him there. Like Mike said, I don't really like for things to change much!

The service was fantastic. I went from smiling to laughing, to swallowing a lump in my throat as Patrick challenges us to look carefully at ourselves and our relationships with Jesus.

Next week is very exciting, because all of our dads are joining us for church! We've invited them to come for the service and then stay for an early lunch. The kids are looking forward to having them come with us.

After church, we took off immediately for Moody Gardens. Michael's parents had asked us to bring the kids down there to see the Dinosaur exhibit that is currently showing. Figuring this is a shoe in success as far as Hayden is concerned, we were in!

Well, we got there, bought our tickets and walked over to the exhibit. But about ten steps in, Hayden totally lost it! Something about the life-sized robotic dinosaurs with the realistic grunts and growls wasn't sitting well with him, and he dug in. It was hard not to laugh hen he wails loud enough for everyone to hear "NOOOOOO!!!! I DON'T LIKE THE MEAT EATERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Daddy finally had to take him out for a while, talk with him, and then carry him back in again. He hadn't moved too much from where he was before as far as his willingness, but FINALLY, he warmed up. Although at first he still wouldn't get too close to the robots, he did get comfortable enough to fully explain the characteristics of each dinosaur. Correctly, too. Although since many of you know Hayden, I know you're not surprised.

We went back and forth through the exhibit three or four times for the kids to get their fill of the dinosaurs. Once that was finished, we made our way over to the Kids Zone and they had a chance to dig for fossils with little paintbrushes. They really liked that!

We left Moody Gardens and drove the Seawall looking for some ice cream. Reluctantly, we stopped at Ben and Jerry's. (Typically, I will avoid contributing to the business of HUGE libs...) I could almost forget as I enjoyed my cone of "Chocolate Therapy"....

So a very full, contented day today. Right now, we're sitting, having jambalaya, and the kids are already bathed!!!

Dawnie, I'll try, I promise, to keep up better with my blog, okay! Have a great week everyone!

No posts lately - I'm sorry!

I'm posting a post to say sorry for not posting and I hope I can post soon!

Busy day today with laundry, kids outside (Brandon has new roller blades he wants to try out - Daddy can help him....). We had his birthday party yesterday and I hope to get the pictures posted later today.

I'll try to be better!

Easter Weekend at Coushatta

We are home (doing laundry, sigh, of course) from a really great weekend! I did manage to finally post pictures to Smugmug (the link is in the right column, down a bit. Once in, click the "Spring/Easter 2009" folder)

Friday morning the kids woke us up. They were fully dressed, had eaten cereal, teeth brushed, and informed us they were ready to go to Louisiana.

I'm not sure who briefed them on Louisiana, so I'm not sure what they were expecting. But in any case, they were very excited about the trip. Perhaps, like Mike and I, they were just eager to get out of town for a couple of days and go do something different.

So we left around 9 am and arrived in Coushatta at about 11:30 AM. Nina and Papa were not there, and we couldn't check in until 2:30, so we killed time by exploring the lake, the playground, the casino (although they kept chasing us out since we had the kids) and picked up a few supplies at the grocery store.

Once Nina and Papa arrived, they had brought fishing poles for the kids so we set right to it. We didn't catch anything more than a couple of lilly pads. Three bobbins later, we were finished. We dropped the kids off at Kid Quest at the resort and hit the blackjack tables.

After playing for a couple of hours, it was about even, so we decided to try our luck on the craps tables. Yeah, big mistake. For anyone who has ever played craps, when it's fun and you're winning, it's FUN! But, WOW, you can really lose your shirt fast. Then it's not so fun anymore. So we left the casino Friday night $100 down. Sigh.

Saturday morning, Troy and Mike left to go play golf. My mom wanted to do a bit of work, so I took the kids fishing again. More lilly pads. I basically went from kid to kid untangling lines from the lilly pads and recasting it out. The funny thing is I didn't bother with bait. They were having enough fun reeling it in to worry about it.

Then mom and I took them to the park for a while and then let them ride their bikes. Hayden had been working with Michael a bit on his new two wheeler, but still needed the "run beside me" technique. After running with him a couple of times, all of a sudden, everything clicked into place for him. He was off!

I worked with him on braking. That took a while. And the last thing was taking off. By the time Daddy got back from golf, he was amazed to see the boy zooming all over - proudly - on his bike! Yeah Hayden!

Again, the kids were all too happy to return to Kids Quest. The night before, they didn't want to leave! It's nice to be able to leave them somewhere that caters to them so much. They even FEED them!

This time we stuck to blackjack, and we got on a great table with a dealer named Taka. He must have easily been 80 - 85 years old, yet he had more personality than any other dealer in the casino. By the end of the night, Mike and I had won back our $100 we lost the night before - plus change! After some late night gumbo at "Gumbeaux's", we headed back. I was quite happy.

Then it was time to play Easter Bunny and a few hours...

Yep, kids were up again, wondering where the eggs were?? (FLASHBACK FOR ME!) So we went over to Nina and Papa's chalet and had a fun egg hunt and Nina's famous French Toast. Then the pack up and head home.

Now, for those of you who have children and hate road trips (like me) you MUST invest in a DVD player for the family vehicle. Nice, peaceful trip!!!

We stopped for a scrumptious meal at Cracker Barrel in Baytown.

A wonderful weekend... HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

A New Church Home?

After five years in Sugar Land, I believe we may have found a home in River Pointe Church. Never a fan of huge, contemporary styled churches, this community has really changed my mind. I feel like everyone who goes is there because they want to see their friends, hear some FANTASTIC music, and have a great conversation with the pastor. And the children's ministry is simply amazing. Julia can't wait to go back.

I can't wait to show you all the work that Michael has done in the front yard. He is putting together, piece by piece, gorgeous landscape stone around the flower beds. Those of you who know him will realize how particular he is about things, so you can imagine how long it's taking him. But it will totally be worth it.

Spring, Facebook and A New Cousin!

Spring has sprung folks. How do I know? Because my husband is as giddy as a kid with Christmas approaching about working in the yard. Last weekend when the weather was so ugly, he was downright grumpy. He stood looking outside, shoulders slumped, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, pouting that he couldn't go outside and work. Late Sunday evening, he could stand it no more. "Hey" he said, with a smile, "You mind if I go plant those variegated gingers?" Knock yourself out, my love.

So out in the misting cold rain he went, happy as he could be.

This weekend he missed his opportunity to buy the lava rock he's been eyeing because the place closes on Sunday. So he decided he will buy all of the mulch and topsoil. I will be a yard widow next weekend, folks.

He has grand plans! This morning, with that Masters determination, he announced, "I WILL win yard of the month DAMMIT!"

I am a Facebook Junkie! I kid you not, I had three different friends request that I join in one day. So I figured, what the heck. I had once tried MySpace and wasn't blown away. Unlike my blog, it seemed really cumbersome to update, and I never fully figured out how to navigate it. But WOW, Facebook is so much easier! And I've found a ton of friends. I'm really enjoying it.

Via Facebook, my cousin's fiancee announced that my other cousin, Dawnie, was in the early stages of labor! Cade Walker was born last night. We are planning to attend Dennis and Erin's wedding in June, so not only do I get to meet my new cousin by marriage, but also squeeze on my new cousin Cade!