Fall Flag Football

Adam and Michael did flag football again this fall.  It really seemed like they improved a lot over the last time they played, but their team did not do so well.  They had a good time and won a few games, and that is what matters most.  Joe was the assistant coach, which the boys loved, but Joe didn't like not being able to just sit back and enjoy watching the game.

 

Adam's is old enough to start football in the fall at his junior high, but he is sure he doesn't want to.  I think it would be fun for him to play a year or to, but I'm not sure he will. 

On a side note, the field the kids played in was outfitted with astroturf this year.  It was really neat to play on, but in the sun it was so, so hot.

Carribbean Cruise 2013

 

 
 

A couple of weeks ago, we go the chance to go on a couples cruise.  The nice thing about living so close to Galveston is that we can drive there and don't have to worry about arranging flights to go on a cruise.  It makes cruising by far the cheapest getaway vacation that we could do.  We went on a 5 day cruise that went down to Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico.

 We went with a couple of couples that we have known since we moved into this area, although they haven't been in our ward for probably 6 or 7 years, the Eggetts and the Avery's.  They are such great people, it was really nice to talk to them and hang out with them.

The first port of call was Progreso.  There we opted to go see the Mayan Ruins at Uxmal.  They were amazing ruins.  The main pyramid there was huge and in great repair.

 The stick-out things on the next photo are chins or goatees, as the case may be.

 In the central square, possibly a marketplace.

 Me, Sima and Cheryl

 Off to one side (this site was huge, with a lot of areas yet unreclaimed from the jungle.  There were several groups of people working to restore the ruins.), there was another large pyramid that we were allowed to climb to the top of.  At the top were some great views of the whole area.

 The temple we could climb.

 In one area of the ruins, there was a ball court area that had this ring for playing some sport.

 

Our second port of call was Cozumel, which is an island just off of Cancun.  That day we opted to go to a resort that was on the beach and just sit and eat and read.  It was nice.  They had some inflatable bouncy toys out on the water that you could swim out to.  Since I currently can't swim, I just sat and watched as Joe swam out there.

This was mostly the view I enjoyed:

 

Overall, it was a great cruise!  The weather was perfect, we got to relax and eat great food and visit with friends.  I definitely want to do it again.

Ellie's Baptism

Ellie was baptized last Saturday.  It was a really nice program, she and another one of her friends were baptized at the same time.  She looked gorgeous in her beautiful white dress and she had me pull her hair back into a bun, which was perfect because then it didn't float up and make them repeat the baptism. 

 Unfortunately, the water heater at the church is broken, so the water in the font was pretty cold.  As soon as Ellie was baptized, she jumped out of the water and changed.

In the next picture, I was trying to minimize the amount of sling that you can see.  I had surgery on my shoulder just the Tuesday before, and the sling I have to wear is huge, but it just made me look pregnant.  Trust me, I am not, it is just the angle. 

When Ellie came back into the room from changing after her baptism, she had a huge smile that she shone at everyone in the room, there were several people that commented on it.

Happy Birthday Michael

Our Michael turned 10 this week.  He is by far our easiest child.   He is also by far the child that gets hurt the most.  I don't know why that is, he has the best balance as compared to the other children, but he is always hurting himself and falling and hitting his head and tripping.  It has become a running joke in our family now, and even Michael laughs along. 

Here are his school pictures.  Michael knew before he gave them to me that I wasn't going to be too excited about the rubberband necklace in them.  Needless to say, I will be ordering retakes.

 

 Michael is in 4th grade, and he has the best teacher ever.  He rarely gets homework and when he does it takes him only a few minutes to complete it.  He loves to read and to play minecraft and clash of clans on the I-devices.  He also loves to make rubberband bracelets and necklaces (see above). He has a whole slew of them that he takes off and puts on every single day.  (Although I wish he would have forgotten to wear them on picture day). 

 He loves jokes and magic tricks, he is always telling us a joke.  He also likes trivia, and doesn't appreciate it when someone says something that is not strictly true, especially if that someone is his little sister.  He only likes jeans, he won't wear any canvas shorts or pants, he doesn't really like sports, but he is sure if we will get him into it, that he will like kickboxing.  He plays the piano pretty well, his teacher has learned to only give him one or two songs a week and then he has them memorized by the time he sees her again the next week.

