Halloween Pictures

Alex is 4!!!

We had Alex's 4th Birthday party at Chuckee Cheese this year. We didn't want to fool with cleaning and cooking, so this was too hard to pass up. All of our close neighbor friends were there, Uncle Frank, Aunt Nicola, Alexis and the Kendalls and Grams and Pops. He had such a great time! Here's Alex Pre-Birthday Party licking his birthday cake batter out of the bowl. He doesn't miss a drop:

And here's the cake, (my very first, so no laughing allowed!)



And here are some pictures of the party at Chuck E Cheese:

Work and Preschool week 2 and 3

I've been at work for 3 weeks now and I've finally started to adjust physically and emotionally to my new schedule, it's about time! I go in at 8:00, come home for lunch and then leave for the day around 3:30 or 4:00. So far, I'm pretty much able to make my own schedule. Alex, on the other hand is not adjusted just yet. Week one went great, but as soon as week 2 started he realized that this was not going to be a temporary thing. During week 2 he was very upset as I was leaving, but now he's upset before we even leave the house. He tells me "I don't want to miss you!" It's a huge change for such a little guy who's always had momma around. I wonder if I should have put him in a Mother's Day Out program when he was younger, maybe it wouldn't be as tough on him. What can ya do, what's done is done.

Alex had his 4 year check up on Tuesday this week. He's 42" tall, which puts him in the 90th percentile for height, he weighs 37 pounds which is the 70th percentile. He had 4 shots and did so well, momma was so proud! The nurse was amazing, she had him distracted by counting pictures on the wall. Surprisingly, he didn't even flinch for the first 3. I had to look over and see the bandaids to find out if she'd done anything yet! The 4th shot was the MMR, which is the most painful one, and boy did he feel that! He fussed for a little bit, but was such a brave boy and calmed quickly. He always gets a bit of a fever when he gets vaccinations, but here it is Friday and he's still feeling pretty yucky. Mark stayed home with him today because he had a fever and was really not feeling well, and he's laying next to me now with a 101 temp. Hopefully this will pass soon.

It's finally sinking in

I don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could go through this transition emotionless. It's finally sinking in. It might be PMS, it might be the fact that I had to go to a totally lame convention all day on Saturday AWAY from my family missing both kids games, a birthday party and the school carnival, maybe it has something to do with a message my friend just wrote about her conversation with my Alex on the playground last week, and the fact that someone else is telling me about his day. Or it might be the picture on my computer of Alex fingerpainting with his two friends Emma and Mrs. Alex on Mollie's kitchen floor, or possibly the all the emails about playgroups that I keep receiving that I know I can't take Alex to. I know I will adjust, I know it's a completely normal, crappy transition that we are all destined to have to go through at some point, whether it be now, or when our children go off to kindergarten, but it still sucks, and I'm really not interested in going through it, not one bit. Alex will be 4 next weekend, and I know that I am so lucky to have spent all this time with him, but for some reason it sure doesn't make it much easier.

First two days of work and preschool

Wow, I'm officially a working mom! Yesterday, Mark and I took Alex to his first day of preschool at La Petite. Sunday night we read "What to Expect at Preschool" which proved to be VERY beneficial in preparing Alex for his first day. When we kissed him goodnight he had the biggest grin on his face, he told us how excited he was to go to preschool in the morning, and that he couldn't wait to be a preschooler. I woke him up Monday morning and got him ready for school, and Mark and I took him in around 8:00. When we arrived, the kids were outside playing on the playground. It took him a while to remove himself from my leg, but eventually he went to play with the other kids. Surprisingly enough, I was emotionally stable. I'm not sure how that happened, but it did, and I was fine. I was so excited for the both of us that I didn't have a chance to be sad. Poor Mark, I think he might have covered the emotions for the both of us. I could tell pretty soon after we arrived that it was going to be tough on him. It was touching to see this emotional side of him. Alex did great on his first day, he never cried for us...and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that to be perfectly honest!

My job is great, I didn't realize how much I missed the working world...imagine that! I'm really enjoying my job and can't wait to dive in and learn all about this company and the work they do. I am one of two drafters in the office, so we're talking a small business, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to learning Microstation! I feel so lucky to have this opportunity! I have to cut this short, my tooth is SCREAMING at me and I really need to go lay down.

Cypress Valley Canopy Tour

Mark's first Zip

Scarier than it looks!

It's a looong way down

Standing on the platform in a 600 year old Cypress looking down

Leaning back over the edge...Jamie has trust, seeeeee! (pay no attention to my nervous hands)

ME

What a showoff!

Tarzan Zipping once again

October 16th

Today is our 6th anniversary. :) It's hard to believe how fast the time goes by, Ashley was 3 year old, Alex was not even thought of, and Mark and I were starting our new life together. Through these years we've endured a lot of change together, but one thing that has stayed constant is our love for each other. I've had my best friend by my side all this time.

Nana came to spend the night on Friday, so that she could come see the kids games. Alex scored 2 goals for Nana, and Ashley served for SEVERAL points and returned a few serves as well. My little show offs. :) After the games Nana took the kids back to their house to stay the night. Mark took us straight to Cypress Creek Canopy Tours. It was AMAZING! I have a slight fear of heights...but yesterday I learned that I don't really have a fear of heights, it's just a fear of falling. ;) This place was amazing, I have never experienced anything like it, and can't wait to do it again. Basically, it's a zip line tour through the Cypress Trees. We were way up in the canopy of the trees zipping from tree to tree, just like a bunch of monkeys. The first zip took my breath away, but after that, it was smooth sailing. I will post pictures tonight when I get the chance. I hope the pictures are as beautiful as I remember it being out there.

Dud Update

Well, we're pretty sure the Dud is going to be ok. This morning they did a stool sample, and some blood work. His stool sample was primarily blood. :( Scared the daylights out of me! They're not exactly sure what's wrong with him, but the vet says he has some gastrointestinal bacteria, which is causing all of his insides to be upset. Anything from emotional stress to feeding him table food can cause it. The biggest fear with this is dehydration, and he was not doing bad at all in that department, thank goodness. The vet wanted to keep him overnight, so they could try to push the fluids and see if they could get him to eat, while dosing him with something to coat his tummy. They called back at 5:30 and said he's doing great! He's eating, drinking and taking his meds just fine. This is a major relief, I was so worried that we were going to get bad news, like Parvo, or something awful like that. Dudley has been such a wonderful addition to our family and I just can't imagine our lives without him. He's a pretty special guy.

My boys watching TV together



Alex riding his horse

I have ink!

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again...I truly have the sweetest husband on the face of earth. He knows exactly what to do to make me smile. Yesterday, he walked in the door with a gift and a card to congratulate me on getting the job. I've been walking on cloud nine since I got the offer, and him coming home with that, in a way justified my excitement. He got me one of those fancy pens that really important people use. lol I felt like a total moron when it took me a few minutes to figure out how to use it. I twisted and pushed and pulled, and Mark just bit his tongue and watched me. Finally, after making a complete fool of myself I realized that the cap unscrewed. Anyway, I just love it, and can't wait to use it at my new job. :)

The Dud

I'm worried about the Dud. He hasn't eaten in two days. Two days ago I came home from a playgroup and when I opened the door, the smell of my house almost knocked me on my rear. I'm not even sure if he's drinking, it's so hard to tell with two dogs using the same bowl, and me being as busy as I have been the past few days. I think it's been long enough though, I'm calling the Vet. as soon as they open, which is in about 15 minutes. I'm so worried about him. He's just so lethargic and weak. He looks at us with pouty eyes, and I can tell he's hurting. I really hope this is just a virus or something and the Vet. can put our minds at ease and his pain at bay.

