Fall Fest

The family had a blast at Fall Fest last weekend.

Our kids love to dress up. Rex was especially excited about being Anakin Skywalker this year...he grew his hair out for just this occasion. I guess his efforts paid off because several people commented that he looked just like the "real" Anakin from The Clone Wars, and he even won an award for best superhero costume. Mara was adorable as Minnie Mouse. My friend Kristy found this costume for her at a garage sale for only $1...complete with matching shoes and ears.

Daddy's band "Low Pointe" plays the festival every year. His band is made up of other men from church who like to get together every once in a while and jam. Their motto is: We play what we like, and if you like it too then that's a bonus. Their self-deprecating name stems from a reference to the name of our church congregation "High Pointe Church of Christ". The band is really quite good despite the name that would suggest otherwise.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for helping me out with the kids!

Pumpkin Patch

Our family went to the Big Organge Pumpkin Farm in Celina on Saturday. The weather was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time. Mara really had a blast feeding the animals. She was not the least bit intimidated by them. Rex liked feeding the animals too, but didn't want to get too close to the cows and longhorns. Mara was the opposite. She wanted to pet them! We enjoyed a picnic, hayride, and the kids had fun riding the "train". We left the farm with two pumpkins, lots of pictures, and many fun memories.

Mara's Birthday

We celebrated Mara's 3rd birthday this month. She turned three on September 10th, but we waited until the weekend for her party. The party was supposed to be on the church playground, but we had to hold it in the gym thanks to hurricane Ike. Rain or shine, we all had fun eating pizza and cake. The kids enjoyed the pinata, and Mara loved opening her presents. Thanks to our friends and family for making her feel so special on this special occasion!

Mara's 1st Day of School

Mara attended her first day of North Texas Christian Academy preschool last Tuesday. She was so excited for school to begin, and is really loving it. She is in Mrs. Joni's class which is a combined age group of older 2-year-olds and younger 3's. I am so proud of her for adjusting quickly to this new routine. It helps that she is such an eager student since I am teaching the 4-year-olds, and my mornings are pretty hectic. I am thankful that she has had no reservations about school expectations. She is growing up so quickly. I can't believe that she will be 3-years-old tomorrow! Where has the time gone?

Back to School

Rex went back to school on August 25th. I can't believe that he is old enough for 1st grade! I am very happy that he is in Mrs. Quisenberry's class. Everyone says that she is a wonderful teacher. She has the sweetest disposition, and always has a smile on her face. She actually used to be our next-door neighbor (before Rex was born). It's nice to get connected with her again.

Rex has just completed his second week of school, and everything seems to be going well. He has received stamps in his take-home folder every day as well as earned several "paw points" for good behavior. I am very proud of his efforts thus far.

He lost his third tooth at school on Thursday. This was a surprise to me because I did not even realize that this tooth was very loose. The tooth fairy has been working overtime at our house this month, and Rex is really going to have a challenging time eating with such a large gap in his mouth.

Lost Tooth

Rex lost his first tooth on Thursday night. It was getting very loose, and the permanent tooth was already beginning to pop up behind the baby tooth. He worked hard to loosen up the baby tooth, and even tried to get it to come out by biting into an apple...no luck.

Then, at supper, we were all sitting around the table eating when he bit into a soft piece of garlic bread. He looked up in alarm, and I could see a little blood on his bread and in his mouth where the tooth had been. Sure enough, the tooth came out in that bite of bread, and he swallowed the bite, tooth and all! I looked closely at the remaining piece of bread, and we searched his mouth, but the tooth was never found...So he literally lost his first tooth.

Thankfully, he was not upset by these turn of events. He was relieved that it did not hurt or bleed much, but most of all he was relieved that the Tooth Fairy would still be able to visit him eventhough the tooth was lost.

The Tooth Fairy did pay him a visit on Thursday night, and left him two gold dollars for the lost tooth.

My Birthday

Well, I am officially 33 years old now. My birthday was on Sunday, but I got to celebrate all weekend!

