September

The kids survived the first week of school and are enjoying it so far. That is until the homework gets underway and today is the first day for both of them. I was only able to get one picture of them before heading off the first day and Carson refused to have his picture taken once at school. Do you think they were embarrassed, their only 6 and 9? I really thought I had at least a few more years with Carson. Kynlee was fine with it so maybe it's a boy thing.

Now that hunting season has begun and we're outside city limits I'm hearing the sounds of the shotguns that surround us, including our own. Scott got home late last night and came straight in to get his shotgun and was back outside. This was about 8:00 so he had a little daylight left. I went outside and there he was sitting on his tailgate with shotgun in hand just in case a dove happened by. We sat there together for a few minutes watching and enjoying the cool air. I really felt like a redneck sitting there on the tailgate with a shotgun in the driveway no less. Things are definitely different around here! I told him why did he have to go off to go hunting when he can sit in our own pasture and shoot all day long. I guess it's just not the same, at least I tried.

Amber and Robert are settling in fairly well next door. At least the best they can living out of their RV while finishing the apartment. Should be the end of September. We're keeping our fingers crossed. I know it's hard for her having three kids and one who is crawling in an RV most of the time. Needless to say it's been a little hectic around here on the weekends with everybody coming and going trying to help where they can. Did I mention kids? Lots of kids and people. It seems for every adult we have two kids, talk about crazy!

Last week after school Kynlee and Carson really enjoyed having their cousins as neighbors. Carson has Caleb to play with and Kynlee gets to help with Kelsey and baby Chloe. She is a little mother and I see so much of myself in her at that age. She'll be wanting to babysit for money in no time for everybody she can. She loves babies and really is great with them. She can change a diaper, feed her a bottle and now even baby food. I'm so proud of her and the helper she is! They love walking back and forth from house to house and it's nice seeing them more. Amber and I are getting a chance to spend more time together too.

Stay tuned.... more to come soon!

Dynamite Strike

Today was meet the teacher at school and the kids are excited about their teachers as well as the kids in their classes. I think they got good matches for their personalities, at least I hope. This will be Kynlee's last year at the elementary school. Next year she'll be off to the intermediate school. Wow, how time flies. Right now I'm just thinking about 1st grade and 4th grade. That's enough for the heart to take. You always hear how fast they grow up and often get tired of it so for now I'm enjoying my little ones while their still "little".

Our new little puppy, well let's just say she's full of dynamite (hence the title of this post). I keep telling myself that eventually she'll be potty trained and that seems to help. Since we live in the country and on plenty of land it's been hard to keep up with her lately. When we go outside she usually does fine sticking close by, but lately she's finding that there are lots of other places to go. Of course she discovers this in the rain and with plenty of mud to go with it. Only weighing three and half pounds she's pretty fast and well, her minding skills, we're still training on those too. Needless to say, we need a fence. This is the only way to keep the dogs in the confined area we think they need to be in. I think this will save our sanity. For now, she's on a leash, at least while muddy outside. In the meantime we'll be checking out our fence possibilities. I'll let you know how it comes along. Keep your fingers crossed that it's sooner than later.

I hope everyone has loved watching the Olympics as much as we have. We are a little sleep deprived as I'm sure other followers are too. We're hoping to start catching up soon. If you have been watching the gymnastics I hope you all agree that the judging this year was not up to par. They need to work on that for London 2012. Overall we've enjoyed the competition and last nights beach volleyball win was great. May and Walsh did the US proud! I'll report back after school starts with some new pics!

Country Critters

Needless to say it has been a hectic few weeks. With me in school and the kids out, we are trying to balance my school work with summer activities. Kynlee was suppose to have horse camp the week of July 21 and after the first day with temps in the 100's she was done!! She came home after the first day and said she did not want to go back. She enjoys the horses, but the heat takes away all the fun. Can't say I blame her so we'll have make ups in the fall. She has never been our child to tolerate activities outside when it is hot out and for more than a couple of hours. Camp was scheduled from 9:00am to 4:0o pm.

School starts in 19 days and I can't believe how the time always seems to fly by. I think their starting to get bored and will be ready by the 25th. We still have some shopping to do for supplies, new shoes, etc.

Well most of you know how I feel about mice so I thought I would share this story with you. Now keep in mind, I'm usually the one on the table, chair, bed, or anything that will keep me off the ground if one appears and usually with a scream. Yes, I'm a wimp and I'm happy to admit it. They just give me the creeps, ewe!

