Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Out of Hospital


These are our pictures of the new baby. The technician thought he was so cute and couldn't quit snapping pictures of him. She even forgot to record his heart beat and had me have to come back. lol. He has really big feet and big hands but such a cute face. Wish you all could see the actual ultrasound. The pics don't do him justice b/c even though he was sleeping he was still moving. Not going to be one to sit still. I am home and on meds and bedrest. I will just have to be the Christmas Nazis from my couch :)
Love you all and thankyou so much for the prayers!




Monday, December 7, 2009

Contractions

Well, I'm having contractions on and off again. I'm just waiting for the doctor's office to open up so I can call. They will probably have me come in again to check things out. I wouldn't be so worried except I'm still pretty far out and my body hurt so bad the morning I was having a hard time walking around. I'm hydrating big time and last night I drank chamomile. The last thing I need is to go on bed rest, so please big prayers. I'm hoping they tell me that nothings changed and my body isn't doing anything. I'll edit this post later and let everyone know what they say :)
Hugz!
Okay, I'm back and so far so good. But they are threatening me with bed rest, so I'm off to relax and behave myself :)

Friday, December 4, 2009

How Do You Put a Snowman Together?

Fun with Snowmen!

Here are some pics that I either forgot to include in the slideshow below or I wasn't pleased with how they turned out on the slideshow.

Lil Red was getting cold in this pic. We went in for awhile right after.
Isaac wanted to make a snow angel. He did it but the angel was green instead of white, lol


This is our new friend, you'll read more about her below. She drives so though I don't know her age she's older than the boys

Lil Red warming up before going another round.
So going to get the boys from school in the snow was not fun, but once we got home the fun began. The boys ran out and began building a snowman. They were so excited, they've always wanted to build one and never had the opportunity. I took one look at them running around and busily working and having fun and I knew what gift I could give them. I ran inside and grabbed baby carrots, a box of buttons, scarves, and hats. The boys decided at that point that they should make the whole family. A neighbor girl saw them and asked if she could join in that she'd never made one before and how do you do it. They laughingly told her it was their first time, but how they'd had success in making a snowball and starting to roll it. She was impressed! She said they looked like experts. When she saw all the stuff I brought out she ran home for some coal to contribute. In the meantime, neighbors started showing up and using our snowmen as a back drop for their Christmas pictures. The boys snowmen were a big hit. Lil Red who had been napping came out for a while to help and then got to cold and had to go warm up by the fire. He came back out when they were done for more pictures. He was cute when it first started coming down. I took him to the window and he looked out and said."oooohhh, BEAUTIFUL". With his voice in hushed awe. It was precious. He sat contentedly with the cat just watching it fall till it was time to go pick up the boys. Amadeus has proclaimed this the best day ever! I don't know if I'd say that. My giving birth to them and my wedding day certainly top this for me, but I have to say it's up there in the top ten. There was no bickering all day. No harsh words, no yuckiness. There was no time. We were all to busy enjoying a precious gift from God that comes sometimes once a lifetime for Texans. And to busy being excited and making new friends with our wonderful neighbors. Lifes surprises our certainly some of the greatest blessings.



SNOW!

Not only is it pouring down snow outside but it is the middle of the day!
:O
Oh my goodness! And the kids school still hasn't released for the day. Hope the drivers I meet on the road in a little while decided to be careful.
Hugz!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

What is it about little boys and trains :)

Promised pics and More!

Below are some of our holiday pics. I have to admit that I wasn't very good at taking pictures this Thanksgiving. I was too busy enjoying myself and the kids and having fun cooking. The last couple of pictures are of FHE last night. We put up the tree and it was the most fun that I've had doing it in a long time. The older two participated and there was no bickering or arguing. I made fudge for treats. And Lil Red is so entranced with the lights that he even dreamt about it last night. We heard him coo at 4 in the morning. OOOOHHHHH beautiful! Which is his standard phrase everytime he sees new Christmas lights. This morning after he woke up, he was content to cuddle in my lap for half an hour with no noise. Just staring at the tree and our fiberoptic angel on the mantle. I've also confiscated the radio in the car in the spirit of the Christmas Nazis. There is no other music to be played in the car other than Christmas music. Isaac is very distressed and has taken to making snide comments about poor frosty and how he should have been eaten as he, after all, is an over sized giant snow cone. LOL. Well atleast scrooge overcame himself last night and had fun with us decorating.
Hugz to all!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thanksgiving

This years Thanksgiving was a relatively quiet affair if you don't count the three toddlers that we had running around :)
Mom was in Cali. and so those of us left in Texas sans my youngest brother decided to get together and do Thanksgiving lunch. I have to say that I adore cooking with my brother's wife. She's so much fun to be in the kitchen with. We ended up with a wonderful spread that was way too much for the number of people eating. We made three pies that all turned out wonderful and I think I gained five pounds this weekend. We got to play with my sisters kids and Lil Red across the way at the park several times and enjoyed playing games with my brother and his wife. Friday we drove up to see my Grandma and then went over to some antique shops to look around. Big Red and I found a desk that if it's still there when we go back in December we are definitely going to get it. It was a roll top secretary just Lil Red's size! and in wonderful shape too!
I would be remiss if I didn't list some of the things that I'm thankful for this year so here goes....
1. my husband- He is so good to me and I love growing with him in the gospel and I love watching him with the kids. I know I made the right choice in marrying him.
2. my children- Amadeus is always such a comfort to me. He has such a deep desire to see everyone happy. Isaac is always making me laugh. And I'm so proud of the strides he makes. They are both going to be fine young men. Lil Red is such a great helper and so smart. I know that he just makes his Daddy's heart sing. And this new little one. I'm so glad that we have this sweet spirit on his way. I know that he's going to be a special edition to our family and that it was super important for him to come to our family.
3.my family- From my mom to my sisters and brothers. I am thankful that I have good relationships with them all. I know I'm closer to some than others, but I guess that is true in all families. I just know that I'm blessed to belong to a family that understands the importance of families and when I see a brother or sister I never have to muster up courage to give them a hug. It's just the natural course of things :)
4. the gospel- As I've been studying my lessons for teaching in Relief Society over the last few months, I've realized WHAT a great blessing the restored gospel is. I'm thankful to participate in temple ordinances. I've worked hard to be able to do so and I know what a blessing it is.
5. For our home- It's been a challenge over the last two years as we've dealt with leaks and oppossums and other challenges with our home. I was so excited when Big Red said we needed to start looking at the housing market for a new one closer to his work. But over the last month, I've taken stock of the home that has been ours since we married. And it's been a good home. A great place for all of us to learn and grow together. That has offered us the chance to be close to my Dad's mom and to deepen ties with his family. It's offered many funny stories for us to tell our grand children as we get older of oppossums falling through the ceiling and bailing water in the middle of the night so that our bed didn't float away. So even though it will be great to move to a house with more space to grow, I have to say that I DO love and appreciate the home that we've had here.
I promise I'll post pictures tomorrow. Hugz to all and a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Potty Training on His Own

