Marriage

I was reading an article on a blog the other day about marriage.

And this quote jumped off the page at me.

“Don’t look at someone else’s marriage and let it define yours.  The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and your marriage is as unique as your DNA.  What you do may not work for other people, but you’re not married to other people.  Make the choices and live the life that is right for the two of you and let go of your preconceived notions of what marriage is supposed to look like. Trust me, you’ll be so much happier that way.”

This statement could not be more true. It even brought me back to a time years ago when a friend judge my marriage. At the time Hubs was a coach and was gone a lot. And when I say a lot I mean Thursday nights, Friday nights, and Saturday mornings. She made the comment one night when we were all out eating dinner that she didn’t know how I did it with a child and my husband being gone so much and no help from him. She said she didn’t know how she would manage being by herself on the weekends.

At that point in our marriage, Hubs’ coaching wasn’t an issue, it worked for us. I didn’t mind him being gone. I looked at it as one on one time with my child. We had what I called date night on Friday nights. We would go to dinner and then to Toys R Us for him to pick out a treasure or two provided he behaved at dinner. Then as he got a little bit older, we would attend the games Hubs was coaching and more often than not our child was down on the field helping his daddy.

It worked like that for us for years. Then came along our second baby and Hubs and I talked about him retiring from coaching.

What I’m trying to say is marriage is work and it is constantly changing. You have to find what works best for the both of you. But with your hard work comes great big rewards and a happy life.

Put a fork in me I'm done

Hubs and I have been so busy the past two weeks we can't even see straight. Here is a list of things we have done beginning two Fridays ago and in no particular order:

Cook dinner snack and breakfast for 42 teenagers for Hot Hearts weekend. - Done
2 basketball games - Done
4 basketball practices -Done
2 baseball tryouts - Done
6 baseball practices - Done
2 baseball lessons - Done
3 trips to HEB - Done
Work day from 10am-3pm for children's department at church  - Done
Write a paper for my Philosophy class - Done
Take mid term for my Philosophy class (which I made a 93 on- GO ME!) - Done
One trip to the orthodontist - Done
And laundry just about every day - Done
As children's department director deal with the following:
      Budget expense issues - Done
      Moving two classes to a new location in another building - Done
      The ceiling collapsing in on one classroom due to a water leak - Done
      Revising our supervision plan due to a fight on the bus - Done

So as you see the past few days have been very busy but I have completed each task. And now that those tasks are done, so am I.

The Worst Winter Weather Night For Picking Up A New Car

I mentioned in my previous post that last Thursday, Hubs deemed that night the worst winter driving day ever. It also just happens to be the day I picked up my new car.

 

Let me start from the beginning.  Get ready, it’s looong.

Over Christmas break the starter went out in my car. My mechanic, who also happens to work at a Honda dealership, replaced the starter and made a comment about the number of miles on my car. He said that we still had some good miles left on it but that driving back and forth to work every day would begin to take it's toll. (I think it already has, hence having to replace the starter)

So with that information in hand on Martin Luther King Jr. day, we went car shopping. I had an idea of what I wanted. Hubs and I have owned three Honda’s in the course of our marriage. And I kind of wanted another one but I also kind of wanted to try something else. I know Honda’s are great cars and they last. Let me tell you they last. We currently still have two Honda’s and both have 150,000+ miles on them. And my mechanic can work on them at his cost whenever something needed to be done. And because we keep our cars F-O-R-E-V-E-R, I had to think of repairs down the road. Even with all that information, I still wanted something different.

I had my eyes and my heart set on a Nissan Rogue. I’ve had several friends that have owned Nissan’s for years and love them.

So Hubs and I set out to the Nissan dealerships in our area. I liked the features and body design, the 2013 body design. The new 2014 body style of the Nissan Rogue’s did not appeal to me. So it was with this in mind I began to wheel and deal with the sales guys. Yes I said guys. We went to two Nissan dealerships looking for the best price and I began to play them off of each other. I felt like a kid again trying to play my parents against one another to get what I wanted. (Which for the record is never a good thing as a child.)

