Brenna's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, the big day finally came!  I can't believe my little girl is going to Kindergarten.  Where did all the time go?  I'm so thankful for the wonderful husband I have that allowed my to spend these first 5 years at home with her.  It's been such a blessing to have that time and very hard to let go of it.  She looked so grown up in her uniform on that first day of school.

The Obvious Next Thing........

I posted earlier that Brenna took her training wheels off.  However, she continued to ride with the speed and assurance of someone with a safety net.  With that information, the obvious next thing to expect was her first bike wreck, which came within 3 weeks of taking off the trainers.

We had friends over for dinner and afterwards the kids got out and rode bikes.  Brenna made the turn to come back alittle too sharp and alittle too fast and ended up eating the concrete face first!  Yikes!  The initial inspection was horrifying.  She had come down directly on the her chin, taking off all the skin and bit down on her lip in two places.  So, when a neighbor pulled her from underneath the bike all you could see was blood coming from her mouth and chin.  She was hysterical!  After we got her inside and cleaned up we immediately started the inspection for loose teeth or the need for stitches.  After she finally calmed down, we realized that while the total injury was ugly, we were very fortunate.  She walked away with a severely busted fat lip and a skinless, bruise, swollen chin.  Of course we had our bike helmet on, but that didn't do much to protect the underside of her head.  Maybe we should consider chin straps.

These pictures were from the next morning.  The bruising hadn't set in fully yet, so by the next day, her whole chin was black.  Over the next week, we went through every shade of the rainbow as it slowly faded away.

A Day with the Strickland Bunch

One of our last days of Summer we spent with the Strickland crew.  The Stricklands' and their extended family have been very good to us and we are blessed to have such wonderful neighbors and friends.  We started off the morning at the pool where the kids played and burned off some energy.  Next it was back home so everyone could have a nice nap and a quick rest.  Then, back to Stacie's for some fun back yard playtime.  Everybody had dinner together, and then it was off to the pool again.  Our group closed the pool down and then headed over to the playground to wait while the crew set up for "Movies Under the Stars".  Our neighborhood association sponsors these events several times throughout the year.  Tonight's movie was "We Bought a Zoo".  The kids stretched out on blankets, help themselves to popcorn and gummy bears, and settled in for the show.  While we didn't stay for the whole movie, our young bunch managed through more than half thanks to the energy boost from the gummy bears.  Just before 10 pm, we loaded them all up in the back of the SUV and headed for home. I was a very fun, long, and exhausting day.  Brenna was asleep before her head hit the pillow.  What a great way to spend one of our last days of Summer!

Houston Museum Of Natural Science - But This Time at Sugar Land

Ok, it's been a while since I posted.  Those last few weeks of Summer really kept us busy!  There's lots of fun stuff to catch you up on so I expect you'll be seeing several post over the next week.  Including Brenna's first day of Kindergarten!  I'll save my thoughts on that for another post......

While Mom and Dad were here we decided to visit the Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land.  This museum has been on our hit list for sometime.  This is actually the closest Museum to us, so its funny that it took us so long to get to.  While this is not as big as the downtown Museum, it did not disappoint.  There were several things for Brenna to enjoy.  I actually thought it was alittle more kid-friendly with all its exhibits and hands-on experiment stations.  Not to mention less crowded and easier to manage with smaller children.

We all tested our skills at the Discovery Works experiments.  We enjoyed seeing Dinosaur Discovery.  Brenna liked exploring the Animal Secrets exhibit with its caves, trees, rivers, marshes, and naturalist tent.  We took time out to see Earth's Wild Ride on their Digital Dome Theater.  They have several different shows a day.  Earth's Wild Ride was set sometime in the future as a Grandfather describes Earth's past to his grandchildren as they view it from their vantage point on the moon, where they live now.  The actual dome theater is inflated from within with air and you lie on your backs on the floor (although there were seat available along the edges of the theater) and view the movie projected on the inside of the dome to give a 180 degree prospective.  It was very neat!  And finally before we ended our day we visited The Dig Pit where kids were equipped with shovels, buckets, and brushes to make their own dinosaur discoveries.

