Meet the Teacher

We had our first ever Meet the Teacher for Claire today. She's starting at our church's Mothers Day Out program next week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think she's going to have a fantastic year! Her teachers, Ms. Kama and Ms. Eddy, are great, and Claire is already feeling more accepting of them. Marie took her (and Pilu the red dragon, of course) and they played on the playground, explored the music room, and had lots of fun in the classroom. Claire zeroed in on the kitchen and also drew a picture. I met them up there, and while Claire was excited to see me, she was just as excited about showing me everything she had been up to. The parent orientation we had last night and the meet the teacher today confirmed for me that we're doing the right thing by sending her to this school. (And to make it even more fun, Kellie, Amy, and I are the room moms!)

Mommy's First Day of School

All I have to say is thank goodness Pre-K is only a half day!! It's amazing how only 3 hours and 14 4-year-olds can wear a person out. (Well, it was actually just one particular 4-year-old--somebody needs to clue him in that throwing yourself around in hysterical temper tantrums isn't the way to impress the girls.) All in all, it was a good day, and I can tell already that I've got a good group of kids. And, the best part, they all made it home! (It's always a concern when they can't tell you exactly how they're getting there and you have to rely on their Vietnamese-only-speaking grandmother for the answer.)

Claire and Marie had a great morning together filled with exploring a new nearby park. She was so tired when they got home that she fell asleep on her nap mat in the middle of the living room! (Which is a great big step, since she starts her school next week where nap mat sleeping is highly encouraged!)

Ice Cream Run

Strawberry sorbet-YUMMMMMM

A BIG thank you...

...to Katie and Aunt Jamey!!!! They both came in during this past week to help us out with Claire. I had inservice all day, every day this week, and Jason was out of town for 3 days, so I was a little worried going into it just how Claire would do. Well, she had a blast! Everyday she got to go on a new adventure and didn't seem to notice I was gone at all. In fact, when I would come home, she'd run to the door to give me a hug hello, then run right back to the fun. It was so nice knowing I didn't need to worry about her during the day so I could focus on getting everything ready for the kids to start on Monday. Thanks again girls!!!!!!!

Back to School!

We took a family trip up to my school this morning so that Jason could help me do some work in it before the long inservice days start Monday. Claire had a blast exploring all the fun things available in a pre-school classroom. She played with Lincoln Logs, HUGE foam blocks, the play kitchen, and, of course, crayons. She did a great job keeping herself busy while we worked. We didn't get everything completed that I wanted to, but a big chunk of it is out of the way. Here are some of the in-progress shots of the room:

Jason working on the ABC center bulletin board

My desk (with the trashcan on top), sand and water tables, blocks center, and kitchen in the back

Another shot of blocks and sand/water, plus library (under the green rectangle) and listening (under the white board)

Posing for the camera

She looked so cute this morning, I wanted to try to catch a few good pictures. When she saw the camera come out, she immediately started hamming it up.

(This is her fish face.)

See--total ham. And check out that bicep!

Fun with Stickers

Claire's found a new way to enjoy her love of stickers:

One busy weekend

We had one busy weekend this past week. Claire and I went in to San Antonio for more wedding celebrations. Lauren had a shower on Saturday morning, then some of the bridesmaids took her out Sat night. I really enjoyed getting to know some of them better, and Lauren had a fun time playing up her "bride-to-be" status. On Sunday, Great Grandma came over to help celebrate some birthdays, then we met Jason's family at Chuck E Cheese for some fun. By Monday, we were in serious need of some down time, so Claire and I just had a quiet day at Honey and H's. I got to see a good friend for dinner that night, then we headed back to Houston on Tuesday. Whew! I'm tired just remembering all the fun!

L and some bridesmaids at the shower

Jenn and Meghan getting L all dressed up

Ready for fun

Inside joke pic for those in the know......

Fun in the pool

Happy Birthday!

What a life

While Claire and I were having a great time on our mini-vacation, this is what Jason was up to at home:



We celebrated our 5th anniversary (which is the "wood" anniversary) a couple months ago, so my present was a brand new wood floor in the living room!!! It looks amazing. A big thanks to Bill and Jim for helping out!!!

