First Day(s) of school

Monday, 25th was the first day of school. We had gone to "meet the teacher day" on Friday, and both kids got the teachers they wanted. Yay!!! Angel, especially was very excited about starting kindergarten. Damian was excited to see his friends again, but not as excited about the academic part. :( So, Monday morning, I got up early to make a special pancake breakfast. Unfortunately, my happy faces came out looking a little scary. Oh, well - they tasted good! Damian was not eating much, then started complaining of his head hurting. Uh-oh...sure enough - he had a fever of 101. So, no school for Damian. Angel had the first day celebration to herself. I made the school bus cake that has become a tradition, and each child got a special present after school. Damian got his, too, even though his first day was a little different. Tomorrow will be his first day since today was the first day his temp. was less than 100. He called his best friend today to catch up. They are not in the same class this year for the first time. I'm curious to see how that goes. They'll only have recess to hang out together. Angel, on the other hand, already has a boyfriend! Just great!!!!

Fun Day in KC

One of our traditions is to have "Damian week" - now "Damian and Angel week" the week before school starts. We like to just fill every day with fun activities and give each kid some special attention before they start school. We knew we weren't going to be able to do a full week due to our vacation, and Frank had a race the weekend before school starts, but we had hoped to have a few special days with the kids anyway. Well, now that our plans had changed a little, we decided to find something fun to do in KC while we were there. We went to Crown Center where we ate lunch at Fritz's - a train restaurant, did crafts at Kaleidoscope and went to the Crayola store. We met up with some friends for dinner, which was so nice. Everyone in both families get along great. We really miss them. The kids were SOOO excited to see each other. :) It was great. We miss you guys!!! Don't worry, we're planning another visit soon.

Since we brought the cousins home with us, (and Frank went to TX to race), we weren't able to do a lot of the other fun stuff the kids wanted to do for their special week, but we did go to the zoo Saturday. It was the annual ice cream safari. We had fun! We told the kids we'd get to all the fun activities on their list, but it may be on the weekends or after school.

The Phone Call

So, Tues. the 19th is the day we were headed home. As we're on the plane, taxiing out to the runway, my mom calls. I could tell in her voice something was wrong. She informed me that my brother had crashed his motorcycle and was pretty banged up. He was in the hospital. That's bad enough - but then she continued. Two of my sisters were the first ones to the hospital to see him. One of my sisters passed out and hit the floor hard enough that she cracked her skull, and was bleeding. She was still in ICU. She had been since Saturday night when this all happened. My brother had been in ICU, but was in his own room now. Wow! What news to come home to, right? So, we did some quick deciding, and instead of going home, drove straight from the Tulsa airport to my in-laws, where our kids were. It was a loooooooong day!
Wed. morning, we got up early and headed to the KC hospital to visit the invalids. My sis was pretty out of it still. She did open her eyes and look at me, but was pretty tired, and mostly slept. The kids had made her a card, and I had bought one. I hung them up on her wall, and she did look at them, but I couldn't tell if she was actually able to read them or not. Mom was there with her, and had been most of the time. She would go back and forth to each kid's room, which thankfully, were pretty close to each other. When I saw my brother, he looked better than I expected. He was sitting up in bed, and had been out and about around his floor. Most of his injuries are fractured bones that aren't casted, or anything, so there's not much outside evidence of everything that was hurt. His back was really torn up, though, and he had other scratches and scrapes on his arms. He has to take it easy, though, and let everything heal. He can't put weight on one leg for 6 weeks, due to a fractured hip and he also has fractured ribs, which make using crutches painful. He was released on Thurs. the day after we visited. His bandages on his back have to be changed daily, and they want him to do rehab for his back when his hip is better. For now, he is staying with another sister who is trying to keep him from over-exerting. Good luck!

We went back later that night to visit again. My sis was more awake this time. She would talk to us, and try to take out IVs and disconnect sensors, etc. (which are actually all good signs). She would only eat grapes, so I had brought her some, and she really wanted her phone, which I also brought to her. She knew who all her visitors were, and we were all relieved to know that she had some memory, movement, coordination and speech. Each new thing she would do was a relief, because we really didn't know in what shape she'd be in once all the swelling went down.

