AWESOME DAY

It was an Big Day for Missy Rachel!! She got her Learner’s Permit today so she can officially start learning how to operate a motor vehicle!! Amazing isn’t it. She was just a baby a few short years back and here she is driving a car. My car. When did I become my mother??

She was so happy today and the smiles could not be contained. She scored a 88 on the driver’s test today only missing 3 out of 30 questions. Pretty good. Of course, I quizzed her on which ones she missed so we could make sure to review them :-). I’m certain she needed to know them to be let loose out on the roads - the HOUSTON roads to be exact.

So what do you do the minute you get your permit? Your mom lets you drive to school. Well, this mom did. I wasn’t even too terribly scared and I actually amazed myself at how calm I’ve been today with my instructions to her while in the car AND how easily she’s taken those instructions without arguing or getting upset. I think the fact that I told her any arguing with me in the vehicle about driving would cause us to cease and desist with the “parent taught driver’s education” and force her to wait until she had 3 weeks in a row with no other activities to take a private driver’s ed course. :-) Amazing what a little motivation will do for ya!

She drove from the DPS office to school. I picked her up from school and she drove home. She drove from home to the baseball fields for Stephen’s practice. She drove from baseball fields to home to mall. She did very well for the most part. Only really scared me once ... as she was making a left at the high school out of the parking lot, she was going a wee bit to fast and I was a little afraid we might run into the poor policeman directing the traffic and the nearest mailbox! However, she recovered and narrowly missed them both! Whew!

That’s our big news around here!!

TAKS for Stephen is over with Math yesterday and Reading today! YAY!! Rachel has Math TAKS tomorrow.

Surgery for Rachel is set for Friday morning early. We report to the hospital at 6:00 am for surgery scheduled at 7:30 am. She’s already planning her 11:30 pm meal tomorrow night since she can’t eat or drink after midnight tomorrow. Her friend Kayla is being allowed to skip school on Friday to come hang out with Rachel. Not sure why she wants to, but they are BFFs and so she wanted to be here.

Right Now

• Trying to come up with the perfect photo organization in albums technique
• Behind in printing my pictures that I will need to take with me to scrap at the end of May for Scrap Weekend
• Caught between traditional paper scrapbooking and digital scrapbooking
• Love all the scrapbooking stuff - both traditional and digital
• Enjoying the blog world
• Have lots to say... just not enough time to say it.
• Trying to keep up at work
• Navigating change at work is stressful sometimes
• Wishing I could spend more time with the kids but...
• Very tired listening to Rachel and Stephen fight every time they are in the same room together
• Tired of being ignored by them as well
• Wishing for more time with my husband alone
• Wanting to spend more time on my investments
• Enjoying my photography class...
• Considering starting a photography part time business and wondering if I could manage it and if so, how?
• Need to go through the tutorial on Lightroom before the 30 day trial runs out in 10 days
• Wanting to do more bible studies by Beth Moore
• Getting organized to teach Rachel how to drive
• Scared that very shortly she’ll be out there driving
• Sad that our time we spend each Weds night just as girls when we travel to/from flute lessons is short lived until she can drive herself
• Supporting my husband as he gets through the stressful TAKS time at school
• Hoping Rachel’s surgery goes without a hitch
• Wishing I could survive on less than 7 hours of sleep consistently
• I need more time in my days for everything I want to do
• Excited about my vegetable garden this year
• Still have to put up fencing and trellis’s in the garden
• Need some time to catch up on my tv shows that are Tivo’d and waiting....
• Have a date with my Kindle2 and a good book every night at 10 pm or so - have a list of books a mile long
• Wishing I could retire (win lottery) so I could spend more time on the things on this list...
• Tired

There you go.

Monday Notes

It’s Monday AGAIN.... we keep doing it the same each week.

TAKS
This is TAKS week here in Texas. All the kids have lots of testing this week going on this week. The schools are serious about this stuff and the kids sometimes get stressed out about it. As do the teachers! The results are basically the teacher’s grade on their performance. For some reason, our state believes they can grade the teacher’s abilities to teach children solely based on the outcome of these tests. No consideration (or very little) is given to parental involvement, children’s willingness and motivation to learn, and children’s test taking skills and environment. All of these things drive children’s academic results, not simply the teacher’s abilities to teach. Important yes.. no doubt. But without parent’s motivating their children, holding them accountable, and encouraging them to succeed, you are quite likely to have children who are unmotivated and therefore, don’t see a reason to learn. Makes teaching them difficult at times. Can you tell I’m married to a teacher!!

