Fun in the snow

This is how Texas kids have fun in the "snow"...

How Did This Happen!

Today, my oldest daughter ate WILLINGLY...baby octopus, oyster on the half shell, salmon, and two kinds of sushi. I am shocked that she can be so adventurous with her food choices....since I never even gave her fish sticks as a kid!!

I still say fish is gross. I don't care what SHE says!!

Sandra

Piano

Finally.....the piano has been moved!

Boyfriend coming over in a few for fajitas...invited by big brothers Aaron and Ty. We'll see how he fares.

The BOYFRIEND

Halloween Night

Star Student

Guess who's star student this week?

I think it was a mistake.

This room used to be Layni's. It has a bigger closet....but no good way to arrange two twin beds!! I'm standing in the closet taking the picture, and the door is on the wall to the left. Now I think I'd rather have the room with the smaller closet, but better layout.

What defines a "date"?

I give up.

1. Water leak floods the girls room. Carpet and wall board ruined.

2. While the repairs are being made, the dishwasher floods part of the kitchen. Dishwasher broken.

3. Two days later. Tile job complete. Washing machine floods brand new tile floor in laundry room. Washing machine broken.

So if things come in threes, am I done with water on the floor? Please?

Sandra

2 weeks ago tomorrow

When it rains it pours. The maid discovered water pouring out from under the garage door when she arrived at noon 14 days ago. The main water line into the house had broken. When we finally got the water turned off, water had invaded the little girl's room, all the way to the closet. Everything on the floor soaked. Water had seeped up the wall board...and it was a MESS.
We moved all the bedroom stuff into other parts of the house; my room, the hallway, the living rooms and the bar (we never use).
We pulled up soaking wet carpet and discovered linoleum under that. The original flooring put in in 1974.
So instead of another patch of mismatched tile, I decided to tear up all the flooring in all three kids rooms, the hall, bath and laundry room. What a mess. Kids have been sleeping everywhere... Clothes are everywhere.
Today two out of three rooms were painted, but there's still tile to be laid, baseboard to be put up, and lots of stuff to be put away.
Oh how I hate construction...especially when you're trying to live in the area you're renovating!

Layn's room

Getting there

What a way to start a morning

Knock knock....police. We have reports of a young man shooting rocks at cars with a sling shot....

WCM's early morning escapades.

Not fun.

Sandra

Band Night and it's a Full House!

Stands are packed. Each of the high school bands marches...DHS is last...and it's COLD (72 degrees ) out here!!! BRRrr!

No...It's Not Her Halloween Costume!

Dressed for the Homecoming dance. Can you believe it? She picked the dress. Willingly. OMG. I think she's turning into a GIRL!

Homecoming 2010

Kids Be Nimble

If you look closely you'll see 3 trying to be....gymnasts? Cheerleaders? Really sore!

Homecoming week 2010

1. Dress crazy all week. ($)
2. $15 for a ticket to the dance.
3. Money for a dress.
Homecoming: code for making parents go broke.

Dear Aunt Cindee:

Don't you dare come for Thanksgiving without bringing me BREAD!

Love Kiki

Diet Coke and Doughnuts

Today I conducted a scientific experiment. My own scientific experiment. Recently they've opened up a Shipley's donut store right across from Layni's high school. So, instead of going out of my way, I've taken to purchasing my obilgatory Diet Coke from there instead of McDonalds. What I THOUGHT, was I was going out of my mind. I began to think the Diet Coke tasted like warm Shipley's doughnuts.
So....today I bought Ash and Kiki a Diet Coke from a small tacaria from down the street. We'd been drinking it. Then I drove through and bought a Diet Coke from Shipley's. I asked Ashlynn to try the Shipley's coke and tell me what she thought.
"Ooooohhh," she exclaimed. "It tastes like doughnuts!!".
Wow...maybe I wasn't crazy. I was on my way back home to pick Layni up to take her to work, and she got in the car with a Diet Coke in hand. I asked her to taste the Shipley's Diet Coke......and.....again....."ooohhhhh!! This tastes like doughnuts!".
Funny. So Shipley's Diet Coke does taste like doughnuts....at least the one near the High School I frequent in the morning.
Now I'm thinking....if it tastes like doughnuts, is it really DIET???

