Storms, etc.

We had thunderstorms this morning. Hannah was hiding from them under her covers when Bill went to get her up. I think they have mostly passed by now, but we may have more tonight and tomorrow morning.

Zachary had a sore throat earlier this week; it was viral and not strep, so we just had to wait for him to get over it. He seems to be doing much better, and is back to his normal self of annoying Shadow and getting into everything.

Hannah is starting cheerleading camp at her daycare tomorrow. I don't want her to get into cheerleading, but she really wanted to do it. She is also probably going to her first sleepover at her best friend, Madeline's, the first weekend in July. We hope we don't have to pick her up in the middle of the night.

Ashlyn Jewel

I have a new niece! Ashlyn Jewel was born early yesterday morning. Everyone is doing fine, and I hear that Anna really likes her baby sister.

I also posted some pictures from Hannah's graduation on MySpace.

Hannah's Graduation and Wearing Jackets in Near 100-Degree Heat

Hannah graduated from Pre-K on Saturday. I have pictures, but haven't gotten them off of my camera, yet. It was a cute ceremony; they sang some songs, received their fake diplomas (we got the real one after the ceremony), and watched a slide show. The kids really enjoyed the slide show.

This morning, Hannah was watching the weather while we were getting ready for work and school, and she told me she wanted to wear her jacket today. I told her she didn't need it today, and she argued that it was windy and she needed her jacket. I don't know if I ever convinced her that she didn't need it today, but she apparently didn't think it could be windy and hot (high of almost 100 today) at the same time.

Hannah's Tooth

Hannah lost her second tooth last night. We think she swallowed it, because we couldn't find it after dinner. So, she drew another tooth for the tooth fairy. I also registered her for Kindergarten yesterday. She's excited about starting Kindergarten and going to a new school.

Hannah's Tooth

Hannah lost her first tooth today. She was on the playground at school when she lost it, but she didn't realize it was gone. She told her teacher that her tooth hurt, and her teacher told her that was because it was gone. They looked for the tooth, but couldn't find it, so Hannah drew a picture of her tooth to put under her pillow for the tooth fairy.

Zachary went for his 1-year checkup today. He weighs 22 pounds 14 ounces and is 30 inches tall. He is standing more by himself, and will take a couple of steps before he decides to drop and crawl.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Here is a picture after he finished his birthday cake at his party on Saturday.

NASA's top-10 views of Earth | CNET News.com

These are some really cool pictures taken from the International Space Station. Photos: NASA's top-10 views of Earth | CNET News.com

Hail Storm Pictures

I posted some of the hail storm pictures from last Thursday to MySpace. The hail we had was about marble-sized, but we had quite a bit of it. It piled up in places and did some damage to our flowers and bushes and put some dings in our back fence.

Zachary is feeling much better. He is back to his normal self and is ready for his birthday party on Saturday.

I also posted some pictures of Hannah's soccer game on Saturday. They won 3-2; Hannah played defense. The coach tried to get her to play forward for part of the game, but she wanted to keep playing defense.

Graduate School

I found out today that I have been accepted to graduate school at UTA. I will start classes at the end of May.

Poor Zachary has been sick since Thursday. I took him to the doctor this morning and found out that he has an ear infection again. She prescribed him some antibiotics, so he should feel better soon.

Exploring

We finally replaced the old Explorer with a new one!

We bought it last Thursday, and I have already put quite a few miles on it. Zachary is taking a few steps at a time before he falls down. I posted Easter pictures on my MySpace page.

I Love Texas Weather!

Well, after the snow last Thursday, the high today was almost 90 degrees. Here is a picture of the house last Friday morning about 8:00. The snow had mostly melted on the streets, sidewalks, and driveways, but there were still patches of ice in places. Our snowman didn't completely melt until Monday morning, when it rained. He left behind a nice little pile of grass that got rolled up inside him.

Zachary took one step by himself on Wednesday at daycare. He is standing up longer and longer without holding onto anything. Today he got to visit the young toddler class (the class he will be moving up to soon). He even got to play outside with them. One of his teachers told me she has never seen a baby like Zachary that has absolutely no fear of being outside.

New Pictures

I posted a few new pictures to my MySpace page. Hannah had her first soccer game of this season yesterday. She played defense and goalie, where she stopped one goal. Here is a picture of both kids before the game.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been really busy lately, so I haven't had much time to post to the blog or even transfer my newest photos from my camera. Zachary finally got his two front top teeth in last Friday. He will not eat baby food anymore, so he has started eating table food.

I have decided to get my Master's degree, so I am in the process of applying to the University of Texas at Arlington. They're Mavericks instead of Longhorns, so that's a relief.

Hannah is starting soccer again; her first game is Saturday. She's excited.

Crazy Weather

The weekend was beautiful and spring-like, so I actually washed the Explorer, which hadn't been washed in who knows how long. I should have known, nothing can bring on rain faster than me washing a car. Monday was warm and humid; I felt like I was back in Houston. And the storms hit early Tuesday morning. Unfortunately Tuesday is also our garbage pick-up day, so I woke up just before 4 AM, heard the wind, and feared the worst - garbage all over the yard. I couldn't go back to sleep thinking about it, so I had to get up and check (Bill was out of town). Luckily, the wind had just blown the lids open, so I went outside and closed them, since it was raining a little. We got some thunder and lightning after that, but nothing more serious. I was glad I sent the kids' jackets to daycare, because the temperature started falling in the afternoon, and it was in the 4os and really windy when I picked them up. It was near freezing this morning.

Hannah likes to bring the newspaper in and mentioned getting it this morning, so I told her she could, but she needed to hurry, because it was cold. When we got to daycare, she went in ahead of me, and when Mrs. H. made the comment to her that it was cold, Hannah said "I know. Mama made me get the paper this morning."

9-Month Checkup

Zachary went for his 9-month checkup today. He weighs 20 pounds and is 29 1/2 inches tall. He also has an ear infection, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. He had to get one shot today, but as soon as I picked him up, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and stopped crying. He recovers much faster from a shot than Hannah does.

Crawling and Christmas Pictures

Zachary started crawling yesterday. He only crawls a few inches and gets upset, but I'm sure he'll be crawling all over the place in no time. I had to stay home with him on Tuesday because he was running a fever, but he had recovered enough by Tuesday afternoon to start getting into everything, including the USB cables plugged into the front of my computer.

I also posted some Christmas pictures on my MySpace page a few days ago.

Let's Say Thanks

This web site is sponsored by Xerox to send postcards to men and women in the military deployed around the world. The only information they ask for is your name and hometown.
Let's Say Thanks

Glow in the Dark Cats

You never have to worry about tripping over a cat in the dark again.
Cloned cats that glow?! - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com

FreeRice.com

This is a nice little site to test your vocabulary and help the United Nations World Food Program at the same time.

Halloween 2007

Zachary didn't go Trick-or-Treating, but we finally got him in a good mood to take his picture in his costume by the time Hannah got back. He is sitting up by himself really well now, and we had a hard time getting him to stop playing long enough to take a picture. Hannah's fairy costume has fiber optic lights in the skirt. We didn't have many Trick-or-Treaters last night; most of them must have gone to the elementary school for "Trunk-or-Treat" instead of going to houses. I shut the cats up in the laundry room and Gus was unhappy about that, but I didn't want him chasing Trick-or-Treaters like he did two years ago.

Hannah's last soccer practice is tonight, and her last game is on Saturday. One of the other parents said that he thinks she is the most improved on the team since the season began. I can't believe it's only three weeks until Thanksgiving.