The Lavulo Family

SATURDAY.......Day out......

2009-08-20T21:22:00.007-05:00

As usual, squashing pennies for souveniers.

Kati is enjoying her new haircut...thanks to mum and walwart.

William and chocolate ice cream at Baskin Robins.

Then it was off to the shoe store to buy school shoes.

William is a size 4

Kati is a ladies size 10.

A small drink to quench his thirst. A 64 ounce Texas sized Mug.

I spy with my little eye...

Something begining with K

woke the kids up early and told them we would be running errands,and doing some school shopping... We stopped and had lunch at MAD DOGS, a pub like restaurant on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. I had a coupon for $25 off, why not use it. The food was delicious, and we brought home as much, if not more than we ate.

After lunch we decided to go see the American Tower. A tourist attraction here.

It was actually quite interesting, and they showed a cute movie in 4D, wind, water, movement effects etc.

Then we rode the elevator to the top and walked around the observation deck a few times.I didn't realise San Antonio was so flat...

I was so glad we spent a great day together, I have 2 great kids.

Seaworld on Wednesday.

2009-08-14T10:44:00.008-05:00

William and I headed out to Seaworld today. It's only a 45 minute drive and we have season passes,so why not....

Kati had other plans. and Folau, bless him, was working. So off we went, we met a friend of mine there too.

We first went to see the penguins and puffins. I could have spent a lot more time in there just observing, but William was anxious to move on.

The weather still very hot, up to 105 degrees, so where better to spend time than in the water park.

I love the lazy river, in fact anything with the word lazy in it.(lazy susan, lazy boy etc etc) I think we sat and circled the lazy river for almost 2 hours, then we made our way over to the wave pool. After an hour or so of that William and I did a few tube rides....then back to the Lazy river.

As we were getting ready to leave the park, the clouds moved in. We haven't seen a decent amount of rain for so long so we were well pleased. It was nice to walk in the rain too, It wasn't cold. We stopped at the bakery so William could have his usual chocolate chip muffin.

He fell asleep at around 7 pm in the car. The traffic was horrendous because of the rain and by the time we got home I was hammered. William fell straight into bed and I hit the hay at 8:30 pm and didn't move until 9:30 the next morning.

Must have been all that hard work at the water park.

Fun in the afternoon.

2009-08-11T21:28:00.005-05:00

Today Folau got off work early, so we headed out to Canyon Lake. Kati had other plans, so It was just William, Folau and myself and the dogs.

Folau set up camp , enough shade for one.

I was relaxing on my floaty until I was used as a life raft by Maya and Zorro.

William and Maya.

The water was fabulous, clear and warm.

Here is a picture of me watching the clouds. I must have been out there for almost one hour,

I see a rabbit in this one.

William is a little fish, couldn't get him out of the water.

Poor Zorro doesn't like being in the water too much.

Maya on the other hand just loves it.

Folau did a bit of fishing too.

I think we are going to have to be spontaneous more often. What a great afternoon.

Thursday August 6 th 2009

2009-08-10T21:24:00.002-05:00

Today was a big day for Kati. We went to enroll her into Junior High. She really liked the campus, and we met a few friends from church there too. It was nice to see her catch up with some of the friends she hasn't seen all summer.

Wednesday August 5 th. 2009

2009-08-09T22:42:00.005-05:00

Well, a pretty normal week , If anything I do is ever normal. We went swimming a lot,the weather is still unusually hot here, and we are still restricted with our water usage. That didn't stop us from going to the car wash on Wednesday.

August 2nd 2009..No more Primary for Kati.

2009-08-09T22:27:00.004-05:00

Kati said farewell to Primary today.

She recited her favorite Article of Faith in sacrament meeting and they sang goodbye to her in Primary.

The Beehives from Young Women came in and kidnapped her. It's a tradition down here.

I am so proud of her, she is growing up and is now a beautiful young lady.

Friday July 31 st , a night to remember.

2009-08-09T21:19:00.004-05:00

Back to normal, unpacked, did laundry and went to work in the afternoon, all the regular things in my life...On Friday nights I go and babysit at Bonnie's bible study group at the Baptist church. I show up and we have a pot luck dinner.Usually there are only 4 or 5 kids, all over the age of 8 and we watch a movie while the parents study the bible. I really enjoy the night and I get paid too. Why was this night any different? well.....Around 7:45 pm I was feeling a little bit uncomfortable, like I had eaten too much, I tried to relieve the pressure by throwing up, It did not work, and sitting down made it worse. By 9 pm I was sweating so bad my clothes were soaked, I couldn't take a full breath and I was very light headed. As soon as the study group was over I went to leave but was told I looked too bad to drive and they insisted I sit back down for a few minutes. That's when all the pain came to the surface and I was in such agony I remember making very unladylike guttural noises. I could not get comfortable and the pain was constant with very intense spasms every 3 or 4 minutes. The E.M.S (emergency medical services) were called and an ambulance, and I hear the police were there also, but I don't remember that. They did all the usual evaluating, blood pressure (very high), blood sugar(normal), temperature(low) blood oxygen(low)EKG(normal) and I was taken to Hospital. Oh joy....all I could think about was getting rid of this pain. I didn't care what they had to do. I was strapped in to the upright wheelie stretcher and put into the ambulance. Not the most comfortable ride I have ever had, and I was trying to suppress the urge to dry heave from the pain..not too successful with that.

Not the actual ambulance.

At about 10:00pm We arrived at the Northeast Methodist hospital, still in major gut wrenching pain, and they asked me to 'slide' from my upright stretcher to the hospital bed, are you kidding. Fat people don't 'slide' and I just didn't want to do it, so I told them I wanted to roll..I was so happy to not be in the upright sitting position anymore and I laid down on my side for a few minutes....I began feeling better almost immediately....They came into evaluate me and ask me where the pain was, and I couldn't find it. At this point I was feeling a little bit embarrassed. The color had returned to my face, I could breathe normally and I had NO PAIN. Are you ready for the diagnosis?

Well, apparently I had a gall bladder blockage, And when I changed positions on the bed by rolling, I unblocked it. If I had SLID across I would have still been in pain. Go figure that one.

So, having been rushed to the hospital, and now having 7 friends and 1 husband in the hall waiting for the results of my illness, I was feeling like a right Yetty.

Let's assume now that the 'emergency' is over. 10:30 pm would have been an OK time to check out wouldn't it. But nay, the party was just beginning.. I had a rookie nurse/man try to put in an IV to take blood samples, after 2 or 3 tries he called for the good nurse, she did it in one poke. They wouldn't let me have anything to drink until after I had an ultrasound to see if I needed surgery, I could have told them that was not going to happen. I didn't even need a Tylenol. I had NO pain. I was still feeling a bit guilty taking up a hospital room in the emergency department of the Methodist hospital on a Friday night.

Ginger took this picture by climbing up on a chair. I was faking pain for re-enacting purposes.

The Doctor came in and told me if this pain comes back in the future, to go roll around the backyard, and see what happens.I wonder how much that diagnosis will cost me.

Meanwhile, Bonnie, Sheila, Zee, Bozo and his wife left when we got the good news and Folau and Ginger stayed.

