Out the door to Pre K 4!

Today was Will's first day of school. He will be in PK4 this year on M/W/F. He was so excited to get out the door...I think sissy going yesterday really got him excited!

That boy loves his sword! Had to leave it in the car, though!

Sister was such an encouragement to him this morning. She loves playing the "mother hen!"

Walking in...that backpack still seems so big on my Will...maybe next year will be the magic year that he "grows into it!"

And here is Will's lovely teacher, Mrs. Norman. This is her first year at the school and we couldn't be more delighted to have her! She seems like a doll and Will has already been talking about her alot! We pray God will fill her with wisdom, patience and endurance as she teaches the littlest ones!

1st Day of 1st Grade

Today was Miss Natalie's 1st day of 1st grade! I can not believe I have a FIRST GRADER! Where does the time go?!? She was so ready to go!

After a breakfast of homemade pancakes by Daddy, we were off!

Here is our yearly picture as we head out to the car...

Walking into her wonderful school...

I can already tell we are going to be so blessed by Natalie's teacher this year...Mrs.Frazier! She is awesome and her room is so cool! That's all Nat could talk about after her Meet-the-Teacher on Saturday...how the room has a reading area with two recliners, how she has a desk (not tables like she had in kinder), how they have a class pet...Zig Zag the hermit crab, how she got to sharpen her own pencils and how they don't have to get on the floor for circle time ("Mom...that is so baby...we don't do that in first!").

All ready to go! There is another Natalie in her class this year so Natalie told her teacher she can call her "Natty!" So cute!

I love my sweet 1st grade girl! Have a wonderfully blessed year!

Celebration Dinner

We had a Celebration Dinner last night at Mattito's. We were celebrating Will's first soccer practice and Natalie starting 1st Grade!

Love the faces!

This is what I get when I try and get them to smile...

And here's sweet Spencer just trying to get a bite of whatever comes his way!

Team Piranha

Will had his first practice yesterday with TEAM PIRANHA! He had a blast kicking the ball around! He dribbles so well!

The best part is...Daddy is coaching! It was quite amusing watching Coach Mida try and corral eight 4 year old boys yesterday! They are balls of energy! I think we are blessed with a great group of boys and parents! Our first game should be on or around September 6th! More pics to come!!

GO PIRANHAS!!!!

A Birthday Interview with Natalie

Here is an interview with the BIRTHDAY GIRL:

• What do you like most about yourself? My skin and my silliness
• What is the greatest thing you have done in your 7 years? Have lots of birthdays!
• What is your favorite dessert? Key Lime pie
• If you could meet one famous person, who would it be? Miley Cyrus
• What do you want to be when you grow up? A horse trainer
• What is your favorite thing to do? Eat!
• What is your favorite food? Dad's homemade pizza
• What is your favorite Bible story? Pharaoh
• What do you like to do in your free time? Ride horses and art work
• What are you most looking forward to in 1st grade? Meeting new friends
• What is your favorite drink? Coffee (????)
• What is your favorite memory? Putting my head under water and really learning to swim this summer
• What is the hardest thing you've ever done? Write a memory verse down 5 times! (it was a done to bring about some better behavior choices!)
• If you could get any gift for this birthday, what would it be? A REAL horse
• What is your favorite flower? Violets
• If you could give other kiddos some advice, what would it be? Obey your parents
• Who do you think should be the next president, McCain or Obama? Why? Obama because he looks great and I like his personality (Momma is cringing as I type this)
• What do you hope to do before you turn 8? Play with my brothers and continue to ride horses
  

7 candles on the cake...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET NATALIE!

We can not believe you are 7 today! My how time flies! You are precious and dear to us...Daddy and I are so thankful to have you as our daughter. God sure blessed this family when he gave us you!

A few of my favorite pics over the years...

More pics to come later...and a special interview with Natalie!!

Where does the time go?!?

Spencer Bishop is 10 months old today....CRAZY!!!

It is absolutely amazing to me how fast his first year is going. I keep having flashbacks to this time last summer (and all I can think of was how miserable I was)!! I'm so glad to have him here now and be experiencing something new with him almost every day!

I tried my best to snap a shot of us together today...

Spencer got to ride the Merry-Go-Round for the first time at our local mall today.

This was his expression during the entire ride...I'm not too sure how he felt about it!?!

Home Sweet Home

We are back from our trip to New Mexico. The mountains were beautiful, as was the cooler weather, but we were all definitely ready to get back. Gosh...I LOVE TEXAS!!!

I will post pictures in the next few days...as soon as I catch up on laundry, grocery shopping, back-to-school stuff and a million other things.

*** Coming next week...NATALIE'S 7th BIRTHDAY!!! ***

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday was Mom's ** birthday (I'm leaving out the actual number out of respect...ha!).

She came over in the morning and the kiddos had made her cupcakes and had a gift for her.
How special!

Here's to another great year of health, happiness and blessings!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom/Trini/Granny!

