Courtright Family

Newsworthy

2012-02-16T17:39:00.000-06:00

We are still coming down from the high of last week's awesome Houston Texans party in Connor's kindergarten class. It was such an incredible day!

Connor models some of his goodies he received at the party.

As promised, below is the link to the video about the party that is posted on the HoustonTexans.com website. (I can't believe I'm actually sharing this link because I look/sound like such a dork! This is bound to make all my East Texas friends laugh!)

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/TORO-cheerleaders-visit-Most-Spirited-Lil-Texan/db8086bf-0d17-4268-a4c4-5f1c98502ef5

Also on the HoustonTexans.com website are pictures from the event. They borrowed my photos because none of theirs turned out.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/photo-gallery/Most-Spirited-Little-Texan-Winner/28ac2e78-7a53-4602-bb8c-ec520897bec7

Most Spirited Lil' Texans Fan!

2012-02-10T18:20:00.002-06:00

Anyone who has ever met Connor knows he is a Houston Texans fanatic. He demonstrates his passion in so many unique ways that I've decided I need a separate post to list them all. Last month, the Houston Texans held a contest on Facebook for the most spirited little Texans fan. Of course, I immediately thought of Connor. We have been working on Connor's Texans bedroom for quite some time, and I had just taken some pictures of him showing off his updated room. So I submitted Connor's picture to the contest along with a description of how passionate he is in his love for the Texans.

This is the photo I submitted to the Texans contest for most spirited little Texans fan.

A week later, I was ECSTATIC to get a phone call telling me that Connor had been chosen as the winner of the contest!! His picture was posted on the Houston Texans' Facebook page and he received thousands of Likes and Comments about what a cool little fan he is!

The prize for winning the contest was none other than a party with TORO (Texans mascot) and the Houston Texans cheerleaders in Connor's classroom at school! WOW!! The Texans organization contacted Connor's elementary school and arranged the party with the school administrators. The principal of the school was just as excited as we were about the party, and they rolled out the red carpet in support of Connor and his party. They declared yesterday, Feb. 9, as Texans Spirit Day to let the staff and 1000+ kids in the school wear their Texans gear in support of the team. They had the Cy-Fair school district's photographer on hand to document the fun event for the school. Excitement was in the air!

A group of Texans folks arrived after lunch to decorate Connor's classroom for the party. They brought balloons, huge stand-up player posters, gifts for all the kids, yummy snacks, and even crafts. The room looked awesome and we couldn't wait for the kids to arrive.

Here's the decorated classroom before the kids arrived.

When the kids arrived in the classroom, they walked in VERY quietly. They were all so overwhelmed at all the attention that the party was generating throughout the school. None of the kids made a peep and they all sat quietly at their desks taking in all the decorations. Connor was especially overwhelmed and anxious. The Texans representative that organized the party welcomed the kids and explained how Connor won a contest for being such a big fan. They presented all the kids with their gifts and then gave Connor a huge gift bag full of Houston Texans goodies. The class was still completely silent and not sure how to act, so everyone watched as Connor opened his gift bag. He was completely nervous and acting very silly, not sure how to handle all the attention!

Connor opens his gift bag full of awesome Texans goodies!

One of the Texans representatives found out that Connor is a big fan of Brian Cushing, the Texans' awesome defensive linebacker and 2011 MVP. She received a personalized text message from Brian Cushing to Connor and she read it to Connor in front of the class. Brian said, "Tell Connor that we appreciate him being such a big fan and can’t wait for him to come to a game next year!" Man, how cool is that?!

Connor poses with Ashley the cheerleader.

Then, the kids were in for the biggest treat of all. TORO arrived in Mrs. Hunter's classroom! The mood in the room immediately changed as all the kids couldn't contain their excitement any longer. TORO greeted Connor and toured the room, ending up at Mrs. Hunter's desk.

Look at that smile! Connor loves TORO!

The kids laughed so hard as TORO decided he was going to be the teacher. Then TORO invited all the kids to come up and get an autographed picture of TORO himself. He signed and personalized a picture for each child while Connor looked on.

Connor helped TORO autograph his pictures for the kids.

Here are some more photos from the party:

Kaitlynn attended the party, too. Her face is due to NO nap!

My favorite pic of the day: TORO lifting Connor. Biggest smile ever!

TORO and the cheerleaders posed with the entire class.

And here's one with Mom and Dad.

Towards the end of the party, a videographer from HoustonTexans.com asked if he could interview us. He interviewed me, the principal of the school, and of course, Connor. It was SO nerve-wracking to have that huge camera in my face and I'm sure I came across as a crazy person. I don't look forward to seeing that! I watched as Connor was interviewed and he was completely awestruck and didn't have much to say at all. It'll be interesting if they get anything worth using, but supposedly they are going to post the edited interviews on Texans TV next week! I'll be sure and post the link when I get it.

Connor was interviewed for Texans TV.

Connor's Texans party was AMAZING!! It was better than we could've hoped for and we feel so lucky to have been given such an incredible opportunity. Connor came home with a TON of Texans goodies, including a hat, t-shirt, sweatsuit, and an action picture and mini-helmet autographed by #90 Mario Williams!

I think Jeff said it best earlier in the day: Connor's life just peaked at age 5. It's all downhill from here, ha!!

Afternoon at the Park

2012-02-06T17:57:00.000-06:00

Last week we took advantage of a sunny, cool afternoon and drove to our favorite park. Oh, how I love to see so many smiles!

Sleepovers and Date Nights

2012-02-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

I had a complete lapse in memory last fall when I forgot to post about one of our November highlights. Connor and Kaitlynn were SO excited to have a sleepover away from home with their friends Benjamin, Timothy, and Lily. I even took a video when I announced the surprise. No shortage of excitement here! (Please forgive my annoying high-pitched voice!)

This was Kaitlynn's first sleepover and we weren't quite sure what to expect from her. But Julie and Harry (Benjamin, Timothy, and Lily's parents) were SO sweet and accommodating for both the kids so of course they had a blast and probably never even once thought about missing us. They played outside, went out to eat, watched movies, had donuts for breakfast...it's surprising that Connor and Kaitlynn ever wanted to come back home! And while they were having the time of their lives, Jeff and I were having an overnight anniversary date! Here are some of Julie's pics from the sleepover.

Precious cargo!

3 sweet boys!

Kaitlynn loves to torture their sweet cat.

Dressed and ready for game day!

Fast forward to January of this year. Julie came up with the brilliant idea to have a babysitting co-op with us and our other friends Michelle and Tim (their kids are Brady and Tanner). The idea is that each of us would host a sleepover for all 7 of our kids, giving the other couples the chance for 2 overnight dates. A few weeks ago, Julie and Harry hosted the first sleepover for all 7 kiddos. Now THAT was a fun, crazy, house FULL of kids!! All the kids did so great together and of course had a blast.

5 boys ready for backyard fun!

Enjoying the extra attention.

Movie time!

Enjoying donuts for breakfast.

These 5 boys couldn't be sweeter together!

And while the kids were having a blast not missing the parents one bit, we had another wonderful overnight date and really soaked in the alone time.

Kaitlynn at 2 1/2

2012-01-24T18:46:00.000-06:00

Kaitlynn turned 2 1/2 in December and I've been meaning to post an update on all her new milestones.

Probably the area she's been working on the most is her speech. I use the phrase "working on" loosely, because she is still difficult to understand these days. Sometimes it perplexes me how she pronounces certain words and phrases. For example...

* Chicken = "kitchen"
* Over = "oboard"
* Hungry = "honey"
* The end = "Ah bee"
* Movie = "Uh uh"
* Connor = "Non Noo" (rhymes with Boo)
* Mama = "Mom Mom"

She has been stringing more phrases and sentences together lately, but they always sound kind of funny. One of our friends says she speaks in Pirate. For example...

* "No touchie me blankie!" (Don't touch my blankie.)
* "Mom Mom, wrappa me." (Mom, wrap me up.)
* "Non noo hurtie me body!" (Connor hurt my body.)
* "Mom Mom, you cutta me toast?" (Mama, did you cut my toast?)

(Add an "Argh!" to the end of those statements for the full Pirate effect, haha!)

I've been saying for months that I was going to start potty training Kaitlynn when she turned 2 1/2. I set a date after the holidays and tried to get myself ready. When the date came, Kaitlynn sat on the potty every 10 minutes for over 2 hours. Not a drop landed in the toilet but she soaked about 8-9 pairs of Dora and Minnie Mouse panties. I texted every Mom of stubborn-willed kids I know and asked for advice. Most said she didn't sound ready so I went with that. I told Kaitlynn I was sorry she wasn't ready to be a big girl yet, and she could let me know when she was ready and we would try again. I'm sure it was dumb on my part to give up so easily, but Jeff and I both felt that she just did NOT seem to get it. Potty training is a process I dread more than I can say.

Yes, it's true. She's inherited her mother's thighs.

Some other random updates at 2 1/2:

* She still refuses to say "Kevin" and instead calls him "Buddy", but she now calls Collin "CoCo".

* Her favorite phrase these days: "Lookie me eyes! Timeout! 2 minutes!" She can often be found putting her babies in timeout for 2 minutes, and then giving them a kiss and saying "Sorry baby" afterwards.

* Kaitlynn knows most of her letters and numbers, probably from watching eductional cartoons and of course, using apps on her "yo" (her iPod Touch). It's amazing how good she is on that thing.

* Her new favorite breakfast is wheat toast with peanut butter on it. Makes a HUGE mess but she loves it.

* I know I posted this picture earlier, but Kaitlynn's front teeth are so messed up. Poor thing, both the front teeth are cracked and jagged and the surrounding teeth are crooked with gaps in between. The newly broken tooth is so sharp that it has ripped holes in her beloved pacis. Only a parent could appreciate that sad set of teeth. Good thing she's too young to worry about this stuff!

* Speaking of pacis, Kaitlynn still LOVES her paci at bedtime. And she is still sleeping in a crib for now. I know for a fact she can climb out of it (she's demonstrated this on numerous occasions when she's having a timeout in there) but she still seems quite content sleeping there. I'm sure a big girl bed is in our near future.

* She's been noticing my jewelry more often and wants to play with it. I take that opportunity to ask her if she wants to get her ears pierced (I'm dying to get them pierced!) and she always responds with a defiant "No!" Somehow she's figured out that it's a painful process.

* She is quite the independent little girl these days. She has already been on 2 sleepovers (story to come) and never once misses us. She also LOVES going next door to visit our neighbors frequently and stays over there for hours at a time. When dropping her off anywhere, she will turn to me, wave, and loudly call out, "Bye Mom Mom!" as if proclaiming her freedom and independence from clingy old Mom.

