Meet -N- Geet!

It was a very special time for the kids & me yesterday! It was our first pre-enrollment testing & a chance for the kids to meet their new teachers for the upcoming school year. I already knew both teachers & had specially requested them for each, Spencer and Tristan. Mrs. McElhiney is Tristan's pre-school teacher, who Spencer also had last year in his first year of school. She is a great teacher with lots of love & patience for the youngsters coming in. We are very excited to have her again.

Mrs. Fields, an accomplished kindergarten teacher - with Teacher of the Year under her belt - is Spencer's teacher this year. Again, I have known Mrs. Fields for several years because she was also Sophie's teacher when she was in kindergarten. She is a phenomenal teacher and I am thrilled that Spencer will be spending this next year with her.

Although Sophie is enrolled for Lincoln Elementary 3rd grade - we don't have her meet and greet with her teacher until next week! So, more to post soon!

Our New Home

The Bruce bunch moved into our new home this past weekend...and a little into the week! It took us about 4 days of packing, moving, cleaning, etc.. to get the job done but we now have our new home! We live on the SW side of town (old historic distric) and are very happy to be there! We have a 2 story, 3 bedroom 1.5 bath with carport & garage & even a side lot with lots of running space for the kids. It's not at all ready to show pictures or even have people over - living out of boxes & things are just everywhere - but we are here!
And thankfully Eric has finally passed his kidney stone (at least we think)! With moving and all this weekend we thought he had thrown his back out again but his normal back meds weren't touching the pain...Monday night, he wound up in the ER for about 6 hours & a CT later found a 2mm kidney stone! Well, Dr. Sofola here at Urology said that it would pass on it's own within about 24 hours. Lots of water & lemondaid later & it must've passed cuz today Eric says that he is just "sore" but not in pain! Thank you Jesus!
Last but definitely not least, my best friend Quita is recovering very well! I saw her Tues for a visit for her birthday & then we had her come up for lunch with us at the office yesterday so we could all be with her for a little birthday bash! She is doing great after her surgery just 2 short weeks ago! She is moving around & has even lost a few pounds. I'm so glad my friend is OK! Love you girl!

Water Babies

Another weekend spent at the lake & it was a great time! This time we were joined by Aunt Chrissy & Aunt Jennifer...We loaded up the cars & coolers & set out for a day of fun, sun & swimming! The kids always have such a blast but what made it even better - people with huge floating devices!! We had to share our beach area with another family & they were kind enough to let the Bruce Bunch use some of their floaties - like a shark, dolphin and a huge baseball glove. Spencer was thrilled & even let their kids play with his submarine & beach ball. We had so much fun playing with some "new friends." Aunt Jennifer's birthday is coming up (July 4th) and one of her friends has already given her a birthday present so she could use it at the lake - a hot dog grill! I didn't get a picture of it but it was so cute & awesome. Just big enough for an entire packet of hot dogs - which were delicious with all the trimmings. Watermelon & bananas for dessert & back in the water we went! It was a great day! Tristan deciding what floating device to use My girls are loving the water & their Kool-Aid Juicers
Spencer is too happy when he is in the water!

Family Day @ the Lake Murray

Dad had the greatest idea for our Sunday family day...a day at the lake. It was gorgeous weather, not too hot and FREE! How great is it to spend quality time together with little money. So, we ran to get the cooler filled up with drinks & ice...Mom packed up a little lunch & we loaded the van & off we went. We got there around 11AM - found a spot - although it was a great location we had to settle for an afternoon of listening to Mexican Rock music behind us (there was a family reunion going on)! HHAHAHAHAH!

But, it made for a great day of fun. The kids loved the water! I, however, enjoyed the water but not all the rocks I kept stubbing my toes into! Dad lost his Oakley sunglasses - but were retrieved by some kids swimming next to us! It was a miracle that they found them under the water! We started out with sunblock 50 cuz those of you that have had the priveledge of seeing my white legs know that I don't do heat & sun! We should've re-applied though cuz by 3 1/2 hours later when it was time to load up - we were pretty red! Now, 3 days later - Sophie & I are suffering the most - pretty burnt up & sore to the touch backs!! Thank God for aloe vera gel with lidocaine - it does make it bareable!

Watch out for flying bats

First shiner of the year...Sophie

was at daycare last Friday & because the weather is so beautiful these days...thanks to the rain letting up...the teachers took all the kids out for a field day. Well, some of the kids decided that a nice round of baseball would be perfect on such a great day...but not so for Miss Sophie! As you can see, she didn't do well with the swing around of the bat. She was bending down to "get a drink of her water" right in the line of the batter & KAA-BOWIE! right to the eye. We are very thankful that it was a plastic bat & not wood for the sake that it would have knocked her out &

we would've been in the ER getting stitches had that been the case. So, we didn't have to have stitches...or even make a run to the doctor...we just had to put ice on it for a few hours. It was swollen shut & pretty sore but within a couple days, just a nasty black eye!! Look out Sophie!!

