International Festival

Our school does a wonderful International Festival. There are so many nationalities represented. Families are so proud to share their heritage, food and stories. We look forward to this attending this event every year!

Game On!

Maggie had her 1st volleyball game of the season. It was a good start...the Comets won all the games. It's a good little team. There are only 6 players (1 quit and moved to another team) and all but 1 go to school with her. With such a small team Maggie is sure to get a lot of game play!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

We celebrated Chinese New Year at Vietopia with 4 other families. Our table was way too loud and annoying...even for New Years. The children had fun and the dragon dancers were spectacular as always. May everyone prosper this Year of the Ox!

Unbelievable!

Rosie has grown quite a bit in 4 weeks. I stand by my original prediction..."She's gonna be GREAT!"

Love Thursday

I happened onto these beauties at Cyclone Anaya's in Midtown last weekend and couldn't pass them up without taking a quick photo...

Flag Raising

I just happened to walk by the office this morning and caught the flag raising!

breakfast blues

Maggie isn't really big on breakfast. So this week I made her apple cinnamon muffins to keep her from starving through the Stanford testing...

Diane's 40th

Happy Birthday, Diane! It's hard to believe the last 30 years of knowing you has gone so fast...I've known you for 3/4 of my life! Thanks for letting me borrow your spelling words in 5th grade!

Catch of the Day

Today was a pretty low key day. Maggie had a friend spend the night last night so we woke up and all had breakfast and then strolled around the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market. We saw the usual fare and ended up coming home with a few goodies. We also saw an old friend. We took Rosie and as usual...she was the main attraction. Later, Ian and I did a few things around the house...replaced all our patio lighting and started building our new garden. Maggie ended up going to the movies with another friend and Ian and I got to go out to dinner! Nice day.

Finally

The side fence that blew down during Ike finally went up...and Clementine is thankful to go outside again!

Love Thursday

Sometimes I'm not even looking. These are part of an arrangement one of my students recently brought me.

I'm pooped...

Three meetings after school, Maggie to church choir, a stop at the pediatrician for a quick x-ray (thank God our doctor is open until 9:00pm!), dinner...and still made it to the YMCA for an hour on the dreaded elliptical machine. I'm worn out!

*** Maggie is fine. No broken bones. She told me she fell in a hole on the school playground which resulted in a painful, blue knot on her knee.

It's volleyball season again...

I see someone else who should think about joining the team!

New season, new team, new coach. We are on a small team this year which means more play for the girls. Maggie really likes her coach... she's a senior at Lamar and plays all the sports. She's very sporty and makes the practices fun. Regardless if we win or lose, it looks like a positive experience.

Yes We Can!!

The party is over...

...and I am the only one still awake! Why in the world did I think it was okay to drink coffee after sundown?

Nosy Rosie!

What happens when you ignore your puppy for too long in the backyard while you are inside drinking with your friends? I'll tell you...they get into the hot grease dripping from the grill! Darn...right after a bath, too! Rosie was a MESS and had to get bath #2. She still smells yummy!

More Celebrating...

Today Ian went to the Rockets game with a friend and afterwards his wife joined us all at our house for dinner. Who can pass up another reason to have more cake? It happens to be Lee's 39th birthday tomorrow...so there you go! Despite being a school/work night a great time was had by all. Thanks for coming over Lee and Mary!

Happy Birthday, Ian

Another birthday at the Phillips house! We ate dinner at Maria Selma last night with good friends. We NEVER go out without our kids...so this evening was a big treat for everyone!

Sacred Sunday

View from our backyard...

A bit of respite!

Thank you Aunt Karen for the spa pedicure! I decided to redeem it yesterday. I especially loved the massage chair! My OPI color of choice today was Cajun Shrimp. :-)

That's Love!

Don't those look delicious? I got up this morning and thought I'd make Ian a pre-birthday surprise...homemade biscuits from scratch! They were looking so good to me I quickly added cheese and jalapenos (that's what Ian would love...not me!) to the dough...so my low-carb diet wouldn't be ruined! I'm down 14lbs. :-)

Grand Torino

I'm not usually a huge Clint Eastwood fan but I liked his newest movie, Grand Torino. I had a movie gift card ready to burn and Maggie was off having fun at her Grandmother's house...what a cheap date!

Ian and I tried to see the movie last night but it was CRAZY crowded. So much so...we had to turn away and go home. To make the movie tonight, we had to leave the house an hour earlier than the start time! Ian said, "This is like going to the airport!"

At one point in the movie I got a sweet text from Maggie that said, "Good night, Mommy. I love you." And she included a photo of herself. I'm so glad I gave her that phone! No regrets. I LOVE that she knows she has contact with me at all times. I pray the feeling will last...

Trees for Sale!

Maggie is at her great-grandma Marion's in Crosby this weekend. She wanted to go down there before volleyball season starts up next week.

This morning we got up and went to the Urban Harvest fruit tree sale at Rice University. We were not expecting the huge lines...wrapping halfway around the stadium! Luckily we brought the wagon to haul our purchases back to the truck! The wait was not bad. We had nice people to talk to and Rosie was attracting an obnoxious amount of attention! Sometimes it's hard to be anonymous with a "Marley" looking dog!

Although there were literally thousands of trees for sale, we only ended up with one Satsuma. I've been wanting one for years. I'm excited to finally have one of my own!

