WE reCALL

Whale Watching

2011-08-20T00:17:00.001-07:00

We took the girls out of school last Friday for an "important family meeting." We went whale watching and it was AMAZING! We saw about 10 different pods (groups of 3 or more). First we saw blows or spouts on the horizon, but as we idled into migration area suddenly a huge humpback breeched out of the water! It was spectacular. This whale and it's companions stayed right by our boat for awhile and we were treated to a show of waving flippers, barrel rolls, fluke slaps, head slaps and more breeches. Slowly those whales moved on, but others came and dolphins, tuna, and even a few sharks. I felt like I was on an episode of animal planet. Some of the whales came so close to the boat you could see the individual barnacles. One pod circled the boat for awhile obviously curious. The group gave me a real sense of how big they are one seemed longer then the boat. We had a great time!! The girls loved it and seemed almost not to believe their eyes!

We are holding a thank you card from the captain, but the Hub took several pics that rival this one. These are just happy snaps from my phone. Hopefully someday I'll figure about a good way to post better pics, but don't hold your breath.

Brisbane Forest Park

2011-08-19T22:35:00.001-07:00

Spent the morning skyping with friends in the US and then loaded up for an adventure. Today we headed to Brisbane Forest Park. It is part of the D'aguilar Mountain Range and sits just 30miles Northwest of Brisbane. It is an amazing forest of eucalyptus trees and bushland. We spent some time at the visitors center checking out the local flora and fauna including our favorite: a wombat. It is still so strange to me to see kangaroo just hanging around and wallaby that are tame enough they walk up to you. We went on a little nature walk through the bush and then headed on a scenic drive to Jolly's lookout. This spot is considered the oldest formal lookout point. I'm not sure what that means, but the views were stunning.

- abc

Botanical Gardens

2011-06-05T03:54:00.001-07:00

I've decided I must be getting older. I have become one of those people I remember my parents being, the kind of person who likes walking around gardens and looking at trees and flowers. I love flower festivals, rose gardens, and what is Brisbane are called parklands. Saturday we headed to the Mt. Coothta botanical gardens and planetarium. We had a fun time watching the typical planet show on the big dome. (brought back memories of Pink Floyd laser shows). The show was narrated by Robert Redford, but the resident astronomer was from Ireland so it was a strange mix of accented English. After the show we wandered through the botanical gardens. They are beautiful, lush with trees and flowers. There was a Japanese garden, a bonsai garden, several water features and ponds, a fernhouse and bamboo forest. We even accidentally crashed 2 weddings and several family photo shoots. It was a lovely cool day. We ended it at the mountain look out watching the sunset and the city light up. Brisbane really is a beautiful city. It reminds me of Northern California full of eucalyptus trees, bird of paradise, camellias, ferns, and palm trees.

Is 49 books too many?

2011-06-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

The girls are all home sick today. Ok really CB & J are sick so the third stayed home too just for fun. I decided it was the perfect time to take them to this used bookstore that gets all of the books discarded from the public libraries. We spent 2 hours looking through books and finally narrowed it down to the top 45. Then I had to find a few for the hub. All told we ended up with 49 books.

I admit, it does seem a bit excessive. Really it's not my fault. Excessive book buying is in my genes. To this day my dad's house is full of bags and bags and stacks and stacks of books. Almost all of them have been read, a few have been purchased twice. My dad cannot go into a store and not look at the books. As a kid my parents never said no to buying a book. My kids would probably say the same about me. Books are just a big part of my life I guess, especially living down under where friends seem harder to come by. So I guess while 49 is a bit crazy it makes sense when you think about. Oh and I only spent $85. Not bad in this land of $10 bottled water and $15 bananas.

- abc

Can I post multiple pics?

2011-06-02T03:52:00.001-07:00

So one of the things the girls really like to do is explore all of the parks around the city.

-abc

Blogging with my Phone

2011-06-02T03:41:00.001-07:00

This is a test to see if I can use this app to update my blog.

This is a picture of my office at St.Margaret's. CB fondly calls it Australian Hogwarts. The little pixie hut as it is called on campus was the school's first music room. It is like a small church inside with high wood beamed ceilings and paneling along the walls. Now it is home to Learning Support and my office. I am really liking my 2 day work week. I am having a great time getting to know the Secondary school girls I work with. My job is to boost their confidence and help them be better learners in school. Some days I am much better at it than others.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why Easter was a 5 day holiday and other Aussie facts.

2011-04-26T03:31:00.000-07:00

First, I just spent an hour or so browsing all of your blogs. It made me so very homesick and I must admit quite guilty that you all have made time to post interesting stories and pictures. I miss you all, but am so grateful for the small glimpse into your day to day and it made me realize that maybe it is the same for you. So many of you have asked me for pics of my house and neighborhood. I will post those. The truth is we found so much damage when we unpacked our stuff that until this weekend the house was not at all put together. Even now my couch is balanced on some books. The other reason I haven't posted pics is because the hub keeps looking at other houses and suggesting that we should move. To make a long story short: relo company entered into the lease without our consent. So I guess house pics are hard for me.

OK, it is the end of April. We just finished a 5 day holiday. Friday was of course Good Friday, which in Australia is a public holiday. Saturday and Sunday Easter weekend. BUT Monday was ANZAC day which is sort of like Veteran's day. Because ANZAC day and Easter Monday fall on the same day this year we also had today as a public holiday. Easter Monday celebrated on Tuesday. If I lost you at Good Friday you are not alone. While Australia is not an overly religious country it is part of the British Commonwealth and therefore celebrates and commemorates all of the protestant holidays. So fun we had a nice big break!! It was good fun, but also a little tricky because there were no stores or businesses open of any kind from 5:00pm on Thursday until tomorrow at 8am. That is a little crazy!! So no grocery store, etc. We spent a lot of time going to parks, playing games, and watching DVDs. It was good fun. I just should have planned a little better. Not sure what the girls are going to take for lunch tomorrow.

Besides house pics which I will post. Several of you have asked how Australia is different. I have already talked about the driving which is getting better, by the way. I still really need to work on parallel parking though. In no particular order a few things come to mind: the schools. I would say there is a much more rounded approach to education where music and math and pe all have the same weight. I have thought a lot about this and I guess in the US so many of our schools are struggling financially that we have really defined successful education as mainly math and English with a little science and history thrown in. Another big difference is grocery shopping and groceries in general. The stores are small like the size of a Walgreens and the variety is non existent you can either buy this brand or not buy it. Most Aussies shop almost every day buying small quantities of things and really mainly what is fresh. So when I go to the store and buy a weeks's worth of groceries there are always comments and the reality is I really can't buy a weeks worth of groceries the food expires. Milk for example only lasts a few days. Bread is the same and there are very few canned goods. The prices are crazy. Chicken is between 7-10$AUD per pound and the rate right now is $1.10 US to $1. Aussie. I am trying to get used to it and just go with it, but it's crazy. The flooding really drove prices up. Last difference because this post is too long and there are no pics. laundry. Most Aussie's do not have a dryer they hang everything on the line. I am not sure why this is, but ok. The problems for me are allergies and rain. Not sure what you do in that situation. I have a dryer, but it is the size of an EZ Bake Oven. No it is a little bigger, but I can't fill my washer because if I do all of the clothes will not fit in the dryer. Oh and by the way the shortest washing cycle is 2hours. I am not sure why. I have one of the most energy efficient Deluxe washers so I can't imagine how long a more basic washer would take. It's crazy. Needless to say shopping and washing take up a large part of my life here. I guess in many ways not a lot has changed. : )

Christmas (yes, I know it's March)

2011-03-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Almost as soon as the hub came home with the news of our impending, speedy move to Australia, Christmas became a worry. I didn't want to have Christmas in a house that was for sale and really no longer our home. I had already decided that I wouldn't put up any Christmas decorations. I knew that I did not want to be in our new rental house in Brisbane with our suitcases and sad rental furniture. We toyed with the idea of Sydney and I had thoughts of Christmas music and the famous opera house, but that also seemed like a big gamble. What is the hotel wasn't nice and navigating a new city during a holiday can be stressful. So we ended up deciding to spend an extra week in Los Angeles (we already had to fly through there) and going to Disneyland. It seemed like a really good idea to spend a week at the "happiest place on earth."

