Life in the Nut House!

Just living life...

2010-07-12T00:43:00.001-05:00

Hi kids! Since this blog is supposed to be for you...(oops)... I thought I'd write a quick note. I am sorry I haven't updated the blog since last fall. I promise, promise, promise to try to do better now that my computer seems to be working better now. What I haven't decided is whether to try to back track and put in pics from last fall through now or just start fresh from today....hmmm....decisions, decisions. So while I try to decide how to proceed from here just know how much I love each one of you....We are having a very fun summer that is going by way too quickly....you are each getting so big and I couldn't be more proud of you if I tried. I have a feeling this fall will be a little cRaZy with Macie starting high school and being in the marching band and with Holley and Allie both competing in gymnastics this year and we can't forget Scott with his first year of tackle football....You are certainly going to keep me busy running from place to place and I wouldn't have it any other way! I love each of you...VERY much! Lots of love, ~Mom

Jake

2010-03-07T21:19:00.005-06:00

R.I.P. Jake
http://thebrowningsofboerne.blogspot.com/2008/10/meet-jake.html

Technical difficulties

2009-12-11T21:26:00.003-06:00

Hello all....we have NOT fallen off the face of the Earth. I have not been able to downlowd any new pics or videos to my computer for the past month or so...any new ones I try to put on...makes my computer come to a screeching halt....have asked for one of those thingys (see how technical I am? LOL) where I can move my pics and videos so that my memory is freed up and I can begin to share our craziness with you again...but more importantly so I can catch up with my posting for our "someday" blog book of memories. Hope to be back up and running ....or should I say posting soon...we are always running around here!

2009-11-30T21:11:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween 2009

2009-11-17T12:57:00.009-06:00

Hello all....yes, we are still alive and well. I have been terrible about posting in a timely fashion. These pics are only several weeks late. So sorry....we are at the tail and of flag football season at the moment and Holley's gymnastics season has now ended so a little more time will open up now. I just hope I can tear myself away from my farm in Farmville and Farmtown long enough to post pics of our lives...lol. Seriously, whoever invented facebook should be hung...I'm a total addict, wasting way too much time on it!! Yet I can't seem to stay away from my farms and fish! Good grief! Anyway... these pictures are from Halloween. Macie spent the evening with friends. I guess the days of dressing up and hanging out with your younger siblings and family are over...but we had Sarah (Holley's bud and our neighbor) with us this year. She is the little girl in purple. Holley and Scott both decided they wanted to "create" their costumes again this year and both decided to be hobos and Allie was a ballerina. This was the first time I have ever put her hair in a bun. She loved it. She also loved the lipstick I put on her, but she kept smiling weirdly because she was afraid it would come off...haha.

Well all...we had a spooktacular Halloween. Hope you all did as well. At least I posted these before Thanksgiving...in a week and 2 days...it could be worse I guess....lol....stay tuned...next up 4A state marching contest and Friendswood High School Marching Band....~S

2009-10-31T18:17:00.003-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the spunkiest, sassiest, sparkliest, sensationally sweet, silliest, sixteen year old I know. My precious niece Rachel is sweet sixteen today! People....stay off the roads in the Houston-Area...I'm just sayin.. ;) love you tons Rachel!! Where's your new car? :) be sure to ask your mom! LOL...

2009-10-31T12:47:00.002-05:00

My precious Allie. This year has been such a wonderful year! You have learned so many new things like fly fishing in Colorado, ice skating (kinda) and rock climbing (kinda) , bungee tramp jumping, learning to swim, learned to read and sooo much more. It has been such a joy to watch you graduate from pre-school and start Kindergarten this fall. I love you to pieces and can't imagine a day without you. You have to live with Mommy forever ok? Just kidding my sweet girl. It is such a joy to watch you growing up and I'm so thankful that God decided to make me YOUR mommy. He knew we needed you! I love you .

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I will try to be better at posting the crazy happenings around here!

Happy Birthday to my FAVORITE 6 year old!!!!

2009-10-31T09:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday (yesterday :( ) my sweet Allie.....pics to come...I love you!!

First Meet of the Season....

2009-09-26T17:29:00.003-05:00

Hello all, long time no blog....fall is always crazy for the Fab four and they keep me running! We are well in to the swing of school and for the first time ever...all four are in all day school! They are all loving it and doing great! Fall sports have kicked off their seasons as well. Scott is playing flag football again this year....weren't sure we were ready for tackle...and Holley's competitive season has started as well. Today was her first meet competing for her new gym. She did great and even finished with a first place finish on Balance Beam! Way to go Holley! Bars was STILL a major struggle. Scott's team (The Vikings) won their first game as well. He was chosen the MVP of the game after pulling several flags and disrupting numerous plays (of the other teams). Way to go Scotty! Macie is still tooting her flute and has region tryouts in November and is working hard on her music. Allie is still doing gymnastics but I decided to hold off on letting her be on the competitive team, mostly because the practices are on opposite days than Holley's and it meant being there 6 days a week. It's a long drive from Boerne into SA for practice. It just didn't work for us this year. She is still taking gymnastics though....maybe next year!

2009-09-18T22:12:00.002-05:00

Wreck 'em Tech! Beat those Longhorns!! Wish I wasn't working tomorrow so I could see the first half!!!

update: big bummer, next year!

More Colorado Fun.....

2009-09-06T10:00:00.020-05:00

Hello all....continuing the Colorado saga.....the last day we were in Crested Butte, we spent the day at the bottom of the ski mountain. The weather was bad in the morning so we did not ride the ski lifts and hike back down which had been the original plan. Instead, we played.....they had an ice rink (which was weird because it was not ice...it was a hard, smooth plastic surface), rock wall climbing and a bungee trampoline. The fab Four had a BLAST!!! Enjoy the pictures of ice skating. I put a few video clips at the end.....you had to be there in person to get the full effect of these warm weather Texans on ice skates for the first time! It was truly hilarious, I mean, tears rolling from laughing so hard, hilarious!

Allie getting ready to head on to the rink...

Allie thinking, "Mom, I thought you said this would be fun?"

Holley having fun....she was pretty good! She better stick with gymnastics though!

A hilarious moment.....

Macie did pretty well too!

She only fell a few (Ha!) times......

Having a ton of fun!

Scott spent alot of time in this particular position! (Ha!)

He did manage to stand up some....good job , son!

Macie showing off her skating skills.....

Allie learns to adapt....

The Fab Four off to the races.....

Next post.....rock climbing....stay tuned....Love, S

Two Weeks down.....

2009-09-05T21:50:00.010-05:00

Two weeks of school are now officially DONE!! Yeah! We are off to a great start! The kids all seem to really like their teachers and their classes....whew....

And....I know that it is sooo sad that I am just now getting around to posting more pictures from our Colorado trip this summer! But....alas....I am just one tired Mama and there are not enough hours in the day some days! But here goes.....after the longest car ride in history.....leaving the house (Allie and Me) at 745 am....we arrived in Texline around 2am Sunday and stayed the (rest of) the night with Nana and Grandpa. We headed out on the rest of the way to Colorado around 11am. What a nightmare that drive was! It took us almost 4 hours to travel about 50 miles on the highway we needed to travel on in Colorado due to major road construction and later a truck that had been totally engulfed in flames and burned to the ground. Ugh! When we arrived in a small town (can't remember the name now.....oops) about an hour from Crested Butte...We stopped at Walmart because Holley had a headache and Allie was starting to complain of a runny nose. I bought a ton of medicine and decided to throw a thermometer in the mix "just in case". We got to the car and I decided to take Allie's temp because she was a bit "whiny"...and she was running 102! So I pumped her and Holley full of meds and we continued on our way. We arrived at the house around 9pm!!! Wow!! SUPER LONG DAY!! The rest of the family was there and dinner was just coming off the grill courtesy of my brother-in-law, John. It was sure yummy! But that was no surprise! He makes the yummiest meals all the time! The next day we headed out and got our fishing licenses for the week and we went to the Spring Creek Reservoir to fish.....Holley caught the very first fish of the trip!!!

Holley fishing!

Poppy and Rachel (my precious niece!) If you look closely you will see Macie in the blue in the background standing with my sister MA...she did not particularly like fishing so I did not get any pics of her actually fishing.

Aunt Perry taught Holley and Allie proper fly fishing techniques!

Perry teaching Holley to cast....

Poppy put together every rod and reel....

Scott fishing....

Scott and my nephew Stephen....Scott loved having another boy around!

The next day, the boys...errr...men....headed out for the boys trip leaving the girls to do what we do best....shop and have a night on the town. We went to a yummy pizza place in Crested Butte (shhhh.....don't tell my trainer!) and then we had ice cream!!! We did go fishing again every day too. On the last day we went to the base of Mt. Crested Butte and had a blast watching the kids rock climb, ice skate and jump on the bungee trampoline....more pics to come .....Stay tuned, S

1st day of school 2009

2009-08-24T20:51:00.016-05:00

Hello all.....today was a red letter day in the history of the Fab Four.....back to school 2009. Yippee! The day started out nice and early. We had breakfast and then it was time for Mom to harass the Fab Four by taking pictures....Apparently Scott had woken up about 1 am...and then slept fitfully, waking every hour or so until time to get up...he was the first kiddo up and dressed which NEVER happens.

Here are Holley and Allie eating and talking over breakfast...

The Fab Four....

Macie.....first day of 8th grade

Holley- 1st day of 5th grade

Scott- 1st day of 4th grade (he really was happy and excited- honest:-) )

Allie- 1st day of Kindergarten

Much to Allie's dismay....I insisted on driving her to her first day of Kindergarten.....J/K She was not upset that I drove her, although she is really excited to ride the bus tomorrow with the big kids. She said she's been waiting for this....(to ride the bus) for her whole life! :-)

arriving at the school...

Allie LOVES mascots (and any characters!) She almost tackled the Falcon!

See why I am such a lucky Mommy???? Sweet sisters!

Allie and her precious teacher Mrs. Jordan. We have known Mrs. Jordan for a while now. Scott had her and her son has been on Scott's football team for the past three years. She has watched Allie grow up and we desperately wanted her as Allie's teacher! We LOVE Mrs. Jordan!

Allie found her seat!

One last smile for mom!

I felt awfully strange when I left Allie at her classroom. I was the only Mom who went in, showed her where she sits and where to put her stuff etc. Then I took a few pics, hugged her, kissed her, said "I'll pick you up after school", and started to walk out. I realized that I was the only mom actually leaving. All of the other Mom's were staying. I asked Mrs. Jordan if I was supposed to stay and she smiled sweetly and said, "No, It is easier if you drop and go." I guess some of the other mommy's had a hard time leaving....don't get me wrong...the impact of this moment was not lost on me....I felt the sting of my baby growing up...but in reality, I realize how lucky I am to have had four children now who are so self-assured that they are able to face any new situation without overwhelming fear...and as for me.....I am thrilled that Allie is at such a wonderful school with such a wonderful teacher. It's going to be another awesome year for the Fab Four!

Time Warp.....Saturday, July 25, 2009.....

2009-08-16T15:04:00.016-05:00

Scott and his counselor "Bum Belay"-sorry for the wrong order.

.....started out like a crazy, wacky day! Not only was this the day that M, H and S had to be picked up from camp, but this was the first day of travel on our long awaited trip to Colorado.

