sitc:tm

step one: buy tickets online two days prior...

step two: add great gals and a purse filled with cosmos...

step three: sit back and enjoy and laugh and cry...
step four: go and watch it again (just kiddin')
good stuff
great movie
lots of kleenex
lots of cheers
lots of fun
loved it!

first and last...

from the first day of school - august 27, 2007

to today,

the last day of school, may 30, 2008

"time is like a handful of sand- the tighter you grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers."

- unknown

i am grateful for every speck of sand in each day.
i am grateful that no two specks of sand are the same.
i am grateful for pails and shovels.
i am grateful for sun and love.
heres to a day and a life filled with sand castles!

top five reasons why colin loved kindergarten

#1) miss blount was the best teacher ever!
#2) great year end presents.

#3) fun party stations including dirt in a cup

#4) great friends at the "wednesday" table.

#5) kindergarten fun everyday !

thursday conversations

troy: "sarah, i've noticed are water bill was outrageously high for may. do you have an idea why?"
{colin and nathan quietly filling 100 water balloons today}
enjoying the simple things in life...
100 water balloons for a dollar...
hours of fun...
watch out summer vacation, here we come!

todays thought

“when the tides of life turn against you and the current upsets your boat, don't waste those tears on what might have been, just lie on your back and float.”

- unknown

van gogh tuesday

today is one of my favorite school days.

the boys each brought home their art portfolio from school.

i love seeing their work & hearing the theme of each masterpiece.

i see a quick trip to ikea for some frames this week on my to-do list.

"creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. art is knowing which ones to keep."
— scott adams

memorial memories

{carlos & charlies on lake travis today}

five happy things today

early morning walk with steve

renting boats for the afternoon

tubing on the lake

sunny skies with a sun shower

burgers on the path

friday night field trip

we actually left our chairs and sidewalks behind tonight

and headed through the fields

till we hit downtown walburg, texas

and hit our annual favorite restaurant - dale essenhaus

nothing like a great game of basketball under the shade of the trees

the weather was cooler than last year (only 97)

the breeze was almost there (almost!)

the cheeseburgers were better than i remembered

the band was 100% texan

the sunset was perfect

the lights illuminated the trees like a movie set

the buckets of beer were cold

the dancing was cowboys meet the wiggles

the laughs were contagious

the path makes more great memories

hopefully walburg survived our visit!

(i think we doubled the population for the evening!)

tuesday

{nan playing catch phrase last night}

nan and aunt lauren party weekend recap...

very, very fragile luggage at austin airport thusday nite

carrie and megan came to visit

friday night on the path and dinner at chilis

saturday morning football tournament

starbucks & outlet mall shopping

breeze eyebrows

watching 27 dresses in the minivan

chuys for lunch

catching getcos

sunday church and brunch at z'tejas

whole foods downtown tour & shopping experience

afternoon iron man movie

dinner at joe dimaggios

monday shopping at the domain

patio lunch at north

afternoon swim at the pool

cheeseburgers and zang stories for dinner

catch phase debut - thanks nan!

touring model homes

lunch at the clubhouse to go

back on the 130 to austin-bergstrom

too fast

lots of laughs

great times with mom and lauren here

thanks for traveling all the way here

cant wait to do it again

the domain misses ya as much as we do!

weekend fun

30 minutes to catch him

30 hours of fun

amazing little treasure

loved watching him change colors

loved how all the kids took care of him

loved how they researched him

amazing fun treat!

football fun

the boys final flag football game.

the special cheerleaders for new york.
sideline fun and lessons with megan.

homemade signs and houston visitors.

thanks for cheering the boys on carrie and megan!

fridays fifth grade fun

this is the good stuff.
this is the stuff the boys remember.
this is monkey bread in the making.
this is what justin asked me to do today.
this was fun surprising his classmates with warm and gooey bread.
this was way better than cleaning the house.

happy birthday mahaney

{mahaney. faith. charlotte. bob. oliver & jayne - april 2008 - photo taken by my sil lisa - thanks for sharing sippel photos}

happy birthday mahaney !

heres to fifteen candles on your cake - enjoy each one !

clearly, the cab driver was not prophetic in his words of wisdom -

the best is yet to come and the next 15 will be even better.

see y'all soon.

happy birthday daniel

{daniel & colin - july 2007}

happy sixth birthday daniel !

it seems like just yesterday you and colin were crawling around on the floor together-

now look at both of you !

enjoy your special day and your party this weekend !

we'll see you soon & party everyday !

this and that

one pair of muddy sneakerswill get you one of these hand picked baskets of strawberries !
nathan had his field trip on monday to berry farm.
something wonderful about fresh berries.
something even better about having someone else pick them.
blue bell vanilla ice cream and a little whipping cream to follow.
enjoy the little joys of today.

i was a super supper virgin

take 1 sarah, 1 mandy, and 1 jamie(plus one)....

add 1 confused carol,

it was my first time & sarah was talking me thru it....
and you get 48 dinners, lots of laughs and a full freezer!

i have found the secret to a wonderful homecooked meal on the table every night!
bye, bye pizza hut -
hello oven, so nice to meet you!

whats your path?

{colin riding his razor home from the meadows playground last week}

“all of life is a journey which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us. we determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.”

- unknown

firsts & fun & weekend recap

{downtown austin at the pecan street festival}

• our first trip to the pecan street festival - alittle too hot for all that walking
• our first attempt at this recipe - pretty good - will make again
• our first love - greys anatomy scrubs - thanks sarah!
• our first pta meeting for teravista school - thanks mandy & sarah - i'm so glad we went
• our first "new" recipe adventure - loved the tomato & mozzerella cheese on a stick!
• our first whole foods minus the kids experience - lets try the cheese samples!
• our third bottle of x-rated is now finished - thanks rachael & sarah - we found a new drink!
• our first time listening to cummington sippel stories cd in the car - thanks for sharing!
• our first time tasting "brisket and beans" - loved the brisket, working on the beans - thanks for sharing your sunday dinner with us.

sunday

{colin learning the fine art of flags at football - may 3, 2008}

-
“learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”
- albert einstein

happy birthday cooper

{cooper at the mommy panther football bowl - april 2008}
a birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. enjoy the trip!
- unknown
happy third birthday!
come home soon so we can celebrate!

leaders

{riley, taggert & colin - exploring today at the clubhouse}

“i believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls off a string."

- unknown

adventures

“we should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character”
- henry david thoreau

-

flat stanley safely returned from his exciting visit to indiana university!

thanks auntie laur for taking such good care of him.

looks like he had a great time at IU.

whats up with that bach dude? does he ever smile?

did aaron drive out just to see stanley?

nathan can't wait to share his adventures with his class tomorrow.

stanley can't wait to hand out those cool IU pencils.

we can't wait to see you in a couple weeks.

happy thursday.

oranges

{colin & riley at football practice tonight}

-

“orange is the happiest color.”
-frank sinatra