Safety Town

We took the kids to Frisco Fire Dept. Safety Town to see the town all lit up for the holidays. This was my first time going, but the kids have been once before. It was really neat. Each miniature building had something to do in it. The had the pic with Santa at the mini fire station, a gingerbread tattoo somewhere else, the police station had safety info etc., the got their noses painted like Rudolph at the Wal Mart, got candy at the church and so on. They had a fire truck that they could get in and sit in the seats and steer the wheel. There was a mock house to learn weather safety and how to climb out from the second story to safety if there was a fire. The town had a toll way and street lights so they could learn what the lights meant and when to cross the street. It's just a neat place. The station got a call while we were there and Ryan went crazy. He had to watch them drive out and then watch when they came back. He is so into things with wheels. UGH!! He has eyes like a hawk. He can see tractors that we don't even notice. Afterwards, we went and ate at our favorite chicken place. Babes Chicken House. MMMMM

I just don't get it!

I found out about an hour ago that an old schoolmate, Chris Martin was murdered military style at his job in Austin, TX by a fellow co-worker. I just don't understand why or how people get to the point of shooting someone at point blank range. It's sick. There were many witnesses to this, but the killer is still on the loose. You hear about this on the news, but it's different when you actually know the person. He was recently engaged and was to close on his first home this Friday. A life cut too short. I pray for his family, friends and co-workers. I pray they find the bastard that murdered him and give him life without parole. I hope he doesn't take the insanity road. I'm truly sad. You never know what the day is going to bring.

Build A Bear and 6 year old girls

OH MY, 2 1/2 hours of CRAZY! We were glad that it was only 5 girls and Ryan. This place was so packed it makes you really wonder how the economy is doing so poorly. Our party alone set us back a few, but there were parties in there with like 10 kids or more. What a money maker. It's amazing to see all the items in there for stuffed animals. From underwear to wheelchairs, they have it all. 3 girls got the same Hello Kitty doll and the other 2 made bears. Some girls were smarter to get a cheaper doll so they could get the outfit and accessories to go with it. Overall, it turned out to be a pretty good shindig. The girls had a great time and after eating cookie cake, Richard took them on the carousel that is in the Food Court. Richard and I were so ready to get home. There's no place like HOME!

Family photos

We had some family photos done last Saturday in McKinney at the old cotton mill. It was very cold and windy. I was also diagnosed that morning with a sinus/upper resp infection. But, I sucked it up for the family and went ahead and took pictures. So please excuse me for looking a bit rough. Here is the web address: www.sdsphotography.smugmug.com and we are under Family. There are like 88 pictures I think. I know there are 5 pages. Ryan was pretty good while we were there. He did better with the outdoor pics than the inside ones. There was a distraction with a toy baby stroller in there. Overall we are very pleased with the job she did. She was very nice and patient. She actually got Ryan to smile and not do his CHEESE smile.

Happy Halloween

Emily could not wait for Halloween to get here. She would count down the days on the fridge calendar. Ryan of course had no idea what it was all about. He wanted nothing to do with his costume. Trying to get him into that thing was murder. I even put Emily into it hoping he would want to wear it. NOPE!! Didn't work. His trick or treat was so cute. He would say it in the house. The kids started to come by before it was even dark. Emily started to get antsy. She was Alice in Wonderland. Our 3 girl neighbors came by with their Mom and so Emily and Richard took off with them. Ryan was intrigued by all the costumes every time we answered the door. He eventually caught on. He went to his costume and said "on, on". So, I hurried him into it and took him to a few houses before we caught up to Richard and the gang. I ran back home to meet up with my sister and her new boyfriend Ron so we could eat dinner. That didn't go too well since I had to get up every 10 seconds to hand out the treats. There weren't that many kids that came by. We had lots of playdough and candy left over. Overall, the kids had fun and got some good loot.

Limo Ride

Emily's school did a fundraiser which was selling cookie dough. Well, with Richard's help she sold over $300 to get the limo ride which she really wanted. As you can see, it was a stretch hummer limo. The kids were so excited. It was supposed to take them for lunch to Sonic, but that one broke down so they had to wait for another one and by this time it was past lunch. So, this limo took them to sonic to get ICE CREAM!! The kids loved it. It was so messy, but it was all worth it. It made those kids so happy. There were about 23 Kinder kids that went. Several from Emily's class which was nice. She got to celebrate with her friends.

