Kindergarten

Well, the time has come for the kiddos to head back to school & this year my sweet little (sorry, big) boy will be joining them. That's right, Eric started Kindergarten today! He has always been such an independent child & has been looking forward to going to school since he was about 3 yrs. old & spent about 3 months in daycare (or as he called it "my school"). It's hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly that he's already old enough to be a kinder kid. It seems like just yesterday I was cuddling with my brand new little baby & now he's not so little anymore. I know I haven't shared much this summer but the big news was Eric made it into the Dual Language Program @ Blanco Vista Elementary. We attended meetings, tested & then a couple of weeks ago we found out he made it in. This is such an amazing opportunity for him to not only learn all the regular kinder stuff but to learn to speak a whole new language while he's at it. My little boy is really growing up before our eyes!

this was my baby 5 yrs ago

August 2004

this is my "baby" today; his first day of school

August 2009

Baby Stellan

Ok folks prayer time! Head over to my charming kids to read about Baby Stellan & his family. They need really need your prayers & positive energy right now. Be sure to leave them an note of encouragement while you are there.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/07/no-matter-what.html

ER visit

Well it's official, both of the boys have now had an ER visit & we've been the silly over-reactive parents. Let's just say tonight was not a good night. I'll start from the beginning: Danny & I were sitting in our bedroom talking before he laid down to get a nap before heading out to work, in 3 hrs (this was at about 8:30 pm & also after he had been up since 6 am this morning). Anyways, we were discussing clothes for an upcoming wedding that we would be attending & all of a sudden, Mason starts crying the 'I'm really hurt cry'. We both rush to the living room to see what was wrong, Eric runs to hide & Mason is laying on the kitchen floor eyes closed crying & not trying to get up. Sooo, when I pick him up he won't open his eyes & won't respond to my questions. In the mean time Danny got it out of Eric that he had hit Mason & that Mason fell backwards & hit his head on the kitchen floor that is nothing more than concrete & a VERY thin piece of vinyl. Needless to say I am freaking out; Mason is having a hard time opening his eyes & when he does they are rolled back in his head, the few words I could get out of him were slurred, he just wasn't acting right. So off to the ER we go. I don't know which caused more adrenaline Mason's accident or me driving 80+ mph to the hospital. Now that I've had time to process everything I realize driving like that was really stupid but all I could think was that I had to get him to the hospital. I have to admit that all in all the visit wasn't that bad we were checked in & back out within an hour & a half. The doctors checked him over, everything looked good, they told us what to watch for over the next 24 to 48 hrs & explained why they didn't want to give him a cat scan. I would have to agree on this one, I sure don't want that much radiation focused on my kid's developing brain than is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Now we are back at home the kids are sleeping, Danny is at work (w/no nap, mind you) & I am trying to unwind from all the excitement (freakout) so that I can get some sleep in between waking Mason up every two hours. The doctor said I DIDN'T have to wake him up like you would with most concussions but really I don't think that's gonna stop me.

crashed out after all the drama was over

they couldn't put the bracelet on his little wrist so they had to put it on his ankle.

It Moved!

Attention all my dear, loyal follower: During my spare time moved to its' new permanent home at spare time creations. Hopefully this will be my one and only move (I know everyone hates editing bookmarks & such). Check it out in it's new home, there will be new posts to come soon.

during my spare time

I'm excited to announce the birth of my newest blog!! During My Spare Time was created out of the need for a suitable place to showcase all my fun, crafty, time-consuming projects. I thought long & hard about this & wondered how on God's green earth can I possibly keep up with 3 blogs. Well, I don't know that I can but I will sure as heck try my hardest. Wish me luck & check on me often, I may be drowning over here. Thanks for the support & you are more than welcome to click to become a follower! Much love to ya'!

Mason plays T-ball too!

Mason has ALWAYS followed big brother around, wanted to do everything he does, play with whatever he plays with, including t-ball. The other day Mason got brother's bat & ball & told daddy, "ball. ball." He pulled Danny to the door & told him again, "ball. ball." So, Danny took Mason outside, put the ball on the tee, & let him swing. For being such a small guy, he did pretty darn good!




Now, all he has to do is learn to measure up & keep his eye on the ball & he'll be ready for the pros!!

Eric & Mason's T-ball Double Header

Last week our schedules worked out that Beck had a game scheduled right after ours. The boys had a super sized cheering section cheering them on Everyone from Mimi & Papa to Jessie & Ella showed up to lend their support for both boys.

