Christmas photo blog #1

Here are a few pics (more to come) of our family's Christmas. We had a great, fun filled, action packed 4 days and are now enjoying a few down days!
 
 
 
  

In the nick of time!

Bryon, Josh, my brother, and some friends went skiing in Colorado last weekend. They flew home from Denver Tuesday afternoon. The next day, a huge blizzard hit and the Denver airport is shut down. They say it is the biggest snow storm there in years! I am so thankful that they didn't ski one more day. Otherwise, we might have been celebrating Christmas without Bryon! I hope everyone stranded there gets out in time for Christmas.

The Christmas tree of a mother of boys

And for the second pic of the day:

The Cowboys won their game Sunday night. To commemorate the victory, Thomas ripped the headline out of the newspaper and put it on our tree. Who needs crystal ornaments when there is newspaper abundant?


  

"I am the princess..."

"And since I am the princess, I have decided that I don't need to wait until Christmas like everyone else to open presents".

Now, how do you think she figured out which present was hers? That was the only one under the tree so far for her!
  

A Christmas Carol by Matthew

I went to Matthew's school today to take pictures for P.T.A. Matthew's teacher gave me his journal entry from yesterday to read. Every Christmas Eve, our family watches A Christmas Carol. This was Matthew's memory of the story. It reminds me of the Cliff Notes version! Spelling and grammar are all his...

Once a pon a time, on Christmas Eve. There lived old Ebenezer Scrooge. He was at the office counting his money. And Bob Gratchit went by. "Mary Christmas" he said, Bah humbug. Then Ebenezer left, he went to bed, and he was awakend by a noise and his old pal Jacob Marly. He draged chains. AHHH! screamed Scrooge. Thease chains are made from all the bad deeds he had done when he was alive. Marly told Scrooge 3 ghosts would come. The 1st one took him to his Elementry. One little boy was in it, could it be me...Scrooge said. Yes, thats why I am called the ghost of Christmas past. And the 2nd spirit came. It took Scrooge to Bob Gratchit's house, they were very merry. Gratchits youngest son Tiny Tim had to youse (use) a chruch, but he shouted, "God bless us all." And then well they wernt very merry. Tiny Tim's chair was empty. Please let Tiny Tim be OK. And he was back in bed.
A 3rd Ghost came. It took him to where the Bankers were talking a bout someone dead. Who will take his money. I am going to the funerel. And they were at a grave yard. There stood Scroogees grave. Scrooge cried. And when he woke up, he was Alive. I am alive. He tossed a coin to a man and said buy a feast for the Gratchits. Merry Christmas.

The End

Photo Blog #2

The first two pictures show a typical afternoon in our backyard! The boys are always playing some sport or other, and ME is getting into the water. We have been blessed with a few days of pleasant weather which has sent us all outside.
 
 























This occurred the other night in our house. Lauren and I LOVE to listen to music and dance. ME joined in the festivites with us!
 












Winter time in many ways is my favorite time of year. This is my first winter in our new house and I am pleasantly surprised every night by a beautiful winter sunset. This night was no exception. There is an owl who lives in the tree that you see. I love hearing him "hoot" the night away!
  

Photo Blog number 1

Thank you to everyone who said such sweet things about Thomas yesterday! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

My dad and Thomas share the same birthday. Here is a picture of them on their big day. Poor Thomas has a horrible case of chapped lips!
 












Our little family. Bryon is growing a beard in preparation for his ski trip next week.
 













Thomas and Scarlett at their joint birthday party. They have been friends since they left the hospital!   














Lauren and me. Love my baby sister!
 

Thomas

  

  
We had a really fun birthday weekend filled with parties and celebrations. The most exciting thing was that Thomas turned 5! Thomas has been a joy since the moment he was born. He is kind, sensitive, funny, loving, and a perfect fit for our family!
 
 
Here is a glimpse of Thomas at 5:
*He entertains himself. I will see him playing in his room and he is content for an hour looking at books, playing with toys, etc.
*He is still obsessed with NASCAR and the Seattle Seahawks. This is very amusing to us as we have no ties to either "obsession"!
*He adores playing sports and watching it on TV. He is learning math by watching football. The other day, he was watching a game and the score was 14-7. The winning team scored a touchdown and before the new score was displayed he said, "Now it is 21-7!" Yes, my little boy can count by 7s and 3s from watching football!
*He is the most literal kid I know. No exaggerations or generalizations allowed around Thomas. Even Saturday night, I said, "I want to kiss my 4 year old one last time." He said, "You mean 4 1/2 year old?"
*He has a special relationship with his brother and sister. He seems to navigate equally well in the very different worlds of big, testosterone filled older brother and little sister. They both are blessed to have him as a brother.
*He is very unselfish. When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he named three things. "A Hello Kitty pillow that says I Love You for ME, a playstation for Buddy, and a Shawn Alexander game for me." He also gave several of his toys to his sister to play with yesterday.
*He loves to read and write and gets better at both everyday.

I have been blessed for 5 years by my little boy. I couldn't imagine life without him.

What's going on

Lots going on!

Last weekend was a lot of fun. Friday, Dad drove to Dallas to teach an EMBA class. He took Thomas with him and handed him off to my brother to spend the night. This has been a treat for Matthew in the past, but Thomas had never been by himself. They had a blast watching a Christmas movie and painting ornaments.

While this was going on, Mom had Matthew over for one of Matthew's favorite traditions. Every year since he was 2, they have made fudge together. Friday was "fudge night". Bryon had to work late so Lauren and Josh went out while I watched James. Then, they brought us take out from Carino's.

On Saturday, my mom, sister, and I drove to Dallas to pick up Thomas and have a quick shopping trip. I hadn't been shopping there since March so this was a fun treat! While at the Galleria, I ran into a friend from high school who lives in Waco. I don't know how this always happens, but I seem to run into people I know there a lot. How does that happen with so many million people living there?! It was fun hanging out with my brother and SIL as well. They are so good to my kids!

