Family of Boys

What's That You Say?

2010-08-18T22:42:00.006-05:00

You know, I have a ton of pictures loaded on my camera that I need to upload and proof...from early August....I do have great intentions, and I promise to get the blog updated soon but tonight I'd like to talk about something that many of you don't know. Now, I hate to be the one to tell you this but...I can't keep it to myself anymore. Are you ready? Here goes...... Exercise is the DEVIL!!! OK, well maybe it's not the spawn of Satan but I'm trying my damndest to to ruin it's reputation...I'm trying rather hard to drag it's good name through the mud so that it can skulk off in shame to live it's life in solitude.

I bet you're asking yourself why I think Exercise is evil. Really? Really?? You have to ask that? I've always been a pretty active person but I have quickly lose interest in what I'm doing. I've tried running with my iPod, getting an Elliptical, walking on the treadmill, going to classes, messing with weights...and well....I hate it all. After about 15 minutes I lose all interest and begin to think of other things that I could be doing. Am I doing it now? Well, kinda...and I'm making myself do it, but I'm doing it under protest.

It does not give me more energy. It does not invigorate me. It does not get me excited to work out the next day. Actually, it gives me hives. But I've decided to embrace the darkness again, suck it up....and since this is my blog...and I'm my own boss on my blog...I have absolutely no shame in admitting that I while I am doing it, I secretly wish it would go play in traffic. Really, really busy traffic.

Can't I just get healthy through osmosis?

OK, I'll quit babbling now....I blame this on lack of sleep.

How Did I get Here?

2010-06-16T20:05:00.010-05:00

The last several months have been rather uneventful outside of Ethan. My life has been as follows: work, family time, school, sleep...repeat. And while it's easy to get sucked into life and let the little things get by, there are 5 things that keep me grounded....and he's all boy.

Of course, I constantly worry that he's going to bite his tongue off one day. Ethan? Please put your tongue back in your mouth before you give me a heart attack, OK? Thank you.

I never thought of myself as a soccer mom...I mean....soccer moms drive mini vans. Why is that I wonder? Before I had E, I had a fantabulous Mustang. Mustangs have magical powers by the way....they make you feel young. Oh wait...I was young. Sorry. That doesn't count. Right before I had him we took the plunge and decided to get a mini van. I must have known that I was going to be a soccer mom. Of course, looking back, I clearly remember bawling when I was turning my keys over. I've decided that moment must have been my rite of passage....crossing over from the young carefree Mikki to the responsible Mikki that has a child.

I love both versions of me for different reasons. The young Mikki moved across the country by herself to experience something new. Well...I say by myself but what I really meant to say is that Mikki and her cat moved across the country. Can we have a side bar for a moment please? Driving 1200 miles with a cat that that has never traveled is enough to put you in a shell shocked fetal position in the corner. I'm not kidding. No, I mean it.....it's enough to give you chest pain.

Sorry, I digress. Anyway....the young carefree Mikki was raised by the strongest person I know. The young carefree Mikki was a very self confident girl that had to hit some road blocks and detours before she found her way.

But the moment I traded in my Mustang for a mini van, I knew it was time to adjust my priorities. Don't get me wrong....I wasn't mourning that change, I was more or less preparing myself for the new path I was about to experience....in a mini van.

And just between me and you.....part of my sobbing hysteria was quasi because of our salesman. Have you ever been around someone that got on your nerves so bad that you would rather listen to nails on a chalk board? Barney Fife was trying to sell us a vehicle. So I admit....Barney Fife and my hormones made it just a little harder to give up my Mustang.

But when I started to get to know the responsible Mikki, I came to realize that I really liked her. I mean....she does have a shining smile and charismatic personality. What? You mean it's not OK to toot your own horn? No? Sorry...I do that sometimes. Seriously though...I always secretly wondered if I was ever going to be able to put someone else first. Was I ready? My mom always told me that I could never understand unconditional love until I had a child. She told me that I would gladly lay down my life for my child. Young carefree Mikki was never able to wrap her head around that. I always thought that there must be some kind of special club for people like that.

