Basketball Begins....

One of the things that began while the computer was off to the repair shop was basketball....so I thought I'd tell you a little bit about Kyla and HER game of basketball. Kyla loves sports but it doesn't seem to be the competition that draws her to the games...it seems to be the social aspect. She spends a lot of time talking to teammates...or her opponents...and she always has a smile on her face.

Don't get me wrong...she does enjoy winning, but she never seems to think that is the most important thing - and for that I am GLAD. We aren't playing Upward Basketball for the first time in 3 years. We just couldn't find a league around here that measured up to the one at Friendship, so we decided to look elsewhere. She is playing on an all girls teams with BVYA...a local youth organization that puts together several different leagues in several different sports. Her first game was Dec. 6...unfortunately, they lost 4 to 6. Yes, not alot of offense...but Kyla did score 2 of the 4 points for her team.

Last year Summer cheered for Upward, so she seemed to think that the Shock needed their own cheerleader...perhaps she was right. She made a sign for Kyla...saying "Go Kyla Go!"...and she lead Luke in the chant...over...and over...and over. It was a fun day all around. I'm sure you'll be seeing more basketball posts in the future!

She's BAAAACK...

That might need to say..."It's BAAAACK!"...refering to my computer. For the second time this year, it has been to the 'dr.' to recieve a new hard drive. Thankfully, it was covered under warranty....again!....but I have a feeling that HP is going to start investigating me if this happens again. Is there some sort of PC DHR???

Well, it is going to kill me...but I just can't take the time and go back and catch all the photo moments in chronological order right now....no telling how long it will take just to organize the digital images. So just let me leave you with a Christmas photo.

Worth the Wait??

Ok - You tell me...but I think some things are worth the wait. Thanks to my procastination on posting my Halloween pictures, I was able to post them in a NEW and EXCITING way! At least it is new and exciting to me!!! A big shout out to my friend, Sarah, who spent some time with me the other day teaching me some of her 'tricks.' I'm a long way from her exciting blog with video clips, customized backgrounds, and music...but it's a start!! I never realized just how much MORE there could be to blogging!

The pictures from Halloween only capture a fraction of the fun that the kids had...and the candy they received! Dustin, Lisa, Taylor, Caitlin, Granny, and PopPop all came to our house which served as the base camp for the trick-or-treat trek. No telling how many lollipops and candy bars were consumed by the nights end...I'm sure A BUNCH! Luke really caught on to the spirit of trick-or-treating this year. It was several days before he stopped yelling "Trick or Treat!" at me. Oh my!

Halloween Slide Show

Would you trust this face??

Ok - this is TOTALLY out of character for me!! But I couldn't resist posting this picture (taken on Monday night) of Summer and her missing top front tooth. At this pace, by Christmas we might truly be singing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

I just wanted to be sure that all of you could check out this grin...more photos to follow - especially our Halloween ones...stay tuned!

Happy Birthday to Kyle!

Like I said in my last post...I feel silly posting things that seem so out-of-date. However, I am only a few weeks behind on this blog...in my scrapbook I am (brace yourself for this one) FOUR YEARS BEHIND! I know - it is sad! I have worked on it over the past few months... completing a few pages here and there, but I am going to have to get into a serious 'groove' in order to make up 4 years of photographs and events.

Kyle celebrated his 37th birthday on October 28. I like to mention his age because he is once again a year older than me. ha! The girls spent many hours making him a diorama out of a shoe box. They couldn't wait to give it to him on his special day!! If you can't read it - the top of the box said,"Dad is cool and a star!" They placed birthday messages on the inside of the box, as well as 3-D figures that they made of themselves and him. They also pooled some of their allowance money together and got him an Academy gift certificate. Those girls ADORE their dad!Luke was excited about Daddy's birthday. From the moment I began to make his birthday cake he repeated that it was Daddy's birthday. Really, it was more of a question - "It's Daddy's birthday today?" And one of those questions that he asked over...and over...and over. ha!

