Tennis Lessons

Tennis Lessons have begun!  Lincoln was glad to get back to playing tennis, and his Bowie buddies Nick and William joined him for the tennis session.  They had so much fun this summer at camp at Canyon Creek, they wanted to take tennis again too!  They were working hard and really concentrating with their instructor.

Surprise . . . Ms. Sally opened a group of 4 year olds for the same lesson time.  Beau was so excited to get to have a tennis lesson too!  It definitely helped that Shayne (one of his best girls from the pool this summer) would be in the class.  Shayne is a total sweetie and loves Beau, and they had so much fun at tennis.  His first Canyon Creek tennis shirt was very exciting! 

Totally sure that one of these will be a tennis star one day . . . just have to keep the pic to prove it when they are winning at Wimbledon! 

We had a great dinner at the club with all of our families after tennis.  What a great Monday tradition! 

Lincoln managed to stay up a little late and do some crafting with paper plates.  What super hero is green with a shield . . . that's the one that he made!  And he made several more, but it was too late to take more pictures.  Paper plates are way better than paper to craft with!

End of the Soccer Season

The soccer season finally ended with a make-up game on a Thursday night.  We have had fun this season with out extended Ninjas team and Coach Jessie and Coach Andy.  It was a bit of an adjustment to move up to a bigger field and more aggressive teams, but we played well and had fun.  The boys got trophies at the end of this game.  Kate got the coaches gift cards to Manny's with a fun popcorn treat, but there is no photographic evidence of it (and we gave it to them after the later mentioned tournament - thanks to Kate for getting that!)

Minnie and Bubbles came to visit for the weekend!!!  Minnie was in charge of lots of reading (and sweeping because this place is forever needing sweeping no matter how much it happens).  The boys loved having her read them books.  Bubbles was stuck with hanging ceiling fans.  We are so thankful that he switched out 5 ceiling fans in such a short number of hours.  The whole day on Saturday was spent shuffling between multiple soccer games (we had entered a tournament) and back at the house.  We left Bubbles at the house to go out for pizza with friends while he tackled the master bedroom fan, but at least Minnie thought to bring him a pizza home! 

These two guys have had fun this soccer season!  Beau and Charlie already spend the older brothers' basketball season together, so they were happy to play during soccer this year.  On a semi-chilly, almost rainy day, they hung in for multiple games.  

Soccer is over . . .football is over . . . time to start back up with tennis lessons and basketball!!  We have had the best fall sports teams, and now we are transitioning to our winter sports.

Two More Pictures from Halloween

When the pictures were downloaded from the big camera, these were found!  Taken at the old house before the club Halloween party on October 30, Lincoln and Beau were happily decked out with teir best Ghostbusters smiles!!! 

Sweet huggers . . . if only they were always hugging this sweetly!  Gotta love the jumpsuits and Proton Packs! 

 

Beau's First Field Trip

Beau's class got to go on a Field Trip!  The school supports the North Texas Food Bank, and they wanted to teach the kids about giving to those in need.  Along with donating canned/boxed food to the box in the hall, they asked the kids to do chores at home to earn money.  They pooled their money and got to go shopping for the food so they could really be involved.  (Probably the most exciting part was riding the bus to the store!!!)  Mommy got to come help the teachers supervise while they shopped, and the kids were so excited about it.  Look at all of those sweet Primrose kids ready to shop!!

It was definitely an adventure and drew lots of questions from other shoppers about why a class full of kids were hanging out at a grocery store!  Ms. Moses had a list (she forgot it, but Mommy had it on her phone) of canned vegetables, chili, soup, granola bars, cereal, crackers, and such, and the kids took turns selecting items from the shelf to purchase.  We had two carts full of goodies and made out way to the checkout.  Another strange sight at the grocery store was a group of kids lining the floor while the teachers checked out.  They had a great time and were pretty well-behaved!  Beau really got the message and had so much fun. 

The next week, their class went to the North Texas Food Bank warehouse (and rode the bus again!) to deliver their goods.  They got a tour of the warehouse and learned that their donation would feel 400 meals!!!  Beau had a lot to say about the trip, and it seems like it was way more impactful than just dropping off a few cans in a box at school.  He still liked that we gave Star Wars Cheez-Its and Kraft Mac and Cheese in the box, but he really got to see a Food Bank and learn about how it helps people.  We have had a great experience at Primrose since Beau moved there almost 1 1/2 years ago (how has it been that long!), and we all enjoyed this service project that he was a part of. 

Bowie Mustangs Flag Football 2015 - The Recap

One big cumulative post about the Bowie Mustangs 1st Grade Flag Football team!!!  The boys had so much fun and really learned so much about the game from our excellent coaches.  Head Coach JD was in charge of the offense, and he had the boys running specific plays in no time.  These guys were quick and ready to run!

