Stoey's Post

It has been just about a year since we lost Stoey. I blogged about how the hogs dug up the bulbs we planted on her grave site the very night we planted them. In the heat of the summer (I think this picture was taken June 4th), this beautiful flower appeared on her grave. Mind you this was a YEAR of drought conditions very little rain with very high heat (in the hundreds already that month). I was so amazed and humbled at God's creation's ability to survive. I attribute this photo to our girl who we still miss very much.

February Rain

You would not believe the rain down here. I actually had a job interview yesterday (yes, I do look for the perfect job from time to time) and it was cancelled because the college the library is a part of was closing down due to flooding! I love the rain and after last year's drought, will not complain one bit about it. The boys do seem to be bored with it though. Nolan and Colin like to go outside eveyday afterschool and haven't been able to do that this week. Otherwise things are going well here. Everyone is doing well in school. Colin and Nolan are gearing up for spring baseball (Marty will coach Colin's tball). Matthew says he's not playing which is fine with me although he does need some sort of physical exercise so we're working on that. Nolan is playing basketball with the Y but has yet to play an actual game (has been to 3 practices)! The first game we were on a church retreat at which Nolan was hit in the head with a rock while hiking and his father announced (in front of him) his "head was cracked open" and he was going to bleed to death. There was indeed a LOT of blood but his head wasn't actually cracked open thank goodness. He had to get 3 staples at the "local" hospital which ended up being about 1 1/2 hours away. That sealed my decision about not living too far from the city! Try keeping an exhausted 7 year old awake who has just undergone a traumatic experience, was up late the night before, and has been up all day (it was dark by the time we reached the hospital)! My dear friend Patty (who drove Nolan and I to the hospital since Marty had to change our van's flat tire and I was too panicked to wait) had all kinds of electronic gadgets (3 nintendo DS's, video camera, regular camera) and lots of questions for Nolan to keep him alert. Anyway, long story short he had to miss the next basketball game as well per doctor's orders. Last week's game he refused to play in - just to remind me that I am a still a mom and just because the boys are older, does NOT mean they are easier! Ha Ha. That's all for now.

"Size matters not" - Yoda (Star Wars)

Check this out. Little spider in our house caught and paralized this guy. That's a geunine South Texas scorpion there.

Even Pirates need to rest.

Baseball Season Again (when is it not baseball season???)

Well, all three boys will be playing this fall. Starting this week - practices 4 nights a week. But, thanks to a large blessing from God, RAIN!! Practices rained out yesterday and certainly today as it is non-stop rain.

I have been on rants over recess and Presidential speeches the last couple of weeks. Can you believe a 6-year old is allowed 15 minutes of recess during an 8 hour day?? Poor babies is all I can say. I am going to keep pushing on this issue and see if common sense will prevail from our district at some point.

Some statistics: Northside Independent School District (NISD - our district)

• has 85,546 students
• on it's webiste it boasts itself as "San Antonio's Premier School District,"
• it is one of Texas' five largest school districts,
• 24.4% of the student population is white/anglo,
• that would mean it has a 75.6% minority student population.

And guess how many of these 85,546 students were allowed to watch the 1st minority President of the United States encourage them to take responsibility for their education, and challenge them to set goals? That's right, 0, big zero. Wow, talk about questionable motives. That day felt a little like 1955 around here. But not to worry folks, the high school football players and coach came the very next day (in their cowboy boots and belts) to talk to our kiddos about goals. Wow, is it really 2009? Not so sure here in south Texas. That's my rant for today. Will post pictures soon. Colin's first season of t-ball!

An unworthy Blogger

I cannot for the life of me make those pictures looked organized in any fashion. I deleted half of them by accident and had to reload (another 20 minutes). Also, I thought I used to be able to add captions but can't seem to do that either. Very frustrated at the moment. Anyway have a funny small-town-Texas story to tell. The boys started at a new elementary school here in Hazard County Texas (ha ha). The school mascot is a coyote. They had their first pep-rally today. The principal introduced a kindergartener whose family had donated a "special gift" to the school. A dramatic presentation ensued whereupon the curtains to the stage were opened and a covered object sat upon a table on the stage. It was in the shape of a coyote. I assumed someone had sculpted a coyote out of wood or an artist had donated a statue, etc. Well, as the child and his father proudly unveiled the object it was, indeed, a coyote. And Sarah Palin style (sorry Cyrstal for that bad memory), it was a REAL COYOTE (stuffed of course). Yes a real, DEAD, stuffed coyote will now adorn the halls of our new school. I don't think the kids really got it but the adults were a little quiet. Odd but very Texas..... On a related note... On my morning run earlier this week as I turned up the hill in my neighborhood, someone had crafted a sign and placed it in their yard. It said "Mountain Lion spotted 8/19 in our backyard, 9:30am. They are thirsty, and hungry." It was 9:45am that I was running; I didn't make it much further up the hill since every sound I heard terrified me. I found a large stick in the backyard and ran in a different neighborhood the next day... That's all for now.

