Emma's Homework

I love the papers Emma brings home from school. Kindergarteners come up with the best stuff for their work - it's creative and funny and honest.

One day Emma had to write -ug words and illustrate them for homework. She had to solve a few puzzles on the front to get the word and then draw a picture of it...

I absolutely love the way she drew a slug...

She was working on this homework at one of Grace's swim practices and had extra time to do a few on the back. She did a pug in the rain, a hug, juggle, a jug, dug and lug...

When she got to lug she asked me what it meant. I told her it was carrying something heavy. She thought for a minute, then her eyes lit up and she said, "I know what to draw!"

When she was finished I could tell what most of them were, but asked what she was 'lugging'. She looked at me and said, "Can't you see...that's your big 'ole bottle of wine!"

Yep, I sure do see that...still in the paper bag from the grocery store. :)

Fort Fun!

The girls came home from school and decided to build a fort in their room. After ever so sweetly asking me if they could get out blankets, chairs and tape, I told them they could definitely build a fort, but they couldn't use tape. They really wanted to make it big enough to sleep in, but couldn't figure out a way to get the blankets to stay up high enough without taping them to the walls. This is when having a clever big brother comes in handy!

They talked Pike into helping them get their fort to stay up - and he only charged them $1 a piece! :) I think they would have paid him more, but he enjoys these kinds of projects and decided to work for a small, affordable fee.

The grand idea was to drape the blankets over a structure made of fiddlesticks - and it worked great!

When Jeff came home from work, Emma was so excited to show him their creation. He told me later that she took him upstairs and told him all about it. Then she whispered, "And, tonight we're going to sleep in it, but we're really going to go into our little American Girl doll closet and play. But, don't tell Momma!" :) I just had to laugh, because that about sums up this household - fun Daddy and rule-follower Mommy!

Here is the fort held up by balancing chairs and fiddlesticks...

This is inside...very easy access to the American Girl doll closet!! I think I'll check on them a few times tonight! :) Notice the balancing chairs on fiddlesticks!

I was on my back inside the fort, so this is looking up at the fiddlestick infrastructure designed by Pike. I think he deserves a raise!

Another picture of the balancing act inside...I hope the girls don't knock that down tonight!

Good Night Sweet Girls!! :)

Easter '09

We had a great Easter this year - an amazing service at church and lots of fun with family and friends. On Friday we went to Lisa's house and colored eggs. On Saturday we colored more eggs at our house and volunteered at church for the evening services. Sunday we went early to volunteer again, then went to service at 11:00.

Sunday afternoon we went back to Ben and Lisa's for a day of egg-hunting and food! Our friends, Todd and Andrea were in town, and it was so much fun to get to spend the day with them! Kyle and Angie came over, too...so it was the kind of holiday I love - busy and noisy with lots of laughter!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. There is actually a good picture of my 3 kids. I thought as they got older, it would be easier to get all 3 of them together for decent pictures, but it's still not very easy. So, I was excited to see a good one - even if not one hair on their heads was touched by a brush that morning! :)

My Fishin' Family

Jeff absolutely loves to fish. I never really knew how much until we moved to Houston. When we lived in Dallas, we were in an apartment, I was teaching and he was going to school and working...so there wasn't really a place to fish and there's wasn't alot of time to fish.

When we moved to Amarillo...well - it's Amarillo - and the water is few and far between. It was always a drive to fish, and he was in Pharmacy school and we had babies...so he didn't get to go alot.

Then, we moved to Houston...lots of water everywhere! Our subdivision has a couple of lakes and Lake Houston is right by us. He's working, but no more school, and the kids are older. Finally...there's a place to fish, there's time to fish and there's even someone to fish with!

The girls like to go with him even more than Pike - and, out of all 3 kids, Grace is the one who loves it the most - worms and all!

At the end of March, they went out and Grace caught a pretty good sized bass. She had a bigger one on her line, but couldn't reel it in and her line broke. Here's the one she did catch:

Silly boys...fishing is for girls!

Here's one that Jeff caught at our lake. It's so funny, because he said that when he's out there fishing, people sometimes walk by and quietly tell each other - there's no fish in there. He can hear them and, every now and then, he gets to reel in something like this while they are still there! :)

One of my favorite pictures...Jeff took this of the kids just a couple of weeks after we moved to Houston. So sweet!!

