First day of "all day every day" PreK

We are blessed to live in an area of Dallas that actually has a great elementary school. We decided to take advantage of the neighborhood school and enter Owen into the PreK lottery. Long story short, he got in and he got in to the two way dual language program which means no lottery next year for Kindergarten - praise the Lord! He waited patiently as his sister went off to school a whole week before he did. Finally, the big day arrived for him and he could hardly contain his excitement. He literally ran from the car to the building saying to anyone that would listen (and a few that wouldn't), "Today is my first day! I'm starting school today!" He made several new friends on his first day and drew lots of pictures. Yesterday he came home singing a new song. The PreK kids meet in the gym and today he was able to show me how to get there. Tomorrow we might try the carpool lane...

First Day of Kindergarten

Yes, I realize it's been nine months since my last post. More on the reason for that later. The latest news from the House House: we have a Kindergartner! I know! We are as shocked as you are. Kendall is in Mrs. McGinley's class. She's been reunited with her buddies Jane Allinger from Science School and Cameron Arnold who was in her S. S. class last year. She's a bit bummed that neither Olivia or Naomi are in her class but she's coping well. She is in the two way dual language program at Rosemont Elementary. She gets math and language arts in English everyday from Mrs. McGinley and Social Studies and Science in Spanish from Mrs. Ferusca. I was making a note on the family calendar today and she said to me, "Mommy, is that our calendario?" Maybe public school wasn't such a bad choice after all...

Here are pictures from her first day. Owen starts the PreKinder dual language program on Monday. Pictures to follow...

That's 6:41 AM, people! School starts early!


Ah, yes... she has both the House and Besco genes. Waking up is hard to do.

Rosemont's uniform is navy blue and khaki. This navy blue dress is her favorite.

Good luck hug from Bubba.


Hello Kitty never went out of style.

The Kindergartners meet in the auditorium every morning and wait for their teachers to pick them up.

Kendall in her classroom.

Tea Party

If only furniture could talk... I wonder what this table would have to say?

My dad made this table for my cousins before I was born. When Kendall was born, my aunt gave it to me. It's covered in glue, glitter, marker, and crayon. It's weathered every seasonal art and craft project and a few science experiments. This was Sabrina's first tea party.

My grandfather made the three little chairs for the kids when Sabrina was born. I have yet to paint them. They're starting to get covered in glue, glitter, marker, and crayon, too. I'm tempted to let the kids continue decorating them and then just add a top coat of sealer.

Where did my baby go?

Sabrina Belle turned 1 year old (10/22/2008). How did that happen? She's walking, talking (saying Mimi and Daaaeee - imagine "daddy" without the middle d's), signing (milk, more, and eat), and often responds correctly with yes and no head shakes. We ask her to do things like "put the toys away" or "find your mimi" and she does it! She loves doggies and can point them out in picture books. She tries so hard to keep up with Kendall and Owen. Fortunately, they still think she's cute and allow her to tag along most of the time.

And oh how she loves birthday cake....

The Houses visit Disney World

And what fun we had! We drove to Houston on Saturday, October 11 and spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa House, Uncle Scott, and cousins Cody, Kristopher, and Jasper. We got Sabrina settled for her week with Grandma and Grandpa and headed to the airport on Sunday afternoon. Kendall and Owen were very good travelers. Landing was a bit rough on their ears but they were very brave. It was pretty late by the time we were checked in to our hotel so we just ventured as far as Downtown Disney for some dinner and shopping. We promised Kendall and Owen they could buy one "special thing", a hat, and a T-shirt. Kendall knew before we left Dallas that her one special thing was going to be a Cinderella dress. We bought it that very first night and she wore it almost all day on Monday and Tuesday (see pictures).

We met our friends Steven, Julia, Jackson, and Robert Hall on Monday and park hopped with them all week. I think the highlight of the trip for Kendall and Owen was getting to see Jackson. The Halls moved to Phoenix earlier in the year and we hadn't seen them for about 5 months. It was great catching up.

Our agenda was something like this:

Monday - Magic Kingdom -- see as many princesses as we can see
Tuesday - Magic Kingdom -- see as many princesses as we can see, Winnie the Pooh, and maybe a pirate
Wednesday - Hollywood Studios -- see as many princesses as we can see. What? There aren't any princesses here? How about the Little Einsteins then?
Thursday - Epcot -- see as many princesses as we can see (for the novices Snow White hangs out in Germany)
Friday - Animal Kingdom -- I'm tired. I just want to hang out at the hotel. But there are cute animals and pretty flowers in the park. Ok, I'll give it a try.

