well crap!

dangit. somehow summer is already over. how did that even happen? i mean, wasn't it just june? and now its mid-august, and i have to report to work on monday morning. sheesh.

we have really had a fun summer. i honestly can't remember more fun. the heat has been brutal, and put a damper on some of the things we wanted to do, just because its really hard to want to do anything outside when its 108 degrees every dang day. stupid heat wave.

but we did manage to swim...kc pool, my moms, our neighbors. we did arts and crafts at cousin camp. we went to the movies (a bunch!) and roller skating. we took our first family vacation to colorado. we started repainting the inside of the house.

and mostly, the kids played. and played and played. the big kids had a lot of fun playing super-imaginative games together this summer. they played house, and college, and camping. they played "vet-express" (which involves putting all the stuffed animals in the big thomas the train tent) and pet store. they played board games and hide and seek. it was just a relaxed fun time to be together.

and it passed all too quickly. but before i get all mopey, there will always be another summer! only 9 mos to go!!!

and in all fairness, though i do adore summer, i love fall too! so much to look forward to...almost all our family has a birthday between september and november! the state fair. halloween. cooler temps. playoff baseball. football season, hockey season. a wedding (not mine! lol!). and thanksgiving.

but this summer i did discover (haha thanks emily) the biggest coolest time wasting site ever. pinterest. love it. can't live without it now. i tell you this because 1) i will probably reference it in future blog posts and 2) every now and then i may change up my format just a bit, to include cool things i have done in my classroom, or great books i read, or some of our favorite recipes, because all of these can be shared on pinterest. lol. i am that dorky. but it is fun, and has given me some wonderful recipes, some great ideas for my classroom, my home, clothes....the list is too long. and lots of people post their ideas from there blog, so every once in a while don't be shocked to see that. and i promise you that if i am posting a recipe on here, i have made it, and it is very very yummy!!!!

let me know what you think!

colorado!

so, long story short, i took the kids on vacation to colorado for a week. thank goodness for uncle b! the kids and i flew to colorado for a vacation. i know. i knew as soon as i booked it that i was insane. but it wasn't as bad as i imagined it would be....but i have a very vivid imagination!

needless to say, the kids were thrilled to take an airplane! and really, if i had a big suv or minivan, i would have driven. but i don't. and i couldn't imagine the drive....so we flew. and the way there was WONDERDFUL! the flight was terribly bumpy, but the kids were amazing. ellie slept the entire way.

we did so much in our time there....i felt like we hardly slowed down to catch our breath! but it was a great time. MANY of the pictures are stuck in my camera, and i will try to upload them at some point this week. but above, the little kids are riding on polar bears at the denver zoo's merry go round. the kids loved the zoo. especially the polar bears, seals and jackals. the dallas zoo is great, but we don't have anything like that. oh, and the hippo was a big hit too.

the big kids are outside the denver aquarium in this picture. most of the pics from the aquarium are also stuck in my camera. but the aquarium (while crazy pricey!) was one of sweetpea's favorite things! so it was a good time!

b and the children of the corn at casa bonita. casa bonita is something everyone should experience. its just something else. its pancho-esqe food....most everything is all you can eat....and the quality appeared to be about the same. (for me, thats a drawback, but i do know some people that love them some panchos!!!) but then, there restaurant is clearly the attraction. there just aren't words. there are puppet shows, and a pirate cave, and an arcade, and a mercado...with sweets and everything. and there were a bunch of light ups for sale. and tables everywhere. and little melodramas with captured princesses and pirates. oh, and don't forget cliff-diving. what's mexican food without a cliff-diving show while you eat it??
and of course, i took little mama to the american girl store in denver. she had to go. and she loved it.

and i am leaving tons out. we saw cars 2. we saw the pirates exhibit at the museum. aquarium. zoo. dinosaur ridge (which was REALLY REALLY cool) met some of b's friends. visited rocky mtn. national park (which was wonderful) and also got to spend an evening with my bff from college, mary, and her boys. which was a great night....

so all in all, a surprisingly good vacation. a little drama here and there, and a few time outs, but overall, not as bad as i pictured. but, i am in no hurry to do it again either! haha!

the first week of summer

summer is finally here! summer is here!

