Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Elaine passed away this afternoon. We will miss her so much and are so sad that we can no longer talk to her, joke with her, play games with her. I think the hardest thing I've ever had to do was tell the kids about her. We spent some time recalling some of our favorite memories of Aunt Lainey. One of the first things mentioned was how fun our trip to Disney was because she was along. Even though our kids didn't know it, Elaine actually did a lot of the planning and suggesting of things to do as we'd never been. She was so excited by the thought of us surprising our kids with that trip. At the time, Andy and I hoped we'd create some memories that the kids could remember, even after Elaine would get so sick and eventually pass away. I'm so glad that will apparently be the case.

August 25

Back to the dated titles. . . they're just so much easier than using the brain cells to think of something witty! Here's some random Monday Ramblings.

Went school supply shopping for Ian tonight. . . you know, for the wierd things some middle school teachers want. I'm thinking that when the kids get schedules a week before school starts, they should have teacher supply lists up on the website so that every parent of a middle schooler isn't cruisin' Staples/Office Depot/etc for wide ruled notebooks on the first day of school! I saw no less that 10 families that I knew in that store while looking for supplies tonight. Happens every year.

Alaina's been after me to find her a giraffe print lampshade. She has a "little" obsession with giraffes and after getting her giraffe print bedding for her birthday last year, she's so over the lavender lampshade in her room. It so "doesn't match!" I had no clue there was such a thing as a self-adhesive lampshade until I went shopping with my sister today and mentioned the need for said giraffe shade. So going to have to get one and do her up a cute little shade as a surprise.

Have you guys ever visited to Vanilla Joy? I'd never heard of it, but saw a link to go there on Lisa Bearnson's blog. Has some cute ideas of things to do with kids, some interesting looking recipes. . . and most of all, some terrific scrapbook giveaways this week. You should check it out!

If you do not know the story of Steven Curtis Chapman's family's loss this past May, you should check out the article in the current People magazine. I'd stopped buying it several years ago, but did buy this issue (the one with Elizabeth Edwards on the cover) so that I could read the Chapman's story. The Chapmans (and the 3 older kids) were also on Larry King Live and GMA while Andy and I were in France. Especially interesting to me was Larry King's day after recap statement. Steven wrote a 4th verse to his song "Yours" after Maria's death and you can now find it on iTunes. The Chapman family has really been able to show the world how through faith, you can make it through the hardest times.

Another new school year

School started up again this morning and the kids were all excited to go back. Alaina spent all of yesterday saying "I can't WAIT for tomorrow!" Allison, as always, was perhaps a bit apprehensive. Ian was just glad to be getting back to school so he could hang out with friends. Unfortunately, he didn't get to do a lot of that this summer. Here are pictures of the kids before they left for school. I think this is the first year I didn't get all the school goers in a photo together! Last year, I made Ian get up that early to take the group picture . . .but then it was a LONG wait until he actually had to be at school. He's playing the baritone for the second year -- he's gotta lug that thing back and forth to school everyday. My next door neighbor told me this morning she wished he reconsider riding a bike to school with her daughter and the girl across the street. I think the days of him wanting to go to school with them are gone -- at least for now! tehehe . . .but told the neighbor there was no way Ian could balance that honkin' thing on a bike!



The girls were juggling backpacks, paint cans, and in Alaina's case, lunchboxes. We always buy something off the teachers' wishlists, if they have them posted, to bring in the first day of school, so Alaina's backpack was full of baby wipes. She was a trooper and carried it all in herself!



Each year, we bring the teachers a first day of school gift. For at least the past 5 years, it's been a decorated paint can. I had a bit of a hard time figuring how to make one look more manly this year, as we have our first male (elementary school) teacher. I fill them with whatever I can find that I either remember always running out of when I was a teacher or know might be something they'd need/want. This year's cans had: 2 packages of "teacher" stickers, a magnetic notepad, a calculator, rubber bands/various clips, a set of dry erase markers, post-it notes, hand sanitizer, some sharpies, and Hersheys Hugs and Kisses. I usually try to decorate them to match the teacher's rooms (as we go the Friday before school starts to meet the teachers), but this year, there wasn't any obvious theme for either teacher's room. So my goal for Alaina's teacher was for it not to look girly, and noticed Allison's teacher had bright colored curtains on her windows, so I went bright with her. Here's what I ended up with:



It's a little lonely around here. . . definitely a lot less noise! However, I am free to go shopping and out to lunch with my sister who ended up with the day off.

Elaine's home

I know I still haven't finished up the Paris posts .. . trying hard to get everything organized here and prioritized! But did want to let everyone know that Elaine is home from the hospital . . . but will probably be in bed for awhile.

