Before and After

 
 
 
 




The first two pictures were taken this morning. The ground is completely saturated with all of the rain from earlier this week.







The second two were taken after a flash flood and tornado warning roared through this afternoon. Gotta love Texas weather. Lots of stories. Please say a little prayer for this area as we are expecting two more waves of this tonight! Will update later...

Thomas and Mary Elizabeth

 
 
 
 

When I found out I was going to have 2 boys and a girl, I was expecting the boys to be extremely close (or at least hoping!). What I didn't think about was the close relationship that my younger two would form. Thomas and ME are the best of friends when Matthew is in school. They are my two VERY affectionate children and they love hugging all over each other and holding hands when we are out in public. Lauren says that they get so excited when they see each other in the halls at Mother's Day Out! I can count on my hand the number of tiffs these two have had over their past 2 years together, and I love that ME calls Thomas, "Honey" or "Sweetie" because that is what I call him!

I am really trying to relish these next 8 weeks with Thomas and ME being home together. While I pray that their relationship continues to grow, this will be the only time until they are teenagers that they will spend so much concentrated time alone together in the house. I think I will always feel a little sadness that ME will never have a sister, but at least she will have an awesome older brother to dote on her! Matthew dotes on her as well and ME adores him, but there usually isn't any time where it is just ME and Matthew. What a lucky girl having two older brothers!

What have I been up to?

I can't believe it has been more than a week since I last posted!

Here is what I've been up to:

Last Monday, I watched James for Lauren while she was in Italy. I was amazed at how busy he was and how unused to babyhood I have become! I was very sore the next day from holding my big hunka James! He was adorable and my kids fought over who was the best babysitter!

Also last Monday, I had another flower bed dug. To save on cost, and because I am a contol freak, I ended up buying my own plants and putting them in the bed myself. The bed is huge and it took me several days to get it just right, but now I have another completed flower bed! Now, I just have to wait until blooming season!

Bryon left for Las Vegas on Wednesday and didn't come home until late Saturday night for business. This is always difficult, but my parents helped out a lot taking Matthew to and/or from his activities. I don't rest well when Bryon is gone and spend too much time cleaning when I should be relaxing. We were thrilled to see him Sunday morning and feel so blessed that he made it home safely.

Today, we had a deluge and most of my new flower bed is underwater. It should be this way for the rest of the week, so we are going to try to stay dry and enjoy a small respite from baseball!

End of Spring Break

I can't believe it is already Sunday night! Our 9 days of togetherness is over. What a blessing to be ready for the kids to be home all week and ready for school to start again tomorrow!

We had a good week. Bryon is buried in work right now, so it was lots of time with me playing with the kids. At times this was hard, but I reminded myself of how nice it was to not have anywhere in particular to be. We spent tons of time outside, making picnics, going on nature walks, and reading books. One of our nature walks occured after a heavy rain, and I got to pull the boys out of the mud. The mud was so thick that their shoes came off firmly entrenched in the soggy earth! That was a gross walk back home!

Today was a huge gardeners gathering in the small town that we live in. We all had a great time doing kids activities, listening to bagpipes (my boys' favorite), picking up free plants, and talking to people who enjoy gardening as much as I do.

This week, the bluebonnets came out in full force. This is always a happy time and a stressful time. Time to get the perfect bluebonnet picture. Unfortunately, this has become more and more difficult the more kids we have had. Wish us luck this year!


Looking forward to a good week!

Spring is in the Air!

What a joyful feeling! I am completely enjoying hanging out in the backyard, grilling on the patio, taking in the beauty of redbuds and pear trees, and playing with all three kids this week! Michael and Jilinda came this weekend and took the boys back home on Sunday with them. Michael took the day off of work and played with the boys the entire time. They enjoyed going to a professional soccer game, swimming, playing tennis, go-carts, putt putt golf, batting cages, and NASCAR driving! Poor kids had to come home to boring old me! I love Spring Break and have enjoyed every second of relaxing time. What a gift!


We love getting the Hummer our of hibernation!
 












We love hanging out outside!
 












Watching the redbud bloom!
 










Time to take shirts off!
 

Things heard around our house this week...

Me: "Mary Beth, please pick up the craisins you dropped on the floor."
Mary Beth: "No, Mommy."
Me: "Please obey me."
Mary Beth: "I don't want to obey. I want to DANCE!"
Guess who danced her way to time out?


Thomas was eating a cheese pizza at Panera earlier in the week....
"Mommy. I have something to say that is going to make your day."
(This statement is frequently made by Thomas.)
"What's that, Thomas?"
"I love you more than I love cheese pizza!"
Considering how much the boys loves food, I felt very honored! It indeed made my day!

