What We've Been Up To

School is well underway this year. It is really going well. Not that we don't have hard days or that the kiddos do not keep me on my toes, because they do. But all in all, we have been enjoying "school." Here are a few pictures of the kiddos lately during school.

This was a fun game we played. We took turns rolling a die and the number you landed on, you received the same number of pieces of rice crispie cereal. You placed the cereal in the Ones column. Once you reach 10 pieces of cereal, you trade it in for a pretzel stick to place in the Tens column. First one to get 5 pretzel sticks wins! We all enjoyed it!!

He loves birds...just like his Daddy!!

So today I began teaching her my phone number. Her curriculum had a suggestion of singing the phone number to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It started off that way, but ended up being more like a rap! It was pretty funny. If it wasn't my phone number, I would so post the video! And I'm happy to report that she already has it down!!

Look at this cutie! She enjoyed some chocolate icing from a beater this week! After she finished, she told me "I look like a pirate!" My little Pirate Princess!!

Ok, this was hilarious!! We were getting ready to get out and run an errand and Jase decided to help me out and fix Ally's hair!

Here is some video footage I got!!

And here are a couple videos of Ally. I just LOVE watching her play. She has such an imagination and plays so well by herself. I love hearing her conversations and the different voices/accents that she has.

And lastly, here is a video of the kids looking at a map. Jase loves loves geography and he could look at a map all day! {Just like his Daddy too and this makes my heart happy!} Maybe Allyson is picking up on the geography love as well!

Yesterday was Shawn's mom's {Peggy} birthday. We celebrated with them after Jase's practice and it was a nice time visiting with everyone. Happy Birthday!! 

And as for me, I've been doing a bit of exercising. Back in May I signed up for a boot camp fitness class and I really enjoyed the challenge. I was attending 3 days a week and burning some great calories. Well, Shawn was going out of town the first week of September, so I did not want to sign up since I would miss the first week. Anyhow, I started running/jogging since I was not doing boot camp. Surprisingly, I have really been enjoying it. My left knee started hurting some, so I bought a knee brace and that has helped wonders. {I may end up with a brace on both knees!! LOL!} Then I started thinking about challenging myself and doing some sort of race. Ok...I signed up tonight...a half marathon! Eeek!! Nervous and excited all at the same time.

I. Am. Not. A. Runner. I am not built for running and have never really ran long distances in my life {maybe 2 miles here and there in high school with softball}. Tonight was a true test: run for 1 hour! I think I was praying the entire time "Dear Jesus, please help me. If I finish this, it is so not of me. Help me, push me." I got through it and ran 4.75 miles. Not record speed by any means, but I was so proud to have finished it. And Shawn has been great this past month! He has been so supportive and encouraging me with every run! So, good Lord willing I will be participating in a half marathon in February. 13.1 miles...wowsers! :-)

Birthday Party Fun

Yesterday was lined up to be a crazy busy day.

10:00 - 11:00 - Allyson's soccer practice/scrimmage

11:00 - 1:00 -  Birthday party

3:00 - 5:00 - Birthday party (a little over an hour away)

7:30 - 9:00 - Jase's Baseball game

We have been getting some GREAT rain these past few days and both of our sporting events ended up being cancelled, so that just left the birthday party fun. Plus, Jase is still favoring his ankle and he has not practiced or played in a game yet since his diagnosis, so not having the game yesterday was not too bad for us.

We took the younger two kiddos to the 11:00 birthday party {Jase stayed the night with his cousin}. I did not capture any pictures of this party, but it was a train theme and it was super cute. She had conductor hats and red bandannas for each child. And all the decor was coordinated so cute!

Next, we traveled down to Clute for our nephew's 7th birthday party. This one was for Coby: Jase's running buddy. The kids had fun at the party, playing kick ball and bouncing/sliding in the bouncers.

Big boy was passed out just moments after we left the party! What a busy day he had, playing with his cousins. Happy Birthday, Coby!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

The other evening I hosted Bunco at my house and made Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and a lot of people were fans, so I thought I would share! 2 3 things I like about it: 1. It is super tasty, 2. Low calorie count, and 3. So easy.

