[happyramblings]

Colorado: Day 4

2010-10-08T17:55:00.002-05:00

Wow ... guess I took an extended hiatus from posting to the blog. Sorry about that. It's time for me to finish the final couple of days of our Colorado vacation. Day 4 we just stayed pretty close to the hotel. We started the day with fly fishing lessons. We thought that would be more fun than it was. We didn't even get to fish. Just learned to cast on the cement. Boring!!!

But at least the view was nice!

Then we headed into town for a little souvenier shopping and also stopped in at the visitor center to find out where a good hiking trail was. And the kids found a neat statue they wanted to pose with (ok ... I wanted them to pose with it!!).

And then we were off to the trail! The kids wanted to sit in the ski lift even though it was clearly marked not to. Ah well ... ya gotta break the rules sometimes!

And then up the mountain we went!

Then we found a little stream we had to cross. That was fun!

Then we found a little clearing with a bunch of snowmobiles. We were all pretty worn out by this point so we stopped and played on them for a little while. This was probably against the rules, too. But no one was there. :)

And on the way back down the mountain, we discovered the coldest lake on the planet. OMG that water was like ice!!!! I don't even know how the kids got in it. Look at Austin's face. Too funny!

Stay tuned for day 5 ... coming soon! Promise it won't be another month! And this will be a good post. Gonna show pics of our whitewater rafting adventure!

Happy Birthday Austin!

2010-09-01T08:00:00.006-05:00

Wow! My little man is 12 years old today! I can't believe it. We're so proud of you Austin! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last year. You've grown so much this year. (Halloween - you were an emo kid, snow day in Texas, 4th of July, fun day at Grandma's, confirmation)

And I had to include some of me and you together. I love you Austin. You're my buddy!!

And here's a song just for you. Can't believe how LOUD you listen to your music. But feel free to turn this one all the way up and I won't even tell you to put on your headphones!! :)

Colorado: Day 3

2010-08-31T14:22:00.004-05:00

Day 3 was our fun day! We went to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs. It was about an hour and a half drive so we left pretty early. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. We got to Glenwood Springs around 11:00am and ate lunch before we headed up the mountain to the adventure park. Here are some pictures of the gondolas that carried us up the mountain and also the view from the gondola.

And the kids wanted to get straight to the fun! Austin jumped on the trampoline with a bungee cord and Nick, Mackenzie and Lauren climbed the rock wall. (That's Mackenzie in the first picture way at the top!)

And then I believe we did our first round of the alpine slide but I didn't get any pictures because I put my purse in a locker. But not to worry ... there will be pictures in a minute. We rode it LOTS!

And then we went over to the mechanical bull. The kids all rode and I decided it looked fun so I tried it out too. All was good except it didn't stop until you fell! There was no 8 second ride!! LOL! Marty decided not to ride cause he said he had ridden one before and it hurt! So here we have pictures of everyone riding and everyone falling.

And then Lauren wanted to do it again while the boys went somewhere so I took a video. (Oops - forgot to turn off the camera at the end.)

And then the kids did a few more rounds of stuff. These are just miscellaneous pictures. I don't remember what order we did what because they just kept running from place to place. In addition to these pictures, there was also a human maze, a 4-D show and laser tag. It's a pretty fun place! The picture of Lauren is in this wooden box thing that had tiny little passageways that you had to twist and turn your body around. She was good at it because she's so small.

And now it's time for alpine slide pictures. The alpine slide is kinda like a combination of a go-kart and a rollercoaster that goes down the side of the mountain. It's on rails so you can't fall off. But you control how fast or slow you go. It was a lot of fun and the kids only had one speed ... lever all the way forward!

That last picture is the view from the bottom. After the ride is over, you just get to lay back and it hauls you back up the mountain. It's very relaxing and takes several minutes.

My last ride I got brave and took a video. I had the camera strapped tightly to my arm so I was videoing with one hand and pushing the go lever with the other. Seems completely safe! :P

A good time was had by all!

And then it was time to go back to the hotel. Here's my family waiting for the gondola to take us back down the mountain. We were lucky because they had shut down the gondolas for awhile because they had spotted lightening. For awhile it looked like there was going to be a huge storm. It got all windy and dark. So we played laser tag and when we were done the weather was sunny again. And I thought Texas weather was weird ... mountain weather is just crazy!

And then we were back on the highway to Breckenridge. This tunnel right through the mountain was so cool and so was the way the highway was high on one side and low on the other I guess so they didn't have to cut out the mountain as much when building the road.

And that's all for day 3. It was such a fun day!! The only thing that was bad is that I felt like I was gonna die when we got almost to the hotel. All that altitude did me in!!!! A couple of Advils later and I was good as new.

Day 4 coming soon!

Colorado: Day 2

2010-08-30T17:55:00.002-05:00

Our second day in Colorado was rainy and cool. So we decided to make it a drive-around-and-look kinda day. So we went for a drive up the Boreas Pass which is located on the continental divide, at the crest of the Front Range along the border between Park (south) and Summit counties. (Yeah I looked all that up!) The drive up the pass is just on this little tiny gravel service road that is closed in the winter and used by cross-country skiers. It was a little spooky in the foggy, rainy weather. But the views sure were pretty!

And then of course we had to stop and take pictures at a pretty spot. Here's Marty and the kids then me and the kids. And nobody fell off the cliff so all was well! And it was COLD!!!

And then we kept driving and driving and DRIVING!!!! On the wet, bumpy road and about this point we all had to pee so bad!!! Me and the kids thought we would never get there!!!

But then there it was ... our oasis! And it even had a working bathroom!!! Too bad we figured that out a few minutes too late. :P

And then instead of turning around, we kept going and decided to see where we ended up. We took a few wrong turns... Please don't make me go up to 13822 feet! I could hardly breathe at 11482!!!

And finally ended up in South Park City. The boys were sooo excited!!! (You'll see this sign again in a few days. We had to make another stop by the sign when Mackenzie had his South Park dolls.)

And we saw even more mountains on the drive back to Breckenridge. Somehow we ended up like 30 miles away from our hotel when we had started right by it! Can ya tell I was tired of taking pictures of the mountains by this point? :)

Day 3 coming up soon ... and it's a fun one. Alpine slide, mechanical bull riding, etc! Don't miss it!

The First Day of School!

2010-08-24T15:33:00.001-05:00

We interrupt my Colorado postings to bring you Nick, Austin, Lauren and Mackenzie's first day of the 2010-11 school year! Nick is in 8th grade and in his final year of middle school. Austin just started 7th grade and joined Nick in the middle school. And Lauren and Mackenzie began their first year in intermediate school (they're in 5th grade). I have no more elementary school kids! And Nick will go to high school next year. OMG!

Lauren stayed up late and picked out the perfect outfit for the first day of school. Mackenzie has known all summer what he was gonna wear. As soon as Grandma bought this dancing kitties shirt he said he was gonna wear it on the first day of school. Their bus comes first so here they are about to go to the bus stop.

And here they are at the bus stop joined by Lauren's BFF Hannah and Mackie's friend/Lauren's boyfriend Mitchel. Quite a crew there!! Apparently this is the "cool" side of the street.

And after that picture, Lauren made me step away from the bus stop. LOL! But I still got some pictures of the bus picking them up and leaving. Probably better this way anyway because I get yelled at by the bus driver every year for getting on the bus and taking a picture. :P

And 15 minutes later it was Nick and Austin's turn. I took one picture then Marcel walked up and I had to get one of him too (he's Mitchel's older brother and is in the same grade as Nick).

And that's all folks! Everyone had a great first day and have already adjusted to their new schools. Nick is the only one who didn't change schools and is enjoying his big man on campus status for now. Next year will be a different story when he sees how big seniors are compared to freshmen!

More Colorado pics coming soon!

Breckenridge, Colorado: Day 1

2010-08-22T11:11:00.001-05:00

We headed out to Colorado last Saturday after I got off work. We were on the road at about noon. The trip took us about 16 hours total and the kids did great. The trip itself was pretty uneventful. We had one wrong turn which cost us about an hour. And then about 20 minutes from the hotel, we hit a deer. Poor little guy! It was unbelievable how many deer were on the road at 3 in the morning so we were going really slow but this little guy was just dumb and ran right in front of us.

After the long drive, and getting to our room around 4am, the plan was to sleep in. We did pretty good. I think I was the first one up and that wasn't until about 9:00. That is REALLY late for me! I even skipped running. We were all up and dressed by noon and we headed out to see what we could see. Here is the view right outside the hotel and the kids' first view of the mountains.

Then we headed into town to see what we could see and to have lunch. Breckenridge is a tiny little town. Basically just 2 streets but it's pretty cool. Nick and Austin wanted to take their picture in the Rasta Pasta man (we didn't eat there).

And then we found the welcome center. There was a little museum upstairs and the kids had fun trying on the old-time clothes.

Then we found a pizza place. According to the kids, it was the best pizza EVER! But somehow over the course of the week, we found 2 more places that had even better pizza! :) And after lunch we went to the riverwalk. The kids waded in but that water was way cold. Marty put in his toes and I just felt it with my hand. No thanks! Even the kids were cold ... especially Nick who slipped on a rock and got really wet.

And then we went and explored the hotel and found the gameroom.

And then we called it a night. The kids watched a movie and Marty and I figured out our laptops. Ya gotta farm even while on vacation!! :P

Day 2 coming very soon!!

Are You Kidding Me?

2010-08-11T19:51:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything since January?! OMG! Well I guess it's impossible to play catch-up so I'll just start where we are and move forward. So we'll start with this: I turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. Holy cow! Couldn't even fit 40 candles on the cake. :P

We're headed to Colorado in a couple of days for our summer family vacation so I promise to post a ton of pictures of that. Getting back on track. :)

Hawaii: Day 1

2010-01-16T19:00:00.008-06:00

Marty and I went to Kaua'i, Hawaii the week before Christmas. Originally, we were going to take the kids, too. But airfare for 6 people was just too much so we promised them a nice trip to the beach as soon as possible. We flew with air miles so we were pretty much at the mercy of the airlines to get us there and back. And the trip there was not great. We left at 9am Dallas time and got to Kaua'i at about 10:30pm Hawaii time which was 2:30 in the morning for us. We had 3-hour layovers in both San Jose and L.A. But that was fine because plane rides make for good sleeping for me and movie watching for Marty. We flew over some mountains. I think this was New Mexico but I'm not sure.

