Spring Break

We are thoroughly enjoying our spring break so far. The weather the last two days has been gorgeous and hopefully it will continue for the rest of the week. I finally started reading Twilight over the weekend. OMG! It. is. so. good. That's about all I can say! I've already read half of the book and I'm sure I'll have it finished by the end of the week. I've been taking it with me everywhere and reading every chance I can get while I'm off this week and while I've had some quiet time around the house. The night I started reading it, I stayed up until 1 a.m. I'm not big on "vampires" by any means, but this book is soooooo good. Now I know why my friend Amanda couldn't stop talking about it! I'm really anxious to see the movie, which I've heard is not near as good as the book - we'll see.
On a totally different topic, I went to see my cardiologist this morning for a stress test and boy, was that interesting! I've been having these weird palipitations in my chest for about 3 weeks now. Actually, they started towards the end of February so I called and made an appt. for March 4th (which just so happened to be the same day as our 2nd grade field trip to the zoo...........great planning, I know). They detected a definite "hiccup" in my heartbeats and scheduled me for bloodwork, an echocardiogram, and a treadmill stress test. They also set me up to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours and I had to press a button every time I felt anything unusual. Before I could leave the office that day on March 4th, I nearly passed out cold and my bloodpressure dropped dangerously low. They wouldn't let me drive home so I had to call my friend Jennifer to come and get me. The girls were with me and the only thing Lauren managed to say in all of this was, "Mommy, are you going to be staying home tomorrow?" LOL! So, long story short and LOTS of tests later, my heart is completely healthy and the doctor feels that I am super low-risk for any kind of heart disease or problems. She said my bloodwork was "sickingly great" and that I did really well on my stress test. There were 5 stages to the treadmill stress test and she said most people do not finish it. Well, I made it to stage 5, but I did have to tell her to slow it down. I was sucking wind BIG TIME!!!! She said they've had several people that had to be taken to the ER following a stress test before - that's real encouraging!!! I honestly don't see how elderly people with extreme heart conditions could get past Stage 1 on that thing. She said I got further than most people, so I was definitely proud of myself for that! She said they could put me on beta blockers to help when these weird palipitations flare up, but I opted not to. She said I did the right thing by investigating what could be causing them. She said alot of women my age come in with the exact same symptoms and end up having a hole in their heart or congenital heart disease. Heart disease is known as the "silent killer" because people who have it generally don't show any symptoms. She said it is more likely to occur in women than men........so, if you feel something isn't just right, have it checked out and don't dismiss it! I'm glad I did and it is a definite peace of mind to know that everything is fine!

Here's the girls posing Friday morning before school in their "western attire". They celebrated Rodeo Day in kindergarten and had fun rodeo themed stations and a cook-out in their classroom. They were supposed to have it all outside, but were unable to due to the crappy weather. This is about as western as they wanted to get.


Here's Jill braiding Lauren's hair....


Here's Leah having her
hair braided....




Here's some cute pictures I took of my little man on Wednesday. He found one of the girl's Etch-a-Sketch toys and had a blast trying to figure out what to do with it. The girls were quick to step in and give him a drawing lesson, however all he really wanted to do with it was scribble - imagine that!!!

We are SO glad to be out for spring break - much needed for sure! Stephen had to work today so I've spent the day with the kiddos at home. We spent the whole day inside with our jammies on playing and relaxing. I actually got to cook a nice breakfast for everyone this morning (something I don't usually have time to do). It was great to not have to go anywhere! Originally, we were supposed to go camping with Stephen's parents, but we canceled due to the bad weather. Hopefully, the weather will brighten up for next week so we can get outside and enjoy it. We're going shopping with my mom on Wednesday and I am so excited about that. I need to get some things for the kiddos as well as myself for spring. I've got a bunch of gift cards from Christmas and birthday that I need to use!

Pics, pics, and moooooore pics!

I feel like I need to catch up on posting some pictures and videos since I haven't in a while. This first set of pictures is of the girls at a birthday party for one of their friend's at school. It was at the brand new Little Gym in the Sam Moon shopping center. Stephen took the girls and Logan on Saturday and they all had a blast. The girls are now thinking that this is where they would like to have their 6th birthday party in April. We had been tossing around the idea of going to Sweet and Sassy and riding in the pink limo, but I think I like this idea even better! Stephen said it was very well organized and kids of all ages can participate so I really like that.

