Texas Chandlers

Hashimoto's

2011-12-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling as though I should blog about my last 5 1/2 year journey into my thyroid disorder in hopes it might help someone else who unknowingly or knowingly has a thyroid disorder. But I keep putting it off because 1. I am BUSY 2. this post could possibly be 10 pages long if I'm not careful. So, do I give the reader's digest version or delve into the disease? Even though my real treatment began 5 + years ago, my actual thyroid issues go back to about 1987ish.....

1. Intermittent swelling of my thyroid, neck area for as long as I can remember--very annoying with a constant "gaggy" feeling

2. heat and cold intolerance--cold hands and feet

3. low body temperature

4. thinning eyebrows

5. skin problems--very unbalanced, very oily and very dry at same time

6. lethargy and complete tiredness, exhaustion

7. weight gain and inablility to lose with exercise and proper diet (i.e. exercised at gym 6 days a week for an entire year and ate 1200 calories a day and lost 4 LBS!)

8. brain fog and inability to concentrate

9. headaches

10. restless sleep and upon wakening, still exhausted

11. numbness in hands and feet

12. muscle and joint pain, especially in my legs

13. depressed moods

These symptoms increased as I got older, as I had children. I started at my regular doctor, got told over and over these symptoms are normal for women, probably need an antidepressant. Went to several endocrinologists, said my "levels" were fine and even though I presented with every single symptom of hypothyroidism, I was fine. Started doing research on my own and truly understanding what the thyroid does and how it acts, still got no relief or help from doctors in SLC or McAllen. Felt very discouraged. I felt like I knew what was wrong, but couldn't get anyone else to listen or help.

The thyroid gland governs the body's metabolism and development through the production of thyroid hormones. In the cells, the thyroid hormones help facilitate the production of energy. If your thyroid is not working properly, almost every aspect of your health is affected. When you go to the doctor with thyroid symptoms, your doctor will order a blood test to see what your tsh level is. If that level falls within a certain range, there assumption is you are find and dandy. TSH measures whether or not your hypothalamus is signaling to your brain to produce the thyroid hormone. IT DOES NOT MEASURE IF YOUR BODY IS USING THE HORMONES or what is happening at the cellular level. In essence, it measures if your brain is telling the body to produce thyroid, but not what the body does with it.

After persisting and going to more docs, they found antibodies in my bloodstream and diagnosed me with something called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disorder where your body produces antibodies that in essence attack your thyroid and do not allow it to function properly. Even after that diagnosis, my "tsh level" was still within normal range so no treatment was given. I began to think a. I'm crazy b. I'm a hypochondriac c. I will feel like this for the rest of my life.

To make an already lengthy post somewhat shorter, I found a solution that saved my like. Through what I believe were inspired avenues, I was able to learn about and go to the Hotze Health and Wellness Center in Katy (Houston), TX. There I was treated with bioidentical hormones and within 2 weeks of treatment, I felt like a new person. That was in 2006. Since that time, I have only gotten better and I have learned a tremendous amount about the thyroid and how it functions, how other hormones work in our body, the effect of sugar and refined foods on our bodies and how to be persistent and strong, to be educated and to not be afraid to stand up and challenge a doctor when I know more than them.

This is really the severly condensed version of this story of finding my health again. I would encourage, implore, plead with any of you who are experiencing some or several of these symptoms to go to hwc.com and get some answers or call me or email me. I would love to give you the non-reader's digest version and share with you what I know.

I have included these pics just for fun (haha).

before and after

Overhead Projector

2011-09-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

I am behind on the blog thing, been too busy since school started, but for 1/2 a sec, I am sitting at the computer, luxuriously reading other people's blogs and fb posts etc.....and I decided to tell you about the overhead projector. Chelsea had a project to do that included making a outline of the state of Texas that could not be printed from the computer. So, I mentioned to her that it would be great if we had an overhead projector so I could take her original and like "magic", project it onto the wall and we could trace a large replica onto her posterboard. She told me she thought she knew what an overhead projector was, she vaguely remembered one of her earlier elementary teachers using one....Well, lo and behold, our stake center just happened to have one, sitting in the corner of the stake office, collecting dust. We brought it home and did indeed make a great specimen for chelsea's project. She was happy, I was happy in a very nerdy/teacher/eduational way. But, Taggart was FASCINATED! "What is this thing?" "What does it do?" He examined it and touched it and plugged it in, this big clunky piece of ancient school technology. I then attempted to explain what it did, showed him what we could do with it, and explained how when I was in high school and college, my teacher(s) used this "thing" everyday for notes and math problems and lectures....He was confused. "But how does it hook to the computer?" "Don't you plug it into your tv or your computer or you ipod?" "I don't get it." Of course, it made me laugh. Apparently, a little contraption that just plugs into your wall and shines a big light, although fascinating, is just too hard for a 10 year old, computer-generational and technologically advanced kid of 2011 to comprehend!