Folau was very tired from working 16 hours before he got the urgent call, and Ginger had taken a nap, so we were full of beans and boredom. We were laughing and making jokes and taking pictures, and generally having a really nice bonding moment. I still was desperate for a drink so they gave me a wet washcloth to suck on. Charming.

Self portrait...

I went for the ultrasound at 1:15 a..m and the results were good. Blood pressure back to normal, all is fine. So now all we had to do was wait to be discharged.

Feigning pain again.

We finally left at 2:30 am.

What a night to remember. I was so glad that everything was OK, and I am so happy Ginger stayed until the bitter end. I am so blessed she was there. I know It gave Folau a bit of a shock, but luckily he arrived after the big Roll, and the pain had gone. I had also been getting texts and messages from many people who had heard of the emergency, thanks to all who said prayers and worried for me, I promise next time I will make it worthwhile and maybe get a surgical scar out of it.

Kati's birthday July 29th.

2009-08-09T19:05:00.011-05:00

Let's see, I will start off with our trip to Corpus Christi for Kati's 12 th birthday. We were all excited be away for a few days. The first morning we slept in , the birthday girl opened cards and presents and ate birthday cake for breakfast.

So, we were all ready to head out to the beach and the car wouldn't start...okay, so we didn't have a flat tire this trip, the next best thing would be battery problems wouldn't it.

We tried to locate some jumper cables at the motel, but either no one had any or they didn't understand what we were asking for. Folau walked to the nearest gas station, it was only 3/4 mile away but with the temp at 103 degrees he wasn't too thrilled. The kids and I hung out in the motel 6 swimming pool and felt a little guilty but that soon wore off.
Finally we were off to the beach. We headed to a sweet beach a few miles south, and parked right on the sand. We got a bit stuck as we were looking for the perfect spot.

The water was so warm and the beach was really peaceful.The kids enjoyed throwing Doritos's on me while I napped on the beach. They had a laugh watching the seagulls attack me.

Folau created a little shade for himself. Kati found some for herself too.

Here is a self portrait to prove I was actually there.

William made friends with the Ice cream man selling from his van up and down the beach . I was surprised at how much time Folau spent in the water. William and Folau did a bit of fishing too.

Our motto for the day.....Catch and release...

When it was time to pack up and leave, guess what ....the car wouldn't start, so we flagged down
a truck and got a jump start with our new cables.

This is one of the downsides of driving with the top down.

We decided to stop at the nearest auto zone, so we pulled off the freeway and bought a new battery.
All ended well, we had a super day.

The next day Folau and William fished and Kati and I went to the movies. We went to see IMAGINE THAT and LAND OF THE LOST. Both good films.

We found a piece of heaven....

The end of the jetty in Port Aransas.

William looking for crabs.

We had a great few days away...I wonder what we will do next year.

Hello Monday again..

2009-07-27T18:45:00.005-05:00

Wow....what a speedy weekend....With scout day camp over with, life seems to be getting back to normal, you know the routine.....busy, kids, work, church,naps, etc etc.

Kati and I had a great date night. we went to a movie and just chilled.Kati is now hooked on Taco Bell chalupa's. It was nice to spend some one on one with her. We also have done some birthday shopping for her. Can you believe she will be 12 in a few days.

This week she is bagging candy for my boss, A little job that will earn her a bit of money. She is a hard worker when she puts her mind to it. She went to the local youth dance at he community center on Friday night, It's a once a month dance, where I don't think much dancing goes on. It is a nice social evening for her to catch up with the kids from school.I wouldn't be suprised if all they do is text each other all evening.

I am still having to hound her about the condition of her room. So I am planning a great big shock for her...She will not know what hit her. Stay tuned for that episode.
William and I have had a bit of time together too this weekend...We went shopping for his school supplies, and his money was burning a hole in his pockets. He earns extra money for helping with my coupon addiction. Actually, Kati has helped also this past two weeks, I think she sees it as easy money, although they do have fun, and it gets the job done faster. Well in most cases it does, they try to be the first on to lob the paper into the car, Most times it hits the back seat, sometimes it flies right over the top, This past week William almost lost an eye, with Kati's bad aim and powerful arm.

I must brag at this point........

I scored huge with mars candy. I have 220 full size candy bars, twix, mars bar, snickers and 3 musketeers, cost me nothing.zip, zilch, nada......yes. NOT A PENNY. All I have to do now is figure out where to hide it. This house is not like my Utah house with plenty of storage space. Nooooooo, We have a years supply of canned dog food under Williams bed. Water in my bedroom closet, Kati's bed is still up for grabs though, but I hesitate putting anything else in her room...see story above..

I have Hit a great deal with baby wipes too, By the time I am done with this deal I will have close to 250 packs. Cost...14 cents each. I am going to spread that out until December when the coupon expires.

OK, enough bragging...Back to life with the kids...William got a CD of a kids story book in a kids meal from Wendy's. He just loves the TREE HOUSE MYSTERY collection ,So we put the roof down on my car, reclined and listened to the whole CD and watched the stars. It was awesome. I think we will do that more often.

Folau has been really busy at work, they are very short staffed, so he has been filling in a lot.

I have booked a few days away this week for Kati's birthday...We are heading down to Corpus Christi, a couple of hours south of here. Hopefully Folau can get some fishing in and rest a little bit. He still walks around the house in heavy winter clothing, and I catch him turning off the air conditioner when he can sneak it...You gotta love him. And me, well I have been putting a lot of thought into getting fit, so I bought a pedometer with a coupon. OK, so don't rush me, it's a start.

What a fantastic day....

2009-07-23T11:00:00.013-05:00

I had the best day, I know the boys did. I am talking about being a walking den leader for the scout day camp.....oh where to begin... Well, The morning at home was quite rushed seeing as I knew I had to get a zillion things done before we left, But the kids were great and helped a lot. Kati was hard at it, mainly because she wanted to relax after we left and do her own thing. I have no idea what her fixation is with eye wear.

Here she is with a pair of frames on her face, no lenses...

And off to day camp we go....

I was not happy to have to wear tennis shoes, The last time I wore any kind of footwear other than flip flops or sandals was last year at the scout camp. The nice weather in Texas means NO closed shoes. We had to wear them for day camp for safety reasons and for the fact we were walking through long dried pokey filled grass and deer poop. Not to mention all the bugs and fire ants.
Moving on.....

After a delayed flag raising ceremony it was off to the pool,

They had a brief splash and cool off seeing as it was 98 degrees in the shade.

Then it was onto the slingshots...

Next up was archery...

Lunch time...

Because the camp this year is all about AMERICAN HERO'S, the boys wrote letters to a soldier or soldiers in Iraq. These will be sent after camp is over

Off to B.B shooting...

Sports was next... the boys played basketball Frisbee

crafts, I liked this one...

Last but not least, was Wilderness games....

Here they are waiting for instructions....
By this time we were all a little bit tired, but it was fun to see the boys running around with flashlights, exploring and having a good time.
We signed out and headed home, minus 2 misplaced lunch boxes, but all is well....I am actually thinking of signing up next year for the whole camp, not just one day. I had on my pedometer for the day, over 5590 steps....wow, I wonder what that translates into miles.

Off to day camp.

