he can see the leaves . . .

today my little 2nd grader went ot he eye doctor.

caleb wasn't really excited about it and with the new school year starting it was time. he's been complaining for a while that he sees better without his glasses. today we found out that is perscription had gotten a little worse and that he's right eye is stronger than his left. he uses his right eye to see and the left eye is getting worse. so . . . that means that he needs to wear those glasses.

i let him pick out new frames and after tring on about 50 pairs he decided on the ever popular "sponge bob". . LOL (i was kinda jealous considering that as a kiddo myself i got to just change the lens. what ever happend to brown plastic and brown tinted lens?) ~jess~

the old
the new

First Day of 2nd Grade!!!

yeah . . . it's finally here. thats right school started today for us !!!

caleb is now in the 2nd grade at pine forest elementary. his teacher for this year is mrs. goodman (and from what i hear she is tough). caleb is in the gifted and talented class (don't ask where he got this, we're still tring to figure it out).

this year there are 4 boys and 17 girls. i think this will be a nice change from the 2 to 17 ratio of last year... LOL caleb has gotten really close to garison and they are real good buddies. they watch out for each other. it brought a tear to my eye when they were reunited this morning (a big hug then a high five). it was so cute. i just hope they don't get into any trouble.

i think this year is going to be fun and hopefully not too hard for caleb.

after school tradition of a sonic drink . . . lol


~jess~

he did it again . . . .

yes that right . .. caleb pulled another tooth.



this time it was at daycare and it came home an envelope.
so now he just needs to start on the tops ones.

yep . . . she's a girl

baileigh is such a girl . . . lol

she likes to come in the bathroom and watch me put on my makeup. here lately she wants to put some on. of course i put a little powder on her nose just for fun. she thinks she is so big.

monday evening art and i were talking in the kitchen when baileigh came to give me a kiss. as soon she kissed me i knew she had been into something. (its funny how makeup powder has a smell) when i looked at her she had a nearly perfect circle of powder on her face. all i could so was laugh and take a picture of course.


~jess~

a little summer vacation . . .

so it's about 2 weeks before summer is over. WOW time sure flies by.

we decided that we better take the kiddos somewhere . . . .so that what we did. we booked a hotel on priceline and headed for dallas. we have six flags season passes and since astroworld in houston is a thing of the past we needed to get our moneys worth so we took the kis to six flags over texas.



friday we left around 12:30. so soon as we got there and checked in we were off to sixflags. we were very shocked by the parking prices. we couldn'e beleave that they actually wanted $30 for vallet. . . LOL and $15 to park a mile away. so . . .. with that said we ate across the street and walked in. sure wewere tired when we got there and the kids were worn out but we saved $15.


it as been a long time since we have been to this park and its funny how some of the ame thing are still there. who could forget the 'texas chute out' (the parachute ride) and the 'judge roy scream'. of course there are new ones and the crowds sure haven't changed.




on friday we put in about 4 hours at the park. so saturday we headed in early (10am). BOY was it HOTT!!!!! i've never sweated so much. art and i agreed that it counte as our work out for the weekend. by lunch we were tired and we decided to head to the hotel for a break. then after dinner we went back. (we must be crazy) caleb and baileigh had a great time. caleb said " this is the best vacation ever" baileigh just wanted to know when we were going swimming.

sunday (my birthday) we all slept in . . . ok 8:00. hey with two kiddos in the same hotel room that was pretty good. i was greeted with birthday wishes and "mommy i'm hungry".... lol gotta love it!!

we packed and headed out after a lunch with art's sister (angie) and brother in law (greg). all in all we had a great weekend. as we wind down the summer i'm greatful that i was able to get away for a couple of days and relax and be with the people i love most in the world.

