Leila's Legacy

Locks of Love

2009-05-31T17:09:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, Brenna finally decided to go through with her BIG haircut! We have been talking about donating her hair to Locks of Love for some time now. The last 4-5 times we went to get it done, she chickened out. One of her fears was that no one would recognize her. Brenna's long locks have been part of what has made her Brenna. I reminded her that everyone would notice if she cut off all of her hair. She was still not convinced. But I think after suffering through me brushing her hair and being in tears from the pain she has had to endure from those brushings, she finally cried "uncle".

So Saturday, Brenna and I loaded up in the car and headed to the mall. Normally I don't try to spend a lot of money on haircuts. Brenna usually just needs a trim and Avery's style is not included in my skill level of Cosmetology. But this day was special. After making some phone calls I found out that Snip-It's (Hair salon for kids) participated in the Locks of Love program and would make sure we got the length right and they take care of shipping the hair to Locks of Love. Brenna had a very lovely stylist named Rhonda. Rhonda ended up getting TWO ponytails out of Brenna's thick hair. That was very exciting and made Brenna feel really good about her decision.

I have to say, after the ponytails were cut and Rhonda laid them on the counter while she completed Brenna's haircut, I could not help but think that I was like a body part laying there. It is not my goal to be gross or morbid here, but I could not get that thought out of my head. Brenna's hair was such a part of her and now it was detached and laying there on the counter. Weird, I know.
I promised Brenna that I would not post her final picture until after our Family Reunion this weekend. You just have to wait. Did she keep it long or go even shorter? Is it straight or curly? Check back next Sunday to find out!

In The Clear?

2009-04-24T16:27:00.001-07:00

I thought after all of the chaos of the last few weeks, things would clear up and not be so hectic. They did clear up...for a little while.

Brenna enjoyed her Girl Scout Daisy Tea Party. The girls rotated around stations of having their nails and hair done, making a craft, and a snack and even earning one of their petals. After the rotations were done, they sat down for their Tea. Everyone enjoyed some pink lemonade, tea sandwiches and cookies all served on Rose Depression Glass. During their tea they discussed using their manners while at the table and phone etiquette. I think the best part for the girls was being served by the Brownies.

This lovely storm greeted us on our way home from visiting my Dad in Montgomery. Not long after this picture was taken, we were showered with marble-sized hail. It was very loud and scared the kids worse than going through one of those gas station car washes. We were fortunate not to have had any damage.

On some much nicer days, the kids and I enjoyed some time outside. Lily was eating her snack and coloring with some sidewalk chalk. Avery and Brenna shredded some leaves in the back tire of Brenna's bike. Brenna actually came up with the idea when her bike was stuck with the back tire off of the ground. I never understood the point, but it sure did keep the kids busy for a while.

We were also able to sneak in a quick trip to Galveston. We stopped in to eat at our favorite new place to eat called The Spot. It's right on the seawall, the prices are good and so is the food. The island is coming back to life slowly, but surely. They have replaced a good part of the beach along the seawall and many places have reopened. There is still a lot of work to be done. Some of the same piles we saw in December were still there in March. I admire the spirit of those who are rebuilding and will stay on the island to insure the island will return to the way it was before Ike.

We began our planning for Easter and had every one's clothes ready, the eggs and baskets were ready to go and then came Good Friday. I began having some pain in a tooth that had cracked and broken over a year ago. I never had the tooth looked at because the break was not horrible and I was not in any pain, until Good Friday. By mid afternoon, I was in severe pain. The dentist's office closed at 2:00 and the on-call doctor would not go anything for me. We went to the Good Friday service at church and then let the kids go hunt eggs with some friends. I was able to bum some pain medication from my dear friend and waited until Monday to see the dentist. After seeing the dentist, I learned that all of my pain was due to an infection in my tooth that would require a root canal, but not before the infection was cured. The soonest I could get my root canal was one week later. I spent the week on the couch with pain medication. I told several people I would gladly endure labor again if it meant I did not have this pain in my tooth.

This last Tuesday I had my first root canal. Not fun, but no more pain! This Sunday, we will finally have the Easter celebration with our family that we missed. In the clear? I don't know. We'll see for how long!

One step forward, two steps back.

2009-03-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday is my cousin Jessica's baby shower. It's her first baby and she's had a really rough go of it. Nothing has been easy, but the end is drawing near for her to meet her precious gift from God. Her very dear friend planned the shower for her and asked me to make her cake. I was so excited to participate since I was not able to throw the shower myself.

Then there was last night. Brenna woke up in the middle of the night fighting to breathe. It was an easy diagnosis, croup. I've had experience with croup with Cooper at age 3. It was very scary for him since he was so little. The best thing about an older child having croup is their ability to calm down and not make the situation worse by panicking or crying. I was able to give Brenna some Motrin for her fever and some water and she was able to sleep the rest of the night rather well.

She didn't sound much better this morning, so we went to the doctor. To my shock and disbelief, she also has bronchitis and possibly pneumonia! I've never seen any of my babies get this sick so quickly. She went to school yesterday and really didn't start feeling bad until dinner time.

After a day of running around in the rain and cold from the doctor, to get an x-ray, prescriptions, and Cooper from school. We are finally in our warm home.

I'm sad that I'll miss my cousin's baby shower and I'll miss seeing my Grandmother and Aunts. I'm sad that my baby girl is so sick. I'm sad that I won't be able to make the cake I promised. However, I'm so happy that my family understands my situation and would never get upset with me for not coming. I'm happy that God has provided the provisions to care for Brenna and the resources to make her fell better.

My blog update may take a little longer that I had planned, but it will get there, eventually.

Life Interrupted

2009-03-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

You know you need to post on your blog when you husband sends you and e-mail from work telling you how much he misses checking in on it from time to time. My last post, as you can see, was in the middle of December. Since my last post, the following events have transpired:

Christmas
Lily's mom attempted to remove her from our home
Several extra activities
Computer Meltdowns
Illness
and basic uneventful, non-documented nothingness.

With all of that said, one of my duties today is to start blogging again. I will post yet another "summary" post of events over the last few months and hopefully not wait another 3 months before I post again.

Stay tuned!

Economics Fair

2008-12-19T11:02:00.001-08:00

Thursday, Avery participated in the Economics Fair at her school. The students had to think of and item or service to sell, decide on the cost and how much to make and sell them to the students and faculty. During the last few weeks, the students earned "money" to spend at the fair.

Avery chose to make Oreo Balls. We made some of these for Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. Here is what you need:

1 package Oreos or other cream filled cookie

1 8 oz. package cream cheese for each package of cookies

melting chocolate for coating

Break cookies into a food processer.

Turn on food processor and mix until cookies are ground into fine pieces.

Here is what it should look like. Similar to coffee grounds.

Cut cream cheese into small pieces and add to cookie crumbs. We made two batches using 2 packages of Oreo cookies and 2 packages of cream cheese.

Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs together. You probably could use a Kitchen Aid mixer to do this step, but I didn't feel like getting mine dirty. Besides, Avery had fun mixing it by hand. I reccomend using latex gloves (you can find them in the baking isle at Michaels and Hobby Lobby). The Oreos leave your fingernails looking like you've been gardening instead of making candy. Make sure you mix this well until there are no longer any loose crumbs.

**CAUTION** What you see here is not any type of animal droppings!! If you choose to play a joke on someone using the Oreo/cream cheese mixture, by all means do. Just make sure you get it on video and send it to me!

Roll the cookie crumb/cream cheese mixture into balls. You decide the size, but let me warn you, if you get them too small people will think you have adopted either a deer or rabbit as a pet and have failed to house train them! I know.....GROSS!!

Let's move on...

That is if I have not grossed you out completely yet...

I'm in a playful mood...

I'm loosing control of what this post is supposed to be about...

Back to the balls...

After you have all of the "dough" made into balls. Refrigerate them until firm. You can also put them in the freezer.

We let ours chill for about 30 minutes and then dipped them into melted white chocolate. You can use milk chocolate too. Wilton even has a peanut butter one that I'm using next time. Be sure not to let them sit in the chocoate too long. The warm chocoate will melt the balls slightly and cause crumbs to end up in your chocoate.

After they are coated, place them onto parchment paper to let the chocolate set.

This is what happens when you try to sneak a lick or two durinig clean up. Kids, the are always trying to sneak a lick!

After the chocolate has set, you can leave them as is or add some decoration. We used colored melting chocolate to add some festive flare. You could also sprinkle on a variety of toppings before the chocolate has set.

Pretty huh? I must remind you, this is all Avery's. I did not make a single Oreo ball. She did all the work. I did help with some metling. The bowls get hot in the micorwave.

