Kristi's Creative Ramblings

Blogging Shall Return!

2011-05-10T06:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true....I will return to the blogging world. I officially have 18 days of work left and then we will be gone for a week on vacation, but I WILL return to blogging just in time for Cole's 5th birthday!

See you soon!
XOXO,
Kristi

Sadie's Wish List

2009-12-05T20:34:00.003-06:00

I haven't introduced you to my girl yet...

Meet Sadie. We got her a few weeks ago and she has given us a lot of smiles, laughs and a few messes since then. The boys love her and she's a pretty good alarm clock.

Oh, and since she's on "my" team (AKA - a girl), she currently has pink EVERYTHING and has recently added a few of THESE collars and accessories to her Christmas Wish List.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T09:57:00.003-06:00

Thankful that we had cool, comfortable weather to trick-or-treat this year. My little men transformed into Optimus Prime and Bumblebee and made it up and down two streets of our neighborhood this year. They had sooo much fun and Cole even managed to wear his entire costume for half of the excursion. By street two, I was holding the mask and, five houses later, I was carrying the arm piece, too. Hope y'all had a wonderful Halloween!

Mas...

2009-10-29T19:21:00.003-05:00

...as in "more"....blocks. This time, they are Tiger Cub Scout inspired...enjoy.

Blocks, blocks...EVERYWHERE!

2009-10-19T08:27:00.005-05:00

First of all, I'm posting this early because I'm at home with a cranky, snotty, coughing little 3-year-old that is complaining that his "ear feels funny". GREAT. We are off to the doctor later today...

Anyway, after I posted pictures of the blocks I made for Baby Micah, my Facebook inbox blew up with questions about them. Right now, I'm sitting at 6 orders for blocks... Social networking can be a wonderful thing, huh? I just finished up my first order last night. They are for an adorable 5-year-old girl named Lori that loves Hannah Montana. I had to give myself an intensive Google-infused lesson on Hannah Montana, since she's not really present at our house. I absolutely LOVE what the finished product looks like...the glitter, the bling, the sparkle...what's not to love? Even my husband admitted how "cute" they were (you didn't hear that from me). So...here are all six bedazzled sides...

My new favorite baby shower gift(s)

2009-10-11T16:29:00.005-05:00

One of my best friends had her baby shower recently. I'm so crazy excited to meet this new little man!!! I bought Nancy a fun, funky diaper bag from my favorite bag maker, Kelci. (She's moving, so her etsy site is on hold for right now, but you should totally go buy some stuff from her...she even named one of her purse styles after ME!) I stuffed the bag full of all sorts of goodies, but my new favorite is one I made...little wooden blocks I altered to match Baby Micah's green and brown monkey room! I'm ordering some more blocks soon and hope to add some to my etsy shop soon!

Entrepreneur

2009-10-10T11:10:00.004-05:00

Yeah, yeah...it's been forever. BUT! I wanted to share my new Etsy shop with everyone! Take a peek: krgDesigns on Etsy

Not exactly "Careful Caleb"...

2009-08-19T18:09:00.003-05:00

As a last ditch effort to get some fun in before our summer was officially over, we took a quick trip to New Braunfels to visit "The Original" Schlitterbahn. Chris' mom ("MeeMaw") drove up and had fun with us. We stayed at the resort at Schlitterbahn that overlooks the Comal River. As we floated the river Sunday night, we got to see the "Skycoaster" and the crazies being dropped 180 feet...definitely NOT my cup of tea. Here's how the conversation went...

Caleb: "I want to do that!"
Me: "Ummm...."
MeeMaw: "I'll do it! I do it every year! But it's the last thing I do before I leave the park."
Caleb: "Maybe I'll do it with you...AND I'll even pull the cord!"
Chris: "We'll look into it tomorrow."
Me: "Ummmm...."

Fast-forward to Monday afternoon. My kids were sun-kissed and maybe even a little water-logged from the fun of the day. MeeMaw decided that it was time for the "Screaming Skycoaster". As we approached the desk, Caleb said, "I'm not sure I want to go right now. Maybe later..."

That's my boy. Careful Caleb.

Chris and MeeMaw quickly chimed in that they were going NOW and this would be his only opportunity. Careful Caleb evidently got a little carefree. He was tall enough, so he decided to try it out. And, yes, he even pulled the cord. If I could figure out how to download the video we bought, I would post it here. You would hear the onlookers in awe of the "little boy" that was going up 180 feet into the air. You would hear Cole yelling, "Go Ca-leb!". And you would hear me in all of my country-accent glory yelling, "Woooooo Hoooooo!" (at least it wasn't "Yeee Haaaw!", right?) Alas, I can't get it to work, so you can make some sound effects as you scroll down through these pictures. It was only after they landed that I asked myself what exactly I was thinking when I let my 6 year old do that...

And we just thought he was brave doing the Boogie Bahn....

More Summertime Fun

2009-08-06T18:11:00.007-05:00

A few more random pictures from our fun this summer...

Snow Cones (delicious!) I think it's utterly fabulous that our little hometown snowcone stand is on the main "drag" through town and in the middle of a shopping center parking lot...which happens to be across the street from a cemetary. Really evokes the tropical feeling. Good thing the snowcones are so yummy! ;)

Cousin Fun Day at Space Center Houston (did I post these pics before?) with JR, Kyle and Reed. There sure are a lot of buttons to push at this place, so my boys were happy!

Cole "modeling" for the camera...first in his new favorite mascara (Mommy's brand), and then in the latest in pre-school fashion - Daddy's socks worn on the arms. Gotta admit he's pretty cute, though!

Our trip to the museum...(one of Caleb's summertime checklist items)

And some of my favorite pictures of all...enjoying one of the only ways to stay cool in this Houston Heat...swimming in our little pool.

Only 11 days left for me. Summertime, why must you go so fast???

Sharing some Crafty...

2009-07-31T09:25:00.007-05:00

I posted on Facebook that I had finally finished my 2004 scrapbook and Jan asked if I was going to post some of the pictures here, since her kids have to "viacariously live through their cousins' scrapbooks". LOL! I guess we're even then, her kids look at our scrapbooks while my kids read Jan's blogs and wish they could travel the world like the Ingersoll boys...too funny! ;)

Anyway, I've yet to take pictures of most of the stuff, but here are a few recent things (glad to have that "scrappin' mojo" back!) that just so happen to be my favorites. Okay, so none of it goes in said 2004 scrapbook, but this just further proves why I'm so "behind" on scrapping...I usually just grab a picture that gives me some sort of creative jumping-off point and go from there. Therefore, this is all from 2008-2009!!! Enjoy!

A mini-book for Sarah and Steven (it holds wallet sized photos) made using some left-over wrapping paper from one of her bridal showers:

These pictures are from Caleb's last flag football game last Fall. When it was time for the team captains to go out to meet the other team's captains, Coach Brad had them all line up and walk out together, arm-in-arm. It was tooo cute!

And these last two are from JUNE 2009! I loved the pictures I took of the boys picking berries at the Jett's farm and of the berry tartlets I made from our bounty...they were just BEGGING to be scrapped! They are my absolute favorites right now! (Probably helps that I could play up the colors and add some more feminine touches to these pages...LOL) I put a lot of detail into these pages, so I'm also including some close-ups with descriptions for my scrappy friends to see...

Okay, here are the details...be warned, I'm attempting to go "Scrapbook Geek" on you and throw out some techniques and product names...

On "Together", I used Bohemia blank chipboard numbers that I inked up with brown, copper and white to make it look like old leather and then added a little sparkle with Stickles. I also included a quote written on kraft paper, but I'm a little disappointed that it didn't turn out like I had hoped. I stamped it first using the "Champ" stamp from Stampin' Up!'s "Sporting" set using VersaMark ink and then crumpled it before writing the quote on it. If I squint my eyes and tilt my head, I can see the work I put into that tiny piece of paper...(sigh).

On "The Taste of Summer", I used lots of Glossy Accents, Stickles and sewing notions again. Some of my favorite details include the stick pin in the middle of the large flower that has the date on a tiny little tag and the faux blackberries I stamped that are the background for "of" in the title. The stamps are actually supposed to be hydrangeas, but I triple-stamped them with purple, pink and white craft inks to blur the finer details of the stamp and then added Glossy Accents and/or Stickles. Pretty pleased with how that turned out.

On "So Berry Sweet", I did a lot of distressing, used Glossy Accents on the letters and brads, and even dusted off the sewing machine. Oh, and the bird is a QuicKutz die that I cut from kraft paper and then used aqua and white acrylic paint applied with a crumpled plastic bag. And I know the hummingbird has nothing to do with berries or cooking, but I love it because hummingbirds always remind me of my Grandma so I stuck it on there to make me over-the-top happy! So what if it took me half the day...it makes me smile every time I look at it.

Ahhhh...that was nice!

2009-07-27T15:43:00.004-05:00

Chris and I really haven't travelled much as a couple. Heck, we didn't even go on a honeymoon (we had to find a place to LIVE!). This summer, I was DETERMINED to take short trip somewhere. I didn't care where or when...just needed to go. Unfortunately, things at Chris' store have been topsy-turvy all summer and he hasn't been able to take a real vacation, but he did manage to switch a few days out with another manager in order to get away this past weekend. So maybe we spent more than I'm usually comfortable with, but we have managed to pay down a lot of debt lately and I considered this a reward, late Father's Day and late Anniversary all rolled into one. We left Friday morning and checked into the Gaylord Texan Resort and Spa. It quickly became evident that we don't do this often enough as I tried to reign in the excitement when we walked in - Cole started jumping around and screaming out everything we encountered - "Mirror!", "Chair!", "TV!". Poor deprived children...we don't have that stuff back at the homestead, I guess. After settling in our room (and by settling I mean pushing every button, opening and closing every door and flushing the toilet repeatedly), we took the boys around to look at everything...the landscaping, the train exhibit, the artists, etc.

We changed out of our "driving clothes", had our family picture taken and had dinner at Texan Station (one of the restaurants inside the resort). During dinner, Caleb asked why we didn't have the food delivered to our room...afterall, that's what "fancy" people do. We had a good giggle at that! Afterwards, we enjoyed more strolling artists and then went outside to watch the fireworks show over Lake Grapevine. The Gaylord shuffles all the viewers to the top deck of the parking garage and had a DJ there playing music that was synchronized with the show. Pretty nifty.

