A new haircut for Drama Queen

So, she got it all chopped off for Locks of Love, but it's still in her face!! She's so petite and Jethro can't stand all that thick hair in her face constantly. We try to put it up, but she's got a sensitive head and doesn't keep in ponytails or clippies or headbands (which would solve our problem!!) On top of that, now she's got glasses and headbands and glasses don't mix... I know, I wear glasses for up close work. So, here it is a month after she got 10 inches chopped off that she's getting another haircut.. only this one is stacked in the back and layered with lots and lots of layers. She doesn't like it much, but isn't complaining. I think she just knows that it will grow back and we'll try again.. you know, for a little drama queen, she's not being dramatic about this at all!! I'm impressed!

Christmas 2008

Facebook is addicting! I have been meaning to blog for a while now, but every time I sit down to blog, I end up on facebook instead. Facebook, for the unitiated (all 23 of you left in America) is a social networking site where you can hook up with long lost friends or just chat with current friends. See, it's a wildly popular application, so there are lots and lots of folks on it. Then when you join, you search for anyone you can think of.. literally! Once you've found someone you think you know, you send them a little note and if they know you, voila! you're friends.. now is the interesting, almost phenomenal, part. From here on out, you simply type in a little sentence about what you are doing/thinking/feeling right now and hit POST. Immediately, anyone with whom you are friends will then see the update and can comment (or not) on what you typed.. The beauty is that it allows others to know the little ins and outs of your day and life without becoming overly encumbered by all the heavy details.. they can ask for more details if they want, but don't have to hear them.. now they know what's going on in your life and once again, voila! you're closer than ever! But of course, what self-respecting website would be, well, self-respecting without games? and facebook has word games (which I love!!) and your scores are posted to any of your friends who also play that same game!! yikes! now there's competition!!

So, Christmas has come and gone. We had a wonderful Christmas season. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed right before Thanksgiving (seems like a lifetime ago!) and Jethro thought that it might help to cheer me up if we put up Christmas decorations a few days early. Of course, I said YES!! and jumped to it faster than a flea jumps onto a coon dog! We had everything up by the day we returned from our annual thanksgiving with our family in H-town. I really didn't think much of getting it all done early... but WOW!!! I had such a low-key, no-stress Christmas season.. I made candy for friends, and my kids helped and we had fun together doing it and I didn't get stressed out cuz I was in a hurry (cuz I wasn't in a hurry!!!) We made and decorated Christmas Sugar Cookies... and we were finished before most people even got started!! It was wonderful!

Jethro's folks came in the weekend before Christmas and we enjoyed our time with them as we always do. His mom wanted to go Downtown to see all the Christmas lights and we had a fun time watching people and the lights. The kids had a blast spending time out with us.. They even saw Santa downtown.. He gave them candy canes.

A few days before Christmas we had some friends over and then on Christmas Eve, my brother and his family came over for supper. They stayed for a good while and we let the kids exchange gifts... They got our kids nerf guns and Dad got a Super Machine Nerf Gun, which was -of course- the hit of it all!!

Then was the big day, Santa came. He brought everyone exactly what they had asked for.. Big Talker got a Dinosaur Puppet, Drama Queen got her bubblegum (ah, to be 5/6 and want only Bubblegum for Christmas!!), Laughing Son got some Hot Wheels and Kickapoo got lots of High School Musical stuff!! plus the whole fam got a wii.. when I look back in years to come over all these entries, I'm sure that a wii then will seem like a nintendo 64 seems now, but right now, it's da bomb!! lots and lots of fun!! all the kids enjoy it and the parents think it's fun, too!!

Oh, yes.. we made reindeer shirts this year. I painted the bottom of the kids' feet, excluding toes, and used that for the reindeer's head. Then each hand got painted and those were the antlers. Very Cute!! And now I finally have a shirt with the kids' paw prints.. all these years I've been making them for Pop and Jethro, and now I finally have one for me! yay!! That is what they're wearing in the picture above.

All I Want For Christmas Is My 2 Front Teeth!!!

Since before Halloween, Laughing Son's two front teeth have been loose. We've been singing the old song, "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" and talking about how fun and cool it would be to actually be missing both front teeth for Christmas. So, tonight, in his normal procrastinating-before-bedtime-way, Laughing Son comes running downstairs hooping it up with a tooth in his hand.. "Mommy, LOOK!! My tooth came out!!" Woo-Hoo, we say.. all you need is to loose your other tooth and you'll be just like the song... At which point Jethro and I begin singing it and telling Laughing Son that there would probably be extra money in it from the tooth fairy if he really did loose both teeth. We pat his bum, kiss him and give him a big ole bear hug and send him off to bed.
About 4 minutes later, he comes downstairs hooting and hollering, "The other one came out!! The other one came out!! I'm missing both my front teeth for Christmas!!" What a riot! He got them both out.

Drama Queen's kindergarten teacher sent home a note along with a drawing of a turkey on cardstock. It said that the entire family must participate and together decorate this turkey (or another one of their choosing) and each member of the family must sign the back of the turkey.

Here' the picture of our little "turkey" and yes, we did sign his back.

57 pages in 4 days!

Scrapbooking has been a hobby of mine since I was 16 (maybe even before)... The first actual book I have, the front page says "Welcome 1986" and talks about my sweet sixteen... That means that I've been scrapbooking for more than 1/2 of my life! phew... what I tend to do is go a few months with good intentions, collecting scraps of things, organizing pictures, getting things ready, and then finally, after several months, I finally get around to scrapbooking and it's a marathon session. So it has been for the past 4 days.
See, November in our house gets really crazy... First is Laughing Son's birthday, then Thanksgiving and a trip to the in-laws. Next comes all the wonderful frenzy that is Christmas time, with parties and extra things at school. Finally, there is Drama Queen's birthday four days before Christmas and finally the big day arrives.. Of course, then we have New Years and my birthday... So, within 2 1/2 months, we have LOTS to scrapbook, which is why, every year around this time I make sure to catch up on my books and this was the weekend.
You know, a friend says she's begun using online photo albums... you upload the pictures, choose layouts and then voila! they're printed and sent to your home... I'm considering doing that ... I made a 100 page book of pictures -starting with when Jethro and I got married and ending last fall - for each of the grands and great grandparents. They seemed to be big hits! Well, for the time being, I still have way too much invested in scrapbook supplies to go for that!

Locks Of Love

So, while I was busily learning how to be a cheer coach, I was neglecting my blogging and some things have happened.. I just received an email from a friend up in New York and she was offering some encouraging words about how sometimes she lets things get to her like I was doing.. anyway, she mentioned that she recently cut her daughter's hair (which the last time I saw it 2 years ago was almost waist level) to send to locks of love and that reminded me that I hadn't posted our pictures yet or blogged about our little locks of love hair giver...

Drama Queen, while she is tall for her age (98th percentile) she is still petite.. I don't understand exactly how that works, but it's true! Specifically, she has a very small face AND VERY LARGE HAIR! :o) Her hair is so thick and grows so fast!! Well, Jethro hates it cuz it's always in her face.. we talked about it last summer and he really wanted it all cut off, but of course, she's the consummate girl and wants "my hair to touch my toes." In an effort to reach a compromise, she agreed to keep it pulled back off of her face when Daddy was home.. that worked for a while, but still, at night, after bathtime and before bedtime (hmmm... when Daddy's home) she would have it down and it would drive Daddy crazy..

