Kate's Birthday

Kate in her class with her silly birthday hat. The kids absolutely loved the chocolate cupcakes I brought in. They thought it was the best thing ever!

Kate loves all things animal print. So we had to do her party with an animal print theme. I had to throw some hot pink in to make it extra girly.

Kate got this cheetah along with an Eric Carle Book from our good friends the Flores's. She was in heaven.
Kate was very excited about getting the Camp Rock CD. She is so funny. She has really started noticing boys and she always lets me know if they are cute. The Jonas Brothers are definitely on her cute list.

Last, but not least she wanted a big orange tiger to go with her big white tiger but we could not find one anywhere. So she settled for a big lion instead. She was still absolutely thrilled! I have never seen a child so in love with huge cats. Go figure!

Happy 5th Birthday to Kate!!

And there Off......

Yesterday was the first day of school and the first time in 10 years that I have been home alone all day by myself. It was really quiet and I found myself looking at the clock counting down the hours until the kids came home. I worry now more that Kate is in school, but she was excited again this morning to get up and get ready so I guess that is a good sign. Braeden was especially nervous because he is going to a new school where he is changing classes every hour. He absolutely loved it though. I think he feels more grown up. Joshua was really nervous and shed a few tears, but he has come such a long way since kindergarten. Over all it was a really good first day of school.

Late Night

We had a YW "late night" last night. It was tons of fun! We made pizzas, played board games, rocked out to Rock Band, danced with Dance, Dance Revolution, ate lots of yummy treats, and watched Penelope (which was a super cute movie). We have such great, goofy girls in our ward! I love them to death!!

Prime Time

As I was sitting at Braeden's football practice last night a huge, shiny, black Escalade pulled up right next to me and blocked my view of the practice. I thought to myself...How Rude! I then recognized the person that got out of the SUV.....it was "Prime Time" other wise known as Deion Sanders. He brought his son to practice with one of the younger teams. He was quite inconspicuous until the end of practice. He just sat and watched all the kids practice. Then several of the kids and parents realized who he was and got very excited. Braeden didn't understand what all the excitement was about. I told him that Deion Sanders was watching the all the different teams play football. All he said was....Who's he? I told him he was a huge football player in the 90's and that he use to play for the Dallas Cowboys. He still wasn't to impressed....not a big deal to him.
Now if it had been this guy, it would be a whole different ball game.

Run-Off

I don't know what I was thinking, but I challenged Braeden to a run-off yesterday. The challenge was to see who could run a mile the fastest on the treadmill. For a 32 year old and someone who really isn't a runner I don't think I did so badly. My time was 11 minutes and 1 second. Of course, I didn't win. Braeden's time was 9 minutes and 20 seconds, and he did it barefoot. As he put it.....he smoked me!

Busy Saturday

I am so glad the weekend is over.....Saturday was jammed pack with stuff we had to do. We first went to our primary activity and had "Popsicles in the Park". Kate had been talking about this activity for weeks so there was no way we couldn't go. The primary presidency brought tons of popsicles so the kids went crazy. I think Kate had one of every flavor.

So, from the park we went directly over to see Braeden's first football game. Well, it was actually a "preseason" game. (people take football so serioulsy around here) I guess it was a good thing it was just a "preseason" game because they lost. Braeden was so nervous, but he did really well. He played the whole entire game. He plays center on offense, left nose tackle (is there really such a thing?) on defense, and he is also on the specialty team. I didn't get many pictures but here are a few....

These first two pictures are of the boys just doing some tackling drills before the game. I didn't get any pictures of the actual football game. Those will come later in the season. That is Braeden on the right getting ready to tackle that big guy.

It was sooooo HOT!!!! Joshua and Kate were very miserable in the heat.

When the football game was over we went home to cool off and have lunch. Cary ran to do some church visits while I cleaned up the house. When he got home we decided we better go and get school supplies. School starts 2 weeks from today and we are very behind on getting everything in order to start. While we didn't get everything on the list, we did put a dent in it so I feel a little bit better about that. After our shopping trip we came home to get ready so that Cary and I could go chaperone a bunch of teenagers at a church dance. I love working with the youth but this is one of my least favorite things to do. Although, I shouldn't complain because the music was good and I did get to dance with Cary. (which we never do) So, that was our Saturday condensed into a few paragraphs and it wasn't even everything we HAD to do, but I will spare you the boring details of our lives! The week before was even crazier, but I won't even begin to let you in on that either. I don't say this often but I am loving that today is Monday!

2008 Summer Olympics

I am so excited for the Summer Olympics to begin tonight. My favorites are the swimmers, the divers, and of course the gymnasts. I will be sitting in front of the TV tonight with my Orange Julius and Parmesan popcorn watching the opening ceremonies. Let the Games Begin!!

The Countdown Begins

The countdown to the beginning of the school year has begun.....only 19 days left of summer vacation. I registered all three of the kids yesterday and am beginning to feel sadness that I will no longer have Kate to tag along with me everywhere I go. (sniff, sniff) I love summer vacation and am not ready for it to be over. :(

Cary's Favorite

I found this recipe several months ago in a Kraft Food and Family magazine that I get every few months. I made this Speedy Chicken Stir Fry and it has become one of our favorites, especially Cary's. It is so easy and quick and soooooo delicious!

8 oz. angel hair pasta
2 c. broccoli florets (I have also used carrots...and I think snow peas would be delicious as well)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/2 c. Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
2 T. soy sauce
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. crushed red pepper
1/3 c. chopped, dry roasted peanuts

Cook pasta as directed on pkg., adding broccoli to boiling water for the last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time. Meanwhile, brown chicken in nonstick skillet on medium high heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Stir in dressing, soy sauce, and seasonings. Cook 1 minute. Drain pasta and veggies and add to chicken mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts and...... ENJOY!

Still Here

We are still alive...nothing new or exciting is going on. We are just trying to endure the Texas heat and trying not to melt in the process. We are going on our 24th day of over 100 degree temperatures. In fact, on Friday we officially hit 107 and today it is suppose to get to 105.
So this how we spend our days............................