Old Memories, New Laughs

I recently decided to take all my old files off of my old computer and put them on my new one.  My new computer is 2 years old.  I went through all the files and I got to the photo/video files.  It is impossible to think my children were ever that little!  I hear people say how time flies and I roll my eyes, but after having kids it really takes affect...or is it effect?  This video was pretty hilarious to me and Catie agreed.  We all sat around the computer and watched it over and over and laughed and laughed.  It was fun watching Catie laugh at herself.  Let's hope she recognized how ridiculous she was and not try to re-live her past!!!  Old tantrums are comforting.

There is a Reason They Call Them GRAND!

Grandparents are grand.  My kids are lucky to have the best on both sides.  Their grandparents are Suga, Poppie, Gbobbie, and Gpa.  These are all smart Grandparents, because they know that you can't buy children's love...you have to entice them with water play!  Gbobbie and Gpa have a pool.  This pool is fun for everyone.  The kids play in it and have a blast and I swim against the jet at the other end of the pool until my arms feel like they may fall off.  Now I don't have to feel bad for not working out that day!

Suga and Poppie have a ginormous water slide in the backyard (keep in mind I had to set this beast up).  Those kids played on that thing for hours!!!!  Who needs a nanny now that we have a gem like this!  Worst part about that water slide is the drying process and the giant bees that kept buzzing about but did nothing to us.  It is all worth it for the amount of fun those kids are having.  It's the hottest, coolest, time in Texas.....Wellbornbauhn!

Giant Bee

A Boy and his Dog

This boy is an awesome cuddler and so is this dog.  Pinto loves Buck and sleeps in his bed when he is gone.  In the morning when I wake Buck up, Pinto will howl.  He jumps into bed with him too.  Boys need their companions and Buck has his.  I imagine Pinto is similar to Lassie which is comforting since he will tell Buck when I fall in a well.  Dog companions are comforting.

Attack of the Cucumber!

This came out of my garden!!!  I planted a cucumber plant a little close to a tomato plant and it started growing up the tomato cage.  Today when I was examining my garden of happiness I found this!  It made for a good laugh and felt what it must feel like to noodle a catfish or catch a 1000lb gator (I've been watching too much "Swamp People").  Too bad there isn't a "Big Cucumber" contest instead of a "Big Tomato" contest in my hometown, because I would be the winner of that contest for sure!  I am the winner of cucumbers!  Unfortunately, my friend crushed my dreams of awesomeness by telling me it won't taste very good.  I'm thinking of having it mounted.  Regardless, giant cucumbers are comforting!

We are Living in an Electronical World

And I'm a ma ma ma ma um electronical girl!  The kids could play with their Dsi's and Wii all day long if I let them.  I'm constantly setting timers so when they hear the beep they turn their games off and do what children used to do....use their imagination!  This Friday night was different.  We got a new game for the Wii, Just Dance II, and the whole family LOVED it!  We had such a great time, and I figured even if it is a video game we were definitely getting a good work out with it!  Game nights don't need timers if the whole family is involved.  Both Buck and Catie wanted to film the dancing.  Catie was a phenomenal director.  Some of the comments she made   are now words I use in our every day lives.  Buck looks very intense with his dancing, and never noticed his sister's comments toward him.  Buck let out a couple of good phrases as well when he was in control of the camera.  I'm thinking we'll apply for the show "So You Think You Can Dance?".  Dancing is comforting.

You can see me and Buck dancing with Catie as director here!

You can see me and Catie dancing with Buck as director here!

ENJOY!

Workin Hard for the Money

Today I had some customers to see and figured I would pack the kids and their DSi's so that they could be entertained while I sold product.  They never made a peep the whole morning so I promised they could eat lunch anywhere their heart desired.  Where do kids who are never allowed to eat terrible foods want to go?!  IHOP!  I was then reminded of a college friend I had who was from Colorado.  She had a beautiful body her Freshmen year and came from a household that only allowed the "raw food" diet (basically nuts and plants).  She ordered pizza everyday and ate candy all day long when she got to college.  At graduation she wasn't recognizable.  So that is why I gave in to these kids that desperately wanted some pancake goodness.  I don't want to deprive my lovelies from THAT kind of food.  When the very happy waiter asked for our orders I ordered the garden stuffed crepes (because I'm responsible!).  Buck ordered a giant chocolate pancake with whipped cream, cherries, and chocolate chips on it.  Catie ordered baby pancakes with a slice of turkey bacon and scrambled eggs.  I'd say Catie did a little better than Bucky on the food choice, but he sure was happy.  One great thing about IHOP is the assorted syrup!  Catie chose the Strawberry flavor and Buck was Old Fashion Syrup.  They loved me for it.  We ended the day delivering tires and Buck did a great job unloading them.  My kids aren't sugar deprived.....comforting?