At times people have asked what they can do to help out -- right now, prayer, lots of prayer, for Elaine, my brother Chris, and my niece Isabel is greatly desired. If you are so inclined, I know she's love to receive some cards. They are always a lift for her. If you need their address, please email me (bazzillgal@aol.com . . . or whatever other email address you have for me will work as well) and I'll be glad to get it to you.

Elaine Update

I have cut and paste this from my sister's blog . . . .Here's recent information on Elaine's progress.

Elaine: HD 6......Meaning Hospital Day number 6

It has come to my attention that many are wanting updates on Elaine. I so much appreciate my dear family and friends being in interested and concerned for Elaine. Of course, I can't share everything because it is not my information to share. However, I will start including the things that Elaine has shared with the general public to keep everyone more up to date. Elaine was admitted to the hospital last Friday. She was initially admitted for high calcium levels, which has been adding to her pain and nausea. The calcium is currently within normal limits, but there are now a few other things that are a bit out of whack....One of which showed up on an x-ray today. She was told today that she has a broken rib, which the doctor attributes to just "bumping into something." She is in a lot of pain, but does seem to do better in the mornings. My mom called tonight and said that Isabel had crawled up into Elaine's lap, and they spent some good time snuggling.

I can sum all of this up fairly simply by saying- My family needs your prayers. We are very concerned about Elaine....and my brother.....and Isabel.

Note from Heather -- also keep my sister Brooke in your prayers. She's recovering from a little surgical procedure. It looks like everything is fine, but wow, dealing with all of this isn't easy.

Additional info on Isabel -- she's been at our house since last night and has enjoyed her "cousin" time. My mom picked her up for tumbling class then she was headed to the hospital for an evening visit. She'll be back with us tonight after hre visit.

Paris, Day 1

Andy and I left (on different planes) for Paris on August 3. I had what I can only guess was an anxiety attack when we left on the same plane to Costa Rica several years ago. We felt I'd do better if we were on separate planes -- you know, so I wouldn't worry so much about leaving the kids orphans! Turned out to be a good thing, as he was able to fly business class (he was headed there for work) and I was flying in "steerage" on his miles.

Long, long day! I ended up sitting with 6 children in the seats directly around me. All but one was 6 or under -- including triplet 3 year olds and an infant. Any time a mother continually reassures the people around her that "really, they're great travellers!" assume there's a reason she's saying it so many times. EEK! I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole trip -- not good as when we landed it was 9 am Paris time (and 2 am Dallas time). I was quite worn out and grumpy by the time I met up with Andy at the airport!

We grabbed a taxi and headed for our hotel. At this point, I was really hoping they'd let us check in at 11:30 even though check-in wasn't until 3 pm. Thankfully, they did. The gal went on and on about how they were upgrading our room to a larger room, on the corner, on the 6th (top) floor. She called it their "superior room". She built that darned room up . . . I was expecting the Taj Mahal! Imagine our surprise when we walked in and saw this:



I didn't just take a picture of part of the room, that's pretty much it! Wall to wall furniture with only about 2 feet on either side of the bed. There was a desk on the other side and a lamp/small chair in the corner. . . but there wasn't much walking room between the desk and the bed. Poor Andy, after I'd already settled into "my side" of the bed, we figured out that he couldn't even stand up straight on his side of the bed, as the ceiling was sloped. I had to wonder what our "inferior" original room would've looked like! I was so happy to see that bed though . . . we laid down for about a 2 hour nap.

After that, we headed to Notre Dame. The guy Andy was there to meet wasn't in that office on Monday, so Andy had the afternoon with me. Thankfully, my friend Erin had given me some information on some of the sights of Paris, so I had some information to pass along to Andy. Notre Dame has the statues of the 28 kings of Judah running along the outside of the building. During the French Revolution, they were mistaken for the Kings of France and the heads were chiseled off. We also were able to see the gargoyles . . . made famous (for our kids at least) by The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We went on inside and walked around the inside, looking at all the sculptures, the paintings, the stained glass. Afterwards, we headed back outside to take another look.



After that, we headed over to Isle St. Louis to hit this ice cream place called Berthillon . . . makers of the best ice cream in Paris. We finally found their storefront, only to discover they were closed for the month of August -- August is when most people in France take their vacation . .. sometimes for the whole month! We knew this before we left and knew we'd miss out on some things because we were going during their vacation month. While we were unable to get icecream at Berthillon, we could still buy Berthillon ice cream all over the city . . . and did just that. Andy got 1 scoop of vanilla and 1 of white chocolate. . . I got 2 scoops of chocolate with orange pieces in it. YUMMY!



We ended up the afternoon with a visit to the Pompidou. . . all the pipes are on the outside of the building! Of course, Andy stood there and tried to figure out what each color pipe was for.