So when I finally got the price I wanted from one of the dealerships I called my credit union to see about financing the new car. When they couldn’t get my interest rate where I wanted, my loan officer asked me if I had been to the other Nissan dealership in one of the neighboring cities. My reply was, “They have a Nissan over there???” She gave me their phone number and I immediately pulled up their website and began looking at what they had.

Now here is where it gets good. These next events all happened within 30 minutes.

I found the car I wanted and I called the sales guy. I told him to see if they still had the car on the website on their lot. He said he’d check and call me back. He called back in about five minutes and said yes. I said OK I want it and I want walk out price at this. He said walk out, and I repeated myself. He said OK let me check with my manager and I’ll call you back again. Ten minutes later he called back and said OK you’ve got it. Then I asked if they did financing because I didn’t like the interest rate my credit union had to offer. He said yes and I said OK I want my interest rate at this amount. He said OK, I’ll call you back. A few minutes later he calls back and said we got you the interest rate, even more we got you two points lower than you requested. I said OK now I want my monthly notes at this specific amount.  Again he said I’ll call you back. And when he did he said OK we’ve got your walk out, interest rate and monthly payments all set where you want them , now when are you coming to pick up your car.

That’s right I bought a car in 30 minutes! How’s that for wheeling and dealing?

So on the worst driving night of the year, rain, freezing temperatures, and sleet on the way, Hubs and I drove to pick up my new car. A 2013 Nissan Rogue-Special Edition.

 

Great Iceapocalypse of 2014

First let me say that we southerners are not used to this kinda of cold. We also do not have snow plows, deicing machines, snow tires or snow chains for tires. So all you northerners please remember to be kind. Because when it's 112 ° this summer and you are griping about how hot it is, we will kindly invite you into the A/C and serve you a glass of sweet tea. Bless your heart!

Last Friday most schools in our area were canceled due to impending inclement weather. Meaning we had an ice storm on our way. There was a 60% chance of rain and temperatures were expected to drop below freezing and stay there for two days. I can say that my school canceled classes and I was off, while Hubs and the boys had a two hour delay. Let's just say they weren't to happy that I got to stay home. But in my defense I had a paper to write because Thursday night, the worst night in winter weather according to Hubs, I went and picked up my new car. But that is another post of another day. The laundry fairy was also on vacation so I had a ton of laundry to do. So Friday when we woke up to major ice coverage and after I got the boys off to school, I had a productive day. Paper written and laundry completed.

And just when we thought our winter woes were over, there was another storm on the way. So Monday afternoon most schools began canceling classes. This time Hubs and the boys were out and so was I. Tuesday morning we woke up to what looked like snow but was ice. It actually sleeted all day off and on, and while the high never got above freezing we did stay nice and warm. At one point the boys began to get stir crazy and went outside to play basketball only to find the backboard was covered in ice. But that didn't stop them. They were bundled up playing basketball in 29° weather. 

Honestly the winter weather days are not good for me because what do you do when you are home bound, you cook. Hubs made roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner. I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and several other things through out the day. And guess what we were off again yesterday. You know what that means...more cooking.

Well we started to thaw out Wednesday afternoon and I'm sure that everything well be back to normal Thursday. Until Wednesday of next week where we just might get to do this all over again. 

So stay safe and stay warm! 

Happy 9th Birthday!

I can not believe this cute little boy turns nine years old today!

                                     

Where has the time gone? It's amazing how fast time flies by when you in right in the middle of things. Baseball, basketball, school, tutoring, homework, church, and just everyday stuff in general. 

I love this boy with all my heart. My life is so much richer because of him. He is funny, smart,energetic, hardworking, and loving. 

Happy 9th Birthday R2!

 

It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a parent

We all know there are several aspects of parenting that hard. For example when you child wants something and you tell them no and then they pitch a fit, when your child has a cold and there is nothing else you can do for them beside sit with them, or when another child is mean to yours and you have to explain the situation to your child. 

