Reading Restaurant

The first graders host a Reading Restaurant every year and it was Ethan's turn to be a Chef! They present a menu of the selections they will read like auto-biography, non-fiction and poetry, and you pay for your selections with compliments. 

Afterwards, there are light refreshments - good thing - because it's hard explaining to Lucas that it's not a REAL restaurant! Our compliments to our Little Chef!

Oliver K. Woodman

Oliver K. Woodman is like Flat Stanley. He was sent to us by Ethan's friend Matthew who lives in Virginia. Here's Oliver's story:

OLIVER K. WOODMAN VISITS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS!

Matthew sent me to see his good buddy, Ethan, in San Antonio, Texas. Matthew and Ethan used to go to preschool together and their birthdays are only nine days apart!

Ethan wanted to show me lots of cool things in San Antonio.  I saw the world’s largest pair of cowboy boots. They are 40 feet tall. It would take 160 Oliver K. Woodmans standing on each other’s heads to reach the top!

Since my feet aren’t nearly as big as those boots, I got tired of walking all over downtown. So I hopped on the Alamo Trolley!

My next adventure was at the Alamo!  The Alamo was originally built as a mission church to teach Native Americans about religion. Texans and Mexicans fought over the Alamo many times but the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 was the most famous.  The Mexican army cut off the water supply for 13 days and killed all the Texas Revolutionaries inside the Alamo.

Texas eventually won the war at the Battle of San Jacinto and the Mexican army left the Alamo. Many years later, a group of people decided to honor the heroes of the Alamo and San Jacinto with a Battle of Flowers. The people actually threw real flowers at each other!

Over the years, the Battle of Flowers has become part of a bigger 10-day event called FIESTA. There are kings and queens, carnivals, parties, concerts, sports tournaments, military events and parades. The kids in San Antonio don’t have school on the day of the Battle of Flowers Parade!

Downtown San Antonio is very pretty. There are lots of fountains. I wanted to take a swim because it is very hot there! It already feels like summertime! Flowers are blooming and I took a rest in a pretty garden.

We walked under some bridges to see the river that runs through the city. Under the bridge there was this neat picture of the Alamo and other famous buildings and it was all made of tile!  See the blue and green water near the bottom? That’s the river!

They call this part the Riverwalk. No railings! I had to be careful not to fall in!

There are lots of restaurants and shops and hotels along the Riverwalk. I could explore for days! You can even take a boat ride.

I met lots of interesting people and saw a restaurant full of piñatas! I even tried to jump over Hemisfair Tower!

  

One of my most favorite adventures was going to a Spurs basketball game! I even learned a new cheer. GO SPURS GO! 

I sure had a good time in San Antonio. I couldn’t wait to get back to Winterpock Elementary and tell you all about it! 

Remember this...

I hope I remember these things during my year of being PTA President! 

50th Birthday Party

One of my Jennifer Massey Designs co-workers, Treasa, was turning 50 and we threw a luau/Fiesta birthday party for her at Chuy's. From L to R...back, Jennifer, Vera (Treasa's granddaughter), me, Tonya, Charisse. Front: Stephanie, Eva, Treasa, Chelsea (Treasa's daughter).

On Treasa'a actual birthday, she'll be on a cruise with some of her oldest girlfriends! How fun!

Go SPURS Go!

First Communion weekend was also a big SPURS weekend for us. We went to Friday night's game vs. the Lakers, Sunday night's game vs. Cleveland with the kids; and Monday night's game against the Trailblazers! For Sunday's game, we brought along Oliver K. Woodman, sort of a Flat Stanley character sent from Ethan's friend in VA to explore San Antonio. 

On Monday night, we had terrific charter seats 12 rows off the floor. It was fun to sit so close! We're spoiled now! 

FIESTA Girls Lunch 2012

Each year, a group of preschool moms and other friends head downtown for a Fiesta lunch at La Margarita in Market Square. We usually head down early and do some shopping and visit Mi Tierra's fabulous Mexican bakery. Mi Tierra is always decorated to the hilt but during Fiesta time, it's extra colorful! Pinata explosion! 

Probably a day's worth of calories right there! Good friends and good times!

Sarah's First Communion

Sarah received her First Communion this year from Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Her lovely dress and shoes were found by our good friend, Miss Robyn, who has two boys and probably relished the opportunity to shop for a little girl's dress!

Receiving a First Communion bracelet from Daddy.

Ethan, Sarah, Lucas and Jacob

No photographs were allowed during the ceremony so we snapped one on the alter afterwards. The homily was given by Deacon Guy. I'm not sure he had the audience in mind when he spoke about how Edward and Bella from the movie Twilight weren't real; that soft porn commercials on TV didn't represent what was real (yup, he said 'soft porn' TWICE!); but that Jesus was real. I understand his message, but I am thankful that it went over the heads of my kids, none of whom have read or seen Twilight. And I certainly didn't want to explain what soft porn was to any of them! Other than that, it was a lovely service! Ha!

Out to dinner afterwards at a new restaurant in town...54th St. Grill. Yum.

Playgroup Reunion

This group of special ladies are my playgroup friends. We used to meet every Wednesday at each others homes and laugh and cry and eat, not necessarily in that order. We've been through a lot together. But now that the kids are almost all in school and some have moved away, we don't get together as often. But today, one of the girls was back from NC, so the ones in Dallas and Austin coordinated and came to visit too! Three hours later, I had to pry myself away from the group still chatting in the parking lot. Maybe we should get together more often?