Happy 10th Anniversary Kevin and Dawn

Dawn is the friend that I have literally known my entire life.  My mom and her aunt are best friends.  We grew up going to the same church and spent every minute of free time with our grandparents who lived very close to each other.  Dawn is the most sincere, caring, beautiful person I know.  Kevin moved to Hallettsville when he was in high school.  They literally are high school sweethearts, which turned into college sweethearts and today (10 years later) they are an absolutely beautiful married couple with two amazing beautiful kids.

Congratulations Kevin and Dawn!  Here is to another 60 or more happy years together!

Kevin and Dawn were the witnesses at our wedding only a few months later.  I couldn't imagine having anyone else stand behind Justin and I at that special time and commit themselves to our love.  Love you guys!

Our own little Tom and Jerry episode......

Our kids have recently started watching the old Tom and Jerry cartoons and they have fallen in love with it.  I remember watching them as a child and didn't realize how mean the cat and mouse were to each other.  But the kids started watching the cartoon at the perfect time because it was right at the time when Whiskers came into our lives.  And the kids could not understand why Jake and Rex did not like Whiskers.  I explained that it was just their natural instinct.  Just like on Tom and Jerry, the cat and mouse do not get along and cats and dogs do not get along.  Soon they started to understand that Jake and Rex would probably always bark at Whiskers and chase him away, and Whiskers is always going to try to fight back by pawing at them.  What I forgot about entirely, was that cats also have an instinctual desire for.................FISH!

Note:  that our aquarium needed a glass top.  I ordered one from online and it was not the right size.  I thought I could get away with not having a top......needless to say I was on the phone with the glass company immediately and we now have a glass top perfectly placed over the fish.  And (just for the record) we do feed Whiskers.....so I don't know why he is salivating at our fish.  And the poor fish simply think he's coming to feed them so they swim right up to his paw  :)

Meet Mr. Fish

This is Mr. Fish....he is the showcase of our lovely new 40 gallon fresh water aquarium.  I don't know if he's actually been named by the kids yet, but I call him Mr. Fish.  And honestly, he may be a Mrs. Fish but I don't really know how to tell the difference so we are going to go with Mr. Fish, until otherwise proven wrong  :_

The whole fish community - Mr. Fish, Black Bug Eye fish, Calico fish, and (not pictured) trooper and sucker fish.  Trooper is our smallest fish but he is the fish that lasted 6 days without food while we moved into our new house.  Hence the name, trooper.  He has outlasted many other fish that have been put to rest in the Peters household.  Sucker fish, well, he's a plecostymus aka Algae eater.

We were given the aquarium from a great friend who no longer needed it.  Justin and Kate had been wanting a larger aquarium so it was the perfect timing! 

Oh.....if you look closely by the rock, you can see trooper.  Honestly, I have never gotten attached to fish.  But these guys (or gals) are so animated and approach the glass the minute you stop to look.  They play games with each other during the day (odd I know but its very peaceful to watch them).

Guess who....

takes school pictures on Wednesday?  And guess who looks like this today (Monday)?

No..that is not part of a fruit roll up on his face.  Our 100% boy, took a nose dive while chasing after his sister on the tricycle.  I actually like battle scars like this.  I think adds character and gives us nice stories to share when they are older and we are no longer having to tend to boo boos.  Needless to say, we will not be purchasing the school pictures.  Luckily, I took him for 3 yr pictures in July so no need for school pictures this year.  Thank Goodness!

When the cats away........

What is that old saying?  When the cats away, the mice will play?  OK...in our house, it goes 'When the kids are away the cat will play {snooze} on Kate's bed'

After the kids were at school, we saw the cat walk by (through the doggie door of course).  Instead of stopping at the couch and jumping up like he normally does, he kept walking towards the kids' room.  I went to check on him a while later and found him right in the middle of the bed.  We have decided not to disturb him.  Everyone needs a snooze in the A/C. 

* Jelly Bread *

When I was a little girl, my Grandpa Cricket would pick me up from school and take me to the little tavern where he played dominoes.  My Grandma also helped out at the tavern to make some extra money.  So it was a fun time for me.  Get out of school, get to see my Grandpa and my Grandma and drink an ice cold Coke from those cute little bottles.  The couple that owned the tavern (The Rengers) just loved having me around.  When my Grandpa would bring me in from school I would be STARVING (or that's how the story was told for years after).  They didn't have much for a young child to eat, so Mrs. Renger would fix me a jelly sandwich.  Basically it was a PB&J sandwich without the Peanut Butter.  I would eat like 3 of them in a matter of a few minutes (or that is how the story goes).  Until the day Mr. and Mrs. Renger passed away, they called me Jelly Bread.  Not 'Jessica' or 'that Chaloupka girl'.  No....I was 'Jelly Bread'.

So today, Vanessa picked Wesley up from school early (he missed his afternoon snack).  He came home, ran through the door and asked her politely for something to eat.  The next thing I know, he's sitting at the table across from me, devouring a PB&J sandwich.  It was the cutest thing ever...and in that moment where I saw him devour his PB&J sandwich in less than a minute, I thought back to my 'Jelly Bread' days.

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 :)