Who was that kid???

Just had to jot down this story ....Allie and I were standing in the kitchen making Holley's birthday cake. Allie was actually holding the mixer, mixing the batter when Scott came in from school. Trying to supervise Al and make sure she didn't hurt herself or spray half the cake batter all over the place, I muttered a "Hi" in my son's direction. He walked up to me and said, "Don't you have a question for me". "Umm, how was school?." I answered, distracted. "It was awesome" he said. "Aren't you going to ask me what I learned today?" he questioned. I half-looked at him trying to keep my eye on the beater mixing the cake on med. speed. "What did you learn in school today?" was my reply. "Respect and discipline..." he answered. He continued, "I'd like to tell you more but I've got to go clean my room." "Who was that kid?" I said to Allie. She innocently looked up at me and said "Mommmmm, that was Scott." and rolled her eyes. Well, it did look like Scott I thought to myself.....

It's Party Time!!!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY HOLLEY!!!....more to come later

1 gymnast + hard work + rips in your hand + a few tears + lots of frustration + never giving up = SUCCESS!!

Hello all, back in September I introduced you to Holley's arch enemy this year in gymnastics....the uneven bars. This is the routine that I posted for you to see what I was talking about when I wrote about her "stinking" kips. The kip is the swing move to mount the bars and she has not been able to do it this whole season. Remember with me....notice her coach has to push her up to the bar....the judges automatically take of 2 full points for each kip that you do not do. That means she never got over a 6 on the bars....remember with me....why you ask????

Because that routine is a thing of the past!! Enjoy Holley's routine from Kim Zmeskal's Texas Prime meet in Koppell this Sunday....She's come a long way baby!!!

Way to go Holley girl. She scored an 8.0 which is amazing considering she scored a 4.0 at the state meet last month on the bars. I'm SOOOOO proud of you baby girl!!!

Two kips down...NONE to go!!! Yippee!!!

We are heading to the Big D tomorrow morning....

It's official...Holley has now done both of her kips (low bar and high bar) in a single routine. Whew! She had her last practice today before her meet tomorrow night and did four complete bar routines, kips included. She was so proud...it has been a hard fought victory. Now this does not mean that she "has" them forever. She had them for today and that is enough. Hopefully, she will have them tomorrow for the meet. She starts the competition at 645 pm (in Dallas). If I can, I'll try to post from there...but last time I was not able to. We will be staying overnight in Dallas and travelling home on Monday. I am so proud of my munchkin for hanging in there and not quitting when it got tough. She showed up to every practice and tried and tried and tried, and it has paid off. Even if she doesn't do them in competition tomorrow, she now has the confidence of knowing YES she CAN do them, BOTH of them. This is not an official USGA meet and does not count as part of their competition season. That season ended with the state meet. This is an invitational meet hosted at Texas Dreams , (? I think that is the name) the gym owned by Kim Zemeskal (former USA Olympic gymnast) and her husband. Holley and her teammates will be competing level 5 again next year but they will be switching from the achievement level to the placement level. It gets technical but it means they will be competing against each other (teammates) and other gymnasts more vigorously as there are only a fraction of the gymnasts who will advance to the next rounds advancing to the state, regional, national levels. This year they were competing basically against themselves, trying to better their personal scores and earn colored ribbons. The state meet that I described in Dec. with 60% receiving medals (1/3 gold, 1/3 silver, 1/3 bronze and the rest nothing) is how she will be competing at all the competitions starting next Aug. The whole point behind this entire story is the fact that yeah!!! She can do the kips and by the start of the next season, hopefully they will be much more consistent. I'm one very proud mommy!!! (in case you can't tell :-) Please pray for Holley, specifically for self-confidence that she CAN and WILL do her routines, and for perseverance and strength, as we will spend a long day in the car, then she starts the competition so late and it will be LATE when we are done. It will be a very long day and historically she has not done so hot on the days when we have travelled the day of the meet. I have total and complete faith in her and am so proud of her whether her routines go well or not. Love you Holleyberry!! Stay tuned...Love, S

A letter to my precious kids...

(actually wrote this on Tuesday, January 20, 2009- forgot to post it-oops!! Mom's not perfect. This is a letter to my kids so some of you may decide to skip this post and that's ok....:-) )


Macie, Holley, Scott and Allie,
It has been my intention and hope since I started this family blog to capture moments in time for you to look back on and remember when you are older; memories of your childhood days. Today was one of those moments that will be remembered for many, many years to come. Today our county inaugurated our 44th president, Barack Obama. Not only is he our 44th president, but he is the first African-American President to EVER be elected. It no longer matters which candidate I voted for, this is my president and your president. As you grow up and learn about politics yourselves, you will find that there are few if any politicians that you will agree with 100% of the time. There may be one political party that is more in line with what you believe but even within that party there are differences of opinion. My advice to you is this, pray. Pray hard. Know what you believe about the issues and then vote according to those beliefs. Seek your answers from scripture and Godly people in your lives, people who seek their guidance from Jesus.

