A Bushel and a Peck

Coleman = Five.

2012-01-27T09:16:00.001-08:00

Our sweet Buddy-boy turned 5 last Saturday. FIVE.

This will be a big year. This is the year that he will start kindergarten! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay? Geesh! As if it won’t fly by fast enough!

Coleman is a silly, loving, caring little buddy. He gives plenty of hugs and kisses to his mommy. Two nights before his birthday, I hugged him up in the living room chair and told him, “Tomorrow will be your very last day as a four year old!” He hugged my neck and held on tight for a long time. The next night as I was kissing him goodnight, he giggled and said, "I'll be back for bigger kisses tomorrow when I'm five!" He was highly anticipating this birthday.

At five years old, Coleman loves doing puzzles. He loves learning about things that he is interested in, like sharks and dinosaurs. He will read / look at a non-fiction shark book for an hour. He has gained a bit of an interest in drawing but still isn’t too interested in learning to write all his letters. He can write his name, he can copy words that I write first, and he can identify some/most of the letters…but he just isn’t too interested. Sometimes I’ll work with him and he learns a lot, other times he gets frustrated really quickly and gives up. We are working on learning to deal with and express frustration instead of getting angry and throwing things. I think this struggle comes because he is a perfectionist…if he can’t do it exactly perfect the first time, then he wants to give up. It takes some convincing to make him believe that that drawing IS good and DOES look like a horse, or that I can tell what that letter is that he just made.

Although it is winter, we are in Texas…so on days when it is not too chilly out, he and Shelby run outdoors the moment we get home from school and spend their evening hours playing out there until it gets dark. On days when it IS too chilly out, they sometimes do it, too! They like to play “Spy” and “Ninja.” They “cook” things with blades of grass, berries, acorns, and mud. They climb up in their fort and jump on the trampoline. They have great imaginations and use them constantly.

Just last week Coleman perfected the hardest parts of riding a bike with no training wheels…starting and stopping on his own. He skidded and fell one time on Friday, even skinned his wrist a little, but jumped up and yelled, “I’m ok!” and hopped back on.

We had Coleman’s birthday party at the Ice Skating rink here in NRH. We only invited friends from his class at school, and he had a great group show up. Close to 20 little ones out on the ice…we sold them out of the walkers they have to help them skate.

Daddy recently recorded Tron on our DVR and it quickly became one of Cole’s favorite movies. We let him watch it the night before his party, and we caught him watching it like this:

So the theme was TRON. It was a fun little theme.
Invitations:

Back

We had a little mishap with the cupcake company 2 days before the party so Friday night after my biology lab, we set out to make our own. We had fun making them so it all worked out better anyway!

I made the cupcakes and iced them, Shelby did the sprinkle dipping, and Daddy did the black and blue disks.
What’s gonna work? Team work! (And now I’m sad that my kids are too old to watch Wonder Pets.)

At the party we used our handy-dandy <--Blue’s Clue’s reference…I guess I’m feeling nostalgic cupcake tower, and circled the cupcakes with blue glow bracelets. Good enough.

The ice skating rink is also where the Fort Worth Brahmas play pro hockey games! Our party was in a suite, with the table in the space outside. The suite was COLD (obviously) but it was pretty cool. At the beginning of the party we got to watch some big dudes practicing, then the kids watched as the cleaned/prepared/whatever they do the ice.

Nonnie printed out some Tron coloring pages for us so the kids would have something to do as they waited for pizza and cake.

There was not a lot of space, and it was quite hectic with our overwhelmed party hostess, but luckily both my mother and mother-in-law pulled out their little stash and insisted that I take a xanax. Talk about good women to have around! haha…sorry but that is definitely one for the baby book!

Some crazy woman (me?!) let Coleman spray his hair blue for the occasion.

This dad wanted a picture with me because he thought I looked “just like Tina Fey.” Ha!

There was pizza and cupcakes

Then it was time to skate! Matthew was ready to go:

Shelby was able to skate some on her own, and also used her uncle for help.

Buddy had a good time…

The four and five year olds had varying degrees of success on the ice, but all but one tried it and lasted at least 30 minutes! I was very proud of all of them. It was cold, new, and difficult, and everyone did a great job.

After the party, we headed over to Nonnie & Poppy’s house to open presents. To be continued…

Real Dinosaur Bones

2012-01-26T11:20:00.001-08:00

Remember when Coleman asked for a REAL T-Rex for Christmas? After that post, an awesome blogger friend, Amanda, took the time just to email me about this:

It’s a diggin’ up dinosaurs T-Rex kit!! It comes in a hard block (of sand) and the child has to chip away at it to unveil the bones, then put them together. WHY didn’t I think of that?!!?

It was an awesome Christmas gift! Coleman loved it! Just look how cute and serious he was, as he unearthed his very own T-Rex dinosaur on the day after Christmas.

And that’s why blog friends are awesome.

PS: The newspaper was fruitless. That sand went everywhere.

A Busy Rhythm

2012-01-26T11:02:00.001-08:00

I feel really, really busy and frantic lately. It’s just a season… a Rhythm of life that the Peck fam is in.

Jeff is super busy at work in a new position. He’s learning as he goes and there’s a lot of work coming in. But we know that he’s working toward a career goal. He has moved beyond the property damage of auto insurance into the Personal Injury part. He talks to people and doctors about their injuries. He is so good at talking to people and making them comfortable…building rapport…always has been. Now he gets to use this very important skill with people who need that understanding voice. They are people who have been hurt or have even lost a loved one. Jeff is so good at putting people at ease. He’s even received unsolicited complimentary emails from coworkers who hear him on the phone with people. He’s also learning things you wouldn’t expect. He knows a lot of the stuff I’m learning in my A&P class just from on-the-job dealings with the medical field. So cool. Now he just has to learn how to pay bills on time! I laughed when I found out that paying bills was a huge part of his job because I’ve always said that if he was in charge of paying the Peck fam’s bills, we’d have no electricity, water, or anything! So it’s great to have a job that allows you to learn, utilizes your strengths, yet demands that you improve on some of your weaknesses as well. Once he gets the bills down, things will catch up… Rhythm.
(Let’s just hope part of his job description is never “Keep up with your keys.”)

Me? I’m training for a half marathon, working full time, and am back in school taking only one, but very demanding and notoriously difficult, class. (Anatomy & Physiology I) This also requires a lab on Friday nights. The half will be over in one month, so that training can taper off a bit. (Rhythm.) If this school thing goes as I am thinking, I will take 3 more classes before next Spring, and will be able to apply for the Nursing program in Feb 2013. Taking those prereqs while working full time will continue to be tough. Busy…but towards a goal. Rhythm!
We are in the throws of our bathroom renovation now, so it’s impossible to get a hold on the housework until the “construction zone” feel is gone. Same for getting a hold on finances, another huge stressor. Realizing that these things will be completed or eased soon is important. We’re on top of that wave of Rhythm.

All in all, overwhelmed is what would describe our lives lately. Overwhelmed, yet blessed. One cannot ever forget their constant blessings, no matter what current Rhythm of life you’re riding.

A little perspective always helps: We have jobs to go to, a house to renovate and make messes in, and functioning bodies that allow us to run and exercise. And notice none of that is even about our greatest blessings, Shelby and Coleman! These 2 children are just happy and thriving these days. We are working on a structured schedule for our evenings at home, mainly for Daddy and I to get more time with them, and more control over all the family duties. But sister and brother are lovely, mostly go-with-the-flow kids these days.

We met with Shelby’s teacher yesterday. We didn’t have any concerns but just wanted to find out more about the hard-to-read report card, and just check in with how she’s doing. We know she’s doing all of her work, and making great “grades,” and meeting/exceeding all expectations for curriculum. But we got to find out more about how her day goes. I heard from her teacher that everything is great socially and inter-personally for her. She is nice and loving. She had a tendency to be a slow worker at the beginning of the year (because she likes attention to detail!) but she quickly corrected that and her teacher has no problems with her not completing work on time any more. The only comment the teacher had that wasn’t completely positive was that she likes to help her friends…and friends don’t always want or need help. I am sure that we can work on that, but if the only negative thing a person can say about my kid is that she helps people too much, well…I’m okay with that!

Cole-daddy turned FIVE last Saturday and that really deserves its own blog post. He is changing, growing, learning.

I started out this blog post to play “catch-up” and ended up writing about why I’m not caught up instead. I’m okay with that.

It’s all you need, y’all:

Doggie

2012-01-23T08:17:00.001-08:00

Good ol’ Russel. He is about 13 or 14 years old this year. We got him from a shelter in ‘03 when he was either 4 or 5 years old. Jeff makes him a special bed by the fire for his old bones.

Razorbacks: Cotton Bowl Champions

2012-01-23T08:09:00.001-08:00

We had a little watching party at our house for the Cotton Bowl.

Layla, Coleman, and Tyler were decked out for the occasion.

We grilled out steak and veggies, and Nonnie made her wonderful “stuffed” mashed potatoes.

Coleman got to eat in the living room with TyTy, and he enjoyed it very much!

Woooooo Pig Sooie!!!

Fitness Friday

2012-01-20T12:41:00.001-08:00

I did the Snowman Shuffle 10k on Saturday at White Rock lake, which was a last minute decision. Millie, Luke and Anna were running it and the 9:00 start time, even in Dallas, was much more appealing than the 7:00 start time of the 5k I had planned to do. And the t-shirts were super cute!! (You can see Anna’s here)

Special thanks to my sweet husband who was more than happy to have a morning alone with the kids on one of our rare family days, and then even driving out to meet us in the afternoon for linner.
I was so proud of how we did in this race. Granted, it was a small race, but several hundred people at least.
Luke came in 2nd in his age/gender. Millie was 4th in hers. I was 5th in mine, and Anna was 6th in hers (though she is still much faster than me…I was in the older lady division 30-34!)

For posterity:

I added in an extra rest day this week because my body just felt TIRED.
My week looked like this:

My total miles run for January so far is 39.9

Almost Five ‘Isms

2012-01-18T11:48:00.001-08:00

Our little buddy is just days away from turning 5. The birthday party prep is happening right now---though thankfully it’s minimal since we’re having it NOT at our house.

The teachers at his school have always said that young kids go through some behavior challenges and just kind of a turbulent time in the weeks before and after a birthday. It’s on their minds…a lot. Coleman talks about being almost 5 all.the.time. I have a couple little Colemanisms to share from our “almost 5 year old.”

He climbed up on my lap as I was sitting in a recliner in the living room, so I put my arms around him.
C: (big grin) “You can hug on me.”
M: “Can I kiss on you too?” (Kissing his ear.)
C: “Yeah you can hug and kiss on me all you want cause you're my mama!” (The boy knows what a girl likes to hear.)

At the yogurt shop, we were talking about what kind of birthday cake or pie he wanted as we celebrated with Nana and Papa G this weekend. He had already told his daddy that he wanted “minty chocolate” cake. Cole is a little obsessed with “minty chocolate” gum and asks for it all the time. However, I had all the stuff for lemon pie and really just wanted to make that for the family.
M: “You like lemon pie don't you buddy?”
C: “I do but I don't want that. I just want minty chocolate cake.”
M: “Mommy doesn't know how to make that though.”
C: (grinning) “Well, you can just look online and figure it out!!”
And what did I do, I looked online and figured it out! And made a lemon pie, too!

And one day last week I took a few hours off of work in the morning to let him sleep in and then take him to breakfast at McDonald’s. A sweet elderly man sitting in a booth near us told me “You sure have a pretty boy there. He has an angel face!” I agreed As we were driving to his school, Coleman declared to me: “Mommy, you’re gonna get a tardy slip, I know it!”

