Six Flags 2010

Yesterday we went to Six Flags and had an awesome time! Lizzy was really whiny the first few hours, but after that even she enjoyed it. It was hot but we cooled off in the misty fans and the water rides. I was brave enough for two scary rides, Batman the Ride, where your feet hang free, and Flashback which went through lots of loops and then went backwards through them again.I would have enjoyed going on the other coasters, but I was really scared - not of the coasters -  of the lines! The girls were both big enough to go on a few big kid rides too! They went on the Vibora which is like a luge, cried their way through the Big Spin, and really enjoyed the Runaway Mine Train. It was so funny watching Lizzy on the rides. She'd cry and scream "I want Daddy" then the minute it would stop she'd smile and say "let's go again!"

I was there

If you just looked at our family pictures you would think I never went anywhere so here is proof that I was there too.

MOPS BBQ

Last night we had our 4th annual MOPS Pops and Tots BBQ and swim night. We had so much fun with our Mops friends. Thanks so much to everyone who came!

Pretty picture and free stuff

Our Texas sages bloomed the other day. They were so pretty. Of course then it all fell in the pool and that wasn't so great. Theo said it was romantic swimming in flower petals (that was his excuse for not scooping them out).

Meanwhile, I am redoing Katie's room for her birthday. If anyone would like her strawberry shortcake stuff, let me know. I am not a sewer so they are far from perfect, but they looked really cute in her room. There are 2 valences (which were enough for 1 4 foot window), 2 matching light switch covers, 3 throw pillows, and a pillowcase that was used for decoration only. More pics are here

Singin' 'n' swingin'

We enjoyed a beautiful evening tonight. Everything looked so pretty and fresh after all the rain this week. We enjoyed a swim this evening and then the girls played on the swings for awhile to dry off before heading to bed. Wish every night could be a summer night.

Our Wedding Album

I finally got around to scanning in our wedding photos. We were married July 5, 2002 in Rochester NY. My Pastor officiated and his sweet wife, Cyndy, played the piano. Unfortunately, they have both passed away since then. Theo's mom came in from India and his best man flew in from Texas. Jamie was my maid of honor and this is the only picture I have of her in a dress. I don't think she has worn one since.

There are a few things about our wedding I would change if I could:

1.)Since I didn't have a father figure at the time, I walked myself down the aisle. I didn't realize I could have had my Mom walk with me or I would have.

2.)We probably shouldn't have served spicy Indian food on the hottest day of the year in a church with no air conditioning.

3.)I never did figure out when I should come in to the music. Cyndy worked with me over and over and still I forgot and she had to rush thru it.

But the one thing I wouldn't change is the guy I married. He has been a blessing to me for the last eight years and hope I to see many more shared with him.

July 4th

For the Fourth of July we joined some friends from church for a BBQ and to see the fireworks. We had a really great time and really enjoyed the show. We had such a great spot to see the fireworks from.

Kaboom Town

Saturday night, we went to Addison's Kaboom Town. Theo's new work allows people to park and view them from the garage. Our plan was to walk down and enjoy the festivities and then go back and watch the fireworks, but it didn't stop raining until it was nearly time to start so we got some Jimmie Johns, and waited for the rain to stop. When it finally did we enjoyed the World War II Airplane show, followed by a great fireworks show.

My new bedroom

After four years of living here, finally it was our turn! I painted my bedroom and bathroom over the last week or so. We had gotten new bedding for Christmas, and so we went with blue and brown to match that. Other than that and paint all I purchased was the molding and the new sconces over our bed. My mom had brought down the brown rug and curtains from her house when she had made her bathroom pretty to sell. Everything else I already had. We'd like to get a new ceiling fan and hopefully new carpet someday but for now, it's done. Oh, except that horrid colored chest of drawers that I need to paint to match the headboard.

Engagement photo

I took down all my pictures in my room to paint and I thought that it would be a good time to scan this one in and save it. I have a good plan to scan all the portraits we have taken that we don't have digital copies of but no one seems to be doing it so at least this is a start.

Theo asked me to marry him on my 22nd birthday in April 2002. We got portraits taken after wards. If I had taken off the giant pooh watch, you might have been able to notice the ring. I always thought Theo looked really sweet in this picture so we have it in our room.

Bye Bye Ponytails!

Today Katie and her best friend went to Sweet and Sassy to get their hair cut. They both got 10 inches cut so they could donate to locks of love. Katie had to go pretty short to get that much, but she will be nice and cool for the summer anyways. They both look adorable in their new haircuts. And so grown up :'(

Pretty Girls ready for church

Sundae School

Friday we went to Henry's Homemade Ice Cream to attend Sundae School. Henry himself showed everyone how to make ice cream and then we got to enjoy a cup.

