First Day of School 2011

First Day of 1st Grade!!!

Elyse wanted me to braid her hair the night before so that she had some curls! It turned out SUPER cute!

Elyse with her 1st Grade teacher Ms. Burrell. We loved Ms. Burrell! Elyse was in the same class as one of her good friends from Kindergarten, Clarissa.

As a side note I posted this on Facebook and here are some of the comments that I got from Grandmas about Elyse!
Grandma Minson: " Elyse, you look so pretty. Hope your first day goes good. Love and kisses to you. Love, Grandma."
Grandma Hooten: "Elyse's hair looks so cute. How exciting, first grade!"

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July Fun 2011

 The girls LOVE to play together! I think they were actually wrestling in this picture. :)


We went to Dallas at the end of July. I had the opportunity to take Elyse to the American Doll store. We had a nice lunch together. It was so fun spending some one on one time with her.

Elyse on the car ride to the American Doll store. She even wanted to buckle her doll in a seat belt. 

 Elyse got to have a "special" drink! She was so excited!

     

Elyse having lunch with her American Doll, Twilight. We got her doll's hair done before we had lunch. She even got her ears pierced. 

 SMILE Pearce! 9 months old!

Pearce LOVED to go into Beau's kennel. This picture was taken right around 9 months old. 

June 2011

El Paso June 2011 

We took the the kids to El Paso for their annual trip to see Grandpa and Grandma Hooten. Clay and I enjoyed a few days with his family and then we took Pearce and headed back to San Antonio. Pearce started to crawl this month as well. He was really close while we were visiting El Paso! Here are some pictures that we took while we were there. 

 My little fishy girls with their grandma! 

 Pearce starting to crawl at Grandma's house!

 Pearce with Papa (This is Pearce's name sake!)

 I LOVE this picture of Pearce with Papa!

 Pearce with Ama! He LOVES necklaces (even now). He broke mine during church when we was close to this age. :)

 Pearce and Ama having some BONDING time!

 Madyson Lee at Chucky Cheese for her cousin Bryson's birthday. 

 Pearce hanging out in his stroller at Chucky Cheese for Bryson's birthday party!

 Yeehaw! Ride em' cowboy!!!

 Happy Birthday Bryson! I think he turned 3 that year. 

 Madyson playing Air Hockey. This is always a favorite!

 Cousins FOREVER! Elyse, Madyson, and Ashlynn at Vacation Bible School. This has become a tradition. The girls love it. They get to spend time with their cousins and they learn more about the bible. They always have such a great time when they go to El Paso in June!

 Good Night Mady! Grandma Hooten got the girls their own tents for sleepovers at Grandma's house. They had lots of fun! I wasn't there. Thanks Grandma Hooten for sending me these!

 Elyse getting ready to go to sleep in her new tent at Grandma's sleepover!

Elyse having her first Big Girl dentist appointment. No cavities! Way to go Elyse Bryanne!!!

All in all the trip to El Paso was a great success! The kids enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Hooten for hosting the girls that week!

San Antonio Trip July 2011

For Christmas in 2010 Grandma Sherry gave our family her time share in San Antonio. Actually, it was a town outside of San Antonio, but I can't think of the name. Such is my life! We had a great time. We were somewhat out in the country, but it only took us 30 minutes to go into town to do activities. The kids and Mommy and Daddy had a great time. Clay and I read the whole Hunger Games series while we were there. We I would read anytime that we were driving. I think that we bonded a little more doing that. I know that might seem weird, but we had something in common that we could talk about. I wish that we had time to do that MORE often! Such is life! We were able to get Season Passes to Sea World. They did a promotion for season passes for teachers and for the kids you just bought one day and got the season pass for the rest of the year. We went 3 times while we were in San Antonio that week. We then took the kids back during Christmas time which I will blog about later. 

 Mady with Bert and Ernie. We were in the kids area and I could NOT find Elyse to be in this picture. Mady looks way cute though!

 My little guy was BURNING UP! It was soooo HOT outside! He was a trooper. This is Pearce at 8 months.

 Here was the Elmo show! The kids really enjoyed watching this.

 Elyse and Madyson having FUN at Sea World!