We then went back to the room and acted like "fancy" people...yep, we ordered room service. It was the best six-dollar-a-slice cake I've ever had. We waited up and made sure that our friends Stefan and Nancy made it there and then tried to smother the excitement enough to sleep.

Saturday morning brought more adventure...Chris and Stefan took off golfing at the Dallas Cowboys Golf Club, and I drove a few minutes down the road to meet Sarah and Steven so they could have a day of fun with the boys. Once back, Nancy and I went shopping at Grapevine Mills and then to Relaché Spa at the resort. Niiiiice. The report is that the smaller Gann's enjoyed putt-putt golf, go-cart racing, games, Pei Wei, and some time at the lake with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Steven. No pics of that yet, but I'm sure there will be some interesting ones later!

That evening, we went "grown-up-fancy" and enjoyed dinner at Old Hickory Steakhouse at the Gaylord.

Afterwards, we got comfy (read: t-shirt for the pregnant mommy and flip-flops for me!) and strolled around the rest of the resort. Had to squeeze in a little exercise after over-indulging! ;)

But, all good things must come to an end...we checked out Sunday morning and met Sarah and Steven at Olive Garden for lunch and kid exchange. Enjoy the pictures by Cole...

PS - I have a lot more pictures...if you want to see more and you're on Facebook, check them out. Will upload there next.

Recent Cards

2009-07-07T12:31:00.003-05:00

I'm slowly easing myself back into doing some crafty stuff. Since I came back from the retreat in California, I honestly haven't had the desire to do much. Sure, I did a ton of invitations for other people, but my own scrapping has been minimal. Sad. I really need to do more, because the boys have really started to show an interest in pulling the scrapbooks down and look at all of the pages in them...

Here are a few cards (front and inside; matching envelope) I've made recently that I really, really like...

A birthday card for Nancy:

A new baby card for Beverly:

Date Night with 2 Hot Boys!

2009-07-02T09:46:00.008-05:00

Okay, so it's not what you're thinking...but that's about as exciting as my life gets these days, so let me live it up a little! ;) The two boys were my kids, it was pretty dang HOT outside, and we called it a "date" since their daddy was stuck at work (again). Anyway, Heather is a friend of mine from high school. She is married to Josh, who happens to be a Texas singer/songwriter. Imagine my surprise when I got the Friendswood newsletter back in May and saw JOSH WARD listed as part of the Summer Concert in the Park lineup! I've wanted to see his band perform for a while now, but never had a chance to catch one of his concerts. This was perfect for several reasons...

(1) it was right down the road,
(2) it was free,
(3) I could take my kids & not look like an unfit momma (since it wasn't in a bar),
(4) we could take our own food/drinks, and
(5) did I mention it was FREE?

So, we loaded up our sunglasses, snacks, bug spray and water/juice and jumped in the truck. (Caleb was decked out in the most fashionable concert-watching attire...camo shorts, cowboy boots and my crumpled "cowboy" hat that I wear to the lake/river...unfortunately, I don't think I got a picture of that get-up.) Even though the band was stuck singing for the first half of the show with the hot Texas sun blaring in their face, they put on one heck of a show! I'm definitely a fan! Caleb took over the photography duties and actually did a pretty good job! Afterwards, we stayed and chatted for a few minutes with Heather and Josh and he gave each of the boys their own official JOSH WARD BAND t-shirts. Caleb talked for days about how excited he was that "a real cowboy singer gave him a shirt!"

Those boys make a pretty good date.

Enjoy Caleb's pictures and scroll down below for a couple of link's to JOSH WARD BAND. If you like country or Texas music, you won't be sorry!

Links to Josh Ward Band...
http://www.reverbnation.com/joshwardband
http://www.lonestarmusic.com/artists.asp?id=1359
http://lttnews.blogspot.com/
or be his "fan" on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Josh-Ward-Band/44845622900

Cole's 3rd Birthday

2009-07-02T09:31:00.003-05:00

...with my belated posting...

Chris has had some drama going on at work lately and working some major overtime (I guess as a favor, because he's not getting paid anything extra for it), so we didn't have any time to schedule a big ta-doo for Cole's birthday. Instead, we had a low-key Mickey Mouse celebration at Nana & Pop's house with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Steven added to the mix. Turns out cupcakes, Mickey Mouse ears, some "hot diggity dogs" and a splash in the kiddie pool with your favorite relatives is all a three year old really needs. Still can't believe my little character is three already...

So Berry Sweet!

2009-06-19T11:08:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the gag-inducing, cheesy title. Anyway. I'm not a "food blogger" or a "recipe guru", nor do I pretend to be. But, every once in a while, I get inspired to try something new in the kitchen and it turns out so yummy that I feel the need to share it with all (three) of you.

Last weekend, we took a field trip over to The Jett's Berry Farm (I don't think they have an official name for it, but they do have berries...and it's farm-like...and, according to Cole, they raise "Patty's" - that would be basset hounds). Cole picked seven berries, Caleb managed to pick a whole basket, and Pop stepped up to be Tour Guide for the boys while Mom and I finished picking the rest of our over-25-pound prize. It was so easy to pick them, I don't know if I will ever pick blackberries anywhere else. Y'all, I ended up taking home two huge freezer bags full of blackberry delicious-ness and still have many, MANY more left. The Rains' (that would be Sarah and Steven, but I love saying their new collective name now) also took home two bags worth and we left three bags at home for Mom and Ben. Can I just say - I. LOVE. BLACKBERRIES. Now, everyone knows that besides eating them fresh with a touch of sugar or cream (which I've had a few times this week), the best way to eat them is in a cobbler. Any other time, that's what I would have made (usually because the picking yielded so few berries that I wouldn't want to waste them - just in case a different recipe might be disastrous). But, since our crop came from Blackberry Utopia, I have soooo many berries! I decided to search for a few new recipes to experiment with. Okay, I know....I know. Shut up already and give us the friggin' recipe, Kristi. I should mention this came from the Southern Living 1999 Annual Recipes cookbook (thanks, Mom) and that I'm a sucker for tiny, cute, individualized treats. And one more word. YUM. Okay, okay...the recipe...

BLACKBERRY SUPREMES

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 pint fresh blackberries
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Powdered sugar (optional)

*Unfold piecrusts on a lightly floured surface. Cut piecrusts with a 2 1/2 inch star-shaped cutter, and fit into lightly greased miniature muffin pan.

*Bake at 350-degrees for 7 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans, and cool on wire racks.

*Bring 1/3 cup water and next 4 ingredients to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Boil, stirring constantly, 1 minute; remove from heat.

*Stir together cream cheese and next 3 ingredients.

*Spoon blackberry mixture into tart shells; pipe or dollop with cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. YIELD: 20 tartlets.

Okay, so a few notes about this recipe:

- I used butter.
- For testing purposes (I've always wanted to say that), I used Pillsbury refrigerated piecrusts. You could easily make your own (cheaper, too), but this was quicker and my loving husband was nice enough to pick it up for me on his way out the door at work. ;)
- I doubled this recipe since I took it to a BBQ.
- Don't forget to prick the bottom of the pie crusts before baking. If you look closely at my picture, I forgot to do this. Not a terrible mistake, but the centers did bubble up a little.
- I might use more berries with the same amount of water/sugar/cornstarch...just because I like the berries more than the syrupy stuff and it kinda got messy.
- I had leftover cream cheese mixture and some of the syrup from the cooked berry mixture. I also have one more piecrust, so I fully intend on adding more berries to the leftover syrup and making a few more....after I swim several hundred laps or run a few miles in the Texas heat. Or not.
- I recommend using a mixer (I used my stand mixer with the whisk attachment) for the cream cheese mixture - it makes a more consistent texture and easier to use for piping.
- Yeah, for piping, I used my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator tool (again, thanks Mom)
- I think these look pretty without the cream cheese mixture, too, but who wants to skip the cream cheese?
- Skipped adding the extra powdered sugar on top and just used whole blackberries to garnish the platter. Mint leaves or some other green garnish would be nice, too, if you're entertaining.
- I used frozen whole berries per Mrs. Jett's freezing method (wash, pat dry, freeze in single layer on baking sheet and then transfer to freezer bags).
- Considering making a slightly larger tartlet in standard size muffin pan, too, but that would require utensils to eat...but still super cute.
- I'm not telling how many of these I ate, but I will tell you that I am convincing myself that the fiber and super antioxidant power of the blackberries far outweighs the fat content of the piecrusts and cream cheese topper. Not to mention the sugar.

Goodbye, my friend...

2009-06-15T11:28:00.003-05:00

"Cassie"
Gann's Casandra Lee
AKA Cass, Cassarole, Big Girl, Mama, Mamacita
8/16/01 - 6/11/09
Thank you for being our friend, Big Girl. We miss you.

Another moist house update

2009-04-20T18:40:00.002-05:00

So we thought we might be safe leaving the carpet in the office since it only came in no more than 2 feet in front of the entrance door. (There must be a low spot in the floor there...it never traveled any further) I came home from work today and quickly changed my mind. The mildew-ing smell is revolting already. I'm pausing for a second before I attempt to finish unloading this room. Just waiting for Chris to get home and then I have big plans for a carpet ripping party - part 2. I'm not telling him until he walks in the door...otherwise he might decide to work late. Can I tell you how much there is to unload? Two desks....one with all of the computer stuff (I think I'll leave all of the detangling fun for Chris) and the other where I sit and craft. Not to mention the million little packages/bottles/jars/treasure chests full of crafty goodness. Oh...and all of my paper storage cubes. Yay. Still no word from our insurance adjuster.

The positive note I will leave for today is the concrete floor in my bedroom will probably leave me with some excellently exfoliated feet! I'm really reaching for that silver lining today.

Update from Team Clean-up

2009-04-18T22:46:00.002-05:00

Okay, guys. It has been a rough day to say the least. Fastest rain I think I've ever seen in my life. It's still lightly raining off and on, but the water is now away from my house, thankfully. In it's climax, the storm brought 2 inches in less than 12 minutes and over 15 inches total in the Friendswood area. And that's just what the news said. The Reynolds blood in me says that it was at least twice that amount at my house. I was so busy cleaning it all up that I *may* have forgotten to feed my kids for an extended period of time. All kidding aside, it was very scary. I did, indeed, kill our little shop-vac. I probably overworked it, but managed to get around 30 gallons of water out of my house before it died. Our neighbor, Mike, was outside in the rain digging a trench between our houses and I really think that helped tremendously. All of our rooms across the back of the house were subjected to the rain waters today. I've gone from too-busy-to-be-emotional, to overly-frustrated to borderline-hysterical over it now. Chris (who was supposed to be enjoying a "de-stress yourself" weekend with his dad and brother) is now on his way home. Calls to our insurance have been made. I'm dirty and exhausted. Will update soon...

rain,rain go away

2009-04-18T16:44:00.001-05:00

So it has been raining really hard today. There is water in my house and a leak in my roof. Oh. And I just burned up the motor in the wet/dry vac. Did I mention Chris is out of town this weekend? Hopefully this works as I am posting from my phone. Pray that our water damage is not too bad.

