What I Know For Sure...

Thanksgiving is still my favorite holiday. The obvious reason is the food. I love all the traditional Thanksgiving food and the wonderful smell it brings to our home. The first thing I do when I wake up (which is hours before the rest of my family) is start a pot of wassail. Traditionally wassail has alcohol in it and was used to toast good fortune. Ours is pretty much just hot apple cider. Actually, it's the best hot apple cider and in my opinion, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to toast good fortune. It's a recipe that's been in my mom's family for... I'm not sure how long? When the turkey starts cooking in the oven, the smell just gets better. At the end of the night, the warm pumpkin pie, or pumpkin pie cake at our house, finishes the day of good food and good smells perfectly.

I also love the fact that Thanksgiving isn't so commercialized like other holidays. As soon as Halloween is over the Christmas merchandise goes out. Don't get me wrong, I love all the Halloween and Christmas fluff. I think all the movies and merchandise that go along with the holidays are great fun for everyone. At the same time, I love that Thanksgiving doesn't have all the "fluff". It's about something simple and simply wonderful --gratitude. We always put out our Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving while our hearts are in that special place. That makes me love Thanksgiving even more.

Some of the things I am thankful for this year ~
* Ron, for being mine.
* Reily, for being such a good example to all of us.
* Jacklyn, for showing me how to be strong and positive through a horrible accident. You never stopped smiling!
* Jim, for being such a great brother, son, husband and father at a time when it would be hard for most people to see past themselves.
* Jennifer, for being my sister and my best friend...always.
* Jason, for always being there for ALL your family. I know that all I have to do is pick up the phone. I'm sure our whole family feels the same way!
* Jon, for calling me because I get busy and things slip my mind. I miss living close to you and your phone calls really help...and your silly text messages.
* April, for being there for Mom and helping her when she needs it.
* Mom, for loving your children and grandchildren and being so involved in all our lives. I love that my kids will text you and you text them back. Thank you for getting on me when I slack on blogging. Not only does it get me going, it shows me how much you care about me and my family.
* Paul & Jackie, for raising a son who works so hard at everything he does. I've seen many times where he's learned that and it's made him the wonderful husband and father he is today.
* Grandma Halversen, for loving all of your very large family and teaching us that we are only as old as we choose to be.
* I am also thankful for all my friends and all the ways we can keep in touch. Maybe one day we all will have blogs ;)

This was our first Thanksgiving without family or friends. At first I was sad about this, but I quickly realized that it was perfect. Not that I wouldn't have welcomed the company of family or friends, I just loved being with Ron, Reily and Jacklyn...in our pajamas and on only our time schedule. One more thing to add to my 2008 list --- I'm thankful for pajamas that can double as "lounge wear".

Jacklyn's Birthday

Saturday was Jacklyn's 12th birthday. Friday, the 21st, we threw her a surprise party and boy was she surprised! It was tricky, but I was able to get a hold of her friends without her knowing and no one blew the surprise. Jacklyn went home with her friends Ally and Karley after school. Meanwhile, Natalie, Maddy, Sterling, Alyssa, Nikki, Lula, Shelby, Lana, Christie, Andie, Jake and Reily (I know, long list, but this is my scrapbook/journal) all gathered at the house for the surprise. All the girls stood on the stairs in the entry while Reily and Andie readied themselves with confetti and poppers. Jacklyn's reaction as she walked into the house was great. She was so surprised and happy that she had to hug everyone individually after the group hug.

The girls painted ceramic picture holders, dressed up and took pictures together with disposable cameras. It was fun to see their crazy outfits and posses. After they finished painting, they sang karaoke in their fabulous outfits. Reily and Jake were great sports to sing the guys parts in any songs that had it. Jacklyn sang the song "Beautiful" by Christina Aguillera for all of her friends and it was beautiful!






















At the end of the night, the girls made their own ice cream sundaes and we had cake. The girls asked if it was okay to push Jacklyn's face in her cake....since they asked so nicely I couldn't refuse. The cake was yummy red velvet, which has become Jacklyn's favorite since moving to the south. The party was a huge success!


























Three of Jacklyn's friends spent the night. Ron made a big breakfast in the morning and then two of the girls went to Reily's lacrosse game with us. Later that night we went to a friend's wedding. The celebrating lasted for two days and Jacklyn deserved every minute of it! Jacklyn is growing up so fast. She is such a smart, beautiful, kind, generous, loving girl and I am so grateful to have her as my daughter. I love you Jacklyn!

