The miracle flower...

This is Fri night, 1 week since the orignal debut of the sunflower...now our miracle flower...




because, for some reason, this flower makes my kids want to hug each other and smile...



and I think that's great!

How to eat a cucumber...

Ace cracks me up...daily,

"I no yike da peel!" he says,

So, he ate through the peel on the top and left it on the bottom.

Whoa...10 years!

Just wanted to wish my BFF and her hubby Happy 10th anniversary! I can't believe it's really been that long. BFF and her hubby have accomplished so much...2 beautiful boys, 2 well deserved educations...and they still seem to like each other! She and I spent the day getting pedicures, eating lunch, and doing what she loves best...shopping, all while her thoughtful hubby got everything together for a SURPRISE Vow Renewal Ceremony! It was a beautiful night, her boys walked her down the isle, the pastor said some beautiful words, and I'm so proud of her for being a good sport, because I expected she would kill him at the church! :)

I searched high and low...but don't have a pic of us on the original Big Day, so here we are now! Plus, nobody really needs to know how skinny we were back then :)

Congratulations guys! We love you!

Oh what a day...

Sometimes I amaze myself...with sheer, natural stupidity. Yes, I know, I just called myself stupid...except we really don't use that word at our house...but since the kids can't read, I'll say it again...I can do some pretty STUPID things (just ask Hubs, or my dad who usually have to fix the aftermath).

Today. End of seven work nights, not sleeping well, woken up so Hubs could go help Grandpa, alone with 2 kids, hungry beyond reason with nothing to eat at home...and I'll insert here that I gave it an honest try...jelly but no PB, crackers but no cheese, no cereal, no lean cuisines, no anything edible...I decided that groceries were inevitable...now to the stupid part...

I fell for this...


and there was a lot of this...


For the record...only 1 innocent bystander was grazed, I did not loose my sanity, I did not yell, I think I got everything I was supposed to, and both kids made it home with me...oh the Grace of God is endless.

On a side note...the sunflower, for those of you on pins and needles, is now officially as tall as me. I would now give you photographic proof, but since yesterday was "national wear your husbands old gym shorts and blood donation t-shirt around town day" (if you didn't get that memo I'm sorry, perhaps you'll catch it next time and join in)...I'll just wait until tomorrow to take a new picture. Thank-you for your understanding.

...and grows!

The way God amazes us each day with his creation...well, it's amazing! Our family is totally enjoying our rouge Sunflower that has decided to grow in one of our front flower beds (as seen last Friday)! While I thought the most exciting part was going to be the huge flower surpassing Bugs height, we have been shocked to see that it's almost grown a foot since then...

This is Sunday, 2 days after initial pic (please ignore the fact that she wore the same outfit Fri and Sun...I was asleep both days)...

and Tuesday...

We are now looking forward to seeing if our second rouge sunflower will amount to much! We will officially start gauging it in Ace size and see how it goes!

Here is Ace on Sunday...

And Tues...

This has been such a fun experience to teach the kids about how things grow, and to be so thankful of the little gifts Jesus sends our way! I am so glad that I've been less that diligent this year about keeping the flower beds weeded...with a more on top of it mommy, we might have missed out on all of this fun!

There she grows!

Bug has been absolutely facinated the past few weeks with a random sunflower that has sprung up in our flower bed (probably from the birdfeeder)!

Every day she stops by it on the way to the car to check it out!

Friday she was beside herself...

It's now as tall as she is!

Happy Fathers Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing men in my life...


My dad...AKA Grandpa...father of 4, Grandpa of 4.5


Hubs dad...AKA Poppy...Father of 3, Poppy of 2


"Uncle J-Rod", father of 2, who is also nice enough to share a birthday with Ace.


JJ...an awesome uncle who will be a first time father in December!



and of course...Hubs!

You are all wonderful men, and I am so glad to have you all in our lives!
LOVE YOU!

Father's day also gives us a chance to remember those who helped raise us, but aren't here to hug anymore...
My "Granddad" Charles, who I was lucky enough to have at my wedding, but passed away the day after Thanksgiving 2002 after a long battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I remember always how hard he worked, and how hard he laughed the day that mom was trying to teach me how to drive a standard at his house :) I will also be eternally grateful that we were there as a family the day that Granddad was baptised in the spring of 02!
And also, my "Papa" Wallace, who passed away 6 wks before Bug was born after complications following open heart surgery. Papa loved the Lord with a passion I've yet to see surpassed and smiled all the time.
Unfortunately I never had a chance to meet Hubs Grandfather's, but have heard wonderful and loving stories!
We miss you all!

T-O-T Stop 2...Fried Pickles Anyone??

Upon arriving in Bwood Tx we headed over to meet lively and irreplaceable Aunt Bec at her "Rapartment", the kids were super excited to see her (and her frogs)!

(Yes, that is Aunt Bec...in the bathtub...with FROGS...that she grew from mere tadpoles, of course...sigh...)

