Fall Frenzy 2014

Fall was a busy time of year for our family.  Everyone started school and the kids' activities resumed.  Here are some highlights (and one lowlight) of our fall:

Grayson played academy soccer this fall for the Houston Dynamo.  This kid went to three practices a week and traveled short distances to games every weekend and loved every minute of it!  His soccer skills also improved dramatically.  He mostly played forward but a had a few turns on defense and as goalie.  Forward was definitely his strongest position.

He is in the white jersey

Gray is number 7

Ava started acrobatic dance and jazz again.  She tumbles around our house constantly.  Her big highlight for the fall was going to Houston with her closest friends for a day of ice skating and shopping at the American Girl doll store for her friend's birthday.  

All the girls who went had names that started with the letter "A"

The girls had private skating lessons at the ice rink.

Christian did gymnastics this fall and learned to write.  He loves to write and now asks us how to spell everything.  His favorite question is, "How do you know?".  He also discovered Dr Suess this fall and fell in love with all the books (which Alex and I appreciate as we are getting tired of reading Superhero and Star Wars books).  He even ate green eggs (but no ham!) this fall...and he liked them Sam I Am!

He wrote the word "astronaut"

He would eat them with a goat, he would eat them on a boat

And now for our lowlight,Christian and I got into a car accident on October 16th when a drunk driver ran a light and hit us at 2:15 in the afternoon.  Thankfully, Christian was fine and I only had a sprained wrist and a "cool" new Buick tattoo from the airbag.  God and many of his angels really took care of us that day!  When Christian was taken from the car (by a member of our church who happened to be driving by!), Christian told him, "I did not see that coming.".  I couldn't have stated it better myself!

This is the damage on one side of my car.  I was actually hit on both sides.

I am hoping to get a gig as Buick's new spokesperson with this tattoo!

 

Halloween 2014

As always, the kids like to challenge me with their Halloween costume ideas.  Usually Grayson is the one who asks for the most unusual costume.  But since he was sick last year and missed Halloween, he decided to be a Lego minifigure again this year (although a soccer player minifigure this time).  This year, it was Ava who challenged me.  She wanted to be the daughter of the Queen of Hearts. (What, you didn't know that the Queen of Hearts had a daughter?  Well, neither did any costume companies.)  So the week before Halloween (with a sprained arm!), I made a tutu, an ace of spades shirt, and a crown (out of a yogurt container) and voila...the daughter of the Queen of Hearts!

The daughter of the Queen of Hearts

Optimus Prime (a transformer)

our Lego minifigure

Halloween night - Grayson informed me that he had his eyes closed for this one...

Av a and her best buddy Ava, who was the Mad Hatter

Mr Lego photobombed the girls

Metal Mouth

It seems like only yesterday that the twins were born and now we have one in braces - how time flies!

Thanks to Ava's adorable habit of sucking her thumb when she was a baby, she had to get braces early because her bottom teeth were pushed so far back that they were hitting the roof of her mouth.  She has been AMAZING with her braces!!  She takes better care of her teeth now then she did before she had them put on.  She loves getting to change her rubber band color.  She put purple and teal on the first month but changed to red and green for Christmas.

I had to take a picture of this - this is Ava getting her impressions done.

Before shot

After shot

King of the Art Table

Christian has started a business at school.  His second week at school, he created an "iron man jet" for himself.  Apparently, the other boys in class loved the jet and began lining up at the art table for Christian to make them one too.  I would pick him up from school and listen to him complain about how many "jets" he had to make that day.  (The life of a budding artist is so hard!)  I loved seeing all the boys (and a few girls) leave class wearing these cuffs.  Christian made me a white one for my birthday.

This is the "iron man jet"

A side view

This week, Christian's teacher told me that Christian is the "king of the art table".  She said whenever he is at the art table the other kids crowd around it to see what he is making and then quickly either try to create the same thing or get Christian to make them one. He has now begun to make "iron man jet packs" that he tapes together to wear on your back.  He sold one to a friend of mine at the preschool for two quarters.  Shark Tank here we come!

This is Lola after she ate one of his "iron  man jets" trying to pretend like she didn't even though the evidence is literally stuck to her face!

Strange Bedfellows

On Wednesday night, I tucked all the kids into bed.  They were all in their own beds and they were all alone.  However, when I went upstairs to check on them two short hours later, this is the scene that met me:

Somebody put the dog in her bed...

Look closely - one of those stuffed animals is Christian!!

Needless to say, if it takes every stuffed animal or dog (or even a little brother) to help them go to sleep at night, so be it. 

First Day of Preschool

Last Tuesday was Christian's first day of preschool.  This year is his last year of preschool (sniff, sniff) so he is the big man on campus.  Christian will go to school Monday- Thursday (although if he had his choice he would go everyday like big brother and sister!).  This year his teacher is Ms Becca.  Ms Becca and Christian will get along great because she is very creative and imaginative (she was Grayson's teacher when he was 4 too).

Christian was dressed and ready to go by 7:45 on Tuesday morning (what is with my boys and being over eager for school??).  He "patiently" waited another 45 minutes before it was time to leave.  Then, it was time for the obligatory first day of school pictures by the tree in our front yard.

Yes, I realize now that there is a porta potty right behind Christian's head

My adorable baby boy!

Of course, Christian had to do an Iron Man pose. This is also the pose he did for his teacher's first day of school picture.  When I look at his teacher's bulletin board in the hall and see all the kids in his class smiling faces and then Christian ready to fight the bad guys, I just have to laugh.  That's my boy!

I am Iron Man

He marched right into school like he owned the place, greeting all the teachers as we walked by various classrooms (everyone knows who Christian is!).  We got to his room and he walked right in without a backwards glance.  I tried to snap a few pictures from the doorway, but he was already busy playing.

He has a batman backpack, Transformer lunch box, and Star Wars water bottle - I think we covered all the bases.

This is my desperate attempt to get one final picture of Christian in his classroom.  

On a side note, once again I am surrounded by celebrities and their kids at the school.  As much as I try to act cool and nonchalant, those who know me know that is pretty much impossible.  In addition to my favorite actress who loves to "speed", this year we are being blessed with the presence of Austin's favorite bongo playing celeb.  All I have to say is, "all right, all right, all right...just keep livin'."

Third Graders

Monday was the first day of school for Grayson and Ava.  It is so hard for me to believe they are 3rd graders!  When I went to school for meet the teacher night and saw that third grade was listed as "upper elementary" I almost cried.  This year they will be switching classes and teachers for various subjects and getting real letter grades!

They were very excited to start school this year.  Grayson was so excited that he woke up at 5:30am on the first day of school!  He and Alex were reading Harry Potter by 5:45 am (he has a very good dad!).  Grayson is in Mrs. Power's class (he is a Panther) with all of his best guy friends.  After the first day of school he said that Mrs Powers was the nicest teacher ever.  He also loves his math teacher Ms Ties because she is a big fan of baseball.

My third grade panther

Ava is in Mrs LeBlanc's class (she is a Leopard).  Ava didn't know any girls in her class but has quickly made friends with 3 other little girls (whew!).  She really likes Mrs LeBlanc although she did say that "we have to work all day in 3rd grade."  (Keep in mind she said this after the 2nd day of school before the "real" work has even begun yet!)  She also loves her math teacher who did the can can with a yard stick.

My third grade leopard

Now it is just Christian and me for a few days until he starts preschool next Tuesday.  He misses his big brother and sister a lot while they are at school!

Waiting to get on the bus

And they are off ...