~May 11, 2010~

Ok...take a deep breath for this one!

VACATION-Sunday April 25::Day 1


Sunday we decided to drive into Corpus Christi and attend the Buc Days festival.


Not totally sure what it is all about, but they had amusement rides and stuff and all sorts of greasy junk food.

We ourselves enjoyed some of that greasy food! Hunt and I tried some of their nachos, I had a burrito, and daddy ate a burger and fries.
Also there was Texas Parks and Wildlife who were putting on an event called Life is Better Outdoors.
The event gives kids an opportunity to experience outdoor activities and nature. Some activities they had were guessing boxes where kids stick their hands in wooded boxes and try to guess what's inside. They had a turtle shell, a fish jaw bone and other things in them. Then there were nature rubbing to do and giant puzzles! I loved those! Hunt enjoyed the boxes best of all.



Also there were Buffalo soldier actors describing what they did, how they lived, what they ate and so on. They were dressed in their uniforms and had all the supplies out where children could touch and ask questions about them.
There was a tent where the kids signed up for a chance to win camping stuff. In the tent was a man holding an Indigo snake that he let the kids pet and a lady with a year old American Alligator(it was so cute).


Around the corner we headed to a tent where there were tables set up for kids to find out about ocean and sea creatures and living things. A tank was set up with water in it that housed crabs and urchins for everyone to touch and hold.


Hunt got a kick out of the fishing tent! Kids had the chance to cast a fishing pole and reel in a fish. Not real of course, they were rubber fish. Still alot of fun!

After the fishing tent we talked with some Game Wardens and went to a PVC air gun shoot where Hunt tried to shoot empty water bottles into barrels. He tried his hardest, but it was difficult for him to see high enough to aim the gun just right.

Next we spied a bow and arrow shooting tent. Hunt really loved this! The man showed him how to shoot the bow and arrows and he had a ball! Then daddy had to give it a try!



The last activity they had was a tent on conservation. This tent was also a hit with Hunt because it had a laser gun shooting range. My men and their guns..hahaha!!!




When we were done with the Parks and Wildlife activities we stayed around and let Hunt ride a few rides. He only got to ride 3 rides because it was really hot and sister was looking a bit miserable.



We were pooped after all the walking and heat.


For dinner we stopped at one of our favorites on the island...FINS! Yummy!!!



::In more recent news...::
Getting back from vacation and back in our groove always proves to be a task. With all the laundry to do and other daily chores, it seems to take at least 2 weeks to return to a some-what normal routine. But...we are managing...ha!
Hunt was good last week at school!!! Yay! It's almost over, he has only 4 days left now. On the 21st is his graduation! I'll be there, but daddy will be working. Grandma said she will try to come, but that's the day Grandpa has his surgery.

Em is cutting her second tooth now, noticed it last Friday the 7th. I've tried to get a photo of them boogers, but that little stinker WILL NOT BE STILL FOR NOTHING!!! So I hope to get a photo on here soon.

The kids and my friend Shannon and I headed to Gnismer Farm on the 5th to pick us some strawberries. It was busy out there that day and a bit warm. And more people than we had encountered in our past trips there. We still came back with lots of berries! Hunt did so awesome this year picking them! Last year most of the time he was more interested in running the rows and checking out some bugs. This year he was all about picking berries and only stopped to investigate 2 bugs. Em just hung out in my ring sling and did wonderful.


{look at those cheeks and that chin...and that drool!}
Oh and yes...she had to wear her cute strawberry outfit! It was only right!!!HA! I mean what's a girl to do if she can't look adorable picking berries?!!

{not too thrilled about mama in this photo...I look a little ragged already}















We were told that their blackberries should be ready the first of June, so we plan on going again around then to get some of those too...yummm! Yay for pick your own farms! Wish there were more around.

Our tomato plant was looking go...

but now not so much(leaves are looking yellow)! I must be either under or over watering it! But some of the tomatos are finally turing red!

Yay...can't wait to taste them! I hope it stays alive for a while longer at least.

Last Thursday Hunt, Em, Grandma and I took in the Peter Pan play at Casa Manana. It was another good play with some of the characters actually flying! The kids got a kick out of that! Afterwards we stopped off at Los Vaqueros for lunch, it's never a disappointment!