It was so fun watching the kids meet their favorite Disney characters. Kendall and Owen carried on long conversations with all of the princesses. I overheard them telling Cinderella about their puppies at home and that Nana and Papa had a big dog like Bruno (Cinderella's dog). They told Belle that they named their baby sister Sabrina Belle after her. She was happy to hear that she had a name twin. And Owen, our little Casanova, got kissed by almost every princess at the park. Mulan even called him her little soldier which he still blushes about even today.

It was a great vacation. The whole family had fun and we can't wait to go back in 2-3 years when Sabrina is old enough to join us.

CHORES!

With the exception of putting away their own toys, Kendall and Owen like to help out around the house, and I am taking so much advantage of it! When Owen asked to help wash dishes, I was hesitant but since half of our dishes are plastic these days I figured, "what the heck." He scrubs and stacks the "clean" dishes up for me to put in to the dishwasher. He earns a quarter for his piggy bank every day that he helps.


Kendall has gotten in on the action. She's been helping with dinner. She either makes a salad or a dessert (sometimes edible, sometimes more for decoration.) Like her mommy, she has a hard time saving her money. Her last two quarters went right in to the Jay Jay the Jetplane ride at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Oh well, she had fun and I enjoyed her pudding with strawberries and whipped cream!

Here are a few pictures from our September fun. Look for State Fair of Texas pictures in a couple of weeks. Kendall and Owen walked over to see them raise Big Tex on Monday. He has the biggest boots EVER!!!

Is she licensed to fly?

Grandma Besco's birthday cake - we decorated it!

Mommy doesn't think this is very safe...

She'll be walking any day now!

First Day of School

At last, the glorious day arrived - the first day of preschool. Kendall handled it like an old pro. And Owen, well he kind of handled it like and old pro, too, even though this was technically his very first day of "real" school.

We dropped Sabrina off at PDO. After several rounds of hugs and kisses we were off to The Science School at the Museum of Nature and Science. With lunch boxes in hand we maneuvered the mud puddles in the circular drive, found classroom A, and showing no fear or trepidation deposited the lunch boxes into cubbies and joined circle time. There were no tears. There weren't even any hugs for mommy! With a mixture of elation (I was about to have 3 1/2 hours of alone time) and sadness that none of my children seemed to missed me one bit, I was off to the coffee shop to sip caffeine and read a book (yes, it was as sinful as it sounds).

To my joy, Kendall and Owen were both happy to see me after school. I finally got my hugs and kisses. As usual, Kendall did not have much to say about what she did all morning but Owen was a complete chatter box -- "We had circle time, the teacher showed us around the room, we played outside, ate lunch, and then you picked us up!" And to top off a great first day of school, he saw Ms. Jill, his summer PDO teacher, when we picked up Sabrina and got to tell her all about it.

I managed to get a couple of pictures before school and one after.

On our way in to the building

Joining circle time - that's their teacher Ms. Heather

One quick shot after school

Sabrina's first day at PDO

Sorry, no pictures.

Today was Sabrina's first day at Parent's Day Out. Her teachers said she had a great time, but she wouldn't nap in the morning (too much to see and do) and that threw off the rest of the day. At noon she sat in her highchair sucking her two fingers and staring at a green bean in the other hand. She wanted to eat the bean but knew that meant taking the fingers out of her mouth. I guess sleep finally overcame her and she took a whopping 30 minute nap. Needless to say, she was out like a light once we got home.

Although she had lots of fun playing with the other babies, she was happy to see us at the end of the day. The only things better than getting a break from diaper changing and mixing bottles are the smiles and hugs you get when you return.

Meet the New Houses!

At long last, summer "school" has come to an end. The last few weeks, with the promise of a hermit crab, Kendall marched in without a tear. Today she even told me about games she played with her teachers and classmates. So off to the pet store we went this afternoon. The first shells they picked were not populated. Kendall settled for a red shell with a terrible copy of Hello Kitty on it. Owen chose an orange shell with a decent Elmo painted on it. Their names - Rainbow Flower and Scooter respectively. They are still living in the cheap FEMA trailer we purchased for them, but plans are underway to create them a more spacious crabitat (kid you not, that's what they are called) this weekend. So far they haven't been too exciting but research shows it may take a few weeks for them to settle in.

This picture has nothing to do with the crabs. I just think it's too cute for words. Sabrina was in her baby tub but happy as a lark to be playing with big brother and sister.