Drama Queen is pretty self-aware of her prettiness (a bit too self aware, in my opinion) and she connects a lot of that to her hair.. So, between Daddy wanting it cut and my wanting her to recognize that beauty that lies withIN people, I thought about Locks Of Love.. I took Drama Queen to their website last year and showed her all these little girls who have no hair and explained how she could help them by cutting some of hers off.. I didn't give her an option, I said that when her hair reached 10 inches (the minimum length) she would get it cut, giving her Dad what he wanted, teaching her that she's beautiful even with short hair and helping a little girl all at the same time.. Well, we talked about it often and visited the site a few more times and within a couple of months, she was so excited about cutting her hair for Locks of Love she would ask me at least once a week to measure her hair to see if it was long enough yet!

Well, it got long enough.. I must admit that even though I had 9 months to prepare for this moment, I wasn't prepared!!! I was a bit nervous too, about her reaction. Nothing to be worried about! She was all smiles the whole time! and she LOVES her new do!!! And me? well, I made her wait to get her hair cut until AFTER school pictures, but once I saw how cute she looks when you can actually see her face!!! I had the picture people do re-takes!!

Learn more at www.LocksOfLove.org

The Day After

Uneventful.. no crying, no thunderbolts, no huge important phone calls... just life.. what was the name of that t.v. show in the 90's? nah, nah nah nah.. life goes on... "Life Goes On" that is the name.. there was a kid named Corky who was autistic and his sister Kellie Martin (of ER fame).. anyway, that was today.. Life went on...
My husband, who is, in fact, the very best husband in the entire world, offered me last night to start putting up Christmas decorations this weekend.. I usually have to drag him kicking and screaming to get down the decorations sometime after we return from his folks' house on Thanksgiving... and eventually they make it down and it takes me a week to put everything up.. This year, he's trying to cheer me up, he offered to get things down THIS weekend.. and you know, I am going to take him up on it... we've both been talking Christmas for a couple of weeks now and why not???? there are no rules and regulations on when Christmas season can start and why not start a bit early?!? I'm actually very much looking forward to decking the halls, so to speak.. I even started my Christmas cards tonight!! hot diggity dog!!
Christmas is my very favorite time of the year, hands down.. and this year, I was a bit concerned since Santa is bringing a Wii and very little else, that perhaps I wouldn't be as "into the spirit" as I usually am.. but with a super supportive husband like mine, how could I be anything but?

So, my man, my mighty good man, comes home today from a super intense, hard day at work (well, okay, they had a golf tournament today).. he hands me a gift card to Best Buy.. evidentally, his foursome WON!!! how super cool is that!! they were -11 and the closest anyone was behind them was -5... not too terribly bad, if I do say so... and my sweetie, knowing that I'm a little blue as of late comes home and gives me HIS gift card, that HE won!! (of course I accepted it.. after all, Christmas IS right around the corner!! :oP )

small vs big

Well, it's been so long since I've made a post, it seems as if whatever I say ought to be very important.. well, it's not.. I'm struggling a bit and what I have to say seems rather unimportant!!
For so long, my life has been enshrined with a certain amount of safety... I've been the Children's Ministry Director at my old church (and yes, while there were certainly times of difficulty, it was all safe in the confines of my church)...
Recently, I've made the foray into the "real" world... and it's been quite an adjustment for me... I was (and still am) convinced that God wanted me to get involved with the PTC (read PTA/PTO whatever) at our new school... The principal at our old school said she was asked to give the principal at our new school recommendations and she did.. and my name was the only name she gave.. I prayed about it and here I am, president of the PTC... I know that I'm a natural leader and I've even learned over the years (with lots of errors made) how to be more of a leader and not so bossy (a process I'm still going through each and every day)... But man oh man, has this been a learning experience!! There are 6 distinct women on this board and each of us has our own idea of how things should work... most of the time it is a lot of fun to get to be so involved in what happens at my kids' school, however, like all things, there is a down side... there are disappointments and "things that should be done differently next year" around every corner.. For the most part though, I'm truly enjoying the challenges of PTC..

Another experience I'm going through is being the Cheer Director of our children's sports organization... I'm also Princess Kickapoo's Coach.. I shouldn't be her coach, since I never was a cheerleader (I did Drill Team in High School), however, a coach for her squad never materialized and so many a weekend was spent watching YouTube videos of cheerleading!! ha! The girls on her squad, 6 of them, are awesome!! I absolutely love them and will so very much miss seeing them each week now that cheer is over!!! The part that is right up my alley is the director part... that means paperwork, ensuring that everything is as everything should be, and keeping everything behind the scenes running smoothly.. and I thought that everything was going well, until 10 days ago!!

There was an email sent by someone trying to be helpful and trying to get volunteers (as this is an "all-volunteer" organization)... well, her wording was a bit harsh and then the emails started to fly... then I started getting calls from people complaining about one thing and another and as I was defending the person who sent the original email, I was told, "I don't know why you're defending her when she calls you a b**ch on a regular occasion!" Then another call came in verifying what the previous person had said.. All told, it appears that one particular person didn't like me and she evidently spent some time telling moms exactly how she felt.. many moms have come to me to say that they don't agree with what she said and in fact think I did a great job, but all I can seem to focus on is the one in 24 moms that wasn't happy and that spoke ill of me..

Then today came.. and as much as I tried to avoid the news and any reports of "early polling" the uneasy feeling came into the pit of my stomach as I realized where our nation may very well be in the next few years... I can honestly admit that I think I have been intentionally in denial of the fact that an extremely liberal person is being elected as president!

Between the PTC junk and the cheerleading junk and now the election stuff, I have had a knot in the pit of my stomach for literally 10 days... I was thinking of sending an email out to say that I was taking a vacation.. from life!! I just need some time to re-center myself...

The first words out of Jethro's mouth today as he heard my cries of pain were, "Have you been having your quiet time?" How Prophetic!!! of course my answer was, "No." I guess God uses what He can to get your attention.

In the midst of all my self-centered "feeling sorry for myself" a couple of other things happened.. I got an email from a friend who sent a link to an aquaintances CaringBridge account... This was not my first foray onto their site, but it certainly was enough to get me crying in a good way.. These folks, used to live here, he's a doctor - did Drama Queen's anesthesia when she had her tonsils out- have 3 kids and one of them is in pretty bad shape.. The worst part is they have absolutely no idea of what is wrong with him... They have seen specialists all over the country and he's getting worse... then I got an email today reminding me to go check out their site.. well, a few days ago, this precious 8 year old got baptized!! How awesome is our God!!! Here I am feeling sorry for myself that some random mom doesn't like me (oh my!! the world's at an end!!!) when I read this awesome blog of this wonderful family who is keeping their heads held high in the worst of times... What I want more than anything is to be someone worthy to be called "His"...