So other than making a big deal when I have to go to the bathroom, or setting Lil Red on the potty before his bath or when he wakes up, we haven't done anymore potty training. He was having frequent diahreah and just didn't seem ready so we backed off. Well today out of the blue, he ran in and grabbed my leg like he does when he wants me to follow him and started shouting, "pee pee!". I followed him to the bathroom and helped him take off his diaper. He had already started peeing, but realized it and stopped himself. After I helped him onto the toliet, he didn't want me to help anymore. Using one hand to balance and the other one to shove me away, so I didn't help balance him. He is VERY independent! He finished peeing in the potty and was so funny b/c he got down and wanted to pull the seat up and sit on the potty again with the seat up. I went and got Daddy for reinforcements that that is not how it's done b/c he wasn't wanting to listen. So after we got that cleared up, he raised his hands above his head in the victory cheer and said, "I did it!". We cheered for him and then he asked for a new diaper, which is new for him, b/c usually he would run away from us and try to stay butt naked, lol! So Yay! maybe we'll be in big boy pants by his birthday :)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Lil Red's Pony Trick

Halloween Fun

Okay these pics got put in in reverse order. LOL. But Lil Red was Huckleberry Finn for halloween last night. He loved his freckles. lol. We decided since it was so chilly that we would stay in and watch a show and let him hand out treats to trick or treaters. We had two whole trick or treaters come by. I should of put up a sign, " Candy in here!" . He had fun giving the two kids candy though. And I think he was glad that there were only two b/c it meant more candy for him to raid. I told Big Red that he should have given handfuls of the nasty marshmellow peeps to the two kids. I said, " I don't mind getting stuck with the chocolate, but those marshmellow things are nasty". He laughed and said I wasn't very charitable :P
Maybe so, but I wouldn't have bought the peeps in the first place that was his doing. LOL. We also went to the airshow yesterday. I'll blog about that later today and put up a slide show. For now suffice it to say that Lil Red had a BLAST!


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Amadeus's Grades

I realized that I've neglected posting the excitement that is going on for both of the older boys lately. You'll see Isaac's below. But I have to post that Amadeus is having a fabulous year. He received all A's last 9 weeks, and I just received his progress report, and it looks like he'll be getting all A's this 6 weeks as well. I don't think it's because the school is easier. Amadeus has always been super smart. He always does well on tests and can talk about many different subjects with a great deal of knowledge. He is just terrible about homework. Since he knows the subject; feels homework is a waste of time. This has proven that he can do it; he will just have to take homework more seriously when we change schools, so that he can continue with a good GPA for college. But YAY for Amadeus!

Isaac Focused on his Art Project

Isaac's school is having a talent show. Included in this is various pieces of art work. He is working on a sword. He has been super excited about it, and his Dad and Step-Dad have been there to help him with it. I'll have to post a picture of the finished project. We are not sure if he is going to be able to get it turned in on time though. It supposed to go in on Thursday, but I emailed and asked for them to give him till Friday. We're all supposed to go to the temple tonight, so he won't be home to work on it, obviously.And he needs atleast one more day to finish. So pray with me. I know he'll be so dissapointed if he doesn't get to participate.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sweet Boy

So, I went to find what Lil Red was up to, and found him up against a cranny with my huge honey bottle. He had managed to unscrew the lid, and his little sticky fingers were covered. And can you believe we just finished w/ getting cavaties filled a week ago! Talk about a sweet tooth, lol. Well atleast it was something edible :)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Muffins w/ Lil Red

Lil Red and I made Bannana Pumpkin muffins this morning. If you want the recipe go to google and type in "Healthy Banana Muffins Recipe", it's on recipe zaar. We ended up making 12 muffins, 12 mini muffins, and 3 mini loaves. And the recipe says that it freezes well too. And they super healthy. If you don't count the cup of white sugar and the cup of brown sugar. LOL. And we had a very yummy breakfast. Daddy asked Lil Red if he helped make them and he replied quickly, "yes, I did!". He was so proud :)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Roofs







We finally have a new roof on the house! Yay! No more leaks! At least not from the roof, lol. It was so nice to stay in bed last night when it started raining, and not worry about damage control. And the color that Big Red picked out is beautiful! Don't you think?
So I was thinking about the roof this morning and it's leaking and how that relates to us spiritually in our relationships. To me the leaks in the roof are like when you choose to be angry or take offense to someone, and refuse to see them for who they are. When you do that, you may have a roof over head, but you allow Satan access to your heart and he does the same thing that leaks do to the inside of a house. It causes mold, corrosion, and serious needs for re-sheet rocking :)
If we are seeing people for who they are, children of God, then when the rain comes, (people choosing to be ugly or not thinking before they say something, etc.), it will run off of our leak proof roofs to the ground doing no harm. Our spirit will stay warm and dry and sheltered and able to offer love and comfort to all those who need it from us :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Isaac Loses Appendix





