Stop the Presses!

Monday night, Jared's cub scout den took a tour of the Waco Tribune-Herald. Very cool!




















Negatives of the pages...etched into plates...




































The press.

Party, Shower, and Kite Day with Dad

Last Saturday, we had Jared's b-day party at a local church's new gym. It was soooo nice! The boys played basketball, dodgeball, and hockey. I served cake, ice cream, drinks, and stayed out of their way! Easy and fun! I was a bit disappointed in the cake we ordered...I think I could have done much better making a basketball court! He requested that it look like the Denver Nuggets...hmm...not so much! Oh well, I took the easy way out, so I guess that's what I get! Jared got lots of nice gifts! Aunt Leslie got him a betta fish. I'll let you know how that works out...

Then, it was off to my baby shower, which my sweet friends Shelley and Kim threw for me at this cute little boutique called "The Mix". I got several cute outfits and bibs, a cute little pink diaper cover, some diapers, an adorable diaper bag, a video monitor, the "Diaper Champ", and a swing! Oh, and a gift card to a restaurant for Steve and I! So fun! I think I'm as ready as I'm going to get for my sweet baby girl to get here!

My sisters and aunt came for a few hours on Saturday. I enjoyed visiting with them! Mom and Dad stayed until Monday afternoon, and we cooked some food to freeze. Love it! Thanks, Mom!

Today, it was Kite Day with Dad at Lauren's preschool. Gorgeous weather for it!! They got their Barbie kite up and flying, but Lauren lost interest pretty quickly and decided she'd rather run around the field with her friends. In preparation for this special day with Dad, her teacher had them fill out a little questionnaire about Dad. On Wednesday, we met Steve for lunch at Ninfa's and Lauren said, "Dad, what do you like to drink?" Steve said, "Everything", and Lauren replied, "Well, I said tea and beer when my teacher was asking me." We both started cracking up, and she said, "My teacher was laughing, too!" I found out later that she originally told her teacher beer, and when she asked if there was another drink that he liked Lauren said, "Not really. He likes beer best." So funny, because we hardly ever have beer in the house. She doesn't miss much, though! Luckily, her teacher put "iced tea" on the questionnaire, and then quietly gave Steve a hard time about it! Hahaha!

Happy 9th Birthday, Jared!!!

Nine years ago today, our baby boy was born! Happy Birthday, Jared!

1. Jared has a sweet heart and is very caring. He is good at sharing and thinking of others. He is a great big brother to Lauren and will make someone a wonderful husband one day!

2. Jared is obsessed with sports! His memory is amazing when it comes to stats, scores, players, teams, or anything related to sports. His favorite sport is football. He would play Madden '08 on the PS2 24/7 if we let him. He can remember the score of games we attended years ago!

3. Jared is a great student! He loves school and always wants to do well. He has really gotten into Accelerated Reader this year. So far he has almost 200 points. He has really learned to love reading! He's such a smart kid!

4. Jared has never met a stranger! From the time he was able to walk and talk, he would go up to anyone and say, "Hi. Do you want to be my friend?", and off they would go to play together. He is not super outgoing, but not afraid of people or shy, either.

5. Jared is into video games, sports, and Legos (especially Indiana Jones and Star Wars). Not much else interests him as far as activities these days. I guess he's growing up!

6. Jared likes to help and learn new things from Mom and Dad. He asks lots of questions!! Especially "Why?"!

7. Jared is a cub scout and enjoys camping and other "scouting activities" with his dad.

8. Jared might make a good lawyer one day...he is very good at arguing and does it often! He is always trying to get his way using any angle he can.

9. Jared loves Chinese food, Mexican food, and BBQ, yet every day he insists on bringing his lunch from home and either has a peanut butter or ham and mustard sandwich.

Love you, Jared!

Spring Break

Well, it's turned out to be a cold and rainy Spring Break. Typical Texas weather- in the upper 80's last week, and in the mid 40's with rain this week. I've been finishing up the house- cleaning, sorting, putting away- and the kids have been either plugged into tv or video games, or bothering each other, so I decided that today was our day for fun. We decided on bowling. SO MUCH FUN! Both kids did really great (Jared- 98 and 93, Lauren- 62 and 55)! Jared even got three spares in a row. I loved capturing his reaction to each one!! I also ended up running into three people I knew there- one from high school! I guess bowling was a popular idea today! Afterwards, we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. The kids said thank-you for bowling and lunch about 5 times. It was a good day! I can't believe that tomorrow Jared will turn 9 years old! Wow!


Spare #1:










Spare #2:











Spare #3:

Movin' Right Along...

The year and this pregnancy are flying by! I finally got motivated to move the computer, pictures, scrapbooking supplies, and saved school work out of the "office" in order to turn it into a nursery! This past weekend, Steve got all of the baby stuff out of the attic, so this week I've been buried in baby clothes and toys and have been washing/cleaning/sorting/putting away/consigning/donating all of that stuff! Needless to say, my house is a huge mess...but I think I'm making progress!





Jared finished up his upwards basketball season (thank goodness!) , and is on to Midway Little League. Their first practice was last night. He earned his Bear Badge in cub scouts and we had fun making a "Hawaiian" themed dessert for his Blue and Gold Banquet (flip flops). He survived the TAKS test on Tuesday and stills seems to be having a great year!











Lauren is excited to start t-ball soon. I had the opportunity to substitute for her teacher a few weeks ago. What a sweet little class she has! She is looking forward to Kite Day with Dad soon.




As for me, I got some new glasses recently (just for a new style). I'm hoping to get contacts after the baby is born. I am tired, but otherwise feeling fine with the pregnancy. I had been feeling the baby kick and move a lot more, but these past couple of weeks I think she must not have much room left to wiggle around. My belly is definitely growing, and just this morning I had to really FORCE my wedding ring on my finger. I can tell it's close to the end! Still hoping to make it until the new hospital opens on April 4th! It'll be here before I know it, I'm sure!

Upwards Action

Jared is playing Upwards basketball this year. It is a Christian based league, and they concentrate on good sportsmanship, and even learn bible verses. It has definitely been a character building season so far! We'll just leave it at that =) Anyway...here are some action shots from the game Saturday.

Flying with Friends

Jared has a friend in the neighborhood whose dad has his pilot's license, and they invited Jared and another friend to go flying with them last Friday . I have to admit, I was a little nervous about this, but I figured it would be a neat experience for him! How many third graders get to do something like that? So, the dad and three boys went out to the McGregor airport where they rented a plane for a couple of hours. I sent Jared's camera with him and he got some great shots! They flew over our neighborhood (I heard them, but didn't see them when I went outside to look), over the high school, over the lake and downtown, and even did a touch and go at the Waco Regional Airport. I heard later that the boys had a chance to fly the plane, but I think Jared was a little too nervous to try it. He was afraid he wouldn't know where to go. We tried to tell him that it didn't really matter as long as he
didn't go down!