This week has been business as usual but gearing up for a big weekend. Thomas and my dad share a birthday which happens to be Sunday. T's friend party is on Saturday. Then we will have a big lunch at my house for the family who will be in town. Sunday, we are having a big turkey dinner in celebration of the two birthday boys! We always celebrate Thankgiving scattered over the South, so it will be nice to eat the meal together. Sunday night, I am having friends over for cookies and girl time.

So much to do but looking forward to all of it. I love coming up with a menu and making a shopping list. Now if only I didn't have to clean my house!

In the Christmas spirit

It is finally beginning to look and feel like Christmas in our home! I finished decorating today and feel a sense of accomplishment and relief! Here are a few pictures of my living room. You can see our stockings lovingly made by my aunt. My stocking was the last one my grandmother made before she died. It is very special to me. You can also see my Snow Village that I have been adding to for 10 years. It is a labor of love to put together, but we all love it! Above the Snow Village, you can see the nativity scene that was given to me by my aunt when I got married. They are hand made by a nun. We had a great weekend that I will write about tomorrow. In the first picture, you can see what we did this afternoon. Watch the Cowboys beat the Giants! How 'bout them boys?

 
 
 
  

A Day to Play

 

I love freezing cold weather. It made me sad, though, to see Matthew brace against the sleet running to his carpool this morning. I just wish he could have stayed home with us. It got me thinking about getting the kids ready for Mother's Day Out. I just didn't want to get the kids out of the house this moring, so we decided to play hookey! We are all still in our pajamas after lunch and I made a concerted effort to focus on the kids and not do housework. This is very hard for me! Days like today are precious and VERY far between in our neck of the woods. I want to savor each one. This is the last year that I can play hookey with Thomas. Next year, he will be bracing the cold with Matthew! 

See Ya Next Year!

 

I am sad to say that we are expecting a huge cold front to come in tomorrow morning. I absolutely love freezing cold weather, but the first freeze means all my flowers will die, or rather, go to sleep, until next year. I am going to cut quite a few in the morning and give them to Matthew's teacher!
 
I love gardening more than almost any other hobby. It is right up there with reading and cooking. Every morning, I walk into my garden and see who is blooming, who is taking a rest, and who is hosting the hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees that come for food!

I heard a quote once that has always stuck with me. It goes something like, Wonders in nature occur whether we choose to witness it or not. I choose to witness it!

Here are a few pictures taken on Monday.

Bundle up bloggers! It's going to be chilly!


 
  

 
 
  

Happy Holidays!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Like all holidays, it went by too soon and I was sad to see Bryon and Matthew leave this morning.

Thursday morning, we headed down to Conroe like we do every year. We had a great time as always. ME enjoyed playing with her girl cousins who are right around her age. She didn't stop all weekend! The boys as always spent the majority of their time playing football in the backyard. I enjoyed hanging out with my my sister in law, mother in law, and mother.

Friday morning, my MIL, SIL, mother, and I headed for Kohl's at 5 in the morning. Every year, I wake up thinking I am crazy but we always have a great time! All of their toys were 50% off and I managed to get all the neices/nephew gifts as well as most of my kids at a great price!

Friday afternoon, I went with my parents to Old Towne Spring while Bryon hung out with his dad. I don't get to spend a lot of time with my parents where we aren't playing with the kids so I really had a good time and being there really got me in the Christmas spirit!

Saturday we headed home and I started decorating for Christmas. For the past 7 years, I have been a well oiled machine when it came to decorating. I knew where everything went and was able to do it all fairly quickly. This year, I am having to take the time to decide where everything goes. I am still not done decorating! In true Griswold fashion, I put too many lights on my tree and I blew several fuses in the lights. The majority of my night was dedicated to fixing the problem. Ughh...

Today is Matthew's class trip so I am headed to his school to join them this afternoon. The rest of the day will be dedicated to putting up laundry, finishing decorations, and resting after a busy holiday weekend!

Matthew's birthday weekend

What a fun birthday weekend! I asked Matthew if he wanted a cookie cake, ice cream cake, or cake that I made, and he chose the last one! I spent the night making his football cake.













Then Saturday morning, 7 of his friends came over for Matthew's party. The beginning of the party was, of course, a football game in the backyard. All but one of the boys played flag football together this fall.



















Then, after presents and cake, we headed to the Baylor game. I don't want to jinx it, but Matthew's birthday has been gorgeous every year. It's always pretty here this time of year! Yesterday was bright sunny skies with a high in the upper 60s. Perfect football weather. I had friends concerned about my sanity having 8 little boys in our control during the game. They were really great, though, and I can honestly say I enjoy most of his friends almost as much as I enjoy my own children! Of course, Baylor lost 36-10. We were thinking it would be much worse. Nope, not Baylor's year, yet again!

After the party, my family came over to watch the Iron Bowl. Another disappointing one. Dad was saying that he never dreamed even if he lived to be 100 years old that Auburn would win 5 in a row. Oh well, there is always next year....

Tonight is book club. We will be discussing The Other Boleyn Girl. I haven't changed What I Have Been Reading in a while. I have read a book since then. I will update it soon!

Looking forward to a fun holiday week. I am in charge of the cornbread dressing and a pie. Matthew is going to make mini pumpkin pies that he made with his teacher last week! I am going to get my turkey tonight to cook my dressing in. I never enjoyed dry dressing!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

At Matthew's First Grade Musical last night! What a cute little piggie!
Dear Matthew,
I wanted to write you a letter on your 7th birthday. Tomorrow will be quite busy with your birthday party so I will go ahead and write it today.

I can't believe I have been you mother for 7 years! You have brought me so much joy over the years. You make me laugh the loudest, cry the hardest, and make my heart swell with pride.

My favorite things about you are your love of learning, love for your family, both immediate and extended. How sweet you were last night crying in bed because Aunt Lauren and Uncle Josh were leaving for Thanksgiving! I love how much you love God. I pray that you always put him first in your life. I love how you are always quick to apologize when you have done something wrong. I love how you remind me so much of my father. I love reading the books you make and journals you write. I love thinking about what you will do with your life!

