Today Kaleb and his classmates (Stars) recited poems that they memorized a few weeks ago. This exercise was to help them not only with memory, but with public speaking. Each child was to recite their "special" poem in front of a room full of parents and friends. WOW! I wasn't able to go (just released from hospital) but Chris was able to and said K did great!! Way to go K-dog :) Look for his video clip on his page soon.

Enjoy :)

Today I was substituting for 2nd grade. As I was out monitoring "my class" on the playground, I looked over and saw K just playing ball with some friends. I happended to have my camera b/c Miss Clow bday celebration was that same day. I just thought it was cute. Enjoy :)

Today Austin helped in celebrating Miss Clow's Half Bday celebration. The half comes from her bday being in May so they celebrated it 6 months early so they could have it during the year.

Actually everyones bday is celebrated like this. I was in charge of the gift coordinating so b/c Mindy LOVES to read, I thought a reading themed basket would be a great idea.

Everyone contributed in their own special way. I made a scarf for her to keep her warm :)

BTW, Austin took the photos of all the mom's. Great job buddy!

Enjoy the pics :)

Today Mrs. Clow's class went to the garden to plant our fall harvest.

The class decided on beets, carrots, broccoli and spinach : )

It is such an amazing thing to see all the children doing "hands on" work.

Check back soon for an update on the crops. YUMMY!!

Tonight we went back to New Braunsfels for our 2nd year to celebrate and salute sausage and beer.

OMG!! We had so much fun!! Me, Chris, Brandi, David, Jason and Amanda met up with Megan and Matt (co-worker of Chris) and just had a great time. Chris probably the most!! tee-hee-hee

Brandi and I bought hats to start a tradition and put pins on them. I believe we are half German now with as much beer and sausage we ate :)

Today we went back to the garden to check up on our fall crops. They look fabulous! (Kaleb was our line leader and crosswalk person)

Mr. Gilliam also showed us how to gather seed from an old marigold. The children broke up into two groups: one set harvested the seeds and the other went and sifted their own soil and planted marigold seeds from the store.

Mr. Gilliam also sent us back with fertilized soil for the classroom sweet potato. It was starting to turn yellow. If anything, there will be some pretty vines in the classroom for fall.

Enjoy : )

A year ago on Oct. 29th we lost our dear friend Wilson. We all made a promise that we would get together the first Sat. after the 29th of Oct. each year to celebrate his life. We love and miss you Wilson! Rock On and we will see you soon!

Enjoy!!

Tonight we went over to our friends The Templetons and made our creations. How much fun did we have? Check out the pics...

BOO!!

Today we played our very last game! We WON! The boys did such a great job!! We start our tourney on Tues. and we so happen to play the Gnats again. Go CATS!!

Today Kaleb's class visited the school's garden to plant their fall crops. Last week they took care of the grounds to get ready to plant.

They started out learning about the different fall crops, how to plant each one and how to take care of them. They students voted and decided on garlic, carrots, cabbage and spinach. They absolutely loved it and can't wait to enjoy the fruits (well, veggies) of their labor....

Enjoy!!!

Today Kaleb's class recited and participated in chapel. There are a couple of videos that coincide with this and I will work on getting those up on Kaleb's page. Enjoy!

Today we played the Lugnuts. They won but we had a great game! We are closing the season with our next game being our last. Look for pics :)

Go Cats!!!

Today we took our annual trip to the State Fair of Texas. This makes our 11th year. We went with Di and Al which they are creating a tradition with us with makes year #2 for their family. What fun we had!!

We as usual had a blast. The fried favorites this year were: grilled cheese, ribs, banana split (we didn't get to try that one), chicken fried bacon. You name it, they probably fry it!!

Last year at this time, our dear friend Wilson was in ICU and we rode a ride for him. Well, a couple weeks later he passed on to be with our Lord. In memory of him, we rode a ride for him. I am NOT a thrill seeker AT ALL, so this was challenging for me, but I am living on with his philosophy which was "Why Not"? Dianne and I rode this nauseating ride called Hard Rock!! Crazy, crazy crazy...I am still dizzy :)

We miss you so much Wilson. You have changed my life in so many ways.

Enjoy the pics and chat soon!!

Today we had a wonderful family day at Hamilton Pool. Oh we had so much fun. The water was sooo cold!! I was a weenie head and didn't get more than my feet wet, but I was also the photographer as usual (which I just love to do)!

What a beautiful day (high was 89; hard to believe it's October) and gorgeous scenery. God is so awesome to let us see His wonders of this earth.

