Chloe's Vacay

Winter Break

 We had my mom's unveiling.
It was sad.
I think she would've loved all of us gathering together though!
We went out to Stiles Switch BBQ.

 We went to Mayfield Park, but saw no peacocks!

 Peter and Mary joined us later this week.
We went to Chez Zee and Pinballz today.

The boy's first holiday party

So thankful I was able to briefly sneak away to Chewy's holiday party!

One Year Ago

My mom died a year ago today.

She has missed school events, birthdays, and holidays.

We miss her very much.

There are so many things that you think about.

What should I have said? What should I have done differently?

I have friends who still have grandparents.

I have other friends who are way older than me who still have their parents.

Both of mine are gone now.

We work hard to keep my mom's, as well as my dad's, memories alive.

Time goes too fast.

I try to not put off saying things I want to say now.

But today, along with many other people, I just miss my mom.

 My sweet, sweet friend Tamara knit this scarf for me.
The yarn is from my mom's vast, enormous collection of yarn.
It is one of the best gifts I have ever gotten.

November Stuff

 This project marks the end of the Turkey projects in our house.

We have done three of them now.

It is a tradition.

This one came out really well.

Andy may or may not have let Matthew help.

 CeCi!!!

 My little Superhero.

The one and only Norah.

Oh, how Matthew misses her.

VERY late!

 Matthew is SIX!

He is no longer a little boy, he informed me.

Six means he is a big boy.

I am not quite ready for that.

I love him.

He brings me happiness, joy, love, wonder, and of course, some frustration.

He is all boy.

He rarely runs out of energy, but tells us it is time for him to go to bed.

Matthew makes me laugh all the time.

The photo with the hat was shopping. 

He loves to shop with me and is so much fun.

Kindergarten is going well and he truly loves to learn.

I am so proud of my sweet boy.

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-epic-story-of-the-2015-royals-and-their-world-series-championship-150143613.html

I am really, really excited.

Like over the moon excited.

My Royals won the World Series.

I kind of feel like I did something.

Of course I did not.

But, that is what I love about baseball.

I wish my dad could have enjoyed this season.

The Cubs made the playoffs, but it ended too soon.

The Royals, in case you missed it, won it all.

They won it in a dramatic, amazing way.

Read the article.  

Photo Day

 The two "littles" got their school photos the other day.

Natalie has chocolate on her face.

We are in our new house!

This is the kitchen.

A Fun Party

 Natalie's friend Maddie had her tenth birthday in downtown Round Rock.

It was a spa party.

I could use some spa time, just saying....

Anyway, the party was a lot of fun and it was with most of her best buddies.

Matthew is full out obsessed with Star Wars.

It is a new thing, but he really loves it!

Andy borrowed the original three movies from the 70s and 80s and bought the new ones.

The movie comes out in December.

That will be huge for Matthew!

His birthday is in 8 days.

He isn't having his party, though, until November.

All the better, he thinks.

This picture cracked us up.  

Little guy said that Darth shouldn't have to just wear black.

Rainbow Darth!

Wow, this is LATE

 Nat is ten.

Double digits.

It is so hard to believe.

The day that I had her feels like just yesterday.

So many memories.

She is so much fun.

She definitely has gotten sassier, but still is very sweet.

She has the kindest group of friends in the world; many of them are from preschool or all elementary school.

They are loyal to one another like no other.

She had a swim party at Lifetime.

Aunt Jan and Uncle Brian brought her lunch at school!

Living the Sun City Life

 Other than the driving time, life in Sun City isn't all that bad.

I found a gym, found the necessities, and even have a few friends in my mom's friends.

The walking trails are fantastic.  

We get glares sometimes.

But we also get grins.

 We did some furniture shopping with all three kids on Sunday.

Wow.

That was pretty awful.

We bribed the kids with a trip to a local fun place, Pinballz.

I can't believe we haven't been to this place before!

It is super fun.

Andy really got into the old Pinball games.

The kids won lots of tickets, so they were very excited.

Busy Time; Lots of Change

 Meagan had a special sleepover at Alex's house last week.

It was so nice of her mom!

These are some of the girls from 5th grade.

Several are at a different school.

They are lucky in some ways.

It is easier to stay in touch, mostly because of social media and texting.

They were all very happy to be reunited.

 It was Grandparent's Day at Sommer.

Natalie was very sad Grandma Lois couldn't be there.

Joe to the rescue!

We are so lucky to have the Topas in our lives.

 Sweet friendship!

This happened yesterday.

Moving is horrible.

Really, really horrible.

We are all exhausted.

Kids are bored too.

Move in day is slated for the end of October.

Fantastic First Day!

 I survived!

The kids all are happy.

Happy, happy day.

Now I am so very tired.

Natalie felt like a big girl getting to help her brother. 

Matthew was just super uber-excited that his class could potentially  a day without wearing shoes in his class.

That cracked me up.

He was very well behaved at the YMCA too, which had been my worry.

Meagan had no problem finding her way around.

That had been her worry!

It Was Matthew Day!

 In honor of my baby going to Kindergarten, we had Matthew Day!

He chose all kinds of fun stuff.

First we went to Target to get the perfect backpack.

 Then, we went to the Thinkery. 

 He loved the air tunnel.

After the Thinkery, we went to Dave and Busters.

He took winning tickets very seriously!

I  loved the day, just me and my boy.

We quickly ran up to Dallas for Claiborne's baby blessing/naming. 

We managed to stop by the Perot museum (lots of museums!) on the way out. 

It is fantastic.

whhhhat? August Already?

 Meagan, Kendall, Mandy and I went to see Hairspray  at Zilker last night.

It was really hot and fairly crowded, but it was excellent.

As always, the girls were so happy to see each other.

 I found a great new bakery, Bribery Bakery.

We bought several things, and it was all great.

My favorite was the blueberry bread pudding.

Our other big news?

Meagan got her first round of braces off!

We start again next summer, but it's nice to start middle school without braces.