The Crafts in San Antonio

I'll have to get back to you

2010-05-11T19:17:00.001-07:00

I'm tired, cranky and this picture of Landree at her program tonight pretty much sums my day up

If I happen to find any extra energy, I'll let you know all the details. At least I have blackmail material when she's older

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

I never know what to expect on Mother's Day. Life has certainly changed since I became a Mom. There is some irony to the fact that you spend less time with your own mom because you start getting honored yourself for Mother's Day about the time that you realize how much your own mom loves you and how much you really should thank her. Before then you know your mom loves you and you think you know how much she has done for you. Of course as every mom knows- you have no clue until you have your own baby. Reminds me of Peyton's recital song this year- "No one loves you better than your M-O-double M- Y. That may tick a few dads off but you moms know it's true.

My first Mother's Day was the day my sweet baby girl Peyton was christened and welcomed into God's Family along with Jayce Carter and I became his Godmother- Loved that. There are certain parts of mother's days since that I remember and cherish. I have this sweet video from two years ago
http://thecraftsblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-mothers-day.html

Last year, I was still dealing with the disbelief that god was unexpectedly blessing us with a sweet baby. I had found out the week before and we had planned to keep it to ourselves for awhile. Then my morning sickness kicked in and Peyton thought I had swine flu so we decided to come clean. We called and told our Moms that we were expecting because is there really any day better than Mother's Day for that kind of news? While we all knew that we would have a sweet baby, I don't think we were expecting this sweet boy

Don't you just want to pick him up and snuggle him and yes he is as sweet and cuddly as he looks.

This morning I got waffles and bacon for breakfast, a homemade card and book from each girl- they know their mama, and they gave me Jewelry and a gift card to Sephora- SCORE!! We actually got up and got to 8 o'clock church. Got home where my sweet husband proceeded to fix all the meals and clean the kitchen and glory be I haven't changed one diaper today- yeah!!! Here are the three reasons I have been doted on by sweet husband today. Don't they look innocent like they never harass their mom.

And because I told my husband I would- here is a picture of me and my sweet babies. I put makeup on this morning but you would have no clue by this picture.

And this one has nothing to do with mother's day but I think Brian is trying to indoctrinate him early. He is becoming such a wiggle worm. He started off on that mat behind him and scooted and rolled himself all over the floor. It's been a great day. Sigh... back to reality tomorrow with Brian going out of town. Hopefully the kids and I will survive.

Don't faint

2010-05-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

I know- two days in a row here. I have a Landree funny and pictures.

Girl talk coming ahead so warning to the few guys that might actually read this blog.

So I was sitting in my chair pumping when Landree came to visit. She has asked on more than one occasion if she can squeeze my boobies to help get the milk out so I never know what to expect.
Today she informed me, "You know if you keep pumping, your boobies are going to get small like ours."
Me: No Landree I didn't know that
Landree: My boobies are growing. When I drink water and milk it goes into my boobies to make them bigger.
Me: Landree how do you know that?
Landree: Just do. Pizza helps make my boobies bigger too. When I chew and chew they get bigger
Me: Nice to know Landree
Landree: Can I have a banana?
And I left it at that

This afternoon, Brock somehow managed to roll and squirm his way off his mat and into the middle of the floor. I was sitting here watching and still don't know how he did it.

Aren't these two cute- she would have a fit if she knew he had spit up on himself.

I then tried to get a picture of all three of them and thought I had done a pretty good job.

Then Daddy came home and stood behind me and you can tell Brock was thrilled to see him.

Be Careful

2010-05-04T11:56:00.001-07:00

When you have two older sisters, you should be careful where you fall asleep.

Brock fell asleep yesterday afternoon while playing on his playmat. He originally was in the middle on his back but scooted around and flipped. Landree and Peyton decided he was sleepy and gave him his pacifier. Peyton then sang to him while Landree patted his back until he fell asleep (not spoiled much at all is he?). Landree then decided he was cold and put her pink Bitty Baby blanket on him and no one could convince her that one of his own would work just as well. So of course like any good mom, I took a picture so the girls could torture him with it when he is grown. Or he will use it as evidence about how we allowed him to be mistreated by his sisters and why we need to pay for his therapy.

We are surviving- I promise

2010-04-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

So we are all 5 still alive and doing well for the most part.
Brian dislocated his knee while ice skating with Landree. He did not tear his ACL as first feared but did tear some muscle and bruised his femur. His recovery isn't quite as fast as he was expecting. He is doing the exercises the PT gave him so we're hoping that helps.

Peyton is just almost finished with first grade. We are so proud of how much she has grown and matured this year. She is getting ready for her dance recital in June and loves practicing.

Landree is well- Landree. She is the most loving child but sweet heavens she can wear a girl out. She is just a regular spit fire who loves living in Landree Land. It has to be a fabulous place that I hope to visit some day.

Brock is just a chunky monkey. He has gotten so big that I just about can't stand it. He looks like Landree but acts just like Peyton did as a baby. He is a great night sleeper but fights naps like nobody's business. We're talking 6-7 hours straight during the day with no nap. He talks and growls all the time.

And me- I finally feel like I'm coming out of survival mode around here. Being the mom of three has been a lot easier getting used to than I expected. Now I've only been doing it for four months so I'll get back with on whether I feel the same way in a few months. I spent most of yesterday at a Crop with the Haley and Heather. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed digital scrapbooking- haven't done it since August. I am somewhat cheating and using some of the quick put together pages instead of doing it all from scratch. Here are the few pages that I got finished last night.

Peyton had her 7th birthday party with two of her friends. We went to Alamo Cafe for dinner and then the Magik Theatre for "Pinkalicious."

I used to complain about not being able to get a good picture of two kids. Yah- well three is just worse. I got a few decent ones at Easter.

Then of course my true favorite ones- the outtakes

Then Brock- my sweet boy who likes to roll his eyes at me.

Testing Day

2010-01-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

We had all of Brock's testing today. He had to start fasting at 5:30 this morning and his appointment wouldn't be until 9:30. So last night I set an alarm to get up at 2 and 5 to feed him so that maybe it would fill him up and he could make it through the appointment. Brian stayed home this morning and got both girls to school and then went into the office. Brock and I headed to the hospital. He started off really great so I started taking pictures with my phone.

He then needed his pacifier

He was then a little irate but walking and swaying got him under control.

They were supposed to do the abdominal ultrasound first so that he could eat before we did the other tests. A nurse then came to me to ask permission for him to have his head ultrasound first because they had a new machine that they were trying out. The reps from the company were there and even the head of Radiology would be there. They were hoping I would agree to let them scan Brock because head ultrasounds are the hardest and he was the only one scheduled for the day. She knew that it would be longer for him to eat but that the pictures would be a lot better. I of course said yes and even my untrained eye knew that the quality was really great. I didn't get a picture of it but he laid there in his overalls sucking his pacifier asleep the whole time. They then sent us to a regular machine for the abdominal ultrasound. Here is a dark picture of that. He did fabulous but did get a little agitated the last 5-10 minutes.

He finally got to eat around 10:30. At first I was aggravated that we were having to wait so long but then he was so full that he was willing to lay still for the chest x-ray and they didn't have to use the medieval torture device to keep him still and I just held his arms above his head. He did get a hospital gown for it.

We then loaded up and left the hospital, went and picked up Landree, and came home for a couple of hours. Brian made it home in time for Brock and I to leave again. We went back to the hospital for Brock's echo cardiogram and EKG. I got tickled when the tech started telling me this wouldn't hurt him and going into the details of what would happen. I told him that I was fine that my oldest daughter has had lots of these so I knew the drill. We did have to use some sugar water on his pacifier to keep him still during the echo. He then passed out after a little bit.

He then got his EKG. Of course it looks scarey but he did great. It probably didn't hurt that the tech was a grandmother and was ooohing and awwing over him so much that another grandmother came through. I thought I was going to have to take him away from them.

After all this, he passed out as soon as I got him back in his car seat.

I called the hematologist's office to see if I had to wait until his appointment on the first to get results or if they would call. She told me that I could call the beginning of next week to get them. The tech for the echo and the EKG tech both indicated that everything was normal. The morning techs didn't budge.

Now this is unrelated and ignore the background clutter- my bedroom seems to be a dumping ground these days. Brock and I were lying on my bed this evening when Brian got done working. He came in to talk to Brock and I snapped this picture because their matching forehead wrinkles were cracking me up. I might have to try to set up a nicer picture like this one but I doubt I'll ever get it quite right. Just wish I would have had my real camera with me instead of just my iphone.

Brock's Doctors Appointment

2010-01-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, Brock has had some trouble gaining weight. That coupled with a large posterior soft spot, the doctor was concerned about his thyroid. Two weeks ago she had that tested along with a CBC run. The thyroid was normal and Brock is now gaining weight at a great rate. However his CBC came back with some hinky results. Our pediatrician discussed it with a pediatric hematologist who wanted us to come in. He wanted to see Brock's blood himself to double check the results. They got us worked in and our appointment was today.

The main concern the pediatrician had was his white blood cells and platelets. Well today his white blood cells and platelets were normal. However, his hemoglobins were still high. Brock has had circulation issues from day one which are not uncommon for newborns. However, it should be gone by now. While the doctor was examining Brock today he noticed that Brock's hand was purple and he has some circulation issues in all his extremities. So he has decided that Brock has polycythemia. Basically his blood is a little too thick. This would explain why we have been having to wake him to eat. He rechecked his hemoglobin level- it should be 10, his was 19 two weeks ago and was 17 today. It is headed in the right direction. If it would have been a 19 today then he would have drawn some blood out and then given him an IV of saline to help thin his blood so we were happy it was down.

So of course our next question was what is causing this? There could be 3 things. The first and what we hope is the problem is that before they cut the umbilical cord they try to push the blood back down the cord into the baby to help give them plenty of blood and the good stem cells. He may have gotten too much blood and is having to work through that. This of course would be the most benign reason and what we hope is happening. The other two reasons could be a lung or heart issue. He does consider him at risk for heart issues because of Peyton's arrhythmia.

Of course there is a battery of tests that could be run on Brock at this point. He does not want to wait and just see if it works out, the levels are high enough that he wants it checked out now. So the office is scheduling Brock for an ultrasound of his head, a chest x-ray, an abdominal ultrasound, an EKG, and echo-cardiogram. Of course Brian and I were shocked and a little overwhelmed that our baby boy who is 4 weeks old today is going to be getting all these tests. However, the doctor then tells us that these are the non-invasive tests and he wants to exhaust all those before we move on to the more invasive tests such as liver and kidney functions, skin biopsy nor does he want to expose him to the radiation for CT scans. Well then we felt a little better about the testing we were doing and made us like the doctor even more. The tests he will be getting will not hurt him, make him mad- yes but hurt no.

Brian and I were very happy with the Pediatric Hematologist and felt very confident in him almost immediately. He is concerned enough to recommend the testing but not so gung ho that he is doing a lot of invasive procedures on a 4 week old baby. The goal is to get the testing done in the next two weeks. We will see him again on February 1st. Of course Brian and I worried but we are not panicked because there is still a plausible benign reason that could be causing the polycythemia. We ask that you keep Brock in your prayers. I'll keep you posted on the status of his testing.

Brock's Christening & My Picture Dreams Fade

2010-01-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Today we had Brock's Christening at Church. Brock cried just enough to have the devil driven out of him (old wive's tale) and then slept for the rest of the service. We were blessed to have most of our family with us for the baptism. Of course like with most family events, the goal at the end was to get a few good pictures. I had the girls in matching dresses, Brock in our family Christening gown, and 3 freshly washed beautiful faces. It should have been the perfect setup right- of course you have already figured out the answer is Wrong! The kids were all tired, everyone was hungry, and Brock had had enough. So sit back and enjoy the best of my pictures from the day.

So we made it through and got everyone loaded up and headed to the restaurant. Of course they lost our reservations and we had to wait. We were all a little tense and on edge but once we got food and drinks we were okay- well the Craft side was not real impressed with the Cowboys game (the Thompson side was Thrilled with last nights game). We had a great meal and were sad to watch the Crafts leave and I'll be sad to see my crew leave tomorrow.

I know there were 6 cameras out at one point today so if anyone else has better pictures from today, just send them my way.

Let's try this again

2010-01-10T19:45:00.001-08:00

Okay so over 4 months is a long time- but we've been busy. I was you know growing lungs, fingernails and parts for this precious boy.

Brock James was born on December 21st at 10:49AM. He was 9lbs 6 ozs and 20 3/4 inches long (however the next week he stretched out to 22 1/4 inches long- hey I'm short and he was squished). He is so sweet and we adore him. Peyton could hold him all day long and Landree wants to be involved for all diaper changes. Weeding through all the pictures from Christmas is overload for me today so I'm posting ones since. Besides the Grandparents were here through Christmas and I know they are anxious to see pictures of the last few weeks.

Here is his first bath

Including the paparazzi. Aunt Cathy bought cameras for Christmas and the girls love them. We'll be lucky if poor Brock can see from all the flashes. Ignore all the junk on the countertops.

He loves his swing. All three of our children have spent plenty of time in this swing.

He loved looking at the lights on the Christmas tree. However, I could only handle looking at the Christmas stuff for so long so Brian got it all put up.

We got the family all ready to watch LSU in the Capitol One bowl. LSU disappointed but we got a few cute pictures.

He cracks me up in this picture because he is rolling his eyes like he has had enough of all the picture taking.
And this is what happens when Mommy and Brock are up too long at night, the Tigers are losing, and Landree decides I need to use her Snuggie.

Brian decided he needed to start Brock early and watched the National Championship Game. Even with the Texas Quarterback excitement, Brock wasn't too interested.

Thank heavens for school

2009-08-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

The girls both woke up about 45 minutes early and crawled in the bed with me this morning. For some reason I thought I might get to sleep until the alarm went off but of course that didn't happen. They poked and bugged each other. I then heard Peyton say, "Landree, you should treat others like you would like to be treated." Landree's response, "Ok, I'm going to treat you like a donkey."

Well people as you can imagine it just went down downhill from there. I got Peyton out the door and to school and Landree is now "illegally" playing Peyton's DS. It's a short moment of peace and quiet and I'm going to take it. It's days like these that I am thankful that I have the opportunity to send at least one of them to school.

Blog Back from Hiatus- Kid pics of course

2009-08-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted on this blog in quite awhile. I've kept up with Facebook but the blog seemed too overwhelming. I survived the hottest summer in San Antonio history with the worst 24 hour a day morning sickness of my life. We did find out that we are having a baby boy in December so there is a level of excitement in this house.

So today is Peyton's First Day of First Grade. We started the day off with Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Bacon. Yes I know that is not the best of breakfasts but I only make it on the first day of school and on her birthday and every other day she has normal much less sugary meals- unless Daddy makes it. Now any of you who knows me as a mom knows I have some control issues. I am trying to work on that and let Peyton pick her own outfit for the first day of school. She even picked her own shoes and hairstyle and bow. While it is a cute dress and I even bought it, I would have probably picked something a little more practical for the first day. But she didn't want to wear what Brian and I picked out or any of the rest of our fashion suggestions so we just let her run with it. She was very excited but you can tell here she is nervous by how she's grasping her hands.

And since I failed to post pictures of all of her lost teeth, here are two close-ups. She has lost 6 teeth (4 of those this summer) and only 2 have come in. She pulled two out within ten minutes while waiting in the car at HEB one Sunday a few weeks ago.

Landree wanted music for her ride to school. She has had a few crying spells around not wanting her sister to go back to school
We started our walk to school and I asked her to stop and look back so I could take her picture. Her response was, "Really Mom."

Grandma- I put this picture up for you. she looks just like Brian when he gets uneasy and starts licking his lips.

She finally gave it up when I told her we weren't moving until she cooperated
Are you noticing all the drought ridden grass. We've had 25-26 inches of rain since September 2007 and are on water restrictions.

Normally when you visit school, they scan your driver's license and print out a sticker with your picture and name and where you are cleared to visit- to have full access to the school as a parent, you have to have a background check. Normally they wave this procedure for the first day of school. Well they must have been told that security was more important this year because they decided to make all the parents sign in today and failed to warn us. So when we came around the corner, this is what we sawWe got closer and realized there was not just one line but there was also a second line on the other side of the building. We knew we would be there awhile. And this was about 25 minutes before the first bell rang so needless to say the line just got much longer behind us. You gotta know that last week there were 1191 students enrolled so it's a lot of parents.

I did try to get her to go to the flowers and pose for a picture but the sun was in her eyes and she didn't cooperate. In the background you can see one of the playgrounds and the canopies the PTA put over a some of the play equipment last year. Since today is supposed to be our 55th day over 100 degrees this summer and there is no relief in sight, I'm sure thankful they are there for this school year. After over 30 minutes in line we finally got into the building. She saw her Kindergarten teacher in the hallway and got to say hi to her and then we were off to her room.

Luckily we had met her teacher and had gotten all her school supplies put away last Friday night at Open House. She is very excited that she now has a desk and not just a table. We got her settled, gave her a kiss and a hug, took a picture, and left our baby in the hands of a stranger. Yes I know I was that stranger to other parents for many years but it still doesn't make me feel better today.

We made the walk back home, kissed Brian bye, and I'm now trying to get things accomplished with Landree in my lap. She's a little extra clingy so I might have to spend extra time snuggling today- oh the horror-hehe.

Here we go again

2009-06-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

So I thought that my next blog post would be chronicling some part of my pregnancy. Well I was wrong. Tonight we did a shrimp boil for Father's Day and we had a complication. Peyton refused to eat anything because it was too spicy and Landree ate hers and Peytons because it was so good. We noticed Landree's face turning red but we weren't alarmed because she sometimes turns red when she deals with spices because her skin is so sensitive. Well it got worse and started spreading so I pulled her out and washed her down. Then the hives popped up and I gave her benadryl. She started complaining that her face was getting bigger but we didn't notice a difference. She did start coughing and that was when I made sure the epi-pens were out of the package and waiting. Luckily the benadryl worked.

So here is what we had for supper
Shrimp
Red Potatoes
Corn on the Cob all boiled in a pot of Zatarain Boil. I then added some of her safe butter to the potatoes and corn.

I rechecked all packages and Brian knows we didn't have any cross-contamination since he cooked it all. So it's looking like we might have a new allergy. Shrimp of course is the obvious suspect. It could be a random spice but I'm really hoping not because food companies are not required to list individual spices. Our allergist had us wait until she was 3 to try shellfish and fish and so far she has been okay. This was her 3rd or 4th exposure. But I also know it can be the 1000th exposure before someone shows a reaction too. I'll call the allergist in the morning and see where we go from here. We have an appointment the last week of July so I'm sure we'll just wait until then.

Here is the only clear picture I could get of her tonight. I had to use a flash because neither one of us could seem to stay still so the color in the picture isn't quite as red as it was in person and this was before the hives started. I like to take pictures as we go along in a reaction so I have a better perspective because sometimes in the moment they seem worse than what they really are.
Ignore the tongue

Announcement with a TMI Warning

2009-06-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

Okay so a couple of days after my last post, Brian and I found out we were expecting a new addition to the family. It was a very unexpected development in the Craft house especially having been told at one point by doctors that we may never have children. I just hadn't been feeling well for over a month and had even told took a few tests over the Easter Holiday. Of course they were negative but I just couldn't shake the exhaustion and nausea. I even told a few friends if I didn't know better, I would swear I was pregnant. Well I obviously didn't know better because I was pregnant. About a week after I found out I started my normal 24 hour a day morning sickness. I didn't plan to tell the girls until I was out of my first trimester. We didn't with Peyton when I was pregnant with Landree and I just wanted to protect them as long as I could. Well that only lasted until I started puking and Peyton decided I had the Swine Flu and of course Peyton is a worry wart like her momma and decided I needed to go to the hospital. So after we saw the heartbeat on ultrasound, we went ahead and told the girls. They are excited and all on board now. Landree named it Baby Bob- no we don't know the gender- and everyone else has picked up on the name. The girls kiss and hug Baby Bob every night and Landree asks every day if the baby is big enough to come out yet. December will be a long way away for poor Landree.

Yesterday we went for another doctor's appointment and she asked if we minded waiting to see if the ultrasound tech could get hearttones. I wanted to say Lady, I would sit here all day for a chance to get a glimpse of Baby Bob. She said that since I was past 10 weeks (I'm 11) if we got a heartbeat then we had a pretty safe and secure pregnancy. Well we saw a heartbeat so I feel a little more secure and was able to breath a little better.

Unfortunately I am in the First Trimester slump still. I am exhausted and puking a lot. Okay so here is where the TMI starts and I'm warning you if you read the blog for the next year or so you will be getting TMI about me and the baby I'm sure. I somewhat thought I was coming out of it towards the end of last week but I was wrong. Sunday night I had really bad heartburn and Brian remembered I used to make and drink a glass of chocolate milk before I went to bed when I was pregnant with Peyton so I tried it. At 3:30 that morning, I woke up puking. Ugh- who does that and it was certainly a first for me. Yesterday evening I somehow puked some through my nose and then had to deal with a nosebleed for awhile. Note to self- stomach acid is not meant to go through the delicate passages of your nasal cavity. See I warned you- TMI. My prayer is that this follows the girls and my puking rally will be done by 14-15 weeks.

We do plan to find out the gender if we can but that won't be until sometime in August probably. The girls are going back and forth whether they want a boy or a girl. Brian of course would love a son but also says he knows what to do with girls so that might be easier. I really don't care. I would love for Brian to get to experience having a son but then again he is such a great Daddy to our girls that I would love to see that big ol' man wrapped around another baby girl finger.

So I hope that explains my absence for the last month or more. I have been tired but I also didn't want to put it all over the internet either if something went wrong. Some of our friends know but a lot didn't until yesterday. So if you're just finding out here, don't be upset with us because we really weren't telling everyone yet- pretty much just family and those that might have to deal with my puking.

UGH!!!

