Mansfield Family

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T13:39:00.004-06:00

Well this is a look of a satisfied little 8 year old....he looks like he had a great Christmas, right? I think he did. He loved everything he received :)....lots of Legos and Nerf his favorite things and plenty of Star Wars to take him on a Jedi trip :).

She was equally happy with her Christmas treasures .... she loves The Hunger Games book series and with the movie coming out she got lots of tie ins. Plus anime/manga things which she loves.

Something cute to hold her cell phone or ipod....

He will have lots of fun with this......me I am not so sure I will have fun finding the Nerf disks all around but he is only little once, right so go for it Landry.

The big boys had fun too....

Crazy family!

Michael can work on the yard in style :)

Smiles

He can finally stop bugging Patrick for his Millennium Falcon now he has his own :)

Crazy drinking eye glass straws .... fun stuff!

Checking out stocking goodies .... Landry could not wait!

Ahhh they love each other, really they do, I think any way :)

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you! I am saying prayers and thinking of those no longer with us. It was a difficult holiday for me...the first with out parents. Hard to believe my mom has been gone 12 years and now my dad. We missed Sadie this Christmas too. Time heals and memories stay so we will hang on to those wonderful memories we have. Hoping that 2012 brings great things to all and fun and health!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T19:41:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!!!

We had a lot of fun this year. The weather was great to go out and about. We had a Lego Man and a dead girl.... dead girl went to a party, that's what happens when you are 13 and a teen. Lego Man had fun going door to door with his friends. Dave worked really hard on the Lego costume--- way to go Dave! Hope everyone had lots of candy!

First Day of School 2011-2012

2011-08-22T08:14:00.003-05:00

Magic Kingdom

2011-08-19T10:02:00.004-05:00

We had the best time at The Magic Kingdom...it is magical :). Last time we were at Disney World Space Mountain was closed for maintenance and were not able to ride it :( BUT this time we did ride it and the kids loved it. Fun Stuff! We rode some other rides we have never ridden before and enjoyed them all. It was warm but nothing like the weather in Texas at the same time so we enjoyed ourselves plus did not have to wait in to long of lines.

Later that evening we went to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Wolf Gang Puck's and it was pretty yummy...plus we spent sometime at the Lego store of coarse (even though it has the same stuff we have here at the Lego Store still Landry could not pass it up). The next day we went back to Epcot to ride Test Track again and some other rides and to tour the lands again.... fun stuff! Until next time....

On to Hollywood Studios for Magical Hours

2011-08-19T09:37:00.006-05:00

We really like Disney Hollywood Studios because we love The Rockin Roller Coaster :) plus a new favorite Toy Story Spin. We stayed late at this park after leaving Animal Kingdom. Enjoy some photos from the day.....next up Magic Kingdom

Disney World ..... we needed to smile!

2011-08-18T12:49:00.004-05:00

Day 2 of Disney World Trip: Animal Kingdom. We had never visited this park but found out we had been missing out on one of our favorite rides....Expedition Everest! It was so much fun! We all loved it and we hope to go back just to ride that ride :)

Photos are not in order as always .... started off with breakfast at our hotel having Mickey Waffles. We then hit the pool for a while and then to Animal Kingdom and then used our hopper passes to go to Disney Hollywood studios for Extra Magical Evening Hours .... another favorite ride or two there...photos to follow later.

Disney World....a little break for some happiness

2011-08-18T12:26:00.004-05:00

Our first day at Disney World was spent at Epcot. We had a great time. We rode all the rides we really wanted to without a lot of wait time. Kelsey and Landry really enjoyed spending time in Japan. Landry got a new Pokemon shirt and action figures. Kelsey got some things from her Manga/Anime books she likes. She also got a pearl from an oyster. A big size one as it turns out. We ate dinner in Italy at Via Napoli. Wonderful pizza, the best pepperoni pizza we have ever had :). Then we capped the night off by riding Mission Space: Orange Level and let me tell you it is a must ride with Dramamine ..... just ask Landry, he did not fair well and I think we will never ride that again! ;)

Book Signing - Janet Evanovich

2011-07-07T10:51:00.001-05:00

Happy13th Birthday Kelsey

2011-06-15T16:16:00.003-05:00

Ketchup is a big part of our meals .... almost a food group, but it has to be Heinz Ketchup for us only Heinz. Kelsey will not have fries at a restaurant unless they serve Heinz Ketchup. Some of her friends are well aware of her love of the Heinz and got her some little packets along with a bottle but some thought it would be funny to get her a different brand or two so now we have some for donation to a food bank :)

Kelsey and Ashauna defending their team with some of Landry's Nerf guns

I have been WAY, WAY behind posting on here and am so sorry! I am behind on a lot of things! We celebrated Kelsey's birthday with friends the week after school got out. She had a great time.... the girls ate pizza and cake, played around outside, and went to a late showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in their PJ's. They even stayed up until 530 am the next morning.... oh to be young again... ha!

Girl Scout Spring Camp Out

2011-04-14T15:50:00.001-05:00

Girl Scout Spring Camp Out was a fun time. Kelsey and her troop have been together since 1st grade and are a great group of girls. We had a total of 9 girls from our troop go along with Ms K's younger daughter's Brownie troop which made for a fun group photo of both of her girls troops. Her camp shirt was half for us and half for the brownie troop. Kelsey loves the archery that she gets to do at camp. Plus this year we were in charge of the smores and campfire on the Saturday night event plus the closing ceremony near the campfire the next morning. Thanks Ms K for all the fun!

Look who is 8

2011-02-28T13:02:00.003-06:00

Yep that's the one! Can you believe he is 8? Crazy Kid!

4 Snow/Ice Days out of School

2011-02-04T17:49:00.003-06:00

Landry and Kelsey (and me too) have enjoyed our little "vacation" from school/work.... Dave has enjoyed it too but is refusing to admit it. Here are some photos from today (Feb 4th)

Snow in Frisco 2011

2011-01-10T15:49:00.000-06:00

Well it wasn't Christmas but we got some snow .... January 9, 2011. It was a nice snow and the kids loved being out in it (including Dave). It was still pretty slick this morning so the schools started with a 2 hours delayed opening. The kids liked the slow going this morning and not having to get up early and rush about but I think they would have loved to of stayed home. Here are some photos from the fun.

Christmas 2010 Fun

2010-12-29T10:28:00.000-06:00

Well it was a great Christmas and I think everyone was very happy. This post and the following is just capturing some of the smiles.....

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T10:25:00.000-06:00

Lego Movie Theater

2010-12-21T14:26:00.000-06:00

Instead of cleaning house and getting ready for our Christmas company we built a movie theater out of Legos. Kelsey and Landry worked really hard. Looks like the Lego movie "Clutch Powers" is playing. The front has the ticket booth and the concessions stand.

Spongebob looks like he is scared! Poor guy. Oh but there is a boy scout near by to help out.

flash mob 12 days of christmas-desktop.m4v

2010-12-18T13:35:00.000-06:00

My friend Jody made this video today at our mall .... a fun flash mob broke out with 12 Days of Christmas. Thanks Jody for a video share.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-06T20:45:00.000-06:00

Merry Main Street with the lights

2010-12-06T20:43:00.000-06:00

Girl Scouts having fun at Merry Main Street

2010-12-06T20:41:00.000-06:00

Ms Katina our wonderful scout leader and Kelsey getting the glow stick bracelets ready to sell.

