Blooms

Natalie gave me this Luna Blush Hibiscus plant for my birthday this year. Look at it's beautiful blooms! I am so proud of myself that I am keeping it alive! Of course, all of the rain we have had lately has helped!

It's cold...

...in Applebee's! Good thing we had a fleece blanket in the car at the end of July!

Family day

Andy and the boys played some baseball this afternoon. I think it was only 99 degrees when they were playing! Alex hasn't ever played before but after a short lesson he was hitting the ball! Mason was a little rusty at first, but it all came back to him and he was hitting the ball across the yard!

After baseball we decided to go swimming at the country club. Andy hasn't been with us yet this summer, so the boys were really excited that he joined us! Sorry, no pictures at the pool. We were having too much fun. I totally forgot about the camera!
I can't believe tomorrow starts the last week of July. Yikes, where did the summer go! Alex should be finding out who his teacher is this week!

Kate's wedding

Saturday night we went to Kate and Randall's wedding. Kate and Andy were childhood friends. The wedding was at a church in Carmine and the reception was at her parent's house. Their house and land is amazing. The pictures don't do it justice at all. The reception was so beautiful. I never thought that I was in someones backyard the entire night. It was beautiful! The bride had 5 cakes and each one was a different flavor! They were so good!

Cutting the groom's cake...red velvet...yum!

Kate's family is very creative. I am sure they made most of the things at the reception. Check out this cool K, Z and R. Their last name starts with a Z. The Z had white lights on it so at night it lit up the table where you could get beer. The table was a 6 panel door laying on top of two barrels. The door was painted white and in black cursive said "and they lived happily ever after". Each square of the 6 paneled door had a word inside.

The boys went 5 days with no DS this week, thank goodness for all of our playdates. But I let them bring them to the wedding because I wasn't sure if they would get bored and get themselves into trouble. So here they are doing what they do best!

The flowers were awesome. Check out these centerpieces!

I wish my camera could have captured how beautiful it was when it got dark. They had chandeliers hanging in the trees with candles inside. So pretty! And check out these cool chairs..aren't they perfect with the hearts?!

Around here

This week we had lots of playdates! Kayci and Noble came over to play Tuesday. I have lots of cute video but haven't had a chance to download it from the camera. I will do that at some point! We taught Noble how to ride the battery operated tractor and gator. He loves it! I had to get his first driving experience on video! Thursday my friend Cindy and her daughter Abby came to visit. The three of them play amazingly well together. Cindy and I were able to have quality visiting time! They put on a music show for us, with Keith Urban playing loudly in the background!

Before Cindy and Abby came we met Dee and her kids at the park. We haven't played with them all summer so it was great to see them. The boys had a blast with their kids, as usual. They got so dirty I had to put them straight into the bath tub when we got home. Now that's a sign of fun! I wish I had taken pictures! Friday Missy and Nicki and their kids came over. 7 boys and 1 girl! They all play well together too. You would be surprised that it only took me about 15 minutes to clean up after they left. They did a pretty good job of keeping the tornado small, while still having fun! I have video of that playdate as well. We are lucky to have so many great friends in our lives.
Last night we had family movie night. I made pizza and we rented Tooth Fairy. When I first saw the previews of the movie I thought it looked really bad. But it was actually pretty cute. There were several parts in the movie where the boys cracked up laughing. They already asked to watch it again this morning.
We are going to a wedding tonight (our first wedding since Heather and Casey got married last year). I always look forward to a good wedding. Although the reception for this one is outdoors. Yikes!
I can't believe school starts in less than a month. I have really enjoyed this summer with the boys. Of course we have our moments but overall we have had a lot of fun. Mason will be going into SECOND grade. Crazy! And Alex will start Pre-K. At St. Paul's, the Pre-K program is everyday from 8:30-11:30. Last year he only went Monday and Tuesday so this will be quite a change. But I know he can handle it and will end up loving it.
I am currently applying for a program at Blinn that will allow me to get my teaching certificate. I am applying for a Generalist/ESL Early Childhood-6 certification. It's a 15 month program (which includes student teaching). It starts in the fall with one night class. The next semester will be an online class, then student teaching. I have an interview on Friday (7/30). Keep me in your prayers that it goes well and I get into the program! The crazy thing about this program is the admissions requirements. It doesn't matter that I have a Marketing degree from A&M and 10 years of work experience. They still want me to have a certain score on my SAT test that I took 17 years ago. I provided scores for my TASP test but my math score wasn't high enough. It needed to be 250 and I had a 245. So, now we are waiting for my SAT scores to arrive with hopes that the math score on that test is high enough! The reading and writing portions on both my TASP and SAT were fine, it's just math that's an issue. I want to teach elementary! It's not like I am asking to be a college calculus professor! Anyway, who would have thought that 17 years later I would care about what I made on my SAT!
Andy is taking two classes this summer (Accounting Information Systems and Fraud Examination). He knows quite a bit about both subjects, but it is still a TON of reading. He stayed up until 4am this morning working a project that is due Monday. He tries to do school stuff when we are all asleep but that means he doesn't get sleep. I don't know how he is still functioning. He has two more classes to take in the fall then he will be ready to sit for the CPA exam. I am so proud of him that he has continued to take classes with all the other stresses he has in his life. I know it will pay off in the long run.
That's the update from around here! I'll try to do a better job keeping my blog updated. But silence on the blog means we are having fun!!

