Breakfast with Santa

Well we did get to see Santa...the kids even got a letter from Santa. Both are on the good list...they were both a bit worried. We had breakfast with Santa at school last Saturday morning.

We also got an elf that stays with us until Christmas is over. He goes every few nights to the North Pole to report on the behavior of the kids. He is a silly elf, changing places nightly making the kids have to look for him. We found him in the fridge one morning eating the vanilla yogurt...Emily even found that our elf loves raisins...thank god for the dog...

Snow in Texas...for real

Well you heard it right, we had snow in Texas. It started early in the afternoon north of town, but about five on the south side of town. I was out with a friend having coffee so I got to watch it for hours. When I got home Ricky wasn't even aware that it had snowed hard. The kids were in bed and wouldn't wake up to play in it.

Cold!!!!!!!!!!! November in Minnesota

Well as many of you know, my mom moved to Minnesota in the summer. The last time the kids and I had seen her was in July. So after watching the airline prices go up and down and back up and the down, we finally got tickets. The kids and I left on the 22nd and Maama was at the airport waiting for us with Lyle. Well guess what, it snowed that morning and at the airport there was still some left on the ground. We ended up stopping at the Mall of America, going only to one store, and riding rides. When we left there, the kids got to play in the snow a bit, throwing it at me. I snowed again on Sunday morning...and these are the pictures from that.

Spiderman, Tinkerbell, a Werewolf and a bee????

This is the newest member of our family. We would like to introduce Walker. We got him the day after Gustav hit. One and a half months later IKE hit. He did well. We are still getting used to Walker, he is still young and loves to chew on shoes. We don't like the chewing part, but love the barking when something doesn't seem right to him.

For Halloween this year, Emily was Tinkerbell, Ricky was Spiderman and Richard was a werewolf. Walker was a bee. The kids got a ton of candy, filling the black cauldron I emptied before they came back. This was the first year, that we handed candy out. Usually we leave the light off, because no one is home. I stayed home to hand out candy and Ricky took the kids.

Texas Ren Fest

Emily and Richard fighting as usual. just kidding!!!!! We went with Jaime, Keith and the girls and Bampa and Becca to the Renaissance festival. The kids had never been. They loved it. Emily got her face painted and her hair braided. They also did lots of the kid attractions. Jaime and I got Henna tattoos. Jaime got hers on her leg, I got mine on my back. We had a really good time hanging with the family.

Soccer and Volleyball

Emily played volleyball this fall. I was the coach of her team. I really enjoyed working with all the girls. We had a really good team...we were undefeated. Emily is great on the court, she really pays close attention and hustles to the ball.


Richard tried soccer and absolutely loved it. He was of course the smallest one on the team, but didn't let that stop him. He hustles up and down the field and gets right in the huddle to get the ball. He said he really liked playing and wants to play again.

We are going to take off for the winter season, but start back up in the spring. I think I will coach again. It was fun...I think Emily liked me coaching. Richard could care less I think...

Pictures of IKE

This is our neighbor's house...they had to move out in order to fix the house.

This is inside HEB...the local grocery store 3 days after the storm...the shelves were bare and all fruit rotted.

This picture is sideways, however, it is me standing in line outside of HEB to get in...they only let 10 people in at a time. When someone came out then you could go in. I waited for about 20 minutes outside and got only non-perishables.

This is Ricky's parent's house the day after the storm came through. They lost their fence and lots of trees. Thankfully the house was spared any major damage.

This is the generator (behind the tractor). We had to keep the blue barrel full of diesel gas in order to keep power going. We were so lucky that we were able to stay at Richard and Roberta's house for the Hurricane and for the two weeks afterward. The kids really enjoyed being with them all the time, I also enjoyed the time I spent with them.

Their First Business

Well my post is going to be out of order, but this is important. About two weeks before Ike hit, we had Hurricane Gustav that hit to the east of us. We stocked up on food and water for that one. When it didn't hit, the kids decided to sell the water we bought on the corner. Forget the lemonade, it is now bottles of water.

They sold a bottle for $.50. Both kids had about $15 by the end of the day. They had fun...and I enjoyed myself reading and sitting on the porch with the dog.

Hurricane Ike

Hi all...I am writing from Ricky's parents. We have taken up living here as we patiently wait for our power to be turned back on. We came though IKE without a scratch on us or our home. We only lost the annoying Pine Tree in the front yard and some solar screens from the house.
I decided as I sat up all night that I will evacuate from here the next time a storm comes through. It was quite stressful. The first time I went through a hurricane, was during Alicia which happen to be 25 years to the day of Ike. Needless to say, I don't remember that storm. So this was really my first storm. I am glad that we are all okay as are all of our friends and extended family.
Pictures will be following.

