6th, Pre-K, MDO

Kayson (11) & Kouper (4)  have been in school for a couple of weeks now, and Kylar (2) started Mother's Day Out today!  We had a wonderful summer, but it's nice to have a routine back in place.  So far so good for all! Kayson has begun a new adventure at his new school. All the 6th graders in our hometown attend the same school, so he's had fun seeing some buddies from other schools. He is in the band this year and will be playing the trombone. He still loves playing his guitar and is continually amazing me with all of his talents.  Both Kayson & Kouper are riding the bus in the morning, together! Kouper really gets a kick out of going to school "in the night" as he says. The bus gets here super early at about 6:35 so it's still very dark.  I am proud of all of my boys and excited to see what adventures the school year will bring!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

This is where the cowboy rides away...

Leslie Mondin, age 80 of Seguin, passed away on February 21, 2012. Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 23, 2012 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Tres Hewell Mortuary with the family receiving friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Rosary will be recited on Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at St. James Catholic Church followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. with Rev. Msgr. Dennis Darilek officiating. Entombment will follow in the St. James Catholic Cemetery Mausoleum. Leslie was born on January 13, 1932 in Guadalupe County to John Louis and Erna Templin Mondin. Leslie will be remembered as a Professional Rodeo Rider. He farmed and ranched and managed the John Bachmann Horse Farm for over 35 years. He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Edward Lee Mondin. Survivors include his loving wife of 58 years, Lillian S. (Lilo) Mondin; daughter, Linda Leibovitz and husband Steve; son, John W. Mondin and wife Connie; grandchildren, Phillip Kneupper and wife Kristin, Todd Leibovitz and wife Amanda, Kristie Mondin and Jason Mondin; great-grandchildren, Kayson De La Garza, Kouper Kneupper, Kylar Kneupper; siblings, Johnnie Mondin, Kenneth (Tiny) Mondin , Jo Carolyn Harborth and husband Leslie, Hilmar Louis Mondin and wife Margaret, and Helen Agnes Wall and husband Bob; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of friends. Our community has lost a “Cow Catcher Extraordinaire and a True Cowboy” and he will be sorely missed. Serving as pallbearers will be Phillip Kneupper, Todd Leibovitz, Jason Mondin, Chad Mondin, Shane Mondin and Sidney Mondin. Honorary Pallbearers will be Tommy Mckinny, Skippy Matthies, Roger Bierstedt, Donnie Brady, Tuddy Dietz, Johnny Harborth, Paul Wilke and John Allen Bauchmann. Memorial contributions may be made to St. James Catholic Church, 510 S. Camp, Seguin, Texas, 78155 or to Guadalupe Regional Hospice Services, 1215 E. Court St., Seguin, Texas, 78155.

Throwback Thursday...

My parents were going through some old photos and gifted several to me. I am a sucker for photos, especially older ones of my younger days! How beautiful is my mom? She really is stunning. I wish that all of those yellow spots were gone from this photo, but I love this photo just the same. From my brothers' homemade vests (my mom isn't only beautiful, she is talented too!) to my Dad's cool Buddy Holly-esque glasses. What a sweet, sweet photo I will cherish for ever! Sidenote: I sure look like that little girl from Poltergeist, don't I?

Oh and I almost forgot... on the back of the frame remained the price tag from the frame.... 59 cents from Perry's. If any of you from where I'm from you'll remember Perry's!

Are my teeth shiny?

Kouper had a good check up yesterday! He was very curious about everything in the dentist office. He asked a million questions and was an excellent patient. When we got home he kept saying are my teeth shiny? Yes Kouper, they sure are. Koup is a good brusher and loves to brush his teeth. He's especially excited about his new Lightning McQueen tooth brush. Hopefully he'll continue to love to brush those pearly whites!

DEER!

Phillip finally got the deer he's been hunting for a couple of years! He is so pumped! Personally, I'm still trying to come around to the whole killingasweetinnocentanimal thing... but I sure do like the sausage and I love my husband, and he loves to hunt... so it just kinda works out. I could NEVER in a million years shoot a deer, heck, I can't even kill a fly, no seriously, I catch them and release them outside! BUT, since moving to the country, I've learned to kill scorpions. I don't like it one bit, but I'll do anything to protect my kids. At any rate,  I definitely prefer taking pictures of my little Rudolph over a bloody deer any day, but here you go! One very cute little deer and one very nice buck!

