Meet Otis

Abigail picked out her new addition to our family this weekend.

Introducing Otis

He's a long haired hamster. He's pretty cute, and so far has been much more friendly than the previous hamsters (but that's not really saying much since they were mean!!)

Anyway, she used her own birthday money to buy everything for him. And when she decided to ask for him, she presented Dax & I with a power point presentation showing us all the research she had done on hamsters.

Note to self: I've got to stop letting those kids watch t.v. and commercials!

Anyway, she's really excited.........and so are the cats. They can't wait to meet him!!

Getting back into the routine

On the  Saturday after Thanksgiving Dax & I left for our continuing education week in Las Vegas.


It's always nice to get away, just the two of us, but 9 days is a long time to be in Las Vegas.


This year we did rent a car and drive out to Red Rock Canyon. That was beautiful and we really enjoyed it.

 As you can see, it was a beautiful day when we were there.

 Dax even did a little rock climbing...

While we were in Vegas we also went to our favorite, tacky, little karaoke bar and were not disappointed. Barbara Ann was there in all her glory. She and another man both make several costume changes during the course of the night to fit in with their songs. They are hard-core, people!! Yet, they can't sing at all. LOL

Here's Barbara Ann as Elvis/Santa singing Christmas tunes.

I could go on and on about what we learned in class, but you probably don't want to read all about accounting. lol

We also went to one of the nights of the National Finals Rodeo while we were there. It was fun, and we've been watching every night on t.v. since we got home. We didn't go see any shows this time since we've already seen the ones that we're interested in seeing.


Here's one last picture of Dax with one of our favorite things while we're out there (aside from the endless buffets.)

We had a good time but it's always nice to get home. Now, to try and get back into the swing of things and get ready for Christmas all at the same time.

Wish me luck!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving (those that celebrate, anyway.)


We had a wonderful day. The Grandparents came and there was enough food to feed a small village I think. We ate from the time we got up until about 5:30 in the afternoon. But it was all so good!!


Aunt 'Manda also came and the girls all got their hair done....


Here's Kirsten's new haircut:

and then we all got our eyebrows waxed. She's so nice to try to keep us all beautiful!!


It was a really great day and a good time was had by all. I just love Thanksgiving and having the family together. It's may favorite holiday.


Oh, and as always, I'm thankful to be married to a stud like Dax! LOL

Hope you all had a pleasant day with those that you love.

THIRTEEN

I can't believe that my babies have turned 13!!


Where have the years gone?


And how can we suddenly have a house full of teenagers?


They got money for their birthday so we spent the day out shopping yesterday.


Well, the girls and I shopped. Dax and Wyatt mostly waited around on us.


The girls hit all kinds of stores and 'You're Welcome' to Bath & Body Works.......yesterday's sales numbers should be way up after Addison's visit.


After all of the shopping we went out to eat, then hit one last store, and headed home.


I think they all had a great day. After we got home, the girls tried on their new clothes and then painted their nails with the new stuff they bought. Once the adrenalin wore off, they crashed and were in bed before 9:30.

Wyatt used his money to buy and Xbox so I don't know how late he stayed up playing, but he was all smiles.

Me. I just can't believe that they are already thirteen and how fast these years have gone. Wow!

And then there was one....

Last week Addison got braces.

That only leaves Abigail without them.

Baseball fever

Dax and Wyatt watched the World Series together.


Now, I think Wyatt's got baseball fever.


He's been talking about trying out for the team at school.


And since the weather has been so beautiful here, he's been talking his Dad (and his sisters too) into doing this every chance he gets.

Here's an action shot.....

The pictures would probably be better if I didn't have to hide to take them.  Every time I pick up my camera, they all stop what they're doing.


Wonder why?

Wordless Wednesday (Bed Hog)

Coffee anyone?

My children seem to have found a new obsession. I hope they move through this one quickly.


It all started because my coffee pot died. Well, it wasn't officially dead, but taking at least an hour and a half to make a pot of coffee gets it close enough to death for me to pronounce it dead.