First Day of School

We had our first day of school on Monday August 25. The kids were so excited, they got up before I did. Emily is now is 3rd grade. She has Ms. Manuel and Mrs. Saphos. Both of them love her to death, mainly because she already knows how to do everything...(being a teacher's kid does have some pluses). Richard is in 1st grade...his teacher is Mrs. Nickel. He really enjoys it. Apparently Richard's backpack makes him popular...the kids all holler when he comes up.

We have an announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Monday, we all decided as a family that we need to add another member to our family. So, we are recusing a dog from a high kill facility. We will be getting a Bassett Hound...Em and Rich have already named him Walker. Because of the storm we had come through, we have to wait to pick it up on Wednesday...pictures will follow.

Beach Weekend with the Lesco's

This past weekend we went to the beach with a really good friend of mine and her family to her parent's beach house in Crystal Beach. We took the boat so the guys could fish. The kids had fun at the beach, in the hottub, at the waterpark and of course on the boat. The boat may be a stretch, due to the incident we had, but for the most part they would say they had a great time. I know I did. Pictures will follow.


We want to that the Lesco's and the Kline's for inviting us and allowing us to share the joy of the beach. It was a great time had by all.

Road Trip Across America

Okay, it has been along while since I have updated. When we got back from Disney, we had doctor and haircut appointments that we had to tend to. Then on July 2, the kids and I set off on a road trip across America. Many may wonder...ARE YOU CRAZY!!!!!!!! I have been accused of that before, but seriously I have never had so much fun with my kids. They travelled great, aside from the puking (Emily, carsick), Richard always needing to stop to pee, luckily he can go just about anywhere.

So, we started out at about 10:00 in the morning...and drove to Edmonds, Oklahoma...on the way, we stopped and climbed "mountains".

We stopped in Edmonds to sleep for the night and got up and drove the rest of the way. So if you have never travelled through Kansas, let me tell you...DO NOT DRIVE THE TURNPIKE. The only resturants are McDonalds. Thankfully they had salads, fruit and great Iced Coffee. In Kansas we drove on the Mormon Trail...need to research what that is...but am guessing the Mormons travelled the road at some point and time

See here we are in Kansas...We had to bribe the travel centers for multiple maps for my scrapbooking.

From Kansas we went through Missouri just a short while, so we didn't stop. Next stop was Iowa...

This is a Wind Farm...the produce energy from wind.

When we got to the Minnesota border, we didn't even need to stop at the border; but Emily welcomed herself to the state by throwing up. Yeah for me.....

While in Minnesota, we had a great time staying at Grandma Ruffie's House...She is the big boss according to Richard. This was the first half of our trip...the kids meet cousins and other family the didn't know they had. I was asked why we are related to everyone. Just a quick funny story...My Aunt Amy is a hair stylist...she fit me in to cut my hair...when we walked into the salon, my aunt Amy was there...my grandma's sister was there with her granddaughter and the co-owner of the salon is related somehow as well...I told Emily she was related to everyone in the salon...she said how does that happen...didn't know if I should tell her that we are probably related to everyone old in the town in some way or another. The second half of the trip will come later.

We Survived Disney!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it is official...we survived DisneyWorld. We were off to a great start, ran a bit late for the flight out of Houston and rushed through checkin, but hey we made it. Thursday we arrived in Orlando very early...so we checked in to the hotel and off we were to Animal Kingdom. What a great time we had.
Ricky started to feel bad, but sucked it up and kept on going. Richard started coughing as we were getting ready for bed...which can only mean one thing, asthma. We did the treatment every 4 hours, but no relief. So we called our Pedi in Houston, who called in Orapred, an oral steroid. WOW what a difference it made, he slept great the whole vacation.


This is our dinner with Cinderella...the kids got her autograph. As we went into dinner, Emily got a wand and Richard got a sword. They were so excited. The food was wonderful. Definitely an experience to remember.
We will have more pictures to come...I am hopefully going to figure out how to do a slideshow on the blog.
You all keep in touch. Let us know what is going on in your lives.

Our Days at Disney

Well blogging nightly didn't quite work out. The internet connect (wireless) is very good. It takes forever to get anything done. We have now been to all the parks, tomorrow we are going to the Interactive Indoor theme park. This is a new park...so we will tell you.


