Killian's Island

Happy Birthday, Grace!

2012-01-31T21:07:00.002-06:00

Because it is the "week o' the birthday" at our house, we get to celebrate another special girl today!
Today Grace turned 7 years old. SEVEN!!! How did that happen?!?! I swear, she was just born yesterday, and all of a sudden she's seven... I think she grew up when I wasn't looking...

Grace is the perfect completion to our family. She is an original, and she keeps us on our toes around here EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. She is witty and smart and downright funny! She is also sweet and empathetic and loving, and I am so thankful EVERY DAY that God gave me this baby to love. Because no matter how big she gets, be it 7 or 37, she will always be MY baby.

I love you, Gracie Lou. Happy Birthday, baby!

Happy Birthday Kate!

2012-01-29T10:10:00.002-06:00

Today is a special day around our house. Today, THIS young lady turns 13!I am so proud of the person she is becoming, and can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

"LOVE" doesn't seem like a big enough word for the way I feel about her. She made me a Mom, and she continues to amaze me and make me proud every single day.

Happy 13th, Kate. I hope it is memorable!

Pics

2011-12-21T15:41:00.002-06:00

Here are some pics to go with my last post...

My lovely daughters before the Nutcracker.
Shelley and I in the limo in Vegas.
Did I even mention that we got to be on National TV while we were in Vegas? Oh, yeah... We got to be on National TV while we were in Vegas. Here's a pic from our big debut! :-) We did a blurb for the Country Music Awards. We shouted "We love Pistol Annies!!!" It was a very "Vegas" thing to do!!! :-)
Luke and Will met a very nice showgirl.
Fun times!!! Back soon with more pics...

Well, hello there...

2011-12-20T20:06:00.002-06:00

... YES! It is amazing, I know, that I am posting. After all, it has been since Thanksgiving, but I am just stopping in to let you know that I am alive... Just super dooper busy!

This whole holiday season has been one big, busy blur, but it is a GOOD blur.

Luke and I managed to get away to Las Vegas for a few days in early December, and I ran my very first half marathon. It was amazing. We ran at night under the lights of Vegas on the strip. It's something I'll not forget soon. We went with our good friends the Hales. Epic fun. :-)

We took the girls to see the Nutcracker ballet last weekend. They loved it!! It is something Luke has always wanted to do with them, and I am so glad we finally did...

Now it is full force, straight ahead til Christmas... I'm prayerful that it will soon slow down so that we can ALL enjoy the magic and wonder that IS Christmas.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2011-11-24T14:46:00.003-06:00

We are so very

for our friends, our family, and our heavenly father during this

Thanksgiving season.

May God richly bless you and yours!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

"Anyway" by Mother Teresa

2011-11-18T21:37:00.000-06:00

MY NEW FAVORITE QUOTE... WORDS TO LIVE BY!

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Tough lessons...

2011-11-18T21:15:00.002-06:00

Wow. It has been QUITE a week around here.

Nothing quite like telling your kids that a person whom they love has passed away...

It hurts so much to see your children in pain! Seriously, it is 100 times more painful than what you experience yourself...

We made it through the private burial ceremony, but the public memorial for our beloved Ju Ju is still to come tomorrow. Pray for strength and stamina, because this has been A LOT for my kids..

This has been a rough year. We lost our 16 year old dog Bandit, our dogs Trixie and Speck, Luke's father, and now Ju Ju. We are ready for 2011 to be OVER, and remain hopeful that 2012 will be better!

11-12-11

2011-11-12T20:02:00.001-06:00

We are heartbroken. Our beloved Ju Ju went to heaven today.While we know she is in a better place without cancer and without pain, we miss her, and we are sad.

We love you, Judy.

Fabulous Ju-Ju

2011-11-11T11:27:00.002-06:00

We have the most special wonderful lady in our lives, who I am always bragging about. She is our Fabulous Ju-Ju. She started out as the kids' babysitter when Grace was an infant, but has morphed into more of a family member and grandmother figure to my kids. She has been there for all the important events in the lives of my kids. She goes to their ball games, and eats lunch with them at school, and takes them out for ice cream, and takes them gardening in funny hats...... and goes to their egg hunts...
... and goes on their field trips.
We love her around here.

The day before school started, we got some devastating news about our beloved, fabulous Ju-Ju. Luke is her doctor, and he had to tell her that she has pancreatic cancer. And that it was bad.

She's very sick, and we are very sad.

Please pray for her, and please pray for us.

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T11:04:00.003-05:00

Halloween came and went at a fast and furious pace around here... Daddy was "on call", so we had to go it alone this year :-/ That is always stressful for me, but we made it fine. Grace had her party at school, and then after that we trick or treated the Square, and then made the rounds in one of the neighborhoods. Fun times!

Of COURSE, we had to have "Costume Drama"... Grace chose to be a lovely butterfly, and we have had the costume for months. She wore it to character dress-up day at school, and ripped the wing. Then she wore it again to the Band Carnival, and COMPLETELY ripped out the wing... I tried to fix it yesterday with a little fabric glue, but it did not work. :-( SO... after school yesterday, I told her she could either be a butterfly with a broken wing, or she could choose something else from the dress-up box. She said that "butterflies with broken wings always die", so she chose an old costume... After a little starch and some ironing, it looked pretty good!! We even managed to find the tights that went with it. I was proud of BOTH of us for being flexible! :-)

SO... Here is my little witch, Grace...
And my little monster, Abby...
And my very grown-up looking Cookie Monster, Kate.
Happy Halloween from the Killian girls!! :-)

The Runner...

2011-10-13T10:24:00.004-05:00

Kate began running Cross Country this year, and to be honest with you, I was a little surprised. She has never really LOVED running, and I think she only joined the team because a couple of her best buds were running.

However... as the practices went on and as she got into it, I think the little missy discovered that she actually might be kinda GOOD at this running "thing". She went to her first meet and placed 27th out 150 girls... Not too bad for a kid who hadn't really run before, and didn't really know what she was doing! She just went out and ran!

At that meet, they handed out 20 medals. When she realized that she missed getting a medal by only 7 places, she made it her goal to win a medal by the end of the season.

At the next meet, she improved her time dramatically, but we learned that it depended on the meet as to how many medals they handed out... There were only 10 medals at THAT particular meet.

Next meet, only 15 medals. Once again, she was edged out.

This past week, I was unable to attend the meet because the other girls had soccer games and Abby's team (which I am coaching) had pictures. But, Luke was able to go and watch Kate run. When he arrived, the gun had already sounded to start the race. He went to the turn near the end of the race and started counting the girls... when he got to Kate, he shouted, "YOU ARE IN 15th PLACE!!! THERE IS A GIRL RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!! R-U-N!!!!!" He said she TOOK OFF. She sprinted in to the finish, and she got her medal!
She finished 15th out of 120+ girls. We were super proud of her, and she was super proud of herself. Way to run, Kate.

The Fox

2011-10-07T20:17:00.005-05:00

Every year, our 4th graders at school do a play. Each year it is something different. When Kate was in 4th grade, they did "Go West", about the westward expansion of our nation. Kate was the Yellow Rose, a saloon girl from Texas.

This year, the 4th graders performed "Pinocchio". Abby played the part of the Fox, who is the "bad guy" in the play. (If you know my little Abby very well, that is really pretty surprising, as she is the sweetest, shyest, quietest one of my daughters... I was quite surprised when she came home and told me this was the role she wanted to audition for!)

BUT... she proved once again that she is quite the little actress and singer, as she landed the role she wanted, and WAS the Fox who tricked Pinoccho out of his money. She was GREAT!

Here she is, along with her BFF, Lainey, who played the role of an Italian gypsy and puppet master.
Here is Fox again, along with her side kick, Cat, (played by Presley)... They were the dynamic duo... They were SO GREAT in their roles!! Funny, funny girls!!
Here are Lainey (gypsy / puppet master), Kasidy ( toy seller), Abby (Fox), Maggie (Book Seller), and Jennifer (mother).
Here are Presley (Cat), Abby (Fox), Matt (Geppetto) Triston (Italian Man), and Lainey (gypsy / puppet master).
And here are Lainey and Abby one more time after the show... You can see Cade, who played Pinocchio, there in the front of the picture. He did a super job!!
The entire cast did a great job! It was really one to remember!! :-)

Missing

2011-10-03T13:36:00.002-05:00

My dog is missing.She never wandered before, but we brought home a puppy a few months back, and once that puppy grew up a bit, he began to roam, and my Trixie began to roam with him. This time she has not come back. I am fearing the worst.
She is such a good natured dog, and so smart... Our hearts are broken!

Come home Trixie!!! We miss you!!! :-(

Soccer 2011

2011-10-01T22:31:00.002-05:00

Grace and Abby are both playing soccer this year. I just love soccer... This is the first year that Kate is NOT playing, but between volleyball, basketball, crosscountry, cheerleading, band and church choir, she's got enough going on...

I seldom remember my camera, but, lucky for me, I had a friend at Grace's game today who caught some excellent shots of my little Goalie in action.

Pretty cute. Unfortunately, the Purple Ninjas came out on the losing end today, but hopefully they had fun.

Abby's team, the Red Tornadoes, also lost today. (Despite some EXCELLENT coaching by my BFF, Shelley, and myself... ha ha)

Hopefully I can talk my friend into coming to Abby's game and taking pics of her, as well! ha ha

The BIG 4-0

2011-09-26T21:36:00.002-05:00

Sadly, the rumors are true... I turned 40 years old this past weekend!! However, the weekend turned out to be one of the best of my life, because my FANTASTIC hubby took me on a trip to celebrate! We went back to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, which is just off the coast of Cancun. We have visited there before (last November, to be exact,) and it is still our favorite place we've ever been. Of course, since I am ME, nothing is ever simple when it comes to pictures... Let me explain...

I DID remember the camera!!! Yay me!! I know you are stunned, since I NEVER remember the camera... However, that camera did NOT have THE MEMORY CHIP inside of it... Boo!! And, apparantly when you are on a remote island in the Caribbean in a foreign country, memory chips are not exactly easy to come by... (Especially when you don't really know how to say "memory chip" in Spanish...)

So, I have fantastic images IN MY HEAD. These other pics I found on the net... Once again, blogger makes them small... WHY?!?!?!?

Here is an image off of Punta Sur (South Point) of the island. It looks like something out a movie. Breathtakingly gorgeous. The beach. AHHHHHHHH... I LOVE the beach. And this beach is AH-MAZE-ING. Crystal clear, turquoise blue water, white sand... PARADISE.

Here is an arial view of the island. For real, it IS this beautiful.

The hotel that we stayed in (for the second time now), is called Villa Rolandi. These pics are tiny, so you can't see much, but it is incredible. My favorite thing is that there are NO CHLDREN allowed. Now, I know that sounds a bit harsh, as I LOVE kids, but when you are talking relaxation, nothing beats the QUIETNESS that goes along with a place that has no kids. It is SOOOOOOOOOO relaxing. Just the waves and the fountains and the blowing of the plam leaves for noise.... So peaceful...

