Regan's Letter to Me

Mommy I love you but I=want=a=pupppy=dont =listen=to=dade=oun (one) =time. You our the best momme can you wace tv wiet me at houm ples
Love Regan
For Momme

Sent from my G1 phone

Sunday Lunch

I just snapped a couple of pictures after our weekly lunch, after church we all go out to eat, us, the Frys, the Shenkins, and and anyone else who comes to church with us that week! So, this week was Razzoo's, and Regan wore her new "Maxi" dress and looked adorable, and then I had to get one of the boys so they wouldn't feel left out, although honestly, I doubt they care about having their picutre taken!

Gymnastics Meet

There's a lot of videos, so I am only going to post the GOLD MEDAL WINNER! They put Riley in the higher age bracket this time, he was competing with the MUCH bigger boys, they are also the 2nd year boys, they took 1st-4th place in just about every event, but Riley beat them in Parallel Bars, and he did it with a broken hand! I'm so proud of him. I wasn't going to let him compete and risk injuring it more, but he's a true competitor, he got out there and knocked it out, and after over 10 months of practice, I didn't have the heart to make him sit out on the last meet of the year. So he got a gold medal in P-Bars and a bunch of ribbons for the rest, he got 5th-7th in everything else I think. If they had him in with the first years, he would have gotten a TON more medals, I was keeping up with those scores and he got some super great ones today. But, at the end of this video, there will be links to the other ones on YouTube if you want to watch them, the ones from this meet say "April" on the title.

And a few pictures from the day as well:


A handstand contest (he's in the middle in white):


And the Gold Medal routine:

Canopy Bed?

We had movie night last night since dad is out of town for a few days. I let each kid pick a movie to watch so we started with Regan's, "The Secret Garden" and ended with Riley's "Ghostbusters" (which was a little scarier than I remembered it). I made the ultimate comfort food, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

But, while watching Regan's movie, she mentioned that she loved the bed the little girl had. I said, "Yeah, that is a beautiful canopy bed, isn't it?" And she says, "Yeah mom, I want a can opener bed like that! But why do they call it a can opener bed? Does it open cans too?!"

Home School Park Day

Old Settler's Park

I joined a Round Rock home school group, to meet some friends and get ideas about home school for next year. They have park days every Friday and since the kids get out at noon on Fridays, we decided to meet up with them and hopefully make some friends. I was surprised but there were boys there Riley's age, he had a great time playing football, they met a guy who was net-fishing and he let them grab some fish, they found some duck eggs, and just had some good boy time. Regan met some girls, but I think they were all a little more shy. She said she met one friend, which is a good start. She fell off the zip-line thing and wanted to go have her arm x-rayed (think brother is stealing her spotlight?)

Hand Update

This is just another picture of the hand, it's turning colors.

Boxing Glove

Riley is sporting one of these bad boys now! He hates it, and the rash is...just a rash.

Sent from my G1 phone

When it Rains...

Any rash experts out there know what this is? Why Riley didn't have this yesterday while we were AT the doctor's office, I don't know. But he said today that his upper arms are itchy and have this rash. He's not on any medicine, no new foods or anything. Since David, Regan and I all have eczema, I thought that, but it doesn't look like anything the 3 of us have ever had. Then I thought staph since he's on sweaty mats at gymnastics a lot, but when I did an image search for staph, let's just say I don't recommend doing that. And I know chicken pox is going around at school, but they've both been vaccinated for that, and it doesn't look like the chicken pox I had when I was 16 and covered head to toe in them, and believe me, I remember WELL what that looked like! Plus, he hasn't had any of the fever or other symptoms that lead up to the pox. So, I'm clueless. Back to the doc tomorrow I guess. Wish they would give us the referral for the ortho already, kill two birds with one stone.

