"Let's get this Arty started!!"

 This past week the kids went to Art Camp with Mrs. St. John! It rocked! Mrs. St. John rocked! And their mosaic masterpiece that they brought home ROCKED! They made their very own, working- mosaic CLOCK ! How cool is that. 

 Camp was Monday- Thursday from 9-1 at Pump It Up. Each day they got to work on their mosaics (plus a few extra art things- pencil boxes, art t-shirts, sketch books!), then lunch, more art and bouncing on inflatables for the last hour! So cool! Here is a pic of Bailey sharing his sketch book and pencil box on the last day Art Parade!!

 Kaci checked her own sugar at lunch and even figured our her own insulin dosage. I just hung out at the Starbucks up the road and ran a few errands (it was too far for me to head home) and then I would "pop" back in about 11 for to check her calculations! The kids both LOVE Mrs. St John(she is the Art teacher at Kaci's old school- and Kaci attended her Art Camp just weeks before she was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2009)  Kaci has not been to a camp since she was diagnosed almost 3 years ago....but I trust Mrs. St. John and knew she would keep a close watch on my babies!

Best camp ever! 

We will certainly be back next summer!

"You is kind, you is good, you is important!"

Each year the Kohl's Cares^® Scholarship Program recognizes and rewards young volunteers (ages 6-18) who help make their communities a better place to live.
To be eligible, the student must meet the following criteria as of March 15, 2012.

• Must be between the ages of 6 and 18 and not yet a high school graduate.
• Actions must be described in detail and should document efforts above and beyond what is expected of a child his or her age.
• Volunteer efforts must have occurred in the last year.
• Winners are chosen based on the project, benefits and outcome. 

Kaci was nominated this year by her TAG teacher at school. We are proud to say she was chosen as a store level winner!! This means she won a $50 gift card to Kohls, this awesome certificate and her name will be in the Kohls press announcement! Way to Go, Kaci! She also has the chance to win a $10,000 college scholarship. Winners will be announced mid- July. Cross your fingers!!

Kaci was recognized by Mrs. Smith for her hard work and dedication to the JDRF organization. This year alone- she stuffed 5,000 School Walk Folders, donated her time and talent to participate in 2 art projects that benefited the annual JDRF Hope Ball and raised $3,342,22 in our 3rd annual Say Boo To Diabetes Walk in October. She also formed a group at school- Disaster Destroyers- where she organized a school wide collection of helpful items to donate to the Humane Society of Williamson County. She even made the front of the local paper. She is an active Girl Scout and worked hard to collect food for the Round Rock Serving Center this year with the Trick or Can Food Drive Collection.

Kaci put her gift card to good use and bought lots of nice things to wear on our trip to Boston next week. I am so proud of her. She is one special little girl :)

We Love Papa~

Finally......

the moment we have all been waiting on.....

 Papa's paver arrived and was placed at the Veteran's Memorial Park in Cedar Park! 

We love you, Papa!

Thank you for your service!

Sea World!~

Nothing like a spur of the moment trip to Sea World. Amber and I decided 2 days before we headed out that we needed a little road trip! 

So- I'll leave a few of the boring details out....but after printing a few pay stubs and our teaching certificates online- we were set to go! We got our free teacher tickets and saved $10 on each of the kids tickets by purchasing online. Of course, my printer was out of ink- so with a little help from Laura-

 we were soon on our way!

Thank you, Laura- and your printer!

 The weather was perfect. A little cloud coverage here and there mixed with a bit of sun in between-

We didn't have to wait in any line longer than 5 minutes!

Bailey was super excited to get wet!

Here is the famous Shamu!

Amber, Kaci and Bailey sat in the splash zone- while I protected our phones and cameras up top! 

Yeah ME!

Loved the sea lion show!

Here we are checking them out backstage after the show.

Bailey and Kaci couldn't wait to help feed the sea lions lunch!

Yummy!

Gulp!

Here we are at the 4D Pirate show! Bailey was a little nervous, but finally agreed to go in. Lucky for him- due to technical difficulties...we never got to see the show! BOO :(

Feeding the ducks is always a good way to end the day! That and a little mexican food at La Hacienda! What a day! See you next year, Sea World!

I heart Chelsea!

Summer days!

 Nothing like hot summer days!

 The kids were dying to get the slip and slide out tonight. Bailey started running a fever out of the nowhere last night about 8- by 9 this morning, it was gone....so I gave in. Hope the fever doesn't creep back tonight and make me regret my decision!

 Here are the kids trying to coax Payton onto the slip and slide.

 She isn't so sure!

 Look at Kaci go! SPLASH!

 Payton likes it over here (near mommy's wine!) and away from the water!

 Oops! Payton got too close!

 Bailey made a SPLASH too!

 Payton thinks she is ready to go inside and lay with her "Squishy" toy. She is not so sure about this water stuff! LOL! I love summer days!

Squishy!

 Here is Payton with her new puppy! 

We call her Squishy!

 

Payton loves her Squishy!

Fifty Shades of Grey.....Loved it!

 Read the first one. Loved it. Clint ordered me the second from Amazon.com.

He also ordered me the third! 

It's that time again!

Hello! On July 28, 2009 our lives and the life of our daughter, Kaci, changed forever. Kaci was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and is now insulin dependent for the rest of her life or until a cure is found.- Let's make it happen~

Kaci is such a brave girl! She is a fighter and an advocate for herself and so many others who are affected by this disease. She continues to work hard to help JDRF find THE CURE! She volunteered this year and stuffed over 5,000 School Walk envelopes. She also donated her time and talent and participated in two different JDRF Hope Ball Art projects. This month she was awarded the store level prize winner in the Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship program! We are so proud of our girl!

This year, our family will be taking part in our 4th annual JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes, along with one-half million other walkers across the country, as we try to reach our goal of raising $89 million.


Type 1, or juvenile diabetes, is a devastating disease that affects millions of people, a large and growing percentage of them children.


There is some good news, though. JDRF is our best hope for finding a cure. It funds more type 1 diabetes research than any other charity worldwide and it's making progress along many promising paths toward better treatments and a cure.


Now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. Won't you please give to JDRF as generously as possible? As you know- as a family- we are always working hard to find a cure. We are all active volunteers with the JDRF Austin Chapter.

Please take the time to say a prayer for Kaci that God may keep her strong, brave and positive! Thank you for all of your love and support these last 3 years. Our family and friends mean so much to us!


Please click on the following link to make your donation now-

http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/andreab

Here we go....

Heading to the store now to pick it up! I will let you know what I think....

Congratulations, Taryn!

Today we all got decked out in our finest Hook 'Em Horns Longhorn gear and headed to Burnet, Texas for Taryn's graduation party!We are so proud of her!

We couldn't believe that Bevo was an invited guest as well!

Looks like we might have scored our Christmas card photo while we were there!

Bevo really is a beautiful guy! Look at the size of those horns! AMAZING!

Bailey and Kaci enjoyed a dip in the pool-

They might just move to Bj and Denise's house if they could.

Here are the boys! Love this picture of Clint, Tony, Mary and Bj!

We had a great time! The Rosow's throw the best parties!

Congratulations, Taryn! We know you are going to make a great Longhorn!

(cute girl in the orange shirt!)