Swine Flu ... etc.

No, none of us have swine flu. There are schools closing all around us and Jacob's basketball league has cancelled practice and games until further notice. But everything else is normal. Or as normal as it can be when all people talk about is swine flu and when will our school district close down. Sarah's T-ball is still going on. Dance class is still on. The world is still turning. Just with lots more hand sanitizer.

Today was a fun day. I went to a Marriott hotel for Box Tops University, a training session and idea exchange for coordinators of the Box Tops for Education program (you know, those things you're all supposed to be cutting out and sending to me!). I got lots of good ideas for next year - even one for over the summer - to raise more money for our school. And I won a $50 HEB gift card (grocery) which will come in handy when I stock up on canned goods and water for the swine flu bunker we are building in the backyard.

Next week is Staff Appreciation Week at school. It's one of my jobs for the PTA to organize it. My three co-chairs and I are freaking out, breaking out and passing out from all the stress. Nothing like a few bad apples to ruin a beautiful basket of kindness. We are all counting the days until it's over. Or cursing the swine flu because of the possibility that school will close next week and the planning for this event will have to drag on even longer. That's why I haven't blogged all week and may not again until Mother's Day!

Just got a call from a friend about filling in at a craft show Saturday with my wine charms. Can't decide if adding that to my plate will be a welcome respite from all things PTA or if it will just make me more crazed. And will anyone show up to a craft show where there is a large crowd of people in an enclosed space for fear of contracting swine flu?

Hmmmm...

Jacob's First Communion

Today was Jacob's First Communion. He's been taking classes all year at Holy Trinity and today he received communion with about 100 of his closest friends. There were so many people and we were so far back, we didn't actually get to see him take it. They also didn't allow pictures during the mass, so all of these pics were from before and after.





Had lunch at the house afterwards with the Chappells. Cake? Of course! Vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and strawberries. A little messy as I was in a rush this morning, but still tasted delish!

Baila! Baila!

Dance! Dance! Sarah has been taking ballet and tap all year with a couple of the other Pink Ladies. Today there was no school because of Fiesta's Battle of Flowers celebration but we did have to go to the dance studio for costume pictures. Sarah's dance is to "Fly to Your Heart" by Selena Gomez. I think it's from the Tinkerbell remake. The recital will be June 6th.



Sarah, Grace and Camryn


This is a photo from a couple weeks ago. We had Spurs tickets and took Grace and her dad, Donny. Little did we know it was Fan Appreciation Night! We got taco coupons, team pictures with autographs, donuts rained from the sky on little parachutes...oh yeah! We caught two packs. This shot was taken somewhere near the end of the first quarter. By then, the kids had already had cotton candy, Skittles, and the two packs of donuts! They were absolutely bonkers in the car on the way home. Laughing at everything...LOUD! It was a long night but really fun!

Brush with Royalty!

Imagine that! Just talking about Fiesta and all the royalty, and WHAM! There he is! Some friends and I went downtown to have lunch for Fiesta and walk around the market. We ate at La Margarita and as we were leaving, El Rey Feo and his court walks in! They took pictures and handed out medals (collected by many). Here's me with El Rey Feo Charlie Garza. He's actually the outgoing King...the new one will be crowned during Fiesta sometime. And another analogy about what Fiesta is from my friend Laurie...It's Mexican Mardi Gras!



Here's our neighbor Emily with her hairless American rat terrier puppies again. They are 9 weeks old now. Super cute. But no.


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What is Fiesta?

For you Minnesotan readers, it's like the Aquatennial. Multiple parades, events, royalty, food, music, etc.

I'm going to plagarize from an Express News article:

"Fiesta is an 11-day celebration that honors the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1891, ladies decorated carriages and paraded before the Alamo, throwing a momentous flower fight by pelting each other with blossoms. That "battle of flowers" bloomed into the Alamo City extravaganza that it is today.

The Battle of Flowers Parade remains the highlight of Fiesta (the kids even get a day off from school for it), but it's just a sampling of the more than 100 events to enjoy. Some of the biggest are St. Mary's Oyster Bake, Night in Old San Antonio, Fiesta Flambeau (night parade), and the Coronation of the Queen of the Order of the Alamo. There's also King Antonio (from the Texas Cavaliers) and El Rey Feo (the ugly king) representing the colorful masses. King Anchovy presides over Cornyation (the drag queens royal pageant) and King Anbarkio is the leader of the Fiesta Pooch Parade."

There's just so much to do, see, eat, and enjoy! Check it out at www.fiesta-sa.org

Funday Sunday

Since Rebecca and I stayed downtown Saturday night, Mark brought the kids down in the afternoon to go swimming in the rooftop pool. It was 80-some degrees that day, a little windy, and the water was chilly for these Texas-acclimated former Minnesotans. Didn't stop them though...


Metal mariachis outside the hotel.

Viva Fiesta - for grownups!

My friend Rebecca came down to SA for a long weekend. As I was giving her a tour of our house, we stopped in the master bedroom and she saw this cute, flowery pink shirt on a hanger on my closet door. She said "That's cute!" pointing to the shirt and I said "Glad you like it...because you're wearing it Saturday!" Ha! We had plans to go to a Fiesta wine party that night and were supposed to dress festive! So here we are. The Fiesta Doublemint Twins.

