Raccoons and more raccoons!

As I was leaving my SILs the other day, I went by her daughter's house. I had seen a photo she had posted on FB about some raccoons near her house and I was curious about them. I had my oldest daughter and granddaughter with me and we were going to stop by for a little while (and see the place where the raccoons were which was along the way) and then go back home (a good two hour drive.)

There's a store near my niece's neighborhood and the raccoons will come out at dusk and beg for food. As we drove up to that side of the parking lot, they were EVERYWHERE! I went inside the store about bought some bread to 'feed' them and they'd come up and stand on their hind legs with their front feet on my legs waiting for me to drop pieces of bread to them. Totally scary! I was imagining their very sharp teeth and claws!

While we were there, it was quite an experience. They were polite...didn't come up and chew my leg or arm off and there weren't too many fights for the food we threw at them. I've never seen that many raccoons in one place in my life!

Of course, I was trying to take pictures!



My niece feeding them.





My daughter feeding them.

Pop-Up Tent Camper

We have some really good friends who have had a pop-up tent camper for a long time. I've heard them talk about it but I had never been in one. We as a family love to go tent camping and love camping in general. I've seen people driving down the road with those pop-ups but have never known what they were actually like. Lo and behold, our friends upgraded and now have an RV so they wanted to sell this camper thing.

I went over to their house one day and took a look at it. It had air conditioning!!! And a heater! There was even a little potty and tiny shower area inside. Tiny. They were both really tiny. But I was impressed that there were anything like that inside!!! There was even a sink! And a stove (that you can take and use outside too.) And a refrigerator (it doesn't work but it's a great place to store stuff.) I had no idea it was like that! We have never camped in the summer (we don't like mosquitos and/or to be really hot and prefer to camp when it's really cold instead for those reasons.)

To make a long story short, we bought it from them!!! Now, all we have to do is plan an overnight or weekend get away to learn how to turn everything on etc. and we'll be more experienced to plan a longer vacation. A really close friend and her family moved to Colorado and we will drive to see them next summer. I am planning a nice long trek that way while stopping by a couple cool state parks along the way.

I'm super excited about all this! It's like a whole new camping kind of world just opened up and we're looking forward to using it!

The Calm Before The Storm...

My sister-in-Law, my hubby's oldest sister, is dying. Of course, we're all dying...we're all one day closer to death...but her expiration date is coming up faster than ours. She's enduring her third bout of breast cancer and it has metastasized. From what I have read (and/or heard her physicians say,) she has up to a few months left (I think that's an optimistic number.) I know so many people who have had cancer, who currently have it or have lost loved ones to one dreadful type of it or another. Each time I realized that someone I know and love is affected by it, I want to do what I can to make life easier for them.

I've been really close to my SIL throughout the years. She had a daughter the year before I had my first daughter. She had a few sons and then years later, had another daughter. I did the same kind of thing...had girls and then years later, had some more kiddos (boys.) We've been close. I will really miss her. So I've been going to see her once a week (at her home to cook/hang out) or to her hospital if she's there (and sit with hr.) for the last six weeks or so. She has ascites (fluid in her abdomen that fills it up...consisting of malignant breast cancer cells) and recently, tumor loops in her intestines (obstruction.) Did I mention that I'm going to really miss her? My boys and I took a trip a couple years ago to Hot Springs Arkansas and then on to Memphis Tennessee and we invited her to come along. It was a great time and we drove there/back and did touristy stuff. I had never gone with a family member on a trip like that before and it was a pretty memorable time. We had always hoped to do it again. She's always wanted to have an RV and go on a trip. A couple of weeks ago, I told her that at some point, if she wants to go, I will take the grab the kids out of school and we will take a trip! Just say the word and we'll rent one and go wherever she wants to go!