Tristan's Birthday Continues...

Tristan's 4th birthday continued this weekend too...Remember last Saturday we all went to the Dallas Children's Museum...Well, this weekend we went to the chidren's "memorial" craft fair at the historical museum here in Ardmore. It was a pretty good time. We made star wreathes, American flag pins out of safety pins & colored beads, stand up stars and coloring pages. These projects didn't hold Tristan's attention for long so she mostly went running around the museum & checking out all the displays! Sophie & Spencer made quite a few projects before becoming bored with the cutting, glueing & coloring.

We took lots of pictures, although Sophie really wasn't in the picture mood...so even though she was there - I got very few pictures of her...However, with Spencer & Tristan - it's all about hamming it up! Sgt. Spencer loves airplanes, guns, & war movies so he fit right in with the display about WWII. Tristan found the old buggy's and boxcars - of which she actually climbed INTO the display (yes, that means she crossed over the ropes!). Luckily, Mom got the shot before we got caught!

Then we went to Central Park and had some fun there! Lots of climbing, swinging and sliding. Sometimes even giving Mom heart failure as they are leaing over the side of the railing or sliding down the slide like you would the railing on a staircase! We took some pretty pictures by all the beautiful flowers there and then went over to the Memorial Fountain so the kids could make their wishes...and Mom could get some pictures! After we had all of our fun at the park/fountain, we decided that Sonic slushies were calling our names so we jetted off to get some delicious refreshments...

Sunday we went to Grandma's so Tristan could get her birthday presents! Tristan couldn't wait to put on her new clothes & have me take her pictures! I swear she is going to be a model, but that would be after she is a cheerleader! YAH! We had a really good time this weekend...and we miss Sophie a whole bunch! She was with Akami this weekend...We hope she was having as much fun as we were!

Emily's Birthday Estravaganzaa

Eminey, as we sometimes call my friend Emily at work, celebrated her 25th birthday with all of us crazy gals!! Pink & white streamers & lots of "birthday girl" signs were all over her work area! She was so suprised when she came to work that morning & had to walk through a curtain of streamers! We got her an entire basket full of tons of pedicure supplies - with some really awesome toe nail polish! Chocolate cheesecake for dessert - YUMMY! Thanks for having a birthday Emily!

Dallas Children's Museum

320 miles round trip in the car with 4 adults & 3 kids...what a way to spend a Saturday! But, that is exactly what the Bruce Bunch did this past weekend. Since Tristan's 4th birthday is on Memorial Day this year, we figured we better go ahead & get out of town to do our "birthday" trip before all of the holiday traffic. Well, although my butt was sinched up tighter than you can imagine cuz Eric was driving like he was in the Indy 500 & in a rain storm of all things - we did have a great time! Not to mention that we also had a flat on the way there, after we missed the 1st exit, so we had to detour around a residential area. Well, all the people were hanging out on this porch, yelling out at us that we had a flat. We slowly crept up the road, looking for a gas station to pull over - thinking that we were going to be sitting there a while waiting for roadside assistance - but Nope - we were right around the corner & there was a tire repair shop! Had that flat fixed in under 30 minutes & we were back on the road! The kids LOVED the museum! Aunt Chrissy came up with the idea, so we headed on down to Dallas. There were multiple little areas for the kids to experiment: bubbles, trains, dinosaurs, creeks/lakes, farming, school house, dentistry, wind tunnels/tornados & even some live animals...and I think that's it. We did ALL of it. Plus, we even took in an IMAX Coral Reef movie - which made me sick the entire time I was in there ( had to sit through most of the movie with my eyes closed). Eric hated it & Sissy wanted to run up & down the stairs....Man...told you there are no boring moments with a bebe Bruce kids!