I had a wonderful day on Saturday. It started out with me taking the kids to the grandparents for an overnight visit on my way to get a massage. The massage was lovely, and set the tone for the rest of the day. After that, Tim and I went to the gym. We enjoyed the pool, and then got ready for a nice evening out. We then went to see "Mama Mia", and then on to dinner at The Melting Pot. I love this place. The atmosphere is so fun, and the food is unique and delicious. I also love that it takes a long time to enjoy the full dining experience. We were there almost three hours by the time we finished our meal, but it really went by quickly as we were having such a great time.

Then, on Sunday, I enjoyed Starbuck's for breakfast before heading to church. After worship, we ate lunch at the new Cotton Patch Cafe with Tim's parents and friends from church. I treated myself to a nap on Sunday afternoon. Then, we had a great time at our small group Bible study get together. It was so nice to be back with our group after being out of town for the past month...Thanks to Clint and Jenny for the birthday cake!

I am grateful to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday in style!

On the GO, GO, GO!!!

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted a new blog entry. I'm so sorry for letting time slip by this summer. We have been so busy that I just haven't had time to update it. I promise to do better from now on.

Here's a little recap of our fun summer...

June was packed full of activities. We started out with the kids taking swim lessons in Plano. Then, the next week we were busy with VBS. The next week we all went our separate ways. Mara stayed the week with Grandma and Grandpa, Rex went to Burnet to stay with Grana and Papa, and Tim and I flew to Mexico for our trip to Isla Mujeres. (I'll post an entry about our trip soon) We got back from our trip just in time to wash up our clothes, repack our suitcases, and head to the Barnett family reunion over the 4th of July weekend. Then, we had another special family get together with the Dooley clan this past weekend. It's been non-stop busy, but we've been having a blast!

I am grateful that our pace is slowing down a little bit now. We have gone swimming at the pool a lot this week, and Rex has day camp for the next two weeks starting Monday. It's nice to finally be settling down into a summer routine.

Kinder Grad

Rex has officially graduated from Kindergarten! His school conducted a graduation ceremony for the kindergarteners on May 29th (eventhough he really had one more week of school to go). The ceremony was very cute. The children sang a few songs, and then each child received a certificate from their teacher. It was nice that Grandma, Grandpa, Mara, Tim and I were all able to attend. Rex's last day of school was this past Thursday. I was afraid that Rex might miss his last week when he became sick on Sunday night with a high fever. He ran a temperature for a few days with no other symptoms. We went to the doctor on Monday, and she also saw nothing wrong with him besides the temp. She said it was most likely viral, and would just have to run it's course. I was so sad that he was missing out on his last few days with his friends and his wonderful teacher. Thankfully, he was back to normal by Wednesday, so he was able to be there for the last two days. The class had a pizza party celebration on Thursday to mark the end of the year.

Where has the time gone? I really can't believe that Rex is old enough for Kindergarten, much less for first grade! I'm a little sad that this school year is over, but I am also excited for all the fun and enjoyment we are going to squeeze out of this summer!

Bulletin Board

April was Mara’s month on the two-year-old bulletin board at church. This board is posted in one of the main corridors of our church building, and it is used to highlight pictures of the precious two-year-old children in our congregation. A coordinator organizes the rotation of the board, and notifies the parents of when it’s their child’s turn. Then, the parents have the responsibility of decorating the board, and removing the pictures at the end of the month. It was a lot of fun searching through our files of pictures, and selecting the ones for her board. This process brought back so many wonderful memories! The tough part was narrowing the pictures down to the few that would be posted. As you can see…I squeezed as many pictures on the board as possible.

Soccer

Rex's spring soccer season ended last weekend. Rex went out with a bang by scoring a goal during this final game. We were very excited and proud of him. After the game, the team had a party at the park where the boys all received trophies. Thanks to coaches Leo and Greg for all their time and effort with the Wildcats!

