Ready....Set....LENT!

Bekah and I woke up early to get to mass by 6:30 am today...and well, when we were done, we went to go pick up some tacos for breakfast.  The lady who was attending us looked at us funny, then the lady next to her asked us "Wow, you guys got up early to get the ashes"  the lady attending us asked "Its ash Wednesday?"  and Bekah and I just look at them like we were watching a tennis match!  Finally the lady attending us says "ALREADY?!"  I guess the year went really fast for her?  But  yeah...It is ash Wednesday for us Catholics ( and those other religions who celebrate it)  It is a time to better ourselves...not a time to walk around like zombies and the messengers of doom because you gave up ...WHATEVER you gave up! 

Yes, we did give up something, but in the end it is for the betterment of all of us...our health.  Although my kids and hubby didn't like my plan...they cant do much about it.  I'm the one that cooks, I'm the one that handles the budget...so I'm the one who will eventually feed them.  Im sure you have figured out what we gave up...UNHEALTHY FOODS!!! ALL unhealthy foods.  No more soda pop, no donuts, no candy (unless its home made)  nothing that I feel is not good for my family.

They say it takes an average person 40 days to acquire a habit...40 days straight...for a habit to form...good or bad.  Hey...wait a minute...isn't Lent 40 days??? Yup, well I think it is! How about that! So lets see if that holds water...and hopefully it will.  And along the way, I wouldn't mind if the husband and I shed a few pounds too.

As for the religious aspect of Lent, for us it is a time to reflect on what Jesus gave up...for us.  How can we use that so that he didn't do it in vain?  Generally I try to make sure that my kids are good, kind people.  We feed the hungry, cloth the poor...we try to do what we can do when the occasion arises.  It is a good time to show them to reflect upon themselves and see what, in their character, needs help. 

So, what will you do for lent?  I hope that whatever it is...that if fills your soul up with greatness, warmness and a sense of accomplishments.

HAPPY LENT!

Im a slave to my electronics

Marty (that's the hubby) says there isn't a piece of equipment, electronics that is, that can keep up with me.  I use and abuse my cell phone, my computer, and I'm surprised my printer hasn't given out on me these past 6 years!  I'm constantly connected.  I know I would be one of those people that would have a panic attack at the thought of not being able to have my phone on me for a week!!!  As it is, I'm a nut case mom who has to know where her child is at all times.  Yes, I do worry when they are at school.  Heck the other day I got a call from the districts automated machine saying " Hello" imagine this in the most robotic female voice you can, "this is the attendance office of XXXX Middle school calling to inform you that your student ... E. J. R was absent today"  WHAT?!! WHAT THE HECK?!!! MARTY!!!!!!!!!!!  WHERE DID YOU DROP OFF ERYKAH AT SCHOOL!!!!?????" Marty with his eyes wide open probably thinking to himself "oh crap what I do?"  " UM...In the back patio...why?"  I proceed to tell him at the same time already dialing the schools main number.  He tells me "NO...I drop her off...that's BS!!"  Well, sure enough, Erykah arrived a few minutes late to one of her mid day classes and they marked her absent!  So...yes...I need to know where my kids are at all times.

So what does all this have to do with me being slave to my electronics...well, let me tell you.  For the past two years, I have had my wonderful Fender HTC android driven phone.  I loved it...it was my first smartphone.  I used it so much. The best thing was, when I first dropped it.  Yeah, that was the best thing that happened to me.  Why?  No I'm not really that crazy. You see...I have friends who have the iPhone and I have seen what happens to their screens with ONE DROP!  Yeah you know...

                                                                image from google.com search

So, I see my phone flying out of my hand...and almost in slow motion...you see me doing this gnarly face...and I'm yelling 'NOOOOOOOO'  and CRASH... my phone comes apart.  Backing over there, battery over here...phone face next to my feet...and...I...WANT...TO...CRY! Cause I am picturing... THAT ^ THERE!  So I go pick it up...look at my screen...and...NOTHING!  Its prefect...not a scratch, crack...nothing!  WHEW!!  After a year an MANY drops...I realized, "hey..this thing is pretty tough!"  Well, after 2 years, it starts to slow down.  It becomes the granny of cell phones.  It wont do what your asking it to do.  It forgets who your trying to call and calls someone else.  It opens up the wrong text message and you start to send of texts, and then  your getting texts back saying "What?...I have no idea what your talking about" 

