A Little Break

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!! It's the same ol' excuse, but completely legit, ask anyone! It has been (and continues to be) extremely busy! It seems like every night and/or day there has been something going on. There's just not enough time in the day. I'm not sure how long this post will be since it's already almost 10:00. It took a while to upload all those pictures below.

I have to start by giving a shout out to my niece, Brittany Ryan. We've spent many of the past days watching her "lasts" of everything. Last Youth Orchestra concert, last SHS concert, last flute recital, and the list goes on. In that time, she has been awarded with numerous scholarships and prestigious awards. You can read RC's blog here to get the run down. But she received the highest award from her band and we were sooo proud of her! I know we've all said it before, but Brittany has made us all so proud and we can't wait to watch where she goes from here!

Before the SHS spring concert was the Annual Chili Cook-Off that raises money for the Band seniors for scholarships. You may remember that I won last year. Plus I had won "Best Presentation". This year I worked my tail off to make a ton of chili because last year we had run out and I didn't want that to happen again. Plus my chili was delicioso!! My Mom entered this year too,. Kevin and Ally wimped out this year...they knew they couldn't beat me :). Anyway, I lost. I didn't even win best presentation and I had a freakin' "Kid's Korner" with little smokies, goldfish, and cookies. I was so robbed! You should have seen the table that won, it didn't even compare to my awesome table! Regardless, it was for the seniors, and I'm glad I was able to help. I did win "People's Choice" thanks to Sherry giving a generous donation. It cracked me up because my prize was 50 gallons of water from the local health food store. Which is a nice prize, but it says "BYOB...bring you own bottles". hehehe, okay, I have 50 gallons of bottles laying around the house! Too funny! Thanks to Jessica and Sherry for being a big help in getting me and my table cleaned up afterwards and everything loaded into the car. Thanks to Kevin and RC for getting me set up and unloading the car! Brian was home with the kiddos, so it was helpful to not have to worry about them.

Yesterday was my Dear Mom's 60th birthday! We took her to J.R.'s Steakhouse in Grapevine for an awesome dinner! Probably the best steak I've ever had. Definitely rivaled Del Frisco's. Woo, it was hard parting with that chunk of change, but it was well worth it for my Mama! Then afterward we had a little "surprise" party for her at her house. We had her cousins and a few of her closest friends there. John gave it away earlier in the day, but it was nice nonetheless. A HUGE thank you to Jessica for babysitting Addy for us!! She ended up spending the night so we wouldn't have to wake her up and she behaved well (or so I'm told) and all was well! It was so helpful because the kids stayed at my Mom's house while we went to the restaurant and Brittany set everything up. It would have been too much for her to watch Addy and get everything ready for the surprise portion of the evening. I'm just thankful that Addy wasn't too much trouble for them! Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!!

Earlier that day me and Ash went to Noah's birthday party (my friend, Alma's son). He turned 2 and is just such a cutie! It was at the Mesquite Aquatic Center. It was a neat little place that had a splash park and a separate pool. A special thank you to the Harris' for watching Addy while me and Ash went and Brian was working. Starting to see a pattern? My kids were passed around all over the place! LOL! But understand, I never ask anyone to watch Addy. Her whole 16-months on this Earth, I can count on one hand how many times I have had someone watch her. I always worry that my "spirited" child will be too much trouble for someone. But as it turns out, she is only "spirited" for me and Brian! The little sucker was an Angel for the Harris' and the Rogers'. Interesting, huh?!?! But I am very thankful! I guess I may have to have people watch her more often! :) Oh, and Ash didn't want to leave the party early to go get ready fro my Mom's shindig, so Deena and Kevin (more friends) offered to let Ash stay longer with them and take her home with them since they live in Bedford right down the street from my Mom and I could pick her up before going to Mom's. So I agreed. This was unusually hard for me. Not because I don't trust them, because I do, like my own sisters. But we were in Mesquite. It just felt weird leaving her in Mesquite. So far from home. But I did, I left her in Mesquite, and of course, everything was fine. Except I'm a bad Mom and accidentally took her shoes with me so she was shoeless. Kevin was nice enough to give her a piggy back ride to the truck when they left. Deena is due in August and looking quite pregnant these days! She looks very cute carrying that little girl! There 1st child was a boy, Jack.

