Fun at school

Getting Down with Mama Goose

(a.k.a. Julia's 1st grade program)

Julia did such a great job! The songs were all so cute (variations on classic nursery rhymes)! Julia even had a speaking part. [Here's the part where I should tell you that I totally forgot about it, lost the paper with her part on it, made lots of phone calls (on the day of), and finally tracked it down. Then, we were able to go over it. Thankfully, she is great at memorizing! But, I think I'll leave that part out.] She did great!

Like the pic of Nate? That's what he got to do during most of the performance. Bless his heart.

And, no, your eyes do not deceive you, that is my Mom and brother in that picture! We were so lucky to have them here! They were delighted they could watch Julia's performance!

Another perk of going to the school, for something like this, is getting to walk around and see Julia's artwork on display. She was so proud! We are too, of course.

Before we left, we got to get up close and personal with some of the props. Naturally, it afforded some cute photo opp's.

We're all proud of our Julia!

"Getting down with Mama Goose"

The {indoor} School Carnival.
Yes, that's right, folks...I said indoor. The carnival was set for a Friday...rain or shine. Of course, it poured buckets all day rained. But, thanks to the awesome PTA carnival committee, the show went on...and it was a success at that. Let's just say, though, that the gym smelled quite a bit like sweaty kids. But, I guess that just lets you know how much fun they were all having!

Toward the end of the night, it cleared up outside. Everyone was thankful for that, because they moved the "hairspray coloring booth" outside. I think it was causing several people to get woozy. I'm glad we steered clear 'til it was outside.

The girls were so sweet with Simon. They helped him climb on all the fun slides and jumping "houses." Lili loved playing miniature golf. They all loved the clown show. Julia loved having her hair spotted, like a cheetah. I think they'd all agree that their favorite thing was...
the candy.

Julia and Simon, slidin'.

Last week's honored dinner guest...

I heart Galveston.

I'm so thrilled we were able to go to Galveston, earlier this month, for a long weekend. We had the BEST time! We all loved every minute of it! Julia was in hog-heaven with her net, catching various sea creatures. Lili loved fishing, and hanging out on the dock, playing with shells. Simon loved riding around in the golf cart! And, of course, Nate and I thoroughly enjoyed being together as a family! It was, seriously, a little slice of heaven.

Some of Julia's catches...shrimp, crab, and even a conch!

I love that Lili and Simon are such buddies. They had fun playing together (whether it was with the wheel barrow, on the hammock, on the jet ski, or just petting a local cat - they were livin' it up!)

A favorite activity for everyone...
taking rides on the golf cart.

These are just some of those fun, random shots I wanted to include. (I just HAD to put my "crazy hair" shot in...How does one achieve such a 'do, you ask? It involved a delicate mixture of a lot of wind and humidity, and voila!)
Hmmm, I'm just noticing the "cat" picture made it in this collage too (I'm probably not going to fix that. Call me lazy, but, I don't mind seeing it again that much, do you?)

Kayaking!
(Why, yes, we DID get sunburned kayaking.)
It was so fun to explore the bay area in the kayaks. Mike and I even got out and walked around a bit in one of the marshy areas. We found hermit crabs and an old oyster bed, and saw some very interesting sea birds.


Jet skiing!
(I love that Lili is wearing a much-too-big wet suit. It's almost as if she's wearing chaps...water-proof chaps.)
Nate had Julia in front of him, I had Lili in front of me, and we left Simon behind with Pam and Mike (don't worry, he had fun too - they took him on the golf cart).
We had so much fun! Lili loved doing "doughnuts" and Julia liked cutting through the waves. We even had a little race against each other. Dare I admit I briefly hit 60 mph?! Lili liked the speed. Julia? Not so much.

Just "hanging" at the house. I love all the sleeping pic's I took. You're never safe to fall asleep with me around (especially if it's on the couch...before any of the kids are asleep, or if you just look super cute)!

Galveston wouldn't be complete without visiting the beach! The ocean, lulling us with its sweet sounds, the gulls and pelicans flying overhead...who can resist?
Simon LOVED running in the water! The girls enjoyed that too, of course. But, I think it was hard to outdo the fabulous-ness that was their "mud pants."

