Happy New Years!

We were going to have another big shindig like Christmas Eve, but with everyone going out of town, or having made other plans, we ended up having a simple night, which was SO much fun! Kenzie came over, and then Daniel and his girlfriend Nikki and we rocked the Rock Band for a while. It was a lot of fun. We ordered pizza, I made guacamole and queso, and then the guys played some Fight Night, and we all laughed at their expense. It was fun. I got to give my boy Riley a big smooch for New Years, I don't think he appreciates that tradition yet, but David was playing a game, and in deep. Pam and Dave even stopped by with their leftovers from Buca's, tiramasu, YUM!

Here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!

Merry Christmas!

It was a rough night last night, waiting for the kids to go to bed so I could wrap the last few presents. We watched A Christmas Story, called Norad to find out when Santa would be in Texas, and then put them to bed around 11, found them trying to sleep on the floor in the game room (the better to hear Santa when he comes) and then yelled at Riley to stay in bed already at 1am.

David then gave me MY present, a nice, new, tiny digital camera. I've been wanting a small one, my old one is just that...old. And big, and clunky. I still want a nice SLR, but I wanted a nice small one I could just stick in my pocket and still take pretty decent pics. This one is a Cannon PowerShot, 10 megapixels, should do me JUST fine!! I tried to figure it all out so I could use it in the morning, but I still have a few things to figure out. I did take a few pictures with it, but I didn't want to mess up and not have ANY pictures of Christmas morning.

Thankfully, the kids didn't wake us up to open presents until around 9:30, so we got a late start. We played a few tricks on them, Riley's first gift was a box of coal, he didn't appreciate the humor, but Regan did! Then we had already taken out his Xbox 360 so David could set it up and have it ready to go, but we replaced it with a brick so it wouldn't just be an empty box. But when he opened it and saw the brick, we told him someone must have stolen the 360 and put a brick in there. He was pretty upset about it, and David was going to just keep opening presents like it was no big deal, but I finally told him that's just mean, so he asked Riley to go get a blanket over by the TV, and he saw the Xbox plugged in there, so he was happy again!

Regan was harder to buy for this year, she hates cleaning her room, so I didn't want anything with parts all over the place. So, for her main gift, she got a Nintendo DS and games to go with it, Arctic Tale, Boogie, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Mario Kart, Pac Man, Pet Vet, My Little Pony, and a couple others. She also got a couple of games for the Wii, a cat game, Monkey Ball, and Tamagotchi. And, her very own pair of Heely's, which I'm worried a little bit about. She's not the most coordinated kid on the block! She already got mad at the wheels and took them out, and is just wearing them as regular shoes right now.

Riley, he pretty much got the 360 and Rock Band 2, which we already formed a band, Dad on guitar, Riley on drums, and mom on vocals, and rocked the house!! That game is SO much fun! He also got a few games to go with it, Call of Duty 4 (more for dad) Army of Two (for dad) some racing games, and a few others. He also got a new pair of Heely's, they match the ones we got Tristan. They also fit mom, so I might have to give them a try soon! If I have a blog post soon about a broken hip, you'll know why!

Dad got to share the 360, and a few clothes and the usual socks and undies that I make sure we all get! I also got my new Coach bag that I'm TOTALLY in love with, that's my gift from Alex, Tristan and Merissa, which was so sweet!!

After we opened presents (which Ricky very much objected too, he's been loving hiding behind them all under the tree) I made my famous Christmas morning cinammon rolls, and then we've just been playing around the rest of the day. I'm still in my pj's, and David JUST changed out of his, so it's been a nice, lazy day!

Mooyah, Zilker, Amy's...Oh, My!

Zilker Gardens

Since the weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately and David had to work, so our day trip to Waco is postponed yet again, we picked up Daniel and Kenzie and headed to Mooyah Burgers for lunch, yum. They have some really yummy burgers and the kids loved inserting the term "mooyah" into every sentence. Regan said as we left, "They should call it 'Horse-yah' cause Horses are better!" Not to eat dear, not to eat.

Then we headed to Zilker Gardens to see the Dinosaurs! That was a lot of fun, they had life size dinos all over the place, and of course, a day with the Aldridge siblings is never dull. The woman at the gift shop told us to be on the lookout for the extra dinosaurs, so Daniel was trying to take pictures of the little gray haired ladies that he saw on the trail (even saying they were out of their natural habitat, the Bridge Club!) Guess you had to be there. Anyway, it was fun, they had some really neat dinos, and of couse, we all had a laugh at the Japanese Gardens (think Airplane!) and by that time it had warmed up quite a bit so we decided to cool off at, where else, Amy's Ice Cream.