Another fast hand-off for more yards.  Lincoln Boyuls, William Grimsley, and Blake Mayfield traded off on quarterback duties, but it was probably mostly Lincoln Boyuls.  He handed off the William, Blake, and Ty Henkel a ton.  Those boys worked great together! 

Coach Malachi was in charge of the defense, and he had a great game plan.  Lincoln, Nick and William were zeroed in on grabbing flags. 

Lincoln played Safety (Coach Malachi's college football position, so they had a little bond) and made several crucial flag pulls to save a score.  The coaches said he really was the last stop to get the flag, and he did great! 

And he always politely handed the pulled flag to the opponent afterwards!!! 

Lincoln has never been such an aggressive ball player, but football (combined with being on defense in fall soccer) taught him to use his quickness to stop the person with the ball.  He's figuring out his strengths! 

Back on offense, Ty was one of the favorites to hand off to.  He was a great running back!!!  He (and William and Blake) made most of our touchdowns. 

Canon was on offense too, and he really learned a lot about the game this season.  We all cheered his good runs! 

Grayson and Crawford did a lot of hustling on defense, and it was always a team effort to not let the other team score.   

After the defensive series, Coach Malachi had a quick team meeting under the tent.  Gotta keep these guys focused and in the game! 

Coach JD went through the playbook with the offense in a timeout.  His laminated cards showing the plays were great! 

Half-time was always a chance to regroup and get our priorities straight.  Luckily, we were usually winning, but it was a time to get everyone refocused on the game. 

Little brothers had to amuse themselves during the games, and Case and Beau always found fun over Transformers and snacks.  Love these two guys! 

We finished the season with only one loss and made it to the play-offs.  We were one game shy of the Super Bowl, but the other team that day was just better (and WAY bigger, how were they 1st graders??).   Everyone was happy with their first year of Flag Football, and we can't wait until next year. 

Our end of season party was at Taco Joint, and the boys loved eating together.  We should meet up at the Taco Joint more often!!

We presented the coaches with YETI cups and a card, and they loved it.  Coach Malachi talked to his defense team and congratulated them on their awesome hard work. 

Coach JD told the boys how much he appreciated their hard work and talked to his offense about their great plays.  (He also came to talk individually to each defensive player and thanked them specifically for each of their contributions.  He told Lincoln that he saw each flag that Lincoln pulled and knew that he prevented 3 touchdowns from being scored.  Great coaches!!!) 

Flag Football was so fun and so successful for the boys.  This neighborhood, this school, these kids, and these parents are the BEST!!!! 

 

School Pictures - Fall 2015

Lincoln took the happiest and sweetest school picture ever for his 1st grade school picture.  What doesn't scream, "I LOVE SCHOOL AND WILL SMILE SO EXCITEDLY FOR THIS SCHOOL PICTURE" here???? 

As usual, Beau was a little more reserved in his school picture.  He was kind of like, "I'm okay with this, and I'm not going to protest or cry, but I'm not really a fan of sitting for a picture with a strange photographer."  At least we got a real documentation of how these boys really are at this age. 

The New House - Part 2

Night One at the new house went well.  The boys really were cozy in their rooms and slept well.  It was a great decision to set up their rooms first and make them feel at home.  Plus all of the trick or treating wore them out!

The upstairs was complete with new wood floors, but the downstairs was still the concrete slab.  We spent several days wearing shoes in the house to avoid the dirt and such.  The upstairs TV wasn't online yet, so the boys were happy to watch a cartoon in the living room on Daddy's old office couch before it got moved upstairs too!  Waiting on floors and furniture . . . make it work! 

Beau enjoyed breakfast and a banana before school.  The one room that wasn't touched was the kitchen.   

By Tuesday, the stairs and all of the downstairs were finished with hard woods.  It looked great!   

The guys left their tools and had plans to come back to finish some detail work on the floors, but it was starting to look like completion was soon!  Still no furniture had been delivered, but the TV guy had worked his magic over the fireplace! 

The Saugier's brought us dinner one evening, and it was so yummy!  They got a quick house tour, and we enjoyed the cards the kids made for us.  Sweet friends!

So close to settling in . . . furniture is coming soon, boxes are being unloaded, moving is the pits!!  But all is good and everyone is happy at the new house.

