SUMMERTIME!

wow... we are already 2+ weeks into summer vacation.

It is hard to believe that we have a 5th grader, a 7th grader a sophmore and one out of school.
INSANE!

Amy has one cheer camp down and two to go. One will be in July and one is at the end of August. She was dropped at camp last week and bruised her tailbone. She is pretty sore but it does not slow her down at all. She still goes full force at cheer and play then wants my sympathy when she gets home.

Aaron will be playing football for the school next year in the fall then on a select team again for spring. He is really excited about playing for school.

Austin will be in intermediate school :( my baby is growing up. Last year he was tested and it was discovered (officially) that he is brilliant. He is now enrolled in the GT program at school :)

Ashley has started a new job at another animal hospital where both the hours and pay is better. She loves it :)

2, 3, 4 and I are going to San Antonio tonight to see family. They boys are going to stay for a couple weeks... we will pick them up on the 4th of July weekend in Shiner when we go out for J & L's big bang bash :)

Both boys are super excited about hanging out with Opa and spending time with Omi. They look forward to it every summer. Mom has broken her ankle and is kinda gimpy so having the boys around to help her out will be great. Dad is still working up at doss trying to get things ready to start building the building. Aaron is excited about being able to help him put it up and drive the tractor. . Austin will love reading and gardening with my mom.

MEMORIAL WEEKEND... tubing the brazos

so this past weekend we decided to float does the river with some friends of ours. Our family of 5 (Ash had to work) Peggys family of 6 plus Kendra and Angies family of 6 plus a friend all met up at 7 am to drive out to the river.

We were warned to get there early because the tubes would be sold out by 11:00. We got there around 10 and there were tubes for everyone. :) after picking out the vessel each person wanted to set sail on there was a little chaos getting everyone to the river.... but with a group as large as ours, how could there not be :)

finally all 19 of us and 3 ice chests were in water. We were told the trip would take about and hour and a half maybe two hours. We soon found out that it would take that long.... if there was movement in the river. at times... we would just float without moving at all!

about half an hour later (and 6 feet down river) we got this wonderful idea to start tieing the tubes together.... so we made one HUGE island. was fun.... very relaxing. lots of conversation and laughs.

there were only two very very very small sets of rapids... if you can call them that. (missed those guys! :)

at one point we were able to stop along the way and everyone who wanted to was able to swing off a rope attached to a tree into the river. The kids loved it. Amy Aaron and Austin did it about 20 times each.

about this time we had been on the river for a few hours and I guess Aaron was just about to go crazy with the pace so that little moose got out of his tube and went to the front of our 'island' and started pulling us down the river. We went faster with him pulling that we did even through the 'rapids'.

along the way we played little games like 'toss grapes into peoples mouths', eye spy, and the girls that cheered (4 of them) all tried to fly on the tubes. AMY STAYED UP!!! :)

finally we reached the point where canoes and tubes get out. it was sandy. we were wet. lol not a pleasant feeling. but it was fun. a relaxing kind of fun.... that is something I am so not used to.

The entire trip down the river took us 5 and a half hours. We loved it but will for sure go to the Guadalupe next time.... we like things a little faster paced! :)

After we stopped at a MEXICAN place for dinner... YUM! then decided that we were not quite ready to end the day. So the whole group came over to the house to jump in the pool and hang out. the adults played darts till about 3 am so lots of the little girls had passed out and we wound up with a slumber party :)

autys egg

so Austin is on a bird kick lately. He loves to take the binoculars and watch the birds in the field behind us then identify them in a bird book my dad bought us or on the Internet.

The other day he saw a bird lay an egg on the ground at the park by the house and then leave it. So he sat there for a while watching the egg to make sure no one stepped on it and waiting for the mama to come back and get it. after about an hour I went to go pick him and and found him about 20 feet away 'guarding' this egg.

I told him it was time to leave because we had to go to dinner and he flipped out. Austin did not want to leave that egg there and he was so upset that the mama just left it and did not come back. So he talks me into 'saving' this egg. (at this point I do not know that saving his egg is a FELONY!!!)

so we scoop up the egg, take it home put it under a heat lamp then go to dinner. I told him that if the thing did not hatch in a couple weeks we were tossing it.

He was not sure what kind of bird it was that layed the egg because he had not found her picture in his bird book yet. Not being one to give up, Austin kept scouring the book until he found the bird he said laid the egg. I figured he had just picked one at this point just so he could have some sense of identity for the egg. However when I looked up killdeer on the Internet and checked out a picture of the eggs they lay I was convinced.

upon further reading we found out that these birds often lay eggs on the ground or on roof tops n groups of four. And they typically take a break between each egg....so mama planting it in the park and taking off was not so unusual... and the brown chips in the park did in fact hide the egg well. We also found out that unlike most wild birds whose eggs take two weeks to hatch... these guys are like chickens and take about a month! So I have an egg in the kitchen with a lamp on it that has been there for about 5 days and will not have to stay there an additional 23 days! UGH! but the good news is they hatch like chickens and are able to peck the ground and feed themselves!

