Grades

Ash brought home her report card today. Once again straight A's!! And she even got a 100 in Language Arts. This girl is just something else, she's in all GT classes and still, she keeps those grades up. I am just so proud of her!

It looks like she's decided on which classes to take in Middle School next year. She won't commit just yet though, she's planning on turning in her schedule request on the due date to allow herself time to change her mind. Smart thinkin! So far she's pretty stuck on taking an extra semester of PE and one semester of Languages. She really did want to do either Band or orchestra, but was to afraid to commit to the full year, which is required. I think her choices are great and I just know whatever she chooses she will do well.

Pass The Torch Tuesday - Chores

I'm proud of both Ashley and Alex for being such big helpers around the house. They have their weekly and daily chores and most of the time they do them without much fuss. This weekend we were out of town, so chore time was crammed in to Sunday afternoon when they would have much rather been playing outside, especially after the long drive home. I told them if they got their chores done quickly they could play outside the rest of the evening. In order to accomplish this quicker, Ashley come up with the idea that they could help each other and get done faster. They spent the afternoon working together without fighting, and ended up accomplishing their goal without me having to nag.

What a weekend!

We made our first trip out to dads in months this weekend, a trip was way overdue! With basketball and baseball, we've been busy every weekend and just haven't found the time to make the trip. They've already begun construction on Ruthie's new bathroom and bunkhouse!! (I suppose that's what we'll call it) So exciting! They've poured the foundation and framed most of it, but with all the rain last week they're a tad behind schedule.
It was a nice trip and Ruthie force fed us entirely too much food. I say "force" in hope that I can admonish some of my guilt for consuming mass quantities this weekend. How can ANYONE pass up ribs and cracker crumb fried shrimp? It's just not American to use portion control when presented with such tasty homecooked meals.

Saturday morning Ruthie and I made the trek back to Austin for Barb's memorial service. It was a beautiful service and I'm so glad that I was able to sit next to Ruthie and take in all of the beautiful stories that were said about Barb. It was so touching to see friend after friend go up and tell about how their lives were impacted by something Barb did or said. It was truly eye opening for me to see how something as simple as listening can change someones life and touch them in ways that we will never really know. A lot of people talked about her energy, since Barbara was in to Reiki, and I really do think I'm understanding more and more about this "energy". I realized how that energy that we create just keeps moving on and on, whether we're in our bodies or not. Her energy passed not only to those that she touched, but even to those just listening to their stories. We are all continuously learning and growing and on Saturday Barb was a big part of that growth for so many of us.

After the memorial Rutie's "girls" and I went to lunch at Brick Oven, where I learned even MORE from these ladies. It's just so beautiful to me that they have continued to have a friendship after all these years. It's neat to hear how similar their relationships are to mine and my friends. There really isn't much difference, the topics change over the years, and they have grown much wiser together, but the friendships really are the same. Age has no impact on what a friend means, although I do think we become more and more accepting and forgiving as we age together. It was nice to see what a difference their little circle of friends has made in their lives.

Ironically enough, after lunch we went to Seton Northwest to visit a new Grandbaby of one of the "girls". Talk about coming full circle! Renae had a precious baby girl, named Emily just after 1am on that same day. She is just beautiful, and Carol was just as proud as she could be and Renae just glowed!




















We came home Sunday afternoon to find our yard and driveway buried in oak leaves. This is our first year with trees that actually produce enough shade to be called "shade trees". We love them, but are now learning what it's like to deal with their foliage. We got to work right away raking and blowing and sucking up leaves...and three-ish hours later, here's what we have (my sweetied worked his bum off and did most of the work):

Photo Hunt #9 "Drink"

Wordless Wednesday

.