So, when my Mom asked what 'we' would like for our anniversary I told her that I would love a Keurig coffee maker but that I didn't know what the other half of 'we' wanted. And, since he didn't contribute to the conversation (although he wasn't even a part of it) then I won by default. Hahaha!

Anyway, my parents gave us the Keurig along with about 100 coffee packs for it. When I finally got around to setting the whole thing up this past weekend, the kids went nuts over it.

That's Abigail and Wyatt sitting on the porch on Sunday morning. Apparently they are avid coffee fans.

Who knew?

I can't believe they were even able to sleep at all this weekend. I think that on Sunday alone they each had about four cups of coffee and maybe a couple of hot chocolates thrown in for good measure.


I have to get up before they do so I can even have a cup of coffee myself. And I think every coffee cup in my house is dirty at the moment, because apparently you can't drink two cups of coffee from the same cup.

And on it goes.....

Staying very busy as usual around here. I really need a long nap. lol

On Friday they wouldn't let Addison and Abigail enter the 'twins' contest at school. Go figure. Addison was put-out about it because, after all, they aren't twins. Hahaha!

Wyatt started physical therapy on Friday which left him a little sore for the weekend. He went back for his second appointment yesterday. Unfortunately, they found that one of the ligaments is still a little loose and is letting his kneecap still move around when there is pressure on it (like while he is lifting weights.) They put tape on his leg that is placed to hold the kneecap in place at all times and want it to stay there for at least 5 days to see if the ligament tightens up then. We're all keeping our fingers crossed that things get healed up on their own without any medical intervention.

Saturday was a soccer game. It was a really rough game on poor Addison. She's got a big bruise on her calf from getting kicked by a girl from the other team that was wearing a leg brace similar to Wyatt's. With all of that metal on it, I don't think there's any option other than leaving a mark if you accidentally kick someone. She also got kicked in the thigh, but I don't think that left a mark. Worst of all, though, she took a soccer ball to the face. It definitely left a mark.....

It hit her on the corner of her glasses and knocked them into her eye. It cut her right below her eyebrow and by Monday morning her whole eyelid was puffy and a light purple. I'll give her this, though, she got back up and kept playing. She's a tough little girl when she's out on the soccer field.

Sunday we drove to Houston to celebrate my brother and sister-in-law's 25th wedding anniversary. Congratulations to them.

Of course, since my Mom wanted to take pictures for her Christmas cards with the whole family being together, two of my kids have noticeable injuries. I asked her to include a note with the pictures letting people know that I had not taken up beating my children....

In addition to all of the usual happenings during the week, we've had to include welcoming one of our daughters to 'woman-hood' which I am totally not ready for. Why do they have to keep growing up faster than I'm ready for? Thankfully we run around like crazy people and it's always so busy, because if I had time to think about it, I know it would really bother me. At this point, I just have to accept it (what else can I do, really?), suck up my feelings about losing my baby, and continue on. But it does make me a little sad.....is that weird or normal? I don't know.

We also had a conference yesterday with one of the teachers, the principal, and the counselor. It wasn't very pretty, took over an hour, and was very stressful. I won't even go into the whole story because I could go on and on. Don't get me started!! But, on the bright side, we've already seen some changes today. I hope that it stays this way for the rest of the year. Even if it's small, I'll take what I can get.

I would like to say that I can't wait for he weekend because we'll get a chance to relax, but it's still soccer season. I think they only have two more games to go for the season, but they're currently in second place in their district. That means moving on to play-offs. Sometimes it's really hard to know whether to continue cheering for their success or not. Sometimes we're just ready for it to be over. You know?

Homecoming Week

One of the theme days this week was 'Crazy Hat Day'. Wyatt just wore one of his Dad's University of Michigan hats because he thought that was about as silly as he could get. Anything to give his Dad a hard time.

Here's what Abigail wore...

 Don't you just love it?

I also made mums for all three of the girls to wear. Here's Kirsten proudly sporting hers.

