The Misplaced Hoosier Family

Our Freshman-Gretchen 2010

2010-11-17T14:57:00.008-06:00

Our girl just hanging around....

We had a lot of fun doing these pictures. She was feeling good, looking good, and the day was just right sun wise. Notice the heels? She loves "high" shoes...all to give her height.

Random Junior Year Photos of Kayla

2010-10-07T17:53:00.009-05:00

We finally got smart after all these years and didn't get pics from school. We are creating our own. Check Kayla out...these are a few of 50 I took.

Gretchen and her band days so far

2010-10-05T17:09:00.003-05:00

Something needs to be said about my 3rd daughter....toooooo busyyyy. I cannot keep up with her schedule...everyday I have to ask where , what, and how.... her day begins at 5:20 am..getting up and ready for seminary at 6 am.. Then off to high school for freshman softball or basketball conditioning and tryouts from 7:30 am - 9:00 am.. Then classes begin. She is out at 2:30 and then the fun with band begins till 7 or 8. If she is lucky .... Add in there homework, youth activities, green cord service...(100 hours for year), student counsel (homecoming preps.) and whatever else she SQUEZZEs in her day. Wowser---I am beat just talking about it. Anyway she is thriving.....so I hear.

Our trip to Utah and Idaho

2010-10-04T17:42:00.013-05:00

The view from where we ate breakfast....amazing!

The food Susan tried to eat...banana bread french toast ...ugh so full.

The opening of the door to our amazing treat. Below the inner of the diner. What a quaint place to eat...very busy all the time...we highly recommend to eat there if you have the chance.

Here is the view Stephanie gets to see when she tries to run in the late afternoon.....what a perfect view of peacefulness.

We went to visit some old friends from back 10 years ago in Indiana...we saw Jackie Runyan (no pic though) in Smithfield, Utah. We visited for a bit and had to leave to catch some more friends. She still has a great laugh and wonderful personality like we never left. Onward to the Foote home in Layton, Utah. Saw all the kiddos ...boy have they all grown up...and talkative. We didn't get to see Nathan but know he was there in spirit. Thanks Tammy...her pic is on my cellphone. Really nice area....reminded me of our area in Texas. From there I think we went back to Mike's sister in Highland, Utah. Hung out and enjoyed their company. Mike and his nephew Cooper shot basketball as long as they could. Probably could of gone on for a very long time. We traveled Utah in the Salt lake City area...just amazed at the architecture and consistent building improvements. All in all...we were ready to come home to Texas minus one.

Off She Goes!

2010-09-14T14:48:00.005-05:00

I have to tell you, having Stephanie in college is cool. It is very quiet...no more big feet on my ceiling when I am sleeping...no more 22-24 ppl. in our game room for a party...no more arguments over the bathroom between Gretchen and her....no more silently cleaning up someone's mess without being asked.....no more getting dad hyper even though he loves it and misses it....no more Stephanie stuff. I think she is missed...shhhh don't tell her. But if you are lucky to be on her friend list , you will see college life in Idaho is totally agreeing with her. In this picture is part of her room still getting organized, Notice the bare walls? Working on it.

Stephanie's Prom - May 2010

2010-08-11T16:49:00.008-05:00

I don't remember being so undecided about going to the prom...do you? Yes...no...yes...no...maybe.
Well...she went. Two dudes (that is their name)
from drumline. Aren't the girls so pretty? It was an eventful night. Glad it went with no more weirdness than necessary.

Colorguard Banquet May 2010

2010-08-11T16:36:00.007-05:00

Being goofy with major action and drama.

Look at all the trophies our team has won!

Fav. winterguard friend MAKAYLA.

How lame am I ? Well it has been months since I have blogged. Too busy and too much information to write down. I will catch up fast. We came in second in the state of Texas for Winterguard. Now we need to keep it there---for awhile.

Mormon Prom April 2010

2010-04-29T21:26:00.007-05:00

Another great event for us in April...LDS Prom 2010. Kayla invited her friend from Colorguard to attend with her for some great entertainment. There day started with getting Kayla's dress and jewelry then hoping over friends house for pics and then to dinner at Chipotle and finally---the prom.

Catch up time

2010-04-04T16:46:00.013-05:00

The events----

It has been an awful long time since I last blogged. I will hopefully do our family life justice by writing and thinking up the last few months and thensome. We had some really fun snow---freaked out the locals...the NORTHERNERS loved it.

January and February

Middle School basketball- came in fourth in district

Church basketball- came in first in stake area

Winterguard Competitions

College applications and financial questions

Big Time Rodeo

Welcome to the 8th grade Wnba!

2009-12-14T19:13:00.004-06:00

Whew! What an exciting and taunting weekend for 8th grade girls basketball. Friday night---we battled against Grapevine...lost by one point. The refs were extremely stinky and were worse the last minute and ten seconds. That is how our team lost. There were some big...big girls on this team too. A big girl was one of the best that Gretchen keept the ball from. The BIG girls' dad was sitting next to me and said...look at that small girl...is she even a 8th grader? SURPRISE!!!! Gretchen stole the ball from her 2 times. Oh ,the dad said she IS GOOD. Oh I said...that is my daughter ---the small one. If looks could ---well you know. The battle went on for awhile...lucky for them there was no OT. G's team came away with scratches and bruises but nothing extreme. The next day, Saturday, we played twice in the tournament. First, against Richland Hills, which was an okay game except Gretchen got pounded. One of the girls slammed her on the floor head first...she laid there a couple of seconds---not good--since she recently had ear surgery--then she got up gave the thumbs up to coach and she went on to score 6 points. She came away from that game with a few more scratches and 3 fouls. Go girl. Second team we played was really out for blood. They were Timbercreek. Hard core cores and very annoying with their ball chant. Which---Gretchen fixed one girl accidentally by bopping her in the throat acccidentally ---- We won this game in OT because their girls fouled out so much they only had 3 left to play the rest of the game. Both teams were very foul tending. We brought this game with everything we had too--of course. The only bad thing was Gretchen got punched in the nose and bled ---then her teeth were bleeding. So yes---these girls were out to WIN...and our team did...3rd place in tournament. Whew!!!

Random--

2009-12-09T09:19:00.002-06:00

Random thoughts as my third Christmas season in Texas arrives--

I have come to appreciate the Texas spirit of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, Veterans Day, Labor Day and football season... whether the area in the city is decorated in flags, lights, spirit or whatever...there is a certain respect here that I haven't noticed anywhere else I have lived. I look forward to seeing the flags out in the islands for miles and miles....I look forward to the goofy Halloween decorations that are displayed by my neighbors and around....I really look forward to alllllll of the lights and decorations that are displayed for fun and competition during the holiday season - many have the mangers displayed out too. Football is a whole different season here and it is one you won't forget and really get into...a lot. I liked football before but I really have become a junky ...I still display my Michigan flag and wear my shirts...I get looks cause obviously the Longnorns, Texas a&m, the frogs etc... are very popular and over powering here.
I get a kick out of how cold the texans get when it dips into the 50's---oh they really freeze anything below that. My neighbors know I am a northerner because I relish the fun and idea of putting my festive lights out when it gets chilly and possibly cold here. Oh Susan---you are such the northerner...what can I say...thank you!!!! All of the Texans have their heat on 70 or so ---me, I keep my heat at 67-68 or if it is windy out and the breeze comes in the house maybe 69. Friends have learned to layer up in my house because comfort is the thing you know----love it.
One really lucky thing for our family is that we got great neighbora again. We talk and share--always wave hello stop and chat--even the men do. we had that somewhat in Indiana as far as the men but more here. In the area where I live people let you know when your brake lights are out---not in Ind..... or Jersey ---or Ohio. In fact---a motocyclist followed me to let me know one of my lights were out...creepy but southern kindness. Dogs rule here in the neighborhood and all over as far as I can tell. Everyone seems to be walking or running with a dog. You will find in Lowe's or Home Depot owners with their dogs small medium and LARGE ones. It cracks us up. We thought about bringing our cats but ---nahhhh. Although I have taken them in the car 3 times since being here to pickup or drop off Gretchen to/from school. Funny! So, if you are smart dog sitting is very popular here---
I think that is all for now--- I now there is more to share but I have stuff to do.

Homecoming and Texas Mums

2009-10-14T18:21:00.004-05:00

here is the mum and kayla the other picture is her showing Taylor's name on it from EFY in Texas. They still talk and talk.

It is a huge deal here and maybe somewhere else---mums on your neck from your guy or from yourself. They can be gaudy or just right. This is Kayla's second year in having one designed for her---by mom. We just added some stuff to last years and she was happy! Wait till next year--maybe a guy will make her one.......

Undefeated Volleyball team-Go Gretchen

2009-10-14T18:10:00.012-05:00

It has been a great 8th grade volleyball year for Gretchen's team. They have 2 more games till the end of the season... then BASKETBALL. Here are a few views of her efforts as well as the teams. Also--notice the white shirt? She is a "lebarro" (spelling) which means she can come into play anytime.. anywhere and SURPRISE the other team with her talents. Cool!

