A Few Photos

Trying to keep things semi-normal, really for the kids.
The photo above is of Natalie and Chloe.
She will now be living with us.
She has been sad, insecure and not really eating.
Poor puppy.

So confused, so hard, and so, so sad

My mom passed away on Monday night.

It was very late.

I didn't even find out until 5:30 AM when I got in the car to go to the gym.

The doctor says it was fast.

We are all left behind with many questions.

My mom has been in many ways one of the biggest parts of my life always.

We talked almost every day.

She moved down here a few years ago.

The kids were very close to her.

They are heartbroken.

Natalie was supposed to go to Portland this summer with her, much like Meagan went to Utah last year.

My awesome brother-in-law Brian D said he would take her.

She went to all the events at the kids' schools.

The principal even knew her.

But really, everyone knew my mom.

That is the message we keep on hearing.

"Your mom never knew a stranger" and "Your mom meant so much to me."

She touched many lives.

On Wednesday, my whole family was in town.

Steve, Jean, Julie, Rich, Becky, Marilyn, Brian, Brian, and Brian (yes.  There are three Brians), Jan, Peter, Mary, Sandi, Bob.

Everyone that my mom would have loved to see.

Julie flew back after 36 hours in Hawaii.  Peter and Mary drove all the way from Denver.

People have been so generous.

My heart is touched.

At the funeral all of her friends from Cedar Valley told me how much they loved her.

She felt that Cedar Valley was her extra family.

Meanwhile, we are all very confused.

It is unfair and unfinished.

Not sure when we will understand.

We are all going to miss her.

It Really Was a Busy Weekend Last Weekend

Driving with Uncle Brian

I have no idea why this is upside down. 

It is a cute photo. 

Matthew was driving in a go cart at Austin's Park with his uncle.

He wasn't able to drive the medium size go cart that Meagan and Natalie were able to drive.

Meagan was a serious driver.

She wasn't smiling.

She had her eyes on the road and was not going to get distracted!

Natalie had a big grin on her face.

She did well until the end.

When it was time to pull into the parking lot in a big line, she bumped everyone fairly hard.

She didn't really get embarrased.

She laughed.

Might as well get that out of her system before it is real.

:)

Matthew Is A Superhero!

 Matthew had his birthday party at Lifetime Fitness.

It was a superhero party.

He dressed up for the occasion.

 Avery and Hailey.

 One of Natalie's besties, Inyaa, whose little brother Pranan is one of Matthew's friends at school.

 Matthew with his friend Damian.  

He was very excited for Damian to come to his party because Damian is in Kindergarten now.

Toni, his sister, goes to school still with Matthew.

 The sign at the enterance of the gym.

 Sweet Ms.Keyona, Matthew's teacher.

Halloween, A Bit Late

 Meagan was a Zombie Bride.

Beats me.

I have no idea why this is what she wanted to be, but we did it.

Natalie was Cleopatra.

Matthew was an astronaut.

I think it was particularly cool.

 Posing in our neighbor's yard.

 Matthew is a typical boy.  

He thought it would be cool to take a picture with Uncle Brian's Aston Martin.

Lots of adults feel the same way.

To Cheer Me Up

The Royals lost last night.

It hurts.

It is just a game.

That is a fact.  It is not a matter of life or death.

But I wanted to win.

So, instead of baseball, I give you Superman.

This actually is not his Halloween costume.

He wanted this to wear to his birthday party that is on November the 8th.

It is a superhero party.

All of us have shirts.

Most with capes.

Meagan and Natalie have red ribbon week.

This consists of wearing a bunch of costumes and/or fun things to show you don't do drugs.

Well, obviously!

Today was tie day.

I think, it was more like, "tie it on to not doing drugs" or something like that.

Meagan and Natalie looked cute.

We have a Game SEVEN

I do not take sportscaster's predictions very seriously.

Once San Francisco and Kansas City were cemented as the two World Series teams, they all chimed in that this would be played out in seven games.

The stats were all the same.

It is actually pretty weird how exact the stats were.

It happened.

Tonight they play at the K to see who wins it all.

I hope we win.

I really hope we win.

But regardless, I have baseball back again.

When I was a little girl I loved the Cubs with all my ten year old heart.

I would hide under my blankets with my AM/FM Walkman and listen to the games.

I would pore over the statistics with Brian.
We had our favorites for sure.
And I knew everything about them.
Leon Durham on first, Ryne Sandberg on second, Ron Cey at third, Larry Bowa or maybe Shawn Dunstan at Shortstop.
Of course, Rick Sutcliffe pitching and Jody Davis as catcher.
I still love the Cubs.
They just haven't given me much to cheer about in a while.
I lived in Kansas for 6 years. 
Only 1 year was actually in Kansas City.
I went to a bunch of games simply because they were a cheap way to go to a baseball game.
My dad went with me to the K.
He had also lived in Kansas City when he first graduated college and never outgrew his affection for the perpetually down and out Royals.
The K was one of his favorite stadiums.
We would get tickets for five dollars because, to be honest, no one wanted them.
I looked on Stubhub last night to see what it would cost to go to game seven.
Most tickets were over $1,500.
Not too surprising.
All of a sudden, I am searching the web for information about baseball again.
Now it is the Royals.
I have my favorites again and I love them just as much.
Just in a thirty-nine year old version of my ten year old self.
I love Lorenzo Cain and his amazing catches.
I can not believe how Holland and Herrerra can completely shut down an offense.
Hosmer's play at first base as well as his offense?
Love it.
No matter what happens tonight, I have that.
I will follow my team in off-season.
I will plan a trip to get to Kauffman stadium when I do not have to pay $1,500 to do so.
Now I will bring my husband who is falling in love with my team as well.
Matthew, Meagan and Natalie will continue to cheer on the Royals as well.
This will be a season I share with my grandkids one day.
Just as I know my dad would have loved to share with his grandkids this year.
So, today my heart is in Kansas City.


