It was a great Christmas!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas (or whatever holiday you observe) and that you also have a fantastic year to come.

We had a great Christmas at our house!

As you can see, the kids must have been very good last year, because, as usual, Santa was very good to them.

 This isn't even all of it. We opened the pajamas on Saturday night. Since Dax won't wear his Christmas pajamas when he gets them (and I wrapped his old ones last year so I couldn't get away with it again) I gave him some hot chocolate mix, Christmas music, and a four pack of Christmas movies. That's why we opened the pajamas earlier than Christmas Eve.....so we could watch the movies for family movie night.

My parents arrived on Sunday and Dax's on Monday afternoon. We had lots of time to enjoy each others' company and to eat way too much food.

My Dad got a little too far into the Christmas spirit. Maybe.

And by the time all the gift opening was over (which still happens way too early in the morning) we were all pretty tired.

Actually, there was plenty of sleeping going on at our house, and still is. Unfortunately all three girls are sick. What a yucky way to spend your Christmas break. Hopefully they'll be feeling better before the whole thing is over.

Wordless Wednesday

Should I be concerned?

We have a gate at our drive and it's operated by a battery that is recharged with a solar panel.

As of late it's been getting slower and slower when it opens and closes. Dax wanted to take the battery and have it checked to see if it was time to get a new one. The only problem was that the battery is housed in a metal box that's locked. It's been about five or six years since the last time we replaced it, so finding the key proved to be a bit of an issue.

While I was looking for the key, Abigail grabbed a paper clip and went to see if she could pick the lock.

I'm thinking that I should be a little scared that she's even willing to work so hard at picking locks.

Fortunately I found the key and the battery needed to be recharged but not replaced....yet!

And so it begins....

Well, it seems that the bug has bitten the kids.


They all want to start learning to drive!!


Eeek!!


I think they've all had a turn to drive.


Here's Addison's parking:

A little crooked, but not bad overall.


This should be fun for the next couple of years.....

A little recognition

Earlier this week Dax received an award from the Central Texas Crime Prevention Association for all of the hard work and time that he gives in support of the Hays County Sheriff's Department.

It was a  really nice awards ceremony with good food, good company, and even McGruff the crime stopping dog.

We're very proud of him and like the fact that his efforts are recognized and appreciated.

Good on ya', babe!!

A star is born!

A few months ago Wyatt decided to sign up for theater with his friend Nate. They've had weeks of practice 5 nights a week and last week was performance time.

The play they did was a regional play called A Tuna Christmas and they did a great job. Wyatt played a midget that was standing behind a counter placing an order so we couldn't actually see him. LOL

The kids (junior high and high school) did a great job!

We were really surprised that Wyatt decided to do this because he is usually pretty quiet and keeps to himself around other people.

We are even more surprised that he's loved it and will be doing another play in the Spring.

Looking forward to it.

3 Out of 4

Well, Addison got a full set of braces.

That makes three of them (only Abigail remains unbraced.)

Week Away

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. The family all came to our house and we had a great time and ate too much. As usual!!

On Saturday after Thanksgiving, Dax and I left for our annual trip to Las Vegas for accounting continuing education. I can't say the classes were fun but we did have a good time.

We always make sure to stop at least once (but usually more) for a little of this:

We went to our favorite tacky casino to watch the karaoke and were not disappointed because the infamous Barbara Ann was there.

And when we were walking around we managed to stumble into the filming of a tv show.

We also went to see the newest Cirque du Soleil at Aria called Zarkana. I just love the Cirque shows and am always blown away by the mind blowing talent of the performers.

We really did have a good time and it's always nice to get away together.

Now we're back home and back to the same old grind. Busy as it is!

A good time was had by all

The kids had a great time celebrating their birthday (I'm still not over the fact that they're fourteen already!!)

I bought Krispy Kreme doughnuts for them for breakfast (mostly because Addison is obsessed with them) and put a candle in the middle and sang happy birthday to each as they got out of bed.

 The girls were the only ones that had doughnuts.

We gave them each a cell phone for their birthday and did that the night before so they could have plenty of time to get over it before we went shopping on their birthday. But before we left the house, they opened gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. They got lots of good stuff, but I think Wyatt's favorite was this Texas Longhorns watch.

Their class at school went to visit the UT campus (the PTO does it to start getting the kids thinking about college) and all four of them are smitten with the school now.

Then we headed up to Austin for a long day of shopping and dinner out.

It was a good day and I know they enjoyed it.....they keep texting me to let me know.

Fourteen Already!

I can't believe how quickly time passes.

It seems like just yesterday that I was even finding out that I was pregnant. Now these children of ours are fourteen years old. ALREADY!! Who told them it was okay to grow up?!

This is how I still tend to think of them:

But look at them now:

(they're not in the same order as the photo above)

I mean, they're wanting to start learning to drive!!!

But, even so, I can't imagine how boring our life would be without them. They bring us lots of joy and laughter (and exhaustion) and I hope they have a wonderful birthday. We couldn't have asked for four better children.

Happy Birthday!! to Addison, Kirsten, Abigail, and Wyatt

Saying Goodbye

We had to say goodbye to Oatis, Abigail's hamster.

He passed away on Friday. Not really sure why. He had been sick but we had nursed him back to health. I think maybe he was just too old.


It's always sad and hurts to see our children hurt.

Cell phone fun

I never know what I'm going to find when Addison gets her hands on my cell phone.

Here's the latest:

 See what I mean?

Beauty Princess

I would say beauty queen, but she didn't win that title.

Addison did another pageant over the weekend. This one had a masquerade theme.

