Back To...

It's back to school time which means we're getting back into a routine.  It also means back to the gym, back to Aggieland for the football season and back to blogging.  I still have our whole Disney experience I want to get on here, so hopefully I can get to that sporadically in the next few weeks.  The kids are going to bed early again so that gives me a little time in the evenings to work on the blog among other "to-do's" around the house.

So we'll start off again with back to school for today.  Jackson started 2nd grade and Jordan started Kindergarten at St. Laurence August 19.  This is our last year on the Early Childhood Campus and it makes me sad because we love, love, love the staff there.  BUT, that gives us a reason to make the best of it too.

So here's the first day of school.  Both kids were so excited to get back and see their friends.

By the end of the week, they were exhausted.  The routine wore them out.  I have to admit, I was quite worn out too.  I got spoiled leaving the house for work in the morning with them still sleeping and with the babysitter.  But we're back to the hustle and bustle that the new school year brings.

Christmas Day

We woke up Christmas Day and Santa had come!  Yes, that's a guitar!  And surprisingly, they still pull it out from time to time.

Jackson and Jordan's gift from Kenny and I was a trip to DisneyWorld.  I tried to make a fun presentation with the Disney characters.  The kids were excited, but not CRAZY excited because March seemed so far away.

Jack and Jordan were very happy with their gifts.

Around lunch time we headed to Mark and Gayle's for the Priesmeyer Christmas celebration.

Do you think we have enough electronics???

Jackson and Grandma

The girls...  Jordan would not make a pretty face!

The boys.

The girls being silly!

Kenny and his mini-me.

The girls had a dance party!  They had so much fun!

Again, we had such a great time!  We love having so much fun with our families.

Christmas Eve

Before heading to El Campo to celebrate Christmas Eve, we had to make sure Santa and the reindeer were taken care of when they visited that night.  The kids put the reindeer food out on the patio.

Then, they got Santa's snack ready.  They decided that Santa gets enough cookies and needed some fruit.

Then they put their bags out for Santa.  And we were all set and ready to go!

We went to Christmas Eve Mass at St. Philip and then celebrated Christmas with the Stock family at Nana and Papa's.

As always, we had a great time.  We always love spending time with our families.  We don't see them enough!

Pre-K Christmas Program

Before school was out for Christmas vacation the Pre-K classes put on a Christmas program.  Jordan had been practicing the songs for a while, but not all of them.  I think some of the songs were a surprise for the parents.  They sang beautifully.  The songs were very special and the program was fantastic.  She did such a great job!

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas...  her favorite song!

Thanksgiving

I promise I'm going to get caught up before Spring Break!  That's my goal!

Since we didn't have a game with the longhorns this year, we got a chance to spend Thanksgiving with my family at our deer camp outside of Sheridan, TX.  I've been going there since I was little and have spent many, many Thanksgivings there growing up.  I also have many great memories with my extended family being out there in "nature".

My kids haven't gotten to go so much mainly because we're not really deer hunters AND we're usually watching football games in the fall.  So this was a great opportunity to spend some time with our family and to just relax a little bit.

We got there Wednesday afternoon and had such a good time.  Ryan and Dana brought the four-wheeler, so the kids rode and rode.  They also enjoyed riding bikes, playing a little ball and just enjoying being outside.  Jackson and Reed went on several hikes and had so much fun hanging out together.

We had great food, great fun, and most of all, made great memories. :)

We headed back to College Station for the Aggies last game against Missouri that Saturday.  It was a great weekend!!!

Aggie Football 2012

So, who in their right mind would have ever guessed that the Aggies would have had such an AMAZING first year in the SEC??!!?!?!?!?!  And who would have ever guessed that Johnny Football would win a Heisman???  What an exciting season!

Aggies of all ages have been tortured with the ups and downs of Aggie football, so to savor in the success of this last year has been great.  And to look forward to (hopefully) a few more successful years is even more exciting. 

We started the year off with our new tailgate trailer.  Yep, we had to enter the new conference in style.

For whatever reason, I didn't take many pictures during the football season.  We had so much fun this year with our family and friends at the tailgates and at the games.  As one of our guests told me, "you guys are building a legacy of great memories for your kids.  They're spending this time with family and life-long friends and they will never forget it."  I never really thought of it that way, but he was right.  And I hope we're able to do this for many more years and that when Jack and Jordan go to A&M (hopefully), they will bring their friends and hang out.  Then, when they have their own families, we will continue the tradition.  By then, we may need a bigger trailer!  Or an RV spot!!!

I did manage to decent picture of us for our Christmas card.

...got the Aggie Band in the block T.

And I'll close this post with a few pics of Johnny "Football" Manziel.  Thanks, Johnny, for the memories.  Gig 'em!

School Days

2011 was Jordan's first year at St. Laurence.  I'm not gonna lie, it's great having only one place to drop off in the mornings.  And Jordan could not wait to get to St. Laurence.  She had watched Jackson get dropped off in carpool line every morning for 2 years.  So she couldn't wait until her day had come.  This was a big year for Jackson too.  He's a first grader and starting on the "big" campus at school.  Pre-K and K are separated in a different building, so the first day of school was big for him as well.  Needless to say, they both did great and didn't even want me to walk them in the first day.  What big kids!!!