Rachel and Stephen usually do just fine on these tests and other than making sure they get a good night’s sleep and a decent breakfast in the morning, they don’t stress too much about it.

Baseball Update
Saturday’s game that was cancelled due to the abundance of rain we received on Friday night was rescheduled and played yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Knight’s lost this really hard fought game to the Scrappers 7 - 3. It was a lot closer for most of the game at 4 - 3, but in the last inning, the Scrappers extended their lead by 3 more. Stephen had several balls come his way out in the field to which he fielded well and got back infield. Scrappers had some big bats going on with some big kids. The Knights were hitting but luck was not on their side as the Scrappers fielded them very well. Next game on Friday.

Rachel’s Surgery
Today was the Pre-Op Doctor’s appointment in preparation for Surgery Day which is Friday, May 1. The doctor told us the risks and of course, I had to sign that I understand them risks. What are they, you may ask? Two that he told me - First - risk of infection, etc. as with any surgery and Second - she will have to keep her left hand pretty much resting on her checks for 4 weeks. If she moves it away from the body straight out, the shoulder could end up just like it is again. She can lift hand/elbow up slightly to allow for bathing, etc. but not outward/away from the body. This should be interesting. We’re told the whole process should be about 4 - 5 hours on Friday. We will get a call from the hospital telling us what time to be there Friday morning, but likely to be about 6 or 7 am for all the pre-surgical stuff. The surgery itself should be about 1 hour long and then recovery time before going home in the afternoon. I’ll probably send things to the blog or twitter on Friday.

Rain, Rain - Again....
Here we go again with rain tonight. Maybe I need to start building that ark now. We’re about to get whacked with another strong storm coming through and lots of rain again - we just love April/May in Houston. Lots or rain.

Later!

MA

Saturday Thoughts

Rain, Rain, Rain.... Lots of Rain
Boy... did we have some rain last night! It was supposed to have been a 20% chance of rain yesterday. Little ‘ol percentage which in Texas just means you might see a sprinkle or you might see a gully washer.

Well... we got the gully washer last night. A strong storm generated strong rain and some small hail and sat over us for about 4 hours. I truly have no idea how much rain we had, but it was coming hard and fast. We had gone out about 7 pm for our normal Mexican food Friday dinner and had picked up one of Rachel’s friends, Bridget, to come with us. When we were going into the restaurant, it had started sprinkling and soon after, full rain. We were purposely being slow at dinner because it kept raining - hard. Rather stay in the restaurant and wait for it to stop then get out in it, but by 9:00 p, it hadn’t stopped. So... we had to get out in it. By the time we got back into Friendswood, some of the main streets were were flooding. Have to say, one really nice thing about the Jeep is it is built to handle water pretty high up, so we were able to navigate through the higher water places that some other cars may not have been. The Jeep and trucks!! :-) Rachel was spending the night with her friend so we got them there and got back to the house at 10 pm and it was still pouring. Continued raining until about 11:30 pm. We’re supposed to have more today I think. I hate to look at my garden because the cilantro here near the house in pots was beat down from the rain and hail. Makes me a little nervous about the tomatoes out in the garden. Hopefully, they are ok.

Baseball games were rained out today .... just means the season lasts longer with makeup games to come.

Driver’s Permit - did not obtain it yesterday (much to Rachel’s dismay). Too many people there by the time we got there to get it done. We’ll head over there one morning next week.

Chili Cookoff Results - benefitting March of Dimes

March of Dimes ....

El Fiasco Chili Team

Our Team, El Fiasco (Me, Ashley, Gina & Kristi and honorary member & chili cook, John) placed 2nd in the Ultimate Chili Cookoff competition yesterday. Officially anyway. I beg to differ and have deemed our team to have placed first place. Why? Here’s why. The name of the contest was Ulitimate . Chili. COOKOFF ....... some of the teams forgot the cookoff part and substituted bought chili instead. The First place winner was chili bought from Goode Company BBQ and the third place winner was bought from James Coney Island!!! The rules did not clearly state that each submission should be an original self-cooked recipe of said team, so I suppose their entries were legit (although not in the spirit of a cookoff ). We do take our chili cooking seriously here. Regardless of the competition (yes, I’m competitive), all the chilis were good and we raised money yesterday with lots of donations to March of Dimes to give a 7 of the chilis a try! (7 teams).