2009-04-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

So the pig flu- oh excuse me they now want you to call it H1N1- has hit the school district 2-3 miles down the road. They are closing Comal and New Braunfels school districts until May 11th and this is State Testing week. They have to be concerned if they are shutting down in the middle of state testing. You know it is only a matter of days before we get a case in our school district. So several years ago I got freaked out of the bird flu. I calmed myself down and worked through it. I haven't been too concerned about this pig flu. It really has kind of come out of no where- I had no time to get myself prepared. Yah I know that it has not killed anyone in the states but it is in Mexico and I am awfully close to Mexico. I got concerned enough yesterday that I bought 3 weeks of groceries. I'm trying to decide if the girls are going to gymnastics and dance tomorrow because half the kids go to Comal school district. Sigh.... how do I balance keeping my kid's safe and not being an alarmist?

I am going to stock up on Diet Dr. Pepper first thing in the morning. There is no way I am spending a week plus in this house without caffeine.

2 Years Ago Today

2009-04-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

We became Texans. Okay maybe not Texans but residents of Texas. We signed the contracts on our house, the movers delivered all but one missing box, had new furniture delivered, and started our new adventure. We didn't know what to expect and were hopeful we had made the right decision. Peyton entertained the movers with an array of dress-up clothes since it was the first box they found. Landree was a new walker and loved running up and down the foyer surprising Brian since she didn't walk before he left a month before. We almost doubled our house size and didn't think we would ever fill it up.

Now two years later, we know that moving here was one of the best decisions we have made for our family. The girls are doing great and we have some how figured out how to fill this house- not always with what I want. Peyton's school is better than we could ever have imagined. We have great friends and a wonderful church family.

Here are the girls just a week after we moved. They have changed and matured so much in that time.

Landree saw it and asked why we had pulled all her teeth. I guess she didn't realize she wasn't born with them.

Sugarlips is Six Today

2009-04-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Six years ago today, I was sitting in Little Rock with a one month, one day old child eagerly awaiting the call that my new niece Jaycee Marie had been born. Instead I got the call the God had blessed us with a boy. Gosh doggit I was already in turmoil that I was not there and now the whole family was in an uproar and I wasn't in the middle of it. My wonderful In-laws went by and took a picture for me so I could at least see him. He was so tiny and looked like a wrinkly little old man. Of course there was no name for him and my husband takes great joy in telling people that he gave them the name Jayce. I have always used his full name, Jayce Carter and he has grown into it. When he's being ornery I call him Sugarlips- don't ask me where that started, I have no idea but for now he allows me to call him that. The world has not been the same since he came into it and he's only 6. He's so stinkin' cute with stinkin' being the key word there. Here is Jayce Carter in all his glory riding my 70 y/0+ uncle's back last summer, living up to the double name.

Dance Pictures

2009-04-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

Peyton had pictures for her dance recital tonight. Daddy wasn't home so I took quick pictures before we went. She started doing poses

I have no idea where that one came from.

I finally got a good one from her

She did great!

2009-04-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

Landree did great during gymnastics today. The trampoline built into the floor was her favorite part. Afterwards, the coach told me that she thought Landree was a good fit for gymnastics. She also asked me if she smiled all the time or was she that excited about class. I hated to tell her that she is usually that happy. She did ask if Landree was fearless. Sigh, Yes she is fearless. The coach said she never hesitated when she asked her to do anything like some first timers do. She also said she was persistent and just kept doing everything over and over again. I told her that she was quite a climber and into everything. The coach told me that children like that were usually great at gymnastics and the structure and focus of gymnastics would help. We'll see.

One discovery I made today is that Landree is built very differently than Peyton was at three. I some what knew it but having her in Peyton's old leotard just proved it. It's a little snug in the bottom and hopefully she'll fit into the one Peyton wore the next year- if I can find it. Here were a few shots before we left this morning.

Pray for Me

2009-04-22T06:14:00.001-07:00

So those of you who have been reading since 2007 may remember Peyton's First Gymnastics class here in San Antonio. If you have forgotten or never read it, here is the link
http://thecraftsblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/first-day-of-school-and-gymnastics.html

That is a day that I will probably never forget as long as I live. I think I was so surprised because Peyton is usually pretty agreeable and usually does what she is told. Then there is her sister, Landree. We all know Landree dances to a different drummer and believes rules are not something that applies to her.

I know you are now wondering why in the world I have asked for prayer. Well this morning at 9 AM, Landree is going to her first Gymnastics class. My fear is she will either not listen and just do what she wants or she's going to get stubborn, tell me, "I don't want to," and stick her thumb in her mouth. My hope is she will love it and I'll get to sit in the parent section and breath a sigh of relief.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm Back

2009-03-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting on my blog in the last month or so. My laptop has been dying a slow and painful death for a while now. I have tried several times in the last few weeks to upload pictures but it wouldn't work. Last week my laptop finally coughed the last breath. Today I got a new one and hope to have all the kinks out and back to posting in a few days. Thanks to those who have emailed me to check on us- we are all still alive and kicking.

Really?

2009-02-26T18:24:00.000-08:00

February in South Texas.

13 Years Ago Today

2009-02-09T19:33:00.001-08:00

Brian and I met. My sorority and Brian's Fraternity had a Mardi Gras Exchange and the rest is history. Not really because we both went out with other people first and we didn't start dating for a couple of months. I have a picture of that night but it is in the armoire next to Landree's room and she is way too restless tonight for me to find it and scan it up there. I do not bother sleeping babies, especially that child. I'll have to get it tomorrow and put it on here. We even have a shirt from that night and we joke that not every married couple has a picture from the night they met and a t-shirt to commerate the event.

Trust me we didn't know that 13 years from the day we would be laughing in San Antonio during supper with our oldest daughter who is complaining about the prospect of having to eat Enchalupaladas (she confused enchiladas and chalupas) at school this week if I forget to remind her to order a yogurt plate on Wednesday, again; and the youngest daughter who loves spaghetti so much that she picked up her bowl to lick the remaining sauce out of it.

Days 35 & 36

2009-02-05T19:13:00.001-08:00

Day 35

Today was the 100th day of school and Western Wear Day. The San Antonio Rodeo lasts for 3 weeks or so and every Wednesday the kids get to wear Western clothes.

Day 36

They were headed to the Daddy/Daughter Dinner. Peyton informed me that she wanted to wear her Christmas Dress and asked me if Daddy was wearing nice clothes or blue jeans. She then called and left him a message asking him if he would change clothes when he got home. I talked her down to a sundress and sandals- gotta love San Antonio in the winter. She disagreed with Daddy's choice of clothes and picked something new for him. He didn't shave but did put on cologne. They had pizza, cake and played bingo. She was thrilled. Landree and I went to McDonalds and got her new favorite- Apple Pie- Egg, Milk, and Peanut Free

Project 365

2009-02-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Okay so I've been doing Project 365 and realized I haven't put any on the blog. Basically Project 365 is where you take a picture every day of Year 2009- hence 365 pictures. I've been taking pictures and starting to scrapbook them. I doubt I'll go back and post the first 30 on here but I am going to start with day 31.

Day 31: Best Friends

Brian was working on weeding the backyard and the girls were oustide playing so I of course followed them around with a camera. I was so excited when I pulled this picture of the camera. She still misses Buddy but she does LOVE her Charlie Bear.

Day 32: Fire Hydrant

Charlie decided to use the girl's mailbox in the playroom as a Fire Hydrant. Of course everyone thinks it is hilarious. Everyone who didn't have to clean it up that is.

Day 33: I sthick

Landree is sick and keeps telling me that. She looks so pitiful but even with the red cheeks, didn't have much of a fever.

Day 34: Momma Chicken

Peyton was supposed to be a chicken for tonight's Kindergarten performance. The recommendation was to take a yellow shirt and put feathers on it. Well I started looking a week and a half ago and no yellow feathers. After seeing her costume, Peyton declared, "Mom, we should have just bought one from school." Not an option ungrateful. Then she exclaimed, "I'm going to have a heart attack because now I'm the Momma Chicken because I'm white not yellow like the baby chicks." Yeah whatever, just hold still so I don't stick you with a pin.

I know it's one picture but I can't stick to that on a special day. Here are the felt/sandal chicken feet.

Here is Daddy Chicken cleaning off her face one more time before walking to school

Here they are leaving me because I woke up with an eye almost swollen shut and a fat lip and covered in hives for the second day in a row (I'm all medicated up and no I have no idea what caused it). Daddy has camera in hand and I'm ready for them to get back so I can see it.

He's Here

2009-01-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

We are now a Pug Family. We picked up Charlie this morning. I have a lot to tell you about meeting him last night and picking him up today but I don't have time. I was at a Baby Shower this afternoon and tonight have to go help set up the church for our 25th Anniversary Lunch tomorrow. Here are a few quick pics from today

We are adding to the Family

2009-01-21T19:03:00.001-08:00

No don't get too excited. We are starting the process of getting a new dog. Since we lost our Buddy http://thecraftsblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/budman.html, it has been a little lonely at our house. Poor Landree is still missing him and asks for him daily. On Friday, we are going to meet two dogs in the pug rescue out of Austin. The first one is a Chug- okay not really, she's half pug, half chihuahua. I sent her link to Brian as a joke that Peyton would love her. He responded with we could always get two. She's four months old and they think she will only get 10 pounds. I told him she might not make it in our house with Landree. He thinks she would so we're going to meet her.

The other dog we're going to meet is a 2 1/2 year old Pug named Charlie Chaplin. He was rescued from a puppy mill where he lived in a wire cage. He is so handsome and kind of reminds me of a Baxter (our English Bulldog).

We told the girls about it tonight and of course they are excited. We have explained that they might not be right for our family and we will keep looking if they don't work out and that Brian and I make the decision not them. Yeah right, they also know we can be suckers too. So we're driving up to Austin Friday afternoon and then we'll come home and make our decision.

Oh and Momma, if you're reading this from Wisconsin, Melanie got a Great Dane Puppy. Yeah, I'm being 8 again and ratting her out. I told her she should name it Horse because that is what's she's going to be feeding.

My Husband Rocks

2009-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

There is a group of blogs that do My Husband Rocks every Friday. I can tell you now that I won't remember to do it every Friday but this questionnaire caught my eye.

1. Where did you meet?
At a ZTA/TKE exchange in college. He was a little intoxicated and kept hitting on one of the new pledges in my sorority. I went into rescue her and ended up dancing with him. It took another 2 months before we started dating.

2. How long did you date b/f you were married?
2½ years

3. What does he do that surprises you?
DVRs all the kid shows (Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Hannah Montana, Raven, etc…) and watches them with Peyton and will go to any Kid’s Movie without complaint

4. What is your favorite quality of his?
How loyal his to anyone who means something to him

5. What is your favorite feature of his?
When I first met him- That face with the Craft S**t Eating Grin- that is what his sister calls it
After almost 13 years- His Chest because when my world seems to falls apart, my head fits there perfectly

6. Does he have a nickname for you?

Not really, he calls me Baby when he needs something or apologizing and DammitErica when he’s aggravated

7. What is his favorite food?
He loves a good steak with French Fries and wash it down with a big piece of Chocolate Cake

8. What is his favorite sport?
Is fishing or hunting a sport? Football

9. When and where was your first kiss?
April 13, 1996- At my apartment- our second date- Yeah I’m a dork because I know the date

10. What do you like to do together?
Being on a private sailboat in the Caribbean- okay so we’ve only done it once but loved it. We love having snack night and watching a movie, sans kids

11. Do you have any children?
Two girlies

12. Does he have a hidden talent?
He is hilarious and once he gets going, it’s really hard to stop him

13. Who said "I love you" first?
I did

14. What is his favorite type of music?
Country- mainly Hank William’s Jr

15. What do you admire most about him?
How hard he works and the fact that his whole world centers around the three girls in this house.
16. Do you think he will read this?
Only if someone tells him he should- he doesn’t read the blog

It has hit

2009-01-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Peyton has the flu with a 104 degree temperature. She's the only one in the house that got the flu shot/mist so pray for the rest of us. Since yesterday afternoon we have watched 5 different Beethoven movies- there's been a marathon on Disney. If any more of us go down, it could be a LONG week. I'm getting off my butt now to clean the house so that if I go down at least we won't be living in a pig stye.

First day with a Trainer

2009-01-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Okay so as everyone can see from pictures on this blog, my butt has gotten too big and way out of hand. Brian and Haley have been trying to "convince" in the most loving of ways that I needed to start exercising. The thing is, I HATE EXERCISING. Oh everyone says just find something you like and you'll love it. NO- I don't. I like nothing about sweating, sucking wind, and my head feeling like it's going to explode. Nope don't like it.

Anyone that knew me as a kid knows that I have never been a sport's kid, didn't have the coordination for it or competitive streak. However, many people don't realize I was an outdoors kid and the Mud Pie Queen of the trailer park I grew up in and I have even eaten dirt on saltines. We just had to be within Momma's shouting range and we lived outside and you know living in Louisiana I must have sweat. So this isn't a girly I don't like to sweat thing. I don't like to be too cold either, I like comfortable in particular central heat and air.

Well I have a two story house with 16 stairs- My Mother-in-Law counted them for me. One day Landree fell asleep in the car on the way home. People, I didn't think I was going to be able to get her up the stairs without a rest. Now granted she is 37 pounds but still not being able to carry my own child up the stairs disturbed me. Then I went to a meeting where I probably outweighed every woman there by at least 50 pounds. So I decided I might need to do something. Haley had been telling me about this wonderful neighbor of hers who did personal training in her home for like the last year- yes I said 1 full year. I mentioned it to Haley that I might want her number. Of course my wonderful friend got excited and bought me two sessions with her. Well crap, I was committed now. So through email, I set up my first appointment with Katie.

I was nervous and Brian kept calling to check on me that morning and Haley was working from home that day and I was supposed to go by and see her on my way out. I got to Katie's house on a Monday morning not knowing what to expect. This cute face met me

Doesn't she look all nice and sweet? And you're thinking at this point I'm going to say yah, she only looks that way. I'm not, she really is nice and sweet but good heavens that day I thought she might kill me. She first put me on a treadmill and immediately put the incline on 3 and told me that 3 is the new 0- yeah right. When you haven't even been doing 0- 3 is a lot. Then she put the speed down and started bumping up incline- hello, I have been known to fall walking on a flat surface an incline of 5-7 is a bit much. Well I survived that and then had to do squats on the wall with an exercise ball behind me- well let's just say that my coordination issues came in and I fell. But Katie was right there encouraging all the way.

The session is a bit of a blur- I did 12 stations but I will never forget one of the stations. She has this pair of yellow spin bikes. I'm thinking- I've got this. During one of my workout stints in college I rode the fool out of a stationary bike. This was my worst ASSumption of them all with ass being the key word here. The only thing a spin bike has in common with a stationary bike is two pedals and wheels. I won't even say a seat because a spin bike does not have a seat. Oh don't get me wrong- it is billed as a seat but I would be willing to bet it isn't half as big as the seat on the Disney kid's bike I have out in the garage. I kept telling Katie I thought something was wrong with the seat but I soon learned no that it was just my fat butt. It was so bad that Katie had to help me get my feet into the shoe holder on the pedal. People I did not think I was going to make it on that blasted bike and I only had to do 3 minutes. I got to thinking I had to be about done when Katie told me okay you got about a minute and a half left- Are you freaking kidding me?

That session I did all kinds of weights, treadmill, bike, stairs, you name it. Then at the end she put me lying down on the same exercise ball I had fallen with doing squats and told me we were going to do crunches. Lord have mercy I could barely balance laying on this ball let alone try to lift my head up. I thought come on abs where ever you are, don't fail me now. Well the abs informed me I hadn't used them is so damn long that I was on my own. I got all panicky and maybe got two off before I slipped off. Katie took pity on me and sent me on my way with orders to drink lots of water.

I wondered if I would be able to get myself into my Suburban. Thank heavens it has running bars but my legs were awfully shaky. I went by Haley's and mentioned the bike and she felt my pain and told me I might not walk normal for a week so that made me feel a little better. I stopped by McDonalds on the way home and got a salad because I wasn't sure if I was capable of fixing my own meal. The next night I had weight watchers. I sat next to Haley and remember making the mistake of trying to cross my legs. The next day I really wasn't sure I was going to be able to get on and off the potty. Wednesday night Brian had to pull me out of the chair to go to bed.

I still got up the next day and went to see Katie and I have been going ever since. I haven't noticed a huge weight difference but my body is definitely shifting things around and I am sooo much stronger. I haven't seen 3 pound weights since that first week or two, last week I did an entire 1 hour session on that bike I thought I was going to die doing 3 minutes on a 2 months ago, and now I can sit on that exercise ball, have Katie throw me a medicine ball, lay down back, put the ball over my head, sit back up and throw it back to her. I started having really bad back trouble that I normally have to go see a chiropractor to get fixed. I pretty much don't stand up straight for the first hour I'm up. Then one day after I had bent over I realized that I could use my butt and thigh muscles to stand back up. Since that day, I have had very little back pain- whatta ya know- 3 months of physical therapy didn't even teach me that. Do I like exercise now- NO, but I do like how I feel after I've gotten it done.

Girlie Giggles

2009-01-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

So Peyton has learned how to spell and we're sunk. The other night my beloved husband looked over at me and said, "For some reason I have G-A-S." In turn Peyton who was sitting in his lap pipes up immediately, "You have gas, I'm moving." Then a few days later, I was brushing her teeth and I told Brian to look at one of her new ones and asked, "Does that tooth look, Y-E-L-L-O-W?" Peyton then hollers, "Do I have Yellow Teeth?" So we're just about at the end of spelling. Haley tells me I have a few years of pig latin left.

Tonight I started singing Jingle Bells- yes I know it is past time but it was the only thing I could think of to get a Hannah Montana song out of my mind and you know that stuff will rot your brain. I then realized Landree was singing with me but a slightly different version. She was singing, "Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell, Tinker all the way..."

Keep Landree in your thoughts tomorrow. She's going to Mother's Day Out in panties. So far this week we have made it with only one accident a day and luckily those have been at home.

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

So yes I know how pitiful it is that it is now 2009 and I am just now giving you my Thanksgiving post. I'm going with the better late than never stance.

I'll actually start the week before Thanksgiving. Peyton's class was set to have a big Pow Wow on the Friday before Thanksgiving and we were asked to send in a large white t-shirt. Well the mom that was in charge of transforming these shirts into Indian garb bailed out at the last moment and I stepped in. I then spent 3 VERY LATE nights doing the following, dying 24 shirts in tea, cutting fringe on the sleeves and bottom, and putting pony beads on the fringe. My fingers were not functioning well by the end of it. Luckily two other moms did the painting on the front. I then remembered after I left a meeting at church at 10PM that I still I had to send Landree's Class snack for Thanksgiving so I made these little darlings from Cocoa Krispies and Fruit Loops.

The next night I stayed up again WAAAYYY too late to make this shirt for Silent Auction the next day during the Renaissance Fair.

It was the logo of the new high school, Johnson Jaguars. This week is one of the weeks I decided to make my New Year's Goals of not procrastinating and telling people outside my house No more often.

We finally made it to Friday the day of the big PowWow. I went up that morning and helped Peyton's class move from room to room, making Native American crafts. Later in the day Brian and I went back to help Peyton's class get ready. We got to watch them some on the playground which is always fun. She was Howling Wolf which we felt was completely appropriate for our loud mouth.

Here is was 8 classrooms of Kindergartners look like- 176 kids

They sang 10-12 songs with our favorite being one where the turkey didn't get away and did end up on the table. It was a great day and Peyton had a lot of fun.

I like standing behind one of my kids, you can't see how big my butt is these days.

Mom came down on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and we were so thankful she was here because the next day when Buddy died it was great to have her here to help with the girls. I made my first turkey by myself. I brined and cooked it using Alton Brown's method and I was so proud, I felt I had to take a picture

We also had the Craft Family Sweet Potato Casserole which might as well be dessert, the Pioneer Woman's Garlic Mashed Potato w/roasted garlic- yum, green beans with carrots and garlic- yes we like garlic, and rolls. Then chocolate and apple pie (I cheated and got a Mrs. Smiths). I made Landree her own mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and soy chocolate pie. It's nice to know I can cook an entire full meal by myself. It was a really nice and relaxing day.

Mom and I went to the Friday sales but not too early. There really wasn't much we wanted to get. That weekend we got out all of our Christmas decorations and bless her heart, Landree had broken 4 ornaments in less than hour. Mom also helped me break out my new sewing machine. While we were in Hancocks I found an Abby Cadabby flannel print and mom helped me pick out a pattern to make pj bottoms. As you can see, I had lots of help

Mom had several ornament projects to make with the girls. Peyton had a great time making hers and Landree needed lots of Nana help

We got the snowman out front blown up and the girls decided to do their normal head turn- Those are Landree's new PJ pants, she put them on as soon as I finished them.

Then they got their giggle boxes turned on and you can see Landree practically bursting with energy in this series of pictures. You can always click on a picture to make it bigger.

Here are the girls having survived Thanksgiving

New Header

2009-01-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

All right Grandparents, I know you don't actually go to the blog and instead you read it through email. Just wanted to let you know I changed the blog header. For the rest of you, that's one item checked off my two week to do list.

2009 Goals

2009-01-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Okay so normally I'm not one to do resolutions and certainly not in a public setting. I usually plan on losing weight and that usually doesn't happen or doesn't stick so I'm not doing that one this year. You'll probably find this boring but I'm putting it on here so that in a few months I'll be able to look back and see if I have accomplished any of it. So here we go with this years goals

STOP procrastinating. I put everything off to the last minute. I'm then running around like a chicken with my head cut off, staying up late, aggravating my husband, letting other things go while I'm trying to get that project done, and then getting it finished at the last absolute minute where I'm usually not happy with whatever it is with no time to fix it.
Embrace being a Homemaker- Ouch I hate that word. I recently read an article titled, "Is the Art of Homemaking Lost?" If I would have read that two years ago before we moved, I would have snorted and said something about what the hell kind of art is it to clean, straighten up, clean faces and butts, and cook. Well now that I'm here I realize it is in an art or a skill that I am sorely lacking. So my goal is to figure out a family/household schedule on how to get all that needs to be accomplished done during the day and not hold it all until right before someone comes over. I think I'm seeing a repeat of that whole procrastination thing again.
Organized- Okay so you're seeing a general theme here of needing to get my butt in gear. I have crap all over this house that I have only lived in a year and a half. I saw some show on being organized and it said everything needs to have a place and it dawned on me this is half my problem. The first half, I have too much crap and the second half- not all my crap has a place.
No/Yes- I need to tell people outside my house Yes less and No more and tell the people inside my house Yes more and No less.
Family/Movie Game night with the girls each week. We are always together but I want to make it more of a tradition so that we continue it.

