Rest in Peace Gus

In Febuary 2004 we adopted a SWEET bassett hound named Gus from the McKinney SPCA. He was the very first kennel and just looked at us with his big brown eyes and long ears and a wagging tail. We took him home that day! He had heartworms and bad teeth when we adopted him. We got his heartworm taken care of and his teeth pulled and cleaned up. After these were taken care of he was like a new dog. He loved being played with and pet. You could pet him for an hour, stop, and he would start whining for you to pet him some more. Or he would nudge your hand or leg. The girls loved him too. They would "pet" him, pull on his ears and tail, and try to ride him like a horse. In the spring, we moved him out to the farm to live with Granny and Doc. He loved being a farm dog. He would play with Doc and bark at night with him. We were always so excited to so him each time we made the trip to Bellville. On our last trip on for Thanksgiving, we noticed he wasn't feeling well. So I took him in for an appointment on Monday afternoon. He was really sick by the time we got in. After some blood work, the vet decided it would be best if he stay overnight and be monitored. I gave him a hug and kiss and told him to be a good dog. The vet left at 10pm that night and Gus was wagging his tail. When he came in the next morning, he found that Gus had passed away during the night. We miss him so much, but we know he's running around with his old pal, Tuff! Here's a few pictures of him over that last 7 years that we had him in our family.

Update for my bloggers!

Life has been super busy trying to keep our house clean and be "show ready" every day. Here are some pics of what we have been doing lately. I forgot my camera when we went to the state fair and county fair. So, I got a few from my sister. I still need to get the one's from my mom.
This weekend we went to the Heard Museum to see the bug exhbit and go on the dinosaur trail. Once again, Mary was scared for the first part, but was braver as we continued along the trail.

Last weekend we went home to celebrate Granny's birtday!

For Halloween Mary was a heavenly angel and Amy was a ladybug. They didn't want to go trick or treating very long. Mary wanted to get home and pass out the candy!


We had a lot of fun at the fair this year. We made it there early Friday evening, just in time to have some fair food for supper! On Saturday Mary had fun riding carnival rides and checking out all of the animals. On Sunday, we celebrated my birthday with a fair food buffet. Then had funnel cake for my birthday cake.

Alpha Wolf!

At our school each teacher chooses a student who has made good choices all week. On Fridays we have an assembly called Good Morning Slaughter and these students are announced and receive a certificate! The kids love it. Mary has been trying since the first day of school to be the Alpha Wolf for her class. Well, last week was her lucky week. She had no idea that she was going to be it. When her name was called she was surprised and soooo excited. We are so proud of her.

With her teacher, Mrs. Tillett

New home

We are so excited to be moving back near family and childhood friends. We knew we wanted to move to the Katy area. William has been reseaching neighborhoods, taxes, floor plans, etc for over 2 years. All that time has paid off. He found a great deal and got a realtor to show it to him a couple of weeks ago. We found out it was a short sale and they were taking bids. Since I had not seen the place yet I had to trust his instinct and he put in an extremely LOW bid on Friday, Oct 15 and were told they would make a choice on Monday. Well....we got it! It is perfect! Well, almost! The people that lived there before trashed the place and it will need a lot of work. Luckily we won't be moving until June, so as soon as we close on it we can start making the repairs and getting it move in ready. It is 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 3 car garage, study, formal dining, family room, and play room. It is on a horseshoe drive. The backyard is big and lots of landscaping out front. Now we just need to sell our house in Florida and McKinney and we'll be good to go!

Amy's pics

Amy wore her Buc-ee's shirt the night before her school picture day. That morning she REFUSED to take it off. So, here are 2 year preschool pictures.

House for Sale

Today marks the first official day that our house is on the market. On Saturday, William repainted the front door and it looks great! Our house is de-cluttered and ready to sell! Now the challenge is to keep it this way with 2 kids and 2 busy work schedules!

A night out with my girls

Tonight was Spring Creek BBQ Night Spririt Night for our school. They ask for the teachers to serve the rolls, oh, excuse me, hot fresh bread, they don't call them rolls! Anyway, Mary was SUPER excited to see her school friends and teachers. I took a few pics before we headed over there.

What's been going on!?

