Swim Class

Okay, I'm terrible at updating. And now, I've joined the cult and joined Facebook, so it's even harder for me to keep both updated! I have many things to catch up on, but swim classes is the most recent.

We missed the first two days of the week, so we only got to go three days instead of five, but the kids did great! Tristan was a rock star and was floating well and putting her face in the water. Preston on the other hand is a little more literal! He was blowing bubbles great, but when the teacher would ask him if he could get his eyes wet too, he would just splash water on his face instead of putting his face in the water! Oh well, maybe next year!

Check out Tristan's racoon eyes! As I was doing laundry today she came in and said, "How do my eyelashes look?" They looked great but she also had a black smudge on her nose. So I said, "They are long and beautiful as always. Did you put on mascara?" She admitted it, and we talked about how she did a very nice job, but she needs to ask about using it in the future!

Easter Weekend

Easter in Fort Worth is always nice because we get to have all the kids together for the egg hunt! Last week it was freezing in Booker, and this weekend it was raining in Fort Worth...so another indoor egg hunt!

Here we all are with the Schwarte family. Matt's family has celebrated Easter with them every year for about 30 years!

First Easter (Palm Sunday)

Since Easter was in Fort Worth this year, we celebrated Easter with my family on Palm Sunday. The celebration is just like Easter (dresses, dinner, egg hunt, etc.) except the Easter Bunny only comes on the real Easter. It was freezing this year, so we had the egg hunt inside at my parents' house.

This year Tristan picked out her dress mostly because she loves pink, but this one also came with a matching dress for your doll, or in this case Puddles!

Birthday Blizzard

This year I had dinner/movie plans in Amarillo for my birthday weekend, which was March 27th. They didn't happen, but it was ok because we had the best blizzard in years! I love snow, and we haven't had a really good one since we moved to Booker four years ago!



We were only out of power for about 8 hours Saturday afternoon. My parents had power, so my dad dug out of his driveway with his new bobcat and came to town to pick us all up. All the streets in town were covered with about 2 ft. of snow and the drift in front of the garage was about 7 ft. so we couldn't get out! This is Tristan on top of a drift outside my parents house!

It started snowing Thursday night, and by midmorning Friday, it was a winter wonderland. The kids and I made it over to my sister's house in the van before the driveway got too bad. But, by the time we got back, it had already drifted about 18in. in front of the garage. We suited up and the kids played while I shoveled in front of Matt's side so he could get in to park. He came home early from work before lunch. What a fun snow day! As the kids and I were out in the blizzard conditions, (we were pretty protected from the wind by the garage) I thought to myself...There is no way that my mom would of let us play in this weather!

On Saturday, we were supposed to cook out with my sister and her friend David, but none of us could get our cars out. David didn't have snow clothes, so I packed a backpack and hiked over to Steph's house to take him Matt's clothes. We loaded up the food and all hiked back to our house. Just as we got back, the power went out! Matt fired up the grill and we cooked/heated all the food outside.

Spring snows are the best because after the initial storm it warms up to play in. Usually there is not much snow so it melts too fast to have much fun, but it took several days to melt all of this snow. The kids had so much fun...and so did we!

I run like a Princess!

Okay, so I am still terrible at keeping this updated! Everyone keeps telling me that I need to get on Facebook. But until I can successfully stay on top of my blog, I'm not starting anything new!

My sister, Stephanie, and I went off for a girls weekend the first weekend in March to run in the inaugural Princess Half Marathon. Yes, we were just there in January, but can you really go to Disney World too often? I don't think so. We stayed at my parents condo for free, and we both had free flights on Southwest. I have an awesome husband and mother to watch the kids. And like Steph said, you only have one chance to be in the inaugural event!


As for the palm trees, well, let's just say it's a personal thing! They are located just outside the Magic Kingdom. I peed in them at the marathon, and Matt told me I should make it a tradition and pee in them again! My mother is so proud!

It was a super quick weekend. We flew out on Friday night. Picked up our race packets and relaxed on Saturday. Raced on Sunday and flew home on Monday. What a trip! Sunday started at 3:45am. (We had to leave for the race by 5:00, and you really have to eat breakfast before you run 13.1 miles!) We were back a little afternoon so we showered and napped before the after party at Hollywood Studios that night. It was a special after hours party for just the race participants and their friends/families. It was so cool!

If anyone is ever thinking of doing a marathon or a half I highly recommend doing one at Disney! At this race, being princess themed, all the princesses were out for photos and every other character was in their royal attire! We ran in our tiaras and had a blast!

I'll try to post soon from my birthday blizzard!

Cowtown and Chuck E Cheese

To clarify for anyone confused...my upcoming news is not that I am pregnant! We just have some fun weekends coming up! I guess that my last post gave several people the impression that I had big news. I don't.

