Saturday, December 27, 2008

PICTURES!!



These are the ONLY 2 good pictures of Eddie! Poor baby! He was shivering and shaking so bad! I didn't think there would be any good ones!
Tommy had a lot of cute pics. This is the only one where he is smiling and looking directly at the camera.


Anna had a TON of great pictures. This is one of many.



The family pics didn't turn out 100% great, but they're good enough. It was a REALLY cold day, and Anna had a melt-down. You can see it in her face that she's about to break-down. All photos are courtesy of Photos by Missy.




Not so good....




Here are the not-so-good pictures. Enjoy!

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Christmas Wrap-Up

Well, Christmas wasn't exactly what I had planned, but it was fine. Tommy is STILL sick today, poor kid! He actually fell asleep at 5 last night, woke up at 8 to vomit, and went back to sleep. He threw up again this morning. He's been a little lethargic, but he's had fun playing with his and Eddie's toys. I had to wake him up yesterday to see his Santa presents, and he just looked at his fabulous new bike, went promptly to the matchbox sized Dirt Track Lightning, tore it open, and carried it around with him ALL DAY. He ignored his bike for the rest of the day! Eddie didn't, though. He loved it! We gave him rides on it around the house, and he cried when we put it in the garage! Anna was hilarious when she saw her Santa presents! She came into our room saying "oh my gosh! I think I'm going to faint! I am going to faint!" She got an American girl doll and bed. It was Samantha who is being retired this year. She loves that doll, but unfortunately, Tommy grabbed her leg and yanked, and now it's dangling. She will have to go to the doll hospital soon to get fixed. Anna won't part with her just yet, so it may be a while. Danny and I were both thinking alike when we bought one of our gifts for each other! I gave him an FC Dallas jersey, and he got me a Kenny Cooper t-shirt! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Unfortunately, I am lame and didn't take any pictures yesterday.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

You're Un-Invited!

Okay, you know how I invited you all to my house today? Well, Tommy just threw up his breakfast, so y'all are now un-invited for the sake of your families! Have a Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Anyone want some dessert?

Hello everyone! For all of those who read my blog, you are invited to my house on Christmas day for some dessert! We have nowhere to go, no families to see, and we'll be home all day, so we'd like to see you! Come by around 6:30-7pm, and share some yummy treats with us! If no one comes, then we'll just have to eat it all ourselves! Yum!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Hallelujah!

I had to speak in church yesterday,and I'm SO GLAD that it's over! I've been worrying about it for the past 10 days! I feel so free and relaxed, even though I have five loads of laundry to do, a house to clean, gifts to wrap AND buy, cookies to make, gingerbread houses to build, and grocery shopping to do! I don't mind all of that stuff. I DO mind standing in front of hundreds of people and speaking, especially at Christmas, even if it was for only 10 minutes! I was a nervous wreck, my voice trembled the entire time, and I spoke too fast, but I think I did okay. Sigh...it's over and I'm happy!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

BRRRR!!




Yeah! Snow! Oh, wait..... is that ice? Yep. It's ice, and it caused MISD to be shut down today! Yuck! Plano wasn't shut down, or even delayed. What's up with that?! The kids loved staying home, but I was not prepared to have them home today! I was supposed to teach, but with the roads being so bad, there was no way that my baby-sitter would make it here in time, and no way I could get to school in time! It took Danny almost an hour to get to school, and 20 minutes was spent just trying to get to 121! (It usually takes less than 5 min.) So, we stayed inside all day with Tommy BEGGING to go out and play in the "snow". I finally took him out and made him realize that it was NOT fun stuff to play with! Our alley is still iced over, but our street isn't too bad. Oh, there's a smudge on my camera lens that I forgot to clean off before I took the pictures. Kind of annoying, but the batteries died, so this is the best you'll get!

Friday, December 12, 2008

It's not ALL bad....

