Clark started school 8/27

Clark started school this week. He goes to St. John Lutheran preschool from 9am-2pm MWF.
That is the longest I have ever put any of the kids in preschool, so it kinda freaks me out. The other kids only went to school for only 1 year -- pre-kindergarten on T/Th. This is Clark's 3rd year of preschool and for pre-kindergarten, he is going 3 days. I know that a lot of my friends have their kids in 5 days by this age, but still...

I put him in early because when Alyssa was diagnosed with diabetes, I knew I needed a few hours to myself. This year, I put him in 3 days because Friday, I'm volunteering up at the elementary school. Either Mondays or Wednesdays, I'm going to help Jason up at the office when I can, so that still only leaves 1 day for me to do things I need/want to do. On the first week, Wednesday was full of meetings -- for the Sampson Elementary Yearbook and for insurance at Integrity Structural. Friday, I had a yearbook meeting, but then went and got a manicure & pedicure.

Clark was excited about school because I told him we would go to Starbucks first. (For my yearbook meeting, but still...)

Clark started soccer -- but apparently it wasn't "Real soccer"

This past week, all of the activities have been starting up...

Kate started Tumbling. She did really well.
Alyssa started Dancing. You would have thought that she never took a few years off.
Grant starts back to Cub Scouts on Thursday. Baseball starts in a few weeks.
Clark started soccer...

...but apparently, it is not "real soccer". There is no goalie, so it can not be real (in his mind).
Which, honestly, I didn't even know to watch for the possibility there wouldn't be a goalie. I've heard 2 thoughts on the idea since then:
1. The kids like scoring more goals.
2. It teaches them to assist the goalie.

I'm going with thought #2.

But, Clark was appalled that he is on this team with no goalie. There are 6 kids per team, 3 play at each time. So, at the first practice on Saturday, his team scrimmaged. The other 3 guys scored and Clark's face just looked like, "What happened. I think I'm a little mad." Clark was really playing well, dribbling the ball, and doing just what he should. Despite that, the other 3 guys scored again and we knew Clark was upset. So, when the ball went into play the next time, Clark ran over to stand where the goalie should be. It was like he was saying, "If no one else is going to be goalie, I'll take care of it." So, the ball came up, he knew he was the goalie, and he grabbed it with his hands because the goalie is allowed to touch the ball with his hands. You can imagine how crushed he was when the coach blew the whistle on him for touching the ball. Afterall, there really is no goalie in this league.

So, this week, it was Tuesday, his regular night for practice and I asked him to get ready for soccer as soon as we finished eating dinner. He told me that he needed to go to "Real soccer"... the kind with a goalie. I explained how this would teach him and really prepare him... all this stuff that I don't know if I believe or not, but I paid my $110, so I believe it now! Hah! Finally, I said, "Clark, I'm going to have to call Ms. Liz to have her help me parent you through this one." (We'd been talking about it the day before.) Clark said, "Can I call her?" I said, "Sure." He said, "Ok, what's her number?" I rattle it off and he calls her...

"Ms. Liz, This is Clark. I have 1 question for you..." that's about all she understood. So, I quickly filled her in. They talked as I took care of cleaning up from dinner and helping Kate get ready for tumbling. When they were done, Clark handed me the phone, Liz asked if he understood it was "real soccer." I told her I'd find out and call her back. I asked Clark what Ms. Liz told him. He said very honestly, "She said it is not real soccer because real soccer has a goalie." Hah! I called her back and told her what he got from their conversation. She rolled her eyes through the phone and told me something like, "that's not what I said, but I tried." I appreciate friends like that.

So, I took Kate to gymnastics. Jason took Clark to soccer (along with Grant & Alyssa who wanted to watch). Clark was fine playing and kicking the ball. I think it helped that this soccer practice was actually on a soccer field, not just a make-up practice in some grass. (It had rained the Tuesday before, so we had the first practice in a field on a Saturday.) Jason told me that Clark ran around like he was trying to stop the ball from going anywhere, but he never actually did anything with it, just held his hands out and ran around the other people. I imagine it kinda like a foosball player that is spinning around, but not helping the game at all. Jason said Clark never tried to touch the ball with his hands but kept looking over to Jason for approval. Jason would give a thumbs up, Clark would give a thumbs up, and he'd go back to being a spinning foosball player again.

