Halloween Fun

Erin decided to be an angel for Halloween this year. This is one of her favorite holidays along with Easter and Christmas (seems to cover most of the year). Last year, we decided to have a little get together for Erin and Sofia that they really enjoyed. We decided to do it again this year, so the girls could spend some time together and then go Trick or Treating.

Erin and I decorated and set the table the night before Halloween. She really enjoyed designing her pumpkin and carving it! The decorations and goody bags turned out super cute.

I picked up Erin's favorite pizza on my way home from work on Halloween. By the time I got home, she was already dressed in her adorable costume and ready for Sofia to come over. Sofia came by dressed as a vampire princess. They could not have looked more different if they had planned it!

They enjoyed their pizza party followed by pumpkin shaped cookies. Then , I was time for them to hit the streets with their goodies bags. They had such a great time!

Flu Shot Reward

I picked Erin up early so we could have a date afternoon. I love having girl time every once in a while! It's a great way to have some quality time.

We started our afternoon with a lunch date at McDonald's, where we both enjoyed a Happy Meal, followed by a fun session at the Play Place. Then, it was time to head to the doctor for our flu shots. Erin wanted me to go first so she could "see what it was like". She then seriously reconsidered the whole getting a flu shot thing. In the end, she was a brave girl and got her shot.

We went to Menshies, Erin's favorite frozen yogurt place, for her reward. She filled her cup with vanilla snow topped with mini M & Ms, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce.

1st Day of School

Both Erin and I had our first day of school yesterday. We met Erin's teacher on Friday at meet the teacher. Her new teacher's name is Mrs. Loewe. The teacher had her room decorated the Warner Elementary's 2012-13 school theme: Superstar/ Celebrity. She had a red carpet outside the room featuring all of her celebrity students, stars hanging from the ceiling, and a black and silver microphone.

The teacher seemed very friendly and I have heard a lot of things about how good she is. Erin has one friend from her class last year in her current class. She's looking forward to meeting new friends and having a great year!

Erin was met by one of the neighbors with fresh chocolate chip cookies when she got off the bus yesterday afternoon. I can hardly think of a better way to finish a 1st day of school! I can't believe how fast Erin has grown up... I have a big 1st grader now! I'm very proud of the wonderful young lady she is becoming. :)

Last Road Trip Before School

So, we decided to get on last road trip in before I have to go back to work. We left Cypress on Thursday and headed to Louisiana. We drove straight through to Covington, where Randy's Mom and sister live.

Erin was so excited to see her cousin Cameron and her Maw-Maw. She had extra special plans for them: she wanted to share her Daisy ( Girl Scout) binder and vest with them :) She's very proud of her accomplishments and all of the patches she has earned!

We enjoyed amazing food on our trip. There's an amazing Mediterranean restaurant around the corner from Randy's Mom's house. They make an amazing chicken shwarma salad with a Greek yogurt dressing. It was so yummy! We also enjoyed a fried shrimp po boy from Acme Seafood. There is no comparison to true Cajun food! For breakfast, we sampled some beignets and cafe au lait from the world famous Cafe du Monde.

We enjoyed some quality family time, great food and relaxation for the last couple of days of summer. It was a great way to end our summer days!

Classroom Ready!!

Erin and I went to Lieder to get my room ready for the school year earlier this week. She was an excellent helper! She helped me get everything into the shelves and even tried all of my stuff to make sure everything worked perfectly. Erin really enjoyed playing store with school money and plastic food! She also decked out my computer monitor with authentic Erin Post It art.

She was awesome! I'm so proud of my big angel for being a wonderful helper! Check out our efforts...

Winding Down Summer

So now that August is here, it seems like summer is already over. Erin has finished her last week of camp and I have already had 3 continuing education classes.

This weekend, we decided to get out and beat the crowds for back to school shopping. I already got all of Erin's school supplies a couple of weeks ago, so all we had left to shop for is some cute outfits. We went to the outlet mall and found some adorable navy and pink Bob's. We also found a couple of cute outfits and tops. She still needs a couple more things, but we are off to a great start!

