Rockport Weekend

Duke and I just returned from a weekend with a group of college friends, we had the best time.  We fished a little, swam a lot, and tried to relive our responsibility free college years.  All in all we had a great time... so blessed to have such great friends with relationships that last for the long haul.  Our only snafu was that my bag of clothes go tossed in my parents car and I by default got a shopping spree at the Rockport Walmart .... which was over picked for summer and less than desirable but managed to get essentials for the weekend.

Also a huge shot out to my parents for taking the kids so that mom and dad could go play for a bit... and now still have the kids all week for camp at mo-ranch... so I am sure the kids are having a blast, I am enjoying my summer vacation and quiet bday week, just in time to celebrate with the kids on my birthday on Friday.  

pics

the ball players and the miss

My beach kids

Reid team he is far rt

ice cream fun

Ramonce Taylor at RGV Magic game

Reid and his pillow or Bevo and his blanket?

Sea Shell Macy

the snake

the toothless two

another beach shot

the Family in Odessa

reid 200

reid ending 200

dale 50

wow almost a month

Although not a record in time passed but too much has.  You know its been a long time when you husband is on you to update.  I have excuses and i can make them sound really legit too...just give me a minute....  also sad when I have to check my Facebook status updates to see what we did but hey what ever jogs the ole memory.

We took in a RGV Magic arena football game.  It was actually really cool, the place was bacially empty which had to stink for the players but nice for the extra room, and the really crazy part is the pretty much every kick off results in the ball in the stands to a fan...so a TON of balls are used.  Two old UT players are on the team one being Ramonce Taylor... not sure that's right but he scored a TD in the 2005 rose bowl, but had issues with drug possessions so the NFL did not want him.... he was a good player though and still is... but a good life lesson to the boys that drugs do not pay off.

My dog earned SUPER-DOOPER-AWESOME-DOG-STATUS.  He found and killed a mouse.  And the very next day found a snake.  The mouse was in the grill and he would just not leave it alone so in cleaning it out out runs the rat and Bevo takes chase and nabbed it out of the pool where i guess it was trying to escape and he bit it and killed it.  I stood there screaming like a school girl...as did my kids... I guess i was a bad role model in this situation.  Dog took it under the trampoline and dropped it... I think this was the first time he ever tasted blood and was unsure about it and its taste.  So out comes Duke... the knight and shining Daddy to finish off the mouse who know is bleeding to death... I cleaned out the dogs mouth and gave him a bone.  FFD to next day... family swimming in pool and dog going NUTS again... behind the shed now... but I hear hissing...i think rats don't hiss.... cats do... and snakes do.  So sure enough I bravely peered behind the shed ...from about 50 yds away and see a snake all coiled up... thank goodness he did not try to bit the snake as we could not see a type but heard no rattle.  So again Daddy goes in gets a gun and finished it off... it turned out to be a rat snake that had just eaten so 2 rats gone and snake too if you are keeping score.  But it was big almost 6 feet long ....which made me think there is a food diet that allowed him to grow that big.... and its behind my fence.  So I went and got a bunch of rat bait and tossed it all behind my fence in the open field... so the dog can't get it and i just delivered poison room service to the colonies of rats i hope.  The owner of the field does occasionally mow but there is a barb wire fence 2 feet off our fence line that he does not do so over the years it is covered in brush and weeds a little rat haven...well NO more.  The dog also has been going nuts at the palm tree... basically climbing it I guess he smells them up there so we trimmed a bunch of branches off it and a tree in the field that canopy together to make a little bridge to our yard... and no visible activity recently but I got more bait.  Good Dog Bevo...you earned those bones.

We also just finished Baseball... WHOO HOO... the boys turned out to be good little players... so glad we did Valley sports u to give them some knowledge on the game.  They still struggled a bit with some of the funkier rules but had a good time.  Reid loved his little team and was a a big player on the field and batted like a champ.  Dale struggled with batting a bit and was walked most of the time ... I guess the small strike zone... but at the close of the season when the pitchers could hit it he was a little of of practice in swinging and was doing a dip thing ... but he did great.  WE struggled with the coach who in my opinion was over scheduled.... he had 3 teams and could not make our practices on time... and did not push the team to be there at practices...and its hard to play a team sport when you do not practice together.  I digress... It's over they did it and another learning experience under our belts.  And I am soo happy to have some week nights that are empty.

The boys were on their school track team for the district meet.  SOO cool to watch them run.  Dale did the 50 and the 400 relay and Reid did the 200 and the 800 relay.  Reid is 2nd grade but was pulled up on the 3rd grade team to run.  They did great, Dale got 2nd in the 50, and in his relay ran 2nd leg and took them from 3rd to 1st... they came in 2nd over all.  Reid got 2nd in the 200, and he took the baton in 5th and handed off with a big lead in first, they took 1st in the event.  Another crazy thing about the valley is the amount of hold backs they have in grades.  I fully grasp a kid behind a year and being held back but it is very vogue here to hold back achievers to give a leg up in athletics so a HUGE majority of kids are old for their grade and some are WAY old like 3 yrs back... i hope due to lack of performance in academics but the coach said yea you see a BUNCH of boys there with facial hair and they are competition now but will be gone by HS bc the drop out.  SO I guess its cool to beat up on 4 graders when you should be in 7th but when they are in 9th and you should be graduated and are legally able to choose they choose otherwise.  I just do not see how a public school can allow a parent to hold a kid back when they are excelling at school. My thought is you are either good enough or your not and one year really is not going to benefit that much.... right??

