Why I Am a CASA

I just saw this story on CNN.com. It's so sad, so tragic, soooo pointless. Some of the abuse situations that we learned about in CASA training were just unbelievable. It is just amazing what some people of capable of doing to their own precious, defenseless and very fagile children. And really, for what? I don't understand the payoff that comes from beating a child.

I am so very happy that I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of my CASA child's life. She is an amazing girl with so much to offer this world. She is destined for great thing and it was just awesome to watch her first move physically into a safe and nurturing home and now emotionally into a safe and nurturing space. I look forward to watching her grow and succeed for many years to come.

If you live in Ft. Bend county and are interested in becoming a CASA, there is a week-long training session in August...you can check it out at www.cafb.org.

Don't live in Ft. Bend county? CASA is everywhere! Just google it to find your nearest CASA organization.

Calling Me Out

Avery had a pretty late nap today which, as always, led into a rough time getting her to go to bed tonight. So, here I am with Ryleigh in bed wanting her good night song, and a drink of water, and some allergy medicine, and whatever else she can think of to procrastinate....and then there is Avery in her bed just crying away for Mama. So after I get Ryleigh all that she needs, or at least can think of at the moment, I start to walk out the room to tend to the screaming 2 year old in the other room when I hear her little voice behind me go:

"So who's the good kid now."

I stopped, my heart stopped and I just looked to the sky and had a total Doh! kind of moment. What a heavy statement for my 5 year old to make. My five year old who is doing her very best to become a big kid and to make good decisions and do right things just totally called me out on not taking enough notice of her efforts.

I turned around, sat back down on the bed and did my very best to make up for the recent lack of "I'm so proud of you" and "You are such an awesome kid" statements. Way to go mom...way...to...go.

If I could I would shout it from the mountain what an amazing kid she is. So smart and sooo pretty and kind. She cares about everyone she comes into contact with, she doesn't understand why everyone can't just get along and be friends. Ryleigh only has 13 days left in Kindergarten and then we're off to 1st grade! I really just couldn't be any more proud of her if I tried and she's not just a good kid, she's the best kid!

Environment and Science Do Not Mix...Texas Says So

Once again, I found myself bored, sitting around, eating bon-bons, watching Oprah and wondering what I could do to pass my time. So I got myself involved in a new project, I am now heading up the Environmental club for Ryleigh's elementary school next year. And seriously, I am so excited about this. It is going to be my number one project next school year. I graduated from college in 2002 with my Geography/Geology minor tucked under my belt and with the exception of some bus route planning at my first job I have not used my degree at all. This, I hope, will give me the opportunity to work in an area I am terribly, annoyingly passionate about. Teachers, get ready, those diet soda cans will now be recycled!

So, first off, some research. Of course, this is a PTA sponsored club so let's see what the ol' Texas PTA website has to offer in the way of environmental program advice:

"Environmental awareness is usually associated with terms such as climate change, global warming and energy conservation. Although it is important for our children to understand the importance of being good stewards of our resources, being active in the environment is more than science."

Well bleepidy bleep....there goes my plans for the first meeting. Sorry kids, there will be no screening of Al Gore's, An Inconvenient Truth...what with all it's sciencey science and all. Instead, let's make new paper out of shredded Scantrons and tears from polar bears. We'll just save the Earth via that route.

Things That Go Boom in the Night

Last night at about 10pm one of Transocean's rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had an explosion. Right now, 24 1/2 hours later, the rig is still burning and eleven are missing.


When I first found out about this at 6am this morning I immediately felt the same way I did when the Cougar helicopter went down in Canada a little over a year ago. Jeramy is home today, not out on the rig like he was when the helicopter went down. But the feeling in your stomach is the same. It's horrible, just really horrible. We are hoping and praying that the eleven missing are found alive afloat in an evacuation capsule. Yet as each minute goes by, our hope and optimism can't help but begin to slip.


It's days like this that make me take a moment...or many moments...and think about our home, our family..our life. My husband has a dangerous job. He spends three out of every six weeks in a very dangerous environment. He does it for us, me and the girls, so that we can have a home and a life filled with all that we desire and so very much more. When Jeramy is home we strive to make each moment count. We love each other and the girls fiercely and are so very proud of our daddy when he leaves to go back to work every six weeks.


My heart aches for the families of those still missing and those that were injured. Jeramy's boss while we were in Canada is one of the injured. He has a family. They all have families and I/we/all Transocean employees are with them in thought and prayer hoping for the very best.

Thank you so very much to our daddy and to all the oilfield men out there, including my dad, grandfathers, uncles and many other relatives, that do a job that is highly unappreciated, highly needed and filled with danger.

I love you Jeramy and are happy every day to be walking this road with you, hand in hand.

Spring Break 2010

Okay, Spring Break. So what if it was a month ago, here is how it went down for us. We decided to head on over to San Antonio to hang out by the hotel pool, ride some roller coasters and see beautiful sea creatures being held captive in clean tanks free of any predators. It was a really great time!

Lots of work went into preparing for our trip. Getting four people ready for a three night trip takes some thought. Good thing I only had to worry about three people. What I packed:

What Daddy packed:

Don't feel sorry for me, he's not allowed to pack anything other than his own bag. His job is to drive and my job is to pack and read a book all the way there.