Anyway, she was discharged from the hospital from her last stay on Saturday night and I had planned on going to sit with her at the hospital on Sunday. Since her daughter's bridal shower was on Sunday, I assumed she was going to go. Since I try to avoid large gatherings (I prefer smaller groups,) I decided to skip the shower and just take a day trip with my boys to Galveston. So, we packed up a picnic lunch, sand toys and took off for the day. I wanted to NOT think, not be sad, and to laugh and enjoy the day.

We ate lunch AND dessert at a huge restaurant (the kid's dessert was a bowl of ice cream with different toppings that they could create a sundae themselves.) Then we rented a bicycle and drove all around the sidewalks and side roads. We even stopped at a park and played on the swings and slides. We then went to Rainforest Café and rode the little boat ride inside the restaurant (with robotic animals and noises creating a great atmosphere for kiddos.) Finally, we found a place alongside the seawall, grabbed our toys, chair, towels and camera and hung out for hours. We fed seagulls at the back of the ferry, watched dolphins swim (fins above the water) and even saw one jump...several times...that's a first for me while traveling to the other side of the island! We practiced my son's vocabulary (homework from school) on the way to as well as on the way back from there and enjoyed a great day! I can't remember how long it's been since I've laughed SO much and had such a great time with the kids. I let my son drive and control the brake and the brake didn't stop very well...which caused a lot of laughter for the good and bad scares related to that. He wanted to do it all day.

Here are some pictures from our day -

My 'lil one sat in the 'basket' and we sat on the seats behind him. So much fun!



When I asked them to gather up the beach toys (and we have lots of buckets, shovels, stuff to make sand castles etc.,) I realized that these are what they consider 'sand' toys! I said...why not...and helped load them into the car trunk!



My 'lil one was running around and when I took this pic, he was smiling at me and kinda facing me. I immediately thought of one of those songs from Bugs Bunny shows a long time ago...'Hello my baby, hello my darling...' Was it a dancing frog? I have no idea but I thought his smile was adorable!



I wanted them to pose for at least one picture and asked them to come sit on a sand pile. My bigger boy jumped down to that spot and I said 'Stop - don't move! Smile!'







I always keep an extra set of clothes in my trunk just for occasions like this...they loved getting dirty and sandy! We had everything we needed! I love their faces of happiness!





My youngest couldn't see over the ferry gate at the front so I held him on my back the whole time. I didn't even think about make-up on this day but if I had put some on, I probably would have sweated it all off before this picture was taken anyway. And, of course, I'm wearing my favorite shirt.

End of Summer

It's amazing how fast the summer flew by. While I looked forward to new routines and having the kids away each day to school, I held on as long as I could to keep summer going as long as possible.

My friend with whom I hung out moved away to another state (her hubby got another job) and now, I feel sad that I won't have anymore spontaneous texts to go see a movie in the evening or someplace to hang out during the day while her kiddo takes naps (and watch a movie.) I love that I became close to someone enough to really miss them when they aren't here anymore. However, I will definitely make a roadtrip probably in the summer to go visit her and her family. Since our kiddos attended the same school, it seems even lonelier not to be able to discuss what's happening at their school too. Waaaah! I love that we have so much technology that we can email, call, text, send pics/videos, Skype, etc and use snail mail so that we can keep contact with other people. I remember the days where I had a pen pal and didn't know what 'long distance' calls were.

We squeezed in another jaunt out of town to visit my younger daughter who moved away and enjoyed some fun outings while there. I wanted to be able to see where she lived and picture where she went to work. She was sweet enough to let me sleep in her bed while we stayed there two nights (the kiddos and her slept on the floor in her bedroom.) She and two other roommates share an apartment. While we were there, she took us around to really cool places. One of the coolest was to watch the bats fly out from under the Congress Street Bridge in Austin, TX. "The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when multiple columns of bats emerge." We parked our car behind a building and walked up to see many flying out. The best time was a little earlier but there were still thousands that still were coming out as we got there.





And we visited the state Capitol.



