First Day of Pre-K and 6th grade

Whew! We made it through the summer! I can't believe it, but I'm glad it's over. The final few days left were really tough. If you think the age difference between Landrie and KL is enough to curb the fighting...think again. Sometimes it's worse! School has provided the much needed break for dueling sisters, an attention deprived baby, and a tired momma!

KL started this past Wednesday and there wasn't too much to report. There are 16 kids in her class...most of whom have been in her same class since kindergarten. Things are pretty much the same for her: she likes her teachers, is frustrated with math, and plays soccer with the boys at recess. Landrie is the one who I was concerned about. Everything was new for her this year. But who was I kidding?? This is Landrie I'm talking about, and she practically walked herself into the building and into the classroom! I was not needed one iota!

Landrie's teacher is great and reported that Landrie had a terriffic day. Landrie's been talking about her new best friends: Will and Cooper. I guess I'm a little confused by her preference of male friends, but I'm gonna roll with it....again, this is Landrie. She beats to a different tune!

Along with the start of school comes the start of my own schedule and commitments. I officially rolled off the board at Waco Baptist this year, but was asked to stay on as advisory and continue to chair the Marketing Committee. Add to that my Monday Morning Bible study at the church (Beth Moore's Daniel....I'm soooo excited!!), co-chair of the WBA Variety Show, Wednesday night choir, fellowship committee at WBA, and a possible spot working with the high school youth at church. Oh, should I also forget to mention that my friend, Julie, and I have started working out again????!!! I am not busy AT ALL.

I have tried to be very deliberate and purposeful with my obligations....all of which take a backseat to my family. I don't know if I've done a good job of this. Please pray for me that I won't over-commit. My only desire is to be available to my family and not push them aside because of my busy-ness. I know God will direct me and give me the strength to be super mom, but I need to be able to hear him through all this.

On a side note: Emerie turned one last week. I am sad. She is our last....or so I think. But she has developed quite a temper....

I hope you all are enjoying these first few days of school...before you know it, we'll be dropping our kids off at college. Yikes!

High School Musical Back to School Party!

I thought I was being pretty creative by hosting a HSM2 back to school party....apparently there were about 10 million other creative moms who joined me in this endeavor! We hosted 10 girls at our house for pizza, sugary soda and plenty of giggles! We asked the girls to come dressed in their pjs and bring a favorite pillow. It was really an easy party...the girls snuggled together to watch the movie and when the show paused for a commercial break, we had locker mirrors for the girls to embellish with paint and jewels. (thanks, Julie!).

The funniest thing was that during the movie, the girls were completely quiet...even shushing one another if the talking got much above a whisper. UNTIL......the kiss (or should I say "kisses") between Troy and Gabriella!!!!! The girls let out an ear piercing scream and did lots of clapping. Cody and I looked at each other with an "uh-oh" expression on our faces! I'm not sure I like this kissing business....as long as it involves people on the big screen and not my daughter!

The girls spent the remainder of the night outside playing "ghost in the graveyard" and begging their parents for 5 more minutes when they arrived.

Overall, it was a successful back to school party, and I even watched most of HSM2 myself! My review of the movie? Well, I'd have to watch it again and actually pay attention to the plot of the movie....I had a hard time focusing on anything but cutie-patootie, Zac Effron!! (It wasn't too long ago that I had New Kids on the Block magazine posters plastered on every wall of my room.....)

Have a blessed week!

A

Just a Swingin

Today was "hospitality Wednesday" at the Beeler household. One thing I love so much about our house is that it's central to everything (especially Target!!). Because of this, we get frequent visits from our friends and their kiddos. Today my friend, Ashley, and her 3 girls came over this morning followed by my friend, Faith, and her two boys this afternoon. Landrie had so much fun "entertaining" her friends and spent quite a bit of the day outside on the swing and in the pool. (Kellie-Laine, poor thing, felt a little too old to do much with us and Emerie was too young to enjoy the fun!) I took a few photos of Faith's boys on our swing...aren't they gorgeous (the boys, not the photos)??? Her kids are so photogenic and super handsome! These boys are on my "arranged marriage" list for Emerie and Landrie. My dad picked up a zoom lens for my camera at a really great price, and I'm enjoying using it...if you don't have a zoom lens, you should think about getting one. It allows you to take candid photos of your kids from a distance so you get a lot of natural smiles and not too many "posed" photos.

Our girls start school next week...I think I'm ready, but to be honest I'm not desperate for them to start. It's been a long summer and there have been very trying days, but time has flown by like crazy and I haven't really had a chance to enjoy it! Many of you know our dilemma with Landrie but for those of you who don't: she has an August 28th birthday, so we've been struggling with the decision of holding her back or starting her on time. The solution we came up with was allowing her to start Pre-K three days a week at Waco Baptist Academy with Kellie-Laine. If we feel she's ready to progress onward to Kindergarten next year, then we'll do that. If not, she'll repeat Pre-K again but move to the 5 day class. It's so hard to try and look into her future to know what's best, but for now we feel good about the direction we're heading.

