A quick visit to KC

We went to KC for Labor Day weekend and packed it with as many activities as we could! First off.....Brooke's first pedicure! She was great at sitting still and loved being pampered!

The final product....flowers and all!

Next stop, a farmstead where you can pan for gold. The  boys took this job seriously.

Brooke found a "jewel"

Now, off to feed the goats. Drew figured a way to have all the goats surround him. He would get a handful of grass in his hand and then turn in circles so they were gathering around him. He's the goat whisperer I guess!

The sign said "For kids 3-8" I hate it when parents let their older kids ride on little kiddie toys! Ha!

Chillin' lakeside....

Papa holding all of his grandkids! We have seen many pictures like this thru the years. Frist it was his own kids, now its his grandkids.

Everyone cooperating except Brookie..........

Aww.....Nana and Papa and all of their grandkids! What a fun weekend!

Storytime...

I asked Brooke to go up to her room and pick out some books to read before bedtime. When I went up, she was already reading to her dolls.

Making sure her hair is just right.....

Goodnight Everyone!

Just like Daddy....

Since the binky fairy came and took Brookes binky, she has not been sleeping as soundly as she used to. So today, she was not napping. After an hour of listening to her sing songs and making funny noises, Jason finally went up there. He opened the door and found that she had taken her shirt off and thrown it across the room. We asked her why she took her shirt off and she said, "I wanted to sleep like Daddy does."

School's In!!

School started for the boys a few weeks ago. So far, things are going smoothly and everyone is happy! Here is Jackson....4th grade, Mrs. Geddie.

Here is Drew! 2nd grade...Mrs. Echols!

And here is Brookie.....T/Th preschool....Miss Holly and Miss Courtney!



The Maupin Bros.

  Drews good friend, Garrett, was already in class and working.....the classroom was so quiet! Everyone must have been on their best behavior.

 Here is Jackson and his friend, Alexandra. They have been in the same class since they were 2 years old!!! That's 7 different teachers!! Its a total fluke, but I had to document the two of them....I'm sure they were sooooo embarrased!

 At Brooke's school, the moms have to decorate the kids bags. Well, I got wind that these moms go all out on their kids bags and with her being my 3rd child, I was tempted to simply write her name on her bag with a sharpie. But, my mom wouldn't let that happen! We were in KC this weekend and she dyed it (it was a tan color), sewed the trim on it, and we decorated the side of it. So, this morning when I dropped her off, she could dazzle the crowd with her bag. Its a silly thing that moms do, but you don't want your kid to be the only one with the ugly tan bag!!

 I was so proud of Brooke! She walked right into her classroom, where there were several kids wailing and holding onto their mothers legs, and she sat right down and began to color. Let's hope this is the beginning of her being a model student!!
She told me two things about her day...that she got to go to a new playground (the one at the school) and that she made a "paw print" with her hand and it tickled when the teacher painted her hand. Sooo cute!~

KANAKUK 2011...Game On!

The boys just got back from a week at Kanakuk Kamp. It is a Christian Sports Kamp in Branson, MO. It was one of the best weeks of their lives! I feel so blessed that they had the opportunity to go.....

When the kids get there, they introduce each of them and make a big deal about them being there. Each kid feels so special. Then, they tell them what barn they will be in and their counselor comes up and gets them!

Here you can see Jackson being carried off to Barn 7 by his counselor!! He can't believe it!

Here is Drew being introduced....they told him they had been waiting all summer for him to get there and NOW camp could start!! He was carried off to Barn 5!

Each child picks a specialty sport that he will do all week. Jackson picked basketball. They do this sport

each morning and then in the afternoon, they are able to choose different things to do. At the end of the week, they put on a clinic for the parents to see what they did all week. He was showing off some of his new skills :)

Drew chose soccer of course. During the week, the camp posts pictures online of your children doing things, so you can see how much fun they are having. I got this one from their website. He looks serious!
All week, I never saw the boys wearing shirts and the outfits that I packed....forget it! They chose whatever they wanted and I had to let that go :) Drew is playing soccer in his bathing suit....whatever works!

This picture was also from the website. This was one of Jackson's favorite activities. It was "Man Day" at camp and they had to do manly activities. This is apparently the "hygiene challenge" They had to run and put shaving cream on their face, soap in their hair, brush their teeth with their finger, and gargle with mouthwash....then, run and put on a tie and sports coat....I thought Jackson had baby powder in his hair, but he assured me that was shampoo. Not very much of it....kind of like he does at home, I guess! He looks like he's in it to win it!

