So I haven't posted lately because I feel like I have to put pictures on here and never have time to upload them. But I'm getting really behind so here's a boring post with no pics...sorry! The kids are changing so much lately and growing up so quickly! Hunter has just started Fall Ball (T-ball). During his off time since he played last spring, I can count on one hand how many times he has got out the bat and glove to practice. We didn't really want him to play this fall as it would be really busy around the holidays. He insisted! So glad we did!!! He is SO much better and really growing into his body. He goes out there and has fun, pays attention, moves where the ball goes to catch it, runs after it quickly, throws to the appropriate base quickly, and actually has wonderful aim! All this he has figured out, along with help from the coaches, but we don't have to tell him what to do. He knows how the game is played now and is motivated to move quickly. In school he has learned to read many, many words and some books now, and is doing very well with Math. And best of all....he LOVES school! No whining about going. Gets off the bus each day saying school was "AWESOME!!!" We are so proud of him!
Little Haley is growing up to be quite the girly girl. She is going through a little phase lately of wanting to wear her tutu everyday and everynight. It doesn't matter what she's wearing, pj's, whatever...she wants the tutu slipped over it. She even sleeps in it. Some days she looks a little like Punky Brewster :) She flitters around the house all day pretending to be a ballarina, even humming her own music to dance to. She also may be seen dancing with her Barbie's or saying, "I'm Tinkerbell, I'm flying!" Haley may also prompt you at any time to put her tiara on because she is a "princess!" When we are out driving and I start to get close to the neighborhood she sometimes starts whining, "No go home, Haley no go home, I need to go shopping! I go Hobby Lobby, I go store." Last week she and I did a trial Mommy and Me class at gymnastics. She loved it! She was a little like a bull in a china cabinet though. Guess we need to work on waiting our turn and listening/waiting for instructions. She doesn't want to pause between each activity. She did do very well though on her first day almost mastering a forward roll right of the bat. She did pay attention to detail when doing each activity doing exactly as they told her, as far as putting her hands exactly in the right place, head tucked, feet in the right place, etc. So I guess we will be enrolling after Thanksgiving. Looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving with all of our family! And of course looking forward to a nice win over the Aggies right after!!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Minute Maid Park!

Hunter's friend Ryan recently celebrated his 6 birthday at Minute Maid Park...home to the Houston Astros baseball team!!! It was a lot of fun and something I'm sure these boys will remember for many years to come. They had the party in one of the suites and got a behind the scenes tour. They even got to walk on the field, as long as they did not touch the grass. Hunter had fun playing in the dug out with his buddies. He actually left his cute little John Deer hat in the dug out :( We had a great time and what a beautiful day it was!

Hunter's Special Visitors For Lunch!

Hunter is settling into Kindergarten easier than we ever could've imagined. He seems to be thriving being at a larger school learning what is expected of him as an individual, and with his peers as a large group. He has gained a lot of responsiblity as well as knowledge. He is counting to 100 now all by himself. He is also reading about 30 words now and quickly adding to that. He illustrates small books at school with his own pictures, and brings them home and reads to us. We are SO proud of him and amazed by how quickly he is learning







Future Puma!



For right now...Ms. Attitude!

Cousin Benjamin's First Trip to Texas!

Trying to catch on this blog today. Let's go back to early October. Pam, Chuck, and Benjamin made it to Texas for a short visit to attend Dad and Debbie's wedding reception. Lot's of fun times were had by all. Benny got to meet his Grandmommy (Gee) and great Uncle Bill and great Aunt Rachel. The younger generation ruled the house and enjoyed lots of chasing and playing. Can't wait to get them all together again for Thanksgiving!!!

Future UT Dance Team Girl!

Haley has become quite the little dancer lately. Check out her new moves on this video. Poor Hunt man....he wanted to dance with her so bad but she just wouldn't pay him any attention.

Sea World!

I'm a little behind and out of order. So backing up to the end of the summer...we took Haley for her first trip to Sea World and of course Hunter was glad to show her all about it. It was 103 degrees that day and WHAT WAS I THINKING!? So from now on we will be going to Sea World in the early Spring. We made it to the Shamu show and the Sea Lion show and saw the penguins and visited with the dolphins before enough was enough. We then made our way to sanity in the water park and spent the rest of the day there. The kids loved it all..lots of giggles and smiles, and lots of snow cones and souveniers were had.





