Going Bye-Byes

As Brayden would say "go bye!" That's right we are gonna go bye as of 2-3pm (at the latest I hope :) WE are off to Port Aransas for our annual trip to the beach. We are all sooo ready. So needless-to-say, you won't hear from Jim or I until after July 4th.

On a side note, I have been following a story (since yesterday)that has really grabbed my heart. A family in Irving went to the park on Wed. (I think, or Tues) and they have a baby just a little older than Brayden and we wondered off and they still haven't found him. Up until yesterday afternoon, they didn't issue an Amber Alert cause there were no signs of foul play and they were sure he was just lost in the woods. Now they are think it was kidnapping. I just can't image losing my baby or ANY of my children. Ugh, it just chokes me up. But I can only pray that he's found and he's ok. So if your so inclined...you might say a prayer for him and his family. Heck, that's all anyone can do now I guess. Sorry for the morbid topic, just really hit home for me.

Hope you all have a great and safe July 4th!

Fun Father's Day

I was waiting for Jim to blog about this, but I'm bored so I'll do it :)

For Father's Day we took Jim to Denton Water Works. (It's a water park.) I was going to take him to NRH2O, but Denton's closer and Dad's got in free for Father's Day. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The kids and Jim started right off for the slides while Brayden finished off his nap on my shoulder. The place is really laid out nice. They have several patio sets or picnic tables under awnings and several grassy areas to lay out a blanket or what not. The baby slept maybe 30 more mins then we headed to the lazy river. Brayden was very unsure about this and clung to me the whole time. We went around a few times and then Jim and the kids headed back to the slides and Brayden and I headed to the kids area. It only goes to 1.5 feet deep and has like a playground in the middle with all kinds of spraying things. The outside edge is just like the shore and Brayden liked that, not too overwhelming. He didn't care for the splashing and spraying. But that all changed by the end of the day. He started barreling thru everything. The spraying turned into a funny thing. It was great! I loved seeing all my kids enjoying their selves...even the biggest kid :) We did the river several more times and Brayden loved it more each time. The other two were born part fish, so I never worried about them. They did get brave and attempted the largest slide a few times.

Overall it was just a great time! The place is just the right size for you to feel comfortable letting the big kids do their own thing. It wasn't overrun with people. The waits didn't start for the slides till probably about 3ish, and even then they were bad at ALL! I'm positive that we will go back. We still might try NRH2O, but our first experience at Water Works will be hard to beat.

Sand

Brayden is no doubt like his big brother in many ways: his love of outside, playing in the sand, telling tall tales (even thought we may not understand WHAT he's saying yet). We let Brayden explore a little more of the backyard each time he goes out. He's now taken a true liking to the sand box. He practically has to do the splts to get in, but you can tell that to him it's all worth it! Here are some cute shots of the boys playing today. (Nat likes to play in the sand too, but she'd turned herself into a popcicle in the pool and was ready to go in.)


My boys :)



Here he is telling me one of his tales...


I think this "might" have been what he was telling me about in the last picture.





Matt's showing him how it's done..and Brayden's soaking it all in!

Catching up

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did. We did tons of yard work that we'd been putting off for a while. But we had a swim party for the softball team and wanted to tidy up a bit before everyone got here. We had about 19 people show up on Saturday and the kids swam till dark. Matthew went to stay at Dillion's (Jim's other coach's son) and we got his sister, Jessica, and Jac. The girls were great and had a great time. Nat got swim ear and was hurting pretty bad around 3am, but luckily I still have some ear meds left over from my last swim ear.

Sunday we tried to do as little as possible. Got caught up on some of the shows we'd Tivoed and snacked...as healthy as we could :) Jac stayed with us till after 5pm and then we went an blew our diets and had Chinese. It was great.

Nat will start her art classes again today. They've been out for about a month and I know she's ready to go back. This year our town is having tons of summer (day) camps. Some free, but others less than $50. So I intend on signing the big kids up for at least one each.

