My Tomatoes

Well, I planted squash, peppers, and tomatoes.... nothing really was growing much this summer. And then a couple of weeks ago I started seeing the tomato plant take new life. Now we have 7 tomatoes growing. The boys are all too excited to go out each day and see if any more new ones have started growing. Yesterday, one started turning red and today another one started changing. We'll see what happens. Maybe we'll have a chance to pick them before the bugs or birds get to them. Either way it's been a fun science experiment for the summer.

First Day of First Grade

Here's my first grader all packed and ready for the big day. I actually had to go wake him up this morning. Why does it take until the end of summer to learn to sleep in?? He must have woken up during the night though because he already had discovered the 4 quarters from the tooth fairy. Somehow 4 quarters seems like a lot more money than just a measly dollar. So, the day started perfectly. Plus, this morning seemed much more calmer than last year's "first day of school" morning. Maybe it's because we've gotten up for school 160 other times before today... we just jumped back into routine.
Here he is at his table. I was thinking he would get a real desk this year, but no such luck. He's actually sitting next to a girl from his class last year. He had absolutely no anxiety or fear today. In fact he was probably a bit annoyed Carter and I were following him in and on his turf! But, he sucked it up and took all the obligatory pictures. This kid really was just so excited. "I'm going to do harder math problems" is what he told me on the way to school. Hmmmm.... I don't think that was my thinking when I entered first grade. And do you notice the gap in the bottom of his mouth?? That missing tooth is much more noticeable than I thought.

And there SHE is.... Miss America... wait, no... it's Mrs. Long. 5 years experience and still looks fresh out of college. Caleb is all smiles when he sees her. I really think this is going to be another awesome year at Heritage. Let's just hope she gives him some harder math problems.

And me.... no tears... pure excitement for my son. I was sad last year thinking I was sending him out to the big bad world where he'd been eaten alive and treated unkind. Boy was I wrong. That sadness was all about me, not him. Because he is so ready and excited to be back at his school where he gets to learn and play. I'm not nostalgic today... just confidant that he is in the right place. I am so thankful for Heritage and the wonderful teachers and staff that love my child like their own. Here's to another great year!

3rd Tooth

Well, my boy is starting first grade tomorrow with one less tooth. He's been wiggling on it for quite some time. Finally he wiggled it right out. It's funny because he just appears to us with his tooth (he did the same thing last time) and just hands it over like he's giving us a Kleenex. It's just like a project he works on from time to time until he's completed the task. There's no drama, no complaining, not even much excitement.... So, now he's lost 3 on the bottom. The top teeth seem pretty secure up there. He's requesting quarters from the the tooth fairy. And I'm pretty sure the tooth fairy can afford quarters!

Kathryn's Daddy

I had no intention of doing 2 sad posts in a row, but I also didn't think I'd be doing this post today. My Aunt Kathryn (married to my dad's baby brother) lost her Daddy, Leon, today to cancer. Usually when you hear of death by cancer you think of a long, drawn out illness. Well, they got the new he had cancer less than a week ago. Yes, just a few days ago.... shocking to say the least. Thankfully, he was a Christian and we all know he is now complete in Jesus. Kathryn reads my blog and has commented many times, so I know she'll see this. My cousin Emily is at Kansas U and will be trying to get down to Tyler in the next day or two. My youngest cousin, Mark is in high school in Boerne and is suppose to start his first day of his sophomore year tomorrow. So, logistically there is a lot to figure out. Please pray for Dan & Kathryn and their 2 kids- Mark & Emily- and the rest of Kathryn's family. I love you, guys!

