See for yourself!!

As has been said, the boys had a grand time on the New York trip. They saw things they had never seen, ate food that had never eaten, and saw family they never knew existed, except in pictures. So, here's my best attempt at capturing a 129-picture-trip into a few that tell the story of a fun week.

It all started off when Luke stepped into the cockpit for the first leg of the trip!! Just kidding!! Luke got to sit in the all-important chair at some stop along the way.

When they arrived in New York, they went to stay the first night at David and Kathy's house. It is closer to the airport and everyone else was already in the area for the day. Sunday was spent at their house, hanging out and meeting all the new cousins!!

Landry, Rachael (Nathan & Heather's), Kelsey (David & Kathy's), Luke

David, Kathy, and their youngest, Ella
Kathy, who could deliver a baby anyday, looks amazing!!

One of the main reasons for Scott to go up was to help his dad/brothers clean out years of stuff from garages/barns/etc. Here's the proof that some of that actually happened!!

Here are the boys having lots of fun up on the hill above their property - beautiful place! Yes, it appears Landry has wet his pants!!

A trip to an apple orchard was a big hit! Grandpa holds Luke & Scott holds Landry.

Nathan & Luke at the top and Nathan, Heather, Rachael, and Madeline

OK - I think I'm done with the pictures for now. I want to post a lot more but posting lots and lots of pictures is a pain for some reason. I'll be back to finish!

Home at last

Life is getting back to normal around here. Scott and the boys arrived back home safe and sound tonight. I thought I would do a quick post with maybe a couple of pictures, but when I began to upload all the pictures from the camera, it told me that there were 129 pictures.

So, let me just condense this post to a quick conversation I had with Luke while he was in the tub tonight. Many of you that know me know my only concern for this trip was the amount of control I was having to give up in order for the boys to go with Scott. I could not make them wear matching clothes everyday, I could not determine their activities, sugar intake, or monitor their teeth brushing and bath taking.

So you can imagine my shock when I calmly asked Luke (almost jokingly) if he had taken a bath while he was at Grandma's house. After much thinking, he said, "Yes - we did that once." I said, "You took ONE bath the whole week??" "No, we took one bath and one shower!!"

Great!!

I couldn't let it go, so I ask, "Did you brush your teeth?" To which he replies, "Oh yes - we did do that ONE DAY!!!"

Excellent!!

Though at this point, I'm really not that worried because I'm sure he's exaggerating.

So, I begin to unpack their things and pull out their little toiletry bag. When I pull out the new bottle of Johnsons & Johnsons body wash I had bought specifically for this trip, I noticed that not much has been used. When I flip up the lid, I am horrified to find that the seal has NOT even been broken!! My worst fears are coming true!!!


Of course, Scott assures me that they bathed regularly and brushed their teeth every night except for one night (that he can remember!!) What they washed with, I may never know!!!

All in all, it was a great trip. Scott says the boys were awesome and I think they really enjoyed the week!!

I'll try to post some of the 129 pictures tomorrow!!

My, how we grow

Since the little boys are out of town and I can't post pics of them, I went back through my old pictures and decided to post some reminders of how fast they've grown.

Life with boys (and an occasional girl)

Life in this small family of 3 is going well. The other family of 3 in New York is having a grand time as well and I will post some pictures of them once they get back. The format that Scott is sending the pictures in is really tiny and I don't know how to make them bigger. So, stay tuned.

We have had a couple of interesting conversations around here lately that I felt like should be documented for posterity (whatever that means).

Last night, we were eating supper and discussing world peace.

(Background info - Since the beginning of the school year, we had been debating whether or not Alex's school collected Box Tops because we have a lot of them and Parker was hoping he could take them all to his school.)

Anyway, out of the blue Alex says, "We DO do Box Tops at our school."
So, I (quick wit that I am) simply say "gross."
Alex says - why is that gross?
Me: You DOO DOO Box Tops at your school?? That's gross!!
The boys immediately fall off their bar stools, laughing hysterically!!

Pity these boys - they have me as their mom!!

The next interesting story came today and we were riding home from school. Parker got to have a couple of friends over, so Abbee and Corey were in the car with us. These guys together have amazing energy and excitement and can I just say nicely, they are LOUD!!

