Kate's Journal

For extra Kindergarten practice at home, Kate keeps a journal.  Here are several entries from her book:

*I wear a bag over my cast in the tub.
*I am playing at the SmartBoard (at school).
*I can open my own milk at lunch.  I like to buy the tray.
*At recess, I play with Alex.  She is a Never-Die Dragon and I get bad guys with my cast.
*I am playing Barbies with Avery.  She is pretending to be my Barbie horse.
*Me and Reese are playing baby dolls.  Reesie is the mommy and I am the teenager sister.

Click here for pictures of Kate's journal and the week.

My First Day of School!!!

It was finally my turn to have a first day of school!  This year I'm a big girl, so Mommy stays in the car and I go in the Puppy Class by myself (in the carpool line).

When I get to the Puppy Class, I play with my friends.  I not know their names but theys my friends.  Ms. Syd and Ms. Scarlett are my teachers and them write our names.  They read me books and they sing songs with us, but not with someone else... just with us.  And I don't know what else them do.

My favorite thing to do at school is playing at centers.  I play with blocks.

I don't have to cry when I'm at school because I don't want to.  I am a big girl now and grown-ups come back at the end of the day.  We always sing that song!  (from Daniel Tiger)

But I did miss Mommy one day, but I love school!

Love, Reese

Click here for pictures

Mama Note: Reese was so proud of herself the first week of school and hopped out of the car with great purpose.  She didn't even need a goodbye kiss or wave!  And when it was time to pick her up, her demeanor hadn't changed a bit.  It was like she was thinking, "I got this, Mom.  I have big girl, important things to do and you'll be okay without me!"  Such a proud, happy girl going into class each day this year.  We're also proud and very, very thankful!

Nanny's Birthday Party

By Avery

This weekend we went to Lockhart to celebrate Nanny's 85th birthday.  One of the reasons I love Nanny is because she always thinks of fun things for us to do.

First we went to Nanny's house
and we ate dinner and played.  Nanny's puppy Schatzie is always happy to see me.  Then we went to Mimi and Gran's house.  We spent the night there and when we woke up, we had chocolate chip waffles.  They were delicious.  We played and then it was time to go to Garcia's for Nanny's Birthday Party.  We ate lunch there and made noise with noise makers.  Then we went to Aunt Sandy's house to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake with Nanny.  My favorite part of Sandy's house is the horse, but there were also some new dogs to play with and they were so cute.  I also liked seeing all of my cousins and family.  They're all nice and funny.

Click here for pictures

When Sisters Are Away...

Avery and Kate started school last week, and this week, Mommy started her school.  My school doesn't start for another week... but not to worry!  Nana cleared her calendar and we got to spend three days together!  I do miss Avery and Kate when they're at school... but this week was pretty special!

On Monday, I was having trouble playing by myself.  I missed my constant playmates!  I asked Mommy, "You pway with me now?"  And I asked it a lot...like, a whole lot.  But once Mommy turned on some background music to fill the house with a bit more noise, it felt a little more like our house.  While the music was playing, I was happy with my toys.

On Tuesday, I met Nana and she got out of the car grinning.  She was saying, "It's Reese's Day!  It's Reese's Day!"  And she was right!  She asked me what I wanted to do, and I knew for sure: go to her house and play with the toys all by myself.  We found lots of toy horses from Uncle Trey's old toys and I was very sure of how I wanted Nana to play... and not afraid to tell her just what I wanted.

Wednesday, me and Mommy spent the day running errands.  I'm a pretty good side kick.  At least my Mommy says so!

On Thursday, Nana and I went shopping.  I tried to talk her into buying a pet for me.  When that didn't go over well, I started trying to talk her into buying a pet for her house.  We looked at all of the pets and I really liked the rats... Nana said no thanks.

And on Friday, Nana and I went to her house and swam.  When it was time to get dressed, I decided to match Nana... we both wore pretty black dresses and we met Mommy for a lunch date.
Avery and Kate went to school.  Then Mommy went to school.  But... don't feel sad for me!  This week was a good way to end summer for me.  Nana and I know how to have a good week, that's for sure!

Click here for pictures of the week

Love, Reese

First Week of School and a Broken Arm

On my very first day of school, Mommy, Daddy, Avery and Reese walked me into my classroom.  Once they left, we listened to lots of stories.  We didn't have calendar that day, though.  I made a new best friend, but I didn't remember her name.  We also have this special thing, a student teacher, what is learning how
to be a teacher.  Ms. Dugosh is my teacher and I like her.

