Everyone Needs A Personal Day

I am a rule follower.

1) If you are not sick and it's a school day -- you'd better be in school -- the WHOLE day!

2) There is no reason to be tardy.

I am also a wimp. I can't stand having to face the Attendance Office if my kids need to be taken out early or have to miss. How is it that the Attendance Lady can make me, the mother, feel so intimidated?? They are MY kids for goodness sake!

I still pray that the computer will pick up when I call in if they are sick so I don't have to tell a live person that my son will be absent. I feel the need to embellish a sickness so there is no possible way they would want to be near my son! I end up hanging up and feeling pathetic!!

What is worse is the handful of times that I have had to take Connor out early to get to a baseball tournament in time. I already am feeling horrible about myself because I am breaking my own Rule #1!! Then I wonder if I should lie to the school so I don't feel even more guilty!

Well, this week, I have evidently become a rule breaker because my kids were allowed to be tardy on Monday and I allowed Colby to take a "Personal Day" on Friday.

My good friend allows her kids to each have a "Personal Day" during the year. They get to pick how they want to spend the day together. My boys caught wind of that and decided it was a great idea. Somehow Connor took his personal day early in the year. However, with TAKS testing coming up (and if you are a resident of Texas, you know how important TAKS tests are! :( ), I told Colby he could have his "Personal Day" after the tests were finished.

Wednesday afternoon he came home from his last TAKS test and proclaimed that he needed a three-day weekend and would be taking Friday as his "Personal Day".

I was so proud of myself on Friday morning. I called into the school, the computer answered and I loudly and proudly announced that Colby would be absent because he was taking a Personal Day!! Yeah me!!! (And, the CISD police haven't even knocked on my door yet!)

Colby and I had a fun day hanging out together. He is a money-saver and decided he wanted to do a little shopping. Our first stop was for a new craze at his school -- animal-shaped rubber bands that the kids wear like bracelets.

He also has been wanting this new scooter that has a Ripstick base and a Razor Scooter handle bar. Evidently it is "crazy"! And, the drifting is awesome! Hmmm...
Bowling was the choice activity for the day.

He and I went back and forth on strikes and spares

But in the end, mom beat him twice!

He told me next year on his "Personal Day" we would not be going bowling!! :)

Responding to "Anonymous"

Apparently, my fans have been wondering what happened to me. :) Hee! Hee!

I received an e-mail from "Anonymous" yesterday wondering where March and April went. (My previous entry was "February...Where Did You Go?") I am 99% certain I know who sent that anonymous e-mail since that person was sitting in an airport waiting to get on a plane to Singapore and had nothing better to do than check my blog. :)

Although, I could be wrong and maybe it was one of the other few people who read about my exciting life!! I can guarantee it wasn't my mom or dad -- she didn't call me to ask how to log in to leave a comment! :)

So, without further ado, here is an update of the latest two months in this household:

MARCH:

* Lots of league baseball for Colby. One tournament for each boy. A nice change from February!!

* My boys took me to see Kenny Chesney (ie., my boyfriend) at the rodeo.

The boys waiting for the rodeo to start.

Apparently, Colby takes after me. He couldn't stand watching the Steer Wrestling. "They're going to break those poor cows' necks!"

* The next week, we went to see Toby Keith at the rodeo (not my boyfriend). :)

* That night we stayed down in the Galleria area so we could spend the next day at the fair. We stayed at a swanky hotel that had robes and slippers for all of us to go with the candy bars, cokes, wine and fruit!

* A day at the fair...

Eating junk food

Watching the Pig Races

Playing games and winning prizes

* Spring Break!! My sister and her four kids came for the last half of the week. We spent lots of time in the pool and at the park. I even tried to teach my sister and nieces how to sew!

APRIL:

* We had a weekend off of baseball for Easter weekend and what do we do? ...

Go to an Astros game!!

* The first year that we did not dye Easter eggs. Instead I blew out 24 eggs and we stuffed them full of confetti.

* Easter Sunday and three of my favorite boys!!!

* Baseball news for April --

The Texas Steel became the first team in the Nation's Baseball League in any age group and in all 50 states to win 40 games before any other team this year! Woo Hoo!!

The Steel played in two tournaments in April, coming in First Place in one and Second Place in the other.

The Steel also won their league End of Season Tournament.

The Hooks also played in two tournaments this month and took Second Place in each. Unfortunately, the Hooks and the Steel played on the same weekends so mom was not with Connor to get pictures of him and his trophies!!

* Our niece, who will graduate from Texas A&M in May, came and took both boys back to College Station for a weekend of baseball. A&M (Ashley and Colby's favorite team) was playing UT (Connor's favorite team). They had a blast with Ashley all weekend and mom and dad had a great weekend at home too!!

* We ended the month with both boys taking their TAKS tests and informing me that there are only 24 days of school left. YIKES!!

February...Where Did You go??

How is it already Month #3 in 2010? I am still stopping to think before I write the year on my checks!!

