Ridin' in Salado

Turkey day in Salado was wonderful. Stagecoach Inn was filled to the brim. It was a perfect opportunity for Drew to demonstrate his newly acquired etiquette. He is most impressed with the itty bitty shrimp fork. I will be most impressed if they can get him to eat with utensils. His final exam will be dining with proper etiquette at Ridegewood Country Club. (enjoy, son- it's your only chance to eat there! -mm)

We helped Mark's parents decorate their lovely Salado home for the Christmas Tour of Homes. If you are close to Salado this weekend, you won't want to miss checking out these houses.





While in Salado, Mark taught the boys to ride their bikes. Drew has not had any interest in learning and Evan has always been intimidated with the hills around our house. They caught on quickly. I'm sure it was due to having a great squad of cheerleaders (cousins) (check out the cheerleader link. really. it's funny. -mm). I am just glad to finally have this milestone under their belts. I guess you can't do EVERYTHING early!



Update: Evan continues to have daily outbursts. I am praying for patience. I need the Holy Spirit to refresh me. I really have to work at casting my cares upon HIM. Drew competes Thursday in UIL Spelling and Number Sense (against 4th graders!). I pray he has a sense of peace during the test, that he will do his best and that he is able to make the transition from spelling to math in a 15 minute break. Lindsay is cute as usual. I think she's offically given up naps! (Bummer!) Mark is still going strong with his running schedule. I don't know how he does it!

edit: Regina told me I had lots of place to my "link thing" so I have obliged...

Thanksgiving

The last Baylor football game of the season was actually fun. We moved the ball. We scored. Just like a real football team. Great job, Shawn! The boys had a blast with their friends. Evan really lucked out because he got to have 3 friends as his guests! Counting cousins and siblings, we had nine kids in our "party." We had BIG FUN!!!

I am ready for Thanksgiving but I feel like I have been giving thanks for months now. I don't need a holiday to remind me that I have a lot to be thankful for this year! God has brought us through so much in one year. I am thankful for the normal stuff that we all take for granted---a comfortable home, cars that run, food in the fridge, fresh air to breath, a wonderful husband, Mark's job... the list goes on and on. This year, I have learned not to take health for granted. I never imagined a year ago that my 5 year old would suddenly have serious health issues. Through those issues, we have seen God's power. We have learned how to completely depend on Him. I am most thankful for the trials of 2005. Without the trials, I don't think I would realize the extent of God's love for us. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; MY CUP RUNS OVER! Psalm 23, 4,5

Christmas Decorations

Well, it's that time of year. I imagine I'll be putting up the Christmas lights in the next few days. I've been thinking that I need to put up a few more lights this year, you know, to really emphasize that, as believers, we are the "light of the world," and we should not be hidden.

So, anyway, I thought I would make sure that we can't hide (though it would probably make Regina want to hide) and do something like this.....

Hitting the Jackpot

Drew smiled from ear to ear. His eyes sparkled with delight. What on earth could have happened today to cause such joy? Maybe he was picked to quarterback his favorite football team or maybe he won a shopping spree to Toys R Us. Actually, he was excited because he got a new Algebra book! Not many eight year olds get excited about math but this little guy does. He has a fabulous math tutor named Harry. Harry has been an answer to prayer. He is exactly what Drew needs to satisfy his insatiable mathamatical curiosity. Drew usually does his homework at school while his classmates are having their math class. I decided that it would be good bonding time to do his homework with him Thursday night. Boy was that a mistake. He did all of it in his head and I had a hard time keeping up with him despite the fact that I had a calculator and HE DIDN"T!

Evan got to try a little acting this week. He was the main character, a hermit crab, in a small play. I think he really enjoyed the attention and being a leader in his group. Drew and his friends watched the play and did a great job encouraging and congratulating Evan. He really needed that! He is doing well but continues to have outbursts daily. We are praying for a good weekend. We've allowed each boy to invite a friend to the Baylor football game tomorrow. I think they will have a great time. We will see if having five kids is any harder than having three.

