Josh's Weekend Visit

As you can imagine Josh's visit was filled with plenty of Josh and Ellie time!  There was Uno, soccer and plenty of good food.  She wanted to show him everything she's grown to love about Texas.

When he arrived on Friday evening we grilled steaks for a Texas-style dinner while Ellie gladly gave him a tour of the house.  And then off to the local high school - Wylie High - for a small taste of Friday Night Lights and what Texas Friday night football is really all about! It wasn't a late night with all the week's activity and Josh's travel day.

SO up early the next morning we were!  Her soccer game was at 8:30am in Plano - this year's league of Under Age 10 is combined with Plano/Richardson and there is a bit more travel than around the corner.  But it gave us a nice opportunity to show Josh around a bit more.

She won  her game 7-0 while she played a solid game at defense.

The boys had their photo taken at the field as the sun was coming up.  A nice, less-humid day was in store was us on Saturday.

After the game a bit more of a tour with a drive through Plano, and past Allen (Eagle) Stadium so Josh had a feel for just a multi-million dollar stadium at the high school level!  After Ellie's showered and changed from her game we were off to our new favorite place for burgers - Haystack!  We arrived early before the crowd and enjoyed a great lunch!

It seemed like it was almost time for a nap after all that fun!

And the afternoon brought more games - card games, soccer in the yard games and even a bit of rest!

Seems like all you do is eat in Texas, so off we went for authentic BBQ at Lockhart's.  

This is the kind of place that they slice your meat and wrap it in brown paper, weigh it at the register and off you go.  Not even a tray to carry - just packs of brown paper wrapped meat.  And of course the smoke stacks out back to ensure that we know how real this smoke house really is!

Mommy Questions

Ellie:  "Mommy, do teachers make a good paycheck?"

Me:  "What do you consider a good paycheck?  Is it enough to live in a safe place, drive a car that gets you where you need to go and to eat good food?"

Ellie:  "and have insurance!"

Me:  "Exactly!"

Ellie:  "okay cause I want to be a teacher when I grow up."

Me:  "That's awesome!  How much do you think is a good paycheck?"

Ellie: "about $35."

Me:  "Excellent!  You have to do well in school and in college to become a teacher."

Ellie:  "Do I need a Bachelor's Degree?"

Me:  "Yes, and a Master's Degree."

Ellie:  "Wow, that sounds like a lot!"

Me:  "Well, it is.  You have to go to school to make sure you're very smart so you can teach all those students, right?"

Ellie:  "I guess so."

Me:  "Sounds like a good plan!"

Fall is almost here!

Scarecrow Sam at the front door.  

Mommy's helper with her watering can and gloves

When the calendar moves to September, it's time to assume fall weather is just around the corner.  Pumpkins, apples, mums and all things autumn are quickly a priority!

On Sunday we accompanied Bill to Lowe's as he was getting supplies for a home improvement project.  We headed to the garden area and found some treasures for our front door.  Although Ellie was more interested in the purple flowers, I convinced her how nice the rust and yellow mums would look together at the front door.

I had something in mind, and was able to make it happen all together when we got everything back home!  A nice little display with a cheery scarecrow waiting for us each evening to arrive back home!

Soccer Saturday

Our girl may not be the fastest, or the strongest, or the one that scores the most goals.  She is someone who is a team player, helping others, knows her position, loves to win and is always happy to be out there with her team.

She's the 'sweeper', she tells us.  Just in front of the goalie.  She knows her position well.  This season there are a couple of new girls to the team that Coach Mario has on defense and Ellie coaxes them along to 'move up, girls!' or 'come back here!' as she goes.

In the end we're happy she has fun, gets some fresh air and understands the value of being part of a team!

#WeAreWhitt

Ellie's 4th grader teacher, Mrs. Freeman does a great job of posting pictures throughout the day.  The thing is she has 17 students so Ellie's face only pops up once in a while .. and today was the day!

They earn points for different work that completed and of course 'conduct becoming a Whitt Wolf!'

Here is a prize that Ellie earned with her Dojo points ... that wonderful mustache!  And she is happy under that big thing!

Don't call me Shirley

i love the Coke bottles with all the names on them.  No, I've never found my name.  But plenty of "Bill" and even "Elizabeth" ... Today in search of an 'emergency Coke' due to a headache, I got a soda from the machine.  And Shirley arrived!

It made me laugh!  And reminded me of when someone says, 'Surely you wouldn't do that!"  And I always think, "why are they calling her Shirley!"

The Rock for pizza

One of Ellie's favorite spots is a newly opened pizza place close to our house.  It's got lots of families, rock and roll music and great wood-fire oven pizza.  Her favorite is the white pizza with garlic, arugula and prosciutto!  We enjoyed family night dinner there on Saturday!

Watch D.O.G.S.

You  may recall from last year that Watch DOGS is a terrific program where Dads have a special day at the school.  Watch DOGS stands for "Dads of Great Students" and they watch over the school and special events during their assigned day.

The welcome meeting with pizza was Tuesday evening.  I love how they make their way around the cafeteria taking photos of the students with their Dads.  And how gorgeous is this picture of Ellie and Bill!

When I said to Ellie, "I love this picture.  You look so much like Daddy!"  She said, "Yeah, we do.  Our eyes are in the same place."  Which caused me to shake my head laughing.  "Well, yes, your eyes are both where they are supposed to be.  Instead of somewhere else on your face."  She was laughing too!

Happy Labor Day Weekend

We had such a nice, quiet weekend together with Aunt Di and Uncle Bruce.  We ate a variety of Mexican and BBQ meals - including the one above where Ellie picked her favorite BBQ spot - 3 Stacks in Frisco for our night out on Saturday!

There were lots of games - Life and Bananagrams were the most popular.  And let's not forget all the time at the pool.  We were fortunate on both Saturday and Sunday to have the entire pool to ourselves!  It was beautiful and sunny both days - although a bit warmer on Sunday - to enjoy splashing around!

What a treat to have developed a great pattern of visiting over the past year.  We look forward to the next time we're all together!