As of now (Wed, 8/27), she has been moved to a rehab center. They will be working with her to try and get her back to normal. I think the main concern is short term memory. She's still on meds, so we're not sure how much the injury may have affected her behavior and personality. I'm just glad she's made such great improvements since I saw her a week ago. She likes to get up and walk around the hospital and is at least getting some excersize now.

Between the morning and evening visits, we took the kids out for a "fun day" in KC, which I'll post next. We headed home the next day, Thursday, and brought these two munchkins with us. They're my brother's kids. With my bro not able to walk or lift anything, he would have a hard time caring for them. (He has full custody). My mom was spending all her time at the hospital w/ my sis, and everyone else had work or school. (My sis that's in the hospital was also their child care) So, we took them for a while.

... continued

So, our visit w/ our high school friend and her family went great. I wish we'd had time to stay longer, but Grandad was expecting us for dinner. He wanted to take us to an Italian place that he used to take Grandmother to. It was very good. The next day was Monday, and we had a busy day planned. We went out to breakfast, then out to the "island" of Coronado. We saw the Hotel del Coronado, where my dad used to play piano. It's a beautiful building. We didn't go in, but Dad says we should have - the lobby is amazing. We drove around a little bit - it's a beautiful community, then went to the beach. I walked along the shore, found a few seashells, and got my feet wet (ok, and my legs and pants and a couple splashes on my shirt. I was a mess!) I loved it. :) I didn't find as many shells as I'd hoped to, but I got a few. This is the first summer that my kids have not been to any beach. I feel bad about that, but I'm so glad I got to go, even though I didn't get in the water (too much). I just love the beach! :) Later, we drove around some more, went to see where my Great-Grandad used to live, then met 2 of my aunts and an uncle for dinner. It was very nice seeing them all again, and I wished I had more time to spend together. I also would have liked to see more of the family. I have some cousins in the area that I'd like to see next time. We left the next morning. It was a long trip and full of fun, but I left wishing I had more time to visit. I'd like our next visit to be even longer, and full of more fun and visiting. :)

The wedding - continued...

Ok - finally getting back to the telling of my trip to CA for my friend's wedding. The morning of the wedding, the hair and make-up lady showed up to get started at 6 a.m. Thank goodness I wasn't first in line! I got to the room we were using around 7:30. Our hair was done in an elegant up-do with jeweled pins in it. My favorite part of having my make-up done for me was the facial massage she gave first. Aaaaaahhhhhh!!! The fake eyelashes, however, were not so great. They made it most of the night before took them off. :) The club provided a buffet breakfast and lunch while we were getting done up which took until about 1:30. Then we had pictures done - then touch-ups - then ready for the wedding at 5 p.m. By that time, we all decided we liked out stylist so much that we talked her into staying. She was just going to stay for the ceremony, but ended up staying for the whole reception and everything. She also ended up sitting at the head table with all of us. She was a little uncomfortable - not being dressed up, or part of the wedding party, but we were glad to have her. :) I was very impressed w/ the servers at the club when we requested an extra table setting - then a vegetarian meal. Everything was set up and her meal served within minutes! Amazing!

The ceremony itself was short, sweet, and beautiful. I was the first one down the aisle, and I will say that it felt weird to be walking down the aisle toward a groom that's not my husband. :) After the ceremony was the cocktail hour. Frank ordered me my fav. - a virgin pina colada. :) The appetizers were awesome, too. Then we moved into the dining room for the reception. Once again, the food was amazing. The reception was a lot of fun - I even danced and did the limbo.

The next day was spent walking around downtown LA - then we took a drive to Hollywood w/ some of our new friends from the wedding party. After we checked out of our room, we headed back toward San Diego, but stopped along the way to visit another high school friend. It was so nice to see so many friends, and to get along with everyone like we'd seen them yesterday. I am also so happy to have new friends from this trip. The other bridesmaids (and our stylist) are all great, and I'm so happy to have had the chance to meet and hang out with all of them. :)
to be continued - back in San Diego next post. Also - check prev. post for pics. :)