The kids were outside with the dogs when I hear them start to scream. They came running into the house saying that Hagen had tried to catch something outside and it was moving. I had to come see what it was. Not sure what I would find I go into the yard and hear squeaking, my first instinct was to run. I couldn't do that, after all I am the MOM. Knowing the dogs would probably eat it eventually, which would be much worse afterwards, it had to be removed. Whatever it is. Kynlee and I SLOWLY approach the noise to see what exactly it was. The baby mouse was hardly moving and I just didn't know how to do this. After a little debating I found a shovel in the garage with a LONG handle, but before moving it I had to put the damn thing out of it's misery. With three throws and three screams (from me) it was silent. I (well I should say Kynlee) scooped the thing onto the end of the shovel and I went and tossed it over the fence into the field. This was not a pleasant experience, but living in the country is slowly strengthening my weaknesses. The frogs on the porch are even growing on me. Back to the end of this story.... when all was done Kynlee starting clapping and said she was so proud of me and that I was a big girl!! I just started laughing and figured it's okay for kids to see that even adults have fears sometimes.

We've taken the boat out a couple of times at the nearby Lake Waxahachie. This is a very small lake, but very convenient and the kids enjoy getting to swim. Upon the first trip out since giving the ducks their new home we found them in the same cove near the boat launch. They seem to be getting along well and the kids get so excited every time we go. Just thought you might like to know they are doing good too. Have a great week!

Gammy Camp/Sea Camp

Well, we've been in Corpus since Saturday for our annual camp fest. The kids go to Sea Camp at the Texas State Aquarium with their cousin Austin every year. Hence the name, Gammy Camp as well. Stephanie and I have also claimed this special week, Mommy Camp. We get to hang out together, shop, talk, and be pampered by Pop. It really is a fabulous treat for us as well so we thought we needed to add our very own camp name. The campers are all having a great time, moms included. Kynlee is actually having a sleepover at the Aquarium tonight. This is her first year to get to do that and she is so excited about it. They get to go 'behind the scenes' to see some really cool stuff. I'll have to post again later to let you know how that went.

Last night we took them to the Ringling Brothers Circus for the opening night. It was an awesome circus and the first for the three of us. We've all grown up going to the Shrine Circus so we got to see something a little different. It was a ton of fun and can you believe we didn't even leave with a light of any kind at all ...... none, zero, zilch! Parents know what an amazing feat this is :) The top photo is of the kids trying to catch the confetti that they sprayed around the arena! I'll post with some more good stuff later on! Thanks for being patient with me.

Kynlee's Sleepover

Kynlee celebrated her 9th birthday on Sunday and had a slumber party last night with her friends. Thank goodness we only had six girls in all. I like to keep things small and simple and keep my sanity! Her theme was "Camp Rock" from Disney's newest movie launch. They enjoyed a 'cool whip' fight in the back yard and made a mess. I've posted a goofty picture for you to see how much fun they were having. Ice cream sundae's followed the fight! Hagen enjoyed cleaning up the mess in the yard for them. I also posted a picture from her birthday lunch on her real birthday.

For those of you who have known about our duck problem, it has been resolved. They are now happily swimming in Lake Waxahachie with the other ducks in the community. We just hope they didn't take up camp on someone elses porch. Now I'm VERY MUCH enjoying a clean back porch again! It was sad to see them go, at least for Scott and the kids, but I'm good with it. I don't think we'll be raising baby ducklings again any time soon. It was a nice try. I'll post again with hopefully some good stuff. Thanks for keeping up with us and sorry it was a little longer than I thought to post the second time.

An Update from the Shell's

I hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the summer. The Texas heat is already in full swing and for once I'm thankful for the wind on our little hill. Well I have to say I didn't think the day would come when I found myself typing on a blog. With that said there are many times the kids do or say something that I want to share with others because lets face it, kids say the darnedest things. Half the time I forget so I thought this would be a good way to share with our friends and family what's going on in our world.

As you can see from the picture I've posted we have a new puppy. She is a little Yorkie and we are having a lot of fun with her along with a little work. I have to say this was my idea (yeah, surprise to me too) so I got to name her. Her name is Roxi and we all agreed it fits. So far she is doing really good and has even gotten a little feisty. The kids love her! As for Hagen, the juries still out. She hasn't quite figured out what to think of her.

The kids are out of school for summer and have a few camps lined up along with VBS at the Baptist church here in town. Carson is finishing up his 2nd year of t-ball and I think we're all ready for the break. He loves it, but it's getting a bit hot. Carson turned six in April and Kynlee will be nine on Sunday. I can't believe how the time has flown by.

Scott has been extremely busy with his A/C stuff and can hardly keep his head above water. We are still in the process of transitioning from Shell Aire to Maypearl Heating & Air. We are hoping to keep him a bit closer to home. Since buying his current truck in August he already has a little over 30,000 miles so far. Let's just say there is a ton of driving in this business. This doesn't include the trips I make to and from the parts house myself. Yes, I help when needed besides just the "office" part.

As for me, August will complete my first year since returning to school. It has been hectic with the online classes changing every five weeks, but I like that they are short. I hope to finish in about a year and a half and be teaching soon after. I'll keep you posted. That's about it for now and I hope to put updates as often as I can. With the kids being home for the summer and me still in school we'll see how it goes.