Allie and I headed towards Pine Cove- Outback (in Columbus, Tx) about 745 am. We arrived to utter chaos. We had to pick up the kids belongings and carry them to the car. Imagine, trying to carry 3 children's luggage, bedding and junk at one time. Luckily, one counselor took pity on me and said I could pile it all together and get it after the closing and promised to help me carry it all. I ran in to Macie and Holley who saw me from across the commons and came running. Holley actually almost tackled me and I wasn't sure who this child was hugging me until she let go and I could see her face. It was my Holley, with the HUGEST smile I've ever seen, who quickly told me this was the "best week of her whole life!" My earlier frustration with the luggage vanished at this point. After making a "pit stop" we headed to the closing ceremony. It was loud, noisy, hot, humid, and awesome.....they all had a great time. It was difficult getting any decent pics because of the sheer number of people crammed into the room and the constant activity but I gave it my best shot.

Macie is in the center looking in my direction.

Holley, behind the guy in the green shirt

Scott, in the green camo hat

Holley and her counselor "smack talk".

It was neat how well the counselors got to know each child during the week. They presented each child with character awards at the end of the closing.

Oh no, accidentally pushed 1 too many deletes and it deleted the pic of Scott and his counselor....oops. Will add it in at the end which means blogger will put it as the first pic but I meant for it to go here!

Macie and her counselor "AfriCan"

Macie and a buddy from camp.

This is the swimming lake with the blob, the water trampoline and the iceberg.

this is the other lake where the kids kayaked.

The pool.

This is the last thing you see as you leave camp.

The car was filled with the sounds of excited children all talking at once. Allie was excited to see her sisters and brother after a long week and the others all sang and chanted camp songs and told stories for the first hour. Then the exhaustion kicked in and it was pretty quiet the 2nd 1 1/2 hours back home. We made a ditch and run maneuver at our house. Leaving unnecessary things at home and repacking extra things for Colorado and hitting the road towards West Texas about 415pm. I've never been so glad to have 3 portable DVD players in my life. I know it is excessive but it saved my sanity I assure you. There were two in the back and Macie had one in the front to watch as well. Oh, and headphones.....the BEST invention EVER! Allie who sits in the middle of the backseat got to choose between two movies and was happy as a clam so Mommy was very happy! The emotional "down" that hits after a week of "spiritual highs" at camp, hit pretty early and I heard some sniffing from the backseat and some "Mom, I miss my counselor" or "I miss my camp friends". I think it helped that we were heading out on a big adventure though. It didn't last too long.

Please friends, remind me to never try to squeeze that much travelling into one day again. Our goal was to make it to Texline and stay the night with Nana and Grandpa. We did not get in there until almost 2 am. That made for a VERY long day! We slept well and loved seeing Nana and Grandpa. We headed out the next morning around 1115. Meant to leave earlier but our Nana spoils us and makes yummy breakfasts! Next post, day 2 of the longest road trip EVER!!!

Oh, I forgot I put this picture in here. I have not returned to Lubbock since we moved in Feb. 2000. I did not realize that along the way near Sweetwater , they have created these huge "wind energy" fields. There were hundreds and hundreds of these huge wind mill things. It was really weird and slightly unnerving to me. I'm not sure why, but driving through those hills and seeing all of these towering wind turbines really freaked me out. So, I stopped to take pictures of them. I almost felt like I was on another planet it was so weird!

Good News!!!

2009-08-15T14:56:00.001-05:00

Found the cord! A post with pics from our trip will be up shortly.....just trying to figure out if I should put them in chronological order or just throw them all out here in a jumbled mess! Stay tuned to find out.

Time flies

2009-08-12T22:10:00.002-05:00

Has it really been three weeks since my last post? My bad! Life has been flying by at warp speed. I have so much to post and so many updates to give! It is a little overwhelming! First and foremost, our road trip 2009 is over and we had a fabulous time! When I manage to find my camera cord and can download my pics from the trip :-O , I will certainly share them, until then...well this pic I stole from my sister will have to do...a little teaser for you.....Colorado was absolutely beautiful!!! (and this happens to be one of my MOST favorite pictures from the trip.)

As for other changes??? Lots of HUGE changes for the fab four! Especially for Holley and Allie. We've decided to change gyms...lots of things have led to this decision and it has been a while coming but I won't get in to all of that here. The bottom line is they will have a better opportunity to reach their dreams. Holley dreams of competing at the collegiate level and the gym we are changing to has the capability of producing college gymnasts. The day we toured the gym, there were scouts from The University of Missouri and the University of Arizona there watching some of the girls. It is scary how much this "change" is going to cost but we are going on faith that if we are supposed to be there, that the Lord will provide somehow.

Macie continues to play her flute and is first chair in the top band and continues to love every minute of it! Scott, well, is Scott (obviously) and hasn't been overly motivated to sign up for any extracurricular activities at this point this year. We are working on it! I promise to post pictures of our trip ASAP! I know the cord is here...I saw it! But I put it somewhere special so I wouldn't lose it ....and you can guess the rest! Oops! Stay tuned....Love, S

Pine Cove- Outback

2009-07-19T21:08:00.020-05:00

We're baaaack!!! Hello all! The kiddies (minus Allie) came home yesterday so we could pack for camp and our trip to Colorado next weekend. The older three are off to camp today! Yippee!! They are super excited. This is the first time ever for Scott to go to camp, and Holley has been to a gymnastics camp but not a "regular" camp. Macie is the only experienced camper of the bunch, but this is our first time at Pine Cove Outback! It seems like an amazing camp. It is a non-denominational christian camp and I can not wait to hear all the wonderful stories next Saturday when I pick them up. Here we are, having just filled up and hitting the road.

The camp is located near Columbus,Tx between SA and Houston......it was sure HOT!! this afternoon when I dropped them off!!! You can tell by the colors in the pics that the sun was BLAZING!!

You may have guessed.....Outback is an Australian themed camp....

There was a huge banner welcoming us as we drove down a long winding road into the trees!

We walked over a pretty bridge.....

Some counselors rode horses down the road to welcome the campers.....as we approached the parking lot there were a bunch of campers jumping up and down and running behind cars to help us unload and let us know in which cabin the campers were assigned. Each car was assigned a counselor who helped unpack/unload. We left the heavy duffels at the car for them to deliver to the cabins, and just had to carry bedding and swim bags with us!! What service!!

The campers are going to be able to participate in all sorts of activities, archery, horseback riding, swimming, kayaking (sp??), arts and crafts, all sorts of sports and tons others that I am forgetting at the moment! Holley is most excited about the tumbling class....go figure!! Scott is most excited about shooting and archery and Macie is most excited about the theme nights.

After we went to the cabins and made beds (x3 kids- ugh!) it was pool time for their swim tests!

Everyone passed and was cleared to swim and slide down the three story body slide into the pool!! They had a blast!! I had to chase them down to say goodbye and hug them!! They definitely did not seem to be upset at the sight of me leaving! (boo-hoo! sniff-sniff) J/K I'm glad they are so well adjusted that I can leave and they are not uptight about it, plus they have each other if they really need each other.

I have added some more pics of the camp so you can visualize the "campus"....

The pool....The climbing wall

The playing fields.....

The three story high body slide

Macie and Holley in line to slide...

Next post will be after I pick up the kiddies next Sat...our "Road Trip 2009" will officially begin!!

Summer Fun!!

2009-07-06T13:58:00.002-05:00

Hello all!! The Fab Four are enjoying some summer fun with their Dad the next few weeks so do not worry that we will be M.I.A. They will be home on the 18th just in time to head to camp and then the next week we head off to Colorado. Will post again when the troops get home...my life is too boring to post on this blog without all the cray antics the kiddies throw at me....just work and gym....nothing else!!!

2009-06-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful evening for a night on the town.....even if it is still over 100 degrees!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

IMG00054.jpg

2009-06-26T21:14:00.000-05:00

Our movie choice tonight???
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

IMG00055.jpg

2009-06-26T21:12:00.000-05:00

We are at 'movie in the park' on town square tonight. I love this small town!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy Father's Day!!!!

2009-06-21T19:57:00.019-05:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!!

Hello all! It is father's Day. I hope you have all celebrated your father's today!!! This ENTIRE post will be dedicated to the BEST dad around!! MINE!!! I will start by showing you a picture....my MOST favorite picture..... of me and my Dad, EVER! (In my opinion!) Now, before I begin, I must tell you that there is the VERY REAL possibility that I might be SERIOUSLY INJURED for posting some of the pictures here or in the smilebox.....but Dad, YOU ARE WORTH IT!! MA and P, have mercy!!!

This was taken at presentation in the fall of 1991. I pledged a sorority and our father's "presented" us to the chapter after our pledgeship ended. I just love this picture...not sure why, it's a little dark I know....but it is my FAV!!!
My Dad is not only a great Dad, but ALSO a GREAT grandfather!!! He is loved a bunch by 6 kids who call him Poppy!!!

The rest of these pictures are out of order. I have never figured out how to move pictures around on Blogger, so bear with me!!!

My senior year my Dad and my older sister Perry chaperoned my senior high youth group ski trip. OMG! You might think.....but I was thrilled and we ended up having SUCH a great time together...and it was nice to have Dad there to hit up for money when I'd spent all of mine!!! My Dad is a little different in terms of the age groups of kids that he likes interacting with. For instance, I have no real memories of him playing much with me when I was a little girl.....nor do I have many pictures of us together when I was little.....he was usually snapping the pics of us. Now, don't get me wrong....he was always there....just not a big get on the floor player....he prefers kids when they get to that age where no one else can stand them! Jr. High and up. He taught my Junior High sunday school class and everything. It was fun. I loved it!

Here we are, Dad, Me and Perry at the top of the ski mountain at Monarch, Colo.

Now, brace yourselves.....this is a picture of the same man who did not technically get down on the floor and play with us......on the floor playing with Allie!! Actually, he married Allie!!! What a difference 35 years makes!!!

Allie LOVES playing Barbie with her Poppy!!! She thinks he is super cool!!

This is the earliest pic I have of us together (in my possession). There are probably others somewhere...I was the youngest of 3 daughters. I was taught to fish, play soccer, and do all sorts of stuff!! Dad coached my soccer team at one point!!!

Here we are again at Christmastime!

We had a blast at Six Flags with dad's sister Natalie (Aunt Natalie) and her family!

On to skiing....when I was in 4th grade my parents decided to take us on our first ski trip to Park City and Deer Valley, Utah!!! It was soooo much fun!!! Too bad they didn't teach us about exiting the ski lift in the ski school you sent us to in Houston, Dad! You see, the very first time up the mountain...I had no idea that you should keep your poles to the outside of the ski lift chair. I was riding with my Dad having a grand time and it came time to ski down the ramp. Having a pole in both hands, my arms went flailing around and I smacked my dad right across the bridge of his nose! Bummer! Hey Dad, do you think that bloody handkerchief is still buried up there in the hole you dug for it?? I don't have a picture of the two of us together on the trip so this will have to do.

Dad would swim with us in the pool....and dunk, splash, torture us too! Good times!!! I LOVED having that pool in our back yard!!

Now that Dad has a bunch of grandkids, he tries to teach them about important things like "How to enjoy nature while standing like you are a cool cowboy!"

