Follow-up on our Artist!

I'm still ticked that I can't upload pictures! My computer is blocking it. I think it's our internet settings. I'll figure it out.

Anyway - about a month ago (see 2 posts back) I posted Taite's entry that she drew for the cover of her school directory. Her picture did not make the cover. However, they chose a select few that they featured inside the book. Her picture was amongst them! She was SO, SO excited. She said, "I got 2nd place!" :) We were really proud of her & excited that she got her picture featured in the directory that went out to all of the kids in her school. Way to go, Taite!

5K!

We did it!!! This darn thing isn't letting me upload pictures right now. I don't know why. I've got "before & after" pictures of us with our race #s on our shirts.

Anyway - the race was great! It was my first time to run the entire 3.2 miles. I did fine & wasn't even dying! ;) The weather was awesome.

Here are our times:

Steven - 24 min.
Lewis - 30 min.
Jen - 33 min.

This was a big accomplishment & I'm ready for another one!!

Our Little Artist

Taite's school has a drawing contest going on for their Student Directory Cover. This is right up Taite's alley. She LOVES to draw! Basically, the kids just had to come up with something reflective of their school.

She wanted to incorporate their mascot, the Ponies into her picture. But, she also wanted KIDS in it! Ah, what a great idea....kids on an illustration for an elementary school directory! :) What we loved about her kids is that she thought of two actual 3rd graders, two 2nd graders, etc. to draw. And, it had to be a boy & a girl for each grade. So, if you look above, the two kids on either end are 3rd graders (Braden & Jade, to be more specific). As you go in toward the sign they're holding, there are 2nd, 1st & kindergartners (she, of course is the girl 1st grader!). They're all holding a sign that says "We (heart) Cline Ponies" (I don't know if you're able to see the writing).

Obviously, we know it's a long shot that she'll win. This is her first contest to ever enter, so we had to explain that you can't always win. But, we think she did a great job. I love her creativity and how she has a story behind everything she draws. I'm glad she got to use one of her passions for something like this! How fun!

Paige's 1st Day of School

Paige started preschool on Friday. This is our 6th year at Friendswood Methodist. Things are a little different this year. It's always been a "Mother's Day Out" program, but they're in the process of becoming licensed so they'll be an official "preschool" now. There's also a new director. A lot of people left because they feared the changes. I'm glad we stayed. I feel a kind of loyalty to them since we've been there so long & secondly, things are headed in a great direction! I'll have to keep you posted! Paige is still going 2x a week on Mondays & Fridays. These are actually great days for me to help at Taite's school, so I love the days. Paige was ready to go. We're so, so excited because one of Paige's teachers was one of Taite's favorite teachers. Ms. Donna. She was Taite's teacher when I was SUPER-pregnant with Paige (Paige was born a week into that school year). So, Ms. Donna has literally known Paige since she was born. She is a retired teacher who came back to teach preschool several years ago. She just loves what she does & is 110% "in" to what she does every day. Paige's other teacher, Ms. Angie is a former kindergarten teacher & has kids at Taite's school. She seems really nice.

Paige has 7 other kids from last year's class in her class this year and her good friend Tyler (my old roommate, Michelle's son). So, they were all really comfortable going into the classroom. Although, they had one cryer, so they were really not letting the parents into the room. We had to say a quick good-bye & leave. Paige did fine, but I was kind of bummed that I didn't even have time to get some good pictures. Here's what I got! Better than nothing! ;)

I hope Paige will have a good year. We all know she's the aggressive one! I think she'll do fine. She's really excited & is glad to have all of those friends in her class again. Looking forward to a fun year!....

5K Training!

Yes! That's what it said....5K training!

My brother Steven ran his first 5K this summer. He tried to talk us into doing it with him and Lewis & I quickly declined. I had no desire to run in the summer! Steven loved his first 5K & said he was ready for another one. So, a few weeks later he calls me & says, "okay....I've got it! There's a 5K in Friendswood in October!"

So, there's where this craziness started! Lewis & I told him we'll do it! I have NEVER done any distance running in my life. Even in my young sports days & in high school sports, I was a sprinter, not a distance runner. God forbid a coach makes me run a whole entire lap around the track! I'd run those quick drills no problem, but I just never had the endurance for distance. So, in short - distance running has never even interested me.

BUT, I thought I needed a new challenge in my life! So, about 3 weeks ago, I started running! It's amazing - just like Steven told me. Seriously, the first week I couldn't even get around the block. Now, just 3 weeks later, I can run a full mile....even pushing Paige in the stroller! That is a big improvement & I've got 7 weeks to go. I think I might survive. I'm certainly not going for a time goal. I just want to finish. I think I can do it!

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday Paige!

