Thanksgiving 2010

WHEW, what a Thanksgiving it was! We had off from school the whole week of Thanksgiving! That was grrreat for me because it gave us a chance to move and do quite a bit at the new house! I feel like we got so much accomplished, until I came home Sunday night and looked around here and there's still so much stuff to move and do! Oh well, little by little and for sure by the 20th, it'll all be done! The week was busy, but it was sure fun too! We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Great Grandma's, played with cousins, had visitors stop by, and had lots of quality time with our best friends! (Um, Deyanira, you need to send me the pictures you took of them!) At one point, all of my kids and the Ely kids were outside playing and more kids joined in! Tyler had made friends and they all played for hours! Our new street has lots of kids on it!
I won't show you everything we moved and did right now, but I will show you a couple of things. Don't worry, you know I'll show you all of it once we're all settled in, which won't be long!

The built-ins in the living room.
AND...a little Christmas, of course! You know I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas time! My birthday IS on Christmas day after all!
Not sure why the picture of my tree is blurry?
OH, and here is where Anthony will want me to point out how AWESOME the lights look! THANK YOU ANT! You did a FABULOUS job!

LOVE THEM!

(She wears this skirt every single day! From the minute she wakes up until she gets into bed, along with the boots! Ms.Rose bought her the skirt when they went to the store one day.)(The boys aren't too fond of pictures when it's 7:30 am!! Oh well, they're CUTE!!LOVE THEM! LOVE THEM! LOVE THEM!

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Carli had her Thanksgiving Feast at preschool last Friday. She was the cutest lil' girl pilgrim ever!

Happy Birthday Jestin!

Happy 14th Birthday cousin Jestin! Hope you have an awesome day! We love ya! 1998-Austin, cousin Melissa, and cousin Jestin

MOVING UPDATE!

BIG MOVING UPDATE!
First talks of this move made me nervous! Too much to think about and too much to do! I found that if I thought ahead too much, then I got an overwhelming feeling. So, I decided to take it day by day, even though I was feeling a major urge to have a "time line", that's me...organizer and planner. I am getting a wee bit better at "let go and give God".
The major question to be figured out was our house. We just moved in eight months ago. If we listed it now, how long would it take to sell? Would we find a house to buy? The school year; would we finish it out or move in at a crazy time, like April? Will I be able to find a preschool for Carli? See, so much to think about. Again, I needed to let go! I also had two really major issues that were present and I needed to focus on those: Anthony starting his new job and Austin's surgery. Both happening in the same week!
Well, once I did that, God totally provided me some peace of mind! It's like He just dropped it in our laps! You should've seen how it played out! Too much to type out, I've already written tons in this post, BUT I will tell you it ends like this...
WE FOUND A HOUSE TO LIVE IN! We'll be renting it. We'll be moving OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK! Our last day here, DECEMBER 19th! YIKES!

Our house here, will be rented by my girl, TRACY! They're just gonna be a perfect fit for it!
So, I guess you wanna see the house we're moving into....It couldn't be in a better location! More info on the new place soon.
Let the packin' begin, we've already got the keys! Anthony will be staying there and we can move little by little! OH, and another great thing, I found a wonderful preschool for Carli to go to two days a week! Yes, there's still lots to do. Could there be a crazier/busier time of the year to move? But, AWWWW... what a RELIEF! Thank you God! I can breathe now and start to feel excited! He gave me my "time line".

Celebrate

This past weekend, the kids took Mimi handmade birthday cards, Carli also gave her a ceramic butterfly that she painted, flowers, and this cute lil' turkey birthday cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!

OUR MIMI IS HAVING A BIRTHDAY TODAY!
WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH MIMI!
HAVE A HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!Mimi and Austin-1994Mimi and Tyler-1998Mimi and Carli-2006

I thought I'd post pictures of Mimi holding her great grandchildren for the first time. Bummed though that I couldn't find the one of her and Austin, so that picture is of her holding Austin when he was 4 months old.

Girls' Weekend

A few weeks back, well, more like over a month ago. I went with my bff to her 20th year class reunion. Not sure why I haven't posted about it yet?!
We had fun! I picked up Claire at her parents on the way out of town.We ate alot, shopped, lounged, and of course talked and laughed are heads off! We stayed at Claire's sister's house all weekend. Friday night we all got ready and Johnny came to pick us up (it was also his reunion)! Johnny lived across the street from Claire and I. So, we've all known each other for over 30 years! Man, we're old! Ha! We dragged Claire's sister out with us too. There was a gathering of the classmates at the The Hall of Fame. It hadn't changed a bit. Well, except this time, we were the old people there! We slept in Saturday morning! Ahhh, uninterrupted, many hours of sleep! Then, we went to the Longhorn Tavern for a giant chicken fried steak (there is no better!). Of course we headed to the mall, where we might have eaten some cookies. We hurried back to the house to get ready to go out to the reunion dinner/dance. The next morning we went back home. Claire, thank you for inviting me. It was FUN! Surely not long enough! Love you!

