~~ Royalty ~~

Ha!  Not really, but I felt like it this morning.  Had to drop off my, almost 17 year old, minivan this morning.  Needed a ride back to the casa so I took my very first ever UBER!  It was like having a personal chauffeur.  I'm sitting in the back seat googling "how much should I tip the Uber driver?" all while having someone drive me around.  It was like I was, for about 20 minutes, living like the rich and famous!  Silly I know and how have I never been in an Uber until now?  I just don't get out that much I guess and when I do, I drive myself!  Actually, I like to drive.  Not crazy about traffic, waiting, and some people (ya know some people are just ridiculous). My driver said he drives 10 hours a day.  No way José.  

~~ Lost: First Baby Tooth ~~

My baby lost his first tooth on Friday! This is both exciting and a little sad for me. It means he's growing up! Too fast and time is flying by too quickly.
But the excitement....
He was so excited to tell me how he lost it on the playground at school during recess and his little friend helped him find it. He was excited about the little green box that the school nurse gave him to carry it home in. He excited when he went to bedding knowing that the tooth fairy would be coming in the middle of the night to trade his baby tooth for cash.
And oh my goodness was he excited when he came running into the livingroom to tell me he woke up and found $5.00 beside his pillow. I love that sweet, innocent, little boy excitement.

~~ First Day of School 2010 ~~

BIG day for these 2 little boys!

It was their first day of school! Jesse started 1st grade and Michael started Kindergarten!

Michael was so excited! He spent most of last year walking Jesse to his kindergarten class every morning. Today was finally his day to walk to that same classroom and spend the day getting to know his teacher and his classmates. He's in the dual language program this year and his teacher is Ms. Sanchez. It's going to be a great year for my littlest man!

And this little man started 1st grade. He was excited too. Jesse's continuing the dual language program this year and he is lucky enough to have Mr. Aranda again!

They would have both had me drop them at the curb if I had let them, but no way was that going to happen on the first day of school. I can't believe that they are both in school now. They are getting so big and independent and it makes me so happy that they both really love school. I hope that lasts a long, long time! I still can't believe both my babies are in school now. Where did the time go? It's going to be a GREAT school year!

~~ Rolling, Rolling, Rolling ~~

Less than a week later........

Michael is doing it on his own too! Now there really is no stopping them!

~~ Big Wheels ~~

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine posted pictures of her little man riding his bike without training wheels. He is 6 months younger than my youngest, so I figured it was time to teach both of mine to ride on just 2 wheels!

Saturday morning we all headed out to Academy because the only way I could get both boys to agree on letting me remove their training wheels was if I bought them elbow and knee pads. Seriously? They actually could use them for riding their skateboards. A bonus in the package = gloves!

We got home and it was just too hot, but that evening we were out there for a long time practicing! Both of them did real well, as long as I didn't let go. We worked on balance and pedaling and I ran beside them and behind them, letting go but staying close. The neighbor, Jessica, came out one time and told Jesse it took her like a week to learn to ride her bike. After that he was determined to beat her time and learn in less than a week.

After practicing a couple of times a day (I could only handle about 30 mins early mornings & evenings) for only 3 1/2 days.....

There is no stopping him now! So proud of him!

There were a few falls, but luckily not too many and no major scrapes or other injuries. I guess it was worth it to get those knee pads for extra confidence!

One down and one to go! Michael is making progress-he is doing great and with a little more practice, especially balance and confidence, he will be racing his brother around in no time!

~~ Field Day ~~

This school year is quickly coming to an end. Even though this last month is a busy one, the teachers, parents and kiddos at Jesse's school spent this afternoon enjoying the fun and games that are what field day is all about.

Field day is so much fun and Jesse has been looking forward to it all week!! He started here at what they called, "hot lava"




Next stop was the, "soccer ball in the upside down cone" relay.




It was so very, very hot, but most of the activities were strategically placed under the big shade trees. Phillip was able to get the day off and Michael was able to get a sneak peek at what he will get to experience next year in Kindergarten.


Then the boys each had a turn at "choking the chicken" relay. On your mark, get set, run to your chicken and pick him up with the chopsticks and bring him back to the starting line. Michael did it several times. It was funny, but they love it!

This one was funny too, "the sling shot." I got a great shot of 3 of the kindergarten teachers doing this; I just need to remember to send a copy in to the yearbook. Isn't it cute how even put his hat on backward to do this?

Touching cones and hurdles and winding between the noodles--the race is on--

This was a great exercise in teamwork. My little man was the leader this time, so he would say 1-2-3 left, 1-2-3 right, and the others would follow. Once they got the hang of it, it was real cute and funny because they would lift their right leg when Jesse said left and vice versa.

Finally we made it into the gym for some hula hoops, jump ropes and a little limbo, AND air conditioning. Did I mention it was from 12-2 and about 95 degrees out? After 2 hours out in the heat, it felt so good to be indoors!

It was hot, but oh my goodness did the kids have a blast! There was so much for them to do and Jesse had a chance to try it all. I can't wait until next year!!

~~ Marathon Kid ~~

Today started off cool and rainy, but that didn't keep Jesse and I from heading down to Burger Stadium to run his last lap to complete his marathon! It all started back in September when he brought home the flyer and with a huge smile on his face and excitement in his voice he said, "I want to do this!" This kid LOVES, really LOVES to run so I knew this would be perfect for him.

Back in October Phillip and Michael took him to the UT Track & Field stadium on a rainy Saturday morning so he could run his first mile. He ran all the miles in between at school and today I got to watch him finish what he started.

We were lucky that the rain had stopped and the humidity helped warm things up.

Checking the time. "Mom, I thought it started at 11:00? When is it going to start?"

Me and my runner

There were so many kids and parents there. It was great to see so many participating in this program. This is the first group of maybe 7 or 8 groups. The people in the yellow shirts were police officers that volunteered and they hold hands and walk down the track, then they release their hands and that is the signal....RUN!! We were right at the front of our group which was cool. Man, he was pumped!

He is fast and I had a hard time keeping up. I am surprised that I was able to actually snap a couple of pictures. This is him crossing the finish line.

He did it! He finished his 26.2 miles!

~~ The Pick Up ~~

Today when I dropped Jesse off at school he was so excited to tell his teacher that I would be picking him up this afternoon. No more riding the bus after school to daycare. The very first time since school started that I have ever picked him up from school, except that time I had to take him to the emergency room for stitches or the time we went out of town one Friday afternoon or the time I picked him up for a doctor's appointment. Okay, so I have picked him up from school, but those times were different and don't count because, well, I picked him up early those days and had to go through the office to sign him out and they went to his class and got him.

But today, today I was there when the bell rang and school got out. I got there about 5 minutes early and waited at the front of the school. The bell rang and out came the first kindergarten class, then the other 2 kindergarten classes. I waited a couple more minutes. Okay, where are they? I finally asked one of the teachers.

Turns out Jesse's class comes out the side door and waits by the playground. I thought, great now I'm going to be late. It worked out though, I was there before him and Oh My Goodness was he EXCITED to see me when his class walked out. The smile on his face was HUGE. I have to admit that I was pretty excited too. It was an AMAZING feeling to see how much it meant to him that I was there.

It was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk up to school to pick him up which meant we got to walk home. He was so sweet, he held my hand and we talked about his day.



It's a little blurry, but you can kinda see that big, happy smile.

We picked up Michael, went to gymnastics, and when they got home there was a moment of brotherly love.





It was a GOOD, GOOD day!