Playing catch-up

Hi ya'll. I've been busy and out of town lately, so I just wanted to catch you all up on what's been going on. I had a few birthday pictures I wanted to share. I had a great 33rd Birthday. Stuart and the kids took me to lunch on my actual b-day at Olive Garden. It was great. We all loved it. Logan has declared it his new favorite restaurant. The kids tried calamari for the first time and were delighted by the news that it was actually squid they were eating. They also loved the salad and bread sticks. Overall it was a great day.
The night before I had baked myself a birthday cake. Stuart found this strange. I didn't think it was though. I love to bake and rarely get the chance. I had made this cake for Erica's birthday and loved it, so I made it again. Yumm!!!!! It's super simple, but really good.

Frank's dressed up and ready to party!

The next day I had my first ever teacher training workshop at a nearby church. It was wonderful. I learned a lot and met some of the other teachers. They were all great. They were the pre-K teachers and they're all highly qualified, certified teachers with years of experience. One even has a published book. Talk about feeling like a fish out of water. But they were very nice and supportive and I know they will be a great source of help whenever I need it. Also it's nice to know that Ellie will have one of them as her teacher. When I got home that afternoon the kids had baked me a birthday cake. For some reason Logan has it in his head that he wants to learn to cook. He decided he needed to make me this cake even though I had another one already. It was really sweet.

That night Stu's sister came over to watch the kids so we could go to dinner and a movie then to spend the night at a hotel. This was my surprise birthday present from Stu that I actually found out about a little early due to the need for planning with packing and the kids, but it was still a great present!

Sunday we slept in then went to brunch with Erica, Ray, my Dad and all the kids to Z' Tejas. It was delicious and a great way to end my birthday weekend.

This past weekend Erica and I went to Houston for a conference. We stayed with Stu's mom while we were there. Saturday night we went to see Stuart's Uncle Wade play with his band. They're called Driftwood and they're really good! We had a wonderful time. Stu's mom let loose a little, although she wouldn't dance. I got up once and did a line dance. Keep in mind it's been about 15 years since I've done that kind of thing. It was fun though.

That's Stuart's Uncle Wade. Cute, huh?

I also wanted to include a picture of the lovely plant and accessory Lisa got me. Isn't it nice?


Now I'm back home and working on some new things (more on that to come) and trying to get ready for school to start. Logan starts 3 weeks from tomorrow!! All of a sudden it's upon me. I have some meetings starting next week for preschool and I can't wait. I am trying to soak up all the laying around and sleeping in I can, because very soon it will be over!! My mornings are going to be drastically different, which means so will my evenings. Logan's school is starting earlier this year (7:40 vs. 7:55 last year and I have to be at work at 8), so that means waking up very early to get me, him and Ellie ready. I already told Stuart he's going to have to help me this year with all that. Planning is the key to success with that, I think. We'll see how it goes.


So that's pretty much it for right now. Now you all know what's new with me.