Bruce Almighty: August 2014

Matthew's First day of 1st grade

Matthew started school on Monday, Aug 18th. It was hard getting back to the new early schedule. No more sleeping in! We went into the classroom with Matthew and he seemed excited and ready to learn. He knew the drill. He recognized some friends from his kindergarten class or from his after school program. His new teacher is Ms. Tehan. Matthew says that her mom, Mrs. Tehan comes for treats sometime. She showed up Friday with popsicles. During the week, Matthew came home with addition exercises and handwriting exercises.

Audrey had a good week. She had a dance class on Tuesday - it's been 2 or 3 weeks since she had one. Audrey's end of the year party was on Thursday. And then she was out of school on Friday. She will start her new classroom on Monday. We are excited to learn that she will have Mrs. Andersen. Matthew had Mrs. Andersen and really enjoyed her teaching style with tons of arts and crafts projects and fun events like a dig for dinosaur in the sandbox, teddy bear picnic, and dress up pictures. Audrey went into her room a couple of times this week for transition and she squealed with excitement at the princess costumes.

1st day of school

On Wednesday, Matthew lost his front tooth

Audrey's party on Thursday

The week of Aug 11th

It's crunch time to get ready for school. We spent the weekend buying Matthew new school uniforms so he will be ready for his first day of school. Audrey will also need uniforms since she will be moving up into the level 3 class soon. Andy and I talked about taking one last trip this weekend before the summer ended but we decided to stay home because we had so much to do. I printed all the school calendars to keep track of all the dates. I bought Matthew a calendar for his closet and I wrote all the important dates on it so Matthew could read it and figure out which day is a jeans day so he can dress himself. Andy took Matthew to run some errands and I took Audrey to the Grapevine Mills Mall. I bought her 4 pairs of shoes for going back to school. She was a good shopper, as long as I kept her fed (chic-fil-A for lunch & pretzel in the mall) She's my mini-me.

Matthew's friends invited us for an event for all the boys- ice skating at the Galleria. Matthew didn't want to ice skate and I wanted to take a nap with Audrey so we just showed up as it was ending. Matthew and Audrey just wanted to get an ice cream and watch the ice skaters from a distance. That worked for me!

The week of Aug 4th

We are trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer before Matthew starts school on Aug 18th. He has been having fun at summer camp at Bent Tree. He has been to the pool, aquarium, and parks. His best friend, Justin, is in the class with him. And his teachers are the same ones from his pre-K class. I asked him if he wanted to stay home with me last Friday but he wanted to go to school. It makes me feel good to know that he is enjoying it.

After another week of the sinus cold, I took Audrey to the doctor on Saturday. The doctor said it was just a cold but it seemed like a long one. I was thinking it was strep throat but she didn't test positive for that. The boys went to the grocery store while Audrey and I went to target. I bought Audrey hot pink cowboy boots. She wore them to church with her dress and she looked so cute. I will have to take a picture of her wearing them.

The week of July 28th

The week started off good but toward the end of the week, I got a cold. We joked about visitors getting sick after visiting our house and then I am the one to get it. Audrey had sinus issues for a while and it was going around my office - I guess it was my turn. We didn't do much over the weekend because I started feeling worse. I took Nyquil Friday night and then when I woke up Saturday I felt woozy. We went to breakfast and the kids rode their bikes to the park. The weather was nice so we enjoyed that. We came back home and I had to lay down. I took a 3 hour nap! We didn't make it to church this weekend. I just didn't have the energy to get out at all.

The week of July 21st

I went to LA on Monday for a visit with NBCUniversal. We had a little fun with a quick tour of Universal studios after our meetings. I have to say that it felt odd to be there for business when there were so many families enjoying their vacation. Lori and Bryan arrived that Wednesday. I picked them up from the airport, then picked up the kids, and then went to Mi Cocina for tex-mex and Sprinkles for cupcakes. Lori took Matthew over to Emma and Sofie's house for Thursday and Friday. He had the summer of his life! They went swimming at the water park, horse-back riding, and roller skating. Matthew asked "what's next?" He had so much fun with the 6-year old twins.

On Friday, Nanna, Papa, and Michael came into town. We swam in the pool, watched movies, and went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday.

My coworkers in front of the City Hall from Back to the Future

I am standing in front of the set for Jaws

Matthew riding the horse

Hanging out with Emma, Sofie, and Connor

Audrey loves spending time with Uncle Mike and Roxy

Lori and Bryan having fun with the kids

Happy Birthday JoAnna

After our vacation, we were back to our normal work routine. My birthday was on a Wednesday but we decided to celebrate over the weekend. My coworkers gave me flowers, cookies, and a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. The weather cooled down so we enjoyed more outdoor activities than usual. On Saturday, we went to the Dallas Farmers Market and bought fresh vegetables. We ate lunch at the new Clyde Warren Park. It was the weekend for all things Dallas.