Granny & PopPop came over and babysat the kids so that Kyle and I could go out to eat at the County Line. The food was fabulous!! And it is amazing how much more we can converse when the kids aren't with us. I love those kids...but it is sooo much more peaceful to go out to eat without them! When we got home, we had birthday cake - 1886 Chocolate Cake - one of Kyle's favorites - as well as icecream....HEB Creamy Creations ice cream...OF COURSE! The girls were hoping for 37 candles...but I decided to settled for a few less. No need to set of the smoke alarm! hee! hee!

Fall Festival

I am beginning to border on the edge of being so delinquent in my postings that they no longer seem relavant to me by the time I put them on here. Case in point...the Fall Festival at church was actually the Saturday before Halloween...but the pictures are just now being posted. Not to mention, there are pictures from Kyle's birthday, Halloween, and Kyla's soccer season...all of which need to be posted. I say "need," because for whatever reason (I suspect it has something to do with my life as a scrapbooker) I can't seem to just skip some events and come back to them later. I want to post 'chronologically.' That is fine when I am up to date, but not so great now!Anyways....expect those pictures to come in the not-so-distant future. Hopefully, before all of the turkeys and pumpkins are replaced by the Christmas trees and nativity scenes ha!

The Fall Festival at our chruch - CrossPoint Fellowship in Schertz - was actually a combination Fall Festival and Chili Cookoff. There were many fun activities for the kids - facepainting and crafts, as well as all the cotton candy and popcorn you could sneak past your parents. The chili was available to all...after the judging, of course...and there were hot dogs for anyone who couldn't stomach the chili. There was a hayride, but it was almost more of a limb dodge than a hayride....hopefully, they will trim a few limbs before driving through the trees next year.

It was just an outing for me and my girls. The guys stayed home and took naps.

One last picture - there was a pumpkin carving contest and grand prize winner was an amazing carving of the downtown San Antonio sky line. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but I think you can see why it won.

Hall-o-Scream

Last Friday was the PERFECT day to be at Sea World San Antonio. The weather was mild - I think the highs were in the mid 70s. So maybe it wasn't perfect if you were wanting to ride all of the soaking water rides or if you wanted to sit in the splash zone (Summer and Kyla). But for those of us over the age of 9 that were there...it was GREAT!


We wanted to use our season passes at least one more time this year...we bought them last year when Kim, Isaac, and Rebekah Evans came to visit at their fall break. I would say that the passes have paid for themselves...we have gone 4 more times...and we hope to get one more visit in before the end of the year. This time, we invited Granny and PopPop along. The park has been open for 20 years...and they hadn't even been. But then again, until last year, the last time I had been was the year it opened, 1988.



We took it upon ourselves to be their 'unofficial' Sea World tour guides. We obviously saw the dolphins... taking the time to feed them. We have been there at times when there were sooo many people that they were hardly interested. This day, there were sooo few people that the dolphins were coming to the surface and practically BEGGING us for fish.





We took in the Cannery Row Caper Show. I wish I had my 35mm shots back because I got some great ones (or at least I hope I did) of one of the characters from the show (human, not sea-life) interacting with Kyla & Kyle. The reporter from the show wanted some of their popcorn and even turned it into a game of them trying to throw it into his mouth or him trying to throw it into theirs. I didn't think it was possible...but I believe it even embarassed Kyla just a little bit.


The fall celebration at Sea World is centered around the theme of "Hall-o-Scream." Well, perhaps I should have paid a little bit closer attention to some of the 'scream' zones that opened up after 6 p.m. in the park because we found ourselves eating dinner...outdoors...when what can only be described as a pack of very realistic warewolves began to 'roam' around the area. Poor Luke! He may require therapy later in life! He was genuinely frightened...which was not our intent AT ALL! The girls, however, realizing that they were just people in costume, played along with them and would distract unsuspecting park patrons so that the warewolves could then jump out and frighten them. The girls had several good laughs! OK - so they may need therapy now too.





















