Life is good...even when it is boring

The last weekend we had a friend/basketball team mate from college and his family over for dinner. (the Stanley's) It was a lot of fun. They have 2 kids (Rory is 4 and Peyton is almsot 1) and we were made aware that our house is no longer baby proof. HAHA She found everything that she could possibly find, but she was sooo darn cute it made up for the extra work. She would hide her face and think she was hiding from you. I think it made Dan consider having another baby. Especially when she was on his lap playing peek-a-boo with her blankey. Of course it was nice to play with her and know we were sending her home later. ;-) Now the funniest thing was when Caitlin and Rory where playing singstar..which is like karioke. Neither knew the words, but were humming and singing their own words.

We went to lunch with one of my friends from Austin's school, Gingin and her kids. Gingin and I always have a good time together. We took her to the kids favorite place to eat, Takara's (it is Japanese hibachi grill) They have never been and loved it. Of course she laughed the whole time saying my kids are so much more cultured then hers and she has an oriental/asian family background. She said my daughter just started eating rice. HAHAHA I guess my kids are good influences. :-) Her daughter loved this place and the food.

We spent last week close to home. The kids and I did go swimming with our friends, the Beltrans. Katie and her sons, Josh and Joey...her husband Danny..is kind of like our Dan...work-aholic :-) They own a chic-fila. I am not sure about the kids, but Katie and I seem to have a great time together. hahaha Did I mention that we have a ton in common...besides the fact we share the exact wedding anniversary date and year with them. But Dan and I are married longer by 30 minutes. :-D HAHA!

Dan had a day off during the week and we went bowling..just one game. It was fun! Later, the kids went to a kids night at our friends church. (the kids that I watch during the week) They got picked up at 5:30 and weren't going to be back until around 8:30. So Dan and I had a date night once again. :-) Wooohoooo...two dates in one month. We went to Johnny Carinos for dinner and then to the new Barnes and Noble to look at books, read magazines and have a Starbucks. It is different to go into the book store without spending the entire time in the kids section or reading kid books. HAHA I got a new calendar organizer (18 month one..so it will last me longer and it was only $6, since I had a coupon) We got home right as the kids got home. The exciting thing is we get to do it again for the next 2 Thursday nights :-). Yea for us!!!!

Friday night we went down to the park in our neighborhood. We have concerts or movies in the park every Friday. So we made it down there with a cooler of water, blanket and some snacks. It was a music night. So I hung out and listened to the Irish music and the kids played on the playground. HAHA It was nice and we plan on making a few more this summer.

This weekend Dan was off and we stayed home for most of it. I think we only left the house to run a few errands and go to the store. Nothing much. We watched some Nascar races, worked in the flowers beds in the backyard (which were in much need of some attention with the hot weather we have been having) Each night after the kids went to bed Dan and I watched episodes of House. No guitar hero..which is usually what we do at night, but I guess we needed a rest. He got 3 seasons of House from hsi dad's last trip to China, so we have a lot to watch. He loves that show and we rarely seem to actually catch it on TV. I guess we could use the DVR, but that might make too much sense! HA!
Today I am watching 5 kids and so far the week is off to a good start.
I do ask for some prayers to a good friend of our racing family, Trey Canard. The kid is amazing and has done so much in his short professional career. But the reason for the prayers..he crashed yesterday in Washington on the last lap of the race with a lapped rider and broke his femur (upper leg bone). So he will be done for the rest of the season. Many prayers go out to Trey for a fast healing.

Our stay-cation

Yes we decided to opt for the cool new trend of staying home for vacation. Ok we usually do this, but it is cool now! :-)
Dan had a week off of work and we started with a bang. :-) It started on Thursday, we went to the Meteorite museum at TCU and then the TX Civil war museum. Then we capped it all off with a Rangers baseball game.

We started the day by driving to TCU and going to the Oscar E Monnig Meteorite Gallery. It was really amazing. So many meteorites and different sizes and all the places they have been found. Some were over a 100 yrs old. I had no clue how many meteorites have been found in our area of the US. The kids really enjoyed it. The best thing about this place..it was FREE!! I am sure we will go again.

They loved the big meteorite!