Waiting on our food

Sugar highs!

Working like a man!

Keep Katy Weird

As I was driving through Katy I looked over and saw this next to me.  The inside is just as interesting as the outside.  Is this person employed?  What do they do for fun?  How long did it take to make the car look like this?  What will the car dealer give them for a trade-in?  These are some things I think when I see things like this.  The drive home from work is usually boring so it is a good thing we have people in the world that do things like this.  I really appreciate my iPhone when I come into contact with something like this.  Thank goodness Austin isn't the only weird town in Texas!  Weird people are comforting.

Veggies are Good for Your Body!

There is a complete eye sore in my backyard.  About a third of it has a chain linked fence running across it, because the previous owners used it for a dog yard.  Well, we all know that my dogs have their own seat at the dinner table so that yard wasn't going to get much use.  Then it occurred to me that it would be a great place for a garden!  I want my kids and I to be healthy eaters and by-golly organic too!  I had some dear neighborhood friends help me get the seeds and plants and another friend who came over and tilled my garden area with a monster tiller (it would have killed me if I attempted to use it).  After the planting the waiting happened.  FINALLY some produce!  There is nothing better than being able to go out to your garden, pick some veggies, sip on a cold summer beer, and eat the produce for dinner.  My garden can be known to cause me some strife at times.  I was invaded by some bugs so I had to put seven dust on my plants of health, and now it is with a heavy heart that I will say my produce is not organic.  Next year I will make some changes to my garden.  I'm going to mix in some better soil since it seems to be super sandy.  I'm going to make it a little bigger too.  My new saying when it comes to gardening is "you grow some, you learn some".  Fresh veggies are comforting, and not always organic.

Summer is so special there is a beer made for it!

First cucumber and squash from the garden

First produce.  The can is there to compare
the size

This makes me feel happy

Schooooools Out for Summer!

And summer begins

Well, the bell rang and the children were released.  It was an early release day and I figured I would take my neighbor up on her sweet offer of letting us use her pool.  I was "Mother of the Year" when I announced we were going to walk over to our neighbors for a swim.  I tried to swim laps since I hadn't worked out in a week, but my children kept pulling me under or grabbing my suit.  Bucky even grabbed the extra flesh on my tummy and shook it....not so comforting.  

Summer is all about fun.  Camps, trips, swimming, popsicles, etc.  We have so much planned this summer I wonder if I'll be able to accomplish it all and still have money left over to by milk and eggs.  Or wine.

Luckily, my lovely brother and wife own a boat so we are able to mooch off of them for all the water sports we could possibly endure!  I went ahead and tried it out and learned that spray sunblock doesn't work so well.  My poor legs got burned and I'm embarrassed about it!  The best sunblocks on the market are listed here, and none of them are spray.

Summer is comforting.....and hot.

my leg.  It just makes me angry.

The Captain

Power plant lake.  I have super powers now.

Debbie's test of youth.  Slalom ski.

On a wake board.  It felt unnatural so I face planted.

Graduation...Already?

 When I had my children a few years ago I never thought I would be preparing for graduation so soon.  Well, not real graduation.  We aren't taking the SATs and worrying about getting into great schools.  But the time has come, and Pre-K and Kindergarten are things of the past....except Kindergarten (Catie will be there next year so we can have another graduation...yeah).  We had a trip to Schlitterbaughn the weekend of Catie's graduation so we had to miss hers.  My friend, the baker, made her a cake so she wouldn't be upset about missing it which made my son demand a cake as well.  Every child should have their very own Pre-K and Kindergarten graduation cake!  Buck didn't care about presents or who would attend the graduation.  All he wanted to know was that Ms. Brooke was going to make him a cake.  I look forward to attending another Kinder graduation next year with Catie.  I can hardly wait.  Graduation is comforting.....and at times.....boring.

Can you get any sweeter?

We had to stand in line to get a picture with this Brahma

I was beaming with pride

He's pointing to his awesome Mother

Reunited with my Old House

Isn't she lovely?

