Dr. Appt.

Never thought I'd be so happy to hear him say, "she has a stomache virus."

I truly believe Jesus answered all of your prayers, and that he somehow miraculously protected Georgie from this very dangerous strain of flu.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  The flue season is just getting started in Texas.  They closed down Huntsville schools because 14% of the student body is sick with the swine flu and over half of the staff is sick as well.  Huntsville is about 30 miles away from us.  We are hoping to avoid the swine flu until the vaccine is available next week.  Please remember to pray for Reagan and Kate since they come in contact with other kids on a very regular basis.

Update

After a sleepless night, we are taking Georgie to the doctor this morning at 10:00.  So far, Kate and Reagan are doing fine, but they both have runny noses.  Please continue to pray for them that they would stay in good health.  We are giving them plenty of vitamin C, fruits and vegetables, and outdoors play.  Those are the three things that the CDC is recommending for children and adults.

On a more sober note, one of the other families that came to Georgie's birthday party and were not sick, just called me and said that they were taking two of their kids into the doctor today because they were running fevers as well.

I am keeping a close eye on the girls, and will update everyone once we know more.  Thanks!

Swine Flu

On a very sober note, I have to notify all our friends and family that two of the kids that attended Georgie's birthday party on Saturday came down with swine flu.  We are asking for your prayers that it doesn't spread to our family and jeapordize Georgianna's and Reagan's health since they are in the high risk category.  We also ask for prayers for the rest of us that we don't come down with this potentially deadly virus.  Thank you.

All Right, here is a rough sketch for the calendar

Okay, I got a lot of positive feedback for the "relative" calendar.  So, if you actually log on to my blog at http://www.ourtexanadventure.blogspot.com/, and scroll down to the bottom of the page you will see a calendar.  I'm running the calendar through google's calendar tool.  Right now, the calendar only has a couple of "experimental" edits, but if you want to post to the calendar then you can by sending me an email, and I will hook you up with the google calendar.  I'll send you a link and once there you can input upcoming events and dates to share with the whole clan.  So, let's try this out for the next couple of months and see how it works.  It might be a little confusing at first, but I'll work on editing it, and fine tuning the calendar.  I might end up setting up a couple of calendars so that people don't end up with notifications that don't pertain to them, but for now, let's play it by ear and see if we can actually set up notifications.  Good luck, and hope to hear from y'all real soon. And, yes, I actually sound like that, y'hear?

trying something out...sorry if you get a lot of crummy emails over the next few days. :-)

So, here's an idea...

For all of my sisters and brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles, moms, dads, etc... do any of you have a hard time keeping track of all of the birthdays? I was thinking about setting up a google group that would allow us all to enter in our birthdays and then have an email sent out once a month so that we can keep track of it all and decide who to send email happy wishes or cards or gifts to...so whadda ya think? If I set one up would you guys be into it? It might get a little crazy since we all have huge extended families and you might end up wondering who so and so is, but I thought that given the ever expanding distances that we seem to be reaching, it might be a nice way of keeping in touch and up to date. So, if you like the idea shoot me an email. If you don't like the idea, shoot me and email. Love y'all!

Just Pics of Georgie's party...

One of her new toys.

Reagan waiting in eager anticipation for the festivities to begin.

Georgie climbing down into the fort...

The end result of Georgie eating a cupcake.

Happy Birthday Georgie!

Well, she made it to the big ONE.

I spent her actual birthday decorating a cake. I started at 8:00 and ended at 2:00pm. Not too bad for a cute pink and white and blue teddy bear cake. I also made a couple of cupcakes, and we did a dry run of the whole Happy Birthday song, candle and cupcake that night after dinner. The last two times I've done a 1 year party, the kids have been kind of scared of the whole scenario, so I thought I'd familiarize Georgie with the whole thing.

Today was spent getting Kate to school, letting Tanner get a few hours of sleep before the party, looking for cups, plates, napkins, utensils and picking up last minute party food: cheese sticks, chips, dip, chex mix. Then Tanner dropped us off at the Children's Museum to set up while he went to Kate's school to pick her up. Luckily the school is only about 5 minutes away, so he was there and back before any of our guests had arrived.

It was a perfect party. We had about 8 kids plus a couple of adults. They painted and played and ate lots of sugar and party food. Georgie actually took a couple bites out of her cupcake, and all the kids helped her unwrap her presents. She got a pink and red polka dot pajama set from her Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Howell. Tutu and Utut gave her THREE toys. Daddy bought her a pretend cell phone. Our friends gave her sippy cups, a stuffed animal, a cute winter outfit, color-crayons-that-she-can't-eat and her very own coloring book.

