The Houston Leg of our trip...

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After stopping for lunch on the drive to Houston, my kids crashed in the car. Both slept for nearly 2 hours and essentially were asleep the rest of the way into Houston. My in-laws saved us some cash and allowed us to borrow their car...a very fancy Lexus. Too many bells am whistles me to learn to use so quickly. I had all kinds of trouble with the GPS that my FIL had programmed for me. I digress.


I was exhausted after our long drive so we took it easy upon arriving and my Aunt and Grandmother came to visit. My sister came over as well after work and we all headed out to dinner. Friday was scorching hot and humid again so my parents took us to see Night at the Museum 2. Amazingly my kids loved it! I got to tell Aidan a bit about some of the historical figures we saw which was really kind of fun. We then stopped for lunch at my favorite Chick-Fil-A and the kids had a chance to play in their play area...also air conditioned. We later made a stop at my Aunt and Uncle's house to visit with them and my Grandmother as well. Saturday was another hot one so my parents took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. That is my mother's "thing" with them. Whenever we visit she takes the kids there and they love it!

The beauty of it is that we went early. The kids had a blast and it was also Air Conditioned!

Sunday we visited my parent's church. It was weird to see my Dad at church worshipping. Still something I can't quite get my brain around, but I am happy he is there. After getting a chance to rest that afternoon we headed over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for home made Thai food. Crab Fried Rice and Pad Thai. For those of you that don't know, my Aunt's husband is from Thailand and a real favorite with my kids. He is a big kid himself and willingly gets down on the floor with them to play board games and other activities of their making.

This is the family. I cut off my Dad in this one, but I have another picture with him in it. My Mom and Aidan are on the couch with my sweet Abuela...the reason for this trip. My Aunt, my Mom's sister, is standing behind the couch.
And of course, this is the favorite Uncle T with Ainsley. Both my kiddos love him dearly.

Monday was a low key day because I had to run some errands, but my Mom set up the little pool she bought for the kids so they could get wet in the back yard. They had a blast and I have no pictures. Bad Mommy moment.

Tuesday we did a bit of shopping at Katy Mills and we were pleased to discover that they had put in a play area. The kids normally will get a carousel ride as a treat, but this time they also had the opportunity to run around a bit in the air conditioning. Do we see a recurring trend here?

After plenty of play time and a little shopping. We went to my sister's house to swim.

We met up with my brother in law later for more Mexican food. Needless to say, he ended up with a terrible case of heartburn after mistakenly getting a hold of a hot pepper.



Wednesday was also low key as I was doing some wash and packing up everything to head back to DFW on Thursday. On Thursday we drove through our old stomping gorounds to meet up with a friend of mine who was actually visiting my husband and her family in Wi when I was in DFW the week before. Poor planning on my part. Oh well.

We met her at McDonalds so the kids could play and eat. Our flight left super early the next morning. We were exhausted. It was a long time for the kids to be away from Dad. They were estatic to see him as was I. Home again home again and catching up ever since. That's it for our travels. Later tater tots!

The DFW leg of our trip...

We got off to a not so great start as far as our travelling was concerned. We had an evening flight as it was cheapest to make our airline miles go the furthest. Needless to say it was stormy in Chicago and Milwaukee so our flight was delayed about an hour and a pretty bumpy trip. It was after 10 when we arrived at the in-laws house so I put the kids straight to bed. The next morning we were fresh for visiting. The kids did a bunch of swimming that Saturday and it was a perfect chance for me to get settled and recover. Also, we had to chance to spend the day with B's Grandpa. The next day was Father's day and after making the rounds of phone calls the afternoon was spent visiting with B's Aunt and Uncle and Cousins and their children. It was a great opportunity for my kiddos to play with other kids...especially since these kids are the closest thing we have to cousins right now.

I have always been very attached to these girls as well as their Mama. She is B's cousins wife and I just love her dearly.

The next day we attempted a trip to the zoo. After getting a very late start on the day we finally arrived. The heat was terrible and I spent a ton of money on bottled water to keep my kiddos hydrated.

This photo was taken at the start of the adventure. Needless to say it is only 1 of 2 photos that I was able to take of the day. As we headed to the next enclosure, I had camera in hand ready to snap another picture when I bumped my arm on the wooden railing. I proceded to drop my camera about 20 feet onto a concrete surface inside the rhinocerous enclosure. Fortunately some kind zookeepers were able to rescue my camera after putting the animals in another pen. I hoped that I would at a minimum be able to rescue my memory card, but later in the day upon retrieving my camera from the Guest Relations office I realized the camera was completely intact and still worked!

This photo is from when we were leaving and my children are melting in the 102 degree heat. Nana said we were cancelling the trip to Six Flags due to the heat, but that was a trip I was not planning on going on in the first place.

That evening I finally had the opportunity to indulge in some Mexican Food. My kids just love the statues in at this restaurant and insisted on being photographed with them.

Abuelo's is one of my favorite Mexican chains. I enjoyed my favorite avocado enchiladas topped with scallops and shrimp! Yum!


The next afternoon I had the opportunity to see my dear Miss N and her boys. I was especially joyful to meet her new little one. Little Mr Z! I don't have a photo of him as when I had my camera out he had fallen asleep in his snugli and did want to wake him as it would have been time to eat. I have a cute pic of all the other kiddos though.