I took those last 2 pictures a week ago and when I was looking through them on the computer, I had to stop for a second. I almost didn't recognize the big girl my baby has grown into. Then later that week, I got a notification from Kaitlynn's school about fall registration and her teachers reminded me that she'll be enrolled for preschool in August. PRESCHOOL! How can this be? I've been feeling quite sentimental lately about my BABY getting so big and growing up too fast. So if you happen to see or talk to me anytime soon, go easy on me. I'm feeling fragile. ;-)

Recent Random Pics

2012-01-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

Here's a recent collection of pictures that I didn't know what to do with but didn't want to forget.

Snuggling with my babies on a cold and sleepy afternoon.

I couldn't resist snapping this pic in the car. They both fell asleep holding hands. The love never ends!

Sunglasses on her head and phone in her hand, just like her Mama!

More snuggles, my favorite!

My lil' Texans cuties!

I just noticed that Kaitlynn cracked her OTHER front tooth to match the first one that broke when she was 1. I have no idea how it happened, but it sure makes her smile look funny. Her teeth are seriously jacked up!

Connor got an ipod Touch for Christmas and he loves to use the Notes app now that he is learning to read and write. I noticed some of the things he's been writing and they made me smile SO big!

It's the Playoffs, Baby!

2012-01-08T14:28:00.000-06:00

Jeff and I were thrilled to attend the first playoff game in Houston Texans' history yesterday here in Houston at Reliant Stadium. There has been such a buzz around our city with everyone coming together in support of the Texans, so I felt incredibly lucky to be a part of such a historic day.

We arrived early to the stadium for tailgating. The parking lots filled up quickly with elated fans.

Jeff and I tailgating before the game.

Here's most of our regular tailgating crew.

Jeff made good on his 10-year promise: grilled ribeye steaks for the entire crew if we ever made the playoffs!

One of Jeff's best friends, Bob, is from Cincinnati so he flew down and used our extra ticket since the Texans were playing his favorite team, the Bengals. (Boo!)

Jeff and his childhood best friend, Bob.

Jeff and I in our seats before the game. Such an electric atmosphere!

Go Texans!

A rare photo opportunity: Jeff with his 3 best friends in the world, Bob A, Pat, and Bob W.

The games get much harder from here on out. We're just enjoying the ride! Go Texans!!

Wrapping up the Regular Season

2012-01-02T10:15:00.000-06:00

The Houston Texans wrapped up their regular season yesterday with a home game and the entire Courtright clan was able to attend. It was a beautiful chilly day, perfect for football! It was a fun game, despite the loss.

Tailgating was a bit chilly yesterday.

Kevin and Kaitlynn with Reliant Stadium in the background.

Our family of 6 before the game.

Kaitlynn LOVES attending the games and does so well the entire time.

Our family before the game.

The week before Christmas, Jeff made his annual trip with buddies to a Texans away game. This year they chose Indianapolis (before they knew Peyton Manning wouldn't be playing) and they had a great time. They managed to stalk a couple of the Texans defensive players (Connor Barwin and Shaun Cody) at a local yogurt shop and get their picture together.

From left: Texans defensive player Connor Barwin, Jeff's buddy Tommy, Texans nose tackle Shaun Cody, and Jeff the stalker.

After the game, Jeff's picture landed on the Houston Texans website and Facebook page. This seems to happen every single year they attend an away game. So funny!

Jeff and his 4 buddies at the Indianapolis vs. Houston game before Christmas.

We may be entering the playoffs this weekend with our 4th quarterback of the year, but the fact that we're IN the playoffs is enough excitement for me. Can't wait!

Our Family Christmas

2011-12-29T12:15:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our family Christmas a little late this year, but it was still so special and so much fun. Now that Collin lives in San Antonio, it's quite the treat when all 6 of us are together at home. We started the Christmas festivities by preparing for Santa's visit. We baked some chocolate chip cookies and set them out for Santa with milk and carrots (for Santa's reindeer, of course!)

I asked Connor if he wanted to write Santa a note, and he wrote these 2 notes all by himself without any help.

They say, "Santa thee's cookie's are for you. If you do not eat all of the cookie then we will eat it." and "Santa do not eat the cairit's. The raindeer eat them." I smiled and laughed so big when I read them! And I definitely saved them in Connor's keepsake box. :-)

Santa was very nice to the family again this year. This was the scene after he left.

Connor was up by 7 (the earliest time he is allowed to leave his room) and promptly woke everyone else up. Collin and Kevin were good sports and quickly came downstairs to see what Santa left.

The big train table in the middle of the living room was the first thing everyone noticed. It was meant for Kaitlynn, and she loved it!

One of Connor's favorite gifts in his stocking was the Houston Texans pillow pet.

Collin's big gift was a stainless steel mini-fridge/freezer for his college apartment. I think it might be nicer than the full-size one in our kitchen, ha!

One of Kevin's gift was a nice watch. He definitely knows how to wear it. :-)

Here are a few more pics from our family Christmas:

Kaitlynn got a Dora microphone from Nana and Papa. It's a big hit!

Kevin with his remote controlled helicopter.

Jeff with a new Texans jersey - the authentic one just like the players wear!

A gift I gave to Jeff (although it's kinda for me too) - our family portrait on canvas. So fun!

The boys tried out one of Connor's new Wii games. Thank goodness they can teach him!

I didn't manage to get any photos of myself in this post, but I still had the BEST Christmas. My awesome hubby surprised me with a certificate for some alone time in a hotel by myself -- no kids, room service, books, huge big bed all to myself -- what could be more blissful?! You can bet I'll be checking in early and staying late (although there was a disclaimer for a 24-hour limit, ha!)

Christmas Celebration

2011-12-26T23:05:00.003-06:00

Our Christmas was spent in East Texas at my parents' home along with all my siblings, their families, and our extended family in the area. This was the first time in a LONG time that we managed a photo with the original Morgan 6.

The more time I spend with family, the more blessed I feel! It's definitely what Christmas is all about for me. We had such a nice visit, and Connor and Kaitlynn got some much anticipated time with their cousins for a few days. Here are all the cousins with their MeMe and Grand Daddy after church on Christmas Day.

There is just nothing more special than the fun memories these cousins make everytime they are together.

Going for a walk with MeMe.

Playing in Grand Daddy's dungeon.

Goofing off at the White Oak Dairy Queen, their favorite spot for treats and playtime.

My brother Jeb and his beautiful wife Alli.

Jeb and Alli with their beautiful girls.

Renee and Ryah, sweet and beautiful sisters!

Christmas Eve was super busy at the Morgan household. We all opened stockings when we woke up, exchanged gifts with our immediate family in the morning, and then exchanged more gifts in the evening when our extended family arrived.

Connor was so excited to open his stocking.

Kaitlynn was enthralled with her Lion King movie, definitely her favorite!

That was only part 1 of the Courtright Christmas celebration. Santa will be making a special late visit to our house later this week when Collin and Kevin arrive to celebrate with us. We love Christmas so much that we're happy to draw it out just a bit longer! :-)

Merry Christmas from the Courtrights

2011-12-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

Holiday Party

2011-12-20T16:06:00.000-06:00

Connor's kindergarten class had their holiday party today. What fun! The kids enjoyed lots of yummy treats and snacks while visiting with their parents. We have a great classroom of kids and parents -- almost every parent donated party items or money for the teacher's group gift. As the room mother, I organized the party (and took lots of notes to make it better for next year, haha)!

Mrs. Hunter and Connor's kindergarten class.

Silly picture!

Mrs. Hunter and Connor (with green lips from his cupcake!)

After the party, the kids (with neighbor kids) celebrated being out of school!

A Special Visit

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

Last week we traveled to Dallas for a VERY special visit with 3 of my VERY best friends in the world! Katherine, Dana, Amanda and I have been friends since junior high school. We tried to count the years and came up with about 23 years, give or take a few.

It's amazing to look back and realize everything we have been through together. Despite all the time and distance that has separated us throughout the years, I feel so blessed by their friendships.

Now we've all got families and kids of our own, so we make every effort to get together and visit while our kids play and hopefully become best friends, too. :-) This visit was the first time that our ENTIRE group was able to be together in one place in over 2 1/2 years. The last time was when Amanda and I were both pregnant with Kaitlynn and Alex. That's WAY too long if you ask me!

Our top priority of the week was getting photos of all the sweet kiddos. Amanda is the photographer of the group and managed to get some great ones. These are framers for sure!

We had such a great visit letting the kids play while the grownups talked and ate and talked some more. I went around and tried to snap some pics of the kids. Here they all are in order from oldest to youngest.

Jacob, age 6, son of Katherine

Connor, age 5 1/2

Luke, son of Katherine, age 3 1/2 (almost 4!)

Jackson, son of Dana, age 3 1/2

Kaitlynn, age 2 1/2, giving me "the look"

Alex, son of Amanda, age 2 1/2

Sarah, daughter of Katherine, age 1

Ryan, son of Dana, age 1

Andrew, son of Amanda, age 6 months

Here are just a few more snapshots from our weekend.

Connor and Jacob play SO well together. It just warms my heart they they are becoming such close buddies!

The big kids ate at the kid tables. So fun!

Here are most of the kids in front of the Christmas tree.

They did a book exchange instead of presents.

Love this picture of Jeff reading to Kaitlynn and Alex, only 3 weeks apart!

It was such a special weekend for me...Fun and chaotic, exactly what you'd expect with 8 grown-ups and 9 kids aged 5 and under. And it was just a preview of times to come when we all travel together to Destin, FL next summer! Woohoo!!

Good Luck Charm

2011-12-12T06:35:00.002-06:00

By now, it's no surprise that our Houston Texans pulled off a last-second stunning victory on the road in Cincinnati to become the division champs for the first time in franchise history. The local media are calling yesterday's win one of the top 10 all-time football wins in the city of Houston. It was AMAZING! And there was no more excited Houston fan than the 5-year-old in our house. Connor was beside himself during the game, and we all jumped and hugged for joy after that final touchdown that put the Texans ahead!

One of the big players of the day was Ben Tate, the Houston running back that is usually playing behind our top guy, Arian Foster. Last week when we were at the Galleria getting Santa pictures, we were about to head home when we noticed a small line forming at one of the sports memorabilia stores. We walked past the store and were surprised to see Ben Tate just inside the store! Connor was so excited and begged me to let him meet Ben Tate.

That's right, Connor met and shook the hand of #44 himself, Ben Tate.

So there you have it, the true explanation behind yesterday's Houston Texans' division-clinching victory over Cincinnati. Sure, our team is awesome, but Connor is one serious good-luck charm!

Pictures with Santa

2011-12-08T15:30:00.000-06:00

This week we made our annual trip to the mall for a picture with Santa. I've been telling Kaitlynn about it for a while now in hopes that she wouldn't be too scared. She made it clear that she wanted "Nonno" (Connor) there with her. Unfortunately having her big brother there only helped so much. She still wasn't a happy camper, but at least we managed a picture without too much drama. So here you go, our 2011 Santa photo:

Here's the 2010 Santa photo. Kaitlynn's expression is exactly the same, haha!