Summer Reading list, take 2

2011-08-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park : great perspective book for me, would be a good one for kids to read so they can also gain some perspective and gratitude. It is 2 different accounts of a child's life in Sudan.

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl: had never read this very, very short book. I love Roald Dahl and I just recently saw the movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is hysterical and very clever. I simply wanted to see how the movie and book matched. In this case, I liked the movie more, which is rare...

The Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney: I think this book was recommended as a summer read in the Friend. It was pretty funny and boys and girls, ages 8 and up would enjoy it. It is about a brother and sister who take a summer trip with their almost stranger grandfather through Kansas.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard: this book was recommended to me by my friend, Meagan Sullivan. I liked this book because I couldn't guess the outcome and that is refreshing. It is definitely an adult read. It is a mystery.

The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe: just picked them up at the library on a whim, the illustrations by Ryan Price are magnificent, and that is what attracted me to this particular rendition. I had read the raven before, but never The Tell-Tale Heart although I had heard/seen it referrenced many times before. I am AMAZED at Mr. Poe's gift, truly remarkable his poeticism (is that even a word). It prompted me to research his life and I found a very colorful and somewhat disturbed individual. Like most writers/poets/artists from the past, he did not achieve much success until after his death.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool: This is the 2010 Newberry Medal Winner and it is a revelatory book for me. The writing is superb, the characters are rich and have a lot of depth. I found myself both laughing and feeling emotional as well. I don't want to give much away, it is about a young girl searching her father's past and discovering both things about herself and the town where he is from and the town's people as well. It is clever and insightful. There is some writing on pg 143-144 that is magic to me. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone 10 -100.

Forever by Maggie Stievater: The 3rd book in a trilogy, I read the 1st because Autumn bought it at the school book fair. It seems since the Twilight craze, all these trilogies and series of books involving fantasy and paranormal, witches, vampires, werewolves, fairies etc...have just taken over the young adult section of modern fiction. I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly astounded. This author is a poet. The writing is achingly beautiful, the subject interesting and surprisingly deep. I Loved it. I am a big fan of consequences even in my mythical fiction. I want characters to have conflicts and not necessarily happy endings. This book was a great ending to the series. It did not disappoint and was just as good as the other two, which is rare. Great read for YA's and adults.

Garden

2011-07-17T14:23:00.001-07:00

I'll admit it, I was a garden pessimist....some of my most unfond childhood memories are of weeding the garden. Yes, I was a lazy kid..or just uninterested or I didn't see the point. Little did I know that like all of those things you don't appreciate when you're a kid, growing a garden became an important thing for me to do. South Texas with its tropical climate is a little different than Idaho so I had to learn when to grow and how to grow and what to grow. Basically, it is so miserably, blazing hot that not much grows in the middle of summer. You plant end of February or you wait until September. We decided to try container or box gardens (orange fencing is to keep dog out, u can see another box next to it that got planted a couple weeks after that) and planted mostly from seed, except our tomatoes and a few herbs. Well, low and behold, it seems I may have a green thumb after all! I surprised myself by growing quite abundantly: cucumbers, tomatoes, zuchinni, parlsey, oregano, basil, cantaloupe, watermelon, chives, red peppers and I mean abundantly. They grew rampant and beautifully! And they did not stop growing! We had cucumbers and zuchinni for every meal :) We decided to plant pumpkins just recently---not sure if they will grow because it is so hot, but we have an entire box garden full of pumpkin blossoms, so I'll keep you posted. What surprised me the most is how excited and motivated I was to yield something from my semi-hard work and a simple seed---there's some symbolism there, right?

update on reading list

2011-07-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

I decided to do a little update on my summer reading list. It is now mid July and I have offiicially read 11 books on my list, only 3 to go! For some reason, I really gravitate to juvenile fiction award winners....I know, I know I am not 10 years old anymore, but all in all, the books I read from that particular section are by far the best things I read. I think this is why: there is not any graphic language or sex, the writing by and far is simple and beautiful, the subject matters (believe it or not) are deep and profound, and they are quick reads. I also like to read what my kids are reading so I spend quite a bit of time reading juvenile fiction and young adult fiction. From my list, I read 2 beautiful books that are jf: Love, Aubrey and Mockingbird. Love, Aubrey is about a girl who goes to live with her Grandmother after a family tradgedy and learns to sort through her feelings by writing letters to herself. And, Mockingbird is about a young girl who has asperger's and how she deals with her brother's death. Both are beautifully written and poignant. I would recommend either to adults and children 9+. Another on my list I enjoyed was the final book in a trilogy called The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum (incidentally, this book just won an award). True to form (at least in my mind), it was not as good as the other two in the series...but only slightly. There are times it got too descriptive if that makes sense. But great YA fiction, great for mothers and daughters. Same goes for Matched---that I did not know was part of a trilogy! So, a little frustrated to get sucked in and now have to wait for the next.

