Emma waiting for Daddy

 

Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance 2007

 

Julia, Ray and Emma ready for Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance

What I've read, am reading and plan to read this summer

Finished
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
The memoir of a Autistic Savant who sees numbers in colors and shapes.
Rating:*** out of 4 ****

Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons
Women's Fiction. Excellent story. I've also read On the Occasion of my Last Afternoon by her and loved them both.
Rating:*** out of 4 ****

Hidden Places by Lynn Austin
Christian Fiction. Great Story...I bawled my eyes out. Almost as good as the Mitford books, but a different kind of story.
Rating: *** out of 4 ****

Still Reading

Prayer by Philip Yancey
Inspirational/Christian Living
I LOVE Philip Yancey's writing and this is one of my favorites of his writings so far!
Rating:**** out of 4 **** (I'm not finished yet so this could change

Planning to Read Later this Summer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
The Final installment in the Harry Potter Series (I'll see if I can beat my last installment record and read it in one day)

The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien and Alan Lee

Post what you are reading and any suggestions for what I should add to my list.

Who went to the beach?

 

I can't believe we went to the beach and left Emma at home. We come back 5 days later and she already has a SUPER dark tan...I on the other hand am turning greener with envy every day!

Butt Sketches

 

The agenda for one party during the conference we went to this past week listed "Butt Sketches" as entertainment...I was very skeptical but ended up having this cute "cartoon" charcole sketch of Ray and I ... I think it was airbrushed cause we look better than in real life :)

Branded!

This is what happens when you go out for the day wearing a cross necklace and no sunscreen...ooops...Thank goodness I wasn't wearing a big letter "A"

Catalina Island

 

The Cliffs Marriot at Dana Point California

 

Mission San Juan Capistrano

 

Summer is here and I feel a new lease on life

Summer is here and all things feel possible...okay maybe its the 1 cup of coffee that I had this morning that was big enough that I could fit the three cups I made into one serving! Or maybe it is that hubby and I are taking off on Wednesday for a 5 day trip to Laguna Beach California sans kids! (the high I'm feeling actually comes from everything that I need to do to get ready and knowingly ignoring it to post on my blog) I have to say in the past I have been more the proponant of year round school than summer breaks...this year school was SO difficult that I'm and enjoying summer even though we are having to do catch up on school work. I am taking the summer mornings to teach Emma to read well, Gabe grammer and Julia to count! Afternoons are reserved for friends, swimming and occasional laundry...oh and bread making...we made three loaves in my bread machine and just about ate them all in one day...don't tell the kids but the bread was really healthy...whole wheat and flax seed! Next time I make a loaf I'll post a picture...HERE'S TO SUMMER!!!!!

For my Sister and long Distance Friends

 

Wow I didn't realize how much red was in my hair till I saw these pics!...Guess I just always wanted to fit in :) (with my red headed sister and two brothers :))

Haircut

 

Well I guess its been since February since I had a haircut and I feel like a new woman! But DANG is it expensive these days! Glad I'm not highlighting anymore!

Emma's New Look

Emma has unfortunately inheritated my bad eyesight but boy does she make these specs look cute...they have a little bling bling on the sides that you can't really see in the pictures.

They're here this year!

Well after last summer with not a blue bonnet in sight they are out this year in MASS! Here is a picture Gabe took.

JuJu is 3!

 

Note the cake had BOTH Winnie the Pooh and Scooby Doo! The pretty pink dress is from Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jerimy and Baby Bet Bet! (Double click on the collage and it will show up bigger on your screen)

The new family pet

Well as promised here are pictures of "Timmy" although I suspect "Timmy" is really "Timmietta"

Trip to VA

Julia goin to the mall playland with cousin Bet Bet


Bet Bet signing "Rabbit" once again for Aunt Lara...will she ever go HOME?





JuJu sitting on a goose "A silly goose on a silly goose"


Gotta stick your tongue out to stay on these buckin broncos

Guilt...just how far can it take you?

