Blog, what's that?

Yeah, so life is a little crazy with the two of us working, finding time to Blog is next to impossible.

Granddaddy just got out of the hospital, he's doing fine right now, but suffered a broken hip and had to undergo surgery last week. The surgery weakened him and caused his Parkinsons to worsen, which is hopefully temporary. The parkinsons is affecting his abilty to swallow right now, and he is unable to swallow anything without aspirating, so they put a feeding tube in to his stomach. He's doing well with it. We are all hopeful that he will gain his strength back and be able get back to normal.

Children's Garden

Alex finally started at his new school yesterday, and he did super! The director noticed that he was reluctant to let me leave him on the playground so she came over and asked him to be her helper with breakfast in the kitchen. He was more than willing to go be her helper and even cracked a smile as he said by to me. :) I called later and they let me know that he was doing fine and had eaten a good lunch. When I picked him up he told me that he really likes his new school and that he had a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised to find a note from his teacher in his cubby. It was very thoughtful of her to tell me about his day and really put my mind at ease. :) Today was pretty good too, although there were some tears as I left. I called at 10:30 and they said he was doing fine and stopped crying shortly after I left. The two times I have called up there, they know exactly who I am and can instantly tell me all about who he was playing with, how his day is going, etc. That makes me feel so confident that he's getting the care he deserves.
I got a phone call from them today at about 12:30, I was worried when I saw their number on my caller ID, ususally a phone call means that he's either sick, or upset, it was his teacher calling to tell me that he was still doing good, had eaten a good lunch and was sleeping soundly. :) Ahhhh, I feel like I can finally RELAX a little, he's in good hands.

TEXAS WINS!!!!

WHAT A GAME!! Vince, you are my hero. :)

Report Cards

Miss Ashley has done it yet again. Her report card came home with straight A's today! We are so proud of our girl! Way to go Ashley!

Happy Retirement Big Daddy!!!

This was all Ashley's idea.

We love you and wish you all the best dad...now go fishin already!

Alex-isms updated

I added a few Alex-isms tonight:

Alex-isms

Reverse Psychology?

Our everyday eat-your-dinner battle has reached a new level. We've tried just about anything and everything to get Alex to eat his dinner, to the point of giving him a standing ovation for each bite taken, that didn't work and neither did bribery, which is our last resort catch all. Tonight we took it to a new level. I was talking to Mark about positive reinforcement and how that's the thing to do these days. We chuckled about how grateful we'd be to get the opportunity to give him positive reinforcement, but that he actually had to do something positive first. lol I decided that I would dupe him in to some reverse psychology by praising him for taking a bite even when he didn't. So I praise him, he gives me a funny look, but remarkably, he responds and takes a bit. Wooohoooo! We're on to something here. So I can't just take my winnings and leave the table, I have to have more, so in a weak moment when he's on his knees playing in his chair I continue the lying mommy's version of positve reinforcement and tell him how proud I am at how good he's being by staying on his bottom and eating so well. He responds by saying "but momma I was doing this..." and he stands up on his knees to demonstrate his poor behavior. By the end of his demonstration Mark and I are holding our guts laughing out loud. Turns out we're the ones that got duped. The lying mommy's version of positive reinforcement is a crock. I guess that's why I've never actually been given this advice and why it's not published in any child rearing books. One thing the lying mommy's version of positive reinforcement did do was provide a pleasant dinner. When that didn't work, I decided to use it on Mark instead. "Mark, thank you so much for cleaning up after dinner" didn't work too well either. ;)

2006

Happy New Year! It's hard to belive it's already 2006, it's a bittersweet year, chock full of changes and new beginnings, and we're only a few days in to it. The year that my baby girl will turn 10 and enter the era of double didgets and everything else that goes along with it. My baby boy will turn 5. He will have to use an entire hand to tell his age, and coordinating his little fingers in to small numbers will be a thing of the past. This year my dad will enter the retirement years and my brother will have his first baby and enter the world of parenthood. 2006 is going to be a very big year in our family. A year to be thankful for, a year to open our doors to and welcome with a smile. Clearly, we will all have big resolutions for the new year. As for me, I'm going to enjoy my family more than ever this year, and appreciate the little things a little more. Keep in touch with family a little better, maybe send out Birthday cards for once in my life, and try to do the little things that I know mean so much. I'm going to smile more, think more and play more. Most of all, I'm going to work on being a supportive wife, listening mom, caring daughter and supportive friend.

