Band of rebels

Erica and the kids came over the day before school started. Actually we met at the gym, then ate lunch at Logan's roadhouse. They still have that deal on Mon. and Tue. where you get 2 meals for $13.99 and kid's meals for $2.99. Then we went back to my house and played. The kids decided to become a band. Logan dressed up Carter and they all played instruments and danced. Here are some of the highlights.

Notice the girls actually traded costumes at one point!

Our last hurrah to San Antonio

Ever since Erica and I went to San Antonio for Nicole's baby shower, the kids have wanted to go back with me. We were trying to squeeze it in before school started and even considered doing an overnight trip there, but alas with our busy schedules a day trip was all we could do.

We left Sunday morning and drove there. We had planned on eating at Chris Madrids. We drove straight there. We forgot to bring the DVD player, but they did OK. Here are the silly kids in the car. (All of you who still have kids with cute little feet, this is what they turn into!! Not so cute anymore! Especially when you turn around and they're right in your face!)

We arrived at Chris Madrids at about 11:00. There were no cars there. Not a good sign. They were closed! Who would have thought. Luckily it's not too far from downtown and El Mercado which was our other destination. We decided to go eat at Mi Tierra where Erica and I ate before. Unfortunately our little detour put us there at about 11:40, and by then it was really crowded. We had to wait about 40 minutes for a table! It was worth it though. Delicious food! Great atmosphere too. The kids loved it! I had Chilequiles. They were awesome!




One of the main reasons Logan wanted to go to SA was because of the Mexican wrestler masks I told him that I saw. He loved the movie Nacho Libre and wanted a mask desperately. Luckily we found one for him just like Nacho's! As you can see he wore it all around downtown. But in SA we didn't receive too many stares. All the little boys who went by said, "He has a mask like Nacho Libre!".

We got Ellie a crown of flowers with long ribbons hanging down. Very princess like! She wasn't being cooperative with the pictures though!After we shopped around we decided to ride the trolley over to the Alamo. We've been before, but it seemed a shame to be so close and not go by. Unfortunately it was super hot (of course) so we didn't do too much walking around there. We stopped and got sno cones to help cool off before we rode the trolley back to the car to go home.

We had a great time and it was a perfect way to end the summer before school started!! Now I just need to convice Logan that just because he has a wrestler mask does NOT make him a wrestler! He's been practicing his "moves" on Ellie on the trampoline... not pretty!

My first Kiva Loan

My lovely sister, Erica has been loaning through Kiva for a while now. Kiva is a program that allows you to help fund loans to entrepreneurs in third world countries who are trying to lift themsleves out of poverty. I always thought it sounded like a wonderful way to help people help themselves. She gave me a gift certificate to Kiva a while ago and I've finally used it to make my first loan! I made my loan to a lady named Djide Cisse in Senegal. She sells peanuts!

I know most of us don't have tons of extra cash right now, but all of us could cut out just 1 meal eaten at a fast food restaurant a month, for example, and use that $20 to help someone to support themselves and their families. We always see the unbelievable poverty in the world and think, "it's so far away, what can I do?". This is what you can do. It couldn't get any easier.

I feel better already. :-)

School days

On Saturday we went to our neighborhood Kindergarten club. They invite all the kids going to kindergarten to a little get together at our resident's club for some games, crafts, and pizza. We went up there and knew a few of the kids, but made friends with more. It was fun and I'm glad we went. Ellie had me curl her hair and she wore her pink maxi dress. Too cute!

This is a pic of all the kids that were there. It was a little bright for them.

I've been trying to wake the kids up earlier this past week to ease them into this earlier schedule. Especially Ellie. That girl likes to sleep! Yesterday we did a full practice run. We got up and got ready like it was school. It wasn't actually school as Logan pointed out to me about 100 times, but we were pretending. I needed to see how long it took me to get both kids ready and out the door. I'm glad we did it because it took longer than I thought!

Last night we went to bed early, I packed lunches, laid out their clothes, set their new alarm clocks and we were ready to go. They woke up at 6:10 am. I wanted to make sure they had plenty of time and weren't rushed. It seems like no matter when we get up we're still rushing by the end. We got off OK.

We had to do the obligatory in front of the door shot before we left. I don't know how many pictures like this I have from when I was a kid!

Walking to school the first week is weird. It's so crowded. There are parents and kids everywhere. This was the only day we could walk the kids to their classrooms. After that parents aren't allowed. There will be a designated drop off spot for each grade.

