First Day of School

(Hannah, Becca, Natalie, & Kathryn)

Well, it's that time of year again. Kathryn & Rebecca started school today. Kathryn is in Kindergarten and Rebecca is in third grade. Both girls got up early, and Daddy made "panacakes". Mommy made lunches, then out to the bus stop with the "Sweet Birch Gang". Kathryn was so excited about finally getting to ride the bus. As the bus drove off, Mommy did the happy dance. ;-) No tears here folks. Just happy happy, joy joy.



After the bus left, I ran up to the school to meet the bus, and get a picture of them getting off the bus.



Kathryn is very excited about Kindergarten this year. She is officially a "big girl" now. She looked so grown up walking down the hallway with her back pack, and sitting at her first real desk. We are so proud of her.







(Kathryn & Mrs. Reynolds at "Meet the Teacher" day)

Rebecca will be in third grade this year. Rebecca's home room teacher this year is Mrs. Vanzandt, her Language Arts teacher. In the afternoons she has Mrs. Grimes for Math/Science/Social Studies. Also, this is the year she will be taking the dreaded TAKS. It should be a challenging and exciting year for her.





(Rebecca & Mrs. Vanzandt)

The second day of school, Kathryn was so eager to get on the bus that she beat everyone across the street. Way to go girl!



We are so proud of both of our girls. Our babies are growing up so fast. :'-)

Tiny Dancer...

Kathryn started taking dance this week. She is taking classes at Extreme Performing Arts Center on 1488 with her birthday buddy, Emily. The class will be a combination class of tap, jazz and ballet. In May there is a recital and she will have a ballet routine and a tap routine.

The parents are not able to be in the studio during class, but they let us in for the last five minutes. Here is a video from her first day.

Abilene Visit...

This past weekend we drove to Abilene to visit my sister and my niece. On the way there we stopped in Dublin, Texas at Old Doc's Soda Shop & Dr. Pepper bottling plant. We took a tour of the plant, the oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant in the world. Dublin Dr. Pepper is also the only Dr. Pepper plant that still uses Imperial Pure Cane Sugar - the orignal Dr. Pepper formula.



After the tour we had ice cream in the soda shop.





We spent 3 days in Abilene. On Friday morning Allen had a business meeting, but the rest of the weekend we explored the Abilene area. On Friday we took the girls to Frontier Texas! We walked through a "trail" of 100 years of Texas history from 1780 to 1880. The exhibit had "spirit guides", holographic images of actors, representing people who lived during that time. It was really intersting to listen to their stories "in person." There was also a 360 surround movie where we experienced a wolf attack, a buffalo stampede, and a poker game shoot out. Pretty intense, but the kids loved it.



(actual stage coach used in the Paul Newman movie "Hombre" and on "Little House on the Prairie")

After Frontier Texas! we went to The Grace Museum, housed in the historic Hotel Grace built in 1909. It was three museums in one: an art museum, a history of Abilene museum, and a children's museum. One of the neatest hands on experiences was the Interactive Sound Wall Sculpture "Grace Notes" by Edward Weiss. Here the girls decided to put on a "show."



On Saturday we visited Buffalo Gap Historic Village. An outside collection of buildings that represent the history of the Texas frontier from 1880 to around 1925. It was a neat little walk through history, and reminded us how thankful we were to live in the 21st century with air conditioning.



After Buffalo Gap, and lunch at Belle's, we went to the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum. We saw lots of artifacts and pictures from World War II, and they even had a Sherman tank.



Sunday we went to the Abilene Zoo before we headed out of town. It was a fun weekend for the kids, and a great time for me to visit with my sister. A nice end of summer mini-vacation. :-)

The Family That Kicks Together...

Allen started Taekwando with Rebecca in July, and Rebecca has loved having her daddy in class with her. Here is a video of a recent class.



Recently Rebecca decided to join the leadership program. By becoming a leader she is able to attend as many classes a week as she wants, and it means she has made the commitment to work for her black belt. Last night she received her leadership uniform from Senior Master Berry.



After class I got a picture of her with Senior Master. She was so proud.



During class I got a chance to take several videos of her practicing her kicks, weapons and form. Here is a video of doing side kick board breaks with Allen holding the boards.



Here she is practicing with the Bahng Mahng Ee.



This last one is of her doing the Songham 1 form in front of the whole class. She did a great job. (Unfortunately another student wandered in front of the camera while I was filming. :-/)



Rebecca took two classes in a row last night because we knew we wouldn't be able to go anymore this week. She also earned her yellow belt last night.

The second class was a family class. After watching from the sidlines for almost three months, and after some prodding from Senior Master Berry, Mrs. Berry, and Coach Woodard, I finally attended my first class. Something I never thought I would ever do...



So as they say in ATA: The family that kicks together, sticks together.

Softball...

On Monday nights Allen plays on one of the four church softball teams. He is one of the coaches of the StoneBridge Light team. We don't get to go to many games because they are usually late and past the girls bedtime. However, they recently played an early game and we went to cheer daddy on. Before the game, Becca played catch with Daddy in the dugout.



Kathryn decided she wanted to be a cheerleader that night and wore her costume. Here is a video of her cheering for the team before the game.



Unfortunately they lost the game by forfeit because of a lack of their team members, but they picked up some players from the other StoneBridge teams and played anyway. It was good game, and they actually won. Too bad it didn't count.



Oh well, as they say, it isn't whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. In Jesus name we play! Play Ball!

The Woods' Visit...

The Woods' came back to the states for a visit this summer. The kids were all so happy to see each other again.



During the first week that the Woods' were here, in between doctor visits and MDO, the kids were able to play together everyday.



("Little Miss Sunshine" & "Little Miss Chatterbox" at the doctor's office)

In the afternoons the girls attended WOW! Science Camp.





One day Lisa was the speaker at science camp, and she used my puppets. It was weird seeing my puppets "speak" with Lisa's voice. :-)





Thursday night we went to Incredible Pizza Company for dinner.



On Friday, we went to the mall tree play area, had lunch in the food court, and rode the carousel.



The second week the Woods' spent in Dallas visiting family. They returned to The Woodlands the day before their return to England. On their last day here, we took the kids back to the mall one last time.



Before we took them to the airport, we went by the church one last time to say good-bye.



Hopefully the kids won't have to wait too long before they see each other again...



(the pillow we found for the girls at the mall)