Holiday Review

Though we have just been sitting around squirting syringes of milk or water in Zoe's mouth for the past 9 days, the holiday is flying by. We've been taken back to the days when Zoe and Henry first arrived and they needed our care 24 hours a day. It sure makes us sympathize for our friends who have new little babies at home. We have had little glimpses of the Zozo we know starting on day 7 of her recovery but we are far from healed as I type this entry.

The kids got some great presents from friends and family. Zoe got a cool stamp set from Ang that Henry is quite fond of as well. The pink and purple unicorn from Aunt Mary and Uncle Clint is a big hit with Z. Henry loves his truck from Grandma and Grandpa and the new bike from Santa has been buzzing around the living room day and night.

I got some much needed clothes to freshen up my winter wardrobe. After 3 years of wearing the same sweaters it was time for something new. I gave Rhett some new nonstick cookware which he is (maybe surprising to you but not to me) very excited to use. Santa also left some Chimey beer in his stocking. Doesn't Santa always know what to bring?!

Where's the time gone?

It's probably time to update. It has only been 3 months since my last post. We are getting in gear for the holidays and as always trying to figure out how to juggle our commuter Christmas.

We are dealing with our second bout of Strep throat with Zoe in less than a month. I can't wait for her tonsils to be removed. I'm reassured more everyday that this is the right decision. Her tonsils are so large, on a good day, that she has a very restricted airway causing labored sleep time breathing. It's painful to see her try to breath when she has one of these infections.

The only other noteworthy entry is that my oldest, dearest friend welcomed her twin boys in November. I'm so thankful that their arrival was blessed with overall good health. I'm hoping to put those two in my arms before the new year!

We had a great 3-day weekend. There was lots of playing little people and relaxing. We went swimming and enjoyed an early dinner at Maudi's. Cheese enchiladas covered in chili and onions...delicious!
The most exciting part of the weekend for me was our school and neighborhood shopping. Finding the best Round Rock elementary school in time for Zoe's entrance to kindergarten is heavy on my mind. We found 2 very promising neighborhoods with great elementary schools and homes that are actually in a price range that is doable.
We'll stay put for this school year but the summer could bring a departure from "mildew" for the Brewer clan!

I'm back to work. Students come for their classroom visit Tuesday. You would think I would be plenty ready by this point. This is my 6th year teaching 1st grade, which I must say, seems crazy. Since I contracted the rearranging bug from my mom, I can't help myself but change the design of my classroom every year. Often it is given further small face lifts through out the year.

Anyway, I spent the first part of the week trying to make sense of the disaster I created in my journey to create the optimal first grade learning space. Then, I decided it would be a good idea to repaint the cabinets around my sink area. The trouble with this is that there are 4 layers of paint. One is an oil-based graffiti paint that won't allow anything you put over it to stick. This is actually the whole reason I took on the project. The coat of paint that was applied over the glossy peach graffiti paint is chipping badly and looks like a wreck in my opinion. To make any improvements I have to sand the surface down to the bare wood. I honestly thought this would be a 2 day project; sanding one day and painting the next. Oh no, no, no. I've had some parent help but I've definitely been involved with the "hard labor". I'm ready for this project to come to an end. I think I'll be happy in the end that I went through all the trouble. I think.

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Together at last....

I love these kids!

So excited to be the birthday girl

The girls with their camp leader Kelly.

We had a great day. Zoe and Hannah had their last day of camp at The Austin Science and Nature Center today. We baked cookies yesterday for Z to take and share with the other campers at snack time. I picked them up and we had lunch at Jason's Deli. The girls had mac-n-cheese of course. Soft serve ice cream followed. Swirl for Hannah and Henry, straight up chocolate for the birthday girl. We came home to relax for a bit. After a few cartoons, we put our suits on and hit the pool. The kids played for quite a while. Zoe thinks she is a mermaid and swims as if her legs are connected. When I got everyone rounded up to leave we were surprised to see Rhett driving into the parking lot as we were walking out.