Jason almost popped a blood vessel, though, because Alyssa apparently had to go pee the whole time. She told me later that she had to go pee on the way there. Jason looked around in the middle of soccer practice and said, we are in the middle of an open field, there are no bathrooms. He said she screamed for an hour. (practice is only 45 minutes and I'm sure she did not start throwing a fit until after 20 minutes or so.) He finally text messaged me to see if I could come get Alyssa. I told him that we were just leaving tumbling and would not get to him before soccer practice was over. I told him to let her go in the grass. He said everyone will see. I said so what. He said there's nothing to wipe with. I said, she doesn't wipe half the time and I know it because she doesn't always flush either. He came home in a not-very-good-mood.

So, I got the kids to bed. He went to bed. It was all good. And, he got up early for the 3rd time in a row to go work out this week. I've been really proud of him. He's actually been very pleasant since taking his vacation. (Ok, except for this night... but he is a guy... we still love him.)

First Day of Sampson Elementary 8/25

Grant is in 3rd grade, Alyssa is in 1st grade, Kate is in 5th grade:
(Clark starts Pre-K on Wednesday. I'll post pictures of him soon after that.)


Kate - 5th grade. She loves her teacher. That was a big God-thing... here's the story...

She was clustered into the Horizons program (gifted & talented) in 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade. So, each of those years, she took the test and just barely missed actually being in the program, but she was high enough that she was put in the same classroom as others that were in the program. For 4th grade, she was in a regular class with WONDERFUL teachers and really great friends. (Of course, her other teachers and friends are really great, too. But, she had an especially great 4th grade year.)

Well, I just automatically signed her up to take the test because I knew she had almost made it so many times. When she found out I signed her up, she told me she really did not want to take the test. I said, "Sorry. I will not sign you up for it again." Which was all great... until she passed the test and got into the program officially. I was more than a little worried about telling her. I thought she would want to be with the new friends she had made.

When I told her what had happened, she told me that she was bummed... mostly because she wanted Mrs. Tolls as a teacher, but now couldn't have her as a teacher. Of course, she wanted to be with her friends, but she was really bummed about the teacher.

In 5th grade, there are 3 horizons teachers and they were all set ready to go by May of last year. They had to replace one teacher and they knew who they wanted. But, then the school district had budget cuts and they couldn't hire the teacher they wanted. Things were switching all around even into the last week of school.

On the last week of school, I was up there sorting out yearbooks to be passed out and Mrs. Tolls stopped me and told me she ended up being put into that 3rd place and was the 3rd horizons teacher. I literally jumped for joy. I was so excited.

I knew Mrs. Tolls because her oldest daughter is in Alyssa's daisy girl troop. And, I knew her husband in college. In my freshman year of college, I hung out with her husband's sister. So, since he hung out with his sister, we all knew each other.

I was really excited for Kate because I knew that Mrs. Tolls would have just the right temperament for Kate -- pushing her forward, but with gentle encouragement, not too much pressure, but just enough to get the job done.

Grant - He's excited about his teacher because he has only had language arts teachers each year, never the math switch teacher. He has Mrs. Hubbard, she's the language arts teacher. Yeah!

He says he hates math, but he qualified to be in the Horizons program only in math. Funny.

Alyssa - She ended up with the teacher I started hoping she would have. I had her tested for the Horizons program because as she started kindergarten, she was reading the same books that Grant was reading in 2nd grade. She missed the program by one question -- probably one that I marked her lower on. There's one question I hate... it says "Is bored easily." I always mark that one low because I teach my kids how to find something else they can do before they get bored. So, they really don't get bored very easily.

Anyways, I found out that one of her friends that has food allergies like she does was going to be in the Horizons class. So, I was really hoping that they could be in that class together so that the other mom & I could work together with the food allergies.

And, that teacher has diabetes, so I thought that part might go well, too.

