Never Boring, Never Quiet

Halloween Fest at the Harris'

2009-11-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

This staying caught up thing is harder then I imagined! I think part of the problem is Facebook ~ by the time I stay caught up with that, I feel like everyone already knows everything going on in our life. Hopefully there isn't too many repeats!

Halloween has come and gone already and with that Jordan and Emma's first Homecoming dance. Some not to bright school board bureaucrat decided that it would be a good idea to have it on Oct. 31st. Ugh!!

Jordan really did NOT want to give up trick-or-treating with his friends but I kindly explained that going to dances is just one of the things boyfriends do for their ladies. Besides his

girlfriend, Hannah, is a freshman and this was her first high school dance and her daddy was doing it up right with a hummer limo and everything.

They were supposed to go trick-or-treating from the limo but the limo driver nixed that, saying they couldn't have food in it, including candy.

Emma wasn't going to go and had already bought her halloween costume. One day Hannah was over hanging out with Jordan and convinced Emma that she should go to the dance with them. She told Emma that the limo was going to come pick her up whether she was dressed to go or not. I was so glad that Hannah was insistent!

That was Tuesday and I had been sick all week but Homecoming waits for no one so Thursday I had to drag myself to the store to dress shop. People were keeping their distance from the red eyed, hacking lady!! But an adorable dress was found. It is short with a red sheaf underneath and black lace over the top with a cute tailored bow. We didn't have to buy shoes as she fits into Chelsea's and luck would have it that Chelsea left a cute pair of jeweled silver high heels behind.

Everyone had a good time and are even already talking about Snowball coming up! Ladies ask the guys to that one, so Jordan better be sweet to Hannah until then, otherwise she might decide that going door to door begging for candy sounds more fun to her =)

While the kids were cutting the rug at the dance, James, Brandt and I were home doing the Halloween thing. Brandt decided to go as the Mask, I was a hippie (seemed low effort this year) and James went as the dad (he wins the award for the least effort costume).

Since I was still running a fever I opted to stay home and pass the candy out while James braved the cold. No buddies this year for Brandt but he was good natured about it. I however worry constantly about him needing friends and have vowed to wande

r the streets finding him some ~ what could go wrong with that plan???

Anyway, we had a fair amount of trick-or-treaters come by mostly little ones. There were a few too scared of our pumpkin to come to the door! My favorite trick-or-treater of the night was the little girl who saw me coming to the door through the glass. She started jumping up and down excitedly, screaming "A hippie is coming, a hippie is going to answer the door, yes a hippie!!" She got one of our special big bars of candy =) Think she has th

is Halloween schmoozing thing figured out already or just a huge fan of dred locks??

catching up

2009-10-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

Oh how the time flies!! Someone recently brought it to my attention that I have taken a loooong break ~ I am so sorry and I vow to do better. But things have been a little crazy here lately...

Since graduation we have had some major life changes. First at the end of July we moved to Washington State again! We decided to make the move mainly because James has more business contacts here in the Portland area. We ended up leaving Austin a day late, had to rent an extra trailer, left a driveway full of our belongings, 4 long days of driving 12-ish hours a day, blowing a trailer tire and having to wait two hours on the side of the road to get it fixed, convincing Lucy that the U-haul wasn't that scary and just flat out drugging Fandango, we finally made it to Oregon/Washington! We truly love Austin and miss it but we are excited for all the great outdoor activities that are here too. If we ever get rich we have decided to winter in Austin and summer in the Pacific Northwest! Unfortunately Nicole decided to stay behind in Austin. She has been working as a salon receptionist, living with a roommate that she found on Craigslist, playing soccer and hanging out with her boyfriend and their dog. And yet she is still bored! We miss her terribly but skype her daily...sometimes hourly... I hate that she is so far away from us and sometimes dream of kidnapping her and bringing her home.

BTW, that is James driving the U-haul pulling a trailer in front of me. I drove the suburban pulling another trailer. All were stuffed beyond capacity! (Sorry about all the bugs on the windshield ~ yuck!!)

We rented a house in the same town we lived in 5 years ago (Camas, WA) and have been trying to settle back into life in the PNW.

First things first ~ I begged/hounded James until he built me a garden box. So far we have had lettuce, radishes, chives, and arugula. The carrots, peas, cabbage and onions have not matured but we are still hopeful!

We took Emma, Brandt and Chelsea to Canon Beach, OR to spend the day and eat good clam chowder (this is what I had to replace Tex-Mex with). Jordan decided to spend the day with his buddies jumping off 30 foot cliffs instead of the beach. I would take a rainy beach over heights any day!

To our good fortune, Chelsea turned down her other school offers and chose to go to college in Seattle at UW. Yay us!! James took her up there for orientation and spent two days getting to know the college a little. Then we both got to move her up to her dorm. This was actually quite traumatic for us! (It was different when Nicole went to college because she went to a school

right in town so it didn't seem like such a big transition for me.) Seattle is about 3 hours away, with a train that runs back and forth easily, so at least we will get to see her on holidays.

Chelsea took a suburban full of stuff plus her bike to school. After seeing her room she has decided that half her stuff needs to come back home =) I think that she has been so brave moving to a strange city and not knowing a soul there. Yes, I realize that college kids do this all the time, but I don't even like to go to the grocery store by myself! She has been diving right in and attending lots of freshman orientation activities. Chelsea took up yoga, is trying out for intramural soccer, has been going to football games, riding the city bus and signed up to be a

tour guide at her dorms haunted house this week. Yes she is amazing!!

