3rd Grade Bible Presentation

Sunday was an important day for Allison. It was the day she received her 3rd grade Bible from White's Chapel. They always do a beautiful ceremony for the 3rd graders outside on the lawn. It was a gorgeous day, although a little hot even that early in the morning! After some music and a motivating message to the kids about how important reading the Bible is, each child came up and introduced themselves and their family. Allison really has a love of Bibles and has already starting collecting them. I find her reading her Bible in her room a lot and love that she is inspired to read God's word. She has started Faith Lock this year on Wednesday nights, which is a Bible study for 3rd - 6th graders. We are so happy and proud that Allison is showing such commitment to reading and studying the Bible. After the special service, the 3rd graders all sat together during the 11:00 service and were recognized by Pastor John. Caroline and Will also got to sing Jesus Loves Me during the service. It was a wonderful morning!

Jager The Horse

Since our dog, Jager, died last February, Will has been very interested in talking about her and what happened to her. Although he hasn't seemed devastated, I can tell that he misses her and that he is a little worried about death. He came home from school last week with a stick horse that he made and named Jager. Will has become very attached to Jager, and he likes to take Jager with us wherever he goes. Jager has already gotten torn (accidentally and on purpose) and has been taped up. It's just so cute to watch him with his imaginary horse. Just make sure you don't refer to Jager as imaginary. He is very real in Will's eyes!

A Blast From the Past!

Last week I took Caroline to her first Roller Skating party. I had been once before with Allison, but this time it really struck me how similar the skating rinks are to when I used to go every Friday during elementary school. So much in the world has changed, but for some reason skating rinks seem to be in a time warp. The decor is the same, and the announcers sound the same and call out the same types of skating. We had a great time, and after a couple of rough trips around the rink, Caroline was skating around with no problem at all. She liked it so much that she says she wants to have her 7th birthday party there!

A Future Longhorn???

Gram got Will this outfit, and he loves to wear it. I left Saturday morning before he was dressed thinking he would be wearing his soccer uniform, and then his game was cancelled. I worried a little at what he might show up wearing since when Dad and Will are in charge, it has been known not to match at all! So when I saw Will, I assumed Ray pulled that out because of the Texas/Texas Tech game that evening. I mentioned it to Ray, and he said Will dressed himself completely independently that morning. I need to make sure Will is a Baylor fan, too, but he is very proud of his Longhorn attire and loves to give Hook em Horns like Gram taught him!

Butterflies

Caroline got to play her first soccer game on her new team - the Butterflies. We combined our team with Julie Hatton's team, and Saturday the girls got to play their first game. Will and Allison's games were both cancelled again due to wet fields. The Butterflies did great and won 3 - 1. I mean I'm not sure exactly what the score was because we really don't keep track of that, but if I was going to, that would be the score! Caroline got one goal, and the team played great. I love to watch Caroline play. She has such intensity, aggression, and a natural competitive spirit, and if she leans to channel that effectively, she will develop into a really good player. Again, not that I really care what she pursues, but I wouldn't mind if she ended up being a soccer player! I love the picture with Caroline and Dad watching/coaching in the background!

Dragon Youth Night

Last Friday night was Dragon Youth Night at the Dragon Football game. The youth football players got to run out on the field before the game, and the cheerleaders got to line the tunnel for them! The girls had a great time in the big stadium, and they loved cheering on all the Dragons. We went out to dinner with friends before the game and then had fun watching our girls and then the Dragons on to another victory against Mesquite. It was a fun night, and I think there will be a lot more Dragon football in our future.

Farmer For A Day

Caroline got to dress up as a farmer for the day at school. Activities included churning butter and eating it on crackers, making milk, and watching a movie on cows! They got to vote on the type of milk they liked best and, not surprisingly, Caroline chose chocolate milk as her favorite (with strawberry as a close second!) and buttermilk as her least favorite. I think she makes a pretty cute farmer!

Gram's Birthday

On August 25th Gram celebrated her 69th birthday. The Sunday before we went to Babes together to eat, and Gram got to wear the infamous chicken hat and be sung to. Since she threatened me with my life not to post a picture of that on the blog, I guess I will refrain from doing so. It was a fun night that was highlighted with the kids doing the hokie pokie! Bill was out of town the weekend after her birthday, so we celebrated with their family over Labor Day weekend. We just had Mexican food and a delicious bundt cake! Gram loved her gifts. We had given her a silver necklace on her birthday, and then we had our yearly grandchildren picture made for her. Kristen and I agreed that it was by far the easiest time we have had with getting this picture since we started this tradition in 2003. There is nothing easy about getting a good picture of a 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 year old at the same time, but we are definitely improving! Bill and Kristen gave Gram a University of Texas chip and dip bowl. She will enjoy flaunting that for her Aggie friends. Gram does so much for all of us and she is very loved. We are glad we were all able to celebrate together.

Star Ranch

Will finally got to start his Transitional Kindergarten Class this week. He was so excited to go after watching the girls go for a week. We knew of a few boys that would be in his class, but what we didn't know was that his class is made up of ALL boys - 14 of them! Wow. Those teachers have their hands full. It seems to be a great group of kids and teachers. His room is set up like a ranch and is called Star Ranch. They have Rules of the Ranch, Ranch Hands at Work, Around the Corral, Wanted, and Future Trail Rides. So far, Will's favorite accomplishment has been to stay on "green" all week due to good behavior/manners. I have to admit that I was viewing this year for him as just a year to get through so he would be ready to go to Kindergarten next year, but I found myself really excited for him that he has this year in this class. It is going to be perfect for him, and we love being up at Chapel Hill. I am also going to enjoy some time with him on his day off (Fridays), as well.