They found it somewhere in China, lol. Actually this morning I took him to the ER after he started screaming and yelling in pain and throwing up. I recognized my own symptoms from many years before. I was fortunate that I was able to get ahold of my home teachers wife, to come watch Lil Red b/c I could never have managed to get Isaac from the car into the hospital and carry Lil Red as well. I was bowed over from Isaac's weight. Luckily for my sweet boy, I went through having my appendix in the wrong place and was able to make sure that the technicians checked for it even though his pain was centralized like mine. They diagnosed him pretty quickly, but we had to wait till 3:30 this afternoon b/c the surgery rooms were full till then. He is sleeping soundly and Mom is stretched out where I am supposed to be sleeping. She says she'll move when I'm ready to lay down, but she looks like she's there to stay, lol. I am so thankful for my husband, who came back home when he found out what was going on and brought me a change of pants, Isaac threw up on me, and Isaac his glasses, and me some food. Then he hung out all day with Lil Red to make sure everything was okay. I know it meant he got behind at work and that he is exhausted tonight from dealing with a napless Lil Red. But he is so awesome! I wouldn't have made it through the day without him and I know it meant alot to Isaac that he stayed. Isaac also had his best friend visit, his Dad made it down with some special chef food that he made in class for him. It felt like I was in a celebrities room, lol. My mom of course came down as well and is the reason I am able to type this up. The surgery went well and hopefully by tomorrow night we will be at home in our own beds.
Hugz to everyone who prayed for us :)
Oh the picture with the blue hat is his party hat going into surgery. Isn't he handsome!?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

My Big Boys Big Strides and a little one for Lil Red


This is not a bragging post. It's actually a joyful mother post. Isaac has decided for himself that eating vegetables is important if he is going to get his body in shape. And last night he was in the kitchen cutting up raw carrots and adding it to his food. He has been out shooting hoops for an hour and the day before working on his football catching with his brother. His prayers have all of a sudden moved on from two sentences to 10 or 12. Amadeus is working hard to put away his issues with his brother and to love him even when he's unlovable. Which lately has been less. When I was sick last night, Amadeus took over cooking dinner and with just a little bit of supervision finished our slightly complicated orange chicken dinner. Lil Red has learned to hand me his drink when he is through instead of throwing it, when he is in his stroller. We are still working on when he's in the car seat, lol. Both of the big boys are working on their own musical talents. And Isaac has gotten really excited about passing off his scout stuff and getting caught up. He was pouring over his book for atleast an hour last night. I am so excited at the maturing changes that I have seen happening in my boys. I find these big blessings even though to others they may seem small.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Ramblings about Today




The boys just finished mowing the lawn. Lil Red is being a turkey and finding as much to get into as possible. My allergies are killing me. Lil Red and I made it on our walk today. I went three times around the mall. I am so proud of myself :)
I'm thankful for my sweet older boys. They have been so pleasant over the past week and a half. Both have been super helpful and I have only heard minor complaints on chores. Isaac has only tried to negotiate twice. It used to be 10 times a day, lol. Both have pulled their weight and been such great big brother's to Lil Red. Since Amadeus has been home, Lil Red has had no problem sleeping in his bed. He has even stopped needing a bottle to go to sleep and the past two nights, when he woke up, Amadeus said he didn't ask for a bottle, just snuggled up to Amadeus and went back to sleep. I have to say that home this week has been a piece of heaven for me. Yeah we've all been fighting allergies and yesterday Lil Red and I were a bit grumpy, but as a whole I'm so pleased with the strides that we all have been making. It gives me hope for eternity. I love my family soooooooooooooo much! And even more than that...I really like them :)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Darrell Jr. has a new song ;)


I'm a Tex, I'm a Tex, I'm a Texas Star

Way out west where the Bronco's are..

I can rid'em, I can rop'em, I can show ya how it's done..

Come on ya riders with your six shootin guns!

Bang! Bang! Bang ba ba da da bang bang...

BANG BANG!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Bubble Fun

Well Isaac and Lil Red had a blast blowing bubbles. Amadeus was having fun with them as well, but decided to go check his email before I pulled out the camera. Here is some fun footage of Lil Red attacking Isaac's bubbles. He found this infinitely more fun than blowing them :)
The stinker!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Tales of the Potty take III

This morning I ran to the potty to go myself and Lil Red followed me. As I'm setting there beginning to tinkle, he climbs into my lap, and laughingly pretends to go making noises and saying Pooh. lol. Then he found his potty stool while I was working on our bed this morning. He pulled it into the living room and started pretending to go. It was obvious that he wanted his diaper off, so we took it off and let him play for awhile. He pointed at his bottom and said pooh, and said push as he sat on the potty. He would sit for a second then stand up and stick his head in the plastic pee and poop holder to see if there was a change. LOL. He was mad at me when I tried to put a diaper back on him so I let him be for a little while and then when he started putting it back into stool mode, I explained that if he wasn't sitting on the potty that we needed a diaper but that if he needed to go to tell me and I'd take the diaper off. All I have to say is this part of potty training is fun :)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

More Tales of the Potty and Other News

So we were playing today and Lil Red gets this look on his face and looks at his diaper and starts poking it. I asked, "do you need to go to the potty?". He got so excited and ran to the bathroom laughing. We took off his diaper and he managed to squeeze out a little more pee. Whooo Peee! lol.
Now in other News.....If you don't know yet here is the official announcement.... I am pregnant again :)
I am 10 weeks along and according to this last ultra sound, baby's heart beat is normal and the spine is straight and everything looks fabulous. I had the normal blood work up done today and he'll see me in 4 weeks. I'll try to upload the ultra sound pic. Baby is not that big. He magnified the screen so we could see baby a little better which is why baby is a little blury.
So big big blessing and here's hoping that Lil Red is outta diapers by the time baby gets here. The baby is due March 6th, my thoughts are that it will be a February baby though. Both Lil Red and Isaac were early. Lil Red by 2 weeks and my water broke with him. With Isaac it was 1 week early. So we'll see :)
Okay got it uploaded. Sorry about the blue weirdness. The computer did that when I was trying to crop the thing so personal info wasn't on there. Oh well you get what you get :)

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Tales of the Potty

So when we got home today, Lil Red had a very wet diaper. I changed it and went ahead and left his pants off while I went to the kitchen to heat up something for us to eat. After I got it in the microwave, I started calling out to Lil Red who had gone missing. I finally found him in our bathroom. He had managed to pull himself onto the potty without a stool, (pretty amazing feat for an 18 month old!). He was trying not to fall in and pulling paper off the roll, so he could feed it into the toliet. Thank goodness this was not an easy task, so it wasn't too much waste. I am so proud of my boy for taking the initiative on his own, we're just going to have to work on the removing bottoms part, lol!
Have a great Sunday!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Big Red has a Big Win!

