Funny Memories

Ok, so Trevor was cleaning up files on our laptop tonight and came across this little gem. I'm sure you gals that are mentioned in this poem remember that night that it was written. Wasn't it on the choir tour bus? Anyway, here's a little trip down memory lane. I thought it was pretty funny.

My Five Glorious Wishes
Softly, in the summer meadow
The breeze carried a heavenly sound on a pillow;
To my amazement I gazed,
And saw her that made me heart turn ablaze.
Her name was Kimberlee,
She was singing with Heaven’s voice a song from Eternity,
I knew she was the only one for me!

Upon my merry travels, on that same summer eve,
I came across a maiden fair — so fair I couldn’t breathe.
She was milking her cow; an animal named Jon.
She was so filled with rapture, by the time she looked, we were gone;
It didn’t bother me,
For I could see,
I knew she was the only one for me!

It was upon that crisp, colorful morning in the fall,
I met a radiant Megan walking toward me in the hall.
She had just traveled from her abode — in the snow dusted hills —
The breeze bit my face, yet it was her aura that gave me chills.
The Greek Gods cried out in Reverie,
I smiled and shook it off merrily;
For, I knew she was the only one for me!

It was a dazzling, brilliant night at the Christmas Ball,
When I saw that Glorious Angel dancing in the Hall.
The fantastic tree was trimmed with silver and gold;
The waltz began to play, and I asked Melinda so bold:
“I would be pleased if I could have this dance with thee,”
Graciously she replied, ‘Certainly.”
Choirs sang, and I knew she was the only one for me!

It was on a new Easter Morn in the blossomed covered grove,
When I saw the legendary Annie - who had beauty untold.
The vibrant spring freshness made me twitterpaited -
When I asked her name, I knew we were related.
We laughed by the brook carrying water bubbly,
As we carved our initials into the pear tree.
I knew she was the only one for me!

Of these Five Glorious Wishes I cannot decide,
Of which, will be my lucky bride...
by Trevor Aitken and Christian Ward

A Weekend in So.Padre

Well we had a really fun weekend with friends down on South Padre Island. If you've never heard of it, it's at the very bottom tip of Texas right on the Mexican border. We were a little worried that the weather would be rainy--has anyone noticed that Texas has had a very wet summer? But it really was a perfect weekend. We met our friends from Austin, and we all stayed at the Sheraton Beach Hotel. The kids had so much fun swimming at the beach, digging in the sand, swimming at the hotel swimming pool, and swimming some more. On Saturday, some of us went for a ride on a 6-person water-weenie behind a jet-ski. It was a lot of fun. Right before we drove home on Sunday, we went to the turtle rescue center to visit the sea turtles.
We had so much fun, we didn't want to come home!

It's finished!

Well, that's it, it's all over. After 2 1/2 days of constant reading and child/house neglecting, I've finished the last Harry Potter book (since I know that all of you are oh so interested in my reading of Harry Potter.) I'm sad, but I'm at peace. It's like I'm talking about the death of a relative or something. It really was a fantastic read, and a little bit of an emotional roller coaster. Last night as I was finishing the last half of the book, hubby was totally asleep, and every now and then, he would roll over ask,"So how is Harry doing?" At one point I said worriedly, "it's not looking too good." For those of you that are actually going to read the book, I won't be a spoiler. But it was just perfect. All questions were answered. All loose ends tied up nice and tidy. I loved it! Highly recommended. Now, on to the wait for the third book in the "Twilight" series. Good thing it doesn't come out for a few weeks--I need to get some sleep. Hopefully now I can put all talk of Harry behind me. But most likely not, as I find myself asking everyone I know if they've read it yet so I can talk to them about it. Today, when T came home from work he asked how life was post-Harry Potter. I think he's happy to have me back. Happy reading!

That's it...I'm Moving!!!!

