My weekend and news from Washington.

I had a tiring but exciting weekend in Houston. I took the best continuing education course I have ever taken. There is a lot of new technology out there to help patients who cannot swallow because of a stroke, progressive disease, or cancer. These patients are told that they cannot eat certain consistencies or nothing at all. For a lot of patients, this is the last pleasure that they have and taking it away can be devastating. I was telling Bryon, when my grandmother was told she couldn't drive anymore, she took it well. If the doctor told her she couldn't eat ice cream anymore, she would lose her will to live! I am thrilled to have been certified in this technique and extend a patient's ability to eat.

While in Houston, Bryon and I were able to go on a date to celebrate our anniversary. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants while Bryon's parents watched the kids. We also went and saw Talledega Nights. Highly overrated and highly stupid. I just didn't find it all that funny.

Meanwhile in Washington, Matthew is having the time of his life. My mother was concerned that Matthew might not be able to keep up with the Robinson-style vacation. That is, wake at the crack of dawn and see as much as possible until bedtime. I laughed at this knowing that Matthew doesn't slow down until his head hits the pillow! He has called several times telling me all that he has seen. Mount Vernon, a 6 hour walking/riding tour of Washington D.C., the tomb of the unknown soldier and Arlington National Cemetary, Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum, National Archives, as well as the inside of a taxi (very exciting) and a train! This is all that I can remember. He has been rattling off everything he has seen talking 90 miles an hour!

He also called me this morning to say there was a fire alarm in his hotel last night and he got to exit the hotel at 2 in the morning ("IN MY UNDERWEAR!!!!!") and couldn't go back until 3 a.m. Now, Matthew is fairly fearless, but he has had a fire phobia since the house around the corner from us burned to the ground when he was 5. I told Matthew that a little boy was playing with matches which burned the house down. God forgive me, I was lying through me teeth, but he is such a curious child that I have always been afraid of him being curious with matches. This experience might have been an Oprah moment for him to rid him of his fear!

I have enjoyed a lot of peace and tranquility with just the little two at home. The noise and activity level decreases 10 fold without my oldest little ball of energy around!

ME's Hairvolution

Before I had ME, my only experience fixing my kids hair was to run a wet wipe through it and part it to the side with my fingers. I was always the envy of all my friends with multiple girls who had hair meltdowns on a weekly basis before church!

I have enjoyed doing my little girls hair and get excited with each milestone. We reached a new one yesterday! But first, a look back at how ME's hair has evolved or her "hairvolution" if you will!

First, the bow glued to the head. This was how my mother did my hair and I was only too happy to slap a dab of Karo syrup on her already sweet head and stick a bow on! Here is ME at 1 week old.




















Then, she finally had enough hair to stick a bow in with an alligator clip! This was a huge milestone!















The bigger the head....the bigger the bow!


















Just recently, I was able to put it into a more substantial ponytail. I had tried it before but had to spray it down to keep from flying away. I love this picture!


















And now, drum roll please, the latest and greatest new milestone........
PIGTAILS!!!!!! When did my baby start looking like a little girl?

10 years

Ten years ago this afternoon I married my best friend. It has been a fun few days of remembering what we were doing 10 years ago at that moment. It was a beautiful, hot and sunny day and my wedding was picture perfect. I just remember being on a high knowing that I was going to spend the rest of my life with Bryon.

I would love to say that these past 10 years have flown by, but we have packed a lot of activity into those years! Between finishing schooling, working, Bryon starting his own law practice, 3 kids, 3 moves, countless vacations, holidays, and other activities, we have been busy! Thanks for 10 wonderful years, Bryon. Looking forward to the next 10! (We'll be in our 40s with a driving child! Yikes!)

On the way home from the movies, and "He's leaving on a jet plane"...

I met my friend and her girls at the movies today. Her daughters are roughly the same age as mine (our middle ones are 26 hours apart in age!) and have been great friends since birth!

Here is a sampling from the conversation after the movie:

Thomas: "Buddy, did you have fun today because, yuuuuuck, greeuulls!" (this last word sounds a lot like the cooking aparatus in the backyard but he means girls. This was odd because he adores his little girl friends.)

Me: "Thomas, Mommy is a girl. Do you think Mommy is yucky?"

Matthew's reponse word for word: "Yeah, Thomas! Girls are just a good as boys! I can't wait to grow up. I bet there are going to be lots of hotties to pick from. Mommy, exactly how much does a relationship cost?"

What?
A)When did you start referring to girls as hotties?
B)When did you learn the word "relationship"
C)It'll cost you a lot if you get a good one! ;)

On another note, my little Casanova will be leaving with my parents today to Washington D.C. Matthew is beside himself with excitement and I had a hard time putting him into bed before 10! I am excited for him, especially given his love of American history, but a little apprehensive. He has never flown without me. If you think about it, please send up a prayer for him and the pilot on American Airlines that is carrying my sweet boy to the Capitol Thursday morning!

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!

Okey Dokey, Artichokey!

Thomas has a new rhyming phrase that he picked up while eating artichokes last night. Man, I love those things!

Yesterday was a gift of a day. The first normal feeling day all summer. The kids got along great, we only had a few errands to run, ME took a long nap, and I actually got to read and finish Monte Cristo. For the record, I am shocked that the movie Monte Cristo could use that name. The book was incredibly different from the movie!

I am going to take my camera to swim lessons today to get a few shots. Thomas is doing hand stands in the pool! It has been a great experience this year and I am glad that T isn't terrified of the water like M was at his age.

Busy day today, weekend, and week ahead of us! This is the fun part. I think I will still have a computer until the end of next week, so I will update the blog.

I leave you now with one of my favorite summertime recipes. I got this from Barefoot Contessa last year and it graces our dinnertable at least once a week in the summer. Chaio!

Corn Salad
5 ears corn
1 med. onion
3 T cider vinegar
3 T EVOO
S and P
Basil leaves

Shuck corn and boil for 3 minutes or until starchiness is just gone. Put ears into an ice bath.
Cut kernels off of cob and place in a bowl.
Dice onion and put in bowl.
Add next three ingredients.
Chiffonade basil leaves (However much you want. I like tons.) and add to bowl.
Chill and serve!

This week...

It has been an eventful but less stressful week.

