happy birthday 2 me ...

what a fun day...dont mind the number but i do mind how fast time is passing by...yikes...it was a beautiful sunny day filled with birthday wishes...the boys and i went to sonic for dinner and a sundae and look what the girls made me for my birthday...do they know me or what!! nothing like a cocktail with my scrapbooking!! can't wait to put this basket of goodies to use...heres to being 41...wound not want to be anywhere else in this journey of life...

i WILL figure this out

i am stubborn...i am german...i am almost 41 years old(tomorrow) and i can not figure out how to upload pictures from a disc to this computer....I WILL FIGURE THIS OUT...be back when i do...this is why i do not own an iPod or a digital camera or a blackberry...........

staying focused takes energy

but being productive feels great...cranking thru the to-do list...avoiding the internet distractions...mulitasking on all fronts...washing machine is humming/printer is printing/catching up on phone calls/dusting as i talk...good stuff...

tuesdays tons to do

steve left for nyc this morning at 4am on business and i've got lots to do this week...i already know i will never get it all done but at least i'll have a list to keep me on target...

• mail out fiscal year ending 1/31/2007 to accountants
• complete commissions report due 9/25/2007 early
• complete all commission adjustments
• finish organizing scrapbook stuff
• put page protectors on 2005 album (don't ask)
• figure out how to order reprints online !
• get hair colored and cut
• clean out closets (one/two/all?)
• read at least 100 pages of Anna Karenina

haha..i will ATTEMPT to get some of these things done by next monday night when steve returns...i can be positive...

happy labor day

friday family fun nite

continues...the weather is perfect now for hanging outside with the kids at happy hour time...sometimes this summer it was still just to hot...last night we ordered pizzas/got all the neighbors together/pulled all the toys out/watched the clouds roll in/ran inside...out of nowhere these dark coulds blew in and poured buckets of rain for 30 minutes then left...crazy weather...never saw that in buffalo...heres to labor day weekend fun ahead...

honestly

i was not sitting in the closet looking at all the old pictures in shoe boxes or hunting through my hope chest filled with old pictures, i was just putting a pile of old christmas card pictures into the box of photos to sort and there wasn't enough room so i pulled out a stack of pictures to rearrange them to make room and look what i found...how cute were they...i don't even remember justin and nathan being that young...the best date i can figure is september 2001...justin would of been 4 and nathan 3...they look like the first day of school for someone??? WHY WHY WHY didn't i write dates on the back of pictures...

never done that before

today i met steve for lunch at jaspers at the domain...how fun...i got all dressed up and did a little window shopping then steve met me for lunch...i felt like a real grown up...actually sitting down and eating lunch with a cloth napkin on an outdoor patio on a gorgeous day-not too hot - just a perfect texas day...i could do this everyday...thanks steve for taking time out of your crazy hectic work day to be with me! i am so blessed....

how quickly the day flies by...

its 7am at the bus stop...zoom...its 3pm and time to pick the boys up at the bus stop...i'm getting lots of office work done that i have been neglecting over the summer months...hopefully by next week i can start some fun and not-so-fun projects....

look what i got

steve surprised me and came home early from work today with this beautiful sunflower bouquet...how thoughtful after my first official day of quiet...it actually went by soooo fast and all three boys had a wonderful day and are already looking forward to tomorrow...we are so blessed that they love to go to school/enjoy going to school/adapt so easy to new routines...heres to day number two - hopefully no tears (from me) tomorrow!

i've almost made it

its 2:45pm and i know that the bus will be super late but the first day of school is almost over and i only cried twice...not bad...gotta go...you would think i'm the first mother who ever sent their third born off to kindergarten...how will i be when i had a 16 year old son the car keys for the first time????

first day of school

all three boys started school today with big smiles on their faces...colin had a hard time falling asleep last night - he was so excited - and of course his new sponge bob alarm clock didn't go off this morning and he started the day off a little sad...we'll try again tomorrow...the bus stop reflects this town-growing every year...at least 10 kids at our stop alone...colin was so excited to get on the bus and climb those big tall steps...he never looked back...i could see him almost at the back of the bus sitting with justin as they pulled away...such a bittersweet moment for me...steve stayed home for awhile this morning, knowing how hard it was for me to watch curly fly the nest...and now the house is just way to quiet now...errie quiet...today i'm just staying home, just in case...