Mother's Day

I had such a nice Mother's Day weekend. The weather was beautiful, and I had a lot of leisure time...which for me is the best Mother's Day gift of all. Sunday was a great day. After church, we went to Joe's Crabshack, and ate lunch outside on the deck. It was an ideal choice because we got to enjoy the nice weather, and the kids loved playing on the playground. That afternoon, we went for a walk in our neighborhood park. It was a banner day for the kids...two playgounds in one day! Then, we ate a picnic supper beside the pond. I love alfresco dining! I feel very blessed to have two beautiful children and such a sweet husband who made my Mother's Day so enjoyable.

Field Day

Rex had field day at his school this past Friday. He had a blast playing the games. I really liked the way the games were organized. Children in grades K-2 played in the morning from 9:30-11:00. The children were divided into groups of two and then paired up with a fifth grade helper. The helper chaperoned and assisted the participants as they moved from station to station. There was no required rotation. The children could freely choose which games and stations they wanted to visit. Each station was set up with two lanes so that the pairs could line up opposite each other and compete against their partner…so it was still competitive, but low pressure. Rex’s favorite game was some race involving water (he did this before I got there to take pictures), but I know he really had fun with the potato sack race because he went to that station twice!

Bye! Bye! Nursery

Well, the time has finally come to make over the nursery. Tim and I (with the help of our mothers and my grandmother) lovingly decorated this room before bringing baby Rex home from the hospital over six years ago.

We invested a lot of time and money creating our babyland. I bought the bedding from Rockinghorse Designs in Canton. Then, I searched all over the Dallas area to find complimentary fabric so that I could make the covers for the chair and the curtains. Grana, Nanny, and I all sewed the cushions for the glider and ottoman one weekend at my grandmother's house in Burnet. I made a pattern for the curtains and sewed them myself. Tim built the armoire and also a bookshelf (not pictured) with moon and star cut-outs that matches the stenciling on the walls. We painted the walls by making stencils out of transparency film in the desired star, and moon shapes. (We added the pink spirals later when we knew that a little girl was on the way.)

We decided to allow the children to sleep together in the same bedroom so that the extra bedroom could be used as a toy room/guest room. This really worked out great, but I had the extra challenge of making the room look both masculine/feminine and baby/toddler friendly. Luckily, the crib bedding had some pink accents, so we added the pink spirals to the wall as well as a pink cover to the changing table. I got Rex's twin bed from my grandparents. It had been stored away in an old shed for many years. I stripped the varnish off and painted it white. Then, I was fortunate enough to find yellow and blue moon and stars sheets which coordinated well with the room's theme, and a yellow/blue comforter to match. It all worked well together. Best of all, the children worked well together. They have a very close friendship, and I think sharing the room has been a big contributing factor...sniff...sniff. This is a bit of an emotional transition for me.

It's time for a change though. Rex now has a new loft bed in the once playroom. I am in the slow process of trying to convert the Americana decorated guestroom into a Star Wars themed room for him. I have removed the crib from the nursery, and Mara is now sleeping in Rex's old twin bed. I found some adorable bedding for it at Target, and plan to decorate her room in a shabby chic motif. It's fun to finally be creating a girly room for her. I'm so glad that the kids shared the nursery, but I did miss out on making her baby room adorably feminine. Stay tuned for pictures of the transformed rooms, but don't hold your breath...it might be a while.

Bluebonnet Festival

Here are a few more pictures from our weekend in Burnet. We all had a lot of fun at the Bluebonnet Festival. The kids loved the parade and the carnival. I really enjoyed seeing so many friends and family. Small towns are great that way. I also loved the airshow. It was my first time to go to an airshow, and the planes were very impressive. I think the kids and I are hoping we can participate in the festival activities again next year. Thanks Grana & Papa for a great weekend!

Weekend in Burnet

Sorry it has been a while since I've updated the blog. We have been busy this month. Tim had his semi-annual paintball retreat in East Texas last weekend. The rest of us took advantage of the long weekend (Rex had a school holiday on Monday), and went to visit Grana & Papa in Burnet.

