The Bubble

Saturday morning after the boys autograph session with the Houston Astros, we took a walk to get something to eat. We would have stayed at the ball park but after autographs they ask you leave until the gates open.

We went to Subway at 11:30AM on a Saturday morning in downtown Houston. Any of you that live in Houston know what goes on on a Saturday morning in downtown Houston. There are homeless people every where. They are asked to leave the missions where they slept the night and they wander aimlessly around the streets of downtown.

So we get to Subway which is about 7 blocks from Minute Maid Park and turn the corner and find to homeless guys arguing. The are screaming at one another to go home. My first thought was to just get the boys inside, but my next thought was where are they going home to, under a bridge.

Anyway R2 asked why they were arguing and telling each other to go home. I just looked at him and told I didn't know and it was really none of our business why they were arguing.

Next another homeless man walks into the store and begins to ask everyone for food or money. The manager eventually kicks him out.

After that I look out the window to see another person picking up trash off the street and drinking the cups he found but throwing all of the other stuff in the trash. R1 sees this and asks why he was drinking from the trash. He's old enough to understand and so I begin to explain. He responds with his usual OK.

Then another homeless man walks into Subway and locks himself in the bathroom. The manager comes and bangs on the door and threatens to call the police if he doesn't get out.

At this point both boys are looking and asking why. We explain once again. He was soaking up the A/C, getting a drink, and cleaning himself up. When R2 asks why he didn't just go home. Again more explaining as to why he may not have a home.

As we were walking back to the ballpark, Hubs was explaining to the boys some different circumstances as to why these people are they way the are, homeless.

There was an endless supply of reasons. But it made me realize what a little bubble my children live in. My children had never been exposed to the homeless side of life. They've helped out with delivering food supplies to the less fortunate during baseball season, but not flat out homeless.

I have to say I was proud that they didn't just burst out with normal or loud questioning tone of voice. They very quietly asked their questions and we did the best we could to explain. They saw how rough life can be and why things might turn out that way.

For a brief moment, as much as I like to keep them sheltered from certain things, our bubble popped and they got a life lesson that I don't I could have ever taught them.

Oh what to blog about...

I have several things I could mention this old blog, but my post vacation self is TIRED!

It's been a whirl wind of busy. We had R1's 12th birthday party before we left. Then there was the washing and cleaning so we could come home to a clean house and minimal laundry. Then there was the week at the Frio River. Oh and one day at Fiesta Texas. Then we came home and this past Saturday the boys had an autograph with the Houston Astros and the later that day the actual game against the Brewers. And the boys ended up at some point during the game on the big jumbo tron. The Astros won Saturday!!! And to top it off, VBS every night this week.

Where am I going with all of this you ask? Well if I want to actually blog about any this I have pictures to go with it and right now I don't even want to get up out of my recliner. Cookie is sleeping in the recliner with me and my legs are propped up on either side of her and I'm getting ready to settle down with a book.

So I hope y'all had a great Monday and if you hear some snoring in about 15 minutes don't worry, it's just me and Hubs will wake me when it's time to go to bed.

Oh Frio River, how I love thee

We went on vacation this past week in case you didn't notice the lack of blogging.

I had it all planned out to. I was going to put up a few posts while we were gone but with all of the laundry and packing and making sure we made it out of the house with everything we needed since we were not going to be close to a town with a store, I was wiped out! I just couldn't focus long enough to put up one post let alone four.

And in case you are wondering we went to the Frio River. We actually stayed in Concan, Texas.

It was the four of us, well the five of us, we took Cookie. Our friends, Deb and Cliff. Then Christi, Randall and their kids. Tammy and her daughter. Robin, her husband, and her precious new baby boy. Let's just say I got all of the baby love I wanted. And he was so sweet and I enjoyed every minute of it.

We played in the river for a few days and we also hit Fiesta Texas.