Monday started swimming lessons for the boys. This has been the first year that I have been able to watch them (the other places I have gone have a no parent observation policy). It has been so much fun to watch! Thomas looks hilarious in his goggles with a huge smile on his face sitting on the steps waiting his turn! He is completely enjoying himself and has learned to do some swimming without floaties! I am hoping that by the end of lessons next week, he will be able to swim to the side of the pool. That will make my days at the pool much less stressful! Matthew, who has been swimming for several years, is learning pretty strokes.

I spent the majority of yesterday on the phone switching my utilities. Anyone who has done this recently knows the pain this was. I had to call TXU energy several times yesterday. Each time, I talked to someone who obviously had English as a second language. I wanted to ask, but didn't have the heart to, which country TXU was outsourcing to. I found it a little funny that each time they put me on hold, they played country music. Do people in India think that all Texans love George Strait?

I breathed a sigh of relief when all inspections came back OK. We had a few things to repair here but nothing major. I am looking forward to meeting the people who own our new home and giving them a big hug. They have been so helpful and gracious throughout the experience. It is how this process should be. We get our key tomorrow night and get to start moving our things in! Now starts the fun part!

A lot of this week has been dedicated to fixing the little things that need fixing. I forgot to blog about this, but when I came home from errands on Friday afternoon, I noticed that one of my windows was shattered. It turns out that my lawn boy kicked up a rock while he was mowing and broke the glass. I didn't have the heart to make him pay for it, so we get to shell out $150.00 for a new window. Now, how did we escape having a broken window for 7 1/2 years and get one the week before we move out? Oh, how I am tired of spending money on this place!

I am trying to finish Monte Cristo before this weekend. It has been a wonderful book. Unfortunately, it is 600 pages which has been hard for me to read quickly as I have been distracted these past few weeks! I recommend it to anyone looking for a great classic to read.

That's all for now! Have a great Thursday!

Thomas at 4 (AND A HALF!)

Here's whats going on with my little Tomboy:

*He just had his half birthday which I believe he was more excited about than his actual birthday. He keeps telling everyone about how he is 4 1/2 now.

*He loves to rhyme everything: "Winner winner, chicken dinner!" "You lost you lost you ate tomato sauce." "That's awesome as a dawsome!" "Later, Tater!" "Time for bed, Fred!"

*He has lots of love and affection for several inanimate objects. He will give his key a bath (soap and all). He will wrap his NASCAR in a blanket to put to sleep. He washes his beanie baby monkey's hair.

*He gets along with everyone. Whether it be an 8 year old girl or 2 year old boy, he plays well with whomever he is with! I don't know a kid who doesn't love Thomas. I couldn't say whether he gets along better with Matthew or Mary Beth. He seems to be the playmate who both of them want to play with.

*He loves to be babied. He talks in a baby voice a lot. He loves to be cuddled. This was a stark contrast to Matthew who was born thinking he was an adult.

*He is my child who can play by himself for hours. Again, a stark contrast to Matthew. He can be in his room and keep himself occupied for ever!

*He is my giggler. It is hard to picture Thomas without a huge smile on his face. Things crack him up easily. I love to hear him giggle!

*He has got a mischevious streak. He is starting to do things specifically to annoy Matthew. After Matthew has inflicted years of "torture" on Thomas, he is finally getting his revenge! I have to choke back the smiles!

*He and Matthew wear the same size clothes. I believe that Thomas will be bigger than Matthew one day.

*He is a daddy's boy to the maximum. He worships the ground that Bryon walks on. From the moment Daddy comes home, Thomas is glued to him.

*He wants to go out with whoever is going out. If someone is leaving the house, he wants to be a part of the action.

*Things don't scare Thomas too easily. He isn't scared of the water, the dark, thunder, lightening, snakes. He takes it all in stride.

*He gets strangely attached to things that we have no attachment to.
Matthew loves Alabama and Baylor football. Makes sense, right?
Thomas? He loves the Seattle Seahawks.
Why? We don't know.
NASCAR? No clue why he adores it so.
The color red? Who knows?
He wants to visit Seattle and talks about it constantly.

Just a few quirky things about my little guy!

*He is my laid back, happy, go with the flow, funny, beautiful boy who has blessed our lives so richly for four AND A HALF years!

The next Tiger Woods?

This morning I informed Matthew that it was Putt Putt day at Mother's Day Out and to please hurry up and get dressed. Ten minutes later, he exits his room wearing this number. When I asked him why he was dressed up for church when everyone else will be wearing t-shirts and shorts, he replied, "This is how you dress to play golf."

He just got through watching The Greatest Game Ever Played and I guess he felt he should dress like they did in the 1920s to play golf! Oh well, you pick your battles.

ME at 22 months.

In the midst of all the chaos in our house right now, my little girl is changing so much! Here is what she is doing:

*Talking up a storm! "Matthew goin' night night!" "Ont (I want) chockit!" "ME do it" "Ont princess cup" "Rocky rock baby doll." The combinations change daily. I love this language explosions age!

*She is starting to love girly things. She will play with her dolls. She will make tea (which she calls "Coppee" because her mama drinks lots of coffee!). She loves her Disney princess sippee cups. She loves bows. If she doesn't have one in her hair she says, "Ona bow!" She also loves holding jewelry and called it all "pretty". "Ona hold pretty!" The first time she sees someone, she walks up to them with her arm out to show her bracelet.

*She loves to make us laugh. One of her favorite ways to do this is to talk in a funny voice. I can only liken it to Fat Albert's "Hey, hey, hey!" voice. That guarantees a laugh every time!

*She looks similar to my mother. She has her smile. I adore my mother so this trait makes me so happy!

*She never met a stranger. She loves saying "HI!" to everyone. She never cries when I take her to the nursery or to Mother's Day Out. I think she is quite the social butterfly!

*She is incredibly affectionate. She loves to hug and kiss all the time. It isn't usual for me to be holding her and her to give my neck a huge bear hug unsolicited. She will also do this from behind when I am sitting down. She constantly wants to be held. I can see where this could get tiresome, but since she is my last baby, I really enjoy holding her.
*She is a mama's girl. Don't get me wrong, she adores Bryon. It's just when the boys were her age, all they wanted was Bryon. It is sweet to have a child actually want me over Bryon from time to time! ;)

*She has a great Elvis impersonation. You tell her to do "Elvis" and she curls up her lip!