But she was right. The very first time that I set eyes on E, I knew I was admitted to the secret club. The responsible Mikki came forward in such an effortless transition that I never even realized it was happening. I like her though. I don't think that responsible Mikki would be half the person she is today if she hadn't first been young carefree Mikki. I don't feel like I missed out on things because I became a mom before I had the chance to live. I did that. I will never have to wonder what it would have been like to stay out all night dancing with my friends.....I will never have to wonder what it was like to sneak into a club with a fake ID. For the record....knowing what I know about that.....I'm not sure how I'm going to adapt and stay sane when E gets that age. I'll never have to wonder what it would be like to go straight to work with no sleep because me and my friends were out all night...being young.

Yes, I can say with certainty that the phases in my life transitioned with such good timing that I got to know myself and I like who I am. I look back on my life have no regrets. I've been the fun loving teenager that thought of nothing but the next football game....I've been the 20 something young woman that maybe drank a little too much sometimes....and didn't always make the best choices. I've been the 25 year old woman that knew it was time to say goodbye to her Mustang in order to start down the path to that of being a mom.

Are there memories that I look back on and cringe? Sure. Are there memories that I look back on and giggle? Absolutely. Are there memories that I wish I could go back and live again? Of course. But I am who I am today because of who I was yesterday...and the day before. Wow...that started out almost sounding like a wise Mikki. It's been an interesting journey but I had a blast getting here.

Hot Topic Alert Manners

2010-06-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This post is a very hot topic and expresses the opinion and outlook of...me. If you are easily offended, excitable, or down right ornery...please quit reading now.

Would you like to know the great thing about having your own blog? Your opinion is the only opinion. While I'm always open to discussing a hot topic, the "awesomeness" about having your own blog, is that words like awesomeness exist. Also, I can say what I want and not have to respond. It's kind of like a passive aggressive way getting your opinion out there. heh...

So, today's topic is manners. It's really rather interesting what the definition of good manners is around the country. My maternal grandmother was the epitome of the southern lady. A lady did not cuss in front of other people. Boys did not wear hats in the house. And people always always addressed their elders as ma'am or sir. It didn't matter if you were 5 or 50, that was just the way that it was done. It was the way that people showed respect to someone that had lived and seen more in their life than you had in yours. Things that only the passing of time as people lived their lives and gained experience could get you. Native Americans naturally treated their elders with grand respect. They had lived.

It was only natural that my mother raised me and Barry that way. By the time we were two years old, ma'am and sir was part of our vocabulary. We didn't know any different. I remember growing up and having some adults say "Honey, you don't have to call me ma'am". My response? "Yes ma'am I do. My mama would have a fit if I didn't".

I can not tell you how many times growing up I would hear my dad say "Take your hat off in the house, boy" to our friends when they came in to our house. My parents told it like it was but hands down were the most popular parents in town. Kids would come over even when we were not home. To this day, many of our childhood friends are still very close to my parents.

Once, when I was in high school, my brother's friend Hugo pulled the chair out from my mom as a joke. My mom fell (and wasn't in great health). Pop blasted Hugo for five minutes....I mean...he cussed Hugo like there was no tomorrow. Barry's friend Brad went in to Barry's room and snuck out of his bedroom window (we still laugh about that today). Hugo, however, went into the bathroom for about 10 minutes....came out and asked "Can I spend the night?"

My point is, manners in my family were always non-negotiable. Even kids that came to our house were expected to mind those same manners. And yet, kids still came around. Ma'am and sir are still part of my vocabulary. It's ingrained in my being. But, I see it dying a slow death. Would you like to know one of the only places that it's still consistent? The military. Isn't that interesting? I can always tell when someone served. It's still ingrained in them too.