Here are the kids before the Santa picture. I got them dressed and ready in the mall's family lounge since we came straight from school.

And since I purchased the Santa photos, they let me take some pictures with my own camera. Here you can really tell how Kaitlynn felt about Santa!

She needed some love from Daddy to recover after that traumatic experience, haha!

Photo Dump

2011-12-07T08:45:00.000-06:00

Connor's buddy Brett let him borrow hair paint for the past Texans games. Fun!

I can't remember what we were making in this picture, but I've been trying to involve the kids with cooking our meals so that they might be more willing to eat at dinnertime. So far it's not working.

Kaitlynn got her first taste of an iPad at a recent Texans game. She wouldn't put it down.

Her Majesty's throne.

Jeff and I had a wonderful date night to celebrate our 6th anniversary last month. What a great night!

The other day I told Kaitlynn it was time to go, so she gathered up her baby, her blankie, and her purse and then declared herself ready. Yep, all girl.

Kaitlynn likes to climb behind the window blinds for a peek outside.

She won't do anything without her babies. I'm open to suggestions on how to handle Dirty Baby. Ick!

Watching TV with her two favorite things: Daddy and blankie.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.

Jeff was hit recently by a driver with 3 cell phones in her lap. You would think with all that technology, she could've been alerted before she ran the red light.

Fall Fashion

2011-11-30T20:20:00.001-06:00

It's officially fall again here in Houston. Translation: we finally have some cooler temperatures after the long miserable summer. I get SO excited at this time of year when I get to break out Kaitlynn's fall wardrobe. It makes me downright giddy to dress her in the fun outfits with tights, boots, and coordinating accessories. I've been collecting photos of some of Kaitlynn's ensembles, just like I did this time last year. (I went back and looked at that post - OH my, how she has grown!) So anyway, enjoy these latest Fall Fashions modeled by Kaitlynn herself!

I kinda think she was giving me a dirty look from taking too many photos...

And of course, our fashion show wouldn't be complete unless we included Connor's fall favorites as well.

Thanksgiving Outtakes

2011-11-29T07:17:00.000-06:00

Don't cross her or you'll get "the look."

Jeff was giving Kaitlynn a horsey ride and had an unexpected passenger: cousin Matt.

I have no idea what startled Jeff so much ...

But whatever it was, it came back to haunt Kevin a few pictures later.

Courtright Thanksgiving Through the Years

2011-11-27T08:40:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2008

I couldn't find any previous Thanksgiving fireplace pictures, but I did find the following gem from 2006.

Our 3 boys with Nana and Grandpa, Thanksgiving 2006

Thanksmas

2011-11-27T08:20:00.000-06:00

We had another wonderful trip to Michigan this past week to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas (a.k.a. Thanksmas) with Jeff's extended family. It's the one time each year we all get together so it's an extra special time with lots of food, fun, and wonderful memories. Jeff's Aunt Patti and Uncle John are our incredible hosts each year, finding 30-plus adults and children a place to stay in neighboring homes and then having everyone over during the day at their beautiful cabin, tucked away in the woods. I finally remembered to take a picture of it this year.

Aunt Patti and Uncle John's cabin home in the woods. Isn't it beautiful?

We feel so fortunate to visit Michigan each year and enjoy such a wonderful time with family and friends during Thanksgiving. Our kids all look forward to it as much as we do! Here are some (OK, a LOT of) pictures from our awesome visit.

This is where we stayed during our visit, at this gorgeous home belonging to Aunt Patti and Uncle John's neighbors. It's just a short walk down the secluded drive.

The kids love staying there because of the toys, bunk beds, and air hockey table!

This is Kaitlynn's cousin Lennyn, and they were so cute playing together this trip. (When they weren't fighting over baby dolls, haha!)

The boys love to wrestle.

Kaitlynn had some quality time with her brothers during our trip.

Playing pool.

Another source of fun during our trip: playing with Riley the dog. Twice her size and so sweet!

The Daddy train.

Peek a boo!

A mouth full of apples.

Loved Lennyn's precious turkey day outfit!

Collin and Kaitlynn spent a lot of time together this trip. They have really missed each other now that he's at college.

Jeff lost a bet (that he won't admit to) and was forced to wear Jon's Oakland Raiders jersey for the day.

The kids table was lots of fun all week.

Connor was most excited about playing with his cousin Liam.

Collin and Kaitlynn.

Kevin kept the fire going all week.

Connor was obsessed with football on Thanksgiving day.

Kaitlynn with Uncle Chris (Jeff's brother).

Playing cards, a Thanksgiving tradition.

Shooting some pool.

Nana got some quality time with Kaitlynn.

The kids' table at Thanksgiving.

Jeff and Chris washed the Thanksgiving dishes.

On Thanksgiving night, we hold our Christmas celebration with songs and gift exchanges.

Quality time with her brothers.

Uncle Denny and Cousin Matt entertain us with Christmas carols as we all sing along, Jeff's favorite part of the week!

This is only part of our gathering. Love that Riley right in the middle!

Kaitlynn's gift was Brianna the doll with feeding accessories.

She LOVES it!

Connor with one of his gifts.

Kevin got his own set of poker chips.

...As did Collin.

Jeff with his new Texans wallet.

Poker around the pool table.

Kaitlynn with Riley the dog.

Going for a walk.

The other half of the group stayed at a beach cottage right on Lake Michigan. We visited to check out the gorgeous views!

Jeff reading to Connor and Kaitlynn.

Here's the Courtright clan with Grandpa Dave, Nana, and Uncle Chris.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T06:00:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the Courtrights!

Amazing photos courtesy of MckMama

Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-20T11:09:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Connor's elementary school hosted family and friends for their annual Thanksgiving Feast. Jeff left work to attend with us and it was really neat. We had a full Thanksgiving meal with turkey, dressing, veggies, fruit, and even ice cream for dessert. Connor ate everything on his plate except the turkey, dressing, veggies, and fruit, haha!

Waiting in the cafeteria line for our meal

In this picture I think Connor was contemplating the veggies he was supposed to eat.

Mom and Dad with our favorite kindergartner :-)

Kevin and Kaitlynn at the Texans Game

2011-11-15T15:15:00.000-06:00

One of our entire family's favorite things to do is attend the Houston Texans home games during football season. Our most recent game at home was against the Cleveland Browns and we were all able to go as a family (minus Collin). When I looked back through my pictures from the game, I realized that the majority of them were of Kevin and Kaitlynn together. There is definitely no shortage of love between those two. So sweet!

Picture Catch-Up Post

2011-11-09T13:50:00.000-06:00

My sweet friend Amanda recently paid me a nice compliment about how diligent I've been with blogging. Little did she know that I had this post in the works in an effort to catch up on all the pictures I have mistakenly forgotten about over the past couple of months! :-)

I love this picture of my babies in September and can't figure out how I forgot to post it sooner.

Towards the end of summer we discovered the joy of having ice cream for dinner.

One of the last swims of the season. It was so hot this year that we swam all the way through the month of Sept.

Also in September was Kevin's homecoming parade. Here are Connor and Kaitlynn walking towards the parade route.

They loved the parade. Especially how the people on the floats would throw out candy for the kids.

Happy guy at the homecoming parade.

Despite this face, she had a blast too.

We loved seeing Kevin on his homecoming float for the Jersey Village swim team.

Found this picture on my camera and loved it. Me and my baby girl. :-)

Jeff's cousin Jon visited last month and we all went to the Texans vs. Raiders game. It was fun despite our loss.

Kaitlynn enjoyed Jon's visit and gave him a lesson in caring for babies.

Feeding a baby her bottle is exhausting.

This is what happens when Mommy tries to volunteer in Kaitlynn's preschool class. Kaitlynn starts whining and doesn't want Mommy to leave her side.

It was the school's Wheelie-O-Thon fundraiser. All the kids were outfitted with bike helmets and then given a chance to ride bikes and scooters outside. Kaitlynn was still whining for Mommy.

Outside at the Wheelie-O-Thon, Kaitlynn completely forgot about Mommy.

So much fun!

After the Wheelie portion of the Wheelie-O-Thon, the kids were treated to storytime and snacks. Again, no thought whatsoever of Mommy.

Here is Connor at "Crazy Sock" day at his reading class.

With all the school papers and artwork coming home with the kids, we decided to create an art wall for the kids' masterpieces.

They love adding their papers and proudly displaying them for family and visitors.

Kaitlynn has recently begun making her babies and toys kiss each other. It cracks me up how different girls are made from boys!

Lastly, this post wouldn't be complete without another daredevil stunt from Kaitlynn. She was caught in the act!

11-5-11

2011-11-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Jeff was outside with the kids playing with sidewalk chalk. The next morning when I went to leave, I was greeted with these messages on the driveway:

6 years later and we still got it! Happy Anniversary Babe!

Kindergarten Field Day

2011-11-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

Connor participated in his very first Field Day last week at school. I was excited to attend and see the kids in action. We had a cold front coming in the same morning so it was a bit chilly, but the kids and adults alike still had such a fun time.

Mrs. Hunter's class ready for their big day!

Connor is lined up and ready for the first event.

The egg race: walking with an egg in a wooden spoon.

Ready for the soccer ball race.

Mommy and Connor enjoyed some special time together.

Love those Field Day t-shirts. Side note: Connor's class is all boys except for 4 girls!!

Here is Connor's class back in the classroom. They are such a cute bunch!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:33:00.002-05:00

My Reading and Homework-Loving Rock Star

2011-10-27T20:50:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned before that Connor was enrolled in a reading class this past summer. The class introduced 20 sight words for beginning readers and helped foster enthusiasm for books and reading. After Connor completed the summer reading class, his love for words and reading really took off. He would often ask me to write sentences for him to read at home, and I would sneak in some new words that he usually managed to figure out.

Since Connor started kindergarten, his reading vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds. He brings home his school library books and reads them with little help. While he reads to us, Jeff and I keep exchanging looks because we are so surprised at how much progress he has made in such a short time. I had been told by other Moms about how much growth to expect in Connor's kindergarten year, but it continues to catch me off guard.

Here's a video clip of Connor reading his school library book called Just a Daydream. It's a bit long, but I promised the Grandparents that I would post it!

I think I posted this before, but Connor was NOT happy when he found out he would have homework in kindergarten. He had no idea what it meant, other than a certain brother in his house was always complaining about it so it must be a bad thing. Connor had his very first homework assignment this week: labeling a picture of a scarecrow and filling in letters of animal words. When I showed Connor his homework paper, his eyes lit up and he was so excited! He couldn't wait to complete the assignment and he even went a step further and colored the pictures.

Here's his completed homework, front and back.

