Make a Smilebox photobook

New addition

Just trying to post a smilebox to my blog, hoping it works. Just random picsof Cameron throughout the year.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Post!

Well, time to blog. Getting back into the swing of things of normal life.

Austin is really enjoying football and so far his team is 2-0. Since one of the main dudes on the team referred to as Tito failed this 6 weeks, Austin has now taken over fullback position and said he scored a TD in practice yesterday. He likes to run the ball! He did well this 6 weeks in school too. He made 2 89's and the rest were A's. Not bad for all pre AP classes. He is also playing baseball and playing catcher the entire games. Still growing taller every day.

Cameron is learning to read and seems to enjoy it. He is still having his motor tics that sometimes involve only eye blinking, but sometimes he adds a downward head nod with the eye blinks. These occur every day about every 5 minutes. I would call it severe, but we just keep hoping it will go away soon. His teacher says it's not interfering with school work so I guess we'll just let it ride! He is also taking a drama class once a week and appears to really get in the Drama mode!

Not much going on with me. Trying not to get the flu! Austin & I have had our shots, but Cameron's doc ran out of them and having a hard time finding supply! One of my students at my school in special ed died this past weekend from complications of the flu. Very sad, she was in a wheel chair and had other underlying medical issues, but she was a sweet 16 year old girl who was always smiling (although nonverbal). We had many news crews here this week. Homecoming is tonight and you should see the mums these girls wear! They are almost full-body! Huge (fake)flowers that totally cover the girls' chest and stomachs and then all these ribbons, cow bells, dangling things all the way to the floor! I've never seen such a sight! They sound like hearding cattle walking down the halls! One girl told me she paid $100 for hers which was about average! WOW!

That's all I got for now, will most more later, TTFN!

Good News!

After all the appts last Friday, Cameron is NOT having seizures. Yeah! The neurologist thinks he has motor and verbal tics that really have no one particular cause but can be as a result of a strep of some sort or heredity (don't think that's on my side) and will usually subside within 6 months. If not, we will go back and they might suggest medication. When I asked what kind of med, the doc replied 'medication similar to what we give pts with tourettes syndrome'. She didn't think it was tourettes because he didn't have enough obsessive-compulsive behaviors, echolalia, aggression, or other characteristics. So, we'll be watching for any of those for sure! I think he does have a little aggression towards me or Austin, esp when he doesn't want to do something! Hopefully that's more normal than not. He will be getting glasses, he is far-sighted, while Austin is near-sighted. Of course, they had to be different! His glasses should be ready tomorrow for us to pick up. I'll post pics when he gets them. That's about all for now, I'll post more later when I have some news-worthy news!

I'm here!

OK OK, I know it's been forever since I've blogged, I apologize. However, most of the peeps that read this blog already know most of what has been going on this summer except the most recent happenings. So, get ready for a long read. Austin had a great time at Kanakuk Kamp in July and wants to go for 2 weeks next year and we will definitely make that happen, thanks PawPaw! Austin came back from Arkansas and decided he wanted to try out for select baseball teams. He tried out for 3 different teams and was asked to play for the N. Dallas Knights and signed on with them. If you're not familiar with select teams, they have tryouts and then you pay $ (more than just rec or little league $) to play for them, if they ask you to be on the team, thanks Grammy! His first tournament is Labor Day weekend in Mansfield, TX. The field is like the major leagues - air conditioned enclosed bleachers and everything, my kind of baseball watching! School started this past Monday the 24th. Austin LOVES junior high! He says so far his (all pre-AP) classes are easy and he's already practicing football. He thinks he will be running/receiving the ball, I'll have to make sure which position/s he will play. He's the tallest guy but not the biggest by far! He has his first scrimmage on Sept 15 and then games every Tuesday after that for about 7 weeks. He has had to get new glasses since his others broke and his prescription needed to be stronger. So, I think he's set now. He's just a bunch of $ down now since Allie had to have surgery. A nightmare, I tell ya! It seems Austin left a roll of atheletic tape laying around and Allie decided to chew/eat it. Well I found this "stuff" hanging out her rear one day and decided to "help" her out by pulling on it and it kept coming out and then she started yelping and I thought "Oh my, I've pulled out her intestines!" (you can imaging the color of it but I won't get too graphic here) So we rushed her to the emergency animal hospital where they took x-rays and said she needed surgery. Not wanting to put her down, Austin said he would pay for it because I definitely couldn't and wasn't going to; yeah, $1900. So, to teach him a lesson he was required to sell something of value to him. And he did. He sold his Playstation3, all the games with it, his PSP and some games that he could find, and all of his XBOX 360 games except for 2. Although he didn't get near as much for them as they were worth, he managed to raise about $450. So, when I asked him if he had learned anything, he told me he definitely had. The love between a boy and his dog, priceless I guess!

