and happy birthday, papa jerry!

Well, I can't find any pictures of Papa Jerry, but today is his birthday. We love Jerry and Cathy so much. (these are my brother's in-laws) They have been grandparents to our boys and parents to Kevin and me.

I'll post this one, because I know it's one that Jerry will appreciate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JERRY! WE LOVE YOU!

happy birthday, collin!

Yesterday we got to celebrate my nephew, Collin's, FIFTH birthday. I can't believe he is already five. He was the tiniest baby I have ever held. He weighed just over 4 pounds when he was born. He's still pretty skinny, but as you can see, he has GREAT BIG muscles!!!


There was so much chocolate icing on the inside of Ben's mask we had to throw it away. He also had yellow icing on his belly and arms.


Mika had a blast lounging in her little bikini. She is so sweet!

T-E-A-M! Go Team!

This is my awesome team! I love them...they are the BEST!

Thanks, Emily! It worked!

TGIF!

nuff said!

funny kids!

Benji:  When I was a little kid, my fray-vrit color was blue.  But big boys like orange and yellow.

(that big boy will be 3 in one week!)

Andy:  Today we got to play Play-Doh!  

Me:  I love Play-Doh!  What color did you get?

Andy:  Well, first I had pink and L (friend) had green.  L was crying because she doesn't like green, so I gave her my pink and I played with green.

Me:  Wow!  You are a very kind friend to L.

Andy:  The teacher told me trade with her.  You HAVE to do what your teacher says, even if you don't want to.

Oh...well, at least he understands that much!!! 

Our first official week of back-to-school and all that goes with that is almost over.  I forget every year how hard the first week is!  Andy loves Pre-K, though I am still having trouble leaving him in the CAFETERIA with about 13 million other kids.  He's fine with it, but I'm not.  Luckily, another parent doesn't love how it's all going down, either, so the problem is being handled.  I just pray every day on the way to school that each morning will be smoother than the last.  I can't wait till next year when he will be on campus with me!

i'm frustrated!

Blogger isn't letting me load any pictures!  I'm not doing anything differently.  Is it just me???

it's almost time!!!

Here are some of my favorite people...

This is my team: Suzanne, Terry, me, Eileen, Erin, and Kim. They are THE BEST team. They certainly make going back to work after a great summer much easier to do.

The boys are doing great at school. They were super excited to see all of their friends and teachers. Andy starts pre-k on Monday. I am just a little nervous about that because I will be leaving him in the cafeteria at his school in the morning, and then he will go to class from there. I know that everyone in that building will be looking out for those little babies, but he is MY baby. I wish there were a way for me to be with him until he starts class. But, I know he's okay. He has several friends in there and is so excited to go to "real school!"

In other news, Ben seems to be the victim of peer pressure--in a good way!!! He is very interested in using the potty these days, and he is especially interested while he's at school. Yay! Way to follow the crowd, little man!

Tonight was Meet the Teacher night at my school. I got to meet most of my new students, which is so exciting to me. It's fun to see them and talk to them for the very first time. They all seem like FUN kids. I am ready for Monday! I also go to see some of my kids from last year, and that made me a little (well, a lot) sad. They are bigger and I miss them! But, I know they are going to have a great fourth grade year, and I can tell I am going to love this new class.

fun with the cousins

We got to spend some time with Collin and Mika today...

I love how Andy's leg is crossed...he looks just like Kevin!

Here is Mika eating her queso... So Cute!!!

this might be my favorite part of the day

mixed feelings

My kids are, at this very moment, fighting over a toy.  I told them to figure it out, or it's going to the Goodwill bag.  (This is not an idle threat.  It would not be the first toy to meet that fate.)  So, I think tomorrow is going to be a good day for all of us.  Because they are tired of each other.  And I am tired of them being tired of each other.  And Ben just came up to me, crying, because "Andy will not be a watermelon."  Huh?  I don't know what that means, but I'm sure the cure is in spending some quality time with old friends and new teachers tomorrow, not each other.  So, I am just not feeling too sad about going back to work tomorrow.

However, I know the end of the day tomorrow will not come soon enough, because by that time I will be missing my boys terribly.  It's always hard the first few weeks.  

I am excited to see my team again.  They are the best friends to work with, and it's fun to catch up on each other's summer fun.

I really don't have much to say, but I got a mean text message from someone, telling me to update.  

Oh, Vegas!  That's why I haven't posted in a while.  Kevin and I went to Vegas and had a blast.  (THANK YOU to Le and Brandon for taking care of our boys!)  We came home broke! (Luckily, Kevin is a conservative gambler, but I'm not.  Anything he may have won, I lost.  I do not know when to quit.  I understand how people can become addicted.) We saw Danny Gans, and he was awesome.   We also saw Le Reve, which is a Cirque de Soliel show, and I didn't get it.  I think maybe it was a dream about Hell???  Anyway, not nearly as good as Love (we saw that last year).