Christmas

It's almost New Years and I'm just now finding the time to write about Christmas! Ok, I'll admit, I've had the time, but instead of doing the things I *SHOULD* be doing, I've been playing with all the awesome Christmas kids that we...errr...the kids got. Har har. I'll have to mention those later though. Lets start with Christmas Eve Eve... aka the day before Christmas Eve. We continued our tradition of taking the kids to the Big Chrismas tree at Zilker. Last year we discovered the secret to missing the ridiculous miles of traffic was to get there BEFORE dark. That was the best discovery ever. This year we topped it by packing an ice chest of drinks and picking up pizza on the way, now THAT was genius! (Marks idea of course) We got there just before dark and JUST before they started charging $7.00 for parking. SWEET! We ate our pizza, and funnel cake (gotta have funnel cake) it got dark and the lights turned on just for us. :) It was a perfect evening. Everyone was in the best of spirits, and we really couldn't have planned it any better.

On Christmas Eve Nana and Jason came to spend the night, like every year. We had to miss David this year though. He's a newlywed with a baby on the way now, so I'm afraid the Christmas mornings with David are probably over. :( Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. Back to Christmas Eve...Nana brought all the fixins for a special dinner, turkey, dressing, homemade cranberry sauce (my favorite), sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh green beans, her famous Ruthie rolls, and good ol White Zin. She even brought Christmas linens for the table. Yes, we had cloth napkins, a rare occasion that MUST be noted. What a treat! I remembered to pull out my Christmas china this year, woohooo, so we had a fancy dinner on fancy china this year. :) After dinner we were all too stuffed for pie, of which there was plenty, but we did manage to make room for egg nog (with the nog, as Nana would say), and the kids had the non-nog. We sat around the table and asked each other questions from Nana and Big Daddy's It's A Wonderful Life board game, that was fun, but I think some of us need to study a little more next time, if we plan on beating Nana. I think she's probably watched that movie 50 times! We put the kids to bed shortly after putting the reindeer food in the yard and leaving grahm crackers and soy milk (Ashley says Santa may be lactose intolerant like Grams and uncle Jason). The kids were so excited and anxious to get to sleep so that morning would come quickly. After all the wine and nog we were anxious to get all of our wrapping over with so we could catch some z's.

Christmas morning was picture perfect. The kids were up just before 7 and patiently waited at the top of the stairs while momma and daddy slowly made their way to the coffee pot, and set the scene with Christmas music and lights. Dad picked up Eddie Faye on his way and they joined us around 8ish. The kids were so excited about everything they opened, while we were rewarded with sweet smiles and plenty of generous thank yous. Most of the morning was spent either jumping on the mini-tramp, or hopping around on Ashley's new X-box dance mat. Mark was busy trying to find food he could slice with his new mandalin and I was occupied putting together my new Kitchen Aix mixer and trying to figure out what I could mix up. By noon, Frank and Nicola showed up and dad and Ruthie were beat and ready to go. Frank and Nicola spent a lot of time playing with the kids, which the kids just devoured. By the time they left we were all ready for a good long nap.

Mom and Andy came over just after 5. We were able to have round 2 of the spectacular dinner from the night before, thanks to Nana. This time we made room for pie though. :) We had a really nice time with Grams and Pops, and the kids were more than happy to show off all of the wonderful new gifts that Santa brought. By 10:30 Grams and Pops were gone and we were making our way to bed. It was a beautiful Christmas Day, and I wouldn't change a thing about it, except to have all of the ones we love together.

