Small Town, Friday Night

There are positives & negatives to living in a fairly small town. The negatives are that you have to drive somewhere else if you really want to shop for clothes, you can't go the grocery store without seeing MANY people you know, & everybody knows your business. The positives are it only takes a few minutes to get to work, people look out for each other (especially kids!), & we just live at a slower pace because our rush hour traffic means you might have to sit through a traffic light twice on a Friday afternoon if you end up downtown.

What is the best thing about small towns in Texas? FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!! Everyone goes to the game....even the out of town game. Football kicked off this week. We played against our rival....the oldest rivalry in the state of Texas. The game was fun because we saw our friends: old & new. The kids played hard....we don't really worry about them. They were running around having the best time.

Chandler saw her best buddy, Keegan. They are going to different schools this year & have been missing each other. Their friendship is very cute....but it makes her Daddy a little nervous!! HAHA She likes to tell him that Keegan is her boyfriend!! Maybe Keegan will be playing one day. His Daddy is a football coach & his mommy was a basketball coach....surely he has some athletic ability!!

Cheney hung out with several of his friends. This is one of his classmates, Rene. He tells me that Rene is the best math student in his class & he is behind him only a little. I was very impressed because Cheney introduced Rene to all his family members WITHOUT ME TELLING HIM TO DO IT!! It made me get a little teary to hear my baby say "Aunt Reva, this is my best friend, Rene. Rene, this is my Aunt Reva." I was so proud of his manners!!

Oh good grief....look at these two!! What do you think? Should we be worried?

Sadly, the Matadors lost....it wasn't pretty so we won't go there. But that is ok. We will be back next week to cheer them on again because WE LOVE THE MATADORS!! Cheney already has plans for when he wears the gold & black uniform. Chandler already has stars in her eyes when she sees the cheerleaders!!

PSF-Mini Me

If you know me & Billy, you know we have different personalities. Billy enjoys being the life of the party. He likes to entertain people with his antics & his humor. On the other hand, I am a little more reserved. I like to have fun, but I don't want people to watch me!! I have been labeled "square," "goody two shoes," and maybe some other less than desirable adjectives. I have realized that our children are very much like us!

Cheney enjoys being silly--just like his Daddy! He likes to make people laugh!!

Chandler is like me.....sassy, but in her own quiet way!

Isn't it funny how our kids can be like us?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

School Year 2009-2010

Today marked the beginning of the school year!!

This is the kid's 1st day of school picture last year.

And this is today....

What do you think? Have they changed?

We all had a great day.....it will be a FUN year!!

No-Stress Chess

A week ago, Pop had surgery to repair his Achilles Tendon. He tore it when he jumped off Uncle Mitch's dock into the river....he has a really powerful jump! HAHA Anyway, he hasn't been getting around really well & can't swim at all. Cheney & Chandler have been entertaining him. Last Christmas, Cheney & Pop got a game called "No Stress Chess." It teaches you how to play chess & Cheney has learned very quickly. Naturally, Chandler wanted to learn how to play just like her brother. According to MeMe & Pop, she is catching on pretty well. There aren't many 3 yr olds who can sit & play chess!!

Smart girl!!

2nd Grade Meet The Teacher

On Friday afternoon, we headed to Cheney's school for "Meet The Teacher." Cheney was crossing his fingers that he would get Ms. Hernandez. He told me that she was very cool & that is who all his friends had last year. As we were walking up the steps, I got tears in my eyes. The tears were for two reasons: 1. I don't want him to grow up. 2. He is so confident & that makes me proud. He was walking into the building & saying hello to all his friends. I am glad he is so well-adjusted!! Well, luck was on his side & he is in Ms. Hernandez' class.

She told him to pick his desk. This instruction prompted a little warning from Mom: Pick wisely. It may not always be the best to sit by your friends. He choose to sit across from a girl....SMART CHOICE!! This year, he will be changing classes & only doing his subjects every other day....kinda like a "block" schedule. It will be interesting!! The good thing is-Cheney is smart & he will be just fine!!

Preschool Meet The Teacher

Chandler met her preschool teacher today. At her school, she will spend several hours a day in Mrs. Emard's class. Bubba had Mrs. Emard too. WE LOVE HER!! I know it will be a fantastic year!!

I Am Gonna Miss Her!

Chandler went back to preschool this week. I know that I will miss this smile during the day!! She LOVES preschool though!!

Coming To An End

Sadly, summer 09 is quickly coming to an end. We have had so much fun!! Many nights the kids would "camp out" in the living room, stay up late, & watch movies. This is where we would find them the next morning.

I am sad to see summer go. I can't believe that Cheney is starting the 2nd grade in one week & Chandler is going to preschool. I know that we will have so much fun, but watching my babies grow up is bittersweet!!