Just in case you noticed, I did my VERY best not to correct Connor's spelling on his words. The instructions said to let the child figure it out for themselves. So when he wrote "pockit" for pocket and "puckin" for pumpkin, I told Connor how to correctly spell them after I had already put his paper in his folder. I'm not sure if that's how I'm supposed to handle it going forward?? It's very hard not to step in and help but I want Connor to feel confident doing his own work.

Now... if only I could figure out how to bottle up his enthusiasm for reading and homework until, say, after college??

Here's another related story that I wanted to share. Connor's kindergarten class has writing time every day where they write stories and illustrate them in their writing journals. Connor came home last week telling me that his teacher, Mrs. Hunter, complimented him on his story that day and said she wanted to take it to Mrs. Hernandez. I asked him who Mrs. Hernandez was, and then I remembered suddenly that she is the school principal. I was curious as to why the teacher would want to show the principal Connor's story. Later that night, I got a call from Mrs. Hunter on an unrelated topic. During our discussion, she mentioned that she was so proud of Connor's work that day. It was about a rock star and he had written the story, illustrated it, and labeled all of the parts of the pictures. She was so impressed that she wanted to show the principal how well her kids are learning. When the principal saw Connor's story, she too was impressed and asked, "What grade is he in?" And Mrs. Hunter surprised her when she responded, "Kindergarten!"

Can you tell that I'm proud of my little rock star?!

Connor's Buddies

2011-10-25T19:20:00.000-05:00

Since Connor and his friends all started kindergarten this year, it has been harder to coordinate play time with his buddies. Recently we had a school holiday so we jumped at the chance to get together with Benjamin, Timothy, and Lily for a play date.

Benjamin and Timothy spent last weekend with us while their parents were busy packing and moving from Kingwood to Katy. It was the perfect weekend for the kids to spend time and play together. Here are some pics from their fun weekend.

Enjoying popsicles after dinner.

Playtime in our culdesac. There's no shortage of kids on this street!

Playing with sidewalk chalk.

Timothy wanted a chalk outline.

Benjamin - playing so hard his face was bright red.

I laughed when I came across this picture. Benjamin and Connor love hanging with the older neighbor kids.

They all played happily until sunset.

The next morning: doughnuts for breakfast!

Uh oh, is something brewing between these two?

Yep, it appears so!

You know they're having fun when they fall asleep at 10:30 in the morning on the way to Connor's soccer game!

They picked a great game to attend: Connor scored a goal for his team and won the medal for the day.

Later in the day, we met up with Brady and Tanner for playtime at a local play area. All of the kids were so happy to see each other and played so well together despite their obvious exhaustion.

Brady the knight read the boys a story while Connor the policeman cooked dinner.

Kaitlynn entertained herself quietly in the kitchen play area.

Afterwards, we all went to Brady and Tanner's house for a pizza dinner.

Back home, they were WIPED OUT. Look at those faces!

I can't resist taking a picture of them after they fall asleep.

We had such a fun weekend with our 2 extra boys -- Connor is still talking about it! Congratulations to the Aasmyr family on their new house. I'm sure we'll be making lots of fun memories there in the future!

Fall Cousins Weekend

2011-10-19T06:30:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was our annual Fall Cousins Weekend in East Texas. It is getting much harder to coordinate these weekends now that we are juggling multiple school calendars and hectic activity schedules. But everytime we get together, the kids and grownups alike make so many wonderful memories together that we are reminded of why we continue to plan these visits. Here is a recap of our Cousins Weekend in pictures and captions.

Connor and Kaitlynn arrived at MeMe's house to find Renee and Ryah already there. They immediately ran back to the cousins' bunk room to play together.

Ryah, Renee, Connor, and Kaitlynn after bathtime.

Aunt Michelle gave the kids a fun post-bath activity: filling a pumpkin pinata with candy! They all took turns putting candy in the pinata which was for a party the next day.

Saturday morning, the Morgan clan headed out to Kilgore to the Danville Farm. It has a huge corn maze, pumpkin patch, jumping pillow, hayrides, train rides, petting zoo...you name it!

We made the kids sit for pictures before they could play.

9 cousins - all girls except Connor!

Here's Grand Daddy with Kaitlynn in the corn maze.

I thought this picture was cool. It shows how huge the corn maze is and you can see most of the Morgan clan walking far off in the distance with Grand Daddy standing on the lookout ladder above them.

Kaitlynn insisted on climbing up the huge John Deere tractor.

Grand Daddy and Marissa. She turned 1 this year and is the youngest of the Morgan cousins.

Next up, the hay ride.

The cousins all enjoyed the corn pit, too.

Kaitlynn acted like she wanted to be buried in the corn...

But Ryah was the first willing participant in that game.

Followed by Renee.

Back at MeMe's house, the kids had a little rest time with a movie.

That night, we gathered for Ryah's 6th birthday party. Remember that ark I mentioned that Grand Daddy was building? Here it is, completely finished and turned into a pool deck and grand pavilion.

The cousins' favorite part are the built-in trap doors leading to the "dungeon" (old pool cavity) below. They played games in there all weekend!

Here's the group with the pumpkin pinata.

It was a fun pumpkin-themed party for Ryah.

And here's my beautiful sister Michelle with her precious girls, Renee and Ryah on Ryah's birthday.

Phew! I'm worn out just from posting about our weekend. Here's to the next one!

Kindergarten Updates

2011-10-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

I don't know how I managed to skip this update, but Connor's elementary school had their Curriculum Night last month. I didn't realize beforehand that it is designed for parents and not kids. Connor and I went together, and I'm glad we did because he was able to show me a few things in his classroom.

Here we are before leaving for Curriculum Night.

Connor sits at his desk in his classroom.

I noticed a little poster in Connor's classroom that had all the kids' names on it. I guess they were supposed to sign their name in agreement for being a good student and friend. I thought it was interesting that Connor signed his name way up at the top and all on its own. I wonder what that means? Jeff thinks it means he is a leader. ;-)

Connor has begun buying his breakfast and lunch on certain days at school. I think it makes him feel like such a big kid. He had to memorize his 5-digit student cafeteria code, and once he did that he was able to go through the lunch line. I told him he could pick 1 day each week for breakfast and lunch, and he has chosen Wednesdays for both because they serve cinnamon rolls and hot dogs that day.

One of his favorite things to do is wear his Houston Texans jersey to school. It's his way of cheering on his team before the games each weekend.

Connor hasn't been assigned official homework yet but he often has some take-home papers that he can work on if he wants. He enjoys his papers as long as you don't call it "homework." He has already decided he HATES homework, thanks to the teenagers in the house that have always complained about it!

I took this picture of his paper with his name on it because, to be honest, I have no idea when he started writing his full name. Maybe he did this last year in preschool but I was just proud to see it...Courtright is a tough name to learn, ha!

Jeff and I had our first conference with Connor's teacher this week. It was so interesting to hear how Connor is doing in his class. Mrs. Hunter says Connor is such a "doll" and is an enthusiastic, focused learner. Everything she had to say was positive, so we were reminded of how much we have to be proud of with our sweet boy.

I have been spending a few volunteer hours each week at Connor's school. I have really enjoyed meeting some of the other moms and teachers. Some of the things I've been doing include stapling newsletters, laminating classroom papers, and helping with hearing screening. I've also volunteered to be the Room Mom for Connor's class. We have field day coming up in a few weeks, so I'm about to be busy.

Before and After

2011-10-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My dear sweet Mother would like it duly noted that she warned me of something like this happening after my previous post with pictures of Kaitlynn feeding the ducks from our backyard dock last week. I think her exact words were, "Mother Knows Best!" Ha!

Here's another "After" picture:

In my heroic efforts to pull Kaitlynn from the lake after she fell in, I managed to badly injure my toe. I initially thought it was broken but maybe it's just severely sprained. Never mind that the water is only about 2 feet deep under the dock and that Kaitlynn would've been just fine on her own. I guess I was just trying to prove my motherly awesomeness by jumping in after her. In flip flops. Next time I think I'll just let Kaitlynn figure it out on her own.

Sick Daze

2011-10-05T10:45:00.001-05:00

I guess it's that time of year. Last week Connor woke up complaining of ear pain and could barely function. I took him to the doctor and he was quite pitiful.

He had a middle ear infection, poor guy. Good news is, it was the first one he's had since 2008 after he had ear tubes put in. Boy, do I remember those days of a new ear infection every couple weeks or so.

A few days after Connor visited the doctor, we were there again. This time for Kaitlynn.

She woke up sick one morning and couldn't keep even the smallest amount of liquid down. I spent about 48 hours draping everything in beach towels (and doing the subsequent laundry) to prevent further damage to our floors and furniture.

I've learned that when Kaitlynn has a stomach bug, it benefits me to let her keep her pacifier all day. When she is about to throw up, she'll take out her paci and smack her lips. It's actually a bit of a warning to get the towels and barf bowl ready. So she kept her paci for about 2 days straight while she was sick, and after each episode she would hand it to me saying, "Paci wash!" in a pitiful voice.

After visiting the doctor, I had my first experience with administering suppositories. They worked like a charm. Thank goodness we emerged from our sick daze relatively unscathed. It's no fun having sick kiddos!

Visit with Nana and Papa

2011-10-04T15:55:00.000-05:00

Last week we had some extra special visitors with us. Jeff's Mom (Nana) and his stepdad (Papa) flew into Houston from California for a visit with us and the kids. Dave and I bonded over chocolate while Kaitlynn fed Nana exorbitant amounts of play-food. I think my favorite part of their visit was seeing how much Connor and Kaitlynn enjoyed spending time with them, despite not seeing them since last Thanksgiving. They immediately warmed to Nana and Papa and were so sad to see them return home. It was such a fun time and we all loved soaking in time with such special grandparents. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

The highlight of Nana and Papa's visit for Connor: a visit during his lunch period.

Here's a picture of Mom and Dad with Connor. He was so excited to have McDonalds chicken nuggets for lunch.

Here's Kaitlynn playing with her "yo" while sitting in Connor's rocking chair, a gift from Nana and Papa when he turned 2.

Nana and Kaitlynn watch some "Olivia" on TV.

Papa and Kaitlynn read a book.

Papa enjoyed teasing Connor during the Texans vs. Saints football game. Those Saints signs were torturous for Connor!

Jeff and his Mama.

Kaitlynn in the Morning

2011-09-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been taking advantage of Kaitlynn's willingness to go outside in the mornings to feed the ducks. I grab my camera and snap away while she looks for the ducks and feeds them some bread. I have been trying so hard to move out of "Auto" mode on my little point-and-shoot camera in order to justify a much nicer camera purchase, but it seems like "Auto" is the only way I can get a decent photo most days. In any case, I can never have too many photos of this little girl!

Go Wildcats!

