2012

I find it funny that my very last post was from January 2012. Apparently, the entire year went by without anything happening worth blogging about. Nope. Mostly just email address changes and passwords that I couldn't remember. I gave up. But, I am back for 2013. I probably shouldn't say that, considering that I can't back it up.

I cannot believe how quickly the year flew by. The kids are well into the school year. Sofia turned 7 in August and is in 2nd grade. Darius turned 10 in October and is in 4th grade.  They are so much fun and we love to go to all of their sporting events. They both play soccer and basketball. However, basketball is Darius' favorite and soccer is Sofia's favorite.  I like them both. I have learned to love soccer almost as much as basketball, mostly because I have witnessed some pretty good games!  There is a lot more scoring in basketball, but soccer can get pretty intense!

We traveled to St .Lucia this past August to attend Ewan's Grandmother's funeral. It was definitely a bittersweet trip, but we all enjoyed the time there and look forward to our next visit. Hard to believe that I will be on my 4th trip there! The kids have been twice now. We are kind of on the 5 year plan as it sort of happened by accident that we have been there 2001, 2007 and 2012, so we are on target to go in 2017. Kind of freaks me out that the kids will be 12 and 15 then! Wow! Not ready to go there just yet.

Christmas this year was a great time since we had Grandma Vero with us. (Veronica is Ewan's Mother)  She visited for the week and will return home tomorrow morning. The time literally flew by.The kids have enjoyed having her here and I am sure she has enjoyed her relaxation.

I hope that everyone had a blessed Christmas and is looking forward to 2013 as much as I am. 2012 has been a rough year. Not for me personally, but for many people around me. Friends and family faced lots of difficult times and rough patches and I only pray that this made everyone stronger and even more ready to bring on the New Year.  I know that life can't be "peachy" all the time, but I just want everyone to be happy!

Well, I am off to help Sofia with another Duck Tape Project. So far we have completed 2 purses, one for her and one for cousin Morgane, as well as a very intricate women's wallet, and a pencil pouch.  I was pretty proud of my work on the wallet. The 9 minute tutorial took me 2 hours, but Sofia says the finished product "was worth it!" So, I guess that means she approves of my work!  It is hard to let her try and make the stuff because the duck tape isn't cheap and it is easy to get it stuck to each other or accidentally fold the tape.  She is going at it now, so I will just supervise this time. :)

Thanks for reading and I will try and do better about keeping those far away up to date with what is going on with the Kansas Auguste's.

A Christmas Miracle...or New Year Miracle? I'm Back!

Seriously!? I tried for like 6 months to get into this stupid blog account, and then I even tried the steps to get to the account and they wouldn't even grant me access! I gave up.

So, I am obviously not a regular blogger because I can't remember my passwords, but I am back! Happy 2012!

Show me your muscles! Or your format.

When I dropped the kids off at Mom's yesterday, I sat down to watch some Teen Mom 2 with them. I kept watching, thinking to myself, man, I know they got a new TV with an awesome picture and all, but these people are larger than life. The show went on and I just thought maybe their TV was bigger than ours. Which, it's not, but I thought maybe they bought a bigger one and didn't tell me!

Then, The Biggest Loser came on and those people are already larger, so it was really hard to judge...until some words came up on the screen and we couldn't read them all. I sat up and said, "Where is your remote?" They quickly handed me the COX remote, and I of course had to explain to them that the COX remote wouldn't do me any good for the settings on the TV. All I had to do was find the Format button, push it a few times, and voilla'! Everyone seemed "normal" again. Those poor people trying to lose weight and my Mom and Grandma have been watching them all this time thinking they were just naturally super GIGANTIC!

They laughed and laughed, thanking me over and over again. They were wondering why all of those people's butt's were so broad, and why the Kardashian's looked like they had packed on some pounds. lol.

I was home painting tonight and got a phone call. They were watching the Oklahoma Thunder game and were disappointed to see that one of the new recruits just wasn't as "muscular" as they had seen him on the previous game. He was a skinny guy. Ha! I could go format the TV back so that he looks like he has more muscles for them. ;) I love those two!

By Myself

Tonight I had taken the kids to my Mom's since they were anxious for a sleepover during Spring Break. E was out playing basketball so after I dropped them off, I would be going home...By Myself.

The last time I was at my Mom's and when E was out playing basketball, I said that I was going to go home and take a shower. My Mom wondered how I wasn't scared to take a shower when it was dark out and I was home alone. I guess I hadn't really thought about it, but of course, she made me think about it. I survived and no one came in and got me while I was in the shower.