At the beginning of October we got to fly back to Austin for ACL (Austin City Limits). We spent three days attending the music festival hearing 130 bands with only one day of sunshine and beautiful grass. Day two it poured and day three we just stood in muck! But it was still so worth it. We also got to spend time with Nicole, eat out with Grandma Harris, eat at several of our favorite places and enjoyed staying with Angela, Bryan, Gus and Bella.

We also got to take the kids to the pumpkin patch.

I love the fall here so much!! I love the fall air, the gorgeous colors and the incredible harvest! I feel like I am on vacation. (I know, I know, in a few months when I am suffering through the rain, there will be no vacation-y feelings.) But keep your fingers crossed that I will remember to blog through it all this time =)

Graduation Week in the Harris Household

2009-06-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

May 29th was a busy day at our house! First we started with Brandt's 5th grade Graduation. Only James and I attended because Emma and Chelsea both had their graduation practice that morning. (Jordan decided that since it was his first day to sleep in he was NOT going to get up at 8 am.) It was all going well until they started showing the video of the 5th graders over all their school years. Brandt looked so little in all the pictures! He has been attending Cedar Creek since 1st grade and it was very touching to see him with all his buddies growing up together. Suddenly he was looking way to grown up for his mom who ended up having to leave the ceremony so as not to embarrass her son with her crying!

Brandt receiving his diploma.

Brandt using his diploma as a gun to shoot his dad.

Brandt and Mrs. Browning (his 4th and 5th grade teacher) ~ she is truly the perfect teacher for Brandt. We will miss her!!

Brandt enjoying his favorite part of the whole ceremony ~ Chocolate Cake!!

Next was Emma's 8th Grade Graduation. Hers started after lunch so everyone was forced to attend. Being 13 we got one picture chance! (good job James for capturing this). They had speakers, performers, awards, diplomas and even Dr. Wellman (the principle from WHS) came to welcome them into high school. Where have all my babies gone??

Emma walking in blissfully unaware of the camera.

And then it was on to dinner and Chelsea's graduation. First we went to her favorite restaurant The Melting Pot. Unfortunately she was so nervous that she hardly ate and really seemed stressed. Finally James left dinner early to just go ahead and take her to the Austin Convention Center where graduation was going to be held.

Can you spot the 13 year old in this picture??!!

(that is steam obscuring James and I ~ we look a little magical!)

Chelsea getting a hug from Al Bennett the girls athletic director.

He genuinely seemed to appreciate Chelsea despite the fact that he could not convince her to tryout for volleyball!

Finally all her hard work paid off and she has that diploma in her hand!

We are so proud of her.

Brandt's opinion on the length of the ceremony.

There was over 500 kids graduating, several speakers from the school board and the high school, the usual valedictorian and salutatorian, plus the class president and the school president and then a few kid favorites. They would break up the actual walks across the stage ~ do a hundred then have a speaker.

The end. (yes mom is crying again by this time!)

And then they loaded into buses (we weren't even allowed to approach them. They had them cordoned off with ropes and guards; we could just cheer from afar. One boy tried to run over and hug his mom and was almost thrown to the ground!). They were taken back to the high school for Project Graduation. They had to drop all their things off before graduation to be searched and then when they returned they were once again walked straight into the school, through ropes, and sent straight into the locker rooms to change. Chelsea forgot extra shoes and had to go barefoot all night as they were not allowed to go to their cars or receive anything from us! But it is really a great time that they look forward to all year. They are gambling tables set up and they are all given chips that they play with and can win money. There is also a money machine ~ it is a booth that blows money into the air and you try and grab all that you can in a 60 second time period. There was at least a 45 minute wait! There were also carnival games set up outside, a basketball game going on in the gym, lots of dancing, food, rock climbing, bungee jumping, and raffles all night (they gave you 5 tickets at the door to do with what you will). To claim your winnings you had to stay all night and if anyone left early they called your parents and told them you were on your way home. It ended at 5:30 am. Chelsea was exhausted and slept until 3 in the afternoon but came home with winnings! She got $60 for staying all night, won a gift card at the blackjack table and $500 in a raffle. Some kids won cameras, jewelry, purses, bikes and diamond earrings. She was pretty excited with her winnings since she only put 3 of her tickets in. Needless to say if we ever start playing the lottery she is buying all our tickets!!

We are so proud of each of our graduates ~

2009-05-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last week (or so) was Chelsea's final prom. I was so proud of her this year as she actually made an effort to find her dress a month in advance! This was a huge improvement over last year, when she refused to look until two weeks before (fyi ~ Sax Department Store will not taylor a dress two weeks before prom). So off we went to look in all of Austin's vintage stores. The third store, Bitchin' Threads, we came to she saw the dress meant for her! It was a silk strapless short dress that started out a fushia color and faded into a softer pink and most importantly didn't even need altering. It showed off her very long legs beautifully.

Incase y'all were worried that Chelsea had turned a new leaf, true to form, two days before the dance she decided that it was time to look for shoes. We ladies at this house do not have small feet, so finding shoes at the last minute usually proves to be very challenging. But surprisingly we found the perfect pair at the first shoe store we went to (if any of you would like to take advantage of our incredible luck wave that we are on, Chelsea and I are available for all trips to Vegas now!). They were a chocolate brown closed toe high heel Mary Jane pumps with double ankle straps. Very sassy and classy.

