September 2010

Allright, allright - I KNOW I get far behind on this blog. I always MEAN to add posts, but just don't get around to it. So, yes, I'm going to try to catch up on a couple of things we have done so far this school year! In September, we had a big visit from our cousins - that is ALWAYS fun!! We got to go hunting at Uncle Donnie's house (and of course check out the animals there - always exciting!!) We also all went to a Texas Tech football game (Sorry, no pics of that!!) We all had such a fun time! It's always so fun to see all of the cousins playing together - it so reminds me of the fun times I always had with my cousins (and also makes me understand why our parents were always so irritated with us!!)

Through the Eyes of a Child

T.J. has now learned to use the digital camera and LOVES to take pictures (most of which get deleted) but I just had to share some of these. I think it's amazing to see things from his point of view and see what's important to him. I mean, Pace Picante Sauce, come one people - that's important stuff!! Excuse the picture of my back side, but that's just hilarious! I thought these were so funny!

Gotta Love Summertime!!

Allright, I warned you when I first started this blog, I hardly ever have time to do this. So let me try to catch up! Hmmmm. . . what's the best way to sum up the past 3 months?!?! I'm just going to make a list - so, here goes. We:
Built a really long straw - because what kid doesn't need a really long straw??

Played on Daddy's Computer

Got a cool Spiderman Halloween costume from Riley - and haven't taken it off since - Seriously!!

Got to see some beautiful blue bonnets!

Went to visit Mimi in San Angelo


Had lots of fun dressing up in a winter coat, goggles, and houseshoes (2)


Built a really tall lego tower


Aunt Glo came and visited us at our house and IronMan took a picture with her.

Went to Riley's 6th Birthday Party at the reptile center - they had tons of critters that all of the kids got to hold (snakes, lizards, cockroaches - GAG!!) All but one of the kids at the birthday party would hold all of these scaly, slithery things. You might ask, who could that one child be that would not participate - that would be T.J. He would look at them from only a very far distance! It was really pretty funny - That's my boy!!



Shot off a big water rocket (You wouldn't believe how far this thing would go up in the air!!)

Jumped on the trampoline at Uncle Mikey's new house

Dressed up as Spiderman with an old camouflage jacket that we got from Riley that T.J. wants to wear every day - WITH his Spiderman Costume - in 90 degree weather!!

Got some ice cream from the Ice Cream Man.


Read books with Daddy!

Could not decide if I wanted to play golf or baseball - why not both???

Saw a rainbow!!


Went to the Silent Wings Museum and saw some awesome military airplanes!


Got to meet our new little cousin, Harper!

Stayed in a hotel room in Witchita Falls

Were touched at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial



Went to Memaw's for the 4th of July and got to see Pa waterski!!

T.J. became a HUGE IronMan fan - No, he hasn't seen the movie, but loves to dress up like him and "shoot" everything in the house!!


O.K., I think I have caught up on the whole summer now!! I'll have to blog more often to not get this far behind again. 4 more weeks of Summer, and we plan on enjoying every second of it!!

Precious Moments

Today, a friend of mine whose life is very similar to mine lost her husband suddenly. She and her husband are the same ages as Jeff and I and have a precious little boy who they were blessed with through adoption who is just a couple of months younger than T.J. My heart aches for her!! It happened early this morning, and all day I have just felt sick with hurt for my sweet friend.
When I got home, I could not wait to give Jeff a big hug. Instead of feeling too exhausted after a long day to cook, I just kept thinking how badly Kami must long to be cooking a dinner for her family, and cleaning up the kitchen with hers and her husband's dishes. Instead of thinking about all the things I have to do to prepare for going out of town this weekend, I thought how fortunate I am to be packing for Jeff, T.J., and I to be going to spend some time together with our family this weekend. Rather than stressing about the last of the adoption paperwork that I need to have finished and the house I have to have clean before our home inspection on Friday, I feel ecstatic that we are all working so hard together preparing to add to our family. As Jeff and I put T.J. to bed, I thought how incredibly lucky I am to have all I have ever wished for!! When I think about what she must be going through right now - the sadness, the loneliness, the complete and utter feeling of loss - I realize how quickly things can be taken away and how we need to treasure every single moment! I love my boys more than words can say and pray that I will remember that when I get overwhelmed by what life entails. I am so lucky!!

A Mountain Getaway

Well, after about 3 and a half years of going on family friendly vacations, we decided to put aside the stuffed animals and toy cars, and take an adult vacation. So, Jeff and I took a ski weekend to Ski Apache in Ruidoso, New Mexico. It was a BLAST!! The weather was perfect, we stayed in a beautiful hotel, and the mountains were breathtaking! There is just something so peaceful and majestic about being in the mountains. We couldn't have picked a better weekend to go - the weekend before Spring Break. We practically had the mountain to ourselves, but the snow was perfect!
HOWEVER . . . we did figure out that we are not near as young as we thought we were. It's a good thing that we didn't ski for more than 2 days, or we surely would have had some type of injury. Jeff pulled some muscle in his shoulder that has still not completely healed (after 5 days later!!) and I am just now able to walk normally again. Every muscle in my leg hurt for about 3 days after the trip!! We will definitely plan more trips just the two of us. It's sometimes nice to be more than just Mommy and Daddy.
T.J. had a great weekend as well. He got the royal treatment at Meme and PawPaw's house and was really not ready for us to come home. Fun times!