We were teasing her because hers has a peace sign hanging from it, some ribbon with hearts, and a silver football hanging. Does that mean that her mum has a theme of peace, love, and football?


She doesn't think we're funny.


Go figure!

Today was twin day. Addison and Abigail did dress alike today. I wish I had the time to get their picture this morning because it was pretty funny. I found a pair of Kirsten's old glasses and took the lenses out of them last night so that Abigail had glasses on today too. They even did their hair alike. Maybe they'll still be dressed up when I pick them up this afternoon and I can get a picture.

Wyatt starts physical therapy today and he's pretty nervous about it. I hope it all goes well and he can relax a little. He's really handled this whole thing like a champ. He said the other day that when he gets his brace off he's going to start living his life to the fullest again. Silly kid!

Time Flies

Wow! I can't believe has fast the days go by. All of a sudden a week has gone by and I haven't posted a thing.

We have something going on almost every day and yet none of it seems like the kinds of things that might be of interest to anyone. lol

I took Wyatt back to the doctor yesterday. His knee is still really swollen and still sore to the touch, but the doctor said that's because it has not completely healed yet. However, the knee cap is firmly back in place and not still sliding around. Woohoo! He unlocked the brace and he starts physical therapy three days a week for the next four weeks. We go back to the doctor in three weeks and he hopes to switch to a smaller, lighter brace.

I was glad for the outcome at the doctor's office because I was really worried that his knee was still so swollen. I'm glad that things are healing and on schedule.

Addison's soccer team is on fire one game and just there to watch (or so it seems) at the next. Consistency is certainly not their strong point. They've played some pretty aaggressive teams already and these are all girls 13 and under. I hope they calm down by the time they get more advanced since they'll also get bigger. At Saturday's game on of the girls from the other team managed to hurt at least 4 girls in the course of the game and 2 of them were on her own team. It's just crazy sometimes. I think the boys play with less aggression than that and they play a much more physical game than the girls. It's just crazy!

This week is homecoming week and all the silliness that goes a long with it. Yesterday was crazy sock day. Abigail wore fuzzy toe socks with monkeys. Today is camo day but we didn't have any. (Oops! But don't tell anyone or we may not be allowed to continue to live out in the country.) I don't know what all of the other days are but Friday is twin day. Abigail was complaining this morning that she didn't have anyone to be twins with and then Addison said she didn't either. I just said, 'Really? You're standing about 3 feet apart and you can't figure this one out?' lol I think they might be 'twins' for Friday. But luckily I won't have to go to any great lengths to pull that one off. lol

An honor for Kirsten

I don't think that I have posted on Kirsten.  A couple of weeks ago we got a letter in the mail from the school counselor. Of course panic that something is wrong is the first reaction, but, thankfully, this was a good letter.

Kirsten has been invited to participate in a Duke University program. They call it a talent search, but it's geared toward the 'gifted and talented' students. They look at scores for the standardized tests. We're very proud that she was chosen.

As part of the program, she'll be taking the ACT test in December. She will also receive help and guidance from Duke University on class selection in high school, there are opportunities for distance learning and summer programs, and when it's time for her to start applying to college they'll give her guidance on that process too.

It sounds like a really great thing to be involved in and she's pretty excited about being selected.....as she should be!!

In other news, not much else has changed. Still juggling activities and school work. Wyatt goes back to the doctor next week and we'll see what the next step is then. I'm a little concerned because his knee is still awfully swollen, but he's not in pain so I guess that's good. We're keeping our fingers crossed that everything is on track and healing up like it should be. He's been great about doing what the doctor told him too and not whining about it. Although, he did say over the weekend that when he gets the brace off he's going to 'live his life to the fullest', whatever that means. lol

Quick Update

Now that school is back in session (and all the activities that go along with it) we're busy, busy.

Addison played soccer this weekend. Saturday they lost 0-1. Sunday's game was much better with a 7-1 victory. On Sunday they finally played hard again, which the team really hadn't done since the tournament in San Antonio in August. It was good to see them back out there playing the way we know they can.

