Debt and Taxes

So there was a news story on the way to school this morning about President Obama's speech last night regarding his proposed health care plan and how much it would cost over 10 years. Of course, it was a grotesquely large number, but as adults we have unfortunately become so immune to such large numbers with regards to our government's spending habits that I didn't really think much about it. Then, from the back seat, the following conversation begins (summary)...

Alli: Mom, does Barack Obama make a lot of money?
Sharla: Well, he makes more money than most people, but not a whole lot for the responsibilities he has. Why?
Alli: Well, how does he have enough money to pay for what they were talking about?
Sharla: Well, he doesn't, and that's the problem. He will either have to borrow it or charge more for taxes.
Alli: What's taxes?
Sharla: Well, when Mommy and Daddy go to work, we don't actually get to keep all of the money we earn. The government keeps part of it to use to pay for things like this.
Alli: Well, what about people that don't work or make money?
Sharla: Basically, they don't pay taxes.
Alli: WHAT? That's not fair!

She was pretty perterbed and rambling about the whole taxes thing at this point, and I was trying to explain that it's necessary for people to contribute in order for things like roads and schools that we use everyday, but some people have to contribute a larger percentage than others and some don't contribute at all. Unfortunately, the conversation had to be cut short because we had arrived at school so we will have to finish later this evening. It could be interesting to see what she has to say after she has had time to simmer on the issue all day. I sent her teacher an email warning her that Alli may want to discuss the topic but didn't have all the information as of yet. Anyway, I just found it very interesting that she was 1) actually paying attention to what was being said 2) insightful enough to realize that they were talking about A LOT of money and wondering who was going to pay for it 3) got to see a real life application of the fact that life isn't always fair. Too bad not all adults can think on the level of a 1st grader I suppose.

Alli's Kindergarten Graduation

On June 3 Alli graduated from kindergarten at South Bosque Elementary School. We were thrilled to have survived the year! Part of the program for the graduation ceremony included the kids performing some songs and poems that Ms. Flowers, their music teacher, had taught them. Alli's favorite was a song to the tune of "New York, New York." It went something along the lines of "Start spreading the news...We're leaving today. We want to be a part of it...1st grade, 1st grade." We videotaped it so I may try to upload a clip of that song if possible. After the kids performed and walked across the stage to receive their "diploma"/certificate, they had a reception with cookies, cupcakes, and punch in the gym for everyone to take final pictures, etc. We went ahead and warned Alli's teacher that she only had 4years to get ready for Madi's arrival, and then we proceeded to Mazzio's (Alli's favorite) to have a pizza lunch with Nana and Billy and Theresa.

Waiting in line to receive the diploma...



Alli and her friend Ella



South Bosque Kindergarten Class of 2009...



At the reception with Mommy & Daddy & Nana

Slip n Slide Fun

We bought a Slip n Slide early in Summer for the girls to play on at home. Nearly every time we set it up, we attract quite a few kids from the neighborhood. James has even gotten in on the act to show the kids how it's done a couple of times...hmmm, could that have contributed to his back problems? Anyway, on this particular night, it was just Alli and Madi, and we were able to take a few pictures of them playing in the water after sliding for awhile.

Just Clowning Around

Alli decided to try out an activity she saw on a TV show and decorate a box in order to use it for imaginary purposes. We gave her a box and some crayons and markers, and she was having a great time...until Madi wanted in on the action. We didn't have any more boxes so we had to improvise. We used a laundry basket and gave her some paper inside and washable crayons. Some of the crayon marks were on the basket instead of the paper, but it wiped clean pretty easily, and everyone was happy.

Updates Coming...I Promise

Well, I got the blog somewhat caught up and then I let it get behind again. I've got lots of updates on Alli's kindergarten graduation, a wedding, and a trip to the beach in addition to some other items, and I hope to get those loaded sometime this week...maybe :)

Easter 2009

Easter began a little early this year with egg hunts at Alli's school and Madi's daycare on Thursday.

Alli's class had an Easter party and then went outside for an egg hunt with a twist. Each child had to bring 12 candy-filled eggs earlier in the week. The room moms took each set of eggs and numbered them 1-12 and then mixed them. During the party, the parents went and scattered the eggs. The kids then had to find 12 eggs each, but the catch was that they had to find the 12 eggs in numerical order. For example, they couldn't have two #3's or they couldn't pick up a #5 egg before they found a #4 egg. I thought it was a pretty cute idea, encouraged them to use their numbers, and took a little longer than everyone racing out and grabbing as many eggs as possible.

