I love the holidays but...

I do love the holidays but I also love getting things back to normal. Christmas was great- lots of family, presents, excited kids, and the food was I'm sure good but my pregnancy is not letting me enjoy those things as much this year. Mostly I just love getting together with family and then coming home and being with my "little family" on Christmas morning.
Now we are knee deep in toys around our house and I am starting to get that "nesting" feeling and I am eager to weed out all the old stuff and have started a pretty good little garage sale stash. Meanwhile I am trying to work out in my head how we are going to fit another child+ stuff into our little house. I know it will all work out! God has always provided for our needs and I know this time will be no different. I wonder if a double jogger is a need?

pictures

 
 
 
This was us trying to take a picture for the Christmas card. Seriously how do you get a 14 month old kid to look and smile on command! His very patient big sister was working hard at holding onto his squirmy little self and smiling at the same time! Last year it was soooo easy... He was asleep in sisters arms and it made for a very sweet picture. I think I may use one of these anyway just because it is what it is!

Things I love about Christmas:

( In no special order.)
1. decorating the tree
2. mistletoe!
3. baking cookies
4. Finding the perfect present for someone.
5. wrapping presents
6. carols (Joy to the World!)
7. nativitly scenes
8. Hearing the Christmas story read in the King James Version
9. Christmas lights (ours still aren't up but everyone elses look great!)
10. Christmas break means lots of family time!

Christmas time!

I do love Christmas! We have the tree up and Little boy has only taken one or two ornaments off. Now that he is creeping around the furniture and crawling around much faster he is more interested in the tv and dvd buttons than the tree. Rignt now he is suppose to be napping but instead I think he is standing in the crib pullin down the curtains.
Sweet girl is bugging daddy to please put up the Christmas lights and working on presents of her own that she is making for people. The other day she told her aunt "look here is our activity scene (nativity scene)." We'll have to fix that one I think. It's so cute when they say stuff like that but when they get to a certain age you can't let them say it and get embarrassed when someone else corrects them! Busy, busy time of year and blogging has been less of a priority!

dreams

My dreams are wild these days! Pregnancy hormones for me translate into insomnia and crazy dreams. I have to say I can handle the nasea but I am so tired of not being able to rest even when I do manage to sleep.
Black Friday I planned to get up early and join the insane crowds at 5 a.m.So about three thirty in the morning I wake up from a wild dream. I was a cancer patient and I was moving into some kind of cancer ward with a bunch of other women. We were all going shopping but we slept through our alarm and so we jumped out of bed strapped babies to our back and jumped on our waiting ATV's and started racing through a war zone complete with tanks and land mines. We made it to the sales I guess I woke up before we got there. Of course after that I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up at four and was at the store at 4:45.
Before you ask I ate all the same stuff ya'll did - turkey, sweet potatoes, etc. and I didn't even watch tv so I don't know where all the video game war scenes are coming from. I will accept any advice on how to get more sleep - at night- daytime doesn't work so good around here.

community

This Sunday at our worship service we had a testimony time mostly about what community means to us. It was beautiful to hear from people I know and don't know about what it has meant to them to be part of the body of Christ and especially the smaller "community groups" at our church. I'm sure I wasn't the only one gripping my seat because I would have loved to stand up and "testify!" We have been so blessed by the friendships and relationships we are building with people through our church and we eagerly look forward to our Wednesday night fellowship and study together. This thanksgiving week I am grateful for so many things and my church is counted among them!
"Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done!"

I saw the baby yesterday!

Yesterday I had my first doctors appointment and got to see the baby on ultrasound for the first time. I don't think there is anything more exciting or makes my heart pitter patter like seeing those grainy pictures of a "jelly bean" baby with a tiny little heart thumping away in the middle of its little body. With Isaac we had been through so much and I was so anxious that it was going to turn out badly but not this time! It was such a normal doctors visit with my regular OB Dr. not the infertility specialist and I was thrilled to be treated so "normally". We have a new more acurate date (June 30th) and that makes me about 8 weeks pregnant. We have have a plan to help me not deliver too early this time! I will have to schedule a delivery for the beginning of June but it may not mean a NICU stay. Now if I can just get through all this 1st trimester sick and tiredness!

The cats out of the bag...

We are pregnant and expecting a new little one in June! We are very excited and hoping for a healthy baby and nice full length pregnancy. Please pray that this baby is a little more patient that our little boy and stays happy and content for the full term. Sweet girl is very happy and hoping for a sister this time. She is already picking out names and watching my stomach for growth and movement- I keep telling her its too early but I still catch her staring.
The only down side is that I am not going to be able to run my 1/2 marathon. I'm still running but had to cut back on my mileage and intensity so I'm putting off that goal for another time.

10 years!

I can't believe its been ten years since I graduated college! This weekend was homecoming and I had a good time hanging out with old friends and walking through campus and memory lane. They reminded me how stressed I was in college and how they tried to help me destress by harrassing me! If it wasn't for my friends I would have had no fun in college - they brought the fun to me since I was not creating any of my own.
I think it must be true that we mellow a little with age- I'm definately a lot more willing to accept that I don't have all the answers and other peoples contrasting views may have some validity. (That's a little plug for my Obama voting friends.)

just advertising

Are you interested in buying a treadmill? I have a friend selling one! I am shamelessly advertising for her:
"It's a ProForm 395 Pi. It is a basic treadmill (shows speed) with incline.

I'm asking $75."
If your interested call me and I will give you her phone number!

Political talk from a 7 year old.

Given the date (Nov. 4th) I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the conversations we have been having around here for the last week or so....
Sweet girl keeps coming home telling us about a classmate who has warned her that if Obama becomes president then she and her family are moving from the country because he is going to take all our guns so we can't go hunting and he going to come take our money too! So I tried to explain to her about taxes and how the government takes a portion of our income to give to others who can't find a job and for roads and schools and stuff like that. After I finished trying to explain it she says "Why would anyone want to get a job if they are going to take your money and give it to other people?!" Out of the mouths of babes....

shoes

 
 
So I put shoes on little boy for the first time and he looks soooo cute but he wasn't "feeling it" as you can see by the picture. Up to this point I haven't really seen a point in putting shoes on him- he only walks around the house and is carried practically everywhere but with winter coming I figured I could start. Plus he keeps yanking his socks off in the car and this is one way to keep them on right?!

pictures

 

More of my favorite photos from this week.

 

Check out our flamingo and giraffe! Aren't they the cutest, or at least as cute as your trick-or-treaters! We had "fun" making the flamingo costume this week with daddy working evenings and the baby teething but sweet girl felt very glamorous in her feathers. Little boy didn't mind the giraffe costume too much but he wasn't really too sure what all the commotion was about. All in all a very fun week!

