Movie Wish List

As most people know, we have an extensive movie collection. Well, the DVD shelf is beginning to overflow and the VHS's are just collecting dust. We've decided to get rid of the VHS and slowly replace them with DVD. The list of these movies and movies that we want is below. I'm going to try to have a permanent link to this post and keep the list updated. So, if there is ever a question of what to get Thomas and I for a gift, just come here and you know we'll be happy.

Here's the list (*= replacing VHS campaign):

10 Things I Hate About You*

America's Sweethearts*

Animal House*

Armageddon*

As Good As it Gets*

Beaches*

Blazing Saddles*

Cocktail*

Coyote Ugly*

Cruel Intentions*

The Cutting Edge*

Double jeopardy*

Empire Records*

Enemy at the Gates*

A Fish Called Wanda*

Heart & Souls*

Jerry Maguire*

Legally Blond*

The Little Rascals*

The Mask of Zorro*

Maverick*

Monty Python and the Holy Grail*

Newsies*

Notting Hill*

Pay it Forward*

Playing by Heart*

Rules of Engagement*

The Saint*

The Sixth Sense*

Smoky and the Bandit*

Thomas Crown Affair*

The Wedding Planner*

When Harry Met Sally*

The Usual Suspects*

Defense

We played Elgin on Monday night and it was ugly. The JV lost by about 15-20. It was some of the worst defense that I have ever seen. We had no effort and not heart. I felt like it was last year again. Then the Varsity came out and were down 16-0 in the first 4 minutes. They fought back and ending up losing by 3 in overtime. The battled hard but came up just short.

Today we went to Cameron. They are just as athletic as Elgin was. The JV jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. I thought that maybe we would be alright. Before I knew it we were down by 10. We got down by 16 in the third and were down 12 at the end of the third. It was more of the same from Monday. We just were not giving any effort on the defensive end. There was one point in the third quarter that I didn't see that game for about 45 seconds because I had my head in my hands. IT WAS BAD. In the 4th quarter something clicked with our kids. They started getting after Cameron and we outscored them 23-5 in the 4th. They didn't even have a field goal in the quarter. Just 5 free throws. We ended up winning by 6. It was awesome but I think it took a year off my life. That last quarter was about as hard as I have ever coached. I was physically drained after the game. Then I had to go to the Varsity game and help coach that one as well. They handled Cameron pretty easily. They ended up winning by 14. Next Tuesday we have to go to Glen Rose. Last year they beat our Varsity by about 30. Hopefully we will play a little bit better this year.

Enough for now...

We don't want to cause eye strain for any of our fans by having to read too many new posts. Hopefully it will not be another 3 months before we post again. I've got 27 days until I get pinned and 28 days until I graduate! If the house is a rockin', don't bother knockin', just come on in!

Basketball season

Well it is that time of year again. Basketball season is here. There were times during football that I thought it would never come. We kicked of the season this weekend with a sub-varsity tournament in Whitney. I was not sure what kind of team I was going to have but I thought anything would be better than last year.
I thought that our first game was supposed to be against a team from a juvenile detention facility but it turned out that we had to play Fairfield instead. We were down most of the game but the kids fought back and we ended up winning 46-42. The next day we played Stephenville. We got down early in this game as well. In the third quarter we were down by 14. Once again the kids fought back but we ran out of time. We ended up losing by 48-47. Our game on Saturday was supposed to be and easy win. We played Whitney and during the whole tournament their Varsity coach kept telling me how bad their JV was. He was right. We jumped out to a ten point lead. In the 4th quarter the whole thing fell apart. We were outscored 23-8 in the 4th. According to dad the fans were wanted me throw out of the last game after I was arguing with the ref about his decision to eject one of my players after a hard foul. Overall, it was a rough weekend for Gatesville basketball. Hopefully the season gets better as it goes on.

Dad's 60th Birthday Party

Happy Pirate Party, Dad!
It was a good time, that will never be repeated (really, it won't, the building burned down the following Monday).

Lake Day at Dawn's

I know everyone is worried that nursing students are all work and no play, well this post shows we do take a break every once in a while. My friend Dawn's parents have a house on Lake Travis (we think) and occasionally we get down there and relax.
From left to right: Shannon, Alan, Katie Childress, Tricia and Dawn (we will excuse the burnt orange on the website just this once)











They stuck all the Aggies together. Lance and Katie are on the right and we're on the left (yes, that's an Aggie joke...)



Lance, this one's for you. I hope you enjoyed it because you surely got in trouble for getting back in the boat wet.

State Fair of Texas

Thomas, Jason, Bethany, my mom and dad and I went to the State Fair. We ate everything we couldfind that was fried (PB&J&banana sandwich, Coke, Corn Dog, Texas Twisters, Donkey Tail (hot dog in a tortilla)). We then walked it off (well, some of it) by watching the knife salesman and all the "As seen on TV" things you can't live without and looking at the new cars we wish we could have. We skipped the livestock because we can see all of the animals we need at the Winkler Farm. Jason and I rode one ride and it was a blast, it left us not knowing top from bottom.