~jess~
( pictures coming soon . . . )

one down. how many to go?

he did it !!!!

caleb finally lost his first tooth. for about 2 weeks now caleb has been wiggling two teeth on the bottom. tonight he finally pulled one of them all by himself.



at seven i was beginnig to wonder if was ever gunna lose a tooth. i'm not really sure when i started losing them but now that it has started i'm sure he'll look real cute for school pics this year. now he can't wait to lose the next one and he even has one lose on the top.



it's been so long, since i've had a talk with the toothfairy. i wasn't really sure how much she would leave him. (ya know with inflation and stuff) i wasn't really sure if caleb would be impressed with 5 dimes. luckly 2 dollor bills did the trick. i'm still not sure if she left enough. how much are baby teeth worth these days anyway? . . . LOL

~jess~

A late 4th of July . . .

ok . . .so i'm a little late with this post.

our 4th of july activities have become a family tradition. for about 28 years now my dad has been shooting fireworks shows. he started shooting the local show at gateway in beaumont. for about 15 years now he has been doing a show in mont belview. (which is about 1 hour away) art has been helping for 10 years and one day may have his own show.



our 4th of july are exciting. the chickies start out early with some sale shopping. the guys however start their day out with dashing around trying to get together everything for the big show. my dad always waits till the last minute and usually he calls mom a few times to get her to bring the forgotten items. i can't even count the number of last minute flash lights that are bought and lost each year.

usually the fireworks are lit by hand. the guys have to dig holes for the pipes to fit in. each shell is loaded one at a time and lit with a flare. i never watch the show cause i'm always afraid something will happen. sometimes there are no problems but there have been a few mishaps like burnt hair or eyebrows... LOL



this year was a little different. dad finally got his 'electric' show. i think he was excited until he started wiring it. the pipes came on a trailer and each shell had to loaded into the pipes. then wires from each shell had to be attached to the 'mother' board then connected to a battery. dad and my brother spent about 5 hours loading the shells. once everything was wired then the trailer was moved to the location of the show. about 20 extention cords were used to connect the trailer to the 'mother' board.
dad said it was easier to shoot but the getting ready was harder.

all in all we had a good time and the show was a success.

~jess~

a weekend away from home . .

so couldn't get the pics to upload so i made a slide show of the weekend instead.
btw . . . the website is www.slide.com it's easy to use but it can take long time and sometimes you have to change the size of the file. good luck

~jess~

a weekend spent away . . .

ok . . . so art and i are off together every weekend (unless i'm on call). which means we usually have to find something to do so the kiddos are not completely bored. sometimes we goto town (beaumont) and waste time or just hang around the house.

well this weekend was just like all the others accept . . . we decided (very last minute) to head to houston. we had no plans, just a hotel room that art found cheap on the internet. so about 10:30 am we were on the road. the weather wasn't the greatest, the forecast said it was gunna rain. (and it did)

the kids didn't care what we were planning to do as long as it included a dip in the hotel pool. so not long after our arrival we headed to the pool. after a short dip we went bowling and then grabbed a bite to eat at caleb's choice (chili's).

after a saturday night in the hotel, we headed out on the town. we headed to one of my favorite stores IKEA. the kids had a blast in the play area. art and i spent a few dollars on things that i could not live without . . .LOL

then we pretended like we were rich folk and decided to take the kids for an educational experience. we headed to the museum district downtown. caleb notices everthing and his eyes lit up when he noticed were we where. the houston museum of natural science was our stop. (the only stop) i was truly surprised at how much an educational experience cost. . . lol caleb and baileigh loved the dinosaur bones and the most of the interactive things they got to play with. i thought they would enjoy the IMAX movie. after the show i was dreading the questions that might follow, since the show was about the human body, to my surprise caleb was more into the exhibits. (it must be a boy thing)

we had a fun little vacation away from home and headed back to ready ourselves for a short work week.

~jess~

so i got a little bored . . .