Tomorrow, we top it all off with birthday pictures. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I'm crossing my fingers because the closest Kiddie Kandids is over 2 1/2 hours away, and I'm not about to haul all of the kids there to try to take pictures. I think that's a recipe for disaster. Especially since Tanner has to be back to go to work which means either I leave him here, or he gets zero sleep. I vote to take a risk and try out this photographer.

Mascot!

Mercy, be proud of me. I get to be a mascot for all of our ice hockey games! My only disappointment is that I won't be able to shout, "Fight! Fight!" Still, I get to see the games. I get free ice skating. And, I get paid to walk around and wave at kids, take pictures with kids and be nice.

The woman that hired me is still wondering how I'm going to do it all. Go to school. Take care of kids. Work. I can't figure out what she thinks is so difficult about it all. I read a couple of chapters, write a paper, take a quiz, study, teach Reggie about circles, change diapers, make breakfast, lunch, dinner. Going to work will be like a mini-vacation.

I get to start training "early" tomorrow morning. "Early" in ice skating speak means 11:00am. Yes, I went in "early" in the morning for my interview. They can't believe I'm so flexible. I don't have a problem with an "early" wake up call. I'm thinking this job is going to be way too easy, but at least I'll have a lot of fun. I get to do parades and birthday parties and special events. I'm crackling with excitement.

Today, I relaxed, sort of...

Rolling out of bed at 7:00 is never pretty for this family, but today, it was almost pleasant. We woke up to Georgianna cooing, Reagan laughing and Kate flickering bleary eyes open. Breakfast was abnormally quiet. No tears. No sluggish eating. The girls sat down, ate breakfast, brushed teeth, got dressed, socked, shod and out the door in 15 minutes. I didn't even have time to make a cup of coffee. The morning was truly wonderful. I got fully dressed, and I brushed my hair. A remarkable fete, I know, especially since I did it all on my own without any help from Tanner.



We dropped Kate off, and then grabbed a cup of coffee before heading home. Once home, I finished putting on makeup, found the correct pair of shoes, and then said goodbye to Tanner who had to go to his school. I had a little break, so I found a spiral bound notebook and markers and Reagan and I played school. She was so proud that she got to go to school, too. Then off to my interview. I decided to walk since it's only 1/2 a mile from our house.

It was a perfect day for a walk. Light cloud cover, gentle breeze, a little mistiness about the ground. Nice deep breaths of cool morning air. Absolutely worth getting up in the morning. By the way, I fit my peacock jeans FINALLY! Whoop, for me! Means my body is slowly getting back into shape. I like that.

Came back from the interview to a relatively messy house. That's what happens when you leave to little kids with a single guy. Toys were tumbled everywhere in the front room. So, I did a quick clean up, ate breakfast, caught up on homework and did laundry all with the background music of a two year old learning that a one year old knows how to snatch toys. Tanner got home and tried to fix a glitch on my computer. Then we dropped him off at a meeting, picked up Kate, went to a bookstore, went to the fabric store, Tanner still wasn't out of his meeting, so we went home. Snacks. Cleaning up bedroom, folding more laundry and it was 5:30. I got in the car to go look for Tanner, half afraid that he had decided to walk home, but it was pouring down rain, and he would get drenched. Didn't see him on the road so I pulled into the driveway at work, and he was still there. Decided that this sort of a day required Taco Bell for dinner. Ate dinner. Tanner took a 20 minute nap. Woke him up. Sent him off to school again. Dealt with a 5 year old discovering that a two year old can snatch toys. Baths. Kids to bed. Relaxed, finished up homework, watched a murder mystery. Kitchen. Tanner came home, made him a sandwich. Reagan woke up, climbed into mommy's bed. Tanner went to work. I crawled into bed. The End.

How can school be so much fun?

I am having a blast and a half when it comes to school. I always wondered why there were "professional" students, but now I know. What's the rush in graduating? Why not take EVERY P.E. class? Hey, that English course looks interesting...

I'm only in my 3rd week of school, and I'm already getting impatient for the spring semester. I want to up the credits I'm taking because it's just so much fun. I might throw in an extra math course or take art history, anthropology, geography or somthing like that.

Ice skating is going great. Today, we learned how to spin on the ice. I promptly fell, and fell very hard. That was the second time that day, but it doesn't hurt any worse than a nasty fall while skiing, and I have the added plus of not sliding a hundred feet downhill before coming to a stop at the foot of a tree, and if I do injure myself, I don't have to wait for ski patrol to rescue me.

