Couple of TidBits.....

BASEBALL 2009 Update:

Stephen had his BEST GAME EVER yesterday!!  Truly... he has really started playing well and is quite proud!  (As are the rest of us of him!)   Knights vs. Rockhounds - In the 1st Inning, score was 0-2 in favor of the Knights, Stephen Harlow is up to bat!   He swings and misses.  Strike One.  Watches a couple of more go too high or too low as Balls.  The next pitch... WHACK - he sends one through the gap between 2nd and 3rd, the short stop misses it and it goes into center field.  Grand Slam Home Run!!  He brings in 3 runners and himself (4 Runs!).  Unfortunately, can only count the first 3 because of a 5 run limit per inning in Little League!!  But... he got them there!!!    Second AT BAT, the count is loaded at 3 Balls - 2 Strikes.  It's do or die moment.  WHACK goes a great hit over the second baseman's head into the field.  The Rockhounds field the ball quickly and Stephen gets to 1st Base.  Over the next several plays, manages to steal to 2nd, then to 3rd and then... with a helpful hit from a teammate, runs in for another score!!   In field play, he was in the Left Outfield for most of the game and then second base for the last part of the game.  The Knights won the game quite convincingly 19 - 3.     

Warning:  Mom's Highly Opinionated Editorial here .......The next part is truly just a Mom's perspective in knowing how well Stephen just played vs. how he has played before.  He has been struggling with hitting the ball and it seems he has found out how to do it really well.  The glasses seem to help him quite a bit!  He got the team 4 runs! Now, obviously to get to a final game score of 19, there was a lot of good hitting going around by all and we had several really good pitching efforts as well keeping our opponents scoring down.  At the end of the game, the Coach always has a little meeting to say a few words.  He mentioned how well everyone played and congratulated several direclty by their names and DIDN'T ONCE mention Stephen??  A Grand Slam and you don't mention him?  My mama bear hair went up just a bit - and by the way, so did Sister Bear's!. Coach gives a game ball as well each game to the player he felt contributed the most or had something really special happen that game and it did not go to Stephen... it went to the Coach's son.   Hmmm.... I'm not saying the kid didn't deserve it, because, in fairness, he had a great game as well, and really, there were many who deserved the ball that game.  And yes, the coach has to make a choice.  (But choose your own kid??....I'm just saying....).  I was more miffed that Coach didn't even mention Stephen's contribution to the team???  Just a little mention was all it would have taken while he was mentioning the others.   They don't get it yet, but this is what life is like sometimes.  Just not always fair unless your dad is the coach.   

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SEVEN SOMTHINGS ART AWARD

So, in catching up on my friend Lynn's blog, on the right sidebar ....http://musingsfromthehill.blogspot.com,

I see that she won a cool award call the Seven Somthings Art Award for her fabulous glass making!!  If you haven't seen it, you should go right on over there and take a look.  She makes some beautiful pieces!!  If I didn't already have my photography, scrapbooking, gardening, etc. type hobbies, I might try to pick that one up as well.  

The deal is you get this award and then you give it to seven other deserving bloggers.  Lynn gave me one!!  I don't think it's for the ART quality of my blog... but just cause she likes reading it!   I'm not sure what has been real artsy around my blog (or life) lately... more just about raising our family and various tidbits of life.   I really am kinda artsy sometimes, just don't have as much time to do those things in this season of life.  There will be a time I know.... 

HOWEVER......

GET READY .... because I'm starting Karen Russell's 8 (or is it 9?) week long Photographer's Course that is SOOOOO HARD to get in to!!! Took me several... several... months of waiting on the waiting list and quick fingers on registration day to get into this class that starts on Monday!!  I C.A.N.N.O.T.  W.A.I.T.!!!  So.... ARTSY here I come... :-)

So.. back to this award......

When you receive the award, you are to list seven things or people you are passionate about, give the award to seven bloggers you feel are worthy, list the person who gave you the award, and place the award logo on your blog. 

I am passionate about: 

Jesus - I haven't always been as passionate about Jesus as I am now, and some would say I could be more passionate about Him, but I've learned over my many years that He is my Guide, my Savior, my King.  I've learned to recognize the times he is telling me to wait and listen for his word or his guidance.  I've learned to take my prayers to him  - all kinds of prayers.  I've learned that I can pray anywhere and my most favorite place is in the car during my commutes in and out of downtown.  It's most often my only alone time.

