Fun Video

So I spent all day yesterday working on the "broken" camcorder. I really wanted to watch the videos from when Lauren was little but didn't have an adapter for the mini DVD's and while Mike was deployed my camcorder broke, or so I thought.

I had called Canon twice before and looked up info on line about my problem with no success. I had been planning on buying a new one (ugh!) but thought that I would first see if there was any sort of adapter available on the Canon site. I ended up calling their help desk once again and got a great tech named "Bill". After spending almost an hour on the phone, he fixed my camcorder! I was thrilled.

I then started watching videos on the screen on the camcorder and futzing with the software that came with the camcorder when I bought it a few years ago. I downloaded the software but didn't think I had the cable necessary to transfer the videos to my computer. I spent some time searching through all the cords that I have and found the one necessary to connect the camcorder to the computer. I was so excited!

This had taken up most of my day but I was able to download 3 of my video tapes to the computer. After playing for a little bit I was able to pull out just this section of Meagan singing Georgia at the Hornedo Concert in 6th grade.

We watched some of the videos from when Lauren was little and she was very pleased to see that "yes, mommy did video tape you!" :-). I hope you enjoy! There will be more to come for sure!

Have a great rest of the week.
Shawn

Did I blink? I didn't think I blinked!

Oh, how time flies!  I feel like I keep looking back and reminiscing over old times and then look forward to the women my girls are starting to become and wonder what their lives will be like someday but don't always take the time to deal with the here and now.  It is such a balance and such an amazing bittersweet adventure.

Over the weekend we pulled out the home movies.  (Meagan asked if I needed a "Meagan fix" while she was gone. :-)  The videos are not labeled, so we started with the first one in the box.  There were many to choose from and most are from when Meagan and Brynna were little.  There are other tapes from when Lauren was little but I don't have an adapter to watch those in the VCR.  Lauren was a little disappointed but seemed to enjoy watching her sisters when they were little. 

Two videos that I found amazing were about Meagan when she was only 14 months and the other when Meagan and Brynna were 4 and 2 and we had recently moved to San Antonio.  I wish that I had video taped more regularly but I am grateful the for the tapes I have - they are my prized possessions. 

In the video that Meagan is 14 months it shows an amazing child.  I know that she is my daughter and I am a little biased but this was truly amazing to me.  Even Brynna couldn't believe how much Meagan was able to say and do at 14 months.  The gift that she was given was truly visible in these videos however I am not sure we saw it back then.  In one segment Mike is taking nesting cups and putting one in another and she is counting, clear as day.  They do it over and over and she is thrilled.  She knows her abc's, songs and animal sounds and is constantly asking for more.  I always knew that she was smart but I guess I thought this was just normal. The other video shows Meagan and Brynna singing together and Brynna trying to upstage Meagan.  She had the ability to make you laugh at a very young age.  They have always been good to each other and have had a close bond but it was great to see in the videos.

After watching the video of Meagan at 14 months and seeing the tears this morning going back to school I realize what a tough road it can be to be so intellectually smart but not totally understand that you are different.   The conference in D.C. showed her that there are others in the world like her and she needed to finally see that with her own eyes.  Over the years I have tried to convince her of that fact but she didn't understand, she now sees it and I am so grateful and sad at the same time. I am sad for her struggles with being different but am so proud of who she is, a very bright young woman.  I guess that is part of being a mom and kids growing up, you have to stand back and watch.

At this point I am glad to have everyone home safe and sound.  It is good to be home.

Meagan's trip

So the countdown is on.  Meagan is traveling to Washington, D.C. next week and I have been trying to think of everything that she might need to know during her trip.  One thing that has come to mind is pay phones and making a collect call.  I am not sure when I learned how to make collect calls but I do remember reading the phone book when I was younger so that is maybe how I figured this out.

I started imagine what she might do if she had her purse stolen and had no cell phone and no money.  So I asked her what she would do in this situation and she said she would try and find a police officer.  Now in D.C. there are plenty of cops but to walk around looking for one is not the answer I was looking for from her.  So I explained that she could go to a pay phone and call  911 and call me collect.  She had no clue what I was talking about when I said "call collect".  So we went over the steps and I assured her that this would be how she would be able to get in touch with me.  I explained that she would have to give the FULL number to the operator and then give her name.  The operator would call me and I would accept the call and then we would go from there, I explained that I didn't think she would need to do this but just in case she would know how to get in touch with me.