I grew up going to Astroworld in Houston and since it closed down there was no chance my kids would ever get to experience it.Debbie had given us free tickets to get into Fiesta. As soon as we got into the park, R2 rode the Boomerang roller coaster with Tammy, Christi, and Randall. It was his first coaster to ride and I was a bit nervous because I don't do more than one loop and absolutely no twisting. I'll spare you the details as to why I don't do roller coasters like that.

Bottom line is he love it! He came off the ride smiling and ready to go. He and I ended up riding the Road Runner together. He was so funny.

We stayed six hours at Fiesta Texas. We did everything we could do. The lines weren't long and even though it was 97 degrees there was always a breeze blowing. And the boys kept telling Hubs and I how it was the best day of their lives. They had a great time!

But after the heat from the amusement park the Frio River was calling our name once again. We spent and entire day in the river. Just playing and floating and relaxing.

It really was the perfect vacation.

Twelve

Twelve years ago today God blessed me with a precious son.

He has made me laugh till my sides hurt. He has made me so mad that I thought I could scream for days. He has made me so proud my cheeks hurt from smiling at him. He has made my heart burst with love. He has made me have that twinge that I wish I could go back in time and just snuggle him close and carry him in my arms.

He has made me be a better mom. He has loved me with all of my faults just because I am his mom.

He is smart, handsome, funny, sweet, serious, and amazing. And best of all he is just my son.

Happy 12th birthday R1. I love you!

Summer Fun

Summer Joy

Have I told you how much I enjoy summer. I wanted to re post this because it has been so hot here and we need a little something to beat the heat.

Summer Fun

Hope everyone stays cool this week!

Finally Friday

Whew, it's finally Friday!

It's been busy here this week. R1 is at grandparent camp this week. He comes home today and his birthday party is tomorrow. I'll post pictures next week. hmmm maybe. Y'all know how I am about stuff like that.

Anyway next week, well really the next two weeks are going to crazy with activities too. But that's OK it's Summer!!!

That's it, y'all have a great day!

Doggie Dilemma #8

OK to be honest, Monday I was just dang tired to post anything for Tuesday. I went to bed at 8:40pm. I know such an exciting life. Oh and R2 was laying in bed with me watching Phineas and Ferb.So you know I was tired if I went to bed with R2 in my bed and the TV on.

Anyway back to the doggie dilemma. Last night I was in the back yard watching R2 swim and Cookie wander off to take care of her business. When she came back she was limping on her right front paw.

Being the calm person I am, NOT! I started to freak out. Just like I do when something happens with the boys. Like the time R2 had to get three stitches and he was just 2 months shy of turning 2. So I walked over to her and picked her up and brought inside. I started to look at her paw and look in between the pads on her paws. I let her get up but she wouldn't even put an pressure on it at one point.

So I immediately called my friend Christi, who is my vet, the only thing is Christi lives in another city so she couldn't bring Cookie to see her. But I told her what was wrong and what she was doing.

She didn't seem to think it was an emergency as Cookie would let me touch it and straighten her leg out and so one. She thought she might have gotten stung or bit by a bug or even the hot ground might have gotten her as it's been 108 outside. She said to give her 25mg of Benadryl and then another dose tomorrow. Oh and also try to keep her off her leg as much as possible. That should be fun.

But right now she is laying in the recliner with me and sleeping.

I pray she will be fine. I don't like doggie dilemmas. They stress me out almost as much as when something happens to the boys. Guess that's because she's my furry kid.

We bought a pie

We bought a pie. I know so exciting. But let me tell you why we bought a pie.

Our church held a pie auction last night for a mission trip that some of our people are taking to Latvia. Which in case you don't know is in the Baltic region of Northern Europe.

Our music minister is married to a wonderful lady who is from Latvia and just to throw this out there to, their daughter is precious.

Anyway, a group from our church went last year and started the first stage of putting a new roof on the church. Now this year they are going again to put flooring in the church. And to help raise some money the church held a pie auction where all of the proceeds went the mission trip.

There were over fifty pies and some sold for only $30.00 while others sold for over $200.00. It was great event and I'm glad we were able to participate.