We finished up by eating dinner and going to bed early -- so that we could get up the next day for a full day of work for Andy and a full day of touring for me.

If you could go to Paris . . .

Where would you go?

Andy's got a business trip scheduled to Paris and I'm going along for the ride. Means he'll be working and I'll be site-seeing alone, at least during the day. Thankfully, my dear friend Erin is a Paris expert -- she's going to help me figure things out (hi Erin!). She's already suggested a bus tour to Monet's home that I'm pretty sure I'm going to do (I love Monet). But I'd be interested in knowing what you'd go to visit if you were in Paris.

We're trying to find some things we can do at night -- means I'm going to be a touring fool, but it's worth it to experience Paris with Andy. So far, we've figured out that the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays, Musee d'Orsay is open late on Thursdays, and both the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower are open late every night. I suggested a trip to Disneyland Paris, as it's open until 11 nightly . . .but he just wasn't keen on that.

I'd love input from others. . . didn't really expect this trip, so I'm now trying to figure out how to best utilize my time.

Happy Birthday Allison

(pictures to be added later. . . .I can't wait to get my computer set-up back to normal).

Allison,

Today, you turned 9. You asked me "exactly when do I turn 9?" Such a 9 year old question, huh? A world full of exactness and right answers. The answer -- at 4:23 pm. You were my middle of the afternoon baby -- my one that didn't make me wait all day or stay up all night. The easiest baby we had in many respects. You were always our sleeper (well, except for about 10 months after we took you out of the crib) -- you came home sleeping 6 hours straight at night. You are unconcerned with schedules, details, and stress. You just are. . . and are so happy to be.

This past year, you matured a lot -- you grew in so many ways. Most importantly, you grew leaps and bounds in your relationship with God. For several months, you asked and asked about being baptized. Coming from a church of Christ background, I felt you were so, so young. But you were persistant, and thought provoking, and determined. How could I possibly tell you that you weren't ready because of your age? After many talks with you, your dad and I gave you our blessing and arranged your baptism. I pray for you that throughout the continuing years, you continue to grow in your relationship with God and you remember those feelings you had so strongly as a child.

Already, I can tell that you are going to be one of God's prayer warriors. You are relentless in your praying -- and you definitely believe that it's okay to pray any where and at any time. I've watched you pray in the middle of getting dressed, while reading, while brushing your teeth, while walking down the hall at school. If a thought is in your head and it needs praying about, you obviously don't hesitate to do so. Your mom would do well to learn from your "drop it all and pray" spirit. Sometimes we laugh -- it's not many kids who'll continue to pray for 3+ years for their dead hamsters, but your prayers are so pure and trusting, it's obvious to see how much you put your trust in God.

I worry often about you being in the middle of Ian and Alaina -- the other 2 are so much more vocal in their own self-confidence. I worry about how to help you develop that confidence in yourself. I need not have worried -- you've grown in so many ways and are proving yourself to be confident as well. You took the TAKS test for the first time this year -- and aced both of them (not missing a question AT ALL!). You've shown strides in staying caught up in your school work (thank goodness the 3rd grade is over! That always seems to be the hardest year around here), and gaining confidence in skills you expressed doubt about. You've made great strides in your dancing -- and was so thrilled to get your 5 year trophy at the recitals this spring. You are controlling your behavior so much better (rarely do we see the long, long tantrums that I used to wonder if you'd ever outgrow).

You are a goal oriented child. If you get something set in your mind, you'll do whatever it takes to get it done. This year, that manifested itself in your desire for trophies. Not sure why you have that desire so badly, but they're definitely important to you. This year, that meant reading 14 books off the Bluebonnet Awards list to earn a trophy -- one of only 8 or so kids in the 3rd grade who did. You've already decided you want to earn a large trophy (reading 20 books) next year. I have no doubt you'll do it. You've even started yourself a notebook to take notes so you'll be prepared to take the book tests you have to take to get credit for reading the books.

Tonight, we went, once again, to On The Border to celebrate your birthday. I think we've gone there since your 2nd birthday (I'll have to look that up and see if I can figure that out). Each year we let you guys choose where dinner will be on your birthday night, and for you it's always the same. This year, we got video of you twirling that cloth napkin over your head, huge smile, with the waitstaff singing to you. If I could ever figure out youtube . . .

I hope for you another year of happiness. Another year of growing and maturing and loving what you do. A year of even more confidence in yourself and the abilities you have.

I hope that you always know how much I love you and how much you were longed for. You were an answer to many prayers and months of waiting. You were the child that taught me that things are done in God's time and in His way, not in my time or on my demands. Allison, I love you -- just because you're you. I love the baby you were, the girl you are, and the young woman you are yet to be. Thank you for teaching me all that you do.