While they were waiting on me at school, Corey fell and scraped up both of his knees and they were bleeding a little bit. He kept checking on them the whole way home and at one point, said, "Did you know it’s a SIN to drink your blood?"
Abbee — EEEEEWWWW - gross!!
Parker —No, it’s not. It just goes in your mouth and back into your blood in your body
Abbee– Into your veins
Parker—No, your veins are for your food. You eat good food, your mouth breaks it all up into little pieces and then it turns into blood and gives you good energy!

Abbee and Corey were speechless upon learning of this new knowledge (but only for a second!!)

So, the no-potty-talk rule has been broken by the momma and we haven't figured out exactly where our food goes, but all is well!!

Travel, sugar, and negative people

Well, an interesting day it has been!!

Scott and the little boys have made it safely to the land of the north and I'm now a single mom to two boys - crazy!!

I have been in the car the better part of the day it seems, but managed to work in 3 baseball games, a trip to Dallas and back, a walk through the mall, and a trip to Pappasitos. Lots o' fun!!

An interesting thing happened last night. Scott and I took the little boys to Cici's for a "last supper" with mom and a single mom with 3 young boys sat down almost right next to us. Now, this mom was pretty frazzled and shared her frustration with her young sons at every turn. (The boys were about 2,4, and 7 or so.) It seemed that no matter what they did, she had something negative to say and said it with a totally exasperated look/body language. From dropping a cup on the floor to the oldest being responsible for the flies that were around their table, these kids could do nothing right. It made me so sad to watch and to think that that could just as easily be me. (except for the part that I usually don't take more than 2 boys out to a restaurant at a time!!) I was able to kind of reflect on how negativity looks to an outsider, and it wasn't pretty!! It made me want to try harder to be a positive example to the boys, especially when I'm frustrated.

Now the most interesting part of this story occurred when the momma went up to get dessert for everyone. She got a regular plate and filled it up with cinnamon rolls. It looked like a lot, but I thought that was pretty smart so they didn't have to keep going back over and over again. As she put the plate down on the table, one of the boys reached for a cinnamon roll and was immediately stopped by the momma. She put them down on the table, picked up a couple of packets of sugar, and began pouring sugar all over the cinnamon rolls!! I felt my mouth drop open in disbelief!! Those things are so stinkin' sweet, I can't imagine how they would taste with more sugar poured on top - eeeeewwwww!! After they were all eaten, she rounded up all the other sugar packets on the table and stuck them in her bag!! That family must love their sugar!! As for me, I'll never look at a Cici's cinnamon roll the same way again!!


ps - on the way out of the Cici's parking lot, I noticed Taco Bueno is open for breakfast!! Breakfast at Taco Bueno??? Does that sound good to anyone??

Goin' on an Airplane!!!

The BIG TRIP is just around the corner!!

Tomorrow afternoon, Scott will get on an airplane with Luke and Landry and fly across the country for a whole week!!

Part of me is crazy-excited as it will be a huge break for me from the preschool group. The other part of me is very nervous as that is one half of our family that is going to be very far away for a while. I'm sure I'll work through it and everyone will have a great week!!

This morning as I was fixing Luke a waffle for breakfast, I said, "What do you think you will have for breakfast when you're in New York?"

Luke: Oh, I know what - Grandpa is really good at cooking eggs - he did that when they came to our house

Me: Really?

Luke: Yeah, he's a good egg cooker and he makes toast and puts milk on it and eats his eggs with it.

Me: Wow - he eats that??
Luke: Yes - he likes it and so do I!!

So, breakfast is off the worry list!! Hopefully, Scott will take lots of good pictures with all the cousins and aunts and uncles!!

This is what the suitcase looked like a couple of days ago - we've made much progress since then!!

Something's missing here

Today, Parker changed!! He's been looking forward to this event for far too long. What happened to him today usually happened a couple of years ago for most kids his age. So, what's the big mystery??

He lost his top, front tooth!!! He's very proud of his new look - it's a big change!!

Hopefully, the tooth fairy has a some money lying around!!

Take me out to the ball game . . .