We then drove over to the Texas Civil War Museum. It was really neat. Lots of artifacts and many dresses from the era. I didn't take any pictures. :-O The only thing we decided after this...more then one museum in one day is too much for the kids. :-)

The kids have never been to a baseball game, so we decided to take them. We were nervous they may get bored after a few innings, so we got tickets in the "all-you-can eat" section. Yes, all you can eat hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, peanuts, and soda. I have to say we all had gut rot. We ate so much to make sure we got our monies worth. It was a great game. They went into extra innings (11 innings). And we got to see Jamey Wright pitch. Jamey went to High School with Dan and I. He graduated a year earlier then us. He played basketball with Dan too. So it was neat. He pitched the 11th inning. Austin loved cheering and singing all the songs they played at the game. I got the kids both hats. Which they love. I think we are actually planning on attending a few more games...just not in the all you can eat section. :-)
At the Rangers game

The kids

That was day one. HAHA
The next day I had my mammogram and all went well. We did stuff around the house and got Austin ready to go to a birthday party at his friends house. She invited Caitlin to stay and told Dan and I to go have a nice evening out. We were not expecting that. We went home and got changed and looked online and tried to find a nice place to go eat. We hadn't had a date night in a long time. We were not sure what to do. HAHA We went to dinner and to a movie. We saw Hancock. it was good. I got a little motion sick at the end of the movie with all the strange camera angles. I was disoriented and sensitive to all the light and things that were moving. We picked up the kids and went home. Rest helped me recover from my problem a lot. I didn't get much sleep the night before (maybe 3 hours) I guess stress will do that to you. I think that is why I had the problem after the movie.

We had a great weekend going for bike rides and staying close to home. We went to a a water park and had a great time during the week too.
Then we had a girls night, me and Caitlin and Dan and Austin had a boys nights. Caitlin and I went to a little girl salon. She got her hair cut to the shoulders and had a manicure and pedicure. Then just the two of went to dinner. it was a great night. She really enjoyed it. Of course after all of that she insisted that we go to target and get something for Austin...cause she knew he would miss her. :-) We were only gone 2 hours. HAHA So she picked out a lil stuffed animal for him. (a black cat) She was so cute she wanted to surprise him.
Now Austin and Dan had a typical boys night. They went and rented a video game (Indiana Jones legos) and then played all night. They made dinner at home...Mac and cheese. The two of them were very happy. Austin loved his kitty Caitlin got him.
We decided we will do the parent/kid night out again. They loved it.

The only bad thing about our stay-cation is we didn't do laundry the whole time. :-O Well we were on vacation right hahahaa so I spent the weekend doing mountains of laundry. FUN I will add a pictures of Caitlin's hair cut later. I have to get it out of my camera. :-)
Love you all

Retest on blood work

It all came back NORMAL!!! Yea I am NORMAL. HAHA My dad said, I have NEVER been normal. So anyway. My liver and kidney function came back normal...meaning my calcium levels are at least in the normal range now. Thanks for the prayers!! :-)

My tests

I got the culture results back and it turns out I have a bacterial infection in my breast...odd I know. So I am on antibiotics. All my blood work came back good minus having a high calicum level. Of course she 1st asked me if I was on a daily vitamin or calicum supplement. And I am thinking to myself..here we go.I am going to get yelled at!! NOPE She said good..don't take any. WOW!!! that is a 1st to hear from a doctor! They are not sure why my levels are high and they are not sure if the bacterial infection would cause it. So I get to go back this coming friday and be their pin cushion again for them to do testing. I have done some online looking about high calicum levels..so I am hoping for a normal test this week. I heardly ever go to the doctor and here I have been to the doctor, had a mammogram and get to go back to the doctor again..all in 2 weeks. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.

Speaking of prayers...Dan uncle Gary was in a motorcycle accident yesterday. He moved to miss a car and fell to the ground breaking his leg and getting some road rash too. He is expected to have a full recovery. So that is good!

WOW I just did 2 posts in ONE night!! :-)

Here are the pictures I promised

These are from our neighborhood 4th of July parade.


The cub scout marched and led the parade.





Austin carried a flag


Caitlin liked the cheerleaders




Here are a few from our family photo shoot :-)

Our weekend through today

We had a nice 4th of July weekend. Dan worked...we did the neighborhood parade and Dan joined us at the cub scout swim party for Austin's Den. Only 4 families showed up. We had lots of fun then everyone came to our house and camped out in our side yard to watch the fireworks. They were great as usual.
Sunday the kids and I had a pajama day..well sort of. We got up skipped church..went for a walk/run for me and a bike ride for them..came home and changed into comfy clothes and stayed indoors the rest of the day doing things. It's HOT here! :-)
Today we went and took family pictures. I knwo it has been FOREVER since we actually went and got some. So I will post a few here maybe tomorrow along with the parade pictures. (I still have to load them)

After the pictures today, I decided to cut my hair. Not just a trim, but chop it off. I cut off atleast 6 inches, Dan thinks it was closer to 8, but my hair had gotten long and just pain to fix. So back to the bob style cut for me. I will try and get a picture of that and post it too. You know me LOTS of pictures!! :-)
Still no news on my culture or blood work from last week. I think I will call them tomorrow afternoon. But as they say NO news has to be GOOD news!