Chelsea's date this year had several things going for him ~ he was a friend, he was taller then she was, and he likes her mom (always a plus in my book!!). He also is a Texan to his core and showed his Texas pride by wearing a vest with the Texas flag on it. Even the bow tie had the flag on it! Although they didn't match, he got points for originality.

(Hook-um! 3 of the future UT Longhorns)

Prom in Austin is always an event! They all met at one house to drop off a change of clothes for after prom, and to have drinks, appetizers and take pictures. I like this part because all the parents are there too; getting to visit, take the pictures, pin on the boutonnières, and make sure that all the boys know the parents expectations for them for the night (grrrr!!!). Then they load into the limos or party bus and head out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. This year they went to a mansion here in town that has peacocks roaming around the grounds. Chelsea tried veal for the first time (I do not condone this action!!). After dinner it is off to prom, which every year at Westlake is held at the Austin Convention Center. They had a dj and casino games to play. Each student is given chips at the door that they get to play and win prizes.

When the dance is over, at 1 am, they all head to various kinds of parties. Chelsea's group went back to the pre-prom house for an all night party. They could swim, hot tub, play games and eat all night; what they couldn't do was leave. There was lots of parents there who stayed up all night with them and then very sweetly made them all breakfast tacos in the morning. She had such a great time and looked beautiful too.

(headed to dinner ~ you can dance on this ride, it comes equipped with a disco ball!!)

2009-05-02T13:06:00.001-07:00

Another weekend finds me at home and Emma and James off to Houston for volleyball. But volleyball season is coming to an end as this is regionals and then we are finished. With the swine flu scare and schools closing &/or canceling all UIL events, we thought that

the tournament might be cancelled, but apparently nothing gets in the way of volleyball

! So off they went and here we sit!

Here is Emma playing ~ she is the one in the front middle. I am excited to watch her play in high school this next year!

I also am including some pictures of her fans this time. A side note; Brandt might be coming more for the food the the actual games but her grandparents are actually coming to watch her play (or so they claim!).

ATX in the Spring

2009-03-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful time of year it is to live in Austin! Everyone is out running, biking, dog walking and playing in the parks. The weather has been wonderful (70's and 80's), the oak pollen is down and there is lots to do and lots to eat. For anyone who has never been here, not only is the TexMex worth waiting in line for, but also the Vietnamese sandwiches made with all fresh ingredients; the Crepes that are a meal all unto themselves: the Thai food so spicy that tears roll down your face: the Sushi places that the waiters no you by name; SnoBeach (the best snow cones around); and we haven't even talked about the BBQ for you meat lovers. The absolute best places are the trailers in an empty lot. Some times you can wait an hour for your food because they are so popular but the weather is so nice this time of year that nosone is complaining about getting to sit outside. I love it!

This was also our kids spring break but Chelsea had soccer practice everyday so that limited her ability to leave town ~ not great for a senior! SXSW (south by southwest) was the same week and all the out of towners took over the city. Every where you went there were crowds of people in $500 jeans and $400 sunglasses (Austin is the home of the hippie so these other people really stand out). Metallica, K'annan, Cold War Kids and Kenya were just some of the artists that were here. Chelsea was able to attend the Cold War Kids concert, the Austin Music Awards where she got to see her friends The Fire Ants ( link below) perform with Bob Schneider (link below), and a private taping by MTV of several of what they thought were the best SXSW bands this year. Chelsea and her friends also flew kites in the park, had BBQs and shopped; so all in all she had a pretty good break from school.

Jordan spent a week in Telluride CO snowboarding with 4 of his buddies one of which owns a vacation home there. The exciting part for us was that Jordan managed not to hurt himself or anyone else and catch all his flights. Our little boy is growing up! He kept telling me that all would be well as "he knew his limits". Apparently hitting a tree on a 4wheeler enlightened him as to where those limits were! He had a great time and even met some girls from St. Andrews (a private Austin school) that he has been keeping in touch with. Tonight he is going to dinner with two of them ~ maybe this will motivate him to get his license since the other option is to share the girls with a driving friend.

I had two wonderful shoots ~ one with James' cousin's son Gus and one with a friend of mine for a school assignment. James was sweet enough to come be my assistant on both of them. He is so great a carrying all the heavy things, navigating traffic and fixing any technical issue that I might have. If I ever start a business he will have to quit his job to follow me around!

I love this picture I found on a website. I dream of a home/furniture like this in a location like that ~ think my ship will ever come in?? The warm light in this picture makes me want to curl up on the white sand that I know is right outside that door and just be still, enjoying the ocean... well, maybe the still part would get boring quick. It just sounds good because I stayed up too late last night watching Spurs basketball and talking to James.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk-8OmasBkI

www.bobschneidermusic.com

...but track has begun

2009-03-03T13:03:00.001-08:00

Technically Chelsea's high school soccer season is still going on, but we try to just ignore that. This poor kid has sat the bench her whole senior season because of her new crazy coach thinking that she is lazy and a quitter (not to be confused with the last crazy coach that she endured for the last 3 years)! Unfortunately, soccer season starts first but then overlaps track season. Because the high school has endowed all power to the coaches they get to decide if, and when, she can attend track. If she quits soccer UIL rules will not allow her to compete in track. Poor Chelsea has had many a sleepless night (and even more days of being so sick to her stomach that she can't eat) worrying about having to talk to the coach. After Chelsea talked to the coach, the girls athletic director and then the two of them together she was able to broker a deal that allows her to attend track practice half of every practice time. Sadly, this is at the cost of any remaining goodwill her soccer coach might have had.