Okay so that's what I've got for now. What are some of yours? I might need to add them to my list.

Yes I was Late

2008-12-30T19:14:00.000-08:00

So all of you that have finally gotten a Christmas card and wondered, "Was I an after thought? Did they only send me one because I sent them one? or Surely she didn't send out her cards this late?" No, No, and Yes. Yep my cards didn't get mailed until two days before Christmas this year. If I would have realized it was going to take me that long to get them out I would have made Happy New Year Cards instead.

So those joining us for the first time, yes I blog on here about the family- no not as much as I want to and yes I plan to do more in the new year. No your eyes are not deceiving you, Brian did drop 90 pounds in the last year or so not by surgery but by pure sweat and maybe even some tears and a little weight watchers- go down in a previous post and you can see his Marathon pictures. That is is the reason you are getting a Christmas Card with us on it this year and not just our kids. Brian declared several months ago that he was going to be on the card this year and I decided I better drop some weight too. Yeah well as you can see that didn't happen either- I'm working on that too. In our unbiased (hehe) opinion our girls are great and yes their pictures speak volumes about their personalities. Peyton is our little sassy mouth who thinks she is a princess and is growing up too fast as a Kindergartner. Landree is just as fun loving and mischievous as she looks in her pictures- life is never dull with her in the picture.

So in the next two weeks- yes I'm putting a deadline, I plan to update you on our

Thanksgiving week- yes I know- PITIFUL

Christmas break

My first workout with a trainer- you can now pick your jaw up I went and did return

and for my beloved mother- Cruise reports from October- again I know I am pitiful

Also I have a new blog header to get up there since those pictures are from last Winter/Spring

Hell Might Be Freezing

2008-12-09T19:16:00.001-08:00

Not really but it is sleeting in San Antonio. Not going to do anything but I can't believe I am actually seeing sleet in San Antonio. It was 78 degrees today this afternoon and Peyton was asking for the air conditioner and now it's 40 degrees. Landree has pink eye and of course I now have pink eye so we're just a crusty pair here. I owe you some updates but I've been working on Christmas cards so I'm getting to ya. Well the sleet has already stopped- knew it wasn't freezing over. Marcus says we might need to get milk and bread because ya know if they freaked out in Little Rock over winter weather, they will lose their ever loving mind here.

Budman

2008-11-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

Over 9 years ago Brian and I decided we needed a dog. We got our first puppy, Buddy. It was love at first sight and we let him sleep with us, carried him around, dressed him in sweaters, and treated him like a child. Even though he got put on the back burner when Peyton was born, he still loved us and jumped for joy when we walked through the door. He adjusted well and Peyton called him her brother and hounded us until we let him sleep in her room. When Landree gets upset or in trouble she calls and cries for him and calls herself, "Buddy's Girl."

On Wednesday we said good-bye to a member of our family- the Budman. During this week of thanks we are thankful for all the many blessings God has given us including over 9 years of faithful companionship of our dog.

For our girls he was a playmate

A constant shadow always in the background keeping watch

The guardian and Hoover of all crumbs

A two year old's Best Friend

During the last year and a half I have been home and spent everyday with Buddy. We knew this day would come but as I type this, I am still unprepared to look down and not see him at my feet.

Please Forgive Me

2008-11-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

Those of you who have sent me emails and I have not responded- please be patient with me. Since Monday night, I have tea dyed 24 t-shirts, cut fringe on the bottom and both sleeves of 22 of them, put pony beads on every few strips (they got farther between the more I did- especially at 3:30 this or maybe yesterday morning), got home at 10 tonight from a church meeting knowing that I still had to make Cocoa Krispy Turkeys (I'll show you a pic later) for Landree's class, and cut and bead two more shirts since one got painted wrong and one has mysteriously disappeared. Tomorrow I have a PTA meeting in the morning then work at the school book fair for the afternoon and tomorrow night design and make a crystal shirt with the local high school's mascot for the silent auction on Friday. Friday I am spending the entire day at Peyton's school to help with the Rennaisance Fair and get them ready for the Big Pow-Wow. Brian took the day off to help some. So it should be a fun and exhausting day. I might be asleep by supper on Friday and then Saturday I need to evaluate my time management skills and scrub the "sucker" and "newbie" off my head. So all of you that are waiting for me to respond- look for me Saturday.

HE DID IT!!!!

2008-11-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

Today is one of my proudest days ever. Brian ran the San Antonio Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon- 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 19 seconds. Brian left the house this morning at 5:20. The girls and I left at 6:20 and it was 38 degrees. I talked to Brian a few times and knew he was cold and anxious. The girls and I met up with our friend Gerald whose wife Kentonine was running the race also. We waited at the 2 Mile Marker and we finally caught our first glimpse.

After hearing, "Go Daddy Go," he saw us.

USAA did a lottery and sponsored some employees and paid their marathon fees and gave them a shirt. Can you tell he likes attention?

We hurried up and went to the 8 mile marker and then did potty breaks and Gerald got a snack. We then realized he had picked up his pace and almost missed him- you can see the 8 mile marker in the background.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of him ever. How does a man who has run 8 miles look this good? Even after all this, the daddy he is came out and he was waving to Landree.

After we saw Kentonine race by, we hoofed it to the finish line. And I mean hoofed it because at one point we were running. We saw Brian less than one hundred feet from the finish line here.

We then began the search to find him. Gerald kept Landree and Peyton and I went to find him. I of course was so excited that I literally cried all the way to him. Bless is heart he was tired and cold. He walked around with the metal blankets they were passing out. Peyton kept calling it his cape.

Here are our two runners.

Brian started his weight loss story August of 2007 and today was maybe not his final chapter but one of the last ones.

And for the first time ever since I became a Mom, I had a camera in my hands for almost 3 hours with my children and never took a picture of them. Today was all about Daddy.

Today and Tomorrow

2008-11-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

This is where we spent part of today.

And this is where we will spend tomorrow.

We'll be freezing our hineys off in 34 degree weather. UGH!!! It was literally 86 degrees here yesterday- what happened. Grandma- don't you love that picture- thought of you as soon as I pulled it up.

I'll try to post more words tomorrow but we have a thing at church tomorrow evening so I'll work on it.

A Day of Waiting

2008-11-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

Today has been about waiting. We got up early this morning, ate breakfast, got everyone dressed, packed 4 lunches and the four of us were standing in line to vote a little before seven. Luckily, it was at school so we just walked up there. Unluckily, they didn't open at 7 like they were supposed to and didn't start letting people in until 7:20. I walked Peyton to class and came back to wait again. We finally got out of there at 8:10. I got Landree to school and then rushed back to Peyton's school.

The Kindergarteners were going to the McNay Museum http://www.mcnayart.org/. You know I was excited since I couldn't go on the last field trip and I was one of the 4 moms able to go to this one. We were told that normally they don't let Kinders in but an exception is made for Roan Forest because they are so usualy well behaved. Well this tells me two things- 1- I knew expectations are high at that school and 2- Kindergarteners probably shouldn't be going to an Art Museum.

I helped load the bus and then joined a caravan of SUVs and Minivans going across town. When I pulled in it reminded me a lot of the Norton Art Gallery back home but about 10 times the size. We got all 8 classes off the buses and split them in half. One group went into the museum and Peyton's group went to eat lunch. We then had an hour to wander around the grounds and wait for our assigned time to enter the museum. As you can imagine an hour of waiting on Museum grounds is a lot to expect from 5-6 year olds. My teacher mode kicked in and within fifteen minutes I had Peyton's hand and a rather rambunctious boys hand.

We finally got the ok and got all lined up and ready for our docents. The wait continued and then we started noticing a lot of people coming out. Well the fire alarms were going off and they couldn't find the source. So the whole museum was evacuated. Half an hour of waiting and they still couldn't find the source so no museum. So again the 5-6 year olds had to wait again. We passed the time with Duck-Duck-Goose until the buses got there. We are hoping to get approval to go back again. So I put a very disappointed daughter who wanted to see Monet and Van Gogh (I know its Kindergarten) back on the bus back to school.

Of course we are all waiting to see who our next leader will be after the polls close. Regardless of your choice, I hope you go vote. I have not told anyone how I voted and haven't asked anyone including my husband and vice-versa. Remember, if you don't vote, you give up the right to complain for four years. In this house, we love to bitch to much to give up that right. So take a chair, drink, snack, ipod, and a book and go exercise your right. You wouldn't want to miss getting to wait would you?

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

So this year my children decided to divert from the normal Disney Halloween and I had to use a little creativity. Peyton wanted to be Ruby the Red Fairy from the Rainbow Fairies Book Series.

Landree wanted to be-

wait for it,

wait for it- Abby Cadabby- I know big surprise. So this meant I could not go buy costumes this year- well they had one for Abby Cadabby but she didn't look right so I had to make one. I got Peyton's dress off Ebay and added a pair of cheap wings. Brian thinks her dress looks like a lounge singers dress.
I found a leotard for Landree and only had to make the tutu and Korker bows for Abby Hair. There was a row of tulle around her neck like Abby's but after 4 hours of my nice hard work and a week of wearing it around the house, Landree decided that it was itchy and didn't want to wear it. So off it came and here is our Abby Cadabby.

Here are some random shots that I like which is code for I couldn't decide which ones to post so I just posted them all.

This is the face of a girl who is tired of Mom taking pictures and ready to go Trick or Treating

So we put a bowl of Candy out and off we went.

Notice the girl's choice of footwear. Peyton wore those blasted Hannah Montana Crocs instead of the red ones- I'm beginning to hate those shoes. Landree picked out Peyton's pink boots. She is being raised in Texas.

At the first house, Peyton proceeded to tell the lady that Landree couldn't eat that candy because she was allergic to it. At another house Landree got to pick her own candy and of course she picked a full sized bag of Peanut MMs. I think I now remember why I didn't go last year. We ended up meeting up with another Peyton in our neighborhood who is almost four and she and her dad joined us for TOT. Landree only refused one house that was awfully scary but other than that she did great. Halfway through Brian remembered why he brought a wagon last year for Landree. We finally made it through the neighborhood and then ran by Jim and Debra's where Landree proceeded to walk right in and plop herself down in Jim's chair, put her thumb in her mouth and watched TV. Brian took the girls in and filled the bowl up with more candy. I walked back in and this is what I found.

Here is what we looked like after we finally told Landree no more Candy but Peyton knew she was getting to stay up a little later so that she could eat some chocolate.

Here was the haul of candy the two girls got- with my commentary

Peyton ended up sleeping in her costume that night. The Great Pumpkin came and took all the unsafe candy and left movies for the girls- didn't you know that the great pumpkin did that for Food Allergy Kids?

I watched my girls all cute and pretty in their costumes as they flitted around. As a mom you can get so caught up in the "magic" of the event. Then something brings you back to reality

Yeah, I know she's going to kill me one day.

The Girls

2008-10-21T19:34:00.001-07:00

My job as The Craft Family Zookeeper is still secure

Last night I was on the phone with my sister Melanie while cleaning out the fish tank. Landree kept trying to get to the fish and frog and feed them. I told her to not touch the fish tank, the cup with the fish and frog or the food. She was on her stool and then out of the corner of my eye, I see her try to feed them, again. I squatted down to be eye-level and started fussing at her- that's what all the experts say- get on their level. Well those experts don't know Landree Lou. I swanee I decided I had to be imagining what I was seeing. While I was literally an inch from her face, she stops looking at me and darts her eyes off to the side and of course my eyes followed. I see her little hand over the cup that had the fish and frog in it. She was still trying to feed the fish while I was fussing at her for just feeding the fish while I was eye-level in her face. Really- what does it take with this kid?

We were in the car tonight and Peyton was being whiny. She said something about she was having growing pains and that her legs were breaking. We told her that her legs were not breaking and that she probably just tired and needed to go to bed when we got home. Then she said, "Guys, I think I have a Bunion." WHAT! So of course Brian asks, "What is a bunion." She replies with, "A bunion is a bone on your toe that hurts." Brian then asks her where she learned this, "From a commercial and my bunion really hurts, maybe I need to go to the doctor or something, Moma, Can you make me an appointment tomorrow?" Well I can't respond because at this point I am half-laid out in my seat crying and trying to smother my laughter. Brian told her that she would just want to cut it off. Really dear husband? This is the child that is so dramatic that she thinks her leg is broken and that her 5 year old foot has a bunion- is the really the time to pick on her and make her think a doctor will cut her foot off? So I then had to regain my composure to calm down the hysterical 5 year old in the back seat.

So don't think anyone is offering to take the zookeeper job over and I'll have it for as long as I want.

Cruise Day 1

2008-10-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

In order to celebrate Mom's 60th Birthday, My mom's sister Lila, my sister Melanie, my mom and I all decided to go on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. We were set to sail on Monday so we decided to fly in on Sunday. I used Priceline and got our hotel for about 1/3 the price and we were set. Brian and the girls dropped me off at the airport and I got on my direct flight to Orlando- yeah one good thing about living in a big city. I arrived first and was a little disgruntled because it was odd to be at the Orlando Airport and not be going to Disney World like we did last October. I got to our lovely room and ordered Room Service and watched TV until Auntie Lila got there. We caught up until Mom and Melanie got there after midnight. We got ready for bed and I had to have a discussion with my sister about personal space when she put a knee in my back.

Monday, we got up, got ready, repacked, hit up Starbucks (where not one of us got anything with coffee in it), loaded up in the van and headed to Port Canaveral. We finally arrived, dropped our luggage off to the porters, went through 3 passport checks, security and went to stand in line to check in. Since we were in a suite, we got priority boarding and got to bypass the line. We boarded and of course Melanie headed straight for the Coke cups. She decided she couldn't make it without her Diet Coke fix even though her husband thought it would be a good time to break her habit and bought the coke cup. We probably were all better off she decided to not use our cruise as Diet Coke rehab. Our room wasn't ready so we went to eat lunch in the buffet. Well that was everyone else's plan and the buffet was a little packed. We had a nice meal and headed to find our room. This is where I need to add a vital piece of information. I booked a Grand Suite for us that was going to be a little over 300 sq ft. It was cheaper than booking to small rooms and would actually be more space. The week before our cruise I got an email that we had been upgraded to an Owner's Suite that is over 450 sqft with a 125 sqft balcony. So needless to say we were excited to see our room. Once we saw it, we were shocked. Our room was huge and Lila and I quickly informed Mom and Melanie they were ruined for all future cruises where space is usually lacking.

My mom is there in the entry way. On her right there is a door and that door leads to a walk-in closet- yes a walk-in closet on a cruise. We even used it as a changing room it was that large and of course we made several jokes when we would exit about coming out of the closet.

Yes that is a flat screen TV you see in the background and a bar on the left. Now let me discuss bathrooms on cruise ships. On our cruise in June, Brian and I had a Tube shower and there was only room for one in the bathroom at any time. Cruise bathrooms are an inside joke among cruisers for their lack of space. I have seen pictures of bathrooms that have a sink, a toilet, and then shower curtain with a drain on the floor and thats it. I opened the door to our bathroom and my jaw dropped

Seriously, a bathtub/shower, space for a person to stand between the toilet and the shower, a shelf there on the left and you can't see the sink with counter space on both sides over on the right. Certainly a plus when you have 4 women sharing one bathroom.

Our suite attendant Clifford came to meet us and he is a doll. He told us our perks of robes, slippers, free champagne and of course the best- him at our beck and call. We went to muster to prepare for a the ship sinking. Excuse the flouresent colors, it was a very dark picture and when I lightened it up, I had issues. The other ladies took a tour of the spa and some got facials and we all ended up taking a nap. We then watched the boat sail. Here the ship is docked

Notice the life boats, we decided that if the ship was going down, we were jump into one of these for safety

These are the ship captain's minions- I don't know the proper names but it was neat because this lookout was right next to our balcony. Lila tried to get them to blow a kiss but I don't think it worked. Melanie decided since they were working, it was time to start her vacation.

Back in February, I called Melanie to see what we were going to do for Mom's 60th birthday. We talked about a party but we hated to throw a party at her house and we couldn't surprise her because we would need a guest list and well her house. I then remembered that she always wanted to go on a cruise. With Daddy- that was never a possibility and Bruce was a pilot but got terribly seasick. I knew she would love to go but would probably never schedule it herself and since her birthday is during Hurricane Season- whoohoo cheaper prices. So I got busy planning and we called Aunt Lila to see if she wanted to go too. So our plan was hatched. This picture of mom reminds me why we scheduled this trip.

She looks like a woman who is content and who is getting one of her wishes fulfilled.

Good bye Florida

As we got ready for dinner and a waitress brought a platter of fruit for us to our room. Yeah- a suite perk. We went to dinner and we were sitting by a window so that was nice. We met our waiter and assistant waiter and were pleased with our service. Dinner was good and dessert was fabulous. We made it to the comedy show and laughed our tails off. We did have a few annoying hecklers who had obviously been drinking for quite awhile. The water was pretty choppy and Melanie did have a little problem getting used to the ship moving. But never fear, we all had on our motion sickness patches and we safe from illness. We finally made it back to our room and loved seeing our beds all turned down and chocolate on our pillows. We then crawled into bed and I had to have another talk with my sister regarding bed personal space. I was trying to read and she obviously wanted a snuggle partner so of course mom had to come snap a picture

I'll post later about Day 2 where we woke up anchored by Cococay and discuss Melanie's sleepwalking and talking adventures.

I have returned

2008-10-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Brian and the girls dropped me off at the airport last Sunday afternoon.
2 airplanes,

1 hotel shuttle,

1 hotel room,

1 ship,
2 van rides,
2 islands,
4 day 60th birthday party for Mom,
1 sleep-walking sister,
and 11 cocktails later (I have the SeaPass detailed billing to show for it), I have returned home.

1 loving and relieved I was home husband,
2 very exicted and very verbal welcomes by my girls,
1 lap that was not empty until the girls went to bed,
2 loads of night-time accident sheets laundry,
2 temper trantrums over not getting to watch something on television,
3 temper trantrums over being told no to sugary foods,
1 trip to Target and Hobby Lobby,
2 families coming over to watch the LSU-Florida game- we won't discuss the outcome,
1 dog who won't let me go to the bathroom by myself,
1 tutu made for an Abby Cadabby halloween costume,
4 meals I had to make for myself and clean-up without assistance from a head waiter, waiter, assistant waiter, or suite attendant,
5 year old who is having another asthma flair up and who breaks my heart listening to her try to sleep through the coughing,
and numerous fights over sharing the souveniors I brought home let me know that I was back to reality and left me unbelieving that less than 48 hours ago I was in a swimsuit sunning myself with a plethera of nice men and women bringing me anything I wanted to eat or drink all while in the middle of the ocean.
Off to plan the next vacation.

Too Tired

2008-10-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know I owe you a post on Peyton's conference. I've been on the computer all day and I mean all day- the only time I have left it was to take Landree to swimming lessons, pick Peyton up, and feed everyone. The PTA newsletter was due and it ended up being 8 pages and I don't know Publisher that well. I've finished and made all the email changes from the principal and PTA President and I'm done. So I'm too tired and sick of my computer to type anymore- my brain isn't functioning normally at this point so I'll do it tomorrow. I didn't even get a picture of Peyton's new smile.

Quick Update

2008-09-30T19:23:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness Daddy took some of his poker money with him to work today and bought some more Golden Quarter Dollar Coins as Peyton calls them. Because she lost another tooth today. During supper, she could not stop fooling with it and was even bleeding. I left to go to Weight Watchers and hadn't even made it a mile when Brian called me and told me she had pulled it. I didn't get home until she was in bed. I checked on her so I could see it but didn't take my camera with me so sorry no pictures today.

Speaking of Weight Watchers, I actually lost this week. I realized that I didn't have my weight on the ticker quite right so that is why you see a .6 this week.
Yeah- Landree made it through the entire day of Mother's Day Out today without getting a fever- the first time in over two weeks.
Brian and I went to Peyton's Parent-Teacher Conference today. I'm working on the PTA newsletter so I don't have time to tell you about it but her first words were how highly verbal Peyton was- so you know it was good. I'll fill you in tomorrow.
I got an email today that we had an upgrade on our cruise and we are now in an Owner's Suite which is a lot bigger than we were in- so yeah for us.

I got a New Job Today

2008-09-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

So I got a new job today. No don't get all excited that I'm leaving the house. I can do this new job from the comfort of my home. I'm the newest Tooth Fairy!!!! Peyton lost her first tooth today. This child has been working on this tooth for almost two months now. I've got Gold Sacagawea coins ready and waiting. This morning it was very loose and I tried to pull it but she said it hurt too much. She wanted to call Grandma and Papa so she told them all about it. I was on the phone with them when she started hollering that she had pulled it. It was very exciting and they got to hear it as it happened. She then called Brian and Nana and I had to hurry her out of the door. However, not before I got these shots.

Landree kept trying to pull her teeth all day. Brian came home all excited to see the new tooth which I found in the trashcan. Peyton and I didn't throw it away so that leaves Landree. I don't know if she threw it because she was jealous or because we were cleaning today.

Last time my mom was here she made a tooth pillow for Peyton. Needless to say Peyton was excited to get to finally use it today. (ignore all the flash photography- I hate using a flash)

She kept the hairbow in because it matched the pillow- so girly. Brian got Landree ready for bed and she literally darted in for a picture and darted right back out. She is not to be ignored.