Then we finally arrived in Kaua'i. We were both really tired and pretty much just checked into the hotel and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up pretty early. I wanted to go for a really short run. It was my first run after the White Rock Marathon just 4 days before so I was going to try for 2 miles but was still pretty sore. There was a golf course by the hotel and I ran to it and watched the sun rise and it was really beautiful. I took these pictures with my cell phone and they aren't great but you can see how pretty it was.

I ran by the golf course and found a little trail by a stream. My legs were hurting a little but the scenery seemed to make it go away. But then I came upon a goose. She did NOT want me to pass her. She was hissing at me and looking like she wanted to take a chunk out of my leg. Everytime I got near her, she would hiss but if I turned around to go the other way she was fine. But I didn't want to go the way I had just come from. I guess she had babies nearby. But after a minute or so I found a branch and poked it at her and ran past her. Of course I had to get a picture of that pissed off goose.

Marty was awake when I got back and we checked out some of the scenery. Here is the view from the hotel room and the beach right in front of the hotel. We were on Kalapaki Beach in Lihue, Kaua'i.

After we went to the beach for awhile, we got cleaned up then wandered around the hotel grounds before getting our rental car. We stayed at the Kaua'i Marriott Resort the first two nights of our trip. It's a beautiful hotel.

After we got the car we headed north to Kapaa where we were going to have an early dinner. I have a friend from high school that manages a bar there called the Olympic Cafe and he invited us to dinner. We were running pretty early so we decided to check out the town. We found a little market and shopped around. And the only thing I took a picture of was this chicken! You would not believe all of the roosters and chickens on Kaua'i! They are everywhere!! And they have no sense of time. They start crowing at about 3am and never stop all day.

Here's a video that I took the last day we were in Hawaii just so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about with the chickens and roosters. They are loud!

After we shopped for a little bit, we headed over to the Olympic Cafe. Here's a picture and also a picture of the sign in the parking lot. There were houses right behind it and the sign cracked us up!

My friend, Greg, greeted us right away. It was good to see him. It had been at least 20 years!! And we had a nice dinner. But this was the first time I realized that it was actually kind of chilly in Hawaii. The restaurant was open-air and breezy! I was glad that I had brought a jacket!

And we got back to the hotel just as the sun was setting. It was a fun and relaxing day. And just as a preview for day 2 ... it was anything but relaxing! Stay tuned. :)

How about a little Jack Johnson for my music today? We heard a lot of him while we were in Hawaii. This song is called Breakdown.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

2009-12-24T20:10:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve with the kids giving each other their gifts. They draw names every year to see who is giving to who.

Here's how it ended up this year (I almost need a spreadsheet to keep up with it every year!). Austin picked Lauren and gave her a Webkinz penguin.

Mackenzie drew Nick's name and bought him a Domo.

Lauren got Tech Decks for Austin.

And Nick bought Mackenzie a Puffle.

Somehow I got a present, too. Even though our trip to Hawaii was supposed to be our only present. But I got an A&M hook from Marty. Gig 'em!

And then Marty made cookies for Santa. Actually we only left Santa two and we all ate the rest. :)

Now we're headed up to watch a Christmas show or two and then settle in for a long winters' nap. Merry Christmas to all! And here's my favorite Christmas carol ... Little Drummer Boy. This is a good version sung by Bing Crosby and David Bowie.

'Tis the season for Christmas concerts!

2009-12-14T19:45:00.005-06:00

What a wonderful time of year! All of the kids have worked hard on their programs and we got to see them all perform. And the great news for you is that I took lots of video! I KNOW you're excited about that. So I'll just go in chronological order.

Tuesday, December 1st

Lauren and Mackenzie and the entire 4th grade perform "Crazy Carols."

Saturday, December 5th

Nick plays in the All-Region Band Christmas concert.

We are so proud of Nick for his accomplishments in band this year. Not only is he 1st chair clarinet in Honors Band at his school, but he also auditioned for and made all-district and all-region! I snuck up by the stage and took his picture before most of the other kids took their seats. And I also snapped one of the other kids while we waited for the performance to start and Daddy was in the lobby buying a t-shirt for Nick.

And we took some pictures of the man of the hour with me and Marty and his brothers. (Lauren had already headed out to friend's house as usual.) I was kinda dorky and wore clothes that matched Nick's. But I guess that's just what band moms do!

Friday, December 11th

6:00pm: Austin performs his school band concert.

7:15pm: Nick performs his school band concert.

Austin plays the euphonium. I know ... I had never heard of it either. It's like a small tuba. It's in the low brass family. Austin has fun playing it. But it's a pain for him to lug back and forth to school on the bus because it's so big.

I took two videos so you could hear just the low brass instruments and then the full band. The low brass section is in the back of the band so you can't really see Austin at all.

And now for Nick's concert. Since it was in the same gym as Austin's concert, we snagged seats in the front row when the other band parents left so we got to sit right in front of Nick. Pretty cool!

Well that's it! I hope you enjoy the performances! No music video for you today because there is nothing better than hearing my kids perform!! :D

Half Marathon

2009-12-10T11:11:00.011-06:00

I ran my first-ever race on November 1st. I'm training for a marathon and wanted to see what a race was like so I decided a half would be good practice. It was and I learned a lot of things that will and won't work for the marathon. And most of all, I found out that races are a lot of fun ... and they make me push myself harder than I do in regular training runs. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing. But I knew my normal pace so before the race I decided that I would be happy with anything under 2 hours, 30 minutes and if I could get 2:15, I would be super-excited!

The first piece of advice anyone always gives you in a long race is to start slow so you don't wear yourself out and you'll have enough energy to finish strong. Well I knew this was true but I also didn't want to go too slow. It was a race after all! But I really had no choice but to go slow the first mile. It's really crowded at the starting line and you have to kind of wait for the crowd to thin out and that took a good half mile. So when I finished the first mile at a 10:36 pace I was a little nervous. But things picked up and everything went well. Here are some pictures from the day.

I woke up at about 4am and drove over to my mom's house. She took a picture of me with my bib number on.

Then my mom and stepdad drove me to the train station. The train arrived at about 5:45am.

I got on way in South Dallas and had to go all the way through downtown so I was on the train awhile. Got bored and took a picture of the timing chip in my shoe. :)

Finally arrived at the train station and then got on a bus that took me to the race. It was cold and I was worried that I would freeze during the race but once the sun came out it started warming up. Lines for the port-o-potties were really long. After I waited through that I looked around some of the vendor tents while I waited for racetime.

Finally it was time to head to the starting line. The amount of people was pretty amazing. And I stopped thinking about how cold I was.

Everything went well. I ran the race and I finished a lot faster than I thought I could. Probably a little too fast because I was really having trouble maintaining my pace the last 2 miles. Was awful! But here is my unofficial time (official time ended up being 3 seconds faster).

And after the race I walked over to see my family. I was so glad they had come out! After we left, we went to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. It was a good day!

And now I'm just ready to run my marathon this Sunday. Seems like I've been training forever. I went on my last training run this morning so no more running before the race. Seems so weird!

And how about some running music. Here is my absolute favorite song to run to. Marilyn Manson: The Beautiful People. (How strange that I have played MM two posts in a row.)

Halloween Fun!

2009-12-02T11:11:00.006-06:00

Told ya I was going to have to play catch up! So here we go. I'm taking you back to October 31st. I wasn't sure if all of the kids would still want to dress up this year because they are getting older but they did. Here are my kids plus two extras that went trick-or-treating with us. Mine are the first 4 in the front row. Left to right: Austin is an Emo Kid (notice the "cutting" scars on his arms ... nice!), Mackenzie is Jason, Nick is the guy from Scream and Lauren is a devil witch. What happened to the cute costumes they used to wear?

And here's just our family. Lauren's friend took the picture for us and this is the best one we got. It's a little blurry. I was dressed as a Little Gym football player. So original (same costume as last year). But I was sad because I couldn't find my tattoo sleeve and that totally completed the outfit. Marty decided to dress as Marty this year. :D He was probably the only smart one of the bunch!

We trick-or-treated around the neighborhood. And then we got to the spooky house with the coffin. The kids loved it! But Austin was a little scared of it. I took a quick video ... "Don't be greedy now!" Cracks me up!

After I shot the video, the guy that owned the house insisted that we all get in the coffin so he could take our picture (Austin opted to not get in so I took a different picture of him).

And then we went home and the kids sorted their candy. It's funny because none of them really love candy that much (Nick doesn't even like it at all except the suckers) but they love to get as much as they can!

And then they all had a bath. I had to take off Lauren and Austin's make-up which was difficult. Then I also had to help Lauren wash her hair. She made me take a picture of the bath water when she was done. She had a LOT of red color in her hair!

And we need some music to finish this. Here's a good one - Marilyn Manson: This Is Halloween.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2009-11-30T22:00:00.021-06:00

Whoa! I think this may be a record for longest time between blog posts. Sooo ... I guess I'll start with the most recent stuff first then try to catch you up over the next week or so on what's been going on over the last 3 months since I've blogged.

Yesterday we dragged everything out of the attic and decorated the house. I decided that I wanted to put the tree in the living room this year instead of by the stairs. I thought it seemed more cozy and you could see it from the street. In theory, this doesn't seem like a big deal. However, the living room just was not arranged for a tree to fit by the window so I ended up moving all of the furniture around and hauling the rocking chair up to the attic. It turned into an all-day endeavor. But I am so happy with the end result.

The kids get so excited about decorating the tree. However, it was a challenge because we had to round them up before we could put the ornaments on the tree. Nick and Austin were here but Lauren and Mackenzie were both at a friend's house. But at about 4pm, we found everyone and all had fun putting the ornaments on as a family. Here are some pictures of our day. Austin and Nick helped spread the branches on the tree.

Ugh! Look at all of those boxes that need to be unloaded (and that's not all of them!). And all I'm thinking as we're unpacking the boxes is that in a few weeks we're gonna have to pack everything back up. I'm somewhat of a Christmas scrooge that way.

But now on to the fun stuff! This is my favorite part every year ... the kids putting on the ornaments. My job is to take the ornaments out of their boxes and the kids line up and I hand them an ornament. Marty helps them with the glass or heavy ones. It's fun!

