John, Laura, Kyle, Christopher (CJ) and Alyssa Mullen

Taking it easy on Wednesday

Alyssa can grasp toys in her hands and reaches for them purposely now. Here she is deep in thought grabbing a rattle on her bouncer. What a serious little girl!

CJ spent the day playing with the ninja turtles. They fought bad guys all day long and won the battle --- of course!

Kyle gets his second black stripe

Kyle is working his way toward his yellow belt --- the belt test is on October 6th. He earned his second black stripe. All he needs is a red stripe and then he can test. He learned the double jab, back punch and the roundhouse kick today. He tried hard with only minor lapses in concentration (hard to stay focused when your pants are falling down).

Good Night Daddy from McKinney

Daddy is away in Fargo, North Dakota for the week and we miss him already. We love you, Daddy!

Today at school, Kyle got a star for being such a great student. He took his family banner in with all the pictures of our family. He had his picture taken for school year photos and Kyle got to eat lunch in the cafeteria.

CJ had a fun day playing at Grandma's and in the dirt that will one day be Grandma's backyard. He ate three pancakes for breakfast, cheese and grapes for lunch and a hot dog for dinner. He worked on his Cubbie book and learned his verse for the week.

Alyssa wouldn't take a nap unless she was being held but amazed everyone with her ability to turn over from her tummy to her back. She snacked on her bottles today...saving up for mommy when she got home.

Mom had a busy day at school -- and mom really misses Dad. Things are just not the same without Daddy here to help and talk to especially at night when the Mullen kids are asleep.

Speaking of which, here they are sleeping peacefully dreaming sweet dreams.

Four Months old and proud

Alyssa weighs in at a hefty 13 pounds and is 25 inches long. She actively babbles to Mom, Dad, and brothers and even throws in a giggle or two on occasion. She can roll over from her tummy to her back mainly because she hates being on her tummy --- it makes her mad!

Chillin' on a Saturday

We had fun Saturday....Kyle went to Karate, and did a wonderful job of paying attention and trying his hardest; we had birthday lunch with Grandma Mullen and got Uncle James, Grandpa and Cousin Brad to play a game with us (a jumping, running game where they had to yell karate calls as they jumped with Kyle changing the rules); emptied the water out of the pool and all over the plants in the yard; and just hanging out.

Updates coming...I promise

I will wrap up the month of August and provide pictures as soon as I get a chance to breathe. It has been a whirlwind and I haven't had a moment to spare. We've gone to two back-to-school, meet-the-teacher nights, had first day of school, first day of preschool, Daddy's birthday, started a new big boy Karate class, and begun Sparks and Cubbies at church.

I started back to a new year at SMS as a mentor teacher, team leader and curriculum planner for 8th grade. I have a convention in Austin in two weeks where I am leading a workshop for the NJHS for Texas Association of Secondary School Principals. John is going with me and so is Alyssa. That should be interesting. I'll have to get pictures of Alyssa in our state capital --- maybe on sixth street. :-)

John is in Houston this week mapping as a favor to that office since they are behind so the boys, Alyssa and I are on our own. :-)We already miss Daddy and he has only been gone today.

Anyway, pictures to come in the next couple of days and lots of explanation about the past month's events, so check back.