Welcome To Our Zoo

Our Week

2012-01-21T21:50:00.001-06:00

This past week had it's ups and downs. Our new addition to the family (Neeka an Alaskan Husky) decided to escape our 6 ft. fence. There was a board that had broken and we had no idea she could skinny through that small hole. This was Wed. morning around 5:40AM. Neeka is a runner and she runs fast so there was no telling how far she had gotten since we didn't know exactly when she escaped. Danny walked the neighborhood... I grabbed Katherine and her back pack and drove the neighborhood in pitch dark. At 6:30 we had not seen any sign of her. I put a tearful Katherine on the bus and Danny and I decided to wait until it was light out to go look again. I told Danny to open the gate to the backyard in case Neeka came back on her own. Well that's what happened, Neeka just appeared in the backyard on her own around 7:15 AM.

We decided we needed to head up to the school to tell Katherine Neeka was home and safe so she wouldn't be upset all day at school. We got there 5 min. before school started and were told we couldn't see her. Our only option was to write a note to her. I was mad.. really mad. Danny said it's not like someone died, just let it go. I kept saying they have no legal right to keep my child from me.... I turned into a mama bear protecting her cub. I know it wasn't an emergency, but to be told I couldn't see my child! OH NO!!! Katherine came home and told me she got the note during lunch 1 hr. before school ended... now I was even more upset. So after I calmed down some I e-mailed the principle. I was nice in the e-mail but did express my anger in a polite manner.

Thursday morning I get a phone call, the principle wants to meet with us in his office Friday morning. Oh I so did not want to meet the principle... but Danny and I went in... their explanation which I have a hard time believing, was they thought I wanted to see Katherine's teacher not Katherine. I have serious doubts, but have chosen to believe the story and let them deal with their decision to lie if they did lie. There are some behind the scene things going on also that I have no proof of that would let me believe there are other things going on... but since I have no proof I can't say much without looking like a paranoid idiot. Now while I may occasionally be an idiot, I do not need to prove that fact for everyone... it will be my little secret. LOL

Friday evening... the highlight of my week. My precious girl was honored during half time at the high school boys varsity basketball game. I was so proud that she had been nominated for this honor, because she truly does make me proud. She's not perfect and makes mistakes, but she has a very loving, caring and giving heart and she makes our whole family proud of her behavior. We had a great time at the game. I got into the game and was cheering... Danny was cheering a tad and Katherine finally got into it in the 4th period and started cheering too. It was so much fun. Below is a picture of Katherine with the basketball team and coach. The coach made a very good short and sweet motivational speech and told the kids to stop the stinkin thinkin that tells them they can't do something. He said if your brain tells you you can't do something add the word yet to the sentence. I can't do this math problem YET!... I can't run a mile Yet! I had just had this talk with Katherine I was so happy she could hear this from someone other than mom. Great ending to a rough week... and I am going to stop the stinkin thinkin myself.

Katherine is kneeling on the right.. navy blue Salinas shirt 4th one from the right.

Friendship

2012-01-14T16:18:00.001-06:00

The past couple of years Danny, but mostly I, have been struggling with a friendship. Usually I am spot on when meeting someone if that person's personality will mesh with mine and if we will be friendly or "friends". This time however I think I ignored my gut intuition and tried in vain to make a friendship work when it was very toxic to me.

My question I guess is do a lot of people find themselves in toxic friendships or is this something that occurs very rarely?

In my case the toxic friendship was based on me being used... I take 50% responsibility for the toxicity because I have a back bone and could have said no, and normally would have, but chose not to over and over again. Most of the time I took pity on this other person or did it for the sake of my daughters friendship with this "friend's" daughter. I was told 2 years ago to cut off this friendship from other friends who were not mutual friends of ours, and I didn't. It just came to a point where I could give no more of myself and get nothing in return... and it wasn't just monetarily it was emotional, time.. service and compassion. Things were wonderful if I was doing this person a favor or helping them... once I started saying no that's when things turned ugly. Looking back over there years our family has done numerous acts of service for the other family and not once did they ever do any acts of service towards us with out a condition of we did this for you the other week and were wondering if you wouldn't mind doing this for us since we did yada yada. There was one occasion where I let myself be pressured into spending a lot of money that I really didn't have to spend and have regretted it ever since. I also found myself becoming more negative about the world around me which I began to dislike... I found myself making comments about others that were not complimentary which was not like me... I began to take on this other person's attitude and for that I regret. I wish I could go back and stop myself from letting out the negative comments (I don't ever think I made mean comments, at least I hope not and I don't remember any) but my focus on the negative side of things began to suck some of the joy out of my life. It really is easy to get sucked into the glass is half empty attitude when you surround yourself with people who see it that way. I am not saying I don't have an occasional bad day or that nothing bad ever happens... but I like to think that at the very least I learn a good lesson form the bad things and I grow from them.

My husband, who is usually very slow on the uptake when it comes to seeing people for who they really are nailed this family on the head. He never ever wanted to be around them, he'd grudgingly go once in a while and I'd find myself making excuses as to why he would not join us or visit. I think he secretly got down on the ground and prayed a prayer of thanks when I told him the friendship was over. When I did end it I felt such a relief and like this thousand pound weight had been taken of my shoulders. This was just a confirmation that ending the friendship was the right thing to do for me. I hadn't really understood just how much stress I had put myself under trying to remain friends. I'm not sure exactly why I feel a little guilty about it though. Maybe it's because I feel I should have ended it long before I did, maybe it's because I don't want to admit to myself that I failed at a friendship... even though I know intellectually it takes give and take on both parts to have a good friendship. I'm not really sure, but I know I still struggle with it.

However I do know I will get over this and that this whole experience has brought me to treasure my friends even more. I may not have my best friends geographically close, and we may not talk on the phone much and we may not see each other or write letters often.... but I know my true friends would be there for me in a heartbeat if I just asked. I have been very blessed in my life to have some really awesome friends. I would do almost anything for them and I know they would do the same. So to all my friends who may or may not read this post. THANK YOU for being my friend. THANK YOU for being good examples in my life. THANK YOU for bringing me laughter to the point of almost peeing my pants (okay I might have once or twice peed my pants but you'll never know) LOL. THANK YOU for your smile. THANK YOU for a hug. THANK YOU for inspiring me without even know it, and THANK YOU for being you.

Best of Intentions

2012-01-12T16:20:00.000-06:00

I really do have the best of intentions... and almost a year ago when I last posted an update, I really did think I was going to be much better at updating my blog....but nope. So once again I am going to try to post more often. Here is a a quick update on the last year.

Katherine decked out in her Daddy's Team cheerleader outfit...

a present from her to her Daddy for Christmas.

Katherine and her newest cousin, Alyssa.

Joseph and Julie's daughter (4 mnths)

Katherine and Pop Pop on their annual Thanksgiving Day walk.

The grey/white Husky... our new addition to the fur members of our family.

Neeka! She came to use a stray in October and is the sweetest girl ever.

Katherine and her Daddy on a sunset dolphin cruise (Gulf Shores, Alabama)

Katherine walking along the beach in Gulf Shores

Katherine & Danny in a blue angels jet at the naval aviation museum.

Katherine eating alligator while on vacation.

Katherine outside of the beach house right before leaving for home.

We had a very busy year and a very good year. Katherine continued with her swim lessons during the summer and was able to pass the swim test that allowed her to swim anywhere in the pool unsupervised. Along way from not even being able to put her face in the water when she started. I must say we have been very, very, very blessed with a lot of love and laughter this past year and look forward to another year full of the same if not more.

It's been a long time

2011-02-19T17:28:00.001-06:00

We'll so much for me keeping up on the blogging... but I am going to try again. This year Katherine asked us to let her take cheer leading classes. I had asked her in the past about it and she always said NO!.... this time she asked me so I thought I should at least try. The classes are offered on a pay as you go basis and you can choose to perform for the San Antonio Spurs at one of their games and in the St. Patrick's Day parade... she chose to do both. Here is a video of her first rehearsal for the performances.. this is in addition to her class routines she is learning. She is in the teal tank top and black bicycle shorts.

I'm so proud of her... as my brother told me she suffers from CRD (Caucasian rhythm disorder). She is also doing this without any of her friends being involved which is major in her life. She only learned these moves today in an hour and a half clinic. She sure is growing up fast.

Don't Be Scared

2010-10-12T14:48:00.000-05:00

I know.. it's been forever and a day since I posted anything. I'm not sure why I haven't posted other than losing my password, but after all I did figure it out a while back.

Lots of things to catch up on... this year we did not get season passes to Sea World and I really missed it. Hubs not so much. He says you go one time you've done it and you don't need to do it again. I say.. you've done it once you keep going back each time there is something new to discover. I know Katherine was a little disappointed, but I am hoping to get them this coming year.

Our poor little dog came down with Leptosporosis and we figured it came from the craptastic neighbors behind us. The house has been in need of repair (lots of people keep coming and going). Some people from Tennessee moved in and we thought we had finally some decent neighbors. They chatted and said they were fixing up the house and seemed really nice. 3 months later they packed up the house and left... leaving the house in shambles. So what did we find.. that house has rats (I say mice Hubs says rats... maybe I am in denial cause rats sound so much worse than a little tiny mouse... but both are gross). Well rats/mice spread the lepto and Hubs has caught 5 of these critters in our backyard that we share with the craptastic neighbors. Anyway... long story short and lots of money later our darling dog pulled out of a very serious case and survived surprising the vet and us. We love him and you'd never know he has permant kidney damage from the 3 week ordeal. We've learned alot and we are so thankful that he found the strength to fight and get back to normal.