We are so lucky and blessed to have this amazing spot 25 minutes from our house!!

There is more info. about this park at the following link:

www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/graphic

The boys (all three) had so much fun in the fridgid waters. The waterfalls were the best part in my opinion. Kaleb liked the trails and said it was "Awesome" and Austin was just thankful that he got to go swimming again!!

There is so much nature and with Kaleb learning so much about Fungi and plants right now at school, this was an educational trip as well :)

Be sure to check out the cool turtle shots I took. He was so cute :)

FYI if you are wondering about all the cloud pics, Austin is currently working on a cloud journal project for school and took many pics of them himself so be sure to look for that at a later date.

Enjoy!! We sure did!!!

Today the RiverCats got spanked! It was not pretty. Kaleb did however have his 1st strick out of this fall season. We are so proud of him and he is having a blast. Good thing we are NOT supposed to keep score during fall ball :)

Enjoy!!

Today Austin went for his first overnight church retreat to T Bar M Ranch. This is in New Braunsfels, Texas. I wasn't able to go :( so I only got pics before he left....

Here is a recap from Austin:

"We did lots of things that helped us with faith in each other and God. I had a great expoerience and it's something I will never forget."

"The ropes course seemed scarry but once you do it, it's really fun. I had fun on the screamer which was my favorite thing out of all. There were water slides at the pool which I LOVED!!"

"I made some new friends and over came my fear of heights. The screamer was like 70 feet high. I am not so scared anymore."

"The one thing I did take from this experience is that God is with you always."

Today we went to visit Aunt Joyce, Uncle Mike and Cousin Nicholas in Lago Vista. We had a good time taking all the boys to the park to play and hang out. Enjoy :)

Today Chris, Austin and all the 5th grade classes went to the Down Home Ranch for their ministerium. They will be visiting this ranch multiple times this year as servants.

Chris decided he wanted to take the field trips this year that we signed up for so he drove Austin and 4 other rowdy boys to the ranch.

They got to serve and get down and get dirty. They all enjoyed their experience and look forward to going back again soon. Look for more pics throughout this year.

God bless and enjoy :)

Today we played the Iron Birds. We lost again but Kaleb had a great game :)

I had to miss the game b/c I had to work at church for the evening service.

All photos were taken by Amanda (team mom). Thanks Amanda :)

Today we had our very first game of the season against the Volcanoes!

Grammy and Uncle Jason came in from Dallas to watch. Dad was in New Orleans helping with the clean up from Gustav. Thanks for coming. We love you :)

What a fun game. We lost (even though we aren't supposed to keep score) but we sure did have a great time!

Enjoy :)

Today was our first scrimmage of the fall season. What a long practice! The boys were all troopers. They had a 3 1/2 hour practice :0

We lost but it sure showed us what needed to be worked on! Here's to a great season.

Go RiverCats!!

Fiesta time!! Happy birthday Baby!

Well we started the night out at Dona Emilia's downtown and then headed to our usual spot, Cedar Street. LC Rocks was playing (80's band).

The food and company (as usual) was fabulous. Thanks Aida for the suggestion on the restaurant and the most incredible mint mojito's WE EVER HAD!!!!

Word of precaution, don't valet b/c DP's car got towed! Besides that all is good.

Happy bday sweets. Here's to many more...I love you :)

Well its official....School is back in session.

Both boys are @ Regents School of Austin this year and we are so excited and ready for this amazing year to come.

As you can see there are before/after pictures from their first day. They both had to wear chapel uniforms and don't they look handsome :)

xoxo

Today Kaleb met a few of his classmates from his 2nd grade class. We met at Regents Science and Nature Center.

It is going to be a fun filled year!! Yeah Shining Stars :)

Today the boys had to have their well checks for school. They both did well even with the shots! Yes, I said shots.

Austin handled it like a pro and set a good example for K. Kaleb actually worked himself up but then was like, "really that's it"?

All is well, vision was great on both boys. Hearing was a success also, we did determine that when the boys don't hear me, it's been officially diagnosed as selective hearing :)

The outfits are quite charming so I thought I these were great "blackmail" pics for later on in life :)

Thank you Jesus for some healthy growing boys.

Enjoy!!

OK here are some misc. pics of our visit. The picture of Socks is one Chris sent me. She really missed us..tee hee..spreading out on Kaleb's bed.

Enjoy!

Well, the boys and I, Joyce and Nicholas ventured to Pennsylvania for 3 weeks. What an adventure!