"Hmmmm...is that a 6 or a 9?"

Alli and I left South Bosque after her party and went to Madi's class at Central Faith for her Easter party and first Easter egg hunt. After the class ate their treats, they headed out to the playground for lots of eggs. Unfortunately, though, Madi's first egg hunt didn't go that well. As Alli was excitedly trying to show Madi all the eggs and get her to pick them up, I was videotaping and taking pictures like crazy so that everyone that couldn't be there could see it later. Well, I guess I should have been paying attention to what I was actually taking pictures of because she figured out pretty quickly that there was something in that plastic "ball" as she calls it and got the egg open before I realized it, and of course it contained chocolate (specifically against the rules sent home by the school I might add...grrr). Anyway, so she proceeded to squeeze the little foil covered chocolate that had been sitting there roasting in the sun for 30 minutes prior to the egg hunt. Well, you can probably guess what happened next. All the watery chocolate squished all over her hand...which really got her attention so then she grabbed the brown mess with the other hand. If one hand is good, two hands covered in brown goo would be really cool, right? In addition, while switching hands, part of the chocolate dropped on the ground and she stepped in it so we now had chocolate on both hands and at least one shoe. At this point I'm hollering for Alli to come help me because I had a camera and a video camera in my hands that I didn't want to put down to be trampled because there were people everywhere in this little playground. Alli did the natural thing and grabbed the chocolate from Madi, and then they both had it all over their hands. Arghhhh!! Fortunately, one of the teachers had a box of tissues and saw our dilemma so she brought those over and we began cleaning up the mess, but by this time, all the eggs were swiped up and there wasn't much left to look for. Oh well... Madi didn't care one way or the other and was as happy as she could be because at least part of the chocolate ended up in her mouth as she licked her fingers during the chaos.

"Which way are the eggs?"

(Yes, there is chocolate and pending disaster in that cute little pink egg!)

It stormed on Sunday morning, but by the afternoon the weather was wonderful and the sun was shining. After church we went to Wayne and Brenda's for their annual bar-b-q and egg hunt. After Madi and Alli "practiced" hunting eggs on Friday and Saturday in the house, Madi was ready to roll for the real deal.

When the egg hunt is finished, all the kids are supposed to empty the candy into their own baskets and then put the empty plastic eggs back into a big basket to be reused again the following year. Madi and one of the other little girls discovered the empty egg basket and decided it was as much fun as the egg hunt.

After the egg hunt, the kids had two pinatas to break with yet more candy. Madi wasn't too excited about hitting the rabbit, but Alli thought it was great fun this year. Ask her about the pinata almost falling on top of her the next time you see her!

Snuggle Time

The girls snuggle in our bed at the old house the week before we moved.

Madi G turns 1!

It's hard to believe that the little stinker is already 1 (in January), and she has been completely mobile and able to walk (or run) anywhere she wants to go since the week she turned 1. Although I must admit that it has been a challenge at times trying to adjust to a second child, she has been a wonderful blessing and addition to our family. Since we had sold our house and closed two days after Madi's actual birthday and were in the middle of moving on her birthday, her party had to be pushed to the end of January. Also, since we no longer lived in a place large enough to have anyone over, we had her party at Nana and Papa's. Family and a few friends joined us for some hotdogs and cake. She ate some cake but wasn't as impressed with that as she was the hotdog :) . Afterward, she opened her presents. Let me clarify...she opened one present, a stuffed sea horse that played music. She pretty much got stuck on that and we had to open the rest of the presents for her. She would look at the other items and pick them up, but then she would go back to the sea horse. Since that time, her interest in all presents has leveled out and she has played with and enjoyed them all. Actually, 3 months later she now thinks that Alli's toys are way better than anything in her toy box. Go figure. It's already starting. I have to admit that Alli has been very patient with her and pretty much lets her play with anything she wants to as long as it's not unsafe with little parts or anything. That in itself has been nothing short of a small miracle.

Who knew Sam's could be so much fun?

I know, know...I'm waaaayyyyy behind. Thanks for reminding me, Kathy! I've got a lot of pictures and things to post since January, but this will have to do for now. James and Madi were clowning around in Sam's this past Saturday, and I was able to snap a couple of pictures with his iphone. Too bad she wasn't as happy an hour earlier when we were trying to have pictures taken!

