Random Acts of Kindness Part 2

Well, we finally found our person to pay back with our random act from last month.  Greg had purchased a new phone on Craigslist from a nice lady.  He gets it home to play with it, etc.  He notices that several buttons don't work on it.  So, he calls her up and she says she'll be happy to refund him.  When he meets up with her, she's in tears because the person she had bought it from will not return her phone calls, so she is left with a broken phone.  She bought it and had no idea how to use it, etc.  Now she's stuck with a useless phone.  And the worst part is that she can't afford to buy a new one since she had to return the money to Greg.  It really bothered him.

Greg had bought me a wonderful Sidekick for my birthday.  Yes, I fit in with the young teenagers that hang out at the mall.  I can now text as fast as they can!  Well, the more I use it, the more I miss my simple phone.  Greg and I decide to sell it and remembered that poor woman that was left with a broken phone and decide to call her and see if she's gotten a replacement.  To our luck, she hasn't.  So, we offered her my phone.  It works great, and it's free!  She was more than grateful for this.

I wonder how she'll pay it forward?

Random Acts of Kindness

Today my family and I , and the rest of the world, went shopping at Walmart.  We've been gone all week in Dallas and Ft. Worth for Thanksgiving seeing my family and in need of almost everything!  As we were shopping, Greg went to put some popcorn in our basket and I reminded him that our microwave was broken.  Yes, we are without a microwave!  How does any family deal with such a tragedy as no microwave? Anyways, as I was going to the next aisle, I saw that Greg was motioned by a woman.  I continued onto the aisle figuring that she may need some help getting something up high.  Greg comes back with this huge grin on his face.  I asked what was up and he said nothing I'll tell you later.  As we go down the aisle, he proceeds to tell me that the woman gave him money for a new microwave. He goes on to tell her he appreciates the thoughtfulness, but that we have home owners insurance and we'll be fine.  She says no that she has no one to buy for this Christmas and she would be so happy to know that someone is enjoying something from her.  I was almost in tears by this incredible gift.  Neither Greg nor I looked at the amount she gave us until later and when we did,we saw she gave us $100.   People can sometimes amaze me!  So, we're now on a mission to find someone to give this to and pay back the incredible gift that was given to us so maybe someone else can do the same.

Halloween

Here's a pic of my three trick or treaters...Dorothy, Star Wars Clone Wars Trooper and Indiana Jones.  We had another awesome Halloween.  Went to a pre-trick or treating party with friends in our neighborhood, etc. and ate, played, then went to trick or treat.  After the gobblins got tired of walking we headed back to the party to let the kids sort through all their candy and eat as much as their heart desires!  (which means less that goes home)  Great Halloween!  Now we're planning next years....the kids want to make their playscape into a haunted house with lights, etc, then I thought, us Moms could hang back and pass out the candy in my driveway, drinks in hand, while the Daddy's took the kids to trick or treat.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Kate's new do!

Kate has been asking for a year or so to cut her hair like Bella, who is my best friend's daughter.  So, we let her cut it to her shoulders.  That didn't work.  I finally gave in against Greg's wishes!  What is it with men and hair?  We waited until after Halloween because you need the long hair for Dorothy!  I planned the cut when she and I could have some fun and turn it into a girly day.  The boys were going to go camping, so I chose that day.