My trip to North Carolina

As most of you know I went on my first trip for work last week. As most of you also know I don't like to fly (Aimee says it's a control thing, I think she's right). A few summers ago, I refused to fly to California so we drove for three days through scortching heat of New Mexico and Arizona. None-the-less, this trip we flew out of Austin to Houston, then to Charolette, we did the same thing on the way back. I learned that flying isn't near as dangerous as I had previously thought, hence the following story.
The conference was an opportunity for me to evaluate the new materials and equipment that will be available soon. I had to sit in on a lot of lectures, very informative lecutres though. On this particular day we were to ride a bus for a thirty minute trip one way to the headquarters of the company who was putting on the conference. There, we would see their new equipment and material in action. Well....as we left to return back to our hotel (in the bus) I quickly realized it was rush hour. The abrupt stopping, accelerating and swerving made me fear for my life. I thought I would not make it home to see my family agian!! I closed my eyes and prayed to my dear Jesus to deliver me form the jaws of death and rush hour traffic. After this I could not wait to get on the nice quiet comfortable plane we there would be no stopping, acclerating or swerving. I was able to review and organize my notes in peace and quiet. I called Aimee after that bus ride and told her that we need to check into flying more often.

still not crawling

So little boy is still not crawling but that is ok I've decided! He is getting around pretty good pulling himself along on his stomach by his arms. Since Daddy is home I'm letting him chase him around today. ( I really need to get rid of my plant stand.) His new favorite place to go is the dog dishes and grab handfulls of dog food and then dump the water on himself. I'm usually quick enough to grab him before he can do both but poor Maddie just stands there looking at him like "what are you doing, that is my food!" We are enjoying every minute of this baby!

Can"t wait for Jeff to get home!

For the last two weeks one of us has been on the road and I am ready to have my husband and the kids daddy back! I know I'm spoiled and blessed that Jeff doesn't travel for his job or get sent on long deployments and I am going to start really appreciating it!

We have the worst tooth fairy!

Sweet girl lost another tooth last night (that makes 8 all together). She faithfully put it in her little pillow and said "I hope she doesn't forget again!" You see our tooth fairy is very unreliable- she has forgetten at least three other times to come get the tooth. Once she even forgot two nights in a row and we had to call her and threaten to fire her if she didn't come that night. So last night I was sure the tooth fairy would remember but... she must have fallen asleep on the couch or something because she forgot! I told sweet girl maybe she got up too early and the tooth fairy hadn't come yet because it was such a busy night and maybe she would come and get the tooth while she was at school. To be honest, I am getting tired of making excuses for the tooth fairy! Why can't she just remember! Maybe I should start writing her notes or tying a string around her finger. Any suggestions? (BTW Sweet girl is starting to look like a jack-o-lantern- she keep losing teeth and not growing any new ones in!)

NINE!

As in nine miles I ran on Sunday morning and nine hours it took me to get warm again ( note to self - go buy warmer running clothes then the current shorts and t-shirts).
The 1/2 marathon training is going well and I'm feeling pretty confident about my ability to run it and in a decent time. Thanks to my friend Kristi - it helps to have a running partner especially when running long distances.
I was going to registar for the 5k at UMHB homecoming but my husband beat me to it and we'll have to see if we can come up with a baby sitter and an extra $ for the entry fee.

I know its been a while...

Little boy and I went on his first plane ride this past week. We had a straight flight there on the way and I was just hoping and praying it would all go well. Luckily for me and all the other passengers he fell asleep within 10 minutes of take off. Incidentally, if you think its cramped traveling on an airline then try it with an almost 20 lb baby on your lap. Luckily no one sat next to me ( a couple people almost did and then looked at him and quickly found another seat.) All in all I'd say the flight there turned out not so bad. The flights back - well that is another story.
The trip was full of quality time with my bff and her family. The kids are great and it was fun getting to spend time with the kids and get to know them in there older version of themselves. I see traits of both their mom and dad in them! I wish we could have stayed longer I miss them all already. My family was very happy to see me though! They were waiting in the driveway when I got here. Little boy was happy to be home too. He came home with a fever and has been sick but I'm sure time, his bed and maybe some chicken soup will help cure him.

Okay, okay , Jeff wins!

According to the poll taking last week it wasn't even close... I guess spiked hair it is. Of course only 6 people participated so I could say it was not an accurate poll but I'm a little sick of looking at polling results during this season if you know what I mean.

First Birthday

 

Before the cake.

 

After the cake (He ate the whole thing in record time!)
One year ago today we were in the hospital looking down on our tiny 3lb. 16 inch son all hooked up to tubes and lines dying to just hold him. It wasn't at all what I pictured his birthday being like! I was weak from the c-section and could barely stand next to the isolette holding his little hand and crying over him. But... God gave us the strength to get through the first two months in the hospital and he had very few problems or set backs. He grew stronger and bigger and now he is a healthy strong one year old who I treasure all day (and night) long. He seems to learn something new all the time and makes his sister, Daddy and Mommy laugh all the time. Happy Birthday I.!

Baby Timothy

For everyone who has been praying for my friends Liz and Jesse I thought I would post the blog address that tells what has happened over the last few weeks. Keep them in your prayers! Baby Timothy

I wonder...

Do you wonder what makes people want to be the president of the United States? I don't think you could pay me enough to be a politician much less the President! I'm watching the debate last night and thinking do they really think they are the best man for the job or does everyone around them think that and has encouraged them, pushed them to that point? Was it their ambition in life to become the president or did someone approach them and say " I think you should run for president."? If I had to pick a canidate based on their answer I think I would pick the one who came to the decision more gradually. Somebody who gradually worked their way up through positions of leadership and is just passionate about their country and really has the desire to lead in many different situations. If you listen to either canidate talk they both talk about patriotism and wanting to lead and change things but I'm a little cynical and a little suspicious of their real motives. To be fair its not their fault - its jsut a sign of "my generation" (I think I'm a generation xer but not really sure) and the culture we live in. I just wish I could trust them both so that I wouldn't get this sinking feeling in my stomach when I anticipate "the other canidate" (Obama) winning. I'm a little anxious but maybe I'll jsut go turn on Rush and see if he has any encouraging news.
BTW I though McCain did great in the debate last night but Obama was pretty good too. It jsut comes down to what you believe - bigger government, more taxes, appeasment, or the opposite. Who are these people who don't have it figured out which side of the fence they want to stand? I don't understand why someone would still be undecided?! If that is you please explain to me!

things kids say...