Playing Catch Up

Lots has been going for us lately that I just haven't had time to talk about. Here's a quick recap of the highlights:

Claire and I took a swimming class with Nathan and his mommy Kellie. Nathan loved it, Claire did not. She liked being in the water and had fun playing, but she wasn't too into listening to the teacher and doing what she was supposed to. (This doesn't bode well for school starting soon, does it?) She does feel more comfortable in the water now and can even go under for a second without freaking out.

Kicking

About to throw the toys, then swim to them

Singing Wheels on the Bus (as if you couldn't tell)

Speaking of Nathan, since his birthday is 2 days before Claire's, we've decided to have a joint party for them down at the Houston Aquarium. It's going to be SO FUN, but we still wanted to check it all out before we gave them any money. We figured we'd also try out a cupcake place close by, you know, since we'd be in the area. Claire loved her cupcake. In fact, she figured out how to open Kellie's box of cupcakes in the backseat while still in her car seat and sneak handfuls of icing. Nathan did not so much like his cupcake, so he gave his to Claire. Well, we all paid for that. All of that cake and icing was just too much for her little tummy to handle and she threw up all over herself. At least it happened right as we pulled into the parking garage, but I had no change of clothes for her, so I wiped her off as best I could, and we continued with the day. Yuck! We still had a great day, though!

Claire and cupcake #1 (Notice she's facing forward now! Finally!)

Sweet Nathan

We took a weekend trip over to San Antonio a few weeks ago. We were throwing Katie a shower, and we also wanted to check out Jamey and Jeff's new house! It's so nice and open and has a great back yard. Claire painted outside most of the day, then helped Aunt Jamey play dominoes.



Grandpa and Aunt Judy came to visit a few days later and we all went to see the Astros with cousin Diana. This was Claire's first baseball game, and she had a fantastic time. We were only expecting to get to stay for a little bit, but she was having such a great time, we stayed till the very end. (And the Astros won, believe it or not!) Brady was nice enough to let Claire borrow one of his batting helmets, and by the end of the game, she wouldn't take it off. We'll definitely have to make this a more regular thing.

You can't go to an Astros game without getting a sundae in a hat.

Edouard Update, 3:00 PM

No more rain--looks like Claire survived her first tropical storm unscathed!

Edouard Update, 1:20 PM

Still raining.......and it's only 75 degrees!

Edouard Update, 11 AM

Still just a steady rain, but I think things are about to start picking up.

Edouard Update, 8:30 AM

Woke up this morning to learn that he made landfall further north than expected, but that won't prevent any of the rain and wind from getting to us. It's already raining, but just slightly. Looks like things will get interesting early this afternoon.

Bring it on, Edouard!

We've got our hurricane box prepped and all projectiles moved inside, which means we're all ready to face off with the tropical storm headed our way. Jason still has to go to work tomorrow, so Claire and I will batten down the hatches and enjoy the show. Wish us luck!

(I'll let you know if anything exciting happens, assuming we have power.)

Congratulations, Aunt Jamey!

Jamey and Jeff are engaged! Yay!!!

Switzerland trip, day 9

Today was our last day of fun on the trip, and we made every moment count. We took a morning train to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. This is the town where Einstein developed his theory of relativity, and we found the clock tower that sparked the idea, as well as the apartment he lived in. Bern means bear, and the town has had a resident bear for hundreds of years. We paid him a visit, then walked back to the train station to catch the train back to Zug. Once in Zug, we hit the shops and walked one more time along the lake. For dinner, we decided to go back up Zuggerberg and eat at the restaurant at the top where we ate the first night. While we were eating our dinner on their covered patio, a HUGE storm came up. The sky went black, and lightning was striking all over the sky. The rain was so loud and the temperature dropped at least 25 degrees, so we moved ourselves inside until the most severe part died down. We had a bit of a walk back to the bus (the cog wheel train that normally runs wasn't working today), and we ended up having a good 20 min to wait until it left. Claire wanted no part of sitting quietly on a completely still bus, though, so she and H got out to play in the rain. She had a fantastic time chasing him all over the place, and the rest of us (bus driver included!) loved watching them. They were both soaked by the end of the play session. Since we were the only ones on the bus, the driver was nice enough to take the bus out of service and not only drive us down the mountain, but deliver us at our hotel. We all changed clothes into something warmer (and drier), then headed out again for ice cream. The whole night was a wonderful way to end our wonderful trip.

On the train heading to Bern

The clock tower that inspired Einstein's Theory of Relativity

At Einstein's apartment

The Bern Bear

Playing with Honey and Aunt Joyce

Swinging

Eating with the twins

Fondue!