Shelby’s 2012 Resolutions

2012-01-18T08:34:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve & Christmas day 2012

2012-01-18T07:29:00.001-08:00

We went to the Christmas Eve service at church on Saturday evening. There was not any child care so the kids attended the service with us and they were so good. They stood and enjoyed the songs, then sat quietly still and listened to the message. They both participated in the candle lighting at the end and were very proud to join in, I think. Afterwards the church provided small private tables in another room with supplies for the Lord’s supper so that families could go observe the Lord’s supper together on their own. I thought that was a really nice touch and was very happy to remember Jesus in the manner that He told us to with our family (Nonnie, Poppy, Millie, Luke, Anna, and Tyler were all with us.)

We went back to Nonnie and Poppy’s house, where there were amazing soups waiting for us. We enjoyed potato soup and shrimp chicken and sausage gumbo in bread bowls from Panera…YUM!!

After dinner is when we let the kids open their “terrible presents.” Of course, after those, they got to each open one REAL present…they opened their presents from Tyler.

Shelby got her Easy Bake oven, so she said that Santa didn’t have to bring her that any more She made chocolate chip cookies in it that night, and has used it several times since then…but begs to use it every night! I finally told her that we could do it once a week, so she wrote “EAZY” once a week on her calendar from Gram that is hanging in her room.

Coleman got Beyblades. He played with them for the rest of the night!

We didn’t want to keep the kids out too late on Christmas Eve, but when we headed home it was still, “Hurry up! I think Santa’s coming soon!” Easiest bed time ever!! Both kids were running around in a rush so that Santa wouldn’t see that they were still awake and pass our house. Shelby frantically found her little bag of reindeer food (oats and glitter) she had made at school and practically threw it into our hands saying, “Can you put this on the front yard for me?! I have to get in bed!!!” They went to bed and we didn’t hear a peep from them again …

… until NINE O’CLOCK the next morning! Jeff and I were up and about, making coffee, and then just sitting around waiting on our kids to wake up. The Jones clan even showed up before Shelby and Coleman were out of bed! I am positive that I never slept at all on Christmas Eve as a kid- and when I did, I was up way before the sunlight. Little weirdos!!!

During all that good sleep, Santa did fill up those stockings!

This was Shelby’s gift to us that she made at school and wrapped. The 2 girls on her drawing are saying, “I love my family!” and “I love Christmas it’s Jesuses Birthday” Awww. Inside this wrapping was a 2012 calendar full of writing and handprint drawings. So special for us to use the whole year long!

When they finally woke up, they knew they were going to look in the backyard since they asked Santa for a trampoline. Shelby saw it and sprinted out to it, touched it and sprinted back…it was COLD out there, but I guess she had to touch it to make sure it was real. Her doggy followed her, of course. Coleman watched and smiled- he trusted her touch I suppose!

“Ahhhh! It’s cold!”

Back inside…

As always, they went through stockings before opening presents.

Aunt Anna got Coleman a soccer ball, cleats, and shin guards…he loves them and is READY to play soccer this spring!

Aunt Millie and Unkle Luke got Shelby some shimmery Toms. She read to us from the box about how Toms donates a pair to a person in need when a pair is bought (“One for One”)

The kids took turns opening presents and were very thankful for all their gifts…

Shelby liked showing hers off…

After that, we adults each opened our presents from the kids. Shelby went shopping at her school store and Coleman went shopping at the Dollar Store, and they each picked out thoughtful gifts for everyone. They definitely enjoyed buying and wrapping their gifts, and I hope it taught them about how giving is just as satisfying and joyful as receiving.

The rest of the day was spent being lazy, being outdoors, jumping, and smoking ribs! Family time at its finest!!

It was certainly a very Merry Christmas.

Fitness Friday!!

2012-01-13T09:44:00.001-08:00

I’ve been meaning to start this little series for a while! I have 30 minutes free and I’m going to document some of what I’ve been up to.

Last year, I documented my 10k training weekly. I have exercised very regularly since the Cowtown 10k last February, but haven’t done another official run/race. I started a 12-week Half Marathon Training plan on December 4th and I am proud of myself thus far.

I ran 47 miles in December. I ran while we were in Arkansas for Christmas, and at Gram’s house in Pilot Point on Christmas Eve. It has become a priority for me. Me? Yes, me! The one who made fun of avid runners and gym rats, who said they need to just enjoy life and not be so uptight about working out. I get it now…I am taking care of my body, making time for myself…I am doing it! You know, I was just thinking this morning that I haven’t had so much as a sniffle for over a year. I almost ALWAYS get sick in the fall/winter. When the seasons change. My allergies are bad. My asthma is bad. I get bad coughs, sinus infections…I was tired all the time. Now? Nothing. No sickness, no fatigue, less anxiety and stress. Imagine that! EXERCISE doesn’t zap your energy- it replenishes it! On top of all that, what better way to be thankful for the functioning body, legs, heart and lungs God has given to me than to use them?

Here is a little recap of my December training plan. I make nerdy little notes, nothing is organized or official- but I like to have a little history of what I’ve done. Something to be proud of:

Jeff and I have discovered that the school tracks are awesome! The kids can go with us and will run around in the fresh air, climb and explore the bleachers, or just sit in the sunshine with a book or a Nintendo 3DS for an hour while we exercise. ON top of that, it’s showing a great example to them about taking care of your body with exercise! They will run laps with us, or climb stairs with us.

Onto January. So far this month, my feet have covered 25.1 miles. After this update, I am going to try to update every Friday. There are about 6 weeks left until the Cowtown Half!

The plan for the week coming up:

Here’s to a Healthy, Happy 2012!!

One of my Newest Favorite Things!

2012-01-09T08:13:00.001-08:00

Reading in bed alongside my smart babygirl:

Christmas at Gram & Grandpa’s

2012-01-09T07:54:00.001-08:00

The day before Christmas Eve was Friday, and Jeff got off at noon that day. He hurried home and we scrambled around to get every thing and every body into the car and head up to Gram & Grandpa’s house. We still had some men in our house working on the bathroom, but we had to head out… We were ready to get there and excited about family time and making dinner!

We arrived and Matthew was there waiting for us, happy to finally see his cousins! The kids took off to play and we began setting out some appetizers and snacking- Jeff and I hadn’t eaten lunch and we were starving! We got the ham put into the oven, relaxed, and chatted with Gram and Doug, who arrived shortly after we did. A few hours later, Grandpa and Jennifer arrived, and it was dinner time. We enjoyed a yummy ham dinner, with the excitement in the air that presents were next. The kids could hardly wait

Matthew and Coleman are a couple of cool and funny little dudes. Not sure how or why they lost their shirts here…

My little silly monkey:

The time to open presents arrived and the kids tore through them in record time, of course!

Coleman wasn’t convinced that his bag was emptied out…

So he climbed inside just to make sure.

The next morning was Christmas eve, and Jeff was excited to get up and cook breakfast at his parents house. Since we’d had 2 recent gravy-failures, he recruited Gram to teach him/us how to make the perfect breakfast gravy. YUMMY!

After breakfast digested, we took Shelby, Coleman, and Matthew to the track to run wild in the cold, fresh air, while I got my exercise in. 4 miles on Christmas eve- I know, there must be something wrong with me.

We were all pretty tired, and we headed home soon after that to make it to Christmas Eve service at church, and also make sure our back yard was ready just in case Santa brought that trampoline the kids had asked for!

Shelby and Coleman had some good rest time on the way home from Pilot Point with their new neck pillows from Gram:

Thank you for a wonderful Christmas celebration Peck family!

Shelby and Coleman's Terrible Christmas Presents

2012-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

After watching the Jimmy Kimmel clip about parents giving their kids a "terrible" present on video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4a9CKgLprQ), we had to try it out ourselves on Christmas eve. Shelby and Coleman probably knew something was up with 9 adults watching and stifling giggles, but it was funny anyway!

You have to listen closely because of all the loud adults, but as soon as Coleman sees his potato, he says, "Thank you."
I was so proud of him! I seriously thought he would throw it and/or start crying or something.
Then I say, "That's awesome!" and he says, "No it's not."

A Grown-Up Dinner Out!

2012-01-06T08:52:00.001-08:00

We were very excited when Venesa invited us to a couple’s dinner for Ben’s birthday last month. It was just a low key night out with old friend, no kids, at a wonderful restaurant I’d been wanting to go to (Tillman’s Roadhouse in Dallas.) Perfect plan!

Millie and Luke came over to play house with the kids, and Anna even joined us before so she could fix my hair. It took forever, but the curls lasted all night! (First time ever to have curls last that long!) I was so proud I even took a self-portrait in the car. (Nerd alert.)

Ben didn’t know about this dinner, and obviously Venesa did a great job of keeping it quiet. When we walked in, they were sitting in the little bar area with some neighbors, just having drinks. He was so surprised to see us, but since we were the first ones there, he thought it was a very amazing coincidence that we had come to eat there, all the way from Fort Worth, on the same night that they were there. I was just trying not to giggle, and keep up the act. While ordering a drink at the bar next to Ben, I looked over my shoulder and Kirk had gotten there. I said, “Oh my gosh, Kirk’s here too!” and his face went from surprise to acknowledgement as he said, “I’m beginning to think this isn’t a coincidence.” Then his face turned bright red. Hilarious!

Soon the whole clan was there, so we (tried to) take a couple of group pictures. The guys’ picture turned out great. These are some of Jeff’s best buds from Texas Tech:
Steve, Ben, Kyle, Jeff, and Kirk (Goose)

And this is what the pitiful attempt at a girls’ picture looked like.

(trying to corral)

(on the phone with the sitter)

(the one that would be good is blurry)
Meg, Cristine (in back), Venesa, Andrea, Joanie

Oh, well. Fun times!
It was a wonderful night. And I still dream about Tillman’s macaroni & cheese and the salmon I had there!

Shelby’s First Sleepover

2012-01-05T12:36:00.001-08:00

Shelby had her very first sleepover with a friend the week before Christmas.

Natalia is one of her besties since they were cute little 2 year olds in the HoneyBees class together at school.

2007, Cute and tiny!! (I never realized- they’re kind of making the same face here.)

2008:

2009: I guess we all had the same witch idea, even the mommies!

I know I have more pictures of them, but Halloween is a time I know I can always find some on my disk!

Shelby and Natalia go to different schools now, but we get together often, especially now since they play on the Lions soccer team together!

Natalia’s mommy is a great friend to me, and she just seemed to know how busy I’d been on my “break” with 2 kids, trying to get ready for Christmas, and having many random home improvement guys in and out of the house all week working on our bathroom. (which is another story- and no it’s not done yet, but soon!) Natalia is an only child, and has two teeny tiny little dogs, so we all know Miss Shelby was in heaven over there!

They did art, played on the computer, had dinner, and I think Shelby even faked a tummy ache after dinner so she could have some private down time with a puppy and a tv.

Ana knew it was her first sleepover so she made sure to send me pictures along the way.

Bedtime!

The next morning, they went to see a movie and to lunch before we picked Shelby up.

Shelby didn’t want to leave. She was hiding when I got there and in fact, I had to get stern with her in order to get her to show her face and come with me! Silly/frustrating girl! She made sure I met, pet, and held both doggies before we left. I have never met another person with a more one-track mind for animals/DOGS than this child.

Shelby came home trying to talk in Spanish. Several times in the next day she said a jibberish phrase to me out of the blue and had me laughing. Ana is a Spanish immersion teacher, and has only spoken to Natalia in Spanish since she was born, so I guess Shelby was giving it a try after being at their house for a while!

What a fun night she had! I can’t wait until Natalia can come stay with us!

Ladies Man

2012-01-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Lately we have discussed Coleman playing soccer on the same team as a girl in his class ("R") this spring. This is the girl that he sits with at lunch and "flirts" with by throwing plastic spoons and maybe a piece of food at every once in a while. The teachers have said they might even be making Coleman's long-term crush Audrey a little jealous, because R (who joined the class just a few months ago) obviously has Coleman's eye. ;)

Coleman hasn't played organized soccer before. So a couple days ago, Jeff was telling him that he has to do his best, and listen to the coach, and really go after that ball, etc, and Coleman adds, "Yeah and not just like stare at R___." So we said, "Yeah....well, why would you just stare at R____?" and he replied, "Because she's like, BEAUTIFUL!" Then he grinned and blushed and hid his face in Daddy's arm.

