Nutcracker Dance

Today was Kaylyn's last dance class before the holiday break. As a surprise, Ms. Melissa had them perform 2 numbers for the parents and then the girls had a cupcake party before class ended. Kaylyn LOVES her ballet/tap class!

Family Portraits

Our annual family portraits were taken at Portrait Innovations last week.

Donuts with Dad

Last week Palmer Elementary had a Donuts with Dad event . It started at 7am and Brian had been dreading the day for 2 weeks. He kept saying to me, there is no way I am going to be able to get up that early and go with the 2 of them to that. But we know from past experience that Kaylyn has the memory of an elephant and is very aware of all school events and their dates. After listening to Brian complain about not wanting to get up early and go for 2 weeks, I finally said the night before – just tell her you all aren’t going to go because it’s too early. She’ll be disappointed, but she’ll recover from it. It’s not like he hasn’t taken her to every single event at school this year (even when I am at work and he has to take them by himself). Well, I go to work that morning and check Facebook when I have a moment and what do I find?? Pictures from Donuts with Dad…..Brian is such a good daddy, I knew he would take her!

Visiting Saint Nick

Well, I can’t sleep so I am posting several separate posts about recent events since I am so behind on my blog. Here are the kid’s Santa Pictures. We took them at First Colony mall the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had just seen Tangled at the movie theater. The kids were having a great day and were excited to see Santa. Kaylyn went first to show Jack how it’s done. She had brought her own handwritten wish list (off the Toys R Us catalog). Her and Santa read it together before their picture was taken. The list comprised of Moon Dough Pizza, Playdough Presto Dots, Crayola markers, and Moon Sand. Such an easy girl to please – she really doesn’t ask for much! Jack also got to spend quality time with Saint Nick. They sat together for a couple of minutes talking before their picture. I have no idea what they discussed.

Dancing Queen

Kaylyn loves to sing and the other day Brian heard her singing a new song to herself. He had no idea what song it was, but could only make out the lyrics "Party in the USA". He looked it up in iTunes and found out that it is a Miley Cyrus song. We didn't know where she had learned this song, but my best guess was that she learned it at school (since she learned the macarena there already!) The next day, Brian played the song he had downloaded on iTunes while Kaylyn was playing on her computer. She immediately started head-bobbing and moving to the beat in her chair, and eventually got up to dance. Brian then played it for her the next night and caught the new dance moves on the Flip. LOL - She's already so grown up! I guess we've entered the Hannah Montana stage....

Brian's Video Documentary

Recently Brian finished working on a film/photo/video documentary piece of his life so far. It moved me to tears, especially the parts about the births of our children. It is beautifully done and so I want to share it with everyone. He chose music from the LOST soundtrack and I think it suits the video perfectly. Enjoy, and if you want to leave him feedback, click here to go to his genealogy pwebsite and leave a comment.

A picture speaks a thousand words :)

Pumpkin Patch Ballet

This past Saturday was Kaylyn's first performance with her ballet class from Sugar Land Dance Center at the Pumpkin Patch and Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Sugar Land. Above is the video I took on the Flip camera.
Afterwards, the kids played on the playground. Jack dressed up in costume for the occasion. Click here to see some of the photos that I took.

Frantic Fall Fun

Below is an assortment of video clips from the recent goings-on. I have been so busy with the kids and their activities and work (we had our EPIC go-live this week) that I have not been posting regularly. I am trying to catch up now...


This first clip is of Jack doing his stretches at gymnastics class. He used to have melt-downs and insist on my being on the mat with him. The coach told us that we needed to physically leave the building for a few classes until he got used to being in class without us visible. This week we stayed for the first time in a month. He didn't even look at us once the whole class. He's getting so good and following directions!!


This clip is from Kaylyn's ballet/tap class. They are wearing their costume tutus for a practice run of their Pumpkin Patch dance. Kaylyn's class has been invited to perform at Holy Cross Episcopal Church Pumpkin Patch event on Saturday, October 30th. Anyone who is interested is invited to come watch! I think the performance is at 3:30pm. I will post more details at the date gets closer.