My husband & children - There aren't enough words to describe how passionate I am about my husband and children (all 4 of them).  I love them so much.  I enjoy them so much.  I thank God for them every day.

Family & Close Friends - While I can't be a daily part of all of their lives, I so enjoy spending time with my parents, sisters, their families and my close friends. 

Wine & Travel - I just LOVE a wonderful glass of wine with my husband, family or with friends.  Just love it.  Place a little bit of cheese and crackers along side and I'm just in a heavenly state.  Add to it traveling to a beautiful place, and it's even better.  I love planning trips... 

Coffee ... Starbucks.... I think I could be a millionaire by now if I had invested the amount of money I've spent at Starbucks! (OK, well, maybe not right now in the market, it'd be 1/4 of value).   I love a good cup of coffee in the morning especially on a Saturday or Sunday morning out on the back porch on a lovely, cool morning.   I have a good friend who used to roast his own beans and had a really neat espresso maker!  Thought that would be a cool thing to do, but ... suppose I'm not quite that passionate quite yet.

Photography and Scrapbooking - My two favorite hobbies that go hand in hand.  I think, if truth be told, I like the photo taking and the scrapbook tools and supplies, and haven't gotten in a groove for a great deal of the actual scrapbooking part yet.

Good Mexican Food & Margaritas - grew up in Texas and we Texans love our Mexican food and a good margarita.  It's a standard Friday evening event for us.  We are picky about which restaurant we'll go to as well and there are LOTS to choose from for Mex around here.

Perceptions   When I asked my husband what he thought I was passionate about, one thing he mentioned were Perceptions.  What others think.  I'm not sure this is a positive passion - at least not all the time.  When I thought about this for awhile, I think it has to do with just making sure I don't call unwanted attention to myself in some way that isn't positive.    I don't always care that others have the same opinions as myself, although at times, I will make a passionate case for my opinion.  I learned long ago in my career that perceptions are, at times, more important that fact.  In my work world, the perception of you by others matters a great deal and can impact your career.  I've worked hard to get where I am in my career and it takes a lot of work to maintain it as well.  That carries over to my personal outward life as well in some ways.   

Career and Money - Well, he also said this was another of my passions.  It is I suppose.  I don't really think of it as a Passion in a good way.  Rather a reality and requirement of life to have the life I'd like and provide for my family/children in the way I feel I should and need to.  I've been extremely blessed in my career and I know God had a great hand in all of it.   Do I always want to go to work each day and give it my all??  No.. sometimes I don't.  But... I do.  Because that's what you do and if you want to get the good rewards, it requires hard work and it's not always fun.  I really hope my children will learn this life lesson at some point.  Life is really easy for them and society tells them it's all about instant gratification and they deserve everything without having to work for it.  When we get to a post about fears... well, that's one of them.

Well... that's actually 9.  Got a little carried away I suppose!!  

I still have to name 7 other blogs.... I'm working on that one.  Will have to come back after this LONG post....

Gotta run now.. packing for this conference for work starting later today.  A perfect example of something I'd rather not do for work, but something that is required of me as a part of my career.  Will make the best of it and enjoy some I'm sure.

Have a great weekend my friends!

MA

Catching Up a Little....

Finally, a few minutes to catch my breath as the weekend is here again!!  The only requirement on our time this weekend is a baseball game!  Sunday I head to Galveston for a couple of days at a convention related to work.  

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Wimberley Weekend - March 6-8

Aren't they just beautiful!!!   Married nearly 45 years now.... 

My parents (Austin & Walter) have birthdays right next to each other on February 28th and March 1.  Leap Years put a day in between but normally, just one day after another.  John and I decided this year to celebrate their birthday's, we'd treat them to a wonderful weekend at The Blair House in Wimberley where there is peace and quiet.  The only caveat was.... we made them spend it with us!!  ha ha ha .... they probably would have liked to have spent it alone, but hey, we wanted to go back there too!!