The week leading up to our departure flew by. The girls were still in school. I was still teaching, grading papers, and giving finals. The hub was doing the work for 2 jobs. The house was for sale. And the amount of arrangements seemed overwhelming at best. The movers came. A crew of 8 packed our house. And even though everything was labeled and separated into: air, ocean, and storage. I knew then that there would be problems. They loaded the truck the next day. I remember walking through my empty house feeling sad. We bought that house to raise our kids in. We planted a garden, painted walls, remodeled, built a pool, and put down roots. It was tough to leave. Friday night our friends hosted a goodbye open house. It was a great night. We all felt so loved, but it was also so sad. We drove back to the hotel in the rain and I remember thinking how lucky we were to be so loved in Texas and to have so many people love and care about our children. I prayed then and continue to do so that those friends will still love us and ours when we come back to Cypress.

We turned in rental cars, ate one more time at our favorite restaurant and flew to LA. We made quite a scene walking through the airport and catching the shuttle to the hotel with our 11 suitcases and 5 carry-ons. I found myself apologising to random strangers. "So sorry, we have so much stuff. We are moving to Australia." We arrived in the middle of a record rain storm. It rained and rained and rained some more. But we just bought plastic Disney ponchos and baseball hats and tried to make the best of it. My dad met us on Christmas Eve as a big surprise for the girls. We ate a fun dinner in the park with him and dried our clothes in the hotel laundry that night. It was a silly Christmas Eve. In spite of the disruption though we continued to do our Christmas advent. The girls opened pajamas and we read our traditional stories. The next morning we opened presents. (A big thank you to T for getting me organized and helping me create the Christmas suitcase. My dear friend helped me think of small flat gifts I could pack and activities we could do to make Christmas in a hotel between homes feel like Christmas.) We had Christmas breakfast at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street in Disney. It was a great day. It was a Christmas that we will all remember.

The next day was spent in the Qantas lounge in LAX waiting for our flight to Brisbane.

Meet Jim

2011-02-24T04:54:00.000-08:00

This is Jim, my new car. It is a Mitsubishi Pajero. Not sure why it can't be called a Montero here, but basically that's what it would be in the US. The hub decided that we needed to get an SUV to fit the family. (Really he wanted it so that we could do a bunch of sand driving and off roading.) It is a great car. We named it Jim after the salesman. Who was this old Australian oyster farmer with a lisp and a once broken nose. The car is fine. The problem is that I have to drive it. Driving here is a bit tricky. You drive on the left side of the road from the right side of the car. It is really an odd feeling. Backing up and parallel parking is next to impossible. My US friends have this advice, "Just remember back to when you were 16 in driver's ed what they taught you about parallel parking and then flip it all and do the reverse." I can't even begin to tell you all of the things that are wrong with that statement. Beginning with the fact that I can't remember yesterday or what month it is let alone when I was 16. So basically, I don't parallel park which is a pain because we essentially live in the city. It is full of small roads and on street parking. I never thought I would say this, but I miss Texas and all of its parking lots. Sometimes I take 10 trips around the block just to find a spot I can just pull into. The other problem is that I am fairly unsure where the right side of the car is. Just to be safe I pretty much drive down the middle of the road. So far that has worked pretty well. I just hold my breath when a car passes me headed the other direction. The biggest adjustment has been getting in to the right side of the car to drive. I am embarrassed to admit the amount of times that I gotten in on the passenger side. If there are people around. I feel like I have to do a fake look through the glove compartment as a cover. I am sure that I will get used to it. I am sure that one day I will stop turing on the wipers instead of the turn signal. I am sure I will get to the point that I can parallel park and actually back up with confidence. But I am also sure that when that happens the hub will say to me, time to go back to the US. . .maybe then I can just get a driver. Wouldn't that be nice?

Koalas and Vegemite

2011-02-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

You must admit that when you hear Australia you think Koalas and Vegemite. Both of those things are very Aussie. There are actually Koala signs along some of the roads that are similar to the deer signs in the US. I have not seen Kolas in the eucalyptus trees around the city, but supposedly they are there. Instead we went to the Koala Sanctuary to see them. I really had no idea what to expect. I have been to lots of zoos in lots of places, but this was a little different. The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is like walking around a series of tree planters. Each tree has a koala hanging in it. They are literally 6 inches from you and there is no glass, no fence, nothing. The girls held koalas and pet kangaroos. There is a big open field with kangaroos hanging out and you just walk up to them and pet them. Honestly, I expected at any minute for the whole thing to turn into one of those crazy youtube videos of the animals attacking the tourists. The girls had a good time though and reported that koalas are actually quite heavy and their fur is woolly and thick. Not quite as cuddly as they look. So in terms of Australian experiences, hold a koala. . .CHECK!! As for the Vegemite, it is everywhere, but none of can get past the green color or the salty smell.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T02:16:00.000-08:00

Love and greetings from down under. It has been a crazy 6 weeks, but things are calming so let the blogging begin. I haven't been able to blog because my computer just made it to me. Yes, Australia really is on the other side of the world. We received a notice that our air shipment had arrived into the country, but that it was evacuated because the shipping station where it was being held for inspection and quarantine flooded. The flooding combined with the Christmas back log delayed and delayed and delayed our air shipment. I won't even comment on the delays of the sea shipment. Did you know it will change ships 3 times mid ocean, which is apparently tricky when there is a cyclone. Details. So anyway, got the computer and then the computer decided not to read the photo card. Blah, blah. So the few pics that I do have are from my phone, but some is better than none.

The girls started school a month ago today and so far so good. It is a private Anglican all girl's school called St.Margaret's. Bailey calls it Australian Hogwarts and it definitely has that feel to it. The school sits on a beautiful sprawling hilltop overlooking the city. It is a series of buildings connected by passages and staircases. No they do not move and as of yet none of the photos talk, but you never know. One of the biggest adjustments has been that all of the schools in AU have compulsory uniforms. So every morning the girls dress head to toe in school required clothing. The rules are fairly rigid and specific. For example there: is a correct placement for the collar pins, hair must be back and tied with a ribbon either white, brown or navy. Socks must be folded, not scrunched. Panama or straw hat is to worn to and from school and between classes in Year 7 and up. Play hat to be worn for PE and recess. (Hats are a big deal here.) There are several pluses to the uniform as well. For example you are always dressed right and there is no debate over what to wear. The negatives are it is hot and the skirts are long and made of thick material. I also really have to stay on top of the laundry. There is no, "just wear something else." But the big plus is don't they look spiffy. Can you hear Julie Andrews singing in the background or is it me?