2009-07-21T21:04:00.003-05:00

**************************************************************

This week is Williams scout day camp, Tue - Friday. He is so excited and I am too.. I went last year as a walking den leader and loved it, although it was super hot. Last year they had it from 10-4pm, this year it's 3pm-9pm, we shall see if that makes any difference. So we waved farewell to them in the local CVS parking lot, and I will be picking him up in about 30 minutes. I have the privilege of going with them tomorrow, seeing as it is my day off. I am not looking forward to the heat aspect and the fact that they will be swimming and i will be watching, other than that I am thrilled.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I just bought some gift vouchers off the Internet, 14 x $25 certificates to various restaurants for $2 each. I am planning my one on one dates with the kids and Folau, I am so excited about all the money I get to save. I also booked a few nights in corpus Christi for Kati's birthday next week. This will be a nice few days away as a family. It will give Folau time to fish and eat, and rest. We are so blessed to be able to do so many things together.

Nothing to do but relax.

2009-07-19T22:28:00.003-05:00

Today was a day of rest and relaxation. I must say I do laugh at Folau, this is how he sits around the house when we have the air conditioning on. We only have it down to 77 degrees, which is not cool enough for the kids and me, but Folau feels the cold and has to wrap up. When he isn't home we have it down to 74.....brrrrr

I called Kati out of her room to help me fix dinner today, this is how she emerged. I have no idea what she was doing in there.

what a saturday....

2009-07-18T20:12:00.005-05:00

Ran errands in the A.M and with nothing pressing on the agenda I took a lovely nap..

Woke up to the sounds of thunder, Very loud and VERY close..

I love the sound and smell of rain and we are in such desperate need of water down here so It was nice and refreshing for the kids and I to sit out on the back porch watching it pour.

Our grass is so dried and yellow, we have major watering restrictions at the moment. Folau stayed inside telling us more than once we will be struck by lightning, but it was so nice and cooled down quickly to the mid 90's.

Out of the blue came the brightest flash of lightening and loudest clap of thunder at the same time..

It was getting too close for comfort so we decided to head indoors, just then we noticed a house a few houses down the street on fire...

The last bolt of lightening had hit it... within minutes there were Firetrucks, paramedics, police, and many many emergency vehicles up and down the street and blocking access to the danger zone.

Thank you Lord for protecting us, and please bless those who are affected..

Friday already

2009-07-17T09:26:00.003-05:00

Wow, this week has flown by.....Wednesday William and I took cousin Louie back to Houston, Kati wanted to stay behind and chill. As much as I wanted her to go with us, I could understand her being the only pre teen in a house full of 'kids' .

We made great time, and arrived at 7:30 ish, ate and watched a movie..

Woke up to the beautiful sounds of Eve at 8:00am and then the day began..

We all went to a lovely beach in Galveston, OK, so not aqua blue seas and white sand, (that would be the south pacific).... but a great beach none the less. we pulled the cars onto the sand and had a fab afternoon.

We flew kites, ate, swam, ate, relaxed, ate, swam, get the picture?

Packed up around 6 ish and headed home. What a great day.

Because the boys took a micro nap in the car on the way back, they were up playing forever.
Not that we minded too much, Mike, Karen and I watched 'The nanny Diaries' and called it a day by 10:30pm.
I was relying on EVE the alarm clock to wake me up at 8 am so I could get on the road by 9. A three hour drive, and I had to be at work by 2 pm. No worries....

My phone rang at 10:15 and woke me up. eeeeeeeeekkkkk. Sorry, I am not pleased with the way I left the guest room but we were on the road back to San Antonio by 10:30am.
With no delays and no tickets, (but I was trailed for 5 miles by Highway patrol after I slowed down from 85 to 74) We made it back at 1:35, enough time to change clothes, grab a diet coke and head off to work.

So, there goes another adventure...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Kati had taken to doing the night shift of watching TV and chilling, then sleeping in until the afternoon hours, this is going to be a tough one to break.

Tuesday.....

2009-07-14T15:12:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was a good day...I went to TARGET and did a bit of couponing.
I bought 30 cans of dog food, 30 bottles of joint juice(good for my arthritis) and 10 miscellaneous items for the kids and school It all cost me 12 cents....no joke....

I took the kids to the 'dollar movies' in the evening, Monday night being 50 cent night. Brothers Bloom....errr not the best movie I have ever watched, thanks for that Hollie, but Race to witch Mountain was a good one.

Do you think they will notice us sneaking in treats?

Work went fast this morning, Hurried home and now we are ready to head out to Houston..We plan on hitting the beach tomorrow....fun, fun, fun...

Playing catch up..

2009-07-13T16:30:00.003-05:00

I have missed a few days, so here is a quick catch up. The weekend flew by. I don't feel like I got much done, But I am very rested. We went to the pool again, and had an early night on Saturday. I watched a great DVD...Lost in Austen...about a woman trading places with Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, Very funny...

We have an Sugar Ant problem in the kitchen, it came on all of a sudden, and they are a real nuisance. Folau (being the hunter he is) set about poisoning the colony outside and sealing all the entrances to the kitchen. I must say he did a great job, haven't seen an ant since..

Church on Sunday was great. We have missed the past 2 weeks, due to a funeral and then being in Houston last weekend, so It was nice to be back in the fold so to speak. I did my Sister Friendly during sharing times....For those of you who don't know what that is......Once a month 'sister friendly' comes and teaches the children from the FRIEND magazine. It can be anything from stories, quizzes, songs, etc. I usually can adapt the same lesson for both the older and younger primary. This month we talked about the BEATITUDES.

I took a nap after church, and then had to go into work for a couple of hours seeing as one of the girls is on vacation and some baking had to be done.

Kati and I worked in the kitchen together, and had some mom/daughter time. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. I wish time would slow down, I want my kids to stay with me forever.

After work.....

2009-07-09T21:09:00.002-05:00

Great afternoon at work, then picked up Pizza and went to the pool..... nice way to end the day.

Late start.

2009-07-09T10:39:00.002-05:00

So, slept in....I will be running around like a headless chicken trying to catch up....

Nice day with the children.

2009-07-08T22:48:00.005-05:00

It was another hot one.............

Here we are at the end of the day, I am glad to say we all had fun. We finished off the day with a movie...Transformers...

The boys laughed and chatted most of the way through the 2 and a half hour show. I enjoyed it too.

Kati and I snacked on the Milano cookies we snook in.

Halfway through wednesday....

2009-07-08T15:04:00.010-05:00

We were up with the roosters today to assemble and hit the WILDLIFE RANCH..AFRICAN SAFARI..TEXAS STYLE. Hoping to get there before the hottest part of the day and to see some animals actually moving rather than asleep under a tree. Kati said she wanted to stay home, 'been there done that' kind of feeling, so I took William and cousin Louie. It all begins rather well, we sang at the top of our lungs on the ride out there, Making the most out of having a convertible..

We first spotted some deer, actually very many deer, but seeing as they are a normal everyday sight for us it was no thrill, moving onto the other exotic animals....

I will basically call most of them deer or goats, for lack of knowing the correct name. The most used phrase on our 'safari' was stop throwing the food AT the animals, throw it TO them. There are some poor Llamas with a 3 month supply of food pellets stuck in their long stringy matted coats .