Yesterday me and the Girls went to my Dad's for his Memorial Day party while Brian went down to Arlington to his Mom's to replace part of her fence. We swam for several hours and Addy loved it. Luckily, Dad had warmed the pool to 84, because I am quite the wimp with cold water. Addy cried for about the 1st 3 minutes and was more than content for the next 2 hours! Ashleigh is still wearing her floaties. Her ears have really set her back in her swimming. She still won't put her face in the water. We have got to get her in swimming Lessons before the darn floaties don't fit her arms anymore! She is almost 6 years old after all! But she had a great time! Unfortunately, we had to miss Allie's (my friend, Meredith's, daughter) 6th birthday because of Dad's party. I believe it is the 1st party we have missed of hers, but she understood the craziness of our schedule and I was able to give her gift to Alma to give to her since she was going to her party. It, too, was a pool party. I hope Allie had a VERY Happy Birthday!

Here are some photos from the past 2 weeks:

Peyton at the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra concert at Bass Hall:



Brittany is there in the middle at the FWYO concert at Bass Hall:



Addy trying on Peyton's headband, she loves that thing!



Addy at sissy's Field Day, she was a very good girl:



RC, the PE Teacher's Aide, at Field day, working hard:

Ash at Field Day at RC's event:

the sponge event:

Addy loving sissy's sunglasses:

Ally and Brittany at Mom's birthday party:

Mom with her cousins (Cindy, Connie, Mom, and Cathy):

Daddy and Ashleigh at Mom's birthday party:

Self-explanatory:

Joy did a FABULOUS job on the cake!

Peyton and her Mommy at Mom's party:

The Brother's-in-Law at the party:

RC and Britti at Mom's party:

Me and Brian being silly taking a picture of ourselves:

Brittany was trying to jump in front of every picture I took! She's such a brat!:

Steve and Brian (yup, that's Brittany in the background, see what I mean?!?!!?)

Ash claiming her position at the food table:

Her partner in crime, Peyton, on the other side of the food table:

At Dad's party yesterday:

Me and my P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S Girls:

Addy's 1st dip of the season didn't make her too happy at first:

Pretty Sydney:

Today, at Brian's Mom's house. Brian and Addy:

My VERY tan Ashleigh (after only 3 days):

Super Star:

Daddy and his Girls:

From l-r: Ashleigh, Margarete, Kaileyanna, Tante Dagmar, Tekoa, Addyson, Brian, and Katie up top:

My Sweet Baby toddler:

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Geesh, now it's 11:00!!! Sleep Tight!

Almost Friday

I know, I know...me of all people know how frustrating it is to check someones blog expecting to get an update just to be disappointed with no update. I am sorry! I just haven't felt like it plus it seems my evenings have been filled with grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, constant de-cluttering, etc. Anyway, I am here now, so here it goes.

I had to go to the S.A.M.E. (Society of American Military Engineers for those of you who don't habla) meeting on Monday at the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth. I don't know anyone there, so it's kind of awkward for me. But the lunch is always great and the presentation is usually pretty interesting. I'm required to go every month now, so I'll hopefully get to know some people. Luckily, Ally was nice enough to watch Addy for me while I went. I already have her on the schedule for June 1st for the next meeting. Fun times!

Well, we are officially on our new "Dave Ramsey budget" courtesy of Kevin. We started last Friday when I got paid. We have in black and white where every penny needs to go, so hopefully we will be financially "free" by the time we are ready to retire. I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel, we're pointing towards it, and hopefully we'll get closer to it in a few months! I've forgotten some little miscellaneous expenses here and there, so the budget needs some tweaking, but all in all, it's going well so far. We even had a few bucks left over for the week as our fresh money starts tomorrow! Woo-Hoo. Paying cash for everything is a change for me, but I'm adjusting fine to it. Brian's doing good too, he still has the same $20 in his wallet that I gave him a few days ago. We'll keep you posted on our progress, I'm excited about it!

We heard some good news that Uncle Richard didn't have to start his chemo this month after all because all of his counts/numbers were very good. They will monitor it again in June and go from there. He thinks it was a gift from his Mom in Heaven as they found out on what would have been her 93rd birthday. Go Uncle Richard! We're pulling for you!

