Gingerbread Houses 2011

Today was our annual Gingerbread House Day with Miss Pat.  It involves decorating gingerbread houses and eating way too much candy and icing.  Every year they get more creative and fun - it is a great day!!I love that this is a tradition that they all still want to do this.  

Adam made an airport with Stealth fighters.

Raymond made a tradional house complete with dog and doghouse.

 

 Andrew's is also a tradional style house.

Alyssa build a barn with a lot of horses.

Amanda made a log cabin in a forest of fairies. 



15 Years of Santa

This was our 15th year of having Santa pics made at The Woodlands Mall.  It is hard to believe it has been 15years since we first took Raymond there.

Merry Christmas!!

Beautiful Day In Atlanta

Thursday was the ultimate day in Atlanta - the weather was in the 80's - sun shining everywhere!  We went the Carter Presidential Library.  It was so neat to see how much the Carters really have shared with the world. 

Lunch time was from a friends recommendation!   What a fun place to be.  This was the biggest drive-in I have ever seen.  

Alyssa's pic tells what she thought about her 'Slaw Dog'!!

We finsihed up the day in Hampton, GA at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.  We had a great local lady give our tour that included racing around the track at 80+ mph in an 15-passenger van.   She also gave us lots of 'info' on drivers and the history of the track.   The pic is at the finish line.  It was a great for sure!!

Our First Lemonade Stand

Adam, Amanda, Alyssa & Emiliann made a lemonade stand today. They are actually doing quite well!! Our outside thermometer shows 109. They should be rich by the days end if that's true!!

(They ended the day with $26 - lots of great neighbors and a carful of teenage boys helped out that total!!)

Certified Hunters

The Frye's and the Kurita's spent 2-days at a Hunters Safety Class. All the guys passed their test and are officially certified to hunt.

Big Brothers & Owl Pellets

Thank heaven for big brothers who don't mind helping their sisters dissect owl pellets. (Obviously one girl liked it more than the other.) This pellet contained 3 vole skulls.

Happy Fathers Day!!

Sunday was Arlie's 15th Fathers Day - woo hoo!!



And what does a Dad of 15 years like to have for Fathers Day??? A big, deep dish, homemade Pecan Pie!!

Another one turns 13.....

Sunday was Andrew's birthday. He hit the big 13th.

He has always been a big fan of meat and not so much potatoes. His great-grandma always bought him a roast every year for his birthday - ha ha!

His birthday meal was brisket and chicken wings. And we made a very yummy coca cola cake. (The cake pic is posed as he blew out the candles before i could take a picture.)

And how much does his sisters love him???

Isn't life grand for a 13 year old??

Big Red Celebrates 11th Birthday!!

Adam celebrated his 11th birthday on Wednesday. How is it that our baby boy is 11?? He knew exactly what he wanted for his lunch - sushi. So the family ate a big lunch of sushi, fried rice and egg rolls.

The girls decorated the table for him with Legos - his favorite thing next to video games.

And of course - every birthday in our house has to have a big yummy cake. This is a strawberry-coconut cake with cream cheese icing. The pic of top is one of my fav pics of him. It is how I will always think of him. Bakeries can copy photos and print them out on some type of sugar paper that is edible.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG RED!!!

What do you get when you....

give these things plus...

this big thing to Raymond??

A birthday dinner fit for a 14 year old!! He made tiramisu for his birthday cake. And his most special birthday present was his Stihl Chainsaw. No trees are safe anymore when he is around.!!

Happy Birthday Raymond - We Love You So!!!!

Texas A&M Vet School Open House

Went went to Bryan/CS today for Texas A&M's Vet School Open House. There are tours through out the school including the small animal hospital and the large animal hospital. It was amazing how much is done at this school. The highlight for the girls was the Teddy Bear Surgery. They have the kiddos bring a bear (or other stuffed animal) and let them be in surgery with them. They put them in surgery scrubs and then take them to the small animal O/R. Amanda's bear had a broken arm and Alyssa's bear had a broken leg. They were also doing heart surgery and other sickness on the bears. Really cute and fun.

This was on the gross side and very much on the smelly side. It is a fistulated cow. Everyone one was allowed to glove up and put your hand inside. I passed.

This horse must be the most patient horse ever - both sides of him was painted to nicely!!

It was a good day - the lines were rather long but it was well worth it. If you go - try to go with a Scout troup - they get to go ahead of everyone : )

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What is a fistulated cow? Cows with a created hole in their side and stomach wall that has been healed. The hole is plugged when not in use. It is used for research. The cow if healthly and does not hurt her in the least.

Cake of Many Colors

To go along with a study of Joseph - Raymond made us a 'cake of many colors'. The colors were gorgeous and the cake was quite tasty too!!

The One that Didn't Get Away

Now the Dad really caught this but since Alyssa was brave enough to hold it - I had to show her pic with it.

Amanda's Big Catch

Amanda caught this cute little sunfish on a big hook with no bait - it was so tiny and cute!!

They did it again....

Those girls of ours went and had another birthday!! How is it possible that they are 8 years old?? It just cant be true.

Brandon Heath - 'Not So Free' Free Brown Bag Concert

We all like Brandon Heath but one of my boys 'really' likes him. Last night at Chick-fil-A in Conroe, there was a KSBJ Brown Bag Concert. These are great FREE concerts. How could we pass up such a great opportunity.

Concert started at 630pm - we arrived around 515. There were only 5 other people sitting in the audience at that time and Brandon Health was doing a sound check. We got about a 15min mini-concert as a bonus. There were lots of front row seats available - oh no - my crew wants to sit in the middle. Mom put her foot down and said 3rd row was as far back as she would go - ha ha. These ended up being perfect seats as the front row people ended up covered by screaming teenage girls.

Well before the concert started, it became obvious I hadn't taken my husbands advice of blankets very seriously and my kiddos had not taken my advice for clothes seriously either. Luckily Target was in the same parking lot - one large fuzzy blanket was a necessary expense for sure!! Then the boys 'had' to have food as they ate all the snacks I had brought within the first 15 minutes. Luckily that was with their own money!!

But regardless of buying a new blanket, it was a really great concert. I dont know how many people were there but there were easily over 1000 people there. Next time though, I will listen to my dh. : )