A First

Today I had the honor of playing at a sweet friend's mother's funeral. She had battled cancer on and off for years until she finally moved to Hospice and then passed away this week. Although it was a hard day for my friend, Terri, I think she was rejoicing that her mother was in heaven and finally out of pain. I have never played at a funeral before. Since it was held in a nursing home, there were many residents in attendance who all seemed to enjoy the old hymns that Terri requested I play. I was actually unfamiliar with some of the songs and had to call my dad and friend, Elizabeth, to sing them to me. :-)

Michael Phelps

Annual Canvas

I'm really not that crafty. In fact I like cleanliness too much to be crafty. It's really not a good thing, but that's how I am. If it's messy I really don't want to do it. However, I have a tradition every summer of letting the boys paint a canvas. My plan is to eventually hang them in the playroom. I just wanted to wait until I had enough to make it worth hanging. So, the summer they are 2 years old they paint their first canvas. The thought is eventually the paintings will start to look like something. And finally at the age of 6... Caleb actually painted something I could understand. It's a boy (him) and a dog (that darn Elfy). Yes, we still have the dog. And since he keeps drawing pictures and now PAINTING her I guess we'll have to keep her. So, here's a glance at their summer canvases.


Carter is interesting. This summer he just did splashes of color, but none of the colors touched. I'm sure that means something in the psychological world.

Do you see the paper towels at the ready??? And, notice they aren't allowed to wear shirts?? See, I don't like a mess. Despite my controlling ways they managed to enjoy it.

I lined up their paintings from the past 5 years. Caleb's are obviously on the bottom- (left to right) age 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Carter's are on the top- age 2, 3, and 4. I'm hoping when when my kids are older I can enjoy their young artwork. Any suggestions on how to display them?? Right now, their canvases are hung in their room in no particular place.

Adventures in Walking

First let me say that I stole this picture from DeDe's blog. Thanks.

While walking on Saturday we got to watch the HV balloon festival. Now we've made many memories and shared many exciting and scary things while walking together, but never have we witnessed the balloon festival.

I remember 2 years ago while walking I found a wallet on the street filled with over $200 in cash. Yes, it had an ID and Yes, I turned it into the police. Our team has also come across a few unsettling things... dead animals (mostly squirrels, mice, and snakes) and condoms. You wouldn't believe the number of used (I'm guessing they're used) condoms we've walked by when traveling through the nice neighborhoods of Flower Mound and Highland Village. So, how exactly did they end up there?? Well, that gave our team plenty to talk about to pass the time while getting in miles.

But, on Saturday we got to experience a new and exciting adventure while walking. We watched probably 8 hot air balloons pass over us and then saw one go down in Highland Village. We were just a mile from where we saw the balloon land and couldn't quite figure out why it went down in the middle of a neighborhood. So, we detoured our route to go check it out. Sure enough, it had landed in a greenbelt just behind a bunch of houses. This is NOT where they had planned on stopping. All the neighbors were just in their backyard taking pictures while the few people on the balloon where wrestling with taking the balloon down. So, we jumped right in and held the rope, pulling the balloon down to the ground. Oddly, as us women are trying to pull down the balloon we look over and see some neighborhood men just chatting it up, drinking their morning coffee while watching us trying to help this poor balloon crew. Apparently taking down a hot air balloon takes lots of strength. Some girls on my team have rope burns to prove that. Then the balloon crew started asking us how to get a car back in the greenbelt area. That's when we sent them over to the coffee drinking men who lived in the area. Surely they could help them out now.

Well, it was another adventure in walking. We just never know what new things we'll learn or do on our route.

8 Golds!

Just amazing! I love watching swimming especially when it involves my man, Michael Phelps. Although I think I'm developing a crush on Aaron Piersol as well. :-) To think about what Michael just accomplished is truly amazing. I think I'll be really bummed tomorrow night when I turn on the TV and there will be no more swimming!

Training Total Tuesday

OK, yes it's not Tuesday. But I have in fact missed many Tuesday posts lately. All my traveling has pushed me behind on training posts. However, this morning I just finished a long, grueling training walk that took me through 3 cities. So, I feel today is appropriate for doing a post.

I have reached my goal of raising $2200! And, my team has raised $10,877.16

We have 8 walkers this year. Our team is awesome. 5 of us are returning walkers and 3 are first-timers!

We have 12 weeks left before the Breast Cancer 3Day- hard to believe it's almost here!!

