HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

OH how I LOVE the FALL! The cooler weather and the beautiful colors of the season!

I havent't quite finished decorating around the house, Austin is having a ROUGH go round with his seizures today! Some prayers for him would be greatly appreciated!

I made this wreath on Saturday.

I want you to know that I made this scarecrow a LONG LONG time ago and it's starting to show! I need to spruce him up a little.
Ah, a little magnetic picture frame that Austin made when he was four.
Miss. Carli.
OH BABY! I am LOVING this candle! My house smells WONDERFUL!Yeah, you gotta have the candy corn too...DON'T EVEN ask me how much has been eaten just this morning ( by ME, the kids haven't had any!)

HO HUM...:(

I've been struggling- no, no I haven't! I've been LAZY!
I'm gettin' plump over here!
To go along with the laziness of summer, we added the boredom of the Ike aftermath. We were cooped up in the house for two weeks, no school, no power. What else was there to do but EAT!
I MUST STOP EATING NOW AND GET A MOVIN'! But I thought this little prayer would help! Joni, come get me out of this house so that we can go walking!!!
Maybe now that school is back in session and I will start back to work, it'll get better!?
Lord, help me!

FINALLY!

It's been TWO WEEKS!
TWO WEEKS since the boys have been in school!
Due to Hurricane Ike, the power was out all around town. Slowly but surely, different areas have been getting their power back. FINALLY, our town is completely restored! It's been so weird not being in school. We had only been in school a couple of weeks. We hadn't even gotten a good routine going and then Ike came along. We've not really enjoyed this time off. We've all been SO ready to get back to "normal".
BUT, today, the boys went...
I was surprised at how well we got up and out the door this morning.
It looks like Carli and I will start back on Wednesday.
Thank you God!

Shhh...Sleeping Beauty!

WHEW! Am I ever relieved?! Carli did absolutely WONDERFUL during nap and bed time! Yesterday, her nap was over three hours. That length of a nap is not unusual for her. She does have her days where she sleeps two hours. Lately, she hasn't been taking good naps due to us being out of town for a week, so this week she started getting back on schedule. We made a huge deal over her BIG GIRL BED! She was SO CUTE! SO HAPPY! She said, "Mommy break it for me!", "Me Carli Big GIRL YAY!" She climbed right on in! When she woke up, I think she forgot that she could climb out herself, because she was standing at the end and was calling, "MOMMY GET ME OUT!" It was funny! She couldn't wait to show Daddy her bed when he came home from work. Then, for bed time, at 8pm, she crawled right on in again and covered up, saying night night and prayers to all! I snuck in and tried to take her picture, but I was having camera issues, so I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture with it.To prove to you she is a good sleeper...I had to turn on her light to take the picture and she never woke up! The camera phone also explains the poor quality of the picture. She slept without a peep and woke up at 7:50 am, still sitting in her bed and calling me to get her out! I'm so happy that this turned out to be a great transition for her!Her Big Girl Bed!
You see, she managed to slip in a few stuffed animals!

Shhh...Sleeping baby!

Yes, this is how Carli sleeps every night, with a crib full of animals- crazy, I know! We laugh at how many she has accumulated. She's now even added a pillow and blanket. How does she have room for herself? Only stuffed animals are in her crib-all of her baby dolls sleep in a baby doll crib next to hers. Silly girl!

Last night was the last night our baby girl slept in her baby crib! She's been sleeping in this crib since she was six weeks old. Now that she is two years and four months old, we've decided to go ahead and...(deep breath in and exhale...) convert her crib into the toddler bed. We believe Carli is ready. She has been showing many signs lately that she is ready to move on from many things (diapers and highchairs are a couple-those are our next changes).

You can see by all of the pictures, this girl can sleep! Carli-4 months
Carli-6 months
Carli-9 months
Carli-1 year
This is Carli around 8 months. You know, that first time you walk into their room to get them after waking up, to find that they have pulled themselves to a standing position! UH! My heart melts!

I'll update tomorrow with how nap and bed time went.

NOSIE!

Carli heard a noise outside and said, "What's that mommy?" I told her that it was some people outside. She then said, "OH! Let me see!" So away she went...and STAYED! She watched the neighbors across the street FOREVER! NOSIE girl... where does she get it from?

When big brother's away...baby sister will play!

Tyler was at a friend's house all weekend, so we guess Carli thought she'd go hang out in Tyler's room?! She played in there the whole time he was gone; mainly with his toys, but she did bring a few of her own toys in there. She either missed him terribly and felt closer to him by being in his room OR she thought she finally hit the jackpot and could play in there without him making her get out! (I'm thinking it's that one!) We tried to get his room back to normal before he came home, but he KNEW she had been in there and he was NOT happy! Sorry Tyler! She really loved being in Tyler's room!

