Happy Almost Christmas!

I can't believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow. It seems like yesterday I was fretting about the Halloween party. But here it is. The presents have been bought, most of them assembled as needed and/or wrapped. I've baked and delivered gifts for the neighbors and friends, and even hosted a cookie exchange a couple of weeks ago.

At this point, I'm feeling pretty relaxed about everything. We'll spend the day at home tomorrow, preparing for Christmas carols at church then dinner with my parents and Wayne's mom & step-dad. Then it'll be time to exchange gifts and put some very excited kids to bed. It should be a relaxing, enjoyable evening.

I'm not looking forward to kids waking us up in the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Day, though. Last year it was around 4am when Wyatt woke to discover that Santa had indeed visited. I'm hoping we make it until at least 6am this year! I did a lot of lounging on the couch last year once the gifts were opened and breakfast was over.

I hope our friends and family all are safe and able to spend time with your loved ones. I know I'm thankful to have so many that I hold dear so close to me.

Just a Quickie

It's been a busy month - we hosted our fourth annual Halloween party at Wayne's shop the weekend before Halloween. The kids (and lots of adults) dressed up and had a great time. Candy, cookies, Kool-Aid and more candy. What more could a bunch of kids ask for? It's a lot of work, and some unsure moments, but always worth it.

On Halloween night, Wayne stayed home and passed out candy while I walked the kids through our neighborhood then took them to the neighborhood across the way. Wyatt and I got a real kick out of a huge guy dressed as Darth Vader passing out candy. When Wyatt walked up to the door, Wyatt said to the man, "I'm Anakin Skywalker" to which the man replied, "SO AM I" in his best Darth Vader voice. So unexpected and a real laugh!

I'm putting my November desktop on here for you to see a couple of pictures of the kids. The one of all three is pretty obvious - Halloween costumes, ready to trick-or-treat. The other is not so clear what's going on. Edie decided a few weeks ago to gather up some toys to get rid of. And she didn't want to take them to the local outreach. She wanted to sell them in front of the house. So she set up a bag, made a price tag, and settled herself on the front steps. Such a cutie!

The house is nearly done - we'll be sliding into home just in time for everyone to arrive for Thanksgiving dinner. The cabinet for the TV is being finished as I type, and the new furniture and fixed-up pool table will be delivered on Tuesday. This whole house renovation thing took on a life of its own, and it's been worth the trouble and inconvenience.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

First, a couple of photos from the Girl Scout outing to the pumpkin patch on Saturday. Edie had a great time on the hay ride, and she and Chloe picked some really nice pumpkins.






Monday, I ran and picked up pumpkins for Wayne and me, and his mom & Bill came over for dinner. Then we got down to the business of carving pumpkins. Nana made a face with hair, Bill made a witch, I made a Spongebob, Wyatt made a Pikachu, Edie and Wayne made a cat, and Chloe made a cute face pumpkin. Sure was fun, but I really underestimated the amount of time and work it takes to carve pumpkins. Better start a lot earlier next year!



A couple of other things. You might notice the Video Bar on the right side. Over there ======>

If you click on any of the videos, you'll see the YouTube video that we've uploaded. The most recent video is a very short "film" that the kids and Wayne made at mom & dad's recently. Some find it "disturbing" but we find it funny. See for yourself.

Also, if you go to the bottom of the page, you can subscribe to this blog and have emails delivered when I post updates.

Take care!

Here, There and Everywhere

At least I feel like that's where I've been lately. In actuality, it's been in a big circle...school, soccer practice, piano lessons, soccer games, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts.

We have had some fun doing different things, too, though. We took the kids to the State Fair of Texas a week ago and had a great time - Fletcher's corny dogs, Hans Mueller German sausage, plenty of rides for the kids on the Midway. Going to the Fair is an event that all of us look forward to each year. There's so much to see, and so many things to do. Instead of loading a zillion photos on here, I made a Slide show. In case you can't quite figure out what's happening in the photos, just move your cursor over the picture and a caption will appear.

Aside from that fun, my Brownie Girl Scout troop went to the local pumpkin patch/animal farm this past weekend. The girls had a great time seeing all of the animals (everything from chickens and geese to zebras and alpaca), going on a very bumpy hay ride, and choosing just the right pumpkin. Edie is now involved with the group as a Daisy Girl Scout, so doing things with the Scouts really is a family affair!