Alicia and Mackenzie dressed in Girl Scout cookie costumes to help with the sales.

Kelsey and Ashauna trying to stay warm .... it was cold!

Our booth before all the festive lights were on.

Merry Main Street 2010

2010-12-06T20:36:00.000-06:00

Frisco's Merry Main Street took place Saturday, December 4th on a chilly night. Our Girl Scout troop had a booth and sold some fun Christmas Santa hats, Elf hats, and other fun light up stuff that helped the people add to the celebration. We are very proud of the girls and the effort that they made in selling the items. Here are some of the sights from the night .... look for another post with photos of the girls at their booth along with the amazing leader Ms Katina!

Landry took part in a baseball throw .... and won a baseball.... way to go Lan!

We got new floor!!

2010-11-01T17:08:00.000-05:00

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:11:00.000-05:00

Bathroom is complete

2010-10-03T17:05:00.000-05:00

We have completed the bathroom!! It looks good! Now we need some new towels and mats, right? What do you think about it?

Do you like the floor technique?

The Great Bathroom Re-do has started.....

2010-09-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

In a galaxy far far away....

2010-09-02T10:46:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time we had a soccer player in our family... can you spot her?

Retro Landry

2010-08-29T16:52:00.000-05:00

Just because I needed to replace the last blog post with something fun and happy since the horrible outcome of the Cowboy game last night I thought I would go way back to Landry in the 2's class at Kidz World. Can you find him? I bet you can :). Look at those cheeks and that hair you would know him anywhere, right? Thanks for letting me go back in time for the day ... I am not saying it will not happen again so be on the look out for those old pics :)

Who is ready for some football weather????

2010-08-28T13:20:00.003-05:00

MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I am so DONE with the 109 degree weather we have had pretty much ALL summer. Football goes hand and hand with fall to me just wish the fall weather would catch on and start.

First Day of School 2010-2011

2010-08-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of school and I managed to take a couple of photos without too much protest - ha! Landry followed his buddy Mark on into school without a kiss or a goodbye so I got a nice shot of his back as he walked away from me. Also got a nice picture of Kelsey after she got out of the car - it is just drop and go you know once you get in middle school :) I hope they have a great day and look forward to hearing all about it.

Rain Gutter Regatta

2010-08-23T12:52:00.000-05:00

What a day! It was HOT, 106 degrees outside and the day before school started....it was Pack 298's Rain Gutter Regatta! This was Landry's first try at this and he did ok - he will have to work on his technique :). Here are some pictures from the event. Landry's favorite things was spending time with his friends and his buddies Mark and John are also scouts so that made for a great last day of summer. Not so sure that Kelsey was excited to spend her last day this way but her friend Alice was there too watching her little brother so that did help a little :)

Rush- limelight i love you man

2010-08-21T16:27:00.000-05:00

This will be Dave and Rob next month at their Rush concert .... can't you just see it!

Photo Editing and Printing

2010-08-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

I thought this photo was so cute of Kelsey and friends (Ashauna is ducking behind the horse head and Isabella is smiling). I did a change on the coloring and made it look kind of cool but can not get it to print in such the cool way I have it edited. Very frustrating! Hmmm ... need a tutorial!

a few more from Kemah....

2010-08-11T22:26:00.000-05:00

Kelsey and Landry rode this ride 5 times! They loved it! I think all the kids did .... they would end the ride and run right back and get in line to ride again.

Dare devil Kelsey riding this very high in the sky ride. She is one brave gal.

Cooling off before we left.

The big wooden roller coaster. Kelsey and Dave both said it was fun but pretty jerky.
I am glad we got to take the little trip to Kemah. Fun stuff! Thanks for going Grandma Janet.

more Kemah pictures.....

2010-08-11T22:21:00.000-05:00

Do you see Kelsey waving from the top?

Landry driving the boats .... he did this twice.

Kelsey and Dave on the ride .... Dave did get a little bit upset at his stomach on this one but look at Kelsey with her hands in the air. The two guys behind them are cracking me up.... they are having a little chat like they are just sitting at a table or something.

On the train... this went all around the boardwalk.

Summer Fun at Kemah Texas

2010-08-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

We went to visit Grandma and took a trip to Kemah, Texas for some fun on the boardwalk. Our first stop was lunch at Landry's Seafood House Restaurant. We had a yummy lunch and then headed out for some fun. There are a fun variety of rides. Kelsey is our dare devil and was wanting to ride all the rides --- she did just about that. There were two rides she did not get on....one that went upside and down and stayed there for a while and then one that went up straight up and then dropped. Here are some pictures showing the fun ....

See the stamp on Kelsey's hand? It is showing her lightbulb moment :).

Kelsey loved this ride. It was like the Mexican Hat ride at Six Flags.

A day at the mall.....

2010-08-11T21:54:00.002-05:00

On August 1st Kelsey and her friends Ashauna and Isabella went to the mall in hopes of getting an autograph and photo of Demi Lovato who was there for the Shop til you Rock event. She was to be there signing at 1 pm on Sunday so we thought if we got there by 11 am we could get in line and wait...... well others (many others more than 350 people or more) got to the mall at 7am and had gotten arm bands to guarantee them an autograph while the others after would not be guaranteed one well guess where we fell in that bunch??? We decided to go ahead and walk around the mall have some fun and come back to take photos of her and see the band preform (she was not going to sing but another group would). We got back to the area where it was a mad house so we could get a picture --- someone announced that she would be out around 2pm so we walked around the mall some more and came back.... then it was that she would be out around 3pm .... repeat the above and we came back around 345 pm and still no Demi. Someone said she was not feeling well and would try to be out as soon as she could. We did see the musical group sing (they are Ready Set) and they were pretty good they have a popular song out right now and the lead singer is pretty cute so we got some pictures of him. The girls were then ready to leave so we never saw her but she did make an appearance around 430 pm. Bummer we missed her --- she is Kelsey's favorite singer/actor right now. Maybe another time, right?

The Ready Set singing at Stonebriar Mall.

A few of the kids together

2010-07-15T13:11:00.002-05:00

K & L Photos

2010-07-15T12:59:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday we met Shannon, a wonderful photographer that does outdoor on location natural light photography, at Watters Creek Shopping area in Allen well before the stores opened to get some pictures of the kids taken. I can not tell you how wonderful she is. It was a great experience even with the challenge of working with Landry. I am still deciding on my order but here are a few of my favorites to share. I wish I had this talent! Wow!!

She did the photos in both b&w and color but wanted to share the last few here in the b&w option because I think they are amazing!

Cameron's High School Graduation

2010-07-08T10:26:00.000-05:00

Better late than never about posting these. So proud of Cameron as are his parents :). Congratulations on graduating from high school and preparing to your future ahead at Texas Tech Cameron, I know you are going to do great! Seems like just yesterday I was visiting the hospital when you were born.

More....

2010-07-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

Fireworks..... lots of them!

2010-07-08T10:15:00.000-05:00

July 4th

2010-07-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

Fishy Fourth

2010-07-08T10:11:00.000-05:00

Fourth on the Farm Continued

2010-07-08T10:08:00.000-05:00

More July 4th Fun

2010-07-08T10:05:00.000-05:00

July 4th at the Yeatts Family Farm

2010-07-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

We had lots of fun this year on July 4th. Spent it will good friends as we have in the past. It was fun to bring back the tradition that we had in the past of spending the 4th with the Yeatts's and the Bentley's. Always manage to have fun and fireworks and good food. Jeff brought a b-b gun and targets so Kelsey gave it a shot and really liked it - she is our thrill seeker. Landry loved riding the go cart with Zack and thinks he is pretty cool. He also had fun hanging out and playing with Bristol. They reconnected and had a blast. The kids gave fishing a try and Landry caught a bass it was pretty exciting for him. Kelsey, Lauren and Zack helped their dads light fireworks and seemed to enjoy that a little too much :).

