Before I close out 2009 I am doing a pictorial review of the last half of 2009 (the half where I fell off the face of the blog-o-sphere) to bring everyone up to date with our year. Starting in August...
First day of school! Meghan starts her junior year at Klein Oak High School. Big milestone for her....she drives to school now. And I clutch my chest and hyperventilate until she texts me that she made it to school okay. (Well, that just lasted a couple weeks. Now I just hope my prayer of "Dear Lord, let her make it to school safely" is answered every morning.)
Jack and I broke down and bought a "third family car" (family car because Meghan drives it and Jack and I put gas in it) this past summer. I was sick and tired of making the 40 minute round trip trek to her school several times a week. Normally she rode the bus, but with her tennis and yearbook schedule, I knew she would be missing the bus as much as she would be riding it. So far the car has been worth every penny of my time.
Claire and Anna on the first day of school. Claire starts Doerre Middle School (6th) grade and Anna is my sole Hassler Elementary student (3rd grade). I have seriously had a kid at that elementary school for as long as it's been open (10 years). I should be their most valued-customer. Like, I should have my own parking spot, free PTO membership and priority conference times.
Anna has Ms. Cook! Ms. Cook had both Meghan and Claire and rounds out the McAfee trifecta with Anna. We love her. Seriously, the most creative, demanding (in a good way) teacher at that school.
Claire rides the school bus for the first time. In the background of this picture you can probably make out a light brown building. That is the elementary school. Lucky ducks, aren't we? Claire was excited to ride the bus, and as I have found with Meghan, is getting a whole 'nother education riding that thing to school. (Claire Bear.....do not sit in the back with those worldly 8th graders.)
Claire gets braces and Dr. Gilliam gets richer.
(note: Meg was dressed for nerd day at school in the above pic, minus the 3D glasses she popped the frames out of and wore to school.)Homecoming in October. OMG....the homecoming mum that I have tirelessly poked fun at for 10 years since moving to Texas, rears its' ugly head in the McAfee house. Meghan and her boyfriend exchanged mums at our house the week of homecoming. Meghan's is worn as a halter? necklace? albatross? and Trey's is worn as an arm band. Somewhere in there is a fake mum (Meg's has 3 actually) surrounded by umm....stuff. The kids wear them to school all week, and to the football game. Ironically, the mums are not worn to the dance, which thank the Lord, because then this would be covered up entirely:
Meghan and Trey dressed for dinner and the homecoming dance. They actually attend rival high schools, so they got to go to both Meghan and Trey's homecomings one week apart. (Look at that height difference.....and Meghan is wearing two inch heels.)
The McAfees do Halloween!
Dorothy can have her wicked witch of the west......we have the cutest candy corn witch of the south.
I love Claire's costume! She wanted a homemade costume this past Halloween, and I found this one on the Family Fun magazine website. It's a jellyfish!
We went one step further than the magazine did though and added a string of battery powered white lights. Here she is (with Meghan) all lit up. She got lots of compliments.
Jack celebrated another birthday in November. When your birthday falls the same week as Thanksgiving, odds are your birthday cake is going to have a turkey on it.
IT came to live with us. After living two weeks as a stray in our friend's front yard and repeated "no thank you, we do not need another cat" refrains, the threat of calling animal control was what it eventually took for me to lose my mind and give in. I was reminded of my stupidity just this morning (6am, to be exact) when I heard a crash upstairs and found Anna's hamster's cage in pieces on the floor and a stunned hamster wondering what the hell just happened. Kitten (Mabel, Little Bit....Little Shit....IT has many names) was the culprit. Uh, I hate that cat.
The only pictures we have of Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's in Bandera, TX is of Anna skipping along their street. You will have to take my word for it........the food was awesome and the company even better (shout out to special guest, my Uncle Paul who came in from Arizona.)
And I close out my recap of the last half of 2009 with this picture of Meghan. Don't ask me what she's doing. I have no clue. She's goofy, that one. We all are actually. And that is our goofy 2009.
Looking forward, I hope to be back on the blog later today. I have my designs on 2010. I have goals (
dare I say, resolutions?) to share. Because if I share them, that makes me accountable, right?
First day of school! Meghan starts her junior year at Klein Oak High School. Big milestone for her....she drives to school now. And I clutch my chest and hyperventilate until she texts me that she made it to school okay. (Well, that just lasted a couple weeks. Now I just hope my prayer of "Dear Lord, let her make it to school safely" is answered every morning.)
Jack and I broke down and bought a "third family car" (family car because Meghan drives it and Jack and I put gas in it) this past summer. I was sick and tired of making the 40 minute round trip trek to her school several times a week. Normally she rode the bus, but with her tennis and yearbook schedule, I knew she would be missing the bus as much as she would be riding it. So far the car has been worth every penny of my time.
Claire and Anna on the first day of school. Claire starts Doerre Middle School (6th) grade and Anna is my sole Hassler Elementary student (3rd grade). I have seriously had a kid at that elementary school for as long as it's been open (10 years). I should be their most valued-customer. Like, I should have my own parking spot, free PTO membership and priority conference times.
Anna has Ms. Cook! Ms. Cook had both Meghan and Claire and rounds out the McAfee trifecta with Anna. We love her. Seriously, the most creative, demanding (in a good way) teacher at that school.
Claire rides the school bus for the first time. In the background of this picture you can probably make out a light brown building. That is the elementary school. Lucky ducks, aren't we? Claire was excited to ride the bus, and as I have found with Meghan, is getting a whole 'nother education riding that thing to school. (Claire Bear.....do not sit in the back with those worldly 8th graders.)
Claire gets braces and Dr. Gilliam gets richer.
(note: Meg was dressed for nerd day at school in the above pic, minus the 3D glasses she popped the frames out of and wore to school.)
Meghan and Trey dressed for dinner and the homecoming dance. They actually attend rival high schools, so they got to go to both Meghan and Trey's homecomings one week apart. (Look at that height difference.....and Meghan is wearing two inch heels.)
The McAfees do Halloween!
Dorothy can have her wicked witch of the west......we have the cutest candy corn witch of the south.
We went one step further than the magazine did though and added a string of battery powered white lights. Here she is (with Meghan) all lit up. She got lots of compliments.
Jack celebrated another birthday in November. When your birthday falls the same week as Thanksgiving, odds are your birthday cake is going to have a turkey on it.
IT came to live with us. After living two weeks as a stray in our friend's front yard and repeated "no thank you, we do not need another cat" refrains, the threat of calling animal control was what it eventually took for me to lose my mind and give in. I was reminded of my stupidity just this morning (6am, to be exact) when I heard a crash upstairs and found Anna's hamster's cage in pieces on the floor and a stunned hamster wondering what the hell just happened. Kitten (Mabel, Little Bit....Little Shit....IT has many names) was the culprit. Uh, I hate that cat.
The only pictures we have of Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's in Bandera, TX is of Anna skipping along their street. You will have to take my word for it........the food was awesome and the company even better (shout out to special guest, my Uncle Paul who came in from Arizona.)
And I close out my recap of the last half of 2009 with this picture of Meghan. Don't ask me what she's doing. I have no clue. She's goofy, that one. We all are actually. And that is our goofy 2009.
Love you, CB! (And yes, Maisy and B....I love you both too.) 