Here's the line-up from my perspective. These kids are very impatient! I can't get the ornaments out of the box fast enough! They're like a swarm!!!

And here are some action shots! (That's Nick first and Austin second.)

Ta da! All done. Here's my super cool family by the tree.

Oh we need some music. How about Kenny Chesney: All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan. (Did I mention that we're headed to Hawaii the week before Christmas? :)

Labor Day Fun!

2009-09-08T17:55:00.006-05:00

We crammed as much fun as we possibly could into Labor Day. We got up pretty early and arrived at the Dallas World Aquarium around the time it opened. It's such a cool place which is actually more like a mini-zoo than just an aquarium. Marty's dad bought us all season passes to the aquarium which was so generous and now we can go whenever we want and just stay for a little while instead of feeling like we have to stay all day because it's so expensive. Marty parked the car and the kids and I hung out for a few minutes.

And while we were waiting, Lauren noticed a peace sign (she's slightly obsessed with them) carved in the concrete. So she had me take a picture of her foot by it.

The first thing we came to in the aquarium was this cute little bird perched on a sign just looking so friendly. He was just hanging out with all of the people. And then Lauren decided to pet him and he bit her! So we moved on!

And here's just a bunch of random pictures from the aquarium. The jellyfish were really cool. (Has anyone seen 7 Pounds with Will Smith? AWESOME movie! If you've seen it, you'll know why I made that reference here. If not ... rent it!) The walk-through shark tunnel is neat, too. And the penguins are cute but they stink!

After the aquarium, we headed over to Spaghetti Warehouse in the West End. Surprisingly it wasn't busy at all. Guess we got there early enough and we got to sit in the trolley which the kids love. As a side note, I was a hostess at this Spaghetti Warehouse off and on for a year or two when I was home from college in the summers and holidays. When I told Lauren that, she asked why no one recognized me. And I'm thinking ... because some of them weren't even born yet when I was working there!

And here's a picture of the kids after lunch in the arcade at Spaghetti Warehouse.

On the way home, we were driving through Duncanville so I called Mom to see if we could stop by for a little while. It's always nice to see Grandma Rilla!

It had already been a long day and Marty and I were trying not to fall asleep on Mom's couch! But there was no time for sleeping. We had to get to the grocery store because we had company coming to our house.

My friend Claire and her kiddos came over for dinner. We grilled chicken and hot dogs and the kids played and we hung out and chatted. It's always fun to have Claire over.

And at about this time, Lauren took control of the camera. Here is a sampling of the nearly 50 pictures she took! The cute brown dog is Happy (she's making herself comfortable on Claire's lap in the second picture of her). The skinny black dog is Lucky. And the ugly fat Chihuahua is Taco. He's so sweet!

And then it was eatin' time. Mmmmmm ... MEAT!

And that concludes our Labor Day fun. Well, actually it doesn't. Marty and I watched Grizzly Man and then went to sleep. (I may have slept a little during the movie but what else is new?) And that brings us to our music for the day. This is the closing song in the aforementioned movie. It's another movie you should see if you haven't. This is Don Edwards: Coyotes.

Happy 11th Birthday Austin!

2009-09-01T17:55:00.005-05:00

Ahhhh ... check it out ... fun times just 11 short years ago. Let me tell you, I'm so glad it's today and not 11 years ago. I got out our old photo albums to scan some pictures from the day Austin was born and these two pictures caught my eye right away. I forgot how painful and stressful childbirth was. The first picture is me having a not-so-fun moment before my epidural. The second is before they let me hold Austin. He gave us a little scare for the first few moments of his life. He wasn't breathing right away and the doctors wouldn't let Marty cut his umbilical cord. They suctioned him out and everything was fine. But it scared us to death!

And then they handed me this perfect little angel. This is just a few minutes after he was born and this remains one of my favorite pictures of Austin. He's just so sweet. I fell in love with him immediately. He is probably our sweetest kid. And he's always been really affectionate.

Here are a couple of pictures of the proud mama and daddy. We were both crying from a combination of being so happy that we had another son and then being terrified that something was wrong to being thankful that he was perfectly healthy.

As I was digging through some old pictures I found this one from 2000. It's another favorite of mine. So I scanned it and then made Austin take another just like it today. Cracks me up because to me he looks just the same. You can even see the scar on his forehead that he had gotten just a few weeks before the first picture was taken (he learned that it was NOT safe to run with a metal spoon!).

Tonight we had a little family celebration. We're going to have Austin's party with his friends in a few weeks. But tonight we gave him his big present. Oh yes ... an electric guitar. We must be crazy! But he is so excited. And the amp has a headphone jack so maybe it won't be THAT loud at our house! RIGHT!

And that's all for now. I just wanted to post a few pictures of my sweet little guy. It's hard for me to believe he's 11 already! I love him so much and I'm so proud of him! I asked Austin to pick out the song for today's post and he has chosen Guns and Roses: Welcome to the Jungle. He says it has an "awesome guitar solo!"

Heritage Scrapping

2009-08-30T20:30:00.004-05:00

I just felt like doing some heritage scrapping yesterday. I got this picture of Marty's grandma a couple of years ago and really love it. So I scanned it and then digitally colored it. Then I used a bunch of my friend Christine's goodies (along with some Weeds & Wildflowers designs) and just went for it. (See full list of credits here.)

And here are a couple other heritage pages I have done sort of recently that I know never made it on this blog. Have I mentioned how much I miss scrapping (especially heritage pages)? Just feels good to create stuff!

That's all for now. We had a fun weekend. Went to a party at a neighbor's house last night and stayed up way too late. Then I ran this morning, Marty and I went on a bike ride this afternoon then I took the kids to Hawaiian Falls this evening.

Just random music for today. This was the first song that came on my iPod while I was running and I played it several times cause I like it. This is the Flys: Got You (Where I Want You).

Back to school!

2009-08-25T20:44:00.014-05:00

'Twas the night before school and all through the England house.....

Every creature was stirring even the mouse (well ... the cat!). Switching from summer gear to the school year gets tougher every year. This summer the kids were staying up until about 11:00 so asking them to get in bed no later than 9:00 is no small task. But the night before school we had baths done and kids ready to hop in bed at 9. Lauren even had her whole outfit laid out and I had to run get my camera and take this picture. Sooo cute!

And then it was time to tuck them all in. We usually go to Lauren's room first because she pretty much has her own side of the upstairs. She sleeps with our dog Lucky. Then it was on to kiss Mackenzie, Austin then Nick. Good night little people! No radios, no texting, no DS's ... go to sleep!

And the rest of us have a little free time before bed. Even Eddie the cat got in on the photo action as did me and Marty. Had to get the whole family in there (with the exception of a couple of dogs).

6:30am came early for the younger 3 but they all made it out the door and in time for their buses. Don't they all look awesome? Left to right that's Austin, Mackenzie and Lauren.

And, of course, since it was the first day of school I had to go to the bus stop with them and take pictures (how embarrassing Mom!!!!). Here are my 3 waiting for the bus. Austin is in intermediate school and his bus stop is across the street from Lauren and Mackenzie's who are in elementary school.

Still waiting for the bus (we got there a little early). This is Lauren and Mackenzie with a neighbor friend Mitchell. And Lauren with her friend Markenzie who grew A LOT over the summer. Markenzie is just one grade ahead of Lauren! But she starts intermediate school this year so they are no longer in the same school. :(

Ahhh Lauren and Mackenzie's bus finally arrives and DRAT! ... it's the same crabby bus driver as last year. You regular readers may recall my Bus Drivers Are Mean post from last August. So I didn't attempt to get on the bus this year and these pictures are the best I could do without being on the bus. But the good thing about our stop is that we are first so the kids get the best seats!

Austin's bus is supposed to come approximately 2 minutes after Lauren and Mackenzie's. And right after they left Austin says to me, "Mom ... do I need my glasses?" Well yeah! I told him to run as fast as he could and get them. But you can probably guess what happened.... Yeah he missed the bus on the very first day of school. He seems to have a problem with buses and the first day. In kindergarten he got on the wrong bus to come home and the bus driver had to make a special trip to our house!

So since he missed the bus, we had some time to kill. The school is just down the road and if we left right away he would have been too early. So what's a kid to do while he waits ... hula hoop!!! It's ALWAYS a good time to hula hoop!

And then it was time to go. So here is Austin (glasses on) in the car ready for school. I didn't mind taking him and I think it made him happy on the first day anyway. He was a little nervous.

I know you probably are thinking ... what about Nick? Well ... he is going to a new school this year (middle school) and it starts 45 minutes after the other kids. So he gets to sleep in a little. So after I got back from taking Austin, I had to make Nick's lunch (Marty makes Lauren and Mackenzie's lunch and I make Austin and Nick's but Austin usually buys his so it's a good deal for me). Anyway, Nick has been taking the same thing for lunch since preschool. I can't count the number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (one cut up and down, one cut sideways) I have made in my life. Although this year he said he didn't care how they are cut anymore but I still do it that way. Austin told me tonight that there are 180 days of school. So here are the first 2 of 360 pb&j sandwiches I'll make for Nick this year.

Nick actually woke up while the other kids were getting ready so he was ready early and had time to kill so he played with the cat for a while.

And then it was time for him to leave. He had to take all his school supplies and his clarinet so Marty drove him to school on the first day. Besides, it's a big adjustment for him. He's the only one who started a new school this year. But he's excited about it.

And that's it. All of the kids had a great day and they all like their teachers and their schedules. I have a hard time believing I have a 7th, 6th and two 4th graders. What happened to my babies?

Gotta think on the music for today. How about Young MC: Principal's Office

Nick met Josh Hamilton!

2009-08-23T11:11:00.004-05:00

The Texas Rangers have a program called the Texas Rangers Kids Take The Field. It is sponsored by RaceTrac gas stations. At the beginning of the season we were at a Rangers game and noticed that they would be having a Kids Take The Field sign up at the RaceTrac by our house. So the day came and Marty took all of the boys and Nick got picked! He was so excited.