This is EXACTLY what the view from our balcony looked like. Unreal. The place has two pools, one heated and one not, and then a HUGE saltwater hot tub. There is also a private jacuzzi on every balcony.

Here's an interior pic of the rooms...They are LOVELY. The other thing that I LOVE abou this place is that it is SMALL. Only 20-30 rooms, so it never, ever seems crowded.

On my "actual" b-day, Luke arranged for us to have dinner served on the beach. It was pretty darn fantastic. Mexican luminarias lit the walkway down to our table. It was surrounded by tiki torches. Beautiful!!

The sunsets were something to behold, as well. This pic DOES NOT do them justice!

If you EVER get the chance, you must go. It was the perfect way to celebrate my first forty years!

My little "star"

2011-09-11T22:12:00.002-05:00

Kate had to sing at a fundraising gala this weekend for our local civic theater. I know I am biased, but she was SO good...

Naturally, I did not bring my camera, but another dad did, and I am lucky that he shares his pictures on his website (Thanks, Larry!) Not sure why blogger loaded it in this tiny size, but I have re-done it twice, and it is still small... Oh, well...

She looked so pretty. She's growing up on me!!
I wish I had a recording of the song she sang. She sang "For Good" from the Broadway musical "Wicked". I thought it was great. (But, as I said before, I am ridiculously biased! :-)

Busy, busy...

2011-08-29T08:42:00.002-05:00

Now that school is officially underway, we have discovered that our family schedule might be just a tad busy, and it's mostly because of this little missy...This year Kate is playing volleyball and basketball, running crosscountry, cheerleading, playing in the band, and singing in the church choir. Oh, yeah, and all that school work...

Last week she started JH athletics, and she has to be at the gym at 6:45 every morning for practices. UGH! For this family of late risers, that is TOUGH!!!

My other kids have not even really started their activities yet, and we are already tired!!

Kate's first volleyball game is this week, so LET IT BEGIN for real. Once we add games into the picture, I'm not sure HOW this is all going to all work...

Maybe it's a good thing I am not working... :-)

End of Summer Re-Cap

2011-08-26T20:07:00.002-05:00

This was one of the best summers we've ever had... We enjoyed everything about it. We had the perfect vacation, and when we were at home we relaxed and swam and just basically enjoyed ourselves. So, when summer came to an end, I mourned its passing more than EVER before.

To make matters even MORE "sticky", I knew I was really going to miss the kid-o's when they went back to school this year. I knew I was going to be AT HOME, ALL ALONE, EVERY SINGLE DAY once they went back to school. And, I was DREADING that. Badly.

SO... I wanted to do something special the last weekend before school began. I just didn't know what that was. I told hubby I wanted to plan something special, and he looked at me like I had sprouted a third head, and said, "I have to work that weekend."

Dang.

That could really put a damper on the plans.

IF I LET IT!!!

But, I chose not to let it!! :-)

Instead, I loaded the girls up in the car and we went on an impromptu vacation to the beach for the weekend!
It was fantastic. We did nothing but play in the sand and soak up the sun. It was the perfect end-of-summer get away.

Then, on the way home, we stopped and got Abby's ears pierced.
Doesn't she look so grown up? :-) I kind of don't like that part so much...

SO... that's what we did just before school started! We drove into town Monday afternoon just in time to change clothes and go to "Meet the Teacher" night. It was a trip that we could not have taken if I had been working, so it was a great way to celebrate our changing world.

Now... bring on the school year!

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-24T21:05:00.002-05:00

Today was the first Day of School! I now have a first grader, a fourth grader, and a seventh grader. WHERE has the time gone, and can't we just SLOW THIS DOWN ALREADY?!?!?

Here are my beautiful girls this morning, all dressed and ready for their first day.
Here's Grace, excited to show of her cute backpack.
Here's Abby with her stylish messenger bag...
And here is my big 7th grader.
Here is Abby with her teacher, Mrs. Dalton. (I embarrassed her horribly by going into her room and asking her to pose with her teacher for this picture!! :-)
And here is Grace with her teacher, Mrs. LeBlanc. (I can't believe the pic is blurry!! Darn I-phone!!)
Everyone was tired after pick-up time, but everyone had a wonderful day. My day, on the other hand, was VERY quiet. I don't know HOW I am going to fill my days without the girls here! :-(

I don't whine ALL the time...

2011-08-16T17:31:00.003-05:00

... even though yesterday's post certainly sounded like it!

Today I have put on my "big girl" panties, and I am trying to deal with it.

We had big plans today that Ju Ju was going to keep the "littler" girls while I took just Kate to the "big city" to go school clothes shopping. We have recently cleaned out closets, and I am not exaggerating when I say she had NOT ONE SINGLE PAIR of jeans left that fit her. Zero. Zilch Nada. And school starts in one week.

BUT... Ju Ju called in sick today, which she NEVER does, so there was nothing to do but load up all the girls and take them shopping with us.

You would have thought I told the little ones I was going to flay them and fry them in hot oil, the way they wailed and carried on when I told them that they had to go this morning!! But, once we got there and started shopping, it really wasn't that bad! We ACTUALLY had fun! And, we got some GOOD STUFF for school. I think the girls are ready now.

Well, maybe they are not READY, but at least they will be clothed!! :-)

... the post where I whine a little...

2011-08-15T22:25:00.003-05:00

Now that we've recovered from our "post Disney haze", and kinda gotten into a routine here at Casa de Killian, all of a sudden I have realized that, GOOD GRIEF, the kids go back to school in about a week!!

I am not quite sure how I am feeling about all of this.

Today was the first day that our district's teachers reported back to their campuses. And, as you might remember from the Spring, I was NOT re-hired this year, due to budgetary reasons.

I don't know exactly what I thought today would feel like, but this wasn't it.

I'm sad, and MAD, and depressed, and confused, and all sorts of things... I was sure, and I mean SURE, that I was supposed to be teaching again, now that my kids are older. So why aren't I? Don't all schools want teachers who teach for the love of children and for the love of learning? That is what you would want to believe.... Shouldn't it MATTER that I was REALLY pretty darn good at my job? It should matter. Even if it did not.

And, would someone please enlighten me as to what exactly I am going to DO with myself once my kids are gone all day every day? I am going to be so bored I may pull my toenails out.

Ugh. I am trying, and I mean REALLY trying to just relax and BE, and let God lead.

More difficult than it sounds, my friends... :-(

Day 6

2011-08-06T10:57:00.004-05:00

Ahhh, Day 6... Also known as "our last day at Disney"... :-(

Also our last day to be staying here...
For our last day of Disney fun, we went to Hollywood Studios. We got there early, and ran through the gates to get to what we had been told would be our hardest ride to get, Disney's Toy Story Ride. We made it! We rode it first thing, and also secured a Fast Pass for later in the afternoon. SCORE!! After riding, we waited just a few minutes to meet these guys!
Then we went to explore the rest of the park. We rode the Star Wars ride, and in the ride, they choose a person at random and put their photo up on the screen and identify them as "The Rebel Spy". Guess who was the spy? It was Grace! How fun! She was a little confused, but it was all in good fun! We also went to the Honey I shrunk the kids playground, and the Little Mermaid Show (fantastic!) and Beauty and the Beast Live (Amazing!!) and The Muppets 3D show. It was so funny! Outside the theater was this very cute fountain.
When I was a little girl, I had a "thing" for Miss Piggy - I LOVED her! I even had a light blue satin Miss Piggy jacket that I LOVED. :-)

We also went to see the Lion, the WItch, and the Wardrobe exhibit, which the kids were very interested in. Grace also got her face painted!
In true Florida style, a storm rolled in right when we were about to go and see the Indiana Jones stunt show. They could only show us a portion of the show, due to the bad weather. We had dining reservations for the evening there at the park (at Hollywood and Vine Restaurant), but we opted to cancel them and go back to our hotel and eat at the sit-down place there. What a GREAT choice! It turned out to be the best meal we had all week!! The Prime Rib was AWESOME! Then, when we got back to our room, the maid had used the girls' souveneirs to decorate their beds for their last night...

While I packed us up, Luke took the girls swimming one last time, and then we tried to get the girls to go to bed early, since we had a 5:20 am flight the next morning. Yikes!! That meant that the Disney Magical Express would be picking us up at 2:30 in front of our resort. Not fun!! Note to self: No matter how cheap the tickets are, it might not be worth ending your vacation in the middle of the night to get the cheap flights! ha ha

All in all, it was a magical trip. I hope it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip that my girls will never forget! :-)

Day 5

2011-08-05T12:22:00.002-05:00

This is the day that we FINALLY let the troops sleep in a little later... We didn't worry quite so much about being at Epcot right when the gates opened for our second day there! When we got there, we did all of our favorite rides first, and got Fast Passes for the ones that had long lines. We rode Soarin' AGAIN (and it was fantastic AGAIN), and Test Track and all the Space Rides, as well as Nemo and Turtle Talk. We also rode the Land ride, which was surprisingly educational. Then we spent the afternoon walking through the countries!

France....
Italy...
and England (where we met Alice!)

A storm started to blow in, hich looked like it might hold some hard rain, so we left Epcot mid afternoon. We went back to our hotel, and after the rain passed, spent the afternoon resting and swimming. That evening, we had reservations at the Polynesian resort for the Aloha Luau. We got all fancied up, and went over there for a fantastic dinner.

After dinner and the show, we walked back to the monorail, where we were able to see the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom exploding in the sky. It was so perfect! However, by the time we got back to our hotel, everyone was T-I-R-E-D one again!! Luke had to carry the little Gracie back to the room!
What a great day!

Day 4!

2011-08-03T20:27:00.004-05:00

Once again, we were at The Magic Kingdom Gates before they opened for another day of DIsney FUN on Day #4 of our visit.
We had reservations for the Cinderella Breakfast inside of Cinderella's Castle promptly after the gates of the park opened, so we headed there first.

It DID NOT disappoint!!! The food was awesome, the castle was incredibly beautiful, and the girls got to meet and visit with all 5 of the princesses again.

Cinderella,
Snow White,
Sleeping Beauty,
Ariel,
and Belle.
After breakfast, we set out on a quest to find the only Princess left that Gracie had not yet met, Tiana, from "The Princess and The Frog." She was charming!! She even had a classic "southern accent!"
Next we went and did everything that the girls wanted to do "again" that they had enjoyed the first time... Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tom Sawyer's Island, Peter Pan's Ride, Tea Cups, It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey's Philharmonic Show.

We watched the afternoon parade, which was GREAT.

Here's Pinocchio...
...and Fairy Godmother...
... and CInderella and Prince Charming, just to name a few!
Shortly after the parade, we left. It was H-O-T. The girls wanted to go back to the hotel and swim. We decided to do that, and then, after a shower, we took the ferry boat over to Downtown Disney. We ate dinner ate a neat restaurant called T-Rex Cafe. It was pretty neat... Rather like the Rainforest Cafe, but with everything from Prehistoric times.

