The Daddy is home.....

But then gone again tonight. :(
He is doing a Breast Cancer Jeep thingy or other... he needs to go have fun with his friends. I miss him, but men (and women) need time to just be with friends....

Kyle is very cooperative today and I am not sure why. Very loving and easy to please... I am on to it, just not sure why he is doing this... I will investigate and let you know.

Meredith got an A+ on a health project this week.... she is so proud of herself. She seems to be doing well, but we will see when the report card is mailed.

LONG TIME, NO WRiTE

Life has been remarkedly busy.... no clue why....
too much on plate I guess.
Kyle is doing well in school and baseball. In Tae Kwon Do, he got his sparring gear and is excited about punching the tar out of people.
Meredith is doing great in her new school and has started a Babysitting Cerification class. :)
Paul started a new job and is starting to travel for his work. This week, RENO!!!
I am loving my life and family!!!
:)

We are home.... but missing the Mama and Papa....

The kids and I got home last night (safely I might add). We are happy to be with Paul and I am especially happy just to be in my own bed (not that the bed I was in was not comfortable, but you know that feeling of just being in your home and curling up in your own bed?).
But the 3 of us are missing being with Mama and Papa. :(
The kids had a blast..... they swam at a water park twice, Papa got in the pool with them, Mama went swimming with them. They went out to eat, bowl, miniature golfing. What more could they do?
I got to hang out with my best friend and some friends from high school.
All in all, good times.
Just missing them. :(
Best part though, when Paul met us coming off the plane, Kyle was wearing a t.u. shirt that Paul did NOT find funny as I thought that he would. :) Jenn likes to play jokes too much!! :)

Pay it forward and don't look back for the return....

It is a truly selfless concept.
To give and not want anything in return.
I hope to show others that I live this way.
I pray to be an example of goodness for my children.
I want them to do good "just because".
Not because that person might give back to them.
I wish for a place that all people can do so.
Not think of themselves (which is one of the hardest things),
but to put others first. Through their thoughts, actions, and words.
:)

Swimming, Cleaning, and FUN!!!

What could be more fun than telling your kids if they clean continuously for 14 hours over two days, then they can go swimming?
THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED!!!
But that is what I felt like did. I asked them to clean the basement. It literally took them 14 hours. I counted. OH MY!
BUT, now that it is done, it is easier to maintain.
We had 7 total kids in it for two hours. It took them 20 minutes to clean it up. Not bad.
Then we went swimming from 3 until 8pm. Long day. But the kids had a blast.
Mommy worked on her tan and gabbed with friends the whole time.
What could be better?

Paul's Poor Jeep

Paul is outside AGAIN working on his Jeep.
It is never going to be fixed.
We had to push it OUT of the driveway to just push it back IN!
Only good thing is that we at least have a driveway to work in,



not a slanting street like we used to have. :)
POOR PAUL!!!

Last week of school (or at least the last two days)!!!

Sooo, the kids are ready for school to be out and so are we. :)
Kyle's last ball game was today- he did great!
Meredith had her 5th grade pool party and loved it!
I am baking a Texas sheet cake for the teachers for the half-day on Tuesday as a "thank-you" to them.
Tomorrow (Monday) is the last GS meeting and I have made cupcakes, brownies, of course, a Texas sheet cake and we are having make your own sundaes too!
Tuesday is the end of the year party for the kindergarten class and it is a sundae party I am in charge of.
I am soooooo tired just typing it.
BUT the kids will love it!
Cannot wait for Wednesday-- I AM SLEEPING IN!!!!
If the kids let me! :)

Kyle is officially 7!!!!

Kyle's birthday has come and past-- this past Saturday (May 16th) Kyle turned 7. I can hardly believe that my baby is 7.
He is such a sweet, loving boy. I got strep the night before and was really sick and basically in bed. He brought me drinks and medicine and did whatever I needed. At one point, he told me "Mommy, I don't care about my presents. I just don't want you to die." He, in his sweet, innocent mind, thought that I was so sick because I was going to die. At the ER, he asked the doctor if my heart was okay. Because I had already warned the doctor that this might happen, he told him soooo nicely that Mommy was okay and that all the medicines would make me feel soooo much better. It was so nice of him to do. Kyle then clapped and jumped that Mommy was not dying. :) How could you not love your son for being happy you are not knocking on death's door?
He is the best!!!

Kyle's first game went GREAT!!!

Kyle had his first baseball game today at 12:30. HE DID GREAT!!!
He had 3 at bats and hit the ball (WITHOUT THE T) all three times.
We are soooooo proud of him.
Funny----
He was playing outfield and if the ball was hit, he would just run to
whichever base was closest. Paul thinks so he could be part of the
action.
One ball was hit right at second (which he was playing that inning) and
he ran, got on the base, put his arm out waiting to catch the ball.....
it went right through his legs. It was soooo cute. :)

It's a wonderful day for some yard work.....

