Colorado Horseback Riding and other fun stuff!

In August we went to Fun Valley near South Fork and Pagosa Springs for a week and Sydney got to 

go horseback riding on Thursday. Her horse was named  "Milk Shake".

 The go for 2 hours up the mountain and back down. As you can see it was warmer on the way back.

 Sydney on the iPad one cool and rainy day. There is a game room that has wi-fi...some of the time! Sydney can't wait to wear this cool hoodie again...it's so cute! I'm ready for cool weather too.

You can rent bicycles rather than dragging your own which is great if you have limited 

space like we do. They have quite an assortment...I love this picture!

We had a great time and more pictures to share later!

Our School Days So Far

We always start school the Tuesday after Labor Day. By the time we get back from Colorado, unpack and settle in it just feels like we need a little more free time.  This summer was especially busy and we needed to chill and get organized before starting school.

It always amazes me how eager she is to get started and how well she adapts to the change in schedule. Me, not so much!  I don't have a problem getting up in the mornings but I do have a problem with getting moving! 

Sydney had a darling school desk that was a gift from my friend Tracey when we started homeschooling. She is so sweet and talented! Sydney treasures this desk and will be able to use it at least another year.  Tracey was my first mom friend when Sydney started school at TCA and it meant so much to me for Tracey to want to be a part of starting up our home school. 

 1st day of school 2012.

 Nosey Noel! Why do cats have to try out every surface in the house?

I hope everyone else is having good school days.

So Long Summer, Hello Fall!

...and I am so glad it's behind us even though we are still having highs in the 90s, cooler weather will get here sooner or later!

***CAUTION TONS OF PHOTOS***

So we had a busy and eventful summer just like everyone I know.  In June we started swim team for the 4th year...epic fail! Sydney hates it and I force her to do it and it's kind or torture for me as well. It was 106 degrees for our first swim meet and I was sick for 3 days after!  Practice is Tuesday through Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 (refer to temperature mentioned above) with meets on Monday.  In June we put my father in law in Hospice and he passed away on Father's Day so we only went to one swim meet plus the championship. I might add that was more than enough for me Next summer she will be doing dance or gymnastics...something we can both enjoy!

July brought Sydney's 12th birthday and Jam Camp number four!  Jam Camp is a music and drama camp our church puts on and it is superb!  It was the last week of July but we has rehearsals for her singing and speaking parts a few times a week for most of July. This is probably besides Christmas and her birthday Sydneys' favorite event of the year!

Early August, the day after Jam Camp ended we left for beautiful Colorado (Fun Valley). Ahh!  I can't say enough about this place! Temps in the 50s for this Texas gal were like heaven! We also squeezed in a trip to the American Girl store  and ice skating at the Dallas Galleria with bestie Taryn.

Fort Worth has a wonderful museum of Science and History and we frequently go with my bestie Jill and her 3 boys! The kiddos spent most of their time in this room creating. There were these amazing quotes hanging from the ceiling...museum pics were taken with my phone so they aren't the best.

We started school on September 4th and it is amazing this year. Sydney is in 6th grade and is actually reading on her grade level! She has worked so hard to achieve this goal over the past few years. Now we need to double down and see if we can get the same results in math and spelling! The funny thing is that my personal goal was to have her reading on grade level by middle school so it's big for both of us!

Homeschool Princess! Love the dress code! Glad you can't see what I was wearing!

Sydney has always wanted a locker so we found this at Ikea!

In the meanwhile I have had a little more face lift work done on my house and I will share those pics soon! I have to dig around and find before pics and they are all over the place. I will also do a separate post about our vacation!

How was your summer?

12

Last month on July 27th my baby girl turned 12!  I can't believe how much I love this girl! One more year and she will be a teenager...yikes!  She started off the day before her birthday with a mani-pedi from Granny.  We both have fun visiting with Mie (pronounced Mia).

On her birthday morning we celebrated by opening gifts from Mama and Daddy.  New sparkly Toms!

