Our BIG Memorial Day weekend!!

We had 4 days off this weekend. It was great! A little preview of the upcoming summer and trust me, I did not want it to end!! It was tough getting up Tuesday morning and sending Logan back to school knowing full well I would have to watch kids after school that day. I'm sooo through with that! Mentally, that is. Technically we still have 6 days of school left.

We had a fun filled weekend. Stuart didn't take the whole day off Friday, but he did come home early so we could go see Speed Racer. I'm not sure who wanted to see it more, him or Logan. Stuart insisted that we had to see it on the big screen though or it couldn't be fully appreciated. Stuart loved it. I thought it was a little overdone and too long (135 min). Logan liked it pretty well, although he complained about the length too. It didn't hold Ellie's attention at all. I had to deal with her through it all. But we made it through relatively unscathed. Afterward we went to Rudy's for dinner. A good night.

~

Saturday Logan had Karate then we had lunch at Mighty Fine. Have you all heard of this place? It's new in the Arbor Crossing shopping center across Braker from the Domain. It's a new burger place launched by the owners of the Rudy's franchises in Austin. It's very similar in layout to Rudy's. And their menu is very simple. They basically have burgers, fries and shakes and that's pretty much it. Oh, they also have a chili dog, but it's different because the hot dogs are cut up into pieces in the chili. They call it a chopped chili dog. We haven't tried it yet, but it looked good. The problem is that my kids aren't big burger eaters, much less chili dogs. They did make them a grilled cheese (on a bun). It's not on the menu though. I'm not sure how much we'll be able to go there with them. The burgers were good. I got a Jr (1/4 lb) burger and it was plenty. I recommend trying it out.

Later that afternoon we all went to the pool. It was a good ending to a great day.

Sunday we got up and went to church, then to lunch at Which Wich. I had never been there. I liked it a lot. They have a huge variety of sandwiches and you can get them any way you want. It's different than any other sandwich place I've been. Next time though I want to study the menu first! Later that afternoon we went to the pool (again!). The kids love going to the pool and would probably go everyday if we would take them. It seemed like an appropriate thing to do on Memorial Day weekend. By the time we were ready to leave though I knew we had to come up with something else to do on Monday, because swimming was not going to be an option!

Monday was our last day of "vacation". We were trying to figure out what to do that day. Should we go see another movie? Logan really wanted to see Indiana Jones. Or should we go to the SA Zoo where we have a season pass? We finally decided on going to a Round Rock Express game. It was the last day game of the season and for some reason Logan really wanted Ellie to go to a game with him. Stuart's taken Logan to several games in the past, but Ellie and I had never come. We started the day with a family bike ride. Then we all got ready for the 12:00 game. We had also planned on going to Gattiland that day and in an effort to avoid the crowds we decided to go mid-afternoon after we left the game.

Things at the game went really well. Stuart called ahead and got us great seats that were actually in the shade and had easy access. There was also a nice breeze blowing through. We got there and got situated then bought sno cones for the kids. They love them there because you get to do your own syrup. It's all you can eat/drink/lick? We only got up once to walk around and go to the playground area for a little while. The kids loved seeing the mascot, although Ellie wouldn't have her picture made with him.

We made it through the 7th inning (pretty good, I'd say) and then left for Gattiland. It was about 2:30 when we got there and I couldn't believe how crowded it still was! We ate, played games and had a good time. I was ready to go though. I was exhausted when we got home. But I knew that the kids had had a great weekend and that made it worth it.

This weekend was tiring, but great fun. We had a wonderful time as a family and made some great memories! I don't feel like we wasted a bit!! Hope yours was good too!!

Cute stuff!

I just wanted to share a few cute things from this week. Today is the beginning of my 4 day weekend!! Woohooo!!!

First, I have a picture of a cake I made for my after school kids. Erica gave me this cool cake pan

for mother's day (Wilton Dimensions Large cupcake pan). It makes a cake that looks like a giant cupcake. I was trying it out before I used it for real. I think it's awesome!! I made mine 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 yellow. The kids really liked it. I'll probably do it for Ellie's b-day.

Here's how it looked after we cut it open. Cool, huh?

