Attitude of Gratitude

I don't usually do much talking about MY personal life in my blogging - usually it's about the kids and domesticated life in general - however today, I'm gonna share. I'm stepping out onto a limb, so to speak. It's been a bad few weeks, with this last one the worst. Since I'm a thinking kinda lady, I know (intellectually) that I am in control of my thoughts, and I know positive thinking helps to get over feeling down and depressed. So in that vein, on a day when I'm emotionally taxed; wiped out; void; I have decided to try some positive thinking and am sharing a few gratitudes I have about my day - in the order they happened, lest anyone get offended. :p

1. I am grateful to the horrible person who harmed wee Sarah, our new kitten. Without that person she may have never entered our lives. Sometimes bad things can lead to good ones. And I was lucky enough to wake up and snuggle in bed, with a sweet, crazily kneading, kitten. :)

2. I'm grateful to my children, for distracting me and enticing me (reading demanding loudly but hey, who cares? it worked), into making magic muck. My part was only to gather supplies and watch. They did the rest, and it was very cool and very fun.

3. I'm grateful to my friend Monica, who cracked me up today via electric transmission, on at least two occasions - thank goodness for the Internet (cuz it's been 102 every day for like a month now and outdoor play like bike riding has virtually stopped!). I needed the laughter my friend.

4. I am grateful to my hubby, who came in the door, and immediately blew up the kids' ailing swimming pool, and then started dinner. Allowing me to run out to my therapy appointment. Without his help and support, I'd be in a mental institution. He continued to be awesome, by taking the kids to Kenpo, then the pool, so I could have a long hot bath, uninterrupted. And now he's putting them to bed. Thank you babe. :)

5. I am grateful to my therapist, who helps to put things into perspective - even if often times the perspective is depressing. I am learning a lot about myself, and for that I am very grateful.

I have to say, that just in thinking of the good things that happened today, my mood has lifted some. It's true what they say - you are what you think. I doubt you'll be bored by me daily on this - most of the time I'll keep it to myself. Today tho, it feels good to share it with anyone who is willing to read it. :)

And then soccer was over ...

Saturday, June 6th, concluded the "soccer season" through the YMCA for Liam. He's now happily enrolled in Kenpo 5.0 and loving it! So here's a few pictures of him with his pals, at the end of season party. :)

Here's our lil' guy warming up for the final game. :) Handsome ain't he??

At the party at Pizza Hut, making funny faces.

With his Trophy!

The gang is all there - boys are SO SILLY! :)

Wild Texas at the Witte

Last Friday, I was so lucky to be able to attend my sweet pea's class field trip to the Witte Museum. The Witte isn't too large of a museum, so we were able to see everything in our day trip. The kids had a blast! Even rain didn't damper our fun.

I herded three kiddos, plus my own, on a self-guided tour (like herding cats, my friends!), until we were to meet up with rest of the class for a lesson in Texas wildlife. On our self tour we saw bison, dinosaurs, mummies, Battle of the Flowers Parade gowns, and many, many other things. And we spent lots of time playing at the HEB Science Tree House. The children loved that! Everything there is touchable, much like the children's museum, only better (imo!).

When it was time to meet up for the Texas Wildlife lesson, we were in for more fun and learning. The Witte teacher taught us about snakes, squirrels, cockroaches (ick! did you know there are nearly as many of them in SA as there are people?! AGH!!!), skunks, bobcats, rats and more. We even were allowed to pet the snakes, rats, a tortoise and cockroaches. This Mama, refrained from the rats and roaches, thank you very much! But the snakes and tortoise were VERY cool! So, enjoy our pictures from the trip below. Some are dark, as there is no camera flash allowed inside the museum.

Stuffed animals at the wildlife lesson

Rhianna and friends, in front of the dinosaur

Silly Rhianna, outside of a real log cabin

Buffalo Bill! Yeah!