Matt was about to get to start racing his 4 wheeler again, but Jim just found out that they are not racing in Wichita Falls anymore. And he was really pumped too. I asked him if there was any other sports he'd like to do, but basketball and 4 wheelers are if for him. He does have the new neighbors to play with though. They are directly behind us and moved in the end of May. We had them and their Mom over on Friday to swim for a bit. Nat got ran out of the pool by the boys...or so she says. But Mat's been out numbered by girls in our family for a long time, so I didn't have too much sympathy for her. Besides, she started the whole splashing fiasco (sp?) :)

Brayden's getting funnier by the day. He's so animated...just like his brother! His newest words are "nope" (he'd been saying "no" for sometime now...), baby, and peas peas (please). He really enjoys the pool and loves getting to have more outside time..and freedom! We seem to have the whole food allergy thing under control. We still have him on soy, but that's cause he prefers it over whole milk. But he loves yogurt and cheese.

I don't have any funny tales to tell on the kids right now....but I'm sure they are just right around the corner. We head to the beach on the 23rd and we are just counting the days. We get to go for 11 days this year and it's gonna be great. Can't wait to see Brayden's reaction to it this year. My only concern is not burning my little snowball. The other two are already looking like coppertone models!

If you haven't already, go check out Wes's blog. He posted some really cool pictures from Germany. Have a great day!

One Full Weekend down, One to go...

We had a good Memorial Day weekend...and I hope all of you did also. We left out Friday afternoon to Mom and Dad's to visit and to take the kids to them so they could head out for camping at Junction on Sunday. Jim helped Dad at the races...which got rained out and Mom nad I hung out, shopped, let the kids play in the pool, and watched "The Perfect Man"..pretty cute. Sunday we all packed back up and Mom, Dad, Nat, Matt, Lorrin, and Jordan headed off to Junction. This will be the first camping trip in their new trailer. VERY NICE and much bigger. Jim, Brayden, and I headed to San Angelo to visit with our friends Penny and Brian and their kiddos Bridget and Brian. Brian and little Brian are Jim and Matt's Dunes buds. We visited for a bit at their house and then headed out to the lake to Brian's Uncle lake house. It was a nice visit and was way past overdue.

Monday we did a little house cleaning and then headed out for grocery shopping. I don't know why, but it's always fun to just go piddling around at Sams. Yesterday was Jim's meeting in Denton for the tournament (see his blog for more info). Before the meeting we stopped off and had some Sushi. Let me tell ya...it was great and we played with the idea of going back for "dessert" :)

I also got to talk to Nat yesterady and they had just gotten done riding the rapids. Sounded like everyone was having a great time and no one had gotten injured :) They will be headed to Mom and Dad's tomorrow and then Dad will bring them home on Friday. From that point on...we will start another action packed weekend of Softball.

We will keep you posted.

Ok, I'm really back now :)

I gotta a lot to catch up on since I've been down for 2 weeks and just on dial up. Not that there's anything wrong with dial up, but after trying to do my work all day on dial up...trying to download/upload...waiting 20 mins or so per file...then get booted off...GRRR. My patience was pretty much shot.

Anyway, last weekend was the Wise County Playoffs. This would determine who was 1st place in Wise County (refer to Jim's blog for more details...and you WILL get the details!) We did great and got 2nd out of like 14-15 teams. Only the top 4 went to this tournament. ANYWAYS...MY daughter was on FIRE! That little toot can HIT. Man alive I wish everyone could see it with their own eyes cause she hits like a big ole gal. Here's some pictures that I am SO happy came out....


Here she is cheering her head off. She (and all the team) are so supportive of each other... and it comes from GREAT coaching!




Just look where this ball is at and her stance. HECK YA she's gonna belt that baby out of the park.




And she did. She got a home run with this hit (hee..hee and I got it on camera...I'm sooo thrilled :) You can see the ball in the sky, just to the left of the light pole. It's yellow.













We have one more tournament in Denton the weekend of July 2nd. Last year we play sasquatches (sp?)..no joke! Hope to have a good time and maybe win one or two games this time :) Will post pictures afterwards...

Yesterday was Nat's awards ceremony and Wed was Matt's. They both ended up with all A averages and we couldn't be more pleased.

We are very blessed to have such bright children. Sometime they have their "shining" moments... Like my earlier post with Matt and the trampoline. Or, when Natalie thinks that since I haven't taken Marbles in for a haircut...that she'd just take care of it herself. I now realize that I was having a "duh" moment when I was asked "Mom, where's the scissors?" Instead of telling here where they were...I should have asked "why?". Because it was a heck of a shock to walk out into the garage and see this enormous black pile of fur (that I thought was Marbles at first). Once it sunk in I thought...oh dear, how bad is it. Well I knew it had to bad cause Marbles hauled a-- once she put down the scissors and it was a good hour before we saw him again. And when we did see him, let me tell ya...it wasn't pretty.




















