Christmas

We had a great Christmas! The waiting for Christmas was so much fun through my kids eyes. They would tell me everyday how many days it was till Jesus's birthday. We had a nativity wall hanging that they had to add a piece everyday and on the last day baby Jesus was added. They really got Christmas this year. My Toni sang Happy Birthday on Christmas and I got all teary. The day before Christmas we received a box from Grandma Barbara in California...she got the kids some of the cutest outfits so I took them out to the creek where it is all white rocks to take some pictures of them. It worked out well. It was 72 degrees out side and no snow in site (normal for Texas) but the pictures look like winter...I did it. The white white rocks give the feel of snow and the bright colors of Toni's dress just look great with the background. Now....if only my kids skin was not sooooooo white LOL. Anyway...Johns Dad and Mom came up from Huntsville for Christmas day and it was nice having them. We made a very strange Christmas dinner and it was fun getting it all on the table. I wanted to make sure everyone was included in the dinner making so I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner a few days ago. Toni wanted rolls and ham, Mikey wanted ham and fruit. Both the kids decided they wanted orange coke to drink so the one day of year I bought coke for them. Most the John spoke up and wanted to cook a prime roast. Vince was happy with all of that but loves Oatmeal Raisin cookies and Vince and John both wanted their favorite beans and potatoes. My favorite dessert of all time is Chocolate pie. soooo....it was fun. We had prime roast, a ham, and a turkey for the meat. For the sides John made his special fresh greenbeens with pecans, I made German mashed potato casserole, pinto beans with beacon and onion (yum yum yum) and of course dinner rolls. We also had Oatmeal Rasin cookies, sugar cookies, and a chocolate pie. It was wonderful. The table was full and after the dinner every ones belly was too.

A boy and his dog.

When I say Mikey loves his dog I really really mean it. He talks about his dog non-stop and tells everyone what a good dog he is. "Kuzco's my dog and he is a good golden retriever dog", "He listens to me and I sing to him", "He likes me to play my permonica (Harmonica) to him", "when I get my guitar I am going to play for him because he likes guitars too". I mean non-stop. he tells strangers in walmart about is wonderful dog. If there was ever a boy and a dog that needed each other it is them. Kuzco is not a young dog and I don't like to think about what that means. I hope he has many years to come because he will be impossible to replace. The dog is in the house more that I like to admit but Mikey wants him in because he says Kuzco needs to play with him and it makes him so happy. Anytime I grab my camera now he wants his picture taken with the dog. I still can't believe this dog was a shelter dog...he is very well trained and so sweet. We originally brought the dog to our house from the shelter to talk our neighbor into adopting him but we fell in love with him and I am sure Mike (Johns dad who works at the animal shelter) is very happy to see both Mikey and Kuzco happy. Mike knew that Kuzco would be a great boys dog and it seemed like a perfect fit...but Mikey was only one at the time. Anyway...I just wanted to share picture and tell you why you can see the love and happiness between Mikey and Kuzco. Love to all.

crazy busy

Ok...so Christmas really snuck up on me this year. I have never been so far behind in buying presents or decorating. Even the outside of our house only has lights on the roof....nothing in the yard to compete with the crazy display that our neighbors have going. I love looking out the window at their lights. Our Christmas tree is up but it is only half lit. Plus we have a new kitten and she climbs the tree everyday...and even sleeps inside of the thing. I have not shipped cards out yet and if I don't get them out by Friday (that's tomorrow) I really should give up on it. Anyway last night I asked our wonderful neighbor Lia if she could watch our kids for two hours while we went shopping for them. She of course was happy to help out (see why I love her). So at 6 we dropped them off and headed to Target first. All we found there was stocking stuffers. The store was crowded and there were only 3 lanes open to check out. I knew I had to bring my patients around this time of year with all the shopping going on but we only had two hours and Target was mostly a bust. Then we headed to Toys-r-us and they were having a two day sale (Tue-Wed)...lucky us. We had the most fun shopping that I have ever had in a store. We brought our Christmas cash with us and our shopping is not effecting our bank account. It was stress free shopping...if we wanted it for the kids we got it. We bought Toni a twin doll set that has a whole school theme to it. So the twins each have their own desks and homework. Toni gets to teach...she will love it. We also picked up a double stroller for her to push them around the house in. My girl loves to play dolls. (shhhhh so does Mikey). We bought Mikey a huge 18wheeler truck that holds 36 hot wheels in it and he can haul that everywhere. Also now that our kids are older and enjoy games we now have family game night. Thursday night is our choice because everyone is home...no meetings or church. We normally play simple card games or the memory games we have. Well....John and I went crazy on the game isle. We must have bought 8 games to play. From chutes and ladders to a kid game called Cooties. Everything was on sale so most the games were $4.49 a few games like UNO Attack were a little more but still great prices and I know family night is really going to be something cool in this new year. Our kids love playing the games with us and I would rather that then video games. Toni really does want a DS or a PSP but when I asked her if she would rather sit down with the family and play a new board game or the computer the family games won hands down. We still might get her a game system for her birthday but not for Christmas. Now I just need to wrap all the gifts and get them up on our Christmas shelf for the kids to see and get excited about. Anyway....John and I had tons of fun this year shopping together with no kids. It was perfect. This has been the most stress free Christmas I have ever had in my grown up life. Now I just need to get those cards done and in the mail tomorrow LOL.