Rhianna and friends in front of the sculpture which is in front of the HEB Science Tree House

The girls, with the "Little Sure Shot" poster

Enchanted at the Springs Ranch

On April 9th, the boys 1st grade classes went to Enchanted Springs Ranch in Boerne, Texas, for a fun-filled field trip. It's a small little old west town, where movies have been filmed, and it's filled with fun things for the kids to do, including sitting on a Longhorn Steer, taking a covered wagon ride and watching Pistol Packing Paula's show. :) The boys had a great time! Their Daddy was their chaperon, and he had fun too!

A collage of the "old west" town

Friends and classmates - Liam, Malcolm & Brody - at least they're not IN the pen!

Ronin on a Longhorn! Go Ronie!

Liam on a Longhorn! Go Liam!

Liam and Daddy pose for a self-portrait. :)

Friends, classmates and neighbors - Malcolm, Ronin and Liam - Enjoying their field trip

Pistol Packin' Paula - You go girl!



Eddie gets instructions ... before the demonstration



Whip Demonstration by Pistol Packin' Paula

Boys and Their Shoes

How is it, that a boy can trash a pair of shoes faster than one can say "boo"?!?! Look at these shoes ... purchased a mere 23 days ago ... should they look like this ALREADY?! Agh!! LOL!


Seriously folks - they weren't cheap shoes either - as I've learned my lesson with that, with my boys already. Cheap shoes don't even last a month - they fall apart due to how hard my sons are on their shoes ...


Thank you. I just wanted to share. :)

Carson Fiesta Rocks Like No Other Fiesta Party In San Antonio!

Fiesta is HUGE here in San Antonio. Year after year, there are amazing and fun things to do! Oyster Bake, Night in Old San Antonio (NIOSA), the King William Fair, and the very famous Battle of the Flowers Parade. In the past, we have actually attended the Battle of the Flowers (w/the help of Grandmommy!), and the King William's Fair. Both were really fun! This year, however, we decided to just attend Carson Elementary's Fiesta activities. :)

So, Thursday was a grand day in the life of Rhianna, Ronin and Liam! And in the life of their parents. It was Carson Elementary's FIESTA!! They started the day with a parade by the 2nd graders (starting Rhianna - ok, starting ALL of the 2nd graders, but for me and her Daddy, it was starting Rhianna Shay Rachel!). It was a lovely Parade, complete with a Fiesta Queen, Mrs. Holmes, the Vice Principle, in a lovely pink gown. :)

Next was the boys' parties - both held in their rooms - Daddy attended Liam's party, and I attended Ronin's party. They were MUCHO fun, as you can see from the colleges below. Please click on them to get their full-sized effect. :)

Rhianna's college of her Carson Fiesta Experience. :) Isn't her float the most perfect one there?! See the video below for it in action! I missed Rhi's Pinata time - they did that earlier, as their hour of party time didn't allow for the pinata braking too - so sorry, no pics! Otherwise, Rhianna's party was held outside on the playground - complete with Challupas, fresh fruit, and cupcakes - Rhianna only partook in the cupcakes and choose instead to eat the lunch I packed (yeah she's my picky eater). They then played the "egg game" (see video below), and bingo (she won a free homework pass - whoo hooo!), and then there was free time for just hanging out (as you can see! LOL! She's a lil' monkey!).

Liam's Carson Fiesta Experience - he had a great time with his class and his Daddy, who stayed for his whole party (I was in with Ronin's party which was going on at the same time). I don't have as many details on this one, other than to see from pictures and hear from him, he had a great time. I was there for the pinata breaking - see the video below - he knocked the heck out of it!!

Ronin's College of his Carson Fiesta Experience - again, another kiddo who had SUCH a great time!! I spent the whole party with him and he loved that too. :) Ronin loved EATING!! You'd think we never feed the boy. LOL. He also really enjoyed making his maraca and hitting the pinata. I didn't get video of that, but as you can see from the college, I did get pictures and he hit it so hard, he knocked it to the ground! You go bubby!

Rhianna's Float - Damn if it isn't the best one in the ENTIRE parade (no offense to the other kids....)

Here's a video of Ronin cuttin' a rug at his Fiesta party - he is a dancin' machine. He gets this, me thinks, from his Daddy. ;)

Here's Liam hitting the Pinata - Go Liam, Go!