Christmas Break Fun Around the House!

2012-01-03T12:11:00.001-08:00

This 2 week break from work and school flew by. I really enjoyed a lot of time at home (and running errands) with the sister and bruddah.

Shelby and Coleman are imaginative and play really well together. They fight too, but that’s normal. I love how well they play together, and I can’t stand the messes they make! They often dress up, and pretend they’re spies, or veterinarians, or dog catchers, etc… This day Coleman walked in like this and I knew they must be getting dressed up to “get married.” This is Coleman’s go-to “fancy” shirt for getting married. He had it all tucked in, and had even picked out his own shorts, socks, and shoes to go with it. (He was very proud.)

But there’s my goofy boy!!

Soon, his “bride” came in and they danced and danced.

The girls watched. Lena and Molly:

One night after bedtime, Daddy found Shelby sleeping like this, between her wall and her bed. I’m pretty sure she does this often- last night she got up crying around midnight and when I put her back to bed, her pillow and a blanket were down there.

Another night, we made cut-out sugar cookies from scratch and decorated every one of them. This was a first success for me- I researched a lot of recipes and decided on this one http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/ (I pinned it so it can be found forever!) It was a winner! The dough was fairly easy to roll out, and Shelby and Coleman were able to help a LOT.

Once cooled, I iced each of them and handed them off to the kids, who did ALL the decorating.

They were very thorough, and very proud of their work

I think we have a new Christmas week tradition

'Isms - December 2011

2012-01-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

I made note of just a few times that the kids made us laugh over the Christmas break.

Coleman, in timeout, frantically:
"Mommy, what have you done to me?!"

A sibling squabble:
C: "Mommy! She called me a little brother!"
M: "Well that's what you are."
C: "No, I'm a baby brother!"

Another one:
C: "You are not the boss of me Shelby! Stop trying to be my boss!"
S: "I'm not trying to be your boss."
C: "Yes you are! I can hear you in your heart!!"

Several times, Coleman weighed in on adult discussions he heard:
"Mom, I'm with Daddy on this one."
and talking to Aunt Millie:
"I agree with Mommy."

Shelby received some "chapter books" for Christmas and we have found ourselves lying in my bed together, reading side-by-side a few times since then. I love it!
M: "Shelby, this is so cool laying here reading with you...I love it!"
S: (Smiling, Sweetly) "You're welcome."

One night while in the living room all by himself, trying to figure something out, Jeff and I heard Coleman say, "Dammit" in exasperation, just as if he'd been saying it all his life. I couldn't help myself and I had to go outside because I couldn't stop laughing...it's just the way he said it, and he obviously had no idea it was a cuss word. After composing ourselves, we explained that that's not a word he is allowed to say. So, his first cuss word at age 4 yrs and 11 months (and no he hasn't said it again!). That's one for the baby book, right?

Christmas in Fayetteville

2012-01-02T07:37:00.001-08:00

We headed out to Arkansas as soon as we finished our last day of school and work (for Mommy) in 2011, which was the week before Christmas. On Friday evening we swung by Daddy’s work at 5:00 to pick him up, and began our 6.5 hour journey northward. The kids fell asleep in the car around 9:00 and slept until we arrived a little after midnight. This is one reason I love driving at night! Coleman stayed asleep when we got there but Shelby woke up and joined us for a while as we said hello to Uncle Dane. Dane, as promised, had some red wine waiting for us, along with smoked bacon-wrapped pork loin, chips & salsa, and other goodies. Talk about a midnight snack!! Shelby went back to bed, but since I had a nap in the car, and so did Jeff- somehow we stayed up until 5:00 in the morning with Dane! (I don’t think I even did that in college!!) I think Nonnie and Anna were able to hang until after 3 am as well! We had a great time hanging out with Uncle and talking about Aunt Jan. She would have been proud

This has to go on the blog just to remember- because it’s gross. Dane had 2 RACCOONS defrosting in his sink. He planned on smoking them the next day, but since we all stayed up so late, he postponed this feast until later in the week- which I was MORE THAN HAPPY to miss out on. (YUCK!!)

They still had their little feet covered with fur. I promise you, they were even more nasty in person!

The next day, after a few (and only a few) hours of sleep, we were up and at em…but then we got a 2 hour nap at noontime so we would make it through the night, which was the big family get-together at Uncle Alan’s house. Our family just keep growing every year. This year we had 2 new babies to add to the group (Adelyn aka Addie and Emmalyn aka Emmie---sorry if I misspelled)! We really enjoyed watching the kids play and open presents.
This is Ava, Adelyn (sisters), and cousin Cameron:

And here is Buddy with his great grand-Nana!

These are the lucky boys who married the Breedlove girls: Terry (Poppy), Kenneth, and Dane:

Sissies Sharon and Karon (Nonnie):

Anna and cousin Brittany:

The living room soon blew up with presents galore!

The little 2 year olds put on quite a show with their new guitars, which we all enjoyed!

Ava and Cameron’s granddad joined in too!

We found Shelby off in a quiet room working on her new Hello Kitty scrapbook soon after opening presents

Coleman soon became the “cool, big cousin” to Cameron and they were buddies the rest of the night- those boys have to stick together…they are outnumbered in this family!! (And doesn’t Shelby look thrilled?)

Coleman was such a good big cousin, teaching Cameron how to play his computer games, offering him snacks, and helping him off/on the bed.

Back at Dane’s house the next morning, Shelby was in DOG Heaven:

When Aunt Jan was at our house in June, the last time we saw her, Jeff and I promised her we’d make Dane a cooler for their new back deck. Jeff made sure to keep that promise and Tyler helped by bringing it up in his tahoe on Saturday. This cooler is pretty cool! Jeff is such an artist and I am so thankful that he did this for Dane (and Aunt Jan!) He drew the razorback and painted it in. He also engraved the side of the cooler.

Sunday we headed over to Mimi and Grumpy’s house and had an amazing day and night with more family. Along with Mimi and Grumpy, we got to see Aunt Jana, Hayley, and Uncle Scott. We had a family game night and it was a blast. Unfortunately, the camera was left in the car for that visit.

We are so thankful to have family near and far (and wish they were all nearer!) They make the holidays so special!

We miss you all and always look forward to the next time we are together!

Christmas season is upon us!

2011-12-09T05:33:00.001-08:00

Monday after Thanksgiving we FINALLY (in Shelby’s opinion) dug out the Christmas decorations.

For the first year in as long as I can remember, I wasn’t excited about Christmas decorating- it felt rushed…Christmas snuck up on me. But the best thing to cure some holiday blues is most definitely the excitement of your children. I’m so glad my kids love Christmas and what it means. In fact, I asked the kids earlier this week, “What is Christmas?” Shelby’s response was, "It's about giving and sharing and loving and hoping people are well and have what they need." Me: "Yes, and what are we celebrating?" Shelby and Coleman: "Jesus' birthday!!!"

Since the living room tree takes some time to fluff, Shelby was happy to lug her own pink tree into her room, set it up and dive into decorating it. Little brother watched patiently.

Mary is ALWAYS nearby.

All complete! One happy, festive girl:

Meanwhile, Daddy found a tree to put into Coleman’s room, but it needed some fluffing.

Coleman didn’t decorate his for another couple of days so there are no pictures of that.

On Saturday morning, we were up and at-em’ early. We had our semi-annual meeting with Coleman’s teachers first. Coleman is doing great and there were no issues to report. He is right on track developmentally and is ready to really start learning to write more letters and words. We LOVE his teachers this year! I can’t believe our baby will be in Kindergarten soon!

Then it was off to Shelby’s school for pancakes with Santa. (I know, both schools before 9 am on a Saturday, that is just wrong!!)

Shelby had a letter to hand to Santa. It said she wants a puppy, a trampoline, and an easy bake oven. That child is STILL holding out for a puppy! She will be the crazy dog lady when she has a house of her own!

Little Buddy told Santa that he wants a trampoline.

Coleman had to check out the climbing wall in the gym on his way out.

On Sunday, the kids made a gingerbread house. With a little help from Daddy putting it together, they did the rest all by themselves!

Then on Monday morning, Shelby had a gingerbread house craft day in her classroom that Daddy went to. (Just like the pumpkin decorating day that Mommy attended!) Daddy didn’t take a camera but here’s a picture of the house they made:

Silly Buddy says MERRY CHRISTMAS y’all!!!

The Baseball

2011-12-07T12:49:00.001-08:00

This weekend Daddy and the kids did a little project that Dad has been promising for a while. They set out to see how a baseball is made.

First, Daddy took off the stitching, revealing 2 odd-shaped flaps of leather.

Then, they got to unwinding.

They took turns,

They worked together.

It seemed never-ending!

Here, I think Coleman is thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?”

Finally, no more string! They found what is in the middle of a baseball!

All this, in ONE little baseball. Great idea, Daddy!

Goodbye November!

2011-12-06T08:04:00.001-08:00

Wow, that flew by!!

So, how did we finish off November 2011?

Shelby spent some time as a pilgrim.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving day at family’s house in Dallas. My aunt and uncle have lived several places around the country over the years but his job landed them back in Dallas last year, so it was awesome to spend the day at their amazing house. Mimi and Jack were there too, and we enjoyed a full DELICIOUS meal followed by football, games, trampoline jumping (and maybe a little nap on the couch!) Shelby and Coleman loved the trampoline so much that it gave them an idea for a Christmas wish. Jeff smoked the turkey and it was delectable, as usual.

Over the month, we had a thankful tree. The kids and I stopped out in the field at Coleman’s school to pick up some branches one day after school. We went home and put together our thankful tree, and everyone added to it throughout the month of November. At the end of the month we read it during dinner (we didn’t have Thanksgiving at our house, so not on that day!) and I was so proud and amazed at how the kids filled up those branches with names of friends, family, God, and other important things like food and shelter.

We got some new décor. I picked these letters up at Hobby Lobby and love the color they add to our wooden (blech!) walls.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Jeff and I headed out to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to see the Texas Tech / Baylor game. We went with Tyler and a group of his friends, some of which are still college students…Hence, the beer hat and etc. Ahh, Nate:

It was windy and COLD! We ate out of the back of the Tahoe.

Did you know that when you tailgate at the stadium, the fires HAVE to be on the grass? Not the concrete. Makes sense in a drought, huh? ……. not.

We got to hang with some old friends the Plunketts! Steve, Drew & Jeff all went to TTU together. Being on opposite sides of the metroplex, with 2 kids each, we haven’t seen them much in the past few years!

There was more talking than game-watching, but I did watch the band

Turns out the game wasn’t worth watching for Tech fans anyway…

Next, it is on to DECEMBER! Ho ho ho.

It's Just Good Music: Carolina Story

2011-11-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

Hey A Bushel and a Peck readers!
I want to give a quick shout out to Carolina Story and their new album, which released yesterday. This is seriously some of my favorite music ever. You can listen to it through over and over, singing along and enjoying every second of it. The lyrics, all written by Ben and Emily, are a work of art and will shoot straight through to your heart. They are like a soundtrack to life...and the songs can be enjoyed by the entire family, which is kind of hard to come by these days!! Shelby and Coleman ask to hear Carolina Story every time we get in the car (which sure beats popping in a movie to zombie them out- I'd rather have my kids singing and dancing any day!)

Yesterday when the album released, it quickly shot to the top of the singer/songwriter chart on iTunes and rose to #2 by afternoon, right behind the Civil Wars! It's still holding there & they're trying to give it one more big push to try and take that #1 spot! How cool would that be for these independent artists who just love to make music to top an iTunes chart in it's first couple of release days?? And we are sure to have a chance to see them live in the upcoming months, as they are devoted to hitting the road (the traveling life!) and playing for their fans all over, but especially their beloved DFW friends :)

It's only $7.92 on iTunes here: www.iTunes.com/CarolinaStory

This album, along with their first album, are our family's favorites to queue up when we're hanging or lounging at the house or on the back patio with a fire. It's perfect camping music, great out-by-the-pool musice, and perfect to have on for company, too...it plays right along with our Ray Lamontagne and James Taylor. :) My favorites are Carry Me Home, In the End, and If I Could Hold You.