The day started with me getting the boys out for their big camping trip with their boy scout troop and Daddy!  Then the girls got ready for our big day!  Kate decided she'd like to wear a little makeup and got her purse and sunglasses ready and we were off.  We got to ride in Daddy's car with the sunroof open and blasting Radio Disney(not Mommy's choice!)  Got to the salon where I go and we waited.  I took one last picture of her with her long hair and she was so giddy!  We thought she'd have enough hair to donate to Locks of Love, but we were almost an inch too short.  We tried!  Kate was so cute sitting in her chair getting her hair cut.  Through out the whole process I kept saying Oh my gosh, and holy cow.  Kate had to ask me to stop.  Which was hard to do when you're watching your little 6 year old become 2+ years older right before your eyes!  She was no longer my baby, but a young girl.  Kate really liked her cut, but said it felt weird on her neck, that's because she had no hair.  My girl did an awesome job with her hair!  After her fabulous hair cut, we ventured off next door to Hobby Lobby, her favorite store, and one of mine.  During our shopping, I would just stare at her and getting used to her hair cut and noticing how much older she looked and how cute she was with her little purse, new hair, shopping, etc.  After almost 2 hours and $50, we left.  Then headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant for and early dinner and colored.  During dinner we talked about what we'd do afterwards and decided to make a fire in our fire pit on the deck and make smores and hot cocoa, paint our nails, and watch a movie.  Sounded like a deal to me.  So, we headed to Target for all our supplies for the smores, nails and then of course raided the dollar section, which added at least $20 more to our bill.  (Who can escape Target without spending at least $20 or more above what they were actually there to buy?)  Got home and I quickly uploaded our pics from our big day and then went to build our fire outside.  Well I wasn't successful.  I had all the ingredients for a perfect fire, wood, newspaper, and kindling...well, I think the wood was too dry because the only thing that lit on fire was the paper and kindling.  I told Kate the wood might be too dry and she said, let's just add some water.  I told her it wouldn't help.  So, we took our music and smores inside to let the microwave do the work and they turned out good.  The rest of the night we sang to Hannah, Jonas Brothers, Weezer (mommy's choice, I needed to break up the teeny bopper music), painted Kate's nails pink, purple, pink, purple, etc.  Then watched Kung Fu Panda. Before we knew it it was 10 PM and Kate was growing sleepy.  So, I put her beside me and snuggled her up with blankets and as she's falling asleep, she says, Mommy, I love being with you and had the best day.  Boy, did I have the best day with my favorite and only daughter!

Six Flags

Sooooooooooooooooooooo excited.   The kids are beside themselves with anticipation as we wake up this morning.  Today we head to San Antonio.  San Antonio is cool and all, but why are they sooooooooooooooooooo excited?  Two words:  Six Flags.  Or two other words:  Fiesta Texas.  It reminds me of Kings Island in Ohio.  The anticipation, in retrospect, was probably the best part.  I couldn't sleep the night before as I thought about the roller coasters, the spinning cups, the cotton candy, the corn dogs on a stick ... oh yeah.  And seeing that excitement in my kids' eyes and smiles and goofy dances and singing makes me even more excited to head to Six Flags Fiesta Texas today.  We went last year this time, but they were too small to ride the "big" rides.  This year will be different for them entirely.  Can't wait.  I just can't wait.

Our Haunted Castle

Tonight our family created a Haunted Castle.  I had to post a pic with the original picture.  Of course ours looks much better!  The kids had a blast.  I think they had more fun licking the icing and eating the candy.  Believe it or not, a lot made it onto the castle.  We really got in the mood with scary music and then enjoyed watching the kids dance and act like crazy monkeys as the sugar kicked into high gear!

First Week of School...

I am so bummed I don't have a picture of the kids from the first day of school. I promise to post it once my computer is fixed. It has a lovely virus and the hard drive has to be erased! So, I'm using the kids' computer and can't upload my pics from my camera...

The kids are having an awesome first week of school. The first day went really well, minus the fact that the principal decided to enforce that the parents needed to have their drivers' license with them to enter the building and would be given back at our exit of the school. This would've been nice to know at Open House the week before so that most of us could be ready for this new change! After getting the kids to the door to discover this and then going back again once I went to the car with three anxious children and bags of supplies, needless to say, I was doing this alone. The kids finally made it into their school. We went to take Will to his class first because he had gotten Nic's kinder teacher and Nic was dying to see her and show her how much he had grown. Will is so excited to have Ms. Krcha and has drawn numerous pictures for her. Next we were off to Kate's class. She received Ms. McClain, who also has twins. She's a great teacher and I think she'll be a great fit for Kate, especially since we can already tell that she'll have issues since a good friend of hers is in the same class and they are very silly together. Her teacher has already informed me that Kate is doing really well with it and has had to remove herself (on her own) to keep from getting in trouble. I'm so proud. She's come such a long way! After dropping off Kate, we got to go to the first grade hallway, which was much more quiet than the Kindergarten hallway, quite a shocker I know! Nic got right to his classroom and knew exactly what to do and has a friend from his class with him and has already made some friends. I like his teacher Ms. Kreller, she's so similar to his kinder teacher and will really help him! I'm so happy with their teachers and have already seen changes. They have changed their discipline and conduct. I have received many yes ma'ams and thank yous without any prompting. It's awesome and Nic actually looks me in the eyes! Big accomplishment!

