Another First...

The boys had corn on the cob for the first time tonight.....

Fun at the Zoo

Thursday (July 21) we went to the zoo. Grandpa Frosty and Cousin Charlie met us there.  Actually, they met Chris and David (Michael had a doctor's appointment at 9:30.  We walked over from Texas Children's Critical Care Center after the appointment and met up with the others) around 9:40.  Everyone seemed to have a good time. 

Michael, Charlie, David & Grandpa

Cousin Charlie

Look at the monkey!

Checking out one of the cats....

Taking a break by the duck lake

Boy's Dedication Service

Chris and I asked our pastor to do a dedication service for the boys on Sunday, July 17, 2011.  This was the cement that finished the foundation of our family.  We had quite a few family members present for this special time in our family.  Liz (Rachael's sister) was our 'official photographer' for the event.

Jeri (children's pastor) introducing all of us

Pastor Neil praying over the boys and for us as a family

Talking with Aunt Patty (Rachael's aunt on her mom's side)

Uncle Jim (R's mom's brother) talking with Grandpa Frosty (R's dad)

Robert (R's brother-in-law) visiting with Grandma Lela & Grandpa Dave (C's mom & step-dad)

Cousin Charlie watching everyone after the service

Circus 2011

A few weeks ago the boys and I saw the Circus Train heading into town (coming from Richmond/Rosenberg on the track that runs along side Highway 90). 

The boys said "Train!". 

I said "Yes, it's the Circus Train.  We will have to see if we can get tickets.  I wonder when they are coming into town.  I'll have to check and see."

Yes, I actually said "I wonder when they are coming into town".  Such is the thought process of a mom...

Anyway, Chris was off yesterday (Friday, July 15) and we decided to get tickets for the 10:30 am show.  We have been talking with the boys for several days about the circus, but I don't think either one really knew what we were talking about.  Since we don't watch much regular TV (mostly kids videos, Qubo and things like that), we haven't seen any commercials for the circus, so we didn't really have much to work with. (kind of like the concept of a zoo...).  We got there early enough to go 'backstage' and see the animals before the show.  They seemed to understand the idea of the animals, but all David wanted to see were the 'monkeys'.  Unfortunately they don't have monkeys in the show....

The seats we got were up near the top of the lower level (they only used a fraction of the Reliant Center) but not too bad.  At least we were one of the first ones to the bathroom during intermission.  A definite plus with so many kids running around!

The boys had a good time (even though they said "No" when asked if they had fun!  It seems that "NO" if the default response to most anything right now.  David said that he liked the motorcycles the best (they got 7 going in the steel ball: really cool to watch with the glow in the dark suits!); not sure what Michael liked best as I didn't hear his answer (Chris asked the questions).

Some of the pictures are dark and fuzzy (the result of low lighting and cheap seats):

The start of our Circus Adventure

Checking out the elephants before the show

Checking out the horses & lamas

Watching a pre-show demonstration
(I think we were watching clowns at that point)

Finally got close enough to see the acrobats

Daddy got the hat; we got the cotton candy....

Michael trying on Daddy's hat

David trying on Daddy's hat

First taste of cotton candy; they didn't really like it.......

Beginning of the show

Acrobats and Chinese Lions

White tigers and Orange tigers;
one of them didn't really want to cooperate with the trainer.....

The Motorcycles

They had 7 of them running at the same time inside the ball; really cool!!

Having fun during intermission

Mama liked the Elephant performance

Having a good time on Daddy's lap

Motorcycle on the high wire; Don't Try This At Home!!

Ending the show

A picture of the picture we had taken at the circus
(try to ignore the bright spot in the middle)

We all had a good time.  Looking forward to next year's show.....

Summer School (such as it is...)

We have enrolled David into kindergarten for the fall.  Because of this, we have been working with him on an almost constant basis every day to get him ready (at least as ready as he can be).  He will be one of the younger ones in the class (his birthday is the second day of school this year), but we believe that he will do just fine.  We have already talked with the school counselor about him and his educational background (as much as we know about it and what we have observed) and she believes that he will do fine.  We are prepared to deal with any issues that arise as well as the possibility that he may have to repeat kindergarten and we are okay with that. 

In order to get him better prepared, David has been attending 'summer school' classes with Rachael.  They have been working on basic writing (holding the pencil correctly was a challenge at first!), numbers, colors, shapes, letters (both upper and lower case), visual discrimination activities, etc.  His basic fine motor skills are okay, but he does have a problem holding crayons correctly as well as staying within the picture while coloring.  Overall, we are impressed with his progress.  He may not be entirely on level with some of these basic skills, but he is getting there.  We don't think that anyone really worked with him prior to us, but he is doing well.

We allowed him to pick out some of the school supplies that he is working with right now, as well as some of the posters that now grace our dining room wall.  He has some really cool pencil grips that force him to hold the pencil correctly (even though he says that they hurt his fingers!) and is doing great!

Here are some pictures you may enjoy!

Ready for Summer School!

School Posters

More School Posters

David's Reward Chart

Michael's Reward Chart

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work