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.