Just a quick one from Grace...

I know your night would not be complete without yet ANOTHER "funny" from Miss Gracie, so here you go!

Here is my young lady playing with her crazy Uncle Matt.  She loves him a whole lot.Any-hoo, on with the story.

Today we had to go to the "big town" to buy groceries and animal food and get my oil changed in the jeep, and all kinds of other FANTASTICALLY boring errors.  The girls were really pretty good, so we went to DQ to get some ice cream.  Grace got pretty excited about this information, and shouted, "Oh, good!!  I want one of those chocolate buzzards!"  Buzzards.  OH!!!  She meant "blizzards"!!  

Ha!  They will forever more be known as buzzards at this house...

Kate shows off...

Kate loves to sing.  And, really, she's pretty good at it.  Our little elementary school does a talent show every year on the last day of school.  They choose about 15 acts out of the school to perform.  Each grade level has a little "mini" talent show, and then the best acts move on to the big talent show.  I've been trying for 4 years to get Miss Kate to try out, but she always backed out at the last minute, or just didn't want to. This year she tried out, and made it.  So, even though she was pretty nervous, she sang for the whole school today.  I was so proud of her!  I've uploaded the video of her singing.  The picture isn't really great, and I didn't have anything to set the camera on, so it moves around, but you can hear her pretty well, at least.  She did wonderfully.  I am so proud of her!!

15 Years Ago TODAY...

...I married the love of my life.  We looked a little bit like THIS...In 15 years, we have lived in 5 different cities, and between us have graduated 3 times.  We've brought 3 lovely daughters into the world, and, some days, we wish we would have  a few more!!

15 years later, we look a little like this...

... and I must say, he's STILL the love of my life.  Happy Anniversary, babe.  I love you.  Thanks for giving me this beautiful, wonderful, crazy life!!!!!

Tri, Tri Yet Again!!

Yesterday I went off to do another triathlon with hubby and some friends.

It was REALLY hot in Austin yesterday.  

But we made it.

I don't have any fabulously funny stories about bloody feet and being scared of sharks this time... everything went very smoothly.  

Except, DANG!!  Was it ever HOT!!!!

I (of course) didn't take my camera, but a couple of friends did, so hopefully I can mooch some photos from them!!  If I can, I might post them later...

Happy Tuesday!!  (Even if it has felt like Monday all day long!  :-)

And, there are only 2 and 1/2 days of school left!!  Can I get a "hallalujah and amen" on that one?!?!?

Bring on the SUMMER!!!  We are R-E-A-D-Y!!!!!!!!!!

The New "Do"...

Today I went in to a new hairstylist and I was READY for a change.  I was pretty sure I wanted something shorter and darker.  I have been "blonde-ish" forever, even though I'm not really blonde anymore.  I finally decided to get back to my "natural" color, even though I wasn't quite sure what color that was anymore!    So, I did it.  Major change.  Here's my "after" picture (warning:  it's not a great photo... I hate pictures of myself!!  But, at least you can see the hair!)Ta-Dah!!!  The new me!!  What do ya' think?

Take Me Out To The Ball Park...

Kate had a math project to do this week.  They had a big project due in class  where they had to design a baseball or softball stadium.  They had to figure area and perimeter and plan out where to place restrooms and concession stands.  They had to plan sidewalks and entryways and stands.  It was a pretty neat project.  For extra credit, they could construct the stadium and bring it in to class.  Of course, Kate wanted to build the stadium.  What did he choose as her building material?  Candy, of course.

Here's a shot of the finished stadium.  (Now, just imagine that I had taken the time to remove the plastic wrap before snapping the photo.  Hey, it was late.  Don't judge me!  :-) )Welcome to "Fireball Stadium... Home of the Lady Dragons"!!  The outer walls are made out of vanilla creme wafers, stuck together with frosting.  The bleachers are made from twizzlers.  There are "fire pits" throughout the stadium made of gum drops.  The infield is crushed oreo "dirt", and the outfield is coconut with green food coloring.  The sidewalks are made of vanilla wafers, and they have the players' numbers on them.  The outfield wall is made of gumdrops.  If you look in the lower right hand corner, you can see a tiny dragon, made of gumdrops.  In the lower right hand corner, you see a softball, which is an oreo covered in white frosting and red food gel.

