Almost 9

Logan is so excited about his birthday - he can barely contain his joy! He is ready for his party, and presents and being 9. The only problem is that he has absolutely no concept of time. He was ready for his party days ago! This must seem like to longest week ever for him! If he asks one more time "when does my party start?"...Aargh! We are heating up the pool for a swim party and no, of course this crazy Texas weather is not exactly cooperating. It will be pretty cool, but we all swam today, and it wasn't too bad. (Hopefully swimming when it is cold out will not make us all sick!)

I will try to post some pictures of the birthday boy on his special day. October 31st is going to be busy though. Each child has a ball game. Assuming no rainouts. We have 2 parties to attend. If we have rainouts. And then of course, the kids insist we go trick-or-treating! Maybe we will have time to get into costumes in the car after that last game ends at 6:40 pm. (Who made that schedule?!?)

Tomorrow I get to decorate and make my little chocolate lover's cake. Atleast I will get to lick the icing bowl all by myself. Yummy!!!

Flu Ready

Well, it is flu season in Texas and the Texas Tolleson's are finally ready. Hopefully. Larry had his shot weeks ago. His doctors don't give him an option! I got mine at a Walgreens. They had 10 left after mine and they would only give the shots to people 9 and older. So, I raced to school, picked up Zac and surprise! He was thrilled to get a shot! Well, not exactly. Ok, not at all! But it did get him out of school for an hour! We spent the next few days hitting each other in the arm! I spent a week trying to call the pediatrician's office. I finally got appointments for the flu clinic. Logan and Lily got theirs at the pediatrician's office. Luckily for me, shots are not a big deal for my kids.

Tonight in the flu clinic, Lily and I had fun watching the faces of the kids after getting their shots. Most of the big kids were fine. The babies had red, teary eyes. But there was one girl that caught everyone's attention. She was about 4 or 5 and was being quickly carried out by her mom. As they left, the girl screamed "I'm dying! I'm really dying!" The mom tried to reassure her (and it sounded like she had done this before). But she insisted "No, I'm really dying!!!"

As a mother that had a terrible 2/3 year old daughter, this was hilarious to me! It is also amazing to me that we are all created so different. Even at such a young age, we are tough, tender, loving, independent, adventurous, shy and melodramatic. All in one room. All God's creations. Created uniqely. Loved equally. Amazing.

Should have beens

Ok, so I should have been blogging regularly to keep both of my readers informed...sorry. But when you only have 2 readers, it is easier to make a phone call. Let's see if I can remember what has happened the past 2 weeks.

We should have been playing fall baseball, but it rained and rained and rained. So, we have been spending time together as a family at home instead. Not such a bad trade off, but now we are trying to make up all of the games we missed. Now we have baseball every night! The kids are playing well and having fun.

We should have been landscaping the backyard, but it rained and rained and rained. So, we have been spending time together as a family instead. Once again, not a bad trade off, but now we are trying to plant a few bushes in between baseball games! It is looking much better, but we still have a lot of work to do. Do you have any idea how much trash that is buried under a construction site???

I should have been doing a lot of things to catch up on my to do list, but it rained and rained...wait...I guess I can't really use that as an excuse here. I should have been filing records, cleaning house, exercising, etc. But instead, I have been playing with yarn thanks to my mother-in-law teaching me new tricks. I made Lily another scarf and I am working on another one for myself. I love that I can sit and make something without having to drag out every tool I have and cover the dining table with a huge mess.

How is it that the should haves seem to rule my life lately? I have the best of intentions, but my follow through is severely lacking which leads to much regret. I pray that there are certain areas of my life that I have no regrets. My husband. My kids. My faith. My family. My friends. For all the planning I do, tomorrow may not come. My prayer today is that I will live a life of no regrets.

For Granted

Today was a great day! The house magically cleaned itself. The sheets were magically changed. The laundry was magically washed and folded. Dinner was magically prepared. That magic fairy was working hard at our house today! She probably even had to work overtime! I bet she did not even shower until about...oh, just guessing...5pm!!! Wow - just enough time to get ready to go out for the night.

Magic. This is how these things happen in the eyes of a child. They are always taken care of for them. They do not have to worry about cleaning their baseball uniforms, or what to eat, or whether the toilet is really clean. They are taken for granted.