My favorite Sea World show up to this point was the Halloween whale show from last year. The "Believe" show is good, and the "Summer Nights" show was good, but that Halloween show was amazing. I was hoping for a repeat this year that didn't let down Granny and PopPop...because I had talked it up A LOT. Fortunately, Sea World didn't let me down! The whales just seem to have more fun - can that be possible?




The trainers wore wet suits that were black and had skeleton bones on them. They had the fog machines that blew fog out over the water. There were pyrotechnic effects. The music was fun and rockin'. At one point in the show they had FOUR whales in the water at the SAME time. That is the only time I've seen that!! I think the only one who complained about anything in the show was Luke. He told us he didn't like the m.c. of the show -- I can't say that I blame him, he was dressed as some sort of zombie pumpkin-headed man. And, after his experience with the warewolves, he was understandably leery of anything out of the 'ordinary.' Much to my relief (because it had really cooled off by dark), for the first time EVER we didn't sit in the splash zone...and Luke was pleased that "password"...his strange and funny name for all things Sea World...didn't get us wet this time.


Since I wasn't in the Splash Zone, I was hoping to finally get some good pictures with my 35mm. However, my 35mm began acting up and I am afraid that I am going to have to take it in and get it looked at. Maybe it will finally be time to go "big" digital??....or maybe that is just wishful thinking. Let me leave you with this parting shot of the trainer being catapulted out of the water by the whale. It is a little hard to see her because of the black and white wetsuit and the dark background...but she is the squiggly line in the center. I am glad she is willing to go that extra mile for our enjoyment...but I would have to say a big, "NO THANK YOU!"

Pumpkin Patch

I don't think I tell our family enough - but even though I still miss our friends in Alabama, it is NICE to be near our family once again. For instance, we were able to meet up with Dustin, Lisa, Caitlin, and Taylor on a Sunday afternoon and take some great pictures at the pumpkin patch. I haven't developed the film from my 35mm yet...I'll be excited to see what I was able to 'capture.' But thanks to Dustin and Lisa, I have this great shot of all 5 kids to post.Our attempt to get this picture was reminiscent of our attempt to get a Christmas card photo of Granny and PopPop and all 5 kids. I think the only person to be completely successful at it has been Gwen Sawyer of Be True Photography. I was AMAZED at the pictures that she got of all 5 kids last winter! Photographers just don't get enough credit for how hard their job is!!

The day was beautiful... sunny...but far from fall like. Even though the morning started out a little 'chilly', in true Texas fashion it was warm...almost hot...by the afternoon. The kids roamed around, looking at pumpkins here and there. Then, at some point they decided that sitting on the pumpkins was the thing to do. We would just look over and one of the kids would be sitting on some BIG pumpkin, smiling, posing for the picture that they knew was inevitable.

By the end of our 'photo shoot', I think that my kids, my husband, and myself were spent! It all seems to go downhill so quickly when crankiness sets in. We jumped in the car and left so quickly that I don't even think I told my sister-in-law goodbye...Sorry Lisa!

What Life's Been Like...

I can always tell what life has been like by the number of posts that I have any given month. The ones that have more seem to be 'calmer' months when I have a chance to catch my breath and catch you up on the latest and greatest news. Or maybe they are the months where I have become accustomed to the hectic pace that life has become and I have just figured out a way to get to the computer. ha! Either way, life did speed up last month...but in good ways.

We had two birthday celebrations in September - Poppy Rohan (Granny Gerry's dad) turned 87! We celebrated as a family at Beef and Bourbon in San Antonio. And then...there was ME! I turned....well, lets just say that 40 seems to be getting closer and closer every year! ha! My birthday was spread out over a couple of days...which is ALWAYS nice. Kyle and I were able to go out to eat the day before at Red Lobster...just the two of us thanks to Granny and PopPop. And on my birthday my mom drove over and took me out to lunch. She brought all kinds of goodies...including a cake! As an adult, I have always had a little 'childish' hangup on NOT getting a birthday cake. I LOVE getting a cake...I don't know what it is...perhaps my belief that the calories don't really count if you eat the cake on your actual birthday? Whatever the case, I was fortunate to get one this year...see...

