Comings and goings

Yesterday I took the kids to see my friend Jana. She lives about an hour away from us so we had a little car ride. Lucky for me, Emma wanted to play hide and seek for the last thirty minutes of the ride. From her car seat. So it was pretty easy to find her every single time.

When we got to their house we saw a little baby bird in their driveway that was having a very hard time getting air born. I told Jana about it and she said they had been watching and rescuing it for the last four days. On our way home I contemplated picking it up and taking it back with us to nurse it along or maybe taking it to the wildlife rehabilitation place we took baby bird Flinn to at the beginning of the summer. Then I remembered that in saving Flinn we murdered another totally innocent bird. Also, mama bird dive bombed my head when I got too close to him. So I left the little guy alone after saying a quick prayer for him.

Today we stayed home to babysit Logan. I have never been bossed/ordered around so much by little people in my entire life. Does anyone else out there have a bossy little two year old girl living with you? She is a mess! My mama discovered this when they were here. Emma told her every morning exactly where to sit and what toys to play with and what room to be in. It's exhausting. By the end of the day I'm tempted to just do what she says because then at least I don't have to think for myself.



Jake on the other hand is so easy going and laid back. Ha! I just cracked myself up. Those two spent the entire day fighting. Which meant there were lots of time outs. Lots of playing by themselves in their own rooms. Actually, Jake loves to be in his room. He cries when I first send him there and then five minutes later he is having a blast all by himself. When my parents visit we always let them stay in his room and Jake sleeps in the playroom in a tent. He enjoys this but we found out this past trip that he misses his room while they're here. I told Jake before they came that MeMaw and PePaw would be staying with us for four nights in his bed. He said okay, that's great. Well, on the morning they were leaving my dad went in the playroom to say good morning to Jake. Jake looked at him and said "PePaw, you've been here for four mintues already so tonight I get to sleep in my own bed!" Hospitality runs short in a four year old.

Brownies and things

I discovered (again) that my body does not have the same metabolism that it did when I was 20. Last week while my parents were here I went on a pie making/pie eating, brownie making/brownie eating binge. That coupled with no exercise for a few days resulted in the return of two unwanted pesky pounds. Total bummer.

I'm determined not to give into the weight. I will lose it. As soon as the temperature in Texas goes back into the 80's. I'm predicting that will be around Christmas time. Just in time for me to go on a cookie baking/cookie eating, fudge making/fudge eating binge.

Here are some good pictures my dad took of the kids swimming while they were here.


When I look up and see my boy catching more air than a breaching great white shark, I just close my eyes and say "it's gonna be all right" over and over. Or I think about brownies.


Look at the joy on his face! It's exactly the way I look when I take a pan of brownies out of the oven...


Couldn't you just eat her up? Like a big, gooey brownie?


Our children are so petite. They can eat all the brownies they want and not gain an ounce. Enjoy it while you're young kiddos!

Visit from the grandparents

My parents came to visit on Sunday evening. We've had the best time with them the last few days. This is what I made for dinner Monday night. Yum! We've had the pleasure of eating out the rest of the time!



We've taken the kids to the pool, to Target for some new toys and to the Jumpy Gym to play. But, I think the kids enjoy staying home playing with MeMaw and PePaw more than anything.

Getaway

A couple months ago I bought a Groupon for a one night stay at a local bed and breakfast. If you don't know about Groupons then now is the time to sign up. Seriously, they allow people on a tight budget to be able to go do things. This was an amazing deal. We got about 60% off of our stay at the Inn Above Onion Creek. I had just enough money left over from my birthday to cover everything.

My sister and Katie drove down to get Jake and Emma on Thursday morning and took them back to their house to spend the night. Then Mike and I were free for about 24 hours. We couldn't check in to the inn until 3pm so we decided to drive on out a little farther and go to Wimberley for a couple hours. It is such a cute little town! Although it was hotter than the sun. But that's pretty much everywhere in Texas right now. We had lunch at a great little spot called The Leaning Pear. I had my first experience with chilled soup. It was chilled celery soup to be exact and it was divine!

At 3pm we went and checked in at the bed and breakfast. We quickly changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool to relax for the next two hours. At six we headed to the dining room for dinner. Dinner was good although a bit awkward. Most of the guests were on the younger side and everyone tried to sit at different tables and not talk to each other. Then about 30 minutes into dinner two older couples showed up together and flung open the doors and shouted "Hey Ya'll! It's so quiet in here! We're all family!" They were obviously seasoned bed and breakfasters.

After dinner Mike and I took a walk to a scenic overlook and marveled at how pretty it would be if Texas wasn't one big, dry, brown wasteland right now. Then we played horse shoes. Because we're sixty.

The next morning we had Nutella stuffed French toast with strawberries on top. Oh. My. Word. That is french toast stuffed with chocolatey goodness. Sweet! I loved it! If you're looking for a good bed and breakfast in the Texas Hill Country I highly recommend this place. The room was beautiful. The pool was great and we got to spend the morning relaxing in hammocks before we checked out.

