Thanksgiving with Dustin's family

After shopping ALL night and morning, Mom dropped me off at Dustin's parents' house. Dustin and the girls stayed there Thursday night. I was exhausted!!

We had a great lunch there...steaks, grilled fish and shrimp...yummy!! Then they had a little birthday party for Kenzie (November) and Bryce (October).

The girls helped blow up the balloons...

Singing to the birthday grands...

They all took turns with the confetti shooter!

I didn't get to stay long before racing off to my next event...

The girls and I raced to Ft. Worth to my cousin's wedding rehearsal. The girls got a little nap on the way, but no rest for me!!

Thanksgiving in Austin

On Thanksgiving Day, Dustin and I picked up Granny and went to Austin to Brian and Theresa's house. Mom and Dad went down there on Wednesday and took the girls with them. We enjoyed the afternoon over there and had great food!

The grandchildren...

Kenzie, Rosie, and Maddie

Dad, Granny, Dustin and the girls left late afternoon, and Mom and I hung around until it was time to go SHOPPING!! We left Austin and went to Waco (where we know where everything is!). Our first stop was T*ys R U$ at 10 to wait in line till midnight when it opened! We met up with Melinda there...thank goodness she got there earlier than us and saved a spot in line. It was CRAZY!!! We shopped the night away!!

Turkey Day at RVE

We do not have a "Thanksgiving party" at our school, but each grade level celebrates in their own way.

Kenzie's class had a feast in the cafeteria. They were dressed up as pilgrims and indians...too cute!! They also sang a few songs but I MISSED it! I was down with my class...bummer!!

Nonnie was out of school on Wednesday (like most OTHER schools!). So, Nonnie and Granny came over to eat with the girls.

Maddie's class played "bored" games and then had a sack lunch outside.

Funny story: I was asking what games Maddie wanted to take to school to play on Wednesday. I was pulling out different games to see what she wanted...when I got to Candyland, she said, "No, Mrs. D said that was a boring game." Dustin and I cracked up!! He asked her if her teacher might have said "board game?" She had no clue what he was talking about. We just call them games...don't guess we really refer to them as "board" games so she had never heard that before! Ha!

November 25, 2009

Madison and Makinley's 8th Birthday

The girls had a BLAST at Madison and Makinley's birthday party! It was at Sweet & Sassy in Ft. Worth. Sadly, it was their last weekend to be open.

The girls all dressed up and ready for a limo ride!

Kenzie found a friend!

Maddie, Kenzie and Makinley

Madison, Maddie, Makinley and Kenzie

On the runway...

They were so cute dancing!!

There was a TV that showed the girls dancing. Kenzie was facing the TV and couldn't figure out why she was facing sideways! You could tell from the look on her face that she was puzzled and bothered by it! After the dance was over, she told me that she was sideways on the TV. LOL! I had to explain to her that the camera was in the front and the TV was on the side.

The whole group

November 21, 2009

Trimming the tree 2009

We started decorating a little early this year! I knew we would be SUPER busy the weekend after Thanksgiving and I didn't want to wait another weekend to get my tree put up. So we started the week before Thanksgiving...it was a week-long project! Dustin got the tree and MANY boxes of decorations down from the attic, and we assembled the tree on Tuesday night. Wednesday night, I spread out the branches... Thursday night, I unpacked and set out all the ornaments and put a FEW on the tree (pictured below)... And finally, on Friday the girls and I finished up the tree and the rest of the house. Whew!! It would not have taken so long, but I wasn't feeling well and was tired from working all day...it got done though!!

My VERY favorite part about decorating the tree is looking through all the ornaments. So many of them have such special memories. I love looking through them and thinking about where or who they came from.

As you can tell from the pile, I just have a random mix of ornaments...and I love it that way!


Again this year, the bottom is a little ornament heavy... and has been rearranged several times already!

November 19, 2009

Now I just need to get presents wrapped and under there!!

Kenzie's 5th Birthday Party

Kenzie's party was at Jump'n Apes in Cleburne. It is a new place, and it is GREAT!! We went with a monkey theme since the place is decorated with jungle stuff. It turned out really cute!

My banner...I think it turned out SO cute!! (not to brag...ha!)

The goodie bags...


Thanks Gina for the adorable cake!!! Perfect!

Kenzie and Tru

Maddie

Jake

Emma

Jaxon

Kenzie, Abby and Libby

Kenzie with Mrs. Bridges

Birthday girl!

Lorin

Jaxon

Christen

Maddie and Kelsey

Kyler, Tru, Kenzie, Christen, Ryan, Grady, Emma and Jake (school friends!)

Cheyenne and Maddie

Emily, Kelsey and Brent

Libby, Gracie and Abby

Mary and Lorin

Posing with the monkey!

