Jaden's first day of school

The little man just started 4 year old preschool!  He loved it so much last year that we were excited about him getting to go back this year.  He has been super excited about his new "blue camo" backpack.  Finally he got to use it!

He looks so excited!  He even smiled for a picture!  So far so good. Woke up in a good mood, got dressed with zero problems, had a big smile on his face getting out of the car and walking up to the school...and then...

A cling-on took over my Jaden when we got to his classroom!  I don't know what happened? 

He just would not let go of Chris.  I took Luke and went ahead outside.  He already had enough of an audience.  I felt so bad for Jaden and his teacher...and all the little kids sitting quietly at the table most likely thinking "what the heck is up with this kid?" by the looks on their faces.
I suggested to Chris that he somehow detach Jaden from his body and quickly leave so they could try to get on with their day.  I know how hard this can be.  Poor Chris felt so bad leaving him.  We had to stand outside the school (getting eaten my mosquitos) so he could listen for him to calm down.  He didn't :(.  The director assured me that she would call if she needed to for me to come back.

Fortunately, she didn't have to.  He calmed down and had a great morning.  Chris felt so guilty thinking it was somehow his fault for going with us and upsetting Jaden because he had to leave (since its a special treat to have Dad there).  When he got home he asked Jaden how his day was.  Jaden said "I was crying because I wanted Mama".  hahahahahaha!

Its that time again!

Chris and I are still finding it a little hard to believe that we have a SECOND grader!  Though I'm sure we'll be saying something similiar for the rest of our lives..."I can't believe our little girl is in high school", "I can't believe our little girl is getting married"...
It all goes by way to fast.  Everyone tells you that and you definitely are very aware of it but it's still hard to grasp. 
We are so proud of her - she is a fantastic little lady!  We are so excited for this new year and all the exciting things she is going to do and learn! 
Love you Sweetheart!

The Johns'

Is it Johns' or Johns's? It think it's Johns'. I always get confused about possessives for names that end in "s". Regardless, we love this family and are soooo going to miss them since they are leaving the great state of Texas! Laura and Jay moved here a few months before we did. Even though I hadn't really met them before we moved in (though Laura did make a brief appearance at Granny's one time when all the Tyree's were there) I felt like I knew Laura. She was good friends with Chris' sister Kelli and I had heard many stories with Laura in them. All good, of course! It was nice to have an excuse to cook out some Bobby Flay burgers and drink some alcoholic beverages!!! Plus, I got to have an insanely beautiful little girl running around my house. Little Miss Zoey (Zoey Bee - is what I call her) is a walking machine and she's not even 11 months old yet! I could just eat her and her big blue eyes right up! She is fantastic!
I'm definitely going to have to make some visits to WV to visit. I'll have to look into the Dow shuttle...

The 4th of July in WV

This year even though Grandma and Aunt Megan had to work and couldn't join in the festivities we had lots of fun with Aunt Kellie and Uncle Kicky and their family and friends. We had lots of yummy food and the kids got to play with waterballoons and sprinkers. Afterwards we went to Wellsburg to watch the parade. My kids don't see many parades so this was something different for them. They were surprised to have people throwing candy at them! It was sooo hot even though it didn't start until 7pm.
After the parade we met my friends, Rich and Angie and their sweet little girl from Parkersburg. It was nice to catch up but I always wish I had more time with them. At least we'll get to visit with Angie and Allison once more before we leave!

My sweet niece, Zaylee - she is such a cutie. She is already the little model. As soon as I said her name she would look at me with a smile. She is easy -breezy! I love kids that let me take their pictures :)

Hayden :)

Helping Kicky get the smoke bombs lined up. I was sooo excited about these (can you feel the sarcasm??)

"Maybe a few pop-its will liven up the fun of the smoke bombs?"

The kids love those pop-it things that you throw down and they explode. I don't think my kids have ever had them before.

Luke had to step on his pop-its :)

Kicky set off something that made a really loud sound.

Our own fireworks after the Wellsburg fireworks in Grandma's backyard. They were really cool. Thanks Uncle Kicky and Aunt Kellie (with the red hair - my kids have 2 "Aunt Kelli's - one with an "e" and one with an "i" and one with red hair and one with blonde). It was a lot of fun!