Beautiful and luxurious

So, let me tell you a little about the Jonathan Club. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Club)
It is an exclusive members only club in LA. My friend's in-laws are members, so they had the wedding there. The members of the wedding party got to stay there (including us). The club and rooms are very luxuriously decorated. (I'll post pics asap.) When you drive up, a valet takes your car, then someone takes your luggage, holds open the door, etc. Unfortunately, since we weren't dressed "appropriately", we were escorted the back way - not through the main lobby. Everywhere you go in the building is really nice. There are certain dress codes for different places you go in the building. Where the wedding and reception were held is nice dress - coat and ties for men, dresses for women. No flip flops or jeans anywhere in the club. Some areas are "business casual". Frank was a little frustrated that he actually had to go buy a suit to be able to walk around the building and go to the wedding. He looked awfully handsome, though, so I enjoyed it. I think what made such an impact is the attention to detail. The towels and robes in the room were embroidered w/ the JC logo. There were waters w/ the JC logo in the fridge, and in the afternoon - they delivered cookies to our room "on the house"! YES!!! My new fav. place hehe. :) As I mentioned in my prev. post, the bed was turned down for us each night, too. The food was amazing the whole weekend. Servers in white jackets and gloves served at each meal, or refilled buffets as needed. It was great. I thoroghly enjoyed experiencing that lifestyle for a weekend. :)
This is my bridesmaid gift from my friend. The necklace and jewelry box are both beautiful.

WHEW!!!! What a week!

I have been away from home now for a week. I hate to even think what my garden looks like - or what my kitchen smells like! I should be home late tonight, which means I will try to have pics posted tomorrow. :) Yay! I have so much to tell - the past week has been EXTREMELY eventful - so I will try to just tell everything chronologically. As I think I mentioned - Frank and I were going to CA last Thurs. for me to be in a friend's wedding, while the kids stayed with Frank's parents. The trip out was fairly uneventful. We had to pay $10 for parking at the Tulsa airport! (tried not to think about that for the rest of the trip!). We about 1/2 hour late getting to San Diego, but once we got there, there was Grandad waiting for us as we came off the escalator. It is so nice to be met at the airport by someone you love! :) I don't think I'd handle business travel well. Either that, or my business associates would just have to learn to deal w/ getting hugs when I got off the plane. It just feels RIGHT to get off a plane, and run and hug the person who came to meet you there. ANYWAY... as soon as we walked outside, the air smells like the beach! It's 72 degrees, with a slight breeze that smells like the ocean, and I decided I want to move to San Diego. (or at least go visit more often) Since it was such beautiful weather, we put the windows down as soon as we got in the car. Just as Frank's backseat window was all the way down, Grandad said "Oh - please don't roll down that window back there." OOPS!!! Apparently there's an electical short, and the window doesn't like to go back up. Luckily, it went up when controlled by the front seat buttons. So - off to a good start, right?
Friday, we had to be in LA for the wedding rehearsal, which started at 2. Our goal was to be there at 1, and to leave a little early to have time to stop and get Frank some dress shoes. We found a very nice shopping center, and after checking several stores, Frank finally found a pair that he liked, and that wasn't over $40 - which seemed to be his limit for shoes he only planned to wear a couple times. All of a sudden, I realized I needed a new purse! Just something that would look nice w/ my dress, and big enough to carry my camera, extra batteries and lip gloss. So now, if another nice occassion arises, I have just the purse. :) The shopping took longer than expected, and we ran into stand-still traffic on the hwy about 20 min. outside of LA. Around that time, we called the club we were going to for detailed directions. We were headed north on HWY 5, and they told us "you need to be on 110 south". Well, we're coming FROM the south, so we have to go NORTH. Apparently that didn't matter, and the person giving directions only knew how to give directions heading south. She said "you can also get here from 405 south" - still no help. She actually asked us "is the 405 near you?" Are you kidding me? We had already told her we're from out of state, what hwy we're on, and which direction we're headed, and she's asking us if we know if the 405 is near us? Well, we didn't see it. :) We ended up overshooting the club, and turning around, finding 110 S, and following the rest of her directions from there. Thank goodness we finally got there - w/ 10 min. for me to get changed and get downstairs for the rehearsal. I made it!
The rehearsal dinner was great. We had fun getting to know the other members of the wedding party and grooms family. We also got to catch up w/ Patti and her family, and another high school friend who flew out from OHIO for the wedding. HI CRYSTAL! When we got back to our room that night - the bed had been turned down for us. Yes, really. I have never had my bed turned down for me ever in my whole life! I didn't go to bed right away, though. I stayed up w/ Patti to have some stuff done to her hair for the next day. Angela, the stylist was so fun. The other bridesmaids and I stayed up and talked and laughed until she was done - then, finally, off to bed.

Headed out!