So, besides me having an awful cough, AND pink eye, (yeesh! can't I get a break with the sicknesses?!) there has been some good news over here. Danny, as most of you know, has been having some drama at this school where he teaches. He has not been permanently promoted to the head band director position, but he will hold the position until the end of the school year. They will interview for it at the begininng of the summer, and if he does a great job this year, then he's basically guaranteed the job. Since he is the head band director right now he will get the extra stipend! Yeah! This was decided just a couple of days ago and Danny will be compensated from the day that Mr. Colodney retired, which was way back in October! It's not a ton of extra money, but anything extra is great!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Teaching First

I had NO students make an All-Region Band! I'm a little frustrated, and disappointed, but I did all that I could with my kids. I can't remember the last time I didn't have any student make it!

I'm also very worried about one of my students. She is my only HS senior, and I've been teaching her for 5 years. She was on track to make State, but fell WAY short in her audition. She's been acting really weird lately, and missed our lesson yesterday with no phone call! I found out from her mom today that she skipped school yesterday, and without my phone call asking where she was, she would have NEVER known. Sigh... She's not my child, but I've known her for so long, and have taught her almost every week (even during the summer), I've grown attached, and I worry about her.

Also, my favorite student from Hendrick MS is moving to Arlington! I know, I shouldn't have favorites, but she's is just so happy all the time, and is such a joy to work with! I was so sad when she told me yesterday that it would be our last lesson! I will really miss her. She gave me a huge hug as she left, and I almost cried!

Man, it seems like I only have bad news today! Next semester will be better....I hope.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Sick, sick, sick.

Yep. That's my house lately. It all started last Wednesday with Eddie vomiting and other yuck, and continued for 3 very long days, one of which was my birthday!. On my birthday, I got thrown up on, then had to take the poor kid to the doctor because he's so little, 3 days of vomiting is not good, and ended up not feeling that great the next morning. Surprise, surprise. I judged All-Region band auditions for NINE HOURS that day (Saturday) all the while I was feeling cold, then hot, then cold, and my stomach was aching! It didn't hit until Sunday, and I'm still not 100% today (I'm so tired!), and I've got to judge AGAIN tonight! Now, I don't want to complain about judging because they do pay me, unlike all the band directors who have to do it for FREE! Tommy was sick, but he was over it so fast, Danny, too! Lucky. Anna, knock on wood, has not gotten sick, and I hope it stays that way! She's a great hand-washer and has stayed as far away from us sickies as possible. The only upside to all of this is that I've lost 5 pounds in the last 2 days!

Friday, December 05, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Even though today was not the greatest, I do have a wonderful husband who loves me and takes very good care of me!

Monday, December 01, 2008

My Review


So, during the last couple of weeks of November, I decided to read the Twilight series. At first, I had no interest in it, but everyone around me had read it, or was in the process, so I decided to give it a try. I borrowed some books from various friends, and read the entire series in about 5 days. I loved books 1-3! There was a lot of background and character development in the first 2/3 of the book, and the last 1/3 had a lot of action! It was great. I didn't like the repetition throughout the books, though. I swear, Stephanie Meyer said the same thing a billion different times, and it drove me nuts! Each book could have been at least 50 pages shorter had she have gotten to the point!


The last book....hmmm...where do I start? I liked it, but it could have been SO much better! I didn't like the whole Jacob section, and I think the book would have been better without it. She could have written a completely separate book, and elaborated more with that Jacob portion of the book! There was a lot of character development and storyline introduction that went on during that section, that was never really resolved! I felt like she had a lot of story left to write, but she tried to shove it into one last book. I think she should have made the last book into 2 much better written books, instead of one hastily written one. It was a great story, but so much went on that it would have been better if she developed the plot a little more.


Overall, the story was great. I loved the dynamics of the characters and the idea behind it was really good. I just wish it were a little better written. I guess I'm a snob when it comes to that. I can blame it on my newspaper journalist/editor mother, my college writing classes, and my publishing editor sister-in-law! Besides the writing flaws, I am looking forward to Midnight Sun when it comes out!