This has also been a busy, long week for Mommy. Daddy has been gone since early Sunday morning. He's in DC for a work conference and won't be home until late Friday night. We've all been missing him, especially Mommy! I miss the adult interaction since all day I'm with kids at the preschool(I'm helping them with the first two weeks of school and getting paid!), then coming home to my kids too. Kids, kids, kids... We are soooo ready to have Daddy home. I know he's ready to come home too...

Two more days left of Summer...

Where has the time gone? Summer is almost over, and soon ALL my kids will be in school. That is such a strange thing to say! I have mixed feelings about it all. I'm so excited for them, especially Will and Kate! But at the same time, so sad that they are growing up and moving on to the next bench mark of their lives. Tonight is our meet the teacher night and the kids have been counting down since they woke up at 7 AM. (I got the kids alarm clocks and we started on Tues. waking up at 7 so next week isn't a complete shock, mostly for me!) We have spent the day doing things I have put off all Summer. I know many of you Mom's can relate. We have these grand plans to create, make, take, etc...and some how, we run out of time and have regrets. Well, I didn't want to have that and decided to make today and tomorrow those days to make sure I didn't have that regret. So, we started the morning off with breakfast and waited for the library to open at 9 AM. (We had books that were almost over due and Mommy needed books on dieting. Momma needs to lose this Summer weight that came from nowhere! ha,ha!) Then we came home and made playdoh. Nic chose to make blue, Will green and Kate a reddish pink, because Mommy added too much red to make it a light pink. This project took a lot of time and the kids and I had a blast. They played with their new playdoh for an hour. Then it was lunch time and then we played games, of course they each chose a game, Life for Nic (which took an hour and we played until the end of the game this time! Not an easy task...), then Kate chose Pretty Pretty Princess (yes, a princess game where you try to get all the correct accessories to make you into the "Pretty Princess", and Will chose Connect Four). I have now stuck them in front of the tv for the next 45 min. until we leave for Meet the Teacher so they won't bug the crap out me until we leave! And so I can actually do the things I need to do. We're keeping our fingers crossed for great teachers, which of course Kate and Will want Nic's kindergarten teacher, but we'll see where fate takes us. Oh, and this year will be a huge adjustment for Will and Kate. They will actually be in separate classes this year! They will have their own teacher, own friends, something that is actually their own.

Wish us luck tonight. Oh, and afterwards we get to go out for pizza! Mommy's night off from cooking and her diet! Sweet!

My babies...

 

This Week...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life has been busy these past two weeks. Nic finished tennis camp and loved it! Yea! He'd like to take lessons this Fall. Then this past weekend we had sort of a lazy one. Friday night we went to a friends' house for pizza and play. We stayed until 11 and the kids slept in until after 10 on Sat. morning and acted quite hung over from all the fun they had the night before. Kate would say she was just so tired, but wasn't about to take a nap. So, we spent the day lounging on the sofa with our blankets and snuggled watching movies and the Olympics. That evening we went bowling and had a blast. Kate kicked our booties! And she was the slowest bowler in town. After bowling, we went to the arcade and played video games that earned tickets and decided to pool all our tickets together and divided them into 3. The kids had more fun deciding how to spend their tickets on the tacky, plastic junk they were offering. Sunday, we did a little cleaning and then not much of anything but an occasional game or two then met some friends that are expecting twins (which will be their first kiddos) at a fun restaurant that has a great outside eating area with a washers pit, live music and playscape with dump trucks, etc. We had an awesome time and stayed out late again because the kids were having so much fun and so were we! This week we went to see my sister on Wed. and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and then we headed to my Dad's on Thursday to spend the day swimming and eating. Friday we met up with some new friends at one of those inflatable jumpy places in Austin. Kate loved the fact that there were 2 new girls for her to play with. For those of you with kids and that go to these kind of places, is it just my kids that tend to be hungry the WHOLE time they are there? My gosh, the whole time it was "I'm thirsty" or "I'm hungry". To the point that my friend I camped at the picnic tables they provided with all our water and snacks out and they would play and graze. Sat. we finally got to visit my friend Kara and her family in San Antonio. Her son, Hayden, is Will's best friend, so needless to say, until the moment we got into the car, it was, "when are we leaving for Hayden's". Sunday, we all slept in again since we got back late from Kara's and decided to let someone else cook our LATE breakfast at our fav. Mexican place. After running a few errands, we surprised the kids with "Star Wars: Clone Wars". It was the longest hour and 45 min. My only blessing was the movie theater size box of Junior Mints...