Another Break

Riley was out playing tackle football with the boys next door, who are 6 and 4. He loves playing with them, and they love to tackle him and play rough, just like Riley. They even have some of the same shirts as Riley, they just adore him. Well, the 4 year old, Tony, took Riley down hard, and he landed wrong, and he came inside that night with a swollen finger. David and I thought he had just jammed it, so we sent him to bed with an ice pack to see how it was in the morning. By then it was starting to turn blue/green, so we sent him to school and I was going to make a doctor's appointment as soon as their office opened. Well, the first appt available was around 11, but before then Riley calls and the school had told him that he needed to go to a doctor for his finger. Made me feel like a bad mom for sending him that morning.

But, I got him, took him to the doctor, 6 x-rays later, it's a fractured hand, at the base where the finger attaches to the hand, one of the bones is fractured. The really bad part...this is 5 days before the last big gymnastics meet that he's been practicing for for the last 10 months! And, the doctor said no trampoline, no skateboarding, and no gymnastics for 4-5 weeks. That's a long time for a boy like him! So we have to go see an orthopedic doc and get a splint on it, and hope it doesn't break more. It's gonna be a long month!

K-5 Dance

Regan and her BFF Raquel making a silly face

Riley's idea of a school dance, pizza and Dr. Pepper

I'm such a guppy. I'm on the parent volunteer committee at the kid's school, and they weren't going to have a dance this year because no one had stepped up to organize it, and like the sucker I am, I said, "I'll do it!" The kids love the dance, and I figured, how hard can it be, right? UGH! Not that it was that difficult, but just getting everything together, the pizza and drinks and snacks to sell, the volunteers, etc. But in the end, it was worth it, the kids had a great time and we raised almost $500 for books for the school library.

And, being the guppy that I am, I also agreed to organize Teacher Appreciation Week, which is the week before Book Fair, which I also organize. This is the busiest time of year, school wise for me, as a parent volunteer. I sometimes wonder if by home schooling, my life might actually be a little less stressful!

Local Celebrity

While we were at the Relay for Life, we passed a table that had the Pflugerville Pflag (our local newspaper) on it, and what a shock to see Regan right there on the cover! It was a picture from when we handed out gifts at the nursing home, and all Regan's Girl Scout friends were so excited to see Regan on the front page! I took a copy, and took pictures, so I could share! We had such a good time at the nursing home too, can't wait to go back with the kids.

Relay for Life

Regan's Girl Scout troop had a community service project at the Relay for Life. They got to pass out balloons to all the cancer survivors wearing purple shirts. They had a good time, even though the track/field was rained out and we were all crammed inside the Pflugerville High School gym and cafeteria. It was a crowded madhouse! But the girls enjoyed passing out the balloons, and we went to the rally where they had all the Survivors make a lap, and another lap with their caregivers, and release their balloons when they call out how many years since their diagnosis. It's always emotional for me, I was there thinking my mom could have been releasing her balloon on the 10 year mark right now. How I wish I had known more about organizations like these when my mom was battling breast cancer. But, I'm glad that Regan was there to help, and learn about all the ways we can help others.

So Tired...

Every once in a while, Regan comes home from school so exhausted, she passes out on the couch. Not too often, usually the girl has energy to spare! But on Thursday's, dad picks her up from school since I get Riley a tad early and book it to gymnastics, so they have daddy/girlie time for a bit. Then I got home after gymnastics to find her wiped out on the couch. Too cute, and she just looks so innocent, and QUIET! That's definitely rare.

Mean Ricky

My cat can be so mean sometimes. He kicks poor, sweet Bailey out of his own comfy bed, so he can curl up in it and sleep all day. Poor little Bailey ends up over by the cat toys, sad eyed and mopey. That's why we call him Rick the Prick.