My New Soccer Star

Carter joined the U5 (under 5) GLASA soccer league. He had his first official practice last night. It was a family event. With Caleb 2 years ago I was taking him to every practice while chasing a 2 year old- Steve was traveling. Tonight was awesome! Steve got out there with Carter while Caleb and I hung back and watched. And, for 3 of the families this is their oldest child. So, I am now the "experienced mom"- what a change!

Carter was hesitant about going all day- he said he was scared. But then once I put the shin guards, socks, and cleats on him he grabbed the ball and ran outside to start kicking. It didn't take long before his face got red and his hair kinked in tight curls.

On the way to his practice Caleb was giving him all the pointers. To hear Caleb talk about his soccer experience you'd think he was Pele. He was telling us all about the games he won and how hard he kicked the ball. Steve and I quietly giggled in the front seat... anyone who remembers Caleb's soccer season would know that he maybe touched the ball 3 times during the 10 games. My older son is not one for aggressive, contact sports. I think he'll stick with swimming.

I can't wait for the season to start so I can get some fun action shots. Go Lightening!

A Sad Day

Let me give the back story first. Steve takes a brown bag lunch everyday to work. Then once he gets to work he cuts out the crossword puzzle in the DMN and photocopies it for a few of his co-workers. Then at lunch they eat together and work on their puzzle. Combining all their brains they usually get it solved each day.

Well, one of his crossword buddies... a native of Kenya died unexpectedly over the weekend. She was just returning from the Philippines (on business) and collapsed on the plane just after it landed at DFW. Her heart had stopped. The flight crew worked on her and she was transported to the hospital. From what Steve heard, her heart stopped several more times at the hospital until there was nothing more they could do. It's thought that she had a blood clot from traveling that killed her. She was in her late twenties.

I can't imagine how sad it is at work. I'm sure the crossword puzzles will never be the same.

Olympic Fever

For the first time in 4 years Steve and I agree on what to watch on TV. We are both huge fans of the Olympics... swimming and track are our favorites- which works out well because swimming is the first week and then track is the second. I personally am a big fan of Michael Phelps. In fact after Athens in 2004 Steve bought me a small poster of him that I hang in my closet (next to my Matt Damon poster). Call me a teenager.

Go U.S.A.!!!

My Fishermen

This morning I've had a few phone calls from my boys out on Lake Waco. My parents have taken them fishing- a favorite hobby of my dad. Caleb has recently become a pretty good fisherman. And Carter does great, but just needs a little help.

So, my first phone call was from Caleb at 9:00am. He was reporting that he had already caught 5 fish and Carter had caught 2. His first was a catfish (it's the far left fish in the picture. you can tell by the whiskers). Then Steve answered a call where Caleb reported he caught 12 fish and Carter was up to 3. The boys were so excited. Of course my parents were soaking up the excitement as well. (and yes, there's a dead fish floating in the pool as well- welcome to country life)
The boys decided to bring all the fish back to the farm and put them in a plastic swimming pool. Then they were going to call PJ (who also lives on the farm) and give him all the fish. He will be happy to take them, gut them, and cook them. My dad did offer to send the fish home with the kids today, but I declined. I told him the only way I would cook fish is if it came from the grocery store.

My boys have made some wonderful memories with both sets of grandparents this week. I love to fish with my daddy and I'm so glad that my boys are finding the same joy in it.

Childless

So, this week has been quiet and productive. Our boys are spending the week at Grammy Camp in Spicewood. Then on Friday they will be going to the farm to spend time with my parents. We'll get them back on Saturday evening.

I've been able to get so much done. We have the kitchen cleaned out- I got rid of all my mismatched food storage and bought all matching Pyrex. Very exciting for me! Steve cleaned out all of our cups. Over the past few years we have collected plastic cups- too many to fit in the cabinets. Are we the only ones with this issue?

I also did some major cooking. I have 16 meals in the freezer ready for the fall. This will make my busy piano-teaching days go much more smoothly.