Spring Break Field Trip

2009-04-10T11:16:00.005-05:00

Several weeks ago (I know, sorry...), we had Spring Break. One of our fun "adventures" - as Caleb calls them - was going to the Houston Livestock Show with Nana. Caleb was so very excited that he sat down and prepared a checklist the night before. He did this ALL BY HIMSELF - spelling and all. And, yes, we took the list with us and he checked them off at the conclusion of the day. Too cute.

For those of you that have problems reading phonetically, here's the translation:
What I am going to
do with Nana.
I am going to the rodeo.
Ride horse.
Have a war.
Pet a chicken.
Milk a cow.
Drink lemonade.

For the record, we did it all. Okay, so it wasn't a REAL cow that he milked, but it worked for check-list purposes. And, yes, he DID pet a chicken...with one finger through the fencing on the coop. Oh, and the war??? Yeah, Nana obliged and had a pretend one back at our house...ah, life with boys. Enjoy the pics.

The sweetest gift ever

2009-03-31T16:25:00.002-05:00

A gift for Sarah...

2009-03-29T15:33:00.002-05:00

I made this frame for Sarah and Steve and gave it to her at her first Bridal Shower. I was inspired by something I had seen that another scrapbooking friend had made. I really like how this turned out - it measures 9x14 and was truly meant to hold three "floating" 4x6 pictures. Unfortunately, this is the only picture that I remembered to take of it...and it's not the best...you can see my sad craft desk through the glass. Today, I found a few more of the frames and am thinking of making some to sell (maybe I'll finally start an Etsy shop...). So, the question is...would you buy? How much?

PS - Sarah, do you think you could take a better picture for me and email it?

Can you believe these cuties are MINE???

2009-03-26T19:30:00.001-05:00

My life right now...

2009-03-25T16:07:00.003-05:00

I'm swamped...and the date circled on the calendar next week reminds me that I'm getting old. I apologize to you all (and when I say "you all", I AM talking to all seven of you reading this - Hi, Mom!). My life consists mostly of laundry, work, making my ten-thousandth invitation this year, and shuffling kids to various activities. Let's face it, I'm a working mom and I've been a little busy. I really do have pictures and stories to share...I will get around to them sometime. But, for now, it's time to pick up the children from day care and head out to t-ball practice...given it doesn't start raining.

A blast from the past...

2009-03-25T16:03:00.002-05:00

So, the bell for my 4th period Child Development class starts today...students start walking in and then it hit me - I think Sam Washburn is in my class. Seriously. He just goes by the name Max now.

The majority of you have no idea who Sam Washburn is, but that's okay.

Yep....still here

2009-03-15T20:15:00.003-05:00

Sorry. I know. It's been a long time. I have a million excuses that you don't really care about.

BUT...
I have to share this with you. I called my mother-in-law this afternoon. She didn't answer, but I did get the recording from her house answering machine:

"Hi, this is Cherri. I'm making a few changes in my life. Leave me a message and if I don't return your call, consider yourself one of them."

She hasn't called me back yet.

Update: She called me this morning. I never really doubted she would. I just thought her message was comical. However, I wouldn't be surprised if she really did weed people out of her life in this manner. Even though Cherri and I are VERY different, we actually get along really well...

He's good.

2009-02-21T15:46:00.002-06:00

So, I had a pretty rough few days this past week. Friday was definitely the worst of them. Chris is usually pretty good of talking me through things and being the "voice of reason" when I get all stressed out. Last night, he came home from work with two "pick-me-up" gifts...

...green mixing bowls and pretty flowers. Does he know me or what? <3

Six years that have finally paid off...

2009-02-20T19:15:00.004-06:00

Caleb started t-ball practice today. We actually just got home and are enjoying some hamburgers and retro cartoons on Boomerang. He did really great at practice and, of course, he is once again the tallest kid out there. On the way, he said something super cute and I want to make sure I remember it....

C: "Mom, will you cheer for me at practice? Really loud?"
Me: "Sure, Caleb. I like to cheer for you."
C: "Yeah, when you cheer, it makes me really strong and fast."
(silence...mostly me reveling in my super-human powers)
C: "Actually, it doesn't. I just like it when people cheer for me."

I knew my cheer leading would pay off some day...

2009-02-14T12:57:00.000-06:00

The Baby Sister is getting hitched....

2009-02-12T18:02:00.002-06:00

So, you may already know that. However, I got an email from Sarah today mentioning that she and Steve have started a blog. It's in it's early stages, but here's the link for it: www.stevensarahrains.wordpress.com Feel free to read and poke fun at Sarah's online abuse of smiley faces. :)

A Milestone Reached...

2009-02-08T18:28:00.004-06:00

Some people might be ashamed to admit this, but I'm not. I feel proud - boastful even. Just minutes ago, I finally finished Caleb's first year scrapbook(s). The first 365 days of his life spanned 3 (bulging at the seams) books, 96 pages and 3.5 years of my life. I don't even want to think of the amount of adhesive, paper and embellishments that includes.

I know. Some of you are wondering what took me so long. Well, let me start by saying that I began behind. I didn't start scrapping until summer of 2005 - for those of you that are mathemeticians, that's 2.5 years after Caleb was born. In that time, I've also made my wedding album, a few mini-books for myself, tons of cards and "altered art", and countless albums for other people. (Give me a while, I can count that up...) My approach to my own "life-art" is very different. When I scrap for others, I have a methodical attack - planning and sketching each page, coordinating papers/embellishments, title, and picture placement out. I can whip out a full-size 20 page album in a week if I need to. (I guess payment is a good motivator.) When making my own stuff...I'm all over the place...just grabbing pictures that inspire me at the moment and digging through my stash of paper and goodies until I find what I like. I might be scrapping pictures from 2009 right after I've done something from 2004. You get the idea.

Anyway, Caleb's first year books are a mish-mash. Looking back over the pages, my style has definitely changed. I'm proud of that. Some, I even cringe when I look at the stickers or plain cardstock. I don't care. It's done and I'm leaving it. And you know what? I guess that is kind-of a chronicle of a lot of things...on the surface, a change in my scrapping style, but moreover, it's an analogy of how much my life changed that year...

West Coast Style

2009-01-31T15:15:00.010-06:00

Sorry I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from my fabulous trip to the west coast. I had an absolute blast - met some fantastic friends, ate some of the biggest pizza I've ever seen in my life and even got a little scrapbooking done, too! In all, I managed to assemble all of the shower invitations (55 baby and 50 wedding), completed 5 cards, made 7 scrapbook pages and started the felt swap I'm participating in. I can't show you the invitations since I haven't figured out how to effectively blur out the personal information on them, but - trust me - they turned out great. That was the biggest job I had and I'm glad to say that it's over now.

Back to the retreat...Andrea and her sis-in-law, Eva, picked me up in LA Friday morning and we started our journey up to Pismo Beach. We met up with Katrina to eat some famous In-and-Out burgers (I had a cheeseburger "animal style" - yum) and a quick trip in at Joann's and a grocery store for snacks and beverages. I rode the rest of the way with Kat..and, although I think we didn't really follow the directions perfectly, we still managed to get to the beach house faster than we thought we would. I even got to see some vineyards! The California coast is so different...hills (which really look like mountains to me) right next to the beach, clean sand and blue water. A stark comparison to the beach at Galveston for sure! I was so excited to meet all of the girls I've been friends with for the past few years thanks to scrapbooking message boards - Kelci (the hostess), Andrea, Kat, Jen, Shanna, Keeley, and Shana. I even made new friends in Heather and Eva. We stayed up way too late every night, ate way too much junk food, played in the chilly temperatures at the beach and still managed to get a lot of scrapping done. I'm so thankful that Kelci emailed me back in the Fall just to see if I *might* be able to come. It definitely was a trip of a lifetime.

On the way back to LAX on Sunday, Andrea and Eva were kind enough to give me a quick tour of Hollywood. I got to see the Chinese Theatre, ran by the Wax Museum, read a few stars on the Walk of Fame and even got my picture with a Transformer for my boys at home. It was quick, but the 15 minutes and $13 in cheesy souveniers made my trip to California feel complete!

Things are looking up!

2009-01-21T18:27:00.002-06:00

Cole has been fever-free for most of the day. Finally, I got to do something I was really looking forward to this year - walk Caleb to and from school. Working doesn't let me do that... :0( Sure was nice weather, too!

Today, I got a lot of pieces together for the baby shower invitations I'm working on and I hope to get (most of) them done this weekend. Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell y'all...I'M GOING TO CALIFORNIA! I'm just a tad bit excited about it. My friend, Kelci (you know, the purse girl...Crafty Mama over there in my blog links), rented a beach house and invited a bunch of us online friends to come scrap the whole weekend away! I can't wait! I'm flying out Friday morning early and will return Sunday night late. Chris has my "other job" (you know, parent-in-charge) all weekend, so say a little prayer for him, okay? ;0)

So I'm at home...

2009-01-20T12:51:00.004-06:00

...with a very sick little boy. I feel like such a horrible mother when I take him to the doctor. He never really complains about anything, but has been a little congested and "clingy" lately. Well, this morning, I thought he felt a little warm and then told me that his ear hurt. All while jumping around, fighting me to avoid getting dressed. Since I will be out of town this weekend, I thought it would be best to go ahead and take him to the doctor today. After I made my quick trip up to the school to run copies for my sub, we went to the doctor where he threw a terrible fit and the doctor confirmed that he has a double ear infection - and the right one is "really, really red". Yeah, he only told me that his LEFT ear hurt. Where do I sign up for negligent parenting classes??? I feel like such a dummy for letting my child get this sick.