But, I don't even know if I like the Horizons program, so part of me didn't even want to go there. I know I have the kids tested, but that's mainly because I don't want a door closed to them that could be open. I figure if they are in the program, we can choose to pull them out. If they are not in it, there is no choice. There are some things I like about the program, there are other things I don't.

So, I just felt like it was really a God-thing that I even wanted Alyssa in the class. Well, she got in to the class and has Mrs. Engle. That's the same teacher Kate had in 1st grade. We're looking forward to a good year.

Here's the kids riding their bikes to school. We rode bikes every year until last year. Last year we rode the bus. This year, the kids may end up riding the bus, but I will not put them on there until I know that it won't take forever to get to school or get home. I was traumatized when I made Kate ride the bus with Grant his kindergarten year. She wanted to ride bikes. He wanted to ride the bus. I asked her just to do it on the first day. Well, that day, the bus didn't get to school until 9:30am. School starts at 8:10am. I felt horrible. After that, Kate rode bikes, Grant either rode bikes or rode the bus, I didn't care which.

See their new backpacks and lunchboxes?

Apparently Clark decided to take some pictures from the bike trailer where I'd put the camera. Hah! I thought it was funny. It also reminded me of something funny that Grant said. I was taking the kids to school and going straight to the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" for parents with kindergartners to talk about the yearbook, so I was dressed and ready to go. It wasn't until I got to the bikes that I thought, "Hmm... I'm wearing heels." But, then I thought, "Hmm... I'm not going back in to change." So, I wore the heels. Grant said, "Wow, mom... You are amazing. I didn't know you could ride a bike in heels." It was so funny because he went on and on. Really, riding a bike in heels is easy because the pedal fits in the middle part, so it's the same as flip flops.

It was in the afternoon when we were going to visit friends down the street and were in the garage when Clark decided we were going to ride scooters... and i had the same thought, "Hmm...I'm not going back in to change."... that I was impressed. Scootering on heels is a little more challenging. Grant wasn't even impressed at all. That's my life... I'm truly only wonder woman when it doesn't matter. Hah!

Oh, and just for the record, all bikers were fine. The only one that got hurt was me -- and not because of the heels. I took Peanut (our 90 pound Golden Retriever.. I know, the name doesn't fit her, I didn't name her...) on the bike ride with me. She was so excited because she knew something was up that she was harder to control than normal. At one point, I tried to pull her closer so she wouldn't go on the other side of the fire hydrant, but something happened and I lost it. I fell straight to the ground. Thankfully, as Kate pointed out when I told her the story, Clark did not flip over in the bike trailer. He just called out, "Bad dog. You hurt Mommy." So, I have a nice looking 4 inch rash on one leg, an even nicer looking 4 inch bruise on the other leg, and some nice raspberries around. I especially like the one on my collarbone that looks like a hickie. I mean, really, if I have a hickie, I would like to have really earned it fair and square. Hah!

Eye Appointment - This is interesting! 8/20

We took all 4 kids to the eye doctor. They all were slightly far-sighted, but she said that it was normal for kids to be farsighted as long as they improve. She said all the kids were improving, so they were fine.

The interesting thing I learned was that Grant is like 1 in every 12 males -- he can not distinguish between some colors -- like dark blue, purple, maybe black. This was interesting to me because I specifically remember asking him one time if he thought the dark blue shirt and the black pants he was wearing matched. He said yes. I thought no. We were both right.

This is a genetic issue passed down on the female side... so guys in my family really need to check this out!

Here's a test that shows the colors (answers are at the bottom):

If you can see all colors, you see:

45

56

25

29

6

8

Grant sees:

45 or 56

56 or 55

25

definitely 20!!

6 or 38

8 or 5 or 8

Trip to the Beach 8/18

We'd been meaning to go to the beach all summer. Last summer, we were going to go the week before school started, but we couldn't because a hurricane blew through. Details. This summer, we were going to go about 3 weeks ago, but a hurricane blew through. I mean, really, such details... I finally decided to just go on Monday since school was going to start in a week. The Leuschner family (Brad, Tammie, McKenzie, Austin, & Zachary) that I've been friends with forever told me that they were going to the beach for a week to stay with the Cooks (Jerian's family) at a beach house. So, we said, "Great. That's where we'll go."

