A Sweet Reward

Jack earned a new bike by being suck-free! No more callouses on that cute little thumb of his. And now he can keep up with Gwen on her 16" bike without having to pedal twice as fast on his Big Wheel. Those races were pretty fun to watch, though. Until, of course, Mr. Competitive would start crying b/c Gwen wouldn't let him win. It's so great when you get a glimpse of yourself in your kids. :)

Happy Birthday to Crissy...

This is the week of birthday parties @ the Froehlich house. The first was Jack's, then came a surprise (to all of us, sort of) party for Crissy & Mia's is coming up. Crissy's was great b/c last night Dustin brought over the cake, pizza & beer and we just had to open our door to all the crazy McArthurs & Reeds. Too much fun and waaaay too easy.

WE WON!!!

I know this isn't supposed to matter, but it does. Jack's team won his first soccer game! It was thrilling, especially after his no win/no goal season last year. We were really proud mommas and pappas, screaming and cheering as he ran out there and scored the first two goals of the game right away. Then he played the rest of the game without pooping out, and his team won 4-2. WOO HOO! Technically the league doesn't keep score at the 4-5 year old level, but in my book, it counts. Our team KICKED BOOTY. And even if it doesn't happen again, I will savor this moment for a while. :)

Ash Wednesday

Got ashed today. Okay, I know you can't see them b/c they've already been smudged and are too faint for the camera, but they're there! Quick Confession of a Blogger Chick: When I realized you couldn't see the ashes I briefly (and sickly!) considered re-crossing myself with ashes from my fireplace but then decided that that would be WRONG, and I didn't do it. So, back to Ash Wednesday. It is absolutely my favorite day of the year. It beats my birthday, Christmas, and yes, even Halloween. Here's why: nothing feels better than coming clean with God. I know repentance is a dirty word and nobody wants to be told to do it, but after some quiet time in church, confessing every ugly thing I've said or thought or done, I am truly free, and I can accept the gift that Christ gave to me when he died for my sins. That is a cool feeling.

A Shock of Grey (or Gray)

I found my very first grey hair today. Or is it gray? I've never learned the difference, but I have a hunch one of the Wallaces can tell me. It was shocking and oddly exciting. It may have been there a while, but since I've been dying my hair for so many years, who knew? feels like: BAM. you're thirty. BAM. you have a five year old kid. BAM. Grey hair. It all sort of hits at once.

Oprah Pics

Here are the annual pics from our "Jack in Daddy's Shirt" photo shoot. This year I got a total of one of Jack standing. He decided he wanted to pose on one knee (WHY???) and refused to do it any other way. Crazy kid. I guess at age 5 he's all about asserting his independence. Can kindergarten start already so he can assert it somewhere else? :)

MONSTER TRUCK BASH!

Jack turned 5 today. He's FREAKING HUGE now! Dave mentioned his birthday on the air this morning to start the day off right. We sent cookies to school for his class, and he even got to wear his new birthday outfit. His party was fun. Started with the cake & presents. Notice the tea lite candles on the cake? Those were Dave's idea. He totally saved me from going OFF on EVERYONE after we couldn't find the candles that I SPECIFICALLY BOUGHT FOR THIS OCCASION AND WHAT DID YOU LITTLE TROLLS DO WITH THEM??? Nehoo, after our red velvet cake (it was delish! and not even lopsided!), Jack ripped through all his gifts and we played party games: pin the nose on the clown, jungle bingo and musical chairs. It felt like it took FOREVER for them to bash that pinata, but finally they did. Then they tried out Jack's new video game system, fought over it, and the party was over. Other details: that's Claire in the green all over Jack. She gave him a really long birthday hug toward the end of the party. I think she might be in love. So sweet!

Runnin' Wild

The kids went wild exploring the new children's museum in New Braunfels on Saturday. We definitely have some future astronauts, cashiers, EMTs, doctors and painters on our hands. Crissy and I deemed it "happy place" worthy. Oh, yes. We will be back. Now, whether we are actually allowed back in the building is another story. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

It is good to be a teacher today! I got tons of yummy treats plus a pair of gorgeous earrings from my students' parents. Then I came home to find these BEAUTIFUL flowers from Dave on the table in my very favorite color. Mia had a good day, too. Well, she had a rough start, but she ended up winning the good behavior bear in our class for the week. She was soooo proud to bring home the prize her brother has won so many times before. And she's also pleased with her new Ariel nightgown. "I'm SO beautiful," she sings, and I have to agree, even though she insists on wearing pants under it. I'd like to say she's just sacrificing fashion to keep warm tonight, but it's not that. She just doesn't really get the concept of a nightGOWN and loves to wear pants. She's an original. Hope you all are having lovely day. And if you aren't, it'll be over in 5 hours and 39 minutes. XOXO!

MRI Results

are GOOD! they showed no tears in my meniscus. a few strained muscles that have unpronouncable names, a little fluid in my knee and that's it. ahhhh. sigh of relief. should be back to normal soon. more stretching and bike exercises next week. and now that i'm not spending all this time on my knee i should have plenty of time to clean the house, right? you better believe i am getting on that ASAP.

Need a Chiropractor?

Go see Dr. McArthur at Calallen Chiropractic! Seriously. He's my hero. My knee is making really good progress this week. Am getting an MRI today just to make sure everything's okay in there(and b/c my daddy told me to), but the sharp, shooting pains are GONE! Thank you, God! I'm still limping around but I think a lot of that is due to stiffness and the fact that I'm used to guarding against the pain. He said next week he might even put me on the bike. Does this mean that my whole new life of stuffing my face while not exercising might be put to an end? Let's hope so. Swimsuit season's coming up.

Happy Birthday, Fur Brother!

We got to celebrate Pancho's first birthday with him, complete with red velvet cake and party hats. You can probably tell by now that we will come up with any excuse to make cake. :)

Dancin' With My Se-elf

Just loved these shots of Uncle Stephen dancin' by himself, so I had to blog him. He was truly great entertainment on Friday night. Not fun enough to keep Poppy awake, however. He's going to be so pleased with these shots of him sprawled out on his comfy chair! I think the excitement of all his family being around just plum wore him out. You can see my mom was absolutely giddy to have him home. It was really cute.

Daddy's Home!

It felt so good to hug my dad this weekend! We are so thankful he's home in one (very tan) piece. Had a great, relaxing weekend with the folks and will blog more details soon, but I at least wanted to post one pic of our happy family. Reunited and it feels so good...

Pretty Pink Phone Blog

sorry you had to look at the knee illustrations for so long. now you can look at my new pretty pink phone instead.