Yes I was Late

So all of you that have finally gotten a Christmas card and wondered, "Was I an after thought? Did they only send me one because I sent them one? or Surely she didn't send out her cards this late?" No, No, and Yes. Yep my cards didn't get mailed until two days before Christmas this year. If I would have realized it was going to take me that long to get them out I would have made Happy New Year Cards instead.

So those joining us for the first time, yes I blog on here about the family- no not as much as I want to and yes I plan to do more in the new year. No your eyes are not deceiving you, Brian did drop 90 pounds in the last year or so not by surgery but by pure sweat and maybe even some tears and a little weight watchers- go down in a previous post and you can see his Marathon pictures. That is is the reason you are getting a Christmas Card with us on it this year and not just our kids. Brian declared several months ago that he was going to be on the card this year and I decided I better drop some weight too. Yeah well as you can see that didn't happen either- I'm working on that too. In our unbiased (hehe) opinion our girls are great and yes their pictures speak volumes about their personalities. Peyton is our little sassy mouth who thinks she is a princess and is growing up too fast as a Kindergartner. Landree is just as fun loving and mischievous as she looks in her pictures- life is never dull with her in the picture.

So in the next two weeks- yes I'm putting a deadline, I plan to update you on our

Thanksgiving week- yes I know- PITIFUL

Christmas break

My first workout with a trainer- you can now pick your jaw up I went and did return

and for my beloved mother- Cruise reports from October- again I know I am pitiful

Also I have a new blog header to get up there since those pictures are from last Winter/Spring

Hell Might Be Freezing

Not really but it is sleeting in San Antonio. Not going to do anything but I can't believe I am actually seeing sleet in San Antonio. It was 78 degrees today this afternoon and Peyton was asking for the air conditioner and now it's 40 degrees. Landree has pink eye and of course I now have pink eye so we're just a crusty pair here. I owe you some updates but I've been working on Christmas cards so I'm getting to ya. Well the sleet has already stopped- knew it wasn't freezing over. Marcus says we might need to get milk and bread because ya know if they freaked out in Little Rock over winter weather, they will lose their ever loving mind here.

Budman

Over 9 years ago Brian and I decided we needed a dog. We got our first puppy, Buddy. It was love at first sight and we let him sleep with us, carried him around, dressed him in sweaters, and treated him like a child. Even though he got put on the back burner when Peyton was born, he still loved us and jumped for joy when we walked through the door. He adjusted well and Peyton called him her brother and hounded us until we let him sleep in her room. When Landree gets upset or in trouble she calls and cries for him and calls herself, "Buddy's Girl."

On Wednesday we said good-bye to a member of our family- the Budman. During this week of thanks we are thankful for all the many blessings God has given us including over 9 years of faithful companionship of our dog.

For our girls he was a playmate

A constant shadow always in the background keeping watch

The guardian and Hoover of all crumbs

A two year old's Best Friend

During the last year and a half I have been home and spent everyday with Buddy. We knew this day would come but as I type this, I am still unprepared to look down and not see him at my feet.

Please Forgive Me

Those of you who have sent me emails and I have not responded- please be patient with me. Since Monday night, I have tea dyed 24 t-shirts, cut fringe on the bottom and both sleeves of 22 of them, put pony beads on every few strips (they got farther between the more I did- especially at 3:30 this or maybe yesterday morning), got home at 10 tonight from a church meeting knowing that I still had to make Cocoa Krispy Turkeys (I'll show you a pic later) for Landree's class, and cut and bead two more shirts since one got painted wrong and one has mysteriously disappeared. Tomorrow I have a PTA meeting in the morning then work at the school book fair for the afternoon and tomorrow night design and make a crystal shirt with the local high school's mascot for the silent auction on Friday. Friday I am spending the entire day at Peyton's school to help with the Rennaisance Fair and get them ready for the Big Pow-Wow. Brian took the day off to help some. So it should be a fun and exhausting day. I might be asleep by supper on Friday and then Saturday I need to evaluate my time management skills and scrub the "sucker" and "newbie" off my head. So all of you that are waiting for me to respond- look for me Saturday.

HE DID IT!!!!

Today is one of my proudest days ever. Brian ran the San Antonio Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon- 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 19 seconds. Brian left the house this morning at 5:20. The girls and I left at 6:20 and it was 38 degrees. I talked to Brian a few times and knew he was cold and anxious. The girls and I met up with our friend Gerald whose wife Kentonine was running the race also. We waited at the 2 Mile Marker and we finally caught our first glimpse.

