Who turned the lights out?

Last night I learned many important lessons-
It all started at around 6:30ish as I was making baked potatoes and I heard what sounded like thunder- I thought it was kind of wierd seeing how just an hour before it was blue skies, hot and humid. I looked through the blinds and the skies were getting dark. I dismissed it as just another one of our summer storms but about 20 min. later it started to get really windy- it even pushed Ben's new BBQ grill over about 3 feet. Then the rain started and the kids got excited and sat in front of the back window watching all the leaves and small tree branches drop in our lawn. Then about 20 min. after that the power flickered and then went off. I didn't panic, expecting the power to come on in just a min. so I went about doing what I was doing (reading a magazine) The kids decided to get out their tents so I helped them set them up and then started watching a movie on our portable DVD player. I called my mom and talked to her for a little while and she told me that while it was still light outside I should probably go look for some more flash lights. I then called Ben (who is in Toronto) and told him what was going on- I told him we were fine and the kids were having a great time in their tents.
I tried calling the power company but their automated message was messed up so Ben called from his phone but they never called back (big surprise) As it got darker I got more worried- not for us, but for all the food that was in the fridge/freezer that might be spoiling or melting. The kids wanted to eat popsicles and I thought "well better they eat them than let them melt" so as I was looking for them I had to move some ice packs and as I was moving one, it fell out of the freezer and landed right on my big toe- I said out loud "You've got to be kidding me!" I seriously thought I had broken my toe!!
By this time it was time to turn on our flashlight (we only had one at this point) and it's the kind that you wind up so it doesn't take batteries but it only works for so long and then you have to wind it up again- it's tiring! I took the kids on a hunt for another flashlight and they thought that was so fun to be walking around the dark house with a flashlight- we found one that went with Danika's tent set so we took it downstairs and went through at least 10 batteries and NONE of them worked!!! We then went into the garage and we found another wind up flashlight so Colben wound up one and I did the other.
I was pretty much ready to pack up and go to a hotel at this point- the house was dark and hot, the kids were bored and I was going crazy!!!
We went into the master bedroom and got on the bed and I opened all the windows to let the breeze in and we all finally fell asleep and sometime in the middle of the night I opened my eyes and looked outside the bedroom and saw the light on in the kitchen!!
I was so thrilled- I walked around the house turning out all the lights and then turned on the ceiling fan in our room- circulating cool air- it never felt so good!!!
Here are the lessons I learned from last night:
1) Listen to my mom!
2) Always have a good stock of NEW batteries!
3) Buy at least 3 more flashlights- the kind that you don't have to wind up!
4) Watch out for falling ice packs- and if they do fall, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!!

The US Olympic Softball Team

I got the awesome chance to watch Team USA play team Canada up in OKC and they were doing a special Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer awareness day so they gave out free pink t-shirts and free pink head and wrist bands.

Not to mention the team wore cute pink uniforms!

I'm very sad that softball will not be played during the 2012 Olympics but i've heard they will have another vote in 2010 and if there are enough votes they will reinstate both softball and baseball for the 2020 games!

(they missed the 2012 games by 1 vote!!)

Cat Osterman- she pitched for the Texas Longhorns!
The team in their pink uni's- doing some warm up drills.
The lovely Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman- amazing women and amazing pitchers.
Crystal Bustos- nuff' said
(she is the most powerful hitter on the team and hit a 3 run homer in the game- and she's my age!- By far my favorite player)

The 3 main pitchers for the team:

Monica Abbott

Jennie Finch

Cat Osterman

I couldn't believe how tall all of the pitchers were!

Givin' eachother some props!!

The shortstop, Natasha Watley- the fastest woman on the field!

Jessica Mendoza doing some batting practice.

Before the game the team had some batting practice and it was so fun to watch all the young girls standing at the fence just to get closer to their idols.

