Parker Ride for Wellness and Bike Rally '08

On Saturday I did about a 30 mile bike ride in arlington. It was so fun, and even a bit exhausting. It was definiatly challenging with all the large hills to climb in that area. What was really cool though was that there were 2 somewhat celebrities amongst us. Jeff Spencer- Olympic cycling medalist and also Lance Armstrongs personal chiropractor, who also by the way has rode with Lance on many occasions. Lead/started our ride. I wish I would've gotten a picture with him! But here he is with his like $5000 bike. :) LOL, I am not sure how much it cost, but he was a really cool dude!

And many of you may or may not know who Jack Lalanne is but he is a an amazingly fit man! He just celebrated his 94th birthday on Friday and when he jumped out of his limo on Sat. morning at 7:30am he acted like his was 21! He is still in great shape and right before he blew the airhorn to get us started he said "What all of you are doing this morning is great, you are taking care of the most important person by excersising." He went on to say more, but his words that morning got me through, hill after tremendously tough hill. Oh, and his wife who looked great as well, is like 80 something.

Here I am right before my ride at about 7:15 in the morning. My feet were killing me while standing on the ground in cycling shoes. And it was pretty chilly that morning. While we were going down hill the wind was whipping my shoulders and I thought I would turn into an icicle. I had the option to do another lap which was about 14 miles, but I decided to stop after 2. By 9:15 my tummy was rumbling and I barely had the energy to go on. Even though I scarfed down a couple pretzals and bananas. I made so many new friends while on this ride. I guess I have some partners for the next ride/race I do.

We all got some pretty cool goody bags with Hats, T-shirts, waterbottles, energy bars, etc. And the best part of all was the yummy oatmeal pancakes at the end (All of our bodies needed it after hours of energy burning bicycling.) There was a live band, tons of people cheering us on it was Amazing! And fun! I can't wait until the next one. Me and Rose

It is amazing how many old-er people ride! Some of them are well into their 60's. But don't under estimate them! I had a few speed past me and I was averaging about 20 miles per hour my whole ride. There were even times I went faster then that. (28-32 mph) This lady ended up being in my group about the whole time. We were in the top middle group. But all in all it was a great ride, and a fun time.

Library Time

Ricky enjoying some computer time at the library.

Ricky has been doing really well at his Friday Library group and story time! It is so fun to watch the little kids dance and sing and do crafts. He really has a lot of fun.

Cake Decorating

I have a new hobby! Cake Decorating. I have been taking a class once a week to learn how to use different techniques of decorating. I have learned to make borders, flowers, how to work with fondant and some other really cool stuff! It has been a lot of fun. I will post more pictures soon.

Kicking Into Routine

(Ricky made a grandparent's Day card)

Story Time @ library Chuck E Cheese Ride

We haven't done much lately, just trying to kick back into our school year routine. I am so not a morning person! These first 2 weeks back to school for Eevie has been so hard for me. I hate, hate, hate waking up early! Last week Ricky & I started back to the library once a week for story time, I was so excited because he is now in the preschooler class! He had such a fun time, singing songs, watching story time, playing on the computer, and making a craft! Last weekend for Labor Day weekend we threw a little gathering, food & drinks, fun. I love having guests over. It is so nice to have people over for a little fellowship time every now and again. We also recently went to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party. The kids had a lot of fun. :) That tops off our week!

Mother's Day Out?

Today was Ricky and my first day back to preschool. We don't have to even leave the house to go to school (for Ricky) and work (for me). Ricky was not a happy camper 90% of the day, he didn't take a nap, and didn't want to participate in any activities. By 6:00pm he was so tired that his body went into panic mode and he was crying and just couldn't keep it together. So at 6:15 I put him to bed and literally as soon as his head hit the pillow he was sleep. I thought that he was faking but he was really sleep. But as far as everyone else, I couldn't have asked for a better 1st day back. I am hoping that the rest of the year goes just as well! I am just so thankful that I have the opportunity to stay home full time, and still make enough money to help out financially and have for my play money.

Yeah for 1st Grade!

Eevie took her *New* Teacher a sweet little first day of school gift. (A candle and a Fancy Ribbon bookmark) and her *Old* teacher a little candle. Monday was Eevie's First Day of School! This year she is in 1st grade. She got the teacher that she was hoping for and everyone that had her last year LOVED her, so hopefully we have the same experience. Once again, she was not excited about starting school, she wanted to stay here with me and Ricky. She is under the impression that all day she is missing out on tons of fun that Ricky and I have without her. That is certainly NOT the case, we don't do a whole lot while she is not here.

