Finally, a new update

Well internet friends and family, the time that I was fearing has come. My camera has stopped working. Conrad took it to Galveston with him and the girls last weekend and magically, it stopped working. I will let him work on it because he is a miracle worker and will probably fix it, even though he knows nothing about cameras (especially digital ones).

So, I will wait to post the few pics they got from the coast until next week. I think that when I post those it could be the end of pics until I get a new camera or this one fixed so I am delaying it. Please bear with me on that one.

In the meantime, odd news: I have actually applied for a job and it looks promising. This job is as the receptionist at the girls' school. While it's 2 years earlier than I anticipated, Conrad and I agreed that it is the perfect job for me because I will have the same hours/days as the girls and have summers off. In the meantime, finding a place for Anna was a scary idea.

I called my Mom when I heard about the job and asked her to pray for doors to be opened. In the back of my mind I kept seeing my friend Elaine's face and name and something (God) telling me to call her. Well, lo and behold, imagine this...God was right. She said "yes". Not just to keep her but to take her to school (her boys go to the same school) how wonderful is that? If that's not a "God opened door" I don't know what is. I can't imagine a more perfect scenario. Elaine if you're reading this...THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! I know Anna will be in great hands and she is excited about going to "her friends'" house next week.

I will be doing this job this Tues. and Thurs. and then if I get the job, (not if - WHEN!!!) I will start the next Monday.

So, that's the big update from here. Again, I will keep you posted. And who knows, if I get the job, maybe I'll just buy myself a new camera. After all, you'll want to see me at my new gig, right?

Move in Day at NSU

Move in day was here. Saturday morning we all got up with a sense of anticipation of getting Aaron settled in and on his way to a degree in Theatre Arts. Me? I had all that and a sense of loss.

Granted, Aaron doesn't live with me most of the time, but I still love him and miss him when he's not around. I felt the "out-of-the-nest" feeling most parents get when they send their children off to college. I also felt odd for feeling that. Was it really any different than sending him back home to go back to high school? Yes. This time, I was sending him off, ON. HIS. OWN. to make new friends, to make his own schedule (around his schooling, of course) to find his own way in his own way. A huge step for anyone and here I was, the parent assigned to this duty. Don't get me wrong, it's a duty I gladly accepted. One I hoped would come my way. I just didn't expect the feelings that came along with it.

Luckily, I had Mumsey, Auntie B., Pamela and Greg to help me and Aaron through. I think Aaron was fine with it all, but, of course, in Scrivner fashion, we made it into a production, one I think Aaron could have lived without but weathered it like a trooper anyway.
This is all us Scrivner women with Aaron (Gregela is taking the picture) before we moved Aaron in.

I apologize for the size of the pics. Pamela had to send them to me via e-mail because I sent my camera with Conrad and the girls. Pics should be up from their trip later.

A little explanation is in order here. The NSU mascot is a Demon. Yes, the NSU Demons. So their "rally cry" is "fork 'em Demons" with this little finger sign. Most people think of it as the longhorn sign but, for us it's a demon fork. So, if you see me do this to you, take it as a compliment. teehee
Gregela goofing with Aaron.
They had tents set up all over the place with people offering water, help moving in, help with other information, it was a very welcoming environment, I thought. Except for the glich that Aaron didn't get the dorm/wing he wanted it went rather smoothly. He's in a brand-spanking-new building that no one has lived in yet so that's kinda cool. He's just not with his theatre buddies. But, I'm sure he'll figure out where they are and spend plenty of time over there.
This is us riding the elevator up to his 3rd floor room.
And this is his room. It actually looks better than this, already. We had all his stuff put up and out and in and wherever it needed to go. A trip to Wally world for things we forgot and he was in for good. We all said "good-bye" and left. Me, I didn't cry until I hit the hallway because I told him I wasn't crying. But, I did.

Aaron, I wish you all the best at college. I hope you find a great group of friends who also have their feet firmly planted in good things. I hope you study hard even though you don't want to. I hope you play hard because you can. I hope you work hard in the theatre because you enjoy it and most of all I want you to remember these next four years as a growing experience for what life will bring you. And, I hope life brings you joy and everything else good. Good Luck, Aaron!

And, remember. I am proud of you.

First Day of School 2008-2009

First day of School!!!!