Austin is thrilled and is watching the egg closely... not that it is doing much but his little scientific brain is completely digging this experience.

I am hoping a park ranger does not come beating on my door to haul me off to jail.

The 5000 Year Leap

A friend of mine and I were recently talking about the state of our country, things going on, fears, and other things. Now Susan is probably one of the most educated people on the exact meaning of many laws and rules that I know. So I love talking to her whenever I need something cleared up.

During our conversation she asked me if I truly understood the Constitution of the United States. After thinking about her question for a moment, I had to admit that no I did not. She told me that most Americans don't and suggested that I read the 5000 year leap.

It is unbelievable. No matter what your political stand is, I would like to encourage EVERY AMERICAN to read The 5000 Year Leap: A MIRACLE that changed the world.

This is not something that caters to the right or the left. It simply educates you on our constitution. Explains why our founding fathers included what they did and why it works. It also reminds us all, not of our American rights that we all at one time or another take for granted, but of our American duties that go along with those rights. It also clearly shows how the constitution is not 'outdated' like many people want to believe and why the founding principles have worked so well.

This book is an easy read and rich in information about our country's most sacred document... the Constitution of the United States. I will admit that until that conversation I had not ever put as much thought into what our Founding Fathers went through to put the constitution together. I am ashamed to say I took it for granted. I will no longer. I will continue to educate myself on what my duties are as an American Citizen. I hope you do too.

uh.... its been a while... sorry :)

gonna try to catch ya all up.

Swine flu. That seems to be the biggie on the news lately. IDK... maybe I'm wrong on this one but I think people are over reacting. Ft Worth schools have been shut down until May 8th. People are walking around in masks. Crazy... huh? Our schools have not been closed I am happy to report. But all extra curricular activities have been canceled. Kids are pretty upset... But I'm enjoying the break from having to haul them all to practice, games, meetings etc.

So Montana just passed a pretty amazing law. Many think it is a law about gun rights when in reality it is a law about state rights and guns are just being used as an example.

I am proud to say that TEXAS is working on the same legislation! I truly believe that one should fear the government that fears their guns. All this nonsense about gun control is stupid really. Does one truly believe that someone who would use a gun for violence (which is against the law) would respect a law saying that guns are not allowed? All these silly people will be taking guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens while the nuts who don't follow laws anyway will be running around shooting people up. (Hmmmm... sounds.... STUPID huh)

THANK GOODNESS ITS MONDAY!!!

Ahhhh... Monday.

Sounds crazy... huh? You will soon understand.

So Ashley brings her dog over this past weekend for us to babysit so she can go out. (Yes of course Ash... we will watch your little mutt so that she does not tear crap up in your apartment when left alone.... and nooooooo its fine, we don't have any plans at all for the weekend except to watch your dog..... seriously what planet is she living on to think this?)

Frank is out of town camping in Doss with dad. Austin has swimming on Friday evening Aaron has a game Saturday morning, Amy has fittings on Saturday afternoon, the kids and I were supposed to go to Medieval Times Saturday evening.... Don't worry Ashley says... I will pick her up on Saturday night so you don't have to watch her all weekend..... uhhhhh thanks?!?!?!

So after all of the school, practice and yadda yadda on Friday all of my kids have someone over. Austin has his friend Hunter and his uh... very attentive and protective mom, and Gunnar. Aaron has Jason. Amy has Danielle, Cody and of course Maddie. Gretchen, Hunters Mom ,Lee, and I were hanging out laughing at the kids and then Josh comes over for a little while during all of the drama (this is about 11:00 at night)

The teenagers went to sonic because they were starving and brought gretch and me home a drink that both were spilled on Amy when they were trying to bring them inside..... they thought this was hysterical (so did I... :) Amy was soaked and had to change they then then left around 11:30 to go to walmart.... because nothing else was open i guess.... this is where they came up with the idea to saran wrap and tag jillians car. of course they don't share this plan with me until AFTER they are in the process of doing it.... little brats! Did I mention Keller has a curfew? yeah... so at 2:00 (two hours after curfew I am blowing up the four phones demanding a return to the house) They finally roll in... accept the lecture i deliver as worth it for the fun they had. Put in a movie and settle in for the night...ugh!

Now we get to the good stuff.... so peppermint is no longer allowed upstairs and we have installed a gate at the bottom of the stairs to prevent both her and holly's access. I discover that Peppermint simply WILL NOT sleep without a human next to her. (Holly was like this but when we say knock it off.... she shuts up. Ashley's little mutt is not trained nearly as well....) This was Peps first night in the house with the gate and without kids sleeping downstairs with her. So since Frank is out of town I break one of his major rules and let pep in bed with me. Of course Holly wants in too. So I am cuddled up with the dogs ready for some well deserved sleep.

Only to wake up with pee in my bed. Nope... not me... sicko... the stupid dog! GRRRRRRRR!!!! Ok I have a couple hours before Aaron's meet time for his game so I rip the sheets and blankets off of my bed and throw the sheets in the wash. Then I take oxy-clean and attack the entire mattress... because I am thoroughly yucked out with the idea of pee being in my bed even if it did not soak all the way through... I'm still gonna clean the mattress.... About 3/4 of the way through a wash cycle I start looking for my phone.... cant locate it... call it.. its off..... i get a sinking feeling.... because i just know it is in the washing machine.... dunno how... but i know.