We gave Zoe her bike before dinner. She wanted to start practicing right away. She did very well but was definitely wearing down. Her choice for her birthday dinner was pizza and orange soda. Sleep came not long after. She has her bike parked beside her bed.

A Vampire Strikes

Henry...Henry...Henry. Will you be a mischievous boy yet?

Henry has taken to biting and pulling people's hair. This is new territory to me. Although Zoe challenges all I know about children and how to care for them, she was never a biter. Henry took a nice bite of a cute little boy at the library today. I was embarrassed and sad for the little boy. Henry looked quite happy which wasn't gaining me any sympathy points from the other mother. I'm not joking Henry just bit Zoe as I was typing this! She's recovering with an ice pack and some Max and Ruby. Most of the time I can't tell if Henry is going to give me a sweet smooch or bite my ear off.

I'm doing a good job with my summer reading goal. My favorite thus far is a picture book about a cockroach named Martina the Beautiful Cockroach. All of 21 days old it is time for Martina to get married. Her Cuban grandmother insists that she pour coffee on all her suitors shoes as part of the interview process. Fun story and good pictures. Approved by boys as well as little lades. Owen requested it be read many times while he was visiting. I find it odd but I've read two books this summer with cockroaches as the main character.

BEACH

Another great family vacation at Rockport has come and gone. We left this year wishing we had another day to spend at the beach. We took Owen with us this year and the kids really enjoyed having their cousin come along.
Zoe and Owen had their own room. They spent most of their time at the beach house with the door closed pretending one thing or another. We didn't take many toys but that didn't seem to matter. Owen's little imagination led the way. Several times I would go take a peek and they were crouched behind one of the twin beds, piled high with their gear, Owen behind the wheel taking them on a journey. The said wheel was an extend-an-arm type gadget that is designed to help pick items up off the floor. In addition to being a steering wheel the "picker" had many functions during our stay. Rhett got in on the action chasing the kids around pretending to gobble them up with his mechanical hand. Henry was especially skilled at getting the clamps caught in his sister's hair and just issuing a general amount of grief to his cousin via the "picker".

This vacation was just as it should be, relaxing and enjoyable for everyone. I won't be needing a vacation from my vacation.

Reading

One of my professional summer goals is to read as many books as possible from the Texas Librarians Bluebonnet list and the Texas Lone Star book list. I picked up Diamond Willow from the library today. Flipping through the book I was first drawn to the arrangement of the words. Most of the story is told through diamond-shaped poems. Once I got the book home I read that each poem has a hidden message inside. I think it should be pretty interesting.

Daddy's Day

Franklin Barbecue

Krauss Springs

Two cutie girls headed to their camp's splash day.

Man, doesn't Benny look old!

10 year anniversary of our summer girls' trip

Girls trip 2010.

The last time we were all together, July 2008.

Highlights from this year:

We had an excellent view of the ocean from our pad.

We had the best dinner out ever thanks to Neely.

Everyone was rested (not sick) Sunday morning.

Bree was more concerned about the frequency of our sunblock application instead of how often we were refilling our drinks.

Adventures in Necklace Making

This should be me asleep. We went to Sea of Beads to make a necklace for Hannah's 5th birthday. The vision I had in my head was simple. A little piece of rope and some letter beads, tie a knot at the end and we're done. Somehow $41 later I left with two necklaces, neither of which Zoe helped string one bead.

There were a few this isn't going as I planned moments, but I was really trying to roll with it. Our only letter choice were these tiny beads so we picked out our H-A-N-N-A-H & Z-O-E and I thought we could shape our next beads based on these. Z didn't think that was a good idea. From the beginning Zoe was insistent on purchasing pink beads for her necklace and blue beads for Hannah's. When the colored beads she picked out were much larger than the letter beads we returned the letter beads and decided we were not making a name necklace after all. This probably should have been the point that I nixed the whole plan but I didn't.