I know this picture is a bit fuzzy but it is the one I have where everyone is looking at the camera.

Our last day in town Aidan went to play golf with Grandpa. They only played a few holes because of the heat, but Aidan did enjoy a country club lunch of chicken strips, frech fries and chocolate mousse cake. Ainsley did not want to play golf and wanted to go shopping with the girls. She actually wanted to visit the plastic animals at the Rainforest Cafe, but when push came to shove she was scared of the snarling alligator.

This was the only picture I could get of her. She was not thrilled about it either. She looks happy but she was just making sure I would not make her take a picture with the alligator.

We left for Houston the next morning, and after a week of swimming and activities I already had 2 very worn out children. Not to mention worn out Mommy! More tomorrow tater tots!

Milestone!

After weeks of waiting it finally happened...Aidan lost his first tooth. Part of me is a little sad, but another part is happy that he is growing up so healthy and strong. The other tooth is partly in so we are on the early path to the world of braces. The dentist told us several years ago that Aidan would more than likely need braces due to the shape of his mouth and how much space he will have in the future. I had them as a teen so it is not the end of the world. Anyway, I will hopefully get to post about my trip soon. I have had several issues to deal with today and have errands to run tomorrow, but I did get my pictures downloaded so maybe in the next day or two you will get my first installment of our trip. Glad to be back and getting back into the swing of things.

We are back!

I am so exhausted and we had a super early flight. My FIL does not understand that I am a nervous air traveller and need plenty of time at the airport to get myself and 2 children through the check in process, security and navigating the endless hallways of the airport terminals. We are home now and all is well. I will try to get back to regular posting soon as I have plenty of work to catch up on. I will say I am feeling better this early evening than I was this afternoon, but I still believe it will be a very early night for 3/4ths of this family. More soon and it is so great to be home!

In Houston...

with a heat index of 108 degrees! We are melting. Ainsley is not tolerating the heat very well and we are spending our time in air conditioned places. At my in-laws house we had an eventful, miserably hot visit to the zoo which I will post about another time. I have to add pictures and have quite the story to tell. Well, I hope you all are doing well and even though we are having fun, we miss Daddy, friends, home etc. Having a good time, but can't wait to get back. I miss my bloggy friends as well! More later my tater tots!

Headed out today!

I am stressed and trying to get some last minute things done. My hubs has a friend coming this weekend and my house is not as clean as I would like it to be. I haven't had time to get into a routine of cleaning with both kids home. Actually a miracle happened yesterday and both kids cleaned up their rooms, playroom, and downstairs area. They did a beautiful job. I hope to check in time to time, but I am not sure how much access my in-laws will give me to a computer. We will see!

Joy Happiness and Crazy Faces...

What my children love most about warm, dry summer weather is the opportunity to eat lunch outside. Sometimes we pack up and head to a nearby park, but today since we had been out shopping and to the library already so we stayed home and lunched in the back yard.

Happiness abounds with a picnic blanket, peanut butter sandwich and lemonade. Enjoying the lovely warm weather before we head down south and turn into little puddles. No outdoor activites for us that don't involve water if I can help it. Air conditioning here we come!

Note from the Teacher

Yesterday was Aidan's last day of first grade. I did end up going to his awards. Mostly the 5th and 6th graders get the awards, but Aidan received one for attendance and recognition for his Outstanding Student Award earlier in the year. Aidan had a very good school year academically. Socially was a bit more difficult, but I am hoping with some changes that have been put in place that next year will be better.

This week is going to be super busy getting ready for our trip. Right now however, I need a nap so I am off. Aidan will have some reading/play time and Ainsley and I will get to sleep. I am so tired of waking in the middle of the night and then not get back to sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better. I will try to post one more time this week before we are off, but if I don't get the chance I would really appreciate your prayers. Mostly for safe travel and patience with the family. Thank you my friends!

The countdown officially begins...

Today is the last day of actual academics at school. The kids go back Monday because of a rescheduled snow day. Plus, it is their awards ceremony and fun day...school picnic. (Graduation was already scheduled for Friday afternoon and they did not want to reschedule that for another day. Hence the students have Friday off and go back Monday.) I won't be able to stay for the whole day as I have Ainsley and it would be nuts. I have other commitments at church as well, but I think I will stop by for the awards ceremony. I don't think that Aidan is getting anything, but I would be going just as an interested parent. I am so grateful that things will be wrapping up soon. I am so glad that my children enjoy school, but as a parent I get tired of all the running around that it sometimes involves. I will be glad for the summer break.


My in-laws apparently have a countdown going for our visit. Do you think they are the least bit excited? They haven't seen the kids since last summer since they haven't come to visit us here in almost 2 years. I am told however that they will be coming in July. I will believe it when I see them here. I told my husband that too. They have said several times that they were coming and then never made any plans to do so. Ah well the choices other people make are not always the choices that I would make and that is just how it is and I will accept it. It really just hurts my husbands feelings even if he won't say anything to them outright. I think if they do actually come up it will go a long way towards easing those hurts. Well, enough of a downer. School is almost done and we are thrilled!

Let the Sunshine!