This final video clip is from my dad's birthday dinner at my parent's house. Kaylyn had baked a chocolate cake with minimal help from her dad. She even cracked the eggs by herself (no shells in the cake!). She then frosted it with white icing and her brother helped decorate it with sprinkles. We all sang happy birthday and had cake after dinner.

Future Golden Globe Winner

Well, obviously the Davis family has become quite busy since school started.

Kaylyn LOVES kindergarten and her new ballet/tap classes.

Jack is attending Colony Kids 2 year-old class twice a week.

We got a new shower after a leak was found under the old one.

Finally, my dad had his total knee replacement surgery done today.

I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off and Brian should win a "Mr. Mommy of the Year " award for taking care of running the kids around to all their activities and keeping the house in working order.

Now, the video above was a totally improvised clip. Kaylyn and her brother decided to don hats and silly sunglasses one night after their bath and run around the living room. I turned on the video camera and told Kaylyn to "say something" and this is what I got! I've been told by a couple of people that she needs to be in theater classes. Maybe one day she'll be on Broadway or the silver screen....

Dancing Princess

Well, I think we made a good decision to cancel soccer and let Kaylyn take Tap / Pre-ballet. I took her on Monday afternoon after school to the Sugar Land Dance Center to take a tour and watch a class. We both liked the dance studio very much and registered her that day. Today was her first class and it looks like she did really well.....Brian may have to practice his hairbun making skills though, LOL! I was sad that I missed the first class, but I am so glad that Brian caught some of it on video!

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, we set out at 07:30am to make sure we had enough time to get to her school. We parked down the street and walked to the school together. Jack was a big, grumpy mess and Kaylyn was super-excited. When we got to her classroom we ran into an old childhood friend of mine. One of his daughters is starting kindergarten in the classroom next door. Then, when we go inside, Kaylyn sees an old classmate from Pre-K at Colony Kids. She smiles and says good-bye to us with no problem. However, her brother Jack cries for her the entire way back to the car. Then, to top it off, when we get home, he won't have anything to do with me. He only wants his daddy. So I did fine up until then, then I did break down and cry. It's so weird not having Kaylyn running around the house after she was here all summer.

Click here to see pictures.

Last Wednesday we celebrated Brian's 35th birthday. We had dinner at Russo's NY Pizzeria. We then headed back to the house to surprise daddy with his Star Wars cake. The kids had a great time singing happy birthday to daddy and helping him blow out the candles. Brian got a new iPod Touch and accessories - just like he wished for!


To see more pictures from the event, click here.

Galveston Fun

Well, we're back from Galveston and everyone is a little bit tanner. We had a good time. Clarissa had no idea how exhausting the 2 kids would be, especially after being in waterparks with them for 2 days!! We went to Moody Gardens on Saturday and did the Aquarium thing. Clarissa then took Kaylyn on the Ridefilm. After that we headed back to the hotel to eat lunch and change into swimsuits. We then spent the rest of the day at Palm Beach. For dinner that night we tried to go to Rainforest Cafe, but it was a 2 hour wait!! We went on the river ride at the restaurant then had dinner next door at Landry's instead.

Sunday we got up and packed up the car and checked out of the hotel. We had a nice breakfast at Starbucks before hitting Schlitterbahn. I had no idea that Schlitterbahn in Galveston was so toddler friendly. There were multiple kiddie pool areas, some in shade and some in sun. I also like that you can bring your own cooler into the park. The kids favorite part was the wave river...see above picture. Somehow I think Palm Beach will now just be a memory. They will want to go back to Schiltterbahn instead!!

To see the photos from the trip, click here.

This video is so true....

The Greatest Show on Earth

Well, I am a bit behind on my updates here, so let me try to catch up. Last Thursday my mom, my sister, and I took the kids to see the Ringling Brothers Circus at Reliant Stadium. We got cheap seats (they were actually good seats, just not expensive) through 97.9 The Box's website. The kids had a great time and my sister and I ended up spending more money at the circus than on the tickets themselves. The kids made out like bandits, as usual. Although I wouldn't agree that the Ringling Brothers Circus is "the greatest show on earth", it was entertaining. Kaylyn's favorite part was when Mr. Gravity (the evil clown) turned into a Bengal tiger. I personally liked the double human cannonballs just before intermission.

