mamasoup

Haircuts

If you know my family, you know that we have hair issues. We have hair issues because all four of my children have had heads full of hair since the moment they were born. It is dark, thick hair that doesn't fall out like most babies who eventually have blond hair. Instead it just grows out white blond with the dark birth hair on the bottom. So then it looks like I color my children's hair when they are infants (I actually had someone ask me this question.) Also, our hair grows very fast so we have to get frequent hair cuts.

Well this week was hair cut week. All three girls got their "summer" hair cut this week. Kate's hair had already started turning green from the pool. Abi's was getting tangled too easily and Emma just doesn't let me brush her hair with out a brutal fit if it is past her shoulders. So here they are on Photo Booth showing off their new 'dos. (By the way, I think that Photo Booth is the greatest thing. My kids totally know how to do it themselves and have documented many precious moments for me.)

What We Did Today

Run, Syler, Run

I got the pleasure of watching my brother run the Chicago Marathon this past weekend.  If you have been watching the news, then you know that it was a record breaking marathon in regards to the weather.  It was the hottest Oct. 7 in the history of Chicago; of course, it was only 87 degrees.  You might think that it shouldn't have been such a big deal, but they are used to weather in the 60s.  I was just a spectator and I felt dehydrated.  It was so much fun to be a part of such an exciting event.  My brother did so great!  I am very proud of him.  It makes me want to train for a marathon, but my knees would never let me.  I will need to find another milestone event to tackle instead.  (Oh wait, I have given birth to four children, I think that counts!)

Light Bulb Moment

   We had a cute thing happen with Kate today.  She has begun reading everything that she sees because she is in first grade and her reading skills are really taking off.  We were eating at our favorite local spot orderup tonight for dinner and she was reading our receipt.  All of a sudden she says, "Is that how you pronounce that. . . French Fries?"  I was very confused! I asked, "Do you mean is that how you spell that?" She said, "No, is that how you pronounce that?   I thought it was French Tries!?!"  So, my sweet and smart 6 1/2 year old daughter has thought that they were called French Tries for her whole life until today, when she read the real spelling of it and figured out that she was incorrect.  We all had a great laugh along with Kate.  It was very cute!

Road Trip

    We are about to embark on a two week road trip that will take us from here in San Antonio to Durango, CO.  Along the way we will stop in McKinney, TX to see my dad and in Colorado Springs, CO to see the Lucas family who we haven't seen in 3 years.  I love road trips and the kids do very well.  However, the last time we made this trip, Emma was only 3 months old.  A nursing/sleeping infant is much easier to care for than a 2 and a 1/2 year old.  The older kids really enjoy the adventure of the road.  We are going to break up the travel days as well and that will help. Our longest day will be from McKinney to Colorado Springs. I think it will be about 11 or 12 hours. 
    This is also the first time that Paul has taken two weeks off of work, ever!  It will be nice to have that much uninterrupted family time. I hope that he gets to relax a little and really enjoy the time away from deadlines and pressure.  Colorado is one of his favorite vacation destination, so that should help a lot.  I will try to post from the road.

Another year older

    Today I turned 37 years old.  It was an unusually wonderful day considering the circumstances.  I started the day with some sweet gifts from my husband that I had to open at 5:45 AM because he had a meeting at 6 am.  I then was woken up by Abi, my 9 year old, with two birthday cards that she had made. 
    After getting everyone to school, Emma went to Grammy and Dan-Dan's house and I went to Bible Study where I enjoyed Kelly's wonderful cheesecake!  Thanks.  I also received cards, flowers and gifts from my friends.  I had to leave early because I had a ROOT CANAL scheduled for 10:30am.  Nothing like a root canal on your birthday. However, it actually turned out to be a gift in disguise.  I have been in so much pain for the last two weeks that it was a relief to have the work done. I also can now highly recommend Dr. Bruchmiller. He did such a good job on my root canal. It felt like he was just flossing my teeth.  I have been able to eat today and I am experiencing very little pain.  Thank you Dr. Bruchmiller!
    Tonight I was treated to a special gift of the District -Wide Strings Concert at the Municipal Auditorium.  Jordan and many other students were on hand to serenade myself and a thousand other people.  It was more enjoyable than I thought that it would be. It is such an amazing program.
    Thank you to everyone who called me and emailed me today and sent cards. It really made me feel special. As you get older and older and further away from the "Big Birthday Bashes," it is the little sentiments that really count.  I felt very loved and appreciated today.  And I don't think I mind getting another year older.

