During this Hurricane week, I've been sleeping in Mommy's bed or Barbara's bed.  I find all of this uproar to be a little scary.   Again, I don't know how to share a bed.  I want a lot more than my half.

At 6:45am Barbara was trying to wake me up.  I stayed up until 10:30pm and I was just too sleepy to get up that early.  Finally at 7am I got up and got dressed.  I slept all the way to the GGM's doctor's appointment.  I leaned against Barbara's arm in the waiting room while I played Rider on Barbara's phone. Part of our waiting time, Barbara read a chapter in my baseball book.  The appointment was at 7:45am.  We left the office at 8:45am.  Why for a simple refill of an prescription it takes so long we don't understand. 

At home I sort of helped sweep and blow the driveway and street.  GGF used to do this every couple of days but we aren't that dedicated.  We cleaned up all the debris from Hurricane Harvey.  It wasn't very much compared to the debris left after Hurricane Ike.

Barbara played baseball with me for 25 minutes, then she had to quit because she was hot and tired and because the timer went off saying she needed to go check on the rice on the stove.

I checked at Alyssa's and Cole's twice to see if they were awake.  Cole finally was awake around 11am so he came over to play.  At 11:30 we check on Alyssa.  She was still sleeping.

Finally Alyssa came over to play with us.  Later Anthony and Cain joined us.  We all want to do videos and talk about videos on u-tube.  Barbara still does not like me having accounts and stuff on-line.

Mimz and Barbara both heard that Klein students will not have to make up the six days of missed school (due to Hurricane Harvey).  Yea!  Mimz also heard that Lemm Elementary school, where Knox goes to kindergarten was flooded and students can't go to school there this school year.  The children will be able to use an unused wing of the new high school.  Only tenth and eleventh graders go there now, since this is the first year for it to be used so they had an extra wing.

Barbara babysat AK and Bradley this afternoon while Kristan packed the kids bedrooms.  GGM kept an eye on me.  GGM told Barbara we kids all played outside and that I was very good.

After Mommy got home, we kids went to the park, but we didn't stay long and as soon as I was home I reported in.

Mommy and Barbara worked to get popcorn ready for two sales events on Saturday.  Then they came outside and played ball with me.  I hit several home runs.  I sure have missed going to baseball practice this week.

At 8:14pm, I took a shower all by myself, except for adjusting the water temperature.  I didn't dry very well, and I tracked water all down the hall.  Oh, well, I still did it by myself.

I was asleep before 9pm.  I like having the light on in my closet while I sleep.  

 Hurricane Harvey was one of the worse storms our country has ever experienced.

 The streets are now mostly open and things are starting to get back to normal for people in our part of Houston.  I've spend the past few days mostly with Daddy or Mimz.

I played with Knox in the afternoon.  Late in the afternoon Mommy came to get me.  I got to play with Alyssa and Cole trying to cut a small piece of wood into two pieces.  I sure have missed those kids.  Alyssa had to go home at 7:30pm.

Cole and I planned to have a sleep over at my house.  We ate dinner at his house, then we came to my house to play in my room until bedtime.  Barbara kept an eye on us because my room was organized and she was not ready for us to trash it.

Barbara can sometimes hear what is said in my room.  She heard me tell Cole his video was really good.  He said, "Thanks!!"   A few minutes later I was in Barbara's room, and she told me she heard me and I earned a sticker for saying something nice to someone and making them feel good.

We were allowed to stay up late.... until 10pm.  Then Cole decided he wanted to go home because he didn't want to go to bed until 1am.  So Barbara and I walked Cole home.  His grandmother was outside waiting for us.   I was disappointed but we have to get up and have me ready to leave the house at 7:15am.  GGM has a doctor's appointment at 7:45am.  It should be a very short appointment.  I sure hope so.

reserved Tuesday

Mommy's office is still closed.  It has a couple of inches of water in it.  And the roads are still closed.

Monday  August 28, 2017

At Daddy's home.  Roads flooded and can't get out.

Mimz was without electricity for a few hours, but she had her compressor hooked up to her refrigerator, a fan, and could charge her phone, so she was safe.

Mimz' church sanctuary had water in it.  Such a pretty church.

I spent most of my time during the week of Hurricane Harvey over at my Dad's.

Mimz' beautiful church was flooded.   How sad for thousand of people that are flooded or losing jobs or injured because of Harvey.

I woke up at 6:40am on my own before the alarm went off.  Imagine my surprise when my mom told me school had been canceled for today, so families, including teachers and school staff, could prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Harvey.    I went back to sleep for a little while.