I did help Avery by stamping the tags while she was dipping and drizzling. I also helped her with packaging. I tied on the ribbon and she added the tags.

Avery ended up making 118 Oreo balls. 59 packages of 2 that she priced at $1.00 each. She sold every last one!! Way to go Avery!!!!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

2008-12-19T10:41:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, December 18, 2008, my baby turned 5! Whimper, cry, sniff-sniff. Please excuse me while I wipe my eyes and dry my tears. What makes me sad is I have been so consumed with everything I have to accomplish in the next 6 days, I've had little time to reflect that it's been 5 years since the birth of my last child. He has grown into a very bright and loving young boy. I'm not about to call him a young man yet!

All of the birthday kids get to wear a crown on their birthday or birthday celebration day. Can you believe there are two other boys, that are friends of Cooper's, that share the same birthday as Cooper? One of the boys was born in the same hospital! Cooper is the youngest of the three by 8 hours. It was a big deal for all of them. Lily and I took cookies to Cooper's school and shared them with his class.

In keeping with tradition, Cooper was able to choose where he went out to eat for his birthday. Guess where he chose? If the Happy Meal doesn't give it away, I can't help you.

Since there is a play area, and his very best friend does not have any siblings yet, we have invited Grant to join in the fun. They have been missing each other lately. Usually Grant is sick and Cooper has to wait for him to feel better before they can play. This time, it was Cooper who was sick and Grant had to wait for him to get well. This was the first time they were able to play together in about a month.

A couple of years ago Cooper got a little toddler laptop computer for Christmas. Cooper would sit in his bed for a few minutes before he went to sleep and play with his computer. It helped him with letter recognition and sounds, numbers and coordination. Since he had outgrown the toddler version, we gave him an upgrade for his birthday. This one has a real mouse and even a case to carry it in. Tony picked it out and I was very happy with his choice.

We stayed at McDonald's for about 2 hours while the kids played and the adults visited. I was even able to get some work done on favors for Brenna's Christmas party today. I forgot to take pictures before they took them to school. If they bring extras home, I'll post them.

Schlumberger Kids Christmas Party

2008-12-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

With all of the excitement we've had over the last couple of weeks, a day of fun with the kids was just what we needed. Schlumberger puts on an annual Kids Christmas Party for the employee's children. They had everything a child would want to do, see Santa, ride rides, eat cotton candy, jump on a moonwalk and pony rides. While we were in line waiting to see Santa, the girls posed for some pictures.

I don't know about your children, but my kids seem to loose their focus when they finally get to see Santa. During our wait I had asked the kids what they were going to tell Santa they wanted for Christmas. Cooper mentioned something about Diego and a train, then it happened. I overheard him telling Santa he wanted a Teddy Bear!

I was very happy with this picture of our kids. We did have Lily with us, but she was not interested in taking pictures at all. This might be our Christmas card, but I'm not sure yet. I would like to get one with Lily in it.

The girls had a good time riding the swings and ferris wheel while Tony and Cooper waited in line for cotton candy. We waited in line a lot today.

The cotton candy arrived just as the girls were finishing up with their ferris wheel ride. By this time things were falling apart a little and it was time to go and get some lunch.

This was my favorite photo of the day!! I tried again to get a picture of all four kids, but Lily and Cooper were not as excited about it as I was.

Now, in between this photo and the next, there was a complete meltdown in the Lily department. We are still dealing with some adjustment issues. So as I tried to manage the situation, Tony took our kids to ride the train.

Although we had several fun moments, I'm not sure this is an event we will frequent. The kids were excited that they were able to see where Daddy's new work was and spend some time doing things that bring them joy.

Back to Blogging

2008-12-12T06:44:00.000-08:00

Our family has been quite busy since my last post. After some computer problems kept me from posting with pictures, I became quite delinquent on my posts. So, I have decided to do a quick bring-you-up to-speed post, rather than try to make several separate ones.

I'll begin with Thanksgiving. As always, we had so many things to be thankful for. This year I kept being reminded of the opportunities we have by living in the U.S. We are blessed that I can stay home with our children with the freedom to teach them about Christ and have our freedom of worship. My husband had the freedom and ability to get at new job at Schlumberger. We have freedom in our health care choices and are able to provide this for our family. We are not confined to our home in fear and are able to have peace where we live. My heart goes out to everyone who is not able to have freedom in their daily lives and who have to live every day in fear for their families and their own well being. I am thankful that we can find comfort and protection in our Most High God.

Okay, I think I should have regrouped my pictures. I find it difficult to follow our Most High God with this picture. This is Baby. For the last two Thanksgivings we have kept Baby for our friends while they traveled. Baby does not like many people. She is 14 years old and rather moody sometimes. However, she seems to be very fond of Avery. Avery likes to carry her around and have Baby with her wherever she goes. I think Baby feels pampered and secure with Avery's watchful eye. Since Baby is so old, she has lost most of her teeth allowing her tongue to hang out. Most of the time you only see about 1/4" sticking out. I snapped this picture when we noticed a good 1 1/2 inches sticking out. We were laughing so hard at the poor animal.

This would be the girl's version of a "Got Milk?" commercial. It was more like Got Melted Marshmallows in Your Hot Chocolate?"

Last year we were able to start the tradition of the Playroom Tree. I found this tree at an after Christmas sale for a STEAL and automatically thought of putting it in the playroom. It has colored lights and the kids hang all of their ornaments on it. It was heartwarming to listen to them as they reminisced about the ornaments they made and how long it had been and how small they were. I even gave them an ornament from 1986 when I was in choir in elementary school. You know you are getting older when you have a 22 year old ornament hanging from your kids tree. I can't wait to get my hands on our family's ornaments from when I was a kid!
Going to see the Nutcracker is a tradition that started when we moved. Our neighbors own a ballet company and the company puts on the Nutcracker every year. We get dressed up, go out for a nice dinner and then we are off to the ballet. This year was very enjoyable and the kids were able to enjoy some "snow" during intermission. Both of our neighbors children have parts in the ballet and our kids enjoy seeing them perform. Tony and Cooper are getting a little tired of seeing it, so next year I think we are going to make it a Girls Night and hopefully we will be able to take Lily to see her first ballet.

Speaking of tradition, Avery enjoyed participating in her first Christmas Pagent at our church. There were many practices and rehearsals involved (including a rehearsal every night the week before pagent). Although it was a lot of hard work, we were all so very blessed by it. Avery did an amazing job. After the first of 3 performances, a lady approached us and complimented Avery on how animated Avery was as she sang and how sweet she looked. Avery was grinning from ear to ear and was so very proud of herself.
We ended up bringing Lily home with us on Saturday the 6th, which was our 11th Wedding Anniversary. I was only able to get Avery to the church by the skin of my teeth Saturday night since we drove in from Bryan. As we turned onto 105 from Hwy 6, there was a rollover accident. Knowing we had little time to spare, my first thought was that we were going to be late. As we got closer to the scene, we could see that our lane was open and traffic was able to get through. I said a prayer of thanks right then and there. I was thankful that we didn't have to rush home and be hurried as we made our way to the church Rushing always has an effect on my mood. We were able to make it in plenty of time and Avery did a wonderful job again.

On Sunday night we were all able to attend pagent together. Cory and Rachel joined us and helped take care of Lily, who was not feeling well.

It snowed for the second time since we've had children on December 10th. Nothing stuck to the ground, but the kids enjoyed playing in the falling flakes of ice. The last time it snowed was on Christmas Eve, 2004. I have a picture of Cooper sitting on our back porch as the girls tried to catch some flakes on their tongue. He was not walking yet, but wanted to see the snow bad enough to crawl out in the cold.

Girl Scout Campout-Day 2

2008-11-25T09:37:00.000-08:00

Last night I was able to go and have some dessert with a fellow blogging friend and we talked about how we have not been keeping up with our blogs. So, here I am, when I should be cleaning, doing laundry and preparing for the 30 or so guests that will be in my home in less than 2 days, me-I'm updating my blog.

We wrapped up our first night of camping with a lovely campfire and smores. The girls entertained us with singing and skits.

Have you ever seen a more exhausted child?

Brenna was having a blast as she performed with her fellow Daises. I was very impressed at how Brenna jumped right in and definitely earned her keep over the weekend. She was out, in the pitch black night, gathering firewood, breaking the long branches and stacking them by the fire. Someone complimented her by saying she would make an excellent Brownie. All of the hard work made both of them very tired, so we turned in rather early.

It got very cold that night and after Avery fell off of her cot, every move they made seemed to wake me up. Then there was the 747 that was headed for our camp at 500mph. Well, it wasn't really a 747. I didn't find this out until I heard the train whistle blow and realized it was an actual train. I think the tracks must have been 20 feet behind our tent. Boy that think was loud!!