And since last week was teacher appreciation week we took some goodies to Hunt's teachers. He goes Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so we took 3 gifts, one for each day. Monday we took a small bag with some sea shells from our vacation as well as a rose from our bush out front. Wednesday we took each one a simple apple with a ribbon tied on the stem. And Friday we took them each a teacher journal and a pen. Thanks for ALL that you do teachers! I didn't snap any photos of the gifts :(

{photo of some of the roses from one of our bushes}

Saturday we meet our friends Stephanie, Nick and James at a little eating place called The Porch in Burleson. It was really good food! Afterwards we went to their house. They just recently bought it and it's so cute. Hunt had fun running and playing with her doggies.

Sunday for Mother's Day we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner.{I hope all the Moms out there had a great day!}
The kiddos played and then we had pizza delivered. I got a sweet Pandora bracelet and some roses and an "I Love You" bear for Mother's Day. The bracelet is silver and had both kids' birthstones and a little bear as well as two silver divider rings. Hunt made Grandma a card and a "Grandma" plaque.




Hunt started swimming lessons this week. We changed from what we have done the past two years. This year he's at an individual's house with other kids. We'll see if he does any better than the previous year. He's been doing good the past two days.
Monday Day 1...



Tuesday Day 2...



{little sister watching Bubba...I could just eat her up she's SO cute!}





It was a loud day at the library story time today. There were lots of kids and I guess the noise just seemed a bit more than normal. Today was "library" day at story time. They always have a theme each story time. The ladies at story time had a dry erase board that they wrote "a" and "t" on. When Ms. Betsy wrote that word she asked if any one knew what it spelled and Hunt yelled "at". Then she wrote "c" and "a" and "t". And Hunt yelled "cat". Same thing with "hat" and "bat" and "sat"! None of the other kids knew(granted some were a little younger, but not all of them). So it appears he is learning and remembering the reading phonics we have done in the past and that he's doing now in school! I was a proud mama!!! Ms Betsy was telling the kids that letters make up words...words make up sentences, sentences make up paragraphs and paragraphs make up most books.
They also did a puppet show which always seems to generate excitment!!!HA!!! Still a nice activity to take your kids to. And it doesn't cost a thing...how can you beat that! I believe all libraries or just about all that I know of have a story time for kiddos for free. You don't even need to live in their town to attend. Reading to your children really does help them. It helps them learn so, so much!

Tomorrow the dill pickles that I made and jared up last week will be ready!

I know that doesn't seem like something cool to most of you, but to me it's neat. I've always wanted to make my own pickles! I hope they're good! I have never tried the recipe that I used and am eager to try them! I just wish sometimes that I didn't have a ceramic stove top! I really wanted to do a lot of canning and stuff, but can't with the ceramic! So I can do only a few things as far as that goes.

One last thing...last post I mentioned that we meet Ken and Kelley in Schetz, Texas. Uh hum...that should have been Schertz, Texas.

Ok, well that pretty much catches us up a bit(aren't you glad after all that!), except for the other vacation days that will be coming in other posts...soon...

~May 7, 2010~

Hey everyone...

Since I tend to take WAY TOO MANY photos and blab on and on about stuff I will be doing our vacation blog update by days. I will start with us arriving there and go day by day.

VACATION-Saturday April 24th
{Kiddos ready to go...}



Saturday we woke up and drove down to Schetz Texas where we meet Ken and Kelley. We had lunch(Bill Miller's BBQ...yummm) and then drove down to the coast.

We arrived at The Dunes at about 4:00pm and just grabbed dinner at DQ(yay for half price blizzards). This was the day we noticed that Emma had a tooth cutting through!
{Photo from our condo balcony}


We all usually ride together, but since Miss E came along(and we have so much junk that it appears we're moving instead of vacationing for a week) our space is more limited so we took our Tahoe and Ken and Kelley drove in his truck. Once there, since Ken's truck is big, we moved the kids car seats there so we could all ride together to the places we went. Not sure this idea was such a great thought afterwards. Ken and Kelley probably wish we were riding in the pick up bed due to the fact that Hunt kept getting in trouble and messing with stuff and Em went through a couple of crying phases...but we all survived!...

7 months gone by...

~May 5, 2010~

Today Miss Em turns 7 months old! Geez...over half a year gone by already since she entered the world and joined us!

Happy 7 month Birthday Em!