*She is still attached to her "bibi" and wants it every time she is hurt or tired.

*She still loves to dance and does so any time she can.

*She can play for long stretches with the boys now without me having to worry about her safety. She can climb up on their bed and down without problems. This gives me 15 minutes every now and then to myself. How nice!

*She moves constantly. Up and down. Left and Right. Even when she walks, both of her arms are going every direction and her body sways left and right! She keeps me on my toes!

What a blessing she has been to me for the past 22 months!

Part 3

OK, I am really not trying to write a suspense novel. There is just so much information and I can't sit down long enough to write it all. I am taking a break from packing to write the rest.

There was one house in the neighborhood that fit our criteria. I called a realtor to take a look inside. I took one look inside and fell in love. It was the right size, the right flow, the right colors, the right details. I immediately said goodbye to idea of the house swap. This was the home I wanted. I couldn't sleep that night because my mind was racing a hundred miles a minute. We decided to put our house on the market and see what happened.

We talked to a builder friend of ours who lived in the neighborhood. He told us that he had just built a house with the same floorplan as the one we were interested in. A couple from out of state had put a contract on it then decided to pull the contract and try to sell their home before they bought it. Our friend put the house back on the market. We took a look at it and loved it as well. It was strange, because there were bits and pieces of each that we liked. One had painted cabinets/one had stained. One had my favorite wood floors/one had wood floors that weren't my favorite although still very nice. One had a peaceful,cozy backyard with no neighbors in the back/one had several back yards converging in its backyard. One had plantation shutters throughout/one had wood blinds. We really struggled with which one we liked better. Our plan was to see which one was still available when we sold our house.

We decided that we liked the builder's house a little better. Mainly because it was a lot less expensive. When we had a contract on this one, we decided to put a contract on the builder's house. Well, the builder told the out of state couple that someone was putting a contract on it and they panicked and decided to buy the house from our friend! We were disappointed but philosophical about it. Our friend told us he would build us the same house with all the things we liked about each house for the same price.

The problem was, all the desirable lots were taken. Should we build a house with everything we want on a less desirable lot? Go through the building process which we didn't want to do? Live in a duplex? We decided to put an offer on the house that was still for sale and offer the asking price of the other and see what happened. The owners took our offer! It was a done deal. The house that kept me up all night a few weeks ago would be ours!

So that is that in a nutshell. I wouldn't wish the selling of a house on anyone. Anyone who has been there can sympathize! I had 1-3 people looking at the house each day starting the week Matthew started summer. It was stressful, but thankfully not a lengthy process. Packing isn't nearly as stressful knowing where we are going.

I wondered for a while about that phone call. I feel like that was God's way of starting me in the process of changing my mind about building. I truly feel like this is the best move for our family and I am anxious to move in and be settled. This move is bittersweet as we are leaving the house that we brought all our babies home to. Our first houseguest the night we moved in was Kevin, the night before he married Kristen! We really feel like this move signifies the end of babyhood for us. Exciting but sad at the same time.

In other news, we returned the favor for our neighbors this evening by running over a very large rat snake headed to their house! We ran over him in Bryon's truck one time and saw that he was still moving. We backed up and he curled up with his mouth wide open ready to strike us! It was so gross! We ran over him again and I think that did him in. Get me out of this neighborhood! ;)

Part 2

About that phone call:

The people who used to own our house called us and said they heard we were going to move and would we possibly be interested in a house swap? Let me back up 8 years. Eight years ago this summer, we found a house for sale that we loved. We made an offer but when it came to selling the house, the owner's sister decided that she wanted the place. The owners said that the across the fence neighbor who had the same house/floorplan (different brick) were thinking of building a bigger house for their teenagers and we should contact them.

Well, we did and the rest is history! We fell in love with the house which seemed so big at the time. This family loved the house they were in but wanted something bigger for their children. They decided that they would build the same floorplan and add a game room. Since we were ready to move and they hadn't even started drawing up plans, they swapped houses with us! We were renting a small house on the outskirts of town.

Fast forward 8 years. Now the family's two children are grown and they are looking to downsize. My first reaction to the suggestion was that we were going to build on our lot but they were more than welcome to buy ours. Something about the conversation made me think. It just seemed to coincidental that we had been having reservations recently. Was this a sign? We thought we would check it out.

When we went to the house, it felt like bizzaro world. It was our house with small changes everywhere. The lot was beautiful with trees everywhere, although there wasn't much yard for the kids to play. Many of the things had been upgraded. It wasn't quite as big as the house we had drawn up for our lot, but it was bigger than this hosue and it felt like a good size. Some things bugged me. It needed a lot of updating and I was really wanting to move into a house that needed no updating. It was in a different school zone as well. There was a steep drop off in the back yard that would have been safe for teenagers, but not my almost 2 year old. We would have had to put in a deck. There were lots of things that I really liked about it as well, so the tough decisions started rolling in. The family had emotional attachment to this house and I felt bad about not taking them up on their offer. Also, wouldn't it be great to go ahead and move and not be thinking about building in a few years?

My parents suggested just for the fun of it, to look at every house in that price range and just see what we could find. We still weren't convinced that we weren't going to build on our lot, but the feelings of being sad if we didn't live there were diminishing. This got me thinking of a neighborhood close to my house that might have just what we were looking for. Matthew's best friend lives in this neighborhood and I took Matthew over to his friend's house recently. I had not been in the neighborhood in years and when I pulled up to their adorable house in a neighborhood with sidewalks and children running around, I thought, "Oh I wish we had thought of this neighborhood before we bought our lot. Oh well, too late now." This neighborhood was close to everything and we wouldn't have to move schools! I called up a realtor to see what was available in this neighborhood....

How we came to where we are now.

I wouldn't have dreamed two months ago that we would end up where we are now! Here is the beginning of the process.

We love the neighborhood where we own a lot. It is one of the prettiest subdivisions in our area. Everytime we are out there, we enjoy it. We did start having a few reservations about the move out there recently.

*I was scared to death to build a house. I have heard horror stories of going way overbudget and I didn't want to drag kids all over Home Depot/Lowes/etc. looking for drawer pulls. Bryon is difficult to get a hold of during the day and I would hate to make lots of those decisions on my own! I also did not want to move into a duplex or apt. while the thing was being built. All of these things added up to a lot of stress that I did not wish to have in my life.