Macy and Dale have each lost another tooth Dale just pulls his own now ... and Macy actually did too this time.... another sign they are growing up.

So then their was mothers day.....yea my day.... I was sufficiently spoiled with hand made goodies, and cards, and the kids bought me a pool float that I love, and Duke bought me a beautiful necklace... that I really love. And then we went to the beach to take pics of the kids since we live so close I wanted pics on that beach... and we did it ... they are not professional quality but hey got the job done.  So after a windy beach afternoon we made it home to a nice evening of chinese take out.... it really was a great day.

Dale had to do a project for school on an enigma and make a product so he did a board game on the Minotaur... hes a mythology fan... but it got chosen to represent his school in a district competition...so good for you Dale.  I wish I got a picture of it as they took the board and pieces for the competition and I hope we get it back before school ends.

Macy has been doing great at gymnastics and is getting it more and more every time... she is trying out for her school talent show... so we did some music and a little routine for her ...should be cute.

One sad note Dukes Aunt passed away suddenly from a tragic car accident this May.  So we made the trip to Odessa to lay to rest Dukes moms last sibling.  We lost his Uncle in 09, his Aunt in 10, and now Martha.  My heart hurts for his mom. Odessa has not changed and I think Duke enjoyed taking the kids to places he visited as a kid.  So 20 hours in the car, numerous movies, played on Dukes childhood park and this other park with modern play equipment including a perpetual motion chair...that was cool, saw the meteor crash site, visited Duke grandparents graves, and laid Aunt Martha to rest, all in all a fast trip but necessary.

We also closed on our land that we had in Bulverde.  Needed to happen but sad to me as the land represented my 20+ year dream home we would grow old in,  and the market failed that dream but then to sell the land too kinda hurt as we are currently in a state of flux. In a rental house until we feel confident in market to build or buy a home ... and then the decision of where.... a bit of salt in the wound but none the less we are in great shape when we want to do something.

Finally the school year is coming to a close ... making it one year in the valley, 2 homes, 3 mice, one snake...
Macy has kinder graduation this Saturday she has really loved her kinder year, her Teacher is great and she qualified for GT for next year, and Reid has his awards following graduation, where he got A/B honor roll... he got an 89 in the 3rd 6 weeks, so 1 pt from all A's, and Dale got the A honor roll, and Millionaire status, since he read One million words ...actually almost 2, and was commended on all 4 Taks tests... we find out at his awards if he scored perfectly on any of them, and He also took top award for highest reading level in his class.  That's all I can recall from assisting in the prep for the shows but there is a few more in there I think.

Then comes Summer... the kids have camp in Kerrville the first part of June, Duke and I have our college weekend in rockport, then my birthday and the boys are going to do Summer TAAF track with their speed and agility coach and then July Football begins again... wow I hope I can keep up and keep it blogged!

guts guts guts

Sometimes My kids have a lot of guts. For instance Macy and Dale this past week each pulled out their teeth. Now Dale is 10 and has lost numerous teeth and gets in the car one day after school and Macy exclaims Dale lost a tooth... I did not even know he had one loose.  And Macy well the same day she asks for help with her second, very stubborn tooth that we have been working on for weeks... and when it still was not coming she reached in and pushed it forward and pulled it out... and I know it hurt bc you could see it in her face .... guts.  
Macy has also been swimming in the pool without floats which she really has wanted to accomplish and that gutsy little lady is doing it... not always pretty or the strongest swimmer but getting it done, and if she has on goggles she is much better.
Another gutsy move is she finally got her back walk over, again not the strongest but it will come, and I know from experience that doing one takes guts.... I still do not like the walkover... give me a back handspring where I can use some speed to make it quick and help me. side note I can still easily do cartwheels, roundoffs, handstands, cheer jumps but have left it at that in fear of breaking my neck but actually did a back handspring just last week... to show Macy...suprised my self a little that I could do it.. ok back to kids.
My kids amaze me.  Last week we went to an Easter party at a friends and Dale on numerous occasions was soo giving and generous.  There was a little girl who got a late start to the hunt and he went and gave her some of his eggs and candy to make her feel better, he did it again on the pinata... he went last and did what he wanted to do and Killed the pinata but gathered candy and then gave it all away... sometimes he is so amazing... he does it with Macy and maybe it is the big brother or oldest thing in him that he wants to make things right.  Reid also shared his candy with a little boy who had some but was experiencing Easter for the first time and when he came and grabbed out of his full bucket Reid let him.

