Blame it on the iPad

I know a couple of people out there have really missed my blog.  And I know Olivia is particularly mad that I made her take a 1st day of school photo and never posted it.  And I know that I have so far failed at my New Year resolution to blog again.  So, here is my start at redemption.  It might take awhile but I will work my way all the way back to Olivia's first day of school and let everyone know what we've been up to.

My only excuse is the iPad. You can't put a camera card in an iPad.  I use it all the time.  I'm hardly ever on my laptop because it is really slow and drives me crazy.  Finally, I plugged in the "TV laptop" that we used in Kazakhstan and it works just fine.  No excuses anymore.  I still like the iPad better.  It needs a card slot or a USB port.  (And, I'm REALLY busy.  Who's not? But, I swear, I'm REALLY BUSY!)

Merry Christmas 2012

It was nice to be in Dallas more than a couple days before Christmas.  We didn't have to get a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree from the leftovers and I didn't have to do ALL the shopping online.  (But, I still did a majority of the shopping online.  Why go out if you don't have to?)

Our normal Christmas Eve with the whole Rehagen clan was interrupted by the flu.  So they stayed home in order to not infect our family before we headed to Mexico. After mass we had Pappasito's fajitas as usual but then we had Christmas gift exchange over Skype with the Rehagens and Batchelors and multiple computers.

Christmas morning was unusual since Mimi arrived before we woke up and we had to get Marcy out of bed!!  After opening presents we had to quickly put Christmas away before getting on our flight to Mexico so down came the tree and decorations and Christmas was over!

Cool TCU quilt from Wowa

Paper crowns from poppers courtesy of Mimi

 

Playa del Carmen

Buy a condo already! - as Sharon Parker likes to say.  We flew down on Christmas Day and stayed to New Year's Eve.  This is the 3rd time we have been to Playa and still contemplating a purchase.  Gotta love the beach, especially when this is what the weather was like when we left Dallas:

Everyone else in Dallas may have been happy about a white Christmas but I was happy to leave it behind.  It was great to see the Parkers again - they are so much fun!  And it was great to have Frank along this year and not stay next door to bars with loud music playing until 4am.  We did all the traditional stuff like burying in the sand, looking for shells, eating lots of Mexican food, laying around.

 

Playing Disney HeadBandz

We also spent a great day on a catamaran arranged by the Parkers and a bunch of other Canadians thawing out in Mexico for Christmas.  Great fun!

Then the "El Faro Funk" set in.  The condo we were staying at had something awful going around and we caught it.  The Parkers were just getting over it when we arrived.  Emily got sick after the catamaran ride.  I thought it was seasickness until it hit me about 4 hours later and Madeline 2 hours after that.  What a miserable night.  You know it's bad when I wake up to the sound of vomiting and I'm running around with an empty trashcan and can't find the right person.  Marcy got it about 24 hours later and somehow Frank and Olivia escaped the wrath.  But, it was only about a 12 hour bug so that's good.  We'd still happily go back!

Super Bowl Party

The Rehagens (really just Chris) decided to host a Super Bowl Party.  Sarah enjoyed it because Chris cooked all the food including jalopeno poppers, queso dip, and fajitas.  Mmmmmm!  The kids enjoyed it because Frank backed a $50 pool for a squares game.  It gave something for them to really pay attention to each quarter.  No one, except Brian, was rooting for a specific team but for a specific score.  It sure kept it fun.  Until the lights went out and that was the cue to go home to finish laundry and homework, etc.  Fun while it lasted!

Poppers! and Emily's funny face

Squares Game

Brian and Anna won Q1 and Q2

Frank won Q3 and after that crazy safety Mimi won Final

 

When Brian was about 2 years old I decided to get him a football uniform for Christmas.  I tried to find a Cowboys one but they were about $50.  Not worth it for a 2 year old.  I resorted to eBay and all I could find was a Baltimore Ravens uniform at the bargain price of $.99!  Aren't we lucky that I did - Brian still has the helmet and got to root for his team.

 





Serviam

It means "to serve" and is Ursuline's motto.  Sophomores get to receive their Serviam pins after putting in many service hours.  Olivia got off easy being a transfer student and really just did a week of volunteering at Vacation Bible School this past summer.  We should probably find a way to work more volunteer hours into our schedule - not sure where, but we should try.

 

Olivia and friends

(it was nice to meet some of them!)

Her new pin on her blazer - it looks just like the one I had

(most girls have lots of pins so she is happy to have something finally)