Tonight, Sofia was on the floor, coloring a picture, minding her own business - or so I thought. (Kids hear everything and remember everything. It's amazing.) I said, "Well, I am going to go home and take a shower. By Myself." Sofia pipes in and says: "By Myself. (pause) All Day."

Luckily, Sofia didn't actually learn this from the KH DVD, but from her Dad. E has been going around saying this for the last few days. She may not even associate it with KH, but it was still hilarious! Of course Darius was the only other one in the house that got it. But, I knew it would give E a chuckle. And it did. :) These babies have seriously been keeping us entertained over the last few months! Thank you baby Jesus for these little blessings in my life!

Basketbawl

Well, I thought I blogged a lot more in 2010 than I did in 2009, but numbers don't lie and I only had 27 posts in 2010? What's up with that? And no, I am not going to make a resolution to post more, because then I will fail miserably, and that's just not necessary.

Anyway, day 2 of January, 2011, and I am already posting. Nothing exciting or anything, but you can keep reading if you'd like.

Today's topic: Basketbawl. Not basketball.

Today is Sofia's first basketball practice EVER. She has been crying about it for weeks. She doesn't want to do it. But, the opportunity came about and we want her to at least try it out. If she doesn't like it, then she doesn't have to do it again.

I took care of today's tears with a promise of going to pick out some awesome new basketball shoes and a new basketball practice outfit. A trip to the mall cures everything! We'll see how long this lasts!

Caribbean Night 2010 Poem

You find yourself asking, “When’s Caribbean Night?”
Without this day in the month, things just wouldn’t feel right.

How do we celebrate Caribbean Night in Topeka?
A house full people from the Caribbean. Eureka!

We’ve celebrated milestones and had lots fun.
We’re a big, happy family, coming together as one.

We’ve made fun of each other, like a sister and brother,
About movies, marriage, this, that and the other.

Standing over a hot stove, waiting for the beloved bakes.
They vanish immediately, no matter how many E makes.

Curried chicken, rum cake and macaroni pie.
Everything’s so good…will make a grown man cry.

Oh wait, that’s just Troy. The Notebook is on.
But when The Hangover‘s on Showtime, he will burst into song.

Late nights trying to whip up seamoss punch.
Lost blender gaskets? No problem. A mixer works in a crunch.

Let’s not forget the main event of the day.
Hours on end of competitive domino play.

Road trip CN to Schlitterbahn will become a tradition.
Endless trips around the “wavy river” will serve as our mission.

But wait, that’s not all. There is more for this crew.
To each and every one: “I love you Boo-Boo!”

Show Me The Money Honey!

My cousin has been in town for a few days and she has a daughter, Madison, just a week older than Sofia. The girls had been finding money around the house...we're talking dimes, quarters, etc.. My Mom told Madison that she could keep any money she finds. Sofia overheard this and went running off to my Mom's room, coming out with 2 twenty dollars bills that she "found" earlier on the dresser! I never did find out the outcome of this story....is Sofia $40 richer, or did she have to give the money back? lol. I may have to hit her up for a few dollars.

Bunko and a Broken Heart

Wednesday night was Bunko night at my house, which also happened to be basketball practice for Darius that Ewan had to coach, so, there was no option but for them to be out of the house. Of course, they were going to have to kill a little extra time because no kids or spouses allowed in the house during Bunko time. (It's not that serious, I'm just being dramatic.) Anyway, it happens to be my birthday on Sunday. (I'll be like Baskin Robbins...31 Flavors. That's just what pops into my head when I think of 31.)

Anyway, they came home, super excited about their shopping excursion. (And, they came home REALLY late I might add.) Dad must have forgotten about baths, showers and um, bedtime, because bunko ended before 8:30pm and they didn't get home until close to 10pm. I was worried about them until I talked to my Mom, who happened to be working at the mall that night, and called to tell me about this cute little family she just saw, that happened to be mine. :) (That was about 9:25pm)

They arrive home and after cleaning up the bunko mess, which wasn't too bad, and enjoying my time alone on the couch, I had to deal with the hustle and bustle of now preparing them for the next day. As if it wasn't late enough, Sofia lost her mind. Well, not literally, but seriously. This little girl was breaking my heart. All of a sudden she cried, saying, "My brain can't stop thinking about telling you what we got you for your birthday." I tried to brush it off and tell her it was supposed to be a surprise and that surprises are fun. That did not work. At all. She burst into full on tears, saying she just couldn't handle it. She did tell me that the present was now with Grandma, so I tried to convince her to call Grandma and talk to her about it. Yeah, that would be fun. I picked up the phone, dialed Mom and gave Sofia the phone. The only thing my Mom heard was sobbing. So, I had to get on the phone, explain the situation and then give Sofia back the phone. Terrible idea. She really was breaking my heart, watching her cry like that over a present for ME! She was so sad!