Pass The Torch Tuesday

Ashley has always been the most patient big sister with Alex. At times, I wonder if it's more than he deserves (the little toot!). They slept together just about every night, up until just recently, and still do at times, they still bathe together at times, and she's even allowed him to spend the night with her at a friends house on more than one occassion. She has been and still is, to me, a perfect example of what a big sister should be. Lately though, Ashley has been going through what we knew someday she would. Adolescence. Now, so far this has been nothing but a positive experience for all of us, different, but positive. She has done an amazing job of communicating her needs, which is essential in getting through this time. She's becoming less and less dependant upon me, and more and more she's becoming her own person. This is good. This brings me to my proud moment. My son. He can be a major high maintainence pain in the patootie at times, ESPECIALLY to his ever so patient big sister. Lastnight, Ashley communicated to us that she needs some privacy from him. We sat down and had a talk, Ashley, Alex and I (and daddy listening in from the kitchen). Ashley established her needs and we set some new ground rules for Alex, which are ultimately just common courtesies that Alex has somehow managed to dodge with miss patience. I was so proud of her for expressing her needs in a way that Alex could understand, although in the back of my mind I was seriously doubting that he would follow through any time in the near future. He proved me wrong. Shortly after our conversation I hear little Alex knocking on Sissy's door and ASKING to come in. Write it down, mark the calendar, this has never, ever happened. Yay Alex.

Today we had another bit of an awakening when Ash and Alex were both invited to spend the night with Kel. Alex loves to spend the night at Brian and Paula's, they adore him almost as much as we do and he is fully aware of that fact. Ashley expressed her need to have some "girl" time without Alex, and without missing a beat, he says "I really want to go Sissy, but if you want me to stay home, I don't mind."
It is now several hours later and he has yet to retract that statement. Looks like we have more than just one kiddo growing up on us. Could our kids be any more amazing?

Wittle bittle Keller trip

Nana and the kids and I drove to Plano this weekend to visit the Rogers. We left our house by about 4:00 and finally arrived in Plano just before midnight. It was a V-E-R-Y long trip. Apparently, every college student between Dallas and South Texas was out for spring break and decided to hop on I-35 and head North for home (?and not the beach?) at approximately the same time as us. Most of our drive was stop and go, bumper to bumber foot cramping traffic. Thankfully, the kiddos are old enough to succumb to bribery and did fairly well in the backseat. I think next time we take a trip the kids will be praying for traffic jams after the loot they scored in Waco when we decided to "stretch our legs" at Wal-Mart. (Thanks to Nana)

We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed hanging out with Mr. Keller Beller. He is just the sweetest most precious little guy and really couldn't be any more easy going. David and Cara were at a wedding most of the day on Saturday, so we got to babysit. We spent the day at the park playing with the kiddos and enjoying our time with Keller. It was a gorgeous spring day and perfect for being at the park and taking a bazillion or so pictures. I really need to make an album on picassa since there are soooo many pictures to share, but for now, I have to post at least a few.

We also got to see David's office. He started his own business, and has the copy machine loan to prove it. Ha! He told us that he has 3 bills...the mortgage, the car, and the copy machine. That thing is huge though, no telling what it can do. I fully expect it to spontaneously roll to your desk and ask what it can do for you.
But really, I was just so impressed and happy for him. He really has turned out to be such a go getter. It's just amazing to see how much he's grown and changed in the past few years.

Ok, now on to the pictures.

Saturday Photo Hunt #8 "Architecture"

I spied this while driving down the road, I just fell in love with the design...and this isn't even the best angle, but it's the best I could do driving 40 mph down a busy Dallas Street. In the second picture, there's a huge opening, it goes all the way through, the building is completely open right there, it's amazing and I sooo wish I could have got a picture of it.

TAKS Test

What's that you say? These are the results from the state mandated TAKS test that all fifth graders are required to pass in order to be promoted to the sixth grade. As much as I despise this type of testing, and the effect it has on teaching, we are so proud of miss Ash!

Along with this information we also received notice of a middle school parent meeting that's coming up on the 20th. After reading the "Middle School Parent Meeting" headline, I set the paper in the trash stack and moved on to the next flyer in her Monday folder, when suddenly it occurred to me that this note WAS actually for ME to read. After the screaming alarm in my head stopped, I calmly accepted that YES, I will in fact be a middle school parent in approximately 5 months time. How did happen so fast and where is my little girl???

Wordless Wednesday # 7

Pass The Torch Tuesday

I'm a little late today, I got a little carried away with designing my new banner and just realized it's TUESDAY! Soooo, I could either take the time to write about one of the many incredible moments my children have shared with me recently, or I can copy something from the past and get busy cleaning this house.

Alright, I'm pulling this one from January 5th, 2004.