The El Fiasco team came in second on the creativity/name. First place deservedly went to our international group who came up with the classic name of the times- Bowl of TARP. That’s a good one.....

Here’s a link to all the pictures from this event... it was a fun lunch. http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryaustincox/sets/72157617205947043/

A few pics below:

Judges Tastings

One Team....

The chili line.... :-)

Friday & Chili

You may be wondering what does Friday and Chili have in common?? Well, today is Friday and today is our March for Babies Chili Cookoff at work!! :-) See how I made that connection all on my own. I’m smart like that.

All kidding aside, Wells is a supporter of the March of Dimes through various ways and a lot of it comes through team member volunteering and donations. We have over 700 people participating in the March for Babies walk on Sunday which means they have collected personal donations (or are making them directly). The four members of my family who live in the house will all be walking the 5k on Sunday morning together which will be interesting!! It’s not really a 5K apparently, but rather 4 miles. Not sure why .....

Anyhoo... for the last two months, various groups in our bank have been holding random fundraisers (i.e. bake sales, ice cream sunday parties, beanie baby sales donated to Tx Children’s, pizza parties) in an effort to raise money (from Team Members) to go straight to March of Dimes.

Our groups efforts are also coinciding with a meeting we happen to hold in our group every month that is simply a Team building exercise with a little low key (low budget) fun.

So... what are we doing? We are having a Chili Cookoff - 6 Teams, 3 judges and $5 donations from everyone to eat.

Now... this is where the competitive side of me pops out its head.... you see I have a history here and a legend to continue.

My Teams and I are 2 - 0 right now.

First competition was WII Mario Cart Racing - which I had never played before. We were in pairs and I was paired with grandpa (he is so I can say that) and we WON!! I carried him right on through all the heats and by about the last race, I finally got him going which was good he caught on because we were gonna lose if he didn’t!!

Second competition - Easter Egg Hunt around the office followed by Riddle Solving. My Team was victorious because I can run and know where all the hiding spots are. We found the most eggs.... these eggs had riddles in them. We (as a Team) then solved all the riddles and won again!!

So.. you see... this is the Third competition!! Chili Judging & Name Creativity ..... all for the benefit of March of Dimes...... :-) I’ve enlisted professional assistance (and no, not for me silly, but I know this is what you were thinking!). FOR. THE. CHILI.!! I happen to be married to the guy who makes the best chili, albeit, usually too hot to eat chili, but he can tone it down a bit when he wants. So.. he’s helping me (translation: I get to watch and stir) make the Award Winning Chili for our TEAM!!! TEAM NAME: EL FIASCO (which we stole from John but loved). John pretty much said our team name should be Poco Fuerte (John’s translation - wimpy) because he’s not making it nearly as spicy as he usually does and we’re all wimps because we can’t eat fire-breathing chili!! However, again knowing who are judges are, I know at least 2 of the 3 are not terribly fond of spicy foods. So.... I’m in sales... I’m playing to my audience (hopefully).

Of course, I’m taking pictures..... they will come later!! Wish us LUCK!!! oh.. and that we raise a good bit of money for the March of Dimes today. Cause that’s really why we’re doing it... :-)

Baseball Update
Weds game was another good game. The Knights won!! I only was able to see Stephen’s first At Bat and out in the field. He made some good plays from the field (this other team had some strong bats) and struck out on his first at bat. However, after I left, apparently, he hit a ball through the short stop and back towards the fence which brought in a runner and got him to 2nd base. He scored on that one. I believe he got on base again, but was left out there at end of the inning. Proud of him. He’s starting to show he really can play ball!! Another game on Saturday!

Off to work now... and to serve Chili!!! Just for the record (because who knows who is reading my blog), all the supplies were bought by Team Members at Team Member expense as well as other Team Members purchasing with personal funds. No TARP funds were harmed during these exercises! In fact, we’re just helping out the economy!!

MA

Monday April 20, 2009

It’s Monday again... they keep coming every week!!