Well, on to Cameron. He's loving Kindergarten! When he came home the 1st day, I asked him how it was and he smiled and said "It was AWESOME!" I asked him what was the best part and he replied: "Everything!" When Austin was getting his eyes tested, Cameron was partially tested as well because he has been doing some strange things with his nose/eyes lately. He started this nose twitching thing back in July and it progressively got worse and then he started another kind of twitch/tic where he would lower his eyebrows and his eyes would roll. Lately it has been eye blinking, like non-stop. I took him to see the doc and he referred us to a pediatric neurologist to see if he might be having petit-mal seizures. I had taken video into him and showed him those weird things he was doing and that is what he suggested. So, he has an appt tomorrow morning for an EEG and then a neurologist appt that afternoon. In the meantime, when his eyes were partially checked, he couldn't see very clearly out of his right eye. Dr. Calaway (mom's cousin) couldn't complete the exam but she said he definitely needs correction for the R eye. We are going Sat morning to finish the exam and try on frames for glasses. Maybe it's all in the vision, but I want to rule out seizures since I already had the appt. I'll update the blog when I know more.

As for me, all is well, with the exception of a minor female problem, but I haven't decided what to do about it yet. I've started a new school this year - high school. I've never done therapy at the secondary level, but so far, I think it is going to work out just fine. It's amazing how much you're not treated like an elementary student when you're not working at an elementary school! There are only 3,000 students here grades 9-12! This school is the biggest in the district. It's not my high school, but it's within the same district and we were rivals with this school, but I'm pretty much over the rivalry thing! My sister has moved back to Dallas and is living with us again. She is working part time and going to her meetings, counseling, and living 1 day at a time. She is doing well; plus she helps me out with the boys tremendously. She can take over when I'm about to lose it!

Oh yeah, as a last 'hoorah' for the summer I took the boys to New Braunfels TX and we went to Schlitterbaun, the biggest water park I've ever been to in my life! 2 separate parks that they shuttle you back and forth with buses, but only have to pay 1 admission - too fun, it had an uphill water coaster, tons of slides and lots of fun things! Right next to a river that was so clear you could see 6ft+ to the bottom, spring fed so it felt very cool! We stayed from open to close, still didn't get to do every ride there. But we all had a great time, I would definitely recommend going and doing the Schlitterbaun park! Also enjoyed a trip to Children's museum the day before school started. They have an exhibit all about spys and it was neat - then there was the regular children's museum stuff and Cameron had a ball - got to dig for dinosaur bones - I personally felt like we were in the movie A Night at the Museum - pretty neat, fun and educational all at the same time!

That's about all in a nutshell for now, I'll do better about posting, I promise! Pictures will come soon as I don't have them uploaded yet, but be looking!

Go All-Stars!

Austin's team has advanced to the championship! They play tomorrow night for the district title! The team has run-ruled every team so far. They are 4-0 in this tournament. So far, Austin has hit 2 home runs, 1 of those was over the fence! He's having a blast playing with this team. So hopefully they can pull the win tomorrow night. If so, then it's off to Abilene TX for sectionals July 15-20, then after that it's Waco for state and then Williamsport PN. Wow, wouldn't that be fun! I'll keep posting on the progress!

