LazyCatSleeps

Words with Friends

2012-01-30T09:16:00.000-06:00

I have a friend who kept requesting I play a game with her on Facebook. Since I was already doing an ongoing game, I ignored her requests over and over. Finally, I thought, why not? So, I tried the game, Words with Friends, with her. It was so much fun! It was like Scrabble and you could play as slowly or as quickly as you wanted. When my boyfriend (now husband) and I were young and I was still living at home, he'd come and hang out at the house. We'd often play Scrabble so I have great memories of the game. Of course, I was 16 at the time too! It was many years later when I gave him the game as a gift (Christmas or birthday?) that he finally admitted that he really didn't like the game and that he was just being nice. It might have also been that he disliked it so much because of the fact that I won most of the time too. Nevertheless, even though I don't play well and don't know many of those cool words you need to use to get the most points, I love playing. As soon as I started the game with her, a former high school classmate started a game with me. I think that when you start a game, there's something put on your wall so that it shows up on the news feed so others can see it too. Then, a distant cousin I've never met started one as well. Suddenly, I was getting lots of invitations to play. Within a week, I had finished three games and was in the middle of five. There are those who do a word or two a day and others who have time to do several. I had one game in which a former neighbor and I played back and forth until we finished. It's all so fun and I'm learning a lot of new words! Who knew that there was such a word as 'qi?' I do now!

Waiting in line -

2012-01-27T15:33:00.001-06:00

I have to drive my kiddos back and forth to school every day (and they get out at different times.) so I do a lot of waiting in the car pool line. One part I look forward to is the quietness, that is, if I'm alone. I have read more books in this last year than I have ever before. And so I sit. I have my book, my drink, and my reading glasses. Nowadays, I can't go anywhere (or read anything) without them! As I allow a little breeze blow through my car door windows and hear little voices in the foreground, I am reminded that time passes in a blink of an eye. These kids (like my older ones who have already grown up) will be growing up way too fast.

Finally...a contract!!

2012-01-19T18:00:00.000-06:00

It has been the plan for over a year to move my mother-in-law from her assisted living facility to a nursing home (and applying for medicaid.) She makes $2K a month but half of that comes from the VA and would not continue if she were in a nursing home therefore her income would be around $1000. Without a break, the cost of her housing and care (for her level) would be about $4500 a month. We had paid around $3500 a month for 2010 (with most of her adult children picking up the tab of the balance each month.) We really couldn't afford it anymore.

But as the year was ending, I was becoming more sad about the move. I procrastinated in finding a suitable place to move her. I did finally make some calls but was dreading the upcoming decisions. The place where she lives is wonderful and the staff that care for her each day are awesome! One even teared up as I discussed the possible move. That's not easy to find...people who are so caring.

Finally, in mid-November, my sister-in-law (one of my MIL's daughters) called and said she felt the same way I did. She suggested I call one more time to see if we could negotiate a deal to allow her to stay a little longer. Yes, we could have moved her and not paid anything but she's happy there, knows where her dining room chair is and seems peaceful. Moving someone with Alzheimers is stressful on them. The less stress, the better.

We communicated back and forth, between local offices and headquarters, through my initial staffmember to the final supervisor who today (after 2 months but better late than never)...gave us the number we could afford. It'll cost us about $2700 month. What a blessing! We can keep her there one more year!!! I feel SO good about this and know that I will be able to sleep better at night now. It's incredible that we can put off this inevitable move at least 11 more months!

A couple weeks ago, my MIL celebrated her 89th birthday. We brought over a little cake for her to eat! She'll smile at the camera if I take the picture because I smile at her and she smiles back. I tried to get my son to take a picture of she and I but she wouldn't look at him or the camera but looked at me next to her instead. I did get one of her and the boys though with her birthday cake which she loved. It was so cute hearing my 'lil ones singing Happy Birthday to her. I fixed her a spot and left a few minutes to check about her looming contract. When I returned, I realized that she wasn't able to eat very well by herself (the table was kinda low) so I fed her the rest. She just loves desserts and particularly, birthday cake. It's another blessing that she lived another year and could celebrate another birthday.

Where have I been looking?

2012-01-13T20:45:00.000-06:00

I thought I was someone who noticed details. Obviously, I don't notice as much as I thought I did. I'm much better at noticing other's expressions or moods than I am at observing the environment. Why am I even mentioning this? Because lately, as my preschooler's vocabulary explodes, he points out many things in which I have never paid attention. As I went to get my allergy shot the other day, I took him with me. He got so excited when he saw the breaker box outside mounted on the side of the building. He proudly and excitedly announces, Look, it's a breaker box!! Who is this kid anyway, lol! I mentioned to my hubby a few weeks ago that he starts asking questions as soon as he wakes up and finally stops as he goes to sleep late at night.

One segment of time today...
I pick him up from (pre-k) school and as soon as he gets into the car, he starts asking about the vent in the dashboard in the car. Is that a vent? Each time he gets in the car, he asks about the vent, the buttons, the light, and the radio button. By the time we get down the driveway to the road, I've reinterated what he already knew. He asked whether something was (it's name) and I said that it was (whatever it was.) As we turn onto the road, today's focus of attention were drains. While driving down the curb and guttered road, he pointed out the first drain (those cut out spots covered by a manhole on the edge of the road.) I have never really paid attention to them. He asked, Is that a drain? Yes, it is, I answer, over and over. There were so many... I started pointing them out to him before he began asking and he'd giggle. As we drive, he also points out his favorite things to me: cellphone towers and cameras on traffic lights. Between those, he also asks, What does that sign say? STOP. What does that sign say? Speed Limit 45 What does that sign say? Target What does that sign say? No Parking What does that sign say? Dunkin Donuts. Wait, go back, go back! Apparently, he saw something he wanted to show me but I passed it up. Nope...not going back! I distract him by showing him a concrete truck (although it doesn't last long.)

I love his little voice asking questions. I know this phase won't last so I soak it in until it passes. Sometimes it's frustrating when he stops mid stride and won't budge until I answer his questions. He looks up in the entrance of a restaurant, for example, and it starts...he points out every fire or smoke alarm, every fire pull station (whatever it's called where you pull if there's a fire,) each security moniter, every fire extinguisher, each vent in the wall or ceiling and each speaker where sound comes out! And that's what he sees before we're seated. It's almost as if he sees the things I miss. I just have never noticed the things he loves.

Moments of Christmas

2011-12-28T11:31:00.000-06:00

Uploaded my pictures from the days before, during and after Christmas and just loved looking at them. Before Christmas, we made lots of sweet treats to eat (and give away.) Here is my youngest helping me made some cookies. He was great company to me while I made them, a wonderful helper and taster and fun entertainment. I took several pictures of him and after each time, he wanted to see what he looked like on the display on the other side of the camera. It seemed that each picture got sillier and sillier! We ended up making about five containers of cookies etc. for our friends and family. I'm thinking that next year, if we eat fewer (lol!) I could probably make at least seven for others! I wouldn't have to lose at least five to ten pounds if I had done that as well.

Going to visit my mother-in-law and spending their celebration with families at the assisted living facility. She loved the different desserts and gobbled them all up! Santa made an appearance there too and my kids were able to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. The event and the many people around were really nice but at one point was overwhelming for her and she started to cry (she's used to routine even though she really isn't aware of what's happening around her.) She opened up a couple presents while we were there as well.

Putting out reindeer food for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. It was cold and raining outside but we managed to get their food out nevertheless!

Opening presents! You don't often see this...my teenager (ok, she's 20, I should probably say 'young adult?!?') smiling! Not just smiling, but smiling for a picture!

My first grader putting together a crane! He opened the box and was putting the pieces together! It's been probably the toy that has kept him occupied the longest thus far!

My brother surprised me with a cedar chest he (and his son) had refinished for me. He had mentioned the need for a coffee table and this was a perfect solution (plus it can hide our multiple blankets we keep around the living room!)

Here he is opening a present I got him (an book he had been wanting to read that had been autographed by the author.)

Later, my other daughter came over and I took a picture of my two daughter together (before they left doing their own thing again.)

In the evening, one of my younger brothers came over with his family. Unfortunatley, my camera was set on a weird setting so if you moved the slightest, the picture became blurry. This pic is the best I could get by cropping everyone else out.

I am very blessed to have a nice family. I hear about others and their dysfunctional families whose chaotic mountains made out of tiny molehills, so to speak. I don't have a large family but I'm happy for the one I do have. I hope everyone else had a nice holiday season as well!

December - friends, tree, etc.

2011-12-13T14:17:00.001-06:00

Although December isn't my favorite month of the year, it seems to be my brightest. I just love the music, smells (especially, wassail and Christmas trees,) and the colors everywhere (red, green, white!) I try to remember those who are feeling a little lonely as well, as when I'm not doing anything, I often reminisce about my late parents and how much I miss them!

This past week, I enjoyed lunch and visiting with my friend Betty (who introduced me to a couple groups that I attend regularly now as well as the arts as I also go to community plays as well.) Her husband passed away almost five years ago and she has recently met a man with whom she has been spending a lot of time lately. I think she was just trying to be active and involved so that she wouldn't be feeling down...and after inviting me a few times, I started accepting. This is us at a luncheon this past week. She is usually a kind of extraverted socialite (opposite of me.) Yes, I'm the youngest of the group, lol! Betty's on the left and I'm in the middle. An acquaintance Bessie is on the right.

I also contacted an older former collegue (who used to be a boss where I worked seven years ago.) We weren't particularly close but I know that her mom died last April and she is now in the same boat I'm in regarding taking care of a loved one with Alzheimers (and those kinds of circumstances.) We had lunch yesterday and even though her dad is younger than my mother-in-law, we had many similar stories. Luckily, we could use laughter when discussing those trying times when we were forced to take on a situation with our loved one. Like she mentioned, otherwise, we'd be crying. I found it interesting that we actually had a lot in common. I'm learning how to reach out, or rather, practicing, so expand my small circle of friends.

My 'lil one had a Christmas pageant this past week. He was precious and did his cute hand gestures at just the right times. He (and his classmates) were doves (which explains the white feathers on his shirt!)

We put up our Christmas tree this week. Well, actually, we put up my daughter's boyfriend's Christmas tree this week. He let us borrow it again this year (we borrowed it last year when my allergies went through the roof the first day we brought our live one in the house.) The kids loved putting on the decorations. I hadn't bought any new one is years. My mom always used to say not to buy any you didn't love because you'd be looking at them for twenty years. I now know what she means... So, even though we don't have a whole lot of ornaments, we have ones we really love! On the front of this one, I noticed a few in the picture that are noteworthy: a green stocking I made when was about 11, a Santa made out of red pipe cleaners and cotton that my brother made, and those lovely ones brought home from my kiddos from school that they made in class! I had some beautiful breakable ornaments that were destroyed by a little kid who was unsupervised in my house many years ago and, even though I was angry at the time, I still don't really remember what those particular ones looked like. It's the more ordinary ones that seem to be the ones I love...those made with love!

Doubletake ---

2011-11-26T21:21:00.000-06:00

I was walking through the house the other day and noticed this! My preschooler had placed them on the piano! I had to run grab my camera and take a picture of them before he returned!

Thanksgiving Tradition

2011-11-22T20:59:00.000-06:00

One of our favorite things to do at Thanksgiving (and Christmas) is to make teacakes via cookie cutters. It's something that takes hours (probably because we make a mega-recipe!) I have enjoyed doing this since I was a child and have passed on our holiday tradition to my kiddos. BTW, I totally forgot to invite my brother to our cookie-making evening (and am again apologizing in case he's reading this!) I have accumulated many cookie cutters throughout my life and we probably have several for every occasion possible (including many Texas ones!)

Notice the 'diaper' still taped to the edge of the cabinet that's been there for a few years. My relatives try to take it down sometimes but it prevents accidents with my kiddos bonking their heads! My kids and hubby are making their favorites. As they use up the dough, the left-overs go in a bowl to use after the first batch is used up. With this recipe, the more you use the dough, the better the images are from the cookie cutters. So, we use simple ones at the beginning and ones with more ornate detailing near the end.

My preschooler got out some raisins to add to the 'gingerbread men.' He kept saying he needed to put the buttons on (and I didn't understand him) until I just said 'ok.' Then, I realized he meant he wanted to put the raisins on those kind of cookies and also added eyes. He did many like that!

Some of our cookies!

We celebrated our Thanksgiving early. My hubby would be at work the week of it so we enjoyed it the weekend before. All my kids and both my brothers were there with their families (my other brother is overseas in Navy.) We even had friends there this year! It was a wonderful stress-free day with lots of great food and wonderful company! I'm blessed to have such loving people around me!!

Demon bug?!? Really!!?!

2011-11-18T10:26:00.000-06:00

So, at my kiddos's school, you have to behave well to come home with a 'green' color, meaning everything went well. If something happens, you act up or not mind, you get 'yellow.' If you've been told something and continue to not listen (or do something unkind), you get 'red.' Finally, for those really bad actions, there's the ultimate bad, 'purple.' Of course, I love hearing (and seeing the color on the daily sheet) of 'green!'

Recently, my kiddo (and some others) learned how to make loud burp noises. Of course, one burp means that several kids will giggle afterwards, making huge disruptions in class. Not good. He's been warned not to do it (again.)

However, last week, an incident happened. He came home with a 'red' color! I asked him what happened. He replies, "There's a demon bug that flies around and chews on your sock that leaves out a poison that makes you burp." I am stunned. I grab a paper and pen and ask him to repeat that!! He repeats the exact same thing. Then he shows me his sock, where the upper part has been torn (chewed!) a little. I thought to myself, this excuse took lots of time and creativity! I smile to myself and go along with it. Of course, he then proceeded to tell me that he helped destroy this bug and it won't ever be returning. When we get home, I have to naturally take a picture of the evidence, of this amazing rare occurance.

A little later, we go to dinner (hubby returns from work after being gone two weeks and we usually go to our nearby Mexican restaurant.) The subject gets brought up about his behavior that day and I take out my camera to show him the chewed up sock. I stare at my kiddo to see his reaction as he has that embarrassing smile you get when you're trying not to laugh and be serious as he's lowering his head, almost looking away. Hubby goes along with the story too.

Of course, before dinner (and afterwards,) he is cleaning whatever it is I ask him to clean because that's his consequence for getting a 'red,' bug or not. But as we return from dinner, I mention to him that if his sock ever gets ruined by any other demon bug, he'll be buying new socks with his own money! Just as he starts to try to continue the story, I give him the look in which he 'knows' I'm serious and that I clearly know the truth. He nods his head in compliance.

The evidence!

A couple days ago, he turned 7. He requested a cake with zombies on it. Second choice were to have vehicles on it. And if that wasn't possible, tractors. I bought a plain cake and then provided all the vehicles and 'dirt.' He helped me crunch up oreos for dirt and we put little m&ms in the buckets! He loved it!

First Cub Scout Campout

2011-11-07T09:28:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, my new Cub Scout went on his first campout. While we love camping, especially when it's cold, it was out first with other people around (who are not family.) In addition, while most participants were dads and sons (with the exception of one kiddo who had both mom and dad,) my kiddo was had just me (hubby was at work.) I had been kinda feeling anxious about it but knew that it'd work out ok. Our first cold front of the season had come in that weekend and it got into the lower 40s. For some, it was just too cold! We were seasoned veterans in that department and loved it! I overpacked with practically everything...but forgot my camera! Luckily, thanks to my older brother, I had my camera from my phone for a few pictures and grabbed another picture from a friend's FB page. We saw armadillo and deer all over the place. The tent neighbor's food box had a raccoon breakin and lost their hot dog buns. We were so tired (from all that fresh air) that we didn't hear a thing! All in all, we had an excellent time and my kiddo can't wait to go again!

My 'lil Tiger Cub.

Sunset at the State Park.

