Back to work!

I just finished my online course to participate in the seminar this weekend! I also realized that I never explained my decision to go back to work. As with the move, I had no idea a few weeks ago that this opportunity would come my way.

I am going back to my old job. The job I have had since I finished my master's degree. I loved my job for many reasons. I got to work with the elderly. I got to drive the backroads of Texas. I only had a few patients (I never worked more than 20 hours a week!). My boss was my mother! The hours were incredibly flexible. I used to schedule my patients around Little House on the Prairie episodes!

After Matthew was born, I continued to be "employed" by the same company but I stopped working. I would come in to supervise new therapists, orient them, or fill in while someone was on vacation. The more kids I had, the less I worked. I haven't seen a patient since before ME was born.

In the back of my head, I was thinking, when the current therapist leaves, I might consider going back for the aforementioned perks. She had called me recently to fill in for her while she was on vacation (starting tomorrow!). This got me excited again about my profession! I was thrilled to get to see if I still knew what I was doing!

I found out 3 weeks ago that the therapist is moving so the job was up for grabs starting this fall! At first, I thought it was too soon, but I wanted Bryon's opinion on the matter. When I asked him whether I should go back or not, his eyes got wide a saucers! He was thinking, "Should I tell her to stay home and come across as a male shauvinist, or should I say go to work and look like I am ripping her away from her babies?" He said the right thing, "Whatever you want!"

While I don't "have" to go back to work, it would speed up the furniture buying process! Also, I would be working about 10-15 hours a week and most of that time would be when the kids were in Mother's Day Out. Lets face it, I usually use that time to hang out with friends or have "me time" so working then would be great and not a huge life change. If I had an extra patient or two to see, I will either trade babysitting with Lauren or use a few hours on Saturday to do it. Bryon usually takes the kids out by himself every Saturday, so I think this will all work.

I am looking forward to starting something new and I am praying that it doesn't change the kids routine at all!

Dusting off the brain cobwebs

I am taking a continuing education course this weekend to keep up with my certification. I am learning a new therapy technique that I need to use when I go back to work some in the fall.

This course can only be taken after an online 12 hour anatomy of the swallowing nerves and muscles refresher course. I am supposed to look over the muscles of the jaw and neck as well as the nerves that innervate them.

As I sat there anwering questions, it make me think of the questions I am generally asked on a daily basis such as:

"Can I go to the bathroom?"
"Can I go over to Ethan's house?"
"Will you tell Buddy to leave me alone?"
"What's for dinner?"
"Does my face look red?"

A sample question from one of the tests for my MBS course that I am expected to answer in essay form tonight:

"The muscle fibers of the buccinator run in an anteroposterior
direction. Explain how this orientation is appropriate considering the
role of this muscle in generating positive pressure in the oral cavity
during the end of the oral phase. Consider the attachments on either
side of the muscle."

Uhhhhhhh.....

Perhaps I'll ponder this question while making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today.

What I know

I recently read a great article I think in Real Simple magazine. It featured several women who were 100 years old. Each woman told about their lives and the things that they had learned along the way. I have always had a heart for the elderly (that is who I chose to work with) so I loved every bit of this article! It got me wondering, what are things I know to be true about life and about me at the tender age of 31? Here is what I came up with:

I know:
1. That I am a child of God and this is the biggest blessing in my life.
2. The best part of waking up is Starbucks in my cup.
3. I do better in every aspect of my life if I get sufficient alone time each day.
4. That I choose to be around people who make me laugh.
5. That God gave me a wonderful husband and three great kids.
6. That eating a great steak dinner is worth the three pounds I gain from it!
7. The older I get, the less impressed I am by wealth, power, and celebrity and the more impressed I am by humility.
8. That cooking for my family is one of the greatest joys in my life.
9. I can't go to sleep without reading a book.
10. That I really appreciate being surrounded by beauty. I miss my garden!
11. That I have so much more to learn.
12. I used to think the older I got, the more sophisticated I would be and dress. In reality, I feel more comfortable in overalls with dirty hands working in my garden! You can still be sophisticated with dirt under your nails, can't you?
13. That I can't tolerate phony people.
14. That I can't drive well in traffic.
15. When I find myself in a situation where I spot my 2 year old with a smile on her face and a marker without a cap in hand, it never ends well.
16. I really love good food.
17. Diet Coke is the best drink ever to be made by man. This doesn't include coffee which was made by God.
18. Nothing smells better than baking bread.
19. That I am so blessed to get to stay home with my kids.
20. That I am so blessed to have had the parents and siblings I have.
21. That I could spend 24 hours a day with my sister and mother and never get tired of it.
22. Chaos and disorder dibilitate me.
24. I can't stand unmade beds and unopened blinds.
25. I love gloomy freezing cold days more than hot sunny days.
26. I still get excited seeing Bryon at the end of every day.
27. I enjoy Christmastime more than any other time of the year.
28. Football season is a close second.
29. I wish I were more easy going and less hard on myself.
30. I am becoming more of an environmentalist.
31. The best lessons I have learned in life, I have learned the hard way!
32. That I am blessed to have such fun children who are so different. It is a challenge and joy to get to parent them so differently. I know that I fiercely love each one with all my heart.


I wonder what else I will know if I write this list again in 69 years?

31 today

So I am 31 today. Last year was such a fun birthday. The family had a great party for me. Last year was such a novelty. Now I am thinking, "Oh, it keeps going!"

The boys rushed into our room this morning to sing me Happy Birthday. I gave Thomas a kiss and he went running over to Bryon to say, "Hey! That Sweet Hotty gave me the first kiss of the day!" That child melts my heart!

My whole family is in town and we are planning to do lots of fun things today. Tonight, we are going to a great restaurant in celebration of a family friend's law school graduation. Coincidentally, Bryon graduated from the same law school on my birthday 11 years ago! I had to miss it because I was studying abroad. Those were the days....

Matthew's kindergarten teacher and her husband are watching the kids tonight for us. They don't have kids yet so I am anxious to see how it all goes! Looking forward to a fun day!

2 slices of humble pie courtesy of Matthew

I went to the library today with my college roommate. She was a little concerned about how her 2 year old boy would act and I told her that odds are, he would enjoy himself.

We sat down together. Our older kids sat on the floor while the two 2 year olds sat on our laps. Sure enough, the play started and her little boy didn't want to sit. He started fussing and she apologized to me. "I can't believe how well ME sits on your lap." I knew she was frustrated and I told her as long as we were friends, she would never have to apologize for her 2 year old son who was full of energy. Matthew at that age was the same way so I completely sympathized with her. I told her that just like hers, Matthew was never mean or onery, just BUSY! He made me a very humble mother.

We went to eat afterwards at Sonic. The Sonic near the library has a big playground, park benches, and two stands to go and order your food. After a nice lunch together, Matthew informed me that he wanted tater tots. I told him that he had already had plenty and that there was still extra in the kids meals. This seemed to satisfy him and he went off to play while Lisa and I talked.

The next thing you know, a waitress came into the play area and announced, "Who ordered the tater tots!" Matthew came running up and said, "That would be me!" He apparently went to one of the stands furthest from me, pushed the red button, and took it upon himself to order what he wanted. It never occurred to him that I had to pay for them. Oh, that child! I just looked at her and said, "Like I said, you never have to apologize for your child's behavior!" I do think this made Lisa feel a little better!

After lunch, I put ME down and Matthew and I had a long talk about how he was going to work off the dollar that I had to spend on his tater tots. He, like always, realized that he was wrong and was extremely apologetic. He put on his sweetest voice and started brainstorming with me on what chores he could do. Then, still using his sweet voice, he said to me, "You know, Mommy, you are starting to look a little pregnit!" In my mind, I was thinking, "You know, Matthew, you are starting to look a little dead!"

Yes, Matthew's gift to me is the gift of humility.

Oh, those su hu mer....Niiiii Hiiiiiites!

Sorry, I was singing Grease when I wrote my title!

Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis know that summer is perhaps my least favorite time of year. Not because of the kids being home or vacations or my birthday or anniversary. I just can't stand the heat and blazing sun in my eyes that makes it nearly impossible to play outside, say, past 10 in the morning.