It only took three tries to lace my boot correctly. That's down from about 12 on the first day. Did I forget to mention that the very first lesson was, "How to lace up your boot"? We spent at least 20 minutes lacing, walking, unlacing and lacing up again, walking, unlacing, lacing up again, skating, unlacing, etc... So, I consider it a remarkable achievement that I only had to lace up 3 times before getting it right.

Looks like Jonathan got the job at the pizza place. They called today and asked if he still wanted the job. So, he get to deliver pizzas now. And, I've got a job interview tomorrow. Guess where? At the ice rink. I'm praying all the way there and back. It means free ice skating for me if I get the job, and a little extra money to help make ends meet.

We wore pants, longsleeve shirts and jackets today. It was cold. It was 82. I know it is hard to believe that anyone could consider 82 as longsleeve weather. I would never have believed it, but here I am, making sure my kids button up so that they don't catch colds. Of course, this type of weather ensures that we stay active, and I'll take that anytime.

To us, it is freezing!

Yes, we are really cold today. A thick cloud cover blankets the sky. It has been drizzling off and on all day long, and today when we walked to skate practice, I had to make sure that I took a jacket. I am currently wearing sweats and a sweatshirt, and all day today, socks and shoes were a requirement. I didn't let the girls get out of the car without a jacket, and I was tempted to wrap Georgie in a blanket, but thought better of it. We didn't turn on the air conditioners this morning, and we're running some fans to circulate the air because it is muggy. I don't think we've hit over 85, yet, and I'm thankful that Kate's school uniform requires pants and not skimpy little skirts. And lest you think that I am being facetious, just ask Tanner. He wore long pants, socks, boots and a t-shirt.

On a much cooler note, we are having a blast taking ice skating lessons, and the next time you see us, you will be amazed at how smoothly we glide across the ice. Our class is about 25 people strong with a good mix of boys and girls. Some of the girls are painfully young, and it makes me smile to remember how giddy I use to be. Some of the guys are valiantly trying to figure out how to stay erect, balance on one foot and look graceful all at the same time while most of the girls just float on by as if born on the ice. I'm afraid I'm not one of the floaty damsels, but I manage to remember to keep my knees bent and push and glide and not fall down too often. Tanner has already breezed on to much more difficult things like jumping and skipping.

Today was such a relaxing day since Tanner didn't work last night, and tonight he has off as well. So, after ice skating and a 30 minute date to visit the Cushing Library to look at the four millionth copy of Don Quixote, we took the two littlest all around town with us.

I wasn't too keen to see the 4 millionth copy of Don Quixote, but when we got there, we learned that the 4 millionth copy had been published in 1657 and all of the pictures were hand engraved. Texas A&M is the only university in North America to have a copy of this edition. Not even the Library of Congress has one, soI think it was well worth the trip. Plus, we got to exercise some of our new found art expertise from Art Appreciation 1411 as we wandered around the gallery looking at painting and trying to determine if the were Realistic-impressionistic, Impressionistic-idealistic, Realistic-idealistic, Abstract, Iconographic...you get the picture!

Sams Club and Gander Mountain were the stores that we took the girls into. The first to get ingredients for my most awesome granola. The second to ostensibly look at guns, but we never made it to that section because we discovered a shoe sale and managed to find a $125 shoe for $12.50. Yes, twelve dollars and fifty cents. We bought two pairs for Tanner, and then the girls were hungry, so we drove to Kolache Rolf's. You pronounce it coal-latch-ee. A kolache is the Czech version of Hawaiian Manapua or Polynesian Hombao. We tried them for the first time on Sunday, and they were such a hit with the girls that we decided to get it again today. Then we went to Barnes and Noble for a refill on coffee and stationary, swung on over to Kate's school, and then came home.

Other than bugs...

We didn't spend the entire time running from bugs, though I'm pretty sure Emma thought that bugs were lurking in very corner just waiting to jump out and scare her. I had a great deal of compassion for her. I, too, know what it is like to fear "The Bug".

So, the first day was a "cool" day for us. There were clouds in the sky, and Tanner and I had just taken a walk, so we invited Emma and Joanelle to stroll along our "river" walk. The girls had a great time, but Emma didn't know about pacing herself, so she started to over heat. Not to worry, I had brought along 3 bottles of water, so we kept her hydrated and took a short cut back to the house.

That's all the purpose of the big huge stroller that I take everywhere. I can fit all three girls in it if I have to. It might be a little hefty to push, but I am guaranteed to be able to make it home. The girls were disappointed that Mr. and Mrs. Beaver weren't out playing on the bank. Reagan is convinced that our "river" walk is actually in Narnia, after all there are lamp posts and the beavers.

