3rd Place!

My Bronco tennis team had their first tournament this weekend and we took 3rd place even though we were missing 4 players on our team! Our semifinal match came down to the last 3 matches on the court and all 3 were in 3rd set tiebreakers! Unfortunately Centennial High School (the first school I worked at here in Texas) clinched match #10 by 2 points! It was a hot weekend on the courts, but one that showed our team that we are going to do well and go far this season!

Now that tennis is in full swing, school will begin tomorrow. I will be teaching inclusion (special education) English and of course tennis! The school has been under construction for the first 2 years, so this is the first year we will not be winding our way through construction in the parking lot and dealing with beams swinging over the tennis courts as we play! We will have 2800 students at the start of this year; which is why we have now moved up to 5A!

Happy Birthday Cissi!

It is the last weekend of summer for me since tryouts start on Tuesday. Jeremy, Hayllee, and I came to Athens for Jeremy's mom's birthday party. We all hung out at the house and Bob cooked a ton of food for everyone to eat. Since dating Jeremy and coming to Bob and Cissi's I have been introduced to wild boar, venician sausage, duck, and probably a lot more that I don't really want to know what it is! I will admit, so far it has all been pretty good! There were a lot of people at Cissi's birthday including several of Jeremy's friends. Jeremy of course played washers again...that east texas party game of choice!

Barnum and Bailey's Circus

Jeremy's work had a family day and we all went to the circus at the American Airlines Center. It was a very fun afternoon and we really enjoyed the circus this year. There was always something going on and everywhere you looked there was action! We really enjoyed seeing the tigers and the elephants. Hayllee also liked the dogs and I think wishes Lexi would do a lot of those same tricks!

Sidekicks Karate

Hayllee has started taking karate with her cousins Abbey and Jordan and her friend Riley this summer. The karate instructor is very strict but great with the kids. He is big on manners and always makes them answer with "Yes sir!". They not only teach karate moves but are also teaching the kids how to get away from strangers, what strangers are, etc. All of the kids are doing very good and if they keep it up, they are going to be protecting all of us adults!

Tricks and Treats

When Hayllee isn't outside in the pool, she is outside playing on her swingset. She has become quite the friend to Lexi this summer and has decided that it is a lot of fun to play with Lexi in her kiddie pool (Lexi sheds way too much for the real pool and Jeremy has banned her until she doesn't shed so much since it clogs the drains!). She has also been enjoying teaching Lexi to climb up to the treehouse part of her swingset. Lexi isn't completly fond of this, but will eagerly go along with it if treats are involved!

Pool Fun

Now that Jeremy has the pool fixed we have all been having fun and enjoying being able to cool off in it on our hot 100+ degree days! We have had a pool party with friends who all have little kids...mostly little girls. I have enjoyed relaxing on my float and reading books or magazines in the afternoon. Hayllee has loved getting better at jumping off the diving board and diving for rings at the bottom of the pool. So far we have no more leaks and the frogs have seemed to take residence elsewhere other than in the backyard!

Pool Cleaning

Most of the time when you hear that someone has a pool in their backyard, you get a little jealous wishing you had one yourself. Notice I said most of the time! That would not be the case with Jeremy's pool. Since he fixed the light and painted the pool last summer, there has been a leak in the pool. As a result he had to keep adding more water which in turn made an inbalance in the chemicals. After a while of trying to keep it blue and swimmable, we gave up and it began to turn a lovely shade of algea green. Fall, winter and spring came and still the pool sat. One night we noticed that there was some croaking in the backyard and discoverd about 3 frogs happily making their residence in the pool. Jeremy fished them out and mentioned that he really needed to call his friend to see about fixing the pool. A few more weeks passed and Jeremy was mowing the yard. He saw something moving in the pool and realized that there were now tadpoles and baby frogs swimming around in the pool. Not just one or two, but hundreds! Apparently it took this to get the pool cleaned. The next weekend we were out draining, cleaning leaves, and painting the pool. I have decided that one job I never want is to be a pool cleaner. Between the algea, the leaves, the dirt, and whatever else, that was the nasiest looking and smelling stuff I have seen in a long time!

Cedar Creek Lake

Cedar Creek Lake is the lake that Jeremy grew up on in East Texas. 4th of July weekend, Joe, Jeremy's brother in law, brought the boat along for the trip. We spent the day skiing, tubing, and relaxing on the lake and the evening watching the air show and fireworks from the surrounding lake cities. One show would end and another would begin! After the fireworks we went to some friends who live on the lake who were having a huge bonfire.

4th Of July

Jeremy's mom and Bob had a 4th of July party at their new house in Athens TX. Several of Jeremy's friends from East Texas and Bob and Cissy's friends and all of the family came to celebrate. Bob cooked a ton of food on the grill. Jeremy played washers and horseshoes. For those of you who don't know what washers is, it is a game that seems to be very popular in Texas! It consists of a board with 3 holes and 6 3 inch washers. You get a certain number of points for each hole you make the washer into...I know...we are high tech here in Texas! When it came time for the Lake Athens fireworks, we had front row seats in the backyard.

Reckless Kelly

My favorite music group, Reckless Kelly was in town in Lewisville right by Jeremy's house for Highland Village Red, White, and Blue days. We decided to go last minute and almost gave up when the highway was backed up mile and the side roads were all blocked to the event. Luckily, Jeremy navigated his way around and we managed to find a parking spot on a side street that was not too far of a walk to the park. When we got to the park they had food pavillions, jump houses and all sorts of activities set up all around. We wished we had Hayllee with us. There was a decent crowd and everyone just layed out their blankets and chiars and listened to the concert. Not knowing what exactly to expect, Jeremy and I had not come prepared at all but still had a great time. When Reckless was done performing they had a huge firework show right over the park and we had a perfect view.

Go Rangers

I'm a little behind on keeping this blog updated as summer has gone by much quicker than I anticipated and was packed full of fun and exciting times. I'll do my best to get everyone caught up! On my birthday Jeremy, Hayllee, and my friend Ashley and I all went to the Rangers game. This is actually not the only one we have gone to this season. We have a special ticket package and have gone to several and have several more games to attend. It has been fun watching our young team play better and better and even be contenders for the wild card in the playoffs. We have becomd accustomed to losing in the past, so this year is fun with the turn around of actually winning! Hayllee is quite the little ranger fan and has her own ranger jersey and became a member of the kids fan club which is not a bad deal with coupons for $6 adult tickets and free kids tickets! She thinks whenever we go to a game that she must have all of her ranger gear on, including her #1 fan hand, and have a hot dog and peanuts!