I like to go in the afternoon so that I don't have to deal with sunscreen for the kids. Leave right after lunch, stay through dinner, then head home. So, we left here at 2pm, where it was pouring down rain. It was raining all through the drive there -- knowing we were crazy for attempting to go in the rain, but knowing that if we didn't try, we definitely would not get to go. If we did try, we might get rained out, but then it wouldn't be my fault for not trying.

So, we went and it rained a little, but we still got to swim in the ocean. It was very fun and we wished we could have stayed longer.

My Beach Bums!!

Clark picked up shells and lined them up on his arms. He was a little frustrated when they fell off.

Jason & I went on a long date while the kids were away.

So, after Jason & I dropped the kids off at the Goerlich's house, we spent some quality time together. We started out checking out Track 21. It is very cool! Notice I stayed in the lead the whole time. Jason couldn't get past me. Hah!! He had told me he wouldn't wait for me, but then, he couldn't get past me so it was funny. I finally let him have the last lap in front of me.

We also had a good time hanging out, talking about our goals, catching up, enjoying dinner alone.

Thanks Mari & Chris for helping us to remember to spend time without the kids!!!

Sleepover at the Quadruplets 8/16-8/17

After I took the quadruplets swimming, Mari wrote me the sweetest thank you email and said that she thought it would be fun to have the kids over for a sleepover. At first, I thought NO WAY would i do that to her. But, then, I had to turn around and think if I would be willing to have her kids, which of course I would. So, after a while, I said ok and had to let all thoughts of guilt leave my mind.

The kids had a blast. Chris and Mari took all 8 kids to the park. They sent my kids around the house on a treasure hunt. (With gold dollar coins from the bank.) They played games. I liked hearing about when they played Apples to Apples... the card was disturbing and Clark was just tossing out cards... his card said viagra... so, since he didn't know what it meant, and neither did the other kids, they all wondered why Chris & Mari burst out laughing.

Chris very patiently let Grant help him cook. That meant a lot to Grant.

When I picked the kids up in the morning, I wished I would have thought to take them to the library before they went so they would be calmer, but i didn't, oh well... I'll know for next time they do something that I should get books first. At least they had fun playing on the computer and doing pretend rollor coasters & swimming.

Swimming with the Quadruplets!

Wow! I had the awesome privilige of taking Mari's kids to the pool to swim. Her air conditioner was out in August in Houston... it's hot here... and we were going to the pool. But, the AC man had not shown up by the time we were supposed to go.

Grant never wants to GO swimming... until we get there and he has fun & doesn't want to leave.

So, I brought Grant to Mari's house. I took Finn & Cohen with me and we went swimming. Well, I actually just held Finn & Cohen and splashed around helping them learn to enjoy the water, but it was at a swimming pool, so we'll call it swimming.

They were done after about an hour, so we went out to the car to load up. But, Mari drove up because Grant wanted to swim afterall. The AC guy was working at her place, so she was just going to drop Grant off.

But, we decided to switch all the kids and I got to go back with Sophia and Noah to swim for another hour. Grant was very happy with the decision because he was ready to swim.

The pool is only about 1 mile away in the neighborhood, but it was kinda funny when we got to the car afterwards... I was in the PT Cruiser that day... and realized that I needed to stuff 6 kids (2 in carseats into the cruiser) and myself into that tiny car. Hah! It really is a clown car. Everyone fit and was safely smooshed.

It was a good time.

My new best friends!

I'd been praying about which Bible Study to do since March. One day, when Clark and I went over to help with the quadruplets, I noticed Mari's Bible sitting out on her counter. I mentioned to her that I'd love to do a Bible Study with her. She took off and ran with that and invited several people on the block to her house on Thursday nights to do a Bible Study.

Mari, Vanessa, Colleen, Shannon, & I

We are all very busy moms and enjoy this little time away. I love these woman. I love how they make me feel "normal" in my busy life...

