College and Roadrunners

Are you wondering what I'm talking about a Roadrunner for?? Do you even know what that is?? Do you remember the old cartoon with Wile the Coyote and Roadrunner? Oh anyways.. You know Marc will be graduating next year and college has been a HOT topic around here.. Ricardo and I have a list of places we'd like Marc to consider, University of Texas is on the top of course.. Well, Marc has a different list and so far he seems to have narrowed it down to one- just one.. UTSA (Their mascot is the Roadrunners) My idea of my kids going to college is- moving away from home, living in a dorm, and getting the full experience of college- academics/fun,etc.. Marc's idea is different AND I should've known this! After all I gave birth to him and have raised him right?? He wants to be near home, and likes a more smaller setting as far as school goes. UT is only 45-1hr away in Austin. Too far away.. Seriously??

So heres the breakdown/cost comparison between UTSA and UT
UTSA
2009-2010

Full Time Fall/Spring Undergraduate Resident Student
Living at Home w/Parents
Tuition (based on 15 hours per term
$5126.00
Fees (based on average for 15 hours per term)
$2966.00
Books (based on 15 hours – 5 classes)
$1000.00
 Room (average)
$1837.00
Board (average)
$1470.00
Transportation (average)
$1838.00
Personal/Miscellaneous
$1400.00
Total Estimated Cost of Attendance
$15,637.00  (per yr)

UT
On-campus Housing Costs (2010–2011)

Begin at $8,184
Includes $1,700 for food
Estimated Undergraduate Flat-Rate Tuition and Fees (2009–2010)

Texas resident $8,520 – 9,808
Estimated Total Cost of Undergraduate Education (Fall 2009–Spring 2010)

Texas resident on-campus $22,464 – 27,168
Texas resident off-campus $22,842 – 27,546


So yeah we'll save a little by him going to UTSA, if this is where he ends up choosing to go. My guess is that Marc has had enough moving around in his (almost) 17yrs to last him a lifetime. He has enjoyed San Antonio and wants to stay right here. San Antonio is a great city with so much activity, entertainment, etc.. I guess I can't blame him for wanting to stick around. He must have gotten that "homebody" gene from Ricardo, cause if I had the option of going away to school at my parent's expense no less, that's what I would have done.. 

Scrapbooking Getaway- coming soon!!

I'm really looking forward to my scrapbooking retreat in April.. Heading to VA Beach April 16-18 for a scrapbooking retreat with two of my longtime friends we were stationed with in Puerto Rico. This retreat is held twice a year, and I thankful to make it to one of them every year.. This will be my third I believe. Nothing but scrapbooking, eating, laughing with friends, strolling the beach, and no sleep.. Works for me! I get soo much scrapbooking done and it's awesome! April 16th--Please come quick!

Me, Esther, Candi and Wendy.. We usually meet up with Candi for breakfast before heading off to the retreat. Hopefully Candi will join us at the retreat one of these years.

Wendy, Esther and I- with our scrabooking stuff spread out ALL over the place.. So great getting ideas and looking at other's creativity..

This is our backyard.. Too cold to swim in the pool but we do take advantage of the hot tub that is off to the left.. Can't see it in this pic..

Our Children

A friend posted this and I really enjoyed it so I'm going to be a copycat and post it as well..The words are so very true!

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

-- Elizabeth Stone


Never before has this quote meant more to me. (I always thought it was a little cheesy to be honest.) But now I have older kids...teenagers... and I have discovered a few things:


With a word a child can break your heart.


With a gesture a child can give you hope and make you feel love.


An email from a child can be the highlight of your day.


A child can make you feel more frustrated, more angry and more inept than you ever thought possible.


That same child can make you proud and happy.


Your children can make you question your very purpose in life.


Your children can make you feel that your life has purpose and meaning.


My heart is in a constant state of turmoil: stomped on one minute, full of love the next.

Universal Studios and Disney World...

Working on our summer vacation.. The original plan was to take advantage of the military offer for disneyworld, $100 per person for a 5day pass and do one day at Universal Studios. After going back and forth with the boys we decided we'd rather have more days at US and one day at Disney.. After all, the boys are FINALLY brave enough to ride roller coasters.. Not to mention the long awaited Harry Potter land, located in Universal Studios, is opening shortly.. We gotta be one of the first ones to check it out! Can't wait!

The last time we were at Universal Studios (Spring 2005) WOW!

