Brag Time

I just want to take a couple minutes of your time to brag about A.J. Truly in his heart he wants to be a good kid. He really wants to make me happy. We made cookie dough yesterday and I gave him a couple bites. He asked if he could have a little teeny tiny bit more and I told him no, that he could have a small cookie when they were done. He then says,"Mommy will you take my spoon so I don't try to sneak some." I said "Sure." Later, Andy came home, ate a couple cookies and asked A.J if he wanted a bite. A.J. told him no, that I said he couldn't have anymore. Andy then says "A.J. , do you want a bite?" and A.J. said nooooooooo daddy! Then he came and told on Andy. He is always trying to remove temptation from his life and make sure that he is doing what he was taught. He even says things that he isn't sure about and then asks me " Mommy did I lie?" I guess I have drilled it into him enough that it is very important to tell the truth."
I pray he continues to live this way!

Philosophy? Why are we who we are?

I'm sitting in my living room listening to instrumental Christmas music, the saxophone, and wondering if I have chosen to really enjoy it because of a comment I remember my Mother making, or because I naturally am drawn to it? You have heard the phrase, "Children are like sponges." haven't you? They truly are. That is part of why we are who we are today. I believe that we tend to own the things we hear important people say in our childhood. By important people I mean, Mothers, Fathers, Teachers, Idles, Friends' cool Moms. (Mostly parents.) Let me explain. My mom made a comment when I was younger " I wish I could be a size ten again." So the size 10 became my limit. Anything more than that became unwelcomed in my body. Sometimes, I wish she had said a size 7.
I,m also talking about early childhood. Before the age of six, parents are IT! After that, we somehow become lame, uneducated, embarrassing........need I go on? I haven't directly experienced it on this side , but I do remember my feelings towards my parent as a youth. I think I could write a book with all the thoughts piled high in my head, but I'll try to wait until I have experienced all the seasons of child rearing, and a little more education! Our personal claim is a choice that is formed through all the things we encounter in our lives. I believe we make our choices based on feelings and beliefs. We choose to live a certain way, dress a certain way, talk a certain way. We choose the things we like.....music, art, food. To an extent, we choose the things we feel. We also make unconscious choices.(Like the size ten, quickly became a conscious decision.) I could go on and on, but I won't. My point is, in part, we are all the people we have chosen to be. Or did our parents choose who we are, and what our choices would be? The other part is what God gave us. We are all made up of parts. Are you proud of who you are? Not your image, which I believe we all have, but who you truly are in your heart. Are you proud of your secrets? Do you really like the music you like or was that chosen for you? Just a thought. Make any sense?

Treasures!!!

Are they as cute as I think they are? Ben had his first haircut. He did pretty good. Of course the first 15 minutes he sucked on a hairy sucker. That helped. After that, it took a little creative attention grabbing from me and A.J. My babies aren't babies anymore! Every day passes quicker. Some more than others. I try to have some family time, and a little one on one time, each day. It isn't as easy as it should be. These are my treasures! I put everything into them that I'm passionate about!

Gobble Gobble!

Holy cow, I cant believe Thanksgiving is in 5 days! And then only four weeks till Christmas! O.K. one thing at a time! I tend to get excited this time of year. Let's see. What am I thankful for this year? There are always the things I'm thankful for all the time like friends and family, good health and a little bit of red wine. I would have to say most recently I am thankful for electricity. Confession time! Andy and I had a little mis-communication (that's what I'm calling it) and our electric bill didn't get paid. So the electrician came and turned off our power. I knew it when it happened so I quickly met him in our front yard. I asked if there was anything I could do to get him to turn it back on before he left and he said I needed to call our provider. He was so cold and emotionless. I guess you have to be in that line of work. So I embarrassingly hurried back into my house to call TXU for I was running out of daylight. At 5:45 pm, I had 15 min before we were covered with darkness. The bland, dry character on the other end of the phone said it would be a $90.00 reconnection fee for same day reconnection. Made me wonder what tomorrow's rate was, so I asked. Yes, $10.00! So we made a fun night out of it. We had a fire in the fire place, candles lit everywhere, and we took our showers that night so we would have hot ones. I had thawed out a smoked sausage already so we threw it in our cast iron skillet with some olive oil, sliced potatoes, bell pepper and onion, and cooked it on the grill. It was wonderful! We all stayed warm that night,thank God, and the boys and I went to IHOP for breakfast the next morning. We were all good and the power was back on by 4:30 that afternoon. After the Breakfast and reconnection fee we saved $70.00! I have to tell you, I didn't realize having electricity makes life so much easier!

drunk driving

O.K., so I know the title of this piece needs some work. No, we were not driving drunk! I was playing with my camera in the car one night and these are the pics I got out of it. What do you think?

