Friday, December 4, 2009

Snow Bunny!



It's SNOWING!!

Video and pictures to follow. We're going out to play right now!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

What a Week!

Thanksgiving week started out with Madeleine having to get glasses. The princess was NOT happy...until she found out she now got to shop and try on accessories! I think she looks cute in glasses! I'm just thankful it happened on a week she was off from school. She's had a week to get use to them so hopefully Monday won't be such a big deal when her classmates see her. She's afraid someone will make fun of her. Why are kids so mean?

On Tuesday, I decided I HAD to make a Thanksgiving banner. I couldn't do it the easy way with paper and my Cricut...I had to make a pattern, cut the fabrics and then I embroidered EVERY letter. I finished Wednesday night. My sweet hubs hung it up for me. I think it turned out cute.

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful. We were very thankful to have all of David's family here along with my parents and my Aunt, Uncle and one cousin. We had fried turkey thanks to Glen, David's brother. David cooked a turkey in a hole in our backyard. YES, you heard me correctly. He calls it "garbage can" cooking. You dig a hole and fill it with hot coals. Then you put some type of metal covering over the hole (garbage can lid). He uses a large wok a friend made him out of a stainless plow disk. Then you cover it with a metal pot or garbage can and put hot coals around the bottom and some on top of the pot. It's basically a dutch oven. It takes a while to cook, but the bird was very juicy and moist. I made a ham (I'm not a big turkey fan) with a brown sugar glaze. We had tons of side dishes and desserts. You don't go hungry when you mix some Cajuns and Germans!

After dinner, the games come out. We love to play board games. This time, we had a blast playing a game called The Game of Things. It was so fun. You can really learn about people you thought you knew with this game. Glen had us rolling with some of his answers.

Friday, we spent recuperating. No Black Friday shopping for us. I can't stand crowds. The savings just aren't steep enough to drag me into a crowd of frenzied shoppers.

Saturday we went to Glen's fishing club for lunch and some fishing. Nothing was biting, but we had fun just visiting and watching the girls play with the bait worms. I shudder to think what boys would have been like!

Since you made it this far I've got a giggle for you. As you know, David's family loves to laugh and do silly things. Well, my SIL has outdone everyone this Thanksgiving. This is her Thanksgiving attire...


Now let the Christmas madness begin!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Handy Girls

I think I've got 2 engineers in the works...



I found them taking apart their rocking chair. They accomplished something most men can't....they put it back together without any extra parts!!

First Earache

M had her first earache last week. She woke up Sunday morning in extreme pain. (Why is it kids only get sick on the weekend?) Monday morning we got her in to the doctor and she was surprised that her ear drum hadn't burst. After a day on antibiotics, the pain was gone but the stuffiness in her ear has lasted a week.

I know she didn't feel good, but man, she is a drama queen! She laid on the couch or in my lap and moaned for 2 days! When I say moaned, I mean moaning like a woman in labor!


I love my little DQ!

Trick or Treat Trail

We decided to brave the crowds this year and attend the city's annual Trick or Treat Trail. It's usually held at a local park along the wooded walking trail, but because we had a ton of rain, they moved it to the high school parking lot. It was nice. I wish they had it here every year. Normally, you park at the high school and they take you to the park by school bus. This is why we haven't been before. This year, we parked on one side of the stadium and walked to the other side for the trail.


A bunch of local businesses had booths and handed out candy. There were costumed mascots walking around (which M&K hate!), games, food and buckets of fun. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Halloween

I did it again...I waited till the last minute to get the girls costumes. I normally try to persuade them to get something "cute" or coordinated." This is what they came home with when David took them to get costumes.


Spiderella (notice the straight hair!) and Super Girl



They loved their costumes. They still put them on and wear them around the house!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

She's a Star!

Madeleine's picture is going to be in the local paper! They snapped a picture of her reading in the library. She is so excited.

Keep your eyes out for my little star!

Whine Flu

It's an epidemic at our house!

