Trunk or Treat 2015

Our trunk or treat was with our brand new ward this year before we had even met for a Sunday together. So, most of the people we didn't know but there were some familiar faces so that was good. It rained so the event was held indoors and the kids loved going from classroom to classroom getting candy. Dakota got the hang of it real quick and she and Drake stuck together. I didn't see Dilan most of the night because once she found her friends, she went around with them. She even sat with her friends at their table for the chili cook-off. It was a sign of things to come if she is choosing her friends at age 6 already! MawMille and Popo were here with us for Drake's birthday weekend and were able to share in the fun along with us. They enjoyed seeing the kids dressed up in their costumes and seeing them trick or treat at the church.

Sky Ranch

Drew's overnight 5th grade trip was to Sky Ranch. He left on a Wednesday morning and came back Friday afternoon. When I dropped him off in the cafeteria, he found out he was in the teal cabin and placed teal tags on his bags. At first, he was disappointed thinking he wasn't with his friends but as more of them showed up, they all had teal tags too! His best friend, Matthew, and his Dad were in Drew's cabin so that brought a smile to Drew's face immediately. Once he was off on his trip, I didn't get to hear from him until he was home on Friday. I picked him up and he reported that he had so much fun. He bought two stuffed animal souvenirs and bought some extra treats at meal time. He did say that he "had the worst spaghetti of his life" but the breakfasts were really good. Drew loved bouncing high on the Jumping Pillow which was a huge inflatable all of the kids could get on together. He also enjoyed ziplining for the first time. His first overnight trip without family was a success! Drew didn't get homesick or "miss us that much." :)

David turns 38!

David's birthday was on a Monday this year and it was an actual holiday for the kids but David had to work. So, Drew came up with an idea to create a birthday scavenger hunt for David when he got home. We grabbed some of David's favorites at the stores and bought smaller presents to make it fun. Drew did it all himself and the kids loved following David around from place to place in the house as he found clues. David got a new Minion t-shirt, x-box live, the new Star Wars xbox game, Kit Kats, chocolate chip cookies, Dr. Pepper, and an awesome pumpkin ice cream cake. It was a lot of fun to see the kids take over the holiday and celebrate. A dinner at Chili's after the scavenger hunt was a tasty way to end the night!

Nichols Dash 2015

 Drew and Dilan participated in their school's fun run to raise money for the school. They all received new spirit shirts with the state of Texas on them and new colors this year, dark blue for 5th grade and green for 1st. The 5th graders started out strong and fast and then just had fun with their friends. The Specials teachers started a mob flash dance to Thriller which was fun to watch. Drew ran x laps and Dilan ran x. Both of them did very well and really enjoyed the run. Dilan's teacher, Mrs. Harrison, even ran with her for a few laps, both of them trying to beat the other.

Do the Locomotion with Me

Drew had a 5th grade performance this week where each class sang a song, Glee style. It was after a PTA meeting which by the way was painful to sit through but the highlight came when Drew's class sang, "Do the Locomotion with Me" and had to dress in red, white or blue. Drew was surprised I knew the song and could sing it along with him. I used to dance and sing along to that song when I was his age! But he loved the song chosen for his class because of course, it had to do with trains and he was excited most of all because he was the engine of the train in the song standing on the end. It was a happy performance filled with smiles and joy.

Dakota's First Day of MDO

Dakota was so excited to go to her first day of preschool. She only attends one day a week on Wednesdays but she was ready! Dakota insisted on wearing her princess backpack (even though one was not required) and she went right into her room and immediately sat at the table to start eating her snack. No need to say bye to me and no time to play with the toys as all the other kids were doing. Dakota took her nap well at school and when I picked her up, she ran up to me smiling and said, "Mommy, I missed you so much!" She squeezed me very tight. Her report for the day said she was happy, and chatty. The teacher also indicated that she didn't know what she was going to teach Dakota this year as she is so smart and knows everything already! Dakota loved her first day, and I know she will really enjoy her school experience this year with Ms. Melissa.