Roadtrip coming soon

2009-10-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

Have you watched the insanely funny movie Roadtrip with Raven Simon(e)? I have seen it twice and belly laughed both times. My husband and daughter are headed to Utah and Idaho Oct. 25th. Just them and the sky and the open road. If you have seen the movie roadtrip you are probably laughing right now... I know I am. The only difference is that Mike isn't wanting her to stay in Texas or have to go to our Alma Mater--- but the whole trip thing with the two of them is a hoot and a half. I wonder if Donny Osmond will happen on their trip?????Anyway off they will go to BYU-I, BYU-Utah, and Utah State/Univ. and whatever else they have time for. OMG!!! I hope they take pictures and learn to enjoy each others company---not happening right now... ...butting of the smart and bullheaded minds. So stay tuned...I know I will.

Our High School's First band Competition

2009-10-05T15:08:00.008-05:00

Way to go Stephanie pounding the sound effects! Waiting for her place ...

Kayla and her colorguard's cool moves . Man can they move it.

The band ended with preliminaries of 4th place in the rain....drumline (percussion) got 2nd place and colorguard received 1st place. Finals were not cont'd due to massive rain. Next, homecoming parade and football game.

Life in September

2009-09-12T18:08:00.002-05:00

Well--- here we are. The senior, alias Stephanie, has hardly any homework...enjoying life in final year of band. No boys in her life --just friends. Stephanie and her hawaiian friend Milani agreed lately that boys can wait till college... that made both moms very happy. She had her last college test today---cross fingers for scholarship! No toe crossing though. Kayla, the sophomore, enjoying colorguard...but not the new directors. We'll see. So far school is -eek. She, on the other hand, is counting days to the BIG 16. Two boys are in her mind. What can ya do? Horse riding is on hold till winter (hehehehe) what winter? Gretchen, the 8th grader, is loving volleyball, 8th grade, and hanging with her friends. Band is high on her priority to do well in district and sectionals--that is hard here since there are sooo many percussionists. We will see.

On another note-- wehave turned down 2 jobs out of Tx. One in Ohio --the other in Illinois. It just wasn't the right time having a senior in high school. We thought a lot about it---so here we are. It looks like for another 2-3 years. That makes Kayla happy and Gretchen sad. More things are cooking for Mike without us moving so we will see on that too.

All in all--it is time to take pics of downtown Keller-cute and quaint. Since this is where we are --just wait . I will have to download the neat restaurant places we have been too. SO there you have it---

My baby's 13th Birthday Party

2009-09-01T14:57:00.014-05:00

The girls and the things they do....

Football!!! Invasion of the bathing beauties!

Water balloon toss getting a makeover.

Yummy ice cream cake! Seconds and thirds!

Lookout below---I am falling backwards!

Can you say eeek? Well, here it is ---the party we have been preparing for weeks. Sixteen invites later, on the 29th of August, we celebrated Gretchen's Birthday with fab and flair hawaiian style. Thirteen girls showed up for burgers and dogs, unlimited swimming, water balloon toss and fight, free lance football with 4 boys from the hood, volleyball with beach balls, and yummies galore, with an evening movie outside by the pool by National Treasure. Wow--so much fun to watch and hear. More than 3/4 of these girls were G's buddies from either volleyball or basketball from the middle school. They all got leggy this summer-Gretchen is still waiting to get leggy. here are some fun pics--

Which picture is THE ONE???

2009-08-12T12:48:00.017-05:00

You see--there are many faces of Stephanie-do you know her? Which is your pick? We have several this is just a smidgen of pictures.

Amazing!

2009-08-12T11:57:00.013-05:00

The pink cadillac he

bought for his mom.

Elvis!!!

The living room and music area..

The new dishwasher. Oh-ahhh

Gretchen riding the waves her style!!! Huge lake between KY and TN..

I would love to catch up on things since my last pitiful blog. I am flabbergasted at how the months have truly flown by. We are one week and afew days from school starting... Our summer has been different with no visitors coming in but we had lots of storms that led us to projects and stuff. We still do not have a tree in the front but we now have a new roof and new color of paint on our house. To even more more excitement than one can stand, I also have a new stainless steel dishwasher---it is soooo pretty and quiet. Quiet is the key word. We had some exciting decisions to make as far as jobs...Illinois or Ohio. Well, after much thought and prayer and whatever---we decided we d/n need to move and we d/n need to move Stephanie out of another school especially in her senior year. Mike looked at the plant in Ohio... was interested but timing was off. Illinois is still in future but not now. Thank goodness. we have been "stressed out" and on the edge with those decisions. Our months of summer has been filled with EFY, Girls Camp, volleyball and basketball camp (Gretchen) and Mavs basketball camp for Gretchen. As you can see they have been busy...the past 4 weeks the older two have been involved in band and colorguard camp. I have no pics of them doing that. We went on vacation to Arkansas for caving and hinking then strolled over to KY to visit Mike's cousin---there we tubed and jet skied to hearts delight. Loads of belly laughing and snickering ---cause it was funny. From there off we went to Tn....to visit Elvis' mansion. Wowser!!!!! That ws some tour--never to be done again but we did it. Onward home. Work-work-work. I am still trying to find a job...preferably in school system --but who knows maybe I will be working at Home Depot. Other fun times we have spent have been going to quite a few baseball-Rangers games. We have one this weekend in a suite should be very fun and warm---yeah baby! We also have been busy plotting with Stephanie her portfolio for her senior yr...---oh chills. What a fun blast and half that has been!!

Ode to my car

2009-06-28T17:33:00.002-05:00

Today I am in a sentimental mood. My Expedition is 10 years old---I have had it for 8 years. It has 162, 517 miles on it and counting. There have been many memories in it and many, many travels. To begin, the girls have had many changes in it from dance to friends houses to softball to basketball to church activities to volleyball to many camps and more friends houses to band camps and practices--loading and unloading. Girls...girls ...girls have been piled in the car and even slept in. In fact Mike and I have even slept(not well) in the expedition. It has been to many places Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan, Canada, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Kentucky, and of course Texas. I am sure I have forgotten some places but you get the message. It has also traveled through many places as well---- It has been a great vehicle to have after driving a minivan for 7-8 yrs.. This car even trudged through our first daughter's driving which is a really good test. Next is number 2 daughter---hopefully she will do well with this piece of machine too. It is fun to overlook other cars when traffic is over booked or look down on ppl. too. LOL. I like to push the speed limit whenever I can---just to show we can haul butt. My girls laugh---what a fun SUV this is! Whenever we go on vacation we have our trusty SUV---we pack it like a mule and love every piece of it. What a great mule it is. Eat your hearts out!!! This year will be lots of packing---colorguard equipment again, snare drum, bags and bags of stuff and even some college trips. Maybe this cool SUV will drive our daughter to college!!! Yeah-baby!!!

Reflections--

2009-06-25T10:24:00.002-05:00

Today I am anxious. I officially have a senior in high school. Wowser. Many seniors have come and gone---now mine will be in the same boat. She is getting her senior pictures done today since she has such a social load of work and band we thought it good to do it now before the temps. also get past 103 degrees. Today it will be 101-102. Her thoughts for her pictures were her varsity jacket with Homestead and Keller high plastered all over it because she still is a spartan at heart and an indian ; a nice picture of loveliness; a texan portrayal for fun; her snare drum from school; and whatever she might come up with that is top secret. We went to Charming Charlie's to get accessories for her outfits---she was overwhelmed with the colors that the store had to offer because it is huge! But---off we went with our purchases. It has been fun planning this part of her senior year. The next step will be shelling out money for her cap and gown---invitations---yearbook--ads in yearbook--band parties and events---competitions and what not. She has already taken her college tests and will most likely take another in October. her top picks for college are BYU-Idaho-1st; BYU -Utah-2nd; maybe a college in Ohio. Boys have become a hit on her list--but--oh no serios ones yet. Thank you thank you thank you!!!! It is kind of weird seeing her change in her looks-I have been looking at the past 3 years and am amzed at how she has matured in looks---she is still goofy-which one of her teachers in 4th grade told her not to change---WELL she hasn't . If you don't like her goofyness-TS!!!! AMny friends in Indiana and a couple here found it stupid...and didn't appreciate it for what it is worth---toobad for you. We like goofy. So here's to our senior!!! Wahoo!!!

And the Tree came Tumbling Down!

2009-06-18T12:50:00.008-05:00

The final cut.

Above the night of the storm. below--the next day looks.

Last Wednesday we had terrible storm---tornado sirens all over were bursting with sound---- It was me and the cats. Girls were at camp and Mike was on the road home. I took quick check to see how trampoline was doing and heard the most piercing siren and decided to run to THE CLOSET! I grab Misty (furball) and put her in down bathroom...couldn't find LILY...got treats and still couldn't find her and then---- I saw green fly across my front of house and decided to run to safety. This was stinkin serious. My purse and important documents and Misty were with me---I hoped Lily was good where she was and listened to storm around and occasionally the TV cooperated. Then lights out!!! I got a little worried...it was quiet, I looked outside and saw my tree was down...down... The winds were still going 70 mph and I just hung out around the closet just in case. No tv though. I couldn't get my weather radio to keep on... I called Mike---no answer I knew he was smart. So here are the pics of our gone tree. I made it fine--just really weird. Glad the girls were gone and just the cats and me were there to worry.

Final games for X-treme

2009-06-05T10:47:00.007-05:00

Pysching the other team out...kicking the bat and lookin' tough!

