Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a nice Halloween.

We were lucky to have my parents visit while Nick went to his annual Human Factors conference, which was in Chicago.  We had a great time with my parents, although Zoey ended up with croup while they were here.  They were so generous to drive all the way out here to help out and spend time with us.  They are the most amazing grandparents and we cannot thank them enough for all they do for us.

Of course there were gifts.

We made a trip to the Johnson Space Center. My dad had never been and space exploration is big in our house right now.  We have also been watching From the Earth to the Moon.  Sam loves it, but Zoey gets a little bored.  When we were at the space center we watched a short film about and saw the podium JFK used for his speech.  When Sam saw him in The Earth to the Moon, she said, "Look there is George Bush Washington."  Umm, not so much.  :)

We also were lucky enough to have Nana and Papa here for Halloween, which is also my dad's birthday.

We had a silly Olaf...

And a still sick Supergirl in her flying stance.  Zoey did not officially have a fever, so we let her go to a few houses.  We had said something about the barking cough she had, which she started calling her doggie cough.  She is finally doing better now, and should go back to school tomorrow.

Nana and Papa are back in Lakeland.  We miss them a ton already.

Ah, October!

It seems like every October of the past few years has been a challenging month.  This year has been no different.  Of course, during this month of gap insurance, everyone has been sick.  Sam started us off with a sore throat and fever.  She was out of school for 3 days.  Then Zoey kicked it up with a higher fever, she got up to 104.  In the end, I am pretty sure she had fifth disease since she got the red cheeks that looked like she had been slapped and the lacy rash.  Then Nick got viral conjunctivitis.  And I got an excruciating sore throat, which I think was just post nasal drip, but my nose never got stuffed.  And Zoey got a splinter that ended up becoming infected in just a couple of days.  I put a bandaid on it when she complained to soften the skin and she took it off, so I ended up forgetting.  She then complained again and it was swollen, red, and had pus.  So we went to CVS to check Nick's eye and Zoey's finger.  Turned out they do not fix finger issues, so Zoey and I went to urgent care for that treatment.  I am glad there are only 9 more days in this month and hopeful that we will all be healthy soon.  Sam did have a very short fever last night, but nothing this morning, so just a day off school and she seems fine.  I know that I will be doubly thankful for health once everyone gets there.

Here is Zoey after the finger treatment.  She was a trooper.  I know it had to hurt, but she stayed still and barely cried.

We have also had some fun in this crazy month.  Here are the girls in silly outfits putting on a concert.

Zoey and I went to a nice pumpkin patch.

And Sam had a sock hop at her school.  I did not find a poodle skirt, so I threw this together.

I wish everyone a healthy and wonderful rest of October.  I hate to ask time to speed up, but I am so ready for November!  Although I would appreciate being able to enjoy the rest of this month too.

A month to celebrate!!!

There has been a lot of rain lately, and many days it comes during pick up time.  We are so close, we walk to school to get Sam.  So there has been a lot of rain gear.  This is just when Zoey wanted to dance in the rain.

Here is where Zoey drew a sun.  I think Sam helped her with the person.

Here is Zoey being a busy mom.  She has a stroller, grocery cart, and is on the phone.

September includes both Nick's birthday and mine.  For his, he went into work.  We went out on his actual birthday.  I baked him, from scratch, a salted caramel apple pie.  He loved it.

I wanted a picture of the girls and Nick.  Zoey was not feeling cooperative.

But then she felt bad and jumped on him.

My birthday fell on a day that Nick had to work until 10.  So we celebrated the night before.  He made me a special dinner.

The girls are sometimes rough, but sometimes they play together so well.  This picture is when Sam said she wanted to paint and Zoey said they could pretend face paint.  So they did.  It was so sweet and imaginative.  

And some close ups.  Zoey is hard to get in focus as she is a perpetual motion machine.

 Sam poses better.

Zoey making a mad face.

