Let the Brainwashing Begin...

We decided that it was time for the indoctrination to begin! The day didn't start off all that well, but by the time we got there...everybody was ready to have some fun!

I don't think Luke was really into the game. He was more into taking pictures,

bothering "Mr. Matt", eating junk food, spilling drinks and looking at everything through his toy binoculars...

Natalia was more into wearing the gear, eating junk food, talking (very loudly) and playing with "Mrs. Elizabeth".

Carson and Dave, on the other hand, were into the game 100% and also into all the A&M traditions that go along with it. Carson never took his eyes off of the football field! He was completely interested in the whole experience. He never stopped asking Dave questions about the game.

I couldn't even get Carson to take a picture with us!

After the game, we were able to walk on the football field (a first, even for Dave). Carson was in heaven! He asked Dave to race him to the end zone. He could imagine himself being a football player! You could see it in his face.

If you see closely though, I don't think Luke is very convinced about the whole thing just yet (not sure if he wants to be an Aggie or a Longhorn)! Still, lots of work to be done!

First Day Back To School

We had a great summer and hopefully I'll blog about it one day (who am I kidding!?). But for now, here are a few photos of my First Grader and my Third Grader!!! Wow, time has gone by so fast.

Dave and Carson with their First Grade teacher, Mrs. Kalkbrenner. Mrs. Kalkbrenner was Dave's First Grade teacher many, many years ago. Can you believe it? And now, she is Carson's teacher.

Natalia and Mrs. Nordstrom ~ 3rd Grade

Praying for a great school year!

Summer Time!

Very proud of Natalia and Carson. They had a wonderful school year!

Carson got a trophy for perfect attendance! Way to go Carson...

Can't believe Carson is a first grader!

Carson and Mrs. Canent on the last day of School

Natalia got Perfect Attendance, All A Honor Roll and First Place on AR with 284.6 points (103 more points than 2nd place). Woohoo Natalia, way to go!!!!

Proud Daddy

(Sorry for the quality of photo, but this is all I have.)

Last day of school was hard for Natalia. She woke up saying that she wished it wasn't her last day of school because she was going to miss Mrs. Celeste. She is a wonderful teacher and I think I'm also going to miss her...

Natalia writing a Thank You card for Mrs. Celeste all by her self. I almost cried after reading it!

One last picture with some of Natalia's classmates and Mrs. Celeste.

Don't let Natalia's smile fool you. She almost cried.

Happy Summer!!!!

Books, Books and More Books

Wow, it has been so long since I've blogged! What's up with that?  But I'm back and I'm committed to keeping a "journal" of our everyday life.  It helps keep my family in Guatemala and San Antonio up to date with our milestones, etc. So bear with me...

We've read so many books lately. Here are just a few...

I think this might be Carson's favorite so far. He enjoyed the book so much that he MADE me go and buy his friend Ella (from school) a copy.

(Like father, like son...that's the way Dave started to trick me!

~Of course, we were MUCH older! Ella has said she wants to get married, but Carson is non-committal at this point.)

Another great book we enjoyed was "Where The Red Fern Grows."  Since reading this book, Carson has been letting us know that he's saving his money to buy two hound dogs. It's a very, very sad book. I had gone to the grocery store the night they finished reading it. While shopping I received a phone call from my children crying hysterically. At first, I didn't know what was going on! Finally, I realized that they had finished the book and they were devastated that both dogs had died. The funny part is that they didn't even cry when they watched the movie. That just goes to show you that the movie is never as good as the book.

We also read..

(This book inspired Natalia to be Dorothy for Halloween this year. The plan was for all three kids to choose a character from the Wizard of Oz, but the boys wouldn't go for that nonsense :0(

(Are they old enough to make those decisions anyway?)

and...

As a matter of fact, these last two books Natalia finished reading on her own. According to her, I wasn't going fast enough.

It's just so fun being able to sit as a family and read. ~So, why not grab a book and start reading...you'll be hooked!