Alright, so I was having pretty ho-hum day. Nothing happening, just a little piano teaching, kid watching, and I totally cleaned my kitchen, i.e. swept and mopped, dishes done and put away, because we were having the missionaries over with an investigating family for dessert. Well, I'm making cookies for the dessert, and I see a little black "something" scurrying across the counter in the corner of my eye. I thought, "oh no, it better not be what I think..." I do a little poking around where I thought I saw it, and Yes! there it was, a cockroach in my kitchen! And no, it wasn't dead. I flipped out! I'm still flipping out. Good thing Trevor was home. I was shrieking and screaming for him to come take care of it! Well, of course, it goes into hiding, in one of my cabinets. So, now my oh so clean kitchen has been torn apart. Trevor couldn't find the roach (he thought it had gone behind the cabinet.) I continue to make the cookies, because remember, the missionaries are due to arrive any minute. Well, I had just put cookie dough on a cookie sheet and it was waiting to be put in the oven. I went back into the kitchen, and what do you think was on the cookie sheet with the dough? You guessed it! That damn roach!!! More screaming and swearing ensued, and finally Trevor took care of it. Cookies ruined, missionaries arriving, kids screaming, kitchen a shambles (everything taken out of the cabinet to be sterilized), and the pest control company will be receiving a call tomorrow. I told Trevor he had better find a new job, because we are moving!

The curse of Harry Potter

Wow, where do I begin...we've had a busy week. Well, as busy as a lazy summer can get, I guess. We had only been home a week, and I was feeling a little trunky. So, I packed the kiddos up and drove to Austin to visit some good friends. I love Austin because 1. we have friends, 2. there are fewer mosquitoes (thanks to a huge bat colony), 3. The Potterybarn Outlet (same cute pottery barn stuff for CHEAP--need I say more?), 4. we have friends (oh, did I already say that?) The kids had a great time swimming and hanging out with friends. The only downside was one of the little boys was sick. Read on to find out why it was the "downside" for us.

Well, as many of you know I am anxiously awaiting the release of the final book in the Harry Potter series. I'm a little bit of a freak about it. But I am truly excited. And in my need to fulfill my Harry Potter addiction, I want to see the new Harry Potter movie as well. So, Trevor and I decided that on Friday afternoon we would get a babysitter and get tickets to see the movie at the IMAX in 3-D. (I know, I told you I was a little bit of a freak.) So, we had a babysitter and tickets all lined up on Thursday--I was really proud of the fact that we were planning ahead. Hence the disappointment when at 2am on Friday morning (yes that was in the "a.m."), we are awakened by a hurling 5 year old (remember the sick friend we were with in Austin? Yep.) I don't deal well in all things related to vomit, so I woke up T and said "please...I can't deal with it." My husband is an angel. He immediately wiped the sleep from his eyes and cleaned up the mess. No complaints were uttered. He is a saint. Later, on the same day, H was complaining that her ears hurt. Well, I didn't want to get into the weekend with another sick kid with possible ear infections, so I took her into the doctor. Diagnosis: Double middle-ear infections, and swimmer's ear in the right ear. Poor girl. Oh, and the baby has a croupy cough. So, our plans were foiled. Yes, whenever you plan ahead, something in the universe plots against you...or maybe it's just our kids plotting against us. So, we've rescheduled our date for Monday night (I know, it's technically FHE night, but come on, it's Harry Potter!) So, I'm fully on alert and expecting another round of throwing up tonight to foil those plans again.

Now, this little gem is called a BUMBO. (T always calls it the b*i*mbo...T: "hey annie, where's that b*i*mbo?" Me: "Uh, are you calling our sweet baby girl names? I THINK you mean, the bumbo.) I love this babyseat! And so does Baby K. She thinks she's such a big girl in it. She loves to sit with us a dinner like such a big girl. I know, technically it should only be placed on the floor, but who am I to spoil her fun? These seats are designed to make it really hard for the kids to squirm out of them, and also it helps her sit up on her own.

Well, I better go. T wants to brush up on his Harry Potter knowledge by watching the 4th movie to prepare himself for the new movie tomorrow. Let's all say it together: We are GEEKS!

Darn You, History Channel!

