Who said 13 is lace---I want a vacuum!

Brian and I celebrated our 13th anniversary today. I still can't believe we've been married that long--boy does time fly! He took the day off to spend with me and saw the kids off to school while he let me sleep in. When I woke up, he squeezed fresh orange juice and made a smoothie for me along with a toasted slice of his homemade sour dough bread. We took our time getting about and made our way first to Sears so we could pick up the vacuum we ordered on-line last night. We've needed one for quite a while. After telling Brian that I would like that more than anything, we spent the evening pouring over Consumer Reports and customer reviews till we found the perfect one! I am soooo excited to get it and plan to spend the day vacuuming tomorrow. LOL We were even lucky enough to hit a great one-night-only sale at Sears! Yay!

After picking up my vacuum, Brian took me to The Alamo Quarry Market. It's a nice outdoor shopping center. We dined at a bistro-like restaurant that was just fabulous. I had a to-die-for duck confit salad with blackberries and candied hazelnuts in it. Brian had a quite interesting pizza made with a fig puree, fresh mozzarella, basil and some other intriguing stuff. It was pretty tasty! Then we went to see "Knowing" at the theatres there. On the way into the movies, Brian spotted an ice cream place called "Amy's" that he said has the best ice cream around. So guess where we went after the movie?! I'll just say he was spot on (of course) and their Mexican Vanilla Bean was heavenly!

By this time we needed to get home to the kids. Time to get back to reality. What a great day with my sweet husband! I can't remember the last time we spent an entire day alone together. Well it was nice while it lasted...

Who is this child and what have you done with mine?

My son Zachary typically moans about attending church. Regardless of how much sleep he's had, sacrament meeting is like Pavlov's bell for him to fall asleep. Well today he was up (for the most part) singing the hymns and just pleasant. As if that wasn't enough, when we got home, he grabbed the vaccuum cleaner and took it upstairs. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he sees me vaccuuming the downstairs every day, but it doesn't seem I get to the upstairs as often. So he said he'd "help me out." Then he asked that none of us go upstairs for a while. We honestly didn't give much thought to what he was doing, but he was literally humming while he worked. A while later, the girls brought me a note they found in their room that read "I hope you like how I cleaned your room. Love, Zachary." And, yes, their room was clean. So I headed upstairs. There was a note posted to the wall at the top of the staircase leading us to our room, which he had also cleaned. Zach was beaming from ear to ear. When I asked what got into him, he said he "just felt like it." I asked if it was a Sunday School lesson and he assured me that it wasn't.

Some days it really pays to be a mom!

The Twilight addiction is apparently inherited.

Yes, I was one of the crazy people at Wal Mart last Friday night at midnight buying Twilight! The only catch was, one of my 7 year-old daughters insisted on being there with me!! After I had seen the movie once in the theatre and realized it wouldn't be too graphic for them, I took the girls. That's all it took--Kiersten was hooked. She spent her allowance (an entire month's worth, I might add) for this shirt and, of course, had to wear it to the realease. I was surprised, but she was definitely the youngest fan there. She is quite a reading prodigy and is convinced that she will be able to get through the books next year. I'm telling her to give herself another year. She might need to hold off until 3rd grade to fully read about Edward and Bella. I've created a monster!!

Grandma and Grandpa Lemons

Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore my Grandma and Grandpa. For starters, they are the only grandparents I knew, since my father was adopted. Secondly, they were/are my constant. I've always been able to count on them regardless of what is going on in my life. When I go to their house, nothing has changed. Well, they, of course, are getting up in years. Because they've always been so important to me, I've tried to visit at least once a year. I want the kids to know them and I want to spend what time I can with them. The last time I visited was on our way here last July.

When I found out that their closest friend had died and they had no plans to attend the funeral, I realized I needed to get out there again. I knew I needed to either a) get them to the funeral somehow or b) attend in their honor and show respects for them. Although his death was expected, it is always sad. The really neat thing was that he was my grandfather's lifelong best friend. They were in the Army Air Corp and then the Air Force together. He was a pilot (my grandpa was a paratrooper then a navigator) and very proud of his Air Force career. So his funeral was extremely patriotic. At the prayer service, they had the Air Force emblem on the top inside of his casket and his flight jacket was hanging next to him. His grandchildren had made a photo collage of his life and much of it had pictures of his military career. Then the actual funeral was at Fort Biggs Army base, but an Air Force Honor Guard came out to perform the ceremony and it was so beautiful. It was exactly what it should be. It showed honor and respect to a good man. It also made me so proud of my Air Force heritage. I was so glad I went!