Well, it's my last day as a thirtysomething. I used to think that those actors on that show thirtysomething were OLD! Now, not so much! But, I'm looking forward to my fabulous fourties! (sort of) I hear only good things from my friends who have already jumped over into the forty decade. So we'll see!

New look

Well, the project for out front is almost complete! I couldn't find my pre picture, but it's on this blog somewhere in the pictures of the wall out front. It is now gone and new additions have been made! Check out the photos.

Austin is recovering from a bad sunburn that took an ER visit to tell us that aspirin, benadryl, aloe, and keeping it covered is the best cure. Can't wait for that bill! Seems that a pool party after ball practice turned into an expensive event. He didn't listen to his mother to apply sunscreen often and therefore had a bad reaction 2 days later which caused him tons of itching, pain and discomfort with huge tears, groaning/yelling and jerking movements that looked similar to convulsions! I thought something else was wrong with him!

Cameron on the other hand, is doing great with swimming! He can now swim by himself without any life preservers! He goes under, kicks, and swims about 6 feet unassisted, but close to the wall so that he can grab it if needed. He now loves the water! Initially, tears and fears were all around even getting near the water, now tears are there for not wanting to get out! We decided to take another 2 weeks of lessons since he is doing so good! He's also getting into photography, likes to take random pics with my phone. Check out the self portraits. That's all for now, gotta go to another swim lesson!

Williamsport anyone?

Yes, Austin made the Williamsport All-Star team! That means if his team keeps advancing, we may be going to Pennsylvania for a championship! You can watch us on ESPN! Well, we can always dream big anyway! He was very excited to make the team this year. Also Austin got an award for "best attitude" from the coaches. Each teams' coaches in the league picks 1 player to receive the award/medal. Austin got it for the Tigers. Pretty cool. He also got MVP and best slug average award from his coach. His slug average was the best in the whole LEAGUE. We had our closing ceremonies last Saturday so regular baseball season is over. His team got 2nd place for his division. I don't think I've mentioned 6th grade graduation and his awards he received. He got all A average for the year award, best boy writer of 6th grade, and awards for getting "commended" (which means getting an A on the test) on both reading and math TAKS test, which is the state assessment taken each year. He made a 100 on the math and only missed 1 on the reading. So he's getting to be a pretty fart smeller, I mean smart feller! His schedule now is going to pre AP math prep class every morning from 8-11:45 and then all-star practice every night from 8-10.

Cameron is still playing t-ball and doing pretty well. He is in his 2nd week of swim lessons. At first I thought I had spent $ for nothing because the 1st 2 days, he wouldn't even get near the water. Finally an instructor took him and made him get in and asked me to leave the area so he can gain confidence that he will be OK and can build trust, which was fine with me. So day 3 and I go into the gym to work out. I come out and he's in the water with a noodle wrapped around him swimming around and kicking like crazy. I'm not sure how they convinced him, but it worked! He is not afraid to get in as long as he has someone to hold on to or is wearing his noodle. Way to go YMCA! My friend Sean from college came to town and he does voice recordings for the cartoon Dragon Ball-Z. His friend owns a studio and I got to take the boys to let them see what a recording studio looks like. Cameron hopped right up in the chair and took off! He wore headphones so he could hear himself. They morphed his voice to sound like a munchkin and it made him laugh so hard. It was pretty funny hearing him laugh in the morphed voice! Then they morphed his voice very low and he imitated the guy saying "I'm a scary monster" It was really cool. Cameron was a real ham and started doing his own things like singing songs, playing air guitar and singing tunes, saying funny phrases, etc. They recorded it all and will send me a copy soon, I hope. I told them if they ever needed a kid to record, give me a call!

