Poor John

We're packed and mostly ready to go to Port Aransas this evening to help Rena with her big move to Galveston. We're sad to miss the Doss Fish Fry Saturday, but I guess you can't make it to everything. The kids are excited about going to Rena's house, but I'm not sure how much fun stuff we'll be able to do. Hopefully she'll be mostly packed and ready to go and we can head out tomorrow morning before it starts to rain too much. Maybe once we get to Galveston, we can relax, because, as the title states, John is kinda stressed out today. He's been waiting for a concrete guy to pour a slab for the barn for weeks and, of course, he shows up yesterday and today and John wants to help him out. He also has to get our pig pen ready because the kids' pigs for the stockshow are getting picked up this weekend and we need a place to put them. And, the hunters are coming today and he needs to talk to them at some point. And to top it all off, the cows at Linda Finch's ranch (a neighbor's ranch that he takes care of) are out and he has to get them back in before we leave. This is all supposed to happen while he's getting everything ready for us to leave for the weekend and pack the truck up... yikes!!! Hope it all works out!!!!

On a lighter note, school has been going well so far and without too many complaints. Ashlyn started tennis lessons again on Thursday. Colten says he's ready for a sleepover after only two weeks of sleeping in his bed. I'm not quite sure about that, but by the time we have a chance to have a sleepover, maybe I'll change my mind. At least he's got incentive to stay in his bed, though!

I'll try to post on the status of the move at some point this weekend if I get a chance. Have a good long Labor Day Weekend!

First Day of School

Yesterday was Ashlyn's first day in 6th grade and Colten's first day in 1st grade. They are both still excited about school, so I'm taking that as a good sign. Ashlyn was happy that her classmates noticed she had contacts and was excited about her locker shelf (she has vowed to be more organized this year - we'll see!). Colten just thought school was going to be lots of fun this year and was happy to see his old buddies. We'll see how long this excitement lasts. I'm guessing until the first night we're up late doing homework!

Fair Weekend

The kids had an exciting weekend which started out with going to the fair parade with Omie B. on Friday morning. They usually don't get to go to the parade since before this year, school had already started and unlike schools in Fbg, Mason doesn't get Fair Parade day off. Friday evening, we took them to the Carnival and let them ride their little hearts out. Ashlyn actually tried some of the scarier rides this year, but Colten still opted for the less thrilling ones. I'm sure that will change soon!

Saturday, the kids stayed at Omie & Opie A's house so John & I could go to the fair and dance and not have to go to the carnival. Rena was there, too, and they tie-dyed T-shirts, so I think that made up for not going to the carnival.

Sunday was the last day before school started, so we met the Witt's at the Beaver Creek and let the kids swim and play for a couple of hours. Then we had to go home and get everything ready for the next day.

Rena got a job!!!!

Rena just called and said she got a job with NOAA and she starts right after we move her to Galveston (Labor Day weekend). Woooohoooo Rena! I don't know all of the details, but the job involves going to oil rigs and checking the sea life around them. She'll have to elaborate. She'll be taking helicopter training the Wed after Labor Day. I'm so happy for her. Things are falling into place. Can't wait to give her a hug... we'll have lots to celebrate tonight at the fair!

School & Cats

Saturday we spent the day (and a lot of money) getting ready for school. The kids got haircuts (see pic - also note Ashlyn has her contacts in and Colten's two front teeth are finally coming in) and we bought all of their school supplies and some new clothes. The crowd actually wasn't too bad in Kerrville considering it was tax-free weekend. School starts on the 27th, almost two weeks later than last year. I guess that's fine since it seemed school was starting earlier and earlier every year, but now they have less days off during the year and a much shorter Christmas break. I don't know which would be better.

Sunday afternoon we labeled everything and stuffed their new backpacks full of supplies. Ashlyn's didn't all fit, but John will probably take them to school the first day so he can help her lug it all in. They're both really excited about school starting and seeing all of their friends again. The summer seemed to fly by and we didn't get a chance to get them together with friends much.