On Monday, Addison started taking math lessons at Kumon. She's struggling in math a little this year so I'm hoping that this will help give her a solid foundation to move forward with. I think somewhere along the line some of the basics didn't sink in like they should have. It looks like a really good program from the research we've done so I hope she likes it and makes it work for her.

Yesterday the girls were supposed to cheer at the 8th grade football games. Shortly after they started the 2nd quarter, the fields had to be cleared because of lightening in the area. We had to wait 30 minutes for them to make a final decision about the game. As the time passed the storm just blew closer in so they called the game. I don't know if we'll have to make it up or not since there was no score yet, and the second  game didn't even get started. Unfortunately the storm produced a lot of lightening and noise but only a little rain. We could certainly use the rain.

Wyatt is doing better. His knee has been pain free, for the most part. He's hobbling around the house a little without the crutches, but I'm not ready for him to go to school without them. The brace is still on and I'm afraid that it would be too easy for him to lose his balance if someone bumped into him and he didn't have the crutches with him. His knee is still swollen to about twice (or more) it's normal size. Abigail looked it up online and found that it might stay swollen as long as a week after the injury. Well, that's tomorrow so if it doesn't look any better in the morning I'm going to call the doctor and see if I need to be panicking about it.

There's a school dance on Friday so Kirsten's most pressing issue at the moment is deciding on the perfect thing to wear. :0)

P.E. is hazardous to your health.....

Well, it's hazardous for Wyatt anyway.

He got knocked down in PE yesterday and fell just right and dislocated his knee (read: his knee cap slid over to the side of his leg.)

The school called a little before 1:00 to tell me what had happened and that I needed to pick him up and take him to the doctor. I grabbed my purse and hit the road.

Side rant: Why is it that when you're worried sick and in a hurry that you get stuck behind the SLOWEST driver on the road that day? It drives me nuts!!

After the coach called me she was able to get a hold of the trainer at the high school and he went and put Wyatt's knee cap back in place. They had just finished when I got there and Wyatt was still looking a little green from the whole thing.

We were lucky in that the trainer called an orthopedist and was able to get us an appointment right away. If not, we would have surely had to wait an extra day to see someone.

After several x-rays they determined that it's not broken. He will have to be in this brace keeping his leg straight for three weeks and then we go back to the doctor. If things have healed by then, they will unlock the brace so that it can bend and he'll start physical therapy.

He's in a lot of pain still, but he's handled the whole thing like a real trooper. The coaches couldn't believe that he didn't cry at all and kept commenting on how tough he is. Although, he was very unhappy with the doctor for pushing on it and just making it hurt worse.

Two bits, four bits......

The girls got to cheer at their first football game on Thursday. Actually, they cheered at two games (8th grade A & B teams.)

They really had fun doing it.

Addison at the top of the pyramid.

Abigail

They did say that their legs and feet were sore after it was all over.

Unfortunately, the cheers didn't help the football teams at all. They both lost.


On Friday night Dax had to head out for his State Guard weekend.

As usual, something out of the ordinary happened while he was gone.

This time our outside cat (Ms. Kitty) wandered into the back yard and the dogs attacked her.

Luckily we heard all the commotion out there and got outside in time to stop it before she got hurt. I was worried about her because she's getting pretty old and she seamed to be really confused.

But, she's back to her same old grouchy self now so I guess she's feeling fine.

Dax may not be able to leave anymore if this kind of craziness keeps up.

Another tragic loss.....

Over the weekend we suffered another tragic loss in the kitchen.

--On the bright side, this one wasn't my fault!--


Abigail was making some lunch for herself and didn't realize that the plastic cover for things cooked in the microwave was actually touching the burner.

As you can see from the photo, it took quite a bit of time (and melting) before she noticed it.

That plastic on the burner stunk up the whole house!!

I had to wait for it to cook and re-harden so that I could chip it off of the stove.

We're really having a hard time in the kitchen lately.  I guess we're just going to have to start eating out all the time.

I know, I know. It's just wishful thinking.

