Summer Fun!

I have been MIA for the last couple of months, but Kyle is into everything now and my computer time is limited! I have started to put pictures online several times, then never got back to finish it.

We have had a fun summer! In June, there was baseball. Jacob was so excited when he made the all star team. Jacob even had to miss tennis camp in Mason for baseball practice. Riley went to tennis camp by himself and had a great time!

My All Star and his best bud
Riley improving his skills at camp

This was also Jacob's first year to go to church camp. He went with his best bud and they had a blast and can't wait for next year.


In July, we made a road trip to Houston for my family reunion. My sister, Laura, and her two girls were brave enough to ride along with me and my three boys. It was a lot of fun, even though we suffered through a few melt downs from Kyle.

On the way home from the reunion, we dropped off Jacob and Riley in Mason and they stayed with Mimi and Pawpaw for over a week. The boys got to attend VBS, go to the bat cave and help them get the cattle up. Of coarse, they swam and played in the dirt everyday!

In August, the boys got to go on their first airplane ride to Houston. They saw the Houston Astros play the San Francisco Giants. My two little jet setters. Riley decided he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. (Yes, he still wants to race dirt bikes, too.)

We also made it to Albuquerque for a birthday celebration.

Our little munchkin has stayed busy, as well this summer. He has found the game cube cords and loves to chew on them. But his favorite toy, hands down, is dad's cell phone. When Kelly picks him up, Kyle immediatley checks Kelly's pocket to see if it is in there. Kyle has also learned how to eat real food and likes ice cream the best!


Kyle is getting stronger and more coordinated daily. He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. Kyle is even starting to try to take a few steps on his own. He is not quite ready to walk yet, but I am sure it won't be long.

Here are a few more random pictures.












Now it is time to get back into a routine and go to bed before 10 o'clock. School starts Monday and my little Kindergartener must have at least 10 hours of sleep or he is a bear!

Astros vs. Giants

Kelly and the boys had a great time at the Astros game on Monday. Jacob and Riley got to take their first airplane ride (that they can remember) and they had a wonderful experience! I asked Riley if he ever got scared on the plane and he said, "No.... maybe a little when we took off."

They flew into Houston Monday afternoon, took a taxi to the hotel and walked across the street to the game. Even though they saw the best play of the game from the monitor at the concession stand, I think everyone had a good time! This was the first time Kelly, Jacob and Riley have been to a major league baseball game. Tuesday morning, they took a taxi back to the airport and headed home.

Here are the few pictures that Kelly took in Houston.

Pumpkins and Cotton

It is time to start thinking about pumpkins. The phones have started to ring with buyers looking for pumpkins and so far, our crops look good. The yellow flowers will turn into the pumpkins in a few short weeks.




The cotton that we did not lose in the June hail storm looks good, too.

The Boys are Back in Town!

Jacob and Riley are home from a fun time in Mason. They have talked about their adventures non stop since they have been home. They made new friends, swam, went to the bat cave, rode four wheelers, swam, saw relatives, went to Gatti's, swam, went to VBS, saw old friends, swam, played games and ate lots of yummy food. Jill and Steve brought them to Muleshoe on Tuesday and we are still getting back in the swing of things here. Jacob went to work with Kelly one day, but has wanted to hang out at home the rest of the week.

The last two nights we have gone up to "Riley's" school and played on the new playground. They have just completed a remodel of the school and this included a new play area. Riley is so excited about starting school and we are counting down the days.

Kyle is a champ at crawling now and wants to walk badly. He is pulling up on everything and loves walking with his big brothers holding his hands. Kyle still only has the one tooth, but the other bottom tooth is right there. I am sure he will be eating steak in no time!

I finally had the time to take the boys to get their school supplies. I wanted to beat the back to school rush and we had the Target school supply section to ourselves. The theme of the year is camo. They picked out camo lunch boxes, backpacks, folders and pencil holders. I wonder if camo will still be cool next year.

Family Fun

We had a fun vacation with my sister and her girls last weekend. With 5 kids and 2 adults packed into a suburban, I knew it would be an adventure. We did not have any major problems if you don't count the tired, teething 8 month old that was bored with his car seat. Our first stop was the Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham. The kids enjoyed seeing how their favorite ice cream is made, but they really enjoyed the free sample at the end. (Even Kyle got a free sample!)








We left Brenham and headed down to the Clear Lake Area. After finding a hotel (**wink** at Laura), our gang all headed down to the Kemah Boardwalk. Kemah is a small town by Clear Lake that has built this old fashioned boardwalk on the port. There are carnival type rides, restaurants and gift shops. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Landry's and watched the boats come and go. Laura and I talked the kids out of riding the rides in exchange for dipping dots and swimming at the hotel. (I know we had already had ice cream that day, but we were on vacation, you know!)




The next day we made our way to the Space Center Houston. My kids were not really looking forward to the Space Center until we walked in. There was so many activities for the kids, they did not know where to start. I think we tried everything and they enjoyed the ropes course and trapeze the best. Jacob and Riley had a blast and did not want to leave. (Our kids had on matching shirts that read, "I get cranky without my Blue Bell." Many people at the Space center commented on the shirts.)










Ten minutes down the road, this is what our car looked like.



We then headed for Lake Jackson and the family reunion. What a fun weekend.
Thanks Laura for the pictures!

On the move...

We had a wonderful little vacation with my sister and her girls in Houston. I will post more on that later. (Laura - that means you need to send me some pics!)

But the big news around here is Kyle is now a crawler! He still moves at a slow speed, but I am sure he will get faster with practice. Also, after many tears, and a lot of drool, Kyle's first tooth finally broke through! This first tooth was not much fun and I do not look forward to the others! Our little guy is growing up fast!

Fun with the NM Girls

We have our cousins in from New Mexico this week and the boys are having a blast! On Friday, we went to the indoor waterpark in Canyon. The kids all had a great time and Jacob told me Friday night that it was the best day ever. Saturday we went to a new business in town called Tickled Paint and each cousin got to paint their own ice cream bowl. Kyle slept through the excitement, but I made a bowl for him. His bowl has his hand prints on the outside (like he has his arms around the bowl holding it) and it says "Mine!!" on the inside. The girls made a cheerleader bowl and soccer bowl. Jacob made a sports bowl and Riley made a bowl with a train wrapped around the outside. This was a lot of fun and the kids were very creative! The bowls will be fired and then they can take them home. We will have the girls this week and then we will all leave together for our family reunion on Wednesday. What a fun time!