July Birthdays

Happy belated birthday to Dad and Goobers.

My dear Husband might be getting older but he will never catch up. He loves to point this out at every turn.






Goobers is now 14 years old. She is such a beautiful young lady.






We also need to share this picture of Bagel. The four year old mind is such a fun place to be. This is Bagel's idea of a nerd. She put this outfit on and declared "nerd day" in our home one day in July.

A day at the pool

We have been so on the go lately that we have not spent that much time at the pool. I am very picky about which guards I will trust. When you take as many little ones as I do I need to know that the guards are watching. I need their help to make sure the kiddos are being watched. Not all the guards keep as close an eye on things as I would like.

So there are a few good ones. My own Pooker baby is one of them. The other day Pooker was called into work early and as it turned out she was there with two brothers that are two of our favorites. They watch the kiddos, play with them and pay attention. They always pretend to lock the gate when we pull up but always thank us for helping their shift go faster.

Anyway we headed to the pool. We had a blast. As Pooker is getting older I am finding that I am having a harder time getting them all together for a picture also. So I found a way around it by posing them in front of her while she is working! The new header picture is from our day at the pool. 7-25-08

Cuda Awards, Look at all these bright faces!

We had our last Cuda function of the season this past weekend. Our kiddos had a blast. They loved seeing summer friends again. They were called up on stage at varies times to receive their rewards. Have I said how much I love swim team? My favorite part was seeing all the kiddos again. There was one in particular that would ask me questions through out the season. I didn't realize how much I missed her bright face until she ran up to me and gave me a big hug.

Now to some swim team is about points, strokes, coaches, making times and stuff like that. Not for me! For me it is only about each and every little soul that I get the privilege of befriending during the season. It is about the people. The parents, the young ones, the teens and everyone. I thank all those involved for another great season.

The Cousins

We sure loved the visit from Lizzy-Lou and Katy-Bug. They really made us miss family so much. The little ones referred to them collectively as "The Cousins." Bagel and Princess just keep asking me when "The Cousins" will be back. I realized that my little ones don't even really know extended family. Princess and Bagel have never been around the cousins like the older ones have. They don't know the fun the older kiddos remember from all the times we spent with family. We had camp outs in the back yard, movie sleep overs, make your own pizza parties, Halloween parties, valentine parties,etc, etc. We miss you Lizzy-Lou and Katy-Bug and all the other cousins we have left behind in St. Louis.

A visit to the Beach

Having grown up in the mid-west it is safe to say that we were land locked. It is true that if you had the means you could have a lot of fun on the local lakes or rivers. Neither of my parents were too interested in the water. Honestly we grew up without any extra money. That meant that for me we did not run to the Lake on weekends, holidays or ever. I never felt like I was missing anything either. I remember in high school having friends that would go the Lake of the Ozarks often. I went a few times. Once after J and married we left the kiddos with family and went with another couple. I always had fun on the water but never loved it.





Fast forward to Houston and the Gulf of Mexico beaches that are close enough for short visits. We have lived here for over six years and have been to the beach only a handful of times. Well we ventured to the beach when our cousins from St. Louis came to visit. Katy-Bug and Lizzy-Lou had a great time, I hope. They did get to see me at my best.


The beach makes me very nervous. (ALL THAT WATER!) I have so many kiddos spread out all over. Dad isn't much help because he becomes a kid and runs off to play. I felt better when we picked buddies. We only stayed on the water front for about 2 hours. We were all burned pretty bad in spite of sun screen.




They had fun and I became a happy camper as soon as we headed home.

A Celebration of Life

It was my honor to participate in the funeral Mass held for Hayden Louis O'Brien. Funerals are never easy. This one was especially sad. The church was small, I think it help just about 100 people. There were about 250-300 people outside. The weather was hot and humid. The crowd gathered around, we were given benches facing the church with speakers set up outside so we could follow the Mass. Bear, Goobers and I found a spot that was tad cooler in the shade. We watched at least 30 teen age Boy Scouts act so beautifully as they all prayed in honor of their friend.

After Mass the coffin was placed on a hand cart and wheeled to the cemetery. All the guest followed. I was so reminded of the funeral parades that were prevalent in older times. I just wanted to say thank you. I thank the family for sharing their son with us, I thank his friends for sharing their memories, I thank the priest for bringing Christ into this celebration of life, and I thank all the others present for sharing that taste of the the communion of heaven with me this morning.

Mass ended with this:

May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. AMEN!