I don't know.. I don't know what to say.. what is too much to share and what is enough? who reads my silly blog but my father and me anyway?! I want to be an inspiration (what NOT to do --ha ha!!) and I want to be transparent to show others my failures so that they may be better able to succeed... but I'm feeling pretty low right now.. and pretty unsuccesful in that endeavor...

anyway, to read a truly inspiring and heartbreaking story, check out this blog.. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/grantd... I ask only one thing.. that you'll be praying for them!

School Days

Here we are, going into week 6 and I'm finally blogging about the First Day of School. It was pretty fun and exciting around our household, let me tell you.. Have you ever tried to get 4 little kids ready for school? on the first day?? We had lots of fun, let me tell you..
Our new school is -literally- in our back yard. We share a property line.. You walk down 3 houses, turn and walk 100 feet into the back entrance of the school! So, we all walked to school.. I tried my best to hit each classroom right as school started, but I must confess to you that elementary schools look more like college campuses to me!! they are enormous.. our campus was supposed to start this year with 350 students and we're already at 578!! wow!! and our school last year was 850! well, if you couple the numbers with the extra security features, like locking doors, and every entrance/ exit secured so you can enter and exit through one door only, it involves a lot of walking to get from the kinder wing to the 3rd grade hallway!
Drama Queen (5 year old in Kinder) of course was at the top of the priority list since this is in fact her first year in school! She was so very excited that she hopped, jumped and skipped to school! Her teacher totally ROCKS! I loved her at first site.. she's not like most kinder teachers who are real smiley and cheery and well, she's REAL!! but she's smiley and cheery as well!! I just love her.. anyway, Drama Queen walks into the classroom like she owns it and says hi to her friends (she knows 2 or 3 girls from Cheerleading and other places!) and waves, "goodbye mommy!" and begins coloring!! so much for teary-eyed departures!!
Princess Kickapoo and Laughing Son settled in quickly as well. and that was that! I took some pictures and headed home to a very quiet house with only Big Talker and me!

Then of course, what we've been waiting all summer for.. Drama Queen began piano lessons!!! woo-hoo!! she's been chomping at the bit to get started for real! and Mr. Flores came by after the 1st day of school and began anew all the lessons, including hers for the first time!

PTC Day, Migraine and Cheer Meeting

Ever have one of "THOSE" days? No, No, No... I mean one of THOSE days!! So, My mom is attending an artist workshop in Austin in a few weeks. I used to live in Austin and she is directionally impaired, so I agreed 2 months ago to drive her to the hotel where she's staying, then to the workshop, and back to the hotel... just to be sure she could figure things out.. Only one problem.. I wrote down in my day timer that this trip was tomorrow!! Nothing on the agenda for the entire day tomorrow.. for today.. now that is another story!! Today, I have my elementary school's dedication and my creativity meeting with my pastor and a Cheer Director Meeting on the other side of town.. I rearrange some things (thanks to my AHCIC on the board!!) and am able to head out right on time with Mom..
On the way, I notice that I'm getting a migraine (which really stinks, cuz I'm working with a headache clinic and had like 3 1/2 days completely headache free.. and they make you count EVERYTHING!! ) So, I immediately take the med they've given me ICE (for you non-texters, that is In Case of Emergency!).. an hour later, it's worse, so I take another one -as prescribed! It grows and grows all day until it's horrible!!!
Oma and I arrive back at home with my little angel who's been wonderful all day long today and hasn't complained once!!! She agrees to hang with all of the little bits who'll be home from school in 15 minutes and I head to bed with an ice pack for my neck...
When I awake, I'm doing MUCH better, although I still have a migraine.. I take an old stand-by which seems to work pretty well... I then head upstairs to print a copy of the AD that my cheer parents have all contributed to and which another cheer parent put together.. I need only to print it for my cheer director meeting later this evening.. Only one problem, my (&@#%w@^$%! printer won't print it!!! I reboot the computer and reboot the printer FOUR times !!! I google F340 HR printer E error fix and cannot find out how!!! argh!! I look at the clock and I'm running late so I throw the picture onto my new camera's flash card and head to Kinko's where the clerk there is AWESOME!! .69 cents and 4 minutes later, I'm heading out with our cheer ad for the program for our Cheer Competition in 2 1/2 weeks! sweet!!
On the way to an area of town I'm pretty sure I've never seen before, I miss one turn and end up in South America.. a few turns later, I'm back on track and now very late! I have to add here that I felt like some guera (pronounced weigh-da) which means white lady or literally blondie.. I was riding around in a neighborhood with which I was unfamiliar and lots of the signs were in Spanish and as much as I hate to shop, I was thinking of myself as some guera who lives in Suburbia and knows how to get to the shopping center and that is it!! but I digress!!
I did make it to the address, however, I was late. I was thinking up quick little quips to say as I walked into the room late... I parked and cleaned up the mess I had made earlier when my coke and ice spilled all over the floor boards as I copped an illegal u-ie. but it's all good!! I'm here!! only there are a hundred cars and lots of people and there's some sophomore planning meeting but I couldn't find the cheer directors meeting!! how totally frustrating (especially after the drive itself was over 45 minutes!!) So here I am, holding things I need to not be holding and unable to find the Cheer Director's meeting! yowza.. after having to cancel the creativity meeting, too.!!

Meeting is at 7pm and I'm finally arriving home around 9pm...having never found the meeting or anyone associated with the Cheer group... very frustrating!! I'll tell you!!
As for the whole school dedication ... never made it.. was fighting migraine and printer!

Cheerleaders & Football Players, Oh My!!

When Princess Kickapoo (8) was born, Jethro was cuddling with her next to the deliveray bed and called her his little princess. I grabbed him by the collar, pulled his tired, bleary-eyed, stubbled but starstruck face close to my 24 hours of labor and 18 of those sans an epidural face and said through gritted teeth, "You can call her 'baby' or 'sweetheart' or 'darling' or 'love' or anything else you want, but don't you ever, EVER call her 'princess!' "

You see, I was not your typical girlie-girl... I wasn't exactly a tomboy, but in no way shape or form was I what someone would call a 'princess.' Do princesses hit rocks while riding their skateboards (in a dress!) and slide across broken glass causing gashes to their tummies requiring 4 stitiches? No. Do princesses learn to ride trick bikes? No. Do princesses play RUGBY in college? Again, No.

I was adament- I would raise no princesses! My daughters would like to play with bugs (even if I get a little freaked out by them), my daughters would make mud pies and play "real" sports, like basketball or cross-country or swimming.. not dance team (which okay, I admit, I did in HS) or heaven-forbid, CHEERLEADING!! That is the epitome of princess-ness.

God let me know very early on that He's in charge AND He has a sense of humor! I remember that fateful day, when she was turning 4 years old and some forward thinking adult asked her, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" She replied, and this is a quote.. "A Queen, because I'm already a princess!" The next 4 years brought out the full Princess in my little girl as she was Cinderella every year for Halloween and every birthday party was a variation of a Princess party!

So, here we are 8 years later and while I buy both her and Drama Queen (5 year old) princess dolls and princess books and princess toys and even sew them beautiful, elaborate, hand-beaded princess dress-up dresses and paint pictures of them as princesses to decorate their PINK room, I still think I have some sort of say when it comes to Cheerleading! Drama Queen is petite and a monkey.. She's been in gymnastics since the week after her 3rd birthday and the eldest has tried a few things.. She loved dance, but outgrew it, she's tried softball and basketball (too agressive ... she gets the ball and hands it to that poor little sad sack who is not athletic but whose parents are forcing them to attend camp and says, "Here you go! You haven't had the ball yet."