Love u all!

Happy 4th of July and some needed thoughts

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours....God Bless American and YOU!

Now on the needed thoughts and prayers. I am having a diagnostic mammogram next friday the 11th. We did a whole blood work up yesterday (I was stuck 3 times before they finally struck blood hahahah) and breast exam. I have had some issues over the past few months...yes I waited a little long to go to the doctor, but I finally went..so this will hopefully all come back to be nothing, but it is better to be cautious. I wasn't going to say anything about it until after I found out what was going on,but I figured a few extra prayers or thoughts wouldn't hurt. Thanks and love you all! ~Cherie


WOW I am on a roll...3 blogs in 3 days!!! :-) I am doing good so far in July!!

A busy summer so far...

Well we have been busy! Austin has been going to summer school 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. He is working on his reading and math. His last was July 2nd. So we are DONE! :-) His teacher was very sweet. She told me that he was one of the best students. She said out of the 12 kids; he was one of 2 that would actually sit and listen and work on what he was suppose to. I have to say I was very happy to hear this!

I have been busy watching 3 extra kids for the summer..giving me a total of 5 kids two days a week. On Mondays and Wednesday I watch a friend of ours children while she goes to work. (yes, I am getting paid a little) It works out nice. They have a girl a little younger then Caitlin and 2 boys that are around Austin's age. (almsot 8 and 9 1/2) One of the boys has been Austin's oldest friend in Texas. They were in his preschool PPCD class together. They have really been great friends for almost 5 yrs.
Here are the boys...Jake, Matthew, and Austin


Here are the girls...Brienna and Caitlin


Here is the cake we made Dan for Father's day!



My best friend from Oklahoma, Melissa stopped and visited us on their way to Houston for a family vacation. I really miss spending time with her. Here we are being cheesy.


The kids and I made a trip to OKC and stayed with my parents while my Grandparents from Arizona were in town. We got to spend a day and half with them. So it was nice. We hardly ever see them..so when they come to town we try are hardest to make the trip to see them. Here is a group picture of all of us at our favorite Mexican food..TEDS! In the pictures is my Great Aunt Carol (my grandpa's twin sister), my grandma and pa Reynard, Kevin and Connie Johnson (the adopted family hahahaha), Robbie and Ashley, me and the kids, and my parents. It was a hoot to say the least!


Here is me and my grandmother


and me attacking my grandpa hahahaahaha He liked it..he just didn't want anyone to know!


The kids being silly with my dad....I think Caitlin looks like Dan's cousin, Amanda here. I had a few shots in this spot that they looked alike!


We went to a indoor arena football game in Dallas with our cub scout group. We got FREE tickets to go see the Desparados play. We took the train over to Dallas..so it was a lot of fun for the kids and cheap for us! :-)
Here is a pic of Caitlin waiting for the train.


Austin with Fort Worth in the back drop


Dan and the kids outside the American Airlines arena in front of the big screen TV... I liked this shot cause it went to a pick with the Logo on it.


The kids loved it and we had a LOT of fun! I hated the price of food and drinks. hahaha


After the game with Dowtown Dallas in the back. And look at them doing football poses. HAHAHA


The family with the American Airlines Arena in the back


Dan getting some LOVE from his little girl on the train ride home. The kids really enjoyed it. We maybe doing that more often. It was really nice.



And since Dan had last weekend off we went to an Orchard and the kids picked donut peaches, pulled up carrots and got to walk around and see all kinds of stuff...even a bee hive! It was lots of fun. Here are a few pictures.




OK Now I have to brag on Dan....our lawn mower was having some issues and Dan took it apart and ordered the new parts and put them on it and it WORKED!! :-) He is not known to be mechanical, but I think this maybe a start to him trying at it a little more~!

That is about it for now. Enjoy the 4th of July. God Bless America!!

New and improved

Well I am playing around with different things on this blogger site. I finally added music. Music is all around us here...so we want to share it with you. I am taking some of the ideas from my friend, Danielle's page. :-) I almost called her to figure the music thing out, BUT I DID IT all on my own!!! (It took a while) I will be adding a new blog about what we have been doing soon.

So until turn your speaker on and ENJOY!

Austin did finish his last day of summer school today. YEA!! No more getting up at 6:30 for another month. haahaha

Hope you are enjoying are blog as much as I am! :-) Love to all!
Cherie