So, there's the update of our fascinating lives.  Hope you're satisfied, Le!

make lunch--check!

Andy is so, SO excited about going back to school.  He has all his new supplies, and we recently found the perfect backpack and lunch box, after MUCH deliberation--Spiderman.  He decided, for both himself and for Ben, that the backpack needed to match the lunchbox.  I totally agree.  (Ben got Batman, by the way.)  So, for a few days now, Andy has asked if he could pack lunch in the new Spiderman lunchbox.  Well, that doesn't really make sense when we are eating peanut butter sandwiches in our kitchen.  Yesterday, he asked again if he could pack a lunch.  I told him that was a fantastic idea, because we were going to work at school for a while the next day.  A little while later, I hear him bustling around in the kitchen, and this is what I found when I got to him:

He packed "lunch" for the two of them.  As you can see, ha made excellent choices:  peanut butter crackers, granola bars, raisins, fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups, chocolate covered pretzels, yogurt, string cheese, and a drink.  Wow!  He put the same things in both lunches, because "that's fair."  I love that he thought to put all the cold stuff together on the bottom.  He's so funny!

I am so pumped to know that I will not have to make lunches for them every night...Andy obviously has everything under control!

I seriously wonder what their teachers would say about me if I sent this to school?????

okay, i'm getting there...

***I actually wrote all this on Monday, but forgot how to resize pictures on our new computer.  Got it figured out now, though!***

So, as I have been working on about 247 yards of laminated wonderfulness for my classroom, I have started getting back into school mode.  I am feeling a twinge of excitement about meeting my new students, and I am especially feeling ready to see my fellow teachers.  Most of you already know this, but I work at the best school, and I love the people I work with.  And this year we are adding a very exciting new friend--Deneise!  I am so happy that she will be in our building every day.  She just adds fun to everything!!!

Here are the boys enjoying some fun in the sun...I mean shade.

too much???

Okay, I really do not let my kids watch TV all day long.  I don't.  We do lots of other things during the day.  But, apparently what I am letting them watch is too much.  Because, the other day we went to my mom's house and as we walked up to the porch, the boys got really excited and start saying, "Nana got Aqua Globes!!!!!"  Wow.  This is a little glass thingy that you stick into potted plants so you don't have to worry about watering them and we know this because we have seen the info-mercial for them about a thousand times on this Power Ranger episode we have Tivoed.  (Is Tivo a verb?  Can I add -ed to the end of it?)  So, okay, that was kinda funny that they remembered that.

Well, then, this morning, the boys were sitting at Nana's table for breakfast and Andy sees a new grill cover, still in the bag.  "Oh, did Nana buy some Space Bags?"  I say, "Huh?  What's a Space Bag?"  He says, "You stick all your stuff in it and then put your vacuum in it and they get smaller."  

Proud moment, as I realize that this is another info-mercial that plays during Power Rangers.   So, I am feeling great guilt about the number of times they have watched Power Rangers this summer. 

nothin'

I got nothin!  For this post, I mean.  I really wanted to catch up on the blog today, but I just don't have anything interesting going on in my life right now!  

Swim lessons are officially over now, which is just about the best news ever.  I'm pretty sure Andy learned nothing except that he really hates to get his face wet.  He really does love to swim and hang out at the pool.  We go almost everyday for fun (and for my sanity--it keeps them happy and wears them out.  win-win).

I had to go to work yesterday.  Usually this is about the time I start thinking about the things I want to do in my classroom and what I want to do differently with this class, but I am just not there yet.  I was extremely unproductive.  It was nice to hang out with adults all day, but I sure did miss my boys.  

Kevin and I leave for Vegas is less than 2 weeks!!!  I am so, so excited.  I love Las Vegas.  We always have the best time there.  

Oh, and I lost 1.5 pounds this week.  I realize that is a tiny number, but it is a start.  I am afraid I may have trouble fitting into some of my school clothes in the fall.  I have been bad this summer.  Time to get back on track!

Last, I just want to say that I love my children.  I do!  Even this week, when I have seriously questioned my abilities to tackle this great task of motherhood, I love them.  I love who they are right now, for better or for worse.  They make every day exciting.  I am so thankful for them.  And I am so thankful for the naps that they are taking right now, so that I could write this completely random post.

cookies

These were delivered to our house yesterday evening.  Kevin helped my sister-in-law's parents get some cabinet doors for their kitchen, and they are just the kind of people who go above and beyond with thank-yous.  They are the sweetest people, and we will certainly enjoy the yummy gift!

Thanks, Grammy and PaPa!

