Under the Big Top!

On Sunday we went to watch the famous Circus perform-Zing, Zang, Zoom!

Taylor had never been before, and I don't think I'd ever been either.

We had a great time watching the show from our great seats on the floor, but everyone agreed that next we should get seats a little bit further up.

Taylor loved watching all the animals: elephants, horses, dogs and tigers!

Besides the animals, I think Taylor's favorite part was watching the silly clowns fall down and the big cannon shooting the people out followed by some loud fireworks.

You can't go to the circus and not leave with a souvenir! But what to choose...hmmmmmm!


Still deciding..."okay, I want the motorcycle with the blue and red rider"! So surprised that he didn't want one of those spinning, twirling, lighting up thingys!
I'm sure we'll be back again next year.

'Twas the First Day of Pre-School...

...and all through the house EVERYONE was stirring with

happy anticipation that this day had finally come!

With an early wake up call at 6:30am, Taylor bounded out of bed

with a big hug, and a "I have school today"!

With a breakfast of champions (Lucky Charms) and fresh strawberries,

we cleaned our teeth, got dressed, and were off to school-after a few pictures of course!

With a new green backpack in tow,

stuffed with goodies for lunch and for rest

(Pooh Bear made the trip as well)

The new favorite: a red and blue nap-mat.

Dreams danced in his head Saturday

as he slept for the first time on it on the floor in his room-his choice of course!

My face was filled with worry and anxiety, but this little guy AMAZED us all by being filled with such excitement, joy, and wonder about how his first day would go.

Too my delight no tears were shed as we said our good-byes in the classroom and walked out the door.

He was happy and safe and in a caring good place...

I cried of course, in the parking lot, with a consoling hug from my ROCK of a husband!

To all the teachers returning to work-

Thanks for knowing how to be "fragile" and "handle with care"!

Here's to a wonderful year for "everyone" (Tutti) -Eat, Pray, Love

Summer Finale...Lake Travis Style

Megan is going into high school...

Garrett is going into middle school...

Taylor is going to pre-school...

God help ALL the parents involved, and grandparents-lol!

Just jumped off the back of the boat into the water

water=happy little boy!

First year to swim around in the lake by himself (life vest of course) and loved it.

It helps when it feels like bathwater!

Besides the fish nibbles (or should I say bites) on the toes...it was a great day. Not so much fun when everyone starts talking and laughing about the movie previews about the new lake piranha movie coming out soon (check out the link, that's me airbrushed 1,000 times-ha,ha)...I'll be on the tube or in the boat, thanks! I think they tried to swallow Megan's big toe!

We just cruised slowly around a cove with Taylor on the tube, but he sure looks bored in this picture. Soon enough little man, soon enough...

Backyard pool fun!

WaterBoy:)

As the 2010 Summer comes to a close all I can think of is these 4 things:

14 weeks till Thanksgiving holiday break

18 weeks till Christmas holiday break

30 weeks till Spring Break holiday

42 weeks till Summer 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wondering mind of a pre-school mom...

This is not Taylor.

This is Senor Curtis-Wellings.

He is NOT 31/2 and should NOT be allowed to enter pre-school-he's way too old!

I think he has a MBA, or a PHD or is a MD already.

He should just stay home right?

How can you refuse that little face.

Nightly Q & A's with none other than myself:

I have to buy school supplies?

Wait, I collect school supplies at meet the teacher night.

How did my child get old enough to have his own school supplies?

Will his teacher understand him (not verbally) but his other quirks-when his underwear rolls up on his hiney and he screams out in pure frustration, you get my drift right?

Will his teacher be sweet and loving like all early teachers should be?

Will he make friends with the girls or boys or both?

Will he be nice to the girls?

Will he be nice to the boys?

He better be NICE to his TEACHER!

Will I ever know what the inside of the principals office looks like?????

How often will he get sick this year?

Will he want to buy school lunch?

Will he like school and want to go back?

Will he actually nap there?

I wish they had cameras in the room so that I could check on him throughout the day!

Will he actually speak to the adults in the room...he's very shy at first?

I teach grade school but why do I feel like I have no idea what we're getting into...

What a huge transition we're about to embark on...

sit down,

hold on,

and enjoy the ride!

Southern Pulled Pork Sliders

I hope we never move away from the south!

There's nothing like southern cooking & southern hospitality-

I REALLY mean that!!

I'm thankful & blessed to be living in and raising a family in the south.

Break out your slow-cooker ladies! These sliders are a cinch!

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 4 hours (high) or 7 to 8 hours (low) Makes: 8 servings

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

31/2 lb. Pork Shoulder Roast

Garlic Salt

Salt free Lemon Pepper seasoning

1 bottle Chili Sauce (12oz.)

3 packets sloppy joe mix

1/2 cup reduced sodium beef broth

Pepperidge Farms Slider buns-oh ya, they make slider buns now!

*In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Season pork roast with garlic salt and lemon-pepper seasoning. Cook pork in hot oil over medium-high heat until brown on all sides. Place in a 4-5 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine chili sauce, sloppy joe mix, and broth. Pour over roast. Cover and cook to designated time above. To serve, shred pork and place on slider buns.

Compliments of Sandra Lee!

Montana-Day #4

The Glorious Outdoors

(our final day)

A little water and some rocks to throw and you have yourself one happy little boy!

