Watch out...

We got one of these today!

I am SUPER excited! The last time we had a working camcorder Mason was a year old. We have missed 6 years of video memories! But now, we can document our memories once again! I can't believe how much technology has improved since our last camcorder. There is really no comparison! I can't wait to try it out!

Pville Park

Mason and Alex drug my mom and I to the park at 1:00 PM Saturday. It was hot! But they didn't care. They had trees to climb, rocks to throw, water to wade in, and a playground to play on. Who needs A/C?!

Isn't this the cutest tree hugger you have ever seen?!

Mason's getting to the point where he is outgrowing the playscape at "Gammie's park" (the Pflugerville park). So instead of going through the tunnels he climbs on top of them!

Alex does not like to wear shoes! He only wears them when he absolutely has to! Apparently, they aren't needed to go down slides!

The boys still love to take their shoes off and walk in the creek.

Alex is checking out his target before he launches his rock!

While the kids are away...

I wish I could say I was super productive today. But I can't. I can say I have had a nice relaxing day! This morning I woke up early and went to College Station to do some shopping. How nice it was to just worry about getting myself in and out of the car. I could push the basket all by myself and I could go down any aisle I wanted. I could take my time looking at items too! After shopping I met Andy for lunch. I can't tell you the last time we went to lunch by ourselves. It was nice! When I got home I did a few things around the house. I didn't tackle my big organization projects yet. I can't muster up the motivation yet. There is always tomorrow! Tonight Andy and I are going to see a movie! And it's not an animated movie! It's been YEARS since we have gone to a movie. I am pretty excited! It's nice to have a break and enjoy the peace and quiet. But I sure do miss those rowdy boys!

What should I do?

Andy and I dropped the boys off at my parents this afternoon. We will be going back to Austin Friday for the weekend, but we are childless for the next two days. You wouldn't believe how long my to-do list is! There are so many things I have been wanting to do, but I need a good chunk of time to do them. The big debate is, do I exhaust myself by working on my to-do list items, or do I do something fun, or nothing at all?! I'll let you know tomorrow!

San Antonio

Andy had a conference in San Antonio this week so the boys and I tagged along. We got to stay in the Marriott on the Riverwalk. The boys LOVED the pool. The hotel was attached to the Rivercenter Mall. It was located next to all the places we liked to eat as well. Here is a picture of our hotel from the pool (which was on the 4th floor. It was indoor and outdoor).

Here was the view from our room on the 16th floor.

The boys spent a lot of time in the pool! Alex just finished swim lessons a couple of weeks ago, and it's amazing how strong of a swimmer he is already. There was one day I didn't get into the pool at all with the boys and they did just fine. These boys are like fish!

One night we went on the Riverboat tour. The boys really enjoyed seeing the sights from the boat.

Mason insisted that we eat ON the Riverwalk, so we did two out of the three nights.

My boys!

We had to see the Alamo!

We also had to go to the Children's Museum. We love the children museums. This was the second time to visit the San Antonio museum. The boys loved it more this time I think! It wasn't very crowded so they didn't have to wait in line to try out each exhibit. They really liked that! Out of the three children's museums we have been to (Austin, Houston, San Antonio), Houston is definitely the biggest and best, but it's always so crowded! The boys didn't mind less exhibits since they were able to play in each one as long as they wanted! I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few. Below, Mason is being a bank teller. They had a really cool touch screen program on the computer at the teller desk where you had to make change.

