At the Races....

Retama Park just opened on Friday. I have never been there so I called Lisa and told her Saturday was dollar night.... dollar minimum bets, 50 cent programs and hot dogs. We drove over, valet parked and got going!

The horses going back to their stables.

Lena trying to figure it out!

I love this...Jakob looks shocked and Lena looks guilty!

Me and my girls!

This boy is a real character!!

Me and Lisa

Since our pets are such a big part of our life here I thought I would post a few pictures of them.

Luigi taking over Sierra's bed!

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I had a picture of Charlie leaning against the wall cleaning himself. He needs the support because he has ... ummm... a few extra pounds.

My beautiful son sleeping in the sun!

This weekend has been nice. I got a haircut Saturday then visited my mom. Oh I also did my barium swallow. It wasn't that bad. I did all that worrying for nothing! We looked at some model homes. (Sierra's idea of course!) Saturday night we went to the races with Lisa. Now it's cleaning time. Boy does my house need it. It's not extremely dirty but those hidden places have been VERY neglected and are in desperate need of attention!

Everyone is alseep. I want to make coffee but don't want to wake everyone up. I am seriously thinking about putting jeans on under my night gown, throwing my hair in a pony and driving through Starbucks..... come on... like you never did that?

Little tid bits..

I have a few pics to post. I just wanted to give a quick update on some things and post my pics.

Sierra and I went to Michaels the other day to find some craft ideas for them now that they are homeschooled. We found Silly Putty and CC wanted some so I bought each girl a package. This is what Emil and Lena do with her silly putty.....

On thie kitchen chair...


Lena's "lips" look like Bratz dolls!!


We got a pretty decent amount of rain last night! Boy were we excited!!! We sat on the porch and watched it and listened to it fall. It was so relaxing! Here are a few pics...

My babies really enjoyed the fresh rain water..

Luigi saw the door open and seized his chance to run out...
Don't you love the way he squeezed himself in the middle?

I love the way the falling rain looks!

Our grapevine enoyed the rain too!

If you look close at the house across the street you can see the water on the road.

My CC and Emil.

Today when I got home I asked Lena to turn in her homework that I had given her last night. One of her assignments was to write some words in cursive. Since the capital "A" was one of her letters I had her write April five times. Well, her Math homework was writing her multiples of 2 and 3 five times each. When she gave me her handwriting paper she said, "The reason all of your "a's" for April are lower case if because you made me really mad. I know my 2's and 3's forwards and backwards and you still made me write them again. So since you made me mad all your "a's" are lower case." I had to laugh! Too funny! I gave her the paper back and made her rewrite it the correct way!

CC wants me to go watch Quarantine with her. I guess I better go.

Oh real quick... tomorrow I go for my barrium swallow. Emil knew I would chicken out and never reschedule so he took it upon himself to reschedule us both. Great!

!!! R A I N !!!

We finally have a little rain!!!! I see the lightning.. I hear the thunder and I hear the rain!!!


YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To date we have had 57.. thats right...57 days of tempertures at or over 100 degrees!!!!

Bring on the RAIN!!!

Nice Weekend w/pics

This past weekend was really nice. My in-laws came from Dallas. I haven't seen them since February. They went to Isreal in March and brought us back some beautiful gifts!!!

Emil and Lena wearing the scarves from Isreal...

My mom playing with Lena's scarf. CC got a blue one. It's so pretty.

Both moms asleep. And part of Charlie too!

Now they are awake!

This is an Isreali melon. Oh my goodnes!!! It was beyond good. I have NEVER had a melon like this before. It was similar to a cantalope but much sweeter and dripping with juices!

We each were given either a necklace or a keychain with a semi-precious stone and our zodiak stone on it. I'm not sure which sign this is but the stone it's on is really pretty. The blue heart-shaped stone is actually believed to ward off the evil eye. You will see this put on the clothes of a baby when it is in a group of people. You can also put them on the right side of your door so that no evil wished or intentions can enter your house.

My mother-in-law brought me these from the Dead Sea. One is a mud that you should rub over your entire body before bathing and the other is a sea salt. I can't wait to try them out!