While there, I realized that alot has changed in the several months since I had seen my grandparents. They like to appear so stoic and self sufficient over the phone. But they are in need of more help than they want to admit. Not to mention the fact, that as I watch this deterioration, I realize even more how badly I want to spend time with them while I have it! So Brian and I made the decision that I will be travelling to El Paso every 2-3 months. It really is a dreadful drive, so if anyone has any suggestions of good books or talks on tape--I'm open. LOL Although the frequent trips may be trying and seem like a chore at times, I realize how truly blessed I am to be an adult with children and still have my grandparents in my life--for however short time that may be. I am very thankful for that!!

Layla--you've got me on my knees (literally)!!!

Well, we didn't wait long to make that other addition to our family and she is definitely wearing me down. Zach was so disheartened from his experience with JP. His best friend basically turned on him and it broke his heart. He spent days where he broke into tears easily. It was really difficult for us all to watch.
We had promised him a "better" dog. We explained that some dogs are more "kid friendly" and we hadn't done enough research with JP. So Brian and I promptly started surfing the dog rescue sites. Researching and sticking to breeds that we knew were traditionally good with children and families. We prefer rescue dogs for obvious reasons, why go to a breeder when there are great dogs in dire need of a good home. We had also determined that we wanted a young enough dog to bond with the entire family. Not necessarily a tiny puppy--but young.
Within a week, we found Layla. She is a 9 month old (65 lb!) purebred Yellow Lab that was at a Great Dane rescue, no less. Her foster mom let us know that she is 100% love but lacked training so we had our work cut out for us--boy do we!! The other thing I didn't realize was all the paperwork involved in rescuing a dog. It was like we were adopting a child from China. You actually have to be approved!! Pretty funny! Obviously, we were, and Layla has become a great addition to our home. The kids love her and vice versa.

Layla is a typical lab--chew, chew, chew. But at the same time she loves and is loyal to a fault (if that is possible). As I was telling my mom earlier this week, I've never owned such a loving and rewarding dog. Yet, at the same time, I've never owned such a difficult dog with so many habits that need breaking. We can tell, that with time, she will be a great addition to our family and someone we can't live without. For now, I think I have another Marley reincarnated! So much for my beautiful new home...

The lump is gone!! Yay!!!!

After over 2 years over fighting with seeing multiple specialists and multiple arguments with said doctors, I finally found one willing to remove a lipoma in my forehead last month. The argument was that lipomas don't cause headaches/migraines. But they couldn't explain to me why the headaches started when the lipoma formed AND increased in severity as the lipoma grew. ALSO they one reason they didn't want to operate--other than the fact that it was on my face was that is was sitting on a bundle of nerves. Whenever I questioned that couldn't it be the pressure on that nerve bundle causing the pain, the providers would just back pedal. Well, I finally found an ENT willing to remove it under the caveat that I understand that my headaches may not go away. I have to admit, the procedure wasn't as easy as I would have expected (probably another reason nobody wanted to touch it). But after removal and healing, my headaches have reduced significantly! It had reached a point where they were constant and nothing could get rid of them. That is not the case any more. And as for the scar--I think it is minimal. I am very pleased!!

