Excited

We just found out that a favorite Christian band is coming to town in a couple of weeks and we just got tickets!!  This is something we are doing as a family.  Will be the younger kids' first concert and needless to say they are very excited!  The rest of us are too and are looking forward to going!  We also have tickets purchased  for the Medieval faire up near Dallas for May. Couple of really fun events to look forward to!!

nope....

...life is NEVER dull at our house. The Queen, er older cat, is finally figuring out that she is actually a cat!!  And that everyone deserves a second chance or more.  You see, when we got Queen Tabby she hated Lex from the start....until this week. She now sleeps on Lex's bed, plays with the cat toys in Lex's room (put there for the kitten who all but worships Lex), and begs Lex for attention!!!  We think the kitten finally got through to her on what being a cat is all about!!  Silly critters!
Lex got a call back yesterday from the local pizza place out here and will start training on Tuesday!  She is so very excited to have her first job and in a really great environment!  She will soon be able to fulfill her dream of being part of Big Brothers/Big Sisters!!  Lex keeps trying to work ahead in her lessons so she can get through with high school sooner.....sometimes that's working and sometimes not. 
Mykhal is really showing signs of growing up and he is becoming a fine young man.  He still has too short a fuse and needs to work on better ways to defuse, but there are improvements even in those areas.  He is still riding horses once a week and doing GREAT!  He's a natural!  School still challenges him, but he keeps plugging away!
Kerrie is just growing too fast!  I swear she's three inches taller every time I look at her!!  She is loving her tap class and recital is approaching!  She takes her time doing school, unless of course there's something she's wanting to do!
We have joined a produce coop and are LOVING all the quality fresh foods we are getting!   When we don't eat it all fast enough then we juice it, dry it, or cook and freeze it.  It's great!  And so very good for us!  I am still making breakfast bread, and other breads, with fresh ground grains.  I can't keep up with the demand for granola though.  Gonna have to teach the kids to make it!
Russ keeps busy at work as usual.  He is still set to deploy this fall.  Thank goodness most of his training will be local!
Well that's a quick update.

Puppadoo

We took our dog to a shelter today.  Her behavior toward new members of the family has been getting steadily worse.  We think it was just too many changes going on for her to handle.  So, knowing there were going to be many more changes in the coming, we felt it unfair to her to make her stay where she obviously wasn't going to be happy.  Sad, but ultimately for the best.

Break time

Spring Break is upon us!  We don't have any major plans, but I do hope to get a bit more organizing done.  The Ergo baby carrier I ordered is on it's way and that will help lots.  Little Bug seems to need a certain amount of cuddle time each day ( which of course just breaks my heart!) and the carrier will allow him to get that cuddle time and me to be able to get some extra things done.
My parents are coimg for a visit this weekend and that will be fun.  They will finally get to meet Abey.  No big plans for while they are here either.  Just some good visit time.

Social schedule

Well I don't know if you would call appointments with doctors in various fields social, but our calendar is full of those appointments!  I guess that goes with the territory of having kids though!  Especially newborn ones!  We really didn't anticipate going through the BABY stage again until we were able to just enjoy grandkids.....But we all know God has a great sense of humor right?....and so here we are again completely starting over while having a house full of teenagers!  Life is NEVER dull!  Russ has been on leave for the past week and a half and boy am I glad!  Having his help in these first few days of having a new baby again has been a major blessing!  He goes back to work on MOnday though so I know the kids will be helping me more.  They are always ready to take a turn holding the baby though!

San Antonio weekend

Friday Feb. 26 - picked up Abey from school and headed south.  I had fixed sandwiches to eat in the car since there aren't many places to stop between here and there.  We arrived at our hotel around 7pm and got checked in and settled.  Then came an unexpected knock at the door and there was the front desk manager with a piece of cake with a candle in it and a happy birthday hat for Lex!  Such fun!!  I had taken board games and such for the evening in the room and so it was a nice relaxing time. 

Saturday Feb. 27 - We met up with Missy and her family (my SIL's daughter) at a little Mexican food place owned by their cousins!  Homemade tortillas, everything from scratch, YUMMMMMMMMMMY!!  Breakfast and company were both GREAT!!  From there we went down to historic Market Square for some shopping!  Such a neat place to go!!  Got to see some traditional Mexican dances being performed as well!!  We had a light lunch, made a few purchases, and decided to head back to the hotel early afternoon.  Before going up to the room though we stopped at World Market which was right behind the hotel.  Another fun place to browse!  There was even a Mariachi band playing!!  When the shopping was done we went up to the room to rest a bit and freshen up for our evening out at the Cheesecake Factory.  Everyone enjoyed their menu choice for both entree and dessert.  Our waitress was a delight also which made it all the more fun!  Lex's dessert plate was even decorated since a little bird shared that it was her bday.  No one fully finished their meal or their cheesecake so it looked like we had just ordered everything to go as we walked out with our doggie bags!  With full tummies and tired feet we decided to head back to the room.  There was a bit of a problem and we ended up changing hotels that night, but it all worked out and we got to sleep in on Sunday morning.

Sunday Feb. 28 - We had breakfast at the hotel.  Texas shaped belgain waffles DEFINITELY taste better than regular round or square ones!  There was fruit, scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, bagels, pastries, and cereal to choose from also.  We took our time and just had a relaxing morning.  After getting checked out of the hotel we had about an hour until we were to meet up with another adoptive family for lunch.  So we drove around, got gas, and stopped in at Best Buy before heading over to eat at the mongolian grill!!!  Oh it was sooooo good!!  The kids were soon drifting off for a nap as we adults enjoyed chatting.  But it was soon time to hit the road and head home.  The drive back was quiet with nearly everyone napping.  Using internet on our phones I ordered pizza from Papa John's as we got close to home so we just picked up dinner on our way through town.  It started raining just after we got the pizza but it wasn't a downpour until after we got everything unloaded.  We were thankful! 

So we did LOTS of good EATING over the weekend and had some GREAT fellowship to go with the good food!  Oh yes and we certainly enjoyed the SHOPPING!!  It's back to the grindstone this week, though Russ is on leave until next week!  Guess I better go help tackle our to do list!