Let the sunshine, let the sun shine in...is that how the song goes? Anyway, a much needed sunny day! We are having an end of the year afterschool picnic with the usual crew. Snacks and all. Most of my chores have been completed today and I am feeling pretty good. Actually I am exhausted. I have been so tired lately, just having a really hard time getting up in the morning. I went to bed early last night hoping that I would be less tired in the morning. No such luck, I woke up at 2:30 and was unable to fall asleep again until just before the hubs left for the plant this morning. You know how it is when you are tired and you are lying in bed just praying for sleep. Selfish of me I know, but I don't think clearly at that hour of the morning. Busy brain with things that needed to be done and calls that I needed to make. Hopefully tonight will be better. So now I am off to get a quick nap in before heading out to pick up kiddo. Hopefully I will have enough sense to take the camera with me this afternoon. What a lovely day!

I am a grouch!

After 3 days of rain, waking to more clouds this morning has put me in a sour mood. Where did my sunshine and warm weather from Friday go? Is it coming back because I need it desperately. Next week we head to Texas where we will have plenty of sunshine and the oppressive heat that goes with it. Is there no happy medium!

Anyway, my kitchen painting project is done for now. The walls and ceiling have all been painted. Hopefully, I won't have to paint ceilings again until I decide to get to work on Ainsley's room. My next task is to finish Aidan's closet doors and radiator covers and finish a few more window screens. All in the next week and a half! It is doable as long as I spend my free hour or so during the day/evening working on those things.

Well, I am off to get some housework done this morning while Ainsley watches Sesame. Later taters!

Stone Patios

When we moved into this 110 year old house, we knew it was going to take some work. The couple living here previously was divorcing and many things had been left neglected. One of those things was the backyard. In our time here so far we have removed dead/dying cedar trees (17 in all), removed some sort of vine with poisonous berries, replaced the fence and added some flower beds. We wanted to add a stone patio to be able to put our grill on and eventually get an outside table. The wooden porches we have are too small for such things. So we called some landscapers and had some estimates done. Because of last summer's $4 gas prices, the cost was astronomical. It was much more than we were able to spend considering we were in need of replacing the boiler unit for our much needed winter heating. Anyway, fast forward to earlier this week. B was digging around near the house and one of the porches as he was grilling our dinner. There have been these large stones there and I think he had in mind to remove them. As he continues digging he unearths more and more stones. Then he notices that they are in a sort of pattern. He does more digging and then realizes what he is looking at...a stone patio. Under lava rocks, grass and tons of dirt is a stone patio! It is going to take quite a bit of work to reclaim the area and not exactly the look for a patio that we had in mind, but I will take a free patio anyday over having to pay to install one or install one ourselves.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Escaping for a bit...

today is my rescheduled hair appointment. I am thrilled. A girlfriend of mine is watching Ainsley for me so I have a few hours of much needed freedom, and pampering.


Yesterday we had some difficulties at the school playground. We left much earlier than planned and both children were sent to time out at home. Because of their behavior yesterday, several restrictions have been placed on their play for this afternoon. I will let you know how it goes. Pray pray pray, we are going to need it!

Ainsley's Graduation Day...

My apologies! I skipped a bit ahead yesterday to inform everyone of Pilly's dramatic recovery. Back to last Thursday...Ainsley graduated from her 3 year old preschool. Some of my pictures did not turn out, fuzzy as usual. I won't post them here but this is Ainsley her little buddy C and her two teachers. I am going to say again how much I am going to miss this school next year. I have to work really hard to make the extra effort to teach bible stories as well as they did this year. It does help that our church sends bible lessons home with us to work on during the week. I have made an extra effort since the first of the year to work on these with the kiddos. I swear, Aidan memorizes scripture so easily. That one has the amazing memory I no longer seem to have. Pulled in too many directions I guess. Back to graduation...tons of artwork came home, they made Father's Day presents, received certificates, and had an indoor picnic. A good time was had by all. We presented the teachers with flower arrangements, each student contributed a flower to each, and some gift cards. Love those two ladies pictured above, in my eyes they were sent to me straight from heaven! What a blessing.

I heard a follow up from the school counselor today. Things between the Aidan and his "friend" have apparently improved significantly. I am wondering if some of their troubles, or at least Aidan's troubles, had something to do with the long winter. There are still bad days to their friendship, but I think since they are having more and more opportunity to play outside they are getting along better. I have the impression that Aidan able to get away from him a little better. I still don't like to hear Aidan say that this kid is making fun of him. Irks me to no end. I keep telling Aidan that when this starts up he needs to walk away and play with his other friends. He doesn't need to stay around if he is being given a hard time. On a few rare occasions I have even seen him do this. Hopefully, this situation will continue to improve especially considering the space that summer provides for us.


Today Ainsley went in for her first official dentist appointment. She has visited before, but this time they were able to do some actual cleaning. If only I could get her to sit still in the chair for more than 5 seconds! Too much for her too look at and touch. Hopefully, next time will be even easier. Well, that is it for now. I hope everyone has a sunshiny day!

Pilly is Home!

One happy little girl and one silly boy that had to get in on the camera action.

One happy little girl with her favorite doll. Pilly arrived home today dressed in a hospital gown and cap complete with Dr. instructions. Too cute.