Now we're on the last week of Summer and trying to make the most of it with a visit to Waco to see family, PTA meetings (those of you with kids' in school, I'm sure you're busy with this as well), Meet the Teacher night on Thurs., swimming at the pool, etc.

First day of tennis camp...

Nic has begun his first day of a week long tennis camp. He was so excited about going. He had his clothes and racket all set up by the door before bed. When he woke up he said he needed a good breakfast because he was going to use a lot of energy. Once we got there, we signed in and then he was off to play. When we went to pick him up, he was swimming with many of his friends that he met and some old friends from school. He was so anxious to show us what he had learned on the courts. I can't wait to play with him one night this week after a few lessons. Maybe he can show his Momma a few things! We are really hoping this is something that he would like to participate in. Nic has yet to find something that he truly enjoys. He spent last year watching Will do gymnastics and t ball and Kate participating in dance. He had no desire to try anything until this Spring when he said he'd like to try golf and tennis. I told him they have great camps in the Summer and we'd be happy to let him go. After receiving the coolest junior golf club set, compliments of Lito and Lita, he decided he didn't care for golf. And just wanted to try tennis. So, here we are in the Summer and tennis camp has finally arrived and he's so excited to go back. Keep your fingers crossed this might be his thing!

Ambesol Blues

As parents, we're magical. Capable of anything, with endless money, and the ability to make anything bad go away. At least to our kids we are. This weekend has come with multiple "emergencies". I put "emergencies" in quotes (twice now) because to the ego-centric mind of a 6 or 7 year old, they are treated like the end of the world. In reality, they are life. Ambesol was the source of one of these emergencies. Sometimes dealing with the pain of a canker soar is better than that weird feeling even a tiny drop of Ambesol gives you. Well Kate (6) won't stop complaining about this pain in her mouth and Mommy offers this magical cure that will numb the pain. Upon application, it does its work, but feels weird and, frankly, not too pleasant. I know this from experience already - that's why I just suck it up and deal with the pain when it's my mouth in question. Well, she flipped out. We told her that the only thing she could do was get some juice or some water to get the taste out of her mouth. As all parents know, kids don't get definitives like "only" as in "the only thing we can do". She wants more - she wants us to magically make the weird feeling to go away. It takes about 5 full minutes of crying and pleading before she'll listen to us. She learned three things from this: (a) listen to Mom and Dad - the water helped a little, (b) Ambesol is not an option going forward and (c) Mom and Dad may not be as magical as she once believed. She'll learn this more and more as the years go by.