HOLY CRAP!!!!! that only has EVERYTHING on it. My travel itinerary, work stuff, cheer stuff, football stuff, emails, calender, all of my contacts.... uhhhhh... basically the information i need to run my life!!!!!

So I jack Austins phone and head to the game with Aaron. (Gretch was bringing Amy and Auty up later) I feel completely lost without my phone. it sucks.

The game was AMAZING! THEY WON!!!! YAY!!!! At first Gretch thought I was an awful person who was way into the game. She reminded me that they were just kids when I yelled at Aaron to sack the QB when he was playing defence or to knock his block on his butt when he was playing offence. She just did not understand the game... even wanted to know why they kept saying first down... lol. The other football moms and I had our work cut out for us but by the end of the game she was jumping up and yelling KILL... rest assured... I made her a true TEXAS MOMMY... she now loves football... but only if Aaron is playing. LOL.... sucker!


After the game we had to RUSH Amy to fittings. Thank goodness that is done... what would we do without warm-ups for next year?!?!?!

FINALLY i get to go to Verizon for a new phone and explain about my phone getting a bath. Aaron and I both get new phones. after about an hour of whatever it is they do to the phones (BTW... it takes me about 2 minutes to do it online when I have a phone in my hand...) all is right in the universe again... except I have no contact numbers.

Get home... decide it is too late to go to Medieval Times.... the kids are upset.... I don't really care... Ash picks up her mutt. hang out... watch movies...

Sunday morning... don't have to go to church... cuz conference is on TV.... yay... Hang out with kiddos.... all day.... go to Movie Tavern for dinner. Maddie, Amy, Desi, Deanna, and Aaron all see a scary movie... Austin and I watch Monsters VS Aliens. Was a pretty good time. (must mention that I had a bunch of my contacts back in my phone at this point......)

Monday morning.... boys want pancakes. Fine... sounds good. making pancakes. YUM. Drop NEW phone in batter. SUPER PISSED OFF! Get kids ready and ship them off to school.

Head back to Verizon. See same lady I saw on Saturday..... buy ANOTHER phone from her. Thankfully Austin had an upgrade too... haha sucker... no new phone for him :) AFTER I buy the new phone and it is all programed she says "ya know if you put the phone that went through the wash in a bowl of dry rice it will absorb all of the moisture and the phone will probably work...." if looks could kill...... WTH..... she did not think this was information might have been helpful.... say on SATURDAY.... BEFORE I BOUGHT THREE NEW PHONES?!?!!?!?! JERK! I thank her while thinking mean thoughts and leave.

When I get home... yep you guessed it... i get a bowl throw some rice in and my waterlogged phone. Leave it alone all day and then HOLY COW!!!! IT WORKS!!!! I have my contacts, ringtones, information.... EVERYTHING!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAAY!!!!!!!!!!!! (now I also have an extra phone.....)

so if you get nothing else from this long butt post... remember to put your water damaged phone in rice before buying a new phone :)

COLLEGE NATIONALS THIS WEEK IN DAYTONA!!!! :) YAY! oh hell... isn't Daytona on a beach? Near water?

Ok I don't update this as much as Shannon would like.... but I'm trying.

The game Aaron's team lost? Come to find out they had x-men as intended ball carriers as well as a qb. We got to replay the game last Thursday. FALCONS WON!!!! yay! final score was 12-0. They played again on Saturday... won. SWEET! they are now 4-0.

Aaron was in a play at school this week... it was a twist on Cinderella. He was a guard, a cat, and a woman. (four boys played women at the ball...) It was hysterical. His football coach came in to watch it as did a lot of his team.... they all had a great time and Aaron had at least as much fun entertaining them..... he is such a ham! When I get pictures I will have to post them.

Frank is gone for the weekend. He went camping with my daddy. :)

Next week is College Cheer Nationals in Daytona Florida. Very excited about that! Amy already has some colleges looking at her so it will be cool to see the teams compete.

Ashley seems to be entering that stage in life where she either one begins to think that I am not a complete idiot and just maybe do know what I am talking about... or becomes as much of a moron as many other adults sharing the planet with her. (just depends on who you talk to.... if you ask a parent we are of course much smarter than the average bear..... most teenagers however (being the highly intelligent full of life experience individuals that they are) would agree that we don't have the sense God gave a goose!)