So Sweet girl and I were sitting on the couch eating our yummy carrot cake and she asked what cartoons I watched as a kid. I had to think for a minute but finally came up with The Smurfs (until Mom nixed it because she said they were little demons and were weren't allowed to any more), Flinstones, Strawberry Shortcake, Care bears. Then all I could remember was the ones my brothers made me watch like GI Joe and transformers. Do you know what she asked me?!!!! "Did you watch them in color or black and white?" First of all, how does she even know there was a time before color t.v.? Second of all, have I crossed some invisible line that says I'm THAT old! I don't think of my self as THAT old! BTW just because I need to prove I'm not old I will brag a little - I ran 8 miles today before church and in good time too!

my sweet friend...

You know when something really bad happens to a friend and you don't know what to say or do? All I can do is think about the grief she must be going through and I'm helpless to act! I'm not even close enough bring food! I don't know whether to call or to leave them alone and give them space. I've run out of words to pray and all I want to do is give them a hug. Please pray for my friend Liz and her family their youngest son was born too early and they are waiting on test results praying for God to work a miracle in his little life.

baby hair dos

 
So the baby is growing and so is his hair- It combs over very sweetly to the side because of a calic (sp?) that he has and husband thinks it looks "dorky" or "preppy". So when Daddy gives him a bath he spikes his hair and it comes out looking like this picture. Then the next day it just curls up and over in the front. ( I think it looks silly.) I posted a poll you can let us know what you think!

The book - The Shack

Have you read this book? It was very interesting and not what I thought it was going to be. If you were to ask me what it was about I would have to say ... it was an attempt to describe God? or our relationship with God? It isn't the gospel and probably shouldn't be confused with the Bible as a source of truth but it did make me think about how big God really is and how hard it really is for us to understand who He is. I know this all sounds kind of vague but there are some interesting word pictures in this book that made me really think and search out a few scriptures. It also made me think about relationships and how they affect our spiritual life. Any way read anything interesting lately?

Burnet Tri Hard Triathlon

My Burnet Tri Hard Tiathlon is now behind me. I wanted to complete the race in under two hours. I decided if I finished in 2 hours 5 minutes, that would be ok. I finished the race in 1 hour and 47 minutes!! Unlike the Temple Tri, instead of me passing a lot people, I was passed by a lot of people. Although I did pass some, they were few and far between. The swim went very well, although I was nervous at how far it was. I started swimming at a moderate pace keeping in mind I had a long way to go. Once I was at the turn around buoy, I realized I wasn't tired. The swim back to the shore was much faster. I got out of the water and ran to my transition spot where I found my wet feet had a lot grass on them. I just wiped them off real fast and put my socks and cycling shoes on. The bike had a lot of hills at the biginning then it was pretty flat, the bad part was that it was a loop, so you had to do the hills at the END of the bike also. Getting back to the bike to run transition felt good, I was that tired. I racked my bike and chaged shoes and began my run. As I started the run I had some muscle spasms in my lower back but they went away quickly. My side started to hurt I thought "I know I'm in better shape than this, what's wrong?" At that point I started to breathe through my nose more and the cramping in my side stopped. I picked up my pace all the way to the finish line. The breakdown of my race is, Swim 21 minutes, bike 1 hour, and the run was 24 minutes. If you add the minutes up it will be short, that is b\c my transition times are taken out. Next year will be the year I complete an Olympic distance tri. That is a one mile swim, 24 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run. I'll let everyone know when and where it is.

Jeff

new pictures

Just showing off our cowgirl (doesn't she look all grown up!) and our Little guys new teeth.

adventures in bread making..

 

This is what happens when you forget to add yeast to the ingredients in the bread maker! Just another example of why I shouldn't try to do anything before about 8:30 in the morning.

Sugar, sugar, sugar!

Okay so I've seen the commercials put out by the corn growers about how high fructose Corn syrup is not really that bad for you and I think its a little like tobacco company advertisements. "here try this popsicle , really its harmless, what could be so bad about a popsicle?" Well let me tell you! You can read for your self the articles and studies that are on the web I will just give you the cliff notes: Fructose consumption may contribute to heart disease, high cholesterol and interferes with your ability to feel full (which leads to over eating.) It is a highly processed product derived from corn starch and is cheaper then sugar and has a longer shelf life which is why companies use it. You could argue that it comes from corn its safe and some of the studies may not prove a direct link to those above mentioned health problems. For me the bottom line is sugar consumption. Did you know that Americans on average consume 150 pounds OR MORE or sugar in a year! Isn't that ALARMING! About 60 pounds is from HFCS because its in everything! jelly, ketchup, salad dressing, breads, cereal. If its convenient it is probablly in it. I know we are addicted to sugar and the more we eat the more we want it so that is why I'm trying to cut back and eliminate the HFCS and along with it the other sugary foods that sneak into our house. We still have desserts and we still drink sodas OCCASIONALLY (They have loads of HFCS) but were getting use to it and in the process we have been eating more "real foods" like fruits, vegtables and making our own muffins and waffles instead of the frozen kind. (I just freeze extras for those mornings when I can't get it all together.) So here is my rant mostly for my brothers sake!

I'm back!

I've been gone to my mom's house helping her while she recovered from surgery this week. ONe of the nice benefits to staying home is that I can do that for her. Jeff and Sweet girl managed pretty well while I was gone but I think Jeff was starting to get a little panicky! Hopefully Mom will continue to take it easy and I won't have to go back and bully her into taking naps. I am glad to be home and very thankful for all the friends and family who helped pick up Sweet girl from school and kept her occupied until Jeff could pick her up. So when I get the house cleaned up and groceries bought and bills paid I will tell you what I think about the new commercials about high fructose corn syrup!

