first day of school

The kids had their first day of school on Monday.  Ava started first grade this year.  She was excited and loved getting to wear her new clothes she picked out.  She likes her teacher and told me all about her day when she got home.  She and Aiden ride the bus home together.

Dario started middle school this year (fifth grade)! He has been asking awhile for contacts and we finally agreed to get him some before school started. He has done really well wearing them.  Dario was a little nervous to start middle school, but had a good first day.  He was excited that he gets to use a locker this year.  His uncle started teaching at the middle school, and is really nice to bring him to and from school.

Aiden started fourth grade.  He has the same teacher Dario had last year and is excited to be in the oldest grade at school.

beach trip

We took the oldest four kids to the beach for one last trip before school starts in one week.  Where has the summer gone! Aiden found a ton of hermit crabs and brought all the poor crabs home with him.  We had the perfect weather, it wasn't as hot as it normally is this time of year.  We are going to savor the last week of summer before it back to school, homework, and routine.

South Toledo Bend State Park

Last weekend we went on one last vacation before school starts.  We went to a state park in Louisiana and stayed in a cabin there.  The first night we spent killing a ton of daddy long leg spiders that had invaded the cabin.  There were so many it almost felt like we were camping outdoors.  After everyone survived the first night without being attacked by a spider we were able to have some fun.  We went on a hike, went swimming in the lake, made s'mores and all the kids had lots of fun playing together and getting to stay up late.  Dahlia loved being around everyone and really took a liking to her cousin Avery.  Avery was so sweet to play with her.  We never take for granted the miracle that Dahlia is now healthy enough to go on trips like this.

22 months

Dahlia is now 22 months old, I can't believe she is almost two!  She is starting to talk more and more. She has recently started saying, "stop it!" "that's mine" and "no! no! no!"  She is really starting to develop a two year old attitude!  Dahlia still isn't walking, but gets around everywhere by scooting around on her bottom.  She was playing in the girls room; I opened the door to check on them and Dahlia scooted up to the door and shut it on me.  I opened it again and she shut it again.  She didn't want mama to bug her while she was playing!  Today Brian brought home pizza for dinner, all of the kids got excited and yelled, "pizza!"  Dahlia heard them and got excited and also yelled pizza! Which is really funny because she doesn't eat pizza yet.  She still has trouble with foods with texture; it will make her gag.  She does like playing with the food everyone else is eating and will sometimes lick it or nibble on it a little bit.  I know she'll get caught up someday with eating and walking, and it has been exciting seeing the progress she has made in other areas!

fourth of july

We had a fun, busy fourth of July this year. We started off the day making treats for our celebration.  In the afternoon we went to the Ochoa family reunion.  Then we were off to the free symphony orchestra concert in downtown Beaumont.  I always look forward to this.  It is held in a beautiful, historic theater and the orchestra plays all of the familiar patriotic songs.  Dahlia loved it and was clapping along to the songs.  When the concert was over, we found a spot to spread out our blanket to watch the fireworks, which are set off over the Neches River.  The city really outdid themselves this year! The fireworks were beautiful and really wish I had brought my camera!

beach vacation

We recently went on our annual vacation with Brian's side of the family.  It was our year to choose the location.  We decided on a beach house in Surfside Beach, Texas.  The kids loved getting to swim in the ocean every day.  We also loved walking on the beach each night as the sun was setting.  Dahlia loved being outside feeling the ocean breeze and watching the waves roll in.  She wasn't a big fan of being in the water.  All of the cousins had lots of fun playing together and staying up late.  One of the days we were there the guys went deep sea fishing and Dario caught a red snapper and a small hammer head shark.  They brought home the fish and we made fish tacos; the shark was surprisingly good.  During the week we also made a day trip to Galveston, went to a museum, an aquarium, a water park and a historic plantation.  We had lots of fun and are already looking forward for next year!

happy birthday Aiden!

Aiden turned 9 years old on the thirteenth.  We took him out to eat for his birthday dinner.  Aiden got to pick the restaurant, and he decided on an all you can eat buffet.  He then proceeded to eat nothing but desserts.  Since it was his birthday we couldn't fuss at him too much. All of the presents he requested were $100 - $200 Lego sets, luckily he was just as happy with the football his dad picked out for him.  We love this silly little guy and all the smiles he puts on our faces.

aiden's baptism

This past Saturday Aiden was baptized.  He was so excited to finally have his special day and get baptized.  All day long he was trying so hard to be on his best behavior.  Afterwards we had a big dinner at Brian's parents house.  We are so proud of Aiden and the decision he made to follow Jesus.

last day of school

Another school year has flown by!  It's hard to believe that Ava is now done with Kindergarten.  Her school had a real nice graduation ceremony for kindergarten.  Ava was so excited for it and she got to pick out a new dress to wear on her special day.  The boys did really well in school this year.  They both got all A's for both semesters.  Aiden got perfect attendance.  Dario got advanced scores on all sections of the STAAR test, and he was one of only three students in fourth grade to receive an advanced score on the writing section of the STAAR test.  This school year wasn't as crazy as last year, but I was still in the hospital a lot with Dahlia, or busy with her care; all of the boy's accomplishments were done mostly on their own.  I'm so proud of them!

playing outside with Aiden

19 months old

Dahlia is now 19 months old.  She was recently in the hospital for almost two weeks, to figure out what in the world was causing her chronic diarrhea, vomiting and weight loss.  After a ton of tests, her doctors finally found a really complicated answer, and the root of the problem seems to be that her immunoglobulin was extremely low.  Dahlia had to have several IVIG infusions.  Hopefully now she will be able to gain some weight.  When she was admitted to the hospital she only weighted 14 pounds.

The kids had track and field day this past Friday.  Ava was so excited and did really well.  It was actually cold that morning and all of the kids where bundled up in the jackets, which I think was a first here in Texas!

roses