Bruce Almighty

Matthew enjoyed his first day of 2nd grade on Friday, Aug 14th.  He was ready to go.  He woke up before the alarm went off. We went to an orientation on Thursday, Aug 13th, and he enjoyed seeing his friends and meeting his teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez.   It's hard to believe he is already in 2nd grade.  

Our summer started off with a bang with a trip to South Padre with my family.  We planned this trip to celebrate his retirement.




When we came back to Houston, Audrey had a dance recital on Saturday, June 6th.   It was also my mom's birthday.


The next week was the best week for Matthew but the worst week for me.  I signed him up for a basketball camp at Jesuit Strake High School that met from 9-12am and then he had a cub scout twilight camp from 6-9pm.  Matthew enjoyed learning about basketball for the first time.  His friend, Andy, was there, too.  And he LOVED the archery, BB guns, and cub scout projects that he learned at the twilight camp.  It was a hard week for me because I was busy driving him around to all these camps at various hours of the day.  Plus, trying to keep Audrey busy and get dinner ready.  I was so happy when Friday rolled around.

Matthew's last day of school was supposed to be a half day on Wed, May 27th.  However, there was a major flood in Houston on memorial day, May 25th, so Tuesday was an inclement weather day, causing the last day to get extended to Thurs, May 28th.  We already had plans to leave town on Thursday to drive 6 hours to South Padre so Matthew missed the last day of school.  He was ready for summer to begin and they were watching movies at school at this point so I don't think he missed much.  Thankfully, we were not impacted with the flooding like much of Houston.  Our apartment sits up on a hill so the closest the water made it to us was a couple of inches in the parking garage.

On Monday, May 11th, I had a fever with a sore throat and cough. I felt so bad that I didn't want to drive Audrey to her school. I let her watch a lot of TV while I rested. I picked up Matthew and we went to a park. The kids are not used to me feeling bad and they kept wanting me to chase them. I just struggled through the day. On Tuesday, the fever went away but I still couldn't do my normal routine so Audrey happily stayed home again. By Wed, I started feeling better and took her to school. My dad came into town on Thursday and we had a nice lunch at Pappasitos. The hot sauce helped my sinuses. Matthew was supposed to have his last game on Thursday but it was rained out. Papa was hoping to see the game but he was there to see the award ceremony- pizza, trophys, and cupcakes.

I took Audrey to school on Friday and then shortly after Andy and I took a trip to Sonoma, California for my friend, Maria's birthday. I still had a terrible cough but we had a great time! We also saw Andy's cousin, Jennifer, since she lives there.  This was our first trip alone together in a while and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
My dad picked up the kids from school and then my mom and Mike drove into town Sat to help. The weather was rainy but they still enjoyed the pool and buffalo bayou for dog walking both Rusty and Roxy. It is a lot of work to watch the kids and Rusty so we were very appreciative of the help! We are thankful that Papa is feeling better and that his diagnoses was not stomach cancer. Thank God!















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Mike stayed in town for the first part of the week and I drove him back on Tuesday. I met my Dad for lunch and we ate bar-b-que. Dad is looking better and walking around now. He seems to have a good appetite after his surgery. Audrey was sick with a pink eye on Monday and she made it to school on Tuesday but then relapsed Wednesday with a cough. For Cinco de Mayo, I made tacos and cranked up the Latino music. The kids enjoyed this.
My good friend Maria came into town on Thursday and we attended a charity lunch together. I had fun getting dressed up and doing something special for lunch. I normally just eat something at home in between errands.
Matthew had a baseball game on Thursday and then the kids met Maria at dinner later.
On Sat morning, Matthew had a Cub Scout meeting while Audrey had ballet. Andy took Matthew to the U of Houston broadcast communications building where they learned about radio and TV. We met up afterwards and played at the memorial park for a little while. And we went to mass later Saturday where Audrey fell asleep on me. Andy and I went out for dinner as a special Mother's Day dinner. The kids made necklaces out of pasta for me while we were gone. I wore them proudly the next day.
On Sunday we met my parents and Mike at a restaurant in Sugarland for Mother's Day brunch. It was a buffet at The Lasagna House. We were stuffed the rest of the day!



Audrey took this picture. Rusty loves soft blankets and pillows.


Scooters in the park


Matthew wanted to give Maria a "high" five.



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It was a busy week.  Matthew had a baseball game on Tuesday and Thursday night.  I was a guest reader at Matthew's school on Thursday and brought a craft to go along with the book.  The kids loved it.  I picked up Audrey early so that she could go with me.  There was an empty seat next to Matthew's because a kid was absent so Audrey sat there and did the craft with the class.  It was so cute. I wish I would have taken a picture.  On Friday, we went to the Pengu swim for family swim night.  Mike came into town so he went with us.  The kids LOVE swimming and they look forward to it every week.
 
Audrey had ballet on Saturday morning while Matthew had baseball practice.  We start early but then we crash by noon time.  Mike played Scavenger Hunt with the kids and they enjoyed running around the apartment trying to find random items.  Andy and I went to a crawfish boil Saturday night.  We were excited to know 3 people at the event.  It was a fundraiser for the school so we knew some of the parents.
Andy went to early mass Sunday morning while we worked the bake sale for the cub scouts.  Matthew dressed up in his uniform and he looked so cute.  He enjoyed selling the baked goods as people came out of the church.  I made homemade chocolate chip cookies and I'm still offended they only sold them for $2 for 3 cookies. I think they should have been priced higher.  LOL!
Matthew went to an Astros game on Sunday for a friends' birthday.  Andy and I joked that Matthew has done more in Houston than we have since he has been to a game and we haven't.  Matthew enjoyed hanging out with the boys for the day.  Audrey missed Matthew but I think she also liked having us all to herself.