Father's Day

Our schedule this summer has been so crazy and it sure wasn't slowing down with Father's Day right around the corner.  In the summer, I only have to work a total of 5 days...and I had worked the Friday before Father's Day, so the kids were in Waco, and I planned to do my lessons at the Therapeutic Riding Center on Saturday to make the trip to get them more reasonable...but Jason was on call for work so he wasn't going to be able to go with me...So, I left after work on Friday to go to Waco, did lessons all day on Saturday--went out to eat with my dad and grandfather on Saturday night with my side of the family while Jason was enjoying the nice, quiet house all alone here in Tyler. He got up on Sunday morning and headed to Waco to spend time with the family.  We enjoyed lunch and then a nice outing with his family.  Jason wasn't able to stay long since he was on call and the kids and I were staying so that they could go to a little camp at the Center the following week in Waco--but it was a fun filled Father's Day all in all...Interesting how things change through the years to modify for the family!! 

The day just symbolizes how flexible and helpful our Daddy really is...Jason is always willing to do whatever he needs to do to be there for our family.  He is a wonderful Father and provider for my children and myself.  We love him and hope he knows how much we appreciate him on a daily basis working his little fanny off for us!

Elle's baptism

Well the day finally came where Elle worked up the courage to walk forward and tell the congregation at Green Acres Baptist Church that she had accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior.  We are so proud of her and were so excited when Jamy Skaggs accepted the job to baptize her.  It was a wonderful day and we are so blessed!!

Elle's birthday

I don't know if I have really explained how Elle really plans her birthday parties every year--and how she has done this since her 2nd birthday.  See, Elle was speaking in sentences since she was about 14 months old.  Honestly.  It was incredible.  So, when she was nearing her 2nd birthday, she told me that she wanted her Pop and Yaya to bring the horses to her house so that her friends could ride them.  She picked out the cake at the store and we called the lady and she told her exactly what invitations she wanted.  It was awesome.  And she has done that every year since--she will have an idea almost immediately after the party in planning for the next party and I will write it down--and she is ready to go.  So, this year, it was about two months before her birthday and Elle made a comment about what she wanted to do...I was blown away!!  We hadn't planned anything at all!!  Usually, her party is planned way in advance...and this year I had not done anything at all...

Thankfully, her idea of what she wanted to do was a "Good old fashioned Sleep over"--so really we weren't talking about big major things--just watching movies and eating popcorn, making ice cream sundeas, playing on a waterslide, etc...  She even wanted a real cookie cake from the mall--instead of the fancy cakes that I always order and that take forever to make!  :)  The only thing that took a little while was finding personalized cups for the sundaes--for the kiddos to take home afterwards...but the wait was well worth it as the cups were a hug hit!!

Well, we pulled it off and everyone had a great time!  I will not let time fly like that again!!

Adding a new family member

No, I am not announcing a pregnancy--just updating the blog with pictures of the kids kitten, Matilda.  Elle and Easton have been asking for a new pet since we have moved both of their dogs to my parents as of last year.  And, let me tell you, I have not missed the responsibility of the pets at all!!  Jason and I have always been pet people--but once the children came along, the desire to have them lessened and lessened.  Recently, the kids started pushing for any kind of pet at all--a fish, gerbil, mouse, ANYTHING!  I just have no desire to have anything with a cage or anything like that.  So, when we had a friend on Facebook post some pictures of free kittens--I thought that maybe we could get one and keep it outside (since I am allergic to them) and the kids can take care of it.  The kitten has been so wonderful and honestly thinks she is a dog.  She chases the kids around the yard and even climbs the play yard equipment! 

Easton's extracurricular activities in 2010-2011

Easton started karate at the beginning of the school year and we signed a one year contract--with the promise of going to classes at least two days per week.  Did you hear me say TWO days per week??  They can go FOUR days per week!!  I mean, he is four years old!  But, he has loved it most of the time and has done really well!  Compared the gymnastics experience that we had last year with him running around the gym like a crazy person--this has been awesome!  He listens and follows every direction that the coach tells him to do.  We've gone through many of the rank testings and he has done really well.  Then tee ball time came and we had to go to tee ball practices and karate during the week while going to school--it was pretty crazy.  We went through a phase shortly after that where Easton would cry before going to karate...but once there, he would have a great time and was sad when the class was over.  We have taken a few weeks off now with Disney and the horse camp that we did in Waco, and he is looking forward to going back this week.  He says in looking forward to next year that he is not going to do karate--so our contract comes up in September and he is open to doing something new.  He is looking forward to playing Fall Ball...but we will see what else he chooses to do... :)

Elle's extracurricular activities in 2010-2011

This year, we gave the kids options of activities to do--since Elle has been riding horses...did she need something else on her plate?  But, Easton has been doing karate and he got to do tee ball--so we wanted to be sure that we were being fair to Elle and offered her another extra curricular activity.  She chose to do soccer again this spring.  It was an amazingly busy spring with soccer, karate, horsebackriding and tee ball--not to mention the trips to Waco and Jason and I's own jobs!!  :)  But, man did we have fun! 

Easton playing t-ball

Okay, so the time finally came for Jason...his little boy was old enough to play tee ball!  Since we have been married, Jason has helped on tee ball and baseball teams as a coach and has looked forward to the day (he hasn't said that but I can just sense it...) when he has a child that he can coach.  And this year, it happened--and it happened to a level that he wasn't even ready for--he was the manager.  So that meant that he had to communicate a few times a week with moms and dads for all kinds of things--snacks, line ups, what color socks the kids needed to wear, etc...  It was really hard for him--but SOOO great for Easton to be able to have Daddy so close.  And Jason did so great being that far out of his comfort zone socially--but of course was amazing when it comes to anything baseball!  Easton could hardly contain himself every practice and game with Daddy being his coach--sometimes he wouldn't contain himself and would act like a complete nit wit!!  :)  But it was a real learning experience and Easton wants to continue playing baseball-so Jason did something right...that's all that matters, right?