A couple big girls

These were taken at the Aquarium today!

The sun was so bright

"Mom, we can't see"

Me and my babies

Daddy and Girls

Hello Ms Attitude, when did my baby turn 4 going on 15

And my first born that i've been told by her latchkey coach "is the most pleasant little girl they have there"

How long is our wingspan?

We may look innocent but we give mom and dad a run for their money....

These 2 cool chics are no longer babies, uggg how fast time has gone.

MOLD and MOVING

I briefly mentioned finding mold in our townhouse last week, and wanted to show everyone that I'm not crazy! Here are the pics we've taken so far, landlord is still refusing to acknowledge a problem.

Vent Cover to a bedroom upstairs

Inside of duct work, he says there's no problem cause his look like that too-UM DUH!

This is how we originally found the plywood in the attic, now he has replaced this, but nothing else

Needless to say we are moving out, but our landlords have already declared that we have no right to be breaking lease (again they don't see the issues) and are keeping our $1700 deposit. So we have taken plenty of pics, have a sample of that black substance that is on the vent duct and contacted a mold inspector in San Antonio to test it. We will be taking them to small claims court to retrieve our deposit. We have found a new place in the Flour Bluff area (still in Liv's school district) and actually not far from where our house was when we lived here in 08-09. The house is for sale and really would be something we would consider buying, but we are renting for now. Its going to be hard leaving the island, and seeing those sand dunes everyday, crossing the cosway and seeing the ocean, but in reality we will be about 7 minutes from there and in a house, not a townhouse, condo or duplex where we share walls with neighbors. Another bonus is that this house has a nice big GRASS yard!! which for dogs and kids will be great, we have rock now! the house is about 300 sq feet smaller than ours now, but is all tile (another bonus for kids and dogs) except in the master bedroom and was built in 2005 so is mostly updated. We are very excited to move into this house and bartered our way into it. They wanted an outrageous amount for rent (more than what the house payment would have been) and wanted to take some of the appliances. But I had time on my side since the house had been listed back in May with no offers and they were moving. We have a very busy few weeks ahead of us and are just so irritated we are doing this same thing again after just moving 5 months ago, all the packing, change of address, utilities, etc.. But it will be for the best.

We are moving Sept 21-24 which falls directly in the middle of the week, but jas and I will be taking one day off of work to finish it up. I will also be gone for 2 days at meetings for work in San Antonio on the 15th and 16th, my first night away by myself maybe EVER! So Jas will be playing Mr. Mom while i'm gone getting both girls off to the correct places and picked up on time at night, cooking, cleaning and laundry, plus add in the move just 5 days later.

Alivia is loving school and latchkey is going better, she enjoys it now and was bummed to know we had a 3 day weekend this weekend. She is really thriving and enjoying every second of learning and interaction she's getting. Addison seems to be adjusting better, I still hear how she misses sissy, but the clinging has gotten better in the mornings. They seem to be fine with the move, they loved the house and can't wait to play in the yard and ride their bikes.(sand/rock backyard + fire ants, and very busy street do not make for a good place for kids) we may attempt to have them share a room again, they are trying to convince us of that, but not sure if we're ready for the 2 hour process of bedtime like we've gone through before.

Sorry for all the random thoughts, my mind is lost these days and I haven't been sleeping well at night, I was actually up at 5:20 am on a saturday morning worried about work, uggg will life ever calm down? or if it does will it be better or will we find it boring then?

Happy Labor Day everyone, we will be spending it not doing a darn thing but laying on the beach with our two little babes!

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Alivia's first day of school, weekend of fishing and beach

All out of order=(

If ya look really closely, you'll see the fish on the end of addie's pole

Alivia's first day!

Let's start with Alivia's first day of school, she has been waiting for this day for the last year! Everyday we would drive by her school in the mornings and she'd have to say "hi my school". Sunday night we layed out her first day clothes and she jumped right into bed and fell asleep. She woke up bright and early monday morning and was dressed when she came down the stairs. Both mommy and daddy and Addison were taking her to school on her first day, so we headed over to the school. She walked right into that classroom sat down and said "bye guys" no tears, no hugs and kisses, nothing. Her first day went wonderful, she loved every part of it. However, the afterschool program was NOT a hit on the firstday, I think she had different expectations as to what was going to happen at Latchkey and was kinda caught off guard. Latchkey allows the kids to have a lot of free time drawing, painting, dancing, playing outside, legos and in small groups, I think she thought it would be very structured and in a learning environment. But that seems to be improving also, she is getting used to Latchkey and actually liking it. Momma had some freakout moments during the day where I paniced wondering if she was okay in that unfamiliar environment, if the day was too long for her, if her teacher was nice... But Tuesday morning brought a whole new level of freak out. All along she's told us she wanted to ride the bus in the morning, and in all honesty it is more convienent to put her on the bus instead of dealing with school traffic every morning. But that's my baby, on this huge bus, crossing that huge island bridge, all alone....thank goodness Jas was stronger than I and put her on the bus, because I don't think I would have let her. In the end, she LOVES the bus, thinks its the coolest thing since juice boxes. I'm so happy she loves everything and anything about school, but mommy is still in huge denial she is actually "in" school now.

