Are You Still Here?

I am....I've just been busy enjoying the beginning of our summer! Let me start off saying -- we had A GREAT TIME this Sunday at my (step)mother-in-law's house! (Sounds weird, huh?) Oh well, I'm weird and you guys have probably already figured that out....

We left our house around 10:30 (which is later than I had planned, but that is nothing new for me). Once on the road things were going well, That Other Kid was watching a movie, till we got about half way there, when he proceeded to lose his breakfast ALL OVER HIMSELF, including his clothes. I forgot -- my kids get car sick, just like I used to do! He did this several more times, with several close calls. After several delays to clean up vomit and change clothes, which for some strange reason we had a pair of shorts and a couple of sweatshirts in the car. We stopped at Walmart in the town where grandma lives and got a couple of acceptable "summer clothes". He vomited one more time -- in her yard! Then he was fine the rest of the day...go figure! He even ate a bagel right before we left and had no problems keeping it down!

We met lots of relatives and had a nice visit with everyone. That Other Kid got to go FISHING!!! for the first time and he caught his first FISH....he was sooooo HAPPY you could hear him screaming all the way up at the house! I didn't think to bring the camera down to the lake, of course....but I did get a picture with my phone. I just have to figure out how to put it on the computer!!!

The rest of the day was uneventful....and we came home with NO more vomiting, yeah!! And an hour nap!!! but of course that meant he wouldn't go to sleep till 11:30 p.m.!!

Monday, we just laid around and watched tv, did laundry, and all those fun things!! I did fix burgers and hot dogs on the grill...so that was nice. I need to do that more....they tasted really good.

Yesterday was a BIG day for me....it was Allergy Testing Day and CT Scan Day! After that I got my hair done....before my hairdresser leaves for a month to take care of her momma...say a prayer for her.
Her momma had a stroke a few years ago and is not doing well. It will be a LONG month for her and she's gonna need all the prayers she can get to stay strong enough to care for her 24/7 for a month.

Anywhoooo, allergy testing confirmed I have A LOT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ALLERGIES....Burmuda grass (in my front yard), OAK (in my back yard), Ragweed, Marshelder, Pigweed, Lambs Quarter -- all weeds, which I'm sure all reside in my yard! Dustmites -- no wonder I hate to dust, huh?, and the saddest DOGS. Fortunately, they are going to concoct a medicine for me to take every day so that I don't feel like I'm going to die in my own house/yard! This should help with my allergy problems so I'll feel better...

I will find out the results of the CT Scan next Tuesday when I see the ENT again. I am hoping for some definitive answers then. I have a feeling those answers will mean surgery, but I am prepared to go through surgery to finally feel well enough to function like a normal person again. Right now I struggle with breathing through my nose so bad I snore at night and can hardly breathe well enough to do the most basic of outdoor activities, like walking a mile -- from Sonic to my house! I did it this afternoon and was so exhausted and winded when I got home all I could do is SIT!!

I want to get moving again, so I can shed this excess weight. But I know that is a process...and I'm moving in the right direction!

I heard from my dad last night and he is doing well with his radiation and chemo treatments. He has the rest of this week and next, then he will see the doctor, who will determine when his surgery will be. Please pray for his continued strength. He is doing so well, he is walking 2 miles a day and feels good!! I'm soooo thankful that God the Father is taking care of my father!

Well that's it for now....hope all is well with you!

Memorial Day Weekend

Today has been a typical HOT, Texas afternoon, but I didn't have the luxery of sitting around in my nice comfy air conditioning...

About 3 weeks ago, before the heat set in here in Texas, That Other Kid found 2 bags of water balloon that I had left over from a previous year's birthday party for That Kid. He asked about them, so I told them they were water balloons for HOT days! He could hardly wait for a hot day...Today was the day! He found them again and BEGGED to play water balloon fight with me. Where is That Kid when you need him??

Ok, I agreed to fill up 1 bag of the balloons with water and we would have a balloon fight. I told him to go put his swimsuit on and we would go outside and play with them. It took all of 5 minutes to explode all 30 of these balloons and I made sure he didn't really get too wet...I wasn't sure how he would react to be pounded with water. After this was done, he wanted to do the OTHER bag. I refused, and made him mad!

Then he remembered our gym has a swimming pool! Let's go swimming at the gym! I wasn't too sure about it, as it really hasn't been that hot yet. I like my swimming pools to be pretty warm before I swim, not to mention I wish I was at least 50 pounds skinnier. He continued to negotiate/beg and I gave in. We went and had a GREAT time! The water wasn't too cool and he actually let me take him into the water deep enough to get my whole body wet, not just his!

We had a great afternoon of memory making activities, and I want to try to have as many of these as possible, since I know soon he'll be all grown up and wanting to hang out at the gym/pool with girls, not mommy, like That Kid!

Tomorrow That Other Kid and I will go see DH's step mom and hang out with her and some of her family....more memories in the making!

Hope your weekend is full of memory making activities!

Growing Up Is Hard on Momma

Two months tomorrow my "baby" will be an adult! I don't know how to deal with this reality. I still want my baby who sat on my lap at naptime and bedtime and listened to me read Dr. Suess' Cat In the Hat or other silly rhyming books. He would laugh when I tickled him and he would make me laugh so hard I cryed.