After battling the H1N1 flu (Madeleine, Kaitlyn and then David!) my dad ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks with an irregular heartbeat. I spent a lot of days at the hospital with my dad and driving my mom back and forth. I thank GOD for David every day of my life! He really stepped up and became a single parent during the time my dad was hospitalized.

Now, Madeleine has a really nasty ear infection. The doctor was surprised that her eardrum had not burst. I know she was hurting and I was all over it...cuddling, sleeping with her, babying her...but now....sheesh! She's not in pain any more, no more fever, just the constant WHINING! She wants me to sit right next to her ALL DAY. I love my baby, but she knows how to work the drama queen gene!

I NEVER thought I would say this, but hopefully, she'll be back at school tomorrow!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

I'm sick of the flu!

It all started with M. Saturday, she started complaining of her throat hurting. She'd been having seasonal allergies, so I just figured it was irritated. Sunday morning, she woke up with 102 degree fever. I called our pediatrician's office and the doctor called me back in about 10 minutes. I explained her symptoms and luckily she called in a prescription for Tamiflu. After 2 doses, her fever was gone and she was acting like herself.

By Sunday evening, David was sneezing and complaining of a headache. He still sounds all stuffy, but he hasn't had any fever. Then this morning, David called me while I was at the grocery store and told me Katie was running a fever. Lovely! The doctor had given us a prescription for Katie incase she started showing symptoms. She's only had a fever of 100 degrees. I hope this is the end of it. I've been washing my hand so much they are raw. I walk around the house with Lysol and antibacterial wipes. We are living in a steril zone!

Stay healthy!

Friday, October 9, 2009

So Proud!

Madeleine got her report card yesterday. She got all "E's" in her math, work habits, and language arts/reading. She knows all her letters, both capital and lower case, and all her sounds. She knows them now, after the first 6 weeks, this is only expected by the end of the year. She also could read 23 of the 26 high frequency word they are expected to know by the end of the year. She really knows all of them because she read them to me from her report card!

I'm most proud of her reading level. At the end of the school year, to go to first grade, the kids are expected to be reading at a level 3-4. Right now, the first 6 weeks of school, Maddie is reading at a level 8! I'm so proud of her. Her writing level is at level 4 out of 5.

BUT...her handwriting is atrocious! She got all "N"s in handwriting. The school district used D'nelian handwriting and Little Miss M finds it much easier to write fast. We are working on slowing her down at home and practicing handwriting.

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my eldest. I'm so proud of her and hope she continues to work hard and always enjoys learning new things.

Hug a kid today!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Cuteness!


After picking up Madeleine from school today, we went to the pumpkin patch with our friends, Jennifer and her daughter Rose. We needed to get a few photos of M for her school project.



We had to come home early because M was having a "brat attack" as I like to call it. Once home, her attack spread to Katie, so they were banished to their rooms to clean. (Hmmm...sounds like Cinderella)


This is how I found Katie . Fast asleep...with a super messy room!

Just Fishin'


September is a busy birthday month for the LaCombes...M, Parrain, Uncie Monkey and several anniversaries. To celebrate Parrain's (Glen, David's brother...parrain is french for godfather. He is the girls godfather so that's what they call him)birthday, he invited us to his fishing camp.



He is a member of a private fishing club and he rented the clubhouse so we could eat and sit in the AC. Right across the drive is a little house that is out over the water. The inside of the house is a big square hole that is open to the water. The girls fished inside the house most of the itme.

After fishing for about 15 minutes, Katie caught a fish! She was excited and afraid at the same time. Luckily, her cousin Corey was right next to her helping and he took the fish off the hook. After that, both girls decided it was more fun playing with the bait worms! They spent the rest of the day making the worms their pets!

We had a great time and can't wait to go back fishing again.

St. Andrew's Pumpkin Patch


Katie and I stopped at the annual pumpkin patch at St Andrew's Episcopal Church for some photos. She was getting into posing and picking out the perfect pumpkin. As we were leaving, she spotted another area they set up for photos. She ran over, jumped up on the bale of hay and proceeded to fall in a hole (not unusual for her...you will notice her black eye in her photos...more on that later). When she lifted up the hand she caught herself with, she had a quarter in it.