Monday, November 24, 2008

'Tis the Season!

Yep, in my family it's birthday season! My wonderful mother's birthday was on Friday, and today is my sister Mandie's birthday! Happy Birthday!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Happy Birthday Missy and Gabby!!!


Happy Birthday! For those of you who don't know, Missy is my sister, and Gabby is my sister-in-law, and they just happen to share a birthday! Missy and I will be the same age for the next two weeks! Crazy, huh?

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The End

Well, the Dragon's season came to an end on November 1st. It was sad for it to end, because we know that some of the boys won't be returning next year. Tommy had a great time, even if his team ended up 0-8 for the season!
He loved his participation trophy and carried it around with him all day!


Tommy got the team award for footwork. He has the best feet on the team, unfortunately, he spent too much time with his footwork, and not enough time running! If you can read the certificate, you can see where Coach John misspelled the team's name! We still love you Coach John!


This is the only picture I had of Anna and Jake. Jake lives two doors down, and his brother Jared was on Tommy's team. Anna and Jake spent A LOT of time together this season! They really enjoyed playing together, and would spend a lot of time together at the park during soccer practice. Tommy and Anna are both sad that Jake and Jared are moving! (me too!)

Anna thought that the team needed some extra support, so she made this big sign and a few smaller ones. She did it all on her own and had a fun time doing it! Hopefully, we'll be making signs for Anna's soccer team next season!





Thursday, November 13, 2008

Wii have a problem...







Eddie has an obsession with the wii-mote. He won't let go of it! I've tried, but he throws a fit! We've even tried hiding them, and he's okay, until Tommy wants to play the Wii. Sigh...I guess for Christmas Eddie will be getting his OWN wii-mote! Why can't he have a thing for big, white spoons, like Tommy did at that age? They're MUCH cheaper!

Finally!

Danny and I finally got our new computer! We've actually had it for about a week or so, but it's taken us time to transfer everything. We got a great deal on it at Dell.com and we actually spent $100+ LESS than we did on our old piece of crap Fry's off-brand computer! I'll be posting some pictures soon! Not of the computer, but in general. Yeah! Pictures!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Airing my dirty laundry

Yes, I must admit, I am not perfect, but I can usually keep my house (and even my van) clean and well-organized. I have forgotten how much more difficult it is to do my everyday chores with a toddler, especially one with a cold! So, my house is much less than perfect these days. Here's how bad it has become:
  • My backyard is a white-trash paradise. Toys and patio furniture litter the lawn along with the kids' snack-wrappers, dirty socks, and soaking wet sneakers.
  • My van looks like I mowed the lawn and dumped all of the grass clippings in it! (I'm really not exaggerating!) The grass came from the 8am soccer games on wet grass, and I just haven't had time to clean it out.
  • I still have my Halloween decorations up and Halloween was almost a week ago!
  • My toilets are disgusting! Need I say more?
  • My living room carpet has lovely shades of blue, purple, pink and brown from various Halloween candies.

As you can see, I have a lot of work ahead of me today and for the rest of the week! What does your house look like, and do you have any dirty little secrets?

Monday, October 27, 2008

I did it!!

I have officially met my first weight-loss goal of 25 pounds! I still have a ways to go, but this is a great start! My incentive was a haircut. I've been needing a haircut FOREVER, but I had to lose the weight to get it. So, on Saturday, I went to my fabulous sister Ginny's house and she chopped off about 5 inches! My hair is the shortest that it's ever been, and I sort of freaked out at the beginning, but now I love it! I won't have a picture until we get a new computer. I'm using horrible dial-up right now because the computer doesn't recognize our USBs! Hopefully, by next week, we'll have a new computer. Yeah!

Friday, October 24, 2008

I WON!!

As a subscriber to the Dallas Morning News, I am able to join their Exclusives for free, which is basically subscriber benefits. They have sweepstakes every couple of weeks or so, and I won! I won 2 tickets to the Nasher Sculpture Center. I am so excited! I have been wanting to go there ever since it opened!