My Dad has ALWAYS been there for me! Yes, I have tested his patience NUMEROUS times FOR SURE! But when push comes to shove....he's there. He came and rescued me in Midland without a second thought and managed to rope his friend ( and mine) Jack into helping him pack and move my ENTIRE house! Thank you Dad!!! Now, after raising three TOTALY AWESOME daughters, (if I do say so myself).....he is raising 4 kiddos AGAIN!! Well, ok,.... "helping" to raise 4 more kiddos. Thanks Dad! I couldn't make it day to day without you and Mom!!! Allie has never known any other life than being with her Meme and Poppy every day!!

This next picture is WAY out of order.....but it is priceless to me.....here is MY DAD, proudly celebrating HIS, uhmmmm....MY science fair project winning 1st place in the 8th grade science fair. HA! You did all the work and I got the ribbon!!! Ok, I helped a little....(a very little :-) )

Here we are again....on top of the world in Colorado!!! Can't wait for the trip back to Colorado in July!!! (courtesy of Perry, if she'll still let me come! Ha!)

There are soooo many other pictures that I wanted to share so I made a smilebox to share them.

Happy father's day Dad!! I love you bunches!!! And yes MA, I stole some from you!!! Hey, we need to update the anniversary album! It's been 5 more years (almost)!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-06-20T09:15:00.001-05:00

79 degrees? In late June? On Berges Fest parade day? Are you kidding me? What a blessing!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2009-06-20T08:51:00.001-05:00

It's a great day for a parade in Boerne! Just dropped the girls off at the BGC float....waiting for the fun to begin @ 10am!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2009-06-15T22:53:00.000-05:00

Nikki is home safe and sound. House arrest is in their future I'm sure!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2009-06-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

Dog update ....Boomer is in custody and Nikki is still at large. They keep spotting her but she seems to think it is fun to play hide and seek! Silly dog!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Attention dog lovers.....urgent prayer request

2009-06-15T20:01:00.003-05:00

In some families, dogs are seen as true members of the family. They are spoiled rotten, sometimes eating better than the people and enjoy being treated as "fur babies". My sister Perry has two such "fur children". Nikki and Boomer. They are both beautiful Australian Shepherds. Perry called just a few minutes ago and her "babies" apparently got out today while she was at work and are no where to be found. Those of you with dogs that are truly members of your family will understand the pain and fear she is feeling right now. It is after 8pm, and she lives in the country. My parents just went running out of the house to help look for the dogs. Wish I could go but the kiddies would just get in the way. Please say a quick prayer that the dogs will be found safe and sound. Thank you....

I'm a thief....I admit it!

2009-06-15T19:41:00.007-05:00

Ok, so I stole these pictures from my sister MA. Soooo sorry, but I love them, and they ARE my babies after all. My sister has been taking photography classes and actually said I could print these so it probably won't surprise her one bit that I swiped the pictures. I am in NO WAY taking credit for these fabulous shots of "The Fab Four". The only thing I did to contribute was carry these four kiddies for 9 months and then give birth to them! Love the pics MA. Thank you....still to come.... more summer fun and visits with family.....

Catching up is hard to do....

2009-06-14T12:57:00.027-05:00

Hello friends! Wow!!! It has already been SUCH a wonderful and CrAzY summer! We have been meeting ourselves coming and going it seems. There is SOOO much to catch you all up on. But, before I tell you of our most recent escapades, I need to finish up Allie's graduation posts. She is now on her way to being an "official" kindergartner. Boo-Hoo, feel sorry for me now, please!! Ha! So, way back on May 21,2009, after 4 years at United Methodist Church's Mother's Day Out, Allie graduated from pre-school. (For the second time that week). I apologize for not getting the pics up sooner....but what can I say....OOPS!

Here are some pics from the big day....in her cap

This picture is priceless....I see "The Look" multiple times daily, but have never captured it on film....until now! Ha!....Allie just learned that she was going to have to share a chair with Roman.

Not to worry...they were fast friends again in 10 seconds....

Roman was a special friend to Allie....saying good-bye....

Allie received beautiful flowers for graduation from someone who loves her bunches.....ME!

It is always a super special occasion when Aunt Perry takes off work and comes!!!

Of course, our Meme wouldn't have missed it for the world....

Allie loved having Mrs. Betty for her teacher. Mrs. Betty was always soooo much fun!!

The next part of the day, well, was not one of my shining moments as a mommy. To set the stage, let me say this. Sometimes my children are asked, "I bet it is nice having a mom who is a nurse....". Well, it's not, let me assure you. If there is no obvious profuse bleeding or a temp higher than 101....it's business as usual. Luckily my kids have been blessed with GREAT immune systems....Scott just finished his 3rd year in a row of perfect attendance, and Macie and Holley only missed 2 days each and I'm pretty sure they were for dental appts. that I couldn't get scheduled for after school. They just aren't sick that much and if they are, they luck out (for me) and get sick during Christmas break or weekends. Anyway....so the Tues. after Mother's Day, (the 12th maybe?)....Holley apparently hurt her foot after a vault at gymnastics practice. I worked that day and quite often when I work I don't get home until 9 or 930, especially if I go grad a workout before coming home. the kids are in bed usually by the time I get home. Well, that week was a crazy week. I was taking an intermediate fetal monitoring class and working my scheduled days, and ended up with work/class 6 days in a row. Needless to say, I didn't see the kids that much and they spent the next weekend with their Dad. By the next Sunday night I finally talked to my kids awake...and Holley told me how much her foot still hurt. I, being an awesome nurse, said, "Well, you can move it in all sorts of directions without pain, so it must be fine. You ARE going to school tomorrow." Then I worked the next two days again so I could take off for Allie's graduations that week. By Wed. after Allie graduated, I decided to go grab Holley from school and take her to the urgent care place because they have an x-ray machine there and I knew we would find out that day what (if anything) was going on. So, to make a long story a little shorter for you.....no applause please.....the x-rays were negative. Nothing....the MD said that she might have tendinitis or a tiny stress fracture that is not showing up on X-ray. So, he put her on crutches and said it should be better in a week if it is tendinitis. Well, a week went by and she still could not bear weight on the "ball" of her right foot. So, I decided to take her to her pediatrician to see what's next. He sent us for more X-rays...which were negative....so he said, "This is beyond my area of expertise....I'm sending her to a foot and ankle guy"....so I made an appt. for the following week. (The 27th). So we go see this doc and he checks out Holley's feet and moves them all around (marveling at the flexibility her feet have courtesy of gymnastics) and then he talked to her a little and then said I think I know what is going on....he pushed on two tiny spots on the ball of her right foot just below the big toe and when he pushed on the first one ....nothing, no pain. Then he pushed on the other tiny spot and she just about jumped off of the table. Did you know that there are apparently a several tiny bones that make up the joint of the "big" (or great) toe? I sure didn't. But one of Holley's is messed up. He said the bones are so tiny, especially in kids that you can't see them on X- ray. You have to get an MRI. Anyway, he said it is likely to either be a fracture or a problem with the tendon that attaches that bone to the others. He put her back on crutches for an additional 3 weeks. He said that should be long enough to determine if it a tendon or a fracture. So, we go back on the 24th. If she is not better....and she is not at this point....then we do an MRI. So there you have it....the 411 on our very first gymnastics injury....

Holley at Urgent care getting her first X-ray

Allie waiting very patiently.....

A week later and we are still on crutches....

Now, Holley gets the added benefit of wearing a hard blue orthopedic shoe on her right foot. The doc doesn't want her bending that joint if at all possible. So we are waiting.....and hoping an praying that this will heal quickly. She is missing a lot of important time in the gym right now and competition season starts the first pat of August. Please say a little prayer on her behalf hat she will heal quickly with no complications. Thanks.....stay tuned...S

Lots of poetry going on....

2009-05-27T14:48:00.009-05:00

Well, here we are with two days left of the school year, and I'm running (or typing) to catch up....earlier this month, Scott's third grade class had a "coffee house poetry" day. All of the parents were invited and served fresh coffee and were treated to the poetry that their children had written. Unfortunately, I was unable to change my work schedule, but was so glad that Meme and Allie were able to go and hear Scott read his poetry. Thanks for taking the pictures Meme!! Here is Scott (pre-haircut) reading his poetry. Thanks Poppy for loaning him a tie!!! He looked very handsome! (He is in the red shirt- and tie)

Then, the next week....parents were invited to the fourth grade's "Pirates and Poetry" festival. Holley had great fun dressing the part!!! I happened to be off that day and was glad that I was able to attend.

What a trooper....Meme made it to both events.... Meme and Holley

Scott and Holley, you both did a great job on your poetry!! I was very proud of both of you and enjoyed reading and hearing the poems. Job well done!! Love, Mom

One down....one more tomorrow!

2009-05-20T22:03:00.008-05:00

Hello all. I know, I know, I've left you all hanging for much too long. For updates on Kyndall you can visit Robin's blog by hitting the button on the upper right side of my blog with Kyndall's picture on it. She is oing better...but still needs prayer to continue the healing process.

Allie graduated from SHEEP (St. Helena's Early Enrichment Program) today. She sure loved getting dressed up in her cap in gown. I was one proud mama watching the ceremony. Before the program started, I snatched her from class to get some pics....

Allie and her awesome teachers Mrs. Viva Mae (left) and Mrs. Jana (right). They were WONDERFUL!

Congratulations Allie! I am so very proud of you and love you very much!!! Tomorrow is her graduation from First United Methodist Church- MDO. Then She will officially be a Kindergartener!! Oh my!

Update on Kyndall....

2009-05-11T15:50:00.003-05:00

Thank you everyone for praying for Kyndall....feel free to click the button to the right to go to Kyndall's Aunt's (Robin) blog for more updates. In short, they are still waiting. She was extubated (breathing tube removed) overnight and has, so far (I can only assume from what I've read), done ok breathing on her own. She has 3 skull fractures which have caused some bleeding. They are waiting for the results of the latest CT scan. Her white blood cell count has risen. This can be caused by the trauma taking place within her body or may be a result of pneumonia which she is at significnt risk for, seeing as how her lungs were filled with water. Thank the Lord that her father knew CPR. If there was EVER a case for learning CPR, this is one!!! Robin has been really good at updating her blog, and I must say it has been AMAZING to see how quickly this plea for prayer has zig-zagged across this country...and the world by now, I'm sure. I've seen sweet Kyndall's pictures on a bunch of blogs today....Isn't it awesome to see Christians rallying around one another...Totally cool!!! God is SOOOO good! Please keep praying....You can grab a "Pray for Kyndall" button from Robin's blog....

Mother's Day Tea

2009-05-10T22:56:00.010-05:00

On Wednesday, my mother (aka Meme) and I were invited to a FANCY Mother's Day (and Grandmother's Day) tea party at Allie's school (SHEEP). It was such a wonderful tea party!!! We were served pink lemonade (tea) and cookies! Yummy. Allie had the best time with both of us there...she waited on us hand and foot. We were very spoiled....
Then we were enjoyed LIVE entertainment....Allie pretended to be shy on stage....yeah right!!! Watch the video and you'll see (or hear) how "SHY" she really is.....Ha!

Allie and her Meme

Allie sang with such ENTHUSIASM!!!!

Do you see why I am such a lucky Mommy????