That girls can literally find money in a haystack! We can be anywhere and she will find money. I think I need to start leading her into finance!

Now, about the black eye. Last Sunday, we decided to give St. Andrews Episcopal another try. Well...they leaft a mark on our family. About 10 minutes into the service, Katie slipped off the pew and bonked her cheekbone on the pew in front of us. It immediaetly swelled up and by the time we got home was a pretty blackish-purple color.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Mission Accomplished!

After about an hour of letting Madeleine & Katie "ride" their bikes without the pedals...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

David put the pedals back on their bikes last night. We figured we would still have to push them and then have them coast with their feet on the pedals, but those 2 had a different idea. They got right on and started pedaling all around the cul-de-sac!


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Pure joy and elation!

2 girls

2 bikes

0 training wheels


PRICELESS!







I was fortunate enough to capture the look of joy on Madeleine's face the first time she rode across the street.


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

It's starting already!?

This morning while Madeleine was brushing her hair and getting ready for school she says in a dreamy voice..."I want to find a boyfriend who likes me for me."

WHAT?
What did you say?

She then proceeds to explain to me that she wants to find a boyfriend who likes her for who she is (I'm super glad for that!), so I ask her what's a boyfriend? She tells me it's her friends who are boys, but they only want ONE THING.

WHAT?
What did you say?

I ask her (very calmly I might add) ,"What one thing do boys want? {holding my breath}

Madeleine rolls her eyes at me like I just crawled out from under a rock..."To play chase at recess Mommy! That's all they want to play!"

WHEW! We dodged that bullet for a little longer!

Monday, August 24, 2009

First day of Kindergarten

Yikes! I can't believe my little girl started kindergarten today. When we got there, her teacher greated us at the door and asked her name. I answered Madeleine. The teacher leaned down to Maddie (who wants to be called Madeleine now!) and said
"Mad-e-LINE , you can go find your name tag and color the picture at your seat." My shy child answered ," Yes Maam, but my name is "Mad-e-lyn". I couldn't believe it! Her teacher probably thinks she some snarky kid now.

Aside from the name issue, I'm so proud of her. When we walked her to her classroom, she went right in and found her seat and started coloring. No tears (from either of us!) except from Katie after we walked out of the room. It was so sweet, she started crying that she was going to miss her sister.




When we picked M up, she first said that she had a great day. A little while later she said that she doesn't like her teacher because she's mean. She didn't let M play in the classroom at all. I hated to tell her that she's at school to learn and work, not play all day. We will see how tomorrow morning goes. I may have to push her out of the car!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Gymnastics

Just a short video of the girls last day at gymnastics. Sorry about the noise in the background...I haven't figured out how to edit a movie and add music.
This is the girls' favorite part of class!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Life Lesson #1

Hard work =REWARD
Happy Girls

The girls learned today that hard work earns them rewards. We've been instituting a new chore system/reward system. They have set chores they must complete daily. When they complete a task they earn a smiley face. At the end of the week, if they have completed their "job" they get a reward.


The last few weeks, I've really felt like I've had to nag them to get their jobs done. I was getting frustrated and ready to just do their jobs myself. But my 2 precious girls really surprised me today. While I was on the phone with my aunt (HI Ber-Ber!), they took it upon themselves to go into the laundry room, get the clothes out of the dryer and fold ALL the towels! By themselves...without me nagging! I couldn't believe it. They even put them away without me asking. I guess our new system is making a difference.


I decided to really reward them to make a point of their taking the initiative to do a job without me telling them to. So...we went to Build A Bear. They LOVE build A Bear! I'm ashamed to say that between the two of them we have about 15 different animals from there.


Any way, they each picked out a dog, an outfit and shoes. Katie came home with a Jack Russell Terrier (it looks like our Maggie) and named her Fancy. Maddie chose a Border Collie (like our Harley) and named her Kaylee. Maddie's little dog ended up with a polka-dot bikini and purple flip flops! Katie's little Fancy got a pink floral dress and matching sketchers.

