Our nursery and preschool had an end of summer event at s small spray park near here. It's a great little area. They have a park and then a fenced in spray area. It's perfect for young kids. Earlier in the summer, Becca had a dentist appointment who sent her to an oral surgeon. He said he didn't know a lot about tongue clippings and thought Becca's might cause her problems as she got older. The oral surgeon said it wasn't an absolute necessity but would probably be beneficial. She has decent range of motion and no speech problems. She cannot stick her tongue out or up very far. The concern is it will be sore as she gets older. I hear it's a pretty easy surgery and they bounce back in a day or so. However, Darren's work just started offering dental insurance and the kids weren't covered. So, we decided against surgery and plan to get them on in February. Still don't know if we'll do the surgery but if it's as easy as they say, I don't see any reason not to. But surgery is always a little scary for kids and if it's not really needed than we shouldn't do it. There's just no way to know how it will feel as she gets older; it doesn't bother her now. So, who knows? Becca started first grade. Her teacher is a neighbor of ours we've known for several years. We are thrilled, and I'm doing a really good job, so far, of not being one of those annoying parents who take advantage of the fact her child's teacher is just down the street. Becca is just learning so quickly and I know it happens that way a lot. She's reading on a 3rd grade level and is in what they call a talent pool. They don't really do gifted/talented at the age but they identify some of the higher achieving kids and offer them extra opportunities throughout the year. I was concerned initially when they sent something home about whether I wanted to put her in gifted/talented. While I know she's doing well in school, she's still only first grade and she may start leveling out and/or the other kids may catch up. I'm sure she'll get good grades, but I hate labeling them at this age.

End of summer

We had some children's events planned for our church kids this summer. Christian Way Farm is a great place around here that has great spring/summer program. Every year they show how farmers grow food and animals to help make food for the community. This year the theme was, "Who grew your hamburger and fries?" She interacts with the kids and lets them help her teach the lesson. Then they take a hay ride out to see the animals, feed the baby cow and chickens. Barrett wanted nothing to do with the animals. Becca was sick so she didn't get to go. Notice the ketchup next to the tomato plants Waiting to plant some corn Watering the corn

At the end of July, we went to the Jump Zone. We thought we needed an indoor activity so late in July. This was the most relaxing event for us because the kids just play. Becca had swimming lessons. She's really doing well and is as adventurous as always. I probably should learn to swim if I plan on keeping up with her. I never wanted to take both kids to the pool by myself so we didn't go as much as I thought we would this summer. I thought of a great idea by the end of the summer: to take a teenager with me to play with one of the kids so I could keep an eye on the other. Definitely going to remember that next year. Got family pictures taken this summer. We have yet to do a family pic since Barrett's been born. The kids were really good considering several outfit and scenery changes over a couple of hours. Becca did poses first and when it was Barrett's turn, he went over, laid down, propped his hands up, tilted his head, basically did things he saw Becca do, all without prompting. He did really good, a natural.

Summer

Wow! Is summer really gone?? It has really flown by. When we got back from vacation, I watched my friend's baby while her babysitter was on vacation. You know how you always need a vacation after vacation? There's errands to run, house to clean, especially when your husband has been home by himself for more than a week. Becca also had t-ball 2 nights a week. I was also trying to get prepared for VBS the next week.

VBS was fun as always. Barrett really enjoys singing and had the moves to the songs down after the first couple of days. Darren's sister and family came down for the weekend. The kids came to play with Becca and Barrett while the rest of the family played golf. They actually stayed in Nashville so we caught up with them on Sunday night and enjoyed hanging out.

Becca's last t-ball game was the 27th and her coach treated them to Dairy Queen after the game. She really enjoys playing. This year, she was on the A's.

Practicing with daddy We planned several events for our church kids throughout the summer. The first one being on the 28th when we went to the Evansville zoo. They have a couple of cool features for kids. There are climbing nets, slides and a spray area. The kids can crawl through a tunnel and see otters swimming over them. I didn't get pictures of the otter but you can see the kids.

All of this, plus vacation was our June.

Vacation, part III

Thursday might have been the best day...we went and toured the new Cowboy stadium. You really should see this place in person; pictures don't do it justice but I'll give you a little taste. Checking out the water show in the stadium Looking at Rangers ballpark from the stadium Running and playing on the field Looking up at the massive screen from the sideline My football players in the locker room

Not allowed to sit or stand on lockers in men's locker room, but you can in the cheerleaders

We had discussed going to a water park that afternoon but we spent a lot of time at the stadium, then in the pro shop that we really didn't have time. By the way, Darren was thrilled about all the Cowboy stuff we brought home...t-shirts for both the kids; Becca picked out a Cowboy potato head, mini football that talks for Barrett and I got a 3-set bowl of tuppwerware and a clear tumber with straw.

The mother of the boys I watch was so nice to bring summertime activities for me and both of the kids. They got some mini water guns and mini water balloons that I thought I'd bring along. So, that evening, we let the kids have fun; there weren't any whiners or injuries. Actually, the whole week went pretty smoothly. I guess the older ones are to the age where they can problem solve more easily and there was much less fighting this time. Kids playing nicely

Vacation, part II

Tuesday, we attempted something semi ambitious...portraits of the whole family. Now, it was semi impromptu so we weren't going to attempt anything formal but we all needed to get up and get ready and out the door. Everything was going pretty smoothly but while the lady was trying to figure out where to put everyone, the kids were playing and one of them got her feelings hurt and from then on, it was downhill. We did finally get a good picture of the whole family at the end. Since my niece was happy and smiling, we attempted one more grandkid picture but by then the younger ones were all done. We have not had a picture of the whole family since everyone's been married; only Darren was in the last one. With all of us ordering just a little bit, we got the CD so we have all the pictures which is nice. If you have a Portrait Innovations in your area, you should check it out. Most of the girls, then went to Grapvine Mills mall. I found many good deals, mainly for myself but I got a few things for my kids. The boys were very good to watch the kids, fix dinner and everything. The boys decided to go see a late movie...Pirates at the IMAX in 3D.

