Spring Break

The boys and I traveled with my mom back to my home town of Fritch, Tx. My siblings still live there as do my brother's boy, Lucas. Grandma was very anxious to see him.

I had been dreading this trip for awhile for several reasons, one is because Xander does not travel well. He can handle about 2 hours and that is it. The screams begin. He actually did quite well this time much to my relief. We left after lunch on Thursday and made it into Bowie, stayed the night there and headed to Fritch the next day. There were no major melt downs that occurred so now I may be the grumpiest one in the car from now on. I do not like to travel either. The second reason is family drama. Most families have them and my family is not void of its own little issues. For the most part, we survived. The drama was kept to a minimum.

(Aunt Rolie showing the boys where she works as an EMS.)

The trip brought a few interesting events I thought I might share. One of which was when we decided to go swimming at the hotel pool in Borger. The water was freezing in this indoor pool, so I just hung out in the hot tub as the boys stuck their feet in and splashed each other all around the tub. Dalton was the only one who got in...well sort of. Long story short, I had turned away from Xander (his Uncle Coby was beside him) to play with Lucas when I hear my mother screaming, "Get him, get him, get him." Sure enough I turn around to see NO Xander. My heart is gone at that point. Coby had turned on the tub just a few moments before that, so we could no longer see anything on the bottom. I begin my scooping motion thinking surely I will find something when I see a leg pop out of the water. Coby grabs Xander up by the leg, yanks him out, and stands him up. Xander looks at the hot tub, spits out some water, then pats his swim trunks and hair and says, "I wet". That was it..no tears, no fear, just he was now wet and wanted to splash some more. I however had to get my heart to slow down before I could fully function. (Xander hamming it up in Uncle Coby's stuff)

The boys had us rolling several times on the trip. My mom has decided I really need to write them down after they occur b/c I can't remember all the things the boys do or say that make us laugh when I want to. Especially Dalton. With his improved speech has come some quite interesting comments. The last night we were in town, we went to a resteruant with the entire family. It was taking forever! They had run out of food after we go there and locked up early, but promised us they had enough for us. I think they had to kill the cows and grow the veggies, b/c it took way too long. Anyway, during all this time, we chatted, laughed at Xander trying to make my brother and I exchange accessories (hats, necklaces etc) and just enjoyed each other's company. The young waitress came up at one point to check on us. She asked us if things were ok and if we needed anything. We said no and she begain to walk away when Dalton, looking quite shocked at our response flat out said, "Yeah....I need food!" It was quite hilarious. He must have thought we were all nuts to not need anything else. He mentioned it a few more times as time went on until finally it showed up. Poor kid!

We made it back safely in one day with Xander still in good spirits. The only problem with coming back in one day is Kerry did not quite get all the stuff he wanted to get done. He tried though. I had a nice mountain of laundry to fold when I got back. Ok..so he cleaned other things too. He was quite proud of his work on the den.

As a little extra show, I'll include this video. My sister enjoyed playing with the boys and teaching them how to jam. Mom has Sirius radio, so we enjoyed some classics. I like 50's and 60's so we kept it there most of the trip until Dalton wanted some bible songs.

Agree to disagree

So...we get in the car to go pick up the boys from my parents after church and Kerry mentions to me that I had once again told a story that was totally incorrect. It seems that I was not there for the story, but I ALWAYS tell it like I was. The thing is...I disagree!

Years ago, before kids, Kerry and I lived in Lubbock in a small 900 sq foot house with no central air. We had a window unit in the living room and that was it. One day, Kerry decides to clean the unit. He says he remembers me not being there b/c the window unit was very heavy and he had to carry it himself. Anyway, somehow during this time, our cat Shadow had jumped into the window where the brace for the unit was. Kerry did not see him and when he put the unit back, he evidently shoved the poor cat out the window. Now, what you must understand is our cats have never been outside and we lived on a busy road. So, here is this already very skittish cat on our front porch, lots of cars going by, and no one knows.

This is where the story gets mixed up. He says, he heard this loud screeching cry, opens up the back door to see a very scared, wild eyed Shadow (that closely resembled gremlin eyes) come zipping into the house. I was at work and because he is such a good story teller I believe I was the one who found the cat. Umm, yeah ok.

That is not what I remember. I do vaguely remember him working on the unit. In my mind, I can even see myself walking into the living room and seeing the open window. Later, I hear this horrible cry from our back porch. I open the door and this wild black cat tries to run into my kitchen. I shut the door quickly thinking what in the world is that cat trying to do. I then think, oh my where is Shadow. I run quickly around the very small house calling for our cat and then dash to the door to let our cat in. How he got from the front to the back I don't know, but he was absolutely terrified. I can seriously see this cat freaking out on my back porch in my mind.

Ok...so which story is true? We gingerly argued back and forth on the story until I finally said.."Fine, we will just have to agree to disagree b/c I really can see this in my mind." I remember it... Well, that was not going to work. It seems, according to Kerry, that you cannot agree to disagree on..well..facts! Only opinions. However, if we cannot decide which story is fact, then would we not have an opinion? Thus I agree to disagree. I have made up my mind. I was there to at least let the cat in, so there! Until he can prove otherwise, then I guess my idea works.