But never in my years of parenting (like they have been soooo many) have even thought I might have to tell my child that one of his teachers has passed away.  Just typing it makes me want to cry all over again. 

Long story short, because it's really to long but more over sad to recount, last week, one of R2's teachers passed away. It was his dyslexia teacher. He spends 45 minutes 5 days a week with her. She was a wonderful teacher and so patient with him and all of her students. But more than that she was a wonderful person, wife, mother, and friend. 

The Monday back from Christmas break she had some health issues and because of those we began to talk with R2 then because her death might result from these issues. So Hubs and I thought it was best to keep informed of certain things. I'm really glad we did because when the news came of her death, he already some idea of her condition and while it was still a shock it wasn't a complete blow to him. 

We talked about it and answered any and all questions he had. 

But what surprised me the most his response after we told him. He just said, mom, I know she's in heaven and I'm going to see her again one day. Oh the wisdom of an eight year old child. 

Stephanie, thank you for loving my child. Thank you for teaching him and helping him to overcome his dyslexia. Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher and friend. There will never be another one like you. You will be missed.

Festival of Lights

I know it's a little late but I never did blog about our day after Christmas adventure. 

For a few years I've been wanting to go to Galveston to go see the Festival of Lights but for one reason or another it has never worked out. So this year I made a point of telling Hubs early in December that during our Christmas break I wanted to go see the lights. He said OK just say when and we would go. So Christmas Eve we were sitting around and I said how about tomorrow we head to Galveston. 

And so we did. We actually made a late afternoon evening of it. We went and ate at Fish Tales. And while the food was good, the prices were not. It was bit expensive for the portions that were even. 

Then we headed over to Moody Gardens for the Festival of Lights. They also have a sled hill for the kids to go down and an ice rink for skating as well. Hubs and I left the skating up to the boys because at this age I think I would be prone to breaking a hip. The boys had a good time but they really enjoyed the sledding. They went like 15 times each. 

Then we finally walked through the entire grounds to see the lights. It was awesome. Huge toy soldiers, angels, butterflies, elves, and my favorite part, the story of the birth of Jesus. All of it in lights. 

 

B-B-B-Buurrrrrrr, It's Cold

Yep, the weatherman was correct, it's cold. Oh I'm not complaining. I'm actually loving it. I don't think the temperature got above 34 all day. My cousin in New York even sent me a text message that said, "How crazy is it that the temps here and there right now are so close?" 

In the morning the temperature will be 19. I can honestly say that I'm glad I will be driving to work with heated seats. 

 
However by the end of the week we will be back to higher temps. 68, really? It's no wonder everyone around here is sick. 

Dear Mother Nature, please either leave the thermostat turned to Antarctica or make up your mind! 

Thank you.

Sunday Night Blues

By the time you are reading this it will be Monday, but right now it's Sunday night and I have a case of the Sunday night blues. 

What I mean by that is I really don't want to go back to school tomorrow. I have thoroughly enjoyed my Christmas break with my family. Staying up way too late, sleeping even later, doing what ever we felt like when ever we felt like. 

And not to mention that in the morning it will be in the twenties. That's right in the twenties. Now don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, I love the cold. I would take the cold any day over the normal 120 ° weather we have in the summer. See I look at it this way, you can always layer up but you can only strip down so far. (Well let me clarify that, I will only strip down so far)

I think we will be all be in a bit of shock when the alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning. So if you don't mind, I am going to enjoy the last few hours of doing nothing by snuggling up with my family and just watching tv. 

Cough Gasp Choke

Well here it is only the second day into the new year and I'm sick. I've actually been sick since before New Year's Eve. Since it seems the flu has been running wild around here I decided not play around even though I didn't have a fever and go to the doctor. Good thing I did because I found out I had an upper respiratory infection and it would have turned into bronchitis. 

So one co-pay and three prescriptions later I left the doctors office and headed straight for HEB. Because one, I needed my meds, and two, were out of things like milk, cereal, and York Peppermint Patties. Don't judge. 

