Merry Christmas!!!!

Oh my goodness......where to begin!!!!

Our holiday celebration started this year on Christmas Eve with dinner and gifts at the Merten house. Unfortunately, this year it was just myself and Steve representing our little family. The girls were still with their respective dads. We had a yummy yummy dinner and presented Steve's family (Dad, Brother Jim, SIL Belinda, and nephews Trevor and Shay) with gifts. It was a very festive time. Although, it almost turned out disastrous..........while we were at the lake house, we found out that we had a water main leak in our FRONT YARD!!!! We felt terrible about calling the landlord on Christmas Eve, but come on........what were we supposed to do??? So we sat for a couple of hours wondering if we would have water standing in our yard when we got home.....luckily, they were able to resolve the problem and restore water service to our house before we ever got home..........whew - disaster averted!!!

On Christmas morning Steve and I were able to sleep in until about 10:30..........mmmmmm.......that was nice!!! But, we eventually started getting the inevitable "Merry Christmas" text messages from our friends and family that signaled that it was time to start the day. So, we got up, got showered and dressed and headed over to my parent's house - which, by the way, happens to be about 4 minutes from our own........NICE!!! My dad invited Steve out to play golf and my mom and myself were going to go out to the Greenville hospital to check on my grandmother. Since none of you actually know what's going on there here's the lowdown in a hurry........about 3 weeks ago my grandmother who lives a little North of Hillsboro, fell and broke her hip......she laid in her own house on the floor for about 18 hours before anyone thought to go check on her.......poor Grandma........but then was immediately (HA!) rushed to the nearest hospital where she was treated most urgently (to be read "it took another 11 hours!!!"). Fortunately, she was admitted and underwent surgery to repair her hip.....and was then transferred to the Greenville hospital so that she could be closer to us.......

So, back to where we were........Grandma is recovering nicely and should be released from the hospital on Tuesday, at which time she will be going to live with my sister until she's completely better and ready to be let out on her own.......lol. Steve and Dad played golf and had a great time, and after our visit at the hospital, mom and I started cooking for the family Christmas dinner. Everyone showed up about 6:00 and we enjoyed a WONDERFUL dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, and some yummy but still healthy veggies. Afterward, we had a gift exchange and proceeded to clean up the house......never fun!

By the time Steve and I returned home, we were exhausted........but we had no idea what exhaustion still awaited us!!!!

This morning we woke up at 7:00, showered and dressed, and headed out the door to make the 4 hour trip to Conroe to pick Kamri up from her Dad's house. Trip down there wasn't bad.....very little traffic and no DPS in sight. Made it down in 3 1/2 hours. Picked up our baby girl - SO SO happy to see her......and headed back home. The trip home wasn't nearly as fun.....we had to fight our way back through traffic and dodge DPS officers who were lurking in the distance, just waiting for a chance to pull someone over. But, we finally made it to the rendezvous point at which we were meeting Adam and Courtney in order to pick up Ryann and continue our trip back home.

So, here is where our story gets a little hectic.......but hopefully, the pictures will tell the story for me........the gist of it is that all of my family made a special trip to our house in order to be present when Ryann and Kamri opened all of their gifts and we had ANOTHER Christmas!!! I'm posting pictures from our Christmas tonight - and tomorrow you'll be able to see the rest! It'll take me until then to get them all posted.......but the girls had a wonderful Christmas, both with their dads and with us and we all feel overly blessed this year. Santa brought the girls a Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse and Steve and I bought 4 rooms and the accompanying family members that go with the house.......HOURS OF FUN FOR ALL!!!! Cousin Emma is spending the night with Ryann and Kamri tonight and have just settled down for an hour of Dora the Explorer after playing "dollhouse" for a couple of hours!!! Mommy and Steve are really looking forward to bedtime tonight.......and not because we're hoping for some "alone time" either.....heehee.......we're both so exhausted we can barely keep our eyes open.....lol.

So, here's to all of our friends and family.......we hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year, just as we did. We love you all and wish you a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Love,
Steve, Melony, Ryann & Kamri : )

The Nutcracker Revisited

Our beautiful angels danced in their very first ballet recital on Friday, December 19th.........thanks to the girls' dads coming to see them I was able to "borrow" these pictures to share with you all....