I Feel Like a Bad Mom

Bear with me, but here's the story as to why I feel horrible:

Leo and Linda came to town to help Tiffany move some of her stuff back to Louisiana. We have a double gate in the backyard so they just pulled into the back so the trailer wouldn't be blocking our driveway. They parked next to the trampoline. Riley and Tristan were jumping on the trampoline, wrestling, and they both had their phones fall out of their pockets. So, since Leo and Linda's truck was right next to the trampoline, the boys put their cell phones on top of the truck. Probably not the smartest move, but hey, they're 10. Well, when they got down, Tristan got his phone, Riley thought Tristan had grabbed his phone too, but he didn't. So, as Riley was going over to Tristan's house later to spend the night, he calls me from Tristan's phone to ask me to PLEASE go get his phone off the top of the truck.

Well, I'm short. I can't reach. So I waited for David to get out of the shower so he could grab it for me. And I'm apparently forgetful. The next day, on our way home from church, Riley asks for his phone, and that's when it hits me like a ton of bricks, I completely forgot to have David go get it. I felt horrible, especially because David got mad at Riley about it, but I felt like it was all my fault.

David clearly remembers seeing *something* fly off the top of the truck, on the highway. Turns out it wasn't just a big leaf, but a small phone.

Bottom line, look what mom is getting for Riley now:


It's not my G1, but I think he'll like it.

Easter Eggs

We were a day late, but we finally got around to coloring some eggs. On Sunday, David and I had to work at church, David works in the parking lot, directing traffic, and I usually do Wednesday nights in the nursery, but being Easter, they needed a lot of extra help, so I helped out in the 12-18 months room. It was a busy morning! And then Pam and Dave offered to take the kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens, which I really wanted to see too, but David and I ended up spending a quiet afternoon at the bookstore (after everything at the Domain was closed!). So, we never got around to coloring eggs until Monday, and then it was after gymnastics, before dinner, it was kind of a rush job, but they enjoyed it, it was a glitter kit, so there were some sparkly, glittery eggs, and some sparkly, glittery counter tops afterward!

Saturday-Steak Night

We had our Easter dinner on Saturday night after church. The kids had a helicopter candy drop at church and we brought Daniel, Nikki, Kenzie and Leo and Linda with us. Then everyone came back to our house, David grilled steaks that were SO good, ribs and burgers, we had sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, pies from Marie Callendar's, all yummy! The kids had a really neat egg hunt, the eggs were reflective, and it came with 4 flashlights, so Uncle Kris tossed the eggs out into the backyard, and gave each kid a flashlight and they had so much fun looking around the yard for the eggs, that you don't see until your flashlight is on them, then they are nice and bright. It was a good night!

Good Friday

David's dad and stepmom, Leo and Linda, came in for Easter and brought huge bags of crawfish to boil. I'm not a fan, but we invited the whole family over to partake, and half the neighborhood kids show up to check things out, as usual. Regan was running around with a sausage in one hand, a corn cob in the other. David smoked pork shoulders, one for us and one for our church group, so guess what I ate?

Wells Branch Homestead

Wells Branch Homestead

Today I subbed in Regan's class, for a study trip to Wells Branch Homestead. It was a lot of fun! The kids had tour guides that were just like the old settlers, they made one group the "Cowboys" and the other group the "Indians" and showed the kids what it was like to live back in those days. They got to climb in a covered wagon, lay under a brush arbor, see a sugar cane stripping machine, see the "outhouse", the flat-top syrup maker, and even a small farmhouse and some of the tools people used back then. It was quite informative. We also had a picnic lunch and played on the playground for a bit.

Regan doesn't like to listen to me when I'm her teacher, so it always proves to be an interesting day when I'm subbing in her class!

Servolution Part 2

Riley and I went to Georgetown High School and honored the teachers. I really wanted Riley to go and serve and learn a little appreciation for all the hard work teachers do. We aren't in the Georgetown school district, but I wanted him to be a blessing to teachers, and learn to honor and respect them. I know as a typical 10 year old boy, he gives his teacher a fair share of headaches, I imagine. So it was nice to be able to provide lunch and just be a blessing. Riley was great, he brought around plates of bread, cookies and a pitcher of lemonade for refills, he took their plates as soon as they were finished eating, and helped fill cups of lemonade, and helped me carry a ton of stuff in from the truck. He was a blessing to have as my helper!