Jacob stopped by

2010-06-20T10:35:00.000-05:00

Jacob Black is always great to have on hand as a producer for your film :)

Kelsey making movies

2010-06-20T10:28:00.000-05:00

Kelsey has started her summer of making movies .... she had some friends come over and film a movie called "Schooled" that she and Alice wrote. She is still editing it - it has froze her program up - YIKES! So not sure how long this one will take. She may go ahead and start another one in the wait time :). She is still loving her green screen and we may need to invest in a bigger stand for it. Here are some photos from the night.

Spring Band Concert

2010-06-03T08:37:00.000-05:00

Kelsey's first band concert .... 6th grade Clark Middle School, playing the Bari Saxophone. It is a huge horn but she likes it. :) Great job by everyone!

Kelsey's 12th Birthday

2010-06-03T08:32:00.000-05:00

Kelsey with Edward and Jacob :)

With Tinker Bell

Moving up .....

2010-06-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

Joy's Birthday Party

2010-06-03T08:25:00.000-05:00

2010-05-31T10:33:00.000-05:00

Stars on Ice

2010-05-16T09:54:00.001-05:00

On Friday, May 14th our girl scout troop went to Stars on Ice at the American Airlines Center. It was a fun time. Lots of Olympic Champions were there including Evan Lysacek. Here are some photos that Ms Katina took and was so kind to share with us.

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T13:14:00.001-05:00

Easter 2010 was a bright sunshine day with lots of good food and fun. The kids hunted Easter eggs with Jayla. Landry LOVES to hunt Easter Eggs --- he always has. He can be such a sweetheart at times and then wild and crazy at other times. :) We went to Daddy's for the day, it was so good to see him. He is back on two of his chemo medications again instead of the maintenance chemo since his tumor started to grow again, it is making him week and sick again but he did look good. He is keeping the faith and so am I. Jean's daughter Melissa her daughter Jayla and Melissa's boyfriend Greg were there a and Jean's son Rick and his wife Brenda and their daughter Misty and son in law came along with their baby girl Isabella too. It was a fun crowd. We are looking forward to meeting Melissa and Jayla next weekend at the Fort Worth Zoo. Here are some pictures from our day ...

Landry found the big egg left just for him :). It was up high so he needed some help.

Kelsey spotted hers too :) She is so pretty!

Dave helping find some eggs.

Bubbles! Gotta love bubbles :) Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Now if we can make it through the next two months of school so we can enjoy some summer fun! Hmmmm that cruise that Rob, Megan and Patrick are going on is sounding pretty good :)

First Graders take on the Dallas World Aquarium

2010-03-31T10:22:00.001-05:00

This week Landry and the entire first grade at his school went to the Dallas World Aquarium for their field trip. The first graders study about the ocean so this was a great place to go. Landry was so excited and I was so excited to get to go with him .... the parents took their own cars and the kids all went on the buses with their teachers.
Landry has always loved ocean animals.

My group of 4 and another group of 4 from Mrs. Lairsen's class. Crazy kids! And yes I had a group of 4 boys to walk around with. ;)

Outside display with a large bird in the background and two friends from another class.

My group of 4 ready for the fun!

The school bus taking off and look at the back window --- see the little arm ?? That is Landry Man :).

Girl Scouts take on the Zoo

2010-03-13T08:07:00.000-06:00

Our girl scout troop went to the Dallas Zoo for a zoo class working toward an IP ... and here are some pictures from our day and yes they are not in order. One day really I mean it I will get this down but that is not the case today so bear with me. :)
Here are some of our girls by the penguins pool ... these are African Penguins who seem to enjoy the warm weather and no ice. They are fun to watch such little characters.

Our wonderful leader Ms Katina leading the troops on their observing of nature trail and checking off what they find.

A girl always has to take a moment to pose for a photo ... shortly after Kelsey jumped off and yes skinned her knee and hand (only my child :) ).

We took the Dart train to and from the zoo ... this is the beginning of the day on the way to the zoo -- see it is in total reverse order.

More smiling faces on the way to the zoo .....

Today is the first day of our spring break and we are starting it off with a cookie booth. We have cookies left that we need to sell. Wish us luck! Then the girls are going to go have some fun playing Wii and eating pizza .... ah to be a tween again. :)

Happy 7th Birthday Landry!

2010-02-24T13:16:00.000-06:00

No we do not have snow outside today but I thought this was a fitting picture to wish Landry a happy birthday with. Seven years ago when he was born there was a huge ice storm and when Dave and Kelsey went home they could not get back to the hospital until the day we were to go home. So CHEERS Landry enjoy your day! We love you so much! Such a special sweet boy!

We were Flocked!

2010-02-21T10:56:00.001-06:00

... with 24 pink flamingos! Look at this! Crazy, huh? They are getting all wet with this crazy rain that is coming thru today. I believe they will be migrating a little bit south later tonight to land in someones yard for Friday morning (no Rob do not worry they are not coming to you although that would have been fun -- oh maybe I need to call back and do that --- LOL! ). A friend with MM initials will be seeing pink soon. He He He lucky for me she does not know I have a blog ;) It is a girl scout fund raiser going on - fun idea, huh? :) Enjoy the photos of our pink friends out in the rain .....

Snow Day!!

2010-02-13T11:09:00.000-06:00

SNOW DAY!!! No school for Frisco ISD on Friday. The kids were out in full force playing as long as they could. They all helped build a HUGE snowman ~~ well over 6 foot tall ~~ in our friends yard down the street. Lots of snowball fights and lots of coldness!!

100th day of school and SNOW AGAIN!!!

2010-02-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it snowed again today in Frisco, Texas??? It did and we did have school. :) It started around 2 am and is still snowing now as I type this at 2:30 pm. We have never had this much snow in Texas that I can remember. The kids loved it! I am sure they will want to be out in it this after noon. It sure is cold! It will be a mess in the morning after it starts to freeze up over night.

I snapped a fast photo of Kelsey walking from the car to school this morning -- she was not to happy about it but here it is (and yes that is Johnny Depp on her bag :) ).

My little helper this morning. Landry made sure the windows on my car and Dave's car were clear to see out of. Such a sweetheart!

This photo is from last week. It was the 100th day of school. That is always a fun day. They did lots of things to celebrate the day. He is a cutie!

Fun day of Sunday Photos

2010-01-25T16:53:00.000-06:00

On Sunday our friend and neighbor, Jody, got a crew of the moms on the street and their kids together to go take photos. We all grabbed our cameras and headed to downtown Frisco to have some photo fun. The kids brought their cameras too. Jody brought along some old dial phones for props --- fun! I played around with the photoshopping on some of mine but not as cool as the ones that Jody did .... I am sharing my pictures and some Jody did as well ... looking forward to our next grab your camera outing.

Jody turned the kids into black and white art --- cute photo with the phones. Look who is in the middle, yep Landry.

We counted to 3 and jumped look how Joe caught my shoes flying off. :)

By far my favorite! Jody has to teach me this photoshop technique -- totally cool!