Alex is working at the ball factory! Both boys loved this exhibit!

Last night we went to an Italian food place on the Riverwalk. Mason ordered spaghetti and meatballs. A little chi-chi bird kept taking spaghetti straight off of his plate! Finally, Mason just started giving it to the bird so it would stop taking it directly off of his plate! It was hilarious!

The boys posing with St. Anthony.

As the boys and I were walking back from the Children's Museum one afternoon Mason noticed these two baby ducks sleeping on the rocks next to the Riverwalk. He has very good eyes because they completely blended in with the rocks. They were super cute!

I should have put this picture first, but when we got to our hotel Sunday afternoon the lobby was FILLED with kids in costumes. (The picture doesn't do it justice at all, there were hundreds of kids, but I felt a little embarrassed taking pictures of them all!) Andy saw them first when he went to check in. He came back to the car and said there was some sort of freak conference going on! When I saw it for myself I was a little worried the boys would have nightmares that night. It was strange! It was some sort of gaming conference where kids dressed up in Japanese game characters and exchanged goods, gaming advice, something like that. Anyway, I guess I am way to sheltered because it seemed a little strange to me. But by Monday morning the lobby was filled with professionals in suits!

Lake

Yesterday we took the boat out to the lake. We invited Natalie and Harper to go along with us. We had a great day! I can barely move today so I know that is a sign it was fun! I haven't skied in at least 15 years but I did yesterday! The adults skied or rode the inner tube. Mason rode the inner tube too. That boy LOVES the water and anything associated with it. He loves the inner tube also. He wants you to pull him fast and go over lots of big waves. If it isn't exciting enough for him he will jump up and down in the inner tube to make it more fun! He is a little daredevil! Both boys wanted to start learning how to ski but the ski rope we had for the small skis tore in half (as Andy was testing it!). So that will be another trip to the lake.

We spent 4 hours at the lake, so by the end of the day this is what Alex looked like! He was a trooper. He REALLY wanted to start learning how to ski yesterday. Oh, and if you don't reapply your sunscreen and you are in the sun for 4 hours, you will get burned!!! Andy and I are proof! Ouch!!

Relaxing

Saturday morning we went to the Galleria. I LOVE the galleria. Even though I didn't buy anything, I love window shopping there. The boys enjoyed watching the ice skaters. We were going to take them skating but they said they would rather watch this time. Fine with us!

At the hotel the boys had a great time swimming and of course playing DS! I didn't get any pictures of the pool, but it rated #1 on the "fun activities at the hotel" scale! The breakfast each morning was pretty fun too! Mason enjoyed his Texas shaped waffles each morning!

Houston Children's Museum

Last weekend we stayed in Houston for a mini-vacation. We went to the aquarium Friday and to the Houston Children's Museum Saturday. Our whole family loves the children's museums. We have been to the ones in San Antonio, Austin and Houston. The Houston one is the largest of the 3 and seems to be more geared to older kids, so Mason and Alex really got alot out of it this time. Andy and I had a lot of fun too. The best part was watching the boys (especially Mason) really studying the exhibits, taking it all in, and learning! I took a ton of pictures but my favorite ones are of them really trying to figure out how things worked. It helps that their Daddy is a walking encyclopedia! He was right there with them explaining how everything worked. We spent 4 hours there but the boys could have easily spent 4 more. It was really crowded since we went on a Saturday. I want to go back during the week before the summer is over! Here are some pictures of the day. 

We spent ALOT of time at this lego race track. You had to build your own lego car, then race it down a track. Mason and I went to this station first, while Andy and Alex made things out of pipe cleaners! You should see the things that can be made with pipe cleaners! Anyway, Mason built a short, narrow car and put it on the track to race. It feel apart about 1/3 of the way down. So he went back to the building table and modified it. He got a little further down the track with the 2nd version, but it still fell apart before the finish line. He went back to the table to modify. He did this over and over until he build a model that made it all the way to the finish line without crashing. I was very proud of him for trying until he got it right. Alex had some help building his car but he made it to the finish line too. The cutest thing about him racing was that he couldn't see over the top of the track. He could just reach enough to put his car on the track but he couldn't see it go down. But that didn't discourage him from participating!