Love, Mom

Jesus is like an iPod . . . and other children's sayings

Tehehe, I had quite the giggle when I talked to Allison's Sunday night teacher after class tonight. Apparently they were discussing Jesus raising from the dead. Allison said that Jesus was like an iPod. The batteries run out and you may think it's dead, but plug that thing in, the battery recharges and it's alive again. It's so funny some of the things kids say. While the comparison is not quite accurate, it does help those 9 year old brains wrap themselves around a concept like resurrection, doesn't it?

I keep saying I'm going to make a list of things the kids have said through the year -- either quotes or the ways they said things, etc. I'm afraid I've waited so long now that I've lost some of those great things to time. So, might as well commit some of them to virtual memory for now. Those of you reading who can think of others, please add them in the comments section!

Ian -- that kid was just so funny when he was little (still is now, but he just said such unusual things)

On my dad's lack of hair -- first he commented Dad-dad was surely a mammal -- "Once a mammal, always a mammal." So even though he didn't have as much hair as he probably used to, still a mammal. He must've questioned how much hair Dad ever had, as at one point he also stated that "God ran out of glue before he got to Dad-dad." Because you know God's sitting up there with a big old bottle of Elmer's giving everyone hair.

After his kindergarten year, he decided he wanted to be the president of a third world country. tehehe . . . .other possible jobs for Ian -- a "computer worker" (like his dad), a donut maker, an educator. He's said that last one for several years. . . seems like he's wavering a bit now. The reason he decided he wasn't going to be a "donut maker" is because I told him I wasn't sending him to college for that. He's obviously interested in going!

Allison -- she seems to be a little harder to remember things she's said. I'm not sure if that's because I was so darned sleep deprived from the time she was 2.5 until she was 4 or what! Of course, there's the "Meet Six!" comment the day she turned 6.

Mom had the kids (at least some of them) in the car one day and Allison asked her if I was alive during the Civil War. I know Mom could tell this so much better than I could -- so Mom, if you're reading. . . post it please!

Alaina -- well, there's the fact that she called Andy "Bad Daddy" for about a 6-9 month period. Every time I'd leave to go out with friends, shop, whatever, she'd scream "Don't leave me with Bad Daddy!" . . . of course she was perfectly fine and no longer crying within just a couple minutes of when I left.

One of the more recent ones about Alaina -- this past fall, her teacher was having her evaluation (the principal was in the room) and they were talking about the number line. Mrs. H. asked for a number before 30. . . expecting any number between 1 and 29. Alaina raised her hand and confidently told her "-2". Tehehe . . .Mrs. H. didn't know what to do with that. So not a typical kindergartner answer! The principal ended up pulling her aside and asked her other questions trying to figure out just what exactly she knew.

Then there's the fact that all of the kids called the pacifier a "bobby" (We're not sure how that came about.. . . with the older 2, we called it a pacifier and that's the name they both came up with. With Alaina -- well, I think the kids pretty much trained her that's what it was called). Allison called milk "nilk". and I think all three of them would ask "Carry you?" when they wanted us to carry them. We called my dad Granddad, which Ian turned into Dad-dad. . .. which is what they still call him. My mom wavered between wanting to be Mimi and Grammie. After assuring her we wouldn't tease her and train the kids to call her "Granny", she decided on Grammie. That lasted until Ian could talk and he dubbed her "Mimi". Then there was my brother, Uncle Chris. Ian couldn't say Uncle, but could somehow say Cuckoo, so for several years, he was "Cuckoo Chris". My sister was first called "Puppy" and then after several other names (or at least one that she doesn't like me to remind her of {grin}) she became "Boopie" for several years. And after spending his second Halloween as Eeyore, we'd ask Ian "Who are you?" and for quite awhile, he'd call himself "Orey" (his way of saying Eeyore). My brother is the only one who can still call Ian this and not get himself into trouble!

Going to have to put on my thinking cap and see what else I can remember and get it written down now!

June 19

We went to see Stomp last night with some of Allison's girl scout troop. Andy and I had decided back in May that we were going to go ahead and get tickets for the 5 of us. A lot of times, I'll just take the girls with me and Andy and Ian have a night to themselves. But Andy had been wanting to see Stomp, so we decided Ian would go as well. I sat down with him on Tuesday to show him some clips . . .thinking it interest him. Should've known . . . pre-teen boy strikes again. He deemed it "Okay" said he was sure he'd like it IF he was actually a percussionist. I passed on his lack of interest to Andy, thinking if Ian wasn't going to enjoy it, I had a certain sister who might want his ticket (see, Brooke. . . .I really did try!). Andy basically said Ian would just have to tough it out.

I think we were 5 minutes into the show before Ian was totally mesmorized. tehehe. He then blamed it on my lack of finding "good" video -- if he'd known it would be like that. . .

