First Day of Pre K!

Wow, my boy isn't a baby anymore!  My BIG boy is officially in Pre-K!

We are at a new school this year and it seems to be going wonderfully well.  Walker was thrilled to go and his teacher says he's doing great in class!

Look at this handsome boy.... melts my heart!

He loves his new backpack and lunchbox:

We had to do the official sign picture:

I was thrilled to get so many smiles!

And, here he is with Ms. Jeanne:

Walker will go to school three and a half days.  Which means we wake up and get ready Monday-Thursday.  I hope he continues to be excited every single morning!

A Spot of Tea

The women of our family love high tea.  It's just fun.  And lovely.  And fabulous.  So, you can imagine how wonderful it is that I have a friend from Scotland.... who serves an amazing tea!

I was so pleased that she hosted a very special tea for Carson's birthday!

Bunny loved introducing another granddaughter to high tea.

We had such a fun time and Carson really enjoyed it.  Trudi knowledge and her accent made it such a good experience!

Trudi's kids and my kids enjoy playing together, which means Everly got to "dress for tea".  So, I have to include this precious picture:

Wow, she looks so grown up.... How did that happen?!?!?

Loving San Antonio!

We didn't plan a major vacation this year, so we took the kids to San Antonio!  Seriously, what a fun trip.  There's so much to do and they kids had a great time.  

Guess what they are big enough for now?  Headphones in the car!

They loved getting to watch several different movies!

We went straight to the riverwalk.  Because, you can't go to San Antonio without seeing the riverwalk. Walker and Everly liked watching the ducks and boats!

After riverwalk fun, we went to our resort.... The JW Marriott.  Wow, what a great place.  Awesome pools, great service and a really nice room.  We were able to get in a quick swim and as we walked back to our room.... we found s'mores!

Yummy!  Walker and Everly loved their sweet treat.

The next morning, it was off to Seaworld!

Another great place.  Our first stop was the dolphin encounter.  Less and a year ago Walker SWAM with a dolphin.  This trip he wanted nothing to do with them.  His sister, on the other hand, was ready to spend some time with these sweet guys!

She loved touching it and feeding it.  She kept asking to do it again!

After the dolphins, we went to see a few shows.  Walker LOVED them all.  Seaworld does such a great job.

We stopped to see the flamingos along the way.  RayRay, this is for you:

Next up, hanging out with Shamu for lunch...

 We got an up close and personal look at these amazing animals.  They did some training.  Those guys are HUGE!

Everly took a little snooze and Walker got to play in the big Sesame Street area.  He loves to climb.

It was a great Seaworld day!!

Next on the agenda.... a whole day at the awesome pool!

Walker and Everly are little fish.  We spent as many waking moments in the water as possible.  I'm thankful that I talked them into going to dinner with my friends.  It was great to see Erin and Geoff and Tinsley.  

Such a wonderful trip!  I know I say it too much, but we really are enjoying our "bigger kids".  They were so good and it was great fun doing new and fun things.  And, I can't even tell you how great it was NOT taking diapers!  I will gladly stop to go potty in exchange for not having to change a diaper at a theme park!

We only have a little more than a week until school starts.  How is it possible that Walker will be in Pre-K??

No More Babies

I can't even tell you how many times I've said, "wow, the kids are so grown up" or "huh, I didn't realize they could do that" lately.

It's a fact.... we don't have babies anymore.  We have big kids.

Truly, the seem so grown up.  From what they are saying, to how tall they are, to being able to swim, climb, etc.

We went to the water park at Villa this weekend and they were almost completely independent.  Obviously we kept our eyes on them at all times, but we didn't have to follow up the stairs or wait at the bottom of the slide.  How did that happen????

There's a part of me that is a little sad about this, but mostly, I'm excited about the future.  Think about how much more fun we will have on vacations!  So many of our friends went to Disney this summer.... I CAN. NOT. WAIT to take Walker and Everly back.  It will be a ball.  (We're thinking Disneyland next summer!)

