Catherine's friends and hair flipping

Catherine has spent a lot of time this summer with 2 friends, Angelica and Lauren.  I finally caught a picture of them swimming and flipping their hair!

Texas Sage

We planted a lot of Texas sage. I was so excited for it to bloom so my yard would smell like perfume (clap, clap, clap, clap -- deep in the heart of Texas!) Well, it bloomed, but it has no scent at all!

Madelyn's 9th birthday

Madelyn officially turned 9 today! She celebrated with her friends over the weekend, but today we had cake for her. She requested homemade cinnamon spice bundtlets.

Today, I rested

and got caught up on my blog. and took the kids bike riding . . . and had a yummy brisket dinner . . . and went to church . . . and played the organ . . . and taught the kids how to play rook . . . and maybe it wasn't so restful after all . . .



yep . . . my hand, typing this post on the computer. . . that's as exciting as it gets!

Three project Saturday

We picked up the desk and put the office back together. The desk looks amazing!!! So happy with the results.



Then we re-did Madelyn's and Catherine's room. Putting the twin beds into bunk beds. They love it!



Then I made a happy birthday banner with my silhouette machine.



There was lots of running kids around and we all went to in -n-out burgers for dinner. It was a busy but fun day.

Madelyn's birthday party (a few days before the real thing!)

First, we made the party favors.



And then 2 of her friends came over for swimming, pizza, and bundtlets!

MORE visits with Old Friends

Today, Tosha Mack and some of her kids came over to swim and visit. We had a great time catching up and naturally didn't take any photos! So I thought, I'll go through my photos from years past and find some old ones. And I couldn't find any. It is interesting to me looking back on the year of having 3 little girls (2004-2005) at home full time and even though (at the time) I knew things were busy, there is just no way to describe how it all works out. I had a great group of friends (tosha, melissa, joy, deann, sarah, and kristen) and we did so many things together with all our kids everyday. We did a joy school with the girls, we did excursions, we just hung out, we had girls night, and so on. And in all the pictures I have this is the best 4 I could find.



Not one is good, not one kids is looking, not one mom is looking. I don't have any of just us friends! I think we were all just there supporting eachother in survival mode. So If any of you ladies are reading this, just know how much you all mean to me. Even if I don't have photos to prove it. I have the memories of friends supporting eachother through the craziness of little kids! Love you all!

Visits with Old Friends!

Today Erica (Blake) Hyland and her mother and 3 of her kids came over. It was so fun to catch up with her and her family. For some reason I didn't think to take any pictures until we were at In-n-out burger for lunch.

After she left, I worked on a Texas Rangers shirt for Adam. He wanted one and I had bought the girls all shirts for when we went to the game, but every place we looked for him was out of his size. Even at the ballpark they did not have his size and we walked to every kiosk!!!

At the dentist . . . at 8 am . . . again

This time the appt's were for me, Trent, Julianne, and Madelyn. But then Catherine had to come too (since going to the ortho the 3 girls all needed to have teeth pulled) -- so the boys got to come too! It was an ordeal. The girls were all troopers. All in all Julianne lost 3 teeth, Catherine 2 and Madelyn 2.

Some free time = lots of projects

With morning swim team practices over we have had a little extra time for some fun projects. First, I made the girls some dresses out of Trent's shirts.

Relaxing Sunday

Not much going on today. I played the piano at church for some friends. We didn't take any photos. So here's one from our drive home at Bucee's.

Back home and taking in the desk

Our sweet children can sometimes be "rough" on the furniture. This time it was the top of one of the sections of our large desk in the office. We tried to sand it down some, but it just got worse. I found a place and today we took it and dropped it off. We are crossing our fingers that they can restore it beautifully!

Shad's house

We spent the night at Shad's house and had a great time staying up late. The kids did not sleep in (naturally) and Shad and Amy were off to their ultrasound in the morning. They are expecting another baby girl due Dec. 7th. Then we went up to Shad's office for some orthodontics. He got a spectacularly cool new 3D X-ray machine. Here are some of our cool X-rays! The first 3 are of me. Then 2 of Madelyn, 2 of Julianne and 2 of Catherine

Quick drive down to Houston

We left this morning and drove to Amber's house on the north side of Houston and spent a few hours with her and her 3 kids.  Amber is expecting their first baby boy due in November.  We helped her pick the green peppers and jalapenos from her garden.




Then we headed on to my Dad's home. Here is downtown Houston



We were excited to see all the changes that Sally has made to the house since the wedding. Their home was just beautiful and they are doing great and are so happy. We had fun. Here is a pic of all of us after swimming.



Here is a video of my dad playing a new (and old) favorite game of ours -- heads up on the iphone AKA charades with video!



And last a pic of me and Carrie (who lives across the street from my dad -- )

The Last swim meet of the summer season . . .

Everyone did great --


Season Times and Improvement

Adam -- 6 and under
freestyle  in the first meet  40.68, 2nd meet 37.93, 3rd meet 34.95, 4th meet 38.73, and in the last meet 36.40
backstroke in the first meet 1:01.5, 2nd meet 53.03, 3rd meet 53.15, 4th meet 43.23, and in the last meet 42.88

Madelyn -- 8 and under
freestyle in the first meet  26.00, in the 2nd meet 26.54, in the 3rd meet 26.78, in the 4th meet 24.23, and in the last meet 23.01
backstroke in the first meet 33.69, in the 2nd meet 34.12, in the 3rd meet 34.10, in the 4th meet 30.74 and in the last meet 31.36
breastroke in the first meet DQ, in the 2nd meet DQ, in the 3rd meet 35.71, in the 4th meet 31.69
butterfly in the last meet -- she swam it and 29.59

Catherine 12 and under
freestyle in the first meet 46.97, in the 2nd meet 44.85, in the 4th meet 43.18, in the last meet 43.27
backstroke in the first meet 53.09, in the 2nd meet 50.99, in the 3rd meet 49.62, in the 4th meet 50.00
breastroke in the first meet DQ, in the 2nd meet DQ, in the 3rd meet 53.77, in the 4th meet 53.52, in the last meet 51.78

Julianne 12 and under
freestyle in the first meet 35.20, in the 3rd meet 36.25, in the 4th meet 35.01, in the last meet 34.51
backstroke in the first meet 44.09, in the 3rd meet 45.09
breastroke in the 4th meet 47.91, in the last meet 49.65
butterfly in the first meet DQ, in the 3rd meet DQ, in the 4th meet swam in the wrong lane, in the last meet 46.23

Going to the dentist

When you schedule things like dentists appt's 6 months out, they have a way of sneaking up on you. And so it was that I was just yesterday checking the calendar and realized that I had 3 appointments for 8 am. What was I thinking? During the school year we are quite capable of 8 am arrivals, but in the summer we are a little more prone to sleeping in. But . . . we made it! Today was Catherine, Adam, and Owen.

The checklist and one new way to "check" up on your kids

It's the same every day. My kids have to

1. Make their bed
2. Clean their room
3. Eat breakfast
4. practice piano or flute
5. read 30 min
6. do 1 chore for mom
7. get dressed

At that point they are eligible to do money jobs, chores or tasks that earn them money.  It is also only then that they can watch TV or use their iphones.  But sometimes it can be a pain to check on each and every room and bed . . .  Now I just have them facetime call me or text me photos of their stuff so that I can know for sure it has all been done. Here's Adam's photos from the other day!

Saturday -- Adam went to a shark party and then ruined the top of the desk!