When we got back in the car, I informed him that happened for a reason. Just wanted to be able to prove to the pre-teen kid that Mom and Dad were, in fact, smart! {giggle}

After talking last night, I think Andy and I decided that we'd head back to the dallas summer musicals for our anniversary this year. We used to do that all the time, but haven't been in years. I'm not sure that we've seen a musical since the summer Allison was born 9 years ago!

61 Pages Later

Wow . . . 2 posts in a row with an actual title instead of just the date. I'm on a roll!

I've vaguely mentioned my PTA involvement this year. I ended up on 2 PTA boards -- the historian for the elementary school, VP, Programs for the middle school. I think that one year did me in! I've been saying since the beginning of the school year that serving on 2 boards in 1 year should make me exempt from ever serving on a board again -- and I think I'm sticking to that story! I don't think the whole involved PTA thing is for me. I'll stick to helping individual teachers, in the library, etc from now on.

So, today was the deadline for turning in the scrapbook. Those of you who know me well know this means that I've taken a million pictures up to this point, gotten them printed, gathered supplies . . . .then waited until last night to put the darned thing together. It's just the way I've always been. I'd have a research paper for 2 months time. . . I'd spend 59 days researching, then spend the last day writing it all. Why change now, huh?

So, here's the work table mid project:



As you scrapbookers can tell, I didn't use a Creative Memories album. I was instructed by a previous board member that I HAD to as "all the other books are black CM books". When I actually took a look at the books, I noticed that was nowhere near an accurate statement (in fact, SHE didn't use a black CM album the year she was historian. CM, yes. Black, no). So I went with what was most comfortable for me. . . .an AC 3 ring binder.

I was up until 4:30 this am working on it, then got back up at 8:30 to finish it off. I had 61 pages by the time I finished . . . .and finished at about 10:45. Time to spare. {grin} So I got it dropped off and have now completed my last task for the whole PTA thing (well, except to fill out my reimbursement forms for the $$ spent on the scrapbooking stuff).

Big sigh of relief! Here's a peek at the outside of the scrapbook:

Sweet and Sassy

I set up a "Fun with Friends" Sweet and Sassy time for Alaina's (now) Brownie troop. They bridged from Daisies to Brownies back in May. I was so pleased that all the girls could come and have a good time together. They got their hair, makeup, and nails done. Alaina picked out some simple little bun thing on the top of her head. . . .took the teen who did her hair about 2 minutes to do the whole thing! She was certainly showing a bit of her Sassy attitude during their "runway show". Typical Alaina.



Allison and my neice Isabel were also with us. We let them get pedicures while the Brownies were doing their thing. Allison looks mad in most of the pictures. She sat with her arms crossed most of the time. She did tell me she liked the pedicure, so I guess now she'll be wanting another. I don't think she knew to expect the foot bath or the leg massage!

Fun was definitely had by all!

June 16

I've decided that it is so much easier to just title posts with the date of entry, rather than try and come up with a catchy title. So, a majority of my posts from now on will be titled this way.

Yesterday marked what Allison decided to call her first day of summer vacation. She still danced last week -- Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. EEK! But the last 2 recitals are over and we can now move on to other things. After the recitals on Saturday, we went over to my sister's house for a family get together. She'd been telling me for several weeks she was itching to do a cook out at her house. Fine by me, although I couldn't understand why she had such a bee in her bonnet about a cookout. Turns out, she (as I told Andy when I called him from her house on Saturday) had "procurred herself a pool since the last time we'd visited". She decided to put in a pool and not tell anyone. The kids had a blast swimming on Saturday and now I think there might be daily buggings by them on when they can go back.

Turns out to be a good thing that we were gone all day. Andy's parents came in on Saturday morning to help Andy lay the wood floors. We gave them a good chunk of time without having to worry with kids running through! What they didn't finish up on Saturday, they did on Sunday. Happy father's day to Andy, huh? But the wood floors are now done and the transitions put in. Here are a couple pictures of the floor, pre-cleaning.




That's my task today. . . to get it to actually LOOK like new floor so that we can get furniture back into this room ASAP! I'm so ready to have my living room and family room back. I'm done with the "furniture warehouse" look we've got going on in the living room. Another picture (not sure if you can tell, but we have 2 sofas, 1 loveseat, 2 coffee tables, 2 end tables, 3 entertainment cabinets, a piano, and I don't know how many boxes crammed into this room! But hey, I do have art on the walls. tehehe)



We're left with needing to put in the baseboards and then Andy needs to do the granite surround for the fireplace. I think as soon as we get the baseboards on the wall where the entertainment cabinets go, we'll be getting that furniture moved back in there.