Here are Luke and the girls...
Here is a pic of some of the decorations. This giant jelly fish was beautiful! They also had a mammoth inside an ice cave and dinosaurs everywhere... Pretty cool.
After dinner, we went back to our hotel. We were TIRED!! (And, it was already after 10:00 by then...) Disney is DRAINING, and we had another full day lined up the next day!

Disney - Day 3

2011-08-02T18:33:00.002-05:00

By our third Disney Day, we were T-I-R-E-D. We had been staying up super late, and getting up early enough to make it to the parks before they opened. We still got up early on Day 3, but we planned to leave early. We had been told that Animal Kingdom Park would not require quite as much time, so that is where we headed for Day #3!

I realized after looking at my pics for this day that I took practically no pictures this day... like I said, We were ALL super tired, including me, the photographer! ha ha! I did get a few taken by the Disney Photo Pass Photographer that I plan to purchase, but not much in the way of documentation of Animal Kingdom.

Here is Abby looking at the Bird Watching Guide.
Here is a really pretty waterfall on the Safari Ride...
Here are Luke and the girls on the Safari ride. We enjoyed it a lot. Great live animals!!
We did ride Expedition Everest, which got mixed reviews. Luke, Kate, and Abby LOVED it. It scared Grace half to death, which was surprising, as she is usually the daredevil and Kate is the scaredy pants. I thought it was just OK... It had the Yeti (abominable snowman) in it, and I think that scared her more than anything... We also enjoyed the dinosaur dig inside the playground. The Kali River Rapids were also fun, but you WILL get wet!! We ate dinner that night at The Tusker House Restaurant inside Animal Kingdom, which was African cuisine, and was delicious. Immediately after dinner (which was early, like 5:00) we went back to our hotel and went swimming and went to bed early. It was a nice relaxing day!

Day 2 - Epcot!

2011-07-30T09:22:00.005-05:00

On our second day, we went to Epcot. We loved it as much as the Magic Kingdom, but for different reasons. It had what was probably our favorite ride of all, Soarin', and we rode it four times! We also loved test track and the space rides and the Nemo rides. We LOVED Turtle Talk with Crush! It was hilarious! The turtle from Nemo was on the screen, and he somehow would interact with the kids in the audience and answer questions... even though he was a cartoon! Amazing stuff. And VERY, VERY funny!! In addition to all the rides, we found that Epcot was a GREAT place to meet all the Disney characters! We found the lines to be much shorter here, and in a few instances, no lines at all!!

We met Mickey...

...and Pluto...
... and Minnie (Abby's favorite!)...
... and Donald...
... and Goofy, all at the Character Spot, which was an air conditioned place to wait and meet all the "classics" in one place. Brilliant!
Then, we walked around all the countries, and met Belle in France...
...Jazmine and Aladdin in Morocco (Grace was SO EXCITED.. look at her Jazmine shirt she is wearing!!!)
... Mulan in China...
... and Marie in France.
Then, we got out Grace's Princess dress and changed her clothes, and went to a special "sit down" dinner in Norway with ALL of the princessess!! First we met Belle...

... and then Sleeping Beauty...... and then Cinderella...
... and FINALLY Snow White!
We had a VERY excited little girl on our hands!
Epcot was great. We loved it so much, we decided to go back on our "off" day, later in the week! :-)

Disney Recap - Day 1

2011-07-29T08:16:00.005-05:00

Well... we are BACK!! Our trip to Disney World was fantastic. Get ready for "Picture Overload" as I recap our trip. I don't want to ever forget it!

Thursday we flew out and took Disney's bus, the Magical Express, from the airport to our hotel, Port Orleans Riverside. We spent the afternoon exploring the hotel and swimming in their fabulous pool.

On Friday we got up early and ate breakfast to get ready for our first day at The Magic Kingdom!
**This picture is out of order... It should be up there with the resort... These are the towels that were magically on our bed, in the shape of Mickey ears. I could take the time out to move it, but, I don't want to! :-)
As soon as we walked through Cinderella's castle, the girls got to meet Fairy Godmother. She was so sweet. Grace was enchanted!
Across the street from her was the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. They were hilarious! The stepmother said, "Hmmm... these girls look strangely familiar. Blonde hair, blue eyes. They look like another girl I know." The stepsisters asked about the feathers in the girls hair, and then when it was time to take pictures, they said, "We will NOT say CHEESE. Everyone think of another food to shout out other than cheese!" Then, when the picture was taken, they shouted things like Lasagne!!! and Asparagus!!! The girls loved them!
We rode the tea cups, and lots of other rides...
We met Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, too!
We met Peter Pan, and rode his ride, too!
We met Arial, and Prince Eric, and lots and lots of other Princesses, too.
It rained, which was fantastic, because it lowered the temperature about 20 degrees! Unfortunately, it also lightened some, which delayed the start of the parade a little bit, and we were already TIRED!! But, we were determined, and we stayed until it finally started.
Grace was SUPER excited!
The Main Street Electrical Parade was FANTASTIC!!! We love, love, loved it.
Look at the wonder and awe on this little face...
Here is Pete's dragon... I took a TON of pictures, but won't take the time to upload them all now...
After the parade, we made our way over by the Dumbo ride to watch the nightly fireworks. My pics are not great, but let me describe... The Dumbo ride was still running during the fireworks, to our right, and the castle was to our left. The fireworks were on both sides of us AND directly over our heads. Amazing!!

Here is the DUmbo ride with the fireworks in the background...
And here is the castle with the fireworks above.
It was a magical, unforgettable day!

Sweet Summertime

2011-07-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

I know.

I have not blogged ALL. SUMMER. LONG.

And I am not even sad about it!

I have been so busy with all the usual, unimportant things that little girls require of their mommies during the summers... Camps, sleep overs, swimming, etc...

We leave in a mere 7 days for our biggest family vacation EVER. Disney World!!! I am excited, and more than a little bit overwhelmed... This vacation requires a lot of planning, and is a lot different than our usual "rent a hotel and lie on the beach" type of vacation. I have had to plan and make reservations for multiple meals a day and reserve buses for transfers and blah blah blah... Apparently relaxing at Disney is a lot of work!! I will try and let you know how it goes when we return...

This is a sweet summer - the girls are growing like weeds, and wouldn't a picture of them fit in nicely here?? Sure would be great if I had a current one. :-) Maybe sometime soon I will get organized. Hey, internets, be happy - it has taken me all summer just to post ONE TIME!! A picture would be COMPLETELY TOO MUCH TO ASK!! :-)

I'm back...

2011-05-18T21:23:00.002-05:00

... but, in all honesty, probably not for long!

I have lost my "bloggy-rhythm", and I have no idea when I'd have time to look for it, even if I knew where to look! ha!

"Life" is getting in my way in a most serious way right now.

There are only 8 1/2 more school days with students, and I am having a lot of mixed feelings about that... Sad in some ways, because I do love teaching, but happy in some ways too, because I will have more time next year. I know my family will likely be better taken care of with me at home again, but I will SO miss seeing my children every day at school! I love seeing them in the hall and at the lunch table. I love being next door to the nurse's office, because I am the FIRST to know if one of them is feeling a bit puny... I love being friends with their teachers, because I know all the good things AND the bad things that happen every day. Those are the things that I know I will miss. I know I will NOT miss the testing and the stress. I will NOT miss the "day in and day out" grind. So, I know this season in my life will be sad and challenging, but I am trying to be calm about it. Breathe, and just BE. For the first time in my life, I will have time for me. How will that feel? I'm really not at all sure, but I guess I had better get ready to find out!

Easter 2011

2011-04-29T09:15:00.003-05:00

Easter came and went at a fast and furious pace. Here are the lovely sisters on Easter morning, on our way to church to celebrate the risen Lord!

Here's Grace...
... and Abby...
...and Kate.
We also enjoyed a fun weekend with our cousins from Houston (and their dog, Seamus). Seamus even enjoyed playing Twister with the girls! :-)
We had a fun, fabulous Easter egg hunt with all the Cousins out here in our little country paradise. It was just great, and the kids all had a great time!

Don't let the door hit ya' on the way out!

2011-04-07T19:13:00.002-05:00

Finally, TODAY, Mr. Migraine is gone. Today is the first day since SUNDAY that my head has not hurt.

Hallalujah!!

Now that "the worst headache of my life" is over, I am so thankful, and so hopeful that I NEVER have another one like this EVER!

My new "Friend"...

2011-04-04T11:33:00.002-05:00

I have, in my older years now, developed a new "friend".

His name is "Migraine", and he REALLY is not so friendly.

This time, he has been around for 2 days, and today he even made me stay at home from work. Sometimes he makes me feel sick to my stomach, and occasionally he makes my vision blurry.

I have some new medicine that is supposed to make him stay away, and it has been working well, until yesterday... Yesterday he LAUGHED out loud at the medicine and stayed around anyway.

Today (after another round of a different medicine), he is kinda hanging around in the background, but he's still not completely out the door.

I wish he would just LEAVE. He's really not so friendly!!!

Motivation

2011-03-31T21:19:00.002-05:00

I am having a slight "motivation" problem.

Something along the lines of "They have already taken my job away, so why exactly should I show up for the rest of the year if they don't even WANT me?!?!?!?!?" (with a slight amount of eye-rolling and head-nodding thrown in there, along with just a smidge of attitude...)

And then one of my students says something funny, or smiles at me, and I remember why I have to show up every day.

True story.

The Birthday Girl!

2011-03-26T18:11:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a very special day... My little Abby turned 9!

It was also a CRAZY BUSY kind of day... After school, we rushed home and opened gifts for Abby. Then, we hopped in the car and rushed off to Goldthwaite for a basketball game for Katie's 6th grade team. Yesterday was ALSO the birthday of one of Kate's BFF's, Miss Emma! Here is a pic of both the birthday girls.
When we got home (finally), we got to eat Abby's DELICIOUS cake. She loves Science and the Solar System, so she wanted a cake with the Solar System on it. One call to Mrs. LeeAnn at Cake and Cookie Creations (our fabulous new bakery here in H-town), and WHA-LA!!! Solar System cake!
Here is a pic of the big 9 year old birthday girl, with the candles lit on her cake.
Happy Birthday to my sweet angel, Abby. I love you SO much, and I hope your day was as special as you are!!

Changes....

2011-03-25T23:41:00.002-05:00

Just in case you didn't know this about me, I'm NOT so big on CHANGES.

I'm a "wee bit" of a planner. I like things the way I like them, thank you very much, and usually, I am able to make my handy little life work out the way I want it to work out. And I like it that way. It's like my own personal little Burger King.

But sometimes, life throws me a curve ball of sorts.

Like this week, for instance.