We also went on a tour to visit some nearby caverns. My third grader loved the tour and really paid attention and asked relevant questions. Other than the hour walk in the very humid caverns that made you sweat profusely, it was very nice.



This is a line of flint within the limestone rock.



On the way home, we stopped a couple of places including a bakery and gift store. The bakery had excellent Czech Shortbread and fabulous pecan pie thingie with the best crust ever! Luckily, I didn't taste them until a couple hours later while I was driving or I would have bought more, lol! While we were in the gift store part of the bakery, there was a little tractor that my kindergartener's monkey had to ride! They were precious talking about how much 'Monkey' loved riding it so I had to take a picture.



Tomorrow is the end of the second week of school and my kindergartener still clings to me as I thrust him out of my vehicle and I watch him start to tear up or cry as he is walked to his class by my older son. I know he'll get into the routine soon enough...it's hard for the both of us....but I love his big smile and happy conversation as I pick him up in the afternoon! Bring on the fall!

George Ranch Visit

I had a Groupon certificate to the George Ranch Historical Park near Houston, Texas and we finally visited there last week. We were on our way somewhere else and it was on the way so we stopped. We had forgotten how HOT it was though so we didn't stay very long. We will definitely return to see the rest of the Park. Luckily, we arrived just before the cattle demonstration. The park itself is still a 20,000 acre working ranch and the demonstration showed how they rounded up cattle and some of their practices they used in the last hundred years or so. There are cattle all over the place around here in Texas where we live and I've always wanted to stop at one and look around. This was the next best thing. And my son loved to see his favorite 'amazing' animal, the Texas Longhorn.




And then they showed how they used to dip the cattle to eradicate a certain type of tick that killed many of them during the last century. It allowed us to see some cattle (and real cowboys) up close.



There was a wagon that carried you around to the different residences on the ranch or you could walk around. We chose to wait until we return to see all of them but we did notice a warning sign if we chose to walk around, lol!



And, my kiddo decided that even though he wanted to grow up to be a Navy Seal, he thinks being a cowboy seems even more cool. He loves the thought of using all the farm equipment as well as riding the horses to round up the cattle. Of course, he has now been browsing the internet looking for ranches where he could go and learn how to be a real cowboy next summer. Both my hubby and my kiddo got cowboy hats while there. Here is a pic of my kiddo the next day in front of my SIL and BILs tractor. He loves this blue 'working shirt' and wears it ALL the time! The new cowboy hat totally completed the look he wanted.

TVs at restaurants...

It's my pet peeve, so to speak. I don't mind them, per se, but I happen to have family members who can't resist looking at them, even when they're muted. We went to a restaurant a couple of weeks ago. I noticed these two watching not one, but two different flat screen televisions that were on the walls. They were reading the subtitles or watching whatever was on (Full House reruns!!)I just figure that if you're at a restaurant, you're there to eat or visit. I don't want to watch tv there. At one point, I actually took a picture, lol! I definitely learned something...seat them away from the screens next time. It happens at home too so I can't blame them...too much!



However, there are times, I do the same thing, in a way. If I am at home and am browsing through the tv channels, if I come across certain movies like Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually, You've Got Mail, any of the Bourne trilogy, I'm done. I stop whatever I'm doing at the time (or adapt so that I can watch too) and finish watching the movie.

Kindness

There have been many examples of kindness in my life lately. Just in the last week, there are several that meant a lot to me!

Earlier last week, I was at the hospital with my adult daughter, granddaughter, and by two boys. We were waiting to be called for my granddaughter to have an ultrasound on her head (possible hydrocephalus among other issues.) We were sitting around talking and coo'ing with the baby trying to be quiet (my boys are still working on their 'indoor' voices.) A man whom we didn't know was sitting near us started talking to my daughter about her daughter and they had a conversation. At some point, my daughter went to give her insurance information to the staff and the man started talking to my boys. I don't remember when he left but he returned with four little popcorn bags that were being sold near the entrance. We had been smelling that great popcorn aroma for a while too! It was a very kind gesture by him and we all enjoyed popcorn while waiting! Thank you Mr. Brown for your generosity!

