Collin is ELEVEN!

For Collin's birthday this year, he chose to go to Sea World as a family to see all the Christmas events. We went in the afternoon so we could see the parade in the evening and the lights when it got dark. So, for lunch we had his cheesecake and sang.

He got two presents. First, he got a holder for all his taekwondo belts. We actually had to order two for them all to fit, and Ryan screwed them together to make one long one. It's on his wall now. His other present was two tickets to the TransSiberian Orchestra Christmas concert, which was being held on Monday.

On our way to Sea World on Saturday, we had an early dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Yum!

When we arrived, we headed to the Pets Ahoy! show because Kate and I saw it last fall, and the boys hadn't. When we got inside, Ethan started complaining how cold he was and curled up in a ball in his seat and started to fall asleep. As we headed out of the auditorium, Ethan got really still, and then threw up all over the brick patio. He'd had Hawaiian Punch at Texas Roadhouse, and there were streams of red running down the path to the drain. I tried to make a wall so the masses of people coming out wouldn't step in it while Ryan tried to find an employee to clean it up. He found someone finally, and Ethan was too weak to walk, so Ryan carried him back to the car. So, uh, happy bday, Col... Part of being in a family, I suppose.

After keeping Ethan home from Church on Christmas Sunday, we drove to Sea World on Monday. Ryan met us at a nearby gas station, and he took Collin to his concert, and I took the other three kids to Sea World. I really wanted to see the Christmas Lights and all the special shows for the Holidays!

In January, Collin was ordained a deacon. He has passed the sacrament a couple times. He is still learning the procedure, but he's been doing a great job. In March, Ryan and I went with him to do baptisms at the temple on a Saturday evening. It is always nice to have some one-on-one time with Collin, who is so easy-going that he sometimes gets lost in the chaos.

Our move has been the hardest on Collin. He loved the outdoors, hiking and backpacking with Ryan. He also had a good buddy he left behind, Jayden. He had to leave his taekwondo school, and though he's adjusted and still got his black belt in December, he definitely preferred the climate at the old school better. As far as piano, I wasn't able to find a teacher who would teach him privately, so he's in a group class doing things he learned years ago. And, in a huge misunderstanding, he was placed in the wrong 5th grade homeroom at school and was left out of all gifted classes for the first quarter of school. In October, they accepted him into a pull-out accelerated class, but it isn't really enough. He's definitely looking forward to middle school next year, where we plans to take Honors Math and Science.

Happy birthday, Ca-Ca! We love you, and I'm so glad you are part of our family!

Thanksgiving w/ Nana & Papa

The kids got an entire week for Thanksgiving off school, and we sure did fill it up with tons of fun.

On Saturday, Collin, Brennan and I all ran Ryan's company's 2-mile Turkey Trot. I started running a year ago (Nov 1, 2018), and I finally made it up to 2-miles, even though with the hills I did have to walk some. Collin was fastest, with a time of about 22 mins. Brennan and I finished together in about 23 minutes. Next year our goal is to beat our times from this year. We aren't fast, but at least we did it.

Nana & Papa arrived on Monday. The morning was filled with cleaning, the afternoon was filled with airport driving, and in the evening they were able to go and cheer for our Collin at one of his final practices before he tests for his black belt.

Tuesday morning I took Ethan & Brennan into the doctor for their well-checks, and we went and saw Frozen 2 in the afternoon. I was really pleased with the show, and Kate was super fun in her Elsa costume with her Anna dolly.

Wednesday we went to Six Flags in the afternoon/evening. Ryan took off a half-day. He and his parents rode a bunch of roller coasters. Ethan & Katelyn even did the Roadrunner! We rode the Christmas train, the ferris wheel a couple times, did bumper cars and some other kiddie rides. They have a bunch of Christmas concerts going on right now too, so we saw several sing/dance routines, the Looney Tunes, lighting up of the Holiday Tree, and a live nativity with camels and sheep. It was surprisingly well-done. They have "snow machines" all over the park that blow out tiny bubbles to land in your hair and jacket. I was certainly not complaining about the 55 degree temps! We had a ton of fun and grabbed donuts and hot chocolate afterwards.

Thursday was the Macy's Parade, cooking, eating and doing dishes. You know the drill. I had done so much preparation on Tuesday and Wednesday though, that after dinner, I talked the adults into helping me decorate for Christmas. I'm super excited about my new decorations!