Mari - mom of quadruplets that turn 1 on 8/29/08.
Vanessa - mom of 4 kids, sells Arbonne, too.
Colleen - mom of 2 kids, working full time
Shannon - mom of 2 kids (only 1 year and 1 day apart)
& Me - mom of 4 kids, with a couple auto-immune diseases thrown in on the kids just for fun. (Just diabetes and food allergies, as you know)

One thing that really makes me laugh is that I did not want to have a Bible Study that took up my whole day. I wanted 1 hour -- in/out/done. But, we start at 7:30pm and rarely do I get home before 10:30pm... and even then, no one wants to go home. We drink some wine, have some snacks, chat, support each other, and study the Bible, too. What a winner!

Bowling with Daisy Girls 8/18

Alyssa's Daisy Girl's Troop went bowling. (Daisy Girls are the Kindergarten & 1st grade year of Girl Scouts. They just changed up the program, so Alyssa's year is the first one to have a second year of Daisy girls.)

It ended up just being Alyssa & Emma that were able to attend, but it was a lot of fun. Jason had come back in town and taken the day off of work, so he went with us. We're glad he didn't hurt himself when he slipped on the alley. He had just told Clark not to step over the line so it was really funny. And, we would have felt bad if we laughed and he got hurt. :)

Kate & Alyssa ready to bowl.

Did I mention that Kate started wearing make-up?!

So, Kate is going into 5th grade. That means she could start wearing any 1 kind of make-up that she wanted. (My mom did that for us when we were little and I thought it was very smart.) So, we talked about her options:
Blush - good because you can also make it look like eye shadow.
Mascara - good because she has blond eyelashes.
Lip gloss - just fun.

She decided on the same thing I chose first as a kid: blush. But, she wanted the kind that I wore... just a bronzer, so it would look more natural.


Here's the BEFORE picture:





Here's the after picture: (JUST KIDDING!!! She wouldn't really wear it like that and was appalled I even did that for a picture.)

Here's the after picture... very neutral looking, but shows that she's growing up. (This may even be darker than she wears it because I smudged the first set on her.)

Jason goes on Vacation!! 8/4-8/12

Jason was done. Like, stick a fork in him, done. He worked 80 hour weeks all summer. (Ahh... the joys of owning a company.) He just needed to get away from life. So, he decided to take a guy trip... And, he decided to make it for 8 days. He said he was paying me back all at one time for the weekend trips I take every once in a while. :)



He went to see his brother in Florida. He hadn't met his new nephew that was born earlier this year. He forgot to take any pictures, so I found this one of Jon looking like he's saying "duh" from the trip I took there to help right after the baby was born. :)

He then went on to see his dad. His dad lives in Ohio, so he flew there and drove over to Watkins Glen, New York to see some Nascar. They saw a ton of waterfalls on the trip. Here's a picture of his dad in front of one:

At the races:

I do not think he came back rested, but he came back refreshed. So, we're glad he went.

The Olympics are On!!

The kids are getting to experience the Olympics for the first time that they remember... so for the first week, we had one big sleepover in my room. I let the kids fall asleep while watching the Olympics. After a week, that had to stop because the kids were getting tired from staying up too late. But, it was a fun time.

Visitors - 4 Japanese High School Boys

My parents moved back to America last year, but they still stay in contact with many of their friends from Japan. This month, they enjoyed a visit with 4 Japanese high school boys. They ended up bringing them to NASA and they stayed with us for a night.

When we first met up with them, they didn't talk much, but Grant went with them to NASA, so he got them talking. He'd already found out all the Japanese words for boy things like Peeing, pooping, etc. from Jo-Jo earlier this summer, so this time he asked questions like, "Do you like armpits? Do you sleep with a teddy-bear?" He's pretty funny.

Then, when they got home, they had a chance to play with Clark, who is always a firecracker.

They are into rowing at home, so we hooked up the Wii to enjoy rowing here. They let me beat them one time.

The girls had sleepovers with friends that night (Tori & McKenzie), but came back in the morning and enjoyed time with the guys. They were super-nice. It was also Gichan's birthday (my dad), so that was fun, too.

Getting Ready for Extra-Curricular Activities

Ok, I am feeling crazy. Here is our extracurricular schedule for the fall: (basically, 1 sport/kid + scouts + bible study)

Sunday Mornings - Every other month or so, Jason will go to church early to play the keyboard during church.

