Rangers Game ~ For A Job Well Done!

We found out last week that Sam passed the Math portion of the TAKS test. He had already passed the reading portion and so now we wanted to celebrate. We took him to a Texas Rangers game last Friday. It was a double header and with it being a Friday night game there were fireworks! Dr. Pepper was doing a promotion for tickets at half price. So, the three of us got to see two games, fireworks, $5 parking for it being Friday all for $50! Can't beat that! Not to mention that the Rangers WON BOTH GAMES! We are so proud of Sam for passing both of these major tests. This is the first year of many for him and we hope that he does as well in the years to come as he has done this year. Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them full size.

We arrived a little bit before 4:00 that afternoon. Found our seats and realized that they were great seats!

Here you can see the star that they cut into the infield.

Happy boy. Baseball and pizza...what else could he want.

Panorama of the field.

PhotoHunt - Books

This weeks theme over at PhotoHunt was Books. I didn't take any new pictures this week because, honestly, I forgot. So into my my photo archives I go. If you'd like to see more "book" pictures just click the icon above.

Sam at the library reading books. It's hard to get him out of there some days. The next picture of the books are books from my grandfather. They are very special to our family.

Sam a few years back when he got his reading glasses.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

We were all outside in our front yard last night, Andy and Sam were playing catch, and I noticed the beautiful sky. So, of course, I went back inside and got my camera. Here is what we saw.

If you'd like to see some more amazing pictures just head on over to Crazy Working Mom and check them out.

You Capture - Family

The theme for You Capture this week was Family. My first thought was to take a picture of our family. But you know me...I like to think outside the box. I then remembered this past Christmas when my parents gave their three grand kids and my sister and I a notebook containing a lot of our family history. Our family history is very important to us and we even have a published book! Here are some of the pictures that I took while it was all being presented to us.

Here is my Dad holding just a portion of our family tree. This is just following the males on my Dad's side of the family.

My Dad had Sam read the front of his notebook out loud because his is completely different than the others. For those of you that don't know or haven't figured it out...Sam is adopted. Sam now loves to learn more about his family history.

Here you see my sister, her two girls, and her husband. You can see all the individual notebooks as we follow along with my Dad.

Here my line of the family.

This one is a picture of my great grandfathers birthplace in Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada.

If you'd like to see more "Family" pictures just click on the icon above.

I ♥ Faces - Silhouette

This weeks photo challenge over at I ♥ Faces is to take a silhouette photo. We've had some not so nice weather and have been busy to where I didn't have time to take a specific photo. Then tonight I remembered that when I had taken some photos of Sam at a local park I might have taken some that were silhouettes. Lo and behold I had. Sam was having fun on the swings and the sun had pretty much set but the sky was still light. I sat down on the ground right by the swings so that I was looking up at him as he swung by. I had a lot of fun taking these photos. Probably more fun then he was swinging. If you would like to see more silhouette photos just click the icon above.

Ten On Tuesday

This weeks 10 on Tuesday is one that I don't think I'll be able to think of 10 to list. Mainly because I don't pay that much attention to them.

This weeks '10' is: 10 Celebrities You’re Tired Of (see what I mean?) I'm not one that follows that many celebrities and if I do it's because I respect them. So here's my list in no particular order:

1. Paris Hilton

2. Octo-Mom (but I think she's already gone away)

3. Oprah

4. Britney Spears

5. Jessica Simpson

6. Tony Romo (with the aforementioned person above because living in the Dallas area we hear a lot about them)

Well that's all I can really think of. As you can see celebrities don't really mean that much to me. Which I'm guessing is a good thing.

How about you? Who would be on your list? Click on the icon above and join in on the fun!

PhotoHunt-Plastic & You Capture-Sweet

This weeks theme for PhotoHunt was plastic. I immediately thought of a picture that I took last summer at Hawaiian Falls. Here is a picture of some of the water slides. If you'd like to see more photos on this theme click on the PhotoHunt button above.

The theme for You Capture this week was Sweet. I actually had a hard time with this one until I walked out my front door yesterday morning. Our flowers were in bloom and I thought to myself that these would make great photos for this weeks assignment! I couldn't settle on just one photo so I chose some of my favorites out of the almost 60 pictures I took. If you would like to see more You Capture photos just click the You Capture button above.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

While driving to church yesterday evening for a handbell trio practice I looked up and saw the sun starting to go behind the clouds. I grabbed my camera and took this shot out the front windshield. Want to see more sky photos? Click here!

Contest You Should Check Out

You need to go and check out this contest! It's over at I ♥ Faces.

Spring Reading Thing 2009 & Booking Through Thursday

SPRING READING THING 2009

1. Eldest by Christopher Paolini - DONE
2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - DONE
3. The Art of Prayer by Timothy Jones - Almost Finished
4. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - DONE
5. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer - Starting 5/21 and will probably finish this weekend.
6. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

I wasn't planning on doing another update for the Spring Reading Thing 2009 but I just finished another book. I didn't know what all the hype was about Breaking Dawn when it came out so just like some other books I had picked up to read in the past I decided to see what all the buzz was about and to see if it was worth it. I am now completely loving these books! I can't seem to read them fast enough. I'll be starting the third book today and with it being a holiday weekend and not much planned I will probably be able to finish this one too and start on the fourth one. Looks like I'll have to add some more books to my list. I need to get some sort of list going for this summer too. What books have you read lately? Need some ideas as to what to read this summer.