Katherine started the 2nd grade (can't belive she's that old) and she's doing so well. Her challenge this year was that she was put in a class with all new kids. She is still trying to find a best friend in her class, but she still has her besties from Kinder and 1st grade even if they aren't in the same class. I am proud to announce for the first quarter she did have straight A's. We are so proud of her.

Katherine & Mrs. Garcia

We have also been lucky enough to have family that have allowed us to use their property in the country to go have a good time and get away from the city... it's so peaceful and pretty there.. here is a sunset picture

Katherine and Hubs in the RTV... it's fun to ride around and explore.

here our our little puppies (poopies)

Since life is calling and I need to get chores around the house done, I'll close this post with Katherine's birthday portrait... more to come later. I'm posting this now so I don't forget.

OOPS!

2010-08-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but I lost my password and just now figured out how to get into my blog to post... So much to Catch up on, so little time. I promise more blog entries to follow... In the meantime here is one of my favorite pictures from mother's day 2007... my little baby isn't a baby anymore... she's a big second grader starting tomorrow.

Interesting Conversation with Katherine

2010-01-03T10:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with my 7 yr. old.

Katherine: Mom don't throw out the empty Dr. Pepper bottle in the refrigerator.

Mom: Why?

Katherine: It's got my voice in it... ya wanna hear?

Mom: No! Don't let your voice escape. How'd your voice get in the bottle?? Ursula and
Ariel???

Katherine: Yup! Just like the little mermaid.

My question is.. why do we need to store her voice in the refrigerator??? I'm all for preserving her sweet little girl voice. I know when she's 16 I'll be longing for it.

K's 7th Birthday

2009-10-01T08:43:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was "K"'s 7th birthday. Where does the time go???? I still feel like I just barely brought her home from the hospital. This year she got almost a week long celebration including a trip to Seaworld and a family party on her actual birthday.

I was able to take cupcakes up to school and was there as her whole class sang happy birthday.. cha cha cha to her. She was so cute... but as I watched her standing in front of her class the little baby seemed to fade just a tad bit more... I could see her face isn't so round and chubby... her legs a long and skinny now and I swear they grew at least a centimeter while they sang to her. She is growing physically, emotionally and maturing. While I am so happy that she is excelling a part of my heart cringes that I know in the blink of an eye I will be watching her with her own children.

I love being "K"'s mother and I am so blessed to have her in our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

First Day of School 2009-2010

2009-08-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

The day finally arrived and "K" had to go back to school as an all grown up 1st grader. She found out that her BFF was not going to be in her class anymore, but even though she was disappointed she did find out 3 other students from Kindergarten would be in class with her. She was so good, last year it was a week of tears, begging not to go on the school bus and mom, well she cried every time "K" cried.. so it was not the easiest thing to do.

This year.. smooth sailing. She had a great day, a moment of almost tears, but she stopped and found a way to be happy. She came home all smiles and laughing.. hope the whole year goes this well. Only problem... almost 1/2 hr. late getting home, the bus couldn't get out of the school parking lot... guess they have to iron out a few problems with the buses.. but other than that it was a great 1st day of the school year.

What a give a way!

2009-08-16T01:22:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my friend Amy for posting this on her blog.. I took a chance and am posting the link on mine... so check out this give-a-way.. it's great!

http://stephaniecastrodesigns.blogspot.com/2009/08/some-thank-you-blog-candy.html

Congrats to Miss "K"

2009-08-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

My darling daughter passed not just one level in swim class this session but 2 levels! I'm so proud of her. She started out 4 weeks ago in level 1. The goal is to pass 1 level each session. She passed level 1 the first session and went to level 2. I thought she may or may not pass level 2, but today at the awards ceremony she surprised me and passed level 2 and level 3! SHE IS SO AWESOME!!!!

My very Brave little Mermaid

2009-08-12T21:06:00.001-05:00

It's been a long road.. okay almost 4 weeks... but "K" has finally conquered her fear of the diving board and can go off by herself. She has also tackled diving off the side of the pool. She makes me so proud. Now the hiding of her pork chop behind the couch.. not so proud... the lying about eating all her food.. not so proud. Jumping on the furniture.. not so proud. But improving at swimming and diving and facing her fear... wipes all the other away and I am a glowing, gushing, blubbering mama! 4 weeks ago "K" wouldn't even put her head under the water.. she is now swimming, doing the backstroke, the elementary backstroke and diving!! WAHOO!

OOPS! No water!

2009-08-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

This is what we woke up to today. Katherine came running into the room asking if it was raining or had rained. I said no.. not for months now. She said mom there's a main break. We need to call it in. I called Danny at work and he said he had already called and it had been reported. Danny does this for a living, but not in our city in an adjacent city. So I thought how fun.. to document what daddy does for a living. We had no water.. hmmm wonder why? The severe drought and heat have caused the ground to shift and this makes water main breaks very common. This is the 4th one within a block of our house. They actually replaced a portion of pipe today. I feel for my husband and the other men that have to work in this heat.. it's brutal and hard work to dig and fix these leaks.

Time for a Dip in the Pool

2009-07-22T17:37:00.000-05:00

I love, love, LOVE my baby girl. She has made me so proud! It's really kind of hard to explain. I feel more emotional that I ever thought I would over some pretty simple stuff. Yesterday was her first swim lesson. They basically tested all the kids to place them in the right class. Well today she was put in the beginner class. She no longer needs floaties... she can go underwater completely and stay down holding her breath. She can doggy paddle & tread water (she taught herself because at the end of class they were still working on the face in the water). I was so happy I could stop telling her just how proud and happy she made me. I even took her to wally world to get a new towel (mermaid of course) as a reward for conquering her fear. In wally world she said I gotta go to the bathroom bad!!! So we hurry into the stall and what do I see when my daughter pulls her suit down??? BUT UNDERWEAR!!! She forgot to take them off when she put her suit on this morning!! When she pulled them up she said mom, this feels weird. Of course I'm sure the panties were wet and cold. AHHH! My daughter, never a dull moment. The underwear thing was just tooo funny... since her daddy made her wear underwear under her suit the first swim party she went to (I was working and couldn't take her). Like Father like Daughter.

Our SeaWorld Adventure

2009-07-12T08:24:00.000-05:00

Okay yesterday we took Katherine to SeaWorld with friends. It was blistering hot and my loving hubby who hates the heat agreed. I still don't know why he wouldn't put his swimsuit on and cool off in the water park, but he didn't. Katherine loved the lazy river.. so did I except it was sooooo crowded.

Above Danny went on the first "ride" I have ever seen him go on. He just doesn't do rides. But he took Katherine and her bestest friend on the water floom ride... he actually liked getting squirted by Katherine's friend's mom.. he said if felt good!

Katherine posing for me... we had just finished watching Shamu Rocks Texas

I just love Shamu... those whales are such majestic beautiful creatures.

I thought of my SIL here... I know how much PJ loves Texas.

So proud of being an American... I just loved the flag ceremony... and they didn't

get the flags wet either. Thought of my friend Amy with this one

after all the 4th of July is her favorite holiday.

So there you have it a small glimpse at what we did for a staycation. In fact Danny may not go back until it's cooler weather.. but I am. We didn't get to see hardly anything.. I have more shows to watch.. more animals to see... more everything. I LOVE SEAWORLD!

Picture Time!

2009-06-20T14:56:00.000-05:00

I will fully admit I am a picture-a-holic. I LOVE PICTURES... I love seeing my own daughter not to mention family and friends children grow and change over time. So once again we set out for pictures since we had a cousin from out of town visiting. This time it was Pop Pop's idea for pictures again, but like I would object. Every time we do this I ask my husband why... it's so tiring and it hurts to think of what pictures I want and who to send them too. And each time I ask my husband tells me jokingly (I hope). Just don't do it anymore. But we all know I will. It must be like giving birth... a lot of pain involved but with time you forget just how much and will do it again. So here are the results of our 2+ hours getting portraits taken. All children even baby Kendall were great! Such troopers.. the popcorn and soda bribe didn't hurt either.

Kendall... okay come on.. this is too cute... I mean

couldn't you just kiss this face to death?

My baby girl.. not so much baby anymore.. and yes

I have tried to kiss this face to death.

Jessica... oh so grown up looking. She is just so pretty it's not fair.

What a weekend...

2009-05-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

We had an awesome time at the coast this weekend. It wasn't nearly long enough though. We couldn't really take time off work so we left Sat. Morning and came back Sunday evening. We managed to pack in a lot of stuff in that time. We had good friends with us and we laughed and relaxed and just enjoyed ourselves. I love the ocean/gulf/bay whatever you want to call it. The sound of the waves crashing and the tide coming in are so calming and hypnotic to me. I so want to go back soon. Hopefully we can get time off from work and stay for a longer time. I'm content to just sit on the beach... well as long as I have my SPF 50+. I was not blessed with the ability to tan... so I need the old sunscreen. But other than sunburn... I love the beach!

