Halloween - Thanksgiving

I am so embarrassed that I am just now posting Halloween pictures!!!  Since this would take an hour to read if I walked you through the past month and a half I will try to just post some pics with a few key points ;)

Happy Halloween

Jesse and my little firefighter

Howdy

I LOVE this pic

Rylee has been doing amazing in school.  She is reading really well and her math skills are impressing us also. She just received her 2nd report card last week.  She scored great in most categories although her hand writing needs a little improvement (guess she got that from her Mom)!  Her conduct and attendance are perfect!  Her teacher has had wonderful things to say about her which makes me very proud.  She has been bringing her lunch to school every day.  I keep trying to get her to buy it but she refuses.  Not only that but she has to have a peanut butter sandwich (yes, only peanut butter, sometimes honey) each day.  I remember a peanut butter sandwich was what I used to get when my dad would forget to send my lunch money and that is what she prefers over any other option!  Funny.   
We went to Comfort to visit my Dad, Sherry and Tucker for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We have made this a tradition and really look forward to it each year.  The weather was really nice other than being 38 degrees for the Christmas in Comfort Parade!  Tucker seems do be doing well but didn't seem overly excited to hang out with Parker.  The kids got to open a few presents from Nanny and Poppy early and they even decorated a Christmas tree Poppy cut down.  The biggest shocker for the weekend was we actually were able to get a Santa pic this year.  Anyone who knows Rylee knows that Santa terrifies her.  FINALLY we got her to go within 2 feet of him.  Of course we all had to be in the picture too but I think it is progress for sure.

Early Christmas presents!

Of course he carried around this water hose attachment the whole weekend.

My beautiful girl!

Cutting down the tree with Poppy

Trimming the tree :)

They got to decorate their tree

Petting zoo at Christmas in Comfort

Parker must have had food in his mouth for Tucker to get this close to him!!!

Trying to stay warm at the parade.

Nanny & Poppy

Can you believe it?????  So glad we have proof!

So big news..... I went back to work last week after almost 6 years of being a stay at home mom.  I wasn't actively looking but the opportunity presented itself and it seemed to be a good fit for me.  I am basically the office manager for a Spinal based company out of New York.  I am only working part time so I still get to drop Rylee off and pick her up from school.  What is even better is I have Fridays off which worked out great because Parker's school is closed on Fridays.  I had to add him to 4 days a week with Adam dropping him off in early care and me picking him up in aftercare.  It has been quite an adjustment for all of us but hopefully it will work out.  I think I was ready to get back to the professional world and the best part is that it is on Walden Rd which is the road our neighborhood is on.  It takes me like 10 min to drop Rylee at school and be pulling into my parking lot. :) 
Parker is doing really well with his new 4 day a week school schedule.  Oh other than the fact that his teacher sent a note home saying that he has starting biting friends!!!  UGH.  I asked him about it today and he told me that someone hit him.  Not sure how to handle this other than telling him no biting.  Developmentally he has been identifying colors, counting, having conversations, eating well with utensils but he is totally opposed to sitting on the potty.  I think Rylee was going on the potty and wearing pull ups around this age but he refuses.  I am just going to wait a month or two then re address it.  I am in NO rush at this point. 
When we returned home from Comfort our Christmas Elf "Bizzle" was waiting for us.  This is his 3rd year to visit.  He flies to the North Pole each night to give Santa his report then hides in a new spot each morning.  The kids have had fun trying to find him.  Parker calls him Santa.  :)
Looking forward to all of the Christmas festivities and Family gatherings.  This is my most favorite time of year!!!!  Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and may we all count our blessing and remember what this Holiday is all about.