Pine Wood Derby

2010-01-21T16:54:00.000-06:00

I needed a happy post after the last one encouraging my Cowboys but they just did not pull off a win ..... so here is our HAPPY post :).
Landry participated in his first pine wood derby race last weekend. And he did GREAT! He won first place in his age group - Tiger Cubs. Dave was so nervous and really thought they would be last but the little car that could proved him wrong and Landry was so happy.

Such a proud little guy!

The ramp with the cars at the starting line .......

It was a lot of fun and Landry had to race against the other 1st place winners from the other races and he took 4th in that one. Those cars were WAY fast. Rob has already suggested to Dave that they start focusing on their 2011 car :)

C O W B O Y S !!!!!!!

2010-01-17T13:38:00.000-06:00

Come on Cowboys come back after half time and do your thing --- win this game!

The world of a tween ....

2010-01-13T13:04:00.000-06:00

This has been an interesting week so far and we are only at Wednesday. It is mid term exam week for the middle and high school students here in our school district. This is a first for Kelsey and her friends. On Sunday to prepare for the exams Kelsey and 4 friends got together to study. They really seemed to help each other and stayed on topic pretty well. While studying on her own Kelsey has found a favorite study spot .... her closet! She took her chair into the closet along with her laptop and a few blankets. It is always good to have a quiet spot, right? I am praying for great success on the exams for Kelsey and her friends.

C O W B O Y S !!!!!!!

2010-01-10T10:54:00.001-06:00

The Cowboys WON!!! They played the Eagles 3 times this season and won each time! AWESOME!! I managed to watch the entire game without being overly nervous.
Tony Romo getting a congrats from Donovan McNabb.

Look who was at the game -- Laura and George Bush enjoy the game with Emmitt Smith!

Way to go Romo!

Miles Austin had a great game!

Felix Jones had a great game too!

Ok now we need some good positive thoughts and prayers flowing for next weeks playoff game against the Vikings and Brett Favre ........

stop laughing Rob.... I say this because you are the only one that reads this :)

Come on Cowboys!!!!

2010-01-09T13:23:00.000-06:00

Fingers and toes crossed for a Cowboy WIN!!! First game of the playoffs and playing the Philadelphia Eagles for the 3rd time this season --- will be hard but so want a win for the 'Boys!!! I get so nervous so I can not sit and watch the entire game. I will be up and moving around. Go Cowboys!!

Happy Noon Years !!!

2010-01-04T08:55:00.000-06:00

Every year on New Years Eve our friends and neighbors, the Mettlers, host a Noon Years party for the kids. We all arrive at 11 am for hot dogs, snacks, and grape juice toasts .... at alittle before 12 pm Caron plays the Rockin' New Years Eve from the year prior and we do a count down. Kelsey and Lauren stand on the stair landing (this is their second year to do the balloon drop) and they open huge bags of balloons and drop on the other kids below. The kids all have the fun noise making poppers (aimed at the wall and not their friends) and the fun begins. Landry LOVES the noise poppers and had a trigger one this year :).

The noon years moms (terrible picture of me and well all pictures of me are terrible).

Noon years dads ... silly ones at that! They had fun too!

Balloons dropped and the noise makers went off right on time at 12 pm! Happy Noon Years all!

Kelsey and Lauren dropping the balloons.

Kelsey, Lauren and Abbey in front of the New York City party scene Caron put up.

John, Landry and Mark reconnect and talk about their Christmas fun before the noon years festivities begin. Looking forward to the fun year ahead and all the wonderful things we do together as neighbors. We are truly lucky to have such great friends.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T13:58:00.000-06:00

As with the wonderful things from Santa, Kelsey and Landry were very happy to receive things for Christmas that they really wanted. Both are getting older and wanting older kid things. No longer wanting dolls, Barbies, or toys of the sort Kelsey only wanted a lap top or a video camera for Christmas and she got both! We all put money in (Grandma, Uncle Michael and Dave and I) and got her a really neat NetBook and she loves it! She has used it everyday of the Christmas Break. She also got other things that were on her list. Landry was VERY happy to get his Bionicles and the 7 in 1 Mega Bakugan for some "sweet" battles with his friends :) Look at the excitement in the photo above he was doing his "victory lap" .... plus he got Lego Rock Band -- we have had lots of fun with that too. I will have to post the many times we have played it in the short time we have had it with many visitors.

Kelsey with her new favorite thing her Netbook ... and wearing her new Justice Snuggie (Landry got her ).

Landry was very excited about his snuggie and snuggie socks. He took them to a sleep over at his friend Jaxen's house.

Grandma was excited about her Susan Boyle CD that Kelsey got her.

Kelsey really wanted to open this present fist of all ---- it was the netbook and you know she opened it since I posted just above about it but in true Diane fasion the first photo I uploaded ended up the last one on here .... goal for the new year figure out the posting of the photos. Hey Rob is here now helping Dave with the Pinewood Derby car for Landry maybe he will help me out .... ha Hi Rob!

Christmas Morning 2009 seeing our goodies from Santa

2010-01-01T13:52:00.001-06:00

Kelsey and Landry loved what they got from Santa for Christmas --- Kelsey really wanted a video camera (remember previous posts where we talked about how Kelsey wants to be a cinematographer) and Landry wanted all things Nerf and Bionicle for Christmas and Santa delivered.

Decorating Cookies for Santa

2010-01-01T13:48:00.000-06:00

On Christmas Eve we have a little thing for making cookies and decorating them for Santa ... who doesn't right? :) Here are our cookie makers in action ....

Blessings from the end of the year!!!

2009-12-28T10:23:00.000-06:00

Friends played a big part in the year for Kelsey as she transitioned in to middle school ... the phone is ringing always, the texting is always going, the computer is always on ... it is full swing tweendom here :). She is blessed with girlfriends that are nice.
Kelsey and Isabella making a gingerbread house ....

Landry is growing like crazy and loosing teeth like CRAZY~ in one week he lost two teeth. He is such a big boy, he has pulled all the teeth himself :).

We are blessed to have my Uncle Sam (yes my Uncle Sam not a joke) living across the street from Daddy and Jean so he can look in on them and help out when needed. He has taken Daddy to a few chemo appointments to give Jean a break. He loves his dogs too and this his a picture of him and Molly -- there are 2 more pom's at home.

We are blessed that Daddy's chemo treatments have been a huge success! He is now starting his maintenance chemo! How awesome is that?! Prayers do have power and a positive attitude will take you a long way. The moment he was told he had stage IV lung cancer he told us he was going to beat it. Way to go Papaw!! :) We are so thankful that the maintenance chemo will be 30 minutes each time instead of his normal 7 hours he had been doing. It will be a year long process. What will 2010 hold for us all? More blessings I am sure! Do not forget to eat at least a spoonful of black eyed peas for good luck and to have money in the New Year ( a southern tradition ;) ).

I still need to work on my Christmas post and photos. Happy Happy!

A Very Merry White Christmas

2009-12-27T22:42:00.000-06:00

We were so excited to have a white Christmas! It was very magical. Grandma Janet and Uncle Michael made it to our house from Kingwood just in time before it started snowing really heavy. They were excited to see the snow too. We built a snowman .... always a fun thing to do when it snows.

And is it only Texas kids that love the trampoline so much that they do not care that it is snowing ... they still want to jump and have fun! :)

Look at our friendly snowman. He is still standing today (Sunday) but his head is very tiny :). It is still pretty cold outside and they are saying we "might" see some more snow flurries this next week - maybe New Years Eve.