I'm so glad that these young girls have great role models to look up to in the world of sports and that these Olympic players take the time to sign autograps after the game and pose for pictures. I wish I had something like this when I was growing up playing softball but as I was watching them I realized that I felt like a little girl again watching my idol, Angie Hardy just wishing I could be like her when I grew up.

I am living vicariously through the Olympic team because some of them are my same age and it makes me proud that they're still playing at that level of intensity!!!

It was also really nice to be around a huge crowd of people who share that same passion for the sport and understand it and know the players' names just like I do. It felt like home!

Let's all hope that the Olympic Committee will do the right thing and bring softball back to the Olympics!!

Scentsy Specials

As all of you know I am a Director with an amazing company called Scentsy and I just wanted you all to know about our specials this month and a special of my own!!
Father's Day is coming up on June 15th and to celebrate we're featuring our Craftsman Warmer and to complement this classic warmer we're adding three of our most popular, masculine fragrances, Vanilla Oak, Sage & Sweet Grass and Bergamot and Terragon. This special is only $35 (plus tax + shipping)
The Scent of the Month, Sangria, brings together favorite ingredients, currants, juicy oranges, and the soft, smooth balance of the Merlot grape. Enjoy this pleasant summertime fragrance at a Scentsational 10% discount.
My personal special this month is actually 2 specials: For those of you who email me with an order during the month of June I will send you a FREE car candle!!! (you need to email me your order and method of payment. This is my personal special, so if you place it online I won't know to send you your free car candle).
My 2nd special applies to people in the DFW area: if you host a party during the month of June I will give you a FREE WARMER!!! Email me with the dates that work for you and we'll get you scheduled in!!!
Hope you all have a Scentsified month!!!
If you would like to visit my website to see what else we have please go to:
www.getscentsified.com
You can email me at alexismayo@yahoo.com

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

LAST DAY AT PECAN CREEK ELEMENTARY

June 5th, 2008

Colben will be attending a brand new school next year so this was a happy, but sad day. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Billups and he's sad that he won't be able to see her at school next year.

He's excited to have a guy for a principal at his new school and that the mascot is going to be a Bulldog (I told him that was my mascot in school too!)

The new school will be closer to our house but i'll still drive him because there are no side walks between our house and the school.

Mrs. Billups, his Kindergarten teacher. She was so nice and had nothing but wonderful things to say to me about him. She will miss him. The sheet of paper behind them in between their heads is a letter he wrote her that morning. He's so sweet!
Colben at home, the morning of his last day of school. I remember when I bought that shirt before school started thinking to myself "Is he ever going to fit in this?" It was the smallest size they had but it was still really big on him. He's such a big boy now!
Holding up the letter he wrote to his teacher. On the other side he drew a picture of them on the playground with the sun and clouds.
I hope he doesn't do this during class!
(don't know if you can see that he looks like he's asleep!)
The yellow table is where he sat!

He LOVED computers!!!
They worked on learning the days of the week and other fun activities!!!
Holding the prized ticket jar- if your number got pulled out, you won a prize!!
While Colben was walking down the hall all of his friends would stop and give him a big hug and say how much they would miss him. I couldn't resist taking a picture of some of them. The other boy in the picture is Colben's really good friend, Jude. They play together a lot and it makes me feel good knowing there's someone else that is Colben's size!!

He made some really great friends at school- some of them will move to the new school but some of them are staying at Pecan Creek!

Onto 1st Grade at Stephens Elementary!!!

Women's College World Series

I LOVE SOFTBALL!!!

For the last 2 weeks i've been watching nothing but College Softball. The Regionals, Super Regionals, The World Series that started with 8 teams and ended with 2, and the Championship Game was coming up the next day.

I think my family was getting sick of me saying "No, you can't record Ben 10 because Mommy is recording softball games on both TV's" so Ben sat me down and said "Alexis, don't you think you owe it to yourself and your family to just go up there and watch the game in person?" I thought to myself "he's got to be kidding- I could never do that"

Next thing you know, i'm purchasing my ticket and the next day I was road trippin' to OKC baby!!

