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!

Have a Schlitterific Day!

Okay, so the Negative Nancy attitude that some people have about Schlitterbahn can just stay home. There's a reason that I only have pictures from our mini-vaca include everything BUT Schlitterbahn....we were too busy having fun!

Friday night started off at the Holiday Inn Express, where we discussed what would be served at the complimentary breakfast, where Kids Eat Free. Hmm. Does that make sense to you? I am not even a breakfast person, but was fascinated with what stuff they might have. I knew there would be no bacon and waffles, and Ewan was convinced there would be. No bacon. No waffles.

We went to the T-Rex cafe on Friday night. Been there before, but Janel hadn't and it's kid-friendly. Sort-of. Unless you're Sofia and you're afraid of everything but water. It was delicious and we ended up celebrating Sofia's birthday there. Why not? I mean, give the girl a cookie and some ice cream. Fun times.

Walked around Legends for awhile and got the kids some shoes at the only store that was open at this time. Played in the fountains. All around, a great time. But, still just leading up to the point of the trip....SchlittTrip 2010!

Long story short, I bought our tickets on ebay (Thank you Stacy!) and the deal was too good to be true. I was just sure we would get to the gate and have to slap down the credit card and pay another $130 on top of the $58 that I got 4 tickets for. Yes, 4 tickets for $58.00. Total. So, we paid less than $15 bucks a head. But, after actually going to Schlitterbahn and experiencing the most awesome attraction...

The "Wavy River" (that's what we renamed it) and, the Shawnee North "Lazy River" is now renamed Lamo River. Things will never look the same there again. It can't be called Lazy River anymore because you can't be lazy there, you actually have to do some work to get yourself going. The "Wavy River" (actually called the Torrent River) will do all the work for you, however, it is fun to position yourself against the outside wall in order to catch the full height of the wave. I could go on and on about this, but I will stop. Just go experience it for yourself.

And, if this day wasn't already amazing, Shelly and Nelly took us to an amazing Jamaican restaurant, G's Jamaican Cuisine.Un-believeable. I like food and all, but when I take a bite and start making noises, it's pretty darn good. Brown Stew Chicken. Out of this world. Sofia of course got chicken tenders and fries, but those things were awesome too. So, she says she's going back and getting the same thing. Whatever. Suit yourself, I will be branching out and trying some more Caribbean food. I told Ewan on the way home that regular food just doesn't taste good anymore. There's no flavor explosion. These island people know how to cook. No air conditioning in the restaurant. You walk in and feel like you walked straight into a place on the actual island. You can't beat that. Darius just walked in from riding his bike and randomly started talking about G's. We had authentic Jamaican "pop," Kola Champagne and Cream Soda and they loved it. Obviously. They can't stop talking about it.

So, 11pm and we roll into the driveway. A fantastic time had by all and SchlittTrip 2010 was a HUGE success. We missed the rest of our Caribbean Crew, but we're not leaving you behind next time. No crew member, or wife or kid left behind!

It's 12:45am and I am blogging...

Long boring day, what am I still doing awake? Sofia is on the couch next to me, snoring. Darius is laying in his bed, coughing, as usual. And, I should be in bed. Thursdays are now my Friday due to my latest work schedule, so I guess I am just taking advantage of my awesome 3 day weekend.

I seriously wish I had something entertaining to share, but I just don't. I am topping off this boring day, with a boring blog. I guess that would be starting off this day with a boring blog. Maybe I will wake up and have something important to share. A cool dream or something. Until then, goodnight. :)

Isn't it Ironic? Dontcha think?

Well, we live in Kansas, so I suppose rain at the most inopportune time is VERY likely. What goes better with fireworks than water? i.e. rain.... Actually, I can think of MANY things that go better with fireworks. The pool, water slide, horseshoes, water balloons. Everything I had planned for the Caribbean Night/Birthday/4th of July/Anniversary celebration. It felt like we were staring at the rain all day long, waiting for it to stop. It would sprinkle, pour, sprinkle, pour. Repeat.