The kids are soooo upset with me for saying that we HAVE to clean the front and back yard up.. but if it has to be done, it has to be done. Then, Meredith and I have to make an Italy flier for tomrrow's Thinking Day along with about 120 cookies. :)
Then she is off to a HOTEL SLEEPOVER for 11 year olds. (I KNOW!) And Kyle is on his official "Mommy-Daddy-Son Date". He is loving that he gets to pick what we do. So we are heading to the mall with the Lego store to spend a gift card. Then he wants to go to Barnes and Noble to read. Not buy books, read. I am loving it too!

KYLE LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!

Finally, Kyle has lost his first tooth. YES, at 6 years and 10 months. FINALLY! As funny as that is, (or maybe just sad) he fell asleep with Meredith and somehow it ended up IN HER FACE! She woke up last night at about 10:30 and came up to tell me something woke her up and preceeded to tell and then show me what it was.... HIS TOOTH!
He woke up and was soooo excited.
After school today, he was running around to EVERYONE, teachers, parents, other students, telling them about losing his first tooth.
He could not have been prouder!

The kids are now depressed

Meredith and Kyle are so sad that Mama is gone. :(
Kyle was sooo unhappy that Mama was not waiting for him when he got out of school.
Meredith thought for a second when I picked her up that Mama was still here. She just got this look of "what the heck, where is my Mama?" on her face.
Poor things!!

THE MAMA IS COMING, THE MAMA IS COMING!!!

Kyle is telling everyone at school "My Mama is come on Firstday and I like her and I love her. She is going to play with me and watch me on my new bike." It is SOOOO cute!!!

ALERT-- Kids do clean!!!

My two wonderful kids are in Kyle's room cleaning for the upcoming "Mama trip". They did start in a relatively clean room and DUMP the bookcase to organize that. :)
Mama is coming up for her quarterly visit and we could not be more excited. Meredith is just happy to have her to listen to and play with. Kyle cannot wait to show her "his moves" from Tae Kwon Do. :)

Kids are now Rogue and Wolverine!

I am listening to Kyle jump up and down as Wolverine saves someone and Meredith watching Storm make snow go everywhere. They love the X-MEN movies. Kyle is constantly asking me what a non-mutant is. :)
That is really hard to explain.
He still does not get it.
They chase the poor dog around the house pretending he is the "bad one" mutant. Poor Barkley just freaks and scrambles.

ALL COVERED IN MUD!!!!

Paul and I wanted to spend some family time together... so we decided to go to the canal and walk around and skip rocks. You know, good old FREE fun. We even brought Barkley.
Get there and it is soooo muddy, my UGGs were going INTO the ground. YUCK! It was all over our shoes and the dog's paws. We decide to go the the part people kayak through-- it was almost solid ice across. I could not believe it. It was 60 degrees out and still there was ice. So we tried for about 20 minutes to break it up-- throwing rocks and random things. Paul made a hole. The kids threw rocks towards that and tried to score a goal like in soccer.
We ended up get grocery bags and tying the kids and Paul up in them. One per foot. It must have been hilarious when they got out of the car. I can only imagine what people thought.

The Octuplets in CA

Let me start by saying that I am happy that there are 8 more precious and innocent babies in this world. How blessed is that mom.
Here goes my confusion....
The doctors should NOT have put in 8 embryos. That is outrageous. Then the mother for choosing to carry ALL of them, while she already had 6 kids at home.
This is the part that angers me. She is now looking for a handout. From Oprah and others. She has hired a PR firm to handle offers. SHE chose to have those babies. SHE should have realized how much it would cost to raise them. It just angers me so badly. "I can have them and someone else will pay for it and then volunteers will come in to take care of them."
What is wrong with this picture? Am I alone in this or am I crazy for thinking this is wrong?

IT IS SNOWING!!!!!

Last Thursday, Meredith had her winter concert. She was wonderful. She sang a song that went- There will be no school tomorrow, there will be no school tomorrow if it snows. Well, there is no school today and they are predicting that will how much ice and snow will accumulate over the nighttime, there will be no school tomorrow. :)
Paul is feeling better somewhat after a long weekend of bronchitis.
Kyle and Meredith and her best friend (here) Johanna went bowling with me yesterday and we had so much fun.
Then, I dropped off Kyle at home and we (the girls and me) went ice skating. They had so much fun just being together.
Barkley woke up this morning and was "freaked" by the snow and did not know what to do. He ate some, ran around like he was on drugs and then whimpered some because he was afraid of it. It was the cutest.
I have the fire going right now and am watching it fall outside the window. It is so beautiful and I am thankful to be able to live in a place that has snow. Texas does not have much snow, mostly sludge.