Another Man Day activity........I know it's upside down....but I don't know how to scan it differently and believe me, I've tried..........anyways, grilling was a must on this day and the boys had a grill off. The teams had to decorate a hot dog with the ingredients available.......marshmallows, pickles, chocolate sauce.....etc.....then, they had a taste tester who made the final judgement. Jacksons team designed a "TNT dog"...apparently spicy, and Drews team designed a "military dog"....they said both the other teams won on that challenge..........notice how everything is a challenge!

On the final evening, the parents get to come and see all that the kids have done all week. One of the best parts is hearing what these college counselors have to say about the boys. These counselors are the neatest Christian guys and great role models for the boys.
Jackson got the Leadership Award in his barn and was also given the character qualities of "Tenacious" and "Flexible"
His counselor Adam goes to Baylor and Andrew goes to Colorado State.

Drew had wonderful couselors as well. At Drew's age, there is a lot of homesickness and Drew experienced that. His counselor told me that he would go out on the porch with Drew at nighttime and pray with him. That helped Drew a lot. One of his counselors, Ryan, goes to Arkansas, and Sam goes to Auburn. Guess who wants to go to Auburn now????? Drew got the "Faith on Fire" award and his character qualities were "Persevering" and "Compassionate". They got it right :)

This is when we were reunited with the boys after a week. They both broke into huge smiles and then Drew started crying.....I think he had been holding a lot of his homesickness in all week, and when he saw us, he couldn't hold it in anymore. But Jackson, he wouldn't stop talking telling us about all the things he did........zipline, canoe trip, blob, pool trapeze, ropes course, water slides...the list goes on!

The theme this year was "Game On" Here are the boys just as we were heading out to drive back to Texas. It's been a week now and we are still hearing them break into song or a funny chant or hear another story of something that happened when they were there. Most importantly, they both told me that they became closer to God....I'm so proud of them and we can't wait until next summer!

A Wrangler Baseball Summer

Jackson played on a tournament baseball team this summer called the Wranglers. We played every weekend in June and it was HOT, but soooooo much fun!

Don't ask what Jackson is doing in this picture....probably getting crazy from the heat...

 Drew was also part of the action as bat boy for the team.  He took his job very seriously and led cheers in the dugout, and was also water boy. He even would come home and practice his pitching in case he was needed in a game :)

 Here is Action Jackson........ready for the ball..........

 And Swing!!!!!

 The first tournament they played, they won 1st place!! What a way to kick off the summer!

 Tournament Champs! Notice who else is in the front row with a trophy....

 Jackson had a great baseball summer and Drew did a great job as Wrangler bat boy......can't wait for next summer!

More from Washington...

One of our favorite museums was the Art Museum. Drew had studied several famous painters this year at school, so he was looking forward to seeing several of Picasso's originals. It was pretty cool! Here he is in front of one of my favorites....

Pointing at his famous signature...

 This piece was in the modern art section of the museum and I thought it was cool. Is it an owl or a fish?!?!

That afternoon, we boarded a bus and went to Mount Vernon. This was a stop I was looking forward to and it did not disappoint. I loved walking the grounds of the estate and imagining George and Martha walking the same path. They have preserved so much of the estate and his house, it is awesome. I especially loved seeing the bed that he died in (so weird to imagine)...the dishes that Martha picked out and to see how she decorated the home.
Jason and Drew are in front of the horse pastures on his estate.

Here we all are in front of the gates of Mount Vernon!

Here is more of the gang....

The boys in front of the doors on his front porch......

When we got back to DC, we went to Old Ebbit Grill for dinner. This is a famous restaurant across from the White House where many congressmen, US Reps....all the power people come and eat. It was just fun to people watch even though I didn't recognize anyone~

The boys got FBI hats and Brooke thought she needed one too.

I felt like we were on the set of Night at the Museum! It was so cool! This is right in the entrance when you walk in.

Grandma and Brooke went into the special butterfly exhibit. It was in a greenhouse, so I had to take pictures thru a window. There were butterflies everywhere and one landed on Brooke's back, which she was SOO happy about and still talks about it!

Here they are checking out something interesting that we couldn't see!