A few other thoughts about the books I have read thus far:

To Kill A Mockingbird---why hadn't I read this before? Of course groundbreaking and thoughtful, but also hilarious!

Animal Farm---seriously made me think I was back in High School and didn't feel like "analyzing"

The Catcher in the Rye--ugghhh! Kept waiting for this book to do ANYTHING..towards the end I got what it was supposed to be, but sorry folks, not a big fan. Enough bad language to last me a lifetime.

Witch and Wizard--fun read, quick read, kids Chelsea's age would like it and of course, it is a series

Hiding Place--about the holocaust, true story, very insightful and some great thoughts on being happy no matter what your situation

Anthem--aka the Giver, Matched, The City of Ember etc etc...of course it came first.....same genre, same good ideas and thoughts.

And, I shall let you all know how Forever turns out after I read it this weekend. Just released on 7/12 so gotta go pick it up at Sam's. I have high expectations for this one so I hope it doesn't disappoint.

That will leave me with 2 books on the list that I already verified were "in" at my library and then I will have to make a new list!

My Summer Reading List

2011-06-06T14:10:00.001-07:00

Oh how I love to read! I cannot tell you how much I love to hold a book in my hand, to feel the pages, to smell them even. I am a traditionalist, no kindle or nook for me, I need to have the book in my hand, I like to use bookmarks. The best thing about the summer is unlimited trips to the library, occasional trips to Barnes and Noble, and uninterrupted time to lounge around on my couch, reading. That is, an attempt at uninterrupted time laying about, reading. I have been writing down titles of books that I have seen at Target or that someone has mentioned to me or that Autumn/Chelsea/Taggart are reading or that I've been waiting ever so patiently for the sequel to be released, or they are classics I just haven't ever read, on little scraps or bits of paper or sticky notes all over my house....and now as I gather them up, (I am sure I will find more) I have an official summer reading list. It is one week into my summer vacation and I have read 3....only 11 to go!

1. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
3. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
4. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
5. The Middle of Somewhere by JB Cheaney
6. The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
8. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
9. Animal Farm by George Orwell
10. Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life by Yimala Rogers
11. Matched by Ally Condie
12. Love, Aubrey by Suzanee Le Fleur
13. Anthem by Ayn Rand
14. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

All We Do...

2011-05-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

All I do is drive Autumn, Chelsea, and Taggart to any and all after school sports practices and games/meets. Our life really does revolve around these activities and most times, they are over-lapping and it takes my own internal franklin planner to organize them....who has what and when and can I be in 2 places at once? But, I can't complain because I love to see my kiddos working hard and enjoying all these sports. I like to see who they are becoming :)

Peanuts, popcorn....

2011-04-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

We surprised our kids by taking them to the circus. I had never been to the circus and actually didn't have much desire to go, but we got some discount tickets and decided to take the whole family....and, We had a BLAST! Taggart and Chelsea rode an elephant, the animal acts and the people acts were fantastic. Check out the pics:

a little catch-up, holiday style

2011-03-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

Check out our December activities:

*Chelsea's first band concert. She is playing flute and loving it!

*Our Ward Christmas Party. Chelsea, as a reluctant Mary. The boy playing Joseph, Angel Claudio, was also not too thrilled. When it came time for them to go to the stable, they sat as far apart as possible :)

*Taggart and our good neighbor friend, Andria were shepherds. They both won the academy awards for their performances, hamming it up the whole time....

*Hidalgo Festival of Lights. Grandma and Grandpa came for the holiday season this year and as you can tell with the jackets, it was actually a little cool (Like maybe in the 50's? haha).

*Gingerbread Houses. I love, love this tradition. It is A LOT of work, but everyone has a great time decorating homemade gingerbread houses with all sorts of delicious, sugary candies.

Mindless Blogging....