We also crammed into the big ferris wheel. The view is always cool regardless of how many times you ride.

Graham at 4 months, 3 months ago

It sure had been a busy fall for the Winkler's. I did not even remeber taking these pictures of Graham. He's already sitting up on his own and eating real food instead of his hands.

I'm sure he does ask every once in a while if he could have some "Thomas fingers" for a snack.

Pretty Flower

Mom, here's a picture of a flower on the plant you sent to tropical Temple, TX for a vacation for some rest and relaxation. We're taking good care of it at Hotel Winkler.

Mustache

A while ago I had a little facial hair. I liked it and Laura was very much against it(along with my mother). I decided that I would make her happy and shave it. However, I wanted to see how a little mustache would look first. This is the result of that little experiment.

Sully

Well something has happened to Bob. The man who swore he would never have an animal in the house went out and bought a puppy that he is going to keep in the house. I think it is because he is going to miss Cheryl's cat when she moves to Madison. He will probably tell you that is not the case. Anyway here are a couple pictures of said dog. His full name is Lawerence Sullivan Ross Winkler. He is a little blond beagle.

The Hornets are Rollin'

The Fightin' Hornet football team is on a roll. We beat up on the Taylor Ducks this past Friday. Sorry Mark, but I had no idea we would play that well. We were missing several players and still managed a 49-10 win. Our guys played their second best game all year. The best was against Cameron. We start district play this Friday. We visit the Lorena Leopards this coming Friday. We should blow them out but who knows.

Back on Track

The Hornets are now back on the right path. We easily handled the Lampasas Badgers. I think the final was 41-6. We have a week off and then the Taylor Ducks come to town. The good news is that basketball season is right around the corner. We start after school practice in one month and our first scrimmage is on the Saturday after our last district football game. Also, if you were looking for some pictures(and you know who you are) then you need to talk to Laura.

Peace out

WOW

Well the old Gatesville Hornet football team came crashing back down to earth this Friday. They went to Liberty Hill and had got lit up. The final score was 84-10. Everything that can go wrong for a team did go wrong. They scored 2 quick touchdowns and then our kids got down. It was all down hill from there. Our OL coach told me today that this is the worst butt kickin' he has gotten in his 27 years of coaching. Hopefully we can rebound next Friday. We play a tough Lampasas team that got beat this Friday by Mark Rodgers and the Taylor Ducks. Maybe Taylor will take it easy on us when we play them in a couple of weeks.

Gatesville beats #5 Cameron

The Fightin' Hornets played the best game that I've ever seen them play on Friday. The 5th ranked Cameron Yoemen came to Gatesville looking to extend their 11 game regular season winning streak. At halftime we were down 10-19. In the 3rd quarter we completely dominated the game. We outscored the Yoemen 19-0 in the 3rd. We controlled the ball the rest of the game to win 29-19. In the second half we stopped Cameron on all 5 of their fourth down attempts. Matt Chartier had a great night. He ran for 183 yards on 17 carries. This kids is just a workhorse. He has the speed to out run you but he has the mentality that he is going to run you over first. Next Friday we go to Liberty Hill. They are also ranked in the top 20 so it should be another good game.

District 17AAA

I guess that I need to let everyone know how Gatesville did on Friday. The varsity went to Mexia. Last year we went there and kinda fell apart. This year we put it on 'em. Final score was 49-26 in favor of the Hornets. David Wassermann had a big night. He had 9 catches for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also kicked the extra points on all 7 touchdowns. Hopefully the rest of the season follows this pattern. This coming Friday the 5th ranked Cameron Yoemen come to Gatesville for what should be a shoot-out.

The Promised Land

Well A&M football season is really here. Laura and I made the trip down to Kyle Field to watch the Citadel game on Saturday. I don't know if I was more excited to see the game or all of the new video stuff.

The new jumbo-tron, aka 12th Man TV, was very impressive. Some of the content they had on it was awesome. It is kinda hard to tell how big it really is from the pictures. You have to see it in person to get the full effect of it.

The ribbon board around the bottom of the 2nd deck was pretty cool as well. Laura liked that more than the 12th Man TV. They had some nice graphics on it. They also had current scores on all the games going on at the time. There was also a section that they used for all the in-game stats.

Of course almost as important as any game at Kyle Field is the "Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band". If you don't get goose bumps when they march in or when they take the field at half time there is a good chance that you have no pulse.