Honestly, from the second our girls stepped on the stage I was a ball of tears so, I wouldn't have been able to take pictures even if I had a camera in my hand. Add to that the fact that as a parent of one of the ballerinas, I was forced to sit in the back of the auditorium and......well, you see where I'm going with this.

SO SO Busy

Well, the title says it all!!!! We're so very very busy these days!!!!! Wednesday has always been a busy day for us ~ but it seems like lately things are getting even more hectic. This is how MY day went!

6:20am - Wake up, shower, wake up the girls, and get them started
6:40am - Check on the girls' progress, fix hair, and help make beds
7:00am - Feed the girls breakfast
7:20am - It's out the door to school.
7:40am - Drop off Kamri
7:50am - Drop off Ryann
8:00am - Stop by Starbucks for a MUCH NEEDED caffeine fix!!!
8:45am - Check in at Ryann's school and go get her from her class.
8:55am - 9:20am - Violin Lesson
After that, everything up until 2:00 is kind of a blur..........but the basic idea is that I cleaned house, did laundry, and just tried to stay awake (so much for that caffeine fix!!!!!)

2:00pm - Leave for Kamri's school
2:30pm - Pick up Kamri
2:45pm - Arrive at Ryann's school where Kamri and I will wait 30 minutes for her to be released.
3:15pm - Ryann is released from school.
3:20pm - Go to local library

It's important at this juncture that I point out that today was a very special day for Ryann because she got her very own library card! She's is able to choose and check out her own books now and she's so excited!!!!!

Okay, where was I???? Oh yeah,

3:20pm - 4:15 - Kill some time at the library reading, playing with puzzles, and watching a puppet show put on by Ryann & Kamri.
4:30pm - 5:15 - Ballet class..............too cute!!!
5:35pm - Arrive home and start on dinner.
6:00pm - Serve above mentioned dinner.
6:30pm - Clean kitchen, start another load of laundry, and get the girls ready for baths.

It's now 6:59 and I'm (obviously) sitting here writing this insanely detailed description of my crazy day..........but, it's not over!!!! We still have homework to do, violin practice, books to read, gifts to wrap (after the girls are in bed) and at some point I'm going to attempt to sit down and pay bills.......

Oh, the life of a mother.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving day with our families. Due to the fact that I share custody of the girls with their fathers, we don't always get to spend this holiday together. But, this year we were lucky enough to get to do just that. It started out a little rough though. Here's how our week went......

The girls didn't have school the week of Thanksgiving so we were blessed with an entire week together!!!! Since I've discovered that I am a whiz at baked goods, I offered to bake several desserts for the Thanksgiving feasts (both at my parent's house and Steve's dad's house). Well, lo and behold - I woke up at 4:30 Wednesday morning terribly sick. I was very very fearful that I wouldn't get ANY baking done in time for Turkey Day. But, after spending half of the day in bed with Steve taking care of me, I was able to finally make it up and start moving around (thank goodness!!!). I still wasn't feeling very confident that I'd be able to get much done in the way of baking, but I was hopeful.



Ryann helped me make the pumpkin pies and the lemon cakes. She had SO much fun!





Luckily when I woke up Thursday morning I was feeling like myself again. Which was a really good thing because I had some more baking to do!!! But, once everything was ready to go it was time to head out. We met Steve and Kamri out at the lake house where we had lunch with the Merten family.



After lunch, we all headed back to Greenville to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with my family.......MORE TURKEY!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics while we were at my mom's house.........sorry folks. I dropped the ball on that one. That evening, after dinner the six "kids" (Me, Steve, Jessica, Thomas, Brittany, & Josh) decided to play a friendly game of Buzz Word. And, OF COURSE, we decided to play "boys vs. girls". Well, as I'm sure you can all guess - - - -the girls WON!!! Heehee......I love winning. That game is addictive! Before I knew it the clock read 10:30 and we still had the kitchen to clean!!! YUCK!


So, fastforward to Friday morning - 4:00 AM FRIDAY morning!!! Steve and I dragged our exhausted butts out of bed and dressed for the Black Friday specials at our local Wal-Mart Superstore...........WHAT WERE WE THINKING?? This being my first Black Friday experience I quickly realized how very very much I had to learn! There were grown men and women literally fighting over Barbie Jeeps and Guitar Heroes!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! Lesson learned from this experience???? Either don't go ~ or be prepared!!!!!