These two look like they got a good nights sleep!

Part of camping is "leaving no trace". The girls must leave things to appear as if they were never there. Due to Avery's complaining before breakfast, she earned the privilege of cleaning the latrines. I don't think we will hear complaining again, at least for a little while.

The morning was cool and crisp and I wish I could have stayed out there all day. The air was still and the leaves were changing. There was a peace that seemed to wrap around us like a blanket. The light was warm on our faces and God's beauty poured out like sweet honey. We are so blessed to escape this concrete jungle where we reside and spend time surrounded by His breathtaking creations.

The morning ended with the girls receiving their earned patches. We loaded up our wagons and took our gear to the car and said goodbye to the exciting time of learning and fellowship we experienced over the last two days.

Camping with Girl Scouts- Day One

2008-11-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Avery started her camping on Friday night and Brenna and I joined her at lunch time on Saturday. When Brenna and I arrived the troop had just returned from a nature hike. We all sat down for a lunch of ham roll-ups, carrots and celery and chips. Once lunch was over the girls had "turtle time" or down time. Most of the girls worked on the skits for later that night. The girls and I moved all of our gear into our platform tent and made our beds for the night.

It was really nice to see the girls getting along so well and having so much fun.

One game that caught on quickly was a version of "Ring Around the Rosie". All of the girls walked around the campfire on the benches. The largest gap was where Brenna is crossing in this picture (the one with the red jacket tied around her waist). It was really fun to watch them try to cross it. Avery and Brenna had it pretty easy since they are the tallest of the bunch. Some of our smaller girls had to really focus to make the jump.

The highlight of this camp-out was the Love, Hug and Groom activity. This is where the girls were able to tour this horse barn and love, hug and groom some very sweet horses.

After the barn tour, the girls put on their hair nets and helmets to join the horses.
Brenna really soaked up the entire experience, Avery on the other hand was less enthusiastic. I think a lot of it had to do with my presence. We all know how our children act differently when we are around and this was a classic example.
I really wish we could arrange for Brenna to do this on a regular basis. You never know, maybe a horse is in her future!
The very first time Avery camped with Girl Scouts, their camp was not far from this location. I couldn't help but be in awe at the beauty God had created in this little spot on the world. It was really hard to capture on camera.
Avery was not feeling very well after the tour so we found a picnic table for her to lay down on and I took a few photos.

Hallo-Whine!!

2008-11-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Our day started with Cooper and I going to vote. Early voting went very quickly and easily. After voting it was off to Brenna's school for pumpkin decorating. Cooper enjoys doing the activities along with everyone else. He's going to have experienced Kindergarten and First Grade before he even gets there.

For dinner last night we had these "Mummy Dogs", which is a hot dog wrapped in strips of crescent rolls, and we also had pepperoni that we called "scabs". I know, GROSS!!! But the kids loved it!

After dinner, I got the kids all dressed up, again. We made a few changes from last time. Cooper got a coat of green paint on his face since he didn't want to wear his mask. Brenna also changed her mind from Little Red Riding Hood to a Veterinarian. We used Avery's doctor costume from last year and doctored up a bear to finish off the look.

Our first stop was our church's Family Fun night. The kids played games like "Daniel in the Lions Den", "David and Goliath", and "Fisher's of Men". This is the only picture from the church. I was not able to take any pictures because I was working at our Sunday School's game booth and Tony would not take pictures for me! Moving on...

Now I have the camera and we are at Tonya and David's to take the kids trick-or-treating in their neighborhood with their cousin Quintin. At the very first house we came to, the lady had a turtle that her dog decided to play with and wanted to show the kids. She asked Brenna if she could help repair it's shell and asked Cooper if he was related. It was funny.

How do you get 6-8 kids to look at a camera to get one nice photo on Halloween night? You don't. Here is the best result of my attempt. Now it's off to more houses.

During our trek around the neighborhood, we met up with the local volunteer fire department. They were passing out candy to the kids and helped keep their eye out for smoking jack-o-lanterns.

On our way to the next few houses is when we started loosing the kids. No, they didn't get lost, they began to whine and complain. Their feet hurt and their bags were too heavy! Have you ever heard of such a thing? When I was a kid, it was our parents dragging us home because they were tired! Brenna even said, "Mom, you know the fire department could of helped us out." I asked her how and she replied, "They could of given us a ride home!"

We finally made it back to Tonya's and the kids sat on the curb looking exhausted and pitiful. We invited Quintin over to spend the night and they all fell asleep in the car. Last night was a lot of fun and I'm glad that it only comes once a year.

Happy Birthday Brenna!

2008-10-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Brenna's 7th birthday. The first thing she said to me when she woke up this morning was, "Don't you have something to say to me?". Needless to say, she wasn't going to let me forget that today was her birthday.

I went up to the school and ate lunch with her. That is always fun for both of us. They get just as excited today as they did the very first time they saw me up at their school.

Tonight we went to Brenna's favorite place to eat, Rico's Grill. It's a wonderful Mexican food place just down the street from here. One thing that keeps us going back is every week they send out $10 off coupons to use. It's almost as nice as the coupons for Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Almost.

Tonight was the first night we celebrated a birthday there and had no idea what to expect as far as their traditional celebration. I expected a nice rendition of the birthday song and a sombrero. Instead, they did this to my poor, sweet, unsuspecting baby girl... At first, I think she wanted to smile, but quickly realized what had happened to her and tears rapidly ensued. Once we cleaned her up, gave her kisses and let her open her gift, all was well. For those of you wondering, the wait staff apologized for upsetting her and offered her some ice cream as a peace offering. She declined and opted to eat the rest of the whipped cream left from her "smear campaign".

If you are wondering why they are all looking on the floor, it's because they dropped Brenna's present before she was able to get a good look at it. This also meant no good reaction pictures. She was very excited when she finally got a peek at her new American Girl doll, Kit.

This look says it all. We have been getting American Girl catalogs for several years and Brenna has always admired them. If you know anything about these dolls, you know they are not meant for young children. Eight+ is the recommended age for these dolls and although Brenna is just now 7, we believe she is responsible enough to take care of it. This is the year for taking on more responsibility for our girls.

Happy birthday Brenna! We love you!!

Turn Out The Lights, The Party's Over

2008-10-25T14:48:00.001-07:00

The party marathon started on Friday night. I, along with two wonderful friends took 10 (6-9 year old) girls to the drive in to see High School Musical 3. We arrived around 5:30. Once we got inside the gate, the girls were able to run around and play. We had pizza for dinner just before the movie started.Here is Brenna with her BFF Lizzie. They have been friends for a few years now. Lizzie and Brenna are in the same Sunday School class and they love being around each other.

We added Cassandra and Julia to this picture. Julia lives next door and Cassandra's Great Grandparents live on the other side of us. They get to play with our kids more than most of the kids we know.

Avery and Alyssa enjoyed rockin' out on Avery's new iPod.

Here is the whole gang. We had an amazing night at the drive in. It was a little cold, but the girls just cuddled up together to stay warm. They were able to enjoy popcorn and M&M's while they watched the HSM gang say farewell.

We loaded up the girls after the movie, came home and got ready for bed and every single one of them were asleep in about 5 minutes. They were exhausted!

Saturday morning, Tony treated the girls to doughnuts and a little Wii time.

Then it was party time.

I made the girls these shirts to go along with their pink poodle theme. They were very excited about their shirts and they actually got several comments on them.

Here is the gang again, plus some stinky boys!!

I think this is my first appearance on my own blog! I was glad to get in a picture with my beautiful girls.
If the girls look a little embarrassed, they are. One of Avery's gifts was a pillow that says "I love Troy" (the lead male character in HSM). Avery was very embarrassed and flipped the pillow over rather quickly! It was very cute.

Poor, poor poodle. Brenna knocked it's bottom off in one swing of the bat. Most of the fun came when we allowed everyone a turn and taking a whack at the poodle's head. Poor, poor poodle.

Over all, we had a very enjoyable day and I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays in the years to come! I love you Avery and Brenna!

Costume Preview

2008-10-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our Girl Scout Fall Party is always a good time to do a trial-run on costumes. I get to see what works and what doesn't and the kids get to wear their costumes more than once. This year we have an interesting cast of characters.

Avery will be going as "Spa Girl" this year. Her costume will serve dual purpose. Once as a costume and as a robe as long as it fits her. Thanks to Kohl's, I got this robe for a steal at 60% off regular price!
Brenna will be, you guessed it, Little Red Riding Hood. I think this suits her nicely. When we went to purchase Avery's robe, we browsed around the clothes and came upon this lovely red coat, with a hood! This beauty was 50% off and also will serve more than one purpose. I'm lovin' it!!