My teacher friends: I'm wishing you the best of luck this year ahead---you are priceless!

Take care,

Angela

A little R&R and Puffy Eyes

Just got back from our "friends & family" getaway to Kingsland, Texas (Lake LBJ). It was four fun-filled days of rest and relaxation, mainly because I left little Emerie with Auntie Flo! As terrible as it may sound, I had a completely relaxing time hanging out on the boat, by the pool, and just sitting around talking with my girlfriends. There were moments when I really missed my baby, and many moments when I felt horrible that Flo was having to work so hard just so I could relax...but in the end, it was worth it!

Here are the kids that were on our trip...all 12 of them. The adults were really outnumbered!

The last day of our trip, Landrie woke up looking like this:

Isn't that so sad? The day before she told me she had a headache and as I checked her forehead, I realized she had a huge goose egg on it. All she could tell me was that she bumped it on the bathroom counter. She didn't complain about it one bit. The next morning, I froze in my tracks when I looked at her like this! All the swelling had started draining down behind her eyes, and even as I write this today, her eyes are still swollen and very red.

You can check out the place we stayed here http://www.logcountrycove.com/ or here http://www.theavonne.com/ it was located down in the hill country, and I've really grown fond of the beautiful scenery there.

I'm also posting some pics from our family vacation to Wimberely, TX....not such a successful trip as the one we just had, but still some good memories were made. Wimberley is a little community built around the Blanco river. The river is the main attraction. So when it starts pouring down rain and the river turns into white water rapids, there's not much else to do. This downpour of rain continued until the last day of our trip, and we were really bummed! Finally, Cody decided come hell or high water we were going to salvage this trip, so he took us to Sea World. It was a perfect overcast, slightly rainy day and there were few people there. Even with the inclimate weather, our girls braved the water area and swam their hearts out! They returned to us freezing cold with blue lips, but they had so much fun.

Obsession

HP Pavilion 6000 Laptop

This is the reason I haven't updated my blog in a while. I freely admit it....I'm obsessed with it. Laundry has fallen by the wayside, dinner is whatever I can quickly make, husband is ignored, children get the "hold on just a second" answer to every request, my mild case of carpal tunnel's is full blown, my extremities are numb, and did I mention my bloodshot eyes from staying up too late???

Help me stop the insanity!!!!! I've got so much to learn about Vista, Photoshop Elements 5.0, what hardware I truly need versus what the store people are trying to sell me, and how to get all my stuff organized JUST THE WAY I WANT IT! It's a maddening cycle of awe, frustration, and realization that technology has passed me by. If any of you laptoppers have suggestions, I'd be ever grateful.

Brother Boog

Tonight was a pretty special night for my brother in law, Boog. He preached for the first time as Youth Minister of First Baptist Church in Malakoff. Cody and I got a babysitter and drove to see him give the Sunday evening sermon. We didn't even tell Boog and Flo we were coming and just surprised them with our arrival! It was great visiting a small-town church and being able to witness a very special moment in Boog's life.

Our visit also made us appreciate our home church, Highland Baptist, here in Waco. We have so many talented people like our Pastor, Music Minister, Kids Director, etc. but we also have lots of talented lay people--and that's what makes our church so great! Just this morning we got to hear a 14 year old girl, Trannie Stevens, sing some songs from her CD. She was amazing! Reminds me of Nicole Nordeman....

Finally, I just wanted to show off some pictures that I took of the girls this afternoon....and I FINALLY got one with me in it! My kids will grow up thinking I was allergic to the camera or something because I'm usually the one taking the picture!

Have a great week!

Angela

Quick Update

Just a quick "Hello" to let you all know that, yes, this is still an active blog! I'm so sorry for neglecting you guys...as I'm sure you've been waiting at your computer for the next update.

The photo of Landrie crying is self-explanatory....she is upset because of the spanking she received when she cut almost 4 inches off of her hair! I think I a guttural moan emerged from the depths of my soul when she showed me what she had done....the child's hair is such a big part of who she is, and I was afraid that we were going to have to "bob it" to fix it. Luckily, it's barely noticeable.

The picture of Emerie is just a glimpse into what my two younger girls do each day....I am amazed that they play so well together! They'll sit in Landrie's room for quite a while talking to each other in a way that makes sense only to them. Kellie-Laine and Landrie....now that's a different story.

The photo of Cody and I was taken at a friend's 40th birthday...our eight year anniversary is coming up next week. I can hardly believe it, and I am more in love with him today than ever. I love you, honey!

No photos of KL...I can't get her to stay home long enough to take one! Ahhhh, the life of an almost 6th grader!

If I might boast a moment...please take note of my new blog header created by yours truly! I love learning more about Adobe Photoshop, and this was one of the creations that I was mighty proud of!

We're off for a quick vacation next week, so I hope to have more photos for you then