 She got 2nd place in her division which is a Princess title. She also got Prettiest Eyes and Prettiest Hair. She was really mad that she didn't win at first and swore she was never doing another pageant with this venue again. But, by the time we got home she was already making plans for the next one. HA!

It was really hard to get good pictures. She moves too fast, so this is what most of my pictures look like.

Maybe I should contract with the pageant to do the contestant photographs?

Wordless Wednesday

Day Tripping

We took this bunch to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday.

The festival is about 3 1/2 hours away from where we leave and with a group this size we had to take two cars.

It was worth it though because they each had a friend to hang out with and Dax and I didn't have any pouty kids to contend with.

The worst part was that they ran out of money at around 5:00 and were ready to leave.

That's the earliest Dax and I have ever left!!

Help with Homework

Kirsten had some help with her homework.

It's obviously exhausting to study so hard.

Spiders, feet, and dogs, oh my!

Friday night was the homecoming dance. Kirsten and Abigail went to a friends and spent the night at her house. Since they got dressed for the dance over there I didn't get any pictures. The game is not until this Thursday so I'm trying to get mums made by then. Everyday this week there is a theme at school. Tomorrow's theme is 'twins' but my kids are automatically disqualified. Hmph!!

Saturday while they were still at the friend's house, Kirsten got bitten by what I assume was a spider. The redness had gone away by Saturday evening, but now it looks like this:

It still looks like that now. It's all red and swollen. Everything I've read says that there isn't really anything to do at this point. So I guess we wait and see. In the meantime I'm pumping her full of benadryl.

The dog is in her cast for another week.

Otherwise, not much going on here. Just our usual kind of crazy.

The week in pictures

Just the highlights....

Full braces:

Kirsten

Wyatt

Sprained 'ankle'

There you have it!

Getting back into the swing....

Well, I guess we're back into the swing of things around here. Seems like they've already been in school forever. ha!

We spend time every week watching the Addison and Abigail cheer.

They put a lot of work into it and Thursdays make for very long days. Have to be at the school by 7am to get ready for the pep rally and then two games that evening to cheer at. There first time to cheer this season, there were FOUR games that night. Fortunately it started to storm so the games got called. And I say fortunately because it was on many fronts. We desperately need the rain around here, nobody wanted to stay through four games and the girls certainly didn't want to cheer that long (Addison was already losing her voice after just the game and a quarter that they did cheer), and lastly, our team was getting their butts kicked. Calling the games stopped the pain.

I still can't get over how much they've grown up. Wyatt has started shaving already. Granted, he only has to do it about once a month right now, but still, I'm just not ready. He asked a girl to the homecoming dance. That took a lot of guts and we're proud of him for doing it. She said no, but it's completely understandable. Her parents are getting a divorce and she's having a really hard time coping with it. There are too often parents that are so wrapped up in what's going on with them and they forget how divorce affects the kids. Their whole world gets turned upside down and the kids have no part in it except to figure out how to cope.

Progress reports came out last week and everyone is doing a good job. So far this school year has started off with much less stress than the last one. We're hoping to continue down that path.

And so it begins

The kids have only been back in school for three weeks and it feels like the crazy has already started.


It's like there is always so much going on and we don't even let the kids participate in all the things they want to. I know parents who's kids participate in (what seems like) every possible activity. I just don't know how they do it.....or how the kids do it either.


This week there was Kumon on Monday. Cheer practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday they have to be at the school by 7:10 am to get set up for the pep rally and then there are FOUR football games Thursday evening. Open house was last night. Tax deadlines at the office, etc., etc.


In addition to all of that, there's the usual chaos at home. Over the weekend Abigail was spending the night with a friend. The cheerleaders are selling chocolate candy right now, and she left hers at home in her room. While she was gone, her dog got into it. After she got home and counted up her money and the candy that was left, it appears that he ate six chocolate bars!!! They say that chocolate can kill dogs, but this dose doesn't seem to have bothered him much at all.


Then Daisy came in the other night limping and coughing and throwing up. I looked and poked all over her leg and paw but really couldn't find a reason for the limping. We had no idea what to do about the coughing and kept her away from food and water for the night so that she wouldn't keep throwing up. I looked down her throat, much to her dislike, and couldn't find that she had been chewing on anything that got caught. The next day Wyatt and Addison did some research online and suspected that she had gotten stung by a wasp because her symptoms seemed to fit.

I think they're correct. I had just sprayed an absolutely huge wasp nest at the corner of the house close to the gate. Many of the wasps had dropped to the ground to die. I told the kids not to go out there without shoes on, but honestly, it never occurred to me that the dogs might step on them and get stung. And I think that's just what happened.

We started giving her Benadryl and that appears to be helping her a lot.

Who would have thought?

For Grandma

I made lunch bags for each of the girls. My mom wanted to see them so this post is for her.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

This is an actual public service announcement from an area very near where I live...

...and, for the record, we don't live near the mountains. Someone needs to explain it to these mountain lions!!

Back to school....

Today is the first day back to school.

I can't believe they're in 8th grade already!!!

(and yes, Wyatt is that much taller than the girls now.)

Here's looking forward to a great year!!

Wow.....that sucked

Sometimes the lessons we have to learn in life are not fun.

I had to have our cat, Rainbow, put to sleep last night. She had lost an alarming amount of weight recently and was having many other issues. After x-rays, it appears that she had cancer in and around her liver which was causing her much pain and discomfort. I know that putting her to sleep was the right thing to do for her, but it's still hard for me and to see the upset it causes the children.

This is a lesson in life (or death) that I wish we didn't have to learn.

Wordless Wednesday