Finally...

We have finally arrived back in Florida. We got in late Saturday night and we haven't seem to stop moving since arriving. It was a long, long drive and we were all exhausted but we got to relax on Sunday, which was Father's day in and around the pool. My father in law did a cook out even though it was Father's day but he knew how exhausted we all were. Spending the day outside and in the pool, I got a little sun-burned on my shoulders. Wasn't back for more than 24 hours and got sunburned. Oops. Oh well.
Brien started work today even though he could have used another week of relaxation before working. I start on Friday back with Disney with my traditions class. Other than that, all is going smoothly. We are living with Brien's parents for about 2 weeks until the house we rented is available. Surprisingly enough, the dogs are handling their new living situation quite well. Got the computer hooked up so I'm able to blog, check emails, and play on facebook which I have missed since we packed up the computer last Wednesday night.
Time to go and attend to laundry and then I'm off to visit my parents and store a few things at their house until the house is ready.

Packing...

Well, its Saturday the 11th of June and we are packing away. I would say we have about 75% of the house packed and ready to go and just have the necessities left to do. Brien is out working on getting his shop stuff all packed up while I finish up the house. I can't believe one week from now we will be in Florida. Then on the following Monday, I go to Disney casting to fill out my paperwork in order to start working for the mouse again. I'm looking forward to it and to seeing all my friends I left behind almost 5 years ago. Of course, I'm going to miss my sisters and my family here in Texas but I'll definitely be back for visits.

Friday

Well I am back and getting rested from my long drive to and from Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a wonderful memorial/burial for my Nanny. Kristin and I made the drive fun and it never got boring. I also got to see a lot of my cousins and meet 2 cousins that I had never met before. I can't wait to see all the pictures that everyone took. I forgot my camera and only had the camera on my phone to use so I didn't take many photos. After the memorial, we went to my cousin Kelton's house for a informal dinner. This is where we watch a video of photos of my Nanny's life. We all giggled at some of them and got teary eyed at others. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. For all of us that came from out of town, we stayed at the same hotel. We then decided to keep the socializing going for awhile. We just sat around and had a good time. My Nanny would be very proud of us for doing just that.

But now that I am getting well rested from that trip, I must prepare for my next trip. I will be heading back to Florida with my parents in just over a week so that I can go find a place for us to move to. This will also be the time that I will be re-auditioning for Disney Entertainment. I still want to work with animals but jobs are a little hard to come by these days and with my height, I should have no problem getting back into the entertainment world at Disney. This will also get me back in the door with Disney and hope to transfer into the animal keeping business at Animal Kingdom. Once, I return back to Texas, it will be nonstop packing from there on out. Mind you, after I return, Tyler will be having friends over for a birthday celebration. So I must be crazy to think that I will have 5 teenage boys in my house at the same time. I must go food shopping and get well stocked.

Sunday...

Well here it is the first of May and our weather here in Weatherford, Texas is going crazy. But we aren't the only ones affected by this crazy weather. So today it is rainy and high of 56 and windy. Tomorrow it is windy and high of only 51. Luckily I didn't pack all our jackets for our move. But this weather isn't as crazy as where I will be heading to tomorrow. I venture out with my younger sister and start to drive to Albuquerque. Right now it is 43 degrees but feeling like 32. Also there is a chance of some rain/snow showers. We are going out there for my Nanny's funeral. She is getting buried with my Grandpa in Santa Fe at the Veteran Cementary and they are expected to get some snow. CRAZY!!

Well, I got to go and pack. Later.

House Hunting

So I have started to look for a place to rent back home. I have found some I like and are very interested in them and others that are icky. Then there are some that are outrageous in price for little square footage. I am hoping to get to Florida in the next couple of weeks to look at these places which I hope are still available when I need them to be. Then I can put my deposits down and start thinking about all the other deposits I need to put down for utilities. There are many factors I consider when looking for a place. First is that it has to be in range for monthly rent. Second there has to be 3 bedrooms. Size of bedrooms doesn't matter too much since all we use them for is sleep anyhow. Third, kitchen size. I miss my old kitchen I had in our house in Sanford so I'm hoping for something of a decent size. This is important because Brien enjoys cooking and it can be a challenge in a small kitchen. Fourth, a decent size family room. I personally would like to have a fourth bedroom but most four bedroom places are out of our range for rent. So that is where we are for now.