We also love the aquarium... I would get a season pass if I lived closer. I love to watch the fish and sea life. I could stay and watch the dolphin show over and over. It's just a very nice place to take kids and have fun while learning. If you ever make it down to Corpus Christi you really should try and make time to go. The USS Lexington is there too, Danny wants to go on that, but I can't stand the no ventilation in those big ships. But you know... I would go if it were winter and cooler weather.

These were taken at N. Padre Island National Seashore.

We love it here. One of these days I'll make it down to help

the sea turtles. You can volunteer to protect

the turtle eggs. Katherine told me on the beach

that she was going to bring her daughters here

when she gets older. AWWW!

Here is one of the 3 dolphins at the Texas State

Aquarium. I love the aquarium... so much fun and well

I just think the dolphins are too darn cute... the turtles

aren't bad either.

Katherine and Daddy walking on the beach.

I have a picture like this when Katherine

was almost 3. She sure has grown up so much.

Katherine getting her first taste of salt water.

That or hating the sand she got in her shoes.

Here Katherine and "A" are getting splashed,

they were chosen from the audience to

do dolphin sign language... they didn't know they

gave the sign for the dolphin to give them a bath.

A Serval cat... and from Africa... he/she jumped so high,

just right from a standing position. This show

was at the Texas State Aquarium.

Here is a picture of a Ferry Boat taken from the ferry boat we were on.

It's kind of fun and well you never know, the dolphins like to swim with

the ferry boats so every time I cross my fingers I might see a wild

dolphin up close.

If you look closely you can see a dolphin swimming in front of the boat.

They like to chase the boats in the channel.

My pooped out little girl.

My Little Graduate

2009-05-28T19:07:00.000-05:00

Today Katherine graduated Kindergarten. She was so cute. She worked very hard on her musical performance and did a wonderful job being on stage and in the front. She didn't even hesitate to walk up on stage to get her diploma in front of a cafeteria full of Kindergarten parents and grandparents.

I couldn't help but think that she has grown up so fast and that in the blink of an eye I will be watching her cross the stage to receive her high school diploma. I am so proud of my baby girl she has learned a lot this year and not just academically. She has learned how to be a friend and share the attention. She has had to deal with friends moving and leaving. She is an amazing girl and I am so blessed to have been given the chance to be her momma!

I love my Hubby!

2009-05-24T23:20:00.000-05:00

I love my husband... Last week he took time out to mess with my car. There were some minor things that just bugged me and he finally was able to take care of them plus some.

He took my car into the dealer to get the oil changed. Yes he can change the oil, but it's a pain in the butt to do so the dealer can have the pleasure. I asked him to ask about the dashboard not lighting up all the way and the windshield washer spray would shoot over top of the car instead of on the windshield. He came home and told me they would need the car for a couple days to diagnose the dashboard light and he forgot about the windshield washer sprayer.

So what does my husband do? He replaced the battery, (the dealer wanted to charge him $140 for this plus replacing the windshield wiper blades.) Replaced the burned out light bulb in the dash, replaced the whole windshield sprayer thingies (yes that's a technical term), replaced the wiper blades, rain x'd the windshield, sanded and applied some stuff to make my headlights clear and remove the scratches. So now my car is not "bugging" me anymore.

I am just so glad he is so good with car repairs and that he cares enough to fix the stuff for me. Then again he might be fixing the stuff because if he doesn't I will attempt it. I seem to recall calling him when we were dating telling him I needed to drop the engine or remove the radiator to replace a fan... when he got to my house I was elbow deep in grease and not happy. He bailed me out of my mess then and continues to do so now that we are married. I love my guy!!!

The Start of Summer

2009-05-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

Katherine has been waiting all week to swim. So I inflated the pool and filled it up. As luck would have it as soon as I did a thunderstorm hit. We have been in a drought lately so rain is a good thing, but not for a six year old waiting in her swim suit. However the weather cleared enough for about an hours worth of swim time. The dogs added a little mud to the water, and Katherine belly flopped so much that mom at a good soaking too... but it satisfied a little girls urge to swim for the moment.

Grandma's Orange Cake

2009-05-17T16:12:00.000-05:00

Okay last week on Mother's day we were visiting Danny's mom. We got to talking and she mentioned she loved orange cake, but hadn't had one in a long time because they quit selling the orange cake mix. Soooo I file this in the back of my brain and think good idea for next week, it's her birthday.

So I let my fingers do the typing and googled orange cakes. I found all kinds of orange cakes but the one that looked the best and had the best ratings was a lemon and orange cake. I didn't want lemon and orange just orange. So I think to myself.. what a wonderful life.. ooops no that's a song. I thought to myself, I'll leave out the lemon and add some orange zest and make my own version of orange cake.

I purchase all the stuff, a yellow cake mix, orange juice, oranges, icing/frosting the cake pans (you can tell I bake cakes sooo often). Then Katherine and I set off to make the cake. She was great... the did most of the work with a little and I stress little help from me. We used orange juice instead of water and then I used the oranges for orange zest and minced/chopped mutilated the zest. Everything went according to plan. I let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, I then flipped them out onto a cooling rack.. they didn't stick. I cooled them.

Then came the icing/frosting time... as soon as I started that darn top layer broke apart and just went crazy... it was like an earthquake had hit. I have no clue why or what happened. I have never had a cake do that to me. I am not a master baker, but I have made my share of cakes when I lived at home with my parents. I managed a pretty good Pooh cake for Katherine's first birthday and I even made a barbie doll cake for Katherine's third birthday... so why now? Is it the lack of altitude???? The high humidity???? The cosmos playing a cruel joke on me??? Bad Karma???? hmmmm??? I just don't get it. However it did taste great. My mother in law said it happened to her when that cake wasn't cooled first... but my cake was cool, just maybe not cool enough? Oh well... Katherine and I had fun and the thought was there. Tomorrow is my mother in laws birthday, we already gave her the cake, but we'll go down tomorrow to give her her present and say happy birthday on her actual birthday!

My litte Mermaid

2009-05-17T05:11:00.000-05:00

Okay... I haven't posted much lately.. but I've been working overtime. Not as much as usual, but still.. almost 20 hrs. a week is alot. I admit I did get a little lazy and didn't go back to work one saturday to finish up my 10 hrs. But hey we had fun and I'm glad I didn't go back.

Anyway... Katheirne loves to swim... well loves the water the swimming part ehhhh not so much. but she is getting better. She is pretty brave with the old floaties on her arms. The above pictures are her first swim of the year. We went to a neighbor's brother pool this past thursday but I left the dang memory card for my camera at home! IRR!

The swim on this past thursday she really got brave, she jumped backwards into the water from the pool steps and actually allowed herself to go all the way under. She jumped from the side of the pool into the water with an innertube... and she let the neighbor boy turn the pool into a wave pool and loved it. I do admit to bad parenting though.. I bribed her with McDonald's chicken nuggets to jump in the pool with the innertube, then told her I didn't see the first time to do it again.

I really am proud of her, she's a girly girl and a big scaredy cat chicken and she's slowly but surely overcoming her fear of getting her head wet. We are still working on overcoming her fear of sleeping in her own bed all night... I'd love for just one week of her not sneaking into our bed around 2 am. But hopefully that will come before high school.

A little scare

2009-05-02T05:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I worked a 10 hr. shift... I was also pinch hitting in my new temporary promotion as asstistant manager (work calls them work leaders). Anywho... it was one of those days where some mistakes were made no big deal except it was a bunch of little no biggies that drove me crazy! I was tired and looking forward to some bar-b-qued chicken for dinner and going to bed. My cell phone rings and it's my brother from BYU Idaho. He sounds like he's in a tunnel and I can't understand him except for have to talked to mom or dad I can't reach them.

I hang up and call him back and we have a better connection. Evidently the fire department has been dispatched 2x to their house for a fire alarm and the police have been dispatched for a burglery alarm. No one not my brother or I can reach my parents at home or cell. I told him I can go over there but it's going to be a good half hour by the time I can get through rush hour traffic and such. Besides I wasn't about to go over there without my darling hubby. My brother informs me they are going to break down the door for entry since this is the second time they are coming out. Noe I am a little paniced.

We arrive my parents home, and the big old hook and ladder truck is parked out front. I am dreading the kicked in door, but thank goodness they got the garage keypad code and didn't break anything down. The 3 nice firemen explain they have searched the house and there is no fire and no burglery. And to my relief both of my parents cars are gone. I knew my dad was scheduled for the temple and didn't know if I should drive over there and interupt him or not. Meantime my brother is fielding cell phone calls in the middle of a class and I am telling the fire dept. I'm sorry for the inconvience and know they have better things to do.

Finally my mother calls and she is close to my house, I explain; and she says he's on her way. So Danny, Katherine and I settle down and I start to watch Bones my new favorite show and there is a knock at the front door, someone is trying to get in and has opened the front door. I tell Danny to get over there (you know strong muscle man of mine, besides he's trained in hand to hand combat from the marines). It's the cops! We explain what happened, he asks if we are the owners or live there. I tell him no we aren't and don't. He leaves. Mom comes home and calls the alarm company and all is well.

NOW MY BIG QUESTION.... Why?? Why did the cops and fire dept. let me in the home and stay there without any identification, or prove we were family. Not that I could prove I was related since everything is in my married name, but there are a bunch of pictures of Katherine on the walls so they could tell she was related somehow. No harm done, but I could have been a burgler or something. At least no one was hurt and no damage was done to the house. However I am sure my parents will get a nice little thank you note from the fire dept. and police to the tune of oh I don't know hundreds of dollars???

