Monday Musings

Monday is an interesting day!

Here's what Landry woke up looking like:


He said - Mom, loot at my turly hair! Its doing this and this and that!!
I couldn't agree more!!

As I was talking to Sherry on the phone (work related, of course) Luke and Landry came in looking like this:


Good supervision really is important!!

Finally, this is what I love about not doing very much laundry over the weekend:

Happy Monday!! Enjoy the weather!!

It was a good one!

Another birthday has come and gone and it's hard to believe I'm as old as I am!!

I really don't feel that old! It's a good thing I have friends who are older than me!! :)

I had the awesome privilege of hangin' with some of my good friends on Friday night at Sherry's. Good friends + Pappasitos food = win/win!! A little Wii competition made for an even more exciting night!! I must mention that Shellee wins the trophy for best all-around dance moves on Dancing with the Stars!! While the judges described me as "luscious" and "having intoxicating passion," Shellee wins hands down!! If you know me, you know there is nothing in my dancing abilities that can be described with either of those words/phrases. Shellee, on the other hand, has the gift of dance!! You go, girl!! It reminds me of a time a while back when I snapped this picture of Shell busting out!!

Saturday was filled with basketball fun - three fun games, to be exact!! Then, Scott and I went to Uncle Julio's that night for a little birthday date. That place is crazy packed on a Saturday night with lots of young, cute people. Great food, though.

Today, we went to my mom's for lunch and hung out for the afternoon. Ryan, Shannon and the girls came and that means instant fun for the boys!! It was such a beautiful day - the kids had fun playing golf and playing at the park. I managed to work in a nap somehow, so I should be up for a while!!

Birthdays are a great time to be reminded of all the important people in your life. I am so blessed to have such a great group of girls to walk this journey with me. They all add so much to my life in their own special ways and I am so thankful for them. And my family is like no other!! They have always been such a huge support and help to me. The unconditional love that they demonstrate is amazing!! I don't tell them often enough how much I love them and appreciate them. I would not be the person I am today if not for my great family!!

So, I guess I'm another year older!! Here's hoping for a great year!!

Guess what showed up on my doorstep . . .

. . . this morning??!!?

A sweet baby!!

Baby Brody is coming over pretty regularly now and we are having SO much fun with him - when he's awake, that is!! It is very cool to have a baby in the house again! We've managed to change his diaper and his clothes about 3 times each day for various and sundry reasons. Look at him here - doesn't he look so happy??!!? We are very happy when he's here!

On to other exciting news, someone is very excited about the upcoming baseball season. This little boy has taken to sleeping with his glove, helmet, and bat. He does NOT like me taking pictures of him while he's sleeping so don't mention this to him!! He was not happy when he saw the pics of the sleeping pirate a couple of weeks ago! Anyway, he got to do try-outs last night and was totally pumped about it. He did great and can't wait for baseball season to start.

Finally, the three youngest boys and I stayed home from church tonight. Everyone just needed a good night's sleep and a relaxing night. After baths, we made some smoothies that Parker has been begging me to try for weeks. He got the recipe at school and we finally got around to getting the stuff. They had frozen peaches, vanilla yogurt, and orange juice. Peach definitely wouldn't have been my first choice, but they were really pretty good. They seemed healthy too. We finished that off with some carrots and ranch! I keep telling the kids that if they will wash their hands, eat healthy, get lots of rest, and not drink after ANYONE, maybe they won't get the flu or some other dreaded sickness. We'll see how that plan works for us!!

Meme

I'm not sure what I've been doing lately, but blogging hasn't been making the cut.

I've actually been in deep thought since my friend, Marla, tagged me last week to do this meme. I have all this stuff I've been dying to tell you about me so this is the opportunity I've been waiting for!! Totally kidding!! I've been having a little trouble coming up with 6 things that people don't already know about me. Anyway . . .

So, here are the rules:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Here are my non-important things/habits/quirks -

1. One of my favorite breakfasts to this day (I ate this a lot when I was a kid) are toasted blueberry pop-tarts covered with butter and a Diet Coke!! I know - yummy and nutritious!! If I could read the paper without interuption while eating this delicacy, it would be a great start to my day!!

2. I took piano lessons for years as a child and into college. I gave it up in my adult years and it has probably been one of my bigger regrets. Someday, I will get a piano and make beautiful music again!! haha!

