Christmas cookies and Holiday hearts

that's the way the holiday starts... I vividly remember this LP playing every Christmas Eve at our home. And here's our Christmas cookies (GF this year, natch).

Goldendoodle Bias

After getting great reviews for their grooming abilities, I finally got in at Sienna Dog Grooming in Magnolia. Only to find out that they refuse to groom Goldendoodles because they're too hard to groom. Puh-lease. Isn't this your job? And who could deny this face?

Booooooooooooooo!

Snow in Houston

Catching everyone (including the newscasters) off guard; it snowed in Houston tonight. My prediction of school being canceled was wrong, but the roads are a nightmare this morning! I think if the kids hadn't had their hurrication (hurricane vacation) then they probably would have gotten at least a delay this morning.

Here are some shots we took last night. Kiddos were in bed, so they missed it!

It sure smells good...

Chris, Chris E, and I were upstairs watching the LSU v. Alabama football game when I decided to come down to the kitchen for more snacks. As soon as I got to the bottom stairs I started smelling baby powder. Hmmmmmmmmmm. And it was getting stronger and stronger as I followed my nose to our bedroom.

And there I found him. Covered in powder and having a ball.

Halloween 08

Batman and the Girlie Ghost (kinda sounds like the title of a book). We had a great Halloween night. Here a few pics of the kids all dressed up.

Thats-a spicy meat-a-ball!

Does he look a little guilty? Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Happy Columbus Day!

The kids were asking why they had no school today. After I told them that it was Columbus Day, Evan shouts "Happy Columbus Day everybody!!"

Facebook

I have discovered Facebook and I am totally hooked! Chris and I have both found old high school friends, cousins, and friends from NC! It's the best.

Danielle - you really need to check it out!

Housewife Olympics

Last night Meagan asked me what sports I currently compete in. I was stumped. "You walk the dog every day," she offered. True enough.

So this morning (while walking the dog) I realized I compete in the Housewife-athon on a daily basis.

I am a gold medalist in Laundry. (You should see how quick I get that stuff out of the dryer...lest I iron...AGH!)

I am a silver medalist in cooking. I like it, but I don't think I'm all that great. A bit uninspired.

And I am an alternate in cleaning. I only compete because I have to.

Recovering from Ike

The kids started back to school yesterday. There are still hundreds of thousands without power in Houston. We feel so fortunate to have our power back on. There are piles of debris in everyone's yard up and down the street. It's so strange to drive around and see the mess everywhere.

Here's one picture from the storm. This pine tree fell from across the street, blocking the road, and into our front flower bed. Praise God, it missed the house by about 15 feet. Phew!

Hurricane Ike - 6

We have power! Yesssssssssss!

Hurricane Ike - 5

We found out today that The Woodlands should have 80% of power restored by Friday. This is great news. We had originally heard that it would be 2-4 weeks....scary.

Chris is still home taking care of Romeo and cleaning up. The kids and I are in Flower Mound, TX staying with a friend. Big "Thank you!" to Angie! Chris and I are hoping to meet up this weekend, either back home or in Wichita Falls.

Love to everyone....

Hurricane Ike - 4

Hello to friends and family. Everyone in the family is safe. We had a couple of close calls, but no damage to our home. We have no power, obviously, and it may be awhile before it comes back. We have heard up to 2-4 weeks. I have driven up to Dallas with the kids. I am staying with my college roomie, Angie. Chris and the dog are still in The Woodlands cleaning up. Chris' parents house has damage to it. A tree fell on their roof, so they have water damage. Cell phone reception is spotty in The Woodlands, but text messages are getting through a bit easier.

Thanks for your prayers. God bless....

Hurricane Ike - 3

Well, it's dark now. We had a few sprinkles and the wind is picking up. Hopefully the kids will go to bed soon and just sleep through the worst of it. And I am hoping that we will have power in the morning when we wake up, but I doubt it. We are all safe and dry. Love to everyone!

Hurricane Ike - 2

Definitely pretty cloudy now. No rain here yet. We're all just keeping busy. Meagan and a neighborhood friend are playing. Evan just woke up from a nap. Chris is watching TV and I am reading the number 6 book in the Stephanie Plum books. So good!

Hurricane Ike - 1

Things are still quiet here. It's sunny and breezy. Waves are starting to pick up in Galveston. We're watching the news with everyone else. We'll keep everyone posted as long as we can. Much love....

Preparing for Ike

We wanted to let everyone know that we are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Ike. We are stocked up on water and batteries. We've got our weather radio and flashlights ready to go.

Funny enough, we weathered Hurrican Isabel (also an "I") in North Carolina a few years ago. She was a Cat 3 when she made landfall. We were probably the same distance inland as we are now, so we do feel OK about riding this one out. Chris may get flak at work for living "south of Dallas", but we are happy to be up here this time of year!

Love to all!

Miracle on Trilling Bird Place

Evan slept in. For the first time. Ever.

First day of school

We had a wonderful "1st day of school!" I am so proud and happy to report that both kids were ready for school today. Meagan was up with hair and teeth brushed. Evan was ready about 45 minutes early (with shoes on). It was a pleasant surprise and a huge relief.

I asked Evan if he liked his new backpack? He replied, "yes". So then I pointed out that he has a new Speed Racer lunchbox and responded with "currently in theatres". Thank you Evan.

Drinking the Kool-Aid

Got back from my first Scrapbooking Retreat on Sunday night. Mind you, I left on Friday and had never scrapbooked a single page in my life! And now I am hooked! We had a blast, the creative juices were flowing as was the laughter. Hopefully tomorrow I will upload the picture of my prized "Zip Line" page. Save your Michael's coupons for me!!!!