We finished our shopping and took our worn out bottoms back to our warm safe bed........but man, that made for a really long day!

I think that's about it for this week. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

After that, all I can say is "Christmas, here we come!" The month of December promises to be very busy for us! We have Christmas parties, ballet recitals, violin performances to attend, shopping and wrapping to do...........man, I'm tired just thinking about it all! LOL.

More updates soon to come! Love to all!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!

Almost 8 weeks later!!!! I have Internet at the house! This has been the most frustrating 8 weeks I've experienced (on a technical level) in a long time! But, here's what's going on with us.

We're of course all getting ready for the holidays. Thanksgiving festivities to commence in less than a week and we all know, Christmas isn't far behind!!!!! Thanksgiving this year will be at my family's house and I'm very much looking forward to the fun and fellowship with everyone. The girls are out of school all next week and we're going to do some cleaning and organizing of bedrooms.

Ryann finally lost her very first tooth.....she came home Friday of last week and was very excited to show us all the gaping hole in her mouth. It was a very big deal. That Friday also happened to coincide with her Dad's visitation so, the Tooth Fairy came to see her while she was there. She's getting so big. Every new milestone that we pass reminds me of how quickly they are growing up. *sniffle, sniffle*

Speaking of school, they are both doing WONDERFULLY!! They are learning and excelling and making mommy SO proud!!! I recently received Ryann's second report card and she did great (not that I'm surprised!!). Kamri is definitely benefiting from being in school. She's already able to print her name which she couldn't do before and from conferences I've had with her teacher she's progressing very well. They are both right on track!

I'm currently not working. I have a job lined up that I'll be starting at the beginning of the year. More to come on that subject later.

I think that's about it for right now. Sorry for the delay in getting everyone updated. Like I said, it's been more than a little frustrating not having access to the Internet here at home. But, we're back in business!!!!!!

More updates as they occur,
The family

Election Day

As a parent, you sometimes find yourself completely amazed at the actions of your kids. I had a moment such as this today. As some of you may know Ryann is now in 1st grade. Well, today when I picked her up from school she informed me that she voted for a president. I thought she was referring to an election in which they chose school leaders (student body president, treasurer, etc.). At first, I was a little confused because I don't remember participating in school politics as early as first grade. But then, I'm sure there are a lot of things we DON'T remember about being 6 years old. So, I asked her who she voted for. And I'll be damned if she didn't say proudly "John McCain. And he WON! Needless to say, I was stunned!!! So after I regained my composure, we talked about the election and she informed me that the most of the kids in her class voted for John McCain. Well, as you all know by now, Senator McCain did not win our national election. But, by golly, he sure was a winner at Bowie Elementary that day!!!!

Love to all, Us

Shelbi the German Shepherd

Several weeks ago (5 to be exact), our little family moved into our new home and we've been loving it since!!! However, I tend to be a little bit skittish and to be honest a HUGE scaredy cat when I'm home alone with the girls. Knowing this, Steve and I agreed that we needed a dog that would be more suited to protecting us as well as being a family pet. Now, don't get me wrong, we still absolutely ADORE Charli.......but she's not the most fierce thing you'll come across in the dark. So, we added a new member to our family. Her name is Shelbi and she's a German Shepherd puppy. She's 11 weeks old and growing so fast we can hardly believe it!!! Her and Charli LOVE playing together and we feel confident that we made the right choice. So, here's hoping that I'll be able to start sleeping at night.....heehee.

Love, Our Clan

STILL no internet!!!

So, I'm currently sitting at my work typing this since I still have no internet at home. I have to say, Verizon isn't starting out too good in my book of "good customer service". But my wonderfully talented brother-in-law said that he can probably fix the problem for me, so hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.

Look soon for updates on the girls school work, our new home, and Kamri's 5th birthday! Will also post recent pics (including birthday pics) as soon as I have DSL working.

Check back soon!

Melony : )

The Tooth Fairy is on Her Way!!!