My little Toni

Yesterday was the first day my daughter missed school. Friday she complained that her brain hurt. I was thinking allergy head ache. Then she had a fever over the weekend and then a sore throat. Sunday she developed a rash and I took her to the Doc on Monday morning. The office was full of sick kids. We were the third that morning to come back positive for strep. The Doc started her on anti-biotic and said she would not be contagious after 24 hours of antibiotic. I hope no one else gets this. Mikey still feels fine. John and I have no symptoms either and I pray it stays that way. Toni is off to school today and she says she is fine and it does not hurt to swallow. My girl hates liquid anti-biotic and now that she is 44 pounds she can take a big pill. The doc said she would not be able to swallow a pill that large but my girl has no problem with it as long as they don't give her that nasty liquid. Mikey has gymnastics today and it is so cold outside. I hope it warms up...the weather says it will warm up Wednesday and I hope they are right. Anyway...I have no pictures but I love you guys.

Gramma and snowflakes

My momma ("Gramma" to Mikey and Toni) came to visit us for a few days. My kids just love it when she is around. We saw her for a day or two and then she jumped on a plane and headed to Virginia to visit my sister and her other Grand babies for the week. When she came back from my sisters she stayed over the weekend and took the babies shopping for new bikes. We won't see her for Christmas so they got spoiled a little early. Both of my kiddo's decided that their new bikes needed to have kickstands. I don't know if any of you all know this but kickstands don't come on children's bikes. Training wheels do and my kids don't use the extra wheels. So first my mom set off to get them the perfect bikes....then kickstands....then horns so they can honk all the way through the neighborhood (I am sure our neighbors are thankful). They did real well on their new bikes and Mikey's bike is double the size of his old one. He has to tip the bike to get on it. It is a funny site to watch this little 31 pound kid pedal this bike all over the place. Toni has a very girly bike and she loves riding with Mikey but does not posses the same skill level on steering. She runs into things...like the mailbox.(I know my dear sister can relate). Mikey can maneuver through the toughest spots and never bat an eyelash. Toni panics and wrecks...I love her. It is a sight to see tham both, they are such good friends. I make them wear helmets when ever they leave the yard and head to the streets. I also never let them out of the yard unless I am right there with them...so stop worrying they will be fine. We had a great visit with mom and I am so thankful that she comes to see us. I already miss her but I know she likes to be home (self proclaimed hermit).

Today was fun too. We had a very warm day...strangely warm. Toni was off to school riding the bus like a big girl. Mikey and I went to his gymnastic class this morning and while he was in there jumping, tumbling and running some energy out I was thinking I should have worn a t-shirt instead of a long sleeve. Before we left for gym class Mikey had to go check on his bike (he likes to see it everyday...just looks at it). I explained to Mikey that we had to go shopping for grocery's after class. He just kept saying "can we just go home and ride bikes?". But I had to stop at the store. We shopped for quite some time and he bought dog bones for his Kuzco, he always wants something for his dog. We were back home by 12:30 so I told Mikey that first we needed to put all the stuff up and eat lunch. I rushed and just as I changed him from shorts to jeans for the bike ride the rain started to come down. I don't like to complain about rain here in the Austin area because we just don't get enough of it....so I wont' Mikey's face was sad and he ran out and moved his bike out of the rain so it would stay dry. The rain was short and the cloud moved...10 min past and it was sunny and beautiful once again. We grabbed our bikes and went riding through the neighborhood. It was really windy...hot...and the hills here were killing my legs. Mikey acted like he was not tired at all. We rode up to John's office and got our free drink of water there LOL. John was not in but Mikey drew all over Johns dry erase board (a picture of his new bike). We rode home and I checked the temp. (77 degrees out). Then I had to go pick Toni up. It was nice having them both home and Toni set up her new cup cake maker and made her brother a chocolate cup cake. (I really should have taken pictures). We had a cold front blowing in this evening and every time the wind blew it got colder and colder...it was like God turned on the heavenly A/C. In one hour it dropped 20 degrees. John had a meeting this evening so we all had dinner early. It was really cold out when John left for the meeting. I played with the kids all evening and put them to bed at 7:45. It is nice to have a quite house every now and then. I was the only one up...very strange. My bother worked till 11 p.m. and by 9:30 it was sleeting and the noise that the ice makes when it falls is way louder than rain. At about the time John was to head off to pick my brother up through the curvy hilly roads giant snowflakes were falling. It was so pretty. They are still falling and it is almost midnight the temp is 37 and still dropping. Anyway...that is the day...and the weekend.