I sent her out to talk to her Dad about it. He said, it's a B-B-Basketball Goal. (Some of you may know where that came from.) That didn't help either.

Finally, I layed her in bed with me and asked her if I could guess what it was. I got some big smiles, and when I started guessing, I got some big laughs too....

Me: "Is it a...Christmas tree?"
Sofia: "No!"


Me: "Is it a snuggie?"
Sofia: "No!"

Me: "Is it a watch?"
Sofia: "No!"

Me: "How many presents did you get me?"
Sofia: "Two."

Me: "Is it a purse?"
Sofia: "Yes."

Oops, I may have gone too far, but it did stop the tears and made her forget about it. I haven't heard a word about it since, but we'll see what I get for my ThirtyWonderful Birthday on Sunday!

Memories last a lifetime

What a flip flopped week. Thursday started out horrible...as in, super-busy, car insurance mini-disaster, soccer practice rained out, straight from work to a Pampered Chef party...luckily, I work from home and the party was across the street! And Friday, was fantastic!

Friday, I got to watch one of the neighbor girls and it was so fun to watch her pretend and play. She did discover the Baby Alive doll and how it went potty. When the kids got home, she was anxious to show them. She squeezed the water into the doll's mouth and kept pulling the diaper down. The doll suddenly shot out water across the room and nailed my arm! That created a lot of laughs!

The girls were playing with pretend jewelry and I had the idea to set up a jewelry store. I told them each to go get a purse from Sofia's room and we set up shop, playing for hours. There were several quotes I wish I could remember. At one point, the boys came out and Darius pretended to "rob" the jewlery store. He thought it was funny, but I advised against that type of behavior. So, instead, the boys started shopping at the jewelry store when it "went global" according to Cole, and we set up outside. The jewelry gave the boys super powers.

It was such a great days since there wasn't a lot of fighting, really none actually, and we only watched The Princess and the Frog and started Aliens in the Attic, but got too busy playing jewelry store.

We only had one soccer game this morning and then Sofia plays tomorrow. And next week is the long awaited debut of Darius playing basketball for the first time. We waited until he showed an interest in it and he finally said he wanted to play. So, Ewan will coach yet another team. For the next few weeks, soccer and basketball will overlap and Sofia is starting a cheerleading class for the next month or so. It's pretty much going to get chaotic at the Auguste household. But, it's going to be lots of fun and I am looking forward to it.

For those that don't have kids, you do not realize how quickly this time flies. Honestly, it is so scary. So, we do what the kids want to do and there will be plenty of time during the years when they don't want anything to do with us. We can't do it all, but we enjoying the balancing act, and still trying to have some down time at home with each other. We feel so thankful for what we have been blessed with and despite the stress and chaos of our busy schedule, we are making memories that will last a lifetime.

Psalm 78:4
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Thank Heaven for Big Brothers :)

I completely dreaded the days of kindergarten after two years of preschool and having to wake Sofia up. She is not a morning person. Her hair was a mess, she wouldn't wear socks, wouldn't wear panties. It was basically a total nightmare. I dreaded it the 3 days a week that I actually had to get her ready. So, all I could think about was the fact that at the start of kindergarten, I would have to do it 5 days a week!

Luckily, the Happy Morning Gods have shined upon us. Everyone wakes up without a fight. The braid has kept me sane. Undo it in the morning, no tangles, beautiful hair. Thank you Lord.

Despite the few tears at school at the end of the last two days, Sofia is really enjoying it. I have gotten two different stories from two different kids, trying to explain why these tears occur. Apparently, Sofia thinks the school day is just a little too long. When they are getting rounded up to head in the gym to get on the bus, Sofia breaks down and is ready to go. But, never fear, Big Brother to the rescue! Mrs. Switzky goes to get Darius to come stand by his sister. He really is a great brother. On the first day of school, they were eating breakfast and out of the blue, Darius patted Sofia on the head and said, "Have a great first day of school Sofie." It was so sweet. No one was talking and that's what he had to say. He really does love her, even though he chooses to "beat" her up sometimes, or take her things.

So far, the start of the 2010 school year seems to be a success. Only two days down. We'll see where this new adventure in life takes us!