First Day of School

I am now the mother of a kindergartener, a first grader and a fourth grader. There was a time, just a few years ago, when I could not wait for this day to get here. Having all of my kids in school seemed so appealing back when I was in the throws of toddler mania......but oh- how I wish I could go back in time and hold and cuddle those babies. I remember taking Alli to church for the first time after she was born. Pete and I came home talking about all the random people who told us to, "enjoy this time because they grow up so fast". Back when my days consisted of nursing, changing diapers, chasing toddlers, cleaning up spills, toys, crayoned walls and the like, I never felt like it was flying by.......but here I am- a mother of three elementary children. All those random people who kept telling me that time flies after you have babies were right! It has flown by!

The first day of school was a success! All the girls did great at drop off (including myself!). I am excited about their teachers....and so are they.

My Baby Girl

My baby girl turned 5 in July!! Why does time go by so fast!?! Katie is our little comedian. She loves to make us laugh. We usually can not get through a dinner without cracking up at whatever silliness she is doing. She is also quite the athlete. Katie is like a little ball of muscle. She has been in gymnastics for a couple of years. This year we are trying soccer and we are so excited to see her play.

My Little Broadway Baby

Tori had her first big recital! She did a tap dance to the song Broadway Baby. It was so cute! And she did fantastic! She is a fabulous dancer!

I took a few pictures of her after her rehearsal.

She took dance with one of her best buds Jillian.

I loved getting her all ready for her recital! It brought me back to my dance team days. It was a lot of fun for the both of us!

Ready For Summer!

Only 3 and a half days left of school! Can't wait to have my girlies home and the freedom of later bed times and sleeping-in! Lazy days of summer hanging by our pool.....here we come!

Playing Catch Up - Katie

In December, Katie learned to do the monkey bars. This girl has no fear!

In March, Katie and I met a lot of her preschool friends at the zoo. I tried to take advantage of our time together before she is in school full time.....I honestly can not believe she will be in kindergarten next year!

In May, Katie had her preschool graduation......I didn't even cry as much as I thought I would! But I am sure that I am going to be a mess on her first day of kinder!

Katie spent her first day of summer catching caterpillars. She loves all kinds of insects, bugs and animals.

Playing Catch Up - Tori

In January, Tori had her very first sleepover with her favorite friend Jordan.

In February, for career day, Tori chose to dress up as a ballerina. It is a very fitting career for her. She is a fabulous dancer!

In April, Tori received The Principal's Award. This is a big deal! And we were so proud of her!

In May, one of Tori's pictures that she made in art class was chosen by her teacher to be in an art show that was held at a local business. Her art picture is the one on the bottom.

Playing Catch Up - Alli

Here are a few Alli updates-

In February, after only 7 months of braces, she got her braces off! Beautiful straight teeth now!

In March, she joined a volleyball team. The season was pretty short, but she improved a lot during her time on the team.

In April, she turned NINE YEARS OLD! And after five years of asking for a guinea pig, she got one! Meet Bubbles, AKA Piggie. I cried when she saw that we had got her a guinea pig. I was so happy to see her excitement. She has done a pretty good (read OK, not that great, have to remind her a lot, makes a huge mess when cleaning the cage) taking care of her.

Alli also took the TAKS test in April....that wonderful test for all public school students. She struggled with the math part and was tutored once a week for a few months before the test. She was so nervous when she took the test. But I bet she did great. We haven't received her scores yet. And, honestly, I don't care if she passed or not because I know she gave it her best effort. Her teacher sent me an email after the tests were complete to let me know that she had never seen a student work as hard as Alli did while she was taking her test. I am so proud of her for trying so hard! And that is all that matters to me!

Playing Catch Up!!

Wow- it has been quite some time since I have posted anything on this blog! So many excuses....but I wont get into that! Let's go straight to the pictures and updates!