Of course I forgot to bring our camera. Bad Little Mama. I was so mad at myself. But this is a link to the room we stayed in. Check out the bathroom! Amazing! And really, sign up for Groupon in case they offer this deal again. And no I'm not being compensated by Groupon or the Inn Above Onion Creek. If only!

I have no poise

Yesterday I went to HEB to buy groceries. After I checked out, the cashier handed me my receipt and asked if I needed anything else. I said "no thank you" and started wheeling my cart away.

Just then the cashier pulled a coupon out of the register and shouted "wait! you can go these right now if you want because with this coupon they will be totally free!" I was all "Score!" I couldn't wait to see what I was going to get.

It was a coupon for Poise pads. She told me very loudly what it was for and I told her in a very hushed voice that I didn't need them. She was all "Ohh, but they're free! Are you sure you don't want to go get them?" And I told her "no, I'm sorry but I don't use those." And then I ran out of the store. I was afraid if I didn't get out of there quickly I might find myself in a cloud of confettie falling down from the ceiling surrounded by overly joyous employees clapping and shouting that I was a free pad winner. And then I would have had to curl up on the floor and pretend to be a speed bump or something until every single person left the store.

This was mortifying on so many levels. First, unless you are my BFF don't talk to me about sanitary pads. And please don't announce to everyone in my aisle and the two aisles beside me that I just won a free box of them.

There are certain things that I am not comfortable talking about and pads is one of them. I also do not like for anyone to say the word panties around me. It creeps me out. Emma Mae does not wear panties now, she wears undies. Okay? Unless you are my mama and then you can say that word because I've already lived 41 years cringing every time it comes up. But my mama is the only one who can get away with it!

Secondly, when I got home I took a closer look at the coupon that I had shoved in my purse on my way out. Poise pads are actually for people with minor bladder leakage. Now, look. I'm not saying I've never had that problem because during pregnancy I sure did. And sometimes a select few individuals have made me laugh so hard that leakage occurred. But on the whole, I am fine in this area for now. Is there something about the way I look that made her think I would really appreciate a free box of these things??

Now I'm nervous to go back to HEB. I'm worried about what other free coupons might be lurking in those cash registers. What if I get one for wart removal or mustache bleaching or (heaven forbid) free panties?

Girl reunion

We made it through another day of heat and babysitting and minor sibling squabels. All day long I was just looking forward to seeing two friends that I used to work with at the Hyatt. Sharon and her family are here on vacation and Eva and her family just moved back to Texas. I couldn't wait to see these girls again.

We decided for all the families to meet out for dinner. I suggested Nutty Brown Cafe in Austin because so many people have told me that it's a great place to go with little kids because they have a big grassy area to play on. Well. The grassy area is not really available on concert nights. Tonight was a concert night. So poor Jake and Emma had to be wrangled into sitting still for another dinner out. They did pretty well.

The food was good. I had a great big chicken fried steak and ate every single bite. I was a bit leary of the food at first because of the big lizard sized cock roach we saw skittering around the wall above our heads after we ordered. The waitress said she would get it if she saw it again. So, that was comforting. When the food came out I was so hungry that I forgot all about the bugs and just dived into the food.

Emma visited the bathroom seven times in two hours. She used both stalls, every paper towel holder and every soap dispenser that was available to her. Jake was beside himself over one of those claw games where you move the claw to win a fabulous prize. He really wanted the Scooby Doo in there. He really didn't get it.

It was fun to catch up with old friends though. These girls are just the best. Their hubbies are all right too. Oh, and their kids are adorable.

Naps and things

Yesterday my sweet friend Jana brought her two kiddos over for a play date. I haven't seen much of her since she had sweet Amelia back in March. It was so much fun holding a little baby again! And so much fun giving the baby back to mama when she got fussy! Jake and Emma loved just sitting and watching her in the bouncy seat. They both said they wanted a new baby in our house. Good luck with that!

We also had Logan over here so it was a full house. I discovered something vitally important though. Logan couldn't settle down to take his nap while the other kids were here so I ended up putting him down right after they left around 1pm. That's also Emma's usual nap time so I put her in Jake's bed at the same time. And she went to sleep. That's two kids down at the same time! Huge! We're doing it again today. They are both asleep and Jake and I are about to have some one on one book reading time.

Right after he's done saving the world. This kid has super hero on the brain. I hear it's an actual medical condition. The only treatment is surgical removement of the Spider Man mask or the kids imagination. Wish me good luck with that!

Together they will save the day!

Do you ever wish you had the luxury to live in your imagination as much as little kids do? If I spent half my day pretending to be a super hero or a fairy I would be declared insane.



Have you ever seen a cuter Tinker Bell or a more heroic Spider Man?



Personally, I think Jake has a cooler Spider Man stance than Spidey himself.



Shortly after putting on his costume the other day, Jake declared "First, I have to go potty. Then I will save the world." Even super heroes have their priorities.

Movies and small bladders do not make a good combo

Mike's dad and his wife Sally and her son drove down from Missouri last week. They were bringing Mike's brothers kids back to him since he's home from Afghanistan. They all made it over to our house Wednesday afternoon. We had a great time seeing them again and made a trip to the pool with all of the kids. We also made a trip to Salt Lick for some barbecue. Yum.