On Tuesday I did some "Spring Cleaning" and was clearing out the pantry. Well I put a Fast Food Happy Meal toy on the counter and when she got home she was devastated! "YOU WENT TO CHICKEN REDS WITHOUT ME?!" I was like "Eevie Chicken Reds closed down" She still didn't believe me. She really enjoys school once she gets there and gets into the swing of things. She is really smart and breezes through so far hopefully it stays that way.

Off to Austin

First off, I need to apologize for the terrible quality of my pictures! I don't know what was going on with my camera... I think the batteries were dying. Soooo... Before it was time to go back to school we decided to take a quick trip to visit my husband's sister Sara in Austin. Austin is only about 3 hours away. I am so ashamed to say that it has been 3 years since we have seen them. The last time we saw each other Sara came out to visit us, and this is what our children looked like (Ricky is 9 months and Skylar was 6 months) :

I was a little boo hoo'd to see that Skylar is STILL taller than Ricky! LOL, They had a lot of fun together and it made me really sad that they hardly have seen each other. So all of the adults decided that we would make a little more of an effort to get them together...Afterall we are only a few hours away from each other.

Rick has this thing he does that he knows I hate... When I am taking a picture he will be smiling and looking all photogenic and then by the time the camera flashes he does something like that!

Finally the last 20 min. of the trip he decides to fall asleep!

Our 3 hour trip there was a long one... I have been suffering from really bad migraines lately, and ironically I would get one right when we leave. And of course I would just get prescribed meds, and forget them at home. I beat myself up after the trip about how unpatient I was with my family on our little trip. I was very short tempered which is really not like me. (which I am blaming on the migraine) We did have a lot of fun together though, Sara and Chris treated us to a great Mexican dinner, and the kids had a blast together! Oh... And the BABY!!! He is such a doll! I couldn't hold him very much because my wrist was hurting, but he was the cutest thing. And yes, although I didn't think it would happen I did get a little baby fever, UNTIL... I heard him crying at night. I then was thankful that I didn't have to do that everyday. I get really grouchy without adequate sleep. When Bear (Baby) woke up Ricky jumped right up and screamed out "MOM! MOM! I hear a baby crying!" Rick and I had to tell him to be quiet and go to sleep about 3 times before he stopped repeating his statement.

Brooks is so cute!

Skylar is such a sweetie! She is an average girl... Dressup, tantrums, drama, and of course Bossy! LOL. Oh, she is so funny, the facial expressions she makes when she is talking to you. she is already a little lady! I know what you are all thinking!

Why is Little Ricky wearing a fluffy pink dress!?! Well.. The girls decided that they were going to dress up as pretty Princesses. Once Ricky noticed He wanted to get in on the fun! So he got dressed up too. He was so happy to be like the girls and to be included! When Eevie's friends come over alot of times they decide that Ricky will not be included, so he was really pleased to be a part of the group. Me and Rick thought it was the funniest thing, him prancing around in a pink dress.

I just figured I would make sure to stash this pic in a very important place, so that when Prom comes or H.S. Graduation OR BETTER YET...

HIS WEDDING, I can blow it up and put it on his slideshow! The embarrassement mom's will do to their baby boys! :)

Lazy Me

I will have to post a little more in a couple days, as of now our other computer is down. (the one with all my pics and such) I am on the laptop and it has no pictures of anything exciting on it. The last week I have done much of nothing! I haven't taken the kids swimming or the waterpark due to this nasty thing called "Crypto" that is circulating through the dallas-ft worth metroplex. They recently had a 6 year old die from it. Basically what it is, it is a water born parasite, it causes nasty stomach cramps, diarreah (sp?!), fever, and some other nasty symptoms. And they recently reported a case of it at our nearby waterpark that we go to. Soooo... for awhile we will be doing other things, besides it really has been too hot to swim. I have spent way too much time in front of the TV lately, between watching the Olympics, GO USA! and dvds I am practically glued to the couch. If it wasn't for riding 5 times a week, I would have gained probably 10 pounds. I have recently watched (In the last week) P.S. I love you, Meet the browns, What love is, Be kind rewind, Tons of kid movies, Over her dead body, Cover, Juno, College Road Trip, The great debaters. Some were great! Some were bad, and some were in between! Ok, I am usually a big cry baby anyway, especially when watching movies, but this was a really really sad movie! But it was sooooo Good!!! Classic Love Story!

