Pumpkin Fun

Check out Marcelo's awesome (and time consuming) pumpkin creation!!!

Vegas Baby!!!!

So my wonderful husband took me to Vegas for my 35th birthday. We stayed at the Bellagio for the first time - it was spectacular! Then he surprised me with tickets to Elton John the night of my birthday. This was such a cool show. I highly recommend it. We knew every song and he is such a showman. I will never again hear an Elton John song and not think of the wonderful weekend we had. We hung out by the pool, played a lot of blackjack, slept, ate at a few buffets, and played some more blackjack. We even came home ahead which is always nice! We have had a series on marriage at church for the last month or so. One of the things our pastor always talks about it taking care of your marriage so that you can be good parents. My husband certainly treated me to a wonderful grownups weekend that I will always treasure and cherish. I think we both came home refreshed, relaxed, and really connected. He is so awesome to plan alone time for us since we really spend most of our free time doing kid stuff.


While we were gone my parents took care of the kids for the weekend. This was no easy feat with the kids regular schedule. However, this weekend the boys played in a double elimination baseball tournament out in Spring. They ended up playing in the championship game, after coming into match play 0-3. That is extremely tough to do! My parents and Emma sat through 4 games in a row on Sunday - WOW! We were truly sad to miss out on it, but the boys were SO excited that Nana and PawPaw got to see them win a trophy. PawPaw was great and texted us updates so we knew what was going on. They ended up losing their last game and coming in 2nd. But, they got their trophy so they are happy! What a blessing we all have in my parents - they are truly awesome with the kids and they all enjoy each other so much. On another note, Emma is getting really excited for her role in the Nutcracker. They have finished learning all of their part and are now rehearsing and refining it. She is going to be so beautiful and we are all counting the days until we get to see her dance.

One in Eight

One in Eight women in America will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. What this means is that approximately 12% or one in eight women who live to age 85 will be diagnosed with breast cancer sometime during her lifetime.

Our tennis league did a Play for the Cure event today - wear pink, play hard, give green. It was fun to get out there and play in honor of all those we have lost to breast cancer and for those we know fighting it. It was touching to hear everyone's stories of how breast cancer has affected their lives. There was no one there that didn't have a family member or friend that has suffered from breast cancer. I was proud to be part of such a wonderful group of ladies. We raised a ton of money for a foundation in Houston called The Rose, that gives out low-cost and/or free mammograms to women who cannot afford them. Check out this wonderful organization.....consider making a donation and help save lives!

http://www.the-rose.org/

Happy 20th Dad and Susan!!!!

Today is Dad and Susan's 20th wedding anniversary. So, I guess you could say it is a special day for me as well since it is my 20th anniversary of having Susan for my mom. I'm so blessed to have them in my life as parents and so blessed to have had Susan as my mom for 20 years. I love you both....Happy Anniversary!

Catching up with Family

Here is a photo of my cousin Ryan and his adorable wife Margaret. She is due Nov. 3rd. - isn't she cute??? I was NEVER that cute at 9 months pregnant!!! We hung out with them for the day on Saturday and caught up. They moved to Houston from Chicago awhile back, and unfortunately we haven't seen much of each other. It was so much fun to see them. We hung out, ate a lot, played outside, and tried to talk them into buying a house on this side of town (free babysitting!!!!) Nicholas and Dylan are especially excited because they are having a baby boy. We have no baby boys in our family, just girls. So they think it will be fun to have someone to teach baseball to. I hope we don't go this long without seeing them again. I can't wait to get my baby fix!

Tennis Fridays

I really enjoy my tennis Fridays (and Thursdays, and sometimes Wednesdays :)!) Today we played what I like to call a "Granny Team". Bless their hearts, these ladies are awesome. I hope I am still playing tennis leagues at their age. Some friends on another line played Lorraine, who is a cute little red-headed, bedazzled pink hat wearing 78 year old and another lady. We have met her at a few tennis playdays and this lady is a hoot. And my friends got beat! One of our girls took the loss extremely hard, as she is an overly competitive girl. However, the rest of us were almost excited as Lorraine and her partner beat our team, as it surely means more to her to beat the "ponytails" as she calls us. Another lady on their team was telling us that Lorraine used to be a model and a dancer and LOVES the limelight. She said this victory over our two cutest ponytailed players was going to feed Lorraine's ego for quite awhile. As it should! It reminded me that while we can outrun these ladies, we sure can't outsmart their experience and wisdom.

As my husband is working so hard, the Dow is falling, and life is so different for so many post-Ike, I want to thank my husband for the privilege of staying home. I am truly blessed to be able to play tennis and have my group of friends. But I am even more blessed for my wonderful husband. I love you Marcelo!!!!!

This is HYSTERICAL!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ylxWcwkUM

From Fall to Winter in no time at all....

This is why I love Breckenridge so much. I just posted the Fall pictures from my dad. They are still up in Breck, and here it is just a few short days later......!!! I LOVE the snow. There is nothing prettier than my parents' house in Breck after a fresh snowfall. Early October snow means only one thing - a great ski season. We are looking forward to our trip at Christmas. For now we will continue frying in the heat and humidity while everyone else in the country has seasons.

Fall in Breckenridge, CO

These are from my dad, the photographer. I think retirement agrees with his hobbies! He and Susan are enjoying their time at the house in Breck. Here are some great photos of the aspens and Fall scenery. What is Fall again????? I am SO jealous!!!!!

Things I think I won't miss when my kids are grown!

Finding missing socks and shoes in the oddest of places.

Going to get a piece of toilet paper and it is in shreds or completely unwound. Or going to sit down on the toilet seat and finding that one of your precious boys has either left you a surprise on the seat or forgotten to put it down so you fall in.....

Going to get a piece of gum and it's all gone and you just bought it yesterday. Or reaching into the bag of baseball gum and find nothing but wrappers. And then all 3 say....I didn't do it!

Finding hand prints all over your walls going up the stairs....do they know what the handrail is for????

Looking like the Beverly Hillbillies because you have baseballs, basketballs, scooters, bikes, and.....oh yeah and more baseballs!!!! all over your driveway and yard.

There are so many things!!! But when I think about these things I think I really will miss them once they are all grown up. Time goes by so quickly and they grow up so fast. Every day, even with all the frustrations, I do thank God for them and all of the wonderful joys they bring to our lives.

Did I mention that this blog posting started because I found a sock hanging off the light fixture in my half bathroom???

Nutcracker Update

Emma is getting so excited about Nutcracker. She is going to be in all 5 performances, which is awesome. She is a party girl in 3 shows and a party boy in 2. That means she is learning 2 different parts. She gets to be on stage for about 25 minutes of Act I.

For those of you wanting more info or to buy tickets, here is the link to the Houston Repertoire Ballet's website. It is Dec 5-7. The Sunday at 1pm is only Act I.

https://hrbtickets.org/

It is a fantastic show - we saw it a few years back. The director brings in some big name artists for the Nutcracker Prince, Snow Queen, and Sugar Plum Fairy. We hope to see some of you there!