So finally, I'm at the point where I can upgrade...FREE!!!  And I do...I get this AWESOME NEW PHONE... A Samsung Exhibit II...  yeah...looks like my husbands cricket phone.  Damn! So...ok, Its a TMobile phone...yeah I can be a bit of a snob...I admit it.  Well, kick my snobby butt!  It sucks!  I go onto Tmobile and Im reading the reviews (too little to late should have done that sooner)  and it doesn't have great reviews!  It really has bad reviews...everything I read on it, is everything Im having trouble with.  I cant send texts...which I need cause i have to know what my kids are up to and how they are doing?  It wont call who Im calling and it freezes up on me...and Im thinking to myself "I miss my Fender phone :'(  "   but Im still here using it.  I have it in my hand...I have it next to my bed.  Why, cause I might miss some important emergency notification from one of my daughters in the middle of the night, who are but no more that down the hall...yeah...Im a slave...a slave to my electronics.  Ugh...oh well. 

National and WORLD Champions!!!

So my daughter Bekah....

here she is...isn't she purty???  So she went with her team...to Florida.  They went to compete at the UCA ESPN National Cheerleading Competition.  Seriously these girls have worked hard. They have worked through falls ( one girl I believe had a concussion cause she landed on her head from a stunt) another girl pulled a ligament...or tendon?  I'm not sure, she left in a wheelchair and came back with a boot! But these girls knew they had their work cut out.  Cheerleading is just as tough of a sport as football, if not worse.  At least football players play with pads and helmets...these girls don't.

So my Bekah left with the girls to Florida...and not only did they defend their National title...THEY WON THE WORLD TITLE AS WELL!!! How about that!!!  These girls kicked some serious butt!!!

And they were able to go into the Parks as well...hey, you have to play every now and then too.  All work and no play...now thats no fun.

Here they are with the Minions!!!  Bekah loves those guys "Bapoy... No, No, NO... No Bapoy.... BApoy... aaahhh BApoy!!" hehehehe

Here is Bekah and her cousin Vicky at Hogwarts!  Yes they finally got that letter...apparently some ruddy owl got lost and confused!  hahahha...She loved it.  She was telling me she felt like she was in the movie.

And she got to drink some BUTTER BEER!!  I swear it sounds so yummy and she said it is!  I really wish I was there.   Bekah is the second from the left...yeah that crazy kid with the orange glasses... All in all she had so much fun...and she came home with this...

being part of a team that brought home this beaut! Actually this is just one that they brought...the Worlds trophy is a bit bigger! Oh and these...

2 count them...TWO Championship jackets.  Nationals and World.  She says shes going to take turns wearing them...when it's cold.  Then again, when is it cold here in Laredo?   But she has them...and she is so proud.  And she tells me this : "Mom...this year has been the best year in my cheer life.  I have been so blessed to be a part of a team that I love being a part of.  The girls are awesome!!! I love this team!"  Im so happy hun....Im so proud of all of you...Im so proud of you! 

Sickies and weather...go hand in hand???

So, who's sick?  yes, we've been sick here for almost 3 weeks...or more.  Erykah ended up getting the brunt of it all.  Poor thing has always suffered from lung problems, asthma...but wow...this season has really kicked her butt!!!  She ended up with a case of pneumonia about 2 weeks ago.  After her the rest of us just started to get it one at a time.  Right now, me and Bekah have it.  She has croup...I have no idea what I have...its something related to it...but I haven't had time to go see my doc.  I know I need some kind of antibiotics...I feel like Im on a bad vacation on a cruise ship!  AHOY MATE! Wait...bbbaaaarrrfff!!!   Yeah my ears are killing me...and whats worse...I think I'm GOING DEAF!!!  yeah... Im starting to sound like those old ladies that make you feel like you are doing everything wrong because they just seem like they are yelling at you!!!  TRUST ME...IM NOT YELLING AT YOU... I....JUST....CANT...HEAR...YOU ....THAT...WELL!!!!  eeehhhh...speak up son!!!  So if you come to me and Im speaking REALLY LOUD ... let me know "Hey...Priscilla...IM RIGHT HERE!!!"   yeah...cheers...to the sickies :o/ pphtttbbb...yeah right!