Fishing of the pier was a big hit! Nothing was ever caught but they enjoyed trying. My kiddo with his two friends.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:55:00.001-05:00

My 'lil one with his 'lil pumpkin! He picked it out and then drew the face himself (with a pen) and I cut it out.

Today, at my 'lil one's pk3 class, they had a Halloween parade where they all walked around the school wearing their costumes. They were all SO cute! Mine was a Train Engineer (complete with the whistle which he loved blowing!) My oldest daughter called earlier that morning and wanted to attend too so I picked her up on the way. Here they are...my oldest and my youngest.

Trio Dinner Again.

2011-10-25T10:37:00.000-05:00

I worked at a place for 12 years (and loved it) before resigning to stay home after having my first son (close to seven years ago.) It's interesting how you have such good comraderie at work but when you're no longer there, the friendships slowly fade away. But there are a few of us who get together each year no matter what to celebrate our birthdays. My two former coworkers and I see each other three times a year (sometimes another time or two if we're at the same event or girl's night out.) Two of us pay for the birthday girl's dinner around their birthday. I don't know how long we've been celebrating this tradition but it's probably close to 13-15 years now. Even though we're not really similar to each other, we all have stuff in common so I always look forward to the next upcoming celebration. Recently, my friend Sherry celebrated her 50th birthday. She chose to go to a steakhouse this time and loved her t-bone steak! I loved kidding her because she took the bone home to chew on later to get the rest of the meat off of it.

Here are all three of us (Sherry in the middle) as well as the awesome cheesecake dessert we shared afterwards!

Monkey's Adventures

2011-10-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

My preschooler sleeps with his monkey every nap and bedtime. 'Monkey' will jump out of bed (which means my preschooler will throw him from the bed) when something is needed (when he needs to use the potty or get a new tissue.) By jumping from the bed, I have to go in his room to place him back into bed (and get said tissue or help preschooler with potty or whatever.) This 'monkey jumping' outta bed sometimes gets to be a problem so we try to ensure the sleeping routine covers each issue beforehand. That silly monkey!

Sometimes, when we go places, Monkey will ride with us! Looking through my pictures in my camera, I ran across a few I took while waiting in the car (and I don't remember why.) I remember I was looking at something and my preschooler had placed Monkey up there and I called for him to get down (in a pretend mad voice.) Each time I instructed him to get down, my preschooler would break out in a hysterical laugh!

In fact, even as I write this post, Monkey is jumping (being thrown up and landing on my preschooler's head or in my closet where I have to stop and go find him amongst my hoard of boxes or clothes or on my bed where he needs to come get him causing my laptop to move all around, lol!) I am hearing a little pretend Aaaah! and then I see Monkey fly past me. Afterwards, I always hear a little "Monkey jumped!" or "Silly Monkey!"

Pumpkin picking!

2011-10-12T17:56:00.000-05:00

I love this time of year...Autumn! I love that it gets cooler and the leaves start to change colors! When I am older (with fewer responsibilities,) I want to get in my car and drive scenic routes looking at all the gorgeous leaves of the trees! I am currently burning a cinnamon apple candle in the kitchen as I look at the thermometer outside the window, 82 degrees at 6pm. I loved that it has been in the mid 60's lately though. Can't wait for it to get cooler yet enjoying temperatures right now. At least it's not very hot! We picked out our pumpkins this week. While my first grader got a rather large one, my preschooler got the tiniest one possible, lol! It was fun walking around the 'pumpkin patch' for an hour inspecting and looking at all the different kinds!

Train Museum

2011-10-09T21:15:00.001-05:00

I had planned on visiting my sister-in-law today (she lives about 2 1/2 hours away.) She thought it'd be nice to meet somewhere in the middle, have lunch and then go to the beach. Rain was in the forecast but we decided to go anyway because we could probably find something else to do anyway.

And, of course, it rained all day long! We went to a place for lunch I hadn't been to before and it was really nice. The kiddos loved the shrimp there so we'll definitely be returning. We walked along an area with many shops and then to a Railroad Museum that none of us had visited. It was better than I thought it'd be. Most of it was outside (we were able to climb up and into real railroad cars and engines.) For some reason, my preschool loved saying, "I'm a doctor." Apparently, he wanted to make sure we knew because he must have said it about 75 times...in an hour. Each time I acknowledged it, he repeated it. Even when I didn't say anything, he let me know. It was becoming almost funny though and it was a lesson on patience for me!

At one point, it was thundering and lightening (scared the kids a bit!) We were walking in a railroad car getting ready to climb back down and into the rain and weather again, my first grader stopped me and got ahead of me. He said, "Mom, stop, I want to die first. I don't want you to die so I'm going first so you will be ok." I heard him say it but it didn't register as we're walking. And, then all of a sudden, it occurs to me what he had just said. He was probably thinking that the lightening might strike us as we were descending and wanted it to hit him, not me. I didn't even have a chance to say anything to him. He just went on as if it was just another statement of his. But to me...it was more. I was caught offguard and awed in his protectiveness. So incredibly sweet.

By the time we finished seeing all those cars outside at the museum, we were cold and wet. We walked down a couple of blocks and went to a store to eat ice cream and drink strawberry shakes. The boys rode one of those horses (with real saddles) that you put 50cents in to ride. They loved it! And, as we were enjoying the moment, my first grader ran into his soccer teammate (who was also with his family in the same place!) What a small world that we ran into someone we knew (in a place 2 hours from home.) Their plans had changed too due to the weather and they were also making the best of it.

We drove home shortly afterwards. I hate driving in dark, rainy weather because the monotony and the sound of the rain pounding on the car makes me sleepy, lol! But we got home safe and sound. As we were getting ready for bed (or rather, sending the kids to do last minute errands as they're getting ready,) my first grader came up to me and said, "I have something for you." As he came closer, he hugged me. Awwww...it's days like these that I love being a parent!

Mountain Climbing

2011-10-05T22:35:00.000-05:00

Just as my hubby and I arrived in Hawaii and were met by my brother, he mentioned the activities he and his wife had planned for us that week along with taking us mountain climbing. I initially thought he meant hiking on top of a mountain but was surprised to learn that he meant actually climbing up the side of a mountain. He has been mountain climbing a lot lately (as part of his job on occasion) and his place of employment had all the equipment we could borrow. I am afraid of heights but the idea seemed exciting. Since I didn't have to worry about having kids with me and the fact that he mentioned his wife also being concerned since she had not yet done it either, I figured it'd be a great adventure. It turned out absolutely wonderful! We spent about four or five hours climbing up and then back down the mountain. It was totally awesome and I'd love to do it again!!! The only thing I wish were different were the little annoying ants that climbed all over you as you climb. There were SO many red ants (that did not bite) that could crawl on your fingers and hands and arms as you climbed. You'd have to fling them off before they got further up your arms or legs. Before we started up the trail to the first leg of our climb, my sister-in-law took a picture of my hubby, my brother and me. In the background is the valley between the two mountains. That's where we climbed up.

My hubby was the first one. We were using a prusig which was a sliding knot tied to the rope that we used to pull ourselves up and also to our caribiner connected to our rope (from our harness that we wore around our hips/legs.)

I just love this picture as my hubby nears the top of this wall. The tree at the top has it's roots going all the way down and they're firmly attached. It's so high up that it looks like he's entering a hole up toward the sky.

And, of course, here's me climbing up. We all had to stop and pose for a picture. The whole way we're climbing, we're getting lots of support as the other three are helping us find a spot to put our foot or fingers or remind us what we should be doing to make it easier.

Here's a spot where I stayed at the lower area a little while as the others moved up just to take a picture showing how high we were climbing and what it looked like with all the ropes, cables, or scary areas.

Even though I did really well on all the really scary places where I should have been scared, I freaked out right here. For some reason, I couldn't find a place to put my feet and felt like I were going to fall. I just got stuck. At this particular moment in time, my brother is encouraging me to lean back and extend my arms because even though I can't tell, there are more places to put my feet. If I did that, I could then continue vertically to get through this spot. I ended up attaching my caribiner to the rope as a back-up and finally leaned back. When I did that, I moved right through it. At one point, I remember saying that I felt like crying because I was so frustrated and scared. After I conquered this challenge, I felt like I could do anything!

The biggest wall we climbed was the last one. This picture shows my sister-in-law going up first (well, actually, my brother had to climb up first to tie off the rope for us to use to climb up as he belayed, or supported the rope with us on it in case we fell.) She did so well the whole day and I loved being able to do this with her. My hubby uses this kind of stuff in his job so this was not new to him as was my brother. But for us girls, all this was new and kinda scary. I loved the 'peer pressure' because I felt that if she could do it, I could too. She loved it so much that she went up this wall twice! She had a lot more energy than I did!

This is me climbing.

This is a picture of my sister-in-law going down. As difficult as it was going up, it was even scarier going down. Off this edge, you had to walk off backwards...and while leaning back the entire time. If now, you'd swing forward and be flung against the mountain rock. So, I had to literally talk myself down slowly. It was nice having the others help as well. At one point, my brother reminded me to keep my legs square with my shoulders. At another, my hubby encouraged me to lean back. My sister-in-law was also supportive letting me know how great I was doing. I finally got over this edge too and even got to the point where I could 'bounce' off the wall near the bottom.

Here's a picture of my brother and me. Halfway up, there was a spot where you could see the ocean in a distance. So beautiful!

Hanauma Bay Natural Preserve

2011-09-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

Last week, we went to Hawaii to visit my brother and his family. I hadn't seen him in a couple years. He and his wife have had two kids since then and this was the only time due to his and my hubby's work schedules. The next chance would be perhaps a year away. I had saved up all my earned miles and cashed them in for us to go. Since the kids were in school, my younger daughter took care of them (she still lives at home and knows everything about them.) About fifteen years ago, my hubby and I were together away from the kids for a night and this would be the first time that we would be away longer from out kids without one of us being home. It was kinda stressful but I knew that she could handle it. My older brother and his son live two houses away and they were great "plan b's" in case something happened.

We enjoyed visiting with them and loved hanging out after their daughters went to bed. I helped rear my brother after my parents died and to be able to have an adult relationship with him now is awesome! He's been in the Navy after leaving home over a decade or so ago. I loved seeing him being a dad. His wife is so much like I am. It's hard to believe that she's younger than my older daughter. That was the best part of our trip. The extra adventurous and scenic stuff was just lagniappe.

While we were there, on one day, we went to a bay and snorkeled for hours. I could have done it all day long! I didn't realize how cold the water was though as I'm used to the brown warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It was brrrr...cold at first! Being able to look down and see something in the water was awesome! Of course, we can't see anything below in our waters either. Seeing fish and the fact that they were colorful was mesmorizing. I just floated on top of the water looking down enjoying the wonderful sights of coral, fish and other sealife. I felt like a dog. You know how a dog sniffs something and then follows it a while and then continues not paying attention to where he started or finishes...that's what I did. I did snorkel with someone and would lift my head to make sure they were close as we meandered through the water. My hubby or my sister-in-law stayed close or vice-versa as we ventured out further and further. One time, a huge wave broke near my hubby and the (really salty) saltwater practically drowned him. After that, he was done, lol! We watched our nieces as my brother and SIL snorked for a while. Then my SIL and I went back out. Such a great day! I loved it!! My SIL (who lives at the bay/farm) gave me an underwater camera last Christmas and it came in very very handy!!!

This is the bay from the top of the mountain.

I saw one turtle...such a graceful swimmer!

Me.

Hubby from a distance.

One thing I didn't realize is that as you snorkel, the waves make the water move and therefore you move along with them. So as I was watching the fish, a wave would push me forward toward the fish and at the same time, the fish would also be moving with the waves. It was a rocking kind of action as you floated/swam.

Rain at the Farm

2011-09-27T22:25:00.000-05:00

I've been away from home the last couple of weeks or so. My family and I went to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's farm for several days and then my hubby and I went to Hawaii (which I'll post about very soon.) We always enjoy spending time with them (they are the ones who also have a place at the bay where we visit a lot as well.) We just love spending time with them wherever they are. The fact that my brother-in-law loves to work outside and has a tractor, RTV, and a giant ZTR mower is just part of my kiddo's reason to go there. I love my sister-in-law's cooking (I always come back heavier than when I left) along with catching up on their lives and the great family gossip. My hubby loves to dove hunt there as well as work cutting down trees and hanging out with them as well. I wish they lived closer because the four and half hour trip one way sometimes seems so long (especially on the way back.)

When we recently visited, the area (and part of the state of Texas) was in the midst of many wildfires. This particular area had only had rain once back in June and the time before that was um....they can't remember...months. We go walking each morning to walk the dogs and check out the area.

The cracks in the ground were huge!

The second day we were there, while we (I mean, 'they') were resting after having worked many hours, it started to rain! We were all really happy! The kids loved playing outside!! The pic of my older son shows his big smile as he lost his other front tooth on the way there!

Of course, the rain had to bring others 'out of the woodwork' as well! Apparently, the scorpions were enjoying the cool rain as well...ugh!

We celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday while we were there! He's one of those guys who have everything so it's difficult buying for him. We got him a large fishing net this year. I think he liked it. As we were leaving, I stopped and took a picture of the cotton field down the road from where they live. It looked so much better before being drenched by the rain...but I love seeing fields of stuff growing. It has those things along the sides to catch boll weevils (or to make sure there are none in the area, rather.) 'Boll weevils feed on and reproduce in cotton. In fact, cotton is the only cultivated host in which reproduction is known to occur. Both the feeding and reproduction processes damage bolls on the cotton plant ultimately reducing quality and the amount of cotton lint available for harvest.'

My guys -

2011-09-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, my hubby and sons were outside mowing grass, trimming bushes and tree limbs and working all day! It was really hot too! In fact, they drank the first two glasses of water immediately so I just brought out a whole pitcher of ice water for them! Seeing them taking a break on the porch made me smile! And, I was happy that I was doing 'inside' things instead of being outside sweating and working, lol!

A little remodeling...

2011-09-04T16:54:00.001-05:00

I live in the house I grew up in. I initially moved into it around 40 years ago, moved out a little over a decade later and then moved back in a couple years ago. Before it was used as a house, it was an old store. In the last decade, it had been leveled a couple times so the sheetrock had been broken or cracked in many places. We finally decided to get it all fixed a few weeks ago. After all the work was finished (repairing cracks and then texturing many walls,) we needed to repaint as well. It had been exciting and stressful at the same time because of having to move all the furniture and have kids sleep in different places! But, now that everything is done, I love it!!

I forgot to take the 'before' pictures but had some as the cracks/damaged areas were 'cleaned out' and before they were repaired. Here are some areas:

living room

kitchen

bathroom

The other rooms that were done weren't extraordinary so I didn't even bother with the pics. We hired a contractor to come do all the sheetrock work and my brother painted most of the rooms afterwards. We did a little here and there as well. We caulked a lot first as well. My daughter picked out the blue color for the bathroom and painted it herself. Interestingly enough, my first grader turned out to be a great caulker...so we had him do a whole lot!! Actually, he begged to do it and, of course, we couldn't say no! He had this little tool and did excellent work! This last picture also shows the texturing before it was repainted. The guy textured most of the rooms he worked on too.

School Again!

2011-08-24T11:18:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year! My kids started school last week!

My first grader dreaded school all summer long but seemed excited on the first day.

My preschooler is attending the same school three days a week as well (in the mornings.) He was extremely excited to be able to go as he's been sitting in the back seat watching us drop off and pick up his brother for three years already!

Speaking of transporting kiddos to school, I've been bringing one of my kids back and forth to school now every day during the school year since 1990. I mean, not a year has gone by that I didn't have a kid in school during that time. Of course, I'll be continuing to do that for another decade or so until one of the boys gets his license...that'll make 30 plus years that I will be bringing a kid back and forth to school!

2011-08-16T10:08:00.000-05:00

Recently, my mother-in-law has been getting weaker and a hospital bed has been moved into her room to make it easier for her to get in/out of bed (as well as safety reasons.) It's incredible that just around two and a half years ago, she was diagnosed with having Alzheimers.

