Back to School

Alex talked about school ALL summer long and it's finally time to start preschool. He's excited!! This year Alex is a Red friend and knows a couple of the kids from his class last year. He loves his new teacher Mrs. Abbott. The school has a new playground this year which is exciting. It's fun to watch Alex's enthusiasm. It's a great way to start the school year!

The picture below is at Meet the Teacher last week and Megan decided to jump in the picture!

Megan isn't sure yet about school. She talks so much at home but gets quiet and serious at school. There were no tears at dropoff, just a serious look. After her first day I asked if she had fun, she says yes. Her teachers say she was very active and playful so that's a great start! Megan loves playing with playdoh, art, legos and kitchen toys. Her classroom is a perfect fit. Here's Megan proudly showing off her new Dora backpack...

We carpool with Laurie and the here's the kids walking into school on the first day. I couldn't get them to turn and look at me - they were anxious to get inside and play. I think Megan's backpack is almost as big as she is! Alex and Laurie are great helpers with Megan and they hold her hand everyday walking into school. So sweet!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. What's better than fall colors, cool weather, Cowboys winning, and lots of good food to eat! We were so blessed to have family in town this year. My Aunt Jo & Uncle Bill stayed with us along with Uncle Bill's mom Eris. Sarah and my Uncle Allen stayed at my parents house. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant Las Haciendas on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning my Mom came over early to start cooking the turkey. We ended up with a huge feast for lunch - turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn, and about 4 more casseroles. Everything was so GOOD! The spent the rest of our lazy day visiting, talking, and of course watching football!

Rock N Roll San Antonio

I ran my first Half Marathon!

I started training with a local running club last summer. I've always liked to work out but was never into running. This was definitely a new and tough challenge. Every Saturday morning I wake up around 5 and meet up with my group for a long run. Most weekends we run 8-12 miles. I run 2-3 times on my own during the week for shorter runs, usually 3-5 miles. My group is training for the Houston Marathon but I've met several runners also running the San Antonio race. The San Antonio Rock N Roll Marathon is fun with bands playing at each mile marker but tough with a couple hills throughout the course. And who decided the race should end on a hill?!!

I ran this race with a group... we didn't run together necessarily but we did sign up and train for this race together and it was a nice support group for my first race. My sister Sarah, brother in law Brian and his brother Ron, and my brother in law Bryan all completed this race.

We went to San Antonio the day before the race and went to the Alamodome to pick up our packet and shop the Expo. After checking into our hotel we went to the Riverwalk for a late pasta lunch. We had a quick trip to the nearest grocery store before hanging out at the hotel that evening.

Early Sunday morning we caught the bus to the start line. It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time. The are so many people and lots going on before the race. We checked our bags, stretched, went potty and waited what seemed like forever waiting to start. Finally we're off and the first band at the start line is a mariachi band. Of course! It's San Antonio. I don't remember all the music except that mile 6 played Ice Ice Baby and everyone around me was singing... too funny. At Mile 2 we ran by the Alamo and saw Lisa and kids. We saw the whole group cheering us on at Mile 8. Around mile 10 I started to slow down and by mile 11 I had to walk for awhile. It was warm that day, mid 70's with 94% humidity. I crossed the finish line after that awful hill, got my medal, an ice cold towel and lots of food to eat. David and Alex were so excited for me and Alex loves my medal. Alex was happy to cheer on Aunt Sarah too! 

Halloween

Halloween brought a tough fireman and cute ladybug to our house. Alex decided on his costume this year and really got into playing a fireman! We started off our Halloween fun by going to the pumpkin patch. Our neighborhood had the cutest pumpkin patch at a local church so I took the kids there a couple times with playgroup friends. They kids first listened to a story then played in the pumpkin patch. They loved playing games at the end and Alex especially liked 'fishing' for pumpkins.

I hosted our playgroup Halloween party this year. What fun but SO chaotic! The kids played, decorated cupcakes, colored Halloween masks and worked on an art craft then paraded around the house in a costume parade.

David and I took our fireman and ladybug to the annual Halloween party at Granny's assisted living home. The kids love the music and trick or treating. It's always fun to see the cousins dressed up together.

On Halloween day we carved our pumpkin and put on costumes. We trick-or-treated with neighborhood kids Joey and his baby brother Cole and Gavin with his older brother Zach. The kids had a blast and Alex REALLY likes trick or treating. Fortunately he's not into candy and didn't notice a couple days later when I sent the candy to David's office. The neighbors came to our house after trick or treating. Fireman Alex and Scary Monster Joey ate candy and played around while the adults tried to stay warm under heavy coats and blankets handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. It was a fun Halloween night!

Megan - 17 months

Megan suddenly looks older to me! I can't believe how fast she grows. Megan is talking and she's very clear. She won't sign like Alex did which is fine since I can understand most of what she says. She has 3 new teeth (I think, it's hard to tell since the new teeth are in the back) and hopefully her hair will grow soon! It's still so thin. Here are recent pics of my sweet girl.

Playtime fun

The kids love playing outside with the neighbors. Megan has become so adventurous! She tries hard to keep up with the boys. We are surrounded by boys in our neighborhood - poor girl! She attempts to ride the scooters, bikes, tricycles but her favorite and the easiest toy is the tiny ATV. She loves pushing the button and following Alex on the bigger riding boys. Lately the boys are into bug collecting. They like catching frogs. It's fun to watch. I love that Alex has boys his age to play with as neighbors.

David and I spent Labor Day weekend in the Dallas area with my family. I love family reunions - it's so fun to see everyone! We left on Saturday morning after my run. It's about a 5 hour drive (less with David driving) and the kids were perfect. We borrowed a DVD player from Shelly and the kids were very excited to watch movies in my car. What a treat! Megan slept a long time and Alex stayed busy with toys, drawing and movies. We checked into the hotel and went to my aunt's house to visit with everyone. Later that night we went out to dinner with our wonderful family friends Dewey and Kay. On Sunday, we went to the store and bought toys for the kids and went to the park for a picnic with my dear friend Kori and her daughter Tatum. The kids were entertained on the playground which gave Kori and I a chance to catch up. We headed to Aunt Faye's house after lunch and spent the rest of our day there. It was a full house and wonderful to visit with family. Lots of food, cakes, games, kids running around... just like it was when I was a kid.

Keep Aunt Faye in your prayers. Aunt Faye has stage III lung cancer. She's in chemo once a week and radiation therapy 5 days a week. Pray for her strength each day, pray for the doctors who take care of her, pray for the family members that support her, pray that God will heal her body and keep her with us for a long time.

Yeehaw!

We recently attended a Western theme birthday party. The kids LOVE wearing their hats. I love my little cowboy and cowgirl!

The birthday boy had a pony ride outside. Since it poured, the pony ride was in their garage and driveway (covered with a small tent). As a bonus, there was a baby zebra the kids could pet. Alex liked the zebra but wouldn't ride the horse. Megan loved riding - she was VERY upset when the pony ride ended!

The next day we attended another birthday party. The rain stopped so the kids were able to play outside and get in the pool. The kids decorated sugar cookies before going outside. Alex went a little overboard with the sprinkles! They played outside for a long time and Alex loved getting suckers from the Diego pinata. What fun birthday parties!