TGIF

To copy my good friend, Marcy, thank goodness it's Friday.

I'm not sure I've ever been happier to see Friday!!

It's been a great week though. I've been awake more this week than I have been in a long, long time!! My work is very slow right now, but that seems to make the days longer. The job itself is great though - flexible, interesting, fulfilling.

The boys have done well.

Alex doesn't say much, but he really likes his Math teacher. He is loving walking home with Reagan and the small amount of freedom that that brings.

Parker has had a great week. He totally thinks Miss Estes rocks and has enjoyed the privileges that only being a fourth grader brings.

Luke is tired!! He has done really well and has had a whole new world opened up to him this week! He finally got to go through the cafeteria line on Thursday to buy an orange and he was pumped!! He wanted to get in that kitchen so badly!! He likes coloring, recess, and lunch!!

Landry has had a good week. He cries when Scott leaves him, but not for long and is always having a great time when I pick him up. He talks about Ben (Marcy's son) all the time and seems to enjoy himself.

I'm not sure when Luke is going to stop singing so I'm going to keep writing about all the cute songs he sings. This might be it - you never know!!

Days of the Week
(to the tune of The Addams Family)

Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week
Days of the week
Days of the week (clap, clap)

There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,
There's Thursday and there's Friday,
And then there's Saturday. (clap, clap)

Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week
Days of the week
Days of the week (clap, clap)

How funny is that???

Happy weekend!!

We are so proud!!

LOOK!!!

We are farmers!!

Holding steady

Day 2 of the new school year went well.

Luke is still singing. . . the song of the day is . . .

Ri-ise and shi-ine
and welcome to school today-ay
Ri-ise and shi-ine
and welcome to school today-ay
RISE AND SHINE AND
welcome to school today-ay
(he couldn't remember the last part!!)

Sorry to leave you hanging!!

The word that best describes Luke at the end of the day is HUNGRY!!
His lunch is at 10:40 and he is starving when it's time to go home!!

Parker and Alex did well. It's always funny to see what they share about their days. You never know what it will be that they remember!!

Totally un-school-related, I just wanted to document this funny little story.

Yesterday afternoon, Parker was being especially pesky to his little brothers. I had asked him several times to chill out and he just couldn't resist being bothersome.

Anyway, I had gotten out of the car to get Alex from Reagan's house and when I got back to the car, I could hear Landry screaming at the top of his lungs even before I opened the door. I wasn't really surprised, considering how Parker had been acting.

I opened the door and said, "Landry, what's wrong?"

Between screams, he said, "PARKER...TOOK...MY...NOOOOOSSSEEE!!!!!" (nose)

I just looked at him and started cracking up!!

Landry smiles and quietly says, "And he won't give it back!!"

First Day Back 2008

Wow!!

What a great (and crazy) day!!

I'm short on time but I wanted to post the basics from the first day at school.

It started early and it will probably end later than it should, but it was good!!

And the Oscar for Most Excited goes to . . . . . . LUKE!!

Here he is with his great teacher, Ms. Mayer --

He had a great day and has been singing ever since he got home. He was singing himself to sleep with the months of the year song!! So funny!! He loved every part of it - but it WAS a little long than he had planned!!

Parker is an old pro at this, and didn't want to wait for me to walk him to his class. You see, "my morning work is really important to me and I just don't want to miss it!! Especially the word searches . . . they're my favorite!!" Mine too, buddy!!

Here he is with quite possibly the best teacher on the planet -

He also had a great day. In his words, "it went by SO fast!!"

After this stop, Scott took Landry to his school and Alex to his.

This is how Landry felt about returning to school this week!!

And Alex even managed to smile. I might have finally convinced him that it's okay to be excited about going back to school. Maybe!! He said his teachers were good and his math teacher (a man) was fun and cool!! Bonus!!

(Thanks for the great haircut, Shane!!)

Other than Luke leaving his lunch at home and Landry's backpack being in my car when Scott took him to school and Scott ending up with Parker's lunch check, it went very smoothly!!

Here are a couple more pics just for fun!!