This is Emily and Richrd with Scully and Mike from Monsters, Inc. They didn't get to get an autograph, but did get pictures. They loved it. The characters were the best part for them.

This is the kids with Piglet. We had a character breakfast at the Crystal Palace. This was the breakfast with Pooh and friends. We got everyones autograph and had a really great meal as well. The kids ate waffles shaped like Mickey Mouse.


This is the kids with Pluto. We were in Hollywood Studios. Richard had a Pluto hat and it was signed by him...very unexpected. We did all of the rides in Hollywood. I believe Richard's favorite part was the Indiana Jones show. We sat right in the front and saw it all.

Here is Emily with Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Emily was thrilled...Rufus was in Animal Kingdom getting feed.
More to come later.

Disney Animal Kingdom

Well we survived our first day of Disney. We went to Animal Kingdom and did the whole park. Both Ricky and I were surprised that Richard didn't complain at all...except when he wasn't tall enough, then he would just shake it off. Emily didn't complain, but wasn't always happy...guess it is the age.
Emily and Ricky rode the huge rollercoaster "Expedition Everest 2008", Emily wants everyone to know that the Yeti destroyed the track and they had to go backwards. While they were riding that Richard and I hung out on the side and saw his friend Dean from school.


This is Emily at the "Its Tough to be a Bug" show. It is a 4-D show. Very cute...her favorite part was the grubworms and other dirt crawling bugs going under our bottoms.

This is Richard with the Bug Eyes. He really enjoyed it as well and I think liked the same thing Emily liked about it.

This is the kids getting their autograph books signed by Goofy. This is really neat...they get one on one time with the characters. So far we have gotten Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Goofy's autograph. Keep posted...we will blog more tomorrow.

On Our Way to Disney

Well we are 1 day out from our family vacation to DisneyWorld. The kids are so excited they can't stand it. We leave tomorrow at 5 am. Emily is worried she won't wake up...Richard says he will. I think that Emily will do just fine getting up. Today we have lots of little ends to tie up before we go, so we will be running all day.

Richard is worried about his pet fish. So we called the infamous animal sitter...Shelley. Hannah and Kayleigh will help her care for the fish.

By the way, Richard finally swam across the pool. He kicks his legs and moves his arms...we stop several times along the way, but he can do it. We had to call Daddy to the pool last night to come see.

I will try to blog each night while we are at Disney...depends on internet access. If I have access, then I will update nightly and hopefully have some pictures.

Awards Day

Emily had her award day on the 3rd of June. Her End of the Year Party was before the ceremony. Her class had Chick-fil-a cater lunch with chicken nuggets and fruit. They all had a great time. The students had to pick one of many awards that they were most proud of...Emily chose being a Good Citizen Award as the one she was most proud of. Today, the 5th of June was the kids' last day of school. Emily's report card was absolutely wonderful...she had all As. We are proud of her...so I guess she will be going to 3rd grade next year.

Richard had his award ceremony on the 4th of June. Kindergarten performed a few songs for the parents and did a great job. He was also presented an award, however the teacher choose it. Richard got the Best Friend Award. He also excelled on his report card. He didn't get grades this year...we were just informed if he was keeping up with the curriculum. Naturally he did, but needs to keep practicing over the summer. His teacher has family that live around the corner from us, so she will be making stops over the summer. He will go on to 1st grade in the fall.

Olympic Play Day May 30, 2008

This is the infamous Olympic Play Day that occurs every year at the end of the school year. The kids get to be out of dresscode and compete with their gradelevel. Emily's class ended 6th out of 6, howevever, her class had the best sportmanship. They cheered everyone on, even those who had trouble. That is what we were proud of.

Here is Ricard, midair...pretty good picture if I do say so myself. He had to jumprope 5 times and then trade to the next person. He did great.

Emily doing her jump roping. Because she was bigger, she had to jump ten times. All the girls helped count for each other.


This balloon race, like the egg in the spoon, was difficult. I think Richard had an idea on how to get the balloon across the field faster. The kids had a great time.
Daddy picked them up from school along with Shelley's kids. I guess they all had loads of fun.

Pajama's at School...What????

This is Richard in his Dog and cameo jammies. All the kids got to take a comfort item or two as long as they fit in their backpacks. Richard wanted to leave "Blue dog" his absolute favorite at home so it didn't get dirty.

Here is Emily with a few girlfriends signing their yearbooks. The kids are all lounged out in class.