Our house is close enough to school that we walk in mornings. There are just 2 problems with that: the amount of stuff we have to carry and the HILL. The girls are required to dress for HPE (they add a health to the traditional PE and then for fun say with this a really hard "ch" so it sounds like Haych PE). I am not really sure where that came from either. Anyway, the girls have to carry gym clothes and right now they are swimming so that means swim suit, goggles, cap, rash guard, and towel PLUS the required sunscreen and brush. So they load all of this in their school issue sports bag and then add to it their backpacks aka rucksack loaded with typical and not so typical school gear. It takes us several few minutes to pick the bags up and get balanced. I am learning that before we are halfway to school I will be carrying at least 3 bags. So once loaded we head off to school which is straight up the hill. You Texans remember what those look like, right? Picture climbing up beltway 8, it is steep. But we make it, slowly, but surely we get there and the girls taught me that if you walk backward up the hill you get an amazing view of the city and river. Not a bad way to start off the day. . .

The Advent

2010-12-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

I feel down right frantic. Packers come on Tuesday. Christmas is 18 days away. The list really does keep getting longer and longer. I think that the reality is sinking in, we really are moving to Australia. Honestly, it seems a little crazy. BUT some how in the midst of it all the girls seem to be fine. With a great deal of help from a few friends, I put together our traditional Christmas advent. I even have a plan so we can keep counting down when we are between houses. We have cut out snowflakes for the Church party, made a gingergread village, watched a Christmas movie, eaten Christams cookies, read stories, etc. It is amazing how pausing for just a few minutes and celebrating Christmas as family each day has really settled the girls.

The List

2010-12-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

It is has been a crazy month, but really isn't November always busy? I have been working and working to get everything arranged for the move. I feel like I wake up every morning and work all day and most of the night and yet it doesn't seem like I am making much progress. The problem is everyday things get added. So far this month I have checked off:

doctor (3 visits each, company dr., private doc, and follow up)
dentist
hair cuts
inventory the entire house with replacement values (almost, just my room left)
get on Facebook
find house in Australia (found one, room for all of us, dog ok, close to school and good commute for Adam. It is in the Ascot/Hamilton area of Brisbane)
teach class, still have 2 more class periods and finals
arrangements for Olive, thankyou a MILLION to our friends who are helping us with that and have volunteered to keep her for a few months
sort and organize house, some stores, some ships, some goes air
start Christmas advent for girls (I can't give up all traditions just because we are moving this holiday season)
shop for Christmas
buy clothing and household items for next few years because Australia is expensive and I refuse to pay $35 for mascara that I can buy here for $5
figure out how to furnish and outfit house that is 1/3 the size
sell cars/boat/appliances
complete literally HOURS of paperwork, I have signed so many things that my signature is totally unrecognizable now
keep house SPOTLESS for showings

AND believe it or not I still have things on my list. Two weeks from today, we will move out of our Cypress house. GULP!!

Olive

2010-11-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is is Olive. With some serious help from friends, I gave her to the girls and the hub for Christmas last year. She has quickly become a big part of our family. Weighing in at just shy of 7 pounds she is one tiny bundle of love. She loves to run out in the back yard and chase the squirrels. They tease her like crazy, climbing just low enough that they are just out of reach. She also loves to bound up the stairs in the morning and wake up the girls. She knows the routine. We wake CB up and then half hour later the other two. Sometimes she likes to sneak up the stairs and get them early. But my favorite thing about Ollie is her bell. When she has to go out, she just rings her little bell on the back door and waits. It makes me so happy. I never thought she would do it, but she is very smart and quick and teachable. . .

AND now she has become a bit of an obstacle. Australia is very strict about what you can bring into their country. I won't go into the possible items for quarentine list. Let's just saw it covers everything in my whole house.

Today I talked with the pet transport people and learned that Australia requires Olive to stay out of their country for 180 days after she gets a "clean" blood test. UM. . . .that's 5 months and we are leaving in 6 weeks. How is this going to work? Not to mention the fact that I was counting on Olive to be part of the girl's support structure. I won't even metion the cost to get her there. First you wouldn't believe me and second you would think I was crazy. BUT you would do the same. She is part of our family and we love her and I don't regret her for one minute. Ok well when she was a puppy and she cried and peed, I regretted it some, but now she is ours, just look at her. . .and if you think she's cute now, you should see her giving loves to my girls. It makes my heart melt.

People

2010-11-01T01:14:00.000-07:00

I always thought it would be great to have people. You know, people who work for you and make your life easier. People who follow you around and tell you just what you want to hear. I used to joke that my kids were my people. I knew at the time that I was really theirs, but it was funny. It made me feel important-ish. Well now I have people and it really is not all that I thought it would be. The hub and I have 8 different advisers who are helping us with this move. We have a door-to-door person, a tax person, a house person (actually 2 of those here and there), a group of doctors, and some more who file passports and visa documents. I have a stuff person who is in charge of all of my household goods. I actually have 3 of those the one in charge of the survey, the one in charge of the storage and the one in charge of the container that we are shipping. Are you confused? I am. Every day I open my email to about 20 emails from the people who work for the people. I spend hours on the phone trying to give the right info to the right people. I haven't even mentioned the school people or the pet carrier people. Basically, I have decided I am done with people. I just want 1 person to do this whole move across the world for me. Any takers?

Down Under

2010-10-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy roller coaster of a week and just so you know I am not a big fan of roller coasters. The Hub got a dream job. He will help the company he works for develop a huge natural gas field and pipeline. It is a great opportunity. The only catch, the job is in Brisbane, Australia. So we are moving yet again. This time to the land down under. I am very excited for this new adventure. This is an expat assignment for 2-3 years and then back to Texas. We have been doing tons of research and are anxious to find the right schools, neighborhoods, and church. The school year in Australia begins in January and runs pretty much all year, with breaks every 8-12 weeks. Our hope is to get there before school starts. We are all sad to leave so many dear friends, but feel grateful for technology that will make it easier to stay in touch. A few years ago my grandfather said to me, "You move so much, we should've bought you a motor home for your wedding."...that was 3 moves ago. I guess he was right.

Shoes

2010-10-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

The hub volunteered to take the oldest shoe shopping last Friday. He is braver than I and surprisingly patient when faced with a preteen melt down. Off they went in search of shoes that were comfortable and cute. I have been searching for those shoes for years now, but they seemed confident they could find them in the hour before dinner. While on the shopping adventure, the hub sent me this text, with a note that said, "Do you know that your daughter loves to put on high heels and run around the store in them?" I laughed because this is actually a little game that CB and I have played since she was little. We always try on the craziest shoes and then try to run up and down the aisles in them usually talking in silly voices. If you have never done this grab your daughter and go and if you have no daughter call me because it is totally silly, but really fun.

ps:She almost talked her dad into these, she is awfully hard to resist, but at the last minute his sanity returned and they came home with some much more practical all WHITE tennis shoes ;)

Grammar Lesson

2010-10-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today, I had to teach another grammar lesson. Grammar is not an easy subject for me to teach and while I can logically understand that it is important to understand the fundamentals of the English language, I am just not sure that it really matters if my students can name all 7 subordinate conjunctions. So I really geared up today and over prepared with all kinds of "fun" activities and attention getting techniques. I even played the oh so familiar Conjunction Junction video from school house rock. You remember the one at the train depot, with the really catchy, albeit slightly annoying song. "Conjunction junction, what's your function?"