There is an ongoing debate in our house as to what to call our daughter. I usually call her Mary Beth. She usually intoduces herself as "ME" because the boys call her that. The only problem is that it sounds like "Amy" so we are trying to get her to say Mary Beth. All week long, she has been calling herself "Mary Elizabeth". I asked her this morning: "Do you want to call yourself Mary Elizabeth or Mary Beth?" She thought about it and said, "Ummmm....Just Mary Had A Little Lamb!" That's a new one!

And finally to Matthew. Let me preface this by saying that I have a rather impressive list of pet peeves. At the very top of this list (maybe the top 5?) is whistling. It drives me CRAZY to hear people whistling. Guess who learned to really whistle this week? Since coming home from school on Monday, Matthew has been whistling nonstop. This is trying my patience, but I am allowing him to do it. What if I crush his whistling spirit? What if he was meant to be a world famous whistler and I held him back? What if he decides that he really likes to whistle while he works and will start doing a better job keeping his room clean because of the distraction? Well, at least the weather is getting better so he can whistle OUTSIDE!

Have a great weekend!

ME singing the classics

I finally joined 2007 and did a youtube video. Now you can put a voice with a face.

Our weekend alone

Bryon and I had a big function Saturday night but couldn't find a babysitter. My in laws volunteered to watch all three of the kids from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon. Normally when we have time to ourselves, we are going out of town, so it was really unusual to just have a normal weekend at home by ourselves! We spent the time running errands on Saturday afternoon. We went to my two favorite local nurseries to look around. It wasn't quite as fun as I would have hoped because it was freezing but I had to get it out of my system!

We also went to Sam's to look at playsets. We left our old one at our old house and we have really missed it! While we were there, I went ahead and bought a bunch of meat for the next few weeks. I felt like a character on the movie Fargo since all we bought was 5lbs. of meat, 5lbs. of sausage, 10 lbs. of chicken, and 2 big roasts! ME LOVE MEAT!!!

We had a great time on Saturday night going to Pei Wei and then to see two great artists later on that evening. Annika Fehling, who is from Sweeden, and Dana Cooper, who was from Nashville, came to play at a friend's house. We stayed out until midnight.

All night, in the quiet of our house, I kept hearing someone say, "Mommy!" I attibute it to phantom pains that amputees feel. It just doesn't seem right being home without the kids!

Of course, we had a great time, and I was happy just hanging out with Bryon even for a short time. It was almost better being home alone than going away alone! We went yesterday to pick up the kids and met my inlaws at Martha's Bloomers in Navasota. I have passed it many times and it was written up in Southern Living a few months ago so I had to check it out. What a neat place! I have a feeling we will be stopping there more in the near future!

Looks to be a slightly calmer week this week. Thank goodness! Unfortunately, we will NOT be going to Alabama as we had originally thought. Bryon has some job changes going on this month which made the trip impossible. It is our hope to postpone it only a few months. I was hoping to get to meet some of my blog friends!

Off to join the kids outside. Have a great week!

What a week!

Monday-
Matthew had a school holiday and it was one of the nicest days in recent memory. Lauren and I took the kids to the park and for a long "exploration" around our neighborhood. All was right in the world on Monday!

Tuesday-
Matthew's basketball awards banquet. I should put Bryon and Thomas's awards banquet too since they were the coach and assistant coach, respectively! I got to sing at the banquet and we all had a great time. I will miss his little team.

Wednesday-
This was the big follow up renal ultrasound and VCUG in the metroplex. The good news was that ME was perfect for the scans and wasn't traumatized like she was last year. The radiology tech said she was the best 2 year old she had ever had! She even got to watch "Snow Wipe" during the procedure! The bad news was that her reflux hadn't significantly improved and her left kidney had stopped growing. The urologist said, "It's time to cut bait and do something to correct this." We are still waiting to hear when the surgery is scheduled. It is a relief that the end is so near, but I know we have a big hurdle ahead of us.

Thursday-
Matthew started Little League. No more practice leagues where scores aren't kept. This is the real thing. I am looking forward to a fun couple of months of baseball.

Friday-
Matthew had dress like a story book character today. On his own this morning, he decided he would be Abraham Lincoln and wore a flannel shirt, cords, and hiking boots (I guess "Abe, the early years"?) and a tall hat. He kept his homework in his tall hat "just like Abraham Lincoln kept all of his court documents in his tall hat when he was a lawyer!" What a funny kid! We are eating dinner tonight with some people from church.

