1st Grade Open House

For some reason I don't remember Open House being so crazy when I was a kid. Maybe because my perspective has changed but I remember Bell Manor having much more room to move around. Mom and Dad may have disagreed. In the main hall at Independence we were shoulder to shoulder and to top it off people would just stop in the middle of the hall. Hello people keep moving. William enjoyed himself though. He took us everywhere. He showed us around his room, down to the cafeteria and gym,back to the Art Room, on to the office and finally in the Library. Note I could not find the principal anywhere. It was a whirlwind. Especially with a two year old tagging along. Mrs. Parmley did a great job. She had the kids make basically a dummy of themselves to sit in their chairs. It was really cute. William pointed out a pilgrim he made that was in a display case outside the Cafeteria. He had to point out that he made it have blue eyes. Just like him. He is such a goof God Bless Him.

Take care,
Raye

"William" at his desk

"William" & William

In the boat in the Art Room

Vote!!!!!

Today is probably one of the most historically significant days in this country I have witnessed. The course of history changes today one way or the other. How exciting we have the opportunity to participate. I hope everyone gets out and votes today or has early voted. Always remember that the only vote wasted is the one not cast. And if you don't vote you can't bitch. Hee Hee. Even the boys have gotten into. William had mock elections at his school. They created voter registration cards and everything. Shayla has also done a great job talking to the young ones. She has a little election corner set up in the playroom. Jake can even say who the candidates are when he sees their picture. The other night when we watch the Obama special he said his name and this morning he saw John McCain on GMA and said his name. What cracked me up about this morning is he also said Republican when he said McCain's name. Mom I am sure you are proud. But he is getting raised in a much more liberal household than we were so don't get too excited. ;-) I hope everyone has a great day and get out and VOTE!!!!!!
Raye

Go Chuck!

Hey. Everyone has ambition

Ok. I am sitting here looking at these pictures about to publish and something just hit me. Could their shirts be a little more like what is going on right now? I so did not mean for that but wow. And I am not talking about good vs evil..........

It's Okay Mom, It's Not Real

Halloween was so much fun this year. Jake is finally old enough to really get into it. He kept beating me down asking for Trick or Treat as soon as I picked him up from Shayla's. William did great. There is one house where the dad dresses up in the skeleton thing and comes out of the shadows of the doorway to hand out the candy. Before William would not go near that house. This time he walked right up. Good for him. Granted it was not real dark yet. Lots of houses on our street went all out. I was taking pictures of this one house while Doug and the kids walked across the street. Apparently Doug had to explain some things were not real to Jake. That became the phrase of the night for Jake. As I crossed the street to join them Jake tells me "It's Okay Mom, It's Not Real". He can be so cute some times. I stress sometimes. Today I came in from the garage to find him using the tile floor in the kitchen as a chalk board. Unlike when he took a metal flashlight to the rear quarter panel of my truck he got his but busted. Ok back to Halloween. After we got done we were eating pizza and enjoying the night. Emily and William took over candy duty from Ethan. Jake wanted to help so we told Emily and William to let him. After he passed out his first candy he came running back to us yelling he did it and asking for a High Five. Again so cute. But keep in mind the car and the floor. Hope everyone had a great time!

Take care,
Raye

Random lights

Jake in his hand me down costume

The crazy trio

Houston Day 2

This morning was much better. Jake's breathing gets better each treatment and we are now down to only two a day. I think tomorrow will be one and then we should be done. Thank god. I need to make an entry on that experience by itself. Jake again was dry all day and even went number 2 in the potty. We had breakfast at Starbucks in the lobby and off we went to the Aquarium. I kept telling Doug that it looked familiar. Sure enough when we were at lunch we saw it was the same company that did the Denver Aquarium. How appropriate as it is a year ago this weekend we were in Denver. The boys loved the Aquarium. We did the exhibit and they had so much fun. This place has a white tiger exhibit. Go figure. An Aquarium with tigers. We ate lunch at the restaurant there. It has North America's tallest tank. They had rides for the kids so we got the all day pass. That worked out great as the boys got to ride things over and over. We rode the train that went through a shark exhibit, the Ferris Wheel, Merry Go Round and the Lighthouse Dive. The dive is one of those rides that bounces you up and down. Jake thought that was fantastic. He kept wanting to ride it over and over. Thanks to the passes they rode it tons. He and William would laugh and then scream. Jake is just fearless. At some point over the last week Jake has stopped calling William Bubee. He calls him simply William. It is adorable. We had dinner across the street at Fox Sports Grill and it was really good. Pricey but good. Tomorrow for breakfast it is on with the Beignets. I found a place up the street that touts to have them as good as Cafe du Monde. I guess we will see. It is back home tomorrow for Doug and the boys. I will be here another night as I am seeing customers on Monday. When I get home I will post all the pics from the trip. They are really cute. I even let some of the shots Doug took of me from behind stay and not get deleted. LOL!
TTYL,
Raye

Doug & William on the Carousel

Me & Jake on the carousel

The shark at the end of the Shark Express

The boys laughing on the Lighthouse ride

Me telling Doug to just stop taking my pic. The others are almost all deleted

Houston Day 1

We got her last night to the hotel about 8. The boys did great on the way down. Much better than I thought. I was still worried about Jake but his breathing is almost completely back to normal. He had a rough night but is great today. We got up and moving early. We got breakfast in a not so good part of Houston and headed to the Johnson Space Center. We got there right after they opened. We did not get to do the tram ride as these buses full or tourists keep the line too long to stand in with two small children. But that was ok. I will say I was a little underwhelmed. The exhibits were not much in ways of exhibits. The boys did have fun in the kids area. They played and got some energy spent. Our hotel is right across the street from the Galleria so we are going to check that out tonight. We can just walk across the street. Jake is for all intents and purposes is potty trained. Knock on wood. Except for a little accident during his breathing treatment about 30 minutes ago he has not gone in his pull up since Monday. He has been wearing underwear under his pull up. Of course as soon as he and I make a big ceremony about throwing away his last pull up he has an accident. Oh well. I will take it anyway. At least he will go in a public bathroom. That makes things much easier. I will post tomorrow and let everyone know how tomorrow goes.
Take care,
Raye

View from our hotel room - The J W Marriott

Doug sitting in the space chair thing

Kisses in the shuttle mock up

Jake, William and I in the Apollo capsule

Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. We took a picnic dinner and ate by the pond. The lone three ducks in the pond were so happy we were there. We walked around and looked at the pumpkins. They had bounce houses, hay mazes and all other kinds of stuff. Ethan didn't want to go so we left his happy butt at the house. We will go back when we have more time as we went later in the day and didn't have tons of time.

William and Me - Notice he is a true snaggletooth. He lost the other one!!

Jake and Me - I actually started rolling in the hay with him after this . It will take awhile to get the straw out of my top.

Emily, William and Me - I know don't faint I am in a casual pic with Emily

October 15th - Remembering Our Babies

In 1988 President Reagan signed proclamation declaring October Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. In 2001 the House of Representatives signed a similar proclamation and from 2001-2006 many states followed. Texas is included in those states. Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. So tonight at 7pm Doug and I will light a candle and remember Ryan and Parker. Not that we don't think about Ryan every day of our lives but there is some comfort knowing possibly a group around the world will be doing the same thing. So if you think about stop and say a little prayer of remembrance for Ryan and for those that knew him little Parker. And you might want to throw in their Mom and Dad too help us out a little. If you would like additional information on this check out www.october15th.com. This whole thing was spearheaded by a parent who wanted the world to understand the facts.
Much Love,
Raye