Both boys are really excelling at Baseball and while I do not like that practice conflicts and that we have to drive all over for both games and practice, I love watching them play.  Reid has had several home runs and I have been instructed to NOT wash his pants as it will "wash out the win" and when he bats he needs his "Home Run Helmet"  and actually is getting the game and had 2 great plays at second getting 2 guys out at first...so GO REID.. and Dale much the same... his batting is less only bc he is in kid pitch and has a small strike zone so he is normally walked and then steals around and finally steals home ... both of the boys have great speed so that aids them well.  Chase whom they do speed and agility training with wants to build a relay team around the boys to run in a few TAAF meets this summer, so that should be fun to watch and they were both picked for their schools track team to do a district wide track day in a couple weeks so they will get a taste of it and see if they like it.   GUTS!
Ok so I have to admit that it is 5:30 in the morning and I have been up since 4.... why bc I have NO GUTS...  Dale is at a sleepover at a kids house (guts), who I have heard lots about but never met, and not bad things all pretty good.  There are a few other boys there as well but again know none of them really.  He got in the car Friday and says, Landry is gonna call John, who is going to call me, to go to Landry's house ....HUH  conversation goes on why did you not get Landry's number, or Johns, and no I cannot get cell numbers off the Internet, numbers are listed by parents not kids, no I do not have it saved in my phone from when one called a month ago.  So he is disappointed but we had plans anyway.
Chase our speed and agility coach's 2 boys invited us and a few others to go bowling so we did that.  Had a great time and as we left looked up Landry's dad on the internet, who is a head high school football coach for local HS (easy to find)... find address (again easy as Dale knew the street name once he heard it)... drive by... Dale goes and knocks at the door (guts) no Landry, but talks to his sister.  She comes and talkes to me and is not sure of where Landry is but "there is a ton of us so one of us HAD to drop him off."  I leave my number and take hers, and we go.  5 mins later she texts with a number of where he is... he calls and leaves message and then 2 hours later he gets a call from John, inviting him over to Landry's to sleep over. So after I confirm with Dale... he was invited, his parents are ok with this?  We pack up and head that way, 3 boys outside chasing the ice cream man, Landry runs in and says he is getting his mom to talk to me ... then runs out saying shes coming she is with his niece.... my sister had a baby.... well out walks sister and the baby, who could have passed as young mom but I already met her and knew it was sister NOT mom?  (where is MOM?)

I say Dale said he was invited to sleep over, do you know about it, is it OK?
"oh sure we always have a bunch of boys here... thats the least of my parents worries."
oh Ok? well we will get him around 830-9 tomorrow, he has sports training in the morning
ok cool
he has our numbers, call if you need us

I walked to the car and the ice cream man had pulled up,  I offered dale money, all giddy he runs to get it and is more concerned if vendor has Spongebob ice cream and getting change than staying at a strangers home... I had the 20 second speech of you call me...if ANYTHING call.  I already did the run down in the car of no matter the time, issue, whatever call.  If you think I would not approve or you even have to hesitate to do something someone suggests... then DO NOT DO IT. Be good, I love you, and CALL for ANYTHING  .... he goes and I waited for the change and said again... call me if you need to and reluctantly drive away.

His sisters words " least of their worries"... bothered me to say the least... Neurosis sets in and we are thinking so there were things to worry about can I get a list please... and as I drove away I noticed that there were no other cars there so the sister with the baby was the adult there?  She was like 17, 18 maybe, and I do not want to judge but clearly there was at one point a judgement call made by her that resulted in a baby... so really she is in charge... where are the parents...are they even there...why are they not there if there at 4 boys at their house...why is the valley so screwed up .....

I get home and relay my thoughts to Duke who is less worried, I call an hour later to the dads cell, sisters cell, and kid Johns cell all leaving message of need to talk to Dale for a second please have him call... No returns, so 15 mins later at 930 my sweet husband, 2 sleepy kids and I are doing a drive by of the kids house to verify... I do not know what, no game plan, nada but as a mom I  gotta go.  All looked quiet ... 3 cars home, 2 clearly being adult kid hauler cars, no kids in the street, lights on in the house and back flood lights on backyard.... I feel better at least knowing there are parents there... and drive home but still no call 3 messages and no call, but I do trust Dale so I go to bed with my phone beside me... and made it till 4 am and now I sit and wait for 830 so i can go get him.  And I am over it ... next time this happens I do not care if I look like the crazy mom,  I will be pushy and ask those sound so easy, but why are they hard questions, and HE is getting a cell phone.  I want to call him, I know he will answer or call back or text ... this is crap having to rely on others to connect me to my son... I am sure it was an unknown number and no one likes messages... whatever, but you have a kid at your house that is unknown too... do the math.
Who knows maybe it is not even her baby... maybe it is one of the other "bunch of us" she refereed too more than one sister is not uncommon, and to drop it off with family not uncommon, and huge families here are very common, so lets hope I an totally over reacting and that he is safe in his sleeping bag dreaming about his yummy spongebob ice cream... should be with all the praying I have been doing and actually put up on FB to my friends who have been praying also, so I envision an army of bored angels around that kid that I summoned for no reason... but if I cannot be there then I am glad they are and next time he is not going without a phone.... too bad this advertisement for cell phones is not paid for by at&t   well at least it is almost 7 now

Pics

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Quitter

So a few weeks back my tahoe did this crazy jumpy dance and then did not want to drive with any speed... and we took it to the dealer for a spa day and it came back fixed, healthy and under warranty.  Turns out the fuel pup was jacked up.

