Aaaand VOILA!

Mark and I decided to take full advantage of the kids being gone all week and we completely redid Ashley's room. Our house was built in the 80's, so there's a LOT of dark wood in the house. While we really do appreciate the quality of all the wood work, we really wanted to brighten up Ashley's room a little. We put a LOT of time in to this project. We painted all the baseboards, trim, window frame, cabinetry, her desk, drawers and three of the four doors in her room. (Yes, she has FOUR doors in her room!!) We replaced her old mini blinds with new plantation blinds, we spray painted her brass hardware black, added new white shelves to her cabinetry, painted her walls a light greenish color...(half price oops rack!), Mark replaced all of her outlets and light switches with brand new white covers and outlets, and we've ordered a very large piece of glass to cover the entire 9 foot length of her built-in desk, and a new desk chair. She has a new comforter, pillows, curtains, and butterfly chair. Oh, and I can't forget her new 17" widescreen monitor, compliments of Nana. These pictures are awful, and I didn't think to take them until I'd already began painting the bookshelf. The bedding is the "Gold" set from the MTV Cribs Collection. You can't see the detail in the picture, but it's very cute with subtle patterns and the curtains behind her bed are a sheer zebra print tied with the matching pink ribbons. These pictures really don't do the room justice, the colors are totally off, but you can get the general idea.




Before:


After:


Before



After:

If this is a dream, please, don't wake me up

Ok, so as a family we have reached a major turning point in our lives. I am a stay at home mom who cherishes her job every single day. I love being with my kids, taking care of the house and being able to take some of the day to day stressors off of Mark's back. I love that he can come home and not have to worry about dirty laundry, yardwork, etc. He works his patootie off all day and I am so incredibly grateful to have a husband that is dedicated to his work and supporting his family. I really feel that we are some of the happiest most fortunate people in this world. So, back to the turning point. Alex starts kindergarten in just three itsy bitsy weeks. My job as a stay at home mom is nearing it's end and naturally, my role must change. It's heartwrenching enough watching the best job I've ever had, and the best years of my life slowly slip away. Add the emotions of watching my favorite little boy take his first steps away from his momma's nest, knowing that never again will we have that precious, precious time together. And you get one very distraught momma.

Mark and I have been full time working parents. Before Alex was born, that's just what we had to do to get by. There was no question, there was no other option. And that's just reality for most families. What's also reality is that it sucks. Coming home after a 30+ minute drive in traffic with an interstate full of people with lousy attitudes who are tired and just want to get home before dinner is just a small piece of the nightmare. And what are we all rushing home to do? To pick up the kiddos from the child holding tank and get home in time to throw some sort of mostly nutritcious dinner on the table. It's hurry this, hurry that, brush your teeth, oh wait there's homework, and throw in some laundry because Ashley has to wear her school shirt tomorrow, clean up the dinner mess, and there's soccer practice, and kids that want to play with thier friends, and when it's all said and done you've spent all of 2 and a half MAYBE 3 hours of chaotic time with your precious family ALL DAY.

BUT, we say...there's always the weekends, right.

Well yes, there are the weekends, but what do we REALLY do on the weekends? We bust our a$$es to get the laundry done, and we get the house, and yard picked up so that we might not go completely insane the following week from looking at all the things we WISH we could get done. And you know a messy house does nothing but create tension. But, we also would like some "me" time, because afterall, all we've done all week is take care of everyone but ourselves. Spending extra time with your spouse and children sounds ideal, but in reality you just want to do what you want to do. You end up doing one of two things: You take the small chunck of time for yourself and only partially enjoy yourself because you have this looming cloud of guilt hanging over your head for not doing what you know is right, which is spending time with your family. Or, you: Spend your small chunk of spare time with the family, with your less than par attitude because you are once again feeling like you're living your life for everyone BUT yourself. Unless of course you have a dream job in which you are completely fulfilled at and actually enjoy most of the time.

Ok, so there are some days that aren't as stressful as this, but from my own experience, having been on both the parental and the childs side, this really is the reality of it MOST of the time. And while a lot of people do this because they have no choice, what breaks my heart is that there are so many of us who think they're working to survive, but really they're working to pay their fancy SUV car payment, and to have that big "mines bigger than yours" TV that they don't get to enjoy nearly enough because there is no "spare" time. Instead it serves a new purpose, it keeps the children entertained while the parents play catch up, or have some of that much needed time to themselves. And it doesn't end there, we're also working to afford a house big enough so that everyone can have their "own space". And don't get me wrong I like nice new pretty things, and nice new fancy cars too...but where do you draw the line?

These are all the things that have been going through my mind lately and quite frankly I'd rather pull out my fingernails with needlenose pliers than go back to that. And strangely enough, I actually LIKE the work I would be doing if I went back to full time. However, I do like my sanity, and seeing my family happy far more. So, after a LOT of thinking, and planning and looking and talking Mark and I have agreed that working full time is out of the question. Yay! That's a big step in itself. So, how do you find a job where you can work part/part time, have school holidays off, do what you like, close to home and make decent money? (Well if that isn't the question of every stay at home mom I'd be surprised) You keep your connections and don't burn bridges. Ha! To be perfectly honest I didn't do either of those things, (and I'll have to save that story for another post) but somehow it has all worked out. You get really lucky, that's what you do. Ironically enough this job opportunity defies all of that...this dream is coming to fruition. And all I had to do was ask.