They gave us really good seats at the game and Nick got to go on the field before the game started. They pick 9 kids for each game to take the field and each kid gets assigned a position and they get to meet the player at their position and get an autographed baseball. But they don't tell the kids which position they will be at until right before they go on the field. Nick got center field. You don't realize just how big a major league ball park is until you see an 11-year-old kid run all the way out to center field! But he did great! Here he is hanging out in center field waiting to meet his player.

The Texas Ranger center fielder is Josh Hamilton. He's a pretty big name player so it was really cool that Nick got his position. Here is Nick meeting Josh Hamilton and getting his autograph.

Josh Hamilton is a great baseball player and has overcome some issues in his life to stay in the game. Mainly he overcame a drug addiction with the help of his belief in Jesus Christ. It's a very inspiring story. You should watch his testimonial on the I Am Second web site. Click here to see the video. Here is the baseball that Josh autographed for Nick. It has his signature and the verse 1 Peter 2:24. This verse reads, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

Then we stayed and watched most of the game. As I said earlier, they gave us really good seats on the 1st base side. Pretty much right by the Rangers dugout. Here is Josh Hamilton warming up before it was his turn at bat.

And here is Nick back at our house with his autographed baseball. He is very proud of it and this is a day he will never forget.

And you know I had to take a video of this event. It's pretty long but watch it all. It's amazing how big that field is!! I'm so proud of Nick!

And here is some music. This is Josh Hamilton's walk-up music (the song that plays when he goes up to bat). It's Phillips, Craig & Dean: Saved The Day

Viva Las Vegas! ...almost

2009-08-19T17:55:00.014-05:00

Still trying to get in posts of everything that happened this summer. So we'll go back a couple of months. This was 4th of July weekend. Mom and I used to go on vacations together all of the time. But the last one we went on was in about 1991 when I was still in college. So it was pretty exciting to spend a few days with her this summer. I knew Marty would do awesome with the kids and it was so nice to have a little break. Mom got a great deal on a flight/hotel package to Laughlin, Nevada (about 100 miles from Vegas). It was like $200 total. I think they must have known I would lose a lot while I was there!!

DAY 1

Here's me and Mom just getting off the airplane at the massive Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport. Two whole terminals!

And they loaded us on a bus right away for our long journey across the river. As soon as we got on the bus we could see our hotel/casino. We stayed at Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino.

And here's a view of the river (that's the Colorado River by the way) and mountains from our hotel room. The second picture is the Laughlin strip. Not quite Vegas but fine with me. We didn't leave the hotel very much anyway.

We didn't waste any time (ok maybe we took a nap and watched a little tv) but then we got down to business. Here's Mom planning out our first day of fun.

You would think our first stop would be the casino. Nope ... first we walked through the world's biggest watch shop (I highly doubt that claim!). Then on to ... the car show! Why not? It seemed like something fun to do.

And the sun started to set on our first day in Laughlin. Here's another picture of the river and mountains from our hotel at sunset.

But we didn't let a little darkness deter us. Nope we headed out to walk down the river and see the other hotels. Besides ... it wasn't 115° out after the sun set! Here's our hotel at night.

So we went to the car show, took a walk ... it's time to gamble now, right? Well no. Ya gotta eat! And lemme tell you ... we ate ... A LOT! I couldn't find a meal that had everything I wanted. So I just ordered 2 meals! Mom controlled herself a little better than me. And just a side note: Nevada sausage is really nasty!

So NOW it's time to gamble!! Nah. We were too sleepy the first night. All that traveling, walking and food made us tired. Night, night!

DAY 2

Did I mention that it is HOT in Nevada in July? So, of course, we had to walk around outside a little. I mean it was so hot that it made your eyes hurt. We only stayed out long enough to snap a few pictures.

And then we actually went in and gambled some. Actually I gave the blackjack dealers my money pretty quickly and mom won a bunch on 3 card poker (think that's what it was called). Anyway, we gambled a while then mom took me to the buffet because I was sooo broke. And what's the best part of a buffet?! Getting to eat as many desserts as you want! Here's me being a pig again.

We didn't stay out really late the second night either because it was the 4th of July and we wanted to watch the fireworks over the river from our hotel room. The fireworks show lasted about half an hour and then we talked about going back downstairs but never made it.

DAY 3

Day 3 is kind of a blur. I know we wandered around a while and looked at stuff. Then we spent most of the day in the casino. Since I was broke, I played the nickel slots for a while. And then we headed down to the non-smoking casino. I didn't even know that existed. And what did we discover there? It was an oasis! (Yes I know drinks are free while you gamble but you can't get a big ol' frozen margarita!)

So we were pretty silly after a few of these. Then we decided to go back to the main casino. I told you, I was completely broke. So I called Marty while Mom gambled. And he was so sweet and told me to get out another hundred dollars. Well this musta been the magic money. No I didn't win but I know I sat down at this one blackjack table at around 4pm and didn't leave until about 2am! And some moron at my table decided at about midnight to start ordering coffee and Kahlúa for everyone. Well drinks are free while you gamble so no biggie there but all that caffeine had me really wired. So when the money was finally gone at about 2am, Mom asked what I wanted to do. EAT of course!! And then we went back to the room because we had a flight to catch in the morning. But I couldn't sleep. Here I am at about 3am or so.

DAY 4

We had to check out of our room a few hours before our flight so Mom played Keno for a while. I was sooo sleepy and thought the Keno lounge would be a perfect place to catch a little sleep. The 2 police officers that woke me up didn't think so. Then we headed over to catch our bus. It was in the back part of the casino. And we saw the funniest thing ... a DOG in the casino. Never seen that before so we had to take a picture.

And that's it. Our adventure to Laughlin. Mom came home a winner. I was a loser but had fun. I'm so grateful to Marty for letting me go and watching the kiddos while I did. It was a needed break.

Here's an old song for you. Wilco: Casino Queen ... "The room fills with smoke and I'm already broke. And the dealer keeps on jokin' as he takes my last token..."

Starting to scrap again...

2009-08-16T16:44:00.008-05:00

My best online buddy Christine (aka Fiddlette) has not given up on me even though I have been on a scrapping hiatus for well over a year. But she recently asked me ... again ... to be on her creative team. And I said yes! I love her design style so much. It almost makes me want to start designing again. (I said almost!!) But for now, I've been using her awesome creations and have scrapped a few pages. I have a few more in the works but I need to fire up my scanner again. Hope it still works. Gonna have to blow off the dust!

I make a page for my birthday every year. Well ... I missed last year because, like I said, I was on a BREAK! (Did anyone catch the Friends reference there?) But here is the page I made this year. I celebrated #39 on July 27th. Almost everything here is from Christine's Love of Jane collaboration kit with Sherrie JD.

And in case you want to see what I made for the last few birthdays ... here are my layouts from 2005, 2006 and 2007. It's fun to see how my scrapping style has changed over the years.

And here's just a fun layout I did for my kiddos. I can't believe how grown up they are getting and I wanted to express my feelings that I want them to be able to be whatever they want to be ... "Caged birds can't fly." Again almost everything here was designed by Fiddlette. The majority is from her Clarabelle's Collage World kit.

And that's it for now. I mentioned that my kids are really growing up and I can't believe I never posted this video I took a few months ago. I love it. Shows how silly they are.

And now for some music. Just gonna play what I've been hearing for the last hour or so. Lauren has this BLARING upstairs. This is Miley Cyrus: Party In The USA. Yeah I know ... but at least she's not playing The Climb anymore. This one is at least danceable!

Nick's Pottery Class!

2009-08-09T13:11:00.009-05:00

It's been a busy summer. That's the only excuse I have for not putting up one single post this summer. I can't believe school starts in just two weeks! We've done so much this summer. Lots of Six Flags, Hawaiian Falls and camps. I'll try to get you caught up on everything over the next couple of weeks.

I'm going to start with a post of Nick. He and Austin attended College For Kids again this summer (I think it was their 5th year to go). It's held at Tarrant County College and the kids pick out 4 classes that they take for 3 weeks at the college. One of Nick's classes this year was Pottery/Ceramics. It was his favorite class. And on the last day, the parents get to go and attend classes with the kids. This was a fun one for me to watch.

It was really cool watching him do the pottery wheel. Here are a couple of videos.

There is a lot more to come on our summer. But for now I'm gonna take some kids to Six Flags. I'll leave you with some music. And what else could I play today? Here's Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers from the movie Ghost.

9 x 2 = Happy Birthday Lauren & Mackenzie!

2009-05-25T10:00:00.007-05:00

Nine years ago today, I saw these 2 sweet faces for the very first time (Lauren on left, Mackenzie on right). This was just a couple hours after they were born: May 25, 2000.

And this morning I saw these beautiful 9-year-olds! Happy Birthday Lauren and Mackenzie!

Because I see them every day, it's hard to notice the changes as they take place. So I grabbed a picture from every year of their life (most were taken on or around their birthday). So here they are ... Lauren and Mackenzie 2000-2008. (See above for 2009.)

I remember the day they told us it was twins: January 19, 2000. Some of the craziest news I have ever heard. I mean, we had 2 very young children at home (Nick was 2 and Austin was 1) and I was 5 months pregnant and they told us it was twins! I remember clearly when they put the ultrasound wand on my belly. I knew how ultrasounds went and I knew that I usually couldn't tell what was what. But the first image that popped up on that screen was very clearly 2 circles and the nurse smiled and I said that it looked like 2 heads. And she said that was exactly what it was (so either we were having a 2-headed baby ... or it was twins!). Marty was pale as a ghost and then we just laughed. What could you do at that point? We were nervous and we were scared but that was truly one of the best moments of my life! I could not imagine life without them. :)

They have grown up so fast and I am so proud of them. And although they are twins and will always share that bond, they have both developed into unique little people that are so cool as individuals. And now I'm getting all philosophical and teary when all I really wanted to do is wish them the best birthday ever! We're off to the Mexican Inn and Build-A-Bear by request of the birthday kiddos.

Here are some videos of Mackenzie and Lauren 2 days ago at their school luau. They were the coolest kids at the party!

And here is some music for ya! Colin Raye: One Boy, One Girl.

Like no time has passed.

2009-03-14T17:55:00.003-05:00

I had to do some training in San Antonio this week so I called my old college roommate, Desiree. We graduated in 1992 and I have only seen her one time since graduation. So it was really great to see her and catch up. We had a nice dinner and then just hung out for a couple of hours and talked. Funny how you can not see someone for years but can pick up right where you left off. Here we are on Thursday night at dinner at the Alamo Cafe. I learned that tortillas are made of lard, water and flour. YUM!