Job hunt update

I got a phone call at 9:30 this morning...I GOT THE JOB, it's official! Mark and I had worked up numbers so I could negotiate, but it turns out that they offered what I asked for. :) I start Monday morning at 9am. Wow, just 5 days ago I thought my entire world was crashing down, but today I feel like a million bucks. My new job is 2.4 miles from our drive way, and Alex's school is only 2. 8. Had we picked Stepping Stone it would have been right on the way, but I think I can handle the 4/10 of a mile extra for a school that I feel more comfortable with. :)

The job front

Well, yesterday I sent out my first resume, and if that wasn't nerve racking enough, getting an interview two hours later certaily was. The interview went well, I'm almost certain he'll be calling me back tomorrow with an offer. Unfortunately, the job is too far, and the working environment is not for me. Stark white walls, narrow white hallways, nothing but white. It just looked very institutional, and while the pay would be good, I'm just not interested. From there I went to pick up Alex from Mollie's, who was gracious enough to keep both kids at a moments notice. What a friend! :) From there we went to Stepping Stone School to tour their facility. My first impression was positive, but the longer I was there, the more I wanted to leave. The classroom was way too small for that many children, and it just didn't feel "warm". Otherwise, it was great, big playground, lots of learning centers, a great cirriculum, etc.
Today proved to be a MUCH better day. We had an appointment with La Petite Academy this morning. I was aprehensive, because it seems like all I hear is negativity towards La Petite...but never specifics. The director was so warm with Alex and the other children. I saw her trying to coax a shy little girl to go play and she was gently rubbing her leg talking softly to her. Stepping Stone did not have anyone visibly as "warm". The rooms are all open, plenty of space, in fact a LOT of space. I was very impressed with their program and attention to detail. The place isn't nearly as new and sparkly as S.S. but it got my vote! Ironically enough, when we left, Alex looked up at me (before I ever said a word) and said "momma, I think I like this place better". :) Need I look further?

So this morning I decided I would call a local surveying company and see if they were hiring. They didn't have an ad posted anywhere, but what the heck, I figured it couldn't hurt to call. I called at 7:50 am hoping to catch the owner early before he got to busy. He was very glad to speak with me and wanted to me to send a resume' asap. I promptly emailed him my resume and within the hour he replied that he wanted to meet with me. Yahoo! So I went in today at 2:00 and met with him, his wife (co-owner) and their right hand man, Johnny. What a great place! I was impressed from the get go. This was the most professional surveyor I've ever run across. The interview lasted a full hour and we covered everything under the sun. As it turns out this position was somehow created just for me. :) When he asked me if I "had" to work 40 hours a week, I knew that this was going to work out. It turns out they are not in need of an 8-5er, they're in need of someone that can work maybe a little less as needed. How perfect! Chuck told me that he thought me coming in was meant to be, and that this sounds like the ideal situation. I couldn't agree more. He didn't offer me the job, but he did tell me that he thought I'd work out great and that they'd call me in a day or two after they had talked to tell me some specifics about when, how much etc. I'm just thrilled! This place is less than 3 miles from home and I never even have to get on the main road. I can drive through the neighborhood to get there, heck I could ride my bike! I will update when I hear more. :)

Sweet Berry Farm

My boys

I have no idea what this face is all about.

My two favorite kids on the hayride

Photo compliments of Miss Ashley

We made a family trip to Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls today. www.sweetberryfarm.com Marble Falls is about 45 minutes West of Leander down 1431. What a gorgeous day for a trip through the Hill Counry! The high was 85, and there was not a cloud to be seen. They had all sorts of activities for the family...you could stuff a scarecrow, paint pumpkins, shuck corn with and old time metal crank shucker (I guess that's what it's called), they had scarecrow stuffing, hay rides, a kiddie maze through corn-like fields. They had goats and horses, homemade icecream, and plenty of photo ops. We kept it simple and took a hayride and painted pumpkins. The kids had such a great time, I think we might have to work this in every year and start a family tradition.

All good things must come to an end

I can't believe I'm already having to type this entry. Two years shy of what I thought was the end, I'm going to have to quit my role as stay at home mom. My heart aches and the lump in the back of my throat isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I keep telling myself that I'm such a lucky wife, such a lucky mom, look how far we've come, we have our health, we have each other. Then I'm reminded of everything we're going to miss, and just how much my perfect life is about to change and everything else gets fogged over. I just want time to stand still, even for just a little while. I look at the time I've spent studying during the day and cleaning the house, and I just want to take it all back, I want to close my books, put the mop down and play and dance and sing and cuddle.

Day 7 of the sickies, and La Maestra #2

Alex is now on day 7 of this stinking virus, and I am sooo ready to get my boy back to normal. He came down with a fever on Friday just before we went camping, and had a fever between 100 and 104 up until yesterday. :( He doesn't want to do anything but lay on the couch and watch TV. I took him to storytime today, since his fever has been gone for a day or so, that was a mistake! He didn't pay attention to any of the stories, he just wanted to lay on the ground and act up like a 2 year old. :( It's naptime right now, and he's laying on the couch just snoring away. At the library I found a Laurie Berkner CD, (Alex and I just love her!) so I put it on when we got home thinking that might perk him up, but he ended up falling asleep to it while I danced around the living room. Poor guy. I miss him.

Tomorrow is Spanish class number 2! I'm really looking forward to it, and hoping I can start memorizing some of the students names now that I'm a little more relaxed. Today I met a lady at the library who is a volunteer Spanish teacher also. She teaches Kindergarteners at another school in our district, but our program is exactly the same. We shared some ideas and talked a little about our first class, she was just as nervous as I was, and told me about how difficult it was for her to sleep the night before. I was secretly happy to hear that! Shhh! After talking to all the Spanish teachers at our school I was beginning to think that I was the only one feeling the first class jitters. I talked to several teachers who all told me "oh, they're just first graders, they won't bite!" Well DUH! Anyway, it was just nice to talk to someone who understood. She and I are the only teachers that I know of who are not fluent Spanish speakers, so that was a little comforting as well. I 've been wondering if I'm depriving the kids of the extra knowledge of a fluent teacher, and if they are missing out on too much, but the more I think, the more I realize that these kids are lucky, (and I AM just a volunteer). I'm teaching them the basics of Spanish, and my kiddos should go in to the 2nd grade with the same knowledge of Spanish that the next class has. Strangely enough I never even introduced myself to the lady, and I never got her name, how silly! Luckily, she takes her 3 year old to storytime on Thursdays also, so I'm sure we'll exchange names and numbers in the future.

My first day teaching

I'm only 5 days late updating on my first day of teaching Spanish. My days are completely full, as I knew they would be when I took on all that I have. So I'm taking a break from studying to update on last Friday.

For starters I showed up an hour early at 10:50 instead of 11:50. Fortunately I checked the schedule when I arrived and realized my mistake BEFORE walking in to the class an hour early and completely embarassing myself. As it turns out the hour was just what I needed to calm my nerves, soak up the school environment, and get in to teacher mode. I was able to study my lesson a little longer, lower my heart rate, and focus on relaxing a little more. The first two minutes or so of class is a blurr. I was scared out of my mind (of what, I'm not sure), but those sweet little first graders had a way of putting my nerves at ease and making me feel like I was at home. Within a few minutes, I was at ease, as if I were at home teaching Alex. The kids were attentive, excited and very well behaved. Their interest in learning Spanish made my job so much fun. They are really are cute little people. I hope that I am able to remember all of their names though, my goodness, there are so many names! Luckily a few have the same name so that increases my odds just a bit.
My next class is the day after tomorrow, and this time around I'm not at all nervous, in fact I'm anxious to get back in there and have some more fun. :)

Spanish tomorrow!

Well, this is it, I just went over the lessons I will be teaching tomorrow, for the last time. It's late, I'm tired, and I don't see me improving anymore tonight. Tomorrow is the big test. It will be my first time ever to teach. Yes, I'm nervous, but more anxious than anything. I'm so ready to see if I can do this without cracking!!! I have no idea how hard this is going to be, but I keep reminding myself that these are only first graders and that it doesn't matter how perfect I come across, all that matters is that I teach these kids some Spanish and have some fun.

Lesson 1: Introduction, Why it's important to learn Spanish, where Spanish is spoken, Similarities of Spanish to English, Como te llamas, me llamo, Read Say Hola to Spanish book. Alphabeto, colores. Phew! I hope I fill up the entire 30 minutes. I'm anxious to report back on how it goes, but it probably won't be until Sunday that I get a chance to get back online. I'm checking Ashley out of school early and we're leaving for Inks Lake to go camping shortly after I finish my class tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day, but I will surely reap the rewards while I lounge in the beautiful weather that is heading our way this weekend. I think the high this weekend is in the 80's. A huge change from the 108+ temps we've had the past week.