So, my new job is 7 minutes from home, I will work four hours a day and have all the school holidays off, better yet, I will be doing work that I enjoy. I can drop the kiddos off, pick them up, help them with homework and even have a small chunk of time each morning to either volunteer up at their schools, get in a workout, or keep up with the housework. I am so, so thankful to my employer for being so open to my demands, and to my husband for allowing me to do what I want to do...and for putting up with all of my crazy ideas. I finally feel like I can relax and not worry about what the future holds, because I know that no matter what becomes of this, everything WILL be ok, because between Mark and I we always seem to find a way to make things fall in to place.

And because I'm a total sap, and this guy is so talented...

Florence, Alabama

I swear, someday I will actually post about something more than vacations, but for now, it's summer, and that's what we'll do. When school starts in just a few short weeks, I imagine my posting will be a tad less sporadic.

So, Alabama. What a trip!!!! It's been over 5 years since Mark's mom has had the pleasure of having all three of her boys together in one place, and that alone was reason enough for making the 13 hour drive to Alabama with our three dogs and two kiddos. Her 60th birthday was the 29th, which made it just that much more special, I'm sure. I could easily make our drive sound painful and exhausting, but I'd be lying. It was actually an incredibly relaxing, uneventful day. Aside from the occasional unidentified debilitating stinch that made it's way to the front of the van, we never even noticed the 200-ish pound load of animals we were carrying. All three of them are such good travelers, in fact, they are much more well behaved than other two animals we call children.

We spent the week doing all of the fun stuff we normally do, like sitting on the porch swing with Mamaw and chatting about hummingbirds, ducks and the like....





















And we certainly did a lot of riding around with Papa Jack on the Gator...gotta make sure we check those fences ya know I'm pretty sure that's what we're supposed to do out in country...


































And after dark, that's when the crazies came out. Oh wait, that's just uncle Frank and Aunt Nicola. But seriously, these have got to be the luckiest kids EVER. Their uncle Frank and aunt Nicola have to be two of the sweetest, most patient, fun loving people around. They always make time run off with the kids and almost always come back laughing. In fact after this picture was taken I couldn't help but smile when I heard them a few acres over laughing at god only knows what. I am so, so thankful that they were able to make the trip, and I know the kids are too.




















I mean come on, is this not the coolest uncle EVER.





























Or is this is the coolest uncle ever? Steve made such a big impression on Alex (and me) this past week. He took the kids fishing and actually took the time to teach them all the little things that only an amazingly patient uncle would. It was adorable to see Alex look up to his uncle Steve and just take it all in. He taught him a lot about safety (Mr. Game Warden coming out here) and even gave up a few of his catch for Alex and Ash to reel in. I was touched by his efforts to include the kids.
Just about every night we made our way down to the pond to fish and just sit by the pond and have a little fun. The kids looked forward to this each night, as did the adults. Uncle Steve gave Alex his official Native American name, Pants on Fire which suited him quite will during those nights by the pond. This is uncle Steve showing Alex how to hold a fish...he even gave him the whole schpeel on how to kneel down and pose. I think the look on Alex's face pretty much sums it all up. Now that is priceless.

The day after we arrived was Grannie Frannie's 60th Birthday. Before we took her out to dinner the boys gave her the gift that they'd been working on for the past few weeks. They started by letting her open up the wall mount to kinda leave her hanging a bit, and then they led her to the garage where her new plasma wide screen was. I'm not sure how I managed to do this, but of the almost 2,000 pictures I took this past week, I did not get a single one of the new TV! What I did get were these pictures, which really say it all. Fran makes giving gifts such an amazing experience.



"You DIDN'T!" teehee And notice Mamaw's face in the background. Too cute!

































While we were there we did a little hiking in several different places. We walked a bird watching trail where we found an amazing waterfall. We walked an old railroad bridge that is now non functional, a great spot for photos. And one night Frank and I went out and took some night photos. That was a lot of fun, and my first experience with night photography. It was pretty cool having someone around that understood my passion for taking pictures.

I have sooo much to do, and so little time I'm going to have to cut this short. The kids are gone for the week and I have way too much that I want to accomplish while they're gone. I will up date with more photos later.

Fredricksburg, Virginia

To leave on a vacation and come home a little changed might sound a little chiche, but I really feel like this trip was such a wonderful experience. Mark and I do not have a large family, and have always thought those who do, are so fortunate. It was nice to have a good size family together in one place sharing stories and making memories.

Instead of recapping the entire trip, here are just a few things that I brought home with me from Fredricksburg, Virginia:

Concrete proof that there ARE wonderful, genuinely kind hearted people in this world, most of which are family, some of which are complete strangers.

An appreciation for hidden house keys, keypad garage door openers and young, powerful Nana's.