On a side note....please pray for my friend Robin's 12 year old niece, Kyndall. She was involved in a terrible boating accident today and is fighting for her life....you can check out Robin's blog at http://thereedfamilyintexas.blogspot.com . Please pray for this sweet girl and her entire family. Thanks, Love, S

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2009-05-09T20:23:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day, Mom (aka Meme)......I know this is a little early, but given my track record of blogging about important events a few days later, well.....I wanted to make sure I wasn't late...

Long time , no blog....

2009-05-06T20:04:00.005-05:00

Hello all.....I know, I know....I have been dreadfully late in letting you all know what has been going on...let me just say, we certainly live up to the name "The Nut House!". We have entered that wonderful time of the year that I affectionately (NOT!) call, the end of the school year blitz!!! We've got soooo much stuff going on in the next few weeks that my head is spinning...everyone has performances, awards shows, graduations and much more....throw in my full time job and the time I spend (in misery- feel sorry for me ok?) at the gym.... and we are tapped out. These pictures are (I'm ashamed to admit) from April 14, 2009. Macie was honored for her athletic achievements. The school does a neat ceremony celebrating the sporting achievements of the students. Each student is recognized for the efforts if they participated in a sport (or two or three, etc.) It was fun to see and I'm awfully proud of my cross country and track star!!!
I know this is dark....even with my flash...bummer, this is Macie receiving her certificates for her hard work in cross country and in track this year.

Here is my sweetie with her two besties....Sierra on the left and Becca on the right....these three are inseparable....cute, sweet, beautiful and smart to boot!!!

Job well done Macie....can't wait until next year!! Keep running!

I've got so much more to post....Allie's "fiesta parade" at Mother's Day Out....her SHEEP school's Mother's Day Tea, Holley's Pirates and Poetry day , Scott's Coffee House Poetry day, Macie's academic award ceremony (yet to take place), both of Allie's graduations (sniff-sniff- I'm NOT looking forward to those!), and tons more I'm sure....Stay tuned.....Love, S

New Twitter Acct

2009-04-22T19:36:00.003-05:00

Had to totally redo my twitter account. Don't know what was up with all of that! Everytime I tried to login it called me a different name....seems to be working o.k. for the moment. Now I just need to figure out how to "tweet" from my phone...any ideas????

Short and sweet...

2009-04-22T16:38:00.003-05:00

Ah, my life as a twitterer seems to be over....HaHaHaHa...I just joined last night. They emailed me this morning confirming my new status as an official "twitterer". Now from what I can tell they have called me carlos villegas and now my name appears to have changed to csignore? or something like that. I try to go back in and it doesn't recognize MY screen name. So I think, I'll just sign up again and start a new account....no such luck...my email has been taken....HaHaHa...this is so screwed up!!!!

Climbing the walls

2009-04-21T23:12:00.012-05:00

Last week we had an old friend of my father's come and stay with us for a few days. I spent a considerable amount of time cleaning baseboards and door frames and walls before his visit. There was dirt everywhere! I couldn't figure out how so much dirt was on door frames and walls....the answer has been solved. I captured one culprit the other day...I'll give you one guess who the other one is...hint...athletic, gymnast, name starts with H....in the future when I use the phrase "they are climbing the walls...it is ok to take that literally!!

Almost forgot....

2009-04-20T20:30:00.012-05:00

For the first time since Holley started competing in gymnastics I actually ordered some of the pictures that were taken of her. There are professional pictures at most competitions and for the first time...I thought the pictures were pretty good. I had almost forgotten about them, but saw them today and wanted to post them for those of you who were unable to see her in a competition....doubt I'll order any again for a while...they make a mint off of them!!! These were taken at Kym Zmeskal's Texas Prime meet at the end of January, in the Dallas/DFW area.

Almost over....

2009-04-19T19:55:00.001-05:00

As you can see from the previous posts....this weekend was a long and busy one...we have made it to the end....on Sunday, the Fabra dance team performed a dance at a local event called Jump In. Jump In is sponsored as a community outreach ministry by Watermark Church here in Boerne. They bring out all sorts of games and inflatable toys and entertainment for the community to enjoy. It is a lot of fun. Once again, I was working and the kids Dad took pictures for me...wish I could have seen you dance Holley...I hear you were great!!!

Ever wish you could read their minds to know what they are thinking??? Would LOVE to know what Holley was thinking in this pic....

Three of my children are in this picture....can you find them???? Um...., Allie...????, slides work better if you sit down or even lay down on them....

Allie getting her "Jump" on...

A hula-hooping good time!

2009-04-18T20:39:00.002-05:00

More pics from the Renaissance Fair:
Had no idea my baby girl could hula-hoop, much less while holding a balloon!!! Great job Allie! We found hula-hoops one day at HEB and she showed me. Wow, that girl can go!!!
Dad is particularly proud of this pic....he was a champion archer in high-school....am sure he's hoping Scott may show some interest...

A future Tiger Woods perhaps????

Better start calling agents....

Nike, here we come.....wait....is that the ball between his feet???

Well, we still have a shot for the LPGA....

I'm glad you guys had such a wonderful time with Daddy....Robert, thanks for taking the pics...

up next (Jump In and a dance team performance on Sunday, April 5th...boy it was a FULL weekend....now do you see???? We are crazy people keeping up with all of their activities!!! You think I'm kidding?!? Ha!!)

Saturday, April 4th

2009-04-17T20:21:00.001-05:00

Saturday, April 4th, Boerne Gymnastics Center had an exhibition at the Renaissance Fair (a fair put on by one of the local elementary schools). It was Allie's first "official" event as a new member of the team. She was so excited. I don't know what was more exciting to her....the fact that big sister Holley was there to see her do "her gymnastics" or all of the people watching or the fact that Daddy was there to see her perform. Unfortunately, I had to work that day, but Dad did a great job taking pictures of the girls "big day".

Allie, just "hanging" around

Those of you who know Allie well will not be one bit surprised at how much she LOVED having all those people watching her....she definitely LOVES the spotlight and attention....

The little team members performed first, then the upper level team performed....Holley doing back walkovers down the mat, this girl is the most flexible person I've ever seen...makes me cringe sometimes...yikes...

dive rolls....???

Job well done girls.....gymnastics competitive season will start in August.....until then....(next post more Ren fair misc pics courtesy of their Dad)...

Decisions, decisions

2009-04-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

Hello all, I promised that I would try to update you on what has been going on in our lives these past few "hectic weeks". I finally made the decision to just start at the beginning (of the month that is...don't worry!). On Friday, April 3, Macie competed in the district track meet in Kerrville. She ran the 400 meter dash and placed 5th. Great job Macie.

It was sooo hard to get a pic of her. We were in a big football stadium and she was quite far away... (she's in white and purple)

Macie is in the white shirt and purple shorts...

I am reminded ALL the time that ALL of her friends have cell phones....she is soooo deprived!!!

These two were supposed to be stretching before the run....what can I say? She's a talker like her Mama!

Lining up before they can take their places on the starting blocks...

Macie center in white shirt and purple shorts....Long skinny legs....

Macie has been begging me for weeks to get these pics up....sorry it has taken me so long Macie-girl. Keep up the running. I'm very proud of you....next post....Allie and Holley's gymnastics exhibition the next day Sat. April 4th....stay tuned

Already sad.....

2009-04-15T21:54:00.003-05:00

Boo-Hoo, Sniff-Sniff!!!! Allie is registered and set to go.....she's sooooo excited....sigh!!!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T22:05:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Easter 2009.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I meant to snap some pictures of the kiddies dressed in their church clothes but alas, things did not go according to my plan. I ended up running up (or trying to ) up the stairs and in the process managed to tear a muscle in my calf. Yikes it hurt. I ended up not able to bear weight and it was swelling. I was afraid I'd injured a tendon or a ligament but after a trip to the ER I found out thankfully it was just a muscle tear. They put me on crutches. The kids have all had fun trying to walk with the crutches. I SOOOO have time for this nonsense!!! Stay tuned.....Love, S

So many pictures....so little time... to post!

2009-04-11T23:47:00.000-05:00

Hello all, we are all doing well in the NUT house. We have been so extremely busy and I just haven't found the time, or made the time, to post recently. Please forgive me....I've just finished going through and downloading over 200 pictures from my camera over the past 2-3 weeks. We've had a lot going on....It may take me a few days/weeks/months/years/whatever... to update you all on everything. To start things off....today we had a FUN day. We made the trek into San Antonio and saw Disney on Ice. It was neat. Boy, those people make a KILLING on all of the snacks and junk they sell...Gee Wiz!!! $10 for a bag of cotton candy!!! Anyway...I have never taken the kids to anything like this before....never to the circus or anything. Don't get me wrong...I've wanted to take them but finances have never permitted it....so this year things are a little better and thanks to a decent tax refund...we are going to be able to do a couple of fun things for the first time EVER as a family. Our next adventure will be our trip to Colorado this summer. We've never done that before!! At least not just me and the kids...OK, so technically it won't be just me and the kids...My sister Perry is renting a big house for several weeks and she has invited us up there to stay for a week. My parents will be going too for a couple of weeks, I think....some of our time will overlap but still...I will be driving with them (little monkeys) all by myself and we'll be staying in a hotel going up and coming back....so I count it as just me taking them. I can't even describe how thankful I am to Perry for inviting us....we are SOOOOO looking forward to it!!! Anyway...this outing today has been a surprise all week. When I told them in the car where we were going....Allie was appropriately excited (she is 5 after all) and Holley and Scott didn't say anything....Macie already knew about it and was looking forward to it. Holley then decided it might be fun...MAYBE... and Scott said in typical Scott fashion, "Isn't that for little kids?". I almost slammed on the breaks and left him on the side of the road! He ended up having fun in spite of himself....Holley too and Allie LOVED it!!! It was fun and I'm glad we did it. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. The kids are looking forward to seeing what the Easter Bunny brings them. It is supposed to be stormy here in the early morning so I guess the Easter Bunny better figure out where to hide the eggs IN the house.... It was really cute today....Scott, Allie and I were at the gym (yes, I'm still going, SHOCKING I know), and Parviz (the owner and our trainer) said "Happy Easter, and don't forget to do as much cardio as you can. I hope the Easter Bunny comes to visit you." Allie turned to him and sweetly said, "Easter REALLY is all about Jesus dying on the cross and then rising again so that we can go to heaven." I'm so glad that she "gets it" at 5 years old. Here are some pics from today....Take care, Stay tuned, Love,S

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Precious baby girl

2009-03-27T20:58:00.002-05:00

I called Allie to come in from playing outside this evening after dinner. Actually, a cold front came in and it was getting quite chilly. I asked "Are you done jumping? It's time to come in." Her reply, "No, I'm not done yet....I'm talking to Jesus." Her little face was turned up toward the sky. "Oh, OK. Come in when you are done." How precious is that??? Oh how I adore this little girl!!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Woo-Hoo

2009-03-20T21:55:00.001-05:00

Congratulations Macie!!! Macie had a track meet on Thursday night and ran the 100 meter sprint and the 400 meter sprint. She came in 2nd place in the 100 meter sprint!!! Way to go! She also came in 4th in the 400 meter sprint!! Yippee! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO proud of you Macie-girl! Keep up your running...

