Look Out Galveston

In our 8 years living in Houston, we have never been to Galveston. How is that possible? We have been to Kemah and Moody Gardens, but never to the actual beach. Well, this was our year! We decided to rent a room so we could hang at the beach all day and then again the next day before heading home. Seems God had other plans. When we got there, it was overcast and drizzling... we weren't going to let that stop us. We set up shop and started to build our sand castles. 

                                                 Who is married to a big kid? This girl!!

                                                                        Check it out

So, after building a mess masterpiece, we decided to take a dip in the Gulf. Well, when we got to about toe deep, and the kids started to freak. My kids, the ones who LOVE the water, were crying about being scared! So, we blew up the floaties and headed back in - each parent with a kid in tow. Then, before we could really get in, it started to pour! We grabbed our stuff, headed to the car and tried to wait it out. We sat in the car for about 45 minutes.. had some lunch from the cooler and waited for the storm to pass. When it became clear it wasn't going to happen, we headed to the hotel and begged for early check-in. We threatened convinced the kids to take a nap. Guess what? when we woke up around 3:30 it was sunny and beautiful! We got the suits back on and headed to the beach again. It was glorious. Sun, sand, surf. Jimmy was much more afraid then Skylar so I had to actually hold him and carry him out into the water. He wouldn't let go so I got out as far as he would let me (he kept telling me, "turn around mommy, that way!" pointing to the sand. I sat up on my knees so we would both be about chin deep and tried my best to convince him it was fun to jump over the waves. He wasn't totally convinced, but he did stop crying and even had a nervous laugh or two. Skylar on the other hand, was fine with it all after about 1 minute and was laughing and jumping over waves. She was even brave enough to let go of Jim's hand for a few seconds at a time. That was not okay with mommy though, as the current was strong and every time she let go, she would get pushed away from us.

So, after 2 hours in the beautiful sunny weather, the kids were very hungry. Jim and I were sad to leave the perfect weather but we knew we still had to shower before getting dinner.

Dinner was at Mario's and it was yummy! Jim got Seafood mixed grill pasta and I had baked penne with sausage and meatballs (per Jimmy's request)

When we got back to our room, the potty was broken :( So we switched rooms and got a much nicer/bigger one!

The next morning, we woke to rain and it didn't get any better. We had planned to stay on the beach until dinner time and then head home. So, we headed to the beach in the light rain and prayed it would clear up. This time is was not to be, and we ended up leaving around 10 when everyone was wet and tired and cold.

So, our plan is to head back to the beach sometime before going home to Ohio if the weather will cooperate. Annnnnd, maybe we can convince some family members to come rent a place with us here next summer!!

Ginger

Ginger was the best dog ever. Jim and I rescued her from the Cincinnati SPCA a month after getting married and she was like our first child. She moved from Cincinnati to Cleveland with us and then to Texas. She was a sweet dog. She never growled at people, she never stole food, she never jumped up onto others.... she was just good.

 She did not care for most other dogs but for some reason, she seemed to understand she had to get along with Annabelle. They loved to play together, I think Ginger kept her young!

Gigner spent the vast majority of her life starring out the front window. I always felt safe because I knew, everyone could see we had a big mean looking puppy. Ha! If they only knew she did not have one mean bone in her body!

 You could always find Ginger chillin' on the couch - she was lazy just like her mommy!

 or laying with her daddy

I can't believe I included this picture.. I look awful, but this is where she liked to be most of the time. She was always right by my side or under my foot. She sat with me when I cooked, or watched TV, she always followed me up the stairs and she slept right next to my side of the bed.

She would even let us dress her up for Halloween! Princess Ginger :)

 Sometimes she liked to take a dip in the pool

 And she always loved to give kisses.

 I was 9 months pregnant with Skylar here... Ginger didn't know her whole world was going to change!

 This is how she greeted Skylar when she came home from the hospital. Ginger was so curious what this little thing was and why it made SO much noise!!! 

 every time Skylar would cry, Ginger would run to be next to her and make sure she was okay!