So give it a listen and help support great music! Can't wait to hear what you think!

Sister’s 1st Grade Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-22T10:17:00.001-08:00

The 1st grade has been doing this for 20 years (since the doors opened) at GVE. Jeff and I attended Shelby’s feast last Friday and were just astonished at all the food. Enough to feed all the 1st graders and all the parents (and there were probably just as many parents as there were children…that’s how GVE rolls.) All homemade. All good. We helped the kids down the line and it was just sad and pathetic all the things they skipped. Most kids got turkey and macaroni & cheese, maybe some pieces of strawberry or apple…skipped the potatoes, green been casseroles, stuffing/dressing, sweet potato casseroles, broccoli rice casseroles, rolls, and everything else! One day they will learn…

Not pictured: HUGE dessert tables full of pumpkin pies, pumpkin cheesecake rolls, cookies, cupcakes, etc.

Shelby’s contribution to the hallway art:

The children got to choose which 1st grade classroom to eat in, “so that they could eat with their friends.” They do this kind of often. I don’t really love this because I didn’t know which kids/parents were really in Shelby’s class and who weren’t. I’m the room parent and I still don’t know any of the kids/parents except for those that I knew before the year began. Plus, do the kids in other classes really get together before and plan where their friends will be, or is it more of just a guess or a popularity contest among teachers? I don’t get it. Anyway, Shelby chose to stay in her own classroom, and sat with her friend Camryn (also from her class.)

I helped her through the line as daddy took a picture, and sister posed. :

Then we all enjoyed the meal together on teeny little chairs in the room where our girl spends most of her waking hours. It was fun and we are glad we were both able to go!

Friday Night Jones-Peck-Matthews Date: Dinner and Bowling

2011-11-21T09:04:00.001-08:00

Friday night we had no plans, so we ended up at Nonnie & Poppy’s house after school/work. We decided to go eat once all the working boys got home (somehow in our family, it is usually all the girls at home waiting on boys to get home from working later and crappy commutes.) We ended up at a little Italian place near home, called Jerry’s. It’s in an old Braums but seriously good! I have had several recommendations for it, and loved it. (And it’s BYOB, which is always a plus.)

I’m saving this picture of the nose-pick-smile for his first girlfriend.

We had to get a picture of Anna’s new dark hair.

And another one of Buddy (this time, licking his mommy)

and Kissing…

and finally a smile!

I love these- rare photos with my babies!!

At some point during dinner someone suggested bowling. Checks quickly paid, we headed down the street to use up some groupons and have some more fun. My kids have the best aunts and uncles in the world.

And Nonnie too, of course!

The kids made a visit to the arcade, and I mustache you, don’t you think the rest of the night looked fun?

(Like father, like daughter?)

This morning Coleman asked if we could go bowling again. He said it was because he lost his mustache!

Shelby found some kind of tickets in the arcade and we found her trying to redeem them at the bowling counter, haha!

It was a fun night for sure!!!

Christmas Shopping

2011-11-17T06:57:00.001-08:00

I have been trying to get Coleman to tell me what he wants for Christmas.
M: “So what are you going to ask Santa for?
C: “I’m not telling!”
M: “You can tell me!”
C: “Nope, Santa will know.”
M: “Oh no you can tell me!!!” (tickle tickle tickle)
C: “Okay! Stop! It’s a B B Gun!”
M: “A bb gun?! Where did you hear about that?”
C: “From Janson at school! He knows all about them.”
M: “Ok well keep thinking, I don’t think Santa will bring you a bb gun.”
C: “Yes he will, he can hear me right now!”

(fast forward a couple of days, I am talking to Coleman on the phone)

M: “So what are you going to ask Santa for for Christmas? You can’t have a gun!”
C: “Well when I’m like one hundred I can get one….but then my thumb will be too big to pull the trigger.”
M: “Okay so think of something else.”
C: “Santa will just pick.”
M: “No you can think of something. Some toy you want?”
C: “I want a REAL T-Rex dinosaur.”
M: “You have a big t-rex that Shelby got you.”
C: “No I mean a REAL one!”
M: “Coleman dinosaurs aren’t real anymore, so you can’t have that.”
C: “No, I mean the BONES of a REAL dinosaur!”

Shelby, on the other hand, will not stop asking for a puppy. They did a book at school about what they want for Christmas.
Hers said:
Page 1: "I want a puppy."
Page 2: "But my mom said no."
Page 3: "So I want a hamster."
Page 4: "The End."

(In case anyone forgot, we've been through 2 hamsters at the Peck house already.)

Ok so my Christmas shopping list should include:
- a bb gun for my 4 year old.
- real dinosaur fossils (put together into a whole dinosaur, presumably)
- a puppy and a hamster for Shelby

And there are only 38 days left to shop!!

I'm gonna be Blunt

2011-11-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Facts:
-Yesterday, we had a huge stinky foot debacle in the car after school. Cute mary jane-style shoes with no socks and a first grader don't mix.
-I wear glasses, daily.

Story:

I was going over spelling words with Shelby tonight.

One word was "Blunt" so I explained to her what blunt meant. "It can be when a knife isn't sharp...or it can be when you just say what you're thinking, like, 'I'm gonna be blunt. Your feet stink." We giggled.
She quickly understood, looking at me with a smirk and replying, "I'm gonna be blunt. YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF THOSE GLASSES."

REALLY?!?! I feigned heartbreak and left the room for a while.

Upon return, we started back on the spelling list. The next word was UGLY. I squinted at her and dared her to use it in a sentence. She smiled and giggled and thought hard and finally, eventually replied, (spelling it all out) "Y-O-U A-R-E N-O-T U-G-L-Y."

Redeemed! I told her she better be glad for that "N-O-T."

I love my clever girl!

Colemanista

2011-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

You will probably only appreciate this if you know Coleman, and can picture how serious he was in these conversations! :)
Coleman picks out his clothes every night. (He never picks jeans.) Tonight, he laid out a great outfit: black shirt, red (CARS) hoodie, black pants with red stripes, and a black hat...except the pants had holes in them, so I told him that was great but we would put jeans with it instead. He did not like that suggestion, and was seriously distraught, staring at ground, hands out, when he said, "No Mommy! Blue and black do not go together!" "Yes they do!" I said. "NO! Only red goes with black!"
He seemed to believe me when I explained to him that blue JEANS are the one thing that goes with everything. So I laid the jeans out with the rest of the outfit and held up my hand for a high five. He looked at my hand, took his own hand and gave me a huge thumbs-down signal, and walked away. Diss.

The other day I took him to Kohl's to look for a shirt for family pictures. As I browsed through the plaid button downs and sweaters, he went on and on about how "I do not like those picture shirts! I want one of these awesome shirts!" When I picked a couple of shirts, he was very upset, "But those are not awesome!!" This stuff makes me kinda remember when my bro Tyler was a little boy and was oh-so-picky about clothes. I remember Mom and I going around looking for Hurley shirts and JNCO jeans, and even before that, when he had to have some type of character on everything he wore (which is kind of where Coleman is right now, with the matching thrown in.)

Shelby has a shirt that says "Fashionista" but I think I bought that shirt for the wrong kid! Too bad it's pink and has bows on it!

A trip to Nana & Papa G’s house

2011-11-15T12:54:00.001-08:00

We love Nana’s house in the fall! We try to go every year (or more!) to enjoy the nice weather and open air, and the great company and cooking too, of course! (Breakfast at Nana’s is drool-worthy!)

A week or so ago the Peck fam headed out to Powderly, Texas with Nonnie and Anna for a weekend away.

There was football,

shiny pajamas:

And wine. (Shiny pajamas + wine = slippery Anna = laughs for all!)

There were games of Uno

And as ALWAYS, tractor rides. This time the kids did all the driving!

(Obviously, Daddy will be the patient one to teach them to drive!)

The kids even got to pick pears from the pear tree

…and eat them!

We spent most of Saturday morning looking for the keys to Nonnie’s car, which Jeff had had last. (I know no one is surprised…poor Jeff!) We looked EVERYWHERE- to no avail. We starting worrying about how to get the spare from home in NRH (2.5 hours away.) To our surprise and joy, Millie called to say that she would bring them to us, and spend the rest of the weekend with us! I call that divine intervention- lost keys providing some special girl/family time! Later that day, way after Millie arrived, Jeff found the keys. They were on top of Nana’s chest of drawers in her bedroom. After he found them, Nana says she remembered him saying, “I’m putting the keys here.” Somehow none of us remember that the next day. What a mess (though turned into a blessing!!)

On Sunday we went home refreshed and ready for a great week!

End of Year Soccer Party

2011-11-15T11:24:00.001-08:00

We had our soccer party at Pizza Garden, where the girls each got a trophy. Most of the Lions:

Here is Shelby with Coach Matt:

We got a couple of sweet pictures of the 4 TCC Children’s Center girls, with another teammate thrown in the background

Natalia, Linnea, Ryann, Shelby, (back) Ari

I love Shelby’s smile in this one, you can really see her changing teeth smile:

Our party was combined with the coach’s other team (one year older) and Coleman was very excited and giggly to see his friend from school Reagan there. Could they be any cuter, with his arm around her and his pizza-stained chin!??

We are going to be playing indoor winter soccer with our team in Southlake, and Coleman may even play in the spring (with Reagan’s coed team) so there will be more soccer tales to come!

You is...

2011-11-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

As many of our conversations do, this one was in the car...
When there's silence, I find silly things to say. I am one of those people who doesn't do well with uncomfortable silence, even with my children apparently...
So I said,
"Shelby, you is smart, you is kind, ..."
S interruption: "You is IMPORTANT! (huge eye roll) Yeah, I know."

Well excuse me, Miss too-cool-for-sweet-movie-quotes-that-mommy-wants-to-say-to-you!!!

Carolina Story at Fred’s

2011-11-11T12:06:00.001-08:00

I was so excited to see Carolina Story announce their show here in Fort Worth at a burger place that I’ve heard people raving about lately, Fred’s. Score! Burgers! Beer! and our favorite band playing their songs on a stage as we enjoy said burgers and beer.
I quickly shot out an email to all the groupies and everyone was in to enjoy this night. The burgers did NOT disappoint! They tasted like burgers made at home, and were very peppery and so good!
Ben and Emily are always amazing live, but last night they just rocked it out. That patio was completely full and they definitely impressed. Everyone was stomping and clapping and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Kelly and Chris, who heard Carolina Story for the first time at a house concert this summer, were there.

The girls had front row seats, and gave up coloring a few songs in to watch, sing along, and at the end, dance!

Ben and Em sang the Apple just for Shelby, and dedicated it to her! She was all smiles!
And we got a new picture of the Jones girls

This morning I talked to Coleman on the phone on his way to school.
I asked him if he had fun last night seeing Ben and Emily.

Coleman: "They are good at music...I wish I could do music like that."
Me: "Well you can, you have to learn and practice a lot."
Coleman: "No God just showed them tricks how to do it good like that."
:) I have to agree with him a little- their talent is rare and certainly God-given! With lots of hard work thrown in.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T11:40:00.001-07:00

On Saturday while the rest of the city was out at the Boo Bash, the many area pumpkin farms, Boo at the Zoo, or the Trunk or Treat on every other corner, we stayed in and dog-sat, carved pumpkins, and made smores. But I did feel a little bad for not taking the kids to any festivals. So on Sunday we went to a local church’s trunk or treat since I remembered seeing a billboard saying that it was on Sunday (we missed our church’s on Saturday night.)