So, here we are - sitting at home. I finally got half of his meds in him and he's now sleeping on the sheet-covered couch...'cause I don't want him puking on it. Me? That's okay, I guess. I'm already on my third outfit of the day thanks to that. You really know that motherhood has taken over your life when your child gets sick in the middle of HEB and you immediately stick your hands out to catch it. Nice one, Kristi. And sanitary, too. (Don't worry...there was an HEB associate that evidently has seventeen grandchildren or something that came to my rescue...we got it all cleaned up and sanitized.)

Happy 6th Birthday, Caleb!

2009-01-08T17:47:00.002-06:00

Well, it was actually on Tuesday, but I haven't had a free second to get on here. (Trying to finish up the semester at school and get my finals prepared...)

We celebrated Caleb's "Golden" Birthday (turned 6 on the 6th) with some mini-cupcakes, a few presents and a trip to CiCi's Pizza. We will have the bigger bash at Chuck E. Cheese next weekend. I still can't believe he is SIX!!! Where does the time go???

Favorite Christmas Pictures

2009-01-03T10:18:00.002-06:00

Top 5 things you would be seeing if I had remembered my camera on NYE...

2009-01-02T11:39:00.002-06:00

5. roughly 1,000 pounds of food that hardly got touched

4. an alternative version of "The Newlywed Game"

3. a sweet dance number to "Baby Got Back" (we could teach Kim Kardashian a thing or two about her so called "dance" from Dancing With the Stars!)

2. Caleb's Air-Guitar show - complete with jumping from the couch and smashing his air guitar.

1. a pretty awesome group of friends having a great time!

So, yeah, I'm the loser that forgot my camera. We had a great night at Stefan and Nancy's house. It was a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG night, but New Year's is supposed to be, right???

Serial Posting - part 5

2008-12-21T14:34:00.005-06:00

Last Saturday night, we hosted the Second Annual "Family of Friends" Christmas Dinner. (Like the title I finally came up with?) I got up at 7:30 that morning and started cooking. It was a lot of work, but turned out to be a huge success - even if we had to resort to folding chairs to have enough seats. Chris even fried his first turkey. There wasn't a scrap of it left! We had fourteen friends total and had a good time. We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends. Over the past few years, our group has experienced laughter, celebrations, stress, change, happiness and grief, but every moment of it has brought us closer together. I love every one of them.
I miraculously managed to stay out of all the pictures (being the unofficial photographer helps!), but enjoy the pics...

Daddy Loving on Cole:

John and Julie:

Stefan and Nancy:

Playing games:

Chris and Sharon:

Cutie Christable:

Alain and Sabrina:

Cole and his favorite girl, Nancy (Andrew in background):

Sharon, Nancy, Chris holding Kayla, Stefan and Chris:

And our entertainment for the night, Alain playing the ukelele:

Serial Posting - part 4

2008-12-21T11:58:00.002-06:00

December 6th was the Friendswood Youth Football Association year-end picnic. We had bbq, played around a little and got to pick up Caleb's team photos. My scanner is acting wonky, so I cannot scan the picture for you right now. Trust me, it's pretty darn cute. (Oh, the school pictures are equally cute...maybe I can scan them at Mom's house later this week for y'all.) Anyway, not much to report from the FYFA picnic, but I wanted to post about it because the pictures we took that day turned out so darn cute. Oh, and the little boy in the bleacher picture with Caleb? Yeah, he's the same age - he's in Caleb's class at school. Cutie.

Serial Posting - part 3

2008-12-21T10:32:00.004-06:00

The week of Thanksgiving allowed the boys to participate in a variety of Holiday preparations - at home and at Nana & Pop's. We put up our new, taller, prettier tree at home and built a gingerbread sleigh.

At Nana & Pop's the boys made the famous Reindeer cookies and helped Pop construct the apparatus that makes the Christmas tree in their front yard.

Serial Posting - part 2

2008-12-20T20:47:00.003-06:00

Umm...yeah. So I never posted Thanksgiving pics. We went up to Uncle John and Aunt Margaret's house. Caleb was super excited to see his favorite cousin, JR. I would say that he would have been pleased if the only other person there was JR, but he does have a new best friend in his life, so JR has some competition these days. Steve came down with Sarah this year and our family wasted no time putting him to work - playing with the kids, moving large pieces of furniture, etc. Guess he's sticking around since he asked Sarah to marry him earlier this month. Yay! You read that right! My baby sister is getting married!!!!!!!! Okay, so back to Thanksgiving. My Uncle Quinn has been working on welding a gate for the entrance to Windy Hill and we got to see it prior to it being installed. I'm sure it looks fabulous. The first picture is the Family Land Heritage plaque that was presented to Uncle John earlier this year by the State of Texas.

Serial Posting - part 1

2008-12-20T20:06:00.004-06:00

I've been neglecting my blog lately. So busy, so many excuses. And honestly, no one cares about how busy and/or lazy *I* have been, so I'll spare you.

I will be posting several different items between right now and tomorrow afternoon and then I will most likely be neglecting my blog again until after Christmas. Or, you might get lucky and get some of my words of wisdom while I am camping out with the parentals.

So, before I throw my kids in the bathtub, here is part one of my serial blogging...more of the snow pictures. These were taken around 9pm:

And these before I went to bed around 11pm. Still can't believe it actually "stuck"!!!

Kraft Foods MIGHT be working with the Devil

2008-12-20T15:44:00.002-06:00

If you see the Limited Edition Old Fashioned Candy Cane Creme Oreo cookies in the store, you better not buy them. Unless, of course, you want to become a slave to them. I'm currently trying to find a hiding place for them. Unfortunately, being CEO of my house, I know where all the good hiding places are. I'll eventually find them again.

I only bought them because Caleb wanted to try them. Of course, he doesn't really care for the peppermint flavor. Dang. This really isn't going to be good for me.

It's SNOWING!!!!

2008-12-10T20:22:00.003-06:00

Okay, so yesterday, we were wearing t-shirts and I actually gave in and turned the a/c back on since it was almost 80 degrees in my house when I got home from work. UGH. Today? Freezing! Seriously...we just got back in the house from playing in the snow flurries. I know...it's my kids' bedtime, but IT'S SNOWING!!!

Naughty and Nice

2008-12-03T19:33:00.002-06:00

If any of you are wondering which of my children is naughty and which is nice, I think today's picture with Santa speaks for itself...

Thank you, God, for letting Santa come to day care today so I don't have to drag Cole kicking and screaming through the mall.

Save the Turkey...Eat More PIZZA!

2008-11-25T10:53:00.003-06:00

I snuck away from work for a little while last Thursday to go see Caleb's Thanksgiving program at school. They all looked so cute in their grocery bag vests, paper feather headbands and macaroni necklaces. (Why change a good thing, right?) They sang several songs, but my favorite was the one that ended with "Save the turkey, eat more pizza!!!" I couldn't decipher the rest of the song, but they got the pizza point across for sure!

Broncos End of Season Celebration

2008-11-22T14:49:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday, Caleb's Bronco White team celebrated the end of the season by attending the University of Houston game. Chris had to work, so Cole stayed with Nana and Pop while I took him to the game. Unfortunately, it was incredibly cold, but we survived. They boys had so much fun. Coach Brad presented them with their trophies before the game. Inside, Coach Cal made sure to teach the boys how to do the Cougar hand-sign, took them to get free Cougar t-shirts and made sure they got to be at the entry ramp to high-five the players and see the band run on the field. Caleb's night was also highlighted by getting to buy his own nachos at the concession stand with the money Nana had given him that day. We stayed through half-time and then decided to call it a night. Since I was still limping a bit, we rode back to our car in a pedicab, which Caleb thought was "awesome!"

Caleb's Playoff Game

2008-11-21T17:53:00.003-06:00

Saturday, November 1st was Caleb's last football game. It was the first "playoff" game. Although they quickly scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, they ended up losing the game. They definitely improved a lot over the season. I was happy to see that Caleb was finally starting to understand the concept of playing as a team. He also learned a lot about expressing emotions (frustration) properly. I'm so proud of my Lineman!!! Nana, Pop, Aunt Sarah and her "man-friend" (LOL) Steve came to watch the game. Check out the great pics Steve took!

My favorite part...the entire team went out as the "team captains" for the coin toss. Adorable.

So very behind

2008-11-20T19:59:00.002-06:00

So, I just finished uploading a ton of pictures on the computer and it only reminded me how desperately behind I am in almost all aspects of my life. Blah.

Without all the wordiness (mostly because I need to get the boys bathed and in bed), enjoy my Halloween Superheroes...

Public Service Announcement and Thoughts on the Holidays

2008-11-08T10:13:00.003-06:00

So, I'm at home alone with the boys today learning to walk again (yes, it's a slow healing process for my foot...sigh) and watching them play has reminded me. As the gift-giving season approaches, I feel the need to (once again) talk about how my children ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY DO NOT NEED ANY MORE TOYS. I know, I know. Cardboard boxes, paper towel tubes and other "unwanteds" do not seem like perfect gifts. BUT THEY ARE! My angels are currently repurposing our living room into their "office"...full with laundry basket desks with tupperware desk accessories. Guess I need to go fold the clothes that Caleb just dumped on my couch...

But, before I go...
Last Saturday, I mocked our friends down the street because they were pulling out Christmas decorations for their yard and their home. Yes. It was the day after Halloween. Okay, so I *do* have family members that have done this before, but I honestly don't think John and Mary Ann are pulling off the whole 12 different Christmas trees with coordinating full room decorations. Why, why, why were they doing this?

Anyway, why am I talking about this? Because every day since then, I have been OBSESSED with wanting to start my own Christmas decorating. I hobbled through Hobby Lobby AND Wal-Mart to hunt down a new Christmas tree. (Really, I NEEDED a third one because neither tree at home was pre-lit - GASP!) So now, I'm the proud owner of a 9-foot pre-lit tree. But I'm concerned that there still will not be enough lights on it. (I like my tree to SHINE y'all.) I also have the menu for our second annual Friend Christmas Party (I'm thinking I need a new name for this...leave your suggestions in the comment section) planned out. Not sure of the exact date yet, but at least the menu is planned. And I'm seriously thinking about breaking out the Paint Your Own Nativity set for the boys to decorate today. Chris (Mr.-hate-holidays-because-I-work-at-Wal-Mart) might strangle me when he gets home tonight.

Asheville, NC Pictures...finally.

