Dancing in Baton Rouge!

We're in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the weekend for KC's dance competition. Thankfully the hotel has Internet access! It also has an exercise center, and my knees are reminding me why I don't run very often. Ouch.

The girls have classes all morning and early afternoon until 2:30. The competition itself starts around 4:30 and won't end until 9:00 or so. We can take pictures without flash but no video cameras are allowed. Hopefully I can get a few pictures this afternoon before they dance.

Brady, Abby, Bill, and I are hanging out in the hotel room this morning. I'm wondering if Nickelodeon airs anything besides Spongebob. Ever.

Update: KC was so exhausted at lunchtime she ate quickly then took a nap.

Afternoon classes from 1-3pm, then the competition started at 4:30.

The girls danced to Boogie Oogie Oogie and did a great job.



The competition doesn't allow video cameras, so I used my regular camera to take a quicktime video. Unfortunately it doesn't have a zoom so it's pretty far away looking. KC is in the front center, with the long red ponytail. She's in front of the left hand side of the M on the backdrop for most of the dance:

The girls finished with a second place rating, which is really good!! They worked hard and I'm so proud of KC (and all the girls)!

Tomorrow is another full day of classes and then the final few awards. Hopefully we will be on the road headed home by 3pm!

Update: We managed to leave for home around 3:30 pm. KC hurt her foot on Saturday, but didn't even realize until after the competition was over (adrenaline is an amazing thing). She limped on Sunday, but insisted in attending every single class. Their group missed a first place rating by only a few points, so they really did do a great job!

Happy 2009!

Wow, it's January 15th already - halfway into the first month of 2009! Happy New Year!

We had a really nice Christmas break. After we cleaned up from Christmas, we decided to spend a couple of days at the Bandit, Bill's parents' vacation house in New Braunfels. We spent New Year's Eve playing board games and eating way too much popcorn. On New Year's Day itself, we decided to play 9 holes of golf.

This was Abby and KC's first time to actually play on a course and help drive a golf cart. I expected Abby to be bored and complaining within 15 minutes, but she hit it straight and really enjoyed herself! I let her drive the cart a few times. She only made one wrong turn, over a small hill but I got us going in the right direction (not before she screamed "We're going to die." Can't wait until she's old enough to drive - not).

Bill took the kids fishing too. They didn't catch anything, though. Too cold for the fish, I guess (or they were all recuperating from their New Year's Eve party).

We've been back at school since January 5th, and the big kids had finals this week. It was KC's first time to take finals, and so far she thinks she's done well. Brady has been studying hard, so hopefully his all went well, too. He has his hardest 2 tomorrow (Algebra and ELA) so I'll have my fingers crossed (hard to type that way, but I'll make that sacrifice). Today, Brady officially got his braces on. He has an appliance in the back that makes it impossible for him to close his back teeth, so he's chewing on the front ones. He was great and didn't complain at all (the technician and the orthodontist both came out to tell us how great he was). He won't let me take a picture yet, though. Hopefully soon.

Next weekend (on the 24th) KC has a dance competition in Baton Rouge. Her group is dancing to a disco number - it's really cute. It's about a 5 hour drive from here, so it'll be a hectic weekend. Brady has a tryout for a new baseball team that's forming in our area this Sunday, so hopefully he'll do well with that.

That's all the excitement in our world! Hope all our friends and family are well and warm. Take care, and all the best in 2009!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!

We had a very nice Christmas. Bill's parents came up for Christmas Eve and went to Mass with us. My parents and Jill and Sierra came up for Christmas day. We all received tons of wonderful gifts, and ate way too much!

I only finished two afghans for Christmas this year, but I did do a lap-afghan for my Grandfather earlier in the year and a couple of baby blankets for friends this summer (that's my excuse, anyway).

I made a Christmas afghan for my Mother-in-law, Sarah:

And an afghan for my niece Sierra in colors to remind her of the beach she loves:

But, truly the most gorgeous handmade gift this Christmas had to be the gorgeous quilt my mother made for me!!

It has A&M colors and fabric, with some butterflies for luck, and stone patterned fabric for a solid faith and foundation. It's absolutely beautiful! I have tried to quilt in the past, and the hardest thing for me is piecing everything together so the pieces are straight and the seams are even. I couldn't begin to approach the skill and precision of this one! It's just amazing!

The kids got some great gifts, too, but I'll have to write more about that later. We are headed to Troup, Texas today to attend a party for Bill's cousin Debbie's retirement. It's about a 4-hour trek there and another 4 hours home again, so I guess I need to get some yarn so I can get started on something for next Christmas!

