Faithbuilders Christmas Gathering 2008

What fun we had, here are a few pictures from the party...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Snow in Boerne!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow Hello to all! Yep 85 degrees yesterday and snowed last night. That is Texas for you! This kids got up at 6:15 and went out to play in the snow. CRAZY - but of course out we went to take pictures as well. It is wonderful the kids get to see this and it really makes it feel like Christmas. Happy Holidays to all!

Family Christmas Pictures

Okay -- Tonight is the night. Tonight I am going to "TRY" make that the operative word, to get the kids to take a Christmas photo in front of the Tree or Fire place. I need to get these done! They are both growing so fast. Haylee stands now at 5'4" and Derek is right at 4' if not taller. So, I hope to get these done tonight and I will post them as soon as we are done! Cross your fingers.

Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a wonderful time, it just sad that it seemed so short. We came in on Wednesday and stayed with my Dad and Adrianne. They fixed an awsome home cooked meal, beans, corn bread, and a salad. Boy did it hit the spot. Thursday over to Papaw's, it was nice getting to see everyone. Unfortunately, I took absolutely zero pics... Go figure. Friday, well, in this family you hit the stores early the day after Thanksgiving and we did just that. Michelle, Kelly, Jennifer and I hit Toys R Us. Along with a little visit from a friend, Armadillo. Too Funny, we were waiting in line and the bushes next to us kept moving and low and behold out pops this armadillo. The line would sort of sway as the varment moved closer to them. (I was laughing) Michelle let me know quickly that those don't live in the "City". They don't live in the country either, they are always dead on side of the road (LOL!!!).
Anyways, we had a great time, we are glad to be back in our own bed, but we sure did have a wonderful time in Houston.

PP&K

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D's big Game

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Working backwards....

Okay,, LOL Just thought about it, I never posted on the first day of school. D is now in 2nd grade and starting his second year of Bilingual. He is in an all Spanish program, oh how strange is that. We will go eat Mexican food and he orders in Spanish, it is very weird when the waitress or waiter speaks to him in Spanish and he answers them.....Haylee is now in 8th and it is killing us. I told Chuck to shine up the bat (no guns here), but plenty of bats LOL. School is going good, seems like we are still trying to get into the swing of things and have been in almost 13 weeks. Here are pics of the kiddos the first day of school.

HALLOWEEN 2008

How time flies. Well, all of a sudden I turn around it is Halloween. Call it Crazy. Did not realize how quickly it has come and well, now gone. Thought I would share a few pics of Derek and his Friends. D is the "scream" not crazy on scary, but it is what he choose and well, lets just say we got it for a good price...

So it has been a while.....

Okay so it has been a while. Well when we returned from a fun-filled vacation, my work went out the roof. One of our co-workers decided to take a job with a lot less stress so that simply left my boss and I. Boy did we have work cut out for us. I have been working 10 - 12 hour days since then and life has not be much fun.

Let's see Haylee has started 8th grade, and it seems like overnight become a grogeous young lady, not that she wasn't before. Of course she is officially taller than I am and passed me up in shoes about a year ago. She is really taking after her dad.

D-man, well he started 2nd grade and loving it. He is still in the Spanish program, and boy is it strange when he understands other people. Example at Disney we were waiting in line and a dad was getting on to his little girl and told her if she did not sit down she was going to get a spanking. Derek turned and looked at Chuck and I with these eyes!! He told us what he said and I told him see that is what can happen to you if you do not do what we ask. It was just strange that he understood him.

Chuck, we had a scare a few weeks ago, he passed out at a football game. He was in Waco and we were in Austin. I received so many phone calls, but he is fine. I think he must have scared the entire town of Boerne.

I suppose that is enough for now, will start posting again soon. LOVE to ALL!!!

Disney here we come!!

Well, we are getting ready.. We leave Sunday morning, yes we leave at the house at 3:45am and yes I said AM. Our plane leaves the airport at 5:48 in the morning. We are all getting excited!! I will take pics and post when we get home so everyone stay tuned....

Soccer

Below is a few pics of Haylee at soccer camp. Boy did she love it. Started at 8:15am in the morning and did not finish until 9pm at night. We went up on Tuesday and watched a few of the 6v6 games, amazing these girls were good. The level of coaches and trainers was unbelievable, from all over the US. Haylee won the 1v1 for her group this year. Last year it was PK's. She absolutely loved it all, and plans on going again next year. But for now she will have to settle going next week to the high school camp. But as she would say I am playing soccer and WHOOOP!!!!