After a very wet weekend here in Houston (we got somewhere around 9 inches of rain here), Sunday was beautifully sunny and cool in the 70’s. Windy. The rest of the week is supposed to be cool at night, warm in the days but not too warm. Upper 70’s/Low 80’s - low humidity. These are the few weeks we get to sort of act like we have perfect weather. Not too far from now, our highs will approach 90’s and the humidity will creep in for the summer. But, for now, we’re enjoying these few really nice days we get!!

MS150 Update -
I don’t have any pictures yet. Supposed to get some. Rachel went about half way on Sunday and her knee started hurting. She’s been struggling with a little tendonitis in one of her knees from running in soccer, and by about half way on Sunday with the 15 mph headwinds, she couldn’t go any more on it. Proud she got that far!!

Baseball Update -
Stephen had a game tonight and had two hits, and two scores. YAY! The Knights won the game too!! Nothing came to him in the field.

Rachel had a Soccer Banquet tonight and John took her since Stephen had a game and I had a work commitment dinner in town for a fundraiser for a client. I hear it was ok - but not great.

Heading to bed... has been a busy day!!

MA

MS150 - Day 1 Cancelled

For the first time in 25 years, the organizers of the MS150 cancelled the first day. Yesterday, over 11 inches of rain fell in and near LaGrange, Texas which is the spot of the overnight location and camping for the 13,000 riders. The place was just too wet to put everyone. That, coupled with the threat of more severe rain expected today, caused the organizers to cancel Day 1 and start up on Sunday morning in LaGrange and finish Day 2. Not sure how they are going to do it, I don’t think they know either yet. Rachel, Stephen and their Dad are going up Saturday afternoon to the ranch they were going to stay overnight at with the Frost Bank team and Rachel and Rob are planning to ride tomorrow’s leg into Austin. Stephen’s camping trip with Boy Scouts was cancelled as well (which is a good thing) late yesterday, so he’ll be with them as well.

Here’s the current weather and as a Mama, I’m glad they cancelled it. I’m glad my baby girl isn’t out in those storms between Houston- Bellville- LaGrange right now. Very wet and stormy!


Lazy day here in Houston with rain. Gotta love em!!

MA

Driving??? Driving??? Driving.......

So it begins......


I’ve been putting her off for 6 months.....and finally.... 

Rachel got her driver’s license learning packet and is on the brink of getting her permit. Holy moly.  Look how happy she is!!  I remember being old enough to take driving lessons.  Wow!  It's like a rite of passage.

Mama is nervous about this. I don’t really know (cause they sure didn’t mention it, if they were) if my parents were really nervous like this when I started driving or either of my sisters. However, Mom & Dad, if you were, now I totally get it. I’ve been getting it for awhile just envisioning my child out there on the roads with all the other crazies. While I have a certain fear of her newly acquired driving skills, I have a much larger fear knowing the driving skills of the people who are out there with her.

Because of her schedule between soccer, surgery, vacations, and band, she really can’t do the 3 week intensive driving course taught by someone else. So... she’ll be a student of the Parent Taught Education Program by yours truly and John. I’m not sure how this is going to go. John tells me he taught both Laila and Ariane to drive. Other than they both drive too fast (:-0), they seem to have done fine. I may have to take a poll from them to find out for sure.

I see a few parking lot practices in the very near future and hopefully, she won’t put me on the floor of the Jeep like I put my Mom on the floor of the car when she was teaching me one day .... :-)  Perhaps I'll use the seat belts..... 

Stay tuned.... if the timing works, it looks like she’ll get her Learner’s Permit sometime next week when she takes the written test.  

Right now she's studying...... very intently...... (umm... I don't see kind of intensity on her schoolwork!!)

Praying would be good.... for both of us.

PS - Please pray for her this weekend as well as the other riders in the MS150.  They start tomorrow morning very early and the weather is not forecasted to be very good.... in fact, there is chance for some very severe weather.    

Happy Friday!

MA

Tax Day 2009

While I wish that picture was of me .... it still captures how I feel today after working on taxes yesterday. :-) She’ll understand one day. That picture was really in response to my picture taking one day last week... she felt that good about it. Ha!

Another year.... another day to give the government more of my hard earned money. And.... first year of my newly acquired status again - married. It sucks to be honest. My taxes would be much better off had I stayed single and Head of Household surprisingly. However..... we didn’t take into consideration the impact of tax status change when John and I decided to marry last year and what was the alternative? Well... we could have lived together in sin I suppose. Would have been a great role model for the kids. not.

