Day 617

I got to wear my cool finisher shirt today!

Monday 1/18

Day 616

We are finishers!!!!!

Josh and Samantha did the EP5K this year. I am so proud of them! Samantha beat Josh too!

Samantha's time-35:18

Joshua's time-37:21

Upon getting her medal, Samantha looks at it--it says EP5K fun run---She asked, "why do they call it a FUN run? It was NOT fun!" She wants to run the half next year....

I am also a finisher---13.1 miles. :) I was unsure going in because my legs were so messed up. Just a few days before running .5 a mile caused me great pain. I managed to get a better time than I expected. My time was 2:24:52...my original healthy leg goal was 2:20 and I believe I could have easily done it if I wasn't already in so much pain. After mile 7 I had to stop and stretch my calves about twice per mile. After the race I also realized I pulled something in my hamstring....ouch! Oh well....I am ready to do it again!

Sunday 1/17

Day 615

Even facebook status' couldn't help me with today!!! I am pretty sure my day was spent being lazy, hydrating, and eating pasta....

Saturday 1/16

Day 614

Today is a two parter! This is from Friday 1/15

It is Samantha's 9th birthday. We also went downtown to pick up our race packets and hang out at the expo for a while. The kids always have a blast getting lots of free stuff. Josh even won 2 tickets to the hockey game!

Here are Josh and Samantha with their packets.

Caleb is taking care of Marc's packet

It didn't last long...they weighed down the stroller.
Love this girl!
Hannah wanted to play a football game
She won these bandanas LOL

Samantha rocked it and ended up winning the toy car.

It was a cold and rainy day, but the kids wanted to go to the Chase Bank Tower observation floor. It was a LONG cold wet walk, but we did it anyway! They had a blast looking out at everything...I preferred to stay a safe distance back LOL

Happy birthday to Samantha!!! Why is there a 2 candle??? Because I forgot to buy more candles, so we used a two and 7 ones. LOL It worked!

She got to open her gifts from us.

She got a new outfit.

Friday 1/15

Day 613

Thursday 1/14---no photo :( I will give you a glimpse of facebook status updates though.

Jennifer-has decided I will NEVER be a morning person. It doesn't matter how many years or days in a row I have to get up early!

Jennifer-is about to go shopping for a birthday gift

Jennifer-Please put this on your status if you know someone who is an idiot. Idiots affect the lives of many. There is still no known cure for stupidity, but we can raise awareness ...... 93% won't Copy and Paste this, will YOU make this your status for at least one hour?

Jennifer-has a 3 year old that can not nap during the day! Even 10 minutes worth or sleep wires the child out and she is bouncing all night!

I know, I am a dork! LOL

Day 612

It is "retro week" on facebook. You are supposed to find an old photo of yourself and set it as your profile picture. This was mine. I am pretty sure I was 9 here...in 4th grade.

1/13

Day 611

Today was a Tuesday, so Marc was off. He really wanted to take Hannah to the zoo while it was cool and not so crowded. You know how Houston summers are...even the animals don't want to be out in the summer. It was fun! There was hardly anyone there either, so that was a plus. Hannah had fun walking around checking out all the animals. There was a lion cub that recently came from another zoo and it was kind of frisky. It would find the smallest kid in the crowd and lunge at the window at it. For a while that was Hannah. It would follow her as she walked and do that funky move you see normal cats do before they pounce. The zookeeper said that by the way the ears and tail were that the cat was NOT playing....it wanted lunch. Well, Hannah was not going to be that lions lunch...it lost interest after a group full of stroller pushing mom's came by. Easier prey I guess. Here are some photos of miss Hannah.






Later that night we had dinner with my dad and Janie to celebrate Samantha's 9th birthday. It was a good time. She got ice cream and a princess barbie set! What more could a girl want???

1/12

Day 610

Hannah and I don't like eating at Freebirds...can't you tell? LOL We only eat there about once a week for lunch .

1/11

Day 609

Again, no photo. This was a Sunday (1/10), so we know it included church. Other than that facebook can't even help me out because my only update had to do with my annoyance of the crazy cold temperatures.

Day 608

This was a Saturday (1/9)...I don't have a picture. :( Honestly, I can't even remember what we did. Probably hung around having a lazy Saturday. HA! I looked it up on Facebook! Hannah started the day saying, "I princess mommy" while wearing her crown. The outside temperature made it to 32*...first time in a few days. The kids played outside; then I got annoyed because all the kids in the hood appeared in the backyard...I don't even know who some of them are and they are as young as 4. Where are their parents? Why are these kids just wandering around the streets? I kicked them all out and brought my kids inside for a while. I looked up and Caleb was playing computer game that electrocuted a bunny....then he got to do surgery on it. Finally we made jello....OUTSIDE! LOL How I didn't manage to catch any of that on film I will never know. :)

Day 607

In case you missed it there was a HARD freeze here a few weeks back. The geniuses at Mini of the Woodlands neglected to turn off their automatic sprinklers and had a nice ice slick going. This photo was taken over an hour after the first time I drove by and it was obvious someone had tried to break it up. The temp stayed in the 20's for a few days, so it didn't melt.

Hannah is trying to nap on Sandy while Sandy is trying to run away because she sees the camera and is deathly afraid of them....

Day 606

Today I went here .......and bought these!