My parents brought me home from the hospital to this sweet house.  I knew no other home until I left for college, but it was still "home" even though I wasn't living there anymore.  The day came that my parents decided they didn't want to stay in the big house by themselves and they sold it.  I had to go clean out my room and things so that the new owners could invade (their stuff was all wrong for our house).  As I drove away I looked at it in my rear view mirror and cried.  I cried all the way back to Austin.  It had hit me that it wasn't mine anymore.  I couldn't smell that smell the old house had anymore.  I couldn't go in the back room and watch TV on the weekends when I had nothing else to do.  No more throwing my towels and clothes into the laundry room so that they could be washed and folded and placed on the stairway up to my room (wow, my mom really spoiled us).  Every time I drove through my hometown, I would make sure I drove past my old house.  The house wasn't what it should look like.  Why did they take the crape myrtles down?!  There is no way they love this house like me and my brothers did?!  As the house grew older and started looking sadder, my middle brother moved back to our hometown.  Luckily, the owner wanted to move to another town and asked if he was interested.  YES!  Now my brother and his family live in the most beautiful house in the world!  I envy my nieces, and nephew for getting to live in that house where I had so much fun.  The day I went inside the house for a visit the smell of the house hit me.  It still smells exactly the same!  Again, it made me tear up a little, but with joy this time.  It is amazing how much is still the same in that house.  Even the old window treatments are still there in the upstairs hallway....even the original carpet in the upstairs bathroom (with the old stains too...I'm sure that will change pretty soon).  It amazes me how a house can move a whole family the way this one did.  My brother and his family are living in my old house, and they love it as much as I do.....oh so comforting. This song goes with my experience, except she didn't have a brother she could trick into buying her old house.

The beautiful front door.  My mom wouldn't
let the boys play baseball in the front yard
because of that door.

Catie in my old play house.

Our heights are still on the pantry door.

Be a Good Mom....Go on a Field Trip

Me and the sweetest boy in the world!

Field trips are a blast for kids.  Not so much for a Mom.  Especially when you live in Texas and it has potential to fry your skin and make you sweat through your clothes.  When my first born came home with his permission slip he looked at me with his giant blue eyes and said "you are gonna go too, right Mommy?  Right?  Please?  You will have fun with me".  It was that moment that made me realize that my child wanted me to go with him and sooner rather than later there will be a time when he won't care if he goes weeks without hanging out with me.  I signed the slip and noted that I would be in attendance and started mentally preparing myself.  Now that it is all said and done, there aren't any negative comments about the field trip.  I enjoyed hanging out with all the moms that went along with the class.  I jumped on things and rode on things that I would have never done if not for the field trip.  Actually, I do have one negative comment....I wished I had worn a sports bra.  Bucky was all smiles all day long, and that makes me feel like I'm doing SOMETHING right in his world.  I can't wait to spend the next 12 years with this cute class of his.  Lots of great kids.  Good kids are comforting.

Buck and his best bud.

Buck on the bounce pillow.  This is when I wished I wore a sports bra.

This smile makes the world go round.

Such intensity!

Life is good!

Easter Birthday? Yes, Please!

Three Layers!

Marty didn't want me to take my birthday picture alone.

Catie threw up about 30 minutes after this picture

I found out my birthday was on Easter this year when I turned my calendar from March to April.  What?!  Now I have to compete with Jesus on my birthday?!  No one can do that!  Turns out, it is actually delightful to have an Easter birthday.  I went to church with my children and everyone wished me a happy birthday there.  Then to further celebrate we hunted for eggs for the rest of the day.  Families got together and I had many feasts on that day.  With a birthday on a Sunday it gives you a reason to celebrate all weekend long, as well!  My best friend who happens to be a marvelous baker made me the prettiest cake I have ever seen.  It was so delicious, and was THREE layers....I'm sure my waist had extra layers on it as well after the cake was gone.  My long lost babysitter was in town visiting so she stopped by and hid eggs for the kids out back.  She brought baskets FULL of gifts and fun for the kids.  I HATE THAT SHE WENT TO COLLEGE!!!  She was such a massive help to me when the babes were little and I had forgotten how much they adored her!  Catie didn't act like herself most of the day.  She later threw up in my van which made me understand the lack of enthusiasm when the Easter bunny came.  All in all, I had a wonderful birthday and it couldn't have happened without all the wonderful family and friends that I have....oh, and Jesus!  Jesus is comforting.

I will never know if my children love me or her more.