i have a ton of stuff to catch up on... and i will... just not today. i did want to stop in and let everyone know that i do plan on blogging soon.
the rettig clan will all start arriving soon.
hope you are well. happy holidays!!!
k

Christmas Tree

After a great Thanksgiving in Houston, we came home and got the Christmas stuff out. We have a box of Christmas books that the girls were so excited about and they LOVED putting the ornaments on the tree. It was really cute to watch how excited they both were. Bailee was excited about seeing it all as fast as she could, and Leah got our 2 huge panda bears (a present from the Fletchers when we got married) and latched on to them. They chattered and had a great time. Our tree is scarce on ornaments up top, but there are clumps on the bottom where you could find every kind of ornament on one branch!

Each year, when I was a kid, my mom bought me an ornament. My first one was a red headed angel. Her hair is made of yarn and her body is a yellow plastic dress, and I loved her! Even when I was away at college, my mom would save that ornament for me to put on the tree. When we got married, my mom passed our ornaments down to my brother and I. It was really fun putting those on the tree. Our girls each get an ornament during Christmas also. We try to get something related to what they have been doing that year. It's really cool. Each ornament has a story that we talk about so it is really fun.

Have a great day and hope you are well.
K

butter!

I don't usually post 2 in one day, but... I forgot this funny little story.

I went to go eat Thanksgiving lunch with Bailee at her school. It is a big deal there... tons of food... cafeteria workers dress as Pilgrims, etc. It is also a big deal when your mom or dad come to eat lunch with you. You get to sit at the end of the table! Well, I ended up eating with Bailee and 6 or so of her little friends. They were VERY cute. I got the "grown up tray" which is a ton of food and I sat next to Bailee to eat. Here is the conversation that happened as I open the butter to put on my roll:

Bailee: Momma!! What is THAT????? (pointing to my butter tub)
Me: It's just some butter for my roll.
Bailee: YOU GUYS YOU GUYS! THE GROWN UPS GET BUTTER FOR THEIR ROLLS THAT IS SOOOO COOL!!!!!!
Various Students: Butter? WOW! That is AWESOME! I can't believe you get butter.
(I then pick up Bailee's roll and put a little butter on her roll.)
Bailee: Oh Momma! Thank you so much for the butter! You are the best!!! Hey look, you guys! My mom shared the butter with me! ISn't she so cool??
Various kids: Wow Bailee you are soooo lucky! I can't believe you get butter today. Your mom is awesome! I wish my mom gave me butter when she came to see me!! Do you think the teachers get butter?? Man, that is cool!!

LOL

best friends

So much to blog about.... so little time... but here is a quick update anyway :)

I guess the biggest new is that Leah turned 4 on the 20th. (Same birthday as Dr. Baker and as Joe Biden... I think she is destined for great things!) It is hard for me to believe that my imagination-filled youngest child is 4. She is turning into a sweetheart of a little girl. Yes, she can be dramatic, but she is also kind, loving and smart. She loves to play pretend and there are not limits to the adventures she takes! We had a camping theme birthday party and her best bud Matt came down for the weekend. She talked about that nonstop! It was fun seeing Leah with her friends and she really has seemed to find a good balance at school.
Aleesa and I were able to see each other 2 weekends in a row so that was awesome. Aleesa-- I am so proud of the life you are making for your incredible family. I know it is not easy and I really admire you!!! Our sisterhood will keep getting stronger and I look forward to more memories!
Eric also got to have a little "Richard" time. Some things never change! When those boys are together, you never know what is going to happen!
My friend Amy has a birthday today. We met over a black crayon in the 2nd grade. (The grade Bailee is in now!) She is a treasure also. I don't see her as often as I like, and I don't get to talk to her as often as I should, but we are life long friends.

Bailee gets to see her best friend, Veronica, today! She moved this summer and is coming to close on the house and spend the afternoon. She bought some "friends forever" bracelets for them and she is beyond excited. I thought she was going to cry this morning when she told me she couldn't believe that today was here. I just hope there are no melt downs when it is time for her to leave. Veronica's mom promises us there will be a whole weekend soon when they come to visit.

