The Landry Show

Yesterday morning, three of four great boys loaded up and headed out.

Alex and Parker headed to camp until Thursday.

Luke headed to Dallas for a couple of days with his Nana, Poppy and cousin Lexie.

And that left Landry.

He didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he was left behind. He feels certain his time is coming!!

All Landry wanted to do was go to the mall and play at the "playdround." I knew if I threw in a quarter and a stop by the gum machines, he would be thrilled!

After we got everyone where they were supposed to be, we ran a couple of errands and found ourselves at the mall. The play area was hopping but so was Landry!! He played hard...running, jumping, sliding.

After a while, he came over and decided he was ready to go. (I was so glad that we're not of the age where he falls into the floor in a heap when I suggest it's time to go!!) We went up to eat at Chik-fil-a and then proceeded to stop by a couple of stores. When we came face to face with the carousel, of course, we did it!! He loved it, though riding a horse was out of the question!! (he's so funny with animals - even "fate" ones!!)

On our way out, we stopped to get some "dum". He broke tradition and got the candy bones and pretty much immediately regretted it! I hate it when that happens!

The afternoon had lots of "come play this with me Mom" and "come watch me do this" and "can we do this Mom?"

And this was when I discovered that even though one child is easier in so many ways, having brothers definitely has HUGE advantages!! Besides having someone to play with, I pretty much said "YES" to everything Landry asked to do all day. Now, I know I did that, in part, because I can't always do that. But another part of me thought - why shouldn't I do it? There's no reason he can't get out and walk if he wants...there's no reason he can't play a little longer...there's no reason he can't do everything he asks to do. I have a bad feeling that if Landry was the only little angel in this family, no one would want to be around Landry very long!!


(camera on phone = poor quality pics!)

The funny thing is, that afternoon, Landry came in telling me he had really wanted to go to the mall with the alligator (Grapevine Mills) and do stuff THERE!! Of course, you did, honey!! After a day planned and executed specifically around you, you'd have rather done something else!!

You've gotta love that sin nature!!

Contrary to the ending of this post, we're having a GREAT time. We've got plans today to hit the pool and Walmart. (Landry is the only kid in this house who can go to Walmart without moaning and groaning!!)

Quotable Quotes

Landry ...
I don't want to eat my supper, but I DO want to eat some ice cream!!

Luke ...
It takes a boy cat AND a girl cat to make babies??
(uh-oh! too much information!!)

Parker ... (after a discussion about doing things the easy way - Mom's way, or doing things the hard way and getting in trouble - Parker's way)
You can choose the easy road or the hard road. In the case of the Bagg boys, sometimes the hard road chooses you!! I got that off the Ninja Turtles, Mom!!

It's been a fun week so far. Most enjoyable is being able to stay up late and sleep in without commitments. Good times indeed!!

Today we went to the library so we could keep the love of learning alive!! There are so many fun things to do at the library. We usually go downtown since it's the biggest and has the best selection. And, it's just fun to go downtown!! Landry enjoys the train!

A very energetic librarian strongly encouraged us to sign up for the summer reading program which, of course, we did!! The best part of signing up for that, you ask?? Well, the best part was that each of the boys got a clown nose!! Who knew??!!

Check out the irony in this picture --

Four goofy boys sitting under a sign that reads Betsy R Pepper GRAND HALL OF KNOWLEDGE!!! That is definitely why we were there! We need all the knowledge we can get!!

Here are the crazies playing dress up. Look at how the clothes fit the little boys appropriately while the older boys are squeezed in as tightly as possible. I'm sure Alex will seriously regret letting me take this picture of him as Thomas the Tank Engine at age 12 at some point!! Can't wait for that!!

All in all, it was a great time (except for the ride home, now that I think about it!). A fun day at the biblioteca!!

Good-bye School Year

The 2008-2009 school year is finished!! Yipeeee!!!

It was an interesting year for sure. Going back to work full-time definitely had its drawbacks, but overall, it was a very positive experience. I counted up all of my students today and if I didn't miss anyone, I saw 23 different students this year.