Oh, ya... I got a new van

Well... As many of you know, we traded "Bertha" Our Silver Honda Odyssey EX for "We haven't named it yet" Blue Toyota Sienna XLE Limited. If any of you have a good car name for this van please submit it in the comment box. (Just click comment and it will take you to the box to leave a comment) I miss my honda, but we upgraded when we bought this one. It is fully loaded with DVD & Navigation System plus it has an automatic hatch and window shades on every row (Which I had Window shades on the Odyssey but not every row. That was something that I definiatly didn't want to get rid of) PLUS a rearview camera and much much more, I can go on all day. The gas Mileage believe it or not is actually a little bit lower on the toyota but I wouldn't think of getting anything other than a toyota or honda right now with the gas prices sky high. We have had it for about 1 1/2 weeks and I am really coming to love the new van, the sun/moon roof especially. The kids always ask mostly after swimming can I open the window in the roof. If you are looking for a new car this is the TIME TO BUY! We got an unbelievable deal on this van. They call this van the Lexus of Vans. If that is true? I don't know but it is nice for our family, plus I love having a van.

Van from our porch

Kids View (already fingerprints all over windows and every touch screen in the van) Very backseat view of inside

Summer Stuff

Summer is winding down... We are trying to enjoy our last few weeks that we have left together. Eevie's Summer ends in 3 1/2 weeks, Me and Ricky have about 4 1/2 more weeks. We have been doing a lot of swimming, relaxing, spending time with great friends and family. It has been VERY VERY hot in the 3 digits the last few weeks. (104, 102, 101...) Nice and Hot.

We went to watch a PPV boxing fight at this very YUMMY Mexican Restaurant!

Cotto Vs. Margarito... We thought Cotto was going to win, Well.... We were wrong, he got KNOCKED OUT! We got Ricky and Eevie a adult plate of Fajita Chicken Nachos to share, Ricky ate 2 nachos and Eevie at the rest!!! I don't know where she puts all that food?! (I know I look like Poop in this picture, I am working my natural locks, no makeup, glasses. Rick told us we were going like 20 min before we needed to leave)

We have spent a lot of time trying to stay cool in this 100 degree weather! Mostly Swimming, Swimming, a little Sprinkler play, and MORE SWIMMING!

Eevie has become a little fish this summer. Once we got back from Cabo she has been swimming all over the place!!! She jumps in, she goes down to retrieve diving sticks, and just skims across the water with such grace! She isn't scared to go in the deep to chase you either. If you didn't know her a few years ago, let's just say what a miraculous turn around.

Field Trip...Kinda Sorta

Last week we spent a day out with Granny & Auntie Cheryl. Since Ricky LOVES trains my mom took us to visit the DFW Shuttle Trains. We had a chance to take a tour around the facilities and had a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes. (Standing Next to my sister makes anyone look fat. Except Eevie LOL) What an interesting place. We also got to see some really big Airplanes crossing the bridge directly in front of the Tram facilities.

They gave me a brochure with a lot of interesting information, that I had planned to put on the blog, unfortunetly I lost it.

My *NEW* Racing Bike!

This is my *new* Bike!!! Yeah!(THANK YOU SO MUCH RICK!) As some of you may know I will be doing a 100 mile Century Ride in November. Basically it is a 100 mile Bike Ride. I love to Cycle. Indoors and outdoors!I am doing it with the Team In Training organization. The luekemia and lymphoma society. Wouldn't it be great if they found a cure for cancer?! I just want to play a part, even if it is tiny in helping them raise money for research and maybe one day find a cure! I would like to do some other local races/rides before then though, to kind of get ready for it all. I plan to write it all, the good, the bad, the funny, and the ugly. Be ready for some really cool pictures of some pretty cool places in the upcoming months of training

Busy Weekend

This was a fun, tiresome weekend... Auntie Dawn's mom was visiting from North Dakota, so we spent a little time with her before it was time for her to go back home. The kids had a blast with her. It seems like they always act a little more energetic when people we don't see often come to visit.?! We went and had all you can eat CiCi's Pizza while she was here. Eevie and Auntie Dawn LOVE the Mac N' cheese pizza. YuCk! Rick and I went and saw the movie Hellboy 2, I thought it was pretty good. It was funny. I like Comic Book movies. It has been a really long time since I have been to the movie theater. I am just not into spending a ton of money to watch a movie I get to see once. The last time I saw a movie in the theater was when Disney Cars came out.

