Kinder

Everyone says kindergarten is the new first grade. It's hard to remember as it was so many years ago for me.  Logan is truly enjoying his first year at Oak Forest. Mrs. McWilliams is incredibly organized, patient yet firm, and always planning an exciting project. The Halloween project consisted students rotating from pumpkin station to pumpkin station.  They took notes on measurement, flotation, color, and taste. They have one ancillary class a day and Logan's favorites are art, computer, and creative movemet (yoga).

Of course, hIs absolute daily favorite is recess.

They receive a weekly homework folder on Monday's and are consistently tested on sets of site words. Logan finished his kindergarten popcorn word list this past week and he received popcorn and a Coke. He was elated and we were proud parents. We try to stick to a consistent routine on school days. Brian and I both will read 

Every day he comes home talking about a seemingly random topic with such intensity. Yesterday's consisted of a request for exactly $33.00.   He wanted to buy Lego books from the book fair and his friends Markee and Mia both said he needed exactly $33.00.  Other hot topics include items brought to lunch, back packs, water bottles, and how to play freeze tag. Five is a fun age.  

Grandparent's Lunch at school

2nd season of T ball

Logan took this picture @ the Renaissance Festival 

Catherine really does adore her Pre-KB class at St. Rose

Picture Day (love the potty in the back ground!!)

I am feeling very blessed as Catherine is a month and a half into school and she adores it.  SHE ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT.  Every day when she comes home the first thing she does is play school.  She plays it for hours at a time.  She reads to me (fake pretend) and she reads all kinds of books to her stuffed animals.  She has converted our guest room into her schoolroom and office.  She takes attendance daily and sometimes, though not often, will put croc or flamingo in time out.  She loves playing the teacher.

She also has a cash register that she uses to sell lunch cards to her students.  She will take random receipts from my wallet and say they are lunch cards.  She also has real money from my wallet because the other day I was cleaning her room and the cash registrar door popped open and wow: lots of 1s,5s, and 20s.  I guess she is saving that for college!

Friday 8/14 when they get to meet the teacher for the first time

Sweet Frogs yogurt same night (I felt bad bc she had an ear infection)

Adores any and all animals

Even bronzed Apes

For over a month she has told me that we must have a witch at HW so that our witch will protect us from the goblins.

And we love soccer! I am not sure if it is the actual game or the gatorade and goldfish after the game!

Johnson Space Center

Brian took the kids to Johnson Space Center last weekend while I was out of town with some college friends.  They loved it.  Logan always wants to go there but since it can be a hike with traffic, we only make it a few times a year.  Their favorites are still the Saturn V display rocket and mission control.  

Last weekend we watched Apollo 13 and Logan was obsessed.  He loved the fact that it was based on a true story and could not believe that all of the astronauts returned to earth unharmed.  Apollo 13 launched in April 1970 and was intended to be the third landing on the moon for NASA. After an oxygen tank exploded two days into their mission, the crew abandoned the moon landing and focused on returning to earth.   For the return trip, the crew had to troubleshoot problems with ground control that included power limitations, loss of cabin heat, water shortages, and re-working a carbon dioxide filter.  After the movie ended, Logan was all about re-creating space scenes.  It is truly awesome to see his imagination at work.  Of course, his rocket recreations had bombs on them and his astronauts had guns. Still not sure why they needed ammunition.  His carbon dioxide filter was a whole lot of tape and paper plates and napkins.  He confiscated all of our flashlights and batteries to work on the "power problem" in our house.  

I think Catherine missed the main plot of the movie because throughout the whole thing she only asked one question.   Where are all the bad guys? It was nice to watch a movie that did not have any bad guys.

Surfside Beach, TX

We rented a 3 br beach house with the Caldwell family for the last week of summer.  It was in Surfside Beach, TX, which is west of Galveston and south of Lake Jackson.  Brian and I have a love/hate relationship with Galveston beaches.  We love the fact that it is an 1 - 1 1/2 hour from our house to the Gulf of Mexico.  It is close, but just far enough away that you actually feel like you are leaving the city.  We love that our kids think they are in Tahiti every time we arrive.  They can't distinguish between beaches yet so all beaches are truly awesome in their eyes.

We are not so fond of the sand in this part of Texas.  It is brownish in color and sometimes muddy.  The water is often brown and muddy as well, although I will say this trip was the clearest I have ever seen in Texas.  On the drive down from Houston you pass miles and miles of refineries and you have to wonder where and how all the chemicals drain.   Our house had a water restriction in that we could not use the water for cooking or drinking as it had tested high for arsenic levels. That was a pain.  The notice has been in effect since 2011, according to the letter on the refrigerator.