The realization that I no longer have to tell stories for Alex. By the time I get around to telling them, he's been there done that at least once, and likely twice.

Knowledge of what it might have been like to be alive during the Cival war, which led to a newfound interest in historic America. Fascinating yet sobering all at the same time.

The knowledge that there really is such thing as a fun and healthy debate...as long as I'm on the sidelines. Mark and David had a "discussion" about politics and religion and who knows what else the night before our flight. Fun stuff.

A major appreciation for cell phones, street signs, and internet maps. Getting lost at midnight with access to those while in a car with a sister-in-law, and a daughter with a good sense of humor can actually be an ok thing...even if you do come back without the black lipstick.

Hello from the INSIDE

Ok, sorry, uncle Ed came to pick us up and I had to go...This is part 2 from the last post, so if you haven't read the Fredricksburg post, you might want to read it first.




So we've checked the doors, we've checked the windows, at least three times each, as if that next time we checked, one would miraculously be unlocked, all the while, hoping and praying that these neighbors are NOT watchful. The last thing we need now is a police scene. (Or maybe that would help?) Anyway, at one point Nana went around the house one way to once again RE-check the doors and the kids and I went the other to RE-check another door. No such luck. We round the corner from the front of the house to find Nana with a pice of door trim in her hand, the other end still attached to the house and she is pulling with everything she has. (Mom adrenaline??) Ashley and I give each other a look while we consider the fact that Nana may very well have lost her mind, and Ashley says "Nana, ummm, I don't think that's a very good idea." I'm too shocked to even speak...NANA is disassembling the friggin house! This has been a LOOONG day, and at that point I'm really beginning to consider that I might just be dreaming, because I certainly don't FEEL like this could possibly be happening. Could we really be awake? Could Nana really be breaking and entering while Alex stands here half naked laughing? Not likely. But certainly happening. I'm beginning to stress, to really stress. The kids think this is just a funny scene out of a sitcom while Nana and I get more and more irritated with each breath they take. Alex is whacking Nana on the rear while she yanks at this trim and miss Ash is going through possible scenarios as to how we'll end up sleeping outside.

So we bang, and tug and jiggle at the handle to no avail. Eventually, Nana is able to pry loose the left side of the entire door frame inward while I try jimmying the deadbolt on the opposite side. Not working. Nana continues pushing the door in, ramming it and working with the deadbold and finally, something comes over her and I can hear a new sort of determination in her voice... the kids yapping probably contributed to the new found determination. So she turns around and tells me..."Ok, Jamie, give it all you've got, just slam through." I'm still unsure about all this, so after a brief sanity check I decide to give another big ram...I think at this point Nana realizes that if this door is going to come open, she's going to have to be the one to do it. She rams it once, twice, three times and BAM! We have lift off. The door flies open, and we are now officially criminals. Nana busted through the friggin deadbolt! Nana! A DEADBOLT! Somewhere a wee bit to the East, it WAS Friday the 13th, but not here! We still had at least 15 minutes before our luck was supposed to go bad.

But we did save the small incident of knocking the blinds out of the window for a few minutes AFTER midnight. This house is trying to cough us up, isn't it?

Hello from Fredricksburg

We made it! Yesterday was a looong day, but finally, we're here and settled. Nana, the kids and I are staying at a beautiful home in Fredricksburg, about three miles from Unlce Bill and Aunt Alicia's home. The house we're in belongs to friends of Bill and Alicia. I'm still just in complete awe of their generosity in allowing us to stay here. They left town, JUST so we cold come visit and have full use of their home. These are people from Bill and Alicia's chuch, whom we've never even met. I am definitely touched by their graciousness.

Now that there's a clear picture in your mind of how careful we're trying to be in this amazing family's home, I will go on. No cups on wood surfaces, food and drink only in the kitchen. Our goal is to leave this house the way we found it. Right? So lastnight after dinner and some catching up with Bill and Alicia, Bill drops us off at the house around 10:30pm. Needless to say we are BEAT. It had been a very long day, and I could only think of one thing...BED. Ashley and Nana give us a tour of the house, we meet the dog, Diamond, put our suitcases in the appropriate rooms and begin to get ready for bed. Sissy let Alex use one of her shirts for PJ's, which is a very special thing for Mr. A. He's running around in an oversized shirt, mostly ready for bed. I'm in my night clothes. By now it's afer 11, probably closer to 12. Ash is still just as excited as can be about this house and wants to show us the backyard and the deck. Reluctantly, I sleepily strolled out to the deck, Nana and Alex following. BAM! The back door closes. The back door is locked. The front door is locked. In fact every door and window is locked. Here we are barefoot, in our jammies, after 11pm, outside in a completely unfamiliar place with nothing. Not even a phone. Not even a phone NUMBER. HO-LY....

