New acquisition

I found this vinyl art yesterday @ Bed Bath and Beyond. Pretty, huh? It says "Spread Your Wings and Learn to Fly."

Three Amigos (Part 2)

So, last week we headed off to Central Texas for a girls' getaway. The day started off as any other for me - alarm going off at 6a, shower, dress, get the kids wrangled and off to school. But then I headed down to Lynn's house to get the trip going. After a few mins for a bathroom break and a quick weather check we were on our way.

We headed south to Corsicana and then cut across Highway 31 towards Waco. About halfway to Waco the rain started coming down so hard you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. But, we soldiered on determined to make it to our destination.

In Waco, we decided to stop and take a bathroom break and get something to eat. By this time it was around 11ish. This wouldn't have been a problem if a white van wouldn't have decided to park so close to me that we couldn't get back in the car. Yeah, something came out in me (and I'm still not sure what it was) ... and I ran back into the Whataburger yelling "who drives a white van?" Unfortunately, no one fessed up (they may have been afraid of me). So, I had to climb across the passenger seat to get into my car. I would have a taken a picture, but I was sooo mad that I didn't think about it until after we were gone.

After that, the day started looking brighter. The sun came out somewhere around Temple and by the time we made it to Killeen the roads looked dry. We cut across to Lampassas and then headed south to Marble Falls where we stopped and had a late lunch at the Bluebonnet Cafe. It was delicious. After that, we headed through Johnson City and then to Dripping Springs to check in to our B&B (even though she doesn't call it that). The place was NICE. Juniper Hill Farms, ya'll. They even had the cutest donkeys on site. Here are a few shots from the grounds (and one of the outside of our room/apartment).

That evening we decided to head over to Driftwood Winery before we went to dinner. We thought we were going to another winery, but we ended up at this one. At this point in the day, wine was wine. Especially considering it was 5p and all the tastings closed at 6p. I was finally starting to relax.

After my first-ever wine tasting (eh, the thought was nicer than the tasting), we headed back to Johnson City to have dinner at a hole in the wall that served upscale food. Wish I could remember the name of the place (Circle K Cafe ... no, that's a convenience store!). Anyway, Tracy and I split the Blue Cheese Filet. Delish. Lynn had some kind of fried fish (that is not normally fried). I am sad to say that I have no food pics from this trip. Shocking I know. Unfortunately, when we stopped to eat, we found this lovely screw in my tire. Fortunately, the tire didn't leak the entire weekend.

After dinner, we headed back to the B&B to relax. Lynn went to bed early but I was pretty much wide awake. So, I just laid in bed and read a magazine. Yeah ... it sounds pretty boring on paper but it was a fantastic day.

I'll write more about day 2 later.

Sign language

I'm back from the girl's trip ... and it was fantastic. More to come on that later this week when I have a bit more time. For now, I have some great signs for your viewing pleasure. I found that some residents of Central Texas have quite a sense of humor. These signs were seen in Blanco, TX and Wimberly, TX.

Three Amigos (Part 1)

This morning I am headed off for a girl's getaway with my friends Lynn and Tracy. I love a good road trip with loud music, sodas and all the junk food you can eat (yeah, so much for the weight loss plan and the Couch to 5k I was trying to do).

We're headed to the Texas hill country, so watch out all you folks down that way because we're coming to town. Oh, and is it sad that I'm kind of excited about going to Luckenbach? I cannot get that darn song out of my head now.

Be back on Monday!

Overheard

In the car on the way to school, Mallory seemed to be craving some freedom.

"Mommy, I wish I could fly like the birds. I could be Supergirl and Truett could be Superman."

Happy Easter 2009

Another holiday, come and gone. We had a good one this time around. Although we did miss Shawn. He was in Moab on his man-cation. Of course, he was having a great time, but it would have been more fun to be with us!

We started the weekend by heading out to Gilmer around 3p on Thursday. All was going well until I was about an hour away from home and realized that I "might" have locked Cinder in one of the bedrooms. The bad news was that I wasn't sure I had done it ... and that no one besides me and Shawn have a key to our house. I crossed my fingers and prayed that I had not done it. But, guess what? I did. We have been busy airing out Mallory's room to rid it of the pee smell. I hope Nature's Miracle is as good as it promises to be. Otherwise, I may be shopping for new bedroom carpet (we need it anyway).

On Friday, we made plans with my sister to take Mallory to see the new Hannah Montana movie. Her first movie! She loved holding the big tub of popcorn in her lap and it was so cute to see it grazing the edge of her chin. The only problem was that she was not heavy enough to keep the chair down and it kept riding up on her. I finally put my purse in the seat with her and that helped some. About halfway through the movie she asked Aunt Chele if we could leave. Then she spent the rest of the time on our laps. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience.