We're off - first thing in the morning for a short vacation in CA. The kids will be staying w/ grandparents, who already have a bunch of stuff planned. I may not be here to post much until the middle of next week. See you then! Here's a couple things I've been working on to hold you over. I'm sure I'll have a bunch of pics when we get back.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today was Mom's birthday. I got to spend the morning with her and the family. She took the kids to the farm where she boards her horses and gave them rides. We got to see 2 newborn foals, a kitty, puppies, and several other animals. The kids had fun riding and petting the horses. Thanks for taking us, Mom! Love you! We left not long after that, and I'm back home now.

The party went well yesterday. Unfortunately not everyone made it, and not all at the same time, either - but we had fun, and they loved the cake. Yay! What do you think? I did manage to get some roses on it. I was up until 3 a.m. learning and practicing making roses. I'm so glad some of them turned out ok. :)

Visiting family

I'm out of town this weekend, visiting family. I got to Mom's around 4 pm today. We've had a nice visit so far. My MIL also came over for dinner, and now I'm at her house to stay overnight. Tomorrow we'll have the Summer Birthday Bash. I'm making the cake. I'm excited about it, and hope it turns out nice. I'll post a pic. when I get home. My mom is raising two baby bluebirds. It's pretty cool. The funny thing is, the dog is kind of mothering the birds. When they start chirping that they're hungry, the dog starts whining, and goes to find my mom. If a bird gets out, the dog stays close to it, and whines and keeps looking back at Mom until she gets it back in the cage. It's so funny! For a while, the dog was even laying on the floor kind of under the cage just looking up at it.

Well, I'm trying to make icing roses tonight. No - I never have before, and no - I don't know how. I'm looking up instructions on the net! :) Like I said, I'll post pics later - we'll see if there's any roses on the cake! Hehe. I just love how I always get myself in over my head with creative/crafty stuff. For some reason, I never learn, and I keep trying to do things that I have no reason to believe I should be able to do! Well, you have to start somewhere! I just never choose to start w/ a class - I choose to just do it on my own, w/ no instruction. Like I said - we'll see.

Angel had her first piano lesson today. No, I haven't signed her up anywhere. Grandma Harris gave her her first lesson. Thanks, Mom. Angel was so excited, and proud of herself when she got it right. I can't wait to hear her playing music for us all the time.

More good news that I didn't get to post yesterday - we sold a couple properties! Yay! I'm hoping that means we have some $$$$ to put towards getting our new house finished. Frank said he hopes to have us moved in by Christmas. I'm so excited!!!! I just can't wait. We went out to dinner yesterday with some good friends (who also sold a property yesterday - their first) to celebrate. They were so sweet. They gave us a really mushy card and Frank a really nice gift because Frank has taught and helped him through getting into real estate. They're also working on some other business prospects together, which could be pretty exciting. We'll have to wait and see how that goes.

Ok - so I'm off to try to make roses. Wish me luck!

Catching up

I'm having fun catching up with my digital scrapbooking sites, and freebie hunting again. :) Hopefully I'll get some layouts done soon, too. I'm going to be pretty busy for the next several days, though.

The big story from today is the BLACK WIDOW in my garden. The kids and I went to the new house to work in the garden this afternoon. It was actually kind of nice out, for a change. I was pulling weeds and the kids were looking for ripe veggies to pick. We were all in the same area, when Angel said "look at that spider!" It was only a couple inches from my hand - right where I was weeding. It looked a little more brown than black, though, so I thought it was just a garden spider of some sort (I guess it was dirty). Damian was right next to me, both of us leaning over to see it and as it crawled into a hole in the ground, for just a second, we caught a glimpse of red on it's underside! Damian yelled "it's a black widow!" Me: "are you sure?" D: "it has red on it - look out it's coming towards you!" By this time I was standing up straight, and looking around for something to smash it with, so I hadn't seen it come out of it's hole. Unfortunately, I was wearing flimsy flip flops, and the ground was muddy from watering, so I couldn't just step on it. Angel came to the rescue -handing me her plastic yellow hoe, and I whacked it a few times. Phew! Damian made sure to add to our prayer at dinner a "thank you" to God that no one got bit by the black widow today. :)

This weekend I'll be out of town. We'll be having a big birthday party for all the summer birthdays in the family at my mom's. I'm looking forward to it! Here are some pics - to catch up on what I couldn't post before. Here's one layout I did a couple weeks ago, and some pics we took w/ an underwater camera. It was so much fun!