Monday 7:00pm-9:00pm - Kate, Grant, & Alyssa go to Bible Study Fellowship with Jason

Tuesday 5:30pm-6:30pm - Kate goes to Thompson Tumblers
6:00pm-7:00pm - Clark goes to soccer practice (playing with Fairfield Sports Assoc.)

Wednesday afterschool - Every other week, Kate, Grant, & Alyssa will stay for Good News Club at school
5:00pm-6:00pm - Alyssa does ballet/tap/jazz at Dance Central

Thursday afterschool - Every other week, Alyssa has Daisy Girls
Every other week, Kate has Girl Scouts

Thursday evenings - Every other week, Grant has Cub Scouts
7:30- whenever - I go to Bible Study

Friday afternoons 1pm-3pm I volunteer in the library at school.
I am also co-chairing the Sampson Elementary yearbook.

Saturdays - Clark has soccer games

Not set yet - 3 times/week, Grant has baseball. 1 practice, 1 game, and 1 practice/game. He's playing with Cy Fair Sports Assoc.

I think we are going to be a little busy. It's a good thing I limited it to one sport. Hah! Grant also plans on doing Basketball in the winter. Alyssa plans on doing soccer in the Spring. And, some of my kids have talked about doing swim team as the school year finishes out.

Did I mention that I love staying home and chilling?! Hmm...

Getting Ready for School

School is starting soon and we are gearing back up. We've been working on handwriting, math, and reading skills. Plus, we started reading in Genesis. It is amazing how a little bit of practice on basic skills makes a huge deal. All the kids read me a chapter a day, too. The most surprising is Clark -- I know that that Grant & Alyssa read by this age, but it still surprises me. (I didn't know to teach Kate by this age, but she caught up, that's for sure. She loves to read.)

We found some great websites that we loved:

http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/math/addition/ (We liked the multiplication worksheets on this page, too.)

http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/ (The basic handwriting worksheets show where to start your pencil to make the letter. Clark liked the outline format.)

http://www.mywaytoo.com/Pages/number.html (Clark liked the outline format for the numbers.)

We went to the Zoo (8/1/08)

Yes, I know... it is HOT in Houston in August. But, Alyssa has been asking to go to the zoo for a while so we joined Liz, Griffin, & Haley Sawyer at the zoo.

Kate's favorite was the sea lions and the carousel.

Grant's favorite was the orangatang.

Alyssa's favorite was the snakes.

Clark's favorite was the elephants.

Griffin's favorite was the reptile house.

Haley's favorite was feeding the fish bread.

Liz's favorite was watching the kids enjoy the zoo.

My favorite was cooling off afterwards!!!! :)

Boys in the Morning

My boys are really hungry in the morning, so they get up and go eat breakfast before we get up (on days when we do not have to get up early). This morning, I was still laying in bed and Clark came up to me and gave me a hug and told me "I cleared my place." We've been working on it so I was very proud of him. ...until... Grant went downstairs and called for Clark... (we work on the kids talking to each other instead of tattling on each other)

ClaRK (sing-songy, yet determined voice)...ClaRk AlAn LAYmon... Come down here (not ugly, but insistent).

Clark goes down

Grant: "3 things"... 1. Why did you spill all that milk?

Clark: "I don't know."

Grant: "I cleaned it up for you, but it makes it so that you are not being a good boy... do you want to be a good boy?

Clark: Yes. I am a good boy. I've already been good... two times in a row.

Grant: Was it from today?

Clark: No.

Grant: 2. Why did you open the cereal box upside down?

Clark: I didn't... it was just like that.

Grant: 3. Why did you put cereal in the milk? That's bad.

Clark: Oh. Why is it bad?

Grant: It just is...

Thoughts from Clark...

Thought #1: "This is how much more my hair has to grow before it touches my weiner." Thought #2: Clark loves to show how tough he is... he's been doing this for a while, I just finally videotaped it... as seen in the background, I think brother eggs him on... (If you get this post by email and it doesn't show up, try going to the website to see the video.)

Thought #3:

Mommy: "Clark, why do you want to change out of the Superman costume? I just helped you put it on."