Here are some pics of the recent weeks. Enjoy and hope you are well. As we start this week of Thanksgiving, give thanks to those friends that make a difference daily!
K

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!

Cool sight... neat clothes...
(and ok... a give a way, but i do like the clothes)


GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!

Veteran's Day

I know I am behind.. I promise to try and put Halloween pics up soon, but I just got back from Bailee's Veterans Day program so that is what's on my mind.

You know, it doesn't really matter what you believe about war... the fact is this: we are lucky that people care enough about this country and the people in it to keep us safe. The end.

My parents came today since Bailee was in the program at her school. The veterans all stood and introduced themselves and so PawPaw stood up so that was neat. Bailee got to help pass out stickers to thank the Veterans. They also sang some really neat songs. What is it about a bunch of gap-toothed kids singing about loving America that is so cool? The 2nd grade boy scouts presented the colors and that was awesome too. I asked Bailee what a veteran was just now and she said "someone who served our country". I said "how?" She thought for a while and said "They just did... lots of ways... so our lives can be perfect." I think she might kind of get it.

Have a great Veterans Day. We sure did.
Hope you are well.
K

Girls Night

So Eric is judging this weekend so we had girl's night tonight. It may have been the best one...ever... in the history of Rettig Girl Nights!

First, I had a surprise visitor join us. Hilary Baker was the girls' numero uno babysitter until she went to college. I sent the girls out to the car to get something and she was standing there!

Then we went to CiCi's Pizza... the greatest place in the world! (if you are my children) Not only did we dine on pizza, brownies, and cinnamon rolls... but I let each girl play one 5o cent game-- something I never do. They each won a prize in the little grabbing machine.

Just when you thought the night couldn't get any better... we went and saw HSM 3! (that's high school musical 3 for all you non-troy/gabriella/charpay/etc lovers) The girls loved it and although I hate to admit it, I thought it was pretty cute. We even got popcorn and a drink! (this is a big time treat)

After that, I picked up Drew Hart (who Leah announced as her boyfriend) and he came over to spend the night. We set up blankets on the floor and watched Little Bear's Halloween. Now Leah and Drew are in bed together and Bailee is going to sleep with me. It will be great and I am only hoping I fall asleep before Ms. B starts grinding her teeth.

All in all, a great night. The girls behaved beautifully and new I am hoping that everyone nods off into dreamland so that we can have a great day tomorrow.

Good night to all and hope you are well.
K

Hello to all. I realize it has been an entire week and that I should have something exciting to say.... but.... not so much.

Bailee has a soccer game tonight. Leah has dance today. I have my Karrussell Kids. The Brenham Bands got first divisions at UIL. Life is good.

More later. Leah and I are having a "mommy day".

Hope you are well.
K

we have had a good few days. my mom got to come and see a soccer game. we had a great time. (There is a pic of "gam" with the girls.)

leah knows more about the election than most people. she knows barrack obama, john mccain, joe biden, sarah palin, and the "debates". very cute.

bailee is good too. she is loving school and soccer and all of that.

here are some pics. i would write more, but i am so tired that i could fall asleep right here.

hope you are well,
k

why not

so there is this great blog that shelby told me about:
http://www.myspecialks.com/
It's an amazing lady with an amazing story. (and she just celebrated her one year blog anniversary)

You should check it out... it's a captivating, positive, honest story about a great family.
Hope you are well,
K

some pics

hi all,
here are a few pics from our recent trip to the lake and of Leah going to ballet class. Hope you are well.
k

update... pics soon

So, all of you (1/2 dozen or so) readers.... i know it's been a while, and I do have some pics... but my camera is out of batteries and not charged up so here is the update and pics will come soon.

Eric... is getting ready for contest season with the band... has a wicked flat top... and has a birthday on Thursday. He is doing well and is loving the political season. :)

Me... I am good. In full swing with my kinder/1st class and my Grace Lutheran School kids. Lessons are going well and I am growing more used to our school schedule. (actually had a 5 day week last week!)

