field day

certainly isn't what it used to be! when I was a kid, it was more like track and field events... now it's more like fun and games - bean bag toss, parachute, monkey relay, cup stacking, and dance moves
















Shayne, Anna, Bethany and I were all able to be there for a little while.






They ended the day with a movie - How to Eat Fried Worms. The whole school had recently finished reading the book. As a special treat, they even got to watch the principal eat some fried worms! Yuck!

happy birthday daddy

Shayne thought he'd be funny and try on his new shorts over his pants. Can you read the look on Katie's face? "Dad! I'm so embarrassed!"



Happy Birthday to my Darling Husband!

another day in brady

spent some time at the ranch...

...note Katie's new boots - she forgot her hiking boots and all she had were flip-flops, so we ran to Wal-Mart and those golashes were just about all they had to suit her needs

Anna and Bethany also requested some time at the elementary school playground...

girls night out

The Magik Theater comes up with some pretty unique renditions of famous scripts. This evening was Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Originally, the story takes place on an island and involves a shipwreck. Well, the version we saw was set in the future, in outer space, with rocket ships. Fortunately, Katie has a Shakespeare for Children book and had recently read the story, so she was able to explain the basic plot to me before the event. I muddled through and got the gist of it.
The weather was nice, the company was nice, and I look forward to next year's presentation!

splash day

Last day of preschool! Fun in the sun!


painting a brick wall with water on a hot day is always productive... good practice at least


Bethany was not very happy that I wouldn't let her take off her dress (no bathing suit underneath)


gotta have bubbles


ice cream to cool off

nature center

I had the pleasure of spending a good part of the day with Katie and her classmates at the Cibolo Nature Center. We learned about habitats and ecosystems and lots of other nature stuff. I wasn't able to spend much time up at the school or in the classroom this year, so I enjoyed visiting with her teacher and observing the dynamics of some of Katie's friendships.

the graduate

Can you believe our sweet little Anna is a preschool graduate? I've had 5 wonderful years at home with her, and now she's ready for Kindergarten.


She went to the same preschool for 3 years, and Bethany will be attending there in the Fall. One of my friends is a teacher there, so I always knew they're in good hands.


They have a tradition for the end-of-year program - the youngest child says the pledge and the oldest child says the prayer. Anna was the oldest child. We were very proud of her, although, I could tell she was a little nervous.


The first year she was in preschool, she asked Mr. B to come watch her sing, and she remembered to ask again the second year and again this year. Of course, this year he brought Mrs. B with him. :) Katie ditched school for an hour and Nana scheduled her day around the event, so Anna had her own little cheering section.

I don't have very many good pictures because I forgot to tell my husband that the digital zoom on our camera didn't work very well. He zoomed in on every shot, so they're all a little blurry and/or the lighting isn't good. I ran the video camera, but it's a little jiggly because Bethany was on my back some of the time.

flying up

I was one of those "fortunate" mothers who was roped into volunteer work unknowingly. It was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything though. I've been able to work with a wonderful group of girls who are eager to learn and try new things. Here is a list of our accomplishments in our 3 years of Brownies:
* Events: sleepover, fire station, roller skating, swimming, bowling, makeovers at Libby Lu, Spurs game, Missions game, Red Robin, Applebee’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Cici’s Pizza, Seguin Outdoor Learning Center, Memorial Day Flag Placement at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery, Book Fairy, baby showers, Thinking day, Woods Day in the Woods, camping at TexLake (freezing temperatures), camping at Lockhart (creepy spiders), camping at La Jita (with the teen troop)
* Try-Its: Animals, Caring and Sharing, Colors and Shapes, Cookies Count, Dancercize, Eco-Explorer, Friends Are Fun, Girl Scout Ways, Girl Sports, Let's Pretend, Manners, Math Fun, My Body, Numbers and Shapes, People Are Talking, Playing Around the World, Ready, Set, Go Camping, Science in Action, Science Wonders, Water Everywhere
* Service Projects: Christmas gifts for Medina Children’s Home, Mother’s Day cards for Meals on Wheels, Thanksgiving placemats for Jiminez Thanksgiving Dinner and Meals on Wheels, cookies for Veteran’s Day celebration, cookies to children’s shelter and our military
* Product Sales: 7289 boxes of cookies and 612 cans of nuts

It's tradition for Girl Scouts to "fly-up" to the next level when they bridge from Brownies to Juniors. The girls decided to do their ceremony outside, so instead of doing something with wings, we chose to release balloons. Also, as part of our ceremony, we welcomed several new girls, including Anna, into scouts as Daisies. I chose green balloons for the new Juniors, blue balloons for the new Daisies, and red balloons for the other brothers and sisters. We released all the balloons at once - it was a colorful site!

I have now officially passed the leadership of the troop over, and will be starting over with Anna's troop in the fall. I didn't think it would be emotional, I did think it would be a relief. As I read the list of accomplishments above to the families that night, I couldn't help but get a little choked up. I just hope that I've made as much of an impression on those girls that they've left on me!

miss cleo

Katie's class has been studying Rome, and to show what they've learned, they were to choose a related topic and do some type of presentation, along with a written report. This was her first time to pull something like this together and she really enjoyed it. She did some research on the internet and we checked out books from the library.