If you look closely, you will see that the middle cookie is a cabinet door, and the one on the far right says "baby cousin!"

little helpers

The other night, the boys helped me cook one of the many gourmet meals that I am constantly amazing my family with--English muffin pizzas.  This is one of mine and Kevin's favorite meals!  here are the boys making their pizzas:

At first, they didn't want sauce on their pizza, but after they piled on the cheese, they changed their little minds!  So, we had to start over.  But, they turned out super yummy!

summer fun

First of all, I'll update on swim lessons: they are not my favorite thing. Yesterday was worse than Monday, but today was better. Well, better after the initial meltdown that lasted from about the time he woke up until the time I walked him into the shallow end of the pool! His sweet teacher told him he could just play today--no swimming or going under. So he did get throught the "lesson" with no crying. Progress!!!


We hung out with my parents and brother and sister-in-law tonight. Here are a couple of pics from the fun:

These days, Leann either cannot think about food or is starving-no in between. This was her first plate tonight! I'm so not judging. I say eat when it feels good! I love you, Le!

Poppy says he's saving for a real pool... No kidding, Ben asked my mom if she had a pool for him, and she said no. So he tried to be resourceful. The dog bowl was fine with him! He sat in it for about 30 minutes!

Finally, here are a couple of pictures that I have taken of my boys at bedtime this past week. Sometimes they get so quiet and I wonder why. Well, apparently, sometimes, they need to accessorize before they get their beauty sleep!

swim lessons-day 1

UGH! Andy started swim lessons today. He likes to swim and does all the usual stuff-splashing kicking, floating-while we are in the neighborhood pool. He's never really been afraid of the water. However, Andy changed his outlook on water today. He cried the entire time. I sat on the opposite side of the pool, where he couldn't really see me, and I could still hear him. The lessons are an hour long, and at about minute 37, he spotted me and ran away from the teacher to get to me. He was in trouble for that, but when I sat him down to gently, lovingly (ha!) tell him that he would be returning to the pool with his teacher, he was shaking. I do not know what came over him, but I think he was truly terrified. Still, I made him get back in the water and do one more activity with his teacher. I wasn't sure if I should be furious with him or heartbroken for him. I know he has to learn to swim, and I cannot teach him. But is it okay for me to force him to "face his fear?" I think I'm right-just keep going, even if he is scared to death? The more he goes, the more he'll understand that he's fine????? I am feeling like a bad mom right now. When I put him to bed, we prayed especially that God would help him have courage to go under the water and not cry. I, myself, am praying that his sweet teacher will find enough patience to get through these next two weeks! Hopefully, I'll have happy reports tomorrow.

By the way, while he was "cleaning" his room this afternoon, Andy found a toy (that he has only had for a few weeks) and he said, "Mom! Look what I found! I have been looking for this for several years!" :)

favorite farm animals

This morning in the car, the boys were having a conversation about farm animals. It went something like this:

A: My favorite farm animal is a horse.
B: My favorite farm animal is a cow.
Mom: What do cows give us? What do they make for us?
A: Chicken!!! (pause...) No, wait, that comes from pigs.

Ha!

back from vacation!!!

Well, we made it home from our back-to-back vacations! We spent a few days in Galveston and then came home just long enough to get ready for a camping trip with the WHOLE family.


Galveston was great! This was the first time either of the boys had seen the ocean, and they were totally impressed. All the kids had a blast playing in the sand, collecting shells (then tossing them in the water), jumping in the waves, and just hanging out. Ben has no fear when it comes to water. He wanted to walk further and further into the waves alone! Someone had to be holding his had the whole time. I think Andy's favorite part was burying his feet and ankles with sand and then breaking free. We stayed at a house with a beautiful view of the Gulf (I know, it's just the Gulf, but it's still cool to sit on the porch and smell the ocean). We had a great time!

For the Fourth, we went camping in West, Texas. There is nothing in West, except the Czech Stop. Which we visited and spent $$$$ for lots of yummy kolaches! But, it is close to Hillsboro, so we did a little shopping. Mostly, we just hung out. This is the first time that all of mine and Kevin's family have traveled together, and it was just so fun! I took only 1 picture while we were camping:

This is my sweet neice, Mika Baylee. I love this picture for many reasons...first, she lost one of her baby earrings, so Lori put her own earring on Mika. So she had this big, heavy earring on one side of her head. Second, she loves her mac-and-cheese. She had it everywhere! Third, I think this picture tells a lot about her personality. She is very sweet, but is not one bit ashamed of flirting a little to get her way. She pretty much had every boy on the trip wrapped around her little finger!

And last, but certainly not least, I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT (again) !!!!!

My baby brother and his wife are going to have a baby! I am just so excited I can hardly see straight. I know everyone probably already knew this news, but I wanted to say it anyway. Because I am SO excited!