And here we are in 1991 at a party at our apartment at A&M. Left to right: Desiree, Rick, Mindy, me, Bonnie and Michael. (I think we look better now. The 18 years has made us more distinguished, don't you think?!)

I'm pretty excited because I have to go back to San Antonio in May and we're going to get together again but next time, our other roommate, Bonnie, is going to drive down from Austin and we'll all be together for the first time since Bonnie graduated in 1991.

And we need some music from 1991. How about this one from LL Cool J? I can't even tell you how many times I listened to this song!

Go #9 ... Soccer Superstar!

2009-03-07T17:55:00.009-06:00

So today it starts ... a new chapter in our lives ... we are now soccer parents!! Will it last? Who knows. Lauren has tried just about every sport out there and in the end always decides it is not for her. Let's see ... we have done gymnastics, ballet, cheerleading, basketball and baseball. However, this one is different. She is actually excited about it. I know it was just the first game but I saw something I had never seen in her before. She was into it! She was trying. She was listening. I could just tell that she WANTED to be out there playing. And she's really been trying at all of the practices. She asks every day how long it is until her next practice. So maybe this is it! Maybe this is her thing. And besides ... look how cute she is in that uniform. :)

As you can see in the pictures, Lauren is not the biggest girl on the team. OK ... you could say that she is probably the smallest but she was just as good as everyone out there and she tried her little heart out. Did I already say that I am very, very proud of her?!

Marty and I realized that we know absolutely nothing about soccer. We have some studying to do. We think that she is a middle fielder. Not sure on that. Going to have to ask her coach what position she is playing. Then we need to learn some of the rules of the game so we can help her. It's pretty sad. Anyway, enough with that ... let's bring on the pictures!!! She was a star today!

And here's proof that Marty and the boys and I were at the game. It was like a typhoon at the soccer field. The wind almost blew me over a couple of times. Not sure how Lauren and her 50 pound (fully clothed with wet hair) body didn't get swept away!

Here's out little cutie taking a well-deserved break from the game.

I didn't take any video today because it was really windy and all you would have heard was the wind noise. But if you really, really want to see Lauren playing soccer, I will not disappoint. Here she is at her very first practice. That's Lauren in the black pants and white shirt with red sleeves.

And, in case anyone was wondering where Lauren got those awesome, muscular, well-defined, power legs ... take a look at her Mama when she was the same age as Lauren. Yep, that's me in about 1979.

That's it for now. Here's some music for you. I said Lauren was a star today so here's Will.I.Am: She's A Star.

King Tut, Steak and Cheesecake!

2009-02-20T16:44:00.007-06:00

Marty and I had a great Valentine's Day. Well except for my initial reaction to Marty's big surprise. He was so sweet and had the whole evening planned. So on the way downtown, I asked where we were going and he said, "To the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art." To which I replied, "No REALLY, where are we going?!" He just laughed and said that was where we were REALLY going. Oops! But it was all good. He tries to culture me. But I'm a museum moron.

So anyway, we got to the DMA and you would not believe how many people were in line for the exhibit! And these were all people with tickets! Luckily I was running late (how unusual) so our ticket time was 4:30 but we didn't make it til almost 5 and the 4:30 people were still waiting to get in. Anyway, after about 20 minutes, we got in the exhibit. Of course there were no cameras allowed. Well I have to say that all the Tut hype was way overrated! And Marty agreed with me. I mean the stuff was cool and all but you see one pharoah, you've seen them all! But we had a great time watching all of the people listening intently to their little speaker things and trying to look all intelligent and interested. That alone was worth the price of admission!!

After we were done with the exhibit, I tried to take our picture outside by the big statue of the pharaoh. As you can see, I was not very successful. But I think the pictures are funny.

And then it was time for dinner. Marty knows me well in the food department. I mean is there any other choice but a steak restaurant? He took me to The Capital Grille and oh man was it good! I got a big juicy filet and Marty had salmon (crazy ... I know!). We also had some lobster and crab cakes and lobster bisque and salad. Then after dinner, I was stuffed. But NEVER too full for dessert! And let me tell you, they had the BEST cheesecake! So worth all those calories!

Thanks for a great day Marty!! I love you.

Let's see ... we need a love song or something for this post. Oh wait! I think I'll go a different direction. Here's a classic ... Steve Martin: King Tut.

AC/DC Concert

2009-01-25T15:33:00.009-06:00

Marty and I went to the AC/DC concert on Friday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. It was an awesome show! Here are a couple of pictures I took during the concert.

My favorite part of the show was when they had the big blow-up chick (Rosie) riding the Rock N Roll Train. I took this video at the concert. They were playing "A Whole Lotta Rosie."

Concert Review:

Talk about an explosive opening. AC/DC began its blazing gig Friday night at American Airlines Center with a video, an animated doozy of a clip (see video below) featuring guitarist Angus Young as the devilish train operator too tempted by the female persuasion to keep his locomotive from crashing. When it does jump the track, it ends up center stage in a ball of smoke. It's equipped with the band's trademark horns and logo, of course.

"Rock N Roll Train," from the band's comeback smash Black Ice, started it all and for the next hour and 45 minutes the group never let up. For an entity that's been together since 1973, these five rockers still perform as if they have plenty to prove. The 18-song set featured five from Ice, three from 1980's seminal Back In Black and pretty much every other AC/DC anthem you can think of.

Anthems are key here. For AC/DC, rhythm-heavy rock tunes need a chorus the crowd can chant. The packed house did just that time and again. Let's see here: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Thunderstruck," "Hells Bells" and "T.N.T.," to name a few.

During "The Jack," a bluesy number from 1975's T.N.T. album, the unpredictable, unstoppable Young launched into a striptease, removing pieces of his trademark schoolboy uniform until he revealed boxers with AC/DC emblazoned on his backside. That was one of many memorable moments.

It really was a great show and Marty and I had an awesome time. I'll close with my favorite AC/DC song. It wasn't played at the concert. From their Back In Black album, here's "Let Me Put My Love Into You."

Christmas ... FINALLY!

2009-01-20T16:44:00.002-06:00

Well, I've been promising for almost a month so here you go ... random pictures from Christmas 2008 at the England house. A great time was had by all. It was great to be able to stay at home for a change.

The big present was a Wii. Marty and I decided that this required a complete rearranging of the playroom so we spent the day upstairs. You couldn't imagine the amount of stuff we loaded in the car and took to the church. We are now very happy with our playroom. It's much more appropriate for kids that are in the 8-12 range instead of toddlers. The bottom picture is the boys playing Guitar Hero World Tour. They are all getting pretty good at it.

And that's all I have for today. Louisiana pictures coming up next. (I think ... maybe more from Christmastime. Who knows.)

How about some Sade: Cherish The Day. Love this song!

Dick's and Asian Art

2009-01-19T15:33:00.002-06:00

Nick's Social Studies class formed a 'traveling museum group' and went to their first museum on Sunday to the Crow Collection of Asian Art in downtown Dallas. It was a little freaky since Trammell Crow died Wednesday.

Anyway, we all went to the museum. Before the private tour, we decided to go to lunch downtown. What could be more fun than Dick's Last Resort? The kids thought it was funny that the waitress was rude. Then she made them all hats and they were a little embarrassed. Nick's said, "Booger King." Austin's said, "I heart Hannah Montana." Lauren's said, "I kiss boys with cooties!" And Mackenzie's said, "I like to hide under the covers and smell my own farts!"

After we were cultured at Dick's, we headed over to the Crow Collection. I must admit that I am not a big museum person. It was hard to stay awake. But the items were pretty neat. The little snuff bottles were probably my favorite. Here are the kids in front of the building.

Guess that's it for now. I still need to show you Christmas pictures and the pictures from my trip to Louisiana. Will work on that! But for now, here's some music. Marty brought me home the new Pink CD today (thank you Marty!) so I'll play my favorite song from the CD: Sober

Happy New Year! ... and a Trip To Terabithia

2009-01-01T23:11:00.017-06:00

Today was a great start to 2009. It was a very fun, productive day. Marty and I spent a couple of hours taking down Christmas decorations (that's why I'm not doing a Christmas post today ... I'm all Christmased out ... but I promise the pictures are coming soon.) It was a beautiful, sunny day and about 70°.

We live right by a lake and there is a finger of the lake that comes behind the houses and you can hike around the woods. It's pretty muddy and the kids always come home filthy but they love it. They call the spot Terabithia. (Like the book/movie Bridge to Terabithia.) Lauren came home today with a tadpole. I asked if she would take me to Terabithia and she was so excited so I put on my boots and we headed out the door. We went with one of her friends and the boys all wanted to go with us but I had told Lauren it was just going to be the girls. But while I was putting on my boots, the boys left and I was pretty sure we would be seeing them!

Lauren was so sweet. She kept asking if I wanted to go the long or the short way? ... The easy or the hard way? ... The muddy or the rocky way? (There are many ways to get to Terabithia apparently.) But I told her that I was going to follow her whichever way she wanted to go. So we went through the creek. Here are Lauren and her friend Mackenzie in the creek.

I knew it wouldn't be long before we ran into one of the boys. We heard some rustling in the bushes and out popped my son Mackenzie!

So we asked him to take a picture of the three of us and then we were on our way again. The boys went their separate way.

And then we made it to Terabithia. This is the first picture I took. The sunshine makes it look magical ... just like in the book!

We spent a good hour or more walking around the woods and by the lake. I was really glad I had worn rubber boots. Lauren weighs about 43 pounds and does not sink in the mud. I am a different story! Here are some miscellaneous pictures of Terabithia.

And then we saw them again ... BOYS! I think they were spying on us the whole time. But this time we decided to stay together and head over to the bridge. My son Mackenzie had gone home. Nick told me that Mackenzie had found some trash and said he wanted to clean it up like WALL-E (Mackenzie has a slight WALL-E fascination at the moment). The boys in the picture are Nick in the glasses and our neighbor Jonathan (Lauren's friend Mackenzie's brother).

And we finally made it to the Bridge to Terabithia. Here it is. And the kids wanted to go under it. They are convinced that a "hobo" (Lauren's word) lives under the bridge because there's some carpet under there.