Some of you know that outside of cats, I am not really a pet lover. Some of you also know that I accidently...and I mean truely accidently was the cause of a certain "Chatter"'s demise...as I accidently "baked" my son's guinea pig in the Texas Heat. Against my better judgement, Gabe is getting another guinea pig. A little girl in his class is getting a horse...and her mother thinks the guinea pig will suffer intense jealousy and might fair better at our house (we can only hope) At least this time we don't have a cat that will be constantly wanting to "play" with the guinea pig. The only other pet in the house is a Japanese fighting fish (aka a Betta Fish) and I don't think it will be much of a threat. Gabe is so excited he has hardly left the house for the past two days waiting for the "birth family" to call that they are bringing over his newly adopted friend. Pictures will follow shortly.

Reading before Bed

In the summer Gabe read to Julia before bed...now during school they both have to be in bed at the same time and Gabe has to do his own reading before going to sleep.

Pictures of Emma

And here is Emma before her haircut.

Pictures of Juju

Pictures of Juju taken this summer, also before her hair cut. But her's wasn't a going back to school hair cut it was a "I got gum stuck in my hair, haircut"

Summer Hair

Every summer Gabe likes to see how long his hair will get without cutting it all summer. This is a picture I just had developed from a roll from last summer probably the day we took him to have his hair cut.

New Car

The Plymouth Grand Voyager died and this is what we are replacing it with :)

My Heritage.com Collage

Feelin kind of hyper

My nose is runny
My blog's not funny
I don't like to play gin, poker, or rummy

My hair is too frizzy
My life is too busy
I don't laugh at people who get in a tizzy

My friends move away
The world is all grey
I don't think I'll write in my blog on this day

I live for youtube
And coffee that's great
I put on a pot every morning by eight

I'm going to bed
I've got rocks in my head
I wish I could sleep but I'm rhyming instead.

Visiting the cousins over Thanksgiving in Iowa. We miss you all! 

Christmas in Mitford-I mean B- Texas

We just got back from spending Christmas in B_ Texas with Ray's folks. B_ is a very small town. Ray's parents live about a block from the local Catholic Church. Christmas Eve Day Father Andrew, the parish priest, blasted Christmas music from speakers out of the church from about 6:30am to 11:00pm or so. We could hear it clearly in Ray's parent's house all day. Emma and I went to midnight mass with most of the family and Emma sang in the childrens choir with 6 of her 8 cousins. As I sat in through Mass I looked at the people in the service and wondered what motivated each of them to come to church so late on Christmas Eve. For some they have probably done it for so many years it is just part of their tradition, some looked very serious and worshipful and some looked antsy and figity. The church was decorated very beautifully and felt cozy. I felt like I was sitting through a scene in one of the Mitford books. About 8 kids did a nativity play before the mass which was very moving. This caused mass to start late so we didn't get home till after 1:00am even though the singing and play began around 11:30pm. Emma fell asleep after singing with the choir and it was like walking with a drunk person when we finally tried to walk home after the mass. The Christmas Choir consisted of about 9 kids ranging from about 9-17. They had been taught by my niece to sing the carols in all different parts... it really was amazing. If in their hearts they were there to praise God I'm sure God was as blessed and pleased with their effort as we were to hear their sweet voices. I got to have my traditional cheese and jalapeno tamales and this year they were absolutely dreamy! I tried a dessert tamale...it wasn't my thing. There were bean and beef tamale but I love the cheese ones so much I didn't even try the others! Thank God they are a once a year tradition because I'm sure these had enough lard to take a year off my heart. I got to spend some time looking at old pictures with Ray's mom. It was fun to hear her stories about growing up in Monterrey, Mexico. Gabe, Emma and Julia had lots of fun with their cousins. I was so excited to see Ray's sisters new house. They are painting and will move in shortly I can't wait to see it all finished. All in all we had a great visit and a lovely family Christmas.