Family Reunion

This past weekend was my family reunion on my mom's side. It was held at my cousins house in Hurst, TX. We all had a lovely time.

Here is my mom, in black, with her siblings. This is my family minus my husband who didn't come because he had to work and my son who was taking a nap inside. That's me in the tye dye t-shirt.

We had fun splashing in the pool and eating great food.

Making homemade ice cream. My nephew had fun turning the crank on the old ice cream freezer.

We had fun playing lawn games. The all time favorite bean bag toss game. That's my son in the blue and my niece in the red.

We are looking forward to the next reunion!

M I A

I have been MIA. This summer and start of the school year have been busy for me. My mom had knee replacement surgery and required help, vacation and trainings for school. Plus the many projects that I hoped to get done but are still works in progress. I have been away from blogging recharging my battery and needing a break. I felt I was just burned out and didn't have anything new and interesting to share with you. I have missed sharing my tablescapes with you all and have many ideas for the Fall and can't wait to share them with you.

But, I am back and I hope my three friends that read my blog will come back! LOL! You might have noticed I have made changes to my background. It was so easy. Just click on the banner at the top left corner of my blog and it will take you to their site. They have lots of cool backgrounds to choose from and the best part is that they are FREE!

Have a great day!

Face Book

I have been reconnecting with old and new friends. Thanks to my sister who got my hooked on it. I have been spending time over there and have neglected my blog this week. Give me a few days and I will settled down.

New Year's Celebration

We spent New Years in San Antonio, TX at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. It was a fabulous getaway. We enjoyed our stay with two other couples. If you haven't stayed at a Hyatt Resort then you need to treat yourself and family as soon as you can. During the holidays they offer packages and deals. Here are some pictures from our time relaxing at the Hyatt! This is the main entrance. The resort is located out near Sea World in San Antonio.

This is one area of the lobby. I came here to read in the afternoons while my guys took a nap.

This is the back of the resort looking at the lawn area. I am standing by the lazy river.

The kids decided to take a spin in the lazy river on New Years Day. The water was too cold for us older and wiser.

Another view of the lazy river. I definitely want to come back during the hot summer months. I can see myself lounging by this river and sipping a cool drink while reading my book.

My son and I by one of the big fireplaces in the lobby. We were trying to warm up from being outside playing the carnival games.

This was one of many signs they had posted around the resort listing events you could partake in.

My son after the ball dropped in New York, which we watched on a giant screen outside, covered in streamers.

A night snack of roasting marshmallows to make smores by the fire pit.

The carnival area on New Years Eve. The lawn area was lined with carnival games for the children to play and win prizes. All included with your New Years package. It also included a buffet Bar B Que dinner.

We had a fabulous time! Please come join us for next New Years!

Ice Skating Tradition

My sister and brother-in-law take all their nieces and nephews ice skating for Christmas as part of their gift. They have been doing this for quite awhile now. All the kids enjoy themselves and have fun visiting with each other. This year my brother and his family came down from Missouri so it was extra special to be with them and share in this fun memory. Here are some photos from the event. Enjoy!My handsome guy!The oldest and youngestTwo divas!My guy! We do not like lacing up our skates!

Afterwards, dinner with everyone at the Olive Garden!

Let it Snow!

I can't believe it was snowing in my city. There were big flakes falling as we left Luby's in the Galleria area after dinner. In the picture above the white spots are the snowflakes. My son and I had fun playing in the snow but darling husband was too cold! It quickly melted and we had school the next morning. We were wishing for a snow day like our family in Missouri gets quite often during the winter months.

Have a warm day!

What A Week

Have you ever had one of the days or weeks that you wish you could start over? Well, that is exactly what I have wished for this week. Monday was great then it went all down hill from there. I am blaming the Half Price Book coupons I received in the mail! That's right. I got this coupon postcard for savings all week for each day to come in and shop the shelves and then get a percentage off.

Monday it was raining and the start of the week so we didn't go, we being my son and I. So we made a date to go Tuesday night on Veteran's Day. So after school I rushed to pick him up and the dog, dropped the dog off at home and then started on our way to the book store. The store we picked to go was out near my parents house. We made it to the store in one piece with all the traffic and rain. We wondered around that store and had our arms filled with books to enjoy in the coming days. We paid our bill and got in the car. Now this is where it goes down hill.

I am trying to leave the parking lot and cross three lines of traffic to get to the center turn lane. I had to wait several traffic light cycles before some sweet motorist left an opening for me to cautiously cross to the center lane. I was moving slowly and BAM! a little aveo hit my front bumper. She was speeding down the turn lane to make the light instead of waiting in the traffic and knocked my front bumper off. I drive a Chevy full size mini van. She was flying in order to make the light. We were all alright just shaken up. This was my first major fender bender. I called my brother in law to send a unit since he works for the Sheriff's Department and after a short wait help had arrived, in the form of my mom, husband and the deputy. We got all the paper work filled out and the tow truck towed my van home. The insurance company came to pick it up the next morning.