Life Science Exhibit

Brenna's 5th Birthday

I can't believe my little girl is 5 years old and about to start Kindergarten.  I'm so proud of the little girl she's becoming!  She's happy and sweet and smart.  Now it seems like she keeps me in line as much as I keep her in line.

Her actually birthday was on a Tuesday but we celebrated all week long!  On the Monday she was excited to see Mawmaw come visit with my Aunt Shirley, Aunt Juan, and Uncle Sal.  Brenna played cards with Aunt Juan for most of afternoon.  Aunt Juan kept asking her if she was cheating, to which Brenna quickly replied "No!"  But, she picked up on the thought and then started asking Aunt Juan "Are you cheating me?"

On Tuesday, she started off the morning opening a few gifts.  She had ice cream for lunch and played all day with Mawmaw.  We celebrated that night with a cupcake cake and more gifts.

The Training Wheels are Off!

Brenna got her first "big girl" bike for her third birthday.  She nearly rode the wheels off of it.  The training wheels on that bike are almost completely bare.  She also outgrew that bike very quickly because she's so tall.  So, for Christmas she got a "bigger girl" bike.  At first I was alittle nervous, because that bike looked so big compared to the other one.  But she hooped right on and took off (with training wheels, of course).  Recently, she's been asking to take the training wheels off.  After weeks of asking, and her birthday coming up, Jacob finally consented.

She started off a bit shakey with Jacob following along behind her.  But within the hour she was asking for him to "Just let go!" and she was off!  Now it's like the training wheels were never there at all.  One more milestone down.  Too bad swimming didn't come this naturally!

Houston Zoo in the Summer Time

Houston Zoo in the summer time is HOT!  Very HOT!  But alittle heat never stops us.  We met up with friends there a few weeks back and braved the heat to enjoy everything the zoo has to offer.  And I do mean everything!  We got there as the gates opened at 9 AM.  We enjoyed the animals, watched the 4-D Dora and Diego Rainforest Adventure at the new theater, feed the giraffes, ate lunch, rode the Wildlife Carousel, toured the Dinosaurs exhibit, hit the splash pad, and finally caught a train ride around Herman Park.  More than 5 hours later we had 7 exhausted kiddos and 3 worn out moms!  Here's some shots from the day!

The crew!

Houston Museum of Natural Science

After we had so much fun at the Butterfly Museum earlier this summer, we were excited when some friends invited us on a trip back to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the main exhibit hall.  We started off at the Butterfly Museum, because its too much fun to miss.

Future Scientists!

Let's Go to the Pool

After so much time at the pool this summer, I just couldn't bring myself to get up and go on this day.  So, we compromised and broke out the inflatable!

Sky Zone

What would be more fun for a bunch of kids than a big room with floors and walls made of trampolines!  We visited Sky Zone for the first time with some friends earlier this month.  Although, my initial reaction to this place was that it was one big accident waiting to happen.  As we walked over to our jump location, kids sat on the side lines in tears with different degrees of injuries.  But, our kids stuck to their own section and managed without any issues. They had a great time and loved jumping.

Here's our crew!

Today's Dirt Hill is Tomorrow's Mud Hole!

We're thankful for all the rain!  No draught this Summer!

Mississippi Summer Trip

Jacob had a business trip to Belgium, so Brenna and I flew home to Mom and Dad's to spend the week while he was away.  Here's Brenna all packed up and headed to the airport.  She's a pro at flying and looks too cute handling all her Minnie Mouse luggage through the terminal.

Backyard Cool Down

Sky - Vacation Bible School 2012

We had a great time at VBS this year.  I taught preschool crafts (which was an adventure) and Brenna made her first step toward kindergarten since she moved up to the "Big Kid" VBS classes.  I didn't get alot of time to take pictures, but some friends shared some that they took with us!

Brenna was Lazareth for story time

Summer at the Pool

Between holiday celebrations, play dates, and swim lessons, we've spent alot of time at the pool these last few weeks.  So much, in fact that I'm beginning to feel alittle water logged, but not Brenna.  Here's some shots from a recent pool playdate.