Sometimes you just have to laugh.

I already posted once today, but I need to post again so I don't forget today's events.

Jackson and Addison were invited to a birthday party. I knew the party was today so I didn't need to recheck the invitation. (Yeah, you know where this is going.) The party was scheduled to be right when we would be getting out of church. I decided to take advantage of that and stay home from church today. I even took two Simply Sleeps last night so I could sleep extra late and still make it to the party. I kept Addison and Jackson home with me. We also had tickets to Casa Manana for today to see The Alamo. We decided that Drew would take Bryson and he could ask two friends to go in our places. We had it all planned out.

I should had known things weren't going to go well today when Bryson ran into our room this morning shouting, "Addison has poop in her bed!" If you know Bryson, you know that everything is said in his "911 voice," as we call it. There was poop in her bed, but just a little bit. Nothing to get too excited about. Evidently, she stuck in her thumb and pulled out a plum! Drew cleaned her up and I stripped her bed and put the sheets in the washer. I crawled back in bed to enjoy the rest of my leisurely morning. Drew brought me breakfast, but Addison followed him into our room. Of course, she had to eat part of mine even though she had already eaten.

I finally got up, took a shower and got ready. I needed to go buy a present, so we went to Target. We walked around Target for a little while because we had some time before the party started. We got to the party place and I didn't see the family's car. Maybe I got the time wrong. I knew the party was supposed to start at either 12:15 or 12:30. We drove over to Sonic and got drinks. When we got back to the party place, I still didn't see their car. I went inside to ask what time his party starts and the girl told me it isn't until NEXT Sunday!

Determined to turn lemons into lemonades, I told Addison and Jackson I would go get us something for lunch and we would go to the park for a picnic. Jackson needed a lot of convincing because he was REALLY looking forward to this party and seeing his friend. We went to Dickey's BBQ. Since Addison is wearing panties now, I didn't want to take her to the park without taking her to the restroom first. We went inside the restaurant so we could use the restroom. Then we went through the drive-thru because the line inside was so long. I ordered their food and off we went to the park.

I didn't have a blanket or even a towel to sit on, so we just sat on the grass. When I opened our bag from Dickey's I realized they got the order wrong. They didn't give us napkins or silverware either. Cole slaw, Mac 'n' Cheese, BBQ sauce, a 2 year-old and a 5 year-old without napkins or silverware on a windy day is not a good combination. I didn't complain about it. I just told Addie and Jack to do the best they could. If they needed to wipe their hands, I told them to use their shirts. They thought that was pretty cool. Usually I am griping at them for using their shirts!

We ate, quickly, and went to play. I made Jackson wear shorts today because the party was going to be inside at one of those jump places. I didn't want him to get too hot. Addison didn't have a jacket and wore capri pants. Jackson let me know many times how cold his legs were when we were at the park! I just told them to run and play hard and they would stay warm. I had on capri pants and a short sleeve shirt, so I was cold too. We played for about an hour and headed home to let Addison take a nap. When we pulled up in the driveway Addison said, "Hey Mom, you forgot to take us to the party." She was probably confused the whole time we were at the park!

Of course, I forgot to put her sheets in the dryer before we left so she is asleep in our bed. Drew and Bryson are still gone and I am left here wondering what else could go wrong today! I am just thankful that I declared today a day to look at the positive things in life instead of focusing on the negative. This has been one of those days that I just have to laugh at to keep from getting all bent out of shape. Nothing major went wrong, there were just a lot of little things that could have piled up if I hadn't been in the right state of mind. Hopefully tomorrow will run a little more smoothly!

200th Post

I just realized that this is my 200th post on my blog! I started blogging about a year and a half ago. I began doing this as a way of documenting our lives. I have posted pictures, funny stories and personal feelings on this blog. Sometimes I have shared too much about what I am feeling and other times I have held back.

If you know me, you know that I am a passionate person. I live with my feelings exposed. I care deeply and hurt just as deep. I cry. I scream. I laugh. I joke. I love. This is me.

I have a hard time getting close to people sometimes because I don't want to get hurt. I have had several losses in my life that have affected me deeply. I try to focus on positive things, but sometimes I get dragged down with the negative things that have occurred. This is a battle I'm sure most people face. With blogging, I can share my feelings and not have to worry about what people think about me.