Here's the breakdown of stories: 8 girls had babies, 3 kids had broken legs, 2 had back surgeries, 1 had cancer, 2 had random infections, 2 they never did figure out what was wrong, 1 had a head injury, 1 had a knee injury, and 2 had more problems than I can't put into a couple of words! That leaves one that I can't think of right now!! So, as always, a variety of reasons for kids to need to be put on Homebound.

I really enjoy the job that I do. I love the fact that no two days are ever the same. I love the flexibility that comes with going different places and seeing different kids. I work with a great group of people and have a really great boss who lets me do my job and supports me however I need her to. And the biggest perk? No work in the summer!! Woo-hoo!!

We have big plans to do nothing!! With water park passes in hand, we plan to sleep late, play hard, and have lots of fun!

Bring on the summer!!

Summer's knocking

Look at me blogging twice in two days!! Yay me!!

Anyway, Summer is so close I can almost taste it!! And what says summer more than the Rangers??

Last Wednesday, we took the boys to watch the Rangers take on the Yankees. Evidently, it was a big deal to see the Yankees. Who knew??

There were almost more Yankee fans there than Rangers fans, which I found a little problematic. I mean, come on Ranger fans!! They're doing better than they've done in a really, really long time. Where's the love??!

And the Yankee fans?? Well, they acted kind of like Yankees!! And that's not always a complement if you know what I mean!!

Anyway, here are the cute little boys enjoying the game. The big boys aren't so into their mom taking cute pics of them in public places!!

Just for the record, Luke got those really cool tattoos at Field Day at school that day. I think that's supposed to be a snake running down his right cheek!! Nice!!

Kitties anyone??

These cute little guys will be turning 6 weeks old this week!! They are cuter than ever but it's time for most of them to move on!!

We're going to keep one and my neighbor's going to take 2. So, thankfully, that only leaves us with 2.

They even dance!! Who doesn't want a dancing kitten??!!?

Parker's in Double Digits

My second born boy celebrated his first decade on the planet this week.

It worked out for Parker's 10th birthday to be a national holiday this year. How cool is that?? Nevermind that most people call it Memorial Day. All Parker cared about was that he had the day off from school to celebrate bigtime!!

Parker, his 2 friends, Brevin and Hayden, and lots of extended friends and family celebrated at the pool on Monday. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a few of us were surprised with how strong the sun actually was!! (read: sunburn!!)

Here's the birthday boy --

Alex --

Luke --

Meagan -- love the ponytail!!

Little Boy Wonder --

After a lot of fun in the sun, we headed back to my mom's for a little volleyball --

And a few presents --

Parker really wanted to take Hayden around the neighborhood on Poppy's golf cart, but we decided it probably wasn't the best idea!!

Overall, it was a super fun day for the birthday boy!

Parker is an incredible young man with an incredible brain!! It is really neat to watch him try to figure something out or think things through in a different way. There are no pretenses with Parker - you can always tell exactly how he feels about something because it's written all over his face (and sometimes his body!!). He can be extremely caring and kind, but not always with his brothers!! He loves to read though he might not admit it if you asked him. If he finds himself idle, (eating breakfast, riding in the car) he will always look for something to read. He loves to be with his friends, but he's also fine by himself. He can be the crazy one in a crowd or he can be the loner off in the corner. He loves to build, loves Legos, loves anything that moves. He's an amazing dude and it will be fun to watch as his future unfolds.

Happy 10th birthday Parker (a little late!!)

Now why didn't I think of that?

Tonight we were heading home from Science Night at Landry's school when Parker looked up into the clouds.

P: Hey Mom -- what does that cloud look like to you??

M: Well, it kind of looks like a fish ... see the opening there and the fins at the top and the bottom?

P: A fish??

M: Yeah, it's definitely a fish. (of course, it's as plain as day that it's a fish to me!!)

P: Well, I don't see a fish AT ALL. That just doesn't make sense.

M: So what do you see?

P: It's definitely a two-headed wolf without a neck!!

Of course it is!!

My Mom's Day

Today has been a really great day.

It started off with Parker bringing me my breakfast in bed . . . Rice Chex!!

We went to church, came home, and Scott and the boys made lunch . . . grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, and carrots.

We had an easy afternoon with a lot of kickball. These boys of mine are really into kickball right now. They get a game going pretty much every day after school and have a blast!!

