Mavericks Game

There are times that I have less than positive feelings about Shawn's job.  He can have long hours, doesn't get a ton of sleep and vacation is usually taken up by some sort of conference.  This is not one of those posts though.  This year has been a little rough but overall a great schedule and there are some great perks to where he is working at.  People will randomly donate tickets to various sporting events and its a first come first serve basis for the fellows there.  So last night Shawn snagged some great tickets to the Dallas Mavericks preseason game.  He was tired from work and someone had to stay home to watch George so I took the big kids to the game and we had a lot of fun!  At first Devin wasn't excited to go.  In fact when I asked him at first he said, "No."  We really need to do a better job of exposing the boys to sports they have no idea how to play any of them, and don't know the difference between a lot of them.  It has been so fun getting to do random free activities this year.  It makes the small spaces and hot weather totally worth it!

It was so cool to get to sit so close!

I did manage to get a picture of all of us, a terrible one but better than none.

Devin and Caroline.

When I asked Graham if he was having fun he looked up and said, "Not really because all you do is watch them."  I love him.

Devin was so excited that one of the Mavericks is also named Devin.  It made his night, and he scored 11 points before we left.  I hope we get to have a few more fun nights like this before we leave!

Ashley's birthday weekend

This last weekend the Peterson's came up to visit for Ashley's birthday.  We had great plans to go to celebrate with cake and tacos on Friday, then head to the State Fair on Saturday and out to dinner that night.  Friday was great we all gathered at Ashely's house to eat and bust open a piñata.  This was the highlight of the night for the kids, they loved it!  I have a great video of Devin going after the piñata with a running start.  It was hilarious.  Then Saturday comes and we decide to take the DART down to the fair grounds.  The ride down was pretty fun but a little too cramped for my liking.  Still it was fun to try something new.  Then we finally get into the fair, which isn't cheap, and we try and find stuff to do.  Well we didn't find much.  It was so terrible!  All games were at least $5 to ride and had lines and there were so many people at one point we were shoulder to shoulder.  It was awful, my personal version of hell.  On the bright side we didn't loose any of the kids and we found 2 free activities, that were still really crowded. The petting zoo was the saddest thing I have ever seen jam packed with too may people trying to feed over fed animals in tiny enclosures, sad.  We couldn't figure out why so many people thing the fair is a must see.  I can tell you now, it stinks!  Save your money and go to the rodeo in Houston instead, way better.  We left and headed to TCBY to celebrate surviving the fair and then cleaned up for dinner.  Shawn and Brandon watched the kids while Ashley, Bethany, and I went out to dinner.  We had a great time laughing, eating and shopping.  I love my sisters!  I"m so glad Bethy and her crew were able to make it out for the weekend and so glad we get to be so close to family this year!

Leah taking her turn at the piñata.

Having dessert for Ashley's birthday!

The Peterson girls are the only girls Devin will play with, they are pretty cool.

Caroline showed no mercy on the piñata.

George was happy to play on the slide.

Devin was more strategic about his hits to the piñata.

Annie put in some hard hits too.

Mabel got in on the action too.

And I'm just glad Graham didn't hurt anyone while taking his turn, he's nuts.

Open House Night

The kids school had an open house a few nights ago.  I'm not sure why they felt they needed one since they had orientation a few weeks ago.  Well I told the kids we would go and was ready to have everything ready for bed when we got home.  I was feeling pretty good until we actually got to the school and realized we only had about 7 minutes to see Graham and Devin's teachers.  We stopped by Graham's class first because its closest to the exit and then raced to Devin's room.  His teacher was already gone but the teacher he switches with was still there so we were able to talk to her for about 2 minutes.  We finally made it to Caroline's classroom and when we got there I made the mistake of letting George get down.  Well he thought it would be fun to try and run out of the room so I had to hold him.  He hated it, and screamed the rest of the time we were there.  I would have brought a stroller  but since the school is so old its two stories and doesn't have an elevator that fits more than one person.  Yuck.  I was so ready for bed by the time we got to the car, and even though it felt like we were only there for a few minutes we somehow managed to spend an hour there.  Luckily by the time we got home it was bedtime and there was very little prep for it.  I need to make a mental note to not try and attempt these things when Shawn is on call, its not a good move.