Fastfwd to 2 days ago and I went to the store and got in the car to find a check engine light and after my research in the owners manual it was a fuel emissions deal.  So back to the dealer and there are 70 miles left on the warranty so super score.  2 more spa days for the car, and it should be fixed today and this was unrelated to the previous issue but was an e- vac system leak ...not a clue but whatever.

So thinking 2 birds one stone mentality,  I asked them to check the washer fluid tank as it always has a low level even when full... ok well that part is not under warranty, which is crap b/c how do i personally wear out that.  I cannot even touch the stupid system.... Whatever

So my question is , Is my car becoming one of those cars? Always in the shop and broken, not that 2 visits equates to that but since the warranty is basically up it would be par for the course, now stuff will break.  Ok I really hope not bc I am loving no car payments and really like my car so in a message to my car... DON'T  QUIT ON ME!

full on slacker blogger mode

Yea I have been awful at posting on here and I don't really have a good reason.  but none the less here i am .  So whats new well I think I can officially admit that my children are over scheduled our school days are NUTS it reads like this Monday home from school at 3:30 homework snack and then run to drop dale and meet Duke at dales practice at 5:30 then hang for 15 mins and run Reid to his practice at 6... home around 7:30 for a too fast, less than well rounded meal... Tuesday repeat Monday but leave at 4:45 to take Macy to gymnastics, then Dale, then Reid.  Wednesday from school we go to baseball training till 4:30 then Dales 3rd practice of the week and home again 8:00, Thursday is a repeat of Tuesday with gymnastics for Macy and practice a 3rd time for Reid, Dale is OFF and home 7:30, Friday back to sports university training till 4:30, and home for swim lessons for Macy at 5:30. and Saturday or Sunday the kids do speed and agility for 45 mins with a trainer.  NOW I have all that figured out timing wise which is good, but now insert 4 games a week of Baseball, 2 for each boy that for Reid fall on wed, and Friday, and well Dales team i have yet to get a schedule at all so who knows for him.  so affirmative over scheduled.  Thankfully mid-April we will quit the baseball training so that will free up a little bit of time and I am told they will cut back to 2 times a week for practice and if they don't I may make it happen on my own.  Macy chose to do tumbling and swim lessons, actually begged for it and the boys are enjoying baseball, and love chase training, so we are making it happen but will LOVE May 24 when baseball ends.  First games are tonight so hope to have pics up soon

In talking about sport commitment other news is I think I am going to be Cheer Director again for the Sharyland Rattlers, the team we joined for the fall.  He does not have anyone knowledgeable with TFYA the league, and I would be super irritated if someone took it and did a half-way job or was unorganized so i guess that means either shut up or put up...

As far as our move well we are super happy in this neighborhood, tons of kids and each child has a friend or more, lots of stable families, in the fall they will be in a great school, so not too shabby

Macy celebrated her 6th birthday,  pics coming, she also qualified for Gifted and Talented at school, she is reading up a storm, and recently just lost her first tooth!  She is getting so big so fast and to steal a line it seems like the days drag on and the years zoom by.

So I am off to a fun filled friday afternoon of bball training, swim lessons and 2 back to back games and i am sure an unhealthy dinner and a late night

oh for the love

wow spring break is underway and yesterday was a picture of glorious happiness compared to today.  yesterday the neighbor kids came over to introduce themselves in what was later found to be their mom saying go meet the neighbor kids and leave me alone.. but whatever they had people to distract them from themselves.  this morning however i have 3 psycho kids who are full of rage and hate apparently, a game of balloon volleyball just about came to blows a bit ago and the boys had training early this morning and if looks could kill I would have been dead with the ones Reid was shooting at me...ohh he was HOT, both literally and figuratively, he has the tendency to want to quit when things get hard, but wants an easy out, and when I would not go tell the coach to give him a pass .... ensue visual daggers but hey if he was really sick or hurt he would have spoke up, so he sucked it up and finished strong and i praised him for that ... life is not always easy and perseverance is a huge part of it, so good on him.  But back to the drama ... why is it my kids seem to always bicker, is it like that for everyone... and they do play together as well, sometimes fabulously but man oh man when they don't it is nuclear war.