I'm staying busy trying to find cheap labor to help me re-design my front yard area. We've cut trees down, took out bushes and knocked down the huge brick wall that was blocking my dining room windows. I can see outside now! Next comes making a little patio/sitting area and planting new plants. Jose is going to help me. He's good, pretty cheap, but does not know much "Engleis" and my "Espaniol" is not that great. But we should be OK, hopefully. I'll take pics and post later of my updates. We have also switched rooms with Austin and the spare. We've painted and moved all the stuff. His former room was at least 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Maybe because he has a 37" flat screen TV and XBox 360 running almost non-stop???? I have a window a/c unit in the garage that we can use, but his old windows slide left to right and the windows in the new room are normal, which will allow the window unit if needed. So, he's busy making it "teen" like.

Here's the latest weight update Cameron: 55lbs. Austin: 130 lbs 5'9" Josie: never mind!

It's getting hot down here! Leave me comments sometime, let me know what you're up to!!!

Summer's here!

We're finally out of school! Austin is officially a junior high student! UGH! He's very happy about having nothing to do for 2 1/2 months. Oh is he in for a surprise! I have many summer projects that he gets to help with! Right now we are working on strengthening his R shoulder. It seems he has a muscle tear and can't pitch for 6 weeks. He had a game last Thursday and played 1st base, since he doesn't need to throw hard and therefore catching was out. This was about the best game I have ever seen. We were ahead almost the whole game and then the other team got ahead, so the score was 9-8. We were up to bat - last inning of the game, of course. First 2 batters struck out. Austin was up to bat. No pressure. The count became full so it was so intense. On the last pitch Austin took a huge swing and............................................................................................................................................................................HIT IT OVER THE FENCE to tie the game. The crowd went wild. It was like one of those "best of game" clips that they show on ESPN or something! I think I climbed half way up the fence! Then the next 2 batters hit and we ended up winning 10-9. Hearts were definitely pumping that night. Austin told me after the game that he couldn't feel anything or hear anything as he was rounded the bases. When he got to home plate, he looked up to the sky and pushed his helmet upwards, thanking Him for the ability to make that play. Now he has to rest his shoulder. I'm not sure if that will affect his all-star nomination or not. We'll see. They had another game this past Sat and won 27-12. So their record is now 15-1. Go Tigers!

I was able to get away this weekend to Austin with my friend Norma. We stayed with my sister 1 night and then a hotel the next. We had a good time and ate some good food. A much needed break for me!

Cameron starts swim lessons today and I need to get ready to take him. So, that's all for now!

Update on goings-on

School days are getting closer to the end!!! Austin can't wait until school's out. I feel about the same myself. Cameron is just glad to be going back to school for a while. He's been sick with walking pheumonia. He has had oral steroids and antibiotics, along with breathing treatments. Now he has continued breathing treatments along with steroids through the nebulizer once a day for about a month. We then go back to see if it's all cleared up and if we need to continue with the asthma meds or not. We have to clear up the pheumonia before knowing if it's true asthma. He's feeling much better now. We went to Dave and Busters this weekend and won a huge Spiderman for his room - he hasn't stopped playing with it yet. We did hang it up so it looks like he is suspended in the corner of his room - pretty cool - it's twice the size of Cameron - note the picture.

Austin is ready to play baseball on Thursday, the next game, as he found out that sitting out a game is no fun. You see, during the game on May 18, our team was down 2-0. The opposing team had a really good pitcher and no one could hit off him. So, in the bottom of the 5th inning, they had to put in a new pitcher. We started hitting. Austin was 2nd up to bat. He had a huge hit to the fence, rounded the bases, thought he saw his coach twirling his finger to go home and went. Seems the catcher didn't want Austin to score so he stood just in front of the plate, some say he was standing on the plate, but as he bobbled the ball, it fell to the ground, Austin was more than half way home, then as catcher was picking up the ball, the collision occurred. Austin didn't slide under, but tried to jump over to avoid the head to head collision, but ended up knocking the catcher to the ground, hitting his head as he had already taken his helmet off. The umpire called Austin out (but he did get a runner in) and the catcher laid on the ground for a few minutes. After about 5 min of taking care of a busted lip and sore head, the field umpire told our coach that Austin was ejected from the rest of the game plus the next game. It appeared that Austin was "trying to cause malicious harm to another player" because he didn't slide. Although not true, Austin learned to always slide no matter what in this league. Our coach did protest the ejection from the next game sighting it wasn't malicious intent, but to no avail. According to the board, this was not protestable and was denied. We did end up winning 6-4 that night. We had our next game the very next night. We just so happened to play the 1 team who is even with us in standings except we had beaten them once (or the #2 team I gues I could have said). We are no longer undefeated. Our record is now 10-1. Austin was a good cheerleader though!