I love this picture. You can see that Nana used the same fabric from the blanket she made for Peyton's bed almost 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Landree.

This is the picture that finally made me cry.
I realized that the smile I have been looking at for over 4 years (she had 16 teeth on her first birthday) is gone. I know she is growing up and I will accept that but today I get to mourn a little for my baby. Once you start loosing your baby teeth you are a big kid. On the way home we heard a Shania Twain song that came out when she was a newborn. It is a romantic song but I remember it coming on almost every morning after Brian would leave for work and I would sing it to her just for these lyrics,

"And there ain't no way--I'm lettin' you go now,
And there ain't no way--and there ain't not how
I'll never see that day
'Cause I'm keeping you forever and for always
We will be together all of our day
Wanna wake up everymorning to your sweet face--always"

When Peyton heard it, she asked me if this was the song that I used to sing to her. I told her yes and then she said that when she had children that she was going to sing it to her daughter. Ugh- I wasn't ready for that.

So forget all this sappiness- here is the picture of a girl who has had enough. This is when I need the scrapbooking shirt that says, "My Kids Think I'm the Papparazi."Ignore the blue fingernails. Instead of doing art every week, Peyton's school instead takes the last two days of the month and only does art. She came in covered in blue today. I asked her what she did for art. She told me they painted Vincent Van Gogh's Star painting.

Yep thats it- Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night- Kindergarten. Whatever happened to noodle necklaces and picture frames?

October Background

2008-09-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

So my husband will stop belly aching, here is a background for October. He has been complaining that I haven't had one for the last two months. If you want a copy, just let me know and I'll email it to you.

Heather, Haley and I have spent the day at the Scrapbook store at an all day Scrap Pink Crop. Here are the two layouts I did today

Furry Kids

2008-09-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

So our furry child is not doing so well. His heart is enlarged and he has a stage 4 out of 6 heart murmor. He is on a heart medication and lasix. We have had my boy for over 9 years and it is hard to think of life without him. However we're not thinking about ourselves, Brian and I are more worried about Landree at this point. She tells us she is Buddy's Girl and he is her best friend and when she gets upset and mad at Brian and I she goes and curls up with him and cries. I discussed it with our vet and he believes in getting a transition dog so that they have bonded to another pet before the other one goes. However, he also warned that if we got one that kept Buddy riled up then that would shorten his life span. So basically Brian and I don't know what to do. He didn't recommend we get another bulldog like we were thinking but instead recommended a pug. Brian wants a boxer- I don't. They're cute in a goofy kind of way but I am not ready for that big of a dog inside. Sophie has taught me that I leave too much food on the counters for a tall dog. Landree has become obsessed with wanting, "her own animal." She keeps seeing a the commercial for the movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and begs, "Momma, I want a WahWa, I neeeeeeed a Wahwa." She tried to convince me that Aunt Melanie needed to buy her one. She's already convinced Aunt Melanie to buy her a pink fish. So I looked online at pugs today. Peyton came behind me and spied this one and has fallen in love.

She asked me if we could go get it this afternoon. I told her we weren't going anywhere. She then responded with, "Well, can Daddy go by and get her one his way home from work?" So as a joke, I sent him an email that said, "Peyton wants you to go by and pick this up for her on the way home" and attached the picture. That Daughter doting man responded with, "Where do I need to go?" He was serious- I called him and he asked if he had enough in his account to go get it. Uh- no. Later in the night he asked whenever we did this were we going to get two dogs- one for each girl. Good heavens if I left it up to them I would have Buddy the Boston, two barking rats (Peyton wants to carry hers in her purse) and a big boxer. But you all know who would be in charge of all the critters- so no.

Typhoid Mary may have to go back to the doctor tomorrow- You know our insurance is loving the Craft girls. She is needing her Rescue Inhaler every 4 hours and actually isn't really making it the 4 hours. She had to have it twice at school today. Her school is AWESOME. They have a nurse's office that is larger than Peyton's classroom with two exam rooms and they have a full time nurse and nurse's aide there at all times. They called me at the end of the day because Peyton's teacher had sent her to them because she was so bad off. When Peyton crawled into the car at the end of the day, she asked me if we had to go anywhere and when I said no, she told me, "Good because my chest is tired and I want to just lay on the couch." My poor baby-I can hear her right now coughing in her sleep. She has a recheck appointment Monday with our pediatrician but I don't know that she's going to make it that long.

Here is Peyton at Ms. Abbydabbys lucky #7 birthday party http://haleywillard.typepad.com/willardfamily/2008/09/abbys-7th-birth.html
(In one of the pictures I thought she was shoving food in her mouth- she loves going to the Willards because they have all the forbidden food she can't have at home. I then realized that she was just like normal for these days- just her covering her mouth to cough)

Grandparents, I realize there have not been pictures of the girls recently but they don't really care to have their picture taken when they don't feel well- I'll work on it this weekend.

Typhoid Mary and Tuberculosis Annie

2008-09-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Those are the new names of my children. I dropped Peyton off at school this morning, came back, got Landree ready, dropped her off at Mother's Day Out (she was so excited because she didn't go all last week because she was sick), ran by Target, and went back to Peyton's school to volunteer. I left there a little after noon and then Landree's school called to say she had a 101 degree fever. I pick her up, take her home, eat lunch, called the pediatrician's office when they reopened after lunch, and then loaded her up to go in. Her pediatrician laughed when she walked in- Landree was there last Wednesday and Peyton was there two weeks ago today. She thought she might have a bladder infection because every time she pressed on it, Landree would try to move her hand. An hour later and me triumphantly getting a clean-catch urine sample out of a two year old- no infection. So then we were sent to Pedi-Q at the hospital next door to get blood work done. Still don't know what's wrong but no nap and a 103 degree temperature does not make Tuberculosis Annie a pleasant child.

Brian took the afternoon off and picked up Peyton and then took her to swimming lessons. She started coughing again after lessons and still at 10 o'clock tonight she has not stopped- I mean every 20-30 seconds type of cough. It got bad enough that Brian called me twice during my Weight Watchers meeting. He doped her up with several medicines and I picked her up an ice cream cup on the way home. At 8:30 I couldn't handle it anymore and took her to Good Night Pediatrics and our fear was confirmed. Her asthma is back. Well technically the pediatrician told me that asthma never goes away it can just be dormant for a few years. So back to Flo-Vent twice a day and Xopenex for a rescue inhaler. I'm trying to not be sad about it and just look at as we just had a year and a half break. What does scare me some is that it NEVER was this bad in Little Rock.

So now you know why I refer to them as Typhoid Mary and Tuberculosis Annie. Peyton heard me say the names earlier and informed me that my friends sure had some odd names. If anyone knows of disinfecting company, send me their number. I think at this point the house needs to be tented and disinfected.

Okay so you see my ticker up there is unchanged- yep it has been updated. No change. However, I decided to open my big trap tonight at my meeting and mention my weight ticker post. Well the address got posted so welcome Ladies and Gentleman from my meeting. Hopefully the extra people will kick my butt into gear so the more the merrier.

Dear Butterflies

2008-09-22T14:08:00.001-07:00

Dear American Snout Butterflies,
I know you have to migrate, trust me I've been up north during the winter- I know it's cold. However, was it such a good idea to do it across one of the top ten largest cities in the US. I was excited to hear you were coming through and the girls really wanted to catch butterflies. We have some flowers in bloom right now and I thought it would be a great learning experience for the girls. However reality is that 2 and 5 year old girls get traumatized when they see one of your friends dead on my windshield. They don't recover well and then accuse their mother of killing "God's Butterflies" (they don't seem to mind when I'm killing God's Spiders). They also then inspect the grill of my Suburban and find even more evidence of Mom's brutality. So I know you need to migrate and only come through San Antonio every few years but maybe next time you should go through a more sparse area and not where even people don't want to drive around the other crazies. Something was mentioned about burying the dead butterflies but luckily the dog went berserk about something else and I didn't have to dig through the limestone to bury your friends. Texas is a big place- go bother the longhorns next time.

Weight Watchers

2008-09-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

So last fall and early spring, I had lost 24.8 pounds. Well I lost my mind on my cruise the first week of June and didn't regain it until today. I have gained all but 8 pounds back. I wanted to cry but at least I am 8 pounds down over last year and not 8 pounds up. So I have a goal. I want to re-lose the weight by the first weekend in December. So I have placed a ticker on the top of my blog. Maybe public accountability might help.
I weigh-in every Tuesday so it will be changing every Tuesday night. If I don't change it every Tuesday night- find me. If I go up in weight- Find me. Obviously the last year doing it on my own hasn't worked. So I need your assistance. Many of you are a part of my family or a friend. However, when I look at my Count Tracker I know that some of you are strangers. Feel free to jump on in, I need all the help I can get.

Two Weekend Wrap Up

2008-09-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Mom came to be with Peyton for Grandparents day. She drove 7 hours for a half hour deal- Yeah Nana. However she went up to that school 4 times. First to drop Peyton off with me and Landree, 2nd- for Grandparent's Day, 3rd- to eat lunch with her, 4th- to pick her up- I wasn't invited. Thats the most walking she has done since her foot surgery. On Saturday, she made a tooth pillow for Peyton for the tooth we are still waiting for her to lose. Saturday night we went to a crop with Haley and Heather and had such a good time. I got this layout done

On Sunday we had to say good-bye to Nana and took a hacking Peyton with us to church. She had a friend sit with her for the first time during service- so it begins. We had rally Sunday so Peyton started her new Sunday School Class. I was a loser for Grandparent's Day this year and only emailed this to Grandma and Papa and basically Mom just got to see us.

I took Peyton in on Wednesday but they basically told me she just had the crud but she did get Flu-Mist so all was not lost. Brian tried to be a kid again and slid into 3rd base and came home covered in blood and dirt. For his birthday, I made molten lava chocolate cakes- holy cow they are to easy and that is dangerous. Brian said they can replace all chocolate cakes from now on. We did get to go to Pappasitos with a friend of his from work and his wife- with NO kids!

Peyton was supposed to have 3 birthday parties this weekend but she still has the crud and it got worse and she ended up only going to 1 party. Landree now has the crud and I didn't go to sleep until 4 o'clock this morning. Bless her heart she is miserable and her head was so stuffed up that she can't suck her thumb. She then proceeded to take only a 45 minute nap- how in the world she is still going I have no idea. Brian didn't walk in until almost 7:30 tonight and if wouldn't have had have supper with him- I wouldn't have stayed. I have wiped more snot and listened to more coughing then I could stand. And of course when a two year old thinks she has to be laying on you to sleep when she's sick, face to face- you then get sick. My throat is sore and I don't feel well and Landree doesn't get to go to Mother's Day Out tomorrow so I can go potty in peace. But of course it's her snack day so I need to take snacks up there. My matra now is- In 3 weeks you'll be sailing to the Bahamas, in three weeks, you'll be sailing to the Bahamas- yeah

2008-09-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Landree's First Day

2008-09-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

So Landree started Mother's Day Out yesterday. She was very excited she was getting to finally go to school. However, she was the most excited that her dress had a belt. She even wanted to call her Daddy to tell him she had a belt. We got Peyton off to school, came home and packed her lunch, backpack, and nap roll and off we went. I got her stopped long enough to take pictures. She wanted to stand exactly where Peyton had stood for her first picture and of course she has adopted the same head tilt that Peyton currently is doing.

I finally got her to look at the camera.

And then of course she gave me her standard Landree face. She used to drive me nuts with this face. I then realized that one day she will no longer want me to take her picture and I will miss this face.

We got her to school and she was happy as a lark and could have cared less when I left.

We have got her double covered with Epi-Pens and Benadryl. They are keeping a set in the office locked up like normal and then I leave the case that we carry with us everywhere up on a high shelf. They're happy and I'm happy so we'll just pray it never has to be used.

I was excited to pick her up and when I got in her room, the first thing she told me was, "Momma, I pet mouse." Her teacher has a few pet mice and a pet rat and Landree was thrilled. I then asked her what she did today and she told me, "I Eat." She ate and she got to play with critters- a perfect day for Landree and I got to take a shower without worry if someone was going to wake up or if the house was being torn down around me.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Even the dogs are taking advantage of the lazy 3 day weekend. The brown one is the Willard's dog, Sophie who is visiting while they are out of town.

Hope you are enjoying yours.

By Herself

2008-08-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

So for the first time ever, Landree is by herself in our house. Peyton went to preschool last year but Landree took a nap during that time. She had 3 girls to play with over the summer and at one point we had Katie here too. Then she went down to just her and her sister and now she is just stuck with me. On Monday she kept asking where Peyton and Daddy were but kept reassuring herself that Buddy was still here. Monday through Wednesday she packed Abby Cadabby, Wormie, and an Elephant everywhere she went. Today she was better and I wanted to cry when she was trying to play Ring A Round the Rosy with Buddy. Bless her heart she is trying to play kid games with a dog. We are getting to do more things together and I have been reading lots of books and I can't tell you how many times we have sung our ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, and You are My Sunshine in the last few days.

She seems to be doing this a lot these days

I would love to know what she is thinking.

Just when I think she is calming down, this happens

The big opened mouth growl. I love it and most of her pictures are of her doing this.

Peyton wanted me to put a picture of her bee sticker on her blog. She got it today because she "pushed her chair under her table without instruction." Don't most kids just want to call soemeone and tell them? Nope my 5 year old is up with technology and wants it on the blog.

Got Venison?

2008-08-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Haley- you can skip this post- I know how you oh so love discussing deer meat.
So I have been trying to cut corners and pinch a few pennies around here and decided I was not going to buy any meat and only use what is in the freezer for two weeks. I got through a few days of chicken no problem and I love having Baked Potato night. I then started hitting the venison meat. Last year Brian processed his own deer and made a lot of patty sausage meat and durger (deer hamburger). I'm thinking we had around 60 pounds of it if I am remembering right and we still had some from the previous year. So here is what I have made so far

Durger- Hamburgers made with Onion Soup Mix
Durger- Pennsylvania Coal Miners BBQ- like a sloppy joe
Durger- Tacos/Burritos
Sausage- Homemade Pizza
Sausage- Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Sausage- Potato, Onion Hash
Sausage- Mini Meat Pies
Sausage- Pancake Breakfast for Supper

I did make it through the two weeks but I still need to get meat out before I put more in when Brian goes deer hunting this fall. I have thought about chili- but it is too hot for that. So, if you've got any ideas, just put them in the comment section.

She has the Gossip Gene

2008-08-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

I have always struggled with being a gossip. Let me rephrase that- there was a time when I saw nothing wrong with it but as I have gotten older, I have realized the error of my ways and am trying to be a better Christian. Unfortunately, Peyton has the Gossip Gene. She comes by it honestly and its just not from my gene pool either. I want to know the education information about her day. I want to know what they read, wrote, what math they did, etc... and she isn't talking. Instead I hear that her teacher made a mad face to another teacher. Also, one boy spit on her leg while she was trying to walk over him because he wouldn't move so she could get her backpack. She did not think he needed to be sharing his germs with her. And guess who she had to tell- the one person who would think she needed to come down here to take care of a 5 year old- Aunt Melanie. I think Peyton did it on purpose because she does like to get stuff stirred up- she walked around for two months at one point saying that if a dog or a cat bothered her, her Aunt Melanie would come, "Tear it Up." And no, she wasn't exaggerating, I heard Aunt Melanie tell her that. She is also concerned about the classes SuperStar. Supposedly he isn't a good superstar and has been making bad choices all week.

I don't know about you but when we were kids and when I taught in Little Rock, we had fire and tornado drills once a month. Today Peyton announces that she had a fire drill and a Lock-Down Drill. On the Lock-down drill she went into a very detailed explanation of how it was if a mean guy or girl was wanting to get in and how she had to hide under the table so he couldn't see her and if they principal came to the door and wanted to get in they couldn't let her because the mean guy could be hiding behind her and they had to put up a green square to show they were okay and then she went on a tirade about guns. (Longest run-on sentence ever) It immediately made me scared for her but then I remembered my mom telling me how scared she used to get when they had to hide under their desks for the nuclear bomb drills. She was in Kindergarten 50 years ago and what do you know they were scared of crap too.

So while I want to try to teach Peyton not to be a gossip and a s**t stirrer, I do like knowing what exactly is happening in her room. I guess I haven't completely reformed yet.

It has to be a Stinkin' Conspiracy

2008-08-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

So Monday morning after dropping Peyton off, I heard the sappy first day of school poem and cried. Today I spent time with Landree's Mother's Day Out teachers discussing Epi-pens, snacks, Landree's seat placement at Lunch, hand-washing of other students, etc... Tonight I sit down at my computer and someone had sent me the poem below and of course I had to cry again. It has to be a conspiracy and I'm swearing off all reading of sappy writings until I get on more of an emotional even-keel.

10 Things Every Child with Food Allergies Wishes You Knew!
By Gina Clowes
1. I long to be included. I would like to look, act and eat like everyone else. I’d like to buy my lunch and sit wherever I want. I know I can’t, but I am so happy inside when someone cares enough to provide a safe potato chip, cookie or Popsicle for me. It’s nice when I can have something similar to what others are eating but I love it when I can eat the same thing as everyone else. Whenever it’s possible, please think to include me!
2. I’m scared I could die from my food allergies. I’ve heard my parents and teachers mention “life-threatening” food allergies and I remember having some reactions where I felt very sick and really scared. I could see how frightened my parents were too. Sometimes, I could use a little reassurance that I will be okay.
3. I feel like I’m the only one sometimes. If you have a support group or another way to arrange for me to meet other children who have food allergies, I would really like to know that I am not the only kid who has food allergies. Having another friend with food allergies in my classroom or at lunch time helps too.
4. I get confused when grown-ups offer me food. I know I’m supposed to be polite and listen to grown-ups, but my parents have told me I am only supposed to take food from them. When you offer me food or especially candy, I’d like to take it but I’m not sure about what I am supposed to do.
5. I get itchy spots sometimes when grown-ups kiss me after they’ve eaten something I’m allergic to. I get itchy spots when your dog licks me too. I’m not quite brave enough to tell you this so I’m hoping you will remember that if you have just eaten something that I’m allergic to, I may get hives if you kiss me soon afterward.
6. I’m embarrassed when people fuss over what I’m eating. I know I have to eat my own safe food, but it’s easier for me when I’m not singled out. Sometimes, it’s embarrassing when grown-ups ask lots of questions. I love to fit in more than anything.
7. I hear all adult conversations about my food allergies. My ears perkup when I hear grown-ups mention my name or food allergies, so don’t pity me or act terrified because then I get scared. Food allergies are just one part of me. Let me overhear you talk about all the other wonderful things about me!
8.Sometimes I’m sad about having food allergies. It’s hard to be the only kid in class not having a cupcake and eating something different from my box of “safe treats” especially when there are about 20 other birthdays in my class. I know it’s not the end of the world, but from my perspective, it’s tough at times.
9. I’m watching you—Mom and Dad! You may think that I’m too little to notice, but I see that you went back home to get my Epi-Pen® when you forgot it. I see that you read the ingredients on the Smarties everytime. You are my role models and I am learning how to manage my food allergies from you!
10. I will do about as well as you do. My parents “can-do” attitude will help me cope with the challenges of living with allergies and ensure that food allergies don’t stop me from being everything I was meant to be!

Peyton's First Day- Lots of Pictures for you Grandparents

2008-08-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

We got the girls up, fed them Chocolate Chip Pancakes (yes they were dairy, egg, and peanut free but surprisingly not taste free- Brian tried to eat his weight in them), got everybody dressed with their hair done and out the door for pictures by 7:15. Here she is in front of the house- she's trying to look all happy and excited but do you noticed the balled up fists?

Brian pushed Landree in her stroller so I was free to snap pictures and Peyton tried "flying" down the sidewalk out of the neighborhood.

She got a little concerned when she kept seeing the helicopter flying over her school. Really it was flying over the new High School to document all of the traffic because it is opening without traffic lights.
How did I get a child with legs like these?

Peyton has been trying to convince us that she can walk to school by herself. Halfway there today she informed me that her legs were tired. I reminded her that she wanted to walk by herself and that we would be doing this again this afternoon. She responded with, "Momma, I think you might need to bring the car this afternoon." Even the parents behind us were laughing. We got to her school and I made her stand in front of the library so I could get a picture. I was shocked I even found a free spot because all the parents of the other 1200 kids were trying to get pictures.

We made it into her classroom where we put everything up and she got started playing with Play-Doh. Brian and I actually left without having to be asked. We went and put money into her cafeteria account. I ran into our HOA President whose son had Peyton's teacher a few years ago and they loved her so that made me feel a little better. We started to leave and Brian said he was going back to check on her. I decided that I didn't want to start crying up there so I sent him and he snapped this pic when he went.

I held it together and didn't cry until we were walking back home. Landree and I went to eat breakfast with a friend and we commeserated over our babies starting Kindergarten. I'm going to have to work on Landree's nap schedule because she wouldn't go to sleep and only got about an hour before I had to wake her up to go pick Peyton up. I thought we might fry on our walk up to school and got tickled at myself because I was wondering why I was so hot because it was only 95 degrees. You know you live in South Texas when you're saying it is ONLY 95 degrees. I sure wanted to take a golf cart away from a lady in my neighborhood that drove to school in it to pick up her kids. Of course Peyton's class was the last one out and she immediately informed me that her mouth was too tired to tell me about her day. She didn't want to talk to anyone about her day.

Five hours later I know that she liked snack and lunch- big surprise. She got her picture taken by the lunch lady for her account. She only made one friend today and she is okay with that. Her favorite book was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The teacher made a mad face at another teacher because her class got mixed up. She went to Music and the teacher told them all the music class rules. We asked her what the rules were and she said she didn't remember but if you didn't follow them then you would go from 4 points to 3 points. So we then asked if she didn't remember the rules how would she know if she was going to break them and then lose a point. She told us she was okay with that so of course we responded with the fact that we weren't.