Rita is on her way

We woke up this morning, got ready for school, and just as we were about to leave I check my email and find out that school has been cancelled. Apparently, all the schools South of us are packed with evacuees, and they will be needing the Elementary schools as well. It was so fun to stop the kids that were riding their bikes and walking to school to tell them there is no school today. One boy didn't beleive me, he says "you're pulling my leg, right?" I said nope, I'm serious, go check it out for yourself, the parking lot is empty. That's all he needed to hear, he and his buddy screamed at the top of their lungs and turned around to go home. I think it's great that they are opening up the schools for shelters, what perfect sense that makes! It's a good thing Rita is hitting over the weekend, maybe the kids will be able to return to school on Monday.
So this morning in celebration of no school we went out to breakfast with Angie, Aubree and Jared. The girls really wanted Day Light Donughts, so we made a quick stop and picked some up, then we headed to an "adult" restaurant as we called it. There's a little mom and pop barbeque place over on 1431 that serves all kinds of yummy breakfast plates, so we decided to check it out. We were able to get a table on the back patio and let the kids run free, while we ate our breakfasts. It was so nice, and the girls were just thrilled to be on this little adventure during school hours.

How annoying~

I just typed up a Looong post about Hurrican Rita, and it got lost. What a friggin bummer, that took me 20 minutes!!! I will summarize...Mark is out of town, Rita was expected to hit us hard, no flashlight, went to walmart, empty shelves, crazy people, bought in to the chaos, freaked out a bit, didn't sleep lastnight, missed my husband, forgot picture day, the gas stations were out of gas, missed my husband, it's now bed time, we're safe, the storm is not going to hit us, I have no reason to not sleep well tonight but I betcha I don't...still miss my husband.

Espanol

Well, I did it. I officially committed myself to teaching Spanish. I haven't decided if I've completely lost my mind or not, but I'm sure I'll know on day 1 of classes. I'm not sure why a class of first graders frightens me as much as it does...more than likely because I only know basic Spanish and I have not been given any curriculum info. as of yet. So yeah, I'm a little nervous. lol What I do know is that I will be teaching 1st graders for 30 minutes one day per week. I'm trying to focus on what Mark told me the other day "You could do anything for 30 minutes, shoot, you could be a trapeze artist for 30 minutes a week." He's right, I can do this, and that's why I volunteered. I think it will be really good for me, and if anything, it will freshen up some of my Spanish, and that's always a good thing when you live in Texas.
I have to admit, I am a little aprehensive about the program though. It's strictly a volunteer program, and like most volunteer programs, there is a shortage of volunteers. The program only has enough people to teach Kinder through 2nd grade...the same problem they had last year. I am concerned that the Spanish we teach will be lost after the 2nd grade. The next Spanish they are REQUIRED to have is in High School, and they could wait until their Jounior year to take it. That is a HUGE gap! If we were teaching 3rd - 5th only, as opposed to the lower grades, the children would be more likely to choose Spanish as an elective in Middle School, since the material would be so fresh. I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too much about this, maybe exposing them to a foreign language at such a young age will open their mind to something as simple as realizing that the world is bigger than Leander, Texas, and this will allow their minds to grow in ways I can't even really comprehend. Whatever the case may be, I'm excited and anxious to get started in a few weeks. How am I ever going to remember 20 kids names!!?

Labor Day weekend

We had such a wonderful weekend at dads, it was really one of the best times we've had out there all summer. Most of the weekend was spent soaking up the sun and cruising the boat up and down the lake. Ashely sure has improved with her wakeboarding, she can now go over the wake! Next summer I just know she'll be jumping like a pro! ;) It doesn't seem like that long ago when miss Ash wouldn't do anything that didn't allow her to have two feet firmly planted on the ground. Now there's nothing that she won't at least try. We are so proud of our girl! Mr. Alex has been watching Sissy very closely. He's so lucky that he has such a talented big sister to look up to. After begging to wakeboard all summer, Nana broke out the kiddie skis for Alex. I didn't expect much, in fact I expected Alex to chicken out and not even attempt it, but much to my surprise, our bitty three year old skied this weekend. Nana stayed in the water with him, giving him detailed instructions, while Mark, Ashley and I rode in the boat. Momma driving the boat was definitely not the best idea. Once I pulled him up, I don't think I looked forward at all! Thank goodness nothing was in my way (or was there, haha). Every bone in my body was shaking thinking about what could possibly happen to such a little guy. He's a big boy though, he does fine in a life vest and can now even swim without one. Alex stayed in a semi-squatting position the whole time, with water slashing up in his face. He would turn his head to take a breath and then look back forward again. He was absolutely adorable! Once he'd had enough he signaled me with a thumbs down. This was the first time I think I'd ever seen him give a thumbs down! He's been riding on the back of the boat in a float with Ashley all summer and the only hand signals he's given is a thumbs up to go faster. So I slowed the boat down, with Alex gradually lowering in to the water (along with my heart rate). We were all so proud of him, even the lady across the lake was yelling for him. :) There's no such thing as a skiing toddler, I think that's pretty much an oxymoron, so it's official, we have a big boy now. I'm not sure how I feel about that one!

Hurricane Katrina

Mark and I avoided facing the reality of the hurricane as long as we could. Wednesday night we finally agreed to watch some media coverage, for the first time. It was just as we suspected, horrific and devastating. We both felt an overwhelming desire to help, as I'm sure all Americans have. We have no money to give, so we have decided to open up our home. We are well aware of the risks and will take every measure necessary to ensure that our family is safe. We are nervous, yet anxious to do what we can to help. The devastation is just awful. It's so, so sad. A couple from New Orleans just left dads, they came to talk to them about keeping their dogs until they get settled in a rental with a back yard. The dogs are currently at a kennel. Dad and Ruthie offered up the apartment to them. It was so sad to hear all that they have been through, the wife had a hard time composing herself when she spoke about all they had been through. They've stayed at 6 different hotels in the past week, and were almost in to an apartment, when they backed out. The apartment personel knew their situation and still they demanded 3 months of rent UP FRONT, IN CASH. That REALLY ticks me off. Those people need to be reported. Anyway, they couple will be calling sometime tomorrow to let dad and Ruthie know what they decide to do. I'm trying to stay away from all the news reports and articles, it's just too much to absorb right now.

Pictures From Ashley's Birthday Party

Lyndsy, Kelcey, Kelly, Ashley, Aubree and Savannah (Ciara is off hiding somewhere)

Ashley's Birthday Bash

My sweet baby turned 9 years old yesterday. It's hard to believe it's been 9 years since we first met. 9 years since I held that precious baby in my arms for the first time. She was the beginning of this beautiful chapter of my life, that continues to flourish every day.

We had her birthday party at The Embassy Suites Hotel this weekend. I told her she could invite 5 friends, but somehow we ended up with 6. :) Here's the invitation I made:

As soon as we arrived at the Embassy, we got changed and jumped in the pool for a bit. Grandma wasn't scheduled to pick up Alex for a few hours, so we had 7 girls, and 3 year old Alex, who just learned to swim a few months ago. Whew, what was I thinking!? 9 year old girls are at the stage where they love their independance, yet still thrive on adult approval to some extent. This equates to 7 girls clear across the pool yelling "MRS. JAMIE, MRS. JAMIE, WATCH THIS, WATCH THIS!!", which would normally be fine if I didn't have a 3 year old who's swimming abilities out weigh his intelligence. The girls had a blast, momma came close to loosing her mind. Thankfully, our pizza arrived and we had an excuse to leave. After cake, pizza, and presents Grams and Pops took Alex home with them for the night THANKYOUVERYMUCH, and we headed off to the mall. I didn't tell the girls what we had planned, it was a complete surprise. We arrived at the food court and I handed each girl an envelope with their name written on the outside. Inside each person had a name tag:

a Scavenger Hunt Sheet. (I'll add that on to the end of this entry) Ashley's envelope had some money for a few of the items on the list, and a map of the mall. We decided that they should all stick together as opposed to splitting up in to teams because girls this age can be a little over competitive, and the last thing we needed was for them to be divided. That turned out to be an AWESOME decision. They worked so well together, no one was left out and everyone participated. It really turned out to be a great time for the girls. Mark and I tagged along behind them keeping our mouths shut as much as possible.
From there we went to Wendy's and ordered 9 Frosty's. What a time we had a Wendy's! Thankfully, the place was empty, had it not been, it would have been shortly after our arrival. Mark and I really let loose and let the girls have fun, which is not typical of us. Normally, we're the semi-uptight-stressed-to-the-max parents telling the kids to keep their voices down, mind their manners, and to wipe their chins, so for us, this was a pretty big deal. I have some great pictures from Wendy's, I'll post those later. Ok, so by now it's around 9:00 PM, so we head back to the hotel, where Mark proceeds to fall face first in to the pillow. Poor guy was beat! He played hard with the girls. At one point he had 4-5 girls hanging off him as he walked across the Wendy's parking lot. As Ruthie put it..he really shined that night. :) I was proud. Back to the room...the girls sat in a circle and did a craft where they decorated door knob hangars with foam letters and shapes, while pigging out on popcorn and yes, more junk. Oh man, those poor parents who actually sent toothbrushes, haha, I'm just crossing my fingers that I'm not the cause of any emergency dental work over the next week. We had cookies, gummy worms, chocolate, pop rocks, wax bottles, chewy sweet tarts and even more junk. It was heavenly.
After the sugar rushes peaked we did mud masks and nails. By the time we were done it was 11:30 and believe it or not the girls were ASKING to go to bed. NO, that's really no joke, they were ALL exhausted. We've found the secret to NOT staying up all night, WEAR THEM OUT and give them wayyyy too much sugar! We were in bed and sleeping by midnight. I never even saw the end of Saturday Night Live.