I want to apologize or clarify some of my comments from earlier. Please don't get me wrong. I do love my in-laws, sometimes though too much togetherness is too much of a good thing. I don't want anyone to thing that I am ungrateful for their hospitality. I just am worried about feeling run over and resentful. Okay, enough about that. Hope everyone had a glorious day because things were pretty good over here.

Recovery Tuesday...

yesterday I was sidelined with a major headbanging migraine. I did minimal work yesterday and I am blessed with a super husband who took over with the kiddos after a hard day at work. I am not sure what set that one off other than 2 terrible nights sleep. Go figure! Much better today though.

Monday's have suddenly become decidedly less busy. Life in general is a bit less busy this week as we begin the end of the year wrap up. Ainsley finished preschool last week so all we have is to run Aidan to and from school daily and go to various dental appointments/hair appointments and doctor appointments before we head out of town in a few weeks.

I must confess I am a bit nervous about my trip. I have travelled without Brian before so that is not the issue. I have serious reservations about staying with my in-laws for a week without Brian there. My FIL can be very over-bearing, demanding and difficult. I do not like to feel like I am being run over which happens often when I am with them. Grandpa was also a little rougher on Aidan than I care to tolerate last time we visited as well. Brian usually does well to act as a buffer so that everyone gets as much out of our visits as they need and for that I am most grateful. I am praying that I will be able to handle this without feeling like I am losing my mind or unable to enjoy our visit. I am planning on picking up some sort of devotional or bible study so I can have something to keep me in the Word while I am there, hopefully in an effort to keep my head and wits about me. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Painting Project 2---Kitchen

Since B had Tuesday off from work this week and both children were in school for the morning we decided to start our next painting project. The kitchen! I have dreaded the taking apart of such a central place in our home, but we painted and even managed to get dinner prepared without too much hassle. This is what we had to start with...a sort of taupe color with a ragging faux finish. Not something I cared for much with these colors. I have seen this done in other colors and liked it very much. These color choices did not appeal to me. My hubby may not be too happy with this picture of him in his "muscle" shirt.

We have achieved primer. Getting the primer on went pretty quickly. Paint was another matter. The color I chose was rather light so it required several coats for decent coverage.

This is what my color will look like. I have not completed this project yet as I am needing to do some touch up work as well as get the ceiling painted. I will work on this some more this weekend I hope. I just love this yellow and have convinced myself to paint the cabinets and trim a lighter color as well. Talk about taking apart my kitchen.

Next post: Ainsley graduates from 3 year old preschool!

Remembering our Soldiers, Memorial Day 2009

This photo sums Memorial Day up for me. The saddled horse with no rider. Why is it that remembering our soldiers always makes me weepy?

My little man was in the parade again this year. This time he marched with his new scout pack. Poor man was tired at the end.

Another rare and elusive photo of me. This one is actually not too bad. You can kind of even see the red my hair used to be in this lighting. I like it when Miss Ainsley looks like she is my daughter. I don't see much of me in her except for maybe her skin coloring, but my hair was much closer to her color when I was her age. I digress. She was scared of the noises some of the motorcycles were making so I think that is when my hubby snapped this one. I hope everyone else had a nice holiday weekend.

This week has been a busy one for us. First, I was totally thrown off my Monday being a holiday and that my hubs was also off on Tuesday. Second, Aidan had a big dentist appointment this week as he was having some sealant put on his molars. We were there waiting for him for almost 2 hours and they gave him some extra prizes for being a model patient. Third, Ainsley graduated from 3 year old preschool. What a big day! I have some cute pictures to share, but they are still on my camera. I will download those this weekend. B has inventory so it will be a late night and a working Saturday which stinks. Mostly because I had to cancel my hair appointment and I really wanted to get in before heading South. I will have to call tomorrow and see if I can reschedule my appointment before I leave. Our schedule will be slowing down a bit in the next few weeks I am going to be loving that! Have a great weekend everyone!

Ainsley's Last Field Trip

Even though we live in a fairly small town, we are very blessed to have a small local zoo. Best of all it is free! They do however accept donations so we donate when we can as we visit often in the summer. The kiddos ended up having a very nice day for their field trip and my Ainsley girl's favorite exhibit was the prairie dogs as seen below. They also got to listen to one of the zoo keepers who allowed them to pet many of the animals. Ainsley's favorite was a chinchila which is not yet in an exhibit. He had been someone's pet and was surrendered to the local humane society. Below, the kids are checking out the wolf exhibit.

By the time we reached the gazebo where the cranes are, all the children were getting tired and hungry.

Then, we headed over to the next portion of the field trip to visit the local Pizza Hut. The children were able to tour the kitchen to see where the pizzas are made and then, with the help of some very patient staff members, they had the chance to make their own pizza. Ainsley chose cheese only of course! It was a very nice tour and considering the early hour, about 10:30 in the morning, they had the restaurant to themselves. I have been so happy to get to chaperone so many of her field trips this year!

Painting Project---Aidan's Room

I have tons of pictures to post and things to tell you all about but I am going to try to go in some sort of chronological order. I have started some big projects around here in an effort to get some things worked on before the kids are out of school for the summer. I could have started these things ages ago, but I have been waiting for warmer weather so I can open windows while I am working. Painting has been taking me a long time since I can only devote an hour or two a day, but sometimes slow and steady wins the race. I decided to paint Aidan's room first as B had patched a wall that had some damage earlier this year. When I started removing switch plates and items of this nature I noticed how badly the previous paint job had been. I took the radiator cover off (easy to remove) and I see pink paint. This pink so bright to me it makes my head hurt. I can't imagine sleeping in a room painted this pink. Ainsley's room was previously this color as well. I have seen the evidence.

