Matt's First Band Concert

Last Thursday was the Cornerstone Winter Concert. One never knows what entertainment is in store - but I have to say - I think this was my favorite one so far. First, the band started the evening off with 3 songs: "You are the Sunshine of my Life", "Jingle Bell Rock" and the most famous Christmas song ever, "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson (insert sarcastic tone). But...all 3 songs were fantastic and for a bunch of kids who had never picked up an instrument before September, they sounded really good. The players all donned white glittery gloves during their tribute to Michael Jackson. The band director even did the moon walk. It was really fun. The theater kids followed with 5 songs they performed "choir" style and they were amazing. And to wrap up the night, the dance class dazzled us with 4 separate routines that were well choreographed. Matt doesn't think he will pursue the trumpet past this one semester, but he did give it a try and enjoyed his time learning something new. We are grateful we were in the audience for his first and his last band concert. I'll post the video of "Billy Jean" just as soon as I pull it off the camera.

Saved By the Bell...Dancing With the Stars...Extra

How do you know Mario Lopez? I remember him as "Slater" from Saved By the Bell - that TV sitcom back in the 80's and ending in 1994. Matt recognizes him as the host of Animal Planet's "Pet Star". But now, he'll be known as a children's author. Mario and his sister, Marissa, have written a book entitled, "Mud Tacos". They were at Discovery Green park yesterday to read the story and to sign copies of their book. Of course, we had to go. Matt talked about it all week. The crowd was pretty large, in spite of the threat of rain. There were tables set up with all the "ingredients" to make your own mud taco. Matt posed with his taco. Anyway...just wanted to share how we spent part of our Thanksgiving Saturday.

Winning is Fun!

Matt entered a contest at school called "Reflections". It's a national PTA contest to encourage the arts in school aged kids. At Cornersone, they were offering an incentive for kids to submit their entries. The winner would receive a brand new Flip Ultra Video Camera. Matt was so excited yesterday when they drew his name out of the "hat". The funny thing is...we got Matt a Flip Mino Video Camera for his birthday last June. So...now he has two! He's going to let Bill use it for skating - you know like - skate cam from the helmet. That would be fun.

Zombie Prom

Tonight was Matt's first Middle School Dance - Zombie Prom. The kids could come dressed as anything, but Matt has planned his Zombie costume for weeks. First we went to the thrift store - he wanted a grey hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. He then ripped off the sleeves and made random rips in the jeans. He made water with red food coloring and made "blood" spots on the jacket. Then, here's the good part, he actually buried the clothes in the ground outside in the backyard. He meant to dig them up the same evening, but forgot. A huge rainstorm came through that night and the clothes were so muddy - it was gross. The red food coloring washed off. Bill hung the clothes with a big fan underneath to dry and they were perfectly "dirty". We painted his face and gelled his hair to finish the "just came out of the earth" look. He had fun at the dance and his favorite part was when the whole school danced to "Thriller". He's been practicing that for weeks too. Aah...to be 11 again! Have a Happy Halloween

The Next Food Network Star

They should really have a competition for kids. Matt should have his own show! He made these cookies the other evening. He found the recipe (Hot Chocolate Cookies) in a new cookbook that I recently bought. He literally did everything for these cookies from measuring to icing to decorating. All I did was take the cookie sheet out of the oven for him. And yes...they were really really really good!

Fall is in the Air!

It's nearing the end of October and the weather actually turned cool for a brief time over the weekend. I believe the low on Saturday was 52 and we were loving it. Our neighbors, Matt, Carrie and Avie, Rennee and Matthew, and family, Beth, Joel and Joshua, came over for some yummy homemade tortilla soup and pumpkin carving time. We gobbled up 2 recipes of halloween rice krispy treats, too. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the crisp air and swat mosquitos! The pumpkins turned out great. Matt carved the pirate ship, I made the window scene and Jack carved the spider. Bill took the photo - he did an awesome job. Sunday afternoon, I made a batch of candy corn kiss chocolate cookies. These are a spin off of the peanut butter cookies with hershey kisses. I got the idea from one of my favorite sites - The Idea Room. Check out her blog - I go there almost everyday.

This week will be quite busy. Jack has his upcoming performance of Roald Dahl's, The Witches, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He has the lead male role. I'm nervous - but he says they are totally ready. I can't wait for the show. Jack got his haircut this afternoon - it's nice to see his eyes again :) Matt has his first middle school dance on Friday night - Zombie Prom. How fun is that? We are starting the 10th week of school and Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. Bill has the Houston Skate Marathon this Sunday morning. He's been training hard. We'll let you know his time after the race. Hope you all have a fantastic week!

First Day of School - Updated!

I thought it would be fun to show the progression of the boys over the years. Every year on the first day of school, I take their picture in front of the front door. I couldn't find every one of those pictures (but I will definitely dig through my stacks of photos to locate them all). But...I did want to post the 4 pics that I did find.

Edited to add: Yeah!! I found more pics of the first day of school. These were from waaay back and I had to scan them in. I'm still looking for the missing 4 pics - but I'm so happy nonetheless....

Here's Jack on his first day of Kindergarten. He looked so handsome!

