Nearing the end of 2008

I can not believe in just a few days we will be celebrating a New Year! Can you? I am hopeful for a great 2009 for all of our family and friends. I am hopeful that the economy will turn around. I am hopeful that our family and friends will stay safe and well. I am hopeful that good things are a head. As I think back on the year, there have been some wonderful things happen - Landry turned 5, Kelsey turned 10, and our little doggie Sadie turned 14. Dave and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We took part in Relay for Life on Team Ashley in honor of our sweet little friend Ashley (who is doing wonderful! She had a little battle with RSV this past week but was well enough to come home for Christmas - what a huge blessing!). We went to Disney World and loved every magical moment or the trip. Kelsey and I went to see the Jonas Brothers in concert. Kelsey started 5th grade and Landry started Kindergarten. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas. My dad is doing good, just wish I could see him more.

With all the good there is always some sadness. Our dear friends Christi and Joshua lost Joshua's mom this year after a very short battle with cancer. And just yesterday my dear friend Elaine lost her dad. He had been ill for a while and he could not fight it any longer. I ask that you keep Elaine and her family in your prayers.

I am sending Happy New Year wishes your way and hope it is a wonderful year for each of you!

The magic lives on ....

Well another Christmas celebration has come and gone just like that, but we should keep the magic going throughout the year, right? :) We had a nice Christmas and hope everyone else did as well. Grandma and Uncle Michael came to celebrate with us ... we decorated sugar cookies, went to Christmas Eve service (which was a nice candlelight service this year), Kelsey read The Night Before Christmas to us, set out the cookie and milk for Santa, and then it was off to bed - up early Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. All in all it was a good Christmas spent with family and some celebrating prior with friends.

The above picture is how we look on Wii Ski the new Wii game Landry got - that is Dave, Landry (yes Landry made his Mii with longish grey hair and it is named Super Cool), Kelsey and Diane - fun game!!

Everyone watching Landry open a gift .... what is it????

Kelsey reading The Night Before Christmas to us.

The tree with the lights on and all the mounds of gifts for everyone .... still have some to deliver to Pappaw Ken and Jean and others ...

Decorating sugar cookies - Yum!

Hard to say goodbye ....

I am a little sad tonight as it is the final regular season game for the 'Boys at Texas Stadium. I so wish I could be there to say goodbye. Yes I know I sound like a sap but I do love my boys. :) I mean come on I have a son named Landry. In addition to Cowboy games, I can recall going to high school playoff games as well as state championships at Texas Stadium as well as a game between Texas A&M and SMU during the good old days of the Southwest Conference and a UNT game against Texas Tech. Oh and I even went to see INXS, Guns n Roses, and a Farm Aid Concert there. And we all know why the roof has the whole in it right? Yes so God can see his favorite team play. Now I am sure that Dave is totally cracking up over this post or our good pal Rob is now falling out of his chair with laughter but what can you do :).
So join me in saying farewell Texas Stadium and lets cheer on the 'Boys to a win. Hopefully the new stadium will bring some good luck to the team.

Santa Claus is coming to town ...

Looks like Kelsey and Landry will be driving the sleigh :). Last weekend we had a fun time at Safety Town seeing all the buildings with their lights and some other fun holiday activities. I am not believing that there is only 6 days until Christmas ... it seems like just yesterday was the first day of school. I think I am ready, are you?

"Baby it's cold outside"

I just love that song "Baby It's Cold Outside" from Elf which just so happens to be my favorite Christmas movie. I mean who does not love Will Ferrell??? See everyone loves him. :) Anyway.... it has started to get colder here and on Wednesday it was our coldest day/night yet and guess who decided it would be a fine time to go outside??? Yes my kids and Landry's friend Jaxen. Can you say - Crazy!! And I had to take some pictures because that is just how I roll (a shout out to Susan there using her now famous phrase :) ).

On this past Saturday, December 6th, Kelsey's school choir sang some lovely Christmas songs at Merry Main Street - it was a cold one that night too.

Look at her cold little face! That was after she sang and on our way to the car. She was cold and ready to go.

Funny thing about this picture is that it so reminds me of Where's Waldo only the question here is Where's Kelsey? Can you find her? The choir shirts say Shawnee Trail Choir is on Fire - catchy, huh?

Yes that is Rudolph, himself, having fun at Merry Main Street hanging out with Dave and Kelsey -ha! No it is not really Rudolph :) You can see the person inside the costume just look into his eyes :).

Ready for Christmas!!!

Today we worked on our Christmas card photo ..... we took A LOT of pictures and even though this one is not the most perfect it is the one that shows our personality :).

Someone else is in the Spirit .....

Yes Starbucks is in the Holiday Spirit also!! They have all their yummy holiday flavors out and I highly recommend the Peppermint Mocha Twist ...... yum! Kelsey is standing here totally making fun of me, but I do not care because - I love that red cup. :)

In the Spirit!