on a fun note, we had the 2nd annual outdoor movie night on saturday night and we watched cars then night at the museum...it was the perfect night outside-warm with a slight breeze...all the kids camped out on rachael and brandons driveway and the parents made camp on our side and stuffed our faces with delicious snacks while the kids ate hot dogs/watermelon and popcorn...just a fun night...we spent all day saturday running back to school errands and sunday we went grocery shopping, swimming and finished our summer vacation with cheeseburgers on the grill...heres to new days/new routines/new schedules...

ps. guess what we volunteered to bring ?? how cool are these...

elementary school

we went to the open house at union hill last night and all three boys have great teachers this year...young/beautiful/energetic...don't think i'll have a problem waking them up for school this year...colin was very excited to have a mental picture of his first day (maybe i was the one who was very excited to have a mental picture of his first day!) we dropped off all the school supplies/checked the bus route/purchased school t-shirts/chatted with old and new friends...what a great event to ease those first day jitters...everyone knows where to go/who there teacher is/who is in their classroom/no need to stuff all those supplies in their backpacks on the first day...we are ready for union hill...heres to monday morning!

monopoly with debit cards?

ok...this is pretty cool...nathan decided that he wanted to pick out his own birthday presents this year from steve and i so for weeks (i mean WEEKS) nathan has been shopping/thinking/pondering at great length...like nathan always does...what to buy...comparing prices...asking for advise from his brothers...so finally on monday we went shopping and he spent every penny of the $50.00 at target on monopoly/yu-gi-oh cards/matchbox cars/batteries for his duel disc/bag of skittles(had to spend the last 50 cents)..it was a lot of fun to watch him carefully select each gift...he was very excited with his presents and we told him he could not have them till his birthday so we could wrap them all up...well, steve had a great idea to surprise nate and upgrade the monopoly game to the new electronic debit card version...so when nathan opened the gift last night, you can only imagine how excited he was !!...and i have to say its pretty cool !! we are having fun playing with it today...last night at fridays, we told the waiter it was nathans birthday and everyone came singing and when they were done nathan quietly said 'boy, that was sooooo embarrassing'...brings back childhood memories for me...gotta go...monopoly is waiting for me and you get $ 2,000,000.00 each time you pass go...seriously...how cool is that....

happy birthday nate the great !

i can't believe that you are nine years old today...it seems like just yesterday that i went to sisters hospital to have you...you are such an amazing young man...so very thoughtful and considerate of others unconditionally...you always do the right thing and are very upset when you disappoint anyone-including yourself...you always go with the flow and it takes a lot to upset you...you love numbers and i often find you just walking/counting/talking to yourself - all at once...you love your sleep(you get that from your mother!)...you love to read...your favorite thing to do these days is play texas hold'em poker...you love to swim/catch toads/duel yu-gi-oh with justin/play video games with colin...we have had a busy day so far celebrating your special day...we went to the movies to see 'meet the robinsons' and stuffed ourselves with pop and popcorn...then we went to mcdonalds for lunch...off to the pool/tennis/fridays for dinner...anticipate a little harvey wallbanger cake to finish off the day!! happy birthday nathan! we love you dude...peace in special days and plain days.

previously on sippel stories

one of our favorite family traditions is having cheeseburgers on the grill on sunday nights and then listening to steve tell a 'sippel story' from his childhood...there are many stories to tell...anyway, after dinner last night, nathan in an altered voice out of nowhere states 'previously on sippel stories - the family had an ord car....' it was so funny...had to be there...but steve and i were laughing so hard...fun fun times...love these days....crazy & wonderful...this morning i said 'happy day before your birthday nathan' and he said 'its happy nathan eve mom'...funny funny house...the laughs just keep on coming....the guys went to dallas this weekend for the nfl preseason dallas game and the girls had saturday night pizza here and we sat outside with the kids on saturday night...church...grocery shopping...pool...just a relaxing recharging kind of weekend...i even read a couple pages of anna karenina...heres to the last official week of summer vacation - next monday - reality as ALL three get on the bus...(enter tears here..)...back to today...shopping for nathans birthday gifts - always a fun day...peace to mondays.

