Delaney & Asher's First Selfie...

...and I had absolutely no idea they had taken this until I opened my phone a few days later.

First Day Of School - Carter (5th) & Addison (4th)

The other details from this memorable first day of school included our 5th annual reading of the Compassion Letter the night before school, loading up and walking into school. This was a memorable year as this was Carter's very last 1st day of school in elementary school. He was insistent that I walked him to his class (which I absolutely loved,) because he really wanted to make sure that the correct school supplies had ended up in his class and not Addison's by mistake. Addison was leading the announcements on the first morning if school, so we left her in the library soon after we walked in.

I am so glad that Delaney experienced this "first day" as I am certain she is going to be confident a year from now when she walks in as a Kindergartner. She joked that she wanted to go back inside!

It felt like the first time in years we were riding in a car with no kids, so we celebrated by Blake opening the door for me! 

The first day of school was a HUGE success and both of them were gushing out information talking over one another and unable to even complete sentences because they had so much to share.

Although these two besties don't have class together, they got to see each other after school for soccer practice and determined that life will be okay not have the same 4th grade class!

Hurricane Harvey

8.27.2017

The weekend prior to school starting was a historical event - a Category 4 hurricane named Harvey hit near Corpus Christi on August 25, 2017 - specifically the eye went over Aransas Pass and our beloved Port Aransas. This was the first Category 4 storm to hit Texas in 56 years since Carla in 1961. Most would say, we had no clue 72 hours before it hit land that it was going to be this big. I even was in Corpus Christi for work the Tuesday before it hit Friday, and no one was even worried about it. That prior weekend, the weather report had called for a strong tropical depression or maybe a cat 1. What hit Port Aransas that Friday night at 10PM with sustained winds of 131 mph for a couple of hours is something we won't soon forget. But what followed for 5 FULL days afterwards east of Port A, specifically the Houston area, the whole world will never forget. Due to the specific weather patterns that week, Harvey would not move on, as normal, and literally just sat over the 4th largest city in the US and dumped 50" of rain from Saturday afternoon until Wednesday evening. The images we were seeing on TV and social media were horrific. While every single person we know in Houston was effected to some extent, we were beyond lucky that Erin and Matt, John and Colleen, our fellow co-workers, Jennifer Hickey The Holmes Family and others were lucky and had minimal water in their homes compared to so many people we heard about. It was something out of a horror movie and I am sure many thought the end had come. Even though I heard of new evacuations in west Houston, due to potential dam and levee breaks 9 full days after Harvey hit, I know that many remembered God's Promise that he would never flood the world again.

In San Antonio, we were prepared for category 1 winds on Saturday and 12-20 inches of rain, but since hurricanes are truly unpredictable, we only a steady light rain and much cooler weather compared to the typical last weekend in August. We enjoyed the beautiful weather that Friday night as we watched the outer bands of storm clouds start moving in. We got cozy and hunkered down on Friday night in the same room not knowing what to expect early Saturday morning.

The following week, the kids went through their books and donated a large box to the children in the devastated areas since water had more than likely ruined all their books.

This Chapter Of Our Lives: 2017 (Ages 4, 9, & 10)

This chapter of life they don't complain about being seen in B.O.W. (Box of Wheels) - Megan's free company provided work van that we love cruisn' in! ;)

This chapter of life, they constantly want to be with us at all time, even in the absolute smallest room of the house, our office. Tiger even sneaks under the desk to be included, in these moments.

The chapter of life where we have to medicate our youngest fur member of the family, Tiger, 2X a day every day due to her severe skin allergies.

This chapter in life where sometimes for this youngest one, days are long and she just needs a cuddle with mom before we continue the evening.

This chapter in life where some "date-nights" consist of wanting to stay at home and install a new squirrel proof bird feeder now that we are suddenly obsessed with birds, since moving in.

This chapter of life, mid-week treats include Summer evenings where we can swim until 9:30 at night.

A big part of this chapter of life is the constant desire all three kids have to cuddle with us in our bed, at all times! This was pictured during our favorite annual shark week shows.

This chapter of life brings me home-made gifts to me nearly every single day.

This chapter of life, especially the Summer of 2017, the kids have begged to sleep all together every single night.

This chapter of life, they truly can't get enough of one another.

This chapter of life, when Blake and I must travel on a monthly or quarterly basis, overnight, we are thankful for technology to catch up with the family! I love that our kids have no fear when we are gone.

This chapter of life, the kids want to spend Friday nights ALL together as a family!

This chapter of life, it feels like uncontrollable papers all over the counter at all times with 3 young children and what they bring home, especially back to school week.

This chapter of life, they happily leap out of the car to bring down the garage bins each week.

This chapter of life, we still have colored baths.

This chapter of life includes opening up the deep freeze to a frozen frog... put in there for who knows what!