Kyle and I also traveled with Dustin and Lisa to College Station, TX...to see Texas A&M play the Miami Hurricanes on September 20th. After looking at the final score the word "play" may be a little misleading...we are pretty sure the Aggies showed up. We know Miami did because we only sat 5 rows off the field, just behind the Miami bench. In all of my years at A&M I NEVER sat so close that I could actually read the players names on their jerseys. It was odd...the stadium doesn't seem nearly as big when you aren't in the 3rd deck. The game wasn't all that we wished for, but the experience of being back in College Station was WONDERFUL. We all loaded up with t-shirts for ourselves and our kids...we will all be sporting our Aggie apparel for months to come!

Some of the little spare time that I did have lately has been spent trying to get back in 'shape'. I'll spare you the actual weight goals, etc. but I have plans to at least get healthier. We live so close to a nice paved walking/jogging trail...it runs all the way down Schertz Parkway from our subdivision to the interstate. If I walk it that far and back then I go approximately 5 miles. I have been trying to do that at least 3 times a week (hopefully 4 or 5) - pushing Luke in the stroller the whole way. He puts up with it....because he knows that when we are done we will stop at the neighborhood park and ride the slides for a while. Hopefully, when you see our family Christmas photo this year you will be able to tell...we'll see!

A dancer once again!

After a year off from dance classes...and many evenings, mornings, etc. on the soccer fields...we have a dancer in the house once again. Summer began dance classes on Monday evening and she couldn't have been MORE excited! She may have been too excited, because I have been told that she and Katie Jo had to be separated...too much talking and giggling. oh my!

We had the usual countdown...how many days until dance classes begin?...and then we also had the hourly countdown on Monday afternoon. We are fortunate that the classes are held at the Civic Center here in Schertz...just around the corner from our house. Although, if Summer had her way...we would have left at 6:15 pm for our 7 pm class...just to be SURE that we weren't late. She dressed her American Girl doll in a ballet costume and practiced her 'moves' up until the moment we left.

I am thankful that she had a WONDERFUL time. Sometimes the things 'we' participate in don't equal the anticipation, but this did! Summer loves her teacher - Miss Kim. In addition to her good friend, Katie Jo, we discovered that another girl from her school takes lessons here...a girl in her class....who we also just learned lives on our street! Perhaps they will be able to get together some afternoons and 'practice' their dance moves together so that I won't have to try and try and try to understand and replicate what all Summer is trying to teach me. ha! ha!

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When Summer first chose soccer over dance last year, I was a little sad. I had always thought of Summer as a little dancer - her build, her personality, etc - but she was really set on playing soccer. I am glad we allowed Summer to play soccer because I think she always would have wondered what it would have been like, however, I am more pleased that she is dancing again. We'll just see how it goes!

Back to School!

I know that I should be excited about back to school...especially after 3 months with 3 kids around ALL the time...but I'm always a little sad when school starts. First, I have to be more scheduled...yuck! Second, the pace of life torpedos into warp speed - for example, we also begin soccer practice today. And thirdly, I miss those girls - and this year, SO DOES LUKE! I cannot count the number of times I have answered the two questions - "Where is Kyla?" and "Where is Summer?"

However, my lack of excitement about school starting is countered in the universe by the extreme excitement that the girls had about school this year! Do these pictures capture it, or what...

The girls knew what outfits they would wear weeks ago and school supplies were all purchased back in July.

Summer had a countdown going just for the "Meet the Teachers" night - which was last Thursday...and she continued to ask me "How many days until school starts?" multiple times all weekend. At first, I was concerned about her - I wondered if her short term memory was failing her at a young age...ha!...but then I realized she just liked hearing how close the school year start was.

