August Little Things

August has flown by with all of the back to school activities.  Eden got to have a pre-school pedicure with Granna to celebrate the beginning of school.

She also got to help her best friend Reagan celebrate her 10th birthday with a pool party.  These sweet girls have been friends since preschool.

And that's a wrap for August!  Next up is a very busy, sports-filled September!

Celebrating July/August Birthdays

Tonight we went to Emily/Jon's house to celebrate the July and August birthdays in our family.  We were in Colorado on Meredith's birthday in July so we never had a chance to have a birthday dinner with her.  Cory turned 44 on August 15th and Ryan turns 8 tomorrow!  

After dinner and birthday cupcakes, we went outside to let the kids play.  Uncle Jon gave the big kids rides in the bucket of the skid steerer while I gave the triplets rides on the swing.

It's always great to get together with my family but it's even better when we have something to celebrate! Happy Birthday Cory, Meredith, and Ryan!  We hope you felt very loved on your special day!

First Day of School

As soon as we got back from Colorado, it was time to start thinking about going back to school.  Emily and I started teacher in-service and met up at our convocation for our annual picture.  

The girls had Meet the Teacher on Monday and Parker got to go pick up his schedule and find out where his classes were.

And just like that, summer has come to an end!  Today was the first day of school and I can't believe we have a 7th grader, 5th grader, and 3rd grader in the house.

Parker starts football and cross country next week and is taking all PreAP courses again.  It's going to be a busy year for him!

Eden is starting her last year in elementary school and can't wait to have Mrs. Holland!

And Lily is about to start an incredible year in 3rd grade with Mrs. Click!

I started my 21st year of teaching today (2nd year as ESL Lead) and I'm so glad to have one more year with both of my girls at Gerard.

Lily wasn't nervous at all and couldn't wait to get started.  Her two best friends, Jery and Ellie, are both in her class so I know it's going to be a great year!

Eden has Mrs. Holland for homeroom/language arts/social studies and Ms. Keeton for math/science. She's not in class with her best friend, Reagan, but has a lot of other good friends in her class this year.  It's hard to believe it's her last year at Gerard!  The last six years have gone way too fast!

Here's to a wonderful 2019-2020 school year!  It's definitely off to a great start!

Small Group Getaway Weekend

Cory and I just got back from a weekend in Austin with our small group from church.  We stayed in a really big house with a great view.  It was so nice to get away with friends and have some time without the kids before school starts.  

These girls are so special to me- I can't imagine doing life without them!

We cooked out the first night and went out to eat the second night.  There was so many great conversations and lots and lots of laughing.  It was the perfect end to a great summer!

July Little Things

This summer has flown by and I can't believe I go back to school next week.  July provided lots of great memories including a few of these little things:

The girls got to go to Great Wolf Lodge with Grandma, Aunt Sondra, and Taylor.  They had a great time and got to do so many fun things!

Books and babies- two of Parker's favorite things!

He also loves his dog! And reading with his dog!

Enjoying a cold treat on a hot summer day!

Parker loves playing with the triplets but he's also great with Holland!  He enjoyed an afternoon at the Children's Museum with her one day before we left for Colorado.

And now it's time for back to school shopping! I'm so thankful that I have summers off with the kids- it's definitely the biggest perk of being a teacher!

Colorado 2019- Day 5- HikeMS

Today was HikeMS!  We woke up to good weather and healthy kids- two things we haven't always had on hike day.  Everyone was in good spirits and ready to hike!  We had decided to try the 6 mile hike with the kids for the first time.  I wasn't sure how they would do on that long of a hike but they were all willing to try it so we ate a quick breakfast and got ready to go.

 "I HIKE FOR MY DAD!"- Cory wasn't able to hike this year but he has three great kids who were willing to hike for him!

Eric and Joni Bishop, our good friends from our church small group, and their three kids decided a few months ago that they wanted to come and join us on the hike this year.  Our kids were so glad to have more friends to hike with today.  We always bring a Texas flag with us to the hike to represent our awesome state.  We love Colorado but our hearts belong to Texas!  Here is our entire group at the starting line.

The first couple of miles were great!  There were some steep parts but the kids kept pressing on without much complaining.  We made sure to stop and take lots of breaks.

By the 2nd rest stop (about mile 4), everyone started getting very tired.  The kids definitely needed a lot on encouragement from the adults to keep going.  At times, it seemed like it would never end!

But we finally made it to the top!  Cory was waiting for us at the top and we all felt such a sense of accomplishment as we crossed the finish line!

 All the hikers!

We are so thankful for The Bishops and their friendship!  Maybe next year we can convince our entire small group to come hike with us!

I'm also so grateful for my family and all the help they gave me this week in Colorado!

 These two pictures were taken three years apart.  What a difference a few years makes!

As always, today was one of our favorite days of the year!  The kids did amazing on the hike and I'm so proud of them for not giving up especially on those last few miles.  I think next year we will stick to the 2 mile hike but I'm glad we accomplished the 6 mile today!  Thanks to all of our family and friends who donated to HikeMS this year and helped make today possible.  We couldn't make it on this MS journey without you!