You can find the original recipe here; however, I made some adjustments to "healthify" it a bit.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

(2) 12.5 Canned Chicken Breasts (Tyson), drained

(1) Cup Salsa (HEB)

(1/2) Package Low Sodium Taco Seasoning Mix (McCormick)

(1) Can Healthy Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup (HEB)

(1/2) Cup Plain Greek Yogurt (Chobani)

Corn Tortillas or Tortilla Chips (My favorites tortillas are the Mission Extra Thin Yellow Corn Tortillas for 40 calories each and the La Ranchera White Corn Tortillas from the HEB Bakery for 35 calories each)

In a crock pot {don't forget your liner!} combine the canned chicken {I shred it by hand when putting it in the crock pot}, salsa, taco seasoning mix, and soup. Mix all together until combined. Cook on high for 30-40 minutes. Then mix in the greek yogurt right before serving. Serve with corn tortillas or chips.

This easily serves 6. I doubled this recipe for my Bunco group of 12 ladies and had quite a bit leftover. With the ingredients and brands I listed above, it was 170 calories for 1/12 of the dish. This calorie count does not include the tortillas or chips. Picture below does not do it justice, but here is what it looks like in the crock pot. And there is NO cheese in the dish and is still tastes delish!

Uncle JoJo

Yesterday was Alisha's husband's birthday. Joseph is his name, but he now has the title of "Uncle JoJo". Alisha invited us over to her house after church tonight for what originally was supposed to be cake, but turned into a big spread of tacos and hot dogs. I myself had a taco and some frito pie. And some chocolate cake...super yummy! I definitely over ate, but it was oh so tasty. Great job on the cakes Alisha!! Obviously, he is a Cowboys fan...we still love him!! {wink, wink} 

Surprise, surprise!! Someone didn't like it when we sang "Happy Birthday". If we laugh too loud or get too rowdy, Finn is NOT a fan!

Here are some pics I got before everyone headed home. My younger brother and Joseph's sister were there, but they left before we took any pics.

And as always, the kids are a magnet when it comes to Aunt Alisha and Uncle JoJo! They just love them and I'm so thankful for the relationship they have with them. Truly a blessing. Happy birthday, Uncle JoJo! We love you!

Take me out to the ball game

Tonight we ventured out to Minute Maid Park. Even though the Astros are not a team to write home about, we still enjoy going to the game and rooting them on. And we might have had a little bit of ice cream too!! The kids really do great at the games and since the ballpark allows you to bring in your own food, I try to have plenty of things for them to snack on. Plus it saves us a little bit of money. 

I thoroughly enjoyed our evening together! And so thankful for these memories we are making! :-)

Engagement Party

Tonight we went to an engagement party for my best friend all the way from junior high! Ahh, the good ole days: Deepwater Pirates!! Jeanie and I met in 7th grade science class. Funny story actually. I had just started wearing make-up and so I thought I'd be cool and carry it in my purse. Yeah, the lid to my foundation came unscrewed and it was everywhere in my leather purse from Contempo {anyone else remember that store!?}. Well I remember her sitting across from me and watching me as I attempted to clean it up and asking "why did you have that in your purse?" Good question!! From then on "Jeanie and Jessica" became best friends.

I probably owe her parents money to this day for all the meals I ate at their house. We have so many memories together. A ton of laughter...boy could we laugh! Like those belly laughs from down deep! I remember riding together on the bus for field trips in junior high, spending the night with one another multiple nights in a row and staying up late talking to her mom in the kitchen. Studying and I mean studying the year book together. No one knew our name, but we could tell you who everyone else was, what sport or instrument they played, and who they had dated that year!! {C'mon, you know you did it too!} Haha!! Plucking her eyebrows {yes, the tweezing fetish goes way back}, playing softball together, sharing lockers, riding up and down Center Street. Oh and one more. Us taking college classes together...bad idea!!  Hahaha! We could not stop laughing in class. Nothing would be going on, but we would just look at one another and crack up; it's like we knew what the other person was thinking. And when I brought like a quart {not kidding} of chocolate milk to psychology class...she nearly died when I busted it out and put it on my desk. And to make matters worse it was a Promised Land glass bottle. Hey, I love me some chocolate milk!! Good times! I said all of that to say that we go way back!! 

I'm so excited that she has met such a wonderful man and is now engaged to be married. Seeing all the support of family and friends tonight was a testament in itself to how special Jeanie and Duane are to those around them. I'm so thankful that the Lord has joined these two together and can't wait to continue to making memories with them as a couple now. 

Oh and look what she gave me!! How cute is this?? So excited {and touched} to be a part of their special day. Her wedding colors are navy blue and coral. So fun! {Wishing Pinterest was around when I got married!}

Game On

This morning we were sitting at the table, finishing up breakfast, and Jase suggested that we play a game. We hadn't started school yet, but I was open to a little game playing. He suggested Addition Bingo and I was on board with that. I bought that game probably 3 years ago and this was the first time to break it out. We played several rounds and it was great. Jase answered several addition problems this morning {his warm-up for school!} and Ally worked on number recognition while marking her bingo card. The games went pretty quick and we will definitely be playing this more often.