There are a few redeeming qualities to this time of year, though. One of those is the summer nights. And while I prefer the sun going down at 6 in the evening rather than 9, you can't argue with the beauty of the wide open Texas sky blazing with oranges, pinks, and reds. It is usually a chilly 90 degrees around this time as well which makes it so much more bearable.

In our new house, the sun goes down on the back right corner of our house. Right in front of the sunset are big trees which turn greyish black as they are back lit from the sun. The past several nights, it has been breezy which makes the most beautiful sound breezing through the trees. It almost looks magical. Pure heaven. It just does something to my soul sitting out there.

In the front yard, there are usually sounds of boys playing. Bryon and our across the street neighbor played a game of baseball in the front yard last night with their collective boys. After watching them for a while, I decided to take a walk and enjoy the sunset and cooler air. Maybe summer isn't so bad after all?

Last night, I had my parents and sister over for dinner. My parents are getting wood floors in so their house is a mess. I was glad to have them over to our quiet, clean house where they could relax (only kidding)!

After dinner, Lauren took Thomas home to spend the night. Thomas and Lauren are kindred spirits. Not only does Thomas look more like Lauren than he does me, they have the same outlook on life! Happy and free spirited. I think they had a great time together.

I put ME down then got to spend some one on one time with Matthew. I haven't had a lot of this this summer so it meant so much to me to get that time with him. His maturity and sweet spirit always seem to shine when he has alone time with adults. I love him so much and am so proud of the big boy he is growing in to!

I have a fun and busy end to the week. Today, I am meeting my roommate from college at our local library for their weekly summer kids activity. Tomorrow, we are meeting Matthew's kindergarten teacher for lunch. They both miss each other a lot! Matthew stares at her website picture daily! Friday, I am meeting some friends to go swimming.

Saturday is my birthday, next week is my anniversary, and the next week is ME's birthday. Let the celebrations begin!

Happenings

I took the time to write a long post yesterday morning only to have Blogger erase it! I was so annoyed by this that I didn't attempt another post again all day.

This has been a really good week that followed a good week last week. The beginning of last week started with me really missing the old house. Things just didn't seem "normal" here. Since then, things have really started to feel normal. Bryon and I are getting back into our normal routine at night. We are sitting on our back porch again. It just feels good to be normal again.

The kids are at their last Mother's Day Out for the summer! My friends and I always go to a nice restaurant on the last lunch of "freedom" for a few weeks! I went into work this morning to take my annual test to continue being an employee. I have been working around 1-2 hours per year for a few years but I think that might change soon! More on that later. I am filling in for the current SLP next week as she is on vacation. I haven't seen a patient in several years so I am a little nervous!

Matthew got a new bike this weekend. It is a "Big Boy Bike" and he is thrilled with it! He looks so big. Someone asked me the other day, "So, when will he turn 7?" My thought was, "Not for a few years!" Seven sounds so big and his birthday will be here before you know it.

Matthew's old bike went to Thomas. It is red, thank goodness! We took the training wheels off his old bike. After Bryon did that, Thomas got on his old bike and started riding it without training wheels! I whispered in his ear that he started riding a two wheeler before Matthew did. This thrilled his soul! Who would have thought? I love how the kids always surprise me. Matthew was talking about training wheels yesterday. I informed him that he was using training wheels when he was 4 1/2. His response? "Aaah, yes. Those were the good ol' days. Yessir, the good ol' days!" What a nut!

We took the kids to Taco Bueno on Sunday night. ME refused to eat her quesadilla until we slathered it with guacamole! I swear, I am a pickier eater than my kids. She is hitting the terrible twos right about now. Her favorite thing to say is, "NO MA'AM!" She says this while her lips are puckered out. It is all I can do to keep from laughing. My parents say she comes by her dramatic side naturally. I wonder what they mean by that?

That's all for now. Hopefully, Blogger won't erase this post!

My brain is too hot to write.

I am sitting in front of my computer with not a clue as to what to write. It is so hot outside. My brain is moving slower, my body is moving slower. I can't let my kids outside after 10 in the morning because they would die of a heat stroke. Despite the fact that my birthday and anniversary are in the next two weeks, I really wish we could eradicate mid-July through August from the map!

