We got spirit, how 'bout you?

Fridays at Cross Timbers are spirit days. All the kids are expected to wear their school shirts and they start the day with a school assembly in the cafeteria where they sing songs, recognize new students as well as birthdays for the week. My kids couldn't wait to wear their new CT shirts. I love the three quarter length sleeves but unfortunately it is still HOT. Didn't stop mine though! Em put her own twist on the CT shirt with a hot pink tutu skirt. That's my girl.

They won't admit it but I think they really like knowing that each other is at their school.

"No tears!"

It's hard to believe that this is the same little girl that nearly broke my heart on the first day of school because she was "scared." One week after school starts this is the look on her face as we head out the door for school. When I picked her up on Thursday, I asked how was school? She answered with two words and a great big smile. "No tears!" Music to a mother's ears.

It's a "garden party"......inside

Emerson celebrated her birthday again, but this time it was her birthday party. We choose a "garden party" theme. However, it's been so HOT we did inside activities and gave "garden" theme favors to everybody. Each child got a decorated clay pot filled with a small pink hand shovel, a bag of seeds, a bag of potting soil and some gummy worms.

You would never know by this picture that the birthday girl was crying right before everyone got here. I love my Emmy but she IS emotional.

Her colors were hot pink and lime green with hint of yellow. I made pink, green and yellow tie-dyed cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting. I got these adorable toppers on Etsy.

The kids did "flower" crafts.

Then it was time for the BIG fun. We gave each kiddo a canvas, some paint, a brush and told them to go to town. They all seemed to really enjoy the painting.

My big girl! I can't believe my baby is 4!

Em received LOTS of great gifts including her first pair of cowgirl boots from Grandma and Grandpa.

She also got a handmade Strawberry Shortcake pillowcase from Tyson. That was something him and Cathy had been working on for her.

"thank you Tyson!"

Here is a shot of Em with two of her favorite gifts, boots from Mom and Dad and an art easel from Paul's parents. It was a fabulous party and I feel lucky we got to celebrate with great friends and neighbors.

Something Special

As soon as school ended in May, Cathy (our neighbor across the street) asked my if she could teach Tyson to sew. She was thinking she could do weekly lessons with him in the afternoons. I mentioned it to Tyson and he was thrilled. He enjoys playing outside, running, looking for bugs and "exploring." But since he was little Tyson has always enjoyed sitting down with me or my mom and doing a "hands on" craft. I had no doubt he would enjoy sewing.

Well Cathy definitely went above and beyond when it came to the lessons. She ordered a couple of books on sewing for kids, she put together his own sewing box filled with supplies including his very own tomato pin cushion. But before he could sew Dave(Cathy's husband) had to get the machine outfitted for Tyson, which meant attaching a wooden block to the pedal so he could reach it while sitting at the table. He spent the first two lessons learning the parts of the machine and practicing sewing on paper. By the time his third lesson was finished he was working on a pillow case. She even sent him home with homework to do like word searches and crossword puzzles involving sewing terms.

When summer came to an end Tyson had sewn one Dr. Seuss pillow case, one pair of pajama pants, one super cute cat complete with button eyes(which he sewed himself), a throw pillow with a silly face and even one Strawberry Shortcake pillowcase for Emmy's birthday. Cathy was impressed with what a good student Tyson was. She made his summer special and he can't wait to sew some more with her. We are so lucky to have such caring neighbors.

Em is already asking for some one-on-one craft time with Cathy.

Bless her heart......

This beautiful little face was so excited to put on her new clothes, new shoes, put on her new backpack and pose for pictures. However, when it came time to leave for school things changed quite a bit. As we loaded up the car she cried and said she DID NOT want to go to her new school. She said she was "scared and felt nervous." Unfortunately walking through the crazy crowded hallways filled with parents and children did not help her fears. It was definitely overwhelming. We walked Tyson to his class first the we began the long walk to Mrs. Hail's pre-k classroom. Once we got the her class and walked in she seemed a bit calmer. Paul and I stayed a while to help get her settled in. When it was time to leave I sat down next to her and gave her a hug and kiss. I told her I'd be back very soon. She looked up at me with big crocodile tears behind her purple framed glasses, stuck out her bottom lip and said, "No Mommy, don't leave!" I walked out of the classroom and left a little piece of my heart on that color block rug.