And an hour later several hundred dollars poorer I left my beloved HEB and went home and got straight on the couch and took a two hour nap. 

I seriously I have done a lot of napping during this Christmas break. So much so that even Hubs said something. I hardly ever just sit and do nothing, so he knew I didn't feel good. I hope I can function next week when we all go back to school. 

I hope each of you have a safe and wonderful new year filled with love, family, and friends. 

I'm off to take another dose of cough syrup that will probably knock me out until at least Valentines Day. 

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year with lots of friends, food, and fun. And you know it's never a party until someone loses and eye, well not and eye but almost a hand. 

 We were outside for our first round of fireworks and a friend of ours,Greg, decided he wanted to light up a Roman Candle. So he breaks open a brand new package and walks to the end of the drive way and lights it up. 

The ladies were sitting in chairs by the porch watching the kids and the men produce a display that would have us Ooohhing and Awing for a while. So Greg lights up the Roman Candle and we all watch the first blast go out the front and then the second blast comes out the back and then the thing just exploded in his hand. On the good side he still had all of his fingers intact and we didn't have to rush him off the to the hospital. One the bad side he hand began to swell and he said it felt like his hand was on pins and needles and he couldn't move it. 

Also just so happened that the house were celebrating at belonged to not one but two physician assistants so they had some Silvadene cream. For those of you that don't know, this is a cream that is specifically for severe burns. So they packed that stuff on his hand and wrapped it in a cloth with ice and then gave him a shot of Whiskey. Just kidding he didn't want the shot of Whiskey but he did take a couple of Advil. Needless to say Grey did not participate in midnight fireworks display. And eventually the swelling began to go down and he could move his fingers. And you could see right where the blasted firework exploded in his hand. (No pun intended)

The rest of the night was uneventful as we continued to eat more food than we should have, played a couple of rounds of Telestrations. Which if you've never played I highly recommend it. It's the telephone game we used to play in elementary school with a Pictionary twist. Because how else would you get horse pie out of goat cheese. 

Anyway we all managed to make it to midnight to have the celebratory kiss and champagne toast. And some where around 1:15 my little family said our thank you's and loaded up into the car and went home. Where we proceeded to stay awake till 2AM.

I hope each of you had a safe and fun Happy New Year! Here's to a blessed a 2014!

Merry Christmas 2013

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~ Isaiah 9:6

Christmas break with a side of strep

Thursday morning R2 woke up saying his throat hurt and he knew it was strep. And because I'm not one to panic, I told him it was probably because he slept with his mouth open and his throat got dry. I sprayed his throat with Cloraseptic throat spray and sent him to school.

By one o'clock I received a text message from his teacher telling me that he had been complaining of his throat all day but he did play at recess. Go figure. So I sent her a message back saying I was on my way to pick him up and take him to the doctor. I then called his pediatrician to make an appointment because I really didn't want a sick baby over the Christmas break. It was then that I really panicked because the very nice receptionist said there were no more afternoon appointments. I would have to call back in the morning to schedule a sick appointment or I could use the walk in clinic they offer at 7:45AM. 

It seems the flu has hit our area and all five, yes five, doctors in the practice were booked. 

I told the receptionist I would call back in the morning and make an appointment. She told me I could go to the emergency room if it got to bad during the night. Ummm, thanks but no thanks, I think I'll take my chances and wait till morning. 

I got to school and went in to get R2 and that is when I knew he was really sick. He was asleep in class. He teacher felt so bad for him she gave him a peppermint and told him to go put his head down. The next thing she knew he was snoring. 

So I got him home and checked to see if he had fever, which he had none. Then he tells me his stomach hurts worse than his throat. Not even two minutes later his running to the bathroom to throw up. Poor baby. He then went to lay on the couch where he promptly fell back asleep for the next 3 hours. 