We decided to head for the pool that day, so Joanelle took Kate and Emma with her while I grabbed bathing suits and some fruits and veggies from our fridge. Oh, yeah, and more water. Then I joined her at the pool with lifejackets and some pool toys. It was an indoor pool at her hotel and boy was it COLD. Perfect. Emma and Kate cooled down to the point that their lips turned blue.

We had a great deal of fun, and then lolled about trying to figure out where to go for dinner. We decided on Texas Roadhouse until we pulled into the drive and discovered that there was a TWO hour wait. That's when we remembered that it was Friday night. So, we drove around a bit, and settled on TGIF, but got lost in the turn around and ended up at this place called the Boston Bakery. What a find!

It was right next to the big fountain on University and the girls ran screeching all over the place. There wasn't any wait at all, and the food was delectable. We sampled each others plates, had some nice beverages, watched the girls squirm in their seats, and then headed home. Tanner biked to work so that I could take the girls back to Joanelle's for their promised movie night. Late for us was not late for Joanelle. I was falling asleep on the couch at midnight, well aware that it was only 10:00pm for her, but I knew I had to go home or I wouldn't be worth anything in the morning.

When I came over the next morning, Joanelle told me that she had gotten hungry right after I left because that's her normal dinner time, so she ventured out with the girls. That's when they encountered the cricket, or should I say crickets. I think Kate must have had a lot of fun screaming all the way to the car. She loves to scream, and here was an adult actually encouraging it. She giggled when Joanelle told me the story about the crickets. I shook my head. Kate loves catching crickets. She and Reagan and her friend from across the street do "experiments" with them. I have to admit that I am dreading the day when the ask for a jar.

Brave One

Some of you might be wondering why I haven't blogged much about Joanelle's visit. Sometimes it is just too hard to write down all of the happiness an event can create, so I wait for a while until some of it has been distilled and the resulting concoction becomes a rich, full bodied text that reflects the wonderful essence of the event rather than the boring, daily happenings.

All of that to say: I'm not use to being the "brave" one of the family. Really, I'm not. I'm the scaredy cat. I'm the one that throws my plate of food in the air when a bee buzzes by. I'm the one that runs all the way home because a dog started to yap at me. I'm the one that would never touch slugs, potato bugs, worms, frogs, snakes, ants or lady bugs. I'm the one that accidentally boiled my mom's fish because I turned the thermostat up rather than the light, and then I made Emily clean them out because "I just couldn't". (side note: mercy ended up doing all the dirty work!)

The deck is stacked against me in this department. I'm the frightened one. At least, I was until Joanelle came to visit us for five days. I realized something was different when a cricket hopped by me, and I just watched it while Joanelle practically climbed over me and into the house, or when the Love Bugs winged their way by my head, and Joanelle screamed. I realized that some part of me must have become comatose because I started to laugh when Joanelle and Emma freaked out about the crickets hopping across the pavement in the parking lot. It IS cricket season, but they won't hurt you. I started to laugh at myself when I heard my mouth utter those words. How many times had people uttered those very words to me, and it hadn't made any difference?

And then I realized, why would I be scared of a tiny frog 2 inch frog when I'd had a bull frog leap across my path? Why would I be scared of one of those measly little wasps when I had battled with a 5 inch RED wasp on our back porch? Why would a dragon fly or a honey bee frighten me? And crickets are nothing compared to 4 inch cockroaches, even the extra large Texan crickets just don't compare. And last night, Tanner squashed a spider that was about an inch in diameter, so why would a wolf spider scare me?

So, suddenly, I find myself occupying the strange seat of "brave one". I'm the one that squashed the spider at the park so that Emma would stop screaming. I'm the one that swept a dead bee over to the gutter. I'm the one that told the girls, very sternly, to quit screaming it was only a mosquito.

Now, before you think that Joanelle's reactions were over rated, let me set you straight. The mosquito was about twice the size of a Portland mosquito. The honey bee was the size of a yellow jacket. The spider was a dark, ugly, black and had eyebrows. Everything in Texas is bigger, including the bugs. I don't think Joanelle will move here any time soon, but then, Hawaii has some pretty big bugs, too...

Blisters and toe picks.

Even though Tanner and I are pursuing different degrees, we've decided to try to take as many classes together as we possibly can, and that explains the blisters. Tanner needed one extra credit in order to be considered full time, and the only type of class that is offered as one credit is P.E.

P.E. is one of those required courses, the ones that we had decided to try to synchronize and do together. But, if both of us are gone then Jonny has to watch the kids, and we didn't want to have to go far, or at an odd time, or when Kate needed to be picked up, or, or, or..., so we chose ice skating, since the rink is a five minute walk from us, and that explains the toe pick.