Harry Potter Theme Park- in Universal Studios

The last time we were at DisneyWorld (Spring 07') It's been that long really?? The boys have changed SOO much since this picture, especially Marc.

Can I leave them here if they get out of line on the trip??

Cinderella's Castle at night. Soo pretty!!

JUNIORITIS

Marc has always been very studious ever since he started school. Always brought home the straight A's at least up until last year. We never really had to be on top of him making sure his homework was done, help him with this homework, etc. So this year has been a little different you could say. He has spent more time this year hanging with his friends than studying I suppose as the the grades have slacked. We were trying to pinpoint what was going on and what to do about it. Of course we heard opinions from those who say we gave him to much freedom, we need to take this away or that away.. You name it- everyone had the answers on how to fix the issue!  So anyways, we recently told Marc that he had X amount of time to bring up the grades or there would be consequences- no car was the big one until the grades were brought up. We've been in touch with the teachers and have seen some of the missing assignments turned in.. I mean overall he has good grades with the execption of his first 2 classes.. We recently had a meeting with his counselor to see where he stood in class rank, get college info, sat info, etc..  He has a 92 average, and his class rank is 92 out of 550, in the top 16th (think that's what it is) so still pretty good, but was better than that up until this year. He knows he needs to make nothing less than a B this coming quarter to maintain that I believe..  I've asked Marc what is going on here- why the slacking when Ricardo has told him over and over and over how important his junior year is.  Marc told me simply- He has JUNIORITIS!! So yes, that's his diagnosis! Hey at least we have some answers! Now we are just working to find a cure for this.. :)  Happy parenting to you all! Hardest job in the world I would have to say! I am sure all you parents would agree with me on that.

Justin, Ricardo, Marc and my nephew Henry

Three Things I Love....

Three things I love in my life- besides family and friends..
1- My new ride!
2- My camera. Started using it again with baseball season in full swing. Love the sports mode as it allows me to capture the full action.
3- Iphone. Really fought myself on buying this, but I am soo glad I caved in on this purchase. Love it!

Getting up to date.. again!

Let's see! Since my last posting on my words to live by lots of things have happened. That's obvious right having three active boys. I have managed to SIMPLIFY by getting rid of the clutter in each room. It's an ongoing project though for sure. Ive gotten rid of so much, yet when I look around I still see soo much more that really needs to go. CONSERVING finances has been a work in progress. Ive gotten as far as making a chart of all the bills that need to be paid off, using some of Dave Ramsey's ideas. They are great but a little tough to stick to, to say the least. CONSERVING opinions of others has been another work in progress. Think I'm doing pretty good though! CHERISH- yeah another word I have to remember daily.. You know when the kids really act up I want to fast forward those days and times to when they are more well behaved. Need to cherish all the moments, both good and bad as there are lessons to be learned in every situation. It seems lately I'm just wanting to fast forward my life to when there are no more stressful issues and life is just "normal." Need to work on that..

Since Bella Renae's passing not a moment has gone by where I don't think about her. Some days and moments are better than others when I think about her and the VERY short time I got to be with her. Since we found out the cause of ther death, several family members have began helping out to support the cause of her death which is ACD- Alveolar Cappilary Dysplasia.. More about that on this website.. http://www.acd-association.com/   Be sure to check out the public service announcement on there. It was made in memory of Bella.. Fundrasing ideas are in the works and I will share them once we (all included in helping make the event possible) solidified the details.

Ricky celebrated his 11th birthday January 22nd. I never got around to posting any pics of that so here is one. He is one who like to pose for all my pics thankfully.

 Baseball is in full swing. We all very much enjoy this sport, even though the first few games for Marc and Justin were unbearably FREEZING! We are sure the cold weather has passed and will enjoy the games in this beautiful spring like weather..  Here are a few pics of Marc #4 and Justin #2

Spring break is going on right now. Can I say that I'm a little bummed our spring breaks are spent in SA for the next few years? Why the boys have games all during spring break doesn't make sense to me! I miss our annual spring break getaways! Planning to visit Mickey though when school gets out.. More on our summer plans in another post.. Be back for part 2 tomorrow or maybe later today..

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."


"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."

 Helen Keller

5th time is a charm..

Ok this is my 5th YES 5th attempt at making a blog and no finish to anyone of them. So I will combine all of them into one posting- after this one of course and get you all caught up to date with the happening in the crazy garcia household. Then hopefully after that I wont be so critical on myself to make that "perfect" post and just not do it cause there isnt something exciting to post about..