The week of Jan 19th

We started off the week with MLK day. Matthew's school was closed and I decided to keep Audrey home, too. We were considering going out of town for the long weekend but it seemed like we always had something to do. We went to the "train" park but it was crowded with all the kids home from school. For lunch, we drove around in the car until something looked good. Matthew and I wanted corner bakery but Audrey wanted chic-fil-A so we got ours to go and ate it inside the chic-fil-A. Audrey played in the play area for a little while but it was too kid-like for Matthew so he stayed at the table and did his cross words from the corner bakery menu. We got my car inspection done and fixed the rock chip in my window. I was happy to get this one marked off my to-do list. We went to the grocery store and fixed dinner in time for Andy to come home from work. I record movies from the TV and we finished the day watching a movie. The kids were ready for school on Tuesday. I made a shrimp boil Tuesday evening and then went to the moms group general meeting. It was nice to meet other moms in the church. There are lots of volunteer opportunities and I can't wait to get involved (bake sales, going to the country's largest abortion clinic and praying outside, making meals for the needy, and bringing food to those that just had a baby).

The dog park opened across the street so we took Rusty there in the evenings. Matthew likes to throw the ball for Rusty to fetch in the water. The kids enjoy it just as much as Rusty!

The weather was cold and rainy during the week. I went to the moms meeting on Thursday and then out to lunch with my best friend from high school and her mom. Andy later mentioned that he thought I would be calling him more on the phone but I told him I was busy. :). I bought Matthew more uniform pants since he was outgrowing his so I hope I am done uniform shopping for now. I bought him tennis shoes online for the first time because I was driving all over town looking for gray, navy, or brown shoes with velcro in a certain size. We got them on Wed and Matthew is happy to have new tennis shoes.

Friday came soon since we had Monday off. Matthew had to wear the formal attire because it was mass for all the classes. They have it once a month. Andy helped him with the tie. Matthew was excited to wear a tie for the first time. He didn't understand why it had to go under the sweater vest. He looked so handsome!
Audrey enjoyed school and made a pretty pattern art project on Friday. I told Andy all the other kids had squares glued all over the sheet in mis-alignment but Audrey had taken the time to glue them in a neat, orderly fashion and used the most number of squares than anyone else. We are proud parents! LOL! She wanted daddy to take it to his office.

We ate dinner with Andy's best friend, Tom. It was great catching up with him after so many years.

On Sat, Andy joined us to watch Audrey dance. She requested buns in her hair since she saw another girl with them last week. We then went out to breakfast at Lola's diner in the Heights area. It was a great breakfast spot, fast and good. The weather finally warmed up with sunshine. I took the kids to Herman park so Matthew could get some exercise, too. What a park! We played on the playground, rode a little train around the park, and did the paddle boats. Later that night, we went to Andy's coworkers house for a dinner party. The kids enjoyed it too with lots of kids their age.

On Sunday, we slept in and enjoyed another beautiful day with 65-70 degree weather and sunshine. We rode bikes to a subway for lunch. We also went to the Houston Heritage park near our house and Matthew climbed a tree. Audrey saw a girl dressed up in a beautiful ball gown and thought she looked like a princess. I think it was a quincinera. There was also a man running for mayor in the park with people dressed up and a live band. It feels like anything goes here in Houston.



Dog park


Dog park


Matthew dressed up with his new tennis shoes



Audrey's ballet with buns in her hair


Snowcones at Herman park


Art display at Herman park



Finishing the New Years puzzle Sunday morning


Mopping the floor


Riding bikes in the park


Matthew climbing a tree

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Happy Birthday Andy and Audrey started a new school

