Since my last post I must have thought of a thousand things that reminded me of my Dad and good times we shared. Although I'm very sad that he isn't here on earth with us, I'm very grateful for the 25 years I had with him. I could go on and on about him, the good times and the bad but for now I'll move onto something else...

October is a beautiful month in Texas. The weather is perfect but the pollen and ragweed is brutal. I'm terribly allergic to many things (155 out of the 165 I was tested for) so everything from animals, to weeds, grass, trees, shrimp...you name it, I'm allergic to it. The good thing is that it typically only affects me in the fall. The first week of the month, my aunt was in town and we went to the Renaissance Festival. It is HUGE, a ton of walking, a ton of food, a ton of people dressed completely inapropriate, and a TON of trees... trees that I'm allergic to of course. We got there around 9:30 am and by noon, I'd sneezed over 50 times. You may wonder why I counted and I know that's silly but I just needed to know how many times a day I sneeze. I stopped counting at 50. This was the first time my kids have been and the first for my aunt and I must say it was a lot of fun despite the fact I couldn't breath. We enjoyed a few shows, munching on all the great food (turkey legs, cheesecake on a stick, kettle corn, etc) and the kids even got their heads chopped off... Pictures to come another time (I need to get them from Mom). All in all, it was a great day. For those of you in Texas, I highly encourage you to go to the Renaissaince Festival. Look real close at the picture of Jeff and Jayden...do you see the guy in the black right behind Jayden?

My aunt comes each year and this year was just as fun as the others. We spent time playing war with our nerf guns, playing cards, Wii games, going to dinner and just hanging out. I really enjoy her coming to visit us each year!
The kids got their report cards a few weeks back and I'm so proud of all of them. All A's for Jayden, A's and 1 B for Kiarra and all A's and B's for Tamia. This week I had a conference with Jayden's teacher and it went great. I walked in his classroom and his teacher (who is the cutest little thing - no wonder he "likes" her) closed the door behind me! I automatically thought "oh shit", but then she put her hands together and said "I LOOOOVE Jayden" and went on and on about what a great kid he is and how blessed she is to have him in her class. It felt really great to hear all these things. I wasn't surprised, he is a great kid and she's called me twice to tell me great things he's done in class and for others. He is quite bored as he finishes his work before everyone in class but he uses that "boredom" or "extra time" to help others instead of doing something stupid and getting in trouble. I'm so proud of him!
Kiarra just had her first Choir concert. They sounded really good! She had a project in school last week where she had to write a song. This wasn't anything new to her as she has written a ton of songs but she asked her teacher if she could sing it to the class. She actually got up and sang the song, with a little choreography, to the whole class. She wasn't scared, she wasn't nervous, she just sang her heart out. She's learned to stand up to mean girls too. Another girl was getting bullied one day and Kiarra told the bully to grow up and get a life! This was the same bully that pinned Kiarra up against her locker one day so it was a big deal for Kiarra to stand up for another girl against this other girl that is 3 years older than her. Yes, the bully should be in 9th grade but has been held back a few times so is only in 6th grade!!! Crazy huh! Anyway, I'm so proud of her for singing in class and doing such a great job in school and everything else!
Taryn....oh my sweet little Taryn... She is something else! If I had to predict the future, I'd say that this is the child that will give us problems. I often say she has Jeff wrapped around her little finger but what I really should say is that she has the whole world wrapped around her little finger. Her personality has really come out lately and her sassy little mouth has landed her in her room (or the corner) to think and a few times has had to get vanilla. That's right, VANILLA. Talking back or lying in my house means a teaspoon of vanilla and it only takes once or twice and it's nipped! Well, it only took once or twice with Kiarra and Jayden.... Anyway, Taryn is such a sweetie and brings so much joy to my heart. Even when she is sassy and disobedient, she is so cute and so sweet! I know that doesn't even make sense but if you know her, you know what I mean... Can you believe that she is going to be 4 in less than 2 weeks!
Nothing much has changed for Jeff and I. I'm going to Canada the week after next and I typically love going to Canada and getting away for a few days but this trip is different. I'm actually going to miss Taryn's birthday and I'm not happy about it! I will remember forever that I was not with her on her 4th birthday. I've tried to mentally prepare for it and not be angry at my boss or anyone else but the reality is that I'm pissed and I think it's crap that I have to miss her birthday! This should be my last trip there so I want to make the best of it but it's going to be hard when I know I'm missing my baby girl!