Christmas pictures are coming soon. I promise. But for now we need some music. How about a bridge song? Here's the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Under the Bridge.

Christmas Eve Eve!

2008-12-24T20:00:00.003-06:00

'Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all through Mom's home
(That's December 23rd if you're date challenged.)
All the England kids were impatiently waiting for Uncle Paul to come
Two stockings were hung on the chimney with care
They were so cute, they made quite a pair
The children were not even thinking of bed
They wanted their presents, "We want them NOW!" they said
But before we could open anything neat
We went to Chili's, we all had to eat
We finally got home and the kids were so happy
The presents they opened were so cool and not crappy
I will stop writing now, you are all in luck
'Cause I know that this Christmas poem really sucks!

We all went over to my mom's house last night to celebrate Christmas with Mom, Gil (my stepdad), my brother, his wife and my nephews. After much deliberation, we met at Mom's then went to eat then went back to Mom's to open presents. It was all last-minute planning but that's what my family is good at. Here are some more pictures we took while waiting for my brother to get there.

And they finally arrived. We headed to Chilis. They tried to squeeze all 12 of us in one big booth but it just didn't work out so we kicked my kids to a booth right by us and everyone could breathe a little better. That's Mom and Paul on the left and Paul's kids Kiran and Zach on the right.

I don't get to see my brother very often so Mom took lots of pictures of us together. Look at all that gray on him! You can tell he's my MUCH older brother because as you can plainly see ... no gray here! (Fine ... he only has me by a little under 3 years.)

And then the present opening chaos began. It's always fun with my four but add in the other two and a couple of dogs and you have a real party! My favorite reaction was Mackenzie when he opened the shirt Grandma and Grandpa gave him that says, "Mackenzie & Wall-e saving Earth together." He loves Wall-e and he just had the best smile ever when he saw the shirt. And I also loved the ruby bracelet Mom gave me (my birth stone.)

Then of course we had to get a picture of me and Paul and Mom. Paul is actually smiling here ... alert the media! Love it when he smiles. You can see his big dimples. But he always has the cool look going on instead of the smile.

And then we lost Paul's wife, Huong. They work at the post office and as you can imagine, this is a busy time of year and they have both been putting in a ton of hours.

Then it was time for a picture of all of the grandkids. I also had to take one of my son Nick and Paul's son Kiran. They are in the same grade and only 9 months apart but there is a slight size difference.

Then the picture of Mom and her kids and grandkids. Lauren doesn't seem to mind at all that she's the only girl.

And, speaking of Lauren, she had to make a quick outfit change and show off her new Hannah Montana pajamas. I think she's much prettier than Hannah!!

Finally, here's me and Marty. We're worn out and ready to go home. So much to do before Christmas! A great time was had by all.

We need some Christmas music for today. How about one of my favorites ... Third Day: What Child Is This?

And then things got UGLY!

2008-12-24T00:01:00.001-06:00

So my last post, I was saying how beautiful Austin is. Well ... this is true. But I left you on 6th Street ... right before things got UGLY! Marty spotted the Coyote Ugly sign and that seemed like as good a place as any to have a drink. Besides, there was a movie about it and everything. Sounded like fun!

So first we went in and had a look around. We were the only people there so we thought it would be kind of boring.

So Bonnie, Marty and I sat down to have our drink and go.

But before we knew it, we met Bob and I had a high quality tattoo on my arm. And then there was Reanna - one of the Coyote girls. There was a 70's song on so she was wearing a wig here.

And then the girls actually danced on the bar. (That's Patricia and Reanna.) It was pretty cool. And they were very persistent that I danced, too ... and you all know that I just HATE to dance. But they twisted my arm.

Then I had to take some pictures of the signs. They were cracking me up! (Be sure to read the bumper sticker on the cash register.)

The bartenders were VERY persistent in trying to make everyone in the bar do shots. So we finally gave in but we just poured some of our Smirnoff Ice into a shot glass.

They made us all wear name tags but mine fell off. Here's me and Marty.

And then we met the REAL John McCain! When I first saw him, I thought he had on football makeup under his eyes so I went over to ask him what that was all about and discovered it was a tattoo. Anyway, we didn't believe his name was really John McCain but he showed us his license and it was his birthday, too. (Not quite sure who is flipping us off in that third picture.) And the last picture I was just trying to get a good picture of his tattoo. OUCH!

And then the hat swappin' began! How many hats can I wear in a short period of time? Even Marty got in on the action of the hats. I swear he's saying YEEEE-haw in this picture!

And that's it for our ugly time in Austin. Marty and I had a great trip and it was so nice to see my friend Bonnie.

Music is LeeAnn Rimes: Can't Fight The Moonlight from the Coyote Ugly soundtrack.

Austin is Beautiful!

2008-12-23T15:33:00.006-06:00

Marty and I usually go somewhere every year without the kids but this year we didn't so Marty made us reservations for a quick trip down to Austin. It was a much-needed break and we had a great time. We stayed at Barton Creek Resort. It was so beautiful! Our room was on the 8th floor and you could see for miles.

And being the week of Christmas, the hotel was virtually empty. Everyone was calling us Mr. and Mrs. England everywhere we went because we were just about the only guests. It was a ghost town. Kinda felt like The Shining! Here is the restaurant at 6:30pm ... totally empty except us.

After dinner, we went to the lounge and again ... we were the only people there. Let me tell you, that was the best $15 margarita I ever drank! We had a great night.

The next day, we had to bundle up. The temperature went from 78° down to about 32° overnight. Yuck!

We drove to Lake Travis to meet Bonnie, my college roommate. We saw the Texas State Capitol Building on our way to the Hula Hut.

Here's a picture of me and Bonnie Jean on the left. And I ran into another friend of mine from Dallas. That's Emily and me on the right. It's weird when you see people in a different city. Emily was just passing through Austin on her way back to Dallas.

Then we decided to brave the cold and get some pictures out by the lake. BRRRRR! Here's me and Marty.

And me and Bonnie.

After lunch, we decided to head downtown and check out 6th Street. That's when things got UGLY.................. More on that tomorrow. :0)

For music today, you get the only song I know about Austin. This is Blake Shelton: Austin

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

2008-12-17T21:00:00.007-06:00

Nick had his first big concert last night at his school. My mom and stepdad came over to see the concert with us. Before we went, I wanted to take some pictures by the Christmas tree. I needed a good one of all of us for our Christmas card (yeah I know it's a little late to just be thinking of cards but they could make it by Christmas!!). Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids and then all of us and grandma and the kids and the last one is me and my mom. We actually did get one that was pretty good for the Christmas card so all was not lost!

And on to the band concert! Nick plays clarinet and on Thursday last week his instrument broke and we were scared we couldn't get it repaired in time. But with a little pleading, Mr. E's pulled through for us!

The concert was really good. It's hard to imagine that this group of over 100 6th graders had never played an instrument before just a couple of months ago. And last night they put on a whole concert. It was pretty impressive. And Nick was the best one of the bunch! Here are some pictures of him. I didn't realize until after the concert that his elf hat says, "JINGLE THIS!" Possibly not appropriate for an intermediate school concert but what can you do?

And as an added bonus, I ran into my good friend Claire at the concert (her son plays trombone) and we got to talk a little. We made plans to go look at "magic trees" again this year ... the Christmas tradition we started by accident last year and one that only makes sense to me and Claire!

And for music today, you get to hear the clarinet class at Nick's school play Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Isn't Nick an awesome clarinet player?

Cold Carpool!

2008-12-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

Lauren's friends came over this morning like they always do because I take them all to school. But when Lauren came down the stairs looking like this, I had to grab my camera. What a little fashionista!

I forgot to put my camera down before we got in the car so I took some pictures of the big fun we have every morning on the way to school. Crazy kids!

And you just can't believe how cold it is!! I mean come on ... it is NOT supposed to be 27° in Texas! I will be the one hibernating inside until a warm front rolls in.

That's it. I actually had nothing to say. I just wanted to post the picture of Lauren. Here's some music: Carpool Dummy. It's kinda funny.

A Grinch No Longer!

2008-12-07T16:44:00.006-06:00

The tree is up. The house is decorated. The Christmas shopping has begun. The kids are soooooo excited. My annual Grinchiness is over. We took the kids to the movies last weekend to see Bolt. It was really cute. (I actually stayed awake for the whole movie which is saying a lot!) Before the movie, we stopped to see Santa but I only got sucky pictures. So ... this is the best one I have. Something strange happened to Nick! He turned into Santa! Actually he was with Marty buying the movie tickets. But I thought this picture of the other 3 was cute.

That's all I have for today. I put up a Christmas-y blog header so I figured I would get at least one Christmas picture up. Besides ... I was sick of looking at that ugly turkey!

Here's some music to get you in the Christmas mood. This is my favorite part of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey cracks me up every single time I watch it when he starts singing the nonsense lyrics. What was Dr. Suess on anyway? What exactly does Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! mean?

So Thankful!

2008-11-27T17:55:00.011-06:00

I have never claimed to be a good cook. But for some reason I have been cooking the Thanksgiving meal for the last several years and it always turns out pretty good. Nothing fancy ... just food. This year's menu: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce (made from real cranberries), cornbread muffins and rolls. I started cooking at about 9 o'clock this morning and the meal was on the table at 12:30. Here's the turkey. Terrible picture. Looks more like a chicken. Maybe I'll get a bigger one next year.

And, of course we need a picture of all the food on the table and then the adults around the table (the kids ate at the other table).

After we ate, Marty and Gil (my step-dad) went upstairs to watch football and mom and I hung out and talked. Happy sat with us for a while. She's such a sweet dog!

And before Mom and Gil left, we had to get all of the important pictures! Here's Marty and me, Gil and Mom, and Mom and me.

Time to load the dishwasher ... again! I think we've run it three times today! I sure am glad we don't have to wash all those dishes by hand. It's hard for me to believe that when Marty and I first moved to Canada, we didn't have a dishwasher in the house we rented (for over a year!).

The boys all decided to spend the night with Grandma tonight so I got a picture with them all before they left. And I needed one with Lauren, too! These kids are, and always will be, the top 4 things I am thankful for! Marty and I are truly blessed beyond measure!

And finally, I just needed this picture of Daddy and his little girl. She is such a toot but she sure knows how to get her way.