Blah..............

What to do? What to do? I don't want to bore you with the details of the crap in my life right now because you probably have your own crap! I am such a drag right now. My sweet husband is trying so hard to make me happy. It mostly works. I have a potential job change coming up. I struggle with letting people down pretty often. This potential job is in the line of faux finishing which most of you know is what I've wanted to do for a long time. I feel like it is O.K. to let go of the twins I'm watching to pursue my dream job. But I would also have to let go of my own children. This is a struggle for me considering the most fond memories I have of my mother are from when she stayed home with me before I started school. I also struggle with the fact that my heart lives in nature, in the mountains. If I ever got there, I would have to give up my dream job anyway, for another dream. Does that make it O.K. ? I wonder what God is up to? I know he is in all this. Then there is the unspoken war of my divorced In-Laws. No, No, No, they aren't at war. I am. Andy has two families. Well, four now. When we visit or talk on the phone, Andy and I both wish we could live where-ever the person we are talking to, lives. So the answer seems to be (not to go to either place because) we can't be both places at once. I also don't know if I should put Ben in M.O.P.S. next year. I feel funny about sending them to daycare before they can talk. I need to just throw myself into prayer and stay there.

Party , Party , Party

BUGS AND PANCAKES DON'T USUALLY MAKE IT TOGETHER BUT FOR THIS PARTY THEY DID. We had so much fun! The pancakes turned out perfect and the kids spent most of their time in the sandbox(of course). We had a bug hunt in the backyard and a bug toss as well! The boys got a ton of toys! So for Christmas we are asking for Walmart gift cards! We would like to be with Andy's Mom this Christmas so that would help us get there. I also want to go back to Colorado this spring so it would help with that as well! We also plan on putting the boys in the same room this late summer and possibly having a toy room. Gift cards would help with paint and organizational tools. If you are the kind of person that doesn't like giving gift cards, we adore handmade gifts, and you can never have too many books!

Three at a time.........

I am afraid to ask "What next?" Our iron broke. We were getting ready for our family pictures and our iron broke. Needless to say, Andy and I both woke-up sick, so we didn't make it to our appointment. Then, my vacuum started acting funny. It makes this really loud whining noise (as if I need more of that) and doesn't have much suction. It is a Bissell and we have had problems with it since we bought it two years ago. A few days ago, our computer crashed. All my photos and important documents and personal info is stored on it. Andy took it to a friend at Fry's today to see if we could get it fixed. I wont be able to post any pics until then. Wish us luck!

Ben is One!

Ben had his first birthday and it was a lot of fun. We started the day off snuggling. We had donuts for breakfast. Went to the park, which is another whole story. Then we took a nap. After nap, Ben got his presents. He loves his huge Tonka Tuck. For dinner we went to a restaurant in Arlington called Campo Verde. They had lights everywhere and a train that ran around a track up near the ceiling. We finished the night off with a fried ice cream and headed home to say goodnight.

Trick or Treat!!!

Happy Halloween! The Boys had a great time trick or treating. A.J. got a ton of candy. We normally only go to our friends houses but this year we decided to go to a couple more. You can't see it, but A.J. is wearing a Jack Sparrow hat. I was so proud of A.J. He went up to the familiar homes by himself but the ones he wasn't sure about he asked for some company. Andy wasn't to excited about me sticking to his side, but it made me comfortable to know A.J. could decide if a house was safe or not. Ben (the skeleton) sat in the wagon being pulled by Daddy, and dragged a pumpkin straw on the ground halfway around the neighborhood. It kept him entertained. I tagged along behind with my wine in one hand and camera in the other. Then we all headed back to feast on the candy. Ben had his first sucker. Boy was it good!!!