Family at Heart

Monday, 8/23, was A’s first day of first grade.  To say that she was excited is really an understatement.  She gave us absolutely no trouble at all about getting up so early either.  She was an angel in every way.  And then the uniform.  Well, it’s just adorable.  I had to give her hair a single braid in the back and then she was ready to take on her day.  Last year her day ended at 1:30.  This year it ends at 3:20.  She is doing great with eating her lunch and has walked into school all by herself for the last two days.  She also comes out to the pickup line, gets in, and buckles herself in after school.  Our girl is growing up and we couldn’t be more proud of her.

Excited girl is eating her breakfast

Cutie pie!

In front of the school.

Time to go in and wait in the library.

Daddy with A before going inside.

Me with my big 1st grader!

Almost time for the first bell to ring.

A and 3 of her classmates. I love dress days! They all look adorable.

A with her best pal T

All smiles for the big first day.

Ready to begin!

Mrs. P and A. We are so excited for a great year!

A with her yogurt after school. We have a tradition each year that we get a treat on the first day of school.

On Saturday, 8/21, we headed down to the Congress Aveneue bridge for the Bat Fest.  It was very crowded, but the energy was great.  We looked at some pretty cool booths and then anxiously waited for the bats to make their appearance.  We did see them for a bit, but it was pretty dark by then.  We still had a great time though.  I found a picture frame insert with A’s name on it and that was an obvious purchase for me   We decided to stop at one of the hotel restaurants for a cold drink before heading back to the car.  A had a great time at her first bat fest.  We will be going back to get a better view of Austin’s mascot on a different day very soon

Last Thursday, A and I went with C and S to Brenham to tour the Blue Bell ice cream factory.  We had lunch and headed to the creamery for the tour.  The girls thought it was great.  A and I had been there once before, but it was several years ago.  She didn’t even remember being there.  It was a great day and we even got to extend it a bit longer when C and S agreed to go and observe A’s karate class when we got back

A drew this the morning and I had to include it on the blog.  If only life could be as simple as it is to a six-year-old!

Yesterday (8/17) was 1st grade registration at A’s school.  She and I headed down with her supplies in hand.  She had such a great time!  The kids were all so excited to see one another again.  We have been seeing her best buddy T each week all summer, but she hadn’t seen anyone else since the end of June at a birthday party.  She was also really excited to see the faculty and to talk with her new teacher.  We even took her an ABC poster for her classroom wall!  We saw A’s room, or I should say rooms.  They have two rooms that are just amazing.  I loved her classroom last year, but this was really amazing.  Plush carpet, fireplace, flowers in vases…it was fantastic.  I want to go to these rooms every day!  A found her desk and is just so excited for Monday.  I truly am excited too.  I was sad last year, but this year, excitement is definitely my  biggest emotion about the big  first day.  I LOVE this school!!!!!

L and I took A and T to lunch at Macaroni Grill.  That is after we finally were able to pull them away from school.  T loves it as much as A does   After our yummy lunch, we took the girls to a ceramics boutique on Bee Caves Road.  Each one chose a heart-shaped box to paint.  We can pick them up on Saturday.  The girls had a great time.

We had such a great family day today!  After a yummy lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, we headed down to New Braunfels to the McKenna Children’s Museum.  A had a great time there.  She especially loved the hospital area and the painting room.  We spent several hours just exploring and having fun.  We finished up our evening with a trip to Cafe Yolly for some yummy yogurt and then back down to Central Market.  Hubby had a meeting there, so A and I grabbed some dinner and then headed outside to enjoy the live music and playground.  It was a perfect family day.

Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory

Very cool place!

Tending to the babies in the hospital.

The microscope was cool too.

Give me all your money!

Inside the space shuttle. Ready for lift off...

R2D2 poses with us

Our tall girl!

Time to shop.

She loves to be the cashier of course.

The ambulance was really cool too.

A was treating me in the back of the ambulance.

Hook 'em!

She's so cute!

Cutie pie had a great day.

The outside exhibits were good too, but it was so hot outside. We only ventured out there for a few minutes.

Water fun.

A wanted to pose with the giraffe.

Construction time.

The face says it all

The painting room was great. I didn't get pictures of her paintings because they were surprises. We brought them home though and they will help to decorate her room.

Nice little saddle in the ranch area.

I would like to have a swing like this for real

Daddy and A outside the bear cave.

Last Sunday, A and I had a lemonade stand in our driveway.  It was pretty darn hot, but we had fun anyway.  Daddy was our very first customer and he got a free refill   We had some other friends to stop by as well.  We didn’t quite break even after we had bought our cups and supplies, but it was worth it to see A have so much fun.  She especially loved doing the sale sign.  I had a great suggestion from Ms. B…next time there is a neighborhood garage sale, we will be open for business!

I have several pictures of A that I have gotten off my phone.  Some were playdates and others were just random pictures I took just because she was cute!  I wanted to include them here anyway.  Enjoy!

Time for a trim!

After the trim, the nice lady braided her hair. She looked so adorable!

Taken in WV. She had a great time!

Taken at Extreme Fun with T

This is probably my favorite recent picture of A. She looks so grown up!

J and A in Claire's Boutique after a fun movie!

A after her dental cleaning and x-rays. All smiles!

A and C at karate class

A in her newly-cleaned room. We put up some hooks for dress-up essentials and jewelry

A and T at Jungle Java

A on the bumper cars at Gattiland! She loved it!

