THE WEEK FROM...SNOW

This week started off as every normal week does. My how quickly did that normal week change. Being a teacher you always anticipate the use of your bad weather days. As much as I would love to be off and have a lazy day, you hate to use them. I always look forward to those wonderful days off in the spring when we can get out and have some fun. As I left work on Monday, I knew it was possible for it to be bad, but I guess I just didn't expect it to be what it was. I didn't even bring a thing home with me, with the hopes of going to work the next day.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning:

We were woken up on Tuesday morning by the sound of thunder and sleet hitting the window. That was around 3:30, so I new at that point I was hoping for a delayed start. Well, was I wrong. That last for several hours. I rolled over around 5:15 and checked my phone for the update that school had been called off. I turned off my alarm and then went back to sleep. I have to admit, it was nice to get to sleep in. Jack was also trapped at home with us, because the city litterally shut down. It was crazy. We stayed at home and played all day and Jack worked. We had lots of fun. By that night, we were going a little crazy, and school had already been called again. We headed over to the Abraham's house to hang out. Well, from there things started to go down hill. As we arrived back home we found our garage door wide open. Due to the ice build up, the garage had been open the whole time we were gone. That sent a little panic through me. Then, as we entered the house and put Maggie to bed we started to smell gas. So, on a gas hunt we went. All to discover our pretty little fire place pilot light went out. I guess the wind was so hard, it blew out the flame. After our first problem was solved, off to bed we went.


Wednesday:
It has been so cold here that everyone has used so much heat and energy. So someone decided somewhere that they would wake everyone up in the state of Texas with these things called rolling black-outs. Well, in our house that meant taking out our electricity, heat and us smelling gas yet again. So, we quickly loaded up the car and headed over to the Saavedra's house. Jack came back home and met the McKinney fire department to discover something was out on our downstairs unit. So, the solution to fixing it was to turn the unit off. Well, it didn't get above 22 that whole day. We stayed at the Saavedra's for the day and played while Jack worked. The Abraham's came over as well, so we all hung out and had such a good time. We did head home around dinner time to start getting ready for the evening and to see what school had in store for me. To my surprise, it was called again. This is crazy. We have never been 3 days free from school. After that, we cooked dinner in our gloves and ate dinner at Maggie's little table upstairs. The upstairs temp was nice and cozy, so we just settled in for the night.

Thursday:
Jack headed into work, and Maggie and I packed up quickly and went and hung out at the Abraham's for the day. We were greeted with breakfast and lots of fun toys to play with. Maggie was in heaven. Around 11, the heat guy came and fixed our heat. We were back in business. Maggie and I stayed over and played all day at the Abraham's. We even stayed for night number 2 of dinner. It was a great time. We did make it home to put Maggie to bed and give Jack a little time to work and for me to find out that school would be closed for yet another day. This is just crazy!! Who knew what we would wake up to on Friday!

Friday:
Well, we have several friends and family that live in Houston. All day I had been reading about how they were bracing for a bungh of ice and snow. Well, I think they only go ice. We got all the snow. 6+ inches. My boyfriend, Pete (from channel 8,) told us a light dusting was expected. Well, he was real wrong. So, Jack tried to head into work, and came back quickly. The snow was so deep, so he couldn't get out of the driveway. He waited an hour and out he went. Since he went to work, we headed back out to the Abraham's for a day of fun. The Saavedra's came over and we played in the snow, and hung out. We basically lived at the Abraham's that day.
I didn't take my camera, so I stole this from my friend Jenny's blog. All the kids playing in the snow. (Maggie, Jonathan,Michael, and Will)

Maggie loved going up the hill and rolling down. She even made a snow angel after Michael taught her how.

She loved tossing up the snow and watching it fall down. It dumped all over her face here.

Maggie got put in time out for not sharing her toys. Will, always ran and hung out with her in time-out. We would try to get him to move, but he would just go right back. What a supportive friend.

The mess that we continued to clean up. Why we didn't just let them make it and continue on.