Here she is in her room. She said, "Mommy, Princess, picture, me take" I think she wanted me to take her picture with Snow White? (If you can't tell, Snow White is in the shopping cart next to Carli)

OH, don't you LOVE her night shirt...It was MY t-shirt when I was little! Man, I loved Star Wars and that Princess Lea!

Hard at work!

I've been slacking on my blogging due to the fact that I've been hard at work! I'm getting the house back to the way it was before we evacuated, unpacking, laundry, cleaning, trying to go grocery shopping (the stores still have no frozen goods or a stocked produce section. I am able to get milk!) The men came to put our trees back up. We've got a quite a bit of yard work to do. Next week we should start the process of meeting with the insurance adjuster, repairing the roof and getting a new backyard fence. There still is no school for the kids yet. Alot of the town is still without power and 10 out of the 22 schools have damage and no power either. Slowly, but surely, it's all coming back together again. Oh, and many have asked about Anthony's bank...he's been back at work since Wednesday. They only have the drive through open right now. It never lost power, but there was some roof damage and along with that, came some water damage. So, he's got men there doing the repairs.

We went to church this morning, came home and ate some lunch, and now I have noticed that EVERYONE is asleep! So I'm thinking I should get off of the computer, take a break from my chores and take a nap too! Bye!

EVACUEES RETURN!

HELLO!
Let's see, the last time I posted, I was evacuating! Running from IKE! What a Wednesday night that was! Very quickly, I packed my most prized possessions in the car: Austin, Tyler, Carli, a few clothes, and every picture I owned! We met up with Joni and her kids, and Jaxon too. I followed behind her. It was INSANE trying to get out of town and to top it off, MY CELL PHONE BROKE! It was fully charged, so I'm not sure what happened? Anyway, thank God that 6th graders have cell phones too, because Ryan (Joni's son) let me use his, until we went our separate ways at Hempstead. The late night drive from Hempstead to Bryan was lonely and a little scary with no cell phone! We made it safely to B/CS and Mimi's house. Anthony came the next afternoon, once he tied up loose ends with his employees at the bank and loaded up his car. We were SUPER HAPPY to see him. Three years ago, with Rita, it took him 13 hours to get to us in B/CS, this time 3 hours! Monday, Anthony and I came back home to check on the house, neighbors, neighborhood. We cleaned out the fridge/freezer and picked up some of the yard. We went back to Bryan and decided to stay there until we had power. Tuesday, afternoon, we received a phone call from Joni that we had POWER! WOO HOO! We couldn't pack up fast enough to get home! We were all so homesick! The drive home was fine. Regular traffic. Our town mainly had roof, fence, tree damages. 70% are still without power. Schools are closed until further notice. Slowly but surely the stores are opening back up and there is gas. Last night, our cable and Internet came back. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and who called us. I wish we could've visit family and friends while in B/CS, but we woudn't have been very good company. We were so worried about IKE and the destruction he would cause! We are truly thankful to God for our safe travels, having a place to stay during the storm, and having minor problems to our home. It's good to be back! Our roof damage. There's more shingles off on other parts.

Our tree! The other tree is laying down as well!

Our backyard fence. Looking out the front door at our fallen tree!

Our laundry room ceiling.

The ceiling pieces on the floor. Our neighborhood park, that is at the end of our street. It was enclosed by fence and there were trees. Here are some random thoughts from the past week:

1. I didn't know that I could watch so much tv.

2. We watched channel 13 Houston news for 6 days straight!

3. I have a crush on Erik Barajas.

4. I have heard the phrase, "Hunker down" too many times!

5. Carli has decided during this time to start potty training herself. Not fun when your sheltering. (note: we, meaning I, have not officially started potty training her)

6. Carli has gotten use to not eating in a highchair and likes to eat at the table.

7. Sleeping with ALL of your children in a queen size bed is ROUGH!

8. MIMI (my 84 year old grandmother has a CELL PHONE! Very cute one too!

8. Anthony and I laugh and get REAL corny when we are delirious!

9. Once we got home, NONE of my kids would sleep in their beds?

10. Carli has cried every time I put her down for a nap and night time?

11. My cell phone has worked fine ever since last Thurs. morning.

12. Second night of being at home...the kids all slept in their own bed!!

To leave or not to leave?...THAT is the question!

*****UPDATE!!!!!******
Packed, about to leave. The kids and I are following with Joni and her kids. The husbands are leaving tomorrow! They just issued a statement that Brazoria County NOW has a MANDATORY EVACUATION for tomorrow at 8am!