Saturday-
Tomorrow, we have a fun night planned and my inlaws volunteered to keep the kids for us. Bryon is going to drive the kids halfway while I see a patient, and then we will have 24 hours together by ourselves! We will eat an early dinner with Lauren and Josh at Pei Wei. The best thing is, is that this is the weekend before the grand opening, and we are eating for free so the staff can learn how the restaurant works! Yippee!

Later that evening, We are going to our friends' house to listen to a home concert. The guests are all pitching in to hear a professional pianist play. A little different than our dinner and movie dates. It should be fun! This starts at 8:00 which is about the time I turn into a pumpkin. Looks like I will be drinking a lot of coffee beforehand!

Monday

I am in the blogging doldrums right now. We are keeping busy everyday, but mostly just boring stuff that isn't blogworthy.

Matthew ended his basketball season this weekend. We didn't have enough players on the team, so Bryon had Thomas play! It was so much fun seeing how excited he was! A smile didn't leave his face the entire game! He even got two jump balls for the team. Matthew also had a great game and scored 10 points. I was very proud of him and even prouder that he got the ball several times and gave it to Thomas so he could have a chance at scoring. Love those brothers!

Last night was bookclub and I enjoyed a great meal and fellowship. I did NOT like the book, however. Eat, Pray, and Love is getting rave reviews from bookclubs nationwide, but it just made me feel bad. The author was my age and decided that she just wasn't happy in her marriage so it was time to leave and travel the world. Yippee for her! It doesn't matter what destruction she left behind as long as she is happy, right? Sorry, I just don't sympathize with her.

We have an unusually busy week this week with the awards banquet for Matthew's team, and a trip to the metroplex for more testing on ME's kidney. I am praying that we get the anwers we want and can get on the road to recovery.

Have a great week!

My son, the budding gastroenterologist

Lately, Matthew talks about being a doctor on a daily basis. The books he writes are now being signed by "Dr.________". He also wants to know the longest name of doctor that he could be.

I watched Matthew's class while his teacher was out today and started browsing Matthew's daily journal. This is what he wrote last week:

When I grow up, I want to be a docter. If you ever wondered what docter I wanted to be....I want to be a gastrointroligest. I will help people's small intestentses. I will go to coledge and work hard and studie hard. I will be a Masters Sicence (MS). I deserve to be a gastrointeroligest and if that doesn't work out, I will be a pedeatrishen & if that doesn't work then I will cure canser and if that doesn't work, then I will be a lung docter.

Does this mean he has given up his dream to play professional football?

Valentine's Wrap up

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone! We have had a great week full of love. Tuesday was the younger two's Valentines parties. When I went to pick up ME, all of the little girls were sitting quietly watching Dora and ME was sitting next to the only little boy in her class trying to kiss him! Early signs of boy craziness? Let's hope not!

Tuesday night, I made a big Valentine's dinner for my family. Bryon and I have made New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day family holidays. We hardly ever go out and when we do, we don't want it to be evenings when we can't find a babysitter and have to wait in line for an hour! We had our traditional spaghetti along with pink cupcakes.

Bryon knows that I prefer roses with roots still attached, so for Valentine's Day, he got me this bareroot beauty pictured at the left. It came in the mail today. I was much more impressed than ME!

It was colder here than it was in Newport, RI yesterday. Crazy, freezing cold weather!

Hope you had a fun, warm Valentine's!

Need a laugh?

I can honestly say that I have only one hot button issue with Mary Beth. If she sees shampoo, lotion, tootpaste, soap, gel, etc. that is out, she WILL put it in her hands and either wipe it on her shirt, pour it on our carpet, or , most often, wipe it in her hair. We try to make these items extremely unavailable! Even as I write, I have a bottle of pink hand soap sitting on our mantle. I figure her vision of heaven is the American Airlines checkin trash cans!

I had her in my lap curling her hair for church on Sunday and while my eyes were focused on not burning her neck, she got a handful of gel and stuck in on the front of her hair. Think Something About Mary. Not my favorite moment after washing, drying, and curling her hair. Last week, I caught Thomas playing barbershop with her by putting green toothpaste in her hair.

Tonight, after a long day of driving to the metroplex for ME's appointment, I raced back home to get the boys and get Matthew ready for basketball. That's when I heard, "Oh no. I messed up my hair!" Yes, little darling somehow got oatmeal all in her hair! This is two minutes before heading to basketball. I stuck a hat on her and off we went. BTW-The scowl on her face is because she is sad that her hair is messed up!

And no, she isn't president of the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer fan club. She skinned her nose during a fall at church last night!