It was a beautiful spring weekend. We enjoyed the sunny weather, but the wind made things chilly at times. We went to the Bluebonnet festival on Saturday, church in Marble Falls and visited great-grandparents on Sunday, then out to Lake Buchanan on Monday before heading back to McKinney. It was all a lot of fun.

Uppercase Living

Our bathroom shower...the "D" is navy, but the flash of the picture makes it look a little lighter.
Over the cooktop in my kitchen. The decoration really matches the navy tile well, but the picture appears lighter.
I put this monogrammed tile on a stand and placed it up on the decorative plant ledge in my living room. I just took the picture on the floor to show the image close-up.

Words are so powerful, and even have the ability to change our attitudes and influence our behavior. I have wanted to add some decorative lettering (specifically scripture passages from the Bible) to my home decor for a long time. That's why I was so excited when my friend, Kristy, recently began a home-based business called Uppercase Living.

This company offers hundreds of ready-to-order design expressions that can be color customized and applied directly to walls, etc. They also provide custom design options on their website where you can work with various colors and fonts to create the exact design you desire. This is how I made the "Dooley" tile. The expressions have a finished artistic look much like the appearance of painted-on lettering with the added bonus of being removable without damaging the wall or surface where it has been applied.

I am getting ready to host an Uppercase Living party for Kristy at my house tonight. I know it will be a lot of fun, and I plan to order a custom design (Deuteronomy 6:5) for my living room. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Uppercase Living or you may wish to visit their website at http://www.uppercaseliving.com/ .

Easter Fun!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend in Burnet. On Saturday, we went to my cousin's ranch for an Easter bash. We had a great lunch, and then hunted Easter eggs. After that, the kids did a pinata, and got buckets full of goodies. Rex and Mara had a blast! The kids hunted eggs left by the Easter bunny early on Sunday morning. Then, it was off to church in Marble Falls, and then back to Burnet for a traditional Easter lunch. I felt very blessed to celebrate Easter with so many family members. We were also blessed with nice weather for the drive back home to McKinney on Sunday evening.

Rex's B-Day

What a fun time! Rex turned six on March 8th. We began his birthday celebration with breakfast at IHOP on Saturday morning. The kids ordered "Who Cakes"...pancakes topped with blueberry syrup, mini chocolate kisses, and with a pink sucker on top...this is a special item on the menu in promotion of the new Dr. Seuss movie. They were the perfect birthday breakfast food. Then, Rex had his birthday party on Sunday at The Zone. The kids had a blast bouncing, climbing, sliding, and fighting with the jousting poles. Then, they enjoyed pizza and cake followed by games. It was a fabulous weekend!

Snow Fun

Click the play button above to watch a video clip of Mara making a snow angel. It's too cute!

Here are the pictures from snow storm number two of last week. Talk about wild weather! We were playing in snow on Thursday, and didn't even need a coat by Sunday. It has been a lot of fun though. We all enjoyed playing in the winter wonderland.

Giant Snowflakes

The snowflakes were massive yesterday afternoon. I've never seen such huge flakes of snow in my life. It really was a beautiful sight. Enjoy the video clip. I will try to post some more pictures of our snow fun soon.

Crazy Weather!!!

We've had some insane weather here this week. Sunday night it was 68 degrees at 8:00pm as we drove home from our Bible study. 24 hours after that it was snowing a blizzard in my yard!...okay a slight exaggeration. But seriously, our yard was totally white by the time I went to bed on Monday night.

Rex's school had a two hour delay in start time so he had a great time in the white stuff. He was as cold as a popsicle when he came in from playing in the snow, but said, "That was a blast!" He has been wishing that it would snow all winter. I am so glad that he got the chance to play in some this year. I think he might have had an ulterior motive though because he asked me if Santa would be arriving soon. I think he was hoping that he might get to celebrate Christmas again if only it would snow and Santa would make a return trip to Texas...Talk about wishful thinking! I informed him that it would be some time before Santa would pay us another visit.