Today they decided that they tender little feet were just too sensitive to play kickball totally bare, so they had to do something about it.

Duct tape - they must be males, right??

After a lot of kickball, we came in and watch America's Funniest Videos . . . always a winner here at our house!! When I came down the stairs from watching TV, the dishes were done, the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded with the dirty dishes. Amazing!! THAT was the best gift of all!!

And because I'm not a cat person and I don't want Deneise to see how cute these little kittens are, I want to share of few pics of the growing babies!!

We took them all out of the box to see what they would do, and this one decided he/she really liked the box better than the outside world!!

Even Angel is getting back to her old self. She decided to get back to the trees on this, her first Mother's Day!!

:)

Mom's Day

It's Mom's Day and I must say I have the best Mom on the planet!! She's always been my number one fan, encourager, supporter, and friend.

So Mom, thanks for being you!! You've been so many things to me throughout my life and for all of those things, I am grateful!!

I heard this song this week on the radio and was reminded of the time we saw this funny lady at Women of Faith a couple of years ago. Funny stuff!!

Crazy boys

Not too much going on around here lately.

We had a little excitement this afternoon when Parker decided to join a game of kickball going on in the front yard and thought it would be a good idea to put his less-than-two-weeks-old glasses on the back of Scott's car for safe keeping.

Can you see where this is going??

When he came in a little later without his glasses on, I casually asked where they were. He responded equally as casually, "on the back of dad's car." To which I replied, "the one that he took when he left a few minutes ago??!!"

We all went outside to look around and couldn't find those glasses anywhere. I called Scott and he hadn't seen them on the car so we all went back out to find what was left of the glasses. We started walking down the road and miraculously, on the main road, about 2 houses down, were Parker's glasses!! They had a couple of little spots on them from their fall from the car, but otherwise, were fine!!

The kitties are growing and have all opened their eyes. Landry was telling my mom about them the other day and she asked him what they were eating. He responded with "they eat titty food." Well, of course, they do!!

We're still working on that speech!!

We have EYE!!

The only excitement we have going on around here are the kittens. They will be one week old tomorrow and we were very excited to find one kitten with one eye open this morning!!

They are growing like little weeds and it's no wonder...they're eating ALL the time. I kind of feel sorry for Angel. No breaks for her. If I were her, I would be wondering where their dad was because I would definitely need a girls night out!!

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but they really are getting thicker!!

They're also getting stinkier!! I'm glad that Scott said no to letting me put her in the closet under the stairs. I see now that that would have been a bad plan!!

From someone who really doesn't like cats

Remember how I don't like cats??

Remember why we got two kitties last Fall?

Remember that when we got back from North Carolina over Christmas, we never saw our Pixie again??

Well, we decided to let Angel live on the wild side so she could have a "friend" again!!

Here's what she looked like a couple of days ago --

And here's how she looks today --

In case you're counting, there are 5 of them!! 2 gray, 2 striped like their momma, and one patchy one. These little guys/girls are so stinkin' cute!! And so small!! And did I mention that I really don't like cats??!!?

Everything happened without a hitch, exactly as we planned it (as though we could plan it!). She had them in the garage (we were afraid she would run off into the woods to have them) and she had them when we weren't here which was awesome!! After I read everything that cats do to their babies when they're born, I wasn't really sure I wanted the boys to see that! We knew she was getting ready to have them when we left for school so I called my neighbor and she checked on her during the day. She called me a few hours later to tell me she had had them and all was well!!

Pretty amazing when you think about it . . . go into labor at breakfast, have 5 babies and be good by lunch!!

The cutest 4-eyes around!!

Before

After

Parker went to the eye doctor today for what I was hoping was a little flair for the dramatic in regards to his complaints about not being able to see well. But, the doctor proved me wrong! Parker has the unfortunate case of having his Dad's not-so-great eyesight!! His right eye (the good one) has 20-80 vision and his left eye has 20-200!!!!! I couldn't believe it when the doctor told me that!! He really hasn't struggled in school at all so I was really surprised. But seeing things far away just hasn't been happening for him evidently. While we were with the doctor, he clicked a few clicks on the computer and let me know that Parker's eyes are virtually the same as Scott's . . . right eye stronger, left eye weaker, and almost the same prescription!! Weird!!