Well, since school has started we've been a little busy. I am loving the new start time of 8:00 (well except for having to deal with high school traffic). I'm able to get a lot of work done in the afternoon, schedule dr appts, and have time to get home and get dinner on the table. After the first week of school Granny came for a visit. We went to the heard and hiked a new trail. We really like the Sycamore Trail and can't wait to hike it again. The other weekends have been full of cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning! Aunt Paige also came for a visit and stayed with us for a couple of nights. Last weekend Mary attended a HS cheer camp. Her friends Hannah and Summer (babysitters) helped with camp and she was excited to see them. Mary is LOVING kindergarten! She is growing up into a smart little girl. She remembers EVERYTHING! And I think she may have a little admirer already. She tells me he always loves when she wears skirts and dresses and has asked her to wear her strawberry dress again that she wore the first week of school. Today he told her that her skirt was cool! Amy is talking in complete sentences and we are able to understand more of her words. And, of course she is getting into more things everyday. However, last night, I took the most precious picture of her sleeping. This weekend we are headed to Bellville to visit the family. We will go to ACF kick-off shrimp dinner (all you can eat and DRINK!) and dance. Can't wait!!! Then William is going to the Texans game on Sunday afternoon. So it looks like we will have a late trip getting back. I guess I'll need to prepare for school on Monday before we leave tomorrow at 2. We should be at Granny's in time for supper! Here are some pics of what we've done over the few weeks.

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, today was Mary's very first day of Kindergarten. She has been waiting for this day FOREVER! She has been very excited to start her new adventure. I had to be at school early so William and Granny brought her to school. They called and told me when they arrived and I met them inside. Mary remembered exactly where to go. She did great...no tears from either of us!! As soon as I said my "good-bye" I had 17 4th graders waiting on me, so no time to think about it. I saw her at lunch and she was doing great, still no tears. Then at the near the end of the day, I saw her in the gym during PE. She spotted me and starting running for me and then wrapped herself around my legs and starting crying, "I want you!!" over and over. I calmed her down and she went back to her spot. At the end of the day, she saw me and waited patiently until I finished my duty, extra long today, since it was the first day. After school she told me about her day. She was VERY dissapointed that she didn't get to go to centers or the computer. She getting ready for bed now and ready for day 2.

New York City Aug 2010

Last week we drove from McKinney to Houston on Wednesday evening to stay at a hotel near Hobby airport for our 7am flight to JFK in NYC. We looked quite the sight trying to get everything to the check-in counter. Between the 4 of us we had 4 suitcases, a stroller, a car seat, 2 backpacks, and a diaper bag. This was the first time we have flown with the kids without my mom, so it was a little tricky, but we managed. The plane ride there was great! Amy fell asleep as soon as we took off and took a 2 hour + nap. Mary put in her headphones and watched Nick the entire way. Once we arrived in NYC we took a cab to Mandy's office. We dropped off all of our stuff. The we walked to time square and saw the Naked Cowboy. He was preforming a marriage ceremony, so I couldn't get my picture with him. We ate at Junior's for lunch and it was delicious. For dessert, Mary had their world famous cheesecake and William and I split the cookie monster! Then we walked to 30 Rockefeller center to do the Top of the Rock. Mary was completely freaked out by the elevator ride and it took her awhile to get calmed down once we were at the top. Of course, Amy loved and was still climbing, even at the top. The we went back to Mandy's at the end of her work day. She drove us home and we enjoyed a dinner out at a local Brooklyn pizza joint...delicious pizza and meatballs. Friday morning it was time to go shopping. I knew I wanted to get a new pair of designer sunglasses. We shopped at Bloomingdale's and as soon as I walked in the salesman got me a classic pair of black Gucci with bamboo. They were gorgeous! I tried several other pairs on from other designers, but ended up going with the first pair. Then we headed up to the 9th floor to do some shopping for Mary. She found the perfect First Day of Kindergarten dress! She absolutely loves it. I found Amy a cute dress. Vincent got a NY Yankees Tshirt. Baby Maria (our soon to be neice) got a sweet outfit. And William, got, well, nothing! Poor thing!!! ;) Then we got some boxed lunches and headed to Central Park for a picnic and let the kids climb the boulder. Then we walked back to the car and headed home for the day. That evening we grilled chicken ka-bobs at home. Then we waited for the ice cream truck! The kids were so excited to pick a treat. Saturday morning we got up and headed to the Bronx Zoo. We only got to see parts of it because it is so big and we had to have William back to the city in time to go the game. We took him to Vince's work, at the Barnes and Nobles in Union Square. We got an afternoon snack at the starbuck's there. Vince and William headed out for the game and Mandy and I took the kids to Union Square Park. They had a blast playing. Then we took a stroll through the Farmer's Market. Then it was time to do some more shopping! This time it was for shoes!!! We went to the Geox store. Mary got 2 new pairs of shoes. A pair of everyday tennis shoes (and of course they light up!)and a cute pair of slip on shoes, pink with bling all over! I got a pair of brown loafers. Vincent got a pair of black tennis shoes (also light ups). Then we drove down to have dinner at a German restaurant. First we stopped off at a nearby shoe store and found Mary another pair of shoes. Then it was time to eat. It was deliious! As an appetizer we a weinersnitzel stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon! Then we headed home. Sunday morning we walked to church at 10. Then we got changed and headed to the USS Intrepid. We had a quick picnic lunch and then toured the aircraft carrier. Mary didn't get "in to it" until we were almost finished. After we looked at all of the ship it was time to take our cruise to see the statue of liberty. This was Mary's favorite part. Then we took William back to the city to have dinner with a neighbor from Pearland that he lived next to for over 20 years, who now lives in NYC. We went back home for dinner. Vince fixed his famous sauce, meatballs, sausage, and pasta. It was FANASTIC!! Finally, it was time for me to start packing up and getting ready for the next day. On Monday, we loaded the car and headed back to JFK for our 11am flight, which was delayed about 30 minutes. The return flight was good, too. Amy fell asleep shortly after eating lunch. Mary watch TV again. We arrived in Houston about 2pm. Then we drove back to McKinney, stopping in Corsicana for dinner. We arrived home just in time to give the girls their baths and put them to bed. We had a great time and so lucky to have a great place to stay when we visit.
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Amy's dr appt

