Saturday, May 30, 2009

Ellison's Mural

Ellison's design at art class was chosen to be put up as a mural at the Wysong Building in the McKinney Hospital. The newspaper even featured her in an article. We are so proud of her and are planning to visit some art colleges over the summer. You should see her portfolio! It is awesome! She is now working on a very beautiful Macaw we saw at the zoo. He is gorgeous and I want him for my study! Here is her mural design: Here she is working on it with some of the art students from her class! We are so proud of Ellison and her many talents! This week we will be working on setting up her website! She designs shoes for people and they are quite amazing!! She has been told she has to start a business with her talent, and so she is. She can paint whatever a customer wants on canvas shoes. They are one of a kind! She is even going to work on some shoes for me!Stay tuned for her website!

He's not a baby anymore and no slip and slide

Josh's 5th grade graduation was on Thursday. I remember it like it was yesterday, me taking him to his Kindergarten registration. The look of anticipation on his face. He quickly shooed me away after he settled down at his own little desk. His teacher told me that he was a friend to everyone. I remember walking out of there, sitting in my car for a while and watching my then 5 year old guy, skipping, hand in hand with a friend down towards the playground at recess. I cried. At his graduation, I didn't cry. I know how excited he is to go on to middle school. A whole new world awaits. The thing that eases my mind is that Josh has always chosen good friends. He is shy but he always attracts the right kind of people. This eases my mind. He is a funny guy yet he exudes this quiet confidence and a certain quirkiness. I know he'll be fine in middle sc hool. He chose to eat dinner at Chipotle that night, one of his favorites. I could tell he was bored at the graduation (so was I)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Praying for a tutor

Today at dinnertime Aaron said the prayer. In it he said "Father, please help me to find a good teacher to help me read". I almost broke down and cried. He is such a special little boy, way beyond his 6 years. He seems like an old soul. He is extremely bright and articulate, has an incredible memory and best of all....loves his Mama!! :) After much prayer and pondering, we have decided to send Aaron to the 2nd grade. We will be getting him tested outside the school for dyslexia and other learning disabilities. I know in my heart this is the best thing to do. I have spoken to many different parents, visited forums, etc on holding back kids vs. letting them advance. Most of them said it's best to let the child advance and give him some aggressive tutoring. So that's what we'll do. In other news, Josh has decided to join Band in Middle School and he has picked the Euphonium. We are excited. Tomorrow night is his 5th grade graduation. He is such a special young man. I
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Facing a Dilemma

To retain or not to retain? That is the question. Today I had a meeting with Aaron's counselor. We have suspected all along that Aaron is dyslexic just like his dad. But today, the counselor said Aaron is highly gifted and scored in the 94% percentile as far as IQ. His IQ is VERY high. What?? I mean I knew he is a bright kid, but he is very slow at reading and writing. She said that at this time Aaron should be at a 20-22 in DRA (whatever that means) and he is only at an 8!!!??? So we are faced with the dilemma of whether to send him to 1st grade again next year or to 2nd grade where he will instantly be behind all his peers. One of the things his counselors mentioned is that he is a very young first grader. His birthday is August 19th and so he just turned 5 when he started kindergarten. She said verbally Aaron is astounding and very gifted. But when it came to reading comprehension his score was around 1/2 of what the verbal score was. He is a good candidate for retention she sai
Saturday, May 23, 2009

Six Flags!!

Getting ready to ride the parachutes Trying his hand at shooting in the Indian Village shop Riding the swings. He looks scared but he wasn't Big Rig Driver Aaron and Josh looking for rides on the map What a great time! It has been ages since we've been there. Because I didn't know if Aaron was going to enjoy it so much, I didn't buy season passes. But now, after today, I will have to buy them, or so Aaron tells me! He rode every single ride meant for his age (twice sometimes three times) and even got on all the big rides with Sergio that he was allowed to. He didn't want to come home! He is such a daredevil and full of so much adventure. There was no ride he turned down. I am so pleased to find that my littlest guy is so full of confidence and fearless. So unlike his mother! I am a big chicken. But it makes me so happy to see the look of sheer excitement, waiting in line to get on those spinning tea cups :) That's what it's all about. I want to see joy in
Friday, May 22, 2009

Life is Great!