Tonight we have just girls in the house ... so weird! Lauren has a friend spending the night. Maybe I'll actually do something girly with them. Could be fun but I'm am just not a girly-girl. I'll let you know how that goes. :)

Signing off from this beautiful Thanksgiving day with some music. I love this song. It just makes me happy and it reminds me that I have some special people in my life that I am truly thankful for.

I Could Fly
~Keith Urban

I wanna thank you for the love that you give me
And the sun that you put in my sky
You don't know how much you've lifted me up
But I feel so alive
That I could fly

There's no way I could've made it this far
Without you
You came to me just when I needed someone to believe
That I could make it through
And you gave me back
The love I had
The faith I'd lost
The life I knew

High On A Mountain Top!

2008-11-26T04:44:00.000-06:00

Our final day of camping! We got up early and the kids played around by our cabin while we packed everything up. Then we headed over to have breakfast with the church group.

After breakfast, we told the kids we would hike up the mountain. So we finished loading the car then headed to the trail.

The hike up was really pretty. We stopped several times to look at the view of the lake.

And Austin spotted this cactus. He thought the middle part looked like a heart. Marty thought the cactus looked like a person.

There were some difficult parts to the trail but the kids did really well and we made it to the peak pretty quickly.

Lauren said she was "king of the world!!" ... it was really cute. Here is a picture from Johnson Peak. The Lake was really gorgeous.

And then we started our descent. To get down, there was a different trail than we used to get up so we just followed the signs. Seemed pretty easy...

...Until we got to THIS sign! It clearly says to go straight ahead. Well ... it LIED! Straight ahead was not a path. In fact, straight, right and left ... not a path. And we didn't want to hike back up the mountain so we decided to just make our own trail. We went through lots of sticker bushes. It was NOT fun. We were lost for a good hour.

But if you keep walking down a mountain, eventually you will get to the bottom ... and we did. We ended up on this beach. The problem was that we had no idea where our car was in relation to the beach. So we took a guess and 20 minutes or so later, our car magically appeared. We had good luck! And so ended our 3-day camping adventure. Ahhh ... home to a clean, hot shower!

Of course we need some music and I can't end my posts about our camping trip to Possum Kingdom Lake without playing the song written about the lake! Here are The Toadies: Possum Kingdom

Campin' Ain't So Bad!

2008-11-25T05:55:00.007-06:00

We left off last post with me complaining about everything having to do with this camping trip. Well, the night was pretty long. Bed was uncomfortable and I just didn't sleep well. But I woke up to such a beautiful sight ... sunrise over the lake. It was my first glimpse of the lake.

And the kids woke up not long after because there were no blinds on the windows so everyone was up at the crack of dawn which is good for me because I'm an early riser.

The church group we were with provided breakfast so we headed over to their campfire and ate some really good egg and bean casserole they made in the fire. But it was really, really COLD! And who is that strange man standing behind me?

Then we went back to our own cabin and Marty and the kids cleaned out the firepit. We didn't have any lighter fluid so we decided to wait until we had some to get the fire started.

And here's our cabin and the view of the lake from our cabin ... and Austin holding a stick by the cabin.

Our horse riding reservation wasn't until 10:00 so we decided to head in town for some supplies ... you know, lighter fluid, hot dogs, marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate! Took us a while to find the Trading Post but it was a much needed oasis!

And then on to some horses! There weren't enough horses for the adults so just the kids rode. First we had to sit and listen to the safety speech. Then the kids got on their helmets. And they were so excited to get their horses. Lauren was on Ketchup. Mackenzie was on Daisy. Nick rode Cody. And Austin was on a very spirited Mule named Max. I think Nick and Austin rode a horse at a birthday party many years ago but for the most part, no one remembered ever riding a horse so it was a really cool experience for them all.

No time to rest! We went straight from the horses to archery. Nick and Austin had shot bows and arrows at Boy Scout Camp 2 summers ago and felt like they were pros. And Mackenzie and Lauren did great, too. Lauren was the first one to get an arrow to stay in the target and she was really proud of herself.

Then we went over to the lake because we wanted to see if the barge was running to Devil's Island. It wasn't running from our camp but we were told to go check at Main Camp.

On the way to Main Camp, we detoured to the riflery place. This was probably my favorite activity. We got to shoot real guns! Lauren was the first to get a bullseye. But Nick was the real marksman. One round, he hit the target 9 out of 12 times!

Then we drove over to Main Camp to look for the boat. On the way, we saw a couple of deer which was really cool!

Unfortunately, it was too windy and the barge wasn't running to Devil's island. So I took the kids back to shoot some more archery while Marty went back to the cabin and started our fire.

And when we got back to camp, Marty had a nice fire going and the kids all roasted some hot dogs and marshmallows.

Mmmmmm ... more s'mores!

Dinner was back with the church group. We had "hobo packs." Basically you make your own meal by throwing some raw hamburger meat, vegetables and seasoning in some foil, sealing it tightly and throwing it on the fire for about 30 minutes. The trick is remembering which hobo pack is yours.

After dinner, we were all pretty tired. We went back to the cabin and all talked for quite a while. Then we saw the full moon over the lake and headed to bed. It was a good day! (Day 3 coming soon.)

Here's some music for you. This is totally not a camping song but when I said "it was a good day" I was reminded of this song. Ice Cube: Today Was A Good Day

Happy Campers!

2008-11-23T20:00:00.006-06:00

Marty signed us up for a camping trip with some other families from our church. It sounded like fun. We have been "camping" a couple of times in Arkansas. And we don't sleep in a tent. We have always had a nice cabin that was pretty much like a hotel ... nice beds, fresh linens and towels, a nice kitchen and a cute fireplace. Fun times. But this place was different. We were told to bring sheets and towels and stuff which seemed odd to me but I went along with it. How bad could it be?

Here we are on the way to Possum Kingdom Lake. The kids were testing out the DVD for the first time since we got the car in April.

And Marty and I were trying not to be blinded by the sun!

And, yes, it's perfectly safe to make the driver take a picture while trying to concentrate on the road. That ... and texting while driving ... perfectly acceptable! :-)

After a couple of hours in the car ... and the worst Whataburger meal of all time ... we arrived at Camp Ray Bean which is part of Camp Grady Spruce. And it was COLD! In the dark, the cabins didn't look too bad upon first glance. We arrived late and just threw our junk in the cabin and headed over to join the other people for s'mores. BRRRRR! The kids had fun roasting marshmallows but only Austin likes to eat them so Marty and I ended up eating way too many s'mores because Lauren and Nick and Mackenzie kept making them and not eating them.

We didn't stay too long at the campfire because it had been a long drive and it really was cold and we wanted to get settled into our cabin. Well, it was ... um ... less than we were expecting! LOL! The cabins sleep 10 and are actually designed as lodging for kids at summer camp. There were 2 bunks and 2 other beds downstairs and 4 more beds upstairs. All were twin beds, So Marty and I shoved a couple of the beds together and took the mattresses off of the extra 2 beds so that our bed was a little softer than just a thin mattress.

And then we had a look around. Oh my! The bathroom was really just gross! Everything clashed which was actually the best part. The toilet was just sub-standard. YUCK! I got a nice quad workout from all of the hovering I had to do all weekend. :-) But I think the grossest thing was the shower. Marty and I decided everyone would just stay dirty all 3 days we were there.

Day 1, we all headed to bed at about 9:30. Needless to say, I was not thinking this would be a fun trip. Stay tuned for Day 2. Will it get any better or will happyrobyn complain for 3 days in a row?

We need some music. How 'bout a campfire song? Here's Joan Baez: Kumbaya

Happy Halloween and a line by Austin

2008-10-31T07:35:00.004-05:00

The kids are all excited about Halloween. Grandma and Grandpa Eastman were here this week from Cleveland and helped us carve pumpkins. Here they are with their pumpkins. And just look at them glowing ... SPOOOOOOKY!!!! I'll post pictures from trick-or-treating tomorrow.

My friend Claire sent me the picture below. Cracks me up! Oh the wisdom of pumpkins! Don't drink too much this Halloween ... you see what can happen!

And before I close, I HAVE to tell you what Austin said to me this morning. The kid is smooth! I went to his room to wake him up and I told him he could wear shorts because it was going to be warm today. And he said ... and I quote ... "But it's hot in here!" And I asked him why it was hot and he said, "Because you're in here ... and you're sooo good lookin'!" His first line! Love that boy so much. Now he just needs to use it on someone other than his mom...

Of course we need some Halloween music. The first song that comes to mind is DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince: Nightmare on My Street

Sunshine and Smiles!

2008-10-29T05:55:00.002-05:00

My dad and stepmom came down for a visit from Cleveland and Dad took this picture of Lauren out by the lake near our house. I haven't scrapped anything in a really, REALLY long time but I had to do something with this picture. Lauren just looks so happy and so beautiful. I can't believe how grown up she is! Makes me happy just to look at this picture.

Don't have much else to say this morning. Late for work as usual. More soon...

Credits: Background paper by Gypsy Chick - Fairy Sparkle Paper - Scrap Artist. Word art by Jackie Eckles - Hemera kit - LDD. Flowers by Michelle Coleman - Painted Art I - LDD. Font is My Old Remington. Created in Photoshop CS2.

Here is some music for you. I think I'll play a song for Lauren. This is Martina McBride: In My Daughter's Eyes.

"In my daughter's eyes I can see the future

A reflection of who I am and what will be

Though she'll grow and someday leave

Maybe raise a family

When I'm gone I hope you see how happy she made me

For I'll be there

In my daughter's eyes"

Fun times at the intermediate school...

2008-10-24T23:11:00.001-05:00

I've spent the last two nights at Nick and Austin's school. And let me tell you ... BIG fun both nights!! We'll go in reverse order and start with tonight. Austin's friend, Cayley, asked him to go to the 50's Sock Hop with her and he wanted me to go, too. They had fun hula hooping and jumping in the bounce houses. And Elvis even made an appearance!

Apparently I have a knack for knowing where Elvis will be. (Must be because I'm married to an Elvis guy!) Anyway, here's me in April and then tonight. Elvis seems to have gotten younger since I last saw him!

Austin had a great time! I think he may have had too much cotton candy though because he was break dancing by the end of the night!