These are so very neat! They are color pencils (I think thats what they are calling them now.... when I was in school they were called map pencils.) They are made out of actual wood... bark. It's the neatest thing. The writing in the etched out part is Hebrew. They are just beautiful and truly pieces of art. I wish I could have gotten a better pic. I will keep trying and repost the pic.

These are just a few of the T-shirts they brought back. The girls each got two t-shirts and Emil got a really cute Hard Rock Cafe Jersulem t-shirt.

It was so nice to hear their stories and look at the pictures! What an amazing place to be able to visit. So rich with history! Just amazing!

Emil is doing much better. We went back to the ER Sunday night. They did a CAT Scan and x-rays. They diagnosed him with a bacterial infection and prescribed him some antibiotics. Hmmmm..... who diagnosed him with that MANY days before the doc??? AND.... who said he needed antibiotics after his FIRST ER visit when he was only given meds to relieve the cramping and vomitting??? Ummhmmm... me!

The girls are both home schooled now. When Lenas school called me Monday at work to ask if she was coming back and I told them no I almost had a panic attack! I know deep down that I am doing the right thing but it's also such a BIG change that one has to be a bit nervous. As a parent you only want what is best for your child and education is definately at the top of that list. Do I think I can teach BETTER than those teachers? No. Do I think I can give my children a more personalized learning plan? More one-on-one attention? More help if they are struggling in a particular area? YES!!! Am I thankful that they will not be around bad influences and picking up bad habits from peers who are lacking in the morals department? YES!!! Do these things make me feel more confident about my choice to homeschool? You bet it does!! I like that they can learn at their own pace and we can explore topics in depth if need be. I like that they dont have to wake up so super early and can get going at their own pace and not dragging to the bus stop before the sun comes up. I like that we can do hands on experiments tapered to our life that will help them remember and LEARN.. not just memorize! I like that I am teaching them to LEARN and not to just PASS TESTS!

On another note I am sick of this record breaking heat here in Texas! I don't even bother looking at the weather anymore because I KNOW what it will be.... high of 100 or high of 104.... I NEVER thought I would see the day when I would get EXCITED about a day where the high is 94!!! Imagine that! The heat makes you do crazy things!!

Beach

We went to the beach, Port Aransas, Mustang Island last weekend with our good friends Lisa, Stas, Arkady and Nic (our fromer house guest). We had a good time but as you know from my previous posts Emil got sick from eating the oysters on a half-shell. It looks like virbrio vinficus, but I am having a hard time getting him tested for this because apparently its very rare. But he's lost 11 pounds since Sunday, he can't keep any food down, keeping water down to take his meds is a challenge. We were at the ER Thursday.

Nevertheless.... here are some of orur pics!

Igor sleeping on the way over there...


Jenny and CC on the drive there...

A close-up of my beautiful CC (in the glasses).

Lena hiding on the floor of the van. Like her orange flip flops?

A view from the back of the van. Jennys profile,

Lena standing, Jakob behind me and part of my

head watching Michael Jackson videos!

We stopped here on the way for a potty stop. The name is plain to see and those are horn all over the roofline. Quirky!

Lena and Jakob being silly!

A group of palm trees on the main stretch of highway to the beach. I think they are beautiful!

My Lena building a sandcastle.

Lisa and Lena playing frisbee.

Igor doing what he does best...sleeping!

Me and Lena. I hope next years pic will be after the lapband and I can post a before and after!

Lisa with the seagulls that really stalked us!

They were this close... seriously. They were directly ontop of the car door. Had I raised my hand a bit I would have been touching it!

Me and Lisa.

Seagulls on the sand...

The kids sleeping on the way home from the beach.

We had a blast. Much needed rest. However.. I got seriously burned. Really bad. I lathered up the kids and Emil and forgot to apply some to myself. I had to leave work early Monday. Tuesday I was literly in tears trying to get dressed and had to leave early that day too. I am peeling now and Sierra gets grossed out when I ask her to rub lotion on me.

My mother and father in law are here to visit. They haven't been here in six months. It is so nice to see them. They brought many beautiful presents from their trip to Isreal. I will post more pics later!

REAL QUICK / UPDATED LONG

I'm up early going to my lapband appointment!