He last adventure was a competition this past weekend for lego robotics. He wasn't sure if he was even going to enter since he had missed a few afternoon sessions. He had 3 days to build his robot and ended up coming in 15th out of 31 in the competition. The only other team from his school came in 29th, and he was pretty proud since that team had 3 weeks to work on their robots. There were 4 different things his robot had to do: put darts on a board, put ping pongs in a cone, push a hockey puck into a goal, and pick up a bone and drop it off at another location. The picture shows his creation and the accessories. He programmed it to do the moving things from a computer. Now the only thing left is a band concert, a 6th grade party and 6th grade "graduation" from elementary school. Then, I paid for him to go to summer school to help him prepare for pre-AP math next year. He is taking all pre-AP classes (which are essentially 8th grade classes) and this course is designed to cover all the 7th grade math he will miss in about 3 1/2 weeks for 3 hrs a day. I KNOW he is SO looking forward to that, especially the part about starting at 8am!

Cameron will again take swimming lessons for 2 weeks in June. I don't know what has happened between last summer and now, but he is DEATHLY afraid to get in the water, even with someone holding him. He has a new bathing suit (body suit) that has built-in floatation things, but he won't get out far enough for him to see that he will float. So, lessons without mom in the water will be fun!

Mother's Day

I am so lucky to be a mother. Although it's challenging, and the older I get the less patience I have, I wouldn't change it for the world. I also am very fortunate to still have my mother. I know so many who have lost their mothers and had them in my thoughts yesterday. When you lose a mother, or even a mother figure, Mother's day can be difficult. I miss my 'other' mother dearly and wish I could tell her just once more how much she meant to me. I wish she could see all her grandchildren and how proud I am of all of them and how smart they are. I think she might agree!

My boys gave me a gift certificate to get a 1 hour massage and a gift certificate to Bath and Body Works. Austin told me I needed the massage! He was soooo right! We went out for a Mother's day brunch at Nana's Grill at the top of the Anatole Hotel. It was VERY nice. The view was spectacular. Cameron didn't quite know how to act and was just himself, the whole time, burping outloud and everything. At least he did say excuse me. He learned how to burp with his mouth closed that day. Jessica came in from Austin and we had a great 2 hour long meal with great food, but very expensive! Glad I wasn't paying! The hotel was very nice in the lobby and the pictures show just a little snapshot of the glamour. Cameron didn't mind posing, but Austin just "chilled" since he was a bit tired from playing video games with his buddies on Xbox live into the wee hours of the morning!

Cameron "graduated" from preschool last Friday night. It was a cute ceremony complete with dinner! He is ready for Kindergarten, if he could only keep his mouth shut! I think I might have to work on his social skills this summer. Last week at Austin's baseball game, another parent told Cameron he could ride this scooter and a few minutes later when the scooter's owner told Cameron to get off (unaware that his parents had told Cameron he could ride it) and was trying to lift the scooter so Cameron would get off, Cameron reared back, made a fist and punched the kid right in the face by his left cheek bone/eye area! I couldn't believe it. My 4 year old punching a 7 year old and making him cry. I was so embarrassed and upset that he would do such a thing! I have never seen him act like that. Most of the time he justs cries and screams. I may need to watch a few of these shows he is watching on cartoon network and see what kind of violence is going on before I let him watch that channel again!

Well, that's about it for now - so far we haven't contacted the Swine flu. I know I won't be kissin' on any pigs anytime soon!

