Month in Review - September: Trip to A&M, 3 soccer goals, lots of birthdays, and big 2 year milestone!

Okay, so it has been awhile since my last update. Things have been pretty busy. I usually update on a week basis, sorry this is for the whole month of September.

So far this September:
- My parents are home from traveling for a little while. They were gone 5 straight months on their tour of the west coast and Colorado.. Oh the ways of retired lives. We are all very excited to have them home for awhile before they go on their next adventures.

- My nephew Kannon turned 1 years old! He is getting so big. They threw a nice party where they turned the whole back yard into a splash area. Of course my kids LOVED it and had some much fun. Katherine was "flirting" with the older boys, chasing them around. Kannon got LOTS of fun things for his birthday, and of course really LOVED his cake.

- The next weekend Katherine had her very first soccer game of this season. She has really improved this year. Came close to scoring a goal. That day (Sept. 17) also marked my dad's birthday, so we had a bbq for him AND it marked two years since Colin's last open heart surgery, even more reason to celebrate. We have gone two years without any intervention to his heart. AMAZING!

- This past weekend we had tickets to the A&M vs Oklahoma State football game. Me, Matt, my dad, my brother (which it was his birthday), his wife, her dad, Matt's best friend, and his two friends all went up to Texas A&M to enjoy in some college football, and of course a little bit of drinking. Hanging out in a shot bar before sitting out in the hot sun for football… that's what it is all about :)

- Katherine stayed with my mom and went to her soccer game.. CAN you believe the game we missed, she SCORED THREE GOALS! Yeah. They spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging out. Colin was at Matt's parents and went to visit the cows at the AG barn. Colin was asking where sissy was while they spent the day apart, no for me :). September has been a busy and very fun month. Ready for some cooler weather as we are still in a drought and breaking record temps. We have been swimming a few times this month trying to cool off. October and cooler weather is hopefully right around the corner. We already have lots of fun things in store for October!

ME & MATT BEFORE THE A&M GAME (Fitzwilly's Bar)

ME & MY DAD, Getting ready for the A&M game (shot bar)

Goodbye Summer - a quick recap

Summer has come and gone, school has started, and fall is here. Memorial Day weekend begins the summer season and it's always sad to see it go with the end of Labor Day weekend. Though it's still warm here, Katherine is now is Kindergarten, fall soccer season is one week away, and the careless days of summer has passed by once again.

We had a great summer this year, even though the summer heat wave, drought, and work things prevented some of our summer plans, we still got to do a good amount.

Here is a just a quick recap of highlights from fun filled summer:
- 8 trips to the beach.. Yes we love the beach..
- 4 trip to the splash pad/pool - notice a trend with the water activites.. Heat wave!
- 3 weekend trips (1 to New Braunfuls and 2 to Corpus Christi)
- 3 birthday parties (including Katherine's 5th birthday)
- 2 train rides
- 2 trips to the zoo
- 1 cave exploring adventure
- 1 trip to a Aquarium
- 1 trip to the Children's Museum
- 1 ferry ride
- 1 movie in the park
- 1 slumber party
- 1 paddle boat ride

Also countless ice cream cones, playing in the sprinkler, water balloon and water gun fights, family movie nights, Katherine's field trips with her summer camp, play dates with friends, time spent with family, coloring, summer craft projects, and complaining about the heat and no rain.

It was a great summer and I am very excited to see what fall brings us.

Labor Day Weekend (Pool, Zoo, Nature Hike, and College Football)

We had a nice, relaxing, yet fun filled weekend. You know us, we never sit still too long. Tropical Storm Lee missed the Texas coast and went east to Louisiana.. Giving us some cooler weather, but left us out of the much needed rain. But we took advantage of the cooler (90 degree heat verves 107 degrees) weather. Saturday we went to our neighborhood pool & splash pad since it was the last weekend of the season to be open. Uncle Russell, Aunt Lara, and Kannon joined us for some swimming and lunch afterwards. After lunch we watched college football.. One of my favorite times of year!
Sunday we got up and it was overcast and only 82 degrees, so we headed to the zoo. Perfect weather to walk around and see the animals. Katherine's favorite was the jaguar while Colin's favorite was the monkeys! The kids love the zoo! That evening we all got our maroon on ready to cheer on Texas A&M in their season opener. Gig'EM Aggies.. WHOOP! I made nachos, perfect for watching A&M win their first game of the season. A tradition is to kiss after each time we score, there was lots of kissing in our house that night as we won 46 to 14. Monday it was still pretty cool outside, so we took an early morning hike to the Houston Arboretum through the nature trails. It has been so long since we have been able to do out activites beside the beach and pool due to our heat wave and extreme drought. After our nature walk, we went and ate lunch outside on a restaurant patio to enjoy the beautiful day. Then home to relax before starting the work week.
I had posted on facebook when we were at the zoo, and a friend replied that she likes that we are always on the move… my response was.. You only get to live life once and that is a lesson that life has taught us. With Colin's special heart, I have learned not to take it all for granted. We are blessed to live in the here and now, so enjoy it while you can. Colin is doing great now, but that may not always be the case. We have another open heart surgery to face in the next 2 years, I want to make sure every minute counts. It's not that I fear death, I just want to celebrate and rejoice in life.