So we have already had two very cold, for Austin (55-60 but it's been windy!) track meets. So far these have coordinated perfectly with Emma's volleyball. The first was in a town just a few minutes from where Emma was and the second was when Emma's team had a bye. That is just how lucky we are!

Here's to hoping that Westlake Girls Soccer loses in the first round of playoffs and Chelsea can then go on to a wonderful last year of track!! (Just incase you are thinking that we hate sports and/or coaches ~ we love track and our wonderful, wonderful track coach.)

pic 1 - Chelsea (red and blue) running in the open 200

pic 2 - Chelsea just clearing the high jump bar

pic 3 - Chelsea actually cleared this time too it just looks bad from this angle

pic 4 - running up to the bar

basketball is over...

2009-03-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

Brandt's basketball season has come to an end. It was an interesting team ~ not as talented as last seasons or as competitive! This might have been due in part to a coach that didn't seem very competitive either. Brandt however is VERY competitive and about half way through the season took to keeping his own stats; how many points the opposing team scored when he was in; how often he was fouled; how many times the refs screwed the call up; etc.. (in a side note, from what I've seen of Grandma Harris playing jokers...we know that he comes by it honestly)

pic 1 - Brandt going around the pick

pic 2 - Brandt shooting

pic 3 - the follow through

pic 4 - Brandt shooting again

never let James plan the day

2009-02-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

So Saturday I was sitting in my room drinking my morning coffee and trying to get some homework done, but Brandt would have none of that quiet time stuff. He was bouncing all around me. Sometimes rolling on my bed, sometimes singing me songs so that I could guess what they were, sometimes trying to get me to admit that Lucy liked him best. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that now would be a good time to sic him on James. I told him that dad was up stairs probably just waiting to do something really fun with him. Maybe they could play ping-pong or pool or rock band ~ wouldn't that be fun?? Off he went. Back him came... James in tow ~ both of them announcing that we were taking a road trip, right now! Quick get Emma and Jordan up and lets go to Enchanted Rock! So off we went. Since it was a two hour drive both ways we stopped and ate in Fredricksburg at one of our favorite German restaurants and then on the way home we stopped in Llano at the best b-b-q place in the hill country. In between the two restaurants we spent a few hours climbing a 425 foot hill of solid pink granite. The kids thought that it was pretty cool and James was super jazzed ~ Sheli just froze. The wind was whipping up there and it was so cold. There were a few times that I thought the wind might take Brandt with it but I'm glad that they had so much fun. And I just had to spend all day Sunday trying to get my homework done.

BTW, I had to change the title of my blog. I noticed that a stranger was keeping track of the blog. So we decided to goggle it to see if it came up and BAM we were the 3rd site listed to buy children! Oops!! So we quickly changed it. Ha ~ that will learn us... (don't count on it).

2009-01-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

Can't believe that it's a new month and a new year already! Where does all our time go???

The kids are back in school and are grinding hard at the mill.

Nicole has another new job. She is now a hostess at The Grove (a local restaurant). She says it's super boring but they pay $8 an hour so she is toughing it out. She has also been working out like a fiend, is back with her old boyfriend (Ken) and trying to work out a 12 week class schedule at our community college.

Chelsea has been busy trying to get all her college applications done. This is a tricky thing for her as she likes to do everything at the last minute. And I mean the very last minute!! Unfortunately because of her propensity for procrastination she missed the A & M deadline by mere minutes. It wasn't in her top three but it was a backup school that she wouldn't have minded attending. Live and learn...

Chelsea has also been busy with high school soccer this month. Every weekend she has had a soccer tournament. They leave school, usually, Thursday morning and get back Saturday night. This definitely makes school a challenge! But they have so much fun all staying in a hotel together that it is worth the makeup work she has to do for school.

Jordan hasn't played WOW in three weeks. This is a huge thing!! And because of all this extra free time he has now, he has been able to actually go do things with his friends ~ like in person and everything. They have been to movies, out to eat and to Bob Schneider concerts. It is hard for other non-kid-WOW-playing-parents to understand the joy this fills our hearts with! Of course it helps that all his friends now have their driver's license.

Emma's club volleyball, her homework and a love of reading has been taking up all her time. She really enjoys her club team and her coach says that he can really rely on her lively happy personality to lighten the mood and make everyone feel welcome. Since she is the silliest girl I know, this works out perfectly for both of them!

Somehow Emma has managed to read 6 books this last week and a half while still keeping up with her homework. I go to sleep before her and wake up after her. I have no idea how she functions all day!

Brandt's basketball has started up again. He is on a different team this year that doesn't seem nearly as intense. We only practice once a week with games every Saturday. Last year we practiced twice a week with an "optional" third practice. The difference in practicing time really shows in his games but it is nice for him to have more free time. Almost everyday Brandt and all his buddies are outside having air soft gun wars in the neighborhood or in our park (we have a park literally right behind our house). He comes wandering in at dark exhausted with everything he took with him either lost or broken, but as happy as a clam. If he's happy then we are too.

James has been working like a mad man trying to get our media room finished. The poor guy started two years ago but had to put it on hold for various reasons but now works like a man possessed on it. He has torn into walls and floors; taped, mudded, textured; installed double doors; prep the sub floor for carpet; chosen carpet and wood; and primed walls for painting. Next is the cabinetry. I'm a construction widow...

