Conroe!

We decided to take a road trip with the Kaspars - and all the kids! In spite of all that crazy snow we loaded up and headed South. It took us about 3+ hours to get there and the kids did really well on the drive. It's a Kaspar family lake house and we were thankful and excited about the invite. The house accommodated us all so well. The twins even got their own little room with twin beds! This was their first time in real big-kid beds. We brought rails (thankfully) and while they were a beating to put together, I think they were a good idea. The kids liked having their own room and slept really well both nights. Saturday they tooks us out on the boat! Another first for the kiddos. We were all ready with their new life jackets, and despite the cold went for it. Charis LOVED it! She is a little speed junkie. Price on the other hand, mama's boy he is, probably could have done without the cold. It was more than cold. It was freezing. But it was lots of fun! We went out to eat twice while we were there (a rarity for the Andrews) and otherwise just enjoyed spending time in a beautiful place with sweet family and friends!

Snow! In Texas!?

I imagine this being said like the line from Sweet Home Alabama when she says "You have a baby...In a bar?!" We just do not expect it here!!

We woke up to snow Feb. 11, 2010 but never imagined it would just keep on snowing!! That Thursday the kids' school was not cancelled, but UTA was (thank goodness!). So I enjoyed a day off Thursday and the kids were excited about the snow, but not so excited that they wanted to play in it. Charis told me "Mommy, I do not want to go play in the snow. It will get me dirty." But it just kept on snowing! All day and all Thursday night. We woke up Friday morning to more snow than I ever remember seeing in Texas. I have read a few places that there were more than 11 inches of snow! It was really beautiful!

On a different note, Charis woke up that morning and could not put any pressure on her right leg. She would try to walk and just collapse. Naturally we were quite concerned, and supposed to be leaving town that morning, we decided to take her to the ER. They did X-rays and claimed it was nothing - maybe growing pains? Soreness from jumping around? Leg fell asleep? Who knows. We prayed and continue to pray it was/is nothing!

Looky what I made!!

So I wanted to do a craft with the kids the other morning and had bought the stuff to make Fruit Loop necklaces a while back. I think this original idea came from Amy Kaspar and I knew it would be lots of fun for the kiddos! So I got everything all ready and the kids were excited. I thought that Price might lack the dexterity to do it as he was off to a slow start. But he got it all figured out and stayed engaged until his necklace was complete!! He did a great job and you could tell he was proud of the work he did! Charis on the other hand strung about 5 Fruit Loops onto her necklace, ate them off and then was done with the whole activity. On to something else. I am ever-amazed how different the two of these children are!!

The dreaded "c" word...thankfully just a scare (don't look if you have a weak stomach)

So Chris decided he was due for a physical and went in mid-January to get all checked out. He had a spot on his back that he wanted to ask the doc about and the doc agreed it was suspect and referred him to a dermatologist. The dermatologist took a look and said "it's NOT melanoma, but let's check it out anyway." We got the call about a day later that it was "Stage zero melanoma". We praise God that Chris noticed this spot and got it removed while it was stage zero. The doctor even said that if Chris had waited a few months, they'd be having a much different conversation. The pathology report shows they got it all. But being faced with something like this is just so scary. Just reminds us how fragile life can be. I have really gone back and forth about posting a pic, but this is our reality so I will.

High school reunion

January 9, 2010 we had an unofficial high school reunion. With both of us having gone to Nolan and graduated the same year, we have a lot of common friends, many of whom we are still in pretty close contact with, including Terry (Mendiola) Hammond, who is primarily responsible for Chris and me even being together! Of course with Facebook around, we are now in contact with even more people that we would not have been otherwise. So we all got together at Duke's in Bedford. There were people there from class of '91 all the way to '96. It was a really special evening for old friends to reunite and even new friendships to grow! I am so thankful for our school and its network. Though we won't send the kids there, I treasure my memories from there and hope something equally great for Charis and Price's high school experience!

School Days

So we made the (difficult) decision to put the kids in school this Spring. Two days a week from 9-2 in a Spanish immersion program. This decision was actually much harder for Mommy than it was for Daddy. I literally could not make the call so Chris did the enrollment, payment etc, all tasks that would usually fall on me! But here we are 7 weeks in and I can finally say it's a good decision. The first 3 weeks or so were just brutal. Charis would cry and cry. One morning I stood around the corner, out of eye-shot, and listened as she cried for a solid 30 minutes! Thinking all the while, "this is so not worth it". I mean it would be nice if they pick up some Spanish, but not worth damaging her psyche. But now life is good. I no longer have to chase her to get her to put on her school shirt. She, unprovoked, says "We are going to school today!", before she would just say "No, I don't wanna go to school."

The school made the excellent decision to make Charis the "Estudiante de la semana" a few weeks ago, which involved us making a big poster for her with pictures of things she loved on it. This seemed to be the turning point. Since then, things have been good. And they do seem to be picking up some Spanish. My mom says "Carly, they just walk along saying words that I cannot understand." She then demonstrated how she tries to repeat the words back to them, not sure if that's helpful! Gotta love the effort though :-) We are excited to have found this school and think it is going to be an exciting time for them!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Happy New Year!!

We rang in the new year at home with a few close friends.  We had dinner, followed by games - this was a lot of fun!  Games included "Find the Pooh" - a race between Amy and me to put together a Winnie the Pooh children's puzzle (she won), a "Friends" trivia contest, "Shaq Attack" - a basketball shoot out on Price's new set, and a balancing on one foot contest between Chris and Chris.  We are so thankful for the friends and family we have.  Here's to a great "twenty-ten"!!