I'm really glad that Rex had the delay in his school day because otherwise he would not have been able to play in the snow. There was not a snowflake to be found by the time he got home Tuesday afternoon. Today (Wednesday) has seen beautiful weather. I did not even wear a jacket because it was so sunny and pleasant, but they say that change is on the way. It is supposed to rain and turn cold again tomorrow. They are even saying that it might snow again!...Like I said...CRAZY WEATHER!

My Adorable Kids

My friend, Leslie, tagged me to share ten things about my kids. So here goes…

1. We named Rex after his grandfathers. Tim’s dad is Rex, and my dad is Phillip. I love family names, and Rex Phillip seems the perfect name for our son. Of course, it is not without some downfalls…such as when the pharmacy gets confused about which Rex is filling a prescription. Once my dad heard me say, “Rex Phillip” to Rex when he was misbehaving. My Dad’s comment was, “Great! Rex only gets to hear my name when he is getting in trouble.” What can I say? It’s an imperfect world.

2. On the other hand, Mara is not a family name. Many people assume that her name is a reference to the Mara of the Bible, but that was not the inspiration. “Mara Jade” is a character in a Star Wars book by Timothy Zahn. She is a Jedi who ultimately marries Luke Skywalker…Very Geeky…I know, but we love the name.

3. Rex is very dramatic and loves to pretend. He has a box of costumes, and constantly wants to dress up in the different outfits. In September we took him to see his first musical, “The Lion King”. He loved it, and ever since he has wanted to star as Simba in the show. He wears his lion costume and belts out the songs when he watches the video…I don’t have the heart to tell him that he is probably too pale to ever be cast in that role, but who knows, maybe Broadway is in his future.

4. Mara is our little cover girl. She was featured in a recent issue of the “Rite Up”. This is a periodical that Scottish Rite hospital publishes to update its patrons and patients of hospital news. The hospital has recently created a center for clubfoot research, and used Mara’s story to help publicize the event. Mara was born with unilateral clubfoot. (Her right foot was curved in and rotated over…resembling a golf club). The Ponseti method was used to correct her foot. She wore a series of plaster casts for the first two months after birth, and since then, she has worn a brace to maintain the correction. She continues to wear her brace each night, and her foot looks great!

5. Rex is extremely social (much like his daddy). He loves to go and do. He especially enjoys our weekly small group Bible study because he gets the chance to play with some of his best friends.

6. Mara is my independent child. She is only two-years-old, but thinks she can and should be allowed to do everything that her six-year-old brother can do. She likes to do things her way, and often gets upset if I try to assist her. She wants to do it herself!

7. Rex is my little fish. He loves to swim! He is a natural swimmer, and has enjoyed the water ever since he was a baby. I am eager for summer so he can frequent the pool and lake once again.

8. Mara loves to sing. She especially enjoys Christmas carols. “Deck the Halls” is her favorite, but “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph” are tops too. She also likes to sing songs from her Cradle Roll Bible class as well as songs that she has heard on her favorite Noggin TV shows.

9. Rex and Mara both love spending time with their grandparents. Grandma & Grandpa live close to us, so the kids get to see them on a very regular basis. Mara goes to their house to play almost every Wednesday, and sometimes the kids get to spend the night there while Tim and I have a date. It’s wonderful! Rex and Mara usually visit Grana & Papa for longer stretches since it is about a four-hour drive to their home. Rex especially loves to spend weeks at Grana & Papa’s house because they have such a nice, big yard, and Rex loves to play outside. Weeks at their home are usually filled with lots of fun activities plus playtime with the cousins.

10. Rex and Mara currently share a room. Before Mara was born, I decided that it would be good for the kids to sleep in the same bedroom so that our extra room could be used as a playroom. This sleeping arrangement has worked out perfectly. Luckily, Rex is a sound sleeper because Mara can really snore! I believe that the combined sleeping space has contributed to the wonderful friendship that Rex and Mara have. However, I do plan to convert the playroom into Rex’s big boy room later this year.

