Friday Night Lights

High school football began on Friday night and we headed to the Chapel Hill High School football game (I teach at the middle school).  The boys had a blast and Sterling was excited about the going to the game.  We sat in the end zone and there were tons of kids for them to play with.  The best part was the awesome football weather and a "W" for the Bulldogs.

The older kids played football and tag all night.  I know Sterling was exhausted!

They did take a little break to dance when the band played at halftime

Hudson even stopped for a minute to enjoy the show with Layton and his mommy. 

and of course, Hudson loved these pom - poms.  The girls were so sweet to share

Here Hudson had spotted a helicopter.  He just kept pointing with his mouth wide open, he thought it was the coolest thing.  Even after he couldn't see it anymore he would still do this!

What a fun night!  I know with 2 boys we'll be spending lots of time at high school football games for the next 18 years!

Walking StickS

Wade found some walking sticks while we were outside playing the other night and Sterling loved letting them crawl around on him.  They really liked his hair, I guess maybe because they could camoflage themselves with his hair, I'm not sure.  But, they LOVED walking all over his arms and head and he thought it was pretty cool.

The pictures are a little blurry because they walk so fast!

He's got stick above his right eye and the other on his right arm

Wheels

It's official Sterling has learned to ride his bicycle.  A few weeks ago he told Wade and I he wanted to go ride it....we had practiced a few times of the summer, but he never could get it going and was falling off even with training wheels, so it had just been sitting.  Well...I guess he knew he was ready because he can ride his bicycle!

Wade or I would go ahead of him and then he'd pass us!  He rode pretty far and to top it off it was a beautiful 87 degree evening and we didn't melt when we walked outside.  I'm so proud of our BIG boy!

Hudson has some "wheels" too.  He's found Stelring's wheelbarrow and carries/pushes it around whenever we're outside.  He even threw his B in it the other day so he'd have both hands free!

I can pick it up like this too!

What a strong boy!

I think we're all looking forward to this awesome weather so we can spend more time outside!  A blog to come tomorrow about the cool bug we found today too!  The joys of BOYS!!!!

First Day of School

Sterling was so excited this morning to be moving up to an older class at school and Hudson is finally starting school with his Bubba! He wasn't sure about not being at his Ms. Kathy's at first, but they say he adjusted well. 

A picture with Mommy because it was my first day back too!

After school the boys were both hungry and thirsty.  A snack and a little Wonder Pets made them happy again!

We're all looking forward to GREAT year!

My "Home" Away From Home

It's Back to School for everyone on Monday, but I've spent the last week getting ready for the 2010- 2011 school year.  One of the many great things about being a teacher is having the opportunity to "start over" every school year.  Unfortunately, your classrooms is no exception!  After 7 years of teaching I have started to accumulate many things so I don't have to start over, but it still seems to take forever to get it all PERFECT for the first day!  So....here is my "HOME" away from Home!

The Writing Wall

 Takes you back to middle school, huh?!

This year our theme is "DARE to ROCK!"

I'll be ready on Monday!

So, here is where I spend more hours awake each day than my in own house and I must say I'm so thankful it's not a cubicle or staring at a computer because I might go crazy!

Gotta Have It?!

I have few friends/fellow bloggers that do a Lovin' It blog and well....I LOVE it.  I have a few things that "I GOTTA HAVE," and thought I'd share.

Fisher Price Aquarium and Rainforest

I realize Sterling is almost 4, but he still listens to his aquarium "fish" every night while going to sleep.  Sometimes he even turns it on when he wakes up in the middle of the night.  Hudson has this one, the rainforest, and listens to his usually in the morning when he's trying to wake up.  We can't thank you enough, Aunt Dana, for getting these for the boys!

The First Years Insulated Sippy Cups

Have you ever stood on the sippy cup aisle?  How do you know which ones REALLY won't leak, which ones have lids that stay on, etc....  Well, after purchasing EVERY sippy cup at Walmart, Babies R Us and Target these win at our house.  I am slowly transitioning to only these.  I mainly love them because they don't have the "stoppers" in them that you have to remove and then search for, especially when other people unload the dishwasher and then I have to search for them....that is BAD!  I wouldn't recommend these for new sippy cup users becuase they're a little harder to get liquid out of, especially at first and they're not completely spill proof.  However, my boys don't usually have any leftover milk in their cups so i don't have to worry about it!

The Pampered Chef Mix and Chop

Who ever designed this little gem, was a genius!  I use this almost every night...it's the best chopper, mixer, hamburger meat cooking utensil, EVER!

The Pampered Chef Mini Spatula

This little guy is also one of my favorites that we use all the time in the kitchen.  It's great for brownies, cornbread, fish sticks, etc.... and best of all it doesn't take up a ton of room in the kitchen drawer

Hello....New Braunfels!

We headed to New Braunfels to finish out the summer with The Pollocks, Cunnighams and Varners.  We love hanging out and the fact that all our kids are close in age helps...A LOT!  Here we all are after dinner at The Gristmill in Gruene on Thursday night. We started this tradition last year when our kiddos were just babies.  Everyone came down to Tyler and we had so much fun we decided to do it again, but change it up a bit. 

The house we stayed at was perfect for all of us, but let me tell you it was not easy trying to find a house for 6 kids and 8 adults, with a pool.  Unfortunately for us, the house we stayed at just sold so we will have to be on the lookout for another one.....

Hudson, Cooper and Meg after swimming and you can see Lake Dunlap in the background.  Cooper is 6 months older and Meg is 6 weeks older than Hudson - they're great playmates

The first thing Sterling wanted to do each morning was fish, of course!  His Papa would have been proud.  The lake was very dirty from all the flooding earlier in the year, but he never gave up!

Everyone enjoyed coffee every morning down by the lake.  Hudson and I watching Bubba and Daddy fish.

All the dads took care of the kids on Thursday while the moms went shopping at the outlet mall.  I think the kiddos had fun and napped well for their Daddys!

On Friday morning we headed to Schlitterbahn.  Since I had enough stuff to carry I did not take the camera, but believe me we had a great time.  I can't wait until the kids are bigger and can ride everything!  That evening was Mexican night - YES, the men cooked every night we were there...it was FABULOUS!!!

Saturday was the guys' turn to have their Daddy day and they decided to float the Guadalupe!  Ilena and I took our 4 kids to the McKenna Children's Museum and it was fabulous.  I did not take my camera, but will get some pics for you soon.  They had great dress up areas and Sterling LOVED pretending to be an astronaut and doctor. 

That afternoon these stinkers ran off with the whole bag of Cheetos.  They were really being quiet and "knew" they were being naughty.  But, what are vacations for if you don't ruin your dinner?

Friday and Saturday evenings we got smart and put all the kids to bed BEFORE dinner so we could enjoy relaxing evenings.  Saturday night the big boys stayed up a little later and watched a movie.  Sterling really liked this recliner.

We made the kiddos and dads take one last picture before heading out Sunday morning. 

Channing, Sterling, Hudson, Brody, Meg and Cooper

The dads and their "babies"

Until next year.....

Magic Nuddles

YES, Nuddles!!!  My aunt gave these to Sterling for his birthday and not only does he love them, but Hudson does too.  Best of all, I LOVE them because it's not too messy.  All it takes is water and these little things stick together like glue.  FABULOUS!

 I put the water in medicine cups so minimize spills