The plane ride was great. They all did fine. Nicholas was so cute :) He spotted his carseat as it came off the plane.

While in PA we visited with our Uncle Joe who has been in the nursing home. He is doing well now and I am so proud to say he is home in the house we all helped clean up. He can get around safely in his wheelchair :)

Joyce got to meet her Godmother Olga for the first time! It was really cool!

We all had a great time but boy was it HOT!! As we all know, they focus on heaters there more than AC.

Overall, it was such a blessing to see all of our family. I plan to go back over spring break if possible :)

I took some pics on my iPhone so when I figure out how to upload them to the site, I will post them also. Keep an eye out for them.

Enjoy!!

More Magical moments soon....

The girls had fun playing in our bathtub jacuzzi (yes our tub in the master bath) while it rained outside in Florida. All of the cousins got in many times to play but this time I had my camera ready....Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more details...I promise!

More desc. to come....stay tuned!

Will have detailed desc. to come....

Today I drove 5 kiddos (including Austin) and Mrs. Thompson to our very last field trip of the year.

We went to Dick Nichol's Park and had a picnic lunch. The kids got to play with all sorts of outside toys: hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, frisbees, jump ropes, kites and most of all......WATER BALLOONS! Kaleb said, "the water balllons were the best part".

Someone even brought those HUGE pixie sticks. Poor Mrs. T!

We had a great year and Kaleb had everyone sign his yearbook and said goodbye to his Oak Hill friends since he will be at Regents next year.

Thanks for all your hard work this year Mrs. Thompson! We will miss you :)

Today we celebrated Kaleb's 8th birthday in his class. I made chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies to share for his party. He tends to miss out at school b/c of his summer bday. Enjoy!

Look for the video of his "bday dance" soon. Need my tech guy to help me :)

Mom and I went to visit PA. Mom hasn't been back since 1998. We went to see Uncle Joe in the hospital.

As most all of you know, he is fighting lymphoma and after his 4th round of chemo, he became very ill with an infection. He ended up in ICU and I just HAD to be there! Mom and I packed up and headed East.

We spent MOST all of our time at the hospital but got to visit with David and Michelle at their home in Moscow, PA. Chris and Karen came in from Rhode Island to see Uncle Joe as well.

It was great seeing everyone despite the circumstances. Uncle Joe is doing much better at this time, but he is still in ICU.

Here are some pics from the plane, over visit at Dave and Michelle's and at the airport before heading back to Texas.

Please keep him and Aunt Kay in your prayers. God bless.

Today Mrs. Shipley's class had a poetry reading. Austin recited the Whango Tree. (See his page to read more about it)

The class invited the parents and were all sipping on hot chocolate and/or tea with treats while listening to each other recite their poems.

The class also celebrated Cade's birthday today b/c of a summer bday. What fun! Enjoy!

And yes, I am working on the video clips as well. Be patient :)

Here are a few photos of Austin and Cody reciting Ephesians 4. As Chris mentioned in the notes for the video clip, this is a part of a larger program where each grade learns 1 book of Ephesians. At the completion of 6th grade, they should be able to recite the entire book. Enjoy :)

This morning we headed downtown to give Carina and Camme a "taste of Austin".

We started out by hitting the "Drag" (on U.T. campus) and let them see the sights. We headed over to the tower and walked around the very hot streets.

We ate lunch at Potbelly and then headed over to the capital. We did a drive by b/c we were running out of time.

Then we went to Marble Slab and enjoyed a delicious treat. It is good we left early b/c the Durango overheated and Camme and I walked home to get the other car.

So much for enjoying those extra calories :)

We love you guys! Come back really soon!! Hook 'Em!

Today the Cubbies played the Yankees again. What a fun game! Not only did we win, but Carina and Camme (and who can forget sweet Maverick) came to visit. Here are a few pics :)

Today we went to visit Mike, Joyce and Nicholas in Lago and had a cookout and swim in the lake. It was so nice to get together!

Besides the boys getting leeches on their bodies, we had a blast!

Thanks for having us over guys. We love you :) Enjoy!

Today we went and watched Aiden play t-ball. What an exciting game :) Tee hee hee :)

They were so cute just chasing after the ball and hanging out. Aiden just enjoyed picking at the grass and looking around. What a sweet boy.

Thanks for having us over for the game. We had a blast...

Today Kaleb had his fun field day. He had such a good time with his classmates. I really enjoyed watching him enjoy his last year at Oak Hill Elementary. Go Eagles!!