Ash has discovered:
1. when you are the one paying for groceries an apple in the trash with two bites out of it pisses you off.
2. when you are paying for your own electricity you suddenly remember to turn off lights and standing with the refrigerator or front door open is not acceptable.
3. rent is due.... every month.
4. gas is expensive and all those losers can find another ride.
5. work is a priority....not bringing someones homework up to the school because they forgot it.
6. abercrombie is not the only clothing company.
7. yes it really is expensive to eat out every meal.
8. it is much easier (cheaper) to hang up what you tried on and decided not to wear rather than throw it in the laundry.
9. car insurance is expensive.
10. her parents really do love her very much and provided her with a pretty decent lifestyle growing up. (she is really glad we still pay her cell phone bill... but just till the contract is up! smart kid moved out a month after renewing it=)

Austin's teacher just emailed me. He just got a 95 on his math test. YAY! he was really having a hard time with it this last 9 weeks.

sorry... I have to cut this short and go have lunch with my little math stinker! I LOVE YOU SHANNON MARIE!!!!! come see me!

SPRING BREAK has come & gone

AHHHHH.... the kids are back in school. What a week.



I will start with the most startling news. I went camping. real honest to goodness in nature out in the middle of no where camping. There was a campfire, marshmallow roasting, sleeping bags, and not a store for miles and miles... Now that I have done that I think I'm good for another few years.



Amy, Aaron, Jason, Auty, Gunnar, and I all drove up to Doss on Monday.... The5 hour trip took a bit longer than we expected.... two hours longer. We got to the campsite around 9PM. Thankfully I have one of those simply amazing daddys that puts the tent and cots up so that the kiddos only have to drag a sleeping bag out and crash. (since I have a thing against bugs, I slept in the RV) The kids made their own dinner, filled up on marshmallows and soda then in true camping style... went to bed without brushing their teeth. (yes I know they are nasty... I was just too tired to care at that point)



the next morning dad made the kids grits.... gag! I chose not to partake of the grits as they make me want to throw up no matter what you do to them. all but 2 of the kids agreed with me after trying them. Dad took us to meet the cows.... we fed them some cow candy... they would not take it from my hand.... I thought they were jerks. One is a big fat black one that is super moody.... but she is pregnant so we forgive her. One is small and black and has a sweet face. One is red with a white face.... she is the one that will supposedly eat out of your hand. Dad has named them.... stroganof, T-bone, & Ribeye. I was annoyed.



Mom and E showed up a little while after breakfast. We worked on putting the skin on the frame of the RV cover. Did not take as long as I expected. Mom left, the kids E and I stayed for the rest of the day.


After Dinner, Amy, E, Auty, Gunnar and I said goodbye to Opa and the boys (Aaron & Jason) so we could head home. We did not get out of there till after 11. It is still a LONG drive. E is a trooper and stays up with me the entire way home. We must have seen over 200 deer.... no kidding.



We got home around 5:30.... everyone went to bed but Gunnar who had to jump in the shower because Gretch was gonna pick him up around 6:30 after the bus came for Zane. The bus wound up being late..... he was picked up late... but it all worked out well. I crashed once he was gone. (only to be up again around 10:00AM)



Ela helped me to clean up after Ashleys little mutt... she thought it would be a super idea to pee on my floor. DANG DOG!!!! That took a while... because pee on carpet soaks in. DANGIT! so we then installed a gate at the bottom of the stairs so that the little turd was not able to go on carpet at all.



E and I hung out all week.... she thinks I shop a lot. I think she is a lot of fun and I missed her a lot!



Dad Aaron and Jason came back on Friday.... we had burgers. F, E, & Dad all stayed up all dang night.... and were very tired the next morning... but had to get up cuz Aaron had a game. They lost.... it was a hard game though.... both teams were fighting hard..... but the other team fought a little harder.



Alicia Michelle came into town over the weekend and surprised us yesterday when she stopped by. We stayed up all night catching up.... and now I am so freaking tired that I need to go to sleep :)




these made me smile :)

Well we have made it through high school cheer banquet and try-outs.

Banquet was fun.

Tryouts lasted all week. Results were posted on Friday.
only 11 kids made varsity this year (the bar was raised from last years requirements)
Amy made varsity. She seems excited about cheering next year.

Aaron had his first game with the Falcons today.
They won 13-6. No one scored the entire 1st half. Was a pretty amazing game.

Auty is sick. :( He started with the sneezing and now its full blown snotty nose coughing fever yuck stuff. I am a fan of nyquil :)

I am supposed to be taking the boys to Doss to hang out with my dad over spring break.
Decided to wait till Monday evening to go so Austin would be able to rest and get over this funk.

Ashley moved out. Mixed feelings but glad that she is taking the step to spread her wings. Now maybe I will be able to find my blowdryer and mascara.
she did not take her dog.... yet.

Amy Danielle Cara and I will be going to Kentucky at the begining of April. A & D will be doing the U of K cheer/stunt clinic. Cara and I will shop :)

oo

FRHS had another cheer banquet meeting last night.

no kidding... this is how it goes

get off work at 6, stop by the store, call kids on the way home and say get out here and help unload, get home, unload, put groceries away, wonder at what the heck the man I am married to is about to feed my children only to realize that I really don't care that much because I am not eating it..... get a text from Cara that says "I'M HERE!!!! :)"

run out to her car, jump in, stop by sonic, head to Kim's for our 'work meeting'.

everyone shows up and dumps a bunch of crap in Kim's living room and in her sweet super southern voice she assures everyone that life is good and wrecking her place is just fine. crazy nut :)

now i have to tell you that I am afraid to touch anything because Tonya is a bit... uhhh... detail oriented.

