What the hail??

This morning as I was getting ready for work, as I do every morning, I logged onto the internet to check the weather forecast so I'd know what to wear. I read "chance of early morning thunderstorm" and a forecast of 70-some degrees. Soon after I heard an unfamiliar loud roaring. I looked outside to find balls of ice dropping from the sky. I've seen hail storms before many times, but never watched one quite like this. It was LOUD pounding on the roof and decks. I looked for the cat to let him in and he was nowhere to be found. The dog who was in, wanted to be OUT. She did not like the loud noise coming from overhead! I wasn't about to head to work till there was no more ice to dodge so I just watched it while I waited. I don't know how much time lapsed but I was surprised how long the ice stayed on the ground and deck. Usually it melts very quickly and I thought it would today too since it has been so warm outside lately. The cover on the pool looked like a trampoline with all the ice bouncing off it as it came down. The porches, even the covered back porch, were covered in ice pellets. I saw one piece on the back deck that was large, but not as large as a golf ball. I guess today's storm is the result of the clashing of crazy weather we've had lately.

I don't know if this gives you an idea of the size or not, but the board these are on is the top step which is a 2x12.

Coffee with Kendra

I've been spending way too much time on facebook lately! In doing so I have gotten in touch with old friends, family members, classmates, and acquaintances. One of my facebook friends is Kendra. We didn't know each other very well when we were in school but had a lot of friends in common back in our home town of West Plains, Missouri. Kendra found me on facebook recently and we've discovered that we live just over 20 miles from one another here in Texas! What are the odds of 2 West Plains girls ended up so close in South Texas??!! We decided to meet for dinner and coffee last night and we brought our daughters along too. Kendra's daughter Erica is a senior in high school and my daughter is a junior. The four of us talked non-stop for nearly 4 hours and only stopped then because we all had to get home and it was getting late. Kendra and I hit it off and so did Heather and Erica. All four of us had such a good time! Once we all got home we discovered that Heather and I chatted about our evening nonstop all the way home, and Kendra and Erica did the same thing! All four of us are looking forward to getting together again soon!


My friend Steve is one of our mutual friends. Steve reminded me several times to TAKE MY CAMERA!!! So, Steve these are for you!

Our daughters, Heather and Erica. Couple of cuties!

Gotta love that Erica loves photography as much as Heather and me!!!!

After coffee we decided to walk around downtown and show Kendra and Erica around. We all stopped in front of the fountain for photos.

Kendra and me:

Erica and Kendra:

This is what Heather, Erica and I looked like all evening!

Heather and Erica:

We wondered around downtown and along nearby streets, finding some places the girls decided were just creepy! Gotta love small towns that are quiet enough you can just wonder down the middle of the street at night!

Erica and Heather peeking in the window of one of the buildings:

We told Kendra and Erica that it is tradition for visitors to Seguin to have their photo taken with the giant pecan in front of the court house!

What a fun girls night out with so much chatting and laughing!!! Thanks Kendra and Erica for joining us!!! See you soon!!!

In Loving Memory

In memory of my daddy who died 10 years ago today, I'm posting my favorite photo. It was taken when he, Mom, Davy, Levi and Lacey drove to Arizona to visit us in May, 1992. What a wonderful time we all had during that visit! I will always cherish the memories from that trip. It was the only time they ALL traveled together to come to visit me.

While I do miss my daddy, I do know he's in a much better place and is now cancer-free. RIP Daddy!

Oct. 1, 1946 - March 18, 1999

Wordless Wednesday

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Skywatch Friday

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Wordless Wednesday

Dance Team Practices 9 to 5

No, the dance team doesn't practice from 9:00 to 5:00....they performed a routine to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" at the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Houston Saturday.

A practice area had been set up in a section of Clear Springs High School's cafeteria but Cathy decided right away it was too noisy and crowded to accomplish much. She led the girls to the end of a large hallway where I even found a place to take photos from a whole new angle....up the nearby stairs!

I took many many photos of them practicing and here are just a few of my favorites:

Kymber and Heather

Kymber smiling so sweetly

Kymber helped Heather with her suspenders.

Heather waiting for practice to begin. Do ALL dancers have the attitude this dancer appears to have?? :0)

Heather's Dance Solo

Broken
Originally uploaded by Photos by Tammy

Heather entered this lyrical solo that she choreographed herself in this weekend's Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Houston

Broken

Heather decided to choreograph her own dance solo this year for the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Houston. After having changed her song several times, her final choice for her song was "Broken" from the soundtrack of the movie "Broken Bridges" with Toby Keith. Although I was sick to death of hearing this song over and over as she practiced her dance, it will remain long in my memory as a very special song along with all the songs from her other solos over the years.

As I watched her dance on that stage in Houston last night memories of her other solos were playing through my mind: her very first solo (a lyrical) to Kenny Loggins' "Return to Pooh Corner" and how tiny she looked up on that big ole stage in St. Louis when she was 7; a lyrical she performed the next 2 years to Bob Carlysle's "Butterfly Kisses," and how it made her daddy cry to watch her dance that one; a solo she worked so hard on and never got to perform because we moved to Texas: a jazz number to "Mambo # 5 (Disney Radio Jams version); her first ballet solo choreographed by her first dance teacher in Texas; her solo to "Twilight Zone" and the costume we painted (yes Painted!); her lyrical solo to Jewel's "Hands;" and her crazy but amazing tap number she also performed that year.

As those images played out and I watched her nail perfectly this new lyrical solo after seeing her struggle with it all week, tears were rolling down my face. I have always cried when watching Heather perform her solos. I am so proud of how talented she is.

I was so touched, as we sat with her current dance team members and all watched together, at how loudly they cheered for her and supported her. The tears began as she nailed her turns over and over and as she nailed each one without falling out of it, her friends' cheers grew louder! I think at that very moment we were all sharing such pride in what she accomplished.

Not only was this Heather's first solo since leaving studio dancing a few years ago, this is the first piece she's ever choreographed by herself. What an accomplishment! Way to go Heather!

As I sat here going through the photos and seeing what I captured in them I couldn't help but think how proud Heather's first dance teacher Colleen would be if she could have seen her. All those accumulated hours of sitting in splits and leaping across the gym floor and hearing Colleen say "point your toes!" began in Heather a love of dance that still continues. This year, for the first time since Heather began dancing 11 years ago, Heather has her splits. Splits was something that never came easy for her. This year, working with her current dance teacher Cathy and her dance team on their high kick routines, Heather finally got her splits and she very proudly choreographed that in the ending of her dance solo!