3 years ago on Sept. 1, Paige Briley McCray was born. Crazy how time flies, especially with our second-born. Here we are now with a witty, strong-headed, bright 3 year old.

Paige has been LOUD and strong-willed since day one. I still remember the grandparents saying they could hear her screaming down the hall from the O.R. when she was first born. Her lung capacity has not ceased! ;) She doesn't back down and is persistant about things she wants (oh my!).

At 3, her most remarkable strength is that she can read! She has a HUGE love for reading. She's loved books since she was a baby. Now, I wonder if this love of books began when we read to her non-stop for each of her 8 daily 20-minute breathing treatments she started when she was a baby. It was the one thing that kept her calm during those treatments. Now, she has this almost strange, awesome photographic memory. Last year, she had an obsession with reading Taite's sight word flash cards from kindergarten. Now, Paige has her own ring of cards....with 80+ words on it....and she can read them all. Weird! At bedtime, she insists on reading to us...and she does. You name it, she reads it. Some of it is very, very familiar text, some is new (like books from the library). She reads it TO us! She loves reading. I hope that this love continues. If she has such a passion for it now, I wonder what it'll be like at age 5 or 15? I'll have to keep you posted...

So, on to her birthday party. The day before, she helped make her cake and chocolate cupcakes. We are a "yellow cake" family, but we always make chocolate cupcakes for friends who'd prefer chocolate! She had fun helping...and eating batter!

The next morning, the cake had cracked. Who knows why. The cake wasn't dry. I'm no cake expert, but I've made a lot of cakes and this was the first time this ever happened. Paige didn't mind &, in my old age, I decided it's not worth stressing over this stuff. So, here's her cake!

She decided on a Wiggles theme for her party & we had it at gymnastics. She started gymnastics classes last week at the same place Taite goes. She loved her first lesson & was glad to finally get into the gym and not have to just sit & watch.

The party was fun. There were about 12 kids and they all had a good time....and so did the adults!

We're celebrating tomorrow evening with our gifts to her and some left-over cake. We got her a training wheel bike, so I hope she'll enjoy that.

Here's to our Paiger...Paiger-ator...Paigee....our family wouldn't be complete without her!!

First Day of First Grade!

Taite was ready to go back to school. Although, I don't think she was ready to give up her days watching Disney Channel! ;)

When we went to find out her teacher last week, the first thing I noticed on her list was that there is a BOY named Tate in her class!!! All I could think of is, "are you kidding me??!" Okay....7 years ago, we picked out a "unique" name for our first-born. Me, Jennifer M., the school teacher thought it would be nice to name her something different so she wouldn't have 4 kids in her class with the same name (this did happen to me one year in elementary school!). Anyway - who would've thought that 6 1/2 years later, not only would she have another kid in her class with the same name, but that someone is a BOY! Argh! Taite got in the car as we left the school & said, "I don't want to be Taite M.!!! I'm just Taite!"

At meet & greet on Friday, we met Mrs. Krenek. She's new at Taite's school. But, we recognized her from our church & Taite remembered that her son was in her CCE class a few years ago. She seems very, very nice. When we got a chance to talk with her one-on-one, I told her about (our) little "problem" having a boy named Tate in her class. I assured her it had nothing to do with the boy himself, just the same name. Mrs. Krenek looked right at Taite and said, "it's not going to be a problem. Your names are spelled differently & I'll just call you 'Taite'. You don't have to be Taite M. If I ever need to clarify, I might say your last name, too, but I don't think we'll have to worry about that!" She was so sincere and put Taite (and ME!) at ease about it. Bottom line, we'll get over it!!!

Monday morning, Taite had a very, very hard time getting out of bed. We're quickly reminded that she is NOT a morning person. I think you can tell in the pictures! ;) It wasn't that she didnt' want to go to school - she just wasn't ready to wake up! It'll take several weeks to adjust.

The first day went great! She got to be the line leader & take the attendance on the first day. How cool is that for a 1st grader to do that on the FIRST day of school!? She was so excited. She really liked her teacher and met a few new kids. She does have one boy in her class from last year - he was also her "bus buddy" and they were good friends. So, she was excited about that. Her two "best friends" from kindergarten got in the same class together. What are the odds? There are TEN 1st grade classes. We figured they'd all get separated. Oh, well. Taite actually didn't seem to mind. It'll be okay.

I think it's going to be a good year. I'm doing a lot more PTO stuff this year. I think it'll be fun. Right now, I'm busy organizing the raffle for Taite's fall carnival. It's a HUGE, huge event which has brought in over $100K the last few years. Craziness. It's fun. I like being involved with school again. One day I'll be back teaching, but for now, I'll just enjoy being the mom of a first grader!