Ears!

Parker got a buzz last weekend. Every time we take his hair really short, I'm reminded that he has his daddy's ears. Isn't he sooooo handsome! He's posing with his "hockey guy" - a picture of a UNO hockey player he's been carrying around.

Bye Bye Jasmine

We found out a few weeks ago that Jasmine was really sick. We've spent the time since giving her lots of love as we knew her time was coming. Her time was today. We are really sad and will miss her but we're so happy that she's not suffering in a sick body any more.

Happy Halloween!

So I let the kids pick out their costumes this year. These aren't the ones that I wanted them to get but they looked adorable and I didn't have to fight with them to get ready so it was a win. We had a great Halloween. Our weather was beautiful - it was a tad warm. About 80 around 5:00 but I knew when the sun went down it would cool off. The kids got a little hot as they were walking but it was a beautiful night.

Photography sitting preview

Here's a link to our photographer's blog - there are a few preview shots of the sitting we did with her last weekend. Parker was SO naughty.

http://tracyallyn.squarespace.com/

Happy B-day Baby Boy!

Well our little man is three and I'm so happy to report I think he's finally potty trained.

Parker is such a sweet & happy boy. Right now he's really in to fire trucks and fire fighter guys as he calls them. His newest fascination is green army guys. He got lots of great b-day presents he especially loves the cool Jeep from R, G, E & A and his Tony Romo from gma & gpa. Today he received a cool Pillow Pal from B, L, C & C. Chloe knew exactly what it was and gave Ray and me the "duh, mom/dad" voice when explaining it to us.

Parker continues to be a morning person. We absolutely love it when he crawls into bed and snuggles with us. Being a morning person however, he's usually wide awake and very excited to make his usual blueberry waffle, even if we aren't quite ready to get up.

And then there's his taste for Chocolate. Here we are frosting his chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. If I'd let him, he would have added some chocolate ice cream. We went out for dinner on Saturday and I let him pick out chocolate banana jazz cake and he was giddy with excitement as the waiter delivered it to him. He's so my child!

He's started singing lately and will belt out Wheels on the Bus or a Fresh Beat Band tune on a whim. We've also met some of our neighbors recently and he is always excited to bring them in to see his room and his trucks.

Oh, the Fair!

The fair. Huge. Hot. Commercial (genius - I don't know how there could possibly be a budget shortfall in Texas. There were bazillions of dollars being spent). Tons of rude people, behaving badly. Besides that, the kids had fun and Ray really enjoyed his corn dog. In the fair's defense, we chose a bad day to go - all school kids in Dallas had the day off with a free ticket. We'll try again in another year or two or five.

Carousels are always a hit!

Parker LOVED these monster trucks!

First bumper car experience. Doesn't Chloe look mean in this picture?

Chuck E Cheese

Parker and Chloe got to try out Chuck E. Cheese for the first time on Sunday and they LOVED it! I must admit, it was not as bad as I expected.

24 Laps!

Well - Miss Chloe managed to double her goal and run 24 laps during the fun run. She worked hard but had a lot of fun! The school received pledges from all 50 states so the principal dressed up as an astronaut - which the kids really enjoyed. I have to say she is a trooper because she was probably out there all morning and it was warm and HUMID!

The boosterthon people really do a great job. They talked to the kids about leadership, character and staying fit and active which are all really good messages. They play music while the kids are doing their laps and it makes it really fun for the kids and the parents.

It's time to collect pledges and donations so if you made a pledge, please multiply it by 24 and that is the amount of your donation. Please mail your check to us, Chloe has to return her collections by 10/1. If you don't remember what you pledged, let me know as I can look it up!

Thank you again for your generosity. Chloe and her school really appreciate it!!

Here are the kindergartners lining up for the start.

Here she is in action!

WOW!! Thanks for your generosity!

Chloe is thrilled and very thankful for all of the pledges and donations! She is so proud to have brought in sponsorships from four different states!! Her class has been very successful and she has really enjoyed earning her prizes & rewards. Tomorrow afternoon they get to watch a movie and have popcorn. What she most excited about it the popsicle party they get to have next week along with "no shoes day".