Talk later and will post some of D later!! WE love our little man:)

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Still Counting....

We are now officially 1 week and 5 days away from Disney!!! The kids are getting excited and I am trying to get everything wrapped up and ready to go. Things are crazy around our house!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thank You!!! Where are we now?

Want to thank Liz and Dave for teaching me how to post a playlist to our blog!! De - I promise I am going to learn how to do a smilebox as well, hopefully this weekend.

We have been so busy! Mom has been in Colorado visiting my uncle and aunt. She is on her way home today, we cannot wait for her return. We have BIG surprises for her. We put in a 'Rose' garden for her and planted her roses that she has had for the past month. We also place river rocks on one side of the yard that drains the run off from the rains (what's that?) Yes we have not had rain in I don't know how long. We are so dry!!!

Well, we are now 2weeks and 3 days away from Disney!!! YESSSSS! Best be going talk to you all later!

Count Down to Disney!

We have officially begun our count down to Disney. We are 3weeks and 4 days away from leaving for the BIG trip! I am still not sure who is more excited Dad or the kids. We bought a video camera to capture the trip and have begun using it to get a good feeling for it and how everything works. Let's just say Mom has a lot of learning to do. It is hard holding that little thing still.

Anyway, just wanted to give you all an update.

By the Way, YEA Tammey and Jerry! We are so excited for you and your upcoming wedding! Love you Both!!!

We are now 13!!!

Okay, so Chuck and I have survived and we are now 13. Can you believe it our baby has turned 13 and is now an official teenager. Boy has she grown up too fast. She had her awards banquet tonight and received an athletic award and a 90 and above award for the year. We are so very proud of her. Here are a few pics of her and two of her very close friends. (The Abby's)..

DISNEY, You Ask?????

Well, where to even begin. Chuck and I have wanted to take the kids to Disney for a long time. We were wanting to wait for "D" to get a little older. Low and Behold, he is now 7 1/2 and Hay, well Monday she will be 13 (The BIG Teenager) so it is now time to go. We are scheduled to go in June and are very excited. Not sure who is more excited, Dad or the kiddos...LOL! I will continue posting as we get closer and post pics when we return.

Right now, we are gearing up for the end of the school year (which seems so far away), it really is not that far away.

Well, that is all for now -- speak at you later!!! By the way if you have any tips for Disney please let me know...

Okay, so it has been a while...

Well, I know it has been a while since I have been on blogging. Well, as most of you know, our lives are very, very, busy. And that is the easiest way of putting it. Haylee's soccer season is complete, they came in third place. She will continue practicing and going to tournaments. We have a D1 qualifying tournament to attend in July and possibly a Super II, hopefully we will qualify D1 and not have to do the SII.

Derek is still baseballing and is getting better every game. He and Dad were throwing a little ball around and well, let's just say that Derek has officially earned his first black eye. It does not look too bad, as others have asked: "Did he get into your make-up". Too Funny!! He is doing good and looking forward to going to Disney.

Dad, well, let's just say we are in the midst of play-offs. Our first round was against a poor team. we won 14 - 0 the first game and 21 - 2 the second game. However we have a tough team coming up this next week. Chuck and John are seriously getting the boys ready for this one. We pass this team, then we should be fairly good to go until state semi's. Which would be totally awesome!!! I would love to make another visit to the state tournament, and maybe this time I would not be sick.

Me you ask, well I am simply the taxi for all the running the kids need done. Soccer, Baseball, to Dad's Baseball games, and well anywhere else you can think of. It will be nice to slow down and go to Disney. Yes I said slow down...

Oh by the way our good friends just found out they were expecting, and well let's just say that one got passed the goalie. Their youngest will be 8 when the little one comes along.

I suppose that is all for now will get back on later. I will try and post a picture of Derek's eye later. Love and Hugs to all.

Boy What A Day!