Old Friends-Good Times

    Tonight my family and I spent an evening with some old friends.  By old I mean friends that I have known for a very long time, not people who are elderly.  Although, we were belatedly celebrating David's 37th birthday, so we are getting up there in age. The two families who were there with us are people that we have known since before we all had kids.  We have been through major life changes together. And now that our kids are older and at different schools, are paths don't cross as much as I would like.  There is something special about being with people who have known you for so long.  I felt so comfortable and at ease.  I can really be myself and not worry about what anyone will think. 
    I got to hear about one friend's recent trip to Uganda and see all of her wonderful pictures.  I got to catch up with my other friend and hear how her life as a home school mom is going.  We have nine children between us, but you wouldn't have know that there were more than three in the house. They have all known each other since birth, so they get along very well. 
    I had lentil soup for the first time and really enjoyed it. I did not try the Cuban sandwiches since the only ingredient I liked was the bread.  I will post another day about my eating issues.  Anyway, I assigned several categories to this post because when we get together we cover so many different topics.  We all used to go to church together but now we worship at 3 different places, but we still share a common faith in Christ.  I think that is what carries this friendship along year after year.
     I am thankful for these friends and I pray that we would find the time to continue to fellowship together for many years to come. 

Family-Filled Weekend

    My family of 6 spent this last weekend in Austin at my mom's house with my brother, his wife, and his four kids. There were 14 of us in 1900 square feet of home.  You do the math.  This would be most people's worst nightmare, but the kids all get along so great that it really doesn't seem that disruptive.  I have the oldest(10) and youngest(2) children in the group of 8 so they are all very close in age and that enables them to play really well together.  We only get to see them 3 times a year, since they live in Chicago, so the time is precious. 
    On Sunday, my mom, my brother, my oldest niece, my oldest two children and I all did the Capitol 10,000 race. It was the 30th anniversary of the race.  Jordan had done it once before, but it was Abi's and Kaila's first time.  We finished in about 2 hours. It was very fun.  We will see them again this summer in Durango, CO at a family reunion.  It won't be soon enough.

I Am Grateful

Much like my thanksgiving post entitled I Am Thankful, here is the list of what I am grateful for:

•a husband who loves me and appreciates who I am and what I try to do for our family each day
•children who love me and each other
•parents who love me and tell me that each time I talk with them
•extended family (brothers, in-laws, etc) who I love and get along with very well
•neighbors (2 different ones) who are willing to come to my house while Emma sleeps so that I can go to the dentist
•friends who care about me and ask how I am doing and who pray for me
•a job that allows me a respite from "normal life" (being a mom)
•a home that is filled with joy and laughter and tears and love
•a church who has welcomed us into their fellowship and allowed us to heal a bit from recent wounds
•a God who cares for me deeply and who created me in His image to bring glory to Him

Visit with my Dad

My Dad and his wife, Shelley, came to visit this weekend.  They live in McKinney, TX and drove in to see us.  My Dad lived in Las Vegas for 4 years and during that time we would see him at Thanksgiving and once in the summer.  Since he has moved to the Dallas area, we have seen him more in the last two years than we had seen him in the previous four.  It is nice to be within driving distance of my parents.  I know that some of you may not agree, but I really like my parents(my mom is in Austin) and I like being less than a day's drive away.
    During this visit, we didn't really do anything too exciting, but like my dad pointed out after our visit to his house at Christmas: it is just fun being together.  We don't have to spend a lot of money or go to a theme park to enjoy ourselves.  My dad usually stays at a fancy hotel on the Riverwalk, but this time he stayed at the La Quinta close to our home. He just wanted to be at our house and hang out.  We did go to The Shops at La Cantera last night and shopped a little bit and ate at PF Chang's.  That was very fun!  But today we just went to the places that are important in my life right now and I got to share my everyday life with my dad.  It was a really wonderful time.
    I also enjoy the fact that my children are getting to build significant relationships with their grandparents.  I want them to have really wonderful memories of their grandparents.  Although I spent some time with my grandparents when I was young, I never really felt very close to them. I never really knew who they were.  They were more like characters in my life.  I hope that my children really get to know what wonderful people their grandparents are and that they will feel truly close to them as they grow older.