A December's Wednesday

Wednesday was a crazy day. Toni came home crying from school. Her best friend is moving to California and she is sure she will never have a girl best friend again. I talked to Toni about the other girls in her class room and she said they all already have best friends and now hers is leaving. Times are tough for this country and even my kindergartner is feeling the effects. Emily is moving because her dad lost his job her in Austin and he found a new one in California. He is one of the lucky ones. Over 1.3 million people lost their jobs last year and no city or state is safe from financial devastation. That being said I am very glad that my husband is a water guy, I know that nothing is forever but we all need water there is just no way around it. Anyway.

Mikey and I hung out Wednesday and he painted a wooden boat as we talked about Jesus calming the storm for the scared fishermen. Mikey is a smart kid and loves to repeat the stories to anyone who will listen...with better sound effects than I make. He loved having sister home from school so he could show her his boat and tell his story (yet again). Sister cheered up and played with Mikey and it was nice to see her out of her little sadness time. Mikey still misses his sister during the day but has found that playing with the dogs is a fun way to pass time. He treats the dogs like playmates and hangs out with them throughout the day.

Awana's is on Wednesdays as well and we had to be there super early for check in because the whole team was going Christmas caroling. We stopped at Dollar General on the way to church to buy Christmas hats and reindeer antlers. Mikey and Ezra wanted the horns and Toni was all about the hat. We have 75 children in the Awana's program at church and most of them were there. We all loaded up in different cars and headed to a nursing home to surprise the people there with wonderful singing. John and I had the four children that we bring on Wednesday in our SUV and headed to follow the crowd. The only problem was both of us forgot to bring the directions and we became separated from the group we were trying to follow. We turned around to head back to the church in hopes of finding anyone that stayed behind that might know the directions. On our way back to the church John called Lia (one of the kids mom's that we take) to see if she could run to our house and read us the directions off the table. It all turned out OK and Lia read us off the directions to the rest of our group. No one even noticed that we were a little late as they had not started the singing. Yeah for us. It was a small place that we landed all of our kids in...but I am so glad we went. First we all stacked into the dinning area where the elderly people were eating and as we marched in everyone was singing...it sounded like angles with all the small voices (we had 15 three and four year olds). I looked around and people were pointing and some of them had tears in there eyes. Our kids gave out a few hugs to some open arms of the people and the ladies would tell me about there children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It was hard for me not to cry, you could tell how those lonely people needed to hear some great Christmas songs. After the dinning room herd a few songs and watched the kids for a few minutes we separated into two groups of about 50 people each. One group went upstairs and our group stayed down stairs. We walked along the halls of the nursing home very slowly and sang with every step. Some of the nurses came out and asked us to bring small groups into some of the rooms by request for some of the people that were no longer Mobile. To see the faces light up was amazing and the spirits in place were happy and warm that night. It was truly a gift for us to sing and help spread happiness. At one point we had a trail of walkers and wheel chairs behind our group following us around just to hear the children and remember the loved ones that they were missing. It was truly touching. Toni loved learning all the Christmas songs over the last few weeks for this event so she was heard loud and clear when a song popped up that she knew particularly well. Poor Mikey just kinda made up his own words but loved walking through the halls and singing his own tune...unless jingle bells was sung....he loves jingle bells and knows it very well.

That is about if for Wednesday....oh....and we wore them out, they slept well. Love to all.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My little family drove up to my Aunt Toni's house for the big event. She lives in Nacogdoches which took us five and a half hours to drive. We left on Wednesday and stayed several nights there in "the white box" (my daughters words) or what others would call a camper. We brought the kids bikes and Mikey learned just how far his bike could skid on pebbles safely. The kids went fishing and had so much fun hanging out with everyone and showing off a little. John took the kids for several rides on a large ATV (kinda like a mix between a four wheeler and a go cart. Very cool! On thanksgiving day there were 20 something people bringing food and eating with friends and family. My mom and her husband came too, so my kids were in double heaven. Everyone played games and talked it up. They had a pool table, a dart board, washer toss (I am not good at that game), and a wonderful pond to play around. I took a walk with my cuz, I just love her. After the crazy big meal and all of our taste buds were well spoiled someone hooked up a Karaoke machine. It was fun singing again and it was fun to watch the others sing too. My uncle got up there a few times and I love his voice...kinda reminds me of Randy Travis. My cuz Cheri has a wonderful voice and we even sang a few songs together. My mom ended up singing Johnny Cash because her voice is gone due to asthma (funny sight to see my tiny little mom singing Johnny). It was a blast. Great memories that will last forever. I have so much to be thankful for and this wonderful get together just added to my thankfulness.

a little fun

Last weekend Toni was invited to a birthday party for her friend Mathew who turned six. Toni just can't believe that all these kids get to turn six before her. The party was held at Austin's Park and Pizza and quite a few kids showed up. First we all gathered in a party room and had pizza and a beautiful Pirate cake. The kids sang and the birthday boy opened all his gifts. Then they passes out vouchers for the kids to go pick and ride different things. Toni was not interested in most the kid stuff...she wanted to push the limits and ride things she really should not be. Lucky for Toni her best friend from church showed up (she calls him K-Love....really Caleb lol) and they are two weeks apart. He likes to push the limits as well (they are not scared of anything). At first they stayed with the group and played video games and such.