I finally got up around 7:45am and had three pieces of raisin toast, one frozen, and two toasted.  Then I had a bowl of Cheerios.    Mommy left for work and I talked Barbara into coming outside to play baseball with whiffle balls because a storm is coming and I won't get to play until it is over.  We played until I was tired.  I tried hitting left-handed and I hit five home-runs!  Any ball that flies over the sidewalk is considered "out of the park." 

My dad came to get me around 9:45am.  Mimz bought a generator in case her electricity goes out during this storm.  Last hurricane, which was before I was born, at my home we were without electricity for several days.   Grandma had a generator then.  Now that generator is at The Pond so we don't have one at my home.   If GGM, Mommy, and Barbara lose electricity they will go visit Grandma if the storm is not raging.

August 24, 2017

Mimz took me to the doughnut shop on our way to meet my bus.

 The Gang of Five with clean faces and hands ready to learn.

Normally Barbara is the only regular adult at the bus stop, but today Cole's mom, Mimz, Xavier and Julie's mom, and Alyssa's mom were all out there.

Daddy took me to baseball practice

Barbara packed Andy and Kristan's kitchen.

Andy sat Bradley in one of the packing boxes.  He was okay for a few seconds, then he decided he didn't want to be packed and stored for any amount of time.

Wednesday    August 23, 2017

This morning my alarm clock did wake me up but it had to buzz several times before I heard it.  I am getting better at hearing it, so maybe in a week I will hear it and jump out of bed to turn if off.
My school planner says children my age need between 10 and 11 hours of sleep a night.  10 hours would be from 8:45p to 6:45am.

I only wanted oatmeal and milk for breakfast, but I did sneak a piece of Barbara's sausage off her plate. 

Barbara had agreed to play a little catch with me before the bus arrived.  In just a couple of minutes Cole arrived and then the other children.

 Everyone is happy about going to school except for Alyssa.  So far she hasn't liked school this year.  She wants to go back to first grade and Mrs. Cat.  Hey, I'd like to do that too!  It would be so easy for me, because I already know all the first grade stuff.

We hear the bus before we can see it.  We all hurry to get on our backpacks and are standing at the corner waiting nicely to get on the bus.

Metzler was one of three KISD elementary schools to be recognized for scores in all areas of testing done last Spring.  Starr Test.)  Al KISD schools met the standards but Metzler and two other schools were mentioned by name.  Way to go Huskies!!!

Mimz and Barbara were waiting for the bus when I got home, so I ran and gave Mimz a big hug.  After looking through my daily folder Mimz and I drove to her home.

I went to find Knox to see how his first couple of days of kindergarten were.  Knox and I both have bath time of 7:30pm.   Daddy came over and grilled dinner for us.  He helped me with my bath then we watched the Astros play and the LLWS.  I sure didn't want to quit watching the game, but I had to read and go to sleep.  

I was asleep soon after getting in bed at 8:30pm.  Mimz read to me from the bottom bunk.  I slept in the upper bunk.  I was looking forward to breakfast at the donut shop in the morning.  We didn't go all summer.

I woke up around 2am and told Mimz I had a bad dream so I crawled in bed with her and said I couldn't sleep and I wanted to watch the iPad.  The answer was NO.  I was restless for a while but soon fell back to sleep.  As soon as Mimz alarm went off I was ready to get up.

Tuesday    Aug 22, 2017

I still did not wake up when my alarm went off.   I happily got dressed and ate oatmeal and sausage and milk for breakfast.  I happily brushed my teeth and my hair and then I hurried outside to wait for the bus.  I'm normally the first child to get to the bus stop.   Alyssa is the last child to arrive.

The gang of five waiting for the bus.  I like Xavier and Julian.  The are polite, respectful, and friendly.

Something got in my shoe.
Our special class today was music.  We have a new music teacher.  I am going to like all of my teachers.

Mrs. Havemann teaches my class math and science.  We start in her classroom.  After a couple of hours we go to Mrs. Moody's class to learn social studies and language arts, then we go back to Mrs. Havemann's to end the day.

 I turned in my Reading Challange...

 ...and my selfie of me dreaming about the books I read.

I sure like playing on the big playground.  We have more room to run.

After school I had cereal for a snack.  I played baseball with my friends for a little while, then I went inside to rest for only about ten minutes before we left to meet my dad at the movie theater near my old house.  Daddy took me to baseball batting practice.  I wore the new batting gloves Mommy bought me.

I was home from practice earlier than expected so I had plenty of time to eat, bathe, and read before lights out at 8:30pm.  It was around 9pm, when I fell asleep.

First day of second grade!

The school calendar for this year.

 These were my kindergarten and first grade posters...