Can't think of a good title so this is it!

Well, we already have 1 elementary school within our district close down Monday afternoon due to Swine flu. 1 student tested positive and 2 other possible. Just so happens that a co-worker of mine has a child that attends that school, plus his little brother goes to Cameron's preschool! They have been quarantined to their house. UGH! Wash those hands!

We have had state testing this week and since I'm a certified 'teacher' I get to watch small groups of students. I can't do anything while I give the test. No computer, no phone, no book, no NOTHING! Some groups get accommodations that allow reading of questions and answers so at least I get to do that! Otherwise, it's like watching paint dry! I didn't realize how exhausting it is to sit there and do absolutely nothing!

Austin's soccer team came in 2nd place this past weekend during a tournament. He has another soccer tournament AND a baseball tournament this coming weekend.

Cameron decided he needed another hair cut so he cut his bangs again. I had to really try hard not to lose it or laugh at him! Needeless to say, the scissors in this house have been hidden! So, both boys got haircuts last night by me! Cameron had his first t-ball game last Sat and did pretty good, once he realized what the pitcher was supposed to do! I forgot how funny it is to watch beginning t-ball! He has 11 more games to go! His team is the Indians. I will post some of those pics when I get them loaded off my phone.

These latest pictures are from Easter that I didn't load yet. Only 5 more weeks of school!!!!

I might go broke this season!

I made Austin a deal at the beginning of this baseball season that if he could hit the ball over the fence, I'd pay him $20. Well, today I am $20 lighter! Austin had a GRAND SLAM over the fence home run today! Yes, bases loaded! WooHoo! His teammates came out onto the field and picked him up and carried him to the dugout! He was smiling from ear to ear! He even got to keep the ball that he hit over the fence. He also got his free nachos for hitting a home run, which I think he liked just as well. Then later when he was up to bat again, he hit another homerun - line drive down first base line to the fence, just not over the fence! He scored another runner in when he came in! He played catcher the whole game and they had a 21-0 shut-out! I think the on-field photographer got a shot of the players carrying him off the field. Go to http://allen42.smugmug.com/ then under NGLL and look for Tigers vs. Indians 4-11-09. It should be in there somewhere. When I figure out how to load pictures from my phone onto my computer, I'll post some pics I've taken.

Cameron has been sick the past 2 days. He has been running fever and has had no appetite - that's when I really know he doesn't feel well, he even refused donuts this morning! I hope it's just a 24 hour virus thing, but we'll see. Tonight we dyed some eggs and he began eating a little so I think he may be on the road to feeling better. He's ready for the Easter Bunny!

Play ball!

Austin had his first baseball game of the season tonight. His first time up to bat......a home run! An official home run too, not the kind where he 'stole' home. 2nd time up to bat......another home run! Third time up to bat - hit a line drive that hit the pitcher's hand (who I think tried to catch it bare handed - we thought he broke his hand or fingers or something, but he ended up being fine after a short time-out and a substituted pitcher). Austin made it to 1st base on that hit, then stole home on the next batter. Then 4th time up to bat.... bases loaded, Austin hits again to the outfield! All 3 runners made it home, Austin stayed at 2nd - so, 2 home runs, a single (that probably would have been at least a double) and a double - what a night! All that and only 1 strike the whole game! He played short stop and did well there the whole night. The game lasted FOREVER! 5th inning and we had been playing for 2 1/2 hrs! UGH! Did I mention the game didn't even start until 8pm???? And now I'm here typing on this blog - I just couldn't wait to tell about his game! The final score: 17-7. Game ball??? Yep, Austin. Except now they give out certificates for free Nachos instead of a game ball. And the concession stand had already turned off the cheese since the game was sooo long! So on Friday, his next game, he'll get a "snack".

I'm listening to the rain outside and the little hail hit the roof. The weather on TV is showing hail that has landed around here from quarter to baseball sized, glad I have a garage! And it's super clean! OK, I'm rambling now and need to get some shut-eye. Later.............