I wish that our "summer vacation" from school was April 1-July 4th. At least the kids could play outside! Now I have three kids (plus lots of neighbor kids) over the house with nothing to do besides puzzles (which ME knocks over) and books. Oh well...

I have had a good week so far. I took the kids to our local library for a play about Little Red Riding Hood yesterday and they really enjoyed it. ME actually sat on my lap for an hour captivated!

I mentioned that we have had a lot of neighbor kids in the house. This is something I always wanted at the other house and now I have it! This is a blessing and a small curse. Sometimes I miss just having my three at home with me. I am happy for Matthew, though, that he is having such a good time with his friends.

ME is adding new words and phrases daily. Everytime she sees an outlet, she points and says, "Danger! Danger!" I still don't know where she picked that one up. We have laughed for a while now that she calls Bryon, "Bryon!" Now, she is calling me, "Honey" She'll say, "Comere, Honey!" Goosey girl.

That's all for now. Wishing everyone a cool day.

ME's latest favorite

My 23 month old daughter's favorite song isn't sung by Barney or Elmo. No, she much prefers Johnny Cash to puppets! She doesn't sing the ABC's quite yet, but she loves "Ring of Fire"!






The music starts and she starts jumping in her seat! She joins in full voiced on the chorus:

I went DOWN DOWN DOWN
and the flames went HIGHER
and it BURNS BURNS BURNS
the RING A FI YERRRR!

She always keeps us on our toes and in stitches!

Home again!

For some reason, blogger isn't letting me post pictures tonight! I took 700 pictures on the trip but only posted the best 300! Feel free to look at them until you are bored to tears! Most of the things I talk about in this post can be seen in the pictures to the right of the screen.
I am happy to report that we are home and almost unpacked!

We really had a great week and I was sad to see our vacation end so quickly. Here are a few of my favorite highlights:

*Driving over the Sagamore Bridge which located at the beginning of the Cape. It is a beautiful sight. Thomas's first remark? "I wonder if they have a Taco Bueno here."

*Touching down in St. Louis and seeing the excitement on Matthew's face because he added another state to his "been there" list!

*Going back to Plimouth Plantation. It reminded me of several of our trips there growing up. What a privilege to get to take my own kids!

*Watching Matthew dive off the pier at my uncle's boat house which I was terrified of even in college! It is about a 7 foot drop into a river that leads to the Atlantic Ocean. I put a life saver out for Matthew as a marker to not go past. The current in strong and can pull you out fast if you aren't careful. I have a few pics of Matthew jumping in, then me jumping with him. What a brave little guy!

*My cousin in law and I taking the four boys to the fish pier. Blood, guts, stinky dead fish. A boy's paradise!

*Taking in the beauty of my surroundings. Cape Cod is know for their gorgeous blue hydrangeas. What a sight to see!

*Watching the second cousins bond. Just for clarity, I will explain the "Matthew thing". I have a cousin on both side of the family named Matthew. The first second cousin to be named this was the one we call "Matty". He is 18 months older than my Matthew. Matty got his name from his mother's brother, my first cousin, Matt. Next was my Matthew. I needed an "M" name and always loved the name Matthew. I never see my cousin much so I figured it was OK to have a child with the same name as his second cousin. The next Matthew born was Matty's first cousin. His father is Matt and wanted a Jr. My grandmother's first three great grandchildren were all named Matthew! It only gets confusing once a year!

*My kids loved seafood. Matthew ate swordfish, scallops, and steamers. ME ate scallops and lobster. They are such adventurous eaters!

*Getting to eat oysters and steamers myself!

*Wearing sweatshirts. The weather was overcast for half of the week. My aunt and uncle apologized for this but I enjoyed it. I am a gloomy weather fan and I don't get much this time of year!

*Getting to read two fabulous books. The Scarlet Thread by one of my favorite authors, Francine Rivers, and In the Heart of the Sea, an account of the sinking of the whaleship Essex. I couldn't put either one of them down!