While we were playing bingo, I started to realize just how many games we have been playing lately. This week alone we played Lego Creationary and last night we played Farkle at Nanny's house. We enjoyed Farkle so much, that we brought it home to play; which we did today! Thanks Nanny! 

Grandpa Leonard came over for a few minutes today and he and Jase played Tic-Tac-Toe. They tied 1-1 with several cats {ties} in the mix.

Allyson received a Disney Princess Cupcake game for her birthday and it has been a HIT!! We have played it nearly everyday since her party {2 weeks ago} and sometimes multiple times a day. Ally and I played that game today too!

And here is little Finn. He joined us at the table too. :-)  Oh and don't be fooled by the fork in his hand, he is not eating. He must have something in his hands at ALL times! No complaining here though...better than a cord or an outlet cover!!

First Injury

Within the final seconds of baseball practice last Tuesday (9/3/13) Jase was stepping off of 3rd base and some how twisted {or popped as he will tell you} his ankle. He could not walk on it right away, but eventually could wobble to the car. {Shawn was not at that practice to carry him.} He favored it the next day or two and we iced it down. We decided he better take it easy, so he sat out on practice Thursday evening for both baseball and gymnastics. He had a game on Saturday and suited up and played it in. Since I was at the wedding, Shawn told me that he was favoring it some and you could tell that he was having trouble running on it.

If you asked him if it hurt, he would tell you no and was fine during the day. Monday came around and we scheduled him a make-up class for gymnastics and he seemed ok. Shawn could tell that he was struggling a little, but you couldn't tell based on the smile on his face. Then on Tuesday this week he had baseball practice again. Poor thing, I guess it got to a point where it really hurt him because the last 10 minutes or so of practice he was sitting on the bench.

Last night Shawn and I decided we needed to do something. This is really his first injury and he hasn't been able to just "shake it off." I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse and scheduled him a doctor appointment. I explained the appointment to Jase and told him that if needed to we might have to go get x-rays afterwards, depending upon what the doctor says. He started asking some questions and we went over what x-rays were and that it would not hurt at all. From then on he kept saying "I just know I'm going to get x-rays, I know I'll have to." 

Our doctor checked him out and said that if it was a sprain it would be hurting all around his ankle, but his only hurts on the ankle bone. She said she thinks that it is ok, but would hate to misdiagnose it if it were broken. She told him that he needed to stay off of it until it is completely healed, regardless if it is broken or not. It is visibly swollen right now. She said if it's a sprain {which is actually a torn ligament and is kind of a big deal, when most people down talk sprains} that it may take up to 1-2 weeks to heal and she's actually seen it take up to a month. Her prescription was: Rest, Ice and Elevation. Ok, we can do that.

We headed down to Clear Lake for x-rays. He wasn't too nervous and I kept reassuring him everything would be ok, even if it was broken, we would get it taken care of. We prayed for his foot and the situation in the car.

Can I just say that the Texas Children's Health Center was so nice! I mean they have everything to entertain the kids: play kitchen, books, toys. First class for sure. We broke out our snacks and made ourselves at home.

They called us back in no time, which was a surprise. The nurse said that we could stay in the waiting room or sit outside the exam room, whichever Jase wanted. He said he wanted me in there. Me and the two younger kiddos waited outside the room and the technician left the door open while she set everything up. He was so brave. Super proud of him!! When they finished up the x-rays she said they would e-mail my doctor the results and I should know that evening or in the morning.

We took a pit stop before leaving the facility. I so need one of these installed in my house!! He just looks too big in this picture! Oh and the spoon Finn has is from our house. Another fetish of his. He loves carrying spoons around.

Before leaving the parking lot, I looked up a frozen yogurt place and found Orange Leaf. It was super tasty and their yogurt was so creamy! I had non-fat blueberry and it was so yummy!! Jase had cookies and cream and it was better than Tutti Frutti's. Allyson had to have pink: strawberry! And I got wedding cake for Finn. We enjoyed our little treat.

As I'm driving home my phone rings and it's the doctor's office. Results are in and his ankle is normal, no fracture or anything. Great news!! Thank you, Jesus! Now, we just need to keep him off his foot. Do you know how hard that is for a boy that is constantly moving, jumping, running?!? I think after today he better understands the severity and realizes if he wants to participate in baseball and gymnastics then he better lay low for while.