Wayne and Wyatt went on a Cub Scout camp out - Cub O Ree - this weekend. Wyatt has joined a new Pack and really enjoys going to Scouting events. Wayne really likes the new Pack and I feel like there will be many Boy Scout activities in our future.

An Update...Finally!

It's been a while since I updated here - life's gotten in the way of frequent blog posts.

School is in full swing and I think everyone's getting accustomed to working again. The first 6 weeks will come to a close at the end of the week and we'll get the first report cards on October 1st.

In the meantime, all three kids are now taking piano lessons. I think they're enjoying it - they're all willing to sit down and practice, and to even do the theory work. Wyatt got the music for the "Star Wars" theme and is pretty excited about it.

Edie is taking dance again and started back to classes a couple of weeks ago and is having fun. I'm having headaches, though - it seems like every other girl in the class has a younger, louder sibling who likes to run in circles in the waiting room while screaming at the top of their lungs. Maybe I should hit Wayne up for some earplugs!



Both girls are now playing soccer, too. So our weekends have gone from leisure time to very hectic. Okay, so there wasn't much leisure time anyway, but they definitely weren't so booked up! Anyway, Chloe's team is the Burn and she had her first game on Saturday. She played a bit of defense near the goal, so her playing time was pretty limited. I have a feeling she'll be doing a lot of running this Saturday.



Edie had her first game on Saturday, too. Her team is the Red Titans and since there aren't many kids on her team, she played a lot. She even got to try out being goalie.



And just for grins, here are a couple of other photos that I liked:





Take care, all!

School Daze

We made it back into the house last Thursday, just in time for Chloe's 7th birthday and the first day of school Monday. We're still living out of a lot of boxes (or around them, as the case may be), and the workers arrive each day at 7 to put the finishing touches on most everything.

I thought I'd share a few first-day pictures of the kids. They're all getting so big, and were very excited to start a new year. Wyatt is our trailblazer and he started 3rd grade with Mrs. Francis this year. She'll be his homeroom teacher and will teach him everything except for English and Reading. He'll move to another teacher's room for those subjects, so this is his first time to work with two teachers.



Chloe started 2nd grade with Mrs. Austell. Wyatt was in her class last year and just loved her - she's such a patient, kind teacher. I know Chloe will have a great year.



Edie is a big kindergartener this year. She was very excited about starting school, and has Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Williams and her sister and niece are the owners/principal/directors of the school and is a wonderful teacher. Wyatt and Chloe both had Mrs. Williams for kindergarten, so I wanted to be sure that Edie had a great kindergarten year, too.



We had a few tears after that photo was taken. I guess Edie was a little overwhelmed at the idea of school again, but Mrs. Williams was able to handle the situation with her usual grace and kindness. Edie was all smiles at the end of the day and has been happy to go yesterday and today.

Hurry! Look fast!

You better get a fast look at this girl's face. You see, she lost her first tooth on Friday morning. She's barely 5 and I just noticed the week before that she had 2 loose teeth. As soon as we made that discovery, that girl was on the business of making the tooth very loose. And her brother and sister were making deals - trying to get her to let them pull her tooth, making offers if she let them pull her tooth. Even her cousins got in on the act. Madison was all set to pull Edie's tooth.

Then Friday morning came around. She got up and went to the bathroom. Then she came to me and asked if her tooth was gone. And it was! Amy and I searched around the bed that Edie slept in, and that tooth was nowhere to be found.

Fast forward to today - she still had the neighbor tooth hanging in there, but it was loose, too. Late in the afternoon, she ran up to me and bumped into my arm. I told her to quit hitting my arm with her mouth, then looked in her mouth and noticed that the other tooth was gone now. And she didn't even realize it was gone!

So you better take a look at this cute mug before she loses another tooth...literally!

On the Road Again...

Wayne left last week for a new adventure on his bike. This time, he has a friend traveling with him and they've hit some of the most beautiful parts of the United States.

Unfortunately, his riding buddy has had a few problems with his bike. Nothing mechanical or that would slow them down too much - just enough to be irritating.

Here are a few photos from their trip. The first is from Scott's Bluff:



Beartooth Lake, WY:



Wayne's riding buddy Mark, after 15 minutes of driving in Montana:



Springtime in Glacier National Park:

Wow - Pink Overload

I forgot to post pictures of Edie's birthday party, so here they are. She was definitely feeling the Princess theme! Here she is with Chloe and a friend named Kinsie:



She had a great time getting dressed up, then dolled up. They did hair, a bit of makeup, then their fingernails. Edie and her friend Hannah (who's 1 day older and always does parties with Edie) took a princess oath and got tiaras to wear. All in all, it was a beautiful princess-y day!