Sweetest Words
January 5th, 2004

Mark and I tell our children many times a day how much we love them, with only one intention, letting them know that they are loved. Up until recently, those words have never been uttered back to us by our wild and crazy toddler. I'm not sure what took so long, maybe it was because this was the one phrase in which he continuously heard, that he was never propted to echo back to us. Or maybe the time just wasn't right. Well, Friday night those three words made their debut out of his sweet little mouth, unprompted and unexpectedly.

I woke up that morning with a fever and an upset stomach and spent all day in bed away from my babies. By Friday evening, I had had just about enough of staring at the accumulation of dust on my ceiling fan blades, and trying to decipher the echo of little voices outside my door, so I made my way to the living room couch. I must have been laying there for all of 30 seconds before I was turned in to a human jungle gym. Although this may not sound pleasant, believe it or not, I was feeling slightly more human than I had all day. I was being distracted and no longer wallowing in the aches and pains that a fever can cause. So, in the middle of Alex's mommy-acrobatics he paused, looked me in the eye with his devilish grin and said slowly and precisely, "I-love-you." As I took down my toddler defense shields (the palms of my hands) my little human numchuck followed through with the BIGGEST toddler hug imaginable. He didn't get me over my bug by doing so, but he sure did help get me through it.

Mom and Dad's Sports induced coma

I guess with the kids getting older we need to get use to weekends like the one we just had. I, for one, could definitely get use to it. Mark, on the other hand may end up divorcing us all. It started early Saturday morning with Alex's first T-Ball game. 8:30 AM Sweet Mark volunteered to take the boy, while the girl and I slept in a bit. Ironically enough, that happened to be the coldest and windiest morning we've had in a very long time and daddy has the chapped face to prove it. Dedicated daddy battle wounds we'll call them. Fortunately, some very thoughtful mommies brought blankets for the boys to cuddle up under while they sat in the dugout waiting for their time at bat. Too bad I wasn't there to snap some pictures, I can only imagine how adorable that must have been.

Immediately after Alex's game, we packed up some snacks and toys for the boy and headed out to Ashley's basketball tournament. Grams and Pops came and watched every game of the tournament, including the one on Thursday night, and Jason even came to watch one too. Ash's team ended up playing 4 games, and made it to the championship game, where they lost in overtime by 1 measley point. I have to say, if you're going to loose a championship game, that was the way to do it. I think I pumped out more adrenaline on Saturday than I have in years. Now that the season is over, I'm a little bummed. I really looked forward to those Saturday morning games. Fortunately though, Ashley is hooked. This was her first season to play, and the experience could not have been any better. She went from not knowing how the game was even played, to scoring 8 points throughout the season. She didn't even know what a layup was 2 months ago, and now she has it down to a science.

So, we ended up getting out of there at about 7:00 Saturday night, which meant Ashley was 2 hours late to a birthday party, and they were all waiting for her so they could head over to Dave and Busters. Wonderful. While we were ready to just throw in the towel, we still had this one last sprint before our day could officially end. We raced home, Ash packed her bag, I wrapped the present, and Daddy made her a sandwich. Teamwork baby! In 5-ish minutes we were all back in the truck high tailing it over to the party. We dropped her and the 50 pounds of luggage that came with her off and headed home. We crossed the threshold of H.S.H. (home sweet home) just before 8:00, where our adrenaline deprived, flat tookuses immediately turned to lumps of lifeless flesh. A few cereal bowls later, we had dinner on the table, and shortly thereafter our flesh then became one with the leather recliners. Mission accomplished.

*A few pics. to follow soon*

Photo Hunters #7 "Salty"

These were taken 1 year ago this month at Sandfest in Port A. Only 27 more days and it's Sandfest or bust!