Yesterday... last night it's all a blur.

2009-04-18T08:23:00.000-05:00

I left work early because I just wasn't feeling 100% and they had run out of work again. I didn't feel like sticking around doing busy work. Well my small headache just wouldn't go away. I decided to take a migraine pill hoping that it wasn't a migraine but just in case. OOPS! too late I got slammed. I had a whopper of a migraine. An hour after I took the pill I was worshiping the porcelain god. Poor Katherine was a witness because she was so worried. I called Danny and he was up to his elbows in mud at work (quite literally). He couldn't come home. I told Katherine to make a sandwich for her dinner (the thought or site of food would not be good for me).

I broke down and called mommy to come take me to the ER. She turned around rushed over to our house and took me straight to the ER. Luckily I was seen in minutes. Okay not really sure how many minutes but I was in my own exam room with no lights and relatively quiet. I was given a shot of narcotics and nausea medicine... boy oh boy do those narcotics make you feel weird. But in my drug induced haze I remember Katherine saying she cut her own hair because she was tired of it being long.

You guessed it I woke up today to find she did indeed cut her own hair and lots of it. So we are off to the salon today for a haircut to correct or camouflage her stylistic hair do. She knows she's not to take scissors to her hair, but I guess she saw an opportunity and seized it.

Me.. I'm still a little foggy... but functioning and not sick to my stomach. It's so strange they gave me 2 different anti-nausea meds in the ER non worked very well. The one in the shot didn't work at all. The one they gave that dissolves in your mouth seemed to work, but on the ride home I was soooo sick. I passed out last night when I woke up my stomach was better. Still little moments of nausea and my reaction time is not great, little sleepy too... but not in the amount of pain I was yesterday. Debating on taking a vicodin for the pain, it's still there but not unbearable.

Before the haircut... one side of her hair was chin length the other earlobe length

During the haircut... doesn't she look happy?

After the cut... not my little girl, but much better looking than before.

I found this by chance and love it.

2009-04-16T19:09:00.000-05:00

I love this version of the song... it's great!

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E. B. at BPS

2009-04-11T05:28:00.001-05:00

We took Katherine to see the Easter Bunny at Bass Pro shops... well when we took her there to see Santa you couldn't use your own camera... but with good old E.B. you could. No I didn't bring the trusty camera. IRRRR! However they didn't take a half bad picture. The image was free so who am I to complain right?

However right after Katherine had her picture taken she said mom we have a problem. I said okay what is it? She informed me that's not the real Easter Bunny. My response was how do you know? Cause mom, I saw him's flip flops under his feet. Danny tried to cover and say bunny's can were flip flops too, but Katherine looked at him with this look like uh??? how stupid do you think I am? She said no Dad.. under his feet under the costume. Okay.. at this point what's a mom to do? Of course lie for the great good! I said well Katherine let's just keep it a secret okay. She then interjected so he doesn't lose his job for next year? I said yes sweetheart so he doesn't lose his job. She then said I know mom the "real" Easter Bunny is too busy making eggs and stuff for Easter right??? You know sometimes I am so glad my daughter has an eggcellent imagination.

Anyway.. at least my daughter didn't cry and get all shy around the fake bunny. She even tolerated Danny and I going to eat next door at Danny's favorite Mexican restaurant Tiago's. They serve the only enchilada's I'll eat. Katherine got a kids meal.. chicken strips what else??? But then had an epiphany, chicken you eat comes from real chickens. Now she is not eating chicken anymore. Why??? because they are trying to hatch some chicks in their classroom at school. My little vegan. She did like the ice cream push pop that came with her meal though... so much so she fell asleep in the truck holding it upright in her hand. Nothing spilled!!! Except she did get sticky hands. Daddy was so relieved that his precious truck is still remaining is somewhat pristine condition.

Anway.. HAPPY EASTER ALL!

Proud Mama

2009-03-24T16:04:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I got a call at work that Katherine was throwing up yet again at school. I rushed out of work to get her. Well this time she didn't just bounce back after a couple of hours. She was sick all night. I went to work today and around 9:45 Danny called me to tell me he never sent Katherine to school because she was still throwing up. I said okay... call the doctor and see if we can get her in because she'll dehydrate. Sure enough after going into the doctor he sent us over to the hospital for rush blood work. They took her CO2 level which they wanted between 17 and 23, she was at 17. So tada!!!! An IV was on the menu. So my brave little girl who started crying at the thought of a blood draw did not cry once when the drew the blood or when they put the IV in... they even had to fish a little for the vein. She was so good! I couldn't be more proud of my little trooper. She did get to watch Barbie and the Nutcracker and Shark Tales all on her very own privately wheeled in DVD player they had in the room. By the time we left she had downed a can of Gatorade and sucked up her IV. Thanks to some anti nausea meds she kept everything down for now. Now we wait to see if her stomach has settled and she can eat real food. She's already requesting a chocolate shake and what else... McDonald's! I just wish I had my camera to document the event. The pediatric area was sooo nice in the hospital. They had all kinds of cool things they even had aquatic scenes over the fluorescent light fixtures in the ceiling. And the weirdest of weird happened. The lady who admitted us to the hospital was the sister of Katherine's favorite daycare teacher Miss Robin, small world. Anyway... I'm so proud and so happy we are home now. Nothing is ever dull around here.

Making her debut.... Miss Kendall

2009-03-23T14:48:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of my adorable niece.

Welcome Kendall

2009-03-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

Kendall Hargrave was born on 3-18-2009 weighing in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20" long. Welcome to the world little one. Can't wait to see you.

Easter Pictures.

2009-03-16T19:01:00.001-05:00

My Interesting Weekend

2009-03-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

Okay... first I thought seriously about posting this as I don't really like to post anything that could be negative or hurt someones feelings... However I am making an exception here because I doubt anyone involved would read this blog, it's the truth and because I need to have a release.

Saturday was a classmate of Katherine's birthday party. It was at Mr. Gatti's pizza. There is a pretty nice game room for the kids to play in, including bumper cars and a carnival ride not to mention tunnels and arcade games. Katherine loved the bumper cars. In fact I got her father to do it with her and he had never done bumper cars. However that is not was bothered me. What bothered me was the birthday boy and his mom were late in arriving. We were waiting in the lobby for about 15 minutes for them to show. Then it seemed like the mom was drunk. She was soooo loud and obnoxious and she seemed very passive aggressive towards one of the parents. Now I could be totally wrong, maybe she is just naturally a little different and loud. But my gut tells me there was something wrong there. Anyway... after 5 hours at the pizza place because Katherine was having so much fun playing with her bestest friend in the whole world. I had enough and I had a slight headache too.

Okay... now we are home and Danny and I are craving nachos. I personally was thinking a nacho bell grande from Taco Bell, but my hubby says Taco Bell is a dirty word around here. In fact most San Antonian's tell me that too. But hey I grew up on it and I still get a craving now and then. But noo... we went to Chacho's for their King Kong nachos. These things are huge! We get 1/2 order and we can't even make a dent in them. But I digress... when we park at the restaurant I get out and this lady is standing there crying with a cell phone and charger in her hand. She tells me she's been kicked out of her home, has two daughters and needs $5 to buy some dinner for them. She'll gladly sell me her phone for $5. I tell her keep the phone and hand her a $5 bill... it was a miracle that I had cash on me. I was feeling good about helping someone who seemed down and out... then it hit me. She was probably lying. My hubby who I love so very much, starts laughing at me and said well you just gave her money for her fix... she's probably at the corner gas station getting drunk. He continued to laugh and tell me that she's feeling no pain now. IRRR! I mean I know she was probably lying to me and that I was "taken"... but I know times are tough right now, and well I just wanted to help. We aren't making tons of money, but Danny and I both have fairly secure jobs and we have money for the things we need. I don't even know why I am letting this eat at me... I mean it was only $5.

So with the long day at a very loud kid friendly pizza place and then the down and out mom... I just had enough. I am sooo glad the weekend is over.

Happy Birthday Barbie

2009-03-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

FYI my daughter has a massive addiction to Barbie. I thought Danny's niece TM was obsessed with barbie when she was Katherine's age, but my daughter is so much worse. Anyway... I heard on the news Monday that is was Barbie's birthday and she was 50 years old. Well I called Katherine at home and asked her if she knew what day it was... she said ummmm Monday? I said yes it's Monday, but what else? She gave up. I said it's Barbie's birthday. All your Barbies are having a birthday today. She was so excited. Now.. what's a birthday with out a birthday cake? Lucky for me I had some cupcakes in the house... so we had a little impromptu birthday celebration complete with Daddy, Mommy and Katherine singing happy birthday to barbie. I so know my hubby loves us because if he didn't there is no way on this earth he would have sung happy birthday to a stinking barbie doll!!!

2009-03-07T16:07:00.000-06:00

Here is my little princess... she walked out of her bedroom in this get up and begged for me to take her picture... this was after she had cooked all day long making me the most delicious salad on earth.

Home Depot isn't just for Boys!