So sexy it huuurrrts

Mom just sent me this pic. from a few months ago. I'm so proud. This is me after a day of trimming oaks. Unfortunately, due to Oak Wilt, every branch we trim must be sprayed with pruning spray (ie: TAR!). Hmmm...wonder whoose job that was?? Sadly, it took Mark laughing his a$$ off before I even realized I was downwind. I was covered..arms, face, neck, HAIR!!! COVERED. I ran inside and scrubbed only to discover I was scarred for life and no amount of scrubbing was going to remove my new friends. I had no idea what to do next...so what do I do? What any girl would do. I hopped in the truck drove the around the block to moms. I showed up at her door almost in tears begging for HELP.

Aaand she laughed.
Aaand she took pictures.
Aaand she laughed some more.
Aaand I felt like a complete moron.
Several different concoctions later, I was free from my new friends and coated in a very thick layer of baby oil.

Photo Hunters "Fake"

 

Just a little update

I haven't had a whole lot of time or energy to sit down and blog lately, but I thought I'd at least give a small update for the interested parties.

The kiddos spent last week at Nana and Big Daddy's house so that Mark and I could focus hard on getting Barbs house ready to put on the market. We've accomplished a lot, but still have quite a ways to go before we're done.

Yesterday Nana and the kiddos came home just in time to make it to our softball game...which I was SO anxious to play in. So anxious that I was ready to leave the house before Mark. This does not happen. Ever. Mark and I had a "date" at the batting cages while the kids were gone and I was more than ready to put my new skills to the test. Unfortunately, my over-eagerness was laid to rest in the first inning when I was reminded of the importance of stretching and pulled my right quad pretty bad. I tried to continue to play, but unless that ball came straight to me, which it never does, I was useless. I ended up sitting out the rest of the game. I was NOT happy, but ya know that's what I get for not stretching properly, lesson learned. We only have two more games, and one we'll have to miss for our trip to VA. Another trip or two to the batting cages will have to hold me over.

Miss Ash was home for all of 7 hours before she was off again. I miss her. Mark woke up at 4 and took Nana and Ash to the airport where they will begin their trek to VA and DC. They have a lot of sight seeing planned for DC and at least one train ride while they're visiting Nana's side of the family. David, Cara, Keller, Alex and I will meet them in VA next week, and Mark will join us the following day. A little family reunion of sorts. I'm really looking forward to it.

Yesterday I made another trip to the office. I don't think I've said a whole lot about the office, but essentially this is where I will be working when Alex starts Kindergarten. I'm not too excited about this new chapter in my life, but I'm slowly coming to grips with the thought of it. I do feel very fortunate to have a place to work, when the time comes. A place that's only right up the road, and will allow me to take Alex to school and pick him up every day. Part time work with the "perfect" schedule and decent pay is hard to find, so I'm really trying to focus on the positive and remind myself how lucky I really am. I'll update more on that at a later date.

I'm being summoned to get ready. The three of us are making another trip out to Barbs. We're working on a bit of a schedule today...we have box seats at the Dell Diamond this evening!

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Photo Hunters "Sweet"

 

Consumerasaurus

I'm typically a label reader. When I grocery shop I try to compare calories, sodium, sugar, etc., as often as possible. Most days though, I have to admit, I'm rushing in, grabbing my goods and getting out as fast as possible. Lastnight I discovered that I've been in a rush when I've thrown Veggie Chips in my basket. After reading the label for the first time, I have to admit, I'm slightly irritated. The only reason they can call these colored potato chips "Veggie Chips" is because they contain tomato powder and spinich powder, which happen to be two of the last three ingredients. And keep reading the bag and you'll soon find that "We add spinach and tomato powder to some (did ya read that...some) of the chips for a delightful variety of genuine vegetable color and taste."

Ok, so lets move on to the nutrition facts. For giggles, lets compare them to Lays Original Potato Chips.

Serving Size is 1 oz for both products.
Lets hit the negatives for Lays first. Lays has 20 more calories per serving and 3 grams more fat. Veggie Chips have 1g more Protein and 1g more fiber. Move on to Sodium and Veggie Chips have a whopping 280mg of sodium vs. Lays' 180mg. That was a bit surprising to me. Even more surprising is the lack of vitamins and minerals in my "Veggie Chips". (Remember Potatos are considered veggies) The Vitamin section of Veggie Chips reads 0% all the way through, while Lays has at least some Vitamin C and E. We're also getting a little Iron, Thiamin, Niacin, B6, Phosphorus, and Magnesium by going with Lays.

Ok, so this isn't that big of a deal, because typically we aren't big chip eaters but dang it if I'm buying chips, from now on, I'm going straight for the good stuff.

After the rain

Down came the rain

I guess this is what happens when an entire state prays for rain for 2 years. We have had more rain than I can ever remember having in the Austin area.
In 2006, there was 27.2 inches of rain at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. That's the ENTIRE year. This year we are already up to 30 inches and there's plenty more rain on the way. It's almost July and most people have YET to water their yard for the first time. I could not have picked a better year to plant trees!

And THIS is why I blog

After posting this weeks Photo Hunters picture I was reminded of an entry posted back in 2003. An entry that I had forgotten about...a memory that had I not blogged would not be with me today. Here's a little piece of the past I'd like to share once again...