Emily's teeth

Well, Emily had to have her 2 bottom front teeth pulled out on October 20th. The reason being that her permanent teeth were already coming in behind her baby teeth. One tooth was loose, but the other one was not going to come out EVER! So we shelled out the crazy amount of money and had both of them pulled out. She did awesome! No crying during the visit. I think when the gas started to wear off is when she started to lose it a little. It did mess her up that day and a little the next day. As you can see in the photo, she was VERY tired when she got home. So, for being a brave little girl, we bought her a new V-tech game for her handheld and the tooth fairy brought her $10. You can see why that one tooth was never going to fall out. It had that long root on it which is really weird. It looks nasty. Oh well. I hope we don't have to have more pulled out. It's going to break the bank;0)

Pumpkin Patch

Today was a great day to go to the Flower Mound pumpkin patch. It was overcast and the wind was nice and cool. The kids had a wonderful time taking pictures with all the wooden cut outs from Disney movies to cartoon characters. For some reason they did not want to take a hay ride. Richard and I wanted to. But it's all about the kiddos. We already bought our big pumpkins from Market Street, so we let the kids pick out 3 tiny ones each. They are really cute! It was really busy, so we didn't stay long. It was lunch time when we left, so we headed to Cotton Patch. That was miserable. We left from there and headed over to Lowes to get some mums to plant around our tree and to put in my big flower pot. We hit the jackpot there cause they were on SALE!!! So we bought several different colors. We planted them after dinner this evening. Needless to say, the kids REALLY need a bath. It was a nice family day. It's great having Richard work for a bank because he and Emily are usually off on the same days.

State Fair 2008

It was a wonderful day for the State Fair. Breezy and cool. We took Emily out of school around 10:30 so we would miss traffic and get there in time for lunch. FLETCHER'S CORN DOGS!!! The kids and Richard had those and I had a turkey leg. MMM!!! Those are my favorite. Pricey though. They cost 15 tickets. We then went to the rides because Emily was driving us crazy. It started off with a fun house and then we went to the canoes. Then it was the race cars where I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. The expression on Ryan's face is priceless. It was so funny watching him go around each curve. I guess he got tired off being slashed around cause he started to cry, so they stopped the ride and let him off. I think he had fun. Emily sure did. It was then off to the tea cups and whales. Richard had to ride the whale with Ryan. Man wish I had a pic of that! I stayed behind with Emily. I think our favorite was the Sparkletts log ride. It sprayed you with some water and then you went downhill. WEEEEEE! Yes, we all screamed. Even Richard. We did play some games which were outrageously expensive to play. The last part of our day was spent in the petting zoo. That was really fun. They has so many different animals. The kangaroos were my favorite. They were so soft and cute and funny. The kids were able to feed and pet the animals. I made the mistake of trying to feed the ostrich. Sucker bit my finger. I despise those things. They are fun to look at though. So many people were afraid of them. We had a good day and we were all so tired when we left. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Johnny Appleseed Day

The Kindergarten class celebrated Johnny Appleseed's birthday a few weeks ago. It was really cute how they went from classroom to classroom. There were 4 total projects they did. As you can see, the silly hats they made. They painted apple trees, ate apple crumb cake and tasted several foods that had apple flavor. Emily did not like the apple jelly. Overall, I think the kids had a great time doing all these things. I had fun watching them that's for sure. Ryan enjoyed playing with all the toys in each classroom. Needless to say, we had a tantrum trying to leave school.

Grandparen'ts Day at school

So today is Grandparent's Day at Emily's school. They left around 7:40 this morning and it's now 9:11 and they still aren't home. Curious to hear what they have to say when they get back. They were going to read The Giving Tree to Emily's class. I just hope she doesn't cry when they leave.


So last nights Kindergarten meeting was pointless. The only good thing that came out of it was talking to Emily's teacher. He wants to see about letting her sit in on a First grade class to see how she does. He wants us to think about letting her skip Kinder and go into First grade. He feels that she would fit right in. He knows she is bored and needs to be doing more challenging work. He told us to fill out the paperwork for the EXPO classes which is the Talented and Gifted. I don't think that is until November though.