Bailee... Piano is going well. She learned about tied notes this week. Soccer is great. She is on the Wildcats (same name as the HS Musical team!), her uniforms are hot pink, they get snack, AND they won their game last night. oh, and dr. baker came to watch her play and got some great pics. (Who else has their pediatrician/babysitter's dad/friend/photographer at the football game?)

Leah... is loving her dance class. According to her, she LOVES ballet and likes tap! She likes to stand with her heels kissing each other and do "pretty arms". She also likes to "Yeeep". (leap) She is really enjoying school this year and told me today that amarillo means yellow and that ovals are like circles but long. She also recites a pretty mean pledge to the flag!

So you see, we are good. I hope you are and I hope you leave me a comment so that I know you stopped by.
Hope you are well.
k

big day

last week we had a big day in the Rettig household. Leah discovered that if she stood on her tippy tippy tippy toes she could reach the light switch in her bathroom. So now.... when she has to go she doesn't have to yell "turn the light on please!" She can just go in and turn on the light.

hmmm... a bitter sweet day.

hope you are well.
k

hey

Has it really been so long since I have blogged? Wow, time does fly. Well, as you can see by the pics, the cub football season is well underway. These are pictures from our first game. Bailee and Leah are quite the cheerleaders... and Bailee can do it with all of those teeth missing too! I do not have any pics of Eric's flat top on my camera, but I do on my email and I will try to figure out how to get those on here... someday. We've been a bit busy!

Our most recent excitement was Hurricane Ike which luckily spared us in Brenham (although it looked like we could get it for a while). We got some rain and wind and lost power for 5-6 hours on Saturday. We cleaned up the branches and stuff and are very fortunate. My parents and brother/family are still with out power and looks like it could be a while. My parents just came to Brenham to get gas for the generator because everything around them is either closed or crazy. Our sweet friends the Lewis clan have not returned to their home from her mom's house yet. Their school district is "closed until further notice". I know they are anxious to get power up and running and back home to clean up debris. They hear there is no water in the house but fences and stuff down. We also have some "evacuees" here. My college friend Pam and her husband are riding out their no electricity days here in B-town. We have loved having them. They are still showing news of the storm 24 hours a day here and the disaster this hurricane has left behind is scary. Please keep these people in your thoughts.

Well, I am off to teach my first kindergarten/1st grade music class. We will be singing favorites like "one little owl" and "ridin' in the car".

Hope you are well
K

i am here

Whew.. what a week. Just wanted to stop in and let everyone know that we are good... busy... but good. I will be posting updated pics of Eric's hair soon but I will have to download them from an email and I will have to figure that out. We have done homework and soccer camp this week.

Soon more. Hope you are well.
k

Matt Boeer

I have actually contemplated writing this blog... gone back and forth about including it... but since I can't stop thinking about it, I am going to.

Today we went to the funeral of one of our former students, Matt Boeer. He lost his battle with leukemia on Saturday morning. His wife, Erin, was also a former student. It was a very painful thing to watch young people (Matt was 25) mourn the loss of their friend/relative/spouse. It was really hard to watch his mom, dad, and sister say good bye to their son. I can not even describe to you what I felt as I watched a beautiful, young widower coming down a church aisle to mourn with others over the loss of her husband. Yes, we celebrate his life, but it was hard.

When Matt was in 8th grade, he and Russell Schmidt were the "hot shot" euphonium players in the junior high band and I taught the 6th grade low brass class. One day, I used his euphonium. After school, this wiry little kid came in and said to me "When I use my euphonium, I like to wipe the fingerprints off with my polishing cloth so that it looks new. I am going to leave that cloth in my case where you can find it... in case you want to wipe off your fingerprints when you are done." There was something so sweet about it. Matt-- the world will miss you. Erin-- we embrace you.
We are all good. Hope you are well. Hug someone you love!
K

bouncing bear

Leah started Bouncing Bear class today. She was very excited. She told me that if there were "mean boys" in her class that she will yell at them to leave her alone and she is excited about coloring something brown or purple. (according to her, this is what you do in Bouncing Bear class)

She also saw "Hilary Clickton" on TV today and asked me why her husband was sitting there crying. She was very funny.