This week, Erin and I will be decorating and setting my classroom. I have one more continuing Ed class and we are heading to Louisiana. We are looking forward to finishing off the summer with a couple more adventures!

Erin won a gigantic balloon at church today. We blew it up and play balloon volleyball. Takes me back to when I was a kid playing with my brother! I enjoying getting to do it all over again with Erin! :)

Family Road Trip to Austin

We decided to take a quick trip to Austin before Erin goes back to camp for the next two weeks.  Randy and I have lived in Texas for a long while and neither one of us has ever visited the State Capitol.  Austin is only 2 and half hours away, making it easy 2 day trip.

We booked an awesome hotel on the North side of Austin.  They actually have 2 royal swans, Butch and Sundance, that live in the lobby ponds.  Erin was in love with the swans.  She went down to the lobby many times to check on them.  She even got to feed them pieces of lettuce and spinach.

Erin with a Butterfly Sculpture

Our first stop in Austin was the Domain, a newly developed outdoor shopping area.  It really reflects Austin's eclectic style with metal sculptures lining the streets, large live oaks, beautiful water features and an assortment of stores. 

Erin and Randy talking at Starbucks

The next day, we drove down to the visit the Capitol Building.  It's set in a beautiful garden.  The visitor center houses a newly opened museum that explains a little about how Texas gained it's independence from Mexico.  They also had a great exhibit detailing the colonization of the state and how the settlers lived.  They had letters, tools and replicas of their clothing on display.

We went across the park to the main building.  The entrance is guarded by authentic cannons. The entire building was restored from 1992 -95 to the way it looked around the turn of the century.  The first room we visited was the Texas Treasury.  The original floor to ceiling bars were still in place with desks lining the windows on the other side.  It made you feel like you had walked onto a movie set.  Next, we stood under the beautiful cupola featuring a Texas star at its heart.  The building also houses the State Senate, Congress, the Supreme Court and the Appeals Court. This was a wonderful opportunity to share some of our state's history with Erin.  She really enjoyed discovering the buildings and artwork.

Texas State Congress

Our last stop was the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  Erin has always loved nature, most especially flowers, making this stop a no brainer.  The center was set up by the former first Lady to highlight the beauty of nature as it was it was discovered in the Austin area.  Every spring, many people come to see the fields of Blue Bonnets and Indian Paint Brushes.  It was wonderful to see how many other beautiful native Texas flowers are in bloom at other times of the year.  Erin really enjoyed discovering the butterfly gardens and a special origami exhibit the Center was hosting.

1st Library Card!

We just got Erin her very own library card! She enjoys going to the library every other week to check out books and hang out with other kids.

She loves reading the Rainbow Fairy series about 2 girls that help fairies find magical items in the human world. She's also a big fan of the Tiara Club. This series is written by an author from the UK. The princesses go to Princess School for the term and have all kinds of adventures with their royal friends.

Erin also completed the Barnes & Noble reading challenge. She had to read 8 books and give recommendations on each of them. She earned an American Girl book by being an amazing reader!

Slumber Party Pizazz & Other Summer Fun

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I decided to take a little summer break from blogging :-)
So... To get everyone up to speed, Erin has enjoyed 2 weeks of play dates and swimming. She had made an amazing amount of progress swimming. She can now swim across the deep end of the pool by herself. Her favorite way of getting this done is by executing a perfect canon ball and swimming back to the side unassisted. She's a very talented swimmer!!!
This week, Erin is in camp. She's enjoying the Slumber Party Pizazz camp. Every day, the girls get to wear their PJs and bring their sleeping bags with a stuffed animal or toy of their choice. They make crafts every day, fix each other's hair, do their make up and painted their nails.  It's the best of both worlds a slumber party and a day filled with fun activities (especially since it has been raining a lot this week)!  To make matters even better, one of the girls from Erin's girl scout troop and a girl from her Kindergarten class are also in the same camp.
We are really enjoying our summer! It has been filled with fun trips to the library, swimming, pool parties, camps, friends and many other fun activities.  It's been a great way to kick back and enjoy each other and get some much needed R&R.  I love summer!!! :)