You have been such a gift to me for 7 years. How could I thank God enough for you? Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Wednesday morning

I am enjoying a quiet morning at home. These are becoming a rare commodity so I am savoring every minute!

Last week went really well. A good friend of mine and I headed up the book fair at our school. It was hard juggling the little kids while I was up at school most of the day everyday, and I couldn't have done it without Lauren, but I loved the job. We made $8500 and a lot of it goes back into our library so I was proud of that! My friend and I enjoyed it so much that we are planning on doing it again next Fall. I adored being up at school and seeing Matthew coming to and from lunch and specials. I am having withdrawls not being up there this week! I am happy to be home though and am enjoying the cold windy day with a cup of coffee.

Here is what is happening with the kids:

Matthew:
Matthew turns 7 this week. Hard to believe and I will write more on that later. I just enjoy him more and more with each passing year. Many people who know him call him a little politician or the future president. (Think Alex P. Keaton) He was familiar with all the people running in the local election and would ask who I thought would win. He was also mad at me for voting for the conservative candidate running for a House seat!

My favorite thing about Matthew right now is his love of reading. He is reading between a 3rd and 4th grade level. After I tuck the boys in bed, I hear the pages turning in his book for up to an hour after bedtime! Since I sympathize with never wanting to put a good book down, I usually let him just read until he falls asleep. Maybe he should join my book club!

Matthew got to do something fun last night. At our fall festival at school, there was a silent auction and each teacher donated something to bid on. Matthew's teacher donated a cooking class to be taken with her for the winning bid. Matthew has been begging me since he was 4 to take a cooking class. They recommend you be 7 to do it. He would say things like, "Since I am 5 1/2, I only have to wait 1 1/2 more years to go to Young Chefs!" We had to bid on it and won! They had a fun date last night. Matthew adores his teacher. We feel blessed that Matthew is in her class.

Thomas:
Thomas continues to be just a little ray of sunshine. He rarely gets in trouble and seems to have an easy time following rules and being a good boy. A few nights ago, Matthew was annoying him and I sent him to his room. Matthew and I proceeded to have a chat about being a good example. Then, Thomas walked into the the room and said, "I forgive you, Buddy. Anytime you are mean to me, I am going to punch you back with prayer." Then he got down on his knees and asked God to help Buddy not be so mean! This was a concept Matthew had leaned in Bible school last week. Matthew said, "That is good Thomas because the Bible says to forgive 77 times." Thomas looked at him and said, "Well, then I will forgive you 100 times." What a sweetie.

A funny thing about Thomas is his love of football. He will sit and watch a game from start to finish. He knows the rules and will call out penalties or what the team should do before it is announced on TV! His across the street friend came over on Sunday and the little boy played by himself while Thomas watched football! He is still in love with the Seahawks and I constantly find papers with "Seattle Seahawks" written on the top all over the house! I TiVo games from time to time for Thomas to watch while I clean house.

Mary Elizabeth:
Little ME Lou Who is in the height of two year oldness. Absolutely adorable half the time and absolutely exasperating the other half of the time! She is funny, loud, joyful, strong willed, tenderhearted, and exuberant all wrapped into a tiny little package. She has made several funny comments lately that have made me think she needs more girlfriends. Lets face it, she is living in a boys world! I met several of my neighbors who have little girls at our local children's museum on Monday so I can encourage her to branch out into little girl activities!

Thats about it for now! The rest of the week will be spent getting ready for Matthew's birthday party. Since Baylor's last home game is happening on his actual birthday, we are taking several of his friends to the game for his party. Baylor's head coach has a weekly call in radio show and Matthew has already called him and begged him to win for his birthday. I am not keeping my fingers crossed!

A fun weekend has come to a close!

Whew! Lots going on here!

Thursday, I met my mother-in-law half way to Houston to drop off the younger two. Matthew was in school so he couldn't go. This was ME's first trip away from us to see her grandparents so it was a momentous occasion! I hurried home to witness Matthew's last football game. He scored another touchdown and had a great time. It is always bittersweet ending the season.

Friday was meant to be a day to organize without kids around. It ended up being an almost entire day up at Matthew's school getting ready for my big P.T.A. event this week. While I was bummed to not be home, I was grateful to have the time kid-free. I picked Matthew up after school and we had a great time hanging out just the two of us. Just like the old days!

Friday night, Lauren and Josh graciously agreed to have Matthew spend the night with them so Bryon and I could go out on a long date! This is dinner and a movie. Not dinner or a movie! After a meal at our favorite romantic restaurant, we met some friends of ours for a coffee and movie. These are friends who have kids our kids ages, and we spend lots of time on the ball fields together, but this was our first "date"! We had a great time!

Saturday morning, we headed to the Antique Rose Emporium for their rose festival. I took a few classes and had fun roaming the nursery. Saying it is a nursery really isn't doing it justice. It is a sight to see. Bryon and Matthew were with me and they enjoyed sketching the flowers. Matthew is really into art right now and loves drawing on his doodle pad! I loved our time here and look forward to their next festival!

After our time here, we headed down to my in laws to pick up the kids. We had fun visiting with everyone and left after church today. I love watching ME with her two girl cousins. One is a year older than her, one is a year younger than her. I am sure they will have lots of fun together over the years!

What a horrible weekend for football. Alabama was embarrassed, Baylor lost, and the Cowboys lost in the last milisecond of the game today. Ugh...

I am hoping just to survive this week. I will be up at Matthew's school almost all day every day with ME and Thomas. We will see how it goes!

Halloween

Before I start this post, I have to say that I really love Halloween. I get into it every year. But, as I woke up totally exhausted this morning, I couldn't help but compare Halloweens of the present to Halloweens 50 years ago....

Halloweens 50 years ago (as described by my mother, not personal experience)

*Moms would use rags, sheets, or old clothes to costume their kids.
*Halloween evening, the kids went all over the neighborhood unescorted.
*Decorations were limited to pumpkins that were crudely cut out by knives.

Halloweens present day...

