Halloween 2014

Halloween was quite the Frozen Festivus as Dilan dressed up as Anna, Dakota as Elsa, and Drake as Olaf. Of course, Drew went as Harry Potter because he has read the books at least twice. The afternoon started off a bit rocky when Dakota decided to decorate my new white chair with a permanent blue highlighter while I was getting the candy ready to hand out. A lot of cleaning and some tears later, I got most of it out of the chair. I tried to let it go and enjoy the evening. We all went up and down our street first. David took Dakota and I kept up with the big kids. By the time we crossed the street, Dakota had it all figured out and was accepting candy and putting it in her pumpkin and saying, "thank you." It was too cute. The big kids were running from house to house and getting offended if others went ahead in the process. Dilan ditched her flats for running shoes once we headed towards the next street. We put Dakota in the stroller and off we went! We pulled up at the next few houses and we were stopped waiting for the kids. I gave David the camera to take a picture of me and my friend so I could get a photo on Halloween night. While taking the picture, Dakota turned around in her stroller and face planted onto the cement. It was terrifying to pick her up and see the huge bump on her forehead. It was terrible. I immediately ran her home to put ice on her head. I put on Mickey Mouse so she would be distracted and kept putting the ice on. It helped a lot and the next day she woke up with no bump but a huge scrape. Not the way I wanted to spend the rest of Halloween but David took the kids trick-or-treating the rest of the night and they had so much fun. Drake was the only Olaf we even saw and he made such a great one - it was too cute! he's my only kid that hasn't fought me on getting dressed up in whatever I put him in :)

Pumpkin Farm 2014

 Drake's preschool had a day scheduled for the pumpkin farm. We went and met some friends there. Drake and Dakota fed the goats, went on a hayride, ran through a maze, and picked out their own pumpkins. We were even able to eat a picnic lunch too. They had so much fun even though it was quite a windy day. The best part was taking the smaller pumpkins home because we ended up having enough pumpkins for all of the kids to decorate their own this year.

Drew carved a train and we let the other kids draw whatever kind of eyes, noses and mouths on their pumpkins and we cut them. The kids loved doing their own pumpkins this year and putting them by the front door.

Soccer season 2014

Drew had a very memorable soccer season this fall. The team only retained half its players and started off losing some games. David coached this team and they started gelling and playing like a team and winning! This year was the first one in which they kept standings and you could place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd and get a big trophy. It came down to the very last game and if Drew's team won, they would win 3rd place and get one of those placements trophies. Well, they did it! It was so exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. It's tough being a coaches wife and wanting it more for the coach than even my son. We had a fun celebration at Cici's pizza to end the season and see the big trophies. 3rd place never felt so good!!!
Dilan's season with the Sunnybees went fairly well. She really liked kicking the ball, even to put two goals in the other team's goals. But during one game, we met a Select Team coach who said, "as long as she's kicking it and she wants to kick it, she's doing well!" Dilan definitely likes to kick the ball but she would get so excited that she wouldn't think about where she was kicking it to. But something clicked when we signed her up for indoor soccer during the winter. She played amazing defense and scored goals, as many as 4 in one game! Dilan is learning the game of soccer and she is getting into it. It's fun to see her improve and gain confidence. Her indoor soccer coach of the Stars asked us if she had a team to be on in the spring because he had openings. He was recruiting Dilan and really wanted her to play on his team. But we are sticking with the Sunnybees in the spring.
Dilan also tried a dance studio this year for the first time since she's been taking dance. I signed her up for ballet and she lasted a month. She said it was too boring even though she had three friends in that class with her. I couldn't blame her; I hated ballet too so I took her out and put her back in gymnastics which she loves. Dilan smiles the whole time she is in the gym and her cartwheels are awesome. She is working on her handstands and backbends. :)
Drake played soccer for the first time this fall with the Black Knights. He actually had another player named Drake on his team. It was a bit confusing when we were cheering for him but Drake really enjoyed playing. He scored goals and he even got into some pushing and shoving matches, sometimes with his own team. :) Overall, Drake had a good time playing and really wants to do whatever Drew and Dilan do.

Drake's 4th Birthday

Drake turned 4 years old! We had a Disney Planes party for him on Friday because we had so many soccer conflicts on Saturday. MawMille and Popo came into town to celebrate with us. Earlier on Thursday, we took chocolate donuts to preschool for his birthday celebration. He loved hearing his friends sing happy birthday to him. For his birthday party, we rented a bounce house. It came a bit early so Drake and the kids warmed up on it before the other kids got there. We jumped, then ate pizza, then Drake had an Airplane cupcake cake to eat and serve to his friends. Drake had a lot of fun and what a precious boy he is.
That night we went to the trunk or treat at church. Dilan chose not to dress up as Anna which is her Halloweeen costume this year but chose a ballerina recital costume instead. Dakota did a great job learning how to trick or treat. She loved getting he candy and putting it in her pumpkin. I think these kids are ready for Halloween!!!