With my friend Robyn, the hostess with the mostess, of the Fiesta wine party.

We only stayed at the wine party for an hour or two. Then we headed downtown to our hotel for a night on the Riverwalk. We walked and talked and drank and laughed and before we knew it... it was almost 2 o'clock in the morning. Here's proof we were still awake at that time. A tremendous feat for the both of us!

Viva Fiesta!

To celebrate the beginning of Fiesta, the kids' preschool held a Fiesta Festival. All the kids dress up and wear silly hats. Here's Ethan and his buddy, Matthew, in their paper sombreros.

Sarah's class.

Sarah's classmates, Trey, Grace and Kaelie.

Sarah during the Fiesta Bike Parade. All the bikes and scooters are decked out in ribbons and paper flowers, streamers, you name it. After each class parades their bikes, there is a mini carnival with games, a moon bounce, train rides, face painting, cascarone-making, popcorn and snow cones. I'm sure I forgot several other things. It was drizzling during the parade and began to rain harder as the morning wore on. Some of the things were moved inside but they had to close up the carnival early due to weather. It was OK. We REALLY need the rain.

Bed Head Bikers

I'm not sure how to explain these next two pics. Could be:
A) The children went to bed with wet hair
B) The children stuck their fingers in a light socket
C) The children discovered AquaNet
D) The children are doing their best Don King imitation
E) The humidity makes the childrens' hair frizzy



hahaha! Anyway, they just make me laugh. Especially this one. I swear...he woke up like this!


Future RAGBRAI riders training camp.

Easter...Texas Style

For starters, it was a beautiful spring day. Probably got up to 80-something, I'm not sure. Sissy changed into a dress half-way thru the day. Her new bunny necklace was a leftover from my wine charms business, but don't tell her that.

Since Easter falls so close to Fiesta (San Antonio's annual celebration of everything...more on this later), we celebrate with cascarones too! Cascarones are real egg shells, drained, painted and stuffed with confetti. The idea is to smash them on the heads of unsuspecting folk...or your dad.


The pool noodles have been getting a workout lately, even though we haven't been to the pool. They make rather soft light sabers for these Star Wars-loving boys.

Happy Easter everyone. Busy week ahead!

Coloring easter eggs

Luckily, during my late Saturday afternoon run to Target, I was able to not only find easter egg dye, but a High School Musical egg coloring kit with stickers, tattoos, glitter, markers, and egg holders! Phew! They loved it.

Nobody will eat them but Mark and I. Oh well.

Hoppy Easter

Sarah and Ethan's preschool had their Easter celebration today. Sarah was boasting in the car on the way to school that she was going to get the most eggs because she was the fastest in her class. Little did she know that the kids get to hunt eggs and then they are all promptly divided amongst the participants to prevent that sort of egg-hoarding from happening!

Catching Up

Ethan got a Plasmacar for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Meyer. It's a really neat riding toy that you make go just by wiggling the steering wheel from left to right a little bit. It's won all sorts of toy awards. We gave it to him Wednesday night. Thursday morning I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he told me he was going to drive to the cereal cabinet to tell me. He just zooms all over the tile areas. It's really cool!

Went to Canton, TX, to go shopping with some girlfriends over the weekend. This Stormtrooper was actually a guy representing a church and was handing out flyers for it. I took a picture with him on my phone and sent it to Mark to show Ethan and Jacob. The boys were SO excited and jealous that I got to meet a real Stormtrooper!

Mom went to Canton and all we got were these super cute handmade t-shirts!

When I got home, Mark had made lots of progress on the swingset. He's stained most of it. All that's left is to attach the swing bars, level them and hang the swings!

Jacob also went to a Spurs basketball clinic on Sunday. It was run by George "the Iceman" Gervin and Mike Mitchell, both ex-players. They did lots of drills and lots of running! Hopefully, it will help his game a little bit.

Time Off

I'm out of town the next couple days. Headed to Canton Trade Days about 90 minutes east of Dallas with a bunch of girlfriends to shop. It's like a fairgrounds but with vendor booths of boutiques, antiques, clothes, jewelry, home decor, weird stuff, junk, etc. You name it, you can probably buy it in Canton. I don't have plans to buy much, but will relish the road trip with the girls. Back Sunday!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

No foolin! He was born on April 1, 2005. I remember spending most of my time in labor watching TV as every station kept vigil outside Pope John Paul II's apartment in the Vatican, waiting for the light to go out to signal his death. Nurses would poke their heads in and ask if he died yet. I kept thinking "This is so morbid. I hope my baby is not born on the day the Pope dies" and he wasn't! Ethan was born that afternoon and JPII passed the next day. I guess it wouldn't have mattered in the end. The two events are forever intertwined in my memory.

We brought chocolate iced Krispy Kremes for his treat to class today. We were at the donut shop by 8:30 am and who knew they handed you a free, hot, original glazed doughnut as you walk in the place?!?! Not me, or I would probably take the kids to breakfast there more often! Maybe it's best I didn't know.

Happy Birthday Babers! Yes, you're 4 now.