Drake's First Day of Pre-K 2015

Drake started pre-K today! Drake was so excited to go to school and he didn't miss a beat. He got himself dressed and ready to go, didn't complain about me fixing his hair (a miracle!), and made a decision that his shoes were too small today. I hadn't bought him new school shoes yet because I was going to wait until he needed them. Apparently, he needed them today! So, he wore his casual gray shoes that looked even better with his outfit. The night before school started Drake told me to not to forget that he needed to wear the lei his teachers gave him. I explained that was for him to keep at home and play with. Drake said, "ok!," and then he was ready to go! We drove to school and Dakota had to put her backpack on just like her big brother. Drake walked into the classroom, hung up his backpack, and went immediately to his desk. He grabbed the red playdough in front of him and began playing with it right away. Drake had a hard time stopping so I could take a picture of him at his desk but eventually he did and then I gave him a hug and a kiss goodbye and that was it! Drake was on his own and loving every minute of it. When I came to pick Drake up, he was jumping up and down with excitement to see me but he was patiently waiting for his "surfboards" from his teacher to put up on the behavior chart. He was thrilled to get them for being on his "best behavior" today and then ran to me. The first thing he said was that he needed to take a shower tonight because he had been so hot and sweaty. When he walked in the door, he immediately went upstairs to play trains with Dakota. Drake had a great day at school!

Labor Day Weekend 2015

Labor Day weekend was spent at home with friends this year. We watched the BYU game with the Curtis' and others and we went to the ward's pancake breakfast on Labor Day. We all ate delicious pancakes and bacon, then played games outside like bean bag toss, and hoola hoops. Then, we went inside to the gym where David and the big kids played a huge game of volleyball with so many friends. It was so much fun to watch. Later that day, we went to the Johnson's pool to go swimming. We ate pizza and fried chicken and really enjoyed the family time.

Meet the Teacher - Pre-school 2015

Drake and Dakota were so excited to meet their new teachers this year for school. First, we stopped at Dakota's teacher, Ms. Melissa's, room. It was so fun to see Dakota's name on her door. I can't believe my last little one is old enough to have her own teacher and a place just for her. Dakota went right in and started playing with the toys the teacher had out, specifically the trains. The teacher was impressed she was potty-trained already. and Ms. Melissa also knew who Drake was when he walked in. She's been at the school for 3 years and it warmed my heart that she paid attention to all the children enough to know Drake from his two-year old class and who his old teacher was too.
After Dakota's class, we went to Drake's classroom where Dilan had done pre-k as well. We were so excited to find out that Drake has Ms. Leigh Ann just like Dilan did. His second teacher is Ms. Terri who is the mom of a boy who was in Drake's 2 year old class a few years ago so we knew her too. In fact, Drake went to her son's birthday party at his home. Drake loved seeing his name in the beach-themed room on the door as well as his chair. He received a lei from his teacher and a fun bag of treats and play sand. Drake took the lei off as he didn't want to wear it when he went to his seat but as soon as I told him  to take a picture with his teachers, he put it right back on. He also saved the lei when we got home, put it on his dresser, and when the first day arrived, he told me he needed to wear it. I assured him that he could leave it at home so he did. Drake also received "first day confetti" where he was to put it under his pillow for the magic of the first day. Instead, I had him go outside that morning and sprinkle it in the grass hoping for a great first day of school.

In between school and pre-school

David's mom, Colleen, came into town for the first weekend after school started. That morning, David and Drew had soccer practice so I took the kids and Colleen to Warrior Martial Arts. That particular week Drake had come to me to show me his karate moves. He was actually interested in learning martial arts. I called Warrior Martial Arts and they were having a back to school party and free trial class. Drake loved the class and especially meeting Spiderman and getting his autograph. We signed Drake up for the first month of classes too. Dilan and Dakota loved the popcorn, snow cones, and the bounce houses. Then, Colleen, took us to Chick-fil-a to get lunch. Later that day, we headed to Target so Dilan could get her My Generation doll, Willow's ears pierced for free. Dilan chose the pink heart-shaped earrings and while they were piercing Willow's ears, Colleen let each kiddo pick out a toy they wanted. It was a bit more of a painful process than I anticipated but eventually they all made their choice (Dakota - my little pony, Dilan - three different animal figures: alligator, panda, and horse, Drake - Colleen picked out a mine craft toy for Drew). Later that night, we took Colleen to Tex Mex Salsa for dinner that night.

My 39th Birthday!

The night before my birthday, we had a group of friends gather to celebrate all the June birthdays. We had Pizookies and watched the Bachelorette tv series together. It was a great girls' night and a lot of fun. The next day I hosted pool hop at our pool and I brought treats to share. It felt like a huge birthday party just for me to be at the pool with all of my friends and their kids. During the day, I had such sweet gifts given to me. My visiting teacher brought me flowers and chocolate, neighbors gave me a candle and a new makeup bag. Another friend brought over cookies and another gave me a bundt cake. David and the kids gave me my own set of Mexican Train dominoes game and a Fitbit. 