Ready or not . . . .

. . . . here school comes!!

The backpacks are ready, the clothes are laid out, the lunches are made, the boys are in bed.

Sleeping??

That's a whole different story!!

Luke and Landry?? Check!

Alex and Parker?? No way!!

Luke definitely wins the prize for being the most excited EVER!!

I don't remember Alex or Parker being as ready to go to school as he is. He has been asking every day (except maybe one or two) - "How many more days now??" since 28 days ago!!

You can only imagine his excitement when today arrived - only ONE MORE DAY!! He has said "I'm SO excited!!" at least 20 times today!!

But the best part was that he asked me if he could go ahead and go to bed - at 4:30 !!! He just couldn't wait anymore!!

I didn't let him go to bed at 4:30!!

Here's hoping and praying for a great first day and an even more amazing year!!

Back in the saddle again

Time is marching on and I am halfway through a very long week in my life. It has been a very long time since I have been up at 6:00 am on a regular basis but this is the week that whips me back into shape!!

Work is going well. There's not a lot to do yet but I've had a few long meetings to fill my time!! It's time to get the teachers pumped up, motivated, and inspired to be the best they can be!! Teachers really do make a difference, you know!!

Probably the most difficult part of the week was that Landry started going to his new school! I managed to keep him at home the first two days I went back, thanks to my mom, but yesterday was his big day!

He did really, really well - much better than I would have even hoped!! He wasn't overjoyed to be there, but he didn't cry and that was such a blessing! I just hate leaving him when he's crying!!

He was at my great friend, Jenny's school yesterday so she probably called or texted me at least 5 times throughout the day to let me know how he was doing. That was the best gift ever!! Big thanks to Jenny for the peace of mind! Miraculously, he was always doing very well. When I picked him up, he was happy and having a great time!

Pretty much the same thing happened today - a little hesitant, but no tears, happy and excited when I picked him up!!

So, as usual, all the worries were for nothing!! He's doing great!!

And, just in case you care, here's how the pumpkins are looking!

Overheard ...

"I got Ms. Mayer!!! I got Ms. Mayer!!!
Yay!!! I'm so happy!!!"

. . . by Luke, upon receiving the card from his new Kindergarten teacher



"Mom, can you please buy me a Coke?
They've been a proud sponsor of the Olympics since they began???!"

. . . by Parker, always looking for new and creative ways to get me to buy him something!!

So long, Summer

Yesterday was officially our last day of summer, as it was the last day that I would be home with the kids. Of course, we wanted to go out with a bang, so we planned a great adventure!!

Shellee and I took our kids (plus Lexie) to the Nature Center for a little hiking, picnic, and nature!! We arrived and went to the information building where we saw snakes, turtles, possums, and a bobcat. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing 9 kids come in with only 2 adults, the helpful, elderly info lady took us into a special room where we could see a special something that is native to Texas. After some unsuccessful guesses as to what it might actually be (even while seeing it), I managed to guess the right animal, much to our relief! She seemed somewhat offended that we didn't know what it was. What was it, you might ask?? A prairie dog, of course!!


While he doesn't have a name (that would suggest attachment), he does love having his neck rubbed, as is demonstrated in the second picture!

We also did some birdwatching!!



After learning all we could, we headed out to do some hiking on their 20+ miles of trails. We started out on a path that was fairly paved and wide. I thought more than once that it seemed kind of odd that a hiking trail would be paved. Our trail proved to be a very short one and somehow ended right back at our car. Confused, I consulted our trail map and quickly learned that we had just complete the .21 mile Handicapped trail!!! We were so proud!!

We went on to bigger and longer trails...one that overlooked the marsh.

There was some serious nastiness in that water!!

The kids were even grossed out as they studied it!!

We hiked and hiked and hiked. We got really hot and really hungry! After a picnic lunch, we hiked over to an island to check it out. The island hike was just getting going well when a swarm of somethings - possibly hornets - decided to attack John Wesley! The group of kids was up ahead of us, so we didn't see what actually happened; we just heard the blood-curdling screams from all the kids!! I seriously expected to see an alligator or a wild bobcat chasing them as they turned the corner - it was that serious of a scream!!