JP--no more

Many of you may remember our "cute" little dog JP. He was given to us by a friend and by all intents and purposes, was a good dog. He didn't shed, he was housebroken, stayed off furniture, rarely barked, etc. HOWEVER, part of what was so great about him was also bad--he just laid around and never played. I don't think he knew how to play. Worse than that, children annoyed him. He had snapped at the girls and other neighborhood kids before. But each time it seemed easily explained--they were in his face, chasing him, etc. We had him for 3 years and the whole time, he slept in Zach's room. Zach was the one who walked him, fed him and had the most patience with him. We really hung on to him for Zach's sake more than anything. Well, one Saturday night, Zach and the girls were watching a movie in Zach's room. The girls were on the top bunk, Zach on the bottom bunk and JP in his bed on the floor next to Zach's. Zach leaned over to say "hi" to JP and the dog lunged at him. He scratched Zach's chest and bit his face, from jaw almost to his eye.
This was taken 4 days after the attack. I was amazed at how quickly it healed--this looks like nothing compared to how it looked just after. I was told by a facial surgeon that faces heal much faster than anyone else because of the blood supply--good thing for Zach!
To say the least, we got rid of the dog the very next day. We weren't sure what to do with him. Pounds and shelters weren't open, being a weekend. But we didn't want him in our house any longer. A friend suggested Craig's list, so we tried it. We were truthful and listed him as a great dog who ABSOLUTELY cannot be around children. Short of taking him out back with a shotgun, this was our only hope for him. We had a quick response asking lots of questions and requesting more pictures. He asked if he could come out to meet him. The person who came to meet JP brought his male "life partner" with him and they both loved the dog. They assured us that children would not be an issue (LOL) and were excited to take JP home. They've since been in contact and I guess it turned out to be a great fit.
Who'd'a thunk?!

ZACH KNIEVIL

This has definitely been the year for Zach's coming of age injuries. One weekend in January, he and the neighborhood boys were doing bike tricks off a ramp. Zach chose to approach the ramp particularly fast at one point. When he became airbound, Zach and the bike parted ways. He was scraped up pretty bad all over his body. We were even afraid at one point that he may have broken his leg. But the injury that will go down in the books is the chunk that was taken out of his chin. We had to take him to the ER and get 4 stitches. He wasn't upset about being hurt, or even needing stitches. He was mad that he had to quit playing. Since the injury was jagged and literally missing a chunk of skin (he replaced it with blacktop), it looks like it'll be a pretty good scar. At least it's under his chin--AND he's a boy!

Don't ask me why they put steri-strips over the stitches...they ended up ripping the wound open when the stitches were removed. I think they just weren't real sure what to do with it--it was a mess!

New Year's Eve

New Year's was pretty quiet for us. We were blessed to have more friends over to ring in the new year with us. Anyone who knows me has probably heard me talk about my friend, Dawnie. Well, most of her family has relocated to San Antonio as well. As much as I love Dawnie, her family is my family. (This last Thanksgiving found her mother, stepfather and brother, Brandon with us) Her brother, Bobby, his wife, Veronica, and their 3 children moved here around Christmas. We haven't seen any of them since California. They came over with Dawnie's mother (you may remember her from the Aaron Tippin pictures with me-LOL). Brian had hunted down some phenomenal tamales and made homemade red and green chile to go on them. The kids all got along fabulously and it was great to catch up with Veronica--Oh yeah--Bobby too, LOL. Anyone who knows Bobby would understand--Veronica is definitely his better half, but, much like his brother, Brandon, you can't help but love him! Being the old fogies (is that how it's spelled?) that we are, we barely made it to midnight and called it a night. What happened to the days where we partied into the morning and it didn't effect us a bit the next day?! Oh well--one of the glories of growing old!

Family picture time!

I have made a good friend here, Melissa, who is a professional photographer and last month we took full advantage of her talent! I hesitate to post this b/c Galin wanted so badly to take pictures of the kids and our timing just never seemed to work out. Well, the only way I got Brian to agree to posing for this is for her to come to our house. It was fun, though, and she definitely captured much of the kids' personality!a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBE9TQduAkoSsjHsE1Eha6Vu6uOlm9hQ4Q5s_EKkKGV9u_W9mDkBP50hJqKV9lFK1W4odhTy5uticNZgHWqXgJ9BKmVVaYFQ_RB4Jbzgs6lEPZ69yPaKzW6OWeqGyhSo75TGTVymEszwE/s1600-h/Crowell_2008+(11).JPG">
This is my favorite picture of Zach and is pretty typical. He's always putting up with his crazy sisters! LOL
Kiersten--fitting into the Texas Cowgirl mold quite comfortably!

Brian actually asked if she photo-shopped our eyes--the answer was no--she's just that good!