Ice skating class. Translation: figure skating. Not hockey skating. Ever since I've known Mercy, I've rented hockey skates. They're great, and no toe pick. I don't like toe picks. They catch on the ice. They catch on the boot laces. They're generally in the way if you want to go fast. They're in the way if you want to stop. And yesterday, they were in the way when I was standing still. I was the only one in class to fall, and I managed to do it at a dead stop. I fell so hard, that everyone on the far side of the rink heard me fall. I fell so hard that the teacher was scared that I was injured. All I know is that it's a good thing I've done plenty of skiing or perhaps I should say plenty of falling while skiing. It didn't even wind me, or bruise me. It only managed to throw my back out, but a quick twist to the side and then the other side fixed it.

Today, I went down to the rink to practice. It seemed like a nice way to do something by myself without the kids. I must have laced my boot wrong because the back of leg has the biggest blister I have ever had. I thank God that I live in the 21st century where neosporin and a band-aid are standard household items. I'm just hoping that it heals up enough by tomorrow's class.

Security System

We've decided to get a security system for our house.

We got a great package deal with it. It includes a weekly date night, and maybe even some quality brother-sister time.

Texan style.

September

A cool breeze creeps along the carpet because we have the front door and the all the windows open. The time is 8:00am, and I am determined to take advantage of an overnight low of 73. There is a deep smell of distant wheat fields and dried grass mixed with cooling asphalt. The wind has kicked up and whisked away the sultry, humid air. I contemplate wearing a jacket. I can hear the radio playing across the street. Someone is listening to the book of Matthew. A little further down a lawn mower starts. The neighborhood is awakening from its summer induced hibernation. My neighbor next door steps out onto her porch and begins to clean her grill.

The girls finally begin to stir. I make them waffles as they listen to the sounds of a Saturday morning. Without being told, they get dressed, brush their teeth, eat their breakfast, and before I can clear the dishes they head outside to play in the backyard. I hear a faint humming from their bedroom, and realize that I forgot to turn off their air conditioner. It was set to 82. But this is a cool morning. As I switch it off, I calculate that I won't have to turn the air conditioners on until after lunch, maybe even later.

I just did it...

I opened my eyes this morning when I heard the small beeping tone of my alarm. Yes, the sound is aptly described as small. I like my new alarm clock because it doesn't scare me awake, it just gently let's me know that it is time to get up. So, I peeled my eyes open at 7:00 this morning, and wondered why it was still dark outside. I stumbled around and turned on lights, coffee maker, stove and then peered out the window as I whisked some eggs together. It was cloudy and gray outside. Then "mommy's toy" went off because we still don't have a range hood, so I opened the kitchen window, and was surprised by a blast of cool air. I shivered. After a month and a half of 100 plus weather, this was a surprise. A nice surprise.

I got Kate up, and threw her lunch together, fed her breakfast, got her shoes onto her feet, and had started to head out to the car, when I said, "wait!" I rushed into our bedroom and found the drawer that contained all of our winter stuff, pulled out a jacket and made her put it on. Then we climbed into the car and drove to school. It started to rain, so the normally 10 minute drive turned into 25 minutes, and we were late. I was glad that I went back for the jacket because it sure was cold out.

I dropped Kate off, made sure she got a tardy slip, and then headed home. That's when I turned on the radio and heard the weather forecast. Possible showers, thunderstorms, high of 95. Did I neglect to tell you that I was wearing shorts?

Rice, sweet rice

The last 8 months have been torturous for me. I have tried, quiet unsuccessfully, to make rice at least a hundred times. I love rice. Rice is a necessary staple for me. January and February were okay months because I still had rice left over from living in Oregon. Homai rice to be exact. And that is where my problems started. They don't sell Homai in Texas, and Homai is the only rice my mom ever bought, the only rice my aunties and grandma and sister ever bought. It's the only rice I ever bought. Why? It just tastes really good, and the kernels cook just right, not too sticky, not too dry, not too crunchy. I could even cook it on the stove without a rice pot, and it would taste just fine.

I broke my rice pot at my sisters wedding, and since then, I've been making rice on the stove. With Homai, it's not a problem. With whatever brand they sell in Texas, it was disastrous. Failure after failure left me feeling inadequately nourished, and thoroughly frustrated. I tried frying the kernels first and then adding water, like a rice pilaf. I tried bringing it to a boil covered and then letting it simmer on low. It tried bringing it to a boil uncovered and then covering it to simmer. I tried more water, less water. The rice remained crunchy and pretty much inedible by my standards.

Last night, I made my first rice in my new rice cooker. Nirvana.