Another Genius Moment

I promise not to constantly brag on how smart I think my child is, but I am so proud and very impressed! The other day after picking the girls up from preschool, I was listening to Fox News on XM radio. Yes, I am a news dork - can't get enough! I guess I get it honestly since all of my family is the same way! Anyway, the girls were watching a DVD on their TV in the backseat with their headphones on - I can only listen to kids movies for a short amount of time before I start to go crazy! By the way, if you have not gotten into the headphone thing, I highly recommend it! It keeps me sane, especially on roadtrips. Back to the story. So all of a sudden, MM says, "Hey, Mom, I see fox." Not really understanding what she was talking about and wondering if she was talking about a fox on the movie, or on the side of the road (hope not), I asked, "What fox?" She pointed her long, skinny finger at the screen on my radio and said, "right there, f-o-x, spells fox!" I think I almost swerved off the road in shock. I started screaming and yelling about how proud I was of her that she was reading all by herself. She was so proud! I mean, we read books, work on words and letters and sounding them out, but that was the first time she (unprovoked) saw a word and sounded it out in her head and then read it! WOW! And I have her signed up for a reading class that starts next week - maybe I should ask for a refund! Ha - just a joke! We have a ways to go, but that is definitely a start in the right direction!

Happy Father's Day

I know this is just a bit belated, but oh well! I want to wish my dad, Sam's dad, and Sam a VERY happy father's day! These 3 men are the most special men in our lives and we are so grateful to have them in our lives. The girls love their Pop's - yes, they are both called Pop - more than anything in the world, well aside from Daddy! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, kind, patient (VERY), giving, fun, laid-back, and all the adjectives that can be used to describe a great person in Sam. Not only is he the man of my dreams, my prince charming, but he is also THE BEST Daddy I could ever wish for my girls. He is so sweet with his girls and I just swell with pride and love watching him interact with them. In their eyes, Daddy can do no wrong! He has some great examples though to follow! Thank you Dad, Tommy, and Sam for being such a positive and loving part of our lives! We (myself, MM, Anna) love you all very, very much!

Horse Show and Flowers

So sorry for the long stretches between posts the past several weeks. I only thought that we would be able to slow down during the summer, but between tennis camp, beach trips, horse camp, get-togethers,and work, we have been on-the-go non-stop! It is so sad to say that we have not even been swimming at the pool yet this summer!

This past weekend, as a conclusion to the horse camp, the barn hosted a Mini Horse Show for all of the little kids so that they could see how a real show would go, but without the hectic-ness (is that a word?) and chaos of a real show. They showed in 5 classes and they all got ribbons (whew!) and they all got 1st place in at least one class! I was so afraid of a meltdown if MM did not place, but thankfully that was taken care of (by suggestion of the parents). Oh, and let me just say that it HOT, not just hot, but miserably HOT! MM and I had to be at the barn at 8:00 that morning to shine up her horse. She had a ball! We were drenched with sweat and stinky and smelly, but MM was in heaven. She did so good and we were so proud of her! Here are the pictures with her ribbons and then with all the girls from camp. The video is of her actually showing in a class.

And a little sidenote, here is the final product of my hydrangeas that I was so excited about blooming. This was taken several weeks ago, so they are even bigger now.

Math 101

Sam decided a couple of weeks ago that he was going to start giving MM lessons in math (or at least addition) to give her a head start in school. Hre is a video of one of their lessons this week. She has really got the hang of it! I just love seeing her enthusiasm for learning! Hopefully she will always have that fire to learn. Our choice of math tools? Rocks! One of her favorite things to play with! Maybe Sam does have the same "teacher" genes as his mom and sister! He is a really good teacher and so patient with her.

More Tennis and Horse Camp and Movies

Tennis Star - check out that form!

3 Generations of Tennis Players

As you all know from a previous post, MM took her first official tennis lessons before we left for the beach. Well, SHE LOVED IT! I was so glad to see her enthusiasm for the game that I have loved for most of my life! I certainly didn't want to push her into it, but I just wanted her to learn how to play so that if she ever wanted to play as adult she would already have an idea of it.
While we were at the beach last week, the tennis courts held a kids clinic for her age group on Tuesday and Thursday. She was so pumped about playing tennis that she could not wait until Tuesday, so I took her out to the courts several days before hand. She is amazing! I know I maybe a little biased, but even the Pro's at the beach could not believe how good she was to have only had 3 lessons in her life and only be 4 years old. She has great coordination and hand-eye coordination too! It was really HOT on the courts too, but she wanted to stay out there for hours! We finally had to say "Time Out"! She asked me, "Mommy, when I get big like you, can we play tennis together?" So cute, how could I resist! She is really looking forward to more tennis, but in the meantime. . .

Horse Camp started this week! It is pretty intense for this age group, but they are having a blast. It is Monday - Friday from 8-12. Everyday when I pick her up at 12, she is exhausted and can barely stay awake to eat lunch. I asked her yesterday which was her favorite and she told me that she loved tennis AND horseback riding - they are both my favorite! Who knows which one she will land on! But for now we are enjoying them both. And this weekend the farm is holding a mini-show for the little kids so that they can see what it's like to do a show without it being so hectic and serious. MM is so excited and looking forward to her first show which I am thrilled about considering our first experience with horse shows (that she did not do). Wish us luck!