2009-03-07T14:06:00.000-06:00

For those of you who aren't aware every 1st Saturday of the month Home Depot offers a kid's workshop for free. My sister Shauna told me about this a couple of years go and ever since we have not missed one workshop. It's fun to watch how much Katherine has grown... at first she wouldn't lift the hammer now she can really hammer those nails in. We have made boats, fire engines, castles, boxes, flower pots, stools, a bird house and many more things. Today it was a race track. Danny usually supervises this projects, but today he was on call and working so Katherine invited Grandma and Pop Pop to come along. We used Pop Pop and girl power to make our race track. When you are done they give you a little pin you can put on your Home Depot apron... we counted today and Katherine has 18 pins... my how time flies.

The love of a child

2009-03-06T19:08:00.001-06:00

A little background here... I work an early shift so that I am home when Katherine gets home from school. This means I work 5:30 AM until 2:00 PM. When Friday rolls around I am very tired. Katherine wanted to have McDonald's for dinner... I gave my usual answer... ask daddy. He was also too tired to go to McDonald's. She pouted a bit and we had the "talk" about it's okay to be upset about the decision, but it was not acceptable to throw a temper tantrum.

Around 6:30 I called Katherine and jokingly said where's my dinner, it's your turn to cook. She thought for a moment and said I know I'll cook you some salad. I said, no I don't want salad. I want beanie wienies.. Katherine rolled her eyes and said no, I can't reach that. Then I told her I wanted McDonald's.. she said I don't have any money. I said what about the money in your bank from the tooth fairy. So my loving daughter went and emptied the bank fully intending to buy me McDonald's. I laughed and said I was only kidding... I would like a glass of water with ice for dinner. She said no mama that's not dinner. She then took off... about 5 minutes later she came in with a bowl of salad. Complete with croutons and ranch dressing. She was soooo cute, I tasted it and told her it was the best salad I ever tasted. And it really was... it was the only salad I have ever had that was made with so much love. She said mama I think you have a cook in the making... I said well it's so delicious I love this salad. Her reply was well you should it took me all day to cook it. I love my little baby girl.... she amazes me every day.

Katherine's New Love Interest

2009-03-01T18:38:00.000-06:00

Is this not a cutie pie?? Can my daughter pick 'em? This is the 4th boy she was going to marry this year. It was kind of funny a month or so ago we went to CiCi's pizza for dinner and cutie pie was there with his dad and brother. Katherine sat facing him about 2 booths away. The were flirting so bad. Popping their heads up until the other one saw them and then ducking under the table. We even had to go to the bathroom so we could walk by his table and she could see him. AHHHH young love.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

2009-03-01T16:54:00.000-06:00

Friday I attended Katherine's first field trip. What an experience. There were 500+ pre-kinder and kinder kids at the theatre. I thought it would be Katherine's school of 6 kinder classes... nope 4 schools were in attendance and there were 6 bus loads of kids. I was having heart palpitations. But it went very smooth. I did have a minor mishap, I took a little boy to the bathroom. Half way there I realized he is the "trouble" maker in class. The little boy who I explain to Katherine is not "bad" just makes bad choices. Katherine is still waiting to see him make a "good" choice. Anywho... I take him to the boys room and he comes out asking for help with his belt. I look at it and I am stumped. I only know how little girl belts work. After he coached me I managed to undo it. Then I hear water and very strong stream of water and I am thinking what do I do?? Do I go in to see is he made another bad choice to play in the sink or heaven forbid the toilet? Lucky for me another little boy's dad was also there and he went in and made sure good choices were made.

The field trip was going to see a play called "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie". It was an adaptation of the book by Laura Joffe Numeroff. It was soooo sooo cute. It was an hour long and Katherine's attention span is not, but she did quite well all things considered. I am so lucky to have a job where I can take time off pretty easily so I can attend field trips, assemblies and parties at school. Danny was wonderful... not quite sure if he didn't trust me or was worried about my safety in downtown San Antonio, but he drove me down there and walked around for about 4 hrs. while we did our field trip. He even delivered a hot lunch from the sandwich shop further down in the park. He was not allowed to be near the kids because he did not take the parent volunteer class at school. Next year I think he will take it with me just so he has the option, Katherine sure wanted him to see the play with us. I can't wait for the next field trip!

Make a Baby

2009-02-15T22:50:00.000-06:00

Okay.. a little background here. Katherine has asked where babies come from. At her age I seriously doubt she had in mind a biology lesson so I explained it to her like this... When a mommy and daddy get married and have so much love between them. All that love makes a baby. She was totally cool with that explanation. This has been months maybe a year or two ago that I explained it to her.

Fast forward to today. We are in the car and the subject of babies came up. Katherine announces okay mom and dad make a baby right now. You've got a lot of love so make one hurry up. I turned to Danny and said.. honey come on love me right here and make a baby for Katherine. We were cracking up so hard. I think all of this was a logically conclusion to wanting a sibling and Valentine's Day being yesterday... if only making a baby were that easy. Katherine really wants a baby brother or sister... and as much as she wants one she still continues to creep into our bad in the wee hours of the morning and sleep with us. I was hoping that her need for a sibling would motivate her to sleep in her own bed all night... but unfortunately not.

Katherine's Favorite Restaurant

2009-02-08T05:33:00.000-06:00

Our income tax refund check arrived on Friday!! CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!

Well it wasn't a fortune, but it was enough to pay off the credit card and put a good chunk of money towards the principle on the honda. Katherine begged to go to the beans and rice restuarant. It's real name is Salsalito's. But when she was a toddler she loved the beans and rice. Now she won't touch the beans and rice... all she wants is chips and her special salsa. I am not kidding this kid will eat a whole bowl of chips and she really has to be in the mood to share her "special" salsa. It's the mild salsa and I think they just leave the jalapeno out... not real sure but to me it tastes a little like chunky tomato sauce, it's good though. So we (I really mean me) gave in and told her okay. This was our first mistake (I really mean my). We ate there and had flautas, these are soooo yummy and they are a favorite of Katherine's, Jessica's, Dawn's and I.

We go home and dinner time comes around. Do I want to cook now? NO WAY, so we decide to use the gift card we have for Outback steakhouse. I tell Katherine she has to eat a Kangaroo burger... come to think of it this could be why my child is so picky... I might be teasing her and scaring her for life... hmmm... oh well don't they always blame the mother for how they were raised?

We drive to Outback and the place is packed so we decide to go to home depot to buy a toilet rebuild kit. Out toilet has been flusing on it's own lately. If this doesn't fix the situation then I declare that we do indeed have a ghost in the house. I have suspected it, but no scientific proof yet, but I digress. After that Danny says let's eat somewhere else.. where? No one wants what mommy wants and that's okay. Danny was willing to give in to me, but I said nah... majority wins. Then out of his mouth comes Chinese... no not that word.. not the dreaded Chinese. Too late... Katherine is now all excited and wants to go. She loves chinese thanks to her grandma taking her there. Then the after thought sinks in. Danny doesn't want to go because it's in a "bad" part of town. PULEEEZE! I work accross the street from it. Now he tells me I should be scared?? So he refuses to go there.. so where do we wind up... accross town at a Chinese buffet (have to have a buffet because Katherine likes the oh so authentic chinese mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. We walk in and it's $12 per adult and based on height $5 for Katherine. We so did not get $12 worth of food in my opinon. And I so never want to go back there. The food was okay and I stress okay... but not super duper. And my starving child ate like a bird. On the way out a kid claimed he just threw up in the goldfish pond... I did not go and find out if he was kidding or not... just kept on walking and trying not to think of the mental image. Oh.. and yes they were parked right next to us. Oh did I mention we stopped at another Outback to see how long the wait was and it was an hour wait? So we started out around 5 PM to eat and would up eating around 2 1/2 hours later... My mistake eating out at lunch which put me in the mood to not want to cook later on. Thank goodness it was coming out of the refund money... but I'm thinking I may have fallen off the Dave Ramsey wagon. No fear... get back up and start all over again.

Things I've learned since becoming a wife and mother

2009-02-01T13:38:00.001-06:00

1. M&M's will melt and slide right out of a child's nose, no need to extract them.

2. ravioli stains will not come out of clothes no matter what.

3. no matter how sure I am of what my husband is hungry for that's not it.

4. kids can make tears on command.

5. when you have no kids and you say I will never do that when I have my own kids.. keep it to yourself because you will, just wait.

6. antibacterial wipes should be kept in the car, in your purse, in the house, in the backpack and anywhere else because rota virus lurks everywhere. Wipe down all public grocery carts, highchairs and anywhere else your child can touch.

7. Even Santa Claus can pass rota virus to your child.... and yes a week in the hospital around Christmas is not fun.

8. You can not depend on hospital staff to take care of your child like you would.

9. Husbands are funny creatures they transform instantaneously when their daughters are born.

10. Not matter how manly a man my husband is he can still have a moment or two of being a girly girl when his baby girl asks him too.

11. My husband wants to feel like "the" provider and it's much better to let him feel that way instead of saying it's an equal thing.

12. Marriage is not 50/50 it's more like 110/110.

13. I can not compete with football, hunting or fishing.

14. Children hear everything even when you think they aren't listening.

15. Children repeat everything you don't want them to, at the worst possible time.

16. My husband has a really soft heart he just protects it well with being "macho".

17. My husband tries his very best and when I accuse him of not trying it really hurts him.

18. There are many times my husband does stuff that he hates just because he thinks I want him too.

19. You don't marry just your husband you marry his family too.

20. I can sleep through snoring... I just need to fall asleep before it starts.

21. I can shake my husband while he's sleeping and tell him to roll over and he will... and he won' t wake up or even remember it.

