Alexanders trip to Marble Falls

Alex went away with the school for an adventure camp trip, he had a blast and now wants to do more camps where he stays over night.

Bens birthday

we put up an arch of balloons in halo colours of purple, green and black..it did look spectacular..Jack not so keen to blow up 250 balloons

Cara arrived straight from working a night shift, to give Ben his present before school

I had lunch with Ben at school, he is wearing the T-shirt Alex made him for his birthday..Ben is a ketchup king

we had a fun few days for Ben's birthday, it landed on a Thursday, so that night we had a few special people over for a birthday tea of Tortallini, Ben's choice. so it was a late night, the following day Ben had a party at Blazer Tag, with lots of his friends, and then 11 stayed over that night..madness must be my middle name, and then on the Saturday morning once everyone had had breakfast and left Ben opened all his presents and had a fun weekend enjoying them.

Ben requested a Halo cake..so this is my creation

Ben opening his present from his Granny...it was lego..his granny knows what he loves ( thanks mum for making it special)

Niagara Falls

what a fun day, we caught a coach to Canada, which took about 45 minutes, went through customs and then got off the coach in the town of Niagara, walked through it, it is very alive and enjoyable to see, great for people watching. we all had such fun, so much we missed our bus home, had to run across the bridge back to America, so can now say we have walked from Canada to America..missed our bus and had to get a VERY expensive taxi back to the hotel!! but laughter was definitly part of the day.

Since we are from Texas and are in the middle of a major drought, the mist from the falls was delightful. The cold weather was fun as Cara and I got to wear coats and long trousers and hats and gloves, they do not see the light of day normally,

this is in the Hard Rock cafe, Cara loved it, she laughed so much..Cara is collecting all the t-shirts..

Buffalo

Alison trying on Cara shoes..she has never looked so tall

Cara enjoying a hotel breakfast, she loves buffet breakfasts..we were in the Hyatt

me in front of city hall, where part of Ghostbusters was filmed

and my gorgeous daughter in front of city hall

Cara and I in Buffalo with Alison...so much fun

the tree house Allan build this summer, covered in balloons and kids

we made planes from flowers and decorated the decking

Jo's birthday cake

guess who's birthday cake

the table was laid as a runway, and laden with food

the party favours, hand made and full off orange and turquoise jelly bellies

our Friend Paul, painted this picture

my man and me

us ladies enjoying a chat plus wine

the birthday boy

Allan had a birthday party to celebrate his 44th birthday, I did a joint one with our friend Jo, the theme was orange and turquoise and aviation. The house looked great, we held the party outside mainly, and everyone got into the spirit of the event.

Jack on Halloween, he went to school as Brave heart in his full kilt outfit

Jack and Tabby, at Allan's birthday party

what have we been doing

hello all, it has been far too long since i posted, but life has been busy and not always in a productive way, so blogging does not always happen.
Allan has been abroad again on business, UK and France, Cara and i went of to Buffalo NY, for a long weekend to see Alison who flew in for work. We had a great time, visited Canada, Niagara falls, drank, ate and loved being with Alison. i post pictures of our time there.
Alex has been busy with soccer and his team won every match this season, but when they went to Regionals, they were not so lucky, we are very proud of them all.
Benjamin has been enjoying chess, as has Alex, they love competitions and their weekly classes, and now want 1 to 1 training, so i can see that happening after Christmas. They are also going to start karate, lots more running around the place.
Jack has a part time job, is in his final year at school and is loving his weekly Marine training sessions.
Cara has her own apartment and lives not far from us now. but is enjoying independence, although I am sure I see more of her now she does not live here!!

school is back

The summer is over and school is back. They have been back a week, and seem to enjoy there new teachers and love seeing friends.
For us it has been a hot week, reaching 110f (43c) this weekend, and the school run to cycle home is always fun..luckily for me, Allan is on his last week of sabbatical and has been doing all of the school runs, I am back on duty next week.
My dad arrives on Tuesday for a fortnight, Allan has a big birthday party on his birthday, which we are doing jointly with a friend, Jo, whose birthday is also September..actually i am doing the whole party..they are just an excuse to host a party, as neither of them ever wish to be the center of attention. Not that I do, but I do love filling my house with friends and making memories. parties work for me. Decorations are underway..it is going to be a lot of fun..and if Allan or Jo read this YOU WILL HAVE FUN.
it is t-shirt time of year, I am in charge of the PTA spirit wear, and that is launching this week as well, this year i want all orders in, order placed, merchandise back and delivered before Ben's birthday..last year it was hard work. i was icing his cake and people were knocking at the door wishing to change things...screaming did not help.

I went to my first graduation

This is Cara best friend Haley, Cara , Jack and I went to her Graduation, while Allan took the boys to a swim meet. All go at that time of year. somewhere there is another picture of Jack and I with Haley, but I can not find it now.

alex birthday

For Alex's birthday this year he had a sleepover with 14 boys, and we bought in Lazer tag to our garden. it was a night event, from 9-11pm, then they fired candy from a cannon, we all sang Happy Birthday to alex and the boys settled down for a movie..a long night I can tell you.

my Birthday party

Jack and I on the night

my dress, i had it made with Cochrane clan tartan my dad had given me for Christmas in 2006

The bar the morning after..we had a huge range of whiskeys

The front entrance

my wreath

the bar

from the back yard looking up to the decking the morning after

I turned 45 this year and we held a party, the theme was Scotland and everyone came appropriately dressed. The house and decking was all themed, I even made a wreath for the front door with different tartans.

dad was out here in February

dad popped out again in February and Allan and the boys all took him to Fredricksburg to the Nimitz museum. Fun was had by all, although the boys go around it quickly, they will keep going around it, so visitors can enjoy it, just not with A and B at there side. a little disconcerting at times. They then went off and ate as dad was hungry and enjoyed a fun day out.
Fredricksburg is one of my favourite places, great shops, a lovely boardwalk, so much character and it feels alive, I just love taking people there. On this occasion i did not go as I was hosting a Stampin'Up event, so I got the peace and quiet of Austin

how hot

Austin is hot at the moment, but the USA is getting fairly hot anyway. we are expecting a cold front today, down to 100F..yeah. As we are off to ARM's family day at Volente Beach, which is a water park on Lake Travis. the boys love that and the jet skis are lots of fun. Hopefully I will remember to post some picture so you can see what they are up too.

now Bens turn

and yes he ate this all himself..Alex did the same with his one. roadtrips must make you hungry..i ended up with no pizza as the waitress dropped mine on the floor, and i could not wait for a new one to be cooked.since I was driving, it was dark and on roads I did not know, I did not wish to try and drive and eat..so hungry was I, but am sure it did me no harm!

last day on the road

Alex had my iphone and was making mini video and as you can see taking self photo's...