Next, this was Logan and Ellie's idea of a good time this morning. They dressed up like pirates.

Aaarrgghh!! And I can't forget to show you my little swimsuit model. She was trying on her new swimsuit for my mom and me and I asked her to pose so I could take her picture. This is what she did. Where do they come up with this stuff?

Ellie's last day of school :(

Monday was Ellie's last day of school. That is until it starts up again in September. This was a sad day for a few reasons. First, I won't get any "kid free" time to get stuff done for a looonngg time. Second, Ellie likes school and will miss seeing her teacher and friends. It's also a little sad that this was the end of her being in the 3 year old class. Now she'll be a Pre-K kid (that's what they call the 4 year old classes). It's hard to believe that she's going to be 4 very soon! She's been going up to that school since she was 2 1/2 months old. She's grown up there! I see the moms with a 3 year old and a baby in a carrier and it seems like that was just me! Now look at me, I've got an almost 7 year old that comes up to my shoulder (nearly) and a Pre-K kid!! How'd that happen?

Ellie's spring school picture. (yes, they take them twice a year now!) Isn't she cute?

Looking on the bright side (I'm really trying to do this more), we have a lot of fun activities planned (as I've mentioned in previous blogs) so that's something. I am looking forward to Logan's school being over just so I don't have to watch kids after school anymore. That's getting pretty tedious. So it will be nice to have a break from that. Now I understand why teachers need the summers off. If they didn't get a break I'm sure there would be more incidents of teachers either killing their students or themselves. (Sorry, that's where my sense of humor is right now)

Now I'm just going to try and make the best of it. Just to warn you, my blogging will most likely suffer since it's really hard to get any computer time other than at night after they go to bed. I know it's going to be tough for all of you in my "fan club", but this too shall pass. Hopefully it will be quick and painless!!

The best little pfest in P'ville

It was Deutchen Pfest in P'ville this weekend. And boy do my kiddos look forward to it every year. It feels nice to have started some of our own family traditions. And Deutchen Pfest is definitely one of them. Does that make us hicks? I don't really care. I like living in a "small town" (it's really not that small). The traditions it holds are still "small town" though. I like it that it's not just some generic suburb. It has a heart and a history. We had a great time. Erica and Grace came with us again. The weather was sunny and warm, but with a cool breeze in the shade. This was definitely the longest we've ever been able to stay there and it was good. The kids did great. They went to the petting zoo, rode carnival rides, jumped in the bounce houses, got their faces painted and balloon animals made, ate nachos and sno cones. This is our once a year thing and we went all out.

After the pfest we took the kids to my mom's house to spend the night. Stuart and I went to dinner and a movie (what a treat), we saw Ironman (great flick) and then it was home to sleep. It seems that lately whenever I have an opportunity to sleep late without my kids, I can't. The last time I had to "work" at church the next day and this time I had to run a 5K. I know, I need to do a little better in planning. Live and learn. Anyway, I got up and Erica picked me up and we ran the 5K. I did my personal best 41 minutes. Erica got caught up with the faster runners in the beginning who somehow were steered off course, and ran an extra .6 miles. It doesn't sound like much, but believe me, it is! Then we had some pizza (no beer, although they had a couple of kegs). Gotta love those Germans!! Ready to down a couple of kegs at 8:45 am!!

Overall it was a great, but busy weekend. I was not at all prepared for my week. But, that's OK. Today was a big day in a few ways, but I'll save that for another blog!
Have a great week!!!

My little artist

OK, this is going to be one of those blogs where I need to be able to brag just a little. I try not to do that very often because I know how annoying it is to hear some mom going on and on about their kid. However, I need to gush just a little bit. One of Logan's pictures that he did at school was chosen to be in a district-wide art show!!! I was very proud to hear this of course. I didn't know anything about the show as far as how many pieces were on display, etc. It wasn't a contest. The teacher just chose some art that the students had done during the year. I didn't know what it looked like (they never bring anything home from art until the end of the year) and when I asked Logan, he wasn't sure which piece it was either.

