trampolines, balance beams, tumbling, oh my!

tap and ballet shoes have been replaced (at least for the fall semester) with trampolines, balance beams, bars, tumbling, and a huge pit of foam! olivia loved dance class the summer, but we decided to try something new for the fall. we are doing gymnastics with her cousin kingsley. she loves it!! i was a little nervous that my reserved, cautious, and nervous toddler would just sit back and watch everyone run, jump, balance, and bounce around. i was so wrong! she participates in everything and is often running to be the first in line. what??? she is still not so sure about swinging on the rope solo, but she will do it with her aunt. i'll take it! it has been so fun to watch her take more risks and have so much fun doing it. now all that said, this does not mean she is coordinated. i am not thinking we are headed to the olympics as a gymnist, but we are having a blast!!

they love the bouncy floor. maybe one of the reasons why they both call gymnastics, "jump, jump."

sweet cousins. kingsley and olivia.

tea for two

olivia was so excited to have her friend lilli and her baby sister, lola come and spend the day with us. those who read the blog often might remember lilli most from the ballet blog. anyway, misty, lilli and lola's mommy, is a sweet friend of mine and she needed a day to get some things done in her house so i offered to have her girls for the day. we were all excited to have them come over. as soon and the girls arrived olivia could not contain herself. she was torn between following lola around on her hands and knees or showing off EVERY toy in her room to lilli. about 15 minutes the "newness" wore off and everyone was settling in and feeling comfortable. lola was sleepy and went to take a long nap. jack was hanging out in the swing (still his favorite spot). so lilli and olivia were off!! they tore into the babies and the play kitchen. they were busy shopping for groceries and playing house. the best part of my day was spying on them and over hearing their conversations. they are too funny! pretty much they just repeat all the "bad things" that we say as moms. for example, "baby obey me right now! do you understand!?!" or "if you don't obey your mommy you are going to get a spankin' on your hiny!!" hilarious and humbling at the same time. olivia had requested that she and lilli have a tea party at some point during the day. so after a little while i invited the girls into the kitchen to help me make "pink cupcakes" for their tea party. they were the best helpers. they took turns pouring in the ingredients. several hours later the cupcakes were cooled, iced, and we were ready for our tea party. the girls decorated their cupcakes with MILLIONS of sprinkles or "sprinklers" as olivia calles them and drank "tea" (warm water) out of REAL teacups. here are the girls enjoying cupcakes "tea for two" a their tea party...

the first day of preschool in review...

olivia started preschool on september 3. she has been going to "mothers day out" for several years, but now she is old enough to be in preschool. we went to meet the teacher the day before her first offical day of school. she was very confused as to why she could not stay longer and why i was at school with her, so she at drop off the next day she walked right in and waved good-bye. this being the first time i have done drop off because i used to work on her school days, did not go so smoothly for me. i was not emotional, just a bit scattered. i didn't prepare as much the night before because in my head i was going to have plenty of time the next morning, wrong!!! i must have forgotten that i now have a baby that has to also be fed, held, changed, and make it in the car with us. so due to my poor planning, we were rushing out the door, quickly snapping pictures to capture the occasion, and speeding to school. we did make it on time so i was thinking all was well, but nooooo! when we got there i realized i forgot the two special items for the first day the teacher requested- a family picture and olivia's favorite stuffed animal- larry the lion. i had to explain to olivia that i forgot these items and i was so sorry. she patted my sholder and said, "it's ok mommy. i will be alright." then turned around and ran to sit down at the table to begin her artwork. at that moment, i let out a sigh of relief and thought, i have the best 2.75 year old ever! how did i get so lucky today?! notice i thought today.
as expected her first day was great! she created picnic art with stamps and stickers, loved eating out of her new lunch box, played on the playground with her cousin kingsley, sang songs, and took a good nap- at least that is what she has told me. i am confident that we are going to have another great year, and i am hoping that i will get better at this morning routine.

the only good pic i was able to capture- olivia with her school bag all packed, well minus a few items that i forgot.

olivia's teacher is super great and has created a website to post pictures, blog about the happenings, etc. if you would like to check it out click HERE and email for the password. i must be respect the privacy of all the other kiddos in her class.