And as for Mr. Brayden's activites...he's still just chillin, watching toons, playing outside any chance he can get :)

I'm here...

If you've wondered where Jim and I have been (blog wise), but internet's been down since Monday night and we've only been on dial up. And let me tell you, trying to do my job thru dial up has been pure hell. So needless to say, the least time I could be in dial up the better. I'm back up now, but mostlikely I'll be back down again tomorrow cause there's still more repairs to be done.

Everyone's doing good. Just got thru with a fun week full of softball. We got 2 wins, 1 tie, and 1 forfeit (which is now not a forfeit and we'll play them on Thurs. And then Saturday will be the playoff tournament to determine who goes to the Denton Tournament.

Jim will try to post the weights tonight. He's currently working the concession stand.

Hope all the Mom's who read this had a great Mother's Day. We had a very nice visit with mine and Jim's Mom. It was too short as always, but any visit is great :)

I'll try to blog again later this week, but for now I gotta go catch up on everything that's been put to the side.

Confusion...

I got a call from the ENT's office today saying that they have Brayden's test results back. She said that he VERY allergic to eggs, but only allergic to eggs. Their reasoning as to why he was getting sick (prior to soy milk) was that I was giving him products with eggs in them...while on whole milk. But telling me that the milk and eggs have no relation...just had too much eggs product in his system. But I'm confused cause since taking him off milk and putting him on soy, he hasn't gotten sick like that! And I looked, almost all of the baby prepackaged foods (frozen and canned/jarred) have some sort of egg product in them. And the nurse told he to give him absolutely NOTHING with egg in it! And she was making it sound like life or death!?!? She also added that he NEEDS to be on whole milk and off the soy.

My brain hurts!

And the thing that's even more frustrating is (not only with the ENT, but also the pediatrician) when you question "well why hasn't he thrown up since..." and "why doesn't all the food I've been giving him make him sick (with egg)...", well they almost act offended. Like I'm supposed to just shut up and do as they say. Or act like I'm just arguing with them. And I'm not... I just want CLEAR answers. Definitive ones. I (we..) have already went thru the unclear/no answer crap with Natalie's disorder. Anyway...

I know that the pediatrician fed up with me and all my questions and the ENT's already seeming that way, just after one visit. Maybe it's just me. I'm gonna hopefully have Jim by my side this follow visit with the ENT. And if he gets the same vibe, then I think it's time to go to different doctors. None of this is life or death. Brayden's just fine. I just want to make sure that I'm not giving him any foods that disagree with his tummy so that he can have a great day every day possible...ya know?!?

Thinking Cap

"Put on your thinking cap...." is a phrase I've used for a long time with the kids and was a phrase I was told many a time back when I was in school. And I try, in my everyday life to keep my thinking cap on. And I try to make the best choices I can, no matter what the circumstances are. Like for instance, when we were reorganizing things in the yard. I was trying to accomplish a nicely laid out backyard. I've never really found a "home" for the trampoline. It constantly gets moves around. Well when Jim told me that the plywood that's been laying just to the left of the sand box (forever) could be used in the attic as flooring...I decided that since the grass was already dead there, that this would be a good home for the trampoline.





I "thought" this was a good place for it. Now take a moment and analyze this picture. Look and see if you notice what I've done. If you're my Mom or Dad...you "might" know where this is going (since they jinxed me after yesterday's phone call...). Look again, if you haven't seen it already.








Now play as if you can look at this arrangement through Matthew's eyes....








Yeah, some of your already saw what I didn't see when I moved the trampoline here. The roof to the sandbox was no longer a "roof", but a launching pad.













Now, mind you...Matt did stop and put the "thinking cap" on....















...but quickly tossed it to the side and said.... "cap, what cap...waaahhhooo"















Yeah, he's fine. He's now attempted this stunt enough times that he's now bored with it. ....until tomorrow, when it's raining...and slick!!!












Now back to the "thinking cap" and MY attemps to use it. Possibly I've once again forgotten to put it on. Because as a mother, wasn't I "supposed" to yell "stop, no.." as I saw Matt throw his leg up onto the roof of the sand box and hoist himself up? But instead...I run to find my camera in hopes to have a good blog topic.... Was the thinking cap being used...I'm thinking NOT!