Even though I share my feelings here, I am not comfortable with my writing. If you read this blog expecting great writing ability, you have been/ will be disappointed. Most of the time I just type and leave it alone. I don't do a lot of rearranging or reorganizing. I just leave it as it is. I do use spellcheck, though! I don't want to look totally ignorant. In school, I hated it when we had to read out papers out loud or have someone else read and critique our work. I was always so self-conscious. I still am, but I don't ever have to see or know who is reading unless they leave a comment or comment to me in person. I feel a little more free to express myself this way.

So today, on my 200th post, I just want to celebrate the fact that I am still blogging a year and a half later. I have had fun sharing my life and that of my family. I have enjoyed reading comments from people who have read my blog. I am going to try to keep it up and will, hopefully, become better at expressing my feelings through writing. I don't know how long I will keep this up, but I will keep blogging as long as it continues to be enjoyable.

Weekend Recap

Pily was here this weekend. We always love it when she is here. Friday, after she arrived, we went out to eat Mexican food. We had some good food and had fun talking. Saturday we got ready to go to the gym. The boys were excited about going to the kids club at the gym. They haven't been since last summer. I take a kickboxing class on Saturday mornings and Pily likes to go when she is here. Usually, there is no problem with her using a guest pass at 24 hour fitness. This time, though, they wouldn't let her workout. Well, they would have let her workout if she paid $15 for ONE DAY! Since she doesn't live within 25 miles of the gym (and is an honest person) they were going to charge her to work out. There was NO WAY I was going to let her pay that ridiculous price, so I checked the boys out of the kids club and we left. I was pretty mad about this.

We took the opportunity to go to Bear Creek Park. I told her I would watch the boys while she went for a run. They had fun playing, being chased by me, playing in the water, climbing trees and running around. When Pily got back, I went and ran while she played with the boys. I didn't really want to run, but I did. I usually have to psych myself up to run and have to be in the right state of mind to do it, but I went anyway. After a few minutes, I found my stride and just kept going. I only ran about 25 minutes, so it wasn't bad at all. I enjoyed running at the park, too. I am going to have to do this again soon.

After we got home, we ate breakfast Drew made and got cleaned up. Then, Drew sent us to get pedicures. It had been a while since I had one, so I was eager to go. It was so relaxing. I almost fell asleep. When we got home we played a game of Scrabble. We have been playing Words with Friends on our iPhones and Pily mentioned that she had never played an actual game of Scrabble. We felt the need to help her in her quest to "nerdom," so we played with her. We try to help anyway we can!

We relaxed the rest of the day. Drew made taco salad for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent playing with our phones and watching the Olympics. We are pretty boring and she is very low maintenance, so it works out well for all of us.

Pily left just after 9:00 this morning and we were sad to see her go. Hopefully, she will be able to come back soon.

Today we have been relaxing. Addison is down for a nap and the boys are playing together. Life is good at the moment. I can't ask for anything more!

( I never thought I had stubby toes, but this picture clearly shows that I do! Oh, well, they kind of match the rest of my body!)

It's Potty Time! (and other things)

See this little girl? The one I thought would NEVER learn to use the potty has learned to use the potty! She is wearing panties all day long now! We still put a pull-up or diaper on her when she takes her nap or goes to bed for the night, but she has been doing such a good job. I know she will be diaper-free very soon. She is also very proud of herself and acts like such a big girl now. I will miss her being my baby, but I will welcome a diaper-free life! I am a very proud mama right now.

Last night my cousin, Stacy, his sweet wife, Holly, and their little girl, Reese, came over for dinner. They have just recently moved to Dallas from Colorado, so it was good to see them. I had never met their cute little girl, so it was long over due. The boys and Addie played with Reese like they had always known her. I am so proud of my kids for being as accepting as they are. They are so loving and enthusiastically welcome everyone we have over to our house. Drew grilled steaks and chicken breasts, made salad, asparagus and baked potatoes. We had a great dinner and had fun catching up and watching some of the Olympics. I hope we will be able to see them more often.

This is their sweet little Reese. Isn't she so cute? She is about 4 months younger than Addison, but so much smaller! Addison is about 5-6 inches taller than Reese and weighs about 10 pounds more! Reese is so dainty and petite. Addison... well... is NOT! Addison is already wearing size 4T clothes and a size 8 shoe. I am about to have to buy her shoes a size bigger! She is getting so big. I think she may pass Jackson up soon!

Today we went to lunch with some friends from church. I love getting to hang out and talk to our friends. We spent a lot of time at lunch playing Words with Friends on our iPhones. I'm sure it looked like we weren't talking at all, but we really were. We were just playing at the same time! Drew just got us iPhones on Wednesday, so the novelty hasn't worn off, yet. I'm sure it will soon.

