Wow, I've been terrible about updating the blog. A lot has happened since my last post. The kids returned to school in Texas on August 27th and in Oregon on September 8th. Laurel is very busy with the dance team. She is excited but has been practicing 2.5 hours each night, and with her homework load she's a little concerned about balancing school work and extracurricular activities. Emily and Shelby are both in choir this year. All three girls had their first pep-rally/half-time events this evening. We celebrated Emily's birthday at the beginning of the month and Shelby's is coming up this weekend. Laurel's will then be in November.
The kid's have already given us Xmas lists, but that just seems too far away to think about. Lionel is still looking hard to further his career. Crystal hasn't had any new substitute opportunities yet this year, but is expecting the flood gates to open soon.
We've been getting into the Heroes series. We had never seen it before when it was on TV. We don't have cable, but we have Netflix. We found it pretty exciting and have had a marathon on weekends to cover the first three seasons. It's proven to be too complicated for the kids to really enjoy, but we like it. Lionel is getting back into classical music. Coincidentally, some of the music he was listening to recently Holst's the Planets was played by the Texas Tech band tonight at the Georgetown ISD event.
We're gearing up for Shelby's back surgery for her scoliosis. She has a myelogram scheduled for Monday. Doctors say she will be out of school for at least a month or two post-op. The surgery is planned for November so keep her in your prayers/incantations.
We've finally had a good week of rain, bringing much needed relief from what has been the worst drought in Texas in 50 years.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Almost 100%
Well, I'm finally feeling much better today - first time I've been out of bed in 3 days! I don't know what Em and I caught, but it was pretty horrific. I have lingering congestion, but beyond that feel pretty good now. The kids this week are with their grandparents and we want to take advantage of this time to get some things done around the house we've been wanting to do for some time. First day back at it and I had major dental work, fixed a flat tire, had the Civic inspected / oil changed, framed and hung the family portraits, mailed some items my kid's left behind. I already miss them. Laurel continues to text daily and that helps a lot, I feel closer somehow always in touch like that. Crystal and I went out to Ichiban for Sushi for dinner tonight. It was nice to be out on a real date again. I updated our family website. Check it out. I'm hoping to post some summer pics of the kids before the week is out. I'll let everyone know when they're up via twitter.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Short Update
Lionel's three children were down from Oregon for only 2 1/2 weeks this year. This is because our oldest daughter went on a field trip to Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and NYC in the beginning of June and dance camp in the middle of July, forcing us to a shorter time period.
We had a great time with all of the kids here just the same. We went to Hamilton Pool. Spent a lot of time going to the rec center. Enjoyed the 4th of July celebration at San Gabriel park. All in all it was a good time. At grandpa's urging we got Laurel a cell phone and she has been texting regularly since the kids got back to Oregon.
Right after the kid's left Emily and then Lionel got sick - soar throat, slight fever, congestion. Lionel's been out of it for a few days. It works out because the three kids are with their grandparents this week, giving him time to recover.
We had a great time with all of the kids here just the same. We went to Hamilton Pool. Spent a lot of time going to the rec center. Enjoyed the 4th of July celebration at San Gabriel park. All in all it was a good time. At grandpa's urging we got Laurel a cell phone and she has been texting regularly since the kids got back to Oregon.
Right after the kid's left Emily and then Lionel got sick - soar throat, slight fever, congestion. Lionel's been out of it for a few days. It works out because the three kids are with their grandparents this week, giving him time to recover.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I'm focused and determined
HTML and CSS
Crystal wanted me to title this update "I'm a little obsessive..." . I decided on a different one. I've been working the past week on learning HTML and CSS. I've updated our website based on what I've learned. You can check it out here Sleeper Schroder Family Website. I used a separate style sheet for the formatting. Of course, this is not yet finished, we want to add a section of the kid's artistic endeavors - their compositions and drawings, as well as a section for family photos. More to come... but it might be awhile.Anyway, I've been focused on this to the exclusion of about everything else. I've completed 540 pages of the 650 page Head First HTML with CSS & HTML and I'm about halfway through the 900 page HTML, XHTML, and CSS All In One Desktop Reference for Dummies book. I haven't put this many hours in since I had to cram for exams in college!