Here's Sadie on the first day of fourth grade. She has Mr. Eisenhower (husband of Madeline's first grade teacher last year) and is excited about it. As you can see in the picture the ACA PTO added lunch boxes to the Spirit Shop this year, she chose the "earth" colored one.
Here's Mads in all her first day of school glory. She chose the "toxic green" lunch box. Can you say "extreme differences" in sisters?
I had to run (OK, I walked) down the hall so I stuck my camera in Sadie's room and got her sitting down to her desk with all her stuff.
And, when I poked the camera in Mads' room, she was already hard at work.
Very exciting stuff, this first day of school. I'm so happy to have them back to school. Anna starts on Sept. 2. I'll catch some pics of that, too.

Anna's 3rd Birthday post

Today is Anna's 3rd birthday. The house is all atwitter with excitement and her sister, Sadie, has already made brownies - all by herself - for her. Anna must have helped lick the spoon and bowl though because the spots you see on her in this picture are all chocolate. And she held up that knee to make sure I got it in the picture.
Three years ago at this moment, Jon, Mom, Aaron and I were sitting around playing cards, I think having some lunch just waiting for "that" moment when I knew we would need to go to the birthing center.

Conrad might have been playing cards with us, my memory is a little fuzzy but I know he was here.

Then eventually we went over to the birthing center and "God Bless America" the rest is history.

And now we have this lovely child who brightens our day, every day. She will now wrap her arms around you, spontaneously, and say "Mommy, I love you". If that doesn't make you want to forgive the impishness that dominates her life, I don't know what will.

Just a bit ago, I walked into the kitchen, where Sadie was making the brownies and I hear a spraying sound and Sadie tells Anna not to spray that. Anna says to me, "Mommy, Sadie is spraying this". So far, the truth and untruths are not real clear to her. It will come. Although sometimes she'll tell me someone is "wying" (her "l"s aren't too good yet, either).

She repeats everything you say and is very instructional. She'll tell you all the steps for something or tell you just how she wants things.

Ketchup is her favorite food and she'll eat most meats if it has ketchup on it. If I would allow it, she'd have ketchup on her sandwiches, but I cannot, will not allow that. It's an abomination to sandwiches everywhere.

She doesn't always warm up to people right away. Poor Elsa, she's been loving on Anna for a year now and Anna still won't give her the time of day. But, she will talk about her and remembers that she gave her a really cute pair of pants everytime she puts them on.

She's very independent, as we try to raise all our children to be - if for no other reason than the fact we like not having to get up on Saturday morning to pour a bowl of cereal - and I have no doubt that she would not starve to death if for some reason we were the only two in the house and I was medically or otherwise unresponsive for 24 hours. She'd find some food. Better yet, she'd probably find a way out of the house and go across the street and, if a car didn't run her over, get my neighbor Lisa to wake me up.

She prefers no clothes to any clothes and only wears underwear because we insist. But, she knows when she looks good and says "how do I look?" when she is dressed. And she loves sunglasses. Especially ones that actually fit her.

And as I am typing this she is recounting something she has just seen. I don't know what it is but I can tell because she said "the kids do this" and she's rolling around on the floor. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I want to know.

I am really having fun watching her grow and hear her voice and see her personality. I think we're in trouble with this one. She'll get away with alot more than her sisters, probably, and I don't think that will be in her good interest but it's probably going to happen. We will try to be vigiliant to the contrary but if 3 years of history bears out, woe be unto us.

Happy Birthday, my precious Anna. I'm so glad you're here.

NSU!

Aaron flew in on Wednesday afternoon and we left from the airport to drop the girls off at Autumn's (our niece) house and on to Shreveport we went to spend the night. Our ultimate destination was Natchitoches (pronounced nakodish for all you Texans and other outlanders) for Aaron to audition for a scholarship at NSU (Northwestern State University - the one in Louisiana). When we got to Mom's the first thing I noticed was the odd arrangement of her shoes in the doorway of her room. See for yourself...
However, we decided it was odd enough that we wanted to add ours to the collection.
Yep, those pink ones are mine. Autumn had a pair of crocs (real ones) that she didn't care for and she gave them to me. I LOVE THEM!!!!! And, yes, I can tell a difference in real ones and not real ones. Real ones almost feel like your barefoot.