Have you ever...

run seven miles? I did - this morning before breakfast! I was chased by some nasty little dogs who actually bit me while the owner walked casually toward me and said "they will bite you if your running!" Bunnies hopped away through the grass, horses looked then kept eating and I kept running hills and everything. Mom's neighborhood has some very steep hills but I just kept going.
Little boy is practicing for his race too. He's not crawling yet but now when he gets on his knees he rocks back and forth so we have hope that one day he might get mobile.

funny bread

So I have been making my own bread... in a bread maker. This morning I was asking Sweet girl if she wanted another pb&j sandwhich in her lunch like yesterday and she was said well I do but not the bread. When we finally sorted out what she was trying to say it turns out that the kids at school were making fun of her "big bread". ( I should have prefaced this by saying when you make bread in the bread maker it does come out to be a larger more square kind of loaf with slices that are bigger than the normal store bought bread.) Poor thing! She said she tried to tell them her mom made it but they wouldn't listen. So now I feel bad that my funky bread caused her problems. Instead of reacting how I wanted to and acting mad I started giggling and told her maybe the bread did look a little funny and it was big so how about half a sandwhich instead of the whole thing. Then I told her I guess it might look funny with a "GIANT" sandwhich and I told her about the picture in my head of her trying to eat a "giant" sandwhich. She thought that was pretty funny and readily agreed to half a sandwhich instead. So I think I'll keep making the bread but work on slicing it a little smaller. A little sense of humor goes a long way with sweet girl (she gets that from her dad). Today was a victorious moment for me as a mom- victory over snotty little kids at school who make fun of my bread and the sweet girl who gets caught in the middle. Now I'm just waiting for them to make fun of my little reusable bags I made out of vinal (sp?) placemats and velcro.

Sarah ...

I am so excited about the new v.P. nominee! She sounds like a REAL conservative and a real person who isn't a career politician. I'm actually looking forward to voting in November now (wasn't as enthusiastic before).

I did it!

So I have been quietly training for my 1/2 marathon and guess what.... I ran 6 miles today - yes I ran the whole way - and it wasn't even that bad! The last mile was the worst but still doable. I'm definately going to be sore but I'm very proud of myself. Next weekend its 7 miles!

Good Morning!!!!

Do you ever have those moments where you think "How did I get here?" I am not saying I don't love my family - I'm grateful for each of them but I am not a fan of mornings as any of my former roommates or family members can verify in case your in doubt. This morning the baby woke up I think before 5 can't really remember exactly so I'm a little cranky about that even before getting out of bed. Does he want to go back to sleep, no! Then we start our get ready for school routine, "What do you want for lunch?, Where is your lunch box? , ...if you have french toast for breakfast there isn't any bread left for lunch so I guess I better start another loaf in the bread maker, Please turn the baby another direction so he doesn't cry every time I come into view, I don't know where your brush is, Did you make your bed? I have to run three miles this morning but the baby is already tired , oops I think I just put a TBSp of salt in the bread mix instead of 1 tsp, yes you can wear those shoes, now how many cups of flour was that - oh well put in another one. Good bye daddy love you!, Finish your breakfast, yes I'm sure your just suppose to return the card with my signature not the whole bus rule book. Come on baby just finish your breakfast before you have a complete melt down! Then here comes the moment-----I reach up and finda glob of sticky, gooey honey or syrup in my hair ( I don't know which it could be either one!) How did that get there? Am I really THAT mom? I have to take her to school in a few minutes, the baby and I are still in our pjs and I have no time to clean the goo out of my hair so I am going to be THAT mom walking up to the school in my running clothes with my hair all gooey! And I drive a minivan! I am so not cool- I have got to get it more together. What does Scarlet O'Hara say "Tomorrow is another day!" or "As God as my witness I will never go to school gooey again!" something like that....

Triathlon Training

Well as you know I'm training for my next triathlon on Sep. 21st. I have a six week training plan I've been doing for about 2 and a half weeks. It's for those of us that don't have a lot of time for extensive training. It's working very well. I swim on Tuesdays and Fridays, run on Wednesdays, bike on Thursdays, brick on Saturdays, and rest on Mondays. I did my first open water swim in Belton Lake the other day with some of my fellow triathletes, we swam 800 meters or half a mile. It doesn't sound like it's very far, but trust me, it is. I did pretty good. I didn't panick. Some people panick because they can't see the bottom or they KNOW they can't stand up, it's either swim or drown. I was taught to swim in lakes and ponds so I don't have this problem. The problem I have with open water swimming, is swimming in a straight line. I'm right handed so I tend to push myself to the left. It's going to take some practice but I'll get it right. The biggest and most important part of my training is my family support. My lovely wife supports me 110%. Sweet Girl likes to ride her bike with me while I run and Little Boy Blue always gives me a big smile when I return.

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday to me, I'm 33 today but.....I still feel 25 most of the time........(inside joke for my family).

first day back...

Today is first day back to school for Sweet Girl! I can't believe she is in second grade already! It seems like I just took her to kindergarten yesterday- at least we didn't cry today! She was back and forth between nervous and excited all morning and she was up before six so she had plenty of time to fluctuate between emotions. The house seems really quiet now and I can't wait to pick her up and see how her day went. I'm going to keep this post short- I'm trying to keep busy and get lots of things done today.

Fruit "roll ups"

I have been on a quest to rid our diet of a few bad for you things. I am starting with one at a time and working my way towards being a real finatic. We started with high fructose corn syrup (if you say it with a sneer your kids think it is really disgusting!) We have lost a few choice things like boxed cereal but so far we haven't suffered too much. With school starting I'm trying to find alternatives and snacks that Sweet girl can take in her lunch and I found a recipe for fruit leather which doesn't sound so good until you realize its really fruit "roll ups." It is so easy!
First you start with applesauce which a good basis for any flavor combination.
Then you puree almost any other fresh ripe fruit (or frozen or canned.)
Combine the two until you have about 2 cups of fruit puree, give or take 1/4 of a cup. You want it to be the consistency of molasses or thick applesauce. Then spread the puree on a cookie sheet. Make sure you either oil the cooking sheet or line it with plastic wrap. Here is the tricky part - mine always gets more dried around the edges but not the middle so you have to experiment with different ways of shaking, tapping and spreading the fruit so it is uniformly thin over the whole sheet. The book says 1/8- 1/4 in thick. Leave a border around the edges to make it easier to peel up. (If you have extra puree just freeze it or make two cookie sheets.)
I put it in the oven on 275 degrees for 30-35 minutes then shut the oven off and leave the tray in there for 8- 10 hours. ( I did it last night before bed and got it out this morning.) Then peel it, I rolled mine on wax paper and store it in the fridge or freezer. It will keep in a cool dark place for 2-4 weeks or room temp. about 1-2 weeks. In the fridge 2 months and freezer 3-4 months.
I made some with applesauce, strawberries and a banana. You can cook the fruit if you want or add lemon juice to help the fruit not change colors. I'm sure there our plenty or recipes on line if you go looking but its really very easy. Be prepared for burnt edges and if you have a lot of kids around it will disappear fast! One cookie sheet doesn't make very much.