Rodeo Days

Both of the boys had rodeo days at their schools and were ecstatic about getting to wear boots. Dalton has enjoyed dressing up like a cowboy for Halloween and several rodeo days and Xander has decided that he wants to be like big brother. Dalton had outgrown his boots, so out we went to find some that would fit. He was so excited and kept strutting around the shoe store saying, "I like these. These fit great Mommy!" Xander kept a close eye probably wondering when it would be his turn. He ended up getting regular old tennis shoes, but he was thrilled with that.

I had forgotten about Xander's cowboy day and dug into Dalton's old boots for a pair to fit Xander. No luck, so off I went on one more shopping adventure. The next morning, it took Xander a little while to figure out how to walk in them, but he was so excited and kept saying, "Boots, boots, boots" as he walked around.

The day before, I had found small 24 inch stick horses at the Dollar Store. Two year olds with regular stick horses can get quite deadly so I decided to get some for the class. Xander did not get his till class the next day. His teachers must have given great riding lessons because as soon as we got out of the van, he grabbed it and took off riding. He was so cute stuck it between his legs and started running around. He even pretended to feed the horse on nice, fresh...carpet!
On Sunday, both boys came running into the kitchen asking if they could wear their boots, so off we went with two little cowboys. After we got home, I looked out of the kitchen to see both boys, still in their boots, enjoying the sit and spin. Even better is they were getting along!

I am about sick of this!

Sick of what you might ask...I am sick of my kids and now my husband being sick. I don't have a clue what is going on here. I have done doctors with numerous antibiotics, but after about 2 weeks of being well, here we go again. I guess the worse part is that I keep missing work. It is actually much more work to plan for a sub, so that is irritating. Then, I only have these kids 2 days a week, so when I miss, I miss a lot and then have to play catchup. It is just driving me nuts.

I joked that if I get sick, I am checking myself into a hotel and then just sleeping. We know, of course, that moms just have to deal with it when they are sick. They don't get to whine and go crash some where... Nooooooo, they have to still be mom and do mom stuff. What a pain.

Ok, so I am totally venting. I am trying real hard to be kind, loving, nurturing, the whole let me get you a drink and a blanket thing, but sometime, I just have to take a breather. So, as my sick family sleeps, for a little while at least, I sitting here, taking a breather before someone wakes up with a sad little Mommy cry that melts my heart and makes me feel like a total butt for venting.

Wishing you all well and praying that we get that way soon. Have a good one!

Funny things my kids say

We left on Saturday for North Carolina to see Kerry's best friend and meet his wife. As the trip drew closer, I started packing pretty early. I guess that is just how I get prepared. I mean, I had items in the suit case at least 5 days before. Kerry on the other hand can throw it all together pretty quickly. Guess that comes from all his past travels.

However, one thing I noticed is that before we actually walk out the door, we both verbalize our list of needed items:underwear, socks, pants, shirts etc. As I was going through my list, Dalton was standing beside me. I started off with the usual list processing it in my mind for both boys and myself: socks, underwear, shoes, pants, shirt, pj's, bra(for myself of course). As I came to bra in the list, Dalton repeated..Bra! Just being silly with him, I asked him if he needed a bra. He said no and said that Mommy's need bras. Ok, I thought, pretty good answer for a 5 year old.

This is not the end of the story however.

All of a sudden, he looks over at Kerry with a serious face and says, "When you get bigger up high, you need a bra!" We about lost it laughing b/c we first that he was talking about growing up when he said getting bigger. We had not idea he would be so..um...detailed. What an interesting concept for him to understand. I sometimes wonder what Kerry is teaching our kids when I'm not looking. :)

Things my kids say

It seems that I am always behind and at times, I do not stop and enjoy my kids as much as I should. I honestly do not know how people, who I know are waaaaaaaaay busier than I am, do it. I was having one of those days. I just wanted to stay focused and get things done. My goal was to get the Christmas decorations done and the empty boxes stacked for Kerry to get out of the house. (On top of about 30 other things) I did not have time for chit chat!

As I was running around the house, the boys were playing and on occasion, checking to see if I was doing my duties. At one point, Dalton began following me around saying over and over again that he wanted a stocking hat aka Santa hat. I told him flat out, that I was not going to mess with the Santa hats right now because I was trying to find the living room floor.

Without missing a beat, my 5 year old look at me, pointed to the floor and said, "Mommy, it's right there..see right there!" I stopped with my mouth wide open as if I actually had something smart to say and then all I could do was laugh. He repeated, getting a bit concerned that I had yet to see the floor. I finally acknowledged that the floor had indeed been there and thanks for finding it for me! Without even realizing it, Dalton had given me a breath of fresh air for my day. I was less stressed, even though I still had lots to do, but at least I was not as focused on that and was more focused on the kids. Thanks son!

Santa's Little Helper

Ok, I give up. I tried to post a link, but can't figure it out, so here http://www.freesantavideo.com/offers/video2.aspx?refer=STAFCOPY&sessionid=3ebd7ddc-98f0-4323-95bc-962c00edf6c8 just copy/paste, click or whatever and you should be able to see it.

Last year, I was sent a site to where you could add your pictures to elves that danced. This year, I found a new site that allowed you to add a picture to a video. This site above is of Dalton. It took him awhile to figure out it was him and then he wanted to watch it all the time. Later that night while watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town, he asked me if he was going to be on it. Guess he took it a bit more serious about being Santa' helper than I thought he would. :)

Merry Christmas!!