And here is the pie, or what's left of the pie we bought. We bid on a coconut lemon cheesecake. I'm so glad we won this pie, it was awesome. And the reason it's half gone is we shared it with some of the people at the auction.

YUM!!!

Fashion Friday's that aren't

Like you didn't know. I guess here on this blog I'm not good with the follow through. But is only here on the blog because well here, I'm the boss and I can do what I want.

That and I really wanted to do something only regarding plus size clothes and it just didn't turn out the way I had hoped so I don't think I'll be doing them any more. But you never know I might decided to just one day do a random post about some cute shorts or a fabulous shirt I found. But for now, fashion Friday's have been phased out.

Moving on

If y'all don't mind please keep R1 and the other youth from our church in your prayers. They are taking a road trip this weekend. Pray for safe travel to and from and pray that God would use them and speak to them in a big way over the next few days. Thanks!

Also on the agenda for the weekend....nothing! I don't know if I can stand it. Three weekends in a row. NICE.

Actually tonight we are going to an ice social. My brother in law is the new Superintendent of Schools for his district and after their official board meeting they are throwing a little get together in his honor so we will be attending that.

Saturday I'm thinking maybe a little retail therapy might be in order and maybe even some body therapy in the form a pedicure.

So y'all have a great weekend and I'll see ya on Monday.

The mundane

Well it's summer and things right now are very ordinary. I kinda like it like that. Things were so CrAzY the last month of school, with baseball, end of school activities, meetings, parties, and church youth functions. I'm enjoying the mundane.

Not to much has been happening around her. Staying up late, sleeping later than normal, trying to plan a vacation, keeping the house picked up, (a losing battle) and trying to keep up with the laundry. (another losing battle)

I was trying really hard to get back into the habit of posting everyday and commenting everyday on the blogs I read. But the truth is I'm still in my "lurking mode" and it's really not all that interesting posting every day about pretty much nothing.

So since it's only 10:30pm and the boys are all settled down. I think I'm off to bed.

Come back tomorrow maybe I'll a bizarre dream that I can blog about to spice things up a bit.

One Was Johnny

When I was little my mother used to take my brother and I every Saturday to the Sharpstown Public Library in Houston, where I grew up.

For some reason or another by brother and I were hooked on Carole King's children's songs. Most of her songs were written for children's books written by none other than Maurice Sendak. My brother and I loved his books too. I knew Where the Wild Things Are backwards and forwards.

Anyway, the library used to check out records and we always checked out the album, Nutshell Library, which had four volumes of stories: Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup With Rice, One Was Johnny, and Pierre.

We would play that record over and over and over. It seemed we never got tired of it. I found a clip for One Was Johnny and I watched it about three times. Apparently I'm still mesmerized by it. That and my kids thought I was nuts.

Here is clip that still brings a smile to my face.

The Moth

I hope everyone had a great father's day. We hung around the house after church and did much of nothing. I even got in a nap. It was glorious!

The other day R2 was out in the backyard and called Hubs and I to come look at something.

On our porch under the overhang was a HUGE moth. I don't think I had ever seen one that big before.

And here is a picture of said moth.

What I'm wearing for the family photos

Thank you all so much for the input on what we should wear.

We are going with the navy/red theme.

I found this shirt last night. Actually I found it online but they didn't have my size so I drove over to Lane Bryant to see if they even had the shirt.

And the best part...1) it was on sale. 2) and a lady that was checking out next to me offered me her real woman dollars, it's like Kohls cash, and after the sale and the dollars it was half price!!

That never happens to me. So thank you again to the lady shopping at Lane Bryant last night. I appreciate it.

Family pictures

So in a few weeks this family is having family pictures taken. I would be so excited except that I have only been trying to schedule them since November, of last year.

Every time we get a date set I would have to cancel and reschedule. I'm hoping this date is it.

But now I have a dilemma. What in the heck do we wear. I have some cute plaid, mostly green plaid button up shirts for the boys and Hubs even has a green plaid shirt too. And that would be easy because I could try and find a navy shirt for me.