And that is my brave Bug touching the frog after Hubs was forced kind enough to come demonstrate how easy it was to gently touch the frogs because mommy was totally grossed out and shivering in fear busy taking pictures of the event!

We had a lovely homemade vegetarian lunch (cooked by the newly reformed Aunt Bec) of mushroom, onion, and cheese quesidillas...yum...and headed over to the hotel for some swimming! But, unfortunately, God saw fit to send a rainstorm with hail and lightning, about the time we got our floaties on and got good and wet...also spoiling our plans to go to a hot air balloon thingy in Dr. Pepper TX...insert major sigh...

Luckily uncle Kris arrived into town and he and Aunt Bec came up with an even better idea...

The Runaway Train...a super cool old diner car that is now...a diner...complete with fried pickles!

These things were GREAT! We don't normally splurge on such fried up delicacies at our house, but to make up for the lack of swimming and hot air balloons, and exception was made!

Bug and Ace hanging out at the bar with Hubs...

Aunt Bec and Kris...so cute!

The food was great, and super fun, so we headed off to the park, where Kris was kind enough to show Ace what not to do on the playground...because, evidently Ace needs even more help finding thing to climb up and jump off (his current life mission)...

That would be the top of a huge swing set...thanks so much Kris, I'll send you the ER bill the first time Ace figures this one out...

Tour O Texas 2009 (between stops...)

One of the most enjoyable parts of our tour between stops was looking at all of the wind farms in west Texas. One of the first farms we saw Hubs counted over 100 windmills in one "small" area. (Unfortunately my camera was in the back, so we don't have pics.)

The kids loved it, we talked all about what the windmills were for and how they help keep our world clean...except they call them Pinwheel Farms! When we rounded one corner and came across one of the biggest "Pinwheel Farms" out there....Bug, in her most country twang possible, said "Well, that just looks like a whole Pinwheel World don't it!" It was too cute!

Happy "World Wide Knit in Public Day"!

Yes, that's right people! Grab your friends,pattern, needles, yarn and go knit in public today!

I had actually never heard of such a day...

until this...

...while on our Tour O Texas last week, on our way from Bwood to Dr. Pepper Tx (more on that later) Hubs unfortunately regrets was so kind as to point out this sign in Comanche and...on impulse, after getting Bec (in the car behind us) on the phone, demanded to Hubs "Pull over immediately!! No I'm not joking, pull over I'm going to go knit!!" Because, what real knitter could drive past that sign and NOT want to whip out her needles (which were conveniently in the car with me) and join in the fun?? Not this knitter!

We met some lovely local ladies who all get together and knit once a week, saw lots of lovely projects, and just talked a lot about knitting...it was great!

These are some of the lovely local ladies...


Haley and Aunt Bec (actually Bec was helping Haley crochet)

Me knitting the back of a baby sweater I've been working on for my new nephew or niece...



All in all it was a lovely addition to the Tour of Texas 2009! Maybe next year I can host my very own Knit in Public Day celebration!

Tour O Texas 2009...Stop #1

I recently blogged about mine and Hubs crazy work schedules, and reported on the fun ways we take advantage...well this week, we really went crazy!

It's been a while since we went anywhere far away as a fam, so I got a hair brained idea Tues afternoon that we should venture out and visit some of our family we haven't seen in a while.

Now, please take into consideration that I, evidently, am not too great on my geography of Texas. I mean, sure, I know how it's shaped, know where I live, know where the coast is and what the panhandle is...but when I suggested that we head out to Lubbock to visit our fabulous cousin, then "Since we're going to be that way anyways, why don't we head to Bwood and visit Aunt Bec" clearly I had no clue what that meant!

In my brain, since Lubbock is 5 hrs away to the "left", and Bwood is 4 hrs to the "left" then the two must practically be touching! Um, NOO! So, Hubs gave me a funny look, stoped short of pulling out the map of our great state to show me how off I was, and we packed up and headed out to Lubbock!

We had a fabulous time with "Cousin Heaber/Heaver"! She took us to lunch at 50th Ave Caboose where there was a huge arcade and great food. Here's Bug and our cousin playing "Deal or No Deal", Bug loves to slam that No Deal button, the girl has nerves of steal!


Ace with his "Heaber"...(who had to hold his hand anywhere and everywhere we went,his rules, of course)


Bug modeling the super cool princess crown she got with her tickets from playing games...



Later that day we spent some time in the pool, ate dinner, and went to the mall so the kids could run off their extra energy before bedtime! We had a wonderful, even though it was way too short, visit with Heather and can't wait to go back and visit again!

Happy Birthday...

*updated*
Just wanted to let anyone who knows anything about dead things know that Hubs was mortified when he saw his picture for this post (just so happened it was the first hunting pic I came across in my search). I would like to go on record saying that Hubs has shot WAY BIGGER DEER that the one in the pic below! Just in case you were shocked...well, glad I got that cleared up...now going to start a post about our recent "Tour O Texas 2009"

...to Hubs!







Today is my fabulous husband's bday!



I just wanted to take a few minutes to let everyone know why I love this guy...



He is a great dad!