*Festivites are usually a week long. Not just Halloween night, but also a Trunk or Treat, dressing up at school, and Halloween recitals that need to be dressed up for. It isn't unusual to dress the kids up 3 times for different functions.
*A month in advance, mothers are combing through websites offering the latest and greatest costumes. It is hard to find a cute one for under $50 per child including acessories and shipping.
*Homes and front yards are decked out in Halloween decorations. Forget carving with knives! Just download patterns for cute carved pumpkins with many different faces online. You will need to purchase special tools for the carving.
*Scoop out those pumpkin seeds, but don't roast them the old fashioned way! Make pumpkinseed brittle!
*You know that you will be demoted from your previous position of mother of the year if you bring a store bought goods for Halloween parties. The cuter and more original the treat, the better!
*Every October, the search is on for the best pumpkin patch in which to take a picture of your adorable children getting the great "Pumpkin Experience"! Look at this picture and see how glad I am that I took 2 hours out of my time for such an activity!













*Halloween is just now behind Christmas as the most expensive holiday in America.

All of this is in jest as I get just as much into Halloween as every other mother, but really, is it a wonder why we are so stressed out as a nation?

When Mommy gets on the phone, little Halloween candy theives go into hiding!

Trunk or Treat

We had our annual Trunk or Treat at church last night. Normally, the members park in the parking lot, decorate their trunks, and pass out candy to the kids. It has been raining like crazy around here, though, so the candy was passed out in the auditorium!

The last two years, Bryon has missed the festivities because of work. He was able to make it last night which made things much easier! The kids were adorable and it was a good dress rehearsal for Halloween! Matthew's Bama football costume didn't make it in time because we had to exchange it for another size. He was happy being a Baylor Bear, though.

Today begins the great candy adventure. A few things usually happen during this time. First, the kids get in trouble for sneaking in to get candy. We have already been to the "naughty chair" once with ME this morning! I also hear things like, "But I am so HUNGRY for candy!" Also, I start separating. Reese's, Nestle's Crunch, Butterfinger, go in my pile (the candy theif comes while the children sleep!). Dots, Smarties, assorted other candies that are the messiest or worst for teeth, go to the redistribute on Halloween pile. The kids get their share of the rest!

Checking in.

We had a fun homecoming weekend! Michael and Jilinda met us at our house early Saturday morning to head to our homecoming parade. Baylor has the largest homecoming parade in the country. I had fun remeniscing about the one very cold night I spent as a sophomore in college guarding our float. Sitting on a float in 40 degree weather laughing with a bunch of girlfriends....anything more fun than that? It was fun to see all the college kids having a ball. I saw many people I went to school with and marveled at the large number of people who I didn't know! The kids had a great time and it was worth getting up early on a Saturday morning to be there.

After Thomas's game, the guys went to the Baylor game. I stayed home with ME and put a big dent in the book I was reading. After ME's nap, I went to the grocery store to get ready for dinner that night. When I got to the store, Baylor was down 35-17 with 10 minutes left to play. I figured I better hurry in the store as everyone would be coming home early! When I got back in the car, Baylor had scored their way to a 35-36 lead! I can't believe they won that one! It was the first time in 8 years that we had won a homecoming game. Baylor has had many lean years. Could this be the start of a comeback?

Last night was book club. We had a great time and enjoyed our discussion of Follow the River. I finished next months selection, The Other Boleyn Girl, tonight. What a page turner! I managed to read the 650 page book in a week. I little racy, but very enjoyable. I think I need to stick to magazines for a few weeks so I can get some housework done!

This morning was 2 year pictures with ME. Anyone feeling sorry for me? Two years olds are much more mobile than 1 year olds! I hope we got a few good ones. We spent the afternoon at the dentist with Matthew and my checkups. We had just scheduled Matthew's and mine was tomorrow. The receptionist told me when we got there that the appointment after Matthew's was cancelled and would I like to go ahead and get mine done? The thought of three kids with me at the dentist was only slightly more appealing than using my precious mother's day out time tomorrow to do it. I held ME for most of my cleaning and spent a good deal of time snapping my fingers at the boys to be quiet as my mouth was incapacitated!

Thomas

My sweet Thomas scored his first goal today. This is the same boy who is thrilled for all of his friends when they score goals. Who happily lets his teammates have the ball close to the goal so they can score. He was thrilled! We were thrilled! He came up to me and said, "I can't believe it! Me?" Yes, you sweetheart!

A smoother end to the week

I appreciate everyone's comments earlier in the week regarding our schedule. I don't feel like we are overscheduled, just not finding a rhythm to our afternoons. Some things we have tried and seem to work:

*Matthew gets in the car on the way home from school and does his homework. I doesn't take more than a few minutes to do his work and we can easily slip it back in his folder and into his backpack and not wonder where it is in the morning!

*We have also started Matthew reading to us while we are in the car. Whether we are going to Starbucks, to church, or to the dentist, he can get some of his required out of school reading time done. We also read before bed, but it seems like it is a good use of time.

*Matthew ADORES throwing the football with Bryon when he gets home from work. I have told Matthew that if he gets his piano practice done right after school, he can have much more time to play with Bryon at the end of the day.

*We did have a rule about watching 1 show after school every day. This worked out well, but then he would see previews to the next show and it would be a struggle to get him away from the TV. We talked about it and agreed that TV will be watched on the weekends only. This way his free time is used talking to me, extra time playing with Thomas and ME, or going outside to have alone time. Yes, he already asks me to have alone time just to think quite a bit.

*I have attempted to find activities for Thomas and ME to do immediately after Matthew gets home. We have a few minutes to talk about the day, go over notes home, and even get a few minutes of reading on the couch done.

So far, these tips have helped and I hope that they continue to make our afternoons run more peacefully!

ME's dual personality and the hair to proove it.

I loved this picture and had to share. ME's hair is a funny phenomenon. Every morning, the front of her hair is shiny, golden, perfectly in place with soft curls. You turn her around, and the back of her hair is matted, unruly, tangled, frizzy, and completely wild.