Today the boys played the Cardinals and did a great job. What an intense game! We won by 1 point. Whitney came into town and got to see Kaleb play. What fun. Thanks for coming Whit! We love you :)

Also, this is what we found Socks doing when we came home from the game. Too funny...When the owners are away...the dog will go be lazy :)

Well today we (Austin, Kaleb and Haiden) attempted for a second time this week, to get the boys kites off the ground. The kites were a gift to Austin and Kaleb from Grandaddy (Christmas gifts) before he passed away. It was so important to the boys to try and get them to fly!

After many, many, many tries Chris got Kaleb's kite up first. The wind was very gusty and sparatic so it was a challenge. After a few minutes up the kite crashed. It was nice while it lasted.

Ellie, Austin and I decided to try one last time before leaving to get Haiden's kite up in the air. Chris had already packed up Austin's and Kaleb's kites. Austin gave it one last throw and I held on to it and RAN......

It flies!!! What fun we had. We really enjoyed the beauty God gave us today. Enjoy the pics :)

I just had to take these pics of Kaleb after his game last night. We had a rough game (loss) against the Diamondbacks. We were playing for the #1 spot but didn't succeed. Kaleb was so tired when we tucked him in and a few minutes later, I found him with my hat on like this. Too cute :)

Today Austin and his class honored the grandparents with a special play performed by his classmates in the gym. He was the narrator to the story. He did great! Chris has a clip on his phone so hopefully he will get it posted.

Following the play, all the grandparents followed the kids back to the room for a present. Austin made Grammy and Dad each a shield with a special saying on them.

After touring the school and library (led by Austin), we all went out into the courtyard and had snacks which were gobbled up quickly and then we were taken by hayride over to the RSNC (Regents Science and Nature Center) which is absolutely beautiful.

The boys enjoyed fishing for the "little fish" while Daddy and Dad were trying to bait the catfish. YUCK!!

We then headed over to the farm area where we met many cool animals. The boys and I fed the new baby longhorns, Peter Pan and Milton.

We had such a great time and Austin got to show off his Guild day project once again. We are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful school family.

Thanks to you Grammy and Dad for coming. We missed the rest of you but there is always next year.

Enjoy :)

This was a special game. Not only did Kaleb get the game ball for a second time, Grammy and Dad got to come and watch him play.

Kaleb earned the game ball for catching a foul ball as catcher and getting the last out we needed. It was awesome!!

After the game, we all went to Cheddar's and had a delicious meal. Dad bought (and split) Kaleb their famous "cookie monster" dessert.

We all had a great time. Thanks for coming Grammy and Dad.

Today my baby sister tied the knot to a wonderful God-fearing man named Kaleb (with a K). The ceremony was held at her in-laws in DeKalb, TX and it was so simple and beautiful.

We got to see our family and had a great time. Most all the cousins got to play and hang out with each other.

The kids danced around to the music and had a blast! At the end as usual the bride tosses the bouquet and guess who caught it: Jordan Bailey. Now don't go off and get married anytime soon baby girl :)

Enjoy everyone!!

We fileted the Marlins 17-12. We were awesome! Kaleb made contact at all 3 at bats. Chris taught him to step with his front leg and he took training well. He is really loving the game as we are too! Go Cubs!

Kaleb was dressed as a knight in the program. As you can see he had a blast!!

Today the Oak Hill teams were honored for opening day ceremonies. It was cold and yucky but the kids had a great time. Each team was introduced in their league and they walked proudly with their team banner. Kaleb as you will see was so happy :)

Today we met my best friend Jo-Jo for pizza and fellowship. We all had a blast! We don't get to see each other often enough but we adore the time we do get to see each other.

After many, many, many attempts and pleas from mommy for Austin to cut his hair, he finally agreed. I love it!

Well, the 2007-2008 Lakers basketball season has come to an end. What a great year!

This evening we went to a wonderful awards ceremony in which all the players, coaches and ah yes, the refs were recognized :)

We had a guest appearance by Dan Wetzel (who by the way was AWESOME) an Internationally known speaker, basketball entertainer and personal coach. The kids and parents all adored him. He autographed a poster for Austin, Cody, Kaleb and Kevin. Check him out at www.danwetzel.com for more info.

Austin was given a personalized Upwards basketball from his coaches and I was so proud of him b/c right before we left, he walked over to his coaches and shook their hands and said, "thanks for a great season". Of course I cried :)

This evening there was a knock at the door and this is what I found! I have the sweetest husband in the entire world!