All I kept thinking was, "We are on this island all alone with all these kids, no trail map, no help, no nothing!! How are we going to fight off a crazed animal??!?!"

So, needless to say, I was pretty relieved when we figured out it was a flying-stinging something!! I mean, I felt bad for JW, but I was glad I wasn't going to have to wrestle an alligator to get a child back!!

The stinging incident pretty much ended the fun at the Nature Center so it was time to head to the pool!! The big kids did some serious swimming, breaking both Olympic and World records!! Here are Jordan and Alex going head-to-head!! These guys were serious about their swimming! Shellee had to time them and they worked hard to beat their "personal best!"

Landry says, "to heck with the swimming - I'm exhausted!!"

All in all, it was a great day with some great friends!! While the dog days of summer are pretty much gone, we've had some good times to remember!!

Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo!!

I got a "day off" last Saturday when my mom and I went shopping for most of the day.

While we were gone, Scott decided to take the boys to ride the train and visit the park. They all had a great time.

It's been a really long time since we've done this and I couldn't help but remember the first time I did this as a mom. Deneise and I took our then almost-2 little boys to ride the train and they were so stinkin' cute!! Reagan's Elmo had to come along for the ride too! Looking at these pictures, they've come a long way!!

(Reagan and Alex - circa October, 1998)

Look who came by for a visit!!

It's been a while since I posted. I have no good reason - I guess we've been enjoying the now-gone days of summer!!

Last week, we were hopelessly bored and were begging for something exciting to do when Jenny called and needed us to keep Brody!! We were instantly transformed into a very excited crew who couldn't wait to see Baby Brody!!

And Brody didn't disappoint!!

I'm not sure who was more excited - the boys or Brody!!

(I know that's a bad pic of Landry but look how cute Brody is!!!)

They were so cute to watch as they talked their baby talk and played with him! They wanted him where they were so he got moved around a bit!!



Thanks Jenny, for beating the boredom that day!!

How does your garden grow??

I know all 2 of my readers have been dying to know how the garden is growing...

This is what happened while we were on vacation --

These guys were tall but had no blooms at all! This was fun to see when we returned. I'm not sure why they are SO big. The ones I see on the side of the road are so small compared to these. These might be too big for their own good. Some of them are already starting to lean over with the weight of their big ole' heads!! I tried to stand one back up and it is heavy!!

Luke and Landry enjoy watering the pumpkin vine. A boy with a hose in the summertime = good fun!!

And this, my friends, is our proudest garden accomplishment!!

One huge vine has produced one small pumpkin that is already turning slight shades of orange. Upon closer inspection, there are at least 3 other tiny little pumpkins other places on the vine. Very exciting!! My original prediction of mucho pumpkins has been modified just a bit. For some reason, I thought that a pumpkin would grow where ever there was a blossom. This is not the case on our vine. If it were, we would have approximately 549 pumpkins!!

On to other news, I registered my Landry for his new school today. I am a little apprehensive about how the new school year will go, but I'm sure it will all be great once we actually get into the routine. He goes back and forth with wanting to go and not go, but I'm sure he'll have a great time and learn so much! We came home this afternoon and he colored pictures for about an hour and then said, "Mom-I'm so etcited to doe to stool!!" (Mom - I'm so excited to go to school!) I'm not sure he'll feel that way on the first day of school, but maybe!!

It's hard to believe the summer is so quickly passing. I bought the last of the school supplies today, backpacks have been bought or ordered, lunchboxes too, and everyone has new shoes except one picky boy. Any guesses who that is?? The "stuff" of school is almost ready. Here's hoping the boys and I will follow suit!!

Love, Luke

This was given to me yesterday by my baby who will be going to Kindergarten three weeks from tomorrow!!

Goodness and Trust

During the 8 days that we were gone on our beach adventure, I read 3 books. While I love to read, I don't have much opportunity to do it at home as other things pull at my time. The first two books I read were Mary Higgins Clark books - my all time favorite suspense author. The last book was one I read purely by coincidence, or so I thought.