On Friday, my daughter needed help to get huge couches moved from her two story apartment. They were heavy, it was really hot...Luckily, my brother and nephew were there to help. We had to make two trips with the trailer as there were some other (heavy) things too. It was so hot that as we were moving the furniture, the sweat went into my eyes and they stung so much that I couldn't even see. It was awesome that they were there to help because there was no way the two of us could have done it alone. Thank you Mike and Cody.

My friend Tina invited me to go to lunch with her on Saturday and go to the casino in the neighboring state. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've been to one and don't usually go. I've never been with a friend before either. It was a spontaneous offer and I checked with my nephew about babysitting and I texted her back that I'd love to go. Within a half hour, we were on our way. What I didn't know was that she gave me some money to use while playing. I used that money for the whole afternoon and came home with a little extra. We played Amazon Fishing or something like that where about five players play individually but then at random times, they all play together as fish swim by on huge screens on the wall in front of us. Just the comradery of being with a friend and the great conversation we had made it an awesome day!!! She was very thoughtful and I enjoyed the day so much! Thank you Tina.

While running errands a couple days later, I had about 45 minutes to spare so I stopped by my mother-in-law's place. They were just having lunch in the dining area and I went to her table that she shared with another elder gentleman. I walked up to her and started talking to her. She didn't acknowledge that I was there because she was concentrating with using her spoon to try to get her (mushy) food onto her spoon. It was so slow and meticulous as she has always been careful eating and with the progression of her Alzheimer's, it's getting more difficult. In the mornings, the hospice caregiver helps her with her meal. I pulled up a chair and started feeding her. She never looked my way and continued to eat. Later, the staff offered a dessert and as soon as it was put in front of her (beside her plate,) she started to try to pick it up to put it on her plate. She has always enjoyed her desserts! We have always had that in common. I then fed her the pumpkin pie and then the rest of her food. It was a quiet enjoyable experience for the both of us. She never did notice the person (me) feeding her and I didn't want to interrupt her concentration and deliberation in eating. I often thought about the times throughout the years in which we enjoyed each other's company...how much I miss her...and how her example of kindness throughout all the years of being married to her son is now being reciprocated back to her in ways she now needs. Thank you Mom.

The day before yesterday, I laid around all day and ignored my dishes (enough for two days) and housecleaning. At one point, I walked in the kitchen and my younger daughter (who is staying with me this week as she's finishing up cleaning her apartment because she is moving to another city four hours away,) was cooking dinner for us. It was awesome to walk into the kitchen a little later and see that she had also done the dishes and cleaned the kitchen as well. I'm not sure whether it was because yesterday was my birthday or because she was just being nice but I loved that awesome kind gesture. Thank you S.

It's been a really nice week.

Our July 4th Weekend

We generally celebrate July 4th at my hubby's sister's house. It has become one of our favorite family traditions. This year, she had many family members and friends there to hang out, eat, visit and celebrate the Fourth together. We had an awesome time and the weather cooperated beautifully!

The previous week, my soon to be third grader broke his arm while playing with a neighbor on their trampoline. So he wasn't able to swim in the bay or do what he usually does but he had a great time nevertheless. He wanted a camouflage colored cast but settled for green instead.



Of course, my boys had to wear their patriotic shirts and loved them. In fact, my youngest 'had' to wear his shirt the following day too (it wasn't very dirty, lol!)



I loved all the decorations at SILs place! The kids helped place them on the bulkhead!



At one point, my hubby came in and got my camera to take this picture. I agreed after I saw it...it was a Kodak moment.



We had LOTS of food including hot dogs, brisket and all the extras! There was so much great food that I didn't get to try a lot of it! My SIL is an awesome cook!