Exchange Back pt 2

Well its been about a month now...and Hanna is back home with her family.  It was quit a little adventure for her and for us, her returning home.  Really? you ask...yup.  Ok...Picture this!  (imagine Sophia from the Golden Girls telling a story) Laredo 2011!  No really, picture it.  So Erykah has just left to Dallas for competition.  It was crazy getting her to the bus.  She ended up forgetting some jacket she needed so I had high tail it back home and bring her that jacket.  Imagine doing that at near 4 am! Poor Hanna felt jilted...she wasn't able to properly say good-bye to Erykah because as soon as we got back to hand her that jacket, they took off.  So Sunday comes around, we are getting ready to take Hanna to the Airport.  We arrive, there are friends there, family all wanting to say goodbye to Hanna.  We all cry...we say good-bye.  Rebekah, my SIL and Hannas friend all went up the escalator and stood next to her until it was her turn to get "frisked" by TSA.  Then...she was off.  Or so we thought...  about 4 hours later, we get a call from Hanna...frantic.  She had misplaced her passport.  She couldn't find it.  She was stuck in Houston.  Finally she was sent back to us...she couldn't leave the U.S. without that passport.  Later on that night Erykah came home ...sadly, they didn't win the National Title :o(

The next day marty and I went to Houston with Hanna.  Made an appointment with the German Consulate and they got her squared away!  Then we had the almost impossible task of getting her onto a flight without having to pay for it (well her parents).  She missed the paid flight already...so why pay again?  Shes paid for.  We were able to get her on a standby and SHE was able to get on that day! 

So it was an adventure...but we would do it all over again.  Every now and then, as we are leaving in the morning to take the kids to school, I count all the girls and Im thinking "wait whos missing?"  and I realized...its Hanna. 

Exchange...BACK??? pt. 1

I have to say, when I told people in Summer that we would be hosting a German exchange student and they said 'What?  Another kid..why?' I thought to myself..."I Dont know...I must be crazy!"  I already have 4 girls of my own and then to add one more kid...another girl, sure it sounds crazy.  But I went forward with it.  Scary thought...sure.  I mean here is this kid we dont know.  We are letting her live with us.  Our customs and cultures are so very different.  Luckily I had lived in Germany for 3 years but still, that did not make me an expert of the culture. So I reasoned with the kids and marty "Hey its only a semester...its not a big deal"   So with great anticipation for a great semester we welcomed Hanna to our family, our home.....our lives. 

She arrived...and arrived during a turbulent time for us that was unexpected and unforeseen.  We were asked to leave the house we were renting.  It was leave or stay and live as paupers...fat chance that was going to happen.  Also when she got here Rebekah was on her way back from a week of cheer camp in college station.  A few days later...we hit the road...for vacation, before school started. 

We went to Kimah Texas on the boardwalk, and we also went to a nearby beach

and then to Houston Texas...to do what we love and do best.....

ICE SKATE!!!

Then we headed down to San Antonio...where we took her to the Alamo 

yeah that's them back there ... and interestingly enough...we got caught up in a movie production too!!! 

Here they are with one of the main characters of the movie "Mission Parks"  I don't know..supposedly its a major film production...and maybe...JUST MAYBE...you'll see us in the shooting scene, we are "buying" a snow cone!

Then it was back to reality...back to school, back to work (for marty)... and little by little Hanna, the girls and Marty and I got more and more comfortable.  Then we moved to our new house.  We had thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and soon we will celebrate the coming of the new year. But....its all bitter sweet.  We will all be looking forward to what the New Year brings but we also know that it will be, soon without Hanna in our family daily lives.  She has become a sister to my girls...and a daughter to Marty and I.  Sadly, when she leaves, Erykah will not be here to bid her farewell.  She will be in Dallas, competing...when Hanna will be boarding her plane and back to Germany.  

We have 10 days from today...7 for Erykah. The girls will be heading back to school in about a week while Hanna packs her bags, and gets her things organized and ready to go.  Life, is going to be different. Never the same before Hanna.  She is our first...and our last exchange student.  And we will miss her.  

p.s. pt 2 will be photos during the semester with Hanna...will be posted tomorrow :o)

Gifts: What to get, What to get?

I find the whole buying gifts for anyone else other than my kids...like pulling teeth, without Novocain! I don't really like it.  I don't like the mall, I cant stand being pushed and shoved, I just don't like feeling like I'm going upstream, like Salmon! I will admit..I am an introvert.  So crowds and me...nah..not a good idea.  Still, I have to get it done.  I guess, what sums it all down is the idea that EVERYONE is going for the same thing.  I'm also not a big fan of buying the latest craze.  I don't like looking like the next person...I don't care if its name brand...I like to be unique. 

So, if your like me...don't like to deal with mad shoppers or you just don't want to give the same thing everyone else is giving to your loved ones...buy handmade! There are lots of artisans waiting for you.  You can give custom jewelry, clothing, accessories...lots of stuff!  I have lots of links over there ~~~~~~~~> or you can stop by my fan page on Facebook check out what others are doing and buying! I'm sure you'll find something awesome!