Singing to the birthday girl

Ryan, Grady, Emma and Jake

Ryan...too cute!

Thanks for making Kenzie's birthday great...from the messages on Facebook, to the emails and texts, to all the people at her party!

Friday Night Football....BIG TIME!

Friday night we went to watch Abilene play in their first round game at Cowboy Stadium. When we were at Clifton, Dustin coached with Mark... now Mark coaches at Abilene. Mark was able to get us tickets to the game, and we were excited to get to go...we haven't seen Mark and Sarah in way too long (Dustin has seen Mark, but not all of us together). It was awesome getting to see the new stadium also!

Sarah and me

Dustin was able to go down on the field...he was pumped!

Birthday Evening

Kenzie picked Rosa's to eat her birthday dinner...works for us!

When we got home, she opened one of her presents.

She got a new Leapster game...

Didn't take her long to figure it out!

Cupcakes

I took cupcakes to Kenzie's class for her birthday. I was so surprised she stood in front of the room to let everyone sing to her...maybe she is coming out of her shell a little!

They were also having their snack...apples and peanut butter. Yum!!

Tru and Kenzie

Kenzie's 5th Birthday at School

Kenzie was on TV today... Each morning, the announcements are on the tvs in our classrooms. The pledges are led by students, then birthdays are recognized. Kenzie wasn't too sure about going in there, but she did great!

She told Mr. Nichols that she wanted her ears pierced for her birthday... that is what big sister told her she wanted! I asked her at lunch if she was going to get her ears pierced, and there was a big NO for the answer. She likes the idea of pierced ears, but she isn't brave enough yet to go through with it.

The pledges were said by all boys... so all boys sang to her. Cute!

Kenzie's 5!!

My princess on her birthday...

Strike a pose...


Kenzie was SO excited this morning when she got in the car... a brand new, pink, big girl carseat!

She wanted me to take this picture of her with her carseat. :o)

Pre K-K Thanksgiving Program

The Pre K and K kids performed 5 songs at the KPT meeting Monday night...they were SO cute! I was proud of Kenzie for getting up there and singing!! (sometimes she is a little...LOT shy!

Nonnie, Pa and Granny came to watch Kenzie's program. Kenzie was so excited to have them there!

Luau Pep Rally

Last Friday, we had the last pep rally of the season. All week at the high school, they advertised a "swimsuit" contest....but the contestants were not named. The kids were trying to figure out all week who it might be...worried about seeing some of the teachers in swimsuits!! LOL!!

Here are the contestants...coaches and admin kids! Aren't they cute!!

(L to R... Emily, Dax, Kasen, Maddie, Brayden, Kelsey, Kenzie, Kade, & Brent...not pictured~Kyndall)

They joined in with the Seniors dance at the end!

We opted for beach attire instead of swimsuits...I knew my girls would not walk out in front of all those people in swimsuits!

Taking off with the monkey...

(we are borrowing it for Kenzie's birthday party!)

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!

Mulan

Bride

Dax, Maddie, Kelsey, Kenzie and Kasen

Our first stop was to the FUMC that we go to every year. They have "Trunk or Treat" and then fun games inside the fellowship hall.

After the "Trunk or Treating" we went to take Daddy home so he could watch the UT game. There were tons of trick or treaters out in our neighborhood so we walked down a couple of streets. We have NEVER been house to house...we usually just hit a few houses of people we know and then go to churches. The girls had a blast running from door to door!! We couldn't stay long because we had to get to our church for the carnival there. We almost missed it! After about an hour there, they closed up. The girls were begging to go to more houses. So when we got home, we hit up the rest of our neighborhood.

The only photo from our church...Mulan's shoes were starting to hurt! We had flip flops on hand though!

Walking through our neighborhood

Painting/Carving Pumpkins

As soon as Kenzie woke up on Saturday morning, she was ready to paint her pumpkin!

Then Maddie finally got out of bed to paint hers.

(she caught that t-shirt at the football game the night before and slept in it...adult L)

Kenzie did NOT want to help with the slimy stuff!!

Neither of them stuck their hands in...

The finished products...

Pre K Field Trip

Mainstay Farm

On Friday, we put on our rain/mud boots and headed to the pumpkin patch. I didn't really go to school prepared for the field trip because it was raining and I just KNEW it would be cancelled. I brought some stuff just in case...but not lunches. Oops! We still went! So, I raced by the house to grab Kenzie's boots, went to Target to buy me some (I had been wanting some anyway with all the rain we have been having), and then by a convenience store to pick up some sandwiches. Whew, what a morning! It was a little cold when we got there but NO rain!! Yeah!! It turned out to be a beautiful day!!

the owner of the farm

dressing the scarecrow

This slide is made from an old cattle chute!