Olympic fever

We have olympic fever! We haven't posted in days I know but every night were glued to the tv watching all these sports. (For the record this is the only two weeks every two years I enjoy watching sports on tv.) So here are the top 4 things that have been sooo cool so far.
1. Micheal Phelps- I can't swim one length of the pool much less race someone and he is a machine! I can't believe how many races he participated in and won!
2. Did you watch the women's marathon? UNBELIEVABLE! The women who won was running a little over 5 minutes a mile for TWENTY SIX MILES! And she is 38! I heard that those olympic marathoners run like 120 miles a week which is completely ridiculous. I can't believe their bodies can take that kind of pounding.
3. Misty May- Turner and Karri Walsh I love watching beach volleyball and they make it look so easy.
4. Did you see the guys on the steel rings last night? They are incrediblly strong! Who cares if you can lift a huge amounts of weights those guys can lift their bodies and hold them parallel to the floor with their arms spread. They are using muscles I didn't know existed.
I think this is going to have to be an ongoing list....
We don't have cable so tell me what I'm missing on the cable channels!

Breakfast Club

I was reading a magazine called Family Fun and came across a great idea! (BTW, This magazine is great for party ideas and fun things to do with the kids I really like it!) As we inch closer to school I'm trying to get sweet girl back into the routine of going to bed and getting up at school times so the article suggested having a neighborhood breakfast club! You get together with the people on your block (or people you know with school age kids)and rotate providing breakfast for the kids at whatever time you would normally have to be up for school. So in our case I'm going to say 7:30 because that is what time we would have to be at school. The article said they even encouraged everyone to show up in their pajamas but I think we will get dressed and just host it in the yard. Now I will have to find some fun ideas for breakfast food!
They also suggested having an after the first day snack party at the bus stop but we don't ride the bus and I'm already committed to Sonic after the first day of school.

The aftermath...

As you know I had my triathlon yesterday morinig. I did really well. My goal was to do it in under 1 hour, but if I managed to get 1 hour and five minutes I was going to be ok with that. Well.....I did it 1 hour and 26 SECONDS!!! I was merely 27 seconds away from being under one hour!! Out of 255 people I finished 72nd. I past 3 people in the swim, 15-20 on the bike and 8-10 during the run. I was very nervous when I arrived at 6:15 am to set up my transition area. I jumped in the pool to get a few warm up laps in. The race started a few minutes late, I didn't start until almost an hour later. I was in the very back of the line. I wasn't nervous standing in line until the countdown was on for me to jump in and start my first triathlon. I jumped into the pool feet first (diving was not allowed) and of course...got water up my nose. Once I started my swim the nervousness was gone. I did my swim in 8 minutes and 49 seconds. I completed the bike ride (which was actully 9.3 miles) in 31minutes, and completed my run in 19 minutes. I felt like my run was slow, but after swimming and biking and climbing a HUGE hill the last 1/4 mile, I am satisfied with my effort. When I arrived at the hill as well as the entire time up the hill, I was the only one still running, all the other athletes were walking up it!! I was not going to let that hill defeat me!! Afterwards my beautiful family was waiting for me at the finish line as well as my trainers. They all captured lots of pics of me in my agony. Following the race, we went home, I took a shower and we went to church. I could tell I had done a triathlon but I was not exhausted after the race. Thanks to my trainers and my family for your guidance and support. I love you all.

I have decided I'm going to do another triathlon on Sep 21st. It's the one I had talked about in an earlier post. If you have any questions, post a comment...

Jeff

Do you think I can?

I am going to run a half marathon! There I said it, the committment is in print so it is a done deal! I will either do the one in November or January I haven't decided yet. It will be depend on how much time I need to train for it. I have never run 6 miles all together much less 13 but I will do it. I have a plan which is the only reason I really feel empowered enough to do it. I have everything I need ( shoes, a jogging stroller and when Chloe goes back to school hopfully the time.) Does it sound like I'm still talking myself into it- well I am!
I know at least half of you think Jeff and I are "health nuts" and that we exercise all the time and eat only healthy food. Just so you know I had an attack last night and I HAD TO HAVE ICE CREAM! We do still indulge ourselves probablly more than you think we do but we do like our vegetables too.
***I'm not posting about Jeff's triathalon yesterday because I'm letting him do that but just so you know the kids and I are very proud of him and enjoyed cheering him on yesterday. ***

The time is near....

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the Temple Triathlon is this Sunday!! After 5 weeks of training, I think I've managed to whip myself into shape again (with the help of my two trainers...Garry and Kristi, thanks!). I'm hoping to complete the race in under 1 hour. I've looked at the average times from the past few years and it seems around 1 hour is average, if not a little on the faster side. I'm running 2-3 miles and biking 10 miles easily now. My swim has improved dramatically thanks to Kristi and Garry. Since I've been training, I've improved my 350 meter swim by 40 seconds to 8 minutes and 50 seconds. It is all about technique and practice. I think I may do another triathlon after this one. It is a 800 meter swim, 18 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. I'll let ya'll know how and if that goes.

Take care,

Jeff (using Aimee's account)

I got tagged!

I was tagged and am suppose to do this so here goes!
A. Attached or single? Attached going to be five years in November!
B. Best friend? Liz
C. Cake or pie? Pie- especially fruit pies
D. Day of choice? Sunday
E. Essential item? jogging stroller
F. Favorite color? purple
G. Gummy bears or worms? worms
H. Hometown? Belton, Texas I guess
I. Indulgence? strawberry limeades - Sonic
J. January or July? July
K. Kids? two
L. Life isn’t complete without? My family
M. Marriage date? November 22, 2003
N. Number of brothers & sisters? 2 brothers
O. Oranges or apples? apples
P. Phobias? claustrophobic!- hate crowded tight spaces
Q. Quotes? nope
R. Reasons to smile? many many blessings
S. Season of choice? fall is fun
T. Tag your friends! Lisa, Brad (he'll never do this, do boys do these?)
U. Unknown fact about me? everyone knows everything - I'm a blabber mouth.
V. Vegetable? can I say tomato even if it isn't a veggie
W. Worst habits? leaving the cabinet doors open in the kitchen
X X-ray or ultrasound? ultrasounds - they don't have to stand in a special booth to guard themselves against x rays
Y. Your favorite food? still strawberries
Z. Zodiac sign? I don't know - I'm a sagitarrius is that what you mean?

Funny but gross story

If you are easily grossed out then don't read any more!