I can't change the way that I see this. It makes me absolutely cringe when I hear a child say "what"? or "huh?" or "yeah". It makes me ill. And to be honest, it makes me look at the parent just a little different too. I see how children are behaving in schools. I see how children are acting out in public. Do I look down on people that let their children act like heathens in public? Honestly? OK- warning...if you don't want to be irritated, you might want to quit reading now.

Yes. I do.

I look at ma'am and sir as necessary words just like please and thank you. By God, if Ethan is going to disagree with me (which he is absolutely allowed to do), he's going to say it with respect.

I think that manners start at home.

It's now becoming second nature to Ethan too. We still have to correct him sometimes but we won't come right out and correct him by saying "ma'am or sir" at the end of his answers, but I will say "excuse me?". He knows. I do think it's a little harder in today's society to be consistent since teachers are so limited in their ability to even verbally correct a child. Ma'am and sir are not part of the every day vocabulary in school like it was when I was in school....so the only consistency is at home.

I'm not going to apologize for the way that I feel. I'm not going to make excuses or even try and justify why I feel this way. I just do. It's the only thing I've ever known.

Wanna know another word that is not allowed in our household? Aint.

No, we don't speak redneck in the O'Neal household.

I love my blog.

Oh. My. God. What WERE You Thinking??

2010-05-29T01:27:00.006-05:00

Over the last couple of days I have been looking through old pictures. Many of them were so outlandish that I had to scan them and share them with the world...because, that's what people do when they have a passion for any type of photography...right? It led me to a 2-day project of scanning in various pictures from back in the day. Some of the pictures deserve to have their stories told...I mean...well...you'll see.....

Back in the late 80's I discovered the most awesome band ever. I thought nothing of the fact that they wore more makeup and hairspray than I did. Who is the band you ask? As if you have to ask, right? Poison.

Poison was my first ever concert. My cousin Chris took me and my cousin Missy to see them in South Carolina when they were touring with David Lee Roth....and so began my obsession with everything Poison...I will proudly admit that I have seen them in concert 5 times. Although, I'm sure you couldn't just have guessed that by the sheer volume of Poison posters behind me.

My dad (Pop) is an amazing wood worker (is that what they call people that like making things with wood? Wood worker? Wood artist? Wood maker?). He would make me random Poison things. See, dads do that kind of thing. Even though he thought the music was like listening to wounded cats screeching....he humored me.

The picture above makes me giggle now. Back when it was taken, I thought I was the coolest teen in the small town of Hitchcock. It's funny now looking back...as different as I was from the rest of my cowboy boot, MC Hammer Dookie pants wearing friends....it didn't matter. And yes....I did succumb to the Dookie Pant craze...but hey....please don't tell anyone, OK? I mean it.....I really don't want that to get out. People would think I was weird or something.

Around my freshman year of high school I started to morph into more of a girly girl. Well, as much of a girly girl as I could be. I still don't understand the art form called shoes. I moved from a head of "frost" (of which turned florescent green by sheer accident one day by making the intelligent decision to go swimming right after I had it done) to what can only be described as tidal wave hair. Hold that thought...I'd like to discuss my green hair for a bit if you don't mind.

Even as much as I loved Poison (and yes, that was the color of my new hair), I didn't love that I had bright green hair. I'm about to disappoint you for a moment by telling you a little known fact. If you don't like to be disappointed....please skip this next part...OK? No? Well don't say I didn't warn you!! Did you know that vinegar does NOT work on everything as you may have thought? I'm here to tell you that I was extremely let down when, after 5 bottles of vinegar, (and smelling like a horrid pickle) that I still had green hair. My green hair slowly faded. That was also about the time that my sister Angie and I had the bright idea that a frosted hair-do would look fantabulous with a "bowl" cut. No, please don't shake your head at me.....I'm serious. I proceeded to let her stick a bowl on my head and make 4 perfectly shaped bowl layers in my head (sorry, I just love making up words...that should be a word..so from this day forward....fantabulous is a word....at least on this blog it is).

