Thanksgiving Fun

We were so happy to have Grandpa, Mimi, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Julie and Caleb back for Thanksgiving.  We had amazing weather, and we made so many great memories.  View Album for more pictures.

Catching Up...

Colbie is 3...Halloween...Baseball...Crossfit...Chase and Cat visit...View Album for more pictures.

Colbie...A look back

A little recap of Colbie's 3 years.  View Album.

Happy Birthday Colbie Jade!!

We had a busy birthday weekend.  We visited one of our favorite farms that was filled with fall fun.  There were all kinds of activities for kids, and they love to try them all.  We spent a lot of time feeding the goats.  One goat was pushing the baby goat so he could get the food, and our kids were all very upset with this goat.  Colbie told the goat "I will never feed you again...you are so mean!"  Sunday, Colbie wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese...they love that place!  View Album for more pictures.

Donnie Baseball - photo shoot - cheer

Donnie started baseball a few weeks ago.  Don is coaching his team once again...The Wildcats is the name the kids chose.  Donnie's doing great, and he's very serious when he plays.  I love watching all the great faces he makes while in his ready position.

Cadynce went to a cheer clinic at the high school on Saturday morning.  That night, she got to cheer in the first quarter of the football game.  She was pretty excited about it.  View Album for more pictures.

Donnie & Colbie 1st day of Preschool

These two were so excited for school to start.  Colbie is in a young 3's class that is 2 days a week.  Donnie is in the 5 year old class that is 3 days a week.

Cadynce 1st Day of First Grade

This girl is ready!

Picking her up from school.

A trip to sonic for a slushy.

Donnie's Photography

Donnie enjoyed taking pictures for a few days while in Indiana.  Here are some of his best pictures.  View Album.

More Indiana Pictures

Pictures from my cell phone.  View Album

Summer in Indiana

We had another fun trip to Indiana.  Cadynce and Donnie spent an entire month there...wow!  I enjoyed 10 days at home with the "littles" before making the trip to Indiana.  Don flew 10 days after that.  We did far too much to write about.  View Album for pictures.

Namah's Visit

My mom came out for a week, and we put her to work.  Actually, I mentioned that I wanted to clean out two closets and she attacked them both.  We had a fun week of organizing, swimming, game playing and reading.  Kids always love company.  View Album for more pictures.

Swim Awards/Track meet

The swim team awards night was at our pool.  It was very informal with a lot of swimming and eating...and raining:).  All the kids received a trophy, and Cadynce was given a bigger trophy for her efforts in the Butterfly event.  So proud of both of them.  View Album for awards and track meet.

Stations

We were in serious need of some outside time and exercise.  We all worked together to come up with 10 stations to set up around our cul-de-sac.  Here was our list...

1.  Jump rope
2.  Squats
3.  Run in place
4.  Push ups
5.  Jumping Jacks
6.  Rest/water
7.  Step ups
8.  Froggy jumps
9.  Push press
10.  Lateral jumps

Our two neighbor friends saw us outside and joined our workout.  Each station was 30 seconds, and they loved every second of it.  View Album for more pictures.

Summer at Little Gym

Colbie and I did a month long class at the Little Gym.  It was so fun spending this time with Colbie...she had a blast.  I took pics at our last class today...and she was so excited that Daddy, Cadynce, Donnie, and Damon all came to watch her.  View Album for more pictures.

Birthday Celebration

I was so excited when Don told me he was taking the day off work for my birthday.  I quickly made arrangements to get away from the kids we love:)  I had my friend watch Cadynce and Donnie, and our babysitter come watch Colbie and Damon...we were planning to be gone all day.  We spent our day horseback riding through the hill country and shopping.  When we got home, we went out for dinner and cupcakes.  View Album for my awesome birthday:)

Championships

Cadynce and Donnie both swam at the championship meet on Saturday.  They both did an awesome job in their last race of the season.  View Album for more pictures.

Swim Meet #4

We had our last regular season meet on Tuesday evening.  Donnie had another solid swim in freestyle and backstroke.  Cadynce was switched up a little...she swam butterfly in the first relay of the meet (which meant we got to leave much earlier in the night), freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly again.  It's been a big learning year for her...last year she dominated as a 6 year old, and this year she is getting smoked by the 8 year olds.  Saturday is Championships...swim season sure went fast this year.

Track Meet #2

We had another track meet on Monday.  We did the long jump, 50, and 100.  View Album for more pictures.

Space Camp

Cadynce has spent each morning this week at her teacher's house learning about space.  It was a week long camp that went from 8-11:30.  They did so many cool crafts, but the making of the space suit topped them all.  They worked on it all week, and when I picked her up today she was wearing it.

Swim Meet #3

Donnie got second in freestyle.

We had our first swim meet at our neighborhood pool.  Donnie has made great improvements since starting swim team.  His backstroke has come a long way.  Cadynce was fighting a headache all night, and it was her first time swimming butterfly in a meet.  She swam in 4 events (plus a headache)...so proud of her for gutting it out.