Lizzy paying rapt attention. This is the school for her!

 

Yep, it's cold enough

Lizzy chose the blue one. I'm sure it was all natural with no artificial colors. Katie just got vanilla but spiced it up with gummy bears.

Jump on the silly band wagon

We've been a little out of the loop since all our programs let out in May and we haven't really been around too many other kids for the past month. It would seem we nearly missed a major fad that popped up. But we caught up at VBS this week where everyone was wearing silly bands. We had to make a desperate run to target to pick some up so she could give some back to her friends. For those who don't have elementary kids, these are little rubber bands that are shaped like different things. Ours are Shrek. They aren't allowed to watch Shrek, but that was all that was left at Target. They're kind of silly, but what a fun way share with friends. Even shy little Katie could be found whispering trades with the girls at church.

Nothing

You may think this is an abandoned blog, but you would be wrong. We just own an abandoned camera. We had a week after we took off school and did nothing. Partly because the girls got sick, but also just to relax. This week we are doing VBS at another church in town. I've been having a lot of fun helping teach fourth grade with my sweet friends. The girls are enjoying it alot too. Next week the girls have another VBS, but I get to stay home by myself. Hopefully, there'll be some painting going on!

End of the year (caution bragging post)

We are nearing the end of the year in school. I love finishing the school year, but we are always excited to start again in the fall.

In math this year, Katie memorized all of her addition and subtraction facts up to the 13 family. She learned to add with carrying, learned a little about fractions, counting money, and telling time.

In Phonics, she learned about pre-fixes and suffixes and all the rules that go along with them. She also had 28 spelling lists and got A's on all of her spelling tests. She learned how to alphabetize lists, abbreviations, contractions, and ownership. She also learned all but 6 states and can fill them in on a blank US map.

Lizzy learned to count to 29 (she's pretty sure you get to 100 after that). She can now recognize all her numbers, 1-10, except we still have problems with 9 sometimes. She learned all of her letters and what they say. She is beginning to read and can sound out all three letter, short vowel words.

Together, we've read history, science and fun books. We have had an awesome year. I am very proud of them and their accomplishments this year!

Each morning they also say a bible memory verse and a poem. Here are all the verses they learned this year and each of them got to choose a favorite poem to recite.

Austin

We had a great weekend in Austin with our friends. So much fun we forgot to take very many pictures. But it's just as well. It would seem getting four kids to all look at the camera and smile at the same time is impossible.

Schoolwork

We have 10 more school days left this year. Praying I make it thru. Today Katie had to write about about her favorite Bible story. She chose Jesus feeding the 5000. So I told her if she did it really neatly, I'd post it for family to see. This is her second draft. She always forgets capitals and periods so we had to rewrite it.

And of course, if I post one of Katie's I must post one of Lizzy's too. She has really progressed the last few months. She can sound out most short vowel, one syllable words. She sounded all these out, figured out which letter was missing, and wrote them in all by herself this morning. Except I wrote the "e". E's are really hard to write.

The Disciples went across the sea of Galilee to a meeting with Jesus.When they got there, thousands of people came out of cities, towns, and everywhere to the meeting. One little boy came and had lunch. Everyone was supposed to bring food,but only one little boy brought food. He brought two fish, and five loaves of bread. Jesus divided the food and everyone knew it was a miracle. People thought it would be too less food, but Jesus said "there's twelve baskets of food left". The end.

Girl Scouts Swim

We had our girl scout friends and their siblings over to swim today. We had lots of fun! We are looking forward to spending more time with them at playdates over the summer. Click on the slideshow to download the photos if your kids are in them.

Fuzzy

For the past 6 weeks or more, we have had a temporary new pet. His name is Fuzzy, and he has been living in a jar on my countertop. He even went to Kansas with us and rode in the motorhome. Fascinating life for a worm. For the first 3 weeks, he crawled around eating everything in sight and nearly doubled in size. He pooped alot. I never knew caterpillars poopped. You'd have thought there was a mouse in there. (Had I known caterpillars pooped so much and I would have to clean his cage regularly, I wouldn't have suggested that the girls could watch him transform.) Finally, he went into his cocoon. As mold slowly grew around him in the jar, and I was tempted to toss him on a daily basis, he was slowly changing inside his cocoon. This morning we found that he had hatched and we set him free near where we found him. Hopefully, he won't be eaten like our butterfly from the mall was. By the way, he is a Giant Leopard Moth.