I went up to the Rec. Center today to see it. I'm a total dork, but I counted the number of drawings on display from his school. There are 70. (There are over 750 kids in the school.) There were only 8 on display from 1st graders (about 110 in all). Yes, you can hear my heart swelling with pride as I write this. Forgive me. I am very proud of my little artist. I'm more happy than proud though because I know this is something he truly enjoys doing- at least for now. And that's more than enough for me!

The masterpiece!!!

School's almost over.... aaarrrrgggghhh!!!!!!!

Yes, this seems an inevitable fact of life. Yet each May as the end of school approaches, I am somehow shocked and bewildered that it is actually happening. Actually, this year I'm not quite as "scared" as I have been in years past. Each summer since Ellie was born has gotten a little bit better than the last. I'm expecting this one to be the best yet. (Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer, Lord knows I am!)

I have decided to do things a little differently this year, based on previous experience (or should I say failure). I am going to be more organized and a better planner. There is nothing worse than waking up (still around 6:30 to 7, mind you) on a summer day and having nothing to do. By 9am we're all ready to pull our hair out. So my theory is that if I plan ahead each week, and have several things to do, we should be lot better off.

So far June is pretty well planned out. We're taking vacation the 9-13th (South Padre- yay!), then Logan starts his basketball training camp every Saturday for 7 weeks (although now that I think about it, that doesn't really help me with activities during the week.) Hmmm.... Maybe we can go practice at the neighborhood basketball courts or something. I signed Ellie up for a Gymnastics class every Wednesday at 11:15 for 7 weeks, so that's something. Both the kids are taking swim lessons the last 2 weeks of June, so that will give us something to do in the mornings. Logan also wants to sign up for his art class again this summer. Now that he's 7 (or will be soon) he can take the cartooning class. He's pretty excited about that. Unfortunately it's at 5:30 on Wednesdays, so that doesn't help me fill the days too well either. C'est la vie.

I also joined the Williamson County YMCA. We've only been a couple of times so far, but the kids love it. They get mad when I come to get them and say they want to play more. I'm figuring we'll be going there A LOT!! (apparently you can have your kids there for up to 3 hours a day, but who's counting). It's a win-win. I get to exercise and get a break from them and they get to play. Who could ask for more?

Even writing this out is making me feel a little better. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm trying to be more positive and proactive. Yada, yada, yada.

Part of the idea is the plan to have some focused academic activities for the kids each week. I was thinking on focusing on 1 letter/number each week for Ellie. In preparation for this as kind of an experiment we did an activity today with the letter P. Yes, I know this is a strange letter to start with, but I had the supplies for it readily available (that's popcorn, get it?). Ellie liked it. I hope it helped her learn a little something. I'm going to try really hard to keep doing things like that.

This last picture is from Ellie's bath tonight. She loves to feel her hair float around in the water. It's really gotten long, so it looks cool. I took a picture to show her and I thought I'd show you too.

Just some new pics to share.

Yesterday evening after dinner we were out playing with the kids when I looked over at my neighbors fence (1 house over) and saw what I thought was one of those fake plastic owls. Upon closer inspection I discovered it was a hawk. It sat there on the fence for several minutes while we stared in awe. Several other small birds were flying around it including a mocking bird who kept diving toward it I guess to try and scare it away. Now that's a ballsy bird!!

The first view is how it looked from our porch with no zoom. (You could see it a little better than the picture shows.) See the little dot on top of the fence in the middle?This is with the zoom (obviously). Cool, huh?

Also, I just wanted to share a sweet picture of Ellie from this morning. I love it when she lets me put her hair up!!

Have a nice day!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

This has been a great mother's day weekend so far!! We started celebrating yesterday. I got to sleep in (except for the occasional knock at the door from Ellie who desperately needed to see me). After Karate (Logan's first time back since breaking his arm) we went to lunch, then to shop. Stu took the kids to the Dollar store to buy me stuff while I got to go into Ross to shop all by myself!! I think this was the best present of all! I got a couple of cute tops, shorts and flip flops!! Not bad, huh?
After that we went to Erica's for our Family shindig. We made chicken salad, broccoli salad, coleslaw (could we have had more stuff made with mayo?) and a delicious ice cream cake courtesy of Erica. It was an awesome feast for a hot day. The kids played outside on the play scape and in the sprinkler and had a great time.

Don't Ellie and Carter look cute?

