Meredith thinks that I am nuts!!!

That is for the health professionals to evaluate and diagnose.
Let me set it up....
Every fall, two things happen that make my days just nicer and "happy".
1. Honey Crisp apples-- not the small ones like in Texas. The ones that way a pound, cost an arm and a leg, but taste soooo yummy.
2. Peppermint Mocha coffee creamer--- it comes out for only about 2 months a year and I miss it the other 10.
So, about late December, the Honey Crisp apples were gone. :(
I thought that the Peppermint Mocha was too. As Meredith and I were shopping for creamer at the local Safeway, I was depressed at the selection available. I picked up my chosen bottle and down the aisle I went. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I see the "holiday/seasonal collection" of CoffeeMate and get a bit excited. I walk over and only see Pumpkin Spice. I look down with regret. I look back up and "OH MY GOSH!!!" There is the Peppermint Mocha. Not only the 16 ounce size, but the 32 ounce. Voila!!! Happy Days are here again. :)
Meredith thinks that I am nuts, not because of the happiness factor from my find. It is the fact that I purchased 7 of them.
She might be right.

Meredith is home!

So, Kyle and I fought this morning about how unfair it was that Meredith gets to stay home today and not him. It was rather cute.
He kept complaining that he had a headache. Then he said that he would never get sick and it was not fair. "I WANT TO BE SICK AND I CAN'T GET SICK! IT IS UNFAIR!"
:)
Meredith is in the Man Cave watching Space Chimps right now. She seems to be getting better. We will see.

Chicken Pox shots for all!!!!!

Let me start out by saying....
I MEANT TO BE A GOOD PARENT!!!
I feel horrible.
Meredith went yesterday to the doctor for her yearly checkup.
Everything went well. She got boosters for tetanus and chicken pox.
Well, today at 2:30, while I was in the school office, she walks in with a fever of 102.7.
She feels sooo awful. I can only give her Motrin and Powerade. :(
Maybe next visit we will won't get the boosters.

Not your Texas Taco Bell

I have two children who just cannot accept Taco Bueno-- the horror!!
Paul and I have been loyal consumers for years. Everytime we go to Texas, we go there. Kyle always goes nuts-- "NOT THE TEXAS TACO BELL! I HATE TEXAS TACO BELL!!"
Tonight, after Girl Scouts, to bribe the kids to go to the grocery store (we desperately needed milk and bread-- yes, jailhouse food. Wait, that is bread and water- whatever!), I told them that we could eat out. Kyle begged for Taco Bell.
On the way there, he asked me in the cutest voice, "are we in Texas or America? (He is thoroughly confused. I assume since 1)We lived in a state bigger than France at one point and 2)We currently live in a place with so many different nationalities.) Because I DO NOT want Texas Taco Bell. I want America Taco Bell." This amused me greatly. :)

Kyle coughs like a seal....

Last night, I was up until the wee hours of the night. Not because I could not sleep. It was because Kyle was coughing, and coughing, and coughing... all night long. He never woke up, just coughed. It was agony to hear. I thought he would wake up and cry or come get me. He never did. Which I guess is good for him. He slept through it all.
I am, right now, in a 12 year time warp.... I am watching Fear with Reese Witherspoon and ex-pants dropper, (Marky) Mark Wahlberg. I actually remember going to the theater in 1996 and watching it with friends. One part actually freaks me out still. The dog through the door.
Back to cleaning and book reading for Paul's dad. :)

MM&K

This is a picture from our trip to Texas this past summer. Macy (on the left) is Meredith's best friend. Kyle just loved hanging out with the girls.

Paul's only and last post

Paul does not like blogs. That is it!

School's back in....

WOW!!! This last week was soooo long and filled with everything that I needed to do to get caught up. Kyle and Meredith were exhausted each day. :)
Meredith started her art class again and is happy to be going on Wednesday after school. Now I just have to save more money to actually frame all her masterpieces. :)
Kyle has started a new endeavor- TAE KWON DO!!! He actually stood there listening, following instructions, and performing when Master Holloway told him to. He was awesome. I was so proud.

Back into the New Year

We are home (in Maryland). Started our trip to Texas with Kyle getting sick. Then Sunday, Meredith got the same stomach thing that Kyle had, and missed Annie at Bass Hall. Then, on Paul and I's date night, at 4:30 am, I woke up with the same thing. Wahoo!!!
But, all in all, it was a great trip. Loved seeing all the family. Meredith and Kyle loved seeing Mama and Papa so much! They got all the attention and love they could have ever wished for.
Paul and I got to go out and have a great time shopping and having dinner with no kids. It was so nice, but weird with no one begging us for something.
Happy New Year to all!!!