Heartbreaks of Childhood...

It took forever to finally be able to order my replacement iphone. First the AT&T website was having issues, then tried to order it over the phone but the salesgirl couldn't access the refurbished phones for "an upgrade", then I could finally access the website and the phone I wanted was sold out. So kept checking back until FINALLY... they had a iPhone 4 16G available for $99... not in the white like Child#1 really wanted but in black. I figured we'll get her a really need cover/case anyways when this phone becomes hers.

So it finally arrives and I get everything restored to the last time I sync'd the phone... yeah two months ago... DUH! Everything looks great. The new screen image is amazingly clear.

Everything great right? Wrong.

So Child#1 asks if she can use my phone to call her BFF who she hasn't talked to since the "Lost the Phone in HEB" incident. So she calls her friend and we discover that the phone doesn't work unless its on speaker. They can hear us but we can't hear them. NICE! So I guess that's why it needed to be refurbished. Luckily it is still fully covered as though it wasn't a refurb... now to find the time to go to the AT&T store.

But the truly depressing find was that Child#1's BFF is moving away. Her mom got a new job in San Antonio and they are moving in a few weeks. Her mom has been staying with a friend in San Antonio during the week while she works and BFF has been staying with her various grandparents at the same time. Her mom says they will be coming to Austin often but I know how that can go... after a while it becomes a hassle and they won't come as often. But maybe we'll be able to still set up occasional sleepovers and such.

Child#1 is trying to be strong and brave but I know she is just devastated. She's been friends with BFF K since 1st grade. Her other BFF N she's been friends with since Kinder but she's going to be going to a different school when they start middle school next year. And her other close friend E that she made this year will also be moving when its time to start middle school.

Why does it have to happen like this? Most of her Posse will be split up within the next year with the start of middle school. Especially when she's gonna need them the most. It just sucks. I remember how hard it was, we moved from NJ at the beginning of 6th grade/middle school to TX. Suddenly being the new kid in school sucked. I didn't want her to have to worry about that, at least I was confident while the school would be new she would still have her friends to fall back on.

It just breaks my heart knowing that she isn't gonna be able to hang out with K after school anymore. Or during school.

At least I'm so glad they got to have the time this past spring when K came over after school each Wednesday afternoon and they got to just hang out together.

I can see its gonna be a good thing that we have unlimited calls, text & data on our phones... otherwise its would be very EXPENSIVE! I need to find out if K has a laptop with a camera so they can at least Skype together.

Not the best customer service...

So I called AT&T today about my lost phone. Still hasn't turned up at HEB.

Since I didn't have insurance on it, they won't replace it. I'm not eligible for upgrade for, get this, until June 20th. TWO WEEKS from now.

I could get a replacement phone through their replacement program but it can't be an iPhone because those aren't in the program and I'd have to extend my contract 11 months.

Seriously that's the best they can offer me. A crappy phone (for whatever price range I'm willing to spend) with 11 month contact or nothing for 2 weeks when I could "upgrade" to a iPhone 4 for about $100 without a contact obligation. I'd take the 11 month contract extension if I could just get another iPhone.

We have two iPhones with them and have been customers for over more than 5 years and that's the best they can do??

We could add an additional line for $15 plus data plan and $100 refurb iPhone 4 and it would be cheaper. We were discussing giving Child #1 my old 3Gs when I upgraded to the iPhone 5 due out sometime this summer. Guess we'll get a refurb 4 for her instead that I'd use until we can get "my phone" when I'm eligible in two weeks...

Yeah we didn't totally dodge the sick bullet...

Thought we might not have to start the summer being sick but alas... Hubby seems to have acquired the same crude as Child#3. It hit him a couple of days ago... total Man Cold reaction... and he's just really starting to feel human again. He even broke down and went to the Doctor it was that bad. Doctor told him he had a flu virus.

Needless to say I wiped the whole house down with Lysol and vinegar. Lots & lots of handwashing!

I think I might have had a touch of it earlier in the week. Mainly the heavy fatigue and several trips to the bathroom but not as wiped out as both Child#3 and Hubby.

At least so far the rest of the Krewe hasn't shown any signs of the flu virus.

I feel so lost...

Yesterday while doing the marathon food shopping spree... Costco, Petsmart and HEB... my iPhone went missing. Of course I noticed when we left Costco that my battery was nearly dead so when I coudn't find it... calling it didn't help when it went straight to voicemail.