Rylee dancing at the Catfish Festival

See below for full blog :)

October

Getting ready to dance at the Catfish Festival

 Who in the world has time to blog??? Not me apparently!  October has come and gone practically.  It has been a very busy month and will continue on that way through the holidays I believe.  All fun stuff though so I can't complain ;)  The kids are both doing amazing at school.  Rylee has gained SO much confidence.  One of my favorite things to do is watch her walk into school each morning.  She is so social and always looking for one of her friends.  The other day she was yelling "Hope, Hope".  She ran up to her buddy Hope and they hugged, held hands and walked in together.  She has become really obsessed with getting to school super early.  She always wants to be there FIRST one in her classroom.  Which this never happens.... but the other day on the way to school she goes "Mom, if I didn't have a brother we would get here much earlier".  !!!  It was sort of sad but I also laughed at the same time.  She really thinks HE is the hold up when in fact it is 100% HER!  Anyway she is getting so much better at reading and aces her site words.  I am very impressed with how much she has grown so far.    PS why in the world do they give Kindergartners SO much homework??  It is out of control.  I mean did I have homework in Kindergarten??  doubtful!  I am glad she is learning and attending such a good school but by the time she gets home at 4 she is wiped out. I would say she has at least 30 to 45 min of homework 3 to 4 days a week and it really makes it difficult for her to unwind and be in a good mood.  I am basically having to fight with her to sit and focus each afternoon (after she has been learning all day) to get it done properly.  Not cool in my book :(  Not for a 5 year old at least.  

Rylee danced for the 3rd year in a row at the Conroe Catfish festival.  She did amazing as usual :)  She has really improved even from the recital last June.  I am so proud of my baby girl!!!  She always impresses me with how brave she is.  I will try to upload the video on the blog.  It is too cute!

Parker's first time on a carousel

We went to The Knott's new home in Katy a few weeks ago.  It is such a beautiful home and I know they are VERY happy to finally be moved in.  I can't wait to spend more time over there.  The kids have not seen each other as much as usual this time of year.  With the older kids now in school and involved in other activities it has been difficult trying to find days when we are all free.  Hopefully after the holidays things will slow down and we can hang out more.  We miss you Knott's and Rentfro's!!!!  :)

Parker and Reid truckin around the Knott's new backyard!

Waiting for sis to dance

This cracks me up.  They have been so silly lately.

 This kids have been playing so good together lately.  I mean they still have their moments but it has been fun watching them interact and be silly together.  The other day we had some music playing and the kids started dancing together.  It melted my heart.  I am such a lucky Momma!!!

Dancing to some country music.  Almost made me cry ;)

 My very dear friend Jerre (maid of honor in our wedding), had twins last week.  They were trying though fertility treatments for 4 or 5 years and finally after much anticipation Harper and Dylan are here!  I made a quick trip up to Austin to go meet those little monkeys.  They were so tiny and cute.  Like little baby dolls.  I am so very very happy for the Barton Family.  I know it will be a few months of almost no sleep for them but worth it all!!!

Jerre's twins!  I am holding Harper and Dylan is in the bed.

Dance clinic pics

Record heat, drought, fires!! ??

I have to start this post off with my feelings regarding all this craziness in Texas.  I have lived here my whole entire life and have never experienced a summer where I actually didn't want to set foot outdoors!  The continuous 100 degree heat and lack of rain is depressing. What a sad sad sad thing that has happened to all of these Texans losing their homes to the wild fires.  It absolutely makes me ill thinking about it.   The fact that we are having record heat and record lack of rainfall is just a jab in the heart of this great state.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has lost their home and the great fire fighters who are out working their tails off to try to save what they can.  I have to say, driving down Walden Rd and not being able to see more than a half mile ahead of me due to the smoke blowing our way really made me scared.  I put a box together of our "irreplacables" in case we had to pick up and leave in 5 minutes.  It got me thinking about things and realizing how absolutely lucky we are.  Sure there are important documents, video of the kids, and some keep sake type things I really don't want to loose but as long as we are all safe then that is all that really matters.  Now that I am a mom I have this huge will to survive.  I mean who doesn't???  But more than I had prior to being a mom if that makes sense.  I am not the most overly religious but I am praying my little heart for RAIN RAIN RAIN!

