Labor Day Landscaping

We had a great Labor Day weekend with Gramps coming down to visit.  After a great day of planning and football watching on Saturday, I put everyone to work replacing our patches of dead grass with something a bit more visually appealing.  It was a lot of hard work, and multiple trips to Lowes (we were eventually on a first name basis with the cashier in the garden section) for more supplies, but in the end, it really looks great.

Special thanks to Drew and Josh for helping with the staples for the weed-cloth, to Amber for her project management efforts to keep us on task and hydrated, and to George for his tireless work carrying stone and lava rock.  I couldn't have done it without any of you!

 

The before . . .

 

The after . . .

(waited ~3 weeks between pictures, hence the change in grass coloring)

 

 

First Day of School

Well, it is finally here (again)!  The first day of school for the boys arrived today, and with a new school year, brought a new school for both of them.  Finally, after two years at different schools, both are attending the same school (and on the same schedule!).  It is still hard to believe they are in Kindergarten and 2nd Grade, but they keep telling me that they are getting bigger, so I guess they have to keep going to higher grades.

Both had great days today, and are really excited about their new classes.  There are still a lot of things to get used to with new teachers, class rules, expectations and of course, the different schedule utilized by Midland Classical Academy.  Even with all these changes, we are looking forward to a great year!

Without further ado, here are the pictures you were really hoping to get to see!

Josh's classroom

Drew at his desk

Cub Scouts at CAF

Last week, Drew's Cub Scout den visited the CAF, Commemorative Air Force, hanger here in Midland.  Special thanks to Jason Cooper, one of our dads, for the special tour and experience of getting to see what it was like to be in the planes that were integral parts of WWII.

Everyone got a chance to sit in the cockpit of this trainer plane

Even dads!

Palo Duro Camping Pictures

Here are some of the other pictures taken from our camping trip, most of which were already sent out in my emails.

The boys by our camper

The view out our camper door - note "Mt. Wiggins" on the left

The boys at the top of Mt. Wiggins - that's our camper just to the right of Josh

The boys at the Big Cave

The boys at the start of the trail to the Big Cave

 

A panoramic view from just behind our camper

Camping at Palo Duro Canyon

As promised from my regular emails during our outstanding trip to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park, there were a number of pictures that didn't make the cut.  However, given the additional options afforded through a blog post, here is a sampling of the fun we had.

The Boys on our first "climb"

Enjoying the "super-moon" on Friday night

The "super-moon" on Saturday night

The "super-moon" behind a cloud on Saturday

Josh getting ready for our first zip-line ride

The view from the top of the zip-line

The zip-liners

Our Little Performers

The boys made their own instruments and gave us a moving performance of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  I missed their bow at the end, but it was ADORABLE!!  Enjoy!

 



 

 

 

Go Texas Tech!

 

 We got to go up to Lubbock in September for a football game.  The boys were so excited and it was great to get to share some of our history with them (and maybe a bit of their future...)  We love our Red Raiders!!

First Day of School 2013



Well, I'm a few days behind, but wanted to share pictures from our first day of school!  We've almost made it through the first week now and things are going great!  The boys both really seem to enjoy their new schools and teachers and are quickly adapting to their new schools.  Here are a few pictures from the obligatory first day photo shoot.  Enjoy!

 

 

Walking to school (Daddy went to work late so he could join us)

We ended our day with our traditional chocolate chip cookies in celebration of a great first day!!  

 

We're looking forward to a great year in 1st grade with Mrs. Blandford at Greathouse Elementary and PreK with Mrs. Hanson at First Baptist Child Development Center!