*The neighborhood was in a different elementary school zone (same district). This school is a good one, but I have gotten attached to Matthew's school. I love the kids and the parents whom we have gotten to know this year. Also, Bryon would not have been able to take Matthew to school anymore b/c it was 10 minutes further in the wrong direction. They both have come to treasure that time and I like not having to wake up the little two!

*It was farther out than we would have liked to travel. It would have added 10 minutes to our journey anywhere. Not a lot unless you consider that we are just now getting into time of our lives when we are taking kids to lots of activities.

*The cost of living in this neighborhood has gone up considerably over the years. Katrina didn't help. Again, we are trying to decrease stress in our lives, not add more! Finding a nice home in a more reasonably priced neighborhood would enable Bryon to work less and having him home means more than a big home!

These are a few of the negatives in a sea of positives about the neighborhood. We had decided to postpone building a few years ago until we got a strange phone call two months ago....

I'll write about that tomorrow! We are having our home inspected today so I am praying that all goes well!

Things I have done this week....

Shopping............check
Laundry.............check
play with kids......check
sold our house......check
bought a new one....check


It has been a very busy month in our house! I hesitated even saying anything about it until all the paperwork is signed but I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

I haven't written a lot of substantive blogs lately primarily because selling the house was all I have been thinking about! I will try and fill in all the details over the next few weeks but probably won't be blogging too much as we only have a few weeks to pack up our home.

Please say a prayer that everything goes smoothly for us and there are no hitches to the selling/buying process!

What does Dirk Nowitzki like to do on game day?

Hang out with my boys!!

My brother had the boys for the weekend. Every game day, DN eats at the same restaurant so Michael took the boys to see him.



Matthew told him, "If I could play in the World Cup I would play for the German team."

Thomas asked him what color his house was!

I am so grateful to my brother and sister-in-law for making such a neat memory for my boys!

Feel good songs

So, lots of stress in my life at the moment. I was out with the kids yesterday listening to my new Prince greatest hits cd when Raspberry Beret came on. I love this song! I cranked it and sang and danced with all my might. The kids had a blast too. All the stress left my body. It is amazing what a good song like that does. My favorite are those that are heart pumping and you can't help either singing at the top of your lungs or dancing. Or both! There are a few that always to that for me:

Heart and Soul by T'Pau
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynrd Skynrd
Tempted by Squeeze
Sharona
How It's Going To Be by Third Eye Blind
Independant Woman by Destiny's Child
Jenny From Block by J. Lo
Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers
I Want I That Way by the Backstreet Boys (pathetic)
Lemon Parade by Tonic
Two Princes by Spin Doctors
Jump by Van Halen
Mandonlin Rain by Bruce Hornsby
Buddy Holly by Weezer
Flood by Jars of Clay
Colored People by dc Talk
Shout by Tears for Fears
Most any 80s rock
Alone by Heart
Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leopard
Steal my Sunshine by Len
I want to know what your thinking by Information Society
Ain't too proud to beg by Temptations
Good by Better than Ezra
10,000 miles

The list goes on. What are your "feel good" songs?

Dear Better Business Bureau

Yes, I would like to report that I have a complaint against Lockridge Priest....

*I paid the company $60 several weeks to check the system and they said everything was fine.

*I paid the company $60 on Thursday just for them to say we "had a problem".

*I begged and pleaded with the manager to have someone finish the job on Saturday morning so we wouldn't fry all weekend.

*They ordered the wrong parts which left us with no air all weekend and a 5 ton unit sitting in our garage.

*They took 8 hours to finish the job on Monday.

*I noticed last night that a water stain was on our ceiling.

*Air is no longer working and it is again 85 degrees in our house.

*Service man came out but said he was too tired to finish the job tonight. He just charged us up with frion.

*Should take most of the day to find and fix leak tomorrow while it is supposed to be 100 degrees outside.

*Lockridge Priest messed with the wrong hot mama.

Life is good again.

The air kicked on about 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon and it took the rest of the day to get to "room temperature" but we made it! It is amazing the difference a few degrees can make. 85 degrees: liveable. 87 degrees: unbearable!

This is my only few hours without the kids this week so I need to run errands and have a nice relaxing lunch with girlfriends. Gotta run!

The weekend

The air guys have been out this morning so hopefully by this afternoon, things should start cooling down!





We had a busy weekend. Matthew went with my parents to the Scottish festival in Arlington on Saturday. My dad loves all things Scottish and this annual festival is one of the highlights of his summers. We haven't been in a few years and had plans this weekend, so Matthew got to join my parents. They had a fabulous time! Matthew danced the Highland fling for 10 minutes straight while a scottish fiddler played. He also got to do the log toss simular to the ones in the Highland games. Mom and Dad said he never got tired and had the time of his life. I wish I could have seen it!


We stayed here and had Bryon's sister, brother-in-law, and niece come for a visit. Bryons BIL is very handy around the house and came up to help Bryon fix our fence, wood floor in the office, and work station in the garage. Shari and I took the kids to the zoo. Following SG's advise, we took a match box car to the otter tank and Thomas got the otter to follow the car for a long time. We shared the car with several eager children and had a good time! We only got through half of the zoo before it was too hot to go on. We are in for a long, hot summer!

Matthew starts Upwards Basketball camp today. The camp is at our church and lots of kids from the community are going. It should be fun!

Keep your fingers crossed that our house cools down today!

I am one hot woman!

I mean that quite literally.

Our air conditioner finally died. We have been without one since Thursday night. It is pushing 90 degrees in the house and about 5 degrees warmer than that in my room where I currently am. Needless to say, this won't be a long post because I have to get out of this room! For some reason, it is always hottest on this side of the house.

Yes, Thursday night, I had people coming over and I realized that the air wouldn't kick on. Friday morning, I called the air people and asked them to come out and charge our frion. We have had a slow leak for years and it needs to be charged about once a year when things start heating up. After taking a look at the system, it was determined that the motor was dead. We could replace the motor for $600 or get a new system for $2300. Since we have had the slow leak for years and figuring that an inspector would come and tell us it needed to be replaced when it is time to sell the house, we opted for the new system. There goes my clothing budget for the month! (joking)

The manager took pity on me and our three small children and told me that it was too hot to put a new system in that afternoon so they would come out on Saturday morning and not charge me time and a half which they normally do for weekend work. I thanked him and headed out of our sauna.

