BELIEVE IT

Hello…. Hello….. Is anybody out there? I'm not sure if anybody is listening but I guess it’s okay if you’re not this blog is what I would like to use as a family journal anyway. So I better get back to it. This is just one of many things in my life that has just had to wait. Life is so busy lately that any fire not burning the house down was pushed into a closet or swept under the rug to smolder until I could get around to it. The blogging fire has built to sufficient size so here I am trying to put it out.

Let’s see where were we…….WOW July. I will just try and hit the high points.

7/08 *The Swim season ended great! Our team won the divisional championship for the first time ever. The girls both won special awards for their age group. Amy won the “best attitude” and Carli won “most improved”. Swimming is great for trophies and ribbons the girls ended up with quite a collection. I also got in on the winning action and was elected to the swim team board. If I haven’t mentioned before I love swimming and I am excited to be a part of the swim team for next year.

8/08*I got a job! Not too exciting I am earning a little extra cash waiting tables at The Saltgrass Steakhouse (the SG for short). I only work a few nights a week.

8/08*My sister Jana and her family stopped by for a couple days. We love having family come to see us. We did our best to show them the city in our short visit. We tried to show them the Botanical gardens but there has been no rain so they were a little brown. If you come in the summer then you have to see our bats. We stood on the congress bridge and watched the bats leave for a night of bug control Texas style.(Janna I need pics)

8/08*School started our babies are growing up so fast. Amy is in 4th grade this year, Carli is in 1st and Carson goes to preschool 3 days a week. Yes I have 3 days a week to take a shower all by myself (crazy). What is crazier than taking a shower by myself is that a shower is all I seem to accomplish.
--- We are very lucky to be attending a brand new school this year. Parkside elementary has a great layout with lots of well thought out educational features. It’s nice to see tax dollars well spent. I volunteer every Wednesday putting together our Wednesday folders (all school flyers and related info goes home one day a week, it’s so nice). Being that we are a new school means there is a lot of work to be done lots of new systems to work out.

9/08* We took a quick trip to Florida. We all miss PCB (Panama City Beach) soooooo much. Our renters moved out of our house on short notice and we went to check on it. It was fun to see friends, spend time on the beach, witnes the fun changes that are happening there and we even experienced a Hurricane.

9/08* Next another "quick" roadtrip to Las Vegas. Chet’s Sister Marissa (the most patient person I know) waited for just 8 short years to have a baby of her own and in September Marissa and John were able to have their sweet Sarah sealed to them for eternity. And we were not missing it. I threw the kids in the car and off we went. We had a great visit and then my Mother was sweet enough to drive back with me. (Marissa or Marylin I need a family picture)

9/08* I started training for real this time for my first Marathon. I can say that now because I am two weeks out and am on track. I am running the Memphis, TN marathon Dec. 6th. I can’t wait to cross the finish line and finally earn my 26.2 mile badge for my car.

10/08* Halloween was fun. Amy was a gothic bride Carli was a Vampire and Carson was the always creative and unique Power Ranger. Chet the ward activities leader pulled off a great ward party. I had to work the night of the party so Chet braved the crowd with the kids all by himself.

11/08*For journals sake. Our country elected a new President Barack Obama. This is the first election I think my kids will remember.

11/08*Chet’s Parents and his sister Laura’s family came for a very fun visit. It’s always so nice when the kids get a chance to hang with their cousins and get face time with their Grandparents. We had a great time showing them around Austin. We went canoeing downtown in our Town Lake, had great BBQ, went to San Antonio’s River walk, Chet and Paul were able to do some carting and we explored Innerspace caverns that are just up the road from us. Yes that is the Alamo right be hind us. San Antonio is a great place to visit if you are ever in the area.

Oaky I am all caught up!!! We have no plans to go anywhere (except my marathon)any time soon or for the holidays and I am really looking forward to just having a normal routine. I think I was bragging just last year about how nice it was to just have a boring life with very little extracurricular activities. I am longing for a few weeks like that. Time has really flown by and I can’t believe it is already Thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for so I think that will be the next post.

Moto GP

Chet started following Moto GP about 5 years ago. Outside of the fact that Chet is a motor sports enthusiast I am not sure how Moto GP came to be on his radar. I have been keeping up with Moto GP for the last 4 years (give or take a few months). I somehow got suckered into watching a documentary about the sport called Faster. What is Moto GP you say? "Moto GP is the world’s premier motorcycling championship, with a season of 18 Grands Prix in 14 countries bringing together the world’s top motorcycle manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, Kawasaki, Aprilia and KTM - plus an elite crop of riders from every corner of the globe. " according the official website http://www.motogp.com/. Faster introduced me to many of the main characters from the sport (in almost a reality show format) I got all sucked into the fun charismatic personalities of the riders. There are only 20 full time “rides” in Moto GP so it's not hard to keep up with who is who. Valentino Rossi (an Italian who has won 5 of the last 7 Championships.) is one of the three highest paid athletes in the world (over 30 million a year!!) and arguably the best racer in the history of the sport (who by the way is only 29.)