Life is great! Life is great with all its ups and downs, joys and sufferings, successes and trials. Life is just a training ground, a prep course if you will-to see who can make it to the end in one piece. Now I didn’t always hold on to this philosophical and positive point of view. No sirreee Bob. I thought life was a waste of time-since we’re all going to end up dead anyways-RIGHT until I learned about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My perspective changed. My life changed. I am filled with hope, strength and LIGHT . So what brings me, today, to this current state of thankfulness? Well tomorrow we are taking the family to Six Flags. “Well that’s a not a great event”-you say. But to a 6 year old…his world cannot get any better! He’s been counting down the days until he can mingle with the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Foghorn Leghorn. Ahhhh the innocence of a 6 year old. Such simple pleasures! That’s why I’ve decided to think like my 6 year old and get excited that we’re having pop
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Flower Beds

I love gardening and our front flower beds were starting to look a bit unkempt. So we trimmed the lantana bushes down to the ground hoping we didn't kill them. And we didn't! They are back prettier than ever. We moved the dusty miller that were very overgrown to the retaining wall in the back yard. We planted some nice petunias, a new gorgeous rose bush (that for some reason has lost all its blooms, maybe it needs to be moved to a sunnier location??) I will be working on the backyard ,building a little brick patio so I can put a bench swing on it and a flower bed next to it so I can put a fountain in there. Here's a few pics: We still have a ways to go, like adding more mulch and trimming the trees but I am liking that we can see more of the front porch and I can't wait to see the roses bloom. I have added plant food to all the plants so we'll see if that helps.

Family Pinewood Derby

This past Friday we had loads of fun at our Church's family pinewood derby. Not only did the scouts have their race cars but everyone could participate as well! What a great idea. We took three cars, two previous racers that Sergio and Josh had raced when he was a cub scout and a new one he carved out just for Aaron. Sergio is very meticulous with his carvings and even if they aren't the fastest they are some snazzy looking cars: Josh's car..the fastest one in our bunch Ellison's entry...the fish car Aaron's new car, won for best paint job! It was fun to eat and hang out with friends. Brian came along and got a pic with Ellison's winning entry for "heaviest" car. Aaron with his award.

Mother's Day

Mother's day was great. Ellison made me her famous hot chocolate that rivals Starbucks any day!! She surprised me by getting me a mickey mouse mug so I can drink my favorite drink...you guessed it chocolate milk! She also made me a cool wooden tray that I will proudly display in my office. Aaron was so excited to show me his beautiful creation-a hand painted terra cotta pot with a pretty flower in it . But when he went to get it out of his backpack it was broken!! Oh no! He instantly started to blame Josh for breaking it. After I reassured him that it could be glued back together he calmed down a bit. Sergio made me, my sister and my mom some delicious fajitas with all the fixins'. Better than any restaurant if you ask me. My big guy Josh had a big hug and kiss for me. He always has a big hug for me after work and I love his hugs!! He is my sweetheart. The day before, we all went down to the mall to eat at our favorite eateries and for some shopping. Overall it was a good day.
Monday, May 4, 2009

New Blog Coming

After much pondering and reflection...I have decided a blog to record my memoirs. It will be copyrighted b/c I don't want to read about it someday in the future and be ripped off LOL So you can read a daily installment (hopefully) of my life growing up in the barrios of Laredo. Enjoy!
Friday, May 1, 2009

Young Women Medallion

Ellison at her table with a powerpoint slide show of her art work. Well on Wednesday Ellison received her Young Woman Medallion from church. It is the equivalent of the Eagle Scout. For four years Ellison has worked on many projects from collecting old cell phones to turn into cash and turn in the money as a donation to a dog shelter, to making a quilt, to making a painting to donate to a nursing home, she has been quite busy. We are proud of the young woman she has become, strong, independent, smart, beautiful, fun, funny, kind hearted, artistic, and in love. We are proud of the good choices she is making now that she is getting ready for college. I know that Heavenly Father has a good plan for her. She is so easy to talk to and will make a great missionary some day (even if she doesn't go on an "official" mission)

The Ants are back!

It seems that maybe I was a little to excited about my conquering those darned ants. They are back. I think the rain may have brought them into my house seeking refuge. Now they are in the gameroom too where Ellison sleeps!! So time to call in the experts. Anyone have a good pest control company to call in McKinney who won't rip me off? I can't remember the name of the company whose guy they sent out last winter. I really liked them.

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