Yeah...he's 15th months old!

I told him not to...but Brayden went ahead a turned 15 months old today. I took him for his well baby check up today. He's in the 80th percentile for weight and 96th percentile in height and head. As before mentioned...he's a big ole boy :)

The doctor said that we'd waited long enough (to see if he'd out grow his food allergies/intolerances). And now it's time to do allergy testing. I was VERY relieved to hear that he wouldn't have to have all those pricks in his back (like I'd heard about other people having during allergy testing). That was one of the main reasons I was in stand off mode when she's suggested it earlier. We will go Monday to an ENT here in town. I didn't know that this was something an ENT did...but now I do. They will do a single blood draw and should be able to determine exactly what he's allergic/intolerant to and if it's a "full" or "partial" allergy/intolerance. This will be a wonderful thing for my little guys belly! I'll keep you posted.

For now I'll leave you with some cute shots of the 15 month old. I tried to get him to let me take some pictures just now to show off his new "shiner" on his forehead. But he's not up for pictures. Still not too happy with me due to the shots earlier.



This is a shot of him on the way home from Easter. That's one pooped out baby!






This is the first time he tried a powdered donut! This has fast become a favorite :) And he can "tolerate" it, so that's a REAL plus!!






This is shot of him veggin in front of the TV waiting for his favorite show (Oobi) to come on.




Hope you all are having a great week!

84-40-10

84 - That's how much I just paid to fill up my suburban. HELLO! This is bad. What the heck will I (will we) be paying in July?

40 - That's how many pounds I've lost as of this morning. Woo Hoo!

10 - That's the size pants I'm in now! Hee hee :)

(If you missed my Easter post...see below)

Easter Pictures

(If you want to see the pictures better, just click on them and they'll enlarge. Blogger was giving me fits and this was my 4th attempt to post this!)


Brayden has found his first egg, but has no clue what he's supposed to do with it. Until Debbie tells him "get the ball" ...then he knows what to do...and eggs DON'T bounce :)








By this time he's seen a few family members eating these little treasures and he wants to partake also...





The older kids learned this year that instead of hunting on their own, that the buddy system works twice as well. Matt and Tyler were one of the pairs. Being the youngest two boys (not counting Brayden), they still got some pretty good hints thrown their way as far as egg locations.






Nat and Laura were another pair. And despite being the youngest girl pair, they faired quite well. I think Laura was the spotter and Nat was the runner :)






Our Easter tradition is to beat the snot out of an Easter Bunny pinata once the egg hunting is done. So before he's beat to shreds...we decided to take a "before" picture. This year we went oldest to youngest and this ole bunny didn't last long.







I tried to show Brayden how to hit the bunny like the big kids, but all the loot that was already spilling out to the bunny was just too distracting.








Once Mr. Bunny busted and all the goods were out...the vultures swarmed in and Brayden was right in the middle of it :)







If Brayden had, had it his way he'd have a lot more than this one piece of gum...so he made this sucker last, wrapper and all!








Matt and Tyler had discussed (before the bunny beating) that Tyler wanted the head and Matt said he wanted an ear. So they strung him up again and commenced to beat him MORE!







I consider this picture equivalent to one with the hunter holding up the head of his deer.









Jim and Brayden just sat back and watched as the big boys completely demolish the bunny.







Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Stuff....

Well I really didn't want to do another pictureless post, but here it goes. I have finally gonna and bought another battery charger for my camera and so I can finally use it again. I'd planned on taking pictures at yesterday's game...but if you read Jim's post, you'll see why I was too distracted to even remember the dang camera till after we left. Anyway....

Jim is gone today to Lubbock to sit with his Pop in the hospital. He just had surgery to remove 2 tumors, several lymph nodes, and a large section of his colon...Due to colon cancer (stage 3). Jim said they've never said that they "got it all", but that they are to come back in a month and decide what to do for treatment. His Pop also has a pace maker so treatment will have to be tailored quite a bit.

Natalie has been doing FANTASTIC in school and with her decreased meds. We (and she) couldn't be more pleased. We'll just continue to take it day by day. She finished her weasel and MAN, it's awesome...I'll take a picture and post it soon. She's now doing a hog in pen and ink. She (and the rest of the girls from what I can tell) are having a great time with softball...even after last night.