Halloween 2015 - Ghostbusters

Halloween Night . . . a favorite night for all!  In the midst of all of the house/moving stuff, we had been discussing the perfect costumes.  Lincoln was pretty sure he wanted to be something from Star Wars, and Beau was pretty undecided.  On our first trip to the costume store, they were both a little underwhelmed.  Nothing seemed that great.  Mommy noticed a Ghostbusters costume and showed them.  They thought the idea of a Ghostbuster sounded cool, but they weren't too interested.  We went home and talked about what we saw and still no one was excited.  Then Mommy showed them clips from the Ghostbusters movie and found that an animated Ghostbusters cartoon series was online.  They were sold!!!!  We couldn't get back to the costume store fast enough to buy the costumes!!!  They tried them on several times, but we were saving the inflatable Proton Pack for the actual night.  After moving all day, we had a big dinner party at the Katsoulis's house with all of our besties!  Pizza, a Chick-fil-A nugget tray, salad, and fruit fueled us for a long night of trick or treating.  Lincoln and Beau were ready to go!  They LOVED wearing their Proton Packs! 

All of the kids were super excited and smiled for a group pic before we started off down the street. 

We walked a ton and trick or treated on so many streets in the neighborhood.  We met up with several friends along the way and had so much fun.  Sometimes it was like a herd at the door, and the sweet homeowners were kind to the massive group.  Most of the kids just grabbed candy and bolted while the parents were yelling from the sidewalk to say thank you!  Beau was a little different . . . and was pretty selective about the candy at each house.  If they had just Skittles and Starbursts in the candy bowl (or something else he didn't like), he would just say no thank you and walk away.  That kid!!!  I guess it's good that he used his manners while denying their candy!  We stopped at a fun party outside with a DJ and pizza, and that was a huge hit!  (The pizza made up for the Skittles and Starbursts that Beau had denied!)  It was definitely a fun Halloween and great way to end the Moving Day!

Moving Day!

Moving Day!  Saturday morning (Halloween Day) was moving day.  The moving company showed up at 8:00, and we got busy!  We directed the crew of 4 with the big stuff, and Nana and Pops were there to help with the rest.  Daddy snapped this last picture of the old house moments before the power was shut off!!  He had called and told them we wanted the power shut off on 10-31, but we had no idea that would be at 9:00 am.  It was raining and dark, and it was a beating all the way!

The crew unloaded the truck at the new house, and Lincoln was eager to help.  He chose to sweep, and he was the happiest sweeper ever! 

The crew finished in just 4 hours, so we took a lunch break.  We dined on Jersey Mike's by the pool.  These guys were so excited! 

Nana was at the old house (in the dark) finishing up packing, Pop Pop was helping getting her stuff to the new house, and the boys just wanted to go for a swim in the new pool.  It was pretty chilly and rainy that afternoon, but they definitely got to stick their feet in.  Then they wanted out immediately to warm up!! 

Mommy got busy upstairs setting up the boys' bedrooms.  We didn't want any issues at bedtime because they were upstairs and on their own.  It was almost time to trick or treat, and we wanted them to come to our new home with a familiar space.  Moving Day 1 was a success.

The New House - Part 1

This isn't the first time we have moved, but we don't do it often.  Our first house as newlyweds was mostly updated by us and our family.  We wised up when we purchased our second home just before Lincoln was born, and we hired a crew to come in and take care of the painting, floors, and bathroom updates.  With this house, we are going all the way with a general contractor to handle all of the renovations.  We both work full time and can't be around to supervise or find people to do random jobs throughout the process, so Steve to the rescue!!!  Steve had a crew for painting, floors, plumbing, electrical, demolition, construction, and so much more!   It was a giant effort to figure out what we wanted the new house to look like, and we had a tight three week time line to work!!! Many evenings were spent at Home Depot to select fans and doors and such. 

Many hours were spent at the flooring store to select the hardwoods that would go throughout the house.  Juan was ready to install with his team and gave helpful guidance all the way through!! 

Oh, the paint!!!!  It seemed easy at first . . . paint all of the ceilings and closets and boys' rooms white.  It got a little complicated downstairs, but we really worked with Robert to find the best solution.  Their detail work was amazing! 

Flacco's team helped us out with the built-ins in the living room, and we are so happy with how it turned out.   

One of the most major parts of the renovation was tearing down the second story deck and closing that part off.  It was pretty rickety and didn't pass inspection.  Instead of repairing it, we chose to rip it down.  There are too many boys who would want to jump from th4e second story deck into the (shallow end of the) pool, and it just seemed like the right thing to do to seal that up!!   

Where that sliding glass door to the deck once was now is walled in with two windows.  Safety first!!! 

The hot water heater was replaced, and a new refrigerator took it's place,  The doors leading outside from the bedroom and the laundry room have been taken out and walled in.  Who needs so many entry points?! 

So much more construction is going on, but the house is looking so great.  It is such a blessing that we have time to live at the old house while most of the work is going on at the new house.