Tonya 'hoped it was okay' with the rest of us but she went ahead and picked the sides for the meal. The kids picked a champagne and herb crusted chicken breast. (alrighty....) and Tonya vetoed the regular mashed potatoes because she felt that there would be too much white/cream on the plate and went instead with baby new potatoes in a butter herb sauce because the red skin on the potatoes would compliment the chicken well. I sat there (dumbfounded) thinking boy its a good thing your in charge of this rodeo... I would have thrown some pizzas on the floor and said dig in! I simply agree with the rest of the people who were in shock over this type of attention to detail that indeed the new potatoes will work. Don't get me wrong... Tonya is great and I like her... but I am afraid of people like this.

we start off by replacing the 'fake family' in the photo frames that are gifts for the girls with a FRHS something or another. see. i told you. scary! at first Tonya thought we would have to unscrew the backs of the frames to get the fake family changed out. then someone informed her that the little tabs could be turned and then the back could be lifted off the frame. amazing how that worked. (I am starting to understand why Cara brought beer with her)

so we start on the programs. Again... good thing I am not in charge. I would have printed the entire thing on one sheet of vellum paper and attached that one sheet to a slightly larger sheet of heavier paper tri-folded it and stuck a sticker or stamp of the Eiffel tower on the front. DONE :)

no. this is a program that is layered. it has 5 sheets that are all different lengths, on top of card stock that is scalloped on one end and has the corners rounded on the other end.. the layered papers are then placed on the card stock and the top scalloped edge is folded over. then two holes are punched in the top and ribbon is wound through the holes and tied off. different tasks get doled out. somehow I'm in charge of scalloping the edges of 140 sheets of card stock. WOOHOOO!!!! all the while I keep hearing "don't worry... if I have to I'll take it home and redo it tonight" WTH!?!?! why are we here if you are just going to redo this crap!?!?!?

I hear all kinds of things about weird stuff... and to be honest... figure out why my daughter is taking a gay kid to banquet.

thank you Amy... seriously for not being boy crazy and full of that kind of drama. Thank you for being so in love with yourself that you simply can not allow another person in :) Your amazing!

Paige shows up about an hour into this hen fest. She tells Stephanie that she is 'doing it wrong' with the cutting of the layered pages and undoes what Stephie has done and gets everything out of order making a HUGE mess. Then she informs us that she is leaving at 10 which is in 10 minutes. yipppieeeee.... in her defense though... she does get it done...

all this to miss the SPURS vs mavs game? holy hell! spurs lost btw =(... (must be because Stephanie's husband is 'out of country'... sorry inside joke)

Kim and Tracy are in charge of folding / and corner rounding. They apparently do a great job without any drama :)

The ribbon cutting turns into a mess and it is a slow process when you cut only one ribbon at a time.... since the scalloping was done I pitched in to help them and cut 5 ribbons at a time... amazing how that sped things up :)

Finally we are done. Cara and I get the hell out of there. We laugh at silly ladies, and go home

Then today... ill be darned! there are pictures from this little shin dig on facebook. Imma kill Lisa! :) (who by the way was smart enough to bring her own beer too... kinda made me wish I drank there towards the end!.... the drama not the pictures... cuz pictures of me drinking beer would only add to the drama that is life!) Here I thought she was taking care of important cheer/baseball business at the meeting last night. no.... apparently not :)

btw... that Eiffel tower... ugh... what a pain in the butt....its going... kinda. thankfully the man I am married to (who by the way went to college for architecture) has decided to help us out. now I just have to figure out if the Eiffel tower is the one that leans a little or the big space needle/pyramid looking thing....

kidding...

i know its the one that leans ;)

haha... sorry.... just had to stress Tonya out a little :)

NCA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!

Lightning...

did it again....

another perfect season.

On Saturday Amy and I head out to Dallas around 11:00 in the morning. She wants to get checked into the hotel and her uniform/makeup on before TOP GUN goes on.

by the time we get to the convention center she has about 30 minutes before TG goes on so we head over to A hall and find seats. and that is about the last I see of her on Saturday except for the 2 minutes and 30 seconds she was on the mat.

diddy amy chelsey and ashley at prelims showing lightning spirit :)

After they went on and had a team meeting, found out that we were in first place with the stingrays and Laredo close behind us.

Some of lightning decided that it would be a great idea to go to dicks for dinner. on a Saturday night. needing a table for 20. a freezing Saturday night... and the girls were still in uniform. one of the girls calls... the guy says 45 minutes. sounds good.... too good to be true even. we drive the two blocks over.... and find out it was. would be two hours for a table... and our barely dressed girls need to ... wait outside ... no wonder it is called dicks ;)

ok hooters is next door... we tromp on over. uh... nope... two hours.

so we decide to head back to the room and order a pizza... it is almost 10 now.

Janie was so sweet... she volunteered to drive Amy and I back to the hotel so that we would not have to wait for a shuttle. The drive that should have been less than 10 minutes wound up being quite the little adventure.