The zebras were a hit, they were the friendliest herd, and the hungriest, or maybe the greediest.

I heard one of the boys, I will not mention a name , and he was telling the English one to aim for the whites of their eyes.

Now you really must remember that I love the paint job on my car, so I was a bit nervous when the big horned goat/deer looking animals approached. Both boys were doing what boys do best and hanging out of the car by their fingernails to get a CLOSER look.

It was so cute to hear them try and identify which animals were male or female, and of course the arguments broke out as to what poo belonged to what animal.

I was attacked again by the ostrich...I think they were wanting to get at the camera, but here's a great shot of one of them going in for the kill. I was actually laying down across the front seats, trying to get as far back as possible, but I guess having a 4 foot neck has it's advantages.
THIS WAS AS CLOSE AS I WANTED TO GET....

HOLY CRAP. THERE GOES MY DIET COKE.

THIS BIRD STILL WANTS A PIECE OF ME.. CHECK OUT MY MIRROR SHOT.

We then headed out to the petting barn..

Both boys conveniently forgot to read the warning about picking up the baby goats, hence, both were peed on..

I fell in love with this little goat, he was so adventurous, climbing on his mother, and she laid there so patiently.

We finished off our adventure with a visit to the gift store...buying key chains and flattening pennies......

The big argument of the day went something like this....."I'm hotter than you...NO, I'm hotter than you, no you're not, I'm hotter than you." repeated at least 15 times, and they weren't talking about being hot for the girls either.

We stopped in at my work, TEXAS PECAN CANDY to indroduce Louie to my friends. they were treated to a chocolate covered pretzels and some ice cream. What a perfect morning...

Caverns on monday..

2009-07-07T15:31:00.007-05:00

I worked in the a.m and rushed home to gather the children and off we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns here in Schertz Texas.

I was thinking it would be nice to get out of the 102 degree heat 10% humidity by going underground for a while, What I didn't realize was that it was a constant 77 degrees with 99% humidity. Very clammy.

We really enjoyed the natural wonder and beauty of the caverns, and getting to the deepest point was not very difficult,

it was the realization that we had to climb back out again. The trail was very steep, but well designed with safety in mind. Thankfully there were a few rest spots on the tour and we were able to relax and really take note of the majestic underworld. We followed a tour that was almost 2 miles underground. So I can count that as my workout for July.

After the tour we were typical tourists and hit the souvenir shop and flattened pennies in remembrance of our visit.

What a great weekend..

2009-07-05T23:00:00.007-05:00

FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND

I got the day off on Friday and we headed out to Houston after Folau finished work. As usual we got a late start, something I have had to get used to this past 16 years, even though it still aggravates me.

So, off we trot, at the hottest time of the day and we are happily traveling south east when what do you think happened? Flash back to December 26 th last year when Hollie and I headed out to Houston with the kids to visit my brother and his family, Flat tire... fast forward....flat tire... At least Folau was present at this one, Hollie and I spent the first 45 minutes trying to find the spare on the last episode.

Kati , waiting patiently.

william not waiting patiently.

So after the tire was changed we were off again. arriving at 10 pm...snacked and hit the lovely guest bed that was awaiting us.

The next morning, being July 4 th, we were awakened to the sweet sounds of my sister in law playing the star spangled banner, and other rather patriotic songs, she was practicing because she was playing in her sacrament meeting the next day.

Mike and Isaac.

We stopped by the local walmart to replace the tire, yes, the same walmart we bought it from in December, luckily I also got the road hazard warranty, so it only cost $6.

We then hit Galveston Beach. Traffic was horrendous, it seemed to take forever to get there, but was well worth it. Karen packed up a superb cooler full of yummy stuff, and we were set for the next 4 hours. It was so nice to watch the kids play. even Folau went into the sea to cool off.

William, Louie and Eve.

Kati, William and Folau.

We headed back to their house to shower and eat dinner, I was hoping to sneak in a nap...didn't happen. Then we headed out to the local stadium for carnival/concert and fireworks. lovely weather too. The lines were horrible for the rides, so the kids only got to ride 3 things, but they seemed happy enough, and then the fireworks.....

Isaac and Karen.

William and Eve planting flags.

William and Louie on the ferris wheel.

By the time they were over it was time to head home, Michael, in all his wisdom already had us packed up and standing by the exit when the last firework popped, so we were well ahead of the other 10,000 people heading to their cars.Getting home and getting the kids to bed was easy.

We left Houston at noon and we brought cousin Louie back with us for the week. William and Louie get on really well so I think we are going to have a fun week.

I took my long awaited nap when we got home, so now all the kids are in bed and I can catch up on laundry and other stuff in peace.....so, To all of you out there who wonder what we did this July 4th holiday, It was a lot of fun, can't wait 'til next year....

Life is back to normal....

2009-06-29T23:28:00.004-05:00

Well, life is getting back to normal, I went into work this morning, and then headed out with the kids to Schlitterbahn, the local water park. Kati had a ticket form school, and it expires tomorrow, so what better day than today.

we also took a friend of hers from church who also had a ticket. We played for 4 hours, and it was so much fun to just relax and listen to laughter.

I wish my BFF had been with us, we have some good memories form days gone by blending in at Schlitterbahn.

It was kind of lonely floating around the 'lazy river' by myself, but I had a great afternoon non the less.

I rode a few wild rides with the kids too, but I am not lying when I tell you I am so beat...ready for bed in three....two....one.

Where do I begin...

2009-06-29T22:45:00.004-05:00

Last Wednesday, that would be June 24 Th, I received a call saying a friend of mine had died here in Texas, about 4 1/2 hours north of here, so I loaded up the kids and headed out. It was a real trial getting through the next 4 and a half days.

I pretty much organised the whole funeral and service for my friend. The family had no money or any other means have a funeral, so I arranged for the State to take over. It was done very efficiently but very very basic. My main worry was for the 4 children she left behind. The father, being disabled would not be my first choice to care for these kids, but they left Texas and headed back to Utah on Sunday, I know this is not the end to this story, I will be keeping tabs on the kids and more than likely we will have to help out again in the near future.

The biggest thing for me this past week was realising how unprepared I am for when I die. I don't want money, or lack of it be the main focus, so I need to start planning, not just for me but for Folau too.

Other than the time spent with the family, preparing a service, shopping for them, cleaning, attending the funeral home, or visiting the cemetery, I did manage to have some fun with my kids, It was nice to break up the tension and stress with a little 'time out' for just us.

We went shopping a few times and the kids picked out some really unique shoes.

We went out to eat at their favorite restaurants, That would be Dennys for william.

and we even went bowling one night.

We found a great library too, where we hung out.

This was some desperately needed down time for all of us. It was all over and done with and we headed home Sunday morning. It felt so good to be home, and I was so happy to see Folau and let him know that we love and missed him.

Tuesday flew by..

2009-06-24T01:04:00.003-05:00

Another day in the vault of my life....The best part by far was going on a date with Kati to see The Proposal..A really good chick flick. It was nice to hear her laugh.

Monday..another week.