What do cheerleaders have?

Pep!!


Or at least pep rallies.


Thursday was the first pep rally.

Abigail is on the far left. (Don't be fooled, Abigail is not that 'tiny'. The girl on the right is really tall for a 12 year old. I thinks she's taller than me and I haven't seen 12 in a long, long time.)

The girls were so excited about the pep rally. (I couldn't get any pictures of Addison because she's in the back row on the other side of the gym.)

Wyatt was pretty excited too because it was his first time to perform in the band at a pep rally. Poor Abigail had to run back and forth from cheer leading to play in the band. (I couldn't get any pictures of Wyatt because he was hidden behind a music stand.)

It was really kind of sad though, because they were supposed to play against Smithville. However, Smithville is one of the areas that is on fire here in central Texas so the games were cancelled. I heard this morning that the fires are about 60% contained and well over 1500 homes have been destroyed. It's just heart breaking! The High School had a scrimmage game. They collected items needed by both families and fire fighters and all proceeds went to help those affected.....especially in Smithville. It was very touching indeed.

But they thoroughly enjoyed the pep rally. I obviously attended since I took pictures, but they spent the whole week practicing it in the kitchen while I cooked dinner. I swear I fell asleep every night with those cheers going through my head. I felt like I already new the pep rally without having to actually be there.

It was a bust....

Addison's soccer tournament was a bust. The girls had to play three other teams (same as last weekend.) But, this time I guess they didn't have enough teams sign up so two of the teams they played against were Super 2  -- Addison's team is Division 2. Super 2 is the next level of play better. (It would be kind of like making high school football players play against college teams in order to get to the championship.)

Well, of course they didn't do too good.

The really terrible part of it is that if the tournament hosts had told us that they would be doing this, we wouldn't have signed up for it. I mean, even though the girls know that the teams were way above their level of play, they still feel awful for the beating they took out on the field.


As a parent it was painful to watch.  I didn't even take pictures!


There was also another bust.


Last night.

I had baked bread and after it had cooled I had stacked the pans and pushed them to the back of the stove.

I turned on a burner to dry my cast iron skillet. I noticed that it wasn't doing anything and realized I had turned on the back burner.

The one under the loaf pans.

I turned it off and pushed the pans to the side so they wouldn't be on the burner. When I did that the bottom pan shattered and glass went everywhere!! I was lucky and didn't get cut but it certainly scared me.

Dax seems to think that the common problem is me and the glass baking dishes. I know that's not true though.

We were having fish again last night. It's the fish y'all!!

Other than that we had a nice weekend.

What's for dinner?

Not fish! That's for sure.

I can't believe that my dish (I think it might actually be yours Mom--sorry) did this last night while I was baking fish.

I went to check on it and found it like this.

Talk about scrambling to make something else.

Has that ever happened to anyone else?

What rest?

The weekend came and went with no rest. What's up with that?


As if making it through the first week back at school and on that schedule wasn't exhausting enough, Addison had a soccer tournament! It was quite a trek from home so Addison and I stayed in Helotes.


As luck would have it, it was also the hottest weekend of the year. Yippee!


They played two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. It was at least 110 for the afternoon games on both days. I don't know how the girls even did it.

 I'm really proud of how our team played. A couple of the other teams were pretty aggressive. I know Addison took a couple of really hard hits but got back up and kept playing. Well, she did for the most part. One of the hits knocked her breath out so that took a little more time. She's a little banged up and quite sore.


The last game of the tournament was a nail biter. They were playing for the title and it was tied. It went into a shoot out at the end. Both teams get 5 shots alternating teams with each shot. Well, each time one team scored, the other did too. So then they had to just start going down the line until there was a winner. It was nerve wracking!!! It ended with the other team winning, so our team came in second. It was really too bad because they had been undefeated -- they had already beat this team once. The way this tournament worked, once they got to this game none of the other stats counted. Whoever won this one game got first place. The girls were dissapointed, but I think they were even more tired. lol

Here's the best picture I got of Addison getting her medal.