San Antonio

We just LOVED San Antonio! The Riverwalk was more beautiful that I imagined. Evan loved the roller coasters at Six Flags and kept declaring "San Antonio is fun!" It was a fantastic trip and we will be back!

Camp Good News

Meagan left this morning for Camp Good News. It's our church sponsored sleep away camp. She wanted to sleep in her camp clothes on Sunday night so that she'd be all ready to go on Monday morning! I barely got a hug goodbye!!! We'll pick her up on Friday morning, and head straight to San Antonio!

Evan's 7th birthday

I can hardly believe that my baby is 7 years old. He had his BFF Cassidy over Friday night. We all went to the YMCA Splash Pool, then came back to the house for cake and a sleepover. We leave this weekend for San Antonio to ride all the roller coasters (this is Evan's big birthday present from us).

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A long day....

I am happy to report that we are having a much smoother time with Evan lately. As of Wednesday, he is doing much better. (We had been off to a pretty rocky start to summer.)

We had a great weekend of swimming, Target, more swimming, church, and respite at Graceview Baptist's Joy Ministry. Thank you Joy Ministry!!! I finally got to see Hancock!

Anyhow, after all that excitement, it's no wonder that Buddy can't make it through Dora's Backpack Adventure PC game. He didn't even wake up when I took the picture.

PS-check out his right hand...so cute!!

"Blood nose seats"

A few weeks ago, Chris brought Meagan to work with him. They spent the day at Waste Management and went to an Astros game that night. Meagan thought Minute Maid Park was great, but wondered why Daddy paid $20 for their tickets when they could have paid $10 and sat in the much more exciting "blood nose seats".

July 4th

Here we are enjoying the pool before the thumb bending incident.

Rockin' the 'hawk

Evan got a new haircut today. He totally owns it! We only hope that Cassidy approves!

"I want money"

Evan's tooth came out and for the first time, he understood the concept of the Tooth Fairy. We had been talking about the Tooth Fairy all week and what to do. So as soon as that tooth came out, the first words out of his mouth were "I want money!"

He and sister rushed upstairs to put the tooth under his pillow. Lo and behold, the next morning the Tooth Fairy delivered. Evan declared he wanted to go and buy a Scene It DVD game (no surprise), unfortunately, the Tooth Fairy left a measly dollar, when she knows good and well that a Scene It game is 30 bucks!

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

So, Megan Edens and my Meagan are upstairs watching Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. They're at the beginning of the film when Charlie goes up to his loft bed with the hole in the ceiling. Megan says "I feel so bad for him, he's poor, and he's probably cold with the hole in the ceiling" and my Meagan says "But at least he can see outside."

Nothing like going through life with a half glass full attitude!

"I need some gosh"

Now, we don't exactly know what this means, but we do think it's related to the fact that Evan has a loose tooth. And he is all worked up over this tooth.

Evan's Speech Therapist, Suzanne, has taught Evan to say "I'm hurt, I need help" when appropriate. And it's really working! So this morning after telling me "I'm hurt, I need help" he says, "I need a bandaid on my tooth!" and asks me to kiss it! So I did.

Wii Fit Addicts

We'll, the entire family is hooked on Wii Fit. It is so fun! And although I NEVER imagined I'd say this, Chris is a Fitness Addict! We are having a blast, hula-hooping, snowboarding, boxing, running, and taking step classes. This is a great picture of Evan trying the step class. He is actually getting pretty good! It tracks your balance, posture, weight, and BMI. It chastises you for being chunky and praises your commitment to workout. We're hooked!

WF Family Reunion 2008

Well, we made the 5 hour drive up to Wichita Falls on Friday to attend our first Schroeder Family Reunion. Unfortunately, Evan realized that he can unbuckle from his booster seat and proceeded to terrorize all of us for the remaining 4.5 hours! Thanks to Google, I have discovered the Buckle Boss and Evan's car surfing will be over tout de suite.

We had a blast on Grandma's farm on Saturday. The kids played for hours on a giant inflatable water slide. Evan did a great job waiting his turn! On Sunday we went back to Windthorst for the Family Reunion, lots of great food, fun Bingo, and many, many new relatives (some with surprised faces).

We drove back Sunday night, tired and a little sunburned. Romeo recovered quickly from his time at Forest Shadows Pet Resort. Yes, I said Resort, complete with doggie daycare playtime and swim time.

Our second week of summer is starting out great :)

3rd grade Regatta

On June 3rd, David Elementary's 3rd graders held their Regatta boat race at Shadowbend Pool. This is the 3rd graders' annual Field Day and a science project too. The boats are made from gallon milk jugs and duck tapes, lots of duck tape! Meagan's class boat was called the Sea Serpent. Two kids row one length of the pool and then switch off and another pair paddle back. They won one of the races. The kids were hot, tired, and not allowed to swim in the pool! Boooooooo!!! Here's Meagan with her pals, Myranda and Caroline.

Romeo...before and after

Our sweet (blackberry eating) goldendoodle, Romeo had his summer cut this week. He looks anorexic!

Air Hogs

What a blast we had with the Remote Controlled airplane that Grandma Bedell sent! After flying over our neighbors fence (twice) we headed for the front yard and another neighbor's tree! But it was so fun and we were all hysterical laughing, chasing this tiny plane!

Evan's first sleepover

OK, I promise I am going to keep up with this!

Today is the first day of the kids' summer vacation. Evan celebrated by waking up at 4am to get the day started. (No joke.)

He is having his first sleepover right now with his BFF Cassidy. We went out for pizza, went swimming, and played Wii. Now they are in the bunk beds reading, so cute!

Tomorrow's plans are to see Kung Fu Panda and probably more swimming...Ciao!