Thursday, October 02, 2003
Please Remember
I can document Ashley and Alex's childhood in so many ways, but no matter what I do, there is no way I can capture it all. This is something that plagues my mind often. There are so many moments that I remember from Ashley's toddler years, yet so many that I know are just gone. They remain a part of me though, despite my inability to remember. The memories live on in the love I have for her, with each passing memory, my love has grown fonder, my heart bigger, and my life richers. If only I could document each moment.

Lastnight, on the way to horseback riding lessons I turned around in my seat to look back at the kiddos, I don't remember why, maybe to hand them a snack, or to look at one of Ashley's Magna Doodle masterpieces, or to calm Alex, it doesn't matter. I looked back and caught a glimpse of my sweet daughter, I wish I had a camera at that very moment. The sun was beginning to set, she was excited about seeing Patches (the horse), and was leaning forward in her seat with such an innocent way about her, as if there was nothing else in the world but that moment, staring down the dirt road at the barn. The sun was setting behind us, and the way it hit her face was breathtaking. The deep orange wrapped around her face like a blanket covering an infant, so sweet, so precious. I had the windows down to let in the new fall breeze, it was so beautiful outside, her hair blew in the wind with such precision, as if each gust was meant for her, and only her. Ah, what a sight! I couldn't look long though, I was driving down a dirt road with many potholes and turns. The irony hit me like a ton of bricks...here she is in this wonderful stage of life, she's still momma's little girl and is still very proud of that fact, so beautiful, and even a little innocent..still, yet there are so many potholes, there's no way I can watch her like this forever. This seven year old is just a passing glimpse, I need to look at her and take it all in more often, even if that means pulling over and every once in a while.

2003


2007

Leavin' on a jet plane

Yesterday, we finalized plans for the kiddos to stay an extra week at Granny Frannies after Mark and I head home. My babies will fly home by themselves afterwards, which is a little scary for me, but I know they'll be fine and Miss Ashley will probably morph in to her "mom mode" and take good care of her little brother.

This is such a big deal to me. I never had a close relationship with any of my grandparents, and the thought of them growing up being so loved and wanted by ALL of their grandparents makes me so happy. They will spend plenty of time with them while Mark and I are around, but without us there, they will be able to experience each other on a different level, a closer level. The kids can hardly contain themselves. And Mark and I feel so fortunate that our kiddos are growing up knowing these special people.

Pass The Torch Tuesday

Alex woke up on Father's Day, and without any prompting or proding by me, he created a sweet little hand made card for his "fother". Daddy had to run a quick errand, so Alex worked as fast as he could so that he could surprise his daddy as soon as he got home. This is just the most adorable stage. It really brings back so many memories of when Ashley was this age and how much fun it was to see the inventive spelling words that they come up with. It's just so raw and unscathed by all the silly rules of the English language. It's virtually impossible to read a 5 year olds handwriting without a smile...followed by a swooping bear hug and a gooshey smothering of kisses upon that last little leftover bit of toddler cheek chub.

Another site for the linkaroonies

I forgot to mention my new Photo Blog. This is where I will post my fun pictures that I've taken while pursuing my photography hobby. Not to be confused with my Web Album, which is where I will continue to post pictures of family events to share.

Vacation Album

Week at Nana and Big Daddy's

Photo Hunt - "Shiny"

I took this one of Ashley on our vacation at Dads last week. Ash came along for the ride while I was on a little bit of a personal photo hunt. I spied a fountain that I wanted to shoot at sunset, but as it turns out, the fountain was shaded a bit too much by the time I got out there. I found several other photo ops instead. Funny how that works sometimes. I was driving down the road when I saw how beautiful the sun was as it almost melted in to her her olive skin. We stopped right there in the middle of the road while I shot.

It's ALIIIVE

So yeah, according to my bff, Mollie, I've been a ve-wwy, ve-wwy bad girl. I'm not the best at keeping up with everyone, and seemed to have left town, quit blogging and disappeared off the face of the playgroup/internet/Instant Messenger earth just long enough to get the one, maybe two people that have noticed a little out of sorts. I sorry. I'm alive. Trips to Nana and Big Daddy's tend to make the whole world just sort of disappear.

Mark's birthday was last week so we decided to celebrate by taking a week to relax and lounge by the lake with family. Cara and Keller, along with Cara's sister Erin, and 4 year old nephew Ethan came to spend the week as well. The week was just about as lazy and relaxing as we hoped it would be. Monday morning (as well as Wednesday and Thursday) I joined Dad for water areobics. This was my first experience with water areobics, and more importantly, my first time excercising with dad. I REALLY enjoyed myself! Everyone in the class is retired, and I'm pretty sure that aside from me, dad is the youngest one in the class. There's one lady that's 94 years old and gets around like you wouldn't believe. I'm just so amazed that dad gets up everyday and goes to this class....this is the same dad that, a year ago would have laughed at the thought of doing any sort of excercise. We are all so, so proud of him and even more so, we're thankful that he's doing this for his health and having fun at the same time.

