Ooops! Neglect Again

I do apologize to my dear blog here! I have found a new friend who occupies what little computer time I get each day...facebook. However, for whatever reason I came across my blog today, it makes me realize I miss reading about things that happen in our daily lives. If I don't record these little but precious (maybe to only me) moments that happen with our children...I will never remember them. Therefore, recording them is a must! Just today, Landry came to my house with not a front tooth found in her mouth. As I giggled with her about losing her teeth, I remembered Rylan's picture when he lost several front teeth at the same time. I had no idea where the actual photo was located but I remembered it was on the blog! Not that anyone but me cares about these things but Landry and I enjoyed looking at his photo and laughing! So, I ramble all of this to say, I need to do better but realize time is an issue! I also dropped my camera off a mountain in Colorado this summer. I haven't replaced it yet. So, pictures are slow coming these days!

Hum.....what to say that has happened since our last post July 13th....yikes!

I will start with Hudson or 'Hudpup' as he prefers to be called. Wow! Does he keep us laughing, crying and wondering what have we gotten into? He still has no idea he is four. By his actions and words he will try to convince you that anything the older two do or say, he can also do. I suppose this is normal but very scary! This school year, Hudson is attending my preschool with me. It has given me an opportunity to see him learn and interact with the other kids, which I have enjoyed. He misses his friends at the other school but he enjoys our time together each day, I think. He played soccer for the first time this fall. On the day of his first practice he said, 'I finally get my OWN practice!" His team is called the Dozers. His buddy Trey is on his team. It took Ryan, Tammie and I together to coach this little team! Not that those kids were crazy, we seemed to have scheduling conflicts often! He scored numerous goals in almost every game and loved every minute of playing. Hudson is also very interested in 'learning' as he calls it. He likes for me to find worksheets and print them off for him to do his 'homework' like his brothers. He often is in his room working on writing, letters or watching his 'learning' videos as he calls them. On New Year's Eve, I told Hudson, "at midnight you know you are supposed to kiss someone you love." His response, "does anyone know where Summer lives?" Summer is a girl in his class at school! OH MY!!! Rylan and Caden laughed till they had stomach aches! Love that boy!

Caden turned 8 in December and finally lost his first tooth just after Halloween while playing in a soccer game. He was thrilled because in his eyes 'everyone' else had lost several!! He is having a good year in 2nd grade with Mrs. Deaver. He has fun teasing back and forth with his teacher who is a Tech fan, about A&M and Tech. This fall Caden also played soccer. His team did very well and even played in a tournament. His summer league baseball team went to the state baseball tournament at the end of July. I took Caden and Hudson to Tyler, Texas where we stayed from a Sunday to a Thursday. Ryan stayed here with Rylan's team as they to played in the state tournament for 10 year olds. We had a good time at the tournament. Caden pitched the first game and did an outstanding job. I think he had 11 strikeouts, definitely his best game! (I realize I am rambling about events in an out of order kind of way but when you are 7 months behind, I think you get to do that!) Caden still is the most giving person I know. He is generous with his time and money. If he has cash, you can bet he is planning on spending it on someone else. I just love that about him! We had a kickball birthday party for him on December 12th. He has lots of friends join him at our church. They played Wii, xbox, kickball, listened to loud music and I think had a fun time. I am very thankful for the friends he has in his life!

Rylan left Woodland Heights this August to start 4th grade at Coggin Elementary. He has two great teachers and in his eyes, most importantly, several great friends his in class! All the 4th graders combine in this building for 4th grade, which can be a little intimidating! I think it has turned out to be fun for the kids to meet new friends or get to be at the same school as their friends for the first time. Rylan finished up summer league baseball in July at the state tournament here in town. They won 2nd place this year....not bad for a team called the Longhorns...haha! He then decided to play soccer, again. We pushed through that this fall with Rylan really showing improvement while playing his left wing position. Everyone decided maybe he should focus on being a field goal kicker on a football team because of his strong kick, so they say!! We also made one more season of fall baseball with our favorite coach, Jose Sierra of HPU. Jose put the Hurricane team back together and played in several tournaments. The highlight of this experience was in the last tournament, Rylan finally made his 'dream' come true, as he says! He hit an out of the park homerun! It was very exciting to see him do something he had really worked hard to achieve. However, it got better the next day, when he walked up to the plate with bases loaded and hit another out of the park homerun!! oh my...couldn't help but tear up a bit! It was fun! When December came, our family was extremely glad to have sports out of our schedule for a while! Of coarse, it won't last but the break was welcomed! Rylan has experienced some struggles this fall with reading. I am proud of him for not getting to discouraged and really working to overcome. He is maybe one inch shorter than me and wearing bigger shoes than me!!! He gained 15 pounds over the summer and early fall...115 is his weight. Yikes, I have a child who will be bigger than me in just a short time! It really makes me see just how fast time goes!

Our family enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with Ryan's family as we celebrated the wedding of his sister Alicia to Christopher in Houston. It was fabulous! Rylan and Caden wore suites, looking so handsome. Hudson wore a tuxedo as he escorted the ring bearer and flower girl down the aisle. Ryan is still praying for more economy recovery as he continues in his job! I still enjoy my part time pre-k class each day. (Now, I kinda feel like I am writing a long winded Christmas letter!) In everything, God is still God and shows us daily his blessings in our life. I should just simply blog about that, huh?