 For his birthday, he wanted magic cards, a CTR ring and a watch, so that is what he got.  Since this is an even-year birthday, he was allowed to have a party, and we took him and his friends to the drive in movies.  We had never been, but it was an easy party to have, and he seemed to have a lot of fun.  The movie we watched was "Free Birds," and that was probably the worst movie ever, but the boys seemed to enjoy it.

We are lucky to have Michael in our family.

Happy Halloween

 
 
 

Not that it is Halloween anymore, but this post is all about it.  This year for Halloween, Adam was Si from Duck Dynasty, Michael was a vampire, Ellie was a cowgirl, and Nate was the red Power Ranger.
I even got into the spirit of things and dressed up like a cowgirl. In fact, I picked my costume first, and Ellie thought that was a great idea and was one too.

 

We were lucky enough to have an open night the night before Halloween, so we all carved pumpkins on that night.  Adam and Michael were pretty self sufficient, but Ellie and Nate needed some extra help. 

 

 


The school always has a storybook parade around the same time as Halloween.  We usually pick out a book to match our Halloween costume.  Nate was really cute, he went ahead of time and during his library time he got the librarian to help him find a book with a police man in it, so he could wear his police man costume from last year.  Of course, by the time he came home from school, the costume was heavily stained and the pocket was half torn off, but we don't need to reuse it.  Ellie was all over the place with deciding on a costume, but I finally convinced her to be the Little Princess.

 Michael was good and found a book to go with his Halloween costume.  Smart boy, easy for mom.  Adam didn't get to dress up since intermediate school doesn't do parades.

Ellie is Eight

Ellie just turned 8!  Here is her school picture for this year, 2nd grade.  I don't know why, but I keep thinking she is in 3rd grade.  She has great teachers this year, ones that can give her extra assignments when she speeds through her work so that she doesn't get bored.  In her school, the second grade classes each have two teachers- one teaches math and science and the other teaches social studies and reading.  Her teachers also say that she is super helpful in class, almost too helpful- jumping up whenever someone needs something to go and help them or reteach them what to do.  I told them that she likes to pretend to be a mom, and that her biggest aspiration in life is to be a mom and they agreed that the best way to describe her is as "mothering" to the other kids in her class. 

 

 A few weeks ago, in anticipation of her upcoming baptism, we went and I took pictures of her.  They turned out really good (thank you photography class).

 

 She spent so much time running around with her friend that came with us, that by the end she was all hot and sweaty.

 For her birthday, we had a part with some of her friends.  Since we don't allow sleepovers, we did a lateover.  The girls wore their pj's and we watched a movie and painted nails and did up-does for their hair.  Since I am not capable of doing 11 little girls hair, I hired two of my young women and they helped with the nail painting and the hair doing. It was great because after the movie ended, the girls were all going wild and I didn't have anything planned, and the young women lead the girls in dance moves. They all seemed to have a great time.  Unfortunately, right before the party, Ellie said she had a headache.  I had her take a small nap, but then later during the party, she still complained of a headache.  I relented and gave her ibuprofen. A little later, she said her stomach didn't feel well, so I sent her to lay on my bed.  The next thing I know, one of the girls came to tell me that Ellie threw up on my bed.   AHHH!!  I think it was because of the medicine, because after that she felt better, but still had a headache, but no more stomachache.

 The next day, on her actual birthday, we opened presents.  She was very happy, she got an American girl doll.  She is really into them now. 

 

 Ellie is really a joy for our family.   She is always doing gymnastic tricks in the living room-  her newest trick is a front walk-over-it's like a slow front handspring. She loves to play with friends, to be entertained, to play dolls and pretend to be a mommy.  She mostly gets along with her brothers, she now has her own room, and at night we hear her yelling across the hall to be involved in their conversation.  She likes to be wherever I am, and preferably doing whatever I am doing.  If I can keep that up, that will be quite useful when she is a teenager.
She is finally starting to enjoy reading.  I think it is related to the fact that we have finally found some books that are interesting for her to read.  Too bad she doesn't necessarily like the books her brother reads.
Well, we are lucky to have her!