Today, Big Red's company went to court to close their bankruptcy and come out of it. The judge just had to sign off on the plan. Sounds like no biggie, but out of the woodwork this last week, an old investor tried to come in from the side lines at the last minute and take over the company. This would have possibly put his job in jeapordy. Well they went to court today and the judge saw it their way and they closed the deal! They are out of bankruptcy and it looks like his company has a bright new future! So let's hear it for Big Red!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We'll be off to celebrate as soon as he gets home. Lil Red and I are all cleaned up and looking our best to greet our hero when he comes home :)

Messes Only a Mother Can Clean Up

This morning I was in the bathroom for literally 3 minutes doing my morning ablutions, when I hear Lil Red yelling for me. I let him know I was in the bathroom and he came padding in from the living room where he had been playing. I smelled him immediately! I lifted him under his arms to stand on the counter and asked if he had been worried that I'd left him. That's when I noticed the poo poo stains on his socks. I said, "uh oh, do we need to go change you diaper?". "poo poo", he says. So I carry him against my chest instead of wrapping his legs around me, so that he doesn't get it on me and pick up the diaper and wipes. I lay him down to do the change when I realize that he has poop on his jammy shirt. I think he must have put his finger in a couple of times to experiment b/c it was diarrhea and wiped it on his socks and top. EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW YUCK! So I changed the diaper and just as I was finishing I realized that my top had poop on it from having him against me and a strong whiff of the diaper hit me. I was up and at the sink heaving for 3 minutes! Poor Lil Red was clinging to my knee worried about me. So I got control, got rid of the diaper and dirty clothes, changed my top and washed his hands THOROUGHLY! Now 10 minutes later he smells good and is snuggling me and watching Lil Bill while I type. I love my Lil Hooligan! I just hope his next investigation isn't so nasty :)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Baby Shower madness

Today we went to a baby shower, and poor Lil Red who didn't get much sleep last night didn't know which bothered him more. Having to share toys, or being in a different room than Mom. Every 5 min he would come in and check on me, share my food, complain about another kid, or try to dump my drink in my lap. If he saw another kid playing with a different toy, he would decide that was the one he wanted. He would let out a howl and come running for Mom to make it right. Unfortunately Mom wasn't siding with him. Let's just say that it was a very long hour and a half! Some advice that was given the new Mom was to "remember in trying moments that these pass and to focus on the child's sweetness". I said, "oh like now!" Everyone thought that was very funny, but I wasn't trying to be, or maybe I was :)
We did make it through though, and b/c I offered to drive a friend, I even managed to socialize a bit, lol. And now the sweet boy is napping. I would be too,but I find myself unable to shut down, but atleast there is peace.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

My tale from under the pew

My sister does a "Tales from the Pew" on her blog every Sunday. We've never had anything exciting happen during sacrament. It's usually during Gospel Doctrine or Relief Society. For example one Sunday Lil Red had been flirting with this Sister in front of me and she happened to be the one who was called to say the closing prayer. As she went up to the front, he made a dash down the side aisle. He looked back at me with his taunting smile. I decided if I didn't run after him, he might stay where he was atleast till after the prayer. Nope, he ran for her knees. She smiled down at him and preceeded to say the prayer. Thinking the worst was over. I just kept an eye on him. Unfortunately he caught sight of the piano behind her and before I could make it to the front was pounding on the piano. I was so mortified!
Well this Sunday, we were doing are best to keep Lil Red quiet when his friend, Jason pops his little head under the pew in front of us and babbles his baby talk. Two pews in front of us I see his mom looking frantically for what has become of him. Big Red and I are trying so hard not to bust out laughing. Atleast I was. Lil Red was delighted. When all of a sudden, "Whoosh!", Jason disappeared. His mom had managed to grab his ankles, lol. Lil Red hit all fours on the floor and started calling out, "mom!" as he peered under the bench for his friend. Needless to say, Big Red eventually had to take him out b/c he wouldn't be distracted from finding his friend, lol. So there you have our first Tale not from the pew, but from under it!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Sweet Moments


I was folding laundry a minute ago, and Lil Red came and crawled in my lap and said, "book", as he made the sign for it. I realized immediately that he had decided it was time to sing, Book of Mormon Stories. Usually he only does the book and sometimes folds his arms at the end. This time he did all the motions. It was so cute. Now he is playing like his white teddy is a baby and carrying him around in a basket. It's also sooo sweet. I love my cute baby boy :)
Wish I could give you pics but unfortunately my camera still hasn't surfaced :S
So I just put this typically cute one of him playing in a basket at guitar lessons. He is always climbing into baskets or boxes or (his new love) crawling behind the mountain of pillows on our bed and sliding down behind them. He particurlarly loves to surprise us from there when we don't know he's done that. lol

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

4th of July Vacation Week w/ Boys

We started out the week by traveling to San Antonio to visit my brother and sister-in-law and do baptisms at the San Antonio temple. This is the view from the temple. They were both pretty sleepy b/c they had a hard time settling down the night before. They always get rambunctious when they visit their Uncle. It was a special experience. Not one that I'll ever forget. It was Isaac's first time to attend the temple. He was funny b/c he has such long limbs and they would try to come up, but his Uncle who didn't want to have to dunk him more than once would shove him down, lol. Then his Uncle started to call him Sister and that woke him up! He said, "Hey I'm not a girl!". Amadeus was so reverent, I was so proud of him. I was truly thankful that I was afforded such an opportunity with my older boys. While we were busy being dunked for our ancestors, Lil Red was having fun at a neighbor's house w/ a cute puppy and a brand new baby! He was in heaven. Afterwards, we all had lunch and headed to Splashtown for some more wet fun. About 30 min after we got there, Lil Red was wading from one baby slide to another and lost his balance and fell into the side of the pool and split his head open! I tell you that was one of the scariest moments of my life. It took me a sec to get the life guards attention and then it seemed all any one could do was ask me how it happened! Finally! I said can we get to medical area and get something to stop the bleeding! They gave us some bandaids and sent us to a mediclinic where we wasted an hour and a half, only for them to send us on to an emergency room b/c they didn't have the tools to take care of such a deep and wide cut on a toddler. His Aunt and I had left the boys to play at the park while we took care of Lil Red. With this new development, we decided to go pick them up. However, we had no way of communicating with them. I swear the spirit must have been talking to my brother b/c they were sitting outside waiting on us for only 5 - 10 min when we arrived to pick them up. We went to the hospital right by the temple. They were fantastic. We were in and getting taken care of within 30 minutes! Everyone was kind and attentive. The doctor let me stay in the room while he did the stitches. It was an amazing experience. They had to put Lil Red under b/c he had 2 stitches on the bottom and 9 on the top. A total of 11! Yes, he bled all over me when it happened. Here is a pic of his stitches. His Uncle said we would have to rename him Frank, lol!