I must admit, I was pretty excited and thought for sure my students would love it. I played the clip and waited for the reaction. But they just sat there, I think somewhat confused, definitely not entertained, and clearly not appreciating the iconic school house rock. I even had to explain what it was and tell them that there used to be a programing requirement that Saturday morning cartoons be somewhat educational. School House rock was developed to meet that federal requirement. Again blank stares. I resisted the urge to play Bill on Capitol Hill or Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get your Adverbs Here. You remember those, all part of growing up in the 80's.

Genetics

2010-10-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look at your kids and wonder where they came from? I mean we all know where they came from and how they got here. I just mean do you ever look at your kids in wonder and think they are so much more amazing, terrific, intelligent, athletic, artistic, graceful, etc than me? I had one of these moments on Sunday. I was sitting on the back patio, enjoying the great weather, watching the girls play. I sat is awe as CB maneuvered her ripstick in and out of the small obstacle course she had set up. Skateboarding is something I have never been able to do. There are so many things about her that are clearly not from genetics. Honestly, her ability to learn things never ceases to amaze me. She just made the Science Olympiad team at her school, no small feat as a 6th grader. This summer she wake boarded on her first try. She plays the piano and now the cello almost instinctively. She is a whiz at math, loves to draw and has had several of her art pieces displayed. I marvel that such an amazing person could come from my genes; I am really flawed.

My Little Monster

2010-10-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it is October? Cam came home from school today and announced that October is half over and that we better get out our Halloween decorations before it is too late. So into the attic I climbed for the giant orange plastic jack-o-lantern, inflatable purple spider, and spooky tin mansion. I got out the "costume box" and yet again told the girls that this year all costumes had to come from this box. They played along like they always do. "Yes, mommy we will not beg you for costumes 2 days before Halloween. No mommy we will not change our minds and cry huge crocodiles tears until you take us to the store for the perfect costume." We all know the truth. I will be frantically combing the much picked over aisles on the 30th., but I can pretend right. I felt the fun of Halloween escaping as I thought of all of the costume drama. I do have 3 girls remember. And then I remembered this little cutie, a birthday present from a dear friend who loves all things Halloween. I filled him with candy corn and set him on the entry table. A great little reminder that Halloween IS supposed to be fun and that even little monsters can be cute.

The Parable of the Pressure Washer

2010-09-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend the hub decided that we needed to seal the flagstone around the pool. We had several soccer games scheduled and not a lot of time to do much else, so it seemed like a great idea. After a few trips to Home Depot, he set out to get it done. Then he discovered the dirt and grime on the rock and decided he better pressure wash first. No sooner does he finish pressure washing then the Texas skies open up and it starts pouring. Needless to say, the flagstone sealing was delayed. The pressure washer abondoned and left in the middle of the patio. Days pass and the pressure washer stays in the middle of the patio. Weeks pass. The flagstone has now been sealed and the pressure washer, along with all of the sealing supplies is still in the middle of the patio. Almost a month has gone by and still the pressure washer is sitting out. Now I know what you are thinking. . .if it bothered you that much why didn't you just put it away? I guess the simplest answer is that I am beyond tired of cleaning up after everyone else's projects, meals, parties, school work, work work, shaving messes, shampoo fights, clothing dilemnas, the list goes on. I am done.

After a few weeks of taking a stance that no one seemed to notice, (Expect maybe the pool guy because the stupid thing was in his way) I decided to ask the hub to put it away. He appeared to hear me and yet the washer stayed and stayed. I am suddenly reminded of an old episode of Everybody loves Raymond where a suitcase sits on the stairs and bugs the wife, but appears invisible to Ray. At the end of the episode she has finally reached her breaking point and puts it away. This weekend I had gotten to that point. I had decided to get over myself and just put the stupid thing away, and then Saturday morning. . .the hub smiles and me and says, "Well since it's your birthday." and just like that puts the pressure washer away in the shed.

SO what is the lesson? I know I should have just sucked it up and put it away. I know I was being selfish and petty. But I guess the take away that I really want to believe. is that maybe if I wait long enough, eventually someone else will put the stuff away. (oh come on, I can dream, can't I?)

It's My Birthday

2010-09-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. So I decided to post a list of things you may not know about me:

I am the youngest, I only have one sister
I was born in Indiana while my dad was in graduate school. I had a baby in the same hospital I was born in almost 30 years later.
I grew up in Northern California, East of San Fransisco in a town called Lafayette.
When I was in elementary school I loved crazy socks, school, stationary stores, stickers, music, and Shawn Cassidy. (Minus Shawn Cassidy, I still love most of those things especially music and office supplies.)
In high school I was in mock trial and spent most of my childhood wanting to be a lawyer. It was the age of LA law and many of my friend's successful parents were lawyers.
Met the hub when I was a junior in high school and literally fell in love at first sight. He was not so smitten with me, however, he had a girlfriend for several years.
I went to BYU and for the most part loved college.
I have 3 daughters, none of them really look like me, but they have my hair and my big feet.
I love all homemade cookies, shopping at target, looking through the Restoration Hardware catalog, reading, and texting (not while driving).
I started teaching again this year. I love it.
I love music and have a minor addiction to itunes.
I know way too much about what to do in a medical crisis and how to plan a funeral.
I am shorter than you think I am. It's the hair, the loud personality, and the wedge flip flops.
I am lucky to have great friends in several states and all of you in one way or another have helped to make today a great day.

I hate Greek yogurt

2010-09-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

It seems like Greek yogurt is everywhere these days and it is always presented as this great, super healthy, completely delicious treat that we should all be eating. So I decided I would try it. . . I hated it from the very first bite. I honestly thought I was eating super thick sour cream. When I shared my dislike, I was assured by my health conscience friends, that I just picked the wrong brand. "Eat Brown Cow," they said, "Or Aekos." Off to HEB I went determined to like Greek yogurt. I bought three different kinds, thinking that surely one would be good. WRONG!! All three tasted like NASTY!! So this is my new theory, it is all a lie. Like when one of your friends gets really skinny really fast and she says she just started drinking a bunch of water. Or when you see someone wearing really cute pointy toed shoes and she says they are totally comfortable. (You know who you are.) We don't lie on purpose, we lie to be healthy and pretty. It is just part of being a girl, but let's face it junk food always tastes better and high heals will never be like my favorite pair of flip flops.

August Highlights & Lowlights

2010-08-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

We started August on the plane with the stomach flu.
Spent some of it on the lake
Slept a lot
Swam
Celebrated the Hub's bday
Read some
Shopped for school clothes and supplies
Baked and ate lots of cookies
Swam
Olive, the puppy, turned 1 and now rings her bell to go out every time instead of piddling in the laundry room.
Played with friends
Swam
CB started middle school
Cam & J returned to Elementary
I started teaching beginning writing at Lonestar (community college)
And we ended August busy with school, homework, sports, work, life

July

2010-07-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

I spent most of July in Utah. The girls and I left the hub and the swampy Houston weather. It was great to be with family. We did something different everyday from minigolf to touring down town Salt Lake. We went to the copper mine, a star gazing party, and Boondocks. We hiked, fished, and biked. We even did a little house hunting for my dad. But honestly the best part of the trip was being somewhere that cools down at night. Growing up in California, I never thought I would think that Utah had good weather; too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Nothing like a few years in the Lonestar state to change that opinion.

Happy 7th

2010-07-11T17:16:00.001-07:00

My baby is 7!!! I can't believe it either. We decided to have a last minute birthday party before we headed out of town. Last night the hub made the hot air balloon cake (based on a power point presentation that the birthday girl made). Pretty awesome cake, all of the Cake Boss watching, is paying off. Today we opened presents. They were a silly blend of legos, barbies, and art stuff, just like the birthday girl. Tomorrow a bunch of friends are coming for a Marvelous M&M party. It is on Monday, we are playing marshmallow games, monogramming tote bags, and eating mint brownies. Should be fun. And then we get on a plane and head to Utah. Happy Birthday, Little One, I can't believe you are 7.