Tomorrow is the big day - finally! She is so excited. She says she is going to run 20 laps! She is a wee bit competitive though (like her dad) so I'll bet she does more than that! We'll see!

Thanks again for your generosity!

Snow Boots! Reallly?

The kids had a babysitter last night while Ray and I went out for dinner. They apparently developed some new stunts on the trampoline that they were so excited to show us this morning. Too excited to get dressed. Chloe just wanted shoes fast - so she grabbed these. Cute but it was already 85 degrees.

A New Toy

This lawn tractor belonged to the previous owners of our house. They were obviously very generous people because when they moved, they gave it to another neighbor down the street. Those neighbors came over on Friday and asked us if we would be interested in having it.

Turns out, it doesn't fit through their fence. They also decided to put their house on the market so they needed to make space in their garage and they gave it to us. It needs some work but Ray was able to mow the yard with it today - after Parker came inside of course. Both kids got a spin around the yard and absoultely loved it!

Chloe's Fun Run Fundraiser

The PTA for Chloe's school does one big fundraiser for the year so she will be participating in her first Fun Run on September 24th. She is collecting one-time donations or pledges for each lap that she competes at the event. It must be a small track because the literature says kids generally run 25-35 laps. 35 is the max!

If you'd like to sponsor her or make a donation, visit www.funrun.com and enter Chloe's code: RSJ-EAE. You should see her name come up when you enter that code.

The PTA uses the funds to sponsor events and give gifts to the school like anti-bacterial wipes, safety patrol vests and these cool microphone things that Chloe's teacher wears to help the kids hear.

Something else is missing!

The landscapers were here today and removed a large swath of landscaping from the middle of our back yard. You can see the big dirt patch - that's where our visible yard ended. It's soon to be consumed (somewhat) by the new playset we promised the kids.

We also had a very large and very scraggly cottonwood tree removed from the back corner where you can now see rooftops peeking through. You can also see some rather ugly powerlines in the distance so we might need to address that.

There are two large live oak trees on either side of the dirt patch that will get very big eventually though and that' part of the reason we had the cottonwood removed, so that they had plenty of space for the much nicer trees.

The back of our yard used to feel like a dark cave. There is so much light back there now that I might actually go back and start trying to clean up the landscaping! There is a really cute flagstone patio surrounded by cute little butterfly houses.

Before:

After:

We're hoping to revive some of the dead grass in the back of the yard now that it will get some sun!

The tooth is out!

When I arrived at daycare to pick up Chloe today she was crying. She had apparently been crying for most of the afternoon. She was upset about the prospect of losing her tooth, which by now was pretty wobbly!

She couldn't even eat dinner because she was so upset and couldn't bare the thought of having to chew food, even though it didn't hurt. The tooth just popped out so here she is showing me her new, beautiful smile!

Here she is earlier showing me how much her tooth was moving!

Firs Loose Toof

Chloe came downstairs on Saturday morning reporting that one of her bottom teeth "kinda hurt" and "felt funny". Upon examination, I told her that the had a loose tooth! She thinks it's pretty funny and was thrilled to find out that losing a tooth isn't painful. It just makes you talk funny.

I tried to get her to show it to me today but this is what I got. I think she was busy feeling the loose tooth with her tongue! This weekend she told grandma that she already knows who she's going to marry. She's growing up so fast!

My two princesses

Parker likes to dress up almost as much as Chloe does sometimes. He is even wearing some of her shoes on this occasion!!

Sunday in Cow Town

We ventured into the West on Sunday - went to Fort Worth to watch the longhorn cattle drive in the historic district. The longhorns are massive. So were the Harleys. As you can tell, Chloe's favorite was the frilly pink cowgirl hat she found in a shop!

It was a little hot and very crowded and since it was our first time, we weren't too sure where to eat. We ended up heading back to the burbs to eat at a little pizza place up the street from our house.