still frustrated

that my cell phone pictures aren't going onto my blog...a project to work on this weekend maybe...cranking thru the office work piles at a slow but steady pace...feels good to at least be moving forward instead of just adding to the piles...so far its been a productive day...post office/dry cleaners/library/bakery/honda dealer...mailed cards/presents/returned books before the due date/redeemed our free doughnut coupons before they expired from the library summer reading program...already thinking about tonights cocktail...how about this for an idea - the mobile cocktail delivery service - they prepare several mini cocktails for you to taste then you pick out which one you like and they give you the recipe and ingredients and you are all set for the evening...larger versions available for parties...i'm really liking this idea...i'm going to think about this one..perfect for parties/clubs/friends gathering on the street on a friday night...hummmmmm...not sure about the liquor laws and stuff...but i like this idea...fun to dream...wish it was available now so i could try it out...

well...i wont tell you how long it took me to get this picture here or how i finally managed to do it but i was determined to enter this into the mini book scrapbook contest that was closing today and i finally did it...that stubborn german streak in me...i am proud of just taking the time to enter...its one of those things that i say i'm going to do but then never follow through with it...no longer...i am determined to follow up and be responsible for my words..i am sure i can apply this in all areas not just scrapbooking !! ha ha....

post it notes are back

watch out...i am on a mission to get organized AGAIN this week...i love being organized BUT i also loved being breezy this summer...wonder if it is at all possible to be a little bit of both in harmony at the same time...that kinda sounds like having a vodka red bull cocktail...i am weeding thru the piles of office work today in attempts to get it under control & i have set myself a little goal...once the office work is caught up/fiscal year ending 1/31/2007 is delivered to the accountants office/all commission reports are completed including adjustments/all back months of bank statements are reconciled - i am going to purchase a laptop...it sounds simple but it is actually a very time consuming list but like a carrot dangling in front of me - i can do it...i usually reward myself by taking a hour off from office work to scrapbook a page or two but its fun to have a little bit bigger reward this time...i am off again to start looking for a new dell laptop(gotta support the cause - without dell, there would be no austin texas for us!) i mean i am off to start tackling one of those overwhelming stacks of work....

still sad about the cell phone/picture issue

and i feel like i have been avoiding my blog for that very reason...back to the old scan and import...just been enjoying and embracing the non-schedule life...breezy...its been my new word lately...i have not been using my filofax either lately...yikes!..the down side of being breezy is that i've missed both of my brothers anniversaries and three birthdays...good thing for belated cards...lots to do today:

• cut the grass
• office work
• go swimming at the pool
• load of wash or two
• more office work

it doesn't look like a very big list but it will take up the whole day and i probably won't get it all done...but i can try...we played a family game of poker last night - the boys truly enjoy this and they are very good at it too!...steve and i have been enjoying the beautiful weather and taking a walk after dinner when we can...we went to the pool as a family on both saturday and sunday & it was empty both days-go figure-sunny and hot and refreshing...on saturday night we hit dales essenhaus restaurant in walburg with the jones/smiths/huttons for a true texas evening experience...lots of cowboy hats/country music/horses/steamy still weather & buckets of beer...it was like we were on the set of a movie...a great evening and the kids just ran wild on the playground/basketball court/played hide-n-go-seek/sat on the horse...fun stuff...i took almost a whole roll of pictures...steve and i are still into just two tv shows these days...entourage and big love both on hbo...all new during the summer so we usually tape it and watch it later...its a great simple blessed life...peace.

cell phone pictures

are not transfering to my blog and i can't seem to figure out why not...i love throwing in a daily picture to compliment the daily activity...somedays nothing can be easy...oh, well....

love this life

but as much as i absolutely love the lack of to-do lists during the summer months i am starting to look forward to getting back into some sort of routine...i am feeling unproductive lately and it seems as if it takes me all day to do nothing...its already august 9th and i have not even put my august calendar pages into my filofax!! please don't get me wrong...i love the lazy days...i love not wearing a watch...i love not worrying about homework & bedtimes...i love hanging out at the pool all day with the boys BUT there is this little side of me wanting to cross things off THE LIST...i want to go to bed at night tired from being productive and multitasking not tired from lounging in the sun all day...so heres to the last couple weeks of summer...heres to school supplies/late night bed times/summer schedules...peace.