So overall it sounds like she had a great day and she wants to go back tomorrow. Sounds like a successful day to me. Now lets see if I can get us all up, fed, and dressed and to school on time.

Poem Just for Me today

2008-08-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of Thousands of People have heard this poem in the last few weeks but today when I heard it on the radio, I felt like it was just for Brian and me.

Trust You'll Treat Her Well
Author: Victor Buono

Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crispy dress ... with two blue eyes ... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning ... and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Good Bye"... and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in line ... and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears to the sounds of school-bells ... and deadlines ... and she'll learn to giggle ... and gossip ... and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in a sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about important things. Like grades ... and which dress to wear ... and who's best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and father and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ... which is only right. But, no longer will I be the smartest man in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time ... she'll learn what it means to be a member of a group. With all it's privileges. And it's disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud. Or kiss dogs. Or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms. Or even watch ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk.
Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to become a woman.

So, World. I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crispy dress ... with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

I was holding it together by a thin thread this morning and this made it snap in two. I'll post pics tonight.

2008-08-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

It is a darn good thing the Olympics are wrapping up tonight because I haven't gotten to bed before Midnight in over two weeks now. I have LOVED watching all the sports but my secret horrible fun thing is making fun of the Chinese "volunteers" and Olympians. I know it is horrible- I already said that but you know half these people are in fear for their lives if they make one mistake. Mom was here for the Opening weekend and we talked about floggings and thumb screws- horrible I know. Don't even get me started on Gymnastics and the Underage girls. We are watching the Closing Ceremonies right now and they have a big group that have Bike Helmets on and Brian was surprised that they had so many. I told him it was probably because they make most of the world's bike helmets in their sweat shops. His response was- Yeah and they're probably covered in Lead Paint too- Do you see why I married him?

So tomorrow is the first day of Kindergarten for Peyton. Pastor Barz did a special blessing and prayer for all students this morning so she says Jesus is ready for her. Her clothes, shoes (took us 15 minutes to find- glad we looked tonight), and hairbow (like you're surprised) are all laid out on her dresser. The stories "The Kissing Hand" and "The Night Before Kindergarten" have been read. Her Backpack is filled with the hundreds of sheets of papers I had to fill out (I'm not sure I didn't sign her over to them), her pencil box, lunch money, and this Letter P.

She got a yellow P to decorate as homework while we were at Open House on Friday. We were planning to go drop Landree off at Kidz-Kare (all 1200 students were scheduled to be there between 4-6 so we decided we didn't want to lose her in the crush) and then come back and park our car at our house and then walk to school since everyone parks in our neighborhood anyway- Yep we're that close. Well it decided to pour down rain so Brian dropped Peyton and I off at the door and then parked as close as he could. Here is Peyton waiting and ignore the head tilt because that is all she's doing these days
We finally found her classroom and met her teacher. Of course Grandparents I got a picture of her in her seat. Her eyes looked a little tired all day and I was a little worried she was coming down with something but so far so good.

Her teacher had us put away all of her supplies and gave her the P homework to decorate and me a packet to fill out. We then signed up for PTA- which I am already in charge of doing the Newsletter for- I know no one is surprised. We bought a school shirt and a water bottle for her and ran. Since it was her night, we took her to her favorite restaurant and I got a few pics on my camera phone

She and her skinny Daddy- again ignore the posing- she thinks it's cute and now Landree is doing it too. I know the second one is blurry but for once she didn't have her head turned so I had to post it-

Brian is calling me a brown-noser because I took a gift to Peyton's Teacher on Friday night. I just learned that you can stitch cards with cross-stitching thread- I know who knew. I got the pattern from www.makeandtakes.com. I love this blog and it gives me lots of fun ideas. Here is my card that I made and I included a gift card to Lakeshore Educational Supply.

and here is my basket of all the fun things you like to have as a teacher but never usually buy yourself.

I also included 3 dozen pre-sharpened pencils because they always seem to eat them. I am not brown-nosing, just wanted to do something neat for a teacher because I loved when I got little unexpected gifts when I was teaching and no matter how prepared you are, you always have to go to the teacher supply store that first week or so. Plus- I got most of it for next to nothing because I had a coupon for almost everything and waited until it was on sale too. I was glad I did it because she was very appreciative.

Don't ask how I am doing or how I think I'll do tomorrow- I think staying home this last year has made all of this harder. However, I am looking forward to getting some one on one time with Landree and maybe I can get her potty trained. I have been asked for Chocolate Chip Pancakes and bacon for breakfast so I'll hop her up on some sugar and clog her arteries with a little pork fat before I send her on her way. After we drop her off tomorrow and Brian goes to work, Landree and I are going to eat breakfast with a girl from Haley's neighborhood who lived in Maumelle, AR- small world- and whose son is starting K tomorrow too. So we're going to go cry together and be pitiful. I'll post pics tomorrow I promise but it may be tomorrow night. Please pray for God to give me strength tomorrow so I do not act a complete fool up there and embarass my child on her first day.

We're still Kicking

2008-08-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, Okay so I have been non-existent for awhile. Those of you who have emailed me with concern for the family- thank you for checking on us. So here is a rundown of our last few weeks.

Landree is doing well and goes back Wednesday for a check-up with the Surgeon.
Haley's girls went to Little Rock for two weeks and I get them back tomorrow- Yeah!
My best friend Jessica and her son Colby came and spent almost a week with us and it was like no time had passed. We had a great time and it's only been a week since she has been gone and I already miss her dearly. If anyone has seen a SD card, I'm looking for one that has the most of her vacation pics on it.
Landree developed a yeast infection from all of her antibiotics and got sidelined again from Summer Camp/Mother's Day Out
We made a grand tour of Louisiana and it was way too short. We normally have Nacho and Margarita night at Moms but we brought some of our Vacation Alcohol and Nacho and Guavaberry Colada night instead. Ooohhh it made me want to go back to the Caribbean again. I got to see Katie, Jayce, and Maddie all of which I have not seen since Christmas. The Grants have decided to move back to Bossier so we get to see them more- Yeah. We then took Katie and Jayce with us and went to Mawmaws and Genevas. I have pictures from a fishing trip with my grandmother, great aunt and uncle, my Aunt Geneva, my husband, 4 kids, and a hell of a lot of fireants that I will share later.
Wednesday we finally headed home and left Jayce to stay at Mawmaws and brought Katie home with us. I know some people might think I'm crazy but the trip was much easier having a 13 year old along for the ride.
I forgot to set up for Buddy to stay at the Willards so I was able to get him in the kennel which turned out to be best because they found a tumor under his armpit. I okayed for them to remove it and they took out a tumor bigger than a golf ball that luckily was benign. He was pretty pitiful the first few days and Brian was even carrying him up the stairs the first two days. He is much better now and finally stopped limping after the vet removed his dressing on Friday.
Thursday Landree finally went back to Summer camp and had a great day and I have to admit, I did take a breathe because it was the first time I had been without her for more than half an hour for over a month.
Saturday, we took Katie to San Marcos. The child couldn't even sleep the night before she was so excited. I thought she was going to have a heart attack in Aeropostale. All tops were 50% and I let her go for awhile and then I had to stop her and get her focused. She did great and made good choices on what to get. It was hot and miserable and was over 100 degrees the whole time we were there. We did absolutely nothing last night but recover from shopping.
We were supposed to go to Sea World today but it is way too hot and the Beluga Whales had babies and they have shut Viva down which is Katie's Favorite show. So we just went to church and have been lazy. There was a lot of questions about who Katie was and one of the men was wondering if I had been keeping an extra child from them.
Brian found out that he moved up on the list and that USAA will be paying for him to run the San Antonio Marathon in November. He has decided to run the half marathon which is 13.1 miles. He is a little nervous but he runs 5-6 miles most mornings so I think he will be okay.
I have been working on a complete meltdown about Peyton starting school. I have been working on getting extra pieces to add to her wardrobe to get it ready for school. All of sudden her shorts are booty-shorts because her legs have gotten so long. (How did I get such a skinny, long-legged child) It then dawned on me that I didn't know if she could wear sleeveless shirts and what kind of shoes she could wear and if she had to wear socks all the time- Uniforms would be so much easier. I realized that she would be gone from me all day and have to navigate her day at a place where she will know no one and will probably get scared and nervous and I can't fix it. I know she will be all right but I still worry. My Mawmaw was talking about it and my aunt told her to stop or I might cry. My grandmother told her that was okay- I wouldn't be related to her if I didn't. I sure do love that woman.

So now your all caught up on the basics- didn't that just make your day- hehe. Hope you have a great week.

My Brain

2008-07-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Landree just knocked Peyton in the head and the screams and tears were loud. Peyton was hollering, "She hit my brain, she hit my brain." I looked at her head and explained to her that she did hit her head but not her brain. She then explained to me that Landree hit the other side of her head and it was called her imagination. She then snapped at Landree, "No-No Landree, You hit my imagination."

God's Way of Teaching Me I am NOT in Control

2008-07-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Some of you have known me for awhile and know that I can be pretty controlling. I like my life in a nice orderly way and like to plan for the future. This is the life I have had and the life that I liked- Then God gave me Landree Marie. From the time I got pregnant with her, I have had to realize that God is in control and I'm just here to make what few choices he allows me too.

Sunday a week ago, I noticed a spot on her behind that looked like a pimple. Monday it started to look more pronounced and reminded me of the spot of MRSA she had back in the Spring. So on Tuesday I took her in to the doctor and she agreed and put her on an Antibiotic with a follow-up on Thursday. Tuesday night Brian soaked her and got it to drain. Wednesday, it became hard and would not drain. Thursday morning it was really hurting her and I was glad to have a return appointment. Haley called and said Abby wasn't feeling well so she was working from home. I dropped Peyton off at VBS and went to the doctor. She took one look and decided it needed to be drained somewhere else. Next thing I know, I am picking up Peyton and taking her to Haley's house and driving to Methodist Children's Hospital of Southwest Texas.

They admitted Landree and ordered an IV for her. Here she is pre-IV listening to Toddler Tunes on my ipod.

All the pics for this post are from my camera phone so please excuse any fuzziness.

They had a Child Life Specialist come and try to entertain her while she was getting her IV. That woman blew bubbles, had flashlights, books, you name it in the attempt to distract Landree. I was really impressed with her and very appreciative seeing as they tried multiple times in one hand before they finally got it in her thumb sucking hand. It was not an easy time to say the least.

We got her settled down and the Pediatrician came through and decided since she had eaten then we needed to wait until the next morning for surgery. She okayed Landree to eat so Daddy got her McDonalds from the food court which Brian says is just like a mall- I didn't see it because I never left her side with the exception of surgery. We entertained her with Dora Movies and a Color Wonder book the Child Specialist had given her. Supper came and we were happy that her food allergies had been taken into account. My two year old was thrilled with Chopped Beef, plain new potatoes, and zucchini.

We tried to get her to go to sleep and it just wasn't working too well. We finally got her down around 9:30 and Brian left at 10. I had thoughts of hurting the nurse after she woke Landree up at 11:30 at night to weigh her- Are you serious? She and I slept together after that- well she slept and I prayed a lot. Friday morning came and Brian went by and dropped clothes off for Peyton at the Willards and he came to help entertain Landree. He brought animals that Haley and Marcus had let the girls get for Landree and from then on every time we messed with Landree's bed, she would fuss at us and tell us she wanted her Animals.

Her surgery was scheduled for 10:30 and they told me that they were trying to work it in earlier since she was so young and would have to do without food for so long. Well that didn't quite work out and they didn't come get us until after 10. Here she was in pre-op waiting or more like bouncing off the walls.

At 10:31 she looked up and asked for a drink. Brian and I got tickled because we had both prayed for God's help in keeping her occupied for that time without food or drink and if the hospital would have been on time, we would have made it. They brought the consent papers and I made Brian sign for a change and then he starts talking about possibility of brain damage and a list of other horrible things and I finally had to ask him to stop and remind him there was a reason he was signing them today and not me. They came and gave her Versed sp? and she started giggling and got very happy. They let her take her blankie and Baby Stella- Oh Baby Stella is a doll that she told me on Wednesday had a bobo on her hiney too and she started carrying it around with her everywhere. By the time surgery came time, Baby Stella had a hiney bandage, and IV, and a hospital bracelet. Everything that was done to Landree, she was going to make sure was done to Baby Stella.

Brian and I did not have long of a wait for most surgeries but of course seemed like an eternity for us. We finally got to go to recovery and she was there covered in her blankie and crying. They gave her a shot of morphine and nothing. A second one finally calmed her down some. She woke back up on the way back to her room and it was on from then on. She got balloons and a bear from Aunt Melanie's crew and she played for awhile and then would lay down.

She then got pure silly and wild as a monkey. I didn't know if Brian and I were going to be able to keep her in her bed. You can kind of see the doped up look in her eyes here.

She drank juice and ate jello and then muffins Brian brought from home for her. She loved jello and kept wanting more but I finally decided she needed no more sugar. Sam and Leigh came by with Britney and Tanner and Landree got even more hyped up. Pastor Barz came by and Landree really got cranked up then. He said a prayer for us and everyone left and we tried to get her settled down. Again it was 9:30 before we got her down but this time she was out for the count. They weighed her at 10 and her IV went off several times during the night but never woke her up.

Brian came back the next morning and our nurse was like gang busters and got us ready to change her dressing. Without the gory details, basically they cut a hole in her butt to clean out all the dead tissue and left it open so that it will heal from the inside out. Which means it is packed with gauze that we have to change twice a day- On a wiggling two year old. The plan was that we watch the nurse change it and then we changed it that evening and then we got to go home. Well I was a super star mom and pretty much changed it that morning and they decided we could go ahead and go home. Within a minute of three people holding her down and lots of screaming, she was excited to eat her veggies. I'm willing to bet that we were the only ones on the floor who had a child go through a dressing and packing change and then sat and ate raw broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.

Here is Loubelle on the way out. Right before we left the room, she flipped over on her tummy and the nurses all came out of their station to say by to her and one even told her she was on a parade and had Landree waving to everyone. Children's hospitals are nice.

We have now been home for 48 hours and everyone is getting settled back in. Peyton is having to deal with not having PB&J and Chocolate Poptarts at our house. I can not thank the Willards enough for keeping her for us. I did feel guilty because I didn't think about her much but I know it was because she was in such good hands and LOVES being with Kacy and Abby. Landree is still running around like normal but does sit a little lopsided. Needless to say Brian and I are very thankful she is doing so well.

They gave us Tylenol with Codeine to give to Landree 30 minutes before a dressing change and it never seems to even phase her. Lets just say they should have given me a prescription for Valium or something. Dealing with a 1 inch hole in your babies bottom should warrant some prescription drugs.

2008-06-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

I am still working on my cruise blogs so don't think I have forgotten. It has just been a busy week. Really not a whole lot going on just me and the girls for the week and remember when I say the girls this summer that usually means Kacy and Abby too. When I find the cord to hook my camera up to my computer, I will post pictures from this mornings job of covering the driveway with chalk.
I make them go outside in the morning because people it is HOT here. It hit 94 degrees on May 18th and has only gone up since then and the majority of those days have been 100 degree days. Now remember, that temperature is taken in the shade so it is much hotter than that. At six forty-five one day last week my Suburban said it was 104, we passed one bank and it said 103 and the next one said 105. Last Saturday, Haley and I were excited about 91 degrees but later that day it still made it to 100. As a matter of fact, there has not been a single day in the 3 weeks since I have been back from our cruise that it has not been 100 degrees. It's HOT and I am too big a girl with too much insulation to be baking like that. So I throw the girls outside in the morning and don't really let them play outside in the afternoon.
Brian now thinks I am trying to give him a heart attack. Yesterday morning I called to tell him that our CPS bill was $298. Now that is Electricity, Gas, and city trash but still. Last year the highest summer bill we had was a little less than $200. I did realize that we forgot to ask Mom to turn both units up while we were gone so we paid to keep a cool house for 8 days with no one in it. We also had the builder come last week and seal up 2 doors that weren't sealing properly and the wall behind our dishwasher so those were contributing I'm sure. So we're bumping up the air and going to sweat a little for the summer. Later in the day, I texted him and told him that it cost me $112 to fill up my Suburban. The return text was that I was trying to kill him. NO- I'm just trying to remind you that you need to smile and be good at work so that they keep paying you. Dang why didn't I get that minivan last November when I was looking.

OOOOH- I almost forgot, Brian made lifetime this week at Weight Watchers. He has lost 90 pounds and did it in 10 months- well really 8 but you have to maintain your goal weight for 6 weigh-ins to make lifetime. Brian has kind of felt like he hasn't been able to enjoy it as much because I have decided to take the scenic route on my weight lost journey. So last week when he was in St. Louis, Haley and I talked to our leader Karen and she okayed me bring some food in to celebrate. Now I know celebrating with food is something your supposed to be overcoming when you're getting rid of your fat self but I think that you should also figure out how to celebrate with food in a reasonable way. So I kept it secret from Brian and I made Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge, Oatmeal Pecan Lace Cookies (thanks grandma), Hummus Rolls, and Fruit Kebobs with Laughing Cow Cheese and the best part was each item was only 1 point. I also had brought pictures of "Fat Brian" and no one could believe them- even the people that were there when we started. Brian brought his size 46 blue jeans (he bought size 34 jeans last night) and our leader mainly made the meeting about Brian. It was really cool and I was sooo proud of him.

Two prayer requests please. Mom had bunion surgery yesterday and did really well but right now she has a pain block in it so she hasn't really felt much so I am worried by Sunday she might be in bad shape. She is staying with Ms. Phyllis and Bob and they are pampering and taking great care of her. Next, friends of ours from college, Sean and April are waiting for the birth of their first child. They had horrible fertility problems for years and God blessed them very unexpectedly with their pregnancy. April got put on bed rest awhile back with pre-eclampsia and they thought she would have to deliver very early. Well she and baby Cash have held on and she made it to 36 weeks this week and the doctor is hopeful to hold out til next week. So if you could keep these two ladies in your prayers I would appreciate it. We have no plans for the weekend for the first time since soccer started back in March. So we plan to enjoy it.

We survived the week

2008-06-22T19:07:00.001-07:00

So we have survived yet another week and I can't believe that June is almost over. Brian had to put his truck in the shop on Monday but we aren't complaining because come July he has had that truck 10 years and this is the first work we have done on it. On Tuesday, we took Brian to the airport to go to the flooding of St. Louis- not really, he had to visit Mastercard for work. Kacy, Abby and I ventured to the Library for the first time and picked up dvds, cds, and of course books. I thought it might be best to take them and figure out the lay of the land before I took the Wild Child with me. Wednesday the girls all went to swim lessons. Abby got a little spooked and didn't enjoy swimming lessons as much as she should. Thursday, Haley was going to work from home and she kept the girls with her. For the first time since I have moved here, I was at my house by myself from about 9:15-1:35. Peyton and Landree were at summer school and I didn't even know what to do with myself.

Friday, we went to see Kung Fu Panda. I don't know if I have mentioned it but Landree is talking all the time now and we have been thrilled because her frustration level has really gone down. However this means she wants to talk through the whole movie, "Oh, that Kung Fu Panda, Where's Kung Fu Panda, That Kung Fu Panda Daddy, Where's my Daddy, etc...." We then met Leigh and she took Kacy to spend the night with Britney. It was Haley's birthday so I arranged for me to take Abby and Leigh to take Kacy so they could have a kid-free night.
Brian got home a little before 4 and Landree ran to the door yelling, "I saw Kung Fu Panda, I saw Kung Fu Panda." I used to dread it when Brian went out of town when we lived in Little Rock. This time was not really that bad. Staying home has made a huge difference. The only time we missed him was at supper and bedtime. Earlier in the week, I bought a $25 gift certificate for a tex mex restaurant on Restaurant.com for $5 so we took the kids and tried it out. We then went for Open Swim at the pool where the girls are taking lessons- www.learn-to-swim.com. I thought that if we got Abby in the water she would get more comfortable. Well I got them all fitted for goggles and of course then Landree didn't want to wear hers and we got into the pool. Peyton wanted a floaty, Landree wanted to stay on the stairs and Abby was nervous and started crying. Between Brian and I we worked with and wouldn't you know it, she started swimming like a fish. I couldn't have been prouder of my own child as I was with her. Landree eventually decided she needed to put on her goggles. She became invisible when that happened. She would stand on the stairs and throw herself at you whether you were ready to catch her or not. She took in so much water that she threw up two different times. You would think that would stop her but it didn't. So now we have a little water girl and we're going to have to figure out how to keep her safe. Once we got home we had to fight Landree to keep her from wearing her new goggles to bed and the big girls had to watch the Disney Movie, "Camp Rock." Disney is such marketing geniuses that the movie premiered Friday night but the 3 oldest girls at my house already know the songs and the stores are already selling the CD. Brian had promised them they could watch the movie and eat ice cream. Those babies were so tired that I didn't think they were going to make it. I don't know what I was thinking because those two LOVE tv and sugar.
Brian and the girls were bums on Saturday and never got out of their pajamas. I took Abby home and Haley and I went to Costco. I ended up with a membership and we then ran to the movies. We saw Sex and the City and it was GREAT. I forgot how much I had missed the girls and I felt like I was catching up with old friends. Today we went to church and there was a potluck send off afterwards. The son of one of Peyton's teachers from last summer and the Congregational President just finished Seminary school and is going to start his Vicarage this week. I took Mom's Calico Beans and Paula Dean's Not Yo' Momma's Banana Pudding. Landree survived eating from a potluck. A couple of the middle school girls have adopted her and one even sat with us so she could spend more time with Landree. Brian went to play golf this afternoon. Landree tried destroying my carpet by just being a 2 year old. I will be so glad when we can get wood flooring- my carpet is disgusting.
I do have two pieces of exciting news just for me. I got my airfare, hotel for the night before, and transportation for our girl's cruise in October booked- YEAH!!! Second piece, Jessica just booked her airfare for her and Colby to come visit in July- YEAH- #2! Peyton was so excited and said, "Oh yeah my best Little Rock friend is coming." Melanie and her crew are going to Hot Springs tomorrow and are going to meet up with Jessica and Colby- ya'll have fun!