The appointment was interesting. It turns out that the pediatric urologist thinks her reflux is worse than I was originally told. We go back in two weeks for a VCEG--a rather unpleasant test that involves catheterizing her, pumping her full of liquid, holding the liquid in her bladder, and then peeing it out. As an 18 month old, she refused to do this last part and made me put her on the potty! Then, we will discuss options which the specialist thinks will more than likely be surgery. I feel confident in the doctor and know that he will point us in the right direction. I am just thankful that her problem is fixable. We are so blessed.

Bangs!

To bang or not to bang. This was the question I have been asking myself for a while. Yesterday, I put her hair in pig tails and long strands from the front kept getting in her eyes. I decided to cut a few whispies. We can grow them back if needed, but at least her hair will be out of her face!

weekend highlights

What a beautiful weekend we had! I am so grateful that the cold and rain have abated giving way to warmth and sunny skies! Here are a few highlights:

*We had fun watching Matthew play basketball on Saturday! Watching my kids play sports is one of my favorite parts of motherhood. My heart just beams watching Matthew score goals, be a team player, and work off his boundless energy! I have met such wonderful people whose kids play as well. I look forward to many years ahead of sports watching!

*Saturday, our church sponsored a huge dodgeball tournament. Bryon played on an adult team on Satuday night. What a hoot! I haven't had that much fun in a while! My parents watched Mary Beth because she isn't the most cooperative bleacher-sitter, and I was expecting a packed gym. I have never seen the boys so still in my life! After the tournament, Matthew said, "I can't wait for three more years until I can get beat up, too!" We have also had game after game of dodgeball at our house since then. It has become our second favorite sport after......

*FOOTBALL! We had a family night making salsa and watching the game and the commercials. I am always a little sad at the end of football. Eight more months to go! I really liked the Oprah/Letterman spot and the Coke commercial. I made the boys go to sleep after the third quarter, mean mommy that I am. Matthew was teary having to stop watching the game. I explained to him that he needed a good night sleep for school tomorrow. Then he wailed, "Why did you EVER sign me up for school in the first place?!" The meanness doesn't stop in our house!

*I was so happy walking outside yesterday with the unexpected warmth in the air. A day in the 60s is downright toasty after the month long temperatures in the 30s and 40s! I was able to use part of yesterday afternoon to prune rosebushes in anticipation of the coming growing season. I can't wait!

*We are gearing up for Mary Beth's big pediatric urology appointment in the metroplex this week. This month marks the one year anniversary that we have been dealing with kidney issues. Since her diagnosis of kidney reflux, she has been on antibiotics every day for a solid year. I am hoping that we get some good news this week and can find a solution to the problem.

In Harm's Way

I just read a fabulous book that I highly recommend! I have always been a WWII history buff. Some of that has to do with the fact that both my grandfathers were in the war. My father's father was at the Bikini Islands when they were testing the atom bomb. During test runs, they just had the sailor's put their hands over their eyes. Not exactly a great radiation deterrent. My mother's father was a officer in the navy in both the European and Pacific theatres. His ship ran supplies to the troops.

I think I also admire how these men fought the war and lived their lives. They witnessed horrible things but were able to be thankful they survived and helped rebuild America after the war. They were, and still are, extremely patriotic. They were the last great cowboys who weren't subjected to the Oprahfication of America. I just admire them so much. I know that the veterans of this war are dying at an an amazing rate now. It is sad to me that this bit of American history is only really known to the 80 and 90 years olds.

I highly recommend the book, In Harm's Way. It is about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Of the nearly 1,200 sailors, only 317 made it through the 4 day ordeal after the ship was torpedoed and sunk. The navy didn't know that the ship was missing and subsequently as many as 50 sailors a day were eaten by sharks. Many more died from the elements. Can you imagine what CNN and MSNBC would do with this story today?

I have been thinking a lot about this part of history particularly because my Uncle Harold died two weeks ago. Uncle Harold and my great aunt had their first date the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. He then joined the service and was at the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. I just watched some home movies of him in 1994 after he attended the 50th anniversary of this event which he helped to organize. It is interesting to read his obituary and see the amazing things that he was apart of and to realize that he could have been just another person that you see in the grocery store. This is why I love working with the elderly! Again, I highly recommend this book as well as the book, Flyboys about the pilots in the Pacific who helped take Iwo Jima.

