Meet the teacher...

Thursday was meet the teacher in Clyde. The girls were totally pumped about this! Anoe absolutely detests the daycare. And Alexis doesn't care to much for it either. So we got to the Elementary about 5:40 and went in to meet Anoe's teacher. Anoe has Mrs. Caffey. She was really sweet! I found out later that she's a member of the Methodist church in Clyde. I love it when my kids have christian teachers! It makes things so much better. Last year Alexis' teacher was a Pastor in Hamby (I think that's the town). It was really awesome. She actually encouraged the kids to pray during the day. One time around Christmas this past year Alexis actually asked the whole class to stop so they could pray! I love that Alexis wasn't afraid to ask everyone to pray and I love that her teacher encouraged it! OK but anyways back to meet the teacher... Anoe really liked her teacher and she really liked her classroom. She even made a friend. She had the biggest smile ever on her face when she found her chair with her name on it. I really should have taken a camera but I forgot to bring one. After meeting Anoe's teacher, we went to the Intermediate school to meet Alexis' teacher. Alexis has Mrs. Volks. She's new to Clyde this year, but she was really sweet too. She even knew who Troy from High School Musical was. That's some major points in our family. We're major HSM fans! Alexis class was really neat looking too. Alexis likes her teacher also.

Earlier today Jennifer and I were talking about how much less stress I'm going to have this year since my kids are going to school in Clyde. I won't have to rush to Abilene to make sure I pick them up by 6:00. And on Tuesdays the library in Clyde is open until 6:00 so we'll be able to go to the library every Tuesday after work. And I'll be able to stay the night with Jennifer sometimes, so that'll help save some gas. I really hated feeling all rushed after work! I don't have to worry about that at all now.

I'm also going to start going back to Curves this Tuesday! I haven't been since we got back from vacation back in June. I know, I know, I know, there is no excuse! So I'm not even going to try and make one. I was just being lazy and didn't feel like going. But not anymore! I will NOT fail this time!

I'll post soon about their actual first days. Hopefully I'll have pictures to go with it!

Embarrassing Alexis

When I was a little girl I always said to myself that when I had children I would never embarrass them like my Mom did to me. Well, as it turns out I was wrong. I embarrassed Alexis. I didn't mean to, but I did.

A couple of weeks ago the girls and I went out to dinner with my brother, Katie, Breanne (a friend of Katie and Joeys) and Breanne's 13 year old brother Blake. We went to Ta'Mollys and after we all ordered our drinks and a bowl of queso we were talking and whatever. When the waitress brought our drinks, she put Alexis and Anoe's drinks in styrofoam cups. Usually this is not a problem. Alexis doesn't really like it but if she gets a styrofoam cup it's not like the world is about to end or anything. This time was different. She whispered in my ear "Why did she give me a little kid cup. I'm a big girl!" We weren't ready to order so the waitress left for a minute. Katie asked what Alexis was so upset about and I told her. Katie said that she noticed that Alexis kept looking and smiling at Blake. Of course I then realized why Alexis wanted a "big girl" cup. So I asked Katie to ask the waitress for a "big girl" cup for Alexis. So when Katie asked the waitress she (the waitress) looked a little confused. So I thought I would help and tell the waitress that Alexis wanted a "big girl" cup tonight. Everyone at the table (even my brother who is usually clueless) just looked at me like I was crazy! Alexis yelled "Mom!!" and everyone started laughing at me. I didn't mean to embarrass her, I was just trying to explain why the styrofoam cup wasn't OK. I felt really bad for Alexis. She of course got over it, but that was a memory I'll cherish forever!

Oh and by the way, Blake really was a cute little boy. He plays football and track at I think so he was pretty buff for a little kid. He of course never really paid much attention to Alexis. She is only 10 after all. And he has a sister the same age, so he probably knows how 10 year old little girls are.

My first girls night out!

This past Friday was my very first girls night out! When I first read on there that Francesca was wanting to have another girls night I thought it would be fun to go. But I usually don't get to go because of my babysitting issues. Well Jennifer said she would keep my kids so I could go. When I told my friend Cherry she said she would keep my kids if Jennifer and I both wanted to go. That was really awesome. But Jennifer kept the kids so I got to go all by myself. Which is way out of my comfort zone! We were meeting at Texas Roadhouse and I got there before everyone else. While I was sitting there waiting for everyone I started feeling nervous and anxious. I was way out of my comfort zone, I can be around new people if Jennifer's with me but not so much by myself. Francesca, Pam, Rachel, and Cherith were the first ones I saw. As soon as I saw Francesca my nerves were put to ease. I'm totally comfortable with Francesca, Pam, Rachel, and Cherith! Then came Ashley, Ginny, Kelly, and Christy. I already knew everyone except Christy. By the time we were leaving I was so glad that I got to go. I called Jennifer on my way back to her house and told her my face was hurting from smiling and laughing so much! It was so awesome.