Well, today began the Fall season of Little League baseball at our house. And this wasn't just any opening day.

Today, Luke began his baseball career.

Luke was born to play ball and I'm not sure he's ever been more excited. He has been counting down the days since he signed up to play - living for this day. And it did not disappoint!!

The day started at, or a little before, 7:00 for the big boys. Luke slept in until a few minutes before 8:00 and woke up with a smile!! He immediately dressed for his big debut and was ready in record time!! We headed to the fields about 9:00 for the first game of the day - Parker's. Parker was excited too, but admitedly not as excited as Luke because "he had played before - this wasn't his first game EVER!" He had a great game with a really good hit and some good catches. We brought snacks today for Parker's team and that is one of his favorite parts of the game!!

Next up was Luke's game. I took him to the bathroom before the game started and as he was putting himself back together, he said smiling, "this is going to be so EXCITING!!" I completely agreed with him and off he went. He started the game on first base and the first hit of the game went to the pitcher who picked it up and threw it to Luke who caught it with ease!! Another great play in the first inning was Luke coming off of first to stop a grounder and literally diving head first back toward the base to get the guy out. I think he came up a little short but it was a great effort!! He also chased a guy over around third base even though he was playing first. This was all in the first inning!!

At this level, they let the kids stay on base even if they get out so they can learn the concept of running the bases. They also let each team bat their roster each inning (only 3 innings) so everyone bats every inning. They bat in numerical order (or reverse sometimes) and Luke is #7 of 7 players. The first inning he batted last, the second inning the batted first, and the third inning he batted last. The best part of the game was that Luke was the last hitter of the game and, of course there were loaded bases because everyone stays on base. Because it was the last hitter, they let the kids just keep running so Luke hit the ball - a good hit - and just kept running all the way around the bases!! He was SOOO proud!! Everyone he talked to after the game, he told them that "I hit an inside-the-park-grand-slam!!" It was definitely a game to remember!!

Oh - I forgot the mention the black stuff that baseball players wear - Luke managed to get his hands on some of that during Parker's game. It really added a lot to his look!! The pictures turned out a little blurry - not sure why!

Here he is at the end of his game with his snack and a few hours later at Alex's game - totally pooped!!

Finally, it was Alex's turn and the great thing about Alex's game was that there was not just one game, but TWO! After we had watched 2 games we got to watch 2 more!! By this time, it was as hot as a summer July day and baseball watching was getting a litte old!! Alex did well in his games, posting one win and one loss.

By the time we pulled in the driveway at 6:30, we were hot, exhausted, and very stinky. If we've ever been nastier, I don't remember it!! Everyone was clean and sound asleep by 8:00.

This is our life for the next few weeks!! Well, who am I kidding? This is our life for the next several years!! I'm sure it will be one fun (and dirty) ride!!

Haircuts, Superheroes, and Newpapers

Life has settled back into a fairly predictable routine around here. Thankfully!! Now that I'm trying to keep up with this blog, I find myself noticing things and taking pictures of things so that I can document them here. I'm hoping to remember the little things and special words/actions since the boys are growing up so fast.


Sunday morning, I was darting out the door for church with Alex and Landry. Parker and Luke were going to ride with Scott, so I hollered out to Parker to fix his and Luke's hair before they left. Parker loves to play "barber shop" and fix his hair in crazy ways, especially if gel is involved. And Luke will let Parker do anything to his hair that Parker has done to his own. Fast forward to lunch. We are all sitting at the table eating when I glance over at Luke and just happen to notice that his hair looks a little strange. His forehead seemed a lot taller than it had been just this morning!! It immediately became clear to me that his hair had been cut. After much discussion and investigation, Parker admitted that he was fixing Luke's hair that morning and had noticed that his hair was really uneven. And what better way to remedy that than with a little trim?? The problem was (and I'm sure you can see this coming!!) that when he cut a little off from this side, then he needed to cut a little more from that side, and again, and again!! The next thing you know, Luke's "bangs" are about 1/8 of an inch long!!! It really was not that noticeable unless you were looking for it. I did take a picture because it cracked me up that this was Parker's version of "even." It WAS uneven, but now it is even!! Notice the long hair right in the middle!!