2011-09-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

It might not feel like fall outside yet, but our fall officially kicked off last weekend with the start of Connor's soccer season. His team is the Wildcats and Jeff is the assistant coach. They had a great first game! Connor had so much fun and the smile never left his face. Here are a few photos from the Wildcats' first game.

Connor scored a goal for his team. Look at that proud smile!

Here's Asst. Coach Jeff giving the players a pep talk.

And here's proof that Connor still occasionally checks out his shadow.

Kaitlynn enjoyed hanging out in the soccer net after the game.

And this has nothing to do with soccer, but this last picture was the scene at our house Saturday evening before a huge rainstorm. I went to get my hair cut and in the middle of my session, my hair stylist noticed a huge crowd of people rushing to the windows of the salon. We wondered what was going on and then someone exclaimed, "It's raining! It's raining!" That just shows how much of a drought we've been in down here in Houston...a 10-minute rainstorm was quite the welcome sight for all of us!

Recently

2011-09-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

I figured I'd better post some updates on the blog before I got a call from my Mom asking me if we are OK down here! Our September is going great and just as busy as the summer, hence the lack of posts recently. But here is a random collection of photos and updates to prove we're still alive and well.

I have been spending some time volunteering at Connor's school, and I had the privilege of joining him for lunch one day. He was surprised and excited!

I have been doing a lot of shopping lately to transform Collin's former room into Kevin's new bedroom. He is definitely excited to finally have his own room after sharing a bedroom with Connor for the past few years. I will hopefully be able to share pictures of his room soon. One of the things I bought for his bathroom was a little storage bin that Kaitlynn seems to have claimed for herself. She has always been drawn to confined spaces for some reason.

Another big chunk of our time lately has been going into our other house. It was our first home and we have been renting it out ever since we moved a few years ago. We had new tenants moving in last week, so we made multiple trips over there to make sure everything was in good shape. It's a little tricky keeping 2 young kids entertained in an empty house for hours on end. Movies, snacks, and phones sometimes did the trick. Also, the kids discovered the closet under the stairwell (we call it the "Harry Potter" closet) and loved playing there. Connor begged us to move back to that house so he could play in that closet.

I took a picture of the kids under the oak tree in the front yard because I couldn't believe how much it has grown since we lived there. It used to be a tiny little thing.

Kaitlynn has really been enjoying her Mother's Day Out lately. She insists on carrying her backpack all by herself, even though it just about tips her over each time.

And unfortunately, this year at MDO Kaitlynn shows no interest in napping. Her teachers say she stays put and is quiet, but no sleeping. Instead, she sometimes falls asleep in the carpool line while we wait for Connor.

Since Connor is now in school full-time, Kaitlynn and I have enjoyed a few lunches with Jeff lately. He loves having lunch with "his girls" as he calls us. I tell you, the relationship between Kaitlynn and her Daddy just gets sweeter and sweeter these days. There is no shortage of hugs, kisses, and love here.

And since I'm on the subject of Kaitlynn, I thought I'd share a picture of my favorite new hairstyle for her. Unfortunately she doesn't tend to keep the bows in this way, but oh, what I wouldn't do for that hair.

Last but not least, check out this little stunt by Kaitlynn. I wonder if it's too soon to sign her up for gymnastics??

Special Season Opener

2011-09-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a special day in so many ways. It was the season opener at home for our Houston Texans and our entire family was able to attend. That alone made it a great day, and it only got better and better.

First up, tailgating. It was a hot one! We enjoyed hanging around in the shade, eating some food and snacks, throwing the football, and the teenagers even managed to get a nap. Seriously, they can sleep anywhere!

Finally, we made it inside the air-conditioned stadium.

Every stadium chair had a miniature US flag as part of the September 11 tribute, and the pre-game ceremony was as touching as I've ever witnessed. On the field was a 100-yard American flag. "Taps" was played and we watched on the screen as every other Live NFL game was broadcasting the same song and view at the exact same time across our country. You could've heard a pin drop in our stadium of 70,000+ fans as everyone remembered those tragic events of 10 years earlier.

Later in the day, I was overwhelmed with joy to see the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band perform at halftime. It took me back in time well over 10 years ago when I was standing and watching proudly at Kyle Field. I will never tire of watching them perform.

To cap off the exciting day, our Houston Texans pulled out an amazing victory over the Colts!

It was a thrilling day, both physically and emotionally draining. This was the scene on the drive home.

Go Texans, and God Bless America!

A Morning at the Park

2011-09-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

Houston had a bit of a cool front recently which brought the temperatures down enough for us to enjoy some playtime outside. Last weekend we took Connor and Kaitlynn to "the biggest park ever" which is just a few miles away from us in Jersey Village. It really is the best park for little ones and it was a great start to the long weekend. Here's a ton of pics from our morning at the park.

View from the Back Seat

2011-09-03T06:45:00.000-05:00

I was downloading some pictures and videos from my iPhone this morning and came across a picture I didn't recognize. I quickly realized it must have been snapped by Connor from the back seat while we were all driving somewhere. I don't remember where we were going or what we were doing, but the view from the back seat really made me think.

It made me smile to see the affection that my husband and I shared at that moment in time, completely unaware and oblivious to the photographer in the back. Is this what my children see and therefore will remember about their parents? I know that there are many more of these "pictures" out there from our daily lives, but if this happens to be the one that leaves a lasting impression... I'm definitely OK with that.

Mother's Day Out

2011-08-31T07:50:00.000-05:00

Kaitlynn started Mother's Day Out this week and couldn't have been more excited. I think she felt like a big kid because she got to wear her backpack and go to school like her big brother, Nonno. When I suggested we take her picture outside, she was VERY excited because I had done the same thing with Connor last week on his first day.

It's been a long time since she's been so willing to take pictures. Love that smile!

Her backpack is just about as big as she is!

Last week we attended the Open House at Kaitlynn's school. She felt right at home and enjoyed playing with the other kids. This year Kaitlynn will be attending 3 days a week so that I can have some time to volunteer at Connor's elementary school.

I warned the teachers and parents about Kaitlynn in advance. You know, how she tends to be a little, ahem, bossy sometimes. Here she was reading "MoMo" (Elmo) a book.

When I dropped Kaitlynn off at school on her first morning, she just marched right on in. She put her nap mat in the bucket, her lunchbox in the cubby, and her backpack on the hook. Never once looked back. She's going to have an awesome year!

The teachers sent these pictures from snack time on their first day. I LOVE that Kaitlynn's teachers know how much we Mommies cherish photos of our little ones in school. They just made my day!

Kaitlynn was so busy having fun at MDO that she managed to miss her nap. So later in the day, she passed out in the car. School is so exhausting!

As a side note, I have to admit that I had some unexpected emotions on Kaitlynn's first day of MDO. I saw all the parents with their toddlers and preschoolers walking in together, and I just felt so SAD that Connor wasn't with us. I stopped by his preschool class from last year to say Hi to his former teachers, and the kids in their 4-year-old class looked so tiny to me. Was Connor really that small this time last year? It just made me so emotional to realize (yet again) how quickly the years fly by and the kids grow up. I've been loving on Kaitlynn SO much lately because I want to soak in her toddler-ness before it, too, passes me by.

Kaitlynn's first day of Mother's Day Out last year, Oct. 2010

Connor's first day of preschool, Sept. 2009

Conversations with Kaitlynn

2011-08-29T13:18:00.000-05:00

Ever since she turned 2, Kaitlynn has been adding more words and phrases to her vocabulary. I thought I'd write down some of the more common ones so that when I look back, I'll be able to remember how her conversations began.

Kaitlynn refers to all 3 of her brothers as "Buddy". It's actually kind of surprising, because we don't really call them that at all other than the occasional "Hey buddy" when talking to Connor. I'll say "Give your brothers a kiss" or "Say hi to your brothers" and she'll immediately call for them, "Buddy? Buddy!" to get their attention. Just in the past couple of weeks, she began saying "Nonno" for Connor, but she still refuses to say Collin or Kevin.

Connor can often be found playing cheetah on all fours, and during those times Kaitlynn refers to him as "Puppy." I guess that makes sense?

Kaitlynn's favorite number has always been 2. She only seems to know that number and no other. When she counts to 5, it goes like this: "2, 2, 2, 2, 2!" And then she'll look up at you with a proud expression, waiting for you to congratulate her on her excellent counting ability.

When she is having trouble doing something, she'll look up and say "Tight!" She first started using the word tight to describe something that wouldn't fit, like a shoe or seatbelt. But now she says it anytime she's having trouble with anything. She also says "How" for Help sometimes.

She describes most objects as "Dis" for the word This. As in, "All done dis" or "MY dis!"

When she successfully completes a task or fixes a problem, she'll exclaim, "Dare!" for There!

Long ago she started referring to a movie as "Uh Uh." I have no idea where this came from or why she continues saying it even when we correct her that it's a movie, not an Uh Uh.

She says Thank You often and it comes out as "Dee Dee!" I have to tell strangers after she thanks them because they don't understand what she is trying to say, and she'll keep saying it over and over, louder and louder until they say "You're Welcome."

Kaitlynn refers to a phone as a "Yo." Yo is short for Hello, which is what you say when you answer the phone. It's a catchy word. These days when any of us are looking for our phones, we'll ask "Have you seen my yo?"

Another catchy word of Kaitlynn's is "Moosh." As in, get out of my way (Move!) I often find myself telling others to "moosh" before I correct myself.

Some expressions Kaitlynn uses these days: "Oh gosh!" if she accidentally trips, "WOW!" or "Cool!" when she sees something neat, and my personal favorite, "Yeah, baby, yeah!" when she's cheering on the Texans.

First Week of Kindergarten

2011-08-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it through Connor's first week of Kindergarten. And boy, what a week. The hectic schedule and confusion of the drop-off/pick-up process has really worn us out. Here's a typical morning from our "new" schedule:

6:15 - I wake up, get dressed and ready
6:45 - Make Connor's breakfast and pack his lunch
7:00 - Connor is up and eats his breakfast while watching a TV show
7:15 - Connor gets dressed and ready
7:30 - I get Kaitlynn up and get her dressed
7:40 - We load into the car along with the neighbor kids (we are carpooling to/from school)
7:45 - Wait in the carpool line to drop kids off
8:10 - Back home, fix Kaitlynn's breakfast and finish getting ready for the day

I can see now that my mornings will be much more chaotic from here on out. The afternoons aren't much better. I've been waking Kaitlynn up from her afternoon nap to go pick up Connor on time at 3:00. This week we've been walking in the 100+ degree heat, but soon we'll be going through the car rider line. I'm not sure if that'll be better or worse (considering I have a restless toddler in the back). We have several neighbor kids that all go together, and we've been taking turns driving. It makes the school experience so much more exciting for Connor. Especially when they all play together after school.