22. Men can have nightmares.

23. Don't brag your child never wet the bed, because after years of being trained they can and will wet the bed.

24. Mothers do have the magical power to look into their children's eyes and tell if they have been up to no good.

25. My husband is good at ideas, but the planning and little details.... not so good.

26. My husband is becoming more like me and I am becoming more like him... and that's a good thing.

27. If I let my husband be him he lets me be me and that's a good thing.

28. As much as I love my husband we do need our alone time and that's not an insult to either one of us.

29. When your pregnant you can get your husband to paint your toe nails.

30. When your pregnant you can get your husband to do almost anything.

31. My husband may not be any braver than I am but he will never let me know that for sure and when he's there I feel braver.

32. You child may skip a stage like the terrible twos but even at age 6 they will go back and master that stage.

33. I've thought I've loved things before but until I got married and had I child those other loves were just crushes.

34. Every day I learn something new and that's never going to stop.

35. Even after working and being exhausted there is always some reserved energy for your child.

36. You can sleep (maybe not well) but can sleep with a child's foot in your ribs, elbow in your ear and their drool on your pillow and it doesn't bother quite as much as you thought it would.

37. No matter how angry you are at your child when they get puppy dog eyes and tell you they love you. You just can't stay that mad anymore.

38. If your scared of needle like I am it's even more scary watching your child get a shot.

39. You really do forget just how painful childbirth was.. you remember it hurt bad but you know you'd do it again.

40. It never gets old to hear I love you from your husband even when it's to end a phone call.

41. You thought doing homework was bad when you had it... it's worse to get your kids to do their homework... and their homework is so much harder than yours ever was even in kindergarten.

42. Children can reach things even when you put them up... and they seem to naturally want to be hair dressers... scissors and hair are a dangerous combination in the hands of a child.

43. No matter how much my daughter protests about being tickled too much she loves it and will ask you to do it some more even after you've stopped.

I'm sure there are more things I've learned but these are just a "few" off the top of my head... anyone care to add more cause I'd love to get a heads up before I have to learn by experience.

Addiction can be a good thing

2009-02-01T06:57:00.000-06:00

Okay... we are totally addicted and not ashamed to admit it. We are addicted to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. Now most are complaining about the economy and we are in that group. My husband and I daily complain about gas prices... see he is addicted to checking the price of a barrel of oil and wondering why when it's so low the prices don't decrease and sometime go up. We also question what's up with oil companies still making the largest profits ever! However one good thing has come of it, the economy has inspired us to get serious about money. I don't think I ever was "serious" about money. I just wanted money to get things I needed or thought I needed. Well after my husband read Dave Ramsey's book we sat down together and talked about money. We never really talked about money before other than I don't have money for that now do you? I gave Danny Dave Ramsey's book for Christmas, after what happened I'm thinking I should have given it to him earlier.

So a back tracking a little bit. Right before Christmas he took my car into a different dealer for an oil change. The dealer we bought the car from was farther away and the highway was under construction so he chose to go to a closer one. NEVER EVER AGAIN! This dealer called me up at home and wanted $1,000.00 worth of repairs okay'd. I think not! But in the process of him "waiting" for the oil to be changed he fell in love. Yes he fell in love with some cute red head... okay a red F-150 crew cab. So by close of business he had a new truck. This is why I should have given him the book earlier because instead of paying off one truck he owned, he rolled that loan over into his new truck. He is now beating himself up for the spontaneous decision. On the bright side we do like this truck better and he owes less than blue book value so it wasn't a totally bad decision.

But back to the book... Danny finished reading the book and decided we are going to declutter and sell all our wonderful treasures we don't use on craigslist. To our surprise we are really getting decent money for our treasures. He's sold fishing poles/reels, a pack-n-play, crib, numerous cordless power tools, a tent, stereo equipment and more that I am forgetting. But to make a long story shorter we are addicted to having no credit card or vehicle debt in the near future. The only "loan" we will have is our home. Is that cool or what? Our vehicles are new enough we plan on having enough time so save up and pay cash for our next vehicle. This economy has inspired us to live different than most Americans. We want to live debt free. And we are okay with not being able to take a vacation or splurge on a few extras until then. In fact my husband now admires my freakish addiction to coupons clipping and the whole coupon game. He now gets my excitement as I come home and tell him I've saved $40.00 in coupons at the grocery store... and we don't even have double coupons here in San Antonio. He still has a little way to go when I want to go to the 99 cent store for produce... but come on fresh veggies for 99 cents??? How can you beat that? If anyone wants tips on coupon clipping just ask. I am not the guru I want to be and I am still learning, but I can point you in the right direction. I am still working on saving $40.00 then I should take the $40.00 and put that into savings or reducing the credit card debt. But you know something... my husband is just so good at it by the end of February we will be credit card debt free and unless something major and unforeseen happens that credit card is going in the safe and not going to see the light of day for a very long time. We may even have to have it cremated and the ashes scattered over our local Wal-mart. But I still hold an attachment to the card... I need it like a security blanket... what if the worst happens and we need it for an emergency. But I am working through my feelings and hopefully without the help of an expensive therapist I can let go in the near future. I only wish I would have been inspired to live this way when I started working. Imagine I could be independently wealthy by now! But for now our home is content living with our new addiction. I so love my hubby for getting me hooked and for being the hyper focused man I met almost 10 yrs. ago.

What a week...

2009-01-29T12:31:00.000-06:00

I really admire all the families who have more than one child. One day I hope to be in that group, but for now I don't know how I would handle more than one. Not that my daughter is difficult or horrible. In fact she's quite the opposite. She's for the most part very well behaved, obedient, kind, caring and an all around little princess. She has her moments and definately has a mind of her own and is not afraid to use it. But for the most part she's a very easy child to parent.

But this week is just one of those weeks. Monday around 4pm my friend from work calls and says I'll see you tomorrow at work right? I said no... no one has called me to come back to work yet. She said well your one of the first they call right? I said well, usually, yes. She then told me some people were already trained and working and a new training class was starting on Tues. Well... then fear strikes... did I really do that bad at work last year that my evaluation went down and I won't be called back as quickly. What did I do? What's going on? To make a long story short they thought I was already working and didn't call me. An easy mistake to make... but that meant I had to go to work the next day. So now I have to rearrange my whole schedule... I can no longer grocery shop on Tuesday, laundry on Wednesday, lunch at school with Katherine on Thursday and a fun family time on Friday or Saturday. Instead I have to wash that night... our dinner is late because I was on the phone so long trying to figure out what was going on. When I train I am at work until 4 pm so that means the minute I walk in the door it's time to start dinner and do the homework thing... plus now I needed to go to the grocery store somewhere in there and finish up laundry so Katherine has uniform shirts that are clean. Not to mention I needed clean clothes for work because my around the house clothes would just not fly. Which brings us to Thursday.. today. It's my first day back without any more training.. I am trained! I start work at 5:30AM so I can be home by 2:30PM to get Katherine off the bus after school. Danny puts Katherine on the bus at 6:30AM, this way she has one of us before and after school. I get up at 4:00AM and everything is going great. I am not late, I am not having to rush. I made a lunch so I can conserve $$$. I'm feeling good. I was able to go to bed at 9PM so I had 7 hrs. of sleep. On the drive in to work I'm thinking okay.. I can get back into the groove of things. I get to work... I am working away sitting next to a friend and we are talking but not enough to distract each other too much. I go to lunch... eat lunch with a fellow Philadelphian and reminisce a little about Tastey Kakes, cheese steaks and hoagies... then my cell phone rings. I look at it, I don't know the number so I don't answer it. After all it's my minutes I'll be using for a wrong number... I don't think so! Then BEEP! There's a voice message... so I get the message. This is the nurse at Katherine's school.... she's in the clinic and she's been throwing up. OH no! This is the 3rd time I've had to pick her up since school started for throwing up. My princess is going to be known at that school at the puking princess!! So I tell them someone will be there in a half hour. So I go look for my boss... she's at lunch... I look all over for any management... all at lunch but one. She's not too excited to give me permission to leave as I am not her assigned employee, but it will have to do. I rush over to the school to pick her up and she pukes in the trash can in the clinic. A little boy starts laughing and saying can he go to the bathroom so he doesn't see her throw up... as he continues to laugh at my baby who is sick. I am thinking can I smack him?? Is it wrong to want to smack a kid upside the head? I don't think it's wrong... wrong to act on it... but wrong to want to do it??? No I don't think so. So I get her home and she starts in as usual I'm hungry. I say no, you just threw up... we have to wait. Then she tells me she has a headache. I ask her when this started and she tells me before school... did dad give you bubble gum medicine (our code word for ibuprofen).. no he wouldn't let me. So now she tells me she wants medicine and I won't tell you the code word... but it's name brand is fever-all. If you've ever had kids who can't swallow or keep Tylenol down then you might know what this is. But if she tells me she needs it then she has a migraine which if daddy had given her the bubble gum medicine before school would probably be gone by now. So now I have the glorious task of giving her fever-all. As she grins and tells me you might want to get a rubber glove! OH! I love her, but she thinks it's just so funny when I have to give her the fever-all. So now I am home, I called work and left a message on my boss' phone letting her know I left and that I did ask permission from management. I am now not going to math and literacy night at the school. I have e-mailed her teacher so I can get the information from tonight's event... and am trying to take a deep breath.