2009-06-22T20:39:00.006-05:00

what a fabulous past few days. It has gone fast and so I will try and remember the best parts.
First of all , remember Kati's bedroom saga, well, on Thursday night, actually it was 1:30 am, she came in our room and asked if she could sleep in with us because she said she has a frog in her bedroom, and she wasn't talking about Kermit.

This is how she described it.

This is what it actually looked like.

Folau and I laughed so hard, poor little frog was in a strange swamp, and was obviously frightened. Needless to say, Kati has cleaned up her room, and there is absolutely nowhere for a frog to hide.
Saturday the kids and I stayed home all day and worked around the house. I spent a lot of time sorting through and clipping coupons, Then Saturday evening We went to walmart to try out our luck... I felt like a criminal, We bought $132 worth of 'stuff' and only paid $8... no joke...OK, so we have 70 cans of dog food, good thing we have 2 dogs.
enough bragging. But thanks Walmart.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY 2009

Sunday was Fathers day, We were excited to give Folau his presents. William painted a picture of an iguana . It is to match my mothers day painting of the orchid from the rain forest. We sang some fun 'DAD' songs to Folau and spent a nice Sunday afternoon together.

Final day of the Activia challenge...

2009-06-18T23:09:00.004-05:00

OK, so William so sweetly opened my last pot of Actvia and stirred it for me and insisted I eat it before work. Not such a good move, but nevertheless it was done.. Luckily we had a few periods of no customers in the store, and I am happy to report I feel as fit and healthy as I had hoped. Thank you William for your loving support.

Our new personalised license plates came today...here is Folau's.

Here is mine.What does that mean I hear you say.

Work went fast, It usually does, but today more so. Then it was off to Walmart to pick up a few items, and then to Walgreens where I used my register rewards and walked out with 10 dozen eggs for free...and yes, they will be all gone before the expiration date of 7/22/09.

William and I then went on a trip around the neighborhood collecting our weekly coupon papers.

He is my little trooper, He roller bladed 2.7 miles picking up the papers and tossing them into the back of my car. I could hear him mumbling 'I'm going to be rich'. He earns 10 cents for every paper. In the past 2 weeks he has earned over $13.

Kati meanwhile, was working on her room again. There isn't much more to say on that subject.

Folau however was at he gym the other night and something popped in his right arm while he was lifting. He says it doesn't hurt but I think it looks a bit different from the other one, uninjured left arm

injured right arm.

What do you think? OK, I know he looks like popeye, but seriously, it does look

a bit different doesn't it?

Another 102 degree day

2009-06-16T22:15:00.003-05:00

Another hot one, I talked to Tony and Tricia for a while today and caught up somewhat on the goings on in England. I sometimes stop and think how different life would have been for me had I not been the adventurous type. Would I be married, would I have kids, would I be as happy as I am or would I be a miserable old spinster. Who knows. I do know I have missed all of my nieces and nephews growing up, and spreading their wings. Thanks to modern technology though I have been able to track their progress, and I am happy to say I am proud of all of them.
As for day three of the Activia challenge, well...I seem to have forgotten to eat it, and William didn't remind me before he went to bed, so as the saying goes, never take a sleeping pill and a laxative at the same time..and on that note it's time for bed.....

Day 2...Activia..

2009-06-15T21:36:00.006-05:00

Whew...it was a hot one today, up to 102 degrees. That would be about 38 celcius I think. Wouldn't you know it, the pool is closed on mondays for cleaning.

Had a great morning at work, went really fast, then I stopped in at Melissa's to visit with a friend I met in 1972...Holy smokes, that's only 37 years ago.

Anyhow, Steven Foote was a missionary back then in the England Leeds mission and was teaching my dad about the church. My dad was baptized on 19th July 1972. I have fond memories of Elder Foote and his companion, but that was back then. FAST FORWARD Melissa and her family moved into our ward the same time we did in 2007 and became friends, then out of the blue I was looking at one of her photography books and behold there was Steven Loren Foote, so, I posed the obvious question, why do you have a picture of Elder Foote in your book, and she informed me he was her uncle, married to her aunt Barbara. as Disney put it, it's a small world.

Anyhow, so I stopped into visit and it was so good to see him, yes we have all aged, or should I say matured, but he still has the same sweet smile, and grand spirit I remember.He gave me the greatest compliment when he told me I look exactly like my mum. I wish we could have chatted longer but we all had to go our separate ways, I would love to go and visit this summer for a day or two, maybe I will drop a hint on face book.

The rest of my day was spent chasing my tail and rearranging the furniture, still not too sure I like the new layout, but I am going to have to sleep on that.

Today was day 2 of the Activia Challenge. I ate it at 7 pm, and so far all is well. I still weigh the same, and don't feel anymore nimble than any other day, but we still have 2 days to go.

The Activia Challenge.

2009-06-14T19:18:00.008-05:00

While William and I were out doing groceries the other day, he mentioned he wanted me to take the Activia Challenge. I don't think he realizes it won't make me as thin as Jamie Lee Curtis, but it will surely help me become more regular according to the package. So I accepted the challenge. Here goes....day one, and we're off.

Today at church, a lot of people were surprised by Kati's new look. I was so happy to see her blend in with the young women, and she received many compliments on her new hair style and pink t.shirt, I finally have daughter..

P.S It's now almost 10 pm, and I can sincerely recommend bifidus regularis( main ingredient for activia) for anyone who might have a problem in the bathroom department. Enough said..

Update ....

2009-06-13T23:06:00.007-05:00

Let's start with Williams art camp that finished on Friday...He enjoyed going and being creative, and with the help of my good friend Melissa, he was dropped off and picked up when I was working. One of the assignments he had was to bring a pair of 'old' tennis shoes to sculpt. No problem, we have a few pairs lying around the house, so I told him where to find a pair of Kati's old ones and off he went. Imagine my sheer delight when I showed up at the art exhibition on Friday afternoon to see one of my lovely comfy broken in NIKE's on display.

I was very impressed with the effort he had put in to making my shoe look vibrant.

We enjoyed talking about all the other pieces of art he had created. He really does have an amazing talent. I guess now I can use the excuse that I don't have any tennis shoes , therefore I can't work out...What was my excuse while they were sitting in the closet?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moving on....Kati came back from YW camp, and after she got out of the shower I told her I would brush her hair while we chatted about her camp experiences. All was going well until I found a rather large, nay, rather extra large snarl in the back of her noggin....I slipped out into the kitchen for a few seconds and came back, resumed my position and continued combing, then almost as if I had been momentarily possessed, I chopped out the offending nest. I was actually surprised at how calm Kati was through all of this, I credit this to either being too tired or in shock, nevertheless, I tried to level out the disaster which was unfolding in front of me. The next picture you see is damage control at the hairdressers....

OK,so now we are back to the rest of the afternoon/evening. We met our friends at the pool for a

couple of hours. Check out the action.