Cooper rounds out our cast as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Rafael to be exact. My hero in a half shell......turtle power!!!
Avery won "Funniest Costume" this year. She was very excited. She has actually been winning quite a few awards through Girl Scouts. When they had their last camp out at the Houston Zoo, she got a buddy award for being a good buddy, her tent won best (quietest) tent, and she was the only one to receive an award for going the extra mile to be a good "sister" scout. We are so very proud of her and her accomplishments through Girl Scouts. I have seen her become more confident over the 3 years she has been in scouts.

Happy Birthday Avery!

2008-10-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

This week Avery celebrated her 9th birthday. I really cannot believe that I have been a mom for 9 years. Wow, it's amazing how fast time flies! It's the old cliche that you always hear, but how true it is. The years are fleeting and the time that we have with our children while they are still children are so few. It will take me a little while to realize that Avery is not a little girl anymore, but is becoming a young lady. We had such a great time celebrating the day that she came into our lives.

This year I have really tried to take the time and use all of the crafting supplies that I own to make more hand-made cards and treats for gift giving. I really enjoy doing what I can to add a personal touch. I found this gift bag and I thought it suited Avery's personality well. I also chose this bag because I thought making a card to go with it would be simple and fun. After punching a few circles and stamping the gifts in coordinating colors, I had a matching card that I was very pleased with.
Since the girls have a joint birthday party, we started a tradition of taking them out to dinner on their actual birthday. This allows both of the girls some individual attention on their special day. Avery chose to have her dinner at Olive Garden. We went to Olive Garden last year and it was pouring down rain...it poured down rain this time too! I hope we're not starting a pattern here! Avery loved having the staff sing their version of "Happy Birthday" to her. I do have to say Avery graciously handed over her ice cream to Cooper in exchange for a slice of the Black Tie Moose Cheesecake, which she shared with Brenna. I call that a win, win, win situation!
When we asked Avery for some gift ideas, she was very specific. It was either and iPod or a Nintendo DS. Avery is not one to ask for very extravagant gifts, but this year was different. At first I was like, no way, I don't even own one! But then, she really enjoys listening to music and I know that she would get a lot of use out of it. After Tony found an amazing deal for a brand new one on Craigslist, I couldn't hold out anymore. When she opened it, she said "my very own iPod!?" very loudly. It was really fun to see her so excited about her gift.
Tony had to give her a short tutorial on how to operate the little gadget, but she got the hang of it rather quickly. Youngin's catch on so much quicker that us old folks do.
The girls rockin' out to Johnny Cash and High School Musical music.

Peace Out!

Pink Poodles in Paris

2008-10-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

The month of October kicks off a very busy time in our house. We begin by celebrating Avery and Brenna's Birthday. It has been a huge blessing that the girls enjoy sharing their party with each other. Since they are only two years apart (almost exactly), they tend to have the same group of friends. This allows for quite a celebration!

The other miracle of it all is that we've never had any problems agreeing on the party theme. As I'm sure you have determined from the title, this year's theme will be Pink Poodles in Paris. When I Googled ideas for their birthday, this was a common theme. And to make my life much easier than it really is, I was able to find everything at Oriental Trading. It was so nice to be able to shop online and not have to travel from store to store to find what I need.

This year we are doing something that we have never done before. After we chose the date (which is usually the weekend between their actual birthdays), we realized it was the same night as the premier of High School Musical 3. For those of you who do not have elementary school-aged children, it's like the best thing since the color pink! We had originally planned for a sleep-over. Now we are taking 12 girls to the drive-in to see this movie!

I am so excited and I can't wait to see how everything turns out. For the 10 girls that are invited along with Avery and Brenna, I hand-made invitations to go along with the theme.

I am so happy with how they turned out. This is the first one I made and ended up moving the poodle over a little to the right to balance it out a bit more. While browsing the paper isle at the local Hobby Lobby, I found this incredibly cute pink glitter paper. The photo does not show all of it's shimmer and shine, but I assure you, it's so way cute! I used this paper to punch the scalloped circle. You can see a little hint of glitter next to the poodle's nose.

As the days grow closer to the party, I will keep everyone up to date on it's progress and ultimately, the results...

Regrets...

2008-10-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

There is something to be said about all of the things that we do that we eventually look back on and say..."what was I thinking?"

Like this picture of Avery when she rubbed blue sidewalk chalk all over her face and did a short rendition of the Blue Man Group.......or Farmer Brenna with her self applied face paint at the Children's Museum....

...or Cooper after he had taken a bite of a cookie I allowed him to decorate by himself with unlimited icing and sprinkles. Although it appears he is missing a few teeth, I assure you he was not. Now, if I had not made sure he scoured his teeth with his toothbrush afterward, he might have actually lost several teeth from all of those "sugar bugs".

I realize that there are no questionable pictures of me posted on here. There are questionable pictures of me, but none that I will be posting on here. I would rather use my quite adorable children. They are quite adorable in spite of chalk, face paint, and sprinkles!

My point is, I really have not been able to stop thinking about my last post. I'm not very happy that I posted it and really thought about deleting it all together. I felt like I wrote it with a poor attitude. I know I am just like every other mother out there who feels overwhelmed at times and I know that was one of those moments weakness. I just felt that all of my focus was on Brenna and I didn't mean for it to be that way. Today I will meet with her teacher to discuss ways that we can help her stay on track. This is a season in our lives that will require prayer and patience. I keep leaning on God's word for comfort here.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6

Crazy Busy!

2008-10-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've never really been one of those "need more hours in the day kind of person". Most of the time I seem to fit in the chores, errands, tasks and jobs that need to be done in a 24 hour period. But not now and not in the last week.

The contributing factors:

The usual wife, mother daily routine.
MOPS- This takes up about a day and a half every week.
Bible Study- Daily Homework and Meeting once a week.
Driving-Mostly too and from school for the girls and 3-4 times a week for various church activities.
Housework-This happens when I'm not doing other stuff.
Girl Scouts- Two Thursdays a month with some extras here and there, along with working on patches.
Phone Calls-Lots of phone calls.
Grocery Shopping- Once a week works best for us, but it takes about 3 hours from start to putting the last item in the pantry.

School- Right now, this is taking way too long! The girls got home today at 3:30. It is now 5:05 and Brenna is still working on assignments. Now, mind you, these are not homework assignments, but incomplete classroom assignments, and the prompt for this blog. For today, my list ends here, cause I don't know how much memory storage they allow here!?

Please pray for Brenna and that she will be able to complete her work at school. It is a huge struggle for her (and me) right now. Brenna is a very bright and dare I say, smart, child. I love her curiosity and I'm amazed to hear the things she thinks out loud. Brenna is also a daydreamer. The one who just can't seem to stay on task. This is wrecking havoc on her school work.

I have to get dinner going and will ponder this topic later. Please know that I'm not complaining about being busy. This week we just don't have a free night and I'm saddened by it. Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse before it gets better. I just want to keep my focus and run the good race...

Cooper Finally Agrees to Photos

2008-10-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

When Cooper started school he refused to have his picture taken. If you remember from my previous post, all he would do is hide behind his nap mat or between the tables.

After the first week of school, I realized that I was the problem. I gave up on getting a picture of him as his desk and with his teacher and all of the usual pictures you would want in a scrapbook. I would just have to wait and see what I could get another day.

Then the hurricane came. (I'm really tired of having to refer to that storm over and over) Anyway, we missed one week due to no power at the church, and then another week due to water damage. But then things got back to normal and Cooper was able to go back to school.

I had a lovely friend call last week and ask how Avery was doing in 3rd grade. Avery had some struggles throughout the year last year and my friend was kind enough to give us some advice (she's a teacher) and some helpful information to help Avery succeed. At some point in our conversation we talked about Cooper and how she knew he was doing fine since she was able to see him at school. I mentioned to her that I was never able to get pictures of him for his scrapbook. She immediately offered to take some pictures for me and look what I got...Here he is with his teacher.And happily working in his journal.

I didn't crop this one because I wanted to be able to see everything he was wearing.

Okay, this was not taken at school, but I had to include it in with these pictures. He had asked for a piece of bread, which happens to be a staple food for him right now. I just thought it was so funny how he stuck his finger in the bread and ate it like it was on a stick. I was really surprised that he did not bite his own finger!

Back to Blogging

2008-10-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

The power has been back on, all of the kids are back to school, and I have been so busy, my poor blog has been blank for several days. I know there are only a few of you who actually noticed my absence, but this blog is kind of like a tender, young plant that I have planted and watered, then left to dry out. One of the few things that has kept me busy, but makes me feel a little better about it is that we have finally started our new Bible Study Wednesday night.