Catherine developed an outer ear infection on the second day, so she and I ended up driving back to Houston to see her ENT vs. an urgent care in Surfside. After I told the doc we were spending the week down on the Gulf, he pretty much cut me off and said that local Gulf water (and sand) can have the same level of bacteria that exists in a toilet bowl.  I was like ok, nice.

We had a fun week surfing, building sand castles, burying the kids in the sand, flying kites, playing trivia, and eating all sorts of fun things.  Beth made a slow cooker Ropa Vieja meal that was scrumptious.  We brought shrimp étouffée that we cooked a week earlier and froze.

Pre-K and K

Both kids have started school and we are excited to see what the school year will bring. Catherine is in Pre-K B at St. Rose with Mrs. Najera.  She only cried her first day and it was because she did not get Logan's teacher from last year, Mrs. Slocum.  She has told me more about Pre-K in two weeks than Logan had after months.  Catherine definitely loves to talk.  There is a boy in her class who gets tummy aches if he eats peanuts.  There is a girl in her class who does not like the slide.  They have to line up in rows before they travel to different places, like the library.  There is a cat who wanders between classes and leaves them chocolate. ( I think she got a Pete the Cat story confused with something else although I am not sure.)

C & Ms. Diana from Pre K 3

Logan's first week of school at Oak Forest Elementary was great.  He is extremely fortunate to be in the same class with his best bud Austin.  There was a 1/6th chance of that happening!  He has Mrs.  McWilliams and so far has adjusted well.

L & Mrs. Slocum

Say it ain't so

Logan starts Kindergarten tomorrow morning at 7:45.

I vividly remember holding his tiny body in the hospital the night he was born.  Time really did stop for me that day. I remember my mom walking into the room and commenting that a baby down the hall was JUST born in the last hour.  How could that be?  It was then that I realized time did not actually stop although it sure did feel that way.

And five short years later we arrive at Kindergarten.  Just like that.  The days are long but the years are short.

We had a great last week of summer.  Catherine had already started St. Rose so it was just Logan and I.  We visited Houston Fire Station 31 and got an incredible tour of the trucks, gear and driving cabin.  We also got to shoot the infrared lasers with the captain looking for heat. The only heat we found was the crew eating lunch in the kitchen area.  And just when we though our tour had ended, the Captain pulled out a live hose that Logan got to use.  He was ecstatic.

Later that same day we saw a fire fighter costume at Costco and we had to purchase it.  He has worn it non stop. He even slept in it two nights.

We ate out a good bit and had the chance to play tickle monster in my car while we were waiting on my folks to finish up at the Holocaust museum.  We had gone to the Children's Museum as I felt it was more age appropriate.  It has been a super fun week and we are both ready for this exciting new chapter.

Happy 4th Birthday Catherine!

Catherine turned 4 years old on July 30th.  She was blessed to have her Mimi and Popi travel from NOLA to Houston to celebrate with her.  We did not have an actual birthday party per se, but we did have cake and presents and that seemed be all that Catherine wanted.

In the last year, Catherine has become a chatty little girl.  She talks non stop. Some times it makes complete sense and other times I can't understand what she is saying. She loves to roll play where she is the doctor and helping her animals and dolls.  She likes to pretend she is the school teacher and everyone is in time out for talking out of turn.  Ironic.

She continues to worship Winston.  He is her puppy dog and she can take care of him all by herself.  She tells me this all the time.  She is becoming more athletic and has developed swimming skills and soccer as well.  She runs very fast but I am not sure if that is because she is chasing Logan or if she is being chased.  Big brother definitely helps her run faster.

She is also creating friendships with girls she meets through school, church, and the community.  Catherine is fearless and I  hope that is a good trait to have as long as she knows when it is time to stop something  that could potentially be dangerous!

Catherine and Cambry watching Frozen

Catherine and Avery buried in the clean Surf Side sand

She always swings on the yellow swing.  Nothing else can compare.

She LOVES her dad to the moon and back.

Every year we ask our kids the same set of questions and its fun to see how much they change in just one short year.

What is your favorite color?

Pink, yellow, and gold

What is your favorite food?

Taco salad with root beer and chips (She really never eats chips and root bear)

What is your favorite toy?

Hello Kitty band-aid box (very true indeed)

Who is your best friend?

Elise, Avery, and Jillian

What is your favorite thing to do?

Playing with mommy and daddy; watching Mickey Mouse

What is your favorite game to play?

Princess

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Veterinarian

What are you most thankful for?

Presents.  Friends coming over to play

What is the best thing that happened to you this year?

Going on the Mickey Mouse boat

What do you like about being 4?

Growing up and tracing and words