March Moments

I thought I would put just a few family happenings from March as I am slowly, but surely catching up!

I think Emma learning how to ride her bike was the big moment, but we had a few others...

Emma got to go to a birthday party at Minute Maid Park. It was her friend Garrett's party. Garrett and Emma are in the same class and go to church together, so they see alot of each other. Garrett's mom, Kim, and I have decided we believe in arranged marriages! :)

The birthday group got to tour the ballpark, go in the dugout and eat cake in a luxury box! She had a blast...

Kim took this picture of Emma in the Astros dugout. So cute...



Emma and the birthday boy, Garrett.

One of the kids' favorite things to do at Lifetime Fitness is climb the rockwall. It is so much fun to take them and watch them climb. They have really improved and the last time Jeff took Pike and Grace, they both made it to the top! Jeff likes to climb, too and I have got to get pictures of that! :)

There's Pike - the first time he made it over the ledge.



And, Grace, working her way up...not bad for someone who is scared of heights! :)

Adrian, our sweet nephew, had his 11th birthday in March. Angie planned to take about 10 boys to the Kemah Boardwalk for a day of rides and games. Of course, our whole family planned to tag along to enjoy the celebration. Well, the weather was not supposed to cooperate...but we all went anyway. It was rainy and cold, but those kids had the best time! Adrian always has the best, most memorable birthdays...I love it!!

All the boys hanging out in the wind and rain...they were freezing, but had so much fun!

The Boardwalk Bullet turned out to be the main attraction. The best part...we were the only ones there, so they could ride it as much as they wanted...no lines!!

Adrian wanted Angie to ride with him...I don't know if this was before they went or when they got back!

Hanging out on the Train Ride, which Grace said was 'creepy'. :) There really is a story there, but that girl makes me laugh!

Happy Birthday Adrian!! Hard to believe you're already 11!! We Love You!!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Jeff's birthday is in February and we had a fun family birthday celebration. He doesn't like cake and loves Oreos, so the kids came up with a great idea...

100th Day of School

Emma celebrated her 100th Day of School...in February. I know it's the end of April, but I'm just now going through my picture files. :) I'll get caught up in the next few posts...

All the kindergarteners dressed up like 100-year-old people. It was very cute - I had to go up and take a few pictures...

Emma and her friend, Cy...what a great elderly pair! :)

You can't tell by the picture, but Emma had on knee-high stockings that we bunched up around her ankles. I love Cy's cane and aching back!!


Emma and Mrs. Breeding...this one really makes me laugh, because Mrs. Breeding is so young, hip and fun! The wig and hair net were hilarious!

Latest on Pike

Pike's injuries are healing so well! I am amazed at how much he has healed in just a few days. It really makes me marvel at how God made us. What better example of how we were made by an Intelligent Designer. What else could explain the way the cells in our bodies work?? Absolutely leaves me in awe!!

Here are the latest 2 pictures of Pike:

This was taken on Easter Sunday - exactly one week after the bite. The scab under his eye came off and it did split open again, but not too bad. He has his medicine on it to keep it from drying out. He loves using that cocoa butter stick!

I took this one on Thursday evening - 12 days after. He looks great! All the swelling is gone...and he's back to the 'cool' stage!! We still have to keep him out of the sun for 6 months, which means lots of sunblock all summer...but that's the easy part!

And, just so you don't have to scroll down or find my other posts, this is what he looked like less than 2 weeks ago...

Say it with me...Wow!!! Thank You Lord!!!! :)

A Real Bike Ride

As I mentioned before, Emma can ride her bike without training wheels and is "ready for real bike rides"! Everyday after school, she puts up her backpack and heads out to ride up and down the street.

Now this is one reason I love our street...it's a big curved cul-de-sac off the beaten path, so she can ride without traffic. The other reason I love our street is our neighbors. We have the absolute BEST neighbors ever!! From one end of the block to the other - it's just full of great people and great kids!!

