Cooper's First Day of School

Cooper is going to a Pre-K program 2 days a week this year.
YES,... I cried!
It's just weird not having him here!
He does everything with me...
He's just growing up too fast!

He was SO proud of his backpack!!
Star Wars - of course!

Posing off his new lizard outfit -
handpicked by him...

On the way in, we ran into a friend - Gabe!
YAY!!

I was able to snap this before I busted out crying.

As soon as I took this picture,
I said, "Bye,... I'll see you soon!"
He turned away, looked down, had a HUGE frown, and looked at me from the corner of his eye - as if saying, "HOW could you do this to me?!?!"
I had to turn the corner to get out of the doorway, and BUSTED bawling.
I was not alone - there were lots of other crying moms there to comfort me.

He had a great day - of course.
And, LOVES school.
It is the best thing for him -
Again,... they just grow up too fast!!

Cooper's Growing Reptiles

For Cooper's Birthday, he was given a fake frog and gecko.
After being in water for 2 weeks, they will grow.

Here's Cooper with his gecko...

Placing them in the water tub:

Here's the frog:

We'll see...

Lexi's First Day of School!

1st day of school.
The night before I read Lexi "The Kissing Hand"...
GREAT book for the first day of school.
I cried!
Lexi rolled her eyes and said, "MOM, really?!?!"

First morning of school:
we were all going to go together - but Cooper was sick.
So,... I had to brave it alone while Clarence stayed home with Coop.

YES,... still cried. Not so much sobbing this year - so it's getting better!

Lexi outside of her classroom:

Lexi with her friends across the street -
they are ALL excited!!

Showing off her new backpack!

As we were walking up to her classroom, Lexi grabbed my hand.
She said, "Mom, it'll be FINE!
Just DON'T CRY!!"

Hawaiian Staycation

Right before school started, Lexi wanted to do a weeks worth of Hawaiian food!
My intentions were to take pictures of every meal we made,... but I only got one!
HA!

Here are some made-from-scratch,
pulled pork pot stickers.

Let's not forget the "Hula Cocktails"

We enjoy cooking together as a family SO much!
It just gets hard during the school week, so this was a nice end to our summer:)

Lexi and Bales Singing Outside

Lexi has a really good friend who lives across the street.
They have SO much fun together.
Here, they were with Cooper outside singing to the radio.
They have NO clue that I am filming!!

Date Night with Lexi

Lexi and I had Date Night!
We went to this Mommy/Daughter event that had author, Vicky Courtney.
It was a back to school bash that taught Biblical ways to deal with school "issues".
It was a GREAT time!!

The Reliques were there singing some beautiful music!!

Here is Sarah (#1) from the Reliques.

Here is Sarah (#2) from the Reliques.

Lexi also got to meet the author and had her sign her book she got.

Check out the website: http://www.virtuousreality.com/
It is really good and helpful for some things that catch moms off guard!

When I Clean Out Closets

OH YES...
That time of year again...
Back to School and wondering if there Winter Clothes will even fit.
EEEKKKK... I peek into their closets, and it is HORRIBLE!

I get busy at work getting everything out of their closets, and separating into piles. The kids can't STAND trying on almost every piece of clothing, but I am trying to teach them they should be thankful to
have so many pieces of clothing to try on!!


Here's Cooper's room in the middle of my rant!

Then I run across a tuxedo in Cooper's closet....

DRESS-UP TIME!!

Strike A Pose!!

Look at my little GQ model!!

I DID finally get everything cleaned out and organized.
I sold all of our clothes at a local consignment store event
and made some money - YAY!
PLUS,... the kids closets look GOOD!
Wonder how long they'll stay that way?

A Night at the Circus

Our FABULOUS neighbor ended up not being able to go to the circus;
so she gave them to us! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
Our other neighbor's, The Heads also came with us.

Cooper brought his ear muffs for the really LOUD moments.

Each kid got to get one treat. Cooper got a snowcone -
I thought this picture was PRICELESS!
**NOTE - This was one of the only bites that he took,... He only had about 1/3 of it.
We accidentally left the snowcone there, when I realized and I went back - our $10 snowcone cup had been STOLEN! THAT'S RIGHT...
Somebody stole a half eaten snowcone.
Cooper was sad for a second, then forgot about it - WHEW!

Lexi and her friend, Bailey!

Cooper, Cameron, Bailey, & Lexi
on the way to the circus!!

Dance Camp

In August,we had our annual dance camp.
This is an EXCITING week!
The music that Jesus has given to us, is given to the choreographers.
They take the music and put together AMAZING dances!!

This is the week that we all learn them!
It's a lot of work,... but also TONS of fun!!


My co-director an I LOVE to get fun and silly things to wear over the week of camp.
Awww.... YES...
HOW COOL ARE THESE SHOES?
They are blue sequin tennis shoes...

At one point, we played a game with jelly beans.
You were given a jelly bean and had to guess the flavor,...
some were yummy, but some were GROSS!
Can I say "rotten egg", and "ear wax"!!! eewwwww....

The gold team taking a break from their beautiful scarf dance!

CP and I with one of our FABULOUS choreographers!

OH YEAH - what's a rainbow dance without some rainbow toe socks!

This would be BEFORE we got all sweaty!

I have NO words!

Lexi had a friend over.
They asked if they could paint nails... I said, "yes".





This is what happened....

On Lexi's fore head, it was supposed to say, "Hi M", but since she was writing it in the mirror, it came out backwards, spelling "MiH"... Lesson Learned!

And,... YES... all of that DID stain their skin!!
Another Lesson Learned (I hope!)

Schlitterbahn With Eli

This summer the kids and I went to Schlitterbahn with my cousin, Eli!!
And,.. a BIG thank you to my cousin, Alan for hooking me up with a ticket!

We had a really good time - it was a FUN way to beat the Texas summer heat!!

Cooper is SUCH a cautious boy,... he is not very "dangerous".
He really enjoyed playing in the toddler area.
This is about as daring as he gets -
HEAD first down the froggy slide :)

Here's Lexi & Eli on the bus.
Eli lives in New Braunfels, so she hangs out at Schlitterbahn a lot.
It was REALLY nice to be with someone who knew their way around!!

Here was Lexi's favorite part!
She really enjoyed these water slides.
Cooper and I hung out at the "beach" while they slid.

Another one of Cooper's favorite hang outs.

GO LEXI!
Getting through the obstacle course.

Cooper and Momma!

We had a GREAT time!!