My Pottery Barn wall

So here it is. If you are coming into my house from the
garage, a long hall dead ends into our bedroom.
From this angle, there is an entrance immediately to
the right into our laundry room. A few steps later,
there is a hallway that leads to our guest room/office
(that is the doorway you see). This hallway was a 6 foot
space with nothing on it. I finally got up the courage to
frame my favorite pictures of the kids from when they
were 1 to 2 years old. I have many more, so I am looking
for more hall space! ;)

Vacations

We had our budget chat last week and have decided on three vacations this year.

March-
We are headed to Alabama! We will leave the Friday before Matthew's spring break and spend three days in Tuscaloosa and B'ham before heading home to enjoy the rest of the break. Matthew has perfect attendance so far, so we will leave as soon as attendance is taken! ;) Trips to Alabama were a huge part of my growing up experience. We moved away when I was a first grader and made the trip at least once a year to visit my grandmother. I haven't been back since college, so I am anxious to show my family the two cities that meant so much to me growing up.

July-
My in laws have surprised us with a family trip to Disney World! We will be there 5 days, stay in a great hotel, and do lots of fun things while we are there. ME is VERY excited to eat lunch with Cinderella and won't stop talking about the "Printhethethes".

This summer-
This one is still a little sketchy, but we are planning a trip to San Antonio before the boys start back at school. We want to do something special especially in celebration of Thomas's kindergarten year. We think we will go to Sea World and Fiesta Texas. Last year, we had a great time at Schlitterbahn, so maybe we will do that instead?

We also want to take a trip to Fredericksburg in June/July when the peaches are at their best. This trip, we are calling our Tour of Texas!

I love travelling and now that our kids are getting a little older, I am looking forward to it even more!

Memory Lane

I have been working on my "Pottery Barn wall" this week. I have been going through my pictures of the kids as babies, making them black and white, matting them in white, and framing them in black.

This process has been bittersweet for me. I am so glad that the kids are a little older, but I really miss them as babies. Their faces are thinning out, their hands, not so dimpled. Sweet coos have been replaced by, "MOM!"

I have enjoyed the trip down memory lane.


 
 
 
  

Just another conversation on the way home.

Matthew is always asking questions. We have lots of interesting conversations. Today, on the way home from piano, was no exception. I just walked in the door and wanted to write this down before I fogot it.

"Mommy, what is a will?"

"A will is a piece of paper that tells where you want your worldly posessions to go when you die. Sometimes, it tells where you want your kids to live when you die if they are still living at home."

"So, if you and Daddy die, we could sell your cars and get, like, $50 for them?"

"Ummmm, yes."

"So does this mean I could start sleeping in your bed?"

(I am thinking Matthew is putting A LOT of thought into this)

"You wouldn't want to live with another family if we die?"

"NO WAY! I could take care of Thomas and ME."

"How would you do that?"

"I would be nice to them and buy them food and toys."

"How would you get the the store?"

"I would walk or take the bus. Is the bus stop close to here?"

"What about church?"

"I would walk to Nana and Deedah's and they would take us."

"What would you do if ME started throwing up?"

"I would ask Aunt Lauren to take her to the doctor. I would then clean up the mess and put her head by the toilet, but I am stopping if poop comes out of her bottom. Ohhhh, this is going to be hard!"

pause

"I will take them to the mall if they need new shoes. I would do a good job taking care of my house."

My house? He really is a man with a plan. Talk about Party of 3!

Then Thomas chimes in:

"HEY! If you and Daddy die, Buddy and me are in charge OK?"

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

Proof positive that given the opportunity, the boys could fight over anything.

"CONVERSATION OVER! Mommy and Daddy plan to be here for a LONG time!"

Little Miss Independant gets herself ready for school....

Leopard sweats....check!
Black velvet cape....check!
Thomas's underwear....check!
flower purse.....check!
Pink Barbie light up boots....check!

  

This weekend

I am sitting here taking a break from football wondering where the weekend went! It has been a good one.

First, I was shocked Friday night that a dear friend from elementary school found my blog! Melanie moved to Abilene at the end of 4th grade. She lived on our little street and was in the same class as me in 5th grade. I remember being close to inseparable that year and was sad when she moved back to Lubbock after 5th grade. I love cyberspace and the ability to connect with people who meant so much in the past!

Friday night, we watched The Devil Wears Prada which was great. I also started reading a wonderful book which I HIGHLY recommend. My aunt sent along Up And Running in a recent package. It is the story of a boy who goes to her church, who developed bacterial meningitis and as a result, lost his legs. I picked it up on Friday night and finished the 300 page book today! It will make you want to kiss your kids an extra time each night.