Enjoying School

I really like the idea of a routine, but if I'm being completely honest, life just happens at this house, and we do not always function within the routine. For instance, the curriculum that we use for homeschool is set-up for a 5-day school week. Now, you don't have to do it all 5 days, you can set it up however you'd like, but every 5 days things change {memory verses, poems, stories, etc.}. Well, last week we did not have school one day because we had to run some errands, so that meant that we had to finish up Day 5 on Monday this week. The thought of starting Day 1 on Tuesday and always being off on the curriculum each week drove me nuts!! {It's like missing a puzzle piece or only having 25 magnet letters...drives me bananas! I might be a little anal!!} So, I decided we would finish a Davy Crockett Unit Study we had began during the summer.

Jase and Ally were so pumped about continuing this study. It really is a great study and you cover so much in it. We talked about the Pioneer days and what they wore, ate and their weapons. Not only did we learn about Davy Crockett, but talked about his character and traits that we should have as well. We mapped out his life from Tennessee to Washington D.C. to Texas. It is wonderful. And I think at the time it was on sale for $5-6 at this site. Only drawback is that you have to have your computer out to click on the links in the .pdf file and you need to print activities from the file. And the only reason I say drawback about having your computer out, is that I have a 1 year old who is obsessed with cords!! So I either have to run off my battery or fight him over the cord!! Haha! But don't get me wrong, the links in the .pdf are awesome. They provide you with a ton of different websites to gather information for your Unit Study. And video clips as well, and they always nice for the kiddos to watch, to break up some of the table work/reading. I even purchased Disney's Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier DVD from 1955 on Amazon and the kids absolutely love it!! Surprisingly, they will sit through the whole thing!!  

Each unit study she sells is built around your student creating a lapbook. It is basically a folder that stores the different foldables/activities you create during your study that allows you to look back and know exactly what you learned. Below is a picture of the one Jase created for Davy Crockett. And we did not print out even half of the activities to do. 

  

While reading about the Alamo and Davy Crockett's contribution, I continued reading to Jase and the Battle of San Jacinto was mentioned. He learned that at the Battle of San Jacinto is where Sam Houston's troops defeated Santa Anna and the Mexican army, and this paved the way of Texas' independence from Mexico. While talking to him about this, I told him that the Battle of San Jacinto basically happened in our backyard! {I had to explain that analogy a little bit and that it wasn't physically in our backyard, but very close by. He now understands!!} Through this conversation, a light bulb went off in his head and he put two and two together and you could tell that he was understanding. It was really cool to witness! With that said, we picked up Ally from school on Thursday and just had to take a field trip down to the San Jacinto Monument and be on the same ground of the battle!! It started pouring down rain when we pulled up, but we drove around and I read the summary on the all 4 sides of the monument to them and we talked about it. It was a nice unplanned outing and I'm glad we were not in our routine!

After we got back home I asked Ally how school was today and she said it was "perfect." She told me that she didn't cry and had fun! I think she may have cried on Tuesday when another child hit her with a toy. Glad to hear she had a tear free day! And I just love the artwork they bring home from Methodist! So much fun!

I'm glad that we are off to a good start {Pre-k and homeschool} and trusting that the rest of the school year brings many more fun memories.

Super Saturday

Today was busy, but a great day! We started the morning off at Allyson's soccer practice. While she is not the star on the field by any means, she has improved so much from the first practice. I'm so proud of her getting out there and playing!

Walking hand-and-hand with her Uncle JoJo!

Next stop...Fuddruckers! Yesterday was my little sister's 25th birthday, so we celebrated with the fam today. In her card I wrote "well you're 25, so I guess that means that I'm not". Talk about feeling old!! Love her so much and my kids do too! Happy birthday, Alisha!

This evening, we had to divide and conquer. Allyson and I went to a wedding while Daddy and the boys went to the baseball field. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The bride, decor, wedding party, reception...all were remarkable! Look at these cakes below!!! Can you say fabulous!?!? Michelle (& Jay) went above and beyond on these! Not only did they look great, they were delish. {I might have ate more than one slice!} ;-) 

And we had fun on the dance floor and photo booth!! It was so nice to be able to give Ally some one-on-one attention tonight. She absolutely loved dancing the night away and didn't want it to end. She prayed for the wonderful wedding as I tucked her in tonight, it was so sweet!