The dominoes went on. The music went on. The food, went on and on, and on. The rain went on. Watching the radar, eating some more, playing in the rain. Rain seemed to be the guest of honor, and then, finally, a ray of hope.

The rain stopped just in time to go load up on fireworks, return home, get dark and light them off. It was definitely a memorable time for me at the fireworks stand. Sloshing around in mud, and somehow, I was the only who left with mud splattered up the back of my legs, all over the back of my shorts and squished between my flip flopped toes. I wish I had a picture of this lovely sight. My husband sent me straight to the shower when I got back. Apparently, this mud mess didn't look quite right on my rear.

We had a slight mishap with the neighbors firework falling over and everyone ducking for cover. I did run away and slipped in the garage falling on both of my knees, but did go back to try and snatch up my kids. By then, I think the scare was over. But, when you have shots firing all different ways and you don't know where the next one is going, things turn into chaos mode. The important thing is, I remembered to go back for my kids, even if it was slightly after the fact. Oops. I think everyone was a little weary of lighting anything...for the next few minutes.

Sofia survived the noise and she actually enjoyed herself, despite needing a nap "right now" in the middle of the day. But, Grandma Pam let her sleep on her lap, and then she was good to go.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the evening. Sometimes you are just too busy to take any pictures. And somehow, I woke up to a clean house, all of the dishes done, not many fireworks outside to clean up and everything back in it's place. Thanks to all of our wonderful Carribean crew guests, WU family and my Mom and Grandma for helping keep things under control and picked up throughout the night. The 1st annual cul-de-sac 4th was a fun and exciting one, despire God's little rain display. But, he was generous enough to open up the floor just in time for the lightening of the fireworks. Isn't it ironic? Dontcha think?

Time for an update, just to say I blogged today.

Wow. There has been absolutely nothing to blog about lately. Nothing really interesting, besides all of the sickness at our house, which is definitely not fun to blog about. So, I will spare you the details. I could have been blogging about the Hammers successes, but I didn't want to jinx them. They did end up with a 1st place finish for the regular season and are now in tournament play. I am just going to let them have fun with this. In the end, they will still get a tropy for being first place in the regular season. It's been a long few months, but I know Darius has had a blast!

But, today is a Happy Birthday day. Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband. The beginning of July is big for us....July 1st - E's birthday. July 3rd - our anniversary (7 great years!) and then of course, July 4th - Independence Day!!!! And, for us, that means, food, friends and fireworks.

Apparently, we have a family tradition of staying at home on the 4th of July. We're not allowed to go anywhere. People can come to our house, we just can't go to others. I do appreciate that my husband gets these things in his head, and they mean a lot to him. So, this year will be a big collaboration of celebrations.... the birthday, the anniversary, Caribbean night and the 4th. I think I may actually be leaving something out, but that doesn't matter. The show must go on.

This will be our first year of having the 4th at the cul-de-sac and we are excited. I was kind of hoping that more of the neighbors would be home so we could have a big outdoor party, but it sounds like some of them will be out for awhile. I wanted to share our bakes and rum cake! But, we will still have a great time. Regular Caribbean night activities will resume in August, just before school starts. Wow. That is so crazy to even think about. So, let's don't.

We did kick off the week on Sunday with a great day at Phil's house. There were blow up water slides, a bouncer, the trampoline, the pond with paddle boat and diving board, and of course food, friends and fireworks. The 3 key F's. Unfortunately, Sofia was sick and didn't participate much in the evening. She had to be rescued by her Grandma Pam Cockerham. Thank Goodness for Grandma's to come and save you. I am sure she was feeling much better after some TLC from her. She was like a new kid when we went to pick her up. And, also a big thanks to Lisa for the Motrin. It was truly a lifesaver that night!

So, the countdown is on. Only 2 more days until the 4th of July. Happy Birthday America!