SO FAR BEHIND!

OK........I am so behind on the blogging, so I will try to catch all of you faithful readers (HA!) up on whats been going on here in the big city!

Lets start with Jan 5. Both Jill and Thomas started basketball. It is like a Little League thing where they are on teams that play once a week. The bad thing......Jill's team plays at 8:00 am every Saturday until the second week of Feb. The good thing.......Thomas's team plays at 10:00 am every Saturday, so we have time to go eat breakfast together on Sat morning. The first week we went to the Ole Czech Bakery, this week we went to Exxon. I know that Exxon does not sound like a great place to eat, but they have a tiny restaurant inside that makes the BEST burritos and BEST hot sauce in town! They also have the XL Diet Cokes I have mentioned before for a mere $1.00. On a side note, Jill's team won-----Thomas's lost. Week 2---Jill's team won----Thomas's lost. (Pops gave me a CD with some video clips of their game on it, but I cannot get it to load here????)

Jan 6........attended a surprise party for my friend, Carla Sykora. She was truly surprised and it was fun. Her Avery is on the same bball team as Jill this year, so we get to visit every Saturday at 8:00 am with coffee in hand!

Jan 8-10.......went to Dallas for an agency meeting. Sitting and listening all day is not my strength.

Night of Jan 10........Thomas comes in our room.....his stomach hurts.......he runs (kind of...it was dark) to his bathroom and throws up on the floor. Sweet husband gets up, grabs the Pine Sol and Lysol and cleans it up while I try to console the patient. He ends up sleeping on the couch and wants me to sleep in the recliner in the living room. I was already feeling guilty about being gone for 3 days, so I agree to "sleep" in the recliner. Not a good idea, but it gave him a little comfort and he finally slept.....with the trash can beside him......thank goodness he had it, because he needed it all through the night! Needless to say he did not go to school the next day, even though he felt fine. His sweet Daddy even took him to see "National Treasure 2".

Jan 12.........more bball............and Jills birthday Skating Party! I cannot believe she is 9. She keeps reminding me that she will be 10 (double digits) next year. OH MY. Anyway, she invited her classmates and others to Skate Country in Waco. She skates well and so do her friends. Her brothers, on the other hand, do NOT! Thomas got his on and came to tell me that they "did not work" and asked if he could change skates. I am laughing on the inside...but let him. He got another pair on, but they did not "work" either! He finally gave up and played video games.
Grant has the same story. Hannah, one of our friends' daughters who is 5, could not figure out why Jill would want to have her party there! She was having a hard time, too! All in all, it was fun! (and easy------they provide paper goods, cupcakes, ice cream, balloons, and a server! All you do is show up! I highly recommend it.)

Later that night, we had a pj/coffee party with our church friends. We had it last year too----the boys watched football, the girls visited. It was enjoyable..........

January 13......shopping after church with Jill. She got $$ and gift cards and could not wait to use them! We went to Target, Richland Mall, Toys R Us, and Wal-Mart. We left the boys at home watching football. Imagine that!
We did make cupcakes for Jill to take to school the next day. She chose carrot cake with cream cheese icing--------a child after my own heart!

January 14......Jills 9th birthday
WOW! Jonathan reminded me that we have now been parents for almost 10 years!
This morning began at 6:35 with Jill coming into our room singing Happy BDay to Me! She set her alarm early, as our usual time is 6:45, but she wanted to get to her presents! We got the boys up and let her open them-----lots of American Girl stuff for her new AG doll, Samantha.
She also loves to paint, so we got her some clear plates to paint that we can use easels to display around the house and office.

Jill is such a sweet girl. She loves her brothers and parents and is a "pleaser". She is smart and funny. She loves Jesus and knows that what the Bible says is the truth. She is now wearing my shoes and some of my tank tops under her clothes. She has started letting me curl her hair and loves Warm Vanilla Sugar stuff from Bath and Bodyworks (thanks again, Cathe, for her xmas present---she loves it and hides it in the bathroom so the boys wont use it!!! smart girl!!)
My eyes are getting watery as I am writing this......I am supposed to be working! : )

She wanted to have her bday dinner at Olive Garden. We did that last night and Pops met us there. We got to sit in the special room and had a good time. The servers sang to her and brought her a little chocolate cake with a candle on it.

I promise I will post all the pics that go with these stories soon. Maybe tonight when I have more time. Love to all........V