And last but not least, classes have started back up for me too. This semester I have an Art History class that starts at 7:45 in the morning ~ ugh! I also have 3 other photography classes that are all 4 hours each twice a week. Only one of those am I doing any shooting in though, so that's kind of a bummer. One of my pictures that made it into the print show (the flower) the school kept for their permanent collection. Kind of exciting!

Fandango still has giardia. So far none of us has caught it but the vet trips are never ending!!! And it is hard for him to gain weight with constant diarrhea. But he is so sweet and loves to give kisses, not the greatest idea with giardia!

Christmas veggin'

2008-12-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went...and I'm secretly glad that all the "have-to" stuff is over and we can just chill now. All the Christmas cards got sent, all the neighbor gifts got delivered, all the Christmas shopping got finished (3 straight days of James and I shopping all day long), all the wrapping done, all the Christmas stocking stuffed, all the food shopping finished, cookies made...so now we can just play games, watch movies, beat each other in Guitar Hero World Tour (why do we need another guitar hero game??).
Jordan got Call of Duty V and Gears of War II so he has had buddies over playing all week. I tried playing a little but kept getting killed too fast because I was stuck running into walls or shooting the sky. Instead of working I need to be practicing my video game skills more!
Chelsea and I have been in our pajamas all week. (James has only gotten out of them to run kids to where ever they need to be). This is the part of Christmas break I love.
We ended up having Christmas dinner the day after Christmas because we had all snacked so much that there wasn't enough hungry people to justify all that cooking. We had tenderloin with a mushroom wine sauce, homemade mashed potato's, Pam's homemade cranberry sauce, rolls and Pam's Frog eye salad. Definitely worth the wait! James' meat he made on the Big Green-egg was so flavorful and tender ~the kids declared that it rivaled anything that Fogo de chao makes.
Brandt had been sick the week before Christmas. Christmas eve and Christmas day Emma was sick. And now I have been sick the last two days. Who will be next? My guess is that as soon as school starts Jordan will suddenly come down with a cold!

Jordan and Brandt's new room

2008-12-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

Since Jordan and Brandt share a room and Jordan is 15 it was time to bring their room into the teens too. Jordan had out grown his twin bed (he's 6'2) and needed a queen bed. So the boys got a loft bed that a queen could fit under and Jordan got a new platform bed. But the platform bed is longer so then the old bookcase no longer fit in it's spot. Since their old bunk bed had a dresser in it we had to get them a new dresser. And a new dresser means the old armoire had to go because it's space was being used. But then where to put all the video games and books? So now they have a wall unit that fits on two walls and holds all the books and video systems. But then their old TV no longer fit so they had to get a new TV for the wall unit (Merry Christmas). And everyone needs a place to sit, so they got two new leather rocker chairs. Which means that the acoustic drums are now in the game room and the electronic drums got moved by the door. Jordan got a new drum throne (seat) for Christmas ~ you can see it in the picture, a little.

Nicole got the boys old TV and Emma's old bed which used to be Nicole's old bed in the first place. So basically Nicole got nothing for her room but then she is supposedly going to move out someday so why get her stuff for this room? If she stays long enough she can have Chelsea's room too...

Emma's room

2008-12-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

For some crazy reason James and I decided that we should redo
all the kids rooms a week before Christmas. Not the best timing on our part. James spent 3 straight days putting furniture together. Our house was covered in huge boxes, old furniture, new furniture and trash as we had to deep clean everything in the process. We were trying to get it done before the maids got there but didn't quite make it. They were cleaning the downstairs while we were trying to finish the boys room upstairs. It actually worked out pretty good though as one of our maids was happy to take all our old furniture. We loaded all we could in the back of her truck and she and her husband came back
later that night for the rest.
So now Emma has a new loft bed, a sofa, a coffee table and two nice bookcases in her room. She is well pleased.
We didn't get rid of anything in Chelsea's room but an old bookcase. We rearranged her room and added a new leather chair with ottoman, 3 book shelves and a floor light. She really likes it too. Looks very grown-up. Jordan is already claiming it when Chelsea goes to college.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

2008-12-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

This sweet baby came to live with us the last week of November. We had promised Chelsea a kitty when we moved to Austin as we had given ours away before we moved. Sadly the first two attempts at a new kitty didn't take (one was peeing all over my furniture and the other turned out to be a feral cat that wanted to live outside - our neighbors have a couple 0f outside cats and he now lives with them). So this time I announced that we were not going to get a cat from the animal shelter but instead were going to get a sweet, healthy kitty from a breeder. Ha! After searching for months on the internet I convinced everyone that what we wanted was either a Savannah or a Bengal cat. Both are domestic cats that their ancestors have been bred with either wild Serviles (the Savannah) or wild Asian Leopards (the Bengal). Both are extremely outgoing, playful smart cats that usually are larger then a normal house cat. They can be taught to fetch and walk on leashes. The Bengals have extra soft fur (like petting a bunny), blue green eyes, a "M" on their foreheads, black tipped tails, striping on the legs, black bottomed feet and can have rosettes all over (ours just has his spots on his underbelly).

Since I had that week off from school we started touring catteries. Oh my goodness!! I'm thinking nice sweet old people with too many cats - wrong again! These were old people but this was their livelihood. They had outdoor facilities filled with dog runs that had multiple cats in each one climbing up the sides of the cages (the Serviles had all their own cages as they would eat the smaller domesticated cats) . And people were charging from about $1200 to $4000 for these cats. Emma saw no problem with these prices or the wildness of the kittens and thought we were the meanest parents ever for not getting her one!