But then they broke off and went to the rock climbing wall. The requirements are that you weigh at least 45 pounds....They are close. Toni weighs 44 and Caleb 42...but they let them on. Fun to watch. They played laser tag and were the only 5 year old in there not even the 6 year old wanted to go play in the dark. We went to the bumper boats and they were not tall enough to ride but Toni and Caleb charmed the man and he helped them onto their own boats. It was so much fun and I am glad I got to run around with them.

Did I mention that Caleb has a little brother named Samuel. They all look so happy together.

Man it is cold.

The picture is the road to my daughters school in the morning.

I am not a cold weather person...so I can't wait for this cold front to go away. I know it will because I live in Texas and one week it is cold and one week it is nice. Sooooo its cold...for now. Yesterday Mikey woke up a mess, he had been coughing all night and his fever was 102 (not scary for a 3 year old) and he was shaky. I took him to the pediatrician and again there is nothing they can do for him. Rest, fluid, medication for the fever and we get to wait it out. The good news on him is his ears look great, he does not have strep, no sign of a sinus infection and they seem to think this is the end of what-ever he is fighting. The bad news is his chest is not sounding perfect so if he is still coughing in a few days we have to go back in. They say if he is improving every day instead of getting worse not to worry. So I took my little sick cuddler home and gave him meds.

Also yesterday Toni had thanksgiving lunch and all parents and family were invited to join her. She had went to bed with a ear ache and was up most the night before in pain. Lucky us she woke up ready to go to school. I told her after her little party dinner at school she would be leaving and heading to the doctor. She was good with this idea. John and I went to her lunch at school and ate with her class. It was fun. I got to meet most the kids in her classroom and the food was good too. Toni is such a great little student. After the lunch I loaded her up and took her to the Doc. Yep...twice in one day. Did I mention that the Doc is not right down the road. Our pediatrician is in Round Rock over half an hour away from us. I am glad we went. She has a double ear infection due to coughing and the Doc does not like the sound in her chest. She describes the sound as a crackle. If she does not shake this cough by Monday I have to bring her back for chest x-rays. The Doc says this is how pneumonia starts and it sounds like the beginning. She is now on Anti-biotics and we are hoping that not only does this take care of the ears but it will take care of the chest as well. Sickness is not fun. I feel like we are just going to be sick ALL year. I went to the store and bought very expensive oranges for them. Lucky me both my kiddo's love oranges. I think I will peel at least one a day. Yesterday they both ate one each.

I have been fighting a cold or something for a few days and I am tired of fighting, staying up at night with one kid or the other, feeling bad about not getting more done around the house. I am losing the battle of sanity with my brain and my house. Lucky me I am still not sick. Vince was sick over last weekend and Monday and Tuesday...but he seems fine now. I think I am not sick because I simply don't have time to be. Today I am making 12 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a Kindergarten party at Toni's school. They all have to be cut and delivered by 11 so I have a little time. I am thinking coffee sounds great this morning. I can only have coffee about twice a week or I get hurt on it. BUT...I think today is going to be one of my two days I am going to brew. IC (Interstitial Cystitis) is not fun...but hey at least I can control it. I am thankful that I don't have something more serious like cancer.

Mikey is on the couch and he is laying with our cat Zella. I think she just knows when someone needs a friend. Mikey is such an animal lover. Toni is at school and seemed better today than yesterday. I hope all goes well with her today. Well...that is what has been going on.

A very Thursday day.

