Monday, February 26, 2007

Monday tid bits

This weekend we made a very large and very unexpected purchase...a whirlpool cabrio washing machine. Our still-very-new front loader had a computer relay die and so we would have had to replaced a $450 motor/computer for a $475 washer. The Cabrio was NOT what we were looking for when we went, but it seemed to make sense for the long term. So far we like it!

Jack's new stuff: "Was your name?" "Who's dat?" "Wha she say?" The last two are after I get off the phone with someone. Also, this is completely new to us and I am not sure where he heard this, but the phrase is "I not a BABY!" and he says it with such feeling that you really feel like he's been offended by whatever you did. Sometimes he uses it at appropriate times, like at the supper table if I hand him a bite instead of letting him get it himself, but sometimes he doesn't use it appropriately so I am not sure if he has any clue as to what he's saying.

Samantha is fascinated with helping Mommy fold clothes. Today it was Jack pajama pants that we worked on and she did great after I figured out that she needed to lay it down on the floor so she could see what she was doing. And she's working on getting things on hangers and hanging them in her closet. She's excellent at putting away...so overall she is an awesome laundry helper and now that I have a reliable washer we should put a major damage in the laundry category.

Yesterday I got hit with some sort of stomach bug. It really knocked me on my booty: major body aches and they tingley feeling when your skin just hurts. Today wasn't soo bad although I felt so sore in my torso that you'd have thought I spent the day throwing up. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day that we went to the zoo with our friends from church and had a wonderful time looking at snakes, baby giraffes and elephants, and fish. I didn't overdue it today, but I certainly was grateful for the 2 hour nap the kids took! :)

That's all for tonight! Later taters!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

For fear of being flogged with a wet noodle...

...I'm going to blog. Thanks AJ for the kick in the pants!

Traveling
This spring and summer is shaping up to be quite the traveling time for us. The kids and I drove to NW Arkansas for our nephew's two year old birthday. We had an AWESOME time together with Michael's family. Probably the second best thing of the whole trip was spending the night in Dallas at an Embassy Suites...thanks again, Uncle Matt!!! It was an amazing hotel...so much so that we had to take a walk around (9:00 p.m.) and see the fish ponds and "Ooooh" and "Ahhh" appropriately. It was fun!

The kids have spring break March 12-16th so we are planning on driving to KS City to visit RoRo and PawPaw (Michael's folks). The following week we'll go to San Antonio for our first "Just the four of us" trip...we are headed to Sea World and we're going to get to feed the dolphins, have a special pre-open tour, and we're going to eat beside the whales one night for dinner!!

Then our fitness forum is having a summit in April in Little Rock. May will take Michael away from us for a trip to Myrtle Beach to play golf with work buddies. June will leave us at home, and then in July we're going on the Wilson's 29th annual family vacation in Osage Beach, MO.

Wow! That makes me tired just typing all that!! Thank goodness for the DVD players that we bought for the van at christmas!!!

Julian
On the baseball batting cages of Westbury high school, sits gang graffiti. It hasn't been there 1 day, not 1 week, not 1 month, but VERY CLOSE to 2 MONTHS. I have called 311 (Houston's help center), the school directly-TWICE, and have spoken with one of the Houston ISD police officers about when it will be removed. I have spoken to our city council woman's chief of staff. And still it sits.

I was aggravated before, but since the woman at the school told me that "that student's death hasn't been ruled 'gang related'" I have become quite livid about the whole situation. I am certain that Mr. Ruiz would NOT be pleased at the lacidazical manor that this is being handled in. If need be, I believe that I can call Cynthia Cisneros and maybe she could help me get some attention and focus on this.

Our city council representative was supposed to have a meeting today with Principal Coleman and the police at our neighborhood police store front. Hopefully, I'll hear from her chief of staff tomorrow.

Samantha
Wow! This kid is growing leaps and bounds! The thing that has impressed me most is seeing her calculating certain things in her head. For instance, holding her jacket or backpack she calculates which arm needs to go in which hole for it to fight right. Amazing! I know it seems small, but watching her process the reversing process in her mind is fascinating.

And we've made a decision about what to do for her schooling. We're going to leave her where she is for the 07-08 school year and then in January of 08 we'll start the "Magnet" process to get her into the school that she wants. Whew! This is loads off my mind!!

Jack
The best news about Jack is that he's sleeping again! On our trip this past weekend, he and Samantha had such a good time sleeping side-by-side that I decided to give them a try sleeping together at home. It seems to be working like a charm. His ears are also clear (finally) so sharing a room may have nothing to do with his better sleep...but who's going to look a gift horse in the mouth? Not me! :)

His new favorite thing is "Whas dat?" We are really enjoying teaching him about his world!

The Rodeo
Every year the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are a HYOOOGGGE event, and it starts next weekend. With the way our kids LOOOVE animals, we'll probably end up buying season passes for Samantha and me (Jack's free) and make it a weekly trip.

People come from all over the country doing "trail rides" and land in our backyard (literally, they stay on the baseball fields behind our house) on this evening. Tonight we took a walk after supper to see the horses and all the people. Needless to say, I think the kids will sleep well tonight!

Well, I think I am working on a blister on my left hand from all this typing, so I am signing off for tonight! :)

Later taters!