Cruise Day 3- Aruba

2008-06-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Brian got up nice and early and went and worked out and I of course slept in some and got ready to go in port. For breakfast we decided to go to the dining room and sit down and order instead of room service or the buffet. We ended up with a couple that didn't speak English but were very nice. Every time you get off the ship, you pretty much are grabbed by a photographer to take your picture. So this is us after we got off the ship in Aruba.

I had booked our tour of Aruba through an independent agent for about half the price that Royal Caribbean charges. We met up Marc Wix of http://www.wixtours.com/. He told us that no one else had booked for the morning and that he needed to move us to the afternoon tour. At first we were a little aggravated but it actually worked out in our favor. We went through the town of Oranjestad and did some shopping before it got too hot. Now later the tour guide told us that it had been so hot and that the old people were predicting that it would rain soon. Hot was 86 degrees. People I had just left San Antonio were it was 100 degrees. Maybe we need to move to the Caribbean- just joking because gas in Aruba was over $7 a gallon.

When we got out of the terminal area, this is what we saw

Brian kept telling me how beautiful the color of the water was and wanted me to take pictures. Now my thought is, What do you do with a bunch of pictures of water? We found these palm trees just right in the middle of a shopping center.

At lunchtime we went back to the ship and ate and then headed back out for our tour.

Our first stop was the Aruba Aloe Factory. I grew up looking mainly at cotton fields riding back and forth on a 45 minute bus ride to school in Northwest Louisiana and cornfields on my summer trips to Wisconsin. The nice neat rows are the same in Aruba but they are Aloe plants.

We took a tour of the factory and then shopped their store. The island of Aruba is VERY windy. So much so that the trees are wider on one side than the other. Here is a picture of a tree and you can see that the branches are much wider on the right side than the left.

Next we went to Baby Beach. It's called Baby Beach due to the fact that it is only about waist deep without any waves so it is perfect for kids. Here is Brian- It's early in the week so he hasn't gotten aggravated with my picture taking yet.

Here is why it is Baby Beach. These rocks help break all the waves.

Okay so everybody else just ignore this pic- I am posting it just for my husband. He has been working out so hard and I was so excited to show him this picture because you can see he has abs- well you could see a little better if he was a little darker- but remember this was the beginning of our trip.
Too bad there wasn't a really great money making opportunity for Cactus because this place would clean up. Years ago, some residents needed to find a way to fence their property and didn't have the money for materials. Those geniuses found a way

Yep, they made Cactus fences. This would definitely work to keep Peyton out who for some reason every time she sees a cactus in San Antonio hollers, "Cactuses, Run for your lives." Don't ask why, I have no idea. So Brian and I spent a lot of our day, "Cactuses, Run for your lives."

So next our tour guide takes us to see some landmarks. This looks like a nice boulder. You then go around the other side and find native drawings that were in the indentations of the boulder.

I was going through our tour and never thought I would have any type of spiritual experience. Here are pictures of the same type of tree used to make the Crown of Thorns for Jesus. Of course we have all read the descriptions in the Bible but seeing the size and sharpness of these thorns were a little breath-taking. I know that the crown of thorns was only a minor pain that our Savior suffered and I can't even fathom the brutality he suffered. Seeing this makes me even more thankful for the torturing he endured for us.

So then the tour guide took us to see the Natural Bridge. One side of the island is completely barren. Due to the high wind that comes off the ocean, the salt content is so high that nothing grows there and the government doesn't allow people to live in that area. However, the scenery is beautiful. Brian loved how the waves would hit the rocks and create spray so he had me take a picture of him. Lets just say I have many pictures of Brian and this landscape because we had to wait for it to hit and he kept turning around to see if it was coming yet and of course that is about the time it would come.

So you see how the waves are hitting here. Over the years, they have were so strong that they eroded away the rock and created a natural bridge. There used to be two bridges and you could walk on them. A year or so ago the larger one fell during the night so they no longer allow you to walk across. They were right about the air being so salty. If you licked your skin, you could taste it and my hair was pretty nasty it was all said and done.

Now, I LOVE my children but I do enjoy a break every now and then. However, I usually see other children and then miss my own. I saw this family with a little girl that let me know I was glad to not have my children with me because I'm sure we would have been fishing Landree out of the ocean at some point.

We finally headed back to our ship and isn't this a wonderful sight.

We showered and got changed and headed to dinner. After dinner, we wandered around for awhile until it was time for the show, "Cool Art, Hot Ice." This was the ice skating show. Of course I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures but it was great and we were really impressed with it. We were starving by the time we got back to the room and of course ordered room service at 11:30 at night. I think I am seeing how I gained weight on the cruise.

Cruise Day 2- Day at Sea

2008-06-18T12:40:00.001-07:00

So Brian had me mark 9:30-10:00 as our room service breakfast time so he could go work out. Well, we woke up at 9:30 and he didn't make it to work out. This is the latest I have slept in over a year!!!! I love vacationing with no kids. We got a call a few minutes before ten that our breakfast was going to be slightly late. It got there and I had scrambled eggs for the first time in a long while. They were nice and salty and GREAT- I love scrambled eggs but with Landree's Egg allergy- they are a no-no. I made Brian go and get tickets for tomorrow's Ice Show. A little before eleven, we finally made it out of the room to go to the pool. The boat has two different pools.

The pool for all ages- for some reason I didn't get a good shot of the actual pool, just all the chairs and a couple of the hot tubs

Well you can probably tell that I didn't take these pictures that day- I took them on a day we were at port.

The Adults Only Pool and hot tubs- notice how the chairs have an extra cushion and cover

When we got to the adult pool, it was packed and all of the chairs were pretty much taken and the family pool was loud and obnoxious so we went up a deck and you can see some of the deck chairs in this picture.

We sat on some pool chairs next to the railing overlooking the ocean, covered ourselves in sunscreen, and kicked back-me reading and Brian listening to his ipod. About half an hour later Brian succumbed to the men walking by saying, "Bar Service, Bar Service" and ordered a beer. Well he soon learned that if you bought a bucket of beer, they brought you a bucket full of ice and 5 beers for the price of only 4 beers and we all know Brian loves a bargain and he could take the unopened ones back to the room's refrigerator. After two hours of laying on a chair baking in the Caribbean sun with a great ocean breeze, I looked at Brian and told him that I didn't know I was one of these people. I have all the makings of being a beach bum and I didn't even know it.

We went to a late lunch in the buffet and I thought Brian was going to make himself sick on the fried fish. I even asked him for a piece off his second plate and he picked through and gave me the smallest piece on his plate- stingy. We went back to the pool and found two chairs and loved that the chairs had extra cushion and proceeded to bake some more. Eventually we drug ourselves out of the chairs and I went to the room to to start getting ready for formal night and Brian went to work out.

Here are pictures we took for Formal night. Look at how loose Brian's coat was, he bought that coat and tie for a sorority formal in 1997 so he is now way smaller than he was in college but still too cheap to buy a new coat.

I get tickled when I look at that picture because he has lost a lot of weight and his wedding ring no longer touches any part of his finger but his hands are still big and meaty compared to the rest of him. The art you see in the background spanned several of the decks. Here are two pictures of it showing the base to the top.

We were by ourselves for the first hour of dinner and then our tablemates showed up and realized that all of their clocks were an hour behind. We got know our waiter better and the food was pretty good. After dinner, we wandered around and went into some of the shops. The Drifters were performing at 10 but Brian and I were exhausted (baking in the sun takes lots of work) and decided to go to bed at that time. They have things scheduled until 2 AM but Brian and I have decided we're not after midnight people because we like to schedule our shore excursions for first thing in the morning.

Time to go to bed

2008-06-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Why is it when my husband is not home I can't seem to go to bed. Haley and I have talked about this phenomenon and I still can't understand it. I did live by myself for many years before we got married but for some reason I can't seem to go to bed when he's not here. And it is now almost midnight tonight. I just found out on my allergy board that some root beers and wines are clarified with eggs. HUH? I don't even want to know how that is possible but looks something else I'll have to avoid for dear Landree- not that I let her drink wine that often (hehe) or that she has ever had rootbeer as far as I know. Peyton can't have caffeine because of her heart and now we need to avoid rootbeer for Lubelle- so Lemonade, Sprite, and Seven-Up are their only fun drinks outside of Milk/Soymilk, Water, and juice. Lord who would have thought that you'd have to check a stinking can of rootbeer for egg- I think it might be time for me to go to bed on that one.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

We were at the waterpark at SeaWorld yesterday so I decided to use the moment. Ignore the 5 year old not cooperating. We love our Papaw and I am so thankful my girls have him. Brian is currently in bed sleeping late. He is sleeping upright because he says when he lays down his head hurts, must have been some poker night last night.

Day 1- Getting to our Ship

2008-06-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

Our cruise left out of Puerto Rico so needless to say we needed to fly out really early. Our flight was at 5:40AM so we decided not to subject anyone to that brutal time of the morning so we had a Towne Car pick us up at 3:45AM to take us to the airport. I was trying to stay awake and started harassing Brian with my camera.

He got silly once they called our flight

We had a nice quiet flight and once they dimmed the lights, we both fell asleep. We had to run to make our flight in Atlanta but we made it and got settled. Our flight wasn't full and it took everything I had not to ask to move seats. The couple in front of us were the epitome of a Newlywed couple and I wanted to yell at them to get a room after awhile. I adored my husband when we got married 10 years ago but people I promise I never sat and stared into his eyes and rubbed his face and then wrote about it in my diary- I am not joking. And if that didn't send me over the edge- the man who didn't wear shoes the whole flight almost did. He sat there with his bare feet pressed up on the wall in front of him with his freakishly long toes- THE ENTIRE FLIGHT right in my eyeline. I normally do not have issues with people’s feet but come on we are in a confined area without normal air flow and you are going to keep your feet laid out for all to see- YUCK. It didn’t help when I realized that his coffee cup was a spittoon for dip slobber. Three hours and forty-five minutes later we finally made it to Puerto Rico only for our plane to have to stop on the runway for the Gila Monsters to cross the runway. We got our luggage and then made it to the Royal Caribbean transportation area and guess who was there in line waiting also- You guessed it- Our Newlywed couple and if I thought they were bad in a confined area of a plane, they were worse in wide open spaces. After we sat there for awhile we were joined by the naked foot man and his family. Things weren't looking so great.

We got on the bus and saw our first glimpses of Puerto Rico. We got taken a lot of back routes because the Clintons were in town to campaign and Heineken was having a Jazz Fest. We were not impressed with what we saw but we had to remind ourselves it was the backroads. I did get tickled when I saw this building- I might as well have been at home with Curves and Blockbuster

We got to the port and were shocked at the size of the ship. Brian took this picture while were in line and didn't know we were looking at our room- note the red arrow.

There were hundreds of people in line and we thought we might be there all day and we were starving. We left the house before 4AM and it was now almost 2PM and we still had eaten nothing more than airplane snacks. We were lucky though because we didn’t have to check any luggage since they had taken it at the airport and we were able to bypass the majority of the line. We signed our life away, showed our passports 5 different times, got our Seapass cards and we finally made it on the ship. This is where my beloved husband started singing the theme to “The Love Boat.” He then serenaded me with this song for the majority of the evening.

We got to our room and were pleasantly surprised it was a little bigger than our closet at home- we were expecting worse. We then went to eat lunch at the buffet and were happy campers. We wandered around the boat for awhile, checked on the kids (I owe Nana and Emily big for driving to overly tired kids back to Shreveport for us), and then read the Daily Compass for all of the events on the boat. We then had to go to Muster which is where they make you put on your life preservers and go stand in a bar with everyone else. Brian threatened my life if I took a picture so no luck there. We went to the dining room for supper and met our Waiter- John and Assistant Waiter- Andre. We were at a table for 4 but our table mates weren't there. Over halfway through the meal they showed up. They were a newlywed couple from North Carolina and they were Country comes to town. Brian and I worried that he wasn't going to make it a week. We wandered around the ship some more and then went back to our room where they had finally delivered our luggage. We unpacked and watched the ship sail from Puerto Rico. I tried to get a good picture but because it was dark, my shutter had to be open a little longer and since the ship was moving- it's a little blurry.

By the time we got all unpacked, met our room attendant- Sammy and got everything put away it was late and we were too tired to go to the comedy show but we did want a snack and since room service was free, you know we enjoyed it. I declared I was having breakfast in bed so I filled out our order, put it outside the door and dared Brian to wake me when he went to work out. The ship was a little more rocky than we expected but we were exhausted and had no trouble falling asleep.

We have returned against our will

2008-06-11T14:37:00.001-07:00

So we have made it back from our cruise. Normally when I go out of town I enjoy myself but I am usually glad to be coming home- NOT this time. I spent 7 days in the Caribbean and could still be there. Papaw and Grandma brought the girls back to us on Monday and I was so anxious and excited to see them. However at 10 o'clock that night I was cleaning up Peyton throw up because she went hysterical crying over something and got choked- it has been years since she has done that. I looked at Brian and asked him if we could go back to the Caribbean. I have all of our laundry done and I hated doing it because it all smelled like the beach- okay a mixture of sunscreen, sweat, and fruity aloe aftersun lotion. As I washed each load I was slowly washing away my freedom. So I have decided to do a day by day blog of our trip with pictures. I know I owe some of you pics from events like Peyton's dance recital and such but I'll do my trip blog first because I want to go back and it makes me all happy to look at my pictures. This was Brian and my first "Adult-Only" trip not work involved since we've been married and we now know it will only be the first of many if we can afford it. Haley told me that she usually starts planning next year's vacation before she finishes this year's vacation and now I completely understand. We are trying to convince Melanie and Keith to come with us next year and take all the kids on a cruise.
So bear with me and hopefully by the end of next week, I'll have given you all the details.

Okay- so it's been two weeks

2008-05-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

since my last post. It has been a busy few weeks only for us to be heading into an even busier week. On Thursday night, Brad and his girlfriend, Megan came into town for the weekend. On Friday we went to Rudy's for lunch and Brian took them up to see the USAA campus. Peyton had her last day of Preschool. I have to say I teared up a little because it only means that Kindergarten is even closer.

Saturday we went to Peyton's last Soccer Game and it was hot enough that Megan and I looked like two little old ladies with our Umbrellas (We have been over one hundred several times already this month). Lindsey came over to watch the girls and we went out to eat at Chuy's, went to Dillard's to exchange some board shorts Brian bought too big and he came out of there with size Mediums- yes you read that right the man that was in XXL this time last year bought mediums, and then we checked out the new Dick's Sporting Goods. It was pretty nice- I have nothing to compare it too but Brad and Megan said it was better than the one in Shreveport so I'll have to go on that. We then went to see the new Indiana Jones Movie and obviously misjudged the crowd. We had to split up and sit in two separate parts of the theater. The movie was pretty good.

Sunday I got up and got in the shower and Brian started complaining about his stomach hurting. Well he ended up spending most of the morning in the potty and then Megan started not feeling well. So we camped out at the house and didn't go to church. Well after naptime, Peyton started not looking so good. I was on the phone with Melanie when Landree fell out of my lap so I hurried and got off the phone with her and scooped Landree up. No sooner than I had done that when Peyton projectile vomiting on the carpet. I handed Landree off to Brad, Brian headed for the hills and I got Peyton to the bathroom and spent the next hour getting her and the carpet cleaned up. I got Landree to bed and Peyton decided to go lay in bed with Brian and a puke bucket. I was then on the phone with Haley when Megan started calling for Brad from upstairs. Bless her heart she had started throwing up- it's bad enough to be sick but then not be in your own bed or at your momma's house is even worse. Brad declared that if I got sick that he was headed to a hotel and calling the CDC to tent our house. I ended up at the grocery store at 10 o'clock getting gatorade, medicine, and the ingredients for the BRAT diet. I then got Brad and I Jack in the Box because we realized that we never did eat supper. I got home and gave all the sickies Gatorade or Sprite and Medicine and Brad and I sat down to eat our supper at 10:45 and started watching the movie, 27 Dresses. When Brad used to live at home and didn't stay out with the hooty owls, he and I would stay up and talk until really late in the evening. Now Brian and I have been married for almost 10 years now and here we were- me taking care of a sick husband and a sick 5 year old and him taking care of a sick girlfriend. It was definately a far cry from our chitchat sessions of old. I hated that Megan got sick but I did enjoy having Brad's company.

Memorial Day dawned and it looked like the Night of the Living Dead around here. Brian felt better but was very weak- he no longer had his fat reserves to replenish him, Megan was also better but weak, and Peyton kept going back and forth to the potty. Brad and Megan left late morning and made it back to Bossier. We sat around and watched Harry Potters all day and all four us took a much needed nap. Everybody ate soup for the day and this morning everybody is pretty much recovered.

Now we are trying to get ready for our vacation. Tomorrow, Peyton has her closing chapel and ceremony for Preschool at church, one of the moms is having a party afterwards, then tomorrow evening she has her Soccer Party at a local eating place here. Thursday, she has dress rehearshal for her Dance Recital. Friday, Buddy goes to the vet to be kenneled and Nana and Emily are coming down. Saturday, Peyton has her dance recital. Sunday, Brian and I have a 5:40AM flight to Puerto Rico where we will board our cruise to the Southern Carribbean. Nana and Emily will take the girls back to Shreveport on Sunday. So somewhere in the next 4 days, I have to get all the laundry done and get us packed up to leave for an entire week.

HIVES

2008-05-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

Any other time I have posted about hives on this blog, it has been in regards to Landree. Not tonight. I am literally covered from head to toe in hives, yes even my face and palms have hives. I have been itching for 24 hours and I am now miserable. The doctor said it could be up to 10 days before they are all gone. So I am doped up on benadryl and he prescribed a steroid also. Today I got soooo sleepy because of the benadryl so I gated off the kitchen and stairs and put a movie on and fell asleep in my chair. Luckily the girls didn't tear the house down. We have no idea what has caused the hives- I just know they better be gone in 2 1/2 weeks when I leave for my cruise. I run around here half crazy anyway but I have now been itching and scratching for over 24 hours and I might go batty soon.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

I probably should just go back to sleep for the rest of the day because the first hour and a half that I have been up has been so wonderful I'm afraid someone might spoil it. I got woken up by my wonderful husband and two beautiful girls and they came bearing cards, flowers, and gifts. They gave me a 250 GB portable external harddrive and a Flip Camcorder- YEAH!!!!! All I had to do was put the provided AA batteries in and immediately start taking video. I tried to get the girls to say Happy Mother's Day so it would be all cute for my blog. Here are our attempts

Landree wasn't cooperating- imagine that. She finally did it on her terms and I almost didn't get it. Ignore the ironing board and couch full of laundry in the background.

I then was brought breakfast in bed and my husband even brought me the Diet Dr. Pepper that I love not the water or milk that I should drink. We are now all 4 in my bed, the girls and Brian are watching Alvin and the Chipmunks and I am playing on the computer- Life is Wonderful and I am so blessed. Peyton is a little upset that Mother's Day is on Sunday and we are going to church. Today is Pentecost Sunday and I am happy to go to church and thank God for all of my blessings- mainly the three I am sharing a bed with right now and especially my two girls because there was many a day that I wasn't even sure that I would get to be the recipient of Mother's Day Wishes.

I'm Back

2008-05-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in a while because I have been working on Mother's Day presents. I was up very late or very early depending on your perspective- a few nights this week finishing things up. I made chipboard albums and coffee cups for the moms. Here they are

Tonight, I am at a scrapbooking store for a crop and I have spent the night working on this soccer layout for Peyton.

Maybe tomorrow I'll post more about what has happened this week and the chipboard albums. We'll see how Mother's Day goes, Brian and Peyton did a lot of whispering today so there is no telling what tomorrow will be.

Just a Little Ray of Sunshine

2008-04-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Peyton and Landree were watching SuperWhy on PBS this morning when a PSA came on about how moms work so hard and give 100% to their kids. Little Miss Sunshine looked over at me and said, "You don't do that." I asked her what she was talking about and she replied, "You don't give your kids 100%." I thought about asking her if she even knew what 100% was or why she thought that but I decided to just leave it and say, "OK Peyton." This afternoon I said something to Peyton about taking my camera to Daddy's Basketball game. She said, "I don't think you should do that, somebody might see the pictures and think he was a pro and he's not." Well isn't she just a little ray of sunshine today. Nothing like having a five year old put you in your place.

This weekend was pretty nice for us. On Friday, I took all my girls (Kacy and Abby too) to see Horton Hears a Hoo. I had hotdogs in my bag for Landree along with microwave dairy-free popcorn in a ziploc and juice boxes. Peyton did get a kids popcorn meal and everybody was happy and allergy safe. I also took Landree's tabby blanket and everybody made it through the movie without one potty trip. I had worked out in my mind all the different situations on how I would make potty trips by myself with 4 kids. Landree is now obsessed with wanting to go to the movies and even laid out Sunday morning when we told her we weren't going to the movies, we were going to church. I also had one of those lovely moments that you remember for a long time. I was standing at the concession stand in line when I realized something didn't feel right. Sure enough, I had a huge tear in the seat of my pants. The good Lord only knows who all saw my behind that day. I have no clue how long it was like that but I know it didn't just happen while I was standing in line. I was slightly embarassed to say the least but then it changed over to mourning when I realized that these were my favorite denim capris that I have had for years and wore all the time. I got over it because that just means one more pair I get to buy before my cruise.

