a welcome from a large White House in DC and a little funny...

~March 25, 2010~

I signed Hunt up for swimming lessons today. I'm hoping that he'll enjoy it more. The last 2 years he was at Aqua Kids and did good up until the last 3-4 days of class and then just didn't seem to care. Made this mama a little upset. Especially since I know and saw what he can do and he just didn't even try toward the end. At our Early Childhood PTA meeting Thursday, a lady came and talked to us about water safety. She is a swimming instructor who has taught kids for 20 years or so at her home. Her prices are very good, so I decided to give it a try this year. I heard good things about her from other moms in the group who has had their kids with her in the past. So we shall see.

Oh, and Em got her little Welcome letter the other day from the White House. Hunt also got one way back when he was about Em's age to. I put them in their baby books, but may move them to a scrapbook at a later date.




And a little funny for you guys...

ok, so tonight when Hunt and I were in the bathroom getting ready for his bath I noticed a certain part of his body...ahem...(male anatomy)was white-ish. Freaking out I ask him why "it" was white. He said..."I don't know, maybe I put some of that on it"(he pointed to the baby powder in the basket) I asked him why. To which he replied..."Well you said I acted like a baby sometimes!"

Oh my crazy kids!...

a Hill Country trip and some spring activities...

~March 24, 2010~

Well Hello Spring!!!

Glad to see that you made it around here again.

Please stick around for a while so that we may enjoy your beauty. Your warmer winds and sunny skies. To hear the laughter of children playing puts a big smile on my face and adds joy to my heart.

::And now for some catching up...
{what we have here is a long post}

On Wednesday the 17th my babes dressed up in their green! After all, my mother's madden name was McGee, so we are a bit Irish!!! I know I posted a photo of them on St.Pat's Day, but here are a few more.

My two Leprechauns!

I made Hunt his shirt and Em her shirt, pants and this cute bow.

Hunt showing off his cowboy figure that he got for being good all week at school.

And a little leprechaun left Hunt a mini glass jar filled with clovers for St. Patricks day!

This past weekend the four of us took a long weekend trip to the Hill Country. We left Thursday and returned Sunday. Sort of a mini vacation to see how Miss E would do. It was Em's first time away from home for the night and in a hotel! She did pretty good though. We stayed in Kerrville and had a room with 2 beds, so the boys took one and the girls took the other. While we were there we went through the fabulous shops in Fredericksburg, drove through the country spotting white tail deer, axis deer, hogs and whatever else we came across. We took a drive through the Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
I have to say that Fredericksburg is more enjoyable without children, but I did manage to pick up a few goodies. Hunt was acting like a toot Friday while we were shopping...ugh! Here are some goodies that we purchased...

Nothing special, but I have been wanting to get one for Hunt to use when he helps me in the kitchen.

Some paper doll fabric and a rooster paper towel holder.

A mouse baby for Em, 2 Texas hankies and Hunt a camo hunting belt.

Two more kid hankies, 5 more Peru finger puppets to add to our collection(Love these!), a butterfly life cycle set and a frog life cycle set(Love these sets to).

I'm so mad at myself though, I could just kick my booty! Most of the time we were there I either forgot to take photos, or simply just forgot the camera in the hotel room all together! Bad Mama!!! So you won't get to see the coyote carcasses or the catfish heads that adorned the fences. Or the boots for that matter. Oh well, life goes on! What is the deal with that? I know I have seen both coyotes and fish heads on fences before, several times, but really, what is the deal? Gross if you ask me! Something new that we saw, and not once, but twice, were two fences(in totally different areas and towns) that had cowboy boots on the posts. They were lined up down the fence row, turned upside down...not just one or two, but MANY! Kind of strange, but cute. Now that I would have liked a photo of. It sure beats the fish heads and coyotes we saw.
And of course we saw our share of dead deer, hogs and skunks along the road sides as well.
...Ok I know enough with the grossness!
Along with spring comes the blooming of the Bluebonnets. And we saw them to. They peek in April, but there were several scattered along the little highways. I'm sure with all this rain and snow that we've had they will be fantastic this year. Willow City Loop is sure to be awesome! We passed by it as we were heading home, but didn't take the drive through it. I was wanting to though. Just to see how the flowers are coming in so far...but hubs isn't much on stopping, especially just to see wildflowers or just to snap a photo or two. Nope, he doesn't like to stop once we are on the road unless we HAVE to! What is it about men and driving? Is it that they like to see how quickly they can get from point A to point B? I mean come on! Why in a rush ALL the time?!!!



So, I heard we missed another batch of snow?! The first of spring=snow???what?...is this Texas or what?...we weren't home to enjoy it...too bad! It was cold in the hill country on Sat and Sun though. It even rained and we had some heavy winds Friday night...but no snow. We fought the wind the entire way back home...so much for any type of gas mileage!