I have two cute Thomas stories from this weekend that really highlight his personality. On Saturday night, we were eating dinner. Matthew views food as fuel. He always eats really well, but it is hard for him to take that much time out of his busy schedule! Thomas lives for meal time. Anyway, on Saturday night, Matthew finished his food first and started begging Thomas to hurry up so they could play a game. This happened several times when all of the sudden, Thomas looked up, used a very uncharacteristic booming voice, and said, "DON'T RUSH ME, BUDDY!" No sir, nothing comes between my Thomas and his dinner! ;)

This morning, I was sitting up front watching my boys collect member and visitor cards on the aisle. I always love watching them do that! As I was watching Thomas go up the far aisle, I noticed a bunch of people laughing and wiping their eyes from laughing so hard. It was all I could do to wait until the end of service to find out what Thomas had done. It turns out, as he was coming up the aisle, one of our elders handed him a card. He froze. Our very literal Thomas was told to pick up the cards on the end of the aisle, not out of people's hands! He told him, "No, you need to put it on the aisle." and then proceeded to grab his arm to guide him! This is why I don't have to worry about Thomas getting in trouble much. YOU DON'T BREAK THE RULES! Thank you so much to Erica's mother, Mary, for calling to tell me that story too. She knows as a mother and grandmother, the importance of relaying fun stories about the kids!

Looking forward to a normal, LONG week. Have a great one, everybody!

Back home again!

Well, after one day of 3 inch boot wearing, makeup applying, and non pony tailing, we are back to elastic waistbands and granola! No school today! Today marks the 5th day of freezing weather with sleet and/or snow. As much as I love this weather, it has stuck around just long enough to make me ready for it to move on! We haven't had a week of regular school since early December, so next week is going to be very LONG. We are loving having Matthew and Bryon with us again today!

Bundle up and stay warm! Tonight, I am making chicken and dumplings. Last night was corn chowder, one of my favorite meals from childhood:

5-6 slices of cooked bacon
1 medium onion
2 C cooked corn (frozen is always best)
1 C cooked, diced potato
1 can mushroom soup
2 1/2 C milk (the closer to whole, the better)
1 t. salt
pepper, garlic salt, and parsley to taste

I add a few shakes of tabasco on mine as well!
Garnish with crumbled bacon

Venturing out

Matthew went to school two hours late today. I had to walk him down to his carpool because there was so much ice on our steps and it was sleeting like crazy. Man, I wish they had canceled school! Mother's Day Out starts in an hour. This will be the first time I have left the perimeter of my house and yard since Friday afternoon.

Will I remember how to put on makeup?
Will I remember how to brush my hair?
Will I remember how to drive?
Can I still wear pants without an elastic waistband?

Stay tuned....

Winter beauty

Lots of cute stories from this morning. Thought I would start off with some pretty pictures taken in my yard on this freezing cold day!

 
 
 
  

Snowed in!

OK, maybe not snowed in. Just a little icy, but I'll take it! I may as well be snowed in. I must have some record going on here. I came home from picking up Matthew from school on Friday afternoon and haven't walked past any of my doors since then!

What have I been doing?
*Watching a National Geographic special on sharks. Fascinating....
 
















*Taking care of my sick daughter. Just fever, congestion, and general lethargy. Under any other circumstances, she would have NEVER fallen asleep on our couch. I've heard of low rise jeans, but THAT is ridiculous! ;)

 













*Watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with the family. All three kids loved it! Love family movie nights!

*Organizing our play room. This room is one of the big reasons we bought the house. Now, it is being used as the big toy depository. We took down the train table that has been up since Matthew's 2nd birthday, and replaced it with their fuse ball table. Much roomier!

  












*Having a fire going the entire weekend. Scared of that gas bill....

*Watching the Seattle Seahawks lose in overtime. It hurt my heart seeing Thomas so devastated. Finally, every team we care about is out of contention. No more tears in our house!

*Made breakfast for dinner tonight. My favorite dinner! I made a new recipe for Gingerbread pancakes. Delish!

*Watching the weather channel. Friday night, there was a tornado in our little suburb. Saturday was flash floods. Today, ice falling from the sky! Some kind of weird weather.

*Playing Matthew's electronic Yahtzee. I am addicted.

*Reading a new Rebus book. Love that series!

*Missed Matthew's basketball game to take care of under the weather little siblings.
 
*Never got out of my pjs.

*A fun and interesting weekend! I always love an excuse to hunker down in my house.

Thursday and Thomas

Thank goodness it is Thursday afternoon! Although it has been a short week, it feels like it has drug on longer than it should. It is hard getting the wheels in motion again! I stayed home with Thomas today as he has been pretty congested. Of course I waited over an hour just to get into our doctor and she informed me that he was just a little congested. Why am I relieved and frustrated at the same time?