another reason i love waco, texas

no i don't love david koresh, but i truly love waco, texas. i love waco because it was my college home for 4 years, it is a place where my bowlin family comes together, it the place i became engaged, it is still home for some of my best friends, and i love that it is a place where so many of my most precious memories were born. this past weekend i discovered yet another reason to love this city in the heart of texas, the mayborn children's museum. after attending our first baylor game we stayed in waco for the night with our friends, the herridges. the next day we wanted to spend some more time with them, but with 3 kids we needed to find a "child friendly activity" for the day. we decided on the mayborn children's museum. it is on the baylor campus and one of the only places on campus i have never visited, until now. it is AWESOME!!! i know that dallas probably has something just a great, but the fact that it was not over crowded and just the right size made it such a great experience. i don't think i will bore everyone with the details of all the things we did, i will just show you a bunch of pictures and encourage you if you are ever in waco, texas to stop by and visit.

brad and grant playing at the water table.

olivia and grant controlling the trains. they loved pushing all the buttons and watching the trains move through the waco landmarks.

"filler up!" the transportation discovery room was so much fun!

mark and olivia in the music discovery room. they were playing "twinkle, twinkle little star." well, mark was playing and olivia was adding her own special touch!!

cute jack! he tagged along for the ride.

olivia making coffee for everyone in the pioneer discovery room.

the native american room was one of our favorites. mark and olivia loved the drums! i think the entire museum could hear them.

olivia making corn meal, just like the native americans did.


olivia exploring the different cultures of the world. she loved the clogs!!

i also got in on the multicultural dress up game. why am i posting this? oh well!

see! it was so much fun! can't wait to go back! yeah for waco!! by the way, the baylor bear exhibit is really neat and the cameron park zoo is great too!

sic em bears!!!

even though the baylor bears are not the best football team in the big 12, well lets be honest they might be the worst, we are true baylor fans! baylor football season is something we always look forward to each fall. we go to EVERY home game. olivia loves it (thankfully because i don't think she would have another option). she proudly sings "that good ole baylor line" and the "fight song." she knows more of the words that most baylor alum- seriously!! she watches the game and loves half time when the band plays. her least favorite part of the experience are the "big booms" (fireworks) when the bears score a touchdown. fortunately for her, yet unfortunately for the team and fans, those don't happen that often. so if you are unaware baylor football season has begun. it started last thursday night, so we loaded up the car and headed down I-35 to baylor university. it was jack's first game. he did great. he watched a little football, took a nap, drank a bottle, watched a few more plays, and then slept a little bit more. we are so glad that our kids seem to enjoy going to the game as much a we do. i think the neatest part of going to the game is knowing that mark's family has been sitting in the same seats, supporting the bears, and loving baylor for 3 generations.

look close- i think jack is making a "bear claw."

olivia with pop (mark's dad). thanks pop for providing great seats and such precious memories for our family.

oh, in case you were wondering... the bears lost! oh well, we will be back this saturday for more!!

labor day weekend at the lake

as you have noticed long weekend equals trip to the lake for our family, and labor day weekend was no different. we had the chance to spend time with both my family and mark's family. i will say once again what a blessing it is that both our families have lakehouses and they are so close. it is so great because it allows us to spend quality time with both. we did the normal lake things- playing on jet skis, swimming, boating, eating, relaxing, etc. i think my favorite part of the weekend was sarah (my sister in law) and i inviting our bible study friends to the lake for the day on saturday. we (the moms) get together on a regular basis, but we don't often get to be together with our entire families. on saturday their were lots of kids, 15 to be exact. they ranged in age from 5 and the youngest 3 months (jack). there were also dads, moms, 2 water slides, plenty of life jackets, sunscreen, hot dogs, hamburgers, and tons of yummy food. we had so much fun being together. in true olivia fashion, she did not really warm up to the idea of having so many kids around for a couple of hours, but eventually she came around and had fun.

don't let this picture fool you. olivia is wet, but not with lake water, just a small wading pool.

here she is "swimming."

jack playing with his daddy while relaxing on the hammock.

it was a really fun weekend. we missed those who couldn't make it. i hope we can all get together again soon!

i'm coming back i promise!!!

you would think that since i am no longer teaching that i would have more time, but that is just not so, at least not lately!!! i feel like the last couple of weeks have been so busy and fun and the blog had to move to the bottom of the priority list- bummer!! i am missing my blog and have been neglecting it so i just wanted to make a quick post to say i have BIG plans to post again soon. there is lots to catch everyone (my 10 sweet friends that read) up on. so come back soon. i will be blogging about our the first baylor football game, labor day weekend at the lake, olivia's first day of school, gymnastics, and i am sure there is something else i am forgetting. thanks for keeping up with the "juicy details" of our life and we hope to be back on track really soon!