Playing in the hay barn...

Roasting marshmallows...yummy!

On the hayride to the 3 story treehouse!

Kenzie and Mrs. Bridges in the giant chair

Tru and Kenzie

(they would pretend to drive somewhere, hop out and run to where they were going, then get back in the car to drive to the next place...too funny!)

Christen, Kenzie and Tru

Ryan, Kasen and Kenzie

I think Kenzie was more excited about riding the bus than the actual field trip itself! She wanted to ride the bus back to school, but mommy wanted to do some shopping...I should have let her! She was so tired and not a very good shopping partner...we cut the shopping trip short and went home for a nap.

Dare to be Drug Free

This is Red Ribbon week so we have dressed up each day to support saying NO to drugs! On Tuesday, we had a program by The Morris Brothers...they are SO funny!! It was picture day so we dressed nice, but brought our caps and sunglasses because we are TOO COOL for DRUGS!!

"Corn Dog" and "Root Beer"

Rio Fest/Fall Carnival

We had our annual Rio Fest/Fall Carnival at the school on Saturday night. It was a huge success as usual! Our KPT does an awesome job!!

Maddie and Reagan

(I didn't see these 2 much! They played together all night.)

Jaxon, Maddie and Kenize (Lorin was NOT participating in the pictures! ....Kenzie only did because I bribed her! Ha!!)

Jaxon on the slide

Going fishin'

Kenzie visited the fishing hole and duck pond MANY times!! Thank goodness for the armbands!

Christen and Kenzie

Kenzie and Kelsey

Kenzie FINALLY warmed up and started having fun about 3 hours after we got there!! She was having fun, but wanted to be attached to me! She finally let go and road the train...10+ times! She met a new friend while riding (who was riding just as many times as Kenzie!). Her name is Caroline, and Kenzie is STILL talking about her new friend.

Kenzie and Caroline

Reagan and Maddie

We were at the carnival for 4 hours!! Thank goodness they sold armbands this year....$20 to play all night!! We definitely got our $40 worth.

Baytown Weekend

We went to Baytown EARLY on Saturday, the 17th. We went to Damien and Joanna's house to watch the UT/ou game, then went to the Need to Breathe concert in Houston. I didn't get a picture of the 4 of us in our UT shirts...mainly because Maddie never got hers on~she stayed in her jammies all day! (We left at 5:30 in the morning so we just put the girls in the car asleep!)

Jody, Dustin and I went to the concert, and Damien and Joanna stayed home with the kids. I was a little skeptical about going to the concert in the first place, but then we got there and had at least 10-15 YEARS on most of the KIDS in line...I was really worried! We ended up having a great time and enjoyed the music...I know a lot of their songs, but wouldn't necessarily buy the CD! (Dustin has several of their CDs and loves them!)

I have a very similar picture from a Third Day concert from over 5 years ago...I need to find it and put it on here too!

Waiting between perfomances...not a chair in the place!

The monsters the next morning...

Maddie, Kenzie and Chance

Bryce was too worried about his own camera to look at mine!

Chance and Kenzie

It was a fun, fast weekend trip to Baytown... and had a much SMOOTHER drive down than our summer blow-out trip!

2nd Grade Field Trip

Ok, so I am a little behind! This field trip was on October 14th!

The second graders went to the Ft. Worth Zoo on Wednesday. We were a little worried about the weather since rain was in the forecast, but it turned out to be a wonderful day! And, I guess everyone else believed the forecast because we had almost the whole zoo to ourselves! It was great!! I have NEVER been when it was like that... I saw things I didn't even know they had there.

My little group of girls!

Maddie, Kelsey, Mackenzie and Madison

Look at the poses in all these pictures! They were cracking me up!

Mandy and Abby with my group

The State Fair of Texas

We had Monday off from school, so we used our free passes from school and went to the fair. Our first stop was the food...corn dogs! Well, we must have picked the wrong place to get them...not impressed!! I'm ready for Canton in a few weeks for a GOOD corn dog! The food all around us looked good...just a poor choice on our part.

The girls loved watching the dog show...freestyle dancing!! We got to pet several of them after the show.

THE MIDWAY

The girls love to ride the big rides! It was hard to find rides that Kenzie was tall enough for though. She just doesn't understand that!

She was BARELY tall enough for this...really she wasn't but they let her. Most others wouldn't let her.

Kenzie wasn't tall enough to ride without an adult...Dustin volunteered to take pictures, how nice. :o)

I was a little queasy the rest of the day!

Bumper Cars!

Some slide thing... $3.50 each to go down a slide. Really?!?!?

Cotton Candy...my favorite part of the trip! Yummy!!

The girls crashed before we even got out of Dallas!

It was a fun day!!