On a lighter note Parker started Methodist Day School 2 weeks ago.  He has the same teacher Rylee had when I was pregnant with him which is pretty cool :) He is the baby in the class by 6 months which concerned me at first but his teacher Ms Connie thinks he will fit right in.  He goes Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 2:30.  We had a rough first few drop offs.... he walks into school just fine but entering the classroom is another story.  They basically have to pull him from my arms crying although today went really well so I am keeping my fingers crossed.  Ms Connie says he stops crying very quickly after I leave and has had nothing but great days so far! 

JP updates: Parker went pee pee in the potty for the first time a few nights ago.  We made a big deal about it (clapping, singing, high fives), however I am not really sure I am ready to potty train him just yet.  He JUST turned 2 and the thought of trying to potty train a boy scares me a little ;)  He had his 2 year check up and is in the 50th or 75th percentile on weight, height and head size. Developmentally he is perfect.  Isn't is funny how with Rylee I could tell you the exact numbers of weight, height, ect from each appointment but with kid #2 I have only percentiles for you?  I am such a slacker now! :)  JP is a pretty funny guy lately.  He does things that he know will make me laugh all the time.  His new thing that cracks me up is when we get in the car he will take off his socks and shoes and put his socks on his hands.  The funny thing is he wants to wear them as gloves.  He will try to hold toys, his cup, pick things up, all with the socks on his hands.  I can't help but laugh  because his hands look like little white claws.  Weird!

Rylee updates:  Rylee started dance at Danzco Academy for her 3rd year of tap and ballet.  I am thrilled of course!!!  This year she gets to do a daddy/daughter dance so everyone should come to her recital this June if anything to watch Adam dance on stage in front of hundreds of people :)  he he he  Rylee attended the Montgomery High School dance team dance clinic a few weeks ago.  They got to learn a routine with a "Belle" and perform it at the varsity football game the following Friday.  Luckily we have a friend whose daughter is a Belle and requested that Rylee be in her group. It always helps to have a familiar face.  Needless to say my little performer did AHmazing during the halftime show.  She shook her booty and smiled from ear to ear.  Rylee's teacher Ms. Liston was even at the game and was able to congratulate her on a job well done. Memories being made here and I love it!!!  I have so many cute pics from the game but I am having a hard time getting them to size correctly so I will add them when I can.  Ry is doing amazing in school so far.  She has had a smiley face for conduct each day so far and even a smiley face on her first progress report.  They don't fill the progress reports out for Kindergartners this early in the year since they haven't really been able to assess them academically yet.  She loves her teacher and has already made a few new friends...Jadyn, Hope and Phoebe.  I can tell her reading, writing and counting skills have improved over the past few weeks. She has even gotten "super star" a few days each  week which is only given to those who go above and beyond good behavior.  This year her school is focusing on "bucket fillers".  It is such a great concept we should all live by!  Your bucket gets filled up by act of kindness, and your buckets empties by doing/saying something hurtful or selfish.   I really can't express how much I absolutely LOVE Madeley Ranch Elementary.  Rylee is so lucky to attend such an amazing school. 

Last but not least I wanted to mention that my sweet grandma Johnson (my mom's mom) had to go into a nursing home almost a month ago.  The adjustment has been very hard on her and my mom as well.   Please keep her in your prayers that she adjusts well and that my mom can find peace in the fact that she did the right thing.

Comfort, birthdays and 1st day of school!

Well it looks like the summer has come to an end although it sure does not FEEL like it.  The heat has managed to keep us all pretty much indoors for the past month!  It has even been to hot to swim.  We went to Comfort to visit Dad, Sherry and Tucker the 2nd weekend in August.  Rylee was really looking forward to seeing Mr. Tucker and still doesn't like the fact that he could not come back home with us.  I on the other hand was quickly reminded of why he couldn't!!!  He has really calmed down a lot but the Tucker/Parker relationship is still a little problematic to say the least.  We had a very nice relaxing trip and finally took the kids to see the bats.  There is a bat cave near one of our favorite burger joints and if you get there at the right time you get to see thousands of them come out to feed.  It is really amazing to see.  I was worried that the kids might be scared but they were quite the opposite. 




