Independence Day

July 4th was full of friends and fireworks.  If only the afternoon rain would have held off it would have been a perfect day.  We swam during the afternoon when we could, and then headed to the Taggarts house for a barbecue and fireworks.  

Kim Peterson and Melissa Callaway

"Take my picture" she always tells me and then gives me her biggest cheese!

Stacy Richards and Andrea Martin

York Richards and Brandon Martin

Paige loved the fireworks.  She wanted to be out there in the middle with all the big kids.  We had to help her with the sparklers because she kept wanting to grab the flame.

Sydnee, on the other hand, spent most of the time in a chair or on Stacy's lap covering her ears and saying she wanted to go home.  I finally got her to hold a sparkler but when it let out a few sizzles she passed it back.

Sydnee goes to the DDS

Sydnee and Jaxson had a dentist appointment on Monday, June 25th.  It was Sydnee's first time to go to the dentist.  I took her to a pediatric dentist office called Kids Healthy Teeth here in Katy.  She loved it. The hygienist was so nice and did lots of fun stuff with them.

They brushed and cleaned the teeth on some animals first.  Sydnee got to use the tools and play with them a little.

Then it was her turn.  She did great holding still and getting her cleaning.   Her teeth looked great and her and Jaxson both loved their goodie bags full of cleaning supply, stickers, and balloons.

Splashtown

For Sam's company picnic this summer, they took everyone to Splashtown.  They provided barbecue, drinks, snow cones, and snacks.  Then you were free to play in the water park with your family.  It was a lot of fun.  I love water parks!  Sam and I took turns taking the big kids to ride slides and the little girls enjoyed playing in the pools and sliding on the toys available for them.  We all loved the lazy river!

This was all Jaxson's idea.  He wanted to ride the big slide, usually called The Edge.  Shaye wasn't interested, but Sam went with him and together they did it.

And this is where my heart about felt out of my chest because it looked to me like he was trying to raise his head up.  He swears he didn't and that he had his eyes closed the whole time, but I'm just glad it was over quickly to ease my anxiety.

Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day to the wonderful father of our family!  The kids gave him a new shirt for his upcoming deep sea fishing trip and made a poster with things they loved about him to present while we had a nice dinner with friends.

Jaxson had made this book at the end of school to save for Father's Day.

Dear Dad, I love you so much you are the best dad ever I wish I could see you all day long.

When my dad was a little boy he played.

My dad's favorite thing to wear is his shoes.

My dad gets really mad when I make a mess.

My dad really likes it when I pick up.

On Saturday my dad likes to play with me.

My dad's favorite place to eat is Lupe Tortillas.

If my dad won a million dollars he would spend it on a house.

My dad's name is Sam.

When I am at school he is at work.

Dance Recital

Shaye and Sydnee have both been doing dance this year.  Shaye took a hip hop class, and Syd was in a tap/ballet class.  The recital was on Saturday, and it was so cute!  Neither of the girls were ever very enthusiastic about going to their weekly dance class, but they loved performing and did a great job.

Sydnee in her tap costume.

Her ballet dance as second.  By that time she had really been bitten by the stage bug.  She did a lot more "acting" in her second dance.  She was shaking her hips and smiling and having a ball!

Shaye's hip hop dance was lots of fun.  She really got into it, you could see the attitude on her face while she was up there doing the moves.  They had one part of the dance where all the girls did a solo move.  Shaye threw her legs under her in a circle like a break-dancer.  It was really pretty cool!

Oh how Sydnee loved her flowers.  And this is the first trophy she has gotten.  She was very proud of her things and didn't want to let them go.  She carried all of it on stage with her for the finale.

Once again, living in Houston is great because family gets to come to these type of events.  All the other kids always had grandparents and large crowds, and now our kids have spectators too!  Even Jaxson with his blue candy lips thought the girls did a good job!

Memorial Day

We headed to Surfside Beach for Memorial Day this year.  As long as you go early, its a great day to go.  And the beach is always a sure bet when it comes to the kids.  They don't care if its full of seaweed or crowded, they have so much fun!  The big kids built sand castles and dug a huge hole to get in, the little girls played on at the edge of the water all day splashing in the waves, and everybody had fun swimming and visiting.

Making a path through the seaweed.

As always, Paige wasn't sure at first.  She didn't like the sand on her feet or the waves, but it didn't take long before she was venturing too far out and I had to keep bringing her back in.  My little dare devil!