THE REAL POLAR EXPRESS!!!

For all you moms and dads in the Houston/Dallas area here is something special for the kids!
It is called the Polar Express in the Palestine, TX area. We just booked our trip and wanted to recommend it! There is a real steam engine train that leaves out of the Palestine station that goes to Rusk, TX and comes back. The kids (and adults if want to) wear PJ's, while on the train they will read the book The Polar Express, have hot chocolate and rice-crispy treats, when they get to the "North Pole" Santa and his elf's get on and sing Christmas carols on the way back. It sounded like so much fun we booked ours for Dec. 15th and are going to take the camper to make a camping trip out of it.
Here is the link to the website. Let me know if any of ya'll plan on going the same day & time. http://www.texasstaterr.com/special-events.html

General Info....

I just wanted to pass this on as it was passed to me a year ago and my husband and I both were able to gain from. There is a website that you can go to search your name and state and see if there is any "unclaimed property" (money) for you. We both had money on there and were able to claim it and received it in like 5-6 weeks. It is no scam trust me I was cautious and called the state comptroller's office and everything is kept very confidential. It will work...so search your names, search your loved ones, and search your friends because after a certain amount of time the money goes to the state. Happy searching! :o)
www.window.state.tx.us/up/ - For Texas
http://www.unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner -For any state, click find property, then click on the state you wanna search, scroll down and go to that state controller's website and search.

Congratulations

A Big Congratulations to my brother and his wife! They are expecting TWINS!!!

O.S.M (official soccer mom)

Ok, I have some news that I never thought I would be saying. After thinking about this for about 2 years, with my expedition getting older and horrible gas mileage I finally made the move! I always said I would never, but can you believe it..... I got a Chrysler Town and Country Limited. I love every aspect of it other than it is a "minivan". I am having trouble getting over the hump and admitting that I am the official soccer mom but hey, it is great for the family and gets good gas mileage. I don't understand the cliche' of the van but owning one comes with a big one. So for all the moms that I have snickered at in the past for having a minivan, I am here with my foot in my mouth! So laugh if you want but we love it! It is a WONDERFUL family vehicle and my family is very comfortable in it. Here is a picture.

Here are some random pics that were taken this week as well...

Skyler before School one morning. I thought she looked cute so she posed for some pics.

Daddy and the girls watching TV before bed time

Madison on Skyler's scooter in her jammies. Yes she is finally starting to get SOME hair. I thought we were going to have to invest in some baby rogain! :o)

This picture is one of those once in a lifetime shots. I was sitting on the futon showing the girls the pictures on the camera from Halloween and one of them pushed the button and took a picture. After downloading the pics I saw it....we are all 3 sitting the same. Is that ironic or what!?!?!? Of course I cropped out my not so recently shaved legs but other then that it was not staged. I know that feet are not the prettiest things but I had to share my kodak moment!

Wow, I started the blog with mind blowing news about the minivan and ended it with feet.... I need to go to bed!

Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures from our crazy Halloween night. Madison was not feeling well but they both looked so cute.

The letter "P"

This week has been all about the letter "P" in kindergarten at Skyler's school. Today to finish off the week they all (including the teachers) wore pajamas to school, are going to have popcorn, decorate pumpkins and watch peter pan. I took some pictures this morning of her class.

Skyler's Class (she is in the back with her teacher)

Skyler and her teacher Mrs. Law

My Little Witches

My mother-n-law and I finished the girls Halloween costumes and we had to test them out tonight. It seems like in every picture one is coming and the other is going but I hope you can see the costumes. I think they turned out pretty good.

Lynn, thank you so very much for all of you help on the skirts. I am at awe as to how I can just explain my "vision" and you can make it happen!!!

Playing with the camera

Ok, I was working on the camera trying to figure out why it has been fuzzy and figured out how to do this with the colors. I am still learning about it but here are some pics so far.

Blue...not so bad

WAY TOO PINK!

Skyler's 1st Soccer Game

Today was Skyler's first soccer game and I was amazed! Amazed at how well the kids did after having only one practice, how much team spirit & cooperation there was, how tough they all were, and most of all how much better Skyler did then I expected. She really surprised me! She made a few goals and when it was her turn to be goalie...not one ball made it in the net. She stopped about 5 balls from coming in!!! Everyone was talking about how great she was at goalie. She even had some hard blows running into other players causing her to flip over, fall on her back, fall on her face and one time she was on the ground and was fallen on by a big little boy and I was expecting some tears big time and she totally took it like a trooper. She got right back up and went after the ball again. The games are an hour long and there are only 7 players on our team so she played almost the whole game. What good exercise it was running for almost an hour straight. Then after the game was over she said., "Mommy, I want to play another game". She LOVED IT and she was so proud of herself.
Schuyler was coach and ref and he was laughing and running right along with them. He really enjoyed himself. I am so glad that he decided to coach as I know they both get enjoyment out of it.

