Well hello there!

Maybe I'm a bit biased because I'm his Aunt, but is this one good lookin' kid or what? By the way, I'm starting to see more of his Daddy in him now. He has these LOOOOONG eyelashes just like his Daddy. But from the nose down, he's ALL Mama! ;) And just FYI, he's now 9 weeks old!

Happy Thanksgiving

More updates on the dining room....

View of the dining room from our kitchen. Richard bought us a cheap table with a granite top. He got it off of Craig's List. The guy wanted a trade for our laptop. DONE. We will be upgrading with a newer laptop in the future!


This is the left side of the dining room.


This is the church in St. John (where my dad grew up). I took a picture of it, turned it into B&W and printed it as an 11X14 and then framed it with a mat around it. Easy and artistic, right?

The right side of our dining room. The walls look really orange in these pictures, but they are actually a dark brick red. I think the light fixture and the painted ceiling makes it appear much lighter than it really is. It looks much better in person! ;)

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Look who came to visit me this weekend.....

Can you believe he's already 8 weeks old? I wish he could have helped out his Red Raiders tonight. :(

There's still some good in the world.....

I called my mother-in-law last night. She said the night before that she, my sister-in-law, and my niece and nephew all decided to treat themselves by eating at Red Lobster. This is something that they don't do very often because when they do eat there, I usually hear about it in some way soon enough.

They indulged and had a very nice meal. It ended up being pretty pricey at about $70 or so, but my MIL said that she didn't care. She said that for some reason, she did notice a man at another table with some friends/family, but didn't really pay close attention.

She should have.

The man got up and left with his group. When it was time for my MIL to pay for their meal, the waiter said, "It's all taken care of. The man at that table paid for your meal before he left."

WOW.

They have no idea who he was. They have no idea why he did it. My nephew is 11 years old and is in a wheelchair and has CP, so I don't know if he did it for reasons like that or not.

But they were shocked and pleasantly surprised.

So I still have faith that there are good people in the world. I still believe that there are angels out there.....near and far.

And as MIL got into the van to go home, this song was playing.

Chills.

Church tales....

I take the girls to church regularly and really can't complain about their behavior. They are very good. What works for us is sitting about 3 to 4 rows from the front because Maeve insists on seeing everything that goes on. She behaves better too that way. She has no choice.

I bought Kyra a little prayer book in addition to the one that she already has. This one is bigger and geared for kids her age. Since she's preparing for her 1st Reconciliation in January and her 1st Holy Communion in May, I decided to try and let her learn as much as possible. She attends Religious Education on Monday nights, but one hour a week isn't enough in my book. So we talk a lot about it here at home.

So yesterday Kyra proudly takes her book to church and Maeve has to hop on that bandwagon too, so she took a book as well.

Maeve still thinks that the priest's name is Jesus. She hasn't gotten that concept down yet. It's just funny to hear her say, "Look Mommy, there's Jesus!" whenever she sees a priest.

The other weekend at church, Maeve noticed the big round Host that the priest receives. When he held it up, Maeve says loudly, "Mommy, that looks like a tortilla!" Oy.

Since we do sit so far up at the front, when it's time to give the Sign of Peace, the girls get out of our pew and walk around to others and shake hands. Last night, I had them walk all the way up to the front row where the Eucharistic Ministers were sitting to shake their hands. I think they got a kick out of that.

Their favorite part of the Mass is singing the "Alleuia". I've never heard two little girls sing so loudly! hehe!

I have told Richard time and time again that if something ever happens to me, he is to take these girls to church and make sure they receive their sacraments ON TIME. That's all I ask of him.

Isn't she beautiful?

2nd grade....Fall '08. I love my Kyra!

He got what he deserved....

Heard about this this morning.

Good.

That's all I have to say.

I've been silent long enough....

I usually DO NOT want to bring up things like this because I like to keep my blog free of such harsh issues, but because I'm so damn angry about it, I have to vent.

I'm hurt, sick, and upset about all of the racist texts and emails that I've been receiving about our President-Elect. It really saddens me that such an issue still exists in our world today. Here we are, generations later, and racial tensions and slurs STILL exist. I don't get it. I do not understand why people are so ignorant. African-Americans are people just like you and I. Only they struggle to just be themselves because they are looked down upon all of the time....all because of the color of their skin. There are no words to describe how utterly sick I feel about this.

My dad is one that talks badly about them and I have BEGGED him to NEVER mention that talk to my girls. They should NOT have to hear someone that they deeply trust and care about say such hurtful things. I want to teach my girls that color doesn't matter. We are all equal in the eyes of God, so why shouldn't we be equal in each others' eyes?

Kyra's best friend is half African-American. She's also adopted and I think that makes her even more special. She comes over to our house several times a week. In fact, tomorrow evening, I'm taking her and my girls to see a movie. I love her to pieces. Kyra and Maeve adore her. Do I even think about her color? HELL NO! It doesn't matter. She's a person just like you and me. She should NEVER be discriminated against.

I guess since we live up here around Austin, we are more aware of different cultures. I have very unique people that come into the gyms and into my classes and I embrace each and every one of them for who they are. Most of them are very interesting to me and have such great stories to tell. I think that having them in this world just makes it that much better.

And I didn't want to mention this either, but both Richard and I voted for Barack Obama. I sat down and seriously took a look at all of the issues and where I stood on them. And I agreed with most of what he wants for our country. I voted for him because I believe that he will do a great job as President. I never even considered the color of his skin. I bet half of you ignorant people out there don't even know that Obama's mother is Caucasian. Yep, she's as WHITE as you and I.

So please stop all of the hurtful nonsense. It's bad enough that you send it, but it's worse that you are having a racial influence on your children. Because yes, they will grow up with the same beliefs that you have and the cycle with never end. There doesn't have to be racism in the world. Let it stop with you!

And let's ALL get behind our new President and support him for the next 4 years!

PS- Did you know that Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa was a continent. Seriously? Now that's ignorance!

Grocery store conversations....

This conversation is happening as we are wandering down aisles picking up items. Usually, Maeve sits in the basket, but today she didn't. She and Kyra walked beside me the entire time.

Kyra: "Maeve, don't step on a crack or you hurt your mama's back."

Maeve: "Ok!"

Kyra: "Maeve, you stepped on a crack! Mommy, does your back hurt?"

After a short pause....

Kyra: "Maeve, that's ok. I stepped on a crack and hurt mommy's back one time."

Maeve: "I've done it two times..."

Lord! Will these two ever shut up? First of all, Kyra did say "hurt" instead of "break", so that's a plus. And don't even get me started about the guy in dreads that we saw. Maeve yelled, "Mommy, look at that guy's hair!" Needless to say, we quickly shuffled off to another aisle. Oy.

These kids kill me. Never a dull moment!

And for those that are wondering, my back woes of the last 2 1/2 months are so much better. Lisa and Nate suggested some strengthening exercises for me and they are WORKING!

Hehe!

Go here!

This is a blog of a local DJ here in our area. He asked for a list and I delivered! I'm still in disbelief. It's weird to see me on his blog! Richard is still giggling in the shop!

Maeve isn't so popular right now....

Kyra wrote this the other day about Maeve. I think she's tired of her antics. If you can't read what she wrote from right here, click on the pic. I purposefully didn't resize it to be too small to read.

Oy!