Great, the battery's dead. So I can't even try to track it down by the ringing.

I couldn't remember how I could have lost it until just as I was about to fall asleep... I remembered that my phone rang while we were at HEB. It was Child #1's BFF so I'd just handed her the phone to take the call.

So this morning I asked Child #1 if she remembered what she did with my phone after she finished with her conversation with BFF K...

"I put it in the cart next to your purse".

Sigh, well that would explain why I couldn't remember laying it down somewhere. All I can figure is it must have fallen out of the cart somewhere in the store.

UGH! And of course its been a while since I synced my phone. So I've lost a bunch of new contact numbers and basically all the pictures on my phone for the past two months.

UGH!!

So what is the likelihood someone will turn in a lost iPhone... probably not so good.

I feel so lost, I use my phone as a calendar, a camera, a clock and of course email/internet contact...

Young Love...

Child #3 started Kindergarten last fall. He's always been my happy boy, his nickname is my 95% boy because he literally is happy 95% of the time... that other 5% can be mindbogglingly terrifying to behold. He is also a total social butterfly. EVERYONE knows his name. We went to Fall Carnival at their elementary school last year and within 5 minutes of being there we literally had 50 different people say hi to him by name.

Several months ago he happen to mention in conversation that he had a girlfriend.

Hubby and I looked at each other... really?!? A girlfriend.

I asked him "does she know?" because honestly just because he likes a girl doesn't mean she knows who he is. Right?

"Oh yes."

What's her name?

"S-".

Yep, she exists and she's his girlfriend. We bumped into her mom at a school event. She knew ALL about Child #3 because her daughter talks about him a lot because he's her boyfriend.

ACK!!

He's SIX!! And so is she!! Holy cow! And he brings home little hearts and notes with "I heart U" on them from her. It is so sweeeet. Thankfully her parents think its sweet and funny too.

He wrote their initials in the sand in a heart at the beach last month.

Their kindergarten teacher Ms. C told me that they have these deep intellectual conversation together too. So it isn't just they think each other are cute. They love each others amazing and creative intelligent brains too. They were tested for the Talented & Gifted program together.

Both of them wrote in their end of school memory journals that they will always remember each other and each other are their "special" friend.



Her mom sent me this picture from Field Day at school last week.


It's six going on SIXTEEN!! ACK!!


I'm not ready for this. LOL!!

And so it begins...

Today is the official first day of summer vacation.

We decided to go to the Cedar Park Farmer's Market. Hubby has been craving one of the cherry danishes from Sweetish Hill Bakery. We load everyone up and head over there.

It was hot, not unbearable but none the less hot. We weren't there 20 minutes and Child #3 suddenly doesn't feel well. Like "spit yuckies" feel bad. So I quickly steered him out of the middle of the food vendors over the one of the grassy medians of the parking lot behind the vendor tents. I held him kind of hanging in my arms over some grass in case he actually had to throw up. Thankfully he never really did only gagged slightly and moaned a lot.

Yeah. Sick child on the first day of summer vacation.

Needless to say we headed straight home again. We thought he might be dehydrated after all the running around outside he did yesterday.

At least Hubby was able to snag the last cherry danish before they sold out.

Once home the boy layed down on the couch. Everyone else was outside playing when Child #1 noticed that he looked hot. He spiked a 101.8 fever. Lovely. He proceeded to crash and sleep on the couch for the next couple of hours. He never did throw up but did have to visit the bathroom several times for "other reasons". Poor buddy.

He seems to be recovering with lots of rest and light eating. He went straight to bed without the slightest complaint.

We ended up missing Hubby's best friends promotion celebration party but alas can't take a sick child out. Here's to hoping no one else gets sick.

Last Day of School...

Hubby got home about mid morning right before it was time to take Child #4 to Pre-K. She didn't hear him come in so when I called her downstairs she squealed on the middle of the stairs and launched herself into his arms. Yep, she was happy Daddy was home.

After taking Child #4 and a friend to school, Hubby and I went to lunch. Then it was time to hit the End of the School Year class parties. Four of them. This year and next year are the only years where all four kids will be at the same school at the same time. Next year they will be in for the same hours since Child #4 will be in full day Kindergarten (she better get Ms C!!!).