We proudly went to display her artistry to my parents and bless their hearts.....they held it together. Of course, the "I'm so sick to my stomach that I'm about to throw up; how COULD you do that to your hair??" look totally gave them away. I have to give them props though...they only did things like make us walk ahead of them at the mall....We laugh about it then but a bowl layer with frosted florescent green hair wasn't exactly the thing back then.

OK back to the tidal wave hair. That was a true art from in and of itself. I mean...you had to get it to perfectly flip back while remaining smooth in the front despite the can of hairspray that you had to use to keep it from moving. I still giggle when I see the one above. Don't you just love how it drops off to the right? It's like a wall or something.

It was so stiff and high that while I was on the dance drill team called the Swingerettes, I had to wear my hat toward the back of my skull. The tidal wave wouldn't give an inch. I'm ashamed to admit (not really, I think it's pretty funny...but work with me here) that I was convinced that my hair style was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Really. I mean it.

Lets move on, shall we? I'd like to discuss the next picture. The helmet head picture. Correction, the tidal wave helmet head picture. Pardon me while I say something to myself....

Self, what WERE you thinking? I mean, really? really?? Come ON. And what's with that inch thick makeup that you allowed to be caked on by a country bumpkin of a hair dresser (the same one that did the helmet tidal wave hair)?

Did you know that the entire day of my Senior pictures....my hair didn't move once. Not once. This is one of the times that I think...of all of the pictures taken throughout school...this one is going to live in my year book forever. People (myself included) will look at this picture, shake their heads and giggle.

Would you like to know something? After that hairtastrophy (get it??) I never went back to a country bumpkin stylist. Ever. Again.

And lets not even get me started on my caterpillar eyebrows.

But you know what? All of these pictures are great memories because they tell a story of a happy teenager. A teenager who's parents let me express myself freely. They didn't understand my obsession with everything Poison, or my weird taste in jackets....but they let me get through that phase on my own. They let each of us express our individual personalities with our clothes, music, and lets not forget....our interior design talents.

Mom and Pop,
I'm not sure how I ended up with such great parents, but thank you. Thank you for letting me be weird. Thank you for letting me figure out on my own that green hair wasn't "the thing". Thank you for making me into the person I am today. A person that doesn't look back on these pictures and hide them in shame....but one that is confident enough in herself that she can laugh at them with fondness as she shares them with the world.

Sincerely,

I Really am Normal Now. Really. Well, Mostly...

See what happens when you visit my blog??? You get random tidbits into my life....things you may or may not have even wanted to know. But now you do.

Control

2010-05-17T22:14:00.003-05:00

Internal strength is something I've always prided myself in having but one of the things that I do struggle with is the need to control every aspect of my life. I need to know that I'm in the drivers seat to my future and I need to be in control of situations that I find myself in.

I've always been the type of person that needs an outlined path for my life. I need structure, consistency and to overall be in control of my life....and I can't say that I like change. I've never handled it well when my life gets off track or takes a detour. It throws the balance of my life off.

As I've gotten older I've gotten better control of it but when life throws me curve balls I still struggle with staying on my path. I have learned to repeat to myself "it is what it is" and for the most part it works. But I'm not entirely sure that I will ever fully know how to stay on my course when life throws those curve balls at me. Some people thrive on curve balls and even like them. I don't. If I could have a map of my entire life, that would suit me just fine. I don't like surprises or feeling like I have no control of a situation that I'm involved in. Now I'd like to make it clear that when I talk about control, I'm not talking about controlling people. It's not that kind of control. It's about being in control of my life, what happens to me and the situations that may involve me.

So, I guess the question for the day is....How do I stay on path when life decides to change my plans? I don't know that I'll ever find the answer but just acknowledging that I don't love it when I'm not in control of my life helps some.

Strike a Pose!