In other news, we lost a cat this morning. Our neighbor found Stripes in the road. We have the worst luck with pets. This is the fifth tame cat that we've lost. Most of the time they just disappear and we give up on them after a couple of weeks. With the road and the coyotes, I guess we just have to get used to this. Our neighbor has lots of extra kittens this year, so I'm sure they'll be happy to unload a few on us. We just won't be getting too attached to our cats anymore!

Cricket Invasion

John and I are about to go crazy. Every morning for the past couple of weeks, there have been at least 20 dead crickets in the kitchen. That's just the kitchen. They're dying all over the house. Fortunately, not too many of them make it upstairs. We try to get rid of them all, but it's a losing battle. I guess it's been a good year for crickets and the house must be the perfect spot for them to chirp their last note. And lose their legs (anyone know why cricket's legs fall off when they die?). Of course they're not all dead. We hear them chirping all the time, but they have good hiding spots behind appliances. Even Colten is getting tired of all the crickets and he used to love catching them. I guess the thrill of the hunt is gone. I think we'll all be glad when the invasion is over!

TS Erin

Crazy weather! Our rain gauge was full this morning, so we had at least 5 inches of rain since yesterday. Roseline's was full, too. Dr. Walton (the Dr. my mom works for) got washed of a bridge last night and had to be rescued. My dad couldn't make it past the banana bridge in Stonewall to get to work. Rena says that was the lamest tropical storm ever, but I guess it was only lame at the coast! I added some pictures of the water this morning. The first is the usually dry creek between the house and 87. The second is the Beaver Creek at the 87 bridge. You can usually see lots of grass and bushes and only a little water there. I suspect there will be lots of ranchers fixing water gaps today, if the rain stops long enough to let the water go down!!

On a side note, Ashlyn said she had a dream that she could talk to our dog, Cleo and that Cleo was in a rocking chair and Ashlyn was a giraffe. That puts a funny picture in my head. I guess she inherited getting strange dreams from me!

The Creek

This past weekend we did a sort-of makeshift creek weekend. We couldn't all be there the whole weekend, so some of us were there part of Saturday and all of us were there Sunday. It was nice to see everyone again and the water was wonderful (but a little too warm in the late afternoon). I added pictures of the calm water Sunday morning, our little fish (Colten) swimming under water, and Ashlyn with the raft we all fought over most of the time. Ashlyn kept herself occupied by pestering Randy and Rena mostly. She loved getting thrown in the air by Randy. Colten caught lots of minnows. They were both a big help in finding good skipping rocks and other interesting things under the water. I took some pictures with a water camera, but I have to get them developed (who knows when that'll happen!!).

Latest News

Yesterday, John had a busy day taking the kids to doctor appointments. Ashlyn got her eyes checked and was very excited to get to try out contacts for the first time. She has to go back next week to make sure she's comfortable with them, but I think it won't be a problem. I'm just glad she has a Daddy that wears contacts and can show her what to do with them since I have issues sticking things in my eyes. Colten went to see the pediatrician about these headache episodes he's been having. We think it might be childhood migraines. They usually happen after he's been playing a video game on the computer. He'll come tell us he has a headache and lay down for awhile. Then he usually throws up and then sleeps for a couple of hours. After that, he's perfectly fine. This has only happened a few times and just started this past spring. The doctor wants him to go to a neurologist and get a cat scan to make sure the headaches aren't related to seizures. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, but I really think it's migraines based on family history and the symptoms and causes I've read about. I guess we'll see. I hope we can find a way to prevent them.

Lately we've been really working at getting Colten to stay in his bed all night. So far, we've done pretty good, but last night we had a major breakthrough. At 3am I heard someone going to the bathroom and assumed it was Colten. I completely expected him to crawl in bed with us when he was done and was surprised when we didn't have a visitor. This morning he was still in his bed and I knew it was Colten that had gone to the bathroom since the lid was up and he didn't flush (telltale signs). I was very impressed. All hope is not lost!

Tonight we're going to the annual 4-H swim party where Ashlyn will get awards for the projects she participated in during the past year: swine, food & nutrition, livestock judging, and vet tech. I think she'll be excited and Colten will be jealous and determined to participate in more stuff next year (I hope, anyway!).

Washington Trip

First Post

I'm not much of a writer, but if my mom can keep a blog, than I figured I could too.