Then we came back home to hang out w/ my grandmother at her 4th of July party at her assisted living home. It was so much fun to see her serenaded by a barber shop quartet. He held her hand and had his other hand on his heart. So cute! Then the next day we went to visit and play at Grandmommy's. Below is a pic of Isaac w/ Lil Red and water guns. Lil Red has learned to shoot them and was having so much fun getting everyone!

Then everyone came over to attend the Katy Tea party and our 4th of July parade in our neighborhood. I wish I had pics of the parade. We did a great job of decorating our stroller, but my camera was lost at the tea party and the only reason I have these pics is b/c my sweet sister-in-law forwarded them to me from her camera. Below is Lil Red at the tea party. We thought they were going to have fireworks, but for some reason they didn't. It was a major bummer. Oh and Lil Red's shirt was picked out by his GrandMommy, who felt it very, very appropriate, lol.



Finally, Sunday we went to my Grandmother's 90th b-day party. She was soooo surprised. It was great. Her son and daughters did a great job planning a sweet program. The great grand kids got to come up and hand her their home made cards. When Lil Red went up, he started to get upset b/c he didn't want her to keep it. And the rest of the night he kept going up and trying to steal it back. I hadn't realized that Marian got the picture of me w/ Grandmother. I'm so thankful. It's a beautiful picture. And it was a beautiful evening.



On monday the boys and I made a trip to Pancho's before taking them back to their Dad's with a friend and her daughter. It was funny seeing them be very macho in front of her beautiful girl. They are growing up way tooo fast! All in all it was a very blessed week and I'm thankful it was filled with so much of family.






















































Monday, June 29, 2009

Summer at Grandmommy's

While school has been out, Lil Red and I have been making trips to Grandmommy's to learn about gardening and canning. I think Lil Red liked the day we went out there for gardening better. As you can see below, he was able to check out the different kind of plants, he made friend's with his Uncle's dog and decided to cool off in his water dish. That was truly funny. He didn't play in it. He just looked at it. Crawled in shoes and all and sat there for a second and then got out, lol. He just was hot and knew how to cool off! We weeded and sprayed around the plants for ants with a soap solution. Unfortunately, Lil Red recieved his first experience with fire ants! Although, thankfully, I realized what was wrong immediately and he only recieved a few bites. This past Saturday we invested in a pair of tall galloshes for him. So we will be more prepared next time. We tried to go for a ride in the golf cart to check the mail, but the battery was having issues so we pretended instead, lol. We also had a delicious squash bundt cake that my mom made. Very yummy! She gave us mucho, fresh veggies. Then the next weekend our big order came in from the co op. We went over the following monday to can tomatoes. I don't think it would have taken that long, but I wanted stewed tomatoes and you have to use a pressure cooker. If you don't have more than one pressure cooker this process is a LONG one! And I've decided to stick to buying stewed tomatoes. Although it was fun until the end of the day. I left at 11pm b/c poor Lil Red couldn't handle it anymore. But Grandmommy went till 3 am and still had half a box to go! I had so much fun talking about the past with her and learning. I can't wait to go back and have another day there. Oh and I can't forget one of the best things was sitting on the back porch after having cleaned up our potting mess and relaxing with some ice water as we rocked on the porch. We would listen to the breeze rustle the leaves and it was so very peaceful. My mom cracked me up when she looked out over the back and said, " You know it's hot when even the weeds are withering". Said with a real southern drawl. Leave it to Mom to start a new saying :)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Tribute to the Father's in my Life


I find this Father's day that I have much to be thankful for. I had a great Dad, who inspired me to be a better person and loved me through my myriad of life's dissapointments and trials, and what's more celebrated with me my triumphs and happy days. I am also thankful for my ex-husband choosing to be part of his boys' life. Granted there are days that I'm frustrated with his decisions because they wouldn't be mine. But there is no denying that he loves his boys and has endeavored to ensure them of that. I am very grateful for that because I know how important it is to their emotional well being. I am also thankful for a sweet and wonderful Father-in-law. When Big Red and I were dating and I had the opportunity to meet his parents for the first time. I was genuinely touched by the card that his Dad left to ensure me that they approved of me. Hanging out at their cabin reminds me of my days growing up as a little girl and riding the back of my Grandfather's tractor around our property. I truly admire him and his strength of spirit. While he is a quiet man, I have had the opportunity to listen to him as he has imparted wisdom with others and always felt strengthened by it. Knowing my husband has such a father as a role model brings me such happiness. Which brings me to the fount of my happiness on this day. I am so thankful to have been blessed with a righteous man that is as wonderful a husband as he is a Dad. The day Lil Red was born and the love that poured from this man that I married both to me and his newborn son brought me such joy. I love watching him and Lil Red 'work' together. It is already apparent that Lil Red is determined to follow in his father's footsteps. The other day I was discussing this phenomena with my Mom and littlest brother and he said, that Big Red would be a good father to emulate. I so agree. He is kind, hardworking, definitely a doer, and so loving. I find myself over whelmed with my love for him on so many occasions. So happy father's day my beloved!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Moaning Myrt