Monday was a hit! Two games back to back ...Gretchen's team beat the number 3 team 13-2 and onto the number one team for the fourth time...can we do it???? Here she is---stealing to third with flair! The game results---the other team won by 7--but what a fight two double plays by Gretchen and another girl--gretchen caught 2 poppers way in the sky---don't ever bat to her baby!!! She slid to second base to get a girl out!!!! A fellow player missed catching the ball and "G" caught it under her---WOWSER!!!! Can she play or what! She makes it look so easy. We really had fun watching the whole team for 4 hours--

The Big Weekend--

2009-05-04T10:05:00.009-05:00

Stephanie--all ready for band banquet evening---then comes along Bryan. Good thing she wore heels-I forgot how tall he was. They had fun night. First date for Stephanie went fine. Whew!

Kayla waiting for her friends to get ready--she had a blast too. Even danced with Stephanie's date. Her likable boy wasn't there---he goes to different schol district. Ho hummmm.

This is G's hip hop "Boom boom shake shake" -she is front left with poofy ponyhair. Awesome song and dance they always place first.

Batter-Up!!!

2009-04-19T20:04:00.006-05:00

Here we go---- another awesome beginning to fast -pitch in Texas. So far our team has been undefeated at 5-0!!! Wahoo..... Gretchen is really fun to watch both in outfield and at second base ---cause she takes NO CRAP!!! One game...she was in left field ---big girl was up to bat---the coach from other team signaled to hit it out where she is---cause ya know--- she cannot catch the ball cause of her size--- Guess what ---that girl was OUT!!!!!! The ball flew sweetly to left field, right where Gretchen was---up went her mitt and it magnetized itself to her glove!!! Sweet. Their coach was stunned ---ours was wacky with excitement. In tese pics we have "G" gettin gready to hit the ball or bunt.... then waiting for a girl to get on base...another player is trying to steal and "G' has her eye on her.... Awesome season---so much fun and excitement.

Dirty Air Quality

2009-04-09T18:38:00.002-05:00

So here I am in North Texas. Eons ago I lived in South jersey. There I got to smell all the factory and whatnot smells from S. Philly for years. Never bothered me too much. Except, I do remember a few times when the stacks really stunk--like skunk stink!!! I would make a lot of noise how smelly it was etc... Since then I have lived in Midwest for many, many years--- I haven't been exposed to much bad air quality that I can think of immediately. Two years under my belt (almost) in North Texas and let me tell ya---the quality of air is BAD!!! Not only do we have winds from the west of Texas blowing smoke from different dry fires but dirty winds from Mexico occasionally. Poor Mike-- he is suffering from dry eye and allergy eye because and due to the many poor conditions of the sir. The rest of us cough, wrinkle our nose, sneeze a lot since sooooooo many trees and what not are blooming and blowing around because you know what? I live in the windy state. yes--- not the windy city---the state. Who knew? So there you have it. In Dallas today the visibility is bad due to the west of tex. winds that are up in smoke from the drought over there--the pan handle area and somewhere near OK. I am just amazed with what we deal with. I know--be quiet. Because ya know--- it is 89 degrees today---deal with it.

happenings in life--

2009-04-06T11:17:00.002-05:00

Today rocks. It is Monday. Another survival of the fit-est weekend! Laundry beckons me...draperies need to cleaned.. floors need to be washed...Where oh where is Cinderella when you need her!!!?
Our weekends have been packed with the furnishing's of winterguard competition--last weekend the team performed in Grand Prairie where they came out with 7th place out of 18 teams in the SA division which they got promoted to 1 month ago. Last year I hear they were in SAA and got 17th place. So great job for them and what an accomplishment. Whew--on to other things like duets and solos for the class project. Then off to the middle schools to get some new girls excited and yearning for guard in 2009-10. This past weekend we spent with Gretchen and her dance team competing against many , many teams --lost track--. They came out with 3 top golds and 1 platinum (which is highest) award. We were starting to think the music was sounding the same since we couldn't hear well any longer. She had 2 softball games that she had to miss but we hear the team won--yea for them. Tonight is against last years number one team---we will see how that goes. It is windy again here. Hopefully it will be in our favor. Stephanie has been working more slowly as the new Marco's business is getting popular--yummo. Her weekend consisted of taking the ACT test and working and hanging with some friends before work needed her.She is working hard on her solo pieces for UIL that will consist of the snare and marimbas. Tuesday her concert section goes to UIL to get the number one spot. Good Luck!!! As for the adults--guess? We are running here there and everywhere but it is slowing down some.
In the past couple of weekends we have been slowly doing little projects. Soon our next one could be putting marble in the floor area of fireplace---got a good deal and a friend of Mike's thinks we can do it well. This past Saturday we went to a light store that was phasing out and we found all kinds of new goodies for our home. We have many cheap and ugly lights in this house---so after purchasing 10 fixtures we spent $290.00. We couldn't even have paid that for the big, huge fixture for the foyer we were looking at in Lowe's. So what a deal!! So we go on and on---looking for deals to fit our pocket. I think we were successful.

Final views of trip

2009-03-23T14:54:00.005-05:00

Another beautiful site from a different view area in park. Isn't it awesome?
Here is Gretchen and mom climbing down the rock area---mom is a bit slow since she is more fragile. Gretchen just about ran down the rocks. ugh--kids.

The picture below is where we had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the many people coming and going plus the little creeks were nearby to walk in if you wanted to.

More from O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a!!!

2009-03-23T14:44:00.005-05:00

Gretchen got a great picture of her dad walking into the cave.

Here's our girl ...Kayla... such a great poser. She enjoyed the rocks, water, streams, and sunshine with the rest of us.

Here is Gretchen way up at the first top of the rock climbing and cave adventure.

Turner Falls--Ok.

2009-03-23T12:49:00.002-05:00

This is Turner Falls, Oklahoma. Thsi particular picture is where you cool off and float with raft or whatever. I had heard that you float in a rather huge area. It isn't very big for loads of ppl. in hot, hot temps.. in my opinion. I was kinda disappointed but the caves and rocks were really, really cool. Mike, gretchen and I climbed as high as we could-- but I stopped about 3 feet from tippy top b/c Kayla was near water and strangers. If something happened one of us needed to be able to get there- plus the height was a little scary! beautiful scene though on an 83 degree day with loads of sunshine.

Spring Break Week

2009-03-17T08:54:00.002-05:00

What a good week we will have with no seminary---no studying--no homework--no preschool--and lots of rest. The week has started out good with Stehanie off to Mexico with the band from Hs. Good for her. The rest of us sleep well and think of fun things to do.

Monday--dig weeds and spiders then plant flowers and maybe a bush. Do very little work around the house. Buy new tires for Stephanie's car and get oil change. Maybe go grocery shopping for fun. Later took K and G to movies to see the Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was funny and sweet. I know a couple of those ppl... They are fun to be with and sometimes I wish I could just buy whatever and not look back. Sure------- G had sleepover with a friend and then hung out side with neighborhood kids. K just relaxed. After dinner helped Michael put part of wood fence up that blew down recently. ugh---so tired.

Tuesday--slept well. Cleaned pool out of leaves and debris. Threw some chemicals in to blast the crud away. Took trash out pulled some weeds that missed y-day. The day will be an adventure---hanging by the pool for a little color. No stress day. make sure we wear green!!!! The girls have a movie party to go to in the evening

Wednesday-- Michael will be off so we will travel to Ok. for an adveture in Turner Falls. Should be a beautiful day with lots of pictures. Tell all later

Thursday-- Not sure , maybe Six Flags or Fossil Rim where the wildlife roams. Or, shopping with friends. Who has money???????!!!!!

Friday--- Maybe La.-- there is some neat stuff to see just 2 1/2 hrs. away. Again tell all later. Michael will be coming with us, so you nver know...maybe house projects like trim and faucet replacements.

Yes indeed. Our spring break will be FINE!!!!

Busy Saturday---

2009-03-16T21:40:00.002-05:00

I forgot to go on about 1 week ago Saturday when Michael was in Indiana and Ohio for business. That was the busiest weekend --ever!!! It started Thursday with percussion practice and softball practice for Gretchen then leading to RS Birthday Social. Whew--oh yeah go get milk.
Friday was Percussion bash at the high school for all percussion students 6-12 th grade. Fun-fun. I watched Gretchen do the timpani-totally awesome and the snare and cymbals. What a treat that was to see her in action!!! I really was impressed with her timpani poise. Next was watching Stephanie in the Stomp Crew. That was really a blast!!! She was one of the lid crashers--noise--her fav.!!! It was truly cool to watch the talent with these 10-12 GRADERS--maybe a freshman or two. Awake early on Sat. and get Kayla to winterguard practice for 3 hours---go to stake tourney bb. Plan the game ---read other blog. Get Gretchen to dance competition watch her if can and then go back to BB tourney! Stephanie left BB went to percussion bash for HS--mom did not see her. My bad. Stayed at BB tourney and watched competition---not to bad. See other blog about tourney-- Picked up Gretchen from dance comp.---her 4 teams in hip hop/lyrical/jazz/ballet got elite first. Cool!!! Then rushed home to get ready for Kayla's competition in Aledo---d/n make it. I crashed and burned. The traffic d/n help either. So I waited for the call---they finished 5th in their new seat of SA and teachers were very proud. Picked her up at 12:30 am--or was it 1:30 since that was time change weekend?? Oh well we all slept snugly till 9:30 next morning!!!! Oh we called Michael off and on to keep him abreast of all events. That was that weekend--aaahhhhhhh I will find some pics---I am sure somebody has something to show for that crazy weekend.