It’s funny to me how Coleman just innately knows “ninja moves.”

Yet how sweet he is to pose with his sister however she instructs

I was a bride for Halloween sometime around Shelby’s age, too. So of course I love the comparisons but there’s really not any likeness in these (I think I had a perm) :

The trunk or treat was small and sweet. There were bounce houses so the kids were happy. Natalia and her mommy and daddy met us there!

There were a few trunks with games. Of course, Angry Birds is big this Halloween season

October 31 was on a Monday this year. Nonnie and Poppy had just landed from a weekend in Nashville so they were feeling a little bit of separation anxiety from the kids They came straight over with dinner and even trick or treated the neighborhood with us! The kids were so excited to have them with us. They had plotted in the car on the way home from school about how to ask if they would Trick Or Treat with us, and they were all smiles when the answer was “Yes!”

The family of 4:

Knocking on doors and waiting patiently:

I think this was the first year that we’ve actually trick-or-treated in our neighborhood. The kids did great, were polite, and only fought a little about whose turn it was to ring the doorbell

When we got home, there was candy sorting to be done!

Then it was one piece to eat and off to bed. As Shelby would say,

“Seriously?! That’s riDONKulous!”

Cool October Weekend: Pumpkin Carving and Smores!

2011-11-01T06:16:00.001-07:00

Shelby pulled out her second tooth on Saturday. The girl is on a roll! And we were ready for this one to come out since the permanent tooth was coming right on in behind it. I’m told these perm. teeth will move forward, though I’m worried there’s not room for them!

(Both kids and Mommy went to the dentist last week and we are happy to report NO CAVITIES!)

Saturday night while all the Halloween festivals were going on, we decided to “beat the crowds” and stay in for pumpkin carving and roasting marshmallows for smores.

The kids each drew their own face on their own pumpkin, and then Daddy carved them.

Coleman’s on left, Shelby’s on right:

I thought about keeping the seeds to roast but upon seeing the bowl full of slime and remembering just how messy it is, I promptly dumped it in the trash!

This pumpkin is one Daddy carved at work for a contest:

Shelby’s

Coleman’s:

Daddy’s (Jack Skellington from The Nightmare before Christmas) in the middle:

Saturday night we were also dog-sitting our little canine nieces (Iris and Layla)

FINALLY it was time to roast marshmallows and enjoy some gooey smores! The weather was PERFECT for a fire on the patio.

This is a great time of year!!!

Frogs Baseball

2011-11-01T06:01:00.001-07:00

Here are some team pictures (that they did after sunset in the back of the field- hence horrible lighting!) from Coleman’s first baseball team. The Frogs have some sweet little boys on the team. I wish this first season had been a better experience for us, but Coleman had fun sometimes.

It was an experience. Not good or bad…probably something we hope to improve on in years to come. Something to learn from. Of course, we want our son to find something that he loves to do. We believe that being involved and passionate about something such as sports, music, art, or other extracurricular activities throughout the “growing up” years helps keep kids focused, engaged, and out of trouble. We know that Coleman loves baseball… when he throws, catches, hits, and runs with Daddy and others. However, standing in the outfield never once getting a chance at infield (to actually practice getting a ball or making a play) through 8 or 10 games and batting dead last EVERY single game while the coach’s son bats first just didn’t inspire him…or us…during this first season of t-ball! I just hope and pray he’ll give it (or another sport!) a try next season. By the middle of the season he was running and sliding into the infield from his spot in outfield on every hit…just to do something….he was bored! By the end of the season the poor boy didn’t want to go to games and we really couldn’t blame him. We hope to get on a team next year that is more about learning and less about winning- since they are 4, 5, and 6 years old.

“What’s the score?” Fun to fun! WHO CARES?

I love his poses. On the second one I said, “Give me a mean baseball face!”

Halloween 2005-2011

2011-11-01T05:42:00.001-07:00

I really don’t get into Halloween that much. I don’t decorate for it, and I don’t dress up. But I do like the traditions of carving pumpkins, and of course letting the kids pick a costume and dress up. I love the pictures…I love to look back over the years (which have SPED by!)

2005: Shelby the Peacock

2006: Holly Hobbie

2007: Little Dinosaurs

2008: Batman and “chicken-rider”

2009: Witch and Frankenstein

2010: Officially poodle and T-Rex, plus Romo and princess too!

2011: The bride and the ninja!

Shelby’s Pumpkin Partner Day and Coleman’s Halloween Walk

2011-11-01T05:17:00.001-07:00

The first grade at Shelby’s school has a “Pumpkin Partner” day where each child has someone come up to school and help them decorate a pumpkin to display in the cafeteria the week of Halloween. The students bring their own pumpkins and décor, and use the last hour of one day to do this decorating.

So, Mommy took off work a little early and headed out to be Shelby’s pumpkin partner last Tuesday.

On Monday Shelby and I headed to Hobby Lobby to come up with some supplies and an idea for our pumpkin. We decided to paint the pumpkin like a candy corn (which Shelby loves) and write “I {heart} Candy” on the pumpkin using hot glued candy corn. We painted the pumpkin the night before and the next morning we found out that tempera paint on a pumpkin doesn’t work, as it was all flaky and peeling off all over. Luckily we had an extra pumpkin, so we started with a clean slate at school!

Shelby had fun with candy corn, glitter paint, ribbon, and sharpies, while mommy helped handle the hot glue gun. She decided to use a pattern of ribbon, glitter, and candy corn to write the word “candy.”

On the back of the pumpkin, she just had to write “I Love You!”

Shelby and her “pumpkin partner:”

Shelby proud of her pumpkin on the stage:

Later that week, Coleman’s school had their annual Halloween candy walk, which we have been a part of for the past 5 years. You can see pictures from 2009 here and 2008 here, and well, the other years are just not blogged. (How dare I miss those?!)

This year is special because after 5 years, it is our LAST YEAR. Daddy took the morning off work to do this with our little Ninja!

The Stepping Stones in their room, ready to head out on their walk:

I left work for an hour to meet up and walk with him for a little while. By the time I got there the ninja already decided to lose the mask in favor of green teeth.

Ms. Pat’s penguin costume cracked me up!

A lot of the parents dressed up. Daddy did too, he just didn’t realize he. He went as “College student.”

Mrs. Barbara in her zoot suit:

This walk is LONG. They cover the entire large college campus, going through all the buildings and departments to trick-or-treat. They start at 9:00 am and at 11:05 Jeff sent me a text “Entering hour 3 of the walk…” Yeah, I guess after doing it for 5 years, that last hour and really drag out!

They stop for a couple of candy and water breaks.

And (as if they don’t do enough walking) they get to expend some energy in open fields:

This is towards the end, with a diminishing costume and big smiles.

Finally, they are back in the center, hands washed, clothes on, and ready for lunch and a big nap!

We will miss this tradition!!

Bikes, Soccer, and Rangers!

2011-10-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

Since that day last year when we rode bikes without training wheels at the park, we haven’t really done it again. The kids have to get good at it before we can just go anywhere without the training wheels, so the wheels went back on. But last week we decided to practice without them some more.

Shelby has improved immensely since last year. This time, she was able to practice starting off by herself from standing (no parents holding on running behind!) and she was able to stop on her own instead of falling to the ground every time.

She was all smiles (and is WAY too big for this mama.)

Daddy and Coleman watched on with smiles…

And then it was Coleman’s turn.

Coleman did a great job but got frustrated a bit. He can ride fine but it’s the taking off and stopping without a fall that are challenging. He wanted to do it perfectly (or as perfectly as Shelby) from the start, and learning that some things take lots of practice is a tough lesson! But with some time he gave it another shot and rode of into the sunset…

Shelby’s soccer season is nearing the end, but we still have 3 games left! She is REALLY enjoying it, and she’s improved so much! She is a GREAT defender…she works really hard, hussles and gets right in there to the ball, keeping the ball far away from her goal!

There’s a cold front coming through today, and the Rangers are playing game 6 of the world series!

Jeff has told me the story of this picture (Ventura rushing Nolan Ryan on the mound) and a few days ago he emailed it to me. So I just had to do a little photoshop play on it and turn it into the coach of the cardinals, La Russa!

GO RANGERS!!!

October Update

2011-10-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

It's October!!
I usually take 300-600 or more photos in a month, and since August we have a very measly supply of photos. Less than 200 a month. I have fallen off the wagon and must get back on!
So what has been keeping us so busy??
On top of having practices and games at least 3 or 4 days a week...
Coleman has been fighting allergies and being right on the edge of sick for about a month. He's had all kinds of stuff flying around his school, including strep, bacterial bronchitis, and tummy bugs. My theory is that he has an amazing immune system but it is in overdrive and instead of getting full-on sick, he just feels really run-down and crummy. He hasn't had a fever, but he's been through hives, runny nose, stopped up nose, itchy red eyes, ear pain, and now diarrhea and upset tummy. (and he's been to the doctor with negative everything...strep, infections, etc.) Poor little buddy!!
Shelby finished the 1st six weeks of first grade and we are still working hard to make adjustments from kindergarten. She is a student who likes to take her time and do perfect on every assignment. As her teacher has stated, she has beautiful handwriting (the best in her class for sure!) and as we know, is a pretty amazing artist. But she has to speed up. Many of their assignments require drawings with their writing and this really holds Shelby up because her drawings on these writing assignments are impeccable. Now that we're past the first six weeks, unfinished work will be sent home to finish AND have grades taken off. We are praying for her to do better at this, as it is a big struggle for her to let go of her attention to detail and to hurry it up!

Shelby lost her first tooth on Sunday October 9! It had been just a little loose for a long time but on Friday it really started moving. Sunday she came into my room and said it was bleeding. I asked her to let me try to pull it (as I had done the day before) but she said she wanted to try first. She used a kleenex and pulled it right out on her first try! What a big girl! She wasn't scared or worried at all. But she was very proud! Of course the tooth fairy came, and even left her a note that she could keep her very first tooth. What a nice tooth fairy!

We all went to the last Rangers game of the regular season a few weeks ago. Nonnie, Poppy, Millie, Luke, Anna, Tyler, and the Peck fam. I stole a few pictures off of Aunt Millie's camera from that game:

Nonnie and Poppy:

Millie and Luke:

Poppy, Nonnie, & Anna:

Shelbs and Aunt Mill:

And just the proof that Buddy was there too, in his Vladi jersey :)

This past weekend Jeff and I went to the ALCS Game 1 to see the Rangers beat the Tigers. Against the plans I had in my head, we ended up IN the ballpark as soon as the gates opened at 4:00 pm (THREE HOURS prior to gametime!!!) instead of eating somewhere before. With rain delays, we didn't leave until midnight. It was the most miserable night I've had in a long time. (Will not ever again go to a game with a friend and their date that we've never met who can turn out to be the most annoying person I've ever met in my life!!!) Y'all- she asked how old our kids were, we told her, then she asked if they were walking yet. Really? I could go on for hours with stories like that!
Here's the one picture I took, of batting practice: Then I drowned my misery in beer and nachos the rest of the night.

I love going to Rangers games, but it was really hard to keep up with the game from our seats, where we were up high and couldn't see the big screen. I'd much rather watch each pitch from the comfort of my living room, and we would be $300 richer. I don't know if I'll ever pay to go to a game where we can't see the screen again. You just feel so disconnected from the game!

Okay, on to more fun things! Shelby just had a 4-day weekend. She spent Friday with Millie and Anna, where they walked to the dog park, and Monday with Millie, where they got to walk to feed the ducks, and eat at Chick-Fil-A. Millie and Luke are waiting on their pending move to Madrid, but have already leased their house and are staying with Nonnie and Poppy temporarily. It is pretty darn cool to have them close by and for Shelby to get this quality time with Aunt Millie before they move away (tears!) And just how blessed are we to have this family who love to help us out on days like that? Jeff had originally taken off work, but then we booked a trip to SAN FRANCISCO so he switched out his vacation days so he could go with me ;)

We leave Saturday for a quick little 3 night trip to the Golden Gate city and wine country! Besides our honeymoon, this is our second or third getaway without our kids and we are excited (happy 8 years to us!!) Once again, thank you to our amazing family (Millie and Luke especially!) who will be keeping Shelby and Coleman and getting them to school and all that stuff while we're gone! And thank you to American Airlines for providing round trip fares for roughly the price of a tank of gas! :) We will be missing seeing Mimi and Jack, Carolina Story, :( one of Coleman's ballgames and picture day for Shelby but we know they'll be in great hands!