Here is Barack Obama taking the oath of office and becoming the 44th president of the United State of America.
President Obama placed his hand on the same Bible that President Lincoln used at his inauguration. The last phrase that President Obama said was " So help me God". There are people in this country who fought to have that last phrase regarding God taken out of the oath of office. That is very scary to me.

There were record numbers of people who traveled from all over the country and the world to see Barack Obama become the president. Two people that I know from the hospital went to Washington DC.

President Bush made this "transition of power", one of the smoothest of all times. Regardless of what some say, President Bush led this country and made decisions based on what he believed. He did not make decisions according to opinion polls. He had some tough decisions to make during his presidency too! Regardless of whether I agreed with everything, I am very grateful for the way he led and loved on the people of this country during those dark days after Sept. 11, 2001. Job well done. And kids, do you know that he loves Jesus? That is why he does not regret any of the decisions he made. He followed what he felt the Lord was leading him to do. That is all you can do.

Kids, you my wonder why I am writing all of this. I just want you to know that we have the greatest county in the world. We are able to choose our leaders and have more freedoms than you (and I) realize. Please remember to pray for the leaders of this country. Even the ones that you may not vote for. Pray that God will work miracles in their lives and hearts and that they will seek His will in leading our country. God is ALWAYS in control...he knows what decisions we are going to make before we make them. He gives us free will....choose to seek Him...life won't always be perfect...but with Jesus by your side...wow... some of my all time favorite scriptures are on the cross that sits on my nightstand. I read it everyday. Each of you have seen it. It reads like this :For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope....when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the Lord....."I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." Jeremiah 29:11-13 and Psalm 32:8.

So my dear ones, seek Him, let him guide you. It will be the best decision you will EVER make. I love each of you so very much! Love, Mom

Life with a preschooler is ALWAYS interesting...

Allie came running up to me the other day holding her prized library book that she checked out "all by herself". She could not understand it when I told her that I was so sorry but I could not read it o her. Here's why. Can you read it???

Funny girl picked a book completely in German. Not one English word. Well maybe one...the author's last name was Beer. I encouraged her to make sure her next book is in English. Her teacher laughed and laughed when I told her about this and promised to watch a little closer next time. Ha! As of 110 pm I'm still at home instead of at work...hmmm, this is starting to get serious...our census has been too low for the staff to get their hours. Unfortunately, by taking the job and being sent to through the internship program I committed to two years so I'm stuck until June 2010...hmmm...Take care...stay tuned. Love,S

You'll NEVER guess where we went on our field trip today!!!

Allie was sooo excited this morning when I reminded her it was field trip day!!! Yeah!!! Our field trip was to, you guessed it, Boerne Gymnastics Center....oh yeah!!! Our 2nd home! She was ALL over the place!!! The kids had a great time.

She hula-hooped...

She swung....

She hung...

and hung....

and swung some more....

did I mention she hung ??? This girl is part monkey!!!

She climbed the rope

and tackled some boys...

Boy she was wiped out when it was time to leave...but not too tired to climb into the cubbies and have a chat with one of her peeps (Maddie) while putting on her shoes.

Sure was a fun day!! We'll be back 3 more days this week!!! Work tomorrow (Tues) and (Thurs) then I am off for the weekend, yipee...Holley and I head to Dallas Sun for the Texas Prime Meet on Sun. at 645 pm. We will be back Mon. afternoon. Stay tuned....Love, S

Scooter is a chick man

I'm surviving work...worked yesterday but was put on call today and did not have to go in...the part of me that did not want to work 4 days in a row was pleased...the part of me that likes a paycheck was not so thrilled....so I will definitely be working Sat and Sun. but two days in a row is not usually a problem...plus I make more $$ on weekends...on to more interesting news.... two weekends ago Scott showed chickens in the 4-H chicken show. His chickens did not place for an award. This past weekend was the sale for the animals....Scott had to walk into the center ring and hold up a bag of three chickens and people bid on them. It's funny how it works. He actually was handed a bag of fresh chickens from HEB to hold up. He is not actually selling HIS chickens. Apparently that's how it works. Weird right? Some community leaders and business men/ owners come out and bid on the animals....I guess they get the fresh chicken if they want it....the actual chickens are still at dad's place. Anyway, the whole point of it is to teach the kids responsibility and how to care for the animals and they are congratulated on a job well done by having people bid on their animals. Scott will earn about $400! Hopefully it will be put up and used to get him started for purchasing his animals next year....They plan on letting the actual chickens grow a little more and get fatter and then they are going to kill (oh my!), clean and eat them. Oh, I'm feeling queasy!!!! :-(

Scooter makes a handsome cowboy doesn't he??? Awww, I love this lil' guy (err..young man)!