Then, on our way home, I got a text from Abigail that Addison's bunny had died. She was, of course, pretty upset about it. But sweet Abigail, bless her heart, had brought the bunny into the house to try to help her. The bunny was very old (she outlived the others by several years) and I think between her age and the heat it was just too much for her.

And goodness knows we need some rain here desperately. I mean, should Dax have needed to use this in order to dig a grave for the bunny?

Cheer practice starts up again this week, with the football games kicking in next week. And Addison has another soccer tournament this weekend. So, there's no rest in the forcast. BUT, the temp is supposed to be ONLY 91 or so this weekend!! Who thought we'd get excited for it to cool down to the 90's?

Back to school!

We went to the school last week to pick up schedules. I think everyone is happy with their classes and how they're laid out.

All four kids were put in all honors classes this year. (Pardon the bragging.) They knew they were in honors English because they were given copies of Alice in Wonder Land that they had to read over the summer. Kirsten is the most thrilled with her classes because her best friend Grace is in every class but one. Life is good!!

Wyatt has recovered from his fall and the knot on his head had cleared up in time for school to start. I was a little concerned because as of Friday it was in that ugly yellow-green phase. Bleck!!!

Anyway, of course going back to school for them means a lot of paperwork for me.

I felt like I was applying for a mortgage with all that paperwork.

Oh, wait.....I don't think our last mortgage even required this much paperwork.

So everybody got their backpacks ready last night and woke up easily this morning (we'll see if that happens tomorrow too) and was ready to go before it was even time to leave. As a matter of fact, they went and sat in the car before I even had all my stuff together.

They tried to get out of the house without a first day of school picture, but you know that didn't fly.

I still can't believe they're in 7th grade!

A Catch Up Post

Let's see......where did I leave off?


I think we've gotten the scorpion problem under control. At least for now. It would certainly help if we could get some rain.


My birthday was weekend before last. We didn't do anything special. Just went out to eat and did a little shopping at the mall. It was wonderful not to feel like anything needed to be taken care of!


Kirsten drew a card for me. She knows how much I like Snoopy so she decided on this:

How cute is that?! She does love to color and kudos for attempting something so challenging. I think she did a great job on it.

Abigail made this for me:

Isn't that cute? In case you can't see the antena, it's a t.v. to go with my initials. And there's that cute little girl again! Now she's wearing make-up. It's just not right.

The kids had to get shots in order to attend the 7th grade. It turns our that each one of them needed four shots!! That's a lot for one visit.

Addison is the only one that wanted to play in the children's area at the clinic. I told her that this looked like she was on some kids' show.

Our trip to the clinic started off fine. Addison and Abigail both got their shots with no problem. Then Wyatt went back to get his shots. He did fine, was talking to the nurses, and then passed out cold. He was sitting in a chair and fell forward. He stopped the fall with his forhead on the hard tile floor. That hit caused him to have a seizure. I was beside myself!! It took everything I had in me not to shove the nurses out of the way to get to my baby. It was such a helpless feeling knowing I couldn't do anything to make it stop.

He almost passed out again a few minutes later, but they were finally able to give Kirsten her shots and helped me get Wyatt to the car. I kept a close eye on him for the rest of the day. It took about an hour for him to really get his wits about him again. Later he told me that when he passed out he dreamed he was having a seizure. I guess that means that he was somewhat aware of what was happening? I'm pretty sure that by the end of the day he was tired of me asking him if he was feeling alright, had double vision, etc. He's just lucky that I didn't sit and watch him sleep! lol

Addison took this picture with my phone on our way home. It was so that I could check on his color without having to turn around while I was driving. You can only see the knot on his head a little bit in this picture.


School starts next week and I'm hoping that we can get there without any further excitement. At least not that kind, anyway.

Why do they do that?

Keep growing, I mean.


This weekend I took the girls shopping.


For this:

Where did my babies go?

We picked out foundation, blush, eyeshadow, and mascara. They each got their own makeup totes too.

