Busy, Busy, Busy

Yeppers, its the busy time of year again. Letting go of summer and grabbing onto the new school year!

But first...S's birthday. It's still so hard to believe that my little surprise is 17. Surprise? Yep, she was our oops baby. But not really an oops though. I kind of knew she was coming. On Thanksgiving weekend in 1997 I had a dream that God asked me if I trusted him. I knew that He was referring to babies. I somewhat, hesitatingly, said yes. Well, 2 weeks later I was pregnant. It was really weird. After that dream I just knew that I was going to have a baby. We hadn't planned on more that 2 kids but we got more that 2 kids :) I've loved every minute of it!!!!! 

So here is her birthday cake. You can see her love of "nerd" culture :) Not said in any derogatory way. It's very unique too! The Hulk shirt, the Ninja Turtle candles and the One Piece logo. I'm sure you all recognize the Hulk and Turtles but the One Piece may be a bit unfamiliar. Unless, of course, you are into Manga! I haven't really looked into the One Piece stuff yet but its a Manga about pirates. I have promised S that I would sit down today and watch it with her. Not my favorite genre but for my girl I'll watch it.

School started for me on Tuesday. I've got all the Star testing to get done before I take off for Disney. We have quite a few new students so it might take a bit longer than normal. I really did miss my kids. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to come back this year. But looking at those faces and getting the hugs from the little boys who you wouldn't think would give hugs is just priceless!!

S starts school on Monday. A Junior in HS. I'm not sure she is ready. It kind of snuck up on her! We don't quite have all the school clothes we were looking for but we have plenty of time to go back after I get home from Disney.

Do you see  how I keep mentioning Disney? Bahahaha. I have 17 days!!!!!!!!!!
I can't stand it!!!!!!! I am SO excited. Just my sister and I. We  will be celebrating my 50th. A few months early but we won't tell anyone! I've been packing and re-packing since day 30 I think...if not sooner :)

Shopping With My Girls and Dealing with a Hellion Cat

Yesterday H, S and I drove into Houston to visit my oldest R. We were unable to go on her birthday in July so yesterday was the day! I think R had a good day shopping. I don't think she goes very often. Not for herself anyway. I did end up spending a bit more than I wanted but she is worth it. We also did a bit of school clothes shopping for S.

It was SO good to spend some time with R. Though she is only about 2 1/2 hrs away our schedules don't allow us to connect much. I miss her something fierce! I wish I had taken some pictures but I am horrible at remembering to do it!!

Tomorrow is S's birthday. We asked her what she wanted for her birthday meal, her answer? Red Lobster. Perfect! Especially since we don't eat meat on Fridays.( Not sure if I have mentioned it before but as Catholics we are called to keep Fridays as a sacrifice. It being the day the week Jesus died on. Some people think that the Church did away with that practice--not so :) We are still called upon to make Fridays a day of sacrifice. It's just that the Church has allowed us to make a sacrifice other than meat. We choose to continue the tradition of no meat.) But I digress....back to S.

I am making her a red velvet cake. No, not homemade, straight out of the box. It is double layered though! Her decorations? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle candles and one of her favorite Anime cartoon logos. For that I just printed it off and laminated it. Just gonna slap it on the cake. I'll be sure to take pictures of that one!! Should be interesting!

The hellion cat. I am ready for him to grow out of his kittenish phase! This morning he was zooming around everywhere and climbing on everything! I was wishing I had taken him back to R yesterday. Well, not really, but I was ready to do something to him :)

 See my Last Supper picture all wack-a-doo? 

See my gravy boat? He knocked that down yesterday and broke the handle. Good thing it didn't hit my tile floor!

This big piece of plastic was H's giant picture of a shark that we had pinned up for her birthday. The little stinker tore it down and has made a nest out of it. You see the two furry things with feathers on the end? Those are his toys that he drags around and brings back to his nest!!! He is one crazy cat!!!



And here he is with Moxie playing in his big plastic nest. You can also see the curtains he pulled down in the background. Along with all kinds of other stuff he has batted around and knocked down. At least he and the dog are getting along!!!

I can't wait until he becomes fat and lazy. Fingers crossed!!!

Summer is Almost Over

The winds of change are in the air. Ok, by that I mean the hot gust of a late summer wind that is bringing in the new school year. 

I go back to work on the 18th and S goes back on the 24th. But that doesn't mean we have a leisurely couple of weeks left. NOPE. 

I've already been up to the school helping move furniture. Started school shopping. Planning lunches/breakfasts etc. I'm dreading going back but at the same time I'm looking forward to it. This has been a very unorganized summer. You know when you are ready to take your first lick of your ice cream cone and it flops on the cement and splats? That's how this summer has felt. Just like a blob of melting ice cream. We've had our good/fun moments but it still feels like it's been wasted. 

So let's psych this brain up for some change and get this body moving!!

Last night my school had a fishing get-together. They grilled hotdogs and set some poles up for the kids and have a great get-together before school. Next week we will have a kayak get-together. What I like about these (selfishly, I might add) is that they are in my little town and I can walk to them. Not to mention the kids have a great time.

I will be facilitating the testing again this year. I think that's about all I'll do. I really wasn't much help last year with substituting. I ended up being a bit too busy. I almost didn't even do that. I'm kind of in flux right now with what I want to do with my time. I want to be home, I want to get a paying job and I want to stay at my little school. I know, I know. I just need to quit whining and do something and stick with it. 

 

Next week will be a busy week. Monday S has her Jr. year registration and both girls have a dentist appointment. Wednesday, the girls and I are going to visit my oldest to take her shopping for her belated birthday and Friday is S's bday. My baby will be 17. She is such an amazing young woman. Her heart is SO kind. Even when she was being picked on by some girls in her class she still wouldn't do/say anything unkind about them. A saint in the making! She is so full of love!

 

Since I do not have any pictures of anything I have posted about I will throw in some random pics of this summer :)

 

 

S reading a Manga book at the beach

 

  A cute, chubby seagull

 

And, though the picture doesn't really capture it, a very vivid blue/green dragonfly

 

Hope ya'll have a very Blessed weekend.