Regan = Sassy

The last couple of days when I pick the kids up from school, one of Regan's random friends will come over to me and ask me, "Was Regan born sassy?" At first I thought, how cute, they think she's sassy too, but after the 3rd or 4th kid asked me that I finally asked one of them, "Well, why do you ask?" "Regan tells all of us that she was BORN SASSY!"

That's my girl!

Kenzie!

I feel like a Mama Hen, and all my little baby chicks are doing good right now. I know they are my siblings, and they probably don't like my referring to them as my baby chicks, but until they are flying on their own, they're gonna be my baby chicks! So here are some pictures of Kenzie doing praise and worship at her church in Sugar Land this weekend! I heard through a friend that she was awesome!!

She's making all A's and B's in school, and she'll be coming back to Austin to get a job over the summer, so we're looking forward to having her back in our family.

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!

NYOS Dance

NYOS Dance

After the Sweet Harvest, we booked it back to town for the NYOS K-5 dance. It was K-2 for the first 2 hours, then the 3rd graders could stay for an extra hour to mingle with the 4-5th graders, sort of a meet and greet since the 3rd grade will be moving up soon with the 4th grade. It was so cute to see those little kids out there, most of them have more moves than many adults I know!! They would play Soulja Boy and the kids would go crazy, and most all of them knew all the dance moves (Riley included)!! Then a Hannah Montana song would come on, the girls would SQUEAL, the boys would cover their ears and RUN off the dance floor! It was so cute. Of course, my kids started off as wallflowers, stuck to the side of the wall with some pizza, but after a while they got warmed up. Riley ended up in some type of Conga line or something. They had a good time and the principal ended up getting out there and doing the twist with them too. And for the "grown up" portion where Regan wasn't allowed out, she helped sell drinks and sweets, so she even enjoyed that. It was a LONG day though, it was so nice to get home!

Sweet Harvest

Sweet Harvest

We got up semi-early (for a Saturday) and headed to Marble Falls and had breakfast at the legendary Blue Bonnet Cafe, then met the Daisy Scouts at Sweet Berry Farm for some Girl Scout activities. It was a wonderful day for it, the weather was beautiful, not too hot, and it wasn't too muddy out in the strawberry fields. First we got our strawberry baskets and walked up and down row after row of ripe, red strawberries. The farmers talked to the girls about picking "the redder the better" and Regan had it in her head that she only wanted pointy ones, for whatever reason, so we had to pass over a bunch of nice juicy looking ones because they weren't pointy enough for little miss perfect.

Once we filled our baskets, we went to the Giant Ladybug area, and learned about how ladybugs are good for strawberry plants. They gave each of the girls their very own ladybug to take and "re-home" on a strawberry plant.

Then we got to go on a bumpy hay ride and look at all the goats and donkeys and feed them some of the grass. And then the best part, ice cream! We all got the pumpkin flavor, it's the best ice cream I've ever had, and worth the drive out there just for that! I can't wait to go back in a couple of months for blackberry season.

April Fools!

What a crazy day!! First my kids make a HUGE mess, they spilled cocoa ALL over the place, it was a horrible mess...
Then after they cleaned that up we ate dessert for dinner!! Big fluffy cupcakes, with yummy bright blue icing, they were so light and moist and delicious!!

And then, for dessert, we had sushi! The kids weren't too sure about sushi, but hey, you only live once, right? So they were brave, they tried it, and surprisingly enough, they LOVED it, they kept going back for more! And they want to eat like this every night!


And of course, APRIL FOOLS!! I made the cocoa mess out of glue and brown paint and marshmallows a few days ago and left it on the computer desk and really got them good with that today when they got home from school! I was yelling at them for having drinks by them computer when they aren't supposed to, the look on their poor little faces, until they picked up the cup and the "mess" came with it, was priceless!

The cupcakes, were meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top, with blue food coloring. Regan was kind of mad, she really was looking forward to dessert for dinner! And she took that first bite, and the look she gave me, I'm surprised I didn't melt right there from the heat of her stare!

And the sushi was rice crispy treats wrapped in fruit roll ups, with gummy worms inside. Those were a big hit though, Tristan was wanting to hit those hard!!

And of course the pranks were out in full force, I got Alex with the rubber band around the water sprayer trick, sprayed him good, it was great for me to get someone for a change, usually I'm the one that's on the receiving end of the pranks.

But the day ended too soon, I had many more tricks up my sleeve. Maybe we can extend it just a little bit?? They really won't see it coming then!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ashley!

AshleysBirthday

Ashley is my brother Pete's girlfriend's daughter, but un-officially, she's my niece, cause she's cute as a bug and her and Regan love to play together! We went to Chuck E Cheese and had a great time, and then Pete, Jessi and Ashley came over so she could ride her new bicycle, and David smoked some chickens and had a good time hanging out at the house. Regan enjoyed having someone to play with since Riley always has Tristan over.

Father Daughter Dance

Regan's Girl Scouts had a Father Daughter dance and I SO wanted to be a fly on the wall!! I told Regan that she was going on a "daddy date" and she just gave me her look and said, "I don't go on dates with grown ups!" She told me she was nervous, and so was daddy! He wasn't sure about the dance part, and neither was she.