After the exam, we went over and picked out his frames. The tech was actually able to make them there in the office today and Scott and Parker picked them up on their way home. Parker called me on the way home and said, "Mom, this is so cool -- I can see the leaves on the trees!!" How sad is that??

Parker really seems excited about wearing them and taking care of them. I hope that part of it lasts!! It's definitely a different look for him, but very handsome, indeed!

Cooking School

I'm a little behind in my blogging, but I'm going to try to get caught up.


A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I went to Central Market for a gluten free cooking class. We had no idea what to expect or even how it would work, but we both left very pleased with the whole experience.


When we went it, it was just like a real cooking show kitchen, complete with a mirror above the main prep area and two big screens up on each side that showed what the chefs were doing. There were GF snacks to eat and GF beer to sample!!


Basically, during the course of the night, the chef prepared a salad, a main course, and a dessert. After she showed us how to make them, then they served the class what she had made. So, after she made a Wilted Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing, then we ate it. I had the great idea to take pictures of everything AFTER I had eaten most of my salad. But, I discreetly managed to take a picture of the lady sitting next to me's salad, though at this point, it really just looks like Spinach Salad.


Then, on to the main course, which was Chicken Stuffed with Gluten-Free Stuffing. She showed us how to make the stuffing from cornbread that had some orange zest in it that gave it an unusual flavor. She showed us how to rub down the bird with lots of spices and butter and how to stuff him. I'll just say that's not gonna be happening at my house anytime soon!! It was really good, but a lot of work!! Here's the chicken with Hot Cross Buns.

The Hot Cross Buns were typical GF fare . . . hard and dense. Even the chef said she wasn't pleased with them. But, the chicken and stuffing were both very good.

Finally came the dessert section of the class. Gluten-Free Pie Crust with Lemon Meringue Filling was on the menu and she did a great job of showing us how to make a good pie crust. Then she proceeded to make the lemon filling with the juice from no less than 10 really big lemons!! This was a great little tart, but tart doesn't even begin to describe the sour level!! I love sour things so it was great to me, but it definitely wasn't for the faint of heart!! My mom and I shared one so we could bring the other one home to Luke and as he was eating it the next day, he ate off all the meringue and started in on the lemon part. After a bite or two, he said, "Mom, can you get all this yellow stuff off so I can just eat the cookie??!!" Totally cracked me up! So, being the great mom I am, I took a spoon and cleaned off his "cookie!" And, maybe I ate it!!

The Lemon tart is in the upper left corner and the rest are cookies that you can either buy or make, most of which Luke has already tried and eats regularly. The cup in the upper right corner is Pirate's Booty, a popcorn snack they had on the tables when we arrived. Good stuff!

The last picture is a very blurry image of the kitchen from our vantage point. I think I was trying to be sneaky because I really wasn't sure if they were ok with people taking pictures. So, it's a bad picture, but you can kind of get the idea.

Overall, it was a great time and we really learned a lot. We heard about new products from other GF people and got lots of great tips about things unique to Central Market and just cooking, in general. I would definitely do it again!!

Easter '09 (with pictures!!)

Easter Sunday was a great day!!

Look how handsome the boys look!! It's always good to see that they CAN brush their hair (when forced!!)

Here are all the cousins while they still look handsome/beautiful!!

On to Nana and Poppy's house for lunch. This year's crowd included Grandma & BigPa, Mom & Dad, Ryan, Shannon, Meagan, and Lexie, MawMaw and PawPaw Alexander, George, Edith, (Little) George, Ben, and Ernie. Here's the grub --

Then on to the main event. Here are the kids getting ready to find their eggs. The funniest part of the hunt this year to me was watching Alex and Meagan who totally know that they are way too old to be doing this, but there's no way they're going to miss out!! You can see in their posture that they are too cool for this little kid stuff!!

And off they go . . . .

And definitely one of the highlights of the whole day was when Luke wrote this note during church:


It reads, "Jesus I love you (you) died for aer sins. Thank you for dieyg for aer sins."

And that is why we celebrate!!