Birthday Letter to Ian

Ian,

Today, you turned twelve. It's so amazing to me that we're entering your last year of non-teenagehood. Wow. You've grown so much this past year -- emotionally, educationally, physically. It won't be long now before you're taller than I am. EEK! I think there will always be a part of me that longs for just a few more moments with the Ian I used to know . . . the first days with newborn Ian, toddler Ian, pre-K Ian. Oh the list goes on. I can honestly say there hasn't been an age you've been that I haven't enjoyed. I know that you'll be starting in on those teenage attitudes soon -- we see glimpses of them occasionally already. You promise me you're going to try and not be a "typical teenager", but I know it's coming! I just hope and pray for you that you make it through the next 6 years safely and growing into the man God wants so completely for you to be.

Last year on this date, I expressed concern over the beginning of your middle school years (see this post). Those people who've gone before you have often said that they'd love to go back to just about any age other than those 3 middle school years! You seemed to handle this new adventure so well. I heard stories from other moms about how their sons cried daily for the first couple weeks at school. None of that from you -- you seemed to have no problem with the lockers, finding classes, the daily homework. The biggest concern you expressed was the fear of not getting to PE on time because you had 4 minutes to cross the school twice (once to take books to your locker, and then back across the school to get to the dressing room -- apparently middle school PE lockers are no longer like they used to be when I was in school -- no room for books in the locker!). This year's been a learning experience for the both of us -- I'm having to learn to scale back on the "being in your business" educationally and you're learning all that new stuff! You were NOT happy with me when I suggested studying -- for tests, exams, etc. We came to the agreement that as long as you came out of the test with an A, I wouldn't question how much you studied. Seemed to work for you -- one of only about 18 kids in the whole 6th grade class to make all A's in every class for the entire year! However, we did earn the right to have some say over projects when you made less than an A on one of those (and had refused our suggestions). We are definitely SO PROUD of your academic accomplishments this year. You were recently invited to be part of Junior National Young Leaders Conference by one of your teachers. Quite the honor! We're still trying to figure out how we can financially make that happen for you. You've expressed the interest in visiting DC for several years now. This isn't the way we planned for it to happen, but you'd certainly have opportunities to do things, meet people, and go places that we would not be able to do on a family vacation there.

I was worried about you making new friends. Once again -- shouldn't have been. You came home talking about kids we've never heard of before. You won tickets to the Texas Tornado game and took 2 boys with you we'd never met. You're definitely doing better on the making new friends thing than I thought you would.

You took up 2 new hobbies -- the baritone in the band and golf. You've enjoyed learning both these things and are doing well. We found out in the last couple of weeks that you will be playing in the symphonic band next year -- quite the feat for a kid with 1 year's experience. And the golf is coming right along. . . it is interesting to watch you analyze where you should hit the ball, etc.

You made the decision to be baptized back in February. We are so proud of your decision and how much you yearn to know God better. We feel so blessed to have a son who cares so much about learning more and cultivating his relationship with Jesus.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. For you to suddenly turn all teenagerish on us. I hope that we're doing enough in these last few months to once again reinforce how much we love you and that we'll be here for you no matter what. I pray for you to find your way through these next few years with dignity and feeling proud of yourself. . . knowing that the mistakes you've made were just that -- mistakes. Not something that you need to beat yourself up about or continue to dwell on, but something that because it's happened, you've learned something. Something about life, about yourself, about respecting others, about depending on God. That's my desire, my wish for you. . . to be good to yourself in these next few years, and to learn to live life.

Ian, daily you give me reasons that remind me why I'm so proud of you. You show a tenderness for your sisters that is so special to me, you enjoy being around little kids and entertaining them, you are becoming so responsible, and well . . . you're just you. Which will always make me proud of you. I love you. And while I so miss the Ian you once were, I'm enjoying the Ian you now are, and I can't wait to meet the Ian you will one day become. Know that I wish for you so many wonderful things in life. And that I love you. Forever.

Love, Mom

Recitals -- photos of Allison

Once again, Allison is in the city ballet corp and in the studio's show company, so she is in all EIGHT recitals! We don't really start summer until the recitals are over this Saturday! However, she did do her 4 class routines and did 6 recitals this past weekend. Once again, pictures have not been retouched at all and are kinda dark. I'll repost lighter pictures as soon as I have the chance to retouch. Just have to get through the assembly of the PTA scrapbook and then I'll have photo/scrapbook time to call my own!

She's really improved over this past year. I don't know if the Disney trip shortly before recitals last year threw her off, or if truly there's been that much of a difference in her dancing over the past year. It will be interesting to see how she does this time next year.

She has been at the studio for 5 years, and received a 5 year trophy this year. She was so thrilled to get that trophy.