My mom got a great deal on t-shirts at the Disney store so she got one for all the grandkids. Wednesday morning, before one of my brothers and family left, we got all the grandkids on the couch with their shirts. Unforunately, my camera was charging so I didn't get a picture but I will get a copy of two from my siblings. After lunch, most of the rest of us went to Six Flags. It was definitely hot that day but they had fans/misters all over the park, plus "mini waterfalls". It's a good thing my kids like powerade; we bought a cup that can be refilled for free so anytime we finished the drink or it got hot, we just got a refill. One thing however is the park closes at 7:00 but most of the drink/food places close at 6 or 6:30 so I thought that seemed ridiculous, especially on a hot day. Anyway, the kids rode some rides, the adults rode some rides and all of us rode some rides. Barrett was right at the line to be big enough to ride some rides but it depended on who was measuring; he wasn't allowed to ride the teacup ride but he was allowed to ride the log boat ride. At the end when the park was closing up, we let the kids play a few games and they got capes and tweetys. I was surprised that Barrett lasted as long as he did. He did fall asleep towards the end and slept the rest of the time. Barrett loves Curious George...that outfit was one of my good buys This was the ride Barrett wasn't allowed on..ha, really?

Vacation, part I

We left for vacation on Wednesday and drove to Tulsa. It's a good thing I have my navigation system because one of the bridges in Missouri was out because of the flooding and I had to go a different route. Of course if I had gone online to plan my trip, I MIGHT have seen that it was closed. So, it took a little longer than planned and didn't get to see one of my friends that only had that evening free.

In restrospect, that might have been a good thing. Becca was exhausted on Thursday and I figured it was just from traveling but she just wanted to lay in the cart and fell asleep early. After she woke up from her nap, she had a high fever. She had been coughing but it can be difficult to differentiate between her normal allergy cough and when it turns into something. But with a high fever and us leaving for vacation where she would be around more kids, I figured it would be good to take her to an urgent care. It's a good thing I did, she had pneumonia in her left lung. She got some ibuprofen at the doctor's office and later on she said she wasn't sick anymore. She felt better and I think is just used to coughing, she didn't notice any difference. My mom was nice to watch her so I could go see some old friends. Barrett and I went to their house for dinner and playing.

Friday morning a good friend had planned to come over but was scared to bring her daughter over which I don't blame her. Then my mom watched Becca again so I could meet a friend for lunch. Her 2nd daughter is just 2 months younger than Becca and her youngest is 1 month older than Barrett. It was nice visiting with her and she was gracious enough to let me borrow a small stroller for Barrett to use while we're gone. While the kids napped, I went to see my brother's new house . We had planned to go to my nephew's game in Claremore that evening. Becca had been on antibiotics but was afraid of her being out in the heat...it had been in the 90s. One other thing we missed was going to visit my grandmother but again, didn't want to worry about passing along germs. However, we plan on seeing her on the way home either on her birthday or the day after, so that will be nice.

Mom drove with us to Dallas on Saturday. My sister has a friend that was nice enough to let us use her house; we paid them of course and will pay for her housekeeper to come clean when we leave. When we arrived, we grabbed some dinner and then several of us ladies went to the grocery store to buy the things we needed for the week.

Sunday, we got up and around a little late. That morning, we had a brief bible story and singing for the kids; although one of my brothers, his wife and son went to a local church. Half of our kids still take naps so that takes up half the day. Then after my sister made dinner, we drove to her new house so we could look around. We just took it easy most of the day and didn't do much.

Monday, we went to a play place for the kids. Online, this place looked much bigger. It was still worth the half price tickets my sister had but maybe not worth full price. The kids got to ride on robotic animals, ride on the train a couple of times, play a few holes of miniature golf and the majority of the time, they spent time in the ball pit and jumping. Riding a zebra We went to Wendy's for lunch and they had a dispenser for drinks where you could choose from over 100 different drinks. My brother tried a raspberry diet coke that he said was good...I just had water but it came in the same dispenser. Some of the girls went shopping while the rest of us took the kids home for a nap. The girls came back and took over with the kids while the rest of us went to see a Rangers game. We enjoyed the game but they lost. Becca was so tired, she actually fell asleep at the end of the game even with all the noise around us. My brother giving me the eye Most of the gang that went to the game

Good friends

The last day of school was Thursday, the 26th. Friday, we had the kids friends over and then decided they should spend the night. This was Becca's first sleepover at our house and Barrett's first sleepover. The kids were really good; I was actually surprised because they had been together since 9:00 or so in the morning. Their parents picked them up the next morning, then we went to their house that evening for a cook-out with some other people. We then saw them one more time on Tuesday before we each went on our respective vacations. We had a good time at their house playing on a homemade slip n slide. Barrett finally decided he liked it. He played in the sprinkler for awhile before deciding to slide. This was the last time, unfortunately we will see them, at least in the foreseeable future as they are moving to Washington state. We are truly sad to see them go, not only because we had a great trade-off system with free babysitting once a week and monthly date nights, but also because they have become like family and our kids like siblings. Becca's first sleepover was at their house because I knew she was comfortable there and Barrett never had problems staying there or sleeping there. Every time Daniel and Barrett saw each other, they screamed, held out their arms, ran to each other and gave each other big hugs. We have been truly blessed by them and they will be truly missed.