I'm so bad about blogging... LOL

Well, here we are and it is April 26, 2011. It has been almost 2 years since my last blog and there is really no excuse. I could blame that I had no time but that is one lousy excuse. I had time. In the past 2 years, I have been at my computer daily and really was no reason to jot down something to keep everyone informed. I am going to try to do better and today is the day I decided to start doing that.

My boys are doing great. Tyler is going to be 14 years old in 3 weeks. I can't believe where the time has gone. He finishing up 8th grade and doing great in school. Well, I say great but he does have some laziness to him when it comes to daily school work. He took 2 of his 4 TAKS test already and got commended on both. He did learn from his Reading teacher that he only missed 2 questions on the whole test. Totally awesome. I hope he does that good on his upcoming 2 TAKS tests in Science and Social Studies. Then he enters the wonderful years of high school. Scary thought that I have a kid going into high school. Luckily he decided to grow also in the past couple of years. He has surpassed me in height but then again, everyone is usually taller than me. Brien and I are both glad he has some height on him and that he is going to continue to grow. Then there is Hunter, the baby. Well, not a baby anymore. He is 8 1/2 years old and finishing up 2nd grade. He does well in school if only I can convince him not to talk and get into trouble while in the classroom. We are still working on it and hope he starts to do better. He is still my munchkin as ever. I'm hoping he will have a growth spurt eventually.

On other news, we have officially decided to move back to Florida. We will be making this move in June after the kids get out of school. We have lived in Texas for 4 years now but I think for us it never felt like 'home'. We are moving back to Longwood/Altamonte Springs area so that Tyler can attend Lake Brantley High school with his cousins. I love my house and my almost 2 acre land but we miss home. Wish I could pack up and move my house and yard and take it with me but its not possible so I must say goodbye.

Well, I think that is it for today's update. I hope everyone is well and doing good and I can't wait to meet/catch up with everyone who lives in Florida in the upcoming months.

Ewww...

That is all I can say. Last night I had the lovely chance to deal with the result of skunk spraying. Yes, you read that right...skunk spraying. I let the girls out back to go potty since it was supposed to rain overnight and well, they discovered a new "black and white" friend. Unfortunately, not the kind of friend that we want to know. Jasmine got it on her neck and parts of her face, the strongest being on her neck. Lily got the lovely pleasure of getting it on her right hind leg. Once I got them distracted from the thing in the yard, I brought them back into the house. BIG MISTAKE!! Don't ever bring a dog into your house that has been sprayed by a skunk because you cannot get rid of the smell. We had just about all my candles lit and nothing was working. We got them in the shower and I bathed them. They looked so pathetic. I thought I was going to throw up. I tried putting some mentholatum (vapor rub) under my nose to try and help but it was too late. The smell was already in my nostrils and it was there to stay. Went to bed.

Today, luckily I am home and have had the windows open throughout the house all day long. Also lucky that it hasn't rain like it was supposed to. I guess God decided to help me out in airing out our house. I have been thanking him all day for it. Besides the windows being open, I have had the candles burning in different rooms. The kitchen has the yummy smell of christmas cookies by yankee candle while our bedroom has cinnamon sticks from white barn candle. Along with the candles, I have the AirWick sprayers going off every 9 minutes in my bathroom and every 18 minutes in the living room. It is now only faintly smelling like that awful skunk odor.

Now all we need to fix our problems is more flood lights to light up our backyard. That is going to be our next investment in the household funds. LOL.

School has started!

Well, it is August 24th and it was the first day of school. I can't believe how fast time flies these days. Tyler had his first day of junior high entering the 7th grade and Hunter walked into school as a 1st grader. Tyler is taking 3 pre-AP classes this year that include science, history, and pre-algebra. Math is his strong subject so I hope he isn't bored this year in math. Hunter enjoyed his first day.
The spotted creatures living in the house are all doing good and so is Brien. It is still hot outside and we both are looking forward to the cooler temperatures that will be coming eventually.
That's it for now.

Wow...almost forgot. Hunter has lost his top 2 front teeth and the 2 on the bottom that surround the bottom front ones. He is my toothless wonder. 4 teeth in about 6 1/2 weeks. He is trying to make the tooth fairy broke. LOL

July already???