Saturday morning arrived and our old system was taken out. Then the workers informed me that the manager had written that our unit was an indoor unit and not an attic unit so they didn't order the drip pan for the new unit. It would be Monday before anyone could come out.

Not too happy with Mr. Manager.

We have been trying to stay cool any way we can. Taking long drives. Eating at restaurants. Going to Mom and Lauren's house. They offered for us to spend the night but it is too hard to get everyone packed. We are just waiting it out. I have a new appreciation for all those who came before me before air conditioning was a standard thing. How did they do it?

Anyway, more on the weekend later. Got to get out of the sauna.

The return (and demise) of Snakey.

Last night around 11 p.m., Bryon and I heard a bunch of screaming girls outside. Of course, my first thought was, "If another teenage girl plowed into our mailbox....."

Well, actually, a bunch of teenage girls saw this little guy in front of our house heading our direction. They knew we had little kids and got scared that it would get in our yard, so they backed up and ran over it! This picture was taken just a few feet from my curb.

This one looks identical to the one that was below my feet last month. I got the type of snake wrong. It is actually a rat snake. Animal control says they aren't poisonous but highly aggressive. You won't die from a bite but you are likely to get bitten by them! Yuck!

I am hoping that this one was my friend from earlier and not part of a large family of rat snakes that call my yard home!

Summer garden

Everthing looked so pretty this morning that I thought I would take a few pics of my changing garden. I love a summer garden before it gets so hot that the plants start to suffer. My favorites in summer are my balloonflower, butterfly bush, hydrandea, morning glory, and passion vine.

My gardener friend came over today and when I showed him my passion vine, he told me the significance of the flower and why it was named the "passion" vine. It turns out that there is deep symbolism in the flower. This is what I pulled up:


"Five petals & five sepals are ten apostles, leaving out Judas the betrayer & Peter because he denied knowing Jesus. The purple carolla Bosio reported had seventy-two filaments, the number of thorns in Jesus's crown. The three pistil stigmas are nails. The five stamens are the number of wounds, so that to this day, Catholics in South & Central America call it "The Flower of the Five Wounds." The leaf represents the spear that placed the wound in Jesus's side (that one is a stretch since the leaves are five-lobed, but unlike some other species, this one's individual lobes are at least lance-shaped). The dark spots under the leaves are the 33 pieces of silver paid to Judas. When the flowers are spent after a single day (the time Jesus spent on the cross), the petals do not drop from the vine but re-close over the ovary, & this symbolizes the Hidden Wisdom that constitutes the Mysteries of the Cross, & is like Jesus enclosed in the tomb."

Safety tips courtesy of Thomas

Thomas and I spent our last quiet morning together before school got out on Friday. We were reading Officer Buckle and Gloria which is a book about safety rules. I asked Thomas to list some safety tips. Without hesitation, these were his answers,

"Never pretend to be a crossing guard."
"Never pretend to be dead."
"Never pretend to be a NASCAR driver."
"Never climb windows, walls, or doors."

Good tips, Thomas!

Summertime!

What I am looking forward to in the coming months:

No schedule!
Playing in the backyard.
A break from searching for matching socks.
Trips to the farmers market.
Watermelon and peaches!
No so strict bedtime for the boys.
Seaworld/Schlitterbahn
Music camp
Weekly trips to the library, zoo, and pool.
Trip to the Cape.
Sleeping in or at least not having to leave the house early.
No piano or sports (love them but nice to have a break).

Addition to my blog

After saying things such as "Don't use the spinach as a weapon!" etc, my sister came up with a great idea. She suggested that I put a "Quote from the Day" on my blog and write down different things I say during the day that I thought I would never say. Of course, I probably won't update it every day, but this should be funny!

That's a wrap..

***Update on the last day of kindergarten. I now know what the term "ugly cry" means. I thought I was fine. Then I walked into the classroom to give Mrs. B her gift and an unbelievable wave of emotion hit me. I started crying uncontrollably which is so unlike me. I guess it felt good to get it out of my system and I am feeling a little better. This is what they mean when they say the minute a child is born, a mother's heart leaves her body and resides in her child.

Well, that's it. The last kindergarten kiss has been given. The last hurry out the door to kindergarten. The last father/son bonding while driving to kindergarten listening to sports talk radio. The long goodbye is over. The next time I see my little guy, he will be a first grader! I have added the picture of Matthew's first and last days of kindergarten. I can't believe how much bigger he looks!

Here are some of the things that have made this year my favorite of Matthew's life:

*Matthew's teacher. It was nice getting to know her and I feel like she is one of my friends! She helped make the introduction to school very smooth for Matthew and me.

*Reading Matthew's journals. Although 9/10 are usually about sports, these journals give me an insight into what Matthew is thinking about.

*Watching Matthew mature so much this year. He loves to go above and beyond to make Thomas and ME happy and then wink at me like we are in on a little secret!

*Becoming good friends with many of the moms at school.

*I love watching Matthew interact with people who I don't know. I know this could be scary, but it is fun seeing Matthew leave the nest a little.

*Watching Matthew's love for reading grow even more. He loves books more than any toy or game.

*Looking at papers where Matthew is doing multiplication and division. These aren't class assignments. He asks his teacher to do extra problems for him!

*Watching all his sporting events.

*Talking to Matthew's teacher about his personality. She says is a perfectionist and highly driven. He also gets along with all the kids in his class and enjoys being with them all.

That's all I can think of this morning. I am looking forward to having Matthew home this summer and before you know it, school will be back in!

Thomas is reading!

Thomas is officially reading books now. Matthew was in Montessori at Thomas's age and was reading by 4 1/2. To curb my guilt for not sending Thomas to Montessori, I have been working with him using some techniques I remembered from Matthew's school. He is reading Bob books and spouting off sentences such as, "Ten men went to the end of the land." What an exciting milestone!

He was reading a Lipton tea bottle yesterday and asked if he could spell his name, "TeaHomas" because you spell "T" "tea". I thought that was interesting!

I feel really good about our decision to have Thomas only go to school 2 days a week next year. I know that every child is different and Matthew really thrived going 5 mornings a week when he was a preschooler. Now that Matthew is in full fledged school, I realize how quickly (and how precious) these years go before they HAVE to be in school. I want enjoy every second of Thomas being home next year! The best part is that Aunt Lauren will be his teacher at Mother's Day Out next year!