Finally I saw this add in the paper advertising Bengals starting at $300. When I called the lady she was so rude I almost hung up on her but I guess if something is cheap enough I will put up with a lot of abuse. Only James and I drove out there because this lady insisted that we not bring anyone along with us. Think "crazy cat lady from the Simpson's". When we got there she made us stand off her property by the front fence and she would bring the kittens to us. Once we saw her 4 pet wolves wandering around, we agreed wholeheartedly with her! She had three very sweet, very pretty Bengal kittens that she was willing to sell to us. She had two normal friends there with her that had adopted two kittens from her in the past and they sold us on getting one of her kittens. Later we found out that she has cancer and several other serious health problems. She lives all by herself with all her animals and these people were out there checking on her and bringing her food. She had 15 other cats that live inside her trailer with her; a good 20 outside; two horses; and a few months ago a rescue group came out and took 19 of her wolves away leaving her the 4 we saw.

Of course we took our new little guy right to the vet. The vet said that the kitty had really bad ear mites that took three weeks to get rid of but the kicker was she had never seen such a bad case of giardia. It is a single cell parasite that is highly contagious to other animals and people. Hikers get it drinking contaminated water. 4 weeks and hundreds of dollars later we are still trying to get rid of this parasite. He's darn lucky he's so cute!

But having 7 people in a house trying to decide on a name has been ridiculous. Some call him Kanye, some call him Sheerkahn, some Mowgli, some Jumpin' Jack, but Fandango is what is on his tag so that wins this week...the ladies that work at the vet are excited to see what we are calling him each week. They have bets!!

"I think I'll hide in a pirate's cave, I think I'll be an Indian Brave" - James M. Barrie

2008-12-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

So these are my two pictures that made it into the print show at school. The way the print show works is that everyone that is enrolled in a photography class, of any kind, has to enter pictures in the print show.The judges sit in a darkened room with only a lit easel. An assistant puts your picture up on the easel, reads the title and the judges give an immediate thumbs up or down. It is very quick because they have about a thousand pictures to go through in a matter of hours. Once they have made the initial cuts they have 3 guest judges come in and chose the winners for each category and the overall winners. There is a fundamentals category that is for all the first semester students and those pictures have to be mounted 8x10's. I had to enter 2 into that category, neither of which was chosen. I did enter 2 in the open lab category. These pictures had to be mounted 16x20's; you are competing against anyone in the whole department, not just first semester students or just students that are taking a particular class ~ so you can imagine my surprise that my two made it in! Unfortunately, James was out of town that week so I couldn't share it all with him and it since it was the last day of classes I had to get special permission to bring him back the next week (Chelsea and Jordan went too). The school keeps the pictures set up until spring so they can show off the program so it was really that big of a deal to let us in. Chelsea looked at every single picture and made comments on each one. Jordan whizzed through, looked at mine and then proceeded to harass us about how long Chelsea was taking. UGH!

The whole thing was a really fun experience though and so exciting to me to see everyone else's work. Know thy competition...

Sleep Deprived? No Way!

2008-11-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

Nicole finally found another job to supplement her income. She has been working at Bebe Sport, a clothing store, in the mall since the beginning of the summer but she just couldn't get enough hours. No one is shopping! So two weeks ago she and a friend of hers got hired at one of the many college bars on 6th St. (Austin is a college town for those who have never visited here). She loves the excitement of it and the quick money but not so much the hours. She works 20-30 hours a week at the mall and then grabs a few hours of sleep before heading to work again at 10pm. The bar closes at 2 so an early night for her is 3 and if there is a private party she doesn't get home until 5, only to have to be at the mall by 10am. To be 20 and have that much energy! I would be sleepwalking by now and she stills finds time to go for a run. Oh wait, I am sleepwalking ~ she sets the alarm every night when she comes home, 60 seconds of solid beeping in the wee hours of the morning...ugh. I say damn the robbers and let me sleep!

Lessons Learned

2008-11-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

But what an amazing experience it was for us regardless of our politics (Ron Paul was robbed!). The celebration was held in their ballroom and was wall to wall people ~ all so happy and hopeful. There were projection screen tv's and drink stations set up in each room and Obama paraphenalia for sale. At first I just went from room to room taking portraits of individuals like this gentleman who happily posed for me. I love his posture, he looks so empowered! (This picture is going to be entered in a contest at our school.)
Right at the perfect moment James and I happened into a room that turned out to be the main room where all the speakers were. The tv cameras were set up in the back of the room and all the photographers were lined up in front of the stage snapping away. As soon as we walked in our Senator walked up to the podium and started speaking. About the time we pushed our way thru the crowd to the middle, the Talking Heads on tv started announcing the results for Virginia and the crowd went wild ~ screaming, crying, jumping around. I just held my camera up and started laying on the shutter (that's how I got the picture that ended up in the paper). James dragged me up front and I got several great shots of some lady who talked a lot about her father but the crowd was so loud when they introduced her that I didn't catch her name. I just liked all the emotion she was showing. When I got to school and was editing them my teacher couldn't believe that I didn't even realize that I was taking shots of Lucy L. Johnson in the very room that her father gave his acceptance speech! But here is the learning experience that I had. I'm standing there taking pictures up by the stage. I've taken hundreds of pictures that night. Obama has won, the crowd is giddy and I'm thrilled with how well my assignment is going to turn out, when the Executive Director of the Travis County Democratic party steps off the stage and asks me to take her picture with the woman who turned out to be Lucy Johnson. Of course I said yes and hold my camera up to take the shot only to have my camera do nothing! My battery died!! And being the rookie that I am, I had no backup batteries with me. So what do you do in this situation? You press the flash and announce that you got it...and then run!