Before we had to rush off to the airport, we decided to take a drive toward the mountains in hopes of finding some great views, fresh mountain air, and a lake. Let me tell you about the fresh mountain air. Heaven on earth in my opinion. Walking outside and smelling pure pine trees is so relaxing and I swear it takes years off your actual age. My aunts and uncles should know, they look fabulous!
7 miles straight up a dirt bumpy road and still no glimpse of a lake but we did find a perfect stopping spot to play in the creek and take some spectacular pictures. Unfortunately, we weren't alone in our perfect wilderness spot...Montana has huge-aggressive-biting-ugly-flies!! First they swarmed me and then they moved on to Andrew. Time-to-hit-the-road!!


Still snow on the highest peaks.

One of my favorite pictures: the trees are so skinny and so close together...as far as the eye can see.

Looking for giant sticks to throw into the water to watch float under a little bridge. If that were me standing on two different rocks, wearing flip-flops, you can be sure that you would not be looking at these pictures because my camera would have been at the bottom of the creek. I envy coordination and stability. I once fell in a lake with my best friend. I was standing in the same position as Andrew is in in this picture except I was standing with one foot on a rock and the other foot inside a canoe. Not coordinated at all... Not pretty at all... That was so embarrassing!

Sitting on a fallen old tree and riding up the small mountain road on mommy's lap...much better view out my window.

I can just imagine the fresh pine air just by looking at this picture. Can't wait for Christmas so we can smell it again, but it really won't be the same.

Not bluebonnets but definitely the next best thing.

Watching the planes come and go during our layover in Salt Lake City.

How to occupy a soon-to-be-pre-schooler on an airplane:

-sit in the first row behind first-class (extra room to stand and move)

-buy him toys in the airport

-fill him up with sprite

-give him Delta Airline cookies

-give him prepacked snacks

-have a pillow fight with daddy

-stare out the window

-play with the window shade

-play with the tray table

-watch Tom & Jerry

-switch seats

-color

-look at books

-sleep(?)

-PRAY that you're almost there.........................if you run out of options just start back at the first thing and do them all AGAIN-yay, fun!!

We had a great reunion and a fun family vacation away from home.

We're ready for 2012 in Oklahoma...we can luckily drive to that one!

Welcome Back To Texas...bummer!

Montana-Day #3

On day three Andrew played golf at the Old Works Golf Club in Anaconda, Montana (15 minutes away) and Taylor and I swam the morning away in the Hot Springs. The golf course is built around an old 1884 ore production site. It actually has black slag (a by-product of the copper smelting process-I have NO idea what this really means but I've racked my brain to figure it out) bunkers throughout the course-very different & really unique. I forgot to give Andrew the camera to take pictures while he was there so needless to say, I don't have any pictures to show. Their websites has some great pictures of the remaining old mountain "works" and the black bunkers. I did manage to get one picture of a hill of black slag and the old smelter stack. Interesting history of this little town.

Since it was our last night in the great state of Montana, everyone (who didn't have to much to drink the night before) continued the family reunion with dinner and more drinks. That's my dad Greg, Andrew, grandma Karla, cousins Ali & Hailey, and uncle Don.

What's better than a dinner of pizza and 7-Up (no Sprite) when you're 3! Notice the jacket and fire pit...so nice to enjoy 60 degree weather at night!

Don't' you dare try to steal MY pizza!

The kids table again...my cousin Jack is such a hamm! I wish I had taken a video of his "getting-into-the-pool" Sponge Bob style-sooooooo funny Lynette. "Bring-It-Around"..."Bring-It-Around"!!!

Finally, after many scotch drinks for the guys and a lot of laughter, we got a 2010 picture of all the brothers and sisters together. There is a 19 year difference between the oldest brother Brent (my uncle) and the youngest sister Lynette (my aunt). Her daughter Leah squeezed in the shot too!

Montana-Day #2

There's a reason why they call it, The Fairmont Hot Springs. The indoor and outdoor pools are all fed by natural "Hot Spring" water. We're talking anywhere from 92-102 degrees depending on which pool you get in! The indoor pools are just silly because it's more like a sauna-in the summer time, NO THANK YOU! We had to go to the indoor pool once because of lightening outside and you get so dried out, dehydrated, and almost sick because it's so warm. Of course the kids could of cared less what the temp was...they could have fun anywhere! Most of the pools vary in depth so in some parts Taylor could actually walk around in 2-3 feet of water, which he loved. The other cool thing was there were big vents at the bottom of the pools where you could stand and just feel the hot-hot water coming in and mixing with the pool water. We made sure to swim early in the morning, so there felt like a temperature change between the outside air and the pool.

The other main attraction was the 350 foot water slide. Andrew took Taylor down twice. I think he was a little overwhelmed by it. The first time down, Andrew laid back with Taylor and got going way to fast-scared Taylor a little to much. We convinced him to go one-more-time and promised that Daddy would sit up and it would go much slower. Being a great trooper, he tried it one more time-much better!!

Backside of the waterslide tower.

Of course we had to check out the golf course next to the resort. Pretty mountain views in the distance.

The resort had a full playground on property. They had a very new play area, but Taylor loved these old metal slides the best. The taller of the two was sooooo fast that you had to stand at the bottom and catch him or else he would go flying into the dirt. Wonder why you don't see them anymore?

Hunting for pinecones...found a very prickly one!

While the gown-ups chatted away at dinner that night, Taylor and his cousin Brice stayed quite occupied by watching Curious George. Even finished his whole pizza while he sat there.

Half of the crew getting ready for dinner (our nightly patio spot). The kids table nearby...I can remember not to long ago, I was sitting at the kids table. Awesome to see the next generation of cousins. All together there were about 28 family members there!