Update on Aubries eye

We just got back from Aubries eye doctor, and well.... not so good news today.. her eye has not had any change. The doctor has ordered that Aubrie now starts patching at school all day every day. If we don't get aggressive, we will loose our opportunity to make this eye work. After the doctor left the room, it sunk in to Aubrie that she would have to patch at school and she started to cry, and then I started to cry.. my heart aches for her and all the hard work she has to do . The doctor must have gotten word that we were upset and returned to the room. She explained that she normally sees children as infants or toddlers and has lots of years to change their eye, and
we are trying to "beat the clock" on Aubrie's eye b/c she is already 7 1/2. I explained that we would do what ever it took to get the most out of this eye and we were not going to give up.

So Aubrie and I have had a "girls day" today, we went to lunch and bought her a new stuffed animal (like she needed another one !!) and just spent time talking about her concerns and what her responses should be to others. She knows that this is serious and that if we don't do whatever the doctor says she will be blind in that eye the rest of her life.

Please keep Aubrie in your prayers for complete healing of her left eye. Pray for her while she is at school, she is really worried that the kids will make fun of her and tease her. Pray that the other kids receive her with open caring arms and help her instead of put her down . Also pray that the school is accommodating in Aubries every need, so that her grades are not affected by this.

we will keep you posted.

New Additions... to the tank....

a little hermit crab.. we have two.. H1 and H2

Ocellaris Clownfish... of course we named "Nemo"

bubble coral

the purple and yellow fish is a Royal Gramma Basslet

the entire tank.. fish must be camera shy

My New Hobby.....

my little 10 gallon Nano Saltwater tank... I LOVE it ~~

after starting the tank.. I had to let it run for about 4 weeks so it could go through a "cycle", well last week I took some water in to the fish store and had them test it to see if I could add living things to the tank.. it was good ! yay !! So I bought 2 snails, 2 teeny hermit crabs (all tank cleaners) , a feather duster , and 1 lawnmower blenny (fish). Once they are in the tank about a week, I should be able to add a couple of tiny fish and some coral and then the tank will be complete. It is a excitting hobby.. but I am glad I dont have a big tank.. b/c I could get carried away really easy and it isnt cheap !! I will post pics as I add to the tank ! :)

the tube on the left is a Hawaiian "Feather Duster" just inside his tube and the fish on the red coral is a "Lawnmower Blenny" , that little guy has quite the personality !!

Feather Duster... if you get too close to the tank or touch him in any way he sucks up in his toob in about 1 millisecond !! funny .. but true ! p.s .... I call him "toobs" and Payton calls him "toobster"

here is a close up of the "toobster"

profile of the Lawnmower Blenny.. we call "Blenny".. I love his little eyebrows.. they are so cute !!

HURRICANE IKE

Hurrican Ike came barreling towards us on Friday night.. we spent most of the day on Thursday getting the house ready for a big storm. We had lots of water, ice, candles and canned goods, it took 4 stores to acheive these prized items.. but we got them !! Friday night before the storm hit , I was cooking dinner and Skip and Payton were outside playing football, when all of a sudden they heard a big boom. Out went the lights, WHAT are you kidding me.. its beautiful outside... our power was out from 7pm-9:30pm. So here is a picture of my way of cooking in the dark... thank goodness for gas stoves !!

the clouds were amazing while the storm was coming on shore...
this is the first of the outer bands of the storm

we ate our dinner outside with the most beautiful sunset I think I have ever seen... it was so orange.. the house was glowing orange inside !!

sunset before the storm

Saturday morning after the storm... wow what a night... I wasnt quite prepared for just how scared I would be.. the noise of the wind was something I dont ever care to hear again !! We were 100% Blessed.. the only damage we had was a few limbs down ( not near the house ) and a piece of fence fell . God is good !! This is a picture of our street after the storm.

10th street after the storm

Tom, Skip's brother, had alot of tree damage to his yard, but again, nothing to the house.
he lost his fence in the back

his neighbor lost their huge tree in their front yard

it covered the entire street

Sunday morning we wake up to heavy rain.. and flooding... our street has never flooded and we were getting water up the driveway....

our neighbors car got water in the door b/c of the flooding

the lake by our house was out of its banks and heading really close to the houses.

drain was over flowing...

the creek by our house was 1ft from going over the road... thank goodness it stopped raining just in time to keep it from over flowing and flooding our houses.

