Happy {early} Halloween!

Just playing around, here's a picture of the kids from last Halloween. Riley wants to be a paintball player this year, and Regan wants to be a cowgirl, only so she can get a stick horse.

Fall Break Begins...

And now what? It's a week shorter this year due to school construction, so we only have 2 weeks off, but still, I'm looking forward to going two weeks with no referrals or ISS for Riley, and sleeping in!! But, we had our nice little San Antonio trip postponed because David has to work, bummer. I'm sure we'll still go, it's just more fun to go during the week when things won't be as crowded, and we would have more time to do other things besides just Sea World. But, Riley is probably tall enough to ride the Great White now, so that will probably be all he wants to do there this year.

So the hunt is on for me to find things to do with the kids while David is out of town and make the most use out of fall break. I'm drawing blanks, mostly because I just didn't want to be in town. I'm sure we'll come up with something. I'm hoping my house will get clean at least one day. I've been subbing and helping out at the school, and of course, the house is back burner, so right now it looks like a war zone.

But, on Friday, I did take the kids after school to Fuddrucker's where Regan entertained the other customers with a pole dance. The table they like to sit at is a round booth with a pole at the opening, and Regan for some reason loves that pole. I should be scared, right? Then we went to the dollar movie to see Space Chimps. I can't really tell you how it was, after subbing for PE for 2 days, I was exhausted, and pretty much as soon as the movie started, I passed out.

Not much else going on to report. I'm sure we'll end up having a great fall break. Now if only the weather would start feeling more fall-ish...

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth...and Pink Hair!!

Regan has had this wiggly tooth forever!! I was so glad it finally came out during school, I just can't stand the wiggliness. She was so excited. Had her tooth in a Ziploc bag and was waving it around for all to see, and now we can't find it for the tooth fairy. I'm sure it's under a seat in the truck or something, but she doesn't seem too worried about it just yet.

But, we decided to celebrate the occasion with some pink hair streaks. It was a trial run, to see how pinky they are and how long it will stay in. I did one for Riley too, but you can't see much on his, probably need to leave it on longer on him I guess. But, here she is in all her toothless, pink hair glory:

Culver's Study Trip

Culver's Study Trip

Regan's class has been learning about liquids, solids and gasses, and what better way to learn about that than to study ICE CREAM!! So we went to Culver's, where manager George did a great job teaching the kids about lots of different kinds of liquids, solids and gasses. He talked about the gas in a helium balloon, that they have all over the restaurant, he showed them bubbles of C02 in the soda, and walked them through making a waffle cone, and then walked us all through the back of the kitchen to see all the machines and how they work to cool down the liquid and make it into a solid form of yummy ice cream! Each kid got their very own sample too, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

The BIG 15!

I can't believe it's been 15 years, WOW! We didn't do much to celebrate since a) we just went to Fogo de Chao for my birthday and that was kind of a combo birthday/anniversary dinner and b) David has a new game that consumes massive amounts of his time right now and c) when it's the middle of the week and you have school the next day and dinner to get ready after you rush home from gymnastics, it makes it kind of hard to plan anything "special". So I'm pinning all my hopes on the 20th anniversary! That should be a blow-out and will be here before I know it.

But, I did want to at least mention the occasion. 15 years and still going strong. That's longer than about 90% of Hollywood marriages, that should say something, right?

Brownie Time!

Regan started her Brownie Girl Scouts tonight! She will be a Brownie for 3 years. Of course, I've had her vest all summer long, but wait until about 30 minutes before the meeting to feverishly begin ironing on patches! A family history of seamstresses and I can't sew on a patch, instead I'm cutting and ironing on stitch-witch and hoping it's gonna last all 3 years (I doubt it!). But, she looks cute, and she sure knows how to strike a pose.

Regan's Party Friends

Regan was invited to a friend's party at Jungle Java and I just thought these pictures of her and her friends were SO cute! They had a great time of course and don't you just love all the smiles with the missing teeth, they are all so adorable.

