Had an interesting evening last night taking Julia to soccer practice...

1.  Realized I MIGHT not have enough gas to make it home from practice.
2.  Realized the dog did not have enough food to make it to morning.
3.  Dropped child off at practice with super safe coach.
4.  Drove to QuikTrip to get gas (and go to the bathroom).
5.  Witnessed hefty man exit QuikTrip and seriously not be able to way until he got to his car to open and start eating his burrito.
6.  Made wrong turn on way to grocery adding 3-5 extra minutes to trip.
7.  At the grocery store, overheard woman holding toddler tell her, "Honey, I can't put you down.  Mommy forgot to put your shoes on."  REALLY?!?!?  This made me feel even better as a parent...I know, sad...
8.  Made second wrong turn of the night leaving grocery adding 3-5 extra minutes to trip.
9.  Made it back to practice with 25 minutes to spare but according to my daughter, I had MISSED all the really important plays.
10.  Whew!  I'm tired.  Then went home to fix dinner (who are we kidding? I warmed up left overs), unload and reload dishwasher (yes, this really happened), and fold 3 baskets of laundry.  But according to above referenced child, she feels like I make her do all the chores around the house.  Poor thing!  I did have them for slave labor:)

Have a blessed day!

2012...The Year Of Change...Again

Hard to believe it has been 2 years so I wrote in this blog...so much has happened and changed that I don't even know where to begin....

1.  Meet Aideen, our sweet rescue boxer, that we adopted in April.  She is so sweet and it is SO wonderful to have a boxer as part of the family again.
2.  I went back to work full time in January 2010 once Julia was in all day kindergarten.  It has been a great job with great people that is only 5 minutes from my house so it is easy to be with the kids when I need to be.
3.  After many great years together and wonderful memories, John and I are in the process of divorcing.  We still care a lot about each other and are friendly, especially where the kids are concerned.  We only want the best for our kids and each other.  John has gotten a townhouse 3 minutes from us in the next neighborhood so the kids very easily can go back and forth.  They seem to be adjusting better than we could have imagined.
4.  Jacob went to middle school last year and is now in 6th grade.  He plays baseball and is now in his first year of band.  He is such a great kid and we are so proud of him!
5.  Julia is in 3rd grade this year and still her same, wonderful, zany, outgoing self.  She is enjoying playing her 3rd season of soccer and gets better and better all the time.  She enjoys school and loves her friends.  The first crush of the year is a shy boy who just moved here from England.  He is teaching her about crumpets and she thinks he has the best smile...so sweet!
6.  The house is getting ready to go on the market again so please keep your figures crossed that it will sell quickly.  The kids and I are looking for a smaller house/lot in our same neighborhood.  Actually looking forward to not having such a big house to keep up with and clean.
7.  Unfortunately, in October of last year, John's dad, Big Daddy to the kids, passed away.  So that has been hard on everyone.  Hard for the kids to lose someone they loved so much.
8.  Along with my tried and true life long (or semi-life-long friends), I have met and become good friends with so many wonderful women in our neighborhood.  It is really nice to be somewhere long enough that both me and the kids are building a sense of history.
9.  My brother, Doug, moved to TN this summer and opened up his open Medical/Surgical Equipment Company.  So proud!  And I know he will do great! 
10.  I promise to do my best even with work and all the kid's activities to get back in the swing of the whole blogging thing.  I was inspired by a new friend's recent blog start since she moved here with her family from the UK.  So I wound up going through the archives of this blog and loved seeing the progress of the kids throught the years.  It was a wonderful journal/photo album.  And heaven knows I love typing better than writing and pictures certainly add pizzazz...ha!

So, enjoy a few pictures of the kids from this fall...A trip with John to Red River, NM and their first day of school.  Ciao!

Hi Dee Ho...Betcha forgot about me...I've gotten so caught up in life (and facebook) that I really haven't posted much out here. Not enough time. However, I am going to try (when I can) to keep up both. Things have been so busy around here...