Emily had given me The Shack and everyone that I talked to about it gave it average ratings at best. The impression I got was that it was just a little different. Kind of hard to wrap your brain around.

After I read my first two books, I decided to give it a try and see if it grabbed me. And grab me, it did!!

(If you're planning on reading this book, you should probably stop reading here as I'm going to explain the basic plot.)

The story is written from a father's point of view (Mack) about a tragedy that he and his family had experienced. While on a camping trip with 3 of his children, his youngest daughter was abducted and there was evidence that she was brutally murdered in a shack in a remote part of Oregon. About 3 or 4 years into the grieving process, Mack is still buried in what he calls "The Great Sadness" and cannot seem to move on. He receives a letter in his mailbox from "Papa" that asks him to meet him at the shack that weekend. Against his better judgement, he goes and, strangely enough, meets with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, all in human form. You can imagine his surprise and unbelief at how the weekend unfolds as he, with their help, comes to terms with his daughter's death and his own faith. The different part of the book that I think gives some people pause is that 2 of the 3 are represented by women and various races/cultures are presented. It took me a bit to get used to that concept, but I just kept thinking - can you imagine what it would be like for God to cook your dinner?? Or to work out in the shop with Jesus?? Or to tend the garden with the Holy Spirit?? How completely incredible and unbelievable!! Mack makes a lot of progress in his weekend with the Trinity and it is interesting how he is able to make the transition back into the real world.

The point of the post --

I have been struggling for a while with some trust issues and a conversation that occurred in this book pretty much hit me right between the eyes.

Mack was asking God (Papa) why He wouldn't just intervene when He knew that someone was in pain or that someone was being wronged. And this was His answer -

"Mackenzie. You really don't understand yet. You try to make sense of the world in which you live based on a very small and incomplete picture of reality. It is like looking at a parade through the tiny knothole of hurt, pain, self-centeredness, and power, and believing you are on your own and insignificant....

The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything - the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives - is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't."

"I don't?" asked Mack, but it was not really a question. It was a statement of fact and he knew it.

"Mackenzie, you cannot produce trust just like you cannot 'do' humility. It either is or is not. Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me."

"...For now I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or you having to please me. I'm not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on my own way. I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation or coercion, only through a relationship of love. And I do love you."

I think sometimes it is a crazy thought to think that the God of the universe truly LOVES me and wants to have a relationship with me. And it's even crazier to think that a lot of the time, I'm dumb enough NOT to trust that He loves me and has my best interest in mind. My trusting in Him is not going to just happen. I pray that He will constantly remind me of His love for me and my need of Him!

Galveston 2008

To sum up this year's trip to the beach, I'd have to just say "awesome"!!! We had loads o' fun, tried some new things, and did some old favorites. After this year, we can add "weathered a hurricane" to the list of adventures!!

Well, not really a hurricane, but a little rain anyway!!

I'll try to condense the 154 pictures into a manageable post!!

Here's our fun house. It held my family, my mom and dad, and Ryan, Shannon, Meagan, and Lexie. Grandma and BigPa were in town some but stayed at the Holiday Inn. I can't imagine why they would want to do that??!! Somehow, they didn't make it into the pictures! How that happened, I'm not sure!! Sorry, BigPa and Grandma!! Even though I don't have a picture of you, we were SO glad yall came!!

And here's what my car looked like as we made our way to and from the beach. Just think Chevy Chase!! This was on the way back and had one less bike than on the way down!!

The first couple of days were hit and miss with the rain. We would head to the beach and get set up, then the rain would start. By the time we threw everything back into the truck and headed home, the rain would have stopped. If we decided to stick it out and hope that it was only a little cloud, it would stay and rain for an hour!!

The upside was that it was cool!! There's always a breeze and the rain, when it would fall, was freezing!! Here are the kids eating a snack under the bridge to escape the rain! They were also hiding from the seagulls that wanted to share their snacks!!