The Ballet number was danced to a song called Drumline. I really enjoyed the advanced ballet numbers this year. Many of them were done to songs that you wouldn't normally think of as ballet songs. This was one of them. Some very strong rhythms were in this song and it was faster paced than what you think of as ballet songs.


She's made a lot of improvements on her tapping. She actually looks like she knows what she's doing nowadays! Their song was Hoop-De-Do. And she did quite well. Overall, she looked to the wings very little this recital. I think the ballet and the show co. routines have helped her a lot with that one. She can't be depending on teachers in the wings with those routines.


She danced lyrical this year for the first time. I think that is, by far, her favorite class. That dance was choreographed to the song Don't Look Down. I thought she did fairly well for something that was new to her.


Allison also made great strides in her jazz class. She was a lot of fun to watch this year. They danced to "Sisters" . . . .when she first told me this, I kept saying "Do you mean . ...sisters, sisters, there were never 2 more devoted sisters. . ." from whatever that old musical is (White Christmas possibly?). She kept looking at me like I'd grown a 3rd eye (okay, so it sounds nothing like a jazz routine song, but at the time, I had no clue what class it was for and it was the only sisters song I could thing of.) It was that "sisters are doing it for themselves" song.


Her ballet class danced to Pizzacata Polka. It was some story about solders and fairies (?) fighting. You could see the differences in the way the girls carried themselves, but I had trouble remembering this story as the "soldiers" were dressed in these beautiful costumes as well as the fairies. Allison did have one point in this routine that she did a series of 5 or 6 turns and I thought she did a terrific job at it. I'm going to have to work on getting video youtubed.


Her last routine was the show co. one. They perform the finale at each show and it's usually 5 or so minutes long. This year, they did it to a Dreamgirls medley. Don't the costumes look so dreamgirlish? It's so fun seeing her interact with the older girls. . . and I love it when I hear one of them say hello to Allison. You can see her standing up straighter (with pride) every time one of the girls acknowledge her.

Recitals -- pictures of Alaina

As mentioned in the post below, I've finally gotten some photos transferred over to the laptop. These (and the ones in the next post) are this year's recital pics. They are untouched and ones from the rehearsal. So please excuse the quality! Hopefully, I'll eventually get the retouched ones up and they'll look a little better. I've not yet done the yearly posed pictures yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Alaina was in 4 dance classes this year, and therefore was in 4 routines. I think her favorite class is Hip Hop. Doesn't surprise me . . . totally fits her personality! They did their hip hop routine to Cheetah Girl's Off the Wall. She was so excited when she found out that she had a cheetah print costume!


Her ballet was done to some song called Friendship Light. She's doing really well in it and at the actual recital, she didn't look much at the teacher on the side who was dancing it in the wings. She's obviously been telling her teachers she can almost completely do the center splits -- as that was her final pose in 2 of the dances!




Her tap was to a song called "Steppin' Out". Very similar to the Fred Astaire version -- except words and some of the tune had been changed. . . "Fred Astaire" actually showed up in the lyrics! As were the lyrics "I feel pretty, I feel great."



Her final routine was for her jazz class. They danced to a song called "Hip Hop Princess". tehehe . . .we found it funny as that is (I think) now her new nickname. She did really well on this dance, and the dance had obviously been choreographed to what the girls could do. A cartwheel and the center splits (for Alaina) made an appearance in this number. The first picture is her doing that "flick the pretend dust off your shoulder like it doesn't bother you" move that I've seen I don't know how many times recently. I'm sure it has a real name . . . I have no clue what it is!

June 12, 2008

Finally have some photos to share. Was burning a disk of some to get printed and put some on there of various events.

First photos to share are of the living room/hallway progress. . . and the "little" side project I started on a whim. Tehehe . . .I serously need to get to work on finishing that project!

This one is as close to a "before" picture that I have of the living room. I forgot to take it before we moved out the big pieces of furniture. Tehehe. . . however, that does mean you can see the "clean" rectangle of carpet that was under the sofa (you can see it by the ladder). Shows how gross and dirty the carpet had gotten.


The first step in our renovating process was to scrape the popcorn ceilings. UGH, I hate those things! If you'll spray the ceiling with water before scraping, it keeps the dust to a minimum, and the ceilings are really easy to scrape. I did most of the family room ceiling in about a 3-4 hour period. Me, the non-worker! This picture shows that carpet can go from bad to worse -- just add a little popcorn!


This photo shows the scraped and unscraped area of the kitchen.


After the ceilings were scraped, Andy put a light texture on them and painted them (I'll have to get a photo of the ceiling paint). We used Behr Malted Milk for the ceilings. Then Andy got to painting the walls. For those we used Behr Pecan Sandie. Could make you hungry, all this painting! Here's a picture that shows the original wall color on the left and the new wall color on the right.


