Izaac's 1st Lost Tooth

It has been a very long time since I have updated my blog, and now that it is summer vacation my goal is to get it caught up and keep it updated....lets see how that goal goes:-)

Izaac FINALLY lost his first tooth April 4th 2012. Seems like this process is going to take him awhile, seeing that it is June and we still have only lost the one.  There are two more loose ones, but they seem to be happy where they are.

Ricky Deci Invitational

This Friday was the annual Ricky Deci Invitational in Katy, Texas. Last year this was our very first experience with gymnastics meets and it was not good. Izaac tried his hardest and he still came away with no awards. That is very hard on a 7 year old, and there were many tears involved. One of his teammates, who knew the feeling, gave Izaac one of his medals, and then there was a new round of tears from me and the other gymnasts mother. But, we used it as a learning experience and have grown from it.

So needless to say I was nervous about this evening... Wow! Do things change in a year!
Ricky Deci of Stafford, Texas, age 13, and a member of the USA Gymnastics men’s junior national team (12-13 age group), collapsed and died October 11, 2001 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., during a pommel horse routine at the USA Gymnastics Junior National Team Training Camp.

This was the 11th year they have held this meet in the memory of Ricky and they always give a "Ricky Deci" award to the gymnast who had the highest score in any of the events. And this year, Izaac earned it in the level 4, 8+ year olds.

These are three very happy boys!

Izaac during his ring routine. He scored a 15.3 and earned 1st place.

Five and a half circles on the mushroom for the bonus.

He scored a 15.5 on this routine which earned him a 1st place and the Ricky Deci award. It was a beautiful routine and when he was done the judge called him over and shook his hand and told him he did a great job.

He scored a 14.9 on high bars and earned a 1st place. Here he is doing a pull up for a bonus. He looked really good on this event.

Coach was in with the level 4 6-7 year olds, getting their awards during the beginning of warm-up so Izaac just jumped in and lead the stretches. I think he enjoys the position as the veteran of the group.


So you can probably tell how proud I am of Izaac. Tobie put it into perfect words last night...he told me (and I am sure this is not a perfect quote, and he started with "Don't be offended but...") "The night I proposed to you was a great night. The night we got married was a great night. But this was my best night ever!" I tend to agree with him. I also have had some great nights, the ones he used in his example and the birth of my children. But to see your child succeed to such a degree, and to see how proud of himself he was, now qualifies as a "Best Night!"

We have not stopped smiling yet!

Winter Classic

First meet of the season saw Izaac off to a great start. He is looking much stronger this year and I see a good meet season for him. Izaac on the first place stand. One happy boy!

I love action shots. His form looks beautiful, nice pointed toes.

Izaac and his teammates. They had a great meet!

Dance

This year we decided that it would be better for our sanity if we had only one child in an after school program...so Ivy was pulled from gymnastics until she starts kindergarten. Luckily at her school the Dancemobile makes weekly visits. Now this way Ivy can have an activity, and we don't have to run around after school dragging kids to different activities.


As you can see she enjoys herself.

Annual Gingerbread House Decorating

Every year Gran gets her grandchildren together to decorate a gingerbread house.  This years kit included small houses so everyone was able to decorate how ever they wanted too.

It's nice seeing them all together. They are growing up so fast, soon we are going to have to do this when they get home from college. *sniff*

Jack

So when do you have to admit that a cat is gone. I knew Jack was getting old, but he was not the oldest cat I have known.

Tobie and I got Jack in April of 1999, in Newport News, VA. While we were living in our first apartment together, we would have to take our dog Butch out for daily walks. One day Tobie came home from his walk and told me there were kittens living under one of the apartments. Well, of course I sent Tobie back out with a can of tuna, and who did he come back with...the hungriest kitten. Jack has been with us for so long that it has been very hard not having him around. I knew the very first day that he was gone, that I would not see him again. The Saturday after Thanksgiving 2011, we took a trip down to Moody Gardens and got home late that night. As I was laying in bed, I said to Tobie, "Where is Jack?" Jack has slept on me and in our bed for all but the first 6 months of our marriage and that was because we did not have him yet. When I got up the next morning and Jack was not there asking me for food, I knew what had happened.

Many people mentioned to me that he was probably stuck in someones garage or just lost. I knew in my heart that even though these were all good ideas, I knew it was not the truth. Jack spent his days napping in the house with an occasional visit to that garage to eat and outside for the bathroom or to lay in the sun a bit. And, at night, he was with me for most of it. Jack was scared of his own shadow and if he was in our garage and we tried to shut it, he was out of there like a shot. So I did not hold out much hope that when people opened their garage doors to leave he would make his way home. Also, it was nasty weather on Saturday, so there had to be a really good reason for him to leave the warmth and dryness of the house.