Hill Country sign.

I metal totem type statue in Fredericksburg.

This is the view out our window. A cute water fall by the pool area. You can't tell, but the pool and surrounding rock is shaped like a Texas and the hot tub like a star.

I love this fish pond.


In the Lone Star Candy shop.


My two knuckle heads getting ready for pjs and bed.


Goobers relaxing on the hotel bed.

Wow, it's been great weather Monday, Tuesday and today... huh? But it is suppose to rain later on today and tomorrow from what I hear.


Monday afternoon we went for a walk and came back and played sidewalk chalk in the driveway.
Yesterday the kiddos and I meet one of Hunt's class friends and his mom and little brother at the library for storytime. It was all about spring! So appropriate for this super weather!
Later after lunch and naps we headed outside again to let the stink blow off of us!HA! It was too nice not to be outdoors! I decided it was a perfect time to have Hunt do his bird feeders and bird nest bag...oh and a little flower planting. Then some tractor playing, cow tipping...kidding!, and side walk chalk again like yesterday. Miss Em sat most of the time in the Bumbo and watched us or chewed on her toys and taggy square.
The bird feeder was a pinecone that Hunt spread peanut butter on and covered with bird seed. Just a little treat for our area birds. We made 2 and hung one by his window on a crapemurtle(sp?) and the other on another bush(low enough for Hunt to keep an eye on).



The bird nest bag was also hung on the bush so that little eyes can see. The idea is that birds come and pull the pieces of cotton, yarn, ribbon and rafia out of the bag and use it to help make their nests. And since we used many colors, maybe the nests will be beautiful too! And easy to spot! So we will see...


Then Hunt helped to plant some snapdragons, marigolds and dusty millers in a pot out front. He did a great job!




And here's Hunt trying to start a fire with his sticks and rocks. He saw this on some movie he watched(can't remember where, maybe Ice Age). It was a good try, even though it wasn't going to happen.



When we came inside I noticed that Hunt's jeans now have a hole in one knee and another one starting in the other one. He told me that the teachers told him that it was cool to have holes in your pants! Ummmm, ok. Maybe if they're suppose to be there and not from playing rough outside.


I'll be posting about some other spring things we will be doing soon to. We have Easter eggs to dye and a visit to see Mr Easter Bunny to.

Not that I'm keeping track(HA!), but...about 5 weeks until vaca!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

~March 17, 2010~

Just dropping in to wish everyone a Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

it's monday again...

~March 15, 2010~

Happy Monday!

Thank goodness The Harvey House has had no other illness since hub's bug last week!
Grandma however seemed to catch it to. Hope she's feeling better soon! It seems to be making the rounds all over.

This past Friday I had lunch with my friend Shannon. We enjoyed some Mexican food and then made a quick trip to Sam Moon to check out the goodies. And yes there were goodies to be found! I spotted a few little darlings that I may need to go back and retrieve soon. Purses, bags, jewelry, hats, bows, scarves, hair pieces...etc! WOW!
So much stuff!! It wasn't easy to try to cast an eye over all that they had and watch a wondering 5 year old too! So next trip will (hopefully) be without my little man... :(... Sorry honey, but mama sometimes needs a little time to roam around and explore a few possible necessities without wondering if you're beside her or over trying to run your fingers across the hanging necklaces trying for a wind chime effect(I know this is TOTALLY improper grammar, what else is new)!

Yesterday we made a trip to the home store(aka Lowe's) to pick up a few things we needed. Our list consisted of a new light for the front of our house, air filter, grass seed, grass fertilizer and birdseed.
And as everyone knows you can't go in there and buy JUST what you need! Or at least not usually. We did good though, until I went out to the outside plant and garden section. But still even then I did good! I picked out a few plants/flowers. A strawberry plant, lettuce plant and 2 snapdragons, 2 (some kind of white-ish leafy plants) and a 6 pack of yellow flowers. The lettuce and strawberries for the backyard garden(which looks more like a leaf liter pool right now, will need to start working on this I hope this week). And the flowers and leafy plants in a pot out front. So I will be posting photos of our planting F U N soon..haha! And another note...my blackberry bush from last year is still a kickin! It's about the only thing still hanging on from last year in our pitiful garden. Well that and a couple more green weeds...they may be tree suckling for all I know, that or plants growing from spilt bird seed from last season.

Hunt had a nice time playing in the sand box for a while. Sorting and throwing out the dead snails, petrified worms and dried leaf bits. Miss Em even got to stick her little toes in the cool sand. I was telling her all about the beach and the sand that we'll get to enjoy on vacation. She was very excited!
Then Hunt made his way up to the front of the house to play with his tractors, trailers and hay bales by our front tree. He has a special spot that he always likes to play at.