Erin at Slumber Party Camp

Hip Hop Now

Sofia & Erin at Hip Hop Camp after their Performance

This week, Erin went to her first Cy-Fair (our school district) Fun Camp.  It was held at the Middle School not very far from our house.  She had an amazing time  - she actually wanted to know if she could o the same camp next week.  Unfortunately, it's not offered next week; however she did sign up for Sleep Over Camp in 2 weeks, the Puppet Theater (she gets to make her own finger and paper bag puppets) a couple of weeks later and the Colorlious Camp based on the Pinkalious books (lots color mixing, art, sprinkles and bling) the last week of July.  So, it seems we have very full summer ahead of us!

Erin learned the matrix move.  This move has her leaning backwards and moving her arms 1 at time over her head.  She did the worm and even tried some break dancing moves.  Our neighbor, Sofia, was also in the same camp as Erin.  The girls enjoyed learning the steps and spending time together for the week.  The camp  culminated in an adorable performance where all the kids wore camouflage shorts with colorful hoodies.

Backyard Completed!

We thought long and hard about what we wanted to add to the back... After months of planning, we settled on some Japanese Blueberry Bushes, Crapes and some shrubs. We added some soft lighting to each bed with the Crapes for some visual appeal and security. Here is the finished yard!

Day Time

Night Time - Lighting on Crapes

New Room Theme

This week was a fun filled week.  In addition to VBS, we also redecorated Erin's room and turned it into a "big girl room".  She selected the Peace & Love theme.  She got a really cool bed in a bag set from one of my friends for her birthday.  We used it to redesign and decorate her room.  Her favorite color is blue, so we decided to accent the room with a medium blue and pink to give it a girly flair.


We redid all of the art work, the bins, the lamp, her name and even created some wall art.  I was a super fun process that turned out really cute!

Vacation Bible School (VBS)

This week was crazy... Erin and I signed up for VBS at our church.  The theme this year was SKY - with God the sky is the limit.  The program begins at 9:00 Monday through Friday and ends at 12:00.  The kids spend time learning new songs, making crafts, playing games and learning about bible passages.

Erin's crew had 22 kids.  I volunteered to be her adult leader along with another mother.  We had 3 youth volunteers help us manage the kids and get them to the different areas of the church.  Erin enjoyed singing and dancing.  She also loved learning about the bible and making fun crafts.

Check her out in action:

Craft Time

Snack Time

Louisiana Road Trip

I know it's been a while... So here we go with the updates! :)

We had a fabulous time in Louisiana!  Drove from Houston to Baton Rouge and stayed over night.  We went to the Whole Foods and got these amazing sandwiches.  Mine was a grilled chicken Caesar cibbata - I have NEVER seen such a big sandwich, but it was delicious.  Randy selected a Southwest grilled chicken wrap that he enjoyed and Erin ate a monstrous piece of cheese pizza.  Since we were on vacation, we decided a little indulgence was in order and we all chose a desert.  Erin went for the giant chocolate cake and Randy and I split a chocolate cake and chocolate mousse parfait.  Needless to say the only thing that comes to mind is YUM!

The next day we drove from Baton Rouge to Covington, where Randy's Mom lives.  We stayed with her for the night.  She made a delicious meat sauce and spaghetti meal that we shared with Randy's sister's family.  We had a wonderful time catching up and seeing how much Cameron, Maria's son, had grown.  He is about to turn 15 and will be driving soon... where has the time gone?  Erin really enjoyed hanging out and spending quality time with her cousin.

While we were there, we decided to enjoy some Louisiana seafood.  We went to Buster's, a Cajun restaurant in old Covington, to have po-boys and gumbo.  The restaurant is in an amazing part of a little southern town complete with large beautiful trees and gorgeous old houses.  It just makes you want to slow down and take it all in... The food, of course, was unbelievable!  Erin enjoyed a chocolate lava cake - the girl and chocolate...