Folau headed into work at 7 pm for the night, and Melissa and I headed out to do a bit of shopping at KOHL'S. I won some coupons on eBay last night and wanted to try them out. So we spent about 1 and 1/2 hours aimlessly wandering the store, I bought a Tshirt for Kati, a water/ trampoline game for William, a pair of sandals for me, a set of air freshening reed diffusers and a packet of scented markers...total merchandise value was $57. Total I spent $8.24.... Not bad,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So we are up to date now...All in all, a good day. William had a relatively peaceful day, Kati has a new look, and tshirt. And I, well, I am ready to hit the hay. We start church in 9 hours, and I have yet to look at my Primary lesson...shame on me for procrastinating, but at least it will be fresh in my mind when I sit down to teach....goodnight .

wow, saturday has almost gone again...

2009-06-13T15:06:00.005-05:00

Last night I stayed up far too long, on the computer, sad to say. But, I was up early, and managed to get a little bit done around the house, and William helped me sort coupons...Our new hobby. I took a friend of mine out to lunch seeing as her husband is out of town, and I figured a bit of company was in order for her. It was nice just to sit and chit chat. We went to my favorite eatery. TGIFridays... Just love that buy one get one free deal.

I love the broccoli soup and mashed potatoes. Then on the way home stopped by a yard sale and scored a water cooler for the kitchen, just what we need with these long hot summers here in Texas.

Kati got back from camp this afternoon. Folau picked her up at the drop off point, good old CVS. By the time I got home after lunch, she was already in the shower, I know she is really tired and wants a nap, but we have plans for the rest of the day.

Hot date. 99 to be correct.

2009-06-10T21:29:00.007-05:00

William tried on the t.shirt he tye dyed at camp and was a little bit upset that it had shrunk A LOT..not to mention they gave him a size for a 6 year old..I will have to get another one from them and re do it at home.

Kati left this morning and William stayed with Folau while I worked for a few hours. .It was a scorcher today, reached 99 degrees. I picked William up from art camp and we went on a date. First we stopped at Subway to pick up a sandwich and then went to the movies. We saw Night at the museum 2, and then UP. I liked both movies, Up was my fave.It was nice to have a special afternoon with William. But we miss Kati.

My baby is going away to camp....

2009-06-10T09:00:00.005-05:00

Up at the crack of dawn to get Kati to CVS, the meeting place for camp.

she is going to be gone for 4 days, and I am sure she'll be having the time of her life. She asked me last night if I will miss her when she is away, and I said yes, of course, who's going to do the dishes. Seriously though. This is a big deal for her, and I am thrilled that she is excited about it. We have a great group of girls in our ward and she is in good hands.

And they're gone.......

A lovely afternoon at the pool

2009-06-09T20:57:00.004-05:00

Have I told you how much I love my job.... I was very productive this morning, and getting off at 2 pm is great because I can play for the best part of the day. William and I went swimming again and met some friends of ours at the pool.

Then it was back home to help Kati finish packing for YW camp. I hope she has a good time. This will be her first time away..

Monday, and back to work...

2009-06-08T20:07:00.006-05:00

I did get to sleep in today, no getting up and having to get the children out to school. So, needless to say I was almost late for work. It was slow and I was the only one in..I managed to get a lot done, decorating cookies, taking cake orders and generally enjoying myself. The fun all started when I was off at 2 pm...had to take Kati shopping for new tennis shoes and pants, and get her ready for YW camp on Wednesday. Then we picked up William from his Art camp, he will be going all this week. Got home and tried to get a little done around the house, and then off to our friends house for FHE where we role played the first couple of chapters in the B.O.M.

I played Laban, getting drunk and having my head chopped off. I feel it was Oscar worthy....It was a fun little get together, now we are back home and the kids are out helping Folau with bits and pieces in the garage/driveway. I have to plow my way through paperwork, and finish folding 4 baskets of laundry...I should be done by 10 ish.P.S new rule in my house...I don't do socks anymore... They want them, they sort, turn the right way and fold them.......

saturday is a special day....yadah yadah yadah

2009-06-06T18:57:00.005-05:00

Today has flown by.... I have actually got a lot done, even squeezed in a slight cat nap, so I am recharged and ready to burn the midnight oil. The kids are well and truly out of school. I had to go and buy more snack items, I don't remember them eating so much during the school year.

I watched a movie from red box the other night. Revolutionary Road, It was actually a good movie, but I couldn't quite get my head around Kate Winslet having an American accent and Cathy Bates having an English one.

And finally...... I snook in and found the kids role playing this afternoon..Whats your take on this?

Williams final words were....don't put this on the Internet.

June already...

2009-06-03T23:19:00.007-05:00

So, here we are into June 2009...holy smoke batman, how time flies as they say. Monday June 1st was a typically busy day, not too much to chat about except I got to talk to Mike, my brother who lives in Houston... we are trying to make a plan or two for getting the kids together this summer. I watched NEW IN TOWN before I fell asleep. It was an OK movie, a little bit predictable for me though. Tuesday started of really nice, I went to see William graduate from 3rd grade. He is getting so big, and is as handsome as always. Next it was off to work for a couple of hours...I love my job, and then home to tackle a few things around the house before William and I headed out to go swimming. Folau was working on his car again.

William with Mrs Stark.Principal, William with Mrs Badrak, his teacher...we love her.

Wednesday, well that was a day and a half all crammed into one day. I had so much to do, and only 12 or so hours to get it all done. Started off by taking William to school and dropping off the dogs to be groomed. They were in really nasty shape, so I was happy to get them to Polly's pet parlor. Then I went and registered the cars, stopped in at Walmart, washed the car, got groceries, balanced the check book, met William for lunch.dropped stuff off at goodwill, visited one sister on my list...That took me to 2:30. stopped in at home to regroup and check my e.mail. then I was off again......Picked William up from school, dropped off 2 kids, picked up some prescriptions from Walgreen's, picked up the dogs from the groomers, took some treats down to the garage that helped work on Folau's car. Ran home to see Kati , who wanted to show off her

graduation medal from intermediate school (6th grade).I am so proud of how hard she has worked this year. She is really looking forward to junior high.. Next it was off to the pool for a 2 hour scout activity. Ran to Walmart again to get gifts for the teachers last day of school, then home to fix dinner. To say the least, I am wiped out...Yet, here I am at ALMOST MIDNIGHT blogging. I must be insane. I still have a movie to watch..All in all I had a very productive day, and I will be glad to go to work tomorrow for a bit of a rest......so, until tomorrow.....Maya and Zorro, the bows only stayed in for maybe an hour or so. But they do smell nice and fresh.

Lovely Sunday

2009-05-31T18:41:00.002-05:00

Getting up for church is brutal. We are not doing a great job at being there when the meeting begins at 8:30 am. We are glad we went though. The messages were all great. After we got home I decided to work in my room. for those of you who know me, that statement is self explanatory.After my 2 hour nap, we decided to feed Bo, our pet snake. Luckily we had a rat , we bought Fred at the pet store yesterday.

After all the excitement of watching Bo eat his Sunday dinner (FRED), William decided to take a bath. He is getting more self conscious, and the fact that I keep barging in to take pix of him doesn't help the situation. This is how I found him.

Nothing more to be said on that subject, but wait, there's more......

Here is William ready to eat dinner after his bath.

And what has become of Kati this whole day........still in her room, but I don't think It is looking any better. I will post new updates as needed.

And finally......... let us have a moment of silence for Susan Boyle...So close, yet so far away from being # 1.