BUT, that's not all! I also won $50 to spend at Anna's school's book fair! On Wednesday, I went and bought Anna the book that she wanted, and a book for Tommy, and registered to win. On Thursday, Tommy totally destroyed his book (man, I was SO mad!) and then I got a call that I won! We bought two books on Anna's teacher's wish list (we would have bought them all, but the rest were sold out!), and a lot of chapter books for Anna. Yeah, Tommy didn't get a book.

Winning 2 things in one month is pretty sweet!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Photo Session Update

MCKINNEY SESSION:
Date
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Location
Towne Lake Park1405 Wilson Creek Pkwy, McKinney Texas
Times Available
4:00pm - 4:30pm
4:30pm - 5:00pm
5:00pm - 5:30pm
5:30pm - 6:00pm
These times will fill up quickly, so contact Missy as soon as possible! Or, you can leave a comment on my blog! For more information, click here.

Monday, October 20, 2008

A good laugh


I found this on Tiburon's blog today and just laughed until I cried. I am so tired and I still have so much left to do in this day, and I'm a little stressed, but for some reason this just gave me the giggles! Ahh...it feels good to laugh!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

All about Tommy

So, remember how I said in my last post that Tommy had a stomachache? Well, he was fine after going to the bathroom, so I didn't think anything of it. On Saturday, we woke up late for Tommy's soccer game, and were surprised that Tommy wasn't already up! He's usually up around 6am, but I had to drag him out of bed! He got ready quickly, refused to eat breakfast and we hurried to his game. Man, those Mighty Munchkins really did live up to their name! They were awesome! This one kid was able to kick a couple of goals from midfield! Wow. Our dragons were draggin'. Sorry for the pun, but they just don't like these 8 am games! Tommy was on fire during the second quarter, (they rotate playing each quarter, so he sat out the first), and he scored 2 goals! The first 2 goals of the game! During the 3rd quarter the Dragons only scored 1 goal, so we were all excited for Tommy to come out during the last quarter and see if he could get himself a hat-trick. But, something just wasn't right. Tommy was tired, and very distracted. He kept rubbing his tummy, and spinning around in circles. At times, he would just stand there and do nothing! Our Dragons lost 3-11. Not a good game! Well, we headed to Ella Mae's house to help unpack some more but Tommy was not happy. His tummy hurt and he refused to eat. We stayed for only a couple of hours. When we got home, he just started crying and complaining that his mouth hurt. We took the flashlight and inspected and found awful white and red bumps on his throat. Strep. A trip to Minute Clinic verified our suspicions and by 5pm, he had his first round of antibiotics. Poor kid. He was miserable all night. He would just start crying every time he had to swallow. He was better this morning, but still has a really sore throat. His appetite has yet to return, but we're not concerned about that. That's actually a good thing!

Oh, and for those of you who want to come to a game, he only has 2 more left. Next week's game is an 8am start, again, and the last game, on Nov. 1 will be at 3:30pm. Yeah! Feel free to come, we would love to have a larger cheering section!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Randomness

1. Eddie is mad at me because his blanket is in the wash. It smelled so bad I kept checking his diaper to see if he had poop! He carries this blanket EVERYWHERE. It even went with us to Market Street yesterday.

2. Tommy came home with a tummyache. He's lying on the couch with his blanket resting right now. We'll see how it goes.

3. Say a prayer for Danny. He REALLY needs some extra help these next couple of weeks. I'm not allowed to talk about what's going on, yet, if that gives you a clue about his stress.

4. I found some beautiful rose bushes at Wal-mart yesterday for only $5.50! They're full and beautiful, and Tommy helped dig the holes for me!

