"Schooltime is Here!"

Yes, Emily and now young Zachary have both started their respective schools this week!! Old hat for Emmy since she's been coming here for 5 years. She seems to be enjoying 4th grade pretty good. I met her teacher Ms. Bigam briefly and she seemed nice. Kind of unassuming. Maybe that's a good thing sometimes. But for Zach, this is brand new territory! Cari got him into a pre-k program through a nearby church and so far he's really enjoying it. Ever since he could talk (and subsequently talk non-stop) I always wondered how he would do in an environment where he has to be quiet some of the time. But so far, so good. I really wish I had taken some pictures but Cari took some with her phone. Soon...soon...

Took my external hard drive up to work and organized all of my pictures. Yes, I back them up religiously since Flickr may have some kind of meltdown at any given moment and WHAM! I lose them all. So far they've been the epitome of stability. But you can't predict what will happen. Anyways...this is something that would have taken me forever at home on our dinosaur computer but since work isn't as busy as it has been I have the time to do it. Now every single picture has a name and they're all in their own folder organized by year. Plus, all my collectables have their own folder. That one was the most fun to work one obviously ha ha.

Turns out I was missing some so I had to go to Flickr and get them off of that. I found a program called Downloadr that will download all the pictures in a set at once which saved me even more time! I'm all about economizing time these days. I wonder why. Anyways...I found a few pictures I had forgotten about over the years. If you know me at all, I hate forgetting about anything. Here are a few pictures that amuse me so:

Zach Sleeping

He still has a diaper on! I can't rememebr the last diaper I had to change on him.

Ethan Eating Cake

Look how short his hair was! Now he has this moptop and all I can think about is grabbing a pair of clippers and cutting it Marine-style lol.

Emily eating ice cream

My goodness I can't believe she was ever this small. Where does the time go?

Cari with Zach on his first day

If Zach weren't so small already I'd wonder if he was ever this small. I can still pick him up though.

I've deduced that life is like being on a train going three miles an hour. It never slows down, it never speeds up, it just goes. Be sure to pay attention to everything you see because pretty soon it will pass you by and you don't get it back.



I wish I had figured this out before I turned 30. Most of my 20's was just one wasted day after another. But I'm not regretting it. I know that the meaning of life is to make each day count. Do something for yourself, even if it's just enjoying an ice cream cone or sitting outside and watching the stars. Every day. One thing. You'll be glad you did.

"Love Me Some Amazon!"

Really? A penny?

If that's all we can save by using Amazon.com then there's going to be a lot of unhappy people. Of course, I feel this to be an isolated incident because according to my research, there are a lot of really cool things out there if you have something specific you're looking for. Here are a few items I have added to my wish list for my birthday and/or Christmas:

1. 8.5GB blank DVDs

Now that I can copy and make all my own DVDs, I have a plethora of 4.7GB DVDs that I came into when my grandpa died. Which is fine, but they just don't hold as much as an 8.5GB one. I bought a 25-disc spool a few months ago and I'm down to about 6 or 7. I have requested several 50-pk spools and um...spread the word that this would be an ideal gift.

2. Sports clothing

I have found a lot of cool shirts, hats and sweatshirts of our beloved Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars that I wouldn't mind having. I got some clothes last week at my BFF JCPenney in North Richland Hills near Northeast Mall. They always have wicked sales and deals and I end up getting a lot for around $30. But they don't have the cool items I want. But Amazon does.

3. Everything else!

Baseball cards, CD wallets, books, and Sharpies!

Labour Day is coming up! Via mass e-mail communication, we are trying to have it at Aunt Becky's house, but we don't know if they'll be in town yet. We actually make an attempt to get together on Labour Day and for the last four years it's always been a real fun time. I wish I was better at badminton though ha ha.

"How Bout Them Rangers!"

Yes, our wonderful yet lowly Texas Rangers have an 8 1/2 game lead in the AL West and are all but assured of their first post-season appearance in eleven years! Normally people are fans as long as their team is doing well then fly the coop once the losing starts. But not me. I've always been a Rangers fan, through the good times (18%) and the bad (82%). There have been a few moments in Rangers history I was proud to either be a part of or know about. Here's one:



Isn't that cool! Now I'm not a big fan of physical fisticuffs to solve problems, and it doesn't look like anything got solved here. But man, I doubt Robin Ventura will ever show his face around here again.

Another:

When I was three we were at McDonald's and who happened to be there but the 1977 AL Rookie Of The Year Mike Hargrove. Dad happened to have his trusty camera and took a black n white picture of Mike signing a picture for me. For some reason I don't remember a lot about that day. Except having a hamburger Happy Meal...and there being too many pickles on the hamburger. That I remember crystal clear.

One more?:

1994: Kenny Rogers throws a perfect game and I happened to be there six rows behind the dugout to see all of it. Was so cool! Hadn't celebrated much since Nolan threw his 7th no-hitter. Too bad Kenny became such a jerk that we had no choice but to let him go. What happens when you assault a cameraman doing his job for no reason. Who does that?

It will be interesting to see what happens in October. We haven't had much reason to celebrate this month at the Ballpark In Arlington in over a decade. Will this be our year? Only time will tell. A lot of teams think we have what it takes to win it all. I'd SO be at that parade. Saving sick days helps!!

"Emily Is How Old!?"

NINE!!

I don't believe it either.

My little girl is halfway to being 18 and all I can think is, where does the time go? I still remember the day she was born. The nurses cleaned her up and handed her to me. I was scared to death about being a parent even though I knew I wanted kids since I was a kid myself. She looked up at me and I saw her (at the time) blue eyes and she looked at me like hey, relax, everything's gonna be okay. So much wisdom for one day old.

Ahh, memories...

A few pix from her two-day celebration:

At Olive Garden


Cindy: "This isn't coffee!! Someone gave me General Foods International Brand coffee in a coffee cup!"
John: "Oh who cares! I just found out they don't have cheeseburgers here! And they call themselves an Italian restaraunt."


Jay: "Oh waiter? Garcon`? A little more wine sie vous plais?"
Jack: "Is it just me or is that wine bottle like as big as I am?"
Ethan: "If I pose like this do I look like I belong on Mount Rushmore?"
Me: "Um, sure, you betcha..."

Later back at the house...


I got her some flowers because hey, who doesn't like flowers, right?


The new Miranda Cosgrove CD! I actually bought it like 3 months ago but I figured it would be a better gift then just a random offering.

Then the next week she had a slumber party!


Emily: "Oh my nose!"

Food for thought: them candles is hot.


Yeah, this one will never come back to haunt her ha ha.

One of my favourite memories was waking up early on Saturday with Emmy and going out and going to fun places like downtown and the park. Even as it was happening, I knew we were making some cool memories. Feels weird but pretty neat too. Ask anyone who has grown up kids how fast that time goes and they'll snap their fingers. It really does go by super fast. Good thing I have assorted cameras as well as good ol' Blogger to remember as much of it as I can.