The hurricane that cried wolf (in San Antonio)

***I typed this post on Monday, Sept 15th as we were driving home from our vacation in San Antonio. I am finally, just now getting an opportunity to post it.

Here we sit, the four of us in the van, Matt listening to my Mp3, the kids in the back watching Evan Almighty on the TV/DVD and me, here, typing to you on my laptop. It’s amazing how technology has transformed our lives. Gone are the days where everyone would sleep, read or write during a road trip. Now we have more devices to play with than we have time or know-how. Last night when we set out for dinner at Dave & Busters, we didn’t have to do mapquest or look at the map, we just turned on my SIL’s GPS and ta-da we were being told through the voice of some unknown GPS woman where to go and when. Miraculously she knew precicely where we were at all times, even when we took the wrong exit, she automatically recalculated our directions—at which time I was using my cell phone to text message my BIL who was following us. How’d we ever live without all this stuff? What’s next? It just blows my mind to think how advanced technology has become just since I’ve been alive…and where it might be when my kids are adults….!!

Anyway, as most of you know, we’ve been on vacation for the past 5 days. Up until the moment we left, we were trying to decide if we should call the trip off. With all the hurricanes we’ve been having and hurricane Ike headed straight for Texas, we weren’t sure our plans of going to Sea World were very intelligent. It was already raining and the temperatures were dropping. We called Sea World on Wednesday night and they said they were tentatively scheduled to close on Saturday depending on what effects the hurricane had on them. It would be Saturday morning before they made the final decision. In the end, and after MUCH thought, we decided to just go ahead with the trip as planned and we would just make the best of it whatever happened.
S o….Thursday we drove 3 hours South to our hometown to meet up with our family. It rained the entire trip. We stayed the night at my MIL’s house and celebrated Matt’s Mamaw’s b-day. Then early Friday morning, we set off for San Antonio, TX despite the looming bad weather. Amazingly, the further South we drove, the nicer the weather got! By 4:30 pm when we arrived at Matt’s little sister’s house, the weather was picture perfect. In the low 90’s and bright sun-shiny! We all freshened up and then headed to the River Walk for dinner at The Rainforest Café. That is such a cool restaurant! The kids loved the thunderstorms every 30 minutes and all the life-like animals.
Saturday we all (11 of us) made our way to Sea World and had a great day. We were able to ride every ride except one and saw a few shows. That night we had our “Dinner with Shamu” experience which was very cool. We got to get VERY close to 4 killer whales and ask the trainers all of our questions while enjoying a huge buffet. Afterwards, my SIL Lindsay and I decided to get henna tattoo’s on our feet. They were so cute until the paste rubbed off and then we were left with very faint lines. We were disappointed since the girl said they would last 2 weeks….but still…it was pretty cool and not too horribly expensive ($12) When we got back to the hotel, the kids had a blast swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub while us adults sat and visited (and the guys played cards) on the patio.
Sunday we awoke to light rain but we didn’t let it damped our spirits. We threw on our ponchos and headed back to Sea World to catch a few more shows and rides and then finally around 2 pm, the sun came out and we went to the Lost Lagoon water park inside of Sea World. We had a ball going down the huge water slides and relaxing in the wave pool before the park closed and we went back to the hotel. We decided to go to Dave & Busters for dinner and maybe play a few games. By the time we got home last night from that, it was nearly midnight and we were all SO exhausted! Now, here we are, an hour and a half into our 9 hour drive home. The drive here wasn’t too horribly bad because the kids kept busy watching movie after movie (and playing with the items in their goody bags I made them) and I read the book Mistaken Identity aloud to Matt—all 275 pages! It was a great way to pass the time and I actually finished the last page as we were pulling into my SIL’s neighborhood!! (perfect timing!) It’s been a looooong time since I’ve gotten to read a book at all—but to actually finish one from cover to cover---I can’t even remember the last time! (probably on our cruise 3 ½ yrs ago!)
It was a fun trip but we definitely agree we wish we had planned an extra day into the trip to just relax. We stayed on-the-go the ENTIRE time and the only time we were able to just relax was when we fell into our beds at night. It sounds awful, I know..but I’m already looking forward to next weekend so we can just chill at home and relax. Ha!
*Thanks to my BIL, Larry, for thinking up the cool title for this post! :o) ---Although I feel I should mention that hurricane Ike did indeed cause a ton of destruction in TX—in Galveston and Houston—where almost everyone is out of power and gas…but for us in San Antonio…it missed us completely! Yay!