As I mentioned, yesterday would have been my Grandmother's 93rd birthday. We sure miss her a lot. Dad still makes an electronic birthday card every year and shares it with his brother and all their children. She was an extraordinary woman, both of my grandmothers were. I've been without grandparents for several years now and never even knew either of my grandfathers. There are times I feel I've been deprived of one of life's little pleasures because of it, but my grandmothers were so full of life, I never really realized it until they were gone.

The Cleaning Lady came today...nothing better than the feeling of a clean house for the 10 minutes it stays clean! Ahhhhh.....

Ally and I turned 37 last Friday...oh my goodness, 40 is right around the corner, I can't even believe it. We went to a little place near the York's house to eat called "Taste of Italy". It's an old Dairy Queen and I must say, it was VERY delicious! I must go back soon because their breschetta (sp?) was to die for and I can't wait to try the spaghetti and meatballs! YumYum! Anyway, enough said about being old! UGH!

Onkel Johann and Tante Dagmar (or Opa and Omi as the kids call them) are in town and I finally got to see them this past weekend. They look FABULOUS!! They are such nice people and we enjoy their time here. I'm sure I'll have some pictures of our visits with them soon.

Addy had her speech evaluation with ECI this past Friday. They have to evaluate for all areas of development. The results showed she is at least 3 months ahead in all areas of development except speech. In speech, she is 3 months behind. However, in order to qualify for their program, she has to be 6 months behind, so they didn't accept her. On one hand, I was happy that she wasn't "delayed" enough to qualify. But on the other hand, I was disappointed that she wasn't going to get the help from the Agency that I wanted her to get help from. They said they would mail me some tools I could use to do it myself, but I haven't received it yet. I feel bad that I could have been taking her to Baylor all this time and she could have been already getting better. But I also know that I and her Doctor are being VERY proactive and aggressive with wanting her to get therapy. So I'm going to relax a little, work with her as much as I can, and see if she jumps a hurdle. We'll just have to wait and see.

Ashleigh finished all of her readers. Well, I thought so. Apparently, there is a whole nother set they can start when finished with the other one. Definitely more challenging. The one she's doing now works on the "ar" sound. Like spark, star, park, barn...she's getting it, but we're having to work harder at it. She'll get it right n one page, and mess up on the next page on the exact same word. It's frustrating, but we'll get there.

My friend, Deena, is already 27 weeks along in her pregnancy. I can hardly believe it. I don't remember if I told you but she is having a girl. She wanted another boy but seems to be adjusting to the idea of a girl. I'm so happy for them that they get to experience the joy of having a baby girl! I will never know the joy of having a baby boy, but I'm always thrilled for parents that get to experience both! They haven't decided on a name yet but hopefully they won't be as bad as me and Brian with that!

Brian's definitely been working hard...he went to bed at 9:45! It's only 10:12 right now, but I could tell he was so tired! Poor guy! The heat index will be close to 100 tomorrow, so I suspect the phone will ring quite a bit.

Here are some pictures I took the past couple of nights while Brian was working late (click each one to enlarge):

The dogs fighting over the ball:



Addy wanting to sit in that chair so bad:



Ash LOVES to pose for me:




Sally:



Shasta:

Ashleigh always loves to swing:

Addy just loves to be outside period:

Posing again with my Begonias (her idea). Look how nice and green our lawn is, I love it:

I can't get enough of Addy's smile:

Ahhhh....

Happy Addy:

Happy Ashleigh:

Addy LOVES to watch the dogs eat. The dogs do NOT love Addy watching them:

Pretty girl:

That smile again:

Still watching the dogs:

These are from today, the above was yesterday. Ashleigh loving on her sissy:

Big Hug:

Patty Cake:

Oh Addy, don't tackle me:

Strike a Pose:

Her "So Big" pose:

Ashleigh loves picking up her sissy despite the heartburn it gives her mother:

I thought this was funny, Ash jumping off the end of the slide:

Playing with Sissy's necklace:

I just love those eyes:

I hope you all have a VERY Happy Mother's Day and a GREAT weekend! Sleep Tight!