Spring Break is over - boo!

Well, it was back to work today, blah! Spring break was nice, but wish it was longer. It makes me long for the summer!! Over the break I took the boys bowling, to the movies, to Dave and Busters and we cleaned out the garage. We took everything out and painted the floor and it is so organized now I can't even believe it - looks like something out of a magazine, well, maybe not that great, but at least if I had 2 cars they could both fit in the garage! We spent a lot of time on it and I'm about ready to have another yard sale. We also took a trip to the Ft. Worth Stockyards. The boys rode horses and a mechanical bull. We all went through the cowpen maze, which made me feel like a mouse because it took a long time to find what we were looking for and then try and find the exit! I took pictures with my phone and I haven't figured out how to load them so that I can post them, but in my spare time, I'll try to figure that out. We also went in Billy Bob's. I had never been there before but knew that many concerts are held there. It was neat. Cameron had a good time dancing on the dance floor.

This past weekend was Lane's birthday party. I had misplaced the invitation, but had thought the party started at 1pm. During my cleaning on Sat am, I found the invitation at 11am. The party started at 10am. I felt horrible! So to make up for it, we took Lane to Arbor Hills nature preserve in Plano on Sunday. I didn't realize there was that much undeveloped land in north Texas! It was beautiful. Lots of trails for walking, bike riding, dog walking, etc. And it was very clean. It had a few creeks and hills and wooded areas to walk through. Lane was such a big girl and wanted to do everything by herself! That's pretty much our week. Now it's back to the same ole same ole!

And the winning story by Austin...

My Grandma taught me to never give up on what I'm doing. My grandma was a gifted and talented teacher in Arkansas. She was like my "second" mom. I saw her almost every day when I was about 7 years old.

She took me to her school almost every Friday. We had contests to see who could build something that helps every day life. I never won a contest with her class which were 8th graders, but she was proud of me for not giving up. She taught me how to play chess and to "think" when we played each other. It seemed like she said "think" after every other move. She also introduced me to legos. She would buy me little boxes of legos and then make me build them. Sometimes when I got tired, I would go play video games. If she caught me playing those games she would always say "Turn off those video games" and I would say "but I've built all the legos" (which I loved to do). Guess what she said after that.."Think!"

So I thought and thought. I remember there was a lot of snow on the ground one day so I went out there and started throwing snowballs at these two massive dogs that she had. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her smiling out of the window watching me. A few years past and it was pretty much the same, "turn off those video games...Think".

About a month before Christmas my grandpa told me that she was complaining about a horrible migraine and that she needed to go to the hospital. But since they lived in the country, it would take a good 45 minutes before they could get there. When they got there, the doctors couldn't tell what was wrong with her. She died after a few hours. After she died, they found out that she had an aneuryism in her brain.

I remember holding her hand at the visitation. I didn't know that I could cry that much but when I looked down at my shirt, it was soaking wet in tears. After that, all I remember from that day was me putting a rose on her closed casket and then my grandpa and I were the only ones left. We watched her go down into the dirt. I knew from that point on that my life would never be the same.

Well, I think I know why the previous owner of our dog Allie gave her up to the shelter. She has chewed everything she can get her paws/teeth on - clothes, shoes, pillows, rugs, even my raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that I had when I was little! I was most upset about that! See the picture of what's left :o(.. She has plenty of "chewie toys" to keep her busy, but apparently that's not enough for her!