Anyhoo... the process of doing taxes is just not fun. Gathering all the paperwork. Trying to figure out what you can claim, what you can’t claim. I found myself really working hard to find claims this year. It’s just not enough for the government just to invest in your own children and family, home, etc. and gee, I don’t know, just pay the electric bills and feed everyone. You can’t claim those expenses (uh life) as a deduction even though I’m already paying taxes on both those things - my electric bills and my groceries (much of them).

Interesting though.... what else do we use already taxable monies to pay more items that are then taxed again in life that you don’t get to take as a deduction or recoup?

Paying Taxes on the income used to pay taxes.....

**Updated at 10:00 am*** cause I remembered a biggie!!

Just take Utilities which are all TAXED already..........

Electric Bills - pay all those taxes (state, city, local, heck probably even the electrician himself)
Phone Bills - either land or cell
Water/Sewer Bills
Gas Bills
Cable
Internet

For us... probably $12,000 a year that already includes taxes!!! I should get to deduct all those taxes from my taxable income, don’t you think? Probably a good 20% - $2400. That would be nice. (And... if for some reason I really can, would someone please tell me!!! Turbo Tax didn’t walk me through that one.)

How about Gasoline Taxes??!! ... yes, I think I read we pay about $.31 for every gallon we buy to various taxes only half of which is sales tax. Just think how much that would be for me in this sales job I have. Paying taxes with money that's already taxed is really a sham.

Sales Tax Credit

And really does this Sales Tax Credit really capture most all that you spend in Sales Taxes?? I just take the standard deduction there because I am not nearly disciplined enough to keep all the receipts and then go back and start tracking how much I pay in Sales Tax on everything in a year. But... I’d love to know the answer.

Well.... Have to run now .... can’t be late getting that filing into the government or gee... I’ll end up paying more in taxes to them in late fees!!

MA

Back to Work... School....

We’re off again for another week of fun. John, lucky dog, doesn’t have to go to school today!! His school district gives this Easter Monday off as well. Not too many others though. So.. in the midst of getting everyone ready, I wanted to pop a few of my favorite photos from the weekend out to the blog.

Have a great Monday!

Scenes from Easter 2009

The Great Scavenger Egg Hunt - which apparently wasn't hard enough for these kids.  I'm going to have to better my skills for next year.

Started with an egg.... solve the riddles and go to the next one.

!

Studying the riddle.....

Rachel on the prowl.....

Only one of the 5 riddles made him think......a little more than average....

Her too.. only one of them gave her pause.... 

The treasure at the end - a cross for Him.

A ring for her!

Later!

Truth at Easter

Hoping Your Easter Celebration was Joyful!!

What is the Truth?

I was reading one of my very favorite blogs today by MckMama. If you’ve not had a chance to visit her blog, make a point of going there sometime. Her blog is often quite interesting and fun to read, and she is an avid Christ Follower. She and her family are going through a struggle right now with the illness of their young infant son, Stellan. Prayers for healing and strength are needed and welcomed.

She inspired me today.
She made me think today. I love that.

On this EASTER, she wrote a very pointed entry regarding THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH OF JESUS. If you have a chance, take a read at her blog - HERE

MckMama wrote the following in her discussion of this Absolute Truth:

        "And, either Jesus is real, and He died on the cross and rose again as the only way to Heaven--for everyone in the world--or He did not.

        There are no other alternatives."

It got me thinking...... There really is no such thing as relative truth, partial truth, truth for me, or truth for you. There is no middle ground with this statement. He either DID or He DID NOT. Therefore, you have to decide whether you believe He DID or DID NOT.

Let me state now that I believe the ABSOLUTE TRUTH of Jesus Christ....

        I believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). The only way to Heaven is through Him.

You don’t have to believe in this absolute truth. That is your choice. You may have a different belief. However, just because you may not believe it, doesn’t make it any less the truth.

Absolute Truth is like The Sun

Jesus is Truth - Just as we accept that the sun rises and sets each day as an absolute truth.

