Turtle Tuesday

The 3 loves of my life!

I *think* these boys are enjoying their new house!

Starting Quarterback during his first Flag Football game. :)

Turtle Tuesday

I titled this one, Turtle Tuesday only because I don't really have Spring Break 2012 pictures. The first part of the break included Tara, Mike and the boys. They came to visit for 3 nights. The boys always have a blast with their cousins so their visit was a FUN start to the break! We went to play put-put golf, ride go-carts, went to a huge indoor jungle gym and swam in the hot tub. Three days later, we finally got a visit from the Simmons' and they stayed for 3 nights.  The kids went to the park twice in one day and the kids got in the hot tub every night. I wonder if my neighbors think I'm trying to cook the kids? I'm sure Kid Stew would be quite yummy? Especially with toes... ;) Cole and Reid were sad when Rylee and Parker left. It's crazy to me that they have been friends and in each other's lives since Cole was 1 day old and Rylee was 6 weeks old. Here are some random pics that I gathered from Joe's and my iPhones.

I hope everyone had a fun Spring Break! I am looking forward to my God Daughter's 1st Birthday party this weekend! :) Happy Birthday Reese!

I took them on a nature walk.  I love how Cole showed his little brother the worms he found. 

Looking for more. 

The worm hunter.

So high!

Heaven.

Heaven became a little richer when my Papapa arrived on 3/6/12. I am heartbroken because I'll never get to see my Grandpa's face again. I'll never get to listen to his stories again. Everything I have now, are memories.  Some of my favorite memories, were of me dancing on his shoes when I was little. He would let me stand on his shoes and he would take my hands and guide me on a waltz. As an adult, having a cocktail with him in his study and hearing the most interesting stories with Sinatra playing in the background. For the rest of my life, I'll think of Papapa when I hear "New York, New York" or "My Way". Or when I see an owl. He collected them and I'm hoping my mom will steal one from his collection while she's in Peru. :) I'm heartbroken for my Mamama and for my mom, my aunts and uncle. It's just such a sad part of life. Although I'm heartbroken, I'm also thankful. I'm thankful that he had a long and beautiful happy life with lots of family, friends and travel. I'm thankful that he didn't suffer as he took his last breath. And I'm so thankful that I went to Peru with Reid at the end of October. Cole got to go to Peru twice, so I'm glad Reid got a second chance to see his Great-grandfather before it was too late.

Papapa, I love you and I hope you know just how much we miss you!

Month One.

I am now writing from Dallas. We live in an area called Highland Village (28 miles northwest of Dallas) and so far- WE LOVE IT. We are so grateful that everything has gone so well thus far.  Our one little glitch, involved Cole and his school.  The school re-assured me that I didn't have to show up until the morning of his first day (just 30 minutes earlier). Being the planner that I am, I gathered my paperwork (birth cert, shot records, transcripts, house contract etc...) and headed to the school 2 weeks before we moved. I completed all of the paperwork and Cole was ready to start the Monday after his last day in Houston.  Monday morning, we took him to school.  He was super excited and anxious all at the same time. About an hour and a half after we dropped him off, I received a call from the Principal. He wanted to let me know that they had made a mistake and that Cole was zoned to a different school. I needed to pick Cole up and take him to the new school. SERIOUSLY? I was pretty upset at the fact that these people had 2 weeks to look over my paperwork and zoning to figure it out. Instead, I showed up to the school with a  smile on my face in order to make the transition easier on Cole. The Principal and I walked to his class and he pulled him out of class. He got down to Cole's level and said "Sometimes, adults make mistakes and we made a big mistake, Buddy. (and continued to explain)". Cole was just very attentive and shook his head like he understood. Then asked "You guys made the mistake, not my Mommy?" That made me smile.
We got in the car, and I took him to his new school. By this point, Cole seemed like a pro on first days of school. After all, he was experiencing his 3rd "first" day of Kinder. He was not the least bit anxious. Thankfully, his new school is also considered exemplary and he is VERY happy. We received his reading results and he is on a level 14. Which means he is on the high end of first grade/low 2nd grade level of reading.  We are so proud! This kid will actually pick up my phone and send text messages. He has sent text messages to Tara and Nana all without me knowing it.
He starts Flag Football March 24th and practices started this past Sunday. This seems to be a more competitive league. He cannot wait!

Reid and I are having fun hanging out. It's just me and my buddy all day. He really likes the one-on-one. My plan was to stay home with him a couple of months while we got our house in order (it's older and we have a ton of stuff we want to have done).  I also wanted to take advantage of the fact that he doesn't HAVE to go to school right now and we could spend the time.  I wasn't going to actively start looking for a job until March but ended up accepting a job offer only 20 days after our move. The wonderful thing is, that I don't start until April 2nd. I can't believe that I have 5 weeks before I start (from the moment I was hired).  It almost feels like the whole thing was meant to be. Amy (one of my BFF's that lives in Dallas) was in the elevator at work and met a man that asked if she knew anyone in the IT field that was looking for a job.  A couple of days later, I sent him my resume not really thinking anything would come of it.  The next day, I had an hour long phone interview. Then, a 2 hour panel interview and thankfully, was hired. I hate interviews more than anything in the world, so I'm glad I was done! Everyone in the office except for 2, are UT grads. So, my guess is that they will all be cool. ;-)

We have been very busy and having tons of fun! During the week we have been busy with the house stuff. We have had family and friends visit us every weekend. Loving it! I haven't taken pictures lately but here is one from my iPhone. We looked away for 2 seconds and this is where we found them. Oh and check out the link. It's a video of Reid riding down the hill.  Please ignore my very annoying voice.  :)

Reid's video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVSBcHtsj-A&feature=youtube_gdata_player