Then about a year and a half ago two things happened. First was High School Musical ... need I elaborate? Next was a Family Health Night at school where cheerleaders from the local HS showed up IN UNIFORM and played with the kids showing them how to move around when they play and keep active. How's a Mom supposed to compete against that???? Since last summer, she's been begging to do cheerleading.. Finally, there was a 4 hour clinic, taught by the local HS cheerleaders at the local HS. She asked to go and I thought, "Here it is.. My chance!! I get to be the good guy and let her go 'do cheerleading' but it's only one time... one day... just four measley hours... then what else can I do? " I even let Drama Queen go. They had a blast and when it was time to pick them up, my shy little girl got up on that stage and cheered her heart out. She was so excited... it was all she could talk about.. and to make things worse, Drama Queen now decided she wanted to cheer too!

Broken and defeated, I took Princess Kickapoo to the local Tumbling Acadmey. She tried out a tumbling class and was so enamoured that she jumped, hopped and skipped back to the car!! "I love it , it was so fun!! I can't wait till I get to go again!! May I go twice a week instead of once only? " The very next day, that poor little girl fell off the playscape in the backyard and broke both bones in her left arm.. not fractured, but broke!! clean breaks! In her ever optimistic way, she commented that while she wouldn't be able to do tumbling for a while, "At least it is my left arm and I can still write!"

Eight weeks later, off came the cast, 2 weeks later, into tumbling she went. "This isn't so bad" I think.. she loves tumbling and this is good healthy fun.. and it will serve her well for VOLLEYBALL to be so limber and agile." While I sit each week and watch her learn to tumble, I listen to the other parents around me.. There actually is competitive cheer for little girls!? WHAT!?!? I thought it didn't start till junior high!!! Nope! now.. as soon as they can do back and springs (very difficult) they can begin competiting.. Of couse, it'll cost you $6000 per year to do it (I'm not making this up!! They even require that you set up an automatic direct electronic debit to them for 9 months in case you decide to quit during the season.. you'll still be financially responsible!)

Then came time to register Laughing Son (6) for football... He's been talking about football for months.. he can't wait to play football!!! he's so excited to play football!! we talk about the commitment, cuz he sort of waffled back and forth in baseball... As long as he was hitting (the ball to the back fence almost every time) he was good.. but come time to field and he wouldn't pay attention.. he would hustle only about 1/2 the time.. it was frustrating for us as parents to watch because we knew his capabilities (especially Jethro who was also his head coach!!). We explained the financial commitment (and how he would pay us back even if it took till he was out of college!! ) and the time commitment (just think TEXAS & FOOTBALL and 3 nights a week for a 6 year old shouldn't surprise you!!! I was told by a friend once, non-Texan native, AU grad... "I've seen high school stadiums in Texas bigger than college stadiums in Florida and Georgia!!") as well as the physical commitment.. he would be conditioning... running a lot!! and in big old heavy pads and a helmet and it would be hot!!! He was in!!

I have to be honest, here. If I have to spend the rest of his childhood watching him play sports, I much prefer football to baseball. However, DAD, who will be his COACH for anything and everything (except football ) following in the footsteps of HIS dad who coached every sport for all 3 of his sons, well, DAD likes baseball better. So, he was a bit disappointed that Laughing Son was so excited about football. However, we talked and we agreed to the commitment ourselves (that means one of us will have to take him to practice 3 nights a week for 2 hours per night). I went to sign him up and lo and behold ... there was sign up for Cheerleading as well.

hmmmm.... both of my girls want to cheer and the practice will be at the same time as football, so why not?!? I sign 'em both up! They were THRILLED!! I also signed myself up for coach! I know, I know... You're scratching your head and scrolling back up to confirm that I am in fact the same one who so vehemently hated cheerleading. Well, the thing is this... Princess Kickapoo's "love language" (read the book 5 Love Languages) is quality time and now that she's 8 and in third grade she's getting more and more independant.. AND Jethro is always coach which means I can't coach since we still have a little one to chase after... Since he had no inclination to coach football, HE could hang out with the little one! I would have to be at practice every night ANYWAY!!! So, why in the world not???

Ah, yes.. one small detail.. I don't know anything about cheerleading!! I don't know any cheers, I don't know any jumps, I don't even know "candlesticks" "blades" and "donut holes." I ask the ones in charge about this.. "Don't worry about that! The girls will be taught by a HS cheerleader and you will simply be 'the adult presence.'" YEAH RIGHT!! My HS'er had to quit after 2 weeks cuz she got her driver's license and had to get a job to pay for her own insurance!! Now What!?!?

Can you say, YOUTUBE? (that's YouTube.com for you uninformed old folks!) Anyone and Everyone can post absolutely anything in video form on youtube and that includes Cheerleading!! So, the past few weekends have been spent watching cheer stuff on youtube and learning motions and chants and cheers!!

The organization we're involved with is Pop Warner and they're hosting a city wide competition in October... The Oldest Squad will be competing (they're 9, 10, and 11 year olds) and my squad - the Mitey Mites and Drama Queen's squad - the Tiny Mites will be doing exhibitions only. The last week and a half, I've been splicing together songs from HS Musical and putting together 2 dance segments and 2 cheer segments for our exhibition... Somewhere in the middle of all that, I was watching Princess Kickapoo dancing/cheering around the house.. that is all both of the girls do anymore.. cheer and dance and sing their chants!!! So much so that even Jethro has all of their cheers and chants in his head and HE sings them to the girls all the time!! it is a riot! But I digress... I found myself, dare I say it?! If I write it here and then hit "post" it will be out there for all time.. once on the internet, it can never be taken off of the internet!!! Be brave, Tess, be brave.. you can do it... I found myself, HAVING FUN AT CHEERLEADING!!!! What's that old expression, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

Now I'm all excited about our squad's performance... we have even held an extra practice.. we'll probably be doing it again, too!! Just to be sure we're ready!! I even invited all the girls on my squad over for a sleep over!! They stayed up late and watched... 3 guesses and the first two don't count... HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!! The next morning, they all dressed up and then put on a play... HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!! We went out for do-nuts and instead of singing for their supper I had them cheer for their breakfast. They loved it..and everyone inside clapped as they entered the Shipley's. What fun... If only my friends from HS could see me now! ha ha...

Submission to God would be the lesson of the day.. I went from not caring too much for princesses and cheerleaders to being the spirited-staying-up-all-night to coreograph my cheerleading daughter's squads exhibition cheer (I mean, we don't even get points for Pete's sake!!) and having fun all the way. What an awesome God we serve.. If it weren't for Him, I'd eitherbe miserable right now, hating cheer, but doing it for my daughter OR not even allowing my daughters to do cheer and thereby missing out on all the fun they're having!!