Another afternoon at the gym....

I wish I spent as much time at the gym as my kiddies do, heck, I wish I spent ANY time at a gym...today we spent the afternoon at the gym just like every other Wednesday....I told the girls to get ready to go and Allie appeared dressed and ready....and too cute for words....

How funny is this??? This baby girl (alright, Big Girl) keeps me smiling everyday!! Leo, sweater and ankle boots are HOT!!

Allie and her coach, Keri

Decided to snap a few shots in Holley's direction....they were stretching out...and working on splits...

You can tell from the pics that incredible flexibility is a gift that Holley has definitely been given. Now if we can just increase her upper body strength...she'll be good to go.

She can do every kind of split, every direction, down to the floor and can even do some pretty cool over splits, but they didn't do those today. I cringe when she does them....she just looks at me like "what's wrong???"

A funny thing happened at the end of practice tonight. Holley has not been able to do her kip again since that first night last week. (Tues I think). Apparently this is common....they'll "get it" then "lose it" again and then "get it" again. Well she tried and tried tonight and just hadn't done it. Tanna, (Ashton's mom) told Holley she'd give her $5 if she could do it...she still couldn't "get it". Then, at the very last minute, Brian (Ashton's dad) said "Holley, I'll give you this $10 bill if you do it right now, one shot, one chance...". He pulled out the $$$ and showed it to her, and guess what?....she jumped off that spring board and did her kip right then. Let me tell you, the gym went wild!!! All the parents and kids clapped and yelled!!! Yeah! Coach Kristin had already walked out of the gym and came back in and said "It doesn't count if I don't see it!! "So Holley jumped up and did it again!! You go girl!! Then Coach said "I'll give you another $10 if you do your high bar kip right now." She did not "get" that one. One down, one to go....It was awesome!!! She was so proud of herself!!! The smile on her face made all of these frustrating weeks well worth it!!! I'm working the next 4 days in a row if I'm not put on call.... If I survive (and that's a BIG if ) Ha! I'll try to post this weekend. I've got some pics from the chicken sale last weekend....Scott earned himself some $$$$ for next year!!!

And the award goes to....

Last week I received a letter in the mail informing me that Macie had been nominated as a ' Boerne Middle School North Outstanding Student' for the second 9 weeks. The ceremony honoring these students was this morning. After a little wrangling, and swapping, I was able to change my original work schedule to be able to attend the ceremony. I was and am a proud mama to this special seventh grader who will be an official teenager next month!!!

Macie and Mrs. Perkins who nominated her for the award.

Group shot


















Closer shot

Macie's award

Dad showed up for the ceremony too...

We're proud of you Macie girl! Keep up the good work!!! Love you to pieces, Mom

A bar in the yard...

It's official people, we now have a bar in the backyard!! No, not THAT kind of bar....a gymnastics type, upper body strength building bar. Thanks to the totally awesome Brian Moon, father of the incredibly sweet Ashton (teammate of Holley's), and husband to the astoundingly wonderful Tanna, Holley will be able to practice her kip and do chin-ups and pull-ups in style. Don't worry, no "flippy things" will be allowed, and the bar is high enough that Allie can't reach it to try to copy Holley. !

While the "men" worked, Holley and Ashton jumped on the tramp and then climbed trees.

Ashton thinking "Holley what in the world is wrong with your mom? Why is she taking all of these pictures of us?"

Holley answers "Oh, you'll get used to it! She's always following us around taking pictures!"

Proof that a gymnast will practice their routines anywhere!! Even hanging from a tree!!

Wonder what two gymnasts sitting in a tree talk about??

I knew there was a reason that I liked this sweet girl!! She's a Red Raider!!! Guns Up!! (notice Holley swinging from the branch)

Scott was in charge of adding the water to the concrete.

The men hard at work

making sure everything is level....

The men congratulating each other on a job well done!!

The finishing touch. Foam to protect the bar when it is not being used.

Meanwhile, in the front the girls continue to climb.

Ashton is used to the camera by now

Thanks Mr. Brian for making the awesome bar!!! It will get hours of use I'm sure!!

Bye Ashton! Thanks for the fun afternoon!!! Come back again soon!!

Dinner theater!!!

I received this cute pink invitation this afternoon.

The table was set with our fine dining cuisine...hamburgers and curly fries.... we had individual place cards...very nice!!

The cast dressed up for the occassion....and the show began.

The production chronicled a tale of two kids fighting for their right to have their own boxes of popcorn! (I think ;)-somehow football became involved in the story )

in this production...girl football players are awesome! And can keep up with the boy players!

The bag of popcorn makes its apperance...

The actors taking a well deserved bow!!!

Macie enjoying the show and showing off her new haircut...

Tomorrow...Allie and Macie to perform for a one-night only performance!!! We anxiously await the show!!!

Good times!!! Stay tuned! Love, S