This is Regan and Raquel, her BEST.FRIEND.EVAH! Members of the Cheetah Girls and Hannah Montana Club, and can you tell their teacher has her hands full with these two?


This is Birthday Girl Nina, one of Regan's other best friends, who is much more of a tomboy, and I think could care less about Hannah Montana, as her party theme was Spiderman!!

Funny Sayings

The kids crack me up on a regular basis. I try to remember what they say. It helps to write it down.

So Regan gets in the car after school and says, "Mom! This kid on the playground tells me, 'Hey Baby!' and that means he wants to 'make sexy'!"

Another day, Regan wants to go to McDonald's, bad, and when I said no, she went to slam her pencil down on the seat, but kind of stabbed her leg with it (no puncture) and Riley pipes up, "Regan, you're so EMO!"

I guess it's good I can laugh, and not cry!!

Riley's Present

Riley happened to see this:

And he thought it would be a good idea to make it, or something like it for my birthday. He's so sweet, and so thoughtful. It was a great idea, and the thought that counts, right? So he went to work, nevermind that we didn't have the important ingredients. He improvised! We opened a fruit gelatin cup that we had bought for his lunch, I think it was a peach/mango mixture, and put it in a glass. Next, he mixed up a rice pudding cup with some milk so it would pour on top of the jello mixture. For the fruit topping, the only fruit we had at the time was some pretty ripe bananas, so he mashed some up on a plate and scooped it on top. Yum! I didn't have the heart to tell him I don't like bananas, or rice pudding, or jello really. I ate some, until dad came to the rescue and said, "Hey, you'll ruin your dinner if you eat all that right now!!"

The finished product:


When I told Mimi what he made me he said, "See mom, I am a good kid." And yes, he is. I never want him to think that I think otherwise. Even though he is having some major issues in school this year, at heart I know he IS a good kid, and we are raising him right, and he has a sweet spirit, and he's going to turn out to be a great man.

37 Years Young (?)

I sure don't feel 37. That's a slippery slope to 40! I was thinking yesterday of some of my more memorable birthdays over the years. Like my 27th birthday when I was 7.5 months pregnant and spent the day at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. Very moving museum, but talk about a downer.

Then there was my 25th birthday. My mom planned a surprise party for me with a few of my girlfriends and just picked me up and told me she was taking me to Macaroni Grill for my birthday. I couldn't figure out why there, since that wasn't my favorite place, and why she didn't ask me where I wanted to go, but told me. After all, it was MY birthday!! But I was surprised to walk in and see several friends at the table.

And I was even more surprised when my friend Joe planned a HUGE surprise party for me for my 19th birthday. That was so much fun. Especially since that was my last time to spend with a lot of my friends, as I was on a plane to Hong Kong within days...which leads me to my 20th birthday, a milestone, and spent with no family, only new friends, on the other side of the world.

But probably the one that I remember the most, that meant the most, was when I was turning 7 and my dad was working out of town and wasn't going to be home in time to wish me happy birthday. I remember going to bed so sad that he wasn't there, and a while later, my mom waking me up, rushing me down the hall in our house in Slidell, Louisiana, trying not to trip over my long nightgown, around the corner to the kitchen, to see my dad standing there, holding a ballerina cake with candles in it, just for me, he made it home just in time!

Fogo de FIGHT!!

We went to Fogo de Chao to celebrate my birthday tonight, met my BFF Tammy and her husband Jay, we don't get together nearly often enough, so we all had a great time without kids!! Jay had eaten at a similar place in Brazil, so he was anxious to try it, and of course, we never need to look too hard for a good excuse to go back. It was awesome, as usual.