*Just being home again. Friday was a grueling day. 13 hours of travel. The boys were beyond perfect. ME? Hmmmmm.....words that come to mind.....maniac...hell on wheels.....whirling dervish......nonstop movement for the 4 hours in the plane. Yes, we were happy to be on solid ground again!

I am ready for a simple, nothing going on week. I hope it turns out this way!

Day 5

It started raining so I have a few minutes to blog.

Today my cousin in law and I took the boys, Matthew, Matthew, Matthew, and Thomas, to the top of the Chatham Lighthouse. This was lots of fun and a little scary watching the boys climb the steep steps to the top. They enjoyed seeing the Atlantic Ocean and hearing that the next land mass was the northern tip of Spain!

Then we took them to the fish pier. This is always tons of fun for little boys. Lots of stinky fish being unloaded from the boats. The seagulls and seals circle around waiting for a wayward fish. Don't think I will be eating flounder for a while!

We did a little shopping with the boys and ice cream afterward. I do believe I have eaten my weight in ice cream since I go here!

Tonight is steamers and oyster night. Yum! Yum!

Days 3 and 4

Lots going on here! Yesterday, we took the kids to Plimouth Plantation. The kids totally enjoyed it! I remember going there as a little girl, so it was fun to head back. The pilgrims act like it is the year 1623 so the kids had fun asking appropriate questins like, "What ship did you come in?" and "Do you like it in America?" Of course, Thomas was oblivious to this and would tell the pilgrims, "This is my brother! We are from Texas!"

After Plymouth (the city is spelled with a "y" the plantation is spelled with an "i"), we headed back to the Cape and Bryon took the kids to see a Cape Cod baseball game. Bryon loves the Cape Cod baseball league. Many of the up and coming stars from colleges around the country come to the Cape to play in the Cape Cod baseball league. I enjoyed a few hours of quiet reading time.

Today, we had a quiet morning and headed to the Cape Cod Maritime Museum where they had a fun pirate exhibit for the kids. A shameless promotion the same week and the start of Pirates of the Carribbean! All the second cousins had a blast together!

I can't think of much else. It is hard finding the time to blog, so I don't know if I will do much until we get home. We are loving the trip. A perfect combination of relaxation, sight seeing, and family reunion. I am looking forward to downloading the hundreds (literally) of pictures I have taken!

Tomorrow we will be touring the Chatham lighthouse and watching the fish be loaded off the fishing boats at the fish pier. Lots of smelly fun!

Day 2 of vacation

I am sitting in my uncle's house on Cape Cod and taking a few minutes to blog about our trip. Things have been pretty low key for the past two days which was nice after a grueling day of travel on Friday. We woke up at 4:30 in the morning and didn't stop travelling all day! The boys were perfect. ME was a little hard to handle on the plane, but overall was better than expected.

We hadn't been here but 30 minutes before Matthew collided with his second cousin, Matty and cut his lip pretty badly. Blood was everywhere! What a start to the trip. My Matthew is very tough and doesn't cry easily. He was crying so hard that he started sweating. Bless his heart! After he calmed down, he told me, "Daddy said that was a manly cry." I guess he was embarassed.

A lot of my extended family came in for the weekend to see us. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins. The kids have had so much fun together. Three of the seven second cousins here are named Matthew. It has gotten confusing! We spent the day yesterday and the beach on my uncle's property. Last night we celebrated many of our family's birthdays and anniversarys. It was so chilly last night that I had to put on a sweatshirt and jeans. Pure heaven!

I think we are going to try to go to Plymouth Plantation tomorrow. We are going to spend the rest of the day just relaxing and gearing up for a busy week. I will try to write more tomorrow or Tuesday!

Just now settling in and already packing again!

This has been a really fun week. Bryon had the holiday off, we are feeling much more settled, we got to hang out with lots of friends and family, and now we are anxiously awaiting our summer vacation starting tomorrow!

I worried about the timing a little considering all we have been through, but I think a relaxing week together is just what the doctor ordered. We head for Cape Cod in the morning and will be there most of next week. If you remember from reading last year, my uncle has internet capabilities so I will be able to blog from his house. It should be a fun week: whale watching, Cape Cod baseball league, Plymouth Plantation, Sundae School icecream, seafood, hanging out with cousins and second cousins, and the beach. I am most looking forward to highs in the 70s!