This is a pic of her and her husband around WWII.

And this is her now...sleeping hard at 4pm while my kids played (happily and not quietly) for 45 minutes as she slept.

As much as I love this place that cares for her, she'll be there for 4 more months and then we'll move her to a nursing home, thereby applying for assistance (and can then quit paying so much out of pocket.) She's incontinent and unable to walk so she spends most of her time in her wheelchair or in her bed, sleeping. It's amazing that it costs appr. $140. a day to care for her...so almost half of that cost comes from us children as her savings was used up last year. I miss her words, her thoughts, her expressions and her personality. While I can catch a glimpse here and there of her happiness or anger, she's like an empty void of a person. I really miss who she was. As she slowly moves on....I look to my own kids (big and old) to see the future.

While we were sitting there playing at her place, I took this pic of my first grader and myself. It's a raw pic (no make-up, barely brushed my hair, lol!) but it's real. (I keep trying to reduce the size of the picture but it wasn't working...sorry.)

Library trips

2011-07-27T12:47:00.000-05:00

This summer, we started going to the library. I hadn't really taken advantage of borrowing books, even with my older daughters, and it a branch of the library was relatively close. So when the summer reading program started after the school year ended, I signed my kiddos up. I have been really good at keeping up with reading with my older son each night. Since he can now read books, I read one to him and he reads one to me (of course, his book is much shorter and on his level.) I love doing this and it's definitely saving me money! I want to continue doing this, even during the school year, and my kiddo has looked forward to choosing his books each night to read. Last week when we went there, my older son asked if he could go over and read to his brother. I said sure. I sneaked over and took this picture before they looked over. It was so cute watching him whisper the words to his brother...

Gators!!!

2011-07-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

My older son LOVES alligators! He has been watching "Swamp People" on the History Channel and pretends to catch alligators all the time. I had heard about a place near a bayou that may have had alligators so we went there to eat. Lo and Behold, as soon as we got there, we spotted an alligator!!!

While we would have preferred to see a bigger one (like the huge ones on the show,) we were still happy to see a 'gator in the wild swimming in the bayou.

We saw four alligators altogether!

The place we went was actually a restaurant and boat dock. It was cool seeing all the wildlife in the bayou. There are two alligators in this picture. It was so fun watching the water waiting for a head to poke up!

And....we were so close! We fed our leftover fries to the turtles (the alligators didn't seem interested) but what the turtles didn't get, the perch (fish) certainly ate quickly!!

There was a cool cypress tree across the water (hard to see actually) but it added to the magnificent scenery!

Aging and Winnie the Pooh

2011-07-17T19:36:00.000-05:00

I had an interesting week. On Thursday, I went with my friend (who is almost 73 years old) to a Red Hat luncheon. What is that exactly? Well, it's where older women gather to eat and talk to each other and they meet once a month. They tend to wear red hats (or something red in their hair) and/or dark purple clothing. I remember buying my MIL a book many years ago titled "When I am old, I will wear purple." I supposed that has something to do with that. I am not old but can attend (but wear pink or lavender.) My friend thought it would be nice...and it was. It was a small group and there were eight of us altogether. The lady who sat beside me was also there for her first time so I didn't feel as 'new.' She said that she and her husband stayed home alone a lot and she wanted to expand her group of friends. She just sounded a little lonely. The conversations varied at this gathering. Across the table, my friend discussed with the lady next to her the recent dates with a friend of hers. My friend (whose husband died four years ago) hasn't really connected with anybody but this new person to whom she referred might be an option (or just a friend to go places with once in a while.) Another older lady mentioned the recent movie, Bridesmaids. I loved the movie but was a little embarrassed and was surprised that she also loved it (and understood so much of it.) BTW, it's a blunt movie involving friendships, sex and relationships. I think I'll go again just because they were nice women to be around and it'd increase my circle of friends.

On Friday, which was also my birthday (I'm now 45,) this same friend of mine and another mutual friend (who will be turning 60) took me out! We went to a nice lunch at a place I've never been with great food and we browsed a few shops in the same area. Afterwards we went to a movie (we all three go to movies regularly so this was a great excuse to go again.) It was a very nice afternoon.

Of course, I was feeling a bit 'old' after these experiences. I was excited that my son wanted to go see Winnie the Pooh at the movie theater. Winnie the Pooh was my favorite show when I was little. I thought of my own teddy bear as Winnie as well. My grandmother (who I only saw a few times in my life) apparently gave it to me when I was 2 years old. It was my favorite stuffed toy growing up. My brother would hide it all the time and I'd find it in the most curious places (hanging over the top of the door, in a closet, under a pillow) and it turned into a fun game of hide and seek. When my first daughter was young, she also played with it. By that time, most of the fur was rubbed off and it was missing an eye. It was kind of a velveteen bear because it was well loved. This is a pic of her and my bear (probably about 23 years ago.)

So, we went to see the movie yesterday. I felt like a kid again. I caught myself smiling so much during the movie. I noticed my older son sitting on the edge of his seat moving to the beat of a song...and at one point, during a chase, my younger son said "Run faster!" to the character running! It was a very fun experience that brought me back to my childhood. No longer did I feel old but felt like I did when my parents were alive, when I watched The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights with my brother and when life was simple...and good! Feeling old, young, it didn't matter anymore...I was feeling happy!

Galveston

2011-07-15T10:22:00.000-05:00

We've been making daytrips lately while enjoying school being out for the summer. One of our favorite places to go is Galveston. I invited a friend to go with us (she always says 'yes' to invitations and, because she has a few boys that have already grown up, she's not scared off by my boys!) The boys love riding the ferry across the bay to the island. We stood in the front of the ferry feeling the wind on our faces...it didn't seem as hot that way...and watched for dolphins. We saw about five! Interestingly, on this day, probably because there were so many people because it was summer, when dolphins were spotted, you could hear the 'ooh' or 'awww' or some other noises depicting excitement! It was awesome to hear and experience.

We arrived shortly after lunch so we went to a restaurant along the wharf near the port. I let S pick the place and it was really nice. Of course, I ate shrimp, my favorite! ( I asked S to take this picture.)

C, my preschooler, was so happy that the lobster tank was right across from our table and visited there many times!

Right outside the window at our table was the Elissa, one of those ships you can tour. It was awesome to see such scenery! Beyond it were dry docks where ships and drilling rigs were being rebuilt. I loved watching the seagulls flying around as well as the fish nearby (their mouths were obove the water searching for food.)

After lunch, we went next door to see a short film on The Great Storm, the 1900 hurricane that devestated the city. It was amazing! I didn't know how much effort it took to build the seawall that still exists as well as the city having to raise itself up to 13 foot in some places in order to survive future hurricanes. Walking along the stores on The Strand (an area where there are shops nearby) would have been less stressful without kids so we moved on to the beach to enjoy the afternoon stress-free.

We brought along digging toys and the boys had a great time. S found two little crabs and found many tiny shrimp that were left after waves returned to the Gulf.

S loved running through the waves! C felt comfortable splashing water on himself. Behind him stands the Hotel Galvez (which celebrates it's 100th anniversary this year.)

All in all...it was a really nice day.

Horse Riding

2011-06-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

I have limited horse riding experience. I rode on one a few days in a row while in a Girl Scout day camp when I was younger. Our neighbor had one in the backyard next to ours at one point and my friend and I would ride it bareback off and on one summer. My most recent experience horseback riding was while I was on a trip across the country. We had stopped in western New Mexico somewhere in the mountains and found a place that would take us riding for the day. We had a guide who wore chaps, carried a weapon and drank water from a stream. After about six hours riding up and down mountains (where my extremely afraid of heights self didn't look 'down' but rather 'up' so as to not be afraid,) we ended ended it tired and very sore! My hubby and I actually had bruises on our behinds afterwards! My daughters (who were about 10 and 15 at the time) loved it though!!

So, when we heard about a local horse camp, we signed up our kindergartener. He absolutely loved it and wore his own steel-toed work boots and cowboy hat there every day! He enjoyed his five days worth and thought he went really fast! He rode Gabby, a pregnant horse, who loved to be talked to (even though he couldn't fathom telling her how pretty or fast she was so he stayed quiet) and was gentle. On the first day, he said he learned to 'steer' the horse and how to 'stop.' It was cute listening to his experiences each day. On the fifth day, we watched for about an hour as he rode his horse around in a covered area. It smelled like horses and the earth. It made me want to be a kid again...and ride!

Here's my kiddo riding.

As we were walking, we went through some stables and saw a very tired cat sleeping. Couldn't resist taking a picture. There were cats everywhere too!

Tap, tap, tap...

2011-06-18T10:47:00.000-05:00

When I was pregnant with my first child, my mother told me that if I had a girl, she'd put her in dance classes. Well, I had a girl. By the time she were about five, my mother and I were at an art and crafts fair where we saw a local dance company perform. The kids were totally cute and I signed my daughter up for classes. My mother had taken ballet as a child (apparently, my grandmother taught ballet and was a dancer.) I never went...not sure whether it was that we didn't have the money or that I enjoyed making mud pies and climbing trees too much to think about anything else. My mother never saw a recital as she passed away that September (as my daughter was in kindergarten and her first full year of dance.)

My daughter ended up loving dance and took it until she graduated high school and then took classes in college (before her life fell apart.) She also helped teach classes for the place as well. Fast forward four or five years, she is still a great dancer and wants to return to college (and dance) eventually.

Recently, I bought tap shoes for my kindergartener (who will be going to first grade soon.) I thought it'd be a great idea for him to learn to tap...and a great way for the two of them to dance together. They've had a few dance lessons and he seems to really love them! I took a pic of her a couple of days ago...

...and a pic of them practicing their tap. From a distance, I heard lots of words I didn't understand like slap, spank and shuffle...and I sneaked in to take a picture. What a lovely afternoon.

Summer plans

2011-06-13T16:36:00.000-05:00

We made a list of things to do for the summer. My kindergartener and I thought of many things that would be fun. He didn't realize that I was meaning that we'd do those things during the ENTIRE summer, not as soon as possible! So, we've done many of them already...and are adding to the list. We went to a local huge waterpark last week and did what my preschooler has been wanting (stay in a hotel.) My younger daughter and her friend, my boys, a friend and I all went for the afternoon and all next day and had a great time!

We also ate at my kindergartener's favorite restaurant in the whole world: Rainforest Cafe. Of course, we had to take a picture in front of the gorilla.

The boys loved seeing the robotic alligator.

And the kids had to try on the hats inside the gift shop (in which we wandered around for the 55 minute wait until a table was ready.)

My friend wanted to ride the slides (I really liked the lazy river that led up to the rapids or huge waves) so we went on one many times. It was a huge round float that we all fit in. Here is my kiddo waiting in line with us.

I spent a lot of time in the middle of an innnertube just floating around. Here is my preschooler in the other side of the double tube (it doesn't have a hole and is made for little ones.)

And my younger daugher...she was such a pleasure to have around and was a huge help with the kids.

We stayed all day and here is my kindergartener less than two minutes after arriving home (he slept most of the way home too.) He was really tired...and was sleeping with his new friend, Troy, his alligator that we bought at the Cafe.

A week at the bay...

2011-06-04T15:02:00.000-05:00

We spent last week at my SILs house at the bay. We had a fabulous time as always (excluding my 24 hr stomach virus.) While there, we enjoyed good food, went swimming at a nearby place that my SIL can go during the summer and the guys went fishing a couple days. Here are some photos!

Me swimming underwater (with my underwater camera.)

S learning to go underwater and get his face wet without getting upset. He starts swimming lessons next week so this is perfect timing.

The boys on the pier...along with SILs dogs (some of them.)

S fishing off the end of the pier at dusk. He wanted to catch a fish really bad. He actually caught some jellyfish via net from there.

My hubby took this one of BIL and S while they were fishing. They all were able to go out two days in a row. All the other days were very windy!

This is one of the fish they caught while fishing (they caught redfish and trout.)

A beach trip...

2011-05-22T22:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, we went to the beach. My brother's employer allowed us to use his beachhouse and we had a fabulous time! It was nice watching the people on the beach, hearing the birds in the distance and enjoying the atmosphere!
My hubby and brother are on the deck spending time bonding in the afternoon.

The place was just a block off of the beach and the kids took their favorite rides.

In and out of the water.

Of course, with our fair skin, we were careful not to get sunburned (notice the hats and long sleeves, lol!)

But, teenagers know best and my nephew chose not to use sunscreen. He was fried and couldn't move for a couple days afterwards due to his sunburn! Aside from that, though, it's amazing how he has grown and matured in the last couple years...time passes so quickly. He's almost 17 now.

I loved feeling the water rush back and forth on my feet as did my preschooler.

There were ice cream trucks there too (driving throughout the day.) There's nothing like hearing the sound and seeing the vehicles driving up when it's so hot! Fortunately, we had a little money with us!

And after walking for hours, we had a great nap!

I took this pic of my hubby sleeping (and he has yet to see the pic!) Perfect 'male' sleep position!

Life as a rose bush...

2011-05-09T13:50:00.001-05:00

I took this pic last week in our backyard. It's not an especially nice looking rose bush, but I thought it was interesting in that the roses reflected those people in my life. Seeing those roses that have lived, were vibrant and long-lasting and then died reminded me of Mother's Day and that they was like my own mom (and dad and those who are no longer around.) And then there are those that were in full bloom that were like the people I depend on and talk to on a weekly basis like my husband, brother, sister-in-law and my close friends. Some were getting ready to bloom, perhaps like my own daughters trying to find their own place in the world. And, finally,those not yet blossoming, like my sons or acquaintances who will eventually become friends. It resembled life and how life goes on....letting you keep memories alive in your heart after your loved one pass on, loving and living in the 'now, as well as seeing new life on the horizon.

Coloring eggs.

2011-04-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

I love coloring eggs the night before Easter. We usually boil many dozen of eggs just so that everyone has plenty of eggs to experiment with and color! This year, the boys did a great job and it went really fast! Here a a few pics!

BTW, that's a world map on our wall in the kitchen behind C. I am not very good at Geography so I put the map up on the wall so I could see it all the time. I also refer to it with the boys when we talk about other countries so that they see it all in perspective (and hopefully won't end up like me!)

Our trip to Mt. Leconte Lodge

2011-04-15T23:30:00.000-05:00

We went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park last week and hiked up Alum Cave Trail to the top. We started hiking up the mountain to the lodge at 8:30am last Monday morning. It was a nice cool morning and we knew we had a long day ahead to hike up the 5.5 miles to get there. We had previously hiked on trails in Arkansas and were a little experienced with the easy trails that were rocky or semi-dangerous. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect except what I had read on the lodge site forum (what to bring, how to prepare etc.) Of course, they suggested lots of walking, especially up stairs etc. Since I had injured my knees (one, then the other) within the last six months, I didn’t do that but I knew I was could be careful in order to do it. I put on knee braces and used two hiking poles.

This is us at the beginning of our hike.

The first two miles were absolutely beautiful (we walked mostly beside a creek) and it was easy even though it was all uphill (not too steep.)

We stopped for lunch for about a half an hour and ended up making it to the lodge at 3:30pm! Initially, we thought C would get in the baby backpack carrier but he wanted to walk so we let him. Hubby walked next to him practically the entire time (helping him up each step or around the next dangerous curve) and the really bonded. As it turned out, C walked six hours (yes, 6!) and we carried him the last hour up to the top. We realized that the last mile was the most dangerous (there were cables to hold so you wouldn’t slip down the side or misstep/slide off) so it worked out very well!

We stayed in a lodge which had three bedrooms. We had one of the bedrooms which included a double bunk bed and a twin bed. C and I shared the twin bed and my brother and nephew took one of the bunks and Hubby and S took the top one. Each cabin or lodge had a porch with rocking chairs. There was no electricity and no showers. Water was available and there were toilets. They provided meals and we stayed two nights. They also had the option of endless wine at dinner (for one hour.)