All right, so last weekend T was watching a program on the History Channel called Decoding the Past: Doomsday 2012: End of Days---sounds really awe-inspiring and uplifting, right? Well, I'm in the same room kind of half-listening to the information on this program that is pretty much telling us that on December 21st, 2012 all hell is going to break loose and the world as we know it is over. Pretty freaky stuff. Now usually on these programs they make all sorts of wild claims, but they always have differing opinions portrayed so that it's a well-rounded, even-handed show. Oh no, not this one. It was pretty much claiming that we're toast in 2012. All of the "science" and calendars (i.e. the mayan calendar, the I Ching, Book of Revelations, Merlin) that they were using as their evidence was pretty convincing. So much so, that I've been thinking about it a lot. We start talking about parts of our house that we want to remodel in a few years, and I immediately say, "well, what's the point...the world's coming to an end in 5 years." Or sometimes I'll just be staring off into space, and T will ask, "What are you thinking about?" And I have to reply, "2012." He finds this really funny. But it's true! I'm starting to obsess a little bit. I'm not ready! I don't have all my food storage. My 72-hour kits are in really sad shape--I think we ate all the food and didn't replace it yet. And let's face it, I just don't feel like I'm righteous enough yet for all this to happen!

And then to top it all off, he was watching yet another program on the History Channel called The Universe, and it was all about the Sun and solar activity. And based on the evidence they have, they pretty much think that the Earth's poles are going to change, and it is going to create mass chaos on Earth--i.e. major earthquakes, fires, and just plain catastrophe!--in you guessed it, 2012. Can this all be a coincidence? I don't know. But what I DO know is that I'm not watching the History Channel anymore!

On a much lighter note...

My girls have been listening to Wicked a lot lately. T's dad, had the soundtrack at their house in Utah, and G is obsessed with it! And because she likes anything her sister likes, H is likewise obsessed. I bought the soundtrack last week, and it's all they want to listen to. Their favorite song is "Defying Gravity." It was so funny, yesterday afternoon, they were dressing up (as usual), but this time, they came downstairs dressed up as Elphaba and Galinda. Then, they spent the majority of the afternoon listening to the soundtrack and singing along. What funny girls I have! And so I leave you with a cute pic of my girls, elphie and galinda...

Hello Roaches, We're Ba-ack!

All right, so we're back. I really can't say I'm thrilled about it...but what do you do? My girls were so excited to see our car at the airport, and their rooms at home. In fact, they both came down in these outfits about 10 minutes after we were home. They really love to dress up, and they could be entertained doing it all day long.

I haven't posted anything about our last few days in Utah (i.e.--the 10 year reunion), so here goes:

I have to say that I was really excited for the reunion until we walked into the doors of UVSC. All of the sudden I was a gawky, awkward high school student again. I almost turned around and headed back to the car. We made the mistake of arriving on time, when no one was there yet...so when we walked into the room we had limited friend options. I had a hard time recognizing people. I really should have studied the yearbook before hand! But, I'm married to Mr. Social Butterfly, who has no trouble "working the room." It took me a while, but I finally warmed up to the idea of socializing. It was fun to catch up with old friends and see what everyone is up to. Thanks to everyone who planned it...we "sure appreciate you...you're DYNAMITE!"

On Saturday, we went to T's cousin's baptism. And afterward, we went to the park for a picnic. While we were there took advantage of the beautiful weather and got some family pics.

*Happy 4th of July*

When we were at church on Sunday, we sang the Star Spangled Banner for the closing song. As I was singing, I have to admit, I got a little emotional. It's a song that we don't sing enough, and it has such beautiful verses. I'm just so thankful we live in a country where we can worship how we choose.

On Monday, we enjoyed having a barbecue with both mine and T's families. We ate lots of great food, and enjoyed our own little fireworks display. It was great to see the kids enjoying the fireworks with their cousins. It makes me so sad that we don't live closer so they can hang out with them more often.

Today (Wednesday), we had a 4th of July breakfast with our neighbors from across the street. It's been very rainy in Houston (and all of Texas, apparently), and today was no different. We usually decorate the kids' bikes and have a neighborhood parade that ends at the clubhouse with a big firetruck hosing all the kids down and everyone swims all day. But since it was raining, we just watched the parade go by. We didn't feel like swimming in the rain. (Well, I should clarify...hubby and I didn't want to swim in the rain.) We wrapped the day up with dinner at Red Robin, and watching the fireworks on tv. Aren't we exciting? We are trying to get our girls back on a normal schedule (and back onto Central Time), so we didn't even attempt a live fireworks show. Man, we ARE exciting! At least we all had red (and very festive) 4th of July t-shirts.



Anyway, thanks for listening to my random thoughts. We had such a great time with all our family and friends over the past month. Thanks for making so many fun and lasting memories with us!