It is official we are now Texans for sure!

Yes, although I spent most of my life on the east coast and most of my high school years in Virginia it is now truely official.  We are a Texan family.  Not that we haven't been for a while now, but now there is no doubt about it.  Jon and I have talked for years about making a purchase and have really waited to see where we were going to end up and what the kids thought and what our life was going to be like outside of the Army.

So what am I talking about you ask?  Hmmmm what is it that one mainly thinks of when we talk about Texas?  All the cowboys that they have here.  And what makes a cowboy?  Well you need to have at least a horse right?  We we have gotten a horse.  His name in Tuff and he is a Buckskin colored Quarterhorse who is what is also called a reining horse, meaning that it is used for your traditional roping and barrel racing among other things.  Tuff is a very sweet 6.5 year old male.  He comes to Heather out of the pasture without a signal problem.  The price isnt very bad not is his Full Boarding fees.  We love the horse. 

Heather loves to ride Tuff, but she also knows that she has to get all of school work done as well as participate in his upkeep and care.  I was totally amazied to Heather in that she not only decided that she wanted us to have a horse more than a car, but that she also felted that since Alex wanted to take lessons then she would pay for the first 4 lessons for Alex. 

Well below are all the pictures I took of  the kdis with photos of Tuff.  Enjoy!

Heather getting Tuff from the pasture

Heather and Tuff

Heather and Tuff getting ready to head out

Heather and Tuff doing some barrel running

First Days of School

getting ready for school before changing

Monday, August 23, 2010 to some would seem like just another day, but for Alex it was a very special day.  This was the first day of school and not just any year it is the first day of 5th grade and his last year in elementary school.  It was a big day.  We started off the day with a huge breakfast, which I do for each of the kids on their first day of school.  This year seemed to be a little more special not because Alex is going into the 5th grade, but because on this day Alex was the only one going to school.  Alex attends Killeen ISD and they start school earlier than Copperas Cove ISD which is where the girls attend school.  So at 530am I get up and get my first cup of coffee for the new school year and start my traditional back to school breakfast.  I made pancakes, bacon, sausage and eggs and for drink I made orange juice.  At 6am I went in to wake up Alex.  He was so excited about starting school that he was already up and getting ready to get into the shower.  By 630am Alex was in the kitchen eating breakfast and I was doing the last minute check of the backpack making sure that we have everything on the list and that all the items are marked with his initials.  At 645am we had out the door to the bus stop.  The bus stop is only 2 doors away so it is great and at 648 the bus arrives and off Alex goes for his first day of school!  It was both happy and sad for me as I was glad to see him so excited to head back to school and honestly I love the summer with the kids but I also love the day that they head back to school as well. It was sad realizing that my youngest child is starting his very last year of elementary school and before I know it I will be attending 5th grade graduation and that next year he will be at the Junior High School.

Next up Thursday, August 26, 2010. Oh this day is going to be interesting....Again what is so important about this day?  Well this is the day that not only is it the first day of school for Heather, but it is also Tiffany's first official day of High school and she is officially a Freshman!  Heather decided the week before that she wanted to go back to Cove High and be in school with her sister.  This was really thoughtful of Heather, but it also was a great decision on her part as Cove has a better Ag program with more opportunities for her in her field of study in Animals. So just as I have done since Monday, my day started at 530am with getting Alex up and off to the bus and then making my traditional First day of school Breakfast for the girls.  We were very blessed in the fact that a very good friend of Tiffany's Claudia was able to join us in our First Day of School traditions.  So with the pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs and oj made we all sat down to have a prayer for the girls to start the year and at 730am we headed out the door to take them all to school.

Heather and Tiffany are very fortunate in that they do not attend the one of the local high schools (Shoemaker) that we are in the zoning for as it is an okay school, but not the safest of schools nor is their education at the level that I expect and grew up with back at home in Winchester.  I always wanted my children to attend a high that still has high school spirit and pride in their school and their programs and with Cove these girls are able to experience that just as I did at Handley.  At 745am we arrive at the school and with me holding back the hugs and tears as I watch my oldest and middle daughter get out of the van and head into the school for their first official day and Tiffany's first day of high school I drive off.  The girls have already gotten grades and I love the school in that they have a program for parents called the Parent Portal that I can check on their progress not just on their attendence but on their assignments and grades as well.  I am very proud to report that they both have started off the school year on the right foot with their grades and I am so pleased with them both.


I was hoping to have more pictures of the morning and day, but with having teenagers I was banned from being the photo queen of the day and was limited on the photos that they let me take.  Had I had it my way I would have had pictures of the meal, the drive, and them entering school but they refused to let me do so. So enjoy the photos I was allowed to take.

Happy school year everyone!!!

Heather getting ready to leave in her favorite outfit

Claudia Tiffany's good friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany looking over her schedule and Claudia on way to school

Busy Busy Busy....

WOW!!!!
This is the only way I know to express things right now.  We have been going nonstop since we got home from our wonderful trip home to VA and WV back in June.  We had a wonderful trip home and it was so great to see everyone again. So we have had so much going on that I have not had much time to myself all summer.