Not to leave out Laughing Son and his progress... He is having the time of his life.. he tackles he runs he blocks... he started out having to prove himself.. it was his first year (he's on the Tiny Mite team.. 5, 6, and 7 year olds.. and some of these boys are in their third year of playing), so he had to prove himself... for the first 2 weeks, Pop Warner requires 20 hours of conditioning ... that is 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week for 2 weeks and that is all running, sit-ups and push-ups, running, jumping jacks, agility tracks, and a little more running!!! Although he is only 6, he evidentally is quite the runner! When the team (28 players) run laps, if they run 3 laps, he finishes around 4th or 5th and with 4 laps, he ends up about 6th. But if they are running only 2 laps, he is in the top 3 and has even finished first. You should see him at the end of practice... I need to get a picture.. he takes off his helmet and all these big ole honkin' shoulder pads and he's drenced to the core and his hair is so wet you can actually wring sweat out of it and he has this enormous smile -ear to ear- on his face!! He LOVES football (except for laps)... If you ask him if he likes football, he'll reply (EVERY time), "Yes, except laps!"

He works pretty hard at practice and then we had our first game and we were pretty disappointed to see him play for just a few minutes.. See, our little Laughing Son is pretty naturally gifted athletically.. good genes!! and he's really passionate about football and so we were saddened by his small amount of playing time.. Not to worry for long, though... during the next 2 weeks of practice (1 game canx'd due to Ike) he really showed his coaches what he has and at game number 2- He Started!!! He's on the line.. His job is to block the other team's guy from breaking through and tackling the quarterback (who, I might say, must be one of those kids who's been playing for 3 years cuz he's good and fast!!)... So, last week, the play started around the middle and Laughing Son is good... He starts pushing against his guy and holding him back.. the quarterback ends up keeping the ball and running it all the way down the field for a touchdown and as the camera pans back to Laughing Son, he is STILL holding his guy!! He's relentless!! And if he happens to see us, He's all smiles!! I'm so happy for him that he's found something that he is so excited about!!

I'm putting up just a couple of pictures, but I have uploaded them to site. If you'd like to thumb through more pictures, just email me and I'll give you the info you'll need.

Ike and G & P's beach house in Galveston

Where to start? I'll go backwards, I guess.. since that is how you would be reading it if I were any good at all at keeping up!!!

Hurricane Ike has come and gone. Jethro's parents own a beach house ON the water in Galveston's West End... Not much news and almost NO pictures coming out of the West End. 20 minutes up the road- Bolivar Peninsula- DEVASTATED!! from what we hear.. nothing left. Galveston Proper- we've all seen the pictures, waves breaking over the 25 foot tall seawall... even a few images from Jamaica Beach (about 4 miles away from their house)...destroyed homes making the front page of the Galveston newspaper.. but not a word about Terramar Beach or the West End.. technically, that isn't true... we were googling WEST END and Galveston and stumbled upon a Conspiracy Theory Website which believes the reason that home owners haven't had any news and haven't been let in is because of all the "floaters." Finally, friends of the folks got in their boats and toodled around. (Keep in mind that Grandmommy and Pop are in NC and still waiting to get the a-okay to be able to access their property in Galveston!! so all of their friends from the beach are trying to get them pictures and any news)

Well, all the waiting paid off today.. they got a picture (a distant one as all the roads are literally covered in sand and debris and you physically can not drive on them) which shows a few shingles blown off their house along with some siding that is missing and that is all!! Praise the Lord! It's the blue roofed one.

Frequent readers will know that Princess Kickapoo and Laughing Son spent a week there this summer (withOUT us and with only their grandparents!!) then the rest of the family joined them on the weekend.. Well, pretty much the oldest 3's prayers the past week have sounded something like this, "Please, God, keep Grandmommy's and Pop's beach house safe.. Please don't let Hurricane Ike mess it up cuz we like going there with them." Aren't kids the best?!!

So, although the in-laws still haven't seen it up close and personal, and they are still, in fact, in NC, the news looks promising for them and their little subdivision.. Praise the Lord for small miracles!

Okay, Jethro wants me in bed.. I'll finish catching up this next week or so.. have patience with the woman who lives by the Depeche Mode (or Depeche Commode, as we called them in my younger days) song says, "I just can't get enough." I'll clue you into everything, WITH pictures since I bought a new camera (actually, Santa delivered it early!).

My Man, the Triathlete!

4 years ago, our friend Scott, talked my Jethro into trying his first tri (athlon, that is). One step and Jethro was hooked. It took a couple years till he really started to try... Santa brought him a bike (Jethro used a mountain bike for his first tri... Bad Idea!! ), and he started really riding.. eventually, he carved out time to really train... He's training for an Olympic sized triathlon in Galevston in October. In the meantime, he decided to do the one that started it all for him. The Dam O8... It's a sprint Triathlon (distances in each event are much shorter than it's big brother, the Olympic one --they're both dwarfed by the Iron Man, but Jethro doesn't have time to train for that one (or maybe he just has too many brain cells!) ) anyway, it was this weekend and Jethro was ready. His goal - beat 1 hour. He shredded it!! He finished in just 56:21 and that gave him overall standing of 44th out of like 300 people! He was 10th in his age group - which is a very very competitive group... think about it. around 35, doc says you've got high blood pressure, you need to lose a few pounds, mid-life crisis says I can do a triathlon... anyway, when it comes to the swimming portion, he finished FOURTH OVERALL !!! He's still got it! I think he did a fantastic job!
by the way... in case you're asking, "Where are the photos, girlfriend?" Well, my camera is MIA... I think I'm going to break down today and buy a new one.. but till then, we're all out of luck. (although I did video tape him in action!)
PS if you know Jethro's email, shoot him a kudos.. (it's his name, first and last all one word @yahoo.com)

Cheerleading and Football

As if I don't have enough on my plate being the mother of four children 8 and under, being on the core team of 6 people who are starting a church in less than a month, being the PTC President for a school that hasn't even opened yet, I thought I should do one more thing!
Well, that's not exactly how it happened... I just registered Laughing Son for football. There were signs there for Cheerleading and both of my girls are really into everything cheer right now. So I signed them up! They can cheer together for their brother's team. And since Jethro doesn't want to coach football, I can be their cheer coach! What a great idea!! NOT!
Since I'm the first mom to sign up to coach, they ask me to be the Cheer Director.. (I'm told, "You get to assign the teams, the practice times and days and you have to go to a meeting once per month" that's it!) HA! I also asked about coaching, "Do I have to teach cheers?" "No! we have some high school cheerleaders come in and teach the cheers... you're just their sponsor, so to speak." HA!! I'm so cut out for the Director part... I'm an administrator.. I'm a do-er... I like to start things (this is only the second year our organization has participated with the Pop Warner franschise, so nobody really knows anything and there are no established perameters yet... right up my alley!) DOUBLE HA!!!
I am actually enjoying for the most part what I'm doing... I love the girls on my squad.. they're the best.. they all want to be here and they work hard and we're having fun! The director part is at times frustrating, but I'm getting it done... Due to regulations, Princess Kickapoo and Drama Queen are on different squads, but Drama Queen's squad gets to cheer for Laughing Son's games.. that's cool. Princess Kickapoo is a quality time person (5 Love Languages of Children) so that I'm her coach is great! We are trying to find another person, who has actually been a cheerleader before, to be the squad's HEAD coach (be praying!). That would be better since they'll remember cheers from HS or Jr HS... I spent about 4 hours yesterday working on putting together a cheer and then trying to memorize it for the girls! ouch!!
We do have a HS cheerleader, but she must take a real J-O-B soon to pay for car insurance, so her days with us are numbered....
As for the girls, they are loving it!! They practice their cheers all over the house.. they say them in their sleep.. They say them so much that Jethro actuall knows the words to some of them now and even got one stuck in his head all weekend! :o)
And Laughing Son... he's really digging football.... "except for laps." He comes home every night (and I do mean every night!.. the first 2 weeks he had practice Monday -Friday from 6 -8 pm... tehy have to do 20 hours of conditioning before they can officially start practicing! ouch!) anyway, he tells us how much he loves football, but everytime he says it, he ends it with "except for laps." it's very cute... And regardless if he likes running laps or not, he's on a team with 5, 6 and 7 year olds and he finishes 4th or 5th everytime...Not too shabby!
Games start September 6th.. Go Buffs!