Church ball is over

2009-03-08T14:58:00.002-05:00

Whew! The party is over...our team played really well all day yesterday...early morning at 8 am and 9:40 am---we won both games-yes! Then the challenging 2:30 game was eventful and fun--the girls won that game by 10 points. We heard the tongan team was most likely going to make the final game of the day---so were we. Another playoff for keller 1st...so I hear. What an intense game at 5:30 in the evening! The tongan team was very prepared--much taller and bulkier than the last time we played them. We did our best-est!! But, they won by 4 points. Our size was no match for theirs---the girls were way, way awesome. They handled the loss well and in an honorable way. I really wanted it for them since the whle season they grew and had fun in so many ways. I am thinking about what kind of award of some sort to give them. Love 'em.

saturday's trials

2009-02-23T17:37:00.002-06:00

Whew! We made it through the weekend! What a tornado of one too. Friday Night.. pulled washer apart since wasn't working.....picked up Kayla from guard practice...picked Grtechen from dance practice...still working on washer.. Went to bed. Saturday..woke up Kayla to get to guard practice for big competition that evening...organized self for church ball game..went to it...WE WON!!!! 29-17 Stephanie and Gretchen made 6-7 pts each...their neighbor friend made 13 pts.. and others contributed as well! We freaked out their 3 pt shooters!!! It was awesome.
So our YW team is 3-1 and will be 4-1 before tournament. Onward we go!!!! Rushed off to G's dance competition in Fort Worth... she had four dances to do and the team did well with 3 ELITE FIRST PLACE'S and one first place. Special honors from MTV for their Hip hop performance. It was a theatrical one at that! While we were doing that Mike was helping the guard team with their floor, Kayla and her team were preparing for their competiton in Arlington... they were hoping for top honors and move up on the class list....with a 74.6 score...THEY DID IT! FIRST PLACE AND MOVED THEM UP TO TOP PLACEMENT. So...now they need to kick some butty!! So they say.... Oh and the Jack's helped me put washer together so Mike d/n have to do it. Ahhh Sunday has arrived.

Tournament for Middle School basketball

2009-02-16T11:39:00.002-06:00

Another exhilarting tournament...Gretchen's team won Thursday's game and played for third place on Friday. First they played Dawson the huge talented team was all over our team like crazy. gretchen got squished by "helgga"...what a brut she was Gretchen bounced off of her and lost the ball only to recover it and throw to one of her team players that missed the shot. "Helga" smiled wickedly at "G". They beat our team by 16 points...eh we knew it would be bad. After waiting for awhile we then suited up for playing our rival ,Keller Middle.... What another fast-paced game...we ran them hard!!! Lots of talent between both teams...a lot of our girls knew friends on the other team...no friends on the court!!! We played hard and harder and finished with a win...I think by 6 points. It was great ...no baskets for "G" but lots of assists and steals.
Wahoo....

Church Ball!!

2009-02-16T11:31:00.002-06:00

We will ..we will .....rock you!!!!! Our team did it!!! We beat the Tongan team by 4 points all thanks to loads of hard team work and a couple of extra friends that play well. It was everything you would want to pay for in a game if you had to pay.... intensity, fast-pace (i know, not a word...), thrill...big scores... running like crazy to keep other team in daze..lots of fouls on both teams.... referees calling "bogus" fouls to slow game and attitudes down... Whew!!! It really rocked. Stephanie got 3 fouls in 10 minutes...whoa girl pace yourself. She smiled. Then she got smooshed and had to come out to regain composure. There was sweat flying...girls running fast ...it was so great. And yes...it was sweet that we won...but even if we lost by 1 point, it was truly an awesome game to be in...and at. The other amazing thing was that the moms and dads of the tongans girls were in the hallway waiting for sons to play and they said that was really a fun game. Gotta lovechurch ball. Yes????? We will see what happens next week.

She got a job!!!

2009-02-09T20:58:00.002-06:00

Can I hear a whoop-whoop?!!!! Guess who got a job...Stephanie!!! Yea...wahoo....
Found the post on craigslist ...told her about it...she dived at the opportunity...AND nailed it with enthusiasm galore. She is now orienting to work for Marco's Pizza!!!! She loves that pizza!!! The love feast started in Ohio at grandparents house..then con'td to Indiana...now....here. And the best is...the drive is 4 minutes from our house! Lets see how this all pans out now that stomp practice is going on...oh this year she is banging trash can lids!!! Concert practice is also going on...but it will work out. That is all for now.

Middle School basketball

2009-02-03T15:32:00.002-06:00

Today is my venting day....I am calm. If you talked to me yesterday (evening) I was an irritable parent of team. Here goes...the last game of season..we played rival Keller Middle School. Tall girls with some muscles on them. Ohhhh. We scored first (yeah)...our team still did not get any plays for the entire season...what they was on talent alone. I am amazed at the talent and the "stupid nous" (not a word) of coach. Anyway, the score of game was tight...thank goodness. But they were always ahead. Gretchen got in there a few times and got fouled so she scored some points... a really nice shot decided not to happen. She elbowed a player sneakily ( not word) and stole the ball...the other team couldn't figure the little one out. But we still played hard and ran out of steam...of course without plays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We lost by 6 points. Not bad but it could cost us out tournament position next week. Duh coach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooooo I am ready for Keller basketball to be done. I do love the game.......but we need a coach that gives plays to team just like the other schools have had. There I am done. Do I feel better....check back. Onward we go to dance team compettion and softball season!!!!!!!! LOL-big time.

Our weekend adventure

2009-01-28T17:51:00.014-06:00

We had so many laughs with our friends the Keelings. I think they brought the ice and cool air here...well maybe not, it was supposed to come anyway! Okay so...onward to the airport the big scary airport that spits out those that don't know how to do the circle to get back to where you started.... yes that would be ...ME! Okay we got the friends! Next doughnuts for breakfast and relax for 1 hour and enjoy the house peace. Next to a tournament basketball game for Gretchen. They won! Next leave and go to the stockyards in Fort Worth. Brrr. Windy and cool 45. Okay that is warmer than they have had but ya know...60's please? There we walked the town and saw the herding of 13 huge longhorns. Huge! Then a gunfight! Wow-wee. Next shops to keep us warm...should we buy armadillo pellets? Nah. Listened to a band outside gave a few dollars for the entertainment. Brr...the wind is picking up where to ? Oh ..H3. Yummo!!! Great steak, ribs and salad. try it...you'll love it! Next walked the strip so more and found a longhorn to sit on. yes we did it! Well, Mary and I did. He was cute in longhorn fashion. I couldn't get my one leg to get up on the darn thing since I wore my baggy jeans---I know what a problem-well yea it is when you are trying to get up on the darn thing!!!! Anyway..fun. Then we took various pics of the longhorn and us. Then I talked Mary into getting up on him...cool! She did it. We were going to stay and listen to some country guy sing at Billy Bob's but they were getting tired and Mike's rib injury from a working ski adventure was hurting him. So we went home to a warm and cozy house. Next day...Sunday.. we went to the Gaylord Texan and walked and walked around, took various pics and decided nice place to visit. Onward we went to the Grapevine Lake...oohh boats were out and fisherman...don't know what they were fishing for but they were fishing. Nice 65 degrees and sunny day it was to do this. I thought about renting a boat and riding the lake...no one jumped at that idea! Next visited the great Wolf Lodge...nice! We went hoe to relax and catch a few winks and ping pong...ate a bit of dinner and left for the rodeo in Fort Worth. Loved it! great riders, barrel racers, funny clowns, roping of animals and other stuff--free! We got lucky and someone had 4 tickets not being used---FREE! Love it! Onward home...slept and next morning took them to the airport. BOOOOOO. Thanks guys!-- Love ya!!!

Church ball

2009-01-20T15:03:00.003-06:00

Wahoo! Our first game was thrusting with excitement, power, and fun. Keller 1st beat Woodland Springs YW team 25-24. Can you say...wowser? I the coach, was totally full of panic...I didn't prepare for this to be so competitive or a showstopper. I had 17 girls show up. Cool! But hard to figure out...half knew how to play, the others just did what they could and very well too. Woodland Springs was up in score most of the game...frustation from me since I knew we could beat them with the 7 that already play in middle school or have in the past played. I shuffled all 17 girls around...all played ..amazing it was! Down to the last 2:15 of game the other team was working the time and I couldn't do a thing...so I called one of my girls to foul...foul!!! Whew! I pulled in the power guns,,,my 2 daughters, Erica, Donna and Shelby. And GAME IT WAS!!! Great game ...yes. I just got a little excited. Many parents commented on my excitement...I never thought I was going to be so competitive. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Anyway it was fun...the boys of our ward lost by 1 point. Awwww.

New Years Splash!

2009-01-13T19:16:00.004-06:00

Mike almost chicked out after seeing me be REALLY COLD in the pool...but he did it!!!

This is me totally emmersed in our pool at 40 some degrees or something like that. That was our deal between Mike and me...start off year with thrush of cold from pool. Just for fun!