Nana fed us like Nana tends to do. We're all about 5 pounds heavier and loving every minute of it! She made a Mississippi Mud Cake per Mark's request, that knocked our socks off, a triple chocolate cake...which I dubbed the "Dr. Suess cake" because it was so crooked that I seriously thought it was made that way intentionally. Personally, I think Dr. Suess cakes are MUCH tastier than plain ol' chocolate cake. Teehee. I could go on and on about all the incredible food we ate this week, but I'll probably gain 5 more pounds just rehashing it all, so I'll skip the details and just say that we ate way too often and way too much.

On Thursday we went to ZDT's and spent 5 hours running a muck with the kiddos. This place was incredible. I could have spent hours just looking at the painting on the walls. There is not an empty wall in the building, each one covered with detailed paintings that go with the jungle/amusement park theme. I took some pictures that I'll have to post later.

So we're home, and already going 90 MPH getting things back in order. Mark has been in the garage all day fixing up his work bench area and organizing shelves (yes, we have shelves!!!), while I'm trying to get caught up on yard work and laundry. Holy crap, laundry! I just can't believe that we actually wear this many clothes!!!!

Camp Urben

In lieu of spending bookoos on a day camp for miss Ash, I went half crazy and decided to do our own camp here at home with three of her friends.

Day 1 - A lesson in over-doing it

We started the day off with a trip to the Library, where they had an organized craft for kids 8 and up. The girls got to decorate and put together their own parachutes while Alex and I went downstairs to the childrens room to check out books. When the girls finished their craft, I sent them off with a list of books to find. They gathered books about camping and butterfly classification for activities that we'll be doing throughout the week, and each of them picked out a couple books of their choice. After the library we stopped at Sonic, picked up lunch, and headed to San Gabriel Park to have a picnic. They took their shoes off and played in the spring water for a while and eventually we made our way down to the waterfall. The water was higher than normal and the girls really enjoyed watching the gushing water in full force.

We continued roaming around the park, until we walked so far that we were just a few minutes walk to the animal shelter. We decided to keep going and pay the animals a little visit under the condition that there would be NO begging for animals. They played with the cats for a while, poking little fuzzy tails on sticks through the cages and watching the younger cats bat at the little toys. We made it out of the cat room with only a few...."don't you want to take him home!" 's. The dogs were all just as sweet as can be, and the girls spent lot of time squatted down eye to eye with them. They talked to them, and pet them and at one point I looked over to see Ashley squatted down, arms both fully extended in to a cage and wrapped around a sweet doggie. A kennel hug. And Alex spent almost the entire time at one kennel that had a sweet little brown puppy. Everytime I looked over at him he was lauging and cooing the little guy...whom we later dubbed Zander. There's something about a little boy and a puppy that just tugs at those heartstrings.
After much begging and proding, the girls convinced me that we needed to let some of the dogs out for some excercise. We ended up picking 3 dogs and taking them out one by one for about 15 minutes each. The girls (and Alex) spent quite a bit of time giving each one the perfect name, which was voted on before becoming "official". We had such a good time, it was so hard to leave without a new friend.

On the way home we stopped at Michaels and we picked out some craft activities for the week. Ash picked out foam notebooks for them to decorate and journal their week, and I will print out some picutres for them to include. We also picked up some coozies and little foamies and stickers to decorate them with. After our hour trip to Michaels I realized that allowing the girls to pick out and decided on their own crafts was a mistake. I could have cut my time in half by doing the shopping solo. By the time we were finally on the way home, the kids were so exhausted that I don't think any of them spoke the entire way home....and that is UNHEARD of.

The girls spent the next few hours laying around the house reading their library picks, watching TV and recooping from the day. By the time dinner rolled around, they'd recovered for the most part and decided they'd like to come with me to the track to excercise with some of my friends. Fast forward to 10:30, and we were finally home, and they were MORE than ready to hit the sack. They got ready and made their beds downstairs in record time and were out earlier than they had been all summer, Alex included.

Here we are Tuesday morning, at 11:00 and I have yet to hear a peep out of anyone downstairs. I guess my plans for today will need a little altering.

Day 2

The kiddos didn't show their faces until after 11, I suppose I did my job and wore them out pretty good. They woke up hungry and stuffed down 10 waffles, 8 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of raisin bread, a few apples and plenty of OJ. After breakfast the girls decorated their foam journals, while I ran to the grocery store. After rushing home to make the 3:00 "kids in the kitchen" event for Alex I learned that it didn't actually start until 3:30, so instead of being 20 minutes late, we were actually 10 minutes early! That's definitely a first! We had a late breakfast so I packed up fixins for samiches, some fruit and some cookies. While we waited for Alex's friends to arrive, the girls (and Alex) made their samiches. The timing somehow worked out perfect despite my fear of being extremely late.

After the cooking event, we went straight to the pool in our old neighborhood where I let the kids swim for about 30 minutes, and I only took half a zillion pictures. We had to book it home so I could finish putting away the pantry goods, start dinner and get ready for my girls night out. After I left, Mark took the girls down to the river where they fished and swam and explored. Mark ended up catching 6 fish and the girls had plenty of stories to tell. They made it home with some "treasures", as Alex called them. They found a nice blow up tube float, two backpacks and a camera case. I'm thinking we need to spend more time at the river, good grief!