You see, last year I made the MONUMENTAL, LIFE-CHANGING decision to go back to work. It wasn't a decision I made lightly, but it's where I felt I needed to be. My children would all be in school this year, and I want to be where they are. (That was sort of the whole reason I was a stay-at-home mom in the first place.)

But, now the state of Texas is having money issues, and our schools are having budget issues. So this week I was informed that my services would no longer be needed next year. As in, "You no longer have a job here."

*SIGH*

I know I am so blessed, because I don't have to work. My not working won't change my family's life financially. I wasn't doing it for the money, though... I was doing it because I love it, and because I love being near my children. And my children love me being there. I know that won't always be true, and I hate to miss the few years when it IS true.

I'm not sure where I am supposed to go from here, but I'm trying to just be still and BE. God will show me, if I just allow him.

Back to Reality

2011-03-22T21:13:00.002-05:00

I will say, this whole "going back to work after being off for Spring Break after the Spring forward time change" thing might be kicking my butt. Just a little bit.

We never "adjusted" to the time change, because we didn't have to get up and go anywhere last week! We slept late EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. And loved every minute of it.

This week, we might be dragging JUST A WEE BIT, and it's only Tuesday!!

Lord, help us!!

Spring Break 2011...

2011-03-17T18:54:00.002-05:00

... is in full swing at Casa de Killian, and we are loving every minute of doing NOTHING. We have taken several little day trips, but nothing too exciting. Today we dropped my car off to be serviced in Waco and got a "loaner" vehicle for the day, and had big plans to go to the zoo. When we drove up to the parking lot, not only was the ENTIRE parking lot marked "FULL", but the overflow parking lot was also marked "FULL". I bribed the girls with ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WHOLE WORLD YOU CAN THINK OF THAT YOU HAVE EVER WANTED TO DO. ANYTHING ELSE. NAME IT. IT'S YOURS. JUST PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME GO IN THERE WITH THAT MASS OF HUMANITY , INCLUDING 75,000 OTHER SNOTTY NOSED CHILDREN THAT BELONG TO OTHER PEOPLE. (or something like that...)

So, they chose to go and paint pottery. It was nice and rather therapeutic. We enjoyed it. Now would be an EXCELLENT time for a picture, if I had taken one, but.... you know me. I did not.:-) Kate made a picture frame for one of her friends for her birthday, Grace painted a garden gnome (strange choice, I know, but we just saw Gnomio and Juliet yesterday...), and Abby painted a spotted kitty cat. I painted a basketball that Kate REALLY wanted (but she was painting the picture frame...).

After pottery, we went to Lion's Park. It is an old-fashioned park that has a carousel and a train and go carts and mini-golf and all sorts of kiddie-rides. The girls had a blast.

By then, I was pretty much ready to bolt for home, but they still hadn't finished with my car, so we went for ice cream...

Then off for a little shopping....

Then we just gave up and went and tracked down my car. They STILL weren't done, and the guy confessed that they probably were not going to finish today. ARGGGGHHH!!!!! He said to just take the loaner home and come back tomorrow.

This guy obviously does not REALIZE that we've already had all the fun that we can have in Waco!!!!

The Results are In...

2011-03-11T22:28:00.002-06:00

... and my little Kate is now a Junior High Cheerleader.

I'm proud of her for going after what she wanted and doing a good job.

I went and watched her today during the try-outs in front of the student body, and she was really good. She didn't look nervous AT ALL. It did her mama's heart good!

So... I'm a cheer mom. Pray for me, internets, 'cause I've got a feeling I'm going to need it!!!!!

Cheer Mom...

2011-03-04T16:55:00.005-06:00

It's that time already.

My daughter is in Jr. High, and she has decided that she would like to try out for cheerleader.

Now, if you know me AT ALL, you know that I was a BIG cheerleader in my school girl days. Big. As in "loved it with my whole heart, didn't care about much else, practiced in my bedroom all the time" kind of big. I thought it was GREAT.

But now I'm a mom, and I'm not sure what I think about it anymore. I don't really WANT her to wear a cute skirt and yell for young boys playing sports... I want her to want to go and play her OWN sports. I want her to be strong and confident and independent. And I don't know if cheering teaches that. I guess it COULD - in the right situations, but ...UGH.

I have resigned myself to the fact that she wants to do this, and I will let her, because I remember how I loved it. BUT... at the same time, I'll be preaching about self-importance and independence and growing up to be a strong woman who can take care of herself.

Kinda like her mama...

March, you say?!?!?!

2011-03-01T19:29:00.003-06:00

What?!?!

You say it's March 1st?!?!?!

I feel certain that cannot be true.

Why, it was just New Year's Day yesterday, after all, wasn't it?

There is no way possible it could be March ALREADY!

I must check this out...

Grace's Kindergarten Valentine Tea

2011-02-20T11:26:00.016-06:00

Each year our local Kindergarten hosts a Valentine Tea Party at our local Rodeo Arena and Restaurant, Circle T. The students learn all about proper etiquette and table manners, and then they eat lunch at their party to show off what they have learned.

Then they also learn how to dance, and they get to show off what they learned there, too, by dancing with their friends. Here is Miss Grace, dancing with a few of her friends.

It was cute, friends, really cute. She was really nervous and didn't want to do it at first, but she finally did it, and it wasn't so bad after all. Then they even got to dance a dance with their parents. It was sweet seeing Miss Grace dancing away with her Daddy... I could see life flashing before my eyes...
Here is Grace with Dad,
... and with Mom at the Tea table.

It was great! Thanks to the Kindergarten teachers for a SUPER experience! (And a huge thank you to Circle T for allowing Kindergarten to use the fabulous facility again!!!!)

WICKED

2011-02-19T21:05:00.002-06:00

This week I got my late Valentine's Day present......my sweet hubby took me to see Wicked!

It was THE.BEST.SHOW.EVER.

I mean, REALLY. I loved it so very, very, much. My only regret about the whole thing was that I didn't take my kids to see it! Now I just have to figure out a way to get them to San Antonio before March 6...

Seasons

2011-02-13T08:41:00.003-06:00

They always say that if you don't like the current season, or weather, in Texas, just stick around 15 minutes or so. It will change.

Since I last posted, we had ANOTHER day of snow/ice (though we went to school in it) and another round of bitter cold temperatures. We survived a few frozen pipes and one round of flooding through the house that required the purchase of a new shop-vac. MAYBE we have made it through the worst of the winter weather, because yesterday was lovely, and today is BEAUTIFUL. Like it is forecast to be 70 degrees beautiful! I can't wait - I hope to sneak in a run sometime between church, basketball practice, and choir practice... Those kids-o-mine keep me so busy...

This has also been the season of Luke's parents' rapidly declining health... I have now lost count of how many times they have been in and out of the hospital. They are both currently in the hospital again. I need prayers for wise and prudent decision making ability for the entire family, as I think the time is swiftly approaching that we will have to make some important decisions concerning their health and care.

Basketball season is quickly coming to an end, as well. The girls have one more weekend of regular season play, before Kate plans to join a special "tournament" team of all 6th grade girls for extra practice and fun. She is really excited about this. I know it will be a season of fun for her!

I guess it's the "seasonings" in life that make it the most flavorful! ;-)

Happy Sunday!

Snow Day #4

2011-02-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

Yes, that's right. You heard correctly. We have been at home for FOUR DAYS because of the weather. The first round was only sleet and ice, but finally last night we got some SNOW!! And, I will admit, it is BEAUTIFUL. The girls are out in it, right now, and they say that they are going to build a snowman... I don't know if that will happen or not, because it is really powdery. But, if they do, I will try and snap a picture of it.It has been BITTERLY cold. It has not been above freezing since Monday, and it is now Friday. It is so hard on the animals! Trixie (our dog), has been in and out of the house, but you can just see it on her face. She was B.O.R.E.D. She was ONE HAPPY DOG when the girls finally came out to play today! She just could not contain her excitement! She rolled around in the snow over and over again with them! If she could have spoken, she would have been saying, "Play with me! Play with me! Play with me!!!!!"

The sun is finally out now, so I know the snow will not last long. Hopefully the girls will enjoy it while it is here, and hopefully that sun will warm us up a little... I am DONE with Winter!!

And a few more pictures to get us all caught up!

2011-02-03T19:16:00.004-06:00

Here is the whole family after the play that Kate and Abby were in last weekend.Over Thanksgiving, Luke's whole family came to celebrate, including Seamus, the dog. Nobody had more fun than Seamus and Trixie, our dog!
Here are Kate and Abby after the play, The Sound of Music and Cinderella.
Here are the girls on Christmas Eve, 2010.
** Can you tell we have been out of school (and I have been off of work) for the last 3 days?? I have finally had time to catch up on pictures!!!)

A review of the past few months in pictures...

2011-02-03T13:38:00.003-06:00

...baby goats have been born on the farm.
And we got to see family at Thanksgiving at Christmas!
Luke took me on the best vacation EVER.

Grace lost her first tooth.
Kate killed her first deer with her bow.
Basketball has started. We spend a lot of time waiting on one girl or another at one gym or another.
Get to spend some wonderful time with some sweet babies. like baby Tayte!!!
Happy 12th birthday Kate!
Grace's fabulous rainbow cake.
Happy 6th birthday Grace!

And because it is the "WEEK 'O THE BIRTHDAY"...

2011-01-31T21:25:00.002-06:00

... at Casa de Killian, we celebrated another one today.

My Gracie turned six today, and my heart cracked just a little bit deeper.

I do not want her to get any older. It is just going too damn fast (excuse me, but no other word seemed quite right.)

She had a day that was typical of her - complete with a Chinese food for dinner, and a birthday cake that was a rainbow. (Which, but the way, I TOTALLY copied from my friend, Amy, whose blog you can find on my side bar... her daughter, Kenna Mae, just turned six, and Amy made her a rainbow cake. When Grace saw it on Amy's blog, she HAD to have it. It was a royal pain to make, but it turned out really, really cute.)

When we put her to bed tonight, she said it was the best birthday "ever".

I'm glad, because she's the best Gracie "ever".

Happy birthday, Baby. Please stay my baby, please, just a little while longer.

I'm too young...

2011-01-29T22:34:00.003-06:00

... to have a TWELVE YEAR OLD CHILD, but I guess I do, because Miss Kate had a birthday today!

It was a crazy, busy day, full of four different basketball games and a performance of the Sound of Music play for Kate and Abby... We were barely home long enough to blow out the candles and open a few presents, but we got it all done!

Her cast mates in the play surprised her tonight by singing happy birthday to her tonight after the play. It was pretty cute!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Kate. I hope your day was as SPECIAL as you are!!

Ken/Edward Update

2011-01-08T13:47:00.003-06:00

So, yesterday we go to Wally-World, and Grace convinces me to buy a pair of pants for her Ken (Edward) doll. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, read my last post! ha ha)

I agree to buy Ken/Edward some pants, because, really, no dude should hang around wearing a skirt (not even if you're Scottish! ha!)

