They are OFF!!

We woke up at 3:30 am in order to get Steve and Kyle out the door by 4am. They had to try and fly stand by on an earlier flight in order to make it to the ship before it disembarked. They got to the airport at 4:30 and went to the flight desk to be put on standby. The lady there must have had no clue what she was doing because she told them that the 6am flight was overbooked and that there was pretty much no way they could get on. So Steve checked his luggage for the 8:40am flight and went up to the gate. The lady at the gate told them that they could have gotten on the earlier flight had they not already checked their luggage. She wanted Steve to point out the lady who helped them earlier in the morning...sounds like she must have been a dope!! Steve was a bit stressed out worrying that they weren't going to make it to the ship in time.

SUCCESS!! Both flights landed a bit early and they found someone in baggage claim that was there for the cruise line and they called the ship and told them to expect them. Apparently I was supposed to sign some paper saying that it was okay for Steve to take Kyle on a trip. How weird is that? So they somehow worked through that too.

They are now on the ship having a great time! They were upgraded to a suite with my brother and his wife. They have their own private concierge at their beckon call. How nice would that be. Their room is 550 sq.ft. (for any of you who have been on a cruise, that is huge!) They also have a private balcony, a jetted tub, a separate dressing room, free laundry service, ordeurves brought to their room before dinner, and the list goes on. I thought that I was jealous before, now I am really envious too! That should have been me :) I am sure that they are going to have a wonderful time!

Steve is already feeling the motion sickness...he was given a pill and felt a bit better. I think that it is all in his head ;) just kidding babe! I hope that you don't have that problem the whole time. Kyle is just so excited to be able to eat all of the food that he wants, whenever he wants! The weather is cooler there too. We are still in the 90s with lots of humidity and they are in the cool 50s! What a nice break from the awful Texas weather.

Steve said that he would email pics as often as he can, so check back to see where they are!

What Am I THINKING??

My grandparents are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary and my grandma's 85th birthday on a cruise to Alaska. All their kids (my parents, aunts and uncles) were all invited. Along with all of their kids (my cousins). I really wanted to go on this cruise! Unfortunately, they will not let infants on the ship younger than 6 months. Steve, being the great guy that he is, told me that he would take the baby if really wanted to go. I didn't want to stop nursing, so I decided not to go.

Several weeks went by and I thought...why not send Steve and Kyle on this cruise?? They would have so much fun together and it might be a great bonding experience. So I called my aunt and they didn't have any more rooms left. That was that...

I just spent the last 6 hours finalizing a fun cruise for my hubby and Kyle. My brother and his wife had to cancel their trip (really you can't cancel, you lose all your money anyway!) So they were able to change one of the names to Steve and we added Kyle as a passenger. They leave this Saturday....WHOA!! They are doing some really great shore excursions too. I will blog about them with pictures when they return.

So...have a fantastic time with all of the family. To my cousins and family that read my blog, take care of my boys! I wish I were there to celebrate with all of you. I love you Grandma and Grandpa Allman...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! and Happy Birthday, Grandma!

I hope that I survive the week without them....oh wait, I hope my kids survive the week with me!

School...YIPPEE!!

I am not sure who was more excited about school starting....me or the kids?? Probably me!! Just kidding. I think that the kids were done with being home all day long. (I might have nagged them just a bit!)

The girls have had their clothes laying out on their floor for over a week! They even did several fashion shows for each other to decide what looked best.

Halle has Ms. Cox and she seems really nice. She only knows one boy from our church there. But she promised me that she would meet lots of friends. She came home today and told me that she met 2 friends. "And Mom, one is even a boy!" she said. I love it!!

Kassadi got Ms. Files. I didn't meet her because Steve took her that night. She said that she was really nice. She even has one of her great friends (Taylin) in her class. She was so excited about that. They even have matching backpacks. They are so cute :)

The girls told me that they wanted to walk home from school. They didn't want to ride their scooters or their bikes, they wanted to WALK! Mind you, it is one and a half miles from home. I am determined to let them try it at least once...I am sure that after that they will realize how far it is and want to ride the scooters. I will let them try it when it is not so hot. For now I just pick them up after they have walked a little bit.

Kyle started middle school...MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! AAAHHHHH! I can't believe it. He is such a handsome boy. I am going to have to peel the girls off of him. Good thing he isn't really interested yet! He is excited about having a locker and also lots of classes that aren't very long. He got into an accelerated math program which he was happy about. He didn't get into exploratory languages...apparently not enough kids signed up for it. Go figure! But he did get art. He also loves the lunch selection there. I guess they have lots of different options. I am so excited for him to have this new experience.