Cadynce swimming freestyle with the fast girls.

Her first Butterfly in a meet.

Track Meet #1

Kids had their first track meet of the summer.  Best quote of the night, "Colbie, did you get first place?"  Colbie replied, "NO I WON!" View Album for more pictures.

Damon's 1st Haircut

I wanted to wait until Damon turned one to get his first official big boy haircut.  He's looks like such a big boy now.

Laredo Vacation

We headed 2.5 hours straight towards Mexico.  We were heading to Laredo, Tx for a CrossFit competition.  So maybe it wasn't a real "vacation", but I consider any night away from home a vacation.  We had so much fun watching Don compete, and throw around some pretty heavy weight.  We swam in the hotel pool a couple times, and went to the movies too.  View Album for more pictures.

Don & Damon to Indiana...Surprise!

(Don guest blogging this time)  To surprise my Dad for his birthday, I flew back to Indiana for a long weekend.  To make it especially interesting and since he still flys free, I took Damon with me.  Despite just a few hiccups on the flight home, it was such an awesome trip!  My mom, Jeff, and Julie helped ensure it was a great surprise for my dad - not easy to do!  And Damon and I really bonded - after all, he isn't used to me keeping him happy, busy, fed, and well...alive.  To remind me of this, Jackie set an incredibly high bar for my weekend when we left early Friday morning.  "Just don't lose him" she said (sigh).  Well, mission accomplished!!  We had an awesome trip, got to spend time with the whole family, made some memories, and I didn't lose Damon a single time.  Enjoy the photos!  

Swim Meet #2

Cadynce and Donnie completed their second swim meet, and they both did better than the last meet.  View Album for more pictures.

Happy Birthday Damon!

My baby is now a big baby.  I had a little photo shoot with him wandering around outside.  I love this kid.  View Album for more pictures.

Cadynce Last Day of Kinder

It was pajama and stuffed animal day on the last day of school.  Cadynce had a really great year, and we are so proud of her.

Swim Meet #1

We had our first swim meet of the season with our new swim team.  Cadynce and Donnie both did a great job and had a lot of fun.  View Album for more pictures.

Donnie & Damon Party

We had a little party to celebrate Donnie turning 5 and Damon turning 1 at our neighborhood pool.  It was nice to hang out in the water and watch the kids play and stay cool.  We did cake and gifts at home.  View Album for more pictures.

Donnie's School Celebration

Today was Donnie's school celebration.  We get to watch a slideshow of all the things the kids have done all year long.   They sang several bible verses they have learned throughout the year, and then each child got to stand on the stage and hear how marvelous they are.  We had a picnic after the celebration.  I can't believe he is almost done at Marvelously Made Preschool.  View Album for more pictures.

Kinder Town Meeting

Friday morning was the Kinder Town Meeting.  All the Kinder classes have been working for two weeks on their program.  Cadynce had a little speaking part too.  They did a great job.  View Album for more pictures.

Parade, Mother's Day & Swim

Each year we walk in the Helotes parade...it's a very big deal here.  Donnie rides on his preschool float and throws candy...there is nothing better than 20 three and four year olds throwing candy:)

Mother's Day was kind of a dud.  We started the day with a family hike, but I started to feel sick.  After stopping for lunch, we went home where I hopped into bed, and slept the next 5 hours.  We're passing around a bug and it is my turn...boo!

Today was the first day of swim practice.  We joined our neighborhood swim team this year.  Donnie's practice is first and then Cadynce is right after him.  I hang out in the baby pool with Colbie and Damon.  They did awesome.  View Album for more pictures.

Damon Walking (Video Added)

Damon took his first steps the day he turned 10 months old.  Now look at him...still 10 months old.  We bought his first pair of walking shoes yesterday...he loves walking outside in them.

Renovation Complete!

We made a few changes to the house, and they are finally done!  We had all cabinets painted, new tile in kids shower/bath, new tile and shower in master bath.  The glass for our shower took the longest...3 weeks!!  Glad to be back in our own shower:)  View Album for more pictures.

Spring Pictures...

A lot of pictures from all different events.  View Album for more pictures.

Happy Birthday Cadynce

Cadynce turned 7 years old yesterday.  I think she had a pretty special day.  She wanted eggs for breakfast, Jimmy Johns for lunch, and McDonald's for dinner.  While we were eating breakfast I read her the little book I made for her.  I asked our family what their favorite thing about Cadynce is, and then I wrote each one and put it on a ring for her to keep.  It went quite well.  She couldn't believe that everyone actually said those things.  She kept asking "How did you do that?" "Did they really say that?"  I included her Kinder teacher, and she yelled "WHAT?  Ms. Montalvo?"  She sure made me feel good.  After school we had cupcakes and sang, and opened her next gift...high heels.  She flipped out.  You should have seen her walking around feeling pretty cool:)  We ended the day with a new big girl bike and dinner at McDonalds.  What a day!  View Album for more pictures.