Memorial Day

My brother's pool is finally ready and my kids are so excited. On Memorial Day we had a family cookout at Uncle Jesse's. Jeremy's older brother, wife and daughter came too. My two sister's who are perpetually late showed up like three hours after everyone else, but at least they made it. Well, my brother's house is still under construction so we were limited to the back yard. His hardwood floors are still wet because we've had so much rain the air is too humid for them to dry completely. Sounds fine so far, but oh yeah we have to use the bathroom. If you haven't figured it out yet, that picture of me, Sonia and Mariana is us climbing in the window to get to the bathroom without walking on any of the hardwood floors. Like I already said it is still raining in Texas. I have never seen so much rain before. We literally have had rain everyday for at least the last two weeks. This of course didn't make for the greatest swimming conditions. The boys decided to work up a sweat playing b-ball before the plunge into the pool. Bailey however didn't seem to mind a bit and spent most of the day in the pool. I finally dragged her out shivering. Sonia and I never braved the cold enough to actually make it in. I was totally content sitting on the side reading a book!

Summer Reading

Each summer I choose a book series to read with the kids. For Riley we picked the Harry Potter series and for Bailey Nancy Drew. Riley doesn't like me reading to him any more, so we're each reading it individually then discussing it together. Here we are reading the first book: The Sorceror's Stone. We got the book on Thursday, he started reading Friday and he is currently reading the final chapter. I have a little catching up to do, but I think I can be done by tomorrow. I'm sure we'll easily be able to finish the entire series before school starts.

Playing in the Rain

Bailey got a Target giftcard at her party and when we went shopping she decided on a ball, bat, kickball, frisbee, some sort of velcro catching game and lacrosse sticks. Well, it has been raining and raining and raining. Finally we decided we weren't going to let it slow us down any longer. We all changed into play clothes and flip flops then headed to the park prepared to get dirty. We played kickball, baseball, frisbee and lacrosse all in the mud and rain. We were sliding around all over the place. I slid (accidentally) into second base which is the first time ever even though I've played softball since the 4th grade! You can see Jeremy sliding back into first after Riley caught an amazing pop fly ~ he was so close to making a double play. Obviously the kids had a great time! Bailey decided we were the best family ever because we were the only ones in the park spending time together. I always wonder which memories will stand out in the kids minds when they're grown so who knows maybe today will.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Bailey's birthday is in the middle of the summer so we have her birthday party the weekend following the last day of school in order to have all of her friends come. Summer birthday's are hard because people travel so much and really the kids lose touch pretty quickly at this age. When I scheduled the birthday I didn't think about it being Memorial Day so most of her friends couldn't make it anyway, but Bailey still had a lot of fun. We planned on going to the Pointe's outdoor swimming park but it was raining. Luckily the Pointe has both indoor and outdoor pools and slides so we just moved the party indoors. In one of the pictures you can see the girls outside freezing. They don't close unless it's thundering or lightning so the girls decided to take a swim in the rain.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Jeremy's birthday isn't until next Wednesday, but he'll be in class so we decided to celebrate on Friday. We started off the morning with a little exercise. Jeremy and the kids went for a bike ride while I ran. The weather was low 70's and a slight drizzle which was perfect for a run. For lunch we ate at Jimmy John's, which is a really great sandwich shop. After lunch we took Jeremy to Dyno-Rock Indoor Climbing. He loves to be active and he's wanted to go for awhile, so we knew he'd love it. After some instruction on how to belay (which apparently I needed a little more detail because I basically dropped Jeremy the only time he let me belay him) we were ready to climb. The kids are really great. We were a little worried about Bailey because of her age, but she was like a little pro out there. At one point she had quite a crowd of kids watching her as she made it all the way to the top of the 25 foot wall! We also have some really great pictures of Riley climbing up and over a crevice. In a couple of places he actually had to jump for the next peg and hope he made it. We climbed for over an hour, but it really starts to hurt your hands so we were forced to take a Starbuck's break. And of course we had to take the usual family photo by Jeremy.

Lost Ducks

These two ducks end up in our yard every time it rains. I have no idea why. Funny thing is they never go past our yard. Bailey always likes to run and see them when they stop by.