Here's 1st grade. Now...what a charmer! Spiked hair and sunglasses. He still has those tall socks!

Now, this is sweet. Matt's first day of Pre K and Jack heading out the door to 2nd grade. Matt sure did have a lot of spiderman stuff!

Above is the day that Matt went to Kinder and Jack was in 3rd grade. I need to remind him of his "tall sock" phase. He wouldn't be caught dead in socks that went above the ankle now. Also...notice the progression of the door mats and the floor. I thought that was pretty interesting too.

Fast forward two years...here's Matt going into 2nd grade and Jack going into 5th grade. Jack didn't wear shorts that whole year - didn't like his legs showing. And that hair on both of them - so 1970s!
This picture shows Matt going into 5th grade and Jack going into 8th grade. I like to see how they compare to the top of the door. They are growing like weeds.

Our final picture was taken yesterday - the first day of school 2009! Matt's first day of middle school and Jack's first day of High School. Yes I cried the night before. I realized that the first day of kindergarten is nothing compared to this high school thing...and before I know it...4 years will go by and we'll be moving Jack into his UT dorm.

I love these boys! They make me so proud!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

June 30th celebrates Matthew's Birthday and yesterday he turned 11. He stayed up Monday night til after midnight so he could wish himself a Happy Birthday the actual minute it happened. Bill and I extended our wishes when we woke up the next morning :) For those who know me, our birthday parties are slightly over-the-top...but we decided to have a simple party this year with not as many friends as usual. Matt didn't mind - he had a blast. We started off at the mall - you know - the typical party place. Well, actually, we met up at the California Pizza Kitchen. The kids were treated to a tour of the kitchen, then they could make their own pizzas. The boys had a fabulous time even though they had to wear aprons and hair nets. There was much groaning about the hair nets! Once the pizzas were made, the boys hung out at the table while they were baking. After a wonderful dinner (the grown-ups got some really yummy pizza and salad, too), we loaded the boys up and headed to our neighborhood pool. The thunder held off enough for all to have an amazing time. We enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream in between swimming and Matt was thrilled to celebrate with friends on his actual birthday.

Matt's 5th Grade Graduation

This morning was quite an eventful experience! Matt crossed the stage and got his "certificate of completion" of elementary school. He was so handsome and so excited. What we didn't know was how many awards this guy was going to bring home. Matt participated in many different "extra" activities at school. He was recognized for being in the school choir, for being an anchor for the PSE morning news and for participating in the 5th grade track meet. The first individual award was for the student who made all A's on every report card and all E's on conduct. Matt won this "distinguished honor roll" award - he was the only one!! He also won the Principal's Honor Roll (all A average in each class), Perfect Attendance for all of 5th grade, Good Citzenship Award, and the President's Gold Academic Excellence Award (all A's for 5th and 4th grade). He stood proud (as he should have). He worked so hard to earn these achievements. We're grateful for both boys and how special they are.
Now...we are excited about a family vacation to regroup after a long school year. We'll post pictures from Sunny California.

My Super Handsome Boys

This is my favorite recent picture of my two boys. I just love their expressions and that they are hugging each other and actually look like they like each other :) Anyway...I had not blogged in a couple days, so I thought I would post this picture. I just love these kids!

Matt's 5th grade graduation is Tuesday morning, so I will post again then with pics of his special day. Tomorrow, the entire 5th grade is going bowling. That will be lots of fun, too! I'm chaperoning and look forward to watching the activities.

Running for the Arts

This morning was a 5k charity run for our school district. It's called Running for the Arts and it's a lot of fun. Lots of people come out and pay money to run or walk 3.1 miles and sweat like crazy. So, I thought I'd join the fun. My youngest son, Matt, ran again this year. He finished in 34 minutes. He was done before I got to the 2nd mile marker. But, that's okay. I finished in 55 minutes and 55 seconds. Maybe this will be the kickstart to some real exercise. We all know I need it. But, it was a lot of fun walking and spending time with various co-workers. Bill came early with us and took these pictures. Thanks, honey!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

One of my favorite things to do is watch my kids play sports or perform on stage. My younger son, Matt, is on the Cardinals. His team had a slow start, but they are working their way up on the standings ladder. They have 3 games to go in the regular season, then they'll have the tournament. Their last two games were so exciting. They beat 2 undefeated teams in a row. Talk about confidence - you'd think they'd won the World Series - well, in a way, they did.

Matt plays mostly left field and 1st base. He's got quite an arm and can catch really well. He'd like to play pitcher - so we're hoping that he'll get the chance in some of these back-to-back games where we can't use the same pitcher at every game. We'll see...

Have a great Wednesday!

You're Never Too Old for the Zoo

My 10 year old, Matthew, decided that he wanted to go to the zoo. Our zoo just recently added a new animal - a Red Panda named Toby. He's been itching to go see it since he did a research project on Red Pandas earlier this school year. So, Amy and Zoe joined us at the zoo. Matt took several pictures of Toby, but since he lives in a pretty dark enclosed exhibit, the pictures are also pretty dark - but he was thrilled none the less because he got to see him awake, which we heard was pretty rare. Matt and Zoe had a great time pretending to be ground hogs, sit in an eagle's nest and petting the goats.