Tomorrow the kids don't have school (President's Day), but we have to work. They are looking forward to going to Miss Linda's house for the day. Jackson has been counting down the days since last week. They love it over there and I am so thankful for her love for them. We have been so blessed by her love and care over the past 9 1/2 years. I don't know what I will do when Addison is too old to go to her house. I'm sure we will still visit!

Today we are hanging out watching the Olympics and getting ready for another week. Only 4 more weeks until Spring Break!!! Woo Hoo!!!

We had snow much fun! (Cheesy, I know!)

We are out of school today for a SNOW DAY!!! It has snowed over a foot in TEXAS! I have never seen snow like this in my life and it was really fun to get out and play in it. Before we even went in the house after school yesterday we played in the snow. Bryson wanted to have a snowball fight so we did! I even tackled him and tried to bury him in the snow. It would have worked if he wasn't so wiggly. We played for about 45 minutes while Drew was inside cooking dinner. He is not a fan of the snow, so he didn't want to play.

After getting beat so bad yesterday, Bryson and Jackson hid in Jackson's room and worked on their snowball fight strategy for today. He asked me what my plan was and I told him I didn't need a plan to win against the two of them.

We got all bundled up this morning and set out to play. I thought it would be fun to use the shovel to pile up a lot of snow. Well, let me just say, that is hard work! Our pile wasn't nearly as big as I had envisioned. In fact, it seems quite small when I look at the pictures of it. I used a small shovel to dig a tunnel through it. Bryson thought that was pretty neat. Jackson and Addison had gone in by that point. Jackson was crying because his hands were cold and Addison barely stepped foot in the snow today. It was so deep, I think it kind of scared her! Bryson and I stayed out by ourselves for a while and played.

Bryson in the tunnel.

I thought it would be fun to see how big I could make a snowball. I began rolling the snow around the driveway and it just kept getting bigger and bigger. I rolled up the driveway and down the driveway. I'm sure the neighbors thought I had lost my mind! It grew to 3-3 and 1/2 feet before it got too heavy to move. I made a few more and Bryson made one. This turned out to be a great workout. I was really working up a sweat! We were pretty proud of our snowballs and each took turns getting our picture taken while sitting on top of the first one.

After an hour or so, we went inside to warm up. Drew had made biscuits and gravy and sausage. He also cut up some fresh fruit. We had a great morning playing and eating. Bryson liked having me all to himself, too. The boys have since gone back out to play again and the head has fallen off our snowman. The snow is starting to melt and drip off the house. This has been a fun day and we may never see snow like this again in Texas. We definitely tried to make the most of it!

Addison bundled up ready to play. She barely moved from that spot before she was ready to go in.

Me throwing snowballs at the boys on Thursday.

Our house Thursday afternoon. It snowed several more inches after this was taken.

Just a few unrelated happenings

Addison was sick on Monday when I picked her up, so we stayed home yesterday. When she first woke up she said, "I'm not barfening any more!" She was so glad she was feeling better and we were, too. We spent the day cleaning out closets and drawers. I am amazed at the amount of clothes we have in this house. We really have way too much stuff and I am going to work on weeding things out and only buying something if we REALLY need it. Even after the big clean out, Addison has about 20 pairs of jeans. Yes, most of them are hand-me-downs, but still, that's way too many. We mainly use the hand-me-down clothes for daily use at Miss Linda's and I buy her some clothes to wear on the weekends and to church. The boys are the same way, but we still have too much. I haven't even tackled my closet, yet. Drew doesn't have much and never wants anything. I wish I was more like that, but I like to try and look cute! I am going to make a conscious effort, though, to be more sensible with my purchases.
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On a totally different note, Jackson said something really funny the other day. He, of course, didn't know it was funny, which made it even funnier. We were watching TV and we stumbled across a cooking show. He said, "Mom, why is that lady cooking? Ladies aren't supposed to cook. Men are supposed to cook." I am so thankful for my wonderful husband that cooks almost every meal! I am also hopeful that my future daughters-in- law will thank us for raising boys who cook.
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Addison is coming along well with her potty training. She, of course, still has accidents, but she is doing okay. We have a long way to go, but I am hopeful that we will be diaper-free by the time summer is here. That would make things so much easier and save us a little money. I am so ready to be finished with diapers. We have had diapers in the house almost continually for over nine years. Bring on the panties!

That's about all that's going on with us this week. Not too exciting, but that is our life!