Nah na nah na, hey hey hey...

GOODBYE

Yesterday was Alex's last day at La Petite. We pulled him out because he had a "preschool angel" watching over him who told me some not so nice things about his teacher. I had noticed little things here and there, but I always made excuses in my mind that she was just having a bad day, or maybe she had some personal things going on in her life that weren't allowing her to be herself. Whatever the case may be, this was the last straw. Apparently his teacher woke him up from nap one day by knocking his cot over with her foot. That on top of his extremely long adjustment period, his frequent accidents at nap (that don't happen at home) and the directors inability to confront employees with personel issues was enough to send us running. Mark filled out a report and we were on our way. Unfortunately, Alex went his first week without crying last week and had just adjusted, but I think it won't take nearly as long for him to adjust to his new school. I'm starting to realize that his teacher played a bigger part in his uneasiness than I realized.

On a brighter note, we found him a new preshcool. It's an independantly owned liscensed preschool called Children's Garden. We spent over an hour there yesterday and were very happy with what we saw. Alex won't start for another week and a half since Mark has off all of next week, but he's actually anxious to go. His teacher is wonderful. She has taught infants to middle schoolers, but CHOOSES to teach 4 year olds despite the decrease in pay. A dream come true! I didn't think it was possible to find such a person, but she exists! She was very outgoing and was great with the kids. Anyway, I'm still a little nervous after our recent experience, so I'm going to have my radar on pretty high. I'm really hoping this place works out. If it doesn't I'm quitting my job and living on the streets if I have to.

Alex says...

Oh my gosh this kid never fails to amaze me. We're watching Madagascar tonight and some of the characters were stranded on an island. They made a sign with sticks that said "HELP". A portion of it fell over and left "HELL". Mark and I chuckle at the "inside joke" or so we thought. Alex laughs and says "now it says Hell". &#$%$%^%$&$%&**@! WHAT!!!

Oh, I have one more. Tonight at dinner this little ham must have been trying to reach his "WHY" quota for the day and was once again asking me more questions than I had answers for. When I reach MY quota, I usually call it quits and just admit when I don't know the answer (even if sometimes I do happen to know). So he throws one out there, I don't even remember the question right now, but it was one I couldn't or didn't feel like answering at the time. From across the table our little 4 year old puts his hand up in the air matter of factly, and animates his response of "but you're an ADULT, MOMMA, you're supposed to know EVERYTHING, HEL-LO!" Now how do you NOT laugh at that one?

La Petite Update

It's FRIDAY!!! Yahoo! I have super news on this fabulous Friday. Bribery WORKS! Alex went all week without crying when I dropped him off. I am SO proud of him! Lets see if we can continue the bribe in to next week and possibly start a routine of smiles! :)

Updated Blog

I just got done transferring some old Blog entries from my old Blog. I've been needing to do that for quite some time. Yahoo, one more thing to check off my to do list. :)

Dads Retirement Party

I have been so anxious to post about the party, but held off in fear that dad might actually read my blog. Ruthie did such a good job of keeping it a secret that dad never even suspected it. Everyone arrived around 1:00, and at about 2:00 Ruthie gathered everyone around to say a few words of about all that we are thankful for, and announce the "real" reason for the party. Dad was definitely surprised. I think it took a while for it to acutally sink in. Poor dad. He told Ruthie long ago that there would be NO PARTY. Ruthie announced that "she" was not having a retirement party, but that "he" was. Dad responded with "no we're not, it's a Christmas Party" Haha! Of course, dad is dad, and his response was to be expected. It was a wonderful party full of people that my dad has probably spent most of his life with. I wasn't surprised to see that he was well liked by his coworkers, some of which probably know him better than I do. I'm so thankful that we were able to show him that his dedication and hard work has really made a difference in so many lives. His work ethic has been a major influence in my life, and it will pass on to my children and become a defining part of our family values indefinitely. It was a beautiful day for us all.