Words don't seem enough....

Hi everyone! I feel like I've been in hiding or something--it's been so long since I've blogged. I just wanted to say a quick THANK YOU to each one of you who left me a sweet, encouraging comment or sent me an e-mail and to my special friend who sent me a card by 'snail-mail'! You guys are so thoughtful. I didn't realize how much it would mean to hear (read) your kind words but everytime I got an e-mail in my inbox telling me I had a new comment on my "Time Out" post, my heart felt loved and touched. I know it's hard to know what to say to someone who has lost a loved one and sometimes its easier to just avoid it...but you guys didn't do that and I appreciate it so much! I truely feel like each comment/e-mail lifted my spirits a little more and encouraged me to not only get through this...but to let the tears fall--thus speeding up the healing process. It's still hard to go over to my mom's house next door and not expect to see my grandma sitting there in her chair where she ALWAYS was--and to see everyone picking through her things like a garage sale taking whatever they want--but I am able to focus now on what her surroundings are like instead of mine...and that is the ultimate encouragement.
In other "news" you guys may remember a while back when I did a post about a friend of mine who I "let down" when I offered to do something for her and then wasn't able to complete the task. Well, I am back to that situation. She's gone on vacation once again and has asked me to cover for her. I feel this is my opportunity to redeem myself once and for all--so I am overwhelmingly busy this week doing about 6 hours per day of transcribing instead of my usual 1-2. Once Monday gets here, I anticipate life getting back to normal..and then I will have LOTS to blog about---first of which is our Sea World trip we took back on the 11th. I have tons of pictures to show you from that and then I have lots of family pics to share from last week. I promise, I'll be back soon! I miss reading your blogs so much too...I've been trying to catch up here and there when I have a spare second or two (even though I haven't always had time to leave comments). Don't know if I'll EVER catch up on Logzie's blog though..that girl is a blogging fanatic! ha ha (I love you T!) Okay, talk to you all again asap! Thanks again for everything! You've been such a blessing to me!

Time Out

Hey ya'll....just stopping in for a sec to tell you that I am taking a Time Out from blogging. I don't want to...but there just isn't time and blogging just doesn't rank very high on my list of priorities at the moment. Many of you know, my grandma (who lives with my mom next door to me) became ill in just the past few months. She has progressed extremely rapidly and at this very moment, she is about 99% gone. Everyone in my family is keeping vigil by her bedside as well as the hospice nurses who are doing 24 hour care at this point. Since it's hard to just stand by and watch, I am keepig myself busy by cooking meals and desserts to bring over there as well as running any errands they need ran. It is my pleasure to be abe to help them like this...but it also puts my "spare" time at a very low minimum. I promise to return to blogging as soon as life is back to normal...but for now, my family needs me more.

Love you guys!

I am attaching a pic of my grandma...taken just 11 days ago on her 82nd birthday. You can imagine how fast the cancer progressed...in just 11 days she went from being her normal cheerful, sweet self to lying on her death bed drifting away to see Jesus!

**At 8:45 tonight, Grandma "graduated" from earth to Heaven! We'll miss her sweet, smiley face but we are all so glad to know she's done fighting this battle and can finally rest in the arms of her Father!

Sunday=FunDay!

We had such a great time Sunday in the city with our family! My neice, Rachael and her hubby, Matt got a new boat this summer and we've been itching to try it out! Here are a few pics from our day!

This first one is my FAVORITE! I caught Grant peeing on a tree and couldn't resist grabbing the camera! I'm sure he'll hate me for this later in life! ha ha

This next one is another FAVORITE! Look at my HOT hubby!! (insert whistle here!)

Here is one of me and Rachael...airing up the tube after a few too many wipeouts!

Here is one of my nephew, Christian riding on the tube with Brook and Grant.

Here's a cute one of my girlie-Q squinting in the sun.

Christian and Grant being Boys!

My neice, Rachael, looking gorgeous!

A Buh-Last!

Long story short (you can read the long one on my P90X blog) I'm in love with Zumba. I think maybe it's what I should be doing....
I'm not sure how talented I am at it...but I know I definitely have a passion for it! I can't think of any funner way to burn calories! How many of you have ever taken a Zumba class? Did you like it?