Starting the first week of 2011, after NINE YEARS of being a SAHM, I became an employee of First Friends Preschool! It was a tough transition. I only worked two days a week, but sometimes it felt like five! This was Katie's last year of preschool so I was glad to be at her school.

Katie and I at school on Camo Camping Day

Next year, I will be teaching four year olds- 3 days a week. I am super excited about it....a little nervous, but mostly excited! I can hardly believe that I am at the stage in my life when all of my girls will be in full day school! They really do grow up too fast!

Tori is 6

Tori is 6 years old! 

We celebrated Tori's birthday with a party at home with some of her friends.  We decorated gingerbread houses and played a tasting game.

The girls had a lot of fun decorating their houses and guessing which flavor of candy cane they got. 

Tori asked for an iPod for her birthday.  She has had a lot of fun with that and all the other toys she got.....and then a week and a half later, more toys from Christmas!  Needless to say, she is over-loaded with things right now! 

And the best part about turning six in our house is - you can get your ears pierced!  For a long time, Tori was saying she was going to wait until she was seven to get her ears pierced.  Which was completely fine with me....six is just the earliest that I want them to do it.  But then just a few months before her birthday, she changed her mind.  So after school on December 14th, we went to go get her ears pierced!

Her eyes are a little teary....she cried when they did the first one, but was fine after the second one went in.

Hard to believe she is six years old!  She is a great kid!  So sweet and loving!  And she has been doing an awesome job taking care of her newly pierced ears.  She is so responsible!  (It must be a middle-child thing!)

Halloween 2010

The Queen of Hearts

Miss Strawberry Shortcake

A Beautiful Butterfly

As always, the girls had a great time trick or treating!  I loved the costumes they picked out this year. 

Here they are with our neighbor friends ready for the evening to start!

Look at all that candy!  So dangerous to have all this chocolate in the house!

America's Greatest Generation

An era that has been said to be the most terrifying and turbulent in our nation's history, an era of men who served their country by fighting in and winning the battles of World War II, and of women and men who helped America finance the war with their home front efforts, these are the men and women who are now referred to as 'America's Greatest Generation'.  My grandpa, Alex Rodriguez, was one of the men who served in our nation's military during this time.  He served in the United States Army and lead a group of solders in the Philippines as a Staff Sergeant.  He served proudly.  He was a man that took Duty, Honor and Country to heart.  And up until his last days, he participated in every local WWII event.  He rode in parades, waving his flag proudly, as the crowds honored him and the other veterans.  But he was humble and never boasted about his medals.  Grandpa could usually be found at one VFW or another.  He was selected through a veteran's program to be taken to see the WWII Memorial in Washington DC.  Sadly, he will not make his flight, missing it only by three weeks.  My grandpa passed away on October 14th.  He was a great man.  He was loved by so many people.  And I am proud to say that I am a Rodriguez and that my oldest daughter is named after her great grandpa. 

Alex Rodgriguez, my grandpa, front and center holding the flag.

 

In honor of Grandpa, Post 76 conducted a 21-gun salute and flew the flag at half mast.

  

 

I am fascinated with this generation of great men and women - their dedication and patriotism helped shape our nation.  Veteran's Day is right around the corner.  Don't let this day pass without thanking someone from our Greatest Generation.  I wish I would have called my grandpa every Veteran's Day. 

10/10/10

Today was a very special day for us!  A few months ago, Alli asked Jesus to be the Lord of her life.  And today, (on her half birthday), she obediently followed Christ in baptism.   WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER!  And I am so thankful for her decision and her desire to be obedient!  I love that my children are getting to experience Christ at a young age.  My prayer is that Tori and Katie will follow in Alli's foot steps and make the decision to follow Christ.  And that they would never stray from His path!

In her baptismal outfit

Proud daddy ready to baptize his first daughter

So sweet! I love this picture!

September

Wow! Time is a flyin'!

September was a busy month for us......well, every month is pretty much a busy month for us!  But with the start of school and all the activities that come with the start of school, it seemed to be extra busy for us!