Here is Allyson and Trent dancing at our table, while the dance floor was being preoccupied by the wedding party. #futuredancer

During the Daddy/Daughter dance, the music stopped and the next thing you hear is "Brass Monkey" by the Beastie Boys come on! I had to stand up to get a better view, and the bride and her father are totally breaking it down. It was awesome! I got a little bit of it on video, but they did several other songs before finishing up their dance together! It was priceless! Way to go Courtney and Marcus!

I was so torn not being at the ball field, but my sister was keeping me up to date on how Jase was doing, so that was a blessing. They had a double header tonight, but the last game ended up getting cancelled due to the weather, so I definitely lucked out on that one and will get to see the make-up! 

Here is my baby getting his first hit in a coach pitch game! So proud of him and can't wait to see many more!

What a great day it was! Excited about hanging out at the house tomorrow afternoon with my crew and watching some football!! 

Time for a Check-up

Were you just singing Doc McStuffins' theme song? I was! :-) I took the kiddos today to the doctor for Allyson's 4 year old check-up and Finn's 1 year old check-up. This was my first time to take Finn to the doctor since he started walking. Two words: Hands Full!! We arrived right on time at 9:30 am and I received a packet of paperwork to fill out for each of them. Geez. I wondered if they even look at these documents. They should e-mail me a link to these questionnaires prior to my appointment and I could fill them out ahead of time. It would cut down on data entry on their end and I get to fill them out at my leisure and not while trying to keep an eye on 3 kiddos. Win-win! I've actually done that before visiting a doctor; maybe it was a chiropractor. Very efficient.

Allyson was up first. She weighs 32 lb (26th percentile) and is 3' 4.5" tall (68%). She is not the biggest eater that's for sure, but she can drink her weight in milk if you let her! I think she will be in a car seat until she is 6 years old...reaching 40 lbs for her will be a task! I spoke to the nurse practitioner (NP) a little about nervousness and she definitely thinks it is anxiety. She recommended taking her to a psychiatrist at Texas Children's Hospital in the medical center. Yikes. I think this situation is very dear to the NP's heart because her 8 year old daughter struggles with this. She gave me a few pointers on how to handle situations with her and it seems like we are already doing most of those things. Going to continue to work with her on things before elevating to the med center.

Next up, Finn. He weighed 21 lb 12 oz (47%) and was 30" tall (34%). Two words: Squatty Body! Hahaha!! Kidding! Love my little Finny! I didn't really have too many concerns or questions about him.

Lastly, the shots. After the NP left the room I told Ally she was getting some shots today. :-(  I explained that these shots could prevent her from getting really sick and while they may hurt just a little, they are to help her. We all took a potty break and then when we came back in the room she told me she was going to be brave. While she did cry and nearly pulled the first needle out, she took them better than I thought. I praised her for being a big girl! And little Finn didn't have a clue what was coming his way. :-( I passed on checking his iron...I wanted to get the shots over and done with.

Made it back to my car at 11:15 am {1 hour and 45 mins later}. Whew, glad that is finished and feeling blessed with healthy babies. 

Allyson turns 4!

September 1st...my baby girl is 4! As I was laying Allyson down tonight I told her why I was thankful for her {here are a few things I told her: she is kind, she shares her ice cream, she is sweet, she has a big heart} and then I began to tear up. Then she looked at me and said "You're the best." Moments like this are priceless.

We had a great day today. She woke up this morning on her own, with her new Cinderella alarm clock. She even turned the alarm off on her own. So big!! We went to church this morning to worship the Lord. Then we ate lunch real quick and headed to the movies. We took the older two to see Disney's Planes. It was a cute movie and we all 4 enjoyed it. Finn was at my mom's so we headed over there afterwards to pick him up and visit. We had a fun time over there and it was nice to catch up with the family for a change.

We ate dinner at the house and finally made our way up to Baskin Robbins for some birthday ice cream just before they closed! John and the boys joined us for some 31 Flavors and it hit the spot. Allyson enjoyed her Cookies 'N Cream {in a special chocolate covered waffle cone with sprinkles}, Jase had Lemon Custard {I don't know why, but he has ordered that the last few times!}, Shawn had Mint Chocolate Chip {I don't think he knows there are other flavors available because he gets it every time}, I scarfed down Chocolate Peanut Butter and Finn had Vanilla Soft Serve.

Oh and for the record, I did put a #4 candle on her breakfast this morning! I had to make up for yesterday's mishaps at PPP! Happy Birthday, sweet Allyson!