What's been going on...
*On April 24th we noticed that you cut your first tooth. It's on the bottom right side.
*You smile and laugh most of the time with your tongue sicking out. Just a cute trait you have right now.
*You can sit up, but still out of balance at times.
*You have started getting on your hands and knees more and started rocking. You're on your way to crawling soon I think.
*You like to scoot, on your knees/feet and kind of on your face. It looks like it hurts, but you manage to go a bit and do turns.
*You're ticklish and you love laughing
*You sometimes lay your head to the side when smiling, especially when bubba does it...it's so so cute!
*You had your first vacation trip the end of April and did so good!
*You also started sitting up in a high chair at restaurants for the first time while on vacation
*You're still enjoying cereal and mama milk. And sometimes star puffs.
*You can feed yourself some(using your thumb and pointer finger). We give you half a star puff and most of the time it makes it to your mouth, some times not.
*When you're tired and start to cry you say mum-mu-mu. Not sure if you are trying to say mama, or a version milk. But when I get you, you stop.
* You get so excited when I put you in your bath seat. You love baths! You bounce around and squeal.
*You have tried to sit up while on your tummy, but can't do it yet.
*So much more that I'm sure I'm missing.


We love our little girl!!!



I have so so much to post about vacation and strawberry picking and stuff, and photos to add like her 6 month studio photo...so look for all that junk coming soon!...I hope!...

~April 20, 2010~

Let's catch up a bit, shall we...

I'm in the "getting ready for vacation" mode, and have been for a couple of weeks now. We all need to get out of town and do a tad of R&R! We leave on the 24th, this Saturday...YAY!!!

So last Monday, Hunt's first day back from his suspension, went well. He behaved much better I was told. I was hoping that he would...what with all the threatening I did and the stunt I pulled that Friday. But he did hit a friend that swung at him. He didn't get hit, but he did hit the other child...UGHHH! But other than that, he was good. And good the entire rest of the week! I had told him Monday afternoon that if he was good the rest of the week that I would take him for ice cream. And so I did. He really enjoyed it. So I shall try that again this week. Monday he did great, so...

Last Tuesday we went to story time at the library. Afterwards, before we left, we headed out the back to the playground. Hunt found some kids to play with and played for a while, until he hit his mouth on the spring frog thingy. He came running over screaming with his hand on his mouth. Then took them away to display bloody lips and hands. I was thinking, please don't be the teeth! We already had an issue with teeth a couple of years ago when he almost knocked one of the front ones out. Luckily it was just a bit/busted lip. And not a bad one either(phewwww)!

Thursday we attended the performance of Cinderella at Casa Manana. I almost didn't take Hunt because I wasn't sure how good it would be and how Miss Em would behave. But I'm SO glad I did!!! It was one of the best ones I had seen there. And they stayed true to the story again. Which if you had seen any last season, you know that they twisted some around. So far this season they have been good and going by the story lines. Our next, and last one will be Peter Pan on May 6th. We invited Grandma to attend it with us. She enjoys going to plays as much as we do!

Saturday was cousin M and cousin R's birthday parties.
{here are some of the photos I took}

{Em was all ready to go to the party!}

{Em and Grandma}

{Hunt and cousin M}

{He looks like such a big boy with his hair cut}


{trying on Hunt's cap}

{Hunt was hiding from M}

{R woke up in a good smiling mood. She must have known it was her party! She kept wanting to come to me all day }


{M beating the pinata}


{Hunt's turn. They really liked hitting it!}

{The candy!}

{M with his cupcake}

{R with her cake}

{the gifts!}
Since both kids have birthdays in April, they decided to have them together at their home. It was originally planned for the 24th, but that is when we were leaving for vacation, so they generously changed it so Hunt and Em could attend on the 17th. Cousin M was turning 3 and R 1. The theme was Sponge Bob. They were going to have a jump house for the kiddos, but due to the rain it was a no go. It didn't seem like the kids minded much though, they just played inside. We enjoyed burgers and dogs and then there were sponge bob cup cakes and a #1 pink cake. They also had a sponge bob pinata, which the kids loved beating on! He was a tough booger though! It took several and I mean several tries to even begin to bust him open. At first when candy finally fell out everyone just stood there and watched. And then when all the adults said go get the candy, the kids went after it...in kind of a picking and choosing kind of way. They didn't start grabbing like crazy the way we use to years ago...kids these days!!! He was originally a "pull string" pinata, but they decided to use him as a "beating" one.
Hope you had a fun Birthday Cousins!


Em got her beaded Amber necklace in on Monday.