You want to hear something weird? I recognized someone I didn't even know...right away. What a freak I can be sometimes...I felt like a stalker. Anyway, I follow her blog. She seems like a really nice person!

*** I experimented with using pictures taken with my phone...

S-T-E-T-H-O-S-C-O-P-E

I would have not chosen for Maggie to be in the spelling bee...too much pressure for her. As fate would have it, she won her class bee which qualified for her to go on to the big school one. We were given the test booklet when we let out for the Christmas break...all 1,006 words! I just prayed Maggie wouldn't draw #1 for participant order and worse, be the first publicly booted off the stage! As luck would have it, Maggie drew #1. She was first to introduce herself and do a practice word. She refused to get up...it was gut wrenching to watch! She finally got up and did great. She ended up going through 3 rounds. She lost on an easy one...stethoscope. We skipped studying that one...Ian thought she knew it. In the end, Maggie had a good time and hopes to have a chance next year! I'm thankful for a positive experience!

Love Thursday

Report card time

Despite Maggie turning in a journal entry that was considered vomit...she does pretty well. All her A's improved from last grading cycle, she has all E's and perfect attendance. No worries!

That's harsh!

One of Maggie's classes is really tough...she does pretty well and it is not a concern of mine. I looked the other way when I saw this comment on one of her papers!

Oh, my...

You may not be able to tell from the picture...but Rosie has doubled in size. We should be alarmed...it's only been 2 weeks! We love her and are thankful we found her...she has an adorable personality. She still doesn't want to leave our house to go walking. The minute she sees the leash she gets a terrible stubborn attitude going...I can't believe we have a lazy puppy! Who knew that even existed!!!

Sacred Sunday

I have ceramic crosses from a trip to San Antonio embedded into the mosaic back splash behind our stove.

When Ian and I were first married we went to a different church. We stayed through my pregnancy and even had Maggie baptized there. It was very anonymous. We dutifully went every week and sort of got something out of it...we thought. After a while, I felt in my heart there was something missing but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. When Maggie was 4 I was asked to be the Godmother of my best friend's baby. It was at Palmer and I had to go to a few meetings to fill my obligation. I was hesitant...I didn't want to go to there. I hadn't stepped foot in that church since the day of my 1st marriage...what a disaster. To our surprise, the day of the baptism changed our life. We knew instantly what was missing. There was a connection. We made new friends. We had support. We have a great place to raise Maggie. All of us are involved in various ministries to help others. Maggie is in choir. Her girl scout troop meets there. Their support was unconditional. I found that out when I got sick. We are loved. What we felt in that one service made it clear we were home. We love our church family.

It's that time of year...

Maggie made posters and sign-up sheets for my faculty lounge at school and daddy's lunch room at the news station. We'll sell only to our block again and probably a few cookie booths. She has a lot of fun selling...I HATE delivery/money collection time! At any rate...let's see if I can stay away from the Thin Mints...they are LOADED with carbs!!!

What's cookin?

Ian is baking bread again! Too bad I am on a LOW-CARB diet! Oh well, I've lost 9 pounds...I'll stop complaining! It smelled good...

I killed it!

The good news...I FINALLY took the tree down. Maggie was worried we would have a Valentine tree. That has happened before! The bad news...I dropped my favorite ornament on the ground.

Clementine's World

Poor Clemy. His world has been turned upside down and he is not the only beloved pet in the house anymore. He knows that now. Our hope is that Rosie and Clemy are the best of friends (Pyrenees are supposed to LIKE cats) but right now they just chase each other around the house and sniff each other...that's a start.

Love Thursday

I just happened to catch this reflection on our deck at just the right time...it was gone 5 minutes later!

1st day back

How cute is that? Maggie tucked her "guys" into bed before leaving for school!

Today was the 1st day back to school for teachers and students...I had to go back yesterday. I really enjoyed the time off from school but it was a good day to start. The kids were well rested and ready to work and I started the first day of my diet and exercise...I've got a LONG way to go!

The celebration continues...

Good friends had a 40th birthday party for me today. What better way to celebrate than with my closest friends! The kids enjoyed destroying the gingerbread house, playing Wii and cooking up a little birthday surprise. I enjoyed the festivities, fire pit and wine!

Hot Stuff!

Ian is LOVING his crop of tomatoes. He is always making his own hot sauce...he says it's even better with your own homegrown tomatoes. I wouldn't know because it is TOO hot! This batch is green because of the many jalapenos and cilantro used. His pepper plants are still going strong from last summer.

Petfinder.com

This is the photo on petfinder.com that started it all...

These lovely girls are Rosie's sisters that we had to leave behind. They just as wonderful as our girl and still need a home! Hint, hint, hint.

Rosie's 1st day home

We discovered Rosie LOVES to be indoors and to be with her new family! She HATED her crate last night and was sure to let us know! Our job is to find a way to make her crate more inviting and cozy. She's also not so keen on leaving the perimeter of our house to go on a walk. Maggie is carrying her a house or two away and running back home with her. Hopefully, this will get her on track for taking future walks! She passes Maggie's field test...she puts up with playing baby!

Love Thursday

Meet Rosie

We traveled all the way to Trinity, Texas to rescue this cutie. She is a yellow lab and Great Pyrenees mix. We think she is 2 months old. She has an adorable personality and we already love her! We hope this year brings us better luck with puppies...