Somehow we had the wrong hotel in the navigation system.

Shelby Amy and Caroline were in the back seat giving directions.

We were driving on this road that looked a little odd and then right before it ended and went into traditional tracks, we discovered that we were not on a road... we were on TRAIN TRACKS! the gps could not really decide which way to take us... so we went in circles a couple times. on the second time around this little loop we made we saw a train flying by where we had been on the first loop.

We wound up in the hood. (REALLY) then we finally have 'reached our destination' and let me tell you... I am aware that sometimes things look a little different after dark... but this was NOT the hotel we checked into that morning. =]

The entire time Janie and I are laughing so hard we can hardly pay attention to drive. There were a couple red lights run and one way streets traveled the wrong way. We even wound up on the famous Harry Hines...

At one point a homeless man approached the car and the girls freaked.

During this adventure Caroline started crying, Shelby got upset with us because we kept laughing, Amy the little piggy sat in the backseat eating her way through every ones snack bags.

Finally we figure out that Shelby was giving us directions to the wrong hotel... we punch in the correct address... turn around... drive past the convention center and were back at the hotel in under 10 minutes. it was about 12:30 at this point.

Peggy and the girls come into our room to hear about our adventure, we order a pizza and are asleep by uhhh 4? good grief!

Sunday we are up by 9:30 (yes if you are keeping track that is only 5 1/2 hours of sleep) meet the girls josh and Johnathan for breakfast.

go back to the room.

Amy gets ready.

get on the 12:00 shuttle to the convention center.

Josh H and Ashton are there waiting for us.

find out that in the prelim interview Laredo All-Stars were asked what their goal for this year was. the reply... "to beat Champion Cheer Lightning" wow... what a compliment...

we find seats and then....

watch sparklers (amberly)

RUN to the arena....

watch diamonds (heather)

watch top gun

watch fierce katz (CA)

watch spirit

RUN to B hall

watch burn (desi)

watch jr awards. Burn won their division!!! YAY

watch a billion other teams.

spend WAY TOO MUCH money on a small garden salad ($8.00)

FINALLY it is time for Amy's division! But they are near the end of it. So we start watching their competition. Being in first means we go last. When they get to Laredo... we start paying attention. They did not look as good as they had the day before but still solid. Then came the Stingrays. They definitely did not look as good as they had on Saturday. A lot of the parents were worried about lighting because the girls were competing so late.... 9:00.

there was no reason to stress....

When they finally hit the floor, they hit everything and deliver an amazing LIGHTNING worthy routine. You could tell when they left the mat that those girls knew they had nailed it!

They were the last awards ceremony. One of the first awards handed out was the superior sportsmanship award.... and LIGHTNING GOT IT!!! :)

It came down to three on the mat. The 3 we knew would be there. Laredo was again in third and that left two. "and your 2009 senior level 3 NATIONAL CHAMPION.... (come on guy knock it off) ..... from...... SOU....." the girls went nuts. He said from Souhlake Texas... Champion Cheer Lightning!!!! I'm sure of it... but we did not hear him. and that is okay because the confetti raining down on the girls said it all.

Amy even cried which surprised me. But I understood why when she explained it. They have a bunch of seniors on lighting this year... and this was their last competition all together.

then we had to go to get jackets and take pictures... that kinda took forever! :)

While the girls were getting jackets.... they find out that not only were they the division champs... but they also got the Herkie High Point award which made them GRAND National Champions!!!!

Amy and Marissa (diddy)

Dusty (coach) Diddy Amy & Marcus (coach)

TEAM HULK!!!!
(Amy's stunt group)

Wow!

Austin is back at school... lets hope there are no more issues with pocket knives.

today was taks....

Aarons first game is in a couple weeks. YAY!

engine lights

a couple months ago I noticed the engine light on my dashboard. we were pretty busy getting ready for the Disney trip and dealing with competitions almost every weekend. i tell the man i am married to about it... he is so helpful... he says call bobby. i call bobby... explain the situation and then explain how busy i am... he says we will meet up before we go to florida.... then the light went away... HOORAY!!!!

a couple weeks ago the light came on again. crap! (almost immediately after getting home from florida) i call bobby... no answer.

so i go home and tell the man i'm married to... hey guess what my engine light is on again. he does nothing.... except suggest i call bobby... well duh... already did that... ok. my dad is out of town and not just a phone call away at this point. my gas mileage sucks. oh well.

i was talking to a friend of mine and said 'hey guess what... my engine light is on'. this friend is one of those people who probably would have taken care of an engine light problem within 5 minutes of noticing it the FIRST time.... i'm fairly certain that he believes i am an idiot and should not be trusted with a vehicle.

he tells me that i should head over to auto zone and let them hook a thingamajig up to my truck and it will tell me what the problem is AND they do it for FREE. sweet. ok. i'll get to it. :)

i drive around for the past week... passing autozone DAILY. but you know the drill... im always on my way to somewhere and i'm always late! however in the back of my head i hear my friend say that he would have taken care of it if he was here... but he would also be pissed off if i ignored it... which i was doing.... and pissing him off is not ever something i try to do... so finally on tuesday on my way home from work i figure out that i am rushing home for no reason because aaron does not really have football practice (YAY!!!) and realized there was about 30 minutes of unclaimed time that that had just landed in my lap so i just stop at autozone and ask about the thingamajig.