Happy New Year---2009

2009-01-13T19:08:00.002-06:00

We spent this eveing with the Polings, the Jacks and us. We ate at red, Hot and Blue. Yummo! Listened to some deep jazz and then we hung out at our home with full bellies. The POlings went home and the Jacks came over to play cards and watch the ball come down. These are the Kacks. We met them through Bunge since Terry supplies the containers for Mike's plant.

Christmas afternoon ---still

2009-01-13T19:06:00.001-06:00

Oh yeah...and sje goes onto doing more pics of fabulous her. LOL--- she was having fun with her dad's hat.

texas-- Christmas afternoon---still

2009-01-13T19:05:00.000-06:00

Happy and goofy these girls are! Way, way in the back the longhorns were starting to come out.

Looking for Longhorns-Bear Creek Park

2009-01-13T19:03:00.000-06:00

Kayla---- being glamorous on Christmas Day.

Christmas Afternoon - Bear Creek Park Tx

2009-01-13T19:01:00.001-06:00

Here they are... so much sisterly love going on here!

Christmas Afternoon Family Picture

2009-01-13T19:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas Photos

2009-01-13T18:51:00.001-06:00

Christmas Morning with the Skeans' Girls! This was 7:45 am... are you all crazy....we need sleep.

Since Christmas..........

2009-01-07T15:44:00.004-06:00

I have some catching up to do.............

Lets see, Mike worked while the rest of us were baking cookies still, making more messes, and wraping last minute gifts. We even watched old Christmas movie favorites. Christmas Eve was interesting...we caroled to neighbors and ate our Roast Beef dinner...the temperature was in the 60's somewhere...while midwest was experiencing cold and ice etc.. Later that evening MIke wrapped his said gifts. Yeah for him. Christmas morning we did the usual gift opening and wearing of santa hats. The sun was shining brightly and the warmth was quickly upon us. Hey ...lets go take pictures in the park!!We went to the nearby Bear Creek Park. That was fun...trying to avoid bike riders, roller bladers, dog walkers and people in general. We got some... fun pics! The day progressed and we played ping pong (one of our family gifts) and had a blast with that. We slept a bit and caught up on parades and football. Our neighbors across the street invited us over for dinner...yummo! Stayed over there for a few hours and teens went to our house to play ping pong and other tv games. We missed out Ohio friends and family and all the doings with that but we were there in spirit I guess. No snow, no ice no rain here...just warn sunshine. Pics later...camera and computer not greeing with ea. other!

What we have done so far....

2008-12-23T10:53:00.002-06:00

The first week of school off goes like this...

buying last minute sister gifts....
baking 8 doz. cookies....
pumping gas till after Christmas at $1.36 p/g
sleeping soundly till whenever the eyes open....
caroling to our neighbors.....
wrapping gifts so all ready for Christmas
watching Christmas holiday movies on dvd and reg. t.v.
looking at all the well decorated homes in our area...WOW!!!
And it's just Tuesday!

The week continues.........

2008-12-17T10:49:00.003-06:00

You know the song from Sonny and Cher... "The beat goes on....? Well that is how the week is acting up. Monday was rushing around to finalize Stephanie's birthday shopping...last gift- reserved parking spot!!! Cool. Going to preschool teacher party...packing and shipping gifts to relatives and friends part 1 and spending a little time with Mike...he was off. The rest of evening was getting Kayla to winterguard and picking up Gretchen from basketball game. Tuesday worked.... and fussed around for Thursday events at school. Went to band concert for Gretchen -neat. helped with studying for twin cities test for Kayla in late evening. Wednesday hussle, hussle, hussle..... returned items not giving as gifts, cleaned house and did laundry, called friend to check on her status in life...final load of gifts shipped off and deliver children to appropriate functions at 6-7 pm-ish!!!! Laughing all the way with a little Sonny and Cher!!!

Yikes! -Been tagged

2008-12-03T16:20:00.003-06:00

8 Fav. TV Shows

Old Lucy SHows

Fringe

Dancing with the Stars

Bones

HGTV--house remodeling

Ghost Whisperer

What NOT TO WEAR

CSI_Miami

8 Fav. Restaurants

Cebolla's -Fort Wayne

Riscky's - Fort Worth

Chophouse- Fort Worth

Salt Grass- Grapevine

Panera- wherever

Bistro- Southlake

McCallisters Deli- Southlake

some mexican rest. in Keller cannot think of

8 Fav. things that happened yesterday

took back lots of presents y-day to save money

watched the sunset in Flower Mound while Kayla was riding

ate lunch with a friend

got 2 big hugs from Gretchen

woke up in the a.m.....

??????????

got to bed early

??????????

8 Things looking forward to

always Friday!

going somewhere carribean like with my main squeeze

being out of debt!!!!!

looking for new vehicle in 1-2 years

Stephanie getting accepted to BYU and going there

SEX! (LOL)

Christmas and New years Eve

Sleeping in....

8 things on wishlist

friends from Indiana coming to visit!!! HINT

Mike's job would be less stressful

Susan could find better job on off days from preschool

the other 5???????

Thanksgiving-- Skeans Style

2008-12-02T09:28:00.009-06:00

Here goes our day....woke up at 6:40 am to rescue roll dough that left out all night -oops. Hurried to punch it down and refrig. for 1 1/2 hrs.. Then started organizing Turkey day when what was going in oven etc.. Whew! Now watch the macy's parade because that is what you do ...at least Kayla and me. yeah us. While cooking, baking, and watching parade better organize Christmas lights and trees etc.. Cause you know... gotta get the lights up. Kayla and gretchen took the task of checking lights while I scrimmaged for stuff and con't cooking and baking and not over doing it!!! LOL--are you with me???? Stephanie is learning how to dress a table mom style or maybe Martha Stewart way...but not liking what I had in mind and did it Stephanie style...ehh okay. I gave in. Gretchen learned how to make green bean casserole for her dad and prepare the ham for her dad too. Then learned learned about cranbery sauce yummo !!! - for mom of course. Okay, 4 dozen rolls are ready to bake... lemon for meringue pie is waiting ...turkey looks fabulous... oh no sweet potatoes oh well less to work off!!! The corn made it...the mashed potatoes were warm but not hot... and nothing was overcooked or whatever could possibly go wrong in this chaos I created and generated. All the light swere up out side with Kayla's help and creativity...MOm help too!!!! Is it nap time??? Nope...time to make chocolate pie and meringue. LOL-really now. Then we went to our friends the Polings for dessert. Oh that was good fixins!!!! The guys and 2 of my daughters went outside to pay basketball cause you knwo...its 68 degrees or something like that!!! Oh did I say Mike and Stephanie played church friendly footabll in am with mr. Poling??? No injuries ---yes!!!! Okay--now back to basketball...Mike got injured by falling to ground on POlings stone/pebbled driveway...he tripped ober big foot Stephanie...LOL -are you with me now??? he came into house needing medical attention...luckily I could help with that and tened his hand wounds...now I just have to fix the hole in his pants!!!!!

SO HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO US!!!! Here are some pics.....

And more...

2008-11-30T20:35:00.000-06:00

More Ice!!

2008-11-30T20:33:00.001-06:00

More pics...

2008-11-30T20:29:00.002-06:00

Note... if you click on picture you get better view. I just found that out!!! LOL. SO the one of me sliding on ice slide...COOL!!!! really.

More adventure at the Gaylord

2008-11-30T20:24:00.002-06:00

This is a wine bottle Christmas Tree. Kind of different --yes? We were thinking about going to dinner here but the Hickory Inn was way out of our pocket range. Maybe next time.........

Happy Anniversay to us---23 years....

2008-11-30T19:57:00.008-06:00

What a long day this was........................ The usual chores of Saturday and thensome. No big shopping since that was done friday at 5 am... Yes!!! Mike and I got up and hit Best Buy and Academy Athletics. What did we get??? Goodies for most of us and a new GPS for my car just in case the car and driver decide to get lost. LOL!!!! No seriously, not funny.

Later that Saturday we deicded to hit the ICE show at the Texan Gaylord. What a magnificent ice sculpture event that was and... the lights and scenery at the Gaylord. Amazing!!!! The temperature in the room of the ice sculptures was 9 degrees. So, it ddin't feel too bad to Mike and me since we are NORTHERNERS still. There was polar bears, Santa. a Nativity scene. and angel, a super cool slide which both of us went down---wheeeeeee--- also many other amazing sites. 33 men come in from china and work on these pieces of art from id October to when they open...umm-- ealry November I think. Anyway... it was pricey to see but totally worth it. After that event we toured the gaylord with lights and trains and sleighs and many places to take your picture. Aaahhh. After that we left and went to THE BBQ Feedstore. YUMMMMMOOOO!!! Best buck for our money. Plus, we were starving...well okay really hungry. It is a shack amongst mansions and thensome. Very quaint and homey. We'll be back.

Life

2008-11-24T17:47:00.003-06:00

We have finished so many activities and so many more to go!! Since our last blog gretchen has made the 7th grade girls basketball team!!! Did we doubt that she wouldn't ? Noway!!! That girl has awesome Indiana skills!! She fears no one and no height is too grande for her to conquer. First basketball game was last Wednesday...against Coppell North. Ugly it was.... those girls have been playing since school started. Our team just got accomplished and established. Oh well...first loss. gretchen ran hard and figured out no scoring for her but steals and many asissts were her game. She was extremely whooped by the time the game was done. Yeah Gretchen.