Well, where do I even begin....
I had gotten up early today to make it to an 8 o'clock doctors appointment. I was on my way down stairs and Mom starting yelling out for Chuck. She was in a lot of pain and thought it was a muscle spasm. Turns out it was not. We all thought it was Kidney Stones. I got her to the Emergency Room, our emergency room is not equiped to conduct surgeries as of yet, small town. The doctor did not like how mom was feeling so he ordered a CT Scan. I saw the scan boy was it ugly. They immediately called for an ambulance to rush her to the medical center and felt they would most likely do surgery. We got there and sure enough they did. The doctor came out and explained to us that Mom's Kidney look like it had just shattered! In his 17 years of practice he had never seen a 3cm tumor do this to a kidney. He was taken completely by surprise and stated that she was going to be the topic of discussion at a convention he was attending soon. He also stated that she was very lucky.
Mom is doing good, we saw her before we left to return home. She had her color and her face was no longer swollen. We will see her first thing in the morning with a surprise. My Uncle Kenneth, her brother, flew in from Colorado. I can't wait I know that will perk her spirits right up. Then my sister and two nephews will be in this weekend, another perk for Mom.
Anyway for all of you who prayed for my Mom, your Aunt, your Cousin, or simply your Friend, Thanks, My entire family really appreciates it and will always remember each of you in our prayers.

As the Garden Grows!

As you can see we have designed a way to keep the, well, Muts out of one side of the yard. We decided that all the veggies/fruit at the stores were just simply costing way to much. So, Mom decided to get some gardens going. You can see the kids were chipping in and helping Grandma plants some plants and plant some seeds. We are all very excited about the (hopeful) aspect of having fresh veggies / fruit to enjoy. (Mainly veggies) actually I think that is all there are. HHHHMMMM guess I should request fruit next year. I will update pics as the garden grows.

Aging has its downfalls!

Okay so everyone has been asking "How is Chuck?", "Did all come out okay?" Chuck had a colonoscopy done a few weeks ago. We had some concerns and wanted to make sure all was okay. His brother Rick had colon cancer and we just wanted to make sure we were in the clear. All was good. Well with the exception of Chuck's green jello LOL. Chuck said the worst was the day before, all liquid diet. But it is now over and we are in the clear for the next 5 years!

I suppose aging has it's downfalls, turning 39 whew! I have been having issues with my heel. I went to the doctor about a month ago and he told me to stretch my heel that the achilies tendon was trying to pull away from my heel and come back in a couple of months. Well a month has gone by and well, let's just say nothing as changed with the exception of it now swelling. So I went back to the doctor a month early and now I have to go for an MRI. Boy it is H_LL getting old! as you all know, I don't like using bad words. So I go on Saturday for the MRI and back in next week to discuss the next steps. Literally....

Baseball is underway!!

Well baseball season is underway in the Foster household! Starting this past week, Derek has started baseball is doing good. Have not won a game yet but as you can see by the pictures, the pitchers mound looks really nice LOL!! He is doing great, working hard, but most of all having fun! (Which I believe to be the most important thing of all)

Haylee is also begun playing soccer, so far her team has won all three games with scores of 2-1, 7-0, and 2-0. We have some tuff teams coming up over the next 2 weeks, hopefully they will come to play. At this level it gets pretty serious, not that it hasn't in the past.

Chuck's team lost their first game last night against a very good team. We are now 3-1 in district play. Hopefully that will be the only game we lose.

I am attaching a few pics of the kids, will be talking again soon. Love to all!

Derek has been Knighted!!

Did not realize what a big deal this was, but Derek was knighted today at school. They only knight once per 9 weeks and he was chosen for the 3rd 9 weeks. This was really cool. They had knights from the Knights of the Round Table in San Antonio knight the children. It was totally the coolest thing for these kids. No Dad and I aren't proud at all LOL!!! We are so very proud of him. He was knighted for the core virtue of Service. Anyway just thought I would let you all know. Attaching pics later this afternoon!

A little about Spring Break

Here is the latest picture of the kiddo's. We had a whirlwind of a Spring Break and Easter. Long Story, let's just say that Dad is doing better and getting more energy each day. We hate everything that had to happen, but at the same time glad that we were there. I told Dad, that since this happened, timing could not have been better. We Loved getting to spend time with our family and I know the kids had a GREAT time with the Aunt and Uncle and Cousins Hunter and Colton, riding horses, going mudding, and simply playing around the house. They really want to thank their Grandma for taking them to the Momument and the Battle Ship of Texas. Really cool!!

The New Bloggster.....

Okay giving this a second shot... We have a blog out, but a friend from work uses this one and I thought I would see if it was any easier. So far, I am not sure, but I will continue working and testing. I will keep both blogs updated as best I can.