Bailee is loving 2nd grade so far... 2 days in ... so far so good. Sleep has come really easily for her this week and she is excited about the home game on Friday!

Hope you are well.
K
PS the last pic is of her "silly face"

2nd Grade

Well, today Bailee started 2nd grade. She was sooooo excited. It all started last night when I let her take a shower all by herself. I came in at one point and she was singing Cheetah girls at the top of her lungs and was COVERED from head to foot in foamy soap. After her shower, she had a hard time being still and we had to make sure her backpack was just right. We got out her dress and laid everything else just right. She did sleep pretty fast but was up before 6 and in our room. We had her lay in bed with us and she wiggled and wiggled and was very cute. We got up and got dressed and she had her "egg cheese omlette and milk" and she gabbed my ear off. I am so glad she loves school! She will probably crash hard core tonight!! Look out 2nd grade..... here comes my Jewel.

Leah starts school on Wednesday so we are going to the grocery store and are going to have a "Mommy Day".

Hope you are well.
K

Life

Life is really good right now. I think I must say that a lot, but we really are doing well. The girls are getting excited about going back to school. Bailee has open house tomorrow and Leah has hers on Friday. They are both excited and nervous. I am going to go work on Bailee's school supplies right now. I think we have most of them. Isn't there something exciting about new crayons and pencils and stuff? Oh well... short blog today, but am gonna go enjoy my girls and write names on crayons.
Hope you are well.
K

Whew!

Well, there is not a lot to report from the ol'Rettig Household. We are pretty much in the throws of summer band. Two weeks down-- one to go. Junior High Summer band is coming up and then school starts. There was big relief in the Rettig house yesterday because Bailee got her letter saying that she does, in fact, get to have 2nd grade teachers. Now, this may sound strange to most of you, but Leah got her teacher letter a long time ago and Bailee has wanted hers ever since. She has been very worried that she would not be put in a class. Consoling her has helped some... no major freak outs about it or anything... but the look of relief on her face was pretty cute yesterday. She is excited to be in a "switch class". (which to you non2nd grade moms means she has 2 academic teachers)
We had our band's marchathon and pool party yesterday. It was really nice and the girls had a great time. The girls were worn out yesterday from swimming and hanging out with the band. i see naps in our futures today. I will probably be a good mom and show them how to nap properly. You do what you gotta do.

Hope you are well.
K

Rings

I love the Olympics. I mean, when else can you sit in front of the tv and watch water polo, swimming, synchronized diving, gymnastics, etc. So... in honor of the Olympics, here are some fun facts:
In Beijing this summer, athletes will be competing in 28 different sports!

In the swimming competition, the shortest race is 50 meters long. The longest race is 10 kilometers long—that’s over 6 miles!

China shares a border with 14 countries! These countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.

The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

The Summer Olympic sports are archery, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe / kayak, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, handball, judo, modern pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping, and running), mountain biking, rowing, sailing, shooting, soccer, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, track and field, triathlon (swimming, biking, running), volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling.

The Opening Ceremony:
A 147 by 22 meters LED screen is laid at the center. Approximately 44,000 colorful LED beads are embedded with a distance of 600 millimeters between each two.

A total of 15,153 sets of costumes in 47 styles.

Some performances have been rehearsed for 13 months. Volunteers began their first mass rehearsal in March 2008.

Michael Phelps
Michael is 6'4 His wingspan is 6'7"


Hope you are well.
K

the cut

I promised this pic last time, so here it is. Eric's short, blonde hair. I am actually pretty used to it and am looking forward to it growing back so that it looks like it has frosted tips! What do you think?