hello ! i'm slowly returning from vacation....

yikes ! i've been home for almost one week now and i can't seem to get back into the groove...i'm still in vacation mode which is a great place to be but not when there are so many things to do....its ok...vacation mode turns into summer vacation mode today...back to time tables and some sort of routine/structure to our days...on the good side, justin and nathan have been reading like crazy men...on monday we went to the library and we had to go back again yesterday because they both wanted MORE books...i love watching them read...justin took his book to the pool yesterday and nathan brings his books in the car all the time on errands...back to the to-do list for today and yesterday and the day before....peace.

easy mac

note to self...DO NOT PUT EASY MAC IN A MIRCOWAVE WITHOUT WATER ON HIGH FOR 3 1/2 MINUTES...nasty stuff happens as justin found out today at lunch time...the house still smells like smoke....

Day 2 road trip fun

3 hours and counting

then we are off to see the house of mud...can't wait to journey half way across the country with the boys and my camera...peace for now...new york and canada - here we come...are you ready?

do NOT panic

its 2:06pm and we are leaving in less than 24 hours and yet i am blogging (ie, procrastinating at its best)...breathe...pack...breathe...pack...how are we every going to fit all this stuff into the van?....

serious to-do lists today

i am a procrastinator...we are leaving for one month for summer vacation TOMORROW...i have a couple things to do today!!

• buy a bathing suit/golf socks for steve
• do 10 loads of wash
• pack for a family of five
• find passports & birth certificates
• close down office/back up office/transport office work
• pack ninetendo/gameboys/ds/leapster/batteries
• pack cell phone/laptop chargers
• snacks-some healthy, some not
• gifts
• get hair colored
• breathe..

peace in the excitement before summer vacation...peace in the road trip from texas to new york...peace in all the great pictures from the beach...

to-do list

• bacardi rum mojito recipe
• pack muddler
• buy bathing suit
• pack anna karenina
• pack chic flic dvds

4 days till we depart

and the to-do lists/the purchase-before-we-depart lists/dont-forget-to-pack lists/the work-piles-that-must-be-done-before-we-leave lists are written and overwhelming but its all good...got the camera packed and the game cube for the boys for the car ride...really what else to we need?? back to crossing off a couple things on the list...

evan almighty

we have gone to more movies in the last year at the theater than in my entire life...the boys are just at the perfect age, although a little does get lost on colin, but they understand the jokes/the plot/the theme/the moral...its really just a fun time...today we went to see this movie and it was a really cute family movie with genesis 6:14 woven into it...lots of ark/animals/special effects mixed in with the dance evan does...the boys laughter is such a great sound...such a peaceful blessed sound.

just hangin'

justin loves his new shirt...he has been wanting one of these sleeveless shirts for ages and i finally let him pick one out for one of his birthday presents...justin loves his new ninetendo ds too...i am going to have to put some time limits on this next week...its been a cloudy, raining week...not much swimming or tanning this week...getting ready for our big trip/big drive next friday...can't believe its only a week away...

tweenager lives here

justin turned TEN yesterday...it seems like just yesterday he was born...no, really it does and now hes into the double digits...yikes...i swear he even looks more grown up today than he did yesterday...we spent his special day doing everything he wanted to do...shopped for his special dinner which included fried chicken(store bought-thank God for HEB cafe) and stoffers macaroni and cheese...dessert was an Oreo chocolate cake with hot fudge sundaes...plenty of cards/gifts/phone calls filled the rest of our day ...mcdonalds for lunch and a nice game of family poker finished off the day....peace.

austin park and pizza

we celebrated justins birthday a day early due to the weather forecast at austins park and pizza and i can now cross off several things on my to do list such as ....play lazertag...drive a go-cart...ride in a water bumper boat and get completely drenched by the boys...spent 6 straight hours acting like a kid...all good stuff and the boys had almost as much fun as steve and i did...heres to just being a kid for a couple hours....