So Duke and i celebrated 13 years of marriage yesterday ... hard to believe that its been that long... to celebrate we did a donut cake... honestly i normally bake a cake or something but we have had so many sweets around lately that i did not want to add more and had the donuts leftover from the weekend when my folks came so taddaa... reposed sweets and we bought a family board game of creationary... we are lego junkies so a good fit... and since we celebrate it as our families bday kinda worked for all of us.  Yea boring married bliss and no trip to vegas or baha but oh well we did go to IHOP so I got that going for me... HAHA this has become tradition since it was the only place we could walk to at 4 am the night of our wedding on 6 st in Austin to feed our starving bodies since our meals never made the limo ride ...so a tradition was born. However I think the price of milk has jumped drastically $3.00 for a glass of milk ... 1 glass not a gallon...NUTS. I guess I should revel in the fact that we are cheap easy to please people more than we are not ... but believe me I can soo go the other way too... yep one end of the spectrum or total opposite seems like

We are also settled in the new house for the most part and aside from a few personal changes we would like, its a good fit, and suitable for us for a while.  However I am soooo ready to have a home with a current appliances... these ones make alot of noise when in use however they do work so can't complain too much ... I am just ready to have a home that i can for see a future in long term... needing a trifecta... got the marriage, kids, now just need the long term house.

So spring break 2011 consists of alot of lazy house time, this is the first time that we have had a vacation time where we have not traveled in a LONG time and although i do miss skiing, and the beach its kinda nice to bum it and have no agendas,  we took in an Airshow with my folks that turned disaterious with a crash of a wing walker team, so sad she is burned badly and has a long road of recovery and he is better off... but in all my airshow history and as an airforce brat its a pretty big history this is the first ever crash I have seen.... and do not care to see anymore.  We are going to head to Corpus to see the aquarium and the Lexington... and snag a couple movies and thats about it for us.... yea kinda low key, and I will take it, no bags to pack or unpack, no dog kenneling, no travel stress... my job stays home this time with all the creature comforts.

Church surfing

So we have tried a bunch of churches and there was one more I wanted to give a shot....we did today....and not my style is an understatement. The church sanctuary was huge and had pews which is neither bad or good just observation bc most of the contemporary churches we have tried have chairs. At 2 min till the service there was just about no one there, which could have been the sheer size of the bldg. So singing begins and there is a formal choir in robes and a full rock band, preacher in full suit and tie, and band in jeans and tshirts, again neither bad or good just a little dis jointed in my opinion, and then everyone starts dancing in a new age kinda way, dancing in circles, in the isles, and then flags start waiving.... No joke like high school drill team flags, but not in unison just doing whatever and then a horn blows but not a trumpet but like an actual elk horn making a weird noise that went with nothing. And the songs went on for a really really long time example sing song, then no choir, then just a girl, then just a guy, then with music again, then really slow, then even slower, then a whisper and finally over, no kidding about 12 min songs. Then we read the bulletin and see there is an hour of singing then the sermon when kids leave to children's church so about a 2 hr deal ... So at that point we decided to leave so we made it about 40 mins. I feel very judgmental writing this and not that I am against anyone it but just not my style. I do not mind raising of hands or interjecting our own thing but this felt like a performance not a genuine thing.... Just not for us, duke and I quietly stood there as folks danced all over and the kids were starting to point out random weird act and behaviors...it was kinda bizarre.
I am all for a contemporary service and actually prefer it to a traditional one but this place was over the top....too evangelical for me but To each his own and if that fills what the attendees need then awesome, glad they are getting closer to God, then it meets it goal, just not a place I felt comfortable to call a church home, so the search continues.
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a little resolve

So  I did some research and found a couple homes, we spent the afternoon looking and found a place we can live with.  Best part is they gave us a 6 month lease and month to month after that so if we wanna build   or buy we can and not screw anyone over.  It has a pool, it is a great school, and close to where we are now so i know the area and the neighbor hood is great... lots of kids, safe for bike riding, good cc&r's, homeowners assn, and they do lots of neighborhood activities so bonus only down fall is it is 2 car garage and we have a 3 now... but that's not too bad of a concession since we saw zero with a 3rd bay.  Sadly the kids have to move schools again, but at least now we are in an area that I like the Jr high dale would attend, and the elementary is small, but rated exemplary, low ratios, and had numerous playgrounds so hooray we will have recess again, so another bonus.  I think my kids teachers will be the saddest as i am one of a handful of volunteers who go up there to help.  So we will move the beginning of March.  Also the home owners are solid and financially sound so this won't happen again, she's a teacher and he's DEA.  SO all is well that begins well...  check back in a couple weeks when i am up to my ears in boxes and peeved at all the calls to disconnect and reconnect ....ugg i HATE that stuff.... such a drag and I finally though I had contacted everyone for this address and he we go changing again and sadly it will at least one more time.... but that will be back to a home I own, I hope so that gives me a little resolve.  I sure hope that is the situation because the majority of homes out there are like crayon boxes inside... orange, and lime, and pink, and blue, yellow, and not painting behind the tv you took down... just random.... ok hint for all the sellers out there NEUTRAL sells .... nonsense does NOT