2011-02-13T14:59:00.001-08:00

So, I decided to post some of my mindless wanderings.....I am way behind on posts and pictures and as we (the fam and lila mills) were driving home from San Antonio last night, I had a little inner dialog going on. I was lost in my musical ipod world with my eyes closed (no, I was not driving) and I started thinking of all the things I should post on the blog: Chelsea's band concert, Taggart's winter baseball (oops, i didnt take any photos of that), Autumn's basketball pictures, her soccer pictures, Chelsea's basketball pics, Turkey bowl, Christmas....the list goes on and on. So, if you want to see some action shots of Autumn playing basketball or soccer, go to : www.rgvsportsphoto.com and click on mission area, then sharyland north ms (or scroll down to see soccer on home page). As for the other pics, sometime this week, or next, or in the next couple of months, I will possibly post the other pictures. I guess I should hurry or I'll have Taggart and Chelsea's b-days and swimming and Taggart's basketball stacked up with the rest. If you are at all wondering why we were in SA this weekend, it was because we were privileged enough to attend the family sealing of our wonderful friends, Shanna and Brandon Wheeler to their newly adopted children. They adopted a sibling group of 4 children this December and on Sat, they were sealed for time and all eternity. I admit, I was the uncomposed baby, but the tears came freely as they were sealed. What a lucky family all around! One of the great things is their other children were able to be there to witness it also. If you want to see some fantastic pics of this great family, check out my favorite, favorite photographer's blog at www.gerardogarmendia.com/blog. Going to the temple always, always, always makes me feel even greater love for Brice. It is amazing to be sitting there together. He is the best!
As for what I was enjoying on my ipod, I have composed a mini playlist so you can check some of the songs out for yourselves!
When I look to the Sky--Train
Resta Qui---Andrea Bocelli
I Could Not Ask for More--Edwin McCain
Alien--Cary Brothers
Little Wonders--Rob Thomas
The Ballad of You and I--Melee
Marchin On--One Republic
Enough to Let Me Go--Switchfoot
Sort Of--Ingrid Michaelson
Best I Ever Had--Vertical Horizon

Halloween

2010-11-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

14

2010-11-06T08:25:00.001-07:00

It kinda blows my mind that daughter is 14! I mean, come on, I am not old enough and it hasn't been long enough....True to the promise of being the most embarrassing parents ever, I downloaded the funniest pics of Autumn (for us) or the worst pics of Autumn (for her). She wanted an ipod touch so Grandma Susan and Grandpa Philip and the Aldrich's and Brice and I all went in together and gave it to her. We went to Red Robin for dinner and she didn't even want a cake. She requested root beer floats, taking after Brice in yet another aspect. She is her father's daughter: funny, witty, and very athletic. She is happy, smart, a friend to everyone, and a great daughter. We love you, Autumn.

Idaho

2010-10-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Listen to blog

2010-08-31T17:31:00.001-07:00

Summer Track

2010-08-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

I have to say I am completely stumped as to what to say about Summer Track...you know, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all :) Actually, track was great for Taggart-lots of exercise everyday, 1 1/2 hours of running to be precise. It built his stamina and definitely helped all of us because we all know Taggart needs to be busy and get exercise to lessen the daily teasing and bugging he does of the girls. So here is the HUGE downside of summer track. In case you haven't heard me say before, it is HOT here, like 100 degrees with 80% humidity every day in the summer. Now, do you want to guess how long track meets are? They are about 7 hours long and each is different as far as order of events goes. So you try to predict when your events will be so you don't melt away waiting in the blazing sunshine for 7 + hours. This usually meant that Taggart and I sat for around 3 + hours each Friday for 2 months in the 100 degree weather for Taggart to run the 200 and 400. You are supposed to be either laughing at us or sympathizing with us by now....because the 200 is like 1 minute long and the 400 is about 2 min long. 3 agonizing hours in the full sun, sweating from every pore on our bodies so that Taggart could run for approximately 3 minutes. I guess the silver lining for me was I read a book each Friday, sometimes 2. After the district meet, which was twice as long as his regular meets, Taggart told me he didn't think he would do track again. I was so happy, I cried a few tears of joy---or it could've been because sunscreen was burning my eyeball as the sweat from my forehead slipped into the corner of my eye!

Taaf Swimming

2010-08-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

State Swim Results: 8th place 50 breast

13th place 100 free

18th place 50 free

Regional Swim Results: 1st place 50 breast

1st place 50 free

2nd place 100 free

Green Thumb....NOT!

2010-08-07T11:15:00.001-07:00

I got a topsy turvy for Mother's Day. I eagerly planted 2 tomato plants and watered them faithfully (well, Chelsea, Taggart, and Brice watered them faithfully). I waited and watched and anticipated....and waited some more. They drooped in the heat, they got bugs, they turned a little brown....and then ta-dah, one measley, small tomato. I don't think I have a green thumb. It did however, taste delicious.