Whew!  It took us forever to finish it, I won't lie.  (Now, the kid had BETTER make an A in Math! ha ha)

Texas Day

Each year the girls' elementary school has a "multicultural" day.  This year, their teacher (who does AMAZING productions, by the way!) decided to study and present information about Texas and all the things that make it special.  

Kate had to dress like a modern-day cowgirl.  Her grade danced traditional cowboy and cowgirl dances like the Cotton-eyed Joe and the Shodish.
Abby's grade represented the "Yellow Rose of Texas", and they danced the Two Step.  I must say, they were pretty cute!
Kate was also one of the two girls chosen to sing the Texas state song, "Texas, Our Texas." She sang beautifully!!
Here is Abby, dancing with her partner.
It was awesome!!  Great job, girls!!

The END of T-Ball...

This year was Abby's last year to play T-Ball... I am a little sad about that.  She has really enjoyed it, and she doesn't really like most sports.  I hope she will continue to like playing and will continue on into softball next season.  

Here are photos of her last game.

At the end of the game, she got a medal.  
Fine job, Abby.  Fine job.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommies out there!

Did you have a fabulous day?

I certainly hope so!

Today was great.  My hubby and children brought me BREAKFAST IN BED.  And I was still asleep when they opened the door.  It was amazing.  I highly recommend it!

We went to church, and then after church went to a "big city" for a little shopping and a fabulous meal.  I  *heart*  PF Chang's!!

As soon as we got home, it was time for bath and bed.  (Which, really, is the best part of any day! ha ha)

To make life even better, tomorrow is THE LAST MONDAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.  

Life does not get much better, internet-y people... it's the little things that make me happy.

Happy Mother's Day.

Bake Sale Update...

 My LANDS, people, when I tell you we are having a bake sale, I mean BAKE SALE, in capital letters!!  We had THE MOTHER of all bake sales today.  I've never seen so many sweet things in my entire life... tables and tables and tables of sweet things.  We sold and sold and sold.  It was amazing.

The most amazing thing, however, is that we made A LOT of money to help bring little Maya home to her family, who already loves her so much that it hurts them not to have her here already.

If you helped, thanks.  If you bought something, thanks.  If you just said a quick prayer for us or even gave us a kind thought, thanks.  It was great.

BAKE SALE!!!

Just a reminder... if you live here in the big H-town, tomorrow is our big BAKE SALE on the square in front of the grocery store.  All the proceeds will go to help with costs associated with the international adoption of Miss Maya by the Felton Family.  (Sharon is a bloggy buddy of mine, as well as a dear friend... her blog is on my side bar, so if you're not familiar with their adoption story, go read up on it!!!)  

Bake something to donate!!!  Or, better yet, come and buy something to eat!!!!!  

See you there!!

Smart Girls...

I have smart girls.  I am very proud of that!  They ARE smart, and they (at least for now) enjoy being smart.  This week was the annual GT project presentation night, and the girls did not disappoint.  Abby researched "Dolphins", while Kate took on the in-depth topic of "leukemia".  Their projects were fantastic.

Here is Abby posing with her best bud, Lainey.  Miss Lainey is also a smart girl.  (We're pretty proud of her, too!)Here is Kate with HER best bud, Cat.  Kate and Cat teamed up to research leukemia together.  They learned A LOT.  (Cat is also a smart girl.  Go smart girls!!!!!)

We're proud of you ALL, girls!!  Way to go!!

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie...

You know how there are just some kids who have to figure things out the hard way?  Well, I have one of those.  Her name is Grace.  Last week, she was playing at the park during Kate's softball game.  Our middle child, Abby, was also playing there.  Luke and I were watching them from the bleachers.  Luke walked over and told Gracie very specifically that she WAS NOT to walk in front of the swings, because she could get hurt.  Did she understand?  Oh, yes, she assured him, she understood.  (I know you know where this is headed...)  In about 15 minutes, Abby came running over to get us because (you guessed it!)  Grace had run out in front of the swings and got kicked in the eye.  Hard.  Here's what she looked like.
It was the biggest, nastiest black eye I've ever seen!  When she woke up the next morning, her eye was swollen quite a bit, and she told us it hurt to blink.  I'll bet it did, baby, I'll bet it did!  But, she's learned a lesson... even if it had to be the hard way!!