Today I also got to sleep in, if you call 7:30 sleeping in. The kids got up with Stu and made me breakfast in bed. This was the first year they ever did this. It's not that Stu's not thoughtful, it's just that his mind doesn't work that way. I found out it was actually Logan's idea. It was also his idea to make the food look like a happy face. Sweet, huh? This was also accompanied by the gifts they bought and cards they made.It was a wonderful way to start the day. Stu's been awesome letting me do whatever I want and choose where to go and what to eat. We went to church, then to eat at Pei Wei. I love it there. Stu, not so much (go figure), but we went without complaint. We're even having steak for dinner which doesn't happen very often anymore since Stu found out he had high cholesterol (which he's done a great job bringing down thru diet and exercise- Go Stu!)

Right now he and the kids are at the park so Mommy can relax and blog and do whatever I want, Yippee!!!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!!!

On a side note about this post, for some reason blogspot has been very difficult today. I had a heck of a time moving my pictures around and for some reason when I tried to move some text it underlined the whole thing and I can't get it to go back!!! Frustrating!!!!

1st grade Field Trip

On Thursday, Logan's class (plus 2 others) had their 1st grade field trip. It was to the Wild Basin Preserve in Austin. I didn't even know this place existed. It's very rugged and not commercial at all. They gave several groups of us guided tours around the basin telling us all about the different plants, trees and wildlife that live around there. I was in charge of Logan and another boy. There are 18 kids in Logan's class and there were 10 parents who came along, so that was nice. It really is a beautiful place if you and your family ever feel like taking a little hike. The trails are very rough (no strollers) and several of the kids fell down. Fortunately no one was really hurt. It was pretty hot yesterday, but in the shade, not bad. There was even a really beautiful waterfall there. If you look closely at the picture ( top) you can see it in the back to the right.

After the wild basin, we went to Zilker Park for lunch. This was also fun. We ate our lunches then the kids played for about an hour on the big playground. It was a little nerve wracking being in charge of these 2 kids who ran from place to place in the sea of other kids. So I was constantly searching both of them out to make sure I knew where they were. Also, I forgot to get my camera out of the car at lunch, so no pics!! Sorry!

Overall it was a good experience. I feel like I learned a lot. Some about the basin, but mostly about myself. Logan's teacher wasn't with our group and the tour guide was a little too nice, so when I felt like the kids were taking advantage of him or not acting the way they should I found myself taking charge. That sounds really dumb, like I'm trying to brag. On the contrary, I worried that the other parents might think I was some kind of know it all or something. It's just that no one was saying what needed to be said, like "don't go ahead of the guide" and "OK, everyone it's time to go", just stuff like that. I wasn't being all bossy or anything. I just wanted to help corral the crazy kids (my kid usually being one of the craziest). Anyway, all that to say that I realized yesterday that I could be a teacher or sub or something if I wanted to. Before I didn't know for sure if I would be able to handle a bunch of kids with any kind of authority. There's nothing worse than a teacher who the kids know they can walk all over. I've thought about subbing when Ellie goes to kindergarten, so we'll see. I definitely feel much more confident about it now and that's good.

I wanted to say a special thanks to Erica for watching Ellie ALL DAY for me so that I could go with Logan. I was really thankful that I was able to share this experience with him. Thanks, sis!! I owe you one!

Logan's "Special Mother"

Logan brought home something from school yesterday that I had to share. It's very sweet and funny. It's basically a fill in the blank paper. It goes like this...

My mother is the most wonderful mother in the whole world.

She's as pretty as a hart (heart). She weighs 98 (my favorite) and she's 100 tall. In the good old days when my mom was little, she used to billed casls in the forest(build castles in the forest). I think my mom looks funny when she sleeps. I wish Mom would eat with me every day (I ate lunch at school with him on Monday). I wouldn't trade my mom for a bed.

Happy Mother's Day.

Isn't that funny and sweet? Gotta love him!!

This is a picture of Logan from about 2 months. Sammy has a picture of Jacob on her blog that really reminded me of this one. So cute!! Can't believe he's about to be 7!!!!

Logan's Arm, the Saga continues...

