remodeling #2-Ruth

Ruth asked if I could repaint her bedroom. I have not done anything really to her room since she was 3, so it was about time. Of course it included much more than paint. The room is now teal blue with black/white damasc accents. She now has a better reading lamp for her bed where she loves to curl up and read for house...sort of like a little nest. It is so grown up looking and beautiful, just like her. We also get new curtains, bed spread and sheets.

Colorado Vacation

We are home from our 1 1/2 weeks in the mountains of Colorado....where the highest temp was 78. We get home and it is 108! Where did we go wrong? Coming south instead of staying put for another,,,,,month or two.

We had a great time and about 48 family members arrived in shifts. I enjoyed the scenery and the peace and quiet. Also, visiting with relatives I have not seen some in 3 years. My, how the children have grown.

I did get to read two complete books, and we only had kitchen duty one day, thus I did not have to clean up after anyone for MANY days, of course everyone does pitch in to help the cooking team when possible.

The food was like eating at a 5-star restaurant every day. The altitude was a kicker and I never fully got into that. Loved seeing the wildlife wandering by, but not the howling cyotes at 2am. Finally they left us in peace.

The girls were on the go including Zip line, white water rafting, shopping, archery, shopping, go carting, shopping, some crazy trampoline thing w/ ropes around your waist, shopping, bumper cars, huge slide, and shopping.

We did do the drive over the mountains and back. Always breath taking.

One sad thing is, as you all know there have been some terrible fires up that way, and we saw two very close while we were there. Even got a too close up view of the helicopters carying the water.

We played kickball, volleyball, teatherball, badmidten. washers, and horse shoes. Also cleaned up at Bingo.
Sara made me 5 beautiful pairs of earrings and one matching necklace at the craft shop.
Basically, I would love to do this every year, as long as I am out of there before the cold weather.

New driver, sort of..

Today Sara finished her book portion of driver's ed....got a 98! Way to go girl. She will take her first behind the wheel on Tuesday, so I strongly suggest anyone in N TX get off the road that day.....SERIOUSLY!!!!!!

I will take her driving...God, please help me...on Sunday at the school parking lot. I do not know how my parents survived doing this w/ 4 of us. I think what scares me the most is that Sara had no sense of fear. It is only one speed....FULL SPEED AHEAD....and thinks later, after I am cleaning up what she broke....oh my goodness, I can not afford a new car now! Maybe I will wear a hard hat. At least the school parking lot is across from the hospital that we always visit with Sara.....I think they know us by first name now.

Updating bathroom

Jeff, and mostly I, have decided it is time to redo the girl's bathroom. Tired of tripping over the pealing floor. New tile onto floor, around the tub, new tub, new lights and fixtutes. So far, it is going must slower then promised, of course. The overall look is OK, but since I am a perfectionist, it is frustrating to me. Hope this is done soon.

Driver's Permit

Early this morning I took Sara to the DPS to get her driver's permit.  It went well and luckily we did have all the necessary paperwork.  Now she is inline for the behind the wheel portion....and is signed up in a week.  I guess I will hold my breath and take her to a very large and EMPTY parking lot and see how long until she crashes my van......PRAY!  I guess I would not be so nervous if she wasn't so excited.  Maybe a little fear would go a long way in this one.

BTW--Thanks mom and dad for having the love and patience to teach all 4 of us how to drive....this the gray hairs.

Cast away

Today we are back to the surgeon. The cast is gone! This time he used dissolvable stitches and did a wonderful job. The incision is much nicer. NEW PROBLEM---since removing the very long screws from the bones, this leaves holes that now have to heal and he said best not to do any falling for 3 months.....3 MONTHS! Trying out for select soccer this upcoming season is out again, and for a girl that lives for soccer........

Since the break until 3 months until she can get back into it will be 13 months! That is a very long time for a broken arm to heal. May be heading back to PT also...very limited motion in the wrist again.

Surgery again for Sara

Today we had Sara's second surgery on her arm, this time to take out the "hardware". No longer is she a bionic girl, just one with a long scar. The did take out the old scar during the surgery and did more of a plastic surgery sewing in the end. Now 12 days of ice, pain pills and elevation and we will see if it is better. Too bad she doesn't like snakes, it would be a good beginning for a tatoo.

School's out

The girls were very casual the last day of school. Ruth is now going into 9th and High School. Sara is going into 10th. They will be in the same school now and both on the bus....good bye to car pooling for now.

