Grateful

Glad that Gustav did not come our way,
happy not to evacuate.
Glad that when it did make land
things after all weren't so bad.
I know we'll have more
to watch out for and contemplate.
I rather have been paying more attention to the presidential debates.
Grateful

New one to watch

Well it looks like we have another hurricane to watch for that is making it's way into the Gulf of Mexico, Gustav. When they do that we are always on the alert here in Houston. I liked it better in CA when earthquakes would just happen, no warning, no time to think about it. Hurricanes are different in that you have time to worry and think about them, (or a better way to look at is to prepare), and then it's like you think, "I hope it doesn't hit us this time". The thing is though if we don't get it then someone else will. And just like cancer or other tragedies in life it's not something you want to wish on anyone else. So for now we have a new on to watch. I like to check up on updates at Weather Underground. for what's going on. By Sat. night we may have a better idea if we will need to evacuate or not. We will keep you updated. Right now the tracking is showing a landfall in the LA area, we still could get a lot of rain though.

A 2nd Grader

Here is my handsome man waiting for his bus to arrive on the 1st day of school. He is glad to being going back to see his friends and he enjoys learning, it's just the homework that he would rather not deal with. The funny thing about these pictures are that after about 5 minutes of taking them, he was so distracted, that he did not step outside and ended up missing his bus. Why was he not outside? you ask. Well because the mosquitos here in our area were so bad that you could easily get 5 to 10 bites on you when you stepped outside for a minute. So even after he was sprayed down I did not want him waiting as food for the bugs. Needless to say Papa Herman drove him right to school and made sure he made it on time. He had a good 1st day. Akorren looking out the window for his bus, sits on stairs to let mom take his picture.

Gymnastics Winners!

Today along with the exciting news from Papa Herman and Lois, was a day of Olympics for the girls at gymnastics class. They got to have family and friends attend class and then were awarded with special gymnastics medals. It was a special day for both of them; big brother Akorren is very eager to have his class start in the fall. All 3 of them are now registered for classes that will start in Sept. I was not able to get all 3 of them going on the same day for class but hopefully it will work out. Merlova really enjoyed the classes over the summer and was so quick to pick up the instructions, she seems to have taken to it really well. She always likes to jump for her dismount and will hold her arms up and out saying, "...one two, stick like glue!". Zhivanna enjoyed her classes as well, often times she was the only girl in class, this did not seem to bother her. Her very active energy and willingness to do the moves over and over again is a good learning thing at this age. I think it was a time well spent and with all the muscles you have to use to do gymnastics these ladies are going to be very fit. They are my gymnastics winners! Merlova in pike position on the bar, Zhivanna does the bear crawl, M's class with awards, Zhi with classmates and medals.

Professional Resume

Well we have Zhivanna's headshots printed up. This is what they look like. All I have to do now is attach her very brief resume, (mostly consisting of training ) to the back of it and get 25 of them to the agency along with all the official paperwork, then she will be set to go out on call for acting work. That does sound weird now doesn't it, "work". I know for her she sees it as fun and is interested in giving it a try. If you know her you know what kind of a personality she has, let's just see if the casting agents can see that in her too. I really love how nice her photos came out, something for the scrapbook for sure...that's my gal!

Exciting News!

I was taken by surprise this morning right before leaving for the girls last summer gymnastics class. Papa Herman and Ms. Lois were going to come along so they came over to the house to give the kids some attention and drive over with us to the gym. Papa grabs my hand and says to me..."Well we wanted you to be the first to know but Lois and I are engaged". My response was, "What?.. oh, my,... you mean...I am so happy for you both...you are going to make me cry." (And then of course, filled with joy, I cried). I am so happy and excited for my father and Lois, they seem to care and love each other so much and have been good friends over the months now this is just wonderful for the both of them. The kids are also happy as they love Ms. Lois and have taken to her so quickly. What can I say but truly exciting news for our family! YAY! We will let you know when wedding things happen for them. Lois, Herman, and Merlova enjoy cake.

Space Center Day

Today after being lazy around the house and talking to friends, who already had play dates set, we decided to go to Space Center Houston. Our yearly membership had expired and we wanted to get new memberships, now Zhivanna gets her own card too. The space center had special displays set up on the new animated Star Wars movie "The Clone Wars". It had drawings and some of the animation models used to make the character images. All the kids were excited about it and asked to go see the movie when it comes out. (note picture in front of Obi-Wan's star fighter) We hung out for about 2 hours, went out to lunch and headed home for a restful afternoon of homework and some TV time. It was a nice little break from the rainy day.

Zoo Afternoon

Today we took off to visit with our Lanza Cousins (Lester, Vanessa, Joshua & Christina) since they live and Katy and we are down in the Clear Lake area meeting at the Houston Zoo was a great middle spot. We had not seen them for sometime and getting to the Zoo after the AM rush was great. It was hot and humid and did not have many people, it was slightly sprinkling and that made it nice and with the cloud coverage. The kids just were all over the place, we stopped for a pizza lunch with soda and played in part of the Children's Zoo. I'd have to say the favorite was the carousel which we rode on twice. Merlova rode a giraffe the 1st time and had a major crying fit when it was time to get off it. So needless to say we rode it a second time, that way too Christina could ride, she did not want to go on it the time before. Kids in the water tunnel with piranha, playing the pretend tree roots, and the young ones on the carousel.