So we headed to our favorite location, next to Phil's so the kids could play. They had the coolest cow, a skeleton cow, but they covered and moved it before I could get a good picture, bummer. But Daniel and Riley played a rousing game of Shuffleboard, and we enjoyed pumpkin (or as Regan said 'punkin') ice cream.

We had a great day and can't wait to hang again you guys, I always have a blast with them too. We're on a mission now to get our big brother Donnie down here for Thanksgiving so we can have the whole family together again for the first time in over 10 years!!

Fall Break Week One

On Monday, David went to San Angelo for the night to work, and the kids had gymnastics, so afterwards, we had a picnic at the park, and played for a while. Long enough for me to realize the park where we used to walk Jake years and years ago wasn't the same, safe, family-friendly park anymore. As soon as it started getting dark, the weirdo's started coming out, so we split!

Tuesday was Brownies and Regan is now selling fall products (nuts and chocolates) to raise money for her Brownie troop, which is just hilarious to hear her sales pitch. It goes something like this..."Hi, I'm Regan, this is nuts, what would you like to buy?" She got to practice at Mimi and Papa's and it's a good thing, she's not really a salesman, but who can resist a cute little Brownie?!

Wednesday night was church and it was an awesome service!

Thursday again, not much, since I told the kids we wouldn't have any fun until they cleaned up, so they would rather not clean, and not do anything fun. Fine by me! Finally, we ran some errands in time to drop Riley off at gymnastics and for me and Regan to hit some good sales at The Children's Place!

Then on Friday, we went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua (okay for me, the kids LOVED it, especially Regan, and of course, now she wants one, BAD). And when David got home from work we went to eat Chinese and play Putt-Putt, which was a blast, and there was a raccoon playing in the water fountain on the putt-putt course right next to us, little thing wasn't shy at all. He was so cute, just bathing away, looking right at me. The weather has been nice so it was great to be outside enjoying it, and letting the kids run around and burn off some energy! Excuse the grainy pics, but they're from my cell phone.

20 Questions with the Kids

This was a questionnaire a couple of my friends asked their kids, I thought it was cute, so I thought I would see what my kids had to say, and sure enough, they made me laugh. Here ya go:

1. What is something that Mom always says to you?
Riley: I love you
Regan: I love you

2. What makes Mom happy?
Riley: Good Kids
Regan: Cleaning up

3. What makes Mom Sad?
Riley: When mom and dad fight
Regan: Whenever we watch sad movies

4. What does Mom do to make you laugh?
Riley: Make jokes about Tristan
Regan: Tickle my chin

5. What was Mom like as a child?
Riley: A Girl
Regan: A kid

6. How old is your Mom?
Riley: 36
Regan: I don't know! 54

7. How tall is your Mom ?
Riley: 5 feet (I’m almost as tall as you!)
Regan: Hold on, stand up...(she stands on the couch arm and puts her hand on my head and goes) She's THIS TALL!

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Riley: Have the kids go to school
Regan: Sit down and watch Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine, and Ariel (um, no).

9. What does you're Mom do when you are not around?
Riley: Play on the computer and watch TV, and sometimes out with your friends but not as much now.
Regan: Work, play with her friends.

10. If your Mom becomes Famous what will it be for?
Riley: Best cooking.
Regan: Because she's so cute (awww)

11. What is your Mom really good at?
Riley: Cooking and driving.
Regan: Exercising (ha!)

12. What is your Mom not really good at?
Riley: Nothing, you’re good at everything.
Regan: Singing (all those years of choir for nothing I guess)

13. What does your Mom do for her Job?
Riley: Work at Omega
Regan: Work so we can get money so we can get food

14. What is your Mom's favorite food?
Riley: I forgot, do you like watermelon? (Uh, no) Okay, tomatoes. (Like them, but not my favorite)
Regan: Vegetables (ha again!)

15. What makes you Proud of your Mom?
Riley: Everything.
Regan: Taking me to a playground.

16. If your Mom were a cartoon Character who would she be?
Riley: Sandy Cheeks from SpongeBob (cause you’re both really good at stuff and have good inventions)
Regan: Wanda (Fairy Godparent)

17. What do you and your Mom do together?
Riley: We go to gymnastics and go to fun places.
Regan: Go play on the playground.