So we are left with questions. I know in my heart that he went off to die. Which I Googled and found out that it is the last show of loyalty to their family. Cats will leave the pride to die, so as not to bring predators to the rest of the group. Unfortunately that still apples to house cats, no matter how much their "owners" want to give them a proper burial.

As I write this, Jack has been gone for an entire week...Rest in peace Jack. We will miss you for a very long time.

Moody Gardens

Used one day during our Thanksgiving holiday to head down to Moody. Had a really good time with the kids. Tobie had to work so he missed out:-(

Love the picture of Ivy. Definitely has my sense of humor.

Makes Me Smile

I'm dropping Ivy off at school today and I notice a little chunk of hair missing from the front of her "bangs". I have been letting her bangs grow and they had finally gotten to the point where they were long enough to pull back into her pony tail...not quite sure what to do now.

Izaac has been spending his days with Gran and Papa while I am at teacher inservice...think Papa wore him out today.

Duct Tape

So for my birthday this year Tobie bought me a tablet. And seeing that we are not apple people and love our androids we got an android tablet. When it came out...a week before my birthday there were no cases for it and still today my choice is extremely limited. So I saw many do-it-yourself versions for the ipad...so I just adjusted to my needs. It actually turned out better than I expected but then again what doesn't look good in Hello Kitty duct tape;-)

Close up.

Icky.

Hey Mom, Look what I can do

So were sitting at lunch today and Ivy shows us her new trick.  The picture does not do it justice. Ask her to do it for you...one eye moves at a time...creepy.

Beach

My parents rented a beach house for a week again this summer and we had a wonderful time. This is the final shot of the cousins before we left. When I get on the computer I will do a more extensive post with pictures.

Lipstick

Look who found my make-up.  I have to admit that for doing it herself she stayed "in the lines" quite well. Now it might be a little heavy....

REALLY!

Who teaches him these things! Before I gave birth to a boy I really thought some of the things boys did were learned.  NOW, I am pretty sure some things are inborn, and have to be trained out of them.
For instance, putting an empty milk carton back into the fridge.  This has happened twice this summer...Tobie and I do not do this, he has not seen his grandparents do this...thus inborn right.

Another for instance, is he can't find ANYTHING!  Even if he is standing over it....sigh

Me oh My! Mud!

We were working on the back gardens tonight and Izaac and Ivy found a way to get along and entertain themselves. Making mud. Not sure whose idea it was but it turned out well.  Who needs to pay for fancy mud baths...try your own back yard.

Evening in the Circle

We wait until later in the day to go outside. It is just to hot! Luckily it was actually bearable and the kids played for a while.

Ivy has been bugging me to let her roller skate. She fell on her butt three times and was done. At least she picked a good outfit:-)

After I had put all toys away and made the announcement that we were going in I found the kids quietly decorating Nolan. What other cat would sit still for such humiliation?  Wonder how long it will take Ivy to realize that he would probably sit still for being dressed in doll clothes?

Moody Gardens

We decided that this year we would get the Moody Gardens family pass and we went today to get them. We could only stay a little while this time but we are looking forward to going back again.

We went to the aquarium and as soon as you open the doors to the place it smells like a seafood restaurant.  Ivy walked in and said "mmmmm crabbies! " Makes you wonder why it smells that way.

Looking forward to getting our money out of these passes.

Hot Stuff

Izaac likes hot things. Dips, sauces, candy etc. We were at Mooya the the day and he was having his normal hot dog...and if you know Mooya it's a crime not to have a burger. Well, Ivy got a burger an offered Izaac a taste, Izaac said if he could put Tobasco on it he would eat it. Sure, more power to ya.

It worked!

He then goes on to tell us that if he is allowed to put hot sauce on things he did not "like" that he would probably eat them. No problem, we can handle that. He even said he would try peas again (big failure, peas + hot sauce = ick).

Tobie tells Izaac that he can have his own shelf in the pantry so he can collect his sauces...this went over well. And he has been eating more new things with sauce added. Peppers are full of vit C right:-) He only has three bottles, but the quest has begun for strange and interesting bottles.

My kid raising tip that I live by (and you can tell by Ivy's outfits) is pick your battles.

Ivy's Tattoos

A little late, but I took the pictures on my new tablet and I was having issues figuring out how to post from it.

Ivy really got into the tattoos...did not want to post the ones on her belly and back.

For Mom

I never thought Ivy would pick this dress to wear. But she has put it on twice now. The first picture  did not turn out so when she put it on again today I jumped at the chance to take another picture.

The reason the title of this post is "For Mom" is because this is the dress I wore in my Aunt Susie's wedding (hope I have that right). I am assuming I was 4 but only because it fits Ivy so well and she is 4. Mom will correct me if I have it wrong.

I will have to get a picture of me in it and post it along side Ivy to see how we compare :-)