As I have mentioned in a few previous posts, ME is going through a bit of the terrible twos. Nothing unusual, but we are going through it nonetheless. Her hair is symbolic of her personality. Perfect, sweet, sunny, golden on one side and unruly, wild, and mess on the other!

Some advise needed from mothers who are a little further down the road than me.

I am needing some help.

This year has really thrown us for a loop. I feel a peace in my soul when things are running smoothly and simply. We just haven't seemed to find our rhythm yet.

First grade started homework for Matthew. Everyday, he comes home with sheets to do and a reading assignment at night. We also have to do piano lessons. Throw in a game or two, maybe a practice, Wednesday night church, etc. and the day is over in a snap.

I also feel like Matthew needs some down time as well. He dreads doing his work at the end of the day because all he wants to do is throw the football in the backyard with his brother. I can't say I blame him, but the work needs to be done as well.

The piano and reading need to be done with me supervising. This is no easy task as I have two little ones who still need me and dinner to make.

Does anyone have any tips to make afternoons run more smoothly?

Two versions of a Willie Nelson hit that have been playing in my head this afternoon:

Mama's, don't let your babies grow up to be 2 year olds
Look at those precious innocent babies in your arms. Try not to think about them growing into two year olds who, in the span of one hour, can spray Round Up on your roses, dump a half bottle of green shampoo all over your carpet, and stick an entire Slim Fast bar in her mouth crying, "I NEED chocolate!" All while you are trying to make dinner.

This is all hypothetically speaking of course....

Mama's, don't let your babies knock out their permanent teeth
We have had to get Matthew's tooth "reapplied" many times since his run in with a tile floor last year. It had been months since it popped off. I thought that last week. I thought too soon. It popped off again Friday at 5 p.m. Why do these things always happen Friday at 5 p.m? He struggled this weekend with a jagged tooth until I could get him an appointment today. I had to take him out of school early, forgo ME's nap to get him to the dentist. After his appointment, we came home. 15 minutes later, he came in with the tooth fragment in his hand saying, "I don't think he put it on too well."

Off to the dentist again tomorrow.

What a day...

A reluctant fan

I'll admit, that when I heard Matthew wanted to play flag football, I wasn't thrilled. I am much more of a soccer fan. However, the team that Matthew has been playing on since last year wanted to play football, so I reluctantly agreed. Little did I know that Matthew was quite the football player! Today, he caught a pass from the QB, blocked the opponent to let his teammate score, and most impressively, caught the ball on the kickoff and ran the entire field to score a touchdown! I couldn't have been prouder. He did a victory dance in the endzone. I am so happy that they didn't fine us for that! ;)

Maybe a future as an Alabama Crimson Tider is in our future?

Friday check in

What is wrong with me? Either I am having fewer blogworthy moments, I am too busy to sit at the computer, or I have blogger block. In any case, it is getting harder just to sit and put my thoughts online. Here are a few things going on with us right now:

*Matthew came to our room at 4:30 in the morning after a nightmare. He was hugging Bryon fiercely and told us he dreamed that Bryon and I were no longer living in the same house and he didn't get to see Bryon anymore. This nearly broke our hearts. There are several kids in his class who have divorced parents and Matthew is just now getting a dose of the sad reality of our divorce happy culture. We spent a lot of time with him this morning reassuring him that we would always be a family.

*We have a big P.T.A. function at school tonight. My co room mother and I have been working hard getting ready for it. It should be lots of fun, but I will be glad for it to be a good memory! I am also working with a good friend on getting ready for our school's Book Fair. That is coming up in a few weeks!

*ME is really getting good at naming her colors. When I ask her what something's color is, she usually says, "Pink". Then I ask her again and she usually says the correct color with slight variations. For instance, "orange" is "orange juice". She loves her soft orange juice sweater. "Brown" is "chocolate". "I wearing my chocolate shoes!" And green is "Baylor". "Daddy has the Baylor towel."

*I am always ready for the weekend! We will be at the ball fields from 10-3 and have a birthday party tomorrow afternoon.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Monday morning

A few things going on in our world right now...

*It's Columbus Day which means a very light schedule for Bryon today and no school for Matthew. Usually, when Matthew has a day off, Bryon loves taking him to work with him. He sits quietly in the back and likes to talk to the judges. Today, Thomas got wind of this and wanted to go as well so Bryon took the boys to court this morning. Being the sweet mother that I am, I couldn't help but tell the boys that if they fought in court, there was a good chance that the judge would throw them in jail!

*We had our first dinner guests in our dining room on Friday night. The way it worked out, there were only little girls who came with their parents. Matthew was at his first slumber party, and Thomas spent the night with my mother. This meant that ME was in a room full of girls for one of the first times in her life. I have never seen her more giddy! She laughed. She did what she could to make the other girls laugh. What a cute sight that was.

*My garden continues to fill out. I was rewarded this week with a hummingbird who has been coming every morning. What a gift!













*Matthew continues to love flag football. He ran in for a touchdown the other day and scored a "two point conversation". Thomas continues to love soccer. My favorite part about watching him is that he giggles anytime the ball is in his possession!

*We had a family date watching The Little Mermaid last night. The kids and Bryon were amazed that I knew every word to all the songs! I think it was just as much a treat for me as it was the kids! At the end of the movie, the chef hits his head on something and all of his teeth fall out. Matthew said, "Wow. That was just like when Ben Roethlisberger got in a motorcycle accident and all his teeth fell out!"

*I have a busy week ahead getting ready for a big P.T.A. event at Matthew's school. I am in charge of getting a basket ready from Matthew's class and coordinating parent volunteers. It should be a busy week with that.

*A funny little story Lauren told me...Thomas was eating a sandwich at school the other day and a few bites were taken out of the bottom. "This looks like Indiana!" he told Lauren. "Oh wait. It needs a river on top." So he ate a nibble off the top left hand side of the sandwich. She had forgotten the story until Saturday night when she asked me if there was a river on the northwest side of Indiana. Sure enough.....

It did need a nibble on the left hand side! Maybe I have a little geography whiz on my hands?

*I am in my last 30 pages of Follow the River. Maybe with the boys gone, I can finish it today?