Then, the guys go out to get the car from the valet parking, while Tammy and I went to "powder our nose" and then met up with them out front in time to see a fight! A young guy, there with his mom, upset about something, starts yelling at an older guy who was walking by, "What the eff are you looking at?" And of course, that's all the motivation some guys need to start slinging punches. They were on the ground before we knew it, you could hear knuckles connect, shirts rip, glasses fly off, it was crazy. Jay and David were trying to get them off of each other, and keep us out of harm's way, and then, just like that, it was all over. And, just like men, they were shaking hands and HUGGING! What's that all about? They nearly tear each other a new one, and then they're all, "My fault," "No, my fault" and hug it out. Guys(?)

So we get in the car and I was wondering if that young guy was drunk or something, and David says no, he was just upset, his mom and dad got divorced last year, on his birthday, today is his birthday and his dad's not talking to him, and he's upset. My jaw hit the floor, usually I'm the observant one and I didn't catch ANY of that!! I was like, how in the world did you pick all that up from that fight?! He said no, he and his mom were arguing while they were waiting for the car. Oh, right.

We then went to Mozart's on Lake Austin and had some coffee (not me, or I would be awake till this time tomorrow!) and got to sit and visit and just enjoy being out with friends and not running around after little ones. It was an enjoyable birthday dinner.

Jungle Java

Today when the kids got out of school, first we went to get Regan's hair cut fixed, and it looks MUCH better! She was so funny though, when we walked in, the girl who cut her hair was there and Regan says, "Oh, great! She's STILL here!" She knew I was hoping she wouldn't be there, just so it wouldn't be uncomfortable. But we got it all evened out and she's cute as a bug.

Then we went to Jungle Java, a new place I've been wanting to try for a while. GREAT concept!! The kids play in the jungle themed playscape while mom's sit and visit, or in my case, catch up on some reading. They have some decent food there also, so we all had a pretty good time. We stayed from 3:00-7:00! They were worn out and sweaty by the time we left. And of course I took tons of pictures and I am having some issues with Picasa so the only way I could get it on here was as a slideshow, so I think if you click on the slideshow, it will take you to the album.

David had to drive to San Angelo and back so he got home late, tired and worn out, and Riley, as tired as I thought he was, left for a last minute sleep over with a friend. So Regan and I had some girlie time watching movies until Dad got home.

Jacked Up Cut

I am always so freaked out when it comes to getting Riley's hair cut, he's had some doozies with that curly mop of his. Never in a million years did I think someone could jack up Regan's hair so bad. How hard is it to cut a relatively straight bob? I know straight hair is harder to cut, but come on!! This looks like it was done with a weed whacker!! So tomorrow I get to go back in, and hope the girl who cut it isn't there, and see if someone will either fix it, or give me my money back so I can go somewhere else. Thankfully Regan doesn't seem to care what it looks like, but I can't let her go around looking like this or someone will think mom decided to play Beauty Shop!!

Subbing

I signed up to sub this year at the kids school, I've been toying with the idea of going back to school myself to finish my degree and my plan was always to be a teacher, so I thought well, this would give me a good idea of whether or not my kids ruined it for me. If I sub and hate it, I can save thousands of dollars in tuition!! Or, I could sub and love it, and know I still want to go that route. Well, I pretty much have my answer and it's one day in. Time to find some student loans. I had subbed a few times up there, in the office or helping in Pre-K, but today was my first time to have the whole day, the whole class all to myself. And what a day it was!

I was in the K-1 class, right next door to Regan, so she felt the need to check up on me a few times, see how I was doing. She has a few friends in that class also, so at recess, she tells me, "Mom, come here, I HAVE to talk to you!" So, I go talk to her and she says that her friends told her I yelled at them, and they told her to get her mom to stop yelling at them, and she says, "We can't have that now, mom!" There was a little boy in my class right next to me, and I was in shock because I knew I had NOT been yelling, so I looked at him and asked him if I had yelled and he looked as shocked as me and said no, you don't yell at us, and Regan says, "Good, don't let it happen again!" O-kay. Glad to know Regan has her eagle eye on me.

But it was fun, and the teacher already asked me back for next week, so I can't wait!