Now, Brian is off to Ohio with his mom to visit family and work on genealogy stuff. Meanwhile, I have the kids to myself until next Tuesday. Clarissa and I are planning to drive the kids down to Galveston on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend doing water activities. We have tickets to Schlitterbahn Galveston and Moody Gardens. We are staying at The Victorian Condos on the seawall. Pictures and stories to come next week when we get back. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Summer Portraits

Well, not much too going lately worth blogging about. But, today we FINALLY took portraits of the kids. I've been meaning to take them since Kaylyn's 5th birthday (May). We went to Portrait Innovations again. I am always pleased with their work, plus we get the photos immediately after the sitting. It was a rough start to the sitting since Jack was not having any of it. He was grumpy and throwing tantrums. He has definitely reached the "terrible twos". Thank goodness for the patient staff who took time to play with him until he warmed up to them. They managed to get him to smile in his pictures! Kaylyn on the other hand is an old pro at the picture-taking. In fact, the photographer called her "quite the ham." Again, we were pleased with our portraits. Click here to see some of our favorite poses.

Wicked

I finally had a chance to see Wicked as it played here in Houston at The Hobby Center. Chris invited me to see it with her and some friends. We started off with a nice lunch at Artista, in The Hobby Center. We then attended a 2pm showing of Wicked. It was a great show, it was funny and had great music. I loved the 2 witches! I think I'm going to get on Amazon now and find the Gregory Maguire novel to download to my Kindle. Thanks for inviting me Chris!

The Glazery

Brian took Jack to Lufkin on Thursday to spend a long weekend with Nia and Papa. Brian stayed the night on Thursday and then did genealogy research on Friday on the way back home. In the meantime, Kaylyn and I had mommy & daughter time! We started off by seeing The Karate Kid together on Thursday afternoon. Then, we picked up some Sonic and met Aunt Clarissa at the house who fixed our TV for us. "YAY AUNTIE!" On Friday, Kaylyn and I went to The Glazery to paint some pottery together. Kaylyn painted a coffee mug for her daddy and I painted an airplane keepsake box for Jack. They are being fired in the kiln and will be ready to pick up next week. I will post pics of the finished products when we pick them up. After painting, Kaylyn and I had a nice lunch at Pho Mai Vietnamese Noodle House. Then we took a trip to the new Sienna Branch Library to check out some new books. Kaylyn picked out some Curious George books to read before bedtime and I got a Tess Gerritsen audio book, The Bone Garden. We had a great day.

Kaylyn's First Fishing Trip

Kaylyn and Jack went for their second visit of the summer to Nia and Papa's house. We started off with dinner Thursday night at Cafe Del Rio. Kaylyn ate quesadillas, chips, and tortillas with squeeze butter and honey. Our pediatrician would be proud of her nutritious meal ;) Friday we went and saw Toy Story 3 at the Lufkin Mall movie theatre. The crowd was well-behaved, the kids were well-behaved, and we enjoyed the movie. I even had unexpected tears at the end...who would've thought that a cartoon movie about toys would be so sentimental? Friday night, Brian and I headed back to Houston since we both had to work on Saturday. Saturday morning Kaylyn went fishing with her Papa, Uncle Scott, and a family friend. I've been told that she caught 2 fish and handled the minnows like a pro. I'm so proud!! See a video of her fishing trip HERE. Later in the afternoon, Kaylyn went to see Shrek Forever After with Nia while Jack hung out at the house with Papa and Uncle Scott. Sounds like they had an eventful weekend full of movies, crafts, and outdoor activities. I hope they're thoroughly worn out and go to bed without a sound tonight!!

Mini Olympics

Kaylyn has been taking gymnastics classes at school on Wednesday mornings. Today was here Mini Olympics. It was a chance for her to show off what she has been learning in her class. The Mini Olympics was held at Alpha Omega Gymnastics. Kaylyn got to wear a Alpha Omega Gymnastics leotard as her uniform and perform for her mom, brother, grandma, grandpa, nia, papa, and aunt. She was so very excited to receive a trophy with her name on it and ribbons for each event: bars, beam, floor, and air track. Go Kaylyn!!!

To see more photos and video from Kaylyn's Mini Olympics, click here.