Great day spent with family!! And the weather ended up being great...nice and cool, and no rain!!

Happy Fall!

The Great Pumpkin Express

On Sunday, Mom took Granny, the girls and me to Palestine to ride the train, The Great Pumpkin Patch Express. It was based on the book, "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Even though the weather was not cooperating, the girls had a blast!! It didn't really rain on us while we were in the field, it was drizzly and misty. It started pouring when we got back on the train. I was SO glad we had rain boots though!!

The girls were planning on wearing their Halloween costumes, but with the weather we opted for jeans and boots!

Getting ready to board the train.

Scary witch...Kenzie wanted NOTHING to do with her!

The girls each picked a small pumpkin and a large one, and then I got to pick my own. I picked a tall skinny one...so cute! It seemed like a good idea at the time until we were trying to beat the rain to get back on the train carrying those things! And then carrying them back off the train to the car...but they sure look cute on my porch!

They had a row of houses to "Trick or Treat" Each house had a door knocker, or door bell...so cute! Kenzie was nervous at each house...she knew that witch would be behind one of those doors!

Picture with Snoopy

Back at the train station....

Kenzie and Granny

Granny and Maddie

Grandparent's Day

Kenzie is ready for FALL!

Nonnie and Granny came to the school for Grandparent's Day. They enjoyed cookies and punch and time with their girls! (and bought some great books at the book fair!)

And a quick pic of Christen and Kenzie!

KPT Program

Last Monday night, the 2nd performed a Reader's Theater at the KPT meeting. This was the only picture I ended up with...what was I doing??

Trying this out!

I just added a new app to my iPhone...let's see if it works!

Here is a pic of my poor baby...she fell on the new playground equip on Tuesday. It really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. She gets real upset if you call it a BLACK eye ...it's PURPLE!

I took her to the dr the same day for her snotty nose that has gone on for close to 2 weeks! It started as a regular cold but now she has a sinus infection...14 days of antibiotics!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Granny's Birthday Lunch

On Sunday after church, we went to Glen Rose to meet for Granny's birthday lunch.

Maddie and Kenzie with their curls from the ball!

Cheyenne

Granny and the girls

Me with Granny and the girls

Granny and the great grands that were there...Kole, Cheyenne, Maddie and Kenzie (not here: Landon, Caleb, Kyson and Kaylen)

"The Ball"

Our church...FBC RV had a "Ball" for the little girls. ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!! The girls had a blast! For 2 weeks, we have been picking out dresses & shoes and counting down the days...

We arrived at 5 to get make-up done, and finish getting ready.

Kenzie, Emma and Klarice (Pre K friends!)

Maddie and Kelsey

Bailey, Audrey, Hallie, Hattie, Reagan, Emma, Maddie and Kelsey (2nd graders)

The girls could hardly wait to enter the ballroom!

Hattie, Reagan, Maddie, Audrey and Emma

The food and decorations were wonderful! The pictures just do NOT show how great it was! The sandwiches were cut in the shape of crowns, hot pink cupcakes with glittery sprinkles, the fruit and cheese trays... the balloons and flowers... tulle tied around every chair...

All the little princesses got tiaras (to keep...a big deal to the girls!)

The expressions on the faces of the girls entering the room were priceless! Not the room they usually see every Sunday morning!!

Kenzie and Mrs. Bridges

(Kenzie was being a little GROUCHY from no nap, but Mrs. Bridges got her right out of that!)

The girls being silly with their food.

Patiently waiting in line for more pictures on the throne.

Kenzie and Kelsey

Kenzie, Kelsey and Maddie

Silly faces

Getting balloons ready for a game. Kenzie was amazed by Miss Angie's dress!

She loves Miss Angie!

Miss Angie read the girls a story...

Kenzie helped Aira make some more punch!

Reagan and Kenzie dancing

The whole group...beautiful girls!

Dancing sisters!

The girls had a magical time...that is all they could talk about all weekend! They felt so special...a ball just for them!

And, yes, 49 pictures...it could have been worse, I took close to 200 pictures!!

Random pics...

Gotta love a good pose!

Homecoming 2009

Our Homecoming was Friday a week ago...totally forgot to post these pics last week!

The band marched through the halls to lead the elem students to the stadium for the pep rally...great way to get the students pepped up!

Packed stadium!

Miss Cassie holding Kenzie...seems to be the trend at every pep rally!

Emma and Kenzie walking back to the school...so sweet!

Our KPT sells Homecoming balloon bouquets for a fundraiser.

3rd Quarter Mini Cheerleaders

Poor Ashley has this attachment on her hip most of the time! Kenzie loves Ash-a-lee!!

Crazy 2nd graders!

Maddie, Kelsey, Madison and Abby

Maddie and Abby