The next morning we did the free full made to order breakfast, where the girls pigged out on everything their little hearts desired...including soda...but shhh, don't tell. We ended the party by letting the girls run a muck in the hotel, they went from elavator to elevator, and floor to floor reaking havoc on the other hotel guests, which was fine by me, I wasn't with them. Muaaahaaahaa!!! We were packed up and on the road by 11:30, on the way back to sweet freedom. Ash had an awesome time, no fights, surprisingly everyone got along and made the best of it. I'm not sure if it was the closed quarters that forced them to get along, or the fact that I threatened their lives before we ever left the house. I told them that I would send anyone home that made fun of, left out, or caused trouble with any of the other girls. Poor Ash, I'm sure she LOVED hearing that speech. :) I will post pictures tomorrow, it's way late and I'm running on empty.

Ashley’s Birthday Scavenger Hunt

*Work together as a team to solve each clue to find out what items you need to complete this birthday mission. You may need to refer to a map of the mall to find your way. A $ next to the clue means you will need money, honey! You won’t have much, so shop wisely.

1. All young girls love to shop here and not just one or TOO of you. Go in this store and ask for a bag to carry your loot.

2. I am a plastic eating implement consisting of a small shallow bowl with a relatively long handle.

3. I am flat and round and you will find me where food is sold. You eat off of me and throw me away when I get old.

4. I am on all clothes when they are new, but discarded before worn.

5. I am born of a bud in the spring. In autumn, I turn brown and fall to the ground.

6. $ Shiny and round am I. 4 of me make a dollar.

7. I am made from paper and square, not round. When you are done with me, you flush me down.

8. $ I am chewed, but not swallowed. I am always sweet and sometimes hollow. You can find me in a machine.

9. $ You love me with milk when mom cooks me right. Bring me back without any bites. Make sure to get one of me for each person on your team!

10. You will find me at the bookstore waiting to hold your place. You slide me in your novels and I don’t take up much space. You can sometimes find me free if you ask, but in case you need to buy me, take some cash.

Radijazz Pictures

I Thought We Were Past This Stage!

This is what happens when momma spends 15 minutes on the phone with a friend, neglecting her poor lonely child.

I snapped these pictures just minutes after getting off the phone with an incompetant dental assistant, and needless to say, I was NOT in a good mood. I was looking for Alex to round him up so we could go to Radijazz. We were already running late. I didn't find him in the TP'd bathroom, so I went upstairs to find picture #1. We used the rice in a lesson earlier that morning, and apparently Alex really enjoyed himself. I found him in his mess, and I was not happy. I was doing they typical reprimanding when I went to put his socks on. (The innocent socks lying on the floor in the first picture) I picked them up not realizing that I had just activated a booby trap. Alex had filled his socks with rice. Lovely. At this point, I could no longer scold him, my brain was on overload, so I broke down in to laughter. I think laughter for a mommy can be compared to passing out. It's the minds way of protecting itself from things it doesn't need to experience. So I'm laughing, while Alex is looking up at me with complete confusion. When he realizes it's safe, he follows suite and while pointing at me, nervously laughs out"Haha, you're laughing, you're laughing, that means you're not mad anymore, Huh Huh, huh huh". My poor son.

Alex-isms

I've decided that my memory is far to unreliable to remember all that I need it to, so this will be my spot to jot down all those precious Alex-isms that make us laugh each day.

Gui-ana - any of various large herbivorous typically dark-colored tropical American lizards aka: Iguana
Ex: "Momma, where is my guiana that Koltin gave me?"
Sadly enough, this is one of those words that my poor son will say incorrectly until he goes to school and the teacher corrects him. And on that day, I will cry. There are very few of these words, but the ones we have are way to precious to give up this early. :)

Aga-Cadabra - a magical charm or incantation
aka: Abracadabra
Ex: Alex asks momma for a cookie. Mom: "What's the magic word?" Alex: "Aga-Cadabra!"

Updated January 3, 2006:

Breath-ust - the first meal of the day, otherwise known as Breakfast.

Buh-zan-ya - Layered italian dish consisting of cheeses, flat noodles and tomato sauce otherwise known as Lasagna.

Buh-sketti - another italian dish consisting of sauce and noodles, aka: Spagetti
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Botched Pet names

Hemry - The name of our second pet Guinea Pig.
aka: HeNry

Tachi - The name of our kitty who owns the upper half of our home. This name morphed from Chachi to Tachi and sometimes chach...I have no idea how this happened.
aka: Chelsea

Fumbuhwina - Our pet rat.
aka: Thumbelina

Is it REALLY over?

Please say it's not over, please tell me that last nights episode of Six Feet Under really isn't the LAST LAST episode. No producer REALLY means it the first time they say it's over, right? Friends and The Sopranos didn't leave us. Can't it just be like another one of those painfully funny scenes where Ruth comes close to killing George, or Brenda performs acts of incest, and we all wake up and everything is fine? Nate dying was enough, now we have to say goodbye to them all? I don't wanna.


Six Feet Under Obituaries-
Copied from www.hbo.com

Ruth O'Connor Fisher
Ruth Fisher was born in Pasadena in 1946 and died at Good Samaritan Hospital of Glendale on Wednesday. She graduated from Pasadena High School in 1963 and stayed home to raise three children before opening the Four Paws Pet Retreat in Topanga Canyon twenty years ago. She is survived by her loving companion George Sibley, her sister Sarah O'Connor, her son David Fisher of Los Angeles and her daughter Claire Fisher of New York City. Ruth will also be missed by her four cherished grandchildren - Maya Fisher, Willa Chenowith, and Anthony and Durrell Charles-Fisher. Viewing will be held on Saturday, March 15th at 2 p.m. at Fisher & Sons Funeral Home at 2302 W. 25th Street in Los Angeles. Private burial to follow.

Keith Dwayne Charles
Keith Charles, founder of Charles Security Company, was born in 1968 in San Diego. He died suddenly at work on Tuesday morning. Keith attended West Point Military Academy, graduating with a degree in Criminology in 1989. He served the city of Los Angeles as a member of the LAPD for nine years before joining the security industry. He leaves behind his devoted husband David Fisher and loving sons Durrell and Anthony Charles-Fisher, his grandson Matthew, his sister Karla Charles and his niece Taylor Benoit of Carlsbad. Keith is pre-deceased by his parents Roderick and Lucille Charles of San Diego. Memorial service will be held on Sunday, February 18th at 2 p.m. at Fisher & Sons Funeral Home at 2302 W. 25th Street in Los Angeles.

David James Fisher
Born January 20, 1969. Died at the age of 75 in Echo Park. He was proud owner and operator of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home of Los Angeles for over forty years. After retiring in 2034, he went on to perform in dozens of local theater productions, including Weill and Brecht's "Threepenny Opera," Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," and as Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." David leaves behind his partner Raoul Martinez, his beloved sons Durrell and Anthony Charles-Fisher, his sister Claire Fisher and his three precious grandchildren Matthew, Keith, and Katie. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Southern California Opera Association

Hector Federico Diaz
Died at the age of 75 while vacationing with his wife in Puerto Rico. Federico graduated from Cyprus College in 1997 with a degree in Mortuary Science. He worked as a restorative artist for several years before becoming part owner of Fisher & Diaz Funeral Home on 25th Street. In 2005, Federico opened the Diaz Family Mortuary on DeLongpre Avenue in Hollywood, where he served the community for 35 years before retiring. Pre-deceased by his parents Mauricio and Lilia Diaz of Los Angeles. He was married to his beloved wife Vanessa for 54 years and leaves behind his cherished sons Julio and Augusto and his three grandchildren: Emily, Celestina and Vincent. Memorial service will be held at Diaz Family Mortuary on Saturday, February 16th at 11:00 a.m. Funeral mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. the following day at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Atwater Village.

