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!

Cousin Camp

After Regan's big Girl Scout weekend in Houston, I traded kids with my cousin Christina. Regan stayed in Houston for the week and Jeremiah came to Austin with me. We had a good time with him. He and Riley get along so well, and they played Xbox and computer games most of the week. When they weren't killing something, I took them to Jump Street (a new indoor trampoline place) where Jeremiah got to ride the mechanical bull! They spent one whole day at Austin's Park and Pizza (and I mean, the WHOLE day! Open to close, they were exhausted after that). We saw Cowboys & Aliens at the new dinner theater in Round Rock, and went swimming to beat the heat.

Then we went to Houston to switch back and spent the night down there. I sure missed Regan, the house was much quieter with her gone! But she had a great time too, and she wasn't even really ready to come home. I hope we can continue Cousin Camp every summer, the kids had such a great time. I know some of my fondest memories growing up were summers spent with my cousins!!

Girl Scout Trip

Time for our end of year, cookie reward trip! We had a nice, big trip planned since our troop was the highest cookie seller in our service unit! Riley had gone to church camp at the beginning of the week, and then on Wednesday, Rgan switched and went to church camp, so on Friday morning, I had to drive out to Burnet to pick her up from church camp and meet at our Girl Scout Leaders house by 10am! It was a busy morning!

We loaded up the cars and headed to Brenham, for a picnic lunch and a tour of the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. The girls loved it, and we got some good group pictures and all got a free scoop of yummy ice cream!


Then we loaded back up for the rest of the way to Houston. We checked into our hotel, and then went down the street to Prince's Hamburgers for dinner. They had the best root beer, which of course, when you have 12 nine year old girls, root beer is a must! Then we headed back to the hotel for a swim at the pool.




The girls all wanted to sleep in the same bed, so they looked so cute laying longways with their little blankets!!

Then we got up, had breakfast in the hotel lobby, and then headed out to the Children's Museum. We split into our groups of one adult/three kids to make life more manageable and had a great day exploring the museum. I had Regan, Hailey and Azure, and we had a great time. We played in the Kidtropolis, played on the giant indoor playscape, and then braved the outdoors to play in the water area a little while.

Children's Museum

Then after the museum, we loaded up and headed to NASA. We got there and unloaded our bags, and went to dinner, and then after dinner, we spent the next 4 hours or so doing badgework for the girls to earn a cool badge for their new Junior vest! They were so tired but we were up till after midnight working on badges. Then we got our assigned sleeping area and it was in the spaceship gallery. It was very cool, we got to sleep right underneath models of the spaceships and an astronaut walking in space, but they don't turn all the lights off, so it was very hard sleeping in the super bright room, and it got VERY cold overnight there!

So the next morning, we got up (no showers, grumble) and loaded our vehicles, had breakfast, and then took the tram tour to see mission control and an Apollo rocket. Then we spent some time back at the space center, letting the girls play on the giant playscape and then touching an actual moon rock. Then it was time to make the long, traffic filled drive back to Austin!

NASA

But first, I met up with my cousin Christina and traded kids. Regan stayed in Houston for the week with her cousin Joy, and Jeremiah got to come home with me in a truck filled with Girl Scouts. I don't think he appreciated being the only boy on the ride home, the girls were really giving him a run for his money! It was cute though.

So, the trip was a success, no typical girl fights, or frumpy moods, even with so little sleep! But, I vote for next years trip to be somewhere where we have a shower every morning, at least!

Jump Street

A new indoor fun place just opened up here. And of course, with our record heat that we've been having lately, indoors is the only place to be. So we took the kids to Jump Street to enjoy the wall to wall trampolines. There was also a mechanical bull, a foam pit, a giant slide (boring) and a giant maze. The kids loved it, except that it's only 2 hours. They could have stayed there all day. But here are some videos of the kids on the mechanical bull. Regan was hesitant at first but the guy promised her he would go slow, so she finally decided to try it. I think she did it maybe 3 times and fell on her face once and that was it, no more bull riding for her!

Vitality

Again, it's been a while since I've posted, but it's been a whirlwind!! I heard about this new company, ViSalus Sciences, they have a 90 Day Challenge weight loss program, and when I heard about it, I was on board. I signed up to start the 90 Day Challenge, and then flew to Orlando for a long weekend with some friends to go to the company's annual meeting. It was a blast and I was only feeling partly guilty as we danced till 3am, or had dinner at Margaritaville, and thought of David back home with the kids. Oh well...they lived! And I had a GREAT time, and just fell in love with this company and all it stands for. Right now I'm starting my 3rd week on the challenge (but not 3 full weeks since I've had other trips that have gotten in the way, more on that later!) Anyway, I've lost around 3 pounds, but the energy I have is amazing! I can't believe how much of a difference I felt just on day one. Anyway, here's a link if you want more information on it, watch the videos and let me know what you think!
www.visalus.crappell.net

(The picture is me, in the penthouse suite of the hotel, the founder of the company, Nick Sarnicola, invited our team up for a champagne toast before the Black and White Party! It was nice, and a nice view as a storm rolled into Orlando)

Got Feathers?