and we started it off with a bang!

sweetpea decided to give up her crib.

and took over little mama's bottom bunk instead.

i guess that's one thing off the to-do list for the summer!

tuesday we went with a friend to pump it up. the kids had a ton of fun jumping and playing and sliding. sweetpea (who is way too little for this) is far too brave. this picture was seconds before she let go and busted her lip! didn't slow her down at all.

later that day we went to an outdoor concert at the dallas arboretum. to see a johnny cash tribute band. the kids LOVE johnny cash. they were also sure they were actually seeing johnny...and no amount of me convincing them he was dead would do it. oh well.

here are the children of the corn playing with their fans and streamers their grandma got them. they had a great time dancing and singing along!

wednesday we went to a movie. not terribly exciting. and little mama had a baseball game. in fact she had baseball three nights this week. ugh.

thursday we ventured out to burger's lake in ft. worth. it was a great time. we took a bit ol' picnic and swam and played for about four hours.

the boy was not too sure about sand on his wet feet.

if you look closely, little mama and the boy are the kids in the water, wearing the life vests!


friday we puttered around the house and rested up. we are about to leave to go swimming for a few hours. the first week of summer has been very busy and very fun! there's still lots more fun to come!

but i wanted to leave you with this picture.

maybe i should feed her more often?

pictures

so we've been busy...which is both good and bad. good, time is tripping by quickly...and summer is almost here. bad, because time is passing quickly, and the kids are changing before my eyes!

so i have some easter pics and mothers day pics to share. i know i am a bit behind. but we've been busy!

Easter was a really nice day. Of course, Easter bunny came. He brought the kids sweet baskets, with a few toys, some candy, and bicycle horns! (DAMN you, Easter bunny!) Being the role-model mom that I am, it didn't occur to me until much later in the day that I probably should be taking some picutres. So all the pics I have are from my mother-in-laws house. And one of the kids at my moms! Oops.

you see that i couldn't pry the lollipop from sweepea's hand. and i have no idea what happened with the boy's hair.

Mother's day followed Easter pretty quickly this year. our weekend plans went terribly awry...and it wound up being the kids and i (with my aunt.) at the rangers game. we had a nice time. kids did well. this is the first time all three kids have gone to the ballpark...before it was always one or two of the three. It went very well, though next time I think I will spring for better seats. I was so tired from carrying people up and down those stairs!

the little fans dressed and ready to roll. i thought this picture was really cute at first.

then i realized it looks like two zombies are emerging from the big kids torso's to snatch sweetpea.

bet that ruined the picture for you, huh?

my last post was all about people and things i was thankful for. in that thought, i wanted to leave you with this last picture.

.

my top 20

my top 20 favorites....
....today....and not really in order. really. especially to the people i name specifically. not in order.

1. my kids (i know that is cheating, but one day, should they learn to read, and happen upon this post, and one is listed before the other two, i am sure that i will regret not lumping them together)

2. my family. (again, sort of cheating....but i love them all, and they love me too, and i just want them to know i really really really really appreciate the love and support they give me without end)

3. pickles. (really, i love pickles. first choice, best maid hamburger slices. second choice, the giant big best maid pickles.)

4. photo albums

5. that first truly cool day (usually in late september) that lets you know that the texas summer won't last forever, and that fall will be here soon

6. a night at home with my besties/family, playing board games (or video games) and grilling and cooking together with all our kids

7. whiskey

8. sheets right out of the dryer, in the winter

9. snow days

10. emily and susan (who are there for me anytime, to LITERALLY hold my hand if needed, and offer unconditional love and support, time, and just anything else you could think of. they are the best, best, best)

11. modern family, parenthood, nightline, and swamp people (i'm a little embarrassed to cop to the last one)

12. a freshly mowed lawn. and by the same token, a just vacuumed rug. (i know that's strange)

13. a skinny cinnamon dolce latte

14. my bff's at school (steph and cathy especially. i can't even imagine dragging my butt to school some days. but i know y'all would be p.o.'d if i didn't show...plus, how could i ever be as organized at steph if i don't show up! haha)

15. reading blogs. naturally my friends, my family's, pioneer woman (thanks em), and the people who don't know i love to read them....