Ding, ding, ding, ding... we have a winner! Or do we? It's broken, probably. That's the diagnosis. Apparently the type of break that Logan (may) have is very hard to see on X-Ray, but based on his symptoms the doctor feels like it's best to proceed under the assumption that it is broken. So, Logan has a temporary cast/splint. It's basically like the bottom half of a cast that's held on with an ace bandage. This way we can take it off to bathe or if it gets itchy, etc. It's perfect to me. All the advantages of a regular cast with none of the inconvenience. Logan was happy, although he did wish he could have picked the color like you get to do nowadays with a regular cast. When are they going to make Ace bandages in different colors? There's an idea!! (They probably already do somewhere.)
Anyway, just wanted to give you all an update on his condition. It really seems to be helping him too. He hasn't been complaining nearly as much about the pain as before. So I hope it will be all downhill from here.
Also, the whole thing with my mom picking up the after school kids went fine. I sure did stress about it though. I actually wound up rescheduling Logan's appointment for tomorrow morning when I couldn't get a hold of her this afternoon. But then she came over in plenty of time, so I called them back (for the 3rd time) and got my original appointment back. What a freak they must have thought I was. Anyway, it all worked out great. I'm really glad we were able to go today to help get Logan on the road to recovery a little faster. Thanks Mom!! I might have to make this Mother's day a little extra special for you!!

This is my comedian son with his new arm contraption! He thinks this is sooo funny!

Logan's Arm

Don't say, "we told you so". I know I've been posting stories about Logan getting a skateboard and a ramp and the terror that these items filled me with, but this I never would have seen coming.

On Friday evening Logan and Ellie went outside on the porch with Stu while he was grilling. The next thing I knew Logan was inside on the couch writhing around in pain and Ellie was telling me that "Logan told me to push him off the porch in the car." Hmmm. I asked him where it hurt (The scene of the accident)

and he said his arm. A minute later he got up and said he felt like he was going to throw up. He went in the bathroom and laid on the floor by the toilet. I was worried that he hurt his stomach or ribs or something. But he kept saying it was his arm that hurt. I looked at it but couldn't see much wrong except a small red mark on his forearm just below his elbow.

He came back out of the bathroom (without throwing up) and laid on the couch again. He stayed there for probably the next half hour without getting up. Whoa! There has to be something wrong with that boy to keep him curled up in a ball on the couch like that. We had dinner. He didn't want to eat. Again, not like him. So we decided to take him to the urgent care center for X-rays. I had given him some ibuprofen for the pain, made a sling out of a Star Wars pillow case, and off we went.

Of course once we got there and saw the doctor he was feeling better. They did the x-rays first. The doctor came in a few minutes later and asked what happened. He asked Logan to straighten his arm, to bend it, twist it, etc. Logan did all of these things without complaint. The doctor squeezed his arm in several places and asked if it hurt. Logan replied "no" to all of them. The doctor looked at me and said, "it looks like he just banged it". Then went to look at the x-rays, which of course didn't show anything. He sent us home with a paper all about "contusions" a fancy word for a bruise, and another with one sentence about icing it and taking ibuprofen for pain. He did give us a real sling though. He also left me with one sliver of doubt, telling me that sometimes it takes a few days for a fracture to show up on an X-ray. So basically I still don't know if his arm is broken or not.
For some reason I can't go to the urgent care center or ER without feeling like a loser for coming in the first place. Logan was in pain. A lot of pain. After we left I asked him why he didn't tell the doctor his arm hurt? "I don't know" was the answer. So then I'm second guessing myself. Maybe he's not hurt that bad. But still in the back of my mind is that if he's not better in a few days we may need to go and have another x-ray.

So for the last few days we've been in the wait and see mode. He did pretty well all weekend. Although I had to keep him on ibuprofen every 6 hours since the pain kept coming back. We were also using a lot of ice packs. This morning of course he was in agony. He got up himself and got an ice pack. He was begging me not to go to school. I just didn't know what to do. He can't just keep staying home because his arm hurts, right? So I decided to send him to school and call the orthopedic doctor that Erica used when she broke her wrist as soon as I could.