(Thanks Jenny and Stacy for your pics.)



Saturday:
Jack was so nice to get out of bed and go get Maggie as she woke up on Saturday morning. As I snuggled back under the covers, he busted in the door and asked me to get up. I rolled over and looked at Maggie's face. It was bright read, and her body was covered with a rash from head to toe. I quickly called the Dr. office to leave a message, but to my surprise the Dr. answered. Dr. Swartz immediately knew what it was. Maggie had been on an antibiotic for her bronchitis and and ear infection. So, he said she had an allergic reaction to it. He was very nice and got us some medicine to get her back into shape. We didn't let that stop us, so we headed out the door to Walmart to grocery shop and to get her all fixed up. Later that night we decided we had not spent enough time with the Saavedra's and the Abraham's, so we had them all over for dinner and Wii bowling. The kids have really enjoyed this time and we had a lot of fun.
The kids table at dinner on Saturday.


Sunday:
Today was a great day. We got out, went to lunch and are now home watching the Super Bowl. I am really anxious to see how this week goes. After being gone from work for 4 days, I don't know if I know how to do my job, or even get out of my jammies! Wish us luck!


What a wonderful time I got to spend with my friends and my family! I know I will never get anything this priceless every again! What a great week. Wish me luck on going back to work. I don't know if I remember how to do my job, or even get out of my jammies!

PICTURE POST

I can't believe January is almost over. Here are some pictures to keep you up to date on our happenings. We haven't done a whole lot, but it sure seems as if we have. Hope everyone is having a great start to this new year.

Maggie's friend Will got a bounce house for Christmas. We got to go and enjoy a little bounce. I can't wait until this spring when they can really enjoy it.

Maggie went to our good friends the Tillers boys birthday party. It was at The Little Gym. She had so much fun.

As many of you know we got a lot of snow a few weeks ago. Here is Maggie in the snow. At one point she was up to her waist. She loved it though!

We hung out with our friends the Abrahams and played! It was fun.

BACK TO WORK I GO, BACK TO WORK I GO!

I know this pic is from last year of Maggie, but I had to post it. This is how I am feeling about the long break being over. I got into the job of teaching for several reason, one of which was to be off with my kids on breaks. No one ever told me it would be so hard to walk away from Maggie. We have so much fun, but dropping her off tomorrow morning will be very hard. I guess what I have to get me through will be the fact that I have Spring Break right around the corner. I have really enjoyed the time with her the past two weeks!


Happy 2011!

TOUR de CHRISTMAS...AS PROMISED

We had a very busy Christmas this year. We hit the ground running and had lots to do and lots of people to visit.

First stop... Houston, Texas for a Martin family visit. (Jack's family)

Our family photo. Maggie's 3rd Christmas..

Maggie had so much fun with her cousins in Houston. Kate, Max and Caroline were so excited to see her as well. The girls had so much fun making memories together.


Maggie's favorite gift #1 - her pillow pet. She rode all the way back to Dallas with her pillow in her lap. It would fall on the floor and she would say, "My pillow pet, my pillow pet."


Maggie loved unwrapping gifts this year. It as fun watching her get excited when a gift was for her. What a difference a few months makes. On her birthday she didn't care that much, but she loved it!


Next stop.... Home

We got up early Christmas morning to head home. We made a quick stop by home so Maggie could open up her gifts this year. She got some princess dresses and a tricycle. She loved the princess dress so much that she wore it everywhere for the rest of the day. She got princess shoes from Aunt Amy and Uncle T and loves to put them on with her dress. I see many princess parties in our future.


Next stop... Angie's house

We made a stop by my sister Angie's house to visit and play with them. Maggie and Brayden always have so much fun playing. One day baby Lyla (the newest cousin for Maggie) will enjoy playing as well. It was a nice visit with my mom, Angie, Josh, Brayden, and Lyla.