Yay, Long Lines!!

2008-11-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

James and I decided to go to the Travis County Democratic Election Party in downtown Austin Novemeber 4th so that I could take pictures for my class. I got lucky because our class was a week behind everyone else, so that week our assignment ended up being News Stories. We thought we would go where the excitement and the crowds would be and off we went. When we arrived there was line to get in the Driskill Hotel and we had to wait about 30 minutes to get in. Only being able to see a long line in front of us and not knowing how long the wait was going to be, I start chatting up everyone around me trying to find out if anyone knows more then I do about what is going on. The girl infront of me starts asking me questions back and pretty soon has taken out her pad of paper and is writing all my answers down. Just when I start to think that she is a little crazy she tells me that she is the editor of a college paper and wants to quote me in it (whatever Crazy-One!). It turns out that we attend the same college and her photgrapher didn't show up so she asks if I would mind sending her my pictures. I do and they use one. So I got my first credited picture (on page 3) in the ACC school newspaper. They also asked me to join their staff if I'm interested. So... now ya'll will have to call me Sheli-the Staff-Photgrapher!

“You know, madness is a lot like gravity… sometimes all you need is a little push.”

2008-11-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Joker and some of his henchmen. Do you know which one is Brandt??

Emma wasn't really part of their crew but was kind enough to walk around with them. She had a long black dress on but it was hot so when she got home she changed out of it quickly.

I waited until the last minute to do all our decorating, of course, thinking that the kids that were home would happily help me. Nicole decided to carve her pumpkin instead and then needed hours to perfect her costume (don't ask). Brandt got out of school early and went to the park to play football with his buddies. The other three were still in school so that left poor James to be my helper. He helped me hang 7 scarecrows from the trees and light them so they were visible (their heads had lights in them also), then put up the giant spiders, the cobwebs and the headstones. Along with the candy we had a tub of drinks with dry ice boiling and brewing for all the trick-or-treaters. I was amazed at how fast the kids snatched the drinks up! The neighbors were amazed at how fast we transformed the house. They clearly don't know about our years of perfecting our procrastination skills.

Jordan decided to trick-or treat me. He had apparently decided that he was too old this year to dress up but didn't announce this to me until after his friends started showing up at our house. I kept calling upstairs for the boys to come down as it was getting later and later but they seemed to just want to eat and play video games. You would think I would have caught on earlier but one of the boys even brought a cotume with him as a decoy! Two days later they went home having eaten their fill of pizza and candy. Good thing Jordan's friends make me laugh so much...or maybe it's that they are all taller then me...

It's a Shark Attack - the Westlake PeeWee Great Whites!!

2008-11-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah ~ Pee Wee football is over! We had a great season with only 1 loss (I think), Brandt had fun and being Spirit Mom allowed me to meet a few new people but I am so glad to have it over. Practices 3 times a week for 2 -2 1/2 hours each plus Saturday games was taking a toll on Brandt's homework, his body and his sleep; the laundry has been cut back considerably~ no more stinky pads, helmets, game pants, game jerseys, game socks, practice pants, practice jerseys, practice socks, cleats, ...ugh, the list goes on and on! Plus James and I have no more run-throughes to make late Friday night; me in a panic, James trying to help and stay out of the way simultaneously. They looked good and got lots of praise, but I hated them more then I have ever hated a sign before. I didn't even know it was possible to hate a sign!

Last Sunday we had our end of the season party. I had to plan it but because I have class on Sunday's I couldn't be there. James got to represent me which seemed only fair since he really did a lot of work helping me be Spirit Mom. Maybe he should get to use the gift certificate for the pedicure that the team gave me. Or maybe we should have a sign-off to see who gets it???

Oh where oh where did my vacation go??

2008-10-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been busy ones, but nothing really out of the ordinary. All the kids have been busy ~ homework, sports, friends, chores. There has been a lot of adjusting to the rigors of homework everyday and the need to turn it in! Jordan's master plan was to not do it for weeks and then switch out of the class. Imagine the shock he got when I said "absolutly NOT"?! Emma was hoping that we just wouldn't notice that all her science wasn't getting done. And Chelsea works on a daily decision of waiting until there is pressure so her "mind works better" (her quote). She likes to get up at 4am and work on it all then; a missed lunch period or a tardy is A-OK with her. Ugh!!!
This week Emma was 1 out of 7 chosen from 279 8th graders at her school to go to a day long forum on tolerance. It was put on by the Women's Jewish League and had kids from all over Texas in attendance. The teachers at her school met together and chose kids that they felt showed leadership skills. Emma was so excited! She had a great time missing regular school and getting to do something special. It didn't hurt that she got to meet lots of boys her age either. I should say it didn't hurt her ~ her dad wasn't too thrilled about the boys!

My Mom is Riding in Helicopters!

2008-10-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my mom (seated) and two of her brothers (one of her brothers passed away a year and a half ago - the other lives in Sacramento and doesn't really spend too much time with his siblings) and her little/only sister. Actually the two standing are twins! This was taken in April in my mom's house. I'm so glad that they all got to spend some quality time together, laughing and giving each other a hard time. I know that she loves it.

We got quite a scare today. My mom had another heart attack yesterday afternoon. After being hard headed for 12 hours, she finally decided that maybe the hospital might be a good idea. She was air evac-ed to Provo where she under went an angioplasty. Thank goodness she doesn't have any blockage but there was damage done to her already weakened heart. She has congestive heart failure so each time is scary! Currently she is resting soundly thanks to Mr. Morphine, on oxygen and being observed closely.