TX/OU weekend

TX/OU weekend was a lot of fun. My brother and his family came and even though we lost the game, it was a good game and one that Texas actually showed up for. The kids played and played and then we headed to Rudy's for dinner for some great BBQ. The rest of the weekend including heading to a pumpkin patch near our home to capture pictures, ride the hay ride, go through the maze, jump in the bounce house and play games. We also celebrated David's 37th birthday with a cupcake ice cream cake and the kids (including Dakota) helped him blow out the candles. We got him a framed Top Gun movie poster and a new book by his favorite character on television, Ron Swanson (Parks and Rec). David bought his own handgun as his main bday gift. :)

Student council Rep

Drew chose to run for student council representative for his class this year. Nichols Elementary takes fourth and fifth grade reps from each class. Drew made a poster and gave a speech. He had to talk about leadership qualities and the changes he wanted to make. He came up with being helpful as the most important quality and gave examples of how he likes to help others. Then, Drew spoke about the changes he wanted such as teachers only giving one test per day, longer recess, and to spend mornings in homeroom instead of switching early to another classroom. When I asked Drew if he was okay with making the speech, he told me that he had given many talks in primary before so he was used to it. He had such a great attitude about it all. I was more nervous of whether he would win than he was. When I picked him up from school on Friday after the elections, his teacher, Ms. Vanderplas, came up to the car congratulating him and that is how I found out he even won! He was very humble about it and yet he was also excited. It should be a great year in student council!

Nichols Dash 2014

Drew and Dilan enjoyed running the Nichols Dash this year. It was Dilan's first time and you can see the excitement on her face. Drew ran nonstop and completed 37 laps which was over 3 miles. (12 laps=1mile). Dilan ran 20 laps which was almost 2 miles. The funniest part was that the fourth graders took off so fast and most of them stopped running after two laps. Drew just kept going the entire time. And the kindergarteners ran much farther than the 4th graders! They just kept running and running. It was fun to watch. After Dilan's run, we were at the water table and Dakota put on a show with her dancing. She loved it :)

Mother-Son Date Night 2014

It's September and that means it was our annual Mother-Son Date Night at Main Event with 30 of our friends. It was so much fun and once again, Drew was the perfect date. He is so sweet and really just enjoys being with me. He likes to be with his friends too but after dinner, he waited for me to play the arcade games with him instead of going off with the rest of the boys. We started off with a game of laser tag where Drew was #15 and I was #23 (our bdays). I tagged Drew 7 times and he tagged me 5 times. We ate pizza for dinner and then we played our favorite game of Fruit Ninja scoring a record-breaking 50 points during one game. We also drove race cars, motorcycles, did the photo booth, air hockey and then he picked out a Wolf stuffed animal named Coal for his prize that night. We headed to Kroger and bought ice cream to enjoy at home. We ate the ice cream and told David all about our night. We love doing this every year.

Drake starts Preschool

Drake could not wait to start pre-school. Ever since Drew and Dilan started school, he would ask me every single day when it was his turn to go to school. It was finally meet the teacher night and he was thrilled. He met Ms. Kristi and found his desk. He ate his snack at his desk, tried on his jungle mask, and could not wait to start his first day.
The first day he had his backpack on and ready to go almost an hour beforehand. His friend from church, Luke, is in his class and in the car Drake was asking me if Luke was in front of us or behind us. He wanted to know if Luke was at school yet. Once we got there, Drake had no problem going right in and coloring his picture of a school bus. He waved by to me and Dakota and that was it. This kid is so easy and happy and he loves school. :)

My new niece

Lorelei Kinsey was born on Sunday, August 31st over Labor Day Weekend. Keely went into the hospital to get monitored on Saturday because of a concern and some blood work indicated that she could have a small placenta tear. Due to that, she was induced Saturday night. I got the call and immediately packed three kids and me up and got in my car. I was ready in 30 minutes and out the door. We drove straight to Damon's house in Pearland and made it just after midnight. I put the kids down and Dakota would not sleep in the pack 'n play so I had to lay down on the couch with her until she fell asleep a few hours later. About 5 am I got a text from my mom asking if I could come to the hospital. She indicated that Keely was in a lot of pain and she needed me.

I immediately got up and wrote a note to Damon that I was leaving for the hospital. Damon and Amy took care of the kids once they woke up and I was able to be at the hospital for my niece's birth. When I arrived at the hospital, Keely was in a lot of pain. She was going through so much with a placenta tear and petocin and she wasn't progressing very fast. Seeing her go through labor was like watching myself doing it because we are so similar with everything we go through. About 10 am it was time to go. I was literally standing on the couch to see and capture the moments with the camera. It was so special to see my niece come into this world especially because she has my name as her middle name. I was the first one to hold her after her parents too. She is so loved. :)

 

David and Drew flew in and got to the hospital around 1 p.m. The whole family was able to hold Lorelei after she was born. It was such a special day. The next day, David took care of the kids while I got to be with Keely at the hospital and see her twin boys meet their sister.