Look Out First Grade!

MATTHEW'S A KINDERGARTEN GRADUATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last night was a magical moment for us. It was more fun and sweet than sad which I am thankful for! We got there 30 minutes early and there was standing room only. I guess this is a downside to a school with so much parent involvement! I ran into one of my friends who was sitting in the second row and she said she had room for one more. My sweet husband, who knew if I didn't get decent pictures what a bear I would be, gladly sent me on my way!

After the cap and gown ceremony and introduction of the class of 2018, the kids got ready for their kindergarten musical. Matthew's phenomenal music teacher put on a show where all 113 kindergarteners had a part! The show was called, "Gettin' Down With Mama Goose" so all the kids acted out nursery rhymes. Matthew was Old King Cole. As I watched him order his servants around, I noticed that he wasn't wearing shoes. He told me later he just liked not wearing them while he was king! Whatever the king wants, right? In the picture, he had just called for his pipe, and called for his bowl, and he called for his fiddlers three.

At the end, they sang a song to the theme of "New York, New York" and belted out, "Can't wait to be a part of it, First Grade, First Grade!" This was the part I got a little teary on. Those sweet, high voices singing about what they had learned this year. Then all the children were introduced and they walked out into First Grade.

What struck me as I looked around was how Matthew's and my world expanded this year. I was sitting next to several friends who I made this year. Some from room mom stuff, some from PTA, some from sports. I have totally loved getting to know a whole new set of friends. Likewise with Matthew. He talked to several friends and yelled out their names while we were walking down the hall. How does he know people I don't know? I looked at these sweet children and wondered how many would graduate together in 12 years.

Bryon took Thomas home in his car. ME was with a baby sitter and Bryon had to meet me at the show so we had two cars. Matthew and I had a nice talk on the drive home about how his life has been this year. I told him how proud I was of his behavior. He really only had one color change and that was for talking to his best friend. True, he got one with a substitute (Matthew pled innocent) and one where his entire table had to move their name because of crayon issues, but those were forgivable! I told him I was proud of how much he loved reading and learning. I told him how proud I was of his athletic acheivements. Two line drives into the outfield on Monday night! It was a really sweet and tender moment between us that I won't soon forget.

I think this is probably the longest I have gone without blogging. I have been having trouble with coherent thoughts right now. Between end of year/room mom duties and "soccer (make that baseball) mom" duties, I am having trouble concentrating! Once the dust has settled next week, I will write more about all that is going on.

Tomorrow starts Matthew's last week as a kindergartener. He has been busy at work getting ready for graduation on Tuesday night. All the kids are putting on a musical, "Getting Down with Mother Goose". Matthew is Old King Cole. Imagine the music teacher picking Matthew to be the person ordering people around?! How perfect is that? ;) I am trying hard not to think things like, "This is the last weekend that Matthew is a kindergartener." , "This is the last Sunday night that I help Matthew get ready for kindergarten the next day." Why do I torture myself this way?

************************************************************************************

I realize that I don't tell lots of stories about Thomas. He doesn't pull the antics that Matthew does or change constantly like ME does. Most of his life isn't a funny story. He is just my sweet, gentle Thomas who I adore.

I did think of a cute thing that happened this weekend. I have told the story many times that I didn't get serious about cooking until I found out I was having Thomas. The thought of two boys and all their friends coming over made me want to improve my skills so all the boys would want to hang out at our house!

This is interesting because Thomas is my child who adores eating above all else. He gets more excited about bringing the snacks to his T-Ball game than actually playing. He doesn't like eating meals that aren't "warm". His eyes roll back in his head when he is loving a particular bite.

On Friday night, I decided to make BLTs for dinner. When I make them, I usually make the bread or at least buy good stuff, make my own mayonnaise, and roast the tomatoes. Friday was busy, so I went to HEB to get some specialty bread. As we sat down to the table, Thomas asked me if I had made the bread. I told him that HEB did, not me. He sat there quietly with his head down and I asked what was wrong. He looked at me with big tears hanging on his lids and said, "But I really wanted you to make homemade bread!" Poor Thomas! I hate to let him down so!

What's in a name?

I have seen several posts about the story behind kids names so I thought I would give it a go.

Matthew Bryon:
a.k.a. Matthew Mina, Mina BaDina

There are a few reasons why this name came to be. First of all, my father-in-law's name is Mack B. His father was Mack B. His father was Mack B. My mother-in-law decided with my husband to name him Mack Bryon. He would still be the fourth Mack but there wouldn't be the "Big Mack/Little Mack" thing. When I found out Matthew was a boy, I asked Bryon if we could say goodbye to the "Mack" tradition. Bryon signs all his documents "M. Bryon" so I thought we could have a son with the same initials, just a different first name.

I have loved the name Matthew for years. John Denver had a song called "Matthew" that I loved. I also loved the character Matthew in Anne of Green Gables. I loved his strong, quiet, sweet, gentle demeaner. Wouldn't it be great to have a son just like that? Hmmmmmm.....got the sweet and strong thing right. Quiet and gentle? Oh well, 2/4 ain't bad!
Thomas Michael
a.k.a. T-Bone, Tom Tom, Tom Boy, Hos

Boy did we struggle with this one! For a week, he was Robert. For a while we considered James. Thomas kept jumping out at me. It took Bryon a while to be convinced. I like that he was an apostle like Matthew. Two syllables sounded nice when said with Matthew. It also seemed like a strong name. Everyone is familiar with it, knows how to spell it, but it isn't used a lot here. Michael is my father's and brother's name. Had to get that in there somewhere! I have fallen even more in love with the name now that I know Thomas. I can't explain it, but his name really suits him.

Mary Elizabeth
a.k.a. Mary Beth, ME, ME Lou, Little ME Lou Who, Mary Bear, Mary BooBoo

A combination of my name and my mother's middle name. My grandmother was Mildred Elizabeth. Her mother was Sarah Elizabeth. Her mother was Elizabeth Ann (my name). I knew if I ever had a girl, I had to get Elizabeth in there somehow. Not only is my mom's middle name, Mary, but there are tons of Marys in my ancestry. You can't be Irish without a few Marys in the family! I knew a beautiful little girl named Mary Beth when I was growing up and I remember telling my friends when I was an 8th grader that I would like to have a little girl named Mary Beth one day. As strange as it sounds, my Mary Beth looks an incredible amount like the Mary Beth that I knew as a little girl!

