1st Day of School

It's FINALLY back to school time. This summer was longer than usual due to new state regulations, school can't start before the last Monday in August. UGH!! Who knew that 10 days would make such a difference?

Adrienne is very excited about 4th grade. They start switching classes so she has 2 teachers, one for Math/Science and other for English/Language Arts/Social Studies. This year will probably be an interesting one with considerably more pressure and responsibilities. We've got big projects required like building an Alamo and completing a Science Fair project too. She also decided to join Music Makers, the school chorus/music group. They will have a few performances through out the year.

Kierstin is way ready for 2nd grade. She's looking forward to seeing her friends again, especially since she got lucky and has 5 in her class. Quite a change from last year, she only knew 2 people at the beginning of 1st grade and they were boys. 'YUCK!!' (her word choice) Additionally, we had her tested for the Gifted/Talented program last spring. She scored well enough to be accepted so she will be going for additional enrichment and learning time during the school week. She will go for 1 hour a week this year, couple hours next year, and in 4th & 5th a whole day. It should provide enough extra to keep her mind busy :)

Now mom can start substitute teaching and making some money. David will have time to watch his history and archaeology programs with constant interruption. We'll see how things go. -S

Fuzzy Escapades @ 3am

We have a magician in the house! And sadly, it's not one of us that might be able to hone the skill and make money HE!HE! Teresa (david's mom) was sleeping in the living room and was woken several times by an odd noise. It took a couple hours for the noise to bother David (our room is next to the living room). But we finally woke and went to investigate...

Our lovely pet hamster, Midnight, loves to escape her habitat and roam the house while everyone is sleeping. This time she took the exploration to a whole new level. She decided it would be fun to roam our entire kitchen/pantry/dining/living room area. Then the fun of climbing the wicker newspaper bin and getting onto the hearth. However, the fun should have stopped there but alas not at our house! She decided she would climb the fireplace screen, fall down, climb the 'chainmail' screen for the fireplace and squeeze her little self inside. YES, she actually squeezed between the facade of the fireplace and the actual stainless enclosure of the fireplace. The opening is no thicker then my hand, maybe 1/2 inch. She must have slipped down off the top because all we heard was her moving back and forth and attempting to climb back up!A look over the fireplace only yielded frustration, no easy way to take it apart. We figured it would have to wait until morning and we'd have to schedule another service call this time to tear apart the fireplace. (Can't be cheap to break apart brick and then rebuild)

Midnight finally figured out we were there to help her and she tried to climb the front air holes but they aren't close enough to the top edge of the enclosure. We watched her get close to the top several times but fall down, it was sad to see her trying so hard! Eventually (1 hr after we woke, 3 hr mark for Teresa) we devised a plan and we went into action. Unfortunately Adrienne had to lose part of a old Halloween costume for the plan and rescue to work. Luckily tulle and an old computer cable worked nicely together and were thin enough to fit into the space. We stuffed the 'escape ladder' into the space near the air holes she was climbing. It took her a couple of tries but she finally managed to climb high enough to reach the tulle! But then she would not come off the top of the box!! DANG Hamster! It took a few minutes to coax her off but it finally happened. She was stuck behind/inside the fireplace for over 3 hours! Geez will the fun here never end?? -S

Wide World of Storms

We'll it's happened for a third time in our little neighborhood. We were much luckier then the previous two recipients. Thursday evening, a very surprising storm blew in quick and powerful. In less than 30 minutes time, we went from sunsetting with some lovely looking heat lightning to full blown watch out weather. About 10 minutes into the strong winds and rain we experienced the low. Lightning hit close enough to take out our AC, dishwasher, cordless phone, modem, satellite system, 3 outlets, and battery operated thermo-clock sitting on the computer desk.

We were lucky, NO FIRE, and we know it but it's been a full 3 days dealing with the aftermath. We were able to get the AC fixed by end of business on Friday. Electrical system was checked by electric provider and contractor and gave us the good to go. Now were waiting for the dishwasher and satellite system to be repaired. The girls have been wonderful about not bugging me about not having TV to watch. Thank goodness for instant watching movies at Netflix!!

Too fill in the problem with more craziness... David's brother, Phillip and wife Jodi, arrived on Wednesday to stay until their flight to Germany for a station change with the Army. Not exactly what they were wanting to deal with but I had some WONDERFUL help! Three adults in the house to find all the problems and try to fix them. But that means extra bodies in the house with no AC and luckily we all kept our tempers in check.

So now we're back to our usual level of insanity, I can deal that's normal :) -S

Let's see if they look ...

Just a note to say thanks publicly to Joni and Kathleen for continually 'encouraging' me to do this. It's silly to think how much I could have shared with everyone, especially school news, if I had done this sooner. Better late than never right? -S

p.s. Also thanks for the NNO invite, besides the ankle crash I had fun!

Big Racing Fun

The family went to Aloha Adventure Park in Lewisville today. They have Mini Golf, Go Karts (regular and junior size), Bounce Houses, and an arcade. It's been 3 years since our firstMini Golf experience with the girls. David found this place months ago and really wanted to go! So we ventured out on one of the first really HOT days this summer for an afternoon of fun. (I found a family special that allowed us to participate in nearly all the activities plus feed us.) Kierstin was pretty much able to consistently shoot 1 over par. Adrienne bounced around between par and a couple over for all 36 holes. Funny thing about their play style, if they just stood haphazardly and swung they did better then when we made them square and 'aim.' Adrienne was quite the richocet player too! I actually made the first hole in one in the group, and managed two in a row. Very special considering most of the holes I played worse than the girls! David finally managed a hole in one about half through the second 18 holes. He was quite surprised I beat him to it. The girls got their first chance to drive too. They got into the Junior Go Karts and went round the track several times. Kierstin put pedal to the medal and Adrienne was quite conservative on the speed front. After that round of fun, we got to race in double Go Karts with mom and dad driving. David took the lead early with Adrienne providing lots of encouragement not to let us pass. Kierstin was sure that mom could get around them but all we could do was stick on their tails, there's no bumping allowed. Luckily, the crowds were minimal (maybe 3 groups total at the place) so we got to enjoy the activities unrushed or bothered.

Best part of the day... Lots of fun TOGETHER, even after the girls (esp K) insisted they did not want to drive 40 minutes to the place and do 'those' things! After all, school starts 3 weeks from today and girleez don't get to see daddy those days. -S

Look What Happens

There has been a drought in North Texas for 2 years. Our water source lake was about 17 FEET BELOW average level before Spring. We planted a 15-18 inch wide garden in the back yard. We put in 2 gallon size lantanas and 2 packets of wildflower mixtures. The picture is what those plants have developed into with 35+ inches of rain. Also pictured is the other garden, tomato and pumpkin. We are watching carefully at the one female flower we've noticed on the pumpkin vine. Last year we never got a pumpkin to start despite a 12+ foot vine covering the yard.

It's been nice to have the rain but now we really know what yardwork is like YIKES!! -S

One Year Later, sigh!

David and I are about to celebrate our anniversary. It got me thinking, AGAIN, about the most wonderful 10th anniversary vacation last year. The picture is an aerial view of the hotel we stayed, Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas. We can't say enough good things about this hotel chain! If you ever get the chance to stay at one of their properties take it, you won't be sorry. Los Cabos (Cabo San Lucas) is a beautiful location on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. We look forward to sharing that location with the girls eventually. The surf is too rough to take them when they are small. Really, David would like to just up and move there but I have issues with that plan :) -S