Starting First Grade and other things...

Well it has been two weeks since my baby started first grade at Centennial Elementary. Originally she was in class with several of our neighbors children and although she was thrilled with that situation I had my reservations. Luckily, for me, there were too may kids in each class and Gabby was randomly picked (or as we think - kicked out by her teacher for talking too much!) to go into Ms. Kysar, the new 1st grade teachers, class. I really like this new teacher and hope that our second start to the year is a bit less trouble!

Jackson has also started school again. He is still at First Presbyterian, but will go three days this year. After ending last year happy we are starting this year full of tears again! I was hoping since it was the same school we would remember how much fun he had and enjoy school. Unfortunately, he finds mommy to be more fun and I feel awful bringing him to school these days.

Gabby has also started cheer leading at Twist and Shout! She loves it and looks forward to going every week! Jackson on the other hand has started Karate! He has only gone two times, but her really seems to like it as well. If only he would listen a little and not practice his moves on his sister!

Will try to get better at posting more often now that school is in full swing!

Summer is flying by....

The summer is really flying by. This July I took the kids to my hometown of East Northport, NY for the first time in a few years!!!

While we were there we took in some of the sites - a trip to Sesame Place, NY city, A Broadway show, the Hampton's, Montauk Point, Six Flags Great Adventure, the beach and many more! We had a fantastic time visiting with family and friends, but were very grateful to come home and sleep in our own beds.

Next week we are off again to visit our Texas branch of family and friends. After that we come home and school starts the 18th! I cannot believe my baby is going to be a first grader in two weeks!!!!

Where have they gone....

Can it really be that 6 years ago my life changed so much! Today my baby girl Gabby turns 6 years old. As I look back on this time I cannot believe that it has gone by so fast! She has brought so much joy (and drama) into our lives. There are so many words I could use to describe Gabby - friendly, happy, energetic, loud, athletic, emotional, girlie, fascinated, smart - but the one word I would use to BEST describe my angel is PRECIOUS! She is a gift that we were not expecting at the time, but have been overjoyed since the moment she was pulled out into the world! Happy birthday baby girl! We love you more than words can ever say!

End of School...Beginning of summer fun!

I am (as usual these days) a bit behind. Last week Gabby "graduated" from Kindergarten and is now officially a 1st grader! How crazy is that. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday and now here we are a blink later and she is about to be 6 and headed to 1st grade!

Jack is also moving up...he is no longer is CDO (Children's Day Out and has been moved to Preschool. He will go 3 days next year! I am not sure what I will do with ALL that time!

Anyway here in OK summer vacation is in full swing. The kids have a VERY busy June schedule. They have already started school camp and will soon be enjoying Vacation Bible School, tennis lessons, swim lessons, cheer camp and a trip to NY! We are also house sitting for our dear friends and neighbors so we have unlimited use of their pool this month! The kids are sleeping great these days!

Well I am off to get them in bed and ready for another fun filled busy day!

My sweet (sleepy) Jack....

Many of you know that my sweet Jack has had his fair share of issues/illness over the past year or so. I had hoped that once we got him on his asthma meds he would start getting better, and initially that was the case. However, a few months ago he started randomly falling asleep in the strangest places. I finally called the doctor after having to go pick him up from school about an hour after I dropped him of because he had fallen asleep on the playground (with about 20 kids running around screaming and playing!) Anyway, after some MORE blood work and testing they have determined that he is most likely falling asleep because he is anemic. He has never been a very good meat eater, so this really did not surprise me at all!

If this poor child has any more problems I am pretty sure the doctor is going to dedicate a room at her office specifically for me and my children!!

Jack's birthday party....

Where does the time go? I can not beleive my baby is now 3 years old! We celebrated this year by having a party at the OKC Zoo (about a month after his birthday due to the fun Oklahoma weather). It turned out great though. Jack loved seeing all the animals. They even brought an armadillo into the room for the kids to see up close. It was pretty neat! It is really great to see him starting to make friends of his own now instead of always playing with Gabby and her friends.

March Madness...

