August Rain

We are so excited to have rain in August!!!! The grass is green - can you believe it???

Astros Trip

We made our annual trek to Houson earlier this month to see an Astros game. Next year we will bring our own food - remind me of this. $4.50 lemonade, etc. We had a great time even though the Astros lost. A homerun ball went right over our heads! We stayed for the Friday night firew

orks which was a little crazy. I've never quite seen fireworks like this. It was kind of like the fireworks were on steroids (or something else for that matter). Either that or the fans were supposed to be... Anyway, I think the boys liked it - too much/loud for Colin.

First Day of School and other late August news

Nolan started kindergarten Monday. Matthew hit the big 3rd grade hall (yes

- hall not portable although there are 3rd graders in the portables this year). All the 2nd graders were in portables last year so that means some are out there for the 2nd year in a row. Anyway, Nolan was so excited, popped out of bed saying "I wasn't asleep, my eyes were just closed!" And yes, teacher requests still work in this day and age - eve with 11 kinder teachers! We got the teacher we wanted!! Matthew's teacher is a winner too. We are very happy. It has been an adjustment for all of us but we are doing well. I think I am the most upset - worrying that the school is too big, Nolan is too overwhelmed, should I have put him in private kinder?, etc. etc. Colin also met his teacher yesterday- he starts next Wednesday. He is going to love school just like last year. Tonight we hit Nolan's open house - Marty actually got a sitter because he wanted us both to go! I am excited to see my sisters Dale (from Michigan), and Jo (from Houston) tonight - they are in for a visit. That's all for now.

Last week of summer blues

Well - here we are with 3 weekdays left before the boys go back to school. It will just be Colin and me for another week and a half and then he'll be off 3 mornings a week too! I think Matthew and Nolan are ready - they both love school and actually seem happier when they come home from school than when home all day. We are trying to get them back on the school bedtime schedule but Nolan and Colin are fighting it with a vengence. The olympics doesn't help either since Matthew loves watching it with Marty and I. Tomorrow afternoon we'll head up to the school to see the class lists posted. We'll see if my subtle email to the Principal and VP helped at all with Nolan's placement (I requested a specific teacher even though they "don't take requests"). Us kinder parents just get a little anxious ourselves this time of year... Matthew is the veteran 3rd grader now so hopefully all will go well there as well. We are gearing up for another baseball season starting in September. Oh yeah, Marty is training for the San Antonio Marathon in November. Cara (my sister) is training to run half of the same marathon (13 miles)! Me? I have no desire to run a marathon - I have started running again myself for exercise thanks to their motivation though. I really enjoy running but 3 miles is good for me. Well that's it for now.

The Alaska Railroad.

Matthew at Rika's Roadhouse - Delta Junction, AK.

Nolie Bear.

Mt. McKinley (Denali) Denali National Park.

Nolan on one of the many airplanes.

My brother John, Crystal, and JR, in front of their log cabin.

The boys in the ice museum in Chena, Alaska.

2 More Weeks of Summer (but at least 6 more of the extreme Texas heat)

Yes I know it has been 6 (yes six) months since I've posted. Sorry. We've had a great summer. Matthew and I were going over the answer to the ever popular "Where did you go this summer" question his 3rd grade (yes third grade...) teacher will ask the first week of school. Well, we went to the beach the first day of summer for 2 nights where Marty attended the annual Southwest TX United Methodist Church Conference and the kids and I played at the beach - grandma, grandpa, and cousins were there too. We took a day trip to Austin to visit our friend's, The Zuniga's, newest family member baby Adalyn. Marty and I snuck-in another trip to the beach for the surprise wedding of his sister Kara to Mario. Welcome to the family Mario (and thanks for the new cousins - Marissa and Anabel)! Thanks grandma and grandpa for taking care of the boys for the night. We took an amazing trip to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and cousin JR in Alaska. The kids will tell you all about this trip - it was well worth the 14 hours in airports and planes to say the least. We visited the cousins in Ft. Worth for a few nights. This week we are off to our 2nd annual summer Houston Astros game - the boys are very excited and all but Colin and Marty have our Astros shirts and hats ready. I am actively avoiding thinking about the fact that in 2 weeks our Nolan will be off to kindergarten. That's a whole other post. I'll end here for now and try to get some Alaska pics up.