Connor came home each day this week with HUGE smiles and excitedly talking about his day. So far he's only learned a few of the other kids' names, and one in particular he's talked about is a little girl, Andrea. Hmmm. He also mentioned that there is a "little kid" that has been picking on him, messing with his nametag and bothering him in Music class. Should be interesting to see how that plays out!

Connor's teacher, Mrs. Hunter, sends home a monthly chart with notes each day marking any areas for improvement for the kids. So far, she has put asterisks for Connor next to "Follow directions the first time given" and "Talk at appropriate times." No surprises there!

While Connor has been at school this week, Kaitlynn has been really out of sorts. After we dropped Connor off each morning, she would start to whine and cry, saying "Nonno!" I think she just wanted to go with him! Then throughout the day she would ask for "Nonno" multiple times. When we would get in the car to go run errands, she would get excited because she assumed we were going to pick him up already. I've had to wake her up early from her afternoon nap all week, but she was never in a bad mood about it because she was ready to go get her brother. I never realized what a twosome they had become until this week when they've been apart. Breaks my heart! But I know from now on, I'll be enjoying some quality time with my girl.

Friday we sent breakfast to the school as a "Thank You" for the staff and teachers. If I'm feeling this exhausted after the first week, I can't imagine how they are all feeling. Thank heavens for all you sweet teachers out there!! And, thank goodness for the weekends!

To sum up the week, I think Connor said it best: "Phew! Kindergarten weared me out!" That goes for the rest of us, too!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2011-08-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was our first Texans home game of the season (preseason). Jeff and I took Connor and Kaitlynn and you have never seen 2 more excited kids! We thought Connor was a huge Texans fan...well, Kaitlynn may top him and then some. She had SO much fun at the game. She sat in awe watching all the football players and activities. She spotted the team mascot, Toro, right away and wouldn't take her eyes off of him the rest of the game. When the Texans made a great play, first down, or scored, Kaitlynn was right beside Jeff giving all the fans in our section high-fives. At one point, we were watching the game and suddenly realized Kaitlynn had walked all the way up our section giving everyone high-fives all by herself. She was cracking us all up! Ever since the game, everytime we get in the car Kaitlynn asks if we're going to see the Texans. And she's even started pointing out signs and billboards when she sees the Texans logo. Brainwashed much??

Here are some pictures from tailgating in the parking lot. Kaitlynn LOVED the horsies.

We didn't tailgate long because it was SO hot. Thank goodness for a retractable-roof stadium with air conditioning.

Here's a video showing Kaitlynn giving all the fans high-fives. Everyone just cracks up because she's just like her Daddy!

At the end of the evening, it was WAY past their bedtimes and they passed out in the car. Here's to another fun football season!!

Connor the Kindergartner

2011-08-22T16:32:00.001-05:00

Well, it's official. My baby boy is now a kindergartner!! Check out this smile, he is SO proud and excited!

I always assumed I'd be more than ready to see Connor start school when it was time, but I admit I've been feeling way more emotional about it than I expected. Last week after we met Connor's teacher, I was an emotional wreck! I was wondering what was wrong with me, and then my mom told me that she would be worried about me if I didn't feel this way. I guess the emotions just caught me off guard because I've never been the sentimental type. I had a few crying fits but I kept it together in front of Connor. He couldn't have been more excited about his first day!

Our first morning before school went great. When Connor woke up, I greeted him with hugs and smiles, telling him how proud of him I am. Of course, I had to choke back the tears a bit. He had breakfast while I finished packing his lunch and backpack. Then we all got ready and took some pictures to commemorate his big day.

Love that congratulatory handshake! Jeff joined us to see Connor off on his first day. I was a little unsure of what to expect because the transportation to/from school can be challenging. We don't have buses in our neighborhood because the school is so close. I had initially signed Connor up to be a car-rider, but then after hearing some nightmare stories from fellow Moms I decided we would just walk him to/from school for these first few days/weeks. It was a bit chaotic and crowded when we arrived at the school -- you could feel the excitement in the air!

Connor led the way through the school to his classroom. He was SO excited!! When we got to his classroom, his teacher Mrs. Hunter asked him to pick a table and sit where he wanted. He tried to sit at HER desk but eventually chose a spot next to 2 other boys.

Connor's very first kindergarten assignment was to use playdoh and make the first letter of his name. How cool!

One last picture of the morning before I officially became a helicopter Mom. Here's Connor with his sweet teacher, Mrs. Hunter.

It was SO strange coming back home without Connor. Kaitlynn was confused, too. She kept asking where "Nonno" was and she seemed sad without him. I managed to keep my emotions in check and only teared up a time or two.

While Connor was in school, Kaitlynn and I ran some errands, did some chores, and Kaitlynn got a nap. When it was time to pick Connor up, I drove a little closer to the school and walked the rest of the way with Kaitlynn in the stroller. It was SO hot. We got there too early and waited outside the back entrance for the kids to come out.

Finally, the kids started pouring out and I had my camera ready. After 15 minutes, Connor still wasn't there. I waited longer and longer, all the while dripping with sweat in 100+ degree heat. Kaitlynn was getting quite restless at this point, too. The teachers at the entrance said all the kids were out, so if we wanted to check on our missing children (there were a few Moms wondering where their kids were) we'd have to walk around the school to the front entrance to find them. I was getting a huge lump in my throat, not because I was worried about Connor's safety, but at this point I was just ready to see him. I began walking towards the front entrance when I saw Connor making his way out the back door. I BURST into tears, I was so happy to see him! The emotions and confusion of the day had caught up with me, and I just lost it right there! I hugged him so hard and tried not to let him know I was bawling behind my sunglasses. He had the hugest smile and said, "Kindergarten is SO tiring!"

What a day!

Kindergarten Checklist

2011-08-19T07:03:00.000-05:00

Completed reading class. Check.

Teeth-cleaning from the dentist. Check.

New clothes. Check.

School backpack. Check.

Meet the teacher. Check.

Panic attack from Mom. CHECK!

Our Summer Vacation

2011-08-17T06:40:00.000-05:00

This summer marked our 5th year of vacationing in The Villages, Florida. We love coming out here to visit Grandpa Jerry (Jeff's Dad), Grandma Cheryl, and Jeff's brothers Chris and Justin. The Villages is a golf-cart community for retired folks just north of Orlando, and we love visiting to experience the laid-back lifestyle of retirement. So relaxing!

I always have a hard time describing to others how much fun we have on our vacation during our week in The Villages. So this year, I decided to document our entire week and all the activities we cram into it. I also wanted to remember (and our kids to remember) how much fun we had here each summer. So here goes. (Extremely long post ahead. Consider yourself warned.)

Vacation Day 1

By the time we arrived in The Villages, it was dinnertime and Grandma Cheryl had made her yummy homemade spaghetti. We all enjoyed a family dinner and then decided to take the dogs out for a run. We hopped on the golf carts and headed out. There is just something about taking a golf cart ride that immediately relaxes you and slows your pace.

Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Cheryl have 1 dog, Gucci. Kaitlynn calls her "Ooo-chi". Justin's dog is named Shots and she is affectionately referred to as "Shotsy". They are sweet puppies and Kaitlynn is in LOVE with them!

Back at the house, Jeff and I devised and schemed for the perfect sleeping solution for our ~~monster~~ toddler. We rented a pack-n-play and wedged it into Grandma's closet, and then Jeff hung a sheet to buffer her bed from ours. It was perfect and we knew she'd sleep like a baby!

We put her to bed, and meanwhile we noticed a strange odor building throughout the house. It smelled like gas so we started to get a little nervous. After an hour of still smelling the gas, Justin called his firemen buddies to come check it out. Oh man, Connor was the most excited I've ever seen! To have a firetruck, lights signaling, right in front of the house...priceless!!

The gas smell was investigated and deemed to be harmless, thank goodness. Finally, time for bed. The kids were sleeping like a dream, and I even managed to snap these photos of them in their beds. When kids are asleep, they look SO sweet and innocent. (Did you catch that foreshadowing?)

(Kaitlynn's reading selection for the evening was Better Homes & Gardens, just in case you were wondering what that is in the picture.)

After Jeff and I went to bed, Kaitlynn decided she didn't want her own bed. She cried off and on all night, and I slept very little. Finally around 3 a.m. I got her up and put her in bed with us. I have no idea what I was thinking. We have NEVER had our kids sleep in bed with us. Kaitlynn decided it was playtime and was having great fun jumping around while we were trying to sleep. She finally fell asleep in between us, and thus began our revised sleeping arrangements for the week. Sigh.

One more thing about vacation day 1... I love to look at all the old family photos that Grandma Cheryl has on her wall. This one is my favorite of Jeff and his brother Chris when they were toddlers. How sweet are they?! P.S. Jeff is the older sibling, but only by 10 months.

Vacation Day 2

Early on Vacation Day 2, we loaded up in the SUV and headed for Orlando to visit Wet 'n Wild. We've been loving waterparks this summer so we thought it would be fun to try it out. It was a blast! Justin joined the 6 of us for a great day of sun and water rides.

One of our favorite activities at Wet 'n Wild was the lazy river. The whole family loved floating and splashing around in the river, and Kaitlynn was pooped and actually fell asleep for a quick nap.

The kids loved the play area. Well, until an unfortunate poop accident (not from our kids...at least this time) shut it down for the afternoon.

Here's Connor on the awesome rope swing.

Time for an ice cream break.

Unfortunately our kids are not classically trained in ice cream enjoyment, as evidenced by these photos of ice cream destruction.

By 4 p.m., the gang was ready to head home. We made the drive back to The Villages and my crazy kids never once fell asleep in the car. Where did I go wrong??

We made a stop for dinner at The Olive Garden and then went back to the house to drop off the SUV. Then, it was back on the golf carts (and scooters for the teenagers) for a drive to the town square for music and dancing.

One last picture from Vacation Day 2. Here's Collin at the waterpark. Notice anything different about him??

Vacation Day 3

Vacation Day 3 started off as a sleepy and lazy morning. The teenagers slept in and Kaitlynn woke up ready for some cuddles.

Then the family loaded up on the golf carts and scooters for a trip to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.

Next up, a trip to one of the community pools. We were all having a great time until yet another unfortunate poop incident. And that's all I want to say about that.

Back at the house, it was supposed to be naptime but the boss of the house decided she wasn't interested in that.

In the afternoon, I headed out with Grandma Cheryl for one of my favorite activities: lunch, massages, and pedicures! We always have such a nice visit away on our own.

The older boys went to see a movie and Jeff stayed back with the little ones while I was having my girls' afternoon. Kaitlynn has figured out that her Daddy is a pushover and will do whatever she wants when Mom isn't around. By the time I returned to the house all refreshed and relaxed, the guys had dinner almost ready (burgers and hotdogs on the grill).

Vacation Day 4

Vacation Day 4 started out with a round of golf for Grandpa Jerry and his 3 sons, Jeff, Chris, and Justin. I threatened Jeff within an inch of his life if he didn't get a photo of them together and he (luckily) obliged.