I flipping knew it

So suspicions confirmed our landlord is loosing our rental house and has asked us to vacate in hops he can sell and recover. His claim is his mortgage messed up on his taxes and his escrow and payments jumped 1000 bucks .... I think he bought this and had an interest only loan than has ballooned and cant afford it. Whatever so dilemma is we have to move We plan on getting all deposits and not pay for march and be out by spring break. Sucks and I guess we could stay but till the bank comes knocking whenever that is but what does that gain us... Most likely we will loose our deposits since we will have stayed when unwanted and some reasons will be found to keep it and have to vacate on someone elses schedule and be at the mercy of the rental market as to what is available. He wants to sell but he's lost the house in my opinion it won't sell fast unless he bottoms out the price which I doubt he can do so us leaving does not really help him but keeps us from overstaying our welcome and he will give deposits back willingly and hopefully grant us 2 weeks in march for free and we can us that to pay deposits and other stuff....sooo frustrating this whole thing is....but inevitable. So we are house shopping again and at least I get impute this time some for that but now we face 2 moves to another rental and then to a purchased one.... And I hate moving ...hate hate hate! I do feel for the owner but sure hope he realizes what a favor we are doing moving mid school year and all and 4 months early.

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Mars Venus thing

Why is it just when you accept your situation, feel under control and stable in life or in a specific area then it gets all tossed up and messy again. I don't get it, I guess it's Gods way of keeping you humble and letting you know "hey I got this, not you ME". But man oh man its hard

And why is it men and women are polar opposites on dealing with these matters of straightening the mess up. Men want all the facts, all the pieces to hit the ground and survey all the pieces and until then feel it is pointless to speak of, ponder, wonder, question, or establish possible game plans or solutions. Women think about it and it is not always worrisome just hypotheticals, what ifs, and then what, pieces can be in the air and we see them hover and hypothetically deal. Then when they hit I am ready to act. My thing is I would rather have an idea of what I might do in various sceranios so when the info does become solid, I am not blindsided and forced to act in haste. I have no doubt that whatever situations arise we will come thru and be fine and then when we do it will all be tossed up and need to be cleaned up again.

So where is this coming from well we are renting a home and it's ok but not what we want to own, still a bit uncertain on where we wanna be permanently and have a rental thru June and were thinking about trying to stay till august..... We asked about a small repair, that we offered to fix and take off the rent and submit receipts ...his response was he can't afford the house any more let's finish the month he will refund deposits and we move out and he puts it for sale. Uhh NO refocus on a Ticked off me.... We pay our rent early every month we have done no damage so deposits should be coming back regardless AND no it will be super hard to find another rental for a short term and again we are not ready to build or buy ....we could, but just do not feel ready and now I fear that if it goes to foreclosure we will be screwed and forced to incur additional moving costs, end up somewhere that is less than ideal due to timing issues and on someone elses time schedule. I wanna speculate, talk, plan, think, brainstorm potential sceranios and my husband says "I should not have told you till I knew more, bc now you will worry about it."

It's not all worry it's just my makeup! And yes you should share this info with me bc we are married, in this together to the end, and it does not all fall to you to fix, nor do I want you to, repeat: in this together!

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What the ....why

So we have come to that fateful day, that I knew would come, but kinda hoped it would not be so soon, as I am certain that it will make my children realize, I am not all knowing, i cannot fix everything ....ahhh it is the road to, the mom knows nothing phase of my life all too soon. Well you might be a smarty and realize that was just a crazy long run on sentence that I just wrote....and yea I know it and I am doing nothing to fix it.
Which bring me to the fateful event... Dales GT grammar homework. He brought home his Homework papers and had all A's except for the grammar pages where he had c's. He claimed he did not care, and why did I, and your not happy unless I'm perfect, my teacher says your too hard on me. So we looked at the questions he missed, and he could not tell me why they were wrong, and which was right on some and neither could I, so I decide we need more practice and head to the internet I search of practice pages and rules. I found a site and it was great ....hard but great and honestly confusing and frustrating that it did not make sense. There were tears and anger and more of why as I so mean, she did not cover that, the highest class score was what I got along with numerous others...which I get but he will be tested on this for TAKS and that score follows him, and effects him, those other kids are not mine, and if I can help him succeed through a little tough work, and just bc your teacher did not cover it you may still need to know it, and I do not expect perfect but I want 100 percent effort, practice makes permanent, and we can do this... even if it means the ps3 has to wait! So I admit it got a bit heated and ended up sad .... We are sooo alike it is scary and not productive in arguments ... But we ended up taking a break after he said something ugly and I walked away and he worked on his own...until he needed help. Then went to make good on a promise to Reid, and I printed off rules and pages, and when daddy came home he assisted with the analytical side of grammar and did an awesome job, and all in all he has a better grasp of the rules and the night ended on a good note with all happy which is what is what's important.

I stink at grammar, I am a good creative writer, and good in any creative thing really, i recently made a diorama of his school, and helped create his float and he even said I rocked, but clearly not in grammar. So I have been exposed for my flaws and admitted to him, I have always struggled with Grammar.... I got the noun, verb, adverb, adj, predicate... Thanks to school house rock DVDs... But some of the other stuff is confusing .... And to any grammar hound I am sure reading this is painful with all the run ons and .....'s but hey I am not writing this to turn it in it is for documentation but on that note if anyone has any tips on how to help Dale, am open to hear them.