Lots of stuff going on...

This past Tuesday (7th) I registered my kids for school in Clyde. I was so nervous about it. I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision with Alexis. I would pray and feel OK about it then I would start feeling nervous again. Well when I got down there to the school to register her I totally felt at peace. I had to talk with the lady that is in charge of the Special Education program. As it turns out, Alexis is going to be mainstreamed this year! Everyone that attends Clyde Intermediate gets tested on their reading level at the begining of the school year! Everyone!! So that means if she's at a 3rd grade reading level then that's what she'll read at and if the kid next to her is at a 5th grade reading level that's where they'll read at. (Although I do have to say that Alexis and I have been praying that she is totally healed of ALL reading problems!) I'm so excited about her being totally mainstreamed! She is so funny and outgoing that she really doesn't have any problem making friends, but I know how mean kids can be. I remember how kids used to pick on other people in our grade just because the were in Special Ed. I don't want that for Alexis. She has lots and lots of self confidence and I don't want anyone to ruin that for her.

Registering Anoe was a little sadder (not sure if that's really a word) for me. This will be her first time in school. And she's my baby! It feels like she's growing up so fast but at the same time she's staying my cute cuddling baby. She is the most affectionate person I have ever met! I've even told Jennifer that sometimes it feels like I'm being molested by her! She's always touching, kissing, telling me how much she loves me, how beautiful my hair is, etc... I really do appreciate all of her compliments, but sometimes it'd be nice to just sit next to her without her touching me all the time. But anyways, she's starting school this year and she's really excited about it.

Saturday I went to the water park in North Richland Hills again. This time it was me, my kids, Jennifer, her kids, Cherry, Mike, Mason, Bridgett, Lura, and Bridgett's two step-kids. We all had a lot of fun!! I even got on a ride I refused to ride last time we were there. I didn't really get on it because I wanted to but more because I have a hard time saying no to Jennifer. I'm really glad Jennifer made me do it though. Anoe and I rode the ride together and the whole time we were on it I was screaming! Anoe just sat there smiling. Before we could even get off the raft she was asking to go on it again. It's crazy what a dare devil that little girl is.

We all got pretty good sunburns! Anoe's sunburn has already tanned over pretty much. I can not believe how well that little girl tans! Mason too! While at the water park Anoe was looking for Alexis and Jennifer said just look for the little boy who looks black but he's really not. Mason has the best tan ever. A lot of people sit out for hours trying to get his tan! It's pure craziness.

Strangers

Last Friday the church Jennifer works at went to watch the Texas Rangers play in Arlington. When I first heard about the game and that anyone could go I was really excited. When we were kids living in El Paso we used to go to watch the Diablos play all the time. I loved it! I don't really like watching baseball on T.V., but I love it in person. I think it's the whole guy going up and down the aisles yelling "hot dog, get your hot dog!" and soda, cotton candy, ice cream just everything. The noise, the wave, singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", the billboard, you get it just everything about it! So anyways when Jennifer told me the price (only $15 a ticket) I was pumped. I thought I could afford $45 for us to go to the game. But then I started thinking about how much it would cost for food and drinks and stuff. So I was like never mind I don't really want to go. I gave Jennifer my usually excuse "Anoe will be to hard to control". I mean really, it's a baseball game, you're suppose to be acting wild. I just knew I couldn't afford it and if I told Jennifer that she would try to convince me otherwise. But that was my excuse. Then the Wednesday before the game Jennifer called me and said that a lady that attends the Methodist church was paying for my tickets to go to the game. I told Jennifer I really didn't want to go then she gave me this guilt trip so I finally said yes I'd go. I prayed about it and God told me that I shouldn't be acting this way. I'm being blessed with free tickets so I should go and enjoy myself. So I started getting totally excited about it. The whole way up there I kept saying how excited I was. (I think I was getting of Jennifer's nerves with my excitement but she should really be used to it by now) So anyways, the game was awesome. I had a hot dog and the girls had popcorn, a pretzel with cheese, and cotton candy. Jennifer got some garlic fries that were amazing! Even if I had a boyfriend/husband I don't think I would of been kissed all night! They were good though. So the other team was winning 3-0 but in the 9th inning the Rangers made to homeruns! It was so exciting. We were all jumping up and down screaming. I bought the girls foam fingers and they were waving them around. Oh my goodness it was so amazing! The Rangers lost by one point, but it was so much fun!

