First Day of School

We have survived another "First Day" of school...well at least the trip to the bus stop. I made sure to get to know some of the other kids and asked the 4th and 5th graders to look out for Jake and Maddie (his friend from across the street). They were so sweet...and Jake hasn't realized enough to be embarrassed of me yet! He even let me snap pictures of him all along the way! His eyes were as big as saucers when he saw the bus coming...it was truly priceless to see his excitement!

He was so excited today, even though his alarm rang at 6 am. He was very anxious to meet his new classmates. After a very hectic parking lot visit during Open House, we decided to break down and let him ride the bus. Brian has been in favor of riding the bus all along, but I have hesitated because you hear all kind of horror stories about what happens "in the back of the bus". I had my eye on those 5th graders and made sure to ask the bus driver to take good care of them!! She laughed at me of course :)

I hope those of you with school age kids are having a great beginning of the school year as well!!

Jake Meets His First Grade Teacher

Jake is all set to start a new year of school at a brand new school! He'll be starting First Grade at Furr Elementary on Monday! We had open house and met his teacher, Ms. Pergola, this week. She is originally from New Jersey and I hear she runs a tight ship, but is a great teacher. I really liked her and am looking forward to the new year. There are several kids in his class from last year and I'm sure he'll make lots of new friends too.

Taylor Visits from England

Jake was very excited to see his good friend Taylor Case this week, as she and her family are spending a couple of weeks visiting the US. Their family (our friends Charlotte and Scott and Dylan's buddy Aidan) moved to England last summer with Bank of America for a 2-year work opportunity. Unfortunately for us, it has been extended a year and they won't be home until 2009! However, Brian and I are going to England and Ireland to visit for 10 days in May 2008 to celebrate our 15th anniversary, so we are looking forward to that!

Taylor and Jake were in the same class every year of pre-school (since they were one) and it is hard to believe they have both finished kindergarten already!

Dodger's First Training Session

Dodger is really adjusting well to the Perry family life, except for the 3am wake ups to go out and potty! I feel like I have a newborn :)

My good friend Leigh, who trains seeing eye dogs for the blind, came today to give us a Puppy Training 101 Class. She did a really great job of gently telling us what we were doing wrong and some great ideas to teach Dodger to be a great family pet. Jake was especially interested and is already getting Dodger to sit.

We spend a lot of time taking him for walks and playing in the backyard. He loves to chase the soccer ball and can even dribble it a little by nudging it with his nose...amazing!!

Dylan Shares His New Dance Moves

Click here to see a video of Dylan's hot new dance moves!

Monster Truck Bash

MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!
The Monster Trucks were out in all their glory as we ventured to the Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway. We were able to get in early and get some photos of the monster trucks and to climb up on the wheels. The Raminator, Bigfoot, Hot Tamale, and Samson were our favorites.

We got to see Crash Car racing, where bumping into each other is encouraged during the race. These same cars later ran another race with trailers hitched onto the back of each car. The trailers were hauling everything from boats to porta-johns!

One of the highlights of the eveing was witnessing a tow truck with a jet engine melt six cars stacked in a pyramid (such an eco-friendly activity)! Everybody had a great time as Jake said "This is the best day of my life".

We think we've really become Southerners when we all found this event very entertaining! Check out the video from the show.

Jake is Drafted by the 49ers!

The 49ers selected Jake Perry (3'11, 49 lbs) as their first round draft pick in this year's annual Youth NFL (YMCA) flag football draft. Known for his ferocious tenacity on defense, Perry was the most penalized player in the league for illegal tackles as a Viking last year (after all, this is flag football). He hopes to improve his offensive skills that began to shine late last season. Asked how he felt about being the 49ers top pick, he responded, "Fun." He also added that he looked forward to "rocking the house" this season. Keep an eye out for this phenomenal athlete as he enters his sophomore season.

Kiva...Invest in Your World

Meet Gregorio Castillo! We were introduced to him through an exciting web site that lets you "sponsor a business" in an effort to reduce poverty in our world. Along with 12 other Kiva supporters, Gregorio will be able to buy a cow to restart his dairy and fuel his business as a farmer.

The interesting thing about Kiva is that the loans are paid back over time...so you actually get your money back...it is not a hand out, but a leg up. Gregorio is set to pay his loan back in 12 months. What we found appealing about him was that our $25 loan was the last bit of money he needed to start the process. We can even check back in on Kiva.org to see how he is doing.

As small business owners ourselves, this really intrigued us because it is not a donation or a handout, but a loan to a fellow entrepreneur. Click on the loan cycle image below to see how it works.

• See a cool video about Kiva, "D.I.Y. Foreign Aid" on nytimes.com
• Learn more about Kiva on Treehugger.com
  
• Visit the Kiva Web Site for yourself

Welcome to the Family Dodger!

We have welcomed an adorable 8-week old border collie puppy to the family. We named him Dodger after Brian's first little league baseball team. He is so sweet and the boys are just crazy about him. Our first night was full of wining and crying and a lovely 2 am stint in the backyard to hose off the crate that he pooped all over!! Feels like having a newborn again. But he's already learning fast and everyone says they are a very smart breed, so we are hoping for a speedy potty training! As of this month, it has been 2 years since Sophie and Dookie died, so we finally realized it was time to start over again. I created a website for Dodger with some pics and videos...check it out!

We Jam at the SugarLand and Kenny Chesney Concert

For my birthday, Brian bought me tickets to go see SugarLand and Kenny Chesney in concert. People continue to ask me if Brian even likes country music...but he really likes Concert Lisa...as we like to call the funny, dancing, singing girl I turn into at a concert!!!

I was even able to wear my cowboy boots that I bought in Nashville and of course, my favorite cowboy hat! Yee Haw!! The concert was great and we had a wonderful time...although it has been a while since we went to a concert and we forgot that it takes an hour to get out of the parking lot!!!