Our sweet little baby boy had not been acting so sweet over the last few days. He wouldn't sleep for very long wasn't much interested in eating and hadn't pooped in at least two days so I had narrowed down the problem to either constipation or teething. So I bought prunes and made sure we had tylenol. We fed him the prunes for dinner which he willingly ate all of. (Why does he like them?) I sat him in his bouncer in the kitchen and did the dishes. He was happy and suspiciously quiet so I figured the "solution" to our little fussy baby was working its way out if you know what I mean. Jeff left with the trash and I smelled something awful and assumed it was the trash but no... There sat our smiling laughing happy baby above a pile of poo on the floor that he inadvertantly stepped in! It's one of those moments in parenting that you want to run and get someone else to do the dirty job but then you realize, "I'm it, the buck stops here."
Poor little guy he was completely oblivious to the problem. I carefully lifted him out of the bouncy and then stood there thinking , Now what?! Thankfully Jeff was home and the dog was outside. Between the two of us it all got cleaned up in a matter of minutes. Afterwards I thought a picture might have been funny, but then I thought about the scrapbook page I might make and decided maybe just a word picture is enough!

Favorite author?

I just finished watching a movie callled "Becoming Jane" it is about Jane Austin one of my favorite authors. (I just love her characters and the witty dialogue!) I don't know how true to life the movie was but I'm a little sad if it is. (I won't ruin the movie for you if you haven't seen it.) You would think someone like Jane Austin lived an amazing romantic life but.. oh yeah I'm not going to spoil it. It does change your perspective when you find out more about the author. I remember visiting Hemmingways house in the Florida keys and hearing stories about him. I'm not a Hemmingway fan in the first place but then to hear he stuck a toilet in his yard for his over 100 cats to drink from just to spite his third wife it doesn't really make you want to like him more. Or maybe it does I guess it depends on you!
I am not a writer or an aspiring writer but it seems like you would have to write about what you know or pattern your characters after people you know. Your experiences have to come out in your writing somehow. Then there are people like Stephen King and surly his experiences haven't guided his writing!!! Maybe some people have boundless imaginations but I don't think I am one of them. Plus I can't sit down to write this blog without being interrupted every 2 seconds with questions or comments from my peanut gallery- write a novel- ha!
So now here is the interactive part of the blog... Who is your favorite author or what do you know about them?

What is the big deal?

I know I am way behind but What is the deal with high school musical? I've watched part of it a long time ago but recently enough to remember much about it. Now there is a special on tv and Chloe is glued to it! As far as I can tell the show is like American idol except they have all the obnoxious theatre kids from high school. Most of them seem very arrogant! I was trying to think if they had anything comparable when I was a kid but I can't come up with anything. THe only thing I remember being that worked up about was the olympics and Mary Lou Reton. Am I wrong, have I forgotten?

finally posting our vacation photos

Here are photos from our vacation. We had a great time and we are so glad we could share the time with extended family. Sweet girl wants me to tell you we saw a jelly fish!

P.S. The air conditioner was quickly fixed by the repair man.

Vacation fishing

Well as previously mentioned, we have returned from vacation. I will brief you on our deap sea fishing trip where the self proclaimed "Fantastic Brad" caught the most fish. We left the dock at about 8 am, for our 2 hour boat ride to what seemed to be nowhere in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. We started out fishing for Gulf Snapper, this was the only action the three of us had. Matt caught 2 snapper, I caught 3 and "Fantastic Brad" caught 4 snapper and 1 shark. We fished for King fish but not for very long as it took us so long to reach our "quota" on the snapper part of the trip. We were only allowed to keep two snapper per person, which ended up to be plenty of fillets. I would post many pics on this subject but the person in charge of bringing the camera failed to bring this important peice of equipment. I will not mention his name as he is very sorry for his huge error but his initials are MATT WHITAKER! Despite not having any proof what-so-ever, we did have fun catching all of those fish. I know some people will wonder what really happened on the boat since there is no evidence. Were we really fishing or did we board a party boat full of beer and strippers, ya'll may never know......

Jeff

PS. No matter what happens to us now Matt, I still love ya brother.

Were back, kind of!

Wow, we love the beach! We spent several days on the beach jumping in the waves, building sand castles and warding off the pesky sea gulls. We searched for sand dollars and finally found one at the store. We did have a jelly fish wash up right in front of us one night! I've never seen one so close. I've got tons of pictures that I will share at a later date because we are still vacationing at my mom's house while our air conditioner is off and waiting for the guy to come check it out. Bright and early Monday morning were going home to see what the damage is. Our friend already checked it out for us and so far the roof hasn't caved in and the air conditioner people promised it would dry out just fine in the 200 degree attic so that set our minds at ease a little. I'm noticing lots of run on sentences I must be too tired to do this... more later.

When it rains it pours...

It was the night before vacation and all through the house not a creature was stirring. I was in my bed and I hear a drip, drip, drip.... "What is that?" I jumped out of bed and what do I see but water coming out of the ceiling! I woke up Jeff and we checked out the attic and our air conditioner is leaking. It's ten o'clock at night and the water is all over the place. What do you do? We turned off the air and left thats what! Hauled the kids out of bed and drove to Grandmas at 12 am. I am going to hope the problem is magically gone by the time we get home. Hopefully the house won't flood or burn down or anything else horrible. Were off to the beach!

Totally unrelated to anything...

I went to get my hair cut this week and I don't know why but when I sit in that chair and they wrap the smock around me I start spilling my guts! I have done this more times then I can count. I've only started going to this lady - she has only cut my hair like twice but suddenly I'm revealing all this really personal stuff! What gives? I'm pretty open with my friends but a total stranger? Maybe its because I'm there and she's all in my personal space so I might as well use the chair as a confessional. Or maybe its just me and nobody else does that. I don't think so because this hair dresser seams to know everyone and no matter what you talk about she knows someone in that same situation. Who cuts the presidents hair and does that person have security clearance or does the secret service tazer him everytime he starts to spill the beans? I wonder....

4th of July weekend

We had a great fourth of July with lots of family in town we ate lots of food and then dug into the homemade ice cream! Little boy loved sitting on Great Grandmas lap and screamed when grandpa tried to feed him COLD ice cream. Uncle Matt helped make snow cones, PICKLE flavored snow cones. My nephew was the only one to eat his, Sweet girl and my neice both refused!







Later that night we went and watched fire works and lit a few sparklers ourselves.








The next night we went to Little Boys first rodeo ( and my neices too!) You can tell its the rodeo because of the cowboy hats and beer signs in the back ground. Little boy like it when the girls rode by real fast on their horses with the big flags.




Sweet Girl and her cousins had a long week together visiting Sea World, spending the night at Grandma and Grandpas and swimming a lot! I'm so glad they are close in age and that Grandma and Grampa survived the week!