I will work on the Christmas pictures soon .... have a nice restful Sunday (after all the Cowboys did win and we have playoff spot! :) )

Do you hear what I hear?????

2009-12-24T09:21:00.001-06:00

The weatherman is saying SNOW is headed our way!! A white Christmas, could it be? We will wait and see.....

Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year!

We had a SNOWY morning ....

2009-12-02T14:45:00.001-06:00

We woke up to a big surprise this morning ..... SNOW!! Yes it is so crazy to see snow in Dallas this time of year ( we are lucky to get even a little in February). It fell fast and big flakes but by 10 am rain started and then the snow was gone :( The kids will be very disappointed they were hoping to play in it after school. Maybe we will have some more. Stay warm!!

Kelsey, Landry and Sadie before school this morning.

Thankful

2009-11-27T21:07:00.000-06:00

Thankful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with Papaw (aka Daddy).

Boosterthon Fun Run and Frisco Parade

2009-11-14T21:04:00.000-06:00

Today was the Frisco Community Parade and Landry's Boy Scout Pack 298 participated in the Parade .... Dave and Landry walked the long route and passed out candy to the on lookers. He had a great time but his little legs were tired. What made it even more fun was that some of the friends on the street are in the same pack and walked too. Landry is so excited about being in scouts and he loves his Den and Pack - how cool is that?! John is in the photo below right behind Landry and he is a level ahead of Landry and one of our great neighbors. Mark is two scout levels ahead of Landry and is another great friend.

There is Dave in the very middle reaching in the bag of candy to pass out along the way. Mark is the scout in the front with his hat on passing out candy.

Olympic Gold Medalist Nastia Liukin was a surprise to see -- a local favorite for sure.

Also this week was the Boosterthon Run at Landry's school. It is their fund raiser where they get pledges per lap or a flat donation. This year Landry's goal was to go all 35 laps and get the back of his shirt all marked up ---- HE DID IT! Way to go Landry. He and his friend Wesley just kept running and were two of the first to finish.

The back of Landry's shirt showing all the laps marked. He was so proud! We are so proud of him. :)

Look how excited he is! He loved it. Go Landry Go!

A wave from the little man as he went by. What a week!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T11:23:00.001-06:00

Halloween in our neighborhood is always so much fun! We have watched a movie on Halloween in the front yard of Jen's house in the past but she moved last December so we had to make new Halloween traditions this year. Jody stepped up to the plate this year and went way beyond what we could ever imagine. We started the night out with Mummy Dogs down at Caron's house and at our house we had some of Kelsey's friends over for pizza and my friends too ;) ... then we all started the fun with trick or treating a little after 630 pm. After trick or treating and it was dark we met up in Jody's yard to watch Coraline and roast marshmallows for smores. It was the perfect fun night for all!

Army man Landry in Jody's yard starting his trick or treating off passing the movie screen where we watched Coraline.

Kelsey, Eliana, Grace, Landry and Cole in front of a neighbors house with their display - which included a skeleton on a table with a saw and such and a sign saying Obama Care.

Kelsey and neighbor friends Morgan and Lauren and a few others. Kelsey was a zombie cheerleader along with a few others.

Some Ghoulish girl scouts and Alice's little brother August. Ready to start their candy gathering - I sure hope it is not Kelsey's last year to trick or treat.

Yu-gi-oh, Clone Trooper and an Army man ---- Mark, Cole, and Landry out for some fun!

Girl Scout Camp 2009 at Camp Bette Perot

2009-10-27T18:43:00.001-05:00

We went to Girl Scout Camp this past weekend in East Texas at Camp Bette Perot. We have been going to this camp since the girls were in 2nd grade. We had 9 girls this year and 3 adults go from our troop. Everyone got along great which is highly unusual for 6th grade girls, right? :)
We have waited all these years to be old enough to stay at Bette's Treehouse and it was well worth it. See they are jumping for joy!

Crazy Girls!

Too much hiking, I guess :) ---- we went on a few hikes in the woods and they were so tired when we got finished.

Kelsey and Alice being silly near the fire after roasting the marshmallows .... watch out Kelsey!

Sitting on the deck waiting for the day to get started!

Kelsey roasting marshmallows for smores ---- we all need smores when camping. I tried the night setting on the camera and it gave this neat effect on the photo.

Kelsey riding her horse, Chevy. The riding of the horses is always a highlight at camp. We did have one crazy thing happen ... Rachal's horse had a stomach ache and just decided to lay down. It started going down to the ground and lucky enough Rachal knew to jump off before the horse rolled over on her. WOW! Rachal was not phased at all she got back up and on another horse. had that been any of the other girls they would not have gotten back on a horse or would have thought to jump out of the way.

The girls gearing up for their horse ride - love the helmets and boots that they provide for the girls.

Working on an art craft --- painting wooden snacks.

Breakfast at camp!

That is it for this year. Next year the girls are old enough to do the ropes coarse ---- we will see if they can handle it! :)

Our little scout .....

2009-10-21T12:21:00.001-05:00

WOW!!! First grade is full of fun :)... Landry lost one of his front teeth at school on Tuesday. He was so excited that it happened at school since he got to get the fun little treasure box and color the tooth chart. His friend Samire lost a tooth the same day too. He looks so different without the tooth. Funny how that works. He loves it :).

Here he is with his little treasure box holding his tooth.

After YEARS of going to all the girl scout functions with Kelsey he is finally getting to be a scout of his own. He is a Tiger Scout and absolutely loves his scout shirt. He was busting at the seems on Monday when he heard he had a den meeting. He and Dave are going to have a lot of fun with boy scouts.

A day with Lori and her girls and Kelsey gets her ears pierced

2009-09-13T14:44:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday we got to meet Lori and her mom Laura in Denton along with Lori's sweethearts. Five beautiful little girls that are melting Lori's heart so fast she does not even know what hit her. It was a fun visit but way too short. Kelsey had fun with the girls. Looking forward to our next get together.

After lunch we called to say to Christi and she was in need of a girl fix so we picked her up and guess what we did - well you see the photo so you already know :). Kelsey got her ears pierced. It was fun getting to do this with "Aunt" Christi. Kelsey was a brave girl and the girl at Claire's that did the ear piercing looked about Kelsey's age and we will affectionately call her the "elf". She did a great job.

A photo of Lori and I. Can you believe we have been best buddies since Kindergarten?! It's true. Love her so much!

A sweet picture of Kelsey and the girls.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its Off to School We Go ....

2009-09-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

Yes in my true fashion of uploading photos I have these backwards - imagine that!!! Ha! Look at our 6th grader walking into school without us as we stayed in the parking lot. W are so proud of her and love her so much!!! Go Kelsey!

Look at the little man sitting at his seat and getting his colors out for a first day of school project. Can't believe he is actually a first grader!!!

Here he is in the hall outside of his class hanging his backpack up. He wore his Star Wars shirt for the first day of school. He is just as cute as his sister.

Striking a pose outside before heading to school. Look at our girl! She is so pretty.

Landry was still sleepy but was ready to face the day - he did say he thought he needed 6 more months of summer - don't we all? :) Sorry Landry it is school time for now but a break is just around the corner.