Galveston Trip

As a late celebration for Kaylyn's birthday we spent the night in Galveston. I had made a reservation at the Moody Gardens Hotel with a package that included an all-inclusive 2-day pass to all Moody Garden attractions. We drove in Wednesday morning and checked into the hotel. We then spent most of the day at Palm Beach. The kids had fun as we rotated through the splash pad to the swimming pools to the water slides and then started all over again. We got lots of sun and had lots of fun in the water.

Later in the day we went up to the hotel room and took baths and got dressed for dinner. We drove down the seawall and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We were having dinner and it was like a volcano epidemic.... the staff brought out at least 5 volcano desserts to other tables while we were eating, so we joined the crowd and ordered a volcano for us too! Brian and I couldn't finish off the large brownie and felt guilty for leaving some on the plate, it was so good!

The next morning we woke up to a view of Schlitterbahn next door. We'll go there when the kids are a little bit older. Instead, we ate a great breakfast at IHOP on the seawall and then saw all the sights at Moody Gardens:

The Aquarium Pyramid
The Discovery Pyramid
The Rainforest Pyramid
Happy Feet 4D Special FX Theatre
Wild Oceans 3D on IMAX
Amazeing Butterflies
Colonel Paddlewheel Boat
Ridefilm Theatre

We did a lot and it was an exhausting day. We headed home about 6pm and stopped for dinner at Russo's on the way home. This is Kaylyn's favorite restaurant. It was a fun trip!

To see all of our pictures, click here!

Birthday Celebrations

Well, Kaylyn's birthday is off to a grand start. First, a birthday dinner at Chuy's in The Woodlands on Monday night with Nia and Papa. We had dinner and cupcakes. Then Kaylyn opened gifts. She got a personally engraved Disney snowglobe in a birthday theme. She also got a Disney Girl doll (Disney's version of an American Girl doll) along with a Belle outfit and a Tinkerbell outfit. Very cute!

On Tuesday Brian brought a purple butterfly cupcake cake to Kaylyn's school. We left one of our cameras with her teacher, Ms. Liz. They took pictures for us while her classmates sang Happy Birthday to her. I'm sure she loved it!

Then, Tuesday afternoon, Uncle Scott met Brian and the kids at Chuck E. Cheese. They had pizza and played games for 2 1/2 hours. Of course Kaylyn and Jack didn't really care about the pizza, they just wanted to play! Kaylyn got a really cool Ni-Hao Kailan Lego set from Uncle Scott and Aunt Kathleen.

Finally, when I got home from work, Brian had decorated the house and Kaylyn got to open gifts and have birthday cake. She got her long-awaited Ladybug Pillow Pet. She also got a soccer ball, Play-Doh Ice Cream Shop and Prince Naveen doll. To top off the day, we watched "Today's Birthdays" on the Sunnyside Up Show on Sprout and the card that I had made several weeks ago made it onto the show. Kaylyn was so excited that Chica got her birthday card and that her picture was on TV. What a lucky girl!!



To see pictures click on the various links below.

Pictures from Chuy's Birthday Dinner, click here.
Pictures from Colony Kids Party, click here.
Pictures from Chuck E. Cheese, click here.
Pictures from home, click here.

Birthday Coming Up...

Not much to post right now, but Kaylyn's 5th birthday is almost here (on Tuesday). I'm sure I'll have something to post by then. Otherwise, highlights from this week...

1. Kaylyn had her pre-K graduation party on Friday at school which I missed because I had to work,
2. Kaylyn has claimed that she is "allergic" to beans,
3. Jack has learned to play freeze dance (very cute!),
4. Jack hit Kaylyn so hard in the face with a toy car that she got a nosebleed....Kaylyn is fine, and last but not least
5. Jack has decided to give up his afternoon nap every day this week!

Never a dull moment around here. At least Kaylyn's Ladybug Pillow Pal arrived in the mail. Of course she asked for the ladybug, which is the number one seller and on back order for several weeks. Fortunately it has arrived and is currently wrapped and hidden in the back of my closet. I'm sure I'll have pictures to post of her with her ladybug next week. 'Til then!