This is the first time for me to pack for 5 (other than small weekend trips) and fly with three kids! Yikes! Wish us luck!

Picture Blog

Reconnected to the outside world.

BABY UPDATE!!!
Stephanie had her little girl this morning. Ella Kate was born this morning around 10 ish. Mommy and baby are doing great. I will write more as I hear.


Well, here we are, 1 ½ weeks after moving into our new house. Every day is starting to feel more normal. I now have my TV, internet, and telephone, so I can start feeling connected to the outside world again! The past few weeks have been filled with lots of highs and lows. Here are a few:

High- Finally in the house that we were so excited about! We feel like God worked out the small details that made the dream a reality for us.
Low- Saying goodbye to the house we have lived in the majority of our married life and all the upheavel that involves.

High- Watching the children fall asleep in the new house for the first time and wondering how old they would be the last time they spent the night here.
Low-Moving all of our big furniture and belongings over on Sunday and finding out we had five hard nights ahead of us moving the small stuff over. Definitely the lowest of the lows.

High-Trying to figure out which switch turns on what light, how to operate the oven, turn on faucets, etc. I know this one is a little weird, but it has been fun figuring out how the house works!
Low- Paying someone way too much money to clean our old house only to see that she did a horrible job. I had to pay a babysitter to come over the next day so I could go the old house, get on my hands and knees and do the job over again.

High-Working on the church musical all week. This kind of thing is right up my alley and I had fun working with the kids and with my friends. The kids did a great job! Matthew had a solo in the song, “I’m Guilty!” Imagine that! His line? “I scared my sister with a big ol’ frog. My mom got mad so I kicked the dog, I’m guilty. Guilty of doing wrong!” He did a great job and never got stage fright.
Low-Getting all three kids out the door by 8:30 every morning to go to practice and not knowing where half of their things were!

High-Getting one car into the garage, then two cars into the garage! We worked our brains out getting the job of finding a spot for everything finished. I can’t stand jobs half done.
Low- Finding out that the replacement window my lawn boy broke was back ordered and scrambling to get that fixed before closing.

High-Hanging out with my friends at Stephanie’s shower.
Low-Being so incredibly tired from the weeks events.

High- Meeting so many great new neighbors. The ones directly across the street have boys the same ages as mine! They have become fast friends.
High-Watching the kids learn to swim better. Matthew’s strokes look great, and Thomas can swim without floaties!
High- Having my inlaws watch the boys this weekend so we could finish the house.
High-Packing this week to go on vacation this weekend!
High- Making a little money at our garage sale and getting to spend the proceeds on our new house!

High-Our fun neighborhood Fourth of July party yesterday. I will post pictures soon.
Low-The morning sun streams into ME's room so we are having to wake up with her at 6 each morning. She does eventually go back to sleep so I have morning time to work around the house!

I'm still here!

My mom informed me yesterday that she was tired of seeing "Okey Dokey, Artichoky" so I thought I would come over to her house and write a quick blog. I have had about 5 minutes of internet time in a week and I am having withdrawls!

My dad said to Matthew last week, "Moving is hard, isn't it?" He replied, "Not really. The kids get to play while the grownups do all the work!"

That really sums up last week. Other than the week that I took my national boards for Speech Pathology then turned around the next week to take finals in graduate school, I can't think of a more busy and stressful week than last week! Moving into one house and out of another (and closing on both) is stressful enough. I also piled on a garage sale, swimming lessons, directing a musical at church (along with two friends), and a baby shower for Stephanie! The baby shower was tons of fun and I really needed a night with girlfriends!

I hope that last paragraph didn't sound like I was complaining. I feel so blessed to be in our new house! Now starts the fun part of putting things where they belongs, etc. My in laws kept the boys over the weekend and Bryon and I (along with my parents) knocked out 95% of the unpacking.

I will have internet, phone, and TV by the middle of the week so I will write more then. Have a great Fourth of July!