16. going to a farmers market with the kids. they love to eat what they buy. yea, it often costs more, but if they eat it...its worth it.

17. cake. (the band, not the food. ok, i do also like cake the food. but not lately for some reason. but the newest cake cd, many of those songs just really click with me right now)

18. baseball

19. books. my poor, neglected books. i love to read. anything. i am a nerd.

20. did i mention my family? man, do i love them all! my parents and step-parents. my in-laws (?) are sweet. my brother and cousin...and children who belong to them. all the assorted aunts and uncles, both sides. and my sister and brother in laws...i could NOT have married into a better family...and i love you all. thank you.

and like i said, at any point, many of those things could change. i mean, i left off grilled cheese, swimming, twisted root,happy hour, fuel city tacos, extra recess, that jelly-legs feeling after you really push yourself when you jog, naps....

wonder woman?

haha! i read a couple different blogs and magazines, and they often feature "a day-in-the-life" profiles of moms and their families. yesterday was a nutzo day, but also (sadly) about normal! so i thought i would do "a-day-in-MY-life"

5:30-alarm sounds....snooze button
5:40-alarm sounds again...but i can hear sweetpea in her bed "more milk, more milk"
5:45-make coffee, make milk for sweetpea, start the kids breakfasts, and make little mama's lunch
6:00-wake up the big kids (the boy is already awake but waiting in bed for me to come tickle him to get him out of bed!)
6:05-the boy is munching on ceral, ellie is on her second cup of milk, and little mama is working on her second breakfast taco...
6:20-clean up breakfast, herd children into living room to get them dressed.
6:30-still getting dressed....haha
7:10- all the kids are dressed, and have shoes on. little mama's backpack and lunch are ready, and her easter basket (with eggs) are ready to go to school today
7:15-drop little kids off at daycare
7:20-drop off little mama at kinder
7:30-whew! at school a little early....prep tests, and start working on butterfly puppet templates for tomorrows interactive video conference
8:00- my second graders arrive
8:00-3:00- spend the entire day teaching, grading, prepping, and just generally controlling 20 rowdy second graders with a bad case of spring fever. and at lunch, i get a series of texts from little mama's teacher about her rough morning. schedule a conference after school.
3:00-3:30-still working on those dang butterfly templates...
3:30-pack up the butterfly supplies to work on at home, hustle out the door to meet with little mama's teacher
3:45-4:15 - conference with little mama's teacher. say a little prayer for a good day on wednesday
4:25-get home, get little mama a snack, get her homework out.
4:30-5:30-mow the front and backyards...while saying fevrent prayers that i NOT get hit by the lightning flashing all over the sky, in advance of a big ol' thunderstorm moving in. have to finish the lawn, today is my only option.
5:30-finished just in time....whew! super fast shower!
5:40-hit walgreens...return redbox movies, pick up two bags of candy for little kids school...
5:50-pick up ellie and logie from daycare
6:00-snacks and cartoons for EVERYONE
6:30-dinner is served...fruit, pancakes and sausage links....
6:55-bath time! (i stick all three boogers in the tub to speed things up...)
7:30- off to bed for sweetpea!
7:30-big kid story time, little mama reads us her take home reader, then we share a couple Easter stoires
7:50-big kid bed time!
8:00-start on the laundry...again...clean up dishes from dinner
8:20-stuff 4 doz eggs for the little one's egg hunt the next day
8:40-dump more clean clothes on laundry mountian...one of these days i WILL get all those clothes folded and put away. however, it won't be tonight...
9:00-back to the dang butterflies!
11:20-finally finished. at this point i have cut out 40 butterfly wings, 120 body part pieces, and 640 dots of assorted sizes, and put each child's supplies into ziplock baggies, with craft sticks, string, and pipe cleaners as well!
11:30-bed. finally.
11:45-or not. why is sweetpea crying? oh, she's lost her passie....
12:20-ugh. really son? accident in bed, more laundry for tomorrow.

and then....5:30...the alarm goes off again...no snooze today, gotta be AT school by 7:30 to tutor my math kids! sheesh!

happenings...

