Happy New Year!

2009 is already here! Of course for another year in a row, we did nothing incredibly exciting, but of course fall asleep before midnight. Josh was able to attend the UH and Air Force Bowl Game in Fort Worth yesterday and had a blast. Dylan is sitting for Granddaddy while my parents took Josh to the game. Tony, Richard, and I went out for dinner, after Richard worked on the sewer problems at our house. Yes, my plumber husband is having to fix his own plumbing this week! We have found many clean-outs on this property! And unfortunately with all the clean outs he has found clay pipe, which according to the plumber, is NOT a good thing. I'm thinking the fact that they clay pipe has collapsed is also not a good thing. At least this year, Richard is healthy and at home with us. This time last year, we were kind of awake for the New Year only because Richard was having complications from his Crohn's disease and we headed to ER at 4am January 1, 2008. He spent almost the first 2 weeks of 2008 in the hospital. After being released, he was readmitted on February 1, 2008 and was in surgery on his birthday, in the hospital another 2 weeks, and at home to recover for 6 weeks. We finally got things back to normal sometime around the beginning of April. April brought us our new niece Kennedy Glenn. Congratulations Carl and Kendra. May is always "my month" as Richard and the boys call it (our anniversary, Mother's Day, and my birthday!) The summer quickly came...I was able to attend the Model Schools Conference at Disney World, presented at the Texas Science Collaborative Conference in Austin, and finally found time to head to San Antonio to see the new baby girl! Of course we all know what happened the week after that visit. We found out baby #4 (using baby #4 due to lack of name STILL!) was on the way and much sooner than we thought...already 10 weeks pregnant at that time. I started my 7th year of teaching 4th grade in late August with so many changes. For the first time in 6 years our grade level saw the most changes with 2 new team members (with one being changed again within the first 2 weeks and another when we return to school on Jan. 5). So many of my friends were no longer at Jane Long, but teaching at other schools, other towns, or staying home! I miss you guys! Richard took his master plumbers test in August. He has 2 parts of the 3 down...only one more to go until his receives his master's license. September brought us Hurricane Ike. No damage at our house, except for the winds tore through 2 sago palms in the middle of the yard (very strange..almost looks like my husband drove over them and blamed Hurricane Ike) and the winds literally ripped the board off the screws that held it in place over one of Tony's windows. The board was laying in the middle of the yard when we returned home. The men in our family came home ahead of the women and kids and cleaned up all the yards so I wasn't able to see the true mess the storm left behind in our yard. Upcoming 2009 events to look forward to- 8 weeks until our new little guy arrives, Dylan gets his driving permit, Josh plays Babe Ruth, Tony starts baseball, and MANY blessings to come in 2009! Today we will enjoy our dinner of cabbage rolls, black-eyed peas, and cornbread! Happy New Year, All!!!!