The New Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas Eve! We are almost ready for tomorrow, and, yes, I do finally have my Christmas Trees up. Our trip to Disney put me way behind for this year, but I finally got them up and ready.

This year, I decided to add a new tree (I know, just what I need, right?). But this one is extra special to me. In honor of my Aunt Pat, I decided to add a Family Tree!

I managed to cross-stitched a few ornaments with the kids and Bill and my parents' names on them and added some photos I've managed to beg, borrow, or copy from other family members. Christine (my cousin) had several amazing family photos she shared with us, including pictures of my great-grandparents and my great-great grandfather!

My plan is to add more cross-stitch ornaments over the next several years and more pictures as I can gather and scan them.

It's only in the early stages now, but I hope in a few years I can make it a tribute worthy of Aunt Pat and Chris and Paula.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful day tomorrow! I know that I am more grateful than ever for the moments I can spend with my family these days. To friends and family far away, know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and that we send blessings tomorrow and every day! Merry Christmas!

Time to go get ready for Santa . . . :-)

Let it snow!

I can't believe it's December already! I have a few of my trees up, and I'm still working on the rest of the house. We had a fantastic time at Disney, and I will post pictures eventually. I'm not even halfway through my shopping yet, and time is flying by.

But this afternoon, it actually felt like December. The temperatures dropped to the 30s and the kids (mine and the ones at school) were asking all day, "Will it snow??" Of course not! It's Texas! It was 70 degrees yesterday! It's not going to snow!

Shows what I know. When I picked Brady and KC up from school I thought it was starting to rain, but when I looked hard, I saw that it was indeed flakes. I wasn't even sure if the kids would notice, but they ran to the car shouting, "It's snowing!!"

Now it didn't stick, but we had flurries for a couple of hours, and around here that counts. A little pre-Christmas miracle. Aunt Pat and Grandpa Jim, if this was from either of you . . . thanks! The kids loved it. :-)

Music, music, music . . .

Bill and I are both math people. While we both love music, neither of us can play any instrument at all. We have always encouraged the kids to pursue music, though, and we have been so pleased that the girls have loved dance so much. But when it came to actually playing music, we had little to offer except a ride to someone who could help.

Brady began learning the French horn in sixth grade, mainly because it was the only elective left besides art which didn't interest him at all. When he first began, it truly sounded like a very sad cow was dying upstairs. He got better, and last year made the all-region concert band as a seventh-grader. This year, he made the all-region symphonic (top) band and also qualified for region orchestra. Saturday evening, we attended the region band concert and listened to two outstanding middle school bands perform. Here's an excerpt from the first piece the Symphonic band played, called Velocity:



For years, people have been asking KC if she could play the piano, because she has such beautiful long fingers. Finally, this past summer KC decided to begin taking piano lessons at a local music store. She's done really well for only having been playing for a few months, and Sunday she participated in her very first piano recital. 30 students of all levels performed, and we think she was just wonderful. Listen for yourself:



I am thankful that they all love music. And I am quite content to listen and enjoy . . . and help tutor them in Algebra. :-)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! We celebrated with our annual Halloween feast. We had turkey, peas, mashed potatoes, and corn, plus the kids each picked a dish. Brady chose pizza, KC chose Rice-a-roni, and Abby chose lasagna (we had lots of leftovers). We drink orange soda and call it pumpkin juice.

Brady is dressed as the grim reaper, Abby is a witch, and KC is a goth vampire girl. Bill decided to just be Bill this year.

Time for dessert! We made "cauldron cakes" (frosted upside-down cupcakes) and "treacle tart" (chocolate pudding mixed with cool whip served in mini graham cracker crusts).

Abby went trick-or-treating with a few friends from school.



There were 19 total, I think. Bill went with that group. Here's Abby with her good buddy Maya (the goth girl) and her friend Teresa's little sister (the pink power ranger).

Meanwhile, Brady, KC and I sat on the porch and handed out candy. Abby joined us for a photo when she got back. KC is kind of hovering over a smoking cauldron which is just out of frame.



We had a smaller crowd than last year, but we still had a good group. People liked our decorations and music (we had a cd player in the background playing horror movie theme songs) but we didn't get to really scare anyone this year because most of the groups were mixed big kids/little kids and we didn't want to spook any of the little ones. One man had to practically drag his son to our porch and told us that we had given the boy a fright two years ago that he still remembered. Oops! Guess it's better to let a few teenagers go by un-spooked than give nightmares to a 6-year old!

We all had a good time, and I haven't even started thinking about putting all those decorations away yet. In a little less than 3 weeks, we leave for our family vacation to Disney World!! I can't wait!

Take care, all, and I hope you had a wonderful Halloween!