I'm back....

Well...after a long break from blogging, I'm back! First, I just got lazy and then our computer broke. We finally have a new computer that Damien put together last night. Anyways, over the Christmas break, Damien and I made sure to do things with each of the girls by themselves. Here is a picture of Damien and Alyssa going to the Spurs game. Alyssa was glad to go too! Emily really enjoys being taken out to eat because she loves to eat like her mama! She loves to go out for breakfast too. But a two week vacation seemed long enough and we were starting to go a little stir crazy. Then the first weekend after school got back, Emily came down with a little stomach bug. So we stayed at home. Then last weekend the girls had a long weekend off, and we deceided to go try the free H-E-B lodge up in the hill country. You can see the pictures of it here. Well, it was a short but sweet visit! Emily came down with another illness that started with a fever. She threw up all over the car right before we got there. And if anyone knows me very well, I am not much of a camper and am a little picky about where I stay. And of course, an outdoorsy lodge place without a cleaning service isn't where you want to bath your child that just made quite a mess of herself! Then add two finicky vocal girls like Alyssa and Alicia to the mix! Ha! And why in the world would I pack the entire car full of stuff and forget water??? So, after a long night of Emily groaning from a high fever (you can see her in bed in the picture)and the big girls hee hee and ha haing, we woke up explored the area , made some lunch and packed up! When we got home, Alyssa was so crabby she got sent to her room and fell asleep for 3 hours! Then it became clear that she was getting sick too. They both didn't move for a couple of days and then Leanna and I were struck with the obnoxious virus! Leanna and I just laid around in bed and the couch for a few days. Now we are all still recoving with running noses, coughs, etc! Phew. What a week! Tommorow, Alyssa is taking the SAT. They have all the seventh graders that performed well enough on the state exam take it. Oh and here is a picture of my new chicken soup receipe , Italian style from Rachel Ray. Yumm-O!

Holiday break...

Well, Santa came to our house. The girls were all very excited. I think everyone got most of what they asked for so you can't complain about that. Also, thank you to everyone who mailed us gifts - the girls loved them! We still have some gift card shopping to do. We spent Christmas Eve at our next door neighbor's house - Ms. Diane. And we had Christmas Day with the Ales, Cricket and family, and the Ales grandparents (Ron and Kathy). Leanna fell asleep in my arms before her bed time on Christmas Eve! Damien stayed home sick with some stomach bug which then I got and then Alyssa got. And Leanna had to go to the doctor on the 27th for another ear infection! Whew! My 33rd birthday was on the 27th!! Aunt Noel coincedently took the little girls for a sleepover on the 26th (pictures are on her blog) so I had a quiet birthday morning to myself (Alyssa sleeps in anyways)! What a treat! When I came to pick them up all the kids sang Happy Birthday and we had angel food cake with berries! Yum. Then for dinner we had Thai with the Nickersons and Damien got a cake and we sang all over again. Anyways, it is busy with all the kids home for two weeks. Here I have a picture of Emily helping me wash wine glasses. She has been such a good little helper for me this vacation! She also lost her second front tooth so she looks like she is getting older! Alyssa has been seeming to enjoy being home and relaxing! Damien started his new job at HEB today! We hope he likes it!