Booking Through Thursday

This weeks question is: What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

For some reason I'm having a hard time coming up with just one book. I can think of a bunch of books that I would love to read again. There is so much excitement reading a book that you can't seem to put down and to be able to have that feeling all over again would be great! But I can't seem to pin-point it down to just one.

The series of books that came to my mind first was Harry Potter then the Little House series of books. Then my mind went to a single book that I read back in Jr. High School. It's called Eric by Doris Lund. It was an amazing book and now that I think of it I would love to read it again.

How about you? What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

I ♥ Faces - Blurb Photo Book Contest Entry

It was pretty easy to pick out the picture that I wanted to use this week for the I ♥ Faces picture contest. This photo is probably my all time favorite that I took of Sam last summer. I took this photo as Sam was jumping out of the water. There is pure joy on that face. It was the first time we had a "big" pool in our back yard and I don't think I've seen a happier face. Once I got in to see the pictures I had taken that day I was surprised to see that I had captured this shot. I've had it here on my blog a few times before and am happy to put it here again. Remember that you can click on it to see it full size.

I am submitting this photo into the http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Blurb book photo contest. If chosen, I grant I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

Ten On Tuesday

This weeks 10 on Tuesday is a good one. What are you 10 Favorite Cities? Here are mine in no particular order:

1. Mansfield TX

2. Nashville TN

3. Springfield MO

4. St. Simon's Island GA

5. Baltimore MD

6. Chicago IL

7. Chattanooga TN

8. Overland Park KS

9. St. Louis MO

10. Harve de Grace MD

What are yours? Click on the icon above and join everyone or leave yours here in my comments.

Spring Reading Thing 2009 Update

The Spring Reading Thing 2009 has been going on for almost 2 months now. I didn't start right when they started which was March 20th but instead started on April 2nd. Or at least that is when I made my list of books that I would like to read. That list has changed since I started though. Here is the list that I started with:

1. Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood
2. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
3. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
5. The Art of Prayer by Timothy Jones - re-reading this one for our Sunday School class
6. Summerland by Michal Chabon
7. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
8. Eldest by Christopher Paolini - currently reading

I have finished reading #7 & #8! Woo Hoo! I'm almost finished reading #5 too.

Here is what my list now looks like:

1. Eldest by Christopher Paolini - DONE
2. Twlight by Stephenie Meyer - DONE
3. The Art of Prayer by Timothy Jones - Almost Finished
4. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - Will be finished by this weekend
5. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
6. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

I know that I'll get all of these read by the end of the challenge which is June 20th. I'll add to my list from there. Having a life where we are all going so many different ways at the same time makes for not much reading time. I still want to finish my original list as well but I just don't see myself getting it done before June 20th. Now with summer break right around the corner I might be able to get more reading done.

Blogoversary...3 Years & Going!

It's my blogs birthday today. I've posted 351 times but I really didn't start actively posting until Dec 31, 2006. I have had 17,382 hits on my counter. I started this blog when we lived in Missouri. We moved to Louisiana and now are in our second home in Texas. I really enjoy keeping a blog as it lets me look back on what has happened in out lives.

Today is also a first for Andy and Sam. Andy surprised Sam this morning at school by taking him out of school and took him to a Texas Rangers game. Before he went to pick him up we went out and purchased him a jersey and a t-shirt for him to wear to the game. The game just finished and they won in the bottom of the 9th inning. They won 3-2. They had not scored a single run until the bottom of the ninth and what a way to end a game. It was a quick game as it started at 1:30 and is just finished as I write this and it's now 3:24! I talked to Andy before the game started and he said that Sam was very surprised and that they were already having a great time together.

We'll be going to another game later this month as a family but I'm just so happy that they got to spend this afternoon together.

PhotoHunt - Walking

The theme for this weeks PhotoHunt is Walking. Since Sam and I have been doing some hiking on the weekends I knew exactly what photo I would use this week. Towards the end of our hike last Saturday I put the camera down on the path and took a picture of Sam walking ahead of me. You can't see his legs much less tell that he's walking but it is definitely applied. I love how this one turned out!

To see more PhotoHunts just click the icon above. Or...join us! What is your walking picture?

Booking Through Thursday - Worse?

Here is this weeks question from Booking Through Thursday:

Which is worse?

Finding a book you love and then hating everything else you try by that author, or
Reading a completely disappointing book by an author that you love?

Personally I think that both scenarios are equally disappointing. I have been through both but believe it or not will continue to read those authors books.

For having a book that is completely disappointing by an author that I love I usually find that just because there is one disappointing book by that author that they are not all like that. There is always bound to be a bad apple in the bunch. Not always but sometimes.

As for finding the one book that I love but hating everything else by a particular author...I just count myself lucky that I found one that I loved and hope that one day I'll find another one by them.