Here is what Thomas is up to these days:
*He is totally excited that the Seahawks won this week. We are amused at how passionate Thomas is about the things he loves. Whether it is Nascar, the Seahawks, or the color red, he can hardly contain his excitement when speaking about them!

*He has a knack for numbers and seems to grasp addition and subtraction really well. He also likes making things even. I gave him 4 pieces of pizza and gave ME two. He gave her one so they could both have three! Sometimes I will walk by his room and he is quietly counting to one hundred. Last week at church, I noticed him looking on the screen to see what number song we were singing. Then he would turn to the number in the book without help!

*He loves to read and is getting better every day. He runs out every morning to get the paper and finds the sports page to read. He loves stating the "rules" of reading and just this morning was telling me that Waco should really have an "e" at the end of it because the "e" makes the "a" say it's name and you say "a" in Waco!

*The above mentioned conversation is an example of how literal he is. He prefers if we don't say "a hundred" because it is acually "one hundred". He looks at me funny when I use figures of speech.

*He can't stand for anyone to be in trouble. The other day Bryon told Matthew that he would have to get a spanking. Thomas begged Bryon to give him the spanking instead because he hates to see his Buddy get in trouble! He is a much sweeter sibling than I ever thought to be! ;)

*He is big and strong! He weighs just under 50 pounds and is only 3 inches shorter than Matthew. He can easily tackle Matthew now during their daily football game. I imagine that much of this is due to his love of food. Lauren says that during lunch at school, the kids will talk and play at the table and Thomas is in his own little world enjoying every last bite of his lunch! He usually asks for seconds for every meal and prefers vegetables to sweets.

*He talks a great deal about going to kindergarten and "catching up with Buddy". Can't think about that now!

We love our "Sweet T"!

Wednesday and Matthew

Today is a little bit of heaven. No where to go, nothing to do for a few short hours until I pick up Matthew. Poor guy, he is having a hard time getting back into school. He adores school, but is missing being home too. I am putting a movie on for the kids after school so Matthew and I can have some special time. He came into our room several times in the night wanting to sleep with us. This was fine when he was a 20 something pound 2 year old. Not so fine as a 60 pound over 4 feet 7 year old! I enjoyed spending quality time with Matthew over the break. Here is what he is up to these days:

*One word to describe Matthew is INTENSE! I don't think a better word applies. He does everything passionately. You always know when he is in a room. We have come close to banning him from watching football games as he gets so upset when his team loses (much more often than they win) that he cries and is miserable for the rest of the day! Intensity isn't all good or all bad. He loves us intensely and is definitely a Momma's boy. We are always praying that we can channel that intensity into good works as he gets older!

*One of my favorite things about Matthew is his creativity. He loves to write and illustrate books. He also works on "science experiments" and inventions. He is reading a book by Noah McCollough who is a 10 year old. Matthew asks me lots of questions about how a 10 year old could write a book with a nice cover! Maybe he will do the same? ;)

*He loves to learn. He asked Santa Claus for encyclopedias and geography books for Christmas! He likes to challenge himself and I have had to stop him checking out 5th grade books because he is drawn to the challenge of reading them.

*He takes his big brother job very seriously. Although battling his need to annoy Thomas is a daily task for me, for the most part, he is a loving, caring, teaching best friend to Thomas. He likes to correct his grammar and teach Thomas all the things he is learning in school. It isn't unusual to see them walking hand in hand always talking. Not a day goes by where they aren't playing sports together.

There is no competition with ME. He just loves her and carries her all over the place. She adores her big big brother.

*A funny development with Matthew is his need to be Mr. Cool now. Most of his baby traits are gone and he uses popular words and phrases that he didn't learn from me.

*As "cool" as he is, I know he loves when I baby him and tell him all about "when he was a baby".

Just a glimpse into the life of my Matthew. Just like all my children, I couldn't imagine life without him!

Back to life...back to reality!

Our long, wonderful break is over. I always love Christmas break. Spring Break is too short, summer is a little too long. I was sad waking up this morning and watching Matthew walk out the door for his first day back. I got the other two ready and off to Mother's Day Out. I enjoyed working today and knowing the kids were enjoying where they were. The last few weeks, I have seen patients either on the weekend and Super Aunt Lauren has watched them if I needed to see some during the week. I don't know what I would have done without Lauren or/and Bryon!!

The weeks have gone by fast. The kids are changing so much. I want to write a little about each child and I will probably write about a different child each day as I don't have the patience to write it all down tonight!