For the first time, the girls set alarm clocks to wake themselves up this morning. Since it was the first time, they popped right out of bed and promptly got dressed. I hope that the trend continues, however, if they are anything like me....and maybe you...over time the sound of the alarm clock can become incorporated into dreams, or just ignored completely and suddenly you're not getting out of bed at the time that you thought you would.

One of the best treats of the morning - Dad's Egg Bread. For those of you unfamiliar with egg bread...you may call it 'french toast.' Kyle had been in Bristol, TN all weekend...watching the NASCAR races with his friend Brian Evans...and the girls hadn't seen him since Wednesday night. They were tickled when they came downstairs and Dad not only was home, but was also cooking them one of their favorite breakfast treats.

Before school was out for the summer, I put in requests for the girl's teachers...something I hadn't ever done before, but I did at the encouragment of Kyla's teacher, Mrs. Lanham. I feel fortunate that we were able to get the teachers that we 'wanted,' and both girls have close friends in their classes (that can be a positive or negative...depending on the "talking factor"). Summer's teacher is Mrs. Coronado - a familiar face to her because she is only a few doors down from her classroom from last year. Kyla's teacher is Mrs. Maryfield - she is also a familiar face because she is in the second-half of the same portable that Kyla was in last year. Well, at least that is where their classes are for now...come December/January...if everything continues on schedule...they will move into their new school facility. Mrs. Maryfield actually hinted that they may begin to use the new gym and cafeteria even before that!

And now it begins...another year of reading, writing, 'rithmetic', and all the rest. It will be the last year...until high school...that the girls will be at the same school due to the intermediate (5th/6th) and Jr. High (7th/8th) campuses. Can my girls really be starting 2nd and 4th grade?

Do you notice anything different??

Just wondering if from this picture...can you tell what is different about this girl? Look closely...just above the bottom lip. That's right! She has lost a tooth!! And let me tell you...to say she was excited is a gross understatement! ha! To be 7 years old and to have never lost a tooth was making Summer very anxious. Plus, her permanent teeth were beginning to come in behind the baby teeth and that was unnerving to her as well.





She was funny about letting Dad pull the tooth and it soon became his mission to succeed at getting that tiny tooth out of her mouth. I say 'tiny' because I have never seen baby teeth as tiny as Summer's. They have always been small, but the 7 years of wear have worn them down even farther. The dentist remarked that they just weren't made to hold on this long, however, her permanent teeth look strong (and rather HUGE in comparison) and should come in without incident.

The tooth practically fell out in Kyle's hand...it had become sooo loose. And we promptly went upstairs, found the tooth fairy pillow that I used as a little girl - my Meme made it for me, and tucked that tiny tooth safely in the pocket. We didn't want to risk loosing that little chip of a tooth.

By the next morning, the tooth fairy had left Summer a $1 bill in the place of the tooth. It should be the first of several visits from the fairy in the next year. As loose as the other bottom tooth is getting, I doubt it will be more than a month until we 'see' her again. I'm just thankful that Summer will be able to start back to school with a tooth 'gone.' She can't wait to see if Katie Jo has lost a tooth too!

The beach was a blast!

Thank goodness we had a vacation at the beach to look forward to when we left north Alabama...I wasn't really ready to leave. There were not enough days to visit all the people and places, but we were thankful to spend time with and at the ones that we did!

We stayed at the Phoenix All Suites in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I highly recommend it! There was a bedroom with a king-size bed, bunk-beds built into the walls (the girls LOVED them), and a pull-out couch we didn't even use, 1.5 bathrooms, and a FULL kitchen. It was everything we needed...and all the rooms are gulf-view. I couldn't believe how much Gulf Shores had changed...we hadn't been there since 2000...long before Hurrican Ivan. There are sooo many more hotels and condos now, but it was still clean...and you just can't beat those beautiful white sand beaches!