And now on to last night. Nick is in his first year of band. He plays clarinet and we are really proud of him. He practices every day and he's getting pretty good. Last night we went to the Fall preview concert. It was neat to see how much the kids have all learned in such a short amount of time. School has only been in session for 9 weeks. Here's a picture of Nick. He's in the center with glasses.

But there was a strange phenomenon going on at the concert. Obviously, I was there to see my son play the clarinet. HOWEVER ... school chairs are funny things. They have a hole cut out in the back. And, I'm thinking I like chairs with no holes better! Because in more than one chair, we saw something like THIS ........

That's right ... there seems to be a big crack problem at Nick and Austin's school! Sorry ... Marty and my neighbor dared me to take the picture. And, it was just too funny not to share!

And on that note, I'll close this post. But we need some music first. Here's General Kane: Crack Killed Apple Jack

A big problem!

2008-10-02T21:09:00.003-05:00

I have a very BIG problem. They have opened a Freebirds right by The Little Gym (that's where I work). It opened last Monday and I'm not going to admit how many times I have eaten there already! It's just too good! I'm gonna get huge! What can you do? It's not my fault that they opened the best burrito place on the planet like 2 doors down from me! Think Chipotle only a hundred times better! And, it takes me back to my Texas A&M days. The first Freebirds in Texas started in College Station in 1990. It was a frequent hangout of mine in college. (Here is a page of the history of Freebirds if you care to learn more.)

Anyway, here I am with my friend Leslie and her daughter at Freebirds. Our "burrito artist" gave us the foil crowns to wear while we shoved burritos down our pieholes!

I guess the only solution to my burrito addiction is to work out more. Luckily, my wonderful husband got us a membership to the new Lifetime Fitness that is about to open by us. The open house was tonight and we took the kids to look around. It's gonna be soooo cool!

Necesitamos la música (apparently all this burrito eatin' is putting me in a Spanish talking mood!). What other song could I play today? ... Here is Lynyrd Skynyrd: Free Bird

Happy Birthday Austin ... a month late!

2008-09-22T22:10:00.001-05:00

Austin's birthday always falls around Labor Day weekend and the beginning of school. So we usually wait a week or two for his party. But this year we had to wait 3 weeks because of my high school reunion. But no worries ... the kid had a party! He had some boys come and play at the gym then they all went to a movie and then spent the night at the gym. Since it was a boy's thing, I didn't have to stay at the gym. Poor Marty didn't get them to go to sleep until about 1:30am. Here are some pictures from the party.

Austin's best friend Zack.

Austin's presents ... lots-o-gift cards!

Crazy boys!

Look at that awesome cake! Made it myself with my very own hands by special request from Austin. Love that little guy. He thinks I can cook! He did the cake decorating. I think it's a beautiful cake! Betty Crocker would be proud.

Marty and I having a total blast! What a couple of partiers! The picture of me by the window is a common sight. That's where I work every day.

Then we had to get out the tumble track and let the boys jump. They had a blast on it!

And then I had to get some jumping in. I wanted Marty to get a picture of my straddle jump. But the shutter lag is so bad on my camera that he kept missing the picture so I must have jumped a hundred times!

More pictures of the boys. I think Austin had a good time.

Music today is Flo Rida: In The Ayer. Lauren LOVES this song and has been singing it to me all day.

A new 'do and a new friend...

2008-09-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

I normally alternate between two hairstyles. Long or a bob. Pretty exciting. I was feelin' crazy the other day and decided to do something different. Got bangs, a darker color and some highlights. And I even bought a flat iron. Anyway, not sure if I am in love with it but it's growing on me. Here is the new me ... at least for a while.

And I have a new friend. Her name is Leslie. She's from northern California and is only here temporarily which sucks. Her husband is here working on the new Cowboys stadium. He's in charge of something having to do with the retractible roof. On my way to meet Leslie last night, I passed the stadium and took some pictures. It's hard to drive and take pictures at the same time so these aren't very good.

Leslie and I had a great time! Stayed out waaaay too late and really felt it today but it was worth it. Here we are being silly at Bobby V's.

That's all I have for now. I have a hot date with Marty tonight so I need to go get ready for my man! Here is some music for ya. Can't stop singing this one. I heard it last night ... War: Why Can't We Be Friends?

Old Friends and Football

2008-09-08T05:55:00.003-05:00

My 20 year high school reunion is next weekend and I've been talking to one of my good friends from high school and we decided it would be a good idea if our husbands met before the reunion so we invited Tracey and Scott over to watch the Cowboys game yesterday. A good time was had by all! The boys watched the game and Tracey and I caught up. I haven't seen her in years. Here's a picture of all of us (the cutie girl is their daughter Emi).

It really was a fun day but we ate entirely too much. Scott was also a good friend of mine in high school although he is two years older than me. We actually dated for a while when I was in 9th grade. Apparently I need some Cowboys clothes. I was the only one not dressed for the occasion. And don't Emi and Lauren look cute? Two blonde beauties!

For music today, I have to break out some old stuff that we listened to in high school. Here's a good one ... Beastie Boys: No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn. I can't even imagine how many times I listened to this song in the late 1980's.

A Day with Grandma

2008-09-07T01:11:00.006-05:00

Marty had to go out of town yesterday so Mom came over to watch the kids while I went to work. Here's a picture Mom took of me and the boys before I left for work.

When I got home, we hung out and talked for a while/I did my best not to fall asleep on the couch and then we drove her home. Mom and I hadn't eaten so we decided to go for a late lunch before heading to her house. Here are some pictures of the kids. I took the picture of Lauren then Lauren and Mackenzie took the rest while I was looking at the menu.

We always have to get a picture in the swing at Grandma's so here we all are. Lauren and Austin have a bunch of junk because they were going to spend the night. But when it was time to leave, plans changed and Nick and Austin ended up spending the night. My plans never work out like I think they will.

So then the kids wanted to climb the tree. This is always another good photo opportunity. Mom decided I was going to fall but I had to remind her what I do for a living ... I mean, I AM a balance beam professional after all! Ok, seriously ... let's just say we were lucky no one fell.

And then, Mom had this GREAT idea ... she needed someone to cut some of the branches that were hitting her roof. Did I mention she pretty much lives in a jungle?! None of the houses in Dallas have trees but somehow her yard is a forest! Anyway, I climbed up on the roof with a saw and branch cutter and went to town. I was sweating my a$$ off but it was fun. And the kids were helping, too. I would throw down the branches and they would throw them in the creek. And then when we were all done, Mom gave them each a dollar. I wonder when they will figure out that this is not a good deal!

After we finished in the yard, the kids played for a while inside and Mom and I looked at old pictures.

And that was our exciting day. How about some music? I'm going to play Steve Forbert: Romeo's Tune. This one's for you, Mom! We used to listen to this 8-track while driving around in our van when I was a kid.

Steve Forbert released this song in 1979. And I was surprised to see it on Keith Urban's greatest hits CD as a cover tune earlier this year. Most of you know how much I love Keith Urban but Steve Forbert's version is so much better ... probably because of the memories it brings back for me. If you want to compare, listen to Keith Urban.

Slutty Golfers!

2008-09-06T11:11:00.006-05:00

So many acronyms! There is a group of girls that I go out with every month. We call it G.O.L.F. night which stands for Girls Only Last Friday. Well, last night was GOLF night. (I know it wasn't the last Friday but we had to postpone it a week because one of the girls was moving last weekend.) Anyway, we had a great time like we always do. We went to Staci's house (she's on the right) and just hung out by the pool and talked. And Randi's boyfriend (correction ... a guy that Randi knows ... sorry Randi!) found these cups for us. So we were all drinking from our S.L.U.T.S. cups. On the other side of the cup, it says Southern Ladies Under Tremendous Stress. That about sums up why we have GOLF night! I think between all of us in the picture above, we have 20 kids ... and one of the girls doesn't even have any. Three of us have four.

I have nothing else to say. (Can you believe it?) Marty had to go to Little Rock today to check on the gym there. I'm sad that I won't get to see him much this weekend. But next weekend will be great because we're going to my high school reunion and one of the nights we're staying downtown. So that will be fun!

The song today is for Randi. For some reason she got to talking about the guitar part on this song (after he says, "Some people call me Maurice..."). And it took us a while to figure out which song she meant. Anyway, here is the Steve Miller Band: The Joker

BTW ... I recently added a picture slider to the bottom of this blog. I know most of you only read the first post. But be sure to scroll down to the bottom and check it out.

An answered prayer!

2008-09-04T17:55:00.007-05:00

O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. Psalm 30:2

I can't believe it ... after 5 years, I have finally heard the words I have been waiting to hear ... "His ears look great!" If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that my youngest son, Mackenzie, had a pretty serious ear operation last March. And at the time of the operation, we were told that he would need a second operation in 9-18 months to reconstruct what was damaged during the first operation.

For a while last year, his hearing started getting a little better but then earlier this year, it started decreasing again and we could just tell he was not hearing well. I wanted to wait until after summer (because of swimming) before I made a decision on the operation so our doctor told us to come back when school started. Well ... we just got home from the audiologist and his ENT and he can hear! In fact, the hearing in his right ear (the one that had the operation) is just minimally lower than in his left ear. The doctor even went so far as to tell me that he would perform the reconstructive surgery if I wanted but that if we do, he is doubtful that he could achieve the level of hearing that Mackenzie currently has.

This is all amazing to me because when Mackenzie had his operation, the doctor removed two of the ossicles in his ear that are necessary for hearing. So I asked the doctor how it was possible for him to be hearing so well. And he told me that we were just lucky and that every once in a while, everything just heals well and the scar tissue does something (insert a lot of big words here that I have no clue what they mean). Anyway, I don't really care about the explanation. All I care about is that my son can hear and is not going to need another operation! God must have been listening to me. And I am so happy! Our doctor still wants to check him out every year or so but for now, everything looks great!

This picture of Mackenzie was taken on our last night in California this summer after a bath. It cracks me up. That boy is so funny. And take a look at the picture and compare it with mine ... don't you think he looks like me? I have noticed that in a couple of pictures lately. I think he's the only one of the kids that resembles me at all.

And for music today, I thought I would give a little praise to God for blessing my life more than I deserve to be blessed. Third Day: God of Wonders