Marathon Update

Because I know my reading public cares, I've added a marathon countdown to the top of the page. It counts down to the the day of the big run. You'll need to add 7 hours to get to the actual start time, though. (Thanks, Micah, for the coding assistance.)

By the way, I sure am glad that I got Regina blogging, otherwise this blog would be subjected to infamy in Steve's list of "Links of people who used to blog." Thanks, honey, for saving me from disgrace! Besides, she writes about things that are meaningful and people actually care about instead of the mindless drivel that I tend to post about.

Good News!

We got a good report from the Pediatric Neurologist yesterday. He thinks we are heading in the right direction. We are hopeful that Evan will outgrow this problem in the very near future. Evan was checked out from head to toe. He still had not received Evan's bloodwork results! We tweaked the timing of his medications and we were back on the road to Waco. Total driving time approx. 5 hrs (there was a lot of construction and traffic). Total office visit time: 35 minutes. Evan's doctor is wonderful but I sure wish he was closer.

Off to Plano

Please pray for a safe trip to Plano. Evan and I are leaving around 11 for a 1:45 appointment. Most of you know how much I like driving in Dallas so please also pray for sanity and peace. I also pray that Evan does well in the car. He will have Star Wars movies, his Gameboy and lots of books so we should be good! Let you know how it all turns out!

Happy Birthday Alan!

Alan is now 35, while I am still a very young 34. I found this baby picture of Alan. Wasn't he cute in his younger days....



Seriously, though, thanks, Alan, for your friendship and I hope you have a great day! Everyone show him some love and leave him some comments...

Stuff

I tried the advanced degree test that Cliff suggested. I am not sure I agree with the results. I hope that I am not ruthless.

You Should Get a JD (Juris Doctor)

You're logical, driven, and ruthless. You'd make a mighty fine lawyer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

We have always thought that Drew would make a great lawyer. He loves to argue. He got an award in first grade for the Best Negotiator. While that may work well in the classroom, it does not make getting him to do chores or obeying our rules much fun. We saw Judge Manske at Shipley's this morning and after talking to him, Evan decided he would like to be a judge. He is honest and fair. I think he would make a fine judge but what he really wants to be is an "army man." Luckily, he's got lots of time to think about it!

Speaking of Evan, he had to have blood work done again this morning. They did not draw the right labs when we were there 3 weeks ago. I felt bad for him but he was a trooper. His behavior has gotten a little better. We stayed home last night and played games. We really needed a quiet night at home. I have been reading The Voyage of the MiMi with the boys. It is very interesting. We tried to get everyone to bed early because Drew has to be at school at 7:15 on Tues and Thurs for UIL Numbersense practice. He stays until 4 on Tuesdays and Fridays for his Super Duper math class. We are also working on 600 funky words for the UIL Spelling Test. Poor Evan just gets dragged along. I am trying to make a special effort to get him involved in fun stuff. He really doesn't do anything fun and we didn't get him in any activities because at the beginning of the school year he was so unstable. This medical stuff is no fun. It is time to move on!!!

Weekend Report

The highlight of Lindsay's weekend was getting to meet Sleeping Beauty at a birthday party. Some of the dads at the party wanted their picture with Sleeping Beauty as well. I think they were glad their wives made them take their kids to the party. Lindsay has been in school for only a few months yet eight out of the 12 kids in her class have already had birthday parties. It almost feels like she goes to school on Saturdays because she's been at a party almost every weekend since school started.

Football games, cool weather, falling leaves and lots of family time are many of the reasons I love fall. I guess I will have to be happy with good family time. The football game...well... you know. This is how Lindsay felt about the game! I am just glad that Shawn doesn't have this loss on his shoulders.
Evan enjoyed spending time with his soon to be Uncle David. Evan is normally a UT fan but mainly because Drew likes A & M. Evan was very sweet about cheering for Baylor and not joining with the hundreds of orange clad Waco invaders. He knows where his bread and butter come from.
Evan had a major setback this weekend. He had a huge fit Saturday and I'm talking the Mother of All fits Sunday. I won't go into the details but I do feel like the honeymoon period with this med has worn off. I sure hope this is not true. I feel like we find something that works then about a month later it is no longer helpful. Please pray that we are able to get him back on track.