Chet was able to fulfill a dream of his and attend the Red Bull US Grand Prix at the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, CA. Chet flew into Oakland, CA and stayed at his Sister Laura’s house for a few days and was able to get his fill of motorcycles. Chet and Paul (Laura’s husband) set out for a good old fashion boy’s weekend at the track where they were able to get up close with some of our favorite riders like, The Doctor (Valentino Rossi), The Tornado (Colin Edwards) and The Kentucky Kid (Nicky Hayden). Nicky has always been our favorite but since we moved to Texas we have felt an obligation to root for the Texas native Colin Edwards (Texans stick together). Paul and Chet had the good fortune to witness what is being touted as one of the best races in motorcycle history. The top two riders in the series (Rossi and Casey Stoner) battled for first position, pushing each other, trading paint, and dirt-tracking at 150 mph over the first 16 laps (it is recapped very well in this clip).
Chet came back home with life long memories and some awesome gear for Carson Chet has been trying to train Carson and steer him to Yamaha but Carson has decided to roll with Team Green (his fav color) Kawasaki.

We have let that slide because a young American John Hopkins (Carson knows him as Hopper) rides for the Kawasaki Moto GP Team. Daddy showed up with some great posters that have spurred the new theme for Carson’s room (pictures of the finished room to come.) Now I get Wife of the Year for being so knowledgeable and supportive of my Husbands love for motorcycles!!!!!

Time Still Flying By (can’t….seem…to… catch-up)

The 5th of July we really needed to sleep-in but it was not an option (miss a swim meet, never, not while I run this show). It was to be our last swim meet and we even had Grandparents to cheer us on. The girls did great and I even got to show off my skills in the parent coach relay.

Chet and I got to have a free date night, thank you Grandma and Grandpa. We have the best movie theater here. Alamo Draft House is a restaurant and movie theater all in one. Not sure if anyone else feels like it can take forever to eat dinner at a sit-down restaurant and then go to the movie. We can’t seem to get the timing down we have to be out eating by 5 to see a movie at 7 which means I have to start preparing at 4. What usually happens is we get out late and then by the time we are done eating none of the movies start until 10 (I can’t stay awake in a movie that starts that late). Any way that was a long way to say that I love going to Alamo Draft House because we can eat dinner and watch a movie all at the same time and be done by 9:30 (man I am getting old, got to be home by 10).

The last day of G-ma and G-pa’s stay we were going to do some shopping and go for a river float. Things didn’t work out as planned but we still had fun. We found one of the many lakes that surround us and walked across the dam. The picture of our family gives a good impression of what the Texas hill country looks like. We kissed the Grandparents goodbye and sent them on their way.

The day after the Rowles left Amy and Carli got all packed and ready for their first airplane ride by them selves. They are off to Vegas for a good long visit with both sets of grandparents. When planning this trip it sounded fun for the girls and like it might be nice for me to have a little break. As we got closer to them leaving I started to feel a little reluctant (I was going to miss my kids). I am such a martyr all the time it takes these little breaks from my kids to remind me that I am doing exactly what I want to be doing and I don’t like being away from my kids. I was really missing them.

Event number 6: My aunt passed away this last week (see my sister’s blog for the details. She keeps up with her blogging much better then me.) So my girls left Tues. and I flu to Salt Lake City on Sun. My dilemma of missing my girls was quailed because my mom brought them with her to SLC. The funeral was good as funerals go. It was truly heart breaking to watch my cousins say good bye to their Mother. One of the good things that come out of funerals is the gathering of family. My family is spread all over the country so we don’t see each other very often. I have a really fun and funny family it was nice to be with them and for my girls to be able to see so much of my family. I kissed my girls and sent them back to Las Vegas to finish their trip and I was off to Texas to have Chet pass the baton (Carson) and Chet is off to CA to watch Moto GP (I will explain what that is later, the cliffhanger to make you come back. Moto GP will get its own post.)

So here I sit just me and my little boy. I should be reveling in all my free time to do what ever I want. But I miss my family! Don’t cry for me when they all show up here next week I am sure I will be back to my old self crying about laundry and dishes. Until then I guess I can get caught up with my blogging and get my house all put together and keep it that way for a few days. I even finished the Host (that I have been working on for like 2 months. The beginning was crazy slow and I didn’t read it for two weeks. As everyone said the end was good and it only took me 3 days to read the last 350 pages). Now on to my next book on the always growing to-read list of books. I have at least two other posts to make so stay tuned.