Well I was hoping to have pictures of Jack's birthday, but as luck (and Oklahoma weather) would have it last weekend the weathermen predicted a large snow storm, so I had to postpone the party till mid April.

We did get a chance to celebrate his birthday with a visit from Nana and Papa. The kids had a great time visiting with Carl's parents and I was very excited to get lots of stuff done around the house while they visited!

On a very exciting note for Mommy, my washing machine imploded last Sunday and I was "forced" to get a new one! (I am really sad about that!)

I am off now to go start stuffing 1000 plastic eggs for and Easter egg hunt this weekend in our neighborhood. Why do I get myself into these things???

Spring BREAK!

I will never understand why we need a break from MDO when the kids only go a few hours a week. I am READY for Monday. The kids have been keeping me very busy most of the week and luckily the weather has held out thus far - we have headed to the Zoo, the park (several of them), Chuck E Cheese, the barn, played with friends and painted the driveway a variety of colors.

Today is the least fun day as I am cleaning house and getting ready for my in laws visit. They are headed up to help celebrate the little man's birthday which is just two short days away. I am SO excited to give him his gift....tune in on Saturday to see the pictures!!

The start of soccer season...not so great!

This morning was Gabby's first soccer game, at least the only one she remembers since she played with her friend Tyler when she was 3 but does not recall. Anyway, she and Carl were both very excited to start this season until the cold front blew in yesterday! The temp was 25 with a wind chill of 15! The kids were MISERABLE! I was shocked that the games were not cancelled.

So we headed out to the field at 9 am bundled up and ready. We have 6 girls on the team and we play 3 v 3. One of our girls showed up in shorts and her parents took her home before the start of the game and one girl did not show (smart parents)! So we have 4 players and we need 3 to play on the field. By the end of the first half 2 of our girls were crying because they were so cold and Carl finally called the game.

So our first game lasted just shy of 20 minutes and the girls will probably never want to play again! I have to say though they were really playing great and if they get back out there to play they may just have a really good season! Go SuperKickers!

Long lost blogger returns...

Wow, I cannot believe it has been over a month since I blogged. I really thought I was a better multi-tasker! Oh well, where shall I start. It really has been a fairly uneventful month. We made it through the entire month of January without a trip to the doctor and have only been one time in February, so we are off to a great start to 2009!

The kids are growing like weeds these days. I have been in the process of planning Jackson's 3rd birthday bask, which we will be holding at the Zoo (Jackson favorite place to be!) Gabby started soccer practice this week and has her first game this Saturday morning! Carl is coaching, which will be well worth the trip to come see if any of you Texas or NY'ers want a good laugh!

That is really about it for right now, I told you there was not much to catch up on. We have been very boring and low key so far this year! Lets hope it stays that way...

My new table...

One of my new year's resolutions this year is to get my dining room/entry finally decorated and furnished. We have really been taking it slow on our house 1. because we probably always had a secret hope that the call to move back to Austin was right around the corner and 2. furniture is so darn expensive and I just can't ever make up my mind when you are talking about that much money! Anyway, I finally found an entry table that I liked and I got a really good deal on it! No all I have to do is get a few cute decorative items to go on top!

Finally an update!

Happy 2009! What a crazy end to 2008 and start of 2009! I am pretty certain that my parents were always pretty excited when we went back to school after a break. I am exhausted. We have been non-stop for the past two weeks! We have had a great time bowling, having friends over for play dates, playing with our new toys and traveling! As I type Gabby and Carl are practicing guitar and Jackson is quietly playing in the playroom with his favorite train set EVER!

I was not very good with the camera this trip so I do not have a lot of pictures to share. I am potty training Jackson (which has been going great), but that does not make for a lot of picture time because I spent the majority of my time in all the bathrooms all over South Texas!

Hope you all had a terrific Christmas and a very Happy New Year! I look forward to reading all about your 2009 adventures!!!

Making cookies for Santa!Jackson's new drum set!

Happy New Year....

Hope everyone had a very Happy New Year thus far. I promise to update and post as soon as I get the kids to school on Monday! Life has been crazy around here the past few weeks and I just have not had to much time to myself.