The BIG, unforgettable first day of school

This story is so long overdue and is quite the funny one...

We have been so excited for the first day of school.  Zack was starting kindergarten and Ashley was all set with her "cool 2nd grade clothes."  Zack was a little nervous, but very excited at the same time.  Josh and I were anxious to make sure everything would go smoothly for Zack on his first day so that he would transition fine.  Well...

The first sign of trouble: Ashley tells me her alarm clock has been acting funny and sometimes doesn't work.  I told her not to worry because I would have mine set as well.  Famous last words.

Big day arrives.  I roll over in bed, and look at the clock.  Immediate crazy panic sets in, it is 7:37!!!!!!!  School starts promptly at 8:00.  For those that know my panic attacks, I can have the tendency to act like a chicken with its head cut off.  So, yes, I jumped out of bed, starting yelling to the kids upstairs they needed to get up.  Josh immediately was my calming influence, telling me that was no way to start Zack's first day of school.  Of course he was right!  So, I ran to get ready while he woke up the kids.  After I was quickly ready, I ran upstairs to kids getting dressed, brushing teeth, and Josh making poptarts.  We all jumped in the car (luckily lunches and backpacks were ready to go), threw Natalie in her seat with her PJs on, and sped off to school as fast as we could in a 20 mph zone.  Josh drove right up to the entrance, and I jumped out with the kiddos to walk Zack to his class.  We actually got to school at 8:03.  I still have no idea how that happened :)

Looking back now, I can only laugh at what happened.  I think maybe, in a small way, it was better for Zack to not dwell on the impending moment of separation and be sad about it.  I didn't get to do the big breakfast I had planned, but we did it the next morning.  We also got our first day of school pictures after school!  We bought Ashley a new alarm clock that evening and I now have my iphone permanently set with 2 alarms to go off every morning.  Definitely a day we will NEVER forget. 

 

Birthday girls!!

It is always a little bit of a challenge having the girls' birthdays right next to each other.  Natalie was so excited to have her 4th birthday.  The kids were at school, so she had dad and mom all to herself.  We celebrated by a big bubble bath, a special lunch at McDonalds, and a fun filled evening as a family with pizza, presents, movie, and pedicures.  She was very excited about opening her presents.  Thank you to grandparents! For birthday presents to each other, we enjoy taking the kids to the dollar store.  They love the freedom of "picking anything they want" for each other.  Zack picked a princess scepter and crown while Ashley picked a Barbie for Natalie. 

 

 

 

 

 

    

The girls liked sharing a cake this year.  Made it easier for me! 

Ashley was so excited to be turning 8.  I really can't believe how big she is.  At the dollar store, Zack picked some beads for her and Natalie got her press-on fingernails.  Ashley was very excited about Super Mario Bros Wii game and Zhu Zhu pets.  Her big present was an Easy Bake oven which we now all get to enjoy when she makes treats!  That day, we also went to the Stockyards for a large outdoor celebration they were having there.  The kids loved the animal shows and petting zoo there.  What a fun day :)

Natalie's first day of preschool

Natalie is officially a preschooler!!!  She was so excited to finally be going to school just like the big kids.  Not problems at all going to class, she was practically running to go...

 

Thanksgiving

I always love Thanksgiving. We had my parents come up from Lubbock along with my sister Jenny and Mema. We had a fun week going to Six Flags, making delicious Thanksgiving dinner, watching movies, hanging out, and going to a football game!

Ashley and Zack opened their "Heritage spa", complete with a menu of services ranging from 15 cents to 60 cents. Everyone really enjoyed this special treat. The kids were super excited with their aunt Jenny's tip of $1.00. Part of Natalie's specialty is walking on your back and then jumping off of it as hard as she can. Gives an extra "oomph" to her massage.

As always, Natalie goes through a "Grumpy" time when she's tired, usually around 5-6 pm. I wish she still napped, but she definitely doesn't.

Aunt Jenny tried to help and convinced her she should be happy and have a happy picture.

Another highlight of the week was going to the Texas Tech game at the Cowboys stadium. It was our first time inside and we were very impressed. The stadium is really large, and the screens are amazing. What a fun game...

Six Flags, Holiday in the Park, was a blast for the kids. They loved riding rides with their grandparents and Jenny.
Natalie was so tired at the end of our day, she cuddled up to Josh's arm and promptly fell asleep in the car. She's quite the daddy's girl.

Zack's 5th Bday

We are so glad Zack is in our family! He turned 5 in November and is growing so quickly.

What a cutie he is here at only 22 months.

Birthday favorites this year was all about transformers,

Hot Wheels, (he loves trick tracks because they link together and set each other off)

Cool presents from Alaska (he loves this shirt)

and a fun cake! (Made by me...I was really worried for a while that it wouldn't turn out)

Natalie of course wanted to open presents too, but she finally consented to just be super excited about every present Zack opened! Ashley was our picture taker as I was video taping. She did a pretty good job.


We had a fun birthday party for him with a Hot Wheels theme (hence the cake).  We played a variety of games like obstacle courses, stick the car on the race track, race the cars, etc.  We also set up loads of tracks for the kids to play during the down times...they were a great hit!  As a party favor, I took each child's picture and we sent them their own special driver's license with a thank you card.  We're so glad we had so many friends who could come celebrate with us. 

Family outdoor fun

A favorite activity of ours has been to bike ride as a family. Ashley happily rides without her training wheels, Zack tries to follow after her as fast as he can wishing he didn't have training wheels, Josh pulls Natalie in the trailer and I ride alongside whoever is in the rear. We have a lot of fun and the kids are getting so much better riding.

We also love to go exploring around Fort Worth. A favorite place of the kids is the Fort Worth water gardens...one word of advice though...stay out of the planting beds!!! We were climbing up around the gardens and Zack stepped on a HUGE pile of fire ants. Needless to say he was screaming his head off at his leg rapidly being covered with ants. I swooped him up to move him and proceed to rapidly brush him off. Luckily, I think he only got 1 bite. It could have been much worse.

We also enjoy hiking (in the few areas there are around here). Here the kids are near Eagle Moutain Lake.