Sometime during the painting process, Andy pulled up the hallway and family room carpet. We've been living with concrete floors for a few weeks. Hoping to have that remedied this weekend!


Of course, while painting, I wanted to get all of the trim repainted. It definitely needed a fresh coat. This is the mantel area prepped. Andy planned on spraying it, but had a problem with the sprayer and ended up brush painting it instead.


Here's my "little" spur of the moment kitchen project. I wanted to paint the cabinets white and wanted to check out and see how priming and painting them would work. So I did the little fridge nook while he had it pulled out to paint behind it. Works well -- used Behr Decorator White for it and all the trim. We realized later that I probably should've waited until we got the new granite countertops I'm hoping for in the future before painting. I have all the top doors off the hinges and sanded, so I guess we'll go ahead and paint and hope we don't have to wait TOO long for the granite countertop!


This is the fireplace area after the mantel was painted. Since then, Andy has pulled out that faux marble surround and has put up new drywall. We've picked out some granite tile that will be going up -- hopefully tomorrow


In the middle of all of this, Andy's also tackled the lighting. We now have gotten rid of the florescent lightbox in the kitchen for a flush mounted light (not what I wanted, but the ceilings are not high!) and a new ceiling fan in the family room. He still has 2 more kitchen lights to replace (one over the table, one over the sink).

June 11, 2008

So, haven't had time to go back at post date some entries. Here's hoping that happens soon. Trying to take this week one day at a time. . . .and hoping to get through it! Our house is still in great disarray. Our a/c went out and we lost a week of flooring work due to that + the time consuming dance recitals! We rehearsed Thursday from 4:30ish until 11! EEK . . . then spent Friday and Saturday at SIX different recitals. Allison was awarded a 5 year trophy for 5 consecutive years at the studio. WOW . . . I'm hoping to download pics soon -- still not an easy task with the computer set up as it is.

Ian has spent this week at an Academy the school district is hosting that has been sponsored by Raytheon, Cisco, and several other companies. So far, they've built and raced cars, built and "fought" robots, and built a hovercraft. He's so loving this week. He's decided that he'd like a Lego Mindstorm Robot for his birthday, so looks like most of the family will be contributing to that.

My sister-in-law had scans last week and is going to the doctor for results this upcoming Tuesday. Please keep her in your prayers.

May 28, 2008

It's been a long, long time since I blogged. First off -- excuse the "plainness" of this post. I'm on Andy's old laptop and I don't have any photos/etc on here. I ended up on 2 PTA boards this year, and that just about did me in! Last thing I could think about doing was actually blogging! I've resigned my positions on both boards, and my service will be done when I can get a couple financial papers signed and I do the elementary PTA scrapbook. EEK! Have until June 13th for that one.

My sister-in-law Elaine is still fighting her battle with cancer. She currently has an eye infection that is giving her considerable trouble. Please keep her in your prayers.

We're down to 6 school days left. . . EEK! I'm happy that we're that close to the end of the school year -- however, I have 2 teacher gifts to get done by then and I'm waiting on photos to be delivered by Winkflash. I've never cut it this close -- but I couldn't resist the $.06 per print bargain I got. I've got to get as much of the prep done as I can so that I can just adhere photos when they get here.

We are currently doing some renovations at the house. . . it is 11 years old and the carpet looks HORRIBLE! We decided to use most of our stimulus check to get some hardwood floors for the family room and the hallway -- the 2 worst places for the carpet. Of course, with our huge entertainment cabinets moved, Andy said he guessed that was the best time to paint. At that point, I reminded him how much I hated the popcorn ceilings. So, for the past 2 weeks, we moved furniture out, scraped the popcorn off the ceilings, retextured the ceilings, painted ceilings, painted walls, decided (well, I did, I know Andy would've preferred I not do this project at this point!) to paint the kitchen cabinets white (so I've labelled doors, taken 1/2 off the hinges and sanded them). . . next up is to bust out the old faux marble porcelain surround for the fireplace and putting in granite tiles, THEN we can lay down the hardwoods.

We're also well into recital season. The girls are doing their regular dance classes 2 days a week, and Allison's got extra rehearsals 3 days a week . . . makes for very busy week days! Additionally, both girls have a girl scout bridging tomorrow (Alaina will be a Brownie and Allie a Junior) and Ian has an awards assembly at school tomorrow. I hate that I'm going to miss out on the awards assembly -- but Ian will have my parents plus Andy there with him. That kid has adjusted so well to middle school -- makes me so proud!

In the future days . . .as I figure out what pictures to pull over here, I'll be updating below this post some entries from the previous year. We've done so much over the last year, and I'd like to get it documented before I forget any more of it than I already have!

testing

hopefully will be back to blogging soon!