5. Anna has been making 100% on her AR tests!

6. Tommy has a game against the Mighty Munchkins on Saturday, at 8am. What a terrible name! We have to beat them!!

7. My office re-do is almost done. I just need to find new curtains for the window and touch up the paint. I can't wait to have it finished! I've been working on the kid's bathroom, the office, and the living room, all at the same time. So, of course, I have half of each room done. I'm hoping to have it all done before the holidays.

8. Ugh. Eddie has poopy diaper #5! It's not even noon! He's started saying "uh-oh" after he poops, which is pretty cool!

Monday, October 13, 2008

A Conversation with Tommy

Tommy: I need my badgoad, mommy!
Me: Your what?
Tommy: My badgoad! Where is it?
Me: I have no idea what a badgoad is. What does it look like?
Tommy: It has little circle things, oh! Here it is!
Me: Oh! Your Bi-no-cu-lars?
Tommy: Yeah, my bonocules. I need my bonogude outside. Eddie! Look! My badgoad! Let's go!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

NOT good

So, yesterday was a very busy day. It started with Tommy's soccer game at 8am! Yuck. Not my favorite time, and Tommy was so fixated on the donuts on the sideline that he didn't play well. Not a single goal. His team lost 4-9. Then, we headed to Ikea for their big sale and free breakfast. It was a mess! There was a line halfway accross the building! We had time, so we waited. It wasn't too bad, just a little stressful. Then, we went to help Danny's mom and dad move into their new house. It's a cute little house just a couple of blocks away from Lewisville HS. It has beautiful crown moulding and great Pergo floors throughout! Most everything was moved by the time we got there, but our job was to help unpack and organize. I like organizing, so it was fun, but it was hard work, and would have been much easier if I knew where to put things. There were still some clothes and cleaning supplies, and a cat, to get from Danny's mom's apartment, so when Becky (my sister-in-law) got there we headed on over. Anna, Tommy and their cousin Ben had a great time playing chase and hide and seek in the almost empty apartment, but it was getting late, so we headed back to the house. My van was full of boxes in the back, so I couldn't see out. By that time, I had a massive headache that was headed toward a migrane. I was tired and a little distracted by my 2 cranky kids in the back and a very angry cat in a cat carrier, and I hit some lady that was driving by. I just didn't see her. My bumper was destroyed but it didn't do anything to her car. My bumper is plastic, so it's pretty easy to mess up. Hers was a ghetto Honda that already had some cracks in it. Her husband tried to tell me that I put those cracks there, but there is NO WAY that I did that! She herself said that they were already there!! GRRRR! I hate people like that! We exchanged insurance, and their insurance expires on the 15th. The kid kept on saying that they didn't have insurance, which will be true next week. I REALLY hope they don't file a claim! If they do, I will fight it like nothing else! It will be pointless to file a claim on my car because the cost of repair is less than our deductible. I just don't know what to do at this point. I hate having a ghetto, messed-up car, but I don't want to spend the money to get it fixed right now. Sigh....Not a good day.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

GREAT offer!

It's that time of year for family pictures! For those of you who live in McKinney, this is a GREAT offer! This is my sister, Missy, who is a wonderful photographer, and she needs at least 4 sessions here in McKinney to make it worth her while to drive all the way up here! If you'd like to see her work, visit her photoblog here, and PLEASE book a session!

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Tagged


I've been tagged by Chauntel. This is the fourth picture in my fourth file in my picture file and I had no clue what it would be because I didn't name it! This is Eddie in his reindeer pj's that were so cute! I think he was about 5 months old when it was taken, and he was laying in my bed playing with his feet. He's got such a weird expression on his face! Hmm...I tag Missy, Lori, Mandie, and Gabby. No Cheating. Fourth file, fourth picture, in your picture file.

Friday, October 03, 2008

SO Busy!

I've been SO stinking busy the past week! We have our community yard sale tomorrow, and frankly, I can't wait until it's over! My bedroom looks like an episode of Clean House! It's driving me nuts! I was so smart and volunteered to head up this sale. When I said I would do it, I thought there would be no more than 25 home participating. Boy was I wrong! We have more than 70 homes participating. Can you believe it? More than 10% of my neighborhood! Yikes! I had HUNDREDS of e-mails to read in the past 2 weeks trying to gather all of the information neccessary to put this thing on. I will most certainly think twice about volunteering for something again!