Mary Elizabeth at 2 1/2
I look at her every day and feel so blessed that she is mine. I couldn't imagine life without her. Here is what she is up to these days:

*It doesn't matter if we are in the grocery store, a restaurant, the bank, etc. Everyone she sees gets a cheerful, "HI!" She has never met a stranger. She loves asking people what their names are. I can't remember a time when she was upset when I left her at church or at Mother's Day Out. Baby Girl needs her social outlet!

*Move over Beyonce', a new Independent Woman is in town. If I hear "ME DO IT!" once, I hear it a thousand times a day. She wants to dress herself, she wants to get herself on and off the potty and wipe herself, she wants to give herself her nightly medicine, she wants to get into her carseat by herself, put her bow it, etc. Everything is BY HERSELF thank you very much! I can't argue with her too much because she can do most everything by herself!

*Perhaps I passed down my bossy gene to her? I was accused of being the bossy older sister. Somehow, the bossy child ended up being last in our house! She delights in telling her brothers what to do and repeats every command I give them. Our conversation last Friday:

me: "Thomas, please get out of Mommy's purse."
Mary Beth: "Honey, please get out of my Mommy's purse!"

Poor Thomas gets it coming and going.


Nana: "Matthew get ready for bed. Mary Elizabeth are you going to bed too?"
Mary Beth (pointing her bossy finger at Matthew): "No. He's going to bed."


*She is very affectionate and loves to give us hugs and kisses unsolicited. Thomas is much the same way, and they spend a good deal of each day hugging all over each other.

*Can I say it? I think she is beautiful and I love staring at her big blue eyes and chubby cheeks.

*She is very observant and notices when people or objects aren't in the right place. She was very concerned today that Matthew wasn't with us like he has been for over 2 weeks.

*She is singing lots of songs and saying her numbers and letters. When did she get to be so big?

*She still requires her Bibi when she is tired or hurt. Heaven help us if Bibi were ever lost!

Just a few things that make our little ME Lou Who our special little girl. What a blessing she is to us.

Pictures tell the story!

Well, Thomas's prayer was answered! (See last post) You have never seen a more excited 5 year old. We let him stay up for the special playoff event. I guess this Cowboy house has turned blue and green for the rest of the season. Go Seahawks!
 
 
  

Cowboys vs. Seahawks

We have quite the feud brewing in our household! We are huge Cowboy fans, but the biggest Seahawk fan east of the Rockies resides in our house. Yes, Thomas has been trying rather successfully to convince his brother and sister to "vote" for the Seahawks! Mary Beth came running in our room this morning squealing "Go Seahawks!" "Go Shaun Alexander!" Bryon and I don't want to see Thomas disappointed, but who can "vote" against America's team?!

Matthew played his first Upwards Basketball game today. At the end of the game, Bryon asked for a volunteer to lead the closing prayer. Thomas jumped up and down begging to pray. Here is what my little 5 year old prayed:


"Dear God, Thank you that everyone played well today. Thank you for everything in the whole wide wrild. And please help the Cowboys lose tonight."

Oh dear. Since Thomas seems most of the time more angel than little boy, I am afraid God will answer this prayer!

For the record, Thomas did say that he would be happy for the Cowboys if they win. We'll see....

It's a new day, it's a new start!

I love January. I love it more every year.

I love taking down the Christmas decorations (that I loved putting up!).
I love going through old clothes and toys and getting rid of clutter.
I love the cold dark atmosphere.
I love reflecting on the old year.
I love planning for the new year.
I love having Matthew home for a few more days.
I love looking at myself--seeing the good and seeing the things I would like to change.

This year, I will:
Start making breakfast more and stop relying on cereal and breakfast bars!
Take better care of my skin!
Lay out clothes on Saturday night for Sunday morning!
Find the good in everyone I come into contact with!

Just a few of the surface things I would like to change this year. The desire to be a better person is always there and doesn't seem heightened this time of year.

Happy 2007 everyone! I can't wait to see what is in store this year.

I am so proud...

Bryon and Josh grew out facial hair for their ski trip. When Bryon came home from the trip, I was eager to see him and even more eager to have my freshly shaven face back! Instead of shaving it all off, the boys decided to have a little fun with facial hair. Lauren and I agreed to 24 hours of this only! ;)

Josh looks like a blacksmith from the Wild West. The jury is still out on Bryon. A few images come to mind:

1. A 1970s porn star.
2. Lester the molester.
3. The lost member of the Village People.
4. A very white Latino man.
5. Inspector Cleseau.

What are your thoughts?