I was very anxious about the accident and my car that I really couldn't focus on school. Playing phone tag with the insurance company is not fun.

Thursday morning my son wants to take a tuna sandwich for lunch so I open up the can to drain the tuna and slice my fingers on my left hand right across the knuckles. OUCH! They would not stop bleeding. So I wrapped the in gauze and band aids and go to work. I figured if I lost all my blood and fainted the students would buzz the school nurse and help would arrive. Much to the delight of my students the nurse was not needed.

Friday the insurance company called and told me the total cost of my van which was over $1400 but we just have to pay the deductible. YaY!

So to get around this week I have been driving my parents boat, I mean car! I am thankful that we were all OK in the accident and that we had some form of transportation that is only costing us a tank of gas. My fingers are starting to itch and doesn't that signal healing. I hope so or I got an infection coming on. Gross!

Anyway, I hope your week was a whole heck of a lot better than mine.

Calvert

Awhile back we spent a day out in the country in Calvert, Texas enjoying the simple life. There is nothing like male bonding while shooting the BB guns.
You need a steady aim to hit the target. The younger ones are watching the older ones shoot.
After all that shooting we needed to relax on the hammock. Its hard work living in the country!

Round Rock

This summer I learned so much about baseball. My son played in a summer league and we had such a great time. I even learned how to keep score in the official score book for the coach. I also learned about there are minor leagues that some players go to before moving up to the majors. I know where have I been. I like to cheer on a team but never have learned much about the sport. While Texas has two minor leagues that I found out about. So we packed up the car and went to see the Round Rock Express, which is the minor team for the Houston Astros. We had so much fun that weekend and plan to do more next summer.

While spending time in the Austin area we went to the Austin Zoo. This was a unique experience. It is much smaller than the Houston Zoo but you are so close to the animals it was exciting. Our son feeding a goat.
And no trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on the train.

Round Rock Express stadium
They even have a pool you can rent out to watch the game.
The field

Enjoying the game. It was Longhorn night and everyone was decked out in Longhorn gear, even the players had Longhorn jerseys.

Our Hurricane Photos

Here are the photos from Hurricane Ike. We didn't have any damage to our home or fence. We had very little tree limbs that fell from the trees. We did end up with shingles in the yard but not from our roof.

The wind blew so hard that leaves and dirt stuck to the door.
It stuck to the walls
Our backyard
The back patio was a raging river of leaves. Our front yard.
The pile of limbs growing for the garbage pick up.Our son pitching in and raking the leaves and limbs from the street. We lost everything in our refrigerator but I have a nice clean one now.

When we lost our electricity we packed up and headed out to my sisters house. To keep the children happy and entertained we put the tent up in the backyard for them to play and sleep in. Well, my darling husband thought it would be so funny to go out there and scare the kids that the boys decided not sleep in it at night.
The girls.

The boys.

Still No Electricity

We are still without power and I miss my home. We have been staying with my sister and her family. We are getting very good at the Wii. My son has made friends with the neighbor kids out here. We ventured out yesterday to Target and the grocery store. No problems at either place but the traffic lights are still not working properly so its slow go moving around the city.

School is reported to open on Monday. My school has power but my sons does not yet. Today we should get an update about that. I am ready to get back to our normal routine.

My husbands office, which is near the Galleria area, had lots of damage. So he and others in his office have been cleaning and salvaging what they can.

I have been reading and catching up on the blogs I like to visit and have gotten many ideas for decorating and craft projects and lots of yummy recipes that I can't wait to try.

The electricity company has been reporting on the news station that my zip code should have power by the end of the day on Monday. I have my fingers crossed.

Hope you all have a great day!

Our Anniversary Celebration Just a Bit Late

I have been debating whether or not to post these pictures because I'm in them. I finally decided to go ahead. So you can put a face with a name.

For our anniversary which was in July, my in-laws took us out to a very nice restaurant. The food was incredible cuisine and then we walked around the grounds afterwards. This place is known for its gardens for bridal pictures and weddings.

Me and my family

Our son

The beautiful gardens

The restaurant which is hard to see in the dark!

The graceful swans that glided over the water.

Aquarium

This summer while my nieces were here for a visit we all spent an evening enjoy the downtown Aquarium. Here are some pictures of the fun times we had.

All the cousins out front of the restaurant for a group picture.Dinner in the aquarium is fun. They have a huge tank filled with all kinds of fish swimming around while you eat. My mom and sister trying to keep youngest entertained.My son and third cousin acting out in the aquarium. They had so much fun hamming it up all through the exhibits. They look very worried about whats ahead!This picture cracks me up. I don't know if its the starfish stuck on the glass or the curly hair and smile!Oldest cousin and DH enjoying the touch tank exhibit. You can touch little stingrays as they swim by. At sunset we rode the giant Ferris wheel to get a great view of downtown. I rode with the two boys and they made our car sway and I was so scared. They got a kick out of terrifying their mom and aunt.

Thanks for looking!