My First Ride!

Curt and I got new road bikes this summer and have been looking forward to taking them out for our first ride together!  Today we woke up early (3:30 am VERY EARLY) to drive to Lufkin.  We checked in and and started our ride at 8:00!  It was crowded but not too crazy!  I was fine as long as I was not at the front of the start...it was too crowded up there!  This was my first official ride but definitely not Curt's.  He was so encouraging during the uphills!  It started in Lufkin and went through country roads of other small towns.  It was a wonderfully pretty ride and a gorgeous day!  The morning was very cold...I spent the ride at the beginning as a big goose bump but it warmed up for a great remainder of the ride.  There were many hills...I struggled through the uphills but LOVED the downhills!  We finished 25 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes which I thought was pretty good.  We got up to 31mph on the downhills and averaged 12.3 mph on the ride!  We only took our phone so the pictures that we got are from it but they turned out ok! 

Starting line!

Curt gearing up for the ride!

Before the ride!

The second rest stop!



Helped our legs feel refreshed!



The finish line!!!!!!

Learning Lab-Apples

I was lucky enough to be off one Friday and got to go volunteer at Brooklyn's school!  She had a great learning lab involving apples going on that day in her class and Mrs. Hutson needed parent volunteers.  I got up there about 9 and stayed for lunch and everything!  It was so fun to be a momma!  It was a great lab that was full of learning, using science tools, science vocabulary, and hands on activities!  Her class was very well behaved but I definitely learned why I teach older kids!  I couldn't teach kindergarten to save my life!  Wow!!!  While I was there, Mrs. Hutson discussed several things with me...Brooklyn is talking in class which is becoming an issue, then she said she is doing other people's work for them.  I was devestated to hear negative things about Brooklyn.  She has never had ANY behavioral issues!  Mrs. Hutson suggested that we reccommend her for GT to see if she qualifies.  I stayed to fill out 45 minutes of paperwork.  She thinks that Brooklyn will qualify....we have always wondered but we are thinking she is still young to be able to tell....we shall see!  We talked to Brooklyn, tears were shed, and now we are hoping that her behavior improves!

Labor Day Weekend 2011

We had a great and relaxing Labor Day Weekend!  We spent time organizing things at the house and playing at home.  Then we went to the Kuhn's house and grilled out, enjoyed watching the kids play, and even flew several kites!
Brooklyn and Colson set up a store at the house and Brooklyn made signs for their store.  She drew pictures of the objects they were selling and then went to get the objects...we all shopped and they were so excited to help us shop!  Too cute!!!

The B and C Store!

May I buy.....?

Brookyn decided that to buy something we did not have to have money.  We needed to draw an object that started with our initials and give that as our payment....very creative!

Kite time at the Kuhns!

Colson felt like such a big boy!  The wind was so hard that it was hard to keep the kites under control!

The only pic in the backyard!  I guess we were just enjoying and not taking pics that day!

Auntie Jill gave Brooklyn this BEAUTIFUL blanket that her Grandma made!  She sleeps with it EVERY night now!
Thank you!  It meant so much to her!

I'm a Daisy!!!

At Meet the Teacher at Lemm, Brooklyn saw the Girl Scout table and wanted to sign up.  We told her we would get more information for the scouts and then decide if we were going to do it!  Well, she thought the rally was the night for her to definitely do it....so....BROOKLYN IS A DAISY!  It was wonderful to meet other moms there that are both working and stay at home.  We really don't know anyone at the school so this will be a great chance to develop the relationships that will last a lifetime! 
She is so excited and we are honestly thrilled to give her this experience!


Off to the Girl Scout Rally!



AWANA Time Has Arrived

I am thrilled to announce that we have a Cubbie and a Spark in our home!  Colson has moved up to Cubbies!  He is doing a great job memorizing his verses.  I do not even have to prompt him by the end of the week.  I just say, "What is your new Cubbie verse?" and he just recites it!  I am so amazed at how much he has matured in just the last month!  My baby is growing up and making us so proud!  Brooklyn is now a Spark!!  She is excited to get to say her verses to LoLo...LoLo is very special to Brooklyn and vice versa!  LoLo has 3 boys and calls Brooklyn her little girl!  She is memorizing 2 and 3 verses a week and wow these verses are long!  I am so proud of her!  We hope that our kids will always know how important it is to know God's Word and be able to use it when life happens!
They both have earned their vests and are ready to earn some patches to decorate them!!

Ready for AWANA!

There were 19 Sparks the first night!  I couldn't fit them all in the pic!

Lily, Brooklyn, and Ricky

Colson playing the game at Game Time!

They earned their vests and their books!

We are Sparks for Jesus...Sparks to light the world!

We are AWANA Cubbies....we know that Jesus loves us!

There were 16 cubbies the first night...wow!

First Day of School Meals

A few years ago we started the tradition of letting the kids pick their favorite thing that mommy makes for their first day of school meal for dinner.  This year was fun because the kids started school on different days so they got their meal choice all to themselves!  Brooklyn chose a very balanced meal filled with healthy food and Colson, well, he picked his favorite!  Too cute!
Brooklyn's Menu included: Italian sausage, couscous, strawberries, and a spinach salad with tomatoes and ranch!  She was very specific!
Colson's Menu included: Chicken nuggets, strawberries, and apple straws!  He was so pleased that he made his own decision and our meal was exactly what he wanted! 
Just a fun tradition to share!

Meet the Teacher 2011-Colson

At ELA they did Meet the Teacher very different.  It was more set up like an open house for the parent to bring in the child to meet the teacher with no meeting attached.  Colson is SO EXCITED to be in the 3 year old room!  I am thrilled and hope to see a little more structure and learning since he is getting older now!  We were so pleased to find out that Mrs. Terri will be his teacher and then we later found out that Mrs. Linda will be joining Terri!!!  Brooklyn had Linda and loved her and I know they will make a great team!  Right now the class is very small so they area getting tons of one-on-one attention which I am loving!  Colson never wants to leave school and hugs Mrs. Linda at the end of every day!  He has not been misbehaving at all and has proven that he is a big boy!  We are SO PROUD of our little man!!!!

This is Colson's teacher Mrs. Terri!

Enjoying the light table already!

The first day of school....no tears, just smiles and joy!!

And we are off to a great year!!!