Last night I laid in my bed waiting for the midnight curfew I had given him to arrive, then ran for my cell phone to answer it just a little before midnight. He was lost in a part of town he wasn't familiar with, but his friend guided him to get him where he could find the highway. He was calling to say he would be home soon. About 20 minutes later I heard the garage door open and waited for him to come in the house....and I waited....and waited....and waited. About 20 minutes later I went to see what was going on! He was on the cell phone!!! He finally came in about 1 a.m. and it really hit me, he's growing up. Soon he'll be a "grown up" in my little kids body....although he hasn't had the body of a little boy in a LONG TIME. As I told him yesterday, he'll always be my little boy...even after he is 18 -- 2 months, 1 day, and 6 hours and 15 minutes from now!!

What's a momma to do?? I need my little boy to stay my little boy a little longer!!

Steven Curtis Chapman

Please pray for him and his family this week as they are experiencing the worse kind of grief imaginable, the death of their youngest child. For more details go here.

My Boys

Wordless Wednesdays are great! To see other great Wordless Wednesday entries check it out at 5 Minutes For Mom!

The Wii is an investment in brotherly love! and I'm all for that...with a 13 1/2 year gap, ya gotta be creative!

Tiny Talk Back Track

Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting!

If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor!

Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary

My Tiny Talks this week will concentrate on the amusing things that my now 17, almost 18 year old said when he was just a little tyke! Now keep in mind that he said these things "eons" ago....and he may or may not have any recollection of them and would probably be embarrassed to know they are out there for the world to see, but ya know, I want them to be recorded someway and to record them in his baby book seems a little ridiculous, don'tcha think?

So let the remembering begin!

As a baby he would stand in his crib and call out "FOOD" in the most whiny, pathetic sounding cry he could come up with in the middle of the night. If someone had heard him they would think he was starving to death. I would come into his room and he would eat a small bowl of cheerios and all would be well again.

He would give us kisses as a baby and every time he would say "Wa, wa, wa" with every smack! From that time on a kiss has always been a "wa". Now I ask him if I can give him a "wa" and he runs!

He was a big fan of Legos Kits from the age of 3...and of course we had to put these together for him. He would hold the "constructions" for the kits and find the pieces for us!

He's just as cute now as he was 16 years ago, but he doesn't say such cute things anymore! I still love him just as much, though!

The most recent thing he said was just last year or so....so I'm not sure it qualifies as a "Tiny Talk" but he is still a kid, soooo...DH and I were talking about That Kid and we said "well we must have done ok, he's turning out pretty good." He turned to us and said, "You call this OK???" It cracked us up!!!

Kids say the darnedest things, huh???

Dealing With Ants

We live in Texas where the ants are just as big as the state! and they BITE, expecially little boys who stand on their homes! Yessir, they do and then the little boys scratch the bites, then they become infected and cause the whole entire foot to swell up causing mom to visit the local Pediatric Urgent Care Facility with said little boy, not once but twice in the same weekend!

What have you been doing this weekend???

Family Trampoline Fun

This is my sister-in-law trying to impress the world with her jumping talents and act like she's 4 like her daughter! You'll note I'm not up there...I'm busy taking video thankyouverymuch! Trust me it would have been UGLY if I had been up there!






This is my 40 year old brother pretending he is 4 years old again, trying to show off for the world! Once again you'll note that I'm not in the video....I'm too old to do foolish things like this!!!

Before the Prom Pictures....

This year was That Kid's 2nd time to attend the Christian Homeschool Prom. Last year he had a girlfriend/a prom date, and had a miserable time....this year he didn't have a girlfriend/date and had a BLAST. He was ok with that as A LOT of the kids attending the Prom attend in groups of friends and just "hang out" with everyone. The Prom is a BIG DEAL and is top-notch! The parents that participate in putting this together are FABULOUS! They know their stuff.

My friend, and That Kid's bff's mom, hired a professional photographer to get some great prom pictures taken of her girls and we tagged along, since I'm always game for some great pictures of my kids....especially when he is all dressed up! He looked "snazzy" and the girls looked BEAUTIFUL. That Kid felt honored to be photographed with such beautiful young women, especially since they could have just said no...we don't want you in our pictures.

Here are a few of my favorites that I took with my own camera. The young woman in blue is his bff and the young woman in peach is her younger sister.

New Food Choices...

As I have mentioned before That Other Kid has numerous food allergies and we recently went through some food challenges, so now he can eat a whole new selection of foods. Soy, wheat, and peanuts are now options for him! You would not believe how many new foods this opens up for him....

After 4 years of being told "no, you can't eat this...no, you can't eat that" I have understandably had a hard time getting him to try or eat new things. While we were in Kansas he tried a "hamburger bun" and "cocktail peanuts"! Both of these were previously known as "NO, YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT'S". I documented the hamburger/hamburger bun, but missed the peanut eating event as he decided to eat those while celebrating his cousin's birthday....and I was visiting with my mom and dad! What a momentus occasion for us!