 Hanging out with Daddy in Daddy's hat! I am styling!!!

 I want to ride too Mom! He had fun riding his first Carousel ride. 

Pearce hanging out with Daddy! I LOVE this picture. It makes me smile every time I look at it. 

 Elyse waiting for the show to start! My doesn't she look like a brownie that you could just eat!?!?

 Madyson meeting the jet skiing show people. The girls enjoyed watching their tricks.

Pearce and Daddy enjoying a nice Father/Daughter hug.

We had a great trip. I really really really enjoyed spending time with my family. These are moments that I will NEVER forget. I hope that we can make many more GREAT and AWESOME memories throughout the years.

Pearce Standing

My little man decided to start standing at an early age! He is about 7 1/2 months in this picture. I loved that it was summer time when he did this so I was able to be around and watch. He was the earliest stander, crawler, and walker out of all the kids. I honestly want to step into that picture and pick that cute baby up! I love my Pearce boy. He is as much fun now as he was then. What a great boy!

Pearce 6 Months May 2011

 He isn't he cute? I just want to go inside this picture and kiss his cheeks. In actuality I want to wake him up and give him lots of hugs. :)

 Night Night Pearce! He was such a GREAT sleeper. His babysitter, Wendy Faught, always told me how well my children slept. I LOVE that they sleep well. It definitely made being at work MUCH EASIER!!!

He LOVES playing with toys. 

May 2011

May 2011 was a big month for our family. Not only did I go to TOFW and Elyse had her first dance recital, we also went to Dallas to go to Six Flags with my family and Elyse graduated from Kindergarten!

Six Flags

My Dad had a company party at Six Flags and we were able to go up. We spent the whole day at Six Flags. It was sooo BUSY! The kids had LOTS of FUN! We spent the day in the KIDS LAND since it was so busy. We got free food and drinks all day. It was very hot. Scott and Jessica were there with my nephew, Bradley. Jenny, Tyler, and Sean were there as well along with my Dad and Mom. It was a great day spent with family. 

Pearce hanging out with Woody while his sisters are riding the rides!

 We LOVE the Carousal. What a CUTE picture of Elyse Bryanne! 

 Pearce visiting with Sylvester the Cat!

 Daddy and Pearce taking a minute to take a picture! 

 My GIRLS driving a truck! They had so much fun. Look at those cheesy SMILES!!!

 The girls and Daddy on a ride!

 Tyler and Elyse on the Tea Cups! They look like they are having a BLAST!!

 SMILE Tyler! You are on CAMERA!! Elyse and Tyler getting ready to go on the swings!

San Jacinto Elementary Kindergarten Graduation May 2011

My baby girl graduated from Kindergarten. She had such a great year of learning and growth. Elyse was one of the only students in the whole kindergarten that was reading and AR testing. She is a very SMART and TALENTED little girl. She made many friends this year. Her closest friend was Clarissa. I LOVED working at the same school with her. I would often go into the lunch room to say hi to her. She would come up to my classroom after school and play on the computer while I finished work. In all honesty it was nice having her company. I loved knowing that she was right there with me. If she needed anything she knew that I was there as well. I think our relationship flourished during this year. At the beginning of the year she would fall asleep just about every day on our ride home from school. By October she was used to it and no longer falling asleep. I was so HAPPY that I could attend her Kindergarten graduation. I think I had some sort of workshop that morning so I had the day off. I left the workshop early to go to graduation. This allowed me to take Elyse out of school early to spend some time with her. Daddy came and watched her graduate as well. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

 Elyse getting ready to GRADUATE! I honestly can't wait to see her when she graduates from High School. It will be fun to compare this picture to 10 years from now. 

 Shaking hands with Ms. McGann the Principal. In Elyse's words. "The BEST principal EVER!!!" I have to agree with Ms. Elyse. Ms. McGann was definitely the best principal that I have taught under thus far.

 Elyse with Daddy right after graduation! Congrats Elyse!!!

 Mommy and Elyse taking pictures after Kinder Graduation. I LOVE this little girl. She can't possibly old enough to go to 1st Grade!

Mommy and Daddy taking pictures with our Sweet Elyse. It was such a great day! I will miss those days. Some of the sweetest days of my life!