"I Have An Idea!" Carson Said

Last evening after dinner, I decided to take the kids for a little run. We went to the UTHSC and we ran/walked 1/2 mile. The plan was to play a little tennis after we ran but all the courts were full and there were several people waiting... Carson was very disappointed. He kept saying, "but Mama, how am I going to beat Daddy then. I really need to practice." Although it was 7:56 p.m. (bedtime!) already, we went to a park nearby hoping to find a tennis court available. No luck though, all were being used. So, we had no other choice than to go to the playground and play a little. Poor little CarCar, he really wanted to play, but it was definitely time to go back home. While in the car, after a lot of thinking Carson said, "Mama, I have an idea, why don't we build a tennis court in our back yard." So Daddy, add this to your "to do" list. Carson is expecting a tennis court in our backyard when we get home.

Oh wait, I don't think our backyard is big enough for a tennis court, is it? --darn it!

Nike+ Human Race 10km

I just registered for the Nike+ Human Race 10km. This event will take place in Austin on August 31, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. As far as I know, Brooke and Luci are also participating. It's going to be so much fun. So, if you are interested, just let me know.

How Sweet!

Just a few days ago, out of no where with no help, Natalia presented me with this little note. It touched my heart and this is one of those things I never want to forget.

For those of you having a hard time reading it, it says: "I love you and you are working so hard for us. We love you very, very, very much because you have been the best worker."

She gave me this note one or two days after she told me that the days were too long without me! She loves me...she really does.

"School STOPS for Summer - Learning NEVER Should!"

So far this summer, the kids have been working on their workbooks getting ready for school in the fall. Natalia will be entering 1st grade (I can't even believe it!) and Carson will be attending Pre-K twice a week.

Carson has worked very hard so far this summer! He has changed so much over the last few weeks. It just makes me so glad to see him maturing like this. Up until a few weeks ago, all he wanted to do was to play ball. He just was not interested in anything that had to do with paper, pencils, crayons, markers or anything that required him to sit still at the table for a period of time without a ball in his hands or any other sporting good for that matter. But you should see little Car-Car now. He is so good at it too. Every question I ask, he answers - no problem!

Now, let me mention that his willingness to work, I believe, comes from the fact that before we started this workbook we agreed that if he completed 15 days of work (1st section of the book), he would get a prize!

Here is Carson with his prize and a big smile:
Oh, Carson has been asking for this Ice Hockey Set for a very long time now. He finally got it! Only after all that hard work.

Natalia, well what can I say...she would have finished the 1st section of the book (15 days worth) in 2 days, if I would have let her. Especially, after she found out that she also would get a prize! That girl loves to do school work. I mean, she L O V E S homework. I just pray that she will never change.

Now, here she is with her prize for being such a hard worker:
This little dog, she actually asked Santa for, but for some reason Santa didn't bring it to her. So, she took this opportunity to get it!

Oh, and Luke also sits at the table and works with us. Naturally he is still too little to do this kind of work but he likes to sit there and scribbles in Natalia's old workbooks too. And, of course, he also got a prize:



Oh boy, what have I started, we still have two more sections to go before we finish the workbook - this is going to end up being an expensive summer!

Almost...

Okay, so maybe you were one of those wondering why I was so excited about the WWDC08 being here already. Well you see, I lost my personal cell phone back in March. All I have now is the company's cell phone. Dave and I didn't want to buy new cell phones because we knew that Apple was going to be upgrading the first generation iphone. So...we have been patiently waiting all these months for this keynote address!

Guess who is going to be camping out on July 11th in order to get our iphones? --Hmm yea, that will have to be Dave.

100th Post! No Better Way to Celebrate...

Ah...we've been waiting for this Worldwide Developers Conference for so long! - I can't believe it's finally here.

Almost a Perfect Day

It would've been perfect if Daddy would've been with us! We woke up early and ate a healthy breakfast ( no donuts this morning). Then, we went to the Kid Fun Run. This was the kid's first race. At first Natalia just wanted to do 1 race out of 3, but when she saw the trophies, she changed her mind. Before the race, I was talking with them and telling them to run fast once the man told them to go. Natalia turned around and said, "No Mama, I don't want to go fast at first or else I'll waste all my energy. I want to start slow and save my energy so that I can finish the race." Needless to say, she did pretty well, for being her first race. She ran 1/4 mile, then she participated in the 1/2 mile race. Poor baby, she had to run without me because I forgot my tennis shoes and was wearing flip flops. One of the men organizing the event, I guess felt sorry for her and ran with her. He was very helpful. She finished strong! There was one more race which she decided not to do. She didn't think she could run 1 more mile.

Carson and Luke were a little hesitant about the whole thing. About 2 minutes into the race, Carson fell and scraped his knee pretty bad and that was the end. Carson, Luke and I walked to the finish line. They all got a ribbon! Carson really wanted a trophy. Oh well, you live and learn.

This afternoon, after the kids rested a little, we went to the McNay Museum. The McNay Art Museum had been closed due to construction. This weekend is their grand opening so we helped them celebrate!

We looked for paintings and sculptures. Today, we concentrated on Monet and Picasso. There were also several paintings by Natalia Goncharova. I kept pointing them out to Natalia and she would say, "Ah, stop saying that, I didn't paint that!"

We also explored the outdoors, which is just beautiful! At 7:00 p.m. we finally sat down and enjoyed some Jazz Music. Luke & Carson were really eatin' that up. They loved it. Natalia sat and enjoyed every minute of it while Carson and Luke could not stop dancing around. ~What a great way to end our day!