They came back Thursday to spend the day also. We met them at a movie theater in Austin to take the kids to see Cars 2. Now, this was a big deal. Jake and Emma have never been to a movie theater before. Their cousins, Alia and Tayla have so we were hoping the girls behavior would rub off on our kids. As soon as we bought our tickets Jake and Emma decided they needed to go to the bathroom. Mike took Jake and I took Em. We walked into the bathroom to see Sally holding Tayla's little blue dress under the automatic hand dryer and Tayla standing there in her undies. It was a long car ride for them and she had an accident. So I took Emma to go potty all the while thinking "it sucks to be Sally right now."

We got our popcorn and found seats and waited for the movie to begin. Emma was occupied until she ran out of popcorn. That was about seven minutes into the movie. Then she needed to go potty. I had intentionally sat down on the end by the girls so I could take them out if they needed to go. Off we go to the bathroom. I looked behind me only to see Tayla running after us because she had to go again. Let's just say we did that same thing with various rotations of girls for the next two hours. We must have gone to the potty ten times. I have only a vague inkling of what the movie was about.

The last time I had Emma with me. Well, Sally and Tayla came in right after us and Sally and I were both in agreement that the girls would not be going back into the movie. I told Sally to go back and I would watch the girls. I took them outside because there is a really cool water feature/fountain outside the building. It's just for looking though.

The girls were happy to walk around the fountains on the little brick wall that encircled them for a few minutes. They started walking faster and faster until I had to tell them to slow down already before somebody falls into the water. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Tayla fell in. All the way in. The already once dried dress was completely soaked again. I took both girls back to the bathroom, stripped down Tayla and spent the next fifteen minutes drying her clothes under the automatic hand dryer. All the while thinking "it sucks to be me right now."

Anyhow, Jake really enjoyed his movie experience even though he didn't like the last part of the movie and said it was too scary. I learned a valuable lesson. Never take a child under 3 years old to the movies.

I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of all the family together. The only one I took was of Sally and the girls napping in the afternoon. Aren't they adorable?



We had a really good time and can't wait to see everyone again.

Ten things I know for sure

1.) Emma Mae is officially potty trained!

2.) Little girls have a weird obsession with the potty. They like to visit it 42,000 times a day.

3.) When I hear Jake say "Emma, I have a great idea!" something bad is about to happen.

4.) When I hear Jake say "Emma, that's a great idea!" something really bad is about to happen.

5.) Our dog weighs 133 lbs. and it's all our fault.

6.) Rick Springfield has the single most catchy and awesome song of all time.

7.) The Beatles, James Taylor and Neil Diamond are responsible for most of the other good music in the world.

8.) I am a 60 year old trapped in a 40 year old's body.

9.) Mama's of young children don't have the time or the ability to have long phone conversations.

10.) Mama's of young children don't have the time or the ability to complete complex thoughts.

Happy Fourth of July!

Believe me, if I had access to some big ole fireworks I would be setting them off right now. I would even settle for a few sparklers. Emma has gone all day without an accident! Woo-hoo! Could it be that both of our children are officially out of diapers? I estimate that will save us about $500 a year! Hey! That's how much we just had to spend to get our Jeep fixed! Again!

Unfortunately, due to the dry hotter than a red hot chille pepper conditions here in Texas there is a ban on fireworks. A fact which I know is killing my nephew Tom right about now. So, I'll just have to shout for joy really loud about Emma's command of proper toilet procedures. Yipee!

Mike's brother just got home this morning from Afghanistan. He's in the army. We were planning on celebrating tonight with him and his girls and Mike's dad and wife. But plans changed. Now, it looks like we'll be celebrating tomorrow night. So I think that instead of grilling burgers we'll splurge and split a big juicy steak. You have to grill on the 4th of July. It's the law.

I love being married to a Marine. It makes me feel even more patriotic. I don't know why. It's not like I fought for freedom personally. But I like being married to someone who did. Go out and hug a soldier today for goodness sakes. And put up your flag if you have one! Ours looks so pretty outside today. I'm trying to explain the significance of the flag to Jake. I don't think he quite gets it yet. Now, if there were a super hero dressed up in a flag he would understand the importance. There should be a Flag Man. I'm gonna work on that idea.

Hope you have a fun and safe Fourth!

Potty training Day 3

Success! Emma is doing so well. Although I'm not sure I would call her completely potty trained yet. But she is definitely getting the hang of it. And the great thing is that she stays dry during her nap and over night. Love it!

I think we're still going to hang out at the house for the most part for the next couple of days just to solidify everything in her mind. Today we did have to get out for awhile to take Brady to the groomer and she managed to not have an accident while we were gone.

She is so different than Jake was. He did not want to sit on the potty at all until the evening of the third day. Emma wants to sit on the potty all the time. Even when she doesn't need to go. That's why I'm not sure she is completely trained yet. She has had a lot of success but it might just be because the odds are in her favor to get something in the potty when she is on the potty 75% of the time.




This is an outfit she put together yesterday. I especially love the winter hat with no pants.



This is the loot we've been bribing, I mean positively reinforcing, her with for the last three days. Here's hoping that tomorrow we will wake up and have no more accidents!