Then we made our way to "Tractor" Uncle Bill and Aunt "Pancakes" Rachel's house for the weekend. Rachel and Bill are always great hosts and we all enjoyed some quality time together. They took us to a great pool in the hill country to cool down and get out of the heat. Hunter and Haley even saw some deer running around the pool area. It was a wonderful end to a long hot summer.

Quality Time With Our Little Monkeys!

Storytime before bed



Daddy caught the monkeys!!!

Hunter Starts Kindergarten!

My sweet baby boy has will be starting his 3rd week of kindergarten in the morning! He was quietly apprehensive all summer...interested but scared. Hunter is a negotiator and I figured once school started we'd end up hearing why he doesn't need to continue going to school week in and week out. We were pleasantly suprised. Since about day 4 Hunter has been very into school and self motivated at home to practice what he learns and teach us what he is learning. At bedtime after the first day we had a few tears as well as first thing in the morning on the 2nd day. Hunter broke down about school being such a long day and missing Mommy and Daddy all day. We tried reminding him about having a comfortable home to live in and going fun places like Sea World, California, etc were only possible if you work hard in school and find a good job someday to help pay for all these nice things. For now at least...this was enough for him to press on (because he plans to buy his kids EVERYTHING they want and take them to Target EVERYTIME they ask and ALWAYS say yes). On the way home from the bus stop by day 4...I asked, how was school, and I got a very animated, "I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!!!" It was music to my ears :) He walked right in the house and told me he need to practice his writing. After a little serious writing practice he was teaching me about sorting (math) and computers. He told me all the rules of kindergarten like I was starting there as well. So far...we are plugging right along and staying motivated and happy!!! I am amazed everyday at how much and how quickly Hunter is growing :) Haley is coming around in school as well. Her 3rd week went much better. She actually played most of the day with her classmates and could be seen on her online monitor system giggling and carefree. She is learning some sign language already..so far..'milk' and 'rainbow'. She had her colors down before starting school and is quickly starting to learn her shapes. We will see how week 4 goes.

Haley Starts Early Preschool

Finally....it's her turn! She has loved picking up Hunter at his preschool, jumping right into the class. I always had to drag her out kicking and screaming. So needless to say she was very excited as the weeks came closer and we were telling her SHE was going to school there now! The first day we pull into the lot and she says, "There it is!" She ran inside, went right in her room, sat down for breakfast and started eating...no problem. Hunter and I took a few pictures of her then left to go watch her on a video monitor in the lobby. No crying...nothing! She was just eating and looking around the room, even talking to another little girl at the table. Wow! She is the social butterfly of the family. Well, the next day was a different story. Cried as Thomas pulled into the parking lot. Cried off and on all day. She had to hold her blanky all day and spent a lot of time being held and cuddled. So we have completed 2 weeks now (only 2 days/wk) and she has not warmed up to it yet. She plays a little, but still wants to be held. She is napping well though. Since the first day she lays down on her little pony mat and goes right to sleep for at least 2 hours. Hoping she'll come around soon.

San Diego Vacation!

Just a warning...this is long. Mostly writing all this for family so I don't have to repeat everything. Good luck. How can a steady temp all year long of 60-75 degrees be fair? Oh, it was nice and so hard to come back to the sweltering heat of Houston. Despite a few minor (???) obstacles we made the best and had a wonderful vacation in San Diego! Thanks to our fantastic hosts Chuck and Pamela for showing us the best SD had to offer! This was a long awaited trip to finally meet our new nephew Benjamin...now 3 months old. What a cutie!!! Wish I had been able to cuddle him more!




Last Wednesday, we hitched a ride with Continental Airlines and headed to California. To our suprise Haley (sitting in my lap for 3 hours) and Hunter did wonderful during the flight and all was smooth. After checking into the hotel 2 miles from Chuck and Pam's house our tour guide led us to La Jolla shores for some evening beach play, watching the sunset, and making smores on a beach campfire.





It was very different from the usual Texas trip to the beach or what we are used to in Mexico. Shorts until the sun goes down then bundle up under the moon. What a perfect start to our trip!!! We were all loving it! Due to time zone differences, etc..Haley fell asleep in my lap by the campfire..nothing out of the ordinary..after having a great time that evening. However...when loading up the cars to go...Haley vomits out of nowhere! Ahhh!!!! Only to spike a fever in the hotel later in the night...what is happening!!!??? After quite a panic over a ruined trip and what to do to protect our new little Benjamin from getting sick...we decided to move on and take it moment by moment. Haley woke up fine...no fever...we attempted the beach at Coronado Island. It was a beautiful day! Haley was so excited to go to the beach...as well as the rest of us. As soon as we sat down on the beach Haley wrapped her legs around my waist and WOULD NOT LET GO! The fever was back and she wasn't letting go of Mommy. No sharing time with Daddy/Hunter..Mommy getting a chance to play on the beach with Hunter...Haley wanted ONLY MOMMY! She slept in my arms most of the day and much to her objection even slept in Daddy's arms too. Hunter on the other hand had a BLAST!!! He was in and out of the water (freezing) and digging in the sand.