Brenda Chenowith
Brenda Chenowith was born July 19, 1969 and died at the age of 82 at home. She earned her Masters Degree in Social Work at California State University of Los Angeles and a PhD in Theories of Human Behavior at University of Southern California. Brenda wrote several books about the role of the gifted child in family development. She is considered to be one of the most distinguished scholars in that field of study, adding several courses to the Social Work curriculum at USC. She developed research methodologies to conclusively prove the link between deviant human behavior and fetal alcohol exposure. As a child, Brenda was the subject of the book "Charlotte Light and Dark" by Gareth Feinberg, PhD. Brenda will be dearly missed by her beloved children Maya Fisher, Willa Chenowith, and Forrest Nathanson, her loving husband Daniel Nathanson, and her brother William Chenowith of Malibu. Private services will be held Wednesday March 9th at Deep Creek Nature Preserve. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.

Claire Simone Fisher
1983 - 2085Born March 13, 1983. Died February 11, 2085 in Manhattan. Claire grew up in Los Angeles and studied art at LAC-Arts College. She worked as an advertising and fashion photographer and photojournalist for nearly fifty years, creating several memorable covers for Washington Post magazine, W, and The Face. Claire often exhibited her work in New York and London art galleries and in a time when nearly everyone else in her field had turned to digital scanning and computer-driven imaging, she continued to use a silver-based photographic process. Claire began teaching photography as a faculty member at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2018, earning tenure in 2028. She's pre-deceased by her beloved husband Ted Fairwell.

Call From The Teacher

It's the third day of school, the phone rings, it's your childs 4th grade teacher calling to inform you of an "incident" that happened with your oh-so-sweet 8 year old. I have to admit, when Ashley's teacher announced who she was my heart began to pound, despite knowing that my Ashley could never do harm, ESPECIALLY on the third day of school. Well, I was right, my Ashley did no REAL harm, per se. This year Ashley has the "privelage" of being outside in the portables with all the other 4th graders. Oh wait, I'm not supposed to use the term "portable", I'm supposed to say "cottage". Kind of like repacing "mobil home" with manufactured home dontcha know. ;) Same thing, different word, whatever. Anywho, my point is, the kids are using new bathrooms this year, and apparently, my Ashley hasn't quite figured out that the girls bathrooms are on the opposite side of the hall from last year. She walked in on two of her classmates using the urinals. :( Poor thing, I can't even begin to imagine the horror of being a 4th grader having to back to class with these boys. Thankfully, after quizzing her, I discovered that no boy parts were revealed during the mishap. Apparently, Ash was pretty distressed over the incident and had a hard time getting over it in class. Mrs. Ellsworth said she just looked so sad. My poor baby. I hate not being able to fix this. We decided that instead of being upset about it, we were going to laugh, and that's what we did. I reminded her of how funny this will be to look back on, she reluctantly agreed and laughed along with me.

It reminds of the time back in 3rd grade when Ryan Stephenson barfed on my shoe. I was sooo embarassed, I thought the world was coming to an end and no one would ever like me again. Ok, so only a little bit got on my shoe, but what's the difference. ;)

Jamie is

Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, lets see...I have to dig waaay down deep to get creative these days, unless you're asking me to find a solution to a carpool dilema, or how to get dried oatmeal (aka: cement) off the kitchen light fixture . The definition of Jamie these days is momma. And when the voices stop, I'm sometimes referred to as "hot" momma, but those are moments are few and far between. Despite the teetering negativity in the preceeding statements, I'm actually a very happy wife and mom to my two darling children. Ashley, my sweet natured, over achieving adult pleaser is in the 4th grade and will be turning 9 next week, and Alex, my rip roarin', hell raisin' love bug is 3.75 and enjoying every minute of his raging toddler-hood. I'm a stay at home mom, and love my job dearly. I just started homeschooling my preschooler, and counting down the time I have left at home with him. (I mean that in only a good way) I only have 2 precious years left and I'm dreading the day I hand him over to Kindergarten and slowly begin the act of corrupting his precious mind. ;)
My husband, Mark is the love of my life, and the person I look up to more than anyone in my life. We've been married almost 6 years now, and just this year, he adopted our daughter, Ashley, with whom he's been daddy to since she was just 2 years old. He has completed my life in so many, many ways, I could never express how special he is to me.

Zoo today and summer stuff

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have 2 weeks left of summer, I can hardly believe have fast it has flown by! My goals for the summer were:

1. To get on a better schedule, as far as house work goes
2. Get Ashley set up with a typing program
3. Go over all of Ashley's multipication facts to reinforce them
4. Spend lots and lots of time with the kids
5. Get a mini-preschool area set up for Alex in the playroom

I've accomplished most of them! I still have not ordered Ashley's typing program. I NEED TO DO THAT! She is so anxious to learn to type, and I really do need see to it that she starts soon, while she's so interested. We are almost through with all the multipication tables, and she's doing just fine with that. The preschool is a brain child of mine, that WILL get done before school starts in 2 weeks. I have the plan, and most everything I need to get started. For paint, I'm going to do bright colors, one on each wall...red, blue, yellow, and orange. On the blue wall I will put the big tree wall hanging and the picket fence. It's going to be so cute, and I have so many ideas on how to use the tree for different themes throughout the year. Mark is making me a book display. Those pick-a-book stands are so expensive! Mine will not be nearly as nice, but it will still function like I want it to. I want Alex to be able to SEE the front of his books instead of me stacking them in a cabinet. I bought some whiteboard paper, and a big board and created my own whiteboard. It's 4x2 and cost me a whopping $8 to make! I'm so proud of that one! Anyway, I have tons of stuff in my head, I just need make it happen, and I will have plenty of time next week to make sure I get it done. The kids are going to my dads to visit for a few days. Imagine that...ME HOME ALONE! EEK! I have NEVER been alone for an entire day!

Today we're going to the zoo. The Austin Zoo is not really a "zoo", it's really an animal rescue that specializes in zoo type animals. It's not very big, but perfect for little guys like Alex. We're going with a group of friends that Alex gets along well with, so that should be fun!

Adventure Race

I forgot to update about my race from Saturday!! This was my second year to compete in the Women's Adventure Race, benefiting the Young Womens Survival Coallition. This charity supports young women under 40 affected by cancer. It was a huge success once again this year. Very powerful!

I had a new partner this year, Tiesa. She's a good friend and neighbor. Our girls are both going to the 4th grade, and are very close. My partner from last year was there with a new partner as well, so that was nice. We both needed someone closer to our level of fitness, so it worked out great. Anyway, I just got the final results back! Tiesa and I finished 45 out of 192 competitors. We finished in 1 hr. 40 min., which is a huge improvement from last year. Last year we finished in 2 hrs. 5 min. We are thrilled at how well did, but we both already have started our goals for next year. I can't wait to see pictures! Mark and the kids weren't able to come this year, so I didn't have anyone taking pictures. I was kind of bummed about that. There is a company that takes pictures throughout the race of all the competitors, so I know I will have at least a few soon.

Summer

Is really only mid June?? I feel like we've done so much already, enough for entire summer! I had my 10 year reunion, that was a lot of fun, it was interesting to hear all about what everyone has done with the last 10 years. I was shocked that only 78 people showed up...including spouses, from a class of almost 400. It probably had something to do with the $45 per person. Despite that, it was fun to dress up and see all of my old friends.

Last Saturday we FINALLY had Ashley's adoption party! We had it out at my dads lake house where everyone could swim and wakeboard. Wow, what a party! It was an hour and a half drive for everyone, so we were surprised at the 30+ person turnout. It was so nice to have so many people that we care about in the same place at once showing their support for our family. It was a beautiful time!

As for me, I'm just trucking along, enjoying my time with my kiddos both being home together for summer. We go swimming almost everyday, and I'm still working out 4-5 times a week. I've found that my love is aerobic classes, I'm addicted!!! I take muscles in motion on Mondays, which is a toning class, Circuit training on Tuesday, this class kicks my butt for a full hour...I have finally adjusted to the step, for a while there I wanted to quit just for the simple fact that I felt like such a moron on the step. The instructor does steps that I've never seen before, and she does them quick! I have never felt so uncoordinated in my life!! I've adjusted though, FINALLY!!! Friday I take a 45 min. cycling class, that is really, really tough. The only way I get through it is positive self talk. If any ounce of negativity reaches my exhausted brain, I want to quit. I firmly believe that endurance is 60% mental. Two of these classes are taught by Meredith. She is so positive and motivating. It's so nice to have someone to look up to on a fitness level. This weekend she placed 3rd in the Danskin which is over 3,000 women competitors. She's my hero! But seriously, someday, I hope to be able to compete at that level. My race is coming up in July, and I'm soooo anxious, I can't stand it!!! ( www.womensrace.com ) I'm going to whip my time from last year. My partner and i are on just about the same level and I know we're going to do very well this year. Last year we ranked right smack dab in the middle of all the competitors, which means we were pretty dang average. This year I want to climb up to the top a little more.