Matthew is Matthew :) He keeps me on my toes....in the "know"...and often causes my eye brow to raise from his current tall tales. His current favorite book is the Guinness (sp?) Book of World Records. So every 5 seconds I hear "Hey Mom, did you know that ______?" And every so often he'll throw in a "Matthew made" fact and there goes my eyebrow :)

Brayden is much more verbal. And he's found different octaves too! And I don't mean the low ones either. He doesn't necessarily scream to be ugly...he just does it to scream...and it's LOUD! He can say "thank you" and "uh-oh" now and it's very cute. When Jim or I call Matthew he tries REALLY hard to say his name and he gets fairly close. Natalie has been and still is Nae-Nae.

I'm still putting along with my weight loss. And I joined Curves and really like it. I recommend it to anyone who's considering it. I have high hopes to still reach my weight loss goal by the time we leave for vacation at the end of June. Jim will post our (and those who continue on the Biggest Loser) weights on Friday. So stay tuned...

Cheryl - we'd love to hear from again.
Wes and Billy - post pictures when you can.
Dad - "Let's Eat" is getting old. Fill us in on some racing :)
Beth - glad you decided no to leave us.
Reagan - Love all the baby picutres!! Shes so sweet!!
Kim - drawing a blank or not..always love to hear from ya :)

Nod your head :)

My sister sent this to me today and I SO nodded my head to all but #6,19,and 33. And as my Mom always told me, fashion goes in 10 year (or less) cycles. I saw girls as the mall a few weekends ago and they had biker shorts/tights under their mini skirts. I was like "I wore that in high school!" I still say #16 when I watch Brayden bumble around and fall. And I say #38 a lot to the guys up at work when I'm pretty sure they've been smokin crack...but most of them are still in their 20's and have no idea what I'm talkin bout! I hope you enjoy :)


You know you grew up in the 80's if......

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "SIKE."

2. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Bel
Air" and can do the "Carlton."

3. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts.

4. Two words: Hammer Pants.

5. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.

6. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would
hold your shirt in a knot on the side.

7. You wore stone washed Jordache jean jackets and
were proud of it.

8. L.A.Gear....need I say more?

9. You remember reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade
Nothing" and all the Ramona Quimby books.

10. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX
OFF."

11. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (Some of
us...head-to-toe).

12. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like
before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.

13. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every
sentence.

14. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes (and probably
in neon colors, too).

15. After you saw "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" you kept
saying "I know you are, but what am I?

16. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up."

17. You remember going to the skating rink before
there were inline skates.

18. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and
Slide.

19. You have played with a Skip-It.

20. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.


21. You've gone through this nodding your head in
agreement.

22. "Don't worry, be happy."

23. You wore, like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights
with high top Reeboks.

24. You wore socks scrunched down (and sometimes still
do).

25. You remember boom boxes.

26. You remember Alf, the li'l furry brown alien from
Melmac.

27. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were
cool.

28. You know all the words to Bon Jovi's "SHOT THROUGH
THE HEART."

29. (You just sang those words to yourself.)

30. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird. Oh
yeah............it will never be that good again

31. Homemade Levi shorts... (The shorter the better.)

32. You remember when mullets were cool!

33. You had a mullet!

34. You still sing "We are the World."

35. You tight rolled your jeans.

36. You owned a banana clip.

37. You remember "Where's the Beef?

38. You used to (and probably still do)
say "What you talkin' 'bout
Willis?"

39. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.

You're still singing "Shot through the Heart" in your
head, aren't you!!!

Sabotage???

I think I've sabotaged myself! (Heck, that is if I'm using the right term...Jim?) I didn't realize this until this weekend.

As most of you know, our version of The Biggest Loser ended this Sunday. (Jim will post the final results.) It didn't totally dawn on me that this was the end of this competition till yesterday. But the one thing I did keep noticing was my crap attitude towards eating "good" (staying within my Weight Watchers points). On Friday night I did good, but I sure didn't want to. Which I thought was suprising cause I usually don't face this issue. I'll just eat good and feel good about doing that. (Please bear with me...sometimes it's as if there 2 people inside my head. Pretty sure one's the little angel and the other's a little devil) Then on Saturday, after working in the yard and I'd done no snacking...I decided I wanted Thai food again, and of course Jim as all for that! Thing is that I wanted Thai food and not just so I could try to pick something healthy...I wanted to pig out! I did a pretty good job too. But it didn't just end there. Sunday after mowing, I wanted F-O-O-D again. So when Jim and Matt came back from riding 4-wheelers (I will see if Jim will post his adventure with Matt and fill you in on the softball season), and he asked me if I wanted to go eat. I said "YES!" And I wanted Greek food this time. And a lot of it! So that's just what I did...then topped it off with ice cream! Humm...