Friday night, we had a quiet night at home with just the four of us which we haven't done in a week and I made homemade lasagna- YUM. Peyton said she was in love with it- you know it must be good if picky said that. I made Landree an alternative lasagna with Tofutti Mozzarella and she had finished the first serving before I even got to the table. Peyton had a game Saturday and is still frustrating her Daddy. She is not completely focused on the ball 100% of the game and for her athletically incline Father it's a STRUGGLE. Saturday night I went to a crop with Haley and a girl from her neighborhood, Heather who moved here from Maumelle. Haley and I were the only ones doing digital scrapbooking and Haley got a lot of attention. It was from 6-midnight and it was nice to just be somewhere with adults and no kids- even though I spent all my time working with pics of my kids. Sunday was confirmation Sunday at Church so it was packed and of course my girls were not well behaved. I have never had Peyton act out in church at all but she was wired up Sunday for some reason. A few well placed pinches were delivered and I prayed for Patience and kept repeating, "She's a child of God, She's a child of God."
Tonight we went to Brian's Basketball which they didn't win but it was sure fun to watch Brian running up and down that court. He is soooo much faster than he ever was before.
The rest of the week is pretty normal, we have Weight Watchers tomorrow night and if I haven't lost this week, I might get a little bit ugly. I then have to order swimsuits for our cruise- YUCK. Here is one of the excursions we have booked, we are so excited.
http://pws.prserv.net/sailhighpockets/
I need to make sure I have my motion sickness patches before we go.

Oh My Aching Butt

2008-04-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

This is a favorite phrase of my beloved sister Melanie. Anytime someone is stressing her out or complaining about something she says, "Oh My Aching Butt." I happen to love this phrase but with two small children I can't really utilize the phrase to it's fullest. Well now I have found a new use for it at my house. Everybody knows Brian is losing weight and he is 0.2 pounds away from his goal weight and has lost almost 85 pounds. We have gone through a few times where he has become utterly obsessed about his weight loss (just ask Haley) and has driven me a little batty. However nothing compares like the newest complaint- His butt hurts. His skinny ass (thanks Jessica) has lost so much weight that he doesn't have enough cushion on his butt and if he sits too long it hurts. He was moaning and complaining the other night about sitting in meetings and his butt hurting and then he was complaining about not being able to sit through a movie without his butt hurting. So, Melanie in your honor I looked at him and said, "Oh My Aching Butt." Now I need to go finish getting ready and wrangle two kids into dresses and bows and go to church where I am sure I will hear about his aching butt after he sits through church and the voter's meeting afterwards. Maybe I should pray for patience.

My New Camera

2008-04-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

So after my company left on Thursday, I opened up my new camera.

Isn't she pretty? I think I'm going to find a name for her. Normally I name mechanical things good solid names like Bertha or Betsy or Dolly(my first car whose pop-up headlights stayed up all the time- get it Dolly). But I think my camera needs a prettier name than that so I'm going to have to work on it. I set the battery to charge and spent the hour reading up on how to take a picture with it. Peyton woke up during this time and became my first subject.

Next I harassed Landree.

Don't ask I have no clue.

So I can actually take a picture and for that I am very excited but trust me- this is only the beginning. This camera can do so much more that it is a shame that it is currently being wasted on a novice like me.

Okay grandparents and one particular uncle, I have now posted new pictures.

Cleanliness

2008-04-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

Have you ever noticed that you have different levels of cleanliness depending on the audience? Okay so maybe its just me but I have a feeling most of you know what I'm talking about.

There is the somebody famous is coming to my house and I have to completely redo the whole place and get a professional crew in here type of cleanliness.- Never experienced that one before but getting my first house ready to sell was as close as I think I'm ever going to get.
Then there is the "I'm going to have people I don't know to my house and I want them to think of me as a clean person and not the slob I am deep down" level of cleanliness
Next is "One of our Parents are coming to visit or Acquaintances" level- Okay so this one really should move down the list the older I become. I used to be really worried about when one of our parents came to visit. My mom- I really wanted her to think that I was paying attention all those years and knew how to keep a clean house and wanted her to be proud of me. Who was I trying to kid- she was the one who saw my room all those years and knows deep down that I "know" how to keep a clean house- I just "choose" not too. I used to be really worried when my In-laws came to visit. I didn't want them to think that their son was married to a complete failure of a wife. That too started to go away as the years have gone on- I think more after Peyton was born and I figured out that as long as unknown things weren't growing that could possibly going to hurt their grandchild they were okay. Just pass them a grandkid when they walk through the door and they probably don't even notice the surroundings for the first hour or so. The younger and cuter the kid- the more time before they notice
Now we come to the "True Friends and Siblings" level- As long as there is a path through your house and nothing is going to attack them besides kids and a dog and you plan to feed them- you don't have to do much- hey chances are their house looks about the same
Lastly "Good Lord- Surely that isn't someone knocking on our door because even I cringe when I look at my house" Level- This one is where you and your husband are just cranky because it is so bad and when you're both working- neither one of you feels like cleaning it and you just ignore it and when one of you isn't working (ME) the other one just gives you those silent but deadly looks, sighs a lot, and mutters under his breath

Well not that we have established the levels, lets look at my house. Everyone knew I had the SAHM open house last Thursday and I will be honest my house was pretty much at the bottom level. I have been in a slump and couldn't seem to get myself in gear. The last time my house was truly clean was Superbowl Sunday and yes people I know that was months ago. My family and Brian's family had visited and it may have been some of the messiest my house had been. So I start working through my house and realized at Midnight on Wednesday night that Good Lord my house had been nasty. I stayed up to a ridiculously late time to get it to a decent level- it looked pretty good but no-one dare go in a closet or open up a cabinet.

We had our gathering and didn't have a big turnout which was okay with me because one of the ladies that came has a daughter starting K in the fall with Peyton and the girls played and she sat around and we talked for an extra two hours. So that was really great.

After I got the girls down for a nap I finally opened up my new camera and played for awhile. Everyone who knows my camera habits know I take WAAAAY too many pictures because I just love a digital camera. Well having a much quicker shutter speed is not helping that problem. I need to get very familiar and intimate with the delete button. Later I'll post some pics and more details on our weekend.

Just for those curious- by Saturday, our house was somewhere between acquaintances and good friends. The Willards came by to pick up Abby who had spent the night and I have to say I was a little uncomfortable when I looked around at my house. Isn't it sad how you don't always notice the condition of things until someone else is about to come through your front door?

No Nuts!

2008-04-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

So it dawned on me a few weeks ago that Landree is old enough to start learning about her allergies. Peyton quickly caught on and is working with Landree too. We tell her no eggs, no nuts, and no cow's milk- only Landree milk. In Landree language, Allergy is Allgergee. Not sure it's getting us anywhere but it's a start. Last Tuesday, I picked up Kacy from clubs after school and she came home with us. Peyton and Landree were so excited and driving me crazy. I said, "You guys are going to drive me nuts." Which caused Landree to start hollering, "No Nuts, No Nuts." Not that she has a clue what a nut is but hey you gotta start somewhere.

Last night we went to Weight Watchers and then we went to the Willard house to pick up the girls. They all were outside playing when we got there and were not happy that we were making them come home. Brian was on one side of the suburban buckling Landree in and I was on the other letting Peyton in and Landree saw that I had her Carebear. She starts getting all excited and hollering, "Momma, Catch it me, catch it me." It took us a minute and then I asked her if she wanted me to throw it to her and she started hooting- "Catch, it me, catch it me." So she learned how to play catch at the Willard house last night- terminology a little wrong but she got the idea.

UPS says my new camera is out for delivery- yeah!

Watch out World

2008-04-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Watch out World the Craft and Willard girls are going to start Swimming Lessons this summer. I have been on the phone all morning and there is a great lady at Love-to-Swim that worked on it and got all four of my girls scheduled. On Wednesdays, I will put the older three girls in their class at 9 in the morning and then Landree and my big butt will be going to the Mommy and Me swimming class at 9:15. It should be interesting. It's exciting that Landree gets to do something that the big girls are going to get to do. As I type, she just sat on the dog who has a heart problem and was started bouncing, holding on to his collar, and hollering, "Ride Horsey, Ride Horsey."

There maybe a connection here, the dog checked out and was all clear at his 2006 annual check-up the year Landree was born. Last year right before we moved here his vet found a very mild heart murmur and it didn't need any treatment. One year later after being home with me and Landree all day everyday the dog has a double heart murmur and just got put on heart medication. May not be related but I'm just saying- there maybe a connection.

We had a pretty quiet weekend this past weekend. It was such a busy week that we were glad to spend most of the weekend at home. Peyton did have a soccer game and I swear the child prances like a pony when she runs. Towards the end of the game she did start engaging and getting close to the ball and even had a run where she almost kicked it into the goal. She has her Trike-a-Thon tomorrow so family be careful when answering the phone- she is going to start calling for donations soon. Brian took her out last night after his basketball game to make sure she remembered how to ride her bike. We have to decorate it in honor of Fiesta. I have lived here almost a full year now and I'm not sure what Fiesta is besides almost two weeks of eating and drinking and they have a parade and the kids are out of school for it.

Brian is becoming more active in the church whether he likes it or not. Pastor Barz started a men's group on a book called, "For Men Only- and then something about learning about the innerworkings and thinking of women." Brian hadn't planned on going but Pastor sent an email to check on Landree and sent a personal invitation to Brian- so Brian went. Ask me in a month or two if it worked. On Saturday he got up early and helped build a rock wall at the church. They weren't finished when he left for Peyton's game and he mentioned going back but I already had family plans. Later I learned why- the head guy had brought a cooler full of beer for them to enjoy when they were done.

The good Lord has blessed our family once again. On Thursday, I got the call from the pediatrician that she did indeed have MRSA and that we needed to make sure that she finished her antibiotics. She also said that it was really good that I brought her in when I did and as fast as it was growing, if we would have waited another day she would have probably ended up in the hospital because oral antibiotics would not have worked. I also am very thankful that she knew what she was looking at and took the appropriate steps. I think it scared me more after the fact knowing how close we came to it being really bad. We have since heard so many horror stories involving children and know how blessed we are. She did tell me to really watch any spots on her because it can lay dormant and come back. She had given us an antibiotic cream and any spot that comes up is getting slathered with that.

After all of my dental issues last week (I had the bond from a wreck I had as a kid fall off of one of my front teeth- I really did look like I had moved from Arkansas), I'm back to my hosting duties this week. On Thursday, I am hosting the neighborhood HOA SAHM Open House. Basically I'm having all of the SAHMs in the neighborhoods come over for the morning. Of course I don't think my house has been truly clean since the superbowl party back in February. So you know I have a bunch of women coming in so I have been trying to get things extra clean. Of course then I want to add some extra decorations and I rearranged the playroom again. I love having a playroom downstairs, I just hate that it is the first thing you see when you walk into my house. Instead of cleaning yesterday, I spent 3 hours working on the invitation for Jayce's Birthday Party. Here is what I ended up with:

I wanted to put Jayce Carter since that is how my family refers to him but I thought it might confuse the kids at daycare since no one there uses his middle name. But wouldn't it sound more like a heathen outlaw to have both names- Jayce Carter?

My new camera is supposed to be delivered tomorrow!!! I am so excited but don't expect much because it may take me a month to figure out how to take a picture on it.

Birthday Weekend/Easter- 3/21-3/23

2008-04-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my updates I promised.

On the Friday before Peyton's Birthday, we went to see Disney on Ice- High School Musical. Mom had made it into town so she went with us, Haley had to work so Marcus' Grandmother accompanied Abby and Kacy, and Leigh and Britney also went. We had the standard arena food for lunch and some of the girls picked out souvenirs. We had really great seats and were so close to the ice that I was upset I had forgotten jackets. Peyton was in awe. I knew that she could sing along to the movies but people she knew every word to every single song. Leigh and I cracked up at her. It was a great show and well worth the money.

That night we took mom to Alamo Cafe and then waited for Melanie and her crew to get there. She was worried that she wouldn't see the girls so I told her that I would keep Landree up but that she had to deal with her on Saturday when she was a grump. I had thought I had convinced Peyton to just have plain cupcakes that the kids could decorate for her party. Friday afternoon she asked me when I was going to start on her cake. I asked her what cake and she told me that she thought I was going to make her an artist palette cake like I made Landree's cakes. Well crap, so guess who started making cakes at 9 o'clock at night. Melanie and I stayed up a little too late that night and we were scrambling to get everything ready the next morning.

Her party was at a local pottery place and it was great. The kids ate pizza first, we then put smocks on them and they started painting their tiles. It was hilarious to watch them because some were just real loosey-goosey painting them, others were very exact and knew what they wanted to do, and there were others whose moms should have put their name on them because they are the ones who painted them.

Landree was a nightmare so Aunt Melanie walked around with her and kept her entertained. After painting the tiles, each child got a cupcake with plain white frosting. The kids then decorated them with squeeze icing and sprinkles.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of Peyton. I love how excited a kid gets over a cupcake. We then opened presents and of course Peyton was thrilled with her loot.

Another great shot by Haley. I've decided she is officially signed up pictures for all my kids birthday parties

We headed home and put Landree to bed. The guys played Wii, Melanie and Momma went shopping and Emily and I took Peyton to a birthday party. I would have much rather sat my big butt at home and took a nap but it wasn't in the cards. We saw most of the same kids and there were ponies for the kids to ride.

Peyton had fun and I had a great time with Emily, especially the horse pooped with Peyton riding and she had no clue. I so love that my nieces are getting older. We headed back home and I made homemade guacamole and Brian made fajitas. They were sooooo good. We forced the kids to bed so that we could put out Easter Baskets. I seem to do this every year. I collect things for Easter Baskets and hide them through out the house and then I get them together and realize I have way to much crap. This year was no exception.

I got up early the next morning because I had to make chocolate chip pancakes for Peyton because I had made something special for Landree's birthday and of course Peyton remembers everything. I blocked off the stairs so everyone could come down at once. Here is a pic of Peyton running to Melanie who is wishing her a Happy Birthday.

I could have just given Landree the Elmo Bunny eggs because she walked around here shaking those and Melanie had to show her how to dig in an Easter Basket.

It was pretty much like Christmas around here since it was her birthday and Easter. We actually got everyone to church on time and quickly decided that Landree needed to go to the nursery. When Brian brought her back for communion, we realized that she had a hive on her head and it was spreading. So we sat in church and gave her benadryl. She then started sticking her tongue out coughing and Brian and I got scared. So as soon as Pastor gave the benediction, Brian took her outside and I started thinking about giving the epi-pen for the first time and mapping a route to the ER. She ended up being okay and we came home and had a great Easter dinner of Mayan Chicken Burgers and Guacamole and Chips. Melanie and her crew left and then Mom and Brian dug up some plants that we didn't want in our landscaping and she was going to take them home. Of course the girls felt she needed help. Mom put Landree down for her nap and then headed out. We sat down to watch her new movie and I think Brian and I passed out after 5 minutes. We went to bed early that night and then got ready for Grandma and Papaw to come.

Landree Drama

2008-04-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

So I feel like I should start having numbered Landree Drama posts. Tuesday morning Peyton mentioned that Landree had a spot on her leg. Well I was in the middle of something else so I didn't pay attention to it until later. Well she had a lump on the inside of her thigh. I called Brian and he immediately became worried that it was a spider bite and kept calling to check every few hours. Dr. Aunt Melanie said it might be a boil. I gave her benadryl and put hydrocortizone on it and neither helped. If you pushed on it, she would scream. So Wednesday morning it was hot to the touch and I made her an appointment. By the time we got to the appointment that afternoon she was walking like a bull-rider and had developed a fever.

Her pediatrician looked at it and said that she was sure it was a staph infection and pretty sure that it was MRSA. Well I guess the look on my face said it all and she quickly told me that there was only a problem with about 10-15% of those with MRSA and we were catching it early and Landree was really healthy. She needed to culture it and so that meant opening it up. All of you moms out there know the shiver of fear that went down my back. I would rather wrestle a bear than try to hold down a strong ornery two year old. Squeezing it didn't work so she had to pop it with a needle. It was nasty and gross and now I had a really pissed off 2 year old on my hands. They brought her a blue popsicle to match her blue shirt so it wouldn't stain as bad (I love being at an office of all women) and the doctor said that she really wanted to hit it with a really strong antibiotic. I asked her if it had milk in it and her response was that it couldn't because God wouldn't do that to us because we really needed to use this particular antibiotic. So she called the pharmacist and we were cleared. Just for those who are curious- 20% of all drugs have milk in them.

I got home and watched the day befores Dr. Phil which was on MRSA and surfed the internet on MRSA and got myself a little worked up. Brian was not worked up- he was just down right scared. When the day started it looked like you had cut a golf ball in half and put on her thigh- by the end of the day it looked like you had taken a baseball and put on her thigh. So needless to say there a few tears on my part on a lot of prayers from everyone- including her big sister. We decided to just tell our family and close friends it was possibly MRSA- I didn't want my children shunned due to media hype about a superbug.

On Thursday her leg looked much better but everytime I got near her to change a diaper- she would holler, "No touch it- my bobo." She was very cranky all day. Her doctor called that night to check on her. We were very impressed that she called but it did scare us a little more that she called us at 8:30 at night to check on her.

Friday she looked great and there was still a lump there. Her doctor tried to squeeze it some but it didn't do anything. So she told me to have her soak in a warm bath and then have Brian try to pop it to get the rest of the stuff out of it and she gave us a prescription for an antibiotic cream to use on it. Well she soaked and Brian worked on it and vowed he was never going to do it again and I think the child could do anything and get away with it because Brian felt so guilty.

She is running around like her normal banshee self and only has a slight discoloration on her thigh at this point. We did get a positive staph culture back and are still waiting for the MRSA test. The antibiotic smells dreadful and we have two big bottles she has to take so we are being very religious about giving it to her. I started the week worried about my 5 year old growing up and I guess Landree put it all in perspective. I laugh because I remember when she was a baby- she was so quiet and you would just forget about her. I told Momma that I felt like I needed to stick up for her and make sure that she didn't get overshadowed by her sister. That all seems like a big joke now.

NO LOTTERY!!!

2008-04-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

There is not a lottery and so Peyton is officially registered to be a Kindergartener at our neighborhood school- Roan Forest Elementary. YEAH!!!! Who would have thought this much drama over getting into regular public school.

Sorry I haven't posted my updates but we've had drama here. Of course it involves Landree and a doctor but I have to go get Peyton from Pre-K and I'll post all about it later.

8 Days and my Momma Heart has had enough!!!

2008-03-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

In the last eight days Peyton has become 5 YEARS Old, pranced around in her first-ever dance recital costume and I was told she would need make-up for it, had her first soccer practice, went fishing for the first time, had her first sporting event- soccer game, I registered her for Kindergarten, and tonight she went to Kindergarten Roundup where they announced orientation for the fall and had the school supply list ready- UGGHH. My momma heart can not take much more and it doesn't help when you try to buckle your newly independent two year old into her carseat and she starts screaming, "NO- I do it, I do it." I am not one of these mothers who doesn't want her children to grow up- I do look forward to them reaching new milestones and am so proud of them when they do. But crap- does it all have to happen in 8 days? I started looking at the pictures of her from the soccer game last night and teared up because she looked so big and I was thinking of 5 years ago I was home with this little helpless newborn who is now tearing up and down the soccer field. Maybe because it is a chunk of time- 5 years- I like to measure time in chunks like- 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 years and I think that the chunk of 5 years is harder than their first birthdays. Tonight I got her ready to go the Kindergarten Roundup and she was bopping through the kitchen and Brian and I looked at each other and didn't even need to say a word because we were both thinking how old she looked. I asked him, "Does it just seem to be all of a sudden?" He said I had done something because she didn't look that old yesterday.

So I got her registered at school today- it took over an hour and I'm not so sure that I didn't sign my firstborn over to them. I can't believe that come August she will hopefully be there with 1059 other kids (and we one of the smaller area elementary schools). We are still not sure that she will be going there. The school is capped and can't accept new students. Normally they make it through early registration before they fill up and then reach capacity as the summer goes on. They are preparing to maybe reach capacity this week and if they have more kids register for Kindergarten than spots then they will hold a lottery Monday night. They have 176 spots and 77 kids registered before lunch today. Let's just pray that everyone came early and that these numbers don't hold true for the rest of the week.

Peyton didn't want to go tonight and got nervous. She got to see the cafeteria and then we went into a classroom and heard a presentation from 2 of the 8 K teachers. We took her by the library and she was excited to know that she was going to have a library like Kacy and Abby do. She was worried about not having a playground and we took her by and she was very impressed that they have 2 playgrounds and let me tell the one has some of the biggest and probably most expensive equipment I have ever seen. I told Brian when we got home- we aren't in Kansas anymore. So everyone pray for us that we get to go to our neighborhood school and not one of the 10 that are within 7 miles of us- yes you did read that right.

I have so much to update so I think over the next day or two I will just do separate blogs for each picture and event.

My Baby is Five

2008-03-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry- Last Sunday night I must have hit save as draft instead of publish

Let's start by saying there is no way my baby should be five years old. I know that when I listen to her she sounds more like fifteen some days but there is now way I can believe she is five. All parents think back to the day their child was born and I am no exception. Today she was trying to be helpful and help Nana carry out her luggage and put it in the car. I stood in my doorway and watched her keep up her steady stream of conversation with Momma and carry this big bag and couldn't help but think that five years ago at this moment we thought something had gone horribly wrong with my epidural and I couldn't move my head and her heart rate was erratic and we were going in for a c-section and I heard the anesthesiologist holler to the nurse, "Tell Martin (doctor) he's got 7 minutes to get his ass here or I'm going to find someone else to cut her." Let's just say when you can't move your head and you've been in labor over 24 hours you have two thoughts- First- Oh crap- this is really scary and I'm not sure if I'm ready for this, and secondly, Thank you Dr. Fitz- I'm glad someone is taking this seriously. God and I had a lot of conversation during the next few moments- it was all one sided for the most part but he gave me one big answer and that was my 8lb 14oz Peyton Elizabeth.