During the night, there was a storm (wind, rain) and then the second day, it snowed/sleeted all day! Of course, us Texans were SO happy! We played in it and walked around a long time! We took lots of pics (thinking that it’d quit snowing at any time) and there ended up getting about 4 inches throughout the day.

This is the lodge where we stayed.

This is all of us in front of the dining room on the second day.

This is the view from our front porch (Gatlinburg in distance.)

On the third day, we hiked back down. It took us five and a half hours. Most people probably go down faster but we walk at 3 year old speed, lol! I carried C down the first two and a half hours in the backpack and he walked the rest of the way.

On one part of the trail, it was really scary. There really was no trail, you had to hold on to the cable because the rocks were angled down (and it and most of the trails were bluffs with no bottom in sight.)

From the other side.

The view from there.

A section of the trail (see how narrow it is!)

There were cool footbridges too.

We’re really sore right now, lol! The kids were absolutely great! S carried a pack 90% of the time (except for the last little bit to the top) and stayed right with us. C was a trooper!! My brother/nephew like to go fast and had to wait for all of us and I was like the tortoise….slow and steady! Such an awesome place...I loved that I shared it with my family and my brother (and nephew.) Definitely the most physically challenging thing I have ever done! It was such a great experience!!!

School Carnival

2011-04-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

My kiddo's school carnival was held today. It was really hot and I should have put sunscreen on all of us! My toddler and I drank three bottles of water and he wolfed down a bowl of ice cream while my kindergartener ran around most of the time. The favorite things to do are to crunch confetti eggs on people's heads and squeeze invisible ink on others.

I was attacked by killer bees!

2011-03-28T12:07:00.001-05:00

Sounds like the name of a movie, huh? But seriously, we were at my SIL's this past weekend. She lives in South Texas. Every morning, we go for a walk with her (and BIL's) 5 dogs on the road next to their house. The dogs like to run around, chase bunnies (once in a while if they see them....they don't catch them) or check out stuff as we walk.

We noticed one dog having a bee or two flying around it stinging it. Then another. My kindergartener, (S), and I stopped and froze (what we usually do if bees start flying around us.) My hubby (DH) and my toddler, (C,) (who I put in his backpack carrier on DH's back just a couple minutes earlier...he had been walking next to me) were behind us a little bit. Fortunately, when he saw what was happening, he stopped and very slowly started backing up in a straight line without moving anything else. From a distance, DH said he saw a the swarm like a fog come up from the culvert and fly into us. I saw my BIL (who is 68) start waving his hat around his head. Then I noticed S right next to me and his neck and shoulders had at least 15 bees all over them. He started screaming. Then as SIL started swatting, I felt them all over me. It was surreal and it wasn't making sense, it took a second or two before we started to run. We all started running (as S is still screaming) toward the house which was about 400 or 500 feet away...they have a long driveway out in the middle of the country.)

At one point, I overextended myself as I was knocking the bees off of S's back (and fell cutting my knee, elbow and hand (tearing my capris,) which I didn't realize until much later.) I jumped back up and started running again. The bees continued to sting me...mostly my head. It seemed with all of us, that they stung the head area mostly (face, shoulders, neck and head.) I only had a few stings on my back and my entire head seemed like it was on fire. They were all in my hair and I couldn't get them out...I just kept hearing that awful buzzing sound. It was a traumatic experience and extremely scary for all of us. They were so aggressive and bit us the whole time they chased us!!

When we got to the house, we just went inside (the bees had chased us all the way there and were still stinging us.) Once inside, I think the communication was cut off between them and the rest of the swarm/queen and they stopped. Either that or they didn't like the air conditioning. They seemed to stop stinging and go to the window to try to get out. We killed about 50 - 100 bees that were attached to the dogs and us when we came inside. I think it could have been SO much worse if there were only one of us rather than 9 targets (dogs and people.) S continued to scream (which made it so stressful.) It took a while to get the last bee out of my hair! We took benedryl and advil immediately. SIL went in her vehicle right afterwards to go pick up DH and C. By that time, they had continued to back up backwards far away from the incident. When they got in the truck, there were still bees on her that she had missed that they killed. As they passed by the culvert area, my sunglasses were on the road (where I had falled) and DH said there were about 50 bees still swarming them. The bees followed their vehicle as well back to the house. They sat in the truck about 5 minutes before running into the house.

S had about 5-9 bites just on one ear and the bites were indistinguishable from each other (as were mine) since there were so many. My entire head under my hair felt like it were on fire! Later, I saw (from the mirror) some red bite areas where I was bitten on my neck and back) and didn't even feel them. I gave him a cold compress to put on S's ear (and put on Spongebob to try to distract him.) Even though I had kids benedryl and ibuprofen, I gave S an adult benedryl and one adult advil. We called the Sheriff's Dpt (who said they didn't really do 'bees' but offered to send out an ambulance.) We said we'd call back if we needed them. DH is a EMS and we watched S carefully. After about two hours, we were feeling better....didn't hurt as bad. That night, it hurt just to put my head on a pillow and took a long time to go to sleep. Now, a couple days later, SIL and I still have a few bites each that are still swollen and itchy. SIL will be calling around today to see if there is anybody we need to notify etc. She was thinking that kids who are stung multiple times can become more prone to allergic reactions later if stung again so I'll call his pediatrician later to explain/ask, just in case.

Here is a pic of one bee dying on the kitchen counter (BIL sprayed it with wasp spray.) They look just like honey bees, maybe a little smaller.

DH felt helpless as he saw us getting stung when there was nothing he could do. We still don't know why he was behind us when it all started (neither of us could remember anything in particular happening that would make he and C be so far behind us) but were SO thankful they were. I called my brother to have him surf for info (because their house is at the bottom of a hill and they can't get internet..our cellphones don't work there either but they do have a landline) and one website said apparently, they can continue to sting anything within 1/4 mile for up to 24 hours after agitated. We think one of the dogs agitated them (the dogs always check out that area....either they weren't there before on previous walks or were already agitated when we got there.) We were incredibly lucky it wasn't worse...definitely provides a good story.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/sep/stories/kbees.html

Getting better -

2011-03-12T20:07:00.000-06:00

It's been a week but we're finally on the upside of being sick. Never have we all been sick at once (the kiddos and I) but the good part of it was that none of us had an appetite so I didn't have to worry about food! The only sign of our sickness is my toddler's runny nose. And at the height of it all, I had strange hives/rashes all over. After considering all the possible allergens I could have gotten into (and the fact that benedryl wasn't working), I resorted to going to the doctor and getting a shot (to help it go away faster.) Luckily, today I haven't been itching as much (and it's almost completely gone.)

On one evening, the kids and I were all laying in bed feeling miserable. The boys fell asleep and looked precious so I snapped a shot.

My friend needs a hug

2011-03-02T10:12:00.001-06:00

I have been accumulating airline miles for a free roundtrip for months. I was hoping to go visit my brother (and his family) in the west but within months, he was transferred (he is in the Navy) to a state where my airline won't fly...Hawaii! Of course, now I have to start saving to visit him there!! But in the meantime, I had aquired two trips that I needed to use up before they expired.

Needless to say, last week, I was thinking of options when my husband suggested that I fly to see my friend (whose seven months old baby was in the hospital and had been in the NICU for a few months.) I had met my friend in person about four or five years ago at a gathering of friends. Her and I have kids (the kindergarteners) who were born on the same day. We each have four kids as well. Even though we don't get a chance to meet up in person, we talk on the phone often or the internet (where we initially met.) Since my kiddo was out next week for spring break, I thought about the possibility of flying there with my kids and visiting to give her a break.

But, life has a way of making other plans. Instead of going to give her a break, I will be attending a memorial service for her baby. She now has three children as her fourth grew angel wings and flew to a better place. The baby's heart issues (that were discovered even before birth) weren't totally fixed even after several surgeries. I was the first person she told when she discovered she was pregnant with this baby. It wasn't a planned pregnancy and the father chose to move on...but she loved her little one from the beginning.

She mentioned bringing the baby's things home from the hospital afterwards and just laying the blanket in the crib (unwashed) so she could still smell her. I remember that feeling from after my mom's passing. I loved to go to my mom's closet and try to smell her long after she was gone. From the movie Hope Floats, a scene like that makes me cry every time.

So, my boys and I will fly in a couple days and stay for several days with her. It won't make everything better but I'll be there in case she needs a shoulder or an ear and mostly, to give her a hug.

Paying It Forward

2011-02-22T21:28:00.000-06:00

My kiddo had a holiday from school on Monday (President's Day) so I decided to do something fun. I found a nature scavenger hunt list online and we went to a nearby state park hiking. We have been there in the past but usually to play at the playground only. We packed a backpack (with drinks), the list (and pencil to check off it items found or seen), a few snacks, diaper/wipes for the toddler and my camera.

The first trail we picked to hike ran along a creek and was interesting. It was a mile long and then the second trail (to return) was over a mile as well. It was, in hindsight, probably too long to walk as a first hike in a long time. My kindergartener enjoyed finding things on our list (and we put some in a bag we were carrying - those things that weren't part of the park like flowers etc. but like berries, leaves from the ground, bark from a tree, pinecone, to name a few.) Surprisingly, the toddler walked the first leg of the hike, a good mile, with no issues. It's at that point that I realized that I should have brought the baby backpack. I ended up carrying him most of the second mile back. But it wasn't too bad since we were walking so slow to begin with, lol!

Afterwards, we were famished and went to a diner place (Waffle House.) The kids love their waffles and I think their chili rocks! We drove about ten minutes to get there (and my toddler and I were still red as we always get that way when we get hot.) Oh, it was really hot (what happened to spring? it's already hot!) and our backs were sweaty too. We ordered our food and then talked until our food arrived. We sat in a booth right next to the counter where people were sitting and eating. I noticed there was a man close to us but never made eye contact but observed that he looked similar to a friend's husband (but clearly wasn't because he had less hair.) The kids and I talked about where we walked. I had my kindergartener trace the trails and I was showing my toddler letters on his cup of milk that he was drinking. Nothing unusual occurred, well, other than the kids were very well behaved probably because they were so tired that they had no energy to act up!

When it was time to leave, I asked the waitress for our check. She said nope. I was confused and said that I hadn't received it yet. She then said that a little bird had already paid for it. Totally confused now, I asked for more clarification. Apparently the guy sitting near us asked to pay for our meal. He left long before we finished (I didn't even see him leave) and with no explanation other than he wanted to pay for it. I was floored! Completely surprised by such a generous act of kindness. Of course, since it was a great feeling, I definitely need to pass it on to someone else in the near future!

This weekend -

2011-02-20T17:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been fun! The weather is great (almost too hot - the air conditioner has definitely been on) and we've been outside a lot. Yesterday, we opened up a gift we received from my aunt (for the boys) at Christmas. It turned out to be a huge ball you can ride in (there was no description on the box but it looked big so I waited for decent weather to open it.) The neighbor kids came over and all the kids took a turn in it! Well, the toddler didn't but he did get inside and look around.

(in mid roll)

We also jumped on the trampoline. This is my neighbor jumping with my toddler. (Her kids were playing in the sand next to us.)

My toddler stayed on it a really long time!

Later on, I went to see a movie with a friend. We saw Unknown (with Liam Neeson) and I really loved it. I like those dramas with mysteries and adventure.

Bright and early this morning, my kindergartener said he was going outside hunting (with his plastic nerf gun.) He came back in a few minutes later and said that he didn't realize that we had raccoons around here. I asked about how he knew that and he insisted I follow him. When I did, he showed me the tree (and there was his tiny stuffed raccoon sitting on a limb.) It was precious! I ran back in to get my camera and by the time I returned, he had moved 'Ricky Raccoon' but was still in the tree. So, I snapped a pic.

At lunch, my kindergartener begged to go to a nearby Chinese buffet. I really don't like them (as I don't eat enough to cover the amount of money I spend there) but he asked so nicely. We went and he enjoyed two plates of crawfish. This is him sucking the head of a crawfish (he is finishing his second plate.)

After lunch, we returned home and I put my toddler down for a nap. Ten minutes later, I went to check on him. He had pulled all the sheets off of his mattress and looked like this when I saw him. Well, technically, I peeked through the crack of the door, saw what he was doing and came in with a camera. I have seen him do this before (but hadn't confronted him on it) so it was a good time to remind him what he was supposed to be doing in there. So, I closed the drapes, put the sheets back on and tucked him back into bed.

He slept a good three hours today (enough time for me to upload pictures, check my mail, and read the newspaper.) I even cleaned the kitchen and living room (I just love a clean house!)

The Kid's Kitchen -

2011-02-15T22:43:00.000-06:00

The kitchen my kiddos got for Christmas has been a source of entertainment! Luckily, Santa got this heavy-duty kitchen (over 80 pounds) because it wouldn't fall down and seemed sturdy, according to the customer reviews on Amazon. It took about a couple hours to put together (and there were no words in the instructions...only pictures, which surprisingly proved to be very helpful.) When you take out the sink, you can fit in an average six year old!

Yes, the stove part is big! An average toddler will fit inside with the shelf removed and can pretend to be a turkey (even though they wear a frog costume.)

Naturally, I had to open the stove periodically and baste the huge turkey with my pretend butter (complete with sound effects and cup.)

Heavy and well put together, it easily holds lots of weight on the top as well! Little boys are so much fun!!! I haven't yet moved it out our living room, lol! It's convenient to watch them play while in this room so I just left it....I'll eventually move it.

computer woes

2011-02-12T09:05:00.000-06:00

Well, technically, there aren't any more woes but last week, out of the blue, my mouse quit working. I went to the store and bought another...even the new one didn't work. So, I used my daughter's new wireless mouse (thinking it was a port issue) and even with that, nothing worked. Ugh! My port worked fine (with my cameras hooking up) but it was just a mouse thing!

I buy Dell computers (because they've had great service if anything messed up with my previous purchases) and I have a Dell credit card (so I can pay them off usually without accumulating interest.) So after uninstalling and checking troubleshooting issues with no solution, I called Dell's service technicians.

Had I given the guy the correct computer tag number initially, it probably would have gone well. But, unfortunately since I have bought more than one, I didn't realize that the number that came up when I went to the website when they identified my service tag number that I should have actually checked the back of my laptop instead of assuming that number was the correct one. So... when the guy checked for issues, nothing came up. It wasn't until the end of our two hour call that I realized that I had given the poor guy the wrong number. Nevertheless, I had a really good experience and conversation with Surendra (from India) who was respectful (even when I asked a few times exactly what he wanted me to do), professional (knew what to do to troubleshoot my issues), and very courteous. While waiting for the computer to reboot over and over while installing and uninstalling software, I found out that he was 27, lived with his parents (his older sisters were married and have moved on) and he was still looking for the 'right one.'

I know that jokes are made about calling for service and there are people with thick accents helping (and to an extent, that was true) but I am so impressed that a guy in another country whose first language was not English could communicate with me to ask me to do things with my laptop to assist fixing it using technical computer terms. And after my issues were solved and he had access to my system, before logging off, he had chatted in the little box. As I thanked him for his patience with me, he wrote, "Thank you mam, it was my deauty." Perhaps he thought that it was his duty, but having been 'helped' by other people like with my phone/cable enough times with inefficient assistance, I can say that not everybody thinks the same way...I was incredibly satisfied! (btw, I also let Dell know this as well.)

Around here...

2011-02-04T09:09:00.000-06:00

...we've been having a pretty good week! It's really cold (for us, that is) so we've been inside a lot. The kiddos have been getting along really well (although their room looks like a tornado just went through!) Even the big kiddo has been good! She's been back home since before Christmas. It's nice to have her around again. I even sent her to the grocery store the other day (with only needing a couple items but giving her the permission to get snacks.) She came back with a bunch of bags with nothing to eat, lol! There were definitely a lot of snacks (she and my kindergartener went together.) I pretended I were her and made a few comments as if I couldn't find anything I liked or asked if she got (some item she had no idea I wanted but didn't get.) She got the idea...it's different on the 'other' side!