Well, we are off to Houston in a few to have hamburgers and homemade ice cream for my dad's birthday. It will be nice to see my parents and my brother and his family. Other than that, we are just trying to survive summer band 2008. Be the cub band.

Hope you are well.
K

Boredom

This is what happens at the Rettig house when you get bored. Stay tuned for more hair adventures!
Hope you are well.
K

ready... set....

Good morning. Eric and I got back from the Texas Bandmasters Conference in San Antonio this week. What a great convention... so much information and we had a great time also. My parents kept the girls and that was good too. I am so thankful that they were able to help out.

Eric has summer band this morning. I can't believe it is already time to start. It should be a really good school year. Things are pretty busy in August for our family, but I am so thankful that we had so much time together this summer. Our trip to Colorado was a great time and the girls had so much fun with the family. I can't believe Bailee is going to start 2nd grade!!!! Leah will be a Bouncing Bear at her school and she is so excited.

Anyway, I didnt really know anything but I did want to update. Maybe I will have something exciting next time.

Hope you are well.
K

fun

well, today was a really good day. the lewis family got here on friday and we have been visiting nonstop. it even led to a trip to los fuentes. tonight we went to shelby and justin's wedding. (many thanks to aaron for babysitting our girls and matt.... and watching hannah montana in 3d!) the wedding was beautiful and eric and i were mean cake cutters... ok so eric did most of the cutting but i passed the plates around and smiled at the nice people. anyway.. the wedding was so nice. shelby was beautiful and justin was pretty darn cute. i am so glad they are in brenham!

it was so nice being a grown up tonight. my girls are great, but we all know how nice the grown up time is.

hope you are well
K

7 hours

Seven hours ago I got on my face book and made my status say "Karla is cleaning Bailee's room... if I am lost later, look there." Let me tell you, it was quite an event. I now have 5 bags of things to take to the mission and 2 bags of trash. This does NOT include clothes! Well, now everything has a place... her dress-up is all cleaned up... her barbies all have heads... i put stuff away and organized stuff. This does not include the 2 days I spent going through her clothes. I am trying to make her life where she can manage her own stuff a little better. We will see. (and no, all of you people you read Jana's blog too... I am not nesting!!!)

My friends Shelby and Justin are getting married on Saturday! The Lewis family is coming into town on Friday! Amy and I went to Navasota and ate at a place called Martha's Bloomers and it was fabulous. Let's see... we played Bocce Ball last night. It rained today! I would say that in general, life is really good.

Hope you are well.
K

good day

It's been too long since i have posted, so i thought i would drop in. today is my birthday. we went and saw the batman movie. (really good!) and had chicken enchiladas for dinner. aaron made me a really yummy strawberry cake and we had a good day. you are all invited to cme play bocce ball at my house now.

that's all for now.
hope you are well.
k

we are back!

Well, yesterday we got back from our fabulous summer vacation! I am sure I will write more about it later, but here are the highlights:

• Camping in Caprock canyon and staying up for an amazing thunderstorm
• Going on a 3 1/2 mile hike with our kids at Lathrop state park in Colorado-- yes they walked it all... except for about 1/2 a mile when Leah was on Daddy's shoulders
• Huge pancakes for breakfast and s'mores for dessert!
• Bailee getting 5 1/2 inches cut from her hair
  
• Spending time camping on "the land"-- I think there were 17 family members total!
• Going to Montrose to hang out and take showers!
• Camping at Taylor Lake where the low at night was 32.
• Going out on a boat with the Sebastian kids
• Spending a lot of time in the car
• Swimming at an RV park in Goodlett, Texas
• Playing in the Arkansas River
• Playing a a COLD water park in Walsenburg, Colorado
• Watching the guys build steps for our deck on "the land"
  

There were so many other things and I enjoyed it all. It was good to get back home too! Today starts the process of getting my life back in order. The vacation was so much fun. I will post more later, but here are a few pics. Let me know what you think!
Hope you are well.
K

2 blogs in one week

Hey everyone.
I don't really know much. Things here are really good. I realized it has been a while since I posted any pics of the girls, so I thought I would post a couple that I took yesterday when they were all cleaned up. Hope you are well.
K

food

We just got back from our mini-vacation to Houston to see my brother and family and to baytown to see the lewis clan. we had a great time, and as usual had a lot of good food! While in Houston, we ate from Double Dave's, Hasta La Pasta, Lenny's Sandwiches, and Chuy's. We spent a lot of time hanging out with Jim, Jenny, Emily, and Elliot. My parents were in Branson, so we will have to see them soon.

