First day of school Aug 27th 2012

My kids are soooo Brave!  They all had to tackle something this year (at the ripe old ages of 11, 9, 9, and 8) that I have never had to do in all my life! 
They had to go to a new school!  They were a little afraid of what it would be like and whether or not it would be totally different than Lakeside but in the end they really enjoyed their first day!  

 

The kids are at 3 different schools this year!!! That is new!  Emilee is the oldest as third grader at the elementary school, B & B are the newbies at the intermediate school and Madison is officially in Junior high!!  It kills me!  Everyone was a little freaked out at the prospect of being separated but it is going ok so far.   We walked them in on the first day and they marched right in to their class rooms without looking back. Boo! (mom came home and called g-ma and had a good cry)

 Madison got through her first day with no snaffoos even though she only recieved her schedule two days before and when I picked her up she came waltzing up with a new friend and looking a good two years older than when I left her there that morning!  How does that happen?  She is thouroughly liking her teachers, classes and new friends!  She has to dress for gym and wear deodorant.  Hillarious!

Brigham and Brinlee are in separate classes for the first time in their lives!! The fourth grade operates in pods of three classes that rotate teachers and they are in the same pod but different individual classes, which I think will be good for both of their sakes.  They have also met some really nice friends and are learning to adjust.  Brinlee doesn't like loud people so her and the principal haven't hit it off (seriously loud lady- i mean even louder than me!) but she is the wonder of the playground with all of her sweet bar tricks (apparently they don't do that here).  Brig is loving not having a built in spy in class (aka brin).  We have to really drill him for any information about his day but he likes the boys in his class (and one sweet girl) and they have a snack bar on fridays that he is totally loving!

Em doesn't like being at the other campus but she loves her teacher and being the oldest in the school!  She makes friends well naturally so its no wonder she already has a whole list of besties!  The only thing putting a crimp in her style is the chick that sits across from her doesn't like their feet to touch so Emilee just smiles sweetly and says "OK" while thinking "nutjob" (she told me that-hee hee).

Mason is liking being home alone for the time being but he always starts asking around lunch time if it's time to go get the kids yet! Um..not yet buddy!

 

Good job kids!  I'm so proud of you!  Keep up the good work!  Only 175 more days to go!

There is so much to post and talk about.  So much that there is no way we can keep up with it.  So we have two choices one, abandon the effort or two pick up where we are.  So, I am choosing number two (this is Steve speaking here) so we can do our best at keeping everyone informed of what we are doing.

The previous posts are some photos of the family playing in our backyard.  We love the pool area and the fun we have had there.  I would say on average the pool got 2 -4 hours of daily use this summer.  Each child has deep tans and abrupt tan lines.  They have loved the pool like no other.  Mason hates Sundays becasue there is no swimming.  I would be a liar if I said we have obeyed the no swimming rule EVERY Sunday.  One time the kids were in the pool and our branch president stopped by!  That was fun!

We have been to the beach 4 times this year.  We have gone to Galveston each time and the drive is about 1 1/2 hours.  The water is sooooo warm and a muddy brown color instead of blue like the pacific ocean.  However, the warmth makes up for it.  It is like swimming in your bath tub.  The second time we went, there were some Jellyfish close to shore and each child came away with several stings.  We learned the best treatment for Jellyfish stings is vinegar, but some other acidic bodily fluid can help in a pinch.  Ask Maddie and Brigham about that one the next time you see them! 

Yesterday we went to Galveston again and enjoyed an oil rig museum, a dolphin spotting tour in Galveston bay, seafood dinner, and then about 2 hours on the beach.  The weather was overcast and there were some HUGE waves.  It was FUN!




Madison getting ready to body board




Brig is ready to have fun




Brinlee is ready to rock



 




Emilee loves the beach!

 

Mason has a blast on the body board with his life jacket.  You can't rip him from the water!

Everyone got buried.

After burial...good thing washing off is easy!







 

Pictures of the house...

Rain in Texas!  This is part of our backyard in the pool area.  One thing about Houston....when it rains it RAINS!




Emilee is mowing the lawn!  Since we have 1 1/4 acres we had to get a riding mower.  The kids love to help mowing the lawn.  That is great for me!




Nice Dive Brig!  The pool has a deep end and a diving board.  The kids spend hours doing all kinds of flips, dives, and other tricks.  Notice Mason has no floatation devices.  Erin spent the first two weeks of our time here making sure he can swim without them.  Now he is like a fish.  He can swim from one side of the pool to the other. 




King of the tube!  Most of our toys only last a few weeks.  Rough play and Chloe result in enourmous holes in them!




All kinds of creatures!  These are cicada husks that we find all over the place.  Houston is full of bugs and stuff.  We are discovering all kinds of wild things here.  At night, the kids chase toads, frogs, and lizards.  They never tire of catching them.




Dad has declared war on the pocket gophers!  Sadly, our lawn was full of annoying pocket gophers.  Mounds of dirt were popping up all over the place.  A nice stroll through the lawn almost resulted in a broken ankle due to all the underground tunnels.  This device is designed to distribute poison into their lair's.  I am happy to report that I AM WINNING!.





Rain schmain!  We're swimming anyways!




Here is a look at our pool area...

From Texas:

A lot of water has traveled under the bridge since our last post... and that is a huge understatement.  The biggest event is a move to the Houston, Texas area.  Steve is working with a company called Shield Air Solutions, Inc in Houston.  After his MBA, a small company came to him with an offer that he could not refuse!  So we are in the midst of what Steve calls the G.T.E. (the Great Texas Experiment) and we are growing as a result.  We are having a great time with many new adventures.  We live in the country instead of the city...we go to church in a branch instead of a ward, and we are currently renting a home instead of having bought one!  Life is in a constant state of change!  Crazy!  The kids have loved our swimmming pool and making new friends in the branch. 

Spring soccer posts!!! Are you kidding me??

I am soooo overwhelmed by how much back-blogging that I have to do. I mean.... I am posting about spring soccer for crying out loud. I have so many cute pics, and we've had soooo much fun since then I don't know if I will ever catch up. I need to be more dilligent about keeping up on it but here's trying.

* And I don't know why I can't get the stupid underlining off.

This is Em fighting with her TEAMMATE for a good position. We're on the same team girls!

Good soccer buddy, Sierra!

Maddie really took off on a whole new level this spring in soccer. She got faster, more aggressive, and started to play with strategy. If she could just stop slide-tackling people we'd be great! This was Mad's last soccer game. Her cute soccer buddy, Ashely, got emotional at the thought of not playing soccer with Mad anymore. Cute girl! Can't say I blame can her!

Emilee was bored at the soccer game.

One more season down.... ??? who knows how many to go. Good times!!