mac family retreat

Every year (for I don't know how long), our church has hosted a family retreat at the beautiful H.E.Butt Foundation Camps. We have been fortunate enough to attend several times. The focus is on spending time with your family, although the sleeping quarters are divided up between the boys and the girls (yes, that means I get 3 and Shayne gets zero). It's a wonderful opportunity that we try not to miss. The pictures we take each year never seem to capture the beauty of the area (only because we're zoomed in on the kids).

Everybody looks forward to the water activities on Saturday afternoon. They had swimming, canoeing, and kayaking, and for the little ones, there were kiddie pools and slip'n slides.






Last year, the girls performed their infamous "Sisters for Sale" at the talent show. This year, we didn't prepare anything, but each of them still participated. Katie and Anna did a skit with a bunch of the youth - Katie's discovering her love of the stage (she played the lead female), Anna was happy with a background part (she was the rising and setting sun). Bethany, along with all the otehr preschoolers, was invited to participate in a dance routine with one of the older girls... click to watch ...then she sang a duet with her friend Mia.

gone fishin'

Shayne and the girls, along with Mr. B, went fishing a few weeks ago out at Grandma and Grandpa's place.

Looks like it was a beautiful day!


I'm not sure who was taking the pictures, but I guess the cows were feeling particularly photogenic that day...

brush with fame

I usually pick up a FREE monthly copy of San Antonio Our Kids magazine whenever I'm leaving HEB or Wal-Mart. It always has useful information about parenting and lots of ideas for things to do in the area. Recently, they started a photo submission contest. The first I read about it was in July, but it was already a day after the deadline. The theme for the month was "kids and summertime fun" - oh, but I had the perfect picture. I went ahead and e-mailed it, acknowledging that I knew it was late, but the picture was oh, so cute (in my opinion, at least). Well we never heard anything back, and I forgot about it.

About a month later, Katie told me that her Bible class teachers said they saw her in the magazine. We didn't even know we'd been chosen! We stopped at the store on the way home from church that day and grabbed a stack. Sure enough, there they were (the contest winners were all on the inside of the back cover). Bethany even found herself! "It's me, it's Bethany!", she said.

Here is the photo that was selected...


I also thought it would be fun to show you the four pictures I took immediately preceding...














That's about average for us... only 20% of the pictures I take have "potential", although the rest sure are fun memories!

double digits

Katie turned TEN this week! What a journey it has been… and will continue to be! She has always made us very proud. I hope and wish that all HER hopes and wishes come true!


We celebrated over the weekend with a girls’ trip to Dallas. Nana and Aunt Judy met us there for a few days of fun, food, and shopping. We shopped and ate and shopped and ate. We swam, saw live music, rode the trolley, and ate some more. It was a cram-packed weekend!

The focal point of the weekend was a trip to the American Girl Boutique & Bistro. It was the first time that any of the four of us had been. If you're a fan/collector of their stuff, it's an amazing experience. Katie received her first doll, Bitty Baby, and accessories when she was two years old, from Aunt Janet and Cousins Kim & Emily. (It's all their fault!) Her collection grew with every birthday and holiday. When she was in Kindergarten, Santa Claus brought her Samantha. Her collection has continued to grow, mostly through gifts, but she's made a few purchases with money from own savings. For many years (at least 3 or 4), we've been planning this big 10th birthday trip, however, originally, the destination was supposed to be Los Angeles. AG has 3 large stores (LA, Chicago, NY) and 2 smaller stores (Dallas, Atlanta). We had chosen to go to one of the bigger stores because they had more activities to offer, including The American Girls Revue (a song and dance production featuring all of the historical girls). When I went online a few months ago to start make reservations and purchasing tickets, I found out that the curtain was coming down for the last time on September 1st. WHAT!?! We were all disappointed (except Shayne - he's thinking about saving money). Katie's birthday was Monday, and would you believe, I got an e-mail late that afternoon telling us that after 22 years, AG had decided it was time to archive Samantha. WHAT!?! We're working diligently on a wish list... they didn't say when this would happen, just that is was going to happen... we want Katie's collection to be somewhat complete before it's no longer available. (although, there's always Ebay)

alligators and underwear

One of the things I failed at with Katie and Anna was documenting all the funny things they said as toddlers. I'm so glad I have this outlet now... to be able to "jot things down" and not worry about it looking good or being lost in the shuffle of papers and books.