I can't believe it is July already. Where has the time gone. I know I have totally slacked off on my blog and I do apologize for that. We had a great visit with Brien's family and it was a great surprise for him that everyone came out. Then we had a great visit with my parents later on. Not much going on except Tyler has passed 6th grade beautifully and Hunter got through kindergarten just fine. Both boys are doing good. Brien is working hard and so I am. It is now summer heat setting in and we are both trying to adjust to the hot temperatures outside. The boys are looking forward to the 14th of this month when they head to Florida for about 4-5 weeks.
We are having a little 4th of July get together tomorrow. Kristin, Jason, Courtney, CJ, us, and then Jeanna, Jillian, maybe Holly from work will be attending. Went out today and bought fireworks and food. Looking forward to spending the holiday with friends and family.

Well, I think that is it for now. I will do my best to post pictures of tomorrow nights festivities.

One week to go...

Ok, so I have been cleaning my house frantically in order to prepare for the arrive of our company next week. My mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew and 2 nieces are coming out. My niece Kaitlyn has a gymnastics meet on Sunday the 8th of February here in Dallas, so they are making a family trip of it. What is special about this family get together is that Brien has no idea that his brother, nephew and one niece are coming also and they will arrive on his birthday which is next Friday. Also, Tyler and Hunter have absolutely NO IDEA that their moo-moo and pop-pop are coming into town nor their uncle and cousins. It has been killing me to keep this from Brien and I am counting down the days until next Wednesday when his parents arrive and then on Friday when everyone else arrives.

I am hoping that my parents are able to come out soon also. I haven't seen them since I went to get the kids from Florida back in August.

Other things going on, kids are great. Tyler is doing very good in school. He made the AB honor roll again. Hunter is learning his sight words and we are working on getting him to start reading more on his own but that is a slow processes. We had a lovely ice storm this past week. The kids missed 2 days of school and Brien got to stay home as well. I already had off from work so I didn't get the opportunity to miss work. I did take some pictures which I will post later once I download them from my camera.

Ok...back to work....LOL

Gator Nation!!!

Well, all I have to say is that "It's great to be a Florida Gator! I said it's great to be a Florida Gator!" Yes, last night the Florida Gators won the BCS National Championship game against Oklahoma. It was a great game and it could have gone either way. I do feel bad for those OU fans like my nephew Josh, my sister Marti, my brother-in-law James, my cousin Kimmie, and my friend Jillian. OU put up a good fight but Florida had more fight in them. So now Florida has won 3 National Championships total and the SEC conference has won its 3rd straight BCS title. Now I am hoping that Tim Tebow, the quarterback for Florida, returns next year for his senior year.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you are enjoying the day as much as we are. The kids were waking us up at 7:50am in order to open presents. They received lots of good stuff and are happy with what they got. Last night was extra special in our household though. Not only did we get visited by the one and only Santa Claus but his friend the tooth fairy made a stop also. Hunter lost his first tooth yesterday. He felt special since he was getting visited by 2 people overnight. I will post pictures of him toothless and of Christmas morning later. Enjoy the day!

Birthday Boy

Well today is the day that my baby was born 6 years ago. man, I can't believe that it has been that long ago. He has grown up so much since that first day I held in my arms. Today I am going to have lunch with him at school where I will be bringing him McDonalds and then later he will share a cookie cake with his classmates. Well, that is all for now since I have to run out to the store.

Ned

Here is a more recent picture of me and my baby Kudu Ned. He is such a sweet Kudu. He is very friendly and will let me love on him.
And here is our baby African Crested Porcupines that were born on the 14th of October.

It was a great day at work...

Ok, so I went to work today and had a great day. It was time for our lion cubs to get their second round of vaccinations and I was there to help out. Here is what I got to do today.
This is our male lion cub and let me tell you, he was a heavy little booger. LOL. Can I just say that I love my job.

The kids are doing great and so is Brien. The weather is finally starting to change which I love. Today only got to about 68 degrees and with working outside, it was a nice change from the 100+ weather we had been having.

Sorry this isn't a long post but I am exhausted and need to go to bed.

Finally a chance to catch up...