(Here is the cake, it is round cakes stacked and then shaped. And I love this sweet pic of the birthday girl making a wish.)

Eldon J Bodily

2010-07-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

After a week in the hospital, my 89 year old grandpa, passed away this week. He and my grandmother have been married 70 years. Can you imagine? When I think of Grandpa, I think of a tall, tan, smiling, deep voice, and silly songs. He loved to tell stories. He taught me how to fish. He tried to teach me to be patient. We would fish off the boat in the same spot for hours. Just waiting for those trout to nibble the marshmallow cheese or salmon eggs. Waiting and waiting and waiting. 30 plus years later, I still haven't learned it.

It is with great sadness that I will head to Utah for a funeral on Tuesday. The death notice appeared in the Examiner today.

The Monsters

2010-07-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day the girls gave the Hub the book, What's New, Cupcake? They love to bake and decorate cookies and cakes with their dad. So over the rainy 4th of July weekend we cleaned the attic, went to a movie, ate out a few times, and watched all the recorded shows on the DVR. But the highlight of the weekend was making monsters. Aren't they so cute?

To the Lake

2010-07-05T14:07:00.001-07:00

2010-07-05T13:51:00.001-07:00

So how do you get over a tough spring? You buy a boat of course and head to the lake. The hub's plan is to head to water every Saturday in the summer. My plan to always take a Ryan with me. Literally, my hope is to have another family with us so that someone else can drive the boat, help get the thing in and out of the water. So far the plans are working. But be proud of me. I drove the beast last weekend and flipped the Hub and CB off the tube.

We even take Olive. We bought her a cool orange life jacket. We tried it out in the pool. It has a strap that holds her head up and she just doggie-paddles along. We stopped to swim last week and she got out and splashed around. I am sure she loved it. ; )

Swim Team

2010-05-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

May and June around here means swim team. The three lovelies all swim on the team. They practice at 3 different times 4 days a week and then swim in meets almost every Saturday. Yes, that is 6 trips up and back to the pool which luckily is a half mile from our house. It is a huge time commitment and a lot of fun (or so I keep trying to convince myself). We have had two meets this season. Our goal for the girls is just to swim faster each time they race. I am proud to report that last Saturday they did just that!!!

For those of you who do not live in the great state of Texas, it RAINED buckets and buckets and stopped and then rained buckets and buckets again last Saturday and the meet continued. We all huddled in our EZTent city(thank you Sarah for lending me yours) and tried to endure the mud and the wet. It was tough to stay positive and focused. There is a lot of skill in swimming some of the strokes "clean." For example, when you swim breast stroke your fingers have to stay together and your hands cannot come below your waist. You also need to turn your toes out. I had no idea. There is a lot to remember, oh and do it all as fast as you can while you hold your breath. Don't tell my kids, but there is no way I could do it. Some times CB's warm ups are 200s (8 laps) just to warm up. : )

Mother's Day

2010-05-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

A book I was reading recently said, "If you want to get to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully." If you asked, I would first say that my mom had the bluest eyes. My sister got those and as a child I was so jealous and would have gladly traded my dog-pooh brown, as I called them for hers. My mother also loved to have fun. She worked hard to make simple things special, but the most important thing I would tell you about my mother is that she loved me. I have come to realize that loving me and believing me was the very best thing she could have ever done for me. Sure I wish that she had taught me how to make her famous pies and breads. Sometimes I am mad that she did not teach me more about parenting and being a wife or surviving loss, but ultimately she loved me and really isn't that what being a good mother is all about.

Honestly, I really hate Mother's Day. I feel some of you rolling your eyes, but this is my blog so if it bugs you don't read it: ). It is a holiday that I really don't understand. As a child I remember feeing this weird disconnect about it. Shouldn't we treat our mother's well all of the time and if mom's love their kids so much, why do they want the day off? As an adult I have struggled with what exactly I am supposed to do on mother's day. It seems like I should want to be surrounded by my children and bask in the glory of my life's work, but honestly, I would love to just hide in my room. And then there is the added stress of having my own mother gone. Plus it is Sunday and inevitably a time for guilt and reflection of missed chances and falling short of the mark. I wont't even mention the hub's total lack of enthusiasm about any holiday.

So this year I tried hard to quiet the negative and just BE with my children and it was better. My goal for next year is to plan a fun day with my daughters after all, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be Mother and honestly, aren't they amazing...

Warning: this one is sad

2010-05-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

Ox died on Tuesday. If you know me, you know that I am married to a dog person. the Hub loves dogs. When we got married he told me that he had always wanted an English bulldog and so 8 years ago we bought one. Oxford, was the cutest, silliest puppy. When we went to buy him he was running around the breeder's hotel room with a trash can turned upside down on his head. He had 6 brothers and one sister and he was definitely the life of the party. It was love at first sight for the Hub. Ox became an instant member of the family.

J and Cam cannot remember a time without him. We are all so sad. The house seems empty today. I am just so used to him laying in the same room with me snoring away. When the girls are at school he is my constant companion. I felt some measure of safety with him here because he was big and scary looking. The truth was he was more likely to lick you and lay on your feet than bite or bark. He was such a good dog. Low key and obedient. Always there for a love or a listening ear. It may sound odd, but I feel a strange debt of gratitude to Ox because he loved my children and hub so much and in a more unconditional way than I have ever been able to. We will miss him.

Fingerprints

2010-05-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

(My blog coach assures me that this little story will be a good post. You be the judge.)

As some of you know, I have decided to apply to substitute teach next year. In case you have not heard completing the application process requires many, many steps and in the words of my neighbor, a PhD in paperwork. So I have been to the training, filled out all of the paper work, gotten all of the references, and jumped through all of the required hoops except one: fingerprinting. The state of Texas has decided that every employee working in a public school be fingerprinted. (I was actually a little shocked that this is a new law. This seems like kind of a no-brainer to me).

Anyway, so I go to get fingerprinted at some random sub contractor required by the district. I get there and all is going so well. I can almost see the light at the end of this process. My name is called. I smile for the picture, give them my forms, and put my fingers down on the scanner. And then the fingerprinter gasps, "um do you work with acid on a daily basis, " she asks. I smile, thinking she is joking. She looks at me now with a totally serious face. "I am sorry, you have no fingerprints."

How is this possible? After the initial shock the printer explains that you can literally wear your prints off of your fingers. She tells me that cleaning without gloves my be the problem or working with acetone or using foot scrubs or ex-foliating creams. She asked me repeatedly if I had burned my fingers or worked constantly with acid. I know she thinks I am lying when I deny heavy acid usage. So for the first time in my life I get a 30%, only 3 of my fingers have viable prints.

The fingerprinter tried over and over again rolling my fingers back and forth across the scanner. When all 10 were done the computer classified my prints as "amputee." Crazy!!! I knew I was thin skinned, but this is ridiculous. I guess there is an upside, if the whole subbing thing doesn't work out I can always work as a thief. No prints, as long as I don't use my thumbs, I am untraceable.

Happy Birthday, Dad !!!

