Our neighbor has a son that lives in Dallas. He has 2 girls our girls age and Ella and Madison love to play dress up when she comes to town. She was here all week and here are some photos of the kids playing through the fence.
Madison had her 1st preschool Valentine's Party. She was so excited to come home and go through everything. I had no idea that parents did so much for Valentine's Exchange. I can totally tell who has older kids. I simply sent cards that Madison addressed to each of her friends. They had a SPECIAL SNACK also so I thought that would be plenty. WRONG! Nearly every parent sent a goody bag with candy, straws, and nick-nacks. There is even a sippy type cup too.

So next year I'll know to be on my A GAME.

My parents sent balloons and bears to the girls yesterday and I got flowers as well. Red Roses! I must be doing something good.

Seriously....

UPDATED:
So after Gwen's comment, we found a rock lodged in the bottom of the disposal. It was no easy task to remove, but after nearly 1 hour (approx 1am) we were finally finished with the installation of the garbage disposal. AND IT WORKS! STILL!
I am crossing the electrician off the list...


WHAT THE EFFFFF?
So last week the sink stopped up with water. I convinced Eric to rent a router rooter and fix it himself. I was so proud and we only spend $30 as opposed to $75 for a plumber to come out.

Then on Sunday, we noticed that the freezer wasn't very cold. So Monday the appliance guy came out and $200 later, we were back in business (the main board was fried).

And then, Monday the disposal stopped working. We found out that a friend had a new one that was removed and they let us take the disposal out of their attic (Thanks!). SO Eric spent all evening installing a new disposal. Step by step.....then presto---plug it in, turn on the switch, it worked.....for like 3 seconds and then all we heard was WWWWHHHHHHIIIIRRRRRRR! NOTHING! The shit is fried too!

So tomorrow I will call an electrician to fix the switch at the wall (for some crazy amount of $$$, I'm sure) and then we will have to BUY a new disposal (since the free one is FRIED)


WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THAT I'M NOT GOING CRAZY (and BROKE).

cookie curled up in the fake plant behind the rack where we keep electronics...notice all of the cords.

Madison and Katelyn on the playground at Sea Island

cookie sleeping--he is getting so big

Getting ready for a daily bike ride around the block

eating with toddlers

our diet: quesadilla and water or fish, veggies, rice, bread and water
their diet: rice and pasta with lemonade (maybe a couple of bites of pizza by Maddy)

I guess I could do better but we did come home and the Maddy had some oreo cookies and Kate had oranges with milk.

O well at least I try :-)

Rodeo San Antonio

It is almost Rodeo time (Feb 5) and I always love a good rodeo. San Antonio has a relatively small indoor rodeo but it is voted #1 indoor rodeo for the past couple of years. They have some great performers lined up:

In random order:
Taylor Swift
Jason Aldean
Pat Green
Gary Allen
Alan Jackson
Reba
Lady Antebellum
Luke Bryan
Brooks and Dunn
Josh Turner (the one that has a deep voice)
Jack Ingram
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Montgomery Gentry

We always take Madison to see the animals and walk around so hopefully this year will not disappoint. I'm sure that the girls will love it.

Welcome 2009

We had a great weekend. We took the girls downtown to Rainforest Cafe and then the carnival in front of the tower. Then we left the kids to watch the fireworks with Eric's parents and went to Rob and Gwen's Totally Lame New Year's Party (that is the name of their party...honestly). It was fun. We got up the next day and headed home for New Year's Day Lunch at our house. We had homemade menudo, tamales, ham and black eyed peas. YUMMY!


Everything has been great around here except that Alex is very sick. He went for a long walk on Tuesday and came home in lots of pain. On Thursday after two days of not eating or drinking, I took him to the doctor and his blood work shows signs of cancer, GI ulcers, bleeding, enlarged heart and intestine, and much more. He is eating and drinking water, walking some, and sleeping tons. Still, he is very sick and I hope that I can keep him comfortable and somewhat pain free.


He has been my companion for 12 years. He has lived in Baytown, College Station, Chireno, Bossier City, and now Schertz. He has traveled in a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse, 1999 Dodge Truck, 2004 Chevy Trailblazer, 2006 Chevy Avalanche and 2007 Ford Expedition. He has 5 names: Alexander Nathaniel Tankersley Rhoades Gutierrez. Needless to say, he has lived a full life and if he is to live several more years, we will definitely take great care of him. But if his time is shorter, I will always remember.
UPDATED: Alex passed away early on Jan 5. Thanks to everyone that called to check on us. It was difficult to watch but we know that he feels much better now. Time heals all wounds and our entire family will always remember him for all the companionship that he provided during the past 11 years.

We made it...

Christmas was great! The girls had so much fun and it was awesome to see them in the moment.

This is Christmas Cookie...

an adorable 1 lb 3 oz kitten with grey and black stripes and white feet. He is super sweet and instantly fit right in with 2 kids and 2 dogs (not an easy task). Maddy and Kate love him and constantly pick him up to give hugs and kisses. So sweet!

Good news...bad news

The good news is that we are home! The girls had so much fun with Nana and Pops. And we had so much fun in Vegas. We saw the Zumanity show at New York New York and let me say "WOW". It is definitely worth every penny. I will always remember the Toby Keith bar for the bartender Charlie. I even have a photo to prove it.

The bad news is that Christmas is almost here and I am not quite ready. I could use another 3 or 4 days to finish shopping. We had to hurry before we left and I just feel like there is so much more to do. CRAZY! It will be fun to watch the girls open gifts. We had Christmas with my parents on Sunday night and Katelyn was so cute. Every time she would peel off some wrapping paper, she would say "YEAH" and clap. It took FOREVER! but it was so fun to watch. I think Maddy even got tired of waiting since she finished unwrapping all of Kate's presents for her. Too bad my mom has all of those pictures.

Merry Christmas!

Home of Lost Wages

we are headed to Las Vegas...in our case....lost wages! I have mixed feelings since we will be leaving the girls with my parents for several nights. We have never been on a trip without them! They are so spoiled. I know they will do fine without us but I just worry about them being away from home for so long. Maddy is a big home body. When we run errands, she always says "I just want to go home". Hopefully I will report great success...for us and them!

On another note: I turn 3-0 on Sunday and I am so excited. I feel very blessed to have done so much in only 30 years and look forward to many more memories in the next 30!

peace out

What...no Santa?

Sitting around the table, the day before today, we were talking about what Madison would like to put on her letter to Santa: a piano with a seat and a 3 story Barbie Dream House. That simple!

Except there is no piano with a seat and we are definitely not spending $100 on a Barbie Dream House! So there goes that.

I casually mentioned what was on my list to Santa. The subject changed and that was that. Later that night, Eric said "Nice input about YOUR letter to Santa, but Babe you do realize that we are Santa NOW?" What...no Santa? You mean I am supposed to shop.....URGH! I hate to shop! Wouldn't it be nice though.

So I want to know, what is on YOUR letter to Santa?