Did they just play Footloose??

WARNING - LOTS OF PICS

Months ago, when we found out that the Toyota Bass Classic was going to be on Lake Conroe, we were all buzzing. Dad and Kevin were both so excited to spy on the professionals (with binoculars. out the back door. yes they did.) to see what baits they were using. I was just really excited about another “festival” type atmosphere (I really do get such a thrill out of live music and booths). Then, when Jodi and Anthony decided that it’d be a fun weekend to come into town- case was closed. I was so excited about the Bass Classic – you would have thought I was married to one of the pros and we were about to win the $250,000 grand prize.

The weekend was wonderful! Friday was a Girl’s Only shopping day – Jenna was included and she was made for this sort of day. We did Market Street, had lunch and wine at Cru, hit the mall (where Jenna came alive in the shoe store. the baby is so obsessed with shoes, it’s a whole separate post.) and then went to Hubbel and Hudson. A cherry on top, you can now “sip and shop” at my very favorite place to be!

Jenna reaching for her wine at Cru:

The 4 of Us, my favorite lunch (Cru Bento), sacked out baby, Mom and Daughter x2:

Saturday was Game Day~ My brother-in-law went to UT and so we all felt a little bit better about wearing full Texas gear. The weather could not have been any more perfect, and so with 2 ginormous TVs inside, we all sat around on the back patio watching the game on the outside television! Thankfully for Jodi, (who wanted to wear her shirt to the tournament) - - The Longhorns won the game! Hook Em!

First Beer - - 11:08 AM:

Mom and Dad- - Dad is rigging his line up to show those pros how to REALLY fish!

Anfroni and Jo:

Ready for the tournament:

The Bass Classic was great. First we met up with Jenna’s friend, Milla…… for some exchanging of branches. Then, Grandma and Grandpa took the baby home before the concert. No Dixie lullabies for Kate.

Pat Green is not one of my favorites. He’s cheesy and bleaches his tips and I remember him from George’s and ….whatever. Somehow I manage to see Pat Green almost every single year in concert. It’s odd. He did not disappoint. Still cheesy and talked a LOT about “beer-drinkin’” and “drinkin’ beer”. But still put on a really fun show and whenever I hear “Three Days”, I kinda have a crush on him and completely forget that he’s not one of my favorites.

The Field, The Brothers, and the Sassy Sisters:

I'm not sure why I was so annoyed here -?
Sunday ended with more fishing (and more stalking professionals with binoculars), more football, and a boat ride to lunch on the lake. I am so glad I was over taking pictures by Sunday. We do not have to publish that I was wearing a really dorky red tee shirt that said “I (heart) Texan’s Football!”What? Cowboys and Colts were both on a bye and so it was time to support Houston.
Loved the weekend! Thanks Mom and Dad for all of it - - Thanks Seris Kids for coming in (Ant – Keving says he’s sorry he kicked you’re a** at Ultimate Fighting) - - Thanks Pat Green for singing Footloose for the seesters!

Ummm - one last thing--For 3 days, Jenna has been carrying around this subscription card to "Parenting" magazine. Is she trying to tell us something??

Kung Pow

I have a long post to publish today - - need to upload pics from a fun weekend!

But in the meantime, there are a couple of cute pics of JKR on Allison's blog right now -
http://phrecklenosephotography.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/the_woodlands_tx_editorial_photographer/

And Kung Pow - Jenna's ratty monkey that she carries everywhere - even made it on there. Fab!

Skooled!

For the first 14 months of her life, Kevin and I were lucky enough to split day-to-day parenting. I worked Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and Kevin stayed home with chica. Thursday, Friday and (sometimes) Saturday – Kevin would work and I got to hang with her.
I am so happy that Jenna got to spend her first year with a stay-at-home Dad. I think they both learned so much from each other. I remember days when she was 3 months old -- Kevin would announce “today we are working on holding a bottle”. And sure enough, the baby held her own bottle at a startling young age! There were “work on sitting” days, “work on crawling” days, and last month there were “working on words” days. Jenna has reached so many milestones early because she had a doting father with her 3 days a week whose sole focus was HER.

Last week, Kevin started a new job that requires him Monday through Friday. I am so very thankful for this new opportunity for our family, but I know these 2 will take some time adjusting. He comes home, scoops her up and says “I missed you so much today.” And I know how much he really does mean it. And by the way she latches both arms around his neck and squeezes her face into his neck…I know she has missed him, too.

There wasn’t much of a question of what we would do with Jenna M-W. Her grandparents were more than happy to volunteer to take her and I was more than happy to let them - - especially until flu season is over! So, last week, Jenna started “Grandma and Grandpa’s Preschool”. She sings, reads, plays, helps Grandpa in his office (the first night I picked her up, there were – I’m not kidding – about 50 yellow post-it’s stuck all over the house. I didn’t even ask.) and I get a report card at the end of each day. Those of you who know Jan well didn’t even blink at that last comment. Of course I get a report card.

Kev and I are so lucky. Jenna is SO lucky. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa.

No thanks, I'd rather run around!

If I haven't mentioned it one million times yet, Allison (a.k.a. http://www.phrecklenosephotography.com/) is the best photographer around. A completely beautiful bonus is that Allison was my friend before she was my photog! That means that, occasionally, she'll want to try something new or different and she knows she can use MY kids as guinea pigs! Yay for me!

Allison is a "lifestyle" photographer - which means she takes pics of people outside, running around, taking a bath, waking up from a nap, etc. It means that she does NOT take pics of people on white backdrops with artificial lighting. That is until Janie and Jack asked her to be the photographer for a promotional event next week.

When Allison wanted some practice on a "challenging" age group (umm, let's say 14 months old?), she of course thought of Jenna Kate. And we were happy to oblige.

Yesterday we went to her "studio" she has set up in her garage and worked on everything you can do to bribe a 14 month old to stand in the middle of a white sheet on a small piece of tape. It was hilarious.

Many more pics to come - - but here is the only one Allison let me peak at. This was Jenna's expression the majority of the time...asking "are you serious???"