Last weekend was eventful. We headed down to Ft. Worth on Thursday. Friday kicked off the fun with our nephew Noah's 4th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese! Fun for everyone! Tristan was super lucky at the Spongebob game, and Preston loved riding in the "yellow tractor".

We also closed on the house on Friday afternoon. Here's a quick fill in: Our house that we had a guy in on a contract for deed (rent to own) bailed on us last July. So we've been trying to sell the house to no avail since then. The housing crisis stinks! Anyway, Matt's sister Amy has been wanting a bigger house, so we basically traded houses! We offically bought each others, but it's a win/win for everyone. Their family gets more room, and we lighten our debt load. Now we are just waiting for them to get moved out in March so that we can try to either sell or rent their old house. It's very confusing, but this closing is the first step toward things getting much better!

On Saturday, the Greater Booker Area Wogging Club attended the Cowtown once again! Nine memebers strong we toughed out the freezing temperature and 30mph winds. Do they think it's the panhandle or something? Matt and one of the girls did the half marathon. The rest of us did the 10k. It was great fun!

I leave tomorrow for Florida with my sister. We are going back to Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon. I've got a pink skirt, tiara, and everything! Can't wait to post about it when I get back!

Also, I need to praise Matt who is by far the best husband and father in the world!!! xoxox

Not much new...so a few Disney pics!

So I finally got a mouse and keyboard to go with my laptop! Plus, I figured out how to fix the shrinking screen thing! I haven't taken many new pics, so I thought I'd post some Disney ones that I hadn't gotten up yet.

Things in Booker have been pretty mellow. The weather has been great so a few days a week about four or five moms meet up at a playground for all the kids to play. It's been great on days that Preston doesn't nap, and a little cranky when we have to wake him up to go. I wouldn't wake him to go play, but Tristan loves getting to play with all her friends. I can't believe how big she is getting!

Tomorrow we are heading off to Fort Worth for a big weekend. It is our nephew Noah's 4th birthday. So, we are having a party at Chuck E Cheese on Friday and then a lunch on Sunday (which is his actual birthday). It is also cowtown weekend. Who ever thought we would be runners!?! This year our G.B.A.W.C. (Greater Booker Area Wogging Club) team will have nine memebers running. Only Matt and Ray are doing the half marathon. The rest of us are doing the 10k. I would be doing the half, but Stephanie and I are doing a half the next weekend. Yes, that's right, back to back race weekends! And, by the way, I need to let it be known that my husband is the best in the world. And Grandma isn't so bad either!

Two weeks ago my sister had a conference in Aspen. She didn't want to ski by herself, so Matt let me tag a long. I slept in and skiied while she went to classes from 6:30-9:30am and 4:30-7:00pm. Four days with no kids or responsibility. It was awesome! Then, next weekend, she really wanted to go back to Florida. This is the first Princess half marathon. I had a free ticket on Southwest so she paid my race entry and we're in! Matt again, awesome as he is, celebrated and encouraged my going! Grandma is awesome, because someone has to watch the kids on weekdays while Matt's at work. I'm living a pretty good life right now!

Anyway, exciting things are pending, so watch for new pics soon!

Marathon Fun

For anyone who had known me for some time, it's not the fact that I did a marathon that is amazing...it's that I wanted to do it in the first place! Not only is it 26.2 miles, but I had to get up at 2:45am!! I don't think I have ever set my alarm to get up that early. I have definately been up that late, but not gotten up at that time unless a baby was crying!

I got the itch last February after completing a half marathon in Fort Worth. 13.1 miles wasn't so bad, so I told Matt that I wanted to try the full 26.2. He was on board right away! We started planning for the Disney World Marathon (we are Disney junkies after all!). Steph took a little convincing, but we registered in March and started really training in August. It seemed like we were training forever, and 20 mile training runs are hard to do during the holidays when it is freezing outside, but all of a sudden it was here!

Steph and I had seriously slacked off during the last 6 weeks of training, so I don't feel like we were as well prepared as we could have been. 22,000 people started the marathon, but only 15,000 completed it! I'm pretty proud that I crossed the finish line and got my Mickey Mouse shaped medal!

Matt was about an hour faster than us, so he didn't take any pictures. Steph and I took the camera, and all along the course there were characters to take your picture with! And yes, Steph and I wore our Mouse Ears! It was so much fun! We will definately do it again in the future.

What is super exciting to me is that Tristan and Preston are growing up with running/exercise as a normal part of their lives. Tristan says that she can't wait to run the marathon, or the turkey trot, or whatever with me. And really, I can't wait either! On Thanksgiving day in Fort Worth this year Matt's dad joined the two of us in the Turkey Trot. Hopefully in a few years we can make it a three generation run!

This new laptop is beating me down!!!

OK, so I know that I have been super bad about upkeeping this blog all fall. We've been busy, and Preston has taken to only napping a few days a week! Then, a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, our computer crashes, breaks, or whatever you want to call it when it is working fine, and then you come back into the room to the smell of burnt plastic and it won't turn on again! A little frustrating to say the least. We tried getting it fixed and then ended up getting a great deal on a new laptop right before Christmas.