PSF-Rain

We haven't had much rain in South Texas. The other afternoon, it rained. The kids were so excited that they ran outside to play in the rain!!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Crazy Lance

The kids really love to play with Lance. They videotaped him the other day!!

Wordless Wednesday

Cabo San Lucas - Our Last Day

This was our last day on vacation. We were all so sad. Cheney was trying to figure out how to get a job passing out towels at the pool so he could stay in Mexico!

Our Family

The boys

The girls

Cheney & Chandler with two of their favorite people-MeMe & Pop!!

My beach bum

Playing around on the rocks

Just wading in the water

MeMe & Chandler were relaxed to the max!!

Heading out for our last meal.....

I love her expression in this picture!!

Silly boy!!

Cheney knows exactly what he is doing....Chandler on the other hand has no idea & will be sufficiently embarrassed when she is a teenager. This chair is in a restaurant....things are just different in Mexico!!

As we were flying home the next day, Cheney told Pop "I wish vacation was everyday!" So do I!!

Cabo San Lucas - Day 5

This day, we went into town to have breakfast on the beach. We like to eat at a restaurant called "The Office." It is a great place to do business!!

The rock behind us is called "Land's End." If you look at a map of the Baja, that rock is the very tip....hence the name "Land's End." The Sea Of Cortez & the Pacific Ocean meet here.

After breakfast, Cheney & Daddy rode on the jet skis. There were 2 cruise ships in town so they had fun looking at them up close.

Chandler & Pop played in the sand while we waited for them to ride.

The cutest sandy bottom EVER!!

3 generations of feet!!

At our hotel, there is a man who bring pottery for the kids to paint. After you paint it, he takes it home, puts glaze on it, & brings it back the next day. Pretty cool!!

Cheney has painted several times before but this was Chandler's 1st time....she is pretty artistic....not like her Mama!!

Cabo San Lucas - ADVENTURE

When I was growing up, my family would go on a vacation in Mexico & our vacation would regularly include a road trip. There were always great memories made on these road trips--hiking through the jungle, seeing an octopus in its natural environment, and broken seats in VW buses!! It was always a lot of fun. When my cousins, my brother & I get together, we still laugh at the fun we had.

Since we have had kids, we haven't really gone on road trips. We tried to play it safe & stay around the resort. This year, we felt like we could venture out to some new places.

Here are pictures from our "adventure day."

Cheney on top of the Tropic of Cancer marker....strange marker in my opinion! But he sure is lucky. How many other 2nd graders can say they stood at the Tropic of Cancer this summer?

Cows are "free range" in Mexico.

We visited the "zoologico" in the town of Santiago. It is free zoo that takes donations. Pretty cool for a little bitty town in Baja Mexico.

After we left the zoo, we drove about 20 km down a dirt road to a National Park. Right in the center of this picture, is the "cascada." It is dry season right now, so the waterfall was small, but we hiked to it anyway.

We passed this "caballero" coming back from the water. He had been collecting trash that people had left behind.

Daddy & Cheney climbing up the rocks to get to the top so they could....

....jump off! Yes, Mommy was a little nervous!

It was about 40 ft. tall!!

Climbing out to leave....going up was a lot easier than down!

Eating lunch at the Hotel Palomar. The legend is that this hotel was built by Bing Crosby so that he & his Hollywood friends would have a place to stay when they went to Santiago to dove hunt. At the time, the only way into Santiago was by airplane. This was one of the best meal we had all week.....too bad Chandler was pretending she was like her cousin, Angela. She missed the entire meal!!

I am ready for more adventures like this one!! The kids can definitely handle it. YAY!!

PSF-Tradition

The summer of 1993 was our 1st trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Mommy had just graduated from high school!! On that trip, we found a wonderful shrimp restaurant. It was called THE SHRIMP HOUSE. They sold boiled shrimp by the kilo. We would get a kilo of cold & a kilo of hot. On that trip, a tradition was born. Every year that we went to Cabo San Lucas, this was the 1st stop we made. We became friends with the waiters & they remembered us when we returned year after year....I think this is amazing considering how many people visit each year. Our favorite waiter was Maro. In 2007, we decided to visit Cabo San Lucas again.....and sadly, we found out that the Shrimp House had closed. The owner decided to retire!! WE WERE LOST!!

But guess what? We returned this year & were walking down a street on our 1st day there. Billy said "Hold on a minute. I recognize that guy." Can you guess who it was?? MARO!! He had opened his own restaurant. AND IT IS EXACTLY LIKE THE ORIGINAL SHRIMP HOUSE!! We were so happy to find him & he was happy to see us!!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Cabo San Lucas - ATV Tour

While Chandler & Mommy did this.....

Cheney & Daddy got up super early to do this.....

Pop joined them too!!

Cheney said this day was the best day of his trip. After coming back & playing in the water for the afternoon, we headed into town to eat.

Chandler fell asleep at the table.....trying to take after someone else in our family. Guess who in your comment!!