Friday was raining and cold. Nana & Papa kept the kids in the morning so Ryan and I could go do sealings in the temple. We had planned in the evening to go down to the Riverwalk for the Christmas Light Boat parade, but we watched it on tv instead.

Saturday we cleaned the church in the morning, cheered the Buckeyes to a win against Xichigan, purchased and picked up a new piece of furniture for the office and went to the Boerne Dickens Christmas Festival. It was a warm 82 degrees, and I even wore shorts and a tshirt (me on Nov 30!).

Sunday was Church and the final dress rehearsal for Ryan's Messiah concert. His parents were able to go and listen, which was nice for them.

Monday Ryan took off work, and after getting the boys on the bus and Kate dropped off at preschool, we headed to the Missions. We enjoyed looking around, and even got quite a great explanation from one of the volunteer park rangers. Lastly, we did the Alamo and ate lunch at the Iron Cactus on the Riverwalk. We then booked it back to preschool! It was a jam-packed fun day. Ryan even FINALLY got the trampoline set-up in the backyard while I mowed the lawn (on Dec 2nd! Think I'll ever get used to this Texas weather?).

Tuesday we cleaned up and Kate and I took Nana & Papa back to the airport. And that was our fun-filled week!

Now real life December begins - Messiah performances, Black Belt practices and pretest and test, 5th grade musical, piano recital, Ward Christmas party, Collin's birthday, our 16th anniversary and Christmas. Here we go!

Halloween '19

This year we did full "purchased" costumes. Ryan was in Germany for work the week before, and we all know that Halloween is his thing. Life is so busy now. I just feel like I'm hanging on for the ride. It's so crazy, and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.

We went to a Ward Trunk-or-Treat the weekend before, the kids wore their costumes to school and went Trick-or-Treating on Thursday, and we went to a Taekwondo trunk-or-treat the day after Halloween. It was "cold" (by Texas-standards, lol), so many kids didn't come around the neighborhood. Our kids were totally fine though. Must be that Colorado/Illinois blood!

Collin (10) as Draco Malfoy

Brennan (8) as Harry Potter

Ethan (6) as Albus Dumbledore

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardy

Katelyn (4) as Elsa

Found "her people" at the ward party, lol

I'm getting better at french-braiding her hair

She has been surprisingly patient with me

And last but not least, a blast from the past...
Mr & Mrs 80s

Happy Halloween!

Ethan is SIX!

Happy 6th birthday, Ethan! 

Ethan's birthday celebrations were spread out over the course of a week. We started on Sunday with cake (a Pokeball), birthday ice cream and presents (a water-safe remote-controlled car).

On Wednesday, his actual birthday, he had a special breakfast - a waffle with icing and sprinkles on top. After a full-day of school, he picked Kraft mac & cheese for dinner followed by soccer practice.

On Saturday, I took his friend Logan and him to Build-a-Bear, where they each got a Pokemon animal. Logan got him some Pokemon cards and a Bakugan ball. Then we went to McDonald's for lunch, and they played on the PlayPlace.

* * *

Ethan is still super friendly. He easily made a good little group of buddies here (Logan, Liam and Layne) when school started. He also has a good friend in his church class (Seth) who rides his bus and lives in our neighborhood, but he's in 1st grade instead of kindergarten.

He is still willing to try just about anything. He is a great little swimmer, played soccer again this fall and is enjoying all the fun of learning to read. He is exhausted each afternoon (6:50 am - 3:30 pm with only one 20-minute recess and one 30-minute lunch break would be a lot for anyone!), but hopefully he'll continue to adjust to that too.

He is still having quite a bit of trouble with potty-ing. As soon as Ryan left to move here in February, he started having accidents, and despite all my best efforts through the summer, I couldn't seem to get him to snap out of it. His teacher was very sweet though, and she has set alarms on her phone for him. When he hears her phone chime, he knows that means he needs to go to the bathroom. He comes home dry most days, but he has accidents if she forgets to turn on the chimes, which has only happened twice on Mondays. Anyway, I really want to gradually hand the responsibility back to him, but I don't think he's quite ready yet.

He is still very impulsive, and he really does just about anything that pops into his cute little head. I am struggling to teach him to think before he acts, and I really worry about him. A boy dared another boy to kiss Ethan on the bus this week (on the lips), and Ethan let him. He is just so scattered and aloof, I get so frustrated trying to keep him on task and out of trouble. I keep thinking he'll grow out of it, but now I'm wondering if it's just his personality. He's just so dang cute though!

We love our Ethan, and our world would be so much more boring without him in it. Keep smiling, my happy boy.