Beck is #10 for the Braves

Eric is #5 for the Orioles

all the kids

L to R: Beck, Ella, Maddy (fresh

from dance class), Eric & Bristol

Easter

For Easter this year we had lunch and an egg hunt at the house for the kids. This year Eric had to share his egg hunt with the two younger ones. Eric by far got the most eggs, he was quick. Quick to spot them, quick to pick them up, quick to put them in his bucket. Mason followed Eric, sort of. He just kept picking up the same eggs over & over, he would pick them up & they would just fall out. Emily was very intrested in watching what the boys were doing. She managed to pick up about a dozen eggs of her own but she was definatley very interested in watching the boys. Next year is gonna be fun.

the three kids, getting started

Mason found one

Eric looks kinda sneaky in this one

Emily in her pretty Easter dress


Grandma, Grandpa & the grandkids

(& no, the kids would not all sit still)

T-ball

Eric decided this year that he wanted to play t-ball. The kiddos have been an absolute blast to watch. I think we have had as much fun watching them as they have had playing. And for you local folks, our coach is Robert Wihite (the owner of the BBQ resteraunt in Creedmoore). He has been the best coach we could have asked for. About half the kids on our team have never played t-ball before & he, along with the assistant coaches, have been the most patient, kind & supportive coaches. All the kids have played all the different positions across the field & are really starting to show some great improvments.

Eric is ready for his game

Eric #5, warming up w/ daddy

Eric playing 2nd base

Mason watching all the action

Houston Zoo

Early in January we took my mother-in-law down to Houston for a visit with her doctor. Well it just so happens that her doctor's office is right across the street from the Houston zoo. So, while she did her thing in the office, we strolled across the street & visited all the wonderful animals.

the picture behind the shell looks sooo real

we HAD to visit the kids play area

Eric is crawling through a tunnel inside an aquarium

Eric always the joker, Mason not real happy!

Eric's Birthday

We gave Eric a choice of what he wanted to do for his big day & he chose Gattiland, big surprise there! Joining us for pizza & games were my parents, my brother, Kim & Emily.

the whole gang

Danny & his boys

Mason is all smiles

Emily really likes pizza

Eric rides The Hopper by himself

The New House

The week after Christmas we signed the contract on a brand-spanking new house in Kyle. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 2010 sq ft of our very own piece of heaven. Right after Christmas we started the very tedious process of packing up 10 years worth of stuff. We closed on the house on January 28th & moved in that night!!

after we moved in

the kitchen before we moved in

the boys "castle" bedroom before we moved in

Christmas

Christmas was a little chaotic this last year, we had just moved back, just signed the paperwork for our new house & started the process of packing up 10 years worth of stuff in the old house. Still the boys managed to make quite a haul.

Halloween

For Halloween Eric decided he wanted to be a zombie, AWESOME! (A real chance to let my creativity take over!) Mason didn't get a choice, he was Superman. After Halloween 07' I bought a cute little Superman costume on clearance at HEB for $4. I figured it would either fit him in '08 or it wouldn't, either way it was only $4. Lucky for me, it fit. Even as young as he was, Superman fit his personality to a T! We hit up the Amberwood neighborhood in Kyle this year & the boys had a blast, in just one street the boys got enough candy to last them awhile!

the zombie & Superman!

pretty scary zombie, don't you think?

isn't this the cutest Superman, you've ever seen??

Superman PICKS.UP.THE.WAGON!!

(Ok, maybe he had a little help)

Visiting the Reeves

Sometime after we got back to Texas we spent a quiet Saturday evening over at the Reeves, jammin out to Rock Band actually, but that's neither here nor there. The funny part of the evening was when the kids took over the drums. I think we may have some future drummers on our hands.

such a cheese!

Addison is a natural!

Mason & Addison take turns.

impossible to get these three to sit still long enough to take a picture.

Sesame Street LIVE!!

As a gift from my parents for the boys' double birthday party, Eric & Mason got tickets to go see Sesame Street LIVE in San Antonio. They both really enjoyed it, Eric more than Mason (he might have been a little too young to sit still for that long) but it was still really cute & fun to watch.

The Double Party

So, since we were in NM when Eric turned 4 & he didn't get to have a proper b-day party & since Mason's b-day was right after we moved back, we decided to have a double birthday party. Eric picked Chuck E. Cheese, suprise, suprise. (Actually he picked It'z at first, but since they're only in Albuquerque, Houston & Colorado Springs, that was gonna be a little hard to do.) Since I was making the cake & cupcakes, I let the boys pick out what they wanted. I'm sure you can guess who picked what.