Now that we had one week into the new routine under our belt, we were starting to get into a groove. However, Audrey was not happy staying home while Matthew was having all the fun at his new school. Everyday she asked me when I was going to find her a school. St Anne's did not have any openings for Pre-K 3 right now and we put her on the wait list for Pre-K 4 in the fall. Since she is a sibling, she will be higher on priority on the list. I spent some time filling out her application, finding her immunization records (after searching 4 boxes I found it!) and requesting teacher recommendations in order to complete her file. It was top priority for me last week. After submitting everything, I found out that Audrey was #6 on the list and that meant that she would likely not start until kindergarten. I was planning to keep her at home mostly with a part-time Mother's Day Out until the fall but after I heard it may be kindergarten, we decided to go with a different plan.
I toured a recommended daycare and loved it. They have live chickens and bunnies, a garden, and several covered play areas. Audrey couldn't wait to go! We toured the school on Tuesday and she started Wed in the part-time program. She was so excited to play with the doll house, dress up, and play outside. She misses her previous teacher and friends but she was happy to start a new routine here in Houston. I feel a little weird that I am a stay-at-home mom with no kids at home. But it's probably best for me to focus on the grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking while Audrey is learning and playing. Life has been so hectic for me that I could use some down time to get things done at home and volunteer at church. I went to a meeting at the church on Thursday for a mom's spiritual discussion. It was nice to meet other women and I had a lot in common with them having young kids, especially one at the school. It will be a great way for me to get involved in the community.

We started off the week with Andy's birthday on Monday. The weather was cold, typical for Andy's birthday. We ate king ranch chicken for dinner and cake from whole foods. We also made brownies. The kids made Andy a card and we gave him a few gifts. During the day, I cleaned and Audrey helped. We hung up a responsibilities chart and the kids like checking off tasks in hopes of a prize at the end of the week. We wrote some belated thank you notes from her birthday party in mid-Dec....just now getting to that! I took Audrey for a bike ride to do something because she was getting bored. She enjoyed the exercise and so did Rusty.
By Tuesday, Audrey was starting to get an attitude. It was clear she was not happy staying home all day. She begged me to go to the mall but I didn't go. We toured the school and then met Andy for lunch. We talked it over and once we agreed, I filled out the application and turned it in for her to start the next day. She was so excited to go on Wed and bragged to Matthew about the play areas, chickens and bunnies.

On Wed, Matthew's school got out early so he went with me to pick up Audrey. He was a little sad that her school had more play areas than his! We went to the park afterwards and the kids had a blast. They call it the train park and beg to go back all the time.
With Audrey in school, I was able to get some errands taken care of and catch up on the phone with a few people. I am liking this new routine. Audrey takes a nap at school so she comes home in a good mood. When she stays home all day, she fights the nap so she ends up cranky around 5pm (aka the witching hour). I bring snacks in the car for both kids and we have a couple of hours to spend together before preparing dinner for us to eat together. It's a smoother routine on the kids than our old schedule with me working. I thought Matthew would enjoy the after school program for just an hour to get to know more kids, but he is liking this down time with me and Audrey right now. That's fine with me. We hope to get him signed up for t-ball when the sign-ups come around for him to get to know the kids better.

On Friday, we had the routine down pretty good. I bought a bunch of used uniforms for Matthew so that was an accomplishment. I can't tell you how many uniform stores I have been to in the past couple of weeks. After school, we decided to tour a couple of houses that we were interested in and then we went to dinner afterwards. The kids did well, although they missed our family game night on Fridays.

I took Audrey to her dance class Sat morning. She wanted Matthew to come and watch her so he did, pausing from the iPad more often than I thought he would. We ran some errands trying to get new tap shoes for Audrey and new shoes for Matthew. We bought subway sandwiches and ate them at memorial park. What a nice park! Andy joined us and played soccer with Matthew. It was a sunny, warm day and we soaked it all in because it's been so cold here.

On Sunday, we watched the Houston marathon in front of our apartment and then we were off to look at houses again and out for lunch at a burger place. We went to mass Sunday evening and out to dinner at a casual kid-friendly place, Mia's. I'm sure we will be back there a lot.




Audrey got off the bike to pose for this picture.


Happy Birthday Andy!