2008-11-03T08:38:00.007-06:00

October 11 was the beginning of our Second Annual Mother-Daughter Weekend. Mom and I got up at o'dark-stupid to meet the Edwards' ladies before we drove down to the airport. We had a lay-over in Atlanta, where we met up with Sarah. From there, we flew in to Charlotte, NC. The weather was so nice! We promptly picked up our luggage and jumped on the shuttle to pick up "Smurfette". You'll meet her later.

Our first stop was in Charlotte at the Billy Graham Library. We weren't really sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a fabulous stop! We had lunch, saw a singing cow and toured the museum/bookstore dedicated to Billy Graham. The whole place was just stunning. Check out the picture of the beams inside the barn-museum!

We then started our 2+ hour "Road-Trip" to Asheville. I say "road-trip" because NC includes some very misleading road signs, so we had a slight detour along the way. The drive was nice, though. "Smurfette" proved to be very reliable and accomodating to our comfort needs. I think we hit NC just prior to "peak" leaf-changing season, but, to us Texas girls, it was still pretty impressive. As we got closer to the mountains, you could definitely see more vivid color.

We got checked in to our hotel and quickly learned that we would be sharing space with an "Expo". It was for postcard and stamp collectors, though, so they were pretty tame as far as Expo-go'ers are. ;0) That evening, we made our way over to the Moose Cafe for some comforting Southern cooking. Yum.

Sunday morning, we readied ourselves for the all-day Biltmore extravaganza. Words cannot describe. They don't allow pictures inside the house (more like castle) itself, so enjoy the pictures I took from the outside, the gardens and the farm. Oh, and the electric blue minivan? That's Smurfette. Yep, we were cool.

After our Biltmore-marathon, we decided to try something "different"
for dinner, so we headed down to downtown Asheville. Our first stop was to load up on some chocolate at Kilwan's Chocolates (I think I bought Chris $26 worth of chocolate-peanut butter goodness). And then we made it over to Laughing Seed for dinner. Here's what Mom and I had:

Yes. We ate vegetarian.

On Monday morning, we ate a quick breakfast and then made a run-through at the Farmer's Market (you can see links to this from the Moose Cafe website that I linked above). We drove back to Charlotte, returned Smurfette and jumped on our flights back home. North Carolina was beautiful. I can't wait to see what the 3rd Annual Mother-Daughter weekend holds!

Kristi, why are you blogging at 7:30 am?

2008-10-29T07:22:00.004-05:00

So, I have a free-standing dry erase board like the one above in my classroom. Yesterday, in all of my teacher-coolness, I was walking around the classroom passing back some graded work. Mind you, this was my LARGEST class of 28 students - many of which are Freshman boys...you know how they are. Anyway, I'm in the general vicinity of said dry erase board and, all of a sudden, my right foot got caught on one of the bars at the bottom. Yep. I busted it. Fell straight forward and bent my foot backwards on the way down. Lost every one of those "cool points" I ever had. Thankfully, none of my 28 students laughed at me. One jumped up to make me a bag of ice and another took the pass to get a wheelchair from the nurse. A couple offered to help get my fat butt off the ground (well, they didn't really say that), but I decided that had "Fiasco #2" written all over it. Thank Jesus I was wearing pants.

Eventually, I made it down to the nurse's office and got all of the workman's comp. paperwork filled out. (Big props to Ethan for not rolling me down to the Aquatics gym and pushing me off into the pool.) Thankfully, Chris was home yesterday (with Caleb who was fighting off a cold). He picked me up and took me to the doctor (who, by the way, had very Brady-Bunch-inspired office decor). Three x-rays and several hours later, I have a very banged up foot but no major damage. Unfortunately, I can't put any weight on it until I go see Dr. 1972 again on Monday.

Oh, and apparently standard pharmacies can't fill a prescription for crutches, so I'm stuck either hopping or rolling around my house in a desk chair until Chris goes by the medical supply store on the way home from work today. Fun times.

Please Pray.

2008-10-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

While I was away in Asheville, I recieved some terrible news. Please pray for our dear friends Stefan and Nancy. This past weekend, their beautiful daughters were involved in a car accident and neither child survived.

Alyssa and Reagan....forever in our hearts...

Fall, Football and a new Favorite

2008-10-05T10:53:00.006-05:00

I'm definitely starting to feel the change of the seasons this year. I'm not sure what it is since, here in Texas, we really don't see much of a transition from Summer to Fall. Maybe it's slightly cooler weather right now. Maybe it's the football games. But, I think it's mostly from the excitement building up to the 2nd annual Mother-Daughter weekend coming up in a few days! You may remember that last year our trip was to Savannah, Georgia. This year, we (me, Mom, Sarah, Mrs. Edwards, Kimberly and Elizabeth) are going to Asheville, North Carolina. I'm super excited about seeing trees with leaves that change colors and touring the Biltmore Estate. So excited that I made a special trip to Hobby Lobby to buy some Fall decorations for the house. I made this arrangement for the living room last night for less than $50. Feel free to oooohhh and aaaaahhh over it for a moment....

Yesterday also brought another flag football game. Caleb was somewhat frustrated last week, but after several discussions about playing as a team and trying your best, he did much better yesterday. Caleb was chosen to be one of the "team captains" for the day and Cole worked on perfecting his skills as Nana and Pop's personal water boy. Best of all, our team won! It was a very exciting game as we came from behind to win within the last few seconds 19-18!!! Go Broncos White! (We are all Broncos...each team wears a different version of the Denver Broncos jerseys)

And, in the last of my latest news, I think I've determined a new "favorite" in my life. After the storm, everyone's most favorite truck to see on their street was that of the electric company. This week brought our SECOND favorite truck...the large trash truck. Work is still in progress, but I'm hoping the large pile of dead fence currently killing my grass will soon be removed.

Some Post-Ike pictures

2008-09-28T10:41:00.006-05:00

I'm slowly starting to return to "normal" after all of the Post-Ike chaos. Although things are starting to look up around here, we still have the constant reminder of the storm when we look at the piles of "large debris" that still clutter our streets and the pockets of neighborhoods that are STILL without power. Football games have started again (both Caleb's and high school). I actually drove down to Texas City at Hwy. 146 the other day and really wish I would have taken the camera with me. Boats, jet-skis, furniture and large trash are just pushed aside on the interstate. STILL. It's really a sad sight...to know that homes were utterly destroyed and lives were changed forever. School starts back on Monday, so that will help things a lot. I was uploading pictures earlier, so I thought I would share what we saw on our return home after the storm. Obviously, these don't even touch on the devastation south of us. For those of you local, Chris started taking pictures (I was driving at this point) at Hwy. 90 and Beltway 8 - as that was where we started to see the most damage.

At FM 2351 - coming in to Friendswood from I-45:

Waiting in line for gas in our neighborhood:

Our neighbor's tree - it damaged their patio cover, but spared the home:

Our back fence laying on the ground (day care fence still standing some 3 feet away)- thank GOD that was the worst of our damage:

And here are the boys enjoying some fine hurricane cuisine - barbequed spaghettios by flashlight. Sorry for the "redneck-ness" of this picture, but remember we had no electricity and that cool front hadn't quite hit us yet...

Yes! We are alive!!!

2008-09-20T10:11:00.003-05:00

We got back home late last Sunday to very little damage. We have been without electricity until last night. Thankfully, Chris' mom found a generator for us and we met her half-way to pick it up along with about 125 gallons of gas and 200 pounds of ice. If you know me, I'm not the camping type, so I think I've fulfilled my camping requirements for at least several years. We are still in the process of cleaning up - we lost our back fence and there is a little roof damage over our patio. Now that the lights are on, I can actually see what a mess my house has become in the past week! I thank God daily that we were spared in this storm. We feel totally blessed that our community suffered minimal damage and enjoyed a rare cool front during the time we didn't have electricity. We still won't return to school until the 29th, as several of our campuses within the district had major damage. Please pray for the communities only minutes away from us...Galveston has suffered a tremendous loss.

Leaving town

2008-09-11T07:47:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be gone for a few days. In anticipation of Hurricane Ike, we are under mandatory evacuation starting at noon today (Thursday). Chris is at the store presently finalizing some stuff and I'm here bathing the dog and packing up our important stuff.

Playing Catch-up

2008-09-07T10:14:00.005-05:00

You guys. I'm still trying to find a balance in my life these days. This week was definitely the most trying that I've had since returning to work. If I had had the time earlier this week, there would most certainly have been a different tone to my writing. However, I'm writing to you post-trauma. (I like to play it up some, you know.)

This work-week was a short one - four days instead of five - but it felt just as long, if not more. It's weird, but short weeks always seem longer to me. Why is that? I guess it's just mental...building up the anticipation of an "easier" week just because we go to school one less day. Not so. Chris' birthday went well last weekend - minus the air-headed waitress we had. I picked up the boys on Monday. We came home and then went over to Stefan and Nancy's for a impromptu barbeque. We left early enough for the boys to get in bed in plenty of time for school the next day and they actually ended up falling asleep in the car on the way home. As I carried Cole into the house, Chris stopped me and informed me that I couldn't lay him down in his room. This is why:

Evidently, while we were gone, a water pipe burst in our attic causing a huge chunk of his ceiling to come crashing down. I finally got the boys in bed, made a few frantic phone calls to Mom and Ben, took a shower, turned off the water and then shut the door and went to bed. Chris was off the next day so I left it up to him to deal with the mess in the morning. To summarize the rest of the story, our neighbor happens to work in water damage restoration, the insurance adjuster was nice and the damage appears to be mostly "do-it-yourselfable". And we have water again. And I just thought my house was a mess last week.

Of course, life still went on, but it sure did throw a wrench in the middle of it all. Caleb still had two practices this week. His first game was yesterday and it was a hoot. Nana, Pop and Aunt Sarah came to be the official fan club. Caleb did a great job. He mostly plays the line. On one particular play, we noticed that he did a great job of blocking. He wasn't letting that kid go anywhere. However, "that kid" quickly proceeded to walk off the field...throwing up the entire way.

Enjoy the picture - that's Caleb, #20.

Utterly exhausted

2008-08-28T22:10:00.003-05:00

I know there hasn't been much blogging action as of late. Sorry 'bout that. This going back to work thing is really kicking my hiney. Caleb also started flag football practice the same week I went back. They practice three nights a week for an hour and a half at a time. Needless to say, I often have a pile of laundry and a stack of dirty dishes laying around. And I don't care because I'm too tired to worry about it. On a positive note, Friday night is Chris' last night on the overnight management rotation. Hallelujah.

