First Grade Bible Presentation

Today was First Grade Bible presentation at church. Since we started attending Houston Northwest Church shortly after Camden started first grade, he unfortunately missed out on this. Casen and the other kids in first grade received a very nice bible called The Adventure Bible.

Casen is fortunate to have some very loving and wonderful teachers as well as classmates at church.

First Day of School 2018

Today was the boys first day of school. Despite the fact that they too wished summer could go on a little longer, they were excited for the first day. Unfortunately since I work in a school as well, Shane gets to experience the first day of school jitters with them. He is really good about getting pictures and sending them to me so I can feel a part of it.

Camden had no problems going into his class and getting situated. Casen, on the other hand, got a little teary, but was able to pull it together rather quickly.

They both had a great first day and seem to be excited about the year!

Good Bye and Good Luck

Today Mason stopped by to tell the family good bye before he heads out to College Station tomorrow to start the next chapter of his life. Camden wanted to make sure he could tell Mason bye before he left. I ran across this picture the other day from when we lived with my sister and her family and apparently their bond started early.

In true Mason fashion, when the boys asked him if he would play Rock Band on the X-Box with them, he gladly played. And then when they asked him to play soccer with them, he headed upstairs and beat them in soccer. I absolutely love how much my boys adore both he and Braden.

Mason, we are so excited for you to become an Aggie and can't wait to hear all sorts of fun stories. Thanks for coming by and saying good bye to two little boys who think you are the best thing ever.
Good luck - we are so proud of you!!!

Fun with Nana and Poppa and Meet the Teacher

Nana and Poppa Ron kept the boys this week while Shane and I headed back to work. So hard to believe the summer is officially over for us. The boys think it is funny that we have to work while they get to have one more week off. Makes me sad. . . I am not ready just yet to head back to work.

So after leaving Jellystone, they all headed to Lumberton to hang out for a few days. They swam some, hung out some and ate out some. All in all, sounds like a good time to me!

Ready for the trip back to Lumberton

A trip to Dairy Queen for ice cream after church.

Due to the boys having Meet the Teacher on Thursday, Nana and Poppa Ron brought them back home so they could attend. Camden's teachers will be Mrs. Carnifax and Mrs. Adams and Casen has Mrs. Molinar. Word on the street is they have great teachers - which makes this momma happy! The school theme this year is taken from 'The Greatest Showman' which both boys love the music from the show, so they are excited about that.

Casen and Mrs. Molinar

Camden and Mrs. Carnifax

Ready for 1st and 3rd

Since Shane and I still had to work, today Nana and Poppa took the boys to visit Tejas Chocolate Craftory and Barbecue in Tomball. Texas Monthly ranked them #6 on the list of best BBQ joints in Texas. They not only got to enjoy some great BBQ, they also got to have some awesome chocolate. Luckily, Nana brought home extra chocolate for Shane and me, and can I tell you it was DELICIOUS!!!!!

Thanks Nana and Poppa for entertaining the boys and making their last week before starting school a fun one!

Jellystone Family Fun

Unfortunately, Shane and I head back to work tomorrow, but today we got to have some fun at Lone Star Jellystone Park in Waller, Texas. Nana and Poppa Ron had rented a spot for Shanelle and her family to go for a few days for some summer fun and invited us to come up on Sunday to have some fun at the water park and drop off the boys to them so they could watch them for us while we head back to work. Once we arrived, we headed to the pool, but within minutes we were caught in a down pour of rain. We headed back to their RV and waited out the rain. 

Nana and her boys 

Once the rain cleared we headed to the water park. All I can say is, there was A LOT of slide riding taking place all day. 

Poppa rode the slide too

 

I think I have my boys trained
to pose for pictures. 

Our family racing down the slide - I appear to be in last place,
but no worries . . . 

I went flying right past them both - with a big WOO HOO!!!

After we all ate some dinner, Shane and I headed home while the boys stayed with Nana and Poppa. They all got dried off and ready for an outdoor movie tonight while at the park. I do believe a fun day was had by all!

Summer Memories

Looking back on my summers as a kid, I remember always going to the D.E.R.A. swimming pool and swimming. My sister and I loved doing that and I can even remember the joy of being able to get a Chick-O-Stick and Pepsi from the concession stand on occasion. I always loved when we went a little later in the afternoon and my dad would come and swim with us when he got off of work. As I got older, I would spend a month at my grandparents in Missouri and the memories I created with them are still some I hold very fondly. Memories - they are something we have that no one can take away from us.

All that being said, I look for little things here and there that will hopefully create memories for the boys. For instance, the week the boys had camp at Lakewood UMC, it rained a lot that week. While Casen's sports camp allowed him to expend a lot of energy, Camden's robotics camp really did not. Camden was ready to get out and run, but it had been raining daily. One day when I got home from working summer school, I heard him ask his dad if they could go running. Shane really did not want to go run in the rain. I told him I would go with him, so away we went. He had so much fun not only running in the rain, but running through the puddles. We would have ran longer had the thunder and lightning not have been so close to us. Making memories . . .

Going to the movies is something the boys enjoy doing and truthfully, they go more with their daddy than with me. Their choice of movies (action packed boy movies) is not always something that I am the least bit interested. However, Incredibles 2 came out this summer and I was ready to see it - so away we all went.

And of course we could not go the summer without doing some arts and crafts. First up was a washer necklace - per Camden's request.

Luckily the slime craze is calming down some, but the boys wanted to make slime again, this time using shaving cream so they could make puffy slime. Who knew making this slime would remind me of my Paw Paw? When I was a kid he always shaved with a razor and Barbisol shaving cream. When you would go in the bathroom after he was done, the smell of the shaving cream lingered in the air. I bought Barbisol shaving cream, not thinking a thing about my Paw Paw. But the minute I started squirting it out into the bowl, the smell overwhelmed me. Amazing how smells can just take you back and stir up some emotions. . .