"Are you watching me?"

"Hmmmmm...this could be

tricky"

Here's a video of the girls participating in one

of the activities at the party. They had a blast!

Now, on to the RODEO!!! Stephen and I took the girls yesterday....first time either of us had been in years.....I'm talkin' YEARS!!!!! We really did not know what to expect! First of all, trying to enjoy the rodeo at the same time as all the other 72,000 Jonas Brothers fans was probably not the best idea in the world. I have never seen so many people in such a small compacted space in all my life - not even Disney, believe it or not. If I'm going to walk around in hot crowds like that, I'd rather be at Disney than walkin' around smellin' cow poop! The outside festivities would have been much more enjoyable if it had not been so crowded. We were able to do a few things. The girl's got to do this "Fun on the Farm" activity which was for all aged kids. They got

to go through these stations just like a real farm and at the end, they took their items to the market" and got paid money to buy a snack in the General Store. It was a really neat idea

and learning experience for them.

Standing in line at the

"farmer's market"

Sorting their items

at the market

Daddy and the girls being silly

Entering the Dairy Barn

Lauren milking a cow

(don't worry - it's not real!)

Leah milking a cow

(This one is real - HA - not really!)

After hanging around outside for a while, we finally made our way into the Stadium to find our seats for the rodeo and concert. The rodeo was neat, but a little bit too long I thought. The girls kept asking where the Jonas Brothers were. Finally, after about 2 hours of rodeo fun, they made their way onto the stage and I don't think I've ever heard screams like that in my life! You would have thought it was the Beatles coming out or something. Girls were screaming, crying, and carrying on. I must admit, it was quite exciting! Be sure and check out the slideshow I put at the top of the blog. I ended up getting some really good pictures!

Here's a video of them singing part of the song,

"Lovebug", which is one of their big hits.

Leah during the concert

with her binoculars

One more week 'til Jonas Brothers concert!!!!!!

This time next week we will be at the Jonas Brothers concert! I bought the tickets from my friend Carol at work (thanks Carol!). She bought season passes to the rodeo this year and offered them to me. Stephen and I are taking the girls and we're all really excited about it - well, I'm not too sure about Stephen. I think he's just excited to be able to spend time with us. Work is keeping him really busy these days so we don't see him a whole lot. Anyway, I can't even remember the last time I went to the Houston Rodeo. Isn't that sad? I'm thinking that I was probably in college????? I am by no means a "western" kind of gal and do not listen to country music whatsoever......... so it has never even occurred to me that I should go. But, for the Jonas Brother's - we're there baby! Just tell me when and where I need to be! I will be sure and post pics of them next week after the concert. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good ones!

This is definitely going to be a busy week for us - it's TAKS week at school, Field trip to the Zoo on Wednesday, doctor appt. for Leah's arm on Monday, Logan's 15 month well check visit (still need to make the appt. for that one), and Bunko. Plus, a baby shower, 2 birthday parties and our couple's Bible study all on Saturday. Our group was nice enough to rearrange our weekly Sunday Bible study to Saturday since we will be at the concert on Sunday. Somewhere in there I have to remember to set our clocks forward next weekend! I hate losing an hour, but it sure is nice to have more daylight outside! The kids really enjoyed being outdoors this weekend - despite the crazy wind!

Hope everyone has a great week and I'll try to post some updated pics later in the week! :) Oh, by the way, thanks Amber for letting me borrow your Twilight book. My mom brought it to me today and I'm going to try and start it some time this week. Everyone has told me that once I start reading it, I won't be able to put it down. I'm anxious to see......I'll let ya know!

Random thoughts from yours truly.......

This weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday by going out to lunch at Johnny Rockets. I posted a video of him being sung to below. Anyway, I think he was very proud of his free icecream sundae and balloon they put on his wrist. No one can wear a balloon like good old Papaw! My mom, my brother, and my nephews all joined us for the occasion. We had a great time!


