Milkshake Parties After School

Life is so good. We live in the land of milk & honey. May we not abuse and throw it away! (I can't help but get a little serious!) Anyway, the rims of the glasses are covered in chocolate and sprinkles. (The glasses were dipped in slightly melted chocolate morsels and then dipped in a little plate of sprinkles). Freedom looked through Joy's cookbook (compliments of Grandma Burgin - THANK YOU!) during the day and picked that after school snack for the girls. They LOVED it.

Glory made her special little cinnamon roll hors d'oeuvres. YUMMY! (Tortillas with butter, cinnamon and sugar rolled up and cut...better with cream cheese instead of butter!). Thank you Glory!

San Antonio City-Wide Bike Rodeo

Well, Joy got First Place in the bike rodeo at Steubing Elementary, so she was able to ride in the San Antonio City-Wide Rodeo downtown in the convention center this morning. She didn't place, but it was a neat experience. This first picture is of Glory and Freedom walking her bike to the center from the car. I love how they naturally showed their support!

There were a LOT of kids there. The atmosphere was amazingly quiet. The kids were really concentrating. We had never been before, so when we realized we had to let her go behind the blue curtain half-wall by herself we were slightly shocked and excited for her at the same time. She was noticeably nervous and only smiled once when I requested a pose. She was very serious and did GREAT! Can you find her in line? This is where the she first entered the "arena" - she's in the first line near the chair.

Here she is waiting in line after doing the cones.

She was Number 75.

Here's that one smile I got!

Whew! It's over! Good job Joy!

Meow!

First Place Kitty!

Fiesta!

Another recent picture. I guess I'm in the mood to share some recent pics of the kids. I have to make up for that toilet wash and sock sorting post! She will be finishing 3rd grade. She had a great year. Third grade will definitely have a special place in her heart forever.

Freedom's Cast

Very unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of Freedom in his cast! I could just kick myself for that because as heartbreaking as it was - he was very cute! His leg is completely healed now and he's doing great! It took a full six weeks to get the limp out :( We haven't been back to the merry-go-round he broke it on yet, but I want to go back, so he can conquer it and not be afraid. Of course, I will have my hand on the bar in complete control the ENTIRE time he is on it.

If you'll notice in the closeup, he asked everyone who signed to write "Freedom loves" in front of their name. Double cute.

Beautiful

The title says it all.

Toilets Too

I got these new toilet brushes at Target - $4.99 each. I keep them full of soapy water next to the toilet. Then, I quickly brush out the toilet daily (when I remember) to keep them from getting gross. Who posts this sort of stuff? I promise the next post will be about the kids :)

Sock Washing

I hate laundry. I work hard to do a bit every day or every other day, but when it's time to wash that load of socks - that's when I get behind. Having a loveseat piled with socks, underwear, t-shirts and towels just looks so daunting...and I know when I get started to put it all away, I will not be able to finish putting it away in one sitting. So, I'm excited about a new idea. I think I read about it on flylady.com. I bought some lingerie bags and I am training my family to put their socks in THEIR lingerie bag. Then, theoretically, I will just be able to throw (should I say transfer?) to the washer, to the dryer and then quickly away! Maybe we will quit losing so many socks as well. My sweet little girls are excited about the idea, so I don't think it will be hard to train them to do it! Last week was our first week to try and they did GREAT! For some reason, they just magically remembered and were thrilled to do it. I think they are excited about upping their chances of having clean socks regularly :) Can I train Jon to do it? Probably not, he leaves he socks whereever he pleases, but at least he leaves his socks hanging around in pairs! :) Love you babe!

Twas the Party!

Well, we finally had Freedom's 4th Birthday Party! We danced, let loose hundreds of ladybugs in the backyard after they slept in our refrigerator for a week, had cupcakes, a pinata and topped everything off with confetti eggs! I think Freedom had a great birthday celebration.

Butterflies in the Garden

Joy's artwork was selected to be displayed at ArtFest II for Northside Independent School District of San Antonio. It is titled "Butterflies in the Garden." Great job Joy! We're so proud of you! All of your art is amazing!

The Story of a Tree and My Parents

Here is our house in October of 2008. We had a nice, big, shade tree. This is my family (Mom Burgin, Nanny Fran, Momma, Daddy, me, Glory, Freedom and Joy) under the big shade tree at Halloween. My mom made all the costumes - a bat, cowboy and cowgirl. They look great! And the tree looks nice and shady.

A big wind blew our nice, big, shade tree over. So sad they planted a lot of these when they built this neighborhood and this is the seventh one to fall. They grow quickly and provide great shade in the summer, but they're not native to this part of the country and have a tendency to fall over. It is a type of Elm.

My parents loaded and hauled off my big tree the day after it fell.

My dad brought us a new live oak tree AND planted it with a little help from Jon. :)

Thank you Mom and Dad. We are so blessed by you. Look how happy Jon is. Not too many kids in their late thirties have such parents as I do - so willing AND capable to bless.

My Big Bad Squirrel

Glory played a big, bad squirrel in her First Grade performance. She WAS big and bad! I was so proud of her! She was so cute because in the beginning of the show, she had ALL eyes right on her Daddy; she wanted to make sure he was watching! She stopped performing and posed for this picture when she noticed Joy was taking a shot. I was able to record the whole thing on the camcorder, so I'm happy about that!

My Undeserving Award

All I can say in this post, is I don't deserve it.

Mommy, Mommy! Where Are You?

Freedom and I checked out this book from the library. We go every Wednesday to preschool story time, which he LOVES. A very nice librarian reads two stories and then has a fun craft for them to make. Anyway, we checked out this book, "Mommy, Mommy! Where Are You?" The first page shows a little mouse, Ozzy, who woke up and didn't see his mommy so he hollared, "Mommy, Mommy! Where are you?" I just HAD to take a picture of Freedom with this book, because he and Ozzy have this in common! :) For the first 4 years of his life, Mommy has been on the brain the moment he wakes up. Although that's been trying at times, it is VERY sweet and I know it won't last forever.

Cute Car Party Favors

I saw these on the web and thought they were so cute! I made about 16 of them to hand out at Freedom's birthday party. They were fun to make! The wheels are recess peanut butter cups - they are assembled with hot glue.

Twas the Night Before Party

Twas the night before Party when all through the rooms
a mother was stirring with occasional booms.
The pinata was filled with candy and care
In hopes that small children soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of ladybugs danced in their heads.
And Momma in her tennis shoes eager to toil
Had just started decorating with crape paper coil.


When out of the bed there arose such a clatter,
Momma sprang from her work to see what was the matter.
Away to the Birthday boy she flew in a hurry,
Hugged him up tight then started to worry.


With a moan and a groan and a heartbeat so quick,
She knew in a moment it must be St. Sick.
With writhing and sweating the puking began,
It was a signal this party reached premature end.