We were walking into the church where Bethany takes music class. As we entered, she said "I want to go to the alligator". My mind immediately began the shuffling process... was there a picture of an alligator? (there are several murals along the walls of the children's wing)... was there a song about an alligator? Just a few steps in the door, I realized that just around the corner was the ELEVATOR. She loves to push the button and wait for the doors to open and shut. Now I know!

We have an older couple that lives a few doors down and they've always been very sweet to our family. They remember the girls' birthdays, have visited us in the hospital, and are always interested in how we're doing. We were driving down the street and saw him working in his yard. Bethany said "there's Mr. Underwear". Their name is UNDERWOOD. I haven't told them yet... I hope they don't mind. :)

would you like something to drink?

Bethany and I were running a few errands this morning and decided to stop for a cold drink. My beverage of choice happened to be a large blackberry iced tea (unswetened) from Sonic. I'm still not 100% confident that Bethany can manage a styrofoam cup unsupervised in the backseat, so I asked her if she would like a chocolate milk (it comes in a little plastic jug with the foil cover under the lid - great for minimizing spills). She said "I want a hamburger", I said "it's not time for lunch, would you like some chocolate milk?", she said "I want some french fries", I said "sweetie, I'm going to have some tea, would you like a drink?", again, she said "french fries, please", I said "you'll have to ask Daddy to get you some french fries this weekend" (as I'm going out of town), she said "french fries with Daddy?", I said "yes, would you like a drink?", she said "chocolate milk, and I have french fries with Daddy"... my girl loves her fried potatoes!

Another french fried story... when Anna was 2, she told Santa she wanted french fries for Christmas, and they were delivered Christmas morning as promised (a bit soggy and cold), but she became a believer for life!

back to school... 6 weeks later

So if I was getting graded on my blogging, I'd probably have to ask for an "I" (incomplete), or else y'all might give me an "F" (failure)... fortunately, my kids are doing much (much, much) better than that... wait a minute, I'm behind on this because I've been helping them with that, right? I give myself an "A" in justification!

Here they are... our two elementary students, Katie entering 4th and Anna entering Kinder... both excited, yet slightly apprehensive - Katie, not having any of her friends in her class; Anna, new school, new teacher, new friends, new routines...
We did encounter a bit of drama at the beginning of the year... first, let me say that we got the thumbs up on Katie's teacher because she had relocated from another school where Katie's friend had her the previous year... now, we also heard wonderful things about the teacher Anna was assigned to - problems arising - she was set to retire at the end of September - WHAT! why would a teacher even start the year only to leave 4 weeks into it? especially in Kindergarten, where the child's foundation is so crucial! Needless to say, Shayne and I were a little concerned (and some tears were shed) - we had the opportunity to visit with the principal before classes started and she was extremely positive and reassuring about the situation - as we had done every year Katie had been in school, we left it in God's hands... Anna is now under the instruction of a wonderful teacher (who also came with high commendations from a friend) and we are sure she's going to have a great year!

We met with each of their teachers this week for conferences. We've never been totally surprised, but always relieved, to get incredible feedback. I've always said it's o.k. if the kids act up a little at home, as long as they behave when they're anywhere else! It certainly holds true... (put on your bragging blinders - this is for the grandparents) we've had teachers say they want their young children to grow up to be like our girls, they've both been described as leaders and favorites (shhh!), and (like we didn't already know) they're both very smart! :)

Our sweet little Bethany also started school this year... preschool that is. She's been ready for awhile, as she was with me for the past three years taking Anna to the same preschool. She walked right in the first day and didn't even look back. She hasn't bitten anyone (hallelejuh!), and I believe she is one of the more vocal children in the class. Earlier this week, she had to do some time-out because she forgot to use her nice hands. We talk alot about using our words and asking a grown-up for help. When I was discussing it with her afterwards, her response was "but they were bothering me!" Hmmm... does that sound like a big sister quote or what? explanation of the pictures: top left - showing the contents of her lunchbox; bottom right - she currently has a fascination with armpits - amidst the other poses, she chose to add these herself