Labor Day at JFK Memorial

We ventured downtown today to visit the JFK Memorial. The kids didn't really understand what it was but I know someday they will appreciate it. The memorial itself isn't that impressive but they've done a good job of preserving the entire area. We picked up a brochure and heard some great stories from a street vendor. Grandpa was even looking along the curbs for bullets from rumored "other" shooters. It was quite fascinating. There is a guided tour of the 6th floor museum in the Book Depository that is supposed to be really good but it wasn't open when we were there :(

Here's Parker coming down the steps on the grassy knoll. There was a train running on the tracks behind him that he was so excited about.

Here's grandma, Chloe and Parker standing near the monument marking where JFK was mortally wounded. The X in the street marks the exact spot where the car was.

It was a good day!

Chloe's first day of school is in the books! She had a great day - earned a gum ball for her gum ball machine. When it's full, she gets to choose a prize from the treasure chest! I asked her if she thought she was going to like school and she said "I'm gonna love it"! YAY!

We went for ice cream after we picked her up today! This is the picture she colored first thing this morning.

Chloe's a Kindergartener!!

What a bittersweet day. We know that Chloe will love school and we're so proud of what a smart girl she's grown into. At the same time, she still seems so small. Too small to understand that this is how she will spend much of the next 16+ years and exactly how much she will change during that time.

Despite some trepidation over the last few days, she sat right down in her spot to start on coloring her first picture. She was really excited to actually get into the school supplies that were in her pencil box since I didn't let her touch any of it at home!

We get to pick her up today but tomorrow she will take the bus from school to daycare, where she and Parker will stay until Ray or I pick them up after work. It will be another big day!

Sleepy Boy

Parker woke up from a nap the other day and came down the stairs while I was working. He was quiet after awhile so I poked my head out to check on him and he was out cold on the steps!

Terrifying Night Terrors

Know what night terrors are? We do. Chloe has experienced them for the past two nights and if you've been through it you know they are terrifying!

We awoke Tuesday morning around 12:30 to Chloe screaming hysterically, running around upstairs. She was trembling, sweaty and incoherent. There was nothing we could do to calm her until I realized she needed to potty. Once she did that, she laid down and went right back to sleep.

This morning, it was 1:30 and she was sitting up in her bed screaming. Her light was on so we know she had gotten out of bed but she was totally incoherent again. I was able to get her calmed back down pretty quickly and she dozed off. It was a very scary experience. I laid awake in bed wondering if I needed to have my house exorcised and praying for god to protect her from whatever seemed to be tormenting her.

I've heard of night terrors before but I thought it only happened to toddlers. After doing a little research today, I learned that kids can experience them into adolescence. Chloe's episodes are textbook. She doesn't remember a thing about either episode (thankfully).

Stress (like the stress of a move perhaps?) and lack of sleep are thought to be causes. Both kids have been really out of their bedtime routine since I haven't been working full time. We'll have to work on getting back to it, especially since I'll be going back to work in a couple of weeks.

My little lady took a nap today - first one in weeks. Hopefully that will help too. If she has another episode, we will be visiting the doctor to get her checked out. I might need therapy too :(

Self Portrait

IMG_0970.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

Here's one Chloe took of herself. I'm not quite sure how she did it. I deleted about 100 others from the camera today (I don't need pictures of the floor, wall, remote control OR litter box!).

Mommy & Parks

IMG_0837.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

Chloe has become very interested in taking pictures with our Camera (a camera of her own would make a great Christmas gift in case anyone needs an idea for her).

Anyway - she took this picture of Parker & me (and Jasmine)

Little Swimmers

IMG_0786.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

We've been swimming a lot! I got the kids some gear a few weeks ago and they had to put it all on immediately. Chloe has actually gotten pretty good. She'll go completely underwater with her goggles and she is figuring out how to swim while down there. Parker loves jumping in from the side as long as someone is there to catch him!

The Dragon!

IMG_0809.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

Meet our neighborhood dragon. One of them anyway. This giant thing is in one of the neighborhood parks and it is huge! Probably 50 yards long! It's FUN to climb on but I'm sure glad we don't have to look at it everyday!

The giant inflatable slide

IMG_0823.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

Parker's first "face paint"

IMG_0819.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

On his arm!

Chloe & Isabelle

IMG_0818.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour

Leaving the Hughes' house for the Four Seasons

IMG_0817.JPG
Originally uploaded by theGibsonfour