...this is my second grade poster.

My alarm went off at 6:45am and I didn't hear it and I did not budge.  I sure didn't want to get up.  I guess I need to be asleep before 9:12pm.  I was in bed on time, just couldn't quit being excited about my first day of school.  I commented that the summer sure seemed short.

I had oatmeal and bacon for breakfast.  I have a toothbrush and toothpaste downstairs so I don't have to go back upstairs after breakfast.

I was nervous and excited at the same time.

I chose to wear my Houston Astro's shirt on this first day.

I am using the same backpack I used last year.  It is still in perfect condition.

I was the first child at the bus stop.  Next came Cole, then Alyssa.  Barbara quizzed us with some questions, like adding, state capitols, and President and Vice President's names.  We wanted to play tag, but we knew we should try to stay fresh on this first day of school.

We were surprised and happy to see a family walking towards us with two boys wearing backpacks.  They moved into Jackson's old house in June.  I had not seen the boys, but they had seen us playing.  Just too shy to come meet us.  They are Xaiver  grade 5, Julian grade 3, and older sister Karissa eighth grade.  They have a new dog named Buddy.  Their parents are Dave and Maribel Davita.  They were shy and we were shy too but before the bus arrived we started to warm up and visit and play a little.

The  bus arrived at 7:38am.  What an exciting day!

I knew right where my classroom was and I walked right to the seat I had picked out on Meet the Teacher day.   The first thing we did was say Hi to everyone.  I only knew one child when the day started.  At the end of the day I knew everyone's name.  

The first thing we did was color the New Beginnings Welcome Back picture.  I did a super job.... much better job of coloring than I did on my first day of first grade.

On Monday's we have two specials... Gym and Gym.  I love it!  Today we had to stay inside because of the eclipse.  The school did not want any child to look at the sun and possibly hurt their eyes.  We thought that Klein School had a way for all the children to get to see it, but I guess they changed their mind.

This is what it looked like on television...

... and on television when it was a total eclipse.

 At my home this is what it looked like during the total eclipse.  Partly cloudy...

... but with special glasses you really could see it! It did not get dark here in Tomball.

Andy fly to Tennessee so he would see the full eclipse.  He and Uncle Dan went on Danny's boat to a friends lake house near the site they wanted to be to watch.   I haven't talked to Andy, but I hear he said he had goosebumps, it was so impressive and awesome.  Mommy, Grandma, and Barbara all had solar glasses so they were able go outside and see it safely.   We only had a partial eclipse here but they were very impressed at what they saw.  The next one will be in 2024 and we can see it better here in Texas, especially near Dallas.  Andy provided us with the solar glasses.

The Gang of Five at the end of the first day of school.

This year school gets out at 3:35 (instead of 3:15 like it did last year), but it was 4:10 before we got home.  The first day of school everything takes longer because teachers have to check everything to make sure children are getting on the right bus.  In a few more days, we should be getting home a little before 4pm.

I ate two bowls of Cheerios, then I went out to play with Alyssa, Cole, and my two new neighbors.  We played baseball in my front yard.  Alyssa got stung by a bee, poor little thing.  Then we played basketball.  Then we took a video to put on U-tube.  Barbara thinks it is not good for little kids to be surfing the web with little or no supervision and that it is too scary for us to be putting things on the Internet.  My mother agrees.  Barbara says I am not to use her phone to take videos or to watch U-tube except for the baseball games I watch or something I have shown her that I want to watch.

Cole and Alyssa played in my room and or course we are way too loud and rambunctious.  In a bit Cole and I were fighting.  Well, he squirted me with a water gun (what was a filled water gun doing in the house?).  I didn't like it so I threw a small ball at him.  He was pretty close to me and it hurt, so he punched me.   Barbara came running.   After some discussion, she sent both Alyssa and Cole home.  I was in trouble because she said I should have told him to stop and then call for an adult... I was not to fight back.  Well, I told her I am going to fight back.  She said fighting back will only get me in trouble too.   I guess we will agree to disagree.  I was mad that I was being blamed when Cole started it.

Mommy and I went to get me a batting glove so I will have it for practice tomorrow.

Oh, dear.  I missed my bedtime.  I got in bed at 8:45pm.  I fell asleep at 9:02pm.  We try to aim for getting in bed at 8pm and lights out at 8:30 but so far we haven't made it.

Happy third birthday, Anna Kate!  She is out-of-town or I would go see her on this special day.

Anthony and I woke up at 7 but we quickly went back to sleep.  It was 9:30am before we really got up and headed to the kitchen to have oatmeal and bacon for breakfast.  I want that same thing for breakfast tomorrow for the first day of school.

