School

Back to getting up early, packing lunches and riding the bus. Mya is a big first grader now! She was convinced that she was getting up earlier this year then it was last year (it was the exact same time). The exciting thing this year is that Mya and Aiden (one of the boys that I watch) get to ride the same bus and they are going to sit by each other everyday because they are best friends. The one thing that she was adiment on wearing on her first day of school was her new twinkle toe sketcher shoes. They blink.....and their beautiful she tells me.

She had a great day today. The best part was the new playground. "It's lots bigger and better." I was informed. She said that her teacher Ms. Simon is super nice (but aren't all teacher's super nice on the first day.) A couple of her friends had to move their clothespins because they weren't following the rules, but Mya told me that she wasn't ever going to move her clothespin this year because she wants a prize from the prizebox. I can't believe that she is in first grade already!

Summer.....

As summer is coming to an end I just thought that I would update what we have been up to.

This is a picture of Jacob right before his first outing to the swimming pool. As you can see he has learned a new trick.... spitting! And he is really good at it too! He loved the pool. He sat back in his little floating device and soaked up the sun.


The last activity at the library this summer was with dominoes pizza. It was really cool to see the "professionals" hand toss the pizza dough. The had activities for the kids.....hula hooping pizza dough, jump roping with pizza dough, and letting the kids try hand tossing it. The best part was when the brought in hot pizza to eat!

Glasses

During parent/teacher conferences last year, Mya's teacher informed us that we should get Mya's eye's checked. Mya was complaining that she couldn't see the things on the board and so her teacher moved her to the front of the class. Gerald took her to the eye doctor and sure enough she can't see.

She picked them out herself. And whe you ask her what color they are she will tell you that they are purple and pink. The thing that sold her on that particular frame was the hearts on the side. Can you blame her?

Mya went to the community center with a friend today. She was the lucky one that won the door prize. Imagine how excited she was when it was a box full of princess stuff. It as a fun activity with ice cream sundays that they got to make themselves, door prizes, and fun. I am so thankful to live in the small town of Crosby where they have lots of fun things for the kids to do during the summer.

Summer Library

I have learned a lot at the library this summer. Such an educational experience in little Crosby. Today there was a presentation with animal naturalists. They had a dove that the kids were able to pet and I learned that a dove can turn it's head all the way around because it has twice as many bones as we do. I also learned that when our parents told us not to pick up a baby bird because then our scent would be left and the mamma wouldn't want anything to do with it was a false statement. I guess that parents don't know everything. Most birds don't have a great sence of smell and won't even notice. So when you see a baby bird that has fallen from it's nest, go and put him back!

There was also an emperor scorpion there and I learned that when we think that it is black the rest of the scorpions see themselves as green. When you hold it under a black light it turns green.

The coolest animal was the flying squirrel. One person held him and the other person held up a small bag and the squirrel jumped from the person into the bag.

I was a little nervous when they pulled out the Red milk snake. Mya wouldn't go anywhere near it, but Keegan was brave. Some milk snakes look like coral snakes so that they can scare away possible predators. They gave us a saying so that we could tell them apart. "Red next to black is a friend of Jack; Red next to yellow will kill a fellow."

Jacob

Here is a cute video of Jacob playing on his floor matt. Mom has been bugging me about new pictures of Jacob. I thought that she would enjoy this a little more.



Here is a little clip of Jacob playing in his johnny jumper.

What's Going On....

We have been REALLY lazy this summer. Spending lots of time reading books, watching movies, and sleeping in. We will probably continue to do this for one more month until reality hits again.
Mya turned 6 on July 3rd. She was happy to have a friend from school come and spend the night with her. They didn't go to bed until 10 which is late for my kids because bedtime is 7 during school. I was unhappy when they both decided to be up at 6:30 the next morning. The next day we went to the fourth of july parade that they had here in Crosby. I have become a fan of the parades because they are short and there aren't typically a lot of people that come out so the kids get lots of candy and I don't have to fight traffic. Keegan's favorite of course is the police cars and the fire truck. Mya said that she liked the boyscouts. I am hoping that it is because she knows some of the boyscouts and not because she is boy crazy. She is super excited to be going into first grade when school starts in August. I can't believe how big she is getting already.
Hope that all the rest of you are enjoying you summer too.

Summer Begins

To begin the month Grandma and Grandpa Womack came for a visit!!!! Mya and Keegan were so excited to finally see them in person instead of just on the computer or over the phone. It was one fun filled week that went by really fast. On thursday Mya was so torn on if she wanted to go to the last day of school because grandma and grandpa were here. We promised that we wouldn't do anything fun without her if she wanted to go and tell everyone good-bye. On friday we went to the Port of Houston Boat Tour. It was awesome! Lots of things go on in the Port of Houston that I didn't know about. My favorite was seeing the big navy ships that were docked.