They became fast friends

and played together on the floor a lot.

 As the kids got older and Ginger got stinkier, they would help daddy give her a bath.

We have lots of great memories and stories about Ginger. She offered unconditional love and she was happy to see us no matter how long we had been gone. She greeted us every morning and every day after school. She knew when we were sad and she was the best listener.... We will miss her tremendously. I hope she is having fun in dogie heaven. I am sure she is starring out a window or chewing on something squeaky. I hope there is someone there to scratch her ears and rub her chin. We love you Ginger. 

 

These we taken on her last day here on Earth with us.

The Kids can swim!

This summer we bought a 10 x 36 pool so we could cool off in the back yard. This is so much better than having to get dressed, shave, pack up, and drive to a pool (although we sure do love to swim at Tom and Nancy's!) So, the kids have been using our little backyard pool almost daily and getting more and more brave each time they do. I had been trying to teach them to back float for a few weeks now.. no luck. Then I watched a video on You Tube, showed it to Jim and he copied it (like any good teacher) Holy Cow, it worked. They can both float. Something about that allowed them to start practicing swimming too. They just decided they wanted to swim, and they were swimming. Crazy. So, after a few practice rounds in our pool where they can easily touch the bottom when they need to, we thought we would try swimming in a real pool. 

Jimmy took to it right away and is seriously like a little fish. He swims from one side to the other and back again. We have to make him stop to rest... he is crazy. Skylar on the other hand was feeling a little panicked and felt like she was going to drown (her words) so we tried and tried to convince her to give it a try but it was not working. However, as soon as I busted out the video camera to tape Jimmy, she decided she was ready. Who says sibling rivalry is a bad thing? Here it is. my two fish swimming in Aunt Nancy's sea. We owe a BIG thank you to Uncle Tom and Carly who helped Jimmy swim all day. Seriously, he swam for close to 5 hours!!!!

Here is another one of the kids shooting basketball in out pool

and one more of Jimmy floating in our pool

Play date fun!

Today was a fun day! I met up with some old teacher friends (that I don't see nearly enough) and we let the kids play and play while we talked and talked! First we went to the splash pad and it was awesome! Tons of shade for the moms and we had the whole place to ourselves. Everyone got along really well and the only drama was that the mommas forgot to pack snacks. Seriously, 4 moms, no snacks. How did that happen?? Any-who, since everyone was starving and we weren't ready to stop playing, we hit McDonalds and played some more. Not one fight the whole 4 hours - that has to be some sort of record!! I hope we do it again soon!

Here is what Jimmy looked like on the ride home!

Ewwwww

Okay, so 3 days in a row now, Jimmy has walked up to either me or Jim and shown us a dead bug he is holding! On Monday he showed Jim 2 he found in the weight room. On Tuesday, he walked up to me (while I was on the couch) and said, "look mommy, bug!" I looked over and screamed - yes screamed thus causing my very sensitive son to drop the COCKROACH on the floor at my feet and start to cry. I tried to backtrack, I went with "Jimmy, mommy is sorry, you didn't do anything wrong. Let's go wash your hands, bugs are kind of yucky!" (insert super cheery voice) so I calmed him down and vacuumed up the offender. I asked where he had found the  12 inch large bug and he told me he found it by the window.. ewww. We get our house sprayed every 3 months, (which explains the dead bug he brought me rather than a live one) but still, to think it was in our house makes me sick. I know we live in Texas and I can honesty say this is the first one I've seen in the house.. but it makes me wonder! Then, today, he brought me a dead spider. Seriously, does he think he is a cat bringing home his kill? We had to have a "no more bringing mommy bugs" talk! Boys - so different!

Father's Day 2012

I saw this idea on Pinterest around mother's day and ran with it. Super simple but cute! Jim is always telling me he needs more pictures of the kids in his classroom so I put these in a pretty blue frame for him. We also gave him a new mouse pad with one of my favorite pictures on it. Then we spoiled him even further with a huge tub of double bubble, a bag of chewy jolly ranchers, a DQ gift certificate, and a new car charger for his phone. Jimmy may or may not have broken his other one! Tonight we are headed to dinner at Saltgrass (Jim's pick and Nana's money!) and tomorrow Jim asked that we allow him to watch the last day of the Masters in peace. Well, he can watch it, but there is no guarantee it will be in peace! Ha                   Here is the mousepad we ordered. Don't you just love that picture?