And speaking of Chris...his big 3-0 is Sunday. He can stop pointing out that *I* am 30 and he's *only* 29 now...

Okay, I'm packing a lunch, putting some clothes in the dryer and going to bed now.

Pictures from the first day of school

2008-08-26T21:07:00.003-05:00

First Day of Pre-School and Thoughts on Returning to Work

2008-08-18T21:38:00.005-05:00

After a week of hanging out with Daddy, the boys started pre-school today. I was worried about Cole, since this is a totally new experience for him, but he actually did really well. Considering I jerked my sweet boys out of bed at 6:30 this morning, we all deserve some sort of medal. Caleb had a brief moment of "don't leave, Mom" followed by a short burst of tears, but I quickly reminded him he needed to be a good example for Cole and to show him that it would be really fun. It worked. I'm proud to report that both boys found toys to occupy themselves and I made an easy exit before my own tears started to fall. This afternoon, I was greeted with a smiling 5-year-old waving "art" at me and a shrieking 2-year-old that didn't want to go home. I also found out that Cole used the "big boy potty" today. Yay! Pre-school virtually potty trained Caleb for me, so I'm crossing my fingers for similar success with Cole. Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing, I guess. Caleb is bursting with excitement, as he gets to go on a field trip to the movie theater tomorrow to see "Wall-E".

Last week, I had a full week of "New Teacher Orientation" (although I'm neither "new" nor new to the district, just sat on the sidelines for a while) and today began the district-wide Orientation for all teachers. Personally, I think both need to be renamed "Death by PowerPoint". I don't want to ever see another PowerPoint presentation in my life. Alas, tomorrow is another day on the campus, so I'm sure I'll see at least seven more. After six days, I'm ready to share some of my observations with you...

1. Real shoes are cute, but not fun. I'm currently nursing three different sets of blisters and am out of the more adult-like cloth band-aids. I'm trying to decide between sporting Clifford or Spiderman band-aids tomorrow. Decisions.

2. Wearing a bra for longer than a standard grocery store excursion also sucks. Sure, it creates a better silhouette, but you better believe that baby is coming off in mere seconds after I walk through the door.

3. A shiny, new campus is pretty. I have new appliances and don't have to worry if anything is broken or that I'll have the "eclectic" look of hand-me-down chairs and furniture.

4. A shiny, new campus is also a challenge. There isn't a vast supply of excess materials for incoming teachers to use. My walls are pretty and clean, but completely bare. Until I got my "new teacher supply box", my desk didn't even house the smallest paper clip. Sadly, my nutrition classroom (which consists of four kitchen labs) will have to survive on one small 13-gallon trash can until after September 1st. Honestly, that will be okay since labs won't start until after then anyway.

5. There are a lot of rust on these wheels. I walked away from teaching just over two years ago, boxed up my "teacher life" and didn't truly think of it again until the reality of last Monday arrived. I am completely and utterly overwhelmed...even though this is my SEVENTH year teaching.

6. You may now refer to me as KRG or KG. Everything else has an acronym, so why not?

7. I honestly do not know where five days of my life went. Between going back to work and Caleb's flag-football practice starting last week, I'm pretty much a zombie.

8. I am completely boring. After about the third round of "Hi, I'm so-and-so from Whatchamadoodle ISD and here's an amazing fact about me", I have decided that I am definitely the LEAST exciting new teacher on my campus. I don't have a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering. I've never taught starving children in a third-world country. I don't speak any other languages. I didn't swim with sharks, para sail, or jump from any cliffs this summer. I've never had a movie, book or short-story released...or even almost. I've never run a race with an Olympic athlete. I'm not a vegan, Buddhist or past performer at Carnegie Hall. I've never even worked for Borden scooping Elsie the cow's poop. Hi, I'm Kristi and I'm intensely dull.

Friends are the best!

2008-08-09T11:10:00.003-05:00

So, I've been moping (mope-ing, mopping - no that's not right...whatever) around all week...lamenting every day that I only have "x" number of days left. Chris isn't much in the sympathy department, evidently. BUT. I have to say that I have some very great friends that ARE very sympathetic. We hung out with Stefan and Nancy last night watching baseball/Olympics/Wipeout (have you ever seen that show? hilarious.) and eating Pei Wei take-out. Actually, the guys (and Caleb) went to the driving range, so it was nice to hangout with a girlfriend and just veg out on the couch. Definitely helped to keep my thoughts occupied on something other than going back to work.

Let's backtrack to Thursday. I had just finished watching "Enchanted" (which, by the way is a very cute movie with a gorgeous leading man) and went to put my Netflix envelope in the mailbox. I was surprised to see a big envelope with MY name on it!!! My friend, Kelci, sent me a fabulous messenger style bag with a cute card that said...

Kristi -
Thought you deserved a "sucks you have to go back to work" gift. Hope it lifts your spirits a little.
-Kelci

I totally stole this picture from her blog, since I can't seem to take a better one. Isn't it cute?
I have to admit, I had made it all the way through a movie without crying (yes, this is a huge accomplishment for me), but when I opened that package, I did tear up some. I've *known* Kelci for only a short while...and only online. Some people might call her an "imaginary" friend. But, to me, she's my real friend...even if we haven't ever met in real life.

Edouard was a wimp

2008-08-05T18:44:00.003-05:00

Well, here anyway. I guess I should go knock on wood or something. Anyway, we got a good share of rain, but that's about it. I'm glad. As I was trying to fall asleep at our pajama party last night, I was beginning to get a little worried that I should be more worried. LOL. I guess the worst part of this storm will be the swarm of mosquitoes that are sure to follow!

Waiting on the storm

2008-08-04T18:58:00.003-05:00

Tropical Storm Edouard came from nowhere, it seems. We heard nothing of an impending storm until yesterday afternoon. We aren't evacuating, but some people are acting a little crazy here close to Galveston...long lines at the gas stations, low cash at the banks, etc. Luckily, I bought water yesterday before I even heard about the storm, we have a gas grill in case we need to cook anything and I just changed out the batteries in the flashlights. Chris just left to keep the crazies in order at Wal-Mart tonight. Looks like the boys and I will have an impromptu pajama party in my bedroom tonight while Cassie sleeps in the garage. (Just to clarify to those that don't know, Cassie is our DOG...not a child.) Landfall is estimated for tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Click here if you are interested in keeping up with the storm's progress.

A lesson in Customer Service

2008-08-03T23:26:00.002-05:00

Earlier today as I was fixing myself a glass of tea, Caleb came into the kitchen. Being the good southern boy that he is, he asked if he could have some, too. I pulled out some lemon juice to add a little flavor and he asked for some of that, as well. Fast forward about 10 minutes... I'm walking through the living room and Caleb says, "Can you take this tea back and get me some more? I don't like the lemon stuff." I politely reminded him that it was the last of the tea and he had indeed ASKED for the lemon "stuff". I quickly got this as a reply..."Ummm...Mom. Don't you know that we are playing restaurant? But this time you are the chef and I am the CUSTOMER. The CUSTOMER can send stuff back if they don't like it."

Hmmm...no, son, I didn't know...

This is not a happy blog entry...

2008-08-02T22:19:00.005-05:00

The back-to-work countdown is on...8 more days. I'm not going to say that I'm happy. Honestly, I've been having a pretty hard time with it lately. Several moments of breaking down and crying. Plenty of headaches. However, I'm trying to be a big girl about it. It's definitely what needs to happen for our family right now. The extra income will surely relieve a lot of stress.

What do you think of this necklace?

2008-07-28T19:16:00.001-05:00

Please vote in my poll to the right...

More Culinary Adventures with Cole

2008-07-27T23:04:00.005-05:00

You know, a few weeks ago, The Next Food Network Star filmed their show and subsequent challenges in Las Vegas. This weekend included a little pre-audition "grooming" for my rising star. Our toddler-equivalent to Las Vegas was celebrating two friend birthdays in one weekend.

Saturday night, we went to Ichibon Japanese Steakhouse in Kemah for Sharon's birthday. Like his daddy, Caleb is more of a "behind the scenes" guy and doesn't really care to have his picture taken much.

Here's a picture Cole took of our table-side chef.

Cole was a ham (food pun totally intended) the entire time but finally decided to sit down once the ice cream arrived. Here he is foregoing the spoon and digging in "Vegas-style".

Overall, the boys enjoyed the show. Caleb said he liked the flaming onion volcano the best. Cole pretty much just liked the attention.

Sunday brought us another food-related adventure, as we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Reagan's 7th birthday. (She and her sister, Alyssa, looked soooo cute all dolled up straight from Libby Lu!) Cole didn't sit still long enough to pose for any pictures, but I'm sure he has plenty of stories to tell about it...given you can understand him.

Cooking (and eating) with Cole

2008-07-26T13:42:00.004-05:00

I've decided I'm auditioning Cole for the next season of Next Food Network Star. Really - the kid's a sure bet. How can the judges resist the cuteness...plus, it's never been done before - a cooking show for toddler, hosted by a TODDLER! Genius. In preparation, we have been working on some basic skills this week.

First - the All-American favorite - peanut butter and jelly. Notice how carefully he holds the knife (a safe butter knife, of course).

Taking a cue from tv chefs before him (and boosting the "cute" factor), he takes a quick taste of his culinary efforts. (He loses points in my corner for this one, though. If the video camera had been rolling, you would be witnessing my "mom-freak-out" over him licking the knife.)

Also, to expand his international food knowledge, here he is eating a bowl of salsa. He had his own idea to make it a Mexican-Americana "fusion" snack by eating it with Frito's. (Yes, he really eats my salsa.)

You better watch out, Bobby Flay!!!

And just because I can't help it...

2008-07-25T18:09:00.001-05:00

I REALLY want one of these:

Yes. I want an old library card catalog. No doubt it will be painted and made fabulous, too.

Friday Favorites 7/25

2008-07-25T17:35:00.004-05:00

As tempting as it is to make my Friday Favorites list of things I *want*, I'm trying to focus some positive energy on the things I already have.