2010-04-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today is my dad's birthday. He doesn't read my blog, but obviously today he is on my mind. My dad is awesome. For almost as long as I can remember he has had two full time jobs, not because he has to, but because he wants to. He works for the Federal Government in Anti-trust. He is an Economist. I know, no wonder I am so smart, good genes. (kidding) But his real love is teaching. So 30 years ago he made this deal with my mom that if he could make enough money teaching to pay for the second car that he would need to make the second job work for the family, he could teach and so he applied. He has become one of the favorites at the private liberal arts college he teaches at. I am always amazed when I am with him in California how many times we see his former students. They always stop and talk to him and he always knows their names. They almost always turn to me and say, "Your dad's class was so hard, but I learned so much." He is one of those lucky people who has found a way to love his work.

My dad is the kind of person who knows a lot about a lot. My sister and I used to always tell him to go on Jeopardy. I think we secretly hoped that we would go on and win big. When we were younger we discussed vocabulary words at dinner and even had quizzes. Needless to say, my sister and I scored pretty high on the verbal part of the SAT. Thanks, dad. I could go on and on, don't worry I won't. The bottom line is my dad is pretty amazing and if you asked him he would say, "not that amazing just doing my job, taking care of my family."

April Catch Up Girls

2010-04-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Saturdays in April means soccer games. Cam and J played on the same team in the neighborhood league. Our cul de sac opens on to the fields. It is fun to see a bunch of our friends and neighbors heading to and from games on Saturday mornings. I felt like a should open a donut stand (and charge a quarter to use the bathroom). Honestly, though I love it. It makes me feel like we live in a small town instead of just outside one of the biggest cities in the US.

C spent April teaching her puppy tricks. Olive can lay down, jump through a hula hoop, beg, dance, sit, oh and love her three little girls all on command. There is just something about having a dog to love and love you back. If you are rolling your eyes you must be a cat person. How are we friends? (Geez, I am kidding.)

April Catch Up Taxes

2010-04-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

Why are you posting a picture of your shredder dumped out on your bedroom floor? Well just for fun the Hub decided to shred some tax documents on April 14th BEFORE we filed our taxes. So we literally pieced them together. Consider this a public service announcement: diamond cut shredders really protect your privacy. However, if you put your document in the shredder sideways you can almost piece it back together. . .almost and in taxes almost is good enough, right?

More to come. . .

2010-04-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

So apparently my blog actually has readers. This is a shout out to those of you diligently check my blog only to find pics from January. Forgive me. I have every intention of blogging and then I look to my left and there is my dirty dark hard wood floors and I think to myself. I should not blog I should clean and then cleaning leads to more cleaning and well you have all been there. Or I sit down to blog and my computer is having some kind of connectivity issue. Lately it can see the network, but does not want to get on the network. Why? Who knows? This means I cannot get to pics or the Internet or whatever. Today I sat down to blog, actually to finish and publish a post I am working on only to hear a scream from upstairs and have Cam running down the stairs with blood streaming from her mouth. Her sister yelling, "it was an accident." Anyway, the point, there is more to come, but in the meantime the life that I am supposedly blogging about keeps getting in the way.

April at the Beach

2010-04-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

One of the advantages of living in Texas is that spring comes early, so while many of our friends and family were still looking at snow we decided to head to the beach. It was a great 3 day weekend (Good Friday is a holiday in Texas). The hub had the day off so we loaded up and headed to the beach. This time we decided to take our blow up rafts and let the girls paddle around in the waves. They had a blast. If you look in the background of this pic you can see CB riding the waves wishing that her Coleman raft was a sea kayak. As for me, I sat with my toes in the sand, book in my lap, diet coke in my hand and listened to my children laugh and play. Peace.

Ready for School

2010-02-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Now that I have more than one follower I feel a certain amount of responsibility to entertain and make you smile, think, laugh, cry, whatever. (thanks Dr.J) My blog reminds me of Seinfeld. I remember that is was billed as being the show about nothing. I read some blogs that are self help, DIY guides, craft project resources, recipes, considering I am an expert at nothing my blog has just become these spotty posts about nothing. So with that in mind. . .

This morning I was getting the 3 ready for school. We were on track this morning and had about 5 minutes before we needed to leave. So I did my final plea, "Get your backpacks and jackets we need to head out soon." J walks in to the bathroom and says, "OK, mom, I'm ready." I am still finishing hair and teeth and getting myself ready as well. When I see this over my shoulder. Made me laugh. Made me love that blank-ity-blank puppy (who pooped in cage while I was gone today).

Olive

2010-02-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

So for the 2 blog followers that I have, I think you already know that I gave my girls and the hub a puppy for Christmas. My good friend graciously offered/was coerced into keeping the puppy and delivering her on Christmas morning. She even stuck her in a box and tied it up with a candy cane bow. Anyway, said puppy was a HUGE hit. I don't think that her feet hit the floor for the first 2 weeks we had her between the girls, the hub and my dad. She was held and babied and loved nonstop. AND then the girls went back to school and the little she-devil emerged. Olive has learned to do business outside--awesome and inside and in her cage and in the laundry room and in the kitchen and on the outside rug. She had learned to steal socks. Rip paper and terrorize Ox. BUT last night it was all worth it. Walking down stairs after tucking in the angels. I heard these sweet words, "Thanks mom for getting us Olive. We really love her and she makes me happy." My heart melted. I had a good mom moment and then the she-devil aka Olive started crying at 4am. Let's just say it was not pretty and today she cried all day. ugh!!! The things we do for our kids.

SHE's 8 !!!!

2010-02-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

So hard to believe that J is 8. The Hub was in grad school at Purdue when we had her. She was actually born in the same hospital that I was. My dad went to grad school at Purdue, too. I remember I had this list of things that I wanted to get finished before she came. Silly things like clean out a closet and iron some shirts for A to wear to interviews. I stayed up late on the 9th trying to get it all done. I fell asleep only to wake up to the unmistakable pain. I was so annoyed. My list was not done. So much to do before I had 2 kids. But J did not care. She came when she was ready, not when I wanted her to. I have spent the last 8 years trying to learn this lesson over and over again. Her time is not my time. Her path is not my path. Her way is not my way. But slowly I am beginning to understand that her time works. Her path gets her there and her way is just fine. She is an amazingly kind hearted, smart, funny, and extremely self sufficient little girl. So here's to J, then and now. Happy Birthday!!!

Pressure

2010-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

So let's be honest, I am not a blogger. Sarah is a blogger. Sarah's blog is beautiful. I tell her all of the time that I wish I could blog like her and take pictures like her and sew like her and craft like her. You get the idea. And then she linked her beautiful BLOG to my so sad blog and now the pressure is on. So here goes attempt number 285 to be a blogger. (Really this is only attempt number 22 cuz that's how many postings I have in total).

Last week was an unusually blue week for me. I was really missing my mom and faced with the reality of another one of my daughters getting older and for some reason the milestones are hard. Anyway, enter my dear friend T to the rescue with a project. Really a crazy project and for me the best kind because it had a quick deadline. You see T is the kind of mother and mother in law who sends her children care packages full of homemade cookies and love. Let's just say, this is not my reality. Anyway, T wanted to include in her boxes Happy Valentine's Day banners. Sounds simple right!!!

Do you know how many letters are in Happy Valentine's Day? So we picked out the fabric and started sewing. Well, I started sewing and T started cutting and cutting and sewing and cutting and sewing and before we knew it--8 banners were finished. 2 mailed in packages on Friday, those lucky kids. 2 for us. 3 for friends--lucky YOU and 1 for later. Honestly, there was something very healing in the making and finishing of the banners or maybe it was the friendship.