Our church is blessed to be able to provide several Bible Studies throughout the year. Hurricane Ike hit the Friday before all of our Fall studies were to begin. This last Wednesday began the first night of this study that will last 10 weeks. That means this study will end the week before Christmas! Talk about being busy....but the blessings are so great!

I always find Beth Moore's studies a challenge due to the daily homework and have made a commitment to myself to stay on top of my assignments and not get behind. Right from the start this study has lead me to some rather convicting scripture. When you ask God to break you of old habits and give you direction, you better be ready to hear what He has to say!

Needless to say, as I continue to struggle with all of my responsibilities as a wife and mother, with MOPS, church, the kids school, cakes, and all the little things that come along, it will be interesting to see how this blog plays a part in what I do.

Praising His faithfulness!

100 Things About Me

2008-09-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm going to confess something. I am addicted to reading other people's blogs. It is interesting to see how other people spend their time, live their lives, and how they do their blogs.

One interesting thing that I've seen that I'm going to try is a list of 100 things about me. I hope you learn a thing or two that you didn't already know, maybe I will too...

1. I am hopelessly optimistic.
2. I love old hymns.
3. I don't like olives.
4. My favorite season is fall.
5. My least favorite season is summer.
6. I love classic country music.
7. I went on my first cruise this year.
8. I enjoy making custom cakes for my friends and family.
9. My favorite color is blue.
10. My name is Hebrew and means "dark as night".
11. In the next three months I will celebrate the following: the birthdays of all 3 children, my birthday, and our anniversary.
12. I don't watch scary movies.
13. I love to watch baseball and football with my husband.
14. I like my room to be cold when I sleep.
15. I love going to antique shops.
16. I am afraid of heights.
17. My first car was a standard, Grey Ford Ranger.
18. I lived in the same house until I was 18.
19. I miss my mom and my sister.
20. I watch more TV than I should.
21. I am obsessed with meteorology.
22. I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I grew up.
23. I love going to the drive-in.
24. My favorite things to drink are root beer and Sonic Cherry Limeade.
25. I don't like to wear shoes or socks.
26. I've never lived in another state.
27. I can't wait to use my fireplace.
28. I love to swim.
29. I wish I grew up and lived in a small town.
30. Cheesecake is my favorite dessert.
31. I wish I read more.
32. Math and I don't get along.
33. My favorite hymn is How Great Thou Art.
34. I love to decorate my home for the seasons.
35. I love to watch Chick Flicks.
36. I don't like to listen to people complain.
37. I love the smell of watermelon.
38. My favorite crafts are scrapbooking and stamping.
39. I wish I got more done during the day.
40. I would have more kids if...
41. I'm thinking about refinishing some furniture.
42. I'm bad about starting things and not finishing them.
43. I have been through 2 hurricanes.
44. Collecting horse urine was once a part-time job for me.
45. I loved that job.
46. ZZ Top has a song called "Leila"
47. I remember the first time I had Pop Tarts.
48. I heart sweet tea.
49. It's hard for me to find shoes that fit right.
50. I'm halfway through this list.
51. I love candles.
52. I don't know how to roller skate.
53. I love campfires.
54. I can curl my tongue.
55. I am left-handed.
56. I only write left-handed.
57. I used to be painfully shy.
58. I love to make people laugh.
59. I wish my family would do more together.
60. I don't have a green thumb.
61. I'm always in the mood for pizza.
62. I loved being pregnant with my babies.
63. Watching the space shuttle launch is fascinating.
64. I love to play board games and card games.
65. I'm bad at telling jokes.
66. I've eaten snake before.
67. One of my favorite memories is watching Princess Dianna's wedding at my Aunt Brenda's house.
68. I was in elementary school at lunch when the Challenger exploded.
69. I don't wear glasses.
70. I am very big on tradition.
71. I tend to be very sentimental.
72. I love anything pumpkin.
73. I love looking at photographs.
74. I love visiting museums.
75. It takes me a long time to get to know people.
76. I've never met anyone with my name.
77. My nickname growing up was "Leila-Peila-Pooh" usually followed by "whatcha gonna do?".
78. I love to go on picnics.
79. I love sea food, especially shrimp.
80. I am sarcastic at times.
81. I took a helicopter ride with my mom once.
82. I've never broken a bone.
83. I love to take road trips.
84. I wish I were a better cook.
85. I'm having trouble thinking of 15 more things about me.
86. I would love to see a tornado in person.
87. I'm thinking about converting our playroom into a craft room.
88. "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison is the ring tone on my cell phone.
89. Tony and I went to an Eagle's concert for our first date.
90. I am not coordinated enough to play Guitar Hero.
91. I love getting letters in the mail.
92. Gerber daisies are my favorite flower.
93. I watched Titanic at the movie theater 3 times.
94. I love to open my windows when the weather is cool.
95. My husband brings out the best in me.
96. I learned patience from my sister.
97. I hope you are still awake.
98. I hope you still like me.
99. I hope you know Jesus.
100. I'm hopeful.

Cinnamon Rolls At Last!

2008-09-27T18:55:00.001-07:00

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was never really taught "how" to cook. My real cooking experience basically started at 15 and was limited to whatever my dad would purchase at the store and cook himself, or leave for me to cook for dinner. These dinners usually consisted of anything easy that I could bake in the oven and cook on the stove top. I never cooked or baked anything from scratch. It all came from a box or a can and was paired with things like baked chicken and pork chops. We didn't complain simply because we just didn't know any better.

My mother was a wonderful cook, but she was a working mother of 4 and just did not have the time to make the majority of her cooking from scratch. I know that had her life not ended when it did, she would have gladly taught me to be a better cook.

Through the years I learned there were so many things I could cook and there were actually recipes I could try. This made Tony so happy! No more Hamburger Helper! Here we are today and I would have to say that my cooking and baking (other than cakes) has been taken to another level thanks to a to a website called Pioneer Woman. (Thanks Tammy!!) I have almost taken the cooking section of her website as a challenge. Once I started making some of the recipes, and they actually turned out and my family really enjoyed the variety, I couldn't help but keep trying. The best thing about her recipes is the photos that go with them. It's like she is in your kitchen giving you a cooking lesson!

This brings us to today. I planned on making these before Hurricane Ike decided to take away my ability to bake in my oven. Now that things are back to normal, I couldn't wait to get started on these...

The cast of characters are flour, milk, oil, baking powder, baking soda, yeast (never cooked with yeast before today), sugar, cinnamon, butter, salt, coffee, maple flavoring, and powdered sugar. If you have most of these items, you can make them too! Don't worry if you don't have the maple flavoring and coffee, you can substitute the maple flavoring with vanilla and leave out the coffee.
Avery helped my measure the oil, sugar and milk.
We scalded this on the stove and let it cool for about an hour and a half.

While the first mixture was cooling, Avery measured 8 cups of flour.

After the mixture cooled, but was still warm, Cooper added two packets of yeast. We let the yeast set and absorb some of the moisture.

Now we added the 8 cups of flour and began to stir.
Cooper began to stir and stir.
The dough began to thicken as we stirred. "Avery, put some muscle into it girl!"

It's all combined now and ready to be left to rise. We waited another hour and a half. This is where we started on the cinnamon roll version of "are we there yet?". I can't tell you how many times the kids asked me this. Finally the time came. We mixed in an additional cup of flour, a heaping tsp. of baking soda, one scant tsp. of baking powder, and one heaping Tbsp. of salt.
After mixing, we rolled out half of the dough, added butter, sugar and cinnamon. Which I photographed by the way, but it didn't look very pretty, so I didn't post it. If I could post a scratch and sniff picture I would have, and you would have scratched a hole in your screen. That's how yummy and divine it smelled!
After we rolled up the dough and watched the butter, sugar and cinnamon ooze all over my kitchen counter like lava from a volcano, we cut them up and put them in the pans to bake away. Then we got started on the icing! The icing consisted of 2lbs. of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 tsp. maple flavoring, 1/4 cup brewed coffee, and 1/2 cup of milk. Brenna and Cooper stirred it all together and we poured it over the warm rolls as they came out of the oven.
Cooper asked for these for supper, then for a snack after supper and for breakfast the next day. What, no Cheerios with sugar and milk?
This recipe made eight pans for me. I know there are only 6 1/2 in the photo. We had samples out of the partially empty pan you see here and took one to our neighbors. We took another pan to our other neighbors next door and will take 4 more to our Sunday School class in the morning. I hope they like them as much as I enjoyed making them with my kids.