For example...my newly updated scrapbooking supplies. Okay, for the investment of about $5 for paint (and I still have more left over!)...

a bowl that Chris gave me for Valentine's Day in 1999 (it had B&BW stuff in it) - now repurposed as my loose stamp bowl:

a boring, black pencil/tool holder - now cute:

a pressed tin hanging bucket thingy - was once green and just hanging around, now cute and holds my ribbon scraps:

and, lastly, my ATG (remember this from an earlier Friday Favorites list?) What used to be red and ugly is now brown, turquoise and FABULOUS. Oh, and just for kicks, I painted an old wooden spool I found, too.:

I'm sorry ma'am, but your feet smell like fish.

2008-07-21T17:23:00.002-05:00

So, I'm surfing the internet today and found this article. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to get pedicures done...but I'm not too sure about this one!

Friday Favorites 7/18

2008-07-18T13:00:00.003-05:00

I have a complete stranger on my list of Friday Favorites today...his name is Jason and all I know is that he works for the fire department here. He just returned my Cassie-girl back to me. See, *someone* (coughcough*meter-reader-person*coughcough) left our back gate open and she got out. Thankfully, the old girl is kinda lazy and super friendly. She was laying up under some shade and walked right up to Jason when he came home. I had put some signs up earlier today and he called to say that he had found her and even drove her right up to our house. What a nice guy. Nice people do still exist.

Second on my list is Caleb's new smile. Last Saturday, he actually held still for Chris and the second top tooth came out! He has the cute little snaggle-tooth lisp going on and I can't help but giggle every time.

Lastly, this pair of shoes I got this week. Love them. Love them even more since they were only $15. And, yes, those are my black yoga pants I'm wearing them with today. :)

Practicing Practicality

2008-07-17T13:02:00.004-05:00

So, my mom gave me a gift card to go buy some new clothes for work (I go back on August 11th - YIKES!!!). As luck would have it, Nancy also had some gift cards from her birthday burning a whole in her pocket, so we went shopping on Monday afternoon. I found several nice things and then we went to look at shoes. If you know me, you know that I have a slight addiction to shoes. (well, my stay-at-home-mom status slightly changed that, but whatever...) Really - shoe shopping is fabulous. No matter how much your size changes *up top*, you almost always wear the same shoe size. Plus, I just really like my feet...they are about the only things I still like about my body after children... Anyway, after *almost* giving up finding shoes in my size, I came across these...

I loved them. I bought them. I went home and had guilt. I started shopping in my head...what could I have purchased with that amount of money instead? Within hours, guilt turned into buyers remorse. The boys were asleep and I just couldn't stop thinking about the shoes. I tried scrapbooking to divert my thoughts. No luck. So, I walked to my closet, opened the box and stared at my oh-so-cute shoes. I put them on (yes, with my t-shirt and yoga pants) and returned to my scrapbook desk to craft in style. Chris laughed at me.

Yesterday, my cute shoes were returned to the store...no doubt, to join some "other" family. BUT - with the money I had spent on the shoes, plus the remaining $20 I had on my gift card, I came home with two necklaces, two pair of earrings and two new pair of SHOES! I feel much better now. But watch out when I get my first paycheck in September...I'm sure I can justify the 3 1/2" heels THEN!

Caleb's Impossible Questions (part 1 of many, I'm sure)

2008-07-12T22:36:00.003-05:00

Those of you that know Caleb personally know that he can talk your friggin' ear off. It will come as no surprise then that I have a terrible time getting the child to be quiet in order to go to sleep at night. He always has "just one more thing" to tell me or something "super important". You know, like red is is favorite color or that the Autobots beat the Decepticons today. Well, a few nights ago, he had a "very serious question". Uh oh. He wanted to know how Pop built the stairs in his house when there wasn't a second floor to attach them to. Hmmm...the best I could come up with (as I was unsuccessfully trying to get Cole to be still) was that he would have to ask Pop next time he called us from New Mexico. That satisfied him, but he had to clarify that he needed to talk to him first. (In case you are wondering, Pop's response was that Nana had to hold the stairs up for two days so he could start the second floor.)

Tonight brought Round Two of Impossible Questions...he wanted to know just how I got the bones inside his body when he was a baby. I'm telling you, when I'm tired and wrestling a two-year-old monster, I'm just out of creative answers. I just told him that I didn't really know, they were just there when he was born. After a brief pause, he concluded that "mommies must just have bones laying in their tummies and then, before a baby is born, the skin and stuff just grows around them."

I'm praying for his Kindergarten teacher now...she's gonna have a long year...

Crafty? Why, yes. Yes, I am!

2008-07-11T13:38:00.007-05:00

Here's a look at some of the favorite things I made while away from blogging...

A clipboard for school (school colors are blue/black/silver):

Mini-book for Savannah pictures (the last of those!):

Mini-book about our Easter Hat-stravaganza:

Caleb's pre-school pictures from 2005 (the letters look like notebook paper; size 12x12):

Cole learning to feed himself (size 8.5x11):

Caleb and Nana (8.5x11):

Caleb's first bath at home (double page 8.5x11):

Cole "Happy." (8.5x11 - picture taken by Caleb!):

For those of you wondering about the different sizes, I do each of the boys' first year albums in 8.5x11 and then subsequent yearly albums in 12x12 (standard size). Obviously, I don't scrap chronologically, either. I do what inspires me at the moment. I recently printed off what I think are the last pictures from Caleb's first year, so that album should be finished sometime in the near future, hopefully. Meanwhile, I have seven other "in progress" albums on my bookshelf...

Friday Favorites 7/11

2008-07-11T11:56:00.003-05:00

This smile...

Really. How cute is he? I mentioned last night that this is Caleb's FIFTH tooth to lose. Can you believe it? He's only FIVE! The other top tooth is also loose, but it will probably still be a while...he's not a fan of wiggling them or letting us even get close very often. For about a week, all we heard was, "I think I'm just going to wait for it to fall out." Eating and toothbrushing had become quite the chore!

My next two favorites are my latest addictions - The Next Food Network Star and Design Star. Ugh. How do I get sucked into these shows? I started watching NFNS at Mom's several weeks ago and then we happened to catch the Design Star marathon on the 4th and now both have their designated spots on our DVR. Chris even watches. Okay, so he sits at the computer during NFNS (which has full view of the TV) and pretends to not watch...but I've seen him. I know his secrets... He DOES actively watch Design Star, though.
Anyway, for what it's worth, here are my predictions...
NFNS - I'm thinking Aaron might be the winner. I like him...now. He really has come around in the last few weeks. Adam is fun to watch on camera, but he acted like a goof for far too long and hasn't really shown that he can cook well. I guess that can be learned, though. Kelsy is sooo young and it shows. Lisa, well, I *wanted* to like her, but I just can't. She lost points with me a few weeks ago when she commented on messing up her $300 blouse while cooking. Seriously. Why are you cooking with that on? Then, last week she really pushed the envelope with the steak and horseradish sauce with couscous for her Brownie Girl Scout. Really? I won't even mention the disaster of a "guest shot" she had on the Rachael Ray show.
Design Star - Ummm...well...I'm watching it even though I've been underwhelmed with the "talent" so far. I think Mikey V. has the best shot at winning, though. All I know is, barring some disaster, Tracee will go next. She has been lucky that someone was worse than her in previous weeks. Sliding by...

I'm back!

2008-07-10T21:18:00.003-05:00

...but without pictures. Our computer decided to poop out on us, so I'm blogging on our new one. I don't have my picture program loaded yet, so this will be a picture-free area for the time being. Chris' time off went great. We got several things accomplished and even had a little fun. A few highlights...
~we found a really nice guy to be "our" mechanic. Much cheaper than going to a big-name shop and he's super nice and local.
~visited the rainforest. Okay, it was the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens down in Galveston. Cheap, close and pretty to look at. I would also comment on humid and hot, but - let's get real - is that any different than Houston summers anyway?
~got family haircuts. (are you excited?)
~Chris and Caleb went to see "Hancock" together. Report is Caleb is much too talkative and frequents the bathroom too many times for the movie theater.
~finally celebrated Nancy's birthday (albeit late...and on the 4th of July).
~got to cuddle a sweet newborn baby girl. Miss Kayla was born on July 1st!!!
~got some craftiness done.
~signed my job acceptance letter.
~Caleb lost a top tooth (that's FIVE for those of you counting at home)
~got a new lawn-mower (out of necessity, since our old one died in the middle of our front yard - poo...less money for fun stuff)
~Cole got stung by a wasp (on the hiney, no less) and survived!

and, finally, today we got to spend a day with my well-travelled mom. We spent the day doing a little shopping/looking around. The best part was the bag full of fresh tomatoes she brought me from Uncle John and Aunt Margaret's house (thank you UJ/AM)! Even tried out the gelatto place in town (sorry, Sarah) - yum.

On Vacation

2008-07-01T09:13:00.004-05:00

As you may have noticed, I am taking a semi-break from blogging for a while. I promise to be back updating you with my impressive lifestyle late next week. Saturday started Chris' vacation. We aren't really equipped to be the "jet-setting" type, so we aren't doing anything FABULOUS. Instead, we celebrated a late (child-free!) anniversary Saturday night by going to the movies and then meeting Stefan & Nancy for a late dinner and drinks (their flight had been delayed in North Carolina). Before I went to pick up the boys on Sunday, we did our part stimulating the economy by having the brakes on our Jeep fixed. We have to take it back next weekend to have some other whatsits and whozdoodles fixed. Really. Don't ask me...I have no idea. So much for having a little "no strings attached" money to spend friviously. Why do we spend our entire childhood desiring to grow up? It's not that fun being responsible...

Oh...fun vacation news - we are currently on "Kayla Watch 2008" - my friend, Sharon, was induced this morning!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Ben!

2008-06-25T17:43:00.002-05:00

Journaling Library Pockets

2008-06-25T00:05:00.003-05:00

I recently joined a swap with some scrapping friends. The idea was to make library pockets and a tag to use for journaling on our layouts. Here are the pockets I made...the brown tag pulls out for journaling and the brown strips on the front of the pocket can be stamped or otherwise customized for each recipient. The two reds (heart and flower) actually match much better than what show up in this scan. Can't wait to see what I get back!

Our 8th Anniversary

2008-06-24T01:08:00.002-05:00

Eight years ago today, I married my best friend.

This is a little something I made him (it's now in a frame). Look at how young we were! The quote on the little tags is one I came across a few weeks ago and is a current favorite. It's by Judy Garland and reads, "It was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

I love you, Chris...yesterday, today and forever.

