Anna's Room

Last Friday, 3 of my wonderful sisters and my mom, came over and helped me and Anna clean her room. After FOUR hours, 2 bags of trash, a bag AND a box of stuff for Goodwill, a grocery bag of stuff for my sister's daughter, and another grocery bag of stuff for my great-niece, Anna's room is clean and organized. I could have NEVER done it without help. The influence of my sisters really helped Anna get rid of so much stuff, without much argument. Her closet has so much space in it, and it's a pleasure now to walk in her room! Her desk drawers are even organized! Thank you all so much for your help!!!

My son, the photographer

I was uploading some photos onto my computer this morning when I found a dozen or more photos that were obviously taken by Tommy. Some are actually pretty good, but you can see he's still a novice.

Nine Years!

Today is our ninth wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? I can't believe it's been nine years already! Danny is such a wonderful husband and father, and I love him with all my heart! Happy Anniversary!

A Death in the Family

Today we all went swimming as a family, but Eddie was getting tired, so Danny took him home while I rounded up Anna and Tommy (who is IMPOSSIBLE to get out of the water!). I got home, and was taking off my shoes and putting floaties away when Danny came into the room and said that his mom called and that there was a death in the family. I froze. My mind immediately started racing through all the different possibilities of who it could be. A heart attack? Car accident? Abuelo? Nydia? An uncle or aunt? Then I looked at Danny. He didn't really seem sad, he looked almost....happy. Then it hit me. "Jabberwoky," I said instantly. One smirk from Danny confirmed it. It was cranky, old Jabberwoky, Danny's parents' million-year-old cat who has been plagued with health issues in his old age. The vet finally said that he was too sick, and put him down. To tell you the truth, I'm happy that he's gone. The poor cat was suffering and now he's in a much better place. Eddie will be sad, though. He always went straight to Jabberwoky whenever he went to abuela's house, even though Jabberwoky made it quite clear that he didn't like Eddie! Rest in peace, Jabberwoky.

Nothing much....

I've been a slacker, and haven't blogged in a long time. We haven't really been doing anything exciting, just hanging out, going to the pool, and relaxing. Tommy and Papi play a lot of video games together, and Anna has been doing her regular craft stuff. Summer is great...until the kids start fighting, that is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY!

He may drive me and Danny completely nuts, but we love this kid! He turns FIVE today! He has worked really hard for the past 2 years to overcome some serious speech issues, and will go to regular kindergarden next year! We can't get him to stop talking! I can't believe how big he is! Happy Birthday Tommy! We love you!

"Treasures"

Tommy hopped off the bus today with a huge smile on his face and a large Ninja Turtle and motorcycle in his hands. "I got treasure box today!" he shouted. Well, I opened his backpack to reveal many more "treasures." There was a book, memory game, brand new water colors, and a large bag filled with foam, magnetic letters! What the heck? As I sifted through the many papers, pictures, and toys in his backpack, I cam across a small note at the bottom that said: "As we prepare to box things up...for our move, we will be throwing out lots of items. Please be aware that you may notice lots of treasures (books and toys) coming home." Um, so what they're saying is, they are going to send home, with my four-year-old, all the crap that they don't want? Great.

Question

Do you ever find a bruise on your body and wonder where in the world it came from? I do. ALL. THE. TIME. And it drives me nuts!

YIKES!!

I was just invited to perform at the beginning band concert at one of the middle schools that I work at! I would be playing by myself to demonstrate the lesson teachers' abilities and highlight private lessons. Oh crap. I am SO not prepared to do something like that, and playing in front of large audiences is NOT something I enjoy doing!!

Love Affair

I love chocolate. I mean, really, who doesn't? Well, yesterday, I was at Walgreen's buying some diapers and I took a shortcut through the candy aisle. I glanced to my right and saw that they had the Weight Watchers bags of chocolate candy on clearance for 75 cents a bag, and I just happened to have a coupon, Buy 2 Get 1 Free. So, I bought 3 bags for less than $2, and if I didn't like them, I would give them to the kids. They were HEAVENLY! I love them! They are SO good! The only kind that they had was Double Chocolate Mousse covered in Rich Dark Chocolate. Just the name of it makes my mouth water! I highly recommend these chocolates to anyone, not just someone trying to lose weight!

Interview

Danny has his interview for the head position at his school, Friday during school, I think around 10-11. Please say a prayer that he does well, and that the principal realizes that he's the best one for the job!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish all you mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day! I hope you have a fabulous day! So far, mine has been great! Danny made breakfast for me, on my new, fabulous griddle, and took care of the kids last night when ALL THREE (what the heck?!) woke up on numerous occasions. What a great husband!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!

Stupid officials. Thanks to a missed call in the LAST THRITY SECONDS of an extremely close Mavs/Nuggets game, the Mavs lost. BY ONE STINKING POINT! So mad. It was a good game, and the Mavs had a very good chance to win it, AND gain momentum in the series, but it was stolen by a stupid ref. Now the Mavs have no prayer of winning the series. I can't wait to see what Cuban says about this.