GaToR CoUnTrY . . .

ok . . .so this summer the kiddos are going to day care two days a week and they just happen to be on the days that they take them on 'field trips'. so . . i get to pay less for daycare per week, but i also get to pay and make lunches for the field trips . . . LOL.

anyway, caleb and baileigh got to goto gatoe country. for those of ya'll that don't live around here, gator country is in hampshire-fannett. this place has been open off and on for about 15 years. they have a wide range of alligators for you to see. art was able to go with the kids on this trip and take some pics.

although it was raining the kids had fun. they got to see the babies and the daddy of them all "big al". . . lol ( i don;t think he is really the daddy but it sounded good.) they got to pet and even hold them. baileigh came home talking about feeding them "weenies" and caleb said they were soft and cold.




i'm sure that they will want to go again someday and feed them "weenies". perhaps on ypur next trip to southeast texas you can stop by gator country for a "snack" . . . LOL

~jess~

note to reader: no gators were harmed in the posting of this blog.

shetland astros 2006

ok . . . our t-ball season is over. YEAH !!! caleb and the vidor astros came in a very respectable 2nd place, with a record of 17-3-1.

.
those boys sure played their hearts out and i'm sure they were sad to see the season end. :-( however . . . i think some of the parents were just fine with it.

caleb didn't make all-stars this year but he sure did his best all year. he has mastered the right field and will be movin' up to the next age group next year. so this was our last year of t-ball.



we have really been blessed to have grat couches. caleb has been on the same team 2 years in a row and he got to know the couches. i sure hope when we move up to coach pitch next year that we get a great coaching staff. it has been nice to have church members on the team as well as in the class room.


after a great season the coaches and parents gave the kiddos a party and the "lapray" pool. hotdogs were had by all, followed the tradtional cookie cake. the boys got special awards from the coaches. caleb got the best sport coaches award. coach hal gave all the kids a 'real' silver dollar.


we are lookin' forward to the off season to practice for the new season.

~jess~

$$$$$ our latest buy $$$$$

ok . . we have been married almost 9 years and art has not had a new truck since 1996. it was time.

he started a new job in january and he waited his "120days" and it was time to make that buy.
friday he was off work and he headed down to talk to someone. lol .. they, of course, sent him home with one (to try) that was a little more than we wanted to spend. so that evenin' he bought a newspaper to see if there were any better deals. (of course there were.) so bright and early he headed back down there to see if they would match the prices in the paper. after a little bit of tough talk art got his way and ended up in a little different truck that was about $7,000.00 dollars less. this made us both feel better.


so in between our bowling party and picnic we went on down to silsbee and we got us one... LOL
art is on cloud 9. he is very happy with his new Ford F-150 supercrew cab.

~jess~

the first weekend of our summer vacation . . .

ok . . .summer is finally here and we partied like no tomorrow on saturday.

first thing saturday morning the kiddos had a birthday party. one of the many cousins, rylee, had a bowling party. baileigh was excited about gettin' to wear "bowl" shoes. caleb didn't want to use the "sissy" ramp. they both finished with respectable scores, caleb 97 and baileigh 61. they had a blast.

after the indoor fun we headed outside. it was off to the beaumont yacht club for some BBQ and swimmin' in the beautiful neches river. the surgery department at st. elizabeth rented the club and we had our annual picnic. there are a few docs that got together and started a garage band. so "3CG" (3 car garage) played. they are pretty good for a neuro surgeon, ortho surgeon, general surgeon, and 2 scrub nurses. we all had a good time and crashed as soon as we got home.

the kiddos are lookin' forward to a summer of swimmin' and (their new love) bowling.
i hope everyone has a great summer. :-)

~jess ~

a nice LONG weekend

ok . . a holiday weekend . . . humm

usually monday holidays don't benefit me at all, my work schedule has me off on monday. this year with art's new job he is off on fridays so . . i took off from work we loaded up the mini-van and headed to san antonio.

art's sister, angie, lives there and we are lucky enough to get to visit. we love goin' to san antonio and spendin' time with angie, greg and the girls. of course after eatin' at our favorite places we always come home a bit heavier . . LOL



we took the kiddos to fiesta texas on saturday. they had a blast. caleb is into the roller coaster this year, though he still lacks an inch to get on everything. baileigh rode her first water slide solo. she was all smiles 'til she hit the water at the bottom, she decided to try something else. we had a good day followed by a chris madrid's hamburger.