I will now concentrate on Baytown. The Lewis house is really nice and already has some really nice Lewis touches! The men spent the day building a playset in the backyard. Aleesa has a really nice new kitchen and appliances... and an island! :) Since most of you know her as a real foodie, I would be remiss if I did not mention all of the food we ate.
We did go to Double Daves Pizza and I laughed because Aleesa would get some pizza or pizza rolls, take a bite or 2 and pass it on to Richard. She must have tried a dozen kinds of pizza that way! LOL. We went to a place called Al T's for dinner and ate more food then anyone shoulduever consume. Eric's plate alone would have fed ys all... with 3 kinds of gumbo, alligator, oysters, shrimp, onion rings, fish... I am forgetting some stuff! It was really fun, and when you go to see the Lewis's you should visit that restaurant! The next morning, Aleesa and Bailee made biscuit donuts, and Aleesa fried BACON and made a Paula Deen upside down apple pancake. We snacked on her organic peanut butter and pretzel bites, and for lunch we had beet chips and sandwiches with 2 kinds of cheese, lunch meat, veggies, avacado, and greens! Aleesa and I went to a really cool bakery and had iced coffee and pastries. I had the mocha cheesecake covered in chocolate. We then went to Hobby Lobby and had a great time waiting for a storm to blow over. Aleesa then made spaghetti and salad and I imagine they are still picking up the noodles off the floor and table from the kids! If you want to see pics, you should check out her blog, and if you need the website, let me know! Overall, we had a terrific time.

Wow, I was long winded today! Hope you are well.
K

Kitchen Renovation #1

So Bailees and Leah went to the Power Lab which is the Methodist VBS. They both loved it. It gave me the opportunity to revamp my kitchen a little. By a little I mean that we got rid of the three layers of strawberry wallpaper that was on my walls, retextured above our paneling and painted it baize green. Our next plans include painting the paneling with a fresh coat of cream color and Eric is making the chair rail wider and the window seat bigger. That will be week 2 of our renovation. This is what we have so far. I will try to get a brighter picture later so that you can see the green better. Oh, I even painted the ceiling! (good bye nasty brown spot) Thank you Shelby, Aaron and Eric!

Let's see... I've stayed away about as long as I can stay, so next week we are going to nutria ville to visit Aleesa and clan. I am excited to see them.

Oh, and hi NANNY PATTI! I am glad to have a faithful 6th reader. For those of you who may know, Nanny is a dear friend and the wonderful soul who loved my Bailee so that I could teach lessons when she was little.

Ok, that's it for now. Leah's foot ended up being a deep bruise, so she is getting around really well. After a few days of limping, she is back to her running self. Bailee is great too. She has a front tooth missing. I will try to post pics of that soon.

Hope you are well.
K

coming soon to a blog near you

Hey.... it's just been a while, so I thought I would update.

I am about to take Ms. Leah to the doctor because she jumped off the couch AGAIN and hurt her foot AGAIN.

Bailee had a fabulous time at VBS.

I redid the furniture in my kitchen. Thanks Shelby!!!

I miss the Lewis family, but they are doing really well.

There will be more details about all of this soon, but now I have to give my stinky girls a bath.

Hope you are well, my faithful 5 readers.
K

It's really here

I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that today is the Lewis family's last day in "Mayberry". I was going to upload some great pictures of them, but the camera is still at school so...
I haven't even wanted to write anything because it just makes me teary to think about it so, I will keep this short and sweet.

