Silly Faces / Christmas Gift

You need to take time to be silly.  I love this photo of the Nickster and me.  Such crazy faces.  Allison loves to be the little photographer and capture all the REAL moments.  My biggest gifts this holiday season will be the words of Nicholas "Mom, the BEST part of Christmas is getting to spend extra time with my family"  and  coming home Sunday of last weekend to find my house cleaned and decorated for Christmas by my loving husband and my two beautiful children.  I love the saying "It may not be a perfect life but it is my life"  It seems about perfect today and I love my life.

Sharon

Sharon came down for a visit.  She is gone back to the frozen north now and we sure miss her.  There is something about a sister that is a forever kind of friend.  You may disagree and argue but underneath it all - she is your sister and will always be.  I feel that she just knows me and I do not have to explain anything to her - She accepts me just the way I am.  Funny thing though.....as we have gotten older and: hopefully, wiser, we seem to be drawn to the same types of things.  That was sort of weird to me.  I was always the country bumpkin and she the sofisticated,  more refined type.  She into fashion and me def not.  As we went shopping, I would say I like this and she would say me too - it about blew me away.  We went to the kid's field day, the quilt show, the forbidden gardens, but mostly we shopped and spent time together.  We love you Sharon and please come back soon.

ROSIE

I never thought I would fall in love with a dog.  Rosie just climbed right into my heart.  She follows me around the house and where ever I stop she plops down beside my feet.  When I leave one room she gets up and goes to the next.  I adore that about her.  She is not a dog that has to be in your face all the time just in the same room as you.  She just makes me smile and laugh and that is a good thing!  Thanks Rosie.

What a car!!!

Uncle Ralph has the coolest car.  It is a Saturn Skye.  Midnight black.  The kids are in awe of this car - and I must admit so am I.  When the kids see Uncle Ralph washing the car they run right down to "help?"  They are really growing up fast and their interests are shifting from little kid toys to big kid toys.  

We were walking through the mall as a family and we saw a hot red skye.  Chris said "maybe we should get this one"  Allison was quick on the draw and said "It's a very nice car but it is not for us"  So I asked her why not.  She said "Cause, mom, it only has two seats and we are a four seat family"  That girl is sooooo funny!

Our Chaplain

"The greatest discovery of this generation is that a human being can alter their life by altering their attitude." Spoken by William James over a century ago.  Our chaplain at work John sends out these little messages on a regular basis.  They always make you think.  John walks around the hospital with a smile on his face, a hug at the ready, and a kind word on his lips.  Thanks, John, you make our day better.

Yumm-o!!!

Today is a teacher appreciation lunch at school.  So, being me I volunteered to bring something. The theme this month is soup and buns.  I was not about to bake buns.  I wish I could bake buns like my mom but that would mean I would have to actually try.  Maybe one day.  So, I decided on a baked potato soup.  It has baked potatoes, sour cream, milk, bacon, cheese, green onion and cheddar cheese in it.  Easy to make but looks impressive.  For sure NOT diet food - that is why it is going to school and not staying here at the house.

Nicholas made a trip to the MD on Wed.  Yup, he had another sinus infection.  The doctor started him back on singulair to try and keep him from being so stuffed up.  And a round of antibiotics to knock this infection out.  I think it is helping because Nicholas woke up early again today.  He had been falling asleep early and then not waking up until time to get up for school.  That is how I knew he was sick.  This kid NEVER sleeps in!!!

Allison just loves brownies.  She sold 25 products in her fall product drive.  So, she will earn the large badge!!!!  She cannot wait for cookie sales time as she already has her uncles lined up to buy BIG!!!!  This girl may have a future in sales.

State Farm has apologized for the delay in quoting our claim.  They are going to meet with our roofer in the next week and settle this thing.  The state farm guy said we had picked a good roofer and they had worked with him before.  He did not think it would be much of an issue once they meet and discussed things.  He thought they would write the roofer a check at the meeting so things could get going.  Hopefully, we had a big rain storm over past 2 days and more shingles look loose on roof.

