Fall Days!

We have been busy these last couple of weeks. We have had a soccer game every Saturday and sometimes on Sunday which keeps us running to the soccer fields a lot. It has been doing nothing but raining which makes it nice and muddy for the games but thank goodness for rainboots.
Emma spent the night with a friend for the first time a couple of weeks ago and that was hard for mama. Does this mean she is growing up? I hope not!
Eric and I attended the annual Gala that PRMC has every year to raise money for scholarships and it was a great one. We had so much fun with many of our dear friends. It was great for us to get all dressed up and go to an adult only function. We enjoyed great food and wine.
To get Halloween started off the right way by carving pumpkins, me, Eric and Emma went over to the Jones' to carve some pumpkins. We usually carve pumpkins every year as a family but why not do it with some good friends....and it was FUN!!! We carved pumpkins, ate soup and made cookies while the kids played. Last night was Halloween night and Emma dressed up as a butterfly and I must say she was the cutest one I saw. Eric went racing while me and Emma went over to some friends house and went on a hay ride trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with a group of our friends and their kids. We had a great time and decided we should do that every year. Hopefully next year Eric will be able to join us. So now that Halloween is over it is time to start preparing for Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, not only because my birthday is coming up in December but I love Christmas traditions with my family. We are planning lots of fun things like going to the Gaylord ICE exhibit again this year, riding the Polar Express in Grapevine, shopping and going to a Stars game in November. Stay tuned and keep checking back to see what we are going to be doing next.

Soccer Star!!

Last weekend was Emma's first soccer game of the season. This is her 4th season and I must say that she is getting pretty good. She scored 4 goals the first game and I have never been more excited. She played awesome!! We haven't been doing much of anything around our house except going to school and enjoying the nice cool weather. We haven't got to go riding in the jeep lately because it has been too cold. This week is our homecoming week so Em will have dress up days so hopefully I will get to upload some pics soon of her outfits. Besides school and soccer she will start back to tumbling soon. As far as me and Eric we are simply working and running Emma where she needs to go. Racing is over for a while so we have Eric again on Saturday nights and are loving it. For our near future we plan on going to the Gaylord to stay a night and taking the train ride in Grapevine during Christmas. Enjoy the rest of the week and God Bless!

New Chapter In Our Lives

Well Emma started kindergarten 2 weeks ago and it couldn't be any better for her. She absolutely loves it. Since I teach there in the same building as her I had to be in my room to greet my kids so her daddy took her to her first day of school. I knew Emma would be fine but her daddy, oh not so good. Poor Eric he was so upset seeing his baby girl start school. That was a major milestone in our lives. I, on the other hand, get to see Emma all day in the halls, cafeteria and she comes to my room before and after school so I do have it good. I guess you could say that is one of the perks of being a teacher and being in the same building as her for the next 2 years. I did a lot of crying the night before school started but on the first day her daddy was the one crying. She has came home everyday telling us what she did at school which lets me know that she does enjoy it. She wants Eric to take her to school every morning but I am not so certain that it is not for his benefit or is it to get to ride in the jeep...don't know??? On the other hand, I have started back as well and my kiddos are wonderful as usual. I really do enjoy teaching and know that this is what I am suppose to be doing in life. Eric will be leaving on Sunday to go to Iowa to race so it will be just me and Emma at home for a week by ourselves...really sad about that. I will be glad when he gets home and he is not even gone yet but I hope he does good. September is a busy month for us. We have a lot of birthday including both my sister, my moms, a couple of friends and ERIC WILL BE 32 on September 27th!!! Me and a couple of my friends are also going to Grapefest in Grapevine so that is what I am looking forward to. This has been on our calendar for a year so I am ready! Emma is about to start playing soccer again so we will be busy with practices every week and games on Saturday. I will try to post some soccer pics real soon. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Goodbye to Summer

Well summer is over as tomorrow is my first day back to work. Although I love my job and my precious kiddos at school I will miss my summer vacation. Since my last blog a very exciting thing has happened....we have been waiting 9 months on our new baby girl niece and she finally came...welcome to the world, Avery LizBeth! She is absolutely adorable and we all love her very much. Emma is especially excited because now she has a girl to play with.