Twilight Camp 2015

Drew is now a Webelo and it's his last year at Twilight Camp. I volunteered two days, Tuesday and Friday, and Tuesday was my 39th birthday. I figured I would spend my day with my son as that would be a perfect gift for me. I probably wasn't thinking about the heat and the sweating I would do when I made that decision but I survived. Drew had so much fun the entire week. On Tuesday, we made bows and arrows, saw various raptors native to Texas, ran the obstacle course and was able to squirt the boys with water guns, and made rockets to launch. Friday was the day just for the Webelos and they could pick whatever they wanted to do. Our boys chose to do archery, crafts (Drew made a slingshot and a kite), and have snow cones too. They even flew in a rescue helicopter and had a firetruck there for the scouts to tour. After dinner, we went to rock climb and all of a sudden, the skies were black and the wind picked up. Camp was shut down and we all went home early. It poured and poured on the drive home but we made it back safely and had so much fun!

Summer Happenings

Drake took swim lessons from Mrs.Sally again this summer. He did great but because he can't touch the bottom of most pools, I still expected him to wear a floatie. But pretty soon after swim lessons, he chose not to wear a floatie in the shallow end and put it on if he wanted to swim with the big kids in the deeper areas. And then all of a sudden, Drake is completely comfortable swimming in the pool without a floatie at all. He is such a smart boy who is aware of his surroundings. He swims all over the place and does it with confidence. I'm so proud of Drake and his willingness to use his skills to swim and have fun. Can't wait for this kid to do swim team next summer!

I signed Drew and Dilan up for swim team this summer. Since we weren't taking any big trips this summer, I knew we had time for them to try it out. I also wanted them to become stronger swimmers overall. The season has been such a great experience. The kids love going (maybe not waking up early to go even though practice is at 9 a.m.) and have enjoyed learning so much. At each meet, both Drew and Dilan beat their previous times in all their events they swam. Dilan made an "A" time in both backstroke and freestyle qualifying her for regionals. At regionals, Dilan's freestyle relay team got 5th place (out of 5 teams that competed) which meant she qualified for STATE. Dilan will go to state in College Station, Texas with her relay team on August 1.

Dilan at her first swim meet

 MawMille and Popo at Drew and Dilan's first swim meet

Father's Day Weekend 2015

I was supposed to fly to Chicago and spend my bday weekend with Keely but her kiddos got sick and she had to return home from a work training. So I was in town for Father's Day weekend and Colleen came up to celebrate David too. We had a great time giving David a "best Dad ever" t-shirt and two new movies, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We also saw the movie, Inside Out, which was a great movie about emotions and the brain, and we even got a date night playing Whirlyball with many of our friends at church. David and I made a great team and had so much fun playing together. The next day at church, we served the guys a BBQ lunch!

 Mimi and Drew

Drew turns 10!

It's officially Drew's birthday and he chose light blue balloons to wake up to. He also chose a trip to the zoo today with friends.

Rode the carousel many times! The kids love the bird's nest where they can spin around and around!

 The zoo has the dinosaur exhibit this summer and it included this puppet show from some Australian troupe. They did a great job and it was very informative and entertaining. We got to meet the puppets after the show as well. Most memorable part was teaching the kids that mother dinosaurs often feed their babies by regurgitation... ewww!

 Time for popsicles!

 Birthday boy on the biggest elephant

 Dilan posed for this picture on the jeep

 We had so much fun with friends at the zoo celebrating Drew's special day. He chose dinner at Chick-fil-a too :)

Drew's 10th birthday party!!!

 Drew had his 10th birthday party at The Frisco Discovery Center. He and his friends were able to have free time in the science center and then we had our own private party room where they did multiple science experiments. From making rockets to launch and seeing fire being made to going outside for the diet coke and mentos explosion, the kids learned a lot and enjoyed seeing such neat reactions. 

Drew chose a cookie cake yet again and we put a rocket on it to represent our rocket launch science party.

MawMille and Popo came into town for Drew's bday weekend and his party. They also got to see Drew and Dilan swim in their first swim meet earlier that morning. 

 Our family at Drew's party

Drew and his presents. He got money from many family members that he chose to put towards a basketball goal for our driveway. 

 Drew and all of his friends at his party

Spring Visitors

David wrangled a rat snake from our next-door neighbor's yard the other night. They had him come look at it and sure enough, David grabbed some gloves and went after it. It was fast and it slithered away a lot but he was determined and he grabbed it! He walked down to the pond with the tall grass to let it go. I am glad David got it because it was probably headed to our backyard next! 