 I can barely get her to take them off.

A new flatscreen with dvd player!

 Rainbow Dash! One of her favorite of My Little Ponies!

Then on the 29th her birthday party! This was a great but quieter party! Most of her friends were either at camp, or on vacation. So we were missing the Lains, Annunziatos, Andersons, Doretys and Hollmans. We ended up with a sweet group of four. Even numbers are always good with girls! If you have girls you know what I mean. She had a My Little Pony cake 

She recieved many sweet and thoughtful gifts but her favorite was her American Girl "McKenna" doll from Nana, Pop, Mom and Dad! Nana also bought a few outfits too! In the next week or so Nana, Sydney and I are going to the American Girl store in Dallas for more fun! I hope that means I get to visit the Pottery Barn store at the Galleria!

Soon I will post vacation pics, Jam Camp pics, a mother/daughter cooking post and a few new additions to our house. 

I am really hoping to start blogging more often!  

TTYL!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today he is 88, he is my father in law and he is also in Hospice care. The past week has been hard for our family, especially for my husband. He has spent the past 5 nights with his dad. 

This first photo was taken on May 24, 1985...the day he became my father in law.  Since then we have shared many happy and difficult times as a family.

The kids know him as Papa., Sydney is the youngest of his five grandchildren.  This photo was taken right after Valentines Day in 2000 when she was 7 months old. I dressed her in those overalls a lot...they were so cute but much more boyish than I remember. 

If as mere men we can forgive and show mercy and grace, how much more will God, the one who knit us together in our mother's womb show us? 

Mayfest 2012!

This year Mayfest was HOT! I love the idea of Mayfest but just not actually being there when it's 95 degrees and 98% humidity. Just not a fan of summer weather under any circumstances but definitely not in the first week of May.  The parking and bus schedule left a lot to be desired and in the end Rick had to drop us off at the entrance and go back to remote parking and take the bus. He sprinted from the bus stop to the stage and made it the very second her dance started. 

 Sydney is second from the left and deep in concentration...she has laser sharp focus when she is dancing. She also rocked her high kick but I didn't have my good camera with me, just a Cannon point and shoot. I need a different camera bag if I'm going to take it places like this because it's way too heavy.

 Here she is from the back...second from right this time. Isn't the costume gorgeous! I can't wait to see it from the stage with the lights hitting it. I will be backstage again this year. I'm not really a stage mom but I do enjoy being with the girls and as long as she wants me there I had better take advantage of it.

After her dance with my beautiful mama! Sydney calls her my Nana. She really never has to share her but it's always been my Nana.  After this picture she changed into her shorts and tank top and was seriously sweating but ready to play. We bought our tickets and got a drink. While she was on her first ride, I thought to myself I should check the weather and there were storms moving in from the west. This is not something you ignore if you are at Mayfest and 45 minutes away from your car and another 30 minutes away from home. Large hail is a reality here in Texas especially in May. In 1981 we had grapefruit + sized hail in my backyard. Then in 1995 during Mayfest there was softball size hail and Rick and I were out in it looking for our then 16 year old Courtnay. Softball sized hail is scary! Anyway lots of people were injured including little dancers.  This year they called the festival off not long after we left. No hail this time but lots of lightning.

Now that the Mayfest performance is behind us, we will now focus on finishing school and recital.  I have not seen her lyrical dress yet but I hope it's as pretty art this one!

5th Grade School Pics!

Better late than never right? Fifth grade is nearly over but I finally got around to getting some pictures done. Misty, another homeschool mom took these a couple of weeks ago. We started in her back yard and then we trampled all over downtown Weatherford for the rest. It took Sydney a little while to get comfortable even though Misty tried every trick in the book....bubble gum, jumping on the trampoline even a zip line! We all three had a great time. I will definitely use her again. She and I have the same camera but she really has a clue how to use hers...me, not so much. I love my camera and it takes awesome pictures but I am disappointed that I haven't learned more how to use it. 

Here are a few...I will post more later.