What do you mean it's July? Where did May go?

2010-07-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

Birthday, Brice Chandler, 29....I mean 39!

NJHS induction, Autumn Chandler, star student

Spring Baseball, Taggart Chandler, rookie pitcher

District Choir, Chelsea Chandler, singing star

a reminder

2010-07-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

I decided I needed a little reminder of all the little things in my life that make me happy and grateful. For me, this summer has been a long one and it's only really half-way over. While I was at the grocery store today, I happened upon something I really love to eat and it got me thinking of all the smallest things that I am thankful for....so here goes a small sampling of things I was thinking of:

*Wilton Samper---I love this little yellow square box of 4 chocolates. It reminds me of Christmas stockings, winter, and 5 seconds of something that is all mine....
But how can I talk about wilton chocolate if I don't mention the KING of chocolates:

*SEE'S CHOCOLATES--nothing is better, oh, I can taste it in my memory while I type this. Unfortunately, the state of Texas does not have a See's chocolates, which makes me like it even more because I do not get it very often--unless I want to pay almost as much in shipping as in chocolate for the dry ice pack to keep it from melting.

*Paper Tongues and the song "Get Higher". I can't get enough of this song. It makes me happy. Some of my other favorite groups at this moment:
Safety Suit
One Republic
All American Rejects
Cary Brothers
Right The Stars

*The Mcallen Library Hold System: I find books I want to read from best seller lists, Target, Amazon, friend's suggestions, and then I go online to see if my library has them and then request them. They bring them all to the main library and call me and I go and pick them up. It's like magic to me---I get to read whatever I want without spending a fortune at B&N, all with just a few strokes of my keyboard.

*Brice getting the kids up: My lovely husband gets my children up for me almost every morning, so that I will get a precious 2-3 more minutes of time in bed.

*Windchimes--how I love the sound of windchimes, it's like ear poetry....

If you have a simple pleasure that you are thankful for, post it in the comments.

National Chess Tournament, Altanta GA

2010-07-07T09:08:00.001-07:00

Who knew that Chess was so intense! Taggart and I traveled to Atlanta with the John H Shary Knights to compete in the National Chess Meet. These are all the teams who took 1st or 2nd place in the state competitions, so off we went for 3 days of chess matches. So , this whole chess thing is a new experience for me and I will try to explain in my limited chess "language" how everything works. Taggart and all his team mates are members of the national chess federation (membership card and all). As you play in federation recognized matches, you get a ranking number. This number is based on how many wins/losses you have and what your opponent is ranked. Taggart's team qualified for nat'l in the 800 or less catergory. That means every player was ranked under 800. But since Taggart did so well this year, his ranking was 913. At the national competition, he had to play up a division. So here's the reality check: the kids in this division are ranked like at 1800-2000 and Taggart had to compete with them. These are dead serious chess champs, who have strategies and play mind games with their opponents, like making them sit for an hour before they show up, by trying to smack talk with them, or distract them....who knew it was so brutal, I mean this is chess:) Needless to say, Taggart is more about the fun and excitement. His first match was just completely insane. Opponent shows up 1 hour late, won't sit down, tries to stare Tag down. He was ranked about 1900. Match was over in 20 minutes, Taggart really discouraged. 2nd match, guy shows up 40 minutes late, Taggart holds his own in a 2 HOUR MATCH and finally loses. He is heartbroken. Remember what I said about reality check? Taggart had a hard time, an early lesson in defeat. It was good and bad, it was fun and sad. He endured 7 matches over the 3 days, some wins, mostly losses. His little team from Mission TX ended up taking 18th in the entire nation. Not too shabby considering our players do not have their own personal coaches, chess practice and funding year round, and maniac parents with binoculars, watching their every move from the back of the designated competition rooms. Really, it was an experience for me and him. I learned some new lingo--still don't know how to play. He learned he needs "new Tricks" and how to relax a little more. We both had a great time visiting the aquarium, Coca-Cola museum, and lunch with the Pavia's.

District Champs

2010-06-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to post a picture of Autumn doing the back stroke because this may be the only time I ever have a picture of her doing it. It is her least favorite stroke....this pic is of the 200 IM, for those nonswimmers out there, that means individual medley, 50m of each stroke. For school swim team, you don't get to choose your events, you just show up to your meet and see what events your coach decided to put you in that week. Sharyland North girls were district champs this year. Autumn excelled at 50 free and 50 breast. She took first in 50 free at all except 1 of her meets (of course the one my mom and dad were visiting for) and took 1st, 2nd, or 3rd each time she swam 50 breast. She also swims a 200 medley relay. It constantly amazes me how great these kids do. If any of you remember me from my swimming lesson days, you will know that Autumn does NOT take after me at all :)

birthdays, birthdays!