The girls and I sometimes do this little thing where we put our hands together and say "2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate! ___________" We do Anoe first, the Alexis, then me or whatever we're excited about. Well Anoe kept wanting to do it for the Rangers. Except she kept calling them Strangers instead. It was so cute. She can't wait to go watch the "Strangers" again.

Pictures

The first four are of Alexis getting baptized this past Sunday!




These are from our vacation. I still don't have all of them but here's a couple. Isn't the ocean just beautiful? (In case you didn't know, I loved it!)

Attacks

So lately I've been feeling really attacked. For the past week and a half I have been super upset about some stuff that I usually don't care about. I mean I care, but not enough to get upset and cry about it. I've always felt that God will take care of it when the time is right. But lately I've been really feeling discouraged about a lot of different stuff. I know I'm kind of being evasive about what I'm upset about, but I'm not really sure I'm ready to admit this hurt out in the open yet. Well yesterday on my way to work I was thinking about how yucky I had been feeling about this and then all of a sudden I just realized it was an attack! It's not as bad as I was making out to be. God has a perfect plan for me that will happen at the most perfect time!

On another note- Update on Alexis:
She stayed with my Mom on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was pretty rough but she started feeling a lot better on Friday. My Mom and Symantha brought her to Abilene to do some shopping and go out to lunch and she did fine. Then Friday evening when I got there after work she was doing good. She was even "examining" me. I asked her where she had learned all the stuff she was doing and she said "Grey's Anatomy". Just as matter of fact as she could. It was really cute. She went outside for a little while to play with her sister and cousins. But then about an hour later she started feeling bad again. Her fever came back and she started coughing more. My Mom thought maybe she had done to much. So for the rest of the evening she rested. Saturday morning her fever was still there, so I called the doctor's office and they were able to get her in at 10:15. He took a urine sample but still couldn't figure out why her fever and cough were still present. (With 5th disease the fever should have subsided after 72 hours) He said to just keep giving her Motrin and Tylenol and he gave me something for the cough but said he didn't really want to suppress the cough unless he knew what was causing it. I was so frustrated it was crazy! I was able to get her fever to stay pretty low all day Saturday but she really wasn't doing much except laying in bed and sleeping. We didn't go to church on Sunday because I didn't think she would be able to make it through the whole sermon without getting cranky. And since she still did have a fever, I didn't want her infecting anyone else. Sunday evening she started feeling better though. She even got up and ate a little bit and played with Anoe for a little bit. Monday morning she didn't have a fever so I took her to daycare. The daycare called me at 11:30 to tell me she had a low grade fever. I went and got her and she slept all afternoon at my work. She was only awake for about an hour. I've talked to two different people that know quite a bit about 5th's disease and they both said that the fever should be gone. The only symptom at this point should be the rash that can last for up to 6 weeks. But there is no rash! Her cheeks get a little pink every once in awhile but nothing major. I'm so frustrated about the whole thing. It's been 5 days and she still has a fever and the doctor can't tell me anything. He said if she still has the fever on Wednesday then bring her back in. This way falls under being attacked! Nothing makes me feel worse than my kids not feeling well.

Monday night was pretty tough on Alexis. She had a really hard time sleeping because of all the coughing she was doing. But as of right now, no fever! Yay! She's had to come to work with me today because she can't go back to daycare until she has been fever free for 24hrs! Hopefully tomorrow she'll be able to go back to daycare. I know her sister will be very excited about that! Today makes one week since she's been there for a full day.

OK one more topic and I'll be done. Totally off the topic of being attacked though. At my work there is a small room in the back that is used for storing cleaning supplies, has some old filing cabinets that have stuff from back in 1991-1998, and a treadmill that the Judge uses. I'm going to clear it out and reorganize everything so we can have a break room! This way sometimes during lunch I can just sit back there and read a book or whatever. I'm really pumped about this!