so there has been a lot happening in my (our) lives right now. a lot of it isn't great. things have been pretty damn rough since december. lots of changes. nobody likes change. well, not nobody i guess. but its hard to accept changes that you don't want and don't have control over. and i try REALLY REALLY hard not to have a pity party all the time, although i do have my moments of why me? and poor me. but those aren't helpful or productive, and i really don't have any spare time for self-pity. but there have been good things too. the boy got accepted to little mama's school for pre-k. so he will be back at school with his big sis! and they are both playing baseball. the boy is on a tball team, and little mama is playing coach pitch. the both LOVE it. and while i am sure poor sweetpea feels like she spends her whole life at the ball fields (two practices and two games a week....four nights/days total!), she loves watching and can't wait to play baseball either! and we are gearing up for summer. only 35 more school days....and just five more mondays! (of course, i don't count memorial day, so it seems shorter, but anything at this point will help!) the big kids will not be in any kind of summer program this year, since we don't need "spots" for either of them in the fall at the daycare. so just sweetpea will go. (we do still need her spot) actually, i will pay, and sweetpea will probably go a couple days a week. but that will work out well, since that means sweetpea can go and have fun at school (and she really does, her friends are great, and her teachers are WONDERDFUL!) and i can take little mama and the boy to do "big kids stuff" like roller skating or movies. and i am getting BRAVE. (or crazy) i am taking the kids to colorado in june. we plan to visit cousins, my brother, and my BFF from college! yea! more about our summer soon. and hopefully, less pity party time!

you will be missed

oh, my benny....

you will be missed so much.

you were the best dog a family could ever ask for.

and i am so glad you aren't in pain anymore.

love you

what may have been the funniest converstaion yet

we are riding in the car, on the way back from sonic.



kiss is on the radio...."i wanna rock n'roll all night....and party every day"


little mama: "mom, can people really do that, rock and roll all night and party every day?"



me: "i guess some people can"



little mama: " can we do that tonight?"



me: "i guess so, there's no school tomorrow"



the boy: "yea, and our house is clean for the party today"



little mama: "what?"



the boy: "for a party today, we have a clean house, but not your room you didn't finish"



little mama: " no boy, the song said rock and roll all night and party every day"



the boy: "yes, but little mama, your room is not clean, and people who rock and roll in your room will trip and fall down in the mess"



(at which point i am almost crying from laughing)

the rest of february....

the rest of february...



sweetpea turned two at the end of february! below is a picture of her on the morning of her second birthday. sweetpea LOVES legwarmers. she brings me a different pair every day. to wear with shorts or even over pants!

here is sweetpea at her birthday party, blowing out her candles! i put three candles on the cake on purpose....if you ask her how old she is, she will tell you "free". and if you tell her she is two, she will correct you! "NO, i'm free" the kid is something else!

sweetpea opening one of her gifts. she really loved all her gifts this year! it was so fun to celebrate with our family!


and lastly....on sweetpea's birthday our new swingset got installed in the backyard! (that was purely coincidence!) but here's what it looked like that day!

and here is the boy just thrilled to pieces in his new fort! this is without a doubt the best investment i have ever made. since we got the swingset, they have gotten home from school, changed into play shoes, and gone outside to play (and snack) until i call them in for baths or dinner! its wonderful! and they crawl into bed exhausted! love it! and the guy that i had come and build it is SOOOO reasonable, if you are in the market! ;)

so that brings you (pretty much) up to date with all the good things happening here. we have also in the past three weeks had three cases of the flu (in spite of the flu shot!), one round of strep throat, a case of pneumonia.....but all that is behind us now!

i will post more frequently!

coming in just nine days....spring break! woooo-hooo!

the beginning of february.....

ok, feburary is always a very, very busy month at our house! this year even more so!

there was a big ice storm/a tiny bit of snow.....and we were pretty well iced in for the week of the superbowl. i am sure you remember. haha.

but then little mama's birthday falls right at the start of ferburary!




she had a "hannah montannah" themed birthday party at home with her extended family!

little mama also had a party for with her school, neighborhood and future spouses (haha!). she wanted to have a swimming party! the kids had a great time, and it was fun to swim while the ground was still covered in snow and ice!