I other news Macy is a reading fool.... So proud of her and she has been picked for GT testing ... And I a kinda worried since this will leave Reid out but nit is not his nature he is bright but not self motivated or a creative problem solver....he wants the rules and guidelines.... And although I don't care he's my Reid and he's perfect and honestly the one kid I rarely butt heads with, which I love and makes him super special to me.

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Brothers photos

Family shots






Silly reid


The big kids





He's a rockstar








Macy and aunt jonelle


Goofy Macy


Eatin some chocolate maybe?


My 3 kids on grandmas roof thru skylight.....nice and sooo safe daddy





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Macy looking goofy with 3d glasses


Bevo after being busted eating Christmas....he felt awful I'm sure


Happy bevo in the yard


Jumping bevo this dog can jump .... Like clear the fence jump and yes he is killing the fence


Dale and aiden chilling out


Macy and aiden


Reid feeding aiden.... They love being big enough to help


Macys dales hat


The tower at grandma and Bepaws .... They were proud it hit the celing


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Location:Picture nonsense

We were on a break

Huge major chain in the butt

my kids and I have been on Christmas break since dec 21 and they return jan12 that's a long break! That's like a college break now don't get me wrong we have enjoyed the down time and the sleeping in but I think its time time to bring it to a close. I am going nuts taking them on errands Actually good helpers but their longevity leaves something to be desired. So one day we had several stops and decided that we would spend some xmas money the kids got .... Dale got a video game at the 3rd place since the first 2 only had it in limited editions and they were way costly reid got a tech dreck ramp set and Macy actually got nothing wow that could be a first so anyhow ffd 3 hours and Dale deems he does not like said game can we return it.....we try and get lip service on store policy BUT that policy is not posted, nor were we notified bc we would have waited had I known we couldn't even get store credit. Spoke with 3 managers and no luck and seriously you are a huge nationwide store and the kid is 10 if your gonna be that way post the damn policy big...everything better my butt...so we go see if gamestop will buy it and they would but for a laughable amount so we found amazon does a trade in as well and we got a great deal, he is happier and a lesson was learned by all. Reid loves his thing so at least that worked out but he got that at a different store that I could take it back if needed!

Little man helper ages again....

Reid turned 8 on jan 6....wow 8 my little man....we have a deal on your bday younget to eat whatever whenever and he loved it also you get dibs on anything anytime tv pc ps3 trampoline and he loved that as well so Macy and Dale got kicked off bunch just cause he could and a mountain of junk was consumed but hey its one day. We celebrated in kerrville with my folks and family and he got some great stuff including an electric guitar and mini fender amp...and its loud and he loves it we also got him build your own ride car and a remote control boat that he's been loving in the pool. We celebrated it again here with cake and a trip to the zone a game,golf,go-cart place here...and Chik-fill-a. It was going to be rudys but he wanted to drive the boat so we needed fast ....all righty thats cheaper so whatever I love that he is easy to please. He wanted a restaurant with a playground but not mcdonalds or Peter piper something like beefys in sa...and that animal does not exist in the valley ....maybe it should with all the childhood obesity here. Reid is doing great in school but I still wanna test him for dyslexia but since he is getting straight A's I am getting resistance .... Guess I gotta push harder, I would just like to diagnose early if it is the case.

A bonus to living on the suns surface in the winter minus the winter texans

The weather here is great So we have been riding bikes lots and letting bevo join some ....I let him pull me down the street and back a few times and he loves it and quickly learned not to run near the tire as it will roll over a paw. Macy still has training wheels but hopefully not too much longer for that.. She wants to be big soo bad so hopefully this is the year for learning to ride a 2 wheeler and swimming

Cheap labor

Duke made me a bench to match my table and other bench actually Reid macy and duke did it Dale helped beat it up a bit but then the fun was gone and he was out. It looks great and all we need is one coat of varnish and we can subject It to dinner time fun. I love that duke can do that it amazes me. I was going to go buy one at la pulga a flea market and whada know it sparked him to do it so I have a matching set from the same artist lucky me!

1-11-11.

I love it and for some reason it feels therapeutic so in that light I made some plans by 11-11-11 I hope to have visited a foreign country and a state I have never been to.... And Made less of myself in stuff and size. I want to teach my kids to respect what we have so I am NOT going to buy every cute outfit I see for Macy and I will only purchase things on a need basis when they wear out which will require restraint but it's gonna happen and I wanna get rid of what we do not use so look out salvation army I am gonna stock you up. Also I wanna loose some of me too. The kids did them as well Macy the bike and swim and be less sassy. Reid work on reading for pleasure Dales to sleep better he got dukes insomnia and man it's killing me since I am the one deals with it. Also to let God lead me where he wants me to be no back seat driving no gps no map and I am going to be ok with that.