Clark: "Because Batman kisses more girls."

Grant: "Clark, go get on the rest of you costume, like your cape."

Clark: "No, I'm just going to pretend I have the rest on."

Mommy: "Grant, do you know why Clark wants to be Batman instead of Superman?"

Grant: "Why?"

Mommy: "Because Batman kisses more girls."

Grant: big smirk... "yes, I told him that."

Mommy: "Why did you want him to be Batman?"

Grant: "I just did... so I told him that."

Mommy: "Clark, why do you have the light sabor?" (Note: Grant is dressed up as a Jedi.)

Clark: "To fight Grant."

Thought #4: Clark can read now...

Clark was playing on Grant's Skateboard game on the TV. He told me he was playing "Free Scat-E". I told him the "E is actually silent making the A say it's name, so it is free "skate". He went to the next page and I asked him what he was playing and he read it. So, he is officially a reader now. (He's been reading Dick & Jane for about a year now, but this is the first time I would classify him as a reader. He turned 4 in March.)

This is all fine and good until we are laying down and I turn the guide on TV to watch one of my shows and Clark says, "Mom, I want Spongebob." That's where it all goes wrong... when your child can read the guide on the tv and you have to start hiding the shows they want. :)

Thought #5: Clark wants to play soccer. (This is a picture of his new ball:)

So, I'm looking on the computer to see where I want him to play. At first I search for soccer at the YMCA, so google throws up 20 links per page like it normally does. One of them apparently says something about "2006." Clark says, "2006?! Aw man... I already DID 2006."

I decided to have him play through Fairfield Sports Association because I've heard good things about it and all practices and games should be only about 7 minutes away in Fairfield subdivision. But, when I clicked on the registration page, I was surprised by the price at first... it was like $105 or something... but that includes 10 games, the shirt, shorts, and socks... so it is reasonable... Anyways, when I said, "Wow. $105." Clark put his hand on me and said, "Mommy, can we just pretend like I have that much money?"

Clark was so excited, he decided he had to call "Ms. Courtney." That would Penny's sister... they used to live 2 houses down and thankfully still work for us at Integrity Structural Corp. So, Clark grabs the phone and asks me, "What's her number, Mommy?" I pull it up on the computer so he can see it. He looks at her name and rattles off all 10 numbers (it's 10 digit dialing here in Houston). Then, on the phone dials 832- looks it up, dials the next 3 - looks it up and dials the last 4 digits and hits "talk" so he can tell her all about it. We love Ms. Courtney who doesn't mind phone calls like that!!!

Kate gets a letter FROM THE PRESIDENT!!! 7/30/08

Kate is so excited!!!! She received a letter from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ***SCREAM*** CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!***SCREAM!!!***

*** CALLING ALL FRIENDS: I GOT A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT!!!***


For Girl Scouts, she was working on her Food Power badge and found section 9: Speak Your Mind. It asks "What advice would you give the President of the United States to end hunger in this country... write the President a letter at: Mr. President, The White House, Washington, DC 20505, or send an email mailto:president@whitehouse.gov"


So Kate wrote a letter and mailed it off. It said something like this:


"I've heard a lot about all the organizations we have for the homeless and I've seen a lot of hungry people out on the streets. I was starting to think there are not enough organizations even though there is over a hundred. I would like to start a new organization where two cities from each state would try to collect over 3000 food items and we could call it "Community Cooperation". Please email me back and she left her email address or write back to our address."




A few months later, George Bush wrote her back and included a picture & stickers that say "Barney thinks you did a great job!" The letter says:

"Thank you for taking the time to write and share your views. I always enjoy hearing from young Americans, and I appreciate your thoughtful suggestions.

I am honored to serve as President of such a great Nation, and we are blessed to live in a land where opportunity is limited by the size of our dreams. The key to unlocking these opportunities is knowledge, so I encourage you to study hard and learn something new every day. By applying your education, your character, and your compassion, you can help build a better America and write a hopeful new chapter in our history.

Mrs. Bush and I send our best wishes. May God bless you, and may God bless America.

Sincerely,
George W. Bush"

***SCREAM AGAIN... IT IS SO AWESOME***