Spring Break 2009

2009-03-15T17:53:00.013-05:00

Hello all! We are coming to the end of Spring Break 2009! We stayed home for a 'staycation' this year. The break started out with the kiddies going to their dad's last weekend. I was scheduled to work so they had some fun dad-time. We were reunited on Sunday night to get our 'staycation' going. Monday- the morning started out with Scott and I meeting with our personal trainers. We had a blast...well, as much of a blast as you can have while being tortured to death at the gym...so fun! (The gym will be a WHOLE other post sometime....) Then we headed home for some good playtime. The Wii got a lot of action this week. The weather was dry and warm the first part of the week....then came 'the change!'....cold and wet! Glad we didn't plan any trips to the beach!!! The pictures that follow serve two purposes...first to show the fun we had with Kyler spending the night....and second, to show the fruit of our labor on Tuesday....Tuesday I had the bright idea that it was finally time to redo the girls room...I've never actually "done" the girls room. Meme had three sets of bunkbeds in the bunkhouse (guest house) that we moved into when we first moved to Boerne. The whole guest house was decorated in a really cute country theme. When we moved into this house....we just moved the bunkbeds with us and kept the same cute country blankets as the bed coverings. I did pick the color blue on the walls but I did not have the means to actually redo the room in terms of bedding, drapes, etc. Well, later this year (after school is out for the summer) Allie will officially become a resident in the girl room. As you can see from the pictures, the room is HUGE!! There will be plenty of room for all of them. Anyway, I saw these really cute comforters that had the very color that each girl loves most.....the girls were crazy about them...and they each got to pick their own throw pillows in the color of their choice and they each got a fuzzy throw blanket a in their preferred color and the best thing is they all color coordinate!! I also bought new drapes and a funky new multicolored floor lamp but I haven't done all of that yet. My plan for the first part of July (while the kiddies are ith their Dad) is to paint the bunkbeds and the desk in their room white. Anyway....the new comforters are proudly on display in these pics....Scott and i worked out with our trainers again on Wed. and then we cleaned up our rooms and watched a movie and just "chilled"...it was awesome! The kiddies went back to their Dad's Thurs and Fri. ( I was scheduled to work) nd came home Friday night. On Saturday we ran all day long....Allie went to a birthday party all afternoon, Macie went to the McNay Art museum and then to spend the night with her friend Becca and Holley had Kyler come over and spend the night. They had tons of fun playing Wii, jumping on the tramp, they played "lights-out hide and go seek" (soooo funny!) and charades. Allie and Scott would NOT leave the girls alone to play....Kyler may never want to come back and visit after being swarmed by Allie and Scott (who I think is crushing on her a little bit--shhh!). But we sure hope cutie-pie Kyler comes back soon!!!! Now it is Sunday evening, the kiddies are getting their showers and getting their backpacks ready for tomorrow's return to school. Track season is in full swing for Macie.....she's running the 400 m. and is really enjoying it. Holley and Allie are both continuing on the gymnastics team and Scott and I are having a lot of fun laughing at and with each other at the gym....Life is busy...and so full....I have been so very blessed with these little (some not so little) kiddos.

Kyler and Holley playing Wii (Allie can't stand not being in the middle of Holley's business)

Holley's bed is the top bunk. That is her "wall of fame" in the background. The bottom bunk is the extra bed at this point.

Allie sitting on her bunk....showing off her pretty pillow...she slept in her "new" bed for the first time on Sat. night. She won't officially move into her new room until school is out.

Macie sleeps on the bottom bunk. Yes, that is Jake's cage on the far right....he's still kicking!!! Ugh!

Scott never far away as long as Kyler is in the house :-)

Have no fear...the Dora kitchen will be move when some other toys are purged...

Kyler and Holley enjoying the fuzzy blankets....come back anytime sweet Kyler!

Allie settling in for the night.....

Good night girls!!

Scott still can't bear to tear himself away from the girls yet.... Man, the flash on my camera is awesome....I took these pics with the lights in the room off and just the TV on. Cool!

I did get Scott new bedding and accessories for his room too...the pillow he is laying on is a little glimpse of his room's decor....will post pics when I get it finished....Also once I've got the beds painted and the curtains up this summer I'll take more pics. I LOVE all the colors, pink,blue, green, yellow, purple, orange...anything you could want...it sure kept it easy for 3 little girls who are going to be stuck sharing a room to each find something different and special to them to get to make their space "special". So there you have it....we had a great Spring Break...I'm sorry it's over. Hopefully, if I stop being put on call half the days I'm scheduled, next year maybe we'll be able to take a trip somewhere. I'll try to post more frequently. Part of the reason I haven't posted is I needed a blogging break. I realized that I spent the majority of my time on Blogger or facebook and I needed to nip that addiction in the bud! Stay tuned....Love, S

Still here!!

2009-03-13T19:42:00.003-05:00

Have no fear we are still here....have a bunch to tell you but have to run out....will try to post some time this weekend. Just wanted to let you know we are fine and dandy...Spring Break has been busy even though we stayed home! It's been a pretty good one in spite of the cold, wet weather. Thank you Lord for the rain! We need more!

Lovin' the Kingdom...

2009-03-05T17:07:00.003-06:00

This came home from Allie's Mother's Day Out class....this is how it reads...

'Today in Chapel we learned the story of Queen Esther and the rule of the Kingdom to hurt the Israelites, created by her husband the King. We decided if we were the King or Queen of the MDO Kingdom, the following are the rules we would live by.
These are the rules of the MDO Kingdom (as told to us by the 3 and 4 year old classes)

1. We have to walk slowly in a straight line. (everywhere we go)
2. All strawberries must be dipped in chocolate. (My personal favorite)
3. We must love everyone, we are friends and we play together all day, after we have candy for breakfast. (this is a close second for my favorite)
4. Everyone must be nice and share.
5. Love each other and the Earth.
6. Love one another.
7. Love God forever and ever and never forget Him.
8. Obey God's rules.
9. Share your things with other people.

That is too cute!!! Especially love that ALL strawberries MUST be dipped in chocolate and the candy before breakfast. I LOVE that kingdom!!!

Seriously???!!!???

2009-03-04T12:16:00.002-06:00

Saw a warning on the transguide billboard on I-10..."Warning- High Fire Danger. Arson ban in effect"....seriously?!? Last time I checked there was never a time when arson was NOT banned! I'm just sayin'!!!!!

This most certainly did NOT happen!!!

2009-03-02T19:38:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It is time to confess...those silly little things that most certainly did NOT happen in the NUT house...

I did NOT lose my little notebook that I had sitting by my bed so that I could remember what little tid-bits happened during the week so I would have a few little "gems" to post on Not Me Monday!

I did NOT fully intend to skip posting a Not Me! Monday list because I could not remember anything that happened this week.

My memory did NOT kick in at dinner tonight when I told the story of going to pick Allie up from school this week on Thurs. I was running a couple of minutes early and thought Yeah! This is a first! I'm NEVER early!! I did NOT proceed to drive to the gym (where the girls spend 4 days a week), park my car and then realize that I drive there so much that my car was on autopilot. I then did NOT turn around and drive to the church to get Al and ended up being 2 minutes late, ruining any chance of breaking my "late" streak.

The following conversation absolutely, positively DID NOT happen around our dinner table tonight, prompting my return to Not Me! Monday. And I am NOT posting this especially for my sisters who I'm sure can imagine this exact conversation and any and all facial expressions that occurred during said conversation.... keep in mind that the fab four and I live with Meme and Poppy...(a.k.a.- Mom and Dad (mine-) Dad...talking about something, I can't remember exactly what, that isn't important..."la-la-la-de-dah.."....knock on wood."

Mom: "Where do you think that expression came from? Knock on wood?"

Dad: "Well, I'm sure I don't know"

Mom: " Well, what do you suppose they knocked on?"

Dad and I look at each other for a split second, incredulously (is that a word?).

Dad: "Well, wood!"

I certainly DID NOT break into gales of laughter, NOT laughing so hard that I could NOT hardly breathe, and I DID NOT look at my father who was NOT laughing so hard that he was NOT beet red. The children DID NOT laugh at their grandmother because I've raised them to be ultra respectful of their elders...my father and I DID NOT cry because we were NOT laughing so hard....when we could all breathe again we DID NOT look down the table at my mother who was just sitting there and DID NOT look amused (really! not amused one bit!!!)

So that's it...that's all I remember ...maybe I'll find my notebook this week or maybe NOT!

Take care everyone...Stay tuned, Love,S

Just plugging along...

2009-03-01T21:05:00.002-06:00

I realized today that I haven't really posted anything of interest in a week...except for Birthday info which is HUGE NEWS!! Yeah for Meme and Poppy!!! (aka Mom and Dad)...I have not been happy with the pictures my camera has been taking lately. For some reason they are a little blurry...and I've tried changing batteries and memory cards but I don't know if I accidentally changed some setting or pushed the wrong button. For those of you who know me well, you know that is NOT a hard thing to imagine! So I haven't taken many pics recently. But rest assured my friends...life has been plugging, more like streaking, along at breakneck speed....let's see...we'll start at the top....My Macie...we have been struggling with grades and teenage attitude recently. Her grades are improving and so is her attitude at the moment so great news there! She got her first pair of contacts on Saturday and is looking very grown up all of a sudden. It may be the fact the she looks down at me now but she is not my "little" girl anymore. But I remind her all the time that she will always be my "baby". Holley has been going to the gym like normal...3 days a week. She is getting straight A's at school and we worked at a mini meet together that our gym hosted on Sat. She spent the rest of the weekend at her friend Kyler's house...Scott is just hanging out being Scott. He is also making straight A's and loves to hang out with his good friend Jack after school and play basketball. He likes to call his friend M.J. after school...he likes to talk on the phone more than his sisters which is totally weird to me. Holley and Macie don't talk on the phone hardly at all...but Scotty, everyday he's talking to someone...it cracks me up! And last but not least is Allie...She officially started "team" at the gym two weeks ago. She works out twice a week on Tues and Thurs. It is cute watching her learn the level 2 skills. I don't think I was around much when Holley was at that level. I think I was in school and Meme went to practice a lot. Anyway, she LOVES it!! She has a poster of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on her wall that she looks at every night!!! It is super cute!! So I think that catches everyone up on the happenings in the Browning Household!!! I will try to be better at posting and putting pics up. Maybe I need to go camera shopping....I think the problem is I visit so many cute blogs with such wonderful pictures...and even with the best camera in the world...if you have a photographer like me...well...enough said. Take care...Stay tuned...Love,S

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad!

2009-03-01T11:19:00.003-06:00

It's birthday time for two of my very favorite people!! Yesterday was my mom's birthday...we celebrated with the birthday girl's menu of choice...pork spare ribs, green beans, spinach and pineapple upside down cake. Yummy!!!
Today we will be celebrating again. This time it is Dad's birthday!! I'm not sure what the menu will include...but I do know that I will be making his requested cake...it also happen to be MY favorite...yellow cake with chocolate icing...oh yeah!! Yippee! Happy birthdays Mom and Dad!! We love you, Stacey, Macie, Holley, Scott and Allie.