Besides our beach vacation we didn't do much other than go swimming, playing outside, camping and shopping. A couple of weekends ago we stayed in Dallas. Eric played in a softball tournament so this was a great opportunity for us to get in some back to school clothes shopping for myself and Emma. Emma really thought she was on another vacation. Anytime we stay in a hotel she thinks that is a vacation and loves to order room service and swim. Eric bought a new jeep wrangler so we have had some fun driving that around town.

Now it is time to get back in a scheduled routine and get to bed early and wake up early...yuck! This year Emma starts kindergarten and is officially a big girl! I don't know who is going to be crying more come Monday morning, me or Eric. I do think Eric. These next 2 years will be okay for me because she will be in the same building as me but when she goes off to 2nd grade she will be at a different campus...a little bittersweet then. I keep telling myself that I will be just fine because I will see her and be with her during the day, but it will really take some getting used to her actually being in school. Don't fret I will post some pics of her first day of school next week. That is all for now but will let you all know how next week goes for all of us!!

Orange Beach Vacation 2009

We had a wonderful vacation this summer. We went to Orange Beach, Alabama which is right beside Gulf Shores. Piper and Jordan went with us so Emma had others to play with besides just her "boring" mom and dad (as she would say). On our way down to the beach we stopped for one night in New Orleans and took a horse and carriage ride around the French Quarter. While in New Orleans we ate a two diners, drive-ins and dives restaurants (the show that is on the Food Network). One was called Joey K's which served good ole' Louisana food and the other one was The Creole Creamery which was an ice cream place.

After an exciting day in New Orleans we were beach bound. We got there on Monday night and Emma's first sight of the beach was full of excitement. She ran on the white sand so excited she didn't know what to do first. The next couple of days we stayed at the beach all day and got out at night to eat. Emma loved making sand castles, looking for seashells (she even found a sand dollar which evidentally is very unusual to find), swimming in the beach and jumping the waves. That is pretty much how we spent the rest of our vacation. It was very relaxing. While we were there we went to a place to ride go-carts, hung out at the beach, hunted for ghost crabs at night, went shopping in the souvenir shop, took lots of fun pictures and ate good food. Crab hunting at night was more for the adults I think than for Emma or myself. We also added a new member to the family.....Emma also got a new hermit crab named Rainbow. Here is a pic of Emma and Rainbow. We had a great time and can't wait for next year. Here are a couple of family pics we took on the beach. They turned out really good.

Summer 2009

So far we have had a fun filled summer. Unfortunately Eric has had to still work everyday but I am off for the summer and Emma and I have had lots of things to keep us busy. Emma has been to VBS, swimming lessons, camping, Rangers game and other weekend trips. Pretty much all summer we have been swimming everyday and I must say she is beginning to become an awesome swimmer. On another note my sister Rachele is expecting and we are patiently awaiting the arrival my new neice. She should be here before summer is over and we can't wait. Emma really can't wait, right now all she has is boy cousins. My sister-in-law, Lonna, is also expecting in December and hopefully we will soon find out what she is having.

Some thoughts for upcoming weeks...
We are leaving for a beach vacation on Sunday and this will be the first time for Emma to see the beach so she is very excited. We are going to Orange Beach which is right beside Gulf Shores. We are also planning on going to the Great Wolfe Lodge before the summer is over. Emma is such a water bug she would rather be in the water than anywhere.

Emma starts school in August and oh my how hard this is for me to realize. Just yesterday she was a tiny baby and now she is starting real school (as she says). So we will be school clothes shopping and getting school supplies. I know I think this is such a fun and special thing to do but after a couple of years of that I will be sick of it, I am sure.

I am also hoping to get in another camping trip in before the summer ends. We love to camp and be with our friends. I will post some pics of our vacation when we get back. Enjoy the weekend!