Alli is taking cheer for the first time this year.  She is really enjoying being a cheerleader and is already talking about wanting to cheer again next year. 

She also got braces!  She had the bottom braces put on at the end of August and the top ones a few weeks later.

Here she is with her new braces!

 

Hopefully these things will make her teeth super straight because they are really a pain in the butt!  We were at the orthodontist at least once a week when she first got them.  She was always having some thing or another poking, stabbing, or hurting her.  She seems to be doing better with them now that they have been on her teeth for awhile.

Tori is loving school.  She loves going to art class and loves the new friends she is making.  Her favorite day of the week is Tuesday.  Tuesday is ballet and tap for her.  She loves ballet!  She has been saying for at least two years now that she wants to be a ballerina.  She is very good at it and practices at home all the time.  I will go into the playroom and she will have all the chairs set up ready to give me a show!

Katie is doing well in preschool.  She has really developed an interest for words and reading in the last few weeks.  She is in gymnastics and is doing very well in it.  My favorite days with Katie are Wednesdays and Fridays- these are the two days that she does not have preschool.  I love that we get one on one time together!  We cuddle, read, clean (she loves to help!) do puzzles or go shopping.

These pictures were taken at one of Alli's games. 

First Day of School

My girls are back in school!  The summer seems to drag after the first month and then August just flies by!  And now we are back to rushing around and having long To Do List's to get through......how does that happen? 

Alli is in 3rd grade now!  She's getting so old and big too quickly!  I am very excited about her teacher this year.  She seems like she is going to be great.  Alli has a couple of friends in her class, which is always the most important thing to her.  She apparently likes school only for the social aspect!

Tori is in kindergarten!  Wow- kindergarten!  It is crazy how fast time flies!  She has adjusted very well to kinder; although, it was a bit tough in the beginning.  She was so tired when she got home, she did not like going every day and she definitely did not like that I could not walk her in after the first week.  But now she is good!  She is very confident in where she is suppose to go, and, of course, her big sis is there to walk in with her.  And she really seems to be enjoying her class....I get a full report of everything that happened that day!

Katie is in her last year of preschool!  She was so excited to start school, probably because her sisters started two weeks before she did.  Her 'best bud' Georgia is in class with her again.  Katie already knew who her teacher was going to be because she goes to our church.  And she thinks she is the "best teacher in the whole world"!

July

Another month of summer has gone by!

July was definitely a more relaxing month for us. I have been taking full advantage of the fact that the girls actually sleep past 7:30am! This is the first summer that my girls have slept in and it has been nice! Now I can let them stay up a lot later and not have that dreadful feeling of what the next day will be like because they are so tired. I have had to wake them up several times this summer for piano, swim or whatever else happened to be scheduled before 10am. I can't believe that I have had to wake up my girls at 9:30 in the morning! Who would have thought this day would already be here?!? I have been sleeping-in myself....not waking up until 7, 8, or sometimes 9! I am a little nervous about what the morning of August 23rd will look like. I haven't seen 5:30am since May! And the girls have not woken up before 7am since May....hopefully we will all get back into the swing of things very quickly.

The most important event in July for us is Katie's birthday. She is four years old now! We celebrated her birthday in San Antonio with family. And came back home to celebrate with Grandpa and Linda who came down for a short visit. 

FOUR YEARS OLD!

Hitting the pinata at MoMo's and celebrating with swimming, cake and presents with her cousins. (And Paige, but she is kind of like a cousin!)

  Katie and Tori showing off her "Ariel Museum". Every gift she opened had some kind of "Ariel" in it. Can you guess who her favorite princess is?

 

 

At Build-a-Bear with sisters, her best bud Georgia and Jackson (Georgia's brother).

 

So, other than Katie's birthday and a few pics of the girls eating watermelon.....that is our July! We were so busy relaxing that we did not even get the camera out!

Enjoy your last few weeks of summer!