Ugly Pancakes

2010-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

The kids were sick all week so I was really looking forward to the weekend. In retrospect I am not sure why because really it was more of the same, kids around, cleaning, cooking, fighting, I mean sisterly communication. Good times really. We actually had some beautiful weather and it was nice to get out and so some yard work. Well the yard work was not so fun, but getting our was great. The Hub spent most of the day fishing and working on the community soccer fields and the kids and I cleaned and watched a lot of HGTV. Sunday was also pretty low key. We have started a tradition of having breakfast food for dinner on Sunday. So this Sunday I decided to whip up some Pioneer Woman Sour Cream Pancakes. You can check out her blog here. My good friend is a long time stalker of this blog and gave me the cookbook for Christmas. I have made a few meals from it and it is all FABULOUS. In the effort to tastiness ratio the food is well worth the effort. The only problem is that the batter is so think that I had a hard time flipping the pancakes, so they were really ugly. But paired with some fresh strawberries and sausage they were a great end to a lazy weekend.

Happy Birthday

2010-01-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

I can't believe she is 11!!! She stayed home sick today and spent most of the day watching the Brady Bunch. I sat in my room and listened to her laugh. Adam came home and made her cake. (He always makes the cakes). This year we have been watching a lot of Cake Boss. CB decided she wanted chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries. And you wonder why the hub makes the cakes. . .and of course she would like that cake made into a piano. No problem!!! Aren't they cute!!!

End of January

2010-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, I did take lots of pics of Christmas. I even got 2 new lenses, but why blog in chronological order? So as I read back over my 18 posts it seems that I am always shocked that time passes quickly and that I don't stop and record it. I know that I can make time to do it, I think I struggle with what to blog about and who to blog for. Really, there are only a few out there that even looks at it. My family doesn't even read it. But if I wrote it for me I think that it would be really depressing. Not that my life is sad, but when I sit down to write it is the sad that comes first. Like today my friend's father died and that is sad. I am sad for her because losing someone you love is never easy and I am sad for me because loss brings back loss. It makes me think of my mom and miss her. Tomorrow is the birthday of my friend's little baby girl who died. That is heart breaking. For some reason it makes me feel guilty that my own daughter's birthday is on Thursday. She will be 11 and honestly that makes me a little sad because I already feel like I am watching her need me less every day which is a good thing and part of the plan. But still a little sad. See what did I tell you the sad comes first.

Today was a fun day with my kids. There was no school today and we played with friends and played outside with the new puppy. It was successful day for me because here I sit at the end of my day having fed my family, cleaned my house, and played with my kids. Who knows tomorrow I may even post some pics, but seriously don't hold your breath. It maybe March before I post again.

Can it really be December 15th?

2009-12-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

I always start out the season with the best intentions. I had almost all of the my shopping finished within a week of Thanksgiving (thanks in part to crazy Black Friday). I took my Christmas card pic and had the cards printed before December. I have all of my neighbor gifts, teacher gifts, and things to mail decided and purchased. I am checking things off my list and feeling really good. BUT I still haven't wrapped the packages, gone to the post office, mailed my out of town boxes or my Christmas cards. I still have treats to bake and things to buy and my girls will be out of school in 3 days. So I am blogging, cuz that makes sense. The one good thing that I am doing this year is an advent with my kids. Last year I bought this cute advent wreath with 24 fun round boxes. So cute at the store, such a great idea until I went crazy trying to think of tiny things that could fit in those boxes and of course I had to get 3 of everything. There are only so many Hershey's kisses you can give a girl before she gets sick of them. This year my blog addicted friend suggested that we put slips of paper in the boxes with things to do instead of gifts to get. At first this idea seemed like a lot of work, but then I looked at some lists of things and realized that most of these are things I hoped to do with my girls anyway. So on December 1st I threw caution to the wind and started. It has been really fun and I must say I am grateful for the focus it gives me, even just for a few minutes each day because really Christmas really should be all about family. These are the 14 things we have done so far:

Hang this year's new ornament on the tree

Drink hot chocolate with snowman marshmallows

Make an ornament wreath (this turned out awesome)

Get a snow globe and share a snowy memory, it actually snowed here in Texas that day

Go to the Nutcracker Ballet

Eat a Christmas cookie and read a Christmas story

Put out new blowup 6ft Santa

Do a service project at school and then eat a peppermint shake

Make Christmas creatures

Watch a Christmas special

Eat a Christmas chocolate orange

Do 2 acts of service for your sister

Read a Christmas chapter book (the Holly Joliday)

Get a new pair of Christmas Socks

And tonight we are going to see Santa at a friend's house. We have had a fun 2 weeks.

Let's Pretend it is November 1st

2009-12-15T07:03:00.001-08:00

Halloween was a good time this year. I did not have to carry any of my children. It was not freezing cold, nor hot and we had no last minute costume break downs. It helped that it was on a Saturday. We were busy most of the day with soccer games and errands, but we still had time to get the cuties ready.

Kiss My Bass

2009-10-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Hub went fishing this early morning with some friends. There are several lakes (aka drainage ponds) in our neighborhood. So they set out to catch some bass. He came home pretty excited to have caught anything let alone the biggest of the morning. He hasn't done much fishing. He said it was fun and relaxing. A new hobby? I love this pic. He looks really happy.

Pizza, Pumpkins and Power Outages

2009-10-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it happened, but last year we forgot to carve pumpkins. Being new to the great state of Texas I had been warned about carving too early and mold and bugs. So I kept putting it off until there was simply no time and then CB was sick and, well you get the picture. So this year I promised my girls: We will carve pumpkins. We will have pizza. It will be fabulous. Well it started out fun. The pizza was a little burnt, but that was ok. There was much excitement about picking the perfect pattern and which one would be fun, but not too hard. We got the squash hallowed out and then the power went out. I should have probably added that it was raining, but rain in Texas is just part of the fall, and summer, and sometimes spring. Anyway, it was raining and thundering and lightening-ing (is that a word?) cuz it was doing it and when we decided to go out on the back porch and carve pumpkins it was pouring. But we were determined to carve and then darkness. The power stayed out just long enough that we put everyone to bed without finishing the pumpkins. There were lots of sad faces.

But today, Halloween Eve, when the girls got home from school those pumpkins were carved. They look great and they are finished just in time to take to the trunk-or-treat. And I didn't have to carve one or even help them. I guess they are really growing up.

Don't Have a Heart Attack

2009-10-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't remember the last time I posted. . .I won't catch you up on my life because honestly it has been a tough couple of months. Maybe later. Right now I am looking for some good old procrastination. I have so many projects going on. None are finished. I convinced self I could quilt. I know don't laugh. So I decided to start 3 different quilting projects. Then I thought--hey the sewing machine is out why not make some pillows, pj pants, and Christmas presents for my girls. It is only October I have plenty of time. I know, it's crazy. Plus, as I really should clean my house, make some dinner, write a lesson plan for a class that I have to teach in a week and a half, (Did I mention it is on being organized?) finish my notes for this PTO project I am involved in, skim the leaves out of the pool--honestly it is a long list. Instead I am blogging.

So for my one follower out there (thanks Laura) here are some pics:

CB playing the piano and J and M just goofing around. They make me smile. I feel grateful for that.