2010-05-11T22:47:00.009-05:00

This past weekend I went to see my BFF Erin. She is seriously one of the closest friends I've ever had and I wish we lived closer together. But....while I was there we did a photo shoot starring...ME! I'm always the one behind the camera so this was a blast.

I think I look like my mom here. Every once in a while I will see one of my facial expressions and think....I can totally see my mom! Dontcha think?

I do believe that this one is probably one of my favorite pictures. Although, I'm not sure I look very curious...I think I might look like I'm pondering something....

Wanna know a secret? This one was all about the shoes. What better way to show off sassy red shoes than to stick yourself in front of a cool wall???

Most people that know me, know that I'm not one that loves 'scenery" pictures. I'm more of an urban type...(note my cool backgrounds and wall color)...however....there's something to be said about sitting on a tree trunk that is bigger than you are.

We found this abandoned old gas station that was right up my alley. Do I look like I could be part of Charlie's Angels? I think I armed that gas pump pretty darned well if I say so myself!

Doesn't this just scream danger?

Erin threw this one in there because she loved the candidness of the entire thing. I'm sure she said something very witty that made me lose my concentration and crack up. She had this thing about not stopping the shoot even though I decided to break pose. Hmmpphhhh Erin....please quit shooting me when I'm not in character. Thank you.

I think she is a wonderful photographer and even more....she's a wonderful friend. We had so much fun together...catching up....and getting lost. Yes...just so everyone knows....she's as bad as I am with directions. But....she gets lost even with a navigator...I do believe that means that she takes the cake for the directionally challenged. Erin, sweetie, you know I love you! :D

Sincerely,

She Who Hasn't Updated this Blog in Like....Forever

PS- New pictures of Ethan coming soon!

Click here to see more of Erin's photography

Life....It's a Circle

2010-01-18T21:36:00.003-06:00

Ya know, one of the few memories I have of my young childhood was when I was 7 years old. We were living in Smithville, Texas (yes...the same place where they made "Hope Floats"). I was going through this phase in my life where I was freaked out about death. I would lay in bed at night and freak out at the thought of my mom dying. One day I decided to write a letter to God. Honestly, I don't even remember what it said. Would you like to know how a 7 year old thought that God would get his letter? If I buried it. What? Really? Yes...I know....and I have no idea where I came up with that. But that's what I did. I buried my letter in my front yard in Smithville, Texas.

About a week later, I decided to see if God read my letter....because surely if he read it then it would be gone, right? I dug up my little spot to find that my letter was still there. I think I cried for an hour. I remember feeling very lost, thinking that God was ignoring me.

Now that Ethan is getting a little bit older, he is focusing a lot on death. He wonders when he will die, if Jerry and I will die before he does, if ninja's can kill him, if Butterball is going to get sick and die like Petre did, if NeeNee and Pop are going to die before he is (because they are already so old...lol..OK I know this is a serious topic but he asked me this weekend how they got to be so OLD).

Anywho...watching him question life like that brings me back to when I was younger. I remember feeling like he did. Feeling like there were more questions than answers. And we can try our best to answer him in a manner that he understands but at the same time puts him at ease instead of scaring him..but I'm wondering if that's just a right of passage for a young child. To question life. I hope that we are doing a good job making him feel at ease and letting him know to live life to the fullest.

OK, I know this is short but it just had me thinking...oh, and I'm going to try really hard to get back in blogging on a quasi regular basis. Promise....mmmm'kay?

Lost and Found

2009-08-03T20:52:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been somewhat on a self imposed sabbatical but today something came to the forefront that I decided it was time to write about. Well, a couple of things triggered it but I'm not sure if we'll cover it all in one day.

Back in high school I had 3 best friends. Josh, Tiffany, and Erica. I'm going to talk about Josh today because you see....Josh and I didn't meet on the best of terms. I'm not sure how we became friends, really. We didn't run in the same crowds. We didn't have the same likes. We didn't see eye to eye on many issues. But we did click.

