September 2012

September temperatures here are still warm enough to hit the beach.  I'd bet that the average temp in September was 95 degrees, which felt significantly more comfortable than the 105 average of the past few months. :s

I love that Coby still falls asleep most every afternoon.  And I loved getting to hold him while he snoozed at the beach a while.

Corn on the cob -- a summer favorite for Pearl and Coby.  :)  I let them shuck the corn inside because it was too hot to do it on the porch.  After 5 months of summer, you stop trying to brave the heat and stay indoors as much as possible.

This is Pearl and Coby (not sure why they are sideways :s) on their first day of Little World Preschool.  Look at their excited little faces.  I spent weeks looking at preschools and finally found one where they taught in Spanish, allowed children to attend a few half days a week (most preschools here are M-F, 8:00-3:00) and would let me volunteer in the classroom.  That's not asking much, right??  I finally found Little World.  They advertised a Montessori Preschool for ages 3-5.  So Coby, Pearl, and I were all in class together.  We lasted two days at Little World.  I couldn't handle the way the teachers there talked to the kids.  Super strict and super mean :(  And the use of time was ridiculous.  The teacher would stop talking every time a child wasn't quiet or wasn't sitting still...keep in mind there are 3 yr olds in the class!!  We did nothing (I'm not exaggerating.  The kids sat on the rug in a circle, the teacher waiting for them to be still and quiet) the entire first day we were there and almost nothing the entire second day.  That is just the tip of the iceberg and I won't rant any farther.  Needless to say, we quit.

And I signed Pearl up for preschool at the valley's famous Lynn Flowers.  Moms before me had searched for a good Spanish-speaking preschool and had told me there wasn't one and that I should just go directly to Lynn Flowers and not waste my time.  I should have listened.  Below is Pearl on her first day of Lynn Flowers.  She LOVES it.  She is in the 4-yr-old class and goes M, W, & F from 9:00-noon. She is learning zero Spanish. :(

This is the collage that I helped Pearl create to describe herself for preschool.  She was so funny putting it together with me.  She is in love with whales, sharks, and dolphins.  She wants to be an astronaut when she grows up, and she wanted a picture of her best doll, Baby Anna, on her paper. :)

While Pearly is at school, Coby and I are enjoying little dates.  I have never had time alone with Coby and it has been really fun!!  I usually try to do something special with him, or spoil him a little while Pearl is at school.  One day we splashed in puddles in the parking lot for a while, one of his very favorite things to do.

Below is Pearl with her choice for show and tell.  It is a book about whales that we checked out from the library.  This girls in OBSESSED with whales and sharks.  She said she opened the book up during show and tell and told the class some facts about whales.  (Wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see what she actually said.)  She does know her facts though!!

Oh, and I neglected to say that Pearl goes by Madelyn at school.  :(  I think it is because she cannot say her "r's."  I've seen her get embarrassed when people ask her what her name is and then can't understand that she saying "Pearl."  So she told her teacher she wants to be called Madelyn.

Coby and Pearly at KC's office in McAllen.  

If they follow in their dad's footsteps, they should both be needing glasses before too long :s

A new little splash park opened up near our house.

We decided we better take Pearl to Sea World while she is in love with all sea life.  She and I made this count-down-til-Sea World picture to hang in her room.

We arranged to meet friends who live in Dallas in San Antonio for a day at Sea World. We both arrived in San Antonio 8:00ish Friday night.  Did Sea World all day Saturday and drove home late Saturday night.

The famous Shamu show was amazing.  We sat in the splash zone and got completely soaked.  It was quit shocking, getting hit with buckets full of freezing, salty, stinky water. :s

Feeding the dolphins was really neat.

Riding the rides was hot.

Coby and I waited in line for 30 minutes to ride the carousel.  When it was our turn he didn't want to ride a horse.  He wanted to sit on the bench on my lap.  Not the bravest young lad, but that's ok.  ;)

After the rides we cooled off at the water park inside Sea World.  A really fun day!  We didn't get to see everything and want to go again soon.  We did make sure we saw the whales, sharks, and dolphins.  And we got to pet sting rays.  

This post seems to be all about Pearl.  She started playing soccer this month and really liked it at first.  Her interest has definitely fizzled though.  Her team practices once a week and then has a game every Saturday.

Coby at soccer practice.

Pearl warming up for her first game.  She was so cute.  She even scored a goal.  It was the cutest thing ever...in my unbiased opinion :)