Precious Picture

Our dear friends, the Z's, had us over for dinner the other night and the kiddos wore themselves out playing. Is this a good lookin' group or what?!? I had to share this pic!

Will, Natalie, Allie, Spencer and Parker

"Catch up" Post

Time for a "catch up" post...

Spencer's new favorite past time...crawling towards electrical outlets and cords...exactly why we bought a 8 x 8 play yard for the living room this past week...Natalie calls it his cage...nice.

Just a cute picture of Nat and Spence getting some "morning love" right after getting up.

My cousin, Jennie, came through town last week. It was so good to see her! Natalie took a picture of us (that's why it's not quite centered). :)

Erick and I did a 5k this past Saturday...and boy was it hot/humid (even at 7:30 a.m.)! We finished in 36:19...I'm sure Erick could have gone twice that fast, but he ran with me for support. This was in lieu of my normal TNT Saturday morning practice...they wanted us to run this 5k to get used to running in a crowd.

My Triathlete

My magnificent husband completed his first triathlon yesterday...AMAZING! This was called an Olympic-length triathlon. They started with a 1500 meter open-water swim, then it was on to a 23 mile bike ride, and they concluded with a 10k run. It was up at a state park near us (about 45 minutes away).

We got there right around 6:00 a.m. and Erick got set up in the transition area (for those of you not familiar with triathlons, it is the area they go to between each event). As he was setting everything up, he realized he forgot something...his running shoes!!! He hadn't packed them in his bag the night before because he thought he was going to wear them (but he wore his flip flops instead). PANIC! I could tell from the look on his face that he was freaking out. He was already stressed because this was his first triathlon, so not having his running shoes about sent him over the edge! Thank goodness the run is the last event...I hopped in the car to head home and get the shoes. I decided to call my in-laws and see if one of them could run to the house and meet me halfway. So, they got an early wake-up call (6:30 a.m.) and my father-in-law agreed to go get the shoes and meet me halfway...THANK YOU SO MUCH, HARRY! Erick thanks you, too! Anyways, I sped a bit (sorry) and got back before Erick finished the swim...that was my goal because I wanted him to see that I was back with the shoes before he started biking so he wouldn't worry the whole 23 mile ride if I was going to make it back. Right as I was running up to hand off the shoes, I looked up and saw a rainbow (you can kind of make it out in the picture below)...

The funny thing is, when Erick finished his swim portion in the lake and was getting out, he looked up and saw the same rainbow and he knew it was going to be okay. I kind of took it as my sign, too, that everything was going to go great!

Heading off on the ride...he got rained on a bit during this part.

Moving on to the run....He is smiling because I told him I'd see him at the finish line and he replied, "I hope I'm there, too!" Ha!

Gotta hydrate! Most of the run was on a shaded trail through the state park...definitely made it easier!

Home stretch...the finish line was about 50 yards from where this picture was taken. Erick finished in around 2 hrs and 55 min (we're still waiting on the official time).

CONGRATS, Erick, on such an awesome accomplishment!
I love you and am so very proud of you!

9 months old today

Spencer Bishop is nine months old today! Is he the cutest chubba-wub you've ever seen?!?
He got to go to the pool today in his baby speedo (swim diaper) and Gilligan-style hat.

Spencer loves: any kind of food (including mac 'n cheese), balls, crawling, eating, bath time, being outside, putting objects in his mouth, being tickled by Natalie, having Will run around him in circles, "zurbers" on his belly & tapping his hands and feet on various things (he's got rhythm)

Spencer hates: naps, peaches (only food he hasn't liked), having his face wiped clean, diaper changes (can't stay still long enough), when he doesn't get to do/eat/go where big sis and big bro do/eat/go, when his momma puts him down and walks away & being in his car seat too long

Fairies??

Will came out of Bible class yesterday and I asked him what he learned in class.
He said, "I learned about the fire and the furnace." "Oh, the story of the fiery furnace! That's neat! Why did the three men get put in the furnace?" I asked. "Because they wouldn't bow down." (Wow! I am impressed at this point that he is recalling so much information from the lesson)
I then asked, "And who protected the men while they were in the fire?" Will responded, "Uhh, the fairies watched them!"

Fairies...Angels...all the same in his mind! Ha!

Spencer's Discovery

Spencer was diagnosed with his first ear infection last Saturday (I know...random way to start off this post...probably wondering how THAT ties in to the following pictures!!). Anyways, the antibiotic they put him on has made him go #2 a lot and subsequently gave him a pretty raw bottom. So, we have let him go without a diaper some this week in order to let some fresh air reach his nether-regions. Well, this diaper-free time gave him the chance to make a discovery...Spencer "found" his wee-wee!!! He is FASCINATED by it! I think he freaked the other two kiddos out once...they basically thought he was going to pull it off...we assured them this was normal and Spence was not going to hurt himself! Ha!

"Hey! What's this? How have I missed this for 9 months?"