National Night Out just happens to be next Tuesday, and since I'm a Crime Watch zone captain, I had to help put this together as well! 2 major events within 3 days of each other. I'm not good with stress, so I've been a mess! Tommy's make-up soccer game just happens to be on Tuesday as well! Could they make it any harder for me!? He has pictures at 6:30 and his game starts at 7:15. NNO is from 6-9 so I have no hope of seeing Tommy play next week. I'm so sad about that! I love his games! Oh, on top of it all is my 10 year class reunion this weekend! I'm heading out to the game tonight, so wish me luck that I actually stay awake for it! Sigh...in 5 days it will all be over and I'll have a clean home, with hopefully a little extra cash in my pocket, and nothing major to do until Red Ribbon Week at Anna's school, where, I was so smart again and signed up to be in charge for Anna's class!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tommy's first piano lesson

Tommy had his first piano lesson with abuela yesterday. She is such a great mother-in-law! She watches my kids for me every Tuesday when I teach, and on top of it all, she has decided to teach Tommy piano! Tommy was so excited to show me what he had learned. He ran to the piano this morning and promptly pointed out middle C, told me what it was, and played it for me! Way to go Tommy! I can't wait to see what he learns next week!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Dragons-7, Gators-23

Yeah. Our poor Dragons lost again. It was a GREAT game though. Our team only scored 3 own goals and they actually stole the ball on many occasions and didn't allow the other team to score! That's a huge improvement since the last game! And I swear, we have the BEST fans! We were 10 times louder than the other team! We even have chants! Tommy scored 3 goals (although one was an own-goal), and he had the cutest victory dance! He celebrated for about 2 minutes on the field, and had the sidelines rolling, he was so funny! One parent said "oh my gosh, Tommy is so cute I'm going to cry!" I'll have to see if any parents got video of his dance. I forgot my camera today. Tommy and Jared were the two highest goal-scorers today with 2 each! Way to go! Next week should be even better!

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Tommy's first soccer game and practices



Look at my boy go! This picture was taken after the game, and Tommy was SO tired! Don't you love the grumpy face?

Here are some pictures from some of Tommy's soccer practices and his first game. Tommy, Jared, and Christopher all live within 3 houses of each other! It's a lot of fun for Tommy to have his friends be on his team! His team is the Dragons, and his jersey number is 1. They don't keep score at the games, but the parents always do. Our team lost big time! There were more than 5 own goals from our team! Yes, I must admit, Tommy was responsible for one of those. Tommy loves soccer practice and games and keeps asking when the next one is!

Monday, September 08, 2008

I feel like the worst mom in the whole world.

Today was Anna's first day to be a "walker" at school. I changed her from being a"car-rider." I will be working late on Tuesdays and a neighbor and her boys will be walking home with Anna. It is easier at the school to make her a walker everyday as opposed to her being a car rider everyday except Tuesday. It gets confusing for Anna and her teacher to keep up with. So, on the days that Erin won't be walking home with her, she's supposed to meet me at the spot and I'll either be in the car, or I'll walk with the boys. Well, today I was late. 7 minutes late. I got held up at the store because of Tommy, and when I got to our spot, Anna was there crying with a coach. I felt SO bad! She was so scared! The coach told me that when Anna got to the spot and I wasn't there, she went back to the school crying! The coach walked her back to our spot and waited with her until I came. Oh, man! I really hope Erin is at the spot in time tomorrow! I'm really nervous about this, but it's the only way I can get all my students done in one day. Man, I hate stuff like this!

My Big Boy!