Here's my sweet lil' Rhi Pea, going backwards on the bars on the playground.

Just a little snafu with my drugs

It appears I may be resistant to Ambien (uh know that i could only find the AmbienCR site - seems the regular site is gone - outdated I guess) ... I am to take 10 to 20mgs at night, for sleep purposes. This has been for going on a week now, and honestly, 10mg don't work, and 20mg don't either. Like right now for example, I've taken 20mg and did so over 1 1/2 hours ago. I'm sleepy, mind you, but even in bed for 45 minutes, I could not sleep. So finally I got back up and came downstairs. BAH! Stupid sleep pills. I avoided these things when I drank, like the plague. I was afraid of falling asleep WHILE taking 'em! I thought they were that powerful. Now I find, um, not so much so! Course, it could have to do with a kid coughing, which has been going on for the full week I've been taking them. Along with me coughing, and a thunderstorm ... but either way, it takes me a good long while to go to sleep and when I do, I wake frequently. Again, is it the storms, the coughing, the kids in my bed? I don't know, I just know I don't sleep as deeply on Ambien as I did on Seroquel (which I hate w/a passion because I cannot wake UP). So next Monday I shall ask about Lunesta ... Or perhaps, a mallet. ;)

Creating Art and ArtPace, Rocks!

On Saturday, we took the kiddos to ArtPace's Family Day. It was a bit chilly out, nonetheless, the family had a great time! This is something we like to take the kiddos to every year. They always learn about a new art medium and artists. Music is part of the scene, and so is free snow cones and popcorn. What more could you want?!

Below are a couple of colleges of the kids' doing art, and one big picture of what sort of art the colleges were based upon ...

The first project they did was based upon the works of Kehinde Wiley.

The second project they worked on were based on the work of Sterling Allen - this project was really fun for them as well. They got to construct well, whatever they wanted, with abundant materials. It came out cute, as you can see. :)

Little Successes

Little successes ... that's how I am learning to measure things. Today was a big day of little successes. Today we dyed Easter eggs, got dressed at NOON! "Did" lunch @ McD's, and then hit the gym for an hour of cardio (me) and playtime for the kids. After that we even made it to HEB! Then, playtime outside for hours ... a day full of little successes. :) Yay!!!

Some pictures from today...

Easter Eggs, Pink-Rhi, Purple-Ronin, Blue-Liam ------ Pic w/the HEB Easter Bunny

Rhianna with her Easter "bling" from Ms. Cindy & Mr. Billy

Liam hanging from da' hoop ------ Ronin blowing bubbles (another gift from Cindy & Billy)

Wowza, it's been months

... since I blogged. I will be working on getting back to this soon. :) Bear with me, please.

If She Were President...

Rhianna wrote this on Inauguration Day. What a memorable and historical day in her life! I'm so happy that my children where able to witness such amazing change. :)

Happy (belated) New Year!

Happy New Year Ya'll! Heh heh!! I know, I'm late. Whatever. ;) I don't have anything climatic to share coming into the new year - just some pictures and happy moments. And OH!!! We are lice free, as of today! Yay us!!! ;)

Our friends, came to visit to celebrate the new year - and for all the children, and hubs and I -- this was wickedly awesome!!! They moved just before school started, and the girl children (theirs and mine) have been very sad, as the BFF thing is hard to do from far away when you're only 7 and 8. Pictures and movies below ...





Best Friends Forever - Rhianna and Kennedy - aren't they a crack-up?!

Cats! The Musical

As usual, I'm behind in blogging. Honestly, it's not that I don't have much to say (ok, well I don't REALLY have a lot to say, but I like to talk... so... deal!), it's just that I find that focusing on actually blogging about it, when I've already added the pics to Flickr and shared them on Facebook, well it seems anticlimactic. Sad, but true ... and social... ;)

So anyhow, my Ma, who SO AWESOMELY remembered that I wanted always and forever to see Cats, bought me 2 tickets to see Cats here in San Anton for Christmas. :) Thank you Ma!!! Course, her natural idea was for me to go with hubs, to see it. A date night, as it were. But what my Ma didn't know was that just a few months before, I found out Cats was coming to SA, and had said to hubs "Oh!! I want to take Rhianna! I've always wanted to go, and I bet she'd SO gel with it and love it like I know I will!"