18. How are you and your Mom the same?
Riley: We both like tomatoes.
Regan: We both have friends.

19. How are you and your Mom different?
Riley: I like watermelon and you don’t.
Regan: You're taller and I'm smaller.

20. How do you know that your Mom loves you?
Riley: Cause if she didn’t love me then she wouldn’t be my parent.
Regan: Because I love you.


1. What is something that Dad always says to you?
Riley: Hey, Buddy.
Regan: You're the smartest.

2. What makes Dad happy?
Riley: A good dirt bike rider like me!
Regan: Making his favorite food.

3. What makes Dad Sad?
Riley: A bad, bad kid.
Regan: Not getting his favorite food.

4. How does Dad make you laugh?
Riley: Tells funny jokes.
Regan: He tickles me.

5. What was Dad like as a child?
Riley: Just like me except with a short afro.
Regan: Like Riley.

6. How old is your Dad?
Riley: 37
Regan: 28

7. How tall is your Dad?
Riley: 5’9” (shaved quite a few inches off there!!)
Regan: 30 Feet

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
Riley: Be on the computer.
Regan: Play on the computer.

9. What does you're Dad do when you are not around?
Riley: Go to work
Regan: Goes to work

10. If your Dad becomes Famous what will it be for?
Riley: Biggest Party Pooper
Regan: Because he's awesome

11. What is your Dad really good at?
Riley: Being on the computer
Regan: Playing the guitar (he's never played!)

12. What is your Dad not really good at?
Riley: Making homemade root beer (it tastes like beer)
Regan: Dancing

13. What does your Dad do for his Job?
Riley: He used to work at Dell, he’s a computer geek, he works on computers
Regan: Works on computers.

14. What is your Dad's favorite food?
Riley: Ribs
Regan: Broccoli

15: What makes you proud of your dad?
Riley: He's an awesome barbequer.
Regan: Taking me fun places.

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
Riley: Vicki the babysitter, from The Fairly Oddparents.
Regan: SpongeBob

17. What do you and your dad do together?
Riley: Play paintball and ride my dirt bike.
Regan: Stay home and watch TV, his favorite show.

18. How are you and your Dad the same?
Riley: We both like paintball.
Regan: We eat the same food.

19. How are you and your Dad different?
Riley: He talks trash and I tell the truth.
Regan: I play on playgrounds and he doesn't.

20: How do you know that your Dad loves you?
Riley: Cause if he didn't love me he would yell at me a lot.
Regan: Because I'm the smartest.

Daniel!

What a surprise! Dave called me yesterday and said that Daniel called and was out of jail and coming to meet him and come to church with all of us this morning. Pam is in New Orleans right now, so we met Dave and Daniel at Celebration Church, and went out to eat after and it was so good to see Daniel and he looks so good! He said he met with his attorney and the prosecutor last week and they wanted him to agree to go to jail for 3 years and he said no. His lawyer said no, that wasn't even a good deal. So the prosecutor sent his case to the grand jury and they said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute, so they set him free. They woke him up Friday morning and said, "You're out of here!"

Daniel is currently living with his AA sponsor and this week he's going to work on finding a job, and doing what he can to get his life back on track. Dave had some bikes at the office that just needed air in the tires so we got one fixed up for him, aired up, he was so excited, now he has a way to get around a little bit. I bagged up some food for him, he was so happy to be out and around, he loved church, he loved seeing everyone. Regan and Riley loved seeing him, I think they think they have a new big brother now, since they think Kenzie is their big sister!

So I've got his cell phone number and I know where he lives if you want to get in touch with him, email me, I can hook you up!

Travis County Jail

Kenzie and I went to visit Daniel, in Travis County Jail. I hadn't seen him in over 4 years, and Kenzie hadn't seen him in over 5 years. He looks really good, he's in jail for tampering with evidence I think, apparently he had drugs on him when he was stopped by police and he tried to swallow them. He said he has a weak case and he might end up spending 2 years in jail this time. But he will at least be off the streets and warm. We had a good visit, typical Aldridge family visit, cracking jokes and laughing, I think the people around us thought we were odd that we were having such a good time! But we were so happy to see him, and see him looking so good. He looks older, hard to believe he's a 30 year old man and not my baby brother anymore! He's talking about going to the Dream Center in LA when he does get out, which would be awesome, so we're trying to see if we can get something worked out. But if anyone wants to see him, you don't have to be on a list, his day is Monday, from 6-9, and I think you can go on weekends, but not sure the times, but weekends are contact visits. And you can write him also, so if you want to write to him, email me for his inmate number, and DOB, that has to be on all correspondence.