A Saturday Visit with Pappaw

2009-09-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

Two weeks before school started we went to visit Pappaw before he started his chemo. It was a nice day and of coarse we were outside a lot. My dad is doing well with his chemo (has only had one so far but has another one this coming week). He is participating in a cancer study so is using the combination of three medications together so it will be very beneficial for him. Please keep him in your prayers. I went with him for his first treatments and it was an 8 hour day. They said that the others will be 6 1/2 hours so a little less. He will go every 3 weeks for treatments and will do blood work on the 2 Wednesdays between the treatments. He is staying strong and upbeat! I have faith that he will beat this. Hard to believe that it has been just 10 years since my mom passed and now we are facing this horrible C word again.

Landry takes his first motorcycle ride and liked it a little too much - makes you worried that motorcycles will be in his future. This is his cousin Trent, my nephew. He is all grown up and has a wife and two kids.

Me and my dad sitting on the porch out back as always.

Kelsey hanging out with Pappaw.

Landry (or as Pappaw calls him Willie) having some fun at Pappaw's - look how red his face is from playing.

Some time out with Girlfriends

2009-09-13T14:03:00.001-05:00

It has been a while since I posted anything here on the family blog - falling behind is not fun! I have lots of scrapbooknig to get caught up on too .... when will I do all this?? :)
Last month I was blessed with some opportunities to get together with some friends from high school. I adore all my girlfriends and well all my friends for that matter. They are so important to me. In August some of us got together and went to the Rick Springfield concert at Billy Bobs. We had a great time. He can still sing and dance around on the stage like it is nothing. We could not believe when he announced he would be turning 60 in a few weeks.

Having fun with Lisa, Dana, LeAnn, Amber and Melinda at the concert.

Rick Springfield on stage - "You know I wish I had Jessie's Girl" GREAT TIME!

More girl time was had this summer!! A few weeks before the concert I got to meet some GHS girls for dinner in Lewisville. We always have a great time together. There is something special about that Gainesville girls that is for sure! Our for dinner were Suzanne, Lisa, Rose, Laine, Jamie, Lynda, and Esther and me :)

My friends are a gift from God and a huge part of my life and my family! Thanks Girls!!

The Grand Canyon

2009-07-23T17:50:00.000-05:00

Look how beautiful this is!!!! The Grand Canyon is amazing and so beautiful no matter how many times you have been there. Look at these crazy people out on the ledge without a safety rail. Dave was totally having a fit over these people and he rushed us along :) I am the one afraid of heights but managed to stand in the railed viewing area but that was really scaring Dave - who knew!

Kelsey and I at the Grand Canyon. :)

Kelsey and Dave :)

Kelsey taking in the sights.

Landry and Dave climbing the rocks.

Look at these cuties!!! Kelsey and Landry having a good time together.

Landry ready to explore.

Checking out the map and how we should go to get home :).

Kelsey ready to head home ........ we had a great trip! Looking forward to our next adventure. Thank you Rob for taking care of Sadie for us.

Last Day in California

2009-07-19T14:12:00.000-05:00

We started our day off right with a stop at The Farmer's Market for some YUMMY waffles for Kelsey and I and a yummy crepe for Dave and some yummy eggs and bacon for Landry :). Dave and I had the waffles from this place before and remember how wonderful they were - honestly the best ever!! I also have to say they did a great job on my Iced Mocha :).

After our visits to the Farmers Market and The Grove we headed to the beach for a visit to the Santa Monica Pier - it was chilly but lots of people were in the water.

A look back at the rides at Santa Monica Pier while we were standing on the fishing pier.

This man was pulling in his catch as we were walking by. We thought it was a sting ray but he said it was a sand shark - weird looking what ever it was!

Checking out the beach and the water.

Santa Monica Beach on a windy chilly day but people were in the water and playing in the sand.

A landmark in Hollywood/LA is the Farmer's Market. I first visited there with my parents when I was in 3rd grade and have been back many times since then. Lots of yummy food and fun shops.

Directly across from the Farmers Market is The Grove a very neat outdoor shopping mall. Lots of cool shops and places to eat. Kelsey had this marked on our places to visit. We had a fun visit to the American Girl Place.

Kelsey stopped for a photo near the dancing fountains at The Grove. :)

Yes my style to have the photos out of order!! NEED HELP!! :) Anyway this was from our first stop at the Farmer's Market with those YUMMY waffles!

Up next our trip to the Grand Canyon on the way home :)...............

Hollywood

2009-07-10T16:00:00.001-05:00

Kelsey loved, loved, loved going to Hollywood. She took it all in - a tour of the Hollywood homes, shopping, dinning, etc ... She is saying she will live there one day and I have no doubt it will happen. She wants to one day be a cinematographer - very cool! She does take after me in that I love pop culture.
As always my photos are loaded here in reverse order - errrrrrrrr ... but hope you enjoy them. On Wednesday evening we went to Universal City Walk and had fun taking it all in. Lots to see there. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's L.A. Bistro and really enjoyed it. Every ones food was excellent.

A street performer picked Miss Kelsey to join him. She was a bit embarrassed but was having fun. He helped her get "jiggy" with it - is that the right term? He had her arms moving like crazy. Look at her cute face!

So exciting for Kelsey and Landry to see Nickelodeon Studios on Sunset. This is where iCarly, Josh and Drake, and some of their other favorites are filmed. We had to drive by several times - front and back to take it all in.

Guess where this was??? ......... Outside of Michael Jackson's house. Lots of tv crew, fans, and police were there.

MJ fans leaving flowers and notes at the house he died in ..... wild to see first hand.

Someone in a Bentley on Rodeo Drive - not sure if it is a celebrity or not but sure was a cool car.

Dave and Kelsey taking in the sights from the topless van we road through Hollywood and Beverly Hills in for our tour. It was a fun experience and everyone should do it. Kelsey wanted to do it again the next day - Dave would not let us :(.

Kelsey standing in Will Smith's footprints ..... fun!!!

Ok here is a photo of Landry with some crazy people!! My friend Cissy had warned me about the people in costumes grabbing you for a photo and asking for money - yip! It happened and they grabbed Landry of coarse - look at Dave in the back ground - he left us then had to come rescue us. Crazy People!!! We took a photo gave a tip and moved on!

Goodbye Hollywood! We will be back soon .................... More to follow.

Legoland part 2

2009-07-08T20:50:00.001-05:00

Day 2 at Legoland was just as fun as day 1 :). The weather once again was great and the kids got along great!!! We got on lots of rides and even did a few that we had done the day before but loved them. My kids love roller coasters :).
Something that they both thought was fun was this building and test station. They each built a car out of legos to race.

Landry looking for the right parts for his car.

Photo opportunity with a Legoland lego statue :)

Lock up!!!

Crazy boat driver!!! She did pretty well until this odd lady cut her off - she was not happy about that!

You have to do a little shopping at Legoland, right? Look at all the legos! You could fill up a sack or box and then have it weighed to see how much you owed for them.

A fun Lego fact :)

The end of Legoland day 2 oh and how sweet a kiss from Landry :) ..... Hollywood and the Grand Canyon to follow ......

Legoland and the Beach - Ahhhh we love California

2009-07-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

Road trips are fun! I remember all my vacations as a kid taking to the road with my parents. I love vacations, I love staying in hotels, seeing new places, taking pictures, making memories - I love it all!! I am so happy to be able to share a trip like this with our kids and am glad that Dave got to go on a trip like this and I think he liked it and wants to do more.
What a beautiful place Carlsbad, Ca is ... the weather was great, the area was great, the trip to Legoland was great and the trip to the beach was great (cold but great). On Monday and Tuesday we were in Carlsbad and visited Legoland both days. Landry was on cloud 9 and wants to go back again. Legos everywhere and rides too all this made Landry a happy boy and he kept calling it his trip. Kelsey had fun too. She loves rides and loves roller coasters.
Ok so I totally get it ... In-N-Out is awesome!!! I really thought it was just hype all this time but now I am a believer - if you go to California you MUST have a stop at In-N-Out and that is an order. We had two stops at In-N-Out and both times it was awesome. Kelsey loved the fries!!