After hearing, "Go Daddy Go," he saw us.

USAA did a lottery and sponsored some employees and paid their marathon fees and gave them a shirt. Can you tell he likes attention?

We hurried up and went to the 8 mile marker and then did potty breaks and Gerald got a snack. We then realized he had picked up his pace and almost missed him- you can see the 8 mile marker in the background.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of him ever. How does a man who has run 8 miles look this good? Even after all this, the daddy he is came out and he was waving to Landree.

After we saw Kentonine race by, we hoofed it to the finish line. And I mean hoofed it because at one point we were running. We saw Brian less than one hundred feet from the finish line here.

We then began the search to find him. Gerald kept Landree and Peyton and I went to find him. I of course was so excited that I literally cried all the way to him. Bless is heart he was tired and cold. He walked around with the metal blankets they were passing out. Peyton kept calling it his cape.

Here are our two runners.

Brian started his weight loss story August of 2007 and today was maybe not his final chapter but one of the last ones.

And for the first time ever since I became a Mom, I had a camera in my hands for almost 3 hours with my children and never took a picture of them. Today was all about Daddy.

Today and Tomorrow

This is where we spent part of today.

And this is where we will spend tomorrow.

We'll be freezing our hineys off in 34 degree weather. UGH!!! It was literally 86 degrees here yesterday- what happened. Grandma- don't you love that picture- thought of you as soon as I pulled it up.

I'll try to post more words tomorrow but we have a thing at church tomorrow evening so I'll work on it.

A Day of Waiting

Today has been about waiting. We got up early this morning, ate breakfast, got everyone dressed, packed 4 lunches and the four of us were standing in line to vote a little before seven. Luckily, it was at school so we just walked up there. Unluckily, they didn't open at 7 like they were supposed to and didn't start letting people in until 7:20. I walked Peyton to class and came back to wait again. We finally got out of there at 8:10. I got Landree to school and then rushed back to Peyton's school.

The Kindergarteners were going to the McNay Museum http://www.mcnayart.org/. You know I was excited since I couldn't go on the last field trip and I was one of the 4 moms able to go to this one. We were told that normally they don't let Kinders in but an exception is made for Roan Forest because they are so usualy well behaved. Well this tells me two things- 1- I knew expectations are high at that school and 2- Kindergarteners probably shouldn't be going to an Art Museum.

I helped load the bus and then joined a caravan of SUVs and Minivans going across town. When I pulled in it reminded me a lot of the Norton Art Gallery back home but about 10 times the size. We got all 8 classes off the buses and split them in half. One group went into the museum and Peyton's group went to eat lunch. We then had an hour to wander around the grounds and wait for our assigned time to enter the museum. As you can imagine an hour of waiting on Museum grounds is a lot to expect from 5-6 year olds. My teacher mode kicked in and within fifteen minutes I had Peyton's hand and a rather rambunctious boys hand.

We finally got the ok and got all lined up and ready for our docents. The wait continued and then we started noticing a lot of people coming out. Well the fire alarms were going off and they couldn't find the source. So the whole museum was evacuated. Half an hour of waiting and they still couldn't find the source so no museum. So again the 5-6 year olds had to wait again. We passed the time with Duck-Duck-Goose until the buses got there. We are hoping to get approval to go back again. So I put a very disappointed daughter who wanted to see Monet and Van Gogh (I know its Kindergarten) back on the bus back to school.

Of course we are all waiting to see who our next leader will be after the polls close. Regardless of your choice, I hope you go vote. I have not told anyone how I voted and haven't asked anyone including my husband and vice-versa. Remember, if you don't vote, you give up the right to complain for four years. In this house, we love to bitch to much to give up that right. So take a chair, drink, snack, ipod, and a book and go exercise your right. You wouldn't want to miss getting to wait would you?

Halloween 2008

So this year my children decided to divert from the normal Disney Halloween and I had to use a little creativity. Peyton wanted to be Ruby the Red Fairy from the Rainbow Fairies Book Series.