We have had another sucessful year. Both girls ended with 7 A's and 1 B. NOW, I have 2 high school girls, and at my tender young age hehehe. Sara will be a sophmore and Ruth a fish. It is unbelivable how fast this year went by.

my family

My oldest sister Kathy and husband Mike.  Next to them niece Jennifer, an optomatrist, and very tall husband Marc who is a Materials Engineer working on his masters.  Sitting is Ashley, who lives in LA and works on movies, and Megan who lives in Houston and has a masters in accounting.



 Next oldest sister Chris who teaches 2nd grade and husband Jimmy who does outside sales in metal buildings.  Next to Jimmy, and taller hehehe is Jason who has his masters in church music.  Then daughter Julie who just got her masters in social work this past weekend.
Of course my dad, Dave, and my mom Edie (short for Edith)

Finally my little sister Lisa, and her husband Rick.  They live by us in N. TX.  Lisa is a Paralegal and Rich is a contract manager of a large construction company.

more beautiful Ruth

Ruth National Honor Society again

This evening Ruth was inducted into Jr. National Honor Society for the second year....no suprise here says the proud parents!  In planing for this  we picked out her dress a few months ago.  It is form fitting and show that yes, this child had a fugure and we are not totally sure when that happened.

Sara took time with her, great big sister, and did Ruth's hair and makeup.  I understand the eyeliner was a big to-do and everytime Sara went at her with it, she would blink, and then giggles all around.....I stayed out of the way for the final reveal.....and it was amazing.

Check out our beauty!

Color me....black?

Sara is planning out the upcoming soccer banquet with school.  Next she wanted to color her hair with a deep auburn like a friend of hers did. RULE #1----only temporary color!!  So we get something that we think will work and hit it and it came out......black.  There is a little bit of color in the sun if you are looking for it, but her hair is too dark to do, at least as a temporary color and that is all I am going for now.

Ruth the Artist

Today Ruth went to an art competition through school.  She took a bus and it was an all day event.  She took a first place (1) ribbon for her drawning.  It is really good and will for a while hang in the school on display.  There were maybe 15 other kids from the class that took a 1.

Model is born

Man, I need to invest in a better camera!!!

Tonight Sara had her first modeling job. She did fantastic. This is the first outfit she had. It included her cowboy boots. She was a natural, much better than she did yesterday at practice. I think I will look into some modeling for her.

EASTER

We had a good Easter. We went to my parent's house for the extended family get together. This of course included wonderful food. I loved the fact that for the first time, my kids helped w/ the dishes and I did not have to do any....love them!

We had of course the traditional egg hunt for the "kids" which incluse 14-29, so we use the term sparingly. This year there was cash in all eggs, of course when Ruth and I helped my mom with the last 38, we included monopoly money, a rock, pine needles, key chains, some mulch, and any other strange thing we would think of.....we are heading to the "let's get silly with this and have a few laughs" phase of life.

We had some great games of washer, a game of croquet, lots of card games, and lots of love.

What a day! Tornadoes, hail, wind, rain

They are saying that there were 15 tornadoes in 4 hours...one city got hit by 3!

Look at the twin tornado storms we had today. Can you say duck and cover! We are so very blessed that these two massive and destructive storms went up with us in between. We did get some very impressive winds & rain, but no circulation or hail. I am almost finished w/ my tornado hideout under the stairs and today I added helmets. I think this will be one of the normal springs when we get the usual tornadoes so I want to be prepared.

It hit the towns on both sides of us, but not us. My sister and her husband n of FTw are OK too.....

Model Sara

These are a few of very many photo that were shot today. I know moms are prejudice for their kids, but I think mine is beautiful!

Sara is getting ready for her first modeling job. She is excited and it is a learning experience in what is involved. Following is the newspaper article on what she will be in.



Alexander Portrait Designers will showcase some of top teen models at the Project Revolution fashion event, planned for April 10 at Aristide Event Center.Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Young Minds, Inc.

After seeing the potential in the young leaders that created Young Minds, Inc., Glenda Beckwith, owner and photographer at Alexander Portrait Designers, asked area businesses to join her in this worthwhile cause.Area partners include Aristide Event Center, Classy Concepts, Aspirations, Mary Kay-Kim McClure, Rue 21 and Industrial.Young Minds, Inc. is a student-run non-profit organization providing support for real-life issues facing Mansfield students.Their current campaigns include "Put Your Foot Down Against Bullying," a bullying prevention and awareness campaign, and "Dress Smart", a school-based clothes closet providing professional dress clothing for students preparing for interviews, presentations or events.For more information about Young Minds, visit facebook.com/pyfdab.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/02/3853939/fund-raising-fashion-show-planned.html#storylink=cpy