Hoping these guys "#takethecrown" as I have been writing all over Facebook.
I am grateful for this ride no matter what happens.

Go Blue!

Pumpkin Patch, Austin Style

 I had wanted to go to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon.

I am awfully glad my friend Anuhba mentioned that it would be hot.

It was.

And we had decided on 10 AM.

We did something different.

We headed down to Barton Hills farm, somewhere around Elgin and Bastrop.

We usually do Sweet Berry Farms, but we thought we would go rogue and try something different.

It was good, but I still prefer the festival at Sweet Berry Farms.

 I liked this photo. 

I have a bunch of just Meagan and Natalie, or just Matthew and Natalie, but not Meagan and Matthew very often.

 They had a small petting zoo of goats.

They were pretty cute.

 On the website we saw the word "pony."

Well, this wasn't quite what we expected, but Meagan and Natalie liked it anyway.

Matthew wanted the hugest one and lectured the boy running the activity about why he should give Matthew one.  Well, the boy who worked there was correct, of course. 

 They had an enormous sandbox that was shaped like a boat.

Chaarvi, Natalie and Matthew loved it.

I wish we had spent more time there, actually.

We stopped at a barbeque joint on the way home named Fitties.

Interesting name and interesting little window you went up to in order to order.

It was actually excellent, or at least the chicken was.

I haven't really been eating very much meat lately, but this was worth it.

Chaarvi and Natalie riding their "ponies."

Notice Matthew sullenly walking around with his "too small" pony in the background!

Meagan is Spotlight Stallion

Meagan and Mr. Bhattacharyya
Meagan did not expect to get Spotlight Stallion.
I think that is when it is neat.
She is just doing what she needs to do.
She is passing her tests.
Almost every morning she walks into school in a good mood, ready to learn.
This was not always the case.
Very proud and happy for her.
It was Camden's birthday!
Camden is Meagan's friend Faith's little sister.
We have watched her grow since she was a tiny baby.
The last photo is of Meagan and Faith watching Camden rock out to the Happy Birthday song.
On another note, the Royals evened out the seriesWednesday night.
The Giants kicked their butt on Tuesday, but the Royals dealt the same hand to them Wednesday.
It was a true team effort.
Loved watching players like Infante who have not excelled this year rock it Wednesday.
Extrememly exciting.
Now we are back to San Francisco.
That is scary, but I am excited.

Matthew is FIVE!

It is official.

Matthew Colin is five.

I suppose he still counts as a preschooler, since he still has quite a while at Faith Montessori.

But five sounds old to me.

We celebrated last night with Grandma Lois, Uncle Brian, Aunt Jan, TopaJoe and Ms.Alice.

Matthew got a great chocolate cake from Grandma Lois.

It was from Central Market, one of Austin's true treasures.

(No, it is not a Texas thing.  The Houston, SA, and Dallas ones are just extensions of an Austin original.)

He got lots of presents.

He got Legos and an amazing costume from Grandma.

He got the coolest little helicopter/robot/flying thing from Uncle Brian and Aunt Jan.

Topa Joe and Ms.Alice got Matthew his new favorite cars, which have Spiderman on them!

All in all, a great day.

Of course, Matthew requested Schlotsky's for dinner.

We don't normally eat out during the week, but birthday people get to choose.

Happy little guy.

My Baby is Almost Five

I am struggling with my littlest little being five.
Well, he is not until tomorrow.
He is a happy little man.
He loves deeply and with lots of strength.
Like, he will knock you over while he tells you he loves you.
He is bright.
He is extremely verbal and makes connections.
His teachers brag on him.
He has days where he is sassy at school.
They call him "Assistant Principal."
He has a strong sense of justice. :)
Oh, how my boy loves his sisters.
This makes my heart so happy.
He woke up the other day in the middle of the night.
Very unusual for him.
He begged for Meagan to come sleep with him.
So sweet.
Natalie is his best pal.
They play constantly.
I can not wait until kindergarten.
I dread kindergarten.
Yes, both.
I love this little boy so much.
Truly the final link in our family chain.

Matthew age 9 months

#TAKETHECROWN

Meagan and her friends at her friend Makenzie's 11th birthday party.
I realize how grown up they look.
It scares me sometimes.
This was at Buca de Beppo.
Soon they will be meeting one another there for lunch  on their own.
Wow.
I love that Mak and Meagan are still close, given their friendship started when they were five.

I AM SOOOOOO happy.  My Royals.
They make me happy.
I love watching Cain's incredible catches.
Billy Butler stealing a base when he is not a typical runner, to say the least.
Moose hitting the ball with all his heart.

I want to go to San Francisco.
I know it isn't happening.
The plane tickets are too expensive.
Still, my heart will be there.
Hmmmmm.  That would make a good song, about leaving your heart in San Francisco. :)

Again, Matthew's picture is on an angle.
I suppose it is appropriate for my goofball.

I went to an awesome training called Capturing Kids' Hearts for the past three days.
I am feeling very inspired.
I feel like I learned so much.

Downtown Round Rock

We went to downtown Round Rock last weekend.  The weather was perfect.  There were all kinds of beautiful chalk drawings that people had done.
Matthew kept on wanting to touch them, but he was respectful!
The kids all got spray hair coloring in different designs.
Of course, we headed to Lone Star Bakery (otherwise known as Round Rock Donuts) before we headed home.

This photo was taken at Faith Montessori.
Matthew loves the little hay blocks and wants to take a photo pretty much every day.
No telling why I can't get it to flip. 
My technology skills are lacking.