Looking at our calendar, I can tell you EXACTLY where February went in our family...to the baseball fields!

In a matter of one month between the two boys, there were seven tournaments and two league games with 25 wins; 5 losses; 1 tie. Not a bad baseball month! In fact, as of today, Colby's team, the Texas Steel, is rated #7 in the nation; and, Connor's team, the Spring/Klein Hooks are rated #10 in the nation.

Colby's team ended up taking First Place in two tourneys and Second Place in one tourney. Connor's team took Fourth Place in one tourney, First Place in two tourneys and Third Place in one tourney.

Along with spending at least nine hours every Saturday and nine hours every Sunday at the fields, this February is going down as one of the Top 5 coldest in Houston history. Bitter cold winds and temperatures made it downright miserable! I kept thinking I should have someone take my picture -- but all that anyone could see was two eyes peeking out from piles of blankets, hats, scarves and gloves!! So instead, I took one of Colby as he watched one of his brother's games.

Here is a photo montage of our month:

The Texas Steel take their very first First Place!

The next weekend, the Texas Steel take another First Place at a tourney in Cy-Fair.

The Hooks' First Place in Cy-Fair. (This was a COLD night -- hence, the photographer's shaky hand and Connor's crazy hair!!)

The Hooks' First Place in Katy.

The Steel's Second Place in the Mardi Gras Tourney this weekend.

I am proud of my boys and proud of their teams. For some reason, each boy only has one tournament a piece in March along with Colby's seven league games -- but I'm not complaining. This mom could use a little less baseball. Plus, it will give Mother Nature a chance to warm up a bit...bring on the sweat!!!

Oh, Technology, How You Sometimes Fail Me!

Yesterday, Colby and I sat down together to work on his homework, which included a Science sheet. On the sheet was this question:

How could each of these sentences be proven?

1. The sun sets in the west.

2. The higher you go in the air, the colder it gets.

3. The moon doesn't always look the same shape.

Colby looked at me and said, "That's easy, you look it up on the Internet!"

Hmmmmm...

Happy Braces Day!!

Today we are celebrating an important holiday -- Braces Day!! Unfortunately, it does not require the boys to take a day off of school; but, it is an important event none the less!

Connor had braces put onto his teeth at 8am this morning. He is sore and hungry; but, in two years he will be smiling with straight ivories and a jawbone that is equal on both sides!!

I couldn't get a picture of the apparatus in the back of his mouth that is going to cause the greatest difference -- the Hertz Apparatus. It is a hinged-steel rod that is attached to the top two and bottom two back teeth by silver crowns. It is literally "growing" his jawbone -- as one side decided to grow and the other didn't want to. He will wear this for a year and then wear the braces for another year.

As I was sitting in this swanky orthodontist office -- smelling the fresh Otis Spunkmeyer cookies baking, coffee brewing, watching "Regis and Kelly" on the TV and listening to the free arcade games running -- it occurred to me that orthodontist offices had changed since I had braces. And, then I realized that (GASP!) it has been almost 30 YEARS since I had braces!!!

Here are some pictures I took this morning before we left:

After school...

Please stay tuned...I'll have the true "AFTER" pictures in about two years!!

Loosing Pounds

Did anyone happen to hear a huge sigh of relief coming from South Central Texas yesterday?? It came from the bellows of my house!

I have gotten a "bug" of sorts and have been throwing away/giving away huge amounts of "stuff"!

The first of December, I began feeling like my house was swallowing me up -- or, the stuff in my house, I should say. And Christmas was coming, so more "stuff" was going to have to find a home in my house!! Ugggh! I heard recently that if you wouldn't want to move a certain item into a new home, then you should get rid of it. And, maybe that was the root of our overcrowded problem. We haven't moved in a long time!! It was easy to keep miscellaneous stuff at bay when it was packed up and moved once every 2-3 years!!

So, away I went with a mission. Within the first week, I had a pile of stuff for the donation truck...



Then, they came back four days later to take away a piece of furniture I didn't want anymore.

Yesterday, the final truck came to pick up this...



...and my house finally exhaled!

My husband hasn't been hit by the bug quite as hard as me and so if the next sound you hear coming from South Central Texas is the sound of a nails hammering things to the floor and walls, you can bet it is my husband trying to save the rest of the "stuff" from being hauled onto the sidewalk for the next donation truck!!

A New Find

For those who read my blog, OK...well really for Danette and Keri (although I don't think this will help Keri much when she moves to Singapore!)...I have added a new blog that is chocked full of deals!!

This lady is a mother of six and somehow has time to blog on deals -- coupons, sales, rebates, freebies, etc. My girlfriend went to hear her speak on coupon-using tips and has since been saving tons of money at the grocery store. I used some of her tips for Christmas shopping and also saved! It is lots of fun to click on her website (My Litter) and see what the deal is for the day!

P.S. She also has amazing recipes every once in a while -- 'cuz somehow she also has time to cook!!