We really enjoyed the beautiful weekend. There were only two instances that I nearly had heart failure. The first one was when our computer ended up getting a virus on it somehow. To make a looooooong story short, we took it to Stephen's cousin (who is like a computer genius) and had him look at it. He said there were actually several viruses on there so he took them all off and installed some new anti-virus protection and a bunch of other anti-somethings to help keep it from happening again. He had it fixed and ready to go Sunday afternoon so we were so grateful - thanks Ben! One day without my computer was pure torture........torture I tell you! No facebook, no emails, no blogging.......what is the world coming to? Just kidding.....
Moving on......the other thing that nearly gave me heart failure was the $13, 000 bill we got from Tomball Regional Hospital. That is where Leah had her arm surgery last month. And of course, I open this lovely piece of mail Saturday night when no business office is open for me to call and have it cleared up. I just kept telling myself it was a mistake. Well, I called first thing this morning and sure enough....it was an error! Huge sigh of relief! Yes, I was on the phone this morning
with the insurance company as I'm driving like the Mad Hatter to my house......I had to leave school during my planning time to go home and turn the alarm off so our precious cleaning lady, Margarita, could get in without setting it off! I forgot to remind Stephen that she was coming today so of course he set it this morning without thinking. In the words of sweet Margarita....Aye. Aye. Aye. No me gusta!
God bless her!

Oh, one more thing! Stephen and I are participating in this new Bible study through our church called The Relationship Principles of Jesus. It's a 6 week study written by Tom Holladay and Rick Warren (the same pastor who wrote The Purpose Drive Life). It's kind of the same thing except it focuses on all the relationships you have in your life (mostly with your spouse though). Last night was our first session. The weird thing is that the small group we are in is with all of our friends that moved with us from our old church to our new church. It is nice to have those connections already - it definitely makes it easier to open up and participate in the Bible study. We have a book to go along with the study and we're supposed to read one chapter a night. Stephen has already predicted that we are going to be the "bad students" and not do what we're supposed to, however, I'm determined to prove him wrong. I guess it would help if I got off the computer and went and read today's chapter. Luckily for me, the chapters are REALLY short. I'm more of a writer than a big chapter book reader. For example, I want to read Twilight, but fear I will never finish. I still need to borrow the book from you Amanda! Edward is calling.......

Enjoying the sunshine

Yesterday we joined up with some friends for a stroll in the neighborhood and to the park after school. It was the perfect day for it - the weather was great! We even stopped to pose for a picture. It was nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine instead of just going straight home to do things around the house. We're going to try and start doing this at least once a week.......How does "Walking Wednesday" sound?

Here's Logan and his buddy Kooper - his mom and I were pregnant with our boys at the same time and our due dates were like one day apart. However, Logan came a little early and Kooper 2 weeks late!!!

Just a swingin'

Happy Valentine's Day, but beware of the sugar rush........

I just had to post this video of the girls tonight after their "sugar-filled" day of valentine treats at school. Then, to top it all off, I made the mistake of letting them eat some pieces of candy (something they usually do not get to do very often) and they went beserk! The whole "sugar 'em up and send 'em home" teacher philosophy takes on a whole new meaning when you have school aged children in your own home. Beware of the sugar rush - the repercussions are dangerous!!!

Happy Valentine's Day (one day early). It seems as though it was today since we celebrated at school. It actually wasn't as wild as I thought it would be. Today was also the 100th day of school and I was able to get a quick picture of the girls as they trotted by this morning during the parade - I was so proud of them both! They did it!!!! We managed to get out the door and off to school this morning with minimal meltdown dramatics so that was pretty good. However, I still had my doubts that they would participate......especially Leah. Well, they did it with a smile!!!! Hold that thought.......Leah just walked in here and saw the pictures I'm posting and said, "Mommy, when you took that picture today, I was about to start crying because I was scared....... but I did it anyway." God bless her little heart!



100 year old Lauren - she was
actually walking hunched over
with the cane - loved it!



100 year old Leah

Tomorrow we're going to try to sleep in, enjoy a yummy breakfast together, and then all the girls are going to get their nails done as a special Valentine's treat! The boys are going to get the oil changed in the car. Hmmmm........I think the girl's outing will be more fun for sure!