Additions

Reed's name hanging above his bed. We love the snorkeler!
Cassidy's perfectly pink name announcing the entrance to her room! Great job, Gran Debbie!
Assembling Cassidy's bed.
Hard at work. Where is that child's pants?!?
Reed and Daddy working together.
The finished product.
The fish tank.

We have had a few new additions to our home decor lately. First, Gran Debbie made both the kids a name painting to hang in their rooms. They look fabulous! Thanks Gran Debbie!

Next, we bought a bed for Cassidy's room. We have really been remiss in decorating a room for Cassidy and it was her Daddy who finally had enough. He said, "We are buying a bed for my little girl and hanging some pictures up in her room." Poor Cass - she got a decorating dud for a mom! (I think she'll survive...I'm teaching her other important things like, "Buck up, camper!" and "Don't squeeze the lizard too hard or you'll squish him!") The kids had a blast helping Daddy put the bed together. Cassidy was especially excited to be a helper...that girl is really strong. She and Randy lifted and carried the box springs by themselves. I know it doesn't weigh a whole lot, but it is definitely large and unwieldy!

Finally, my fishy family added a fish tank. Currently, it is freshwater and inhabited mostly by bluegills caught in the pond outside. There is one lone gold African cichlid inherited with the tank. The plan is to eventually convert to salt water, but for now I'm just glad to have fish in the house again!

This is totally normal!...Right?

The tape wrangler
Various toys attached to rockets...or markers pretending to be rockets. Hey, artists have to work with what they've got!
My personal favorite.

I don't have a picture of the squid rocket, but we've been enjoying him during bath time. One small bit of info...tape and water is a recipe for losing your rocket or your squid.

Notice the progression to duct tape.

This mother quickly squelched their creative spirits with a few stern words about the expense of duct tape, the stickiness of duct tape and how duct tape is forever more OFF LIMITS!

Enjoying inventions.

The creative juices are really flowing around here! Reed and Cassidy (since she does everything he does) have been "inventing" many useful things. I use the word "useful" rather loosely. I think Reed's inventions would be incredibly useful if you, by chance, needed things to blow up, shoot into space or, in any fashion, be attached to a rocket. If you need assistance in any of those areas, give me a call...I can hook you up...I mean tape you up!

Fay Play Day!

Playing outside (in jammies)
Cassidy is apparently pretending to be a robot. I have no idea what Reed is doing. And yes, Cassidy is wearing Power Ranger jammies.
Hard-working Hubby!

Well, Tropical Storm Fay faked us out. She changed tracks last night and went north and east much earlier than predicted. That meant that the kids were out of school and Randy was off work, but we had no bad weather. As I type this, they are outside fishing for bluegills in the pond. This morning Randy pressure washed the house and the kids played in their jammies until after lunch. I worked on the blog and some other things on the computer. But it is back to the grindstone tomorrow!

First Day of School

Ready for another year of preschool
Big 1st Grader! Looking good on the first day of school.

The kids started back to school yesterday, Monday, August 18. Reed's school "loops" their teachers, so he has the same teacher for Kinder and 1st Grade. He was in the same classroom with the same students...a few new ones. Due to this, there was no anxiety and his first day went very well.

Cassidy, the resident social butterfly with very high self-esteem, ran right into her new classroom and did not even give her Mom a kiss. I followed her in, introduced us to the teacher and got my kiss. She also had a great first day. She is in a MWF class from 9AM-Noon.

I did the "happy dance of joy" on my way to my car, called my sister (the school teacher) and gloated and came home to a blissfully quiet house all to myself!

Gram's Plan: Have fun!

Mom and Dad made Reed a "Pirate Den" in the loft. He LOVED it!
Pirate Reed
Reed vacuuming
Cassidy mopping
Walking down Gram's street.
At the Children's Museum. Reed the weather guy.
Cassidy on the screen
Cooking
Feeding Gram
Cassidy and the piglets.

My mom did a great job planning lots of fun activities for the kids during our visit. We had a fabulous time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Grandparent Fun...Squared!

No, I cannot explain the Roman soldier helmet in the pool.
Gran Debbie reading bedtime stories.
My parents with us...pictures taken BEFORE dinner...Reed was not a happy camper.
Pa David and Gran Debbie with kids.
Reed and Cassidy with both sets of Grands...blessed kids.

Cassidy in her garden at Gram's.
Reed in his garden at Gram's. Hurricane Dolly took out a lot of the bigger plants in this garden with her strong west winds.
Climbing trees
Teeter totter

Gram Ava and Pa Gary with the kiddos.
Pa David playing.

After we left Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon, we drove down to Harlingen to Pa Gary and Gram Ava's house for the rest of our Texas stay. Our other set of grandparents were meeting us down there for a few days, so the kids got to have Pa David and Gran Debbie to play with as well. Needless to say, fun was had by all.

Cousin fun!

Gram Ava and Pa Gary with all their grandkids...a full couch.
The whole gang.
I wonder if they understand each other?
Cutie Marla with Gram and Pa!

The Blankinships loving on Baby Marla
Cassidy sitting with Vivian and holding the unsuspecting Marla.
Isn't she precious?!?
Pa Gary and Marla...with her eyes open!
This picture cracks me up! Reed loved holding Marla, but she was done with all of us at this point. Don't worry, we quickly whisked her off to her Mom for a little snack and all was well.

There are more adventures to come! It is taking me a while to get caught up. The kids started school this morning, so that is one hurdle jumped! We are keeping an eye on Fay and have prepared as best we can.

The Gulf Coast: From East to West

As mentioned in previous posts...you never know what you'll get when you give Aunt Becky the camera!
Reed and Colten...two peas in a pod.
Fishing
Happy fishing...duh.
Dad with his girls...we are so blessed!

All the kids on the fish cleaning table...aren't they cute!
The Bennett's had A LOT of fun things outside...including Roger, the entertainment committee!
Heading to the pool. Yes, we NEEDED to take the snorkeling gear!
Playing
Vivian, Hallie, Cassidy and Laura

The kids and I had such a great time visiting our friends and family in Texas. We flew into San Antonio with Aunt Becky and spent the night at her apartment. Uncle Mark and Aunt Tamra picked all of us up at the airport Thursday night and then met us for breakfast on Friday morning. It was great to see them and we wished we had more time together. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I don't have a picture to post of our cutie Aunt Tam and Uncle Marky!

Then it was off south to the Corpus Christi area. We met up with Gram Ava, Pa Gary, Uncle Aaron, Aunt Tarin, Hallie, Vivian, Sweetie Marla at our friends, the Bennett's, house. We had a great time! Thanks Roger, Beth, Colten and Laura for the great hospitality!