On another note, I have to brag about Austin. He came home today and told me he had won a writing contest. He said he got the award for the best in the whole 6th grade class. His story will be featured on the school bulletin board. I asked him if he did this at school, because I was unaware of any writing contest. He said everyone was required to write something in 1 day (so I guess it really was an assignment instead of a contest??). He wrote it in 45 minutes. They gave a grade-wide topic of "A sad moment in your life" Austin told me he wrote about his Granny. I haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet, but when he brings it home, I'll post it. He gave me a synopsis of his story which was about telling what Granny taught him such as chess, building with legos, and to "think". He also mentioned remembering her to tell him to get off the video games (as he smiled). Then he told about how she was having headaches and then the tragedy that happened. He also told me he wrote about remembering standing next to his PawPaw watching a machine place her into the ground, seeing his grandpa cry and him not knowing what to do. It made my eyes tear up, that's for sure. I can't wait to read it. He also recently won 1 of only 4 awards for band. He had to play a song in front of a judge he didn't know and the judge critiques his playing, hand positions, mouth posture, etc. He received a 99.9%. The picture shows both certificates he received as a result of these accomplishments!

One more day of school for us then we're off for spring break! We'll be staying here and cleaning out my garage and painting the floor of it. Then maybe doing a few other home improvements, or maybe not. I plan to relax and try to catch up on my sleep. haha. That's all for now, more to come.....

Free hair cut!

Cameron took it upon himself to cut his hair this evening. I had told him earlier that I needed to cut his hair so I guess he couldn't wait for me! He now has a much shorter "do!" Check out the picture!

New dog!

Yes, we adopted a new member to our family. Cameron named her Allie. She's a good dog and a good companion for Jake. They love to play with each other and see how many times they can run around in circles in the backyard and not hit the playset! Jake is faster, but Allie is smart in that she cuts corners so she can catch him! She came from the local shelter. She's already had kennel cough and been to see the vet. Not so cheap, I might add. Now both the boys have a dog - which Cameron will tell you they are "both our dogs".

We were out for 1 day this week because of the ice. Not too bad, although I was in the bed pretty much all day with a horrible headache. So, I wasn't much fun to hang out with on a non-school day! Luckily my sister was able to take the boys to a movie in the afternoon so I had a little peace and quiet!

Austin had a band concert last night, which was pretty good. All the area elementary schools gathered to perform songs together. Packed house, couldn't see anything, but at we least got to hear it! He "tries out" for baseball on Sat, which is just for fun since he is already frozen on the same team from last year. We just have to go through the mechanics I guess. And he's playing outdoor and indoor soccer this weekend. The weather is supposed to be so much nicer than earlier this week - they're talking in the low 70's - how weird is this?? That's Texas for ya!

That's all for now - this is 2 times in 1 month! I'm getting better!

Well, it's been about a month - maybe a little longer, since I posted so I guess I'll post! As things get busy around the house, I don't make the time to update as much as I should. So, I'm off today from work and decided it was time to blog. Plus, I was made aware that I hadn't blogged in a while, so this is for you , Dad. I think you're about the only one who reads this since you're the only one who says anything to me about it.

We had a good time in Arkansas for Christmas. Although we didn't have Cameron for 5 days, he was able to join us for the Lodge and Christmas with PawPaw. We had a very nice Christmas with lots of gifts! We were very blessed this season!

Austin is playing goalie for an indoor soccer team and will start outdoor soccer again in about a week. Baseball will start in a few weeks too. He will play again for North Garland Little League on the same team, Tigers. Today I took him to see the movie Valkerie. It was a good movie. Austin had already known about the col. Schafenberg (I think that's how to spell it) from watching the History channel. He was informing me of things about to happen during the movie. He is a WWII history buff and is a sponge when it comes to history. He also is very much into flying planes and wants to take flying lessons. He keeps saying he wants to be in the Navy.
Cameron is getting into the playstation addiction. He's beginning to play the games Austin had when he was younger. Right now his 2 games of choice are Lego Star Wars and Spyro. Dad, you'll be proud to know that his favorite book to read to himself on his new tag system is Walter the Farting Dog. There are a tons of fart sounds all throughout the book and it just makes Cameron laugh hysterically! You either have to laugh with him or walk away thinking it's gross. If I had more etiquette, I would probably walk away, but it's pretty funny. I think it's funnier watching Cameron get such a kick out of the farting!
I'm adding some pictures also, just read above them or below them for captions. That's all for now, I'll try to update more often, maybe.