First Day at a New School

Today is Allison's first day at preschool. She has been so excited since Friday when we met her teachers. She was up at 6:30 ready to get dressed and head out the door. Luckily school didn't start until 9:30. Here she is with one of her teachers, Ms. Carol.

Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah

Allison begged to do cheerleading all summer, and now she is a Broncos cheerleader for Katy Youth Football. So far she says she loves it. We're not crazy about the overly-intense cheer coach or her lack of age-appropriate practice times and lengths, but if Allison is happy we're sticking with it.

This past Saturday was her first game. Here are a couple of pictures. As you can tell from the second picture it was HOT!

Progress

The playroom was previously used as a sunroom. Here is the before picture. That would be ivy stenciling with hot-glued butterflies and bumble bees in just the right spots.
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The playroom is finished. It looks pretty messy here, but that's a good thing. The kids love it. I am going to improve upon the storage/organization situation later.

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In the picture above you can see that the hideous border in the kitchen is down. That was annoying to remove! The sellers left a can of paint, claiming it was the same color as all of the downstairs. I'm thinking at one point it was, but it had been a while and the layers of dirt made what was there darker. Therefore, I had to repaint the entire kitchen. Awesome. Here is what it looked like with the sweet border and decorative coo-coo clock.

I also took down those lovely valances and padded wall covering under the breakfast bar. What was wrong with these people? They even had a paper towel holder screwed into the cabinets that resembled a duck.

On the same note, I would like to travel back in time, find the guy who invented wallpaper, and smack him. Twice. Once for each layer in the bathrooms. Good thing the kids think it's big fun to rip up walls!

The Work Begins

We are in our new house, and slowly we are transforming each room into something we can live with. Of course, Allison's room had to be first. She loves having more space, and spends so much time playing in there. This kid has so much stuff. The last pieces of the puzzle here are a new ceiling fan and a vanity/desk chair. Eventually.

Here is how the room used to look...

Today... (Jillian, come on and enjoy the pink room!) Allison designed the desk area. She picked out the curtain, and decided what to put in the space. It was sweet and cute.

The other little completed part is the stair wall. Tyler has informed me that the slope of the pictures does not match the slope of the stairs. He's right, but I'm tired.

I have painted the dining room, and we've worked on every other room. They are not finished though. I'll post updates as we finish each one. We're exhausted and overwhelmed, but we're feeling very fortunate and happy as well. Thanks to Christina, Papa Jerry, Omie, and Papa Fred for all your work over the last week and a half!!!

A Labor of Love

A love of wine that is! Tyler's grapes were ready to be picked, stemmed, and crushed today. The kids are on a mini-vacation in Wimberley with Papa Denis, Grandma Renee, Aunt Stacie, and Uncle Gregory while we finish up packing and move on Monday, so Allison missed out on the grape stomping. I filled in as best I could.

Tyler woke up bright and early and cut the clusters off the vines.

Then from 8 AM to 7 PM he stemmed the grapes. I helped quite a bit, but I took breaks to do a little packing here and there. There were so many grapes that had either been nibbled on by birds or other woodland creatures, rotted, or just over-ripened that had to be trashed. It was a very tedious process.

I was then instructed to thoroughly wash my feet and put clean socks to walk to the barrel. Our neighbor Roy came over and took pictures of the stomping while laughing the entire time.

Tyler supervised while I made grape juice.

I think my feet will be purple for a week.

Four Days and Counting

Little Diva

Yesterday Allison went to Bella's birthday party at "Little Diva". She had a rockstar party, and each girl had her hair and make-up done, wore a special outfit, and then performed on stage. It was so cute! And, yes, the black fishnet gloves are hers to keep! If you're nice she might let you borrow then next time you visit.

Aidan at the Beach

Here are a few Aidan pictures from the beach that Papa Jerry caught.

Mmmm, tasty sand!

Time to rinse off in the pool

Aidan and Rebecca

North Carolina 2010

We just returned from a week and a half trip to North Carolina to celebrate Papa Jerry's 65th birthday and to attend a cotillion convention in Charlotte.

We had a blast, as you can see. I have a million pictures, but here are some highlights.

We decided to drive. Thanks to this, it was bearable. (Not sure we'll do it again though.)


Allison LOVED the beach. Aidan actually did also, but the logistics were difficult. I cannot chase and wrestle a mad man while taking pictures.


Heading out to boogie board with Papa Jerry


Corryn and Allison catching and watching periwinkles.


Building sandcastles with Riley, Rebecca, and Papa Jerry

Jake and Allison in a "pool"


Tyler and Ross decided to take running starts and attempt to "surf" on the boogie boards. This is how pretty such each attempt ended.



On Tuesday I tagged along for some deep-sea fishing.

Tyler caught the only big wahoo of the day!


There are many family members that I seemed to miss with the camera, and Aidan is not in any of my pictures. Luckily Judy hired a photographer one day. I'm excited to see what she was able to catch while watching this crazy crew! What a fun week!