I urge you to go to Pioneer Woman and explore her website, if you haven't already. I'll be anxious to hear what you have to say! You will find a printable version of this recipe there and I dare you to try it!

Vintage Thingies Thursdays

2008-09-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

http://anapronaday.blogspot.com/

I am adding to my "vintage thingies" all the time. This one was given to me by my grandmother. It's an old Corning Ware casserole dish an my favorite thing about it is the metal trivet that came with it. It's one of my favorite dishes.

I was going to take pictures of some really old Pyrex that I have, but I used them for dinner last night and have not washed them yet. Maybe next Thursday...

As for the question about a favorite cooking/baking memory...

One of my favorite memories of baking with my mom was licking the beaters after she would mix a cake. My brothers were usually MIA so I got to lick both of them most of the time. Sometimes I would share with my sister...sometimes not. We did not do tons of baking together, but I can remember the bowl she would use every time. It was a rather large Tupperware bowl. My mother always made our birthday cakes and since there were four kids and my dad, there were several opportunities to lick beaters.

I have chosen to carry on both traditions, the cake making and beater licking. The beater licking gets complicated around here with 3. Two of the kids get a beater each and one gets a spoon. We have to be fair!

Speaking of cake, now would be a good time to post some cake pics....

Bike Tricks

2008-09-25T08:56:00.001-07:00

With all of the beautiful weather we have had around here, the kids can't wait to go outside. This weekend Cooper requested my presence outside which meant I had to stop cleaning :-( and go see what the fuss was about. This was it.

He just had to show me all of his bike tricks!

Now, I just asked him to take a break from playing with play dough to help me give these tricks some names. He was not much help in that department. Although he did name one of the tricks below.

This one reminds me of one trick I've seen skateboarders do, but I'm not cool enough to be able to name it.
This is the one he named. He called this one "It Hurts My Butt".
Brenna couldn't be left out. This trick was inspired by her friend at school that is from India. She likes to show Brenna how they dance there and to see Brenna do the dances is really cute.
If you have known Brenna for any length of time, you know how sensitive she can be. There are times when her sensitivity border on just plain pouting. The sensitive side came when we would laugh after she would say or do something funny. She would take it the wrong way and go cry under the dining room table. Now that she's older, she knows we are not laughing at her but at what she says and she just walks off saying stuff like "I know I'm funny". Little stinker.

This time I would have to consider it a pouting episode. We figured with all of the tricks going on that now would be a good time to take off her training wheels and let her give it a shot. She liked the idea at first and has always been a little more willing to try things before the others. This willingness lasted about 10 seconds. That's how long it took for her to realize that riding without training wheels was not as easy as thought it would be. Tony and I did our best to encourage her to keep trying, that's when she walked over and plopped herself onto the grass and pouted.

Tony told her that if she would get up and ride her bike back to her training wheels, he would put them back on. That seemed to do the trick. Back on the bike she went. We will continue to encourage her to practice and I'm sure she'll be without the training wheels in no time.

Hurricane Ike, The Final Days

2008-09-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

Once we returned home on Sunday, our days were spent cleaning up the yard, watching the kids play and ride their bikes, cooking out, and visiting with all of our wonderful neighbors.

The weather could not have been better. What a blessing that was! I typically don't enjoy being outdoors all that much here. It's the humidity and the mosquitoes. For the 5 days we went without power, humidity and mosquitoes did not exist here, a true miracle!

Our power came back on Thursday morning about 12:30. Having been teased by 5 hours of power two days before, I tried not to get my hopes up too much. After the power remained on more than 8 hours, I was certain this time it was permanent. That night the power went off twice for about 10 minutes. It's been back on since.

There are still people in our area without power. It is interesting to see how people handle being without this luxury we tend to take advantage of. I found it difficult to complain. After all, my family was safe and sound, my home was safe and sound and my biggest problem was I couldn't use my vacuum and washing machine. I couldn't complain knowing people lost their homes, their livelihood, and loved ones. Being without power is an inconvenience, not a disaster in itself.

Tomorrow morning Galveston residents will be allowed back on the island to get a look at their homes, or what used to be their homes, for the very first time. It's hard to imagine the anticipation they must feel. Some not having any idea of what they will see when they get there.

I am seeing that my autosave is acting up again. It's time to close for today.

Hurricane Ike, Day 5

2008-09-23T20:20:00.001-07:00

After Tony took the chain saw to Limb #1 and hours spent on dragging, hauling and carrying this stuff to the curb, there was only one thing left to do. Take care of Limb #2

If you look at the top of this photo, you can see where Limb #1 broke off and fell to the ground. Limb #2 was stubborn. You can see the broken end of the limb sticking straight up in the center of this photo. It liked hanging out at the top of the tree which was it's home for many many years. After studying the position of the limb, we were able to determine that the limb was not secure. It was wedged in a "Y" of the tree and looked as if it could drop if the wind blew hard enough. It had to come down. Tony and our neighbor put their thinking caps on and devised a plan. This plan consisted of a very large metal nut (like nuts and bolts), a heavy duty extension cord and some fluorescent orange string.

You might be a redneck if you use an extension cord and fluorescent orange string to yank a limb out of a tree.....I couldn't help myself.

It's pretty high up there!
Tony and our neighbor were able to tie the orange string onto the nut and throw it over the limb and tie on the extension cord. Then it got exciting. Rather that document this excitement with my camera, I chose to sit with our neighbor's wife and watch the guys in action. I watched in horror as the limb was freed and proceeded to fall, heavy side first, about two feet in front of our neighbor. Good thing he's quick on his feet. He ended up jumping back and out of the way. If a limb was coming your way, this was not the end you would want coming after your head! Everyone was okay and there were no injuries. just a few heart palpitations!

Hurrican Ike, Day 4

2008-09-23T20:01:00.001-07:00

Day 4 was Clean Up The Backyard Day. The above pictures were some taken the day before the storm. It was all nice and clean...

As you can see, the deck was covered and you can't even see the grass in the back. If you are looking at green, it's leaves or pine needles, not grass.
Remember the limb that fell when Tony went out during the storm? You can see it laying by the slide in the back of this photo. What you see laying on the sidewalk is how the entire yard looked.
We still can't get over the fact that this thing fell the way it did. The heavy end of the limb ended up stuck down in the ground about 6 inches.

Hurricane Ike, Day 3

2008-09-23T19:19:00.001-07:00

Our morning started with a wonderful breakfast prepared by Tony's mom. On what I thought was a wise move on my part, I brought some items from our fridge that would not have been good if I had left them. Now, I had no expectation of these things being used while we were there. My purpose was to pass them along to his mom for their use. We arrived just before dinner time on Saturday and one of the food items I brought along was a package of chicken legs. Before we could even discuss dinner, Tony's mom had begun the process of frying it and the next thing we knew, an amazing home-cooked dinner was ready for us to eat and it didn't stop there. The next morning we ate the bacon and sausage we had brought with us, along with eggs and toast. Both meals were almost like a "last" meal in a sense. Having those two hearty meals made the idea of living off of Pop Tarts and Peanut Butter Crackers an easier pill to swallow. Thanks Mama Jan!
"Do they know something we don't?" was the question we were asking ourselves as we turned East onto Highway 105. The line of cars went on for a few miles and I didn't seem natural to be going against the traffic. We were only able to get in a few hours of television updates before we loaded up our goodies from Sam's and headed home. We were still out of the loop in some respects. We knew getting gas and food were going to be a challenge. Bryan was the closest city to have food and power between there and our house. The weather in Bryan was cool and dry compared to the day before. Knowing a front was passing through this very night actually made me look forward to going home. We came to the conclusion that everyone waited until Sunday to leave.
It's hard to tell, but this is one of those metal billboard signs that blew over onto an apartment building. It was one thing to see wooden billboards snapped in half, but seeing this metal one blown over was rather impressive.
Power lines down on the ground right around the corner from your house is a sure sign power is not coming back on anytime soon. Once we pulled up in front of the house, all of the neighbors came out and began helping us with the job of cleaning up. The guys tackled the tree in the driveway and the ladies gathered up the limbs, pine cones and leaves. I think it took all of 2 hours and the front yard was done. After the cleaning was done, the cooking began. Just because you don't have power, doesn't mean you get a break from housework!! Dinner that night consisted of french fries and some other things I can't remember. I'll have to get back to you on this one...
Like I said in my last post. Our children were amazing the entire time! It's one thing when you know your children are capable of this kind of behavior, but don't always come through. It's another thing to witness it for days on end and wonder to yourself "who are these people and what have they done with my children?". Camp Fricks was located in the living room of our house. We moved out of the playroom and set up "camp" in the LR. We put the mattresses under the windows and opened the ones on the other side of the room. That allowed for a nice cross breeze that kept the room rather cool. We woke up the next morning wishing we had more blankets. Thank you God for supplying the free AC!!
The kids settled down every night from here on out by gathering on the mattresses and coloring. No fighting, no horse-play, no tattling, just coloring=one happy mom!

