YAY March!

March FLEW by! After we got past the speaking contest I was able to relax and enjoy the coming of spring and with it SPRING BREAK! We decided to have a "Staycation" for two reasons. #1 Jason could save his vacation days, and #2 the tax return had not arrived yet. Spring break this year included daylight savings time and St. Patricks Day. We never adjusted our sleeping patterns to the new time cause we ended up staying up late all week and sleeping in. We celebrated St Partricks Day by throwing a party and of course the Leprocaun visited and brought chocolate coins. We also splurged and all got green shirts. We made quite the Irish pride parade at the grocery store that week. Kat also lost one of her front teeth that day!





After St. Patricks day we went to teh zoo with our favorite friends the Sainsburys. It was more of a rescue center but we did get to ride the train and see the baby lion cubs. We also go to meet up with a Houston friend, Parker, to see Diary of a Wimpy kid. It was a great reunion. Better then the movie in fact!

Other then that we had the kids camp out in the back yard and we found new beautiful parks to play at. Adam had another pack meeting and finally got all of his arrow points he earned while earning his wolf. Two gold and a silver. Other then that there was a lot of sleeping in, Jason snapped this picture where you can see we never know what we are going to wake up to.

We recently we decided to shave Alex's head for the upcoming hot weather. His hair grows so fast it is just a necessity. This picture was taken with a cool app on my iphone that makes it look like old fashioned film photographs. I love it! Today we took it one step further by making him look like a popular cartoon Avatar. He LOVES it. Don't worry it will grow in fast! Will all this fun for March who knows what April will bring!!

I won!

This past Saturday I surprised everyone by winning the area speaking contest. I know move up in the ranks and compete at the next level. So far I have worn the same sweater for both wins. Should I keep wearing it?? My friend Kay McManus (lady on the left) also won for the Evaluation part of the contest. It felt so good for our club to sweep! I am just hoping I can learn to control my nerves and really have fun out there instead of being a nervous wreck leading up to it. Next level is April 10th!

As many of my readers know I have been involved in the Toastmasters International program. Not everyone knows why. Growing up I was "good" at many things but I never had something I was great at. Nothing that was a title, or tangible. I could never say I was an artist, or an actress. I was happy to be an average student and I never liked competition because I didn't like to loose and I didn't like to do the hard work that was required to be a winner. As an adult I have gone from one hobby or obsession to another, discovering things I was interested in, but again never really excelling at anything. I have been a teacher, a poet, a musician, a baker, a salesman, and a mom, a true Jack of all Trades, Master of None. I had heard of Toastmasters in Luxembourg but never had the time to check it out. Here in Austin I had the time and when I went to see what it was all about I was impressed with the program. Not only is it a great place to practice public speaking, but their workbook, goals, and competitions, really give you skills for a lifetime. This January I made it my goal to participate in the international speech contest. It is a worldwide competition that starts at the club level. Last week I won our club level. It was nerve racking and at the last minute didn't want to do it, because I knew it would involve work and loosing graciously! But I kept on because of the great mentors I have met in my club. On March 20th I will compete at the next level on the road to global public speaking championship. I am very proud to present my first ever Trophy of my entire life!! Also here is the video of my speech. It isn't very good quality but you can still hear it!

Acting!!

Our kids have been participating in a club called Destination Imagination since the beginning of the school year. It was right up our alley since it involves science art and theater! No sports!! Plus it was affordable and after school at the school. We have been really proud of both Adam and Kat who are both team captains in each of their groups. This Saturday was the final presentation. Each team performed their skit and song and did an instant challenge. The coolest part of DI is that the kids do it all on their own with no help from their coach or parents. It is hilarious to see what they come up with. Adam's skit involved the year 3000 and robots. Kat's was a news presentation where she was the reporter. The videos are too big to upload but I will be happy to email them too you if you really want to see our little stars! Adam's team ended up getting 8th out of 15, and Kat got very high amounts of smiley faces!