Colemanisms

2011-10-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

My little SERIOUS buddy has been cracking me up lately! This kid is pretty serious, so that makes these little conversations very funny to me!

We were at the grocery store where he acted pretty good but had to have some warnings. At the check-out, I gave him 50 cents to buy a tattoo, but when we got into the car he was having some serious attitude so I told him he did not get the tattoo until he earned it, by making good choices this evening.
We were doing math in the car.

M: "What is 5 take away 1?"
C: "5 take away 1 plus 4." (He is confused and says plus instead of equals, and gets sick of me correcting him.)
M: "That's right! But say 'Equals 4,' not Plus 4."
C: "No PLUS 4."
M: "No Buddy."
C: "Mommy! That's how you say it in Spanish!!!"
M: "Since when do you know Spanish?"
C: "Well I know that one word. And I know amigos."
M: "Oh yeah? Ok. What does amigos mean?"
C: "It means Bye! ...Mommy, what if you walked to Colorado?"
M: "Well that would probably take a year."
C: "What about Lubbock?"
M: "That would take a few months. Why? Do you think I should walk to Lubbock?"
C: "Well you should because you're talkin so nice of it."
M: "You are cracking me up." (I've been laughing during most of this conversation.)
C: (Very serious) "So can I have my tattoo earned because I'm being pretty funny now?"

On Sunday while driving, Jeff and I were having a conversation about a couple we know who has the same first name, Shannon. I jokingly told Jeff that if we were both named Shannon, I would make him change his name before we got married.
...we were debating what he would change his name to.
M: "Or just Shane. That's not too much of a change from Shannon."
J: "Shane would be good, that's a nice name."
C: "Or Awesome."
M: {side-eye to Jeff, realizing kids were listening right along to us} "Yeah, Awesome's a good name."
C: "Can I change my name?"
M: "You want to change your name? Awesome Peck. That sounds cool."
C: "No, I mean Dude."
M: "Dude Awesome or Awesome Dude?"
C: "Dude Awesome."
M: "Ok, Dude Awesome Peck."
C: (grinning) "Mommy will you tell everybody?"

Then Tuesday, again in the car, on the way to Coleman's t-ball game:
C: "Mommy, instead of the Peck family, let's call our family the Sport family."
Shelb: "Oh yeah!!"
C: "Because we both play sports."
S: "Yeah and Mommy plays Tennis. " (Random! Tennis is one sport I've NEVER played!)
M: "Shelby I have never played tennis. I do like softball and volleyball, and exercising."
S: "I could have sworn you played tennis with Daddy before I was born! At that place where we play on the playground by Nonnie's house."
M: "Ok, maybe once. So...Coleman Sport."
C: "No my name's not Coleman!!!"
M: "Oh yeah, Dude Awesome Sport."
C: "No! Dude Awesome Sport Peck!"

Shelby’s 1st Gator Run-A-Thon

2011-09-30T10:45:00.001-07:00

The annual fundraiser at Shelby’s school is a run-a-thon. The scholars get to run for one hour, and their laps are counted with tally marks on the back of their shirts. They take sponsors who pledge $ per lap, so they are running to earn more money. Of course, there are prizes based on what level of sponsorship you earn.

Shelby’s goal from the first time she looked at the brochure was to get a pogo stick. That level was earning $200-500…quite a lofty goal!

Sister worked HARD this morning. I was there to help tally the runners’ shirts.

Round and round they went!

Aunt Mille and Aunt Anna came to cheer Shelby on. They had both pledged to pay $1 per lap, but told Shelby if she got more than 20 laps, they would give her $2 per lap! Talk about motivation (smart idea Aunt Mill!) Mommy helped Shelby do the math, and with 5 sponsors promising to match this pledge, she would get her pogo stick! But if she did less than 20 laps, she wouldn’t reach her goal.

Aunt Anna ran some with Shelby

And so did Aunt Millie

When the timer went off, Shelby had…… TWENTY ONE laps!!!

Way to go Sister! And thank you to all of her sponsors. :)

Rain Rain DON’T Go Away!

2011-09-26T10:30:00.001-07:00

A couple of Fridays ago, we had plans to go on a family walk with the doggies when Daddy got home from work.

As we waited and got ready to go, we heard THUNDER. It felt like the most precious thing I’d ever heard! After a serious drought all summer, we were more than happy to forego our walk plans and to enjoy the wet stuff falling from the sky instead!

I told the kids that I was going out on the back patio to sit and enjoy the smell and sounds of the rain. It wasn’t long before both kids were soaked (in their normal clothes!) from playing out in it. (Pictures are from after Cole changed and put on his swimsuit.)

(Swingin’ in the rain, tire swingin’ in the rain! What a glorious feeling I’m happy again!)

They painted the slide with mud and then slid down in it. Apparently for Shelby and Coleman, the amount of mess and the amount of fun are directly proportional.

Daddy showed up a little late with a bottle of wine and a block of cheddar, and we sat out and enjoyed it all on the patio. It was a great Friday night!

Smart Speller Shelby

2011-09-21T05:03:00.001-07:00

In First Grade we have started our spelling tests! Shelby’s class takes a spelling pre-test on Monday, with words (“List 1”) they haven’t studied. If they score a 90% or better on the pre-test, then they study “List 2” for the week, which are harder words. Shelby’s first pre-test was a 100, so she studied List 2 last week. We really didn’t study much- On Wednesday I gave her a little sample test of them before any studying and she knew most of them, so we just went over those more difficult ones through the week. On Friday, she scored 100% on her first spelling test, and she followed all the directions by making all her letters lower-case. It’s really amazing to me how much she’s learned and grown in 1 year. She can basically pick up any children’s book and read it cover to cover. The words she knows or sounds out shock me every day.

This week she again scored 100 on her pre-test, so we are studying (well, we should be! Haven’t yet!) List 2 this week. There are some harder words like wrap, quack, scrap, and backpack on there.

Yesterday she brought home this paragraph about a story they had listened to at one of the Reading centers. She said they had to write about the story in their own words. Again, I am surprised that she can write an entire paragraph like this on her own and by sounding out words! (“anJullu” is Angela and “Robey” is Ruby, characters from the book. Somewhere out there, I bet there actually is an anJullu in this world, haha!) They are learning about capitalization and punctuation right now.

Soccer!

2011-09-20T08:36:00.001-07:00

Yes, soccer has been better and quite fun since that first game!

Last week, Shelby was put at goalie, and not only did she really like it, she was pretty good at it! She had several great stops/blocks, and was quick and fast at running out and throwing the ball back down the field to her teammates (which left me wondering, “When did she learn THAT?!”) She really just looked like she belonged there, so I wasn’t surprised when the coach had her at goalie for 3 out of 4 quarters again on Saturday.

It wasn’t as active at the goal this week, but she did have a couple of stops and they got 2 by on her (one she stopped right on the line…boo!!!) but she said she had fun again, though she wishes she got to play in the field and kick / chase the ball at least a little bit. Having her at goalie makes me SO NERVOUS. I know if a goal is scored it’s not completely the goalie’s fault and there shouldn’t be any “blame” placed when they’re six years old…and I know that it’s all supposed to be for fun and learning…but I’m still a nervous wreck when she’s down there and the ball starts getting close. (~~Some~~ Most of these soccer parents are HARD CORE. I’ve seen nothing like it on the softball/baseball fields!! It is a whole other breed, I think.) All the parents on our team know that it is Shelby’s first year to play soccer and most are very nice, but still I have this strong urge to stand up and announce, “This is only her second time at goalie, first season of soccer. Please be encouraging and forgiving!!! Oh, and please remember that all these little girls are six and are not you 35 years ago, here to fulfill your long lost dream. Thanks.” (That last part was just for a special dad or two, haha.)

Saturday was also picture day, bright and early at 8:00 am. Here are a few that I snapped.

Shelby and these 2 friends went to school together for 3 years, starting when they were 2 years old. How very special that they’re still besties! (1 other old friend is also on the team but missing in the picture below.) On Saturday morning, they all showed up for pictures with side ponytails on the right. ha!

Buddy’s first Baseball Game!!

2011-09-19T08:01:00.001-07:00

Coleman is on the Fort Worth Frogs baseball team, 6 and under.

He had his first game Saturday morning, where they won 20-6. Though there are several other 4 year olds on this team, Coleman is (probably) the only kid who’s never played an organized sport yet … so Saturday, we all got to smile and cheer him on for the first of many games, and also experience one of those things that we can’t wait to tease him about someday when he’s a baseball (or something else) star!

Now Coleman is a pretty serious dude. He was excited about this game. He paid attention and ran to get balls that came near him in the outfield.

Every time he got up to bat, he swung hard and hit the ball. … … Then he stood there. Cheers, claps, hollers screamed out while he stood there like he had no idea what to do. Each time, he would finally realize that he should be running to first, but the first 2 times at bat, they got him out. I visited him in the dugout before his 3rd bat, and reminded him to “HIT AND RUN.” He showed me a little speck of dirt on his pants and I told him, “That’s ok, that means you’re playing good and hard!”

The last at-bat, he remembered to run sooner and got on base. We were so proud! He ran to first and took that base like he was it’s boss (sliding into it.) Then, he looked at his arm with the hair band that I had put on it to remind him which foot touches the base when he gets on, ready to run to the next base. And he did think about it and try to do it correctly, putting his LEFT foot on the base…but he was facing outfield! So the coach told him to turn around and he dutifully did, realizing that his arm band must be on the wrong hand. As he turned to face the batter, he put his right foot on the base and moved his arm band. Then the coach corrected how he was standing and I watched with a smile as he moved the arm band back to his left hand. I love watching as the little brain works!

Next, the following kid got up to bat, hit the ball, and Coleman stood there on 1st for a minute, probably again confused by all the screaming, chaotic cheering. Finally he realized he was supposed to run, and he ran in the exact direction that he was facing (which is completely logical, right?)…back to home plate!!! It was so cute, and a little sad as his Mommy to watch him confused, but everyone just loved it and laughed. He ended up realizing he was running in the wrong direction about halfway, so he turned and ran to the pitcher’s mound. By the time he found his way to second base, the team had beat him there with the ball. He hustled off the field and did a perfect slide into the dirt as he approached the dugout! Later, I heard him show Daddy his dirty pants and say, “I played really good, see my pants?!” Sweet boy!!!

Coleman picked number 24. They asked us to choose a number, so I suggested 21 to him (his birth day of the month) and he said, “No I want 24 because I’m 4 years old.” Well, that’s a good a reason as any, and way more interesting than just number 4, haha! Possibly we should have made him his daddy’s old number, 19, but Jeff didn’t seem to suggest it or care!

He has another game tonight and we hope to practice some hit-and-running after school today.
Go FW Frogs!!! (And thank you to our lovely family who filled up the stands with cheers for our boy- Poppy, Millie, Luke, Anna, and Bryan!!!)

(See proud dirt on pants after game========>)

Sweet Baby Aiyla

2011-09-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

Like most of us moms, my friend Christal has plenty of (professional) pictures of this sweet baby girl, but still struggled with not having the big milestone of turning 2 documented. So she asked me to snap a few…just to really capture her girly and nurturing personality and her happy little face of her 2nd birthday. Luckily she didn’t expect anything of pro-quality since I am not and do not even aspire to be a professional photographer. :) But I really enjoyed walking around and snapping some shots of the little Miss Priss last week. These pictures make me happy because this child is adorable and just so lovable! She pushed around her baby in her stroller, with a purse swung on her arm and her high-heeled shoes on, and then we had a little tea party with her baby and Mommy.