My SILs house is the blue one with white windows! That house and their neighbor share the pier.



Sunset. One of the neighbors had HUGE kites that they flew during the day. Watching them in the wind seemed so calming.



One cool thing that occurred that weekend...my husband's nephew's son (who has autism) held onto and enjoyed a sparkler. He stayed inside during the fireworks but watched them through the window. He is one week younger than my almost third grader.



Such a great weekend...there were 14 dogs there and they all got along. More people than I could count. I loved helping out in the kitchen (aka hiding there away from lots of people) and it was just another great holiday to remember with my SIL and hubby's family.

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed. I have started and stopped a blog post many times and figured I'd wait for a much more positive post. Last weekend, we went to my SILs and had a relaxing weekend and swam in their new pool. It's a nice pool for swimming laps (not huge or deep but yet enough room to swim laps) and there's also a hot top (with bubbles that my kids love!) It's cool that you can see cows in the farm behind it, lol! My youngest is shooting a web with his hand (as he has been Spiderman lately!) My kiddos have been in swimming lessons a week before we arrived here and they practiced what they learned. My oldest showed me how he was learning the backstroke and my youngest began swimming underwater and putting his face in the water! Score!!!!!! I was incredibly happy!






We always have a great time there even if we do nothing. The guys worked on projects, cutting grass and burning the large piles of limbs. Now, my youngest is a huge help as he's getting older. My older son loved cutting grass on the huge ztr. He taught my SIL how to start it and mow as she has never cut grass before and he's got a few years experience (he started enjoying being on a mower as young as 5 months old when he was in a baby backpack on his dad's back while his dad mowed.)





In a couple of the evenings, a couple storms moved through and it made beautiful clouds/skies. At one point, I was sitting on the patio and noticed the color of the sky behind my hubby. I said 'freeze' to him and took a quick picture. I guess I should have said 'smile' but when I look at it, I see that it's the end of a day of an honest hard day's work that he did that makes him very happy. This is a face of pure contentment. He loves working there! As do my kiddos! :)




I tried to find a recent pic of me....since I'm the one usually taking the pics, there aren't many. Here's one of me and my granddaughter (since I took the pic with my free hand, she didn't know where to look and didn't smile.) She's getting a cute 'lil personality now!

Camping at Guadalupe River State Park

This past weekend, the cub scout pack that my older son is in had it's last campout of the year. I help out by buying the stuff for evening meals for two nights for everyone, making reservations at the campsites, and answering questions regarding camping etc. Last year, the pack had gone to this state park but I wasn't there (sent hubby with my kiddo.) This year, since I took on the outdoor coordinator responsibility, I needed to go whether hubby was in town or not. As it turned out, he was in so we both took my older kiddo. He loved that we were both there and he got our undivided attention.

The weather beforehand was horrible! We were expecting thunderstorms on the way there and overnight the first night. We finished packing our vehicle in the rain and during the first hour, it poured down rain and my phone even went off with a severe weather alert. But we continued because there would be other campers who had planned on attending as well. It was amazing...it rained about an hour after we got our tents up and we all huddled under a covered thing I brought (like a room or shelter from the sun.) The park host had said that there was hail the previous night too we were ready. We tied down the tents expecting the worst and were pleasantly surprised in the morning when no storms came.

Everything went well and the kids rode their bikes all around! They swam in the cold water at the river (it got warmer the longer you stayed in the water) and had a blast! I really missed my younger son the entire time we were gone and we're planning on returning with our whole family after summer (when it's still warm but after crowds leave.) The spaces where you camp were spacious and there was a lot of shade! You couldn't have asked for anything else. Well, except for an air mattress that didn't have a hole. We usually have a spare one that I buy ahead of time just in case. I had forgotten that it had already been used early last year and we slept on the ground after all the air had been squashed out of the mattress. I'll be looking for sales on them in the near future for our next one after school starts again. Here are some pics from our trip.

