First day of school for Cam

Cameron started PreK at a new school today and did really well. We went to the Parent Orientation and Meet the Teacher last Thursday and he didn't want to leave the school. His new teacher is Mrs. Kathy and she's been teaching at FCS for 4 years. With a little bit of prompting tonight he was reciting his memory verse for the week and even singing a little song about it. I'm excited that he's having such a good time.

Here's a quick shot of the teacher cans I made for both his and Maggie's teachers. Maggie can't start til she's 18 months but I gave her teachers their gifts any ways. Our friend Mrs. Sarah showed us how to put these together and they were the hit of the school today.
Here's the big boy in the backyard getting ready to go to school with Spotty the Frog.
How adequately Mrs. Kathy has picked out a mascot for their class - the monkey!Already getting to work! I love to see the boy learning and working hard.


So one down and one to go. When we went by Maggie's class this morning she was quite eager to get down and play we had to hold her back. I have a feeling it won't be any trouble at all to get her acclimated to school when the time comes.
Maggie is going to have a little boy in her class that has a huge peanut allergy. So we are at peanut free school again this year. I'm not too terribly upset by this idea as we have friends and family that are allergic to peanuts and peanut products. It's a challenge every day for those kids so I support the idea fully. (www.foodallergy.org)

Cam and Chris at Rangers Game

Cam got to get a new Rangers jersey on his first guy weekend with Chris, Pops and Uncle Erik. One of his favorite players to watch is Michael Young, can you tell?

Trip to High Island

Our camera is acting up yet again, so we have limited photos from everything lately. Mostly from our camera phones, which are okay, but not as crystal clear as I'd like.

Today we traveled out to High Island to see one of Chris' previous bosses, Rhonda. She's the one who moved us down to Houston and really took care of Chris by introducing him to some influential people at work. Anyhow, Rhonda lives out on High Island and had sustained some damage from Ike last year. Today's party was a celebration because they are finally finished with fixing all the damages from the storm and she's retiring in September. We've been wanting to see the house since we moved down. However, it's quite a trek so the party gave us a really good reason to head out.
We decided to ride the ferry out thinking that would be entertaining for the kids. And it was entertaining, but the wait to get on was very long. Who would have thought so many people would want to go to Boliver Peninsula on a Sunday afternoon. So I'm quite motion sick and a car on a boat in a bay is not an ideal form of travel for me we found out. I probably won't travel by ferry again, but the kids sure thought it was neat.


Do you remember the picture of Boliver last September where there was an entire subdivision wiped out and then a single house standing? That was very powerful to see on the news. What I didn't realize is that there are still large areas where houses once stood and have not been rebuilt. There was one field we passed that had a huge pile of pier posts. Part of Rhonda's directions indicated to "Turn at the pile of debris." Yes, we may still see a few blue tarps up our way, but there are still houses down there that are missing entire walls, entire houses. It's very sad to see people just now getting to rebuild and it's hurricane season yet again. We can only hope that their efforts are not in vain.
Back to our adventure. So once off the ferry and over the peninsula we were finally on High Island (2 hours later). This is the funny part because the roads split off this way and that and there's this tiny dirt road that says oil rig and that's actually the road to her house. Needless to say we passed it up, retraced our steps and got on the right track again. From one dirt road to another we arrived at Rhonda's! The party was in full swing as we didn't arrive until 3:30 and the fun started at 12N. We walked around and introduced the kids to some of Chris' co-workers, got to check out the fabulous house, and eat some yummy brisket. A note on Rhonda's decorating: she loves antiques and her house is all the more interesting for it. She has a saloon style bar tucked around on one wall, an Christmas tree that stays up all year with stained glass and other ornaments, and some animal (maybe bear?) fur covering a bed. Our favorite piece by far was a bronze statue of a horse that was as tall as me. It was an amazing piece so I asked where she got it from and how it got t the house "Up in New York, any good antique store will ship your purchases." So now you should wonder, like we did, how they got it up all the flights of stairs (three). Our assumption is that they got their son and some of his friends to help, or maybe they built the house around it, who knows.
We decided to jump in the pool around the time the band started to play. These guys had a Texas country rock, Pat Green vibe. They were a lot of fun, singing songs we knew, some of their own stuff, and then mixing up a few things here and there. The kids had a blast floating around the Tiki Bar at the pool and dancing along to the music. Maggie really seemed to get the beat.


There were lots of dogs for Maggie to love on and she did such an excellent job of patting them nicely. She received lots of puppy kisses and two of the dogs were having a rivalry over who should get to love on her at one time.
Dogs weren't the only animals the kids got to talk to, Rhonda has a miniature horse farm with about 10 cute minis and 1 regular size horse. Maggie has found a new love and can even talk to them in their language. She started neighing away and was entertaining the band with her abilities (we're going to try and get it on video). We were laughing so hard. Rhonda brought out a bag of cookies as a treat for the horses and Cameron was cracking up with some great belly laughs as she fed the horses and they clambered to get to her quickly for their treat.


Our day was long because of all the driving, but we had such a good time playing out at Rhonda's it was worth it. Next time we go out, I'd really like to get a chance to get out on the beach and take some pictures. There were some neat spots I would have stopped at along the way as well - an antique shop, a lighthouse, no golf shops for Chris so no stopping, haha!

Thanks Mrs. Rhonda for letting us come hang out, we really enjoyed the time we spent visiting with you and congratulations on retiring.

Now Batting, Number 3, Cameron Jones!

Rebecca and I were just talking last night about how we don't update the blog as much lately. I think this is probably because we have been using Facebook so much for posting pictures. If you are on Facebook and want to follow our pics, just search for "redraider2k," and send me a friend request.