New Year and Beyond

James and I worked on New Year's Eve, but once we got off, we got the girls and headed to Gatesville to see our friends Vonda and Edgar for New Year's Eve. Vonda's parents opened their house to us and a quite a few friends with lots of good food. Vonda and Edgar are living in London right now, but we're hoping they will be back to the States permanently during 2009. We enjoyed visiting with friends we don't get to see that much and watching everyone play Rock Band...nope not quite brave enough to do that yet. I decided it was best that I leave it at a spectator sport. We were all tired so we didn't get to stay until midnight and headed back to Waco. I think Alli may have actually made it to mignight watching tv in our bed while we were passed out asleep! Shocker, I know. The next day we...packed some more boxes...yea!

Christmas Celebrations Continued

After Christmas with James's famiy, the next night we went to see the annual Christmas music program and my parents' church with our friends Steve and Laurie from our church. The kids had fun, but the next morning (Monday), Alli woke up with a fever and Madi had been really congested so James took them both into the doctor. He began treating them both for a sinus infection, but I don't think that was entirely Alli's problem because she continued to run fever until Thursday, which suggested a virus of some type because the antibiotic wasn't touching it. Madi didn't respond well to the antibiotic either and was really restless and irritable and began a five week hiatus from sleeping through the night...yippee for everyone! Alli finally got to go back to school on Friday, but she had missed a field trip, Christmas program at school and her class' Christmas party.

James and I had to work on Christmas Eve so the girls spent the day with Nana and Papa. As soon as were were both off work and packed up, we headed to Gatesville to have Christmas with my side of the family. It's a smaller group than James' family, and there are fewer kids. Our two are the youngest. The other two "kids" are in high school now so there's a pretty big age difference, but Madi and Alli somehow manage to provide entertainment for everyone. Madi received a ride on lion from Granny and some balls that are quite the hit. Actually, I think she liked everything she opened. She was getting pretty bored with the few things I had found leftover from Alli and was ready for something more interesting. After everyone had left for the evening, we each opened one gift and received our traditional Christmas pajamas. Alli and Madi's pajamas were matching fleece and had snowmen skiiing on them. We've had some cold nights where they came in pretty handy. Before we could go to bed, Alli had to make sure and sprinkle the reindeer food she had made at school and put out some milk and cookies for Santa.

The next morning, we got up to see what Santa had left behind. Among other things, Alli found a bike and Madi found a baby stroller made for babies/toddlers learning to walk. We had breakfast burritos and talked about the fact that it's Jesus' birthday. Typically, we try to have a birthday cake for Jesus as an additional illustration of the reason for the season, but we unfortunately failed to do that this year. It seems like it gets a little harder every year to keep things in perspective with regards to Christmas. Between trying to work full time, keep up with two kids and a house that has to always be ready for showing due to being for sale, Christmas shopping, birthday parties, and Christmas parties and events, the true meaning gets lost in all the shuffle. Don't get me wrong...I enjoy it all individually, but taken together in a high dose period of 2-3 weeks, it becomes overwhelming. Sometimes I just want to put a halt to everything, save the gift exchanges for after Christmas, and just spend time together and enjoy the season. We've managed to fill it so full, that it's lost the fun. When you dread Christmas and say you're not ready because you really mean that you haven't bought all the presents and done enough decorating, it's just too much. What am I going to do about it? I'm not sure...but I'm already strategizing to try and figure out how to meet the mandatory requirements while still making it slower paced next year...tune in to see how it goes :)

Anyway, now that I have taken a detour from my original story...the rest of Christmas day we just hung out around the house. James, Alli, Papa, and the dogs went for a walk while Alli rode her new bike, and I pretty much just slept, watched movies, and played with the girls and their toys some. In fact, I didn't get out of my new pajamas all day. I figure that I haven't gotten to do that in a very long time, and it will probably be a very long time before I get to do it again so I took advantage of it.