3. I have an amazing job that has been a true gift from God. Teaching homebound kids proves to be a challenge in many areas but is so perfect for someone like me. It gives me the flexibility I need and still allows me to work. I'm going to tell you about one of my all-time favorite students in a few weeks!! Stay tuned!!

4. When I was a kid, I wanted to have 5 kids and be the kind of doctor that delivered food at the hospital! I almost made the first goal but I don't really see me getting close to the second!! How many years of med school would it take to do that job??

5. The kindergarteners that I taught my first year of teaching in Houston are seniors this year! Wow - do I feel old!! That was the year that I seriously comtemplated giving up the teaching profession and becoming a bus driver!! Believe me - I thought about it often!!

6. I've found it much easier to post about the kids!! There are a lot of I's and me's in this post and it's weird!!

So, that is more than you ever wanted to know about me!! But now, the fun part!! I get to read about other people!! So, I'm going to tag these lucky people:

Sherry, Emily, Shellee, Deneise, Jenny, and Leigh

So that's where they've been all this time . . .

Today I went into a part of the house that I rarely visit - the upstairs TV room.

I kind of equate this room with the far back seat of the Suburban - it's just not good for me to go there very often!! I am not a neat freak by any standard, but these two places put me over the edge with just the trash and general messiness that is always found there.

The upstairs room is for the boys - all 5 of them. It's where they watch all their precious sporting events, movies, etc. I am usually trying to get something done while I watch so it's usually not worth it to have to drag something upstairs to do (i.e. ironing).

Anyway, today I went up there for something. I really can't even remember why. But as I'm gathering up the pop-tart wrappers, fruit bar wrappers, Star Crunch/Oatmeal Creme Pie wrappers (mumbling under my breath things that were not very kind), I glanced over toward the corner behind the foosball table. There was this unbelievably huge pile of socks. I stand there staring at it in disbelief. I was trying to figure out why someone would have brought the missing sock basket up there and emptied it. I go over to get a closer look and realize that most of these socks have partners - they are not missing socks at all!! Someone, in a crazy attempt to straighten things up a bit, must have thrown all the socks in the room into one corner and there they have stayed. Just for fun I counted them and they numbered 24!! 24 socks in one corner - amazing!!

So, the mystery of why everyone always needs socks might possibly be solved. Now I should be able to sleep at night!!

Obtuse??

Tonight on the way home from church, the boys and I were talking about my love of Diet Coke.

I made a semi-kinda-sorta-maybe-possibly commitment around the beginning of the year to maybe think about easing up on drinking so much of it. I did really well for a few days. I'm still doing well at home. I do not buy it and keep it at home so I don't drink it at home. That is where I am most successful. Outside of home = not so successful!

Anyway, after the boys reminded me as they often do, that Miss Estes does a lot better than I do when it comes to this commitment, Parker says, "And anyway, you're not losing any weight drinking Diet Coke."

To which I reply - I don't drink Diet Coke to lose weight - I just like it!

Parker - Well, maybe you should drink it to lose weight. You know, you used to be like this (demonstration of hands close together) and now you're kind of like this (demonstration of hands lots further apart!!)

Me - What does THAT mean?

Parker - Well, you're kind of . . . . OBTUSE!

And as much as I wanted to go into all the reasons that I might find myself "obtuse" - one of them being HIM - I decided to show that I am a master of self control and let it go.

Where do kids learn these words anyway??

I never thought I'd see the day . . .

. . . when DENEISE was a blogger!!

Yay for you girl!!

Go check her out here!!

CF Husband

Anyone who has jumped into the blogosphere of late has probably been surprised by the fact that they read about people whom they never knew existed and will most likely never meet. I find it odd and fascinating, at the same time, to read stories of tragedy and triumph, birth and death, and lots of just plain weirdness!!

Scott's sister, Melodie, sent me a link about a blog back around the first of the year. Like many others, I have found myself checking in on this family regularly. It is about a young couple who have just had their first baby, born very prematurely, and their day-to-day account of their struggles and victories. The difference in this blog and all the others is that Melodie's roommate, Deb, works with patients who require physical therapy at Duke University Medical Center, and the young mom was a former patient of hers. Tricia has Cistic Fibrosis which is a life threatening condition.

So, while I don't know them, and most likely never will, it is really neat to see how God has worked in their lives through this event and will continue to do so. When you have some time, or want to be inspired, go check it out. This link will take you to where he is retracing their steps (catching new readers up to speed). The blog address is cfhusband.blogspot.com.