What a way to end the season....Yippee

2009-02-22T21:06:00.002-06:00

Today, Holley competed in the Alamo Classic Invitational meet. She has requested I put each of her events on this blog as well as any awards she "may have won"...There are people that were not able to come to the meet that Holley really wanted to be able to "see" her routines. You will have to (suffer-J/K) humm...enjoy each event and then watch the awards...wait a sec...Holley wants to post a note...(truly her, I swear!)...she will be finishing the comments on this post...I'll finish up the end...

Yay!My best (almost)bars!!! Please leave me a comment and let me know you saw me!!

Awards for bars...listen carefully... (I'm even suprised of what i heard!)

My floor was great! (at least Ithink it was!)Prepare to be(almost, hopefully) blown away!!!!

I'm really excited about this award !! (I feel like I'm winning the Ocscars!!!)

This is my VERY good beam routine that I did!!!!!! (kool!!)

Do you like my routine? I thank my 2 coaches (Kristin and Svetlana) for teaching me the right stuff!!!

We'll here's my V-A-L-U-T!! I've been kinda struggilin' with this.

I dont't think anyone was more suprised of the results than me!!!

Hih-huh hih-huh! (that is deep breathing) I was VERY nervous waiting for the all around scoresto come in!

So there you have it folks....if you have made it through all of the events and the awards...you now know the results. ...(this is Stacey again by the way...) I am super proud of my little monkey....4th place bars, 2nd place floor, 1st place beam and 1st place vault, and 1 st place all around level 5 Sr. A...way to go Holley. What a way to end this season....'til next August....Stay tuned...Love, S

Macie's Birthday celebration

2009-02-19T21:13:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I love you Macie girl....hope you had a great 13th Birthday...

A Teenager is in the house...

2009-02-19T20:15:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet 13 year old Macie!! I love you...pics to come...I'm SO proud of you.

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-16T13:33:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here are a few of the things we have NOT done this week!

Macie did NOT come home with a flower from a (gasp) b-o-y, because she knows that if she did it would send her mom over the edge. Nope Macie has already declared that she will not start dating b-o-y-s until she is 30 at the very earliest.

Holley did NOT tell me that she had no idea where her very expensive green leotard was. She did not suggest that she had taken it to her Dad's where THEY must have lost it, prompting me to call them and inquire as to the whereabouts of said leotard, only to find it stuffed down behind her night stand, wadded up in a ball. No, she never would treat her leotard like that.

Scott most certainly did NOT eat the entire box of valentine candy that I gave him (Sat) night at dinner by lunch time on Sunday. That would be totally gross....and way too fattening for my fitness conscious little guy.

It is totally NOT true that I have started keeping a spiral next to my bed so that I can jot down fun, interesting, or embarrassing things that happen during the week so that I can remember them to post each Monday. Because if that were true...that would mean I'm a total blog nerd and I'm way too busy keeping up with the fab four to obsess over this "blog stuff ", not to mention that would also mean that my memory is less than stellar!

It is most definitely NOT true that I took a week off from blogging because I was throwing a "virtual" temper tantrum. No way! Not me! Never happened!

I certainly did NOT dye my hair darker this week because I'm too cheap to spend the money to keep up with the highlights that were starting to look very "interesting" on my head.

I did NOT tell my youngest "No more candy! We don't eat candy at bedtime." Only to be caught 20 minutes later eating a piece of candy myself. No way would I ever set a double standard like that!

I have so Not gotten the cold that the fab four have passed around this week. I mean come on...I'm a nurse and way too focused on proper hand hygiene to allow myself to touch something and then infect myself with their cold!! What kind of nurse would I be to allow that to happen? Oh, and our Meme most certainly has not gotten it too.

And no matter what you've heard or who might tell you otherwise, I did NOT laugh out loud when my little girl slid down a 20 ft. inflatable slide at a birthday party, stood up, and was then "taken out" (laid flat, knocked down) by another kid sliding down after her. No way would I laugh 'cause that would mean I am not a sweet mommy who runs over and scoops up her injured child, wipes the tears and kisses the ouchies away! Actually, this mommy DID run over, scoop her up, wipe away tears, laughing the WHOLE time!!

What have you NOT been up to this week???

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T13:16:00.006-06:00

Hello all...Happy Valentine's Day (a little late). Hope you all had a day filled with lots of love and chocolate! The kiddies all had great valentine's day parties at school on Friday. They each came home from school with tons of treats from their friends. Macie, being in middle school, is much too cool to give traditional valentine's. She took some candy flowers to her friends. She came home with several "real" flowers from her friends. (One of whom happens to be a b-o-y! Shhh! I'm not supposed to tell! ;) She claims they are "just friends". They better be! I am not ready for that kind of drama in our lives. She is still my ONLY girl who does not care one bit what she wears or even if she remembered to brush her hair in the morning. Here are pics of her flowers from her "friends"....:)

Allie and I spent the morning at her friend Ashley's birthday party! Woo-Hoo...fun times!! Pics to come....then I took the big kids to spend their gift cards to Game Stop. They have been collecting these cards for birthdays and Christmas and boy have they been burning holes in their pockets! This is the troop before shopping....(Allie has not yet realized that she has no cards to shop with! Ha!

The spoils of war! Game Stop was packed! They had to really look for the games they wanted and then not put them down or they would be snatched up by other little vultures, umm...shoppers, from right under their noses.

Holley bought the new Super Mario Bros. , Scott decided on a MarioKart and wheel combo for the Wii and Ravin Rabbids for his DS, and Macie picked a (weird) Pokemon' game for her DS. Holley and Macie both have about $20 left but couldn't find any other games they wanted. Scott spent all of his (which is NO surprise!) Thanks Meme and Poppy, Aunt Perry, and Aunt Mary Austin for the gift cards.

Had to throw this in for your viewing pleasure....Allie has OBVIOUSLY realized that she was not going to get anything at Game Stop...Hee-Hee I'm sure there will be many years ahead of video games for her. She does have her own leapster that she loves so rest assured, she is NOT deprived!

Gettin' her play-doh on....

2009-02-13T19:45:00.009-06:00

Hello all....I'm baaaack...I'm done with my ranting and raving from my previous post. I decided to take some time off, but have no fear! Time surely did not stop for the Browning clan, in fact we raced through this week at (what seems like) break neck speed. So, to catch you up on the latest will take several posts. I'll start with Monday. If you know my precious Allie, you can take one look at this picture and know that something isn't "quite right"...

I picked her up from preschool and her teachers let me know that she had complained (just for the last 20 min of class) that her "tummy hurt". I got her home and she curled up on Meme and Poppy's bed under a blanket and complained of being "freezing". Uh-Oh....took her temp and it was 102.0. I then gave her the wonder drug (motrin). For whatever reason, my kids respond SO well to motrin. An hour later she was gettin' her play on with the play-doh set she was given for her B-Day (and I'd forgotten about- oops! :-)....

Gotta love motrin!!! She had to stay home from her other school (MDO) on Tues. because of the fever (thanks Meme for changing your plans and taking care of her) but was well and able to go back Wed and Thurs. for her valentine parties!! Yeah!! The next in line for the sickies was Holley, then Macie, and not to be outdone, Scott. Sadly, today I woke up with the telltale signs of a sore throat, runny nose and congestion. I am glad that I am off for the next four days so hopefully I'll be over this by Tues. when I return to work...Take care...stay tuned...Love,S

After an "interesting' day, I'm SUPER ANGRY!!

2009-02-06T17:12:00.003-06:00

"interesting" is the best word I can use to describe it. I had a bunch of pictures I wanted to share and wanted to write a sweet post about what the kiddies have been up to the last couple of days, but my mind is reeling after a phone call today and I'm not sure what I should say (if anything) and honestly I'm not sure if this blog will continue. This blog was started so that I could have a journal of sorts for my kids to look back on when they are grown to remember their childhoods and the memories won't always be sunshine and roses....it is sad to me that now I'm not sure who I can and cannot trust....Frankly I AM SUPER MAD!!! and I'm not sure if the drama that has now been introduced into my life has anything whatsoever to do with this blog or if it is from some where else completely. But if it did originate here..... wow! A word of caution to fellow bloggers (the ones who I trust completely- and you know if that is you) be very careful!!! Be super careful to ONLY blog about perfect days and perfect kids....you never know what kind of people are reading your blog....

A rainbow!!

2009-02-03T20:09:00.003-06:00

Hello all, today has been a good day in 'the nut house'. Holley had gymnastics this afternoon but everyone else stayed and played around this afternoon. I really don't have anything else to report...nuttin' interesting...pretty plain and boring (and NO I'm not complaining about that, we usually have more than our fair share of excitement), and no amazing pearls of wisdom to share with the world. I'll give a quick update on the rainbow that now crosses under my youngest child's right eye. We have a new lovely shade of green proudly showing itself alongside the blues and purples....I'm hoping for yellow tomorrow!!! Yippee!!

Day 3 of the black eye.... (and yes, I realize that pics of Allie monopolize this blog and will try to remind you every once in a while that I DO have 3 other children that I love and think are precious in their own right.)

Happy Tuesday everyone....I work tomorrow and Thursday , then have Friday off, and then work Sat and Sun. so I may be out of touch for a couple of days. Stay tuned....Love, S

My what a shiner!!

2009-02-02T23:09:00.000-06:00

Allie has her first black eye courtesy of her brother. How nice of him to give such a wonderful gift! This is her eye on Sunday.

By Monday evening I do believe it was looking worse than it had the day before....

Can't wait to see what color it will be tomorrow!!! The gift that keeps on giving!

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-02T15:24:00.004-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It is totally NOT true that the kiddies have to be woken up EVERY morning because they sleep through their alarm clocks...and it is NOT true that I told everyone at dinner last night that anyone who got up on time would have a nice surprise this morning...and it is definitely NOT true that the three older kids were up, dressed, and waiting for me this morning totally by themselves by 615 am...and I most certainly DID NOT sleep through my own alarm which was supposed to wake me up by 600 so I could start making their surprise breakfast. I do NOT give my kids cereal everyday making a day when I actually make pancakes a major celebration in my house! Nope, not me!!

I did NOT drive all the way to the grocery store, wait for the 5 year old to get out of her car seat (which she will NOT let me help her with-really!), walk in to the store, stand in the pharmacy line for 10 minutes, talk to the pharmacy tech only to realize that I forgot to go by the Doctor's office to actually pick up the prescription needing to be filled!! No Way! Not Me!!

and...I did NOT have to make a mad dash to the Dr's office , then back to the store to drop off the Rx, stand in line for another 10 minutes, and then speed all the way home because I had NOT forgotten to leave the side door unlocked for two of the other kiddies who were being dropped off by the school bus! I did NOT make it back literally 2 minutes before the bus arrived. Nope Not me!!

I am NOT excited about watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 tonight when they make their move to their new house...and there are definitely NOT 4 excited kids in my house anxious to see it too!!

I absolutely DID NOT fall asleep this morning after dropping the 5 year old off at preschool. I got every thing done on my chore list like laundry, ironing, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning, Sure I did!

I most definitely did NOT have to have "The Talk" (again) with my soon to be 13 year old daughter about carrying feminine hygiene products with her to school because she has NOT been acting crazy the last few weeks and months and crying at the drop of a hat and driving us all crazy!! Not me! Never!!

That WAS fun!! Stay tuned....Love, S

Birthday highlights!!!