So Friday morning at 8:30 when the doctors office opens I call and make him an appointment. The first opening our doctor had was at 11:00. I grabbed that appointment up so fast it would make two people fighting over a Play Station 4 at Christmas time look like a so motion replay. 

We get to Dr. H's office and R2 tells him he has self diagnosed himself with strep. And then Dr. H asks him how does he know it's strep? R2 tell him because he has all of the same symptoms as the last time he had strep only this time they are much worse. Dr. H said well lets swab your throat and check it out. So the nurse swabs his throat and fifteen minutes later we have the official diagnosis, it's strep.

Dr. H said he should come work with him because he's so smart. R2 told him he could only perform this type of diagnosis on himself. And then told him he didn't want a shot either. 

A after a few rounds of antibiotics and three days later he's feeling much better. So much better he said that Santa could come and not be scared he was going to get sick when he stopped by our house. 

Come on Santa, bring on the presents!

It's Coming On Christmas

Well Christmas is next week. Hard to believe that it's almost here and the year is almost over.

I finished the school semester two weeks ago and have just been trying to catch my breath. I made all A's. GO ME!

Then last weekend we had our annual Christmas musical and Taste of Christmas celebration at church. It was a wild three days. Some how or another Beth roped me into being the head of the Taste of Christmas committee with her a few years back. Let me just say that we've nailed the art of prep and set up for the two day event down to a science.

I also messed up my knee at Thanksgiving. I have no idea what I've done other than the fact that it keeps going out every so often and then during our Taste of Christmas event, it popped. Like a painful pop. But I'm being the hard headed woman I am, I'm dealing with the pain and waiting till the Christmas break to go see the doctor. Nothing says Merry Christmas more like a trip to the doctor.

This weekend we are having Christmas with my side of the family. My dad said he ordered a chicken nugget tray from Chik-fil-a. Oh how he knows my weakness for a good chicken nugget with some Chik-fil-a sauce for dipping.

Sunday we have some last minute shopping to do. And by last minute I mean finish getting my niece and nephew their gifts as we are having Christmas with Hubs side of the family on Monday. Yes I have become the Christmas procrastinator. You can talk to my husband about that art, he's perfected it. Love you Hubs!

Hopefully after that we can all just relax and enjoy our time off together. I'm even thinking about a little day trip with family. That is unless the procrastinator that has developed in me keeps putting that trip off.

Black Friday Came In Like A Lamb.

Another Thanksgiving week is in the books. I'm kind of glad because from last Sunday till Tuesday it was cold, windy, and rainy. I can handle the cold and windy but I do not like rainy in that mixture. I know we need the rain, it makes the flowers pretty and makes things grow, but it's cold and rainy means wet and no one ever said they liked being wet and cold at the same time, unless they just shot a twelve point buck after sitting most of the day in a deer stand. But by Wednesday the sun came out and dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again, sorry lost my train of thought. 

Moving on.

The girls and I, meaning Beth, Alex, and I, had our annual Black Friday shopping day. We left my house at 6:00AM. Yep you read that right, 6:00AM. And headed straight to Target where we promptly got in line at Starbucks. After a jolt of caffeine we made our way around the store with the shopping cart and I kept throwing things in the cart and crossing items off my list. After two hours we were done and on our way to the mall. 

Once at the mall, we took in the sights as we went. And no it wasn't the Christmas decorations that had our attention it was the people watching and the lack of good deals. We went from store to store to store, feeling like we just kept missing the sale or the great deal on the new boots we wanted. Something felt off so to say. But we kept pushing through and shopped. 

About five hours later we felt the need to some nourishment and headed straight for one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants where we devoured two baskets of chips and some hot sauce quicker than you can say bless your heart! Once our food had digested a bit we took off again before we realized that sitting for an extended period of time after shopping for an extended period of time makes one feel lazy.  