This is where I think I've sabotaged myself. I think that in the back of my head...where the little devils lives :), I was gonna just be good till this date. Even though the little angel part of my brain know that I want to reach my goal weight, and I want to do it by vacation time at the end of June. So when Jim told me that he has every intention on continuing the Biggest Loser until then, I knew that this MUST be done by me also. Or I can see a very negative trend occurring.

I am starting Curves today and have high hopes (like I did with Weight Watchers) that this will be a positive direction with positive results.

Congrats to all of those who did the competition. I think we all did great and I look forward to continuing this journey with any of you who's wanting to continue (or start).

Action Packed Weekend

We had a very action packed weekend...mainly on Saturday. Friday started it off (Jim's B-day). We all went to Nat & Jim's softball practice till about 8ish. Then went out for supper at the catfish place. Brayden enjoyed it the most cause it was his 1st experience with chicken strips. It was a hit :)

Saturday Jim and Nat left the house @ 8am to make it for Opening Ceremonies @ 8:30am. Then they worked the concession stand from 10-11am. Matt got visitors during this time from the boys next door and he played with them till it was time for us to leave for Nat's game @ 11:30am. I was proud of myself for not rushing out the door as always. I had everything packed, everyone loaded, doors locked, and alarms set by 11:05am! It was a record for me :)

Nat's first game was a good warm up and they won, so they played again @ 1:30. Matt played non stop at the playground and resurfaced only to get money for some snacks and to get $$ for the bounce house. They were about 1/2 way in to the 2nd game and Jim keeps saying something to me, but I can't make it out since he's on 1st base. He finally says "the alarms going off at the house..." It took a minute to register. But once he said the cops are on their way out...it sunk in! I was in "OH Hell NO!" This was NOT happening again! Jim and I both called the surrounding neighbors and asked them to look for any cars/trucks/people. It took me 9 mins (typically a 15-17 min drive) to get home. I beat the cops there, but the neighbors were waiting and said the back door was open. Nothing was gone or disturbed. I guess the alarm worked...I guess. Or, as the investigator told us back in April..they trip the alarm to see response time. Well my response time was good, but the cops got their call at 2:15 and they got there at 4:05pm!!! But that was due to the fact that my alarm company cancelled the call..instead of just canceling the alarm. Anyway...he was able to lift a print, but who knows who it was. It could of been one of ours. None of us were actually freaked out this time. So...we'll see if this leads to anything.

The night got better as we headed to Lewisville for Jim's official b-day night out. We took him to ride go-carts @ Put-put. Beth, Mason, Carrie, and Olivia showed up and they all got to do 1 race together before everyone turned into popsicles. Nat and Matt got several races on the junior track and a few races as Jim's passenger. Everyone had a good time...it was easy to tell when they all had huge smiles on their faces :) Then we headed to Baan Thai for supper. It was really good. We ordered several different appetizer and entrees. Everything was really good and I think everyone enjoyed what they got. Jim said that "Medium hot" was just about too much! But he loves that hot stuff. We headed home around 10pm and everyone was zonked out by 11:10pm I think.

Sunday Jim was the only one to leave the house since he had to take his coach's test. That evening we had all but 3 of our current/future neighbors over for pizza and visiting. It was nice to get to visit and get to know everyone. Everyone got along really well from what I could tell. By the end of this summer we will have grown from 2 houses to 5 houses. It's still the boonies, just a mini neighborhood in boonies. Works for me :)

Happy 35th Birthday Jim!

Happy 35th Birthday to my husband of 13 years!!!

He was able to shake the stomach bug in just enough time to have some sugar free angle food cake last night! He got some great cards from the kids, a smack on the head from Brayden, a new shirt and spending money for some new jeans from Mom and Dad, and an air compressor from all of us. And he said to me last night that he gave himself a gift this year that he'd promised to himself for many years....a skinnier him! And by jiggy...he's just that. He weighed in at a whimpy ole 230 the other morning. That's a 37 lb. weight loss!! He's doing just amazing and I am so proud of him.