After the movie, Michele and I stopped off at the Dollar Store. Um ... I felt really sorry for this poor bunny. I saw another one that was hearing-impaired. Or, I assume so since it had a big hole in its ears.

We went back to Mom and Dad's house to find my brother and family there. Didn't do much that night but mess around the house.

Saturday we got up and was excited to be attending the Gilmer Annual Easter Egg Hunt. A good time was had by all but unfortunately we did not find a "prize" egg. I have several pics of True hunting eggs, but none of Mallie. We had to split forces this year, so Aunt Chele took Mallie to hunt. She did pretty well for herself.

Mimi and True

That afternoon while all the adults and True were napping, I decided it was time for the girls to dye their eggs. No real pics of the event since it was just me and I was really paying attention to keeping the egg dye cups from spilling over and turning the girls colors. But, I did take an after-egg dying picture of one of Mallory's eggs. This is a turtle.

Later that night, we headed over to Aunt Chele's for a family barbeque. Stoney and Michele had just gotten a ping-pong table which kept us busy for quite some time. But you can see that Cale, Mallie and Reagan had better things to do.

We left their house around 9p and went home. True was overtired but was having nothing to do with bed so cousin Jace played with him for a while. I can't figure out who was having a better time.


Then came time for the Easter bunny to visit. I think he went overboard this year.

Sunday was pretty mellow as it was raining cats and dogs. But, we made it home safely around 6p and have closed the books on another family holiday/gathering.

Sweet peace

I wish I was doing this right now.


Shawn is on a man-cation this week so I've had the kids by myself since around Friday (4/3) @ 11a. It's not good to be out numbered.

Eviction notice

I think I've blogged about Truett's biting habit. He doesn't just like to take a bite out of crime, but out of other little boys and girls too. Maybe he's secretly a vampire?! Well, anyway it all came to a head last week. He bit someone on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He was sent home on Tuesday. I argued with the daycare director that it was no punishment to get to spend the day with mommy ... but she thought it was. Does that say something about me?! Anyway ... on Thursday shethe director called to tell me he had broken skin and asked me to remove him from the program. Huh?

So what did I do? Protest. Yes, I pulled out every tool in my book, including tears. But I left the daycare with Truett's eviction being rescinded and a plan of action for how to punish him for biting. Their way of punishment didn't work so we would enact MY way. And guess what ladies and gentlemen ... it's been two days and no biting. Now maybe I am counting my eggs before they have hatched but I am feeling a little redemption here. Mom usually knows best, right?

I am blaming the whole escalated biting issue on the allergy meds I was giving him. I've been reading about how it can change a child's behavior. I shared this tid-bit with the director this afternoon and she told me there was another child in the daycare that has a medically induced behavioral issue. So maybe I'm not crazy after all.

Cinderfella

We've had Cinderella, aka Cinder, since last June. She has been a sweet kitty and is just getting so big. But, I had put off a much needed "procedure" that quickly got moved to the top of the to-do list once we figured out she likes to go outside and play. Last week I finally took Cinder to get "fixed." Yeah ... don't need any kittens running around here (I know MANY of you will appreciate that.).

We got up bright and early on April Fools' Day to take "her" to the vet. I wish I had a video of me trying to get "her" into the travel box. I think we both ended up with a few scratches before I eventually gave up and decided to wrap "her" in a towel. She was actually very good in the car and sat on my lap the whole way to the vet.

About 30 mins after I dropped her off, I got a call from the vet. Seems our little girl is really a little boy. I thought it was just an April Fools' joke, but no such luck. At least the "procedure" was cheaper!

Mallory was a little disappointed when she learned we had a stinky boy cat. But she's come around and now just loves her Cinder. Tonight she told me that she thinks it's okay that he's a boy.

Happy Birthday, Russ!

Hope you have a fantastic birthday! The good news is that you and Chele are old enough to not have to share a party anymore!

Happy Birthday, Chele!

Hope you had a wonderful day! You are the best sister a girl could ever have.

Say it ain't so

Kids have a way of sallowing your skin, growing dark circles under your eyes and forcing those earthquake faults to show up on your forehead. I blame my current facial state squarely on their shoulders. Okay, let's widen that scope... my whole body is courtesy of Mallie and True. Yes, that is what I am going to keep telling myself.

I've just recently noticed that changes in my face and have taken drastic action to do something about it. I've pulled in the big guns courtesy of my sister because I need all the help I can get these days. I bought this: MD Forte III. I skipped steps one and two and went straight to the good stuff. I don't have time to wait to get to the version of the product that would make me look like a new woman. Anyway, thanks Chele for introducing me to this product. It really works. When I remember to use it.