Ok...here we are in September and I finally have the house to myself and the three dogs. Now a little time to catch you all up on the happenings here in the Schou household.
Kids....well, they started school back on August 25th. So far so good. I still can't believe my little Hunter is in Kindergarten and Tyler in 6th grade. It's crazy. LOL. Our school day consists of me getting up by 5:40am and making sure both of them get up. Tyler pretty much takes care of himself in the morning by getting his own breakfast and making his own lunch. I am very grateful for that. I get Hunter's breakfast ready and lay out clothes for him and he does all the rest. I make his lunch unless it is a pizza day at school and then he wants to buy his lunch. Then on days I work, I get ready for work. By 6:45am we are saying goodbye to Brien and heading out to the car. I drive them up to the bus stop just a couple of blocks up and wait for it to arrive. They get on the bus and head off to school and I head off to work. Other than that, kids are doing great and they look forward to their weekends. Here are pictures of the kids on their first day of school.
Brien...well, he has kept himself busy on the weekends since I am usually working. He helped out James finish his fence; he worked on fixing his truck; he started to work on his shop and it is looking good; plus working on the yard. I honestly don't know where he finds the energy after working all week but somehow he does. I will take pictures of the workshop soon and post them also.
As for me...let me first start by saying, I love my family. Next, I love my job. I can't believe that I am finally doing the job that I have dreamed of doing which is working with animals. It isn't exactly what I had dreamed of which was to be an animal trainer at Sea World but I get to work with other exotic animals which are just as exciting. All I can tell you right now is that I have done something at my job that I wouldn't have ever dreamed of being able to do in my entire life but I can explain that one later. It is a lot of hard work but the rewards I get from it outweigh the hard laboring work. I do have a little guy who follows me and he is one of our Kudu babies. His name is Ned and he is great. This is him by himself and him trying to get the radio that I wear on my belt. He is such a cutie.
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Way over due...

Ok...so I haven't been really good about keeping up with this posting thing and I apologize for that. Nothing much has been going on here except working. The kids have been in Florida since July 16th and don't come home until next week when I fly down to get them. I am hoping to see everyone that I can possibly see in the short time that I am there. I would love to stay longer but work at the zoo keeps me from doing so. I still love my job and wouldn't trade it for the world. We just had a couple of kudu babies born recently and I have enjoyed watching them as they discover their new world. Well, that is all for now. Need to go and mow the yard before the heat of the day starts to set in.

Happy Belated 4th of July to all....

Well, I wanted to say Happy 4th of July to all even though I am a couple of days late. LOL. I had to work on the 4th but then went over to Marti's house for dinner (we cooked out) and fireworks. It was fun. Here are a couple of pictures to share from that day. Enjoy.

Sadness...

I have just learned about the passing away of a friend and co-worker that I used to work with at Disney. He was a great guy and one whom I will never forget. He had this laugh that was so infectious that you couldn't help but laugh no matter what type of mood you were in. You could in the crowd and not know who was there and then you would here his laugh from above the crowd and then that a friend was close by. He touched so many lives throughout his life. I have many great and wonderful memories of this person and I will never forget him. Rest in peace Roy and thanks for the many wonderful times and memories you gave us. You will be truly missed.

I'm so bad...

Ok...so I haven't done a good job keeping up to date on this blog. I apologize for that. Anyhow, a lot has happened since I last posted, let me see if I can catch you all up.
May 21, 2008: Hunter graduated from Pre-K. It was a cute ceremony and he looked very handsome in his cap and gown. Here is a picture from that day.
I started work at the zoo this week. It has been very exhausting but very rewarding at the same time. Here is a picture from today and the tiger cubs getting their vaccinations.
As my brother-in-law would call me....I am a glorified poop scooper....LOL. All of our adult female Southern Lesser Kudu are pregnant and one of them is due anytime. Also, we are hoping that the female lion is pregnant and if so she will deliver either mid-July or end of August.
I am in the area referred to as 'the hill'. why? Because there are many hills for me to walk all day long. Here are the other animals in my area and any of the them that you don't recognize...look them up for pictures. My animals include: Abyssian Hornbill; Nubian Ibex; Mayalan Sunbear; Red Kangaroo; Sarus Crane; African Lion; Tigers (white and orange); African Crested Porcupine; Anoa; White Fronted Wallaby; Warthog; Grant's Zebra; Southern Lesser Kudu; Meerkat; Southern Gerenuk; and Chinese Muntjac.
Ok... enough for now. I need to hit the bed for tomorrow is another long day at the zoo. I'll post more pictures of the tiger cubs tomorrow.