So fast forward to later, discussing going to see Cats w/hubs. He said he would love to see it with me, but knew I wanted to take Rhianna, and he totally understood. I was relieved! Honestly, I doubted he'd enjoy himself, and I SO wanted to go with my little girl! So with my Ma's blessings, I took Rhianna. We had a wonderful, lovely, great time. :) So girly, we were! I loved it, as did she. :) We went to dinner at Bohanans ... that was HILARIOUS but so fun!!! (anyone who knows Rhianna knows she eats few items; chicken nuggets or chicken fingers, cheese, and carbs. period.... so this was funny as it's a 4 star joint!) So we are seated, and Rhianna is in awe of the napkins and how they were folded ... and she's looking under the table to see how my napkin is positioned in my lap (have I ever mentioned we don't take our kids out to nice places? I have the terrible Texas three ... it's just not doable!!). She remarked on how the napkins matched the table clothe and was very impressed with that. I laughed and told her yes, that is a nice thing. :) Her response? "I could get used to this!" LMAO! I love it... yes, my dear baby, Mama has been used to it in the past, and could SO go there again!!! Probably not in this lifetime... but perhaps the next??

So when our kind waiter comes over to take our order, I order a glass of Pinot for myself and a lemonade for the girl-child... and ask "is there anything 'child-friendly' on the menu?" in response to his question about if we have questions about the menu... yes, thank god, there is! Chicken fingers!! Can you imagine?! Yay!! We order it, of course! ;) Fast forward, after she's noted that "fancy restaurants are nice, but slow with food" (true true!), she gets her fingers, and they are arranged in a gorgeous manner. Very pleasing!! She's happy (her fries are set up in an "Abraham Lincoln House" her words, manner ... I'm happy, and she eats. She eats!!! So nice... mama was thrilled ... as her plate was $16.99!! Damn! Kids meal my ass! ;)

So we eat and head out to Cats... just across the street at the Majestic Theater. It was a great show. We weren't close enough to enjoy the make-up, but we could hear and see the stage great. It was fun. :) Oddly for me, it wasn't about what I thought - I guess I had this idea it was about more than Cats ... LOL! Nope! As it turns out, all these years I've wanted to see a musical about - CATS - period. LOL! It's taken from T.S. Elliot's book Possum's Book Of Practical Cats (yeah I want the book!); seems I should have known that ... but I didn't. Anyhow, both Rhianna and I got a huge kick out of it, and I'd take her again in a heartbeat. It was fun. My Ma picked well. It was a great Christmas pressie. :)

Thank you Ma! :) Rhianna and I dug it! :)

Merry Christmas and Lice Suck

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I hope all ya'll had a good one. We did!!! It was mellow (as it can be w/short people), but great nonetheless! We spent Christmas eve with great friends, and ate up some most wonderful tamales. :) Which I helped cook - I don't want to brag here, but I make a mean Spanish Rice! Yah - white girls can cook (w/instructions by Monica!!). ;)

In great news - lice seems to be GONE from our house ... i may be typing too soon, and will rue the day i wrote this! hee hee ... but we've been clean for days now. Pray, cross fingers, make an offering, PLEASE, for us! ;) I cannot keep doing this ... checking my head, and 3 other heads daily for 10 days now is making me insane! ;) On the other hand, I think I can teach a course on lice and how to get rid of it now. Wonder if that pays???




In fun news, Santa brought bikes. Oh yeah ... he's not a slouch when it comes to bikes a boy might want - we got BIG BOY bikes along with a big girl bike. VERY NICE. :) Rhianna keeps saying your bikes are "Mongoose" bikes - that means you can do what 'Mister Eddie' used to do on your bike"... lmao! In time, my sons.... and remember, Mister Eddie is a fan of head gear for a reason! ;)