My Birthday Miracle!

Around the weekend July 4th, Monte got out of the house. He had done this quite a bit, he would go out for a bit, explore the backyard, but wouldn't venture out too far cause he's a big scaredy cat. Well, for whatever reason, when he got out over the holiday weekend, he never came home. We have a big deck in our backyard and sometimes he would go under it, but we could never see him under there. We also live next to a greenbelt where there are racoons, rabbits, coyotes, and even a mountain lion has been spotted. So, we prayed about it, the kids prayed for him to come home, but honestly, as the days wore on, I gave him up as eaten by a coyote.

Then about a week or two ago, David and I were watching TV late one night, and heard a cat fight. Hissing, scratching, screaming, so we grabbed a flashlight and ran outside in time to see our little Monte run up under the deck. We called, we stomped on the deck, we set out food and water, but we could never get him to come in. David did almost grab a possum thinking it was Monte though, that was pretty funny, and gross, those things are really ugly!!

Then again, a night or two later, heard the cat fight, and saw Monte run across the yard. I don't know why he wouldn't come to us or come meow at the back door like he used to. But, we prayed for him to be safe and have food and water, and come home soon.

Then, on my 40th birthday (or, the 1st anniversary of my 39th birthday, as I prefer to think of it) David let Princess out, and when I opened the back door to let her in, who is standing there but Mr. Monte?! He was meowing and I gently walked up and grabbed him and got him inside ASAP, got him some food and water and sure enough, he walked right over to the dog food and started chowing down. He always did prefer dog food (he's a little special).

So, wow, after over 2 months living on the street, he's skinny, he's scrawny, he's dirty, and roughed up around the edges, but he's SUPER lovey, doesn't want us to put him down, he just sits on our lap all day if we let him. The kids are SO happy to have their Mont-ster home!!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend

My cousin Christina and her 2 youngest kids, Jeremiah and Joy, came to visit us for Labor Day weekend! We were so excited. They came in Friday night, and so Saturday morning we got up and hit the road. We went to Chuy's for lunch (a must for any visiting guests) and especially during Hatch Green Chili Festival! I feel like a drug dealer, I got another one hooked on the Creamy Jalepeno (mwah ha ha!)

Then we went to the Capitol Building and took a ton of pictures. There were about 10 different Quinceneras there for photos also, so the girls loved checking out all the frilly dresses. Then we went to Big Top Candy Shop and got some good old fashioned candy, and an Italian Creme Soda (yum).

Then we went home, where David had been smoking a brisket all day, and had that for dinner. Sunday we went to church, and I had a Groupon for Texas Jumping Beans, so we took them there for a while to blow off some steam. And Kenzie and Eli joined us there so Tina could meet her newest baby cousin!

Then Tina's oldest son Josh, who is in the Air Force and stationed in San Antonio, came up for the afternoon. We went to Mighty Fine since we took Jeremiah there when he came to visit and couldn't stop talking about the "automatic hand washers" and the two-way mirror in the boy's bathroom! So we sat on the patio so the kids could play on the playground and eat their burgers and we ate Cajun food from Razzoo's!

It was over too quick, as Monday morning they had to get back to Houston. Especially with half of Texas on fire, they ended up in a lot of traffic and smoke was everywhere by this point. It was a good trip though, our kids love getting together, and I'm so glad they have cousins close by to play with.

Updates

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've updated this thing, again. I will just post some updates and hopefully be able to keep up better now that the kids are in school.

First, that's the big thing, the kids started back to school at a college prep school in Georgetown. So far so good. Riley came home with a girlfriend, and several more girls that want to be girlfriends. That boy is a player already. I'm scared for the teenage years that are just-around-the-corner!! He is liking his new school, not sure if it's because of the girls, but I'm just glad he's liking it right now! He has a block schedule, starting with PE (they take a bus to the Georgetown Rec Center for PE) and he has to wear a PE uniform and all, it's cute. Then he has Science, Spanish and English, and the next day he has a Leadership class, History, Music Ensemble (he plays piano) and Math. He has a couple of teachers he's not thrilled with, but overall, he's enjoying it. He has a Galaxy Tablet that all the kids use for school, so that's kind of nice, no heavy backpacks and all their work is done on their tablet.

Regan on the other hand...well, it's been a bit more of a transition for her. But, being that it's a brand new elementary, they do have some growing pains right now. They hired 2 teachers, but really needed 3, so until they could hire another teacher, they crammed all the 4th graders into 2 classes, so they are huge right now. She got shuffled to another teacher and was sad because she really liked the teacher she started off with originally. But, we had a meeting with the elementary principal and counselor about Regan's learning issues and we had a very good meeting. We will have an ARD meeting soon and get a plan together for her to begin speech therapy at school for the stutter and they will pull her out to work on reading and writing and they also will start some math tutoring. Since she's been diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia and discalculia, she qualifies to have a "504" plan, which basically means she will get some extra, much needed help! I am very happy about that, she's a very smart girl, she just lacks some confidence after struggling with her reading and writing for so long.

Next week their school will start their after school clubs, and basically, they have a bunch of clubs that the kids can choose to go to after school. I'm torn since I don't work, there's no reason for the kids to stay at school till 4:30 or 5:00, but 2 days of the week is dance practice and Regan decided she wants to join dance. I'm all for it, I hope she enjoys it, and I think she will be great at it! Then one day they have Zumba, which she isn't thrilled about, but I told her to try it out, she may really love it. And one day is Girl Start, which I'm very excited about, it's "empowering girls in science, math and technology"! I think it will be great for my future vet! Riley will be in Robotics and not sure what else yet, they haven't given us the middle school club options yet.

And now...the good stuff! My kids don't ever check this blog, and I'm no good at keeping secrets, but we decided this year to surprise the kids for Christmas and take them to...DISNEY WORLD!! I'm so excited. I was thinking about Christmas, and how I am so tired of buying stuff they don't need, or things that end up laying around on the floor for ME to pick up, and really, my kids do NOT need one more electronic item! So, a friend recommended a Disney planner, which I was hesitant to use since I've planned our trips myself and did just fine thankyouverymuch. But, I thought, we will see what she can do for us.

And wow, I'm sold! She was awesome. There's a free dining plan during when we want to go, so all our food will be free (with the exception of one meal since we are having breakfast with the Princesses and that counts as 2 meals. It better be worth it!) The planner took our dates, booked our hotel (and since food is free, we could get a nicer hotel!) and booked all our dinner and lunch reservations! And, she got us tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, where we get to have cookies and cocoa and watch it snow on Main Street!

So, we will be taking the kids out of school for a week, and we are going to surprise them. Not sure how yet. David wants to just show up at the airport and not say a word about where we are going, but I say that's bo-ring. I want to have presents wrapped with little hints, or do a scavenger hunt around the house and they have to guess. Something anyway. We still have some time to work on that part.

As you can tell, I'm excited. I can't wait. I'm counting down the days!! But if you see the kids...don't say anything!!

I guess that's it around here. Not much going on outside of school and work and laundry. Now you know why I haven't posted more often!