Evan's latest obsession is putt putt. All he talks about are birdies, eagles and albatross. He picked up the lingo from a PS2 game. He asks everyday if we will take him to play putt putt. What he would really like to do is play "real" golf. Maybe that could be his incentive to return to the REAL Evan.

Drew's funny question of the week: As Drew scanned the high school football scores in the paper this weekend he wanted to know why a school would want to be called A and M Constipated? I think he needs to read a little more closely!

Halloween

Lindsay dressed up as Belle for her school party on Friday. Her dress was itchy but she endured. She mentioned to me that I was the only mom who didn't attend the party. I felt terrible but justified. I just couldn't see how I could work it in. She goes to school at 8:30. The party was at 9:30. She gets out of school at 11:30. That doesn't leave much time for cleaning and preparing for Homcoming company. I baked pumpkin cookies for the party and Lindsay was grateful for that but next time she wants me to go to the party.
For Halloween, Snow White and I went to the museum for our weekly mommy and me class. Lindsay goes to the big kid class now. Last week, we learned about apples, gourds and pumpkins. The kids tasted several types of apples including dried apples (my favorite). They carved a pumpkin and ate baked pumpkin seeds. They even learned about the uses of gourds in Early America. The lesson this week was about spiders, insects and other creepy crawlers. I was pretty much grossed out the whole time. The kids got to pet a tarantula, centipede and best of all.... race hissing cockroaches! As you can see in the picture, Snow White kept her distance from the roaches. Smart Princess!! Later Halloween night, we went to church for the annual Harvest Hoedown, Drew refused to dress up. He said he was going as a nerd. Evan was an old man again. Lindsay wanted to be a cat again because it was cool outside (and it is more comfortable). There were so many fun games to play. Unfortunately, we got a lot of the candy back that we donated.
We ended the night at the Gohrings house. The kids liked their stash of candy the best. They had the good stuff including hot tamales. Lindsay loved playing with the doll house and the dog. Evan liked meeting some new folks. Drew was mesmerized by Jan and her ability to sign so quickly. He asked if we could learn sign language. Sounds like a good summer project to me! I reminded him that he signed as a baby before he could talk. We tried to remember some of the signs that he used. We decided that we still use a lot of those signs even today.

Homecoming

Homecoming weekend was special because Mark's sister and her family were here from Corpus! The bonfire was neat-o! The kids loved the cool spinning ride and the inflatables. I thought the hot air balloon ride was an awesome experience. You will have to trust me that we are in the basket of the balloon. Our nieces seemed to love the bus ride from the Garage Mahal to the parking lot of the Ferrell Center the most. We stayed up late and got up early. Lindsay was so excited about getting candy at the parade. She risked life and limb to get every piece of candy she could get her hands on. Maybe she forgot about the huge stash of candy she already had at home from trick or treating in the dorm.

The boys don't care much for the parade. They found a friend and played football the whole time we were there. I guess parades are a little silly. I like the bands but there never seem to be many. There are plenty of girls in skimpy dresses freezing their tails off though. Some of the floats were really elaborate. Some were downright stinky--literally (think poop)! Nonetheless, we go every year to see old friends and for the sake of tradition.
Drew and Evan climbed "the rock" before the game. They found it to be more of a challenge than the expected. Because the rope was counterweighted, they were fighting the rope most of the time.
We thought we might have a chance to win the game but the game got ugly after halftime. The kids enjoyed visiting the skybox with ol' pal Bart Byrd and watching the game from up high. The unlimited ice cream and other snacks were a definite plus. We went to Salado after the game for some family time. The cousins always enjoy playing together.
We were glad to get an extra hour of sleep to help make up for the weekend activities. We were even able to wake up on time for early church.