Landree wanted to be-

wait for it,

wait for it- Abby Cadabby- I know big surprise. So this meant I could not go buy costumes this year- well they had one for Abby Cadabby but she didn't look right so I had to make one. I got Peyton's dress off Ebay and added a pair of cheap wings. Brian thinks her dress looks like a lounge singers dress.
I found a leotard for Landree and only had to make the tutu and Korker bows for Abby Hair. There was a row of tulle around her neck like Abby's but after 4 hours of my nice hard work and a week of wearing it around the house, Landree decided that it was itchy and didn't want to wear it. So off it came and here is our Abby Cadabby.

Here are some random shots that I like which is code for I couldn't decide which ones to post so I just posted them all.

This is the face of a girl who is tired of Mom taking pictures and ready to go Trick or Treating

So we put a bowl of Candy out and off we went.

Notice the girl's choice of footwear. Peyton wore those blasted Hannah Montana Crocs instead of the red ones- I'm beginning to hate those shoes. Landree picked out Peyton's pink boots. She is being raised in Texas.

At the first house, Peyton proceeded to tell the lady that Landree couldn't eat that candy because she was allergic to it. At another house Landree got to pick her own candy and of course she picked a full sized bag of Peanut MMs. I think I now remember why I didn't go last year. We ended up meeting up with another Peyton in our neighborhood who is almost four and she and her dad joined us for TOT. Landree only refused one house that was awfully scary but other than that she did great. Halfway through Brian remembered why he brought a wagon last year for Landree. We finally made it through the neighborhood and then ran by Jim and Debra's where Landree proceeded to walk right in and plop herself down in Jim's chair, put her thumb in her mouth and watched TV. Brian took the girls in and filled the bowl up with more candy. I walked back in and this is what I found.

Here is what we looked like after we finally told Landree no more Candy but Peyton knew she was getting to stay up a little later so that she could eat some chocolate.

Here was the haul of candy the two girls got- with my commentary

Peyton ended up sleeping in her costume that night. The Great Pumpkin came and took all the unsafe candy and left movies for the girls- didn't you know that the great pumpkin did that for Food Allergy Kids?

I watched my girls all cute and pretty in their costumes as they flitted around. As a mom you can get so caught up in the "magic" of the event. Then something brings you back to reality

Yeah, I know she's going to kill me one day.

The Girls

My job as The Craft Family Zookeeper is still secure

Last night I was on the phone with my sister Melanie while cleaning out the fish tank. Landree kept trying to get to the fish and frog and feed them. I told her to not touch the fish tank, the cup with the fish and frog or the food. She was on her stool and then out of the corner of my eye, I see her try to feed them, again. I squatted down to be eye-level and started fussing at her- that's what all the experts say- get on their level. Well those experts don't know Landree Lou. I swanee I decided I had to be imagining what I was seeing. While I was literally an inch from her face, she stops looking at me and darts her eyes off to the side and of course my eyes followed. I see her little hand over the cup that had the fish and frog in it. She was still trying to feed the fish while I was fussing at her for just feeding the fish while I was eye-level in her face. Really- what does it take with this kid?

We were in the car tonight and Peyton was being whiny. She said something about she was having growing pains and that her legs were breaking. We told her that her legs were not breaking and that she probably just tired and needed to go to bed when we got home. Then she said, "Guys, I think I have a Bunion." WHAT! So of course Brian asks, "What is a bunion." She replies with, "A bunion is a bone on your toe that hurts." Brian then asks her where she learned this, "From a commercial and my bunion really hurts, maybe I need to go to the doctor or something, Moma, Can you make me an appointment tomorrow?" Well I can't respond because at this point I am half-laid out in my seat crying and trying to smother my laughter. Brian told her that she would just want to cut it off. Really dear husband? This is the child that is so dramatic that she thinks her leg is broken and that her 5 year old foot has a bunion- is the really the time to pick on her and make her think a doctor will cut her foot off? So I then had to regain my composure to calm down the hysterical 5 year old in the back seat.

So don't think anyone is offering to take the zookeeper job over and I'll have it for as long as I want.

Cruise Day 1

In order to celebrate Mom's 60th Birthday, My mom's sister Lila, my sister Melanie, my mom and I all decided to go on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. We were set to sail on Monday so we decided to fly in on Sunday. I used Priceline and got our hotel for about 1/3 the price and we were set. Brian and the girls dropped me off at the airport and I got on my direct flight to Orlando- yeah one good thing about living in a big city. I arrived first and was a little disgruntled because it was odd to be at the Orlando Airport and not be going to Disney World like we did last October. I got to our lovely room and ordered Room Service and watched TV until Auntie Lila got there. We caught up until Mom and Melanie got there after midnight. We got ready for bed and I had to have a discussion with my sister about personal space when she put a knee in my back.