Whether you can see it or not today (as in the case of stormy days), does not change this truth. We have troubled times and our Faith waivers. We begin to question. Go ahead.. question, cry out, show dismay - Jesus hears you. But even when it’s cloudy, don’t let your belief waiver from this Absolute Truth. This Foundation.

Whether you believe it or not (as might be the case for a blind person who has never SEEN), does not change this truth. It is absolute. For someone who has been blind to Jesus, the truth is still the truth - it is absolute.


Saved? Going to Heaven?

As a Christ Follower, I DO BELIEVE that Jesus is real, and He did die on the cross and rose again as the only way to Heaven - for everyone in the world. And... I choose to follow Him as my Savior. That’s it. It is finished. That’s all it takes for a one way ticket to Heaven.

Truth is Truth, right??

Lots of tough questions arise from statements like the ones above. Very hard questions. Questions that I struggle with as well. Questions like: Does that mean a serial killer who accepts Jesus in jail goes to Heaven? Does that mean a drunk driver who killed 3 innocent people accepts Jesus and he/she goes to Heaven? Does that mean that a family member who doesn’t accept Jesus will not go to Heaven?

If you believe the Absolute Truth of Jesus Christ, then the answers to these questions could all be YES. Even when you want them to be NO. Only Jesus knows the heart of a person.

Tough? Yes. Hard to swallow? Yes. Seems Morally Wrong? Yes.

In order to process these thoughts personally, I’ve come to rely on another Absolute Truth of Jesus- He alone is the final judge. He alone gets to decide how we spend our eternal lives. Are we off the hook for the bad things we do in life? No.... even for the saved, the Bible tells us we still need to live faithful, obedient lives here on Earth. Not that we won’t sin. Of course we will and do so on a constant basis. But, yet, we are still saved by His grace and our belief in Him. My comfort with the tough questions above, come with this verse in the Bible.

2 Corinthians 5:10 affirms that while eternal life is a free gift when we believe in Him (Eph 2:8-10), we each will still be judged by Christ on how we have lived our lives here on Earth and given our lot in Heaven.

        2 Cor 5:10 - For we must all [the saved] appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

My comfort with the tough questions above, come with this verse in the Bible.

If you want to know the absolute truth .... know Jesus.


As I said.... MckMama’s post got me to thinking......


On this beautiful Easter day as we celebrate the foundation of the Absolute Truth of Jesus Christ

Christ is Risen!! He is Risen Indeed!!

HE IS RISEN!!

EASTER Blessings to each of you!!  Rejoice for He is Risen!

Love to all - 

MA

Easter Weekend!!

******THANK YOU!!!********

For those of you who have graciously supported Rachel financially in her MS150 quest, she is very thankful as are we!  She has met her goal and has surpassed it with the generosity of many!!   It's not too late to make a donation to help fund the research for MS150 treatments and cures.  Click on the big MS150 Texas Flag Button on the right to go to Rachel's page.  She's very grateful for everyone's support!!  She'll be riding next weekend and I'll post pictures here when I can!!  

*****THANK YOU!!********** 

Now on to the regularly scheduled program......

As I sit here, it's early Saturday morning.  It's a little cool outside still and cloudy.  I've been up since 5:45 am!!  And good thing too as I had to wake up Miss Rachel who was supposed to have been awake at 5:30 am to be leaving at 6:00 am to go with the parents of one of her BFF's to Georgetown this morning for the Girl's Varsity Soccer State 4A Championship game to be played there at 11:00 am!!  (Make sense??!!)   Go Mustangs!!

Once I'm up... I'm usually up.  My brain starts going and there's no getting back to sleep for me.  I really wish I could just plop back in bed and go to sleep.  It just doesn't work for me.  I start thinking of all the things I want to do or need to do and a list starts forming.  Sometimes, there are so many things my brain starts going through, I forget the first one that started the whole thing!!  BUT .... just the mere fact of knowing there are so many "to do's" forces me up and out of bed.  Of course... the first thing on the list is coffee.  That's a must.  I do so much better with a cup of coffee flowing through the veins.  Not sure if it's the caffeine or just the comfort factor of a warm cup of coffee that really does the trick.   Next it's usually my computer time:  Reading news, emails, blogs, writing a blog, working on my blog design (which is still in progress because I'm trying to learn and design at the same time!).  Eventually, I'll get dressed and run a few errands I need to do before the big day tomorrow - Easter!!   