Here's the barber himself taking a self-photo:

Superheroes are a common theme in this house and I forgot to get Luke's new lunch box in the pictures on the first day of school. It is too cool to not include here!! Here are Luke and Landry posing with the lunch box. Actually, it's not that great of a shot of it!!

Here's the back of it - it's so cool because the red part is the cape and it can actually "fly" away from the lunch box!! Super cute!!

And speaking of super cute, here's our smallest Superman!!

Finally, here are my paper boys!!

Future readers of America

Last night, after asking Alex for the umpteenth time to pick up his room, which I'm embarrassed to say looked like this:

I went into his room to find him doing this:

He'll do just about anything to put off cleaning up his messy room!! Maybe Landry will be a book lover because of it!!

New Weekend Chore

With all of my love for the new uniform policy at school this year comes a new weekend chore that I'm not loving so much - ironing!! At this point in time, I'm buying into the idea that if I don't dry the polos and shorts, then they might last longer. Not drying = ironing!! And while I love the effects of a well-ironed outfit, it's the weekly commitment that I'm having a little trouble with!! Here's what my laundry room looks like by the end of each week:




And for those of you who are thinking that I must have WAY too much time on my hands if I'm taking pictures of my laundry room, you may have a point, but I'm just documenting for my memory bank that will be failing in the near future!!

Good Try, TCU!!

On Saturday, Scott and Alex made the trek to Austin to watch TCU battle the UT Longhorns. Alex has longed loved both of these schools and to watch them battle it out on the football field was a dream come true for him. Alex's room is decorated with Longhorn stuff, but his local university of choice is definitely TCU. He loves going to their football games, basketball games, and an occasional baseball game. He has attended a basketball camp there for the last 2 summers and is in awe of those big athletes!!

So, when it came time to decide what to wear to the big game, Alex had a bit of a dilemma on his hands. He could wear his TCU jersey with his Texas shorts. Or vice versa. I think he finally decided that that really didn't match so he ended up with a subtle mixture:

This is him wearing his TCU jersey, shorts, and hat with his Texas crocs.
Oh yeah, and he took his Longhorn pillow for the trip back home!!

They had a great day - lots of fun and excitement - even though TCU couldn't hold on to their early lead. Here are some pics from their adventure!

Everyone is back in school!!

Today was the day that most of us, especially Luke, had been waiting for for a long, long time (well, at least a week!!). Luke and Landry returned to the halls of their preschool to meet new teachers and renew old friendships!! OK - that's stretching it just a bit! But since Alex and Parker got to go back to school last week, Luke has just been chomping at the bit to get back to his school. Once I finally convinced him that he was NOT going to Kindergarten at the ripe old age of 4, he began to look forward to returning to his school.

Last night, Luke wanted to lay out his clothes so he would be ready. He said, "Momma - I want to wear a nice shirt just like Alex does and I want to wear some nice shorts like Alex does, and I want to tuck my shirt in and wear a belt like Alex does."

And as my eyes welled up with tears, I said, "Son, you have no idea how happy you've made me!!"

Totally kiding about the crying part but he did look so cute and handsome, looking like the big boys. I know it won't last long since he doesn't have to wear the uniform, but I'll take it as long as I can get it!!

Landry got to wear a nice shirt because he doesn't really care what he wears and since everyone else could look nice, he could too! The color matching was just a bonus!!

I should have taken after-school pictures - Luke looked pretty much the same - still tucked in and everything! Landry, on the other hand, had wet his pants and had on a too-small tank top and shorts with no shoes! I put that outfit in his backpack hoping that he would never actually need to wear it! Oh well!!

All in all, it was a great start! Luke's bummed that he can't go tomorrow, but I'm sure he'll get over it!! Here they are looking so cute!!

Parker's Baptism

On Sunday, we had the awesome privilege of witnessing Parker's baptism. He was very excited about this big event and it was an amazing time of seeing God at work in his young life. We can't wait to see how God will use Parker for His glory! He is wired in such a unique way - watching him grow and mature is a special gift. We're proud of you, Parker!!

This is Parker and Cory, another boy that was baptized the same day.

Here's Parker in the water!!