How cool! Today we got to meet Katie Couric. If you don't know who that is (like Austin, Kaleb and Aubrie) you are too young. It was so neat! We asked to take a picture with her but for some reason they wouldn't let us so we settled for taking just taking pics of her. She was doing a report about the elections. She was doing a report with Ronald Oliveria and Judy Maggio from Austin KVUE. (ABC Affiliate). Too cool :)

The kids enjoyed the trip to the Capitol. Garrett was really impressed with the history of it. He actually said, "this is the best day of my life." It made me cry.

What an amazing trip. We toured the entire grounds inside and out. Thanks for sharing your babies with me Mike and Kelly.

Enjoy :)

Every good thing must come to an end! What a great season. Austin really enjoyed playing with Upwards for his last season. Next year we will play for Regents.

Austin was awarded a blue star for best effort. Way to go Lakers!!

Today we went to the park and Aunt Joyce and cousin Nicholas joined us. We had so much fun.

After the park, we headed back to our house and had yummy chili for dinner. The kids really enjoyed each others company.

We played board games, Deal or No Deal and Guitar Hero. AWESOME!!

The last time that I visited Germany, I really tried to get to Prague. Then, the borders were different and I decided that I did not want to go through the hassle. This time, the border is open and it was rather easy to travel to the Czech Republic.

Heiko and I left a very rainy and windy Dresden pretty early in the morning and after an adventurous drive, arrived in Prague around noon. The weather in Prague was much clearer, although windy and drizzly, most of the day.

We spent most of our day in the Prague Castle, that is where most of these pictures are from. The center piece of this castle is the beautiful St. Vitus Cathedral which is surrounded by a monastery. While in the castle, we had a traditional Czech lunch (I had venison goulash and dumplings).

We later crossed the Vlatava River into the main city. Here we got to walk across the Charles Bridge and look at it's many religious statues and some of the street salesman. We also visited the old town square and saw this beautiful astronomical clock tower which had a series of religious statues that walk by the window at the top of each hour.

Overall, I was struck at how religious this city was. Not knowing it's exact history, I could only surmize that this city was built in that time when the church was the ruling class. It is being slowly restored to it's original beauty due to an influx of EU money.

I have to thank my friend Heiko who guided (and interpreted) for me throughout the day.

What a fun game! Kaleb did great. He batted 3 times and hit all 3! He was tagged out once and completed 2 runs after that. He played short stop, right and center field. He had a blast.

My niece Aubrie also made a few friends while waiting for Kaleb to finish playing his game. How nice!

ENJOY :)

My m finally tied the knot! I am so happy for him. He found a beautiful and sweet wife who keeps him in line. Congrats bro!

I took Mike and his family to one of our favorite places to eat in Austin besides Chuy's. They LOVED it! Go figure :)

The place was pretty empty so the kids just were able to be kids and have fun!

Well today Austin headed off to his first overnight field trip. He is so excited. He packed up everything right after school for the next day. He did fine but he did have to call me before bed. He borrowed someone's cell phone and asked me to sing and pray b/c he was homesick. Overall he had a blast. As I stated on an earlier post, I will post pics of his actual fieldtrip once I get them from one of the parent chaperones. Enjoy!!

Today the boys got to chat with Chris after they came home from school. We were having some technical difficulties with the phone lines :) They both really seemed to enjoy chatting to Daddy about their day. Socks even missed Chris and wanted to send her love!! Enjoy :)

Well today Chris headed to Germany. We woke up early and had breakfast together at Jim's Restaurant. It was nice. The boys enjoyed spending a few extra minutes with Daddy. His flight to Dallas boards @ 10:50 a.m. and he has a few hr. layover in Dallas. We won't hear from him until sometime tomorrow. He will be 7 hrs. ahead of us. Please keep our family in your prayers as this is always hard when he has to leave. It definately puts perspective on all the families that have loved ones in the war. Thank you all for your service. I will keep everyone posted on his travels. I have asked him to send pics so I can post them for you, but he may end up doing it himself b/c he has a camera with him also. Thanks for all the prayers so far. Enjoy the pics.

Man, what a game. Really early on, it looked like the Gators were going to run away with this one. But the Lakers settled in, stayed focused and lost a cloe one, 36-32. We were really happy to see Cody get lots of rebounds which were almost all converted to points. As for Austin, he seemed to be very focused on his defense. I was particularly impressed at how he guarded his man when he was inbounding. All of this effort resulted in him receiving a red star for best defense.

Our last game of the year is next week. We will be sad that the season is over, but happy that he has enjoyed and learned so much.