Pass the Torch Tuesday

For this weeks PTTT, I'm taking an entry from November 9, 2005:

Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Our little Free Thinker

I will never forget the words of Ramona Cain...the wife of the Preacher that married Mark and I, and one of the most selfless women I've ever met..."Ashley is an old soul." At the time, I was only 21 years old and only had half a clue what she was talking about, and quite honestly I thought she was a bit KooKoo for saying that, but over the years that label has come to mind quite often, and I now see so much of the "old soul" within her. I don't know what I believe when it comes to statements like that, and I'm quite comfortable with not knowing what's real and what's not, it's an ok place to be actually, but when I see some of the things Ashley says and does, I wonder how on earth she could possibly have learned to be so empathetic and so in tune with human kindness in the short 9 years that she's been alive. Whatever it is, I sooo hope that she keeps it for life, and that she is able to share her "old soul" with people who can appreciate it as much as her mom and dad do.
Ok, so I'm rambling....the whole point of this entry to was to document another one of those genuinely sweet moments where Ashley made my heart pitter patter.
Yesterday, Mark and I went to vote and when we returned Ashley was curious about what we were voting for. I told her that most of it was boring stuff, but that the big issue on the ballot was Proposition 2. For the first time in our household I explained to her what the Proposition was, and I kept a 100% neutral explanation. After my explanation I sat there for a minute continuing what I was doing, waiting for her to respond, but acting as if the conversation was over... I was curious to hear how an unbiased 9 year old would respond. Slowly, her forehead wrinkled, her head cocked to the side and she said something that I will never forget, "But Momma, aren't gay people humans too?"

Photo Hunters #6 "Soft"

This one was taken in the whirlpool tub on our trip to Devils Den this summer. Alex is buried in there somewhere.

Poor Dud. The little people just don't seem to go away, do they.

It's hard to tell, but he's completely covered in down fluff.

Shine on Sunshine

It was just absolutely gorgeous today! I couldn't help myself, I had to play while Alex napped. Here are a couple of pictures of the roses Mark gave me for Valentines Day. And then a few of my hammock view. Just IMAGINE what these would look like if I had my Cannon Rebel. I NEED A NEW CAMERA!!!!

Read To Me Challenge Update

So far so good. I'm pleased to say that the challenge is proving to be a positive experience for our family, Daddy included! At dinner the other night, I announced my goals to everyone and told them about my plan for us to read aloud together. Mark is going to take over my goal of teaching Ashley about the newspaper. Although, I may need to listen in... he told her the most important part of the paper was the Best Buy ad. Uh oh. We can't forget the obits! I'm kidding, we'll just check those sections out FIRST. Back to our update...Each evening before bed we all grab a spot in the living room and take turns reading aloud. Right now we're reading Socks, by Beverly Cleary. This is a great book that the whole family is enjoying. Alex is really doing a good job paying attention, although I know it's tough at times with no pictures. I was concerned that he would become uninterested and wander off, but so far, he's hanging in there. I do try to summarize and ask him questions when we're done, just so I know he's paying attention, and if he's not, I try to get him interested by doing a brief recap. It's working. I'm so glad to have found this challenge and look forward to continuing this family time indefinitely. Now I need to begin the hunt for our next family book!

Happy Birthday Mollie!

Wordless Wednesday #6

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Read To Me Challenge Goals

A new challenge!! At Snapshot Jennifer has started a wonderful challenge called Read To Me. Books are very important to our family, so this challenge is right up our alley. Although we read regulary, there's ALWAYS room for improvement. This challenge will give us that little UMPH to take us to the next level. As with every challenge, one must set goals so here goes! I'm hoping that this challenge will stay with us, and we'll continue to grow, and set new goals after these are acheived. My goals for reading with the family:

Alex:

1. Read a minimum of 90 minutes per week either with, or to Alex.
2. Continue making weekly trips to the library and allowing him to choose books of his choice.
3. Introduce Alex to the online catalog for the library.

Ashley:

1. Read a minimum of 90 minutes per week either with or to Ashley. It's so easy to just let her go off on her own and read, and that's fine, but I would like to make it a shared time for us.
2. I'd like to introduce Ashley to some classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird , The Swiss Family Robinson, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer etc.
3. I'd like to read more poetry with her, and research some good poetry books that she might find interest in. She's an excellent writer and I would like to encourage that as much as I can.
4. Take her to the Public Library more often. I take for granted the fact that they do this at school regularly. Going to the library and letting her explore is a completely different experience than going with her class.
5. Introduce her to reading the News Paper.

Pass The Torch Tuesday

I've decided to take part in a new writing opportunity called Pass the Torch Tuesday. I ran across this amazing idea on a Blog recently and decided it would be a wonderful addition to my Blogging experience. Each Tuesday I will write about catching a child doing something good. By clicking on the picture above you can find more participants and their stories.