we headed back to southeast texas on monday morning. traffic wasn't too bad. it was nice to get home and get ready for another week of work and the last 3 days of school.
thank you angie and greg for lettin' us chash at ya'lls house. it nice to spend time with your family. we love ya'll.

jess :-P

ASTROS WIN !!!!!

ok . . so it's the not the houston astros but we cheer our hearts out for them just the same.

caleb is in his 3rd year of professional baseball training. caleb has had his ups and his downs but he never spots smilin'. he is glad to be returning to the astros this year. he loves his coach. we are lucky to have great management.

this year caleb has spent a lot of time in right field. he has really come along way and he backs up 1st base on most throws. tonight he got an out at 2nd. it was the 3rd out of the inning and caleb was grinning from ear to ear.

we are almost at the end of the season and those boys have put up a good fight. i believe the stands are 12 wins, 3 loses and 1 tie. we are proud of our little astros.

GO ASTROS !!

~jess~

its gettin' hot in here . . .

LOL . . . i tell ya when it rains it pours at our house. it's funny how when you get a little ahead something always happens.

some of ya'll may know that we bought a house a few years ago that is prolly older than me. . . ok older than my youngest sibling. anyway, we have noticed over the past few weeks that the air conditioner just is not gettin' the house as chilly as one in south east texas might like.

i myself really don't have a problem with it 'cause i could wear pants year round and ask just about anyone about the blankets that watch tv with. art, on the other hand does have a problem with it. poor guy sweats nearly all night anyway and i have to have my socks . . . LOL.

so, today was a beautiful day outside. the sky was clear, the humidity was high and air conditioner was on all mornin'. it wasn't a real surprise to come home from church to the air on. the only difference was that it was set on about 72 (thanks to art) and the temp read 80. i tell ya it's bad when it's hotter in the house than outside.

so, now instead of a really nice holiday weekend we may have to settle for a holiday at home :-(
we're sure hoping that its something minor and that it won't cost us that arm and leg that we don't have.

~jess~

Birthday fun !!!!

alright, another year of birthdays done. (yeah for me !)

this year we decided to have both caleb and baileigh's party outside of the house. that's right we paid to have it somewhere else. let me tell you it was the best money ever spent. we show up, we party hardy and we leave. all we had to do was up our trash in the cans and walk away.

i'm sure i can speak for a lot of moms out there when i say that i can't really enjoy my child birthday party. if the party is at my house i go into OCD mode and get a little freaky. i can't get the house clean enough and can't really get in to havin' peeps there 'cause i want to make sure that the house is perfect. usually i don't get cake and i never eat at the party.

so this year . . . we went for the change up. caleb and baileigh both had their parties at the local skating rink. ha...ha... baileigh who turned 4 in april had never even skated. the kiddos had a blast. cousins from near and far had a great time.

this year at school caleb is one of only 2 boys in his class . . . so i knew that it might be a long shot to have kids from his class at the party. i was a nervous wreck wonderin' and wishin' that a few of the 'girls' would show up. caleb was so happy (and so was i) to see 5 chickies from his class.
those girls sure gave him a run for his money. he was smilin' all afternoon.

thanks to all the birthday wishes this year!
~jess~

the kiddos

ok... so these are my kiddos. caleb just turned 7 and baileigh is close behind at the ripe old age of 4. i couldn't ask for a better brother and sister team. caleb loves his sister so much and they get along (most of the time).

caleb is in the 1st grade and has brough home some rather interesting spelling words. i'm tellin' ya if his math and spelling get much harder we may have to hire help.

baileigh will be in a pre-k program next year. she is our little DRAMA QUEEN and know it all. i fear she knows more than me. we could call her our little elephant . . . 'cause she never forgets a thing. if you promise her something then you better follow through (she'll remind you if you forget).