All and all we came out ...... Blessed... thats all I can say. I know there are hundreds of thousands that are without and I am praying for them all day long.

a SUPER cool birthday party.....

On Saturday Sept. 6th, our really good friends Ricky and Lanann invited us to their daughter Katie's 9th birthday party.. the coolest part was that it was at Minute Maid Park and a tour was included in the party !! Payton and I were so excited !! It was so cool to be there when no one else is .. it was so quiet and we learned a TON of new things about how things run down there.

Like ....

Did you know that the roof is "small missle" proof !!! wow !! and it takes exactly 13 minutes to open !!

Did you know that the grass grows a 1/4 of an inch a day and they have to cut the grass EVERY day !!

We learned how bats and balls are made.. it was overall the coolest birthday party and I want my birthday there too !! (I am totally serious) :)

Katie's party was up in one of the suites.. waiting in the suite for us was Junction Jack.. all the kids were SO excited to see him and take pictures with him !!

and of course they served "Minute Maid" juice with the cake

this is Katie..

Happy Birthday Katie

our view of an empty park from up in our birthday suite.. they were out working on the field while we were there

some of the kids at the party

Asher, Mia, Aubrie, Katie, Celest, and Morgan

While on the tour, they took us in to the "Diamond Club", this was a glass sculpture of Minute Maid on display. Did you know that to be in the Diamond Club, they require a one time donation of $20, 000.. now you have to buy your season tickets which run about $300 + per ticket !!! Wow!

after the Diamond Club we went out onto the field to make our way into the dugout (first we sat where the Ex-President sits) this picture is taken from the ledge of the dugout

Astros Dugout !!

Payton was amazed !!

there is Biggio's retired #7 !! we will miss you Biggio !!

sorry about the repeat pic.. i cant figure out how to delete it.. oh well, its a good pic so you get to see it twice !!

This is where the announcers sit.. what a view. Overall it was a fantastic day.. we learned alot more than expected and I am ready to go back and take a different tour and maybe get to go in to the Club House !!!

Go Stros !!

silly pics

Aubrie had her hair in pig-tails that were braided today.. we took her hair down tonight and this is what we got ... she and i were loving the new style !! she is such a silly girl sometimes !!

I am going to be an AUNT !!! (again) well... the sister kind... haha !!

my sister Nicole a*k*a "Dole" is going to have a baby !! She is due some time in early April !! yay.. I am so excited... below is a ultrasound picture of her little baby.. they are saying she is about 9 wks along..

Our fantastic Labor Day Weekend....

Skipper , the kids, and I all went up to Tyler for the long holiday weekend. We left Friday right after school let out and arrived in Tyler around 8:30ish at night. The kids were SO ready to be out of the car ! And me too !! :) Saturday we woke up and the kids wanted to get some fishing in.. so we all went down to the boat house and started fishing. Aubrie caught several big catfish and Payton seemed to be the master of perch that day !

Aubrie is still patching and was still able to catch a ton of fish !! go Aubrie !!

wait.. .wait...

Payton fishing..

the dogs were so intrested in the whole fishing process.. they almost jumped in after one on several occasions.

ahhh... fish !!

Aubrie was the first to go toobing ... let me tell you she is quite the "daredevil" on some things... immediatily she was not using her hands and trying to bounce it all around.
she then started to try and stand up on the tube...

WHAT !!! are you kidding me !! No hands... Standing Up.. while going fast behind the boat !! Crazy Kid !!

of course , big brother couldnt let her have all the fun.. so on his turn he performed the same stunts and even added a few to try and out do his little sister... good ol' sibling competition !! :)

Aubrie... glam girl

one of the coves we went in

Aubrie and Skipper in the tube.. having a blast !!

Lean Payton ... Lean !!!

they had a blast !!

good times.

this is how Grandpa and Mimi's dogs spend time on the lake.

this is how Grandpa and Mimi spend their time on the lake .. there are 3 boats all tied together and everyone is just hanging out and floating !!

daddy had a rough weekend

On Monday, right before it was time to go.. Payton got some bass fishing in Grandpa's little boat with a trolling motor on the back.. No fish .. but we got some great pics !!