Football Reigns....

Here are my boys, minus one, leaving Saturday evening for the opening UT game here in Austin against Louisiana-Monroe. Granted, UT was slated to win 40-0....be that as it may, it was all about the excitement, energy, sights, and sounds of the beginning of college football here in the heart of Texas. I would have had many more pictures of this most thrilling experience, however as I tried to hand off my camera to my dear husband, he proceeds to read me the back of the ticket and the fine print clearly states "no cameras or video recording devices allowed". There was no way he was about to "break the rules"....of course, at the game they see everyone posing for pictures in front of the field and in the stands, obviously this rule is not enforced at all and I see blogs/facebook posts of cool football pics inside the stadium everywhere...oh well, next time. The boys had a BLAST, and now my husband is seriously thinking season tickets are in order for future seasons....as you can see he can hardly contain his excitement! This, however, pales in comparison to the anticipation of the first NFL season game this Thursday night when his Steelers play the Titans. One minute he can be calmly walking around the house, then the next he will just randomly scream out at the top of his lungs "STEELERS FOOTBALL THIS THURSDAY NIGHT BABY WAAAHOOOOOO!!!!", scaring the mess outta whoever might be close by. And so it begins...again. Oh and did I forget to mention today is Jordan's first football game, and tomorrow is Noah's? Don't feel sorry for me ladies, only what, five more months at the most? :)

My Friends Twins:)

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit my friend Elizabeth who just had twin boys only four weeks ago! Doesn't she look great??! I can't get over how tiny they are, even though they are good size weights, everytime I hold a newborn it amazes me at the tininess:) On the left is Nolan, and on the right is Logan...right Lis? They both have their own little personalities and looks, it's just so cool.....to me Nolan looks like his brother Nathan and Logan looks like his sister Maddy:) I can only imagine how having twins has got to be SO demanding, and she also has two other little ones at home too (and two in school)...she amazes me and is such an awesome mother. No matter what, she always has a smile to give, one day when I grow up I want to be just like her....I love you girl!!... (ahem, and pray you move back someday). Thanks so much for letting us hold your sweet little babies, they are sooooooo worth it, aren't they?? :)

Emmy's First Day at Dance

Today was Emmy's first day in her ballet/tap combo class. I wanted her to have something to do during the week while her siblings are all in school, so I signed her up with her best friend Reese and off they went into dance! They were super cute, and since they have each other they went willingly and (for the most part) happily...woohoooooo!!! Look how cute they are:)

First Day of School!

Back to blogging....and to the fact that it is hard to blog without a camera. Yep, I sold my camera...AGAIN. For those of you who know me well, you know I do this about once a year and then spend about two months researching cameras before I get a new one. Anyway, I couldn't just go without, so I went to Tarjay last night and bought a cheapie digital pocket camera so I can blog and take pics of the kids. I just couldn't miss capturing this momentous first day. I do have to say I love this little camera though, and the portability factor is something I know I'm going to love!

Well, here they are in all their dressed up glory:) JOrdan is starting the 8th grade, Noah the 4th, Jonah the 1st, and my baby girl Avelyn is starting kindergarten:( It's just me and Emmy here now and it is QUIET...that will take some getting used to. Randy took the day off to help me get them ready and he said they did great. Especially Avelyn, whom we thought we might have severe issues with...walked right in and sat down in her seat....NO TEARS!!!! Miracles, they do happen folks! Later Randy went up to have lunch with her and the first thing she told dad was, "I LOVE school DAD!!" This is why I'm having a great day...all is right with the world when my kids are happy....not sure how long it will last, but I'll take what I can get;) But here's hoping they stay that way for a while....

Summer!

It went by so fast...but I think we gave our kids one to remember! The boys were able to go to scout camps for a week each, and Jonah had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's in July. We spent a quiet fourth of July, just me and the kiddos watching the fireworks while dad was at work. He worked quite a lot this summer, but it was to send our family on a vacation we will never forget and was definately worth the sacrifice. We drove two days and spent nine in Orlando at DisneyWOrld. On the way, we stopped off at my dad's to spend the night. He lives on a lot of beautiful land out in the country with horses and a pond to fish in...my kids LOVE going to Grandpa Tommy's house. In Florida, we stayed in a fabulous two bedroom condo that had a huge pool with a sunken pirate ship in the middle. We took our time and went to each park with a day trip to the most beautiful beach on one of our days off from the parks. Disney was just so magical, that it is very hard to adjust to normal life once you get back home:) I'm so grateful we were able to give our children these memories...they really had a wonderful time. Now it's back to school and more of a scheduled existence. Jordan is starting his last year of Jr. High and Avelyn is starting kindergarten, with the other two in fourth grade and first grade, so a grand total of four out of five kids officially in school. That just leaves little Emmy at home with mom. First day of school pics will follow this post, but for today here a few from the summer 2009...

Little Trophy....BIG Kool-aid smile!!!

Finally got his trophy....he was so proud!!!

Forgot to post....baseball season after-partay!

We had our party over at Coach Mike's house....it was beautiful right before, but started raining when we got there. Sure enough, the sun came out right as we were leaving...but the kids sure had fun!!!