Noah's 3rd Birthday

Matthew in the ball pit - The birthday boy all smiles with Sophia

Emma Kate on the ziplineThe birthday boy - Sophia - Charlotte and EK in the ball pit

Noah had his third birthday at the My Gym in the Woodlands. It was a fun CARS theme! The kids had a great time playing on the equipment and running around.

Noah even got to ride a cool motorcycle around the gym for his birthday!

First Day at Children's Courtyard

Emma Kate couldn't wait to ride the bus to school. On the second day of school, I dropped her off at Children's Courtyard and she was so excited. After school she told me that she cried on the bus. It broke my heart! I finally figured out that they drop off at another school also and she thought that they were taking her to the wrong school!

Tucker's first vehicle (2 photos), by Kelly Dalton

Tucker got his first vehicle! He worked hard in Midland this summer to have his part to purchase a 2003 Chevy Avalanche. This was our first look at his new ride.

Emma Kate's First Day of Kindergarten

Emma Kate woke up early and was super excited to start Kindergarten. She had a little time on the couch waking up and got an early morning hug from her big brother as he was off to his first day of 11th grade. Her only worry was that she wouldn't make any friends! That broke mom's heart!


Mom was very excited, too and took a ton of pictures and videos! Even dad got into the early
morning action! Thankfully he is home this week to pick up Emma Kate since mommy has to work late!










Check out the video to see Emma Kate's wonderful singing!

When we got to Hassler our "beautiful teacher" Ms. Wood was ready for us. Emma Kate was the first one in class and we were able to snap a great photo before mom headed off to work!







She had a great day and made lots of new friends! Yeah! She got a green dot on her conduct card, but she said tomorrow it was going to be even harder and "clips were gonna start fallin'"

After school, Emma Kate rode the bus to Children's Courtyard. She was so excited about riding the big white bus! However, that pales in comparison to the excitement of her daddy picking her up after school! He surprised her with a trip to the ice cream shop after school.


Little did I know, the beautiful pink dress would be covered in chocolate ice cream before I got home! Oh well, the perfect ending to the perfect first day of school!

Twas' the Night Before School 2009

It was the night before school and all through the Dalton house......
Emma Kate had to decorate a fish to take to class for the first day. Tucker seemed to feel like he had done this all a few times before and really couldn't seem to great excited!!
Emma Kate got her new Hassler Ponies bears and cuddled with daddy for an early night night!

Meet The Teacher

A few shots of our first visit to Hassler to meet Emma Kate's kindergarten teacher.

Emma Kate and mom went to Hassler this morning to meet her Kindergarten teacher. Her name is Ms. Britni Wood. When we got there we had to fill out forms and unpack all of our school supplies. We found out one of mommy's friend's little boy, Tate Elder, was in her class. We went to the cafeteria and bought our first Hassler t-shirt and had ice cream (at 10 in the morning??)
Emma Kate was very excited to see the library and the classrooms. She is soooo ready to start school!

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

Emma Kate is getting ready for Kindergarten and our family has showered her with back to school fun. Emi sent a package with "The Night Before Kindergarten" book. She couldn't wait for her daddy to get home and read it to her before she went to bed. That is their favorite tradition.

Nanny, Huncle Jerry, Macie, Kambrie and Averie sent her a bag with a beautiful scrapbook with for all of her school memories. It also had a bag of "back to school kisses" and some silly string to celebrate after the first day. It was so sweet of them to remember her upcoming big day.

It was the icing on our week. She was diagnosed with croup on Monday and has been taking steroids for a few days to try and get over it and she has spent the week at Children's Courtyard getting to know the staff and other students She seems to really like it and her teacher Ms. Candi seems really nice. After the first day, she said she thought Emma Kate was very mature and confident. huh?

Fun at YMCA Day Camp

Before and after pictures of our days at camp! It sure looks like Emma Kate had fun!




Emma Kate had a great week at YMCA day camp. She was jumped out of the car every morning clean and shiny and ready with all her stuff. She got back in the car every afternoon, messy, disheveled and full of fun stories and songs and a little lighter on the "stuff" we had sent in the morning. She worked really hard, but we still didn't quite master keeping up with all her things. I guess that is the price you pay for a really fun week.

She loved being in Ms. Amanda's Pandas Group. They played water games, played in the woods and went on hikes. They even went on a field trip to Bounce Zone in Katy. It is hard to believe she is grown up enough to handle all this by herself! I guess mom always knew her independent and adventuresome spirit would serve her well!!

It was fun for mom to pick her up and hear her favorite song "She slides, she glides, she gets on the donkey ride and she wants you and you to get on the donkey ride, too!" I'm not sure if she has the words right, but it was definitely her favorite song from camp!

My story for the week....
Emma Kate "Mom, if some girls put sink water on their hair is that okay?"
Mom "It doesn't hurt your hair, but there is really no reason to do it."
Emma Kate "Yeah, it was fun and me and the other girls all did it!"
Mom, "I'm sure your counselor didn't like it."
Emma Kate "She didn't know, so it was okay!"
Mom, "All I know that that if you do that in Kindergarten, your teacher will not like it!"
Emma Kate, "oh"

Children's Museum with Our Cousins

Camp Emi and Paps ( a week that Emma Kate spends with her grandparents and cousins every summer) ended with a day at the remodeled Houston Children's Museum! The girls had a great time at Kidtropolis and the water park
but one of their favorite activities was carving a block of wax with carving tools. I think they could have done it for hours.

Mom and I were amazed to see one of the stations was a diecut machine! Of course, as teachers we had to make some diecuts! The girls also had a great time climbing through the Power Play tower.

We finished off the day with some kitty cat face painting! They looked so cute!

G-FORCE in 3D

We went to the movies to see G-Force 3D. We saw it at the Movie Tavern. It is a little hard to eat and watch a movie while keeping on our 3D glasses! Notice all of the fingerprints on Emma Kate's glasses.

Back to School Lunch

We started a new tradition of taking a fun girl's day out lunch on the last Friday before I go back to work. This year we went to Cafe Grand Lux in the Galleria. I can't believe she is ready to go to Kindergarten! Someone has got to stop her from growing up! It is all happening too fast!

A Snapping Success

Emma Kate has wanted to know how to snap for years! It is such a hard skill to teach. You have to tell them how and then let them practice. Finally one morning a small sound started. The more she practices the louder it gets. She is so proud of her snapping skills! We hear it all the time.