First Day of School

 

 

 

Aug. 25, 2008 was the first day of school for Blake and Savanna. I wasn't ready for summer to be over, but I really like the school they go to so that makes it easier. Savanna is in 1st grade and Blake is in 3rd and they both have a Mrs. Bennett for a teacher. It will be fun to see the progress they make throughout the year!

Hummingbirds

 

 

At the beginning of the summer we hung up a hummingbird feeder on our back patio. We waited, and waited, and waited, but after three weeks we hadn't seen any. Then, one night as we sat around the table eating dinner, there it was...a hummingbird. We were so excited!! Now we are getting a ton. The day these pictures were taken, it was raining, but the hummingbirds seemed hungrier than ever. I've never seen a hummingbird land, but these did. They'd come get a drink and then fly to the trampoline where they would rest and then come get another drink. Blake and I had a great time watching them.

Savanna and the bike

 

 

The stars have aligned and Savanna has learned how to ride a two wheeler. It was like a light went on and then she could do it. Fortunately, we live on a road less traveled and it was safe for her to use the open area of the street to learn. She looks forward to the weather cooling off so she can practice more. We all look forward to the weather cooling!!

Holding Books

 

This is our favorite punishment. It stems from when Bruce had to hold a typewriter over his head as a punishment for something in high school. If I remember correctly, a couple of the girls were having trouble getting along (my girls and their two girl cousins that live close) and so the book holding began. It was too cute to not get a picture of and it really works for my kids.

Beauty Parlor

 
 
The girls wanted to play beauty parlor and Daddy was the lucky "model". I guess the Olympics were too entertaining because he didn't notice that the hair brushing had stopped and the bow placement had begun. It was a pretty funny sight...maybe we should have painted that weekend too!

Part Two of "The Project"

 
 
 
 
After three days of smelling paint fumes and enduring my house being a total mess (which, for those of you who know me, know this was VERY difficult!), I spent Tuesday putting the downstairs back together and surveying the results. We are happy with how it turned out and are anxious to get the stairs painted. The upstairs will get painted, but not in the immediate future. You may be able to tell from the pictures that the downstairs bathroom is a darker brown--no jokes please ;-). We wanted to be a little "daring" and figured a small area was the best place to do that. We like it and are now in the process of finding something to put on the walls in there.

Part One of "The Project"

 
 
 
 
Bruce and I are not known for taking on home improvement projects, but Bruce decided one Friday afternoon that he had had enough of the white walls in our home and we were going to paint! We decided on a color that night (Brown Bag) and began work the next morning. The kids watched A LOT of T.V. and ate whatever I threw at them (not literally, of course) and we all walked carefully downstairs since it was such a mess!! I was surprised at how much I liked painting. I was not surprised at how much work it was! Yes, it would have been much easier to do it the way my brother and sister-in-law did it--before they moved everything in, but we both probably would have gone crazy if we had done it then! These pics show how messy our house was and how neglected the poor kids were. We did let them help a little, so it wasn't all bad for them!

   
Tropical Storm Edouard hit just N. of Galveston this morning and we are actually seeing some of it! Last night at around 8pm it was still 100 degrees. I think our low this morning was in the high 80s and we definitely surpassed 100 today. However, tonight when the clouds rolled in and we noticed this beautiful rainbow to the south of our house, the temperature had cooled by probably 20 degrees! Savanna was so excited about the rainbow, she ran back in the house, grabbed her crayons and colored away. It felt really nice to be outside for the first time in a long time! Sadly, it won't last and the 100's will be back shortly, but just like the rainbow, it reminds us that we have not been forsaken :-)

 

It was my brother Eric's birthday on Saturday so we drove up to McKinney to celebrate with him. My kids love getting together with their cousins. Dress-up is a must everytime they are together!

 

As always, the food was delicious. We ate shish-kabobs with beef, chicken, veggies and fruit. Each on their own stick. You can see the mouth-watering display on Kristi's blog! The meat and veggies were marinated in a delicious marinade. I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, Gina (recipe follows). Kristi made a wonderful chocolate cake for dessert. Family, friends and food...a great time was had by all!

Chicken and Vegetable Marinade
1 C. soy sauce
1-1/2 C Sprite
1 C. oil
1 Tbls. garlic powder
1/2 Tbls. ginger
1/2 Tbls. dried mustard

 
Ally decided to put some make-up on by herself. Cute little clown!

 

 

 

The dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point was one of the highlights of our trip for my kids. We could have spent all day there with no problem. Their absolute favorite was being able to play in the sand and water. There was plenty of stuff for them to touch, see and learn with. I wish we had a place like that in our area!

 
After having been the Primary President in our ward for two years, about three months ago I was released and put in as the Choir Director. Last Sunday was the first time I conducted for a performance. We have never had more than 10 people at any one choir practice and I was a little concerned about volume since we were singing America the Beautiful. We ended up coaxing a few more people for a total of about 20 to join us on that Sunday and they sounded great!! It was like there were angels singing with us! I know it was not due to anything I had done, but it helped me feel a little more comfortable in this calling. It reminds me of something Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, "God doesn't begin by asking us about our ability, but about our availability. When we prove our dependability, He will increase our capability." So true! The picture is one I took in the Conference Center when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was doing Music and the Spoken Word right before the 4th of July. Talk about goosebumps!!!