Two big accomplishments

Guess who is sitting up on his own! He sat there for a long time the other day just looking around from his new vantage point. Yes, that's my laundry basket that will be forever immortalized as well.
The real exciting news of the day is that Sweet Girl is riding her bike! We have been practicing for a while and Monday she decided to just jump on and go. She rode all around the neighborhood while I tried to keep up with her pushing Little boy in the jogging stroller. I've been trying so hard to get her to ride it so I could run in the mornings this summer that I failed to realize that if she does ride I'm going to have to run a lot faster! It reminds me of when she was three and she was sitting in the jogging stroller telling me to "go faster!" Anyway, we are VERY PROUD of her and she is VERY PROUD of herself!

The triathlete in me....

Yes, I did it, I signed up for the Temple triathlon. It is shorter than a sprint tri, it consist of a 350m (.217 mi) swim, 9.1 mile bike ride and a 2.1 mile run. I've been training for a little over a week. I think I'll do ok, (by ok I mean finishing). I ran 3.5 miles on Sunday the 22nd, the following Tuesday I swam for an hour on my lunch break. Thursday I played on hour of basketball on my lunch break, after work on the same day I rode 9 miles on the bike. I rested Friday and Saturday due to some minor muscle aches and pains. Last night I did a short brick, I rode the bike for 3.5 miles at a very fast past and immediately parked the bike and sprinted for a half mile. Today I swam for another hour at lunch. Tomorrow at luch I plan to run 4-5 miles. I plan on working up to a full sprint tri next and then on to an olympic tri. I'll try to keep everyone posted on my training. There ya have it, the triathlete (or idiot) in me.

Take Care,
Jeff

I do love my husband....

If you know Jeff you know that he doesn't do anything halfway. If he decides to go for it he will give it 110%. While I do love his enthusiasm sometimes he drives me crazy! In the 4 1/2 years of marriage he has gone through several obsessions, I mean hobbies.
The first one I remember was wieght lifting, which involved protein shakes and creatin and many visits to GNC for other powdery substances that would transform his muscles into bulging powerhouses. Then he decided it was too expensive and quit. Since then we've done paintball, "camping" and I don't know what else.
Finally I decided to take control and introduce him to a hobby that would keep him home so in a stroke of genius I bought him a guitar for Christmas! It was a hit and he taught himself how to play. Now he serenades me on a regular basis ( I especially like it when he sings "Hey good looking, what you got cooking?" Do you know anyone else who knows all the words to that song?)
BUT NOW.... He wants to do a triathalon. I am so glad he wants to work out on a regular basis but I'm dreading the new shoes and bike and shorts and helmet and vitamins and all the other things we are going to have to buy now. Oh well, When he takes me to Hawaii for the Iron Man competition I won't be complaining then! This might also help us break the sugar addiction we've developed over the last few months. He says I can't bake any more desserts but I got him to ammend the rule about absolutely no desserts so now we are down to one night a week. ( Today doesn't count since I ate that snickers bar before we made the rule and he doesn't know about it.)

I love this site meter thing...

I can kind of keep track of who is stopping by to see my blog! If you scroll down on the right side of the blog then you can see the site meter tracker that tells you how many people have visited. Even cooler then that is that I can click on it and see where the visitors are from and other information. It doesn't say names but since I only know one person in California I can figure it out. Don't worry I'm not grading my friends by how often they stop by to view it but it is pretty cool. If you want to put your own meter on your blog just go to: www.sitemeter.com it has instructions and even a tech novice like me can do it.

Operation sleep through the night update...

We did it! We endured the crying and have made it several nights now without waking up! This is a long day coming... I would feel very rested except that he wakes up at 5:30- I'm not complaining but we will have to work on this next. I'm making note on the baby calendar so I don't forget how long it took and how precious sleep is. Plus one day I will hold it over his head to guilt him into something.

Just sharing...

Remember when we had an atari? Then we moved into the big time with a nintendo. I recently was on line and found this game website and got to play tetris for the first time in a long time so I thought I would share the site - very fun way to waste some time. http://icongamez.com/index.php
Okay now it should work. I am new to adding links to my post!

For anyone who is interested in not playing video games but would love to make a very yummy dessert here is a link to one of my favorite new recipes, Chocolate mint bars: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1714574

The world of blogging

This whole blogging thing could really get out of hand... Since my good friend Liz (otherwise known as Elizabeth) started blogging she has opened up a whole other world for me. There are so many blogs out there to read! There are cooking blogs and funny blogs and frugal living blogs. It seems everyone has something to say and if their blog looks good enough then they appear to be an expert!
Also it appears there is blog rules but I don't know where they are written down. Is it ok to link to some cool blogs I read without there permission? I feel like a peeping Tom sometimes when I get on someones blog and read all about a strangers personal life.
Anyway, what I want to say is that I am not claiming to be an expert on anything and my only goal is to post pictures, brag on my family and maybe exchange a recipe or two.

Things I love about my Dad...

• His sense of humor! Christmas pranks are so much fun to look forward to every year and who doesn't love "the bad joke of the day". ( He's getting so much better at remembering the punch line too!)
• He can fix anything. Even if he doesn't know how, he tries and most of the time trying and then fixing the fix usually works out well in the end. By the way Dad if your reading this when you come home I have a few things on my list after Mom is done with you.
• He makes the best omlets!
• He brought me flowers on my 16th birthday.
• He let me drive his bug even after I wrecked the first car he bought me.
• Reading the comics on Sundays with you when I was a kid and then fighting over them when I got a little older.
• After years of watching the history channel he is a wealth of information.
• He's always dreaming big. Does any one else fill out the whole Publishers clearing house sweep stake paper and never in like 20 years buy a magazine from them? Then on January 20th wait for the knock? I'm pretty sure one day Dad is going to win it all!
• The only time he wears shorts are on vacation with my mother (because that's what she packs for him) or when he refs soccer and both occasions he pulls his socks way up!
• He falls asleep during every sermon he has ever heard and if you ever go to church with him don't sit by him during the singing!

I know I'm going to think of a million other things once I leave the computer but I'll save some for next year ;) I love you Dad , Happy Father's Day!

**** Night 3 of Operation Sleep through the night went better I think - Jeff was on duty and said he only fussed a few times but he never went to check on him. So, either he is starting to sleep better or Jeff is a zombie and didn't wake up when he cried. Either way I slept through the night for the first time since before he was born!