Hey, a picture of all of us...together!

See...I told you Simon liked running in the waves!

Ahhh, it makes me want to go back...right now. A super big thank you to Nate's Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike for having us, and showing us such a delightful time! We look forward to another visit...soon!

Spring Break 2009

For our Spring Break this year, we had a lot of fun just being home, together (well, until Dad had to leave to go on a scout camp out for the weekend, but that's okay!). It really was a great week. The kids had the best time playing outside with friends, catching anoles, eating ice cream (from the ice cream truck, of course), reading, relaxing, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing with playdough, and all things "spring break."

I loved not having anywhere we HAD to be, getting to keep Julia home with us, and watching them enjoy themselves.

We had a great surprise near the end of the week! I was standing outside talking to my neighbor when a van pulled up and parked in front of our house. I walked over to see who it was (since I couldn't tell from a distance) and as we approached each other, I couldn't believe my eyes! It was Nate's cousin Doug! He lives in Utah, so I didn't expect to see him in our driveway, you know? (He was in the area on business). I haven't seen him in what feels like forever! He spent a few hours with us, visiting and catching up. We really enjoyed getting to see him!

Thanks for coming Doug!
Once Nate left for his camping trip, the kids and I were on our own. We found out that our friends' band (we know a couple people who play/sing in it - cool, I know) was playing at a local outdoor market cafe, so I decided to brave it and take all three kids on over there to have dinner and enjoy the show. They did really well and loved being there! Liliana and Simon had fun dancing right up front. Julia loved being Stacy's little "groupie." I was so glad we went...even if it was a little difficult when it came time to leave!
It gave us all a little taste of what we're really looking forward to...
summer vacation!

Simon's birthday fun

We had a lot of fun on Simon's birthday. We thought it would be fun to take him swimming. We invited a couple friends to meet us and we all swam our hearts out! I think we ended up being there for four plus hours! Simon had the best time, even if his lips did turn blue. He loved going down the slide!

We ended up ordering pizza and eating it there.
{And, folks, let me just tell you...I am shocked and amazed that Julia even touched a slice of cheese pizza, much more so that she actually even tasted it, a little. Uh-mazing.}
Simon ate all the meat off his pizza. That is his favorite part, after all.

Because we swam so long, Simon fell asleep on the way home. So, we put off present-opening and cake-eating until the next day. He loved getting to open his presents (lots of "things that go") and very much loved having a "car cake." What a great birthday! We love you Simon!

Mass catch-up attempt...

There certainly has been a lot going on around here! I just sat down and, while going through pictures, decided to make one big post for moments that probably would have been individual posts, had I not procrastinated so long as to be too overwhelmed to create posts for each of them.

So begins the mass catch up!

Julia had to create a diorama for school (a desert biome). As is usual with any school project, she had all her own ideas about how it should look, what materials she should use, etc. I thought she did a fantastic job!

Of course, it created a wonderful opportunity for Lili to make her own diorama as well (for Mommy school, of course). She created a yard scene with a dog. He even had his own ball. She did a great job as well!

Last month, Nate, and his team, won an innovation award at work. The field was narrowed to 36 teams, then again to 15 teams, who were invited, along with their guests (like me) to a nice dinner at a hotel in the city. Out of those 15 teams, only six teams won! Nate's was one of them! I'm so proud of him and excited for the work he's doing (and that he loves it)! Way to go babe!

Like his big sisters, Simon LOVES to chew gum. Most of the time, he does great with it. He chews it for quite some time, then gives it to me to dispose of when he's done. But, recently, it all went down in a completely different way. He came to me rather upset because he had put it on his head and then couldn't get it off again. Rotten sticky gum that it was. Peanut butter to the rescue, I got it out. He was much relieved to have it out.