After breakfast we went back to my room to play a video game.  We played in my room and outside most of the day. 

 Barbara was working in my room part of the morning going through each drawer,...

 ... shelf, or bin to get my room clean and organized. 

My desk is straightened up all ready for the new school year.


Mommy went through my clothes to see what I might need for school.  Really all I need is a new light-weight jacket and maybe some crew socks.  I have enough shorts, shirts, underwear, and shoes.

We sent in my finally Reading Challenge picture.  I need to turn in my work page at the library this week to earn a special reward and a Spirit Stick.  Oh, I counted my Spirit Sticks.... I earned 34 of them in two years.

Later in the day, I played with Alyssa.  We make a bunch more noise than Anthony and I do.  Around 6:30pm Cole came to play.   With all three of those kids, we made some videos and I wanted to put them on U-tube.  Mommy and Barbara both said no, but they don't know anything about u-tube videos.  Daddy gave me permission as long as I don't put anything about my location etc. on there.

My clothes were laid out, my packback was by the back door.  I was ready for my big day tomorrow.
I was in bed by 8:35pm but I couldn't go to sleep.  I wanted to talk about my first day of school.  I was wondering who would be in my class and what we would be learning.  I was looking forward to us playing on the big playground, not the little one that the younger grades use.

It was 9:12pm when I fell asleep.  Mommy and Barbara can both tell when I am really falling asleep because I twitch.  Bridget does the same thing... big time.

Today was Anthony's birthday party at Main Event from 1:30 to 3:30.  Mommy took me.  I love all of the parties I go to.

Mommy has been doing all the steps she needs to do so I can have my First Communion and my First Reconciliation.

Friday   August 18, 2017

This shows why Barbara doesn't like me to sleep in her bed!  And notice how long this picture makes me look!

I reviewed my word wall words.  I have a problem with just a couple of words.  I often have trouble with her and here.

I read an article in Boy's Life magazine.  That means I have now completed my summer reading challenge.

I played catch with Barbara as long as she could stand the heat.

Daddy picked me up around noon.  I spent four hours at Urban Air with Big Mason and Daddy.  Oh, what fun.

Barbara got new glasses today.  She took me to Chick-fila for lunch.  We don't eat out much so that was a treat.

Barbara played pitcher, I batted, and GGM played in the outfield.  GGM caught a fly ball I hit.  We were playing with whiffle balls.

 Today was Meet the Teacher day.  Mommy took off work for a couple of hours so she could take me.  I wore my Cub Scout shirt.  I have two teachers.  Mrs. Havemann....

 ...and Mrs. Moody.

They gave each student a "Thanks for popping in" gift: a bag of microwave popcorn.

I played with Cole and Alyssa for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Mommy took me to baseball practice.  I pitched to maybe ten boys.  I had two strike outs!

 Mrs. Thomas, my cub scout leader, gave us an end of the year gift.  It was a leather arrowhead neckerchief slide.  Barbara worked on it for several days...

 It hurt her fingers, even with the help of a pair of pliers.  She did get it finished and I will wear it to cub scout meetings.  Thank you Barbara!

Mimz and I went to Wet n Wild today.  It was a busy place.

 My friend Cole was throwing out this blue table because there was a long tear in the plastic top.  GGM and Barbara bought this piece of oil cloth to cover the table top.

 They had to take off the legs and remove the top from the outer edge.  Then the stapled the new cover in place.

 Here is the finished top and one of Cole's little chairs.  He gave the other chair to Alyssa.  We gave the table to Grandma so Anna Kate and Bradley can us them at her house.  They are for little kids Anna Kate's age.

Grandma woke me up when she called around 8am.  I had to go outside to find Barbara to give her the phone.  Barbara and GGM were washing the car.  They were washing it by hand rather than going through a car wash.  They still do a lot of things the old fashioned way.

When Barbara and GGM had everything put away, they came inside to find me back in bed.  I was playing something on my phone.  Barbara wanted to get me to read but I was not interested.  She sat a timer to go off in one hour and then no more electronics until I had read an article in a magazine, one of the last challenges I must do for my Reading Challenge.

After breakfast, I really wanted to play catch.  Barbara agreed if I would help her work on cleaning drawers and shelves in my room.  I agreed.   In the garage I immediately noticed I had some new whiffle balls.  My old ones were cracking from being hit hard with my bat.  The new ones were heavy duty, so they might last longer.  Well, they sure do fly.  I hit 8 home runs in about 30 hits.  One problem, they hurt if they hit you... One hit Barbara's right leg just above her ankle, then it bounced over to her left leg.  She said they really hurt and she immediately developed two bruises.  She was ready to quit but she played just a little longer.