When I got home around midnight I heard a couple of girlish whispers down in the basement, so there's no telling what time they actually crashed out. All in all it was a great day, much more low key can the previous day, but welcome none the less.

Day 3
Today Emily's mom came and picked her up at 9:30 for her ortho appointment, so I only had 3 girls all day. I woke the remaining 3 up at 9:45, and gave them exactly 30 minutes to wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and brush their teeth. They did remarkably well. We made it to the library for the ventriloquist a mere 3 minutes late (I'll take it!). The performance was great, even though it was intended for a younger audience. They did well and appeared to be quite interested and entertained to say the least. After the show we headed over to "THE" playscape. "THE" playscape is one of our favorite places here. It's huge and full of all sorts of bars and stairs and adventures. Unfortunately, it was a wee bit hot and we ended up leaving early and making a stop at Mickey D's for lunch. The girls are such troopers...they're at that in between age where you know they're probably a little bit too old for the play place, yet, they're just not ready to give that up quite yet. I know it won't be long before "playing" on the playscapes will be much to juvenille, so watching them play is an occassion I savor these days. We rushed home from lunch in just enough time for me to meet the contractor that was coming to assess the condition of the bathroom in preparation for giving us a quote. While I dealt with that, the girls read their library books and cleaned up Ashley's room. By the time the contractor left I realized I had lost my cell phone somewhere between here and Mc Donalds, so I high tailed it back up there to search for it. I called it from every possible location in that restaurant, including the dumpster, but it's looking more and more like someone will be enjoying a new pink Katana before long. Wah. On a brighter note, Ash found her cell phone that's been missing for 2 weeks. It was in a pocket. So at least I have the back up cell now and we are not missing TWO phones. Anyway, back to camp Urben...actually that was pretty much the end of camp Urben for the day, in fact, right now it's 11:30PM and there are NO girls in the house. Paula took them to a benefit dinner and is keeping them overnight. They've only called 3 times to find out when I'll be picking them up for Day 4 of camp Urben. More tomorrow.

Day 4

We started the day off by oversleeping and missing out on the Butterfly Farm trip we had planned...which honestly, I wasn't too disappointed about. It has been so hot lately, and the drive is super long that I certainly wasn't going to complain. So, we had a quick change of plans and decided to go to the movies and see Surfs Up in the cool AC. Good choice. The girls really like it and Alex and Matthew were visibly entertained. From the movies we headed to the shoe store where the kiddos picked out some shoes...Alex finally got his "crocs" (generic crocs, but don't tell him that), Ash picked up a few pairs of flip flops and Matthew got some really cool light up Spiderman flip flops. By then, the kids just weren't quite wore out enough, so we made our way to the ice skating rink where Kelly, Matthew and Alex all got to ice skate for the very first time! Kelly was almost instantly a pro, skating around that place like she was tying a shoe, Alex was clumsy as ever, but fearless none the less, and Matthew, well, lets just say he was more interested in the gumball machines than anything. It was a little difficult keeping up with all of them, but we all made it out alive, tired, but alive.
The girls came home, wrote in their journals and spent the rest of the evening playing the Wii and finally got to sleep around midnight.

I'm sleeping all of next week. And to think, I'm this tired, and we haven't done HALF of what I'd planned!

"Wee, Wee"

It's 11:45PM, do you know where your 5 year old son and your 15 year old (oops, I mean 33 year old) husband is? They're in front of the TV playing with their new Wii!
Yes, we finally have a WII!!! Or as Alex is calling it "Wee Wee", yes, as in "Pee Pee". My ever so smart husband won an XBOX 360 Elite and accessories at work last week by playing a dorky Dell version of "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader". So he is in fact ALMOST as smart as a 5th grader, we are so proud. ;)We already have an XBox that sits in the basement unused, aside from an occasional DDR game here and there. Sooo, we decided we'd get much more use out of a Wii, and for the price of the XBOX Elite, we're able to get a ton of games and accessories as well. Major score! Wanna play?

Keller's 1st Birthday Party

My newphew, Keller, had is first birthday party this weekend! Here are just a few of the 382 pictures I took on Saturday. The rocket cake in the picture was made by yours truly. I was pretty happy with the end result. I have to tell ya though, picking a handful of pictures from all of the adorable shots of sweet baby Keller was difficult, he's just so precious I could eat him up!
Anywho, here's a summary of Mr. Keller's very first birthday celebration.

Keller's 1st Birthday

Wordless Wednesday

Shower, anyone?