Cutting in! I am committed to completing now.

My finished product with most of Aidan's things in place. I am still working on the closet doors and radiator cover. The trim was previously beige or maybe it was white at one point. It is a little difficult to tell. Anyway, this weekend B had a few days off and was able to paint the ceiling for me as I already had it cut in. I haven't done the ceiling myself before and he was more than willing to help there. I love the green that Aidan and I picked. Very boyish and it matches his quilt nicely. I can also switch out to his heavy comforter without worries as well. He is happy and I am happy so all is good.

Coming up later this week...Ainsley's last school Field trip, and Memorial Day Parade! Later taters!

Great Nail Polish Incident of 2009

Yesterday as usual, I put Ainsley down for her nap. Lately, she doesn't always nap, but sometimes she does so I always put her to bed. She was so quiet yesterday I made the assumption that she was asleep. After getting my chores done, I laid down for a bit myself to do some reading and hopefully rest. As I am dozing, I hear Ainsley go to her door and say Mommy come see. I asked her to come to my room and she comes in with a handful of her dolls and a bottle of nail polish. She knows she is not supposed to have the bottle of nail polish, much less use it on her dolls, and her jeans and her bed spread etc. Hence the extra laundry yesterday. Even with non-acetone nail polish remover I have not been able to do anything but lessen the stains. At least the bedspread only had a small area of pink polish, so it is not something I need to replace. I originally made her put the dolls in the trash and then thought better of it and put them back as a reminder of what she is not supposed to do. She has been banned from having her nails painted again until she is much older and we did throw her bottle of polish into the trash. It is typically in the bathroom so I really have no idea when it ended up in her room. She wanted me to toss mine as well, but I did not as I told her I am responsible with my use of polish. What had me so heartbroken was that she painted the face of her favorite baby doll...her American Girl Bitty Baby, Pilly. Needless to say, she was sent away today to the doll hospital for repair because I just couldn't leave her like that. I love Pilly almost as much as Ainsley does. Anyway, that was the cause of my breakdown yesterday. After a long week of struggling with children who have not been using listening ears, I just feel to pieces because she knows better. My children are struggling with listening specifically to Mom these days and I know it will pass. Thanks for the prayers my friends.

On another note, my sweet hubby rented some movies so that he and I could have a date night at home tonight after the kids go to bed. Gotta love early bedtimes. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone.

Rough week...

B has been out all week entertaining. Thankfully he is starting the holiday weekend early and has off tomorrow. He is planning on doing some work in the upstairs bathroom. I am not completely sure what that is going to entail really, but we will see. This weekend Aidan has off from soccer, but our new scout pack is participating in the Memorial Day parade in town on Monday. We also are headed up to a nearby campsite to meet up with some friends on Sunday. I think I am going to try to escape a bit tomorrow evening and sit in a coffee shop for a while. I may call a girlfriend of mine if it looks as if I may actually get to escape and hopefully have a chat. I don't even want to go into all of the reasons why this week has been so difficult because I fell apart a bit today and it is all too fresh. B says that this is something I will look back on and laugh. I hope so because today I am not laughing! I have lots of pictures I have taken from activities this week so hopefully I will get them up here this weekend. Well, I am off to shuffle a bit of extra laundry this week as a result of our incident earlier today. Now doesn't that leave you wondering what happened...

Pictures Finally

This is just a quik peek at what has been going on around here. Above is Ainsley's preschool program that was last night.

B finally bought Aidan an inexpensive set of golf clubs. Here he is breaking them in. The child is obsessed with golf really. I will try to post some more tomorrow, but tonight B took Aidan to soccer so I have been playing with Ainsley and trying to catch up on photos. I get so behind! Later guys!

I'm still here...

but I have been busy making my daily lists and sticking to them. Today's list is already partially complete, but looks like this...
-clean baths
-load of laundry
-dishes
-paint

I am still working on the trim. I should finish the primer today and get started on the actual paint. I am hoping I can work on this some tomorrow as well, but we wil see. Allergy season has kicked into high gear for me so I am a bit scratchy and have a bit of my low voice, but I am still getting things done. Yesterday afternoon was a busy one. Ainsley had her preschool end of the year program, and the 3 year old class (Ainsley's) sang all the songs they learned this year. The 4 year old class did a musical version of Little Red Hen. Hilarious I tell you! They videotaped it so all the parents will be getting copies by the end of school. I am going to miss her little school next year as we head into the public school arena with her as well. The non church member tuition is just a bit high for us especially considering we would have 2 students. I don't want to go into debt for private school, but I do appreciate that the option is there if we need it.

Tonight is soccer practice as well so another busy evening, maybe I can get B to take Aidan again. That way we are not in such a rush at bed time. Ahh well, I will get pictures up from last night later today hopefully. Later taters!

Not to be left out...

This is the little note I recieved from Ainsley for Mother's Day as dictated to her teacher. After a rough week dealing with her newfound sassiness, it was wonderful to read. I love my sweet little girl and sweet little boy!