Freecycling

A woman a playgroup told me about FreeCycle, an online group that posts stuff that you want to get rid of for free. I joined the group, and a couple of days later I saw a post for 2 free tricycles. Danny and I have been in the market for a trike for Eddie, but didn't really want to spend $50-$100 for something he wouldn't use that much. I responded to the post, the woman gave me her address, and I picked them up off her porch. For free. AND she lived only one neighborhood away! The Radio Flyer retails at Wal-Mart for about $60. This tricycle didn't have the push handle on it, which we really wanted, but it was in amazing shape. The woman said that she bought it for her son this past Christmas, but the handle bars wouldn't stay on. Danny tightened some bolts, and it's as good as new! The smaller, white trike was covered in Fisher Price stickers, but is still in great shape. That one stays in the backyard for all the kids to play with. Eddie loves his new tricycle, and I'm hooked on Freecyle!

Squirrel Attack

I had a dream last night that I was walking past a dark driveway surrounded by trees. Out of nowhere this giant squirrel came out and started attacking me! I couldn't get it off because it was so huge, about the size of a person! Suddenly, a regular-sized house cat ran out from underneath a parked car and started attacking the squirrel! Soon, it was joined by dozens more! I looked closely, and they weren't exactly attacking the squirrel, they were eating it! I walked away as the cats devoured the squirrel, and that was it. Strange. I didn't really think anything of it, until Tommy came home from school today with a prize from the treasure box. It was a stuffed squirrel.

I Scream, You Scream....

...we all scream for ice cream! Tomorrow night, Wednesday, Baskin Robbins will be selling their ice cream for 31 cents a scoop from 5pm-10pm! Yum!

Happy Earth Day!

The kids and I are going to plant some flowers today and try to keep the TV off. What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?

The latest

Danny's band performed yesterday, and I thought they did really well on stage. I talked to the assistant director and she told me that their warm-up was terrible, and the kids had a hard time focusing. They have not had consistent rehearsals at all this semester, so I was afraid of what was going to happen. There were some problems here and there, but overall, it was a good performance. Unfortunately, not good enough. They recieved 2-2-2 on stage. At least all of the judges were in agreement! Danny was really nervous for the performance and it didn't help that the head director from the high school was there, along with the district middle school coordinator. They usually don't come for stuff like this, but it seems like they came specifically to hear Danny's band.

I was able to go see them in sight reading, and as soon as Danny saw the piece of music he really relaxed, and I actually saw a smile on his face! Apparently, it was a really easy song. The kids were great. They were attentive and fingered through their parts, and they played the piece wonderfully! They even did the dynamics and tempo change flawlessly! Needless to say, they made 1-1-1 in sight reading! Way to go!

BUT, Danny is really upset. He feels like they could have done a much better job. He's also mad at himself for breaking the streak of sweepstakes that his school has had for the past million years. He feels that this will look really bad for him when it comes to trying to find a new job for next school year, or even keeping the one he has! Danny's band has one more contest before the school year is up, so he has another chance at redemption. Let's hope they do better for Danny's sake!

Say a little prayer...

for Danny tomorrow. His band goes to contest, and boy will they need all the help they can get! The 2nd band went today (Danny's new assistant,who just graduated from college in December, directed this band ) and they got straight 2's in Sight Reading, and onstage they got 2-3-4, which rounds out to a 3. Not good. The 4 was given by a well-known director who used to teach at his school! Oh dear. Danny thinks that she will judge them harder simply because it's her old school. Danny is very afraid that this will be the first year in a VERY LONG time that the top band at his school does less than straight 1's across the board. They perform in the late afternoon, around 4:45, so please say a prayer for him and especially his band!

Things I learned this week...

1. Boys are stinky. Especially after gym class, and I DO NOT get paid enough to teach them in small, poorly ventilated rooms!!

2. Eddie wants to be just like Tommy. He thinks he can do everything that Tommy can do. He even sleeps in a big boy bed just like Tommy! We officially put away the crib today!

3. McKinney ISD is driving me nuts! What's up with taking away our holidays this month?
Grr...at least Danny is home today. I can't complain about that!

4. My Visiting Teachers are AWESOME. I love Jenny and Blythe. They are such wonderful women! Oh, and Jenny's cookies are SO good!

5. The smell of smoke brings back a flood of memories for me. I am suddenly taken back to my childhood when I would go with my mom to take pictures at house fires (she worked for a newspaper). She would always bring water or some type of drink, and my sisters and I would pass them out to the firefighters. There was one fire where someone died. I will never forget seeing that body bag carried out of the house.

6. I suck at trying to lose weight. I'm stuck, and I can't get past my current weight. Sigh...

7. High School kids scare me sometimes.

8. I'm great at doing big projects around the house, but not all the little ones. I have some pictures that need to be hung, but I'm more likely to paint the kitchen before I hang pictures! What's up with that?

9. I don't like the color blue as much as I thought I did.

10. Anna is a really good kid. She gets on my nerves with her crying at every little thing, but she obeys and helps me with Tommy and Eddie. I need to stop being so hard on her. After all, girls need to stick together (especially when we're outnumbered)!