YAY!!

Well, I can't stay on long - but I have to say YAY!!! I have my computer back! I really hope to get some photos on here and get caught up w/ scrapbooking - which I have really missed.
I have to get more serious w/ my diet again. Just over a week until the wedding, and I'd like some extra room inside that dress to fit in the cake I'm going to eat!
I'm so proud of Angel today - she's been so sweet and jumping to do what I ask of her. She repeats the mantra "say yes ma'am and do it, don't throw yourself on the floor and whine." - which is the instructios I've given her over and over. Her normal reaction to being asked to do ANYTHING (almost) was to crumple up and whine about it, or say she's tired or has a headache..., so this is really a major improvement. We had a really good day together today, and I think she's realizing that when her behavior is nice - so is mine! She has also started doing 1-armed cartwheels. I really didn't expect that yet.
Damian also had a good day. He spent some time playing w/ a 5 yr. old friend at the library today, and the boy's father complimented Damian for being such a good friend and just spending so much time w/ a younger kid, etc.... He really is such a good boy. I'm just feeling so blessed to have the kids that I have. :)
Speaking of being blessed, I think I talked Frank into giving me a massage tonight. I'm so sore, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll catch up w/ photos tomorrow.
Good night.

FABLIOUS!

That's Angel's new word. Everything the other day was so fablious! So cute! This evening I taught her how to blow bubbles with bubble gum. She spit her gum completely out of her mouth about 10 times trying to blow a bubble. :) Both kids have been working on handstands this week. Angel has been taking gymnastics for the past few months, and she loves it! She's really improved on her cartwheels and handstands. It's impressive to watch. Damian's trying to learn to walk on his hands like his Dad can. There's been a lot of falling on heads around here lately.

So, I'm supposed to make my sister a birthday barbie cake this weekend, and she wants a Cinderella cake. Ok, no big deal, right? Well, apparently no one is selling Cinderella right now, except the Disney Store - an hour away. I'll keep looking, but couldn't find one when I went out today, and looking online I found the Disney Store, eBay, or Amazon. So, technically I could get one, but it wouldn't be here by this weekend. I hope I can find one that just didn't show up on my online search. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

HOT, HOT, HOT

I avoided the outdoors again! I did get out to go to church, but that's it. Tomorrow's supposed to be bad, too. A heat index of 105-115!!!! Unfortunately, I do have to get out tomorrow, and I really need to water my garden. I can't be so lucky for just the weeds to shrivel up and die, and the veggies to be doing well. It's hard having to drive to the other house to take care of the garden. I haven't been up early enough to go over before it's hot, and in the evening, the mosquitoes are so bad, I just hate being outside. The last time I worked in the garden in the evening, I came back looking like I had a horrible disease - there were so many red spots all over my legs! I hope everything's not already dead over there. :(
Still no pics to share, as I still don't have my computer back. HOPEFULLY tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed for me.
'Night

Lazy weekend

I have felt so lazy this weekend. It was supposed to feel like 108 degrees outside today - so I didn't even step outside the door. I don't know if it was really that hot, or not. The kids had fun playing hopscotch inside with a padded floor mat puzzle. Then they pulled all the cushions off the couch to make a "fort". We've also done a lot of reading. We joined a summer reading program at our library, and it ends Monday. We have about 2 more hours to read to complete the program, and then the kids get to pick a free book at the library. Yay!

Yesterday was crazy! We tried to go swimming, but the pools we went to were closed. We tried to pick up a movie at the library that I had put on hold, but they couldn't find it! We expected to get our computer back yesterday, but it wasn't ready. And I got a call from my mom in the afternoon that my brother was in the hospital! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! The good news is that my brother is out today, and seems to be doing ok. Also, the kids did get to play in water yesterday - they had a water balloon fight w/ the neighbors, played w/ water guns, and filled up the little turtle sand box again for a make-shift pool.
I've spent this evening planning my lesson for church tomorrow. It will only be my 2nd time teaching, and I feel better about it this time than I did last time. I'm so blessed to have the support of the other women in the program with me. They are very encouraging, and I really appreciate it. Sometimes I feel more like one of the kids that needs their support than one of the leaders that should be offering the support. I hope I am able to teach something that they can learn from and grow.

Have a beautiful Sunday!