Introducing..."Cowgirl"

Well, we did it. We finally broke down and got a puppy. She is a 7 wk old full bred Catahoula. Catahoula's are a herding breed, so that is where the idea to name her Cowgirl came from. John was actually thinking of a name that had to do with sports, like Dallas Cowboys, and then came Cowgirl. She is a really sweet girl. She is a puppy though, so John and I are taking turns getting up in the night to let her out and so forth. Hopefully, she will get the hang of sleeping all night in the next couple of weeks. As you can see in the pic above, Lacey is very curious. Those are her ears in the bottom of the picture. I think they will be good friends soon. Of course, the kids love her too. Emma more so than Eli, but that's the little mommy instinct in Emma. Eli just wants her to chase him around, but since she is still so small, she doesn't run as fast. It's just a matter of time though.

Catching up!

Just in case you haven't seen a cat sit on the couch lately,
here ya go. This is my old cat, Lexus, at the end of a long, hard day.

This is our much more elegant cat, Lacey, who lives

to attack birds in our backyard.

Emma sporting her new short hair do!

Eli's first day of preschool. He's a big 4 year old now!

Well, I've been slacking a little on the blog, but will try to catch up. So, Emma started school and all is going well. She was actually selected as "Rider of the Week" this week in her class, which means she displayed charater and excellence or something like that. I just translated that into "she's doing a good job"! We all went to her school this morning and watched her say her name and so forth on the morning announcements/document camera, as they recognized all the "riders of the week". She had been practicing this at home for the last couple of days, so she did great! Like always, we are very proud of her.

In mid-September, Eli started back at preschool and is doing great too! He has his best buds (Nicholas & Lucas) in his class, so that makes everything okay. They are working on writing letters and he is trying real hard each day. I know there are a bunch of other things he would rather be doing, but I am proud of him for his efforts. He plays and does lots of crafts at school too, so it is always a fun time for him.

John's business has really picked up these days, so he is staying busy with that. Although, I have a feeling he will create some windows of time as deer season is quickly approaching. :) We are going to our land this weekend to do a little work and enjoy time with the kids. Eli LOVES it up there and I can see him sitting in that deer stand with daddy very soon! Eli went dove hunting with daddy a month ago and John was very surprised at how well Eli did. He stayed quiet and close to John (playing in the dirt, of course) for like 3 hours straight! Quiet is the key here! Emma likes it okay there too, but probably isn't as big of a fan as Eli. She likes helping me clean the cabin, swinging in the hammock or tire swing, and playing games in the cabin.

As for me, I am doing all the usual mom duties, overseeing a bible study at church, helping with our small group ladies time, and playing soccer on Tuesday nights. I enjoy all of that, of course! The only negative at the moment is my health. I am back and forth quite often, but since I had such a great summer, it has been kinda tough being sick again. I am having to take a break from my indoor soccer for a week or two and hoping that is all. I am in a time of waiting to see if my current medicine has completely failed me or if it is going to kick back in and whip me into shape. If not, I will be moving to the next medicine. We shall see. In the meantime, I am resting in God's great, big hands. Sometimes I forget about that priviledge and carry my luggage around, but it doesn't take long to realize how silly that is. God is really the only way and I am beyond thankful for His provision in my life.

First Day of School!

Emma at her desk!



We woke up bright and early this morning to get ready for the first day of school! This was not so easy on me, considering I have thoroughly enjoyed getting out of my bed in a more leisurely fashion all summer long. I actually had to set an alarm, but I did it! Emma was very easy to awaken as she knew it was "the big day"! She got dressed, ate breakfast, and posed for her annual first day of school picture. I woke Eli up just in time to put him in the car and go. It was a family event as John drove in his truck and met us at the school too. Emma walked confidently (remembering just where to go) and was happy to have us all with her. I'm not sure how long that will last, but I sure enjoy it! Anyway, I look forward to picking her up this afternoon and hearing all about it. Of course, she will probably just respond with "Fine" or "Good" when I inquire about her day, but we'll see! I am very excited for her and I'm sure she will have a great 1st grade year!

Lake Ray Roberts

Last weekend, Ron, Andrea, Brooke, and Blake (John's brother & family) came for a visit and they brought their barge. Of course, all the rain that hadn't been falling from the sky for the past month decided to fall on us over the weekend. So, in between rain showers, we went to Lake Ray Roberts one day and Lake Lewisville on another. It was a lot of fun. Brooke, Blake, & Emma enjoyed the tube, while Eli just loved exploring the various "islands" we stopped at. I took some pictures at Lake Ray Roberts. It's a beautiful lake!



John and his girl

Me and my boy

Brooke and Eli (enjoying his cupcake & Sprite)

Emma, Blake, and Brooke floating around

Mr. Cool

Chillin' at the Pool

Eli cruisin' around the pool like a big boy today. He JUST got off my hip and started swimming around on his own, so I am thrilled about that!

Emma, Hannah, Eli, and Logan at the pool. As you can see, the boys (especially Eli) weren't really into the picture idea.

Our little divas, Hannah and Emma posing for the camera

Today we spent our afternoon with our good friends (The Choquette's) at the neighborhood pool and then we had a cookout at our house afterward. The kids had a great time splashing in the pool and the grown ups did too! It is so hot outside that it is no longer pleasant to just sit by the pool and watch, unless of course you just happen to enjoy sweating to death! So, we enjoyed the pool for a couple of hours and then came back to the house for burgers and hot dogs. It was a nice day and even nicer when the kids crashed at bedtime! Eli even fell asleep without his puppy (stuffed animal) because we couldn't find it anywhere. I guess I have 24 hours to locate him though because I know it won't be so easy tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

Emma and John at Kindergarten Graduation June 2009

Emma and Eli at a Balloon Festival in Celina

Yeah! I figured out how to get pics on this thing! I would still like to jazz up this blog, but I guess I am off to a good start. Emma graduated kindergarten this past June and she was so happy about that. She had a wonderful kindergarten year and is looking forward to 1st grade. John and I are so proud of her. The next pic is from a little balloon festival where we got to have a real close up look at some hot air balloons. Very exciting!

Here we are!

Wow, I find it hard to believe myself, but we now have a blogspot! John and I have protested Facebook for a variety of reasons, but we still wanted a way to share our family with yours, so here we are! Hopefully, I will keep up with it and be a really blogger. We shall see.
Anyway, not much is new with us. The kids and I are thoroughly enjoying the summer by swimming with friends 5 or 6 days a week, going to the $1 movie, and just hanging out at home. It is quite relaxing! I kinda feel guilty about it, but I know that life will get busy again when school starts, so I will just enjoy it. :)