Well Thursday snuck up on us (can't believe the week is gone). Thursday morning I had to wake my baby girl up for school and I did not want to. She had the roughest night. She woke up several times coughing and at one point threw up because of the coughing. I just knew when I went to wake her up she would want to skip school. But I always ask her anyway cause I hate to make that little girl mad. She woke up and started getting ready, I drove her to school instead of the bus thinking she would change her mind before we got there. No such luck, but she was still coughing. I dropped her off and headed home. about 9:15 the school nurse called me and told me that Toni was in a coughing fit and asked what I was doing for her asthma. I was a little surprised, I told her that Toni had never been formally diagnosed with asthma but her pediatrician and I were both aware that it could become a problem if I can't keep her allergies under control. She takes clariten and most the time that is enough. But something blew in with the storm on Wednesday and she was going under. The only thing that will work when she gets bad is Zyrtec but it makes her so sleepy. She falls asleep in class and it is hard to wake her up. Soooooo I only give it to her on days like this. But I had already given her the claritin for the day so that was out of the question. The school nurse thought the best thing to do would be for me to pick her up. No problem....I went down to the school, signed her out and went to the nurses office. Toni was not there. The nurse said Toni was upset that she was missing class and wanted to wait for me in the classroom. So they called her and she came down the hallway and as we were headed to the door she said "hold on a sec momma". She ran back to the library and talked to the lady for a second. Then she came back and said "I had to let Mrs. Rice know that I would not be helping her today during free time, I told her this morning I would" Awww my sweet girl is giving up free time to help some of the teachers. Anyway when we got to the car she said "lets go get something for my cough and then you can bring me back to school. I don't know why I was shocked by this statement but it took me by surprise. I was thinking she could come home and get rest. But...I took her to Walmart and bought her triaminic thin strips which help with coughing and it is a little tiny strip that dissolves on the tounge. It was around her lunch time so I had Mikey and Toni both pick a lunchable at Walmart as well. Then I headed to the pharmacy to buy a humidifier for her room for at night when needs it the most. Mikey, Toni, and I all sat in the parking lot as they finished eating. I gave Toni a thin strip and headed back to school. They were a little shocked to see her again but the lady at the front desk was happy that Toni loves school. Her class was at the playground and Toni insisted that I just let her go across the whole school grounds and the parking lot by herself to meet up with her class. YEAH RIGHT. Mikey and I walked my big girl to the fence that the playground was in and let her go from there. I understand that she wants to be independent but really...come on. Anyway. The humidifier is really helping and she slept way better last night. No phone calls yet from the school today.

Circus

Well last weekend the circus came to Austin. It was so much fun. John and the kids had never been to a circus and they thought it was great. There were clowns all over the place and at one point one came and sat next to Toni. She just kept pretending not to see him she did not know what to think. She finally warmed up to the idea that they were there for fun and then her and I were on a hunt to get them to sign her book. We only managed to find a few clowns to sign in her circus book but seeing her chasing them down to get the signature was like watching a star struck fan chase down Brad Pitt. It was a three ring circus and they had elephants, Tigers, Lions, a really fun dog show, Jugglers, a cool circle cage that had 7 motorcycles in it at one time, and Trapeze. I am sure I am missing other things but it was so much fun. Mikey loved the mirrors that could make you TALL or short, Fat and small. John was so entertained seeing him enjoying himself was fun too. We will be going back to the circus next year...sooooo fun. We bought the kids the cotton candy, popcorn and slushies when the vender's would pass us. We skipped all the expensive toys all over the place but our kids were quite happy with the junk we feed them. Our neighbors also went and we sat next to them. The neighbor boy goes to clown camp every year and he was an honorary clown for the day so she had great seats. Noah (the honorary clown) was in the center ring during the opening ceremony. After seeing all the acts, the clowns, and the super cool animals both my kids agreed that the best part was the dog show. Now you know they are my kinda kids.

Olympics

Well...I have been wanting to get together with my church more on a social level. I love all the stuff I am involved in but never really get to have fun with them. I was invited to a couples special Olympic games night. If you could not find childcare for your children it was $8 at the church for the night per family (no matter how many kids you had). I was crazy happy that John said he would go (and I know he just agreed to go for me). We were to dress up as our fav. Olympian and show up ready to compete. 14 couples showed up and we started out with a home cooked meal and fellowship for an hour. Then we were split into random groups (and you could not be on the same team as your husband). There were 5 different groups and we were given five min. to come up with our country (had to be made up...nothing real), draw a country flag, and sing a short anthem. It was great I was in group Coco mo and ready to compete. we had several events lined out and we had to pick team members to compete in each. First was pole throwing (OK...it was really straws that we tossed to see who could make it the farthest), then it was Shot put competition (ummmm it was a small foam ball). We went from the balancing beam (one two by four piece of lumber placed on the floor...like 2 inches high) and everything in between. We had to act like it was all real. We even ended with couple ice skating (in the gym with no real skates...all fake). In the ice skating events we had to have a lift and that was fun on our team because we are the only ones that sent out two guys to pretend skate (one in a dress). We all laughed our selves stupid and had a blast. From being flung across the gym on wheels to cartwheeling, tumbling, and leaping the way to victory, in the end we all waited for the results and of course my team won (I am a sore loser and I will not lose). We got the gold and had to sing our anthem in front of all...again. The team John was on won the silver. It was such a fun night (it lasted 3 hours all in all). I really like playing with the folks from our church and John had a blast too. I will remember to bring my camera next time...too funny.