Amy had her 2 year well check up today. She is doing just great! She passed both her hearing and vision screenings. She is 25.6 lbs (33%tile) and 34 3/4 inches (71%tile).

Amy turned 2!!!

On Saturday, July 10 Amy turned 2! We celebrated by having a Minnie Mouse birthday party at our house. We had lots of friends and family to help us. It began at 11:30 and the kids played I got the meal ready to serve. We enjoyed pulled and sliced pork and baby back ribs with homemade BBQ, fresh bread and buns, buttered potatoes, and baked beans. It was delicious! After lunch Amy opened all of her wonderful presents. Then it was time for CAKE! I made Amy a personal Minnie Mouse cake and a pink with white polka dots party cake. Both were strawberry with white cake inside, so the cake itself was polka dot, too. Aunt Na-Na made some DELICIOUS cake pops that looked like Minnie. We learned a little about candy melt chocolate and food coloring...the don't mix!!! Then at about 1:30, it was time to say good-bye. Each kiddo got a Minnie or Mickie Mouse cup filled with goodies and a balloon. I'd have to say it was a great party!

Last week I also took her for her 2 year potraits at Sears. They turned out very cute.

Amy goes for her 2 year well child visit on Friday, so I'll have her size update then.

Georgia Vacation 2010

We left Thursday, July 30 around 3:00, drove about 6 hours and stopped at a hotel. Along the way Mary got car sick and Amy soaked through. Luckily we got to take care of both at a rest stop. Both had to change outfits. Friday night Uncle Steve and Aunt Jane came over for dinner at Betty's to help celebrate Amy's birthday a little bit early. They we went to Stone Mtn. to see the laser light show that evening. On Saturday we hiked Kennesaw Mtn, went to church (at a VERY non-kid friendly church) and then to dinner at Ted's Montana, where I got to eat a Buffalo ribeye (slightly different flavor, but very good!). Then Sunday morning we got up early to watch Aunt Jane and William run in the Peach Tree Road Race 10K. We got to see Jane run by, but some how missed William. Late that day, Betty had over friends and family for the 4th for burgers and dogs. Then on Monday we went to the Georgia Aquarium and dinner at Jane and Steve's. On Tuesday we got up at 4am and drove back in one day, 13 hours in the car! Overall we had a great trip.