And, speaking of piano... I am working on my schedule. I'll have 13 students- including my son. I went up to Denton to buy books. It's so much easier to get all of my piano stuff planned and organized without any distractions.

I finally got my van inspected. We were a bit late. But no one cares about that except for the police, right? All of these errands are much easier to do without children tagging along.

I still have a pile of stuff to donate to CCA and I still want to get out Caleb's new school clothes that I've been collecting over the past few months. Other than that I'm feeling so much more ready for the fall. So, when my boys come back we can really enjoy the last few weeks of summer without any stress.

Steve and I still hope to catch a movie- probably The Dark Knight since that's one we can't see with the boys.

I am so thankful for this time of refreshment. Thanks to both sets of grandparents for giving us this much-needed break.

The Lake with the Linebargers

Here's our last lake trip for the season. We went down on Thursday and the Linebargers joined us on Friday. Kim and Doug have 5 fun-tastic kids. Grace, Cole, and Brady are all older than Caleb, so it was fun to see what things they enjoyed doing at the lakehouse.

Here's Carter and Tessa- lifelong friends. I think Tessa's life jacket was just a bit too big, but it still worked. They both would get so sleepy when the boat was racing down the lake. I guess it's that slow rocking that makes them tired.

We went to the Lakeside Marina restaurant for brunch on Saturday. It's at the top of the hill. We had planned on eating outside, but even at 9:30 it was way to hot to sit out there. So, we opted for inside dining.... 6 adults, 7 kids! Luckily, Grammy had her "dinner bag" filled with fun puzzles and books to keep our younger ones well entertained while we waited for our food.

After eating we headed to an area of the lake called Cow Creek. It's kind of a cove-like area where the water is really calm. Most of us jumped in to cool off. The kids loved jumping off the boat over and over. Kim, Doug, and I just enjoyed the cool lake water. While we were there a boat came speeding past with a wakeboarder doing tricks. This guys was doing one-handed 360 spins across the water- and still held on! It was like he was a professional. We all screamed and cheered him on. We felt like he was sent down Cow Creek just to entertain us!

Here's Kim and I chillin in the water!

On Friday and Sunday we took the Sea Doos out. All the kids had a chance to drive us around. The "small boats" as the twins liked to call them are so much fun.

How many people can fit in the front of the boat?? Well, Grammy jumped in the middle of them all and had a grand time.

Cole, Caleb, Grace, and Tessa all are in the tube being pulled by Steve. All the kids had a turn. Carter got off the boat with Grandpa before the tubing began. He requested a nap. We were happy to oblige. You should have heard the squeals from these kiddos!


Back at the house Shereda was all too excited to get out her girly detangler and comb out Lana's hair. I think she's been waiting for years to do that. With 5 grandsons she doesn't get to play with much hair. Lana was sweet to sit there the whole time and play with some dot markers. Somebody give this woman a granddaughter!

Here's Kim and I pealing peaches. Do you see the box? Imagine it filled to the top on both sides. I bought a case of Fredricksburg peaches on Friday. I got an amazing deal on them... the catch was they were all very ripe and needed to be pealed and frozen before the weekend was over. (We use them to make peach ice cream and cobblers throughout the year) Kim was happy to help. We worked on this for several hours each day! And, we each took home 4 cups of cut up peaches. Yummy!

Here's the evening routine at the lakehouse. Shereda has 8 sleeping bags. We put on a movie and have the kids chill out while the sun sets. Caleb, Carter, Tessa, and Lana all enjoyed the down time.

What a fun, exhausting trip! We've learned older kids like to stay busy and seem to have boundless amounts of energy. I think they went off the trapeze a dozen times a piece! It was fun to have the bunkhouse beds all full. The kids were all so tired each night that they all fell asleep in the same room and had no problems. Our kids all got along beautifully. It was so nice to sit around and talk together. I feel so encouraged by my friend Kim and challenged to seek out God in a more deeper and personal way. Steve was able to entertain Doug with all his random trivia. I'm sure Doug never knew Steve talked so much!- (he's only quiet in church!) It was a great weekend with great memories!