I thought I would take advantage of having high speed internet right now because I don't know how long my computer will last! I took these more than 2 weeks ago, but look how big he is! He's been a little tired lately, but that's attributed to the low iron. We're trying to get him as fortified as possible. We're hoping he's as good as new soon! Can you believe he's already one year old?

Stupid Computer!

Our computer is 5+ years old and it's an off-brand cheap one we got at Fry's. Well, it is finally dying and it's driving me nuts! The USB ports work one day, and the next they don't! Which means we don't have high speed internet when they don't work and we have to revert to dial-up (oh, the horror!!!). It's frustrating! Even more so because I can't take ANY pictures off of my camera! Our card reader refuses to work, and when the camera is connected to the computer, it doesn't recognize it anymore. I have tons of pictures from Eddie's 1st birthday to Tommy's first soccer game! Sigh... I wish I didn't have to buy a new computer, but it's time.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The First Day of School!

Tommy and Anna were both up and dressed at 7am! We didn't have to leave until 8!
Tommy kept asking me if he could go to the car. He couldn't wait. I swear, he went to the garage about a million times. I finally turned on Spongebob to distract him. I promised the kids a yummy, but not so healthy, breakfast of doughnuts. They ate in the car on the way to McGowen to drop Tommy off.
I thought the 100% juice would help off-set the not-so-healthy food.
Anna and Tommy both picked out their outfits, and Tommy chose how his hair would be cut (I wanted it shorter, but as long as he got SOME kind of haircut, I was happy!). Anna's messenger bag is almost as big as she is! She had a great first day and loves her new teacher, but I think she's re-thinking the bag! It's a little bulky and hard to carry!


Monday, August 25, 2008

I am SO FRUSTRATED!!!!

The first day of school is supposed to be fun and exciting, right? Mine was frustrating and chaotic. Tommy's PPCD class changed schools and teachers this year. I was hoping for a great change and a smooth transition. Boy, was I wrong! First of all, I didn't find out about where his class would be and who his teacher was until last Wednesday! Then, I get to school to drop him off, only to find out that I have to park, unload everyone, fight through the huge crowd of parents waiting in front of the school, and try to get Tommy to his class! His bus schedule was all messed up and they weren't sure about when he would start, so they told me to go ahead and plan on picking him up today, and if there was a change, they would let me know. They didn't. I woke Eddie up from his nap, put him in the car, and headed to McGowen to pick up Tommy. I get there and NO ONE is there where they told me they would be. I wait FOR 15 MINUTES! I finally turn off the car, go inside and TRY to find someone who knows what's going on. The aide comes out and tells me that they PUT TOMMY ON THE BUS! 15 minutes ago!!! She said, "Oh, I'm sorry for the confusion, but maybe you should have called first." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! They told me that THEY would let me know! So, I run to the car, get Eddie back in and head home hoping to get there in time. Then, my cell phone rings. It's the bus driver, and they've been waiting outside the house for 10 minutes! I told her what happened, and she was VERY nice about it, and said she would wait for me. Tommy was fine. He had a great day at school, but he was very happy to see me, and I was relieved to see him. I almost started crying. It's so upseting when the teacher drops the ball, and even more upsetting when you don't know where your child is! I had a good talk with the bus driver and she worked everything out for me so that this won't happen again. If it does, some heads will roll.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ugh...what IS that smell?!

