Hangin' out in the 'Hood

The kids and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood just to get out of the house when we happened upon an Austin city crew working on the sidewalk in front of Emily and PT's house. Score! The men were so nice and talked us through putting our hands and names in the wet cement. They even gave us supplies for the project! When John messed his up they got their trowel out and re-smoothed the wet concrete so we could do it again. So nice. The kids were fascinated with the whole process (and I was, too.) A lingering question I had was why did 6 men need to be there for that job? Ahhh. . . our tax dollars at work. No complaints from me. . . did I mention they were nice?

Pouring the concrete

Waiting for it to dry. . . 

Still waiting. . . 

Just a few minutes more!

Baby Matthew (6 1/2 months) 

Before

AFTER! I just love it. Everytime we walk by them my heart will smile

My First Grader

Alivia started her first day of FIRST GRADE at Veritas this past week. I feel prepared for the school year and look forward to learning with and teaching Alivia. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Hurley and seems so kind and encouraging. Let the school year begin - YAHOO! I pray that Alivia will continue to build her confidence and make one or two sweet friends that live nearby.

We are carpooling with two families that live in the neighborhood and one other that lives a little north. Amazingly, I will only have to drive down to school on Monday mornings and the rest of the driving will be done by others in the carpool. What a blessing.

I love uniforms! It makes the morning so much easier. Plus, she looks adorable.

Alivia and her teacher, Mrs. Hurley

Loving the Lake

Matthew's 6 month check up

Matthew got a clean bill of health along with 5 vaccines (yikes!) at his last appointment. Here are his stats:

Height: 26 inches (25%)
Weight: 17.2 pounds (25%)
Head: 44 cm (50%)

He seems like a peanut compared to the others. I don't think I ever have had another boy in the 25th percentile. So I just had to look up the others' weights at this age:

Alivia at 6 months - 15 pounds (25-50%)
Will at 6 months - 22.1 pounds (95%)
John at 6 months - 18.3 pounds (50%)

Sea World - San Antonio

To say that Mimi and Grandpa are fun grandparents would be an understatement. They are seriously up for anything with my kids. My mom decided it would be fun to take Alivia and Will to Sea World in San Antonio in AUGUST! Despite the 100-degree temperature, they had a great time and the kids are still talking about it. THANK YOU Mimi and Grandpa for being so adventurous and fun.

They loved the Sesame Street characters

The funniest stories were about this ride that literally SOAKED them. They were all still damp when they arrived home at 9 pm.

Alivia came home with a stuffed Shamu and Will with a snow globe

Happy 13th Anniversary!

This photo makes me laugh for so many reasons but it is one of the few that I have scanned into my computer.

Boy we look young.

It is hard to believe it has only been 13 years because I really can't remember much of my life without Matt in it. He truly is the love of my life and I am incredibly blessed to be his wife. He pushes me to love the Lord and love others and I am a better wife, mother, friend and daughter because of him.

I love you so much Matt. Thank you for marrying me 13 years ago.

10th Annual TCU Lake Weekend

We had an absolute blast as always. The one sadness was that Red, Brian and Baker decided they could not come at the last minute. We really missed them!

We decided to do a Thursday-Sunday stint this year. And many of the Grandparents decided it was easier to just do the handoff on Friday on the road instead of coming all the way to the lake for a meal. Mimi and Grandpa met Matt at a BBQ joint and took Alivia, Will and John. So that left Elle (2) and Matthew (6 m) for the remainder of the weekend. Matthew was an absolute dream baby so it was no problem having him stick around.

I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking. :-)

The Girls - me, Alison, Mandy and Anna

Birdie, Will, Mollie Jane and Smith

We set up the water slide which was a huge hit

Mandy and Elle - they had to be on their toes with a 2 year old running around!

The kids loved the boat rides and we took as many as we could

Alison and Anna

These 4 were BFF's the whole weekend. So fun. It made me long for Anna to live in Austin.

John and Mollie Jane

The look like drowned rats! We would park the boat and go swimming in the lake. Will has come SO FAR with his swimming. He gladly puts his head under water now!

Meals were always a bit chaotic but the kids did really well. Check out John hanging out with all the ladies!

The 2 oldest boys liked to sit off to the side - too funny

Alison bought these adorable owl tanks for the girls to celebrate our Chi Omega connection. I wonder if any of our girls will pledge Chi O in college?

Alison, Mollie Jane and Alivia

The precious girls

These two had such a fun time together

TCU Rho Epsilon Chi Omega Sisters - Pledge Class of 1992

Anna and Sam live in Denton

Jason, Alison and Mandy

Miss Elle enjoying an ice cream cone

Shane and Elle

These sunglasses are going to be ridiculed in about 10 years

Matthew (6 months) liked the boat rides as long as he did not have to wear his life jacket

Alison and Jason drove all the way from Purdy, MO where J serves as CEO of Camp Barnabas

We enjoyed watching the Summer Olympics in the evening