On another note , Stephanie and her drumline drew competed in the Lonestar Competitions and varsity came in second of ??? 50 ??/ The JV came in 16 out of 26. Cool!!! All were very pleased ..now onto sectional competition for soloists. That is Dec. 6th!!! ALl is well with that. Now onto college discussions. What!!!!!??? yes. SHe has changed her thoughts of what she was going into for school. Her original idea a vet... but now is changed to an elementary teacher. Here is discussion... Mom...Yes... I have had so many non=teaching teachers...I want to make a difference somewhere in the system that I will be in. I had great 4 and 5th grade teachers that if it wasn't for them who knows what ... Well, you know they don't make as much as vets.... Yes.. But mom...I can do so much with teaching. Okay GO FOR IT. Now we have had counselor talks already...letting us know all the requirements etc.. what college TX has... Oh we won't be going here...Stephanie wants to go to UTAH. Oh...the counselor says. BYU? Yes...says Stephanie. Good for you she says. Now she is going to study for SAT tests for Jan. Yeah!!! Mom is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited.

Meanwhile Kayla has been realxing and getting ready for the start of December through the following year Winterguard. She decided that she was going to learn how to "twirl" a saber!!! Yikes!!! She came home with a few cuts and bruises but all is good. cannot wait for that excitement in our lives!!! LOL

Did I mention that life is on energerizer bunny mode????? Ok/thought so.

OUR WARD HAS SPLIT

2008-11-10T12:18:00.002-06:00

Sunday was a wonderful 75 degree day with loads of sunshine. AT 2:30 we went to church and eventually found out who our new bishop was and our new ward. Before all of that excitement the rumors has flurished. Since we have moved into the Keller 1st ward we have have to 620 members. Obviously that is a lot to handle. A new ward was made west of the RR tracks of me and that area will grow again and need to be split but for now we all have moved on. The east side of the tracks (me) will stay in Keller 1st with some members of the K2 ward joining us. Apparently these ppl. went to K1 a couple of years ago. As you can see I live in highly growing member area or we have lots of move-ins or both. The girls and I tried to figure out how youth K1lost...we thought about 22 girls. We clearly have that many still in our ward. So there you have it!!! We were excited and din't cry like others did since we have been here for 1 1/2 yrs.. it didn't matter a whole lot! -YET!! Came home and ate spaghetti and meatballs since Stephanie was experiencing brace and teeth pain. AWWWW. The end.

Life Begins part 2......

2008-11-07T09:56:00.003-06:00

Here we have Gretchen's last volleyball game against KMS, went into overtime and lost by 1!!! Gretchen was named top server, top vocal voice, and most likely to lose her voice!!! The week of the 10th will be basketball tryouts. Guess who is gonna tryout?? The other band picture is the ending of our theme Magnetism. Band of America was amazing....many interesting bands. In case you hadn't heard, we placed 9th of 53 bands. We participated in state which was for the 5a and 1a (i think) ...31 bands....the top ten played in the evening. We didn't go on to the evening part. There are sooooooooooooo many bands in this state, it is hard to compare to Indiana. That is the end of band competition. Now on to drumline competition and winterguard. Yeah us................

Life Begins....Again.....

2008-11-07T09:53:00.003-06:00

The Symphonic and Ensemble band play for ISMS football game...here Gretchen is doing her snare part. This weekend she has percussion sectional competition. Go girl!!

Birdville Band Competition

2008-10-27T16:24:00.004-05:00

Kayla in action..............Isn't she or they awesome? I know...I am her mom.

Texas Football and Band go together...

2008-10-27T16:16:00.006-05:00

The indianettes are waving their poms, the band is huddles together to play the fight song and off we go!!! After shots of both Kayla and Stephanie that night of the 16th. We won!!!

Random pictures from Texas fair

2008-10-27T16:09:00.007-05:00

Mike's parents were here the week of the 13th so we went to Texas Fair. A very rattley ride with mom and the girls. And.. Kayla and Mike went to see the "small" animals at the fair.

Can you imagine getting stuck on this huge, huge ferris wheel??? Not me!! No way, no way.

OCTOBER BLURRRRS BY!

2008-10-27T12:31:00.002-05:00

How events happened this past weekend............. Stephanie and Kayla went to ODessa with the band to perform for state qualifications they left 10 am friday (due to no school ) and came back four am. Sunday...whooped. results... they came in first place out of 18 bands. In prelims...they came in 3rd with the final show ...FIRST!!! SO this will be our first state experience with the band since we have moved here and also because they go every other year. Reason..........way too many bands out here!!! What else happened that weekend? Gretchen had a velleyball tournament and their team came in second place. Yeah them!! Gretchen powered the bal across many times... the coach calls her the "element of surprise". YEh...baby. Then later Mike , Gretchen and I went to a friend's company picnic...beautiful 83 degree day. We had to go in the shade to cool off! Mike and Gretchen raced through blow-up race course and guess who won???? Gretchen. But, Mike did survived and we didn't have to give mouth to mouth!!! After that...
Gretchen went babysitting and we watched awful Michigan game. BOOOOO-hooooo.
BUT HEY!!!!! MY PHILLIES ARE WINNING!!!!!!! woop, woop, give me another one!!!! WHoop!!! Just in case you have no clue who I am talking about--- baseball.

Homecoming Parade and game time!!

2008-10-06T11:15:00.004-05:00

Gretchen and the Indian Spring Eagles Volleyball

2008-10-06T11:02:00.003-05:00

Gretchen's job is setter and server. She currently has been their top server for every weekly game. She usually scores between 7-12 points. Never look at her size!!! Just her power!!!!

First day School Pics!!!

2008-10-06T10:54:00.004-05:00

bright and early pics...6:30 am.. Oh mom!!!

Summer pics and.........

2008-10-06T10:42:00.003-05:00

Found some fun lake pic from July...gretchen and Stephanie tubbing and Kayla by herself. Funny!

Catch up Time!

2008-10-06T10:22:00.004-05:00

Cannot believe October is here. what fun we have had trying to get school schedules correct, people in right math classes, and actual teaching teachers. Glad September is over due to that mess. In between school we have had volleyball practices and games, loads of dance classes, and competition dance practice,colorguard practice and football nights, band practice and drumline competition. And of course................ sleep!

Mike has been traveling between ananda and Missouri for pasdt few weeks and look forward to November when we hope he will be around more. With him gone Susan picks up her heels and works with preschoolers Tuesda and Thursday and tries to keep everyone's schedule straight and maybe help out with Algebra, Physics, English etc.. Get the pretty picture....... It is fun in an odd way. Try it........... maybe you'll like it too. LOL!

This is picture of Stephanie from drum competition and they came in 6th. Not too bad. Room for improvement. The other is Kayla resting from flagging on field at halftime.

A JOB!!!!

2008-08-15T12:46:00.002-05:00

YES!!! I finally did it! I am officially a two yr. old pre school teacher. I had applied to 2 schools and now I have a 2 day a week job. With my other days I will be subbing for KISD. I am soooooooooo excited. I have waited and patiently prayed and waited!!! YES!!!!
Hooray for me!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!

RAIN!!! Lovely rain

2008-08-15T12:43:00.003-05:00

We got rain and thunder and more rain this morning at 3 am... It was wonderful to hear. I mean the real rain that creates floods and really wets your grass and plants. Then....again at 8:30 am... WE GOT RAIN!!! It was so awesome to have. And guess what???? No humidity came with it. It is a lovely 92 degrees today. LOVING IT!!! AM I nuts...........yep.

Random thoughts..............

2008-08-07T12:45:00.002-05:00

Okay.... I am sitting her waiting for bathtub to unclog since the previous owners used it for all their dogs to be bathed in... so it taking a while. yes...today is bathroom cleaning day ....all four of them. hahahaha.

I decided that I am going to take a photography class. My friend Liz has been taking amazing pics since she has taken a fresher course and maybe that will improve my eye. Of course I need to pinch my budget just a bit more for that!!

I also decide that I need to learn about quickbooks. It seems little companies that are hirng here want that...I don't have it. But am willing to learn.

I have signed myself up to sub in grades 1-12 around her and hopefully will be busy... my other job could have the potential of being a third shift worker at Kroger so I can go to an island or carribean adventure next year.

My biggest job is researching insurance companies to get the better deal on house and cars since I live in the metroplex. Any ideas???

So that is my random thought process for now. Tune in for more excitement!!!

Better yet........maybe take some classes and think about getting a masters degree in something. Alright ..this is enough!!

Insane Stephanie meyer fans!