Life Flies By!

Last you heard from us we were swimming and hanging out with Uncle Jeremy. If we didn’t already feel like we had a full schedule things were about to get tricky. Grandma and Grandpa Rowles came for a visit over the 4th so I guess I will just start there.


The 4th of July! Anyone who knows Chet well knows that the 4th has to be his favorite holiday of all. When we lived in PCB, FL the atmosphere could not have been better. A full day of the beach only to return when it got dark for the best amateur firework show over the ocean you have seen. That may have been one of the only reasons Chet was as sad as I was to leave the beach. But never fear the 4th in Texas has yet to disappoint. I am not sure what is going on in the west but the only place to buy decent fireworks is on the Indian reservations. Chet only had a short drive down the road to get his fill. We have had very little rain this year and we live in a place with lots of trees and other greenery. This year fireworks were banned in Round Rock and supposedly they are banned in our neighborhood as well. I was hopping to get a financial break this year and have our family just go watch a free professional firework display. As luck would have it even though fireworks were banned they were still being sold. At the last minute Chet got his way and we hit up the fireworks stand. The only other person that I have met that seems to be more excitement about fireworks then Chet is his brother Jeremy. I am afraid of the 4th that they are finally able to get together. Jeremy has a bigger reputation then Chet (Chet is working hard to change that). Chet is very proud of the amount of fireworks he gets and first thing he does is set everything out for inventory and then he takes a picture. As you can see he has the girls all fired up as well. Carson has yet to take after his father in his love of loud exploding fire Carson’s pants are proof. You can see where he spent most of his night (with people who felt the same way he did) inside in his safe corner of the couch watching a movie. I will say this was the first year that he stayed around to see some of his father’s handy work he even held a sparkler for the first time. We had a great time with a few families in our ward and the rest of our street, the party went way too late for the little people who had to be up super early for their last swim meet of the season. I would like to push back on the whole fireworks thing but when you watch Chet get all worked up like a little kid, there is just no stopping him. Thanks for the great show my little (or should I say big) Pyro;)

Swimming, Swimming, Swimming!

So is has been a good 20 days since the last up date. I am sure everyone has stopped checking my blog but I will do this post regardless. Well now that I am back to 3 kids full time I seem to be a bit busier. I get up at 5am every morning and most days I still don't have enough time (and I can't do 4am). What have we been up to??? I'll give you 3 guesses. You got it, Swimming! Swim team practice every morning gets us up and going but then we have the rest of the day to fill which usually consists of a trip to the neighborhood pool.

Oh yea then we had a swim team field trip to you guessed it, the water park up the road. On Wed. we have play group which for the summer has turned into a pool hopping event where we get to test out all the other neighborhood pools. Every now and again we mix it up with a wild trip to the cheap movies or a stop off at the library. But I guess when you live in a hot climate swimming is one of the best things to be doing.

Okay we are doing a few other things in between. I was called as one of the nursery leaders. I totally love it (really I do). There's no pressure and it's easier then making sunbeams sit through sharing time. We also had a fun visit from Uncle Jeremy. Jeremy was a trooper and sat through the 6 am swim meet and then the boys did a little high speed Karting. We don't have any big family trips planned for this summer but that's okay we had three big trips and several small ones in the past 8 months. A few of us will get on an airplane here and there to Vegas or CA etc. Add a couple of family visits here in Texas into the mix, and the fall will be here before we know it. If our daily lives get any more exciting I will do my best to post it!

Onward!

Stuff From All Over!

As the school year comes to an end I seem to be getting busier. I have put off blogging impart because I have so much going on and impart because I don’t know where to start, I’m so back logged. I’ll just jump in with a few pics from the last two weeks.

I have been telling the girls I will take them to their school skate night all year. It came down to the last one so I had to make good on my word. We had fun eating cotton candy and Carli learned to Rollerblade. Carli is almost a 1st grader(Crazy!) Amy is almost a 4th grader (crazier!!!). These are a couple of their friends Monet' and Joelle who live accross the street and are in the same grades.

Our first two swim meets were so fun (well at least for me). The girls did great and it is crazy to see their improvment in just one short week. We have meets every Sat. untill July, their progress will be fun to track.

Carli had Kindergarten Graduation. She loved school this year. Carli learned a lot, made tons of friends and changed so much. We have full day Kindergarten here so there were many tired days but she has done well. We were lucky to have a great teacher in Mrs. Stewart. Where did my baby Carli go?