Our newest house member.....

The time has come that Kate and Wesley have been dying for!

Vanessa has finished nursing school (she is officially an LVN!)

She is hoping to get a job in a hospital here in Victoria where there is a lot of potential in the nursing profession.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that she gets a really good job at a hospital doing med-surge which is what Vanessa would like to do.  She eventually wants to go get her RN, so she'd dying to get exposure in all things nursing.  She is going to make an remarkable nurse!

Kate loves for Vanessa (nae-nae) as they call her, to fix her hair and put eye makeup on her and all those fun things.  As I sit here and type this (Sunday afternoon), Kate has already picked out her clothes for tomorrow and told Vanessa she wants her to fix her hair tomorrow morning.  We are so happy to have her with us!

Happy 79th Birthday Grandma!!

On Friday my grandma turned 79!  I can't believe that next year she will be the big 80!

My grandma is in great shape for her age and has remarkable energy and spunk!  When we are together, people think she is my mom  :)  We are so Blessed to have her be such an important part of our lives.  The kids adore her and I thank the Lord for allowing here to share their childhood.  We love her!

With the kids being in school now, we couldn't make it to see her on Friday but we did go on Saturday morning and we surprised her!  She was so happy to see Kate and Wesley at her door holding some very special birthday brownies....

Grandma doesn't eat a lot of sweets but we thought that the heart brownies would let her know we love her.  By the way, by the end of the visit only 1 brownie was left because Kate and Wesley each had one (extra large brownie). 

Are you ready for some football!!!

We definitely LOVE FOOTBALL in this Peters' household.  We dread the super bowl each year because (a) typically the Cowboys are not playing so there is no chance they can win it and (b) because it means that we have to wait another 6 MONTHS until we get more FOOTBALL.  But in an attempt to make light of our not-so-funny busted lip that Wesley suffered a week or so ago, I just had to blog about it.
The back story:  Well, a few weeks ago Wesley wanted to wear a shirt of his daddy's.  So when he got out of the bath, I put him into one of Justin's shirts (this is a ritual both kids have enjoyed before so I didn't think anything of it).This time I failed to notice that the shirt I picked was a tad too large for Wesley and before I could chase him down to take it off of him, he was running full speed through the house (tile floor, metal door stop....you probably are getting a visual of what happened next).   The next thing I know he's face down on the floor and crying.  Kate explains what happened like the good big sister she is.  It took a few days to tell the impact..we had to wait for the swelling to go down.  The result was two loose front teeth.  The right tooth was pushed to the side so now Wesley looks like Michael Strahan...yes...we have our own little Michael Strahan (and for those not as fascinated with football as us...Michael Strahan is a former NY Giant  (boo!)defensive player and now NFL analyst).  He was a great football player but even more famous or his gapped teeth......


The outcome:  Wesley's dentist took Xrays and said that no teeth were broken and that the tooth should stabilize in the coming months (not be loose anymore).  He did have two small tissue pockets that the dentist removed so that it relieved some pressure on his gums and teeth.  He didn't want to eat for a few days (and this is NOT typical of Wesley).  One of the front teeth does appear like it is starting to grey but the dentist said that there is no point in pulling it since it will fall out in a few years anyway.  The cool part was seeing an Xray of his 'big boy' teeth coming in above these.  It will be oh too soon when I'm blogging about the tooth fairy I'm sure  :)

Our First Day of School.....

For this is the day we have prepared for....prayed for...and been Blessed with.

  

Kate has worked diligently in preschool to prepare her for 'real school'. Preparing for the fundamentals that will be used to build the knowledge she absorbs over the rest of her life. She's got this stuff down! She's our champ! I am so proud of the courage she has displayed at a mere 5 years of age walking into a new school with new students and teachers. She is AMAZING!

Before Kate was even born, Justin and I prayed for a healthy beautiful child who would go out into the world one day and be a beautiful asset to the world. Making a difference one smile at a time. What a beautiful smile she has!

And in all of the hustle and bustle of our daily routines (alarm clocks at 6am, getting kids dressed, fed and ready to face the world by 7:15am, school drop off for both kids, working full time at our own careers, picking up two children, busing them to extra curricular activities, preparing dinner, eating dinner, bath time, bed time, story time.....) there was not a single minute that went by today that I didn't savor every moment. These kids are pure angelic....pure Blessings that we carry in our hearts always. Our little girl is growing up, heading into the real world where we can't shelter her all of the time. Where years and years of working on manners and social skills will prepare her to be a great friend and a great student. Where years and years of praying will keep her protected so that she stays safe and learns more than just 'how to read' and 'how to add and subtract'. These are the little things that we have been Blessed with. Enjoy some of the absolutely priceless pictures we snapped this morning :)

Who says 3 is a crowd?

This was the picture I snapped as I walked into Kate's room this morning shortly after the cat come in through the doggie door (again) and snuck passed mom, dad, Jake and Rex (so much for our reliable guard dogs) ......

And just last night, this is the picture I snapped as the kids were asleep on the couch..once again, the cat waited for everyone (Jake, Rex and Justin) to be asleep and Whiskers krept into the doggie door and found his two favorite peeps asleep on the couch...and he made himself quite comfy  :)

This is whiskers snoozing quite comfortably on Wesley...what you can't see from these pictures is that Whiskers' tail was tickling Kate's toes so she would giggle spontaneously in her sleep.  It was cute to share the pictures with them this morning.  It proves to them that there is 'life' happening even after they close their beautiful little eyes  :)

The difference in a month....

Well its officially one month since we moved into to our new house and we have been working super hard on the outside projects.  Our entire family loves working in the yard and Wesley loves riding with mommy on the John Deere tractor and Kate loves planting flowers and the dogs love watching us work hard  :)  We have a lot of grass planted, a lot of landscaping and crepe myrtles that have gone in (my favorite!) and we've done a lot of clean-up.  Justin hired a back hoe to come in and remove some piles of branches and debris so I am sure the neighbors are thrilled now! 

Kate's first slumber party.....

Kate had the pleasure of being invited to her friend Elizabeth's 6th birthday princess and pajama party on Friday night.  Elizabeth lives in Houston so Kate and Mary Grace (chaperoned by their mothers) headed up to Houston Friday afternoon to make the 6pm PARTY TIME!!!  All of the other local girls went home at the end of the night but Kate and Mary Grace (and their moms - me and Aunt Marianne) stayed the night at Elizabeth's house.  It was a fabulous time had by all!

kate, elizabeth, mary grace

Of course..dress up at a slumber party

Pizza and some girl talk

The birthday girl, elizabeth and her beautiful cupcakes

More girl fun!

Elizabeth, Kate, Mary Grace and Julia (the little sister)

The morning after cereal

My birthday gifts......

Oh how things change when you have kids. I remember when I used to ask for purses and earrings and other babbles and shiny expensive things.....now my requests are so domestic.  For Christmas it was a vacuum cleaner (and the vacuum was quite a hit with Wesley and probably one of his favorite gifts).  So for my birthday we got in a quick trip to the beach on Saturday evening with a great dinner at Pelican Landing (seared sea scallops and wild rice....my fave!).  I also got a standing clock for the living room since I was going crazy without having a clock on our DVR player.  But one of the most beautiful and lasting gifts were these 3 beautiful crepe myrtle trees that my husband picked out a local nursery.  They are stunning and I can't wait until next summer when they have had a chance to settle in and bloom georgeous purple/pink blooms.  Thank you guys!  I had a wonderful birthday!

Kate with her stunning smile at the restaurant...she was fascinated with the aquarium!

My favorite people in the whole wide world! Sharing a lemon and keeping dad busy  :)