I'm pretty sure my parents had a good time (you'll have to ask them) and I know we did!!  We all got up there by 5 o'clock on Friday afternoon and were able to check in to our adorable rooms at The Blair House Inn (Dallas and El Paso rooms), which I just can't recommend enough!!  That place is so nice and Mike and Vicki are really good at making you feel so welcomed.  The rooms are just beautiful and it's a relaxing atmosphere.

Friday night we went to a local Mexican food place which was pretty good - we were happily surprised.  You never know what you're going to get with Mexican but it was tasty.  I believe the name of the restaurant was Juan Henry's (or Juan Enrique on the sign) and it's on River Road.  You won't see it from the main street turnoff.  You have to drive just a little around a few bends and then it pops right up on the right!!  We liked a little stone parrot that greeted on you on a stone bench we saw outside the restaurant.

On Saturday, we had a fabulous breakfast at Blair House and then went out to the really big Market Days which are held the first weekend of the month in Wimberley.  We had quite a good time there and it was a lot bigger than we thought.  I think we all bought something and had quite a nice puzzle trying to fit it all in the Jeep at the end.  Here are a few pics from then:

Felt this chair might have a place of honor and Meme & Poppy's house!!  Although I doubt little Allie or the others 3 would enjoy it much.....:-)

Browsing...... shopping.... John was on a mission to find a new Cowboy hat since our little puppy, Jesse, ate the last one.

Dad was contemplating bringing this lovely animal home to adorn their house.   I don't think Mom saw that one..... luckily, he made the right choice and left it for someone else to adopt!

John found his hat!!

This guy was playing a really cool instrument that unfortunately, I can no longer remember the name of!!  LOL... but... it sounded neat and immediately entranced my father for awhile.  He likes any type of instrument with strings.... guitars, mandolins, etc.  I wouldn't be surprised if he's looked it up and it appears on a future Christmas List.  :-)

This simply was a picture of something I'd like John to make for me at home!!  See... I figure if I take a picture of it, describing it later will be so much easier and give something for John to understand what I'm talking about!!

My big purchase..... boxes with thread.  I'm actually going to use them for scrapbooking items but the thread in here is really cool as well.  Bought these from a man whose mother really can't see well enough any longer to do her stichery, so he was selling them.  

From Market Days, we proceeded to hit the Olive Orchard Tour again at Bella Vista to visit Jack and his Olive Orchard.  As expected, I think my parents enjoyed the tour and tasting. We all came home with some good olive oil and olives!!

After the Olive Orchard, we went to Driftwood Winery for a wine tasting!!  That was fun and the place is very beautiful.  Here are Dad and John enjoying a glass of wine. 

 

I think we needed a respite after such a busy day (or at least I did)!!  We headed back to The Blair House for a little nap and relaxation before dinner.

Dinner tonight was at The Blair House and was another really fine meal.  The menu was Texas Pesto Shrimp (I had a wonderful Portobello Mushroom in place due to my shellfish allergy), Tortilla Soup, Spinach Salad, and some fabulous Braised Shortribs!!  It was delish!!  All served with some nice Chilean and Argentinian red wines.  YUMMY!!!  

Dessert - given it was a special occasion (birthdays), the dessert came out with candles!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN & WALTER (Mom & Dad)!!

I love taking pictures.... love it.... just realize that I'm usually never in any of them!!  I think maybe my Mom may have taken one on her camera of John and me together, not sure.

Sorry this post is late... but better late than never!!!

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BASEBALL SEASON 2009 is HERE!!

Knights - Little League Minor Baseball Player - Stephen 

in the dugout getting ready to go up to the plate!!

Their team - KNIGHTS!!

Stephen running in to Home Plate to SCORE ONE for the team!!  YAY Stephen!!  Was hoping he would slide, but since there was not a play at home, he didn't have to.  

Stephen had a great first game of the season - a fabulous catch of a flyball, a great catch made a second base to get a guy out, and a HIT!!! to bring in a runner and make it to first base.  Very proud of him!!!

A few more pics here ---- TONS more in the Flickr photo gallery.  You may notice he's wearing some black sports glasses.  He can really hit the ball now that he can see it really well!!  

Ok - well off to Game #2 today!!!  Have a great weekend!!

MA

Officially Cox.....

What is it about changing names???   