Migraines, Schmigraines.

So, one of my best friends is nagging me... "I would check out the latest in your blog, except, oh yeah! there is no latest in your blog."
So, I returned from the mountains and I was a little worried... see each year, we go to NC and each year, soon after I arrive, I start getting headaches. Sometimes they last a while and sometime only several days.. but always there. Jethro has spoken often of the possibility of us moving up to Asheville and I secretly wince thinking that there is something in the air up there that I must be allergic to and that wouldn't be a wise of a choice to live. Upon arrival home, I was FED UP! I started, once again, to be very proactive in doing something about my headaches.
This is not the first time in the past 20 years I've really tried to figure my headaches out... in fact, it's my third time in the past 6 years. I've had MRIs, CAT Scans, X-Rays... I've been to accupuncturists (I highly recommend this!! it's better than a message!), neurologists, my OB/GYN to check hormone levels, even an ENT Dr... I had sinus surgery on the possibility that my headaches may be affected by a bone spur on the bone in my nose. (Yikes!! THAT was horrific!) But ultimately, to no avail. Headaches still there..
This time, I googled "headache clinic San Antonio." Up pops "The Headache Clinic." I check it out and make an appointment. My first appointment I see an MD and a PT. My appointment lasts for 3 hours!! (not 45 mins in the waiting room, then 14 mins with the Dr.... THREE HOURS with the PT and MD!!) The Dr asks me all kinds of questions, the normal background stuff. She asks then if I've ever had neck trauma... "hmm, Nope." "Have you ever been in a wreck?" "Well" I say, "I hit a tree going 40 mph. It was hard enough to dent the engine block of my mom's car, as well as knock a tooth out." "How long after the wreck did you start to get headaches?" she asks.. "About a year or so" I reply. "Do you think there might be a connection?" she says. So she gives me the normal neurological exam given for patients with migraines (it's to rule out a tumor, or disease, etc). I've taken this so many times, I feel a bit like Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (at least in the original) when Dr. Schelheimer gives him a competancy exam.... I know all the answers by heart! :o)
The Dr thinks that some trauma, probably the car wreck, strained my neck muscles and they've never had a chance to recover. She explains that the next 6 weeks we're going to treat my neck like you would say, a sprained ankle. That means trying to give my neck muscles a break. She wants me to lie down with my head slightly elevated (this takes the weight of my noggin off of my neck) and deep breathe to relax the muscles. I'm to do this 4 - 6 times per day for 20 minutes a pop! (Did I mention I have FOUR kids, 8 and under?!?) The idea is this... rest the muscle as much as possible (including muscle relaxers), do some specific exercises to strengthen, use lasers to stimulate growth, and avoid things that might cause the muscles to get stressed.
She then asked if I've ever noticed that I get headaches after a long drive. Hmmm, like 24 hours straight to NC? or like 5 hours to Galveston (we went to the beach the weekend after arriving home...and I spent most of Saturday in bed with a super bad migraine) "Why Yes! I do have headaches after driving." She tells me to think about how much stress that puts on your neck -having your head bounce around all of the place.. it's the worst thing you can do, she says.)
Then I see the PT who first tests the tension in my muscles in my neck with some computer gizzmo... One particular muscle is stressed out to 800% above normal! Yikes! The PT asks more questions and then starts doing funky things with my neck.. He gives me homework... to do these exercises every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. That's very often... but I promise to try.
I'm up for anything at this point in the game... I've had a headache, bad enough to take medicine, for the past 37 days. I go home and start to implement what I've been told.
My sweet Jethro tells me that I look like a deranged chicken as I'm doing my neck exercises. He strongly cautions against doing them in public!
Then 3 days later, I board a bus headed for Bryan. I must go to a Cheer Clinic in order to be certified to be a cheer coach for my girls. I consider not going... I mean it's a car ride.. but I really can't NOT go, so I put on my very attractive stabilization collar (think neutered dog) and climb aboard... Bad choice.. the next day, I'm in the Bryan Civic Center, lying on the cold concrete floor where thousands have tread (eewwwwwww! yuk!) trying to give my neck a rest cuz I've already taken two migraine pills and they're not working!!! Consider me hooked on this whole notion of a strained neck! (Great.. I still have a trip home!)
So, here we are, 2 weeks later... I must see the PT twice a week and the MD once a week. I'm charting and tracking my symptoms, along with how much medicine I am taking.. I'm impressed!!! My headaches are nothing compared to what they were! Yes, I technically still am having them, but their intensity is dramatically reduced and they last only minutes instead of all day (and if I do my neck exercises, I can make them go away!!)... I've not taken a migraine pill in a week.. It's wonderful!!! Even if I had to do what I'm doing for the rest of my life, it would be worth it... but the best part of all is that I DON'T have to do this forever... Like a sprained ankle, you rest it, rehab it and then gradually start using it again... well, the same holds true for the neck.. This is a 6 week course! I'm so soaking stoked!!!

End of Summer

Friends and Scorpions

I heard from Princess Kickapoo 8 and she told me all about the Rainforest Cafe and how awesome it was and how it looks like a real rainforest and it had thunder and lightening but no rain... She told me of the huge sandcastle she and Kyle built with Grandmommy and Pop and how it had seperate quarters for the boys and the girls and they were protected by the moat.. What fun.

Back here on the home front, I called up the parents of a friend of Drama Queen 5 and asked her folks if the friend could come over and spend the night. It worked out that she could and the girls had a fantastic time together. Drama Queen feels left out sometimes since there aren't any little girls her age right around our home. She knows one a couple blocks away, but she is a bit clingy to her mom and doesn't like to spend time away from her which makes it difficult to get her to come over to play. So it was extra special that her friend got to come over and even better that she got to sepnd the night. They played together all afternoon and then spent about an 1 1/2 in the pool. They were great with Big Talker 3, even asking him to come play with them instead of running him off. Then it was time for bed, around 9:30. Drama Queen sleeps in a loft bed (and has room under it to play) but her friend was afraid that she might fall out of the tall bed and Drama Queen is afraid of scorpions (more later) so they ended up sleeping on the couches up in the game room.. very cute!