Fall decor

I love the fall! The weather, the colors, the smells!
I didn't get out all of my fall decor, just a few things.Carli's bedroom and bathroom even are decorated (the above and below pic)! This girl LOVES to decorate! She'd have a lot more fall things in there if I let her! Every time we go to a store and she sees fall decor, she say, "OH I have to have that to decorate my room and make it beautiful!" She's somethin' else!

Austin recovery update

Today, Austin went back to school! YAY! He has recovered wonderfully! AMEN! No seizures, no vomiting. He has been off pain medicine since third day post op! Eats well, sleeps fantastic! In fact, the day he had surgery, that night, he never snored and continues not too! He can breathe! He doesn't even get up several times during the night to get a glass of water! He actually heard the alarm and woke up! AMEN, again!
He was SO ready to get back to school! Three days after surgery, which was a Saturday, he wanted to go. He was mad when we told him it would still be a few days!
Thank you so much for your prayers! They obviously worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The above picture is of him this morning, waiting for the bus and pics of his get well cards. I wanted to show all of the cards he got from his class. Notice all the Sponge Bobs? They know it's his fave! Ha! They also sent a couple of Sponge Bob coloring sheets for him. He loves to color! He also got cards from Mimi and the Ely's. From us, he got a movie.
We are so proud of Austin! He was the BEST patient EVER!

Just a singin'!

On October 28th, Tyler had his school choir concert. He's on Varsity Choir. He enjoys singing and we think he's pretty good at it! (Like with all of their shirts and uniforms, I covered up the name of their school/team. That's why it always looks strange). Tyler and a few of his friends. They all did a good job!

My Little Men

A couple of weeks ago at school was "Jersey Day". I of course took their picture, and in looking at it, realized that they sure are growing up!
My little men.

Player down

Well, not really, but Tyler did get a bit of an injury while playing in his last football game of the season. A sprained wrist. No big deal, but you know me, I had to take a pic!

Austin Update

Austin had his surgery Wednesday, November 3rd. The day was cold, dark, and rainy. We weren't sure he was going to get to have his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Tuesday evening, he had a seizure and then Wednesday morning around 3am, another one. The hospital told us to just go ahead and come anyway, so we did. He was not quite himself yet (a side effect from his seizures), so he was very quiet and very sleepy. I sent Tyler to school and took Carli over to Olivia's house for the day (THANK YOU LINDSAY!). Anthony had started his new job on Monday, so he had meetings, but right before surgery started, he met us there! ALSO, Deyanira came to Houston to sit with us at the hospital! (THANK YOU BFF!) Once I got out the camera, Austin totally snapped back to himself! It was funny! He loves pictures!
Austin and his Godmother, Deyanira.

The nurse, anesthesiologist, and his doctor were wonderful! We couldn't have asked for a better experience that day.
After leaving the hospital, we picked up Carli and pulled in the driveway at the same time Tyler was getting home. We all came in, got comfy on the couch and watched Toy Story 3! Austin took all of his meds, drank lots of water and then slept very well through the night (not even a snore!). So far today, he's been fine, just sore. He continues his meds and has drank lots more today. He did have dairy/soy free chocolate ice cream for breakfast! We'll have soup for lunch.
Thank y'all for the prayers! They were very much felt and meant so much!
And, as always, I'll keep ya posted!

Happy Birthday Uncle Abel!

The kids love their Uncle Able and want to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! 1995-Austin and Abel

Surgery: Take two!

Alright, let's try this again...TOMORROW, Austin will have his surgery! Prayers are GREATLY appreciated!

HALLOWEEN 2010

Hope everyone had a SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN! We sure did! It was a first at our new neighborhood! It was packed on our street! Austin trick or treated for a few houses and then went home to hand out candy with dad. Tyler went to one house and decided he'd rather be home handing out candy as well. Carli was all over it this year! You would've thought it was Christmas! My shy girl was running from house to house, ringing the doorbells, yelling "TRICK OR TREAT!","THANK YOU!" She then handed out some candy at the end of the night and loved that too! Here's our crew: Vampire, Kitty Cat Princess, and not sure what Tyler is? Ha!And yes, Tyler could see out of it.
Carli was showing me her tail!