First day of November

Today was a fun day...we stayed outside most the day and played with the neighbors. My kids wanted their faces painted again so I told them sense it was Saturday I could. But not on school nights or church days. Toni wanted to be a cat and Mikey just wanted paint. Lia and I took turns outside with the kids so we could each do our laundry and clean our houses a little. I really have great neighbors. It is now November and guess what came by today. Yep...the ice cream truck. Lucky them I had a little extra money from the washer (I still have not learned not to launder money). Mikey still is clingy but no fever today, I just don't understand what has got him down. The kids are watching Wallie right now (thanks Uncle Vince). They really love movie and I like it because there is not much talking so it is nice to play when you are tired of noise.

I miss my husband. I hope he is having fun with the guys and getting a break. It is nice to have his help with the kids in the evening but I understand needing to get away some times. I wish he was home but I know it is opening weekend of deer season. I wonder how many wives are our there thinking the same thing I am. I told him if he goes he has to bring me a WHOLE deer home. (he likes to give some of it away). I told him he can't give any away unless it is his second deer. I miss the deer meat in the fridge.

Fall Festival and more.

Soooo today started out kinda crazy. I think some of it had to do with last night. In the middle of the night (1 a.m.) Mikey woke up with a fever and threatening to throw up. I sat in the bathroom with him for a while and gave him meds. After an hour or so we went back to bed...he was so hot and kinda shaky. Finally both of us went to sleep. The next thing I know it is 6:50 in the morning...on a school morning. Toni gets up at 6...catches the bus at 7:07. grrrrrrrr, the alarm did not wake me up and John just shut it off. I flew out of bed and started getting Toni ready for school as fast as I could. She needed a lunch packed and her hair done. Not to mention it is Halloween and they were having a parade of costumes at 8:30. We don't really celebrate it..but I don't want her left out so I found a kitten mask that she could parade around in. It is also drug awareness week and she needed to wear something green today. I finally got her all ready to go by 7:15. She ate, drank, hair fixed, mask in hand, lunch in the backpack, folder from school signed, Gym shoes on because today is "B" day and that means comfy clothes and running shoes. We missed the bus so I had to drive her to school. Finally she was at school and I was home with my poor sick Mikey. He had a fever from Sunday to Tuesday and then was fine...till Thursday night. I don't get it. I took him into the doc and explained that I don't know what to do with him. He had no symptoms what so ever. No cough, no runny nose, not a sore ear, and no rash. I was out of idea's. What is wrong? They tested him for everything including strep but could find nothing wrong. I took my fevered boy home and I keep giving him meds to keep the fever out.

Well today was fall festival at church so I really wanted to go. I signed up for face painting. But then John got invited to go hunting this weekend and I was not sure what to do. Toni and Mikey go every year and were both really excited to go...so I had to go. Lucky me Lia decided to go. I knew that Mikey would only hang out with me (he has been really clingy for about a week now). So Lia ran around with Toni, Raul, and little 2 year old Marcos. They had fun. I signed up for the second shift of face painting. Before we went to the church I sat down and painted all the kids faces just to make sure I could do it. I could...first time for everything. Two people run the booth at all times so I knew I would be OK. Two lines of kids getting paint on there face. The first hour Mikey and I played games, saw Christian puppet shows, played in large bounce houses, O our church is so much fun. Last year we saw about 200 kids...I am sure there was more than that this year. The second hour came and Mikey was tired so I took him to the booth with me to hang out. I thought it would be great to sit there and chat with the other lady because I am quite fond of her and we are around the same age. People kept asking me if I was a professional....(so sweet). Did I mention that I love to paint faces. I am always looking for ways to make friends. This was such a bad idea. My "friend" abandoned me and her husband took her place...within like 10 minutes I was alone painting a huge line of faces. No one ever came over to even check on me. But I did have fun painting. The kids loved it and to see there face light up when they saw themselves in the mirror was priceless. Mikey sat on the floor next to my chair eating cupcakes and drawing ladybugs with paint. He is such a good boy. After the fest was over I found the lady who left me hanging. She said she just could not paint next to me because hers did not compare to mine. Kinda made me sad..I was just doing the best I could. I think sometimes I try to hard. On the other hand I want to paint faces again next year but I need to find someone that can sit next to me first. Lia and the gang had tons of fun as well. When it was time to go home I could not find my keys. I had to run around and ask if anyone had seen a set of keys. People kept asking me to describe them and I had to say they have a orange rectangle on them that reads "Key's I haven't lost yet". I spent 20 minutes looking for them. Lia was waiting in the car with all four children and was also looking through all there bags and stuff for them. Finally Lia found them in my camera bag (such a good place to put something so it does not get lost). I was happy, driving home to rest. Well..not really. Lia is coming over at 10:15 tonight to babysit while I go pick up Vince. He gets off at 10:30 from work. Anyway...I love everyone. Wish me luck on the fever thing. Oh...and now Mikey is coughing. Finally a symptom. Maybe it is just a cold.