Operation "Sleep through the night"

In the interest of my health and sanity and Little Boy Blue we have decided to really get serious about sleeping through the night! After 8 months of getting up once or twice every night with very few exception Mama is worn out! I really hoped he would just one day sleep through the night and we wouldn't have to resort to drastic measures but it hasn't happened and so here we go....
Night 1 he woke up at 1:50 and didn't go back to sleep except for a very short 20 minutes between 4:00 and 4:20. I patted, I rocked, I begged and cried along with him but I did not feed him (which it seems is the comfort he thinks he needs.) By 5:30 I passed him off to Daddy and got about 45 minutes sleep before taking him again. Then of course we both took good naps yesterday (thank you Shawna.)
Night 2 he woke up at 12:00 and cried and screamed until 3:00. This time I realized if I pick him up he stops crying immediatly so he is not crying uncontrollably and I felt a little less guilty about just letting him cry in his crib while I dozed in the chair. He woke again at 4:45 cried until 5:30 and then slept until an unheard of 8:00a.m. Unbelievable - he went for 10 hours without eating! I did not think that was possible but yes, all you people who told me he could you were right. Please don't call me on it to my face and make me say it to your face. I am too sleep deprived to be nice about it!
Tonight Jeff is on duty and I may buy some ear plugs and sleep all night for the first time in I don't know when. What will it be like to feel rested?

Grandma's visit part 2

Grandma also spent lots of time pushing the baby in the stroller and rocking him to sleep then she and Sweet girl stayed up late reading and playing games.

Finally I have some time....

Jeff's mom was visiting last week so I was absent from my routines. Today I am finally getting back to normal! Wedid have some fun last week and thought I would share some pictures...

We went out to the ranch and Grandma watched sweet girl ride for a while then everyone took a turn getting on the horse. Aren't they cute! We also did some fishing. Sweet Girl caught so many we had to throw them back so there would be some left for all the other people to catch. I wish I could figure out how to insert the pictures in between the text instead of allthe pictures ending up at the top.

cell phones

When is the last time you went 24 hours without your cell phone? I remember years ago B.C.P. (Before Cell Phone) I thought it completely unneccessary to carry a phone around all the time. If people want to get a hold of you they can wait until you are at home, when you have time to talk. Plus I thought it was rude when people were talking on their phones in public. Flash forward about 8 years and I can't hardly live without mine!
I still think its kind of rude to talk on the cell phone in public, (but sometimes I do it anyway.) Also I'm now at a stage in my life where the last place I have time to talk is at home! Now I use every day mulitple times! However, this weekend we went to Dallas to pick up Jeff's mom and Jeff left his cell phone at home by mistake. I said, "Don't worry I have mine and I brought the charger!" Then my phone died within an hour of leaving home and I realized I brought the wrong charger too late. We stayed at my brother's house where he has no home phone and he didn't get home from his trip until after we left the next day. That's the long version of why we had no phone for 24 hours. I just knew when we got home that I would have a million messages but sadly no... I am not nearly as loveable as Jeff it seems. The only person who called me was Sweet girl but Jeff on the other hand had like 10 messages.
Now I know I can do it - go 24 hours without the cell phone but I also don't really want to!

Well, I told my lovely wife I would contribute to our blog, the following is me living up to my words.

Myself and 7 other guys went on a 3 three day camping\hiking trip this past Memorial day weekend. We had a lot of fun but man was it hot. A few of us took Friday off and headed down there about 9 am. We set up all of the tents and waited on everyone else. While waiting we did some looking around the area, later in the evening we did some fishing in some nearby ponds. I caught a few black (largemouth) bass, a couple of other guys realed in some more bass and a couple of perch.

Later that evening I was making a fire using dried pine needles as a fire starter. I made the fire to big and we couldn't hardly cook our hot dogs over the fire. It was already hot and humid so the large fire made things worse. We had to remove some of the logs on the fire in order to get it small enough to withstand the heat.

We awoke the next moring and had some breakfast tacos. After breakfast we started our ten mile hike through the forest. It was fun and HOT. Upon returing to camp we realized our ice had melted and we needed to make a run to the store. After getting the ice we found a spot in the nearby lake for swimming, we took full advantage of the opportunity. We returned to camp and did some more fishing and caught a few more fish. We left Sunday morning and returned home shortly after lunch. I know this was pretty boring but nothing really happened. We didn't hear any coyotes, we didn't have any "varmit" visits either. Just some guys enjoying the wild outdoors.

Indiana Jones is back!

My wonderful husband suprised me with tickets to see the Indiana Jones on opening day! He even took off work early to take me! I do love Indiana Jones movies- they are full of adventure, action, a fiesty love interest and of course a bad guy you love to hate. I loved the new one it is a very typical and true to the Indy formula. He still hates snakes and there is still a scene with to many bugs! I won't ruin it for you but this one did go a little bit "out there". Jeff always hates it when things are too far removed from reality but when I go to the movies I don't care if it is completely unbelievable. So I give the movie two thumbs up!

Introducing ...

the family! I can't imagine who would read this except for friends and family but just so you know I will be using nicknames for the kids to protect their identity! Since the oldest already has a nickname she will be referred to as "Sweet Girl". The latest and greatest thing about her life these days is the end of school! She will no longer be in 1st grade which makes us very sad because it is all going by too fast. I am ready for her to be home more and looking forward to going to the swimming pool - our favorite summer time activity.

Child #2 will be referred to as "Little Boy Blue"- because of his big blue eyes. He changes so much from week to week! This week he is starting to sit up on his own- he is still wobbly but by next week he'll probablly have it down pat. I still can't believe this baby was once a whopping 3lb premie. In this picture he was eating prunes or should I say trying to eat prunes. Learning to eat food is a much more difficult process then I anticipated!

Of course I don't have any current Pictures of me or the hubby, but who cares what we look like?

Last night I had a dream...

I'm not sure how it happened because I was up several times with the baby but I had a dream that is a reoccurring dream. Lately I have had several dreams where I can't find my shoes. The setting is alway different but in every one I am in a hurry to go somewhere and do something and someone is always rushing me but I can never find my shoes. Usually there are shoes around but never ones that fit or that match. I always feel really rushed and the need for shoes is urgent and frustrating. What is going on in my head? I don't know, weird! Do you have any reoccuring dreams?

Here we go...

I thought and thought about it, then I looked at other blogs and then looked at some more... I read about it on wikipedia and then one day (today) I decided just to take a leap and do it! I'm not sure I can think of enough things to say or that anyone will be interested in what I have to say but I'm doing it anyway! Plus, Jeff said he'd help me out sometimes. I figure at least the grandmas and grandpas will be interested if I talk about all the profound and funny things the kids say as they grow!
Here we go! So if you have any experience or advice leave me a comment!
Jeff's contribution for today is "Go Spurs!"