Audrey giving Matthew a kiss










The train at Donovan's park



Audrey is playing at memorial park in her dance clothes


Andy is playing soccer with Matthew

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Matthew's new school

Everyone was eager for Matthew to start his new school to get acclimated into the church and community. Matthew had a nice break but he was getting bored at the apartment so he was ready to meet his teacher and new friends. Monday, the 5th, was a day of work for Andy but it was not a school day. The kids were bored. The weather was cold and rainy. We all wanted school to start! On Tuesday, we woke up early and took Matthew to school. I walked him to the classroom and met his new teacher. She was really sweet to Matthew and made him feel comfortable. He sat at his new desk near the front of the class. I wanted to take a picture but thought it would embarrass him so I didn't. He gave me a hug and he was ready to learn! Meanwhile, Audrey was with me the rest of the day. She wanted to know when she would start her new school. I needed time to research so I just told her that I needed to work on that. The whole week we asked Matthew about his new school, friends, and teacher and he enjoyed telling us about it. Meanwhile, Audrey was feeling left out. I took her to the mall one day to get out and meet other kids. I met my friend and 2 1/2 year old and Audrey had fun with her and riding the train and playing in a castle play area. She told Matthew where we went and he gave me the saddest look, "you went to the mall and rode the train without me?" I thought he had grown out of that! I picked him up from carpool everyday. He enjoyed it since he used to stay in after school care at his old school. He likes me picking him up early for a change. We are still getting the routine down but I usually cook dinner by 6pm when Andy comes home so we all eat together. The evenings are much smoother now that I am staying home. Matthew criedThursday evening because he was over-tired. This was the first we had seen this in a long time! It's hard starting a new school and I think it all hit him hard by Thursday. He went to bed and woke up early Friday morning and ready to go by 5am! Andy and I were still asleep but Matthew was fully dressed and ready. We let him play the iPad until time to go at 7:20am. By Friday evening, we were ready to celebrate that we made it through the week. We had a red plate night, something his kindergarten teacher started for special days. We also celebrated good news that Andy learned earlier in the week.

On Saturday, I found a dance place and took Audrey to try it out. She loved it! I signed her up and she will do that on Sat mornings. They have a recital with costumes in June. We went out for lunch and then shopping for Andy's birthday present. I made meatloaf Saturday and we went to mass Sat evening. On Sunday, we relaxed around the apartment with cold and rain outside. Andy was content watching the Cowboys game, although upset with the outcome. We went to the park and the kids enjoyed getting some outdoor time. Lastly, we went out to dinner for an early birthday celebration for Andy. It was a good transition week into our new life here in Houston.




The castle play area in the mall







Matthew helped Audrey spell her name with magnets on the fridge



Red plate night



Family game night- clue



Celebrating Andy's birthday early on Sunday evening


Christmas cards in our cupboard to see friends and family all year long

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Happy New Year!

We unpacked boxes and boxes and more boxes! The kids enjoyed helping unpack everything. It rained our first week in Houston. I kept saying "what kind of a welcome is this, Houston?"
We went to the store, made cookies, made a crockpot pork shoulder, and started a New Years puzzle. We did our house closing here in Houston and went to the galleria mall afterwards. My best friend from high school lives in town and invited us over for a New Years party. The kids enjoyed playing with her 2 1/2 year old and playing with all her toys. We had a nice dinner and met some new friends. It was a great way to ring in the new year!
We visited the park next to our apartment almost every day.
We went to mass on Saturday evening and then out to eat at a delicious Italian restaurant. We are excited to try new local restaurants. Rusty is still uneasy about the move. He isn't eating as much and he barks when we leave him alone. We have been bringing him in the car when we go places. We hope he will relax and get back to his normal self soon.
Matthew starts school on Tuesday and we are anxious for him to meet his new teacher and friends. We took a trip to the uniform store yesterday to buy new shoes and a new belt.



















Matthew is pointing at right way to get to the park.