Homework

The kids have been in school about a month now but I really wanted to remember what the first few weeks were like.  It wasn't pretty the first week.  Devin had so much homework I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown because it was so frustrating to get him to do it.  No joke I was sobbing to Shawn on the phone on the third day because I couldn't take it anymore.  It can be very difficult to get Devin to do something if he doesn't want to and he did NOT want to do his homework.  It took him an hour to write 4 sentences.  I even wrote out what he should write so he could just copy it but man it was rough.  I dreaded him coming home because I knew it would be such a struggle.  Caroline on the other hand didn't have much homework and being the type A personality she is I never heard her complain about it. (well mostly) I'm just glad Graham didn't have any that first week or I may not have survived.  Fast forward to now and its gotten better.  Its still a long process every night for Devin but now that he's in the swing of things we are in a much better place. This year is going to be very tiring.  All we have is school and then piano lessons once a week and I'm so beat by the end of the day.  On the bright side this year is flying by, only ten more months!

School 2015 Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th

After what felt like the longest summer ever the kids finally went back to school on August 24.  I was very ready for them to get back to a schedule and get them out of this tiny cramped place we are living in. I really thought I would be racing out of the school and crying tears of joy when I dropped them off but I didn't.  I was so nervous about them making friends, feeling out of place, and eating lunch alone that I cried a little after dropping them off.  It was all for nothing.  They had a great first day and it made me so happy!

My "first" baby is in kindergarten!  Graham was the baby for so long I feel like I have two babies.  His teacher is Ms. Fitzsimmons, she's new to the school but so are we so it should be a good fit.  He was literally jumping up and down at kindergarten orientation and I told his teacher he's energetic but a sweetheart.  He is so excited to learn!

Poor Devin had a rough start to the day.  On the way to school he tripped over the terrible sidewalks that are there and because his backpack weighed almost more than he does he feel right on his face scratched up his glasses.  He was fine but I felt so bad for him.  He has Mrs. Bertsch for math and science and Mrs. Batista for reading and language arts.  He told me he made a friend after the first day and my heart almost exploded with happiness. He's so shy I just want everyone to know what a great kid he is.

By the end of summer this girl was so ready to go back.  She was a little nervous but mostly excited to start school.  It was so funny to see the girls on one side of the room and the boys on the other, welcome to forth grade people.  I don't know how she got so big!  I love how much she loves school, wish I could say the same thing for myself.  The girls in her class made her feel very welcome and she loves all her teachers.  She rotates for all different subjects and likes the different teaching styles of each.  I have been told that 4th grade is the best at this school and I'm thrilled Caroline gets to experience it!

George's Birthday

I am really trying to not give up on the blog.  But I can't let George be the only child that doesn't have their first birthday recorded.  With each kid the parties seem to get smaller.  I feel kind of bad but I do not have the energy or desire to plan parties.  Its not my thing, I did make cupcakes and we visited Shawn at the hospital because he was on call of course.  I'm really hoping in the future we will do more but I guess we figured hey he's one and has no idea what's going on if we are going to slack off it should be now.  We do love little George despite not throwing a huge party for him.  He was walking before he turned one and loves to play with anything but toys.  He has so many toys but I usually find him running around with a remote or pencil or something I thought was put out of his reach.  He LOVES Caroline and is so happy when she gets home.  He doesn't really like to snuggle and if he doesn't want something he will shake his head no and say, "un un" which is his word or sound for no.  If its too quiet he loves to scream and make noise to let everyone know he's still around.  He is such a sweet boy and we love having a baby around.

He did quite a number on his cupcake. 

I think he liked the frosting the most.

The four crazies.