Anyway, I need to go get ready, we have a dentist appointment in just a bit. Signing off.

Just an update

This year we spent Easter at my dads. The long weekend was soo nice. Alex came down with Hand Foot and Mouth, which has been no fun for the poor little guy. His Hands feet, bottom and mouth are all covered in little blisters. From the moment i saw the blisters I knew what it was. He came down with this last year, so this time I decided not to fork over the $15 co-pay for a dr. to tell me that my son has Hand Foot and Mouth and there is nothing I can do about it. That's ok, right? I know Alex is ok, and I guess second guessing my decisions is all part of being a mom.

Mom is looking and feeling so much better these days. Slowly but surely her body is recovering from the year of chemo. She tells Ash that her goal is to race up the street like they always use to love to do. How many grandmas RACE their 7 year old granddaughter in a full sprint? I don't think she'll ever stop running.

Mary Kay is going pretty well. Every week I sell at least a little. I'm so anxious to move away from selling to my circle of family and friends though. I held a drawing for a Satin Hands set up at the children's consignment shop that was very successful. I had 11 entries and gained 3 new customers from it. I plan on doing that every other month. This will really help me in my mission to start migrating away from selling to familly and friends. I actually have my first appointment with a complete stranger today. She's the winner of the Satin Hands set, and I've only ever talked to her on the phone. She'll have a friend with her, so the pressure may not be high. I'm very nervous, yet excited to get my feet wet. I'll have to update on how that went later

Adoption Day on the horizon

It's so close, we almost have a date! So far the tentative date is February 4th. I'm so excited and anxious! I've been trying so hard to find something special for Ashley to give to Mark on their special day. I have found a few poems, but I'm not sure what to do with them. I will put a bug in Ashley's ear to make daddy something as well. I think this poem is the one, now I need to figure out what to do with it. I thought maybe I could frame it and have Ash decorate the mat. I was hoping to think of something smaller, that he could carry with him always.

You did not give me the gift of life,
but in my heart I know
the love I feel is so deep and real
as if it had been so.
You did not give me the gift of life,
but rather the chance to live...
to love; to learn; to laugh;
to cry; but most importantly, to give.
You did not give me the gift of life,
and that's ok with me.
For no matter what, you're my daddy
for all eternity!
For us to have each other
is like a dream come true.
No, you did not give me the gift of life;
Life gave me the gift of you!
Credits: Jaime Frodyma

Growin Up

Good news and bad news. Bad news...my baby girl has a crush. Ok, so it's not really bad news, but still, close enough. Lastnight while we were doing the nightime brush teeth go potty ritual, I noticed that Ashley looke a little sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she had been feeling like her heart was hurting. " src="http://www3.nb.sympatico.ca/crempel/Smilies/sad.gif"> I had no idea what was going to come out of her mouth next, but I must say, I was a bit nervous. She closed the bathroom door, made me promise not to tell daddy, and told me that she liked a 5th grader. As it turns out, this is the same boy that has liked her since she was in the 1st grade (so I hear). My baby is in 3rd grade!!! Anyway, she was upset because he doesn't know that she likes him and she's afraid to tell him because her friends think he's gross. She's asking me what she should do. First thought...OMG, this is my 3rd grade baby girl, second thought, and good news...she's TALKING TO ME!!!! This is a good thing! I gave her my advice which was to be his friend and don't worry about what her friends say. I told her that it was normal to like boys, and that I remember liking a new boy every few months or so. It was a good talk, but I'm still in shock! This is only the beginning.

Dieting

So, I've always wondered when it would happen, 25, 30, 40??? Well, here I am at 27 watching weight pile on as if I sat around and ate bon bons all day. I've never had a weight problem in my entire life, I've had 2 kids and bounced back from each of them, but unfortunately my metabolism is slowing down. I've gained 5 pounds in the last month. I'm now 165 lbs at 5' 9". I refuse to let myself get fat, REFUSE! I've been reading a little bit about Dr. Phils weighloss challenge and I can see how it would work, but I have ONE issue with it. He claims that when I over eat and endulge in junk, that I'm really masking an emotional issue. I don't see it. I ate 3 Hershey's kisses and a resses a few minutes ago because they taste so damn good. I don't have an emotional issue, I'm not hiding from anything or masking an emotional need, I LOVE CHOCOLATE, it makes the receptors in my brain happy. What can I say? The nights when I eat too much dinner, once again, I'm overeating because food tastes GOOD!


Anyway, so my plan of attack is to workout, and watch my portion control a little better. I refuse to go low carb, and I refuse to cut out sugars. I CAN overcome this without taking drastic measures, I just know it. Tomorrow I'm meeting with Chris who will figure my body fat, BMR and how many calories I need to be taking in, in order to loose weight. I'm anxious, but nervous. I just can't get excited about learning what my body fat percentage is.


I am thankful for the way I am...it could be worse.

I am thankful that my husband loves me for ME.

I am thankful that Chris is generous enough to help me learn how to stay fit.

Christmas Day

It's Christmas day at the Urben's, the day is coming to an end, presents are all unwrapped, the food is all eaten, the mess is all cleaned up and here we sit reflecting on all that we have. The simple things are larger than life on this special day. Family, friends, health and happiness...we have it all really.

Last night Nana got to our house at about 5:00, and Jason arrived a few hours later. I had originally planned on making broccoli chicken casserole, but after opening the box of freezer burned broccoli, we decided we just munch on appetizers and eggnog instead. Ruthie started her homemade spagetti for us to eat for lunch on Christmas Day while everyone watched The Incredibles. The kids went to bed around 9:30. As soon as they were out, I started the last of my wrapping. We finished up and got to bed around 12:30. Mark and I woke up bright and early at 6:30 this morning, got ready, lit the candles, started the wassle, turned on the Christmas music while Nana started our traditional cream chip beef on biscuits (Shit on shingles). The kids finally rolled out of bed around 8. They did a wonderful job of taking turns opening presents and thanking everyone. Dad arrived around 8:30, just in time to watch the last presents get opened. We had a wonderful time together as a family, but wished uncle Dave could have been there with us. Uncle Frank showed up shortly after Dad, and Melissa, Aleena, and family showed up around 9:30. We all ate breakfast, while chatting and having a wonderful time together while the kids ran around the house playing with all their new toys. After the Garcia's left, around 12:30, we ate Nana's homemade spagetti, which was WONDERFUL! Nana and Big Daddy left around 1:30, Alex went down for a nap, and Uncle Steve showed up. Mark, Steve, Jason, Ashley and I, all laid around the living room watching A Christmas Story. Apparently I was a tad bit tired. I was awoke in the recliner by the doorbell at about 4:45 and looked around to see everyone snoozing away all over the living room. " What a beautiful sight.

At the door was Mom, Andy, and Trish. I had no idea that Aunt Trish was coming, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see her!! We hung out, munched on the Honey Baked Ham that they brought, and pigged out on all the Christmas goodies that I had left over and had a super time together once again. Everyone left around 8:00, and here we are enjoying the last of this wonderful day together. It has truly been a wonderful day at the Urben's.

Adoption Update, meet the judge

This Tuesday December 14th, we had our hearing for the termination of Rick's parental rights. I was soooooo nervous sitting in the courtroom waiting for our turn, it took about 20 min. for the judge to get to our case. Our attorney said "lets cross our fingers", and I thought, @#%$, I have to cross my fingers?? I was hoping she was going to be more reassuring. My tummy was just a mess. I thought I was going to have to run for the bathroom!! We sat through case after case of divorce. I cannot believe how many divorces go on! Our attorney said that at least 50% of the cases that go before the judge are divorces, so by the time it was our turn, the judge actually smiled! We had to testify, my sweetie got so misty eyed talking about his daughter and how he plans to adopt her. It was emotional. As soon as the judge said "I'm granting this petetion for termination of Mr. Acuna's rights.", Mark and I were overcome with emotion. It was an awesome moment, a moment that we had been waiting for, for a very long time. Just as the judge spoke granting the petition, Alex lets out several huge toots! I was so embarassed, a courtroom FULL of QUIET people and my son blows one. He was very proud of his work and just giggled and giggled. We left a nice little odor for the honorable judge Higginbotham. I had a hard time turning around and not RUNNING out the door!!