My grown-up girls!

My handsome men!

Kiersten

Me and Meghan--just don't look at how old I look!

A little too grown-up for me!

Sweet girls!

Me and my boy--I practically have to force affection out of him anymore! LOL

Daddy and his girls!

Me and Kiersten

The kids NOT goofing off. :)

What a big boy!

Christmas

Brian's mother, stepfather (Niel) and grandmother came for a visit this Christmas. They also brought Maggie--thier standard poodle. We absolutely loved the visit! Brian's grandmother, Jewett, came out and helped me for 2 weeks right after I had the twins. She is amazing! But she hadn't seen the kids since then. So it was quite a reunion!!div>

Zachary and Grandpa Powers playing the family favorite--Mexican Train.

Kiersten and Great-Grandma Jewett--Jewett constantly the multitasker, not only playing Mexican Train, but knitting as well!

Grandpa Powers helping Kiersten with her strategy.
Grandma Powers and Meghan playing together--what's with the tongue Meghan?!

Santa has obviously been here!!

Look at the stuffed stockings--they couldn't even stay hung!

The full unadulterated madness Christmas morning before the children got to it!

Wow--Kiersten, the guitarist! This is really the only thing she asked for (that and a bunny).

Meghan with her two prized gifts--a new "green-green" (blankie) and a keyboard to help her learn piano.

Yes--we have ALL officially become Texans!! (notice he still has a Bears hat on, though)

Another Texan in the making!!

Grandma and Grandpa made a hit with Kiersten--she gets to BE Hannah Montana on the Wii!!

This looks like potential trouble to me! I guess his sister's can't complain--since they are who bought it for him!!

We are fully into the electronic era--and look at those nails!!

Not to be outdone by my sister--Santa hooked us up!!

Whoa--how loud can it go!? Thanks Santa!!
Meghan glammed up after creating a cap sent by Nana--too cool!

After the mayhem--all that's left is JP. Little did we know at this time that this would be our last Christmas with him.
Christmas sure is exhausting!!

Christmas Miracle

Yes, I am trying to get caught up on my blog. As I get up to date, there are a few significant events that I can't help but mention. One is our little Christmas miracle.

Well, since I have retired, money has been quite a bit tighter. We are paying our bills, have food on the table, etc., but there is not really any "wiggle room." As we know, Christmas fell on a Thursday this year. The Tuesday before Christmas, we took the van in for "minor" repairs and, of course, found that much more was needed. We were now faced with the fact that after car repairs and other miscellaneous unexpected expenses, we were left with virtually nothing. Luckily, presents were already bought for the kids and under the tree. (Brian, of course, hadn't done my shopping, though.) We had Brian's parents and grandmother coming into town the next day and payday was a full week away. I have never felt so in despair. If it was just us and the kids, we could have probably scrounged through the cabinets and made it, but how were we to host family?!

That night, as I was sitting in a dimly lit house (conserving energy), playing a board game with the kids, I got a phone call. The person asked for me and had difficulty pronouncing my name--I almost hung up immediately, assuming it was a telemarketer. She asked me if I remember placing my name in a drawing at our local grocery store. I had to jog my memory, but did. I specifically remember someone approaching me while I was selecting yogurt :). I also remember giving them a hard time, making sure they don't sell my name to anyone. Well, she informed me that I was the grandprize winner of $500. Forever the pessimist, I asked "what's the catch." She told me "nothing, just come pick up a preloaded Visa card." She said that if it was all right they would like to take my picture to post on the wall as their winner, but beyond that, there were no catches. So, as soon as Brian got home, Meghan and I headed to the grocery store (HEB) and they were waiting for me. True to her word, they just took my picture and gave me a gift card, along with a little gift basket full of candy and goodies for the kids!

I have never felt so blessed! I am convinced that Heavenly Father was looking over us this Christmas season. When I came home and told the family, Kiersten exlaimed that it was a "gift from God." I told her that I thought she was exactly right! We have definitely learned some lessons through our more frugal living conditions. But what I think I've learned more than anything is that our Heavenly Father is always there to provide, as long as we are doing our part! We had much to be thankful for this holiday season!!