Lil Red has started a new phase. If he isn't getting what he wants or he gets a minor hurt. He will start moaning and run to me and put his head on my shoulder and continue to moan. Reminds me of moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter. LOL. Anyways it's so sweet. I love my little moaner :)
And Marian, the race is definitely on! :P

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Monetary blessings are more

Last Thursday I went to the kitchen to de-thaw some chicken for dinner. They are the individually frozen kind, so I had to run them under cold water for a couple of minutes to remove the glaze. While I was doing this I could hear Lil Red giggling and yacking away as he played. After 10 or 15 min I realized that I wasn't always hearing his voice come from the living room. So I walked in the dining room. He was coming from the wash room with fist fulls of.......cat litter! Yuck! I grabbed him and rushed to the sink with him and proceeded to wash his hands and feet and mouth. Yes, I think he did try a taste. Ugh! As I took him to put him in the playpen to have him out of the way while I cleaned, I got my first good look at the living room. He had thrown it a good 4 feet into the living room. It was on the carpet, under the couch, on the couch, and under the toy box. It took me minutes to clean up the mess. Disgusting. He had tried this once before 2 days earlier and we had caught him on the out set. None had gone in the mouth and just a little clean up was needed. Realizing this was a new game for him, my telling him no and putting him in time out, yelling, or spanking him wasn't going to deter him in all likley hood from doing it again, I decided I needed a gate. The next morning as I woke up and was lying in bed and going over what I wanted to accomplish that day, the thought came to my mind that I needed to consult craigslist to see if there were any baby gates up for grabs. There was one entry for a :arage sale for that morning and it started at 7:30am. That was right then! I hurriedly dressed myself and Lil Red. Chopped up some peaches and grabbed a juice cup for him and ran out the door. It was 8:30 when I arrived. As I scanned the spread for the gate my heart sank b/c it wasn't there. I had prayed the whole time going there that it would still be there when I arrived. I knew she was going to tell me it had been sold, but I felt to ask her anyways. She replied that it had been one of the first things to go. I told her that was the only reason I had come. Her face turned sympathetic as she apologized, then her face lit up and she said, "oh wait, I had another gate that I was going to put out here and I forgot about it. It's not the big durable plastic kind like the one I had this morning. It's just a wood one, but let me go get it". It was like new and perfect for what I needed it for. I expected her to ask somewhere around $10. And was perpared to negotiate down just a little. $3! Need I say more. I know that gate was meant for me. I know the Lord was looking out for our needs as I've tried to be more frugal and conscientious with what I buy, so we can get out of debt. I am so thankful for blessings like these that not only help us monetarily, but serve to enforce in my mind that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and my family. That he loves his children and will help them as they endeavor to choose the right.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Yay for Microwaves, And Thankgoodness for Cheese!

I went to make eggs for Lil Red and me this morning only to find that my electric stove won't turn on for some reason. I was ready to just do yogurt for breakfast when I remembered along time ago making eggs in the microwave. The only thing is that it always tasted slightly like plastic to me when cooked in the microwave. So I melted some cheese on top. Cheese makes everything better! lol. So that was my blessing today. I had a microwave and cheese!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I am SSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!

I just called the charter school to ask how quickly we would know if Amadeus could attend their school because the other school gives a discount on their fees if you register before the end of June. She said it would be the latter part of June, but then asked me some more specific questions and told me that she really didn't think it was going to be a problem and that I should bring his current transcripts after they release from school. Soooooooo it looks good!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

School Choices

Yesterday the secretary from the charter high school down the road from the one we currently go to, called and asked if I was still interested in Amadeus going there. I had dropped the idea as we had decided to go to this private school instead. But when she called something told me to keep my options open. Previously, Amadeus had been adamantly opposed to the idea. However, I asked him last night if any of his friends were going to this school, and he thought maybe two of them. Which makes it somewhat appealing. We got online and found they have a shorter school day which would be cool b/c I could pick him up and he could help me with Lil Red during lessons. I also like the building better. I know that sounds weird, but the building at the other school is kind of dark due to them not having tons of funding. Anyways, still not sure if he'll get in, but atleast he is open to going there if it does happen. I pointed out that if he did that Mom would definitely make enough money teaching twirling for me to continue with fencing and to be able to continue music lessons for both of them. I also made a commitment last night to Heavenly Father that if this happens that I'll start putting a good deal of the money from child support back in accounts for them to go on missions. I've always wanted to open accounts for them but never had surplus to do it. So hopefully it happens, I really feel better about the charter school than the private school. Mainly because I would have a lot less time with him if he went to the private school and it would be harder for me to be involved at his school. So keep praying for us!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Sometimes Big Blessings Come in Small Orange Packages

I was making pancakes this morning and as I was puting in the baking soda, I glanced at all the household uses for it and thought, "hmmm, I really should keep that stuff in mind as I clean around the house. Within the next 5 minutes, I opened the fridge to grab the mild and......................CRASH! The BIG pickle jar along w/ a few other things fell to the ground. The only thing that broke though was the pickle jar. And man do pickles stink. Amadeus was quick to grab the broom and help me get the big stuff up and after I had used the paper towels to clean up the majority of the wet mess. I quickly grabbed the baking soda and sprinkled it all over the area. Within seconds the smell was gone and after we were done with breakfast, I put Lil Red in his playpen and mopped the floor with a wet rag. And wa la! My floor was clean and fragrant free! As I set there cleaning the floor, I thanked God for blessing me to read that before the accident happened, otherwise, it would have seemed a bigger trial than it was. Three cheers for baking soda! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! HIP HIP HOORAY!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Mom's Voice