Don't get me wrong....

I LOVE summer...but this cooler weather has me all giddy inside!! I am enjoying wearing long sleeves and light jackets and JEANS and my soft, comfy robe! Right now I have on my softest, fuzziest slippers, my comfiest pajama pants, my new 3/4 length sleeve apricot babydoll night gown from Victoria Secret and my hot pink furry VS robe and I feel like a big cloud puff, I think. It's delicious! I am also liking sipping on warm soup (see my P90x blog for recipe!) and cuddling on the couch by hubby and kiddos with cushy down-filled blankets!
I don't think I've EVER looked forward to fall quite like I am this year! That's very unusual for me...usually Summer is the ONLY season I ever look forward to...well and maybe Spring because it is the appetizer for Summer!
Anyway, anyone else with me on this? All this cool air, comfy, warm clothes and cuddling...it's just plain YUMMY!

Chastisement

I was listening to our local Christian radio station the other day and I heard the lady say "When you hear little voices singing along in the back of the car...it makes it easier to choose a radio station, doesn't it?"

Boy is that EVER true!

It really hit home for me because I didn't realize how much non-Christian music I listened to until I heard Brooklyn singing along to some not-so-uplifting songs the other day. I thought--"How in the WORLD does she know all the words to that song?" But I know it's gotta be from me running the radio all the time in the van. Sometimes when I can't even hear it (because I'm talking to someone or on the phone) she can still hear it. Who knows what comes on during those times! Yikes!

Then the other day someone gave me a scripture. A scripture that they felt was "just for me." It was 1 Peter 1:16 which says "It is written, Be holy, for I am holy."

OOOOOOOOOOUCH!

I'm not sure what that was supposed to mean exactly...where I am concerned...but it certainly pricked my heart in a certain few areas where I feel a little un-holy. I am trying to not over-analyze it though either. My first thought was that holy means perfect...and so God is telling me to try harder to be perfect!!?????????? But I don't think that's right....

Anyway, on top of it all, I watched Joel Osteen the other day...just by chance...and it was the best message I have ever heard (for me) in my life. I've watched it 3 more times now and I can't help but tear up. The message is called "You are God's Masterpeice" and just as an example of what it's talking about...he says he was once at a persons house who had this ugly, boring painting hanging on the wall. When he asked about it he found out that it was an original Picasso painting worth $1,000,000. Then he reminded us that we are God's craftsmanship...His masterpeice. Our worth isn't found in us (the painting) but in the creator or painter (God!) That same painting could have been done by someone else and would be worth nothing...but because it was painted by Picasso..it was worth a TON!

Wow! It is just such an awesome message and I would GREATLY ENCOURAGE you to go to his website at http://www.joelosteen.com/ and download the podcast to your Ipod. I promise you, it'll be worth it!

The Sports Buzz

It's football season....big deal.

Sorry ya'll...but I am just SO NOT a sports watcher. I've been to one BIG game in my life (OU vs. OSU) and I actually slept through most of it!!!!

Although my hubby appreciates a good OU game every once in a while....he's also NOT very into watching sports either.

The ONLY thing that makes it 100% different is if I know someone playing in the game. For instance, last year was my nephew Christian's senior year in HS. His team was going for the State Championships and I attended a couple of his games. Now THAT was exciting! And I have a feeling I'll be getting my share of games in in the future since Grant seems to be a sports fanatic already. His favorite thing to do -hands down- is play football or baseball or basketball with me or his daddy.

Another reason I'm more into football this year is because Brooklyn's new friend (and pen pal) Mason plays football for his team, the Spartans. He's such a cutie!

He's got a serious face in this pic because his team had their first loss 7-6....but I say he's still a winner!

Speaking of pen pals, Brooklyn has also been writing to Logan (Logzie's son). She is having so much fun making friends in different states and finding out about what they like to do. He's a handsome little guy too!
It's kind of funny how both of her penpals are boys...but she doesn't seem to care. Oh who am I kidding...I think she prefers it that way! ha ha

She's got both of their pictures taped to her wall right above her bed!
My girl...I'm so glad she's not JUST like me. I've always been intimated by boys...and felt inferior to them. She's so much more sure of herself than I EVER was! Hooray! I like to think maybe I am helping her become that way!