Last week Julia went to the ER from after care (luckily I made it in time to ride with her in the ambulance). She had a freak accident and got a pair of doll glasses caught in her eye...don't ask. Little girl was so fortunate to have no permanent damage to her eye ball. Just scratched the inside of her eyeball. Now GOOD AS NEW. Thank you GOD! What a blessing. Based on what it looked like when I got there, it could have been a lot worse.

Jacob is home with strep throat. Poor boy has been struggling with a fever for the last 3 days. Last night it got up to 103.4. Time to see the doctor. Thank heavens for antibiotics.

Julia and I are heading to OSU this weekend for homecoming. She has never gotten to go before so she is WAY excited! She has the cheerleading outfit and everything...ha! Plus...BONUS!...we get to stay with Uncle Doug and meet his new(in that we've never met her) girlfriend, Monica. We've heard great things about her and we are so happy that he has found happiness again. The last 2 years after Ashley's death have been so hard.

And when the Rangers make it all the way to game 7, Jacob and John have tickets to the last game in the Rangers vs. Yankees series...GO RANGERS!

Lots going on as you can tell. Happy Autumn is here. Finally got the mums planted and the pumpkins and gourds on the porch...love it!

Last thing...GO RANGERS! GO OSU COWBOYS!

Sickness!...This was the week that sickness overtook our household. And sadly it just seems like a continuation of the previous weeks. Ugh! No more sickness, please. Over the last few weeks, the kids have taken turns with strep. Last weekend, Jacob had strep Fri-Sun. Monday he was ready to go back to school. Monday morning at 3am, Julia started throwing up and didn't go back to school until Thursday. Friday morning, Jacob started throwing up. John got home Wednesday night and didn't feel good for a couple of days and then threw up yesterday morning. Needless to say, I spent most of yesterday cleaning and sanitizing the house. Will finish the project today (which means floors...ick!). If I have any say in the matter, this sickness will not continue! Please....I am begging....

More Snowflake Ball pics...

Pics From Snowflake Ball...

Wow!...So much has happened since the last post. The kids went back to school on Jan 4 and that afternoon I was offered a temp job for 3 weeks. I started the next day and that temp job has turned into a fulltime job with a raise...yea! Right now it is a contract job but I am hoping by the end of summer that I will be fulltime with benefits. The people are really nice and it is only 10 minutes from home. Plus, on the few occasions that the kids have been sick or we've had snow, I've gotten to work from home. That has been so great!

Jacob participated in the UIL Music Memory competition in early February. He came in 8th place (94%) in his category which included 28 people. We are so proud of him. That same day, Jacob and I got to go to Great Wolf Lodge for a birthday sleepover with his friend, Anthony. We had a GREAT time! While we were gone, John and Julia had Daddy/Daughter Day complete with going to see "Princess and The Frog" at the movies, dinner out, and new roller skates for Julia. What a day!

At the end of January, I got to meet up with old college friends, Annie and Mary Kay, for a girl's day in Dallas while Annie was in town for a gymnastics meet. We had a great time catching up, window shopping, and good food/wine. Been a long time since I had a great girl's day like that!

John and I also got to go to the Cotton Bowl to watch OSU play. Although the outcome was stinky, we had a great time with college friends, Kristen and Steve Terrell.

Last night was the Daddy/Daughter Snowflake Ball in our neighborhood. John and Julia went out Thursday night to pick out a beautiful new dress. I got her all ready yesterday with manicure/pedicure/curled hair/makeup. She was absolutely GORGEOUS if I do say so myself. I can't believe she is growing up so fast. They had a great time at the ball and I am posting a bunch of pics for you to see for yourself.

This coming week we start the process for Jacob to get braces which is both exciting and nerve racking for him (and us). But luckily he is only supposed to need them for about 14-16 months and only on the top. Wish us luck

Well, I think that brings us up to speed even though it still feels like I am missing something...oh well...maybe I'll remember later...ha!

Have a great week!