Not to mention that just because I don't like that particular book/author doesn't mean some one else won't find it great. It's all objective.

To see other answers to this question please click on the icon above. Join in or leave your comments on these questions.

You Capture - Joy

Here in Texas this week is the dreaded TAKS testing at schools. Sam this past weekend and on Monday was just terrified about taking his Math TAKS test on Tuesday. He even cried to sleep Monday night and begged me not to take him to school on Tuesday. Once I reminded him that it wouldn't do any good to miss it because he would just have to take it later in a make-up test day he resigned to go ahead and go. I prayed and prayed and prayed for him all day long. Once he came home he was all smiles! I couldn't believe it. The teachers had taken a few kids from each class that they thought would do better testing with just 4 kids each in a room and having lots of breaks to help them with their testing. Sam was one of those kids picked! I was thrilled to hear that. Sam himself said that it made it so much better and that he felt that he did a good job. He already passed the Reading TAKS test last month and now we're just in the waiting period now to find out how he did with this one. To help him celebrate that he was done taking it (or at least I hope he's done taking it--if they don't pass they have to re-take it) we took him out to dinner and then I took him to the park afterwards. It was just after 8:00 at night and the sun was setting behind a cloudy sky. But it made for such great pictures. While he was swinging I sat down on the ground really close and captured him as he swung by. Then it was off to the jungle gym area where he had fun jumping off of them. You can see the pure joy in his face as he played. So I decided to use these photos for this weeks You Capture picture. If you'd like to see more head on over there! Or better yet...post your picture of Joy! We'd love to see them.

In this last photo Sam was jumping off of a rock climbing wall and I got this great photo!

Amazing Giveaway

You have got to check out the giveaway that I ♥ Faces is doing today! Click here to go enter.

I ♥ Faces - Reflection

This week at I ♥ Faces the "assignment" was Reflection. With grey skies and rain most of this past week I didn't get much time outside to get the picture taken the way I wanted to. So today I had Sam look into a mirror. This is the mirror above our mantel and it just so happens that there is a picture of him there with his cousins that they had taken recently. Forgot that it was there until I started looking at the pictures that I took for this. Love the look on his face.

Head on over to I ♥ Faces to see the other participants! They are all great!

Ten On Tuesday

On this weeks 10 on Tuesday we are asked to give 10 words people would use to describe you. One would think that this would be an easy list to do. But once you sit down to make the list you realize that it's not that easy.

Here is my 10 Words People Would Use to Describe Me:

1) Creative

2) Friendly

3) Happy

4) Caring

5) Worry-wort

6) Silly

7) Serious

8) Quiet

9) Helpful

10) Kind

Make your list and see what you come up with. Or better yet...join us! Click on the icon above.

PhotoHunt - Protect(ion)

This weeks theme for Photo Hunt was Protect(ion). If you'd like to play along or would just like to see what every one else came up with click the icon above. Have fun!

The first thing that came to my mind was church.

The second thing that came to my mind was seat belts. I love this picture because of the look on Sam face. "Whatcha' doing Mom?" is what that face is saying to me.

Cedar Ridge Preserve

I've been meaning to write about last Saturday all week but I just never got around to it. Last weekend Sam and I were supposed to be camping at the Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose TX, with the scouts. But there were terrible thunderstorms on Thursday evening and all day Friday. So it was cancelled. Sam and I were not to happy that we didn't get to go. On Saturday once the misty rain that was still in the air left the area we got into the car and went to the Cedar Ridge Preserve to hike. We had a ton of fun and I loved watching Sam observe all the nature around him. We went to three of their areas, the Butterfly Garden, Little Bluestem Trail and the Bluebonnet Trail. Oh and somewhere in there we took a wrong turn, doubled back and also took part of the Mulberry Trail. These trails were "ranked" wheelchair accessible, easy and moderate. There are even easy-moderate, moderate-difficult and difficult trails. The Bluebonnet Trail that we took was rated moderate and I must tell you that we were worn out after we were done. My definition of moderate sure didn't meet theirs. But the part I remember most is the smile on Sam's face as we did it. We will go back. Maybe even tomorrow if the weather holds out. Don't know which trail we'll do next but we'll do a different one for sure. Of course, I took my camera and took a ton of pictures. I put together a slide show of some of them (see below) and I also wanted to share with you just a handful of my favorites. Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

This is just one of many beautiful poppies that we saw in the Butterfly Gardens.

Sam loved and I can't state it loud enough for you....LOVED....looking at the snails. Since we had so much rain there were snails everywhere. At one point, once we started on the moderate trail, I had to remind him that he had to watch where he was going instead of trying not to step on the snails.

I loved the fact that I was able to capture the rain drops on the flowers that we saw in the Butterfly Gardens. The smell of these roses were heavenly.

When we got off the right trail we rain into a lot of sticky mud. At one point our shoes had so much mud on them we both felt like we had 5-10 pound weights on our feet. This picture was taken after we had stomped off some of the mud. And in case you are wondering...yes, my 9 year old son has bigger feet than I.

Towards the end of the last trail that we were on we found this tree. I love the way that it bends and twists.