Ryann came home from school today and told me a very interesting story. Apparently, while she was at lunch today, she accidentally hit one of her bottom front teeth with her fork and noticed that it moved a little.........so of course, being a kid, she started playing around with it and lo and behold......Ryann has her first loose tooth! I don't know how long it'll take for it to fall out - but this is a first and she's VERY excited! We'll see how long the little bugger can hold out!!!

Kamri started her ballet class yesterday. YES, I took pictures - about 3 - and then my camera died!!!!!!!!! Darn the luck! So, I'll have to get pics of her in class next week to share with you all. And actually, there's a good possibility that Ryann will be starting the class next week as well......double the pics!

Man, with violin lessons, ballet classes, and the youth bowling league we're a busy little family.....and did I mention..............WE'RE MOVING!!!! Unfortunately, the living situation here at the house is SOOOOOOO not working out. It's pretty much impossible to live with James (our roommate)........and Steve and I decided that since we basically KNOW that we're going to be together, we wanted to get a place of our own. So, we found a house - we paid the deposit, and we're moving in next week. We'll be in our new place by the end of this month! And let me tell you, I couldn't be more happy! Steve, the girls and I are all VERY excited about this place. I'll take pics of the house and post them as well.

I think that's about it for now..........and quite frankly, I'm glad.......that's a lot!!!!!! Whew, I'm tired!

Updates soon,
Mel & the family

School Starts Again

And so begins a new school year. Ryann in first grade and Kamri started pre-k. The morning went much more smoothly than I expected. Woke up, bathed, dressed, ate breakfast, and we were off. Unfortunately for mommy, the girls don't both attend the SAME school. In fact their schools are about 10 minutes apart.....but Kamri starts at 7:45 and Ryann starts at 8:00 so we've been lucky in that at least.

First off, we droped off Ryann. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Clark and thusfar Ryann seems to really like her class. She (of course) came homes with a "green" for Monday. For anyone who doesn't know, this means that she didn't get in trouble and had no other problems that day. On Tuesday, same story.......today, well you get the picture. This is pretty much what I expect from Ryann the entire year.

One exciting thing starting for Ryann this year is her enrollment in a SPECIAL music program at her school. It's called Suzuki Strings......Ryann's going to learn to play a violin. It also requires a lot of parent involvement. I have to attend classes every Thursday night for the next six weeks. And every week thereafter, I'll be attending Ryann's private lessons on Wednesday mornings. She wasn't really sure what she thought of all of this until she heard Mr. Holden (instructor) play "Twinkle, twinkle little star" on his violin. Her eyes became the size of saucers!! So, we're really excited to get started! More to come on Ryann's progress in the first grade!

Kamri is attending Pre-K at L.P. Waters. She's been waiting for this for 2 years (basically since Ryann started school). However, before she could actually attend her first class, she had to have a physical and a few shots. This was not pleasant. She had to have 4 shots. And when we left she told me "I am SO DONE with those shots!" Yeah.....she's four! The good news is that she is in the 50th percentile for her weight (average) and in the 90th percentile for her height (way above average)......and she got a completely clean bill of health from the doctor. So, we were off to school.

Kamri's teacher is Mrs. Moyston. And I was a little dismayed to hear from her when I picked up Kamri on the first day of school that "Kamri doesn't like to walk in line and Kamri doesn't like to follow directions". But, we're working on those things and hopefully the rest of the school year will go much more smoothly. I'm looking into enrolling Kamri in dance or gymnastics.....we haven't decided which one yet.

Also, I've signed both of the girls up for the youth bowling league at my work. They'll be bowling on Saturday mornings starting September 13th. I'm hoping that it's something that they'll enjoy. They love going up to mommy's work and bowling......I'm hoping that continues when it's in a more structured setting.

More pics posted on our website.......since blogger doesn't really like me that much! Lol....

Love to all,

Melony, Ryann & Kamri

My first tournament......

The PBA Southwest Region Doubles Tournament was held in Longview, Tx August 1-3. This was the first tournament that I was able to go and support Steve. It was a lot of fun. We spent 1 1/2 days together in Longview (where it's oh-so-exciting....lol)....and we had an awesome time. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this man in my life. My kids love him, my family loves him......and even though I haven't told him yet, I love him. He makes me happier than I've ever been.....even my family sees it. So, anyway - it was awesome. He didn't make it to the final cut, but he bowled REALLY well and came really close. He'll be bowling in Memphis August 9 & 10 and I have a feeling it's going to go really well for him there.

