First Day of School

Ethan's solo picture. He was off to his first day of Junior at 7:00 am on his bike by himself. I am so not ready to start loosening those apron strings.

First day of school pose! Love, Love, Love these cute kids!

Our walk to school....

Welcome Back Rockin Rhinos!

The line of parents taking their kids to school on the first day.

Matthew in his 3rd grade class with Ms. Edmondson

Rachel in her 3rd grade class with Ms. Hoelzel

Lauren in her Kindergarten class with Ms. Couch

It took just a little bit of time for Lauren to let us go before school started. But she was a brave girl.

It's almost like the night before Christmas...

...It's the night before the first day of school.

Ethan starts 6th grade at Cinco Ranch Junior High
Matthew starts 3rd grade at Rylander Elementary
Rachel starts 3rd grade at Rylander Elementary
AND
Lauren starts KINDERGARTEN at Rylander Elementary
{just can't believe it}

Less than 24 hours, But we'll take it!

My parents came to the Houston area for a wedding and we were lucky enough to have them stay overnight and go to church with us before we had dinner and they had to leave. They came while we were sleeping, so we literally saw them for about 9 hours.

It was our Stake Conference today, so we decided to attend the early session so we could have some time with Grandma & Grandpa. Our Stake just got an all new Young Women's presidency and I have the privilege of serving with another amazing group of ladies as the Stake YW Secretary. (I have to admit, I was honestly thinking that I would be getting released and that I would get to be a primary teacher.) I just love the many and wonderful opportunities the church gives us to strengthen and better ourselves?

After Stake Conference we had a Ham and Potato Casserole dinner, one of my favorites. We enjoyed our little bit of time we had together before G&G left and the rest of us prepared for the night before the first day of school.

Grandma was the postman for this gift from Aunt Janna & Uncle Darrin to Lauren. It was a belated birthday gift, but oh so worth the wait. She just loved this little outfit. It was sparkly and girly enough (or as Lauren would say, "It is Fashion!") for Lauren and mellow enough for me. She wore all day and it was the outfit she HAD to wear the first day of school. Janna also made quite a few hair bows for Lauren and those are the only ones she will wear now.

San Antonio Visitors

We were so lucky to have Aunt Kari, Emily and Mitchell come for a visit. It is always great being able to catch up a little and spend time with family. We appreciate them coming to see us. It was hard to believe that we hadn't seen them all summer that school was going to start the next week.

Kari & Emily just finished their first Wilton Cake Decorating Course and now have the decorating bug. So I taught them a few more things to help them on their way. The girls all had fun in the kitchen that day decorating.

Emily & Rachel with their beautiful creations.

{Lauren was only in it for the icing. } The whole crew!

While the girls were having fun in the kitchen, the boys went miniature golfing, rode bikes for a little bit and played on the computer.

Where's Ethan?

We were at our 4th Triathlon of the season, when Ethan picked up the Kiwanis Kids flyer and saw a picture of him from his very first race last year. What a fun surprise!

Heavy Shoulder

Before Ethan went into 11 year old scouts, he worked on getting his Heavy Shoulder Award. I think there is another name for, but it is an award you get when you recieve or complete all the activity badges. It was a great honor and we were honored to have Brother Frame be his leader. He knows the Webelo handbook and everything that goes with it inside and out. It was a great experience for Ethan. We are so proud of him.

MUD #124 Board Meeting

When we moved into our house over 5 years ago. We knew there was a water tank nearby and understood that there would be some kind of landscaping to try and block the not so pretty view. Well, since then they have built a huge pump house 5 feet away from our neighbors fence and in full view from ours. They also put in an oversized diesel generator for emergency backup power that starts up for testing frequently. The generater is in even better view from our backyard and there hasn't been any landscaping. Okay, so it is not pretty. BUT when you start to smell and breath in and get headaches from the fumes coming from that diesel generator, something has to be done. It of course was worse for my neighbor and she made a little bit of noise (she and Steve both filed complaints with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality), which ended with us all downtown sitting in our MUD District Board Meeting.

This happened about a month ago, but it was interesting and well worth the time and drive. Our health, the degradation of quality of life and the negative impact to our property/resale value were on top of our list of concerns that were brought before the board.

They were all on board and very understanding.
The diesel generator is now on a 1/2 hour every two weeks manual timer. So someone has to be there to turn it on and off. There have been instances when it goes for hours and when the automatic timer has messed up.
They are going to put a special filter on the generator to help with the fumes and smoke.
They are getting quotes for landscaping and trying to figure out what they can plant that complies with Homeland security.
They are fixing the sidewalks that surround the plant.

This is just another testament that all you have to do is speak up. It doesn't mean you have to complain, whine and argue about everything, but common sense will tell you what's right.


Diesel Generator and pump house built extremely close to my neighbors back fence.

Inside the water plant.

What you can see from our backyard as you walk around the corner.

Kiwanis Triathlon #2

Getting ready for the big race....

I don't remember how old the twins were when Jill Simpson was their primary teacher. But she has been an amazing support to them. She has come to basketball and soccer games and she even drove all the way out to this Triathlon to cheer them on. So wonderful!

Lauren doing her little sister duty, entertaining us all.

Just a lot of kids!

Matthew's up!

We had to be there when Rachel started and Matthew went so fast we missed most of his. Bummed mom.

Rachel's up!

Ethan's up!

Our Champions!

Rachel's Crash

Steve took the older kids for bike ride at Stephen F. Austin Stake Park. And my super uber courageous Rachel, tried the same steep bumpy, full of roots path that the boys who have done it many times before took. Apparently, she did great until the roots came along and she couldn't quite steer around them fast enough. Poor thing, the look on her face says it all. But the color on her leg turned a few days later said a lot too. This is probably the worse the crash any of the kids have had, knock on wood, and she got up and after a few minutes kept going and even tried another hill that wasn't as treacherous. That's my girl!

Steve hardly ever takes the camera with him when takes the kids for rides, so I asked him to take it again today and he took some great pictures for me.

Steve and I were both able to go on this trail alone a few days ago, while the kids were in school. The weather was great and it was fun to see all the deer, jack rabbits and squirrels. I loved hearing all the different birds and the wind through the trees. It was a nice day!

I'm a Tip Junkie Winner!

I won this during Tip Junkie's Birthday Giveaway back in June and just received it in the mail last week. I think it is super cute, but I don't know how bold enough I am to wear it. It is a little big for my everyday taste, but I am sure I'll find some fun occassion to wear it. Jenny at Doodle Design Shop has all kinds of creative work.