The Amber is said to have anti-inflamitory and pain relieving properties. They have been used for centuries in Europe. I've heard that it helps in teething pain. We don't have any showing up yet, but should very soon.


I made my first batch of ice box pickles last week. Yummy!!! Yay for spring/summer time! I found a few pickles recipes I plan on trying soon.

I'm excited about my hair appointment on Thursday! Boy does it need something done to it! It was just before Em was born the last time I went. Crazy!!! I really need to have it done in a some what regular time frame. I hate waiting so long, but I get busy with my babes and stuff and keep putting it off.

Poor Hunt woke up this morning and came in our bedroom kind of whining. I asked him what was wrong and he said that his head was hurting. So naturally I held him and asked if anything else was hurting or if he felt strange or anything. He said no, but I noticed that he was a little warmer and thought that he might have a small temp. I went and got a thermometer and the Tylenol. He had 99.7 so I gave him a dose of the medicine. He layed down on the pillow and was looking sort of strange. I asked him what was wrong and he sat up and was drooling some and then started crying. I asked again how he felt and only got out of him that his head was hurting. I told Hunt that it was ok to feel sad and it wasn't his fault, but if he needed to throw up that we needed to go to the bathroom. He said no and layed back down. He layed around the house for a while and we watched the first Harry Potter movie. After that he said he felt better and had a lunch of spaghetti o's(which I was thinking might not be such a good idea, but that was what he wanted).
I guess I still worry SO SO SO much about him when his head hurts or he is acting weird. And seeing Em turn the age he was when he had a stroke gets me remembering and thinking about it to...ALOT!!!! I am so thankful beyond belief that he is now healthy and shows very little signs of ever having one! But still I am cautious, a little more I guess than I would have been had he not ever had one. And with the drooling comes the remembering the seizure he had Christmas 2006. Oh our kids...we can be such a mess of nerves and worry because of them! But what we wouldn't do for them huh?!!! I love my babies with all my heart and no matter what lies ahead for us, I just want them to know how much they have filled a place in me that could never have been filled without them!

Daddy is in class this week, so that means he's home at normal hours...yay!
Yay for the help this mama is getting and needing!

If I don't get back on here before we leave for Port A, have a good weekend and great next week!!!! We have an Anniversary(ours 16 years!) to celebrate as well as a Birthday(Kelley)!....

the gift of an ordinary day...

Just had to share this.....



So very touching it made me cry!

a lesson learned?....

~April 9, 2010~


Alright, so I set the alarm and got up like normal this morning. Hunt got up and after eating a little something I told him to go get dressed and brush his teeth. We both got ready as we normally do on a school day. I combed his hair, he grabbed his school backpack and we were out the door. We drove to school and pulled into the parking lot. We sat there as each class mate entered the building. I would say..."look there's "C". He's going inside to class. Does he get in trouble and have to sit in time-out?" To which Hunt answers..."No he's good". Oh that's "A", she's nice to". Then ..."look there's "A" and "B", are they good and listen?" Hunt answers.."Yes, they are good".
{All the while Hunt doesn't know that this mama is about to drop the bomb and make him SO VERY upset!}
Next I say.."hey there's "J"! I bet he's going to have fun today!" Hunt says..."Yes we will have fun". Then mama says..."there's "R", she's good at school and doesn't get in trouble. All your friends are good and nice and will have fun at school today." Hunt starts taking off his seat buckles.
After everyone is inside I then proceed to go on..."Boy is everyone going to have a fun day. Maybe even go outside to play or watch a movie, they may even have a party!." I turn off the truck engine and take the keys out of the ignition. {I lay it on thick about how much fun they will have today at school} Hunt says..."yes, can we go in now"? I start to open the door and stop!!! I turn around to him and I say..."Oh wait, you can't go...you got suspended and they don't want you to come!"{I know it sounds rude, but maybe it hit a nerve} So then he starts to bawl. Not just a cry, a BAWL! Then Hunt starts to beg and beg..."please mama, please can I go in?! I'm be good. I'll listen, PLEASE!!!" I turn back around put my seat belt back on, tell him to put his buckles back on and start the Tahoe. Still he's bawling to almost a scream and still he begs! All the way home he cries and tells me to turn around. So all the way home I explain again why he can't...you don't listen and mind the teachers, you take toys, you push kids out of swings...etc! "The teachers don't want you to come back if you aren't going to do what they ask and be nice to your friends"! "I'll be good today"... he begs!
Sad to say, but it was kind of funny!
So we get home and he's still SO upset that he can barely talk.
When daddy wakes up I tell him to ask Hunt about school today. So hubs asked Hunt how school was and Hunt says..."well I couldn't go. They put a note up(I never mentioned this, he came up with it all on his own)and locked the doors and I couldn't go". Then hubs goes through just about the same stuff I went through about how he needs to be nice to the other kids and mind the teachers.