More organizing goodness. The room looks sooooo much better!

A with our outdoor kitty. We have been bringing her inside on the hot days.

A having fun at a local yogurt place

A and I had a great trip to see our family in WV.  Hubby didn’t get to go with us since he has some upcoming deadlines and had a client in town all week.  A and I left on Thursday, the 22nd and returned on Thursday, the 29th.  We got to see both of A’s grandmas, my grandma, lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.  It was awesome!

On Friday, the 23rd, A and I spent several hours with Hubby’s side of the family.  We celebrated A’s and her cousins birthdays.  Each of them got their own cake and presents.  A had so much fun with her cousins and of course Uncle James brought some water guns for the annual water gun fight.  We also had Hubby join us via web cam, so it was almost as good as having him there.  Everyone enjoyed that as well.

We spent the rest of the time at my grandma’s house just visiting with her and my aunt until Sunday morning.  Then, we went with my sister and niece to Princeton to my mom’s house.  We had a great time there too.  It was great to just relax and unwind.  We did some shopping of course and my mom made her famous rigatoni dish for us.  We had a marshmallow and weiner roast and also took a very nice trip to see the countryside.  A sat up front with my mom’s fiance while I rode in the back of the pickup truck with my sister, mom, and niece.  We had a great time.  Enjoy the pictures!

A was ready for bed at Ma Merlie's house. She was talking to Hubby in this shot.

On Ma's front porch swing.

She loved this swing

A with Aunt Carol at the party/dinner with Hubby's side of the family.

A with Uncle Dusty

Cool gift from Ma Gles! Thanks Ma!

Littlest Pet Shop vehicle from Uncle James and Aunt Marlena Thanks guys!!!

More LPS goodies!

The Bedazzler from Aunt Carol and Uncle Dusty Thank you!!!

She was so excited for her cake.

Her cousin Austin turned 8 the next day.

A talking to Hubby via webcam.

Blowing out the candles.

Time for some water fun.

Time for a showdown with Uncle James

Cousin Austin.

With Ma Gles. A was in a towel because her clothes were soaked and I had to put them in the dryer

Cousins giving each other rabbit ears for the picture.

I love this picture!

A with her sweet cousin Alexis, aka Lexie.

A with Aunt Marlena

A with her cousins and Uncle Dale

A with Uncle James' family

A with Aunt Carol and Uncle Dusty.

Silly Uncle James

A with my Aunt Ellen at Ma Merlie's house.

A and Ma Merlie. Two of my favorite people on earth.

I love my grandma. Her house is a safe haven for me. Always has been.

A with my Uncle Larkin. He made her laugh by doing animal sounds.

The creek that runs by my grandma's house.

A standing on my grandma's bridge.

Ma Merlie's house.

My little vacation buddy.

The gorgeous tree by Ma Merlie's bridge.

A takes time out from throwing rocks to pose for me.

A posing in Ma's front yard.

Another angle of Ma's house.

The church where Hubby and I were married on June 30, 1990

A with Ma Merlie again

Love my Ma Merlie

Me with my Aunt Ellen. We had a great visit.

A at my mom's house. My mom had this cute little shirt for her

Me with my silly sister

A with Cousin Ashley

Bubble fun

We were on my mom's deck. I love sitting out there.

A and Ma Ev! I love my momma

A in front of my mom's house.

The very fun weiner roast

Joni and Wilkie having fun at the roast.

This kid had a blast doing the roast!

Ma Ev and Wilkie know how to throw a roast

Cousin Ashley smiles for the camera.

A loved every second.

I really enjoyed the marshmallows

Group shot

She ate sooo much!

Dirty face

A poses with Ma Ev and Ashley.

More posing on the deck.

And more posing.

Getting ready for our ride in the country. FUN!!!!

Taken on our ride through the countryside. It was so beautiful.

More gorgeous scenery.

Just breathtaking.

Three generations.

A with Mr. Wilkie. A just loves him.

We had  such a great week with everyone.  Thank you for all of your hospitality, birthday gifts, and for just taking time to spend with us.  We appreciated the rides to and from the airport Aunt Joni and all of the work on the birthday party Aunt Carol, Ma Gles, and Aunt Marlena.  The weiner roast was awesome Mr. Wilkie.  Thanks Mom for your hospitality.  To say that we felt welcome is an understatement.  We love you all.

We went to a very fun party this morning at Main Event.  The kids got to go rock climbing for an hour, then they had pizza and cake.  The party room was awesome. It was very spacious so there was plenty of rooms for the adults too and the hosts were great.  I could easily see us doing a party there.  C had handmade all of the goodie bags with hand-painted Littlest Pet Shop characters and each child’s name on each  one.  They were amazing!  The kids each got a $5 game card for the arcade games too.  It was so much fun and A was literally in tears when we had to leave.  Thanks C for such a wonderful time.  And Happy Birthday S!  We love you sweetheart

Getting ready...

A loves to do this!

Ring that bell big girl!

S is on the left and A is on the right

Pizza! Yummy!

Angel girl had a blast!

She had a little volcano cake and a huge Littlest Pet Shop cake.

Happy Birthday to you...

This cake is awesome

A is doing the chicken dance. The kids really got into the dancing!

A with her awesome goody bag. Great job C!

A and the birthday girl

Fun in the arcade...

Fun with friends