Sunday, March 21, 2010 - Wednesday we took the kids out to the Rodeo! This is Stone's second rodeo but boy did he really enjoy this one.
First we hit the petting zoo. Llamas, deer, pigs, goats - plenty of livestock for the kids to check out and pet. I think there were even some chickens.
Stone plopped down and said "Picture!"
Next we headed over to see more livestock.
Pony rides are always a big hit! The line was SUPER long, but this is the thing Brooke looks forward to the most and she says this is her favorite thing to do. So we waited - probably over 40 minutes. Makes for good photo ops...
It was such a beautiful day that we didn't spend much time inside. Next was the carnival. Last year Brooke was not tall enough to ride many of the big kids rides. This year she was. The kids rode the ferris wheel, the big (and small for Stone) slide, the Aladdin ride and Stone and daddy rode the rollercoaster for the little kids. We blew through 150 ride tickets in no time flat!! Hunter and Brooke even tried their hand at a few games. Brooke won two! That's my girl!!
Love these pictures! Mutton bustin' is a new event in the rodeo arena. They take 4 and 5 year olds and put them on sheep. They ride as far as they can across the grounds without falling off. It's hilarious!! Some of the kids fall right off and some of them of them actually make it all the way across. I would love for Brooke or Hunter to actually do this, but for now this will have to suffice:
We took the kids into the stadium to watch the rodeo this year! I think they enjoyed it. Hunter seemed to be engaged in everything going on. His favorite event was the bull riding and asked questions about everything. Gary Allan performed that night and we did stay for a little of his show. Brooke screamed "Can we go home now?" though the whole concert. (I think it was a little loud for her.) Stone was on my lap and kept turning around saying "Turn it off. Turn it off." Oh the joys of having kids! I'm already looking forward to next year but I consider the trip this year a huge success!
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The kids did vacation bible school this year at Christ the Redeemer (June 22nd – 26th). This was the first year that I remembered to sign them up for VBS! I was very excited that Brooke’s best friend Kayleigh from preschool ended up in her class. They had a really great time and learned a lot about exploring God’s word in new ways.
The theme for this year was Crocodile Dock. The decorations at the school were SO cute. They really transformed it into something special for the kids.
On Monday they met their Bayou Crew Leaders and each day they would center on a Bible point and Bible story. For the Bible points, the kids learned important facts about God: God is with us; God is powerful; God does what He says He’ll do; God gives us life; and God cares for us. Then the kids heard Bible stories that reinforced the daily Bible points. And then every day the kids brought home a Bible Memory buddy. The Bible Memory buddy was a character that had each days Bible point inscribed on it.
Day 1 was Flash the Firefly. Fireflies have special lights to show we’re around. I’ll help kids remember God is with us!
Day 2 was Jacques le Croc. My mighty jaws remind kids that God is powerful!
Day 3 was Belle. I love to speak from my beautiful beak! I want kids to know that God does what He says He’ll do!
Day 4 was Blossom the awesome opossum. Possums may seem to come back to life but Jesus really did. God gives us life!
Day 5 was Tucker the turtle. When things get tough, I curl into my tough shell. When things get tough for you, remember that God cares for us!
Here are a few samples of the artwork they did in class, and also of the Bible Memory buddies they brought home:
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Hunter just finished his first week of soccer camp today! I’m so proud of how well he did, considering it was VERY hot those five days! I don’t have much to blog about because I wasn’t there every day. I dropped him off at 9:00 and picked him up at noon. I have a small schedule of all the things they did:
Monday was passing and receiving
Tuesday was control and a quiz about the UK (the coaches had thick British accents but the kids seemed to understand them just fine)
Wednesday was dribbling and running with the ball (they also called this Wacky Wednesday where the kids dressed up in something silly if they wanted to – we forgot)
Thursday was shooting
and Friday was the Defending World Cup Finals and the Presentation and Awards Ceremony! Hunter played on the Spain team and they won and got certificates!