Richard... thank you for being the "logical side" to my husband's crazy side. Thanks for helping Eric get the entertainment center into our house. Thank you for giving my 22 flute players a chair test my first year in Brenham. Thanks for always having a plan b.... for trying mole sauce.... and even for "the laugh".

Aleesa... I don't even know where to start. Thank you for being there when I made my transition from band director to mom. Thanks for ALWAYS loving my girls. Thank you for crying at the Princess breakfast with me. Thank you for the hours talking about everything! Thank you for keeping Leah when she was small. Thank you for skiing the blue with me... for cooking adventures...for painting my toenails. Thank you for introducing me to the "sister mamas" I promise I will try to be brave enough to go without you!! I look forward to us growing old and gray together and watching Food Network and folding our husband's laundry while we gab on the phone!

Matt... my Buster Brown... Thank you for being Leah's best friend. Thank you for your facial expressions... your big hugs. Thanks for always asking for a treat from my treat bucket. Thank you for teaching Leah to toughen up and Thank you for being Bailee's "little brother" (Carly Carly Bai Bai) Thank you for sharing your mommy and daddy with my 2 girls.

Ok... I am going to post this now. Nutria Ville is gaining a wonderful family! See you soon, Lewis folks!

Hope you are well.
K

Dream

I have to tell you about this dream that I had.

It was about me and Aleesa. We were in this big fancy kitchen. It had those really cool stainless steel appliances and it had these counters that were about as long as my living room! We had all of these fancy bowls in front of us and we had canisters full of very cool ingredients. Aleesa was telling me how excited we should be to be on "the show". We were giggling and having a blast. She said that we were going to be famous for our new cooking and went on and on. We were even in these cutie little aprons and hats. I kept saying that I couldn't believe how many famous people we were going to meet.

Then, Aleesa said "and it's all because of our secret ingredient!! I can't believe we learned how to use...."


tap... tap... tap..."Momma, I thirsty. Can we snuggle?"

Yep, right before I found out why Aleesa and I were going to be famous, Leah woke me up.

Oh well. I hear fame is not all it is cracked up to be.

Hope you are well,
K

hey hey

Just wanted to drop in and let everyone know (and by everyone I mean all 4 of you that read this blog lol) that we are doing well. We had a really good weekend of Graduation Parties and seeing my family. In fact Eric and I even went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie with my brother. It was really good.

Bailee learned that if you change swimsuits from a 1 piece to a 2 piece when you go swimmiing, you should reapply the sunscreen on the new exposed skin. Her little back and shoulders were a red mess but she still managed to have a great time swimming and spending the night with Veronica.

Leah learned that wasps sting and they hurt! She stuck her hand in a play set at a party and got stung 3 times. Good lesson for us though is that she is not allergic to red wasps.

Gotta go... Bailee has a pool party today, talent show today, and Lewis party. Hope you are well.
K

Wacky Wednesday

Today was wacky Wednesday at Bailee's school.
How did she do?
Hope you are well,
K

I'm Back

Hey there everyone. It's been a while, so I will get right down to it. I have been wanting to post earlier and haven't been able to find my camera cord, but I found it so...

First of all, the poodle skirts. Cute, aren't they? Grandma Rettig made them and we took the girls to eat at the 50's diner at the local airport. (yes, Brenham has a small airport) The Lewis family, Mike, and Aaron joined us and we had a great time.

These past days have been SO busy! We went to the Houston Zoo last Friday and it was really cool. We got a little lost getting there but when we arrived there was hardly anyone there. Leah really liked the sea lions and kept referring to being in the "jungle" and Bailee liked learning about all of the different animals.

The next day we had Maifest. Bailee, Leah, and Matt were Snorkelers. Now for you non-Brenhamites, Maifest is a "celebration of the youth of Brenham". Basically, there are junior and senior queen and kings who put on parades and coronations. There is a carnival and a festival and stuff like that. It has been going on in Brenham for over 100 years. We participated in the senior festivities because the king is a tuba player in the band. Special thanks to Jonni for making the girls swimsuits sparkle! We had a good time and the girls liked riding the float in the parade.

