Catching Up

The funny thing about getting behind on writing here is that the further you get behind, the less you want to catch up.  So, that leaves us where we are, with me having this picture heavy post to get all caught up.  This basically covered mid June to present day.

So, here we go:

I drank lots and lots of this during this whole time to get through.  I was still packing up our house, working 4 nights a week until 10:30 or later, and keeping up with the kids' activities, all with Jes living in Houston 6 out of the 7 days of the week.

We made a trip to the hospital that we have frequented over the past decade to see a couple of doctors for check ups before the big move.  While there, the kids had to play in the play area one last time.

We spent some time with our friends at a new indoor trampoline park.

Caleb and Piper attended VBS at the same church that we went to last year, which happens to be the same church that we had MOPS at as well.  

I ended up teaching Caleb's class at the last minute and Piper was just down the hall in another class and we all had so much fun!

The next 2 weeks after VBS, Piper took swim lessons with her friend Kaylie.  I was a little nervous about how she would do as her swimming skills were akin to throwing a cat into a bathtub full of water.

The girls had a great time and now Piper can actually swim a bit!  She improved so, so much!

The first week that Piper had swim lessons, Caleb went to a half day camp.  This may not seem like a big deal, as kids go to camp all the time, but Caleb has some anxiety when separated from me, so the fact that he went AND had fun was huge!  

Half way through swim lessons, Piper picked up a stomach virus from her little friend and spent a couple of days vomiting.  Such fun.

Caleb had to have some surgery and it all went well and was considered a success.

And then the day after surgery, he came down with the same stomach bug that his sister had.  The hard thing was that he then became very dehydrated and went nearly 24 hours without urinating or having any pain meds in his system.  So, Caleb and I made a late night run to Children's Hospital, where they got him all fixed up.

Later that week, I got the same stomach virus, on the same day that we closed on our house.  However, the show must go on and I took 2 of Caleb's anti-emetics, made it long enough to sign the papers and get back home and collapse on the couch for the rest of the night.  No fun!

That Saturday, we had Piper's birthday party.  She wanted a Hello Kitty party and had been requesting it since the eve of her last birthday party, so what she wants, she got!

Here she is with her cake, made by the same lady who made Caleb's cake for his party.  It was pink and sparkly and just what she wanted!

We decided to have a small-ish party at a local McKinney place called Walls of Clay.  

Here, the kids were able to choose a piece of pottery to paint and then they glazed and fired the pieces.  It was so fun!

Caleb decided he wanted to paint an XBox controller.  Of course.

That cake was huge and was so lit up!  She loved it!

Piper's birthday was the day after her actual party, so I put candles in her donut and we sang to her that morning too.  She thought it as hilarious!  *As a side note, I always put candles in something and sing to the kids on their actual day.  One year, I put candles in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sang to Caleb since his actual day was in the middle of the week.  They love it and I think it's funny.*

On the kids' birthday, we always let them pick a place to eat.  Piper wanted to go to Red Lobster and had been asking for lobster for weeks prior.  When we got there, though, she decided to go with her macaroni and cheese norm.

Once her birthday was done, I was left to do lots and lots of this...

and this...

and this.  No fun, but had to be done.

We went to see fireworks on the 4th with our friends and the kids had so much fun.

They even slowed down for a few minutes for a photo with their mother...

Piper and Emalyn had some deep conversations.

The kids ate watermelon.

And sat on blankets and watched the fireworks.

My 2 had so much fun!

And Caleb and Emalyn snuggled the evening away.

The next day, we all went to the zoo for the last time for a little while.

It was pretty hot, so the kids and I rode the monorail before they closed it for high temps.

Later that week, Piper had an appointment with a GI doctor.  A week prior, P had a blood test to check for Celiac's disease, which came back positive, so we got a quick appointment with a doctor before we left for Houston.  

Two days later, we were doing this.  

And I was taking one last photo of my house in McKinney before we pulled away.  I love that house and was so, so, so sad to leave it.  It was the house that we brought both of our babies home to, but it is just a house.  We will find another.  It still made me sad.

It took longer than we anticipated to get out of the house, so the kids and I stayed another night in Dallas with my parents and started out early on Sunday morning.

We made it to our home in Houston around mid-day and commenced the unpacking.

It took some teamwork, but we have managed to get about 85% of the boxes unpacked and the things put away.

The first week we were in Houston, it did this every single day.  And then it stopped and hasn't rained again since.  We were thankful for the rain when it was here, though.

Jes took Caleb to a Houston Astros game and they were pleasantly surprised to see that the stadium was covered and air conditioned!

Meanwhile, Piper and I went shopping...

and brought home some fun things that she bought with a birthday gift card.

I managed to find my old Barbies, which thrilled Piper to no end.  She loves Barbies, unlike her mother did, so I just let her have them and she loves to play with them all the time.

We took an impromptu trip to the movies to see Turbo.  The kids loved it!

And we decided to go to the beach one Saturday.

Piper and I played in the sand and she shot me with a water gun.

The kids played and played and had so much fun!

We all played in the ocean and had a great time.

The kids and I had to make a trip up to Dallas and P wandered around my parent's house taking picture with people.

And acted silly with her grandmother...

The next day, Piper had an endoscopy to test her for Celiac's disease.  I'll write a post on that later, but we were able to get some good information from this procedure.

True to form, she was NOT happy after the procedure, but recovered much faster and better than she did after her tube placement.

P has been asking to try out gymnastics, so I signed her up for a trial class.

She enjoyed it, but we ultimately decided to go back to dance.  She feels more comfortable in the dance world, so I've been working to find her a dance studio to join.

Late last week, the kids and I drove about 45 minutes north to a big homeschool convention to get our curriculum.  

They both had fun looking at all the options and fun things out there for them to do.  And we even saw friends from McKinney!  So it was a good day!

Our neighborhood has 4 playgrounds scattered throughout, with one just down the street from our house at the local elementary school.  The kids have been begging me to get down there so they could play, but it's just so hot here, but we haven't been yet.  So, we walked down early Saturday morning and they had some fun playing around the mounds of mulch that were laid out.

When we returned home, Jes found a frog in our backyard as he was prepping to mow.  Of course, Piper had to get down on its level and get familiar with our little visitor.

P endured a car wash, without freaking out, a huge accomplishment for her!

And practiced her dance moves in the living room.  

All in all, we are settling in here in Houston as much as possible.  I miss my friends and family like crazy, but we are making the best of our situation!