at first the thingamajig does not work. the kid doing it says maybe my hookerupper thingy is bad. awesome. then the manager/owner guy comes out to try it. nothing. dangit! his wife and kids show up. very entertaining. he has 4 kids (at least... cuz there were 4 there) who all climbed out of a mommymobile and were all over the place (they were all under 10 or 12). since dad was in my car messing with my hookerupper thingy the kids were also in my car. the sweet mommy was trying to lasso children and apologize. i just laughed. anyway finally owner/manager guy says hookerupper is not bad... fuse is. easy fix. YAY!!!! he puts new fuse in. hooks up thingamajig and tells me what the problem is.

apparently there is a doohickey called a mass air flow sensor. mine was bad or dirty. i brace myself and ask... ok how much does this cost (it sounded expensive and sophisticated to me... and my luck probably a pain in the butt to fix... where the heck was bobby i wonder) owner/manager guy pulls kids out of my car and explains that the sensor is only about $100. but i may be able to get away with just cleaning it. that is only $8.99 for the can of spray crap to clean it with. HECK YES! at this point it is getting late... i have kids who probably want to eat... (every day they want to eat... a few times a day! go figure) so i say hey cool... thanks! ill be back tomorrow.

i go home and tell the man i am married to what i have learned. he is not impressed.

i got busy on wednesday. did not go back.

yesterday i go at lunch and pick up can of cleaner stuff and kid working says "hey lady you really really really need to change your air filter. um ok.... dont they do that when you get your oil changed? WTH!?!?!?!? (apparently my air filter looked so bad that they wanted to keep it to show other people. poor little filter... it will be laughed at by people like my friend who takes care of this crap within 5 minutes of noticing it. then these same people with shake their heads in disbelief that someone would be so irresponsible. GAH! at least my picture is not attached to the filter.) so about $40.00 bucks later i am out the door with my filter and cleaner and the wise words of the kid working there about a number 10 something or another to remove the thingy over the air hose that connects to my dirty/bad sensor. and if this does not work... we replace the sensor.

i go back to work... call the man i'm married to and say guess what i got the stuff to hopefully fix my truck! he says... sherry i have changes tonight. call bobby. and i think... wow... your helpful. but i have the confidence instilled from the kid at autozone... im gonna go it alone :)

i get home and aaron is boobing about practice... gotta go.... hurry up.

i tell him to relax... we have 45 minutes and the autozone kid said this would only take a few minutes. i pop the hood of my truck. aaron and amy both looking concerned come out to watch... (i did notice they did not get too close... wow... that makes me feel good)

i see thingy that needs to be removed and head to the garage to root around in the toolbox for a #10 something. FOUND IT!!! remove thingy. man i am married to gets concerned. he either thinks im 1. gonna screw something up or 2. the neighbors will see me with the hood up and him nowhere to be seen and realize that i was right about some things along. so he comes out to 'help'. at this point i have the little red hen attitude.... you did not help me when i called about it. you did not help me figure it out. you did not help me when i was buying the crap. so back off buddy! i got this!

i replace air filter... that was kinda easy so my confidence level soars!!! :) then i have to remove big air tube thingy to get to sensor. wait... that is a ring thingy holding on the tube thingy. need a screw driver to loosen it up. man i am married to is really stressing now... cuz i mention that im playing with stuff under there that i may not be able to put back together. i finagle the tubey thingy off and see sensor. can says spray 10-15 sprays. i figure mine is probably filthy cuz the little air filter guy was so shamed. so i spray it with about 50 sprays. then notice the can says crap has to completely dry before starting the vehicle.

HOLY HELL aaron is gonna be late for practice! (kid at autozone lied about this taking a couple minutes!... it took nearly 40 and i still have to put all this stuff back where I think it goes...) so i quickly put the puzzle of my engine back together tighten everything up and inform man i am married to that i have to take his truck as i shut the hood of mine. he ASSumes that i have screwed my truck up. jerk. no. it has to dry. aaron is late.

so aaron amy and i jump in tanks truck and head to football practice. the team they were gonna scrimmage does not show up... scaredy cats :) Aaron does his thing... i try to watch his practice and become even more annoyed with one of his coaches... (that will be another post) meet amys friend nick whose brother apparently plays on aarons team... eat a slice of cold pizza...freeze... and then finally practice is over.

we leave practice, stop by the store.... buy way more than the 2 items we stopped for... then we head home. my truck is still in the street. nice. i park man im married to's truck. head inside. get homework checked for 3 of the A's. call 19 year old to figure out where she is. talk to 10 year old who is suspended from school (yet another post) send 12 year old to the shower and find out from 15 year old what plans are for NCA this weekend.

its about 10:30. now its time to shoo #2 & 3 to bed and text #1 a reminder of curfew. then i clean up the kitchen and put away food man im married to left out. put away some laundry and clean up the living room. man im married to says 'are the kids in bed?' duh its 11:30 at this point... it is a school night... and more importantly i need a break from them!

