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.