2009-02-01T19:56:00.002-06:00

Here are some highlights of Holley's birthday celebration. Life is good but busy for the Browning clan...am working on a smilebox with pics of Holley when she was little but am having technical difficulties. Take care everyone....stay tuned....Love, S

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Who was that kid???

2009-01-29T15:23:00.002-06:00

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!!!

2009-01-29T12:28:00.001-06:00

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!!

2009-01-26T19:40:00.004-06:00

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!!!

2009-01-24T13:10:00.002-06:00

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...

2009-01-21T21:01:00.008-06:00

(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...

2009-01-20T13:15:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2009-01-19T21:27:00.011-06:00

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

2009-01-16T21:27:00.002-06:00

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....

2009-01-14T21:23:00.010-06:00

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....

2009-01-13T20:46:00.009-06:00

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...

2009-01-10T16:32:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2009-01-09T21:04:00.011-06:00

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

EXTRA!!EXTRA!!!HUGE BREAKING NEWS!!!

2009-01-07T21:10:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let you all know that the hugest, most incredibly awesome, giganticist (is that a word?), life changing thing happened today. Holley......got her KIP. WOO-HOO!!!! For those of you following this unfolding story you may remember that the kip is the swing move to get on (or mount) the uneven bars. It has been a thorn in her side all season...she did about 25 of them tonight according to coach Kristin!!! Yeah!! Now she needs to get her high bar kip too....I knew she had it in her! Apparently she may have a couple of shaky weeks of one day being able to do it and the next not being able to do it but at least now she has the confidence that she CAN do it!! Practice will make perfect!!! Stay tuned....oh p.s. Meme took Allie to gym today where her coach told her (Meme) that she was going to be recommending Allie to start on the prep team!! Kill me now!!!

Chicken Business.....and a little more Christmas....

2009-01-05T22:53:00.000-06:00

Hello all! We're back. Actually we never left but there has not been much to report in the way of excitement in our lives for the past few days. I've been working and the kiddies just spent the weekend with their Dad so I haven't posted. Today was the last day of vacation before school starts again tomorrow. Holley has also had a break from the gym so it has been nice to get to hang out together. We went and saw the new Disney movie 'Bedtime Stories' today. It was cute. Then we came home and had ANOTHER Christmas today!!! Over the weekend 6 rather large boxes arrived from Nana (Dad's mom). The kiddies had a great time opening all of their gifts from Nana and Grandpa, Great-Granny and Great-Grandpa, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Tom and Uncle Steve and Aunt Nancy. Then we jumped back in the car to go shopping. The kiddies wanted to spend some of the gift cards they received for Christmas. First we made a quick stop to exchange some jeans for the correct sizes and then we went to Target where Allie made her very first purchase. She picked a Cinderella Barbie-type doll, Mermaid Falls (a toy to play with in the tub) and her most favorite thing EVER a $2.48 huge plastic ball. She gave the cashier her gift card and everything, she was so proud....Thanks Perry you made her week!!! We went to Old Navy before Target, forgot to mention that....Macie picked out 2 shirts and because everything is 75% off right now she actually has a little extra on her card that she wants to save so she can get some flip-flops in the spring.... Our next stop was Best Buy!!! Perry (my sister) once again made Holley and Scott's week by giving them gift cards. They each picked out games for their Nintendo DS's. Holley picked one about babies, and she can be a virtual babysitter, and Scott picked Nintendogs and Mariokart. The were SO excited. Thanks Perry!!! Then we grabbed a bite at Red Robin then came home and it is shower and find backpack time. Tomorrow we are back to the grind at school and the gym. Holley's practice schedule is changing a little bit. She will be practicing Tues 430-730, Wed 530-830, and Sat 9-12. Allie still goes Wed 545-630, and Macie has flute lessons on Thurs. 530-600. Have no idea when spring baseball starts but that will be beginning for Scott sometime in the next couple of months. I have to admit that I am not looking forward to school starting again tomorrow.

Here's a picture from the movie theater today...

Flashback to Thanksgiving....remember these (terrifying) little fuzz-balls??? Well, they're not so little and WAY more terrifying now....

This weekend was the 4H chicken show....Scott and Jared (Scott's Dad's girlfriend's son) showed their chickens...

Yup, these are the same tiny little fluff balls from Thanksgiving...not so cute anymore..Yuck!!!

Macie and Holley helped the boys hold up the chickens for the judging. I have no idea why they hold the chickens hanging upside down and frankly have no intention of finding out....Yikes!!!

Holley holding a chicken ...I'm glad she is not afraid like her mother!!!

Here are some pictures of the fab four opening their most recent set of Christmas gifts...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hope you are all well. This should be it for Christmas this year!!! Next up is Holley's birthday on the 29th and Macie's on Feb 19th!!! Take care, stay tuned...Love,S

2009-01-03T08:05:00.001-06:00

Big Bummer!!! Poor Texas Tech!!

Guns Up!!!

2009-01-02T11:00:00.000-06:00

We've got our guns up for Tech today in the Cotton Bowl....Go Red Raiders!!!

Jumping fun

2009-01-01T23:13:00.001-06:00

As promised and without further ado....jumping madness at the Browning House!!! (in no particular order)...

Macie jumping...

Meme jumping...

Scott jumping...

and falling...

Perry jumping....

and falling....

Allie jumping...

Holley jumping...

Allie jumping...

Macie jumping....

Scott jumping....

last and certainly NOT least...Meme jumping....I know this is the REAL reason most of you have made it this far...Ha!

She did great!!! I jumped too but no pictures were allowed...I know...no fair, but since I control what goes on here, too bad...so sad!!! This last video clip was Holley on Monday....she's already improved alot....she jumps daily.

Happy New Year to you all! I pray you all have a happy and blessed 2009!!! Love, S

Our Christmas (Con't)

2008-12-30T21:58:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas celebration last Fridy 12-26-08. We had a wonderful day...hope you all did as well.

Scott opening a present.
Allie's new Barbies

Holley opening a gift

Macie opening her rip-stick

Macie opening a gift...

Allie openig her princess scooter

Holley loves her new rip-stick (aka wave board)

Scott opening his rip-stick

We exchanged a lot more gifts but I forgot about my camera in all of the chaos....it was fun....stay tuned, will post video of jumping on the tramp soon, including Meme jumping....

Back Home!!!

2008-12-29T21:01:00.000-06:00

The kiddies came home last Friday (Dec. 26 th) about 1230!!! We (Meme and I ) were waiting not so patiently, standing at the window watching for the kiddies arrival. We met them outside in the yard!!! They were HOME!!! WOO-HOO!!! Merry Christmas to us!! In case you forgot, the fab four spent Christmas this year with their father. I worked on Christmas Eve (actually was sent home at 2pm because of the low pt census) and worked all day Christmas Day. Sadly, we did not have ANY Christmas babies. There were several born on Christmas Eve, but none on Christmas Day (before 7 pm that is - may have been some before midnight but I wouldn't know about that). But, back to the 26 th!!! My parents and I gave the kiddies a joint present this year. Their BIG (quite literally) present was waiting for them in the backyard....

Yeah!! They were very excited! We spent the next hour taking turns jumping, even Meme and I jumped! I promise to post videos of that soon. HILARIOUS!!! But mainly we played out there trying to buy time until Aunt Perry arrived. She made a new purchase that morning and we waited for her to arrive to start our "official" Christmas celebration. A good time was had by all...Everyone had a great time exchanging gifts and playing and we ate a great meal. I promise to post pictures and video soon...Worked yesterday (Sun.) and I work tomorrow and again on New Years Eve then I have 2 days off in a row!! I'm scheduled 4 days this week...we've got 4 nurses out for various reasons so we are all pulling extra shifts...ugh! When you see the tramp- don't be alarmed....the net wasn't on correctly but Poppy and Jack fixed it today (Mon.) so it is officially put together correctly as of this morning.

2008-12-25T08:23:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!!!!

Walkin' in Bethlehem

2008-12-22T23:47:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday was "A walk in Bethlehem". It was a program sponsored by our church to be a community outreach project. My mom and I worked on the props committee, my mom pretty much ran the committee and I helped out when I could (work schedule permitting). It was an awesome evening. There are two things I would change if I could. One , the weather...it was drizzling. The majority of my pictures show the drizzle as my flash reflected off of the water droplets. The second thing I would change is there would be a lot more lighting so we could see things more clearly. I think the "powers that be" are already working to come up with ideas to improve lighting next year. Every one who came through Bethlehem loved it. There were over 1000 people who visited. It was so awesome. We walked through town, paid our taxes and registered for the census then talked and interacted with the citizens of the town. I pretty much stalked Mary and Joseph when I heard that they had entered the town. I was trying to get good picture of them but somehow between all of the people walking every were and having to switch out batteries in the camera I did not get a picture until they were asking for a room at the inn. These are some pictures from that night. They are a little out of order, sorry!

The Fab Four and one of the camels

The angel appeared to us announcing the arrival of our saviour

Far away pic of the angel (on the roof) it was really cool in person

The Holy Family

The Kings arrived bearing gifts

Astrologers

Baker talking to Allie

Basket weavers

A brick maker

The well, a community gathering spot

Mary and Joseph at the inn. There was no room but they were offered the stable as a place to stay

The potter actually making pottery

A Roman guard making way for the kings

A wine maker, stomping on grapes

Not sure her name....yarn worker??

It was really neat to see Bethlehem. Obviously, we were not in actual Bethlehem, but we tried to really create the feeling. One of the advisers of the event said that our church campus was actually the same approximate size as the city of Bethlehem, so that's neat. I've got a bunch more pictures of the kids getting to hold the animals that were in Bethlehem, but that is another post. I'm off to bed. Am counting the days/ hours until my kiddies are home. I'll have to post the saga of Scott and the emergency room too. He's OK...don't worry. Nothing that a bunch of breathing treatments didn't cure. Stay tuned....S

Better Late than never

2008-12-19T21:45:00.000-06:00

Well, here it is friends, the much anticipated (yeah right) pictures of our trip to Dallas last weekend. If you remember, we went for Holley's state gymnastics meet and decided to make a birthday weekend out of it for Scott. We celebrated his 9th birthday (minus the presents- those waited for his real b-day on Sun) in Dallas on Friday night at a really cool place....

The Fab four...heading out...it was a beautiful, sunny day.

Here we are!. After checking in at our hotel we changed and made our way (without getting lost I might add yippee!) to Medieval Times -restaurant and tournament. We were entertained by fabulous food and an awesome 11th century medieval tournament. We were served tomato-basil soup, herb-roasted chicken, prime rib, garlic toast, garlic potatoes, and an apple pastry. We did not have any utensils to use. Apparently, they did not use eating utensils in the 11th century. We did have cups though, thank goodness. You can imagine how thrilled I was (after reading about my quirky food things) when half a chicken carcass was slapped on my plate. Literally 1/2 a chicken. We were served SO much food! Even Scott made it half-way through and said "I'm so stuffed, I couldn't eat another bite!!" (until desert I might add, then he miraculously found little room! Ha! )I picked the meat off with my fingers and then ate it. The kiddies didn't even notice!!! It was fabulous by the way. I even managed to pick up my prime rib and bite the meat off. Guess with so much excitement going on I could focus on other things besides gnawing on this poor animal's rib!!

The fab four outside the castle standing by the moat.