All that other stuff was great but the main reason for going was to see some Aggie Football. We hammered the Citadel. We looked really good at times but there are a few things that still need some work. I think we had 5 or 6 fumbles. I don't think we can do that against tu or OU and get away with it. McGee look impressive. He is definitely not afraid to tuck the ball and run. He took a couple of shots and just bounced right back up on his feet. I must say that I am very excited about the rest of the season.

Pearl and Picasso

As the cats get acclimated to the new house and dogs, I thought I could post some pictures so Mom can show off her cats to her friends and at work. All parties (the dogs vs. the cats) are still a little feisty.

Mom wanted me to hold the two cats for a picture. I agreed until I remembered that Pearl hisses at Picasso and I didn't care to have a cat fight in my arms. So this is as close to the picture as we could get.

This is Picasso's first step out of the safety zone.

The dogs were also outside, so he was safe this time...

Here are some better close-ups of the two

Grilled Graham and Cheese...

Grammers, Graham cracker, G-Unit, Grahamburger...we could keep going or just post the pictures of the cutest 4 month old I know. He looks very digified in this one:

I think he is checking out the two teeth that only 7 month olds are supposed to have, right Michele...

This one is to show a cute kid in big shoes and also to show off how big Thomas' feet are and how bad his tan lines have gotten on his feet. Cute kids!

The Daniel's New Cats

My Mom has been wanting a Siamese cat for years. She always welcomed an assortment of tabby cats, black and white cats, calico cats. Well, she got her cats today! Meet, for the first time on the world wide web, Picasso and Pearl (formerly known as Prada):

Picasso is 4 months old and sure acts like it too.

He is a lot of fun to play with but we didn't realize

they taught boxing at the shelter.

Pearl, Picasso's mom, is the Siamese cat my Mom has been wanting forever. She's a real pretty cat but has had a rough 48 hours. She was neutered yesterday evening and then brought to a new house with strange people and dogs. She tried hanging out in the bathtub as much as she could. The pictures are blurry, I'll try to get more up soon.

Mom, this one is for you. You said to be fair I should put one of the dogs up too. I think this one works!

2-a-day wrap-up

Well 2-a-days is now over. I gotta tell you it was kinda warm out there this week. On Thursday it was 110 in Gatesville. That is the actual temperature and not the heat index. The coaching staff decided that the only good thing about it being 110 is that it made 98 feel a lot better. On Friday we finally got to strap the pads on and go hit each other(the kids not the coaches). There is only so much you can do in the four days that the UIL says you have to go without pads. Thankfully we didn't have any concussions. Everyone is pretty excited about our varsity this year. We return 10 starters on offense and 6 starters on defense. The one new starter on offense is an inside slot receiver who runs a legit 4.38. He went to state in the 100. After a couple year playoff drought, Gatesville should make it to the post-season this year. We will just have to wait and see how well the junior high "C" team is going to be.

D.C. on the 4th, Hot, tired but having fun. 

Our Summer

As Thomas begins his 3rd football season at Gatesville and I enjoy a couple last weeks of summer before I finish nursing school, I would like to recap our summer:

• We got some home improvements done: new shades in the living/dining room, the kitchen cabinet doors are up, outdoor speakers and a new light installed on the back porch and rearranged furniture.
• Thomas watched and refereed some summer league basketball, making it seem like basketball is year-round.
• We determined that fishing is relaxing and fun. We fished some at Belton Lake but actually caught fish at Jason and Bethany's "farm" tanks.

• We visited Michele and Graham (we're sorry we missed Grady!). In one week we traveled to Atlantic City, Gettysburg, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. all with a 3 month-old in tow. We all learn a lot about hot summers and car time with the little one and had a really good time. This is a picture of us at Little Roundtop in Gettysburg.
• Thomas had a bone spur removed from his elbow and is recovering very well. So far he thinks he will be able to throw a football or a basketball without pain when he's back to full strength.
• I worked as a nurse tech and learned that as a tech, I enjoy working the 3-11 shift much better than the 7-3. I also confirmed that working with kids is what I want to do!
• Tom Daniel left for Siping, China at the end of July to study Kung Fu for 4 months. He has emailed a couple times and is really enjoying it. I found the website for the Shao lin Martial Arts Academy. He will be back around Thanksgiving and we can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories. Siping is a smaller Chinese town of 3 million. It is in the province of Jilin (one of the orange ones), in northeast China. Here's a map of China to help see where he is:

It's been a good summer. We've had some good times with our friends and family! I will leave you with some really cute deer we saw walking around the neighborhood at Morgan's Point.

Texas High School Football

Well it is that exciting time of year again. Football season is here. This is a good thing(Fightin' Texas Aggie Football) and a bad thing(2-a-days start tomorrow morning at 6 am). I guess you have to take that good with the bad. At least I get to get back in the classroom!

PS- This is Thomas writing until we can figure out how to change the name.

What a huge fish.

Testing

Test, test, 1, 2, 3