Only two more weeks until Sharon comes!!!!  The whole family is so excited and busy making plans.  I hope she is not coming here to rest.

Just another day!

Today we heard from our insurance company that they will replace 8 shingles on our roof. ummmm.....so one thing we learned is that the guy who came out to our house either cannot count or does not mind that of the 40 plus shingles that are totally missing only 8 will be replaced. And that does not count the major roof damage where the shingles are not sticking down anymore - you can lift whole sections up. I called the main adjustment office and asked them what to do next. The lady was very nice and she said to have a roofer come out and give us his opinion on the roof and fax the quote to them.

Mona had given me the name of the roofer that did her house and he came over today!!! Louis is a very busy and tired man these days. He came so quickly because he was on the next street doing 3 houses. He walked our roof and wrote us a quote. He said that the whole roof should be replaced as most of the shingles are loose and will not last much longer.

So, tomorrow I will fax the quote to her and wait for adjuster number 2 to come out and look at our roof.

I also have a fencer guy coming out tomorrow to quote our fence. He will also be doing the neighbors fence. So, hopefully we will all get a better deal on it.

Kids had friends over after school. Bobby came and played with Nick and the twins Cassidy and Kathryn played with Allison. They put make-up on each other. Bright green eye shadow under the eyes. Looked cute - wink, wink.

My big adventure of the morning was a trip to the dentist. My checkup and cleaning. All was well except the same crown I have complained about for 3 years. They are now going to replace it free of charge.

I am a lucky woman!!!

The best things in life are not things!!! And, you know what this saying really is true. Yesterday, Chris and I just spent the day together. We walked around the mall holding hands. We spent time talking and just remembering our 13 married years together. We had a great time! Then we rented a movie and watched it together alone - no kids. I really love this man even when he infuriates me cause he does not want to do things MY way :)

He fell asleep before me last night. I wanted to finish the second movie we had rented. At one point, he rolled over and kissed me and said "I am really glad I married you" My day was complete!

Other happenings on our special day. Nicholas woke up and came in our room at his normal 6:15 a.m. and said "Happy Anniversary to my sweet parents". Allison's sweet hugs much later at 6:45 a.m. and "Happy Anniversary and was I at your wedding, cause I do not remember it"

Picking the kids up from school and the way they came running across the play ground to give such big hugs.

The terrific BBQ chicken that Chris loves to make for us - rates high with us all.

Realizing that this is my wonderful life and it fulfills me.

Trully a great day

I am spoiled Rotten

Chris took me shopping for my anniversary present yesterday.  I wanted a new black purse and I wanted it constructed on the inside.   A place for everything and no more losing my cell phone in the bottom of my purse.  We went to Macy's.  They were having a sale and decided to start there.  In the end, Chris found the perfect purse.  I love it.  A black fossil soft leather purse with three compartments and the middle compartment has a place for pens, my tide-to-go, and a cell phone pocket!  The price was great as well.  It was on sale for 25% off, then we got another 20% off of that for using our Macy's card and then Chris applied for a Macy's card and got another 20 % off of that.  So, then he really spoiled me with a second purse.  A rich dark chocolate brown that we found on the clearance rack.  And that's not all he also got me a new wallet.  Chris really loves to spoil me and unlike a lot of guys he likes to go with me and pick out clothes or in this case purses. But, he will NEVER admit to that. 

I cannot believe that it has already been 13 years of marriage.  It feels just like yesterday that we were getting married.  I am so grateful for Chris and the life I have with him.  I love you, babe.

If you are wondering what Chris got.  His is in the mail on the way here - a three volume set of textbooks on fish - hey, it is what he wanted.