 Mara came to visit me!! She (and her bf) came in town for some R&R and came out of her way to see me. I loved every minute of seeing her and spending time together. We took them to Rudy's for some Texas BBQ, and Mara got to see our home and spend time with the kids. She even brought us some delicious treats from Austin. 

Mandy came to visit me too! She came to Dallas with her kiddos and we loved every minute they were here. We went swimming, made homemade pizzas, played, watched movies and just hung out. The summer is starting off awesome!

End-of-Year Class celebrations 2015

Drew and Dilan both had end-of-the-year celebrations with their classes. Dilan earned her certificate of graduation from kindergarten. Her teacher, Ms. Cornatzer, put together a beautiful and endearing slide show of all the pictures she took this year of the kids and their learning. David was able to attend Dilan's celebration and Dilan loved that he was there, even more than watching the video. Drake and Dakota colored pictures the whole time at Dilan's desk. 

 Drew's celebration was very touching and it began by the teacher, Ms. Vanderplas, playing sentimental music when the parents walked in the room. I had tears in my eyes, it was so hard to get through for me. I feel like Drew is growing up and as happy as I am to see the young man he is turning into, I miss him already thinking one day he will leave our home. He is such an incredible kid. Drew's teachers, Ms. Vanderplas and Mrs. Bell, handed out awards to each student tying them into candy and making it very specialized for that student. Drew got the Dove award, which represented the peacemaker in the class. It really felt like his teacher knew him and she loved her students so much that she even started crying saying, "When you don't have children of your own, your students become like your children." She loved Drew, she loved her class, and it meant so much to me that she loved my child when he was with her in her classroom. Drew was also recognized and received an award for being the male student council representative for his class. 

 Dilan and Drew on the last day of kinder and 4th grade. Dilan had me curl her hair because she was up early and ready for the last day!

Spring Soccer 2015

Spring soccer was interesting this year. The kids only played about half their games as it rained and rained and rained. So many games rained out, they stopped making them up. Dilan scored a goal this season! She was thrilled about it and deservingly so. Drake scored several goals but really worked on coming together as a team and not taking the ball from one another. Drew's team did very well too, placing fourth in his division frankly because they didn't get to play all of their games, thereby not playing all of the teams. Dilan's team struggled more this season to win their games and I am not sure if it's because they moved up a division or not. But they fought hard and played well.

 Dilan got the "grit stick" one week from Coach Allison because she played with the most fight out on the field. 

 Drake's end-of-the-season soccer party was celebrated at Palio's pizza. Drake looked forward to the cupcakes most of all! His coaches said he was the happiest player on the team and also the one who got the most disappointed if he didn't make the goal. lol!

 Dilan's team celebrated at Bahama Bucks where she earned the "Perfect Placed Kicks" award.

Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Memorial Day weekend keeps getting better and better! Going to PawDee's lake house is so much fun from boat rides where you get to drive the boat to fishing off the dock, to swimming at Lake Tejas, playing cards, riding the golf cart and this year, we four-wheeled at my Dad's new deer lease. It is a beautiful piece of land 5 miles from the house where we explored and drove all the way around it. The trees were tall and the hills big and steep but what a blast! David and my Dad even went back to shoot guns for a bit. We even had time to make chocolate chip brownies for Drew to celebrate his upcoming 10th birthday. So many traditions and so much fun to begin our summer!

Field Day 2015

Field Day was fun this year as always and even more fun to run back and forth between Drew and Dilan's events! We saw Dilan play bingo, stack cups, dance, and play on the playground with her friends. She learned a new dance called, The Sid Shuffle, from the movie, Ice Age 2, (which she has seen Landon do at MawMille's house) and it was fun to see her do it. 

 We saw Drew in the rubber ducky races, put a marble on a spoon and try not to let it fall, the 3-legged race, and plumber's helper. It was so much fun to see them enjoy this fun day at school. Even Drake and Dakota got in on the fun playing with the plumber's helper supplies while Drew's class was on a bathroom break.

Hair cuts and socks

After our weekend with family, I realized Dakota needed a haircut. I knew she was starting to get uneven in the back again so we went for our first real haircut. I took Dakota all by herself while the other kids were at school. She did really well and enjoyed it for the most part. She looked so beautiful after it was cut and styled. I also got a souvenir of her lock of hair. This little girl is growing up!

 Drew's last 10 days of 4th grade were marked by popping a balloon in class to reveal what the class would doing the next day. Drew wore Keely and Lar's German socks they gave the kids as a souvenir and won crazy sock day; therefore, he was the one at the end of the day to pop the balloon for the next day. When he popped the balloon, it said, "neon day." It was too funny and he looked so good in those socks! :)