It Seems Like Forever...

...since I have posted! And so many things have happened, which is undoubtedly why I have left it so long.

So...

First, Carter caught Shigellosis. This is VERY unpleasant, and VERY easily passed from person to person. Check it out online, and then wash your hands. Friends, WASH YOUR HANDS!!! I cannot stress it enough. Even if you are a diligent hand washer, other people are not. If someone hands you a piece of paper (who has not washed their hands) and then you unwrap a piece of gum and put it in your mouth, you just put their germs in your mouth. And if they have shigella or are a carrier, you just caught it. And 3 days of diarrhea every 30 minutes can be wearing on you.

And that is all I have to say about that!

Then, Eric had Hernia surgery.

The same weekend as Dance Recital.

Need I go on?

Then we had Tour with the Dance Company.

Then I directed a music camp at my Mom's church in Kerrville.

Whew!

You can imagine all the drama, tears, etc that we have been through the last month or so!

Oh yes, and this week is VBS at my church!

Vacation next week....

As I Sit on the Front Porch...

I am noticing a lot of things. First of all, those crazy people across the street are sitting in their garage again, watching me. I am trying to pretend like I don't notice, but I do. What is with those people? Their kids aren't even outside! They have a great backyard (we saw it before they moved in), but they are always sitting in their garage, watching the neighbors. It is creepy. At least I am sitting out here watching Carter...

Our street is fairly quiet, but I am seeing that there are a lot of people that walk around here. It has been a veritable parade...

Okay, Carter has ceased playing and commenced whining. Time to go.

Whew!

Well, I can hardly believe it has been so long since I have posted anything! We have just had a whirlwind of activity around here....

The biggest thing, though, is Carter. He has been VERY sick! He picked up a nasty bacteria called Shigella, resulting an an even nastier bout of Shigellosis. All I have to say about it is that if you don't constantly wash your hands, YOU SHOULD! THis is one disease you DO NOT WANT! TRUST ME! I will refrain from posting the gory details, but you can find them yourself on the CDC website. It will give you more information than you wanted to know!

Fortunately, Carter is feeling MUCH better today. It is his 5th day of being sick...but, last night he made it all the way through the night. Much rejoicing was had this morning by Carter AND by me! It was my first full night of sleep since Thursday as well!

New pictures soon...Alex has Track and Field Day AND Kindergarten graduation coming up this week!

Big Fun in Cow Town

Eric and Matt headed off to Guitar Center in Ft Worth to look at a fancy schamncy speaker, so the kids and I headed off to the zoo. We had a great time, but boy - were we glad they have a train! By the time we arrived at the far end of the zoo, Alex had a huge blister on her foot and could hardly walk. Rather than carry her all the way back to the entrance, we rode the train back to the entrance. Much easier on my back!

Then, we headed over to Chili's to have dinner with one of my very best friends from college. It was great to get caught up and spend some time renewing our friendship! Our kids had a pretty good time, too, as is evidenced here:

(Notice that Alex is not in this picture...she was crying...as usual these days! But don't Raylen and Carter look adorable?)

And the Saga Continues..

Okay - who knew that having the trees trimmed would cause so much DRAMA in our lives?

First, the cost.

Second, Alex's favorite tree EVER being cut down.

And now...

One of our neighbors called the police because we cut a limb off of her tree that was hanging down IN OUR YARD...almost touching the ground.

Did I mention that it was hanging in our yard?

Oh - and did she come TALK to us about it? NO! She yelled at the poor man trimming the tree and called the City. He invited her to come over to the house and talk with us, but she didn't want to do that. She would 'catch us outside sometime.'

Then I found out that last week when the trimmers were here, she yelled at them because they cut a limb from one of our trees that was shading her yard. Again, it was hanging down so far that it was cracked.

I don't know when the last time someone trimmed the trees at our house, but it looks SO much better now!

We are going to have to watch our backs, though!

What is up with people?

When did we stop looking out for each other? When did we stop caring about how our actions affect other people?

I am sick of it, and I am pretty much sick of people.

So there.

Hooray!

Today we bought a new light fixture for the dining room...NO MORE FLUORESCENT LIGHT FOR ME!!! I am very happy, in case you couldn't tell. And, it was on sale 1/2 off. Oh, yeah (doing the cabbage patch)