When we get home, Grace IMMEDIATELY runs off upstairs and changes the doll out of the skirt and puts on his pants.

And promptly changes his name to James.
Guess he's not Scottish anymore.

I just LOVE that kid!

Ummm...

2011-01-06T22:04:00.002-06:00

... I confess. I am a "bloggy-loser". I can't find time to get it done anymore! I try, really I do, but when it comes down to having clean socks for everybody in my house or writing a blog... the socks win every time. I hate stinky feet. And, it's not exactly flip flop season anymore. :-)

So much has happened since I last blogged. So much that I don't even know where to begin! So, I'm not going to try to catch up. Maybe if I don't try, it will just happen. Because, let's be real honest here, "trying" hasn't gotten me very far.

SO... in an effort to not TRY too hard, I thought I'd share a "Gracie" story (just for old time's sake!)

Tonight I'm up stairs with Grace, trying to get her ready for bed. We're picking up the Barbies in her room, when all of a sudden I notice that Ken isn't wearing any pants. In fact, not only is he not wearing pants, he's actually wearing a skirt. So, I say, "Grace, why is Ken wearing a skirt?" She looks at me like I am a TOTAL MORON, and says, "Mom... he's Scottish! And, his name is not Ken. It's Edward."

Oh. I didn't know that. Thanks for correcting me, Grace.

I love that kid!

Adios, 2010...

2010-12-31T17:41:00.001-06:00

...and welcome 2011!

2010-12-23T21:24:00.002-06:00

And she gave birth to her first born son and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And in that same region there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came before them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. But the angel said to them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there were with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, Peace, good will to men." -Luke 2:6-14

Peace to you and your families during this blessed Christmas season!

THE RECAP...

2010-11-30T20:38:00.002-06:00

... of our lives the past few weeks will be brief, my friends.

It has been CRAZY.

Luke surprised me with a wonderful surprise vacation to Isla de Mujeres, Mexico, the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was crazy beautiful, fantastic, relaxing, and about the most beautiful place I've ever seen. We stayed at a resort that DID. NOT. ALLOW. CHILDREN. Let me say that again, in case you missed it: NO CHILDREN ALLOWED AT THE RESORT. Now, friends, I love my children, but sometimes it is NECESSARY to get away from them. We had a wonderful time.

When we got home, it was back to school for a couple of days, and then the craziness of Thanksgiving began. Luke's entire family was able to come, and it was REALLY special. We had the big Thanksgiving feast here at our house, and (I hope you are sitting down!), I COOKED, and it was all fantastic! Of course, all the sisters and sisters-in-law also helped and made their special dishes. But, it was really memorable and special. I hope it becomes a tradition!! My children were overjoyed, because ALL 9 of the grandkids on Luke's side were under one roof, like a giant sleep-over, for several days. It was kid-heaven! :-)

I DO have pictures of Mexico and of Thanksgiving, but am not taking the time to upload them right now... Maybe later. Maybe not at all. Time is valuable, and my internet is SLOW.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope yours was as special as ours!

Country Livin'

2010-11-12T17:20:00.002-06:00

There are SOOOO many things I love about living in the country...

Great views, beautiful sunsets, wide-open spaces, no neighbors, happy kids, happy animals... the list goes on and on!

But, today, I discovered something that I am NOT so fond of.

A snake.

On my front porch.

Crawled INTO MY HOUSE, internet friends!!!!

I had to somehow get it out of my house, and kill it, all without letting it attack my children.

It might have been only 6 inches long, but it was ready to attack, people. I could see it in those beady little snake eyes!!!

OH, how I hate snakes!!!!

My eldest child ran (or walked, if the truth be known), to get the hoe. I chopped it up, screaming the whole time.

But I killed it.

I'm moving to town, people. ;-)

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:58:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween from the Go-Go Girl, the Statue of Liberty, and the Genie!!! :-)

Baylor Wins!!

2010-10-31T07:43:00.002-05:00

We watched a pretty exciting football game last night. BAYLOR beat University of Texas!!

This hasn't happened in a while, friends.

Baylor fans of the world have SUFFERED down in the cellar of the Big 12 conference FOR YEARS. We've been the butt of football jokes for a long time. And, we have taken in stride with a good attitude, because, let's be real here, we KNEW we were bad.

But, maybe, finally, all that is behind us, because not only did we have a great win last night (in Austin, mind you!!), but we are also RANKED #25 in the NATION!

As a die hard Bear, life is sweet this morning! :-)

...sickly...

2010-10-20T19:21:00.002-05:00

I'm a little "under the weather" today. I've lost my voice COMPLETELY, and, ya' know, when you are a teacher, you pretty much talk ALL.DAY.LONG. So, I had to stay at home today. I'm not sure what to do about tomorrow... I don't feel exactly 100%, but this isn't the sickest I've ever been, either... But, I seriously can only make a small squeaky noise out of my mouth. I don't know HOW I can control a classroom full of active 3rd graders without a voice!

Suggestions?

IRON MAN 2010

2010-10-18T22:12:00.004-05:00

First of all, yes, I know that it has been 10 forevers since I have posted, but hey, I am ridiculously busy. In fact, I should already be in bed. But, at one point in my life, this blog was a little bit like a "diary" of what was going on in our lives. If I want it to STILL be a reflection of our lives, I really do need to post more regularly...

But, in reality, that likely won't happen, so OH, WELL!

This past weekend, we took a little camping trip down to the Austin area and got ready for a little triathlon.

Actually, it was a BIG triathlon. Luke and his friend, Will, competed in a half Iron Man triathlon. Here they are: (Thank goodness for my friend, Shelley, who always has her camera... I totally stole this pic from her blog. You can go look at the rest of her pics right HERE.)
If you're not familiar with triathlon lingo, a half Iron Man means that they swam 1.2 miles, they biked 56 miles, and then ran 13.1 miles.

Yep, it's a little bit crazy, but they did GREAT!

Despite the fact that we had not one but TWO flat tires on our camper on the trip down, nearly missed the check in time for Luke, Luke had a flat tire during the bike portion of the race, Will had some stomach sickness during the run portion of the race, we had some "technical difficulties" with the slide-out part of our camper as we were getting ready to leave the camp site, AND... we had a problem with the emergency brake on the ride home... the trip was still a success! ha ha!

My newest most favorite quotation...

2010-10-06T21:14:00.003-05:00

"Be who you are and say what you need to say because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind." — Dr. Seuss

Have you ever heard anything more true than that???

Dr. Seuss was a lot smarter than we sometimes give him credit for...

Just a little "Gracie Humor"...

2010-09-30T20:58:00.003-05:00

... because everyone needs a laugh now and then!

Today her Kindergarten teacher comes and finds me (which in itself should have been a sign), and says she just HAS to tell me what Grace said earlier in the day...

Oh, NO!

Oh, Yes.

I guess it was a little warmer than usual today and the class had been at P.E. and they had been running. Miss Grace comes back into the classroom after P.E., and she is fanning herself. She announces (loudly, and unsolicited), "WHEW! It is HOT out there! I am sweating like a sinner in church!"

Oh. My. Goodness.

Where did she hear THAT?!?!?!?!

I could have DIED.

At least her teacher got a good laugh today...

I'm not dead...

2010-09-23T19:25:00.002-05:00

... although you might think so, since it has been so long since my last post! We have just been so busy.

Work is... well, work. It keeps me insanely busy, but (at least for now!) I am still enjoying it.

All three girls have begun soccer. All three girls are on different teams. All three girls are in different age divisions. All three girls play and practice at different times. It is insanely busy. I am seriously thankful that soccer only lasts for 6 weeks...

On a bright note, today is my BIRTHDAY!! Happy day to me! I have worked hard to earn these 39 years, and I embrace every wrinkle. Hope I have another 39+ years to go!!

Just catching up...

2010-09-06T09:22:00.003-05:00

Since it's Labor Day and I don't have to work, (YAY!!) I am taking the time to upload some old pictures today from the past few weeks. I just had a few of them on my phone, but if I have time later, I may try to get some more of the "real" camera.

Here are my girls on Homecoming this past Friday.
Here is Grace with her teacher on the first day of Kindergarten.
And here is Abby with her teacher on the first day of 3rd grade!!
Hope YOUR Labor Day is as FANTASTIC as ours!! We are loving having the day off. Happy Labor Day!

Answered Prayers

2010-09-03T21:11:00.002-05:00

God has heard me and answered my prayers.

Abby went in and had some tests done this week. Today Luke got the report back and SHE IS JUST FINE. She does have a murmur, but it is nothing that we should be concerned about.

Thank you, Lord, for answering prayers!

TARDY

2010-08-31T21:05:00.002-05:00

As I'm a teacher and all, I was thinking I should use some "jargon" from my profession in this post, and the only word that came to mind was "Tardy".

Because I am so late in getting any posts up on my blog. I'm TARDY.

It's not that I don't have anything to post... I have TONS to post. It's actually astounding how much I have to say, but no time in which to say it. I am perpetually late these days. I think it's something I'm just going to have to get used to.

I DO have a prayer request... For the two people who still read my blog...

Last week my little Abby was complaining of some chest pain and dizziness after running during P.E. Because I am a great mom, I told her not to worry about it. She was just hot, and that pain was probably just a stitch in her side. I'm real accurate like that (sarcasm!!) I should have known better, as Abby's not really much of a whiner. That evening, as she was still complaining, Luke got out his stethoscope and listened to her chest. She has a whopper of a heart murmur. We now have an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist. Luke says not to worry yet, so I am choosing not to worry. (I am also watching her like a hawk, and not letting her run or get hot AT ALL until after this appointment, just to be on the safe side!!)

Pray it's not a big deal, and pray she outgrows it.

Soon.

And I'll try not to be so TARDY with my next posts.

I did not cry...

2010-08-23T21:11:00.002-05:00

...but it was still tougher than I thought dropping off my baby for Kindergarten today. She did great. I was oh, so proud of her. She was big and brave and wonderful, and I felt a chapter of our "book of life" slamming shut. We have no more pre schoolers. No more babies. We even have a *GASP* Jr. High Student living in our house now! I won't lie... it was tough.

But I am so very happy and reaffirmed that the decision I made last year to go back to work was THE RIGHT DECISION. Even though Kate is in Jr. High, she's just down the hall. Even though Grace is in Kindergarten, she's really just down the hall in the opposite direction. Abby is literally next door to me. I see them all day, every day. I love that. I am SOOOOOO much a part of their lives. Maybe more than ever!

I did take pictures this morning, but I'll be really honest... I'm too tired to load them right now. Soon, I promise!

Day #1 was a huge, wonderful, awesome, great SUCCESS.

Bring on day #2!!

Well, Hi there.

2010-08-20T07:07:00.002-05:00

Well, Hi there! Haven't heard from me in quite some time, huh?

Let's just say it's been a LITTLE busy this week.