As I sit here typing, they are currently playing with all their build a bears happy as larks.

Life is good!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Monday's Memory

Today, I'm keeping a friends daughter for a while. While I was trying to figure out what to do with them, Maddie found my pet rock Rocky.

Rocky is about 30 years old and was given to me by one of my favorite cousins, Tony. Rocky has traveled with me from Alvin, to my desk at EC Mason, to Lubbock and now back to the Gulf Coast. He now sits guard at our front door. Everytime I look at him, I have such fond memories of my childhood and my cousin.


So, what did the girls do? They painted their own pet rocks!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Out of the mouths of babes...

My SIL bought the girls' a DIARY today. This is the conversation I had with Katie tonight.

Me: "Katie, are you writing in your diary?"
Katie: " No Mommy. I need you to unlock my Diarrhea."

Me: "Umm, Katie, I think you mean DIARY."
Katie: NO Mommy, it's called a DIARRHEA!"

The girl is adamant that it's called a Diarrhea.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Great Week!

David & I celebrated our 7th anniversary on Monday thanks to our niece Ashley. She so kindly (and bravely :-) volunteered to watch the girls for us so we could have a date. We are so boring, neither one of us could think of anything "out of the ordinary" to do. How sad is that! LOL!

We ended up just walking around the Galleria for several hours. We had the BEST time! We laughed, walked hand in hand, talked and just really enjoyed being together. It was the best anniversary yet. We are at the Cheesecake Factory, YUM!!! If you get a chance to go, make sure to try their pineapple upside-down cake cheesecake...it is divine!

After that, we headed to the movies. I've been wanting to see Harry Potter, and my wonderful hubby suffered through the 2 1/2 hour movie just for me. What a hubby!

He also surprised me with a new computer for my craft room.

I am soooo fortunate to have such a thoughtful, loving, funny man as my husband. How did I get so lucky?

My neice decided since she was going to have to come back on Wednesday to pick up her mom, she just stayed with us for several days. It was so nice having her around. The house is going to be kind of quiet without her here! Love you NeNe!!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Responsibility & The Little Messes

Well...a new era is beginning in our household. The girls have always had little chores they had to do, but we are finally going to a full blown chore chart. I sat down tonight to design what I think will work for us. I've come up with 7 chores that the girls will be responsible for each week.

They are: Make your bed (with help), set& clear the table, help with dinner (M only), collect trash (bring down their trash cans 2X week), pick up toys & books, help fold towels and help dust.

I've printed out the chores on cardstock, orange for Maddie and yellow for Katie. I also printed some of them multiple times. For example, because I want them to make their bed every day, I printed 7 tags for each girl. The "help dust" tag was only printed once for each girl since we will do this once a week. Make sense?

I ran them through a laminator (for durability) and then through my Xyron machine using the magnetic adhesive to turn them into little magnets. The girls will get to put their color magnet on the chart each day when they complete their chore. Our week will begin on Monday, and on Sunday, if they have completed their chores, they will be able to choose a special treat coupon. I found the coupons here and printed the ones I wanted to use.

My goal is to begin introducing an allowance after a couple of months. These first few months, I really want to push the idea that the girls are necessary and valuable members of our household and they help keep things running. We all do things to help one another whether we like the chore or not. (ie...I HATE to put away the folded clothes!)

Any ideas? I hope I can make this work!

Wish me luck...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Three Musketeers

Had to share this picture from Mackie's visit with us. The girls had a blast playing in the water all weekend!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Cousins

David's cousin Nicole and her family recently moved to Houston from Louisiana, or as David calls it "The Mother Land." We are so happy to have them close by and in our lives now. It's amazing how much our two families have in common. We look forward to many hours spent with them!
Maddie & Katie are sooo happy to have met their new cousin! They finally have someone their own age to play with in the family. Katie & Mackie's birthdays are only a couple of weeks apart.


