Happy Birthday Grandpa!

In a New York Minute

You need every one of those minutes when visiting New York! Sam and I went last weekend for a 3 day stay and were busy the whole time. We had never been, so we did our best to get around to all the sights and I needed a vacation when vacation was over! We had a good time, saw a lot of fun things, and even missed our flight back and were able to squeeze in one nice, slow dinner! The pictures are long, so I'll try to keep the words short.

Times Square - the first day of pictures are from the iphone. My camera battery was dead and I had to charge it that night. Not great, but at least we got some because we went to some great sights right after we landed and dropped our stuff off.

Rockefellar Plaza. The Today Show studio is surprisingly small, very very small.

Grand Central Station.

Remember this sign from Sleepless in Seattle? Top of the Empire State Bldg.

What's New York without a few trips on the subway?

Ground Zero. They are opening the new memorial on Sept. 11, 11. I can't believe its been 10 years. It was a humbling experience to actually be there and think of those huge buildings coming down and all the people who were killed that day.

New York Stock Exchange.

We walked along the coast wall to see the Statue of Liberty. We decided not to go all the way out to the island since time was short. The pic of me is the only shot we got of it.

The Famous Carnegie Deli and Radio City Music Hall. Yes, we did eat at Carnegie Deli. I wouldn't say it was very good, but the corned beef and pastrami sandwich was HUGE, and I suppose its the experience you go for.

The "Friends" Fountain! Ok, so this is the fountain in Central Park that everybody thinks is the one the show Friends is filmed around. So of course I had to go find it and take a picture, only to discover the fountain in the show is actually a studio prop... not even real! That's right. I guess as long as it keeps drawing thousands of people to it they'll let you keep believing its special!! :-)

Sam bought us awesome tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera. It was amazing! It has been Sam's favorite since he saw it in London, of course this one on Broadway did not disappoint.

Gotta get a hot dog from a street vendor in NYC!

The Guggenheim

The MET - Metropolitan Museum of Art

Family Pics June 2011

How do you define irony? Well, to me it goes a lot like this...

I have been waiting years to take a professional family picture. With 4 kids under 9 years, I was either pregnant, or we had an infant that would be hard to photograph. Even now, I debated waiting a little longer till Paige could run around and be more mobile. But I decided I had put it off long enough, so we made an appointment for a Saturday morning and I spent weeks shopping and trying to piece together decent outfits for everyone. Here's where the irony comes in-

Friday night Paige ends up sick with a tummy bug that had been going around. She started throwing up about 10pm and it continued till around 2am. Sam and I were exhausted from changing blankets and clothes all night, but for most kids it had been short lived and I really didn't want to cancel our appointment - who knows when I actually would have gotten another one?! So we all got up at 7 and got dressed. We were driving to the destination, and right before we pull in, Paige throws up all over herself. Because I tend to have this kind of luck a lot, I had brought an extra outfit. So I changed her real quick, and said "let's get this done." It didn't take longer than 30 seconds out of the car to realize the wind was hurricane strength. (ok, not quite, but you get the idea.) And on top of it all, Sydnee turned on her usual "I will not look where you tell me, stand where you tell me, or do anything that I don't choose myself" attitude.

So here we go, the pictures we were able to get with a baby who was miserable and sick, a three year old who is stubborn as can be, and winds that nearly blew us all over!

Kindergarten Finale

My Jaxy is done with kindergarten! He is so smart, and learned so much. He knows how to read, add, subtract, and many other things. I was very impressed with all he learned this year. His teacher, Ms. Bojko, won teacher of the year for Katy Schools this year. She was excellent! At the parent/teacher conference that I had with her this year she said "if all my students were just like Jaxson I would be set." She adored him, and he was an angel for her, as he seems to be for all adults besides me!

At the kindergarten celebration of learning, the students did a bunch of "plays." Jaxson had parts in three, and one was hilarious. He read them easily, and I enjoyed watching him in the classroom setting.

They still seem young in kindergarten. But as he heads into first grade, I am reminded how quickly he is growing up. I hope he continues to love learning and enjoy school!

End of 3rd Grade

It's strange to think Griffin Elementary was such a scary new school 9 months ago. I was really worried when we moved her. Katy is known for having some of the best schools in the state, and with so many foreigners that live here, the competition is really steep. Throw on top of that the fact that 3rd grade is one of the hardest, with learning multiplication and division and taking state mandated test, and I knew this could be a tough year for Shaye, especially in a whole new place. But these things have a way of working themselves out. Shaye did excellent. She had almost all As on every report card each six weeks. I say almost, because she had an 88 and 89 in math a time or two, but so close! Math was the most challenging for her, but the teachers were so helpful. They really work with the kids here and get them the extra help when they need it. Shaye learned more this year than any other year. I would echo everybody else's statement that Katy Schools are top notch!

Most of the students in Shaye's class were also going through their first year in Katy. Being the Energy Corridor that we live in, there are tons of people coming and going all the time.

The last week, they had a celebration of learning. It's what they do instead of a class party, and much more interesting! The kids all read a poem they had written during the year in their poetry unit. Shaye recited her's from memory, and I was impressed with her poetry skills.

The kids received awards for various things, and they also gave out 1 award each. Here is Shaye reading the award she choose to give. "It goes to an excellent mom for Being the best mom and for loving and caring for me. " I was very touched! She is always so sweet, I won't pretend she gets it from me... she teaches me a lot.

And here she is accepting one of her awards. She received three - 1. Honor Roll all year. 2. Excellence in art (she drew a picture that was chosen to go to the fair) 3. The one the kids valued the most because their classmates voted on them - Most Fashionable. Which is a perfect choice for my little hip chick! Again, I won't pretend she gets it from me!

Shaye had a long term sub for the first 6 weeks because there were more 3rd grade students than they had classes for in the beginning. So while the administration searched for a new teacher, they continued with class as usual. And when they did bring in someone, it was Mrs. Hughes. Shaye loved her. She was fun, sweet, and fun of energy. Very positive and a great fit for Shaye.

So on to 4th grade she goes, which I can handle for now, but 5th grade?? That will be a different story.....!