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Merry Christmas 2014

What a busy week leading up to Christmas! After taking the kids to Houston to handoff to my parents on Sunday, Dec 21st, I took a plane back to Dallas that evening to prepare for moving. Andy and I enjoyed a quiet dinner together and then woke up early to eat breakfast together at Angelas before the packers arrived around 9am. I tried to put stuff in the right room so stuff would be packed in the same box. We had some stuff going into storage and some going into the apartment. The packers stayed until 3pm. Andy and I were exhausted even though we didn't physically pack anything. It was great having professionals do it! We will probably do this again the next time we move. The movers showed up at 8am Tuesday and they moved stuff into the truck until 5pm! We were anxious to get on the road to Houston, which was a 4 hour drive. We started the day telling the movers that we needed to be finished moving into the apartment by 3pm Christmas Eve in order to get to our kids in time to celebrate the holidays since we had a 2 hour drive from Houston to Victoria. Keith, the lead mover, assured us to relax that it would be done close to that time. We sat on the couch and watched our stuff get loaded and told them whether it was storage or apartment. When they took away the couch, we moved upstairs to an empty bedroom. Andy took a nap on the floor because he was so tired. Rusty was uneasy because of all the strangers in our house. We just tried to take it easy and let the movers handle everything. We drove to Houston Tuesday night and only stopped at Whataburger on the way. What a great tasting burger! We stayed at Andy's corporate apartment and we took showers to get all the dust off our clothes and went straight to bed. On Christmas Eve, we went to the new apartment and met the movers at 9am. The first problem was the big truck couldn't fit into the loading zone near the freight elevator. The driver figured it out an hour later. The freight elevator also didn't work so we were trying to track down people to get it working so that took time as well. But by 10am, we were unloading and moving in. I stayed in the apartment and unloaded boxes as they came in. Andy went to the store for some shopping for the kids and wrapping paper. My parents offered to wrap the presents but Andy really wanted to do it. He had some delivered to my parents house and he wanted to wrap them so the kids would have a nice Christmas. The movers made everything fit within 2 storage units at the apartment complex. We were worried it wouldn't fit and at one point, Andy was considering selling his big smoker to one of the movers. It is his passion and hobby! But luckily they didn't buy it and we kept it and it afterall! Andy rented a 3rd storage unit just in case but we didn't need it. The movers setup all the beds and the furniture. The only thing broken was the couch leg. The movers did a great job. We finished around 5:30pm and then headed to Victoria. We arrived around 7:30pm stopping at a Bucees gas station for gas and a couple of stocking stuffers.
The kids were excited to see us. They helped decorate the tree and put up Christmas lights. They went to Chic-Fil-A one day at lunch and saw one of Audrey's friends from school. They also played at the park and went to a play area at a Chinese restaurant. Nana, Papa, and Michael kept them busy. They tried to find Fred, the elf on the shelf, and walked Roxy. The weather was in the 60's and windy. Matthew picked grapefruits from Papas grapefruit tree in his backyard. Daddy read the Night Before Christmas book to the kids and as soon as they went to bed, Andy was busy wrapping presents. I thought he would wake me but he let me sleep. I was exhausted! Moving during the holidays is probably the worst timing an I hope we don't have to do it again. The next morning, the kids woke up early and excited to see all the new presents from Santa. The carrots and cookies and milk had been eaten. They started tearing through the paper before everyone could join. Matthew noticed that some of the treats in his stocking were from Bucees. Daddy assured him that Santa probably stopped there to feed his reindeer since they sold reindeer feed and to use the bathroom since everyone knows they have the cleanest bathrooms! We all giggled.
Thanks to all the grandparents for sending all the wrapped gifts. The kids loved opening them all. We ate a nice Christmas dinner and Lori as Bryan joined us. Papa said the prayer and asked that all the sick people get healed, when we asked who he was referring to he said there were too many to mention and we didn't want to be waiting too long to eat. We all laughed. Andy and I were happy to just relax and enjoy the family after the stressful move. Matthew enjoyed playing Clue, scrabble, Jenga, and monopoly junior with the family. Audrey and I made chocolate chip cookies and played with Barbie dolls and Barbie doll clothes. We went to the park and relaxed the day after Christmas. We then headed to Houston on Saturday to start unpacking boxes. Through it all, we remember God's love for us in sending Christ into the world. May we always remember the true meaning of the holidays.