Wordless Wednesday

Popo

This is the strongest man I know. He is Popo, Phillip's grandfather. He's a jokester, hard worker, super tough, early riser, hot coffee drinker, outdoors man, known to fall asleep in his favorite chair, lover of animals, family man, man of God, a real cowboy, loves to watch bull riding and rodeos and finally a great husband to one wonderful woman, Lilo. He is currently fighting for his life. His children, Linda and Wes have been by his side, along with many other family members.  We are praying for a miracle for him. If you're the praying kind, please pray for him too.

Psalm 23:1-4
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.He makes me to lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside the still waters.He restores my soul;He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil;For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Kayson Dae = 11

Kayson - you are kindhearted, considerate, caring, great with your brothers, respectful of others, super talented on the guitar, you excel in your studies, you're an old soul and are wise beyond your years, you can read a mile a minute, and to top it off you are hilarious. I have enjoyed every day of your eleven years and am  so proud of all you do.  Happy birthday baby!!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! We made our advent wreath today. We're so excited to be ushering in the CHRISTmas season. Excitement is in the air! Christmas is such a wonderful feeling (joy, wonderment, love, giving, togetherness). Our tree is up and we've gotten a lot of our shopping done.  We're ready! Bring it on.

Wordless Wednesday

Kouper is FOUR!!

I can hardly believe that this little guy turns four today! Your birthday requests this year were wots (lots) and wots of toys, hamburgers from dinner (not homemade!?) and chocolate cake. You're such a joy and we are so blessed to have you in our lives.  You're a super smart and kind-hearted kiddo.  The only downer is that you have decided that you don't want to be four, you'd like to remain three. I know the feeling Koup, I still claim that I'm 30... you're just starting a little young. Love you Koup!!! Happy Happy Birthday!! Thank you for bringing some much love and laughter to the Kneupper household.

Koup (The Astronaut) & PawMaw

We're so glad that PawMaw & Paw Paw are back home!! They've been gone for 5 weeks. We missed them so much! They had a great time in Portugal and Spain and cruising on the Carnival Magic, which is the largest cruise ship in their fleet. They were on the boat for 2 weeks. They said the best part was all of the yummy food. Welcome home guys!!!

Wordless Wednesday!

Dr. Kneupper, Elmo & A Hippy Rockstar

We had so much fun on Halloween! First we went to Phillip's uncles house down the street where we got our first treats! Next we headed to my mom and dad's neighborhood for some door-to-door trick-or-treating, which wore mama and dada out! Next we went to the boys' great-grandparents'  house and they had special spider cookies for the kids. And we rounded out the night at PaPa and NaNa's house (Phillip's mom and step-dad). They had special treats for us too, including homemade granola bars, wow! We loved dressing up and venturing out. I wish that it wasn't a school night, but we had fun nonetheless!

Wordless Wednesday

(Photo by Steve Leibovitz.)

Happy Halloween!

Last night we carved our pumpkin! Kayson designed this unique little guy and then we made it come to life. We love how it turned out and love Kayson's creativity. None of the boys were too thrilled about feeling the pumpkin guts, but Kouper did help with the gut removal a little bit. On Saturday night Kayson, Kouper & I went to the local haunted house. Both boys were very brave! Kayson laughed his way through the entire thing and Kouper was only scared a wittle bit, just a wittle.  It was fun and we got snow-cones when we finished, only in Texas! Dada and Kylar stayed home safe and sound with no haunts or zombies. It's been a little bit cooler here during the morning and evening hours, but still warms up during the day. We're looking forward to trick-or-treating tonight and we'll have more photos with the boys costumes.

Wheel barrow Wednesday

These boys could have ridden in there all night! First mommy pushed them around, then dada, then we were both worn out. The little boys loved it! We couldn't seem to go fast enough for them. It is a pretty good workout too, maybe we should do it each night? Nah.

Red Ribbon Week

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at Kouper's School. It is a drug prevention campaign that the schools support. Red Ribbon Week is an annual opportunity for schools to make a visible stand against drugs and to show their commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the red ribbon. They make it fun for the kids and each day is a different theme.  The first day was "Sock it to Drugs", next was "Black Out Drugs", then "Put a Cap on Drugs" and finally simply "Wear Red Day".  Koup really enjoyed the themes and participated joyfully each day.