Sparklers!!! I am opposed to kids with sparklers but Kicky was very good at making them take turns one at a time and holding it for the little ones. No one was burned :) My kids have never had these either. Lots of "firsts" this visit.

They are so sweet...when they are sleeping...

June 10, 2010: Luke was being exceptionally crabby today. I have no idea what his problem was but he would not listen to reason so I simply walked away after changing his pants. It wasn't long before the screaming stopped and it was too quiet. When I went in to check on him this is what I found:


Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell me you were tired or lay down and go to sleep? Why all of the screaming and crying that gives me gray hairs and a huge headache??

So,after we left to go to WV for our "summer va-ca" Chris had a little mini-vacation of his own. He went out fishing (and got stung by jelly fish), did some golfing, spent some time with Kelli, Mike and the kiddos THEN broke car and his foot!!! He dropped a 50 lb. weight on his foot and gave himself a good ol' crush fracture! The break is in his big toe right below the first joint. If you look real close you can see it in the x-ray. That bought him a week off from the doctor excuse. I think he really just didn't want to clean up the house ;)

Galveston

Way back in February, I was able to attend the annual TXABA (Texas Association for Behavior Analysis) conference in Galveston. It was so fantastic to walk out of a talk to see huge windows with unobstructed views of the Gulf. And the water was b-l-u-e instead of the brown then blue a ways out like it is closer to our home (thanks to the Brazos river). It was gorgeous.

The second day of the conference Chris drove out with the kids to meet me and hang out with the kids on the beach. Here are some pictures he took while he was waiting for me to get done.

This is Luke hanging out "putting out the vibe" near the seawall. The drawings on the wall were very cool. So neat to see the renderings of such talented people.

*Anna*

*Jaden* - with his gun, of course. What? You don't bring your gun with you to the beach?

Maybe Chris knew something we didn't about the re-make of the Karate Kid movie?

Then, I got done and we all walked back down to the beach. As soon as we got down there Luke let us know he needed something....

yep....Chris took care of this one for me since he forgot to bring me comfortable shoes and I couldn't walk all the way back to the car carrying Luke with high heels.

*The water*

Luke - 2 years old!

Even though most people don't believe me - on March 11, 2010 - my little Lukie turned 2 years old! He is a ball of fire and most certainly a "mama's boy".
When he is by himself he can be the sweetest little thing. Very loving and cute. But when he gets together with his older brother, Jaden - watch out! Those two are T-R-O-U-B-L-E! They are absolutely, 100% BOY! They have to run, throw, climb, tackle, shoot - you name it, they do it!
Jaden was always so hard to photograph - especially for his 2nd birthday. But Luke was just perfect. Of course, his big brother was in school so he was very cooperative ;). I think these pictures capture exactly who he is right now. He's definitely got a bit of a coy nature and can be very "serious". He's often caught sticking his tongue out a little when he's being shy. He's a beautiful little guy - even if he's trying to make his mama crazy :).

Did we move to a farm?

So, the other night Anna fell asleep in my bed and I decided to just crash beside her. Surprisingly, we both slept pretty well. This is surprising -I should explain - because anyone who has ever slept with Anna can attest that she is a maniac and bed hog!

There I was sleeping soundly and enjoying the peace when I was awoken by a rooster! The rooster just happened to be in my bed! I took my sleep mask off to find Anna crowing beside me. "What - are - you - doing?", I asked. "Oh", she said, "I didn't know it was you".

Then, we had to have a talk about how she should NOT be crowing in the morning. Just because she is up doesn't mean we ALL have to be up.

Apparently, her instinct might be as ingrained as an actual rooster's because I heard her crowing again the next morning waking up her brother...

My Sweet Jaden

I am taking pictures this weekend for a wedding that will be held mid-day in the hot, hot Texas sun so I needed to get in a little practice before hand. Ideally, this is not the "best" time to take pictures for many reasons but here are a few - it's REALLY bright, people squint, its REALLY hot, people sweat, I sweat, and yucky shadows :( Normally people think about needing to use their flash when it's dark or there isn't enough light but this is another circumstance where flash can help a lot. I'm just not used to using flash because I like to use the "natural" light.

Fortunately, Jaden was more than happy to cooperate with me and let me take his picture. He was such a big helper and I looove the pictures that I got of him. He is so handsome. Just wish I knew who he looked like...