They'll spend a little time between now and when school starts practing putting it all on. *sigh* I'm really not on board with this growing up stuff. How come nobody asked me if it was alright with me?

The eyeshadow and blush tones that I picked out are all soft and muted. Abigail put on her makeup when we got home, complete with eyeshadow and mascara. I sent Dax a message (he's out of town) telling him that we're going to be in trouble. The eye makeup really shows off her pretty brown eyes. She'll drive the boys crazy......how do you think I hooked her Dad? lol

Oh, and if you have a minute, please pray for us to get some rain here. It's beyond dry around here and the insects are invading our house in a big way. We always have problems with spiders since we're in the country, but the ants and scorpions are fighting for room in the house now too.

Yesterday Kirsten put on a shirt and got stung by a scorpion. It fell out of the shirt after it stung her and she killed it. Then this morning Abigail put on a shirt that she had borrowed from Kirsten and got stung by a scorpion. But she couldn't get it out of the shirt. By the time she did it had stung her FIVE times!!! Poor baby! While all of that was going on, Addison was busy trying to kill one by their dresser. If these keeps up, they're going to be afraid to get dressed at all. We're all in the habit of checking our shoes, but I guess now we need to be checking everything! We need some rain big time to help keep them from coming into the house in search of water.

Taking it easy is over....

The kids are back from their grandparents' house and the end of summer is already here for us. I mean the fewer activities part of summer. The heat will be around for months still!

Cheerleading practice started for Addison and Abigail bright and early Monday morning. Soccer practice is already under way three nights a week and we have two tournaments coming up soon. I don't feel like we've even gotten to ease our way back into the routines. Just BOOM! August first and it's time to go.

If all of that isn't enough of a shock to the system, we had to call the a/c repairman to our house. It appears that our drip pan for the air handler in the attic is cracked and needs to be replaced. The good news is that they can fix it for the low, low price of only $1200. He told me it's a $50 part but they have to take the whole unit apart to get to it.

I almost fainted!!

Oh, and for ONLY $1500 more we could just get a whole new unit in the attic!! Isn't that swell?

I'm afraid he must have seen our money trees in full bloom on his way up the drive.


I honestly think that they cracked the pan the last time they were here when they did our spring check-up because not long after that is when the problem with the overflow pan filling with water started. But, like anyone that doesn't have that kind of money for a/c repairs would do, we headed to the hardware store to find another way to fix it. We looked around and decided to try some of that super putty that can seal anything even if it's under water. So far it seams to be working! Woohoo!!

We had to get the shop vac out and get all the water out of the overflow pan because it was tripping the breaker.

And this cat can't stay out of anything.....she's in the shop vac!

She certainly makes it hard to get things done sometimes.

Cross your fingers that our fix will hold.

Out in Luckenbach Texas

But we didn't see Willie or Waylon and The Boys.


The kids decided that they weren't through having fun with the grandparents so they still haven't come home. And, since that meant that Dax and I had the weekend to ourselves, we decided to do something different.


We headed out to Luckenbach to see what was going on.

There was a band playing (Shurman) so we decided to stick around for a bit.

They had the crowd tapping their feet to the rhythm, but this took me by surprise.

I guess now we've seen the real chicken dance, not just the wedding reception version.

You just never know what you'll see when you go to a town like Luckenbach.

We had fun, but it was H.O.T. hot since everything was outside.


We went out there and came home on different routes. Apparently, we took the long way around to get there because the route home was about half the distance.


Live and learn, I guess.


I think my kiddos are coming home this weekend. But, then again, that's what I thought last weekend too.

At least they're having fun.

Save the drama

I know several people that thrive on drama in their lives. If there isn't any at the moment, then they create it themselves.


That is definitely not us!! We like for things to go along as drama free as possible and do our best to avoid it. Sometimes that means avoiding certain people or situations that bring it into our lives.


But then sometimes, we just find ourselves kind of stuck in it.


Like right now!


Last year, the coach for Addison's soccer team got in trouble for something that he had done on one of the boys' teams that he also coached. And he got suspended for a year. There were two fathers that stepped up and coached the girls. And, since they won second place in their division in the Spring, I'd say they did a bang up job.