These are my three gifts from God. As their parent, I am faced with challenges everyday. From frustration because someone still won't stay still during their diaper changing, to please find something positive and uplifting to say, to how in the heck do I motivate you! Over the last year I have really been seeking to find a way to be a better parent. I started with personality profiling thinking that if I could just understand my kids better that things would be easier, and it helped but it still wasn't what I needed to keep me from snapping with things got to stressful. Over the past weeks with my middle son it has seemed to me that things have escalated again. And I kept hearing myself saying things like, "I just can't handle this anymore!". And it was true. I couldn't handle the fights that would leave me feeling icky and like crying, because of course there was never a winner except satan. And I'm for sure not going to let him win and yet... I was. So I started doing more pondering and more scripture reading and more praying because I knew that somehow I had to change. I can't change my kids atleast I can't force them, especially the older ones without dire consequences, but I know I can develop better control of myself if I could just change my paradigms. It helped me to come to this roads since I had read "The Peace Giver" and "Bonds that Make Us Free". Both books had already helped me to take ownership for my parts in conflict. I just have been struggling on how to break patterns. Well I've also been trying to do more missionary work and so I've been focusing on being more Christlike. So when I went into the bookstore to get a book on developing your conversation skills and couldn't find it....Well the book, "Christlike Parenting" by Dr. Glenn I. Latham jumped out at me. It literally jumped into my arms and walked out the door with me, after I payed for it of course ;)
I went to the temple right after that and found myself reading a passage in Matthew that is talking about recieving the Lord's annointed but at the end talks about recieving his little ones. I'll come back to that in a minute. I had to pick up my older boys from their Dad's after that and of course my middle child with in minutes had turned the radio on to rock in roll. Now after the peace of the temple and the calm evening...listening to that stuff was not my first choice and normally I would probably have said something that would have caused him to turn sulky or a big fight to ensue, but I decided I would hold my tongue as long as we kept the music decent then I wouldn't say anything. My oldest, in trying to battle his insomnia, has taken to asking me to come in and sing a song to him before he goes to sleep. It's usually a primary song but sometimes a song that is special to us but always soft. My middle one surprised me that night by coming in to listen. So I started reading the book and low and behold within the first chapter, I can see myself, the parent that just wants to be appreciated. It was embarassing reading some of those quotes and seeing myself in them and yet it helped to remember I wasn't alone and atleast I didn't want to be that person. I want to let go of all of those feelings and change. Change into a more Christlike person where peace could rule our home. Yesterday, I read a quote from President Hunter in the book that says, "Please remember this one thing. If our lives...are centered upon Jesus Christ...nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right." This goes hand in hand with my focus of late which has been that we need to do everything in our lives only after first dedicating our performance to Christ so that it can be a blessing to us! This so excited me. It's not new none of the concepts in this book our new, they are just bringing together principles that I already know and love and applying them to parenting. The other thing that really struck me was in Chapter 2 it talks about how if you asked a teenager if they loved their parents they will usually say something like...'yeah, I guess, but' and from a parent about a teenager, 'yes...but'. But if you ask a parent the same thing about a baby, the response would more likely be a quick affirmative. My thoughts flew back to that scripture that I read in Matthew in the temple, and I realized that that was what I needed to change. I needed to stop looking at my kids as challenges. They aren't problems to be solved. They have problems they need help solving and they bring challenges to my life, but they are still my children that God blessed me with. No matter how old they get or what stage of life they are in; they will ALWAYS be my children. And I should love them with NO 'BUTS' in the way. If you think about it in relation to a gift, like if I recieved a shirt from somebody and they said don't you just love it and you basically did but there was this bow on the bottom that bugged you and so when you said that 'yeah you loved it'. Your whole heart wasn't in your voice because it wasn't completely true. How could I do that to my kids?! I realized that if those stupid 'buts' were there; there would be times and probably had been alot, especially lately when they didn't feel the full force of my love. I have never felt so ashamed. So now that I know. I have gotten to work and I have done homework in line with the things that he talks about. I'm taking it slow trying to make sure that concepts sink in. But I had my first real win/win last night. My middle son came in and was angry b/c he wanted to play playstation and couldn't find the controller. He naturally blamed the baby since he is always walking around with them and started being ugly. I remained calm and asked him if he would please sack up the garbage for me while I started looking for it that I was sure we could find it. After looking everywhere we couldn't find it. He was getting more ugly. I told him that he needed to not be mean to his little brother b/c it looked to me like maybe his older brother had taken it to his Dad's over the weekend and forgotten to bring it back. Of course at that point his wrath turned to his brother. I stayed cheerful and said "well the way I look at it you have two choices. You can either stay angry and alienate everyone or you can find something else to do". Well he mumbled something negative, I chose to pretend I didn't hear anything so I would maintain my calm and give him space to exercise his free agency. Oh my gosh! Within 5 minutes I heard "Star Wars" going on in the living room and he and the boys' friend who was over were having a great time discussing all the nuances of the show. Later I noticed that he had also gone the extra mile and put the new liner back in the trash can for me and I made sure to tell him I really appreciated it. I found something to thank both of them for through out the night. When it was time for bedtime, both boys insisted I come and sing. I offered to come to the middle ones room after but he said he was content to come in and sit and listen with the older one. I hope as time goes by and I continue this path that Mom's voice will become a boon and that the days of nagging and harshness will be drowned out by the softness of the sought out lullabyes.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Twirling Recital

Okay this is the last half of the routine. Douglas didn't think about using his phone camcorder till they were almost done. But that's okay I was so nervous I didn't even bring my camera. And I thought it was cool that he even thought to do it. Thanks Honey! So here it is the end of the routine. Wish you could see their outfits better. They were so cute! They rushed a couple parts of the routine, but atleast they didn't forget anything :)
Also I have my first for sure scheduling of summer lessons. So here's crossing my fingers that I get atleast one more, Then I'll only need three for August.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Great Movie: Henry Poole is Here