Happy Monday Morning to everyone!

2 years old + an addiction to chocolate= HUGE MESS!

I walked into the kitchen only to find my darling 2 year old with 3/4 of a french silk pie in her hand chowing down! In the picture, you can see the other handful had just fallen on the floor. I just had to laugh. How can I stand in between a girl and her love for sweets? When I was cleaning it up, she kept protesting, "I NEED my pie! OK, Mommy?" How dare I clean up her pie on the floor?! Mom has several pictures of me at different points during my toddler years with a stolen cake in my hand, flour over my entire body made into a paste with drool (yum, yum!), and climbing to the top of the refrigerator to grab bananas. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Weekend in review

Ahhhh, another weekend come and gone! Here were a few of the events:

*My parents had Matthew and Thomas spend the night on Friday night. They had a great time going to see a movie and out to eat. Since we still had ME, we decided to have a date at home. I kept her up during the afternoon so I could put her down early for bed. Then, we grilled out steaks and had a romantic meal in our backyard looking up at the stars and hearing the crickets chirp. It was such an unexpected good time and we have vowed to do that more often!

*Saturday morning was game kickoff at our house. Thomas had his first soccer game and Matthew had his first football game. Both were a blast to see! Thomas was very eager to play and hated sitting out. His only fault is that when other people are coming for the ball, his sweet nature makes him want to let others have a chance to kick it! We are working on that killer instinct! On the other hand, it was quite an experience watching Matthew play football! He did a great job at blocking and the other team put their biggest guy up against him. Where does that rage come from? ;)

*After running too many errands that afternoon, the guys went to the Baylor game and I stayed home with ME. I started an incredible book that I can't put down. Follow the River is based on the true story of Mary Ingles being abducted by Indians 9 months pregnant. She has a baby on the escape trail and travels 500 miles only to escape and travel back 500 miles. I would highly recommend it!

*Today after church, Bryon and I headed out with the kids to see his great aunt Bernie. This week will mark her 85th birthday. She still owns and operates her own cattle ranch and we all adore her. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and feeding the cows. ME particularly loved the cows. There were several baby cows that had just been born and she loved mimicking their noises.

It was a fast and furious weekend and the end of a fast and furious week. I pray that this week is a little calmer and not so much going on!

Thoughts on Monday

*I did 7 loads of laundry today. It got me thinking about my humble beginnings as a newlywed. Back then, I did laundry once a week. Two loads: lights and darks. Now, I easily do 5-7 loads of laundry in a day (of course not everyday!). With the volume of laundry I crank out, I can be much more specific in my loads: whites, khakis and grays, darks, darks with some light, pastels, dark towels, light towels, etc! No chance of screwing up the colors of my clothes now!

*I noticed on DrudgeReport that Mel Gibson was blasting the Iraq War. Anyone out there care about what another movie star thinks about politics? Me neither....

*I couldn't have pictured a prettier day than the one given to us today. It reminded me of Cape Cod. Sunny but not sweat inducing. Quite cool actually. It's hard to have a cool day around here without it being cloudy or raining. I spent a lot of time on the hammock with the kids today reading and talking. Pure heaven.

*My flower bed is completed! My landscape guy finished digging the bed closest to the house and since perennials were drastically reduced at my favorite nursery, I bought a flat on Saturday and got it finished this weekend. I can't wait to see what happens next spring!

*I found a rug to go under my dining room table. A good paint job and print for the wall should finish the room!

*I discharged many patients this past week, so the job is under control and I can honestly say that I am loving working.

*I am ready for ME to be her happy cute self again. She had another spike in temperature at the end of the week and we found out that the bacteria in her kidneys was not responding to the antibiotic. We switched them, and her fever went away, but she looks incredibly pale. Not her normal cutie pie self.

*Think thats it for now! I am going to watch the premier of Hero with Bryon. He has been looking forward to it for weeks.

Conflicts in interests

Signs ME has two older brothers:
*Her first word was football
*She likes to point pens and say "Pyoo-pyoo!" Like a gun
*She gets Thomas's figurine of Sean Alexander and asks if she can play with "Alexander".
*She copies the boys watching football. "Go A-Bama!" "Hold 'em!" "Down, set, hut!"
*She loves trying on Thomas's NASCAR costume.

Signs that despite all the male influence in her life, she is still a girlie girl:
*She walks through Dillards and points out all the pink things.
*Princesses are her life.
*She loves looking at her "outfits" in her closet.
*She adores shoes and only cries in the doctor's office when she has to take hers off to weigh. She likes keeping a pair in her crib.
*She is oh, so very bossy. Almost all her statements end in "OK?" "I want some milk. OK?"
*Her two favorite food groups are gum and chocolate.

What a funny little girl! I love every part of her!

Dream interpretation

We are studying about Nebuchadnezzar's dream in our Beth Moore bible study. He was so haunted by it that he couldn't sleep and ordered the execution of all the wise men he employeed because they couldn't interpret it.

I am having a strange series of dreams as well. I dream constantly that I am cleaning my house. Last night it was dusting my new dining room table taking extra care to dust with the grain rather than against it. A few nights ago, I was dry mopping my floor and lovingly putting the pile of lint into a circle so I could get my vacuum cleaner out to hose it up.

I dream I am cleaning all the time. Can anyone interpret this? I promise that if you can't, I won't order your execution!

Happy Birthday, Jilinda!

Today is my sister-in-law's 28th birthday! This is her first birthday since becoming my sister-in-law, and I wanted to let her know how much we love her being in our family. She is funny, sweet, smart, beautiful, and the perfect match for my brother. Mom, Lauren, and I always love when she and Michael come in town because we get to hang out with her while the guys are busy talking about sports. What a blessing to love a sister-in-law so much! I thought it would be hard for whoever Michael married because Lauren and I are so close, but she fits in beautifully and I look forward to many, many years of fun with Jilinda! Matthew woke up this morning, came running in, and yelled, "Today is Aunt Jilinda's birthday!" I guess when she married my brother, she didn't realize that she was getting her own personal fan club of 3 kids (not to mention us adults as well)! Happy Birthday, Jilinda! We love you!