The next morning, as we were getting ready to leave, Mumsey asked me if I had seen her bird. I hadn't been there lately so I said I hadn't. On the fan on her patio, a bird has built a nest and laid at least one egg. It has already had one baby up there and it's already grown and gone. Now she's on number 2. Honey, I got her beat to heck and back. Try 5!

The bird is on top of the straw on top of the fan. You can't see it's head, just it's body.

When we got to NSU, Nikki (I hope I spelled that right) the best recruiter at NSU took us to the theatre building and we met the head of the theatre department (I hope that's his title - if not, it should be). He took us on the tour of the department then took Aaron for his audition. While Aaraon was doing that, we went back to Nikki's office and filled out all sorts of forms. Turns out, Aaron got an out-of-state tuition waiver because of his SAT score and his GPA. WooHoo! But, wait, it gets better.

When we went back to get Aaron, we went into the office of Dr. Burrell (I'm assuming he's a Dr. because most people in his position are, sorry if I'm wrong) and he told us he was going to give Aaron the biggest scholarship they give to Theatre Tech people. Theatre Tech people are people in the theatre who are backstage making the people on stage look good - lighting, sets, costumes, etc. We were thrilled. And he made it sound like they were thrilled to have him. Well, my goodness, who wouldn't be? They seemed impressed with his portfolio and happy he wanted to go there.

So we went for a celebratory lunch at Merci Beaucoup and this was my meal...

It was a baked potato smothered in crawfish etoufee topped with a fried jumbo shrimp. YUMMY!

After lunch, we went and toured where Aaron will live. Yep, this is his dorm.
It's very nice inside. It's a 4 person unit, 2 people to a room with a living space between the two with a fridge and microwave. He'll be on the CAPA wing (creative and performing arts) so he'll be around others who are involved in the area of study he's in. Very cool.

This is Nikki, the best recruiter at NSU. Thanks Nikki! Defy Gravity!

Oh, after we talked scholarships, Dr. Burrell invited us to stay for the dinner theatre production they were having that night. We had a great seat and at our table were also the freshman advisor, the director of the play and the reigning "Lady of the Bracelet" (Miss NSU) and her friend. What a nice group of people, Mandy (LOB) was a very down to earth sweet girl who I wouldn't have known was in pageants until someone randomly brought it up, asking her if she had done any pageants this summer. Then we found out all about LOB and such. There really is a bracelet that she wears and apparently it's really big.

During the meal and intermission, all these kids in the theatre program kept introducing themselves to Aaron and telling him how glad they were that he will be there this year. That made quite an impression on all of us, making us feel a little famous.

The play was "Sylvia" about a man who brings home a dog and his wife is NOT happy about it. The dog is played by a person and talks and does dogish things like fetching balls and sniffing crotches. (If you are easily offended, please skip this part) The young lady who plays "Sylvia" came and introduced herself to Aaron and was talking to him for quite some time. I finally remembered to take a picture and after, they both looked at me and I said to her "I'm going to need you to sniff his crotch". She was a little aghast at that and Aaron was totally embarrassed as was the rest of my family. Personally, I thought it was funny. And, after the production, I apologized to her (again) and she told me then that she thought it was funny. Won't it be awful if that is Aaron's future bride and the first words I said to her were I'm going to need you to sniff his crotch? Hey, you never know.

That's her in the white sweater. (pre-embarrassing mother comment)

After the production, they put up on this screen animals that are at the humane shelter that need adopting. These two kitties came up and we started clapping in glee and everyone around us thought we were crazy until I said "my sister just adopted those kittens yesterday". Then they were all impressed. I think it's safe to say that NSU is impressed with our whole family. Well, maybe not me...
This is Mandy (the aforementioned LOB). I couldn't resist taking a picture of her and her shoes.
Here's a close up of those ruby slippers. Make the picture bigger so you can see the sparkles on them.


All in all, it was a great (long) day at NSU. Aaron is now a demon. Yes, that's their mascot. Their fight slogan is "fork 'em, demons" while giving the longhorn sign (yeah, it's supposed to be a fork but all you Texans know the longhorn sign). I'm so proud of him and happy that he's happy about where he will be matriculating (how's that for a college word?). I'll keep you posted on his progress.