I just love my Liliana. She always strikes great poses for the camera. I just love this one and had to post it! It just makes me smile.
I had the opportunity to go to Time Out for Women with some friends last month. We left on a Thursday afternoon and came back late Saturday night. It was fun, spiritually uplifting, and definitely memorable. Of course, that was, in part, due to it being my first girls' weekend since having children. It reminded me of being a teenager again, in some ways. We shared jewelry, flat irons, clothes, and lots of laughs. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunches & dinners out, staying up late talking and playing games, shopping, and, of course the conference itself. It was a wonderful experience and I'm glad I got to go with such amazing friends!

We also will never forget changing rooms three times, our late-night trip to Wal-Mart, the pouring rain when we came out, and especially the fact that we ended up getting our rooms for free because of it! I'll just say it again, it was definitely a memorable weekend!

A weekly adventure Lili, Simon and I enjoy together...going to story time at the library. They always have so much fun!

As random as all these pictures are, all lumped together, they exhibit some of what we've been up to lately. But, this is not all, oh no! I did leave some pictures I still need to blog about. They get their very own posts. I'll be working on those. 'Til then, TTFN!

Spring(?) Soccer

The Spring season of soccer started in February, and we are excited that we have, not one but, two players in our household! Lili has been thrilled to get to be on her very own team (the Fireflies, with orange jerseys) and play at her very own games (although she's not sure about all the running).

Their first few games of the season were quite windy and cold.
{this picture is from game day #2...yes, it was VERY cold!}
When Julia played her game, she wore the same hat and gloves. You can see we took this picture just before leaving for Lili's game (because she's wearing the hat and gloves, of course!)
Julia's hands got so cold in her first game, she didn't want to play any more without gloves. We didn't have any, but we did have socks! Lili and Simon were watching the game from inside the car, which was much warmer (thanks to the sun), so Lili didn't mind giving up her socks for a good cause.
Ahhh, that's a lot better!
{You probably noticed her lack of soccer shorts...oops on Mommy! I forgot she was supposed to wear her same uniform from the fall and sent her wearing only her warm "under clothes." Luckily, her coach had an extra jersey, but she had to play without shorts.}

She was rearing to go from the start of the season!


Lili's first soccer game...

Just yesterday, I had to miss Julia's game due to a conflict with a church primary activity. But, she was very proud to tell me all about it! "Mom, I scored three goals! And I think I showed good sportsmanship too." I, of course, told her how proud of her I was and asked her how she showed sportsmanship. She replied, "I would help people up when they got knocked down, even if they were on the other team." I tell ya, I'm a proud Mom! Way to go Julia!

Poor Lili had to miss yesterday's game! She had awakened in the night with a horrible earache. Urgent care confirmed she had an ear infection. Poor thing! They prescribed Augmentin (which, on a side note, made her throw up!) and she seems quite a bit better today, thankfully.

Anyway, I don't want to get too off topic. Both girls are enjoying their games and the fun that is soccer. I love being able to watch them progress and learn, not only the sport of soccer itself, but the teamwork, sportsmanship and dedication that goes along with it. Hooray for sports! And hooray for my little players!

My promise to you...

I am so far behind on my blog! I have so many moments (so many pictures and memories I don't want to forget) that I want to blog about. It's been quite crazy here at the Wright household. It's such a busy time of year! We've had soccer games, church activities and such, a trip to Galveston, family visiting, Nate's birthday came and went, Easter, etc. I'm sorry to those of you who follow our lives and are anxiously awaiting another post. Hello? Knock-knock, is anyone there? Oh well, I know there are a few of you who check it from time to time. :) The posts will come, eventually, I promise. There it is, in writing. I've promised to blog. Maybe sometime this weekend, or next week...or sometime before the end of the month...it's a promise.

Speaking of being behind...I'm also way behind on READING blogs. Sorry about that. I'd like to make a random point I've been thinking about lately, here. Google reader can be such a great thing. Do you use it? But, I have to say that I'm much worse about commenting on my friends'/family member's blogs when I use it. Does anyone else have that problem? And, I'm much worse about checking my friends' private blogs (or any other ones that don't work on reader). It's terrible in that way, but, at the same time, it's also satisfying to be able to go to one place, and see all the new blog posts, just waiting for me to read them.

As I said, it was a random point, but one I've been thinking about for some time. Let me just reiterate my point to this post...I will blog soon, and that's a promise.