I know it is not Christmas time yet and we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving but I am so in the Christmas Spirit! I would put my tree up today if I thought Dave would not freak out about it. I finally started shopping for the kids for Christmas and it is going to be lite this year as I am sure others are doing the same.

We have been practicing for our Christmas Program at Kidz World and my 3's class that I teach along with the other 2 classes of 3 year olds are doing two very cute songs. One is called J E S U S and it is to the tune of B I N G O and the other one is Take Me Out to the Stable and yes it is to the tune of Take Me out to the Ballgame. The program theme is seeing the birth of Jesus through the eyes of the animals. Ms Ashlyn did a great job finding the songs. I think this has helped me get into the spirit as well.

The picture here is of Kelsey from last years Merry Main Street. She is a cutie!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!!! We had a great time. We did our usual trick or treat at Dave's office right after school where everyone has candy at their desks and then there are some fun activities for the kids. We then made our rounds in the neighborhood with a ton of neighborhood friends. It was such a fun time for the kids to be with a group. After all the candy gathering (we have WAY TOO MUCH) we went down the street where our neighbor friend Jen was hosting everyone to gather in the front yard to watch "The Nightmare before Christmas". Everyone sat on blankets on the ground and Jen and her husband supplied popcorn and drinks. FUN! We really enjoyed it. We left a little earlier than some because we have soccer games tomorrow and needed to get some rest. :)


Check out this man or thing or well I am not sure what he is, but he was having a fun time dancing to "Thriller" with all the kids.

Our big group of Trick-or-Treaters. This was so much fun and the best time we have had on Halloween.

Outside Dave's office before our fun time there.

Happy Birthday to Dave!!! and to Ashley!!!

I had meant to post this yesterday to wish Dave a Happy 40th birthday! For just 2 days we are the same age :). He did have a busy day at work and the kids had soccer practice so we picked up dinner from La Hacienda. He had a nice surprise at work - his mom sent him a beautiful plant along with some fun "over the hill" balloons and he went to lunch with some of his friends from work.
Also want to wish Ashley Piltz a happy 5th birthday! What a sweetheart she is!!! Back in the spring Ashley received a gift certificate from Relay for Life's local chapter to have a fun time at Sweet N Sassy along with a ride in the pink limo and she could bring some friends along. She and Wendy decided to wait and use it on her birthday, plus Ashley wanted her hair to be a little longer - it is looking AWESOME by the way! So on Monday she was picked up from her house in the pink limo and taken to get her fun make over :). She was so sweet and invited Kelsey to be one of her guests. Landry got to go for pizza and cake at Ashley's house along with the other boys she invited. The girls had such a fun time!!! Oh and be on the look out because Relay for Life will be taking place in May 2009, I will be sending out an email asking for help - either to join Team Ashley and walk with us (we had such a great time at the 2008 Relay and I would hate for you to miss out on all the fun!!) or if you could make a donation to help fight cancer that would be awesome!

A little early Happy Halloween

Kindergarten goes to the Pumpkin Patch

Today was Landry's first school field trip and his first time to ride on a school bus. It was a super fun day. We went to the Big Orange Pumpkin farm. The kids got to feed some animals, pick out a pumpkin (I got one too), go on a hay ride, and have a picnic lunch before heading back to school. Landry loved it and he was very good the entire time. You can see in one of the pictures there was a very hungry goat there. The goat took Landry's feed cup right out of his hands and finished it off. The weather was great and no one got hurt and there were no melt downs. We got back to the school at 12 pm (fast trip) and Landry came home with me once we got back. Here are some photos from the day.

The weekend is here!!!

Friday always feels like a run to the finish line. Oh but there are tons of soccer games to be played on Saturday so no rest ahead.

Pine Cove

This past week I went with Kelsey's school to Pine Cove a camp in East Texas. It is a fun retreat that the 5th graders at all the elementary schools here get an opportunity to go to. Pine Cove is one of three camps in the East Texas area that the schools attend. It does have a count of two grades in science for them. We left early Wednesday morning and stayed 2 nights and returned back to school around 2:30 pm on Friday. It was fun and we did a lot of walking. The camp was very nice and the staff was wonderful. There were 8 sessions that the kids did and the camp staff lead them. I was with one other chaperon and we were with 8 girls and then during the day for the learning sessions we had a boys group and their chaperons with us. The kids did a zip line (see Kelsey taking off in the first photo and then on the line over the lake in the second photo), they rode horses, had a critter class (Kelsey held a snake!!!), canoe class (see her in the 3rd photo with one of her best friends Alice), orienteering (working with a compass), aquatics (searching for water life with a net from the side of the lake), forest class, and a nature's niche class. Before we left on Friday we attended the airborne class where a falcon flew over our heads. It was such an awesome trip. Kelsey will remember it for a long time I am sure.