Em sat in her Bumbo and slobbered on some stacking cups and dead grass(I just realized this sounds like I'm talking about a dog).
Yes our front lawn looks so sad(hence the fertilizer and grass seed)!




Anyway, Em is such a outdoors girl! We were out there about 2 or so hours(may have been a little longer) and she loved every minute! We did make 2 trips inside to check on the laundry in the dryer, for mama to potty and check her britches for potty to.













"Me just a worthless coyote, me crazy as a loon. We just a worthless coyote, me howling at the moon...."
So on our last 3 trips to the library we've been picking out a couple of audio books of Hank the Cow Dog. There are many and they are too funny! We all like to listen to them. Anyway, Hank is this dog who lives on a 6000 acre ranch here in Texas. He's titled himself as "head of ranch security" and is ALWAYS getting into trouble! All the stories are told by Hank himself. Well at certain points in the the books he meets coyotes who in the stories are suppose to be like Native Americans. You know...how they were perceived years ago...as savages, simple, and talking silly. Well Hunt has taking up to singing one of their songs...{see the phrase above}! I caught him the other day repeating this tune. And dang it if I didn't start repeating it to! You know how things get stuck in your head! Oh well I guess it could be worse.

Speaking of that little man of mine... He kills me sometimes! Such a character!
The other day we passed a jump house place and outside they had one set up. Here is how the conversation went...Oh and if you don't already know...our dog Zoe is a crazy dog!...
Hunt: "Mom I wish we could go get a jump house there!"
Mama:"Oh really?"
Hunt:"Yes, that looks like fun."
Mama:"Yes but we don't have room and Zoe might tear it up."
Hunt:"We need to get a different dog that doesn't eat jump houses!"
{poor Zoe}
Then later that day we were talking about camping and how some friends of ours are going and a family in our Early Childhood PTA group are to. I was saying that I loved to camp and how fun it is. And how I wish we could go, but sister was just too little right now. Well, that little toot replied with..."But I like camping! We need to put sister back in your tummy!" He's something!!!

Kell notified me that it is now only six weeks until vacation! Wooo Hooo!!!

sickness, kids and a piece of my mind...

~March 10, 2010~

The past five or so days have been sort of draining. Not that a whole lot has been going on, just my tired self pooping out.

Friday Hunt, Em and I spent some afternoon(and after nap)time at the park. Hunt played what I believe was his first game of tag. I say this because of the fact that he didn't understand the entire concept of the game. He did good at chasing the others and catching them, but when he tagged them he didn't turn and run away...so that meant that he was tagged "it" again. Oh well he had fun and he'll learn. It was also funny that his official name was "hey little kid". It appeared that the other boys new each others name(probably due to the fact that they lived close to the park and/or go to school together. Oh how the weather was nice! I'm so ready for warmer weather! And Miss E was great! I think she's turning into an outdoors kinda girl. She just sat there in my lap or in her stroller and looked all around.

It was cute...one of the boys had a cell phone and made a call to his mother. At the end of the conversation he told her that he loved her. Awww!!! Another boy there kinda laughed and made a comment about him saying that. Well, you know me I couldn't just sit there and keep my mouth shut. So, I said in a loud voice..."You are never too old to tell your mother that you love her"! And I told him that mother's love to hear that from their kids! I'm sure that the boy that made the comment to the other one thought I was crazy! Ha!
But really...geez...what is wrong with the youth of America?! I hope Hunt never feels that it's uncool to tell me he loves me. I'm holding out hope, but I'm sure the day will come...(sniff, sniff)!

I have to get up on a soap box for a minute...
Why is it that some people are just "A" holes?!!! I mean what the heck?!!! Why MUST they be so rude and demanding?!!! Why do they act as though they need to prove something?!!! And then why am I surprised at this...not sure! Sometimes things are SO typical...you can see how situations are going to play out. Yep...so typical!
{just had to throw this in here, nothing to do with the boys at the park}
...ok, I'm done...

Now what else...

Saturday I wanted to get out of the house, so we took a little drive. It was a nice short trip.

We had dinner this past Sunday at Cooper's BBQ in Fort Worth. I thought it was better than the time I ate at the one in Llano. Hub's didn't think so.
Later that night hubs got really, really sick! Poor thing! Throwing up on an off all night and into the next morning. His tummy still wasn't all that great yesterday. I think he must have caught the bug that is going around. Thankfully the babes and I haven't got it! I didn't even get any type of a birthday photo or anything ;( I did get him a little cake, but sadly no photo of that either.

Hunt, Em and I did enjoy story time at the library yesterday. Both young'uns did good. I enjoy going to story time and so does Hunt. He loves books anyway. The theme was about hats so at the end all the kids made a hat to wear.