Saturday we celebrated Keegan's birthday. He is convinced that the only place he can celebrate his birthday is at chuck-e-cheeses. He turned four this year. I can't believe how old he is. Next year I am going to be crying (celebrating) that he gets to go to kindergarten.

On Sunday we blessed Jacob. I can't believe how big he is getting. At his two month doctor appointment he was 14 lbs and 24 inches long. He is a BIG boy! The doctor kept saying that he was a healthy and happy little boy. I was impressed when they gave him his shots and he didn't cry. He put out a fat lip, but it never developed into tears. I went in this morning to get him out of his crib and he had rolled over all by himself for the first time. I bent down and started to talk to him about the new trick that he had learned, and he started to laugh at me for the first time. I can't believe how big he seems to me already.

Before Grandma and Grandpa left we took a trip to Galveston. It was really cloudy and rainy, but on the up side it was cooler weather. We didn't spend much time on the beach because of the rain, but that is when memories are created... when things don't go just as you plan.

All About Mya

School gets out on the 3rd of June, but yesterday was Kindergarten graduation. It took everything I had to hold back the tears because I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. Mya had the best kindergarten teacher. Her name is Mrs Taylor. She did so much for Mya to make her feel special. I was impressed that she collected photos throughout the year and made a photo album for each of her students. She did little things like that all year long that really showed that she cared about each of her students.

Here is the video of the kids singing graduation day. We were sitting in the back, but hopefully you can still hear them singing even though the picture isn't that great.

I am sure that you noticed that Mya lost her front tooth. She lost it on the bus on her way to school. When she got to the school she went to the nurses office and got a tooth necklace to keep it in. Throughout the day she lost the tooth and couldn't find it. She came home upset, but with a solution already planned. She told me that she wrote the toothfairy a letter. Here is what it said...."Dear fare I lost my tooth to Day on the Bus Nurse Caren put in a nucles. it fell out will you ples find it...ples lev a Tret For Me Thac You Your Best Fred Mya Love." She put the note under her pillow. The tooth Fairy wrote her back and gave her some money to buy a treat with.

Testimony

Brothers and sisters, God always provides safety for the soul, and with the Book of Mormon, He has again done that in our time. Remember the declaration by Jesus Himself. "Whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be decieved." - and in the last days neither your heart nor your faith will fail you. (Jeffrey R Holland, "Safety for the Soul," Ensign, Nov 2009)

I had a former semenary student come to me and tell me that he was struggling with his testimony. It has been really hard for me because I have watched him grow and develop over the last two years. His doubts have caused me to reflect on my own testimony and the knowledge that I have of the gospel and what I believe to be true. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testiment of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God that restored the true church back on the earth. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and that we will be guided and blessed when we follow his counsel. I have a testimony of prayer and that Heavenly Father knows us and our needs and that we will be blessed when we communicate with him and foster that relationship. This church is true!

Jacob Vance Love

He is finally here! I was supposed to be induced on April 1st, but the hospital was busy and since my induction was elective we got bumped. It meant that I got to enjoy a wonderful stake conference and easter weekend. We called on Monday and the doctor was out of the offices and nobody was able to help us. I called again on Tuesday and they said that if we came in right now they would be able to get us in. I called Gerald at school and he got other teachers to cover his classes and we went right in. The on call doctor then proceded to say that she might not be able to get us in and started asking me questions about why I wanted to be induced, and how long my last labor was. (Just to let you know, I was not going to leave that hospital without being induced that day!) She decided that she would be able to take us after all, but told me that I would not have to worry about having another ten pound baby, because this one just wasn't ten pounds. She then broke my water and I was given pitocin. Four hours later Jacob was born. He was 10 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. He was very calm and content and very brused. He just wanted to sleep the first six hours and nobody could even wake him up to eat. Gerald stayed the night with us the first night in the hospital. It was fantastic to have his help because I had such a strong epidural that I couldn't even get out of bed until 5 hours after delivery.

Mya and Keegan are still getting adjusted to having another sibling. A couple of days after he was born, Mya was asking if we could change his name. I guess there are some Jacob's at school that she is not to fond of. If anyone asks if they can take Jacob she will gladly give up Keegan as a trade, but they can't take Jacob for now. Keegan just wants to hold him all the time. He is always asking when it is his turn.

We are glad to have him here. It is so great to have friends around that have helped us tremendously this last week. There have been so many people that have went above and beyond their call. We have had lots of support with people bringing in meals and lots of people that have volunteered to take the kids, having them spend the night at their house and getting Mya ready for school the next day. I have truly felt blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people.