Surfers!!!! Look at the surf dudes .... it was cool at the beach but they did not seem to mind.

Kelsey and Landry loved the beach and would have loved playing there longer if we had more time and if it were a little warmer. This may have to be a Christmas card picture :). Oh I want to go back there right now - anyone want to go with me??

Legoland!!! Look at Landry - he is so excited! Jumping all around and his hair flopping everywhere .... classic Landry. Kelsey looks pretty happy too. :)

Getting their driver's license at Lego Driving School.

As you know I have a loading issue and here are the kids in front of the entrance to Legoland (actually at the end of the day but who has to know - oh you do now ;) )

Entering the Miniland area of Legoland where all the amazing lego displays are - every building, every car, every person, etc .... made out of Legos!! Well the grass is grass, the water is water, etc ;)

Climbing the palm trees - Kelsey rang the bell at the top. Landry stopped in the middle and would not go up or down - a Legoland worker had to go help him down (reminds me of a ski trip I went on where I fell over and over and a ski patrol person had to help me to the bottom of the mountain :( ).

A fun ride to start off the day - getting wet! They loved it :).

Landry with a giant Bionical - he was so in his element. We have more to share from day 2 at Legoland, our trip to Hollywood, and the Grand Canyon so stay tuned!

We made it to California ...

2009-06-28T23:36:00.000-05:00

We left Saturday morning on our way to California. We took the quickest route to San Diego so that had us traveling the Southern route to California - Hwy 20 from DFW to Arizona just outside of Tuscon a bit. Well since we are on the Southern route it takes us so close to the boarder of the US and Mexico. There were a ton of Border Patrol Check Points that we had to stop at - a very interesting thing to do since we are not used to it. At this particular stop I was driving and Dave took some pictures of the nice BP man :). We spent the first night in Las Cruces, NM. It was a nice town and nearby was a very old town named Mesilla and we ate dinner there at the La Posta Restaurant that has been open since 1939. You can see their website www.laposta-de-mesilla.com and they once served the likes of Billy the Kid (maybe it had a different name at that time not sure).
This morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed on our way - we had a few more border patrol stops - fun. We stopped in Tuscon for lunch. We passed through lots of deserts with temps reaching 115 degrees - OMG!! We stopped to take photos of all the huge rock mountains and Dave wanted to climb them. We are now in San Diego and it is such a pretty area. Kelsey and Landry both said they wanted to live here for at least a month but then get home to their friends. Tomorrow we will be at Legoland!!!

Jonas Brothers Concert June 20, 2009

2009-06-21T14:13:00.001-05:00

Last night Kelsey and I went to the Jonas Brothers concert at the new Cowboys Stadium with Lori Andrews her daughter Ashley and her friend Hayley and had a blast! First let me tell you that the new stadium is HUGE and so unbelievable!!! There is the BIGGEST HD digital screen in the world hanging from the middle of the stadium and it really brings the action up close so I can image that seeing a game there will be awesome! The parking lot opened at 4 pm and the doors to the stadium opened at 5:30 pm so we were there on time ... got in line right away and stood in the HOT sun at the door, thank goodness Lori new we needed to bring water with us for our wait. As soon as we got in we went to the t shirt stand and the girls all got a shirt then it was off to find our seats. We were on the floor (very cool) and to get down there we walked down a long winding ramp - a car could have driven down this ramp it was big and wide. Fun!!! The opening acts were Honor Society and Jordan Sparks - they were both great!

These digital signs went all around the stadium - I am guessing that this is taking the place of the ring of honor but not totally sure.

If you follow my posting you know I have trouble getting the photos to stay in order as moving them over to the blog so please forgive this mix up once again. :)

So a big, huge surprise happened - during the encore the stage started coming back up and the lights came up and guess who was singing with the Jonas Brothers ???? Miley Cyrus!!! She has a new song with the Jonas Brothers that they wrote together on the new Jonas Brothers CD, called "Before the Storm". Kelsey loved it!!! As did all the other people in the audience because the screams were so LOUD! :)

Kelsey having a great time at the concert :)

Nick Jonas performing.

Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas.

Kevin Jonas

Before the concert at our seats ... left to right, Hayley, Ashley, Kelsey and Lori.

Summer fun has begun ...

2009-06-16T15:08:00.001-05:00

Just this past weekend we had our first block party and had a great time. The kids worked really hard at soaking each other with water guns and water blasters -fun! Landry really got into it as you can see from the photos of him spraying down Kelsey. It was a water war between the boys and the girls. We grilled hot dogs and burgers and had a fun time visiting with each other and meeting some of the neighbors for the first time. The kids are ready for another one :).

Again I had trouble loading the photos in the proper order - what is wrong with me??? Anyway I am sure that is another topic for another time. Our talented neighbor Jody got out the flashlights and glow sticks along with her camera to make some fun photo art. The kids ran around in the dark with the flashlights and glow sticks as she took pictures - turned out really neat!

More water war photos ...... fun for the hot Texas weather (it will be near 100 all this week)

We went to the Rough Rider MVP day that was a special day between the Rough Riders Baseball team and Frisco ISD. Kelsey had gotten tickets to a game from her school and then we got to come back the weekend school got out for some fun at the park and some autographs.

Kelsey with one of the Rough Riders mascots - Daisy

Bungee Run - fun stuff ...

School's out for summer ....

2009-06-05T15:14:00.000-05:00

The school year is done for 2008-2009 ... we now have a 6th grader and a 1st grader - WOW!!!! They both had a great last day. The 5th graders had an award ceremony and recorder concert at 8:30 am and the 4th grade choir also came along and sang to them. Kelsey received 2 medals for being commended on two of her TAKS tests - Reading and Science. Also they recognized the graduating 5th graders that have been at Shawnee Trail since Kindergarten and it was fun to see Kelsey join the others that have been there this entire time. Good kids! After their ceremony they went over to Strikz for bowling, pizza, and games. I had fun working at the party and seeing all the kids.
The Kindergartners had their party that morning as well so Dave and I split time between being inside at the award/recorder ceremony and being outside with Landry. He had fun too. Lots of games and all of his friends. He loved school and we loved his teacher this year. It was a great Kindergarten experience for Landry and he made some good friends. I wanted to share some of the photos from the day.

Landry and Ms Griffith. She is such a nice teacher and we are so lucky to of had Landry in her class.

Kelsey and her homeroom teacher Mrs Jahn. She was very supportive of Kelsey and encouraged her to do her best. Fun fact about Mrs Jahn - her first year to teach after she got out of school was in Carrollton Texas and one of her students was Melissa from The Bachelor/Dancing with the Stars - fun!

Dave taking some time to chat with Landry outside before the end of their party.

Landry and I with his good friend Welsey. They are two peas in a pod! They have LOTS of fun together and Wesley has taught Landry all about NASCAR :).

Trying out his surf skills for our trip to California :).

Kelsey playing her recorder at the 5th Grade Recorder Concert - she made it to the top level this year earning her black belt :). Way to go Kelsey!!!