Spoiler alert! I plan to talk about the feelings that this movie brought out in me, so I might tell a few things that would spoil the movie. It is a movie where a loner who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, moves back to his childhood neighborhood to find his depressed solitude infringed constantly by his neighbors and especially after one neighbor finds what she believes to be Christs face in a water stain on the stucco of his house in his backyard. First of all, I loved the persistant caring of these people. He is rude time and again, but realizing that there is something behind this anger and sadness, they refuse to take offense. I think that is true in most of life's encounters. This is the true form of charity, looking beyond the offense to the person and loving them anyway. I also loved the priest, who offered to listen to his problems. Poole says, "I don't want to talk about it". He replies, "yes, you do. Or you wouldn't have brought it up". That is so true! I hear Poole's words echoed all the time in my middle son. I have found with a little patience and persistance, he always spills all to me. Poole didn't want to be alone and to bear his burden alone, but being a loner he didn't know how to talk to people about it. And I think he was also cynical when it came to believing that anyone could care. I believe this aspect is reflected daily in our lives. Heavenly Father brings each of us to places where we can find people that will help us to grow. Poole, sees time and again, people exhibiting their faith. I love in the end, how after he has destroyed the face and had the house fall on him, lol, and landed himself in the hospital. The ladies that have become his friends tell him that he doesn't have any illness anymore, and he says, "I was never ill?". It reflected where he was at. I think that many people who are learning to have faith, begin that way. They explain away a miracle or a sign after it is given and then later on after many more life experiences look back and admit. My Dad was an example of that. As a young man, and after a particular trying experience, he looked up and the sky and it being an extremely overcast day and seeing no star in sight, he said, "God if your really there then let me see just one star in the sky". He looked around for a second and didn't see anything and said, "see I knew you didn't really exsist", in that moment he looked up and directly over head the clouds parted and a bright star shown down above him. By the time he walked into the house he had explained it away as a coincidence. But obviously deep down he wanted to believe and in later years after having had more experiences that brought him closer to God and building his testimony of the exsistance of God, he knew that that was a sign and a miracle that God gave him in that moment to let him know he was there and he cared. I don't think this movie was just about this man's struggle to have faith. But a movie that portrays that God puts us where we need to be because he cares and loves us and wants to help us grow and be happy.
"Adam fell that men might be. Men are that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25
God wants us to be happy. But we can only find that happiness through having faith and interacting with others in a way that is uplifting and strengthening.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Yay I cut Amadeus's hair!

And I did a good job! Tell me what you think? Amadeus said it was "ok". He didn't feel the need to get it fixed or wear a bag over his head, lol. But he would have preferred it to be not sooo short. Actually I thought I left it a little long, lol. The first pic is my favorite. Such a silly guy!










I should have taken some before pics. He had a major afro! He hadn't had a haircut in almost 2 months! There was soooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuch haaaaaaaiiiiiiirrrrrr! It looked like I'd sheared the sheep! But now, oh there's my kid, for a while I thought I had a werewolf for a son, he he.









Leaps of Faith

Next year I need 12 twirling students in order to pay for fencing, guitar lessons and Amadeus's private school. I've been asked if fencing and guitar lessons are really a need. The answer is a resounding, "yes!"! Both of the boys schools don't offer a physical outlet and fencing not only meets that need but the need to be able to be flexible in their competitions so they can spend time with their Dad. Plus their coaches are so wonderful and supportive. Definitely the environment that they can grow in. As to Isaac's guitar. Well I know enough music wise to work w/ Amadeus on the trumpet on our own. But I have no idea when it comes to the guitar and Isaac has shown real aptitude and a desire to stick with something for once. He even practices without me telling him that he needs to! Amazing! So in the boys developments, yes these are needs. I was counting on my students first recital to make a big splash and generate some excitement. And I think it did some of that. But because they split up the recitals there wasn't as many parents in attendance as I would have hoped. But my girls did awesome! They caught 2 out of 3 of their partner tosses. They were in sync on the important parts of the routine. And two of them caught their back catches. They were in short, very impressive :)
So hopefully with the buzz of their performance and the flyers that I just put out in the classroom, I'll get the response that I need. If I don't, well then my next step is to advertise on Craigslist. So keep us in your prayers.
Hugz,
LMSS

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Sleeping Through the Night and Other News

Okay I know this post is going to irritate Em and I hope it doesn't jinx us....But Douglas and I are celebrating right now. Lil Red has slept through the night for the past two nights. This also means that he is down to a brief nursing right before bed time! Texas Blue, I need your dancing baby, lol. You'll have to tell me how to put him on here.
In other news....Isaac gave his first guitar performance. He had butterflies in his stomach and was super nervous, but he did great! I told him that you couldn't tell that he was nervous in fact he was the first out about 15 that seemed to enjoy his piece. He played Delta Blues. He says the ending was all wrong, apparently he blanked out on how it ended and made up something. Bravo! I say! That's talent. He never stopped or let on that he forgot and he's the only one that did his piece from memory.Great job Isaac!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Tea Party w/ Grandma and Lil Red

My mom and I attended The Woodlands Tea Party Texas Wednesday w/ Lil Red. He had so much fun. He stole two ladies flags and waved them around for awhile till Grandma made him give them back. He got licked in the face by a big black dog, lol, he didn't know what to think of that. Just pursed his lips and said "ewww". However, it didn't deter him from chasing all the dogs he saw to pet and say,"woof". We signed a declaration banner, and picked up bumper stickers for our cars. We listened to couple of the speakers including Mattress Mac, who was awesome. I asked Mom if she thought he would run for office. She said, "no, he's always been civically minded.". My comment is, "exactly! and since he's a well known figure he would be perfect for stepping up to the job". We do need a change in leadership. I admire the young man who is running against Kevin Brady this next term. He saw that Kevin Brady voted for stimulus packages and decided that he was going to do something about it. I wish my brother would run for office. I know he'll read this and laugh. He has in own goals, but he's the kind of leader that would be conscientious and think through his decisions and come up with good ideas. Our people our thirsting for good leadership. The world is thirsting for good leadership. Enough w/ all these celebrity politicians! Give us down to earth, God fearing people!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Easter Fun

Okay these pics aren't exactly in order but oh well, lol. Lil Red has already decided that he wants to learn how to drive Grandpa's big wheels :)We didn't do much in the way of Easter Egg hunting. I put out 5 eggs. He was interested in picking up one. Douglas was laughing at me, telling me he told me so.

Below is a pic of us swinging on the swing together. But here Lil Red wanted to swing himself :)


Douglas loves this picture. He feels it's such a typical expression for Lil Red. "You want me to do what, mom?"

We had a blast tickling Lil Red's tummy. He is very interested in his belly button and has infact learned to say, "belly button". Her he is getting that bb tickled by mommy.




Here is Grandma feeding Lil Red some chocolate. Looks like he just bit her finger, lol.




Here is one of us on the swing together. I love his sweet smile.