Summertime is coming....

Our house. We actually have green out front!
P.S. We have made more updates since this photo, but it's the only one I had.

Since our Winter was rough this year with all of the sicknesses we each experienced, Paul and I were seriously looking forward to Spring. The weather has been beautiful the last several weeks in San Antonio. We have had a good amount of consistent rain which has really "green-ed up" our yard. It was much needed considering the drought we had last summer.

Last Spring and Summer we spent a good deal of our days out in the backyard. Paul and I both say that the time spent in the yard with our children were some of the best moments of our life. Just letting the kids play with their toys, filling the kiddie pool, listening to music, sunbathing, having picnics and drinking a beer or two were simple things, but WONDERFUL things.  Ashley still talks about how much she loves the yard. So you can imagine that since the weather has been so nice, you can usually find us outside!

Even though the grass was green, we still needed to give the front and backyard a little TLC.  We planted ground cover around our large tree and in a some spots throughout the yard that doesn't grow much grass,  added some hanging plants (ferns), refreshed the mulch and planted some plants.  Paul's Mom has been super helpful with ideas and donating some plants from her garden to help fill out the plant beds.  While my Mom is in town this weekend, I was hoping that maybe we could plant a vegetable garden. I am thinking we'll grow some herbs for cooking, like basil, cilantro, chives and parsley. And then maybe try growing some zucchini, carrots and tomatoes. Ashley has been DYING to start one because "Mom, if we grow our own vegetables, then we won't have to buy them at the store!" :)  And she is absolutely right.

Ashley drew Rapunzel

Posing next to her drawing! Isn't it awesome!

Kids watching the sprinkler.
The dead spot in the back of the yard is where we plan to make the garden.

Paul also trimmed the hedges in the back. He purchased a hedge trimmer and an edger.

This wonderful man did the majority of the work and maintenance.

More ground cover. We plan to get two hanging plants for the shepherd hooks.

Diaper butt!

Ashley is registered for Kindergarten

She is going to be a Kindergartner.
Photo taken October 2008 - two years old.

Yes, my friends. The time has come. Our little girl will begin her school "career" this Fall at Oak Meadow Elementary School.  Paul and I registered our sweet Ashley Paige yesterday.  The whole day I seriously had a lump in my throat and was on the verge of tears.

She constructed an entire skyline from Corey's wooden blocks! Amazing

We went during our lunch break from work to meet with the Admissions Counselor to deliver our paperwork. When Paul and I walked into the school, we were immediately hit in the face with the smell of "school lunch". It isn't a bad smell, it's just that that smell took me all the way back to the mid 1980s when I was walking the halls of my school. I couldn't believe it....here we were in our early 30s registering our child for school... REALLY? Did those years really go by that fast? I truly felt like I was holding my baby, rocking her to sleep just the night before, and here she is a walking, talking, sassy, incredibly intelligent, beautiful young lady about to start her first year in real school.  I remember saying to my friends when Ashley was barely even one year old that I "can't IMAGINE the day when she goes to Kindergarten." I know that she won't actually have to go to school until late August (the 27th to be exact) but the fact that we are almost there is breaking my heart.

At the Rodeo - sweetest face

Her school is really great though! It's really clean and the student to teacher ratio is pretty small for San Antonio public schools. She will be in one of 3 or 4 kindergarten classes and there is a total of approximately 500 students in the school. The elementary school goes up to grade 5.  The Admissions Counselor (Charlotte) was amazing. She was super sweet with a thick Southern accent, who took us on a quick tour around the school pointing out some of the highlights with her southern drawl "oh, and hair's the arrrrrrt ruum",  "the keeyids will learn sahn language in the classroom".  :) There are several things that Ashley will love:

• Each grade has a garden that they are responsible for. They go out once or twice a month to tend to it and then once the veggies grow they taste and eat them.
• They have a GREAT art room.
• Their library is huge and has a large constructed oak tree in the center of the room that is hollow so the kids can read inside.
• They have music class.
• They incorporate sign language in all the classrooms because they have several hearing impaired students intermingled with each class.
• Their school colors are purple and turquoise!
• They have Spirit day each Friday and wear the school colors.
• Their mascot is the Mavericks. Ashley is ALL ABOUT horses. 

We love you so much Ashley Paige. You are an amazing child and as much as it pains us to realize how fast time is going by, we are still very much excited for you to start this next step in your life.

Corey is 2!

On April 1st, our little man turned two!  We spent the day at home with no real plans other than playing out in the backyard with the kiddie pool and having Paul's parents over for some cake and ice cream.  We are going to have a family birthday party for him this Saturday when my Mom is in town! It will be a Thomas the Tank Engine theme or as Corey would call him "Momas" instead of Thomas. :) 

He was a little overwhelmed with all of us singing Happy Birthday to him.

At two years old, our little Corey is one heck of a kid. What a personality he has! Some of is his very favorite things to do are to watch the movie Rio (Wee-O), dance to music (especially to the Just Dance III game on the Wii - he has memorized the dance moves now and will do them by just hearing the song on the radio), play with his big sister (Ash-wee) and mimic everything that she says, stack blocks REALLY high, jump on beds (Mommy and Daddy are NOT happy with this "activity"), "read" books and point out all types of animals, take baths and see how much water he can splash out of the tub (again, not an activity that Mommy enjoys so much) and sing.  His favorite TV shows are Caillou, Thomas the Tank Engine, Bubble Guppies (Ubba Buppies), Sesame Street (Elmo), Baby Einstein DVDs, and Micky Mouse Clubhouse (Mee mouse).  His favorite foods nowadays are yogurt, applesauce, rice, fish sticks, tortillas (tia), crackers, mandarin oranges, pizza (see sa), all kinds of soup (even tomato!), and peanut butter and jelly.

We got him a little BBQ grill as one his gifts.....he'll get two more gifts from us at his birthday party.

One of Paul and my most favorite things to do is watch Corey and Ashley play together. Ashley is such a wonderful big sister to Corey and he just adores her.  He wants to be everywhere she is and do all the things that she does.   One sweet thing he does at mealtime is say "amen" after Ashley says her prayers. Melts my heart... He also misses her if we take separate cars to work some mornings (we all usually commute together) and always asks "Where Ashwee?".

Enjoying his cake! He kept saying "I want more cake"

Yum, yum! He was up playing in his crib that night until 10:00pm!
Sugar high fo sho!

He is sooo affectionate and loving. He gives kisses to us now and every night that we put him to bed, he tells us that he loves us (I wuh you) and "see a soon"..."nigh night".  He is a quite the snuggle bug and you can always find him talking sweetly to the dogs (Hi Keeyee "Kitty") or nestling next to them on the couch and patting their backs.

playing in the backyard on his birthday

We are so blessed with this wonderful little boy. He can definitely be quite the handful sometimes, but we couldn't be happier or more thankful with the little person he growing up to be.

Happy Birthday Corey. We love you more and more with each passing day. God Bless You little man.