So he's at school now. I hope he's OK. For some reason he doesn't like to use his sling in public. It seems to really help his arm feel better. I'm sure he's not wearing it now though. I talked to his teacher this morning to let her know what was going on. We have an apt. at 3:10 today.

This opens up a whole new can of worms since I watch kids after school (at 3:00) My mom is coming over to pick them up and watch them until I get back. I'm sure it will be fine, but it's just something else to worry about, you know?
We'll see what happens. I'll keep you "posted". Ha ha, get it? I know, I know... dork!

Girls night!

I know this is a little late since our girls night was last Thursday, but I had to post this picture of us at Chuy's since magically it seems to knock about 10 years off my age!! We had a great time eating, drinking and most of all talking. I don't know what I'd do without my girls!!

Tag, I'm it!!

My friend Lisa tagged me. I've never been tagged, but apparently I have to post 3 random things about myself. I've actually been writing my 100 things for my 100th post (if I ever get there) so I'm stealing a few items from that list. Here goes...

1. I don't personally own any CD's. Yes this may sound weird to many of you (or possibly all of you), but I don't. Now, I must let you know that my husband owns over 1000. Wait a minute, that' s not cheating. I hardly ever listen to them on my own. I don't know why. I just always listen to the radio. I don't have an ipod either. (Although now that I'm going to the gym more, I want one.)

2. I really love to travel. Our whole family does actually. The kids love staying in hotels and can't wait until our next trip. Stu and I have been to quite a few places (Puerto Rico, NYC, Seattle, Wyoming, Las Vegas, Disney World, San Diego and Disneyland, Cozumel, Belize) mostly before we had kids. We can't wait to visit more.

3. Sometimes I dance around the house while I'm cleaning. I turn the satellite on the 80's music channel really loud and let loose. I know, I'm a dork. It's actually fun and makes the time go much faster. It also adds a little cardio to my day. So if you ever come to the door and hear the music blaring, before you look in the window, brace yourself.

OK, I'm tagging Erica.

Mourning the loss...

I know I've been pretty bad about blogging lately. I had a post all ready to go on Monday about what happened in my neighborhood, but then decided not to post since I thought it was giving up too much personal info about where I live, etc. (Not that anyone I don't know reads my blog anyway, but you never know.) Although now that I think about it, everyone who saw me on the news knows I live where I live and I guess that's not safe either. Oh well, you can't live like a hermit, right?

Also, my lovely laptop that I'd been using in the kitchen is on the fritz. Thus the title to my post. It's been horrible without it. I'm actually thinking of moving my computer somewhere else in the house because where it is now is just too hard to get to easily. I haven't even been checking my email regularly.

First I have a little catching up to do on pics. If you've read Erica's blog you've seen that I gave her kids haircuts. She didn't post about Grace's haircut because Ray isn't supposed to know. (Shhh) But I actually gave Grace a little trim too. Men don't understand that even if girls are going to have long hair they still need to get haircuts now and then. Anyway, I digress. The haircuts went really well. Erica was a little hesitant, so I just took it upon myself to make the first move.

I got Carter and put him in the highchair in front of the TV with a snack. Then I went to town. His hair was really long. I think Erica was a little shocked by how fast and how much hair I was cutting off. I've been cutting hair (non-professionally for about 16 years) Wow, that's a long time now that I think of it! And I've been doing Logan's hair since he was born. So I know that with little kids you have to go as fast as you can since the haircut could come to an end at any time. Like I said he did really well. I pretty much got to do what I wanted. I could have trimmed a little more, but Carter had had enough and so that was it. I think Erica liked it though. And she said Ray liked it too, so that's good.

After I was done with Carter we asked Grace if she wanted a haircut too. At first she said no, but then we said that She and Ellie could get haircuts together and she liked that idea. So we sat them in bar stools next to each other and I gave her a quick trim, just to even up the ends basically. I also gave Ellie a "pretend" haircut since she really didn't need one. After that we all went to lunch with my mom at Taco Cabana. It was a good day.

I wanted to include this picture of Ellie in her new dress with a really full skirt. She loves to twirl around and have the skirt fly up! And just one more picture of Ellie painting on the "weasel" that Aunt Erica gave her and Logan. Too Cute!

P.S. Lisa, I know you tagged me and I'm working on my post for that too!!