The day after Christmas, I went to have lunch with some good friends from high school that I don't get to see much, Lisa, Vonda, and Bridget. Now, I kind of have an excuse not to see Vonda much because she is living in London right now, and Lisa lives in Houston and doesn't come up to Central Texas much, but unfortunately Bridget and I only live 45 miles apart and only see each other a couple of times a year. Pitiful I know, but we both have had kids in the last year, and she's been building a house. I'm sure now that we're going to be building a house, the craziness and lack of time will just continue. Excuses, excuses...I must find a way to work those things into my schedule more. (I'll add that to my strategizing about Christmas.) Anyway, after that, the rest and relaxation was over. James and I headed back to Waco to buy boxes and packing tape. It was beginning to look like the house was really going to sell so it was time for us to begin packing to be able to move in a couple of weeks. Yikes! What a daunting task!

Catching up...

On December 20th, our friends Shannon & Nathan and their son Garrett stopped by for a few minutes to deliver some things I had ordered and to exchange gifts with the kids. Madi got some really cute, and much needed, clothes, and Alli got some clothes for her Build-A-Bear so she was happy.

We also celebrated Christmas with James' family. Everyone came to our house from as far south as Houston to as far north as Kansas. I think it was the first time all 10of the younger cousins were all together since Madi was born. Of course, we managed to not get any pictures of everyone together. The kids were way too busy for that. We ate a non-traditional meal of brisket, sausage, beans, potato, salad, salsa, deviled eggs, and salad...and it was really good...but of course we had lots of traditional desserts to tempt us like pecan pie and cookies! Later, there were presents as well. Alli got some really cool scrapbooking stuff and Madi got a horse from Aunt Teresa and Uncle Keith that she can ride, and it can be hooked up to the tv to be interactive. See pictures below. She loved it!

As some were aware, Alli had two permanent teeth that came in behind her baby teeth in late Summer, but the baby teeth wouldn't fall out. Well, while playing with her cousins on the trampoline, one tooth finally came out! Yea! Little problem, though...before she could get off the trampoline to bring the tooth into the house, someone bounced her and the tooth went flying into the grass. James, Aunt Tammy, and several of the cousins looked for it for quite awhile to no avail. We looked for several times in the days following but still couldn't find it so on Christmas Eve she left a note for the tooth fairy explaining the situation and that there was no tooth as proof. She also gave specific instructions for the tooth fairy not to come into her room. She said, "Leave the money in the living room>" That cracks me up every time I think about it. She's not big on characters of any kind and didn't want that sneaky tooth fairy in her room either.

Since we had already had a birthday party for Alli earlier in the month, but December 20th is Alli's actual birthday, we celebrated with some little cupcakes later that evening. Aunt Teresa, Uncle Keith and the kids, Nana & Papa, and Grandma Sandy and Papa Butch hung around and had a small, lowkey party for her after all the hoopla of Christmas had died down.

Finally, to cap off the day, we looked out the door and saw an absolutely beautiful sunset. What a wonderful way to end an eventful day!

Way Behind

Yes, I know I'm way behind. Things have been pretty crazy the last month, and we don't have internet access where we are currently living so it's difficult to get everything uploaded. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can slowly get the bog updated. Until then, I hope everyone is having a great year!

1st Christmas

All she wants for Christmas is two more teeth! Madi has been pretty good about leaving the tree alone until the other day when I made the mistake of putting her in front of the tree to try and take a picture. The pictures explain what happened next. Since then, she has unwrapped presents with her teeth and tried pulling the lights off the tree. That's actually pretty harmless for her! What a joy it is to look at her and think that she wasn't even born yet this time last year even though we thought she was going to make an early appearance since I was dilated to a 3 by Christmas. She held off for another 3 weeks and has kept us on our toes since.

Sold...maybe

Well, during the middle of our crazy Christmas season, a couple came a looked at our house and decided to make an offer later in the week. We countered, they accepted, and the inspection was done yesterday. They still have a 10 day option period to back out and 19 days to obtain financing, but if everything goes okay, we're out of this house by January 16. It's kind of funny. We liked this house, but we wanted a couple of acres and a little more room for the girls. We have worked so hard to sell this one so we can begin to build the new one, but now that it's finally happening, I'm a little nostalgic. Even though we've only been here a little less than 4 years, this is the only house Alli remembers living in, and this is the house we brought Madi home to from the hospital when she was born. Anyway, I'm putting all that aside as now we have lots of decisions to make about where to live in the meantime, how much to pack and when, where we're going to have Madi's 1st birthday party, etc. Oh well, I figure it will all work out. God has a way of putting all the pieces together at just the right time in a way you're not expecting.