After going into a few more stores, again we kept felt like we were missing the deals. The last store on our trip was Lowe's. We had a minor kitchen issue on Thanksgiving with a pipe under the sink and we ended up having to pull out everything that was under there and we needed some new shelf paper so I could line the bottom of the cabinet. And while I was in there Hubs sends me a text message telling me pre-lit trees were on sale. So the three of did what any proper shopping person would do, we headed straight for the trees. And that's when the sale angles finally opened their good deals jar. There right in front of me were the last two pre-lit trees that would look great in my living room. And because they were on sale and the price was right, Alex picked up one of the boxes and loaded it into the shopping cart. I was so excited about the sale price I almost forgot to get the shelf paper, which wasn't on sale, but it should have been on sale because everything should be on sale on Black Friday. 

And that was how we ended our twelve hour shopping trip with a great deal and some Chik-fil-a for dinner.

It's Thanksgiving Week

It's Thanksgiving week and while I've been trying to relax and just enjoy being off it hasn't quite worked out that way.

Saturday we all had to get up early and take family Christmas pictures. We haven't taken Christmas pictures since R2 was 2. We had to be at the shoot site at 10:15AM. In the cold and drizzling rain. I kept thinking warm thoughts. Here's a sneak peek. 

After pictures, Hubs and I had the brilliant idea to go grab some lunch and then hit the grocery store for all of our meals for the week including Thanksgiving. I think everyone in the city was at the store. It was CRAZY! But we managed and got all the items we needs. Or so we thought. We got home and realized we had left a few minor things off the list but nothing that warranted going back to the store. Then Saturday evening we had a wedding to attend. It was a small intimate wedding and the bride was stunning and the groom was handsome even as he stood crying waiting for his bride to walk down the aisle. 

Sunday was a day full of church and laundry. I had so much laundry, I was almost afraid it would take me 3 days to do it all. But I washed, dried, and folded all 327 loads and then I left it all for the boys to put away. I also managed to get some reading in for school. And some where in there I think I heard, "MOM, I'm bored!" about a bazillion times so I let the boys invite friends over to spend the night.

Monday, we were up early again because I had a hair appointment and the boys had to be up at church to help decorate for Christmas. After my hair appointment I decided to tuff it out and make a run to HEB for the few things we forgot. I pulled in the parking and was immediately regretting my decision as I could not find a parking place. But I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in at how empty the store seemed and how easy it was to navigate the aisles. And when I went to check out there were no lines. I repeat NO LINES! What a change from two days ago. 

After that I came home and I am happy to report I did nothing for the remainder of the day. I sat around and watched the boys play and caught up on a few tv shows. 

And there is more excitement for tomorrow. We get to clean the house as we are having Thanksgiving at our house. But before the house cleaning commences, we are taking they boys to the movies to see Catching Fire. And then we are heading to Sonic because by that time it will be happy hour and the drinks are half price and tomorrow is also half price hamburgers. Who can pass that up? Not me, that's who. I'm all for anything that involves a Sonic drink. 

Wednesday will be a day of baking and preparing. And then it's Thursday, where sometime after 2pm I will be in a tryptophan induced sleep. 

So now that I've given you an itinerary of my week, I hope you each have a wonderful Thanksgiving with the ones you love.

The Things That Keep Me Busy

Ummm... hello! Hi there! How are you doing?

Yeah I know I've been gone for a bit but things around here have been pretty busy and while most of the happenings are mostly everyday things they have kept me unusually busy. So I'll just jump right in.

R1 finished up his football season last week and they were undefeated and named district champs. I was so proud of him and his team. 

Our varsity team also made the playoffs. First time since seven years. The games is tonight and it's gonna be just a tad bit cold out there. But we are going to go out and support our boys. 

R2 decided he wanted to play basketball after attending basketball camp this summer. So we will be busy with practices and games starting next week. He also got new glasses. He got glasses at the end of kindergarten and we are half way through third grade and he finally needed a new prescription. I guess I should be glad that it took this long. 

I finished one of my classes up a few weeks ago and made an A. I was pretty excited because I was taking two classes at once and this course was condensed from a normal 15 week to an 8 week course. So now I'm just down to one class and I can't wait till Christmas break. 