The grind

The schedule returns tomorrow back to school, to workouts, to routine, Bevo will be sad his buddies won't be around to play but I think we are ready..... I am just not for the getting up part.

Pictures coming soon my brother got a new camera and took the pics ....I am sure amazing pics but he has yet to share. So when he does I will too

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too many passwords...disney and christmas

I will get to yet another recap of the Daniel Family happenings soon enough but first I am curious is anyone has used a password vault ... now that all 3 of my kids recieved itouchs for Christmas that adds 3 passwords to the bunch to recall... and honestly I started to compile a list of them just written and could not even recall them to write the down.... and as a mom apparently it is my duty to recall all the barbie.com and roblox and poptropica passwords for all the kids... my brain space is being eaten up with this useless nonsense.... but if I did recall them and put them in a vualt am I not just giving all my secret info to a company to be stolen at a later date...  hhhhuh maybe I will go back to the pen and paper thing for another go.

Ok recap well besides the notion that my kids school possibly thinks that i do no value education given the amount of school my kids have missed this last couple of months.  I pulled them out to go to Nebraska at Thanksgiving for 2 days, they returned for a week and then I pulled them yet again to go to Disney and Universal and all things Califorina for another 5 days, and then back to school for 4 days and again yanked them  as Duke had a company party in San Antonio, that we both felt I needed to attend, since it was Thursday night that meant missing friday.  So we made good use of it and went to Kerrville to celebrate my moms birthday, and finally returned for the day and a half before the break.  Oddly enough all 3 are totally caught up and doing great grade wise but none the less next semester we will be in school more I promise.

Disney was great we met up with Mama Sam in Orange Califorina in a rented house with an AMAZING view up in the hill and a hot tub that was utilized by the kiddos and us as well.  We determined that Theme parks in the West are more of a lite version of the full version if you will, of the east coast particurally florida.  It was great and uncrowded, but not as many eatery options, rides nd attractions from our perspective.  We hit Legoland and it was great but he building place was closed for a  n educational deal which I think the kids would have loved.... but we have tons of legos here so we can do that here too.  Disney we had Macy made over into a princess at the bibbity bobbity botique, she went with minnie mouse this time and looked like a doll.  While we did that the boys were content to hit as many ride in the park as possible and they did.  This year all my kids were tall enough to ride just about all the rides and I have some thrill junkies.  Macy and Dale LOVE it and Reid enjoys it once it is done but spent a bunch of rides inside the hoodie of his jacket.  Also funny thing Macy insisted on pictures with any and all characters, Dale did some with who he thought were cool and Reid only when forced... so it appears that I have 2 kids in all my pics since reid was hiding behind me still leary of characters....I guess Mrs. Tracy in the mouse costume that frightend him soo terribly that he scalled a half door to cling to his teacher and she had to spray "bad mousy spray" (air freshener) to ease Reids fears has held on, there are no tears or climbing things to get away but he is not going to choose to go stand by one either.  We also went to venice beach and Medeviele times as well.  They really liked the show and the horses and came home and watched the goofy dvd they gave us and then went to the web site for more info.... so I guess they really did like it.  We finished up the week at Universal, it was a good pretty uneventful trip minus Mama Sam who cooked some biscuits on a plastic tray resulting in an oven fire but other than a little plastic smell and an oven to clean it was a great trip.

On the trip Dale turned 10... yep double digits, both hands... can't believe it hardly.  He is growing up and is no longer a little kid.  We had to have the intro birds and bees speech....sparked by "mom how is it possible for me to have your dna AND dads dna"  Kid is smart ... too smart sometimes but still so goofy and lacking common sense too.  He took a reading test and scored 9.1- 10.6 for his reading level that means ninth grade month one to 10th month 6 as his reading level....the next closest to him in his grade is 5.6 ....yes we all know he gets this from Duke, as I was a horrible reader.

Christmas has also just passed and it was wonderful.  Sam came down leaving a snow storm to arrive in Mcallen at 78 degrees so she was loving the warmth.  She got to meet Bevo, who by the way behaved very well.  We went to Hildalgo to see the lights and they were impressive and very wide spread.  Gifts were abundant all the kids got itouches, and money to spend on them, video games, remote conrol vehicels, clothes, toys, guns...both real and fake, dolls....well macy got dolls, I got a purse I have been wanting, some yellow box shoes I LOVE, pandora beads, knives .... ceramic ones that I LOVE, a photo calandar, Duke go his burnt orange shirt with a outline of Oklahoma that states WORST STATE EVER... he also got a large chunk of money and he said the shirt was better than the money... so I took it...just kidding, we also fixed the jeep for him and got him a UT signed photo of Mack Brown and Vince Young. Bevo even got hooked up with a new crate that he fits in better, some new toys that he has allready destroyed one of but hey its his, and supposedly he played with Blitzen on the trampoline.   We are very very blessed and I thank God every day for all my blessings, even when they seem more like trials.




So I have all the decorations packed up and it is not even 24 hours post Christmas, but hey it needed to happen.  Now I can enjoy the next week and relax.