My Little Model

In April I entered That Other Kid in a Photo Contest. Basically whoever won the contest got a free photo session with a Professional Photographer along with a free 11 x 14. I have been told since birth that That Other Kid is soooooo cute. I should have him be a model, put him in print, enter his pictures in contest for the cutest kid, etc. I finally took everyone up on their suggestions and entered him in this contest. HE WON!! I was very jazzed!! It turned out everyone was right -- he is cute! and FULL of PERSONALITY....These are just 3 of the pictures that Tiffany took and all things considered (it had been a very long day and he was getting tired even before we started, but he is a natural ham and loves his pictures taken so....)I think they turned out great!! Check out her website and if you are in need of some great pictures and live in the area give her a call. She is flexible and great with kids! I'm going to have her do That Kid's senior pictures this summer! I'm jazzed all over again!

Mothers Day

Mother's Day is a special day to pay tribute to your mom. It is a time to tell her how much you love her and appreciate all that has been done for you!

My mom and I have had our rough times and still struggle to get along, but I think we have come to a place where we can at least get along for a period of time without having an argument about something. It is working for us....Hope you had a great day, mom!

My Mother-in-law on the other hand --- WE GET ALONG FABULOUSLY!! She is my sanity when things here at home get out of control. I pick up the phone and rant and rave and she listens to me and gives advice or sometimes just listens. I LOVE HER....I don't know how I would get along without her....she keeps me from running away from home! She is everything I ever imagined in a mom...and I have her in a MOTHER-IN-LAW...I'm soooo blessed. I just want to say, I love you....Mom-in-law...you are my sanity!! Hope you have had a great Mother's Day today.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my dh's step mom. She is a wonderful person, who put up with a lot of crap from my now deceased father in law :). She raised my dh from the time he was 10 till we got married at 19 and if I do say so myself she did a pretty good job. She is back living in the Lone Star State after living in California and Colorado and I'm looking forward to seeing her again. When we lived with her in CA for about 6 months she treated me just like she would her own kid instead of "a daughter-in-law" who just caused trouble or whatever. It was a trying time for all of us then and we did have some problems but what family doesn't have problems living in a home with 4 adults and a baby??

Sooooo...in short/long I just want to say Happy Mother's Day to 3 special MOMS. Hope you all had a great day!

I'm Still Alive!!!

just extremely busy since I got home Monday night. I did laundry for what seemed like days just to catch up on what we used over the weekend. Then the week held doctor's appointments, a pre-planned play date, a trip to Six Flags over Texas for Homeschool Day, and the annual Homeschool Bookfair. Of course, we squeezed in a Mother's Day lunch (Saturday) and a Ranger's Baseball game this afternoon! That is, in short, my week since I've been home.

My trip to Kansas was fun...I have pictures and video to share when I get a few more minutes, because we had a great time with family and celebrated my niece's 4th birthday. That Other Kid had a wonderful time, playing with his cousins, jumping on the trampoline, "mowing" the grass, riding his bike, and playing at the park! Needless to say, I am exhausted!!

Thanks to all the prayers that have gone out my dad is doing better than ever expected with NO side effects from the radiation and chemo treatments. He's walking 2 miles a day and he kicked my butt walking the track at the local rec center he walks at every day. I could barely walk 1 mile, and it was embarrassing and humbling as well as pleasing that he is doing so well!!

That Kid's trip to Utah was informative and beneficial to his referee future. He was in a classroom setting for a huge hunk of time Friday, did a power skate that he said was HARD (but then again he hasn't skated till that weekend for about 6 weeks), then did another classroom time on Saturday morning. Then he was assigned to work 3 games all Midget Major AA level -- which is the level he PLAYS -- and he isn't supposed to be able to ref yet! He worked these high level games with as much skill as he could, and was criticized and praised by high level officials. He did well and learned tons that he can apply to games here in the metroplex...I'm so proud!

I got pictures back from the Prom and pictures back from the photo shoot that That Other Kid won that I also need to post. But those will take time, too so they must wait for me to get a little more caught up around here. I have school work to grade and get caught up on and that is my next goal. There is only a few more weeks left and then we go to VERY limited schoolwork for the summer. But before the summer break That Kid will be preparing for the June 7th SAT test.

So much to do....so little time!!!!

Hope all is well in your world....

A Quick Update

Just a quick update tonight/this morning as I get ready to leave to go visit mom and dad in the morning. I still have laundry to finish, dishes to do, pet food and medicine to get ready, and a den to clean up so if the landlords come in they don't freak!

Dad's radiation is going well. I'm looking forward to seeing him and make sure for myself! My niece turns 4 this weekend, so we get to celebrate with the family. That Other Kid is looking forward to spending time with his cousins and playing non-stop with kids for the next few days.

Meanwhile, dh and That Kid are in Utah for a USA hockey official developmental camp. DH is taking a working vacation staying a Marriott hotel in a King size bed by himself instead of sharing a queen size bed with me and sometimes That Other Kid, while That Kid will be on ice about 20 hours over the next 3 days and being evaluated so that he can advance in the ranks of officating.

It looks to be a good weekend!! Hope yours is good....and if I get bored maybe I'll check in.