This Saturday my wonderful husband and I will have been married for 17 years.
Wow.
We are going to be keeping my nephew, Boston, this weekend, so Carl took me to the Hyatt Monday night. It was so wonderful, just the two of us. We ate and did a little shopping, and then went to the hotel and didn't leave again until check out the next day. We ate dinner at the resort restaurant - I had my favorite fruit and cheese platter! - and then we planned on floating under the stars in the lazy river until bed time. Unfortunately, there were many, many, many families and un-supervised children and teen-agers who also wanted to float in the river. And jump, and splash, and knock you over. Since we aren't big on crowds, we headed to the room to watch movies and TV. We rented Oblivion from the hotel and watched it - I'm still not sure I'm happy with it, but I'm remaining firmly in the undecided arena until I've thought about it more. Then, we found Bear Grylls new show on NBC, it's like the Survivor tv show, except real. :) Carl really liked it, so I think we may have a new show to watch. Our first impression was that it's pretty clean as well, so we may even be able to watch it with the kids. They love Bear Grylls, and will get a kick out of watching people learning survival techniques. Although I have a feeling that my children may know more about survival than some of those contestants do!
Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early and went down and ate breakfast and read. I just found a copy of Calico Palace, and I'm really enjoying reading it again. I loved being alone in the dining room, reading and relaxing while I ate fruit and eggs. ~ sigh ~ I think it may be one of my happiest places....... I love early mornings, when things are quiet and few people are moving. It was neat to watch the hotel "wake up" as families came down to breakfast.
After we checked out we did a movie marathon. Carl's gift to me was money and shopping on Monday, my gift to him was watching 3 movies in a row on Tuesday. We watched Red 2 (loved it), R.I.P.D. (basically Men in Black with dead people), and Pacific Rim (LOVED it). Believe it or not, I think that Carl would have watched more movies if there had been time. I think that the only thing that would he would enjoy more is taking me bow hunting for elk in Colorado. I guess I'll have to get in shape so that we can do that one year, too.......
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
We called yesterday to wish my daddy a Happy Birthday, but I wanted to take a second and say it here, too!
We can't wait to see you in a few weeks and spend time with you before your great adventure!
Noah says, "Grandpa is very nice, he always does very fun stuff with us and makes us great stuff for our birthdays! I'm VERY excited to see him and grandma!"
Nathanaael, "I love everything about my Grandpa. I like how he plays Lego's with me because we can build stuff together and be quiet if we want to or talk to. I'm happy they are coming!"
Carlye says, "I love Grandpa because he is funny and he made me a really cool bed for my birthday and I'm glad they're coming to see me."
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Brace Face
Totally Carlye had her first orthodontist appointment. They did molds of her mouth, and she gets her braces on in a few weeks. Poor thing! Her mouth was SO so small that they had to keep digging around for smaller molds to put in her mouth. They finally found one that would fit, but the dental assistant said that in all her years working for the orthodontist she had NEVER used those tiny molds! Haha! She has a tiny, crowded mouth and a cross bite. So now we have two (or more) years of braces. And orthodontist appointments. And so much more fun.......
Hopefully we can get hers off before we get Nathanael's on. Fingers crossed that Noah will be my one and only with straight teeth!
Hopefully we can get hers off before we get Nathanael's on. Fingers crossed that Noah will be my one and only with straight teeth!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Pictures
Okay, I posted earlier today to catch everyone up on our lives. Now, I am posting the pictures to go with it!
A house full of kids - we had 8 over the weekend!
Carlye playing her viola with the youth band
Carlye at Fiesta Texas. Can you see Grace (bottom right) and Sam (green hat)?
Nathanael holding one of the puppies
Carlye and Grace with 2 more of the puppies
Noah holding 2 pet raccoons, Lili in the background.
Nathanael holding the raccoons - I'm gonna be honest, they still gave me the creeps.....
A picture I took just to illustrate how much Nathanael looks like Carl!
Carlye posing with her camp trunk - she was SO excited when it arrived. She was given a week at LLYC Jam Session, and Mommy is having a hard time. The boys were offered a free camp, too, but Carl and I think that they are still too young. And, honestly, if we didn't know so many of the staff at LLYC Carlye wouldn't be going, either!
Just because I think it's funny - she fell asleep in the car!
Sparklers!
Carlye and Victoria with Carlye's 1st deer! She wouldn't touch it anywhere else because it "looks like it's real."
Pfiester Family Update
Okay, okay! I haven't disappeared! I am so sorry for the lack of posts - I feel as though the summer has literally swallowed me up (in a good way!).
Here's what's going on in our lives.
Carl - is slowly recovering from the Spurs loss to Miami, but I think we are on the other side of that now.......I hope! He just finished a custom, a re-model and sold a spec home. Just started on another spec home, and has been meeting with people over other possible jobs. He is very busy and very blessed. We know that there are other builders out there who haven't made it through this recession, and we are very thankful for what we have. He's also working out like a crazy man getting ready for his September Elk Hunt.