Things you might not know about me.

2009-05-30T16:54:00.008-05:00

My dream house, one day.

Most adventurous, and challenging place I ever been.

Favorite color.

I wear flip flops, never shoes.

My favorite Christmas sweeties.

I bite my fingernails.

I was born on Friday the thirteenth.

The smell of an orange is my favorite.

Ice cream is my favorite dessert.

My all time favorite flower. Gardenia.

Mango is my favorite fruit.

I am scared to death of spiders.

My lucky number.

I have a fear of drowning.

Rugby is my favorite sport to watch.

Onion rings, yes please.

Fish and chips, only if I were in England.

My dream house if I lived in England.

I am very proud to be British.

My favorite cartoon character.

I hate mosquitoes, they are annoying.

I love daffodils, they remind me of my sister.

My favorite childhood memory. Bolton abbey.

My favorite animal. You must admit, it's cute.

Half way thru saturday already

2009-05-30T16:38:00.005-05:00

The day is whizzing by so fast and i don't seem to be getting everything done that I planned. I need to focus more. Every time I pass the computer I check my mail. Anyhow, William is being a big helper and is holding Baby Melody and watching Dani too. Kati should be working in her room. I stress the word should. But she pops up every where I turn. Folau is trying to fix the lawn mower so he can pretty up the back yard.

Kati in the kitchen

Kati outside with dad.
Kati sitting in a bomb site.

new look

2009-05-30T15:31:00.003-05:00

As much as I love Williams cow lick, and blond hair, I felt it was time to tidy it up and thin it out a little bit, so we headed out to the back porch and plugged in the trimmer. He doesn't really care for this, but with a bit of bribery and a few threats I managed to get going. I am still not very confident at it, but it beats going to walmart to get the job done. Here goes............buzzzzzzzzzzz

I like the before shots, What a good looking kid, If I say so myself....

And Voila, the finished shot of a job completed.

Which dwarf are you?

2009-05-29T10:44:00.001-05:00

I know which one I am....

MY FAVORITE ALL TIME MOVIE.

2009-05-27T22:51:00.004-05:00

Calamity Jane... starring Doris Day and Howard Keel.

update from the past week or so.

2009-05-27T21:53:00.005-05:00

This week went really fast, Kati hurt her left arm while brushing her hair, she has to keep it in a sling for a week or so to rest her pulled muscles... We enjoyed a great memorial day with some friends at an amusement center, where we rode the bumper water boats, go karts and played mini golf. It was so nice to be out together.

Folau looks like a blind man while taking a break on the mini golf course. William sunk his ball.

We finished it off with dinner at Cici's Pizza.

It's someones birthday today !

2009-05-18T15:18:00.006-05:00

Folau had to work yesterday evening, and got home around 12:15am. Kati and I waited up for him to wish him a happy birthday, William was out cold. We decided against wrapping his present, seeing as it was too big, and we just left it sitting in the garage for him to see. The question is...what do you get a guy who is not even bothered about his own birthday, doesn't need clothes, doesn't wear jewellery, has his own sense of music appreciation. we decided to get him something I have wanted for ages, A little giant ladder. You know the one, seen it n the TV in those infomercials..Well. Costco was having a deal on them so, lucky me.. I mean Folau.

After work, and running errands, The kids and I decided to take

the birthday boy out for dinner. It was unanimous...Mr Gatti's Pizza..

Kati was, as usual ,camera shy, therefore, only the back of her head...

So, now it's the end of another birthday in our home..The next one will be Kati in July. I have great plans for that one....

Saturday, lots to do,,,

2009-05-16T23:58:00.006-05:00

Woke up early for a Saturday, headed out at 8 am to find a few yard sales, one of my favorite pastimes in the summer. It was such a lovely day, the sun was out. I was wearing my bling sunglasses and driving with the top down on my car...can you visualize this? Found some great buys at the yard sales , books for the kids, a lovely fruit basket and some scented candles for me, and two large brand new tarps for Folau. I was ready to change the pace by 11 am so I headed out to wash the car... You know what they say about washing your car...well, 11:20 the clouds started to roll in and 12:15 the heavens opened, and it lasted for over 3 hours.It was torrential. Luckily I had an umbrella in the car so I was able to continue with my errands. Folau spent the day looking for parts to a car he is fixing up and the kids has a great day doing almost nothing. Kati and Folau headed out for a couple of hours after the rain had stopped, and guess what I did...I'm going to let you keep guessing, but for those of you who know me, it's a no brainer. So here we are, another fab weekend..Life is good...

What's on my mind?

2009-05-16T00:19:00.002-05:00

I just want to share a few pictures of what is on my mind right now.

Oh yes, and this too.

Where would I like to be right now ?

2009-05-14T12:24:00.003-05:00

I am in the mood for a lazy
afternoon in a hammock.
The reality is, it's not going to happen..

what a great Tuesday !

2009-05-12T19:57:00.005-05:00

Well, started off the usual way, getting the kids up and off to school, sorting laundry, went into work at 9:30, was nice and quiet, so I was able to get a lot of baking and decorating done. After I got off at 2pm I ran home and took a shower. (Here comes the good bit) Then headed off for my first ever massage, yes ladies you heard right...I took the plunge. Of course I had scoped this out ahead of time..Only females on staff...check...low lighting...check...mood music...check...No obligation to sit through the whole hour if in too much pain....check, Off we go then. The initial removing clothes and hopping under the sheet was not uncomfortable in the least, and Tricia, my masseuse( thank goodness for spellcheck on that one) was awesome. I was relaxed and in heaven well into the third minute, and this lasted for a whole hour. It was over and I was ready to continue with the rest of the day, but nothing seemed pressing, or urgent, I dropped off some overdue library books, paid the electric bill, picked up chicken for Folau's dinner, and headed home, turned around and went up to my friend Melissa's house for a barbecue, I didn't even have to cook dinner.What a fab day. Now the kids are in bed, and I am going to watch a movie (the painted veil)while Folau is at the gym. I can honestly say I don't have too many Tuesdays like this, but I loved it. Tomorrow is my day off, and I know it will be a busy one, but as for today...AWESOME.

This is what it is all about....

2009-05-10T22:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Mothers Day 2009

2009-05-10T21:51:00.004-05:00

What a great weekend I have had, a busy Saturday, which included a nap and a stint at chuckee cheese with the kids, But Today was fabulous. Got up, went to church, then home to be waited on by the family. Folau was into it this year too, yippee. William was so excited to give me his present, he has been working on it for a few days at school, He was sure I would love it, and I do. He painted me an orchid in watercolors. He is a great budding artist in many ways. Kati surprised me by cleaning the kitchen, without being asked.WOW, and Folau and kati gave me some moolah, with instructions to buy anything I want. All of this followed by a Sunday afternoon nap and no cooking made my day perfect.

HAPPY SISTERS DAY.

2009-05-08T10:19:00.007-05:00

My mum....Mary.

Today, may 8Th, is a very significant day for me and my family. My mother was born on May the 8Th 1940, and when she died in 1983 we knew we wanted to celebrate her still being with us, so for the last 26 years we have sisters day. I have sisters, and I am a sister to many, and I will always be a daughter of Mary Elizabeth Christine Twiddy Balla. Families are forever.

what a day !

