Fall 2009

I know it has been so long since I have updated our blog. We have been so so busy! I am looking forward to January when things will slow down a little. Well lets see whats happened since my last post. I am still teaching although not pre k this year. I was switched at the last minute to first grade this year. It was a nice change but a lot more work. I am hoping to move back to pre-k next year. Shane is now working for my dad. They are building multi-million dollar houses in Dallas and hoping to start a new buisness installing rain water sisterns. His health is fine he hasn't had any more seizures. We are hoping it was all the stress he was under last year.

Now on to what you all have been waiting for the kids. Yes kids no longer babies. Where does the time go? They are doing wonderful. Into everything and talking like crazy. They speak in 5 to 6 word sentences, know their colors and shapes and even a few letters, can count to 11 (15 on a good day) and are just so amazing. They are country kids. They love to be outdoors and around the horses. We are working on potty training, lots of fun with three.

Hayla

This is little miss drama. She is in charge of "her boys". She loves princess anything but loves to dig in the dirt and look for bugs. She will usually wear her princess crown from the time she gets up to the time she goes to bed. Somtimes she even puts on her princess dress. And I think we watch a princess movie at least every other day. Hayla is probably the most verbal. What I love is how she puts such feeling into her words. When she is crying she will tell us "I crying momma, I upset" or when she is excited " its so exciting" with her hands on her cheeks. She keeps us laughing.

Clayton

Just looking at the picture you can see that this is Mr devious. He is always exploring and seeing how things work. He loves to ride horses and is now using the reins on his own to direct the horse where he wants it to go. ( an adult is still in the saddle with him) He is so thouhtful and loves to share. Clayton is just about potty trained. He is dry in the mornings and hardly has accidents and just this week goes on his own. He will be having surgery in December to correct his lazy eye. We have tried glasses and patching but it is starting to worsen instead of improve.

Dylan

Then there is our clown. Yes Dylan loves to laugh. I can already see that he will be the class clown in class. He is also our snuggly one. He has to be held for a little while when he wakes up and gives the best hugs. Even though he is snuggly he is also the bully. Mostly because he is the biggest. When he wants something he takes it and if somone is building he will walk by and knock it down and just keep going.

Here the kids are looking for bugs. One of their favorite things to do. They will go and turn over rocks and boards trying to see what they can find. This time of year I don't worry too much but when it was warmer it made me a little nervous.

They found a grasshopper. We have lots of these!

They love to climb. If it can be climbed they are up it. (Furniture included)

We are looking forward to a great holiday season. They will be in my sisters wedding on the 12th and then of course Christmas. We thought last year was fun, this year is going to be blast. I will do my best to keep the blog up to date. Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Halloween 2009

This year Hayla wanted to be a princess. She all of the sudden became interested in princesses of any kind and thats what she wanted to be. The boys we dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 and my wonderful husband dressed as The Cat.

The kids thought trick or treating was amazing. You knock on a door and then someone gives you candy. For the following weeks whenever we mentioned Halloween they would say more candy?

The State Fair 2009

We went to the fair to watch my youngest sister show her sheep. We had a blast!

There was a section designed just for kids. They went through a farm feeding animals corn picking and planting fruits and vegetables and seeing what products we get from the farm. Then at the end they sold the different products back to the market and recieved a pretend dollar to purchase something from the general store. It was really neat!

Dylan driving his big green tractor.

Clayton driving his big green tractor.

Miss Hayla driving her big green tractor.

We stayed and watched the parade. This was the kids first parade and they loved it!

The Gainesville Zoo

Over labor day weekend we went with some friends to the local zoo. The kids loved it. Its a small zoo with lots of different animals. The kids got to feed the giraffes. Hayla and Dylan weren't too sure about it but Clayton thought it was cool.

Vacation to Matagorda Bay Beach

This was our first vacation since the babies were born. It was a lot of fun. We left Tuesday night so the babies would sleep and then stopped in Houston at about 3 am to sleep. Then got up and left at about 10 to drive the rest of the way to Matagorda, about a 2 hour drive. The beach was wonderful. Very clean and not a lot of people except for on Saturday. What I thought was so cool was we could drive right out on the beach park and open the truck right there where we were swimming.


Life at the campsite
We went with my family so we stayed with them in their large travel trailer. The kids slept together in a full size loft and we were below on a fold out couch. The RV park was very nice; right on the Colorado river. The kids loved to watch the big shrimp boats come in and out of the bay.

Here they are watching for boats one evening as the sun sets.

Aunt Anna found a hermit crab and is showing Clayton and Dylan. There were hermit crabs and ghost crabs all over. The kids were hillarious to watch chasing the ghost crabs across the sand.

Paw Paw bought the kids their own lawn chairs to sit in like the big people.