Here are some pictures of the cake I made for dad:

I'm having a.....

NEPHEW!

David and Cara had the Big Ultrasound today and It's a BOY!!! My very first nephew, I can't wait! Here his is, isn't he a handsome little guy??

4 year old thoughts

Alex: "Momma?"
Momma: "Yes, Alex..."
Alex: "I don't miss sissy OR daddy right now"
Momma: "Oh really, and why is that?"
Alex: "Because I'm eating these really yummy chocolates and they really make me not miss them right now"

Adventures in cake decorating

You know you're getting old when... you and your friends sign up for a Wilton Cake Decorating Class, and you seriously can't WAIT to go. And you REALLY know you're getting old when you walk out after the class with over $50 worth of cake decorating supplies, some of which come in a "tackle box"...(and that's with a 40% off coupon). Lastnight Mollie, Rachel, Tonya, Laurie and I went to our first class. We're officially old. Cake decorating at Michaels on a Thursday night, what's next, knitting? Weaving? LOL

We really did have a good time, even though the first class was more of a tease than anything. After not eating dinner it was pure torture passing one bowl of frosting after another around the room for everyone to "see the consistancy" (yeah the consistancy of my ability to restrain myself!). It took every ounce of restraint for me not to dip my finger in the gooey chcolate and taste a hunk. And then I sat there quietly drooling as she filled and frosted the chocolate cake. Evil I tell ya, EVIL!
I'm anxious to go back next week and learn more. The class is four, 2 hour sessions. So every week for the next 3 weeks I will be taking a cake to class to decorate...which in essence, means that I will be gaining an extra 5 pounds in the midst of gaining my OTHER required 5+ pounds from the Holidays. But that's ok, because I will be a mighty fine cake eating...oops, I mean mighty fine cake DECORATING momma.

Our little Free Thinker

I will never forget the words of Ramona Cain...the wife of the Preacher that married Mark and I, and one of the most unselfish women I've ever met..."Ashley is an old soul." At the time, I was only 21 years old and only had half a clue what she was talking about, and quite honestly I thought she was a bit KooKoo for saying that, but over the years that label has come to mind quite often, and I now see so much of the "old soul" within her. I don't know what I believe when it comes to statements like that, and I'm quite comfortable with not knowing what's real and what's not, it's an ok place to be actually, but when I see some of the things Ashley says and does, I wonder how on earth she could possibly have learned to be so empathetic and so in tune with human kindness in the short 9 years that she's been alive. Whatever it is, I sooo hope that she keeps it for life, and that she is able to share her "old soul" with people who can appreciate it as much as her mom and dad do.
Ok, so I'm rambling....the whole point of this entry to was to document another one of those genuinely sweet moments where Ashley made my heart pitter patter.
Yesterday, Mark and I went to vote and when we returned Ashley was curious about what we were voting for. I told her that most of it was boring stuff, but that the big issue on the ballot was Proposition 2. For the first time in our household I explained to her what the Proposition was, and I kept a 100% neutral explanation. After my explanation I sat there for a minute continuing what I was doing, waiting for her to respond, but acting as if the conversation was over... I was curious to hear how an unbiased 9 year old would respond. Slowly, her forehead wrinkled, her head cocked to the side and she said something that I will never forget, "But Momma, aren't gay people humans too?"

Halloween Pictures

Alex is 4!!!

We had Alex's 4th Birthday party at Chuckee Cheese this year. We didn't want to fool with cleaning and cooking, so this was too hard to pass up. All of our close neighbor friends were there, Uncle Frank, Aunt Nicola, Alexis and the Kendalls and Grams and Pops. He had such a great time! Here's Alex Pre-Birthday Party licking his birthday cake batter out of the bowl. He doesn't miss a drop:

And here's the cake, (my very first, so no laughing allowed!)



And here are some pictures of the party at Chuck E Cheese: