I have been Phantomed......

It was a joy to wake up on Wed. morning and to my surprise, after kissing Dante and Erin farewell and wishing them a great day at school and opening the door to send them on their way... I found a delicious plate of cookies and brownies galore! I mean DELICIOUS Halloween treats. I promised my kids I would save them for their after school snack and by some miracle - I was able to stave off eating them all myself.

The Phantom came to MY house and I was overjoyed! I would now like to publicly THANK my phantom. I'm not exactly sure who you are, or even if you read my blog-- but maybe if you don't, someone you know does and you'll get the thanks deserved.

Dante would also like to ask you for the recipe of the yummy pumpkin face sugar cookies with icing. According to him, he would like to have them EVERY NIGHT for dinner and I couldn't agree more:) So, if you could kindly leave, so anonymously, in an envelope to me the scrumptious recipe- it would be much appreciated.

As much as I appreciated the treats-- I was a little disturbed by something in the letter left to me and what I was supposed to pass on. I'm ok with being the "phantom" to 2 other households, I'm also ok with doing it sneakily.... even though it is very hard for me to keep a secret like that.

What I have a slight problem with, is leaving my own phantom out so that I don't get hit again... however- I LOVE the treats- and I know that if I leave my phantom out to be seen then- I will be passed by, the next time someone tries to deliver some yummy treats to my house. So, I'm going to ask in my best, most sincere and cute childish voice..... "AWWWW, DO I HAVE TO???"

I get it- I really do! We want everyone to get a chance at getting treats-- but we are talking about TREATS here! Halloween treats! And I'm selfish when it comes to treats!

So, by a show of comments- what do you think- do you think the "phantom" will hate me for not posting up my phantom outside my door-- or should I be a good sport and just suck it up and put it on my door to let people know I have been visited??

I'm torn! But the treats were absolutely delicious and I wish I had thought to take a picture of them before we ate them all, to the very last crumb. :)

Thanks again my phantom!!

The Great Eight Challenge

The Great Eight Challenge!!

8 T.V. Shows I Watch
Heroes
30 Rock
All My Children
Private Practice
The Mentalist
The Office
Dancing with the Stars
Ugly Betty


8 Favorite Restaurants
Whataburger
Pappasito's
Churrascos
Fuddruckers
Fogo de Chao
Benihana
The Pizza Factory (Utah)
Rubio's (Utah)

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
Went to the gym
Went grocery shopping
Took Ethan to soccer practice
Went to Chick-fil-A with Melynda and kids
Went to Young Women's
Made some girls run further then they had to, showed them who was boss
blogged here and here
watched the season premier of Private Practice


8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
cooler weather
WEDNESDAYS (take note Melynda):)
My birthday (Oct. 28th people!)
competing in fitness again (someday!)
Fridays too- because ALL kids are in school that day
Chet getting home from work
Waking up in the mornings
Maggie Moos


8 Things on My Wish List
More cute workout clothes
new fall clothes
nap time (for me!)
another vacation
redecorating my house
New landscaping done by men! Chet prefers them to be good looking, I don't care either way:)
A professional chef
Being debt-free


8 People I'm Tagging
Jamie Handy
Katie Hopkins
Morgan Hopkins
Shanna Hulet
Kimmy Graff
Sally Weaver
Jennika Simmons
Cassie Young

Have fun!!!:)

Are you ready to find out about Ike and my hidden talent??

Ike was TOTALLY WICKED!!! Here is the story of Ike and how I'm psychic and can apparently talk to hurricanes.

I found out I was psychic when I was the ripe young age of 12. My first year of girls camp a quilt was given away and I "guessed" who was going to get the quilt at the end of camp- and I was dead on-- and there were probably over 100 girls there. So- that was my first instance and then after a few dreams coming true -- I KNEW I had a power! I've always kept this a secret because I didn't want to have to guess who were my friends because I had this special gift or because they were truly my friends. Now- I guess it is out- so don't take advantage of me. :)

A couple years ago I had a dream that Hurricane Isaac came straight to Houston and hit us pretty hard. When I woke up- I immediately went to the computer to check on that years upcoming names for the storms that formed. Luckily Isaac wasn't one of them- so I knew my dream was just a dream and not a psychic moment (it really is a pain having this ability because you never know when it is real and when it is not.... AND then you have to research it- like I'm in school again) Anyways..... this year when Ike started barreling towards us, it brought me back to my "dream" and I found out that Ike is a nickname for Isaac.... WHAT?!?!?! Yeah- so there you go folks- I'M PSYCHIC!

So, I thought with the ability to "see" things into the future like this, maybe I could speak to this natural disaster waiting to happen. Some people speak to the dead, some people speak to animals, but- WHO can speak to mother earth's creation?? ME!

As you all saw a few weeks ago- I wrote a letter to Mr. Ike and he SO kindly obliged and did as I asked.


The bullet STILL stands! It was not wiped away- yes it may need a little rebuffing-- but I will get to ride the bullet in the near future:)
La King's after Ike! The Strand apparently got 8-9 feet of water into each store, so it will have quite a bit of restoration to do- but it is still there, and I can't wait to be one of their first customers when they are back up and running!

Our beach house at Surfside that we LOVE to rent. STILL STANDING!! I thought 2 out of three would be pretty generous of Mr. Ike- but ALL 3 is stunning- especially since 40 houses got wiped away completely from Surfside. I was shocked to find this picture at all after Ike- but someone in Surfside took a picture of every square inch of the city and I'm very grateful for that!

So, the 3 landmarks that I asked Ike to spare he did-- but he then went on and kept my family safe, my friends safe and our city safe for the most part. Yes, there were trees down and we were without power for 4 days... but for the most part it was an adventure and I would go through a hurricane again ANYDAY!! (except for maybe a 5 or a 4 or a 3)

Here are a TON of pictures of our fun adventure of Hurricane Ike! I mean LIKE 100+! Enjoy:)

Anticipating Ike and Dante must play some Wii with Uncle Brett.
Eating our Brownie Sundaes and watching the news intently and waiting for our power to go out.
Again- we couldn't take our eyes off the tv!! Galveston was getting hit like CRAZY!! It is so weird to see it actually happen to a place you frequent quite often.
Me- SUPER excited for Ike to hit! SUPER EXCITED!!
Ethan freaked out that Ike is coming and thought he would sleep in the ice-chest for extra safety.

Aunt Christie then talked him out of it and cuddled with him (I was actually at home with Chet the kids stayed over at my moms for a sleepover!)
Chilling and watching a movie.

Goodnight!!


Our power went out at about 2 in the morning. The wind REALLY started to pick up at around 3... and MAN-- was it crazy. I felt like I was in a tent, only the house wasn't moving, but it was LOUD and I felt completely safe (except for when I looked out the window- I could have sworn something would blow in and hit me) And this is what we woke up to.
A little bit of water on the street with Ethan and Dante playing in it. We are so lucky it doesn't flood here. Sugar Land is built really well.
Erin wasn't playing outside because she left her swimsuit at Grandma's. I had to go get it- because not only did she take one swimsuit to spend the night at Grandma's but she took ALL 5-- and when I unpacked her bag-- her whole wardrobe was in it pretty much-- (see below)

I think she was hoping that Hurricane Ike would put us out for the rest of our lives, so we would have to live at Grandma and Grandpa's.
This is the way I walk to my moms house. Trees were down everywhere, and limbs and leaves and fences! It was wild! We were lucky and nothing happened to us at all.

My parents fences were blown down.
The neighborhood across the way from us- had A TON of trees down and on houses too.


This is the way we drive to Grandma's. It looks so twilight zoney.
My mom's back yard again above and below.

more trees blown down on our street.

It was a fun experience. The kids favorite part was having to use flashlights at night- it was like camping inside. However, when our power came back on it was HALLELU-JAH'S all around!

And that is Ike for you- my post is so late because I feel like Ike has set me back 2 months in my life-- and I'm just trying to catch up:)

Happy Birthday Little Miss Erin:)

Erin turned 6!! I still can't believe my kids are getting so old- time has literally flown by! Erin didn't get a "formal" birthday party this year thanks to Mr. Ike... but she still had fun at her family party.



Erin with all of her presents behind her!

Erin loves dance! She was so excited when she opened up a new ballet outfit and had to put it on right away (of course!) and then when Dad gave her the little mermaid pencil pictured above, she wouldn't put it down! FOR ANYTHING! Which is comical to me now- because she has already sharpened it all the way to the bottom. What is it with kids and sharpeners and then sharpening a pencil all the way until it hits the eraser?? The thing should just be called a pencil shortener!


Everytime we went into Kroger since Erin was 1, she would point at this exact cake and coo- and then when she was old enough to talk, she would say- I want that for my birthday and I would always give the "yeah,yeah" answer and well- this year I figured I couldn't get away with the "yeah,yeah" answer and have her forget about the cake- so I caved and got her this beautiful "Fairytopia" cake- that (as you can see) fell over before I was able to take it out of the box! But- Erin loved it none the less and was super duper excited to eat it!
I on the other hand- had pink hands for about a week and wonder what they put into that icing to make it so pink!! That stuff is GROSS!

Here is Erin in love with her cake and about to blow out the candles! Which she proceeded to do one by one! SIX very big single blows finally knocked them all out.

Here is me with Erin and her cousin Ginger. We celebrated with Aunt Rosie and her family, because her b-day had been the previous week.... and we had a PARTY! Erin loves Ginger and they are cute little friends! And yes- Erin looks like a redneck child right about now - with 17 teeth missing!


And last but not least- here is Erin with Grandma-- who put on the party and made it wonderful!

My baby girl is 6 and so grown up! I knew boys and girls were always different (except me- apparently I was a boy) so I never understood how mature little girls can be- and MAN is Erin practically a responsible adult! She is so much fun to have around and she can definitely keep her own with the boys, but she is still my delicate little girl who is gaga for polly pockets and barbies and My Little Ponies.

Happy birthday Erin! We love you:)

(coming up next: How we survived Ike and I'm PSYCHIC!) Stay tuned!