So, then we finally got home after a long trip & we found our new addition in the back yard. Well, you know that Murphy & baby Murphy were attacked & killed last week...Dad was talking about getting the kids (and him I suspect) a dog. We came home to find a red healer pup in our backyard. He is about 3-4 months old, no tags, nothing!! We were so excited. We don't know where he came from & even Eric asked his friend who works for the animal control if there had been anybody reporting a lost dog & he said no...A sign? Who knows but we are thrilled to have Roscoe! He's been so great! The kids are so excited to get home to play with him everyday after school. Here is our new Roscoe :)

Mother's Day weekend was,very relaxing & pretty uneventful. The kids got me a DVD of one of my favorite movies, Walk the Line...I think Tristan likes it as much as I do cuz she wants to watch "Johnny Cash" every day when we get home! She loves to sing all the songs & will stand with her microphone, on her stage (which happens to be her night stand) and sing the songs word for word. She is definitely my little "artist." She even says that when she gets bigger, after she is a cheerleader, she will be on American Idol!! She is a girl after my own heart. So...Sophie spent the night with her bio-mom Akami on Sat night & since Sophie was going to get to go spend the night somewhere - Spencer & Tristan were bound & determined that they were going to spend the night somewhere too! Aunt Jennifer & Aunt Chrissy were coming over Sat night for a visit & Spencer decided - That was his chance! He packed up his 4 Wal-Mart sacks of stuff - basically consisting of nothing that he really needed or clothes that matched & he was ready to go. Tristan was not going to be left behind... She ran & got her boots on (2 sizes too big since they used to be Sophie's), her baby & her purse! She goes no where without her Baby or purse! She had it filled with the essentials to stay the night - her dress up shoes!! Funny kids! And great sports they are - Jennifer & Chrissy for taking them for the night, even though it wasn't planned! One other event that happened was that our stray cat, Murphy, who we adopted several months ago, gave birth on Friday night. We went looking for her when we got home & Dad was mowing the lawn & I started pulling weeds - Murphy hadn't come out of her hiding place...So, we went on a hunt. We found her behind the air conditioning unit on the side of the house & she had 3 babies. Unfortunately, by Saturday afternoon, 2 of them had died. So, Murphy with her 1 baby are pictured here with Sissy "mothering" them. Tuesday morning, we found Murphy under my van, very badly beaten & mangled & her baby was no where to be found. She had been attacked in the night by some other stray & very mean animal. We had to call Animal Control to come get her so they could put her down. Her injuries were so severe, there was no way she could make it. Rest in Peace Two Murphys! We will miss you!

Muffins With Mom

The yearly tradition of Muffins with Mom was today @ Will Rogers and I was so excited to get to spend some special time with Spencer. He didn't even mind having to go to school earlier than usual...We had to be there between 7:30 - 7:45. Tristan, however, was more than irritated that she was not getting to go with us to Bubba's school. But, since she will be in school there next year, I will get to do it with both of them! Today was also the last day for Spencer's teacher, Mrs. McElhiney. Although she will return next year (and be Tristan's teacher YEAH), she is taking the rest of the school year off in order to take care of some medical needs. She has done such a great job with Spencer this year & regularly compliments at how smart he is. I am very proud to say that we had a great year with her this year!

Spencer loved his 1st muffin, blueberry with some apple juice. That just didn't cut it though, so we had to sneak into a new line to get seconds...SSSHHH - don't tell :). We got some orange juice & poppyseed muffins that round...yummy!

Mrs. Hunter, Principal of Will Rogers and Spencer! She is fantastic & really loves all the kids there. She knows each child by name & it is so impressive to see how great she runs the school. Will Rogers was voted a Great Expectations school this year! Good Job.
Mommy & Spencer - Isn't he sweet!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Saturday was full of fun for me & the kids...We started out at the Dollar Tree so we could get lots of yard tools; shovels, hand rakes & gloves...We even got a few garden "angels" that Spencer said we had to have so they could watch over our flowers! We landed a few new pots & some hanging baskets too and even 10 bags of potting soil! I love that store - EVERYTHING is $1.00.

Then we were off to Desi's Veggies & Flowers in the mall parking lot. We got so many flowers that I didn't even know if we would have them too close together - but we made it! 4 flats & a few potatoe vines & even a couple ferns. We will be adding some iris bulbs this week (thanks to my friend Angela) to line the entire West side of the house that goes along the driveway.
Eric is going to paint the railings on the front & back porch & we are in the market for a porch bench or 2 chairs. I will be hunting that down at garage sales & clearance furniture. I'm hoping to get the kids' fort/swings fixed for them soon too. The tornado winds tore it completely up & the wood to the swings was rotten so it just fell to pieces when we tried to fix it. Hopefully Eric can collect enough unused wood from his job sites that we can rebuild it for them! It is a work in progress but we should have our house looking really nice for this summer! The kids pool is the next big ticket item! YEAH!!

The new look...Blond Billiance! I did it last night...with the help of 2 small people (Spencer & Tristan). Sissy had to help me pull it through the cap & Bubba had to "paint" on the dye with the little painters brush. Quite the experience I must add. But, I am slowly on my way to being a blond beauty again, of which my husband is excited. He has always said that he loved my blond hair...so why did I go back to a natural brunette??? Oh Ya! I had kids & that took presendence LOL!

