Natalie's Heaven

Today, sweet Natalie and I had a discussion about Heaven.

The discussion came about because Natalie's kindergarten teacher (from last year) lost her father this weekend. Natalie came home from school and told me Mrs. H's dad had passed away. She was saying how Mrs. H would get to see him again soon in Heaven. I told her that was right and she responded, "Man, I can't wait to go to Heaven! I bet it's gonna have streets made out of Krackel and I hope it has lots of those toe nail places!" I asked her what exactly she meant and she said, "Streets made of chocolate and I can get a pedicure whenever I want!"

Sounds like Heaven to me!

Sleepy Boys

I was running to the post office today with the boys and this was them about 5 minutes into the trip!  I had to take a picture!  

Poor Will is sick with a bad cold/cough and Spencer really doesn't sleep during the day unless we're in the car.  

Is that precious or what?!?

Baby Boy is 11 Months Old!

My sweet baby boy, Spencer, turned 11 months old this past Friday. I can not believe how fast his first year has flown by!

He is in to EVERYTHING...playing in the potty, climbing up the stairs (and falling back down...oops), grabbing cups full of coffee, etc. I can't take my eyes off of him for 2 seconds! I never had this issue with the other two, so it's driving me insane!! I guess #3 just wants to keep up with the other two. He pulls up on everything and I know his first step will happen any day now.

Here he is doing his favorite thing...
EATING!!!

And his second favorite thing...
BATHING!!!

And just for old times sake (and to embarrass myself), here is me exactly a year ago! Can you say HUGE?!? I was so miserable!

Much better to be chasing an 11 month old around the house than carrying that little sucker around in my belly!!

Game #1

The Piranhas had their first game this past Saturday! Will did great and Coach Mida didn't do too bad either. : )

At first, this was Will's constant expression..
"UMMM...I'm not too sure about this..."

Lining up to kick off...
Go #30!!

Team spirit...GO PIRANHAS!

Artist of the Day & My Dear Friends

Below is my budding artist. He decided to use himself as a canvas! This occurred after we had a discussion earlier in the week that ink is to ONLY go on paper. The discussion came about as a result of him drawing all over the chaise lounge cover with a ball point pen.

I'll take drawing on his tummy any day over the furniture!!

Below are some of my dearest friends...I just had to post the picture!
Melanie, me, Kate and Elizabeth
Love y'all!

Why I Run...

This is why I run....

My father-in-law (Harry) was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma a few weeks ago and he began chemo last week.

Team in Training and the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society does so much to raise awareness and funds for blood-related cancers. Check out the LLS website HERE and my official Team in Training page HERE.

Uncle Easwar

Harry's (my father-in-law) brother, Easwar, came to visit this week and check in on Harry. The kiddos and I met him for the first time yesterday. He came bearing gifts for the kiddos, Erick and I all the way from London (where he lives with his wife). We had a great time with Easwar and hope to see him again before too long!

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!!! ***