Unfortunately the pick up process was a little scary for Em too. The whole car line pick-up was just lot for her to understand. Once we got home she said she like school but didn't really want to go back.

Looking forward to Tuesday!

Too cool for back to school!

As I got the kids ready for bed Thursday night I couldn't help but wonder how could summer be over already. June, July and August literally flew by. While I was ready for the kids to go back to school, at the same time I was also sad that they both would be going every day.
They had been a little reluctant to start school up until "Information Day" last Wednesday. After that the excitement began. Tyson was pumped to start school again and see all of his friends.

A little brain food to start the day off, two berry muffins with a banana and some apple juice.

More brain food, one chocolate chip waffle with some strawberries.

My baby sportin her new backpack. It's almost bigger than her. At this point she was still happy and the tears hadn't started yet. More about that later, Emerson's emotions deserve it's own post.

Once again I look at my family and feel pretty lucky!

Emmy's 4th Birthday, part 1

It seems like I just wrote this post about my pumpkin turning 3. Now here I am writing about her turning 4. Where does the time go?!? Our morning began with a 7:30 phone call from Grandma singing Happy Birthday. Then we waited for Tyson to wake up so Em could open her presents. Her party isn't till Saturday so we had to make today special.

This gift seems a little random but about a month ago her and I were at Super Target and we walked through the bedding aisle and she saw this plush Dora doll and she had the biggest melt down for this thing. The next few trips I avoided that aisle like the plague but she continued to ask for "giant Dora."

I wish I could I could look this beautiful first thing in the morning.

Next up on the agenda.....Chuck E Cheese!!!! Emmy has been asking to to CEC since we left San Antonio. There isn't one in Edmond so Em hasn't been in a LONG time. I talked Paul into taking the day off today so we could surprise our birthday girl with a trip to see the big mouse. To say she was excited would be an understatement.

Em had a BLAST! She loved playing the games and really got into the ticket winning process.

We even surprised her with a little birthday cookie.

Today was fantastic and a bit sad at the same time. My baby is so big and I just want to stop time. I reminded Paul of Tyson's 4th birthday which we had his party at Chuck E Cheese and Em was so little that my mom had to hold her the entire time or push her in the stroller because she was too little to play . And look at her now on her 4th birthday!!!

Does everything in Oklahoma have to be so eXtreme?!?

When we decided to leave South Texas and move to Oklahoma I mentally prepared myself for some cooler temperatures and tornadoes in the spring. NO ONE mentioned the other weather issues I should be concerned about.

Let's start with winter. It's not just "cooler," it's bone chilling cold with blizzards and five feet snow drifts. And then we hit spring. One word, WINDY. Absolutely WINDY.....for a good 2 months straight I have to hold on to Em because I'm constantly afraid she's going to blow away. Of course we have tornadoes; we had a shelter put in our garage and we're not afraid to get in. So summer hits, and OH.... MY.... WORD! We were breaking all sorts of records for temperatures over 100 degrees in June, 30 days, 40 days...who knows? I lost count of how many days it has actually been over 100. We're talking getting into my car and the temp reading 117! It was actually cooler in Del Rio, Texas than it was here. And Del Rio is most often the hottest place on the map. Next up is drought. Now, I'm no stranger to drought, coming from San Antonio I can hang with a little drought. But this "heat dome" is ridiculous! And most recently making the weather top ten are STORMS. We can't just get a little rain here, we get rain combined with 96 MPH. Rain and wind that are so powerful trees are being split in two, fences down and trampolines (mainly ours) are getting relocated to other peoples fences.

Don't get me wrong, I think I still like it here. But enough with the extreme weather already!

These trees are near the entrance and pond in our neighborhood.

What else you got in store for these new "Okies" Mother Nature?

Of course, what's a trip to the pond without scaring the geese?!?

What else do you do when it's 110 degrees in the shade?

You play with the water hose!!!

After dinner Paul went out to the front yard for some impromptu lawn watering. It wasn't five minutes before Tyson made his way out there too. When I stepped outside to see what was taking so long I discovered two wet boys. Of course Em was not far behind.

There is something pretty enticing about getting soaked in your clothes.

Why does he look so old in these shots?

My little dancing queen!

They had so much fun. And every time they wanted a break from Daddy and the water hose they would run behind me because those little stinkers knew Daddy wouldn't get "mommy's camera wet."

So much for the watering restrictions......at least it was an even day.