And the other big news from September is that we sold our house!!!!  It closed on 9/30.  We are so thrilled to be back to only one mortgage.  It has been rough, especially since USF had my paperwork wrong and UHCL does not pay new employees until a month after official start, which was September 1st.  Our current struggle/worry is that we are on gap insurance for all of October.  We are lucky USF's lasted as long as it did.  But UHCL requires 60 days after hire to start coverage.  So we bought gap insurance, but please send thoughts/prayers/etc for us all to stay healthy and have no accidents.  There is never a good time, but this is an especially bad month for a broken arm.


Happy Fall Y'all!

Fly little birdie!

Zoey has started preschool.  In many ways, it was a lot easier to send her than Samantha since we have been through this before.  But she is my baby and it is still a mixed emotion type thing. I know she will thrive, she is such a free spirit and will love all the activities, friends, and teachers.  And I definitely need the time to get things done.  But it is hard at the same time.


She met her teacher.  She is super sweet and very organized.  She seems like she can handle our little spit fire.

Zoey usually gets up pretty early.  But last night she was up for a bit to go potty and she ended up sleeping in.  She was so hard to wake up and super cranky about getting dressed.  She came around and was excited about her special pancakes.  I made batter and Nick made her special letter ones.  She recognized them immediately and was happy to take a picture with them.

A quick hair fix and she wanted another picture.

And she was so full of energy it was hard to get a decent picture with her sign.

I still cannot believe how quickly this day has come.  I think the second kid ages faster :)

We stay super busy.  My mom left last Saturday, which was sad.  We miss her tons, but are so thankful she came to help us out in this chaotic time.  She is the BEST!!!  Nick drove her to the airport and we went to Space Center Houston with friends from the neighborhood.  Nick also took the girls to his lab to write on the (whiteboard painted) walls and watch frozen on the projector.  And we squeezed in one last swim before our neighborhood pool closed.  Both the girls like jumping off the diving board, although Zoey still wants help.  Work is still chaotic but I know this semester will mostly likely fly by.  I hope everyone had a great Labor day.

Adios summer!

These last few weeks have flown by.  We keep slowly unpacking, running errands and squeezing in fun.  The really close by kids gym had a carnival.  We got the girls passes.

They got their faces painted.  Bounced in the bouncy house.  

                                      

 Climbed the climbing wall.  Sam was hesitant until Zoey said she wanted to go, although neither girl climbed very high.

And they rose ponies in a loop.  It was so hot and a long line.  I felt sorry for the ponies, and us.

We also went to the kids museum.  It was crazy busy.  Zoey enjoyed the blocks, which of course we have at home.

Sam and Nick built a lego car.

And ran it on the track.

We built paper rockets and fired them.

Zoey got to meet Super Why.

We went back to school shopping.  Nana bought Sam's new backpack.

There have been a few animal run ins.  Mom and I both got ant bites on our feet.  I inadvertently crawled on an ant bed when weeding and got 45 bites on my leg.  It looks awful.  Then yesterday, we were going out to take a picture of the girls in their shirts (thanks pinterest for the idea) and a large snake (I think a rat snake) was right by the path).  So we stayed inside, but the lighting was not ideal and Zoey was not cooperative.  Class of 2026 and 2029!

Sam was super excited for her first day of first grade.  She could not get to sleep last night.  She insisted on wearing the shirt we just got her at meet and greet.  She asked for pigtails.  Nick made his famous from scratch cinnamon rolls.

At her desk.

Mom, Zoey and I ran errands this morning and between that I have been dealing with IT issues all day.  Teaching 4 classes at 3 universities is not for the weak.  Hopefully, all will be sorted out soon.  I am excited that Sam will be released soon.  I am ready for the smiling face of my first grader!!!!

Happy back to school!

Texans Now!

Nick had a mostly uneventful trip.  Toby did get sick in the hotel bathroom.  The stuff arrived and then Mom, Sam, Zoey and I hit the road.  My car was packed!!!  The girls did so well on the trip aside from not getting much sleep in the hotel.  Our trip was mostly uneventful as well.  A rock did chip my windshield, but that was minor in the grand scheme of things.  

