Nutcracker

It's that time of year again for 5th graders.  The annual Nutcracker performance.  It's a rite of passage for all the kids at our local school.  Trent was super excited to be a Mouse.  He really wanted the Mouse King part but being a Mouse was his 2nd choice.

 

 

Inevitable

I guess at some point it was sure to happen....still not sure how a 24lb baby can pull this down but I saw it happen. Just grateful she didn't get hurt.

Amazingly we only had minor losses.......Troy Aikman lost a leg, a few animals fell out the ark and a peppermint was smashed to pieces

1st Ice Cream Cone

Johanna loves ice cream. So after lunch we fixed her a cone. She ate every bit of it..... And probably would have asked for another!

It's a dog's life

Some days I just wish I could be my dogs for a few hours! What a life

New quilt

Johanna & I traveled to Louisiana to spend the night with Nana & PawPaw. We had such a nice Te. It was almost like a little retreat.
We helped Nana pick out some new eyeglass frames. We had a delicious lunch at Pats of Henderson. We also hung New curtains and put her new quilt on the bed.
I had started this quilt years ago but just finished it up. It's very scrappy but I like the warm colors.

The faces of Trent

Ya just never know what you'll get

Big brother

Our big brother rocks. I'm so proud of the young man he is becoming. I love this age. He is so kind to his little siblings ( well, most of the time anyway)

Pumpkin patch

A church down the street has a wonderful pumpkin patch and kid play area. Everyday Trent asked to go play so finally last Saturday morning I promised the kids a trip AFTER their rooms were cleaned.
It was the best bargaining I've done in a while.
Nevertheless we had a great time.

Fun fun Saturday

Zane had a band competition in College Station on Saturday. We all traveled over and met up with the Terzian Girls. Our good friends who moved away 4 years ago. It was such a sweet time of catching up and letting the kids play and visit again.
We got dinner and then went back to the stadium just in time to see a performance of the world famous Aggie Band. (none of
our family had ever seen them) They did not disappoint. 4 years is too long... We'll do it again soon

A walk in the Park

Johanna can be glued to my hip all day but when we get to the park after school it's a different story.
She loves to walk back and forth in the grass. She'll walk away and not turn back. I have to watch her closely because she can cover some ground in a short amount of time.

What a view

Fighting Houston morning rush hour traffic might possibly worth this view.
Ty had a hearing test at the UT hearing clinic over a year ago. At that time we were told the hearing in his left ear was very bad. This is a common problem got cleft affected kiddos. So back jn April when he went in for another palate surgery we had tubes put in both ears. The ENT feels this problem will go away as he gets older but right now we need him hearing clearly while he's learning to read and doing speech therapy. He can't afford to WAIT.
It's taken quite a few months to get the blood from the center of the tubes to go away but it finally happened.
Which lead us to his most recent audiology appointment on the 27th floor of this office building. From this point you can see all the downtown buildings, Houston Zoo, Memorial park and Rice University.
It's super cool
But hopefully we won't go back anytime soon because Ty's hearing checked out as perfect .

It always takes me a few weeks to figure out our new routine once school starts again. This year has been even a little bit more challenging with someone who needs naps. ( oh and the baby needs 'em too)

So here's A few pics until I can get it togerher

Schlitterbahn

One last family outing before the kids start back to school. We love Schlittrrbahn Galvestin. It's just big enough to have fun riding all the rides. But not so big that you feel hurried to ride everything. The lines are usually pretty short as well.
The best part is they allow picnic lunches and drinks in. Saves us a small fortune on lunch.

Randomness

The last few weeks have been busy getting ready for back to school. Mia and Trent have started doing gymnastics and Ty has continued with his gymnastics as well. We celebrated my birthday at The Melting Pot. Then the next day Trent's birthday with a pool party at home. I'll post more of Trent's party later because the photos are quite funny. One of the games ended in a shaving cream war.
But for now here are a few cute ones.

Hanging Around

We've spent a lot of these Hot Summer Days just hanging around the pool.
 

 

Our Cousin Gabe came for a visit and we had a great weekend. 

 

Little Miss is learning to do new tricks.  She can now stand up on her own and let go for several seconds.  It's amazing to watch how fast she is learning.