Wedding Fun

Last night was one of the only times Jim and I slept away from the kids. I think this might be the third time ever and the other 2 times were when they were tiny infants and wouldn't have know if we were there or not!

We were invited to Kelly and Troy's wedding in Austin and decided that we really wanted to go and we really wanted a night to be away from the kids and be a couple. This is when I get insanely really jealous of all our friends that live near their parents. How nice would it be to call up grandma and have free babysitting? Anyway, I digress, we were lucky enough to have an awesome teacher from the kid's school come over for the night. She is amazingly good with kids and both Skylar and Jimmy puffy heart love her!

So, we got to be in the car on a road trip without kids and then we got to go out dancing, have dinner, and sleep in the hotel without kids. It was wonderful! I was ready to get home though and see those babies. When we walked in, we got big hugs and squeals - it warmed my heart.

I love Rock and Roll

Every time we get in the car to go anywhere, the kids start demanding to hear "their" songs. What songs are theirs you ask? For Jimmy, it is the Michigan Fight Song. For Skylar, it is Joan Jet's I love Rock and Roll. How random is that? They are such goobs when they sing it too... take a listen. Yes, they think the part where Joan cooly sings, "oww" should sound more like she is in pain! Love them.

Last day of pre-k

Skylar's last day of pre-K was celebrated without much flair. She had splash day yesterday but Jimmy was today. It was a day like all the others except for the sweet goodie bag Miss Courtney gave all the kids. I am sad her time at that school is over. She has learned so much. This year she learned her letter names and sounds, counting to 50 + on her own, doubles up to 5 + 5, recognizing friends names, and about 25 sight words! She also seemed to have learned maturity, an attitude at times. We love the school and they seem to love her too. Here's hoping kindergarten goes as smoothly as pre-k did!

Wacky Week

The kids celebrated wacky week at school. On Monday, I thought they both had crazy hair day. Turns out, only Jimmy was suppose to have crazy hair day. Oops. After a little explaining that mommy messed up and that she was beautiful no matter what her hair looked like, Skylar seemed fine with the situation. Here are a few pictures. Crazy hair day, crazy hat day, splash day for Jimmy. BTW, we thought Jimmy looked a lot like the guy from Major League, so we had to put him in the Tribe jersey... everyone loved the look!

Mother's Day 2012

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. We hung out, did a little shopping and then went to dinner at Cheddar's on Saturday. We went early but it was already packed. To my surprise, Jimmy and Skylar did a good job waiting for the table and the food. I had a super yummy steak sandwich and Jim chicken and waffles.. Ha. On Sunday, we went for a swim at Tom and Nancy's and grilled out which is always a lot of fun. Dinner was yummy there too as Tom and Jim did all the cooking. 

These pictures were taken at the restaurant. 

Pre-K Graduation

Crazy how fast 5 years can go by. Skylar graduated from Pre-K today. All the kids wore the most adorable gap and gowns. They sang a few songs and Skylar even had a speaking part. Her teacher asked, "Sklylar, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Skylar answered, "a teacher." "Why?" "Because my mommy's a teacher!" The whole audience let out a collective, "awww" and my heart melted. I am not going to lie, there was a little tear in my eye... Then they called everyone's name and each child was handed a diploma and a children's bible. A slideshow of all the kids as babies and as graduates was played and of course, they used the song Let Them Be Little and I teared up again. Sigh. Afterward there was a sweet little cookie and punch reception. Aunt Nancy was able to join us for the celebration and it was a wonderful night. Congratulations Skylar!

With her teacher, Miss Courtney

With McKenna

With Aunt Nancy

With mommy

With Madeline 

Hurray, I'm a kindergartner