2009-05-07T20:54:00.006-05:00

Quite a busy day for a Thursday. Got the kids off to school, caught up with a few things around the house, Checked my emails and was surprised to see I am now a great aunt. How can that be!I hear you say, you are so young.Well, one of my brother Tony's sons had their first child yesterday. Welcome to Anja Balla. Kati rang from England, (That would be my sister Kati) We had a good chat for about an hour. It's always nice to talk to my sisters and brothers. Had a nice day at work, that's where the busy comes in. we are getting ready to host a booth at the 'Discover Cibolo' event to be held this Saturday. So it was all out baking, bagging and sampling of course. Stopped in at Wal Mart for a few odds and ends,$117.10 later I headed home. Nice to sit and relax finally. The kids had a mixed day at school, they are getting ready to take their tests next Monday and Tuesday, a little stressful for one of my kids, and it's not William. Also,because they had the last week and a half off school, due to the swine flu alert, all field trips and extra school activities are cancelled to make up the days lost. Sad to say, Kati has been talking about the sixth grade trip to schlitterbahn water park, for the past 7 months.I would be ticked too if they cancelled it on me, but there is nothing I can do about it other than see her sulk. Folau is at the gym as we speak, He works so hard for us and I hope he knows how much we love him. That reminds me, I must go and put the chicken in the oven..

my day off....off what?

2009-05-06T17:45:00.019-05:00

I was up with the roosters this morning, why? I have no idea, as this is my day off and the last possible day to sleep in for a while seeing as the kids are back to school tomorrow. Alas, folded laundry, bagged up some chews for work, and watched a movie....Faith like potatoes.... A good family flick. Then I was out to get on with errands, and drop kids here and there and pick up kids, popped into the store to see what was going on and then to the post office, then back home to a seemingly overly warm house. Yes the air conditioner is still on the fritz. Got ready for my scouts..I am the wolf den leader, coming up with creative and fun activities each week is not easy, so today we tried a new approach. Didn't get much of the fence fixed, but it's a start. We then celebrated by jumping on the trampoline and eating 22 ice pops between them, well it was 95 degrees outside.

It's Tuesday again..

2009-05-05T21:58:00.013-05:00

Wow, how time flies, it's Tuesday already, and the weather is brilliant. Too bad our air conditioner is acting up. I think I will have to call in a repair expert. Folau tried tinkering with it but we are still not down to where I feel comfortable, that would be the mid 70's. Anyhow, less of my whining. The phone call came tonight, the children will head back to school on Thursday, mixed emotions from my two, Figure that one out for yourself. I however am thrilled. I will be having cub scouts tomorrow, we had to call it off for the past 2 weeks, I am excited about our activity .... watch this spot tomorrow.

Sunday off ! what's that you say?

2009-05-03T11:36:00.005-05:00

Church was cancelled today due to the swine flu alert...so last night we went to the movies....got home after 1 am, seeing as we could sleep in for the first time this year on a Sunday.(church starts at 8:30am) We saw Hotel for dogs... good Disney flick, and Paul Blart mall cop... funny funny. All in all I had a good Saturday, even snuck in a nap. Not sure how we will be spending the rest of today, conclusion to follow.

Almost saturday

2009-05-01T21:31:00.004-05:00

Well, Friday came and has almost gone... I managed to tackle cleaning one of the bathrooms, big deal I hear you say, But it wasn't that bad, and it was way down my priority list, however, it allowed me to close the door and crank my mp3 player. That lasted all of 45 minutes. Then it was off to my little job at TEXAS PECAN CANDY. I love it there, we have such a great time making, baking, licking, selling. After work I picked up William and we went off to babysit at Bonnie's church bible study( Baptist). Always a fun night out for William and I , now I am back home realizing my Saturday is looking like nothing I had planned. I am filling in a few hours at work tomorrow, then I need to plan for my primary calling on Sunday. Maybe I can fit in a movie with the kids in the evening. We shall see. We got notice that the kids will be off school again all of next week, just precaution at the moment. I don't mind but they seem to be getting bored. Folau is working late tonight, so the house is pretty quiet, Kati is out on her skateboard and William is watching TV. Hopefully tomorrow will be more exciting reading for you. later...

I'm ready for the weekend, or am I ?

2009-04-30T22:06:00.004-05:00

Almost Friday, and am I ready for the weekend or what! This week seems to have dragged on too long. maybe it is because the kids have been off school Swine flu alert) and I have had to find things other than TV to entertain them, or maybe its because I can't seem to finish any one thing I start and things are piling up and I am becoming overwhelmed with the thought of spending my weekend finishing up said projects. My perfect weekend (Saturday) would be.....getting to sleep in until 8:30 am. getting out of the house without the kids seeing me, hitting a few yard sales, stopping to pick up a subway(foot long) sandwich and a diet coke. Going in to see a movie OF MY CHOICE, and sitting back to enjoy the next 2 hours in peace and quiet. After the movie I would go the the local library and browse a few of the magazines I would love to subscribe to but can't possibly justify, then I would dawdle on home and brace myself for what lies beyond the front door. Check out this page on Monday and see how I actually spend my Saturday.

Hubah Hubah Zac man

2009-04-29T16:05:00.004-05:00

so, went on a date with Kati last night, went to see 17 again. If I were 25 years younger, (well, maybe 33) I would have a major crush on Zac Efron.But as it stands, even Mathew Perry is too young for me...alas, It was still a good film. As for movies, I have joined the netflix millions, I am enjoying finding and watching movies I remember from my childhood. It's amazing what you remember and how much you actually forget. And, let us never forget the phrase, They don't make movies like that anymore. In some cases that is a good thing.

Back to planet earth.

2009-04-29T10:03:00.002-05:00

Let's see, I haven't updated since I actually started this blog last September. What a shame. As a family we have had a lot of fun experiences and many ups and downs. Most of them are stored in my fading memory. We are now almost 1/3 of the way through 2009. William turned 9 last November, We celebrated our 2nd Christmas here in Texas, and had Hollie stay with us for that. We welcomed in 2009 in a relatively mild way compared to years gone by. My 4?th birthday came and went. Valentines day, st Patrick's day, Easter, 2 general conferences, Hanukkah, Ramadan,kwanza, Lent, just to name a few, but here we are now at the very end of April, and I vow to get a grip on this blogging, if only not to look like a complete idiot. so.......watch this spot...

September 2008

2008-09-15T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the children are back at school and the holidays are creeping upon us. Life is in no way boring, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Life is full of challenges and thrills, surprises and disappointments, but when all is said and done, we get out of life what we put into it. I still love to nap whenever possible, and stay up and watch a silly film on the TV. I hate to iron, and clean windows, but love to play word games. Love reality TV, Listening to the golden oldies and eating crackers in bed. And I haven't worn pantie hose since 1984. I love my Husband and children more than anything in the world, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I have come to the realization that I am never going to be a perfect me, and so now I must be happy with where I am and what I have accomplished in my 47 years. I am looking forward to sharing my everyday mundane life on this page. I also look forward to hearing from anyone who feels the need or desire to comment on anything I post. So, Here I go...both feet in....