Happy Easter...I know it's late!

This year Easter lasted about a week for the kids...Oh man did we have tons of eggs & candy! It started with Aunt Chrissy & Aunt Jennifer taking the kids to the night hunt @ Regional Park on the weekend before Easter. They had such a great time with that cuz it was like a kids carnival & egg hunt. Each of them got tons of prizes, which later were dumped out in Mom's bedroom floor - go figure! During the week before Easter, we had numerous egg hunts at "big" school for Spencer & Sophie & at daycare for all of them ( since Sophie & Spencer go to daycare for after school). On Good Friday the kids were out on break, so the daycare had tons of activities for them to all do, which they had such a blast & couldn't wait to get into all their Easter baskets when they got home. That night, we went to Aunt Sherry & Uncle Doug's for a cook-out of hamburgers & hotdogs & another night time hunt in an open lot beside their house. Aunt Sherry had bought prizes for each of the kids so when they each found their "special" egg - they got their prize. Sophie got a flower making set, Tristan got a new blue baby bunny & Spencer got a tool set. They were thrilled! Next, was the Michelin Easter egg hunt the next morning with Aunt Sherry & Ashton & pictures with the Easter bunny...then we were off to Aunt Chrissy & Aunt Jennifer's for egg coloring & lunch. They got more Easter baskets that were full of clothes, shoes & some toys for each of them. Even Mom got a basket full of pedicure products & my new PedEgg! LOVE IT!!! The kids stayed there for several hours with them while Mom went to take care of a few things....Then back I went to get them. We had family night & cook out (with Daddy too) that night & couldn't wait for Grandma to come over the next morning for her turn. She got to our house about lunch time with a whole load of presents. More clothes & more toys! These kids aren't spoiled or anything :) !! We had a great Easter week & are now getting geared up for Tristan's 4th birthday in May.

Regional Park Easter Egg Hunt

Spencer & Tristan went last Friday night with Aunt Chrissy & Aunt Jennifer to the Regional Park flashlight easter egg hunt (even though these were taken before the egg hunt). The kids had a blast! It lasted from 6-almost 10PM - Man, my kids were pooped when they got home! They got to do all the park toys, big inflatable slide, facepainting, carnival games & of course, the egg hunt at dark. Sophie didn't go to this cuz she was chillin' at home with her girlfriend, Jerrynique! The girls had a sleepover & were all into watching High School Musical 3!! The girls were all cooped up in Mom & Dad's room, piled on the bed with popcorn, nail polish, their movies & Oh ya - Dad's Dr. Pepper - whooa! All you moms out there - beware & prepare!! LOL
Tristan found her eggs!

Spencer looks amused, huh? But - he did have a great time!

Wendy's New Pob!

For those of you who may not know...a pob is the new Posh Spice Bob haircut! I got one today & even though I am in shock of having no hair - I think it's a little sexy! Hopefully, my husband will think so too when he sees it tonight :) My fav girl hairdresser, Cassity, cut it today. She said that when I decide to get bolder, she will really stack it up in the back, but for now it's a little longer in the back then it should be. We will see how I like it after I have a few days to grow used to it! I know my girl Sophie will love it - she already wants her hair cut like this so now...I will have to make an appointment with Cassity for Sophie!!

Here is the "Sexy Short Hair Hottie Club"

L-R: Wendy Bruce, President; Larissa Holquin, CEO; Emily Arnold, CFO

A Time To Remember

March is a very hard month for the Bruce Bunch...It is a time for mourning and remembering those closest to us & who we loved so much. In 2004, I lost my grandpa, Rock Rockwood, to a sudden diabetic coma of which he never awoke. Spencer was only 5 months old and never got to meet his great-grandpa. My Boompa was a wonderful man who raised me & was the most significant male figure in my life. Even though he was a man of very few words, he was wise and caring. In 2005, Eric lost his Dad, Howard Bruce, to a massive heart attack. The sadest part about it is that Eric and his brother Doug were estranged from their father for many years previous to his death. It brought them closer to each other & with some regrets as to why they never spoke to their Dad for so many years. The boys were heart broken but have continued life with a new sense of what it means to be a "good dad" to their own kids. Three years ago, 2006 brought a suicidal death to Eric's best friend, Jeff Yowell. It was unneccessary & left Eric with so much anger & confusion. Jeff was a great friend to Eric & had been for about 15 years. He just lost his faith & decided to take his own life. We were devastated about the situation that took Jeff's life, more so than a sickness would leave you feeling empty.

We remember all of our family & friends during this time and ask that all of our family & friends still with us today take a moment of silence to remember those closest to you in your lives!