So there you have it. The stories behind my little ones' names. I hope they enjoy the names given to them like I do mine!

"Stop using the spinach as a weapon!"

Can you believe I actually said that this afternoon?

Let me explain:

Not long after I found out I was having a second boy, I went out to eat with my brother. He said to me, "You know, boys are much more physical than girls. Don't be alarmed if they wrestle all the time." I don't know why this conversation stuck out to me, but the truth of this statement has come to pass.

I don't mean to say that they are harmful to each other. Yes there are times when Matthew pushes the limits and Thomas winds up in tears. I also can honestly say that they are each other's best friend. My harshest punishment for them is when I tell them they just "can't be friends" for a while. This devastates both of them. Oh I just love finding a punishment that really works! ;)

No, they just like to wrestle. They tackle each other. They pile on top of each other. They pick each other up. They splash water on each other. They roll around on the floor. They throw pillows at each other. They burrow under covers together. They tickle each other. They sit on top of each other when they both are wanting to sit in the same seat. Everything is a competition. They remind me of two little bear cubs. The transition between my quiet/easy going Thomas before Matthew gets home to the combination of my bear cubs greeting each other after a long day is amazing!

Tonight, they found a bag of spinach in the car and decided to take turns whacking each other in the head with it. Why? I have read an article from a mother of boys who said one of the best things about being a mother of a son is that you don't have to understand them. Just love them.

Now, if I can only get them to eat their spinach instead of using it as a weapon....

P.S. I tried to get Matthew to eat one little bite of spinach for dinner. He put it in his mouth and gagged so much that he threw up. Maybe they should go back and start using the spinach as a weapon again?

A few highlights from the weekend.

Friday night, my brother called and said that he was coming into town to watch one of his friends play at a local coffee house. Dylan played at Michael's wedding and Matthew calls Dylan one of his "Dallas cousins" (a throw back to Michael's single days) so Michael thought Matthew and I might like to come to (as well as the rest of the family). It was a little too late for the little ones to go, so Bryon stayed home with them and Matthew and I went out with the rest of my family.

We really had a great time! It was funny going to this certain coffee house which opened my sophomore year of college. I went on several dates to this place and it was a little strange going on a date with Matthew there! Needless to say, he had a blast. He even left the family table a few times to get closer to the music to listen. One of the highlights of the evening was when Matthew volunteered to pass the tip jar around for Dylan. I think he made enough for gas money to go home to Dallas courtesy of Matthew!


Saturday was of course ball game day. We were at the fields from 11-2 with a short break for lunch. The boys had a blast and enjoyed having so much family around to cheer them on!

I received my Mother's Day gift last night. Bryon and the kids got me a new grill! I realize this sounds more Father's Day-ish but I am the chief executive griller in the family and was in desperate need of a new machine!

This morning, Thomas came into my room, wished me a Happy Mother's Day and told me I could keep his Seattle Seahawk football cards in my room for a while as his gift to me! Thomas adores the Seahawks so this was a very sweet gesture! Meanwhile, Matthew made me breakfast in bed! He came in with a peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich, apple, and yogurt. The silverware was wrapped in a paper towel, "You know, like they do in restaurants!" He sat next to me with his arm around me while I ate my breakfast. He beamed with joy when I told him it was the best breakfast I had ever eaten.

I know everyone feels this way, but I just love the family that God gave me. What sweet kids and husband. They made the holiday such a fun one!

Another weekend, another weather event. We had flash floods in our town today. Our easement looked like the roaring rapids and a woman got stuck in her minivan in rising water a mile or two from my house. Good grief!

Matthew's thoughts on Mother's Day.

Matthew came home today with a fill in the blank card for Mother's Day. He got my height and weight totally wrong but the rest of it is cute!

My Special Mother
by Matthew

My mother is the most wonderful mom in the whole world! She's as pretty as a Baylor Cheerleader. She weighs like 142 lbs. and she's 8 feet tall. Her favorite food is soup. In the good old days when mom was little, she used to go to Illinois and Alabama. I think Mom looks funny when she does her silly face. But I know she's really angry when I break something. I wish Mom would take me to McDonald's every day. (Hello? Transfats?) I wouldn't trade my mother for Benjamin Franklin. (He is totally in to the signers of the "Decalarashun of Independence" so this is a BIG DEAL!:)

Happy Mother's Day beautiful blog mothers!

Poison ivy and potty training

Well, after being up half the night scatching itches coupled with the fact that the rash is spreading, I am going to the dr. at 10 for a shot. Ahhhh, relief, thy name is cortizone!

As much as I would like to curse poison ivy, I think it probably saved my dad's life. Let me explain... Dad is extremely allergic to poison ivy. I have never seen such nasty oozing sores like he gets with it. The first outbreak he had was when we were living in Tuscaloosa. A doctor took one look at his mole ridden back (courtesy of jobs such as life guard, officer in the navy, and way too much time in Panama City, FL scuba diving) and told him he should see a dermatologist. He started going on a regular basis and sure enough had a malignant mole removed a few years later. The mole didn't look much different than the rest of them, so chances are that Dad probably wouldn't have gone in just to have it looked at. Thank you, poison ivy!

In other news, ME was dry all day yesterday! She had a tiny accident last night. She told me she needed to go, and I didn't get her undressed in time and she had a little pee pee accident. She cried when it happened! I felt so bad.

This whole potty training thing with her has completely thrown me off guard! The boys were over three when they mastered it and my little almost 21 month old has pretty much gotten it down. This surprises me because:

a) She is small for her age. She can't even get up on the potty with my help! and..

b) I have never pressed it with her. The last thing I would think to do is start this process with a child in the early stages of terrible twodome. The only proactive approach I have taken was to put her on the potty once at 18 months when I thought she needed to poop. The rest has been her idea.

She is such a neat child. Again, very different from the boys. She picks up papers on the floor, announces, "Trash!" and puts it in the trash can much to Bryon's and my amazement. She rarely makes a mess when she is eating even though she is now using a fork all by herself. I guess this trait has made her want to potty train early. Who knows?

No more diapers, no more high chair, eating by herself.....Where did my baby go?