Before her 1st practice. (like the shirt) :o)

7:30 AM before the parade and game. Sorry for the poor focus job from here on out.

Introductions before the game

Skyler #7 and a teammate watching the game

Goalie Time, she did so good!!!

Stopping the ball

Kicking towards the goal

Right when I was taking a picture...total wipe out! This was just as a boy flipped on and over her! She is the #7 on the ground after getting steamrolled. She got right back up and even recovered the ball. So tough! As for the boy...he wasn't so tough!

TEAM TIGERS!

Skyler and coach dad!

Painting Project

Oh my gosh...The painting project was a nightmare. Not only is our ceiling high but there are a lot of arches to paint around. I think I am finally done. There may still be some touch ups here and there but for the most part it is done!! YEAH! Notice the smoke detector....I tried my hardest to cut in around it and think I got it good. I got a little paint on it too but hey...what do you expect when you are on the floor using a 20 foot pole?!

Soccer issues

We signed Skyler up for soccer through FFPS and the wonderful dad he is, Schuyler signed up to be a coach. The next night he gets a call from the director of FFPS stating that they need a division 10 district coordinator. So....Schuyler is now the district coordinator for the 5 yr olds in the Woodlands. He has spent the entire weekend calling parents trying to recruit coaches. There aren't many parents willing to volunteer their time and he is a little stressed since games are to start on the 6th!! On top of this he has some good moves going on at work but as any new duties comes a little anxiety. So please keep him in your thoughts.

Crafty Weekend

Well, this weekend Lynn (my mother-n-law) and I went to get the fabric and whatnot's to make the girls Halloween costumes. They are both going to be pretty witches, not scary ones. I hope the costumes turn out as cute as I am expecting. We partially dressed the girls to measure them for the rest of the costumes and I had to take a few pics.

While at Hobby Lobby I saw a cute idea for blankets and I purchased the fleece to make them. I made two of them this weekend. One with a pink back for Skyler and another with a blue back for Madison. There was no sewing involved and didn't take any real talent. I think they turned out really cute. Here is a pic of the pink one and one of the girls watching TV using both of them Sunday morning.

Famous "Redneck"

Not many people know that we ride 4-wheelers a lot and LOVE to go mudding. So many people make fun of us and call us rednecks because of it but we really enjoy it. We go with a large group of people who all enjoy the same thing and it is also very family oriented. (most of the time) There is an event called mud nationals that we went 2 years and there have been some 8000 people at these 4-5 day events. Both years I entered the "Mud Chick" Race and did pretty well. The last year I got 2nd place and that was 8 weeks after giving birth to Madison. Today I decided to search my name on Google and found this link. I was excited to see my name and also there is a picture of me racing...the 9th set of pics down there are 4 girls in a mud bog race and I am the one on the right. Click on the pics to make them bigger. (it is hard to tell it is me, but it is) So I guess this makes me a famous "red neck". :o)
http://atv.off-road.com/atv/ATV+Racing/HighLifter-Mud-Nationals-2006/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/320772
The same year my dad and Schuyler entered a buddy race together and did pretty good. I was stuck in the camper with Madison so I was not able to watch or take pictures but from what I heard they had a blast. We hope to get to go back next year.

Having fun in the back yard

Here are the girls a little messy but enjoying themselves in the back yard.

Painting Adventure

Schuyler and I started on painting the living room and entry this last weekend and it is a nightmare. I love the color but the walls are so high that it is very hard to reach the top. We still do not know how we are going to cut in around the smoke detector that is like 20ft up. Here are some pics from the beginning stages of painting. I will post the final pics when we are done. If we ever finish this monster of a painting project.

Madison's 19 mo. check up

We took Madison for a 19 mo. check up and she is doing good. About 20% on weight at 21 lbs and 80% on height. So she is tall and lean. She is so sweet but stubborn at the same time. Just like her daddy.

Here are some funny things she is saying that only daddy and I understand...
"kiky" Kitty
"choo choo" Train
"kyer" Skyler
"ou si" Outside
"tatoo" Tractor or a really loud truck that sounds like a tractor
"cu" Cup
"meemee" Binky
"tt" TV
There are a lot of others but we pretty much know what she wants when she points and says "uh uh" I would say that the funniest things she does is when she toots and turns around like "who did that or where did that come from" It is so funny because she looks completely confused.

1st day of Kindergarten

Well, today was the big day! My baby, Skyler started kindergarten. I can't believe she is so big. It seems like yesterday she was starting to talk. She sure has changed in the past 5 years. Here are some pictures of the last 5 years. Just for the record, I have only cried 4 times in the past couple of days!