This is what we did on the cooler days!! Good times, indeed!!

And here are Meagan and Alex acting as though we were in a real hurricane! Good acting, guys!!

My mom and dad brought a casting net and it provided hours of entertainment for the kids. Alex or Meagan would take it out a little ways into the water and "cast" it, let it sink a little, and pull it in. If they were lucky, there would be a little fish or two. They would then run back to the beach where Parker and his crew (Luke and Lexie) had dug a hole and filled it with water so the fish would have a place to stay. This first picture is of my mom and Parker getting the net all cleaned out at the end of the week. Somehow, I didn't manage to get any pictures of the kids casting the net, but this is what it looks like.

Another new adventure we did was we rode a ferry to the Bolivar peninsula and ate at a cool little restaurant. Now, the kids had NO concept of a ferry boat so it was very cool and interesting to explain this to them and watch them try to figure it out. It seems like there are fewer and fewer things that kids haven't experienced or at least have some knowledge of. So, riding your car onto a boat with lots of other cars and going onto the water to some land about 15 minutes away and not sinking was just a lot to figure out!! Then Shannon threw out some comment about the tooth fairy and that just confused them even more!! (All of this confusion was happening on the way to ride the ferry on the trip over.) Luke, especially, just couldn't get it figured out in his mind. He wanted to know if the ferry was invisible because the tooth fairy is! Could the boat fly because the tooth fairy does?? Driving your car onto a boat just made no sense at all.

So, finally, we made it to the ferry and drove our car onto the big boat. Just for a little more fun, we were chosen to have our car inspected, just in case we were terrorists! It didn't take the guys long to figure out that we had way too many kids to be trying to do anything harmful! We were all packed into the Suburban with my mom in the way way back so when the officers opened the back doors, there sat my mom!! It made for a nice surprise!! Finally, we drove onto the boat and after a couple of minutes, an Ashley Furniture 18-wheeler pulled up right beside us. When I say it pulled up right beside us, it was literally almost touching our car. Alex and I had our windows open and we could reach out and put our hands totally flat on the truck without even bending our elbows!! It was crazy close to our car!

Things started making a little more sense once we could experience the ferry. Or so I thought!! Luke walks over to me after we were riding for a little while and very seriously asks, "So, is the tooth fairy driving this boat??!!?" After I totally cracked up, I tried to explain one more time that the tooth fairy really didn't have anything to do with this ferry!!

This was taken at the restaurant after we had eaten! Cool sunset!!

On Thursday, as the last of the rain headed out, Ryan and Scott took the three older kids to Nasa. Here's the proof!! Another highlight of the trip was that our good friends, the Rulands, were down at the beach while we were. So, Scott and Alex got to go deep sea fishing on Todd's boat on Saturday. While I would like to say that Alex had a great time, the pictures show otherwise!! He was happy to do his part to feed the fish though!!

Scott, on the other hand, had a great time!! Nice red snapper!!

Actually, Alex started having a great time about the time Todd said it was time to head home!! Look how he perked up!! Maybe he loves fishing after all!! Not really!! He said he would try again when he was a little older!! Here's he is, posing with what Alec caught!!

Check out Harry finding a crab in the belly of his red snapper!! Eeewwwww!!

Later that night, we met at Todd and Debbie's house for some hamburgers and hot dogs. Harry and Barbie were staying with them, so there were lots of kids and lots of fun to be had!!

Even later that night, we got to go ride the boat as Todd took it from the dock to the trailer. This was some sweet boat and the little boys had such a great time riding it!! Here they are holding onto dear life with Meagan and Kendall.

Riding Titanic style--

Alex "helping" Todd as he drives the boat. (Is that how you say it?? Drive the boat??)

Taking advantage of yet another photo-op!

These are some of the highlights from a great trip. But what really makes these trips special is the time spent with those you love!! Doing the not-so-extraordinary things like working puzzles together,
hanging with grandparents,

and swinging with brothers,

until you are plumb exhausted!!

That's what makes a great vacation!!

At least that's what these guys think!!