last day of school - finally

Well school is out, the children are all happy... 12 weeks of summer ahead of them..I wonder what i will look like by the end of it.

I am sorry I have not updated the blog recently, it has been crazy here, and finding time has been a challenge, but I will attempt to bring you up to speed over the next few days.

Jack's paintball birthday bash

Allan , John and Cara were on one team and Jack and his mates were the other... they had 6 people, the oldies had 3..... guess who kept winning...so the younger ones decided they needed to do some swoping around, it is not good for moral for people 3x your age to be winning!!!!
Cara and John geared up and ready to kick anatomy

I very sensibly was at home looking after Alex and Ben, Sammy and Beth, but did supply loads of snacks and drinks....so dutifully they ate them for me.

Breaks and discussing tactic is important..... especially if you are hurting...why do they like paintball?

The birthday boy himself, he bought himself this paint balling jersey, so I am assuming they are going to go again....
When I rang to book it, we discussed age limits( much younger here, they had an 8 year old on there team sometimes and that just is not allowed in UK...same with head shots not allowed in UK, but it is here!!!) and the subject of Cara came up, and the fact she had been a marshal at paint balling for one of her weekend jobs in UK, and they have decided to call there Referees marshals now, and Cara might have a summer job!!!!

Anyway, a good time was had by all, the washing machine has coped with the clothes /paint etc this morning, so all in well in this house.

Jacks birthday pics

These are coutesy of Jo, so you can see jack on his 15th, Thank you Jo

Mothers day

Today has been broken down into segments really, first of all I had family time with breakfast in bed, some lovely presents and cards and cuddles from my kids, then we went off for brunch with Diana and her troops, then just the girls went off to see Cinderella at the Long Centre, then back for a barbecue to diana with all the menfolk as well.

So here are some photo's from today.


The end of the day at Diana's

At the ballet, car is modeling Sammy's new ballerina skirt!!

Just before we went in to the ballet we walked around down at Zilker and watched the kids in the fountain. This is Diana and I, and then some of us all.

We had Brunch first so here are some picture for you from that part of the day.




So there was mothers day...very hectic in one way but actually relaxing and very enjoyable. It was lovely to have the children all around be with friends and not be rushing places. Allan being absent was sad, but will make his return all the more enjoyable.

Ben's field and track day

This Alex watching a karate demonstration put on for the older children, who his class is 'buddied' with, so they watched as well. While I was watching Alex did not notice me, he was watching intently as he was shown how to take an opponent down, hold him down and fight off any attempt to hurt him!! I will let you know how well Ben's fairs with this information Alex now has!!!! ER might be seeeing more of us soon.....

Ben loving the slide



Alex did this yesterday and loved it, no different with ben and his class...a water spray bottle and a blind fold..so simple but such fun.

A sack race with a difference, it was called finding Nemo....

This was called Hunting for treasure...at least it did not involve water, they had time to dry off a bit..noit that they cared.
back getting wet again!! the way the kids like it.

A fun day was had by kinder and 1st grade, the fun of changing them afterward then followed. never easy when they are excited and damp, clothes just do not come of easily when wet and dry ones do not go on well to damp skin...hey ho, lots of laughing happened, so all was well.

Track and field day for Alex

This track and field day for Alex..more of a sports day for UK, with a lot more fun!!! As you can see Ben is out and about as well, the Kinder classes went around and watched their 'buddies' do Track and field, so they knew what to expect today, I am off to watch ben any minute!!



This is Alex relaxing!! after doing half a circuit of activities, the got a 20 minute break out of the sun on the basketball court, where refreshments and snacks were served. this is also the place Alex lost his water bottle...must see if I can find it today.

This si the missing water bottle....Alex after the slide, having a drink, although it looks overcast, the temperature was in the 90's and the humidity was up in the high 80's, so it was very hot, the UV rating was 'extreme'

One of the activities, you had to stop your team mates from getting you on the legs!! fun



This activities you did with a partner, they wore a blindfold and you directed them, as you can see they have a bottle full of water to squirt!! soooo much noise came from the kids with this activity. I can see this being palyed at home, not good for spectating parents...water was going everywhere.

well I must dash to Bens event now..more photo's later.

we are still here!!!

I thought since I had not updated the blog for a while, I would start with the weather, as it is sooooo nice to be warm/hot all the time. we are not bored of it yet. This is for this week, and I will have to confess to turning the aircon on now, we try and keep the house cool with blinds, fans and not leaving doors open, but the time has come when the AirCon unit is needed.

The children and i went to breakfast at IHOP on Sunday which was fun, I would not want to go often but they do so love it. IHOP (Internation House Of Pancakes) is open 24 hours a day all year round, it never closes!!!, we then went of to Zilker park to throw sticks for Tex in to Town Lake and let Alex and Ben swim in Barton Creek, the rest of us were happy to paddle/or wade.

I have promised we will go down next saturday and go out on the kayaks, we will see if Tex is steady to boats!!! we are going to take apicnic and spend the day down there.

Sunday is Mothering Sunday car and I are off to see Cinderella at the Austin Ballet with Diana and her two little princesses, which will be fun, we are at the matinee performence, i will update you after we have been.

Jack turns 15 tomorrow so we are gearing up for that at the moment as well.... it will involve a lot of steak i can assure you. We are off to a steak house for tea with Jo and Alan, John, Diana and the princesses, so tomorrow night jack will get his 20oz steak he enjoys, followed by birthday cake galore.

School is nearly over for this year, so we are having all the end of term things happening, field and track event is on Thursday, they are creating T-shirts this week, I will try and keep you updated on there activities as well.

allan took the boys to camp mabry a few weeks ago, where they had Apache helo landing and taking off, live reinactments of the war, so Alex and ben are now into digging trenches and trying to make Shell craters in the back yard...so much fun..it is good we are short of rain and the ground is rock hard.

well i must get on with the day, more update will flow now