We stayed at the Hilton Hill Country Resort, which I love and will now take a moment to plug. It's right across the street from Sea World and has a free shuttle to the park. Hotel activities for the kids include nail painting, face painting, hair braiding, jewelry making, coloring, a nightly movie outside and smores cooked over the open fire pits by the pool. And there are three pools one of which is a kiddie pool only a foot deep....and a jungle gym...and a basketball goal and half court. It's a great place for families with small children and I highly recommend!

An hour after we arrived we were all in the pool. Ryleigh in her floaties and Avery with her circle tube. Both were all over the pool except for when Avery decided to get out and jump back into the pool with the tube around her waist....with "No Mama Help"...get back you crazy woman, I am 2 1/2 and am fully capable of jumping into a 4 ft. pool by myself. Of course you are baby, jump away. ...only it didn't go like that because I didn't want her to smack her head or slip through the tube and sink to the bottom of the pool. Silly Baby.

The first full day we were there the weather was pretty yucky. We spent the morning just hanging around the hotel letting the rain pass. By the afternoon the sky had cleared so we ventured on over to Sea World. With the bad weather, not too many people were there which was great for us! We caught a few shows and Ryleigh and Daddy rode the Shamu roller coaster.

The next day the weather was really great and half of Texas decided to go to Sea World! Here are the girls and I at the Shamu show. The trainers weren't allowed to get in the water but it was still a great show and the girls really enjoyed it.

And here are the giant scary penguins that Avery wouldn't have anything to do with.

I think family vacations are sooo important. And they don't have to cost a lot of money, it's just all about spending time together away from the stresses of everyday life. Our family trips center us and I treasure each and every one.

Sea World....maybe later

We just got back from a really awesome little family get-a-way to San Antonio! When Ryleigh was two we took her to Sea World for the very first time and so to start off this blog post I thought I would post what I blogged from that trip on our old blog. Apparently I did not blog about that trip, but the synopsis is that Ryleigh threw up in the hotel lobby after the day at Sea World because we were new (dumb) parents that didn't understand the limits of a two year old in August at an outdoor adventure park. I did however come across this blog post and thought it was worth reposting since we are in the midst of potty training Avery. Once I get the Sea World pics up I'll let you know more about that trip.

Monday, October 30, 2006
Okay, I knew that it had a been a while, but two months! Bad Mommy, Bad, Bad Mommy. This deserves a good poop story...

This happened at least a month ago, I think probably longer. One Saturday we invited my boss and her boyfriend over to the house for a little cook-out. I was crazy busy trying to clean the house when Ryleigh decided she didn't want to wear her diaper. I consented to the white-trash potty training techniqe and let her run around diaperless. When I was about done cleaning, and while Jeramy was at the store, I decided to get her dressed, diaper and all. I took her upstairs and commenced laying her down and putting her diaper on...wait a minute...what is this??? It's poo-poo...on your hiny!! I cleaned her up and finished getting her dressed and then went through the whole house with her looking for the remaining "pieces". There were none to be found and Ryleigh was of no help.
Did you poo-poo? Yes.
On the floor? Yes.
Where? Huh?
Where? Huh?
I finally gave up finding and it and went on cleaning up the kitchen. In walks Jeramy. "Daddy, come play kitchen with me." "Sure Ryleigh, that would be oh-so-much-fun." (Silence while Daddy and Ryleigh play and Mommy cooks)

Daddy: What the....WHAT IS THIS?
Mommy: You found it!!!
Ryleigh: I poo-poo in my pan.

Yes folks, Ryleigh poo-pooed on the floor and then scooped it up with her spatula and put it in her pan. (best we could tell) Thank God we found it before she played kitchen with my boss!!

Boys vs. Girls

Ryleigh got invited to a boy's birthday party this weekend. It's a boy from her class. I RSVP'd and said that we would be coming. The mother replied back and thanked me for my RSVP then went on to say that Ryleigh is the only girl that her son had invited to her party. When the mother asked why only Ryleigh he replied with "she is way more fun than the other girls".

Hmmmmmm.

Really.

Define fun.

Clearly this is a behavior that we should nip in the bud. This act of funness. It shall not be tolerated.

All joking aside, I thought this was really sweet and cute. And very interesting. Ryleigh has always tended to gravitate toward the boys. From 18 months until she was 4 her very best friend was Adam. Adam whom she competed with every second she was around him but who she was so sad to leave behind when we moved to Canada. Then there was Kyle, her true love, her prince. Kyle's picture hangs on the mirror in her bathroom and often accompanies her when we go out. There are many that have never met Kyle that know a lot about him.

This year in school is really the first time I have seen Ryleigh become overly concerned with her girl friends. She has tried to wear bows like them, wear pink like them, talk about Hanna Montanna like them and even got her first yellow mark at school over an argument about ICarly...she is not even allowed to watch ICarly!

Ryleigh is definitely all girl, all princess and totally concerned about her hair. But it's nice to know that her knack for forming boy friendships is not completely lost to the preschool years.