I'm going on a date!!

Saturday night we'll be going to see the Austin Pops perform at the Riverbend Centre in Austin!
Madison's orchestra teacher gave us tickets.

What a beautiful facility! I can't wait!

Very cute version of Hey Jude

Make sure your speakers are on for this one!

Memorial Day tradition

This is our family's 9th year of putting flowers on random veteran graves on Memorial Day. We each take a flower & set off quietly through the cemetery looking for a veteran's grave that doesn't already have flowers on it.
Quietly we meditate on what that miltary servant sacrificed for our county. When we re-group as a family we share the name of the person we selected and as much as we could gather about them from the headstone; branch of armed forces, rank, age, wife?

As usual, once we've paid our respects to our veterans, then we set out to look at old graves. It is so interesting what you can learn about history by doing this. Many of the early settlers in this area of Round Rock were Swedish. Lots of family plots.
This plot was particularly interesting. The headstone was the round stone attached to the top of the bars. They were so deteriorated we couldn't read anything but the year: 1881. Are these bars & chains the devices that lowered the caskets? I don't know?

that's a BIG banner!

After leaving church last night we spotted this banner (how could we miss it?) on a new high-rise in the downtown Austin area. Look how big this banner is!!
It's 3 stories tall!!

relaxing Memorial Day weekend

This year for Memorial Day we don't plan to go anywhere or really do anything. We're staying home & relaxing. Ahhhhh..... love it. The only definite 'outings' we have planned is for church tonight & visit a cemetery tomorrow. The gas prices are crazy high and we have several movies to get caught up on.

It has been in the 90's each day so we find our family going to the pool about 3 times a day. Again... love it! Last night's 'low temp' was in the 80's.

I used some of my birthday gift card money to buy pool toys (nerf balls & diving rings) and beach towels. I also got some lonnnnngg overdue hair color to get rid of some of this grey hair! Scott said he liked my greys, but I promised him they'd be back. In about 4 weeks. *sigh*

We are marinating steaks to throw on the grill tomorrow with fried potaotes, watermelon & brownies. YUM!

A special thanks to any veteran reading this blog. Not many words can describe the sacrifice. Thanks. Thanks!

Rugby Banquet

Ahhh... the joys of boys in.... skirts?!

Tonight was the year-end Rugby banquet. It was supposed to be 'formal' rugby attire so the boys were required to wear their kilts (ours were homemade) and bring a date. Don't you love the socks?

The infamous 'Captain Morgan' stance.

Dillon took his good friend, Kelsey, to the banquet. Cute!

Surprise party for ME!!

It's true.... I'm 40!! I have been set-up by my husband & my Aunt! They arranged a surprise birthday party for me yesterday that was truly a SURPRISE.
I know, I know.... you're thinking I must've known something because of my innate ability to know everything... but I was actually taken off-guard for this one!
Scott & Jeannetta called in many of our friends to be at our house Sunday morning. Scott got me out of the house by saying the kids wanted to clean the house for me as a birthday gift. I thought that was a gift I would really like, so I gladly drove around for an hour with Scott.
When we got home Jeannetta's car was in the drive & I thought... "Aww... she decided to surprise me by coming to see me on my special day! Isn't that nice?"
But Surprise to ME when the kitchen erupted with "Surprise!!" I still can't believe they pulled it off. I'm losing my touch. Is this what happens when you get old?!



We had barbeque hamburgers & hot dogs with chips & soda. It was all prepared for me (that might be my favorite part) and I didn't have to do anything but enjoy the fellowship with good friends. Oh, the gifts were a nice bonus. :) heehee
A special thanks to everyone who came: Jeannetta, Kurt, Margaux, Tim; Valerie, Ron, Alex, Eddie & Caroline; Gary & Mim; Pat & Ivonne; Nick (& Jessica by phone); Jeremy, Robin & Hayden; and my wonderful family: Scott, Jared, Dillon & Madison.
Love you all!! What a great birthday!

Snipets of Dillon at Studio 54

SORRY these are so blurry!! Hopefully you can make out which one is Dillon!

Dillon is in the dark green shirt & hat. They're singing the song 'Working 9 to 5' that Dolly Parton sang in the movie '9 to 5'.


Dillon is to the left of the screen here. This is the song 'We go Together' from the movie Grease. He's got the 'look'!


This last song was a trio - Dillon's in the middle. It's called 'A song for Mama' by Boyz II Men. Dillon picked me out of the crowd & was singing it right to me - so I had to quit video taping because it made me cry! Those 3 boys came through the crowd & gave their moms a rose. Yes, many moms were in tears. He made me feel very special!

What a nice way to spend my birthday! Thanks for the song, Dillon!

Happy birthday singing to me!

At tonight's production Dillon told the choir director it was my birthday. So... he brought the 'show choir' over to our table to sing happy birthday to me. How nice! They sang a beautidul rendition. Isn't he a sweet son?!
It looks like this is a small venue, but we sat at a corner table in a room of 300 people... so it was very special (and a little embarrassing! - Wait til his birthday!!).

Great night out!

We had a WONDERFUL night at Dillon's choir production! I hope these don't bore you... but I got lots of pics of our family. It's not very often we get dressed up, so I just have to share!

same hair stylist

I'm much nicer though.