We went to my room where Barbara started going through my night stand and my toy bins and my toy shelves.  I was not much help.  I wanted to watch a baseball game on my phone.  I did answer when she asked if something was a keeper or trash or garage sale.  She was shocked when she opened my desk lap drawer.  It had lots of broken crayons and pencils.  I quickly blamed Cole and Alyssa.  I don't think she thinks I am blameless.  We found more broken pencils hidden behind a bin of small balls.  I don't think I'll let my friends (or me) break anything else again.

My toenails were long and dirty so Barbara wanted to clip them.  I said I'd get my dad to do it.  Barbara was about to text my dad to make sure he knew I wanted him to clip my toenails, when I decided I would let her do it.  She didn't have much time to get the job done.  I was not co-operative.

I wouldn't read, so I listened while Barbara an article in my Boy's Live magazine about three kids who found an invention and turned it on and havoc happened.

I was not very co-operative about doing anything today, except playing catch or playing on my phone of iPad.  Barbara thinks I will have to have strict rules about electronics usage when school starts. 

GGM called us to say lunch would be ready in ten minutes.  Barbara and I went outside to play catch for those ten minutes.  I let Barbara hit some.  She is a good hitter!  I was impressed.  Oh, I got hurt... I was about to catch a ball Barbara hit, but it really stung my hand and hurt... just like the ball that hit Barbara's legs.  Those new balls are too hard and a glove is needed to catch them when they have been hit by a bat.

We had chicken tenders, green beans, corn on the cob, and biscuits for lunch.  And lemonade.  It was all yummy.

 My dad came to pick me up around 1:30pm.  He will take me to my baseball tryouts at 5:30pm.
Barbara sent me home with a list of items that she wants me to bring home from my dad's house.  I keep forgetting so she hopes a list will help me remember.

I made the Spartans Baseball 9 and Under team.  There is a problem.  The practices are on Tuesday and Thursdays.  Cub Scout meetings are on those same days.   There needs to be some thought and discussion as to if this problem can be solved.

Daddy took me home and Mommy went to a Popcorn meeting.

I spend the day with Daddy.  He took me over to Mimz in the late afternoon.  Mimz and I were playing catch when Barbara arrived. We visited for a few minutes, then we had to leave for the airport so we could pick up Mommy.  She had been in Salt Lake City, Utah at a scrapebooking things this entire weekend.  She had a great time, but she was sure glad to see me.

Barbara installed an EZ tag in her car today, so now she can use the toll roads and get places quicker.  It only took 19 minutes for her to get to Mimz home instead of 30 minutes.  And coming home from the airport avoided about 15 traffic lights, so it was really a quicker trip.

We watched a few innings of the Astro's baseball game, then I fell asleep just before 10pm.  Barbara so wants me to be asleep by 9pm every night since school starts in one week.  Last year my bedtime was 8:30pm.  We may have to negotiate a later bedtime.  I guess it will depend on how easily I get up in the mornings.

I was awake and out of bed by 7:20am.  Mimz has enjoyed having me this weekend.  She is going to miss me when school starts.

I went to the mall with Knox and his dad, Jake.  We were shopping for Knox some new school shoes.

Knox and I haven't gotten to spend much time together this summer so this has been a special weekend for us.

Barbara found some books that she hopes will interest me.  They were Andy's books and they are about baseball.

Knox and I woke up and we walked across the street to say Hi to Mimz, then we went back to Knox' home to eat breakfast.

Mimz took Knox and me to her neighborhood pool.  We got there twenty minutes before the pool opened so we drove to Lem Elementary school and played on their playground.  Knox will go to kindergarten at Lem.

At the pool I climbed the three rock walls.  Barbara came to the pool for a short time because she had not seen me climb these walls.  I only made it to the top of one wall while she was there.  I was sort of time because I had been climbing them before she arrived.  It's hard work.

We got out of the pool for a little break and snack, then Knox and I jumped in the pool to start our play again.

My eagle face painting wash off, but my Chinese symbol for Jesus tattoo is still on my leg.


Back at Mimz home we watched more of the LL World Series.  Mimz and I played catch off and on starting around 3pm.  During the last session, she asked me to move back some and I said, "I can't, I'll be in the sun."  Mimz looked at me and said, "Where did I think she was standing?"  I said, "In the sun!"  I grinned and shrugged my shoulders.  She called me a little booger.

Barbara found some of Andy's childhood books about baseball.  She read one of them and she hopes I will read some of them.

Around 9pm, Mimz was talking with me and all of a sudden she looked over and I was sound asleep.