I Know I am a Grown Up

2009-01-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

I had a moment today that made me realize that I might be a grown up. We got trees planted in the backyard. For those of you who do not live in the south, these are little gem magnolia trees. They have dark green leaves with purple undersides and bloom these amazing white flowers. When I think of the south I picture red brick houses, big porches, ice cold mint juleps (who knows what that is) and magnolias. Anyway, I am so excited to plant trees and put down roots. I never thought two little trees could mean so much to me, but when they were being planted today I couldn't stop grinning. We are putting down roots. We are officially southerners. I hope to be here long enough to see these little guys grow up. Who knows maybe I will even sit in their shade and drink a mint julep or at least a lemonade.

Sunday Night

2009-01-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

What is it about Sunday nights? They seem to be the odd mix of happy and sad. Sad that the weekend or in this case vacation is over and happy almost excited to start back at it again. This is our hallway. Each school night backpacks are readied and shoes (with socks) are laid out. In this picture I see little things about my girls. I notice things like J's unlaced shoes. She has yet to master tying and C's perfectly parallel shoes and cleaned out bag. Cam's are laid out too, first in line, bright pink, and ready. Not to be left behind by her older sisters. So I sit here this Sunday night looking at those bags and shoes. Happy that tomorrow is Monday and that the lovelies are off to school and I can finally be alone and sad because I know the day will soon come that there will be no bags and shoes in my house. I am sad because yet another year with them has gone by. They are growing up so fast. Everyone said it would happen, but I must admit in the throws of it I didn't really believe them. I am happy too though because they are amazing and honestly even though motherhood is one insanity after another, ultimately I am better for it.

(this post was inspired by Dr.SBJ who took the pic and is a great example of one who stops to find the joy and beauty in the everyday)

Snowing Y'all

2008-12-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

(I am having issues with blogger so forgive the pictureless post.) It snowed today in Cypress. It was very cold and very windy all day--in the 30s. I don't care who you are, that is cold. I came home to meet the girls and was shocked to see snow falling. It was beautiful and peaceful and melting almost before it hit the ground. There are rumors of school closures and work delays because of road conditions. Having lived in Utah and Idaho I find it all a little silly as do my girls. I asked them if they wanted to get on their coats and run around in it like all of the neighborhood seemed to be doing and they said almost in unison, "We have seen snow before, mom." But I will say it brought the Christmas spirit today and made me think that it is possible to get all of the things done on my list. See, for all of you who think you know Texas and it's big hair, bugs and bad weather, you have not been to Cypress in December.

Giving Thanks

2008-12-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, I know, I am not very consistent at blogging. I hope to post once a week, but I really like posts with photos and I am struggling with my photos. Maybe after a visit from Santa and several hours with my soon to be friend Adobe I will be a better blogger, until then be patient.

This Thanksgiving holiday was a lot of fun and hard work. We kicked off our vacation with some turkeys. We had a great time making plates of cupcakes and delivering them to a few friends and thanking them for being so special to us. We feel extremely blessed have made such great friends in such a short amount of time. I guess what you here about Texans and their southern hospitality is true.

Then we decided to lay three pallets of sod in our backyard. It took us 5 hours, but we got all of it laid and it sure looks great. I am thankful for a strong healthy husband who is not afraid of hard work. We had a fun time as a family and it was very satisfying to see a completed lawn. Ox, hub's bulldog, loved the new grass. He spent most of the day rolling all over it. It was an early Christmas present for him.

We also spent a lot of time having fun. We were invited to our friends family diner and it was a great time. We went to the drive-in, played the Wii, watched a bunch of movies, made lots of goodies, and felt thankful for each other and the many blessings we have.

Ode to the Negative

2008-11-10T07:14:00.000-08:00

I remember my mom used to have this book that was titled, "If life is a bowl of cherries, why I am always in the pits?" As a child I just thought it was funny. As an adult I must say I have wondered about this myself. It seems that especially on the blog or in the scrapbook it is all about the positive when really much of life is spent in the negative. So here is my ode to the negative or in other words I am going to vent:
My mom is sick, my dad is sad
My messy house just makes me mad
My kids all whine and moan and fight
I worry, can I raise them right?
The dog just sheds and sheds some more
could there be more dog hair on the floor?
The yard needs plants and rocks and trees
all in and done before the freeze.
My skinny jeans are still too tight
that @#$^* scale just can't be right.
Christmas is coming what a joy
I have to find the perfect toy
and do the cards and bake the food
and clean the house, then be in a good mood.
The state of the nation has got me down
the election, the market all make me frown.
Where are the cherries in all of these pits?
like you've never thrown one of these fits.
I know, I know my life is good
I should be grateful, I should, I should
But sometimes you need to vent
and then you can go back to being content.

Halloween

2008-11-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

I know I am a big blog slacker. It has been several months since my last post and really a lot has happened so here is the quick list: school started for the girls, there was a big, bad hurricane, there were a few families emergencies, I got older (much older) and then it was fall. It is hard to believe that fall is here. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. People who say the weather is bad in Texas have not been to Cypress in October. We have had a great month of playing in the cul de sac, riding bikes, doing yard projects, and watching soccer games. The girls had a great Halloween. It was a fun day at school with a PE sponsored carnival and then trick-or-treating and dinner with friends.

School

2008-08-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Why is it easier to borrow money than register your kids in school? Honestly do we really need all of these forms. Crazy. So to beat the system I arrived at school at promptly 8 with all of my forms already filled out. For some reason I actually thought this may save time. Wrong!! There were even more forms plus all forms needed to be copied and sorted and alphabetized and translated in to Latin. No not really, but it was a little crazy. The registrar seemed awfully suspicious when I presented birth certificates from 3 different states and immunization record from a few more. Oh well. At least I had all of my records and utility bills in triplicate. A few hours later we were finally officially registered. YEA!!! I guess it is really going to happen. All three of my girls will be in school full day next year. I never thought I would make it and now look. I guess I shoud go buy some bon-bons to fill the time. Do they still make those?

Our week

2008-08-07T13:52:00.001-07:00

So my blog-iva friend promises me that I am over thinking blogging and need to just go for it. I worry about this slightly not having the right pic or words, but taking an experts advice here we go posting with reckless abandon. . .it has been a big week for us. Here are some highlights:

the Hub had a bday (it rhymes with 7)
the bug guy who is know my BFF came and sprayed my house because afterall I do live in Texas and just like humidity, big hair, and y'all bugs are part of life here.
we finished our school supply shopping, which is a HUGE accomplishment
we survived tropical storm Eduardo--basically it rained
we moved a few links on the paper chain closer to school

Life's A Beach

2008-08-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

So I must admit. I waited in line for Breaking Dawn. We could

have been first, but who would have guessed that a middle aged man in a longhorns jersey was really in line. Anyway we got the book and then headed to Whattaburger (Wader-burger to the locals) apparently it is like you are saying water and you are from the midwest. (crazy Texans) Needless to say the honey fried chicken biscuit at 1am kept me up so I got a fair amount of reading in early Saturday morning. STEAMY, STEAMY.

Saturday we headed to the beach. We went to Crystal Beach and crabbed--no we did not complain people--we caught crabs. Honestly, we tied chicken necks to twine, threw the twine in the gulf and reeled in the crab. A good time was had by all. I think the crabs even enjoyed their brief time in the red bucket. We let them go and headed to the beach. We drove right to a great spot, set up chairs, and hung out. My plan was to read, but in all honesty I could not keep my eyes off my 3 girls and 1 crazy hubby playing in the water and sand. It was a great day. So sometimes life really is a beach and that is a very good thing.

First Post

2008-07-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

SO many of you told me you don't do email anymore and that you will only communicate through blogs. So I am now bloging. I admit it the social pressure got to me.