Later that evening, we drove back to Baton Rouge for the night.  We found a really great family friendly hotel that includes and evening snack and breakfast.  The next morning we hit the road to head back to Houston.  We made it home in about 4.5 hours in time to take it easy and get laundry done before a busy week of play dates and vacation bible school.

Road Trip

We've been out of school for almost 1 week. We decided to squeeze in a quick road trip to see Randy's Mom in Louisiana. We are leaving today and will be back by Sunday in time for Erin and I to go to VBS (Vacation Bible School) on Monday.


We are planning on driving to Baton Rouge and spending Wednesday night there. We will visit LSU's campus and take it easy. On Thursday we will drive on to Covington to stay at Randy's Mom's house. We will visit Randy's sister, Maria, and head back to Baton Rouge Saturday.
Looking forward to a fun time!!

Backyard Planning

So we've decided it's time to put some landscaping into the backyard. We've been living in Cypress for 4 years and it's time to add some color to the yard. We've visited a couple of nurseries and checked the approved list of plants and are ready to make a choice.

We went to the Verdant Tree Farm. I love this nursery because it is quite large and bigger more established plants. The nursery is so large that they have golf carts to get around. Erin got to ride shot gun while we decided which plants we wanted for the backyard.

We settled on 4 watermelon colored crates, 4 Japanese blueberry bushes and some smaller bushes. Can't wait to see what it all looks like when it's been planted!

School's Out!!

Last Day of School

Erin has just finished her very first year of elementary school!  With her Kindergarten year behind her, Erin has grown by leaps and bounds.  Here are some of the highlights of her year (just to name a couple):


She can read at a beginning 2nd grade level.
She can write entire pages about any subject she chooses.
She can count beyond 100.
She can add and subtract.
She rides her bike and scooter like a pro.
She can swing by herself.
She had completed all of her Daisy petals.
She has lost 4 teeth (3 on top and 1 on the bottom).

This summer she is looking forward to Vacation Bible School, Hip Hop Camp, Colorlicous (Art)
Camp and going to visit family in Louisiana.  We're FREE for the summer! It's a great feeling! :)

Weekend Fun

It seems like Erin's birthday has been going on for over a week.  We decided to take Erin shopping with some of her many gift cards that she got from all of her family.  We went to Build a Bear, where she selected an adorable puppy to stuff and dress.  She named her Erin Jr. (the puppy also happens to have the same birth date as her Mom) and dressed her in a cute red sequined and leopard print dress.  The outfit came with a cute bow and leopard print clutch.

We also went to Target where Erin selected an interesting toy called Bizoos.  They are little plastic beads that come with an elastic bracelet.  You have to thread the beads onto the cord using a special tool.  If you follow the pattern  cards provided with the toy, you can the twist the bracelet into a cute sparkly pet.

May 24 - Erin's Birthday

Erin & Dad at the bus stop

Erin woke up to her birthday presents, all wrapped up and placed in her "special" present place.  She unwrapped them quickly and was excited to find Lego Friends and more Lalaloopsy stuff.  We played Lalaloopsy with her new mini fairy and camping girl (complete with camping gear and tent) before she had to get dressed to go to school.  She also feasted on Birthday cupcakes for breakfast... What can I say?  Can you think of a more perfect breakfast on your birthday?

I took the day off to spend the day with Erin, so Randy and I took her down to the bus stop.  She was so excited to wear her special birthday ribbon.  Erin wanted EVERYONE to know that it was her special day!  She also wanted to get a Bday ribbon for one of friends in her class.  Oddly, they both share the same birthday.  What are the odds with over 250 Kindergartners at her school?  I'm so proud of Erin for always being so thoughtful and sweet.

Erin had more surprise in store.  I volunteered to hand out Popsicles to the Kindergarten class.  I showed up a little early to have lunch the my special angel.  She was so surprised when I tapped her on the shoulder!  We enjoyed some special "Mom and Erin time", then it was time to head to recess.  The sweet angel gave me a giant hug and kiss on her way out the door.  She has turned into such a sweet little lady!