I've got some pictures of their visit with us this past weekend and will get them posted sometime this week. (as soon as I can get on David's comuputer!)

Julie

Friday, July 10, 2009

Cajun Cousin

I have been invaded by cajuns! David's Aunt Clarisse is coming to stay the weekend wth us. She is bringing her oldest granddaughter Mackie with her. Mackie is a couple of months younger than Katie. The girls are looking forward to having her spend the night!

I will post pictures of the weekend's events later!

Have a great weekend.
Julie

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Julie's Craft Cave

I've created a new blog just for my crafty enterprises. Go by and visit and see what I'm up to!

Julie's Craft Cave

My First Card Creations

As most of you know, I love to scrapbook. Recently, I've gotten interested in making my own cards as well. (Thanks Rachel & Tony!) I'm finally ready to unveil my first 2 creations!


I am finally venturing out of my comfort zone and using some stamps and I just bought a Cuttlebug for my birthday. I love using the different texture plate. You can see on the Popsicle card I used the "Swiss Dot" embossing plate for the bottom part of the card.
I'm liking making cards to send to friends and family! I may have found a new hobby. (just don't tell David I'll need more supplies!)
Have a great week,
Julie

Friday, June 26, 2009

Gymnastics

This summer, I've signed the girls up for a gymnastics class at a local gym. I've been very impressed with what they are learning. They are learning the basics of the balance beam, various forward and back somersaults, the uneven bars, cartwheels, and different things on the trampoline. I started to sign them up for 2 days a week, but wasn't sure what they would be doing. Now I wish I had registered them for 2 days! We will definitely be signing them up for lessons after this session.
Maddie walking backwards on the balance beam
Katie practicing a forward roll on the balance beam

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Hubs. I can't imagine my children having a more perfect Daddy. We love you to the purple and back!


What Makes a Dad
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad
Author Unknown

Madeleine Marie & Daddy



Kaitlyn Rose & Daddy

Monday, June 8, 2009

Splish Splash

This morning the girls and I went to the splash pad at the park by our house. We had a blast! The girls ran and played nonstop for 90 minutes. I think this is going to become a regular event this summer.



Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Summer School

Last Tuesday was Maddie's graduation ceremony. It was so cute. They performed a musical about Noah's Ark. Miss M was a tiger (go figure!) I've got a cute video I will post later.

She had school the rest of the week and on Friday I made Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes for her class. When we put Maddie in school at Good Shephered our only goal for her was to get over her attachment to me. We got so much more. I am so thankful that the teachers helped her build her confidence. She is not only a more confident child, she is reading really well, she tells time and loves counting money.

I have planned to continue her education this summer. I am using a 1st grade curriculum to continue her reading growth. We are also working on some tougher math concepts as well as incorporating science and social studies. One biggie is her handwriting. She learned to print using the standard font. Our local school district uses De'Nelian handwriting, so I'm working with her to relearn how to print.

Katie is also getting an "education" this summer. We are working on her writing (she's finally decided that she's going to be a righty), counting and writing numbers to 100. She surprised me the other day in the car by counting to 100 by 10's! She's also participating in our science and social studies lessons. I'm so lucky my girls like learning. Every morning they ask me, "What are we doing in school today!" (Can you tell I want to home school them!?)

I am so proud of my girls!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Where've we been? Sea World!

Last Thursday, we left home at 5:30 am and headed to San Antonio. We arrived at the Sea World gates around 9:30. The girls were so excited.




They both agreed that the first thing they wanted to do was feed the dolphins in Dolphin Cove. I was so surprised that Maddie, my little scaredy cat, would touch the fish much less touch and feed a dolphin. She jumped right in and started handing out fish to the hungry dolphins. Katie couldn't wait her turn. We probably spent 30 minutes feeding and watching these amazing creatures.

Next door was the coral reef aquarium. We could sit and watch the fish for hours. They are so relaxing. Here are a few of my favorites.