Hurricane Ike, Day 2...Continued...Again

2008-09-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry about the break. I actually had this whole post done and ready to go and then the autosave decided to quit working on me. That's when I got mad and frustrated and took a break. Now that I'm no longer mad or frustrated (at least with my autosave) let's continue with the story, again...

This was the first picture I was able to get of the upside down tree top in our driveway. All I kept thinking was "what if this thing fell on our living room?" It still amazes me that out of everything that fell during the storm, nothing hit our house.
It was raining pretty good when I made the kids stand in front of the tree to get this photo. We got pretty soaked every time we would go in and out of the house. It was quite a feat to maneuver through all of the debris and not to mention, this monstrosity! I was so glad when we were able to cut it up and haul it to the curb.
We were able to see quite a bit of damage on our way to Bryan. This sign was one of many that did not make it through the storm.
Please excuse what I think is either my finger or elbow in this picture. Tony's car is not the best place to be taking pictures. Brenna, Cooper, Roxy and Avery made the best of their situation. Even though they were rather cozy in the back, there was not any bickering or complaining. This whole experience really brought out the best in our children.
I see the light! Being able to see this little glint of sunshine lifted my spirits quite a bit. It was like running in a race and seeing the finish line. It was a sign to me that this storm was on it's way out and that brighter days were ahead. I've been through days and days of rain before, and even weathered some pretty rough thunderstorms. But having gone through this storm was nothing like anything I've experienced before. I don't know if it's because we had been tracking it for several days, or the intensity of it once it arrived, but the feeling I had of relief knowing it was over, was overwhelming.

Hurrican Ike, Day 2...Continued

2008-09-18T06:28:00.003-07:00

We did quite a bit on Saturday, so most of my pictures were taken then. Our cell phones were not working well at the house, so we went for a drive to survey the damage for the area and make a few phone calls to family and friends.
This tree fell across an intersection near our home. Even though the tree is across the street, at least it's not across someones home.
Sorry about the glare. This is Grogan's Mill, just past Sawmill, going east. You can tell by the path the tires have made that the entire street was covered in debris from the trees.
The owners of this company must have thought that iron fence was going to protect all of their potted plants and chairs from the wind. They are lucky one of those things didn't go through their glass.
This light pole, and many small trees, were down in the Petco/Pump-It-Up parking lot.
Trees and light poles were down and across the road at the entrance to the new Wal-Mart.

After our short trip out, we returned home to get ready for our over-night trip to Bryan for a good nights sleep.

Hurricane Ike, Day 2

2008-09-18T06:28:00.002-07:00

Day 2 started with some looks around the house for damage. We knew we had a large limb fall in the back yard and that we had the top of a pine tree in the driveway. Here are some better pictures we were able to get with some daylight.

This is a view from the kitchen window. Half of the window is covered by the branch that fell and you can see our grass covered by limbs and leaves.

If you look to the right of the two large trees on the left, you can get a little better view of the upside down pine tree in the driveway. The main trunk of that tree top can be seen in between the two large trees on the left of the picture.

Here is a before and after view of the front yard.

Now, I know this picture does not fit in with the rest, but hurricanes not only knock out trees, they knock out teeth too. Avery and I were sitting on the couch after the worst part of the storm went through and out came her tooth. The tooth fairy was nice enough to pay her a visit in Bryan.

Hurricane Ike, Day One

2008-09-18T06:28:00.001-07:00

I consider Friday, September 12th, day one. My last picture I took that day was around 2:00 pm. We set up "camp" in the playroom and were glued to the TV reports as the storm Here is Avery all snuggled up for the night.

By the looks of Brenna, you would never know a Category 2 hurricane was coming our way.

Tony and the kids went to sleep around 9:00 pm. I would say things got scary after 10:00 pm. I stayed in the living room to watch the progress of the storm. Since it was so big, we were expected to get Tropical Storm force winds around 11:00 pm, but landfall was not expected for another 3 hours. There were a couple of times that I left the living room, which is not protected by a second story, because the wind was gusting so hard. I never heard the whistling sound many people say you hear, I think due to the trees breaking the wind. No, the trees were not "breaking wind"! Sometimes I wonder about you people! Now back to the story.

After doing some thinking and realizing that I might not get much sleep over the next few days, I decided to go to bed. My bed consisted of Cooper and I on his twin mattress on the playroom floor. The gusting wind would wake me up on occasion, but strangely, I was actually able to get a few hours of sleep. Tony and I woke up around 3:30 am on Saturday during the worst part of the wind. For some reason, Tony had to go to the garage around this time. That's when he was able to witness a huge limb fall from our large oak tree in the back yard. I made him come inside immediately!

We continued to watch TV reports as the storm came ashore. At this time, the eye had made landfall and was pushing our way. The prediction was that the eye would track west of I-45 and follow the Interstate up through to Dallas. With this prediction, we expected to have winds from the north at first and then winds from the south. We now know that the storm tracked east of I-45, therefore, we only received winds from the south and were spared the "dirty" side of the storm. From what I could get from the reports after the storm, our area experienced wind gusts around 80 mph.

At 4:30 am, as we were watching the reports on the storm on the TV in the kitchen, the power went out. It was radio from then on. Tony has a radio that picks up the television stations and we were able to get local news reports throughout the morning. Once the sun came up and the winds settled down, we were able to get a few pictures of the damage.

I stuck my arm out of the back door to get this shot. You can see the top of a pine tree upside down in the driveway. There will be more pictures of that to come.
This is a picture of the front yard. It's hard to see most of the debris because it blends in with the grass. Most of the sidewalk is covered in small limbs and twigs.

The kids woke up around the time the power went out. They were curious about what was going on outside, but could not see. After they realized the worst was over, we were all able to go back to sleep for a few more hours.

Ike...5 Days Later

2008-09-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

First of all, we are all doing fine and our home suffered no damage. I took this photo Saturday on the way to Bryan. This was the first daylight that we had seen since Friday morning. This morning, about 12:36 (according to Tony), we seem to have power back. We did get a little tease Tuesday morning when the power came back on for 5 hours, then went back off again. So today, I turned on my kitchen light for the first time in 5 days. It's all about seeing the light!!

Since God has blessed us with beautiful, cool, dry weather, we have been able to do all of our outside clean-up. Today I will begin focusing on laundry, vacuuming, and rearranging furniture. I don't think I've ever been so excited to clean my house!

I would like to go back and track what has happened day by day. After I put my house back in order, I'll sit down and post all of the pictures and some video of the last several days.

A special "Thank You" to those of you who have been praying for us and that have stayed in touch through this experience. Your prayers have been felt and answered. You are all a blessing to us!

Update on Ike II

2008-09-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

It is now 8:oo pm on Friday. I took this picture around 2:00 this afternoon from our front door. I plan to use it as a comparison later. I'll take some more pictures at daylight if it's safe. We are finally settled down. I made us a hearty dinner of meatloaf, new potatoes and corn. The meatloaf was the only thing I had planned to eat that would have been difficult to grill. I filled all of our pots and jugs full of water to use for cooking and cleaning. We have all of our food, water, light sources, and other needs all in one place.

We are beginning to hear the wind gust on occasion. Most of the area is under a tornado watch until 10:0o am. The last gust we had caused some noticable suction on the back door. The first of the rain bands are coming on shore now and some are beginning to reach the outskirts of Houston. The storm is just shy of a Catagory 3 and the lights just went out in Galveston.

The kids are in the playroom on their matresses. Tony and I are in the living room watching the weather reports. We plan to stay in here until the winds get stronger.

A View From Galveston

2008-09-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

No, we didn't actually go down there now and take pictures! I'm not THAT crazy! These pictures were taken during the summer of 2007. We made it down to Galveston this past summer, but never went down to the beach. I'm watching images from Galveston as Hurricane Ike approaches. We are watching the waves crash over the exact same place where these photos were taken. Cooper was actually saying that our special swimming place was getting wrecked and he's right.

We are finishing up last minute preparations and are beginning to gather supplies where they will be handy later tonight. We can still expect tropical storm force winds around midnight and hurricane force winds around 7:00 am. That is at least 7 hours of very strong winds. We are prepared to sleep downstairs. Actually, I don't know how much sleep I will get, but whatever I'm doing, I'll be doing it downstairs!