I also had a birthday dinner with my former coworkers. We go out three times a year around each of our birthdays (and the other two pay for the meal.) It was a really great evening and I loved the conversation and company! It was M's birthday (the one on the right.) Of course, I'm in the middle!

My MIL had an issue (she was nonresponsive) so her ALF sent her to the ER. As it turned out, she wasn't having a stroke as they suspected but was dehydrated. After a few days in the hospital, we signed her up for hospice so that their doctors will decide in the future is she needs to return to the hospital for something like that (or treat her where she lives now.) While the initial fluids made her feel great...
(this is her clapping to my toddler)

...she eventually got disoriented. At one time, she asked if I were a woman or a girl. She normally thinks we are childhood friends (perhaps in grade school.) I told her that I am a woman but feel like a child sometimes and laughed. When she gets a little confused, I answer and then start talking about something else. Or if she is talking and I can't understand her (which is very common), I start talking about something else like what I did that day or had for lunch. She loves hearing me talk regardless of what I talk about.

Yesterday, with an upcoming winter blast and the expectation of some kind of winter slush/ice/snow, my kindergartener's school closed early. After I picked him up, he requested crabs. We went to a seafood restaurant where he proceeded to eat a half dozed bbq crabs! He patiently sat and cracked the legs/shells and pulled the meat out. My toddler and I were done long before he was so we sat and watched him eat the rest.

This was as close to a smile as I could get as he didn't want to slow down and smile long enough for me to get a picture. My toddler and I played "I Spy" while he finished to keep us preoccupied (it seemed more appropriate than what my toddler had been currently doing...crawling under the table.)

As it turned out, we got no snow... :(

Boots

2011-01-27T09:12:00.000-06:00

An aquaintance came over this week. My neighbor's kid grew up, got attached to a girl and they had a baby. They came over to show me how much their baby has grown (and of course, how cute it is.) During the conversation, not sure exactly how we got there, the girl (ok, she's really in her mid 20's) mentioned how she used to take off her dad's boots every night. I suddenly remembered having done the same thing with my own dad. I don't remember how it got started but as an adult now, I'm sure he was tired at night after having worked all day and wanted assistance getting them off, lol! He wore those lace up boots that you eventually wrap the laces around the top and then tie. I loved unhooking the things and loosening them up before pulling them off. He would shower me with thanks and compliments. My dad was an older dad and was almost 55 when I was born.

It's interesting that I married a guy who ends up wearing the same kind of boots too. He wears them at work (the same kind but with steel toes) and always wears them at home to work in the yard (and when we got camping, stuff like that.) It's figures that my kids do the same thing...wear boots. This morning, as we took the kindergartener to school, my toddler, in his one piece pajamas, was looking for his own yellow rubber boots to put on in order to go outside to get in the truck.

Friends

2011-01-24T10:33:00.001-06:00

We had a social weekend, that's for sure, and it was great! On Friday, we were invited to a friend's house (a couple) for dinner and to hang out. We watched their DVR'd episodes of Wipeout and laughed for a long time! My hubby made spaghetti sauce for half the day and we had salad, garlic bread and spaghetti. Loved the food and company.

So, as long as I was going to have to cook on Saturday, I invited a friend (separated mom) over for dinner. We had this sausage/potato meal. I don't really think she liked it (I lost track of time so I didn't really have anything else to eat/cook.) I asked if she played Spades (card game.) She had on the computer before and I was rusty so we all relearned together. It was a lot of fun and by the time the game ended, I looked up and six hours had passed! I also lost...it was worth it!

And then last night, we invited those friends over from the other night and they brought their adult daughter (and two grandkids over with them.) Hubby cooked navy beans/ham, rice and pork ribs (grill.) They brought cornbread, corn cobs and tea. It was fun watching the kids play and enjoy adult conversation!

After they left, my kindergartener said that he had a good time part of the time but that he didn't because the girl (almost four year old) started to slap him. He didn't want to tell me in front of them and said that he asked her to stop please (and then started to cry.) He had never encountered that before and wasn't sure of his options. So, while I held him as he cried (he was also tired), I discussed what he could do if it ever happened again so that I could tell her to stop and make it all better. I told him that some kids learn bad things and others don't know how to play with other kids so it's important to tell me when it happens so I could fix it then. I think what happened is that the girl was swinging a belt and it hit him in the forehead but I'm not sure. I'll definitely be checking in more often next time. I also suggested he come out, grab my arm and pull me to the hall or less populated area to tell me if he felt uncomfortable in front of someone else (or didn't want to get her in trouble.) Poor thing...considerate, caring, and even using please to ask her to stop but at the same time unaware of what he needed to do in a situation like that. It was a great learning experience though. I'm glad he told me.

Conversations...

2011-01-20T19:46:00.000-06:00

We went to a meeting today, or rather, we brought our toddler to an interview. He will be three in a few months and next year, we wanted to put him in a 3 year old program that his brother attended (and still attends as a kindergartener.) They have a 3 and a 5 day program (I just want the 3 day one because I don't want to 'let go' yet...and it's only half a day.) I guess he did ok...I don't know but I'm sure he did.

While waiting with the other parents, I spoke to one mom. At one point, my hubby mentioned that he works offshore and that he is home for 14 days and then gone for 14 days. This was in response to being able to volunteer at the school with our kindergartener. Of course, we joke that appliances decide to break or we get sick while he's at work. Then, the mom mentioned that her husband own a place and works from 5am until 10pm 7 days a week (he was a strength trainer or something like that in a gym, I think.) I felt really sad to think that, while he is a good provider for his family, he isn't there as life passes him by missing the little things that make life good. I wanted to just give her a hug but seeing as she was a complete stranger, lol, I decided to nod, smile (as my southern hospitality manners came out) and say something positive.

I love my husband and his work schedule. Even though we miss a lot while he's gone, we love the time with him when he's home. It's been this way for a really long time (since before we were married) and I still enjoy it. He's gone long enough to miss him and not home long enough to get sick of him...perfect!

Good Daughter Week

2011-01-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

I've had a Good Daughter Week, lol! Both my daughters are special to me and each have their own unique qualities. This has been a pretty good week.

A couple days ago, my house looked like a tornado hit it! Toys everywhere!! Clothes in piles unfolded in the hall, dishes in the sink, counters cluttered, I could go on and on. Instead of cleaning after the kids went to bed, I just watched tv. I figured I'd get around to it the next morning. When morning arrived, I woke up to everything clean!!!!!!!!! In the night, my youngest daughter had worked hard in making it all fresh and clean. It was SO nice to wake up and not have to worry/do anything! As she's getting older, she is becoming nicer and maturing. Here's a recent pic of her that I took. Even though she hates close-ups, when she saw her wind in her hair, she liked this one.

Today, as I was driving out to meet a friend for lunch (with my toddler), my older daughter called and wanted to know what I was doing. She had just gotten off of work and her boyfriend was bringing her to their house. Instead, we met at a gas station and I took her along with me to lunch. We all had a great conversation and on the way home, I mentioned how happy she seems (even though she has some stressful situations in the future relating to some poor decisions/court/etc.) She said that she is only focusing on today and that she appreciates life and family more. She mentioned that when she goes to meetings (referring to AA), she says that she relays the story about when wasn't able to come over after we had her little brother. She says she tells them that we (she used my husband in the story) told her that our children are very important to us and due to her behavior, we can't have her around them. She actually used some better wording but that's the point. We cut her off for months when she was using really heavily before she got sober. She says she was really pissed at the time but it really meant a lot. I love that she is in a better place in life. This picture was taken on Christmas at her boyfriend's house (she is showing off her presents like the jacket, hat and her all her bling!)

I'm just stopping to pause. I had a great week with my adult kiddos.

Grocery shopping...

2011-01-11T13:59:00.000-06:00

...is something I look forward to doing each week. I usually go to a huge super grocery store and get what I need and then leisurely shop as I get different ingredients for meals or just look at DVDs/books. While I prefer to go alone, I usually end up with the kiddos and I make it fun by giving them certain things to find (which keeps them occupied.) And when I take them, I (and they) need to be in a happy mood, not tired, grumpy, or hungry.

But last week, I needed to go get a few things and although I knew we were all tired, I was hoping it would be painless. I was wrong, lol! I went to a small store this time. Because it was shortly after the Christmas holidays, and the afternoon of a school day, my kindergartener was really tired. It seemed the more I tried to hurry, the longer the trip seemed. And a couple of times, my usually happy kiddo started to whine...ugh!

We finally get to the check-out. And as I begin to take out my groceries, my kindergartener starts to cry. He very rarely will cry. Apparently, I had told him that we'd go check out something he wanted and I had forgotten. I didn't want to leave to go find (whatever it was) and yet was unsure exactly what he was talking about. Each time I asked him why he was crying, he'd say, "I wanted...(unintelligable)" Luckily, after the third or fourth time, an employee walks up and asks if we needed anything. And before I could think, I said "Yes, Can you go get him whatever he wants!" I kept an eye and saw that it was a pack of kool-aid drinks close by but had no idea since I couldn't understand what he was saying. The nice employee brought it to me. The bagger who put our stuff in bags asked if we needed any help to the car and I said, sure!

You'd think that was it...but then, as we were walking out, my toddler dropped his pink now-and-later square of candy. I didn't see that he dropped it. He kept pointing and crying. Since the only thing he had was that candy, I knew what happened. Of course, it was then that someone I didn't know recognized me and started talking to me. I had no idea who the lady was but pretended I knew her and gave her a light hug. I figure that it was a mother or grandmother of a client I used to work with (juvenile parolee.) I said I was glad to see her and pointed to my crying kid and said, smilingly, that I needed to go. As I walked to the car, I looked at the guy accompanying us who made a sound (as in that he couldn't believe the kid was crying!) and I said, Yeah, Birth Control (as in be careful or you'll be in this position too!) I asked my kindergartener to check his pack of candy for another pink one....YES! I gave it to my crying toddler as I put him in his car seat and he was happy.

I tend to get really anxious in situations like this. Looking back, it wasn't a big deal. But in the moment, I wanted to curse for making the decision to go in the first place, lol! By the time all the groceries were in the trunk and we were ready to go home, all was well...

MILs 88th birthday

2011-01-03T15:19:00.001-06:00

It seems that in the past several years, we seem to be out of town on her birthday (which was yesterday, January 2nd.) We made sure we made it back into town in order to celebrate it this year. I bought a cake with lots of colors that I knew she'd like. And just in case she forgot what was happening during our little celebration, I had the lady in the bakery write on the top, "Josephine is 88"

We arrived during her dinner and sat and talked with her for a while. I showed her the cake and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She didn't want to wait until she was finished to taste the cake.

And since she doesn't really need anything...or remember that she needs anything, I gave her a manicure as a present. Her nails had been growing out of control and it seemed to be a gift of love.

I took many pictures of her while I was there. I had got a new camera for Christmas by my SIL and was trying it out. So many pictures seemed to show too much (that her nose was running a little that I didn't notice while there or that she had spaghetti sauce on her lips) so I appreciated that the best picture of her smiling was this one. It is the one where I said to smile and show off your hands (that I had just applied clear fingernail polish on.)

I talked to her and reminded her that she was 88, had been born in 1923, and that it was her birthday. I can't stand what Alzheimers does to a person. At one point, I said that I had been in her life almost 30 years and she was just like my mom. She seemed to hear and smiled and said, thank you. I don't know if she understood...but I'd like to think that she did.

Christmas

2010-12-27T12:31:00.000-06:00

My kiddo, in his meanest Grinch voice, mutters..."I hate Christmas!" He loved his Grinch mask and Santa costume...big things on his list this year. For the rest of us, we all happy as well! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T12:08:00.000-06:00

I love this day! We'll be making teacakes (love the dough,) by cutting out shapes with cookie cutters (accumulated over decades,) cooking them and then later frosting them. I have Christmas music playing in the background, scented candles in the other room making everything smell great, and wassail on the stove! The kiddos are excited with anticipation of what the night will bring! We just finished cooking lunch (baby back ribs and potato salad) and invited a couple of friends to stop by to eat or hang out. I'll be wrapping presents during the naptime for the kids and then the countdown begins! Putting reindeer food out in the yard, setting out carrots (for the reindeer) as well as milk and cookies (for Santa) along with hanging stockings before bedtime. I wish this day would go on for days!

Kids making gingerbread house

Dear Santa, Define Good!

2010-12-21T20:55:00.000-06:00

Last week, there was a cute sign that I saw in someone's house that said the phrase, "Dear Santa, Define Good!" I thought of that today...my toddler will definitely test that definition this year!

This is what happened when he decided he was thirsty!

And later, this is what he looked like when I mentioned it was nearing naptime. He went and got his pillow and blanket and laid down on the kitchen floor...and smiled!

A dream about a dream

2010-12-19T10:03:00.000-06:00

I know where it came from...and I don't often have very very vivid dreams...and wanted to write it down quickly before I forgot. I had only ever had a couple more similar to this...and the last one involved my mother (and I had forgotten it so quickly afterwards.)

This week, my brother mentioned that my dad would have turned 99 this week, had he still been living. (Yeah, I know what you're thinking...I'm not really that old, he continued having children even in his sixties.) So my dad has been on my mind. And this morning, I was really sleepy. I had gone to a party last night (engagement) and then a friend came home with me so I could change a ticket online for her son to return from where he's living (Marines) for Christmas. Needless to say, I was up kinda late, and tired.

This morning, my toddler gets up as usual between 6 and 6:30am. ...sigh. I get him comfortable watching tv when I sneak into bed (I can see him through the door and hall and can hear him as well.) I don't really go back to sleep, I just kinda 'rest.' After about 30 minutes, my kindergartener gets up and comes in to talk to me. I get up and down a few times too. I'm in that state of inbetween being awake and asleep.

But, I have this dream that comes and goes. My dad is in it and he's alive. He's walking around in my house, talking to my kids, and wearing what he usually wore (khaki pants, long sleeved shirt.) He looks and smells real. I am talking to him (he's telling me to get up (stay up) because the kids are throwing candy on the floor...they actually were as I can hear pieces of hard candy being tossed from the bowl, lol!) I am oblivious to the fact that this dream isn't real and it feels like it's real. Just normal conversation is taking place, nothing really stood out. At some point, my brother's comment comes to mind and I realize that he can't actually be in my kitchen AND be 99 years old and then it hits me that it's not really happening...it is a dream, and he is gone again. How dreadfully sad when I really wake up...because it felt like I lost him again. It's then that I realize that there was a difference between the way I *felt* with Dad in my life than now with him gone. And it was so obvious in that dream. I wish he were here...

My daughter's First Car

2010-12-13T14:02:00.000-06:00

Well, it's not actually her first car, but her first new car. My nineteen year old daugter was given our old car about a year and half ago (it was very used) as a reward for graduating high school. It was a necessary carrot to assist her with attending and finishing school (for which she had years and years of trouble attending and difficulty learning.) But, in the last year or so, it started nickel-and-diming us.

After a few incidents in the last few weeks with large repair bills, we had considered options. One of her positive attributes is that she has a good work ethic. She's matured a lot in the last year and works hard to pay off her debts. We figured out how much she could afford each month and then added more for maitenance/extras in order to discuss payments. Of course, is's also low enough so that if worse came to worse, we could afford the payments as well (since we assisted with cosigning it thus helping her credit for the future.) I assured her that she would never have this opportunity again for a cosigner and needed to make sure she paid us the money for the note/maitenance each month before it's due. She said she'd pay half each paycheck so it wasn't so much at once which I thought was a good idea as well. So, we spent a day last week choosing the perfect inexpesive new safe vehicle. She's a happy camper now!

She has also been more considerate and nice lately too (which is also good to see.) Not that she hadn't been before, but it's nice to be appreciated. She's been staying with her friend a lot too...and I miss her.