One day, I believe I was a Junior.....this punk Sophomore walked into the classroom. He informed me that I was in his seat. I remember just looking at him and smirking. I may have made some witty comment but I don't remember. What I do remember was him mumbling under his breath as he walked away "bitch". I found that to be hilarious. I was not the mean type, and I did not pick on him. We went on about our daily lives.

Fast forward a few weeks (maybe months):
I had signed up for drama and was in the play The Outsiders. We had cast just about everyone, but our drama teacher was having a hard time coming up with a lead that could play the character of a "square" and pull it off. Just about that time, I glanced into the hallway and saw Josh walk by. My eyes lit up and I thought (out loud) "oh he's the perfect asshole!!!!!" I'm ashamed to say today that I did go out into the hallway and drag Josh into the classroom (in front of everyone), by his ear....and exclaim to the teacher, "See, doesn't he just look like an asshole?" I do think I remember him calling me a bitch that day too.

And that my friends was the beginning of a long friendship.

Josh was not like my other friends. He didn't like the parties that we went to. He didn't like most of my friends period. He was in the band. He liked video games. He was a self proclaimed computer nerd. We never did figure out why we were such good friends. We just were. We were inseparable. My friends Erica and Tiffany accepted him and they became friends with him too. I would drag him to all of our parties and try and make him like my friends, thinking that maybe he would enjoy high school a little more if he just went to more parties.

Josh hated Hitchcock. He hated most of my guy friends because they tormented him growing up. But he went to the parties because I wanted him to go. I found out years later that he only went for me. People used to whisper about Josh and me. They would pull me aside and ask me what was really going on between us. I would just smile and say nothing. Because that was the truth. I loved Josh like a brother. I saw something in Josh and I think I wanted to fix it.

I saw how unhappy he was and I wanted to make it better. I saw what a good person he was and I wanted everyone else to see it. I saw the good in everyone else, and and I wanted HIM to see the good in everyone else. I just wanted to fix what was wrong between him and Hitchcock.

Yeah, that didn't happen. But, we had fun!

Our senior year was the best. He was drum major and I was in cheer leading.

Then my high school boyfriend happened. He hated Josh. Then Josh's High School girlfriend happened and she hated me. And then he moved away to Austin to go to College.

We lost touch for a while and I felt like a piece of me was missing.

But when we finally did re-connect, we met up at the beach one day and stayed up all night out on the jetty's talking. We managed to get a couple of years squeezed into one full night of just sitting there listening to the waves hit the water and catching up.

We did manage to keep in touch from time to time and every time we spoke it was like we never lost touch. Josh toasted at my first wedding. Of course, who else would do it?

Tiffany and I made a weekend trip up there to see him before I moved away to NC and had the most fun weekend. Thanks Josh.

Josh then met the love of his life and got married. Her name was Amy. We mostly lost touch after that and I didn't make it to the wedding. We talked two or three times after he got married but then I heard through the grape vine that his wife passed away. And I felt like the most horrible friend that ever walked this Earth. I never met her. I wasn't there for him through the sickness. I wasn't there to talk him through it (if he needed it).

I made brief contact with him after wards to tell him how sorry I was but really what could I say? Well we spoke via email today and got more in depth. I can only offer to be there for him now if he will let me in whatever capacity he needs me....an ear....an email....a phone call.....he's traveling the US trying to find peace, and right now, I pray to God that he finds it.

My heart aches for my childhood friend. I pray that he can begin to heal.

How I Got into Photography

2009-06-16T20:59:00.004-05:00

When Ethan was about 4 months old, I started talking to a friend of mine that was telling me her love for photography (black and white film to be exact). She used to have a business in NY and missed it.

Well, being a new mom, I was in love with the idea of offering my child up for practice. I agreed to buy all of the film and she'd show up and shoot. (Pardon my head on the below pic, when I was transferring it over, it made it look weird....).

She shot tons and tons of rolls and I fell in love with every one of them.