My little bookworm

Emily's teacher has been working with her one on one reading books. I went to meet her for lunch today and he told me that she read a book word for word this morning. Well, when I picked her up from school today Mr. Stein told me that she read the book to her class before being dismissed this afternoon. He said that he was almost in tears he was so proud of her. She is doing so AWESOME with her reading. We are so proud of her. I can't wait until he gives us her evaluation after the first 6 weeks is up.

Emily is still struggling to go into her classroom on her own. Not sure what the deal is. She makes me promise her that I will be waiting at the steps to pick her up. I have to reassure her that I always am at the steps waiting for her.

My parents are coming up tonight for Grandparent's Day on Friday. They get to go to school and read a book to the class and see what Emily's day is all about. She is SOOOOO EXCITED!!! I'm sure she will have rules for Grandpa though. She's tough on him. Tonight is also Kindergarten open house, so we are going to that. Not sure what it's all about.



Ryan is still the same terrible 2 monster. He still LOVES his tractors and makes all the noises for them. His favorite movie is CARS. What a SHOCKER!! He's getting into others though thank goodness. He likes Nemo and Shrek now. SO HAPPY!! I don't think I could watch Cars for the gazillionth time. Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but it's pretty sad when u know it word for word.

Mr. Stein's good news for me

Emily's teacher Mr. Stein gave me some great news this morning!! She is reading beyond the Kindergarten level!! He is going to Excel her in reading!!! I am so proud of her. This way she will be challenged a little more and won't be so bored. He's going to test her in other areas as well. All the books we read really paid off. She is doing well going to school everyday. She retains things so well. They learn a new song everyday and she can come home and sing the song to me word for word. It's AWESOME!! Richard is attending an EXPO meeting tonight in Denton which is like the Talented and Gifted program. We just want to see what it's all about and to see if Emily is even qualified to test for it. We don't want her to skip to first grade, but we would like for her to be challenged and not have Kinder be too easy for her.

I took Ryan to Target today to pick out what he wanted since some friends of ours gave him a giftcard for his b-day. He ended up getting this John Deer tractor play set and 2 die cast cars from Disney Cars. This kid is so into tractors it's NUTS!! That's all he wants to play with and everytime he sees one he will yell out TRACTOR!! This morning he watched the concrete mixers pour their mixture for a slab 2 houses down. He watched until the last truck left. He then brought over his Tonka book and pointed out the concrete truck. So smart!!

Labor Day weekend

This past holiday weekend we took a trip down to my parents house in Schulenburg, TX since Emily had Monday off. Richard and I helped my Dad and brother Tony help build the walls on the house. WHAT A SLOW PROCESS!!! UGH! We were so frustrated. But, we managed to get a few walls up. More than what my Dad would have been able to do by himself. The last photo is of the front of their house. It's all metal. We plan on going back down in October to help out some more. Sunday night my parents wanted to take the kids to the fair in La Grange. You always feel so much better about yourself when you go to one of those things. GROSS!!! The kids enjoyed themselves and that's all that matters. They rode some rides and played some games. They even went into a petting zoo that had several different animals. They ranged from a camel to baby deer, goats, rabbits, baby pigs, baby cows and even chickens. YEE HAW!!! The weekend went pretty well except when Ryan decided to lock himself in the bathroom at Uncle Rodney's cabin. It's one of those locks that u can't unlock from the outside. Normally you have a little key or you can use something to unlock it. NOPE, not the case. My Uncle tried to bust the door down and that didn't work. Richard asked Ryan to turn the knob on the door and guess what?? HE LISTENED and came out. UGH, that was so gut wrenching. He was screaming and bawling his little eyes out. It was so sad. Ryan decided to get into Grandpa's truck and lock the doors on that with the keys inside!! I swear this kid is a terror. Thank goodness Emily was in the truck and pushed the unlock button. UGH!! Other than that, we had a good time seeing family and playing in the outdoors. It's a quiet town which we call Hillbilly Hell.

Emily starting Kindergarten

Well, Emily was not excited about starting Kindergarten. She was very quiet and shy at meet the teacher night. She was very upset. The first day went well, but the second did not. She cried several times because she wanted to come home. The third day was much better. Her teacher is Mr. Stein and she really likes him. She is loving P.E. That is her favorite she says. It's been a challenge to get her up in the mornings. Hopefully she gets better going into next week.

Well, she had 3 good days of school this week. I picked her up today and she had a great day!! I hope it continues to be fun for her.