Well, this weekend we found out that their old coach has been released from his suspension for the girls' team and can coach them again now. He sent out an email letting us know that he's back. That was immediately followed by an email from the acting head coach saying that he's not willing to just step down and that there may need to be a vote by the parents on who the coach should be.

I don't see this whole thing ending well. There doesn't seem to be a way out of this mess without someone getting their feelings hurt, and likely splitting the team up. I hate to see that happen because all of the girls get along. I think that says a lot when you're talking about a dozen or so pre-teen girls not bickering! The parents all get along well, too. If the team splits up, I don't think that either will be able to come up with enough girls to form other teams.

I was going to go turn in Addison's registration forms today. Since they're not due until the end of the month, though, I've decided to hold off until I have a better idea of how this is all gonna play out. *sigh* I can't stop worrying and fretting about it. I couldn't sleep last night because of this. I hate drama!!

Update:  The coaches met alone and hashed things out. They've all three agreed to work together for the good of the girls. What a relief!!

Birthday Celebration

Fortunately the powers-that-be for Dax's state guard regimen didn't have things well planned out so he got to come home on Saturday afternoon in plenty of time to celebrate his birthday. Woohoo for lack of planning on their part. lol


We celebrated with pineapple upside down cupcakes. (Trying to limit the portion sizes for Dax and I.) They turned out really well. Especially since I wasn't following any recipe. Just making it up as I went.


Wyatt, as usual, wrapped his gift in paper that didn't fit the occassion.

He's so goofy!! (Wyatt, that is.)

OK! Yes. Dax too.

 Nice picture,huh?

Addison used popsicle sticks to create this.

 She also got him this cute stapler for his desk. It's a little, fat, round dog.

 Abigail out-did herself with making gifts for his birthday.


She made this pop-up card.

This cute little camera made with construction paper. I suspect that the lens is a pan from the easy bake oven. But it's pretty cute with that picture of her and Dax from when the kids were probably about 3.

 *sigh* I do miss those babies. But these kiddos are pretty great too, so I guess we'll keep them.

And then she made this 'beer' for him.

The mug is filled with Lindt white chocolate truffles (his favorite) and the head on the beer is large marshmallows. She did a great job on all of them.

Kirsten created her own work of art. She drew this picture for her Dad. She was looking at a picture on her Ipod and drew this one and colored it in. She did a fantastic job!

My Dad is a great artist, and it evidentally has skipped a generation here because I certainly didn't get any of that talent. 

It was fun to see what the kids came up with and I hope Dax enjoyed his birthday.

On Sunday we packed the kids up and shipped them off for the week. Their grandparents met us at Wyatt's hockey game (they tied). After the game the grandparents left with the kids and Dax and I headed home to get ready for the work week ahead.

Finally the weekend

I'm so glad the weekend is finally here!!


First off, Happy Birthday Dax!! You're a wonderful husband and father and we're lucky to share our lives with you. I couldn't ask for a better husband and the kids couldn't ask for a better father.

Unfortunately, he's gone this weekend. He's off doing his monthly weekend with the guard.



Bertie tried to go with him but he wouldn't take her along.

I swear that cat got on the bag the second he set it down. Even after he pushed her off of it she was still trying to climb back on as he was picking it up to leave. She's so silly.

The kids are heading out tomorrow after Wyatt's hockey game. They're going to spend the week with their grandparents. I swear that this is the only week they had all summer when at least one of them wasn't involved in something.

Anyway, it's a good thing because even with their activities, I think they're getting bored at home. If building the dirt-castle-forts wasn't enough, now they've actually reverted  to playing with cars in their pajamas.

I don't think they've done this since they were 5!! It must be getting really tough coming up with something fun to do.

Although, it's not quite the same game as it was back then. TV has had it's influence because now there's a wrecker and cars are being repo-ed and sometimes (as I hear it) the cops even have to be called to difuse the situation. LOL