Ike update

So far so good-the wind is wonderful! I LOVE IT! We have gone and played soccer over at the elementary school for a bit and now we are back home and headed over to my mom's house for games and dinner and entertainment.

I have to admit, I, like everyone else in Houston, have been glued to the news for a good part of the day. But let's face it people... we are really only glued to the news for ONE reason. We are all HOPING, and PRAYING that we will see something like the following below..... Yes, we also like to know what the wind speed is up to, and that you may face "certain death" if you are directly on the coast, or when the rain is supposed to start, or if the track has changed... but seriously WHO ARE WE KIDDING! The clip below is what it is ALL about!

Dear Hurricane Ike

I understand that we will most likely be in your path of destruction. I'm ok with this, and a little excited since the last time I was in a hurricane, was Hurricane Alicia and I was 3 years old, and I don't quite really remember, but would like to ask you for a few favors for my own selfishness.

I have yet to ride the Boardwalk Bullet at Kemah, and I would REALLY, REALLY like to, since Astroworld has shut down. So, please, if it is not too much trouble-- PLEASE just kind of skip over it.

Next on my "do not destroy list" is La Kings. Their ice-cream is amazing and it is fun to watch them make Salt Water Taffy. It is also fun to pretend that I'm back in the early 1900's with the setting and aura of the place. Also-I can't live without their chocolate covered almonds. Need I say more?
3rd- please forget that Surfside Beach exists. This is our family vacation rental, that we normally will rent out for a week or 2 each summer. It sleeps 32 and for a really good price- and that is hard to come by! We need this house- so that we can keep coming back for more. They also have a nice hottub to sit in after a long day at the beach. Never ending relaxation at this place.

If you can do these 3 easy favors for me- I would REALLY appreciate it. Oh, and if it is not too much to ask, - please keep my family safe, my home safe, my dear friends safe (which means you better hope you are a dear friend of mine and not just a friend or else Ike might come and get you)

With all my love and support for you to hit us as a Cat 2 storm (no more then that please),

Bertie

What would you want spared (besides all the normal important stuff) if a hurricane was coming your way?

Hilarious soccer anyone??

We are now apart of the wonderful world of soccer! This is both Dante and Ethan's first year in soccer. We have put Dante in other sports- basketball and swimming- and now we are testing out soccer. Ethan is 4- so this is the first year he is actually able to participate. They practice on these cute little tiny fields- and Dante got thrown right into the big dawg field! Poor guy!

Saturday marked their first games for the season and what fun we had! Before we left the house I did a pretend photo op with my boys- (because I'm an EXCELLENT photographer!)
This one cracks me up- because Dante is pretending to kick the ball (his idea!) The smart ones are MY ideas-- like the:

Game Faces idea

and the brotherly love hug idea

and of course the looking out into the far off distance of our beautiful neighbors house. Brothers forever!

Then it was off to Dante's soccer game. He is #5!

Here he is in midfield waiting for the ball to be in play.
Oh my goodness HE KICKED THE BALL!! Dante is not the most athletic kid on the block... so a kick is AMAZING in our book! He played a great game for never having played on a team before. Here is our proud boy "posing" by a tree! He knows that the landscape and background is what makes or breaks a picture!

While he was waiting on the sidelines he liked to play with the dirt and watch the wind blow it wherever it may. He got lots of growls in his direction from runners passing by on the trail.
Ethan got bored quickly of Dante's soccer game and just wanted to play his own. I let him roam around for a bit so I could watch Dante and get some pictures and the next thing I know Ethan is having a conversation with the local police station. NICE!

Amy came a little later with Minnie and Erin. How cute are they?
Erin opted not to play soccer, and wanted back into dance-- so she is having lots of fun just playing on the playgrounds nearby the fields.
Aunt Christie also came a little later to take Ethan to his game.. because Dante's and Ethan's games overlapped and they were played at 2 different fields. Dante and I caught up later. While waiting for Aunt Christie Ethan wanted to play photographer.

Yeah!! Chuck the truck made it just in time- and Ethan hitched a ride to his game. The following pictures were taken by Christie... I got there at half time, and by that time- Ethan was pretty much done playing- he just wanted to play on the playground with Erin and Dante. So, I didn't get to see him play- but you won't want to miss the series of events below!!
Ethan is #2-- and he is, I'm sure picking his nose- and waiting for the ball to be put on the field for open play.
He kicks it!
He Scores and THEN what does he do??

He celebrates by sticking his head under his coach's shorts!?! What in the WORLD was he thinking?? What in the WORLD was Christie thinking taking this picture?? If I had been there and seen that- I would have yelled for Ethan to stop that right away-- because WHO DOES THAT?? But- NOPE- Christie has to take a picture. (entertainment for my blog I guess!)

I guess how it really transpired was- his son(who is the other kid in the picture) was doing it, Ethan then started to do it- and they started to take turns.. and he would just casually push there heads out of his shorts while talking to the other coach. My guess is- he didn't know it was ETHAN AND his son- he probably just thought it was his son doing it. So- YES- that is the picture of the year right there! Enjoy!

I did take this picture of Christie taking Ethan over to the playground to play. Such a fun aunt.

THE END.