Baseball Update:  There was one game this week and I couldn't make it because it coincided with Rachel's flute lesson on Weds. night.  Stephen did well... had a couple of hits and brought a couple of runners and himself in for a score.  Still playing outfield mostly with not much coming out to him to field.   No games this Easter weekend!  Pick up again next week.

Photography Update:  This week has been really full in Karen's photography class.  We learned about composition rules this week.  Our assignments have been to look at our pictures (past and present) and think about how they do relative to the rules of composition and then spend some time taking pictures of willing subjects with certain compositional rules in play.   I've noticed a few things about my photos - 1) I tend to put the subject in or near the middle and not along the Rule of Thirds consistently, but do like the picture better when it follows the Rules of Thirds.  2) I'm not getting good consistent focusing at the right places and 3) Compositionally... i'm doing ok, but not getting a great compositional photo but maybe 1 out of 3 shots.  So.. that's what all the practice is for.... want to get a better ratio of great photos to not great ones straight out of the camera.

This one I like a lot.... (and not just the subject).

I have no shortage of willing subjects around here..... first and foremost is Rachel who basically is just a camera hog right now.  Teenage egocentricity!!!  I think she wants the pictures for her Facebook really and views this is a bonanza!!  Stephen tolerates it but then she's doing it and wants to join right in because he doesn't want to be left out.  The only one not terribly amused to be a subject is John.  Although funny enough, he semi complained about NOT being a subject yesterday.  So, maybe we'll see him show up in some practice shots later.

Here are some of my favorites.  If you want to see all the bazillion others I took, just click on my Flicker box on the right and you'll get to them.  Remember... I was practicing and not all are very good.

Rachel and Jesse the puppy.... 

Jesse posing for the picture.....

Rachel's so silly.... but this is her personality!!

Not sure what to call this one.... note the huge sunglasses..... 

Stephen's so handsome.... a rare calm moment.....

He was playing along with me... as I went around in a circle and took photos.

Thinking about baseball.....I think he discovered perhaps this wasn't a ball he should be playing with.  I believe it's signed by someone.... someone important.....

Couldn't stand his sister being in the tree and not him......

Have a Great Saturday all!!

MA

Just a couple of pictures.....

A couple of my favorites from the weekend.....playing with the camera

Baseball season is here.....

He's a handsome one I tell ya....

Sunday Updates....

I'm messing around with my blog at the moment. Figured out how to get 3 columns, but now trying to figure out how to put a background on here.  Hmmm..... 

Beautiful day here in Houston, Texas today!!  We don't get too many of these types of days here  - upper 70's, lower 80's, low humidity, and wind.  It was so nice outside.  The kids were outside playing today while I was playing with my camera.  Here are a few of my favorites!

I don't think baseball is a tackle sport.... but..... 

Going down.....

Gotcha and Sugar is coming to play....

It's all about HER you know.......  (was trying to take a picture of her brother and she just flew in with her arms wide because she's such a camera hog!!)

Have a great week!

MA

Camera Practice - Oh My!!

I bought a new camera lens today!!  Canon 50mm f 1.4 prime lens.  It's INCREDIBLE!!  I had a 50mm f 1.8 which I thought was good, but this one is amazing.  I popped it on the camera and set out to the backyard to take some pictures.  Check them out below.

I am taking a photography class from an amazing lady - Karen Russell.  I just LOVE her pictures and her teaching style!!  It started last Monday and next week, we really get into the nuts and bolts and assignments!!  I can't wait!!  I just know I'm going to learn a lot.  I have some knowledge and every time I focus on my photography, I learn something new that I can remember and put into my pictures.  10 weeks of practicing and learning... bring it on!

Don't forget to read my post below and help support Rachel in her MS150 ride from Houston to Austin!!  

The bee was helping my blackberries along.....

Pretty Wildflowers.....

Same Bee......

More to come.... 

Saturday Notes....

Yes, I know it's been almost a week since I posted anything.  Shame on me!!  The reason for this blog was to capture our daily lives .... well... daily lives this week have been crazy busy!!  So... no time to capture it in writing, just time to live it!!

The MOST important item of the week was ......