I don't think Luke remembered the beach trip we made last year to Port Aransas, because he just didn't know how to react to all of that water chasing him on the sand. ha! He had fun...but he didn't get out too deep. He spent most of his time either just on the water's edge or asking us if we could go to the pool.

The girls received some birthday money from Kim when we were visiting and they promptly spent it on boogie boards once we arrived in Gulf Shores. That provided them (and even me) with hours of water enjoyment! However, every now and then we would find ourselves bolting out of the water due to some strange stinging sensation -- never seeing jellyfish, but feeling like we had been dipped in some of their 'poison.' We learned that if we walked up to the showers at the pool and showered off, we would be fine by the time we walked back down to the beach. It was very strange...we never received a 'good' explaination of it.

Once again it was time to leave BEFORE we were truly ready...although the prospect of everyone in their own beds and no more sand in mysterious places was appealing. More than likely, we won't be making a trip to Alabama every year...but it sure was perfect timing for us to go this year. It made me appreciate both where we have come from and where we are now. It was refreshing to see that being gone for a year hadn't changed the friendships that are still so important to us. I don't know how to describe it...but it made it easier to embrace my life away from Alabama once I got back. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE being back in Texas! The only problem...being back in Texas meant I had to leave Alabama...and I LOVED Alabama too. I think the best way to explain it...this trip taught me that I am allowed to LOVE them both!

Friendship Church & a Pool Party

When we arrived in Alabama, one of the first things we did...even before stopping at the Evans' house...was to stop by our 'old' house in Cairo Hollow. We just couldn't resist getting a peek at what the Craigs had done to it. We were impressed with how great it looked...although we were surprised when we later found out that they hadn't moved into it yet. We stopped back by on Wednesday...just before leaving town....and just after eating breakfast at Sportsman's Park (yummm!)...and took a peek through the windows once we realized that no one was there. The inside looked AMAZING...they had redone all the floors (which would have required some subflooring repair)...redone everything in the kitchen except for the cabinets...redone the master bath...repainted all of the walls...and I'm sure much, much more. After seeing all they had done, it made sense why they hadn't moved yet...they hadn't had time!

I didn't know how it would make me feel to see all the changes to "my" house...especially since so much of ourselves went into it...but it made me sooo excited for them! I can't wait for them to enjoy that space - I hope that it brings them many, many years of happiness!

As I mentioned in the last post, one of the reasons for traveling on the 4th was to be in Alabama in plenty of time to go to church at Friendship. We ended up attending both services...and Calvin even performed an impromptu...no warning beforehand...interview with us in front of the whole congregation...BOTH services. He still calls us their 'missionaries to Texas.' It was a wonderful service...BOTH times...John David Crowe, the Contemporary Worship leader, lead everyone in an hour long worship service. I had missed the worship time at Friendship more than anything...so I couldn't have planned a better Sunday to be there! (No offense to Calvin's preaching...it is great too!)

After church, we were invited to the Parish house for an afternoon cookout/swimming party. It was so nice and relaxing to sit by the pool and visit with so many good friends. We had been gone from Alabama for just a couple of months when my dear friend, Lori Donatelli, found out that she was pregnant. For anyone who knows her story...it had been a long road filled with many obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Although we know that 'NOTHING is impossible with God' it was quite miraculous news! This trip meant that I could finally meet little Laci Grace Donatelli in person, and let me tell you, when I first saw her I cried and cried tears of joy! I felt like I was looking at Jesus' love in the flesh.

Laci Grace & Kyla

Allie & Luke

Isaac enjoying the pool

Summer soaking up some sun



The hours just flew by and I couldn't believe the day was over when the sun began to go down. Unfortunately, all of the days we were in Alabama were that way...and it was Wednesday before we knew it! At least we had the trip to the beach to look forward to...we might not have gotten the kids into the van otherwise. ha!