All the graduating 5th graders that have been at Shawnee Trail since Kindergarten - do you see Kelsey? :) She is in the brown shirt - ha! They are all in their brown shirts. She is on the second row.

Kelsey listening for her name to be called.

Kelsey receiving her medals and taking her walk across the stage. Ahhhh look at my baby girl!!!

Birthday Parties and 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's Day at school

2009-06-02T08:48:00.000-05:00

I am really not sure how this happens each time with the last photo moved to the top but it does!! I will make the best of it, will you? Good :). We celebrated Kelsey's 11th birthday with a sleep over with 5 friends. To start the evening off we went to dinner at Bucca di Beppo for some yummy Italian food. This was Kelsey and Landry's first visit (well really Kelsey had been there one other time when she was much younger - I think 3 or 4 we went with Rob, Megan, and Patrick). It is a fun place to go celebrate a special occasion. After dinner we came home and then Kelsey opened her gifts and she was very happy to receive gift cards - her favorite thing plus a really cute Webkinz. The girls then made some tie dye pillow cases - they turned out very cute and each one was different.

A pillow case race the next morning with the tie dye cases and yes Landry got to race too - he is a very fast pillow case racer :).

Kelsey and I made cake balls for the party - they turned out pretty good and yummy. I think the white and milk chocolate were the key.

Celebrating a special birthday at Bucca di Beppo. Thanks Kelsey for letting Landry join you ;).

Ok so this was taken this morning as was the first photo posted here - again not sure why that happens - ??? Kelsey is going with the 80's look today - very cool! We sprayed and teased her hair too. Landry is representing 1977 as he was Darth Vader - he took his light saber and his Darth Vader mask to school with him so it would all work ;). Gotta love them!

Only 3 days of school left and then it is summer fun!!! Kelsey will be a 6th grader and Landry will be a 1st grader - time slow down!!!

Happy Happy Birthday to Kelsey!!!

2009-05-26T08:41:00.001-05:00

WOW!! It so hard to believe that this little one right here is 11 years old today. Where does the time go? One minute she is playing with Teletubbies and the next minute she is asking for a cell phone. She is still my sweet baby girl no matter how old she may be. Today she took chocolate chip cookies to share with her class to celebrate her big day. Friday she will have a sleep over with a few girls plus Landry if he gets his way. We are going to go to Bucca di Beppo for dinner, yum! I hope she has a great day at school!!! We love you Kelsey!!

Relay for Life 2009

2009-05-16T23:01:00.000-05:00

We celebrated with others in Frisco the fight against cancer at Relay for Life. Our team is Team Ashley and this was our second year to participate. It is hard to explain to some why this is so important to me. First all the money goes directly to the American Cancer Society to help find a cure and to help people who are fighting right now to become a survivor. Our team is named in Honor of Ashley Piltz a little 5 year old girl who is a cancer survivor. Ashley was in my class last year and we have become good friends. Kelsey and Landry love her and she has a wonderful family. Wendy, Ashley's mom, is an amazing person and I am so honored she is a friend. We also have another good friend on our team, Melody, who is a teacher at our school and is a cancer survivor. She is young also. At 26 she is a mother and has battled cancer on a couple of occasions. So those two beautiful people keep me returning to Relay. And also to walk in memory of my mom. I can not believe that this will be the 10th anniversary of her passing. Sometimes it feels just like yesterday and others like a life time ago.
Our date for Relay was originally set for May 1st but as you know there was a flu traveling around that caused lots of things to be cancelled or a date change and Relay was no exception. With so many lowered immune systems I get the idea of a date change, but with the date change meant a lot of our team could not help us out or walk with us. We were so sad that Ashley and her family could not be at the Relay on the new date, but with good reason ... she was on her Make a Wish trip to meet Elvis in California on a beach! Yes Ashley loves Elvis!! :)

This is our team outside of the AWESOME castle that Tiffanie and her husband Rocky made. So cute but oh so heavy to move and set up. They did such a great job and we won "Cutest Camp Site". Also you will see our popcorn popper - we sold popcorn for our own site fund raiser. In front of the group you see sacks and those are the Luminaries that people purchased in Honor, in Memory of, for a caregiver - when it got dark the Luminaria ceremony began and the bags were lit while a bagpiper played and on the video screen they showed the names listed on all the bags. Such a movie time.

Through out the night there were bands playing and contests. One of the contests was the people mache - each team could only bring newspaper and duct tape and create something on a person. Debra was awesome with her princess idea and guess what ???? We won first place!! Look how awesome Kelsey looks in her paper/duct tape dress - oh and this was at 2 am.

I was so excited to see some friends stop by, Pattie and Todd Wilson, came out from a town over - so fun to see them!! They are both from my home town and get this - Todd and I have known each other since Kindergarten, now that is a while, and Pattie since 6th grade.

Did I mention that Ashley was the Honorary Chairperson for Relay for Life Frisco ?? She was and they made a video of her to play at the ceremony since she could not be there. It was great to see her on the screen since she could not be with us.

A bad storm started brewing around 230 am and the winds were blowing so hard. The City of Frisco decided we needed to shut down and get out fast. It was amazing how we got the camp down and packed up so quickly. We were out of there by 315 am. We did have to go back this morning to pick up the castle. It was too crazy to get it when the storm hit so they let us leave it and come back for it. We shall see what next brings for us ..... hope some of you join us :). We appreciate all of the wonderful donations that were given to us all!!!

Guess who Lost a tooth???

2009-05-15T08:48:00.001-05:00

On Mother's Day, Landry lost his very first tooth. I really did not think we would loose one for some time because they all felt pretty secure. Then all of a sudden Sunday morning he had a loose tooth - out of no where. He worked and wiggled it throughout the day and then in the evening he just pulled it out. He did let me take a picture. And he was very excited to put it under his pillow.

Student of the Week ....

2009-05-05T16:23:00.001-05:00

Landry was so excited recently to be named Student of the Week in his Kindergarten class. Part of the fun was his friends traced him on paper and helped color his person. Landry thought that was so fun! Then each child got to say something about Landry and his teacher wrote it on the "Landry" drawing. Some of our favorites were "I like his hair", "I like his eyes." , "He builds great with blocks.", "He is respectful to his friends". All so cute!! We have the "Landry" on the wall in the office. I got to go read a couple of books to the class that Landry picked out. He was on cloud 9. He has grown so much since starting school. He is learning and having such a great time. He has made lots of friends. What a big boy I have now. It will be sad next year with Kelsey in middle school and Landry by himself in elementary school. I really think they have enjoyed being in school together.

Some fun photos ...

2009-03-30T15:35:00.001-05:00

I am not a professional photographer but do have fun taking pictures of the kids. So Sunday we headed out to take some pictures out and about. We drove up to Celina and took some outside of a store that has a painted Coca Cola mural - pretty fun! It is a recent painting but still cool as a back drop. We then went to take some near the railroad tracks in Frisco. I think this one of Kelsey is super cute. Oh and look at Sadie skateboarding :). Go Sadie Go! I would love to take some photography lessons and learn all the cool editing tools you can do - someday ...

Soccer Saturday

2009-03-27T16:47:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Kelsey's team plays the undefeated Longhorns - the weather is looking yucky and am praying for rain to cancel the game but just in case lets wish the Texas Twisters some much needed luck.

This picture is from last weeks game and see how Kelsey is getting a little more aggressive - way to go Kelsey!