I grabbed this pic from her facebook page that she took of herself with my two younger kiddos. It's one of my recent favorites of her!

Sharing time.

2010-12-09T12:44:00.000-06:00

All morning, I have been compliling my new entries to my address book and starting the task of doing Christmas cards. I love sending and receiving them. I will usually make photo cards or add pictures to regular Christmas cards, then wait for this time of year (as the mark of the beginning of the season.) I put on our local radio station that plays Christmas music 24/7 and began the task! Beside me most of the time at the same table was my toddler. After coloring with crayons, he moved on to markers making drawings totally unrecognizable! We had quality time doing our own thing together while singing on occasion to music! By the time we stopped for a break for lunch (and nap), he had lots of color on his hands and face! He's actually trying to grab my camera in this picture. He's still precious though!

BTW, this is the front of our Christmas card. On the inside left are even more pictures but it also included our names and personal information so I'll just post the front.

Thanksgiving, Part 3

2010-12-04T15:15:00.000-06:00

And the last of these.

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed back to the campground to camp out for two nights. On the way back, we passed a property with bear heads at the ends of the property. It reminded me of going to see a relative at the 'farm.' When a neighbor there killed a coyote, they hung it up on the fence for all to see. Luckily, we didn't encounter any 'live' bears!!

I loved seeing our GPS on the mountain roads especially when it showed all the curves!

Icicles were everywhere!

We finally got to our campgrounds. It had an overlook on one end. My kindergartener was impressed with the scenery, as was I.

Picture of our tent.

We went on a two mile hike on the Rim Trail (an easy mostly level round the rim of the mountain top.) It was my first 'walk' since I injured my knee(s) two to three months ago. It went fine and without a hitch. Here's a pic of all of us along the way.

I tried not to drink much in the evening so I wouldn't have to 'get up' at night, lol! But, at midnight, I needed to get up anyway. I took a pic of the family sleeping as long as I was up.

We had a great time during this Thanksgiving trip.

...and the kids had a great time too.

Thanksgiving, Part 2

2010-12-04T15:14:00.000-06:00

After our stay in the cabin, we took a walk around before packing up to leave. It was super cold! It rained during the night and then started snowing.

Hubby freezing, lol!

And my warm kiddos all bundled up.

I thought it was romantic to sit in front of the fireplace with a warm fire and read. I brought along a chapter book (Sign of the Beaver...about a boy's relationship with an indian friend in the 1800s) and read to my kindergartener.

After packing up, on Thanksgiving, we headed out to find a hotel for the night. A boulder near the road on the way out.

Seeing a icy tree. This seemed very pretty and we stopped in the middle of the road to get a picture. Luckily, we only saw one other vehicle in the next 40+ minutes.

It looked like clouds forming in the mountains as well. So cool! It was 32 degrees (at noon) and got down to 17 at night. For us, this was REALLY cold!

We stopped for gas and lunch. We celebrated our Thanksgiving meal here!

It just wasn't a gas station and cafe. This is my brother and nephew.
You could also shop...

and play pool!

There was a couple who came in. The woman (obviously in dire circumstances) asked the cashier how much the cheapest pack of cigarettes cost. I was in another area but listened. The woman only had $2 and the cigarettes were $4.15. After asking, she was walking around, probably wondering what to do. The store was to close in an hour and there weren't many people out. One man was sitting at a table drinking some coffee. He had his oxygen tank with him and was breathing through the plastic thing under his nose. He started talking with us as he had heard us talking to the cashier about where we had been and where we were going. He had been to White Rock many times, especially as a child. I was wondering what he was doing alone at a cafe at lunch but he mentioned later that his son was supposed to come at 4. I crossed my fingers that his son showed up. In a few minutes, I walked over to the woman and gave her $2.25 and said "Happy Thanksgiving." She was incredibly happy and wished me the same. I figured...even though I'd have preferred not to help her by giving money for cigarettes, it seemed the right thing to do on a day like Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving meal! It was good! It didn't really matter what we ate. We were thankful for all our blessings...and were with family! My brother and nephew (our camping partners) were with us and we were content. All was well.

After we arrived at our hotel, after having driven through snow and little traffic, we went swimming in the pool. Of course, the jacuzzi was MUCH warmer and where I hung out.

More to follow...

Thanksgiving, Part 1

2010-12-04T14:20:00.000-06:00

This year, we decided to go camping for Thanksgiving. We planned on staying in a cabin one night and then camp out the next three nights before returning home at the end of the weekend. We left early in the morning and stopped several times during our long 12 hour journey to White Rock Mountain in Arkansas. The actual amount of time to drive nonstop was about 8 hours. Still, it's closer than the closest mountains in my own state (which is also 12 hours away...we live in a big state, lol!)

On the way, we stopped at a Wal-Mart in Arkadelphia. We've stopped there before and loved playing on the 'hill' along side the parking lot. We live in a city/area/region of TX that is FLAT! So, we enjoy going to places with hills or mountains. The kiddos rolled up and down the hill. At the top of the hill was a McDonalds, but more incredibly, a very pretty colorful group of trees so I had to take some pictures. We also don't live in an area with a changing of the leaves, so to speak, and most trees stay green.

My toddler.

My kindergartener.

And the kiddos with my hubby.

We also stopped for lunch at a restaurant.

Finally, we arrived at our destination. The 17 mile drive up the mountain from the nearest town took about 45 minutes due to all the switchbacks and narrow mountain gravel roads. Definitely an adventure!!! Of course, due to a misreading of the map, we did at one point end up on some muddy road and had to back up our truck and rented uhaul trailer. That was a stressful 10 minutes. I had all confidence that we wouldn't get stuck but my kindergartener started crying at one point and said that he "wanted to be a rock star." I realized that he thought we'd never get out of it and he'd never grow up, thereby never becoming a rock star. If he weren't so serious, I would have laughed. But instead, I reassured him it'd all be fine. And it was.

There is also some trails at this National Forest Recreation Area. This was a very small campground with 8 places to camp, a lodge along with three cabins. It was an awesome place because it wasn't crowded but not completely in the woods by ourselves either. Beautiful and rustic.

This is the first place we have ever been that had the possibility of bears. Luckily, we didn't see any!

We stayed in this cabin.

Most of the furniture had been there since they were built in the 1930s by the CCC. I loved having a fireplace!

I could get used to just showing up somewhere and only having to provide your linens and food!

This is us behind the cabin (down the slope a little.) The place was full of high cliffs and bluffs. Right behind us is about a 60 foot drop. This is also the reason my kindergartener is not in the pic!

Walking back up to the cabin.

We loved staying in the cabin. We had a small visitor while there (think small, gray, long tail, thief of baby carrots.) Wish that we were able to stay in it longer but it was already reserved for the next several days. Since the weather got very cold, we planned to drive into town to stay in a motel the next night and then return to camp. More to follow...

Hands

2010-11-17T23:17:00.000-06:00

I am trying to get a few pics for our Christmas card. Last night, we celebrated my kindergartener's sixth birthday at a restaurant (he wanted to eat seafood.) My hubby was at work out of town but I had my family with me. It was great that my daughters, one of my daughter's boyfriend and my brother (and nephew) all came! What do these two facts have in common? I figured that if I paid for my daughter's meals, the least they could do was placate me and put the silly hat on for me (for a picture, lol!) Well, I didn't get exactly what I wanted but I ended up with a few options. At one point, while my daughters were totally embarrassed at the thought of me even requesting such an idea, it was hilarious and we were all laughing. We hid in a corner while I took a quick picture (it's not often they're together at the same time and looking semi-good.) Afterwards, I also put on a silly hat thing and got a picture with my oldest daughter. I'm standing behind her and she grabs my hand and holds it. It makes me appreciate that we have a great relationship right now and that, at that moment, all was well. She's come a long way and has a ways to go but I love her very much. I love this picture. When I see it, we look ok...but it's the hands I love, our hands together.

Gotta love the internet...

2010-11-15T12:57:00.001-06:00

I was eating lunch an hour ago at my favorite restaurant with my toddler (who loves baked potato soup there.) A woman came up to me and started talking and then I ealized she was a classmate of mine! Even though I hadn't seen her in many years, I knew her via her profile pic on Facebook. In talking, I realized that we had kids near the same age (the first two were only a year apart.) I told her that I didn't know she had kids around my kids' ages...and that back then, I had no other friends with kids and had been so lonely. For clarity, my oldest is 25 and I got pregnant right out of high school two months after I got married....sigh. All my friends then were in college or working and certainly not having kids, much less married. I felt alone and didn't have anybody to share experiences or stories with. She only keeps in touch with one person from high school (and I was similar that I only had one bff from school too.) We laughed as we now keep in touch with others via the internet. I wish I had known then...

When I had my kindergartener, I joined an online mom's group (which eventually became private) and have become close to many of them (even meeting some in real life.) Last summer, I drove two states away to meet a couple moms who were going to the zoo for the day. I made it a mini-vacation and stopped along the way to do some ancestry footwork for some of my hubby's ancestors.

Beforehand, I updated my 'tree' on ancestry.com so that I could figure out exactly which ones came from the area I was going to visit. I was able to locate the cemetary where a few were buried (similar to my own experience finding my own great grandfather in Feb 2009.) I called and the place sent me the map and whereabouts of the burial places. I found the gravestones of my hubby's great grandfather and great great grandmother who died in 1891. While looking at my printouts, I noticed a wrong date in my information online on my tree and totally forgot about it. That is, until this week.

I got a message about the date from someone else working on their tree (which coincided with mine.) They are from Norway. We've exchanged a little information and I emailed some of the pics I took from the cemetary trip last summer. I think it's so cool that other countries don't seem so far away and that I'm not as lonely as I used to be....with the internet.

Here's a picture of the site where three of my hubby's ancestors are buried. It was a good trip.

List of random observations

2010-11-09T21:34:00.000-06:00

I read this from one of my online mommy friends and laughed out loud at many of them. Thought I'd post it because they seemed hilarious (and I love any good reason to smile or laugh.)

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my 10-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions, people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey* but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

What?!?!?!

2010-11-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

My kindergartener wanted to know what we'd be doing that day when I picked him up from school. When we got home, he suggested we go to the 'prk.' He is learning to put sounds together to form words. Since he was so close, I said, YES! We went to the nearby park. I was near the end of having read my third book in the trilogy (from Stieg Larrson) and I thought it'd be cool if the kiddos could play while I read the last pages.

We arrived at the park and I went to sit under this pavilion in a spot where I could read and watch the kids. I noticed a couple older teenagers on a bench across from me when I was getting comfortable. A page or two later, one of the teens said, politely, "Excuse me." I looked around and noticed they were filling up their cigar with something and it clicked as he continued talking to me. "I just was letting you know I was doing this." I considered this for a second as I quickly responded. I'm sure they couldn't see the shirt I was wearing as an emblem on it was the state of Texas and a big star (it was from the Texas Probation Association) from which I was a member all those years working for the Probation Department. I said that I...didn't care (I really did)...but that if my kids came around...could they please move. It really wasn't a question or request. I then returned to reading, or rather trying to read.

I considered the situation while looking at the pages not being able to read for a few minutes afterwards. On one hand, the teen was very polite and considerate (not something I see every day especially in my neck of the woods.)I guess he was giving me the opportunity to move if I didn't want to be near them when they smoked (or the smoke.) On the other hand, hello?!?, they're illegally smoking marijuana (and possibly something else) in the park during the day. I wanted to give them a lecture right then and there about a whole bunch of things including their health concerns while smoking, being a role model, drug testing/job applications options, getting a ticket/being arrested for committing a crime...you name it, it all went through my head in just a few seconds. But I go to that park frequently and lived nearby, I didn't want to have any backlashes in my attempt at morality to strangers. I was ambivalent. As it turned out, I stayed there and realized a few minutes later that they moved. Apparently, they decided against it, or they chose to move elsewhere to 'do their thing.' And my kids luckily never came around during any of this...

Halloween

2010-11-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

I was at the grocery store yesterday morning. I was buying some chicken to grill and a few extra stuff I needed. I noticed a few older guys shopping together as well because one was wearing overalls and a kind of cowboy hat and I thought my kindergartener would have like to have seen him, lol! Near the checkout, they were behind me and as I was putting my things in the basket, one of them asked what I was doing later (as in making conversation about Halloween.) I mentioned that the plan was to grill some chicken and to catch up on tv...and for some reason unknown to me, I mentioned how much I loved dvr (being able to tape programs to watch later when I have more time) and how paying that extra $10 a month has made my life so much better. I could tell he had been drinking alcohol, although not drunk, but I guess to get up and moving that day. They were all kinda rough looking, not scruffy, per se, but as if they have a hard life...the kind where you put in manual labor each day, if they were lucky. He said, "Wouldn't it be nice if that's all it took." I responded, definitely. Then as I walked away, I thought to myself that I felt extremely blessed and fortunate. I have a really good life and I'm happy. I wish that little money was all it took to make everybody in the world happy.

We enjoyed trick-or-treating! My youngest has a slow speed...the kind where he stops and listens to the noises, looks at the stars or the pumpkins, or talks about the decorations in the yards. Definitely not on a mission to get lots of candy but to just take in the whole experience. We were able to split up so that I could just walk around with him slowly as he enjoyed the evening.

I eat the small chips...

2010-10-25T19:52:00.000-05:00

...in the basket at mexican restaurants. This drives my daughter crazy. She, of course, loves and eats the big unbroken pieces from the top after she dips them in the hot sauce or chili con queso. But I prefer the smaller ones in the bottom of the basket. I can use them to dip into the hot sauce (even though I really am not a fan of spicy sauces or dips) or guacamole (that I love so much.) These little chips taste the same as the big ones, they're just not always accessible, convenient, and are sometimes flawed. But they taste the same as those big perfect ones on top. I think they're better though because you don't have to break them to eat them and are the perfect size for me.

I thought about this whole chip thing as I waited for my friend at lunch last week. I've had a friend for over twenty years who lives about thirty minutes away. We don't really have a whole lot in common. She was the girlfriend of my hubby's coworker at one time. We remained friends with her even after the coworker parted ways. I think she and I have a bond due to time...even though we live semi-close, we eventually only saw each other about once a year for a decade or so. In the last two to three years, we started meeting more often at a mexican restaurant near where she works for lunch and exchanging information about our lives and finding out what's new with each other.

It's nice to know someone so long that you immediately know certain things like if they're happy or sad or whether they've lost or gained weight. It's also great having an impartial person to be able to vent to about your family, brag about great things happening, or to just sit and talk with (when there is nothing going on.) She's gone through a couple husbands, I've raised a couple girls, we care about our those people close to us...we've become a special support group for two who meet a few times a year.

My friend is like one of the little chips.

Backyard picnic

2010-10-23T18:17:00.000-05:00

My kindergartener had planned on having a picnic. We were thinking about going to a park to do it but ended up just doing one in our yard. It was lovely! I sat with my camera and took picture after picture. The kiddos ate their sandwiches, grapes, chips and drank grape kool-aid. I sat this morning and uploaded the pictures and looked for a couple that might stand out. While there were some cute ones, two really stood out for me of my toddler. He was enjoying his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Of all my kiddos, he is the happiest, usually never grumpy (other than when he wakes up, of course) and loves to smile!

I love his little dirty fingernails too! He's just precious!

So proud...

2010-10-07T22:32:00.000-05:00

Since about two or three weeks after school started, I was summoned to my kindergartener's class for a parent-teacher conference. There was a gap between my kiddo and the other kids in the class. I had that pit in the bottom of my stomach because I had not studied with him during the summer as I should have. So...we started studying each day to learn the uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet along with the sounds of each with the flash cards that I made. It was slow starting but after a trip to Academy (a local sports store,) where he saw the perfect boots, I found the perfect motivation.

My kiddo loves anything having to do with ranches and cowboys. He loves tractors, construction vehicles, and/or anything related to ranches. These particular boots he saw were the perfect ranch boots. They weren't pointy like cowboy boots but were rather rounded like the boots his dad wears outside to work.