I never changed my Social Security Card when I married the first time back in 1990.  Never.  My Social Security Card name, until a week ago, was still and always had been registered with my full maiden name from when it was issued!  Why you ask?  Two reason primarily ----1) I was lazy and didn't want to take the time to GO to the Social Security Office and WAIT to change my name for no particular reason.  2) the alternative at the time was to mail in my ORIGINAL marriage license, for which, I was not willing to mail to our government for fear (realistic in my opinion) that it would be lost.  (never mind that I haven't been able to locate it for YEARS in my own home... but hey, it's safe.... somewhere).

It's not like they couldn't and didn't find me.... I received all my SSA mailings, I paid my taxes under my maiden name (which matched my SSN) and because the NUMBER is the same, they certainly didn't miss matching up my income to me, and the IRS mailings have certainly showed up in my mail on a recurring basis.  Nothing has ever slipped through the cracks with regards to anything having to do with the name on my SS Card not matching my life name.

However, a new trick has entered the playing field that finally provided that little bit of motivation (money) that was required for me to go change my name with the Soc Security Administration.  You see, our government has put in a little hook now and classified it as a national security issue.  Really.....  if, when your employer pays you, the name on the check is not the same as the name on your SSA account, you get flagged by Homeland Security!!   Apparently, they believe this to be a BAD thing.     Before anyone gets concerned, as far as I know, no one has been tailing me, no FBI agents have shown up at my home, no one as tapped my phones, at least not that I know about.....  However, what DID happen is my employer sent me a nice little email saying, well, your name in our HR system is not the same as your name as registered on the Social Security system and we received a notice from Homeland Security that they must match.  You have 90 days to resolve this.    OK.   So... what happens if you don't resolve it, you may ask??  (Of course, I asked... this is ME your talking about...)   Ummm... well... they stop paying me.  YIKES!!!  Now, given I like to receive my paycheck every other week, I decided that perhaps I should go ahead and comply at this time!  All it took was the proper motivation!!

So.... gathered up ALL my documents I needed (or thought I might need) to change my name from it's original issuance in my maiden name to my current now married name.  Took copy (because of course, I can't find my 1990 marriage certificate now) of my 1990 marriage certificate, divorce decree, and new 2008 marriage certificate, passport, etc. to the SSA office in League City.  THAT's the office you want to go to.  Took me all of 5 minutes.  The nice lady in there didn't even ask to see the whole littany of documents I had taken time to prepare, just my most recent marriage certificate to John.  Coolness.  5 minutes later... voila... name is changed.  I emailed my friendly little HR Person at the bank and said "DONE".     Name changed at the bank overnight whether I wanted it to or not.   Main Point - I will continue to be paid!!

OFFICIALLY "Cox" now at the SSA and the Bank.

Since I got that fixed, why not continue, right??  Went to the Department of Public Safety yesterday morning and now I'm officially a COX on my Drivers License and Voters Registration card!!  Wow... we're getting somewhere now.   

The only things next to do will be...... Passport, Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, Home Loans, and on and on and on.... 

It was a momentous week in the name changing department!!

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Another post to come later today with pics from Stephen's great baseball outing on Tuesday night!!  He has another game tonight.  Go Knights!!

Later...

MA

Spring Break is Over... boo hoo....

Another spring break gone by .... 2009.  Part of it feels like it lasted F.O.R.E.V.E.R..... (Disney) and part of it feels like it went by too fast (the last half).  Unfortunately, on Sunday, we remember we have normal lives to live - kids have to go back to school and parents have to go back to work to earn a living!!  I didn't win a few million at the casino this past weekend, so it's back to work we go.

Got most of our vegetable garden planted today.  Lots of hard work (mostly by my wonderful husband, John, who schlepped all that dirt around), but the tomatoes, basil, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant and cantelope are in the ground.   One jalepeno is in but haven't been able to find any serrano or poblano's yet and weirdly, have not been able to find any blackeye pea or lima bean seeds??  Everyone has been out.  So.. looks like I'll be ordering some to put in next weekend.  Hopefully, everything will grow well!!!

John extended the garden out 18 feet along the back fence which allows us a lot more room for some beds.  We only had dirt for two more 16 foot beds (2 feet wide).  But, we have room for probably 6-8 more like it for the future.  