It was amazing to me how she could capture his eyes in a black and white photo!

This is one of my all time favorites that she took. It won a photo contest too. I had a series of 3 similar ones matted and framed.

As soon as I saw them, I was hooked. Jerry got me my first Minolta Maxxum SLR camera and I've been at it ever since. These were my first attempt at black and white film photography.

Personally, I don't think I did a bad job. Actually, looking at them makes me want to shoot more film.

There is something timeless and elegant about a black and white photo.

Note to self: Self, you need to get back into black and white film photography.

A Dedication Post

2009-06-15T20:35:00.007-05:00

Dear Ethan,

It seems like just yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital. You were so tiny but you filled up such a large spot in our hearts.

You were such a good baby and I loved your squeezable cheeks.

You were the reason that I got into photography. I just didn't want to miss a single moment of your life.

You were baptized in Gram's church, and while the church is no longer there, it will be forever in our hearts.

You and your cousin Chas were just like brothers from the very beginning. You loved each other one moment, and the next...you were stealing his binky.

We lived each day thankful that we were blessed with you.

And when you turned one, we couldn't believe how fast the time went.

Our little boy was already discovering that he loved balloons.

You spent a lot of time going to your brother's baseball games.

And you were thrilled with the very first swing that you got.

Your brothers were your hero's, and while you loved to annoy them, they took it with grace...because they love you.

You certainly loved your babies and didn't spend any time without them.

And as you got older, your personality blossomed into one that made us smile every day.

I can't believe you are now five and will be starting school in a couple of months. I hope that one day when you read this....

you will know just how much we love you. I hope that you will never doubt how much we adore you. You are going to go on to do great things and it makes my heart swell just thinking about the wonderful little boy that you have become.

I love you.

Happy Birthday, EE.

Here is one of the video's that I made a few years ago.

Please Forgive Me for Being Absent.

2009-06-12T20:09:00.004-05:00

Errr...yeah...I realize these are weeks late but I figure you'll forgive me. Things have been a bit hectic around here. So most of you know that I'm now done with school for a while. I finished my Bachelor of Business Administration and since then I've just taken a break from everything but books. I've been catching up on lots and lots of books that I've put off reading for pleasure.

These pictures are horrible and I almost didn't post them but then I decided that I'd post them anyway. We started Ethan's birthday by taking cupcakes to his school and had a great surprise! Mr. Matt, one of Ethan's all time favorite teachers was there! We snapped a picture of the two of them.

That weekend, we had his real birthday party at Bounce City, an inside inflatable jump place. We had his birthday there last year too. I love his face in this picture.

This is probably my favorite picture of the day. Even though it's blurry, it cracks me up. Do you see how they are holding hands?

These are two of Ethan's team mates and lemme tell ya, he was so happy to see them. They are brothers. Aren't they cute?

They ran around non-stop. Last year, we made the horrible mistake of not bringing drinks. They didn't have drinks for while they were playing and boy did we regret that. This year, we we brought a whole cooler of water and juice.

Since I couldn't give him his cake and take pictures at the same time, my friend Robin took him the cake. We forgot his candle but I don't think he even noticed. As soon as he saw it was a Spider Man cake, he was thrilled.

He had a great birthday. Great friends + fun presents + yummy cake = one happy five year old. I'm still planning on doing a dedication post for his birthday. That's coming up soon.

And since you've been so patient with me, I thought I'd throw in a few of my favorite recent pictures of Butterball. Butterball got neutered several weeks ago and we had to put one of those RCA dog collars on him. Remember the RCA cartoon dog? That's all I can think of when I see this.

Of course, Butterball was not as amused as I was. Actually, he down right hated it.....but how can you resist a face like this?

Celebration Times

2009-05-20T20:48:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: I'm going to apologize in advance for these pictures. Frankly, they suck. It was pretty dark in the room....and this lady was sitting in front of me with a water bottle. Half of time the camera focused on her melon head or the bottle. Good times.