Hopefully these skills will make me more marketable in the current job market.
Gym
Crystal and I are still working out at the gym, although Crystal has been the more diligent. I've skipped a few days in favor of my new already mentioned obsession. So far neither of us have lost any weight, at least by the scales, but several of our friends have commented that we look like we've lost weight. They are either being nice, or we're currently trading fat for muscle so we're not seeing the weight change we expect. Time will tell.Ballroom Dance
We finished our ballroom dance class at the end of May. There were only three sessions due to the Memorial Day holiday. We learned several basic steps for foxtrot, waltz, tango, and cha-cha. We both want to learn more and clearly we both need more practice. I'm still trying to find a ballroom dance club nearby. If you know of a decent one in the Round Rock, Georgetown area, please drop me a note at my email address.Kid Update
Cole is really into 3D puzzle making and spent the last few days making three of them. Each was about 250 pieces. He's asking for more puzzles ("gift idea"). As for the girls, they've been spending a lot of time at the pool. Their sunburns have turned to tans. My other three children will be down from Oregon on June 24. Everybody is excited about it.Monday, May 18, 2009
Monday 5/18 Update
Well, we've had two dance classes to date. After the first class, we did so poorly we decided to spend some additional time over the week practicing. When I say poorly, I mean I kept stepping on Crystal's feet, and she kept getting confused about where to step next. I've done a little ballroom dancing in the past, so it was not so difficult for me. We spent at least a couple of hours over the next week practicing to get the steps down. That extra time proved valuable and we were doing much better by the second class. We are currently learning foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha-cha, and tango. They just started tango end of the second class.
On Friday, 5/8, Shelby fell down the stairs at school and badly sprained her left ankle. We took her to the Emergency Room, and fortunately there were no broken bones. They wrapped her ankle and she was on crutches until Wednesday.
Last week we finally finished all of the thank you cards for the wedding. We still have an additional photo shoot remaining for the wedding photographer, namely, with Crystal and I in costume. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperative. It seems every time we plan on going to Scarborough for the photo shoot, it rains!
Crystal and I have been hitting the gym about 4 days a week. Crystal goes swimming. I use the treadmill and the weights. I was pretty sore the first few days but have begun to adjust. Neither of us have lost any weight yet, but already we both feel a big improvement in our energy level, stamina, and endurance.
We saw Star Trek last week. It was outstanding and lived up to the hype and reviews we had read.
Due to rain, we were unable to do the photoshoot at Scarborough on Saturday, so instead we saw Wolverine at the theatre with the kids. It was a good movie.
Finally on Sunday we went bowling with Cole, the other kids, and a friend of Cole's for his birthday. This was far more expensive than I expected. The upside was I actually bowled four strikes in a row during my second game, which I've never done before. Unfortunately, after paying so much for only two hours of bowling, I was unwilling to spend more money just to finish our game, so we ended on frame 8, and I don't know what my final score would have been.
Crystal had her hair done last week, and had purple streaks put in it. I love it. She loves it. One of the kid's friends told her she was "cool" and looked like she was in her twenties.
We spent the rest of Sunday catching up on "Legend of the Seeker", which the whole family enjoys.
On Friday, 5/8, Shelby fell down the stairs at school and badly sprained her left ankle. We took her to the Emergency Room, and fortunately there were no broken bones. They wrapped her ankle and she was on crutches until Wednesday.
Last week we finally finished all of the thank you cards for the wedding. We still have an additional photo shoot remaining for the wedding photographer, namely, with Crystal and I in costume. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperative. It seems every time we plan on going to Scarborough for the photo shoot, it rains!
Crystal and I have been hitting the gym about 4 days a week. Crystal goes swimming. I use the treadmill and the weights. I was pretty sore the first few days but have begun to adjust. Neither of us have lost any weight yet, but already we both feel a big improvement in our energy level, stamina, and endurance.
