Pre-K

Spencer began Pre-K in the public school system. He goes for a 1/2 day (the same schedule as kindergarten). I was really, really worried about his starting school because of his age. Let's face it, he just turned 4 years old three days before school started.
He has know that he gets to go to "big school" once he turned 4. So, he was more than ready to get to ride the daycare van to "big school."

So far, things have been going great. We are going to continue to hope that this year is a good one for him and that school occupies his mischievous little mind.

High School

Madison started high school this year. She will be 15 min two months. WOW. High school didn't seem too big of a deal considering she has spent all summer at the high school with band. She really wasn't that nervous. She already knows 225 other kids (thanks to band) and many of them upperclassmen.

She has 6 classes this year: Band, AP Geometry, AP Biology, AP English, Personal Finance/Oklahoma History and Jazz Band.

She is completely psyched about Jazz Band because she gets to play her bass guitar. So far things are well. I hope she enjoys this year.

Defiant He Is

My baby boy turned 4 years old. We had a Star Wars themed party. Most of the guests are adults or teenagers, so we decided to have fun with the menu and decor. First was this posting:

Not so long ago in the northern hemisphere, north american continent....

LuCAS

WARS

Episode iv

The Birthday

From the beginning, his energy drew the attention of the Jedi council, who named him Spencer.  in the years following his birth, young Spencer, has been dreaming of adventure.

Now, four years later, the world is in chaos.  The Jedi council has called upon Spencer to train in the ways of the Jedi.  His mission, learn the ways of other Jedi from the other masters.  His journey begins today with this meeting of the jedi council…

During our meeting (AKA the birthday party) we had lots of fun food:

Han Burgers

Obi-Won-Tons

Come to the Dark Side Chips

Jabba the Hummus 

Force Fruit

Yoda Soda

Vader Veggies

Droid Dip

Yoda chose Spencer's seat for him.

The defiant boy didn't wait for a fork to dig into his cake.

Besides Star Wars, Spencer is also obessed with super heros. My friend Carrie made Spencer his very own Super Hero Cape. This is double sided and has a velcro tab around the neck.

Spencer absolutely freaked out and loves this cape.

After the party was done, he was so tired.

During his quiet time, he laid down with his cape on. His new light saber and his new Lightning McQueen blanket. 
It was such a good day in the galaxy.

Two-A-Days

There are no cute pictures to post here. Just a re-cap of crazy band practice. During the last week in July, the average temperature was 106 degrees. One of the days was 113 degrees. It just so happened that during this week band practices began two a days. YEP, 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. As if the temperatures weren't bad enough, the kids learned to march and their drill on the asphalt. God knows how hot that was.
Madison did four things that week and four things only:

DRINK

EAT

MARCH

SLEEP.

It was crazy. If she wasn't drinking, she was eating and if she wasn't eating she was drinking. If she wasn't marching then she was sleeping. She did an amazing job. NOT ONE COMPLAINT the entire week. She worked her butt off!

Are You Ready?

Are you ready for some football???

Wet and Wild Trip

We headed to Kansas City to meet up with Justin's brother, Jayson and his family at Great Wolf Lodge. We had been to the one in Grapevine, Texas, so we assumed it was going to be the same. We very disappointed with the Lodge, but we still had a fabulous time.
Spencer LOVED Uncle Jayson and Madi loved hanging out with her two cousins, Zach and Wolf. It was a fast weekend, but a lot of fun.

Uncle Jayson & Spencer

Zach and Spencer

Zach and Spencer

YES, I do put sunscreen on this boy!

Superhero moves

Yes, Madi went and no, she didn't let me take pictures of her.

Country Driving

I learned to drive when I was 5 years old. I would sit on my grandpa's lap and drive his pickup on the gravel roads in South Dakota. It didn't take too long to find gravel roads, only about 5 minutes outside of the town. When I was finally old enough to legally drive, my mom took me out to the gravel roads in Iowa and I learned to drive a stick shift. It took a bit longer than 5 minutes to find the gravel roads, but not too far. Cedar Rapids is where I went to high school and the city (as with most of the cities in Iowa) are surrounded by deep farm country. Every which way you look there are either rows of corn or soy beans.

Madison is only a few months away from being 15 and being able to get her learner's permit (Oh GOD, that seriously hurt just to write that). We made a quick trip to Iowa to visit my mom in July and while I was out searching for the perfect old barn to photograph, Madi jumped into the seat and began to drive.
On Iowa gravel roads.
 

 A stop at Dairy Queen was a must considering we don't have them in Oklahoma.

She did well. She didn't wreck. Most importantly, she reminded me about how much I miss those Iowa gravel roads.