Our home study is Thursday and I can't wait to get it done, that will bring us one step closer to the big day!


I'm so thankful that our wait is almost over.

I'm thankful that Judge Higginbotham understands that blood is not always thicker than water.

Once again, I am so thankful that I have the most wonderful husband in the entire universe.

Valium anyone?

Have I mentioned that being a stay at home mom is the toughest job I've ever had. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine having 2 children and being a SAHM would be this trying. Don't get me wrong I love my job, but there are days like today, that I'm ready to throw my hands up and run. If anymore energy or emotion is sucked out of me today I feel like I will turn inside out. There is never a quiet moment in this house. Most days I enjoy this, but today, I wouldn't mind a white room with padded walls...errrr wait, maybe that's where they will take me when my head spins around and my eyeballs pop out of their sockets...(As Alex dumps his entire basket of play food out on the living room floor and the dryer buzzes in the background.) lol I have christmas lights half way up on the rail in front of the house, the vaccuum for the stairs is sitting on the counter waiting for me, the bike, the trike and the pogo stick are in the driveway and need to be moved before Mark pulls in the driveway. Don't even get me started about dinner. My todo list has turned in to the "to do SOMEDAY" list. Poor poor pitiful me.


Thankfuls


I'm so thankful that there is such thing as a sense of humor.

I'm so thankful that there are NOT more hours in a day.

I'm so thankful that tomorrow is a new day.

Adoption update home study

Friday evening our Home Study was cancelled. Apparently, it's going to be next to impossible to get one done so quickly, unless we're willing to pay double the normal rate. That's ok though, this will get done soon, nothing is going to change except for the measley old date. We found out that we have a lot more to do than we realized for this home study. Mark has to get a document from a doctor saying that he is physically capable of being a father. ( ) We also have to get letters of recommendation from non-family members. I sent out an email to all of our friends requesting letters and within a few hours I had already received one. It was very touching. I think I'm going to add it to my blog. So, now we get to be a little picky about who we choose to conduct our home study. We're getting rates and references from several right now. We should be ready for the adoption hearing by January, or possibly February.



Letter of recommendation from the Zuniga's:



To whom it may concern,

I am so happy to have the chance to talk about my experiences with Mark Urben and Ashley Rogers. My daughter, Aubree Zuniga and Ashley are best friends. They met about 2 years ago when we were lucky enough to have moved to a house on the same street as the Urben family. When I first met Ashley, she struck me as a very sweet, confident, well-adjusted, smart and responsible child. She is surprisingly mature for her age.

She bragged about her mommy, daddy and baby brother on the first day she came to play. We quickly became friends with the rest of the family and have since had many dinners, parties, shopping trips, walks around the neighborhood and have even been on a few family trips together. I have witnessed so much love between Mark and Ashley, so much respect and admiration. Whether it’s the way Mark looks at her, hugs her, talks to her or even disciplines her, he always does it with a patient, respectful, loving, and compassionate hand.

Ashley loves Mark and has always referred to him as “Daddy” because that is just what he is to her. Mark makes time for Ashley and even takes her out on Daddy/Daughter dates. He makes her a priority in his life and goes out of his way to make her feel special.

I have said this over and over, and I know it’s something that Ashley’s mommy, Jamie thinks about many times in a day, but Jamie and Ashley were so very lucky to have found a man like Mark - a man that is a pillar for his family, providing a solid foundation for growth and a soft place to land when someone falls.

Mark is also truly and deeply in love with his wife, Jamie and it shows. Whether he knows it or not, he is setting an excellent example for the kind of husband that Ashley will seek out when she is older. Because of his example, Ashley will demand someone that is respectful, loving, affectionate and dedicated. I truly believe that there is no better daddy in the world for Ashley.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Adoption Update

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! When will we get the return of service back .....do you know?
Thanks,
Christine

-----Original Message-----
From: CPS [mailto:austincps@cox-internet.com]
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 10:44 AM
To: Christine Stelzer
Subject: IIO Rogers Child




Christine: I just learned that Respondent Rick Acuna was personally
served November 7th at 4:45 p.m. in CA.

Sheri'
CPS

Emotions

Men are not emotional beings, men are not emotional beings, men are not emotional beings. Why is it that no matter how much I tell myself that, I just can't seem to accept it? Mark and I have the most wonderful relationship I've ever experienced in my life. Why is it that I can't just leave good enough alone? I want to know what goes on up in that head of his. There are several things going on in his life right now, and I don't have a clue what's going on in his head. For instance, last week...he came home early from work because of the death of his friend and the emotions that it was bringing up. Mark NEVER misses work. He drags himself to work no matter how much pain he's in. Him leaving work tells me that he was very sad and hurting inside. The only time he ever spoke to me about it was when he called to tell me he was coming home. He said it brought up feelings of his father and he couldn't stay at work anymore. That's it. We spent the entire day together, and that's the only thing he ever mentioned about it. I asked him several times how he was doing and he said he was ok. Why can't he talk to me? Doesn't he NEED to talk about these things? Isn't that part of why I'm here?

Lastnight I asked him about another emotional subject that came up after he received a phone call from an old friend of his. I asked if he wanted to talk about it and of course he said no. It hurts when you feel like an outsider to your husbands inner being. I worry that if he can't talk to me about what's inside of him, how would I ever know if he was to become unhappy in our marraige? Would he talk about it then? Would he tell me his needs, would he let me in?

Three thankfuls:

I'm thankful that Mark ALWAYS makes me feel loved.
I'm thankful that he has a soft heart.
I'm thankful that I have the desire to make our relationship stronger.

Weekend at Dads

My dad and stepmom met my brother and his girlfriend in Vegas this weekend, while we stayed at dad's and dog sat. It was a VERY relaxing weekend for all of us. On Saturday we all went Sesame Street Live and had such a wonderful time together. We filled up on popcorn, cotton candy and coke. What more could we ask for. After that we went home and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the weekend, which was EXACTLY what we needed. I'm anxious for Thanksgiving, I really miss my dad and stepmom and look forward to spending some time with them.

(Mark is STILL smoke free!!!)

3 thankfuls:

My safe warm home on this cold rainy day.
My sweet daughter who's mission in life is to please others.
My drive and determination to head off to the gym this morning.

Cigarettes

Mark came home from work yesterday, he walked through the door, I greeted him with the same loving hug that I always do, but this one was different. At the time I didn't know exactly WHAT was different, I just know it was delicious. We made our way to the kitchen, and he took me aside and said "listen, I want to tell you something, but DON'T get your hopes up". Um, ok? He proceeds..."I haven't had a cigarette since Friday, and I just wanted you to understand if I get a little short fused, that's why." I was so excited that I could not contain myself, I was jumping up and down screaming with excitement in the middle of the kitchen. I realized that he was delicious because he smelled like my husband and not the Marlboro man.

Mark has been a smoker since the day I met him. I married him as a smoker and as much as I want to change that about him, I know that I cannot force the issue, I've been there. You cannont "tell" someone to quit and expect that they will. Mark has NEVER had any desire to quit smoking, even after sharing all the revalations I had when I quit smoking. I told him the way I felt about it, the reasons for me quitting, and told him how awesome it would be if he could too. He wouldn't give it a second thought. I respected the fact that he wasn't ready.

I don't know if this will stick, even though I know he can do it. I just know that he has taken the first step. This is the first time he has EVER mentioned the act of quitting on his own. This is HUGE for him. HUGE! I am so proud of him and I hope he continues down this path

Wowzers

I just found a picture of myself from just over a year ago. What happened to me!? Oh my gosh, I look so good in that picture! I have gained 2-3 pounds, but how in the world is 2-3 pounds so obvious!? I'm trying to blame the weight on the fact that I quit smoking in Oct. of 2003, but that's not cutting it. I taped the picture up on my bathroom mirror to remind me each day what I am supposed to look like. I'm going to work my rear off, literally. I'm 5' 9.5" 162 lbs and hope to loose 5-10 lbs right smack dab in the middle of weight gaining season. lol Here goes!