2010-05-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

I am laughing while I blog this because the only thing Chelsea and Taggart like to share is a mean look, so the mere thought that I actually have them "share" a post of their birthdays is, I'm sure, absurd to them....But, nevertheless, I am behind as always and in my attempt to catch up, they will have to "suffer" through while I talk about both of them, together :)

I have taken to bribing my kids. I am tired of all the birthday party planning and hoopla, so because I am lazy, I offer my children cold, hard cash instead of a party. And, to my great surprise and happiness, they take it! We have a small celebration with cake and out to eat and then they get to go to the store and pick out their own gifts with their birthday cash. Happy Birthday to me! (side note: this year Taggart wanted a nintendo dsi, which is over the birthday cash limit, so that is the one and only gift he got and mother did go and pick it out.)

district choir

2010-03-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Wanted to put a little shout out to Chelsea on the blog...Chels made district choir! That means she had to try out all by herself and sing a solo. For those of you who know Chelsea, that was quite a brave thing she did. Her choir teacher told me she has the sweetest voice...we wouldn't know at home because we can never get her to sing for us. I tried to take a picture of her while she was in her room practicing, but uh, she was not having that. She is practicing every Mon and Wed after school for a big performance in May.

chess

2010-03-13T13:21:00.001-08:00

Taggart has discovered the world of chess! This is his 2nd year on the chess team at John H Shary Elementary. He took first place in his division at the regional meet! (bottom pic) Then we took a trip to Dallas for the State Chess meet where he took 5th place!!!(top pic) His team took 2nd place in his division and 2nd place in the elementary division as well. So, now they are national bound. Nationals is May 6-9 in Atlanta, GA. I am so happy that Tag has decided to try a "quiet" sport. I can see the wheels turning in his head when he plays. These kids are amazing, with their strategies and ability to think ahead....awesome.

soccer

2010-03-06T17:50:00.001-08:00

Autumn made the 7th/8th girl's Shary North soccer team this year and they ended the season as district champs, undefeated. Autumn made 1 amazing, super sweet goal from half field....a beautiful shot, perfectly kicked into the top of the net. Let's just say it wasn't really intentional, but an awesome shot. She played mostly center or right midfield and right defender and really became an aggressive player. I particularly loved watching her play as it reminded me of my "glory days" as right defender (ha, ha).

Winter Baseball

2010-02-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write something about winter baseball and realized the only picture I had was a grainy pic from my phone---and it most certainly is not of Taggart playing baseball. This picture is of the "spectators", absolutely freezing to death, as we watch Tag play. The winter season was unkind to the Boys and Girls Club baseball program this year. It rained so much that most games were cancelled or postponed so we ended up playing whenever it dried up enough. That means we played 3 games in a row on days when it wasn't wet. This picture is the first game of a 3 game night, which also happens to be the Fiesta Bowl night. Autumn took this picture before Brice dashed home to start watching the game. I was going to be clever and put Taggart's stats in a chart like the real baseball players, but who are we kidding, I really have no idea what all those little abbreviations and stats are. So, I'll just say Tag did great! We ended up playing 13 games and Taggart hit 24 homeruns, 1 double, and had 1 out. He plays 1st base and short stop and made at least one out every game. It looks like he is following in his Dad's footsteps.....He has now officially graduated to kid-pitch, which starts up again in March.

Merry Christmas - 2009

2010-01-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

Autmn, Chelsea, & Taggart pretending like they have been nice all year......HA!!

Our good friends the Pavia's came to visit South Texas for Christmas. We had a great time with them.

Santa's mad helpers attempting Ginger Bread Houses.

The finished product.

Isaiah just heard Jason say that he had been "good" all year.

The kids & Sienna Pavia jammin out on Rock Band, Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving

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My parents, Grandma Susan and Grandpa Philip, hopped in the minivan and drove (yes, drove 30 hours) to have Thanksgiving with us this year. They actually got to enjoy some much cooler weather this time around. The kids especially have a great time when Grandma and Grandpa are here to spoil them and spend time with them. This is the only picture we got...we didn't even get one around the Thanksgiving table. This is at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. There is a driving tour of lights and also a walking tour of these beautiful lighted sculptures. And now, as we "go around and say something we are thankful for", I am thankful for my Mom and Dad, who are generous and thoughtful and a lot of fun.

Let the Basketball Games Begin!