little mama also had her first loose tooth...the day after she turned six! it fell out about a week later....she was soooo excited!

the 100th day of school was the same week! below you can see what little mama would choose to do if she had a hundred dollars. she is still totally obsessed with getting her own iphone. i don't know what i am going to do with the girl!

and then it was valentine's day! aside from the INSANITY of getting three kids ready for parties (20-25 valentines EACH, plus teacher gifts, plus food for each party....) the kids wanted to celebrate at home. so we had a candlelight dinner of pizza (heart-shaped!), strawberries, and cookie (also hear-shaped!) at home that night. little mama decided that eating in the dark was not much fun, but the boy really liked it!

i will finish february in the next post....give me about 10 minutes!

ICK

i am writing to you from quarintine! haha.

i kid....sort of.

we are sick, again. apparently sweetpea got the flu, and somehow i missed it, and it turned to pneumonia. yuck. that was last thursday.

friday, the boy got the flu.

saturday afternoon, little mama got the flu.

it was a really fun weekend.

nana (my mom) stayed with the children of the corn yesterday.
i am home today.
someone will stay with little mama tomorrow. i think the boy will be ready for school tomorrow.sweepea went back today.
little mama got to have tamiflu...so maybe she'll be ready by thursday.

so stay tuned....let's see if i am meaner than the flu! haha!

(oh, and i ALWAYS get the kids flu shots....b/c of their asthma...this year they "missed" the virus that actually went around....the dr. said they are seeing lots and lots of flu in kids that were vaccinated!)

it's all JERRY's fault

in case you've been living under a rock....

dallas (and fort worth) are hosting the superbowl this year. this was supposed to be IT. the cowboys were going to be the first "home" team to play in the super bowl. north texas was going to rock the parties, with glitz and glam and really show the world how great it is. and the super bowl would be played here over and over agian, bringing much life to the dfw economy.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

so here's what really happened:

1) despite all the pre-season boasting, the 'boys finished a HIGHLY impressive (snort) 6-10....and no playoffs!

2) the "big"money teams (Jets and Bears) lost and we get the much-loved (but industrial) fans of Green Bay and Pittsburg....who love their teams....but lets be honest, the other match up was what we were hoping for....from a $$$$ point of view!

3) but in the end it wouldn't have mattered.....b/c the worst ice storm in 15 years has brought all of north texas to a sliding halt. the temps are ranging between 20 (the high) and 10 (the low) with wind chills in the ones, zero and negatives!!! WTH??? i have lived in dallas my whole life....its never been this cold! airports are basically shut down, buses and trains running randomly, traffic is a nightmare. the respective teams had to have sand-truck escorts to their media day activities. the outdoor practices have been moved to the TCU and Highland Park high (yes, football is that big....) indoor practice facilities...many parties are now very affordable or cancelled. some had to be moved, since the tents collapsed under the weight of snow and ice!

OH, and the best part....MORE SNOW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW!!

and did i mention the rolling blackouts? yes, it seems that we are having both natural gas and electrical shortages here, so people are experiencing rolling blackouts of both gas and electricity during "peak usage hours"....but according to many friends on FB this means all day. and that 15 minutes to the electric company actually works out to about 45 mins! so far our little household has been fortunate not to have experienced either of these (as i have three very young children trapped in the house with me who are neither fans of the dark, the cold, or a lack of television this is really really lucky!) yet. but since they are predicted to keep rolling through friday....we shall see. oh, but not to worry....the areas with the TEAM's hotels and of course the DEATHSTAR (for non-P1's thats the cowboys stadium) are EXEMPT from these rolling outages for homeland security reasons. nice. that's nice.

so anyways, you people in the NE under 20 some-odd feet of snow, feel free to blame global warming. i won't stop you.

but me, i'm blaming JERRY. at least for the mess down here.

and if DFW somehow manages to get another superbowl.....I am leaving town. seriously. I might even go to delaware....i heard it was warmer there than it was here this week. sheesh.

i miss simple.

i miss when things were simple.

when things were easy. not dramatic. when everyday wasn't filled with personal stress.

when the biggest decision to make was which bar to go to after work. or what movie to watch from nextflix.

you hear alot about "the crossroads of life".

they are overrated. by far.