Mom through the eyes of my son...

Height 5 ft, well he was close there actually 5'1". Weight 75 lbs, not even on a good day anymore. Not even when I married the hubs and I was at my lowest adult weight of a shocking 85 lbs. Stress I tell you! Age...45! Are you kidding me! I had to laugh out loud and corrected him on that one. It is funny to see what he thinks of me. Dislikes...cucumbers and spicy chicken wings...where does he get this stuff! My little man gave me a good laugh today. Isn't that what Mother's Day is about? Hope all you Mom's out there had a great day!

Armor of God...

has been coming up in many places for me lately. I wonder why that is? Anyway, I love those verses in Ephesians! I came across this on the blog of my Pastor at my old church in Arlington and just had to share as I thought it was so important.


"Prayer is how we wear the armor of God [Ephesians 6:10-20]. Prayer is turning to God, talking to God and trusting in God."---David Daniels

Accountability...

this is something I so desperately need. The busier I get the more I procrastinate. I have been spending too much time tooting around on the computer as well. It is one thing to catch up on news and your friends, but another to sit around wasting time simply because you don't know where to start with your mess. I have started once again making my task list in the morning. It really seems to help guide my day. Anything that I get done that is beyond what is on my list is just gravy, one less thing for me to do later in the week. So today as I am beginning a big project I am going to share my list.

-clean baths
-prep Aidan's room for paint
-laundry
-get started on paint

I have to quit about 11 to go pick up my little one, but I can sure make a dent if I just get myself started.


Prayer time in the mornings on the way to school is going well. It is mostly me doing the talking but lately Ainsley has wanted to add her comments in. It is so cute to hear her say in her little pixie voice, "Dear God..." I think Aidan is going to be like his Mom and not be comfortable praying out loud which is totally fine. At least he knows that we are putting things in God's hands and the rest will come later. Outside of my comfort zone to pray with the kids like that, but I really think it is working and helping us with the school day issues. Well, that is it for now. Later taters!

Arthritic?

Oh now my hand hurts! The middle and pointer finger knuckles especially. I don't think I injured them in any way, but they are throbbing. It is difficult to type and write very much.

We had a busy weekend even though I had tried to schedule it so that it wasn't. Saturday was soccer, then B decided to recruit Aidan to work on the yard which Aidan did happily because Dad was going to take him to play golf. I think we have been able to secure Aidan some lessons. B talked with someone at the golf place and they usually don't start lessons until they are 8, but since it is Aidan that is interested and not Dad saying that Aidan is interested they are willing to start him early. Maybe that is something that we can work on for him this summer.

Sunday we had a company dinner out which ended up being very fun. I got to see B in work mode for a bit as it was a thank you dinner for the planning committee that organizes the company picnic and other activities. Their budget has been slashed tremendously due to the economy but I am hoping they will still be able to have the company picnic this summer. The employees seem to really enjoy it.

My parents are headed to PR this week and bring my grandmother back with them. I have my plane tickets purchased for June so that I will get a chance to see her. I still have to spend a week with my inlaws by myself with the kids so that should be interesting. Pray for patience and peace. More later my friends as I am off to bible study brunch...no lunch for me today!

Bleach Pen Happiness

Not long after moving here, I began to get to know Miss J one of my dear friends. She had recommended the Clorox Bleach Pen to help remove a stain from one of my baby girls shirts. Worked great and I loved it. Recently I had run out of my bleach pen and went to Wally world where I usually buy laundry products and lo and behold they have none. Several weeks went by with none in sight so I was starting to think they weren't making my beloved product anymore. I was very distressed. Fast forward to this morning, I stopped at Lowe's to buy some supplies for some projects I am working on. What do I spy on one of the main aisle end caps, but my beloved Clorox Bleach Pen! I did a little happy dance right there and Ainsley joined me in my joy. Who knew a small laundry product could just make my day! Later!

Prayers for the Houstonians...

Houston is underwater. My parents apparently are trapped at home as their street is flooded and their office parking area is flooded as well. My sister is at her office and hopefully headed back out to her house soon as more rain is expected. As she said it ...Houston is the city that forgot how to drain. I will keep you all posted!

I love it when...

Aidan reads to Ainsley. He has read her 3 books already. These to me are moments from the Lord. Moments when he says to me...it is all going to be alright.

Same old stuff different day...

I am not going to complain. I am praying and I can't do anything to remedy this situation other than that. This time it is Ainsley with the issue not Aidan. I told them that we are not playing with the across the street kids unless we are out at the playground. I am tired of this. My children are not going to their home until I feel comfortable with sending them again. I am tired of feeling like my children are being abused verbally by children their own age. I am just tired. Why do they even want to play with these kids? It is not as if they are lacking friends. Seriously this is the last post I am making on this subject. I need to be firm about this and not just cave in because I feel bullied. I am feeling bullied a lot lately and feel like the bad guy when I put my foot down. Now the foot is down and it is staying down.