Then we headed to see the Shamu show. Unbelievable! I can not believe these HUGE majestic creatures can propel themselves so high out of the water. We were sitting in the splash zone, but managed to avoid getting wet. The people sitting in the row ahead of us were not so lucky!
Next was the Viva! show with the dolphins and Beluga whales. I enjoyed this show. It is kind of like Circque du Soleil with fish. The high divers were breathtaking.


We took a break after that and let the girls play at Shamu's Happy Harbor, a playground and splash park for the kids. They had a blast cooling off. Katie crawled all through the net tunnels and ship. I was a nervous wreck trying to keep an eye on her! That's my monkey girl...


We rounded out the day with the walrus show. This was David's favorite. It was a cute comedy sketch. I missed the end of it because Miss Katie had to run to the potty. All in all, we had a great time at Sea World and will be going back again this year.


The rest of the weekend was spent in San Marcos with David's brother, his family and David's sister and her husband. We were there to see our niece Lindsay graduate from Texas State. Way to go Linny! We are proud of you! It was nice getting to spend some time with everyone.
While in San Marcos, we hit the outlet malls (did you think I would pass that opportunity up!?!) and rode the glass bottom boats at Aqurena Springs. It sure wasn't like the theme park I visited as a kid. I remember seeing the underwater mermaid show, Ralph the swimming pig, and riding the "Sky View" over the lake. Now, the park is owned by Texas State University and they have turned it into a natural preserve and aquaculture study center. They do still operate the glass bottom boats though. We did enjoy taking a ride on the boats. The girls squealed every time we saw a turtle!

After all that fun, we are glad to be home! Although, I'm still trying to catch up on laundry...





Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Happy May!

What a busy month this will be. This Friday, Maddie's school is having a Mother's Day breakfast and program. I can't wait to see what my little sweet pickle has in store for me. Next week is her MUD day (most unusual day) at school. It's basically a water play day. They've rented a HUGE water slide for the kids. I should get some good pics of that. Then we have her graduation ceremony which makes me a little sad. Then school is out.

We are suppose to be heading to Sam Marcos and San Antonio next week for my nieces graduation from Texas State. We are considering no going because the swine flu has shut down quite a few of the areas schools. What do you do...possibly expose yourself or live like a hermit?

I'm hoping to get some scrapping done this week. I'm making a flower centerpiece right now to use for Teacher Appreciation week. Some of the other mom's and I are getting lunch for the teachers at M's school.

Well, gotta get back to the craft room while I can!

Have a happy week!
Julie

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Spring Pictures

Maddie's school has a wonderful photographer come in twice a year to take pictures of the kids. I was so happy with the shots she got of the girls. It is unusual for M to smile for a strange photographer, but she had her laughing! K was the stubborn one this time.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Creating Keepsakes Convention

Saturday was the first time I've attended the CK Convention. I had a blast! I volunteered to work as a TA so that I got free admission and received a $30 gift voucher to use at the CK booth. I had so much fun. I ended up helping one of the big scrapbooking company instructors. The first class I worked was called Expand It and the class made 4 scrap pages that were very interactive. The papers were beautiful. The next class was an SEI Scrapbook in a box class. The same instructor, Val, taught both. The Scrapbook in a Box class attendees received a HUGE box filled with a 12X12 album, and 2 8X8 albums. There was also 20 coordinating papers from their Poppy line, coordinating stickers, die cut tags, alphabet stickers, ribbon, brads and a keepsake box! It even came with digital scrapbooking software. This kit has over 200 pieces in it.

When it was time for my shift to be over, I was talking with Val, the instructor, and she told me to go get myself a box (YES! The big box from the album class!) The box alone cost over $100. I couldn't believe it. She also gave me the kit from the other class.

With my $30 voucher, I got an 82 foam stamp set and a CK all in one scrapbook kit.

I also bought myself a Glue Glider Pro and some extra adhesive, some stickles, some inks and felt borders. I also got talked into subscribing to Creative Keepsakes for 2 years! All in all, I had a great time. I learned a few things and look forward to next year!

Happy scrappin'!
Julie