Mother's Day was a wonderful day. The girls made gifts and breakfast and I got a little ipod that clips on.. purple! I am thankful not only for my family of moms (my mom, mother-in-law, grandmothers etc) but also for the moms that I know. The Bible Study mothers have been a great thing for me this year and all of my friends who are moms are great too. I should be writing something sweet and profound about each one of you, but... not today! :)

Bailee played 4 memorized pieces in Piano Guild yesterday and did a terrific job. She was so cute going and playing for the judge. She has a recital on Saturday where she will be playing "Hush Little Baby".

I feel like I should mention too that we lost a former band student this week. He was killed in a car accident. Evan Bigbee was a junior my first year in Brenham. I remember his care free spirit. He and his friends would tell the waiters at the restaurants we went to with the band that it was my birthday EVERY time we went somewhere. I would be surprised by this random dessert and these tall, goofy boys would be giggling at their table. Evan told me that they couldn't afford to buy my dessert every time we went out, so they did this instead. His friends paid a wonderful tribute to Evan yesterday. It saddened me to see them have to go through something so awful, but it made me proud to see what wonderful young men they had become. I know that they will live a fuller life having known Evan.

Well, all is ok here. BUSY BUSY, but good. Please enjoy the pics and I will try to update soon.

Hope you are well,
K

smile

Well, it has been a few days so I thought I would drop a line. In other words, I should be doing laundry and... I don't want to.

The girls went to the dentist today. Now most of you may be saying "yuck... getting them to the dentist... i bet that was no fun" However, my girls LOVE the dentist. How could you not? You walk in to a room that is brightly painted and a kids movie is showing. (Jumanji today) There is a Little Tykes kitchen and all sorts of legos and toys. A lady with a big smile and a character decorated shirt asks you to "Come back and play". You then go to another room (without mom) that has toys and video games. Next the above-mentioned lady lets you pick out a toothbrush and brushes your teeth with some funky flavored toothpaste. Then, some man comes in and has a chat with you and then lets you go to this treasure chest of stuff and pick a toy AND stickers. Then, your mommy gets to write a check while you play some more!

I think I would like the dentist too if they catered to me that way. You know... maybe you could come in and have a pedicure while you are waiting. Then they let you go back and sit in a really quite relaxing room and read a book. When you are done, you get to pick something from a treasure chest... new nail polish, gift certificate to Old Navy, Target shopping spree, etc. I think I would go every time! (oh, and at the end, you get a sticker!)

I am hoping that tomorrow or the next day I get a pic or two up from our Poodle Skirt wearing dinner at the 50s diner at the airport. It was really fun.

Hope you are well,
K

Let this be a warning to ya

Before the warning part, I just wanted to announce that our mom-in-residence had her babies. They will probably leave the nest really soon, but here is a pic. I tried to get close, but you never want to make a mama mad.

Here is the warning...
Don't ever put your groceries on top of your stove. I bought some groceries today and decided to set them on our stove top to put them away. It was a bag with some pork chops, sausage, and fajita meat. I went outside to get more stuff and when I came back in the whole kitchen was filled with smoke! When I set them down, I must of turned the burner on. Yeah.... not good. I am SO glad that I came back in the house. I am sure Leah was big-eyed as I moved her outof the way and turned off the stove. Here is a list of the damages:
1. One of the porkchops got partially cooked and it burned through the bag and the stryfoam.
2. A chunk of the fajita meat got singed and the plastic burned off of that part.
3. The sausage has a black mark on it.
4. A bag of tortillas that was next to the stove top has a melted crease in it.
5. The house probably has toxins in the air from the plastic and styrofoam burning.
6. There is a strange haze in my kitchen and living room.

I hesitated to even write about this... I mean what a dork to light my groceries on fire! After a chat with Aleesa, she said I had to share. It really was very funny once I realized that my house was still in one piece.

Hope you are well,
K