Hanging out in Houston before going to Nanna and Papas




Moving day- Rusty was sitting on the movers blankets


The apartment living room just after moving in. We were happy all the furniture fit!


ho ho ho!














Matthew picking grapefruits


Matthew at the park


Daddy pushing Audrey in the swing

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The last week

This was the last week for Matthew at St Rita, the last week for Audrey at Bent Tree, and the last week for me at my work. It was bittersweet for all of us. The kids know we are moving but now it is sinking in since teachers are commenting on it more and giving last hugs goodbye.
Mimi came back to Dallas on Wed so she stayed with us Wed night and babysat for me since I had a farewell dinner planned. We took her to the airport Thursday to go back to Michigan before the snow hit.

Audrey had a Christmas party at school on Thursday. They sang songs in costume. It was so cute! Matthew had a party also where he made gingerbread houses. I started feeling sick Thursday and laid down for an hour and just prayed that I would feel better since this was a terrible time to get sick. I got up feeling much better.

On Friday, Audrey woke up with a low grade fever. What now! I gave her some medicine and she perked up so I figured we would just watch it and go to the doctor later. Matthew had a half day at school and I picked him up and ate lunch at our spot, Subway. He went back to work with me and helped me clean out my stuff. When we picked up Audrey that evening, the fever was back.
On Sat morning, the fever was worse and she got up during the middle of the night. I took them to the doctor first thing Sat morning and they both tested negative for step and flu. However, the doctor was concerned that the flu may be developing and show up on the culture test they send out and we wouldn't know until Monday. Given Andy's condition, we went ahead and started Tamiflu just in case.
Andy came back to Dallas and we tried to keep him separated from the rest of us. We packed up our stuff and headed to Andy's apartment in Houston. How weird is this, we stay in the apartment while he is in Dallas at the house! Andy was in Dallas getting the house ready for the movers. The plan is to take the kids to my parents so I could get back to the house for the move. We can't wait to be under one roof again as a family. Soon, very soon!










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Happy 4th Birthday Audrey

Every week is getting busier than the one before! On Wed, Dec 10th, we celebrated Audrey's birthday by getting donuts before school. She took some for her class to enjoy. During the middle of the night that night, Audrey woke up with a fever. I took her and Matthew to the doctor and she tested positive for step throat. Matthew was fine but insisted he was 'sick' so that's why I kept him home. I told him to out his school uniform on because I figured he would be well enough to go to school after the appointment but when I asked the doctor to write a note for his school, they couldn't because the computer system was only set up for Audrey's name since the appointment was for her. I just kept him home. It was easier that way. Mimi came into town later Thursday and the kids were excited to pick her up. Audrey started feeling better as soon as we started the antibiotics.

On Friday, we went to a live nativity scene at a nearby church. We go every year and the kids love it...face painting, petting zoo, cookie decorating, and play. We went to breakfast on Saturday Angelas and then on to the festivities. Audrey had a ballet recital at her school but she ended up napping in the car at that time so she missed it. We let her sleep since the more important event was yet to come- her long awaited birthday party. She has been asking about it since October. She woke up with lots of energy in time and had a blast at a gymnastics place with all her friends. They played frozen music and she wore her ballet outfit since she was wearing it for her recital that she never made.
And then on Sunday, we went to church together and took a nap because of the rainy weather and we were exhausted. Andy and Mimi headed to Houston. I dropped off Matthew at a birthday party at his favorite spot, Lil Ninjas, while Audrey and I went to a Miracle on 34th Street play at the Dallas Childrens Theater. Later that night we hosted dinner at our house for some friends. It was nice to have company over while Andy was gone.


Donuts for her special day



Ready for school with donuts in hand





Cookie decorating



Petting zoo




Holding baby chicks



Breakfast at Angelas





The birthday party clan

















Picture with Santa from Miracle on 34th street play


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