Life is good

Looking back on the last several posts, I realize I have been sort of a downer lately between ME and me being sick. I feel so happy lately and I haven't written much about it. I am busier than I have ever been in my life, but I am doing so many things that I really enjoy! I am enjoying the few hours I am working. I love what I am doing to help at Matthew's school. I am thrilled with Matthew's teacher and school experience so far. I am in the middle of several good books. The kids are all three at adorable ages and I am trying to enjoy every second with them (Trying is the operative word. They all three still have their moments!) The weather is cooling down considerably and we even enjoyed a dinner on Sunday night in the dark. So cozy! I even broke down last night and ordered a chai latte at Starbucks. Bryon and I enjoyed an outing to Starbucks with the kids in the backseat. This is our little "date" about twice a week. I reserve Chai Lattes for cooler months on special occasions. Driving at dusk with the whole fam just felt like a special occasion last night.

Yes, life is good. I am happy to be a part of it.

Poor little ME

Many of you who have read my blog for a while know that ME has kidney reflux. She has taken a dose of antibiotic every night since February following a hospitalization for a kidney infection.

All was going well until Saturday night. She had a great day and went to sleep. Two hours later, she was up with an almost 104 degree fever. No other signs and symptoms. Knowing her, I figured it was another bladder/kidney infection. Infections like these are called "break throughs". The bacteria managed to get through despite the antibiotic. I took her in this afternoon to her doctor who confirmed my suspicions. She has a bad kidney infection with blood in her urine. The good news is that we are now able to collect samples by peeing in a cup and not catheters!

I will find out in the next few days what bacteria it is and what to do from there. She upped her normal dose of bactrim which I hope will do the trick. Her doctor also agreed to a consult with a leading pediatric urologist in Dallas. I am anxious to talk with him and find out the best path for ME.

She was so cute at the doctor's office. She can't help but say "Hello!" to everyone she encounters. One of the nurses asked her if she was 2. "No," she said, "I'm 4 1/2!" Note to self: I need to teach my daughter that you lie about your age the other way!"

One name crossed off the list?

As many of you know, we have several names for our little girl. In the same conversation, I will call her Mary Elizabeth, Mary Beth, and ME (Emmy). I like all three so much and since this is more than likely the only time I will ever get to name a girl, I just can't choose. I thought when she was a baby that she would just tell us when she was older what to call her. I just didn't think she would be 2!

Uncle Josh called her "Mary Beth" on Saturday night and she turned to him and said, "I not Mary Beth. I ME!" This is what she calls herself and what the boys call her. Of course, I will always call her Mary Elizabeth, but I think she has chosen her nickname!

Much better!

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes. Today was a much better day. Still sore and weak, but much better. Ironically, I think the kids got a little bit today.

Michael, stop reading here.

I was cleaning the kids' rooms when ME walked in and said, "Mommy, I got diarina!" Oh boy. Yes, ME had "diarina" all over the carpet, tile, underwear, legs. Yes, Mommyhood slapped me dead in the face this morning! My day off was over.

Michael, resume reading.

Everyone was cleaned up and sunny faced the rest of the day. I enjoyed being outside in the gorgeous weather. It's good to be alive again.

Food poisoning

Well, I had lots of plans yesterday until they got ruined by a bout of food poisoning. I woke up throwing up at 5 in the morning and didn't stop most of the day. I was supposed to go into work but that obviously wasn't happening. My dear husband stayed around to take the kids to MDO and surprised me by coming home at 1 o'clock. Bless him!! He was up also in the night throwing up but it didn't hit him nearly as hard. I didn't know how I was going to take care of the kids and take Matthew to practice. My sister did volunteer to help as well and even brought me some drugs. Thanks Lauren!

I went to sleep at 4 and other than waking up to eat a few saltines (which I felt yesterday should have been on the cover of Food and Wine magazine because they tasted SO GOOD) I slept until this morning.

This morning I am weak with a very sore back (I guess from throwing up so much) but on the road to recovery. It makes me appreciate good health all the more.

9/11 Remembered

I have been sad this morning. I just finished watching the Today Show and all of the thousands of mourning people who lost someone dear to them 5 years ago today.

I was a pregnant mother of an almost 2 year old 5 years ago. I was getting ready for Ladies Class at church when I decided to turn on the Today Show. Local news had cut in and said that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the WTC. At the time, many thought it was a small commuter plane. Maybe there was fog and it accidentally rammed into the building? Then when the second plane hit, I naiively thought, maybe the plane went to see the damage of the first building being hit and accidentally hit the other building. I just couldn't believe that any one would deliberately kill so many. As the morning unfolded, there was so much fear that there were more planes in the air. Would one try to hit the Texas White House so close to my own?

In the days and weeks to come, I was glued to the TV. Matthew was taking long naps at the time, and I spent my days watching people mourn the loss of their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers. I felt a strong sympathy for Lisa Beamer as she and I were both pregnant. She had two boys just like I was about to have. What would I do if suddenly Bryon walked out the door never to return?

I remember travelling to Arkansas 10 days later to visit Lauren seeing more flags than I had ever seen before in front of so many homes and businesses. What kind of world would I bring Matthew and Thomas up in? Would they be safe? Would we be hit again soon?

I wonder if President Clinton, up to his eyeballs in controversy with Monica Lewinsky, regrets not killing Osama Bin Laden when he had the chance. I wonder if President Bush regrets any of his decisions. I wonder if America is forgetting the patriotism felt so strongly 5 years ago. I wonder if it pleases the enemy to see our country so divided. I wonder.

Five years later, I can't watch the coverage all day. I have 3 kids now and all three require that my time not be spent watching TV remembering the dead, but living life.

Whirlwind week

I can't recall a week as busy as this one in recent history (moving week excluded of course!). It seems like I got up and never sat down until late each night. I think a lot of it is getting used to working some. In any event, TGIF!!!!!