But how different am I as an adult? I still take things for granted. The paychecks keeps magically appearing in our bank account. The pool chemistry is magically adjusted. My computer is magically fixed. The church services are all magically prepared. The shelves for give away day are magically stocked. These are things that are always taken care of for me, but do I really appreciate it all? As a magic household fairy, I love to be appreciated. Verbally. Often. How much more should I show my appreciation of those that magically take care of me?

Self Punishment

When each of my kids were babies, there came a time when we had to teach them to go to sleep on their own. In their own bed. Without mom rocking and singing until the wee hours of the morning. I remember listening outside of their doors - out of sight of course - waiting for them to stop crying. Knowing in my head that it won't be long before they fall asleep, but feeling like my heart was being ripped out with each sob.

There also came a time for each one when they had to learn to eat what I served for dinner. Even if it was green or mushy or not peanut butter. They went to their rooms crying many nights. I remember wishing they would just try the food. I am a picky eater, so I don't fix weird foods. I listened to them cry, praying they would come back down and fill their little tummies. I was trying to nurture them, but felt so sad knowing they were hungry.

Tonight I asked them to all get ready for bed. I gave them time. They all heard me. They all ignored me. So...I ignored them. They all got ready for bed and tucked themselves in. No stories. No prayers. No bear hugs. No sweet kisses. Lily cried and said she couldn't sleep. I felt like the brand new mom, waiting for her babies to sleep. I was dying to go up there! I waited as long as I could, then I crept upstairs to kiss all their sleeping faces. Logan was sound asleep. Zac was still awake, feeling bad, and apologized. Lily...she was reading her Bible with her ring light. OK reading her Bible is sweet, but OF COURSE YOU CAN"T SLEEP!!! I still have so much work with that one!

They are older now. They have no trouble sleeping. They eat what is served. The battles are changing. The punishment is changing. But why is it that I am the one that feels punished the most? Sometimes the punishment is so much worse for me than it is for them. But they don't know that. That is part of being a mother. And that lesson is one that they will not learn until I am a grandmother.

Rain, Rain Go Away

OK. I love a rainy day as much as the next gal. Cuddling up with a good book. Visiting with friends. Watching old movies. Playing board games with the kids. Making cookies. Eating soup. Taking a long nap.

But ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! It has rained too many days now. I feel the need to begin construction on my ark!

There is something I love even more than a rainy day...and that is getting things crossed off my "to-do" list. Isn't that the best feeling in the world?!? Does anyone agree, or am I all alone on this one? I absolutely love finishing projects! Starting projects is fun and the process is good, but stepping back and seeing a job well done...wow! And right now the biggest "to-do" on my list (and subsequently Larry's list too) is landscaping the back yard. The pool is finished and I am ready for it to look like the pictures in the pool brochures. Right now, it is a pretty swimming hole planted in mud! If it ever stops raining for more than 2 days, we might just get the chance.

But, for tonight, I guess we watch football, listen to the rain and patiently (I'm working on that) wait for things to dry.

Rainy Visit

Last weekend Grana and Poopa (Larry's mom and her husband) came to visit from Mississippi. We had big plans to go to all the kids baseball games, but every time they come to Texas, they bring crazy weather! Snow, hail, torrential downpours, etc. And this weekend was no different. It rained all weekend long!
But for once, it was a great thing that we were trapped inside! We got more time to visit with each other. Saturday, we were watching some football and Grana had brought her crochet project that she was working on. Lily was very curious and cuddled right up to her for a lesson in how to crochet. Grana patiently taught her to make a chain stitch, which she worked on until it was taller than her! She was having a great time and Grana talked about how easy it was. She was making dishrags. Sounds easy, right?


Well, she taught me how and I made my first dishrag. No, it is not real pretty. Quite far from it! But I improved a lot! Notice how the stitches are a bit crazy at the top, but got more consistent toward the bottom. I now know why people call them rags!





Grana also taught me how to make a hat. Lily really wanted one, so ta-da! I did it! Honestly I am quite proud, because I even made a flower for her hat. I enjoyed crocheting so much that I got carried away and made Lily a scarf to match! After I finished the scarf, Lily wrapped up, smiled a huge smile and said "Mom, I love it! All I can say is thank you!" Baby girl, that is all a momma needs.

She has been sleeping with her scarf since I finished it.