Is it Fall yet? September in review.

Once school starts and you are busy watching football on the weekends, it feels like the weather should be cooler. I guess in some parts of the world that is the case and the first day of Autumn really feels crisp and lovely. But we have learned to accept Texas for all of its flaws and the heat in September is one of them.

This month we earned money at a lemonade stand, went on a date with our friends the Martin's to a High School football game, packed our suitcases and pretended to board a plane with half of our playroom again and baked Pinkalicious cupcakes which caused Olivia to try her very hardest to turn pink, including eating 4 herself. Isabelle was awarded as the Summer Reading Challenge Winner for second grade reading close to 2000 pages in June, July and August and was quite pleased with her Barnes and Noble Gift Card.


Olivia continued to learn what it meant to go to school and got picked to fill the Share Bucket with some of her favorite things to share with her class.  Isabelle finally earned enough money to buy Saige, The American Girl, after we gave her a little money from an envelope we had from holidays past from Grandma Joan.  We felt like what a great use of the money since Grandma always loved dolls and Saige spends most of her time with her grandma.  It was a fun day when we traveled to The American Girl Store and brought Saige home for her first night.

Despite the (too) warm temps we kept busy with school, ballet, soccer and church and managed to sneak a few play dates in as well.  Now we are on to pumpkin pie and some of the most fun holidays of the year...and hopefully some cooler weather.

BeeNanza 2013

I am blessed with good women in my life. Not only do I have a great mom and sisters but I have cousins and aunts that are best friends as well. This September we hosted our annual Bee Trip right here in Houston, TX. My dad hit the road for Montana as the Bee flights began to arrive and we spent the next three days at my parents home laughing, eating, shopping, laughing, crafting, eating, shopping some more and having so much fun. We celebrated Gloria's birthday one day and then mourned with Tara turning 40 the next. We made new Bee necklaces, held our official Bee meeting with a tribute to the Queen Bee we lost this year, Grandma Joan, had a black shoe contest and shared each of our favorite things. We ate Mexican, BBQ, Kolaches, Bahama Bucks and even made a trip to the huge Bucees in Waller. The weekend flew by and sadly flights started departing rather than arriving but plans for our next reunion are already underway. I love these women and am so glad we have each other. Long live the Bees!

Preschool Days

Olivia wants to be just like her big sister. She is always trying to keep up with Isabelle, and much to my dismay, often seems to be not too far behind. We didn't send Isabelle to preschool at age three but Olivia was ready to go so we bit the bullet and registered her in a two day school program.

We had a bit of a rocky start as the original school I had selected did not leave me with warm feelings for my little Livi after 1 day, but we quickly made a move to a recommended school where Olivia spends her time now on Mondays and Wednesdays. There are 11 tiny 3-year olds in the Busy Bee class and two patient teachers, Ms Stephanie and Ms Mary. Olivia is always excited when it is a school day and comes home happy and exhausted. Her school days are long starting at 9:00am and not ending until 2:00pm but she gets to do science experiments, sing in music, cut/glue/paint and play at the playground twice a day. She takes her own lunch and always tells me exactly what she wants in it, but is happy with whatever I send. Ms Mary always gives me glowing reports on pick-up of her behavior and how sweet and smart she is and Livi is happy to hug me and her teachers both hello and goodbye.

It's hard to believe that my little buddy is a school girl already but it has been a great adventure so far for both of us.

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart. -Winnie the Pooh