Open House

This evening was Open House at Ryland's school. They have been studying the desert lately so they had lots of projects about the desert to show off.


Each student had to choose a desert animal and make a presentation concerning it with three facts and pictures of what it looks like, where it lives and what it eats. Aunt Lesa was here visiting while we were working on this project, so she helped alot. Ryland chose the roadrunner.


A showcase of all of Ryland's desert projects. His New Mexico grandparents would enjoy all of this. His teacher is also from NM so we discussed how Ryland chose the NM state bird for his animal and they colored pictures of the yucca, NM's state flower.

The girls went straight for the reading corner and made themselves at home in Ryland's classroom. Ryland's teacher thought they were so cute and good.

New Addition and Playing

Well, we did it - we bought a dog. We have really missed having a dog for the last two years since we lost AJ. The kids are so excited. He is a chihwinnie (1/2 chihuahua, 1/2 dauschund). He is adorable and sweet. We chose to name him Roscoe (we had to do an R name, right?). The kids are just loving him so much. So here are some pictures.

While my parents were here to visit last weekend we did a little shopping at the Arlington Highlands. There is a nice stream that they have in the middle so the kids loved checking it out and we had to grab a few pictures.

Before my parents arrived, we had some beautiful weather. So we practiced on our bikes. Ryland is getting so close to riding on his own. He's just got to get the balancing down a little better and then he'll be ready to take off. Raylee is enjoying the tricycle alot. Reese was feeling left out so I had her ride on back while I walked along. It worked well.

New York City

Leland and I had a nice trip for Spring Break this year. We decided to help sponsor a trip to NYC. The Teen Leadership classes at Leland's high school had planned the trip. We have always wanted to go to NYC, so we agreed to go. We had a great time. We left very early on Friday the 13th and returned late Tuesday the 17th. So 5 very full days of sightseeing and such.

Friday after arriving in New Jersey and checking into the hotel, our coach took us to Times Square. It is so much more impressive in person than it is on tv. We and our 6 students that we were in charge of during the trip, began walking the streets. We ate supper at ?????. We then shopped at the Toys R Us (which has the largest indoor ferris wheel), the MTV store, the Hershey's Store, M&M World, etc. We joined the rest of the group (47 total) in the center of Times Square for a group picture before heading back to the hotel. We got to bed at midnight that night giving me a 21 hour day - I was exhausted. :)

Our small group at Times Square.

Saturday we began with a driving tour of the city. We saw many sites and heard lots of interesting facts. We ended up at Grand Central Station for lunch. From there we walked to Ed Sullivan Theater to see about some tickets for the David Letterman show. Our group then decided to split up. Me and our 3 girls took a taxi to SoHo for some shopping. Leland and our 3 boys walked to Central Park to find a specific hot dog spot (one boy had searched online and found out this was apparently the best). We all met up for supper at a pub near Times Square before joining everyone for the Lion King. This was our 5th time to see the show, but it was still enjoyable. This is a 9/11 memorial on the wall of the fire station across the street from Ground Zero.

This is the house used for the Cosby Show.

At Ed Sullivan Theater. Maybe next time we will get tickets.

Sunday we began at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Our group looked around for about an hour before heading down 5th Ave for some shopping. We shopped at F.A.O. Schwartz and got some lunch at the nearby street vendors. We took taxi's back to the MET to join our group. We then had a tour of a rescue mission. They house over 80 homeless men every night and feed over 100 supper each evening. We then had another tour of the city that focused on the housing situations in Harlem and the Lower East Side. We learned how far these areas have come and about the improvements that have been made. We had supper as a group at John's Pizzeria before finally heading back to the hotel.

Us in Central Park.

At the "Friends" fountain in Central Park.

This fire house was across the street from the rescue mission.

We were told it was used in Ghostbusters.

Monday we began with a ferry ride to Ellis Island and then on to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. We only had 45 minutes at the Ellis Island museum - not near enough time. We all really enjoyed seeing Lady Liberty though. We then were dropped off in Chinatown. Leland and 2 of our boys weren't very interested in shopping (lucky Leland). My girls and one boy were on shopping missions. So I just chased them around from vendor to vendor. I really did not like the experience. They loved it but I don't care to go back there again. After the girls had their purses and jewelry, our coach took us all to NBC Studios for a tour. We got to the THE control room for NBC and the set of Saturday Night Live. Our group ate supper at Olive Garden (we all had gift certificates) which is located on the second floor right on Times Square. It was a cool view. We all did our last round of Times Square shopping (which did include awesome cupcakes from Crumbs). We also went to the Top of the Rock as a group. It is easier to get into than the Empire State Building with a large group. It was an awesome view.

At the Statue of Liberty.

At Rockefeller Center.

At the Top of the Rock (the 3rd tallest building in NYC).

Tuesday we checked out of the hotel and then went to the Museum of Natural History. We all ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and then headed to the airport. Leland and I finally arrived home after 9pm.

At the Museum of Natural History.

A HUGE blue whale in the museum.

As we were boarding our coach to head to the airport, Leland noticed this in the sidewalk. We were in front of the theater that used to house Les Miserables. We are so sad that we didn't make it to NYC before it went off of Broadway.

It was a great trip. We now feel comfortable getting around in NYC and we know what we want to see next time we get to go. Ryland, Raylee, and Reese had a great time also. Leland's mother and grandmother drove in to keep the kids while we were gone. They all seemed to have fun also. (Thanks again for coming Sandy and Dell).

The kids before our trip.

Since we returned, my parents have visited for a few days which included shopping and eating out. Now Leland's sister Lesa is here to visit and spend time with the kids. We have had a full 3 weeks, but we've enjoyed all of it.

Pinwood Derby

Everyone close to me understands why I haven't updated in forever - tax season hits and all I do is work. At the end of January, I went to Big Spring for 10 days to work at the office. I put in 110 hours while there - needless to say, I was exhausted. While working, the girls went to my in-laws and the boys stayed home. They all had a great time. Ryland had his cub scout pinewood derby while I was gone. He and Leland really enjoyed making the car. Ryland chose to paint it like Speedracer's Mach 5 - it looks awesome. He ended up with 2nd place and enjoyed all the other races. I'm glad they took plenty of pictures for me. :)

I have plenty more to share, but I'll start slowly and just give you this for today. Hope you enjoyed.