Friday Favorites (Finally)

2008-06-20T15:50:00.005-05:00

Yeah, Yeah...I hear ya, Kelci...I've dropped the ball on Friday Favorites lately. Well, here I am doing it. Oh, and if you're looking for an interview result update...you can find that here, too. ;0)

Yum. Home-grown tomatoes. Okay, so they weren't grown at *my* home...but they did make their way here! This is the load of tomatoes Mom brought me from the Jett's house last week. And, yes, they are all gone now.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. You know, when the economy sucks and you are feeling a little down in the dumps, nothing warms your heart like gooey cheese on buttered bread. Yep, that was my lunch today.

Hmmm...what's up with all the food? I must be needing a snack or something. Oh, and my last favorite??? MY NEW JOB! Yay me! I got a call from my new principal late yesterday afternoon. Yippee!!!

Interview done

2008-06-18T14:44:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I didn't actually tell many people that I was going to an interview...well, I didn't even tell many that I had applied! We've been thinking about it a lot over the past few months. And, as sad as it makes me to not stay at home with the kids anymore, I'm pretty grateful for the time I did get. And, realistically, it's the right thing to do for our family right now. I won't say it has been an easy decision emotionally, but it is financially. Anyway... Last week, I found an opening for a Family & Consumer Science teacher in CCISD (the same district I left when Cole was born). I finally got in touch with someone who could reset my password so I could actually access the application and got that stuff done late last week. Monday morning, I got a phone call asking if I could come interview today. Yep. Did the morning interview with the campus principal and it went fantastic. She told me that she wanted me to meet with the district Career & Technology Director (the person over ALL of the Career and Technology programs in CCISD), and could I do it this afternoon? Well, okay. (Sorry Chris...you'll be exhausted tonight!) So I did that and it went fantastic, as well. Evidently, the principal wants to make a decision by THIS Friday, so I should know something soon!

Wish me luck...

2008-06-17T18:50:00.003-05:00

Well folks, it appears that my days as a stay-at-home mom are numbered. Thanks to the ever-increasing cost of living, I'm throwing my hat back into the paid-employment arena. I have an interview tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at a local high school. Say your prayers...I'll keep you posted!

Cole's Carnival

2008-06-16T19:58:00.001-05:00

Cole's Happy Day

2008-06-16T19:03:00.004-05:00

Cole has been requesting to sing "Happy Day" for several nights now...it's too cute. Often, he will even request the name we should sing with it.

His birthday party on Saturday was so much fun. Even though many of our friends/family were out of town, we had a great time. We set up carnival games in the front driveway and Aunt Sarah even did a little sidewalk chalk graffiti for us. I think that Nana has a secret life as a carnie, as she REALLY got into it! :0) The kids enjoyed the "fishing game", face painting, balloon animals (by my uber-talented husband), bean bag toss, ring toss and the "spray-away" game (they had to shoot ping pong balls off golf tees with a water gun). We then went inside for good old carnival food like hot dogs, frito pies, popcorn and lemonade. When it came time to blow out the candles, Cole knew exactly what to do! Thanks to everyone that helped celebrate Cole's special day. (And happy belated *25th-again* birthday to my cousin, Jan, who shares her day with Cole.)

Evidently Blogger is being poopy right now and I can't add pictures...will try something else in a second...

Camp Nana - Downtown Aquarium

2008-06-16T10:16:00.004-05:00

Yes, Cole's 2nd birthday WAS this past Saturday, but I need to finish up Camp Nana before I show you pictures from that circus!

Friday concluded Session One of Camp Nana. We met up at the Downtown Aquarium for fish, felines (the giant white tiger variety), food and fun. Chris even came along for the adventure!

Happy Birthday, Momma!

2008-06-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

I love you!!!

Happy Father's Day...

2008-06-15T21:01:00.004-05:00

...To the three most important men in my life: Dad, Ben and Chris.

Daddy - You always know how to bring a smile to my face and make me laugh. Thank you for teaching me to have sense of humor. I love that you never meet a stranger and 99.9% of people really, really like you. (That other 0.1% of people just suck anyway) Caleb also wanted to tell you that the "catfish whistle" he invented a few weeks ago seems to work.

Ben - Thank you for always being there for me. We really miss you and Lucy...hope the weather in New Mexico is nice. Caleb wants to know if you ate rainbow fish or buffalo today.

Chris - You are a wonderful husband and father....and, most recently, an awesome balloon animal maker. Thank you for being such a hard worker for our family.

Camp Nana - Houston Fire Museum

2008-06-15T20:36:00.003-05:00

Camp Nana (Session One) also included a trip to the Houston Fire Museum.

Caleb liked it because:
A) He got to try on a fireman's uniform.
B) There was a fire-truck "cab" where he could push buttons, turn on lights and talk on a radio.

Cole liked it because:
A) There was an old fire-truck to sit in and he could buckle, unbuckle, and re-buckle the seatbelt with Nana.

Camp Counselor Nana and Mommy liked it because:
A) It was cheap.
B) It was not crowded.
C) It was air-conditioned.
D) Caleb and Cole had fun.

There was also a very touching display of pictures from the members of HFD that went to help in NYC after 9/11 along with an actual beam from one of the WTC buildings.

Camp Nana - Ellen Trout Zoo

2008-06-12T00:20:00.003-05:00

On Monday, Camp Nana took us on a field trip to the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin. Caleb, the honorary schedule-maker, was quick to inform us that we would be riding the train first. We then had a picnic lunch (complete with a stalker goose) and then a tour of the zoo facilities. Ellen Trout Zoo is FANTASTIC for the younger age crowd. It was almost unbearably hot, but since there is a lot of shade and the zoo is on the smaller side, we still got to see it all before we melted. The highlight of the day was when the hippo swam right up the the plexi-glass where we were seated and getting to see the million baby peacocks.

Camp Nana - Water Fun

2008-06-10T23:15:00.005-05:00

My mom is super busy this summer...conferences, trainings, various teacher-ly duties and a few trips to New Mexico to visit Ben. However, she is free most of this week and has so graciously decided that "Camp Nana" is in session (also known as "Camp NONNA" if your name is Cole). We spent the past few days at her house during Chris' "ON" shift.

You should know that Camp Nana is highly exclusive...only the truly priveledged are allowed to attend. The children are exposed to various intergenerational play experiences as well as ample spoiling. There is a seemingly endless supply of chocolate milk and various other "treats". The Camp Nana counselor is also known to read multiple bedtime stories and/or rock children on the front porch until vomiting is induced. (Yes, this did happen, although certainly not on purpose!) Parents attending Camp Nana are truly pampered - diaper changing duties are greatly reduced, meals are generally planned (and cleaned up) by others and, on most nights, you can sleep by yourself (oh, the luxury!). You should be jealous.

One of the many activities so far was what Caleb called "Summertime Fun" - meaning turn on the water 'cause we're playing outside. After many different approaches to water-play, the hands-down winners were jumping into the lop-sided plastic swimming pool (Caleb's pick) and the yellow water-sprayer (Cole's pick).

Happy Birthday, Sarita!

2008-06-08T11:02:00.003-05:00

Today is my baby sister Sarah's 23rd Birthday!!! Happy Birthday! Can't wait to see you next weekend!

I DO have a brain!

2008-06-06T19:30:00.003-05:00

The CT Scan proved it! Okay, so I saw Dr. Blum this afternoon. He had me describe "the" headache and compare it to what a migraine feels like. I then did a bunch of physical tests and even took me in the hallway to do a test that looked similar to the drunk driving test...without being on the side of the road. Long story short, he gave me a prescription for my migraines and also diagnosed me with "thunder-clap" headaches. Thunder-clap headaches may (or may not) be a pre-cursor to an aneurysm...but there is no predicting that. It may never happen again. I had the CT scan to make sure that there wasn't any bleeding. Thank GOD there wasn't. Thank you to everyone that said a prayer, crossed their fingers or did a tribal dance for me today. ;)

It's official...I'm a headcase

2008-06-05T16:41:00.003-05:00

So, you may know that I'm a sufferer of frequent headaches. Well, last weekend after Sharon's baby shower, I had the monster of all headaches. Very scary and I probably should have convinced Chris to take me to the hospital. Anyway...can't change that now. However, I DO have an appointment with a neurologist tomorrow afternoon. Cross your fingers that he can figure something out and not just shoo me out the door since it's a Friday afternoon. By the way, his name is Dr. Blum...think he's related to Geoff Blum???

Fun in the Sun

2008-06-03T11:51:00.006-05:00

Saturday was a fun-filled day. First, the boys got new summer haircuts thanks to Daddy. Cole got buzzed (he looks so much more mischievious now) and Caleb, well, I'll let the picture do the talking:

Isn't that hilarious? We thought it wouldn't hurt to have a mohawk for a week or so...we are hoping that it will get it out of his system before school starts. Cause we KNOW Momma ain't lettin' him go to school like that! LOL. It's actually pretty stylin' - no?

Saturday afternoon was the event Caleb had been looking forward to - JR's birthday party. The boys had a BLAST!

Caleb enjoyed acting like a superhero and Cole evidently was there to pick up chicks...

Really???

2008-06-01T20:34:00.004-05:00

So, yesterday we were driving across Houston to Caleb's favorite cousin, JR's, fifth birthday party. Somewhere along the Katy freeway, I noticed one of those yellow signs...

Are they for real? And wouldn't you know it...I saw the same signs on the next two "bridges" (or overpasses...whatever). Doesn't the highway department know that it's a hundred-freakin-degrees already??? As my dad put it, was there an ice truck overturned or something???

Silent Auction Baby Boy Album (8x8)

2008-05-31T21:39:00.001-05:00

5/29 Friday Favorites

2008-05-30T16:13:00.006-05:00

Almost forgot about this today!

Sam's Club...what can I say? I'm somehow fascinated with the ability to purchase items in bulk. We went yesterday. Chris now has a month's supply of Copenhagen (yuck, I know), and we have enough air freshener refills and window cleaner to last until the second coming. Why? Because we can.

Mexican Cheese. Our first trip to Barcena's Restaurant yesterday reminded me of how wonderful it is. It's so perfectly melty and stringy and pure deliciousness. Heck, cheese in general is ALWAYS a favorite!

And, lastly, my ATG - adhesive transfer gun. (Thanks, Mom!) Yes, it's ugly. Yes, it's huge. BUT it's super-economical in the long run and one roll of the adhesive can get me through almost an entire scrapbook. Tiffany - have you purchased yours yet? One day, I'm planning to beautify it...