Last stop... Amy's house

The beauty of having divorced parents is all the fun you have over the holiday. We made our final stop for the night with my dad's side of the family. My sister Amy has hosted Christmas at her house for a while now. It is always a crazy good time. Santa stopped by for a visit. It is always so much fun. Once again, Maggie was not excited. She would not get out of my lap the whole time. One day, she will grow to love Santa. He brings gifts for all the kids, so it is so much fun to see what he comes up with! This is the cousin picture for this family. We are missing Robby who went missing in action.


We had a great, but busy and fast Christmas. We finished up Christmas 2010 with my mom on Sunday by going to breakfast. It was nice just to sit and let someone wait on us. We officially put Christmas away yesterday. It is always sad, but we have so many fun memories to remember it by!

I hope that each and everyone of you had a fantastic Christmas.

MORE PRE-CHRISTMAS FUN...

I have not updated my pictures from Christmas yet, but as soon as I do I will make my Christmas post. For now, I am posting some more pre-Christmas fun.

Last Monday we went and met my friend Sarah, her husband Matt, and their sun Brody who were in town from California. My friend Janet and her husband Anthony and daughter Maddie were there as well. It was such a fun time catching up and laughing. We haven't seen Sarah and Matt in over a year. It was fun to just hang out and let the kids play. Here is a picture of the three kids sitting on the bench outside. This is my pic, but I am sure someone got a better one. It is so fun seeing these kids grow up.



On Tuesday we had part of my family over for dinner. It was fun. After dinner the kids all made a rice crispy house. It was so much fun to watch them decorate. Maggie just kept eating the candy. She had so much fun.





The rest of the week we just spent wrapping presents and getting ready for our trip out of town. I can't wait to share all about our Christmas with you. Until then....

SILLY ORNAMENT..

You see this silly ornament that now hangs on my tree? I received it as part of a gift I received from a coworker. I had all intentions of "regifting" it, but today it hit me. This silly ornament now has a real purpose.

Today would have marked the 38th birthday for my brother Allen. Many of you remember that almost 5 years ago he was tragically killed in a dirt bike accident. Growing up we have always celebrated Christmas traditionally, but we always got together to celebrate my brother as well. My step mom has always done a good job of celebrating your birthday on your birthday. She did just that with Allen. In the middle of all the hustle and bustle and last minute shopping we always stopped as a family and got together to celebrate Allen.

Today, I am stopping to celebrate Allen. Allen was a huge out doors kind of person. We always played in the creek, rode our bikes, went to the lake, and he loved to fish. I am hanging this crazy fish on my tree as a celebration to him! Allen the fish will forever have a place in my heart.



Happy 38th birthday Allen. We will always love and miss you! Your memory will always be remembered.

CAN YOU FORGIVE ME?

Okay, can you forgive me for my lack of posting? This year has been the craziest year of my life. I am working so hard, that I just have not had the time to post things. It makes me pretty sad, because I'm not documenting the parts of Maggie's life. She has grown so much and just does the funniest things. Maggie and I have had the opportunity to spend the past few days together and it has been so much fun. We have had a busy time since her 2nd birthday. Now, we are at Christmas and the year is almost over. Before I know it she will be 3. Here are some picture post to keep you updated! Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! I promise I will do better in 2011!

Maggie with her cousins at Thanksgiving.


Maggie and her crazy daddy in their mask


Maggie and her cousin Maddy at her other cousins birthday party


Maggie's santa picture


Maggie at mommy's favortie place, Chuy's!!!


Our new Christmas tradition: lunch at Chuy's then the trains at Northpark! Lots of fun.


On Sunday we also had our annual friend gift exchange. We meet at the Saavedra's house and opend up gifts with Jonathan, Michael, and Will. We all went to Babe's for dinner. It was a fun time even with 4 kids. After dinner we hit up Frisco Fire Safety Town for the tour of lights. It was so much fun. The kids loved everything. The fire truck in the last picture was the biggest hit!








We have lots more fun ahead! Again, I wish everyone a very happy holiday!