In His grip,
Leila

Update on Ike

2008-09-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

As Hurricane Ike approaches, evacuations and preparations are underway. We have been prepared for the storm, but I had a few things to pick up before it was too late. The store was very busy this morning with at least 6 customers in each line. Things went rather slow as the store was not prepared to handle the number of customers they had. At some point, there were sackers running the check-out lines. After my adventure at the grocery store, I went to find gas. When I dropped Cooper off at school, some of my friends were saying they were only able to find Premium gas the night before. I was hoping my "hidden" Shell station would not fail me. When I pulled in the station, it was busy, but only had about two cars at each pump. Since my tank was already pretty full, I added another $50 to insure I could make it far enough out of town and find more gas later.

I came home and did my dishes and started on the laundry. My goal was to do as much as I could while we still have power. Good thing you can't see dust in the dark!

Tony ended up leaving work at noon. He wanted to make sure he did not have to sit in hours of traffic with all of the evacuees. When he left at noon, there was a mandatory evacuation for Galveston, Matagorda and Brazoria Counties, and Zones A and B along the coast. In other words, plenty of people to share the road with. He ended up making it home in his usual time. This is what he would have sat in if he would have waited...

This is the traffic on I-45 northbound at 2:00.
It was bumper to bumper as far as the eye could see. I had to go pick Cooper up from school and thought it would be interesting to take some pictures. I was actually mad at myself for not taking pictures at the grocery store earlier. It's funny the things you think about documenting on a blog.
After taking an alternate route home to avoid the traffic, I was able to get this shot of the feeder too. It was also backed up. The last time I saw I-45 like this was when we evacuated for Hurricane Rita in 2005.
Cooper had a long day at school and was rather cranky when I picked him up. I was able to cheer him up a little when I told him Daddy was at home waiting for him. He fussed for a little while and then gave into his fatigue.

After arriving home, we had some cookies and milk and cheered up a little. The kids went upstairs and put their stuffed animals in their closets to protect them from the storm. Tony and I brought all of the potential projectiles into the garage.

Right now we are watching the news and keeping up with Ike's track. We are expected to have around 80mph winds as soon as late tomorrow night and into Saturday morning. All we can do is continue to watch and pray for our safety and protection until the storm has passed.

Ike's Shadow

2008-09-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's around noon here on Thursday, September 11, 2008. I named this post Ike's shadow because we are currently monitoring Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico. It is forecast to hit the Texas coast around Brazoria County. We will continue to watch the updates and I will continue to post until the power goes out. In Ike's shadow are reminders of the events that unfolded on this day in 2001.

Seven years ago today I was pregnant with Brenna, and had dropped Avery off at her sitter's house. During my drive into work I was listening to the radio talk about the World Trade Center and that some kind of plane had flown into it. There was a lot of speculation at the time about the size of the plane and the circumstances that caused it to crash. At our office we had a small TV with a 5" screen. We pulled out the TV and watched the crisis unfold.

We all know the tragedy happened that day. Over the last 7 years we learned more about the people behind the attack and those that lost their lives that dreadful day. September 11th will be the Pearl Harbor of our generation. I pray that we never forget what happened that day and that we remember the men and women who continue to fight those who threaten our freedom. God bless the USA!

Girl Power

2008-09-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

After posting pictures of Cooper the last few days, I thought I would post some of the girls.
Brenna. What child gives herself and her stuffed bear bunny ears? The answer, Brenna? If you are ever down or feeling blue, you can always count on Brenna for a smile. Then there is Avery....

Avery has been our girly girl without question. Avery loves playing in my make-up, she loves shopping for clothes and has started having an opinion on what she wears. In all of her girliness (sp?), her new "move" has made it's presence. Don't ask me what it means, because I have no idea. But it's cute and it suits her personality.

Mmmm...chips!

2008-09-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

We are doing a little flashback here. I know some of you are wondering how things went with Cooper today, but I'll get to that in a minute.

This photo was taken on the way to get some half-priced slush's, and no, I was not driving at the time! Cooper had eyed a particular kind of chip truck and began salivating and licking his lips. The girls seemed to get a kick out of it!
Get that boy some chips!!

Cooper did really great this morning. After we sent him into the classroom on his own, I realized I was the problem. He walked on right in and had no problems (that I know of at least). I may never be able to post any pictures of him at his desk any time soon, but if that means his mornings (and mine) go a little easier, then I can go without pictures, for now.

Cooper starts Pre-K

2008-09-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Who knew almost 5 years ago that this day would come so soon? After going through the first day of school for the girls just the week before, I was ready for this day, both for Cooper and myself. We traditionally take a picture in front of our bench outside. Cooper did well with these pictures.

Then we got to school. I'm not sure what Cooper thought was in store for him on his first day, but it must not have been good. Being the avid scrapbooking mother I am, I had camera in hand and I was ready to get those precious first day of "school" shots to proudly display in his album. This is what I got instead....

That's Cooper's hand and backpack peeking from behind his nap mat. Yes, it gets better...
Hiding his face, crouched down between a toy kitchen and table is not what I had in mind for Cooper's first day. He was not crying or scared, I think he was more embarassed than anything. We (his teacher and I) were finally able to get him over to his desk and begin an assignment. It was here that I learned the approach he was taking when it came to school. Inside his notebook was a list of questions his teacher had asked him on meet the teacher day. The final question was "What is your favorite song?", his answer was "I don't like songs". Knowing that Cooper actually loved music and singing (be looking for a video clip of his rendition of "Funky Town"), I knew that he was going to be a harder egg to crack and that some of the things that the girls made easy for me, Cooper was going to make a little harder. I think I'm up for the challenge.

Let's Play Catch-Up

2008-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

First day in the 3rd grade.
First day in the 1st grade.

I'd like to do a little catch-up with some of my latest photo's. Part of my goal with this blog is to start when school started. With everything going on around here from preparing for school to start, getting things ready for MOPS, oh, and being very sick for two weeks, the blog had to wait. Over the next few days I would like to share some of the past to get us brought up to the present. That brings us to the pictures above.

The first day of school seemed so routine this year. Almost like we have done in a hundred times before. Let me count....we've acutally only had 3 first days of school. I think that as our children get older, it's not the same as when they start Kindergarten. It's more of an "all grown up" approach. I felt silly taking Avery's picture in her classroom. It won't be long before that just won't be cool anymore and I'll get that look that your pre-teen gives you when you are embarassing her beyond repair.

I'm back. I just had to wipe my tears off of the computer and my cheeks.

School has been going well for the girls so far. We are all glad to have more routine than we had over the summer. It's the very same routine that allows me to share this blog with you.

Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of Cooper's first day of school.

Sweet Pea Cake

2008-09-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

This is what I did today. I have been making cakes off and on for several years now, but things have really picked up for me over the last two or three years. Since I tend to dabble in several different areas of creativity, I enjoy the fact that no cake is ever the same.

My children love when mom is making a cake. They always ask for the top of the cake that I have to cut off to level it and you can bet they want some fondant when I'm using it. Bubba came into the kitchen tonight and said, "Mommy, you are the bestest cup cake and cake baker ever ever." I love compliments from my children. I know they are saying it because they acutally think that about me. I know otherwise, but it sure makes me smile that no matter how my cakes might turn out, my kids will always love them.

Where we are today

2008-09-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like a good idea to bring everyone up to date on our family. We are in the early stages of many things around here. All three of our children are in the early stages of their education. Ave is in 3rd grade, Boo is in 1st grade and Bubba is in Pre-K at our church. As for me, I'm in the early stages of motherhood and all that it implies. This year is my 6th year to participate in a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Group, however, this is my first year to be the director of our group. My husband is not in the early stages of anything really. He likes routine and it is a must have with his current work schedule. As of today, he wakes up at 2:30 am, goes to the gym and then to work. He usually arrives home at 7:00 pm and goes to bed at the same time our kids do, 8:00 pm. Routine is a must have...did I mention that already?

As I strive to be the mother God calls me to be, I find myself constantly reviewing my progress. Checking where I am moving forward and making the continual corrections of my mistakes. Here lately I'm looking at how I spend my time and how I can make the most of it. Keeping up with this blog will be taking more of my time, however, I'm hoping that with the Lord's guidance and the constant reminder of my legacy, I can stay on track.

Ready to get started!

2008-09-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have been tossing around the idea of starting a blog for some time. Having never been one to keep a journal or record any of my thoughts, there was sufficiant doubt I would not maintain it. The thought of starting this and leaving it out to dry was just something I did not want to do. The main reason I want to do this is for my children. (I'll elaborate more on that later.) There is also this desire to keep family and friends up to date on our lives. Not that everyone is just "dying" to know what we do day in and day out. If no one uses this blog for that reason, my kids will at least be able to look back on this and know more about their lives than I know about mine. So, here it is.....!