Embracing 34

I've made a huge decision... after celebrating my 29th birthday for five years, I've decided to skip ahead to 34. I was born 34 years ago, and I'm ready to  admit it. Part of it is that I'm growing wearing of plucking those silly gray hairs, part of it is I'm starting to look too old for 29. I am embracing 34, and I'm ready to be here for the next 5 years.

This was NOT a typical day for me. For starters, Allen took the day off from work to spoil me. He did a fabulous job, and I had an awesome day!!

Here is what my day looked like at the 34's:

• 00:34 -- sleeping
• 01:34 -- sleeping
• 02:34 -- sleeping
• 03:34 -- tossing and turning, trying to sleep
• 04:34 -- sleeping
• 05:34 -- I heard Allen leave to work out. I rolled over and tried to sleep a bit more.
• 06:34 -- turning on the water to take a shower
• 07:34 -- kissed Will as he was leaving for school, then put oatmeal in the microwave and poured coffee for Allen and me, inhaled the scent of fresh pink tulips from my family -- mmmm
• 
• 08:34 -- reading I Samuel and Psalms, studying the life of David
• 09:34 -- getting my birthday gift, an iPhone
• 10:34 -- picking out cupcakes from Ganache (salted caramel, giandiju, and carrot cake)
• 11:34 -- lunch at Fish City Grill (yummy fish tacos!)
• 12:34 -- quick detour through mall, but I sat to try a shoulder massager
• 13:34 -- sitting and reading lots of birthday greetings on Facebook and placing an Amazon order
• 14:34 -- picking up little kids from preschool
• 15:34 -- filling out a health survey for the insurance company after going through Will's backpack. This is the inside of the card he made me at school...he got the entire class and both teachers to sign it. It was definitely my favorite card even though I got lots of sweet ones.
• 
• 16:34 -- contemplating starting dinner, trying to get rid of a headache, listening to little kids play Legos while Allen and Will play chess
• 17:34 -- sitting down to eat a fabulous home-cooked meal (Thai chicken with tomato, basil, & coconut)
• 18:34 -- laughing as Allen plays with my iPhone... and I thought it was my new toy :)
• 19:34 -- catching up on recorded shows (House and Community)
• 20:34 -- heading to bed to read for awhile
• 21:34 -- gave up on reading to watch tv
• 22:34 -- sleeping, again
• 23:34 -- still sleeping ...

A Week of February Happenings

Is it only here that we can start February with a long string of super-cold, snowy days, and two weeks later the kids are playing outside barefoot wearing t-shirts and shorts? It has suddenly been so warm we have even slept with our window open. BEAUTIFUL!!! This warm weather is why I love living here!!

Last week was a crazy-busy week. Allen and Will were actually home on Valentine's evening -- usually they go to Cub Scouts on Monday, but there wasn't a meeting that night because of Valentine's day. Tuesday, I went out with my close buddies -- three of the four of us have February birthdays, so we had a great reason to celebrate :) Wednesday night, I had a MOPS steering meeting, but our family met at the church to have dinner together; Thursday night, I went to a home owners association meeting. Friday, it was wonderful to just stay home all day and evening.

Saturday, Allen let me sleep in, then fed me pancakes and suggested we go to Mission Tejas State Park since the weather was beautiful. We got some waterbottles packed, grabbed the hats, and hit the road. It is fabulous to not have to worry about packing a diaper bag anymore -- the first time in almost seven and a half years!! At the park, the kids enjoyed the playground, then we got to do a little bit of easy hiking. We often had to stop to wait for Maddie to get her drink of water. It didn't take long for her to learn how to attach the waterbottle to her hat strap, and then she taught her brothers. Ben was getting sore legs about the time we needed to find some lunch, so we headed for a small town and had some barbeque at a local restaurant. The kids slept all the way home, which later proved to be a great thing.

Saturday night, we all went to Will's Cub Scout pack's Blue & Gold Banquet, and he got his Tiger Cub rank and badge. It started a bit later than we normally have dinner, and we didn't get home until 9:00 -- two hours after the kids' normal bedtime. Thankfully, the kids went right to bed, but next year we will NOT all be going.

Though we did have some fun this week, I am looking forward to next week because I think we will be home every night. I do like to get out occassionally, but enough is enough. Enjoy the week!

Overheard

Mama: I'D BETTER NOT HEAR ANY MORE HALLELUJAH CHORUS UNTIL YOU HAVE YOUR SHOES ON!"
In the background: aYOOOya. aYOOOya.




Last Friday, the kids were at the church until 10pm, while Allen and I went out with out Sunday school class. When we picked them up, Maddie and Jon told me: "Mama, its playtime now. We way-passed our bedtime and have to wait until the next one comes tomorrow to go to bed."



Maddie: Mama? mama? mama? mama? mama? mama? mama? mama? mama?

Mama: WHAT?!?!?
Maddie: nothing....Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?....


Jon: Wahhh!! Will pushed me and took the bat away from me.

Mama: Are you okay, Jon?
Jon: Yes
Mama: What do you want me to do about it?
Jon: Sometimes I just want you to give me an extra hug and a kiss, Mama.


Mama: Ben, please do not pee in the yard.
Ben: But, Mama, today I am being a bear and you don't let bears in the house.


Charlie is the boy who lives across the street. I picked him up from school the other day and overheard the kids chatting in the backseat. That is how I found out Will got Charlie a Valentine pencil-gram at school. Later I asked Will about it...
Mama: Will that was really nice of you to think of Charlie. Where did you get the money?
Will: I found a quarter on the floor at school.
Mama: Was the Valentine only a quarter?
Will: I don't know, but I convinced them to let me send two and gave Marianna one, too.

Progress Report

My parents kept the three little kids from Sunday through Thursday and I got so much accomplished. When I went to bed last night, here are the things I was able to call "done!"

• hung 4 bird pictures that Allen's great-grandma made
• hung a rose print she had
• hung 2 plate racks with 4 plates
• hung 3 large family photos
• hung 2 verses about peace (my word-goal for the year)
• rearranged some lamps to bring light to dark corners of the house
• took down the Christmas cards
• finished cleaning the dining room -- I even cleaned everything in the china hutch
• made another floral arrangement to go with all the roses in the dining room
• emptied half the garage with 2 trips to Goodwill
• got caught up on laundry (but this no longer applies)
• got to relax and rest just enough that I'm ready to be a mama again

Snowy Day

Wasn't it just about a year ago that I got the 5:30 am call that cancelled school because of the snow? This morning the message was welcomed, but the phone ringing was not. Allen ended up staying late at work yesterday. I hoped he would just be late for dinner, but he came home at 4:30am after the cold weather started causing trouble at the refinery. Here are some of my favorite pictures from this morning. Will is in red, Maddie in purple, Jon has the navy blue coat, and Ben's is navy with the gray-blue. Shadow had as much fun as any of us -- he still loves the snow and loves catching and chasing snowballs. Allen was home until just after lunch, but he did need to reply to a few texts from the office. I shivered and snapped photos, using the camera as my excuse not to get involved in the snowball fights :)