Monday, we got up, got ready, repacked, hit up Starbucks (where not one of us got anything with coffee in it), loaded up in the van and headed to Port Canaveral. We finally arrived, dropped our luggage off to the porters, went through 3 passport checks, security and went to stand in line to check in. Since we were in a suite, we got priority boarding and got to bypass the line. We boarded and of course Melanie headed straight for the Coke cups. She decided she couldn't make it without her Diet Coke fix even though her husband thought it would be a good time to break her habit and bought the coke cup. We probably were all better off she decided to not use our cruise as Diet Coke rehab. Our room wasn't ready so we went to eat lunch in the buffet. Well that was everyone else's plan and the buffet was a little packed. We had a nice meal and headed to find our room. This is where I need to add a vital piece of information. I booked a Grand Suite for us that was going to be a little over 300 sq ft. It was cheaper than booking to small rooms and would actually be more space. The week before our cruise I got an email that we had been upgraded to an Owner's Suite that is over 450 sqft with a 125 sqft balcony. So needless to say we were excited to see our room. Once we saw it, we were shocked. Our room was huge and Lila and I quickly informed Mom and Melanie they were ruined for all future cruises where space is usually lacking.

My mom is there in the entry way. On her right there is a door and that door leads to a walk-in closet- yes a walk-in closet on a cruise. We even used it as a changing room it was that large and of course we made several jokes when we would exit about coming out of the closet.

Yes that is a flat screen TV you see in the background and a bar on the left. Now let me discuss bathrooms on cruise ships. On our cruise in June, Brian and I had a Tube shower and there was only room for one in the bathroom at any time. Cruise bathrooms are an inside joke among cruisers for their lack of space. I have seen pictures of bathrooms that have a sink, a toilet, and then shower curtain with a drain on the floor and thats it. I opened the door to our bathroom and my jaw dropped

Seriously, a bathtub/shower, space for a person to stand between the toilet and the shower, a shelf there on the left and you can't see the sink with counter space on both sides over on the right. Certainly a plus when you have 4 women sharing one bathroom.

Our suite attendant Clifford came to meet us and he is a doll. He told us our perks of robes, slippers, free champagne and of course the best- him at our beck and call. We went to muster to prepare for a the ship sinking. Excuse the flouresent colors, it was a very dark picture and when I lightened it up, I had issues. The other ladies took a tour of the spa and some got facials and we all ended up taking a nap. We then watched the boat sail. Here the ship is docked

Notice the life boats, we decided that if the ship was going down, we were jump into one of these for safety

These are the ship captain's minions- I don't know the proper names but it was neat because this lookout was right next to our balcony. Lila tried to get them to blow a kiss but I don't think it worked. Melanie decided since they were working, it was time to start her vacation.

Back in February, I called Melanie to see what we were going to do for Mom's 60th birthday. We talked about a party but we hated to throw a party at her house and we couldn't surprise her because we would need a guest list and well her house. I then remembered that she always wanted to go on a cruise. With Daddy- that was never a possibility and Bruce was a pilot but got terribly seasick. I knew she would love to go but would probably never schedule it herself and since her birthday is during Hurricane Season- whoohoo cheaper prices. So I got busy planning and we called Aunt Lila to see if she wanted to go too. So our plan was hatched. This picture of mom reminds me why we scheduled this trip.

She looks like a woman who is content and who is getting one of her wishes fulfilled.

Good bye Florida

As we got ready for dinner and a waitress brought a platter of fruit for us to our room. Yeah- a suite perk. We went to dinner and we were sitting by a window so that was nice. We met our waiter and assistant waiter and were pleased with our service. Dinner was good and dessert was fabulous. We made it to the comedy show and laughed our tails off. We did have a few annoying hecklers who had obviously been drinking for quite awhile. The water was pretty choppy and Melanie did have a little problem getting used to the ship moving. But never fear, we all had on our motion sickness patches and we safe from illness. We finally made it back to our room and loved seeing our beds all turned down and chocolate on our pillows. We then crawled into bed and I had to have another talk with my sister regarding bed personal space. I was trying to read and she obviously wanted a snuggle partner so of course mom had to come snap a picture

I'll post later about Day 2 where we woke up anchored by Cococay and discuss Melanie's sleepwalking and talking adventures.