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?