OUR ANNIVERSARY!!!  April Fool's Day

John and I celebrated our 2 year "first met" anniversary!!  It's not our wedding anniversary which will come up on July 4th, but is the anniversary of when we met!!  Yes,  we met on April Fool's Day (only) 2 years ago!! Seems like a lot longer than that, but it's true.   I think it's pretty funny that we met on April Fool's Day as well.... speaks volumes doesn't it!!      Since we're capturing memories, this picture is not from when we met, but rather from our honeymoon last July.  I just happen to love the picture!!      So.. you ask... what did we do for to celebrate our first meeting anniversary??  Ummm... as life with children goes, I took Rachel to a flute lesson and the boys hung out at home.  Fun.. huh.  Tis life!!  I think John has planned something for tonight instead.  He's keeping it secret, so shush.

SECOND Most Important Item of the Week

SUPPORT RACHEL RIDING THE MS150 from Houston To Austin April 18-19

Click HERE to go to Rachel's Site to Donate!!

Our family has a personal connection to Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  John's youngest daughter, Laila, was diagnosed with MS last summer at age 21, as well as a very good friend of mine at work who was diagnosed with MS last fall.  We know first hand the symptoms, impacts on life, and the treatments available for MS right now.  From the support for MS that has been given in the past, Laila and my friend have great treatment options for their MS.  Our hope is that with continued support for research in MS, one day there will be a way to free them and everyone else with MS from the disease and prevent it from occurring!    

Many of you may not be aware of this, but Rachel (age 15, freshman in high school) has expressed an interest into going into medicine for a career.  Specifically, she's interested in cancers and diseases such as these.  She spent last summer at Duke University taking a Biology of Cancer course to further her interests.  She's interested in helping discover new and effective treatments and cures.   

Rachel's method to give back right now is through an event such as this to raise money for the research needed for MS treatments and cures!  Please help her in this cause by visiting her site  HERE  and making a donation!  Her goal is to raise $500.00 and then get on her bike in two weeks and ride for two days and 180 miles (yes, it's not really 150) from Houston, Texas to Austin, Texas!! Just to give some comfort to those who may think I'm sending her out there alone... relax, her dad is riding with her.

THANK YOU from Rachel and all of us!!!

****************************************************

The rest of the week was filled with work and life.

Started off with my trip to Galveston for our annual Treasury Management industry conference for two and half days - Sunday through Tuesday.  Always good to see my friends in the industry but a very tiring event.  Was glad to get home on Tuesday night and honestly, not feeling well by then.   

Galveston......I only live 30 miles or so from Galveston, but honestly, have not ventured down there since the Hurricane.  Really had no reason to up to this point.  There is a good deal of the hotels, restaurants, etc. up and running especially along the Seawall, but then a lot of the homes are still a mess around the area.  

I stayed at the San Luis Resort which is definitely up and running and beautiful on the outside again.  Unfortunately, while I like this hotel, they put me in a smoking room the first night.  I really didn't notice it until I went to bed that night and the pillows/bed smelled terribly.  By that time, the hotel was sold out and I couldn't move rooms.  So... I had to deal with it.  I woke up the next morning with a head full of mess!!  It was yucky.  They were able to move me the next night to a non smoking room which was good.  Apparently, I'm developing allergies in my older age because I started having problems this week and the non expert in me really believes it has something to do with mold, mildew or something like that.  Anyway.... I came home Tuesday not feeling very well which really has lasted until today.  I woke up this morning feeling better.  

Rest of the week... was busy busy.  Baseball, flute, date night, work, garden.... we've been tired around here.  Kids are off with their Dad this weekend and we're just working around the house!!  

Baseball Update: Two games this week.  They Knights lost one and won one.  Stephen's bat has gone a bit silent these last two games.  Another game today, so we'll see how it goes.x

Garden Update:  Planted tomatoes (9 plants), squash, zucchini, eggplant, cantelope, jalepenos, serrano, poblanos and herbs two weeks ago.  Luckily, last weekend's little cold snap didn't get below 40 here in my yard!!  They are all doing well and there are three little tomatoes on one of my plants already!!    Today, I am planting the remaining pieces of the garden for this spring (I think)  - lima beans and blackeye pea seeds are going in the ground this weekend.  We are also putting in the irrigation system this weekend.  Next on the list is to design a better netting system to keep birds out before the tomatoes start to really get going and then put some poles in for the beans.   

Tis all for today!!  Have a great weekend!!

MA