Aunt Amy's Visit!

This weekend, Aunt Amy drove up from Houston for a quick visit. The kids were so excited to see her! A visit from Amy means lots of books and games! Woo-Hoo! So great to see her - thank you for visiting!

On Sunday we went back to the BMX trails so the kids could show Daddy and Amy their skills. These pics are all out of order - sorry about that....

 Mounting up and getting ready to go.

 Beckett was very frustrated - his training wheels were definitely slowing him down and he just wasn't able to do what Grant was doing. Here I am talking with him about taking off the training wheels and putting on some pads. He's ready - it will be our next adventure.

 Everyone holding hands. One of the kids favorite things to do in the car - kills my arm. :-)

 Everyone piled into the back. Not sure why Beckett has that face. I stopped trying to figure him out awhile ago. 

 Getting ready to go.

 "Brothers stick together."

 Grant popping a wheelie off one of the jumps.

 Helping Grant out of the tree.

 More talks about training wheels - told you these were out of order.

 There's the smile I love.

 Me and the boys. 

 These little hills are Beckett's favorite part. 

 Grant before getting stuck. 

 Love those faces and smiles!

 Love the concentration on his face. He told me yesterday, while watching the X-Games that he needs to practice some more. That's his goal now - XGames. Lord help me!

 Amy reading some very interesting and overly informative books. This one is about ants. Believe me - way more than I ever wanted to know about ants. Beware the one about mummies!

 We have had some rough weeks with Beckett. This picture warms my heart. I can't wait for this face to be with me all day, instead of the glimpses we get every now and then.

I have had several requests for pictures of the house. I promise...I will post some soon. I want to get them when the house looks good and well...that doesn't happen very often or for very long. :-)

Haddy Birday Mommy!

Today my day began with 2 sweet little faces, inches from my face, whispering Mommy....Haddy Birthday Mommy!
Our weather is off the charts hot. We try to get out in the mornings and this morning we headed to a park with a BMX trail. The kids have been dying to try the trails on their bikes. I was a bit skepticle, especially since Beckett still has training wheels. Well, as you can see from the video, no problems and no fears.

After about 30 minutes or so, the heat really got to us. Somehow we managed to make it back to the car....Mom carrying more than her share of course. :-) I decided that it was time for something cool and refreshing. So we headed over to a frozen yogurt store and the kids went wild with different flavors and toppings.

That night Roger came home with take out from Magianos and an ice cream cake. My big present? A NEW LAPTOP! My other one hit the dust before we left Indiana and so Roger built one for me. So excited! Movies and Pics for all! :-) Thank you Thank you Roger. I love you!

My birthday ended with several serenades from Grant and a nice bedtime cuddle with Beckett. Ahh...it was a good day.

Let the Pool Exploration Begin!

One of the great things about our new home is the variety of pools. Most of the pools are run by the Parks and Rec programs, so admission is very little but there are lots of amenities.

Macie and Cap are visiting for a few days so we thought we should check one out. Today we went to Veterans Memorial Pool. We found a great playground type structure in one of the pools as well as a few smaller slides. Grant was very excited to see a big diving platform and a bigger slide. After passing the required swim test, Grant charged up the stairs and jumped right off the platform. He said it was awesome! :-) The boys truly are a couple of fish. :-)

Grant cannonballing it off the big slide.

Grant looking back and telling me how awesome it was.

Beckett on one of the smaller slides.

Gotta love that smile! :-)

Beckett coming out of the tunnel slide

And the race is on...

 

Here is a video of the kids today. Mostly of Grant on the slide and diving platform.

Preschool Graduation

On Thursday night, Grant's school had a preschool graduation for the kiddos moving onto Kinder in the fall. I have to admit, I was very skeptical. I am happy to report that it was really nice. The school clearly cares about these kiddos. A lot of work, from both teachers and students, went into the night and it really came through. The music teacher at the school is a hoot. Very energetic - not afraid to be goofy and pump the kids up. I told my mom she reminded me of what she was probably like as a counselor. :-)

It had been a long day for Grant and Beckett. They had both been at school all day and had been up since 5:00am. 6:30pm is about the time we are really winding down the day and getting them ready for bed. That being said, we brought the iPad for Beckett. He sat next to me with the headphones on. Fortunately once Grant was up on stage, he watched the performance and cheered for Grant.

Grant did a great job. We were a little worried because the other kids had been working on the songs since March. However, Grant did better than some. He has such an attention to detail and a desire to do things correctly.

Funny story - When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Grant said baseball player. So I asked him about it later and he said "Not really, that's just the first thing that came into my head." So i asked what he really wants to be - "Basketball player." Oh, of course. :-)

A funny side note - as each of the kids was introduced, the school director would say what they wanted to be when they grew up. There were lots of football players, doctors and police officers. One kiddo said he wanted to be Batman. Upon hearing this, Beckett says, "Nice, I love Batman!" Ha Ha - Beckett cracks me up.

Here is the full video - songs and everything from the night.

Splash Day!

One day at Macie and Cap's house I orverheard Grant singing to himself. He was feeling sad because he missed his friends and wasn't in school. So, Roger and I decided to call up the school we were looking at for Beckett next year. Luckily they had space remaining. So for 11 days, Grant and Beckett attended High Hopes Preschool.

As everyone told them, they started at the best time. The end of the year is full of parties and fun days like this one - Splash Day! The school set up several inflatable water slides and filled little pools and had sprinklers aplenty! The boys had a great time.

2 funny stories:

I was standing at the end of one of the slides, trying to get pictures of Beckett. As Beckett gets on the slide, I overhear 2 little girls start chanting "Go Beckett Go! Go Beckett Go!" Then as he is still lounging in the pool at the end of the slide, those 2 girls slide in and join him. He turns to me and with a big smile on his face he says "I am in the pool with a bunch or dirls!" Oh geez...

When Grant came out he was fascinated with the rocket (there are a few pictures of Beckett playing with it.) Unlike the other kids who just wanted to blast it off, Grant played with the water pressure. Each time trying to get it to stay up longer. The other kids were saying, "Come on Grant - push it up to 10!" And he would respond, "No, if you keep it in the middle it will stay up longer." 

 Beckett and the rocket.

 Blast Off!

 Jumping into the pool.

 Pure joy.

 Beckett soon decided that sliding on his belly and going head first was a lot more fun.

 Grant using an innertube on the slide.

 Love this one.

 Popsicle time.

"give me a goofy face"

Videos

As some of you might know, my computer crashed right before we left Indiana. Even Roger can't get it up and running again. Roger's computer doesn't have video editing software on it, so here are just a couple of clips from the day. I will try and find something soon that will let me edit the videos.

If you listen to the background, you can hear one of the little girls cheering for Beck. :-)