Well, I am used to my desktop and having a full size keyboard and mouse. Plus, I'm not used to all the functions that my new machine will do. Anyway, I was going to start blogging back with Auntie's wedding, and had it all done up, pictures and all, when I accidentally hit something while typing on this stupid keyboard and deleted the whole thing. It's getting late, so I figure I'll just start up with the marathon posting. Same thing happened.

Now I know that all of you are laughing, because you use nothing but a laptop and never have this happen to you, but it is beating me down! On top of that, Ikeep hitting something that opens up a new tab in my browser, while I'm trying to type, or something that shrinks my screen! It's like I need laptop keyboarding for dummies! Of course I have my old keyboard, but it would be way to easy if I could just plug it in! I told Matt that for Valentine's day I want a real keyboard and mouse to use with this computer!

Well, while I have been typing this rant, I have opened a new tab four times and shrunk my text twice. At least I enlarged it once (somehow) so I can still mostly read it. Forgive me if I mispell, it's almost too small to read! I will sign off for now, before it gets any worse, and do my best to update the blog tomorrow! Happy new year to everyone!

Halloween

Here are a couple of quick pics from Halloween. One of Preston's favorite movies is the Wizard of Oz. So he wanted to be a scarecrow. He loves hats, but he refused to wear the hat! Tristan wanted to be Tinkerbell, but the costume I bought was too scratchy, so we enlisted Grandma's help. As Tristan was consulting with her she decided to go with a Sleeping Beauty dress instead. After all, it was pink! She loves it and wears it all the time!

Zoo Trip

Okay, so I have been a super slacker with this blog lately! When we got back from Hawaii, I went to download my pictures and realized I hadn't done it since August!!! So, I will be trying to post several months of outings in the next few days!

I had misplaced my camera during Tristan's birthday party, so I'll have to get pictures from family for that! It's like I am falling apart all of a sudden!

Anyhow, the weekend of September 6th we went to Fort Worth for Auntie Amanda's wedding shower. On Sunday before we headed back we went to the zoo with Coici Amy, Noah, and Jamison. We hadn't been to the zoo in a year and a half, so this time Preston really enjoyed all the animals! It was great to get to do something fun with the cousins!

My Baby is 2

These are not the best pictures, but I took mostly video with my camera, and I don't have everyone else's pics yet. I can't believe that my baby is not a baby anymore! We had a small family party last weekend since Saturday the 9th was his actual birthday. We had a blast! Tristan got to share in his celebration because we are having a big combined party over labor day weekend. I'll try to get some better stuff posted later!

Crazy Weather

Crazy is a very good explanation of the weather in the Texas panhandle. We knew that there would be some storms today, but this one came up on us suddenly with very heavy golf ball size hail!

Luckily, my kids are not scared at all of storms. Tristan said it looked like snow and wanted to go make a snowman. She kept asking me if the hail stopped and there was no thunder could she play in the rain? "Of course," I said. (We play in the rain all the time!)

Preston wasn't concerned at all except for one thing...the knocking sound. Large hail on your roof really does sound like someone knocking on your door, only it's your roof! He wasn't scared at all, he just kept saying, "Mommy, knock, knock...the door!" As if he was trying to say, "Can't you hear that!?! Answer the door!!"

We were very lucky, no broken windows and very little damage. Our siding, gutters, and even plants faired pretty well! Praise to the Lord for protecting us! Others in town were not so lucky. I guess it's a good thing that my trees aren't very big!

wnw

More Alaska

Here are a few more shots of our trip to Alaska! Tristan is still talking about going back. We told her it will probably be a long time before we go there again, but she has some pretty good trips coming up in the near future! I keep telling Matt that we need to make a trip to New York (not so secretly I would love to take Tristan to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway!) In a six month span we will go to Alaska, Hawaii, and Florida. We need to get the other corner of the country! He keeps saying no, and he'll probably win this one!

As for the pictures...you can see how much we enjoyed "exploring" as Tristan called it! And, by the end of the trip, Preston was so tired that he actually fell asleep by himself in the chair during dinner! Bless his heart! We push them so hard, and they are really just angels!

Ice Cream and Formals

I was a little concerned about how the kids would make it for meals in the dining room on the ship. It's a four course event that takes about 2 hours. All in all, they really did great! They loved having ice cream almost every meal in the dining room! Preston was insistant on feeding himself. So, I had lots of ice cream stains to treat in the laundry, but who cares!

Two of the nights were formal nights. Preston just happens to have a tuxedo! It is still a little big on him, but I think he was the most handsome guy in the room! Tristan loves to get dressed up, so she wasn't a problem at all! Not to brag...but I think I have a pretty good looking family! Many more pictures to come soon!