Happy birthday, Ethan! 

Beach Trip!

When you live in a place that doesn't have fall (aka temps under 90) until November, you can take a trip to the beach for Columbus Day in October. And that's just what we did!

At the end of my parents' trip to see San Antonio, we headed to Port Aransas (about 3 hrs away) on Sunday morning. It was a little rainy and windy when we got there, but we headed to the beach anyway. The kids collected seashells, tried to race the waves, and we flew Ryan's stunt kite.

After checking into our condo, we had dinner and then went for a walk along the beach. That's my dream kinda evening! We continued our seashell hunt, and the kids got their jammies wet (oops).

Monday was our full-day beach day. Ryan, Collin & I went for a run along the beach in the morning, which sounds far more ideal than it actually was. Ryan is so much faster and more conditioned than me, that he wasn't even a speck in the distance when I turned around after a mile. Collin got to the one-mile turn-around about a 1/4 of a mile before me, and was back eating breakfast before I returned, but nonetheless I have a goal to make us a family who runs together, so I'll keep working at it.

 After we all got back, we headed down to the beach. The water was insanely warm (I hear this is a Gulf thing - always much warmer than the Atlantic and definitely the Pacific). We body-surfed and rode waves. Ryan flew his drone.

We collected still more seashells and built a sandcastle for the books. It even lasted until the next morning! 

After lunch and naps, we headed to the pool where the water was unfortunately icy cold. We grilled hamburgers and following the Davis' (my sister's husband's family) tradition we learned last Christmas and had salt-water corn-on-the-cob. No other way to eat on the beach now! Delish. 

After another walk down the beach at sunset, we had ice cream for a treat and headed to bed.

Tuesday morning Ryan took the kids down to the beach while my parents and I started the cleanup and packup chores. I hate how this eats into your time away so much. They rinsed their sand off in the pool, and we headed to Corpus Christi.

We stumbled upon a great little outdoor seafood restaurant right on the bay. After walking around the USS Lexington and the fishing pier (lots of hermit crabs) for a bit, the kids tried calamari for the first time and had fried shrimp.

It was a great little getaway, and I'm looking forward to doing it again and again!

Grandpa & Grandma Came!

My mom and dad came to town this past week. It was a very busy and fun week!

SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS - Fri

Today was our first temporary blast of Fall, and we awoke to crazy wind, blustery cold and spitting rain. We had intended to do The Alamo and the Riverwalk Cruise, but after doing the Alamo, we decided we needed to find a warmer activity. So I texted Ryan (who was on a business trip in Germany), and he gave me the order in which to drive to each of the Missions of San Antonio.

The Alamo

The Alamo

San Jose

San Jose

We saw Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and San Francisco. My mom and dad got out at Concepcion, we all got out for San Jose, and then only my dad got out for pictures at the others. Then we grabbed some Mexican for lunch, which was disgusting. Oops.

FALL FARM TRIP - Sat

The Crew

It was still cold and rainy in the morning, so we opted to wait to go to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon, like the rest of the city (another oops). After nap time, we headed to Hondo, about an hour away. My dad took Collin & Brennan into the corn maze, while my mom & I took Kate & Ethan to the slide, tractor ride, playground and trampoline.

tractor ride

playground

We met up and had kettle corn as a treat before the hay ride and picking out pumpkins. It was sunny and a crisp 70, and I couldn't have dreamed of better weather.

hay ride

PORT ARANSAS - Sun, Mon & Tues
The next day (after Ryan returned from his business trip), we headed to Port Aransas for three days to have some beach time, but that'll be in another post.

OPTIMISM CEREMONY - Wed

Each quarter the classroom teachers select two children (one boy & one girl) who exemplifies a certain character trait. The parents are notified that the child will be honored at an assembly, but the child doesn't know. Collin's teacher selected him to receive the positive thinking award, and the ceremony was right before I needed to take them to the airport. It was really fun to surprise him at school, and even better that Grandpa & Grandma got to come.

If you know my Collin, you know his teacher was spot-on in picking him! After the assembly, we grabbed some breakfast at my new favorite spot: Magnolia Pancake Haus. Then I dropped them back at the airport.

At the end of our busy week, my mom said, "Ok, now that I've seen the Alamo and the beach, I'm done with Texas." Here's hoping I can talk her into coming at least one more time to see the Riverwalk! ...and maybe her daughter and grandchildren.

We had a great time! Anyone else wanna come visit us? I'm getting better at this tour guide thing!