I've been in "teacher training" since last Friday, while at the same time trying to get my classroom ready for "Meet the Teacher" Night, which was last night.

I DID IT!

My room looked great, and I had 11 little darlings come out to meet me. I am going to call it a success.

On an even brighter note, dear hubby was in charge of taking OUR three darlings to meet the teacher night. Alone. As in without me. And, did I mention he also had to manage to drop off their school supplies with their teachers and additionally find all 8 classrooms in the Jr. High, get her schedule, find her locker, AND attend 6th grade orientation? (I know... I know... Your head is spinning. Mine was, too. I thought this had "DISASTER" written all over it!)

But, clearly I don't give the man enough credit. He did fine. Better than fine, actually. He did GREAT. Everyone was happy, and they got everything accomplished. I think hubby feels very proud of his accomplishment!

Now, today, one last day of teacher inservice and planning. Then comes what I am referring to as the "Last Free Weekend For A Very, Very, Very Long Time". I am hoping to enjoy it and *GASP* not go to my classroom over the weekend.

Because, on MONDAY, "it" begins!!!!!

I think I am ready. And, in the words of Rhino the Hamster from the movie "Bolt"...

LET IT BEGIN!!!

Beautiful Summertime

2010-08-11T22:29:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow is my very last day of summer vacation, and I might be just a little bit sad about it. This has been the BEST summer yet... The kids are big enough to actually DO stuff. Nobody needs a nap (except maybe for Dad...)So... in honor of the Summer of '10, here are just a few of the things we did this summer!

Went to a Ranger Baseball Game. (Kate did NOT catch a ball, much to her chagrin.)
Rode the train at the zoo. (Abby really like it.)
Graduated my final little pre-schooler. (Grace begins kindergarten in a few short days.)
Went to Six Flags. Twice!
Celebrated 16 years of wedded bliss with the best man I know. Went away WITHOUT CHILDREN to celebrate. It was WAY relaxing!
Went to Medieval Times. The kids REALLY like it!
Saw some awesome fireworks.
Babysat a VERY sweet 10-day old baby, Miss Berkley. It was so special to have a baby in the house again!
Went to the movies a few times...
Celebrated Lainey's birthday at American Girl in Dallas... (Lainey is Abby's BFF).
The girls attended cheer camp and had a blast. Go Bulldogs!
Rode to the Horny Toad with some friends.
Kate and Abby completed the 2nd annual Hamilton Kid's Triathlon.
Did a lot of swimming with my girls...
Attended family reunions. Here's me with my Daddy...
Went to the zoo. Grace LOVED the birds!
Went to the beach. Everyone except me got stung by the jellyfish on our last day! And, it IS true that if you urinate on the sting, it does not hurt any more. FYI. :-)
Sent away our oldest child to a sleep-away camp for the first time. It was a success!! She had a ball!
Picked some berries...
Celebrated Luke's birthday. He's 39 and holding!!! :-)
Believe it or not, there WAS more, but country-fried internet can only handle so many uploads at a time.

Farewell summer. I sincerely love you, and cannot WAIT until you come to see us again.

The last "Mini-Vacay" of summer

2010-08-09T09:11:00.002-05:00

This is my last week before I have to go back to work. Actually, much less than a week, as I have to report back on Friday. :-(

I love summer, and am SOOOOO not ready for it to be over! I know it will be fine once school starts and we get back into our groove, but this summer has been WONDERFUL. The kids are old enough to really DO some things, and they have been so fun - I want summer to last forever! BUT... I know it can't... SO, Luke and I decided to take one more last "mini-vacation" before summer's over and gone!

We went to the beach at Galveston and had a great time. It was a quick weekend trip, and we all wished it could have been longer.

We took a side trip on the way home to NASA, and it was GREAT. If you've never been, you should go. It was really, really something to see. We WILL go back again when we can stay longer.

Here are the girls in front of the Saturn V rocket. It was huge!
Here are the girls on the beach at Galveston.
Here they are with their awesome balloon animals outside of Rainforest Cafe.
And here they are out on the beach.
We had a ball!! We love summer!!!

Cheerleader Camp!

2010-08-03T16:19:00.001-05:00

In July, my girls attended cheer camp here in H-town. Here they are, ready for day #1!Let the "catch-up" blogging continue! :-)

Playing "Catch Up"

2010-08-02T21:23:00.003-05:00

I am so far behind on blogging... But I am going to try and play "catch up" this week and at the very least upload some of my favorite images from the Summer of 2010.

Here's my favorite pic...
My Daddy and Me at the family reunion. Love my Daddy! :-)

This one's for you, Mom...

2010-07-31T21:08:00.002-05:00

...because I KNOW you want me to blog often.

And because I KNOW you will find this one amusing!!

Today we went school shopping, and we were buying shoes and clothes and supplies and backpacks and all sorts of stuff. It took us ALL DAY LONG. It wasn't exactly a fun experience.

But I digress.

We were looking at backpacks, and Kate was trying to explain to Abby that she could get a certain backpack and have it monogrammed.

But instead, she said, "You could get this backpack and have it MAMOGRAMMED."

I couldn't explain why it was wrong, because I could not stop laughing.

2010-07-27T22:54:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update to let you know I'm still alive.

Sorta...

We've been so busy that I have scarcely had time to breathe.

After picking up the kids from "Camp Grandma", we came home and immediately began installation of our sprinkler system.

That's right, you heard me... WE are installing our sprinkler system.

As in, "Dig a lot of holes, place pipes in them, and then fill in the holes" ...

We have NOT A CLUE what we're really doing, but we ARE doing it. Luckily, we have a friend who DOES have a clue, and is helping us quite a bit. (Thanks, Ryan!)

Luke took off of work last week to work on this little project. We worked all week last week...

... and we're still working.

*SIGH*

I'm tired, but we're almost finished. Ryan said today maybe 2-3 more evenings of work and we'll be finished.

I hope he's right.

In the middle of all of this work, we ran off last weekend to Luke's family reunion on the river (which was fantastically fun, as always.)

Then when we got back, our church's Summer Music Camp began. It is currently in full swing. All of my kids are attending, and all are enjoying it so much. I am working in the "crafty" area.

SO... I'm crazy busy, and have no time to blog. But I have been taking pictures, and SOMEDAY I will post them.

Someday... :-)

Shhhh....

2010-07-13T22:14:00.003-05:00

Listen!

What's that you hear??

It's the sound of *SILENCE*.

All my children have gone off to "Camp Grandma" for the week.

That's right.

All my children.

All week.

At my Mom and Dad's house.

Without me.

As in, I am here, all day long, ALONE.

What ever will I do???

Hmmm....

I'll think of something!! ;-)

Sweet Summer Time!

2010-07-08T23:09:00.002-05:00

We've been doing a whole lot of hanging out at the pool......with family and good friends.
And, MAN! Do we have style, or what?!?!?!?
Good times. Really good times. (And special thanks to my friend AND photographer, Shelley, for these photos. She NEVER forgets her camera!! :-)

Lefty Cat

2010-06-23T22:48:00.002-05:00

We've had kitty drama at our house this week... Monday night when we got home, we found Lefty the cat outside and he was in BAD SHAPE. We thought he had probably been caught by a coyote, as his chest seemed to be punctured badly in about 4 places. He was bleeding slightly, and not breathing normally. He couldn't move and would just cry out when you touched him. I just knew he was dying. The girls came out and told him good bye, and many, MANY tears were shed. (Here's an old picture of Lefty when he was a kitten with his brother, Poncho. Is that not just pure sweetness?? Love it.)After the kids went to bed, I went out into the back yard and sat with Lefty so he wouldn't be alone when he died. I know, I know... I'm a sap. Luke came out and checked on him, too, but neither one of us could "put him out of his misery". We covered him with a towel and gave him some water, which he lapped up. We would pet him, and he would lean into our hands and try to purr. It was very sad. Finally, we decided we needed to go to bed, but Lefty was still hanging in there. We couldn't leave him alone and defenseless in the yard, so we finally decided to move him to the laundry room. We thought that way he could pass away quietly. It was sad, but we thought it was best. Luke had some liquid antibiotics, which he gave to Lefty. He drank a bit more water, and we left him for the night.

When we woke up in the morning, we went to check on Lefty, who was still alive. He had used the little litter box, and, even though he still looked really bad, Luke felt like maybe he had a chance. Luke loaded him up in the car and took him to the vet.

After the vet looked at him and shaved down his chest, he discovered that Lefty had in fact been bit by a SNAKE. Scary, since those fang puncture marks were HUGE. Anyway, the vet called and said Lefty was still alive, but he only gave him a 50/50 shot at survival. He put Lefty on IV antibiotics, IV fluids, and IV steroids.

Lefty held on for another day, but today, he died. The girls were sad all over again, but Luke promised them he would bring the body back home, and we would have a feline funeral. (In case you didn't know, Luke is an EXCELLENT pet preacher... I am so thankful, as I LITERALLY can't get through these pet funerals without bursting into inappropriate giggling fits.)

SO tomorrow, we'll be burying and saying good bye to a very good cat. RIP, Lefty. We will miss you!

Softball

2010-06-21T23:44:00.002-05:00

Kate's softball team has had a ROUGH year this year. They've been playing since April, and they're still playing. They have gotten beat EVERY SINGLE GAME, and often, they have been beaten BADLY.

When the season started, none of the girls knew how to pitch, and this is a "kid-pitch" league. Like I said, it has been rough.
UNTIL TONIGHT!!!

Tonight, they WON, and WON BIG!! I was so proud of them. They all played extremely well, and never acted or played like they were anything other than champions. Kate even pitched a couple of innings, and she did well. I was so very, very proud of her! What I was MOST proud of, however, is that at the end of the game, they ran over to the opposing team's dug out and cheered and clapped for the other team, and told them they were proud of them. It was a fabulous display of good sportsmanship.

Our season ends Friday night. I hope these girls can pull out another great game to end their season on a high note!

All about Hubby

2010-06-20T23:21:00.002-05:00

This weekend should have been all about THIS guy......because his 39th birthday was on Saturday...
... and today was Father's Day. (And he is a FANTASTIC father...).
But, instead, he had to work ALL weekend. It really STINKS being a grown up sometimes!
But, sometimes you HAVE to be a grown up and just suck it up and do what you have to do. There are sick people who still have to be cared for, whether it's your birthday or not.
SO... being the fantastic man that he is, he did what he had to do this weekend. He worked.

Happy Birthday, honey. And, Happy Father's Day, too. We love you VERY much, and are so thankful for you EACH AND EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR!!

Oh, Gracie...

2010-06-19T10:10:00.002-05:00

I'm so proud, because Miss Gracie showed me yesterday that she is REALLY GOOD at writing her name! She even spelled her last name correctly, and had most of the capital letters in the correct places. So smart!

However, I was a little sad because she chose to show me by WRITING IT ON THE WALL.
*SIGH*

I got out the Magic Eraser, and, while it removed most of the ink, it also removed a fair amount of paint.