The story of the scorpions is either funny or sad, but at this point it's probably getting close to being a real problem... See, Jethro put on his boots one day back in college only to get a nice sting in between his toes by a scorpion. Then back in San Antonio I was putting up Christmas lights and got stung by a scorpion. A few months later, I was lounging on the couch and a scorpion fell on me from the top of the couch and stung me. So, now that we're living in a neighborhood that is still under construction, there are plenty of opportunities for scorpions to visit us. Jethro has told the kids how to shake their shoes out in case of a scorpion and we've seen one in the house, upstairs in the bathroom. The bathroom which is right next to the girls' bedroom. Add all of that to a big brother who tells her at night as they are supposed to be going to sleep, that the scorpions are waiting to get her and I guess this is how full fledged phobias are born. We've talked to Laughing Son 6 about not telling her that kind of stuff, but I guess it's time to get serious... poor thing!

Anyhoo, her friend has gone and we're outside riding bikes and scooters and firetrucks and playing fetch wtih Blondie... not a single scorpion in sight.

A Cup Half Empty or Half Full?

Today is the first day with only 1/2 my kids. It was a tough choice whether to keep the bottom half or the top half, but I opted for the bottom half since at least then I could enjoy the silence. Well, okay that's not entirely true... I kept the younger half of my brood. The older 2 siblings are enjoying their very first ever vacation away from home without their parents. Yes, they have reached the age where Grandmommy and Pop can take them without us. So yesterday Jetrho drove Laughing Son 6 and Princess Kickapoo 8 half way between Houston and San Antonio to meet his folks. Princess Kickapoo was more than excited - rip roaring ready to go! Laughing Son cuddled with me several times before leaving and told me how he was giong to miss me while he was gone.. I think he was a bit anxious, but not so much as to keep him from going.
Last night I got an email from them saying that they missed me already and loved me.. that was nice. And today, Granmommy and Pop sent pictures and a note that said that Princess Kickapoo "told Grandmommy that this was the bestest day of her life. Really!"
So those of us left behine decided to make a special day of it. We went to the Children's Museum in New Braunfels. It is a magical place where kids can run around and play and never be told not to touch something or even to put away the toys! The space includes a rocketship with a million buttons, an ambulance complete with sirens, a hospital nursery with babies and rocking chairs and doctors and nurses garb to wear... there's a bank with an ATM which spits out money that can be turned in for a prize upon exiting, a batcave, a fishing pond, an old itmey farm house and 2 horses a teepee, 2 tents and a campfire, a house to build and my favorite of all, a kid sized store with kid sized shopping carts and kid sized check out lanes. Also, an HUGE outdoor water playscape and inside an entire room of easels and paint, ready to go. And the best part for me is that there are docents who walk around cleaning up after the kids... they put away the toys that my kids get out.. and my kids literally RAN all over the place from one area to the next. They had a blast!! It was a special time just for us since the other kids are at the beach.

A Tough Week

My babies leave for a week without us... :( they're getting too big!

It's been a week - we're back at home and trying to settle into our routine. But it's been tough. I had a cold that I brought back from North Carolina and add to that migraines, that equals a slow start... then Friday it turned ugly... 2 migraine doses and I started coughing up techni-colored pieces of my lungs! Ugh! I spent the night sleeping upright in bed, which is, let me tell you, Oh, so Comfortable. If you've never tried it, you really ought to, just so that you can write in your memoirs that you have. Went to the Dr who said it's a sinus infection- isn't THAT lovely?
So, our trip across the great divide known as the southern United States got off to a phenomenal start. 14 minutes away from Wolf Laurel, we had to stop at the pharmacy to pick up a refill on my migraine prescription... I'm just going to 'run right in" while Dad digs out a toy accidently packed away. 15 minutes later, Jethro comes inside and says, "WHAT IS UP?" See, my insurance company thought that they didn't need to have but a single lone soul working on Sunday morning, and the pharmacist wasn't sure they would cover a refill after just 2 weeks (it is usually a month, but I had been assured for this it would be only 2 weeks). Jethro said, "Forget it, you have 2 left. We can always stop somewhere else along the way ICE." So, away we went... approximately 17 minutes later, Drama Queen informs us that she has to "Go" and yes, it IS an emergency. We stop and she does in fact live up to her promise. Back on the road, and 25 minutes later a certain young man informs us that he has to go as well, and it's not something that can be done on the side of the road... So, we're about 56 minutes away from our point of origin yet already an hour and 40 minutes into our trip! Needless to say, Jethro was not the happiest of campers about these turns of events. I however was cracking up! Only in our family!
We did make it home and everyone was happy to see our own house. Drama Queen 5 was especially happy to see our family dog Blondie, over whom DQ had cried on no less than 3 seperate occasions. Equally happy we grown ups were to see an absolutely immaculate home... thanks to my mother! She was house and dog sitting and she is a fabulous cleaner and I swear, it was cleaner coming home than when we left, and it was clean when we left.
All that soon changed though, as the Organizing Bug hit me. See, while in the mountains, I discovered a tv show called Clean House. (if you are familiar with it, skip ahead.. It's a show where people nominate loved ones to have their homes cleaned up and organized. You would be amazed at what filth some people live in.. Cluttered and dirty and NOT organized.) So, I get home and unpack... or start to unpack when I realize that my cabinets under the bathroom sink are not organized. And the cabinet in the toilet room is also not organized. Then I pull out some shelves from the garage that haven't been used since our last house and get everything ready to put them up in our closet, which is, well, semi-organized. Jethro comes down and insists that these shelves are too small and maybe we'll get new cabinets in the laundry room and I'll get the shelves from in there.. well, I'm a woman of the moment, the here and now, not the "maybe in the future" and that won't do... So, I start reorganizing everything in my bathroom, closet and my bedroom .. I get all the VHS tapes (yes, as in the Very great mass of disney Handed down to us by everyone we know with older kids cuz we Still have a video tape player in which our kids can watch them) and reorganize them and take all the DVDs and place the discs themselves into sleeves and pack up the cases in the attic and now we have all movies put away and not neatly stacked in our room (phew!)
Three days later, my cabinets would make even the most OCD of people (and you know who you are) proud, and I'm still sick and feeling lousy ( but I have CLEAN and NEAT cabinets). I even took a very long and very hot bath (and that is a very big deal.. I never take baths.. Jethro does occasionally and he was amazed to find me in the tub with the lights off and a candle on)... I can tell you that I will most certainly be doing that again!

I love listening to my kids talk... "Momma, will you inside-out this shirt for me? It's too soaking hard for me. I'm trying to do it faster... like this fast (said as he runs out of the room and back)" Or how about this one, "I want to stay it right here" (None of my kids know about the word KEEP, they all use "stay it" instead)

As for the rest of the week, I finally was able to check email around Thursday night (could finally tolerate the light of the monitor) and opened my inbox to discover that I had more emails in it than I did when I had a real job and left for vacation. It's tough being a stay at home mom (of course, being the Cheer Comissioner for the BVYA, the PTC President and the webpage designer/advertising person for your new almost ready to launch church helps! ) No rest for the weary... (that's an interesting phrase, now isn't it.. and one that I'm living this week!)