SO ...
Who knows if this worked! We shall see come Monday...when he goes back...if they don't call before then and say he is expelled the rest of the year!...

suspention of a pre-schooler and some milestones...

~April 8, 2010~

Em's 6th month check up Tuesday went good. She got 3 shots and an oral med. Poor baby cried when she was given them, but stopped right after. Bubba did good to, without tears. As you may recall, last time he was there to see little sister get shots he cried.

Miss Em weighs 18.2 at 81%. And her measurement height was 26 1/2. Which is only 1/2 inch from last visit. The Dr says that she is sure the last measurement was off and that she is still in the 67th% for her age. I didn't mention this before, but finally yesterday Em pooped. Gross I know! But man, she was going on 6 days with no bm! The Dr said that breast feed babes can go 8-10 days sometimes! Anyway, yesterday when she went it was a good one! I won't go into the nasty details, just believe me! EXPLOSION!!!!
After the dr, and stopping for a lemonade slush, we stopped by the park so Hunt could blow off some steam. Em was asleep and resting.

Milestones::
Since Monday was Em's 6 month b-day, we decided to celebrate by trying out some rice cereal and she seemed to like it. It was also the first time for her to sit in the high chair. She did wonderful and loved banging on it!

WHY am I sitting in this thing?!!!

What's that?!!!

You want me to what...try it?!!!

I don't know about this...looks weird!

Ok, I'll give it a shot..

Ummmm...

Hey, I think I like it!

Yes, I think I will have some more. Here let me help you!

Yep, not bad at all!!!
Also to celebrate, I ordered her this set(except with a heart instead of the moon on the spoon)...

And this...

{For when enough hair actually comes in to brush}
I love the stuff that Nova Naturals sells and have my eye on a few other goodies for the future.
Also another small milestone this week...we tried Miss Em in her bathing seat instead of the baby tub that she is outgrowing. It's a seat that you set in your tub to bath your child. First we tried it by herself...

...and the next time with both kids together. She loves it and is getting use to a bit of water in the face...due to a splashing brother. She's cool with it though!



How does one get suspended from Pre-school...Honestly?!!!!
{Ok, I need ANYONES help!}
Well my darling son did. Suspended...for one day, Friday! I'm almost at my wits end on what to do. I don't think that he think about...no, I'm sure that most the time he doesn't think about things before he does them.
We've taken away his Nintendo game(which he normally gets to play on the weekends), offered prizes, spanked twice(I know some out there will not like to read this), taken away movie privileges and even toys. BUT...still nothing totally works.
So Wednesday I was told that he pushed a little boy out of the swing. When we asked him what happened he told us that he pushed him because he wanted to swing...UGHHH!!!! Have you ever heard of a pre-school/pre-k-er getting suspended?!!!What's a mama to do I ask you?!!!

I know Hunt is still in trouble from Wednesday's stunt, but today was Casa Manana performance day. We had already paid for the seats and can not get a refund. I threatened him Wednesday that since he had got in trouble that he was not allowed to do anything "fun". But this morning I decided that I didn't want the seats to go to waste so we went. It was such a GREAT show to! I am glad we went! Hunt and Em both did wonderful! I kept Em busy with toys and mashed up star puffs(yes I know she's a bit young, but I broke them in 3rds and mashed them before sticking them in her mouth)kinda messy those are, kept her a little occupied. She squealed twice, but other than that all was great! After the play we headed to lunch at our usual after Casa eatery, Los Vaqueros. I love their chicken fajitas, but rarely make it over there to eat them. It was yummy!

Since tomorrow is Hunt's school day AND since he's suspended I think I will get us ready in the morning, drive up to school and let him see all his friends going in.
I'll remind him why it is that he is not getting to go and what he needs to do like... make better choices and be kind and hands to himself and stay off the furniture and don't take toys and no hitting, pushing, shoving and...ohhhhhh LORD...!!!
I wonder how he will take it? With him not getting to go and have fun with the rest of them maybe it will sink in...and maybe not...