Me - We have decided that we are going to homeschool Carlye again next year. The boys are going back to public school, but with all of the changes that have been made I don't know if we'll make it through the year. In the back of my mind I know that 5th grade was the year that was so awful for Carlye, and so I think I'm just assuming that it will be hard for Nathanael as well - and yes, I know that's not necessarily true. However, I'm definitely watching it more closely, and I have no problem pulling either of the boys and home schooling them if we need to. Meanwhile, I have been swallowed up in fear and stress trying to figure out what curriculum we are going to be using for Carlye. I have let the fear go, I'm coping with the stress, and I've finally decided on the following:
English & History - Sonlight
Math - Saxon with Dive
Science - Apologia
Writing - Excellence in Writing
Art & Classical Music Appreciation - Sonlight
Music Theory - To Be Determined
Spanish - Rosetta Stone (still a maybe)
I've also been having a hard time dealing with my kids growing up and turning into pre-teen almost teenagers. I actually cried while we were singing Happy Birthday to Nathanael. Upon further reflection, I think that it may have something to do with my hormones and my hysterectomy. So I've decided to watch my food more closely, and I'm going back to clean eating - I always feel so much better when I do! I've also started yoga again (in my home, with my children, but it's happening!) and in a few weeks I'm going to start running short distances. I will slowly build up to where I was before I hurt my back, and cut back if I start to hurt. All in all it should help with how I feel as a whole.
Carlye - still playing her viola, and doing really well. We had a slight disaster at String Camp, and she dropped and shattered (no, I am NOT exaggerating!) her viola. We have insurance on it, so we only had to cover the cost of the new strings. They upgraded her to a larger viola, and the sound is beautiful! She has several camps coming up over the next few weeks, and is going to be in the Hill Country Orchestra again this year. She's also going to volunteer at the vet's office once a week to see if that's really something she wants to pursue when she graduates.
Nathanael - just turned 11! He had a wonderful birthday, and is looking forward to getting his dog. We go visit them every week, and they are all so adorable I don't know how he'll pick just 1! He's still playing guitar and cello, and loving it. At his last well check, however, the dr told us that we need to go off of gluten permanently. We don't have to be super strict - he can have a cupcake at a birthday party every once in a while - but his stomach aches are because of the gluten building back up in his system.
Noah - is Noah. He's loving summer and swimming at the creek and building forts with Carlye and Nathanael and watching cartoons and thinks life is a constant party. He's still playing the piano, but as of this moment has absolutely zero interest in playing any other instruments. All three of them started tennis lessons again, and he is loving it. His hand eye coordination is amazing, and he's decided that he thinks he wants to play baseball in the fall, so we'll see....
All in all, life is good. We have been enjoying family reunions, the 4th of July, swimming, bar-b-q and just being together as a family. I'm so thankful that I get to be home with them! I'm starting to realize how quickly it's all going and I want to enjoy every moment.
I'm having a hard time getting pictures to load, so my next post may just be a bunch of pictures!
Here's what's going on in our lives.
Carl - is slowly recovering from the Spurs loss to Miami, but I think we are on the other side of that now.......I hope! He just finished a custom, a re-model and sold a spec home. Just started on another spec home, and has been meeting with people over other possible jobs. He is very busy and very blessed. We know that there are other builders out there who haven't made it through this recession, and we are very thankful for what we have. He's also working out like a crazy man getting ready for his September Elk Hunt.
Me - We have decided that we are going to homeschool Carlye again next year. The boys are going back to public school, but with all of the changes that have been made I don't know if we'll make it through the year. In the back of my mind I know that 5th grade was the year that was so awful for Carlye, and so I think I'm just assuming that it will be hard for Nathanael as well - and yes, I know that's not necessarily true. However, I'm definitely watching it more closely, and I have no problem pulling either of the boys and home schooling them if we need to. Meanwhile, I have been swallowed up in fear and stress trying to figure out what curriculum we are going to be using for Carlye. I have let the fear go, I'm coping with the stress, and I've finally decided on the following:
English & History - Sonlight
Math - Saxon with Dive
Science - Apologia
Writing - Excellence in Writing
Art & Classical Music Appreciation - Sonlight
Music Theory - To Be Determined
Spanish - Rosetta Stone (still a maybe)
I've also been having a hard time dealing with my kids growing up and turning into pre-teen almost teenagers. I actually cried while we were singing Happy Birthday to Nathanael. Upon further reflection, I think that it may have something to do with my hormones and my hysterectomy. So I've decided to watch my food more closely, and I'm going back to clean eating - I always feel so much better when I do! I've also started yoga again (in my home, with my children, but it's happening!) and in a few weeks I'm going to start running short distances. I will slowly build up to where I was before I hurt my back, and cut back if I start to hurt. All in all it should help with how I feel as a whole.
Carlye - still playing her viola, and doing really well. We had a slight disaster at String Camp, and she dropped and shattered (no, I am NOT exaggerating!) her viola. We have insurance on it, so we only had to cover the cost of the new strings. They upgraded her to a larger viola, and the sound is beautiful! She has several camps coming up over the next few weeks, and is going to be in the Hill Country Orchestra again this year. She's also going to volunteer at the vet's office once a week to see if that's really something she wants to pursue when she graduates.
Nathanael - just turned 11! He had a wonderful birthday, and is looking forward to getting his dog. We go visit them every week, and they are all so adorable I don't know how he'll pick just 1! He's still playing guitar and cello, and loving it. At his last well check, however, the dr told us that we need to go off of gluten permanently. We don't have to be super strict - he can have a cupcake at a birthday party every once in a while - but his stomach aches are because of the gluten building back up in his system.
Noah - is Noah. He's loving summer and swimming at the creek and building forts with Carlye and Nathanael and watching cartoons and thinks life is a constant party. He's still playing the piano, but as of this moment has absolutely zero interest in playing any other instruments. All three of them started tennis lessons again, and he is loving it. His hand eye coordination is amazing, and he's decided that he thinks he wants to play baseball in the fall, so we'll see....
All in all, life is good. We have been enjoying family reunions, the 4th of July, swimming, bar-b-q and just being together as a family. I'm so thankful that I get to be home with them! I'm starting to realize how quickly it's all going and I want to enjoy every moment.
I'm having a hard time getting pictures to load, so my next post may just be a bunch of pictures!
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