They're Ready To Eat

One of my favorite memories from my childhood is the christmas orange in the toe of our stockings.  It was a tradition I wanted to keep with my own children.  However, the sweet mandarin oranges are not available here so I switched the tradition to being a pair of new crazy socks.  I kept wishing for the sweet taste though.  After much research I found out that the Satsuma orange was a close taste and texture to the mandarin and best of all it could be grown in Texas.  So, another search was on to find a tree.  RCW nursuries came to the rescue last spring. We bought a small tree and planted it on the side of the house by the pool.  We have been watching the fruit carefully grow all summer long.  They are supposed to have ripe fruit around late Oct to Dec.  After hurricane Ike I was not sure the little tree would survive but it was not even bent over.  Last night, Chris and I went out to do the pool maintenance and we looked at the fruit.  It was ripe!!!  I ate the sweetest tasting fruit - so yummy and juicy.  It really tastes like I remember.  This morning I took the kids outside and got their pics by the tree and then of them eating the fruit.  Nicholas loved it.  Allison is not quite so sure, she loves to suck out the juice but not to actually eat the piece.  Hopefully, she will grow to love them like I do and if not more for me!!! 

The sweet feel of black dirt

I love the feel of black dirt between my toes.  Okay, maybe that shows my country roots but that is okay with me.  Today I planted flowers in front of our house.  Purple petunias and multicolored snapdragons.  One of the coolest things about living in the deep south is that you get flowers pretty much year round.  I look forward to this time of year when it is not so hot outside and there is such a pleasant breeze.  Makes you not want to come back inside.  But I guess that is okay cause you had better enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.

Nicholas slept until I had to send Allison in to wake him up for school.  Since he is my very early riser this was rather unusual for him.  No worries though.....I still did not get to sleep past 5:30 a.m. cause Allison got up early this morning.   He was a little grumpy until I told him that he had 5 minutes to stretch and wake up on the right side of the bed.  He came out in the kitchen all ready for school.  He put his arms around me and asked "Mom, would you like to come to school today and have lunch with me?"  Man, that boy can just melt your heart.   Of course, I said yes.  When I asked him what he wanted me to bring he surprised me farther by asking for my cooking.

So......I forgot the list of errands I was going to do and made him lunch, picnic style.  He had a pita with chicken salad in it, thai broccoli salad, peaches and a gogurt.  He said it was yummy.  He is really wanting to have long talks and more adult conversations lately.  It is fun to hang out with him.

One more Nicky thing......he loves to pay rush hour.  If you have never played, you have your car blocked in by traffic and you have to figure out how to get your car out.  Mind power game.  He is good at it and is teaching me how to do it.  Quite addicting.

Both kids had dentist appointment today.  Dr. Jackson is so sweet with the kids.  Good news - no cavities.  Allison has a freaky looking xray with her adult teeth just behind her baby teeth. She will have a totally different mouth in just a few months.  She already has her front and bottom adult teeth.  The dentist does say that Allison has a bit of a cross bite.  So, he recommends a trip to the orthodontist to have it checked out.  I guess there are things they can do early to prevent braces or surgery later.  It just sounds expensive.....YIKES!

Allison ????

Yesterday Allison brought home her conduct card form school and it said she was having a hard time keeping her focus. Humm....the child has straight A's so what is going on. So, I jot off a note to the teacher asking for an example so I could talk with Allison. Ms. Cox called me today and said that Allison was fidgitting on the floor during instruction time. She said that Allison was probably bored as she gets things quickly but she still needs to sit still during the entire instrustion time. So.....a compliment on how smart she is and a warning to sit still. So funny. Ms. Cox said it was not a big deal. So I guess Allison and I will have a chat tonight. She has never had a note home before so I guess in the scheme of things I am not that upset about a note for fidgetting. Ms. Cox did say that Allison sat perfectly still today. So....Allison being Allison probably has figured it out already. She does like the word PERFECT.

Daddy fixed Allison's brake on her bike today. She had broken it during a fall at the neighborhood block party. She is pretty thrilled with her bike now that she finally figured out that she likes to ride it.

Sept. 29, 2008

Today I started this blog.  Wow, I am feeling quite proud of myself as I usually shy away from anything technical to do with computers.  I always leave this stuff to Chris.  I wanted to start a blog site to keep family updated on the little things that happen in our lives.  And a way to share pictures and other stuff about our lives.  Hope you enjoy!