Rewind: Port A '09

Our trip to the beach was awesome this year! I finished up Gruene Market Days on Sunday, and on Monday we packed the car and headed for Port A. It was going to be a week long stay, and I was in desperate need to get away.

We got there around 8 o'clock (I had to stock a store before we left) and our condo was decorated really nice!

We walked in and Rain said, "Mommy, that's the fan from design star!" We LOVE that show.

And it really did look like someone from HGTV had come in and re-decorated the entire place. Everything was well thought out and perfectly paired.

So, we spent five full days on the beach and loved every minute of it.

The kids had fun in the pool

and this picture of Maya cracks me up...

She didn't really use the goggles, she just wanted to wear them on her forehead. I guess it made her feel 'official'. She also learned how to do a front flip/forward rolling dive flip into the pool. She was very proud of herself!

The only bummer was that Kevin had to work a few days, so he didn't stay the whole time. We did take Parker's friend Logan for a few days, and when his momma came to pick him up she spent the night as well. It was like a mini-'girl's night'!

And of course, no Port A trip log would be complete without the infamous picture in the shark's mouth!

Back in the swing of things...

I woke up Monday morning at 6 am and thought, "well, here we go!" It was the first day of school and after spending a week at the beach, it didn't really seem real. I was hoping for an easy transition into our school morning routine and I have to say that the kids were great. Parker hopped out of bed and sat at the table for breakfast, while Rain only took a little coaxing. (She's my sleeper so that was REALLY good for her!)

It was going to be a busy morning- Since I am PTA President this year, I had much to do. I needed pack all of our supplies because we were out of town for meet the teacher, pick-up doughnuts for the kinder 'boo-hoo breakfast', get to school, set up the the PTA table with membership forms, t-shirts and bags and put together the teacher gifts... And all of this before 7:45! Let's not forget that I actually had to see my own children to their classrooms :)

Thanks to some really great kids and the help of some other cool moms, we got it done! I have to say it's been awhile since I've accomplished so much in so little time. It felt great! And after a week of taking it all in stride, I'm exhausted! LOL!

Here is a picture from Parker's 1st day of 5th grade and Rain's 1st day of 1st grade:

This one is last year's

And here is one from 2005

How time flies!

How 'bout them Cowboys?

So, living in Texas and LOVING football we are, of course, huge Dallas Cowboy fans. Win or lose we love 'em, and no matter what the scoreboard reads we remain behind America's Team. Now, don't get me wrong, last season was a big disappointment- with all that talent, they should have done better than they did. But this is a NEW year, and I can barely wait to hear the "duhn, duhn, duhn, duhn" of the NFL's theme song. I love football season.

Since Parker is 10, he has totally wrapped himself in football. He's played flag football for three years now, and I think this year he will start playing tackle. His grandparents live in Irving (Home of the Cowboys) so you can imagine how much he loves going to visit.


For his birthday, his Aunt and Ma & Pa signed him up for the Dallas Cowboys Youth Football Camp. This is an actual training camp where they teach football skills, and where campers learn about respect, integrity and Dallas Cowboys football history. Originally, it was supposed to be at Valley Ranch, but a windstorm collapsed the roof, so they moved it to a nearby college field.




Parker was so excited! He got to meet and talk to several players... Damarcus Ware actually did a Q&A session and sign autographs. He was in 10 year old boy heaven.



Now. the Dallas Cowboys (Big boy) Training Camp takes place in the Alamo Dome in San Antonio and since that is just down the road, we decided to take the kids and watch them practice. I was amazed at how many people were there. The Alamodome was practically full and people were decked out in Cowboy gear. Kevin said, "leave it to the Cowboys to sell out a practice".


It was really interesting to watch... I always thought that training camp was supposed to hard. To me, it looked more like pre-game warm-up. They did run plays and we got see this guy


Steven McGee- Our favorite Aggie QB. (gig 'em)

When the practice was over, everyone went crazy for autographs. In order to get down on the field you have to have a special pass, so people ran down to the front of the stands and reached out for whoever was nearby.



Being the way he is, Kevin took Parker down to bottom because Parker was dying to get a closer look. So they head down the stairs and I lose sight of them in the crowd. Then, all of a sudden, I see Parker walking around on the field! Apparently Kevin had just tossed him over the side so he began collecting autographs and chatting with Cowboy team members. It was hilarious! He met these guys



Coach Phillips (yes the head coach of the DC's) & Andre Gerad. He also got Patrick Crayton & Dave Campo to sign his shirt. It was perfect because he wore his DC Youth Football Jersey. I think that little trip made his week. When he came back, he was grinning from ear to ear and was talking a mile a minute about what people said & how big they were. The result?
Ta Da! He is soooooo proud of his shirt. I joked with him about selling it on Ebay to pay for his school supplies. Mean mommy! (I know, I know) Let's just say he is guarding it with his life and probably won't ever let me get my hands on it to even wash it.

Sew... What else is new?

The remainder of July I spent sewing... Big surprise I know! But we came back from Marfa and then Dianna, my head seamstress went to Hawaii for two weeks. It was a much need break for her, but man I had to sew my heiny off to get ready for Gruene.



Then, Alibi Boutique also ordered an entire baby line from me... And if your not in the market for baby stuff I HIGHLY recommend their mommy stuff!! I lust after everything in this store each time I'm there. They have casual and dressy clothing so there is always something to fit the occasion. I've got my eye on a baby blue burn-out tee, so HANDS OFF when you're in there!!

Here's directions:


We've also spent some time at Schliterbahn and the Resort pool. I'm not sure my kids know how really lucky we are to have such a fun place right in own back yard. So I guess that pretty much wraps up July-- marfa, sewing, & sunbathing.

Oh! And I almost forgot... My DH almost cut his thumb off. Yep, that's what I said. He was "fixin up" one of our bulls (steer now) and cow jumped. The result?

** Do not scroll down if you are squeemish**

And this was after about 2 weeks... He cut it completely to the bone. I almost passed out when he first asked me to help him clean and bandage it. I do not do well with this stuff and seeing my husband's hand like that made me weak in the knees. Thank goodness it is all closed up now :)

Where does the time go?

It's so hard for me to believe that school is starting in 3 weeks... After checking my posts I realized that I never made it to the blogworld in July-- It was a super busy month. So, I'll do my best to get caught up:)




We started the month with a trip to Marfa. July 4th is one of my favorite times to head west because our own town is so crazy (and hot) this time of year. We had a blast taking pictures with our new camera (which we LOVE). It was nice to get some really great pictures of some horned lizards. We've always taken pictures of them in the past, but the detail and clarity of our new camera is in a whole other league.

This trip was really special because Rain spotted her first lizard. We were driving along in the four wheeler and she screams, "Daddy STOP!!! I saw a horned lizard!!!" Kevin and I and kinda looked at each not really sure what to think. I mean, these guys have incredible camo for Marfa and I can hardly see them unless they are moving...

So we stopped, got out and began the hunt. Sure enough she found it and here is her picture with her her first horned lizard. Atta, girl!!!




She was sooo happy! I'm glad that she that she got to spot one on her own... it was a HUGE accomplishment and she was so proud.

We also had another Horned Lizard first. One of them that we caught only had three legs. That just goes to show how tough these little reptiles are! It was really cool because it used it's tale for a replacement leg and actually balanced and walked on it. Too cool!


Marfa is such a beautiful place... there's a reason they call it God's Country. That's all for now-- I'll write more about July later. (I'm sooo bad LOL!)