Weekend Meets
Ah!! The joys of having kids in different sports. Warrick has wrestling meets every weekend and Hayley has swim meets once a month. This weekend Warrick had a meet at San Antonio Christian (fortunately only 20 minutes from the house) and Hayley had a meet at the local Aquatic center. They both did very well considering they both missed a considerable amount of practice due to illness. Warrick took second this weekend, he lost his last bout because in his words, "he ran out of steam". His coach told him that under normal circumstances he would have reamed Warrick out but he knew that he was not in top form.
Hayley took part in two swimming events, Freestyle and Backstroke, and she took first place in both events. She makes it look so easy! Right now her team is working on the see-saw action needed for butterfly and they are also working on the underwater somersault turns.
Warrick's next meet is in Austin and then it is off to Houston for a couple of meets. The State finals this year will be held in Amarillo, so I think we will be taking the whole family and making a long weekend of it.
Labels: Hayley, Warrick
Spring Is In The Air
Well, it never really left Texas! My landlady gave me some plantings on Monday that I placed in my garden this afternoon - and then I had to water the grass again. We have had an unseasonably hot and arid winter, with burn bans still in effect (actually the signs on the freeway say 'Arson/Burn Ban In Effect' - like any arsonists are going to care and a sign is going to deter them, but I digress...) and so the garden still needs tender loving care.
It felt good though to get my hands in the dirt again, and know that the plantings I was given are going to grow year round.
Mother's Day Out
OK, so here in San Antonio many churches offer a service called Mothers Day Out, a programme that can run anywhere from 2 to 5 days a week for about 6 hours at a time. It is not a pre-school, and children as young as 6 weeks can attend the programme. (Where was this when my kids were little??!)
Our church started their programme last summer, and in November I was approached by the children's pastor to take over the directorship of the programme, and expand it both with the number of children and also the number of days we will offer the services. Today was my first day, and it went off very well even if I say so myself.
Right now I will have to do some teaching, but the idea is that I will hire the teachers and make sure the curriculum is in place, my main job is to direct it, and administrate.
It was weird to actually go to a job too! I have not worked outside the home in eight and a half years, but seeing this is only twice a week (for now) it is very do-able.
Labels: Christian Family Church
FINALLY!! We saw the movie!
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", of course, which movie did you think I meant? We took our kids, plus one extra with us last night, and although it was late, and two of them said they were tired, they were so gripped by the events of the film, they could not sleep!
The beauty of it all is that I received a copy of the Chronicles as a Christmas gift, and I started reading a chapter a night of the books to the kids - starting with The Magician's Nephew. This book describes the beginning of Narnia, how the Witch enters Narnia, why there is a lamppost in the middle of the woods, and even why the wardrobe is magical. (Good reading - I would recommend it to any person who likes The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
Now I can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD!
Longhorns Bring It Home!
I don't know much about American football but I have a teenage son who does, and he even got our seven-year old son enthused about the game last night (although the little one couldn't watch the game - a small thing called bedtime got in the way!) So, in typical I-don't-know-much-but-I-will-watch fashion (come on, I can't be the only one who does that) I turned on the TV and watched the last nerve-wracking quarter.
Way to go Longohorns! Vince Young was unstoppable last night and I think every time he scored a touchdown he was thinking about the trophy that eluded him last month and how he was going to bring the team trophy home. And the Longhorns were a true team last night, but he was their shining star.
I am sure the conversation around many water coolers here in San Antonio is only going to be about the Longhorns and their well deserved win. Well played guys.
Heat Waves and Burn Bans
I checked the temperature for San Antonio today, the 3rd of January and we will hit a record breaking 88! It is lovely but it comes at a high price. As most of you are aware, Oklahoma and Texas are dealing with raging fires right now because of the extremely dry autumn and winter we have so far experienced. San Antonio has been largely unscathed, although I did see a guy throw a cigarette butt from his car onto the verge and next moment the grass was on fire and the fire trucks had to be called out because of the height of the flames and sheer speed at which it spread. Most of us water our lawns daily just to be on the safe side. Can you believe we are in the middle of winter?
The kids got some new clothes for Christmas, the boys received sweatsuits and the girls some sweaters, but haven't had the opportunity to wear them yet - for most of their Christmas break they were in shorts and t-shirts! Here are a couple of photos of the kids during the Christmas season, the girls were in the play we put on at church, and then we opened gifts.
Labels: Christmas, Fires