Soccer season is under way

Landry and Kelsey are playing soccer again this season. Kelsey's team has moved up to the big fields with 11 girls playing at a time. They are trying to get used to the bigger field and the older teams they are playing. They have also changed their team name to Texas Twisters and new colors and everything. Will post Kelsey's photos after her game Saturday. Landry had a make up game tonight and each time he tries a little harder. He is his own little man, what can I say? My children take after me with the not so sporty gene. God love them for trying. I think Landry's favorite part of the game is getting to kick off.

Guess who we saw today ..... Cody Linley

After Landry's soccer practice we headed over to the new Market Street store here in Frisco for a special Radio Disney Grand Opening event for the store. Cody Linley was scheduled to be there from 1 pm to 3 pm signing autographs. We got there at a little after 12 and got in line we had a good spot and time passed quickly. The nice people at the store brought out free samples of their smoothies, cookies, and bottles of water for everyone in line - how nice is that! Cody arrived at about 1:05 pm and then the line started moving fast. Kelsey was so excited. She got an autograph and the picture with him. He was a nice guy. Landry and Dave did not stand in line with us instead they walked around the store having samples of cheese and such. Cody plays "Jake Ryan" on Hannah Montana and he is from Lewisville, Texas - very cool! Oh and you can imagine when he got up to the table the screams going on from the girls in line - oh my it was loud!

The kids started school today. My baby girl is growing up. She would not let us walk her back to her classroom this morning :( I was so sad. I did not get to take a picture of her with her teacher. She would not let me take a picture of her outside school this morning either -Landry did :). I did get a picture before we left for school.

After school Kelsey said 5th grade was going to be great. She is looking forward to the science trip they will have this year - it does sound like a lot of fun. I am hoping it will be a great year for both of them. Please keep them in your prayers. :)

Fun day with friends

On this past Tuesday we met our friends Brandi, Britney, & Braden and Christy, Cameron, & Cayden at McDonald's for lunch and some play time then headed over to the movies to see Star Wars the Clone Wars. The boys were so excited to see the movie and take along their toys from lunch that just so happened to be Clone War toys. Hard to believe summer is coming to an end and school is starting on Monday.

Last night we went to "Meet the Teacher" night and met both Kelsey's and Landry's teachers and put away their school supplies. Both teachers were very nice. None of their good friends are in their classes but that just means an opportunity to make more new friends, right?
Here's hoping it is a great school year ahead.

New background ...

We changed up the blog a bit. What do you think of the new back ground and style?
We like it. May need to work on the font colors but for tonight we are happy. :)

Kelsey, the director ....

I had to share what Kelsey's new favorite thing to do is ... make videos. She is getting pretty good at it. She makes her own scripts and is really good at ordering Landry around. Maybe she will be a future Oscar winner. Her current videos are those of her and her friend Alice singing and dancing about (they have a band named Twist 3 :) - they are looking for their 3rd member), she does interviews with Landry, with their Webkinz, and even some Olympic competitions. Never a dull moment here.

As requested ....

I followed your advice and took a picture, not the best mind you I seem to be having problems with my camera this morning. Look at that hunk of missing hair from his bangs. I know just looking at the picture you can not tell how much was cut but trust me there was a pile of hair in the floor. It is fixable and it is only hair, I know. :) What a little goober he is.

Oh My!!

Ok well last night while we are watching the Olympics I glance over and notice Landry is standing with scissors .... yes you know what I am about to say ... He had cut his bangs. Not all of them mind you just a clear up and down cut that looks not so nice. We will be getting that taken care of this next week so he looks nice for his first day of Kindergarten. I did not take a picture. I did cry about it.

....... One thought to add ..... Go Team USA!

Our First Post !!!

WOW! We now have a family blog!! How cool are we? :) My friend, Susan, has such a cute blog and Kelsey thought we should start one too. It will be a great way to keep up with our friends and family. We are really hoping that Brandi starts one so we can check in on the Fox's as they start their new adventure in their new town. We are sure going to miss them.
We are counting the days to the start of school. I am so not believing that Kelsey is a 5th grader! How unbelievable is that? She is a sassy 10 year old already. And little man, Landry is a Kindergartener! Now that is a shocker. I am so hoping he has a great year and makes some good friends. Both kids are playing soccer. Kelsey is returning to her same team but they are graduating to the bigger fields with 11 players on the field. Should be an exciting year. Landry is hoping to be on the same team as his buddy Jaxen. Let's just hope that Landry does some playing this year as in kicking the ball and running after the ball and not doing so many grass angels. ha!
I am looking forward to Kidz World starting back so I can see all my teacher friends again more than we get a chance to in the summer. We are going to have a great year! Again I have to say I am going to so miss Brandi at school!
Landry's hair is so long right now. We really need to get it cut or at least trimmed. The thing is that the longer hair totally matches his personality but I know it must be hot. You tell me does he look like the little boys that play Zach & Cody??
Our Sadie girl is doing good. She has her moments of high energy and then the remainder of the day she spends just resting.
I hope to keep this blog interesting, more so than this orignal post. :)