2009-12-28T16:01:00.001-08:00

Autumn made the 7th Grade A basketball team this year and we have dedicated and designated our Monday night FHE to family bonding, courtside. Autumn was fantastic (and I am not just saying that because I am her mother). She led the team in scoring this year, played right

forward, and survived only 1 minor injury (sprained ankle). Now, for those of you not familiar with 7th grade girl's basketball, let me tell you, it is aggressive, comical, and very entertaining all in one. There's a lot of "huddle" ball and a lot of missed free throws and a TON of fouls--but we love it! My favorite picture of the season: 1st jump ball, very 1st game of the season. I included the score board at end of game. Autumn made 12 of those points!

Halloween

2009-11-10T13:28:00.001-08:00

Halloween pics! We are not sure what either Chelsea or Taggart were for Halloween this year. Chelsea chose something with wings yet again (3rd year in a row). I think the official costume description labeled it as "Vampire Fairy". Taggart just wanted to be something scary with black and with a skeleton mask---well he was a skeleton last year and didn't want last year's costume, so he came up with this one. Part of the night, he wore the mask from his last year's costume though. Autumn handed out the candy with no costume and since the the only pics I got of her are her actually eating the candy instead of handing it out, I decided not to include them. Andy, as always, was a good sport as long as we held a treat in front of him. We snapped the pics as we bribed him and then he quickly clawed the wig off his head and ran away. He is sporting the marilyn monroe wig this year.

The Music Man

2009-11-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

One time per year, each grade at John H Shary performs at the monthly SPTSO meeting (this is to con the parents into attending at least one meeting a year). Chelsea's 5th grade class did excerpts from The Music Man this year and I must say, it was actually quite good. The boy who played the music man did a fantastic job. Now, for all who know Chelsea, she does not enjoy being in front of people. But, to our surprise, she sang a solo for the program. She did a beautiful job.

Happy 13th Birthday!

2009-11-08T15:42:00.001-08:00

I have selected the most embarrassing photo to document Autumn turning 13--teenager! Of course, from now on, everything we do is embarrassing....we love you Autumn.

TEXTING

2009-10-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Because Autumn started JH this year and has a very busy schedule and is hard to keep track of, we relented and Autumn got her most desperate, pre-teen wish fulfilled: a cell phone. In case you do not have a preteen or teen and don't live in the tween universe, the cell phone is the most prized possession. You can't actually talk to anyone on it though. You must TEXT. I'll admit that I also enjoy texting. It is convenient sometimes. But I am a complete novice compared to Autumn.

We got the phone for Autumn the Friday before school started. The school has very strict policies about cell phone use during school. No talking, texting, using your phone for anything at all during school hours. You cannot even have it on. The consequences of which are having your phone taken away and not getting it back until your parents come after school to get it. And you have to pay to get it back. We established our own rules at home too. Cell phone off and charging on kitchen counter at 8:30 pm, where it must remain until the next morning.

After the first week, Brice was curious about how many minutes Autumn had used. Keep in mind this is the last week in August, so any minutes accumulated by Brice or myself on our phones have been accumulating for the entire month. For Autumn, just one week. Brice had sent about 500 texts, me about 200, and Autumn----1800!!! IN ONE WEEK! And she can only use her phone for about 4 1/2 hours a day! I don't think she even used any regular minutes. Well, all I can say is thank goodness for unlimited texting.

Ugly

2009-10-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

The pictures hardly do it justice: our poor, water deprived backyard...I stepped outside at the end of August and had to snap these pictures. We had a record year for no rain. Usually come July and the start of hurricane season, we see plenty of the wet stuff. But not this year. No rain all summer long. Ugly, dry, full of weeds.....even Andy didn't want to go in the backyard.

First Day of School 2009

2009-09-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

2009-09-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

I took Autumn to register for junior high and I am thinking, I am not old enough to do this. Wasn't it last year that I was registering for JH myself? One thing is for sure: junior high is much different now then when I went. No home ec, no woodshop, no lockers, no smelly, old gym clothes....well, she does have her assigned gym clothes, but they are only 2 years old.

She is registered for all these hard classes, like classes I took in 8th or 9th grade. AP math and english and history and some fun, like intro to art and athletics. I couldn't help but look around at all the other parents. Maybe they were thinking, there is no way I am going to be able to help with homework anymore, or when did my child get taller than me, smarter than me, busier than me? I was just thankful to get in and out with all the paperwork and schedules and agendas. Autumn, of course, was thrilled. This is a pic of her school i.d. that must be worn at all times.