And it was because of these classes and having to read text books I realized my eye sight just wasn't what it used to be. I knew at some point that I was going to need glasses and I know that I should be thankful that I made it to over 40 before I needed an eye exam. So after putting it off for a while, I bit the bullet and went to the eye doctor. And after a complete eye examination and then trying on about 826 different frames I settled on a pair. I picked up my new glasses last week. And while I like them and I'm glad I got them, I can't help but keep wondering if I just should have purchased a pair of cheater glasses since my distance vision is perfect and it's only up close that is blurry. 

Also Hubs had some minor surgery a month ago and we are still dealing with recovery. He had a cyst removed from the back of his neck. And it has been healing nicely with only a minor set back. And after a second post op visit the doctor said it should be completely healed in about a week. 

Well that's about it. See I told you just a lot of everyday stuff but stuff that has kept me busy. 

The Haunted Hotel

So it's Sunday night and I'm sitting on the couch watching tv and trying to figure out what to blog about. 

I keep flipping back and forth between old episodes of Beverly Hills 90201, the one where Donna Martin gets drunk at prom and then gets suspended from all senior activities to be exact, and a concert from last year of Rascal Flatts with Journey. 

And nothing like a little flash back to the glory music of the 80's when just about every song had a synthesizer solo. I can't begin to tell you how much as a forty something year old I loved Journey. I spent many a nights listening to their albums and cassette tapes. I believe that I even had to purchase a second copy of their Frontiers cassette because I wore it completely out. I also spent way to much babysitting money goint to their concerts. 

The weekend was pretty uneventful. Friday night R1 and a group of his friends, oh say 20 of them, all got together and decided to go out to eat and make a trip to the Haunted Hotel. All of that translates into the parents drive the kids to go eat and then drive them to the Haunted Hotel. So not only was there a group of kids but a group of parents.  

So after an hour eating we loaded up into several cars and headed to the Haunted Hotel. I had already decided ahead of time that I did my parental duty last year and went into the Hotel so I wasn't going in this year. I wasn't the only parent who had made this decision as a matter of fact the three other people I went through with last year had decided not to go in as well. After spending four hours of "hanging out" this is how the night ended. 

The kids

And the moms

 

Happy Birthday BFF

Today is Beth's birthday. She is one of my dearest friends and I love her to pieces. The boys call her my BFF, hence the title of this post. 

Over the years we have spent a lot of time together. So much so we start responding to things the same way or thinking the same things. It's kind of scary when people comment about it, not really. It just means she's rubbing off on me.

She has one of the most infectious laughs. She is not only beautiful on the outside but on the inside as well. She has a love for God like I have never seen. I truly cherish her friendship and I thank God everyday for bringing her into my life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH!



Hanging out at a Fouth of July celebration




Annual VBS grocery shopping trip



When she won her excellence in education award

Hanging out a church

See I told you, absolutely beautiful!

Color Rush 2013

Beth's daughter Alex is like my own child. I love her to pieces. Come May I'm sure I will be crying my eyes out when she leaves for college. But for now I'm OK. 

She is in National Honor Society at school one of the requirements was to join the NHS color rush team for her high school. 

What is color rush you might ask? It's a 5K run/walk that benefits the Julie Rogers gift of life program. You can go here to read more about it. 



Anyway, she needed to find an adult and a student to walk with her as part of the team. And since Beth hurt her back a few weeks ago, she kind of sort of asked me and I kind of sort of volunteered. And I volunteered R1. 

So this past Saturday I got up at the butt crack of dawn to get ready. I woke R1 up about 10 minutes before Alex showed up at 7AM. He was not to happy so I will spare all of you the picture of him with his less than enthusiastic face. 

The Color Rush was so much fun! It only took us just under an hour to walk the 3.2 miles and in the process we were covered with dyed cornstarch. We looked like a rainbow or an Easter egg if you're shaped like me. 

Here is the picture after we completed the walk. Medals and all.

We had so much fun we are going to make it annual event.