All four parties were outside for part of it. In that lovely Texas heat! Thankfully it was only up to 94 degrees while we were outside. Seriously were they trying to give us heat stroke? Could have been worse, it hit 100 degrees two days earlier. The older three were surprised to see Hubby since they didn't know he was going to be home so early on Friday and he doesn't usually get to come to the school parties.

It's official. The 2010-2011 school year is now OVER!! It's summer vacation.

Child #1 is very happy! She doesn't have to wake up early in the mornings.

Child #2 is also happy because he doesn't have to wake up early or do "reading" anymore. Little does he realize he will still be doing reading this summer.

Child #3 is conflicted. He LOVES school so much. He loves his teacher, he loves his classmates and his special friend, and he loves learning. But he is happy about not having to wake up early.

Honestly who are they kidding?? Okay so I'm not waking them up at 7am, they are all awake by 8am anyways. Okay Child #1 will sleep in later if the boys don't wake her up.

Child #4 is indifferent in that classic Child #4 way.

Report cards came home and were awesome all around.
Child #1 ended up with straight A's for the year. She was quite proud of how well she was able to bring her grades up from the B's of last quarter.
Child #2 was able to show marked improvement all around and his teacher was so impressed with how much progress he made in reading & writing.
Child #3 maxed out in just about everything just like we knew he would... my little brainiac. Child #4 improved her oral language from 6 yr 4 months to 10 years 2 months! Which means she has the vocabulary of a 4 grader! She's not even 5 yrs yet! We definitely saw that learning spike in her speech... she's always been a talker once she decided she wanted to talk but its increase exponentially this year. Seriously get her alone and she will overwhelm you with her constant stream of verbal conscientiousness. She'll make your ears start to hurt and your head spin.

Sadly we will be missing Child #1's teacher Mrs. F. next year. Between the budget cuts and the soon arrival of her first child she won't be returning to Jollyville next year. So wrong that we lose those amazing young and vibrant teachers to the budget just because they were the most recent hires. I'm hoping that in a few years she'll be back...

So now its time for sleeping in (HA!), loose schedules, lazy & carefree days, fun in the sprinklers, and lots of trying to not kill each other days.

Piano Recital

So Child#1 has been taking piano (midi) lessons at school for two years now. Tonight was her end of year recital.

She did great, no mistakes, good tempo and didn't have to stop and find her place on the sheet music.

It would be amazing how much better she could play if she actually practiced. She has such natural talent... but practice would help. She decided last month that she didn't want to do piano anymore but she couldn't just quit with only 6 weeks left! Besides she has a duet and it wouldn't be fair to quit on her partner like that. So she soldiered on and finish out the year but I don't think she'll play next year.

Maybe one of the other kids would want to take piano...

Single Parenting.

Hubby had to leave for two weeks early this morning. He has to attend an AGR course/class in Brownwood TX (about 3 hours away) for the next two weeks for work. He'll be back sometime on the 27th, the last day of school. Hopefully he get to come to the kids school parties.

So its time to switch into the "single parent" mode.

The Posse spend the night again...

Child #1 had a slumber party for her birthday earlier this year. I had to limit the number of people to 3 friends plus Child #1. Her bedroom floor is only so big. It was difficult for her to decide who to invite because her "Posse" as I like to call them numbers about 4 + her in her class and two more in one of the other 4th grade classes. She decided who to invite

Unfortunately not all of her "Posse" were able to come, especially her BFF K. So I'd promised her that she would be able to have another sleep over with some of her friends again. So she invited two of the friends that weren't able to come last time and her other BFF.

Hubby has drill this weekend before going out of town for two weeks... so why not, let's do it tonight. So two of her friends (J and BFF K) came home with us straight from school. Her other BFF N came over later after her Girl Scout end of the year party. So there were 4 giggly 10 year olds in the house tonight.

Again it turned into a nail salon with me painting everyone's fingers & toes.

But everyone was asleep by midnight!

Dental Appointment for #3 & #4

So today was the dental appointments for Child #3 and Child #4.

Both did great. Both do a great job brushing and flossing.

Child #3 sadly has a lot of cavities... between his teeth which are very tight together. The oral hygienist commented on what a great job he's doing brushing because there wasn't plaque build up at all. Unfortunately it looks like Child #3 has the oral bacteria that is more prone to cavities. At least he's the one who enjoys brushing and flossing his teeth and he has that meticulous nature so maybe we'll be able to keep new cavities away.

Both left feeling positive about going to the dentist. Score!

Lost First Tooth!