Ear Candling

2009-09-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we know it looks weird--it is called ear candling. You buy a special ear candle and light it on fire. It creates a vacuum and draws all the ear wax out. People have been doing it forever. I guess it is a very popular thing to do if you have allergies, if you have swimmer's ear, if your ear hurts, or if you have a lot of ear wax. We decided to try it when Chelsea's ear hurt from being in the pool. It worked like a charm! Her earache went away as soon as we were done. So, Brice was a good sport and let me do it to him too. We decided against showing the picture of what came out of his ear--gross--but effective....

State Swimming 2009

2009-08-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

This year state swimming was in San Antonio, Texas. The state is divided into about 16 regions and each region brings those who qualified from regionals with a first and second place in each event. Autumn qualified first in 50 breast and her relay team qualified first in 200 free. She took second in 50 free, but first was also someone from Mission's team. The 1st and 2nd place cannot be from the same team, so even though her time was better, first and 3rd went for 50 free.

When we got to state, Autumn got a surprise: 3rd place 50 free elected not to come, so Autumn ended up swimming in 3 events. Autumn was fantastic! She took 9th in 50 free, 13th in 50 breast, and her relay team took 6th!!! We really are little fish in a big pond when we come to these events. There are huge schools that compete and for Autumn to place as she did is awesome.

Chelsea wanted a bunny....Chelsea's parent's did not want her to have a bunny. We struck a deal: place in top 3 in her events and she could have a bunny. This really was an unfair deal, kinda sneaky for the parents. We knew the chances of this little green team from Mission, TX to place in top 3 was next to impossible. She did not place in top 3, but she rocked it!

Unfortunately, one of Chelsea's relay members decided not to show up. So, with a substituiton, they had to compete in the 100 medley. Chelsea took 14th in 100 free relay, 16th in 100 medley relay, and Chelsea took 24th in 25 butterfly.

My favorite pic of Chelsea...anxiously, nervously awaiting her 25 fly. She is about half the size of all her competitors and has to work twice as hard, but if she has a goal, she does not give up.

All of the girl's hard work, all summer long, really paid off. After early morning, 1.5 hour practices each day and thousands of laps, and countless tumble turns, and hundreds of pruned fingers and wet towels, these girls made us proud!

2009-08-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

All-Star Baseball

Taggart got chosen to be on the all-star baseball team this year. Translation: We dedicated 4 weeks to non-stop practice all week and games all weekend long. And the result: we got KILLED! Every game! Like 15-2!

We learned:

We don't like summer ball in South Texas.

Teams that play together year round (select teams) kill all the city all-star teams.

Taggart really, really loves baseball.

Taggart loved the games, even when he lost. He loved all the practices, even when we were so sick of them, we promised to pay each other 1 million dollars if the other would take him to practice. If we would stand outside and throw the ball, he would NEVER get tired of it.

The coach was our comic relief this year. He is a nice, albeit, interesting guy. He is super hyper and high strung and our favorite is when he yells like he's bursting a blood vessel in his brain to "just relax". But he thinks Taggart is the greatest and he has taught the kids a lot about the game.

Taggart played mostly short stop this year, except in the all-star tournaments, where the coach put him in the outfield so we could have a chance to make some plays out there. He has a great, accurate arm and usually ends up earning some money during the game (coach pays $1 for pop fly catches). He ended the season by making 2 home runs in the final tournament game and 6 plays that resulted in outs! This is our blog, so we will brag (it's the rules) that Taggart is an awesome player and we loved watching him this year.

2009-08-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

Chelsea got a butterfly habitat for her birthday in April. We waited until the beginning of the summer and sent away for our butterfly larvae. They come right in the mail, in a box labeled live insects. They come in a little cup with food and air holes. The larvae travel to the top of the cup and start hanging upside down. When they have built a chrysalis or cocoon around themselves, you transfer them to the habitat. Then you wait for them to hatch. They are amazing to watch as they transform from these kind of disgusting worm-looking things to their iridescent cocoons to beautiful painted lady butterflies. They emerge very quickly from their cocoons and lay very still as they build up their strength. Then you feed them sugar water and fresh orange slices and flowers.

After they have hatched, you can release them into your yard. Chelsea carefully observed them each and every day, watching their every move. We were all fascinated by the life cycle. On the day of their release, we took them outside and unzipped the door. They were very reluctant to leave and we had to give them some prompting. The first butterfly paused at the door, then flew out and into our yard. We watched as it flew across the street and landed on our neighbor's mailbox----and swoop, right into the clutches of a grackle (black bird)! Well, we had a quick lesson in the food chain and then released the rest.

2009-08-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

We have entered the blogging world, like it or not.