Vertical sleeping

My poor honey! Mark is "laying" in bed trying to sleep vertically right now. He had surgery to repair his deviated septum and sinusitis this morning. He's so sad looking. He has a chunk of gauze taped under his nose to catch the blood, nothing could look more pathetic than that. He could probably ask me for anything right about now, and I would deliver. (Except for that suppository in my fridge, not sure I'm ready for that) Last night we went to the grocery store and bought all of his favorite lay in bed all weekend foods...sour Skittles, beef jerky, slim jim and cashews. I rolled my eyes watching him load up the cart, while telling me that Doctors orders were to stay in bed for a week. AS IF! "How much did you pay that Dr.?" Now, as I look at him, laid up, all pathetic like, in his sweatpants and blood stained gauze all I want is for him to eat his goodies and be normal again.

Letters and Sponges

I'm just amazed at how much Alex has learned in such a short period of time. I wish that I could learn as quickly as this little sponge! He can now identify every letter of the alphabet and tell me what each letter says. I can ask him what letter something starts with and he will get it right 99% of the time. I hate to sound like a bragging parent, because let me tell you, his ability to learn doesn't have much to do with me. He's just so interested in letters and learning and I have no control over his interest. The other day he looked up at the sky and said "momma, it's a "D" " I had no idea what he was talking about until he said "the moon momma, it's the letter D." Well, it was a half moon that evening. Today he pulls a Z off the fridge brings it to me and says "look momma, it's a Z and a N!" as he turns the Z sideways. Then he brings me the W, and does the same thing, "look momma it's a W and a M!" My genius is all of 3 years old though, he can be a genius one minute, and the next minute I look over and see him licking the wall, or eating his boogers. That's my boy!

Adoption Update

Apparently serving someone with papers in a different state is more difficult than our Attorney realized. California has changed the way they do things and they no longer have constables serve civil process, so they had to file a Rule 103, which allows process servers in CA to serve him. This obviously takes a bit longer than we originally thought it would. We just received an email update from our Attorney, apparently they are having a hard time serving him. He's either not there often or is avoiding the process server. (More than like the later is true for this case). Email received:


" Christine: I just heard back from the CA process server. He's made
several attempts & has verified the address with a person nearby. I
directed him to prepare and mail to me an affidavit of attempted
service, so we can 106 this guy.

Sheri', CPS


Our attorney's explanation of a Rule 106:


Basically, the Rule 106 Affidavit sets out all the times the Cal. process servers have attempted to serve Rick to no avail and it allows the notice/Petition to be posted on his door instead of physically handing/serving our Petition on him.


I am so friggin nervous!!! Why is he avoiding them? Who knows. It makes my stomach turn not knowing what will happen next. In the meantime we have to get a Home Study done. This is done in any adoption to ensure that the home is safe and the child is in good hands. I hate that we have to prove ourselves, but I understand the reasoning behind it. It's really in the best interest of the child. Obviously we will have no problem with this, but it's nerve racking to think that a stranger will be spending the most part of a day observing our routines and family life. I have been dreaming about Rick a lot lately and I'm ready for this to be over and out of my mind.

Fall

Fall finally found us...I think those Canadians were hording all of our cool weather. We had our first cold day right at Nov. 1. That seems very late in the season to me. It's 8:30 AM and 45 degrees F. The leaves are still attached to the trees, some are beginning to change colors, but not many. I woke up this morning to frost on the GREEN grass. It's very strange! I'm usually not ready for the cold weather, since I'm chilled so easily, but this year I'm ready for hot cocoa, hot tea, and SOUP! I love making Ashley hotcocoa after she's walked home from school in the cold. I think that will be a lasting memory for her. Just yesterday as we were walking Ash up to the school Alex realized how cold it was getting and asked me "where is the cold coming from?" Boy, that is one hard question to answer! Obviously he doesn't quite get it just yet.

How can I NOT say something

The election is finally over. I don't have a lot to say. I just hope the next 4 years are better than the last. Yep, that's about it.


I feel like dirt. Throat hurts, body aches, mind aches and I'm ready to have some peace and quiet. I just want a small piece of the day where there is complete silence. No kids yelling my name, no questions to be answered, no dog barking, no whining, no crying. Just a teensy tinsy piece. Maybe when I'm 40. And when I'm 40 I'll post an entry begging for noise.

We had such a wonderful weekend, but I must say, I am SO glad it's over. We spent all day Saturday preparing for Alex's 3rd Birthday Party, which turned out to be a really good time. We had over 20 adults and at least 10 kids show up. Mark made fajitas and all the fixins and Nana brought the beans. The house was decorated Spongebob style, with balloons and streamers everywhere, Mark and I did a pretty good job if I must say so myself. For goody bags we let the kids loose in a huge area of hay in the front yard. We had buried toys and candy throughout the hay. The kids had a blast tearing through it (some the adults did too, lol). Alex opened enough gifts to last him through this Christmas and his 4th birthday as well. It was CRAZY to see how many gifts he got. I really thought about putting some of them away and giving them to him for Christmas, but I soon realized that Alex had already taken some sort of 3 year old inventory and would ask where a toy was. I had some bit of guilt about all the gifts, but when it comes down to it, this was a celebration of Life, 3 years of it. So be it. All of my family was there, Grams, Pops, Nana, Big Daddy, Uncle David, and Uncle Jason and even 90 year old Grandma Aura. It was nice to see everyone in the same place at once. We don't do that too often and when we do, we always have a good time. It was nice to look around and see all the people who love our son. He is a very lucky boy to have so many wonderful people in his life.

Damn

They really are gone. For good. There is nothing I can do to bring them back. I quit smoking a year ago this month, I have no idea what the date was. My journal had it all. My reflections on my children's lives, my entries from the day I met some of my best friends. How do I get over this? Rum and coke will help tonight. Tomorrow I will feel better. Maybe this will inspire me to go back to that creative time.


Good things:

My wonderful loving best friend who happens to be my husband

The relationship my children have with each other

My ability to move on and focus on all the wonderful things in my life.

Memories Seep

Shanda brought me a burned copy of Mazzi Starr the other day. I have not listened to that CD in almost 10 years. High School memories overflow. Yearbook class. Chris' POS car. Skipping school and laying in bed with my CD player and Mazzi spinning. Garden Ridge. Brandi's Crx at lunch. Mazzi Starr's songs were able to weigh on my mind all day. My how life has changed. Here I sit at my kitchen table on my laptop with the Alex's unfinished lunch lurking in the corner of my eye. The hot iron and ironing board perched behind me. Mark's work clothes waiting to be pressed. My almost 3 year old son upstairs asleep in his Bob the Builder Bed. I hear the hum of the dryer, and the swoosh of the washer. Behind me on the white board is a to do list longer than I know what to do with. Planning Alex's birthday party, winterizing the lawn for winter, cleaning the windows etc. Meanwhile Mazzi Starr, strangely out of place plays in the distance. For a moment I am consumed in me, and only me, in my own private thoughts. Ahh, the silence, the bittersweet silence, the blank easel of my mind awaits.

Sick to my stomach

I just realized that i have lost over 20 journal entries from last year. I'm so so sad. That was a very creative time. I had some very special moments that I was able to write about creatively. Those were my inspiration and my memories and I'm just ill. I just can't believe it.

Tubby, Tubby, Tubby

We've always wondered how long we'd be able to put off the inevitable ER visits. Our luck ran out today. While volunteering up at Sissy's school, he managed to fall on a small table and cut open his precious little chin. My son cries easily and often, but when I heard THIS cry, I knew immediately that something was hurt pretty bad. When I saw the gash in his chin, my first reaction was to run to the nurses office accross the hall. Unfortuantely, nurses are allowed to take sick days, and she was not there. Go figure. I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful friend who came to get us without hesitation so that I could sit with Alex in the back. Daddy got to the Round Rock ER before us and was able to do the paperwork before we ever arrived. Within a few min. of walking in the door they called us back. Alex got liquid stitches and did very well with no tears. $75 later, we're home and doing fine.

The invitations are out

I have FINALLY addressed all the envelopes and sent them on their way! I'm not quite sure how I managed to put this off for so long, but I did it. In the past I've actually put these sort of things off for so long that I've just nixed the entire idea. Here's the front of my masterpiece (or I should say ALEX'S masterpiece):




This picture is a very good representation of his 3rd year of life, this boy has dropped his pants for everyone I know. He's peed in the front yard dozens of times, in neighbors yards just as often and in parking lots on 3 different occasions. It is not uncommon to have friends over when Alex's clothes suddenly disappear. This invitation went out to close friends and family, so this is definitely not a sight they have not seen. I'm hoping this picture will surface in about 15 years.