One evening they got their first taste of Smores. They loved it and ate it all up.

On The Beach

The first day we went to the beach the kids weren't sure about the water. They went out a little bit but thats about it. The second day they loved it. All three ran in and out of the water, dug in the sand, gathered sea shells. They had a blast.

Here is Hayla gathering shells.

Clayton and Dylan running in and out of the water.

Hayla running in the water with her Aunt Anna.

Daddy and his kids after they built their sandcastle. This was a task because all the kids wanted to do was tear it down.

Here the kids are feeding the seagulls. This is a new word they have added to their vocabulary.

Fishing

The guys went fishing most days we were there. One day they watched a man pull in this stingray. It took him 2 hours to get it all the way in. Then he gave it to us to eat. Not bad; they fried it and grilled it. I liked the fried better than the grilled.

Shane caught this hammerhead shark one day while surf fishing. They caught several sharks while we were there, both black tip and hammerhead.

Our Trip to the Dallas Children's Museum

This summer we have taken several trips to the Dallas Children's Museum. It was so much fun.
Everything is hands on learning for the kids and they just loved it.

Here they are looking at a snake in the backyard area.


There is a large water table that flows like a river. It has ducks and water wheels that the kids can play with.



There is a large area designated to farming. Here the kids are gathering eggs. They can also "pick" vegetables and milk a cow, ( that was so cool it actually felt like you were milking a cow.

Here they are pretending to be firefighters. There are little hats a firemen coats just their size to wear and then they can climb into the firetruck.

After the children's museum we went to the Museum of Natrual History to see the dinosaurs and other animals. The first time we went Shane wasn't with us so the next time we took him and the kids ran from scene to scene showing him the different animals.

Here they are sitting on Jumbo the Mammoths trunk.

Here they are showind Daddy a triceretops skull in the Dino dig area.

And I remember this from when I was a kid. Its a distant relative to the armadillo.

We are in Toddler Beds

The time has finally come. We knew it would! They never did figure out they could climb out of their beds, but last week when Dylan was hanging on the side that slides down, from the inside mind you, and it slid down. So we decided that it was time. We made a big deal out of it. We went as a family to Target and let them pick out new sheets and they all got a pillow for the first time and then we found pj's to match their sheets. Then when we got home they helped Daddy take the sides down and put up the roll bars.

Shane and I were so afraid it was was going to take for ever to get them to stay in bed and go to sleep, but it didn't. We went through out regular routine and after leaving the room the boys got out a few times but we put them right back in and after about 30 minutes all were asleep. No one fell out, no one got up out of bed at night and then at nap time the next day they all went to sleep and no one got out at all. Amazing simply amazing!
Dylan and his race car sheets and PJ's.
Clayton and his race car sheets and PJ's.
Hayla and her princess sheets and PJ's.

We Are 2!!!!

Yes we have turned 2. They are growing up so quickly. Their vocabulary is so vast. I tried to count all the words they know and I ended up quiting at 120 because they are constantly adding new words all the time. They are makin 2 word sentences such as "daddy home" big bubble" "me go". They are drinking out of regular cups more and more instead of sippee cups. There aren't many foods that we have to cut up in tiny pieces. They eat like we don't ever feed them. As soon as school is out we are going to begin sleeping in big kid beds. When you ask them how old they are they say 2.

Hayla


This is Miss Mam. She is not shy and will pose for any and every camera you put in front of her. She is weighs about 24lbs now. She can count to 3 and can identify a set of 2. Shane has also taught her to read the word "ham", because she is one.

Clayton

Clayton now weighs 24lbs. He too is not shy and loves to have his picture taken. He can count to 3 as well. He has learned to identify the letter "B". He loves to climb and slide.

Dylan

Mr Dylan he loves his mama and is very shy. Whenever we are in large crowds or some where there are strangers he is stuck to us like glue. He weighs about 28lbs. He too can count to 3 and he knows the letter "W". He loves to wear hats and his cowboy boots.


Our Birthday Party!!!
We celebrated their birthday on Saturday at our home. We thought Christmas was fun because they had learned to open gifts this was so much more fun. As soon as they had opened one gift they were saying and making the sign for more. I had hoped to keep cards with gifts, yeah that didn't happen.

Buckets for our new sandbox.Our very own bikes.Our first pet, Parakeets. They love to watch the birds and Hayla tried to catch them outside. So their Aunt Katie decided they needed some of their very own.

Here is their cake. They love "Melmo" (Elmo) and Sesame Street. So we decided to make that the theme of the party. I made the cake!


We practiced blowing the whole week before our party and when the time came they each blew out their candles.


Outside playing in our new sandbox and on our new swing set. (These were birthday presents too.)