Miracle - Snow in Houston!

Thursday night, Emily and Katie both had babysitting jobs at different homes. When I drove to pick up Emily it was mostly freezing rain, but I saw a few snowflakes and my hopes skyrocketed! Emily did not believe it would snow in Houston - EVER! Here she is posing with a few flakes drinking a slurpee wearing her capri's. 

 We picked up Katie next and she was thrilled to see some white flakes! She opened her mouth wide to snatch a taste! Headed home and could see a few more flurries but nothing was sticking!

 Woke up to this view walking downstairs

Katie left to seminary too early to grab pics so Bex was first in the snow! 

 Wishing we had some warm winter wear for this sweet girl!

She was so excited to have a little blanket of snow! 

 Matthew was next. Not so excited.

But ready to tease me with a snowball to my face! 

He was nice and took aim at our neighbor's house instead 

Emily was surprised (even though she wouldn't admit it) to see snow in Texas! It's not like the snow up north she is used to, but it was such a pleasant surprise! I think my excitement eventually rubbed off on her! 

 At least she would get a ride to school and not have to ride her bike today!

Here's our street sign before all the snow melted away 

I lived in Michigan for 10 years and this is nothing compared to what I had to endure up there! I don't know why I was so excited about this little dusting of snow - I knew all my Michigan friends would be laughing at my enthusiasm, after all, this is 1-inch and they're used to 2 feet or more! It did bring back many fond memories of the snow for me and my family. And it is the first snow Bex and Jacob have seen (Jacob said, "I no like snow" and would not even pose for a picture for me, but he did look out the windows at it). What a way to start our holiday season! We survived the great snow storm of Houston 2017!

Poetry Cafe

Matthew's English class held a poetry cafe in the library for parents to come hear them present 3 of the 5 poems they had created in class at Vogel Intermediate School.  

 The kids were seated at designated tables around the library and each table would line up to get their chance at the mic to share one poem then return to their seats. They did this 3 times and it was so neat to watch each student shine sharing their original work! 

With a bright light shining in their faces, they couldn't really see the audience at all and that helped with the kids that were super nervous. Matthew was very confident and did an excellent job reciting his 3 poems! 

Matthew had me bring Christmas frosted brownies to share with everyone. There was a food table loaded with cookies, popcorn, brownies, and various snacks with drinks to eat before, during and after the show! 

 Jacob sat on my lap for most of the show, but couldn't help it when Matthew had read his final poem and returned to his seat and had to give him a big hug!

 More sillies after the poetry cafe ended

Matthew just soaks Jacob up!  

And Matthew was happy to report that he has discovered that Jacob is a chick magnet! When he was holding Jacob and playing, all the girls came over to visit them! So funny! 

This was such a fun, simple way to help our students shine! Matthew was really excited about me coming to watch him and mostly loved the food and leaving home early with me! What a great avenue for our 6th graders!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We had a quiet Thanksgiving starting with the Macy's Day Parade in the morning and beginning our new puzzle and hanging out around the TV all afternoon. I love having the kids home from school and were blessed to have an entire week! We went to the movies Tuesday to see Thor Ragnarok, bowling Wednesday night, and enjoying Thanksgiving turkey with all the fixings Thursday, then finishing up with finding our Christmas tree on Friday! Such a fun packed week! 

Jacob had more fun mixing all his food together than actually eating it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

In the chapel before church starts - these boys fill their boredom with awesome selfies! 

We finished the puzzle up before heading back to school! Emily and Bex were my biggest puzzle helpers! And we even got the tree decorated Sunday night! What a week! Feeling extremely blessed to be a part of this wonderful family!

Bowling at Bowlero

 Before Thanksgiving Break, Rebecca told me that we needed to go bowling during the break because she told her teacher that was what we were going to do! Here's Emily bowling away!

 Katie gave it a try! It was hilarious because we only had the bumpers up on Jake and Bex's turns at the beginning. We were all scoring pretty low so I asked the help to keep the bumpers up for everyone - our scores started to skyrocket!

 Jacob using the dinosaur to bowl

Bex got a strike and a few spares! 

Matthew and Emily were the winners of our 2 games! 

 Daddy letting it go!

 Everyone enjoyed pizza for dinner

Bex waiting for her ball to slowly roll towards the pins

She was so excited to go bowling and I loved having a family fun night at Bowlero!

7-Acre Woods

Rebecca's 2nd grade class (Mrs. LaCanfora) went on a field trip to the 7-acre woods today! 

I brought Jacob along to enjoy the outdoor adventure! 

This cow kind of scared everyone 

 Bex feeding Skittles, the Llama

Bex helped Jacob through the petting farm. So sweet! 

Bex wanted to guide this donkey 

I think Jacob found his match! 

 King (Queen) of the Stump!

 Bex loved feeding the animals

 Love her surprise smile here as she declared the soft nuzzle tickled her hand!

Bex was paired up with her BFF Haven. Look at these jailbirds! 

 Petting the turtle was so cool!

We did one round of miniature golf 

Jacob giving the zip line a try! I love Becca's laugh in the background! 

 Bex took off so fast!

She won 1st place in every race! 

Bex had to zip line over and over and over again! 

 Jake, Bex and Haven swinging

 They had unusual play structures! Bex made it to the top of this boat! 

 Jacob liked the red boat

 Steering the boat

 Hayride before heading back to school!

We had such a great time at the 7-acre woods and will definitely be back! It was fun to see Rebecca's classmates and her teacher outside of the classroom!