I'll be finding that old touch up paint very soon.

I KNOW that I should be distraught and VERY upset with her. I KNOW that I would have absolutely killed Kate or Abby for doing this very same thing. I KNOW that she is old enough to know better. Oh, how far I have fallen...

I did speak to her very sternly about it. And I didn't even laugh once (in front of her.) She said she just wanted to show me how pretty she could write. (And, if you look at the picture, it is very nice penmanship for a 5 year old...) She has promised to never do it again. If she does, THEN I will kill her... But for now, I'm just going to repaint it.

Just as soon as I find that paint...

My Make-Over

2010-06-17T21:05:00.003-05:00

My good friend, Shelley, has given me a new bloggy-look!

Isn't it cute?!?!?!

She's thinking it might inspire me to be better about updating my blog.

I'm doubting it, but maybe... stranger things have happened...

Thanks, Shelley! Love it!! :-)

Triathlon 2010

2010-06-12T13:01:00.004-05:00

Today Kate and Abby participated in the 2nd annual Hamilton Kid's Triathlon. Grace was a spectator, and spent the most of her morning holding this cute little kitten...The bigger girls did a GREAT job. Abby thought it was HARD, but still finished strong. We were so proud of her for completing her very first tri. This is Kate's 3rd triathlon, and she did well, finishing 2nd in her age group.

Happy sisters after the race.
Kate on the bike...
Abby on the bike.
Abby warming up before the swim...
Kate before the swim.
A good time was had by all. I'm so proud of my little triathletes!

Camp Champions

2010-06-07T22:50:00.002-05:00

I dropped Miss Kate off on Sunday for her first experience at a "sleep away" camp... Here she is after we got all the girls all checked in, and all the moms were about to leave... As you can see, she was READY TO GO!The camp is a multi-sport camp. She's called home every night, and all reports are positive. She is having a GREAT time with a GREAT group of girls. I'm so proud of her!

Well, Hello.

2010-06-05T21:30:00.002-05:00

Since I last posted, school has let out and we've celebrated an anniversary (which was FANTASTIC, by the way). We've also had a wonderful holiday weekend with two of Luke's siblings and their families (including my newest sister-in-law). We then loaded ourselves up and went on a wonderful, relaxing, "kid-dream" of a vacation... Not exactly what Luke and I would have chosen, but the kids thought it was AWESOME. We went swimming, to the movies, ice-skating, to a "jumpy-castle" place, to Six Flags, to the zoo, to Medieval Times, to see a Ranger baseball game (complete with fireworks at the end of a victorious game), and to the mall. It was a WHOLE LOT of kid-o-palooza, but now Luke and I are pretty high on our kids' lists...

Yes, I have pictures. No, I am not taking time to upload them now.

Because tomorrow, Kate leaves for her very first "sleep-away" camp. I have the usual "mommy worries", but I really think she's ready, and I really think she's going to have a GREAT time.

But I must finish packing her up now, or she won't be leaving!

Good to be home, internets...

Sixteen Years Ago Today...

2010-05-28T13:38:00.001-05:00

...I married this man.Happy Anniversary, Babe. I love you!!!!

TIme, Oh, Time...

2010-05-26T22:33:00.003-05:00

...Where have you gone?!?!?!

****NOTE: I just typed out a big ole' long post whining about how busy I was, and guess what?

Blogger erased it all!

HA! I find that strangely amusing...

I don't have time to type it all again, because I'M TOO BUSY!!

We'll just leave it at that, and remind you all that tomorrow is THE FINAL DAY OF SCHOOL with students.

I might make it, friends.

I just might make it!!! :-)

Titanic

2010-05-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

Each year in 5th grade, the students read the book "The SOS Titanic". They study all about the Titanic and do some projects about the Titanic. The culmination of the literary study AND of the entire 5th grade year is the first class Titanic luncheon. Today was the big day! Kate was so excited... all the girls got dressed up in their fancy dresses, and all the boys wore ties... FANCY! They take a bus to a local church, which the parents decorate to look as much like the boat as possible. The parents also cook a first-class meal, which the students eat in a room that has been transformed into the first class dining hall aboard the Titanic. Today the menu was scones and tea, noodle soup, Caesar salad, turkey breast, green bean bundles, new potatoes, and rolls. FOr dessert, they had pound cake with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Yum! In class, the students learn all about etiquette, including which forks and spoons to use, and where to place their napkins. It is quite an experience!

Here's Miss Kate at the luncheon.
Here is Kate with some of her friends in her classroom before the luncheon.
The day of the luncheon, the students are assigned an "escort". The boys are instructed on how to be a gentleman, including how to offer their arm to escort the lady and how to open doors and pull out the dining chair. Luckily, Kate was paired with her friend, Austin. They had a great time together!
Here's Kate with her good buddy, Taylor, before the luncheon. Don't they look pretty?
And, finally, here's my classy little lady.
At the end of the luncheon, the students are presented an envelope with a biography of an actual Titanic passenger. They are able to read all about their lives and what they were doing aboard the Titanic. Kate was assigned the biography of Dorothy Gibson, who was a famous actress from this time period. (She was pretty excited about being a celebrity! ha ha)

They all had a wonderful time that I am sure they won't soon forget. It was a great way to end their last year in elementary school!

The Graduate

2010-05-16T22:02:00.003-05:00

Today was Miss Gracie's Pre-School Graduation. It was quite bittersweet for me. On one hand, I'm so proud of the little girl she is growing to be... She's a baby no longer! She has always been different from the other two, but as she grows, I am really liking the person that she is becoming. She definitely has a mind of her own, but in many ways, that's a good thing... With her, I never doubt that she will grow into a strong, independent woman. She will always do her own thing, and I doubt that she will ever be pushed into something she wasn't ready for! Today was a big milestone... next year I will no longer have a pre-school aged child... that's a big one! I have had at least one pre-schooler for the past ELEVEN YEARS. Next year they will all be up on the hill at the "big school". In some ways, I am SO happy about that, but in other ways, I am so sad to see these years come to an end. It's just all TOO FAST! If somebody could just SLOW IT DOWN, ALREADY, I'd be a lot happier.

But, time waits for no one, so today my baby isn't a baby any more. I cried A LOT at graduation today (mostly because they INSIST on playing this ridiculously sad song at graduation... it's called "Let Them Be Little", and it gets me every time I hear it.)

I am ridiculously proud of my baby girl. She has grown up so much, and I love her more than words can say.

Here are "the girls" before graduation...
And here is Grace with her Daddy after graduation. (Even though he was on call this weekend, he still got to come to graduation! Yay Daddy!!!)
And here is the graduate with her proud Mother. (Notice the puffy eyes... I had already wept like a baby by this time!)
And here is our little graduate, ready to face the future. High School Senior in the year of 2023.
Look out, kindergarten, here she comes!!! :-)

Bluebonnets 2010

2010-05-11T23:35:00.001-05:00

Here are our "official" bluebonnet pics for the year! Love them!! Thanks, Jen!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:45:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! I hope that all the Moms out there had a fantastic day... I surely did. It's a day that always makes me OH, SO THANKFUL for this special lady right here...This is MY MOM. She's amazing! She's who I hope I grow up to be. :-) She managed our household growing up (with a little help from Daddy! ha ha), and worked full time teaching school. She always seemed so "together". She always cooked every meal (we NEVER ate take-out!) She let my brother and I participate in any activity we chose to do, and always sat there, waiting for us during our practices and games and concerts and performances. She was a MASTER at letting us find our wings and fly. She had really high expectations for us, but we ALWAYS knew how much she loved us. Now, she is the world's BEST Nana. All 6 of her grandchildren love and adore her. My children miss her when she's not with us, cry when she has to leave after a visit, and rejoice when she comes back! She is also a proud breast cancer survivor. I am so proud of her... she fought that awful disease with passion and grit. I knew she would make it, because, as she said, "I am a lot tougher than this thing."

So, today, I say, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Mama! I love you so very much, and I am honored to be your daughter!!

AND... there are three other reasons that I am feeling proud today. Here they are!

I am also honored and proud to be their Mama. They have brought me more joy than I ever thought possible. So, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to me! These girls are the best gift I've ever been given.

GT Showcase

2010-05-03T22:07:00.002-05:00

Kate and Abby are both in the GT program at our school, and they both LOVE it. Every year they do one major project for the year, and then they have an evening where they are able to "showcase" their projects. Tonight was the night!

Kate made a quilt, and researched about the history of quilts. She also wrote an original fictional story about her quilt.

Wouldn't it be lovely if I had a picture of her in front of her quilt? Nah... that would be predictable!! And, I am NOTHING if not UNPREDICTABLE! ha ha! Actually, by the time I got around to taking her photo, Kate had already taken her quilt back to the classroom. So, I just snapped a pic of her in the hallway!
Abby's project was entitled "Guess Who?" She had to choose a famous "Mystery Person", and then research their lives. Then she had to write a report about them, as well as a riddle about them. She also had to dress like them and read a riddle to the audience about her person. Can you "Guess Who" she picked?
Yes, that's right - she picked Betsy Ross. She looked adorable, and her information and riddle were really good, too.

I was proud of my girls tonight. They had a ball, and they learned so much by completing their projects!

The recap of Matt and Leslie's wedding...

2010-04-25T22:29:00.003-05:00

Before I even get started on this little post, let me just say: Blogger is crazy. It uploaded this photo in the wrong place! This one was supposed to be last! UGH! Any way, I guess just imagine that this pic really IS last, because I REALLY don't want to upload all the pics again! ha ha! And, you can't see Kate in this pic at all, but the "official" wedding photographer was taking pics, and I thought it unwise to re-position everyone just because I couldn't see her to snap a shot on my phone... so I just let that one go! I'm real flexible that way...
This weekend we were lucky enough to get to go to Houston to witness a new family being formed. Luke's youngest brother, Matt, married his perfect match, Leslie. It was a beautiful wedding. What an honor to see God's plan come together for these two!

I warn you, this post will be a "picture-fest"... I did not remember my camera, (I know... you aren't surprised, are you?). However, now I have an I-phone, and viola! I now have a phone with me always! Beautiful!!!

Here is Luke's family. Pretty good looking bunch (especially that guy over on the far left side!)
And here's the reason we came in the first place! Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Killian!
Here are 3 of the MOST beautiful little candle bearers I have ever seen. There were 6 other little candle bearers there that were pretty darn cute, too! (That's right... if you just did the math in your head, there were NINE children in the wedding ON OUR SIDE ALONE. Leslie's two nephews were also involved, which made ELEVEN CHILDREN IN THE WEDDING PARTY. Matt and Leslie are the bravest bride and groom I have ever met. Eleven children sounds like a recipe for disaster, but REALLY, they were all absolutely perfect! It was lovely.)
Here is my happy little family, posing with the groom before the ceremony.
And here's ABBY...
And little GRACE (Note the busted chin... It has a pound of make-up on it! ha!)
And the eldest niece, Miss KATE. She did a fabulous job coordinating all the younger nieces and nephews!
It was just a perfect wedding. We had a wonderful time! Congrats to the happy couple!