Playing follow the leader

Stomp, stomp

The best ice cream EVER--we both had upset tummies from the richness, but it was well worth it

Goodnight Zug, see you again next time!

Switzerland trip, day 8

For some crazy reason, we all decided to go back up Jungfrau today. It was another absolutely perfect day, and some of the rest of our group wanted to go up and do some hiking, so we figured, why not? We split up into 4 groups--Group #1 (Lauren, Chris, and John) rented bikes; Group #2 (Dad, David, Jason, James) did a long downhill hike--I really don't know how Jason and James could do that; Group #3 (Mom, Joyce, Sue, Claire, and myself) did an easy hike to a wonderful meadow where we ate Snickers bars and enjoyed the day while Claire picked flowers--we later learned that picking wildflowers is illegal in Switzerland--oops; and Group #4 (Chuck and Grandma) found a restaurant and did a lot of people watching. This was our last day in Interlaken, and we finished it off with a relaxing dinner back at the pizza place we found on our first night there. The rest of our group stayed out late, but we were exhausted and headed back to our room for an early night.

On the train

Setting off on our hike

Enjoying a perfect day in the Alps

Playing in the stream

A new look!

Thought I'd change things up a bit....hope you like it!

(And, thanks, Meredith for the idea!!)

Switzerland trip, day 7, part 2

So there we are, stuck on one of the highest mountains in Europe, with only a few bites of food and a few sips of water left. And we started walking to get to the next town, which happened to be about 20 miles away. Yes, folks, 20 MILES. Fortunately, it was a beautiful walk down that mountain, with the sun setting behind the Alps. Claire did an amazing job of staying jovial. James was a tremendous help with that--whenever she would start to complain, he would start doing a little dance, walking backwards, or just acting silly, and she would snap out of her bad mood. A few hours passed, and we found ourselves getting extremely close to the next town. There were even signs pointing to the railway station. We were going to make it!! We huffed and puffed our way down the last bit of mountain, across the little valley, and found the station. Well, guess what. To add to the absurdity of the day, this station was also closed. So now, we had new options--this particular town (Grindelwald) is big enough to have a bus station and hotels and taxis. So we head for the bus station. And guess what? The last bus had just pulled into the station for the night. Of course. So now we're left with 2 options--walk the 3 1/2 hours to Interlaken, which none of us will be able to do, or find a taxi somehow. We notice a sign to a hotel, and figure the receptionist can call us a taxi. So we start walking. Again. And soon, we realize that we have to walk up a super-steep hill to get to the hotel. Think of the steepness of an escalator, without the steps. It was actually a relief to get to use different muscles, but I really didn't need to do almost a mile of that. Once at the top of this hill, we notice the most glorious site I have ever seen--there's another train station up here. And people are walking to it. And lights are on there. And there's a train sitting on the tracks. We didn't know where that train was going, but somehow we all knew we needed to get on it. I had visions of the last time we saw a train sitting at the station, so I ran ahead to try to get it to wait. Fortunately, there was no need--the train wasn't scheduled to leave for another 20 min, but it was going to Interlaken!! We were going to make it! We collapsed on the train and rode silently back to town. Once we got to Interlaken, though, we needed to take another train across the town to get closer to our hotel. (It's only a couple mile walk, but we were on our last legs by this point.) Well, Jason and I didn't have train tickets for that part of our journey, but there were no people around, the train was empty, and it's only a 3-minute ride. Who's going to notice? Sure enough, as soon as the train started moving, the ticket lady came through wanting to see our tickets. Jason and James performed an amazing Oscar-worthy "dumb American" play, which lasted right up to the time we pulled into the station we needed. I think the ticket lady could tell we needed to be cut a break, and she just walked away, letting us off without penalty. This definitely helped lift our spirits and gave us another jolt of adrenaline to give us the energy we needed to walk the few blocks to the hotel. We ran into our mothers, Grandma B, and Sue on our way back, and they were extremely relieved to see us. Evidently, they weren't expecting us to walk the entire way down the mountain and were shocked to hear of our expedition. Our feet were also in a state of shock--I will spare you the details, but James could barely wear shoes the rest of the trip, and I now have only 9, soon to be 8, toenails. All in all, this was my favorite day of the trip. In no way would I have ever signed up to participate in an adventure like this, but now that I have, I really feel like I can accomplish anything!