Day 605

Well, I KNOW what is in this picture...you just can't see it. LOL So....I am just running along a path and I am coming upon a bridge. I see this thing dart under the bridge. In my mind I am thinking "dang, that was a fast dog!" Well, when I get to the bridge I nearly jumped out of my skin to see lots of 'darts' so I stopped. There were/are 8 deer in this picture. Don't they blend well? You can make out a tail in a different picture I have, but my finger is covering most of it...what can I say---it was cold and my fingers were a little numb. LOL

1/6

Day 604

Everyone is at school today, so this is a just Hannah day! We went back to bed after the buses came. We had a tea party, read books, did puzzles, played dress up, and then did it all over again! Love me some Hannah!!!!!

1/5

Day 602

Today we used Marc's Christmas present--Texans vs Patriots tickets. WOW....it was an awesome game. Marc's team lost, but the Texans won and briefly gave up hope at the playoffs.

1/3

Day 603

This is another day I do not have a photo, but I DO have a good reason! First let me get out my funny little rant. You can see yesterday's photo from the football game. Obviously it is on a Sunday...duh. Well, I thought (come to find out later I was NOT the only one) school started on the following Monday. I don't see why it wouldn't. The kids had been out of school forever, why did they need Monday off also? Apparently the teachers need a day to get ready without the chaos of the kids or something...sure it makes sense, but I am ready for some normalcy even if it means getting up at 6:00 am! The kids and Meema had instructions to NOT have all the neighbor kids over (they seem to appear out of nowhere anytime MY kids go in the backyard). Well, some managed to sneak into the yard anyway and during the course of disobedience one kid informed Josh that school didn't start until Tuesday. Josh was quick to tell me this when he was done hiding from me...he was afraid he would get in trouble for all the other kids jumping the fence and coming into the yard. Sure enough, I looked it up on the internet and NO SCHOOL! Man...I had plans!!! Aside from the bitter cold/wind, I had a catholic funeral to go to AND grocery shopping. What is a crazy mom to do? Warn the kids the night before and tell them about the expected behavior. We were up and out early...the GPS steered me wrong. Don't know why I bothered because I pretty much knew where I was going. We arrived and the kids of course were stunned. We are not catholic and they didn't know anyone there...enough said there. On to the funeral---I was sad. I can't believe I let so many years go by without visiting. I quit sending Christmas cards when they moved because I didn't have the new address. I remembered all the times as a kid that I spent at Aurora and Louie's house during the summer with Wendi. We could always talk Louie into taking us to Toys R Us...and McDonald's. I remember going with them one time to the Valley....I still don't know where exactly the Valley is, but I remember Wendi and I had fun. Everyone else spoke spanish and we were just confused. LOL I went to Sea World for the first time with them. I can't tell you how many times Louie would take me to school. Almost anytime I would walk down the street to see Wendi, Louie would be outside raking the leaves...or in the back yard messing around. I remember his sweet smile and gentle laugh. He was a good man! Men like him are rare these days. I truly loved him like family and am so sorry I let our relationship/friendship go as I grew up and moved away. Louie was like a grandpa I didn't have. RIP Louie! I know your family is missing you greatly!

Day 601

Seeing how we got behind a little again with updating the blog, I am sure you are not surprised to learn that I either don't have or can't find a photo for the day. All I remember about the day is that it was a Saturday. :)

Day 600

Happy New Year!!!!! Our first day of the new year was spent just chilling out. The boys did need to go clean firework stuff out of the yard. The wind was blowing our direction, so it all ended up in our yard...lucky us. Anyway...crazy story here. Josh is sweeping in the street (Caleb has a broom in hand and is on his way out there) and a car drives by. A few minutes later it comes back and stops. The person is talking to Josh. I got up and went outside real fast. I was just sitting next to the front door and it was open so I could see him. I am still crazy over protective and don't let them out front alone. The lady told Josh how responsible he was being and how great it was for him to be out cleaning up. About that time Caleb bounces out and starts sweeping too. She gave the boys each a dollar! She asked me if it was ok first. LOL She told me she had been driving around and there were streets just covered in trash and no one was picking it up, then she drives by and sees my boys out cleaning up. Hardly any of it was our mess either. The people across the street had probably $1000 worth of fireworks (they NEVER clean it up). Josh said since he was popping some of their stuff he felt like it was right to clean it up. Who am I to tell him no????

Cinderella here just watched for a while.
Here is Josh sweeping. I think he got a little annoyed when some kid (don't know where he lives) came picking through the pile looking for unpopped firecrackers and matches.
Josh and Caleb sweeping away while a neighbor kid skateboards by.
Samantha thought it was unfair of her to clean up the firework mess since none of it was hers, but after someone gave the boys money, she went to help hoping she would get some too.
Here is Hannah sweeping the neighbors driveway.

Day 599

Here are some photos from New Year's Eve....I didn't take many.

Do you ever feel like you have a ball and chain attached to you? Well, I walked around with Hannah attached to my left for a while...she thought it was hilarious!
Just playing some games

Caleb shooting a roman candle.
That's all I got!!!! We played some games... Old neighbors came over... Boys went outside...girls stayed in. The boys popped firecrackers with the neighbors and the girls played some games and watched the Wizard of Oz.

Day 598

This is the ONLY picture I have for today...I spent most of the day doing photo recovery. This is Marc playing Caleb's DS. Caleb will play and get stuck and ask Marc to beat a level for him. LOL