Another Year Flown By

Brian and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this past Saturday. Brian happened to take the day off because we were supposed to attend Kaylyn's Pre-K graduation party at Colony Kids. Unfortunately, the rainy weather cancelled the festivities. Instead, we invited the grandparents and Uncle Scott to meet us for lunch at PF Chang's at First Colony. Lunch was nice, the food was good and everyone got to visit. Afterwards, Mike and Chris took Jack back home to Lufkin for the rest of the weekend. Kaylyn went over to my parents' house to spend the night. Wow! A whole night without kids?? Brian surprised me by making reservations at America's in the Galleria area. We ate there one other time.....the night that he proposed. The food was excellent and I found out that I definitely prefer a classic red sangria vs. a white sangria (2 completely different drinks!). I had the pork carnitas, Brian had the churrasco steak. We split some bread pudding and tres leches for dessert. We could barely breathe when we left, we were so full!! Afterwards, we headed home and watched AVATAR in HD. It was a nice anniversary celebration. I am looking forward to many more in the future!

Moving on to bigger things....like kindergarten!

Kaylyn is almost ready to graduate from pre-school at Colony Kids. She is registered to start Kindergarten in the fall at Palmer Elementary School. She will officially become a Palmer Bear!

She has learned so much this year. She is an expert with her colors, numbers and shapes. She can count to 100 and she has begun reading. She has participated in school spelling bees and can recite many nursery rhymes from memory. She also has been taking gymnastics and computer classes as extra-curricular activities. This Saturday will be her graduation party, then 2 more weeks of school before the summer break. Brian and I are so proud of how well she's done! Here she is in her cap and gown.

Rockin' Mother's Day Concert

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies, grandmommies, aunts, moms-in-law, godmoms and every female who influences someone else's life. I had a great day hanging out with my family at my parent's house. We had barbecue and filipino food for lunch. The kids spent the afternoon running around and playing. At one point Kaylyn had her toy guitar out and came over to give me and her grandpa an impromptu rock performance. I must say she had the act down well. NEVER a dull moment with my kids.

Strawberry Fields Forever...

Today we went to Froberg Farms in Alvin, Texas. We met my mom's family there for a Sunday morning of fresh strawberry picking. The weather was nice and the kids all really enjoyed running through the fields and picking strawberries. It smelled like strawberry fruit roll-ups to me when I was standing in the middle of it all. After picking strawberries we shopped in their little outdoor market and bought some other fruits and vegetables grown on the farm. Too bad Brian missed it....we will have to go back on a weekday so that he can enjoy picking strawberries with the kids too. But first, I have to eat the HUGE container of fresh berries that are currently chilling in our refrigerator!

For a complete photo album of our adventure, click here.
To see pictures from my parents house after the strawberry picking, click here.

Let's Go Fly a Kite, Up to the Highest Height...

Scott and Kathleen returned from China on Friday night. Saturday night they came over to the house to spend time with Mike, Chris and the kids. Brian and I were both working and missed out on the fun. Brian and I had bought a new swing set that we were putting together in the back yard. We were interrupted by the rain the other day, so the project was left more than half unfinished. Mike and Chris finished putting the set together for us. The kids spent the afternoon playing in the back yard. Later in the afternoon Scott and Kathleen arrived with presents for the kids from their trip. One of the presents was a new kite. Scott and Kaylyn had lots of fun flying the kites in the neighborhood. To see some pictures I posted a link to Scott's Flickr photo album here.

Scott and Kathleen's Special Day

There were so many great photos from this weekend that I had to post several. The rehearsal dinner was at Denis Seafood. The wedding was at Brenner's Steakhouse. It was beautiful and there were many teary eyes during the event. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. And it was obvious that everyone had a great time. Jack really enjoyed meeting Kathleen's parents and was caught several times spending time with Kathleen's mom. Kaylyn had a blast playing with Kendall. Kendall's dad, Jared, and his brother Jeff, kept the two girls entertained all evening. Brian's toast was so emotional that he even had the servers holding back tears. The food was excellent and we got to eat Crave cupcakes after dinner. What a great night! Congratulations to Scott and Kathleen as they embark on their new life together. Last night's wedding was a great way to kick it off!

If you want to see pictures from the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, click here.
If you want to see more pictures from the wedding, click here.