When you have a baby you wonder what she's going to look like and what her personality is going to be. God gave me such an amazing girl who at age 5 has a giant sweet tooth, despises vegetables, is more intelligent than I ever dreamed, who loves to talk more than breathe, hates to be teased, worries herself to death, is a planner like her momma, has insecurities that scare me because I don't know how to fix them, has insight into emotions of others that is well beyond her years, thinks cleaning is the most boring thing in the world, always has a great or fabulous idea (her words), would watch television 24/7 if I let her, loves her baby sister, let's the green-eyed monster get hold of her when it comes to her sister, is the best Food Allergy Police Protection force Landree would ever need, sings every word to just about every song she has ever heard, has a memory that makes us shake our head and refers to herself as the Princess because God is the King of Kings and she is God's Little Princess. With all of that, Haley took this picture yesterday at her birthday party and it took my breath away because there is no way that she is as old as she looks in this picture with her best friend Abby

She is already planning or maybe I should say worrying about the future. She asked me tonight what if no one at Kindergarten wanted to be her friend. I do wonder how a child so outgoing and boisterous could have so many self-doubts. We gave her the newest book in the series of Gigi- God's Little Princess and Gigi was not good at soccer and her dad told her that God has given us all special gifts and we need to figure out what our gift from God is and how best to use it. As I was reading I had to keep myself from laughing when I read this, "I am very loud so that must be one of my gifts." At age five I think this might be one of Peyton's gifts.

I don't have time to do my weekend update but I'll get that done with pics later in the week. Grandma and Papaw will be coming in tomorrow afternoon and the girls are excited.

Update of the Last Week and a Half

2008-03-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

So I need to get my update from last week done and the kids are in bed so I might as well do it now.

Last weekend Haley and I went to the Container Store and it was the most fun I have had in years. Sad I know. We spent two hours in the place and people I could have spent 10,000 dollars in there. I love organizing and little containers and they were full of them and they would even send someone to your home to design a closet system. They had a perfect closet system for Peyton's Room but I couldn't see spending $1000 on a closet. I did get containers for some of the dry stuff in the pantry- Haley is definitely my friend because she sat down on the floor with me in the middle of a store and helped me figure out what size container I needed to get for all my food.

I did think of Jessica while I was in the parking lot. Across the parking lot from the Container Store was Lakeshore Education Supply. I have spent a lot of Pulaski County Special School District's Money in their catalog and I didn't even know they had a brick and mortar store. I'm sure the two of us could have made an entire day out of just shopping in those two stores.

I had been feeling a cold coming on Friday and Saturday and I couldn't sleep Saturday night at all so Brian took Peyton to church and I stayed home with Landree. Afterwards they went and got soccer stuff. Of course everything they come home with was pretty much pink and she is so proud of them. When she got home, she took her bottoms off and put her pink shin guards, socks, and cleats on. Mom was sick so Dad ordered pizza and let Peyton eat in the living room- she even wore them while she ate.

You already heard about Landree and the ER visit. Bless her heart she woke up the next morning with swollen eyes, achy, and cranky- Brian said it sounded like a good hangover to him. Landree has taken to eating raw onions and you better save her some or the two year old temper tantrum starts. I'm calling her dragon breath because even the next morning she still stinks. She can't have milk, eggs, and peanuts but does like all vegetables and I guess raw onion.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until Friday. Peyton had her Easter Party so I took Landree to Kidz-Kare. When I got to school the teacher asked us moms to hide the eggs. I'm just going to say this- I have never hid Easter Eggs in 97 DEGREE WEATHER! Easter is early this year and I'm sweating buckets hiding Easter Eggs- Welcome to South Texas. Peyton had a blast and loved finding eggs. Of course she had to wear her sunglasses to do it.

This is Peyton and Garrett.

Garrett is her best friend who is a boy and don't make the mistake of saying boyfriend because she will eat you up over it. I get tickled every time I see the two of them together because something about him reminds me a little bit of Brian.

Brian does not really like the following picture and I'm sure Papaw and some of her uncles would agree.

Here in San Antonio, they have the smallest garages ever and we still didn't have a vehicle in ours. So Saturday we got the girls down for a nap and literally took everything out of our garage, pulled the suburban in (it just barely fit lengthwise), and then put what fit back into the garage and are donating the rest. Brian and Peyton went out and played soccer in the backyard Sunday afternoon and I got tickled when Peyton started using her sandbox shovel and bucket to pooper scoop the backyard. The sandbox has been empty since we moved and Brian is nervous to feel it up because of scorpions. Landree started finding piles and every time she found one she would stoop down and say, "Eeewww poopoo" and then holler at Buddy.

Brian's team won their basketball game last night and poor Peyton thinks its because she wasn't there and her cheerleading when she is there has been making them lose. Landree wasn't acting herself yesterday afternoon and woke up at midnight with a fever. I finally got her back down around one thirty this morning. She was miserable for most of the day and has an appointment tomorrow morning. On Maundy Thursday, the church is having Passover Seder which is a recreation of the Last Supper and by some odd chance- I ended up as coordinator so I am supposed to go set up for that tomorrow.

Two weeks ago, I told you that I gained 2.6 pounds and that our leader said it was from the "trauma" of working out and I said that my body better hope it was not the same the next week. Well I didn't go last week due to Landree's ER visit. So with the fever today, Brian and I went but parked in front of Weight Watchers and just switched off going in. Well I have lost 5.6 for the last two weeks so I was happy- I'm on my way cruise. Brian has now hit an even 220 and looks great. Not only is the weather odd here but tonight we experienced mud rain. I'm serious- the news says it's raining mud and to stay inside if you can. Great they tell us that after we've been out and about. Basically there was a dust storm in Monterrey, Mexico and so now San Antonio is covered in a big dust cloud so the rain is going through that before it hits the ground. You can imagine how lovely my black suburban looks.

So tomorrow we have a doctor's appt and Seder set up, Thursday my mom is coming in a day early- YEAH (Peyton has already figured out everyone's sleeping arrangements- is anybody surprised?), Friday is High School Musical on Ice and Melanie and half her crew are coming in, Saturday is Peyton's Birthday Party, and Sunday is Easter and Peyton's 5th birthday so you may or may not be hearing from me for a few days.

Landree ER Visit #3

2008-03-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so I want to thank everyone for the prayers- Landree didn't tear down the house Tuesday. Instead we had a trip to the ER. I started feeling better and decided that I better start working on the laundry that I had left undone for a few days. In the layout of our house, my bedroom comes first, then the bathroom, then the closet so I was walking back and forth sorting laundry and Landree was going back and forth with me. On one of my trips I noticed that the lid was off of the prescription bottle of cough medicine I had been taking at night. I sat there for a minute and tried to figure out if I maybe left it like that or could Landree have opened it (yes, she can get child proof lids off). There was still about a third of the bottle left but I had no clue how much was supposed to be in it. So I decided I better keep an eye on her and sure enough she started getting groggy but it was almost lunch and nap time so I wasn't sure. I then started talking to her and tried to stand her up and she fell. I tried to call her Pediatrician's office and they were out for lunch and I was connected to the Methodist Nurse line well I may have been on hold only a few minutes but it seemed like an eternity. I hung up and called poison control who told me that since it had Codeine and Guafasein in it and we had no idea how much she had drank then I definitely needed to take her to the ER and he found out where we were going and said he would call ahead and let them know we were on our way and send them all of the info they would need to treat her.

So I called Brian to meet me there and off we went. Well it was early release day for the schools and I hit 4 school zones on the way there. I remembered that Haley had conferences for the girls today (hence the early release) and asked if she could Peyton afterwards if we were still there. I also called Melanie and asked her to give it to me straight and tell me what I was looking at here. Landree had fallen asleep and I had no clue if she was asleep or unconscious. To tell you how long it took me to get there- Brian who came from across town beat me there. I got her out of her car seat and she woke up so I did have a moment of relief that she wasn't unconscious. She saw Brian and did say Daddy and then just laid out on his shoulder. They took us right back and we got in a room. The doctor came in and moved Peyton by Landree, he then looked at both their eyes and turned the lights off and on and looked at them. He said that since their eyes were very close in size and color that it was good to have Peyton there to compare how they reacted. He then showed us, Landree's pupils were tiny and did not react to light at all. This is when I got scared- not that I wasn't scared before but I knew I needed to get her to the hospital so I didn't have time to be scared. Looking at those blue eyes with that tiny little black dot still haunts me. The doctor said that since she was conscious, she could drink the charcoal instead of having to have an NG tube- thank heavens.

Two nurses came and did a urine catheter and put in an IV port and took two tubes of blood. Haley thankfully came by and picked up Peyton before her conferences and Landree heard her and started saying, "Haeey, Haeey." I was so relieved that she was actually noticing someone. The nurse then brought us a container of apple juice that had been mixed with apple juice and told us she needed to drink it. People it was solid black- not a transparent black but a opaque black and she said that it would stain. Brian and I looked at each other like yeah right! She did drink it and within a minute I watched her pupils start getting bigger and within 2 minutes she was talking again. I knew that charcoal worked to absorb the drug but I had no idea it worked that fast. After about 15 minutes she was hollering for food. It was 2 o'clock and she hadn't eaten since breakfast. After awhile the nurse brought her apple juice, applesauce, and teddy grahams- yeah! all stuff she could eat. Landree wanted to drink but didn't want to eat anything. She was a happy camper as long as she had something to drink and her Abby Cadabby (Peyton saw it in the suburban and thought Landree needed it- thank goodness the 4 year old had the forethought that Landree would need a lovey- I hadn't even brought her blankie). Brian was trying to get me to go and eat lunch but all the moms out there understand that it was impossible for me to leave that room. Landree was cranky and now that I knew she was okay, I realized that I was exhausted and Brian joked that I should ask them for something for my cough. I did realize during this time that our nurse was the same nurse we had when Landree had to have her eyebrow glued together last September. The doctor came back through and said that her urine did test positive to opiates. Opiates- did he really have to say it way? Couldn't he have said codeine instead- sounds like she got into illegal drugs.

Landree started getting sleepy and we encountered a problem- they put the IV port in her thumb sucking hand. The nurse checked with the doctor and he said that it was okay for her to sleep but she couldn't go to sleep because she couldn't suck her thumb. As the afternoon wore on, she started getting more lethargic and then we realized that her pupils were shrinking again. Landree then threw up all over me, the bed, and the floor- somehow she stayed clean. Brian got the nurse and then the housekeeper came and the room was cleaned up. We could still see the housekeeper down the hall when Landree started projectile vomiting. After 5 rounds, she finally stopped and was very lethargic again. The doctor came in and said that she might be feeling the effects of the guafasein now and that he wanted to give her an IV of fluids and that after an hour if she wasn't any better than he wanted to keep her overnight. Well IV fluid does the body good. She started talking and making her little ham face and was back to normal. She did become oddly attached to a washcloth and called it, "My coff." She then realized Abby Cadabby had gotten some charcoal on her and she went nuts trying to get the "poopoo" off of her. My shirt was covered in charcoal vomit and Brian asked for a scrub top. The nurse said she would do her best and I finally just had Brian take off his undershirt and I put that on. About 30 minutes before we left she had finally found a top for me and I was relieved.

I was sitting on the bed and Landree was standing between my legs covering my head with a towel hollering, "Boo, Mama, Boo," when the doctor walked in. He said that he didn't think he even needed to ask if she was okay and that we were free to go home.

It was 6:30PM when we were leaving and I was EXHAUSTED. As we were walking out I saw the Doctor that glued her eyebrow and the nurse that helped when she broke her thumb- can you tell we have been to the ER TOO MUCH. Brian went to go pick up Peyton from the Willards- Haley said that she was wonderful at the conferences and didn't talk and interrupt and Haley fed her lunch and she got to spend the afternoon with Abby. So Peyton had a great afternoon and I was so thankful that Haley had those conferences and was able to get Peyton. I headed to Chik-fil-A to get supper and I thought that their plain grilled chicken sandwich would be nice and easy on Landree's tummy. We all got home and ate supper and Landree ran around all evening right as rain. She went to bed easy like normal and I have to admit that I checked on her many times that night. I couldn't sleep because every time I closed my eyes all I could see were those big blue eyes and little bitty black pupils.

I am now worried that CPS will be knocking on my door soon. I am certainly not getting any mother of the year awards anytime soon. Everyone keeps telling me not to be too hard on myself. I know I can't watch her every moment of the day but it was ridiculous for me to have left that bottle on my bathroom counter. Needless to say Tuesday night, Brian and I did a search for all medicine within Landree and a stool reach and thanked God that we were home with our baby knowing it could have been much worse.

No Update Today

2008-03-10T20:05:00.001-07:00

I'm sick and feel like crap. I'm too tired to think about what we have been doing and am trying to conserve all my energy to chase the Wild Child who today went head first off a chair, hit her collarbone on a table and still managed to flip on the way down and later stood in my living room naked, bent over and watched herself poop on my carpet. Pray that I have enough energy to keep her from tearing down the house tomorrow.

I Can't Sleep

2008-03-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

I think I'm working on a cold or the dreaded South Texas Allergies are hitting and I haven't been able to sleep very well the last two nights. I have been so sleepy today so I figured I would go to bed a little early. Well it is 1 in the morning and I am still up. Brian is at Jim's house playing poker and I decided to start working on a new scrapbook page. I am done with my page and thought I would pop on here to upload it. It is one of Brian and yes I am gushing about how proud I am of him. I also thought my In-Laws might enjoy seeing the difference in their son.

Tomorrow, Haley and I are going to The Container Store. This is my first trip and I am already excited. I love being organized, I'm lazy and am usually not organized, but when I have an organized area- it makes me feel all warm inside. I might have to go to the ATM and get a set amount of cash and leave my debit card and checkbook at home. It could be dangerous.

UUUGGGHHH!

2008-03-04T20:09:00.001-08:00

UGH #1- The child figured out a way around packing tape! Are you serious? What two year old can figure out her way around packing tape? At nap time today she tore the diaper away from the packing tape so all she had on was a ring of diaper around her waist. I'm buying duct tape tomorrow.

Almost UGH #2- You know you are pitiful when the highlight of you day is having your two and almost five year old massage your back. Peyton asked if she could and I was happy to submit. Hey, she's not that bad.

UGH #3- Last week I started my goal of losing 20 pounds before our cruise. I have worked out 5 of the last 7 days and I'm not talking about just a 20 minute walk. I'm talking about 45 minutes of walking so fast that I am sweating like a pig and want so desperately to hold on to the treadmill to keep upright. All of this and I GAINED 2.6 pounds! I never look at my weight at the scale- it's not visible and you have to look at your card. However, I knew it was not going to be good because the lady didn't make a comment- no comment means you've gained. When I looked, I actually said very loudly, "Are you serious?" I have never commented on my weight like that. Needless to say, I was shocked. I went and sat down and expressed my displeasure to Haley who tried to help me figure it out. I then remembered something and looked at my weight loss book. The last time I started exercising- I gained 3 pounds the first week. Our leader said that it can happen when your body feels traumatized. Let's just say if you don't see something better here next Tuesday, my body is going to think traumatized.

IT"S COLD

2008-03-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

I have obviously lost my mind. Peyton wanted to go with Brian to basketball practice yesterday. We told her no because it was rainy. Instead, Brian told her that she could go to his game tonight. This morning it was cloudy, Peyton got upset and told Brian she was afraid she couldn't go. Brian told her that if it was sunny today, she could go. Well it was sunny, 45 degrees and windy-great. It was Chik-fil-a Fundraiser night for Peyton's school so we met Brian there for supper. Peyton loved it and most of her friends were there so she had a great time. So I loaded the girls up in their winter jackets and blankets and we went to the game and were miserable. Mrs. Debra was there too and was also miserable. Finally I gave up and put the girls in the suburban under blankets and gave them a snack. We then watched the rest of the game from the warmth of my car. Daddy lost but I wish I had the camera so everyone could have seen Brian walking around in his basketball uniform and a Dora Blanket around his back like a cape. Since Brian's team lost, Peyton thinks maybe he should play football instead.

This morning, Landree decided she wanted to get on top of her dresser. She opened the drawers and tried to use them as stairs and of course fell. She now has a big scrape under her nose and says its her ouwy and it hurts. When we went to school today they were having a special blessing for the students and teachers for Lutheran Schools Week. Peyton was very proud of herself because Pastor Barz called her to the front. She got to hit the triangle 3 times when he said The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. She was so happy. Afterwards, they had the Chik-fil-a cow there and both girls were enthralled. She showed up again at supper and Landree refused to eat. She was happy to see it but didn't want to touch it. I knew that the pre-school was a good school and I have been very happy with it. However, I never knew how good it was until this weekend. We have already gotten Landree into Mother's Day Out for the Fall because we were church members and an already enrolled family. Last Friday was open enrollment for the public. People were camping out over night to get into the preschool! I love my children and if it would help, I would camp out to get Peyton into Kindergarten at the neighborhood school (there is a cap and we're not sure to get in) but camping out for Mother's Day Out or Preschool- I think I would be having Preschool at the Kitchen Table.

Well- I have to break down and clean my house tomorrow. I've just been doing minor up-keep the last two weeks and it's starting to show. Since Landree broke our scale, I have no idea how I am doing with my weight loss. I'll post tomorrow night after weight watchers. My thought is that if I keep sharing with all of you- maybe I'll keep my motivation going.

We're Officially Members

2008-03-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

So we officially became members of Crown of Life Lutheran Church today! We spent the weekend meeting with the elders of the church and the heads of the different programs. We met all of the other new members and had a good time. Today was the start of Lutheran Schools Week so Peyton sat with her classmates to sing during the service and Landree went to the nursery. Since joining the Lutheran church is new for Brian he had to go up first to be an Adult Confirmand. I went to get Landree and we were sliding into the pew as Brian walked up front. Landree was not pleased with the fact that her daddy nor Peyton were in the pew and she decided to express her displeasure. I finally got her calmed down and got to listen to Brian profess his faith and dedication to the church and was truly thrilled. Finally, Pastor Barz called for the rest of the new members to come and up and I told Landree she could go to Daddy. She tore off up the aisle hollering, "Daddy, Daddy," and the congregation laughed. I guess Landree has introduced herself to everyone. I'm sure that it is only first of many scenes she will cause in that sanctuary. Here is a picture they took of us today:

That is the outfit that Brian wore to the Christmas party and it was about 2 sizes too big day. Yeah!!! Doesn't he look great! I have decided I might never wear that dress again. It's about two sizes too big and I look worse in it then when I actually fit into it.

The weather here is so odd. Last Monday it was 92 degrees and then it got down to freezing on Tuesday. Yesterday it was bright and the sun was shining and we went to Sea World and it was a great afternoon. Last night I had two sets of dresses laid out for the girls: Spring and Winter. This morning Brian decided they needed Spring because it was so warm yesterday. Wrong- it was cool and windy today so we had to listen to Peyton whine for the whole 2 minutes it took her to get from the car to the church.

So I am still trying to get myself in shape for the cruise and have worked out 3 of the last 4 days. After I work out I stretch. Let's just say Landree is making it a little harder. When she sees me on the floor she comes running and hops on my back yelling, "Ride Momma, Ride." So I have lost 7 pounds shy of her weight but I don't think all of it was on my back. That little bull can take the breath right out of you.

My Valentine's Day Project

2008-03-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a layout that I have been working on here and there since Valentine's Day and finally decided that I couldn't mess it up anymore than I already had.

Peyton Finding Religion

2008-02-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night, Peyton started in that she wanted a baby brother. She then decided she wanted twin brothers. I kept telling her that if we had another baby that God might give us another sister. She didn't understand that if she asked for a brother that God might not give her one. She then told me that I needed to tell God that she wanted a baby brother. I told her that I wasn't doing it and that she could talk to God all by herself. I then went to get the phone to call Melanie and Peyton asked, "Moma, do you have God's Cell Phone number." Now I am sure that I asked my mother many questions but I can say with certainty that is not one I asked.

Since the Women of Faith Conference, I have been listening to a Mark Schultz CD I got there after we saw him preform. One of the songs is her favorite and she dances in her carseat the whole time it is on. She also loves the one after it and it has the phrase, "One Life, One Love, One Way Home," in it. She has been singing along for a couple of weeks now. Today she told me that the song was wrong because we have two ways to our home. I then had to explain to her that when he said Home, he meant Heaven.

Tonight we went to church for the Welcome to the Family dinner. On the way home, Peyton asked if we said prayer before we ate. We told her that we did and she wanted to know what we said. We tried to explain to her that Pastor Barz said the prayer and that it wasn't one of the set ones like she says in school. She then fussed at us because we didn't remember the prayer. Brian tried to explain to her that its not a "canned" prayer like she does in pre-K and that Pastor Barz made it up- she wasn't having it. Finally I just told her to ask Pastor Barz about it tomorrow morning. I've handled the other religious questions this week- I'll let the professional explain this one to her.

He kept his eye

2008-02-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well Buddy got to keep his eye. The vet just thinks it is allergic conjunctivitis and gave us drops. However, the heart murmur he was found with last year has gotten much worse. The vet started talking about a timeline if we don't treat it because he is a senior. I know he is almost 9 years old but he doesn't seem like a senior to me. He told me that we would start to see his energy decrease- which we have. So we need to take him to get an ultrasound of his heart to see if it is the mitrovalve prolapse that the vet thinks it is. If that's the case then supposedly we are looking at a pretty cheap medicine as treatment and that should add a few years to his life. It is odd to think of him having only a few years left. Melanie said we should go ahead and get a bulldog puppy so we can have an easy transition for the girls- like I need another hole in my head.

PACKING TAPE WORKS- for now at least. I have made it through a nap and bedtime without Landree taking a diaper off. She hates it and when I walked into her room this morning she started in- Tape OFF, Tape OFF! So we have a temporary solution for the diaper bandit.

We are becoming official members of the church this weekend. They are hosting a Welcome to the family weekend. Tonight they are having a dinner and tomorrow morning breakfast and we will go over everything about the church and we are being assigned an elder who we will eat dinner with tonight. On Sunday, they have the welcome reception at church and since it is Lutheran Schools week, the preschool is singing during the service. We might go to Sea World this weekend. They have a special thing for opening weekend so we are thinking about going out there tomorrow after church.