Jethro, Tess, Jed and LilyMae

I'm so about the 4th of July up at Wolf Laurel. We've been here 4 years together and in that time we've met a few polite folks who know Mom and Pop and politely visit with us while at the Friday Niters or what-not. This trip, we've met a few folks we actually like! ha! You know what I mean.. where you like her and he likes him and you both actually like the whole couple and enjoy the entire time together AND your kids get along and they're the right ages and.. well, you know!

Recently, Jethro and I went to Vegas with some friends, Mike and Sheri. Jethro likes Mike alot and I like Sheri alot and you know, it's hard to find friends where you both like each other alot... We had such fun in Vegas with Mike and Sheri! It was our first trip with another couple and it was fun.

Well, we met another Mike and Sheri this week. In an effort to protect their privacy I'll call them, hmmmmm, how about Jed and LilyMae. Jed and Lily Mae are Chloe's and Kendall's parents who Kickapoo met earlier this week. We've chatted a bit and enjoyed each other. Then last night was 4th of July and we spent the evening together and the kids all got along and we got on famously. So today, the last day of the vacation.. we "said" we'd get together, but did we really want to spend our last day with some folks we might never see again? Did they really want to spend their last day with us? YES! We called and set up dinner... they supplied a million dollar view in their beautiful cabin and Jethro supplied leftovers mixed with freshly cooked chicken for a delicious dinner. We finished it with some wine and delicious cobbler that Jed's mom made. As the 6 kiddos sat frozen in front of the television, we adults visited outside for another couple of hours. None of it felt labored, none of it felt strained. It just felt comfy and that is a nice feeling. Too bad they live in Florida and we're in Texas....

I'm attaching a picture that Princess Kickapoo 8 took right as we were leaving... check out the camera angle (from a kid's view) as well as some of the kids on the couch hangin'.

Specifically check out Laughing Son 6 and Chloe.... As inseperable as Princess Kickapoo 8 and Chloe were (let's see if I can explain this... hmmm, Can you say, "Joined at the hip?") tonight, the same could be said for Kendall and Laughing Son... they were really having fun together. And she has this huge stuffed bear, Ofa, who she sleeps with and who is her big time favorite that Laughing Son 6 carried around all night and she let him!! It was very cute. Jed said something about getting Laughing Son 6 one of these when we get home, but I don't think it was the bear he was interested in, more likely the person attached to the bear! (on a side note, I'm glad he was able to have fun with Kendall... he didn't get to spend as much time with Peyton as he wanted to -life's not fair :o( - and he was a bit pouty earlier today about that).

I know I'm sounding sappy here (blame it on the wine) but I am still thinking Beaches!!!

4th of July - Mountain Style

Princess Kickapoo, Chloe and Kendall in the parade. Princess Kickapoo and Kendall climb the rock wall.

Laughing Son (on the left) scales the wall as well.
Big Talker stopped the parade to grab some candy along the parade route.

Laughin Son, Big Talker and Drama Queen really cleaned up on parade booty.
For the past several years, we've heard about the 4th of July at the cabin. This year we finally got to experience it. What Fun! There were 3 large inflatables for the kids, including a 20 foot tall rock climbing wall. There was a face painter, cotton candy, sno-cones and popcorn (all you could eat) and a great band started playing around 6 pm. I got to try some North Carolina barbeque, whose sauce is vinegar based rather than ketchup. Different and yummy!

Before that, though, we drove up to the country club and watched the annual pet and golf cart parade. All the way up the mountain, we kept telling the kids not to be expecting much. It will be small and not very long and not very elaborate, we said. Upon arrival, we had to park and walk a bit, but especially Princess Kickapoo 8 and me. See, she was invited by her friends Chloe and Kendall to walk in the parade with them (we tried to get a cart but found out a bit too late). So up the very steep road we climbed until we found all the carts getting all lined up. What a thrill for an 8 year old to get to walk in the parade!! All in all there were probably 30 golf carts. (we saw Savannah as well). All were 4th of July/America proud type themes and a good many were Olympic themed with the Olympics around the corner, but no matter the theme, we were pretty impressed with the amount of work and effort put into these carts.. They were great! And each cart had candy and toys for the kids along the route (which is all of a 1/2 mile long), so my kids cleaned up on candy- after all we did have 3 sets of hands grabbing for them!

Afterward we had eaten and the kids had faces painted and tummies full of goodies, about 30 minutes before fireworks, it began to sprinkle. We gathered up our wares and headed back to the cabin, where we were sure we'd be able to see them just fine. But by the time we arrived home, the rain had stopped and so we grabbed our chairs and sparklers and headed back down. Remember me telling you about the man smoking on the porch of a fireworks store, directly in front of a "Fireworks: Do Not Smoke Within 50 feet" sign? Well, when Jethro had gone in to buy the sparklers, the guy in the store assured him that these new wooden ones don't burn as hot and therefore are safer for little kids. OK, we're in. What he failed to mention is that they put off enough smoke to give an 8 year old emphysema!! WOW! they were SO smoky.. the kids didn't seem to mind and we had like 80 of these things so we attracted every kid on the mountain and they were all lit directly in front of us! ha!! what a blast!

The actual fireworks show was well worth it... it lasted a good while and packed a powerful punch. Once again, the smoke was a bit thick as we were at ground zero to see the display (we've never been so close before). But it was all good.. especially since Big Talker didn't cry this year like he has always done in the past at the noise.

As for us grown folks, well, we actually rather enjoy the company of Chloe's and Kendall's parents and we all hung out together for the evening. We shared some wine and laughs and visited until 1030. Not to mention all the great folks who know Jethro's parental units and recognize him and they came to visit us as well.

Learn Something New Every Day

I had a bit of a breakthrough today. I know that boys are nice. I know that they are not all meaners who only enjoy acting like turkeys. I know that they do not live to pick on littler boys... But I got to see a few of them in action today and learned that they are actually (dare I print it for all to see?) sweet!

After our trek to the icy cold, difficult to navigate, long to drive to, muddy on the entries and exits and no place to sit river, the kids appetites for swimming had been whetted. So after Jethro took a tee-tiny nap (that bug is visiting him now) we all went down.

Our little ones enjoyed the warmth of the standing water (the in pool temp gauge read 90 degrees- every one of the kids checked it! ha!!) and had the pool to themselves just about. Until the big boys came. There were 4 or so big boys, one of whom brought along his young brother/nephew/cousin. These big kids started whopping and whooping each other with noodles and jumping on each others' heads and splashing and rough-housing together. My motherly instincts bristled a bit. Would they accidently hurt my young? (I felt like an anthropologist studying a newly discovered tribe of hooligans) What do you think happened? Do you think one of them hurt one of mine? NoPe! In fact, here's little Big Talker 3 who got ahold of their ball (the one they had been hurling at each other and leaving large round welts on each others' backs) and asked, "Will you throw the ball to me?" At which point, this boy stops his interaction with the other wild ones and takes a few steps backward and gently tosses the ball to Big Talker. He did this for a few minutes until Big Talker lost interest.

There were other such moments as these and it was then that I realized that unlike my preconceived notions of teenager boys, these were actually gentle to the little ones and careful around them. They even were sweet in ways which surprised me... I guess you really do learn something new every day.

Pictures... The kids trying to get Dad in the pool. Noodles tied into knots are what the girls love! Laughing Son doing cannonballs.