Backyard Fun

We let the kids have their first run of the season through the sprinklers today. Kaylyn wore her brand-new bathing suit (which already seems small). Jack wore the swimming trunks that wouldn't fit him last year. They had great fun running and screaming and getting soaked. Now we're about to grill burgers again for a nice dinner outside. I love this time of year.

Spring is here!!!

Brian and I feel very good about our hard work on the front and back yards the past couple of weeks. The front looks alive again and the rose bushes are growing back in nicely. We got a nice, new, BRIGHT garden flag with a ladybug (Kaylyn's favorite) on it. We re-vamped the backyard and now with a new flower bed, bird feeder, and swing, we actually like spending time out there. We had a backyard dinner picnic on Monday. The kids loved it. I love spring!

Happy Easter 2010

Well, this is the first day in weeks that I have truly felt at peace. Jack has recovered quickly from his heart cath procedure last Thursday and is back to his normal self. I took my kids to church for Easter Mass with me and my family today. One thing they were missing was their daddy, who had to work. They also miss their grandpa who is in the Philippines. Today reminded me of how blessed we are. I spent the day watching my children have fun with my family. We are so lucky to have so many loved ones who surround us in our everyday lives. And I was reminded in the last few days of how many loved ones we have that are far away. I hope everyone had a blessed Easter holiday. I think we have much to be thankful for. Happy Easter everyone!

Here are some pictures from the Easter festivities at my Tito Dading and Tita Mai's house.

Update on Jack

In case some of you don't know, Jack has been seeing a Pediatric Cardiologist since we found a new heart murmur at his 2 year old well-child check with his pediatrician. He is seeing Dr. David Sapire with Texas Children's Cardiology. He has since had xrays, EKG's, an echocardiogram and an MRI/MRA to look at his heart. They found a defect called a coronary artery fistula that is causing his coronary arteries to dilate. He is scheduled for a cardiac catheterization procedure this Thursday at Texas Children's Hospital, where I work. To those of you who know what's been going on, thank you for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts. I am hoping that with this procedure on Thursday that they will be able to fix the defect and Jack can just concentrate on recovering. I will be posting updates as they come. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. With love - Charlyn

Pacquiao Fight Night

Spent last Saturday night at my Tito Noning's house to watch the fight with my family. Kids had a great time running around in front of the tv while everyone was watching. It was good food, good fight, good company. Went home around midnight....thought the kids would fall asleep on the way. No such luck!! They were wide awake when I pulled in the garage. At least they slept in on Sunday!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!!

This week Kaylyn's school was celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss. All week they've had special activities such as "silly socks" day, "silly hat" day, and "silly sunglasses" day. Today was the actual birthday party in Dr. Seuss' honor. Students were encouraged to dress like their favorite Dr. Seuss character. I made an emergency run to Hobby Lobby last Tuesday and bought red and white felt squares. I made Kaylyn a cat in the hat costume and I thought it turned out pretty well. Here's a picture of her before heading off to school this morning.

Playing in the Laundry

On many of my nights off, we play a game of hide-and-seek, time-permitting. Brian, Kaylyn and I take turns hiding and finding each other throughout the whole house. Jack mostly helps seek. He is actually a very good seeker, must be due to his line of sight being 2 feet from the ground! One night, the kids found me hiding in a pile of laundry on the bed. They came and joined me in the pile of laundry, then didn't want to get out! Jack was so funny, he would lay back and just lounge in the clean laundry. My kids are so funny....

Good Ol' Backyardigans

Here's another video clips from a couple of years ago. Kaylyn is about 2 1/2 years old. She could already sing most of the lyrics of her favorite songs, including the Backyardigans theme song. Check it out!

Potty Song

Brian has been busy converting all of our VHS videos into digital video files. We've been having lots of fun seeing videos of Brian when he was younger. We are having even more fun watching video of Kaylyn when she as younger. Here is a clip where she is just a little bit older than Jack is now. Brian is trying to get her to sing the song that plays on her fancy potty. (We're in the midst of potty-training) All he gets is an echo....a pretty funny echo at that. Stay tuned for more video clips as we continue to discover all those funny clips we have forgotten about. I can't wait to get hold of the VHS tapes at my parents house. Then we can add "young" Charlyn to the collection.

Some Olympic Fun

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Made this video on the JibJab site. They have lots of fun stuff. Check it out sometime!