So, I am trying to get into a beauty regimen because I must take action. The last few days I've patiently washed my face, then put on the cleanser, washed it off, put on moisturizer, etc. This is SO painful for me because it seriously takes too long. Really, five minutes is too long for me. But, I endure. While I was in mid-face wash tonight, I happened to cut my eyes up to the mirror. I'm not sure why, but I think the gasp I let out was heard by the entire neighborhood.

I found a gray hair. A wiry gray hair sticking straight up for the entire world to see.

I've found them in my eyebrows before, but that didn't seem to be such a big deal to me. Pluck it out and no one was the wiser. But the hair ... the hair is different. Gray hairs on your head are like little bunnies. They have a way of multiplying. I was so upset that I ran out of the bathroom and woke up Shawn to tell him. His response, "at least you aren't losing your hair." Yeah, that made me feel so much better about the whole situation. Then, I looked over and saw Mallory standing there wondering what was going on.

Mommy: You did this to me, didn't you?
Mallory: Nope, must have been someone else in the house.
Mommy: No, I'm pretty sure it was you.
Mallory: No, I'm pretty sure it was someone else.

So, next time I head to my second husband (the hairdresser) I will point this out and make sure he covers it over. Until then, I need to find a new way to style my bangs and hope no other little gray friends show up.

Resourceful

Mallory is home sick today. She was throwing up this morning and hasn't eaten hardly anything. But she's up for running around the house this afternoon. I looked over and saw this new use for gloves. Nifty, huh?


I've been remiss in writing in the blog. Been busy traveling around the US for work and dealing with sickly kidlets (and a sickly me). I keep reminding myself that this too shall pass. In the meantime, I've picked up this new toy (aka Samsung Netbook) to help me be a little more resourceful. And I am LOVING it. It has a 10.2" screen and weighs about 2.5 lbs. Small enough to put in my purse and go anywhere. Happy tax return to me!

Play time

We had a great time this weekend with the girls.


Ava, Kendall and Kennedy came over to play Saturday. The date started out with some Happy Meals and chaos at home. Then, we walked down to the park and the girls burned off some energy. After that Raquel and I took turns pulling all three of them in the wagon back up hill to the house . I needed a nap afterward.

We're going to do it again soon.

iPhone my phone

Mallory and Truett love to play with my iPhone. The thing is seriously amazing. Entertainment for the kids (hallelujah for podcasts and videos!) and for me. There have been several occasions where I've had to pry it out of Mallory's hands so I could take a call or send an email. Now, Truett has taken to calling it "mine."

I try to keep the phone put up on the charger so it's not easy for them to pick up and carry around. But this weekend we were at my parent's house ... alas no charger. I saw Truett pick it up and play with it but wasn't too concerned. Until I took it away from him and assessed the damage -- he had deleted all of my text conversations with my sister. Oh well ... it wasn't anything I really needed to keep. I thought that was the extent of his "work." Then I saw the email from my sister. Apparently Truett had sent her an email message:

Ttafayruphtal
Sent from my iPhone

I'm not sure who else may have received something along these lines. If you did, consider yourself lucky that you've received one of Truett's very first emails! Not bad for a 21 month old! Now I'm going to have to start telling both Mallie and True that the phone is "mine."

Houston, we have a meeting

This post isn't anything special. Just a snapshot of what's gone on so far this week. Even the kids have just been run of the mill and not their usual genius. Must be that we are ready for Spring to arrive.

MONDAY
We had an emergency request from a client to fly down to Houston for a Monday morning meeting. So, Monday morning we caught the 6:15a flight. Yeah ... it wasn't a happy time for me. I really never want to see 4a on the alarm clock. Shawn on the other hand was pretty happy because he got to sleep in (he usually gets up @ 3:30 - 4), even if he did have to trade off getting the kids ready for a few hours of extra sleep.

It was a pretty run of the mill trip until we hit the rental car place. I know the economy and markets aren't doing well ... but when did Hertz start passing these out when you exited the rental car property?!



I also took a few pics of Reggie, my boss, in action. He was working hard, as you can tell. Of course, he had no idea I was taking pictures.




Then I came home and did five loads of laundry.

TUESDAY
I fought some fires at work and then came home and finished folding laundry. Good times.


WEDNESDAY
Well, it's turning out to be a pretty good day. But the to-do list grows longer. I'm avoiding it and trying to run as far as I can. Hence the randomness of this blog entry.


THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
Well, who knows what will happen the next two days. I know I'll be cleaning the house as we have a playdate with Ava and Kennedy on Saturday afternoon. Wouldn't want them to know the truth about my housekeeping abilities so it will take me some time to make the pig pen presentable.


MISC INFO AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

1. Mallory has moved up to the next class @ pre-school. Hew new teacher is actually accredited but couldn't find a job at one of the local school districts. All is going well and Mallory seems to responding well to Ms. Mandy.
2. Why didn't any of you people with kids warn me about the "look at me" phase? I think my child is the most beautiful little girl in the world, but I really don't need to look at her every five seconds while she pretends to dance, be the next Nastia Liuken or pick her nose.
3. Maybe Mallory is going to be a fashion model. She's taken to stripping down and putting on random outfits from the dress up chest. Then she parades through the living room shaking her hips. Honestly, she's pretty good at it. Maybe we should work on that a little more so we hit supermodel status. Then she could support mommy and daddy?!
4. We've changed classes at gymnastics as well. Her coach said it was time to move up to the next level of challenges so off we go. Starting this Saturday.
5. Mom is doing well. She's getting stronger every day. She can get up and down from the couch and chairs. This morning I called and she was in the kitchen waiting on dad to serve her eggs. I won't touch that one.
6. Shawn is prepping for his trip to Moab this April. This is going to sneak up on me. While I'm not looking forward to keeping the kids by myself for a week I know that he will have sooo much fun. Plus, it's good to have "guy time."
7. I'm looking forward to my "girls" trip to Central TX at the end of April. Three girls, a car and an open road. Trouble with a capital T!
8. One day I will have something really interesting to say. Until then I am glad you all keep coming to read!

Slug

This should probably be my new nickname after this weekend. I made it from the bed to the couch, from the couch to the chair, the chair to the bathroom and then back to the couch. The only thing of substance I did this weekend was go to the grocery store on Saturday AM ( and bake blueberry muffins. (Side note: I think I will start going to the store @ 7:30 a -- you can see EVERYTHING on the aisle since it's a ghost town.) I didn't take a picture at all, spent some time talking on the phone, and hugged and kissed on the kids a lot. Oh, and did a lot of mindless TV watching. Cause you know, I needed to catch up on my Lifetime movies. It was great. All in all a good weekend.

On the mom news front, she was released from the hospital on Friday. I've just received a text from my sister that they are pulling out of Florida and are on their way back home to Texas. Finally ... I'm hoping we can start closing out this chapter and start a new one soon. Of course, there are still many hurdles to jump. Mom is so weak she can't hardly do anything by herself. But that should rectify itself in time. Let's hope so anyway.

My hearts

The kid's school celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday. I dressed them up in their finery (well, Mallory anyway ... I didn't find any cute little boy v-day stuff) and was going to send them off to par-tay all day long. Had to get some pics before we left though. What kind of mommy would I be to not document the momentous occasion that is Valentine's Day?! (I'm really joking here, just in case you didn't read between the lines.)

So, I thought I'd start off by putting them on the couch to take a pic. You can really see the love they were exuding on this day of hearts. I think True thought Mallory had cooties or something because he didn't want to get within 10 feet of her. But when she pulled him to her, he resisted then she pushed him down. Way to say "I love you."

Then I tried to get them to stand next to each other and hug. Not much success there either.

So finally I just resorted to an individual shot. True was in rockstar mode and requested no more pictures (or maybe he's just trying to push Mallory out of the way in this pic; we'll never know).

Hope you all had as good of a Valentine's Day as these two did!

Overheard (in the car)

A snippet of a conversation Mallory and I were having in the car on the way to school this morning:

Mallory: (hiccup) Mommy, I have the hiccups.
Mommy: That means you are growing!
Mallory: Does it also mean I have a scratchy bottom?
Mommy: I don't know. Do you have a scratchy bottom?
Mallory: No.
Mommy: Then I guess hiccups don't mean a scratchy bottom.

The world is right once again

It's been a week since I posted about my mom. The lack of info on here is due mainly to the fact that I spend the majority of my extra time on the phone with people giving updates. By the end of the day I am just kind of done talking about it to be honest. But, the good news is that last week they took her off the vent. Over the last few days she's been eating, sitting up and talking. Yes, the world is right once again.

She is still very, very weak. So weak that she has to have someone feed her. But I am not complaining. She's also still on a BiPAP machine (similar to the CPAP they use for people with sleep apnea). It doesn't breath for her but helps to eliminates some of the work. Once she is off of that she can move from ICU to a regular room. I'm hoping that comes sooner than later, but I guess it will happen in its own time.

I can't wait for her to come home.