We did end up with two matching necklaces that were homemade, not really by us, and I guess that was the point. So I guess I learned that making a necklace can take quite a few tools and that bead shops aren't selling the same plastic beads I can find at Oriental Trading. Also, not shocking, but friendly women just trying to be helpful can be so frightening to my almost 4 year-old that it takes all the fun out of a very fun activity. Period

We went to Granbury this past weekend and the kids stayed with Jackie in Ft. Worth. There wasn't a lot happening in Granbury but the point was to relax. There was plenty of window shopping and browsing through stores. It was very common to find kid sized shirts that said things like, save the drama for mama and sshhhh....I'm hunting with grandpa. I didn't see anything I couldn't live without except a very cool retractable pirate knife. We had to get two for each of my little swashbucklers. We also rented a jet ski and cruised around Lake Granbury.

Jackie wore the kids out with lots of swimming, baking, and cuddling with a little puppy they happened to find at the park Saturday morning. I don't think they really wanted to come home with me on Sunday.

Today we had a day filled with play at The Children's Museum . I love how I can't tear Zoe out of the Museum. She's going, going, going. As soon as we step outside onto the sidewalk she is so tired she can barely take a step. All of a sudden, we're hungry, thirsty, blah-blah. It took cookies, a race, a piggy back ride, and plenty of threatening to finally get her back to the car. SUMMERTIME!

Memorial Weekend

We went to the San Antonio Zoo on Saturday. It was a little hot in the morning but we had a super time. We made a stop for ice cream and the main highlight was seeing a Komodo Dragon.

We went swimming at Taylor and Audrey's on Sunday. It was Penelope's first time in the pool. She wasn't a big fan but H and Z had enough fun for P too!

Weekend in Longview

We had a wonderful trip to Longview this past weekend. It was great to celebrate Gillian's upcoming addition and we got to visit with many friends and family in the process. Here's a small preview.

Pink Tutu

Zoe had her Kinderdance recital today. I knew she would not want to perform but we still got her a costume and encouraged her to watch the performance. She was a very good teammate sitting for almost 2 hours through the whole performance. She cheered on her classmates and even did a little dancing in the audience. All the dancers received a medal and Zoe thought this was a prize for being a good "watcher". Of course I couldn't get a dead on picture of Z in her very cute costume because she still doesn't like to have her picture taken. Here are a few I was able to sneak.

The Weekend

Henry really likes this headband.

Rhett got a few great pics of him running around with it.

Henry trying on Z's old glasses.

Z asked Rhett to pull out our bikes Sunday. They were quite dusty after residing in the shed for several years. We took off, each on our own bike, while Henry was resting. Even Benny ran along enjoying himself quite a bit I must say.

Scientist Zoe

Zoe had her school science fair today. Her partner was Charlie and they discussed the life cycle of a ladybug. Zoe did a great job. She even celebrated that she wasn't nervous! We enjoyed lemonade and cookies on the playground afterwards. Zoe got this super badge as a merit of her achievement. She must be proud because she let me take this picture.

Little Charlie was quite a serious fellow. He was no nonsense about explaining the different stages of the ladybugs' growth.

Need a reason to celebrate? Have a doggy birthday.

Birthday Boy

We even got Benny his own doggy cupcake.

Baking a strawberry cake.

We were hoping for a bundt cake but....

we ended up with something much better.

Notice Henry shopping in the background.

We love birthdays!!!

Special Outing

I was very excited to take Zoe to the Capezio store this week to get her first real pair of ballet slippers. She's been taking the KinderDance class at her school since the fall but we started with some faux ballet slippers from Target first. Now that I know she is committed to the class and we've outgrown our first pair we had just cause to make the investment.

I must say that I remember the excitement of getting each pair of my dance shoes growing up. It really does not seem that long ago that I was in Dotty Hunt's studio lacing the red-button closures of my own tap shoes.