In addition to our family reading time, Natalia loves to read on her own too. Here are a few from her collection...

The American Girl books - The Kit series plus these two mysteries:

She also enjoys The Magic School Bus books!

Mommy and CARSON........and Luke

Carson's pre-school had their annual Art Show this evening, therefore, Carson had no school today.  I thought about keeping Luke at home too, but then I decided to have a special day with Carson only.  Carson doesn't get too many of these days so I jumped at the opportunity.

Immediately after dropping Luke off at school, Carson and I headed to the bowling alley.  Oh boy, do I stink at bowling.  Good thing we had bumpers on each side.  Carson had a blast!  

Right after that, we took care of his second request....Tennis.  We played tennis for a while.  ~He was just eating all this individual attention up!

I'm sure you've seen this shirt several times already.  He LOVES this shirt.  

He tries to only wear it when he knows he will be playing tennis.

Later, after bringing lunch to Natalia and Natalia's teacher, we met Daddy at work so we could go grab a bite to eat at Olive Garden, per Carson's request of course!

I gave Dave the keys so he could be the designated driver.  Well, we got in the car and the car would start up but then, immediately, it would stall.  He tried this several times.  Every time he tried, the car would roll back a little.  Eventually, he figured out we weren't going anywhere so he pushed the car back into the parking space.  All this time, I kept praying!  I kept thinking, this is NOT what we need right now.  Well, once we were back in the parking space, right after he finished pushing the car, Dave realized that he had been using the copy of the key which will unlock the car, but will not allow you to drive the car with it.  ~Oh boy!!!!

We finally made it to Olive Garden and had a fun lunch together before we picked Luke up from school.

And that was the end of Carson's Special Day!  

This evening, after eating dinner at Grannie's house, we all headed to the Annual Art Show.  

Luke's Art 

Luke showing off his picture.

Carson's Art

Cousins - they love each other!!!!!

Week Recap - Can You Say Crazy?!

I still haven't finished blogging about our Spring Break fun, but just wanted to let you know what we've been up to this week.

Wow, what a busy week.  Ready for some rest!!!!

*Last Saturday, we attended the Annual Easter Party at Mr. & Mrs. Ivey's house.  As always, we had a great time.

 

Natalia and her best friend Hannah

   

The kids went fishing and we also went on a little canoe ride.

*Sunday morning, my friend Brittney picked me up at 6:00 a.m. to go and buy junk at Round Top!  Oh, I love doing sort of thing.  Dave, on the other hand, stays home hoping and praying that I don't go too crazy and buy too much junk.  

Here is Brittney and the truck full with all our junk!

   

Meanwhile, Dave and the kids were planting an herb garden!  

  

*Oh yea, and this is a picture of Dave and my new old outdoor furniture I got at Round Top.  You have to have vision to see what this furniture will look like one day!  :-)  ~Dave just can't wait to see!!!

*Lately, Natalia has been waking up with the desire to serve her Daddy.  ~More power to you girl!  It is the sweetest thing.  She is so proud of all her hard work.  And Daddy, well, he is eating it up!

  

*Carson had a little presentation at school this past week.  He is so shy that he just stood there looking cute.  ~I sure hope he grows out of this :-(

  

*Oh, what a busy day I had on Thursday.  Carson's Easter party was at 11:00, then Luke's was at 12:15 and Natalia's at 1:30.  They had a blast though!

  

Natalia and some of her friends from school.

  

*Dave went to Houston on Thursday night for a tennis tournament, so we decided to have fun. We rented a movie and built a fort.  What????  I can't believe I did this.  If you know me, you know that I'm all for schedules and I definitely won't make a mess I later have to clean up.  But, I did on Thursday night.  The kids couldn't believe it and we had so much fun.  

  

*Today, we ended our week by making breakfast together.  Natalia cooked the eggs, Carson was in charge of the bacon and Luke took care of the biscuits.  We spent our afternoon at the park and ate dinner at Chick-Fil-A.

Hope y'all have a great weekend and Happy Easter!