Oops, got the pictures out of order. When you go in the castle you are given your table assignments and you are assigned a knight that will fight for the honor of his kingdom. By being seated at his colored tables, you are a member of his kingdom. We cheered on the black and white night.

Before we were seated for dinner, we got to explore the castle. They fed us yummy cookies that the kiddies got to decorate for Christmas and hot cocoa. The castle was all decorated for Christmas. It was very pretty. I forgot to mention, when we first entered the castle we had our pictures taken with Father Christmas. They turned on the snow machine so it looked like it was snowing. If I didn't look so scary, I'd post it, but sorry folks!! Then we went to the dance floor where the kiddies convinced me to buy light-up fencing foam thingys. They played and sipped on Shirley Temples....and had a blast!!! Did you know that 4 Shirley Temples and 1 small strawberry daiquiri (have no idea how to spell that) costs $28?? Just a little tid-bit of info for you!! I almost fainted.

Allie contemplating her choice of sprinkles. Holley in the background going to town with hers.

We met the horses up close and personal....stinky!!!

Allie cheering on our knight. It was pitch dark in the dining chamber when I shot this pic, she wasn't real sure she liked that...this is her half smile- half "I'm about ready to cry mom" look

Macie and Scott having fun!!! Scott, "Geez, mom, stop flashing the light in my eyes...please!!!"

Group photo with the suit of armour.

This is the falconer. It took about 5 minutes to convince Allie that the bird would not hurt her. She did not trust it!!! Can't say that I blame her...I was scared of it too. Big surprise I know!!!

We ended up having a fun time. The kiddies loved it!!!

Here's a short video of one of the jousting contests.

Sadly, our knight was not victorious....we love him anyway....

Well, now you are caught up on Friday night in Dallas and I already posted about the meet on Saturday. On Saturday night the kiddies and I went in search of a Red Robin (YUM!) and a movie theater. We found both and ate an awesome meal (love those 5-alarm burgers) and went to a super cool movie theater to see the movie 'Bolt'. We were waited on in the movie theater just like a restaurant and had desert there. It was fun. Then we went back to the hotel and headed out about 1000 on Sunday. I hope to post more pics of Scott's actual birthday soon. Also, the pictures from 'A walk in Bethlehem' will be posted soon. I have not forgotten . Stay tuned....S

Christmas parties and other chaos...

2008-12-19T20:15:00.000-06:00

Hello all, today was class party and gym party day. We had great fun....

Allie helped me stuff Holley's class' goodie bags.

Holley helping stuff "goodie" bags.
Holley and her sweet teacher Mrs. Holman (4th grade)

Across the hall...Mrs. Rickman and Scott (3rd grade)

Scott and his table mates during a class contest. His class is the GT class, his team spent most of their time arguing over whose idea was better, they did not win the contest.

Allie joined right in the fun. Holley actually invited Allie to join her at her table. You would have thought Allie was a 4th grader the way she talked with and kept up with the other kids...

More pics of sweet sisters...

I spent the afternoon after the class parties, wrapping presents. I've now got just about everything for my family wrapped, all of the stuff that will travel to Houston on Monday wrapped and ready to go. Unfortunately, not one thing I have for the kiddies has been wrapped yet. I've only got Monday left as I work tomorrow, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then they come home Friday by noon. Yippee!! I already miss them!! Sad, but true.

After gift wrapping, Holley and I went to the team gymnastics party. It was a lot of fun.

Caitlin, Ashton and Holley(level 5 teammates)

The kids gathered in a circle around the tree and waited for their names to be called. They drew names and shopped for the team member the drew. It is always fun and a neat way to get to know each other.
Silly Amanda. This girl ALWAYS has a smile on her face.

Coaches Kristin and Svetlana gave the girls these awesome shirts. Each level got a different color. All said the same thing.

Sweet Ashton gave each girl a neat gymnastics ornament. It is already at home on our tree.

Coach Kristi surrounded by her "loot" that was given to her.

Holley and Kylar, a new friend (level 6 and goes to our church too!!) She is such a sweetheart and has a sweet mama (who is also a nurse). I'm glad they moved here this year. After the party, I met up with the kiddie's dad so that he could get Holley from me. He had Macie and Allie in the car and I found myself tearing up a bit after hugging them for the hundredth time and wishing them a Merry Christmas and telling them I'd see them on the 26th. Sometimes it is NOT fun to say good-bye.

EXTRA, EXTRA,!!!!

2008-12-19T13:00:00.002-06:00

I, I repeat, I, Stacey, got up OUT of bed this morning, and got the kiddies up myself this morning, had breakfast with them and then got them out to the bus on time, thank you very much!!! Then Allie and I were off to the class parties at the elementary school. Pictures to come...Stay tuned.... SEE!! I told you I COULD do it!!!!

Honest Scrap...

2008-12-18T22:58:00.000-06:00

Thanks for sending me this Robin....let me see... 10 things huh??? By the way, I too have no idea how to put links to other people's blogs in here and I don't know but a few people who are blogging at this point so I don't have 7 people to send it too...MA, Perry, Dad, join the fun!! Come on friends, break the mold and start your blogs...it's free and a lot of fun. Trust me if I can do it...so can you!!!

"When you receive the prize, you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing that they were prized with 'Honest Weblog'. List [if you can and/or dare] at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

Wow, this is more difficult than I thought....

1. I have a backwards heart. My mom tells me that when I was a very small child, I was sick all of the time. I had an allergy to corn, asthma, and spent the better part of my first couple of years sick. When I was two(?), I had a spinal tap to diagnose the flu. During one visit to the doctor (hospital-I guess), they did some test and were very surprised to see that my heart is in the correct spot in my chest cavity, but is flipped backward. She tells me I made history at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston as they had not seen this up to this point. This was in the early 70's.

2. I am an extremely picky eater. I have always been. I've tried to improve this as I've gotten older for the sake of my children...I don't want them to miss out on something they might love just because I turn my nose up at it.

3. I have several weird "food things". This is certainly a weird "quirky" thing of mine that most of you (if any) know about. When I'm by myself....or bored I guess, I line things up and eat them smallest to largest. Like french fries, I eat all of the small ones first then the bigger ones. I eat broken chips first, then the bigger whole ones. Small grapes before the bigger ones, etc. I know that's weird...it is not OCD (although I do probably have some other tendencies- at least I come by them naturally- right MOM??) It is not something I HAVE to do, I just do it mainly when I'm bored....also, I will not eat any meat attached to a bone. Ribs, chicken, steak, etc. I just can't...yuck. It reminds me of walking up to some chicken and ripping it's leg off and digging in...Oh my, I feel queasy just thinking about it...I will cut my meat off of the bone and eat it with a fork. The worst dinner nights are when we have barbecue-chicken. The kiddies love it...they love picking it up and end up with barbecue sauce all over themselves. So far they haven't noticed that I never eat drumsticks (if I can help it) and if I have no other choice, I use a knife and fork. I hate the skin on chicken, it reminds me it is SKIN!!! I will spend extra money to buy boneless, skinless etc. I suck the salt off of saltine crackers, pretzels, cheez-it's, etc. before eating them.

4. Stephen F. Austin is my great, great, great, great, great, uncle. (My family knows this of course).

5. If given the opportunity, I could probably sleep for 2 days straight!!! (once again, no surprise to my family).

6. I am a 'Gray's Anatomy' and 'E.R.' fanatic. I will move my schedule around important shows like season finale's, etc. I also love HGTV and Discovery Health shows. John and Kate plus 8 and 17 kids and counting are also favorites.

7. I'm and very scared/ uncomfortable around old people. I'm always afraid someone is going to keel over in front of me. I became a lot less "freaked out" by the elderly after working with them on the surgical-oncology floor for 2 years. I had no choice. I have had this fear for as long as I can remember. My grandmother used to cough a lot and that totally freaked me out. Then one day during lunch at her house she choked on a bean-burger and I was sitting right next to her just staring ( I was maybe 7 or 8), it took a minute before anyone else noticed, she ended up being totally fine, but I've always been afraid of choking after that. The VERY FIRST DAY of clinical when I was going to Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Lubbock back in 1996 (I met my friend Robin there) my instructor sent me and another student in to a patient's room. The family had requested a bed bath, I was shocked to find this patient well on the way in the dying process. The patient proceeded to die while we were bathing her and I totally lost it! I called my mom that afternoon and said "I can't and won't do this". I managed to hang on through the rest of the semester and then quit. I was too terrified to continue. It took the Lord a long time to open my heart to the possibility of nursing again, but it has always been my love and I've always felt His prodding in my spirit in this direction. I'm just glad that, for the most part, I deal with young, healthy women now.

8. Being a nurse scares the crud out of me sometimes. Knowing that it is my responsibility to take care of the pt. and to be the first line of defense in an emergency is overwhelming. I find myself praying almost constantly the whole way to the hospital for protection for my patients and their unborn babies and for my fellow nurses, etc. I used to pray before my old job as well. The last thing I request each and every day as I get ready to step inside of the hospital is for a hedge of protection to be around me and my patients and that the holy spirit would work through me, give me the strength I need for the day, and shine through me and reveal himself to the patients. I pray at other times too, not nearly as much as I should, but right before work is MANDATORY.

9. I drive WAY too fast. Let me correct this. When my children are in the car I am a respectable driver. But on my way to work, I drive way too fast. If the weather is good I can make it from my driveway to the hospital in 35 minutes. (It normally takes 45-50 or so). I used to drive wayyyyyy too fast home from Tech in my college years. It is typically a 5 1/2- 6 hour trip to Lubbock to SA and one time I made it in 4 hours...yikes...that little Mazda 626 could fly!! Did you know their speedometers go up to 135??? (maybe higher- can't remember) Man, I'd find myself flying at 100-105. Boy was that stupid!!! Now the fastest I go is 80. (sorry Mom and Dad)- I'm supposed to be truthful after all.

10. Even though I've started developing blood pressure issues, a degenerating spine, have had gestational diabetes twice which puts me at much higher odds of developing diabetes in the future, and I've got 4 awesome kiddies counting on me, I just can't seem to find the motivation to lose the extra weight that I've allowed to accumulate over these adult years!!! Please pray for me this next year. It is literally going to take God whacking me upside the head to get me off my bum and just do it!!! Please pray that God will give me the desire and the strength to lose some weight, my health depends on it.

A few freebies: my favorite job ever was at the movie theater in high-school. We always ran the new movies that opened on Friday's on Thursday nights after closing to make sure they did not break during their first run. Employees were allowed to bring up to 4 people with them on Thurs. nights to see the first-runs. We always got free popcorn and soft-drinks. It was awesome....

I HATE the morning....UGH!!! I wake up long enough to go into the girl's room, turn their light's on and say "It's time to get up, have a good day" and I go get back in my bed. My sweet dad gets Scott up downstairs and gets them out the door on time. I could never repay him for that- it means more than I can express!!! I'm a major night-owl. I routinely stay up until 1 am or so.

As bad as this sounds, sometimes I'm glad when it reaches the night or weekend when the kiddies go with their dad. It's nice to have a break and peace and quiet....I'm always ready for them to come home though!!! I'm good for about two weeks in the summer then I count the days until they are home during July when they're gone for a month!

That's it...I know I lead a boring life...no terrible skeletons in my closet. Stay tuned....