The toe

Saw my podiatrist today. She said that my second toe joint still looks swollen. She has not set me free from her care yet. I am to come back and see her in another 6 weeks. I am permitted to get rid of the (fun) orthopedic shoe I have had to wear (yay!) and can go back to wearing closed toe shoes or open ones that have a harder sole. If I am still having some swelling after the next visit and have pain in that toe, she would like me to consider going in and shaving down some of the bone in that joint area. It may save me from having arthritis problems later. I do have to tape my toes when I do any sports things like I have been doing, at least it will not be every day like it has been for the past 2 months. She has given me permission to try out soccer again. I will see about easing into it this month. I know what I can and can't do. I can kick with my left foot, so I will have to give myself a trail run again soon. My toe tape and the shoe I got to toss in the trash.

Headshot Image

Cindi Andress, Zhivanna's agent at Pastorini-Bosby Talent called me today and told me which photo she wants us to use for her headshots, this will be the one that we are going to print up and have ready for auditions. The photo is of her in the purple shirt. The one in the turquoise shirt is going to be used for her online acting information. It gives a good character image of her. I liked so many of the photos she took I know I am going to enjoy putting them in her scrapbook but the two that were chosen were not ones that I would have picked. I guess that is why they are the professionals. We will let you know how things go for her in the coming months.

Papa Clyde's Visit

Papa Clyde and Akorren arrived in TX Wed., Aug.6th around 3:30 PM and were happily picked up by Zhivanna, Merlova, and I. The girls were so glad to see Akorren and know that Papa would be visiting with them for a few days. It was all "Papa, Papa, Papa"... about the house for a while. We hung out around the home one day, went swimming the next, and took a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science on Friday; we saw the dinosaurs 3D Imax show, the butterfly/bug exhibit and "Geopaloza!"(special rock) display. Our rock hound Akorren got to pick out a geode and see it get cracked open, cool! Papa Clyde was glad that we did not try to do to much, he was a little worn out from all the fun things he did with Akorren on his trip to CA. On Sat. Glenn was able to have some time with his dad too. By the time Papa left for home it looked like he could use some rest and quiet time around the house for a bit. We look forward to seeing him again soon. Kids in bee honey comb play area at museum, the group in front of the petrified tree, Papa and his grandkids on our stairs.

Birthday's Day

Today the children got to celebrate two Birthday's for family and friends. They love to make cake, or cupcakes with daddy when it is time for a Birthday. They made chocolate cupcakes for Grandma Mary Ann in IN and sang to her on the phone, blew out the candles, and then did the honors of eating a cupcake for her too. What fun. That night we also got to celebrate with Ms. Lois, Papa Herman's girlfriend. It was her Birthday too, so she got to have an angel food cake (a favorite) and was sung to by our crew. They loved getting to have two sweets in one night, including ice cream for the real desert eaters. Happy Birthday to the special people in our lives, we love you! Kids sing to grandma on the phone, with Ms. Lois and her cake.

Zhivanna's new adventure

On July 29, 2008 Zhivanna and mommy got up early to go into Houston to have her get take professional head shots with Kristine Canterbury Photography. It was an exciting day for her as she got to wear new clothes and felt very special about having photos done. I have not told to many people but this month Zhivanna is going to be signed with Pastorini-Bosby Talent here in Houston, TX. They are going to represent her for opportunities in film, TV, video, print, and ad work in the area. I took her to an open call audition in May and they liked her so much they called us in to look at a contract. Right now we are keeping an open mind about this and not making it a big deal. If she gets some jobs and likes it, great. If it becomes to much of a stressful thing on family and home life then we can at least say we tried it. This is a legitimate agency and will only get payment when she gets work so it is in their interest to have her working. It should be a fun new adventure for us. I am so happy with how her photos came out. Her agent Cindi will be looking at all 70+ 4 X 6 prints I made and they will make a decision on which 1 or 2 we will use for the final professional prints. We will keep you updated on how her new career goes. Here are just 4 shots that I thought were good representations of her. We do have several other good ones to choose from.

Edouard/ Tropical Storm

Well as I write this it looks like Tropical Storm Edouard will be arriving in our neck of the woods around 4 AM tomorrow. Making landfall predicted in the area of Galveston which is about 45 min. South of where we live. Currently it is not classified as a hurricane and we have not been told to evacuate from our area. Most of the radar and weather maps shows that we are in hurricane watch mode/tropical storm mode. I expect we will get the rains between 8 AM and the evening tomorrow. To be safe NASA has given their employees the day off, as they would be traveling during the heaviest parts of the rains. We have plywood ready should we need to cover up windows late tonight but we expect it to be like the heavy, loud, rain storms that we have frequently out here. I guess the thing we have to worry about is the normal flash flood watch and flooding. We will notify you all if anything major does happen. Akorren is still in CA with Papa Clyde and plans to fly into Houston on Wednesday, so by then most of the heavy rains should have passed through. For more information check out the National Weather Service/ Hurrican Center. This is nothing like Rita that was coming our way in 2005. We will try to stay dry the next day or two. Sorry no pictures with this one, you can always look at our local information on the storm at My Fox Houston.