Emily took her cat and pillow from Ms. Kim's as her comfort items. Very silly what they pick.

Richard trying to get some work done, but who can concentrate when we are all in jammies.

The kids had to read a bunch of books in order to wear jammies to school. Wasn't a big deal to me until I had to do something afterschool in my jammies.

A Day of Fishing with Bampa

Dad and Rebecca fishing off the hull (front) of the boat. We spent Sunday of Memorial Weekend on the boat fishing with Bampa and Rebecca out in Galveston Bay. We put in at Galveston Yacht Basin and went out early in the morning. I told Ricky that I hadn't fished with my dad for at least 15 years. It was really neat to reminince about the old days with Emily, I think she got to know a bit about me today. We caught rocks, an eel (Rebecca) and some croaker, nothing to keep, just a sunburn...all of us. YES we used sunscreen, but I guess not enough.


Richard and Bampa taking a break from fishing and swimming(that would be Richard). We pulled the boat up onto a small shore by SeaWolfe Park. The kids thought they hit the motherlode, because there was a beach and they could swim. I guess we need to do this more often.


Emily floating...she has gotten really comfortable in the water. It is funny...she wouldn't get in the water when we were anchored but would get in the water by the park. She said the water was different. Takes after her mother I guess.

This is a picture of the sunrise at about 6 am. It was so beautiful.

Almost Ready for Summer

We are almost ready for summer. We have been very busy with school and all of our end of the year activities. Richard is walking out of an opera, he got to go and see "The Magic Flute," by Mozart. He really enjoyed the performance...I was glad he actually got to participate in his field trip. This was actually his second field trip for the year, but the first one, he was sick and slept the whole time from all the medication he was on. Of course the highlight of the trip was the bus ride and going on the Beltway over 59 south. They all thought they were on a rollercoaster.

Emily is pictured saying the pledge for the school in the morning on her birthday. This is a ritual they do every year for their birthdays.

The kids also had career day at school, and we want to extend a big thanks to Uncle Keith for attending and talking to the kid's classes. I was told that Emily got to introduce Keith, and practiced by saying he was the "triplet's daddy." Her teacher told her she was supposed to tell everyone what he did and she said he worked for McDonald's, but doesn't anymore and now he is his own boss. Unfortunately I missed the presentation in both classes, but was told that Uncle Keith did an excellent job with the kids and explaining how important education was. I was very sorry I missed it. But anyway, a big thanks Keith. Hopefully pictures will be forthcoming.

On the 23rd, the kids got their yearbooks. I guess I should have explained to Richard what he was supposed to do, Emily of course had her filled all out and signed. It was also Pajama Day at school, so we all just woke up and went to school. We had a good day. Pictures will be coming soon.

Emily's Birthday...8 Already

Well my little girl has turned 8. It is so hard to believe that she is getting so big. I still remember the day she was born...she is one of the most spectacular things ever...along with Richard.

We took her to eat at Golden Corral for her birthday...that is what she chose, because of the ham. Her party was at Pearwood Skate Center...she invited her whole class. She got rollerblades from mom and dad...Richard got her Hannah Montana bath stuff.

We all had a great time skating...mom didn't skate, obvious reasons...injuries.

First Fishing Trip of 2008

Well here are a few pictures of our first fishing trip of the 2008 season. Ricky and I took the day off...I actually had to go to the doctor for my arm...that is another story for another day...Anyway, we took off and Grandma picked the kids up from school around 11:00 am. We got a boat from Ricky's parents last year. It is a really nice bay boat...the parents love it anyway. We went out of Galveston and went to the jetties. We all caught something...Rich caught the Gafftop (catfish in saltwater) on his Spiderman pole. Grandma helped reel it in as Rich would have probably been pulled overboard. Emily caught a crab...she let it go in the boat and then screamed...she is such a girl. I didn't fish a whole lot due to my arm, but did put the pole in the water...I didn't catch anything. Ricky had the big catch of the day...he is kissing is Black Drum...kind of like a Redfish, only black. We got to see several wild dophins in the bay out by the jetties. We all had a really nice day. I have to remember SUNSCREEN...yes, I took it, but didn't apply to myself or the kids...way to go!!!!!!!!!!! It was hard going to work the next day pretending to be sick...ha, ha.

Future Farmers

Well we finally got all the seeds planted. The kids ended up planting canteloupe, onions, green beans, carrots, tomatos and strawberries. Mom supervised and kids planted...still nothing popping up out of the dirt.