Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails

I know it’s late, but I thought y’all would enjoy some pictures from Sam’s school Fourth of July parade and class party. The kids were all very cute, and very happy to have their parents visiting their classes. And it was very neat to get to see a slice of their daily lives at school. The big boys came with us to the party and they were a big hit. Caleb got down on the floor to play with the babies, and the kids loved playing with him. Continue Reading »

Did you know that my boys play baseball? (Hint: if you didn’t, you’ve been living under a rock. Seriously.)  Caleb’s baseball team got a special treat last night – tickets to see the Rangers play the Orioles at the Ballpark in Arlington – and families were invited to tag along. So we did.

I’ll admit, I was worried about the heat and the late night and being at a HUGE stadium with Sam. I wasn’t worried about Jacob’s or Caleb’s behavior because they’ve both been to the stadium: they know not to run off and they’re not prone to temper tantrums. Sam? Not so much. Granted, I wasn’t letting him just walk around on his own, but still. Also, in case you forgot, Sam’s attention span is pretty short, so I envisioned a night spent baby chasing and entertaining, not getting to watch baseball. Continue Reading »

For Mother’s Day, I got a most awesome gift. I got to pick a photographer and have some pictures made! Well, of course the first person I thought of was Emily Melson. She’s incredibly talented and specializes in family pictures. She’s done lots of pictures of friends’ children and families, so she was my only choice, really. 🙂 Now, because of ca-razy family (read: baseball) schedules this spring, we didn’t get to do our photo session until this morning. So yes, we were one of the crazy families out doing pictures at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens at 8:30 (okay, 8:45) this morning. Sam was less than cooperative, but the big boys were perfect, as always! And, talk about instant gratification – Emily already has our sneak peak up! Please enjoy, and if you like what you see, get in touch with her to snap special moments with your own brood!

I hope they’re always like this:

I’m another year older. Bah, why does saying it seem so much ickier than actually living it? It’s like it’s more concrete when you SAY that you’re older (even if, at times, I feel WAY older than I really am).  However, birthdays are not all bad. Especially because, in our house, we celebrate birthday week. That’s right. We celebrate ALL week! Continue Reading »

Texas Health Resources MomBlog posted a few of my reflections from our recent evening at Carnegie Hall. I wanted to share it here, too. Enjoy!

(Sorry I’ve been so lax on posting lately – it’s been a bit busy!)

“Now, the nail polish remover is going to sting if you have any cuts on your fingers. And you’ll want to go wash your hands when I’m done taking the polish off.” Yes, that was something I said tonight. No, it wasn’t to remove eye black or a temporary tattoo. It was to remove bright pink nail polish from Jacob’s fingernails. Nail polish he “willingly” let a girl put on him.  Isn’t it lovely?

Aren't they pretty?

Are you interested in the full story? You should be, because it’s much more fifth grade boy than you’d think. Today was Market Day at school. During Market Day, the third graders, who have been learning some basic economics, get to offer goods or services for sale to the rest of the school. Jacob’s friend Josh has a little sister in third grade. Her service was to paint people’s nails. Do you see where I’m going with this? The boys – Jacob, Josh, John, and I think one more whose name is escaping me now – all dared each other to get their nails painted.

The picture above is the end result of the dare. I’m told that the other boys got theirs done, too. So everyone honored the dare. Now, just to make all you bargain hunters really proud, Jacob and John didn’t want to get their nails done at the price offered, so the astute business woman gave them a discount. (And, for the record, she really did a pretty good job – better than I do on my own nails, anyway.)

I was able to get it (mostly) off before he had to go to baseball practice.

You know that old saying, “kids say the darnedest things?” Well, it’s not just kids. Adults say some pretty funny things, too. The women in my family are known for our goofy phrases or slips of the tongue. Some that will last forever in our family are “But I’ll forget it’s a Snoopy watch by Christmas” (me, at about age 4 or 5); “this squashbuckling president,” (Lynne, in a draft of a chapter of her book); “something stinks in here; it smells like dead funeral flowers” (Nana, may she rest in peace, while visiting Mom’s house, complaining about the scented plug-in). You get the idea. Continue Reading »

We’re having a music party in my living room, with the Zune Marketplace playing through the XBox 360. We’ve heard MC Hammer “2 Legit,” “U Can’t Touch This,” and “Have you Seen Her?” (which Caleb told us sounded “girlie”); various versions of “Somebody Farted” (yes, you read that right – you’d be surprised how many songs have Weird Al-type spoofs that are about flatulence). We played the Glee Mashup of Thriller/Heads Gonna Roll. As it started, Jacob groaned because it wasn’t what he had asked to hear. Caleb listened and said, “this sounds like Michael Jackson!” (He’s a smart kid, isn’t he?). Now is the Glee version of “Bust a Move.” The boys are alternating between giggling at Daddy and me singing along and groaning at how mortifying we are. 🙂

And of course, no music party is complete without a little “Baby Got Back.” Yeah…we ARE those parents tonight. 🙂

Okay, I promise this will be the last of the posts about Sam’s birthday. . . Okay, no, I don’t promise that. But I do think that you’ll have fun checking out my adventures in cake baking/decorating over at the ever-fabulous Texas Health Resources Momblog. And, those of you who know me certainly know this was an out-of-character undertaking for me. Enjoy – we sure did!!