From this conversation I started to wonder about how many other kids know how to do this to call home.  It brought to mind the recent case of the 29 year old in California who was abducted when she was 11 years old.  It is a tragic story but I wonder if she ever did try to call home and was unable to get through because it was a long distance call.  I wonder if it would feel safer to call your parents rather than the police.  I honestly don't know and I realize that this is a one in a million case in California but it made me think about a potential life skill I hadn't taught my girls.

I know that Meagan will do well with the whole trip and will have many stories to tell when she returns.  And now can rest that she knows how to call collect.

Only a few more days.......... 

Can it already be September?

Gosh, I can't believe that I haven't posted since March. I will try to bring you up to speed on what happened over the summer and what we are up to now.

March was around the time that I sprained my ankle and things started to go south. The ankle took about 13 weeks of physical therapy (3 times a week) and I think it sort of took over my life. After I was released from my therapists I went to the gym to start walking again and fell. It was quite embarrassing and EMS was called (I knocked the wind out myself, didn't even see what I tripped over). Thankfully there was a nurse walking on the treadmill in front of me and she was able to help me relax so that I could catch my breath again. I had some beautiful bruise marks on my legs and decided to wait on the "getting back on the exercise train".

As we roared into spring I decided that I didn't want to be in charge of the Orchestra at MS and gave up all my volunteering responsibilities and that I needed to step back. Lisa Herrera has taken over the Orchestra and has done a beautiful job.

The summer was fast and furious (it is never long enough in my book). Our friends, the Marchiando's, were in the states and Lauren and Katelyn were together for a full 24 hours. They had a blast. I also got to see Christa and Jason, it was great to see them and see how much the kids have grown. They are loving Switzerland and I am so happy that it is working out for them. We miss them a lot.

In July, we traveled to Illinois and Indiana to see Mike's family. It was the first time all of the siblings were together since their last reunion in 1994 (my oldest was only 6 months old). Mike has 4 brothers and 3 sisters. He is the second to the youngest in the family and it is always a good time when they are all together. They are big card players and don't just play for fun, they play for money! We had a great time and on our way home stopped by to see my sister in Dallas. We did some school shopping with the famous "get everything on sale" aunt and came home with tons of clothes.

Towards the end of summer we tried to take some weekends to just hang out and enjoy each others company. It helped to get ready for the craziness of the school year.

Over the summer the "get back on the exercise train" became "I will look for that track later" (not a good choice and so easy to do).

The kids started back to school in August and everyone seems to be doing well. Brynna is running Cross Country and has practice at 6:30 every morning. She is dealing with some ankle injuries and is frustrated with not being able to run as much as she would like, just has to wait it out. Lauren is doing well in 3rd grade speaking Spanish and is still taking piano lessons. She decided she didn't want to do choir this year. So she has more time to play (which I think is good) and work on things she likes. Meagan is busy with IB homework and getting ready to travel to Washington, D.C. She was nominated again last year for the National Young Leaders Conference and Mike and I decided that it was an honor and this year would be the one to let her go. She will miss 4 days of school and might have a lot on her plate when she gets back but I think it will be an experience she will always remember. I am a little nervous about her flying by herself but I am sure she will be fine (just the moms job to worry).

I am still working on getting on that "exercise train" but have had back spasms and a pinched nerve. This has happened to me a few times in the past but usually I can just spend a day in the recliner with a muscle relaxer and all is better in a few days. That has not worked this time and I think that my weight has something to do with it. SO it is a double edge sword...the weight is causing the problem but exercising is making it worse so I might be going back to physical therapy (do you see a theme here?).

So my family is back to their lives, school, work, lessons, homework and such. I am trying to find what I want to do. I have been spending a lot of time on the internet (not always a good thing) and have come across some interesting concepts. There is someone doing a "happiness project", I saw the movie "Julie and Julia" and loved what she was doing with her life. I have read blogs about glass blowing, stained glass, painting and just plain weird things in the world. I find that there is a ton of negative things happening in the world, many which I could find it easy to worry about but that is not what I want to do. So I am trying to find my "gift" and make it work for me.

My plan is to keep you posted on what that "gift" is, once I figure it out.