Mich went home...

and I have no pictures as it was a miserable weekend weather wise, but she was a great sport. We enjoyed time playing games with the kiddos doing a bit of shopping in town on our one good weather day. She attended Aidan's soccer game and watched from the safety of the car as it was cold and raining! We also took her to her favorite local gallery and greenspace so she could buy some gifties and treats for herself. The kiddos were pooped after church and brunch today so they stayed home while I drove her to the airport. According to B they slept for almost 3 hours! For Aidan to nap is almost unheard of. Hopefully she will come back again soon!

My Sister is here!

Sis is here. The house is bouncing and kiddo only has a half day of school today. Should be decent weather and have no set plans. Loving it!

Soccer Saturday

For the next few months all Saturday mornings will be filled with soccer games. Aidan loves to play goalie as seen above. I think it is just because you don't have to run around as much.

I love seeing the kiddos in action. His team is all first and second graders. This kid in the picture to the far right was also on Aidan's football team. He is huge! Can you believe this kid is in second grade. He is now a good head and shoulders taller than Aidan. Aidan is pretty avarage size compared to the kids in his class so he is not terribly small. But Jeez o Pete that boy is big.

My Aidan is 7!

Aidan turned 7 yesterday after a whole weekend of celebrating. Saturday evening was his party with friends. Sunday evening we took him out for his birthday dinner. Monday I took cupcakes to his class at school. This is all I am going to post for now as my time is limited this morning and I had a horrendous day yesterday. I can't believe this boy is 7! He keeps telling me not to be sad, which I am not. I am just proud of the young man he is turning out to be. So smart, so funny, loving, generous and kind hearted. I could not ask for much more. We are blessed as a family. Well, I will hopefully be back later as I have some fun stories to tell!

What a week it has been...

it has been a short week for us school wise but a long week for us otherwise. The weather has been amazing so the kids have had the chance to play at the playground afterschool and yesterday many interesting things happend. First off, I came to feel like a total oddball in that the other Mom's were wishing for year round school. I am waiting for school to finish so that I can have my children at home. I love having them at home. Don't get me wrong we have our moments when they just drive me crazy but all in all I love it when we are all together. Not the feeling I was getting from these other moms. I am not saying that they don't love their children. I am sure that they do. Just different ways of parenting I guess. I am not sure. Secondly, the little sister to our neighbor/troublemaker for Aidan is causing me almost as many problems with Ainsley. I don't understand it really. She comes over and immediately says that Ainsley has done something to her when Ainsley has only been out of my supervision for a few mintues. The child is constantly complaining about my daughter even when she is playing at my house. I am starting to think that she just likes to see me put Ainsley in time out or punish her in some other way. I have no proof that Ainsley does the things that she says because they are usually on their own playing. Yesterday they did not play together at all. I know my child is not perfect, but this is so constant. Any suggestions anyone...whenever I am supervising their play closely they are usually fine so why does this happen only when I am distracted or dealing with Aidan or some other thing. Only one time did things get so bad, I told this girl that if she and Ainsley could not get along that I was going to send her home. She had Ainsley in tears at that point and I heard everything that went on. Just need the summer time buffer to come!

Tomorrow is the official start of soccer season. Aidan has had two practices now and am very pleased that he finally has a decent coach. I am hoping that he has lots of fun and actually learns some proper skills. Last years coach was such a dud and she ended up disappearing mid season. She asked my hubby to coach one Saturday and never came back. After about 2 weeks of this they finally got another coach in. She ended up being very good, but the kids were only with her for 3 weeks. She ended up teaching Aidan's t-ball class as well.

Saturday evening is Aidan's birthday party. We will be overrun with boys. I was trying to keep things small and not invite the whole class (for which I feel guilty) at school since Aidan wanted to invite one of his Kindergarten friends and a friend from church/Mommy friend and a neighborhood friend. Not working out to keep things small. It is looking like we will have 8 boys and a few siblings of said boys. Not too bad really, but when you have that many boys together...one never knows. Sunday I have nursery duty and the remainder of the day will be spent recovering from Saturday. Who knows they could surprise me. Aidan's little friend/troublemaker will be there so I am praying for peace among all the children and that Aidan doesn't get frustrated with him. I hope Aidan gets the chance to play fully with everyone and that maybe B could even organize a soccer game in the yard or something. Prayer prayer prayer people.

Happy Easter Everyone...

We had a busy week preceding Easter Sunday. First the kids and I made treats to take to the teachers at both schools. Aidan has such a sweet heart that not only did he want to take treats to his teacher, but also to the other first grade teacher and to the ladies in the office as well. I did not have enough materials on hand to take treats to the office ladies so he was satisfied to take treats to the teachers only. I will have to remember to buy more chocolate for next year.
Saturday we dyed Easter eggs for the first time. My children don't eat hard boiled eggs so I have avoided this in the past. They had a blast and actually ate the "duds". We had 2 eggs that cracked during the boiling process. Aidan did let me know that he preferred the "skin" (the egg white) to the egg yolk. At least they tried them so for that I was grateful.

Our finished product.

Easter Sunday in their finery. We went to church Sunday morning. Ainsley looked lovely in an outfit that she picked out. Aidan is happy to wear what I get him which makes me happy. I like to dress him in sweaters and slacks. He looks so handsome.