Happy Fourth of July!

Wayne is on the road with a friend this week - they're headed up one side of the Rocky Mountains, then back down the other side with Glacier National Park as the furtherest point on their adventure.

The kids and I decided to participate in a Fourth of July parade with the local MINI club. Amy and her kids went with us and Maddy and Harrison rode with us in the parade, too. Bet you didn't know we could fit 6 people into a MINI, did you? We were the only convertible, out of about 20 cars. And the only yellow one! There is a reason I chose a yellow car - I wanted it to stand out, and it does!

We hope you're having a fun and safe holiday - there is so much to be thankful for!

Happy Day-Late Birthday, Edie!!!

Edie turned 5 yesterday. I can't believe that it's been 5 years since she made her dramatic appearance. She was supposed to be the easiest delivery - the third child. Wyatt had been quite an effort; Chloe was so much better...I figured Edie would just come bounding out.

Instead, we found ourselves at the hospital, prepping for a C-section just a couple of hours after we arrived to start the inducing procedures. Thankfully, she was perfectly healthy and has been ever since.

Edie is a beautiful, sweet little girl who loves dancing, singing, wearing fancy shoes and sunglasses. She has the sweetest dimples that always get attention - she *knows* she's cute! And now she's five.

We visited Chuck E. Cheese yesterday with Wyatt and Chloe, a couple of cousins and some grandparents. The kids all had a great time, and so did the adults. Edie's "kid" party will be tomorrow at a girly place near our house, so she'll get her fill of dressing and being treated like a princess.

Happy birthday, big girl!

South Carolina Fun

Thought I'd share some pix from the visits to the beach over the last few days. We went out early yesterday morning and enjoyed the beautiful beach, nearly alone. The nice thing about where we're visiting is that it's still not built up with hotels and chain restaurants like other beaches on the east coast. When we left the beach around noon, there were maybe 5 other sets of people around us.







Be sure to check out the Youtube link on the right with Edie explaining how to make a sand castle. I'll upload a couple of more videos later, so check back in the next day or two to see Wyatt and Harrison riding the waves!

Hope you all are having a great Father's Day. Wayne took Wyatt and Harrison into Charleston today to visit Patriot's Point and see the aircraft carrier and submarine there. Amy is out with Maddy and their friend Stephanie, picking up Taylor and his friend Turner. So the girls and I are having a quiet day at the house.

Put a Fork in Me

I'm done.

We made it out of town! I boxed up most of my house and supervised the moving of all of our possessions to a storage unit in town. There is still some stuff in the house, and Wayne has taken over packing the things that remain that he feels should be gone.

The kids and I left town with my sister on Monday and headed to Atlanta for a couple of days of fun. We visited Stone Mountain and the Fernbank museum. We stayed up late. We slept in late (easier to do when you've lost an hour!).

Yesterday, we made the trek from Atlanta to just south of Charleston, South Carolina. That drive was much less painful than the 14 hours it took to get from Dallas to Atlanta!

We had a little excitement this morning as we were driving into Charleston. A deer ran in front of the car and Wayne couldn't avoid hitting it. Thankfully, none of us were injured, but the deer didn't fare as well, and the car didn't, either. We drove straight to the rental agency and turned it back in. Looks like this Mustang won't be roaming free for a while:



Once we got that taken care of, we headed back out and went to Fort Moultrie. Very interesting fort that's survived in one form or another since 1776. The kids had fun doing the Junior Ranger badge requirements. Afterward, we stopped for a bit of cold refreshments. Some of us enjoyed it more than others:



Looks like tomorrow we'll hit the beach early, before it gets too hot, then spend the afternoon hanging out at the beach house. It's so nice for all of us to be together and take a break from the goings-on at home.

Hope you and yours are doing well, too!

Boxed In

Way, way back in the old days, I moved a lot. I moved into my first apartment in September of 1989. My next apartment in the fall of 1990. Wayne and I got married and moved in June of 1991. Then to another apartment in June of 1992. The next apartment came in December of 1993, then we bought our house in January of 1996. And here we are, 12 years later.

Back when I moved all of the time, packing and moving wasn't that big of a deal. Slap some stuff into a few boxes, make a zillion trips up and down stairs, pass out flung across the bed that night and wake up sore the next day.

My, my, how things have changed.

We aren't moving this time - we're doing renovations. We might as well be moving, for all of the packing and purging I've been doing for the past month. My living room is full of boxes. The front room/office is full of boxes. The entry way is full of boxes. We've given away a *lot* of stuff. I've thrown away countless bags of stuff. There's no end to the stuff!

Anyway. I'm down to the wire here with the packing. The movers are coming Friday morning to take away the couches, tables, bed frames, chests of drawers and mountains of boxes. The billiard people came yesterday and took the pool table to their storage.

So I better get busy. And tonight I'll dream about boxes.

Oopsie!

Sorry for the long absence! I've been busy motoring with Buzbee. Two and a half months, 2,500 miles...if you're in the area, watch for me to buzz by (but don't expect to catch me)!

Funny Story I Already Forgot About...

I was scanning through my Myspace blogs and came across this one - you might enjoy it, too. It's from February 27, 2008.

Deja Vu all over again...
Category: Life

I still remember that day vividly. I was in kindergarten. I loved my teacher, Mrs. Hurst, and was happy to be at school. Back then, in kindergarten you learned the alphabet - a letter a week or so. My teacher had blow-up letters and each week it was a new one. We had learning centers, and you never knew which one you would end up in...just had to wait and see which shape was on the necklace Mrs. Hurst gave you. And kindergarten was only half-days. I went in the morning for part of the year; the afternoon for the remainder.

So I was sitting on the floor that day when my mom came to the door. It wasn't time to go home yet, but there she was. With my sister in tow.

"Holly, I need Amy's shoe. You have one of hers on and one of yours on." I was so embarrassed! We took care of the shoe mix-up and I went about my business.

I've shared the story with my kids and they got a great laugh out of it. I never expected it to happen to us, though. Until today.

As usual, instead of getting ready, they were killing time this morning and when I started out the door there was a scramble to get shoes and jackets on. Chloe grabbed a pair of shoes and ran to get in the car.

About a block down the road, she points out that there is a knot in the shoelace that she can't get out. Edie passes the shoe to me and as I'm sitting at a red light, I realize that the shoe belongs to Edie, not Chloe, and point that out to Chloe. "Looks like you get to wear Edie's shoes today," I say as we head to school. Not nice, but I wasn't feeling especially nice after having to fuss at them for the third day this week and 4th week this month and 6th month this school year to "hurry up and get ready for school."

So around 10:30, I get a call from the school. Chloe is asking me to take her shoes to her - they're about to go outside. I figured a couple of hours of ill-fitting shoes are enough punishment and take the shoes to her on my way to lunch.

I hope she learns a lesson and keeps a memory from today. I know I did.

Let the Good Times Roll!

Some of you know this; some of you don't. I love cars. I guess I came by it naturally, with dad being a mechanic.

Over the years, I've owned many cars, from the Mustang that started it all to the Civic that was a compromise back before we had kids, to the Odyssey that I chose just before Edie was born. They've all represented different times in my life and in mine and Wayne's lives.

I've been intrigued by the MINI Cooper since I saw the first ones several years ago. I built one on the MINI website; I pointed them out to Wayne each time we saw one; I discussed at length with Wayne the options I wanted on the car and debated the fun factor of the Cooper against the Volkswagen Beetle. I'll admit - I was a little obsessed with MINI's, but it was all in good fun.

Then came the test drive last July. Totally unexpected and so much fun! Driving that car with the top down was so exhilarating! Sadly, the test drive ended and the adult gene kicked back in. I didn't need a car just for fun, and we had other things we needed to spend the money on. Things done to the house, bills to pay. So the idea of the MINI went back on the shelf. I was okay with waiting a few more years for the car - it would make a great 40th birthday present, right?

Wayne changed the plan and ordered my car for my Christmas present. Saying that I was surprised would be an understatement. I really had no idea that he was planning that! So I looked over the order and made a couple of quick changes before the car went into production. Then the waiting began. When you buy a MINI, you can personalize the car from the get-go. You don't usually just go down to the dealership and buy what's on the lot - you go online and build car after car until you get to the one you want. Then it goes into production and you can track your car's progress.

My car didn't go into production until the 6th week of 2008, and it didn't arrive in South Carolina until early March. I took possession of it last Wednesday afternoon and haven't been able to remove the perma-grin from my face since then. Oh, and the kids love it, too!



I always knew Wayne was a great guy, and he didn't have to buy me a fun car to prove it to me. But the fact that he went to that length to give something so unique to me makes it that much more special. I sure do love him!

Easy Reader...

Yes, folks, we have another reader in the house. Edie is on her fourth book in about a week and a half. We were a little unsure of how she was going to do two weeks ago, based on some confusion between "b" and "d." But she visited the library with Wyatt and me and we went ahead and checked out the first "Max" book for her to practice with. She brought the same book home from school the next day and was ready to return it within 1 day.

So in the last week, she has finished "Max the Cat", "Sam and Al", and "Six Kids." Her latest book is "Jim Wins" and she'll probably be returning it Monday or Tuesday. It's like someone switched on the power to her reading, and she's loving it!



I'm loving it, too.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!!

We had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. I got up a little early and made pink heart-shaped pancakes and gave the kids mailboxes full of goodies. Here are the girls' mailboxes:





Wyatt took his mailbox to school yesterday and today, so I guess he liked his, too. It's a Spiderman one, so that was perfect for him.

It's amazing how much candy and junk the kids get at their parties! They sat for a good hour after school, going through their loot and making trades.

Wayne and I had a nice Valentine's Day. Mom was nice enough to watch the kids, so we could run out for dinner and a movie.

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day with your loved ones!

We do have daughters, too!

It looks like Wyatt's been super-busy lately, and he has. The girls have been busy, too - just not on things I have taken photos of.

Chloe has graduated from easy reader books to chapter books!! She had been doing well with her reading up through the Christmas holidays, but once the new year rolled around, we kicked it into high gear. She sped through the rest of the required sets of books and brought home her first "Junie B. Jones" book. She has since finished a new chapter book every couple of days.

Edie can now identify all of the letters in the alphabet and can tell you what each letter "says." We sat down last night and she did a great job of sounding out simple words: cat, Max, tab, pat, etc. She should be bringing home her first book to work on any day now. I know she'll be very excited.

Here is a sweet photo of the girls with Ariel from our trip to Disney World in November. Edie was really looking forward to meeting Ariel, and Chloe was pretty happy about it, too!

Look! 2 posts in one day!

Wyatt participated in his Cub Scout troop's Pinewood Derby last month and was very excited about it. He decided to have Pikachu drive his car:



He was surprised to get 2nd place for his age division:

Not so great at this blogging thing...

So I was going to make this blog and post photos and stories about what's going on with the family. Then a month (or more) went by! Ack! Let's try this again.

Since I last "blogged", Wyatt had his birthday. He turned 8 December 28th and we celebrated with a party at the local inflatable jump house joint. He had a fun time, even though I was a dork and planned it right smack-dab in the middle of the Christmas/New Year's holidays and not many kids from class attended. Here he is with the kids who did attend:



We had a good New Year's Eve - none of us was able to stay awake until midnight, but Wayne and I did have a chance to enjoy a movie together (one of my favorites - When Harry Met Sally) before we passed out.

A couple of weeks later, Wayne had some free time and the weather was cooperating, so Wyatt had a chance to try out his birthday present from Uncle Mark & Aunt Sybil - a rocket! He was very excited about it and had a great time setting it off in an empty field near our house.



I'll post more later - apparently the photos I need for the next update are on my laptop, and not on the desk computer. So check back tomorrow for more!

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, so I figured it would be fun to start something new to share with friends and family. So hopefully I'll keep up with this and update it regularly. It might be fun to post pictures of the kids and their activities through the year instead of trying to put everything into a Christmas letter.

We had a very busy fall and Holiday season - I think we had something scheduled every weekend from October through the end of December! I'm hoping that things will calm down some now that we're past the holidays and Wyatt's birthday.

Even though it was busy, Christmas was fun. Our kids usually sleep until their regular time on Christmas morning, but this year I could hear them at 4:30am!! They let us sleep until 5:00 before coming in to begin waking us up, then after they did their stockings and their gifts from Santa, we went back to bed but they didn't.

Chloe was excited to receive a bike helmet and a set of knee and elbow pads:



Wyatt received a remote-controlled spy car:



Edie also received a helmet set, but she was really excited about the Dora the Explorer game for the computer:



Gonna run for now - check back for updates on Wyatt's birthday!