I am definitely not too critical of my pictures because there were so many that I loved, despite shadows or whatever else could be wrong with them, because what I see is just little Miss Aiyla. I wanted to share several of my favorites here!
Enjoy!!

1,2,3…Swing!!! (Again, again!)

Cheers Mama!!

And the whole happy little family :)

I Love Theim so Much.

2011-09-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Shelby is known to always have a pen/crayon/pencil in her hand. Wherever we go, she finds something to draw or write on. Jeff found her writing this on a little hotel pad in our hotel room in Lubbock last May. It made me tear up. She is my sweetie girl!

We Are Busy

2011-09-15T06:50:00.001-07:00

Fall is finally (hopefully) upon us. I think this week we had our last 100+ degree temperature for the year – if not, I’m packing up the Peck fam and moving us to Colorado! I am so ready to bake breads and pies, eat pumpkiny things, go on neighborhood walks and bike rides, and sit outside in the cool air… and eventually inside by the fireplace!

However, I suspect those things are things you get to enjoy BEFORE your kids enter school and sports. With a first grader and a pre-Ker, this season looks to be setting the stage for the next 14 years of our lives: SPORTS and HOMEWORK. Or is it HOMEWORK and SPORTS? Either way… our evenings are full! And it’s not like we’re overdoing it…Two kids in one sport each and we’re lucky to have one free weeknight per week. I am currently seeking suggestions for this lifestyle (including 2 working parents!) :) I am still trying to figure out how to get nutritious (non-fast food) dinners in when practices and games take up the 6 and 7 o’clock hours, with 8:30 being bedtime. We are big on home-cooked meals and family dinner time. Or should I say “WERE?” Do you feed them before the sports stuff (like I did last night- and on the way home from practice at 7:30 both kids refused to believe that they had already eaten dinner, and insisted that the tuna sandwiches, celery and peanut butter that I had fed them at 5:30 was “JUST A SNACK”), or after, which would push bath time and bed time back by probably a full hour (leaving Jeff with 2 don’t-wanna-wake-up children every morning and me with 2 whiney kids each afternoon.)

The real snag-in-my perfect-view of how things could work is that Jeff works a later-than-normal schedule because he takes the kids to school. He gets off work at 5:40, and walks in our door no earlier than 6:25 nightly. That is tough when games and practices start at 6 or 6:30, and will get earlier as the dark comes sooner. That means one car, one parent…with 2 kids who often will need to be at different places at the same time (and are too young to drop off!) We are hoping he is able to shift his schedule a little on the game nights so he won’t miss a thing :) Our schedule is tough at times but so worth it to be able to both TAKE (Jeff) and PICK-UP (Meg) both of our kids from school every single day.

Which leads me to my next piece of information…Jeff got a promotion! He was moved to the Senior level AND moved departments to Personal Injury Protection, which is a step up from Property Damage (as an insurance adjuster.) He will now be learning lots of medical-ese and dealing with doctors, hospitals, and injured clients. Next up will be Bodily Injury, which deals with lawyers, punitive pain-and-suffering settlements, and more. Jeff’s job requires a LOT of knowledge, organization, and most of all, patience, since he deals with car accident victims and a very high volume of work. There is no down time for him at work, which makes me appreciate even more how much he keeps goin’ when we all get home. We are so proud of him!

(Reading to Coleman before bedtime)

This weekend, we have 2 games, team pictures, and 5 birthday parties (only 3 of which we will get to attend!) Stay tuned for pictures and updates from the soccer field, the baseball field, and school!

Shelby found a shirt at Nonnie & Poppy’s house that was Coleman’s when he was 2.

Uncle Dane came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and brought Nana and Garland with him! Aunt Jan would be so proud of how this man is living his life with her in his mind and his heart always, doing things she’d want him to do, and loving their family just like she did! The kids were excited to see him and had to sit right by him for dinner.

Labor Day Quips

2011-09-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

We had a busy and fun Labor Day weekend!

Saturday night I went out to dinner and a movie with Nonnie and Aunt Anna. It was a late movie and when I got home it was 12:30 am. I didn't drive or have my keys so I had to knock on the door/ring the doorbell. When we pulled into the driveway we all noticed Shelby's bedroom light on and wondered why/how it was left on. When I knocked, I had to wait quite a while before Jeff got to the door. He was obviously asleep and had been for a while- so you will understand my shock when I see two bright-eyed smiling faces peek around the corner of the living room. Turns out, Daddy had fallen asleep watching a movie with the kids, and when the movie was over, our 2 little ones (who have never fallen asleep watching movies or tv) just kept on watching tv for another couple of hours. Daddy was conked out!

On Sunday afternoon, we went on a family bike ride to the park. We have 2 tag-alongs so Shelby rides behind me and Coleman rides behind Daddy. The kids like to "race" and beat each other. One of the times that Daddy and Coleman whizzed past us on their bikes, Coleman gave me his best side-eye look of victory and exclaimed, "Who's the big boy now?!"

On Monday morning, our lovely cold front had blown through and it was a wonderful 75 or so degrees outside. The kids went out to play in the backyard while I checked my email. Of course they are always in and out getting toys and things so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to their reasons for coming in until Coleman came up to me wearing a down ski jacket, asking me to zip it up. I couldn't help but laugh and tell him that he didn't need a heavy coat outside. He insisted, repeatedly telling me "But it's chilly out! It's cold enough for a jacket Mommy! Please zip it for me now!" When I finally got the jacket off of him, I looked outside to see Shelby wearing a sweater dress, HER down ski jacket, a scarf around her neck, and boots. These poor children have forgotten what cold really is, after a record-tying summer of 67 days over 100 degrees here in North Texas (a record that might still be broken!) they were COLD at 75 degrees. :) I guess when it's colder outside than it is inside, that is a special thing!

One more:
Sunday night, Shelby sat on my lap after I painted her nails to let them dry. The tv was on and out of the blue she asked me one question beyond the typical "where do babies come from?"...she said, "How do babies get in mommies' tummies?" Oh boy! I really am not ready to answer that for my 6 year old, and really have no idea how to (yet)--- so my answer was this: "Ooohhh, you will have to ask me that question again when you're older." (Yay! That is a Mommy of the Year answer, right?!) She asked me, "How old?" and I said, (pulling a number out of mid-air) "Eight? Yeah, try again when you're eight." She seemed okay with that, haha!

What is Wrong With This Picture??

2011-09-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

They are weird sometimes. They came out of their rooms one day, completely dressed from head to toe, in each others clothes.

Lions Soccer: Shelby’s 1st Game

2011-08-31T12:54:00.001-07:00

If I had just one word to describe Shelby’s first soccer game, it would be MISERABLE.

She was miserable, the team was miserable, the coaches were miserable, and the fans were miserable. It was only at 10:15 in the morning but the sun was glaring down on us, and though I don’t know the actual temperature, I’m sure it was over 100 degrees and NO wind. We were in such a rush after turning around to get my camera because “I CAN’T JUST NOT HAVE ANY PICTURES OF HER FIRST GAME!!!!” that both Jeff and I left our phones in the car, and all of our family who came to watch didn’t know what field we were on…so it was just a big ol’ fail!

The game began well enough…she kept waving at us as she ran by :) She was excited.

I really think you can SEE THE HEAT in this picture:

Though the coach plans on having the girls play positions this season on the large fields, they hadn’t gotten that far in their 2 practices, so none of them even knew that a couple of them could hang back near the goalie while everyone else chased the ball over every inch of the huge field. So they all ran, without stopping, without a break from the sun, without conditioning. Shelby is new to this and she kept right up with the herd, but didn’t kick it as much as the “star” players…so when they came out in the 2nd quarter because they were obviously working so hard, she was one of the ones left in the game. Once 20 or 30 minutes had gone by, she was going down to her knees from exhaustion and trying to keep up…then she was in tears (and she wasn’t the only one either!) It wasn’t even half time yet! I pulled her aside and got her in the shade for a minute, but it was just miserable and you really couldn’t escape the heat. I got worried because her forehead felt COLD, which was really weird out in the heat and sweat. I had visions of the kids you hear about who drop suddenly with some kind of heart condition or heat stroke in conditions like this. The parents all talked about just pulling them all out together. Finally, the coach of the other team told the ref, “5 minutes and we’re done.” Hallelujah! That was just TOO MUCH for 5 and 6 year old girls (and the grandparents and great-grandparents who came to watch them!) Yep, Shelby had some very special fans there to see her play. Papa G, her GREAT grandfather, Uncle Dane (her great uncle), Millie, Luke, Tyler, Nonnie & Poppy all came and sweated it out for our girl! (THANK YOU all!)

I will sum it up with some pretty pathetic pictures from after the game. (You won’t find any smiles here!)

Sidewalk Paint

2011-08-31T08:24:00.001-07:00

The night before school started we made some homemade “sidewalk paint” (equal parts cornstarch and water, with food coloring…thank you Pinterest!) and the kids went to town on our back driveway. Shelby and Coleman LOVE to get messy…it might be their favorite thing to do, in fact!

Below is the fun in pictures:

Coleman and I worked together to do grass, a house, clouds, and the sun.

Shelby worked on flowers off to the side.

Coleman has recently really come to love coloring and drawing. Dare I say he will begin to love art more than anything like his big sister does?

The dogs were right in the middle of it, of course!

The turning point: I suggested “splatter painting.”

Shelby was acting crazy like Taz, complete with sound effects. (Spaz!)

Coleman had to get messy, too!

Cute even when they’re a mess!

We’ll definitely do this again- it was so much fun for my little artists who like to get dirty!

Also wanted to brag on my handy man hubby who put us a pretty new back fence in, even customized for our basketball goal! Isn’t it pretty?!

First day of First Grade

2011-08-26T12:22:00.001-07:00

It’s the beginning of a new chapter for our Shelby girl!

Shelby seemed very nonchalant about starting first grade, but after a little burst into tears in her new classroom at “Meet the Teacher” night, I was just a little bit worried. Those tears were very uncharacteristic of her and I was afraid that she hadn't really thought about all the changes she’d be facing, the new friends and the friends that were missing in other classrooms, and just the seriousness of going back to school EVERY weekday. We had a pretty laid back summer with plenty of fun for this girl! On top of that, first grade classrooms just don’t look like Kinder classrooms. Kinder rooms are bright and full of TOYS. They have a carpet for group time and the teacher has a rocking chair to read to them, maybe a little reminiscent of home. This first grade room was full of tables and chairs, and a teacher’s desk. There were computer stations along the wall, bookshelves full of books, but no carpet for story time…no toys. So I overanalyzed, thinking all these things and worrying for her because every time I tried to talk to her about the first grade changes, she’d get all silly and completely change the subject.

She woke up on Monday morning, got herself dressed, ate breakfast, and we had a great morning. (I took the day off…I wouldn’t miss the first day of school, but also Coleman’s school was closed for a district-wide meeting all day, so I got to have the day with him!)

Once we were all ready to head out, of course we had to have our photo op in the front yard!

I braided her hair the night before after shower, which always makes for an easy morning, just ask Daddy!!

I asked Coleman to get into the picture with her, and he was NOT happy:

So Shelby took care of it, like she always does. She tells him, “Don’t you smile!!!” and says other silly words like “banana pancakes” or “fairy dust”…

And we get our boy’s smile back!

That’s what big sissies are for :)

We parked at the park and walked her into her class.

On the way, we watched this bird STAB a fish in the water with his beak and then swallow it whole! (The fishie is in his mouth in this picture.)

Little girl walking through big halls…

Shelby’s teacher had a Clifford book sitting out for each child to read as they arrived. She just sat down and opened the book. There was nothing left for us to do. So what did I do? I burst into tears. Another mother watched me and she did the same thing, then she told me that her fifth grader didn’t even want her to walk him in and that made me even more sad!