SERVOLUTION!

I *LOVE* our church! Right now we are in the middle of "Servolution" which is a series of community service projects, just getting out there and showing God's love to anyone and everyone. Like the saying goes, People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care! I signed up for just about everything I could. On Saturday we did the Single Mom's Oil Change, David changed oil while Riley played with the bigger kids on the sports court, Regan ran around the whole church bringing hot dogs and donuts to volunteers and playing with some of the kids. I worked on the playground watching kids so the mom's could go inside and get their nails done, or just eat a hot dog in peace! I watched a set of 2 year old twins while mom took a short, much needed hot dog break, and helped her get them buckled into her car when she was done. She thanked me so much, and our church, practically in tears that people would care so much.

Today we met up with a group at a Pflugerville nursing home, and handed out clay crosses and cards that the children's church made for Easter. I took Riley and Regan, a little nervous about Regan and her lack of filter. I went through all the "rules" (it may smell, some people may be loud, or have no teeth, etc. DON'T SAY A WORD!)

But they did great, handed out the gifts, shook hands with some, hugged some, talked even, Regan especially, about stuffed animals, Easter, candy. A lady from the Pflugerville Pflag even took a picture of Regan handing out a gift and asked for permission to print it in the paper!

I think the kids did great, they even want to go back soon, and make cards or something. But what meant the most to me, a lady on her way out the door stopped me and said that the kids really made her mom's day, it was her first day there, and they both were very anxious, nervous, but having the kids come by and bring a gift really put them both at ease and just made her mom feel special. That's what it's all about.

Servolution...pass it on!

Modeling Session

Regan got a "new to me" dress and it finally fit, so she wanted me to take her picture in the dress. After I snapped a couple in the driveway before we left for church, she shrugged her sweater off her shoulders and told me to take one more! Model in the making!

Father Daughter Dance

It was the annual Father/Daughter Dance with Girl Scouts. The theme was "Under the Sea" and each troop needed to provide a dessert and/or centerpiece. I combined ours, and made beachy cupcakes (Teddy Grahams enjoying a day at the beach, laying out on their beach towel, playing with their beach balls) and had them on a cupcake display for the centerpiece. And can you believe we didn't win the decoration contest? Look how cute they are:


But here's Regan and her daddy, before the dance, they even match!


Don't they look adorable! I had Riley and Tristan, and as usual, they played on the computer while I watched a cheesy Lifetime movie.

Quiet Around Here...

This is the way it usually goes, school starts back, and the blogging stops! We haven't done much this week, gymnastics on Monday, church on Wednesday, David got called out to San Angelo at the last minute for an overnight trip, so Thursday was fun, the kids always act up when they miss their dad. Then today I had a PVC meeting at school, and when the kids got out, we met David at my new favorite place to eat, Tacodeli.

Tomorrow will be busy though, our church is doing a ton of community service projects, called Servolution, and tomorrow is a Single Mom's Oil Change. David is signed up to help change oil, me and the kids are helping with the kids, making gifts to bring to a nursing home, for another Servolution project later in the week. On Tuesday I will be helping bring lunch to all the teachers at Georgetown High School, feeding them and restocking the teacher lounge with goodies. One day next week I'll be going to a nursing home to give out the gifts, one day will be serving food to the Round Rock Police Department, and if I can fit it in, delivering kites to Ft. Hood.

And after the oil change tomorrow, I got tickets for David and Riley to see Story Musgrave, one of David's heroes. I haven't decided if Regan and I will go, I doubt she will appreciate a lecture on space and astronomy at her age. Then tomorrow night is the father/daughter dance with Girl Scouts, so it's a busy day.