Oh and how could I forget!

As I walked up to the pickup line for the kids after school today... Child #3 walks up to me with his first tooth in his hand. It had come out a few minutes earlier. Literally while he was walking out to the pick up line.

Didn't even know the tooth was loose! Bottom front center.

Field Trip with 44 children aged 4-5 years old...

Yep, its that time again. The Pre-K annual field trip to Crowe's Nest Farm in Elgin TX. I went with Child #3's class last year.

A 45 minute bus ride with 44 kids and about 10 adults. Woohoo!

The kids have a blast. Between the tractor hayride, seeing Emu, Bison, Longhorns & Cows, Sheep, Goats, Llama, Peacocks and lots of Chickens & Turkey... they had a lot of fun. Then there was also the snakes, spiders, and creepy crawlies... honestly could have done without those but at least they were all in cages or tanks and not "free-range".

It was overcast for most of the day which wasn't too bad. It kept the heat down some and it didn't rain on us. Though we desperately need the rain... just not for those 4 hours.

Dental and Lacrosse

Thankfully those two things only have in common the same day and the same child. Child #2 had a rescheduled dental appointment this afternoon with a removal of a molar. He had a bad cavity that quickly went south. The tooth was too badly damaged for the dentist to save it so he pulled it.

Child #2 was amazing. He was calm and didn't make hardly a sound during the entire procedure. I was so proud of what a little man he was through it all. He felt great within a couple of hours, enough to go to the Lacrosse dinner.

Which beings me to the second half of the title... Tonight was the Lacrosse Team end of the season dinner. It was held at Waterloo up in Avery Ranch. They have a huge outdoor covered patio and a big field and playscape for the kids to run around and play on. A good time was had by all... even though the kitchen seemed to have been overwhelmed and took forever for our food to come out. The cake that one of the mom's provided was amazing. It was half chocolate and half yellow cake. The yellow cake was incredible and the Lacrosse design was fabulous.

Hubby might be coaching the 1st & 2nd grade team next year. The current coach is moving up to the next level 3rd & 4th grade because his son will be in 3rd next year. Looks like about half the team will be move to the next level next year, many are 2nd graders right now.

Cinco De Mayo!!

That means we eat Tex-Mex tonight. Tacos, nachos and guacamole!!

Its the little things in life.

The skullplate... its so important.

Last fall a very close family friend C was hit by a pickup truck and badly hurt. Thankfully he's made an almost full recovery, he still has a few brain injury issues (it takes up to 2 years for a brain to heal from trauma) but otherwise physically has fully recovered from it.

Except his skull. While he was in the sedation coma they temporarily removed a large portion of his skull (from midline down to his brow) to allow for the brain swelling then put it back a week later when the swelling was down. Unfortunately his body has decided that the skull piece isn't part of him and has "consumed" it. Over 90% of it has been "absorbed" back into his body. Needless to say very scary. He's been on "house arrest" for the past 8 weeks unable to go and do anything physical but school while wearing a helmet. Doctors say he'll never get to play contact sports again... he'll never get to play his beloved football again. Not something a 10 year old boy wants to hear at all.

So C is going in for surgery today to place a plate into his skull (hopeful that might also encourage regrowth of the skull pieces) to protect that amazing precious brain of his.

This last round of hospital drama has been hard for the mom since her best friend & neighbor who was her rock (heck was a rock to all of us) through last time passed away from breast cancer in Feb. It hasn't been the same without Michelle's amazing humorous presence to keep us all so positive and laughing.

Just trying to keep lots of positive thoughts and prayers for them right now...

Dental Emergency for Child #2

So Child #2 started to complain during the trip to the beach last weekend that his mouth hurt. Well come to discover he's got an abscessed tooth. It didn't get ugly until the other day when I had to pull him out of school to go to the ER and get antibiotics when his gum started to swell.

After getting the antibiotics and an appointment at the end of the week to see the dentist. We find out we are going to have to pull the abscessed tooth. It is too badly damaged to save it. Yuck. The dentist wants Child #2 to be on the antibiotics for at least a week before doing the extraction.

Fun times ahead.

Annual Beach trip to Padre Island

So Hubby decided we needed to try to do our beach camping trip earlier this year before the heat of the summer started to roll in like last year.

We decided to go camping Easter weekend because the kids would be out of school on the Good Friday. Last year we were driving back from Utah Easter weekend, doesn't seem like its already been a year.