The kids had a fun weekend with their dad.  Rachel rode in two bike rides this weekend trying to prepare herself for the MS150 coming in April.  Saturday was a 60 miler but she fell off the bike around 35 miles and scraped up her knees, arms, etc. so I think they called it a day.  Today was the Tour de Houston and I think it was 45 miles which she completed.   Has some knee tendonitis apparently, but other than that, did well (except for the sore buttocks... :-).

Stephen has baseball practice/scrimmage games in preparation for the baseball season opener which is Tuesday night at 5:45pm.  It's baseball season!!  T, Th, Saturday games this week!

Off to bed all ... we're tired around here!!

We Survived.....

Well... we survived... or rather "I" survived!!  Rachel, of course, with her young feet, young body and an ability to survive without much sleep, did just well without any issues.  I, of course, with my old fee, old body and a definitely inability to survive without much sleep, is just so glad to be home.  I've slept A LOT the past couple of days just to catch up!!  

Our chartered flight arrived back in Houston late Tuesday night.  After all was said and done (the loading of the luggage on school buses, returning to the high school, gathering of luggage and home), it was midnight!    Straight to bed I went and didn't see light again until 11:00 AM on Weds!!  My ... that was nice!!

John was so sweet and just knew we'd need some real food, so he made us a big brunch to welcome us home!!  We just lounged most of the day.  The kids had dental appointments so we ran over there for an hour and then home again.  Laundry, going through mail, just hanging out.  Nice..... Topped off the day with a trip to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Ramirez.  Then, home and in bed by 9:30 pm!!  YAY......

Comments on the trip:

For the most part, the kids did very well on the trip.  I had a great group of girls I was responsible for and by responsible, I mean, making sure they got up in the morning, on the buses, and into the park.  Once inside the park, they checked in with me twice a day and had to meet me at the end of the day to go out of the park.  Once back at the hotel, I would visit with them at Lights Out Time with information about the next day, chat for a few minutes and then tell the be good little girls and stay in their rooms!!  :-)   Of course, not leaving that to chance, we put tape on their doors so we KNOW whether they stayed in their rooms.  I remove it in the morning at Wake Up Time.... funny huh!!  They were all really great kids!!

Amazingly, out of 130 kids and 25 chaperones, only two kids ever lost their 3 day Disney ticket.  That's pretty amazing!!  As far as I know, we only had one other kid that lost something important like ID/phone/wallet.  Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Rachel had fun for the most part.  I think they were all tired of each other by the end of the trip and there was a rule that you had to hang out with a group of 3 or more, so that's tough when you have multiple people in a group wanting to do different things.  They worked through it, but I think everyone was growing weary by the end of the trip so she ended up hanging out with me a little here and there.

Ok - well, time for me to get moving.  I have a goal for today.... finally ... after 19 years, am going to go to the Social Security Office and officially change my name!!  It's still in my maiden name and gee, since I married, divorced and married again, I have a few name changes to catch up with!!!  Once I get that fixed.... I'm tackling my driver's license and then passport!!!  Don't we love bureaucracy!!   

Have a great day!!

MA

Here i am in front of epcot today. I am having a lot of fun. This is Rachel blogging.
Back to MA ----
ok so that was all my daughter has had to say today. i t was another long but fun day! hot here today! they played at a really cool disney recording studio and got to record their own recording to Aladdin. was very neat! more later!

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SO COOL! we saw the shuttle go off!

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Look what was in our sky today in Orlando!

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THIS is how I feel today! SERIOUSLY we got to the hotel at 3 AM, to sleep at 4 am and wake up was at 7! can someone say TIRED? At Universal today ......

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Spring Break - Friday, March 13

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged.  Been such a busy week and last weekend we were gone out of town on a fun trip with my parents!  I've been wanting to get the pictures together and blog about lots of things, just haven't had the time.  Everyone will just have to be patient with the pics... but I'll catch you up on a few items this week and then I'm off!

Today starts Spring Break!!  YAY!!!  Our spring break this year is Mom going along with Rachel as a Chaperone on their High School Band Trip to Orlando, FL.  So.. yes... as I've written about in the past, it is in fact going to take place and today's the magic day... in about 45 min. to be exact!!  LOL   The fun begins....

Boys are hanging out and will have some fun of their own at the ranch, but the girls are out of here shortly!!  I'll post pictures/blogs along the way if I can!!