Pull through, Mom. We need you. xoxo

happy birthday sweet girl

2008-10-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Guess who is turning 20 Friday? Good guess, but it isn't me.

Nicole has been planning, talking about and making lists for a month. She has bought birthday dresses, had her hair done and made guests lists. She has not outgrown the daily trip to the mailbox to see if she has received any cards. This girl makes me laugh. Imagine the lists that are going to be involved when she is anticipating her wedding?!

Jordan has been sick for a week now. I think it started out as allergies but has since moved into a sore throat and constant cough. All he can manage to do is play video games and WOW. Think the doctor can cure him of that?

Chelsea is for sale this week if anyone needs a tall, too smart for her own good, independant 18 year old. She has been grounded for a month and that got her cell phone and car taken away on top of that. She out maneuvers me and out thinks me in a blink of an eye. Ugh!!

Tarantulas are not endangered in Texas!

2008-10-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

Look what was waiting for me last week outside my front door ~ scared me to death! I was cleaning up the mess of shoes that always seems to grow outside and talking to Brandt and James when as I reached for one of the shoes I almost grabbed this instead. It was interesting because as I'm screaming for James it just sat there all hunched down, facing me in a defensive mode. James had to leave and told me to just watch it while he was gone. Right! So I grabbed a mason jar and plopped it down over it. By the time James got back there were three votes to kill it, one to keep it as a pet and two to "save it". James ended up driving it to a greenbelt and setting it "free". Hopefully they aren't like homing pigeons!

"I Knew It!"

2008-09-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

On Tuesdays, when time allows, we like to go to a local taco restaurant for Trivia Night. Chelsea and her friends had been going for about a year and telling us how much fun they were having when we decided to take it over. So now Jordan and his friends come; James' parents, Jimmy and Ronda, come when they can; and some of Chelsea's friends parents come when they can.
Are you wondering what I am contributing to Trivia Night? I write my teams answers down and often think of our name (there is a contest for best name each time ~ this time we were "The Very Recent AIG Owners". We got honorable mention.).
Ronda swears she knows every answer, even the ones she kept to herself ~ her most repeated phrase is "I knew it!". Jimmy answers way more then he would probably tell you about and they are all right. James declared that we would win first place this week and we did! It's really fun and I'm glad that my in-laws come because it is fun to laugh with them and win in the process.
Jordan slowly walks by atleast once a night to check out our answers. He trys to be very sly about it, maybe asking for more salsa or chips, but we know the truth. So anytime we are stumped by a modern music question I take a walk to the wild side to see how their chip supply is holding out. Go team, Go!

volleying is good in volleyball

2008-09-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

How can two weeks have gone by already? Ugh!!! Clearly I'm getting to that age where your days fly by waaaay too fast.
Well school volleyball has started again for Emma. She has had two games and a tournament already. What a difference between 7th grade volleyball and 8th grade volleyball, thank goodness! How nice to see her teammates getting their serves over and volleying happening. Trust me, this is huge...and makes watching so much more exciting for us parents. Emma is doing great again. She loves to dive for balls regardless of the welfare of her knees. Emma still has a mean serve, long and hard; sometimes a little too hard ~ last week she hit a parent walking by in the head! And her new trick is spiking the ball. She is the 2nd tallest girl on her team (there is one who is just shy of 6 feet) so I think she is realizing that there is an expectation that she should be able to jump higher then the net. Not as much fun as sliding across the floor to save a ball and possibly knocking people over in the process!

2008-09-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

For sale this week only - Jordan!!

6'2" size 15 feet. Too smart for his own good. Loves a good argument. Always hungry. Thinks blog is stupid idea. Loves "Call of Duty", "WOW" and drumming. Can text in his sleep and knows how to manuiplate his little brother into getting him anything. Hates mowing, dishes and taking out the trash. Under wrong impression that his parents can't see long grass in the middle of the yard, dirty clothes on his floor or his unmade bed. Very funny sense of humor when not using it for evil against his mom. Sweet brother. Still will hug us...maybe not so much "for sale" as "will let you borrow".

I heart NY

2008-09-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

Chelsea and I flew to New York August 16th to check out Colleges. We saw two musicals while there, "Avenue Q" and "Gypsy" with Patti LuPone. Both wondeful!! We slept late, shopped, rode the subway, stayed out late and saw the sites all before James showed up. James immediately got us on a schedule, read the map and planned our days! He even had us walk 26 blocks to climb the Empire State Building at midnight. This was really a college trip...so off to Penn, Temple, Leigh, Lafayette, Arcadia, Princeton and NYU. Some were too scary to even get out of car and some were so beautiful that I wanted to move right in. Poor Chelsea is such a Texas Girl that she was "freezing" the whole time in the 75 degree weather.

What's wrong with flower arranging?

2008-09-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

Brandt (#5) is bruised head to toe from playing Left Tackle and Left Guard on his Pop Warner team. This is harder on me than it is on him ~ James has to keep reminding me not to ask him if he wants to quit every time I see a new bruise! He looks so cute though in his pads and helmet that it is almost worth it to me. Guitar is much safer.

The Beginning...

2008-09-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

After pressure from those of you who are into that kind of thing, (you know who you are) we have decided to cave to ya'll and write a weekly update of our family.

In the beginning there was light~it quickly turned chaotic...ugh!