2008-08-07T11:15:00.002-05:00

Yes! A little late, but I am admitting to going to the big opening of Stephanie Meyer's new book., Breaking Dawn. Last friday at 8 p.m. Kayla and I went to the wedding party at Barnes and Noble. What a show that was.......wished we could of flown somewhere to get her signature but oh well. We dealed. The show was as follows......... K dressed as party of wedding party in lovely lavendar and black. Me...went as me. Many others dressed in wedding gowns, both beautiful and dark..theri version. Many came in t-shirts with all kinds of messages about Edward and Jacob. There was a Ma And Pa there dressed as Edwards parents..........they were very cool!!! I guess they have "real" fangs. Part of their shop advertisement. Anyway...I think they won first prize. Many other crazy dresses were scene. kayla saw a lot of her colorguard friends and friends from school...so she ditched me. Good...now I could sit and check out all the way cool people and sights!! Members of the party got to experience readings,lots of talking, chess, picture taken,waltzing and salsa dancing AND waiting for the book to be opened. We did not pre-order. Duh!! But we were encouraged to get a wrist sticker to acknowledge that we will buy a copy tonight. Sooooooooooooooo we waited and waited. By 11 ish I started to look around and realize that we weren't getting out till two am.... So I got Kayla and said we are outta here! She was disappointed.but...fear not... Walmart was on our way home and we waited 20 minutes for their opening of book and GOT IT!!!! Out the door we went 12:05 am.. Yeah us. Isn;t life grand when it goes the way you plan it????! LOL

A cloudy day!

2008-08-07T11:03:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe it! We had a cloudy day from early am till 3 p.m. It was wonderful...my skin did not sizzle, I didn't break a monstrous glow of moisture... And the biggy........ the temperature was a very cool 96 degrees!! It is amazing what ten to twelve degrees can do for a person. So what did I do that day? I got new streaks in my hair...went to lunch at quaint Italian joint...and toured downtown Keller. There are a block or two of little shops that you go tour........... and of course spend money but since I was poor since Monday I ahd no money........ I window shopped. There was a shop that for very girly girls and a bakery there too givng frsh strawberry cupcakes away...didn't ea them though... went to very eccentric shop with a few items I could think to buy for myself or someone... another shop had lots of smeely soaps, lorions, jewrly and sand art. Went a little further and saw more eccentris itmes and weird that decided It was fun to visit but not for me. That... my friends... is the jist of my day till 4 pm.. The rest is horsy!!! Tah

July -- Horse Competition

2008-08-05T11:07:00.004-05:00

Good things finally come to K. She finally decided to compete in horse jumping even though it is sooooooooooooo warm here. She was decked out in her grab...black velvet hat, tan breeches, white long sleeve shirt, whip, boots and horse--JJ. SHe arrived 7:30 am.. and waited her turn .... noon. ugh...........ugly heat way out in country. She was melting fast. The fun wore off and she needed to be done and out of her hot clothes... but wait she warmed the horse up AND fell off 2 times!!! Oh no! Alas, her instructor said, great K, now you can jump 3 feet over bar with no regrets!!! And ....... she did. She came in 10th place out of 22 girl jumpers.

Baseball

2008-08-05T10:40:00.006-05:00

What a fun week! Besides the heat....blah, blah, blah. I got to go to a Rangers (baseball) game with Mike on Tuesday. What a neat looking stadium ...I hear George Bush had a hand in it. I was impressed for a stadium that was built maybe ten years ago ooked so good. But, this is Texas! The seats that we had were good...11th row from home plate. It was quite entertaining with the team doing well, and all the busy people and sellers to watch. Then how cool is this!!! A very mature lady and got up to beat her tom, tom for the Rangers to hit a home run!! She has been doing this for years and years and has her own seat now. next to her sits a very dressed up man in chaps and all that gear. I was hot wearing a t-shirt with shorts...cannot imagine how he was feeling. What a great fan. Also with us was the HR lady from Ca. that works with him and his boss. We did the usual food thing water, hot dogs, nachos, pop, and yes....cotton candy folks! Yummoo. All in all it was fun for smeone who doesn't enjoy baseball since it is slow and boring ...I think it helped being so close to the action...maybe I will go again. The rangers beat Seattle that night. Good job for them. I aslo got to the the vision of one billion dollars!!!! Yes..the Dallas Cowboy Stadium in the making. So far it looks alienish. I still cannot believe that it costs that much................ I know it's texas.............. can you imagine what you would do with one billion dollars?? I cannot imagine.......................

HOT!!!! HOT!!!!!!! HOT....

2008-07-28T08:42:00.002-05:00

What a week we had. It has been 103-107 degrees and well...I want some doggone rain. Sun is totally boring now. Sun... lovely hot, hot sun. It makes your skin scream aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh
no more please!!! The girls and I have been hanging since this week the older are gone to band activities. We did the rent the movie thing.......10,000 B.C. not good. Good enough for a dollar though. We rented She's a Man. I didn't watch that but K and G said it was good. We want to rent Penelope but it is always out. We or I wanted to go to see Mama Mia but adult friends were gone on vacation...........ya know Florida, Mexican Riviera, Calif. Washington and such. We watched Mulan for fun because of the music. Oh and College Road trip ...I laughed till I needed to have a moment to put myself back together!!! Loved it!!!!! It kind of reminds me what will happen in less, less folks than 2 years............. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Yes, it's hot ...we have a pool.......... but certain temps. don't feel refreshing anymore.......... ummmm 90 degrees in pool??? No thanks. We went to a water park on friday called NRH2O. A blast that was. They had many slides of diff. sorts, a rollercoaster designed to get you wet baby!!! And, of course the wave ool and lazy river all for $22 pp.. I laid in river and wave pool.............nice! A friend of mine wa sthere with her younger kids and we had a blast catching up since the summer has arrived. One thing we forgot to do ...put sun lotion on our backs!!!!
Oooouchhh! All 4 of us were hot that night. It was a lot of fun...we enjoyed subway subs for dinner since we were so tired and exhausted from putting way to o much energy in sun bathing and getting wet! haha. So if anyone comes to visit ... in the warm months...really warm months we will go to NRH2O. After band camp and colorguard camp is done we hope to visit Six Flags which is 40 minutes from us and Hurricane harbor...another wet and wild adventure. The hopefully we will visit Ok. to go to waterfall and river with tubes!!! Yes. Sounds waterfuly delicious.

No pics of us at waterpark........... only memories!

What I like about Texas

2008-07-21T11:55:00.003-05:00

Okay...after visitng the midwest I thought I woudl rearrange my thinking for now. I want to list some things I do like about here.

Here goes.......
i love the tex-mex food.....especially the steaks...yum-mo.

i enjoy the shopping...especialy for shoes and purses

i enjoy our neighbors/the close ones

i enjoy the warmth to an extent...not 100 plus.

i enjoy not havinf allergies and sinus pain

i love church being 5 min. away (although with 586 ppl. you need to get there earlier) and the stake ctr. 6-7 min. away

i enjoy the choir there because it is very organized and spiritual and fun

i love our pool because you can go in anytime or as much as you want as long as no major worms or spiders are there too!

i love the culture and free concerts at the parks and certain shop ctrs. I love free!!!

I like and love paying lower gas prices than midwest!!

I think for now that is enough......... I will work more on that subject as the months go by.

Time has passed.............

2008-07-20T16:18:00.005-05:00

Here I sit ...thinking where did June go? Oh, and where did July go as well? June was as follows...school ended the second..Stephanie and Kayla had marching band for 3 days and gretchen went to softball camp. Weekend came and went. Oh yeah........it was 100-ish so we were in the pool. duh! Second week...Gretchen had volleyball and basketball camp the other two babysat and slept in. Lessons and drum challenges were in the process. What did Susan and Mike do? He worked and worked...no...went to Utah and California for work and little pleasure. She......... ran around like crazy person? Yes and tried to keep spiders (icky!) and big toads out of her garden that is trying to figure out where to go. Nasty spiders. Toads... okay can handle. Following week. Gretchen ..again..went to percusion camp with 3 other girls from her school. She was gone from 8-5 every day.... we missed her! SHe learned lots so it was worth it. The other two sleep, pool fun, sleep pool fun...out with friends or hung out with mom. yep... it was so.

So June pretty much escaped our family.............. now July snuck in and we dived in for our vacation to midwest. We drove to Ohio the evening of July 2nd and arrived in Ohio by dinner time cleaned up and went to a 4th of July party at friends house. Whata blast!!! Great fireworks and fab friends. We got home around midnight and slept hard. The next day the 4th we went to Coldwater, Michigan to visit old neighbors from Indiana... we hung at their lake cottage ...ate, drank. and jet skied (?) and laughed silly. Fireworks again........awesome!! Mike and I got romantic and slept in our expedition and let our girls hang in cottage...they watched Jaws 2. Partying was going on all around us but we crashed out! We had a few aches and pains the next day but survived. We then left to go see another group of friends further into Michigan at their lake place. Again lots of swimming and boating!!! We ate and laughed and told stories and ended the evening and went back to OHio to Mike's parents house. We enjoyed the day of Sunday..........rest!! Stephanie and Kayla went to EFY at EMU (Eastern Mi. Univ. ) and had a blast... from what I could tell from daily evening goodnights from Kayla. It was weird ...good weird not having them around. gretchen was affected because she was "bored" being with the grownups until her time came to be with Indiana friends. But, she did have some excitement... Tuesday she made 3 different fudges with her memie...then went to lunch and movie with her. I accompanied for fun only. Needless to say... good thing............. halfway through movie...it stopped...and theater people escorted us to Tornado tunnel in mall area. Well, g's eyes just popped and Mike's mom was hustling as well as she could. G was not very comfortbale with threat of Tornado lurking in area since last year in texas we experienced loads of fast storms and a crazy weather neighbor! Turned out... 1/2 hour later.......... all was good. We finished movie and came out to very wet conditions. Whew! I went shopping with great friend Lisa, from Mi, and had blast! We got same style of shoes but different color....just like back in "old" days!!! Loved it. Great fun and nice shopping. We caught up on just about everything! Thanks Lisa. Wish we were closer.........
Anyway...went out to dinner at favorite restaurant in Toledo...mancy's. Cannot remember last time went there..............maybe 15 or so years? Awesome food...had wonderful Halibut to eat.
We enjoyed the atmospere and dining with Liz and Dan Steele. Oh what fun we had! Nothing beats new and old memories............. and just plain fun.
Still geeting reports from daughters about how much fun they were having and guess what...a girl from Keller Tx was there!!! NO one we knew but funny ...hahahaha. ANd, another cool thing Stephanie got to room with a girl from Huntington, Ind that she kinda knew but couldn' commit to memory...Harmony Reed. What fun they had....... and what I might not too. Good for them!