Few Updates:

Stephen's Dr. Appointment - the long awaited appointment with the Endocrinologist was on Weds.  I have to give them credit because once we got there, it went really quickly and the doctor spent probably 45 minutes with us.  That was a good thing.  We'll see how much that time costs when the bill arrives!!  :-)  Thank goodness for good health insurance!!

Basically, she feels he is still in the "normal" range since he is not off the chart yet (he's only about 3%, but not OFF the chart) in height.  He doesn't qualify as "short stature" by definition because he's still on the chart.  He doesn't qualify as having a definite growth hormone deficiency because he's still been growing, just very slowly.  

She believes this is all tied to his ADHD and the medications he's been taking since age 5.  If you look at his growth chart, he was doing quite well until that time.  The weight fell off first and the slowly, the height began to follow afterwards.  She put it very plainly.... ADHD medications keep you from wanting to eat, therefore, you don't eat what you should nutritionally and therefore, your body can't grow and be as healthy as it should be.  The weight will fall off first and then slowly, you'll see the height and potentially, other factors (overall general health) start to decline as well.  The other deal is that there is a linkage between ADHD medications and potentially, a lessening in the amount of Growth Hormones produced overall.  Not that it's not produced, but maybe a little less than it should be.  So.. basically... he has to eat... even when he's not hungry... and alot when he is hungry.   She told me to feed him at 10:00 at night if that's when he's hungry.  Otherwise, basically, he won't grow the way he should, get as tall as he should and potentially have health issues to come in life.

So... throw out the window of the kitchen is closed after dinner.  Not for him.  Hopefully, he'll take it to heart and eat more during the day when his body needs some fuel.

The good news is that she looked at his bone age scan and disagreed with the original assessment that they showed he was 12 years old.  She pulled out the books and we looked through them and he's more than likely somewhere between 9.5 years and 10 years old in the scans, some of his bones could even be classifed closer to 8, but generally she felt it should be around 10.  That's good because that means he should have a lot of time to still do some growing, albeit behind most of his peers but he should end up just fine.  Statistically, if he's where she thinks he is on the bone age scan, he should end up with a height between 5'5" - 5'7".   We can live with that.

Not much to do right now besides get him eating.... go back in 6 months!

Ok - well, I'm off!!  Wish me luck!!

Later!

MA

Is it Friday yet???

This has been a very busy week here.  Hardly have had time to breathe much less write a post.  Work has all of a sudden become very busy ... the a lot to do, running from appointment to appointment, working late at night ... kind of busy!!  My job sort of goes like that.  Spent the better part of the first two months of the year twiddling my thumbs and then poof.... we're off the races!!  It's good because I need some sales!!

Just has made for a stressful week though when you add that business to the rest of the home business, add TAKS tests, benchmarks, dentist appointments, parent chaperone meetings, and then the normal things like flute lessons, scouts, baseball and gee, I don't know, homework!  LOL... it's not busy!

Tuesday night I had the pleasure of going to the Parent Chaperone Meeting for the upcoming band trip to Orlando.  I left that meeting thinking "OH MY GOODNESS... WHAT have I gotten myself into??"  I don't know if they just take themselves so seriously or if there is reason to be so serious, but jiminy cricket... i'm a little overwhelmed by the schedule and the duties!!  The topper was when they informed us they had put 4 adult women in one room with 2 queen beds!!  :-)  That's when I pulled out my little ole credit card and made my own hotel reservation at the hotel for ONE!!  I was nervous thinking about sharing a room with one lady I don't know and had not met, but FOUR??  HUH??  I figure I'm doing them all a great service given my loud snoring and there's one less person to have to race to the restroom in the morning for a shower!!  

We got Stephen's scores back from the test he took on Saturday.  He did very well in Math and around average on the Reading/Language.  His formal interview is tomorrow morning at 8 am so say a few prayers that all goes well.  Well, maybe the prayers should be that God will let us know if this is the place where Stephen should go to school and an environment for him to be successful.  I trust God that everything will line up accordingly should this be the right path.

Rachel had her 2nd to last soccer game tonight and they won 2 - 1.  Rachel played goal keeper in the first half and blocked everything that came towards her.  She played on the field for the second half of the game.  I'm so glad she really loves soccer!!