As I pulled into the parking lot and made my treck to the stadium I couldn't help but get a little emotional! Just the feeling of excitement and the atmosphere was just amazing!

I immediately purchased a fine looking shirt to wear EVERYWHERE and support my favorite sport and then I proceeded to find my seat.

Sitting down I realized how cool this really was- I had been watching so many games on TV and now here I was at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium watching a live game!!!

I decided on my 2 1/2 hour drive home that I am starting a tradition, from now on i'm buying tickets to Games 1 & 2 (it's a best out of 3) and making the drive up- anyone who wants to come, i'd love the company!!

The teams being announced.
Before each game the Aggies would get in a circle and play hackey-sack, they were really good too!
Megan Gibson, the pitcher for the Aggies warming up.
Katie Burkhard, pitcher for the Sun Devils warming up- she was amazing!
I had to have proof that I was actually there so I asked the girl sitting in back of me if she would take my picture!

The Winning Moment!

The game was really fun to watch, especially in the top of the 7th inning when the Sun Devils scored 7 runs!!

The Game Winning Moment- Katie had just pitched a strike to end the game!!!

The Sun Devil Softball team holding up their Trophy!

This is the 1st time ASU has won a National Championship!!!

Here's the best part:

I'm headed back up to OKC on Sat. to watch the Olympic Team play Team Canada!!

How cool is that? I'm sooooo excited!!

Bound for Bejieng!!!!

Gift for my Sister

For my sister Nicki's B-day I wanted to give her something that she would never expect and I knew a Scrapbook would do the trick- she misses my kids so much so I used pictures that were both of the kids and of her with the kids so anytime she was feeling blue all she has to do is look at the books I made her and she would feel better!

It was hard though because the more I worked on it the harder it became to actually ship them off. I don't normally take pictures of my scrapbook pages but this way I can remember them and also use the layouts for future scrapbooking!

It was also fun for me to remember all the fun times we've had as a family and the fun visits i've been able to have since moving to Texas!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICKI- WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!

Carnival!!

We noticed that there was a carnival going on near our house so we decided we'd brave the heat and go check it out!

We get there and notice it's not that busy which for us was great news- that means no lines!

As we go to buy our tickets the person in the booth tells us that they're closing up!!!

The kids were so sad, not to mention the fact that it was a Saturday and we were very surprised that they would be closing down shop!

On our way out we noticed a couple of games were still open so these are the only things we were able to do on our way out!

Colben threw 3 darts at these balloons and hit a balloon on every throw!! He got a stuffed lion!
Maybe we should get him a dart board for Christmas- he was so good!
Ben can easily spend $30 on this game- he's won a bunch of times and it's fun to watch him do something that he's good at!
The Kids showing off their prizes (Danika won her stuffed pink pig just for being cute)

FIELD DAY!!

Field Day at Pecan Creek Elementary!!

I remember my field days at Grandview and man, have things changed- I didn't really know what to expect but I was just blown away by what the school had!

They had 5th graders assigned to the Kindergartener's to make sure they were okay and being safe. The Kindergartener's had a list of the activities to do pinned on their shirt and when they got done with the activity the 5th grader who was in charge of that specific activity would cross it out.

I was kinda sad that they didn't have a zip line like they did at Grandview (which, by the way, I never did dare go down-still regretting that)

I basically followed Colben and his group around trying to take pictures and making sure Danika stayed in her stroller.

They never quite got it
Throwing bean bags and trying to get them to land in the holes.
Bowling!!
Digging for treasures
Colben and his friends!
They even got their hair colored
Colben and Libby- she was so nice to Colben and is such a cutie! What a Ladies' Man!!!
He loved playing with the huge frisbies- he must have spent 30 min. throwing it and then chasing it and throwing it again.
They had 3 different types of bounce houses!!