It's been a few weeks now, but this caught me so off guard that I have to share.
Ashley came home with an invitation to a sleepover a few weeks back. This party was highly anticipated and talked about regularly. The closer we got to the date, the more details her new friend "A", would share about the party plans. The sleepover now included a scavenger hunt at the mall, cash to spend at a store of their choice and a dinner out on the town. Way more fun than any 10 year old would expect to have at a Birthday party. The day of the party rolls around and my darling daughter walks in from school, and the first thing she says is, "Momma, can I invite two friends over to spend the night tonight?" WHAT?? What about "A"'s party? Is it cancelled? What's going on? She replies, "well, there are two girls in my class that are really shy and weren't invited to the party, and every other girl in the class was. So I was thinking that I could have them over here tonight instead." After I pick my jaw up off the floor, I say yes, give her a great big hug and tell her how proud I am of her for been so incredibly thoughtful of these two girls. Both girls show up, one after another, each loaded down with their Build-A-Bear dolls and all their accessories. After poking around, and asking more questions than I'm sure Ashley cared to answer, I later find out that Ashley told the girls that she was having a Build-A-Bear party, and they were invited.

Words can't even begin to describe how proud that made us. I've always known that I have a sweet girl, but never did I imagine that at 10 years old, she could have such a deep understand of what it means to have empathy for another human being.

Thinking ahead

I've really been thinking a lot about when Alex starts Kindergarten, and what I'm going to do. I will have an opportunity to go back to my old job, I'm sure, but to be honest, my heart is not there. I would do it, I do enjoy the job for the most part, but when I really break it down and start thinking about where my heart REALLY is, I realize it's with children. It is starting to sink in that in about 6 months, my life is going to get flipped upside down, COMPLETELY upside down. Although sending him to Kindergarten will be hard on the both of us, (me more than him, I'm sure) I'm excited about the new chapter of Alex's life, I really am. There is a part of me that has begun to realize that it's not just being home with him that I enjoy so much. I enjoy teaching him, learning from him, and watching his little brain grow everyday. That, to me, is so incredibly rewarding. I will always have that, I know, but never on the level that I have these past 5 years. In a nutshell, I have really started entertaining the idea of keeping a few preschoolers once he goes to school. It's been a few weeks since it first popped in to my head, and I haven't been able to let it go ever since. I LOVE the preschool age, and wonder if this is something that would continue to fulfill me even after Alex is at school. I know there's not much money to be made keeping children, but I think it might be what makes me happy. I can't see myself going to work at a daycare, that's not my cup of tea. I would like to develop my own sort of cirriculum based on the desires of the children. A sort of anti-cirriculum. This is what I have always done with Alex, mainly because of his personality. And it has proven to be a wonderful choice for us. I just think it would be amazing if I could give other children what Alex has had. Even if I could help just one child have a stimulating environment, that otherwise he/she might not have had, that would make me so incredibly happy.

I'm still absorbing all of these thoughts and wondering if this will pass, or if this is something that's going to stick. Who knows, this could lead me to getting a job at a Public School. Maybe there's a position out there for me. I just know this is something I love, and maybe it's what I'm supposed to do in life.

Photo Hunters #5 "Antique"

This morning when I popped in to see what the theme for the week was, I thought this one was going to take me a while. Within a few minutes I remembered my recent trip to Jason's house and the photos I took. He's moving and I was there to help him pack and take pictures of furniture for him to sell on Craigslist. For the memory bank, I decided to take a photo of an old chair that we grew up with. Even though I was certain this one was going straight to the trash, I KNEW there had to be a reason I was taking that picture! I despised this chair, even back then it was old and ugly. This theme has made me realize that I need to call up mom and find out where this chair came from, I have to know its history. I'm not sure I'm ready for Jason to trash it. (I cannot believe I just typed that) Here's the green chair that I hated through out my childhood, but now have decided I kind of like in some sort of sentimental grotesque way:

New one for the Link-a-roonies

A friend of mine posted this link on one of my message boards today. This site is full of pictures with English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design. This is definitely one for the Link-a-Roonies. Engrish