If you have a weak stomach, read no further. On Monday morning, I walked into Tommy's room only to walk right back out, with my nose plugged, and said "what is that smell?!" It was awful! It smelled like REALLY stinky feet, and yet it smelled so...familiar. I went back in and smelled it again. Yep. I've smelled that smell before. Rotten milk. It was overwhelming, but I couldn't find the culprit! Tommy had lost his sippy cup sometime last week, and we thought it was empty, but apparently it wasn't. I asked him and Anna if they knew where it could be, and almost immediately, Anna crawled under Eddie's crib and came out with the offending cup. Poor Eddie was sleeping with that awful stink right underneath him! I prompty stuck it in the sink, grabbed my Clorox and went to the bedroom. The cup was on its side, leaking, so the carpet was nasty. I cleaned with the Clorox to kill the smell and whatever else might be growing, and finished off with the steamer. I sniffed the air and was satisfied that it smelled much better, and left the room. I came back 2 hours later, only to have the awful smell hit me right in the face! The carpet that I had cleaned was still fresh, and stink-free, but the smell was somewhere else! I had washed all the bedding, looked in every nook and cranny for something that could cause a stink, but the room STILL stinks! I even told Anna I would pay her if she could find the source of the smell. Of course, she hopped right on the job with the thought of earning money, and sniffed every inch of carpet and even she couldn't find it! It's horrible! So, I will try again. I HAVE to find the source of the stink! My poor boys don't deserve to sleep with that smell!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Dangerous Territory

Anna has discovered the dangerous side of the internet. I know. She's only 7, and I didn't expect her to discover this side of the world wide web for many years. It happened one day last week. It was horrible. Now, she is scarred for life, and she is forever changed. The site? Target.com. Sigh...why did she have to discover the horribly addicting side of the internet so soon? WHY!? She used to love to play on Disney.com, Webkinz, My Little Pony, and many others. Why did she have to learn about internet shopping? I blame only myself. I should have been more careful. Now, she has branched out to other sites like Toysrus.com! Oh, the humanity!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Anna's Birthday Party

So, here's the fabulous cake that I made for Anna. It was hot in the kitchen and it started to melt. It tasted a whole lot better than it looked, and the girls loved it!
Makayla dressed as Lilly from Hannah Montana, and working hard on her t-shirt.
Jane and Taytum working on their necklaces.
Mmmm! Pizza!
The girls got finished with their crafts in less than an hour, and it was a 3 hour party! So, they sat down and watched "Enchanted". We also had a pinata, but I forgot to take pictures! It was so hot outside! All in all, I think the party was a success.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Aquarium in July

So, we took our yearly trip to the aqurium in Fair Park. It's not the greatest aquarium by far, but the kids like it, it's cheap, and it's air-conditioned! As you can tell by the picture above, Eddie was not too happy to stay in his stroller!
What a smile! It took Tommy less than 10 minutes to see everything he wanted to see at the aquarium! Man, that kid is fast!
Anna is such a poser!
The kids love the trail that goes over the pond. They think it's a wonderful adventure and we even saw a snapping turtle!


Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Miracle of the egg

I'll post pictures from Anna's B-day party later, but I just wanted to share with you a little miracle that happened this week. I am a little crazy, and I have an order that I get eggs out of the carton. I get the ones in the corner first, and work my way inward. Don't know why, but that's the way that I do it, and I do it every time. Well, I baked 3 cakes, and used all my eggs. I remember looking in the carton on Sunday and grabbing the last 3 eggs, and telling Anna, "Oops, it looks like we're out of eggs, can you help remind me about that when we go to the store?" I was in a hurry, and the trash can was full, so I just left the carton in the fridge. Early Monday morning, Anna's birthday, Anna hops onto my bed and announces that she wants pancakes for breakfast. I groggily told her that I would make them while she was at the pool with Danny and Tommy. They left for the pool, and I went to start the pancakes. I was in the middle of putting all the ingredients together when I got to the part that says "1 egg." Crap. I totally forgot that we were out of eggs! Danny was gone, I had no one to run to the store for me, and my daughter was expecting pancakes when she got home. I went to the fridge, knowing full and well that there were no eggs left in the carton and looked, just to be sure. Well, there was one lone egg in the corner of the carton! Are you kidding me? Those are the eggs that I use FIRST, not last! How could that happen? Well, I have no idea how it happened, but that egg was there and I was able to make pancakes for Anna's birthday.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Rough Riders Game



Here's the great view of the outfield that we had. If we would have stayed longer, we might have been able to catch a homer!

We had fun, despite the fact that we had to leave early. Next time, though, will be alot better! Tommy has gone an entire week without an accident!