Addison had a few struggles this week going to ms norma's without her older sister. They had never been apart for a full day, EVER. So of course the minute we said goodbye to Alivia at school, addison's head drops to my shoulder and she tears up. Now darn it, I was doing good at not crying till that happened. Addie said "I don't want to leave my sissy", ugggg heartbreaking. We really played up how cool it was to be the oldest at ms norma's and how she was going to get to go to school next year! Her sadness quickly went to anger when we went to pick up Alivia that night, she was then mad because "alivia got to do ...... its not fair" "mom, why can't you let me go to preschool here" Every morning when I dropped her off this week she was clingy when I had to say goodbye, but slowly as thursday and friday came, things got better. I am optimistic tomorrow will go just fine!

Jason is recovering from harvest and playing catch up on sleep, he got to take the girls fishing this weekend, which i think will become a frequent hobby with him and the girls.

I have a busy week of training at work this week and a meeting in san antonio in a couple weeks. I also am working on 2 classes right now too.

And.....packing......

those of you who aren't on my facebook don't know...but super LONG story short, we found mold in the attic at our townhouse that we rent, landlord gave us the run around, fixed things to cover it up, but won't do a mold inspection to show there's no mold in the ductwork or walls, the kids and us have been experiencing many health symptoms of mold so we are taking NO chances and are breaking our lease. We will almost 99% sure we will have to take the landlords to small claims for our deposit back since we are moving out due to their negligance. Blah Blah Blah, anyway, we are looking for a new place, not ready to buy yet, but we will be out by the end of sept! Super NOT cool after just packing and unpacking 5 months ago!!

Testing the limit and cool Cotton field pics

To start off, we experienced some real southern farming last weekend, we got the whole cotton experience, from the girls riding in the cotton picker..... To watching it become a very large bale...

To just how beautiful the cotton really looks....

I am still amazed

And this pic is so cool, it needs no explanation

To start out, here's 2 phrases straight out of the mouth of miss Addison Lee

"DAD" (screaming from upstairs)"me and Alivia never get what we want"

As I was lecturing Addison on her behavior, she looks at me smiling and says "you're cute when you're mad" uggg deep breath before I lose my mind.

And ladies and gents, that is how my night has gone.

Things are crazy busy for us, not enough time in the week to do everything,not to mention having to look for a new place to live due to some mold I found in the attic and the landlords refusing to deal with it.=(

But I will smile at the end of each week and say "see Britt, you made it"

Update from us!

We've been very busy here in south Texas!

Finally, yes finally, the girl I was replacing at work was let go. That was a relief and a nerve wracking situation all at the same time. I wasn't learning the job while she was still there, but now I'm thrown to the sharks to learn everything on my own meanwhile keeping projects on schedule and dealing with customer's whom I know nothing about. But...I am proud to say I am the Operations Manager for Palm Harbor Homes here in Corpus!

I registered Alivia for school today and got her signed up for Latchkey which is an awesome after school program where they do arts and crafts, drama, music, free play and even some team sports with other kids. I know she will love it. It was so strange walking into that high school today to register my first born for school. As I stood there, I thought back to the day she was born and really can't believe these (almost) 6 years have gone by so fast. It sort of put life into perspective for me again. I tend to be so occupied at night when we get home with housework, supper, laundry and getting things ready for the next day, I don't often get "quality" time with the girls. However, tonight I put all that other stuff aside and just fed the kids and bathed them, then we layed in bed and read books till bedtime.

We have purchased all of her school supplies which was maybe one of the most fun days I've had with her so far! She ran up and down the aisles and was screaming out "mom I need this, is this on my list mom" And of course miss Addie was feeling a little leftout, so she got to pick out some new things also.

Its been so hot here, and poor jas is still dealing with harvest, which we are hoping will be over in about a week or so. I am finishing another class this weekend, so that leaves the countdown to 6, 6 classes until I have my bachelor's degree. It seems like its been forever, and I've hated almost every day of it. But its almost DONE!

Anyway, its 10pm, and I still have to get stuff ready for tomorrow, iron some pants, and take a shower since i've spent the last 2 hours working on a paper. The dishes and laundry will be neglected until tomorrow.

Friendships

Since we live so far away from our own families, we tend to make our friends here our family, they are the ones that spend so much time with us, who are there when we need them, who we doing anything for. For this very reason, I take my friendships very seriously. I give my all, put in lots of effort, but on the same hand I don't put up with people's crap. That lovely quote "don't make those a priority who are only making you an option" I've used it more times I can count when it comes to certain family members, and I think it applies to friendships also. We've had an amazing last 3 months back in South Texas, had a lot of great times with all of our friends, but maybe the "excitement" has worn off for a couple of friends. Friends should be your friends not only when its convienient but always. I am one busy chic, yet I always find the time to make sure my friends know I am thinking about them, do anything they need me for, etc.... And I should be making a stand to say I'm not putting effort into relationships I feel like I am not benefiting from, but alas I can't do that, I have too big of a heart. Some of our friends that we knew from the first time we lived in Texas have changed, some for the good and some for the bad. I suppose I should be thankful for the good friends we do have and say screw you to the ones who don't appreciate us.

Guess there's no real point to this, other than I love my friends, love the memories we make together, our beach weekends where we spend hours laughing, playing football and watching all our kids making memories together. I love our nights out, our impromptu drinks after work, I love it all! I will continue to be thankful for the great friends I DO have, and forget the rest! Happy Tuesday!