he yawns and says he has had a long day and is going to bed. wow. goodnight. as i walk into the bedroom to find a checkbook to write a check for #2's school stuff man im married to says... your truck is still in the street. you need to move it into the driveway. ummmm ok.

i hunt down my keys... go out to move truck... it does not start right away. OH HELL! did i screw it up? i try again.... IT STARTS!!!!! and sounds like it is running good as new! i drive it around the block... idk why.. maybe cuz my dad always drove stuff around the block after he fixed it. RUNS GREAT!!! check engine light turns off!!!! YAY YAY YAY!!!! i park truck. go inside. fold some laundry put it away. finish up a few other chores. head to bed. its almost 1 am. man im married to wakes up long enough to say 'did your truck start?' i say not right away and smile as i go to wash my face.

let him stress over that all night :)

sweet dreams :)

Zeke....

So this morning Frank gets take kids to school duty because I have take zeke to the vet duty. (poor little guy... he just wont be coming home the same :)

anyway as I am getting ready I get a text from gretch... (whose kids were at my house at 5:30 this morning)

G 2/26 7:51am "is everything going okay?"

S 2/26 7:52am "yep its great. frank took the kids and I am taking the cat"

G 2/26 7:53am "where are you taking the cat?"

S 2/26 7:53am "to get his spheres removed :)"

now here is the funny part

G 2/26 7:55am "dont you wish the cat was taking the kids to school and you were taking frank to the vet"

S 2/26 7:58am "why yes now that you mention it i do...."

imagine being able to be witty that early in the morning after being up all night! :) I LOVE HER!

so when i get to the vet to take zeke in, i put him in the pet carrier and gaze into his trusting green eyes (he really is an awesome cat) and bust out laughing as I imagine Franks butt squeezed in that carrier on his was to what ever man/boy dreads! HAHA thanks gretchen for the laugh :)

I think it is time to retire this picture :)

and as soon as I figure out how that is just what im gonna do :)

I really wish my amazing cousin would install that thing on here.... cuz I dont know how :)

HOLY COW!

It does not slow down! We are a week and a few days out from NCA... so that means Amy has practice (LOOOOONNNNNG NCA PRACTICE) daily for the next 4 days then a couple days off then couple more of those amazing NCA practices then finally NCA! Never thought I would say this, but.... I AM SOOOOOO READY FOR A BREAK FROM CHEERLEADING!

so since we have been back from Florida I have seen Miss Ashley for a grand total of about an hour. not good. She keeps herself pretty busy... but I guess that is what 19 year olds do :)

Last night the boys and I made dinner then watched Toy Story together. I love that movie. They were annoyed at first because there was a spongebob marathon on.... and apparently they "hate" toy story. (probably only because spongebob was on... they had not ever mentioned not liking toy story before) However they soon warmed up to the idea of hanging out and watching a movie on a school night. It was pretty cool. Just the three of us cuddled up on the couch. BTW... for a movie they hate they sure got into it!:)

Back to dinner. I made split pea soup.... mainly because I LOVE SPLIT PEA SOUP. We also baked a chicken made mashed potatoes and garlic green beans because AAAA "hate" pea soup. well.... of the A's only one had the chicken dinner... and ALL 4 had the soup. WTH?!?!?! Soup is gone and a chicken dinner for tonight is made. Good thing... cuz I have to drive to southlake for.... what else... PRACTICE!!!

More DISNEY pictures!! :)

the view from the boat ride

amy on a hammock

she loved the beach!

on some rocks by the grand floridian
Wicked Stepsister 1

Wicked stepsister 2

Evil step-mother

this was funny... the esm wanted amy to smile... amy would not smile unless she would... :) (neither one smiled)

Amy thought prince charming was a dork:)

these two ladies acted out a street fight...was hysterical!

auty amy & aaron on some mickey are... the stuff is everywhere... no joke!

amy at cinderellas ball

aaron and chef mickey!

amy mickey auty

amy getting kisses from mickey
donald... why does he always look so mad?

amy and donald

auty donald and aaron

aaron and minnie :)

minnie and amy

minnie and auty

auty felt goofy taking pictures with minnie :)

aaron gettin some sugar from minnie! :)

goofy and aaron

auty and goofy

amy and goofy

goofy signing amys book:)

goofy and goofy... i mean the tank

amy and pluto

auty pluto aaron and amy

aaron and pluto

all of em and pluto

auty and pluto

epcot :)

kids in front of epcot! :)

the tank the kids and pluto!

aaron after riding mission space

amy and the pretty cinderella

amy and cinderella

amy and ariel

amy and jasmine

amy sharing some love with aurora

amy and belle

lol.... amy was not thrilled

jay amy and cody on tower of terror

maddie & amy

maddie, amy & danielle

austin loved learning about sharks

SHARKS! :)

auty amy & aar in a shark! :)

haha traylors for dinner :)

in the sea at epcot with NEMO!!

auty with an aaron face:)