6th Grade Picnic

Today was the last day of school and Riley's last day at BCI. The first picture is mainly his core group of friends: Ryan, Drew, Nicks, Nick, and I'm not sure who's the kid with the glasses. Anyway, I volunteered to help work at the picnic, but my job was "let go". I was scheduled to work the hockey rink, but it rained this morning and the teacher's decided the rink was too slick and someone might get hurt. So instead I hung out with some of the other mom's whose children really didn't want them around either. One of these days Riley is going to realize how blessed he is to have a mom who cares enough to give her time to hang out with a bunch of pre-teens all day! I guess when he does it'll make it all worth it. Until then I guess I'm just the mom who's always around.

Bologna

Last night we played bologna. I used to play this all the time as a kid, except we used a different name. The basic idea is bluffing. You have to make other people believe you laid down a certain number and kind of card. Well, I've had a lot of practice because we used to play it all the time especially when we were camping. Plus I can read my family pretty well so I was doing pretty good. Riley pulled out the glasses in hopes of improving his poker face. I tried to argue that sunglasses were against the rules, but Jeremy said it was allowed in poker games so I caved. Jeremy was hilarious ~ he is just not suited for games like these. You see he is what we like to call organized, orderly and factual. So this whole game which basically has no point other than fun and no real strategy wasn't exactly his idea of fun. It's just mostly guessing and that's too much for him to handle. He finally decided he would simply stop trying to figure out who was bluffing so he wouldn't have to pick up any more cards. It reminded of a time I asked him the question "If the house was on fire and you could only save one thing what would it be?" He just doesn't do the hypothetical. His response was something like the house isn't on fire, there wouldn't be just one thing to save, what if what I wanted was already burned... I quit running through these scenarios with him a long time ago.

Diamonds really are a girls best friend!

You're eyes do not deceive you. This really is a picture of my daughter kissing my diamond ring. I just had my center stone moved to an eternity band that Jeremy gave me and I was showing Bailey when she asked me to take it off and give it to her. Usually when she asks to see my ring she clarifies that she wants the "big one". Her husband is going to have to do some serious saving before he ever pops the question:)

Family Fun?

Today was just one of those days that didn't seem to turn out quite like it was supposed to. After church we changed clothes, ate lunch and headed to the park. We played volleyball which was a lot of fun and then it was off for some good ole' fashioned kickball. Well, this is where things went sour. I got frustrated because Jeremy and Bailey were killing me and Riley, Riley hurt his foot, Bailey was upset that she wasn't playing well and then Jeremy got irritated with all of us. So we packed everything up, went home and decided to have a family meeting. We all discussed how our attitude's affect those around us. We said our apologies and then came up with plan to prevent a further occurrence. After we got that squared away we voted on how we should spend the rest of the evening. We ended up going out for snow cones, Starbucks, then back to the park for baseball and finally home for board games. The day ended up much better than it started.

Ouch!

On Wednesday night Riley injured his foot at his friends house. He was jumping on the trampoline and somehow landed wrong. He thought that something needed to be popped back in place ~ doesn't that sound lovely. Luckily his friends parents are doctors so he was in good hands. They looked him over and don't think anything is broken. Whatever he did though hurts so much that he can't walk on it and it's pretty swollen. So here he is hobbling around on crutches, which anyone who's ever needed them can empathize with. If he's not better by Monday we're going to have to take him in for X-rays.

Yes, he cooks too!

I've been sick for a couple of days now and when Jeremy and I were on the phone earlier he noticed that I didn't sound well so he offered to cook dinner for me and the kids. I thought it was super sweet of him to not only notice, but then to cook me dinner after a long day at work. He even had to go to the grocery store because when I glanced over the recipe I somehow missed a couple of the key ingredients. I just might have the best husband ever.

Haircuts

Today it was off to downtown Fort Worth to see Aunt Colleen for hair appointments. It took forever trying to pick up the kids from school, but we finally arrived and were only 10 minutes late. Haircuts normally make Riley quite unhappy, but today he actually wanted to cut his hair shorter!! Bailey and I usually disagree on her haircut too, because I get tired of messing with tangles so I like her hair shorter as well. Lucky for her Aunt Colleen convinced me to keep the length, add layers and start teaching her how to do her own hair. I'm not sure what's going on with Bailey in the second picture but I thought it was cute. How many people will ever take pictures of their kids doing simple, everyday things like getting a haircut? I just love this blog!!