Onward to our journey to Indiana for Gretchen.......... she stayed a couple of days with her friends the Stinson girls. OMG!!! Life was good for G. Bye mom...and dad...see ya!!!

Of we went to visit former employment in Decatur. Then to lunch at Pizza Hut... nothing like that experience in Texas. We visited with Phil and Kindra George.......... life is fine. Lots of stuff to catch up in the hood and church wise. Then off we went to........... a movie for $1!!! Not in texas dear. Maybe $4. We saw Fool's Gold...okay for $1. Next off to where we were staying.... the Shumard's. Visited a bit and then went to fav. rest. as far as mexican .... Cebelloas! Yummo!!
We then visited with Joan Huber, the Poorman's, The Braun's, and the Shumard's. Great conversation there........... Off to home ...........temporary living .... we syaed up late and visited with Gayle and Larry...tlaked and shared lots. Exhausted.... slept well. Off to mall for Mike to do a little work...Gayle and I went shoe shopping!!! I have my groove about shoes........again! I love shoes. texas has awesome selections of shoes......... so now I am pickier than usual. Found a couple of pairs at decent price. The off to lunch with Alyson Braun and maybe another friend.......at panera. Can you see how much food I am eating!!!!! ugh... I think workouts wil be 2 hours now when I get back to TX. ANyway...........had great lunch.... returned to Shumard's for rest and dinner and more excitement. Left Saturday ...early 5 am ish to get girls from EMU...and retunred to OHio at Mike's parents. Whew........... loads of driving too. We then just hung out and enjoyed the cool whether because back in TX it was 100 104 degrees. We enjoyed many pleasures of fab. ice cream from around the corner...visitng with relatives... oh my dad cam down from traverse City MI to visit with my sister's family and us. Good to go there.

We then journeyed back to Indiana to visit with the Mockler family and any friends Kayla and Stephanie wanted to see. Aaahhhh.. what great weather.........cool in evening...great fod and wonderful visiting. Just like never left. Well...maybe a bit.
Are we "homesick"? In some ways. Maybe for the long term friendships we have made and aren't getting in TX. I know ...after being in Indiana for 19 plus years it is hard. But am glad we made those friendships.............. now we need to just find our link here in TX..... People are different in the south. Sorry...don't mean to offend. I received many pieces of advice before I left and thought I wouldn't need them. I think I do ............. Our journey came to an end 2pm.. on Monday the 14th. Home at last!!!! Mike passed out........... I did whatever to not have to work too hard. We plunged in our pool since it was 102 degrees that day. Welcome back Skeans!!!

What a week!!!

2008-05-25T10:52:00.002-05:00

Thank goodness forMemorial Weekend to relax and sleep in from our long week at our home!! It all began with Stephanie's core tryouts for drumline...walking on egg shells till we find out if as a Jr. she will be a varsity or jv player. With that going for her, her last softball game was Monday....they lost but that was okay they beat this team the previous week by 15 points. After all that practice for the core she has not found out yet.... her team for softball came in third place... she got another award for most improved player. Friday was a benefit concert for money for the following year band. What a week plus finally getting all of her scripture mastery verses memorized and passed off before next week. She was behind by 12 and now is finished. Yes!!! Now she sleeps...... Gretchen's week had a lotof action as well...softball tournament games 2 times to get to complete championship. They won both games. Now next week is finals. During school there was action for band also...exams as far as thier knowledge of percussion. Yes all done and will find out results next week. Now that state test are done no more teaching is done. They have play days. Wrong I know...we are in Texas. Field day was this week and her team came in third. Not too happy about that but glad it was over b/c it was 101 degrees that day! Ended the week with sister's concert and a sleepover at friends house. Couldn't ask for better.
Kayla's week was full of colorguard tryouts for almost 2hours a day, plus dance class and orchestra. She had many tests that week and hope that all went well.
What are we doing this weekend??? No kid things!!! It is all about our family of five!!! Pool time, gardenng....sleeping...going to the movies...eating together at a la hacienda ranch... enjoying each other's company...mayne some rummy will be played and more pool action!!

Happy memorial Day!!!

Kayla's Banquet Picture

2008-05-25T10:49:00.001-05:00

Too excited to meet all of her friends...and not sure what to expect. No big "graduation" for these kids.... but she was okay with that.

Kayla's 8th grade banquet

2008-05-25T10:41:00.003-05:00

When Kayla is not jumping horses, or playing the violin, or trying out for color guard... she gets herself ready for the event of school .... the banquet. All of the kids enjoyed Olive garden food, a slideshow of the 8th graders, getting their yearbooks and signing them, then hanging and getting their pictures taken. Before all of this happened at 5:30 pm on Friday, she found out that she made the colorguard team for the band in high school for next school year!! Wahoo!!!!

Horse Jumping

2008-05-25T10:37:00.002-05:00

Kayla surely is looking comfortable in jumping these days. If you asked her what she would rather do than school ... it would be jumping with horses. She has been asked to compete but is waiting for another 3 months before she commits to that deal. Awesome for her!

Stephanie's Band Banquet attire

2008-05-25T10:27:00.002-05:00

Stephanie had an all day of pampering...started with french pedicure for those great band marching feet, then chores of course.... then prepared for hair maintenance... the best look for her starightening all of that hair!!! She almost fell asleep it was so soothing to her. Then off in the 100 degree heat to get dressed and meet fellow nad people for dinner, awards, slideshow, and major dancing!!

The whole tribe!

2008-04-03T16:38:00.001-05:00

The wind started blowing hard and we were gettin giggley.

Easter Evening

2008-04-03T16:36:00.001-05:00

What are you smiling for????

Easter brings smiles!!!

2008-04-03T16:30:00.001-05:00

Our obligatory family picture! Don't we look marvelous!!!?

Lost cat...........

2008-04-03T15:58:00.001-05:00

Long story................ both cats fell out of window in master bedroom.... found misty...didn't know other was missing.. Looked for Lily... didn't find her...woke rest of family up at 1 am.. looked hour and all but Gretchen and I went back to bed. We prayed a lot... Finally Gretchen wanted to take car and look for her at 3 am.. looked 1 more time in yard.. toads and birds were really loud... called her name..thought I heard something, called again and knew it was her. Unlocked back gate and saw black figure... called her...she moved and then went into neighbor yard where I couldn't get to... called her name again and sat on ground and she came to me. Oh the drama!!! All is well.

Lost Cats!!

2008-04-03T15:41:00.005-05:00

The Natural Bridge Caverns

2008-03-20T14:59:00.002-05:00

Sorry, cannot get picture to turn right way. This pic cannot do the majesticness (?) of the cavern. It was an eyepopper!!! The whole trip was 180 feet down ...or so. Way marvelous. Go see it!!

Mi Tiera"

2008-03-20T14:56:00.002-05:00

G's percussion teacher told her about this very mexican restaurtant to visit. It was very, very mexican. Lots of color, ornaments...you name it .. it was there. Food was good. Maybe better with adults!!! ? It is a very busy place too...popularity is big.

Another beauty of a fountain!

2008-03-20T14:54:00.001-05:00

Aren't we fabulous looking!!! We take great pics don't ya think? This fountain was located at the Hilton on the way to the riverwalk.

Boat ride on the riverwalk

2008-03-20T14:52:00.001-05:00

We had a cuddling moment. The air got very breezy.............. It was a fun and gorgeous ride throught he riverwalk too.

Beautiful sight!

2008-03-20T14:47:00.002-05:00

This was one of the beautiful water fountains around the area we visited by the riverwalk. I think the couple here will go back without children to enjoy more of the ambience.

There she is... in front of the Alamo

2008-03-20T14:45:00.001-05:00

Between her and Mike, we have so many pics of everything at the Alamo. What an interesting and historical place to visit.

The Alamo Fountain

2008-03-20T14:37:00.001-05:00

What a sight to see over our spring break. We decided after Gretchen's dance competition that we would go to San Antonio to visit the Alamo, Sea World, and some caves. See what we saw.....

Gretchen shining moment

2008-03-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

She dazzles them...she drives them crazy... cause you never know when she will strike and score on you.... she hit the net with a great 3 pointer!! It is kind of dark due to bad lighting in gym.

Horsing around!

2008-03-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

This was the highlight of Kayla's night... she loves to ride "Donkey", he jumps very well over the 2 1/2 feet to 3 ft. jumper runs. I know it's dark. But what can I say.