Ricky's Birthday Bike Update

Good News!!! Ricky is finally Riding his bike. Up until the last couple of weeks he would do nothing but walk his new bike. I don't know if he just didn't want to get it dirty or what, but he wouldn't even get on the darn thing. Now he happily rides it up and down the side walk. What an adventure to ride your bike! Now we just need to get Eevie's flat tire fixed and we can take them to the park trials to let them ride their booties off!

Cabo Trip Continued

Now that I have a little extra time, I will fill everyone in on the details of our vacation. I realize that the slideshow was a tad bit...ok Extremely long. I got a little carried away with picture taking while I was there. I took almost 400 pictures!!! Our departing flight out of DFW was delayed over 3 hours. We were supposed to be leaving at 7:00 am and didn't get going until about 10:15. It got to be a little difficult entertaining the kids for 5 hours in the airport. But they did awesome on the plane, no yelling, fighting, and they slept for about 1 1/2 hours. The flight was about 2 1/2 hours and our pilot was really hustling and got us there in about 2 hours, which was great. We were then greeted by our shuttle to the hotel, unfortunetly they didn't fill us in before we left that the taxi company's were in a major strike. Finally after waiting for about 30 min. in desert heat we were on our 45 min. ride to our hotel. We were welcomed by a marachi band, punch/or alcoholic bevs, roses, and tons of smiles and assistance. Our hotel was AMAZING! We stayed in a Jr. Suite, we had wonderful service and yummy food! It was better then we had read about. By the time we got to the hotel we were all starving, so we were off to find food. It got to be a little bit of a tease since we were on a major piece of property, we were smelling food but couldn't find it. LOL, finally we asked someone and settled down for lunch. Basically our first few days were filled with swimming, exploring our hotel grounds, eating, and walking on the beach. A little interesting getting off a plane without a gate. Very long wait for our shuttle. We had such a great view of the arcs from our hotel. The first night we had a lobster dinner!

The buses were interesting... They were old American School buses painted white. Catching a bus was like catching a taxi in NY. You pick a spot to stand out and just wave your hand and if they see you they stop. It was about $0.70 and well worth it since they stopped wherever you wanted. Our boat trip was a little scary. Riding on a small boat in the ocean is nothing like riding a small boat on the lake. The huge waves were hitting the boat and it was rocking all over the place, but the view was very very worth it. We got to see sea lions up close and actually hear them barking, plus we got to see the very very tip of the baja. It was actually the kids favorite thing to do while we were there.

This is someone's $50 Million Boat! See the Heli? Supposedly on this mountain, people like Madonna, Brittney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and a few others own homes. If it is true or not? I donno.

We had such a great time, and I miss it already. So many of the people we came to love while we were there. Ricky seemed to be the star of the vacation. Everywhere we went, I heard "Hi Ricky!" We even got complimented by numerous people while there about how well behaved our children were. We had to do a double take to make sure they were talking about us. LOL The kids absolutely loved the girls in the kids club. They were great with Children and spoiled our kids rotten. I have decided that when I retire I am moving to Cabo. Probably Todos Santos a little town about 30 min. away. A lot of Americans and Canadians have decided to settle down in that small town. I can't think of anything else to add about my vacation at the moment. (My kids keep trying to get my attention so I guess my free time is up) The slide show has plenty of pics on it,If you haven't watched it yet. I think it is kind of cute.

P.S. We saw tons of Cruise ships during our stay stop at the arcs. But this one was very interesting because when they were departing their horn whistled the tune to "When you wish upon a star". It was really neat.

My Kids lived on Junk food. That is what happens when they make Fancy 5 star desserts, and a all you can eat buffet, plus a Chocolate Fountain & Ice Cream Bar!!!

Our last day there I got really sick from food poisioning maybe? Any way, we had to go to Walmart to get Meds, but I was way too sick & weak to walk so Rick pushed me. Thanks Rick!!! I am actually still recovering even over a week later.