The Newton Rayzor Elementary 1st Grade Texas Rodeo

Nathan's elementary school does a 1st grade rodeo every year. I think they said this is the 23rd annual rodeo, so they know exactly what they are doing and it is fun to attend.
Nathan had so much fun preparing for this. He has been constantly talking about this for about a month. All of the kids were supposed to make their own stick horses out of stuff they could find around their house. Nathan's was made from one of our brooms and some rope. We attached a couple of paper eyes and voila-- perfect rodeo horse for a boy.
He was chosen along with a few other 1st graders to do the flag ceremony. So we have a video of him trotting in with a Texas flag. He practiced trotting around our house for a few days. I think he perfected it!

After they trotted and did the flag ceremony (Nathan trotted in with his friend Marley), they had a parade of 1st graders to show off their horses. Then they did a little dance to a song that was fun to watch (video included--he's on the other side of the circle from where we were sitting during his dance).

After the dance they had events that the kids got to participate in. Nathan was in the three-legged race with his friend Isabella (video included). There were other events as well that other kids did: barrel (bucket) racing, hay bale hurdling, booty-scootin' on a bouncy ball thing, hula-hoop races, potato sack races, catching a pig's tail (one kid had a bandanna on his back that had a pig mask on and another kid had to try to pull it off), etc. It was fun to watch and gave us some ideas for when we are in charge of a family reunion again.

Videos from the festival

Lucy loved this balloon that someone handed out to the kids. I thought it was so funny to see her laughing at it and had to get it on video.

Nathan did a great job dancing with the other kids. We are proud of him for being such a good kid at school and getting the opportunity to do things like this.

Denton Arts and Jazz Festival

Today was the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. Nathan is in a group from his school called the Groove Squad. They are the kids that have been good all year and that have gotten good grades. They learn dances to fun songs and perform them at a few things toward the end of the school year. Today was their first performance. Nathan did it last year and loved it, so we let him do it again this year. He did well and looked like he had lots of fun.
We also had fun going around the festival and hearing music, looking at art, eating some expensive festival food, watching the kids enjoy themselves, and being outdoors in nice weather.
Here are a few pictures from our day:

This is where Lucy spent the majority of the time. She seems to not mind being in the stroller too much.
This face was so classic. Amy decided to taste the lemon they had in her lemonade and it really made her pucker and then almost cry.

Here is Nathan on stage with the other first grader Groove Squad team. He is on the far left by the teacher in the purple shirt. The kid in front of him is his best friend at school, O'Maurie.

Steve thought it would be fun to take a picture of me holding Amy up so she could see Nathan dancing over the crowd.

Nathan climbing on a thing they have at the park. I wish I had his energy.

All of the heat and humidity got to Amy's hair by the time we had walked around the park.

They had this weird ride where you are sitting in bathtubs spinning around. Amy loved it.

Lucy's little scrunched up nose face. She has so much personality.

I love this picture. Nathan was making faces at Lucy trying to get her to laugh and she was looking at him like he was the strangest kid in the world.

Things that have been going on...

Steve and Allison playing at his recital. Willem was his accompanist and was amazing!


Steve playing at his recital. He did a wonderful job!


Well, I had a posting drought, so I better tell a little about what has been going on.



Steve had a recital that was excellent. His sister Allison played with him on one of the pieces. Nathan came along to listen and he did very well sitting and listening to his daddy play. It gives me a little more courage and hope to think that it won't be long before we can take him to hear a symphony concert.



During Spring Break we went camping up at Ray Roberts Lake. It was perfect weather, but it was too early when we went and the trees didn't have their leaves out yet, so no shade. The dogs did wonderful; for some reason they love camping and they don't bark. They are soooo good. My parents would be surprised to see them so calm and relaxed because they are yappers. For those who don't know, the dogs were my parents before we got them and my parents were a little annoyed by them. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so no pictures of our fun time.



I have been running like a maniac trying to get into shape. I am hoping to do a 10k at the end of summer. I have talked Steve into doing a 5k with me this winter, but we'll have to see. I may have to keep reminding him that he agreed. I am now able to run 6 miles without falling over, but I want to get to the point that I don't feel like I am running in slow motion.
My sister just finished running a 1/2 marathon and she did amazing! She is truly an inspiration to me. I think it would be amazing to run one with her someday in the future, but I have a ways to go to get to the performance level she is at. I guess it takes baby steps to get to that point, so I will start slow and hopefully not get discouraged.



Not too much more has been happening, so hopefully I will do a little better at keeping the blog updated.

My Baby Turns One

Finally figuring out how to unwrap a present after Nathan showed her how to unwrap a couple.

Cake, hotdogs, peas, and carrots... what more could a one year old want?

Her scrunched up nose face. This is the face she usually gives to people she doesn't know very well when they are talking to her.


Thinking she is funny when mommy freaks out about her standing in her high chair

Yep... Lucy is now one. I can hardly believe it. She seems too little to be one already. It amazes me how much faster time has gone with her compared to Nathan and Amy.

We had a little party for her. She seemed a little confused about the cake and the presents, but she was happy.

Amy was nice enough to blow the candle out for her and Nathan was nice enough to help her open her presents. Aren't siblings the greatest?!

The Science Fair

Nathan recently had his science fair at school. He worked very hard on his project: Will Temperature Change How Well A Magnet Works?
He was so proud of his board he brought to school and he was very confident when the judges came around to ask him questions about his project. He won third place and was happy as can be... except for the part of not getting a trophy or medal like the first and second place winners got. We had to explain to him what it means to be a good sport and to be happy that he even placed because many kids didn't even do that. To celebrate Steve took him to McDonalds to get a happy meal. Nathan thought that was even better than a trophy.

Amy Turns Three

coming home from the hospital and sitting in the sun to help with jaundice

Big brother gets to meet new little sister

happy as can be

being just like her brother

on her birthday, right after waking up

I know I didn't get right to my blogging like I said I would. I have been busy with the kiddos and doing the things that a mom does everyday.

The most recent big happening in our family is that Amy turned three. She is such a fun little girl and our lives would not be complete without her.

Some of my favorite things about her are:

She is such a girly girl--she loves pink and purple, loves to dress up, play with dolls, get into my makeup, etc.

She insists on being called "Amy Princess" about 75% of the time. She will answer to nothing but that and gets angry if you just try to call her "Amy."

She loves to play with her brother and sister. She will usually not play long by herself. She is constantly trying to recruit someone to play with her.

She loves cookies. She would eat them for every meal if she could. She is our little cookie monster. She has her dad wrapped around her finger and many nights when he gets home, you will see him in the kitchen with her making a small batch of cookies just because she smiles her I-can-get-daddy-to-do-anything-I-want smile with her "can you help me make cookies, daddy, please."

She loves to cuddle. I love it when she climbs up into my lap and she wants to read a book or just snuggle with a blanket while we watch a show.

She loves to dance. She does her own moves and doesn't care what anyone thinks.

She is very loving.

She loves to be around people. She is not shy, for the most part.

So I will say, Happy Birthday Amy! I can't believe my little princess is already three.