So we practiced each day. Finally, today, he got all of them right! I don't know who was more happy or proud....him, or me! But he felt the feeling of doing something with a goal, practicing, and then the feeling of accomplishment! It was a great feeling! We bought those boots! He didn't have time to wear them though as it was near time to go to bed by the time we got home. But....this weekend, we go to our in-laws farm and they just bought a tractor. That is heaven for my kiddo! I've already made the next set of cards to learn next (numbers and sight words.)

Today was a good day!

ouch!

2010-09-30T14:48:00.000-05:00

I had been doing so good exercising! I was in 'the zone!' I finally after a year of working out at the gym (of course, not every week) got up the nerve to take a class...zumba. It was so fun! I am overweight, have no dance skill and am slow, but I really loved it! Fastforward two weeks into the classes (along with my usual Sunday walk with my friend who walks SO fast) and boom....my knee. Apparently, I tore a ligament...sigh. I am hoping it heals by itself and I have no other problems forever afterwards. I had also decided on a six month goal beforehand too... I want to go to a lodge on top of a mountain (that you have to hike up in order to stay because there is no other way up it.) It looked awesome! I still want to go and will strive to do it. But for now, I hope to not gain back the weight I lost (a little, but it's still a loss as opposed to a gain.) So, I'm still resting and hobbling around....

http://www.leconte-lodge.com/

Rearranging...

2010-09-23T11:49:00.000-05:00

Every morning, my youngest son will wake up between 6 and 6:15am. He then proceeds to wake up his brother by making vocal noises and/or throwing his monkey/sleeping buddies on top of his sleeping sibling, lol! Thus, I rearranged some of the furniture and moved their beds farther away from each other with the hopes that my kindergartener can sleep a little longer (because I'll sneak in and grab the 'noisy' one. Just a few months ago, I moved them out of our bedroom and into their own room and the toddler started sleeping in his crib for the first time. The twin bed is actually half of a bunk bed set from a relative (given to us twenty years ago) and it'll be eventually be a bunk bed set again (when the boys are older, especially if our older daughter is still home.)

Right after I finished moving the beds and dresser, the toddler climbed up and laid down in his brother's bed for a long while. I went and grabbed my camera because he seemed to look so cute. He's so happy most of the time. Right now, he's outside in the backyard playing in the dirt with his vehicles and backhoes (in light rain.)

Then, I played with him a while by throwing the panda back and forth to each other. I was able to catch a smile from him in the process.

Losing his first tooth...

2010-09-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

...at school yesterday was a milestone! This is my kindergartener showing me his tooth in the little plastic tooth he got from his teacher to keep his tooth safe. He had been wiggling it for a couple of weeks (after he realized the tooth behind it had practically come through already.)

This is one of the toothless pictures I emailed to his dad (at his work) so he wouldn't miss out on it!

And, of course, placing his tooth (in the little tooth fairy box) under his pillow before he went to bed. When I was little, my teeth always were in a piece of aluminium foil, lol! The tooth fairy brought him a whopping $2. He was really excited this morning!

Stress....and the park.

2010-09-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

This past month has been full of stress...particularly dealing my my MIL and trying to figure out what's best for her in the long run. And that's still going on as in the last month, she's gone from her ALF to the hospital, to a hospice and now to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation. It's hopefully the place where she'll either walk (or wheel a wheelchair) and then the decision will be made about where she goes after that... For now, she's physically ok.

We have gotten breaks though and have enjoyed having fun with the kiddos. We went to my kindergartener's favorite park recently and played all morning. Here is a pic of my kindergartener enjoying a break from playing.

He also took these two pictures (as he went around with my camera.)The first is of my hubby and I and the last one is of our toddler.

First day of Kindergarten

2010-08-20T21:35:00.000-05:00

It's been quite an exciting week! My preschooler is now a kindergartener! Here is a pic of him just before we left to go to his school. Even though he said 'I HATE SCHOOL' during the summer, he was a little apprehensive and excited at the same time on the first day. It turned out to be a great day and he was very tired when he got home. He even muttered a 'I love school' comment on the way home. I asked him what was his favorite part of the day. He responded...two playgrounds. When I asked what that meant, he said that he got to go to recess two times. When I asked him what part he didn't like, he said...zero. Awesome!!

A couple days before school, I took this picture of my hubby and the kiddos taking rides around the yard. It was hot outside and I just gave them drinks for their trip, lol!

....empty pockets.

2010-08-16T21:04:00.000-05:00

It's finally come to the point where my mother-in-law has run out of money. I took about a week to compose a letter asking my husband's siblings for money (because she will be about $700 in the hole each month.) Thus far, we've got the next month taken care of. I believe that everyone will pitch in and keep her there until she's medically not able to stay there. It's amazing that she really only has a few bills (rent, secondary medical insurance cost and medication)and all her life's savings were sucked up in just a year. Now, there are a couple of options (continue living in her assisted living facility or move to a nursing home.) I'd rather keep her in her place where she's comfy, the staff know about her (her personality, antics and what she likes,) and she has her own room (not a small room she'd have to share with someone and where she'd end up laying in bed all day.)I love her very much and I treat her as if she were my own mother (my own parents are deceased.) I really miss the person she was...

Sadly, this week, when I went to take her to her podiatrist (for her appointment she goes to about once every three months to get her toenails trimmed,) she didn't recognize me as being someone she liked. She hasn't known who I was for a long time now...but she knew I was someone who loved her and whom she could trust. But not this week...hopefully it was just a bad day for her. I was emotionally drained afterwards and really sad that she wouldn't get out of her bed, wouldn't cooperate with me and was just plain rude. It's part of the process though, of her Alzheimers...but it still made me cry.

A recent pic of my MIL hugging my youngest child.

Wow...summer went by fast!

2010-08-14T11:30:00.000-05:00

We accomplished a whole lot...lots of little trips, family drama, and fun times for everybody. I have not posted here in a while (my brother threatened to delete the link to it) but have a lot of material for future topics! Here is a pic of my little ones playing near our closet in daddy's boots!

Mud's Best Friend

2010-07-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was one of those hot humid days in which it rained off and on. We've had this kind of weather for about a week now since we're so close to the Gulf of Mexico (especially during hurricane season in which everything that happens out there at some point affects us too.) Mosquitos are very abundant so we tend to wear long sleeves too when outside. We decided to go bike-riding and my preschooler loved experimenting with skidding in the mud and riding fast through water puddles. The fact that the city was reasphaulting the road making it really muddy made our trip even more interesting.

Afterwards, he recharged (ate a snack, put on some dry clothes) and started all over. This time, he was on a mission...to find whatever was swimming rapidly around in the mud puddle in our driveway. As it turned out, after lots of patience and determination, he finally caught the tiny black water bug. Makes me wish I were five again...

For more SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera), check out Melody at Slurping Life.

At the beach...

2010-06-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

We went to a beach about an hour from my SILs house when we dogsat that week. It was a beach on a bay so the water was not deep and extended a long long time before finally getting deeper. It was perfect for my kiddos who aren't comfortable in the water. At first, my hubby took them in the water. They looked like this for about five minutes...shirtless.

But, of course, we have light skin and burn easily so I dressed them back up. Yes, we were the only ones with a toddler in long pants and long shirts, lol! But, as long as he didn't burn, I was ok with that!

My preschooler really enjoyed himself too in the water.

My hubby and I looked like this practically the whole time...laying on our stomachs in the water on kid level watching them play and blow bubbles in the saltwater. The water was nice and warm...perfect! I didn't realize until later that even though I was lathered in sunscreen, I had forgotten the back of my calves (which were exposed unfortunately while I was doing all of my soldier crawling.) But they were ok after a day or so. I had been to that beach before a few years earlier and had forgotten how much fun it had been...I'd can't wait to go again next summer.

Trying to clean...

2010-06-29T09:14:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to clean up my kid's room. They have way too many toys from their siblings, nephew, birthdays, garage sales, rewards...the list goes on and on. These toys seem to accumulate and I think they reproduce each night because every day, there seems to be more and more toys. I have been trying to organize their room and make it more accessible to play (and I'll take and hide some toys in the attic until later to make more room as well.) Each time I go in there to clean, miraculously, they each need to follow me and see what I've uncovewred even though they were completely happy doing something else in another room. So, consequently, the room has not been cleaned even though it's been a work in progress for many days, lol! Last night, I saw that my toddler was interested in what I was doing, so I quietly left and let him play (instead of cleaning in there.) I came back in there 30 minutes later (he was just too quiet for such a long time) and saw this cute scene. The picture doesn't actually show all the cars he had arranged. I was impressed that all his vehicles were in lines and all faced forward! It's a new day...and I'm starting over...we'll see if the room gets done today.

Aquarium trip

2010-06-25T07:14:00.002-05:00

I had been wanting to go back to the aquarium since I saw Julie's post. Since we had been so far away from home, we thought we'd go see a different one for a little while. We got there and one of the first things we saw was the huge area of those large fish and mammals swimming around. I was in heaven watching them swim around and could have watched for hours.

Lovely stingrays. But unfortunately, some nice lady told my preschooler that downstairs was an area where he could touch the stingrays...so we hurried through some great areas to find the elevator to go down to see them....sigh.

I feel like I skipped so much and wasn't getting enough out of the high rate of admittance in there by having to hurry through to find the stingray pool but after we got there, and patiently waited for it to swim close enough around to tough it finally, it was worth it (because my preschooler was on cloud nine!)

DH loved the dolphin area as did I.

We had a lovely time, albeit short, but I think it'd be great to return in a couple more years as well (to see the stuff BEFORE the stingray pool, lol!)

Back from Dogsitting!

2010-06-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

My SIL at the bay went out of town and requested that we dogsit for her. She has four dogs who need lots of attention and specific needs. We were happy to help out because of so much she and her hubby have done for us as well as being able to enjoy their house/yard while there. We were there for a week and had a great time.

This is a pic of my hubby pointing out a bird on the pier for the dogs (they love to run toward them and have never caught one.) This pic shows three out of four dogs. Luckily, SIL didn't leave her foster dogs for us to watch as well (she volunteers for the local dog shelter and often has foster dogs that live with her.)

The kiddos loved playing in the whale pool!

And my preschooler learned to lay down in the water without getting water in his nose (something he hates.) He kept getting in this position!

The wildflowers down the road were gorgeous (I don't think the pics show how pretty they looked as you drove by.) This pic has some cows in the background that my preschooler insisted I have in the pic.

Hubby's Birthday

2010-06-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

My hubby's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. He was at work offshore when it occurred so we celebrated it when he came home. On the morning we were to celebrate it, he woke up to a surprise birthday cake made by our daughter during the night (strawberry with strawberry icing.) I had planned on making a cake he really liked that day but decided against it after seeing she had made him one. At some point during the day, I mentioned to him about not making the other planned cake and he remarked that strawberry was his favorite. I was surprised to hear that and asked him about it. He then said that his favorite cake is one that his children made for him. And then he said that it wasn't about the gift, it was about the giving. I smiled really big...that's why I love him.

This is him just before we celebrated his birthday.

Here is most of us who were there. The daughter who made the cake refused to be in the picture...she's still a teenager, lol! My other daughter's boyfriend (on the left) cooked all the chicken for us. My brother and his kiddo is on the right. Of course, my boys are in my hubby's lap.

Here is a pic just before he blew out the candles (it's not really on fire...it has four and then nine candles for his 49th birthday.) I sneaked a pic of our other daughter sitting on the counter behind him (the cake maker.)

Bike riding

2010-06-07T19:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day that my preschooler and I went bikeriding together on our own bikes (without training wheels.) My toddler was in the front bike seat watching everything as well. Last year, he started riding his bike without training wheels (he had been riding with only one wheel after the other one broke for a long time.) He seemed interested in riding so I got my bike out, pumped more air in the tires, and off we went! He was really good at listening and staying on the right side of the road. His little bike is small but perfect for beginners and he feels confident enough now to even try a few tricks. He was so cute standing up as he pedaled when he was going fast. It's hard to imagine he's five years old already. It was so enjoyable and there was little traffic so I asked if he wanted to go further (to a nearby park where there was a little trail) and he was excited. By the time we got there, we were sweaty and took advantage of the mushroom looking thing that sprays water down as we rode our bikes through the water making us a little less hot. We had a great time and he is going to want to even more often now (I just wish it weren't SO humid because it makes the hot weather seem so much hotter...but that's summer here.) Today, we went and bought bike helmets (we couldn't fine his yesterday) and now all three of us have them.

These make me happy...

2010-05-29T17:37:00.000-05:00

Melody over at Slurping Life hosts SOOC Saturday every week! SOOC stands for Straight Out Of The Camera image. It's simple, just post a picture you took(without editing it) and tell us a little bit about it! This week's theme is what makes us happy.

This is the time of year that the daylilies bloom in our yard. My husband cares for these throughout the year and knows all the varieties and names. I just think they're pretty.

Company picnic

2010-05-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, we drove out of state to my hubby's company picnic. It was a really nice event and we all enjoyed the food, entertainment and activities they provided. As soon as we arrived, we immediately went paddle boating (and were the first ones to do it.) This is a pic as we got started.

My toddler didn't quite know what to think of it at first. Of course, I didn't even notice his dirty fingernails until I looked at the pics the next day, lol!

Yep, I enjoyed it too.

Hubby readjusting his sunglasses.

My preschooler's favorite activity was sliding down this slide. It was so hot that they added the water hose to it and it was very slippery (and lots of fun!)

My toddler preferred to walk around the trees in a circle, over and over. ??? It was really hot that day! However, my toddler insists on wearing long sleeved shirts. Since he is very pale and hasn't been exposed to a lot of sun, I figured it was a good thing on this day.

This event was held at a private function facility so it was well shaded in many places and had a pool, inside rooms with a/c, miniature golf, basketball hoop games, horseshoes, volleyball, sack races, bingo, jumping inflatable thing for kids and lots of food and slushies. My kiddos LOVED the free slushies and drank lots of them!!

Later on, everyone else rode the boats again and I stayed and took pics while they floated around. I realized at some point while waiting that my hubby was allowing my toddler to enjoy a short nap.

Even after parking the boat, my toddler still didn't wake up. He was totally out and was tired! It was an awesome day! Good thing we had lots of sunscreen on. I had to get just one more pic.....and then I picked him up.

My yard....

2010-05-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

...is beautiful this time of year.

This is like a secret garden. We made this arbor about 7 years ago and the jasmine has really overtaken it making the whole area smell awesome.

A closer look.

A bird landing on one of our birdhouses.

A plum tree.

A ripe plum (this pic was taken by my brother.)

Coyote Sighting

2010-05-16T15:10:00.001-05:00

I live in the city limits but there is a wooded area near where I live too. A few years ago, we noticed a pair of coyotes a couple of times...then a few years ago, there was only one. It travels on a little wildlife trail (made by whatever animals go back and forth on the back of our property to the adjoining drainage ditch where there is water.) The last time I saw it was right after my last son was born a couple of years ago. I recently saw it again. I was able to run out onto the porch and take a picture of it from afar. It trots fast only at the back of the yard and goes to wherever it lives in the woods, never into our yard or around us.

We used to visit a relative who lived in a rural county hours away from us. The coyotes there ate the livestock and were a menace. When one was killed, whoever killed it would hang it upside down on their wooden fence so that everyone else could see (as I assume it was their common practice to show that there is one less coyote out there.)

I don't normally see much wildlife like deer or coyotes where I live, but when I do, it's wonderful...

edit to add:
Check out Melody at SOOC (Straight Out of the Camera)
http://slurpinglife.typepad.com/

Robert Frost and home

2010-05-05T12:16:00.000-05:00

I have always loved the poetry of Robert Frost...probably because I remember my mother reciting poems by him when I was young. I used to listen to some of his poetry on cassette tapes (back when I had a car with a cassette deck.) Since the one I liked doesn't come in CD version, I recently bought a CD of his poetry that is actually read by him. In both versions, one poem always stays close to my heart, "The Death of the Hired Man."