Summer Recap

Matthew's Robotics Trophy

Grandpa with all the grandkids!

Great Wolf Lodge

Beach Boys

Tiger Stadium: Detroit, MI

As I began this post, I clicked on my photoshop software to load photos and the "blue screen of death" (as Marty calls it) appeared so I gave up for a few hours. Here I am again. Wanted to recap our summer. To begin it was/is HOT, HOT, HOT and DRY, DRY, DRY. We made the best of it anyway. I will say that we only made 2 trips to SeaWorld and none to the zoo due to the heat. We spent a lot of time at the pool and in the house with neighbor kiddos.

June
Our main event in June was a week long visit to the cousins in Ft. Worth. We stayed a couple of nights at The Great Wolf Lodge Resort. It has an indoor and outdoor water park including tube rides, a wave pool, water playscapes, etc. The kids had a blast and Uncle Mikey made margaritas at night for us adults (thanks Mikey). Colin still asks when we are going back! We were able to catch a Rangers/Astros game while there as well. Our seats were right up against the bull pen so Matthew was able to see the Astros pitchers warming-up. Some of which he had their baseball cards with him! We took the kids to Let's Jump for indoor exercise one day and to the park and pool other days. I went for a run with my half-marathon sister one morning and caused her to walk much more than usual! It was a fun trip.

July
Matthew attended baseball camp at UTSA for a week in July. Most of his buddies from little league were there but he still wasn't sure he enjoyed it that much (too hot). Nolan and Colin began piano lessons which are still going very well with their "cool" teacher Josh. Matthew and I were able to take a trip with Grandpa and Aunt Cara and Tori to Detroit to visit Aunt Dale and all our neices, nephews, and cousins the boys had never met. Matthew was an awesome "big cousin" and enjoyed meeting 6 new cousins. I had a wonderful time visiting with my sister Dale, brother-in-law Don, and my neice and nephews and their families. It was actually cool up there and rained! While we were in Detroit, Nolan and Colin enjoyed a science camp at Colin's pre-school. They played with real earthworms, made ice cream, made goo, and many other things. They also had a blast staying with their Grandma. She took them to McDonald's, the movies, and most importantly let them eat ice cream and watch as much SpongeBob as they wanted! When we returned for Detroit we began a week of VBS. This was especially fun this year because we took Matthew's best friend Jimmy and Nolan and Colin's buddies Cierra, and Schyler along with us each night. All had a great time - including mom and dad who worked the rec station.

August
Because June and July had been so hot, I was convinced that August would give us a break. Today is the 28th and apparently no break is in store. I will say that we did get some rain last night and a little this evening - praise God! We took an amazing trip to the beach (Port Aransas) for 3 nights. The boys played and played in the water and the sand and Marty and I relaxed. I realized that this was the first trip to the beach that I fully enjoyed in 10 years! That is because Matthew will be 10 in October and I have been so stressed about babies/toddlers on the beach for the last 10 years. This year they were finally old enough to just play and not get into trouble or danger. We caught a crab and a baby jellyfish. Matthew attended a Lego Robotics camp at the UTSA School of Engineering the last 2 weeks of summer. He loved it. Although he says he wants to be a professional ball player when he grows up, I think we know what other direction he may be going in (hopefully following his dad's engineering degree). He won 2nd place at the "sumo-bot" competition the last day of camp. This included competing against middle school teams! He has yet another trophy to add to his bookshelf. All three boys have started a new school this year. Matthew and Nolan are at the new elementary in our area and Colin at a pre-school much closer to home. Both schools are working out great. It is a blessing to be at a school of 700 kids instead of 1300 (last year) - and the new school appears to be much bigger physically if you can imagine! That's the recap for now.