In the past, a few different hurricanes have been headed to our neck of the woods, only to turn and go somewhere else. We sit and wonder, do we leave or not. Every time it's been not. With the exception to Katrina, that we did evacuate. Now we have IKE! There is a voluntary evacuation for all of Brazoria County! All of the schools around us have closed. WHEN WILL OUR DISTRICT TELL US? SOOO...I'm pretty much thinking that I'm not sticking around until 12 hours before it hits to see where it's going! By then it'll be too late if it is for sure coming to us! I have this feeling that it is coming to us. Not to seem down, but at what point do we keep dodging the bullet? I'm gonna pack up the Pathfinder and head to B/CS! I'll keep in touch!
right now, I've gotta get busy! I've got TONS to do!

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/index

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!

Dear Sweet Emily,

We hope you had a wonderful birthday! NINE YEARS OLD! We can not believe how fast our little Emmie is growing up! We always try to claim you as our's, but no such luck! May God continue to bless you in everything you do!

All our love,

Anthony, Michelle, Austin, Tyler, and Carli

Emily and TYLER! Kids, don't hate me! I had to put this on here!
Tyler, Emily, and our dear departed puppy, Pumpkin.
Emily and her big brothers, Sam and Christian
The Ramirez and Ely Gang! Beautiful Emily!

HELP ME!

Okay, because I'm addicted to doing this...I'm not doing this... But I desperately NEED too! And I'm getting off of this computer as soon as I'm done with this post!
I've been saying that I can't wait for Anthony and the boys to go to work and school, so that I can give this house a good ol' deep cleanin'! They get in my way when they're here and mess up what I've just cleaned. I thought that since I only work on Wednesdays and Fridays, that Monday would be a perfect time to do that, but I did'nt, so Tuesday is the day! Now, I don't have two of my worker bees, but I can manage. I WILL! I WILL CLEAN MY HOUSE! I've gotta hussle!! Especially since it looks like we may be doing some evacuating! Lord HELP ME!

Super Sunday!

This morning I woke up excited! Not only were the kids starting Sunday School Classes, Anthony and I were starting our New Member Classes at our church. It's official, after all of these years of trying to find a church for all of us, we have found the one! Thanks to our good friends for inviting us way back when! We've been attending this church for quite a while now and it just seems right! We all really love it!Then, this evening, my Tyler started his Confirmation Classes. We were so excited for him!

Now, I know I shouldn't combine a post about church and football, but let me do it just this once. You see, Anthony's favorite team in the whole wide world won today (which they usually don't. Sorry Ant, I had to do that to ya!) and that gave us a happy husband/daddy and there fore made a great ending to a Super Sunday! Yah, we live near Houston, but he LOVES those Cowboys!

Our first day of ...

Mothers' Day Out started today. Carli is in the young two's class right across the hall from my young three's class. We had a GREAT start to the morning. We were running right on time!
For the past two weeks, she's been going everyday and staying in the nursery while I worked in my classroom. She would say she was going to church. Yesterday, Anthony took her to her Open House to see her class and her teachers. So, this morning, we were telling her that she was going to school and she would say, " No I church". We would then tell her that no, she was going to her class that Daddy took her to. So then she would say "No Mommy take me, Daddy take me school! My class". So there was some concern. Daddy wasn't going to be able to take her. Just me. BUT SHE WALKED SO PROUDLY TO HER CLASS AND WENT RIGHT ON IN! Back pack and lunch box in hand (I had to carry her nap mat). I took a couple of pictures this morning when were leaving, but not any of her in her class. I decided since she was doing so great, I would drop her off quickly and not linger around. Besides, I had to get to my own class!

Her teachers said she played well, ate her lunch, and only cried a little at the start of nap time, but fell asleep for a little over an hour. She's never slept on a nap mat, so I figured that! Carli was so proud of her art work and her two stamps on her arm, given to her by the Chapel/Music Teacher and the Language Developement Teacher. She was really happy! She chatted my ear off the whole way home about it! Sweet girl! She even told me that she was a big girl! Her words exactly, "Me big girl Carli". YES SHE IS! So, in honor of her first day of preschool, she got a treat. She has now joined me at Happy Hour at Sonic! This SO made her day! Her own "coke", actually, it was a Diet Sprite!
Um...this girl loves her some Sonic just like her momma!
Oh, and my day? Well, I'm scared to say, but the kids were WONDERFUL! I only have one that is a little mess, maybe I should say, "a challenge". The only thing is that we ran late on everything we did today! They're so slow!

Have a relaxing weekend!

Chocolate Cake!

I received this email from my long time friend Julie!
It was titled, The world's most dangerous cake recipe!
Here it is:
4 tablespoons cake flour or all purpose (plain, no self-rising)
4 tablespoons splenda or sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional)
A small dash of vanilla flavoring
1 microwaveable coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips and vanilla flavoring...and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you
want to feel slightly more virtuous). (Also delicious topped with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup.......)
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!








Seems WONDERFUL! Try it out and let me know what you thought.