While the men were golfing, the rest of us hung back at the house and tried to keep ourselves occupied with DVDs and markers. Oh, and puppies.

Grandma Cheryl and some friends began some serious food preparation (which actually began the day before) for a gathering to celebrate Grandpa Jerry's birthday later in the evening. Cheryl and Justin spent ALL DAY smoking up about 33 pounds of meat for the occasion. Wow.

The guys returned from golfing and Jeff was proud to report he played the best 9 holes of his life (he shot a 37, just for the record). The 2nd 9 holes weren't as successful I guess.

Preparations for Grandpa Jerry's birthday celebration were in full swing and we needed to head out to pick up some last minute additions. Thank goodness, because I really needed to get out of the house!

Once we were back at the house, I was bound and determined to get the non-sleeping toddler of mine down for a nap. It's not an easy task because A. She's crazy and won't sleep this week, and B. There is a house full of people consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol in celebration of Grandpa's birthday. I was hoping a sign might help.

It didn't help. Kaitlynn stayed in her crib alternating between talking to herself and then screaming for about 2 hours. Good times.

I finally gave in and went to get her out of her crib. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked in and she was OUT. Score 1 for Mom. Oh wait, it's almost 5:00 p.m. and I don't want her to be asleep this late because then she won't sleep tonight. Ugh. I go back in there and wake her up. Score 1 for Kaitlynn. Guess we're even.

About that time the whole gang comes over to enjoy a feast for Grandpa's birthday. Justin's efforts with the smoker really paid off because the food was YUMMY!

Connor and Kaitlynn loved the Cars 2 birthday cupcakes.

After we all gorged ourselves on smoked meat, Uncle Chris (Jeff's brother) wanted to take Collin and Kevin out to fish in a nearby lake. We tagged along with the little kids to get some pictures and go for another ride.

Within 60 seconds Uncle Chris had caught a large bass. And less than 2 minutes after that, he caught another one.

Jeff and I took the little ones back to the house and relaxed with a movie before bed.

Vacation Day 5

Vacation Day 5 marked the "peak" of vacation fun for Jeff and the teenagers. For the 5th straight year, they joined Grandpa Jerry, Uncle Chris, and Uncle Justin to embark on the annual Courtright fishing trip with Cap'n Dan in Cedar Cove. They always have SO much fun on this trip! Somehow over the years, the trip has evolved into a "No Filter" expedition. This means that the filters come off and the cuss-words come out. I can only imagine the number of F-bombs dropped during the day. This year we made all the guys t-shirts to commemorate the occasion. Here they are before heading out for the trip.

Jeff and Chris managed to catch the 2 largest fish, both redfish I think.

Here's the entire gang. Look at those smiles!

While the guys were on their fishing trip, Grandma and I tried to keep Connor and Kaitlynn entertained. Kaitlynn chose this day to show her true colors, and by that I mean her stubborn defiant streak. We made a golf cart trip to the grocery store, and then we came home to get ready for the pool. It took a good hour or so to get everyone dressed, lathered with sunscreen, packed, and loaded into the car. We finally made it to the pool and were able to swim. 10 minutes later, we were out of the pool due to thunder. Typical. No problem, because I came prepared with snacks.

After a 10-minute snack break, the clouds seemed to be building so we called it a morning and came back to the house for lunch and rest time.

Apparently 10 minutes of swimming did Connor in. He caught a rare nap.

While Connor snoozed, Kaitlynn enjoyed some quality time with Shots the pitbull. This dog is amazing. I've never been a big fan of dogs, and admittedly pitbulls seem menacing to me. But Shots is quite the protector of kids. A few times during the week, Jeff was playing rough with Connor or raising his voice and Shots would jump up and give a warning bark. She did NOT want us to harm the kids. So sweet.

After the guys returned from their fishing trip, we caught a quick picture of the entire group.

Chris and Justin had to return to the Orlando area for work the following morning, and the rest of us headed back up to the town square for a little music and fun. Then we came back, showered, and watched a little TV before bed.

Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 6 was a lazy day. We got up and headed out for a quick breakfast in the morning.

Then Jeff had to do some work (boo) while the rest of us relaxed in the house.

Kaitlynn enjoyed a snack with Grandpa and then it was time for rest time.

When the little ones were down, Jeff and I took the teenagers out for lunch and ice cream.

When we got back to the house, Kaitlynn was awake and had a new look. Apparently during her "nap" she got into Grandma's makeup and had a great ol' time. Her sheets and clothes will never again be the same.

We cleaned up Kaitlynn a little bit and then they had a snack followed by more relaxing.

Then we headed out for a golf cart ride to the square to break up the evening. We had BIG plans later that night and needed to be home before dark.

What were the BIG plans, you ask? Watching the preseason Houston Texans game on TV!! There is a certain 5-year-old that hadn't stopped asking when the game would start ever since we arrived in Florida.

And that picture really tells the wrong story. Connor was up and shouting and high-fiving the entire 1st half of the game. There just couldn't be a bigger fan than this guy!

Vacation Day 7

Finally, we made it to Vacation Day 7 - our last day in The Villages. We slept in a little and then headed out. On the agenda for the day was a trip to Rainbow River in Ocala, FL. We rented tubes and floated down the river for about 2 hours. It was so peaceful and relaxing that Kaitlynn even fell asleep while floating with me in my tube! And sorry, no pictures from that adventure because I didn't want to risk getting the camera wet.

After our river float trip, we headed back to the house. We rested and had some down time.

After we were all cleaned up we headed out on the golf cars for a Mexican food dinner. But not before a final Courtright family pic. All 3 boys and even Jeff were ready to kill me and wishing they had thrown my camera into the river by this point.

Kaitlynn REALLY enjoyed her Mexican beans and rice at dinner. This one was a 5-wipe mess.

After dinner we went up to the town square for a final night of music and dancing. But we were all so worn out from our past 7 days of fun that we called it a night early and went home to bed.

--------------

So there you go. We had an incredible 7 days of fun during our annual summer vacation in The Villages, FL. We are so grateful to Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Cheryl for graciously opening their home to our big family every summer. It was an awesome vacation, and now that I've written it all down, maybe I'll actually remember it in the future! :-)

Traveling by Airplane

2011-08-14T06:00:00.009-05:00

Our family travels at least twice a year by airplane, usually for our family vacation in the summer and our trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving. It is always an interesting experience. For our most recent trip to Florida, I thought I'd document our travel so I could look back and remember the insanity of it all.

We woke up on the first day of vacation and all got up early to head off to the airport. We have to stop for breakfast, usually at 3 different places but today we settled on 1. 6 people agreeing on 1 breakfast place -- that has to be a good omen for this trip, right?

We parked the car and boarded the bus that takes us to the airport. This is always the favorite part of traveling for the little kids -- riding on a bus without carseats!

We had to wait in an insanely long airport security line. Luckily Daddy and the teenagers are good at keeping the little ones happy.

Side note: don't move once you get inside the body scanners or you'll be subject to the rubber glove pat-down. Good times.

We boarded the airplane and I was feeling quite smug for being such a responsible and prepared Mommy. I reached into my bag-of-tricks for something to keep the kids occupied. First up, the markers, stickers, and coloring sheets. This ought to keep them busy until we're up in the air.

Wrong. 5 minutes later, we're stuck on the tarmac. Kids are SO over the markers. Time for the next trick. Snacks! But wait, where is the backpack with the snacks?

"Jeff, where is the backpack with the snacks?" I ask.

He points up to the overhead compartment. Uh, really? Clearly we did not think this through. The most important of my airplane diversions (food) is currently inaccessible due to the fact that the seat belt sign is turned on. Every single person on the silent airplane is listening to my 2-year-old beg for a snack that I already promised her, but I can't get to it without risking a conversation with an air marshall. After 15 more seconds of dealing with Kaitlynn's escalating cries, I decided I would rather face an air marshall than a meltdown. So I swiftly unbuckled my seat belt, opened the compartment, grabbed the snack backback, and was back in my seat. Snacks were now in my possesion so I was much calmer. Problem solved!

Wrong again. 10 minutes later, the snacks are done and we're STILL on the tarmac. Don't the pilots realize they are risking the sanity and well-being of their passengers by keeping my kids trapped on this airplane without electronic devices?

On to snack number 2. We're not even in the air yet and I'm running low on provisions. This is not looking good.

Finally, we're in the air. Phew! Electronic devices are now allowed (Praise the Lord) so I'm back to feeling confident that I can make it through this trip unscathed. When I unpack the DVD player and headphones, I notice that it's warm and is already on. Why is it on? Hopefully the battery is still OK?

Wrong. 5 minutes into the movie and the DVD player dies. UGH!! Why didn't I check to make sure it was OFF after I charged and packed it?! The kids are NOT happy and I'm back in panic mode trying to figure out how to keep them entertained for the next 2 hours.

I look over at Collin across the isle with sad, pathetic, puppy dog eyes while he's playing games on his new laptop. He offers to let the kids watch their movie on his computer. See, teenagers DO have redeeming qualities! The kids settle back in with their movie as the flight attendants offer us drinks. Another distraction is always a good thing.

I settle into my seat and start to relax a bit, right about the time when Kaitlynn decides she's done with the movie. I pull out the aforementioned markers and coloring sheets and she proceeds to color herself and her outfit a nice shade of kelly green. Then it's on to the stickers. She pulls off about 2 dozen of them until she's done with those, too. I reach back into my bag of tricks for snack number 3. She seems content with that as I wipe the sweat off my forehead. It's hard work keeping a toddler entertained.

I look over and see that the guys are catching a nap. How nice for them.

Kaitlynn and I then move on to the SkyMall magazine. She is obsessed with puppies and you wouldn't believe how many of the products in SkyMall have pictures of dogs on there. That's a lucky break for me. After exhausting that activity, I'm officially out of ideas. We have another hour to go on the flight and I'm tapped out.

Jeff wakes up all refreshed from his nap and it's now his turn. He takes Kaitlynn on a little "walk" up and down the isle of the airplane. That lasted about 2 minutes. Now what?

Somehow we make it and the plane is finally in descent. Bye-bye electronic devices and hello seat belts. Kaitlynn is back in her seat and not happy about it. I should also mention that at this point, my air sickness had begun to reach stage 2 (versus the stage 3 that sends me to the airplane restroom). Could've been worse, but I was still feeling pretty crummy.

I reach in my bag for my final trick of the trip, the "emergency" fruit snacks for both kids. There are only about 8 of those little gummy snacks in the packet and I'm wondering if I can somehow summon a miracle from heaven to make them go farther like Jesus did with the bread and the fish.

Thank the good Lord above, we finally landed in Orlando. I'm starting to feel a great sense of relief, except for the gnawing feeling in my head and stomach from being airsick. I needed a Coke and fast.