Now... what if I had more than one child??? I honestly don't know how I would do it. Of course my mom tells me... you just do it. You manage a way and figure it out as things come up. I just can't see it. My mom had 5 kids, my mother in law had 6... I just don't see it how they did it. I know in the delivery room I kept telling Danny our mothers were lunatics.. mad... sick in the head to go through labor and delivery 11 times between them... I'm sticking to that opinion. My undying admiration to all the mothers out there especially the ones who went through it once and decided to do it again!

It was just too quiet

2009-01-24T08:21:00.001-06:00

I thought it was a little too quiet. After all how many times do I get to have uninterrupted time? It had been almost a whole hour without anyone running in saying can you get me, I'm hungry, how do you spell...., come look at... or honey!!! Not that I mind helping my hubby and my daughter. But yesterday my daughter went on a 5 hour eating spree. She ate grapes, bananas, carrots with ranch dressing, a slice of bread, 2 bags of teddy grahams, salad, king ranch casserole, Doritos, bologna sandwich, chocolate milk and a cupcake. This started at 2:30 pm and ended around 8:00 pm. I am sure I am missing some of the food she ate. I just couldn't believe I couldn't get her filled up. Every time I turned around I was getting her something else to eat. I guess the marathon eating wore her out. Her dad, well he came home from work and I could just tell he'd had a long hard day. So I am surprised he stayed awake until 8 pm to begin with. When I found them crashed out, I turned off the cartoons, turned off the lights, grabbed a dog and I went to bed. Eventually my hubby woke up and Katherine came running into our bed. I told her she had to go in her own bed... that worked for a few hours. Somewhere around 2 or 3 am she was back in bed with us. What an exciting Friday night.

Gratitude

2009-01-19T16:17:00.000-06:00

Okay.. I've kind of been in this funk lately. And I'm not really sure just why. I think it started around Christmas time. I just kind of feel like I focus too much on the things I don't have and really want and not on all the wonderful things I have in my life. It's not so much the monetary things I just really missed my family during the holidays. Kind of thought of all the Christmas' I spent with my siblings and took for granted. Now that most of us have children of our own I want more than anything to have everyone together and well that's just not going to happen very easily. I remember years ago I was having a rough time and Oprah was encouraging a gratitude journal. I found a small journal and started one. Some days there was only one thing listed other days pages, but it helped me so much to keep my focus on the things I already had and not the everyday "life happens" stuff that can bring you down... so I am going to start one of those gratitude journals again. So to pull myself out of this blue funk I am in, I will list 10 things that I am grateful for and that make me happy!

The knowledge that I have all the following things that make me happy in my life because my Heavenly Father and my Eldest brother Jesus Christ want me to be happy, love me and think I am worthy to have them.

My daughter's artwork. This is a sidewalk chalk masterpiece. She insisted on my taking a picture and then wanted 4 copies of the picture for her friends. Then she came running up to me with such a serious look and tone in her voice saying no, she needed 5 copies because daddy needed one... because you know daddy he just loves my picture. I swear sometimes she talks so grown up and sophisticated I have to remind myself she's only six.

My Christmas tree... I love Christmas trees and nativities. I think the tree represents all the magic, love and family to me. Where do you gather on Christmas morning with your family?... around the Christmas tree, the lights sparkle to remind me of the light of Christ in our lives. If I could get away with it I would leave my Christmas tree up all year. But unfortunately hubby won't go for that. He likes to have all the Christmas stuff put away by the day after New Years. However I sure do love him for never ever complaining about my new ornament additions each year. I think I have enough ornaments to decorate about 10 trees. I just can't stop collecting them.

My nieces and nephew. They are so sweet and their parents are really doing a wonderful job raising them to be good kids. They are full of mischief but they are so loving and kind. How could you not fall in love with these sweet little faces?

Nature in general.. I love the outdoors... I love the animals.. I love the smell of the air after a spring rain. This was taken at the wildflower farm in Fredericksburg TX. Katherine was so excited because she got a butterfly to land on her finger. I think we might make this a yearly event.

My husband... he is the only person in the world that would put up with me sometimes. He is a wonderful father to our daughter and he always tries his best to make us happy.

My daughter's sense of style... okay it's in the development phase. But her unconditional love and her great sense of humor is the highlight to my day. She is a little drama queen and can fool the best with her on the spot bawling full blown tears cascading down her little cheeks at her whimsy... but within minutes she's laughing and giggling.

My daughters smile

The dogs... and seeing Katherine play with them and love them.

The Beach... it's so relaxing to me. I love this photo so much.

Unofficial New Years Resolution

2009-01-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

For those of you that have not heard of Dave Ramsey I highly recommend him. This year our family decided unofficially to have a new year's resolution the become debt free. Now we are not swimming in debt by any means, however we had a little credit card debt and two vehicles to pay off. Well Dave Ramsey really has some great common sense advice on how to live within your means. Not that's it's easy or anything but we are looking forward to being able to buy a car with cash instead of having to finance. We want to get into a larger house and not live paycheck to paycheck so to speak. So if you want to get a grip on spending and get some good advice to avoid some financial pitfalls I highly recommend this book. Thanks to my darling husband for finding Dave's show on the fox business channel and helping get us on the right track.

Little Things

2009-01-09T07:03:00.000-06:00

Once again... little things make me so happy. Sometimes my hubby just doesn't get it. I think he feels he has to make these huge grand gestures for me. I really don't need that. Flowers for no reason are nice, but they die. What he did for me the other night just makes me so darn happy and if your look at it, it's really nothing. We were sleeping and it was probably 3 AM when I woke him up and said "are you cold?" He promptly sat up reached down to the end of the bed and pulled up the extra blanket and covered me up. Now I may be deluding myself, because he is a heavy sleeper and may have done this in his sleep. But it just made me feel so good. I didn't expect him to get the blanket, I just didn't want to put more blankets on if he was going to get too hot. My husband will never be the most romantice (example for our first wedding anniversary he got me a deep fryer which I returned... however he did light a pair of underwear on fire for me too... long story.. ask I might tell you). It's been two days and I still get the warm fuzzies over him covering me up. I've told him repeatedly how good it made me feel. I think he suspects he's married a crazy woman. And you know he probably has :o)

Break is over... Back To School

2009-01-05T15:48:00.000-06:00

Katherine came home from school. I asked her how her day went and she said good. But don't be mad... okay? I said well no promises, what is it? I was talking today when I shouldn't and I got a mark by my name. Okay... what does that mean? Just I got a mark by my name on the board. Now having my kindergarten report card 19?? and having my teacher write Jo Lynn has excellent communication skills and does not need any more practise in this area, I can kind of relate to Katherine. So I have no idea if this mark is a bad thing or not. I am going to go with not since there was no note from her teacher. When I asked Katherine to do her homework we had a difference in opinions as to how important homework was. I said do it, she said no I don't want to. I left her to do her homework and when it was a little too quiet I peaked in on her and this is what I found. No wonder she didn't want to do her homework, she was tired. Kindergarten is so different now, I went 1/2 a day and had nap time during that half day. We even got to go to the cafeteria and get milk and cookies. Now there is no milk and cookies, there is no nap time and it's a whole day. By the end of the year she must be reading. I only had to know my alphabet and the sounds the letters made. No wonder my poor princess is so tuckered out. Better her than me!!!

2009-01-02T14:41:00.000-06:00

I had to post this just because I think it's too too cute. Katherine loves her dogs. This one is Bandit... and he is the one who will cuddle with you. He just loves getting under the covers and cuddling. Katherine however is not sleeping... she was just pretending. Maybe if I let Bandit sleep with her she'll stay in her bed all night. We are working very hard to get her to stop coming in mommy and daddy's bed in the middle of the night. When it first started I could feel her climb in bed and I could guide her back to her own bed. But now I guess I am just so tired I don't even know she's there until I wake up. Or she smacks me in the face with her arm, or digs her toes into my ribs. She has to sleep in the middle of Danny and I, but never ever messes with him. She just gravitates to my side of the bed and leaves me about 1/16th of the bed to try and sleep on. She claims mommy and daddy's bed is just more comfortable than her bed. IRRR! Considering that the first few months of her life she wouldn't sleep in anything but her car seat I guess we've made some improvement. I guess it's true, once you have kids you never get another full nights rest, at least it's that way in my house.

Katherine's off off off off Broadway premiere!

2009-01-02T14:30:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of Katherine in her Kindergarten Christmas pageant. She is in the front next to the back of someones big head. Behind her is her bestest friend Alana and three rows up on the right is her boyfriend/fiance Benjamin. Benjamin doesn't know they are getting married yet, it's a secret. But he does write her love notes. The Christmas program was so cute... I was pleasantly surprised at how well the kids did. They sang 4 songs and there were motions they had to do for each song. The finale was the 12 days of Christmas and it was just too cute. My usually shy daughter was in the front row and did not miss a beat... she sang her little heart out until she lost her voice. She told me that Miss Hampton the music teacher made her sing so loud she lost her voice. I was so proud.