So I guess these feathers are all the rage right now, I've been seeing them all over the place. And of course, Regan wanted her own feathers. So we had a "girls day" which was really just a "return things to various stores around town" day, but she was okay with that. I took her to get her feathers at the spa, and then we went to the Domain and had a ladies tea. She loved it, even though she's not a fan of tea, she got some tart lemonade, and she had a sandwich with the crusts cut off, a pine nut plum scone with jam, fruit and a tea cookie. I had a bacon, arugula and tomato sandwich that she tried to steal (it was yummy) and a cashew salad. It was nice to be "girlie" and sit and enjoy our tea time.

Then we went to Macy's and tried on clothes and then she got to play in the fountains on the way back to the car. It is just so hot here right now, and I was pretty tempted to run through that fountain myself!

Updates

I know I haven't blogged much lately. I guess we've been pretty busy.

We heard about a new charter school in Georgetown, Gateway College Prep, and we went to an information meeting about it, and David really liked the sound of it. So, I think we may be done with homeschooling. Maybe not for good, maybe just for now, but my goal was to always take it one year at a time and do what seemed right for that year. Well, Riley has such high ambitions of going to a military academy and I want to help him realize that dream, so I think in order to acheive it, he really needs to be challenged a lot more at school. He's VERY smart and sometimes VERY lazy, so I think having a teacher push him for a while might be better than having mom push him.

Regan is still working with a tutor, working on the dyslexia and dysgraphia, so we thought she might need some time in a regular school setting again to kind of put those skills to the test. Neither one of them are terribly excited about not homeschooling anymore, but Gateway did a summer bridge program, kind of like a summer camp, where they got to meet all the teachers, meet the kids that will be in their classes, and play games and go do fun things together. They both really enjoyed that, and that way no one shows up to school the first day a complete stranger and not knowing anyone.

Swim team is over, and we are all happy about that. It was getting to be quite the chore to be up and at the pool every morning by 7am. And swim meets on Saturday morning at 5:30 should be outlawed! But Regan had a good time, and maybe by this time next year she will have forgotten the early morning practices and want to sign up again.

And to top it all off, I've been watching Baby Eli for the last 3 weeks until Kenzie could get her first check and pay for day care. He's the cutest little monkey, but man, having a newborn again after all these years just wore me out! He doesn't like riding in the car and half of my life is on the go, so it made things interesting to say the least.

And then there's just the regular, dentist visit for each kid, Riley had to go back 2 more times to have 3 teeth pulled and 1 tooth filled, doctors and chiropractors and all that fun stuff. And when Riley is at work, Regan wants to have "girl day" and go shopping and go to lunch and all that fun stuff that costs a ton of money.

So, I guess we have been busy!

Where's Riley

I have posted a ton about Regan, and not much about Riley. Well, that's because Riley is now gainfully employed! He has a summer job with his Mimi and Papa and so he's not with us much during our daily adventures (and swim meets are just way too early for normal people). But, here's some pictures of Riley at work. Sounds funny to say. He's really enjoying his job though, and I think it's teaching him some good life skills.

Camp Texlake

Regan got to spend another week at Camp Texlake this year. I'm bad, I didn't think to take a picture before she left. She is about to be a junior, and for God only knows what reason, the Juniors at Camp Texlake stay in "unclimatized" cabins. Meaning, no a/c. I was a little worried for her, she gets hot when she sleeps anyway, but we got several fans, squirt bottles, shorty pajamas, and hoped for the best. This year we didn't get to go to their cabins and set up like last year, you just drop them off after the check in process and leave them with their counselors and wave goodbye. Very grown up. Most of her troop went, the cabins were "tree house" cabins, with screens and high up in the trees. She had a good time and spent most of the week in the pool. The lake is super low so they did kayak, but they didn't do any other lake activities, other than fishing, which is always her favorite thing to do at camp!

But on Friday when I picked her up, she was in the infirmary, running a fever and with a sore throat. They thought she was just dehydrated (she also had sunburn blisters all over her face, poor thing) but I got her in to the doctor first thing the next morning and sure enough, she had strep. They said if she gets strep one more time this year we will talk about getting her tonsils removed. Anyway, other than getting sick the last day, she had a great time, and I didn't even send her with a disposable camera! But, some of her friends had one, so I'm hoping one of them got a good picture or two of her and will be willing to share!

Regan's Birthday Part 4

We've had to spread out the birthday celebrations, since we have had so much going on this summer. Regan has swim team every morning from 7am-8am, and then swim meets on Saturdays that start at 6am. So, we're either at the pool, or recuperating from being at the pool! But since this was her actual birthday, and we had to go to the pet store to get dead mice for the snake, she wanted to hold some animals, and I let her. She would LOVE a pet ferret, but they sure did stink! Someone there was getting a chinchilla and she would have loved one of those also, but I'm not sure I'm ready for a giant rodent for a pet. Maybe for her 10th birthday?

Regan's Birthday Part 3

Regan wanted to go to Chuy's for her birthday lunch after church, so here we are, the waiters came out and sang to her, she was very embarrassed, but I think she decided it was worth it for the free ice cream!

Swim Meet

This was at Regan's swim meet, the Pflugerville Piranhas vs Balcones Sharks. Regan had a good time, and swam great. She is getting MUCH faster!

Regan's Birthday Part 2

With some of her birthday money, Regan wanted to go to Build A Bear to get a new "pet". She got a black and white dog, named it Alyssa, and then got a cute outfit, and a "puppy" that she named Bailey.