The bats




My 2 favorite boys!

Parker and I share a birthday week!  Mine is the 15th and his is the 17th.  I think it is pretty cool because the whole week is all about birthdays.  My sweet husband brought me home a dozen hot pink roses and helped a friend of mine surprise me with a girls happy hour :)  Wednesday (which was JP's actual bday) we just had a little celebration at the house with hot dogs, hamburgers and cupcakes.  His main gift from Adam and I and Nanny and Poppy was his big boy bed.  Well actually we just started with a full size box spring and mattress to get him used to it before we buy a frame.  Nonnie and Pop Pop bought him new bedding and his room is now all about sports. I love it!  Parker is doing SO amazing.  I remember having to lock Rylee in her room when we switched her from the crib to a bed because she would not stay in her room.  I think she even feel asleep on the floor one night.  Parker has not even tried to open his bedroom door once! KNOCK ON WOOD :)  He jumps in his bed, we read him a book and tuck him in.  I think he is really excited about it and knows that he is a big boy now. 

Parker's 2nd birthday party was at The Little Gym (a kid place that is basically gymnastics mixed with gymboree). We had Rylee's 2nd birthday party there and I knew it would be a hit with that age group. Parker had about 14 friends show up to celebrate and I think everyone had a great time. Parker was able to run free and explore so he was on cloud nine! We decided to do a cookie cake this year and it was soooo good. I forgot how good they were and I think it ended up being less messy than cupcakes. As we were singing to Parker he was mouthing the words right along with us. He waited patiently for us to finish and then successfully blew out his 2 candles. It was so adorable. He is such a handsome little man and I love his personality. Thank you to everyone who came and all the fun gifts!

Friday we had "meet the teacher" at Rylee's new school. Rylee's new teacher (Ms Liston) seems very nice and I have heard great things about her from friends who had her in past years. Rylee was very shy but I could tell she was excited. Her classroom is adorable and everything about the school looks amazing. It is only about 3 years old and Montgomery ISD in general is a top rated school district so I am very pleased that she gets to go to Madeley Ranch. We live about 5 blocks from the school so maybe when the weather is nice we can walk or ride bikes to and from. Right now we will do the car rider line but she REALLY wants to ride the bus. She cried when I told her that she couldn't. I feel like she is too little but maybe later in the year if she meets some friends that will be on her same bus I will give in. Plus the time it would take us to walk to the bus stop we could already be in the parking lot of the school.

Rylee's first day of Kindergarten was Monday August 22, 2011.  She will graduate from high school in the year 2024!!!!  WHAT?  Crazy.  The first day we get to walk our kids to their classroom.  Rylee was nervous but not near as clingy as she was when we went to "meet the teacher". Parker and I stayed in her classroom to make sure she knew where her cubby was and make sure she got settled at her table. She just said "bye mom" and blew me a kiss.  I am like "that is it"?  She is ok with me just walking out of here?  No arguing or pleading for me to stay??? Not that I wanted that to happen but I wasn't prepared for her to be so brave.  It was so strange getting back to the house without her.  Just me and Parker-Man. I am actually excited about spending a little more 1 on 1 time with him.  Around 3 we went to get in the car rider line (which was ridiculous by the way).  I teared up when I was pulling up to the door in anticipation of hearing about her first day.  She got in the car and was pretty quite at first but then told me all the details.  She loved it!!!  Even made a new friend.  The girl in the purple dress is what she called her :)  Hopefully she will find out her name today. The second day you have to drop them off in the car rider line at the side entrance to the school and they walk in on their own.  She walked in all by herself and didn't even look back. It doesn't sound like much but to me it is SUCH a big deal.  She has become independent overnight!  I can't wait to hear about her 2nd day of Kindergarten.  Boy we will be making some memories this year!!!! I can't wait!

headed to class!

At her "desk"

2nd day