No Need for Speed Here

2009-01-02T13:58:00.000-06:00

My darling daughter who begged and pleaded to get a bike from Santa, and he delivered one to her. She was thrilled when she saw it Christmas morning. However my girly girl doesn't like to go "fast" meaning anything faster than one or two rotations of the wheels per minute. To which her response of going "fast" is to close her eyes and just hang on. If I can figure out how to upload video I have her coasting the her eyes closed oh so tightly. I love my girly girl.. but I just don't know where the girly girl part of her came from. I was a tom boy and her father is anything but feminine. Every day she begs to wear a skirt or dress and is very upset if I tell her she must wear pants. She will always be our little princess.

2008-12-27T18:42:00.000-06:00

I just had to give my darling hubby some props... every year he says this is the last year he's putting up Christmas lights and every year he puts them up again. I think he does it just because Katherine loves it so much. But the day after Christmas they all come down. He really does a great job and it's so much fun because you can see our home from the main road. He gets a lot of compliments and rightfully so. I'm so proud of his hard work especially knowing how much he hates doing it. It just makes me love him a little bit more each year.

Gingerbread house anyone?

2008-12-23T14:28:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went to Grandma's house to make gingerbread houses. I was so stressed, I had grocery shopping to do and pies and cookies to bake. I really didn't want to take the time to do this. However I reasoned with myself, it's my own fault, I left everything until the last minute. Granted it didn't help getting sick for an entire day last week, but still. Katherine was so excited and it seems like lately we tell her we'll do something and something else happens and it doesn't work out. How could I disappoint her yet again? So we went. I am so glad we did. I remember as a kid my mom would help us make all our teachers gingerbread houses every Christmas. It's such a fond memory. We haven't made gingerbread houses in years. I never really knew how much I missed making them. The pies and the cookies didn't get done, but it was nice to spend some quality time with family. So today you guessed it, it's baking day!

Times they are a changing....

2008-12-14T21:10:00.000-06:00

Today my 6 yr. old announced she was texting God. I asked what she was texting him about and she told me it was a secret. After a little prodding I think she was asking him to make the world a better place. But she kept telling me it was a secret and that she was waiting for God to e-mail her back.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

2008-12-11T15:13:00.001-06:00

Katherine has a boyfriend... she came home with this note tucked into her backpack. I'm wondering if this happened because she took her shirt off in school today? HMMM??? Seriously I made her wear a button down oxford shirt (which qualifies as a uniform shirt, they have to have collars) over her white turtleneck. When she got off the bus she was only wearing the turtleneck. She hated the oxford shirt even though she picked it out in the store. Guess she showed me that I can't make her do anything especially wear an ugly shirt that "makes her look fat".. all 35 lbs. of her.

It's the little things...

2008-12-11T13:34:00.000-06:00

It's weird that sometimes the smallest of things will just make me so happy. Like when I have a headache and Katherine comes and gives me a hug and says I thought a hug might cheer you up. Or like last night when I attempted to make guacamole. Now living in Texas it's just assumed that you can make Mexican food. Like when they say bring some beans to the pot luck they mean refried not baked beans. Or that tamales don't just come in cans. At work they'll ask me to bring Mexican type stuff and I'll tell them, are you sure you want me to do that. I will bring ingredients, but as far as getting an authentic taste... hmmm me? don't think so. Well last night I attempted authentic guacamole. It turned out great! I can add that to my list of Mexican foods I can prepare. In the past I took some avocados,sour cream and salsa and mixed them up voila! Well now I know how to do it the right way. You take avocados, lime juice, jalapenos, onion, cilantro, tomato and salt and mix them together. I did manage to get a nasty burn on my hands from the jalapeno. My skin does not like the oil, next time I'll wear rubber gloves. But oh did it taste good. Danny and I had that for dinner, just guacamole and tortilla chips. I think it's the first vegetarian meal my husband has ever had. Anyway... the guacamole success will keep me on cloud nine for at least the rest of the week.

Mary Did you know???

2008-12-09T16:09:00.001-06:00

A Twist on the Night Before Christmas

2008-12-09T15:43:00.000-06:00

This made me stop and think... so I thought I would share.

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the town Not a sign of Baby Jesus was anywhere to be found. The people were all busy with Christmas time chores Like decorating, and baking, and shopping in stores. No one sang "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed". Instead, they sang of Santa dressed-up in bright red. Mama watched Martha Stewart, Papa drank beer from a tap. As hour upon hour the presents they'd wrap. Then what from the TV did come to their ears? 'Cept an ad, which told of a big sale at Sears. So away to the mall they all flew like a flash Buying things on credit and others with cash! And, as they made their way home from their trip to the mall, did they think about Jesus? Oh, no ... not at all! Their lives were so busy with their Christmas time things No time to remember Christ Jesus, the King.There were presents to wrap and cookies to bake. How could they stop and remember who died for their sake? To pray to the Savior, they had no time to stop. Because they needed more time to Shop til they dropped!" On Wal-mart! On K-mart! On Target! On Penney's! On Hallmark! On Zales! A quick lunch at Denny's. From the big stores downtown to the stores at the mall They would dash away, dash away, and visit them all! And up on the roof there arose such a clatter As grandpa hung icicle lights up on his brand new stepladder. He hung lights that would flash. He hung lights that would twirl. Yet, he never once prayed to Jesus ...Light of the World.
Christ's eyes ... how they twinkle!
Christ's Spirit ... how merry!
Christ's love ... how enormous!
All our burdens... He'll carry!
So instead of being busy, overworked, and uptight
Let's put Christ back in Christmas, and enjoy some good nights!
Merry CHRISTmas, my friends and to all a good night!

Our Weekend

2008-12-07T16:08:00.000-06:00

Our Saturday started out by going to Home Depot. Daddy usually takes Katherine and helps make the kid's workshop project. Well this week Daddy was on call and couldn't go. So in Katherine's words... " We'll use Girl Power". So Mom and Katherine made the art easel. We then went home to change clothes and run to the elementary school fundraiser at Mr. Gatti's Pizza. The fundraiser was getting pictures with Santa. Santa was late! Very late! This is the photo we waited forever to get. Katherine wouldn't talk to Santa. When I asked her why she said that's not the real Santa. The real Santa is at Bass Pro Shops. However with this photo I got the photographers release to print however many copies I wanted. We then had to go back home grab some stuff and run over to my parents home to help them get ready for their annual Christmas open house. Here are a couple of photos of our (Katherine and I) contribution... we decorated the 9' Christmas Tree. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. Danny's sister, who was in town from Mississippi, and his mother were able to come. Katherine was so excited. She loved opening the door for the guests and getting to eat whatever she wanted. The marshmallows and pretzels by the chocolate fountain were her favorite. It was a very long day but at the end we were glad we jam packed everything in.

Pumpkin Pie Anyone????

2008-11-24T19:01:00.000-06:00

Why??? Why do I promise my daughter things? LOL! I promised her she could make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. This was before I came down with a monster sinus problem or possibly a cold. Who knows, all I know is I want to stay in bed and sleep. Well she reminded me that I promised she could make pumpkin pie while she was out of school for this week. She even did 2 days worth of homework today so we could make pie. I pre-heated the oven, started mixing ingredients and find out I have no ginger. Danny calls his mom and she doesn't have it either. So my "WONDERFUL" husband stops what he's doing and runs to of all places super wally world to get me ginger. Mind you my husband has no idea what ginger is or where to find it. I knew a phone call would be coming and it did. So I am walking him through wally world over the phone so he can find ginger. He was in the baking aisle but he said it wasn't there. So I direct him to the seasonal display were he finds it. It's scary I know wally world well enough I can talk him through the store... I may have an addiction. Almost one hour later I have the ginger and can continue. If you look at Katherine in the pictures she is dressed in a sleeveless pink tank because she woke up today announcing it was pink day and you could only wear pink unless you were a boy. If you were a boy you could wear whatever you wanted. Only in Texas can you have 80 degree weather in November. I had the a/c on today.. UGH!! I miss having four seasons.

The First Thanksgiving, were you invited?

2008-11-21T15:11:00.000-06:00

Today Katherine came home and to my surprise she got 100% on her sight word assessment. This was the first time this year. To be quite honest this week has been the first week we really focused on the sight words at home. So in honor of this momentous achievement I took her to Sonic for a Cherry Sprite and tator tots. In the car I asked her how her Thanksgiving Feast had gone at school today. This is how the conversation went.

Mom: How did you like your Thanksgiving Feast?

Katherine: Great!! It was better than the first Thanksgiving.

Mom: Wow.. I'm glad you liked it.

Katherine: Did you like the first Thanksgiving mom? What was it like?

Mom: Katherine I wasn't at the first Thanksgiving.. how old do you think I am?

Katherine: 100

Mom: Gee THANKS! sweetie.

Katherine: So mom how come you didn't go? Weren't you invited?

AHHHH! Gotta love my little monster!

Christmas Pictures

2008-11-21T08:40:00.000-06:00

I don't know where the time has gone. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would have a little girl who would be part monster and part fairy princess. One minute she wants to go hunting with Daddy the next she will only wear purple and pink and nothing but dresses or skirts. I took her to get Christmas pictures taken and as you can see this is the response I got when I asked her to smile pretty. Not only did I have to bribe her with what else BARBIE, but I had to wait at the portrait studio for almost an hour as they were running behind. On a good note my darling daughter was pretty accommodating as long as she got to go look the Barbies.

Katherine in her oh yeah.. I'm a model... bring on that Barbie you bribed me with I look ridiculous!!!

Katherine in her I can't wait until this is over pose.