Her lip gloss is poppin'

This picture is from a birthday card sent by my friend Lil' Lori a couple years ago. It's been on my bulletin board since day one because it makes me laugh every time I look at it. It got new life today because a friend of mine's daughter got a little crazy with the lip gloss (as Sarah is prone to do) and I had to scan it for her.

On a completely unrelated note - Jacob and Sarah's conferences were today. Sarah's was great and it was no surprise she's the teacher's little helper. School was made for her and vice versa. Jacob has all A's and one B and we couldn't be prouder. He's improved so much in the last year, and he's really staying on top of the new challenges.

One more day til Girls Trip to Round Top. More on that later...I've got too much to do around here before I leave!

Rock on!

The tennis gods are frowning...

Last Wednesday's clinics were rained out. Now Monday FINALLY rolls around and we play for 27 minutes before the rain comes. That's almost worse than not going at all. Grrrr...

You know you're related when...

you pick up your cousin from the airport, not having seen her in three+ years, and you're both wearing tennis shoes, capri jeans, a fleece pullover and hoop earrings! Kim arrived Thursday and we had lunch at La Margarita in Market Square before the rest of her girlfriends arrived.

I was able to go down to the Riverwalk last night and have a terrific dinner with them at Paesano's and then we went dancing at Acapulco Joe's (which used to be Polly Esther's, I believe). I got to talk to a young guy who was finishing his degree in mechanical engineering at UTSA, out partying with his not-so-much-older boss, and who was surprised to hear all of us were pushing 40 and that we had 16 kids between the five of us. hahaha! That was priceless.

A Beautiful Thing

Isn't it? So pretty. And tasty, too!



Mark and I had dinner at La Fogata on Saturday night. While we were waiting for our table, we saw Michael Anthony - the ex-drummer from Van Halen - now playing with Sammy Hagar in a band called Chickenfoot. Of course, I didn't recognize him, but Mark did. Guess aging rock stars like authentic Mexican too.

I could have used a couple of these Tuesday afternoon. I was stressed out about the schedule for the week, concerned about a couple things I was adding to Wednesday, looking at Wednesday on my calendar made me think it WAS Wednesday so I loaded all the kids up and took them to Faith Formation classes a day early.

Actual classes were yesterday and they went well. The plan was to play on the playground for an hour while we waited but the rain forced us back into the van where Lucas spent the time pushing every possible combination of buttons on the dashboard.

Mark left for Oktoberfest this morning with the Des Moines crew. Cousin Kim arrives in a few hours. Today it's supposed to be raining and 70 degrees, which is probably not the vacation she was hoping for. However, the weather should be much nicer and warmer over the weekend.

After school today we have dance and tutoring, then will wait to see which teacher from Hardy Oak delivers our pizza dinner. It's a school fundraiser and we're hoping to at least recognize the teacher this year!

Friday calendar: flu shots. Yippee.

Naughty Boy (continued)

In honor of the egg fiasco, we put Lucas in his Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Get In Trouble Too! shirt. Here he is annoyed with me for trying to get a picture.



And now he is mad! "Lemme go! I wanna play the Wii!"

Naughty Boy

I heard Lucas in the fridge the other day. Told him to get out..close the door. I figured he was trying to get an apple which he does pretty regularly. Then I found this.



Why yes, that is raw egg ON MY CARPET. On the side of the red chair. And a trail from the fridge to this spot in the living room.

Later that day, I took him and Ethan to Jacob's school for a while to work on a project. Within 30 minutes, he had tipped over a mannequin, tipped over a sign directing visitors to the office and broke off a piece of plastic, and pounded on the library windows.

Never again...without the stroller!

Swimming Lessons

Jacob, Sarah and Ethan are taking swim lessons from a new coach named Taylor. She's super cute, young and Jacob thinks she looks like Gabriella from HSM (the utmost compliment!). Ethan goes by himself and then Jacob and Sarah have their lesson together. Our last lesson was after the pool had closed for the summer so there were lots of leaves and other floating things in the pool but it didn't bother the kids too much. While Ethan was in his lesson, Jacob jumped off the diving board.



And after much prodding, encouragement and reassurance, so did Sarah! We were very proud of her bravery!

Sarah's Birthday Party

Sarah's 6th birthday party was Saturday night. It was the first sleepover for many of the girls and they handled it great. Sure, there was a little bit of drama, crying, screaming and minor injuries, but mostly it was a bunch of giggly girls having a very good time!

Cake Barbie! That's what she wanted...



Her hair kind of reminds me of Connie's hair after my wedding reception when she took out all the bobby pins! haha!



Coloring Barbie pictures until everyone arrived.



Camryn, Sarah, Kylie and Gwen.



Lexie, Angelina and Chiara making beaded bracelets.