Pictures, video and updates from our family
I AM SO EXITED for Christmas.I love it because my brothers birthday!And because CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Emily
I love it it was home made !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
this year my school play is the lion king play.I am playing the role Simba!I have play practice on Thursdays and Tuesday.I am going to have a great costume!All of my friends are doing the play to! love, emily
Emily and Mark would like to take over the blog and bring it back to life.
Meet the new writers.
I need to get some pictures of all the new and fun things we have been doing since our move to Austin, but I just can't seem to find the time anymore. Some how things just keep getting busier the older the kids get. However, I can never resist posting farm pictures...
The kids had this whole week off from school and activities so we took advantage and made a trip up to the farm last weekend. We left the house at 4:30 am on Friday morning to make it to the farm in time for Ben to have a full work day. The kids did great and were excited about riding in the car in their pajamas. It was a very cold weekend but we had a blast nonetheless. The kids and Mella love running free and riding in the farm vehicles. My family recently purchased a new tractor and it has been given the name "Big Orange". It is not the first tractor on the farm but it is the first one with a cab and the kids loved it. Especially Mark. I think he could lift the front loader up and down all day long. The kids also really enjoyed spending time with Mimi, Grandy, Will, Jim, Becky and Amma. Lots of family! Ben had to fly out of the Shreveport airport on Sunday for work meetings in California. Thank you to Ben for being such a trooper -it was a ton of traveling for him for one weekend! The kids and I made the trek home on Monday. The trip from Austin to the farm is longer than the trip from Houston but it was still well worth it. Here are some pictures as well as a video of Mark and Big Orange.
We have made our first foray into organized team sports with Emily taking up soccer this fall. Emily has weekly practices in our neighborhood on Friday evenings and a game every Saturday morning. She is on a team with 5 other four year olds, all first timers as well. The team name is the South Vancouver Dolphins.
Emily has played really well and never stops hustling. The games are 3 kids to a side with no goalie. So far the dolphins have won most of their games. Emily usually contributes a goal or two a game, and always tries to be the first to high five the coach after a successful play.
It's been a very busy summer and a while since the last post. Here are some highlights...
Ben accepted a new job that we are very excited about and it is moving us to Austin! Here is our new home.
The kids made some special gifts for me at school and brought them home today. They are so funny and sweet!
Mark is in the Monkey class this year so I got this picture.
We had a free weekend last week and decided we would take a family trip to Sea World while the weather was still nice. It was our first Hotel stay with the kids. Everything went well and the kids loved the riverwalk and Sea World. Here are some pictures.
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Guess which kid lets me pick out the outfit?
We spent Easter weekend at my family's tree farm in East Texas. Emily, Mark and Mella love to run free and ride on the various farm vehicles. And of course it's always nice to spend time with family. A storm came through and we lost power twice but the kids had a blast. Here are some pictures.
Mark is going to be potty trained by a very intense potty training instructor. Her name is Emily Lesem and she takes potty training very seriously!
Mark was at a friend's house last week and saw his friend's little potty and decided he wanted one too. We went to Walmart and picked one out. Mark wanted one that looked like a race car and even had wheels but after a moderate amount of crying we settled on one that did not have wheels. On the way home from Walmart Emily began to explain everything to Mark. She then started asking him frequently if he needed to go and would escort him to bathroom and would even bring him books and snacks while coaching him through it. That evening I was in the shower and Emily came running in screaming, "He did it, He did it!" I said, "really?" And Emily said, "well a lot of it went out of the potty and a little bit went inside the potty, but HE DID IT!!" And sure enough she was right. Mark was still waiting to show me when I got into their bathroom. I'm not sure who was more proud, Mark for going, Emily for coaching, or me for having a three year old who can potty train a two year old. It was very exciting. Emily went on to tell Mark all the next steps in training and how he can progress to her big potty when he is ready. The best part, for the rest of the day Emily kept saying "Congratulations Mark, congratulations."
The weather is beautiful and the kids have been asking for a zoo trip so today was perfect. Here are some pictures.
Mark really liked the bat and reptile caves and kept growling and doing other strange boy things.
So we are about a year late on Emily's first Dentist trip, but right on time for Mark 's first appointment. We went to Kids Healthy Teeth in Katy recommended by our pediatrician. They were great. The kids were given a run through of the appointment with a demo on a stuffed pony. This way they knew about all the equipment. Then they got sunglasses so the overhead lights wouldn't bother them, along with headphones to an overhead TV to distract from the sounds and sensations of cleaning. I was pretty amazed at how well they did during the cleaning, buffing and fluoride application. The kids each got to pick their flavor from a picture chart. Emily picked chocolate cherry and Mark picked cookie dough. Ha! They've obviously updated the flavors since I was a kid. They even got a few X-rays of Ems teeth. I was very impressed. Both kids teeth were clean and healthy, so that was great. Here are a few pics from the trip.
I had to sit next to Mark during his turn but I did get a picture of him practicing his brushing skills on the pony. That was a big hit.