We took Ellie to her room first. We walked in and the teacher unloaded her backpack and told us where everything went. We put on her name tag and sat her at a table. She looked like she was in shock. Having had kids in preschool for a number of years and being a teacher now, I know it's best not to dawdle. Drop and go. It's the best policy. It just felt weird leaving her.

Next we walked Logan up to his room. Almost all the kids were in there sitting at their desks, so he just kind of went in and sat down. That felt weird too. I didn't take a picture of him in his room so that he wouldn't be embarrassed. Then Stuart and I walked out and home with no kids!

So here I am at home. Looking around my messy house wondering what to do first. Still no tears!

Growing up too fast...

I'm not sure if I'm ready for this!! (That's Logan's Nintendo DS, for those of you without older kids!)

Rain gutter Regatta

Logan had to make a boat for the cub scouts annual rain gutter regatta. You buy the kit and basically just put it together and paint/decorate it.

Here's how his turned out. I think he did a great job drawing on the sail. His boat won "fastest". Unfortunately we forgot the camera at the actual event! :-( They race them in 2 actual gutters filled with water set up on saw horses side by side. They have to set them in the water, then blow on the sail to get them to the other end. Sounds easy, but most of them tipped over quite easily. Logan won most of his races. We had gone online and gotten some hints on making his boat more stable and faster. Apparently it worked!

More of our weekend in Ft. Worth

There were a few pics ya'll haven't seen yet. So here they are. Proof that I didn't look pregnant ALL the time.

One of Erica's famous bathroom pics!

We had a great time. It was a great get away before my reality sets back in. Schools starting soon!!!!

Ellie's latest trick

I've been teaching Ellie to braid. Well, really I've just shown her how to do it a few times. It's easy in theory, but takes a lot of coordination to hold all the pieces of hair and keep them strait. Yesterday when we practiced I had to help hold the strands of hair to keep them strait. I thought it would be a while before she could do it. Today I looked over and she said, "Mom, I'm braiding!" I have to admit that I thought to myself, "yeah, right.", but then I looked over and saw this. Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised since she basically taught herself to tie a bow. That takes coordination too, right? Hmmm, perhaps I should foster this new skill and get her to start braiding my hair!!

Basketball Boy

I've been meaning to post some pics of Logan playing basketball. He's been playing all summer in the Y's summer league. This Saturday is their last game of the season. Basketball is his favorite sport and the one he's best at. It's probably a good thing since he's tall and thin. This is a great example of the weird faces Logan makes while he's playing. I don't know why he can't seem to dribble or shoot without opening up his mouth and contorting his face. Maybe that's how Jim Carrey started out? Wishful thinking...Ellie was taking a lot of pictures during his game. She took this one and it came out pretty well I think!

I also wanted to add a few more I took of Ellie playing in her last game. The last few have gone much better than the one on my birthday. Thank goodness! She has her last game Saturday too. I think we're all ready for a little break from Saturday morning games!

It's been a long, hot summer. But it's also been a good learning experience for all of us. Ellie says she does not want to play soccer anymore! That's fine with me. She tried it and stuck with it all season. That's all I can ask. Now it's up to her. We start dance again in a few weeks. This seems to be where her heart lies, at least for now. Crap, I guess I need to buy her new ballet shoes! It never ends!

Maybe we shouldn't dance our way into a wedding...

I loved the original and this one is very good too!

The water hose again?

I just can't seem to keep my kids away from the hose. This time they wound up stripping down to their birthday suits too! Oh well. It actually bought me about 10 minutes of peace. The things we'll put up with for a few minutes to ourselves!!

New cake pan

Here's a picture of my first cake made with my new rose bundt cake pan. I got it at TJ Maxx for $3.99 . Love that place. It's a Lemon 7-up cake. It's delicious and pretty! I actually took this pic! Natural light makes all the difference. Thanks for teaching me that, Lisa!

Little Posers

The other day we were going to go to a movie on a rainy day. Ellie had just watched an episode of Hannah Montana and decided that she needed to dress herself. She came out in this outfit. I thought she looked really cute. Well the movie was sold out, so we wound up going to Aunt Erica's house instead. When we got there Grace was dressed super cute too. I told them I wanted to take their pictures and this is what they did.
Don't they look cute? And way too grown up! Look out Kindergarten!!