Hurricane Gustav

My friend Gina, that was my Big sis in my sorority and my matron of honor in my wedding, came for a visit this weekend. She lives in Lake Charles, Louisiana and was evacuating from the hurricane. We were so excited to get to visit with her and her family. She has 3 kids of her own, so we had a very busy few days keeping everybody busy and happy. Her kids are Caroline which is 9, Benjamin which is 7 and Elizabeth which is the baby of the family and she is 4. They came Saturday night and left Monday night. They stayed in the cabinet (that is what Chance calls the cabin) around the corner from our house at night and visited with us during the day. It was the perfect situation! We went to church, the pool, out to dinner, had a Care Bears party, Kids Station, a movie, cooked out and roasted s'mores! Whew! That makes me tired just typing it! It was a blast and all the kids had so much fun together, especially since they do not get to see each other that often. The hurricane came and they went home as soon as they got the all clear. It was a really fantastic Labor Day weekend!

Campbell was ready for the hurricane!

Cooking s'mores!

Benjamin and his marshmallow!

Elizabeth went for the chocolate instead!

Eating was very calm and relaxing with this crew!

Emma Cate, Caroline and Elizabeth at the pool!

Campbell and his ice cream!

The whole crew in swimsuits and wet!

The whole crew out to eat at Cheddars, minus 1 cranky Campbell!

The girls!

Elizabeth and my friend Gina!

Benjamin and Chance were big buddies!

Emma Cate was so sad when Caroline left that she cried!

Me and my friend Gina! It has been a long time since we have had a
party pic together!

Tae Kwon Do Graduation

On Friday night Chance had his graduation. That means he received his green belt from the testing that I posted on the blog previously. Master Sam is so funny and good with the kids. You will see from the video how great he is with Chance.

Chance and Master Sam

Summer Blow Out!

We waited until everyone was in school to go on our last trip of the summer. We went to San Antonio last week and stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country. It was so much fun! The kids loved riding along the lazy river, making smores, building sandcastles, riding bikes and swimming. They even show a movie outside on a big screen and serve popcorn! It is little kid heaven! One day was devoted to Sea World which was great because it wasn't crowded at all and we almost left Emma Cate there swimming with the dolphins. She especially loved feeding and petting the animals. She might honestly be a trainer there one day! Another whole day was devoted to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We all rode rides all day long and once again having no lines was fabulous!
So as you can see from the pictures below, we all had a blast!!!Click here to view our slide show until I can post it on the blog. I am having technical difficulties at the moment.

First Day of Soccer

Chance has been waiting to play soccer ever since Emma Cate turned 4 and joined her first team. Well, after waiting patiently and playing soccer on the sidelines for 3 seasons, his turn is finally here! Tonight was his first practice and he was so excited! He did great and met some new friends, too! When I went to dress Campbell to go and watch Bubba I went to put his jon jon on him. He protested and wanted soccer clothes, also. So as you can see in the pictures they were two peas in a pod. Campbell will now have to wait his turn patiently (which is not one of his strong points) on the sidelines.

My new team and friends!

Soccer is so cool!

Water break!!!

It is hot out here!

Chance and his little bro, Campbell.

Chance and his best buddy, Sterrett.

All summer, Emma Cate and Allie have been scheming, asking, and ploying to have a sleep over. It was time to "make good" on our promise to let them have a sleep over. Emma Cate had to go support her brother in his karate ventures, and then she went to Allie's. Allie was waiting from her bedroom window.Meredith said they played for a long while and she didn't hear a peep out of them. They both wanted on the top bunk, so they easily worked it out....they BOTH slept up there! They went to bed after 10 Emma Cate said! They woke up around 7, and I took them dough nuts . We took the girls with us to have our toes done, and they LOVED it!


The girls sporting their matching pj's from their birthday party they had together.
Waiting for the popcorn to pop

Sharing a chair. Emma Cate chose a very bright pink. Allie chose yellow...of course.

They giggled the whole time.

Mary wanted pink too.



Ready for school!

Green Belt Testing

Chance tested to get a new belt last night in Tae Kwon Do. He is now going to have a green belt. The order of the belts goes white, orange, yellow, camo and then green, for those of you who are not familiar with that sort of thing. He is doing really well and has had a great time! As you can see he was one of the littlest ones testing. They were so cute!


Chance and his buddies Cooper and Kayden.

Practicing before the testing began.

Cheese!

Testing for his belt.

Chance and Kayden, his sidekick.

Chance and Cooper after testing. Yeah! We did it!

I did it!


Sparring for his testing



Green belt testing

Tiny Tiger Oath

A Day at the Circus

Today we woke up bright and early and went on a road trip to the Circus. We all had a great time! Brian as many of you know is our ticket buyer and he really did good this time! We were on the very front row and had celebrity passes. That basically means that we got to be in the circus! We rode around in these little cars while the clowns were performing and got to dance out there, too! I don't think they knew what they were getting themselves into inviting this group on the floor! It was a day that we will never forget.

Chance with not 1, but 2 swords!

A clown giving Chance a high five during the show!

Snow cones...

Snow cones...

and more snow cones!!!

Don't you love our new hair!

Being in the circus is fun! Cheese!

Dancing fun!

The whole crew!