Tag...Meriann...Your turn!

Tagged

I’ve been tagged twice! Two of my blog friends have challenged me to reveal more about myself with posting lists on my blog. I am going to start with the “Meme List” that Kelly first tagged me to do. So here goes…

Complete the phrase with the 1st thought in your head:

I know.... I still have a lot to learn.

I believe... that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he died on the cross to save me from my sins.

I fought.... a lot with my sister when we were kids, but now we are great friends.

I am angered.... when insurance companies that profit billions of dollars each year deny claims for necessary medical care!

I love.... my family and my friends!

I need.... dates with my husband on a regular basis.

I take.... Rex to school every morning by simply walking across the street. It’s great to be so close to his school!

I hear.... Mara saying new things almost daily. You never know what is going to pop out of my two-year-old’s mouth.

I drink.... Caffeine-Free Diet Dr. Pepper.

I hate.... paying almost $3/gallon for gasoline!

I use.... E85 (Ethanol) fuel in my van whenever possible. It is cheaper and better for the environment.

I want.... to extensively travel the world someday, and learn to speak Spanish.

I like.... almost all foods with the exceptions of liver, ham, green peas, peanut butter, radishes, beets, and a few others.

I feel....happy when I think that spring is just around the corner.

I wear.... jeans and tennis shoes as often as possible. I like to be low maintenance and comfortable when it comes to clothes.

I left.... Texas A&M too quickly. I wish I had taken a little more time to enjoy my college years. I loved being a student in College Station, and those four years went by so fast.

I do.... volunteer work at Rex’s school.

I hope.... that my cousin, Ramona, will be cured of her cancer.

I dream.... that my children will grow up to be happy and healthy.

I drive.... a black 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan Minivan just like the stereotypical soccer mom. It is a great family car. It has a built-in car seat, and uses flex fuel, has 150,000+ miles, and the best feature of all is that it’s paid off!

I listen.... to all different types of music (Contemporary Christian, Top 40, Light Rock, Classic Rock, & Country)

I type… a lot of emails and posts on my blog.

I am ... excited about our upcoming vacation to Isla Mujeres!

I wish.... all my family and friends were joining us on our trip.

I regret.... some of the less-than-brilliant financial decisions I have made in the past.

I care.... for children with special needs. I feel that working with the special needs population is what God has called me to do, and I plan to return to teaching Special Ed. when I go back to working full time.

I should.... go to the gym more often.

I am.... 32 years old, but feel just like I did when I was 21. It’s strange to realize this phenomenon of feeling younger than your actual age, but I guess it is better than the alternative of feeling older than you actually are. I pray that never happens to me.

I say.... “settle down” and “stop running in the house” numerous times each day to my kids. Sometimes I’m like a broken record.

I wonder.... what my children will be like as teens and as adults?

I changed.... my mind about becoming a teacher. I use to say that I would never teach school, but I discovered that it was a good career for me after all.

I cry.... when I get angry or during sentimental movies.

I lose.... my keys in my house all the time because I don’t always put them in the same place when I come home. I really need to improve on this.

I leave.... too much housework undone. (Another area that needs improvement.)

Yea! Finally finished with this task. Believe it or not, completing this list was harder than I expected. My turn to tag, and I choose Leslie and Meriann.

Back to Isla Mujeres!!!

I am so excited that we are planning a return trip to Isla Mujeres in June! I booked our airfare this week, and we got an amazing deal from vivaaerobus.com. This is a new charter with daily flights from Austin to Cancun starting in May. I am now trying to decide which hotel I want to stay in. There are many good options on the island. We stayed at the beautiful Avalon Reef Club last summer courtesy of my parent's timeshare membership, but will be at a different hotel this time. I think that planning the trip is almost half the fun of the whole experience. Looking forward to spending time in the warm Caribbean will certainly brighten my mood on these remaining cold winter days. Feel free to join us in paradise. We want all our friends and family to feel welcome to experience this wonderful island destination with us. Let me know if you are interested, and I'll give you more details.