On the second day of school, I broke my arm on the way to school!  I was riding my bike and Avery bumped into me.  Mommy wanted me to get back on my bike and I almost did it but my arm hurt too much.  When we got to school, Ms. Dugosh gave me a bandaid.  I was holding my arm for the whole morning so Ms. Dugosh knew it was broken.  I went to the nurse and then Mommy came to pick me up.

At the hospital, they took an x-ray and gave me a soft cast.  My doll, Kate the Penguin Trainer, also got a soft cast.

When I went back to school on Wednesday, I got to have my friends who were helpers who helped me open the door, open my lunchbox, and other things too.

The other thing I want to tell is that I made new friends.  Their names are Emma, Grace and Fiona, Nayara and Juliette.  I met them on the first day of school but now I know their names.  I decided they were my friends because when we were walking around together, they said, "I want you to be my friend."  I always wanted to be their friends so I said yes.  They're really nice and I like school.

Click here for pictures

Love,
Kate the Kindergartener

New!

This week had big, important new things:

Avery has been working all summer to get Dream the horse to trot.  Not only did she master this new skill this week, but she also began to get posting.  Her instructor was really impressed and said that Avery is the only student she has that has begun to grasp posting.  Go Ave!

Avery got her pet cat when she was 5, so all summer Kate has reminded us that she is 5 now, too.  On Saturday, we visited PetsMart, PetCo, and CAPS (a rescue shelter) in search of the perfect animal for our family, and especially for Kate.  She thought about several dogs, but in the end, she really felt that a guinea pig was the right choice.  And she knew exactly which one, too.  Our new pet, Mr. Bubbles, joined us and has been a source of happiness, cuddles and giggles.

Reese has also been waiting - she's been waiting for Mommy to finally be ready for her to cut her hair.  When she found out she was going to be able to cut her hair, she was super excited.  She knew immediately that she wanted short hair just like Kate's "Because I a big girl now!"  At the salon, she fully enjoyed the entire event, carrying herself like she had crossed an important finish line.  This was her first haircut, ever... so we held on to the baby hair for her baby book... if you can count 3 year-old-locks as baby hair.  Reese feels all grown up with her haircut, and she'll tell you all about it if you ask!

Click here for pictures

LA Dream Center Mission Trip

August 11-21, I spent 10 days on a mission trip in inner-city Los Angeles.  I experienced many beautiful things and loved the time I spent serving and playing with my team.  God's goodness was evident, even in the darkest places I went, and it was such a blessing to see how much more power His light is than any darkness we may have faced.

My favorite experience on the mission trip was loading, unloading, sorting and handing out groceries.  It was fun physical labor with a great sense of accomplishment to see the huge pallets of food dwindle down to nothing.  As we handed out food, we met some precious people who needed some help feeding their families.

There were many other ministries we took part in, and I felt that each was important and each challenged me in a different way.  But the thing that was hardest, by far, on this Mama was leaving her babies at home for ten days.  I felt every second inch by as we were separated, and even though they were happy and well loved, I could not wait to be back home with my favorite people on earth.

While I was gone, Jordan single-parented and worked full-time for half of the trip.  With help from friends and family, the girls were happy and only exhibited some signs of missing Mommy.  The second half of the trip, Jordan flew out to join me in LA and the girls stayed with Nana and DD.  They went to Moody Gardens and got many much-needed hugs.  They each wrote me a letter and mailed it to me from Galveston.  Here's what they said:

Avery's:
"Mommy, today we are going to Galveston!  We will go to the pyramids and see the penguins.  And maybe go to Palm Springs.  And we will definitely go to the beach!"

Kate's:
"Mommy, While you were gone we painted.  I missed you."

Reese's:
"Dear Mommy,
I love you Momma.  Go swimming at beach today.  I saw waves pushing us and moving us.  I stay at hotel with D.  At beach I just wash off myself.  I see seagulls.  They just eated some bread sandwiches.  They say eeeeee, not eeeee but honk honk.  We saw fishes.  I saw penguins.  I think about this bed and I going to sleep.  Just kidding!  It was a good day.  See some more penguins."

The trip would not have been possible without my amazing husband and parents, who took on the task of mothering with enthusiasm and patience.  Love you guys - thank you!

Click here for pictures