In this particular poem, a hired hand who has worked for a couple for many years during harvest time (and had eventually become old and not very dependable) returns one last time (looking very poorly.) Even though the man had a brother who lived close (but had not spoken to him in years), he returned to this place. The poem is like a conversation between the man and woman and the woman described why the hired man returned there, instead of his brother's house. She says...

“Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die:
You needn’t be afraid he’ll leave you this time.” 115

“Home,” he mocked gently.

“Yes, what else but home?
It all depends on what you mean by home.
Of course he’s nothing to us, any more
Than was the hound that came a stranger to us 120
Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.”

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.”

“I should have called it
Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”

I've thought about this poem over the years...when relatives/adult children/etc come around and want to stay or when those close to me have similar things happening around them, I think of the circumstances and relate back to this poem.

It'd be nice if everyone in the world had some place they could call 'home' to return to in times of need or confusion.

SOOC: Pigeon up high...

2010-05-01T10:41:00.000-05:00

While sightseeing at the top of the Empire State Building last weekend, I was quite surprised to see one pigeon! (this is my daughter in front of it as she's sending a pic via her cellphone)

I couldn't believe it was able to get up so high (we were on the 102nd floor observatory where you could stand there and feel the wind.) While I'm definitely afraid of heights, being up there didn't really scare me...until I reached out a little to use my camera/cellphone to take a picture and then it dawned on me just how high it felt...my stomach got all tied up in knots and decided I didn't need any more pictures.

What a brave bird!

See more SOOC Saturday posts here.

Riding the subway in NYC

2010-04-29T10:50:00.000-05:00

Last weekend's trip was a nice change. While sightseeing in the big city, we rode the subway a lot. Normally, I follow my bff who lives nearby but she wasn't able to meet us so we tried it alone. It was at first a little overwhelming (especially since I couldn't see the little maps to follow those colored lines) but got the hang of it (and learned to just get off and look at the bigger maps to double-check the routes.)

It was so interesting to people-watch and see all the different people who ride the subway. On one ride, a man who was the building maintenance supervisor from the Metropolitan Opera sat across from me (he still had his nametag on.) He was sketching on a pad. I was thinking of how many concerts he had attended via work or the people he's met through his job. How cool that would be!! I was wanting to get up and see what he was drawing too because he looked like he was being very detailed in his drawing, but I didn't.

On some trains, there were quotes on the wall. I thought a lot about this one.

.....two bullets...

2010-04-26T21:53:00.001-05:00

I took a trip over the weekend with my younger daughter. The main reason for the trip was to visit a group of friends and my best friend. A secondary reason was to do a little sightseeing and bonding with my daughter. Unfortunately, it was tainted a little bit by some unforeseen events. My daughter's (pregnant) friend was recently murdered by her friend's boyfriend (who was also my daughter's friend.) He had shot her friend once in the head, ending her life. The funeral was held on one of the days we were to be gone. She chose to come along anyway, and while it was still slightly bonding, my daughter was feeling ambivalent and full of emotion.

I was thinking about bullets. Three years ago today, my older daughter tried to end her life by shooting herself. It wasn't her first time to try some way to end it but hopefully it will be her last. Luckily for her, she didn't have good aim and only pierced her liver. She still has her scars from her chest tube on her side from when she was in ICU and the bullet still resides in her back, slowly coming to the surface. She slowly rose from that type of lifestyle to a more positive and sober, healthy life. While she isn't free from her demons, she's maturing and becoming more responsible. This bullet saved her life.

Two bullets, each with totally different outcomes...

I gave my older daughter a card today and let her know how much she means to me, how thankful I am that she is alive and a few of the reasons I love her (and of course, a few turned into a whole bunch.) Sometimes, I feel like I don't tell her enough what she means to me and focus on what she needs to do, who she should be hanging around, what she should be doing next... But today, I hugged her, told her that I loved her, and didn't give any constructive criticism. She was just my precious daughter.

(her bullet on right side of back)

A year ago today...

2010-04-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

...my mother-in-law left her home and has never returned. She was transported via ambulance to the hospital due to the paramedics thinking she were mentally incompetent. Interestingly enough, I saw her every week for years before then and, even though she seemed forgetful, I thought those instances were due to her age. She was 86. Her other signs of Alzheimer's were so similar to her personality (negativity, calling several times about something, becoming aggravated over something small) that even I, the person closest to her, didn't see them.

Since that time, she has continued to deteriorate mentally to the point where she doesn't know her family. She has no friends (they're all deceased) and the closest relatives (us) are very familiar to her but she doesn't realize we are related. She just knows she has a positive, comfortable feeling about us. I don't think she remembers my big girls but she loves playing with my little boys. If it weren't for the boys going over and playing with her, I wouldn't know what kind of conversations to have with her.

I took her some new glasses today. Her last eye test was about five years ago. She broke her glasses a few weeks ago so I had to take her to get another eye exam and then order some new glasses (two pair, just in case.) The lens of the broken glasses have still not been found. She just wore her broken ones until I brought these new ones to her today. They were a little different, but she didn't even notice. In fact, within a minute of having them on, and the broken ones out of sight, she had no memory of anything related to them.

We've requested assistance from the VA (my FIL was in the Navy during WWII.) It took eleven months to process her claim for aid and assistance (which could provide up to $1056. a month.) We have just received one check finally for that amount. However, they propose to declare her mentally incompetent and want to appoint a fiduciary (someone to take care of that money they'll be sending her.) Well, of course, she can't take care of her money, that's a given. But the process in which this is done with them takes an average of 12-18 months. When they actually start that process, the monthly funds will stop until the claim has completely been processed, and then when it is finished, they'd then send the accrued amount during the processing time. Is that not crazy? Meanwhile, she will be in a deficit of $1700 a month.

Her money runs out in a month, maybe two...I'm in the middle of writing one of those letters to send to the remaining children of hers (my husband's siblings.) I am carefully choosing each word on paper before I email them to beg for monetary assistance to keep her in her expensive assisted-living facility where she is most happy. If she is in a nursing home, with her unique personality, she'd become abused or neglected by the personnel. She has a certain way about herself....luckily, the staff where she is now have learned how to handle her and what to expect from her. I want to keep her there and am crossing my fingers that whenever I send this request out, that one of them will find some nest-egg to keep her safe in her little tiny room until that day in which she moves on......

Close to the ground.

2010-04-17T08:29:00.000-05:00

This week, I found cute little magnifying glasses at Target (I just love the front dollar section.) I bought one for each of my kiddos and they've been exploring outside ever since. The toddler seems even more interested than my preschooler in discovering little bugs and treasures in the yard. I even went back to the store and bought about twenty for my preschooler's teacher so she can have them in her repertoire of cool stuff. Luckily that was a good idea since she normally borrows some from another teacher...now, she doesn't have to.

I tried to help my toddler find little things to look at but never found any. I did notice that he found these bugs. I guess it's because he's so close to the ground.

Follow along each Saturday with Straight Out Of Camera started by Slurping Life.
What it is you take a photo straight out of the camera No Editing allowed.
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An afternoon in Houston

2010-04-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

This past week, the boys and I traveled to Houston to visit a friend whose daughter was in the hospital. We were going to also visit another friend but they became ill so we had extra time. Beforehand, I packed a lunch because I knew we'd be hungry at some time. After my preschooler got out of school at 1pm, we headed out.

It was a couple hours away so the kiddos had a nap along the way. I just pointed the camera behind me while driving while watching the road (that's why it's off-center.)

The medical center is full of many hospitals that line this really long street. It was a little scary to drive in the traffic because it was unfamiliar territory and because there were so many things to see while trying to find the correct hospital (I had never been there before.) I finally found the hospital and then I had to drive around again to get to the correct parking lot. After visiting our friend (where I forgot the camera in the car), we had a picnic in a grassy area of a park. It is a huge park next to the zoo and museum district.

Then we went to find the train depot. There is a lengthy train track that surrounds the park and we walked and walked and walked looking for it.

It was later and we barely made it there and got to ride it before it closed. The zoo was still open though (for another hour) so we went on in. It was the perfect time to be there...on an afternoon on a school day near closing...no crowds.

And we rode the carousel twice (we were the only ones on it!) My preschooler was incredibly happy to find this particular animal to ride on...the raccoon...because his 'lovey' is a small raccoon named Ricky and he knew by riding it, it'd make Ricky happy!

After the zoo closed, we played on a huge hill near an amphitheater. The boys ran up and down it for about thirty minutes.

And finally, as it was nearing dusk, we played near the long pool thing watching ducks. Of course, the kids wanted to get as close to the edge as possible and put their hands in the water. Next time, we'll bring bread for the ducks.

For an unplanned event, we had a great afternoon. We spent just enough time playing around and visiting the zoo and park that we missed all the traffic and were able to easily make it home without any delays.

Workout partner

2010-04-13T09:56:00.000-05:00

I got a call from a friend whose workout partner couldn't go walking with her and she wanted to know if I were interested in going walking with her. I said sure. It was at a place I hadn't been before but was curious as to what kind of path it was (and walking with someone always makes the time go faster!) She picked me up and we went to the place. Interestingly enough, she carried a little pouch which contained her necessities including her handgun (she has a permit) just in case. Um....ok. There were lots of other people walking, jogging or biking there as the route was 2 miles long. We walked it three times in an hour and forty-five minutes. I'd never done that before and was apprehensive about how I'd feel later on in the day. But....it wasn't too bad. It was definitely not something I could do daily but it's a good challenge once in a while. She called the next day and we'll go again on Sunday (her other partner doesn't want to do the whole six miles) so I'm looking forward to it. Now, if I can just stay away from the chocolate, I might actually lose a little weight, lol!

A Work Day!

2010-04-11T14:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we worked outside a lot. Well, the truth is more like, everyone but me worked outside most of the day. I'd come out, check out the progress, take a few pics and then return to my own projects inside (loads of laundry, cleaning the kitchen etc.) Here is a sample of bringing stuff to the road (cleaning up around the shed in preparation to rebuilding part of it.)

This pic is of my kiddo, who is an expert xtr (zero turn radius lawnmower) driver pulling the trailer followed by my hubby with another load. The blades are not on, btw, and they did this all afternoon. When I first tried to drive this thing, it took me a LONG time to get it right. He's a natural with driving stuff like that.

Wisteria everywhere!

2010-04-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

I've been walking again this week in my neighborhood. The weather has just been beautiful and the air has the sweet scent of wisteria. Across from my house are huge vines and I love to look out and see them. I love the gorgeous purple colors as well as the white and yellow colors that hide inside the flowers. This is the perfect time of year here as it will be too hot in just a few weeks. But for now, spring has definitely sprung.

Up closer.

The honey and bumble bees also loved them! It sounded like they were swarming everywhere and it was cool watching them fly all around me as they searched for the perfect place to land.

My movie circle of friends -

2010-03-27T12:52:00.001-05:00

I love going to movies! I always have...it's something my mom and I did all the time when she was alive (especially on holidays) and I love being in a theater with all the huge sounds and darkness! When I'm down or needing a pick-me-up, going to the movies is the perfect cure-all! Being able to be someone else, somewhere else, or just pretend that for those couple of hours, you're in someone else's world is awesome. I generally go to the first showing of the day (it's less expensive and less crowded.)

Just recently, a couple of friends have expressed an interest of going to movies as well, especially chic-flicks! So....that's what we've been doing. I am the one who usually sets it all up and plans a movie around our tight busy schedules. These two friends and I are very different. One is in her seventies - a retired teacher and an extrovert who loves wearing loud colors and big colorful accessories. The other is an older mom who is more conservative in her dress and lifestyle - her life revolves around her kids who are in med-school and college. Each are so unique in their own way and are wonderful people! Even though we're very different, we have some things in common, like enjoying ourselves together and going to movies as we have the same taste in what we want to watch. Yesterday, we went to see The Bounty Hunter, another love story with a twist, just our style!

I hate being sick!

2010-03-22T09:06:00.000-05:00

I'm not too sick, just a little, but it's so irritating! I have a sinus infection that came up very quickly! I had a really difficult time getting up the other day but I had to. I had planned an outing with my neighbor and all our kids to go to a really cool park (with picnic.) After laying in bed while my kiddos rearranged my house for a couple hours, I took a really warm shower and loaded up on OTC meds to get me through the morning. I made it through and then took a really long nap. I normally never take naps unless I'm sick or very tired!!!

The next day though, I went in to the doctor as it seemed to get worse, not better. I've had so many throughout the years that I knew to just go ahead and bite the bullet rather than spend the next couple of weeks under the weather and unable to function. Especially since I was alone (hubby at work for the next couple of weeks.) It seems to always be that way. The last time I spoke to him, it seems hat he has the same issue happening at work with his sinuses so it's kinda of good we're not sick together at home.

I was able to send my daughter to the store to get my most favorite thing to eat when I'm sick....chocolate pudding that you cook (that cools in the fridge with the layering on top!) I always feel better when I eat that!

Getting haircuts...

2010-03-13T08:10:00.000-06:00

Last week, my toddler has his first haircut. I had been putting off getting it done because his hair was full of curls but it was starting to get in his eyes. Both he and his dad went to get their hair cut at the same time. It was from a place my hubby has been going for years and where my preschooler gets his hair cut as well. Now, they'll all be going there. Just a guy thing...

Toddler is not sure what to think.

Toddler and Dad.

All done!

For more fun with SOOC Saturday please visit Melody at Slurping Life.

So close to summer....

2010-03-11T20:02:00.000-06:00

Even though so much of the US still has snow, where I live, it's getting hot! The a/c has been on inside for the last week and it was 79 degrees today. Unfortunately, I realized my car's a/c didn't work so I'm taking it in tomorrow to get fixed!! I'm already seeing mosquitos, the anthills are everywhere (and biting my toddler) and you can see signs everywhere that summer is close by!

Flowers are blooming in our yard.

My preschooler can't wait to go swimming...

(it was really cold, but he stayed in for a while.)

And of course, yummy ice cream!

TX Rodeo, preschool style!

2010-03-10T12:00:00.000-06:00

I don't remember having a whole lot of fun in school. Even in elementary, I didn't have a lot of fun, didn't feel like I fit in or enjoyed it. It was something I had to do because there was no other choice. I want to make sure my kiddos have a different experience. I am in the same city and the same school district I grew up in so I am choosing to put my kiddos in private school (for as long as I can afford it.) So far, I'm having a great time enjoying his experiences!

Last week, after studying about TX and all things western, my preschooler's class had a rodeo and chili cookoff! Actually, they made stick horses and had horse races and then we all ate chili in the classroom. It was a great build-up and all the kids had a great time. They wore their western wear and looked so cute!

Doing a circle dance... (mine is wearing the duster)

A view from the back. who know that that Halloween costume I got last October would come in handy. He loves to dress up and my great shopping skills came in handy, lol!

The parents were invited to also do a circle dance with the kiddos. I stayed off to the side to take a pic and my hubby (and toddler on back) joined in.

He named his stickhorse "Megatron."

Pic of us.

My preschooler and his best buddy.

Another Perspective

2010-02-28T13:25:00.000-06:00

While I was putting my preschooler to bed last night, my toddler decided to do this! Apparently, he decided to go into our pantry, take out our baking soda nad pour it everywhere!

Of course, I should have cleaned it up immediately. But, instead, shortly thereafter, I laid down with said toddler and fell asleep. Needless to say, the mess was still awaiting me in the morning. But, during the night, my hubby received one of these pics I had taken before we went to sleep (he is at work for a couple weeks at a time and I like to send pics to him.)

Thinking he'd find it a little funny and irritating as I did, he had a totally different perspective. He said, "Looks like he just made an opportunity to help clean. SEE I CAN CLEAN UP!" What an interesting thought...

At least my toddler tried, lol!, because I didn't even consider it until mid-morning.