Money in her pocket

Z Layni earned her first wage today. She's got a small part time job working concessions at the soccer field near our house....$24 for three hours. Tomorrow she'll earn another $32. Not bad for her first gig.


Ashlynn is at her best friend's sleepover...so it's just Kiki and I hanging this afternoon. The boys both had chores....

Dulles Tuba section

Can someone else go pick up and drop off just once? Just wishing on days like this.

GROSS!

No... This is NOT my bathroom! That's the good news! My maid sent me this from a house she cleaned today. I think I can stop apologizing now for how dirty my bathroom is after a week with 5 kids' use.

Funny quote

"snow crab is GOOD! Except the first bite tasted like throw up...."

-Layni

Marching in the Rain

You can't really tell, but DHS is marching in the pouring rain. I'm sitting in the car....feeling really bad for them...

Video

Can you walk, play music and carry a tuba all at the same time?

It's 97 degrees, and the DHS band is ready to support their school!
Add the temperature to BLACK uniforms and then carrying around a 50 lb. Tuba? Plus walking in formation, and playing music? I think Layni's a WONDERGIRL!!!

She whoops my butt any day! Love ya Layni!!

DHS Band...Layni's the 2nd Tuba from the left.

Funny Twice Over

We were in the "Big Store" getting a few things and in looking through the tourist section, Layni picked up a pair of sunglasses, put them on and then tapped my shoulder....It totally made me laugh. She then implored me to take a picture, which I did.....

I came home and last night I was looking through my iPhone pics and then really laughed....when I noticed the background.....

FINALLY....I got it!

For many years, I've been on the look out for Roseate Spoonbills...I've been known to stop traffic if I see one. Roseates are solitary birds, so they don't seem to venture where I do very often. Today, on my way back from the Big Store in Crystal Beach, I decided to take a run through a neighborhood near our old house ( thanks Ike!), and lo and behold, there was a Roseate in the slough. All I had was my cell phone camera. Right.....I've been here before ....great time to take a picture, and all I normally have is a point and shoot. I took a picture with my iPhone....and then made a run for it! Back to the beach house over a mile a way to get my good camera...and then came back a took a few more pictures. It was well worth it. I got some GREAT pictures of the lone Roseate Spoonbill.

iPhone picture....

D90 Picture

D90 Picture

Goin' on a Treasure Hunt!

Well, it all started last year at TCEA, in my quest to bring something back to the GT kids I was working with last year, and something new and exciting to do with my own passel of kids. I learned a little bit about geocaching there, a whole year ago, and even purchased a Garmin eTrex HC, and Geocaching for Dummies. I also apparently joined Geocaching.com, but then got over-whelmed, and never got the GPS out of the box.

Twelve months later, and another class at TCEA, by some very talented and knowledgable geocachers plus a new iPhone geocaching app, and 30 minutes after I'd driven home from Austin, I'd found my first cache. A skirt lifter. Do you all know about skirt lifters?

I'm sometimes known for my spontaneous decisions, so what could be more fun, than to hide my OWN geocache....at the beach....WOO HHEEE!!

Twenty-four hours after returning from TCEA, I'd not only figured out how to use my Garmin, and my iPhone app, but had prepared and hidden a cache, and had it published on Geocaching.com. If you're interested, it's at N 29° 27.793 W 094° 36.715. (GC23Y72)

It's now been 72 hours...and the kids and I've found about 5, visited about 10 (couldn't find some, or some were missing), and have found something so totally fun to do.  The girls are the ones that are the adventurous ones...we've found one behind CVS, and one drilled into a tree on the side of Eldridge road. They're fighting over who gets to navigate...how cool is that.

So, what to do now? I've just thought of an ingenous way to hide their Easter treasures! They've have to navigate to them with the GPS!! I've already bought the water- proof containers.....(he he he)