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed

The family just got back from AWANA's (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed). It is a fun bible club class that meets on Wednesday nights. I am the Cubbies secretary and I keep track of 17 little Cubbers on paper. I am not a teacher in the class, I just figure out who is picking them up, what points they get, who needs patches and stickers, I do the potty breaks because I am in the hall anyway. I do paper work for about an hour every week. Fill out we missed you cards to the cubbers who did not show up, birthday cards to the ones that are coming up and so much more. John is a games leader for the whole AWANA's Ages 3 to 11. He plays games the whole hour and a half we are there. Last year Toni was a Cubbie and Mikey was a Puggle. This year Mikey is a Cubbie and Toni is in a new class called Sparks. Mikey memorizes shortened versions of scripture. Toni has to say the whole thing. It is like a work at your own pace kinda thing for Toni and Mikey does one scripture a week. Toni almost finished the book and I found out that this book was supposed to last all year for her oops...they should have warned her(kinda an overachiever don't you think?). She is amazing and has learned so much. She knows all her New Testament books in order and is now working on the Old Testament. I wish my camera had video on it...it does not. Mikey's fever stopped last night and he is normal as can be today. I love my God he is awesome.


Last years pix


Mikey and I went to Barnes-n-Nobles today for story time...way cool. The guy was like 70 years old and very entertaining. He sang songs with a Ukulele , and he had a puppet frog that spoke Spanish very well. He read two books and had fun with all the kids (there was like 30 kids around him). After that he passed out crayons and coloring pages. We will go back..I hope that guy is still there. I kept thinking..this guy is crazy, at his age with all these germs running around, yep totally nuts. But as long as he is that insane we will be going back.







So between getting up at 6 in the morning to get my daughter ready for school, grocery shopping in the morning with Mikey, Story time at 11, lunch, Two loads of laundry (one still hanging on the line), at the school from 2 to 3 to pick the kids up from school (By kids I mean Toni and the next door neighbor), and eating dinner at the church on wed(did I mention home made), then Awana's till 8....I am tired yet again. What a crazy busy day, I love Wednesdays though. I like that the whole family is involved in writing the word of God on little hearts every Wednesday. I love that God decided to keep me around to do more work for him. I understand that time is a gift and I am happy to spend my time doing Gods work.







Ahhhhh....now to relax a little, blog, watch a recorded TV show, put my feet up and start laundry again in the morning.

A crisp tuesday!

Today was a little colder than I like but it turned out to be a beautiful day. When I hung laundry on the line my fingers froze. Now I get them line ready before I head out. I straiten all of them and make sure they are all turned right side in. I hang up all the hang up shirts on hangers and put them on the line hanger and all...makes it fast. I am learning how to do the hanging with great speed. I might start timing myself just for fun. Also I don't hang up socks it takes too much time. I have a large trampoline out back where the line is and I just lay them (more like toss) out and they dry just fine. When they are dry I send a kid and a basket out to gather all the socks. The trampoline has the netting on it so the wind can blow them all over and they stay on the trampoline. OK...I am rambling.

I was hoping that my Mikey would be fine by today but he is not quite "well" yet. For no reason that I can find he has had a temp sense Sunday morning. Today I thought he would be over it but here I am still dosing him with meds. Once the meds are in him no one in the world would think he was sick, there are no other symptoms. And he runs and plays for about 4 hours until the fever hits again. Then he is whiny, clingy, and looks miserable. Then I dose him and up he goes. grrrrr so frustrating but I know this will pass. I hope he breaks the fever tonight.

Toni is having fun and I think she is making up homework so she can spend more time in study. Today she said they had to find out if things sank or floated and report it back to the teacher. I could not find anything like this in her folder. I know that when the teacher assigns home work it is written out so the parents know. But just to amuse my Dear Daughter (DD) I gave in and let her do her experiment around the house. She made a chart (and wrote all the words, such pretty handwriting) and had tons of fun doing this with about 5 items. Then after we cleaned up she informed me that she needed to do it with 10 items. I told her next time to remember those details BEFORE we start because I really don't think this was homework anyway. She did her real homework in about 2 min. That is about how long her work is everyday. I love her but she drives me crazy....I still don't love school and I know she does. Also I am still reading a few books and kids. The one I read today talked about how every child is different and it is important to learn where your kid can do homework best. The book suggested that we simply ask the kid where they think they would be able to best work on the homework. So I did this. Toni said upstairs away from all the noise. She said she wants her desk moved back up there so she can have a quite place to work and think. OK...so my kid wants a desk, quite, and alone. This is funny to me because I work best in large comfy chair with stuff in my lap. I need music to keep me on task and it helps if people are around because I feel more like I am not missing out on the life around me. I am so glad I asked her. If you give my girl a paper and crayons she goes to the table and colors, if you give the same stuff to Mikey he lays on the floor. They are like night and day. Just thought I would share.