2 Grand Finales down... 1 to go

We're wrapping up the year of Fine Arts.
Jared's final orchestra concert was tonight. They did a great rendition of Steven Spielberg movies... "Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones" and ended with a song from Pirates of the Caribbean. Nice! Tonight might be Jared's FINAL orchestra concert EVER. {{sniff}} He decided not to take orchestra as a senior next year, he's filled his schedule with classes pertaining to a future in Political Science. Okay, I guess I'll support that decision.
Madison had her final Choir concert tonight too. Scott & Dillon went to her performance. Madison sang in a quartet in addition to her part in the choir.

See if you can hear her singing!

Saturday is Dillon's choir 'dinner theater' at Stony Point. It's called Studio 54. I'll post about it. Dillon sings in 8 of the songs. I can't wait! Stay tuned....

God's gifts to me

Yes... God gave me 3 amazing things. Mt. Dew, Chocolate Mashmallow Mateys, and Midol. I'm not saying these 3 things have to be used in conjunction with each other, I'm simply stating that these things are amazing. I don't know how they're made (those marshmallows are like none other!) but God gave them to me as gifts.

Who gets which side?

Scott & I have this theory... when neither one of us is not sleeping well, then we 'switch sides' of the bed . Typically this works great & we both get at least a week's worth of restful sleep before trading back to our 'home side'.
So we decided to switch a few nights ago. I slept GREAT on his side of the bed. He didn't sleep so good on my side. Bummer. We switched back tonight. He's already in bed... asleeep. Maybe his side has some magical-sleep-inducing power. *sigh*
I was looking at other sleeping arrangements on-line and came up with these bed beauties:

With this one we would both get a whole bed to ourselves... no trading sides! Not too sure about getting in & out of bed though. I guess 'jump into bed' and 'falling out of bed' take on literal meaning. This one has a large screen TV built on the foot of the bed. I don't think we'd have any problems seeing the Tv, but I don't think there'd be much sleeping. I wonder where the speakers are. Not good.
This bed would probably work because there's really no 'sides' to it. We could just rotate 45 degrees if one of us isn't sleeping well. Then you get to keep your own side but have a change of scenery. Could work.
Oh well. I'm getting tired enough now that I don't think it'll matter which side I'm sleeping on. G'night.

Happy Mother's Day!!

My family got me a the newest Cher CD... 'The Very Best of Cher'.

I also got a white board / calendar / magnet bulletin board... so I can stay 'organized'. :)

Unfortunately I got 10 loads of laundry too. :(

Lazy Sunday

We spent the day at the pool right by our house. I think we're all burnt.

Scott needed a comfortable chair at the pool so he wheeled the office chair all the way down there. We loaded him up with the radio & cooler to push back to the house.

"Jared! Get out there & help your Dad!" Oh, right, like that's what I meant...

Prom 2008

Jared's Junior Prom was last night! Here he is with his date, Brianna. They both looked so spiffy! They were part of a 'party for 30' at an Austin dinner club (oh my... Jared said their dinner cost $109!). Jared dropped Brianna at home at 1:00 & came home shortly after. Good times.

THE 'corsage'

I'm so proud of Jared to pick out (and pay for) this corsage all by himself! He has prom tonight & this is the wrist corsage that goes with his date's black dress. Jared did good except that he put the corsage in the freezer to keep it cold. Whoops! It was in there for about an hour. Now it's in the fridge. I sure hope those are sturdy roses!

Jared also got up early & took the car to a place that washes the car on the inside & outside (and HE paid for it!). Did I say I was proud of him?!

Stride gum

I always have gum in my purse for church. There's nothing worse than morning breath while singing in a crowded church.
Our family's favorite brand of gum is Stride - sweet pepermint (actually it's my favorite & they eat whatever I have... honestly I don't know what their favorites are...?).
If you buy a pack of Stride, it comes in a bi-fold package. There's one row of gum on each flap. The bottom flap is the one you want to chose your first piece of gum out of. Here's the reason: This little guy is hiding behind one of the pieces of gum. It's a challenge to pull the correct stick so you see his smile & wave on your first try. You should go get a pack & try it too. Good luck.

ps... I don't know if all flavors have this little guy. I've only bought sweet pepermint. Let me know what you find out.

Not a good way to start the week

We got a call from the sports trainer on Monday afternoon that Dillon needed to be taken somewhere for x-rays. They thought Dillon might have broken his wrist during football practice (yes, we're already full-swing into football practices). After 2-hours of waiting room drama we were told his wrist is sprained really bad. Oh, and he has bronchitus (remnant of the trip to Branson he took 3 weeks earlier). He's been baby-ing the arm & he THINKS he's ready to get back to football.... I bet he'll be surprised at how tender his arm will be when he tries to tackle again. Ouch.
(Notice the injury does not stop him from talking on the phone - priorities, ya know.)

only in Texas

This is a scene we witnessed from a stoplight near IH-35. These young 'cowboys' were practicing their bronco-riding skills on the window ledge of their truck. YEEEEEEE HAWWWWWWWWW As you can see, it's a new truck. I guess they needed to get a good feel for the new vehicle. :)