The second of these hard knocks was learning about the rules of "betting". Don't get me wrong ... we weren't betting on the ponies at the track. We were watching the Wizard of Oz and Nic (7) insists that the place where Dorothy's house initially lands is called "Oz". First time to see the movie and his vastly more experienced mind tells him that it is Oz, no matter what Daddy (who's seen the movie at least 700 times in his life) says. So we bet ... 25 cents. And that is BIG. 25 cents buys a gum ball at Dos Salsas if he eats his whole meal (or most of it). Adn gum balls are gold. Of course, it's Munchkinland. They inevitably follow the yellow brick road to Oz, but they begin in Munchkinland. Side note: I know what you're thinking, but just because I know this much about the Wizard of Oz does not make me light in the loafers. However I am pretty good at interior decoration, don't watch sports, and dress pretty spiffy. Still - no. Back to the story. So, when I tell Nic that he owes ME a quarter, he loses it. Noooooooooooooo! I explain that this is the point of a bet. We both offer something we don't want to lose because we both think we're right. When one is wrong, he ponies up. This did not go over well. So, a learning experience is at hand. I can be nice and say, "you don't owe me anything" which would, in fact, teach him something ... that he just needs to cry to get out of his obligations. I can force him to go get his piggy bank and grab a quarter out of his whopping $1.86 in life savings. That would be the true learning experience - that you must take responsibility for your actions. It would also teach him to dislike his father for a few hours. So, we compromised. I told him that he owed the 25 cents, but in labor. He got me whatever I wanted for the rest of the night (e.g. a beer, popcorn, and two waters). Debt paid.

It's fun to watch them learning, even when the learning is painful. And to think that I have the power to mold these little minds into whatever I think they should be - it's cool, daunting, and humbling all at once.

I forecast three ethical, responsible, and kind smart asses.

What a week...

Life has been busy around here with a visit from my sister and her kids. It was a week of playing, swimming, seeing cousins and playing outside. Then yesterday Will's best friend Hayden came to spend the night with us. Greg entertained the kids with Indiana Jones and they watched and played through out the whole movie. While Greg entertained the kids, I went out with Hayden's Mom, Kara, who is one of my best friends. She was in town visiting her family and we got a chance to hang out last night. We went to our lovely downtown with our friends and walked around tasting wines and ended up at the Loading Dock for food and drinks. A wonderful country band was playing while we tried to talk, or should I say, yell over them. Have I mentioned how I HATE country music? We had a great time despite the band. As Kara and I arrived at my house, we snuck into the boys' room to check on how they were and Will and Hayden were sleeping so soundly on the top bunk of his bed. (Hayden was so excited to sleep up there) It was so cute and we were dying to take a picture...but you know how the saying goes, never wake a sleeping child!

Time with the cousins...

I haven't seen much of my kids the past couple of days unless they're hungry because they have been busy with their cousins! My sister and her two kids, Sammi 5, and Josh 2 came here Tuesday night. They have all been playing really well, with the exceptional, Josh, please let me have it, or Josh, please stop it! Josh is a wonderful toddler that gets bored or likes to push buttons like most 2 year olds... Our other cousin Ryan and her Mom came over on Wed. to add to the madness and it was great. During their visit, they have played with our multitude of toys, play scape, chalk, gone to a water park and today we're going to visit more family that has recently moved back to Austin. Unfortunately the fun has to end and my sister and the kiddos are leaving later today. Needless to say the house will be quiet around here tonight.

It's been a great week...

A nice weekend...

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was kind of quiet and nice! Kate got a great "real" doll house from a neighbor. Our neighbor was cleaning out old toys from her children that her grandchildren didn't want. It's so sweet and we have a lot of painting and decorating to do, which she wants done right away! We had to tell her that doll house accessories don't come cheap and that we'll start with the people and then move from there. She has picked one of the rooms to make into hers. The boys picked theirs, etc. Then I asked, where are you going to eat or bathe? They said they could in the attic. I guess you need to have your priorities? This should be a fun project for us all. Sunday we went to Greg's soccer team's picnic. We had a great time meeting some families and tried to stay until we were melting. Greg and I decided to surprise the kids with a water balloon fight at home to cool us down. We had so much fun. Of course those of you who have ever done this know how long it takes to fill and tie the balloons, but it can be half the fun. We had a blast. It was boys vs. girls. The boys attacked us from the playscape and so Kate and I decided to let the boys get rid of their balloons and then we came and attacked them when they were out of ammunition....it was a great end to a nice weekend!

Welcome to the world of blogging...

Well, after much ado and convincing by others, we've decided to have a family blog. Now you lucky people will be up to date on our wonderful family. Don't you feel so lucky? As soon as something occurs, we'll keep you posted but until then...life is pretty normal right now. Hope all is well with everyone and will post something of substance soon!