Car wash

In anticipation of a trip later this week to Shreveport with Aaron, I cleaned out the van today and then the girls helped me wash it. Then, Sadie had the bright idea to have a car wash for the whole neighborhood. I figured, heck, it's 106 degrees outside, water cools you down, it'll keep the girls occupied, it's a win-win. Sure, have a car wash. She wanted to charge $5 but I told her anyone could go down Collins and get the machine to wash their car for $5 so they (Sadie, Mads and Olivia) decided on $1. Mr. Ricky was their first customer and he paid them $2. I think they told him $2 and he paid it but on the sign they made, it was $1. Anyway, they ended up washing 6 cars and made $19. So, as you can see, nobody only paid them $1.
This is them washing "Uncle Stacey"'s car.

They did a good job. I was official "rinser" and "dryer" since I was the only one who could reach the windshields and I didn't want them forgetting to turn off the water.

And now a bit of randomness...Can anyone tell me where the clip for my hair or the other 5,489 ponytail holders that have lived in my house for the past however many years have gone? I can't find one anywhere. It's driving me crazy. And, while my hair isn't that long, it's too long to be down on these 106 degree days.

Sunday visit

Yesterday, Conrad went and picked up Richard (his younger brother) so we could all go visit Peggy. Richard gave Anna these sunglasses. She loves them and thinks she is "all that and a bag of chips plus a pickle" when she has them on.
When we got to Peggy's place, there was a group singing, playing guitars and in general being very lively. Peggy went and sang with them for a few minutes. She's the one in the hat and vest.

After that, we sat and chatted and Peggy showed Richard her room and while they were gone doing that, this lovely lady came around...
Her name is Doris Madeline Hudson (OK, her middle name is not Madeline and her last isn't Hudson, but in case someone uncivilized reads the blog I didn't want them to have her full name) and she came up to us and just started talking up a storm. She asked our names a bunch of times and how old Anna was about 20 and when Madeline walked up, Doris had found a friend. Madeline wasn't afraid of her in the least and would actually talk and interact with her. I'm sure most children who go up there aren't like that. However, Madeline grew up going to nursing homes with me so she's used to the people who reside in them. She knows they're not scary, just old and happy to see young people. I love that about Madeline. She let Mrs. H kiss her cheek and talked to her for a bit. It was lovely to see.

Then we took Peggy for ice cream. When we got back, she wasn't quite remembering where her room was but was sure she would be able to find it even though I offered to take her there. She also didn't remember that she'd just eaten ice cream. That made me very sad. Not that she forgot the ice cream but that she'd forgotten already. Keep her in your prayers.

And for any family members with your doubts about where Peggy is, please know that she seemed perfectly fine and seemed happy with her surroundings although she was excited to go somewhere when we signed her out.

As I knew it would be, my question about the bird was answered surely and swiftly. The very first answer came from my sister and I will share it with you because it made me smile.

That is an immature cardinal, my bird-identification-challenged sister. I say immature as in "young," not as in foolish, though I will say that getting caught by a cat was not the smartest thing to do...I suspect he's still not good at flying which is why he got snagged. I'm afraid I don't have high hopes for his survival either, but then, one never knows...

Thank you, all who responded. I don't know the fate of the bird, I saw it hopping around yesterday. In my world... (you're gonna love this!) he hopped to the bird infirmary where he is being treated for dehydration, starvation and a good scare. His wing is healing nicely with some stablization and antibiotic ointment. He should be released tomorrow or the next day.

At it again

I was sitting at the computer, doing something life changing - I'm sure, when I saw Rosie, aka "bird maimer", with something substantial in his mouth. Yep, another bird. This time it wasn't a Blue Jay. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is, if any of you have a clue, feel free to let me know.
I, of course, always pick them up with bags so as not to get my smell on them. This one seemed to be an adult so there isn't the whole parent-not-wanting-it-because-it-smells-like-us thing going on.
I know this picture is a little blurry, but, it shows it's color alot more than the other pics I have.
We put it outside so it could do whatever it needs to do to survive. It has a hurt wing and is bleeding a little and it hopped around in an effort of finding a hiding place. Unfortunately, all the hidey holes it found are also favorite spots of our cats. I don't have high expectations for the survival of little bird but, we've at least gotten it away from Rosie (for the time being).