So Hunt has been using the phrase..."Mom, ok here's the deal...". Then he follows it up with something he has in mind he wants to do or doesn't want to do. Silly boy!


And Miss Em has been like this the last day and a half...


Oh say a prayer for this mama...

~March 5, 2010~

Loving this beautiful Texas weather!!!


Em turns 5 months today! Wow...really...already, 5 months!
She's growing more and more all the time and learning new things.

Miss E, what have you been up to?...
*you have found a real joy in sucking your toes(hahaha) and do it every chance you can
*you've been practicing sitting up and can do it by yourself for up to 10 seconds. but it seems you gradually get lower and lower or excited and fall over
*you've become VERY verbal. and you are sure to let us know when there is something you do not like
*you love to squeal in delight especially at Hunt when you see him
*you seem to adore your big brother and smile at him ALL the time
*of course you're really cranky when you get tired, but aren't we all?!
*you still chew on anything that comes in contact with your mouth and the slobber is crazy!
*you reach and try to take everything that I have, large or small...and you're quick about it too
*you roll around all over the quilt in the floor, so we really have to keep an eye on you
*your scream is deafening! I swear I don't know where it comes from!
*when you're not happy you whine and fuss then break out with razzes...gets slobber every where
*some nights you sleep all night and some you wake up after 4 or 5 hours
I know there's more, but my mama mind can't think right now. It could be due to the fact that a 5 month old is in my arms squealing and pulling my hair! That tends to make your thinking off just a bit!

Hubs Birthday is Sunday the 7th. We're going to dinner Sunday at Coopers bbq in Fort Worth to celebrate. We've been to the one in Llano, hubs has been several times while hunting down there. Hubs got a shooting vise thingy this past weekend for his gift. It holds you gun while you clean it, repair it or do whatever.(I know so much about it huh?.ha!)

love this...wouldn't this be a nice anniversary gift...hint, hint...{April 30th}



And just because...
Look at those eyelashes!!!


That's about all I got...have a good weekend!...

nice weekend...

~March 1, 2010~

Well Hello March!


{look at this gorgeous smile!}

Glad to see you around again! Will you be bringing warmer weather to us? Just curious because I'm getting a little tired of the cold!

Man Saturday was such a perfect day though! So beautiful and nice!

The four of us woke up early and got ready...half and half off to do different things. Hunt and Daddy to the deer lease with Uncle David then later the Monster Jams show. Emma and Mama to Canton with my great friend Stephanie and her son James.
It was pretty cold that morning, but later warmed up with the sun shining.
Hunt and Daddy had a nice time at the lease. They saw about 30 turkeys and drove through the creek water and some mud! Of course he liked that! After stopping for lunch they came home and got a nap.
Then it was off to Dallas to see some Monster Trucks!!!

Daddy said Hunt was whooping and hollering like everyone else and doing the wave with the rest of the fans! They both had a fun time! Daddy even took a few photos!!! YAY Daddy, Good Job!!!

Hunt loved reliving the shows events by telling me all the trucks that were there and what they did!

"There was even a girl one"...he told me! He had to show me all the truck photos in his program book that he got. And his cool t-shirt. Oh...and the funny truck tire earphone things! They were so silly!

I asked him his favorite truck and he said it was the Batman one!

The worst part for hubs was the 45 minutes he waited just to get out of his parking spot there at the stadium! And let me tell you I'm sure he was not a happy camper! By the time they got home it was really late and Hunt was SO tired and starting to get cranky! But Daddy said that he had been a good boy all day!


Canton was fantastic, as usual! I LOVE THAT PLACE!!!
I bought a few goodies, not a lot. I wanted to get Miss Em some bloomers with her name embroidered on them, but the wait was too long. So I guess I'll be ordering some soon through the internet! I saw tons of things I would love to have(like always), but restrained myself well, HA! Maybe not next time though!
Stephanie got a bad headache and started feeling sick on the way home :(
Em did superb! Just wonderful! I was worried how I was going to manage the feedings and everything, but it worked out so well.
I made Em a cute outfit to wear Saturday. Some ruffled leg pants and a matching onesie. Added a sweet little hat and bow to complete the look!

You know sometimes a girl just needs new duds to feel her best,ha!

I'm sure that was why she was an angel the entire day to!
Look how sweet!!!

Little Em has been working on her sitting! Here are a few pics I snapped quickly...

She started to get lower and lower.


Wow look at that drool hanging down!

Here's some other cute pictures of this little "Chunka Munka"...


She loves her beads! Maybe she's going to be a girly girl! Nah...just loves the feel on the gums!


She's been finding these a whole lot lately...

Them toes!!! Good for sucking!!!


Happy March to you all!!!