We're going to my parent's house this evening for my birthday dinner. Since my birthday is on Friday and I'll be working, we're celebrating a little early. I'm really looking forward to it since my family hasn't all gotten together since we went to Beavers Bend for my mom's birthday.

On another note, I'm going to start looking for another job this week. I've reached the point that I'm really tired of working long hours and making NO money. Plus, it would be very very VERY nice to have a STEADY amount of money coming in and have the extra benefit of that wonderful thing called insurance. So, I'll let you all know how the job hunt goes this week.

I also started working out this past week. I'm once again unhappy with the amount of weight that I've managed to gain.......so it's time to shed a few (or 30) pounds. Updates on everything to come!!!

* New pics on myphotoalbum.com *

Mel : )

July

Well, now that it's the end of July I thought I'd post something to let you know what we've been up to. It started with the 4th of July celebration at the Merten's (Steve's family). Kamri, Steve and I had a great time. It was actually the first time that Kamri and I met his family and I think it went really well. We spent some time on the lake, had some great barbecue, and enjoyed a great fireworks show. Kamri really enjoyed jumping on the "jumpoline"...

Then we move on to the weekend of Ryann's birthday......That's right - my baby is SIX years old!!!!! We threw a surprise party for Ryann at Oak Creek Country Club. I think we all really enjoy her birthday being smack dab in the middle of the summer - POOL TIME!!!! She wanted a Hannah Montana party - and boy did she get one! Hannah Montana EVERYTHING! Here's a pic of the birthday girl.....more pics on my photoalbum.com website. And still more to come.

Next comes my mom's birthday. It was a little more elaborate this year. At her request, we all (minus Ryann and Kamri) went to Beavers Bend in Oklahoma. It was the first camping trip we've all been on since I was a kid.....I usually miss out. But we had a BLAST!!! Steve and I drove up on Saturday morning and arrived just in time to "catch the boat"...lol. Literally, my mom rented a pontoon boat for all 11 of us to enjoy for the day. Here are a couple of pics from the day......more pics on my photoalbum.com site. And still more to come!!!



I think that's about it for the month of July. It was a fun-filled month!!! But August is going to be jam-packed. Birthdays, bowling tournaments, and the beginning of a new school year. More updates to come!

Love to all,

Melony, Ryann, & Kamri

A look at the past year....

Wow! I didn't realize that it had been almost an entire year since I had last posted anything. SO MUCH has happened that I would never be able to update you on everything. So, I'll just hit the high points and let you all know what's going on with us currently.

Ryann finished Kindergarten this year. She did extremely well and had EXCELLENT grades throughout the whole year. She's really looking forward to starting 1st grade in the fall. Right now she's spending the summer with her Dad. She plays soccer during the summer. And, from what I hear, she loves it. We celebrated her 6th birthday last weekend! Man, I can't believe my baby girl is six years old!!!! Ummmmm......she read her very first book a couple of months ago. Dr. Seuss's - Green Eggs & Ham. That book's like 64 freakin pages long!!!! GO RYANN!!!

Kamri is also currently spending time with her Dad. She'll be starting Pre-K in the fall and she can hardly wait!!! Both of my girls are ready to completely forgo summer and start going to school right now!! But I'm sure as soon as school starts they'll be ready for summer again....lol....kids!

As for me, I'm working at the DB's Sports Grill and Bowling as a Manager/Bartender. I've also started bowling. I'm sure this is in part due to the fact that I've started dating a professional bowler. But, truth be told, I really enjoy it and am really glad that it's something he and I can share in together.

On a more personal note, for anyone who's interested........I'm really glad that I've finally met someone who I feel can fill the gap that I've had in my life for so long. He makes me want to be a better person.......he makes my heart smile........and I'm so very happy.

Okay, well, I'm sure that I missed SO much! But, come on, I can't remember everything that's happened in the past YEAR!!!

Seriously, I'll do better with the posts. Scouts honor!!

Mel : )