For her presentation, she opted to write a skit and present it to her class. After seeing a cowboy rendition of The Elves and the Shoemaker at the Magik Theater, we came up with the idea to do "If Cleopatra Lived in Texas". It was pretty simple once she had her written report complete - we just translated everything we could into old west slang... very much a family effort.

Also, she wanted to include some of her classmates in the skit, so the story was written so that there were exactly enough characters to match the number of students (& teacher) in her class. For example: instead of Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V, she had Ptolemy Matthew and Ptolemy Aaron. It literally pulled the students into her dialogue because they were all listening for their own name.

Her costume was fun to create. She wanted to have a toga/tunic to wear to the end of unit Roman feast later that week anyway, so all we had to do was accessorize. We used a body pillow case, stick-on gems, gold puffy paint, purple ribbon and gold robe to complete the dress. Instead of a crown, she wore a royal cowboy hat (with purple and gold trim). We couldn't find a Cleopatra wig, so I hot glued black ribbon around the inside of her hat so it would hang down like hair. We had a pair of suede boots in the dress up box that we accented with the gold puffy paint. And, of course, gold bracelets up her arm.

Her other props included a rubber snake (in Texas, she was not bitten by an asp, it was a rattlesnake) and a buck skin (in Texas, she was not rolled up in a fancy rug to be carried to Caeser, she was rolled up in a buck skin). It was a hoot!

I didn't get very good pics because I was trying to video at the same time. It's certainly a memory! We'll hold on to the dress for future toga parties!

flip-flops!

I've purchased the girls flip-flops at The Children's Place the past few summers. It's all my girls wear in the summer, so I get them each two pair. You can't beat the price! On the smaller sizes, they even have the little elastic around the heel to hold them on.


I LOVE shopping here because they have something for all their sizes, sometimes coordinated - and always age appropriate!

I am mother, hear me roar!

My friend Jill challenged me with this one. It took me a week to come up with it, but I believe it suits me well. Here's how it works...

1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play

Two things: When it comes to home and family, I am bossy AND I can yell really loud.

I've labeled myself 4th generation bossy. I've already decided that at least one of my daughters will carry on this legacy (the eldest, for sure). My sister and brother can both speak for my self-proclaimed leadership abilities as well. As much time as I spend with my mother these days, it's funny to see how she's sounding more and more like her mother. Oh, what Shayne has to look forward too!

I tell my kids not to stand at the top of the stairs and yell for me, but then I do the same thing. When I'm trying to get their attention, I go for the startle factor. Sweet little Bethany has definitely been exposed to this a lot more than her sisters had at this age - not because I'm yelling at her, but because she's usually nearby when I get after her sisters. Last week, I had a volume of voice come out of me that I didn't know I was capable of. I won't get into the details - I'll just tell you that they "disappeared", and when I found them... Afterwards, I told them that my anger was a direct result of fear and panic, and then I apologized and hugged them tight. (btw, I think I get the yelling from my dad)

Neither one of these traits I'm particularly proud of, unfortunately they're in my genes. I just need to learn how to better control them!



Now I am passing to YOU the challenge of creating YOUR own six word memoir!

smarter than us?

A few weeks ago, we were driving to church, and as we turned into the parking lot, we noticed a police officer getting ready to pull out. I commented that it looked like he was having a snack in the car, but as we got closer, I realized it was not a snack, he was putting tobacco in his mouth. Here's how the rest of the conversation went...
Mom: "eww, he's putting a chew in his mouth."
Anna: "what's a chew?"
Mom: "it's kinda like taking the inside of a cigarette, putting it in your mouth and sucking on it."
Anna (with a disgusted look on her face): "ewww, I thought policemen were supposed to be smarter than us."

For all you role models & authority figures out there - you never know when a child is watching!

my coffee

The other night, Katie had a hard time getting to sleep. The next morning, she was having a hard time getting out of bed. Jokingly I asked her if she wanted some coffe, she replied "can I?", I said "of course not!". Then she asked if she could have some of my tea instead. I've never been coffee drinker myself, but in the last 6 months, I've gotten hooked on Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla White Chai Tea. I doctor it up with honey and milk, and it gives me just enough of a kick to start my day. I proceeded to prepare a cup for myself and for Katie. She was only able to drink about half of it before she ran out the door for school. She left the cup with Anna, who decided after a taste, that it wasn't her thing. Bethany sees both her sisters drinking it so she decides she wants to try it too. I pour a little bit into her plastic cup and leave it for her to sip, then I walk out of the room. When I come back a minute later, she's not sitting at the table, so I assume she's done. I start clearing her dishes and she comes running after me, shouting "my coffee, my coffee", almost in tears. I couldn't help but laugh. I gave her the cup back, she set it back down on her table, then never touched it again. Shayne's bound and determined to raise coffee drinkers, but it's still way to early for that!

knock, knock

you open the door, but no one is there...


just a sweet little homemade basket of flowers and candy...







This was a fun tradition we had when we were kids. Every year on May 1st, we would come home after school, make the little cone baskets out of construction paper (or whatever else we could fin around the house), then fill them with little flowers and pieces of candy (again, whatever we could find around the house). Then, we would deliver them to our friends' doorsteps, ring the doorbell, and run! It was equally exciting to find these small gifts on our own doorsteps.

I guess this is a tradtion of days past. First of all, I wouldn't let my girls go running around the neighborhood like I used to. Second, I don't think anyone would know what it meant. Oh well, at least I have the memory!

Happy May Day!