When we first moved here (almost 3 years ago), Emma is the reason we met our neighbors so quickly. She was always running up to everyone saying 'hi' and giving out hugs. One day Emma and I pulled into the driveway and she said, "Hey, Momma, look...it's Grandpa!" I looked over and our neighbor, who was getting out of his truck, did resemble my Dad, but I told her that wasn't Grandpa. She said he looked like a Grandpa to her, so she started calling him Grandpa and his wife Grandma. They didn't mind and they loved Emma, so our new neighbors became known as just Grandma and Grandpa. For the longest time, I didn't even know their real names!

Emma goes over to ring their doorbell to give them a hug and she comes home with a baggie full of candy or crackers. When they go out of town, they leave Emma a note on my windshield asking her to please take care of their house while they're gone. She puts their newspaper on their front porch and checks their mail. When they get home, she takes them their mail and comes back with $5. And, you would not believe how much lip gloss the girl can buy for $5!!

What a blessing to have them next door, when our real Grandparents live so far away!

After Emma learned how to ride her bike, Grandpa told me she passed a note to him through the fence that said, "Grandpa, will you wash me ride my bike?" He thought that was so funny and kept saying, "Emma...I'm washing you!"

Well, last week, Grandma and Grandpa came home with bikes of their own...and now Emma gets to go on real bike rides to the lake with them! She loves it...and I have a feeling that they do, too!

All ready to go!

Emma is with them...she's hidden by Grandma

Pike's Progression

Here's the latest on Pike. I've been trying to take a picture everyday...just to see the progression. He is very funny - he sees me get the camera and he just stops and smiles! I love this boy!!

Monday morning on his way to school. I let him sleep in and wasn't expecting it to be so swollen!




Monday evening - after the swelling went down, we noticed his eye was bloodshot.



Monday evening

Tuesday evening

Wednesday morning before school - it's starting to get yellow and the swelling is going across the bridge of his nose. This is when he told me it didn't look as cool as it did on Sunday. :)

I'll post an update after our appointment today!

Pike's Trip to the ER

Most of you have heard the story and have seen some pictures, but I'm going to post my email that I sent out on Sunday here. Pike is feeling good and has been back at school. He's not sore at all which surprises me. It looks like it hurts! He is starting to swell and change colors - kind of purple-ish yellow. He said it doesn't look as cool as it did on Sunday. I told him it would get back there once the swelling went down. We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow with the plastic surgery clinic at Texas Children's. I'll post an update after that.

Here's the email I sent out...

We had an eventful night Saturday night....Pike got bit by a dog – just a freak accident – and we ended up in the ER for most of the night. He’s actually doing really good today (Sunday) and the plastic surgeon said it should heal fine. We are sooo thankful that God’s hand of protection was on him. It could have been so much worse and we are praising Him that everything turned out the way it did...

Some of the many praises...
· We knew the dog was up-to-date on shots
· Pike was wearing his glasses which deflected the cuts away from his eye
· The cut on his eyelid was fairly deep, but without his glasses, it probably would have gone all the way through and damaged his eye
· We initially went to the Kingwood ER, which had an 8 hour wait (can you believe??), so we went to TX Children’s downtown where they had a pediatric plastic surgeon in house and only 1 person ahead of us
· The plastic surgeon said all 3 cuts were easily stitched together and were in the best spots possible to show minimal scarring. All 3 are in natural creases in the face and should be almost unnoticeable after they heal.

Thank you Lord!!!!

I actually had my camera in my purse and Pike wanted to look at himself. There wasn’t a mirror in the room, so I took a couple of pictures to show him what it looked like. We were so proud of Pike! He was such a trooper and did so good! Guess I’m going to have to postpone family pictures for a little bit. :)

We are waiting in the ER for the plastic surgeon.

I wanted to take the bandage off, but we just got the bleeding to stop...didn’t want to risk it.


Stitched up and ready to go home. This picture was taken at 4:00 a.m. He is amazing!!

This morning (Sunday) it’s more swollen and starting to bruise. He woke me up at 9:30 (after less than 5 hours of sleep) and said he felt ‘refreshed’!! :) I love that kid!!!

Lift him up in prayer when you think about it – that he continues to heal quickly and without noticeable scarring. We were told to keep him out of the sun for 6 months! Really?? The only thing to do in Houston during the summer to stay cool is swim!! We will invest in a lot of sunscreen – I told him he would have to carry one around in his pocket!!

I’ll keep taking pictures and posting updates when I get a chance.