But we did green and white in 2007, can't believe it's been that long for our last family pictures.

I have to say I'm even thinking about letting the boys wear shorts. It's gonna be SOOOOOO HOT by the time we take pictures. If not then jeans for sure.

So I'm open to suggestions. I thought about maybe me in red and the boys in blue. I don't know I just don't really want us all in the same solid color. We've done that before too. White shirts and khaki pants.

Ok so any thought?

Sweet Summer Time

Since my brain turned to mush over the weekend because we didn't have any where to be or anything to do, here is a list of some of my favorite summer things.

Playing in the water hose and stopping long enough to take a drink from it.
BBQ's with great friends
Lazy days
Swimming till your skin is wrinkled
Afternoon naps
The smell of suntan lotion
Trips to the lake
Vacations
Fishing
Making Smores
Kids playing baseball in the yard
Family movie night
Family game night
Home grown vegetables
Kids laughter
Popsicles
Watermelon served ice cold

The fort

Big Guy decided after hunting season was over he wasn't going to renew his deer lease. So today he and Duh-Duh came over and brought Big Guy's deer stand.

This is a stand like no other. It has stairs to get into it. It has carpet. It has a metal roof. It has shelves and plexiglass windows that can be opened. The door even has a lock. And I'm sure at some point you could even add a heater/A/C unit.

But right now, it's sitting in my back yard and the boys have turned it into their spy fort. They even got out the walkie talkies to play.

And if I wasn't so dang tired I'm sure I could figure out how to get a txt message picture off of my phone so I could post it on here. Maybe I'll try tomorrow. Maybe.

The grandparents

At the end of school R1 had his last band concert for the year. And in true grandparent fashion Big Guy and Duh-Duh came to watch.

They drove an hour and a half just to watch for 20 minutes and then drove back home. They do things like this all time for all of the grand kids.

And here is a picture of them with R1 after the concert.

I am truly blessed to have them as my in-laws.

First day of summer vacation

This is how we spent our first day of summer vacation.If you ask me, I think it's a great first day!

It's over

Well y'all knew how my weekend was going to go but what I didn't know what that I was going to be spending 12 hours at the ball park Saturday for our closing day tournament.

Yes, that's right folks, 12 hours. And to be totally honest, I loved every minute of it.

R2 had a game that morning and we had to be there by 8:30. And they would play another game later that morning. And it kinda went all down hill after that. The games ran longer than normal and that ended up pushing everything back by thirty minutes to an hour. At one point, R1 and R2 were playing at the same time and I just kinda camped out between both fields.

R1's team lost and then R2's team lost. But they both played hard. R2 even made an out home.

We did end up leaving for about 2 hours to go and each lunch with R1's team. It was a nice way to end the season.

We came back at 4:30pm for R2's closing ceremonies that actually didn't begin until almost 5:30pm. R1's closing ceremony was scheduled to begin at 6:30 but started closer around 7pm.

By the time it was all said and done we pulled out of the ball park at 8:45pm.

I have to say it was a great season and I'm kinda sad it's over. I'm gonna miss my baseball family. Way to go CARDINALS!!

Fashion Friday-that didn't happen

OK since I'm still recovering and Hubs is down for the count, which translate into I had the boys all to myself last night and we just kinda hung out and talked and watched t.v. so I never got around surfing the net.

And today is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Hallelujah! No more trying to wake up the boys every morning only to hear, MOM, I need five more minutes. And trying to figure out what to serve for breakfast. Oh and I'm now the mom of a 7th grader and a 2nd grader. Seriously time can just stop at any moment.

And tonight we have high school graduation for my friend Beth's son. Saturday both boys have a tournament and some where in there closing ceremonies for baseball. Sunday our church is recognizing the graduates and Hubs is included because remember in December he got his Masters degree. I think it's cool they are recognizing him as well. Anyway the church is taking the graduates and their families out to lunch.

So I guess there you have it my weekend recap before it happens. I know efficient, it's my middle name. NOT!

Y'all have a great weekend. GO CARDINALS!!