On fire

Poison ivy on lips
Poison ivy on hands
Poison ivy on ankles
Poison ivy under eye
Poison ivy under nose
Poison ivy on cheek
Poison ivy on chin
Poison ivy on arm
Poison ivy on ear

Chiggers under arms
Chiggers on legs
Chiggers on backside
Chiggers on back
Chiggers behind knee
Chiggers on ankles

Never stepping outside again...

This and That

A few stories from the past few days:

*I had the unexpected surprise of having Matthew home with me yesterday! Matthew kept telling me on Sunday night that he didn't have school on Monday. "Yeah right, Matthew. Good try!" He was adamant about it and it is unusual for Matthew to get something like that mixed up. We went over to see some friends on Sunday night who informed us that their kids were spending the night with friends b/c there wasn't school the next day! I never received anything in Matthew's folder about it, but it was listed on the internet. Another friend, whose daughter was in a different class, didn't know until Friday when her daughter's teacher said not to bring her b-day cupcakes to school on Monday b/c of the inclement weather day that was not needed.

We had a relaxing day just the four of us. We had a picnic and enjoyed the slow pace of the day. I can't remember a day when there was NOTHING on my schedule. I enjoy all the activities, but yesterday was pure heaven.

*My mother lasted 55 years without a black eye. Matthew put an end to that on Friday night! We went to a Cinco de Mayo party on Friday night so my parents watched the kids. They spent most of the time outside playing ball with the kids. ME started begging my dad to swing her, so Mom took over as pitcher (I would have loved to see that!). She threw one to Matthew and he hit a line drive right into her eye ball. Poor Matthew felt horrible about it. Poor Mom sustained the first injury of baseball season.

*ME is now out of the highchair! Since we are having a garage sale soon, I thought we could try to put ME at a booster seat at the table and see what happened. She loved it and has REFUSED to set foot into the highchair since that first time! I am all too happy to see it go. I will be sad to see the crib go and several other baby items, but the highchair took up too much room in my kitchen!

*I look like I have gone a few rounds with Mother Nature. Bryon and I were working on our lot on Sunday night around dusk. It was my job to pull ivy off of the large oak trees in front. Yesterday morning, I started itching and haven't stopped. I have between 25-30 mosquito bites all over my body and poison ivy under my eye, nose, and chin. My left eye is swollen like I have been in a fight! Bryon got nothing. I think mosquitos just love me b/c Bryon and I can be sitting outside and I will have them all over me and Bryon is just fine. I must be super sweet!

Think that's all for now!

The hills are alive, with the sounds of chainsaws.

Yes, the past day and a half has been surreal. All over town are the sounds of chainsaws and helicopters flying overhead. Trucks designed to shred trees line the street often making it impossible to pass. I can't get the picture of the storm out of my head and the sounds of sirens that warned me of impending danger. I held my kids tight in that tub and worried that something terrible might happen to them.


I have taken several drives now around our little suburb. Again, I feel such sadness looking at beautiful trees with their roots in the air, sidewalks buckled up over root systems, roofs caved in, etc. Matthew's answer to this statement? "Sad? I'm downright depressed!" The photos shown are of my parents' dear friends' front yard.

It was determined that the damage done near the mall was from a tornado. All other damage done was by straight line winds on the downdraft of this powerful storm clocking in at a record nearly 90 miles per hour.

I saw an advertisement on a billboard stating that the new Providence Maternity Ward was set to open Labor Day, 1996! All the advertisements above this one were torn off!

A few thoughts:

1. I have always been fearful of big weather. The power that these storms can possess can be so frightening. I take such comfort in Jesus' disciple's words... "Even the wind and the water obey him." God is so much stronger than anything Mother Nature can throw our way!

2. I am touched seeing neighbors helping neighbors. So much of the damage done has already been cleaned up because of loving neighbors. This morning in church, several members offered their generators to anyone who needs them. By a show of hands, a good 1/4 of the congregation still is without power.

3. This incident is another reminder of how temporary this earth is. Trees that have been a part of this landscape for 70 plus years are now someone's firewood. Things come and go. Only God is constant.

A terrifying night.

Pictures from around town.



Three doors down from my house!

Well, we just experienced a night we will never forget.


A tornado touched down 2-3 miles from our house early this morning.



Here is the full story.

We knew bad weather was coming, but nothing like this. I woke up at 12:30 to the sounds of tornado sirens and a man's voice over the intercom shouting, "Take shelter immediately!" That will wake you up! I looked outside and was astonished to see my big red oak with it's branches at an almost 90 degree angle.

I ran in to get Bryon and told him to get the kids while I dug out from piles of clothes in the most centrally located bathroom. This is the bathroom that I have been using to store all of our garage sale items. All 5 of us were huddled in the tub. Very comfortable! Thomas kept saying, "Mommy, Buddy is touching me!" I had to explain to him that when 20 limbs are in one bathtub, the odds are everyone is touching everyone!

I will admit I was terrified. Big weather has always scared me, but I had to keep it together for the kids. Matthew was very calm and said he wasn't scared because God was with us. Oh, to have the faith of a child! One funny thing: the closest flashlight available was our "Halloween flashlight" that makes lots of scary noises like ghosts/someone shouting "Help Me!"/and electric shock noises. The kids kept hitting those buttons and I finally took the flashlight away. My nerves could only take so much!

ME had a fabulous time and enjoyed looking through all the books we are about to sell. To her, this was one big party.

After about an hour, things seemed to calm down a bit, so we tucked the kids back in bed and watched the news until after 2 a.m. We heard lots of horrible sounds during the storm and I was anxious for daylight to view the damage.

I couldn't believe the damage this morning. We were blessed by only slight damage. Broken fence boards, clumps of leaves off me tree, uprooted perennials. Three doors down, two huge trees were split down the middle.

We went for a drive around our little suburb. Gorgeous old oaks were down everywhere. Windows were knocked out of restaurants. Signs torn from their base. The tornado hit near our mall and destroyed the Coca-Cola bottling plant as well as many furniture stores in the area. Several gas stations' roofs caved in.

Our community took a beating, but we were so blessed to find out that no one was hurt. The most damage was done in commercial areas in the middle of the night. Thank God.

Twenty thousand residence of our area are without power including Stephanie whose husband brought over lots of food to store in our extra refridgerater. I always knew it would come in handy! ;)

I'll update when I can.

Two words.......