post fathers day fun

we had a busy fathers day...picked steve up at the airport at 10:30am after church...went shopping at HEB while steve took a nap and a shower...went to the hula hut for sun and snacks-it was beautiful outside...had world famous cheeseburgers for dinner...finished off the day with a game of family poker with steves very own poker chips-gift from the boys...great to have steve home...sometimes it is easy to take each other for granted-its not until you have a separation that you truly appreciate ones presence, even in the little day to day activities...peace to having you home again.

golden arches

Mcdonalds fun...something about going to mcdonalds when dad is away..a tradition...one we might have to stop pretty soon because justins food consumption is killing the budget...tonight he ate a 10 piece chicken nugget/1 double cheeseburger/1 soda/half of a hot fudge sundae and half of a m&m mcflurry...honest...

nathan has the gift

last night we watched night at the museum...we saw this at the theater when it first came out but the boys really wanted to watch it again and nathan has the same talent as steve....movie line memorization...he could recite the lines right before they are spoken...scary...even scary is steve demonstrated his talent while we watched animal house last week...its a gift that keeps on giving..haha...now if we could just work on nathan lyrictosis...

where in the world is steve?

look whos at yankee stadium...nice shirt...handsome guy... love you...safe travels...peace

errands take alot longer with kids in tow

just wanted to pick up a couple fathers day gifts this morning...estimated approx 1 hour...actual time 2 1/2 hours...can't just run into barnes and nobles without the boys wanting to look at every magazine, touch every board game, check out all the puzzle books, play with the thomas the train set-up, look for a captain underpants book that they are missing, listen to every musically fathers day card possible...then we had to run over to target because i was not buying a dvd at barnes and nobles that i knew was half the price across the street...again, can't just run into target without looking at the pokemon cards, checking out the video games, attempt to talk mom into buying a new movie for our collection...hence, a couple hours later we finally make it home...the good news, at least i stuck to my list and purchased only fathers day gifts/cards !! yah...no scrapbooking magazines, no new novels to sit on the nightstand, no new dvds to add to the shelf, no trading cards, no $1.oo specials at target - good job...off to the post office...peace.

julie mccoy

your cruise director...keeping these boys occupied without the use of video games is a full time job....yesterday we did some errands which included a trip to toys r us to look around...gotta throw a fun errand in their to keep them in line...hit the pool in the afternoon then went to gattiland for dinner...busy but fun...reporting to duty this am...heres to tuesday...

need a dose of self-control here please

after we dropped off steve at the airport yesterday, we stopped at taget on the way home to pick up milk and a birthday dvd for cousin graham and by the time i got to the cash register, i also had put into the cart (while eating a #1 combo - pop and popcorn for $1.00) a cd storage basket, legally blonde dvd set on sale for $10, the newest oprah book - middlesex, a bottle of champagne, a bob the builder truck for colin, a pack of yu-gi-oh cards for the boys....WHAT IS IT WITH THIS STORE! how come i can not stick to the list...needless to say, we pulled this shopping cart over and emptied everything out of the cart at a closed register except for the food and gift and the boys decided to use their allowance money to purchase the cards and colin used his gift card to buy the truck...i am addicted to target and i need help...must learn to drive past that parking lot...sorry about leaving behind that great pile of treasures yesterday...i'm sure that not the first time....

Happy birthday uncle mike !

this is the life

this is how colin loves to spend his time in the pool...just hanging around...sitting in his tube and floating around the pool...his biggest concern is what kind of beverage to get from the pop machine...gotta love it.

tgif

hello

Fw:

Iet me sleep in your bed!

airport run so soon

the oasis ringing

look who got to ring the sunset bell at the oasis restaurant tonite...our very own curly colin! it was very exciting for all - the waitress came over about a half hour before sunset and asked colin if he wanted to do it and of course he said yes...so he patiently waited till she came back to get him and off they went to the big bell in the middle of the patio and as soon as the last little piece of the sun was gone he rang the big bell and everyone clapped...it was a beautiful sunset especially after the afternoon downpour that we had...glad we had the chance to show ryan and julie the sunset capital in style - complete with the perfect sunset...peace.

Look who came to visit!