Mommy and Daddy took turns playing with him and well as Uncle Chuck. We had a picnic on the beach and watched fighter jets and all kinds of military helicopters landing right on top of us at a military air base with the runway at the end of our beach! It was AWESOME!!! We've never heard the fighter jets SO CLOSE before...literally just over our heads. Then we packed it up and went to a park right on the shore of the San Diego bay..under the Coronado bridge. Chuck grilled fajitas and we had a good ol fashion tailgaiting session right there in the park...like old times when they were in Austin with us.

Fever again at night and grumpy as all get out...WOW..WHO BROUGHT THIS KID??? So Friday, we pushed on thinking Haley will be spending most of the day in a stroller and we can make it work. We went down to the bay again and toured the USS Midway..a retired naval aircraft carrier. Both of the kids LOVED it as well as all the adults too! This was Hunter's favorite day and favorite place! We toured through the sleeping quarters, the ready rooms (like on Top Gun..where they get their assignments or mission instructions), Chuck told us his old navy stories and how it really is THAT CRAMMED down there. Thomas bumped his head about 10 times walking below the ship stepping through the knee knocking doorways while bent over to avoid the low ceiling. We spent most of our time on the deck with all the jets and helicopters. Hunter really enjoyed sitting in a fighter jet and didn't want to get out and let others have a turn. Haley loved going in the front/side door of a helicopter and running out the back..only to go back in and out several times.



Here are Haley and Hunter getting their first Top Gun assignment!

By the way...Benjamin was a trooper throughout the trip! He went everywhere and just slept, hung out, ate, and slept. He did it all! So after the ship tour we went back to La Jolla on a different stretch of the beach and saw the seal lions swimming in a little cove and tanning on the beach. That was pretty neat for all as well! The waves were really crashing in over there and the water was a beautiful deep blue there. Such a cute area too. Kind of near a La Jolla version of Rodeo drive. Then it was on to "Old Town" San Diego...for what they call Mexican food. It was fun...beautiful eating outside...but had nothing on our Mexican food here. It was good..a little different though. Probably more authentic? That night Hunter hit the hotel pool/hot tub with Mommy, Uncle Chuck, and Aunt Pam while Benny and Haley got there sleep on. Now onto the 4th of July! Chuck and Pam took us to a wonderful park around Poway Lake (about 20 minutes inland) where we hung out for about 9 hours...beautiful...perfect weather...comfortable, relaxing 9 hours. We grilled brauts and burgers for both lunch and dinner, took turns taking Hunter fishing in a small motor boat in the lake, watched the kids roll down the steep hills, Haley and Benny talked a little on a blanket in the shade...both napped a lot too. Then after dark watched the fireworks with a background similar to the hills/mountains you saw on the movie ET. So beautiful! It was the best 4th of July I've ever experienced! Not too mention only 60-80 degrees the whole day and night.




So Sunday morning...Haley's fever finally gone..without the help of Motrin! She's still a bear...but starting to have more fun...and her parents were at their WITS END with her....but we really wanted her to have some fun the last day. We went to Del Mar Beach about a mile from Chucks place. Pretty cool set up there...a strip of soft grass to set up camp on...and the sandy beach is just below it. So when you sit down, dry off, snack or whatever..the kids don't get sand all over them and in their eyes. A nice beach as well..warmer water too..much more tolerable...but still cold. Haley had some fun...but still wanted to hang on Mommy like a monkey. She played independently in the sand for a short while with Hunter. There was also a commuter train that passed back and forth often just above the grass strip (gated off for safety) so the kids loved seeing that every few minutes.



After a little beach riot we decided to head back to the hotel to wind down by the pool and get some last minute quality time in with Chuck, Pam, and Benjamin. We made it back to Houston Monday evening and again...the kids were amazing on the plane. Haley was never so happy to see her bed at home! She got her 13 hours of beauty sleep in and we are all still on California time unfortunately today. Poor Thomas had to head back to work this morning and wake up at what felt like 4:30am for him. I'm sure we'll come around soon. Anyone wanna help with my laundry???

Here is the link to the rest of the pics!