Reily's Busy Life

As you already know, Reily is playing lacrosse. He loves it and it's proving to be a great sport for him. Sports are a HUGE deal in Texas! They play hard and practice even harder. The official lacrosse season doesn't start until the beginning of next year, but practices started over the summer. Once school started, it all intensified with practices three times a week for two to two and a half hours each time. The boys are also "encouraged" to practice at a sports training center every Thursday night for two plus hours. We've also started scrimmage games (which last three to four hours) and after the holidays, practices will be four to five times a week.

Reily also had his first Homecoming. I found myself startled now and then as we prepared for it all. I'm still not use to having a child in high school and now he was going to Homecoming...crazy! What was even more startling and way crazier is the "Texas Homecoming Mums". This is a tradition here in Texas and like sports, it's a huge deal. The mums need to be big and fancy and they are bought or made by the mother of the boy. The girls wear the mums pinned to their shirts all day at school and then that night at the football game. Some pin them to their dresses the next night for the dance. Luckily, the girls in Reily's group didn't want them. If the girl Reily takes next year wants one, I'll know what to do now. I'd never seen or heard of such a thing. Anyway, these mums taught me that everything really is bigger in Texas!

Reily has also continued with choir and was chosen to sing in the Honors Choir for the Texas Music Educator's Region 26 Concert. This is an audition choir made up of students from all the high schools in our region. Last year, I believe I counted 25-30 schools in our region. The kids and directors practice all day together for the first time and then perform that same night. At the practice, Reily was chosen to sing in the Mixed Men's Choir as well. This was exciting because the director of that choir has incredible credentials. He's worked with artists from the Metropolitan Opera and Tony award winners. Also, his Conservatory Chamber Choir performed a concert tour of China as part of the opening celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This was a wonderful opportunity and experience for Reily! Here's a picture of Reily and his friend Amanda after the concert--

Happy Birthday Reily!

Last night Reily had a party with his good friend Andie who turns fifteen tomorrow. Months ago, when they realized they were only a day apart, they planned to have their birthday parties together. We hosted the party at our house and had about 25 teenagers here along with Andie's parents. Because their birthdays are in October, they decided to have a costume party. They ate tons of food, sang karaoke (all but five of the kids sing in the choir) and played games. It was so much fun!

I can't believe it's been fifteen years! Reily is such a wonderful son and I am blessed to be his mother. I love you Reily!!!

Playing catch up and apologizing...again.

So again, I'm a bad blogger because I've broken the first and most important rule of blogging....NOT BLOGGING. Saying I've been busy isn't really an excuse, because it gives you lots to blog about, especially when your blog is your journal/scrapbook. So, here are some of the things we've been busy with. I'm hoping that including photos will buy me some forgiveness.

First, we got a fish tank...yeah!? As most of you know, we're not a cat or dog family. We love them, but we love breathing more. For me, it's an occasional runny nose and itchy eyes. Reily does great with both cats and dogs. Ron and Jacklyn however don't do so well. So, after Jacklyn came to us very distraught because she doesn't have a pet "like everyone else", we went and bought this. It's not a very good picture (you can't even see the fish), but you get the idea.

Jacklyn had her first school dance. They originally had a sixth grade only dance planned, but with hurricane Ike (something I should have blogged about), it was cancelled. This was an all school dance which meant sixth, seventh and eighth graders. We were just a little anxious;). Jacklyn went to the dance with her good friends Ally and Karly. She had a great time and when an eighth grade boy asked her to dance she did the right thing...she said "sorry, I've got to go" smiled, waved goodbye and ran away. Good girl!

Reily started lacrosse this summer. I'm still learning about the sport, but what I do know about it is that it's really rough. There's a lot of plowing into each other and hitting with the sticks. Things that I think should be illegal aren't and it makes me nervous to watch. Anyway, you can imagine my fear watching Reily's high school team scrimmage against South Western University's team. They were all so big! I was convinced that they were thinking how much fun it was going to be to beat up on a high school team. Our boys did come home with their fair share of bumps and bruises, but the college boys really took the time to teach and have fun with them. I thought I'd include a photo of Reily and the guy he was positioned against. This kid/man had to have been 6'3".

This past Saturday, my girlfriend called to ask if I wanted to go with her to Austin City Limits. Of course I did! We took the kids and went the first year we were here and it was fantastic. If you love live music it's for you. If you hate large crowds more than you love live music, it's best to stay home. For those of you who don't know about Austin City Limits, it's a three day concert at Zilker Park with eight stages and 130 bands. Everyone brings chairs and blankets and crashes in front of the different stages to see the musicians they want to see. In between all the stages there are activity centers for the little kids, food and drink stands and lots of merchandise for sale. Reily went with a friend and his family, so while I was dancing to Robert Plant at the AMD (Advanced Micros Devices) stage, Reily was rocking out to Beck at the AT&T stage. We both had a great time and we'll for sure go again as a family next year.