Hubby staying out of the rain while cooking.




Kids playing in the river.






My kiddo and a friend walking on a trail to the river.


Cacti growing abundantly.

10 Specific Compliments to Give Your Children

I saw this via my FB feed shared by someone along with the info from the author Derek Maul / allprodad.com and thought it was worth sharing. I need to remember these things and use them more often!





10 Specific Compliments to Give Your Children


In the opening pages of Rudyard Kipling’s classic novel “The Jungle Book”, Tabaqui (the jackal) sees a litter of wolf cubs and points out “How beautiful are the noble children! How large their eyes….” In flattering the cubs, he breaks a fundamental jungle rule.

“Tabaqui knew there is nothing so unlucky as to compliment children to their faces,” Kipling writes. “He rejoiced in the mischief he had made.”

Kipling may have written for another era and from another continent, but his story highlights the challenge inherent in dishing out kudos around our kiddos.

Is it OK? How much is too much? What’s the difference between hopeful encouraging and lying? When is praise inflationary? How can I be objective?

Fact is, children look to their parents for encouragement, and finding affirmation at home is foundational to positive emotional development. Parents need to be in the business of building our children up. But we also need to be honest, and it’s important to use compliments that really mean something. Kids can sense disingenuousness and empty praise. Making stuff up is harmful; false praise is dishonest and the practice breaks trust.

Here are 10 compliments all kids need to hear:
1.
Recognize and compliment character:
We live in a world where integrity is neither consistently taught nor widely expected. When our children demonstrate honesty, kindness, trustworthiness and reliability, that’s a great time to take them aside and offer a sincere compliment.

2.
Compliment obedience and respect:
It’s too easy to fall into patterns of disapproval, where the only time we notice is when kids do wrong. Rather than waiting for disobedience or disrespect (then coming down like a ton of bricks) try noticing obedience and respect: “I don’t always remember to tell you, but you are an awesome young man, and I appreciate the way you treat your mother”.

3.
Appreciate them for simply being part of the family:
“Every time I see you, I’m thankful that I’m a dad.” Kids need to understand that they are valued simply because they are.

4.
Compliment contributions to the family:
“Clearing the table (sweeping the porch… putting out the trash) makes a real difference. I appreciate your contribution.” Kids need to understand that what they do makes a difference, that the adults notice, and that pitching in is a good part of family life.

5.
Compliment the quality of a child’s work:
“This is one clean porch, mister!” “You mowed the lawn right up to the edge. Way to go! I’m so glad you take this job so seriously, it shows.” Doing a job at a high standard is always worth noting.

6.
We can compliment the effort, even when the result is not the best:
“Your willingness to help makes me happy! Now we need to take a look at how you can get the trash to the curb without leaving a trail!” Compliments can be an important part of our role as teachers.

7.
It’s important that we compliment children when they achieve something new:
“Wow! That’s a huge leap forward for you there in math, pal.” “Awesome! I’m not at all surprised after you worked so hard.” A well-placed compliment can keep a positive ball rolling.

8.
We can compliment sense of style even if we don’t exactly share their taste:
We don’t want to hedge kids into being clones of dad, or mom. “When it comes to putting together an outfit, you certainly have some flair!” “I can tell that you put a lot of thought into the way you look.” “I’ve never seen a table set quite like that before – you have an amazing imagination!” It’s not useful to limit compliments to the narrow range of our own taste.

9.
Compliment steps toward a long-term goal:
“Son, the improvement you’re showing is commendable. Thanks for trying.” Waiting for perfection before we’re willing to dish out a compliment is inefficient, may dampen enthusiasm, and does little to help the process of growth.

10.
Try complimenting their friends:
But only do this when you can do it honestly! “Your friends are the greatest!” “That Jimmy is such a positive young man.” “You know, it gives me a lot of confidence to know you use common sense in choosing your friends.”