I will truly miss spending all of my time with them! But I know that they are in good hands. Now maybe I can spend some time on myself.....hmmmm, wait, I have two more kids at home. Five years and counting people!!!

Yes, I use Windex!!

I knew my windows were clean, but I didn't know they were this clean! We have birds crashing into our back windows quite often. Well aparently, this one crashed really hard! It left an imprint on our window. I laugh every time I see it. I think about the Windex commercial and the crows that fly into the windows. It cracks me up every time. I guess it is really true. I now have proof. And darn it, I have to find out a way to get up there and clean it!

Fun Pics...by Jamie!

I love them all!! I am glad that you could try-out your lens on my kids. I can't wait until you can practice on them again. Thank you...thank you...thank you, Jamie!!!

Nana's Quick Visit

The kids were really excited to see Nana for a couple of days. She came down to help her mom for the week and we were fortunate enough to see her for a couple of days. We went out to dinner to Chili's. The next day Steve, Nana and the kids went to the big Whole Foods in Downtown Austin for lunch and birthday shopping for Gabe. I stayed home with a sick Gabe!

We look forward to seeing you Nana and Papa in a month!

Happy Birthday Gabriel!! BIG 2!!

Gabe got CARS!!! Lots of them! When Mimi was there we had him open up her and Papa's present to him. He got the Mac Diesel and all of the cars to go with it. He was so excited. Cars (theMovie) is his absolute favorite. He has to watch it everyday. He even has Cars shoes and PJ's. Thank you MIMI!! and Papa...sorry you had to leave early!!

When Nana came the next week, we celebrated his birthday a bit early. He wasn't feeling really good (turns out he had Crupe ). We had cake and ice cream and he was able to open up more presents. And guess what those presents were....CARS!!! Thanks Nana and Papa!! He got cars dinnerware and some more cars.
Gabe couldn't leave his cars long enough to eat his cake!
Sass really loved her cake!


We love you Gabe...you are such a great addition to this family. You bring such a beautiful spirit. Now if you could only stop hitting.... ;) xoxo

Olivia's Baby Blessing

Mimi getting her ready in the blessing dress that has been on all of her granddaughters.
Our attempt at a family picture!

It was such a beautiful blessing! Those who stood in the circle were...Steve, My Dad, Tyler Crompton, Cory Townsend, Mike White and the Bishop. I was so grateful that Olivia stayed sleeping. That was my biggest fear! But she did beautifully. I can't wait to take pictures of her in her blessing dress. (Good Pictures!!) And boys...you all looked fabulous in your suits! You should wear them every week ;)

The Jennings Family came to support us on this special day. We are so grateful to have them as friends. Thanks for coming!
We had lunch at our house after church. I took pics of everyone there, but somehow they got erased off of my camera and this is all I have!

We just want to thank everyone for their love and support. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends in Texas. We couldn't live here without you!

Surprise Visit!!

My parents made a surprise visit to Austin!! And boy do I mean surprise!! Steve new for over a month and was able to keep that secret from me!! I came home from a friends house and my garage opened....and there was my mom with her camera in hand. Of course I cried! I was just so excited to see them. They came to see Olivia and to help bless her. It was so much fun. We packed a lot of things in the short time that they were here. We went to Zilker Park, Barton Springs, McKinney State Park and San Marcos Outlets.

At Zilker Park we rode the train, had snow cones and played in Barton Springs. It was really hot too! We went to Chuy's for dinner...you gotta love yummy TexMex.

At McKinney State Park we were hoping to swim in the water....no, it was disgusting! The only person to get in was Kyle. But he will swim anywhere! I am sure that this is a really pretty place when we are not in a drought. We ate at Firehouse Subs for lunch...another family favorite!

We blessed Olivia at church on Sunday. (pictures in the next post)

My mom and I hit the shops in San Marcos. Can I just say...OVERWHELMING! I cannot believe how many shops there are there. You really have to go with a plan or you could spend days there! We had so much fun spending money.

I am so grateful that my parents were able to come and visit. The kids had so much fun hanging out with them. Gabe especially loved it! He couldn't stop talking about Mimi and Papa. He keeps asking where they are!

Thank you mom and dad...for everything! I love you both so much and I am so happy that I got to see you and that you were able to be here for Olivia's blessing. You are both so amazing. We had such a memorable time! Until we meet again... xoxo