We stopped for breakfast at our favorite place. For dinner I made a amazing roast and all the trimmings. B took the kids to the park as the weather was nice. After dinner we had some outside playtime with some neighbor kids. I hope everyone had as nice a weekend as we did. Aidan is off from school until Tuesday. Today is cloudy and I am thinking it might rain later, but I am hoping to get the kids out for some outside playtime even if it is just in the back yard. I do have some limbs to remove before our festivities of the next weekend to come. That is more for another post though. Later taters!

Appropriate for today...

I am not going to post much today. Today was Linda's funeral and it was uplifting and fun and sweet just as she would want it to be. She had us laughing through our tears. I will refer you over to The LPM Blog on my blog list. Read the post for today it will break your heart, but timely since Linda suffered with breast cancer as well. Have a special Good Friday everyone.

Difficult day...

difficult week. I have been so off this week. I can't even really explain why. I have been super busy. Yet, I can't seem to accomplish anything. Tomorrow is my friend's funeral. I think this is the first time I have been to a funeral of someone I considered a friend. Maybe that is why I am feeling off. Not sure. We have had some happy days around here really. Aidan has been especially joyful due to increasing outside playtime because of the nice weather. Ainsley is just being a pill in general. The sassiness is at an all time high and she is trying to give up her nap. She will stay in her room, but she will stay in bed playing and singing for 2 hours. The other evening she was so tired she put herself to bed around 4:30. I had to wake her up for dinner about an hour later. Ahh, well...off off off. I am just off. Tomorrow will be a better day.

No one can say their vote doesn't count

www.htrnews.com/article/20090408/MAN0101/90408485/1984


I am having trouble getting this to link properly. Basically the point is in a local election yesterday, our new mayor won the election by only 15 votes. I am proud to admit that I went and voted yesterday when I don't typically vote in small elections. Glad I did even if my candidate did not win.

Quilts...

Once upon a time one of my readers asked about some pictures of my quilts. I wasn't sure where they were. In looking for some pictures of Tucker this weekend I found some. I think seeing them and having my sewing machine back in good working order has inspired me. This is a bad time for inspiration as I am swamped these next 2 weeks, but maybe I can make a little magic happen.
Storybook quilt that I made for my dear friends little boy. It is the creation story. I really enjoyed all of the bright colors.

These blocks were part of a block of the month program. The recurring them here was the center square in each block. These are the types of colors that appeal to me most naturally.

This was another block of the month quilt. The recurring theme here is they are all varieties of stars.

This was another miniquilt I made for my sister using a Hello Kitty pillow pattern. I thought it would be cute to turn the squares into quilt blocks and give her a unique Hello Kitty piece. I have various other things in various degrees of completedness. Maybe I am realizing that life is too short and I have to spend a little bit of time working on things I enjoy again. I am working on a cross-stitch piece that I plan on keeping for myself. So many projects so little time.

Miss Linda...

passed away last night. Here I am in the middle of the night writing because I can't sleep and thought if I get this off my mind maybe I would be a bit more settled. I am struggling with a migraine so that is actually what made me get up. My apologies for how incoherent this must sound so back to Miss Linda. Even though I was expecting this call since last week especially my breath was taken away. She was so full of life I hated to think of her suffering in pain. I know three things for certain in the wee hours of this morning...1. Linda is with our Lord tonight. 2. I consider it an honor to have had to opportunity to have known her and 3. She is greatly loved and will be missed by her friends, family and all of those whose lives she touched.

Tucker

My Dad called today to let me know he had to put his beloved dog Tucker down yesterday. He has been ill for a very long time and honestly I am surprised he lasted as long as he did. This is a photo of him in his better days. They had a bond that I never quite understood. My Dad loved this sweet dog and is very sad to have lost him. They still have 2 dogs at home as they inherited one recently from friends who moved overseas. I don't think he will ever be as bonded to them as he was to Tucker though. If you have a moment pray for my Dad tonight.

Math

Aidan is working on more advanced math than the rest of his class yet he still participates in the same class work. Meaning he gets sent home the same worksheets. Typically they are basic math concepts of addition, subtraction, graphing, etc. Yesterday we were sent home with the most ridiculous worksheet in my opinion. I had to give him numbers and he had to write down the number and then add 0 and then add 1. I am sure this is teaching some sort of math concept, but we are way beyond this already, people. I think even the other children in the class were beyond this with the other work that has come home. Because he works separately with the teacher he is not getting bored, but for heavens sake I think they are beyond adding 0 and 1 to other numbers. Just my thoughts on the subject.

This weekend we were invited to a friends for an Easter egg hunt for Sunday afternoon. After watching the weather, I think we are going to be hunting eggs in the snow! I am hoping they move things indoors otherwise I am going to have to bring boots and snow pants for the little people. Enough snow already! Well, have a great weekend everyone. Later taters!

Drama!

Who knew there would be so much drama at the first grade level? Aidan wants to invite friends over, but another boy is very aggressive about invitations so Aidan backs off and gets upset. Other kids are upset because they can't come over today. Others are upset because they want to come too and Aidan just wants the one kid today. I can't win! I can't win seriously. I miss the isolationist days of babyhood. I seriously dread the afternoon pick-up so much so that I would almost send Aidan home on the bus but we live so close to the school that we don't get bus service. I can't win. Someone will always be hurt or upset. I can't wait until the weather is a bit more consistantly warm so that we can just play at the playground afterschool and at least my children will be happy with that. Later! Sorry about the rant.