If I had any sense AT ALL...

2010-04-21T22:26:00.002-05:00

...I'd be in the bed asleep right now.

I'm beat.

It's been a L-O-N-G week, and it's only Wednesday!!!

This weekend, my fantastic, wonderful, amazing brother-in-law is GETTING MARRIED! We're all so very excited for Matt AND for his beautiful bride, Leslie. I know the wedding will be amazing, and I just can't wait!

However, coordinating our "departure" from H-town has been, shall we say, "taxing" on me. I've never packed for 5 people for a "MAJOR LIFE EVENT" where we all must have appropriate attire while working at the same time. It's a little different, people! Usually, I would have shipped everyone off to work and school and dealt with it leisurely tomorrow. I started prepping yesterday, and today I have worked STRAIGHT THROUGH since we got home from school (except for the hour spent at church, and to be honest, if I could have found ANY LIVE BREATHING ADULT HUMAN to take over teaching my class for the evening, I would have skipped. )

But, I think I am finished. EXCEPT for Grace's dress... You see, all 3 of my babies are in the wedding. Grace's dress had to be hemmed, and even though I can sew A LITTLE BIT, there was NO WAY I was attempting this one! So, I dropped it off to be altered. As of today, they still hadn't called about it, so I called them, only to hear that they thought I needed it NEXT Thursday, and had not even started on it! ACK!!! I had a slight moment of panic, until the wonderful seamstress assured me she could have it done by tomorrow. No problem. After my breathing returned to normal, I thanked her, hung up, and then thanked God that he somehow reminded me to call them before tomorrow! :-)

Our other little "issue" is Grace's face. You see, she's a little clumsy right now, and last night she fell out of her Daddy's truck and messed up her face pretty good... She's got two huge gashes on her chin that match the bruise on her cheek quite nicely. GRRRRRR... I only left her with her Dad for an hour, and we've got gashes that will take a gifted make-up artist to cover up. I, sadly, am NOT a gifted make-up artist! :-) I'm hoping the bride and groom will find it her look "cute and endearing". Or, perhaps "interesting and memorable". I'm hoping that "hideous and annoying" are not on the list! ha ha!

On that note, I wish you a good night! (Or at least, for me, a restful one! :-)

Bluebonnets...

2010-04-20T22:34:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things about living in Texas is the wild flowers. They are beautiful in the Spring! I love to take the kids out and take pictures in the flowers (even though I haven't done it every single year... Don't judge me. Stuff happens. Mommies get busy. Flowers don't always bloom at convenient times. You know what I'm saying if you're a Mom!! :-))

Anyway, this year, the planets aligned, and I was able to get a photographer to meet us today after school to take some pictures in the bluebonnets. This is just a picture that I snapped with my phone - the real ones will arrive later, and I am hoping that they are FANTASTIC!
HAPPY SPRING!

...and then reality smacked me in the face.

2010-04-14T21:11:00.002-05:00

In my mind, Grace is still a baby. She really should still look like this:But, in the real world, she is growing up. She's not a baby anymore. I know this, in my head. I do. But, do you think somebody could please explain it to my heart?

I thought I was doing ok. I mean, this whole "going back to work" thing was going well... I'm enjoying it. I thought I had a pretty firm grip on "reality".

But, today, "reality" smacked me in the face. (And, I think, "reality" then laughed at me. Yes. I'm pretty sure it did.)

Today was a big day. Today they took Grace's graduation photos at Pre-School. And, yes, she looked 4 different kinds of cute in them, and if they weren't copyrighted, I'd post one of them for you right here. But, they are copyrighted, so you'll just have to imagine my baby, in a bright red cap and gown, holding a diploma, and smiling a big smile.

As if that wasn't enough for a mama for one day, today was also "Kindergarten Round-Up". That's right, friends... I had to register my "baby" for Kindergarten today. I'd like to say I handled it like a big girl, but I'd be lying. I was a little bit weepy. I mean, she's my baby. I'm not ready. Somebody just SLOW IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT. PLEASE.

And, if you see ole' "reality", smack it in the face from me.

T-Ball 2010

2010-04-09T17:24:00.002-05:00

Let me begin by saying that T-Ball is my ABSOLUTE most favorite sport in the whole world. There is nothing better than watching REALLY young kids play a sport, but for some reason, T-Ball is the funniest. Somebody is ALWAYS picking flowers, and somebody ALWAYS runs to the wrong base, and somebody ALWAYS has to leave the field for a potty break. It's predictable, yet unpredictable all at the same time.

That being said, you can imagine my delight when Grace told me this year that she wanted to play T-Ball. I was truly happy, because after Grace finishes with T-Ball, there will be no more little blonde daughters for me to go and watch at the T-Ball fields. :-( I might have to just show up, purely for the free entertainment!!

Last night was Grace's first game for the Blue Rangers. She was fired up and ready to play! I realize I am horribly biased, but I do believe she was the cutest little T-Baller there.
Here she is, warming up before the game.
We don't even know which team won - I think it might have been a tie. I think BOTH teams won, because REALLY, everybody had fun.

But I'm not sure that ANYBODY had more fun than ME!!! :-)

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T17:25:00.004-05:00

Happy Easter to you and yours from me and mine! :-)Christ the Lord is risen today! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!

Grace's Easter Party

2010-04-02T09:32:00.003-05:00

Wednesday was Grace's Easter Program and Egg hunt at Pre-School. Luckily, I was able to go because most of the program was during my planning time at school. As I was driving to her school, I suddenly had a flash of memory... "Oh, NO!!!!! I was supposed to send an Easter basket and a dozen eggs to school this morning, and I forgot to tell Luke about it!!!" (Because Luke was the one dropping her off at school.) I had remembered to tell him about the tray of cookies, but not about the basket and eggs. So, I pulled into the local dollar store and (luckily) they had pre-filled eggs and Easter baskets. I quickly purchased what I needed and continued on to school. When I got there, I learned that Luke had figured out once he GOT to pre-school that Grace was supposed to have a basket. He went back home and found a basket for her, so she wouldn't be sad. He wins the "Daddy of the Year" award!!!! The program was so cute. They sang their songs and did their Bible Verse and their letters and sounds. Then they had a volunteer come up to say the prayer, and my little Grace was the volunteer! She did so well. It was adorable.

I actually took a few pics (I know... you are surprised. Thank goodness for my i-phone! ha!) Here they are (in no particular order!)

Here is Grace with the fabulous JuJu, showing off one of her MANY eggs.
Here's Miss Grace at the Egg Hunt.
Here she is during the program. She made a pretty cute flower, I think!
And here is part of her class during the program. They did an outstanding job! We are so lucky to have a great pre-school like this in litle 'ole H-town!
Happy Good Friday, and Happy Easter! I hope it is wonderful, meaningful, and blessed for you all!

Abby and Lainey's Day Out

2010-03-27T21:39:00.002-05:00

Abby did not want a party for her eighth birthday... instead, she wanted to spend the day with her BFF, Lainey, in Waco. The biggest thing was "NO SISTERS INVITED!" You see, Abby and Lainey are BOTH the middle child, with one big sister and one little sister, and they wanted it to be "just them". SO... that is what we did!

They had a ball. We went to the Baylor campus and visited the bookstore, where we purchased them an official stuffed Baylor Bear. Then we went out onto the campus. We visited the Baylor Bears: Joy, and Lady. Here are Abby and Lainey at the Bear Pits (if you look closely, you can see Joy in the background.)
Then we went down and had a look at the creek that runs through campus. It surely is BEAUTIFUL there this time of year!!
Then we went to lunch at Red Lobster. Here are the girls in front of the lobster tank.
They enjoyed their popcorn shrimp, and their ice cream for dessert.
Abby was HORRIFIED that the waiters came over to sing "Happy Birthday" to her!! She turned about 3 different shades of red!!
After Red Lobster, we went to "Practically Picasso" and the girls painted some pottery. I DID take a pic of this, but haven't uploaded it yet... Oh, well. Just imagine 2 cute girls standing in front of a table wearing aprons. Abby chose to paint a duck, and Lainey picked a cupcake jewelry box. They will be adorable... The store is firing them this week, and I'll pick them up the next time I'm in Waco.

After the pottery store, we went to the mall and just walked around for awhile. They still weren't ready to leave when I announced that our time was up!!

We ALL had a really fun day (including me!!) Somehow, I am pretty sure that it was the PERFECT day for our little "middle" children!

Abby's Day

2010-03-25T21:24:00.003-05:00

Today my little Abby turned 8 years old. She had very definite ideas about what she wanted for her birthday this year. She wanted her Ju Ju to make her cake. (Ju Ju was overjoyed, and made her a yummy cake, just like Abby wanted.) She wanted pizza for dinner (I was overjoyed - no cooking! Yay!!) And she did not want a "party". She wants to take her BFF, Lainey, to Waco this weekend and have a day with just her. (We will be doing this very thing on Saturday.) Abby knows who she is, and I am so lucky to be her mother. Her is a photo of her tonight with her cake.And her she was at 5 years old, ready to play T-ball.
And here she was on her 1st birthday. Bring on the cake!!!
And here she was the day she came home from the hospital. What a beautiful baby girl!
Happy birthday, Abby. I pray that you will always be as sweet, pure, honest, and completely wonderful as you are right now. I could not love you more. Watching you is like watching my own heart walk around outside of my body! You make me proud every single day, and I am honored and SO very lucky to be your Mom. Happy, Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

The Recap.

2010-03-22T21:22:00.002-05:00

Well, sadly, Spring Break has come and gone, and I didn't really update my blog. To tell the honest truth, I didn't really do ANYTHING that I needed to. I basically just enjoyed my family. My Mom and Dad came up for part of the week, and we just hung out at the house. Luke took a couple of days off of work, and we managed to take the kids on a picnic and a hike at Meridian State Park. They had a ball! I did manage to make a trip to Waco and get Easter dresses for 3 little girls, and also managed to find a dress for Matt and Leslie's wedding in April (I think... unless I change my mind about it. I like it and all, but it's not PERFECT... We shall see if I find anything I like better before April 24th! :-)

I did not clean or organize my house (which I needed to do.) I did not work on my taxes (although I did work on them tonight.) I did not work in the yard (which is a mess.) I did not take any exotic or amazing trips (and really, I didn't even want to!) I did not write 3 weeks of lesson plans (which would have been smart.) I did not make and freeze dozens of home-cooked meals (which would have been really, really smart.)

I did spend some time with my family, which I am thinking might be the most important thing to them! :-)

Grace's Zoo Trip

2010-03-18T20:21:00.001-05:00

While the big sisters and I were at the concert, Grace and her Daddy had a day together at the Ft. Worth zoo. They had such a good time.This was one of her favorite parts... Feeding the birds!