I wish I could say that all of it has been wonderful and great, but that is not the case, however, many many months ago I promised myself that I would no longer look at things in a negative light and that I would find the positive in everything that happens so although we have had some rough spots this summer those rough spots came with many positive things attached to them that I am ever so great-full to God for. I learned long ago that for everything that happens there is a reason and a lesson to be learned.  I am very thankful to God for those lessons and blessings.

getting ready to get on plane

Now on to the great stuff....Heather got to go to NY for 3 1/2 weeks and she had a really great time with the Ortiz family.  It was very hard for me to put her on the plane for the first time on her own, but I survived it. She made it safely there and back and had a great time.

Alex has been enjoying his summer but playing with his friends and on the computer playing Risk.  He is also preparing for his first season as a football player.  We went and registered him for NFC Football with the Boys and Girls Club.  It is the only place that plays tackle football and he will be able to do this for the next two years which will take him up to the 7th grade when he can then play for the Jr. High School team.  Wow! I can't believe he will be graduating from the 5th grade at the end of this school year and heading on to Jr High and in 2 years he will be in the 7th grade!  Wow where does the time go...It was just yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital wasn't it?

Heather and Alex start school next Monday, August 23rd and Tiffany starts school on August 26th.

I hope to be able to sit and get my camera down loaded and all my postings from this summer done once the kids start back to school.  I have a week from the time they start back until I go back so we will see.

Achieving Dreams....

Tiffany's summer has been so busy from the very beginning.  She was able to come out for the weekend to visit with the family and then she flew home with Nana and her summer began the very next day, but this summer has not been about fun and playing for her.  It has been about working hard and long hours towards a goal. 

Tiffany got up every morning at 6am to be at the school gym by 730am and started Strength and Conditioning class.  This class was all about getting into shape and really pushing her body to the limits.  She worked from 730am until Noon every day and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays she would come home and rest for a few hours and at 430 she would be back in the car and off to the school again for Summer League Volleyball until 9pm at night.  This schedule continued from June 7th until July 15th.  She had from the 16th of July until August 1 to enjoy summer then at 6am on August 2nd she started what she called the most grueling schedule she was ever had. 

At 6am on August 2nd the alarms went off and up her and I got.  Now why would a 14 year old get up at 6am one would ask?  To work towards achieving her dreams is the answer... And what dreams would that be?  Well one of the very best Volleyball programs in the area is at Copperas Cove High School.  This last school year they sent 4 girls to college on Volleyball scholarships.  Tiffany has wanted to play volleyball for CCHS for 3 years now and the first part of her dream was to make it onto their team.  Now some would say that shouldn't be to hard to do, not true at all.  There were 40 girls in the 9th grade that were fighting for their chance to be 1 of 18 girls to make the Freshman Volleyball team, then there is the Junior Varsity Team that only had 15 slots available and 42 girls fighting for those spots, then the Varsity had only 15 slots available and again there were 37 girls fighting for those slots.  So a grand total of  119 girls trying out for only 48 slots.  Hmmm talk about some competition! 

So every morning for three grueling days Tiffany would get up at 6am to eat a good high protein breakfast, pack her gym bag with clothes, her factor in case she gets hurt, a lot of Gatorade and water, snacks and her lunch and off to the school we would go to drop her off by 730am at 5pm I would be on the road headed back to pick her up.  Then the day try-outs would end came.  The girls all practiced and did their best to show that they should be on the team from 730am until Noon.  Then the Coaches have seen all they can and send the girls out of the gym telling them to check the front of the gym doors at 1pm and the list of those who made the team will be posted. 

Tiffany called me and asked me if I would come and sit with her and wait for the list to come out.  So shortly after Noon I arrived.  Tiffany came out and ate her lunch in the van and we talked.  She was so nervous.  We both prayed that the Coaches would see the skills that Tiffany has worked so hard on for the last three years and choose her....

1pm came and Tiffany along with 118 other girls made the mad dash to the front of the Gym doors.....Drum roll please.....As my heart beat so loud I thought the whole world would hear it I sat staring at the front of the gym waiting to see Tiffany's face to see what I was going to need to do next.  Do I give her a hug and tell her not to give up that she can work hard and do outside Volleyball programs and try again next year??? How upset would she be?  Do I jump out of the car and cheer along beside her? Dang it I still can't see her...There she is! 

SHE MADE THE TEAM!!!! Tiffany made the Freshman team!!!!! She was so happy that she was jumping and waving her arms.  All that hard work for the last three years and that final push for the last 2 months as hard as it was paid off she was now a CCHS Lady Dawg Volleyball Player! She has worked hard and achieve her first dream. Tiffany's overall dream for High school is to play Volleyball and be the best so that she can get a Volleyball Scholarship to attend Penn State and play Volleyball for them.

My thoughts were that WOW she made the team okay so now we will slow down a bit...hahaha not so. The girls had a Team meeting and hour later and then practice for 2 more hours.  Friday practice from 730am until 5pm again and their first scrimmage on Saturday August 7th, then the Season Opener on August 9th, another game on August 10th, practice every day and then Friday and Saturday we had a Tournament that the girls had to be at starting at 6am and did not leave until 8pm both nights.  Sunday they had off and back to practice on Monday, Game on Tuesday, then practice Wednesday and Thursday, a game this Friday and Saturday and then we head into regular games every Tuesday and Friday.  All of this so far and school hasn't even started yet. Tiffany is starting her Freshman year this year and is going to be the Graduating Class of 2014.  Congradulations to you my dear and we all look forward to watching and assisting you in acheiving the rest of your dreams!