It seems that Cameron is developing a love for baseball and I couldn't be happier. He played his first t-ball season back in the spring, and enjoyed it, but wasn't overly enthusiastic. We moved right into the summer season with a new team and me as the coach. I have always looked forward to coaching, but I never thought I would enjoy it this much. It is such a rewarding experience. I now know why my dad dedicated so much time to coaching me and Erik when we were kids. Of course with all of his expertise, I have enlisted my dad and Erik to help coach and keep up with thirteen 3-5 year old kids. It can get a little chaotic at times. Thankfully we have the best Team Mom to keep us organized off the field.

Cameron seems to be having much more fun this season. He got to pick the team name - Red Sox - to the delight of Uncle Erik. Come to find out, his choice of Red Sox had nothing to do with Uncle Erik's liking the team, he just wanted to wear red socks!

Cam is also spending quite a few nights falling asleep on the couch while we watch the Texas Rangers. He enjoys the games and is asking a lot of questions! It really brings back a lot of memories when I was the one falling asleep on the couch while watching Rangers games with Dad and Papa.

His favorite players are Michael Young and Marlon Byrd. He says he likes Young because he is really good (he's right of course) and likes Byrd because he gets to flap his arms up and down like a bird when Marlon bats. I think Rebecca will be glad that the Rangers aren't playing anymore West Coast games for a few weeks. Those 9 o'clock starts were keeping him up a little too late.

One last baseball note. Cam and I were lucky enough to go to yesterday's Astros game with our friend Erik Shoup and his son Ty. Since we arrived early we hung out in the right field seats during batting practice. I was lucky enough to catch a home run hit by one of the Washington Nationals players and proceeded to give the ball to Cameron. After turning back to the field ready to catch another one, he threw the ball over my head, over the warning track, and onto the outfield grass! In my excitement, I forgot to tell him to keep the ball! After seeing the look of surprise my face, he thought I was mad at him. Nope, just proud of the strong throw!

A few minutes later a Nationals coach was nice enough to toss the ball back. I think I will keep that one up on the shelf for a while.

Maggie at swim lessons

Cam at Maggie's swim lessons

Where oh where has the time gone

I've been getting updates on all of my friend's blogs, but have had no time to update ours. We have been traveling, working, and growing (the kids at least) and I fall into bed each night thinking, "Thank God there are only 24 hours in a day!" Otherwise I'm sure I'd have something crammed into those other hours.

Maggie turned 14 months old yesterday. She's such a fun kid and a constant flirt. Those two front top teeth are coming in slowly but surely, and she's got one tooth on the bottom. I think they've hurt some, and last week one of the top teeth was bleeding as it came through. It's not really slowing her down too much, but making her a bit cranky at bedtime. All food is game when Maggie is in the vicinity. If it looks good on your plate, she'll just reach over and grab a handful for herself. She also likes to share her food with the dogs, which of course they love. Maggie is using more words and enjoys the sign language I've been teaching her. Footsteps are coming more often now, but she will still drop down to crawl because it's quicker.

Cameron has taken on a whole new attitude - teenager!! He's got an opinion about everything from what he should wear, to where he should go, to what he will eat. And he will throw a fit and scream if you disagree with him. It's been very trying and sometimes makes me cry. If you know me, you know I'm not a crier, but when you can't rationalize with a 4 year old, it's the next best thing. He's been getting in a lot of trouble and having to sit in timeout and get spankings. I understand that rationally he's trying to express himself, but sometimes I'd like him to say "Yes, mommy" and be done with it. I'm hoping that once we get through the summer and into the routine of the school year he'll go back to his sweet loving self. Until then I feel like I may need more mommy nights out to cope.

Chris is playing softball with the church on Monday nights and then coaching Cameron's t-ball team on Wednesday and Thursday nights. We are a ball playing family right now. The church team is in the play-offs this Saturday starting at 8AM in the softball field at Baybrook Baptist Church next to Heritage Park Village. Chris is almost at the end of his time with his current position at ExxonMobil. His boss is in the process of looking for a viable position that will utilize Chris' talents with managing projects and people. Cross your fingers that he'll pick out something Chris will enjoy.

I've been doing my usual crazy schedule. Run kids to events, take care of house, complete errands, oh and of course work in a 10-15 hour work week. I'm not sure who got the better deal out of it, but I'm working very hard to be a good bookkeeper for my MIL at her insurance agency - The Essential Group. They are based in Friendswood and are working on growing with new clients and merging with another company. It's been fascinating to get back into the work force and use my brain for something more than measuring flour and pasting pictures. Working from home is it's own challenge, so anytime there's a naptime or as soon as the kids go to bed I'm dialing in and getting work done. I'm very excited for September when I'll be in the office on a regular basis and the kids will be at school on a regular basis. I'm also in charge of the social aspect of the Women's Ministry at church which involves planning events and welcoming new members. I have a few things going on throughout the year, from pamper nights at the salon to a welcome tea for our new preacher's wife.

Since the golf tournament last year, we've been toying with how we'd pull off something just as great for Miracles for Fun this year. Not only will we be honoring the Wims Family, we'll be setting a standard for moving forward with a non-profit organization supporting families in need. There is an amazing group of friends that have agreed to continue with the vision. As we work to set up everything, my heart is often heavy that Brad is not here to enjoy this year. I got to spend a precious evening with Jenny last week and we talked about life today. I say precious because I feel that Jenny's time is precious. Each moment she has she is filling with great opportunities for her family, awesome memories and of course working anytime she can. I think Brad is so proud of Jenny and what an amazing woman she continues to be each day. The golf tournament this year will be capped off with a concert by some of Brad's favorite groups - Vocal Union and Soul Union. I hope he's looking down and getting excited with us.

So we've been a bit busy and each day is a new adventure for our family. I hope that I'll have time to keep up with regular updates to our blog, but if I don't you'll know why. Adventure is calling!