Shout Out

Click here to listen to my shout out on the Texas Rangers' broadcast of the 8/27/09 game against the New York Yankees! So cool, thanks Mr. Grieve! By the way...that is a picture of my little Ranger, Anderson, when he was almost 5 months old! What a cutie! Oh how they grow up too fast!

Our Little Sweet Pea

It's been awhile since I posted about EJ's progress so I thought I would take a moment to fill you in! At the end of this week, he will be 15 months old! Can you believe it?!!? He is still in the 90th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight, still tall and skinny! He has lasted longer in the 90th percentile for height than Anderson did, so it is probable that he may outgrow his big brother at some point but we shall see...Anderson better be nice to him! :)

What is he up to these days?

-Walking fast and climbing on everything (not really running)

-Not really talking but repeating you and using his own sound vocabulary

-Signing "milk" (but using it to identify anything that he wants)

-Waving bye-bye

-Throwing fits when he does not get what he wants

-Playing with cabinets and drawers

-Hiding his sippy cups and pacis (he likes to open drawers and doors and put them in and them close them and then repeat...sometimes he leaves them in there and I find old milk several days later)

-Obeying commands such as "put this in the trash or take this to daddy"

-Stealing Anderson's toys and running away so that Anderson will chase him

-Smiling and laughing as much or more than ever (when the paci is in, his eyes smile)

-Sitting in his little chair and watching TV with Anderson

Anderson starts back to preschool next week at his new preschool! He will be going 3 days a week and during that time, I plan to focus on weaning EJ from the paci! He is using it less and less these days but I have not really focused on it much because our travel schedule has been crazy and I did not want to traumatize him more than necessary! He is pretty much off of the bottle...the only time he gets one is if in desperation I cannot find a sippy cup to save my life! But he doesn't seem to care one way or another, as long as he gets his milk!

Anderson is sucking his thumb less and less but we are going to focus on getting rid of that habit once he is adjusted to his new preschool schedule! He is just now getting back into a normal potty routine since our travels ended a month ago...one thing at a time with him! Today he moved up to a new class at church and he did very well so that is a good sign! EJ moved out of the baby room a few weeks ago, which means that there are officially no more babies in our household these days!

This is our last full week together so expect another post about the fun activities we have going on...

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I have had alot of much needed girl-time lately and it has been wonderful!!

Last Friday, Meredith and I treated ourselves to a day at the spa to reward ourselves for all of the hardwork we put into implementing the 2009 AMBC Sports Camp! This is a little tradition we started 3 years ago after our 1st sports camp together! We got mani/pedis, massages and facials...what a great day! We even managed to work in a good lunch, some shopping and Tiff's Treats!!

Wednesday, Melissa and I left the kiddos with Brittany and we took a day trip down to the San Marcos Outlets! We got alot of great deals on things for the house and boys, and even a few small things for ourselves! It was nice to get away. Today we are off to Gymboree because they are having some great sales plus it is all tax-free!

Last night, Melissa, MJ, Meredith, Miranda, Sara and I went to see Wicked and it was INCREDIBLE!! I did not know much about it going into it besides the basic story and I never imagined it would be that good! That wicked witch can sing! It is definitely now on my list of favorite Broadway musicals, ranking up there with Les Miserables, Rent, The Lion King, and Phantom. Thanks Miranda for buying the tickets and inviting me! Now, if you could just work it out for me to see Mamma Mia! :)

And a big thanks to Aaron for keeping the boys for me while I went on all of these outings with my girlfriends! I do appreciate it (even though you kinda owe me for keeping the boys 24-7 while you work, play softball/racquetball, rock out with the band, etc)! Love you! :)

Mama and Her Boys

Here are a few things that we have been up to lately...

Last Thursday, we rode with Melissa and Grant down to San Antonio to meet MJ, Grayson and MJ's two cousins at the zoo!! We had a blast and are seriously considering buying zoo passes! It was so nice and cool, most everything was shaded and I even got a workout on the hills! Of course our favorite animal was the elephant, who was VERY entertaining and even did tricks!!

We drove down early in the morning to try and beat the heat, had lunch out there and of course rode the train before heading home!

Over the weekend, we were out and about alot since the roofers were at our house! We even spent some time at the neighborhood pool, finally! Daddy was with us on that outing, but we did not take any pictures, we were too busy trying to keep up with the boys! :)

Today, we met up with some of the other AMBC MOPS Mamas for some fun in the sun at the dino dig for the 3rd time this summer!! The boys played in the sand and on the spray pad...what could be better than sand and water for little boys?!!? We headed home after a picnic lunch! What a great day!

We have several fun 'end of the summer' activities and 'girl-time' activities coming up in the next few weeks before preschool starts back up, so stayed tuned for details on those!

2009 AMBC Sports Camp

Last week we spent all of our time up at the church preparing for and participating in the 2009 AMBC Sports Camp!! As you know, I spend alot of my time planning events but I must say that of them all, sports camp is my favorite! This was my 6th year to run a Worthy of the Prize Sports Camp and I continue to love it just as much as I did the 1st year!!

The campers pay only $10 for 4 days of camp! Every camper learns basic skills in volleyball, basketball, baseball, soccer and cheerleading, while having alot of FUN and also learning about Jesus! What could be better than that! Plus, they get to enjoy an Ice Cream Social with their friends and family members the last of night of camp, they get to take home a t-shirt and a backpack and are invited back to church on Sunday for a special sports camp presentation. This year they were lucky enough to hear Rodney Vincent (head football coach at Vista Ridge High School) speak on family night and they also got to hear Danny Brooks (gospel-blues artist who will be performing at the ACL Festival in October) perform Sunday morning!!

All in all, it was a great week...we averaged 75 campers each night and had a total of just under 100 different campers come throughout the week! We had 7 families who want to learn more about the church and 6 people who want to know more about a relationship with Christ as a result of the week! Praise God!!

Our whole family participated in some way. I coordinated it, Aaron was an assistant baseball coach and the boys took part in a 'mini' sports camp of their own in the preschool wing, while the bigs kids and their parents took part in the big sports camp! What a great week, we look foward to next year already! Obviously, we are all worn out and glad to return to normalcy this week!

I am in spring-cleaning mode (even though it is the hottest summer ever)! I am going through the house room by room, cleaning out and organizing all closets, drawers, cabinets, etc. as well as scrubbing the place down! Today we went to story-time as usual and tomorrow we are headed to the SA Zoo with friends so I am sure that you will hear from me again soon!

Here is the sports camp highlight video:

Southbound 35

Our summer travels are (thankfully) officially over!! We had a great time but are very glad to be back home and into normal-life mode again (whatever that means).

This past week Aaron dropped me off in Fort Worth so that Sarah and I could host the Martin Volleyball Team Camp, which was a blast!! Click here for more details on that.

He and the boys then headed on up to Grand Lake, where they spent the week swimming, boating, jet-skiing, playing games and hanging out with his mother's family. They had a wonderful time (and it was nice for me not to have to worry about the boys or find childcare while I was at camp)!!

Anderson even drove the boat!!

(He actually did drive the boat when it

was on the lake later that same day)

Aaron brought them back safely to me on Thursday (I had threatened his life) and then we headed southbound to Austin on Friday!

There are no official travel plans in the works at this point, we are just glad to be home! Although it was nice to see family and friends as usual!

This week is the 2009 AMBC Sports Camp and once that is over, our only plans are to spend the rest of the summer hanging out at the pool...so if you need us, you know where to find us!