Then to add to all the excitement of the current summer fun, we (along with friends/neighbors) are hosting a Movie Night Under the Stars (i.e. in our backyard). We have rented an inflatable screen and sound system and a popcorn machine. Guests are supposed to bring a blanket and it's BYOB for the parents. We cannot wait and it's going to be so much fun - I will post pictures next week. We have not been able to decide which movie to play though so any feedback would be great! We are looking for a movie that is not gender specific (princesses), good for all ages, clean, not scary, etc. We have narrowed it down to 3: Hotel 4 Dogs, Bolt, and Bedtime Stories. Any suggestions?

Long Over Due

Anna's Silly Face
Mary Mac's Silly Face

The best family picture we've taken in a while!

The Ultimate Crab Hunter! LOL!

I just to warn you that up front that this may be one VERY long post or many posts to catch up from our week long beach trip. I have to brag on myself and say that aside from having to check a few things that were work-related on my computer, I did not get on my computer not once the whole week. So needless to say, I am WAY behind on reading everyone's posts and on posting what all we did. We went to my parents beach house last Friday with myself and the girls and Gran in my car, Sam in his truck, and Pop in his truck. Why so many vehicles in this wonderful economy? Well, simply put, Sam was planning on coming home either Tuesday or Wednesday, I was coming home on Friday and my parents were staying until Sunday (I'm sure they needed a couple of days of quiet relaxing beach time sans kids- I know I would!). The weather was absoultely gorgeous! None of us could remember a time that we were at the beach in mid-June and not a single drop of rain fell on us. And, there was a wonderful breeze most days. That being said, and the fact that we were having so much fun lead to us talking Sam into staying the whole time with us - that is the nice thing about a family business! We did everything (and I mean EVERYTHING, on MM's agenda). We beached it (a lot), played tennis (me and MM), went to Baytown, ate out, cooked in, swam at the pool, went to Big Kahuna's, played the Wii, etc, etc, etc. You name it, we did it! This year was the first time we felt MM was big enough to go to Big Kahuna's and we made an afternoon of it (while Anna napped). She is definitely our little dare devil. She rode every slide she was allowed to. She would have done more if they had let her. As exhausting as it was, it was soooo worth it. Sam and I got to have some amazing one-on-one time with her which is rare these days! She cannot wait to go back (although it may be next year considering it cost almost as much as Disney). This was also the first summer that we actually could enjoy hours on the beach without someone having a meltdown, having to eat (bottles), naps (took them on the beach). We got smart this year though because instead of hauling our baby pool down to the beach, we rented one with our chairs - what a relief! We still had plenty to bring down, but that was a saviour! We had many picnics on the beach, found lots of shells, caught little fish, and just enjoyed it all! And it seems like Anna's vocabulary just exploded this week at the beach! It is amazing what all she knows and comprehends that we had no idea! Sorry for the lack of pictures from the beach - my camera battery was dead and then I ran out of memory on my card. BTW, can anyone use a SDHC card? I picked this up and did not realize it was an HC which my camera cannot use. It was $40 down the drain! Now, we are back in our regular routine and trying to "wean" the girls from being so spoiled having Pop, Gran, Mommy, Daddy, Nanny, and Pancake (Sam's sister, Kate).

Tennis Camp, Horseback Riding, and More

All I have to say is thank goodness we only have 2 kids right now and Anna is not even involved in activities yet! This week has been so chaotic and fun and busy and it's only the first week of summer (as far as our school schedule)! I signed MM up for a tennis camp at our club for 4-5 year olds. I don't know if I would really call it a "camp" per say, because it is only 3 days this week for 30 minutes. At first, I thought, "Wow, only 30 minutes?" But after the first day, I realized it was perfect for them - it is long enough that they get a "taste" of tennis, but just short enough that they don't lose focus and get bored and THAT leaves them wanting to come back for more! I don't think I have seen one child that has not liked it and wanted to keep playing this week! Then, because of the lovely southern warm days already amongst us, our horse trainer is trying to rearrange her schedule so that the kids do not scorch suring their lessons! So instead of an afternoon lesson, we had a morning lesson. It was still warm, but not dreadful. She did so great too - she was having a lesson with little girls that are little older and she was able to follow their lead and do exactly what they did. The only issue we had was that those girls trot a little faster than MM is used to and her pony was keeping up with the other ponies at the faster pace, but MM just held on and went right along.

So, now I am trying to get everything taken care of at work, get clothes washed, etc. because we are leaving Friday for a much anticipated trip to the beach. The girls are literally counting down the days until we leave! We will be there for a week, but we have to get back by next Friday because the Rodeo is back in Fayette and we CERTAINLY cannot miss that event! I just hope we have more funny stories from the rodeo this year.

I will be taking my computer to the beach so you may get some updates, but then again, who knows! I hope I get to spend most days on the beach or by the pool!

And for those of you who could not find my instructions for "putting up" fresh veggies or just need a refresher . . .ENJOY!

On a final (and very sad) note, please pray for some family friends of ours that lost a baby yesterday at 28 weeks. The dad has always been like a big brother to me and his wife just fits right in as well. Here's the brief story: this would have been their 4th child due in August; while at the beach with the family she didn't feel so great, called her doc, was told to go to the hospital to just get checked out; they got there and couldn't find the heartbeat; they are supposed to have her induced this morning. I just ask you prayer warriors to pray for comfort, healing, and anything else that you feel this precious family needs right now, including the right words to tell the other 3 children about their baby brother! My heart is just breaking for them right now.