When I asked Hunter if he liked soccer camp (this was on Monday) his response was “I don’t like having to go to bed at the same time Stone does!” I made him go to bed at 9:00 every night so that he got proper rest. On Friday after camp ended, I asked him if he liked it and he said “Yes the coaches were really nice and I had a lot of fun.” There will be another session in August that I’m going to try and sign him up for.
Below are a few pictures from today’s award ceremony:
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Yesterday was the day at the kids school when they honor mothers for Mothers Day. They have a small procession through the church where the kids lay carnations at the feet of the statue of Mary. It’s a VERY moving time for me and this year I actually got it on video. I’m not posting it here because truly to everyone else it would be boring to watch. But it was just something I recorded so I will be able to look back and remember it when they are all grown up.
Afterwards, we move into the community center where the kids sit at tables with their classes. They serve cake and juice (not really tea) and the kids make a gift for the moms. It was a little hard this year because I had TWO tables to sit at. And of course, they were across the room from each other.
So I went over and said hello to Brooke and then went to Hunter’s table to have cake. I tried to take a few pictures at each table and then took pictures of their gifts to me when we got home.
I was thankful to get such good shots of us! And I took a picture of Hunter and his best buddy Maddux as we were leaving.
This is Hunter’s teacher Ms. Beatriz. She’s wonderful and Hunter just adores her.
These are the gifts Hunter made for me. Too cute!
Again, I got some good shots of Brooke. And she posed with her wonderful teacher Ms. Tammy before we left!
I just love the sand handprint!! I plan to hang it and always remember how small her hand is…and I like that she used her left hand! My little lefty!
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Brooke has had this bump on her right wrist since she was born. We had her pediatrician look at it some time ago and also had it x-rayed. It doesn’t seem to hurt or bother Brooke in any way. Lately we’ve noticed that it’s gotten bigger. So we decided to see a pediatric surgeon and talk about possibly having it removed. Yesterday we saw Dr. Robert Bloss with Houston Pediatric Surgeons. Very nice old man who says he’s seen a lot of these and has removed hundreds of cysts in his career. I’m not going to be able to describe it in the most technical terms as Dr. Bloss did. But the way I understand it is the cyst itself is called a hernia. There are fluid filled areas in the small joints of the wrist. When the fluid leaks from these spaces it can cause a cyst. Dr. Bloss said even if we have the cyst removed, it does not repair the leak from the joints so the cyst could grow back. If we opt to have the surgery, it will be a day surgery that only will take about half an hour to perform. She will be put under for the surgery (with an oxygen mask, not the horrible IV in her arm like we had to endure with Hunter’s surgery). She will have a small cut on the top of her cyst and then dissolvable stitches to close it up. Sounds simple enough. Dr. Bloss’s office is supposed to contact us within a few weeks to discuss a day for the surgery and all the financial information we’ll need. We will notify everyone when we’ve scheduled her surgery so you can all be praying for our baby girl.
Here are two pictures I took of Brooke’s wrist. The first one is sort of a side view of her arm. The second one is more of a top view with her wrist bent down.
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This past Tuesday the kids had their Easter egg hunt at school. The parents don’t get to attend this event, but they do get to send 12 plastic eggs filled with candy taped shut with each child. This year I decided to buy the eggs and candy myself and then let the kids actually fill them. It went better than I thought. Normally I just do it all myself because I don’t have the patience to sit and watch them struggle to put the candy in and then try to put the plastic egg back together. But I have to say they did pretty well with it and were really excited to do their own eggs.
I don’t have any pictures of this event other than when they got home with their baskets full. As soon as I said, “Okay that’s it” boy they TORE into those eggs! Well, we had some tape tearing issues so I had to assist with most of that and BE SURE most of the tape ended up on my couch! Oh the joy of having kids! :) But aren’t they CUTE????
Sorry about the eyes being closed. I was lucky to get this at all.
Brooke insisted little Brooke be in the picture.
I didn’t want Stone to feel left out, so he got to eat candy too. :)
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