Remember the master shower ordeal that I posted about back at the beginning of September of last year...some NINE months ago? Well, as embarassing as it is to admit, that nasty mess has sat untouched this entire time. Which also means, that we have not had a functioning shower of our own either. We've been using the kids bathroom to shower and looking at our way-to-expensive-to-fix mess wondering how long it would be before we hit the lottery so that we could afford to repair all the damage. As it turns out, we hit the lotto much sooner than we expected. In the form of insurance coverage! We discovered that our home owners insurance covers this mess!!!! We had an adjustor come out Friday and he cut us a check to repair the shower, the flooring and the wall covering. Now it's time to shop! Actually, two days later, Mark and I have done a majority of the shopping and planning. We bought a bathroom planning book at 1/2 Price Books, and have so many ideas already! We know we're going to get rid of the silly carpeting and the horrendous wallpaper, paint the cabinets, replace all of the light fixutres and cabinet hardware and paint. Basically, we're getting a brand new bathroom and we're just gidy about it. I'm planning to blog the whole process with plenty of before, during and after pictures. This has been my one regret about all the improvements we've made to the house. I WILL document this project.

Soon we won't have to peer out the bathroom door, checking for neighbor kids before darting up the stairs to the privacy of our bedroom. Yahoo!!!

Total Momsense

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday to meeeee

I suppose I'm supposed to be distraught over this major life event, but I just haven't quite got there yet. 30 just doesn't seem old to me. Now don't get me wrong, it seems much older than I FEEL, but I just can't bring myself to mourn this new era. If anything I should be celebrating. My 20's were about learning to feel comfortable in my own skin, accepting who I am and learning from my mistakes instead of regretting them. I feel like my 30's are going to be just as significant, how can I fear that?

We spent the holiday weekend at Dad and Ruthie's where David, Cara and Keller so graciously joined us. I know their 5 hour trek from Plano with an 11 month old could not have been pleasant, but despite the little obstacle in the backseat, they came, and I am so, so grateful for that. Keller is walking all over the place now, and is just getting bigger and bigger each time I see him. The kid eats more than Alex. He's a TANK! He's such a good little guy and so fun to be with. Ashley is just in love with him and spends time chasing him around and playing baby games with him. Anything to get her hands on him. Alex, on the other hand, is Alex, and tries to pretend he doesn't exist. Seriously. He does a pretty good job of it too. It's nothing against his cousin, but Alex has always had an aversion to "babies". He says they always "bother" him. I know it sounds awful, but really it's quite entertaining to watch Keller try to get Alex's attention. Alex's eyes bug out and he just stares at me as if to say "MOM HELP ME!" You just can't help but laugh. Of course, I required "mandatory" love and bugged him to "give your cousin a hug", "give him a kiss" etc. Translation: "Do something cute so I can at LEAST get a picture." I drove him absolutely crazy and more thank likely this worked against me since remember, this is Alex.


While we were there we got to check out dad's insanely lush garden. This year he used organic turkey (or was it chicken?) compost mixed in with his regular stuff, and he also raised the bed. His garden was so green and full of veggies, it was just gorgeous. Dad saved the kids some cucumbers and zuccini to pick, and as you can see the zuccini was more than ready! I just can't get over how lush it is, and tall, it is just so tall! In a week or so, he's going to have soooo many ripe tomatoes, too bad he doesn't even LIKE tomatoes! Ha! I can't wait to go back next time and see if the corn stalks produce. I guess he has about 5 or so stalks and a couple appear to be growing pretty good. I think this is his first time to attempt corn, so his expectations aren't too high.


























So yeah, I fully expected to wake up on the 30th anniversary of my birth and find my boobs sagging to floor, my back aching, and an undeniable desire to nag at my husband. Fortunately, for me (and Mark), that didn't happen. Instead, I woke up to my three most favorite people in the world singing happy birthday to me with a tray full of yummy breakfast treats in tow. They made fried eggs over hard, just the way I like them, bacon, an everything bagel with cream cheese, a bowl FILLED with fresh strawberries, banannas and apples and a cup of perfectly sweetened and creamed coffee (mind you, this is no easy task). The four of us lounged there in bed together picking at my breakfast and chatting about whatever silly little children chat about. It was the perfect start to a perfect day.

The rest of the day was just as perfect. Ashley and I went shopping, just the two of us. We spent a good two hours trying on clothes and just being girls. We had so much fun shopping together and probably tried on half the clothes in the store. We left with our loot and went home to Nana's where we had an early dinner of homemade fried shrimp and I forget what else...does it matter really though? I'm telling you, Nana's fried shrimp is the best anywhere. I don't even order fried shrimp at restaurants anymore, I'm always disappointed. I just hold out for special occasions at Nana's and make up for lost time by eating and eating and eating. After dinner we had homemade chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing a la mode. DE-LISH! It was so good, that we had a second helping later that night. (shhhh)

You know you're old when you get gifts like these...and you LIKE IT!

Camera used to take above pictures *not pictured. :) Thanks Dad and Ruthie!!!


Thanks to all my sweet family and friends for making my birthday special...and Mollie, for making me smile when I read your text message. :)

My Next 30 Years

Our camping trip

After dropping off Splash Cinnamon Stick Urben, Turkey, Prince Roker (all fish) and Sarge at Grams and Pops house, we headed out to Inks Lake State Park last Friday. By the time we arrived around 3ish, most of the campsites were already taken. This is definitely prime time for camping, but thankfully Mark made reservations over a month ago. In leiu of writing about our experience, I decided to upload a small portion of the 500+ pictures I took over the weekend.

Inks Lake Camping Trip