I'm sure part of this new reality is that Everly is potty trained.  I gotta say, it's really, really nice to not have to carry diapers anywhere.  And, the no swimmy diapers.... amazing!  And, just to update you on my big girl... ZERO accidents.  She's still wearing a pull up for nap time and bed time, but she is dry every single time when she wakes up.  Those pull ups will be gone in no time. (Mommy is ready to get rid of them now, but E isn't so sure)

Next week we are going to San Antonio.  I'm so excited to take them to SeaWorld and enjoy the hotel pool.  And, speaking of being all grown up... I was telling Walker about the whales that we will see. This was our conversation....

Me: "Walker, do you know what a whale is?  Do you want to see a big black and white one?"

Walker:  "A black and white one.... I think you mean an orca whale."

What?!??  

See what I mean?  No more babies.

Sunday Funday

Last weekend, we had nothing going on, so we decided to take the kids to the Aquarium!  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Overall, I'm totally impressed with the Houston Aquarium, but the kids did enjoy checking out all the fishes!

And, more importantly, they enjoyed the rides outside!

The ferris wheel was a big hit!

And, getting silly drinks in a shark cup....

And, riding the carousel....

Once we'd had our fun outside, we went back inside for food.  Peepaw and Maggie met us for dinner.
The food was tasty and the kids were good.

I think the favorite part.... desert!

Check out this cookie...

YUM!  

It's fun making last minute plans.... and made for a great day!

BIG Girl in the House

So, this blog doesn't meet the expectations that I set for myself, but I'm going to do it anyway.  The reason it doesn't meet expectations... there aren't pictures.  But, the reason I'm doing it anyway.....

EVERLY IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!

Really!  Seriously! Potty trained.

I kept saying, someday she'll flip the switch and it will be done.  It has happened.  We will forever be indebted to Ms. Gayle.  She kept the kids two days while I was in Santa Fe.  Well, bless her.... she got Everly going and thankfully, she hasn't looked back!

Whew.... what a relief.  I was concerned that she would be wearing a diaper to prom.

I am so proud of her and more importantly, she is sooooo proud of herself.  We have a big girl!!!!!!!!!

And, since this post doesn't have pictures, I'm going to add a couple of funny things the kids have been saying.

Walker wanted to look at pictures of when he was a baby.  He saw a picture of me a couple of days before Everly was born.  He looked at the picture, then back at me.  I could tell he thought it was weird...

Me: "Everly is in Mommy's tummy, it was before she was born"

He looked at the picture again and then back at me,

Walker: "Mommy, did you eat Everly?"

Ha!

And, two funny things Everly has said lately... 

Everly: "Mommy, I love your earrings."

Me: "Thank you, Daddy gave them to me when you were born."

Everly: "Ooooohh, Daddy will buy me earrings soon."

And, a couple of days later, while driving by the lake....

Everly: "Mommy, I want Daddy to buy me one of those."

Me: "one of what?"

Everly, "A boat!"

Poor Daddy, his baby girl is already high maintenance! 

Blackburn Reunion

 I'm very fortunate, I got to laugh in Santa Fe.... and, I got to laugh even more this weekend.  We have some wonderful friends from Grand Prairie.... the Blackburns.  I was thinking about it today and I truly don't remember life before them.

Mom and Ray have always been friends with Ed and Lee Ann, therefore I grew up with their kids.  I have so many great memories with Beth Ann (aka Bessie).  LeeLee and Bessie came down to our neck of the woods this weekend.

We had a ball.  Talked a lot and laughed more.  They are truly the most witty and hysterical people I know!  These are the type of friends that even though you haven't seen them in years, it's like no time has passed.

Bessie is an excellent hairdresser.... I wish I lived near her so she could do my hair!  But, the person who got the perks of having Bessie around... Everly!

Check out those french braids!!  Wow, poor E, soon she will realize that Mommy is inadequate at hair. I feel bad for her.  Hopefully I will get better.

Anyway, Everly loved Bessie and got a big kick out of getting her hair done!

Such cuties!

And, just cause this is fun.... we were trying to get a good picture of the four of us and someone else wanted in....

I do have to brag on my sweet babes... They were so good all weekend.  Really, really good.  They went shopping and to lunch with us and were great.  It's amazing how old they feel.  We don't have babies anymore!

It really was a wonderful weekend.  The best part... we're already planning our next event.... this time with the husbands.  I can't wait!