I think they both had a great time. David said he was surprised I couldn't hear the squeals all the way at the house whenever they played a Hannah Montana song, the girls would go crazy! And Regan and her friend ran to the dance floor (without Daddy's) to dance the electric slide! And the theme was Fiesta, they had a Mariachi band, and David said Regan asked him why they kept playing the same song over and over! She was in heaven since they served taquitos, beans and rice. And for pictures, she insisted David wear a nice, fake black mustache. Now I need to find a scanner, that picture is priceless! They had a great time and they came back all cuddly and are good little buddies now, so it was nice that they got to spend that special time together, and dad got a great peak into the world of little girls, Hannah Montana, and purple glitter hair spray!

The "G" Word!

Oh wow, I am SO not ready for this one! We've had some new people moving into our neighborhood, and one of them was a nice lady and her granddaughter, Kali. I got a call from her one day saying Riley invited Kali to church with us and she wanted to make sure that was okay. I'm fine with that, we're easy, we usually have extra kids with us no matter where we go, that's just our life! Kali has been on spring break this week so every day after school, her grandma said she was sitting and waiting for us to get home, and she would run right over and play until the sun goes down. So last night Riley drops the G bomb. Yep, Kali is his first Girlfriend. My little boy has a Girlfriend. HOW? He doesn't like girls yet, does he? I thought girls were supposed to still have cooties at this age!! Mom is in denial, can you tell?

Then this morning he tells me he had breakfast at Kali's house, uh, what? He was in such a hurry to go out and play that he ran out without eating and just ate with them. At lunch, Kali ate with us and I heard Regan telling them, "moms and dads are always yelling, so if you two get married, then you will yell all the time too". Great, so now my son is getting married, and I do nothing but yell all the time??!!

Man these kids grow up too fast. I was just looking at pictures last night of Riley when he was four and cut his hair so short I had to shave him practically bald and he looked like something that came out of a horror movie, with some ginormous alien skull, and now he has his very first girlfriend and going outside so he can lay on the trampoline and call her on his cell phone, and they email each other and it's so cute, and yet so disturbing, and I just can't deal!

But, she is from Louisiana, so all you grandparents will be proud!!

Crowe's Nest Farm

Crowe's Nest Farm

Today I went on a study trip with Regan's class to Crowe's Nest Farm. It's such a great place and we've been many times on several other study trips and birthday parties, but Regan didn't really remember much, so she had a blast today. First was a picnic lunch, then a short video about all the animals they have at the farm. Then we got to tour inside the barn, see all the snakes, geckos, turtles, spiders, and creepy crawlies (ick).

Hay ride time!! We had a fun hay ride, got to see some ostriches get fed and see some huge ostrich eggs and then we watched a mama cow get milked first by a machine, then by her baby. Then we walked around the farm and saw all kinds of other animals, turkeys, huge pigs, prairie dogs, goats, llamas and many other animals. They have a children's garden, a Fairy Wood and a Butterfly Garden, it's so neat out there and perfect weather this time of year!

And Another One's Gone!

Regan just told me yesterday she had another loose tooth, so imagine my surprise when she bit into her dinner and her tooth nearly came right out!! Three right in a row, it's so cute. The other two have started to grow back in, so now she looks like the cell phone commercial, more bars in more places!!

Happy Easter!

Easter

On Saturday night we went to church, Riley invited a new friend from the neighborhood and the church had a helicopter candy drop for the kids, they were excited about that. Came home and had pizza and passed out our Easter goodies.

Sunday morning I made brunch for Mimi and Papa, we had a ham, cheese and spinach strata, hash brown casserole, black beans, and a strawberry, grapefruit and sparkling cider drink.

Then Alex and the kids came over and we dyed eggs and then dyed more eggs. It was a fun day and the kids had a blast and aren't TOO hopped up on Easter candy I guess!!

We borrowed the Indiana Jones trilogy from the library so we've been watching those, the kids have been enjoying them, although Regan calls them, Indian the Jones, it's cute!

Blue October ROCKS!

So my first night out (alone) in a LONG time and my first live concert since Hootie and the Blowfish (wow, did I just show my age or what!) but it was so much fun!! Blue October is my favorite band, they totally rock live, the opening band was...interesting, totally weird, but fun to laugh at (think neck to toe, silver, body-hugging spandex)!! But the concert was great, and I realized that I am really getting too old for the live concert scene. Maybe in a different venue, but this was La Zona Rosa, it was crowded, which made me kind of dizzy, and maybe being a responsible adult and not a young partier, I just couldn't help standing there, looking around, and over thinking everything. I would see a couple, they would both be pretty drunk, I would be thinking, okay, who is the designated driver, did they park near me, and can I get out of here before them? I sound like a barrel of fun, right?!

The band was awesome, the songs were great, and I really did enjoy the show, and I would love to see them again, from what I hear, I would probably like seeing them in New Braunfels when they play on the river. So, thanks Melissa for my ticket!! You rock!! And my kids are really, really sick of all my Blue October cd's!!

Kenzie's Self Portraits

Conversation with Riley

Riley: Mom, I want you to adopt me a twin brother!
Mom: Uh, I don't think it really works that way, but why?
R: So he can go to school for me, and I can stay home and play.
M: Well, what about him, is he just NOT going to go to school anywhere?
R: No, he'll go to school somewhere else, and what we'll do is, he'll go to his school in the morning, make a fake a doctor's note that will say, "Please excuse so and so, his liver is broke" and then he will go to my school and show them that note there and spend the rest of the day at my school, and I will be off the whole day!
M: Gee, you put quite a bit of thought into this, haven't you? Too bad that if your liver is broken, you're pretty much dead.
R: Oh, well, I'll think of something else then.
M: You keep thinking, I'll keep an eye out for that twin.