So we planned to have everything packed up and ready to go when the kids go out of school Thursday afternoon. Yeah, right. Best laid plans so didn't happen. At least Hubby did put up the tent and clean it really good the weekend before. Unlike when we went camping at Pedernales a month after last year's beach trip to Padre Island and the tent was still covered in sand. Yeah that was pretty miserable with everything coated in sand. Yuck.

So at least we didn't have that issue. All in all it really only took us about 4 hours to get everything organized, packed and loaded. But it was still waaaaaay later than we'd planned to leave.

Hubby found out there is NAS (Naval Air Station) billeting down near Corpus Christi, so we'd already arranged to sleep there Thursday night. We'd just planned to get there by 10 pm... instead of leaving the house around 10 pm. Four+ hours later we arrived at the "hotel". It was really nice sleeping on fairly comfortable and clean sheets.

Camping was fun... but also miserable. It was soooo windy. Everything became coated in sand. Not just "sandy" like caked in sand. It was horrible sleeping in what felt like a layer of sand in the air mattress bed... which ended up with a big ole hole in it the second night and lost all it air.

We took Roger the puppy with us. We made an interesting discovery, He didn't handle car trips very well. He didn't bark... he just yacked. Often. Thankfully he was in a pet carrier the whole time. He also didn't enjoy the beach very much. He was most pathetic about being in the sand. Don't think we'll be taking him on the next beach camping trip.

The kids had a great time. Played in the water, made lots of sand castles, looked for seashells, and found a few Man-O-War jellyfish. No one got seriously burnt this year. Child#1 had a few red spots that have already turned to tan. I only got slightly burnt on my back/shoulders during the two hours we packed up camp. Not bad since I didn't remember to put sunscreen on. Nothing like last year!

I think we've decided that while it seems all wonderful to camp on the beach... we'd really like to maybe stay at the NAS again and come to the beach for the day... going back to hot showers and clean (sand free) beds... maybe sleeping on the beach for one night with the last night definitely at the NAS before heading for home. I think if Hubby and I could have figured out how to quickly pack up the camp that second night we would have and just driven home that night... that's how miserable we both were feeling.

Honestly I think I'm more of a park camper and not a beach camper. Perferably in moderate weather. LOL!

Hanging out with the family... laying in the grass at the Austin Farmer's Market at the Triangle.

The sun was shining, the brick oven pizzeria was making wonderful (though expensive for the size) pizza. The kiddos were running around enjoying the weather and the grassy area... and eventually the fountains. I of course totally forgot to pack some towels... they were all soaked to the skin once it was time to learn.

We really need to do this more often. Especially before the blistering heat comes on.

The day is only half over.

Let's see: breakfast, lacrosse photos, moved cubic yd of dirt, transplanted 11 plants, lunch, planted 2 lg flats of annuals, 8 azaleas, 2 basil plants, 2 cilantro plants, watered most of the beds, bagged three bags of leaves/twigs, kids playing in the sprinkler...

Time for a shower & a break... no idea about dinner...

Spring Break

San Antonio for a couple days to visit a good friend... who's house is wonderful, has a hot tub (big hit with the hooligans!) and a pool.

Sea World... Shamu, dolphins, sea lions, penguins and a few roller coasters too.

Sleeping in late (not having to get up early, fix breakfast and herd them to school at the crack of dawn!!).

Cleaning up the backyard to make it habitable for the summer... dinner on the patio a couple of times.

Not to bad... not to bad.

Two Birthday parties and a Slumber party all in one day...

Today was birthday party day.

Child #1 wanted to have two parties. One that she could invite her whole class to and one that would be a slumber party. Her first slumber party at our house. She's been to several slumber parties over the years but this would be our first.

Child #2 wanted Star Wars... again. So that's what we did. Again. I think this makes his third Star Wars party... boy sure does love Star Wars.

To make things a little easier on me, I decided we would again do the park for the class invite parties and that both parties would be "at the same time" again. The slumber party would be later that same night.

Overall things went well considering it was also the first day of Spring Break. Not as many people were able to come because of that but it was a good turn out and everyone seemed to have fun.

Child #1 wanted to invite her entire Posse (as I like to call them) of friends which is about 7 girls but I limited the number to 3 other girls... her bedroom just isn't that big for 6 other bodies to try to sleep in there. Two of her friends weren't going to be in town so she invited the three that were going to be in town.