We were so excited to see the Texas State Line.

We have been super busy.  There are always so many tasks to do when you move.  And we still have some boxes and toys everywhere.  I miss my built ins!  But we like the house (we will definitely be making some changes) and LOVE the location.  We have met some neighbors and found a couple of moms clubs to check out.  We love our colleagues.

  

We have also been playing tourist.  We got city passes.  We did the aquarium first.  It was so tiny and had white tigers (don't get me started).  

The girls loved the sting ray tank.

And they loved the train (which takes you under a shark tank), the carousel, and this frog hopper.

We also did the Natural Science Museum and the kids Museum.  But a highlight was meeting our friends Martin, Sarah, Seb and Luci at the Johnson Space Center.

The Saturn V (unused) was impressive.

Sam and Luci stuck together.  

Zoey felt a little left out, so she hung with Seb, even convincing him to hold her hand.  So sweet.  We were so impressed he would tolerate her bugging him, let alone be so kind to her.  A young gentleman!

This week is packed.  We were all set to go on our last adventure when I realized Toby slipped out of the fence.  Generally the dogs have seemed happier and more playful here.  It is a smaller yard, but with a wooden fence so it seems more isolated.  But Toby evidently wanted more.  He is about 13 years old, has cataracts, hearing loss, and possibly a heart murmur.  We are not far from a major road and he is unpredictable so I was worried for his safety and the safety of anyone near him.  I walked down to the opening in the fences where the bridge to get across the gully behind our house is and around the corner along the major road but did not see him.  I went back home and grabbed my mom, Sam, and Zoey and we drove around, no luck.  I reported him missing to the chip company and posted a craigslist ad.  I decided to try one more time.  When I got to the gully area, I saw him outside our fence.  I tried to get to him and he ran toward the road.  I turned and ran the other way.  He came back.  I called my mom to get them to call from the yard to help him find it.  I finally was able to corner him and get the harness on.  Ugh, what a morning!!!  And tonight I have new adjunct training.  But I did get a small raise, so that was good news.

Next Monday starts our semester(s) and Sam's school.  I am teaching 4 classes at 3 schools and they all start on the same day.  So that is nice.  Nick is teaching his Marshall course as well as his UHCL ones.  So we will be extremely busy this fall.  Wish us luck.  Zoey starts the week after.  Hopefully she will adjust well.  I am a bit nervous, but I will definitely need the kid free time.  My mom leaves after the first week of school, so that will be rough.  But we were super lucky that she has stayed so long.  I cannot imagine getting through this without her.  Thanks for the loan, dad.

It has been a hard transition, but we are trying to make the best of it.  We miss all our friends and loved ones so much.  Our house is a wreck, but please come visit us in Houston.  We can clear a space for you :)

The in between

It has been an extremely hard few weeks, physically and emotionally.  We have finally finished packing and the truck was loaded today.  Our stuff is on the way.  Nick and the dogs will follow in a few days and Mom, the girls and I will go out a few days after delivery to allow Nick to have the beds set up, clean sheets, and toys to play with.  This move has been so hard in so many ways.  We are so sad to leave this amazing city, our wonderful neighbors, our awesome house, and all our incredible friends.  And of course, my parents, who are the best grandparents anyone could have.  We are so blessed to have had these last 3 years close to them.  We owe them so much!

Our friends have also spoiled us with a family picnic and a moms night out to say goodbye.  We unfortunately have not had time for many playdates, so the girls have been mostly stuck in the house or my parents house while we packed and dealt with stuff.  They have been mostly good, but I know it is hard on them.  Zoey does not seem to understand much and keeps asking if a certain item will be moved to Texas.  She even asked once if they had water in Texas.  She has also made up a story about her husband Joseph who lives in Texas and their kids; Cup, Cuppy, Violet, Aurora, and Pep.  Sam understands more and after extreme sadness when school ended, has mostly been more emotional than usual but overall really strong.

The girls were really impressed with the giant truck.

Please wish us luck on 14 hour drive and our adventures in Texas.