We entered the Orlando airport and Kaitlynn proceeded to touch every germ-infested surface in the entire place on our way to get our luggage.

I detoured to get my stomach-settling Coke and met the guys back at Baggage Claim. We met Jeff's brother Justin and walked to the car to load and drive to The Villages.

Only 1 problem. The rented carseats in the car had to be properly installed. This is where I step back and let Super Dad take over. I have a few good Mommy skills but installing carseats is not one of them. Jeff is normally the Carseat King but we managed to get the ones that were the least desirable with straps adjusted for a 100-pound adult. Why us? Also, for a family of 6 with 2 carseats and 4 guys over 6 feet, the rented SUV is a little tight. OK, a LOT tight. It's only an hour drive so we can manage, right?

After about 30 minutes of wrestling with the carseats in the parking lot with outside temperatures of 100+ degree heat, we were finally on our way out of the airport and on our way to Jeff's Dad's house. But wait, the teenagers are starving so we need to detour for fast food. A few sandwiches and orders of fries later, we're back on the road.

At this point, I'm praying Kaitlynn can fall asleep in her carseat so that she is a little more manageable when we get to our destination. Of course, in typical Kaitlynn fashion, she waits until we are about 5 minutes from the house and then passes out. We pull in the driveway and fall out of the SUV to greet Jeff's Dad. Kaitlynn pops up and is wide awake and ready to move.

We've just arrived and I'm already exhausted.

Slim

2011-08-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

We have a busy month coming up before school starts so I've been doing some early back-to-school shopping for Connor lately. Last year around this time, I had the HARDEST time finding jeans for him that would fit. Either they fit perfectly around the waist and were too short, or they would be the perfect length but hanging off his waist. I think I bought at least a dozen different brands and sizes last year and NEVER found the perfect fit. Poor kid was always wearing misfitting clothes to preschool.

Well, not this year. I found the perfect fitting jeans for Connor right off the bat. I could hardly believe my eyes, but this kid is actually wearing a 6 slim. Yep, I said, SLIM.

If you would've told me 5 years ago that my chunky (OK, FAT!) baby boy would EVER be wearing a slim anything, I would've laughed you out of the room.

Everywhere I went, people that saw my big baby boy would bring their hands to cover their mouths in surprise at how chunky he was. I even had a stranger once stop me and with ask me about his size with pity in her voice, "What does the doctor say?"

Just for the record, the doctor back then told me that Connor would likely turn out to be one of the tallest, thinnest kids in his class. I kinda think our Doc knows what he's talking about, ha!

Tons of Summer Fun

2011-08-08T07:25:00.000-05:00

I'm having trouble keeping up with all of the summer fun we've been having lately. As usual, the end of summer has snuck up on me and I can hardly believe it'll be over soon. Here's some of the stuff we've been up to lately.

Riding in Daddy's truck...SO much more fun than the Mommy mobile.

Connor earned some money from chores and decided to spend it on a discounted S.W.A.T. team costume. He loves fighting all the "emergencies" around the house.

We've had some visitors recently. First, Meme and Granddaddy came for a couple of days. Kaitlynn LOVES her Granddaddy, so much so that he couldn't even go to the bathroom without her following him and waiting impatiently outside the door.

Kaitlynn also loved sharing Granddaddy's iced tea.

Another special visitor was Uncle Ben. The kids just love him.

And this past weekend, my cousin Robin and her family came for a visit. We went to the Schlitterbahn waterpark in Galveston (again). It is always SO fun (and exhausting)!

We have been spending a LOT of time in the sun. Here are the kids at Palm Beach in Galveston. (We are going there again today with friends! The fun never ends!)

Kaitlynn has been developing some VERY blonde hair from all our time in the sun. But if you look closely you can see the darker roots growing in. I think her days as a blonde-headed beauty are numbered. sniff sniff

We've also been hanging out at some fun play areas to avoid the summer heat. At one of our local hangouts, they have fun activities for the kids. In these pictures, Connor and Kaitlynn were making playdoh from scratch. There is NO WAY I would allow this mess in my house!

Playdates are another favorite way to pass the days lately.

Just like everywhere else in the South, it's been HOT and sunny down here. Gotta have those shades!

Summer Reading

2011-08-02T20:48:00.001-05:00

There's been a lot of summer reading going on in the Courtright house. It's no secret that I am a BIG reader -- I probably go through a new book every week. Jeff thinks Kaitlynn will be a reader like me. She loves books and can sometimes entertain herself by looking through them for long periods of time.

Reading together.

The kids always love when Dad reads them stories because he makes really cool character voices.

In preparation for kindergarten, Connor has been taking a reading class this summer. They start by teaching common sight words and then move into reading with phonetic strategies. The class has been a great confidence-booster for Connor and he seems to really enjoy recognizing words and sentences. The other day we were at the mall and he surprised me when he read a sign to me that said, "Welcome to the Play Area."

With all the reading going on, Kaitlynn has decided she can read by herself. In this little video, she "reads" a Dora book to her Daddy.

Couch Time

2011-07-31T07:55:00.001-05:00

Visiting Special Friends

2011-07-27T16:00:00.000-05:00

Last week the kids and I drove to Dallas to visit 2 of my dearest friends, Katherine and Dana. (We SO missed you, Amanda!!) We arrange these visits a couple times each year to let our kids play together and to let the Mommies have some much needed catch-up time. Dana already posted about this awesome visit and my post will be almost identical, so here goes.

Here's a picture of me with Katherine and Dana. So hard to believe we've been so close for so many years. I think it's been since Junior High but honestly I can't remember! Could be longer!

During our trip, the kids had such a blast playing at local malls, Pump It Up, swimming, and mostly tearing up the playrooms at Katherine and Dana's houses. That's one of the advantages of visiting at someone else's house, haha!

Every chance we had, we lined up all 7 kiddos in hopes of a great picture. They actually cooperated every time, although that might've had something to do with the fact that instead of saying "cheese" we asked them to say "poopie" and other funny potty words. Whatever works!

We were quite the sight going into the mall with all 7 kids and 3 double strollers.

One night while at Dana's house for dinner, we decided to go ahead and bathe the kids in hopes of them falling asleep on the drive back to Katherine's house for bedtime. We didn't have pajamas with us so we raided Jackson's closet to see what we could find. The biggest pjs he had for Connor were size 4T (he usually wears a size 6). We had the biggest laugh over Connor in these skin tight pjs!

And we also thought we'd try on one of Sarah's bows on Ryan. Bless his heart, this is as close to a girl as Dana will ever get, HA!

Here are the 3 sets of kiddos (Don't mind Jackson...he was making "back off!" eyes at Kaitlynn...).

Finally...I couldn't end this post without mentioning this. One of the things I'll always remember about this particular visit is how my daughter's true personality was revealed in full to my sweet friends. I try to convey in my stories on this blog how, um, spirited Kaitlynn can be and what diva-like behavior she sometimes exhibits, but only when you spend time with her do you really get it. Within the first few minutes of arriving at Katherine's house, Kaitlynn had shoved sweet baby Sarah to the floor and yelled "NO!" to ward off the boys from sharing the toys she was playing with. Sigh. That's my girl. Her redeeming quality is that she can be just as loving and affectionate as she is naughty.

So after this trip, I can safely assume that my parents aren't the only ones getting a big kick out of this child of mine. You know, the one I SO deserve. :-)

Bath time

2011-07-24T15:55:00.000-05:00

The other day I gave the kids an early evening bath and I just loved how the light was catching their eyes while they played. I couldn't resist taking some pictures to capture their sweet, bathtime innocence. I'll admit, I've been having my fill of kids these days. But then I experience precious moments like this and realize how truly lucky I am!

Wiggles and Giggles

2011-07-20T20:45:00.000-05:00

Connor and Kaitlynn recently joined their buddies Benjamin and Timothy for one of their favorite summer events: attending The Wiggles Live in concert!

I was curious to see how Kaitlynn would do and whether the show would hold her attention. I managed to get this picture of her, and this was pretty much the look on her face throughout the show. She was mesmerized!

Connor loved it, too. He was dancing and singing along the entire time!

I had a tough time getting pictures of the kids. This was the best I managed of the 3 boys.

Here are a couple quick videos of the boys enjoying their favorite Wiggles songs.

Finally, our FAVORITE part of the show by far was when Murray the Wiggle read our homemade signs with each of the kids' names on them. Benjamin and Timothy's sweet family surprised us and made these posters that said, "Benjamin and Timothy say The Wiggles make us Giggle!" and "Connor and Kaitlynn say The Giggles make us Wiggle!" Murray read them out loud in front of the crowd and even commented on how cool they were. Connor and Kaitlynn sure thought so!

Big Brothers

2011-07-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I'm amazed at the teenagers in our house. Collin and Kevin are both great big brothers to my little ones and I love seeing their sweet exchanges when they're together.

Every once in a while I catch them sounding more like the parents than the siblings.

For example, a few months ago Collin came over and when he walked in, he was immediately greeted by his little sister (who adores him, by the way). She pranced up to him and hugged his legs tightly, all the while grinning from ear to ear. Collin reached down to hug her saying, "Kaitlynn, I wish you could stay this cute forever!"

On another occasion, the 4 kids and I were sitting around the dinner table enjoying some pizza. I had just registered Connor for kindergarten that day, so I reminded Connor to tell his brothers what he did that morning. "I got signed up for kindergarten!" he excitedly told them. The older boys both exclaimed, "Wow!" and then Kevin added, "Man, Connor, I can't believe you'll be in kindergarten! I remember when you were just a baby...".

A couple weeks ago, I was driving all the kids minus Kevin somewhere and Kaitlynn was acting fussy in her carseat. It was before we had gotten Kaitlynn her own iPod Touch, so I had given her my iPhone to keep her busy until we reached our destination. Connor began whining about wanting a phone or something to play with, and he kept asking why Kaitlynn got to play with my phone instead of him. "Why don't I get something to play with?" he asked. Collin piped in and responded, "Because you're old enough to sit still and quiet!"

Summertime Means...

2011-07-07T20:50:00.001-05:00

Going to the doctor with 2 kids in tow. (Don't forget the snacks and portable movie player!)

Finding new ways to entertain yourself at home. (Wearing Mom's shoes is so much fun!)

Making a huge mess of toys all over the house because it's too hot to play outside.

Taking lots of trips to stores (and store bathrooms with cool toddler seats) with both kids.

Naps in the car after a long day of fun with friends.

Shorter summer haircut for the boys...

And beautiful stringy beach curls for the girls (not to mention lots of cute swimsuits) :-)

Swimming. Lots and lots of swimming. Sometimes even without a swim diaper.

Tan lines and pony tails.

Early evening snuggle time on the couch after long days of swimming.

Not leaving the house without sunglasses.

Yep, it's definitely summertime!