We have a new edition to our family

Over spring break we decided we needed to look at getting a new piano for the girls to practice on at home. Meagan competed in the local piano performance competition a few weeks ago and was chosen to go on to compete at the state level in June. She has worked very hard on her pieces and the upright we have just doesn't play the way she needs it to at this time. Basically she has outgrown the piano.

With all three girls playing on a regular basis the upright we bought from the retiring general needs a much deserved rest.

We visited a local piano store and were not happy with what they had available for us. (It is actually more difficult to buy a piano than it is to buy a car and yet they can be similar in price.) I think we took 2 days of doing online research, calling other stores in different states and reading an ebook that Mike found about buying a piano. It was a challenging task.

In our internet search we came across a company that has pianos that have been repossessed. I found that a sad idea but called the company just the same. The gentleman who answered the phone was the owner, has been in business for 50 years selling pianos that have been repossessed with his son and was willing to share with me costs, details about the pianos and even willing drive my 3 favorite to my home from their location in Kansas. I thought this is too good to be true. We continued to search but found ourselves going back to this companies website. We decided that this was something that we should consider.

So yesterday the owners son, Brad showed up at my house (in a Mercedes van) with 3 grand pianos on board. The van is temperature controlled and was beautiful. He proceeded to set up the one we had done the most research on and the one that we thought would be our choice. He was willing to set them all up in our living room if I wanted him to but after seeing the first I didn't think we needed to see the others.

I had kept Meagan home from school to play the pianos (and to help me get around) and tell us which one she liked the best. We also had our dear teacher, Mrs Booth as well as our much loved piano tuner, Mr. Postell come by and give us their opinion of the instrument. They at first were very skeptical about the whole idea but after seeing the piano, meeting Brad and their set up they were sold. So were we! We bought the piano and now have a beautiful piece in our living room.

Last night Meagan spent almost 3 hours practicing and Brynna and Lauren spent quite a bit of time on it as well. This morning all three jumped on before they left for school. The sound is amazing and we are so glad that we made this choice.

If anyone is in the market for a piano I highly recommend this company. Piano's Unlimited in Hutchison, KS. They are truly one of a kind!

Sports Event = crutches

Yesterday was tryouts for girls track at Brown. Brynna has been interested in running and wanted to see if she could make the team. With tryouts at 4:45, I had gotten my car back from the shop and was able to pick everyone up, get them where they needed to be and Brynna down to the Coronado track in time for try outs.

I parked the car and we walked down the 10 steps to the field. As I stepped off the last one I inverted my left foot and heard a loud snap, I had to sit down. I had Brynna go over to the gaggle of girls getting ready. I sat on the steps for about 10 minutes when one of the coaches asked me if I was ok. Reluctantly I told him "no". They sent one of the trainers over to check me out. (What a scene!) The trainer looked at my ankle and got a bag of ice. She thought that I might have torn my tendon and fractured a little bone (I don't know the name) in my ankle. I couldn't believe it, I was just walking down the steps to watch Brynna tryout and now I was being told that might have broken a bone - unbelievable.

I called Mike to tell him what had happened and make sure that he was on his way home. I then called my friend Susan to come and pick me up to take me to the hospital (I considered an ambulance because I kept feeling so nauseous that I thought I might pass out.) We decided that the best plan would be for Mike to come over to the track and wait for Brynna and Susan would take me to Beaumont.



The trainer put a boot on my foot, gave me some crutches and drove my car down to the field. I was able to hobble my way to my car, drive home and waited for Susan. She had called her husband at Beaumont and he was waiting for us. I was taken to the ER and had x-rays and exam. They don't think I broke anything but they think I snapped the tendon. So I am on crutches in my two story home (UGGHHH!) and my foot is in an air cast for the next few days. We still have to hear from Ortho and see the radiologist says but all I have to say is "man this hurts". I have taken a tip from our friend Katelyn and have been using my hands and knees to get up and down the stairs.

Today is Lauren's birthday so we are going to have to be creative. I am thinking I might just live in my car for a few days! :-)

The bus is requiring a trip to the repair man

So it is the first day back to school and the bus had some difficulty starting this morning. First, when I took Brynna to school and then when I took Lauren and Meagan. The power doors wouldn't work. Looks like a new battery for us. I guess it is paying me back for not driving it last week - hehe. Have a good week!