Field Trip with Bailey

Yesterday I went with Bailey's 3rd grade class to see the Imax at the Science Museum. I used to substitute teach for Mrs. Nelson, so I already knew all of the kids. My group of 7 was really great. I lucked out and didn't get any of the "special" children. We got to the museum 25 minutes ahead of schedule so our group did a quick run through of each exhibit. We made it to the movie with about 3 minutes to spare, while most of the other groups were late so we got the best seats in the house - top row. The kids were very excited to be at the very top!! We had more extra time after lunch, so we spent another 45 minutes going through each exhibit again. I was the only cool mother that let the kids do the Dinosaur Dig. When Bailey got home from school she was so proud because her mom let the kids decide what to do. Apparently, that was quite impressive to the rest of the class. The kids especially loved the hands on room.

Mother's Day

My family is sooo great on days like my birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas... They know me so well and they love making days special for me. Riley's wife will definitely be grateful for Jeremy's influence one day. My day started off with gifts including an Ipod Giftcard from Riley, Bath & Body Works lotions, sunflower seeds to plant and a homemade card from Bailey, and from Jeremy I got new sunglasses and clothes. Then we all went to see Spiderman 3 in Sundance Square and had lunch at Uno's - all Riley's ideas (he really enjoys doing things with the person he's getting gifts for). You can see Bailey making her own miniature pizza - it was supposed to come with an apron, but she didn't mind that they forgot. After lunch we walked around, went shopping, had coffee, then more shopping. Thanks again guys!! You're the best!!

Cason, Texas

Yesterday we went to Cason to visit Jeremy's mom for Mother's Day. We met at Robert and Sonia's around 8:30, loaded up and headed to McDonald's for breakfast. I thought this picture was hilarious so I had to add it. Jeremy LOVES taking pictures like this - he's such a nerd. Anyway as you can see Jeremy's mom lives on a farm in East Texas. She moved out there 4 or 5 years ago into a house that's almost 100 years old. She's worked really hard fixing it up. Her newest project was the covered patio. It's really nice because she built it right under a huge tree so it provides a really great place to sit with lots of shade. As you can see I was enjoying the latest renovations. After lunch the girls finally convinced Mamie to saddle up the horse. This of course being their most favorite part of Mamie's farm. They took turns riding - we even managed to get Riley out of the tree and on the horse. Grandma Mamie also mentioned to Bailey that she'd like to get her some riding lessons this summer. Each summer the kids spend some quality time with Mamie on the farm. Mamie has very special memories of times she spent with her Grandmother as a child so she really enjoy's the summer visit from the kids.

Muffins with Mom

Except there were really no muffins. Each year Keller ISD has a special breakfast for moms and kids and then another for dads and kids. Jeremy already had his turn and today was mine. Donuts with Dad was named more appropriately though since they actually served donuts. None the less we enjoyed our time together before she was off to class.

Puzzle Time

This semester Jeremy is taking three classes, so he doesn't see Bailey at all Monday through Wednesday. I get to see him at night and Riley spends time with him in the morning while they do bible study, but Bailey is asleep when he leaves and returns. So even though it's a little past bedtime Jeremy promised her some one on one time and I just couldn't refuse. They decided on a United States puzzle. Jeremy is trying to teach her all the states. They started with all of the pieces where we have family, which is actually quite a few. They're all done now and I can hear them in her room talking and giggling about all the funny things Bailey used to say when she was little like "peppy pezzy" (pepperoni pizza), "may I can..." whenever she wanted something, "Aunt Nani" was Aunt Natalie, and "funder (thunder) girl" which she used to call herself when she put on Riley's bike helmet that had lightning on the side. Now she's trying to convince him to let her sleep in our room, so I better go before he caves.

3rd Grade Talent Show

Wow, what to say. I just sat through a little AC/DC Back in Black, gymnastics routines, hula hooping, reciting of poetry (which I must admit was actually quite good), comedy routines and at least a dozen "American Idol" 9 year old wanna bee's. It was.....long! Of course Bailey's class performed last, but they did a great job and it was really cute. The class actually choreographed the whole routine without teacher assistance. I always tell Bailey that if she can't do something well she can do it cute:-) Today however she pulled off both.