Lots of giggles, pizza and me somehow getting sucked into nail salon mode painting fingers and toes half the night. Child #1 was quite happy with her party. I also promised her that she would be able to have the other friends over another time.

Now I'm very tired...

Eight years ago almost exactly

Eight years ago an 8 pound 4 ounce bundle of joy joined our family. He stole my heart and still holds it tightly in his fist.

Now my "Little Man" is growing up. He loves his brother & his sisters. He's sweet, kind and fiercely loyal. He plays Lacrosse, loves Star Wars and Legos. He plays hard and loves just as much. So very proud of the young man he's becoming.

Love you so much son.

Musical interests of the 4 year old.

Child #4 walked into the room a little while ago. I was listening to the radio and she suddenly asks," Is this the Black Keys?"

Why yes, yes it is.

"Thought so." and she strolled back out of the room.

Yep, she likes the Black Keys, Lady Gaga and Foo Fighters. No Barney or Fisher Price music for this little girl.

Lacrosse Season starts soon...

Its Official. He's a Lacrosse player. Child #2 now has his gear and is registered to play lacrosse this season.

He's so excited especially when Hubby commented that he looked like a Clone Trooper in his equipment. The Boy loved that.

Why yes is DOES snow in Texas... a little

We had another snow day today. An INCH! Okay so that doesn't sound like a lot but it is a record for us. Previous record was 1/2 inch in 1906 at Camp Mabry. Now there are other places around Austin that have recorded larger amounts over the years but that is one of the official weather stations. It is located in an area surrounded by lots of streets and tons of cement/asphalt which holds the ground temperature heat in.

Anyways, the kids enjoyed it. Well Child #4 lasted about 10 minutes then she was done... ready for some hot chocolate and a blanket inside.



Snow Angels.

Snowball fights with the neighbors.

And of course the ubiquitous snowman. Okay so he wasn't huge but hey we only got an inch or so of very very dry powder. It didn't want to compact at all.

I've currently got a Turkey roasting in the oven. Stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls... Just like Thanksgiving... seems appropriate since we have real winter weather today.

Camping at Enchanted Rock

Hubby took Child #1 and Child #3 camping to Enchanted Rock last night. They all had a good time and enjoyed hiking up the Rock this morning... until Child #3 fell and landed with his hand in a prickly pear cactus.

Then he was done and ready to go home. NOW!

Needless to say wasn't the greatest ending to a fun trip but at least he does still remember having fun.

Another one lost to an unnecessary evil in the world.

Breast cancer took another friend... though she preferred to say she was "Passing on the Torch" not losing the battle to cancer.

I was lucky to met her though another friend. She was that fun next door neighbor you always dream of having.

She was a beautiful, vibrant, amazing, funny, exciting, kind, passionate, generous, fierce, loving, sensitive woman with a wicked sense of humor. OH how she loved to laugh and make those around her laugh. She had that ability to know what those around her needed to feel better. Such a rare and wonderful gift.

Her smile went all the way to her eyes. Always. She was gorgeous is the purest sense of the word. It came from her heart into her smile and out through the rest of her.

Michelle just... was.

Honestly, you can put any positive descriptive word after was and that would be appropriate.

She was misdiagnosed for over 2 years and when push came to shove after demanding a mammogram at the age of 33... Stage 3C. She fought for 5+ years over 2 years of it with a Stage 4C "terminal" label.

She didn't want to "waste" her cancer. She wanted it to mean something. So she lived life and helped to raise over $122,000 for the Susan Komen for the Cure with her team "Michelle's Angels".

She loved UT Longhorns. I don't know if I'll every be able to see a UT longhorns shirt without thinking about her. I think she was always wearing one every time I saw her over the last year.

She loved her best friend and husband of 11 years Brad.

She loved her 7 year old son Reid. Her miniature little clone of Brad.

She loved life. Her motto was "Eat Life with a Big Spoon". And she did.

Michelle lived and now we must all live without her.


It just seems wrong...




Photo by Claire McAdams Photography in Austin Tx.

Newest addition to the family...

Some how I got suckered into becoming the owner of a puppy. How did this happen?















Oh yeah, Hubby blind sided me and now we have a little "mongrel" puppy in our house. We think he's got terrier and maybe some chihuahua. He is very little, about 6 weeks old and he isn't gonna be a big dog by any stretch of the imagination.















He is cute... but seriously? A puppy?