I dried my eyes and kissed her goodbye. She was fine. No sadness, no tears. She was a little quiet and shy but not nervous at all. (Turns out I think she was just tired on that night of meeting the teacher. She’d had a long day, a long week really, and she even fell asleep in the car after that on the way to soccer practice.)

She’s had a great week and it seems like it’s been an easy adjustment. I think she’s making a couple of new friends (there’s only ONE girl from her class last year in her class!)

Good ol Pinterest gave me this idea, so I’m going to try to do one for each kid every year.

(Yes I made the grass green! The words looked terrible on top of brown grass. Our poor yard!)

Testing feed

2011-08-25T07:32:00.001-07:00

Test 123

Beach Camping: Mustang Island State Park

2011-08-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach exactly one month ago. It was a trip that we planned on a whim, knowing we wanted to see some saltwater and some sand, and also knowing we couldn’t have another costly vacation this year after DisneyWorld! So was born the idea of camping at the beach!
We had checked out some of the beachy state parks in years past but I seem to remember that they were closed/in repair from a hurricane or something. Whatever it was, they campsites were there and ready for us!

There is a large area of dunes between the RV campsites and the water (as seen in the right picture below…the water is past the grass!) But, this didn’t really matter because you could smell the sea and feel the breeze…and most of the time we were on the beach in the sand anyway!

These sites aren’t “hang out at your campsite by the fire” sites. In fact, fires aren’t even allowed. They are “where you go to sleep for $16/night” sites. :)

We got there Friday evening after a very long and whiny drive.
On the way, we stopped and ate at Black’s BBQ in Lockhart, TX by recommendation from our neighbor. It was GOOD stuff. And it was packed at lunchtime.
Our kids rarely watch movies in the car, but on long trips, they are NECESSARY. Since we were pulling the camper, we were in Jeff’s truck (with no dvd player) and we had to go slower than you normally would. On top of that, the kids can REACH EACH OTHER in the truck, so that was fun. :) So we got there and got set up, and then were able to quickly forget the lovely drive as we headed down to see some sand.
Sissy couldn’t wait to get her hands in it!

The bath house on the sand (for the day-use area) was clearly in the demolition process.

We were starving so we headed to “the strip” in Port Aransas to find some dinner. Whew, that little city was PACKED! Two hour waits at many restaurants at 8:00 at night! We settled on the shortest wait, at Castaways…only 45 minutes! :)

These kids were happy to be out of the car and have the prospect of good food. :)

Look at her sweet little angel-kissed face!

And this one with some sand-dusties left on it. :)

The next morning, bright and early, we were out in the water. I could not believe how CLEAN and clear the water was! The sand was clean, the water was 5000% better than the nasty water we experienced in Destin last year.
For example (completely untouched images):
DESTIN, FL: PORT A/MUSTANG ISLAND, TX:

This year I actually got in and enjoyed the water! Another cool thing about this beach is that it is shallow FOR E VER.
Here, Poppy is way out there and the water is not even to his waist! However, I personally think this can be a bit deceiving when you have kids because the undertow is STRONG…so you still have to be careful with little ones. Our kids were allowed to go up to their knees (which was plenty far!) without an adult right next to them.

As you can see from the next pictures, Shelby and Coleman are definitely little beach babies and thoroughly enjoyed every second of the day!

They stopped to pose for me:

They chased sea gulls and sand pipers.

We watched Pelicans dip and dive to find their dinner.

They built sand castles.

Coleman was really not happy to have to stop for lunch.

Shelby and Daddy made this octopus.

Tyler and Laura played too :)

Just look at the joy!

When Coleman finally stopped to rest, he pulled his chair out by Lorla. :)

We headed to Nonnie & Poppy’s condo that evening for dinner and showers :)
The next morning we headed back to the condo so the kiddos could fish. I think this is the first fish caught by Peck children, ever:

Laura was catching the “big” ones ;)

We stopped by one of the tourist stores for some pictures with the shark, and a kite…Oh, and some shark tooth necklaces!

Then it was out to the ocean again for more fun in the sand, water, & sunshine!

Daddy buried Coleman and he was VERY excited about it.

Silly daddy gave Coleman some inappropriate additions…

Next it was Shelby’s turn, of course.

On this afternoon, we did some relaxing and a lot more of the same: enjoying the water, sand, breeze, ocean air, and the views!

(What are these tracks from?)

We climbed out on the jetty. Ty and Laura fished.

Timer family self-portrait:

We stayed til after dark and we were the last ones left on the beach. We listened to Texas country and danced in the sand. It was a wonderful evening!
The next morning we headed back to the condo for a little more bay fishing. It gets hot out there fast!

It was our last day on the beach. More of the same, plus some corn hole! There were penalties for hitting the sand castles.

We missed the other sisters!

This is totally all Coleman. Look at his sweet cutest-belly-button I’ve ever seen!

Tyler boogie boardin’

That evening we got showered and dressed and headed back to Port A to eat dinner. As you can see from this picture, the kids were DONE. Exhausted.

These are the best smiles I could get. :)

What a wonderful trip! It restored my faith in Texas beaches. We will be back!

Gearing up for FIRST grade!

2011-08-19T09:49:00.001-07:00

A new school year is upon us.

Last week, we came home from some back-to-school shopping and Sissy put on her new shirt and get all dressed up to go to dinner with Nonnie & Poppy while Daddy and I went to Coleman’s parent night at his school.

This girl is growing up too fast- but at least she is still my baby, and does assure me of that often! She is STILL a baby/stuffed-animal lover and now that she’s also a clothes/fashion lover, she always picks out a baby or animal that “goes with” her outfit. She looks at herself in the mirror WITH said baby, and even asks me “Does this doggy look good with me?” after she gets dressed. This girl cracks me up!!

See….

I made her put down the baby for a couple more shots, but she made sure it did NOT go on the ground! Then she turned it on for her mamarazzi, just a little bit!

Little Miss Priss!!

Last Friday her sweet Aunt Anna and Uncle TyTy were both off for the day so they took her to Six Flags.

She had a wonderful time, and as I said on facebook, Shelby and Coleman are so blessed to have the best aunts & uncles in the world!!!

(Still smilin’ on her way home.)

Last night was Shelby’s Meet the Teacher night. She is continuing at the school we moved to last year via open enrollment. It’s an amazing school, but so is the one that we live in- both of them one of only 8 elementary schools in the district achieving an Exemplary rating last year. We might re-assess in the coming years, when Coleman enters school (NEXT YEAR! Booohooo!)

Daddy was able to get off work early and go with us to meet her first grade teacher. I was so excited and pleased with the class she got in. I know nothing about these teachers from word-of-mouth (though I am sure there is not a bad teacher at this school!) but I know about them through their biographies on the website. (Bear with me as I ramble on as an over-analyzer!!) This one teacher REALLY stuck out to me because our little Shelby is quite the free-spirit. Probably as close to a hippie girl a 6 year old can be without having hippy parents or growing up in the 70’s. ;) This teacher writes that she and her family’s favorite activities are spending time outdoors, camping and fishing. She has 3 horses, two dogs, and six cats! Our little outdoorsy, vet-wanna-be, animal-lovin’ girl will love this teacher, I just know it! (Funny: Both her kinder teacher and this teacher have names that begin with “Pe___” just like Peck!)

Here she is waiting to go in and meet her teacher last night:

I am very excited for Shelby to make some new friends in this class. Though there is only one girl in this class who was in her class last year, we saw a few potential BFFs last night ;) I know she will be taken care of because we will pray for her every night.

Finally, Nonnie and I worked last week to “decorate” her classroom door. We came up with this sign (Thank you Pinterest) and the cool peace sign fabric (her classroom inside is red/white/blue so we just added in some green!)

Stay tuned for first-day-of-school snapshots next week!

Buddy’s Day

2011-08-09T06:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Coleman’s FIRST day of Stepping Stones class. This is his Pre-K year. He had a good day and was happy to see all his friend that he missed all summer long.

Shelby is in her last 2 weeks until school starts, and Nonnie is keeping her during the day this week. When she called to say that Shelby wanted to stay and spend the night, I thought it would be a great night for a “Coleman night”…we could play what he wanted, and watch what he wanted, and hear all about his first day at school, just Mommy, Daddy, and Coleman!

When I picked him up from school and told him about our night, he was very excited. So excited about a “Me night” that he didn’t even cry that he wanted to go to Nonnie & Poppy’s, too! He went to the store with me and was a perfect angel (one child is so easy!), and he got an ice cream treat.

When we got home, he watched Kenny the Shark while I finished up dinner and then Daddy got home. We all ate dinner, and then he chose to play Connect4 with Daddy.

After that, I made him put all his clothes he wore that day back on (he had taken them off, declaring “I wanna be nekkid boy!”) so we could go outside and pretend that we had taken a first day of school picture that morning. :) (What?! Isn’t that what everyone does?! haha!)

See? JUST LIKE that morning if you picture white Puma tennies instead of flip flops, spikey hair, and no baseball glove:

He had picked his own clothes out the night before…proud to be a Red Raider!

After the photo op, Daddy and Coleman played some catch in the front yard.

I took about 3 pictures before I got too hot (106 degrees!) and went inside.

When we were all back inside, Daddy and I watched the Rangers while Coleman practiced his sliding. He went into his room and put on his football pants, cleats, and Cowboys jersey. Then he ran back and forth, sliding like a pro on our carpet. His heart was beating fast so he asked us to feel it in his chest.

C: "Feel my heart."
D: "You've got a strong heart."
C: "Does it ever break?"
D: "No, it won’t break."
C: "Because I'm so hard. I can't even rip myself."
M: “you can’t rip yourself??”
C: “Yeah, see?” (((pulling/stretching skin off his arm))) “I get taller when I exercise.”
M: “Yep.”
C: “Is baseball exercise?”
M: “It sure is.”
C: (((Shy/proud grin))) “I just got a lot taller then.”

After a little more tv time to SLOW our heartbeats and ready ourselves for bedtime, our big buddy went straight to bed after his happy night.

This little buddy just cracks me up constantly, and I wish I could bottle up all his little sayings to hear forever! Last week in the car, I asked him what his afternoon snack was at school.
M: “What did you have for snack?”
C: “I’m afraid to tell you but … Animal Crackers.”

(I have no idea why he was “afraid to tell me” about animal crackers!!)

I had been telling him for a few days that he needed a hair cut, but he kept insisting that he wanted to grow it long (like his buddy Jackson.) I hadn’t said anything about a haircut for several days, when he said out of the blue one afternoon: “OKAY! We can cut my hair! But you have to do it after dinner tonight.” I guess it is like ripping a band-aid off?? ;)

We love him so!

July Rangers Game vs. Toronto

2011-08-05T09:00:00.001-07:00

Jess & Jason were busy on this game night that they had tickets for, so they graciously gifted them to us. It was kids’ Josh Hamilton jersey night so we of course HAD to take the kids. Hmmm, probably should have showed up more than 10 minutes before game time if our goal was to get them jerseys because all the jerseys were LONG GONE by that time. :( Booooo!

Early in the day Shelby got herself all ready to go…not exactly a baseball game outfit but whatever! :)

Our little hippie-girl, she makes me laugh! (in her hand she has her coin purse and her hand sanitizer.)

Next I took Coleman’s picture (who also got himself all ready.) I have no idea who he thought he had his arm around.

The game was fun. It was hot but the kids were GREAT and we stayed through the whole game (which only lasted a little more than 2 hours.)

Some more game pictures:

She took this of herself. Not bad!

Anna’s Quarter Century Birthday

2011-08-05T08:51:00.001-07:00

We were in Arkansas on Anna’s 25th birthday. We all went out to a fun hibachi / sushi restaurant for dinner. Then, the brother and sisters all went to a wine bar for a bit to just relax after a very emotional and draining week.

Some pictures:

Happy birthday Anna Banana! We love you!