Be My Valentine...

Kaylyn had so much fun doing Valentine's Day crafts. We made construction paper cards, a valentine mailbox for school, and egg carton ladybugs. Kaylyn made a special Valentine card for her daddy. Brian had to work on Valentine's Day so we had a nice family dinner the following night. Brian asked me where I wanted to go and I had a craving for breakfast for dinner. I suggested IHOP and Brian agreed and didn't even try to make an alternate suggestion! I guess there's a first for everything. I say it was a double date- Jack was my date and Kaylyn was Brian's date.  The best part for me was when Brian and the kids sent me flowers by surprise to me at work. I was having an especially bad day and it made it so much better! 

School Projects

Kaylyn had a project for school for Black History Month. It was to be a "family activity" in which she chose a person to do a poster presentation on. Kaylyn did her poster on Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a prominent black surgeon in the Chicago area in the 1890's. He is most well-known for founding the Provident Hospital and Nurse Training School in Chicago. He was also a pioneer in surgery. He once saved a man's life when he performed a brand new technique to repair a stab wound to the heart. As Kaylyn presented it to her class...."This Dr. Williams and he fixed people's broken hearts." I thought it was adorable! And it went well with the Valentine theme this week. Afterwards, her class had a Valentine pizza party with cupcakes and cookies for dessert. Kaylyn came home with an overflowing box of cards from her friends.

Williams Family Video

I am so proud of all the work that Brian has done with his family tree. He has an amazing assortment of photos, stories, videos and other precious pieces of history collected and saved. He recently created a video clip to showcase pictures of his mother and her family. He chose great music and did a wonderful job of putting it all together. He could do this kind of work professionally I think. It made me teary-eyed when I watched it.

Houston Museum of Natural Science

Earlier this week we took Jack on an outing to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The weather has been so nasty and poo Jack has been stuck indoors the past several days. He had lots of fun. He especially liked the Weiss Energy exhibit and the chemistry exhibit....mostly because there were lots of buttons to push and wheels to turn! After we left the museum, I went to my 1 week follow-up appointment at the Mann Eye Center. My vision was 20/15 in both eyes and the doctor said my eyes were healing great. Exciting!! Anyhow, not much else going on right now. Kaylyn is getting geared up for Valentine's Day festivities at school. More to come later....

More Disney pics and LASIK news

Okay, for those of you who have been waiting to see the Disney Photopass pictures, click here. Brian was so good to me that he uploaded them to Flickr while I was at work last week. Sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

On a side note, I finally had my LASIK procedure done yesterday. Thank goodness because 2 weeks in my coke bottle glasses was starting to feel like an eternity. Good news, at my post-op follow-up appointment this morning, my vision was 20/15!! I am still having a little bit of intermittent blurriness. It usually means I need eye drops. I'm so excited and happy about the results. I'm also pretty amazed....I mean I could read the street signs on the way home from the procedure. Never could do that before without my contacts/glasses. On my to-do list today....clean out all the contact solution bottles and lens cases out of my medicine cabinet! YAY!!

Ka-chow!!!

Well, my Disney Photopass picture CD has finally arrived. There are so many great pictures on there! I will post a link to Flickr once I have an opportunity to upload them. But, for now, this is one of my many favorites. It just makes me smile. Can you see the attitude/sass in the stance?? LOL! More pics to come later.

Kicking Off the New Decade at WDW!

I know I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, we've just been so busy! And now we are all getting over some sort of illness/ailment since we've been back. We had a great time at Disney World (who had any doubt?). It was cold, but DRY! We all dressed in layers and wore hats and gloves and we barely even noticed the 30-degree weather! The parks were busier than expected, but we still did everything we wanted to. I've never seen so many characters out! My personal favorite character sightings were Mr. Carl Fredrickson and Russell from Disney Pixar's UP and Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from Disney's The Princess and the Frog. According to Kaylyn, her favorite ride was Soarin' at Epcot. We had a nice birthday dinner for Jack at Whispering Canyon Cafe. It included a special-order chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. Yummy! The kids had so much fun...can't wait to go again!




Click here to see pictures from our trip. Coming soon.....Disney PhotoPass photos!

Happy 2010 Everyone!!!