Love to all.

Great wonderful news!

I am fine...God answered many many prayers and is keeping me nice and healthy. I would love to thank all the people who prayed and asked God to keep me and my family safe and with peace. Before I ever went in to do the test I was really at peace with whatever the outcome was going to be. We have an awsome God and I am glad I am one of his children. I am kinda emotional today (kinda on a high from the power of God) and it is hard to gather my thoughts.

Love to all.

Toni
Tone
Ton Ton
Tonia
Puppy

I voted today.

Yep...thats right. I went to the Jonestown City Hall and voted against Obama. I really hope he loses. I woke up with a really bad pain in my neck and new it must be time to vote (kidding kinda). I did vote and I am glad I got that out of the way but in all seriousness my neck is killing me. I could not even go to church today bad. I sent John to stand in my place for sundayschool teacher. The kids and John loaded up and left for service. Mikey spiked a fever and they had to come home early. Sickness...grrrr. Mikey still does not feel good and Toni is coughing up a storm.

I have my appointment in the morning and John is going with me. I have done a good job of putting the appointment out of my head. I am really not worried anymore and I believe that the Lord has it all under control. There is a certain peace about me and I know it is because so many folks are praying for me. On a good note I finished cleaning my rug and got the thing in from off the driveway (I am sure the neighbors are happy about that).

Rats!

OK...so my house is a little messy..at least we don't have bugs, rats, or mice in it. Maybe an occasional scorpion or two and every once in a while a little Gecko gets in and dies from poison (thanks Terminex). I hate to find little dead Gecko's. They are so cute and they don't bite. If I find them alive I catch them and put them in my flower beds. I love most critters and some people think that is strange. Well today we cleaned out the garage and found that rats have been in there. I was sorting through boxes and taking anything we really don't need out and putting it in the trash or on freecycle (a place to give crap away). I found a nest of little tiny pink baby rats. They were so cute, eyes closed, ears not developed and just very very helpless. John said "throw them over the fence". Yeah, not going to happen. My heart broke. This is life and God created it. God gave them a mother to care for them and little tiny beating hearts. I tried not to cry. I wanted to put the box back and call it a day but the rats were destroying our boxes and stealing our dog food. They had managed to stuff every little space in every little box and hose and space full of dog food. Like a squirrel burying a nut for the winter. We had a garage full of "pack rats" now for the first time I understand the phrase. Rats really pack EVERYTHING. I gathered up all sevan babies and put them in a small cell phone box. I ran an add in the freecycle saying I hate 7 homeless baby rats who needed homes and lots of care. I prayed someone would love animals as much as me and foster these little guys. My husband thought I was nuts (kinda still does). He kept saying "no body wants rats" , "people feed them to snakes". I get that and all but I don't mind killing something for a reason like food. It is the natural order of things. Snakes eat rats, cats eat snakes. I get it. I want the rats out of the garage too, I just want them relocated. Anyway about 15 min. after I posted the add for free rats a rat lover called me. She breeds rats and has "fancy" rats like Dalmatian rats (the coolest looking rat I have ever seen). I am not really a rat person but I could love one with out a problem...just look into their cute little eyes. I told my husband I was meeting the rat lady at the Cedar Park high school to hand the 7 little babies over. He was mad. He said I was wasting my gas and time. They are just rats. I kept thinking...does he know me at all. SO I left and met the nice lady. I talked to her awhile at the school and then followed her home to see her rats. I met her cute kids and saw her super cool rats. Then she sent me with a rat trap that catches them without hurting them. She says if I can catch the momma she will try and raise them together. She does not sell to snake owners. She sells to people that love rats and they have to be friendly. Her teen daughter came running to see the new babies...so nice. I did my good for the day...RIGHT. Well not quite I came home and continued the cleaning out of the sheds. TWO sheds. Well turns out we had two nests I found another nest with 6 babies in it. I did not want to call the rat lady back...too embarrassed to do that. So I called my crazy neighbors who raise all kinds of things including three children. They were excited and took the rats to try and foster them. They have never raised little rodents before but were looking them up on the Internet. I gave them a cage and 6 little babies that had a little bit of fur and eyes closed. I would have loved to raise them but I knew after how John reacted it was out of the question. I love my husband and he puts up with me as much as I put up with him. When I came back and talked to my hubby he said he felt like a big A-hole after I left. Not because he likes rats or cares if they live or die...he just felt bad because he dismissed my feeling on the subject and should understand by now my love for "all things living". I am tired right now. I have a lot on my mind and cleaned two sheds today plus drug my carpet out of the living room and cleaned it in the driveway today with the rug cleaner...took about an hour and a half. It is still out there drying I am sure our neighbors are thrilled to see my rug on the driveway LOL. I won't mention that I had the rat motel in my back yard to them. O the life of me. I love creatures. I need to go check my trap now.