We saw Star Trek last week. It was outstanding and lived up to the hype and reviews we had read.
Due to rain, we were unable to do the photoshoot at Scarborough on Saturday, so instead we saw Wolverine at the theatre with the kids. It was a good movie.
Finally on Sunday we went bowling with Cole, the other kids, and a friend of Cole's for his birthday. This was far more expensive than I expected. The upside was I actually bowled four strikes in a row during my second game, which I've never done before. Unfortunately, after paying so much for only two hours of bowling, I was unwilling to spend more money just to finish our game, so we ended on frame 8, and I don't know what my final score would have been.
Crystal had her hair done last week, and had purple streaks put in it. I love it. She loves it. One of the kid's friends told her she was "cool" and looked like she was in her twenties.
We spent the rest of Sunday catching up on "Legend of the Seeker", which the whole family enjoys.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Our new blog
Today we started this new blog to allow family and friends to keep up with our daily activities!
Lionel is going to create a quick summary of the wedding for those not in attendance. We were very happy with the ceremony in spite of the comedy of errors which included: misspelling of the bride's last name on the Crown Pavilion reception board, announcing the bride and groom by the bride's former name instead of the groom's last name, and finally at one point the officiant said "these two women" instead of "this man and woman"... Lionel's costume was flamboyant but com' on! These are things we are already laughing about and I suppose will only make the event all the more memorable in years to come.
Today we joined the local community recreation center as part of our commitment to lose some weight and get back on the road to better physical health. The new rec center is gigantic, and includes an indoor and outdoor pool, a teen center, racquetball courts, two gymnasiums with basketball courts, a large weight room with various free weights, machines, bicycles/treadmills, and several very large multi-use rooms. The group activity/classes are all free to members, and there are quite a few of these each day. After being henpecked for over two years, Lionel finally gave in and signed us up for a ballroom dancing class at the rec center. We'll provide an update later this week on how that goes.
We finally got our family portrait framed and should have it back by mid-month. We're still not sure which wall we'll be posting it on. Lionel's dragons have taken up most of the available wall space not already consumed by existing portraits of the kids, gothic art, or MC Escher prints...
We often see blue jays, cardinals, and hummingbirds in our yard from time to time and today we saw a beautiful green and yellow bird that was either a warbler or vireo but was so hidden by the foliage of our trees that identification was difficult. So we bought a regular bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder today and are hoping to attract some of the birds out of the trees and closer to our windows so we can better enjoy them.
Lionel is going to create a quick summary of the wedding for those not in attendance. We were very happy with the ceremony in spite of the comedy of errors which included: misspelling of the bride's last name on the Crown Pavilion reception board, announcing the bride and groom by the bride's former name instead of the groom's last name, and finally at one point the officiant said "these two women" instead of "this man and woman"... Lionel's costume was flamboyant but com' on! These are things we are already laughing about and I suppose will only make the event all the more memorable in years to come.
Today we joined the local community recreation center as part of our commitment to lose some weight and get back on the road to better physical health. The new rec center is gigantic, and includes an indoor and outdoor pool, a teen center, racquetball courts, two gymnasiums with basketball courts, a large weight room with various free weights, machines, bicycles/treadmills, and several very large multi-use rooms. The group activity/classes are all free to members, and there are quite a few of these each day. After being henpecked for over two years, Lionel finally gave in and signed us up for a ballroom dancing class at the rec center. We'll provide an update later this week on how that goes.
We finally got our family portrait framed and should have it back by mid-month. We're still not sure which wall we'll be posting it on. Lionel's dragons have taken up most of the available wall space not already consumed by existing portraits of the kids, gothic art, or MC Escher prints...
We often see blue jays, cardinals, and hummingbirds in our yard from time to time and today we saw a beautiful green and yellow bird that was either a warbler or vireo but was so hidden by the foliage of our trees that identification was difficult. So we bought a regular bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder today and are hoping to attract some of the birds out of the trees and closer to our windows so we can better enjoy them.
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