******UPDATE********

Ok... Our appointment went very well. We were in and out fairly quickly. The last time we went we got there at 7am and we left around 4 pm. NOT FUN!! Today we were in and out by 11:30!! NICE!!! I am good. He said I carry my weight evenly throughout my body. The only thing I will have to do before surgery is a barrium swallow. I already have that scheduled for Saturday morning. They are going to get my five year weight history and I shouldbe good to go! Dr. Pilcher said he thinks my surgery should happen soon. I am excited. Nervous? Yes! It's surgery... but... I think the way my weight continues to escalate I am headed to a heart attack or stroke. I am already pre-diabetic so this will cut that out completely. We will see. I am a bit scared. It is surgery and I have never had a surgery before. I've never been "out" with anesthesia. It's scary but I think the end result will be worth it. I want to be healthier and I want my children and my family to be healthier as well.



Emil has a bit more to do before he can have his surgery. He has to do a sleep apnea test, cardio test, barrium swallow (Saturday as well), lose ten pounds and begin following a strict diet now. He is very excited about this and really looking forward to us starting a new, healthy lifestyle.

We had to see a psychologist as part of our evaluation. The doctor asked me what did I think will be the hardest part about the life after the surgery. I thought about it... I think the hardest part will be learning how to cook afterwards. We know how to cook now, really good, all the bad things, lasagna, nachos, brownies, cakes from scratch, ribs... oh I could go on and on. We know what to buy at the store, we know what and how to prepare it. But we don't know how to make the good stuff. And by good, I mean healthy. This will be a learning experiece for both of us. We both love to cook and I know that once we learn WHAT to cook and HOW to prepare and cook it, it will be a sinch for us. No problem. When we went to Central Market the other day and I picked up a schedule for their cooking classes. Lisa and I have talked about doing this together. She wants to learn to cook for Stas. I want to learn to cook more healthier things. When she gets back from San Diego I guess we'll have to find us a good class.

I will post pictures of our trip to the beach in a bit. Emil is on the couch sick. We just got back from the ER. They say food poisoning from the oysters we ate at the beach. I don't know. It's been five days and he can hardly keep water down. He's lost eleven pounds since Saturday. That seems like more than food poisoning!

Favorite Vacation Spot

This week on Kellys Korner we are asked to show our favorite vacation spots. I know I all ready posted some pics of Vegas, but here is more. Vegas is truly a state of mind, an adult playground, you can forget daily routines, duties, problems, you forget time. You are encompassed with yourself for once. You don't think about who needs medicine, who wants what for dinner, what jobs are rushed and need to be back, which animal needs a bath, did you set the alarm right... and "save" it. You only think about you, what you want to do, see, eat, look at, play, buy.... sometimes you just need that. We spend so much of our time as mothers taking care of everyone else and putting ourselves last. Vegas lets us spoil ourself once in a while. I like that. I can have fun, rest and then come back home and be mommy and wife again. That occassional rest is exactly what I need to recharge once in a while.

But first... when I can't get to Vegas I like to to the country where I lived as a child. Life is so much slower there. It is definately a nice, quiet place to relax.

A pier at the Rockport Beach

The girls on their first time ever on a merry-go-round in the Shiner Park.


A longhorn on the way to Yoakum! Beautiful!

Lena @ H&H.. a little cafe in Yoakum!


On to Vegas!!

Beautiful view of NYNY Hotel Casino at night!



Not a clear pic but it's the Venetian I love this picture of the Venetian!
at night! It's one of my favorite hotels there!

I thought this was very pretty inside of Wynn. There was also flower balls hanging from the trees. I can't find my pic of this. They are very pretty and smelled so good!!



The water fall outside of Wynn...

We have stayed here at Treasure Island more than any other hotel/casino. We love it!

Their new sign. The ships which are part of their pirate show!

Another view of the ships. They shoot "cannons" and

sink into the water. Fun to watch!

Ceasars!!!

Statues inside of Ceasars...

Circular escalators inside of Ceasars. Very fun to look at.

Bellagio's dancing fountains at night!

Paris!!!

I hope you enjoyed my pictures! Thank you for stopping by and looking!