We all love you and I love you very much and Happy Birthday! Thanks for being you :)

I lost my age!

Woo Hoo! I officially lost my age this morning. Meaning....I've officially lost 32 lbs. What really got me is when I lost what Brayden weighs. Cause that little toot is HEAVY and it blows me away that I was carrying around that much extra weight! And ta boot...I still have the weight of Brayden to loose!! Crazy!

This was BY far one of the best ideas that Jim has come up with. But definitely second to the idea of "hey, lets get married..." :) His idea has not only positively impacted our house...but several of our family and friends houses. Weight Watchers has been a God send. And I'd been told by my doctor and several others that it's one of the best ways to lose the weight...but I guess my mindset wasn't there. Man it is now! I just moved into a 13 and I never thought I'd be so happy to be in a 13!! That's 3 sizes I've dropped now and I'm ready for more. 7's are my goal...and those 1991 Lawmans jeans that I bought my Freshman year of College are still in my closet just waiting for me to SQUEEZE back into them. I won't wear them out in public, I just want to be able to button them up and then back up in the attic they go :)

Weekend Stuff

We had a very nice laid back weekend, and it was great! On Friday Jim and I got our hair cut (much needed on my end :)) Then Jim and Nat headed to their 2nd softball practice. They are both very happy that it's FINALLY softball season!

Saturday we all took turns working in the yard. Jim got 2 more trees planted after another MAJOR struggle with the rocks. It's so great to have trees. And many of them are blooming or leaving out. The kids got a pretty good sweat going while playing outside and asked if they could go into the 61 degree water pool! I told them that they'd turn into ice pops. This wasn't what they wanted to hear...but I did tell them they could dip their feet in the pool. That got my point across real quick when they saw how cold it was. Brayden LOVES going outside. We waddles and stumbles everywhere...and quite quickly I must say. He gets very po-ed when it's time to come in. That afternoon/evening we got all cleaned up and headed over to Carrie, Guy & Olivia's house for supper and visiting. We got to see Martha too. We had a great visit and the babies are so cute together...well, until Brayden terrorized Olivia in the bathtub by drenching her with all his splashing and his LOUD squeals of delight. This was a bit much for a very sleepy Olivia...poor little baby. But they did play a very funny game of swapping guggas (pacifiers). It was a nice visit.

Sunday we headed to Glen Rose to take the kids to camp with my parents and their cousins at Dinosaur Valley State Park. Matt was beside himself and kept asking...how much longer till we're there? We made his wait even longer when we stopped to get gas and then saw a lady giving away some CUTE puppies. Well today being Mom and Dad's A-day and they've been dogless for some time...I thought "maybe" this might be a good present. So Nat and I picked out a boy and Jim got him some food, bed, collar, etc. He traveled really well and seems very sweet (I'll see mom and Dad tomorrow and we'll see if we gave them a gift or a chore). As we entered the park the kids were recalling all the places they'd gone last year when they stayed there. We weren't there too long before the kids all took off on a biking adventure. We all asked Matt NOT to shed blood this trip :)

Jim, Brayden, and I headed home about 5ish so that we could have time to settle in and be read for the beginning of the Sopranos! It's been a LONG wait and we were both ready for it to start! A perfect end to a great weekend!

From the mouth of Matt...

Here's some recent Matthew comments:

*He hops out of the truck after being pick up from school and starts whizzing right then and there. I say "Matthew!!!" (which that was to be interpreted as...go inside and use the bathroom) Matthew's reply "Mom, it's ok...were in the country now..."

*He hops into my lap and pats me on the stomach and says "it's agood thing your not having another baby in that big ole belly. Cause you've got a lot less blubber now..." And anyone who know Matt, this was a compliment...not a derogatory statement :) Now in the future, Jim And I might need to help him refine his compliments towards women. But for now, we know what his intents are.

*He sees a boy coming out of Nat's school wearing a pink shirt and just out of the blus says "...it's ok, he's a reall man!" I'm reading my book and look up and say "huh? Why'd you say that?" He replys "..ugh Mom, REAL men wear pink!"

There have been so many that I forget...but those are some that stick in my mind. Enjoy :)