He knows how to undo a LOT of the goofy stuff I've managed to pull off in the last 7+ years

He loves me in spite of the goofy stuff I've managed to pull off...and let me tell you...there's been plenty. (on an interesting note, if you ever loose a spatula in the front of your new whirlpool duet dryer...give him a call!)

He is a patient, wonderful man

He's a good kisser

His kids adore him...

Happy Bday honey, we are lucky to have you!

I love you!

The "Zooquarium"...

One of the crazy things about our life, dealt with on a daily basis, is our work schedules. Hubs and I are both in health care and both have bizarre schedules that make those around us scratch their heads...it works for us, so we do it! One of the coolest things about our schedules is that it allows both of us to be home, more that normal, and together as a family! Occasionally, it allows us to be spontaneous.

Example...

Thurs, (after ACE received a "faux-hawk" from his talented aunt), Hubs announced "Everybody get dressed...we're getting out of here!" So we did, and off to the Dallas World Aquarium we went. We had a wonderful time, and the kids were great listeners and had a blast! My mom laughed later when Bug was filling her in on all of the cool stuff at the "Zooquarium". I can see why there might have be some confusion...it's called and Aquarium, but seemed more like a zoo...we saw penguins (ACE was disappointed that they didn't tap dance), monkeys, a 3 toed sloth, tons of birds...you know, zoo stuff!

All in all, just a great day!

Hubs and I topped it of with date night (we had already scheduled a sitter) complete with the ever-so-romantic swing by Wally World for some basic household necessities! Oh the romance of being "old and married"!

A great day, that, if we were bogged down M-F 8-5 would have been impossible!

And now...for the pics!


"Faux-hawk"

Me and Bug with the "sleepy sloth"


Penguins that didn't have "happy feet"

Getting ready for lunch...Spaghetti and Meatballs!

1-800-222-1222...

I would just like to say....
that I never had to use the above number for this sweet girl




This charming boy, however...


I've had to use it twice!
Yes, it's poison control...
They are very handy people, by the way, friendly too...if only you could talk to such friendly people when your child hasn't just done something...creative?

Our first call was when ACE had just started walking...he, as he often still does, toddled up to the dishwasher while I was loading it, pulled out a spoon, and with the fine motor skills never before seen on a 10 month old, scooped up a bite of dish washing detergent before I could stop him, and down it went! (this was, of course, before we headed down the more natural cleaning path and Seventh Gen products) He turned out fine...

Last week, while nosing around in our room,(2 ft away from us btw...I say that just so you know we aren't neglectful...obviously just blind) he took a roller of off brand muscle rub to his eye...that boy is fast! Thankfully, after Hubs rinsed him out really fast, and I made the dreaded call, he was fine. Pretty sure he won't try that one again!

Our boy seems destined, I think, to always keep us on our toes!
(The pic above is him after the incident with a wash rag...he came out unscathed!)

P.S. Just to prove how nice the poison control people are...that nice man even offered to call back in 1hr to check on us! I let him know we'd be fine, but thanks anyways!

Graduation Day...

As if another reminder of the rapid growing up was needed, we were faced on Friday with another milestone...

Preschool Graduation!

Bug's preschool held a graduation celebration, complete with certificates, cake and punch!

I was shocked by how fast this year has gone, and faced with the fact that, I'm sure, if I blink really hard I'll be blogging soon about high school graduation.

Bug getting her certificate from her teacher "Miss M"

The proud family! (Hubs is getting a little snippy about being featured here...so I'm giving him a bye on this post!)

Not Me Monday...

I my first attempt to join in on McMammas Not Me Monday, I give you some of the not so proud moments of the week...

Yesterday morning, I totally did not lock my keys in the house for the second time this week and have to trudge across the street and ask to borrow a putty knife again to break into my back door and retrieve them, and then proceed to be absolutely mortified when my neighbors husband, and not my neighbor opened the door and laughed when I gave my explanation for needing the handy tool! (Thank-you Dave for helping, but it's not necessary to now smile, wave and ask me if I have my keys every single time you see me! :)

On that thought, I totally did not just mention on my blog that my back door can be opened with said putty knife...that would be crazy!

After about the 4th big boy "unnerwear" change Saturday while Hubs was at work did not honestly think to myself that starting Kindergarten in pull ups might not be such a bad thing after all...I mean, really, they make them so thin these days, you can hardly tell they aren't real!! :)

And finally...I would not and did not say a little too loudly to my 5yo sweetheart of a girl BUG as the new movie Up was starting (the lady behind me started laughing) "SERIOUSLY IF YOU DON'T PUT THESE GLASSES ON YOUR FACE AND LEAVE THEM THERE, YOU OWE ME $3 WHEN WE GET HOME!" because really, it doesn't matter if she didn't want to wear the 3D glasses, at least she was sitting in her seat and being quiet...which is more that ACE was giving me in that moment...

Whew...that's a lot of honesty for one day...glad I didn't actually do any of that stuff this week (wink, wink) For anybody else feeling honest, hop on over to McMamma's blog and join in!