#6

Alli decided against a big birthday party this year where we send out like 30 invitations and rent a gymnastics center for the kids to run around and play. For her 6th birthday she wanted to have a small party with a few friends from her class at the local bead shop, Got to Bead. They each got to make a bracelet with their name on it to take home. I think their favorite part, though, was the chocolate chip cookie cake with lots of icing butterflys!

Nutcracker...a Star is Born

Alli was chosen to be an extra in the Nutcracker with the Waco Symphony on December 7. She was a Snow Drop in Act I and had a great time. We didn't get any pictures of her in costume because they are the property of the ballet company. You show up with hair and makeup done, put on your costume right before you go out on stage and then take it off after your portion of the performance is over, and they won't let you take pictures during the performance due to the professional performers' union rules and all that complicated stuff, in addition to the fact it's just hard for the dancers to see when there are flashes going off in their eyes. Anyway, they took a professional picture of her in her costume the night before at dress rehearsal so we're hoping those will turn out okay. We won't know until after the first of the year. Except for a few family pictures, these are the only pictures I got to take.

The Week After

After a fun trip to Branson, we had a really interesting week following. Our realtor had asked us to have an Open House the following weekend and to have the house decorated for Christmas. I had decided I was going to do minimal decorating since the house is for sale, Madi is so little and curious, and we would be at Mom & Dad's for Christmas anyway. Well, I went ahead and decorated everything that following week in addition to Alli's gymnastics lesson and a baby shower. Meanwhile, we learned that James' uncle, his Dad's identical twin had passed away in Oklahoma. We quickly shifted around our plans to be there as we felt like that was important. On Friday evening, we had my company's Christmas party in Salado, which was wonderful food by the way. On Saturday, Alli was in the Gatesville Christmas parade, then she went to a birthday party in Waco, and then we took her to the Nutcracker practice at Waco Hall for their costume fitting and dress rehearsal until 9 pm. On Sunday, we finished packing for Oklahoma, did her hair and makeup for the Nutcracker, did final touchups for the Open House, went to watch the Nutcracker with the Waco Symphony and Russian Ballet, and then we left straight for Oklahoma. Don't get me wrong, while we were very tired and stressed after everything was said and done, we were glad we made it to everything because every activity proved to be a blessing in itself...but even more so to be able to be back home and spend some time enjoying the holidays.

Thanksgiving 2008

So we decided to be very brave and attempt our annual Thanksgiving trip with Nana and Papa to Branson, Missouri. Granted, this is not such a big deal until you throw in a 10 month old and all her belongings in addition to a smaller vehicle from the ones you've taken in the past. We didn't attempt it until Alli was 2. On the way up there, we stopped and had dinner at Aunt Tammy and Uncle Aubrey's house in Oklahoma (thanks for the awesome meal, guys). Alli had a great time playing with her cousins that evening since we hadn't seen them since Labor Day weekend. We drove another hour and spent the night. We drove the rest of the way the following day. Your schedule has to be a little more flexible with a little one in tow so we didn't cram in too many activities, but we did have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day brunch at the Keeter Center at the School of the Ozarks, rode go carts (I think it was a balmy 35-40 degrees), saw Liverpool Legends (Beatles imitators), Noah the Musical, and the Dixie Stampede. After all was said and done, Madi proved to be pretty flexible herself. I'm sure her daycare teachers loved us the next week since we had totally messed up her eating and sleeping schedule. As we left Branson on Sunday there was a beautiful snow falling...and a nice gusty wind...but the snow was so pretty. Anyway, we drove all the way back on Sunday and went back to work and school the next day. It was a nice break, but we came home to a lot of activities and things to take care of in the following weeks.

Open House

Okay, so I have a lot of catching up to do. On November 11, we went to an Open House at Alli's elementary school. We had a wonderful Italian dinner catered by Rosati's in Hewitt, and we got to see Alli's classroom and all the cool projects they had made for Thanksgiving and Fall. The really neat part of the evening was when we got to go to the computer lab so Alli could demonstrate the Powerpoint presentation she had created. I was amazed! There are quite a few adults that don't know how to use it and here my kindergartner is using it. I even learned a short cut tip for starting up the presentation. The picture is from the entry way to Alli's school. Madi wasn't overly cooperative and ended up on the floor... oh well, just take the picture and move on, right?