Bryon's parents are here now. Today is Grandparent's Day at school and Matthew is very lucky to have all 4 of his coming today. This is something I never dreamed of. Three of my four grandparents died by the time I was 11. The closest one lived 15 hours from me. I was determined to not let that happen with my kids! All four love our kids dearly and play an active roll in their lives.

In other news, my dining room furniture is coming today! I woke up this morning feeling like it was Christmas! I can't wait to display my dishes that have been stored away for 10 years. Kristen, I thought of your grandmother when I was getting my things out. She gave me a sterling silver cream and sugar when we got married! I will try to post pictures when I have it all together.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Fall into full swing

I haven't been inspired to blog lately and I feel like if I don't start, I am going to just completely give it up!

My spirit has been revived recently with the cooler air. I love sitting outside with Matthew in the mornings with the temp in the 60s. I am such a fall and winter girl and I feel with the passing of Labor Day, that we have crossed the finish line with summer. We went over to our dear friends house on Friday night. She had apple cobbler in the oven. Rainy nights, apple cobbler, football...heaven.

The change of season is right in line with lots of changes with me. I started working again this week. I am shadowing the current SLP and getting reintroduced to the paper work, therapy, etc. I acutally saw a patient yesterday who used to teach with my dearly loved professor who died a few weeks ago. We talked about her for a while and she even let me borrow one of her favorite books! I need to read it before I start seeing her next week! I am excited about starting work again. There is some apprehension, but mostly excitement.

My P.T.A. responsibilities are kicking in as well. I am co chairing the fall book fair at school. The great thing is that I am co-chairing with a dear friend of mine who I don't get to see as often as I did last year. The bad thing is that the fair is scheduled for the week of Halloween which is always a jam packed week! I think I would have volunteered for the spring book fair had I known this!

Another opportunity that I received last week was that I am going to help with a garden at school. Our school has beautiful gardens that the students help maintain. They even draw the plants in art class. The woman in charge of the gardens asked me to help with one of the beds. I really want to do a great job so I have been hunting around for the perfect flower combinations. I love doing this and hope I can do more in the future.

I am also helping a friend of mine with her flower beds at home. She is going to give me some of her plants that are planted in bad areas in exchange. I love that I am able to use my passion to help other people!

I am completely enjoying my Beth Moore bible study. I have been praying for a while for a renewed spiritual life for several reasons. I have let the busyness of raising preschoolers give me the excuse to not be studying like I should. Also, Matthew is getting to the age where he has lots of questions and I pray for wisdom in answering those questions. I also want to live a life that is a good example for my kids. I want them to remember me as a Godly woman. I am enjoying this breath of fresh air in my spiritual life and pray that it continues to grow.

So that's it in a nutshell. Lots going on!

What the kids are up to August 2006

Matthew:
Life as a first grader is treating Matthew very well. Anyone who read my blog last year can remember that I adored kindergarten. I loved the parent involvement in the classroom. I loved the little projects they did. I was dreading the "serious business--lack of parent involvement" of first grade. So far, I have really liked this year! I love Matthew's teacher. She freely gives me "Matthew stories" which I love to hear and seems to love Matthew. I love doing homework with him every afternoon. It gives me tangible things to talk to him about. He is king of forgetting to tell me everything he is working on, so I love the homework. He seems to have really grown up recently, and I love our talks. We are usually the only ones around in the early morning and I love this time with him. His 2nd year of piano started yesterday and flag football begins in the next week or two. Yes, we are off to a running start!

Thomas:
Thomas has been on top of the world lately. Why, you ask? Could it be the circus is coming to town? A new toy? A trip to Disneyland? No. His favorite restaurant just opened a branch a mile from our house! We have been counting down for weeks for the grand opening of Taco Bueno. Last night, it finally arrived. At 10 in the morning, he asked if we could go. At 10:30 in the morning, he asked if they were opened yet. It took a lot of patience on his part, but I was able to hold him off until 5:30. He was in heaven! He was lamenting last night that we moved away from our old house because it was 1/2 mile closer to Taco Bueno.

Thomas also seems to really be enjoying school and having Lauren as his teacher. He has been talking a lot about the letter of the week and finding words that start with the letters. Lauren measured the kids the other day and Thomas was the tallest in the class. He is my gentle giant! I couldn't love his personality any more. He just seems happy to be alive and it is rare to find him without a smile on his face.

Mary Elizabeth:
Well after two years of smoothe sailing, we have hit some rough waters. She is still her funny, sunny self, but she is developing some bad habits. I have already mentioned the no napping thing. I feel bad that in MDO, she is one of two kids who won't sleep. The teacher says that she will look at the other little girl and say, "Lay DOWN, Tatum!" If only she would take her own advise!

She has also developed a fascination with cleansing products. A week ago, she came into the kitchen with a handful of conditioner in her dry hair. What a pain that is to get out! Saturday, I was putting groceries away, and I hear the death scream coming from my bedroom. She had found the Johnson and Johnson, dumped half of it on my carpet and the other half all over her face. Bless her heart, she cried so hard that she threw up. It took me hours to get the shampoo out of the carpet.

The other little messy habit is that she will take her pullup off in the morning and pee in her bed so as not to mess up her pullup! Yesterday morning, I walked into her room and there on the floor, several inches from her crib, was a perfectly round puddle of pee. Now, I look at my little girl, then down at the puddle and wonder, "How in the world did that happen?" Did she jump out of the crib, do her business, then jump back in? Did she climb onto the railing, thrust her body out, then do her business? Perhaps we will never know!

Other than that, she is still my sweet baby who delights in making us smile. I am enjoying watching the unique relationships that she is building with her brothers. She loves her mornings with Thomas. This often consists of her laying on top of him while watching Sesame Street (or as I like to call it, my hour to clean!). She loves bossing him around and he usually lets her. One of the first things she says every morning is, "I want THOMAS!" Matthew loves to baby her and she loves to be babied by him. It is so much fun to watch it unfold!

I love weeks like this one. Things are going very smoothly and I am loving the mommy business! Maybe I just jinxed myself! I'll keep my fingers crossed!