Last week was Ethan's pre-school graduation. It was at Kingwood Community College of all places. The boys wore blue and the girls wore red. It was all very....emotional. I mean, it's not every day that your kid graduates from pre-k.

He was gracious enough to allow me this picture of him. Although there were about 6 thousand other parents bumping into me and running me over to get pictures of their kids.

I admit that I got a little teary eyed when they started playing Pomp and Circumstance. I have a very bad picture of him coming down the isle. I say bad because well....I only got one window of opportunity to get a snap shot before he walked by. He chose that exact time to turn around to see what his friends behind him were doing. Gee...thanks Ethan. That's a great Kodak moment that you left me with.

When he got his diploma, he was so proud. While they were introducing each child, the speaker read what they want to be when they grow up and what makes them a super star. Ethan is a super star because he's the biggest helper in the school. When he grows up, he wants to be.....wait for it.......a grown up.

Did you know that a diploma also acts as binoculars. Or rather...monoculars? Is that even a word? Get it!? Bi (2)- mono (1)...er....never mind.

Oh and he did this. I'm not sure why he was aggravating the boy next to him...but the boy wasn't thrilled to be seeing Ethan's tongue. See that guy to the left? That's Mr. Matt. Ethan's all time favorite teacher. Mr. Matt's last day at the school was this past Friday and Ethan has been having a tough time with it. I will say that Ethan was able to charm Mr. Matt though....it was sometimes funny to watch Mr. Matt glaze over Ethan's bad behavior so he wouldn't get in trouble. Sweet.

See that lady in the middle? That's Ms. Sheila. His lead teacher. She has been such a large influence in his life. This lady has a rare talent and I don't think she knows the half of it. These kids love her and well....I'm going to miss her. Ethan moves up to the last classroom in a few weeks.

So after the ceremony (which was a little long...the kids did great by the way) Ethan and Mr. Matt posed for this picture. This was right after Ethan dropped his first piece of cake on the floor. About 5 minutes later....he dropped his second piece of cake on the floor.

I call this pose "The Dreamer". Actually, I have no idea what he was doing. Well, yes I do....he was wanting me to hurry up so that he could finally eat his piece of cake (we were on the third piece by then).

Doesn't this have a dreamy look about it? And doesn't he look so satisfied after his cake?

Happy Graduation Ethan.....We are so proud of you. You're going to go on to do great things.

Soccer....The End (For Now)...

2009-05-08T22:08:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday was the last game of the season. We arrived early and I took individual pictures of each child as well as a few groups. Amazingly, most of the kiddos were pretty reasonable. They smiled when I asked them to, they looked at me when I called their name...and they stood still! Ethan decided to go with the flow and posed for me.

One thing that I am hesitant to do is post pictures of children that do not belong to me. That being said, it makes it incredibly difficult to tell a story of the game... So, many pictures that I do have will not be shown on this website. Sorry, my five readers....if you are my Facebook friend, you can catch them there....my Facebook page is private, so I can control who sees what there.

They started the morning after my pictures with a fun game of duck-duck- goose. Ethan was smart...he'd get a running start before he tagged his person so that he was way ahead of them. I am raising a genius. My child is a critical thinker....err...well it could also be said that getting a head start is cheating.

One thing that I did notice was that his tongue was chronically hanging out each time he kicked the ball or ran. He scored 3 goals this game (well one was for the other team but he celebrated it none the less).

Interestingly enough, he was the only kid that got this excited when he scored a goal. He would actually celebrate his score. A lot. Just call him his own cheering squad. This particular shot was right after he scored a goal from the line.

This one was after he scored for the other team. See? He celebrated right along with the other team. Hey Ethan? Please don't score for the other team please, OK? Thank you.

Are you seeing a trend here? Leg extended= tongue hanging out. I love this kid.

Quick Photo Update

2009-05-01T16:12:00.004-05:00

If you have been reading this blog for a while now, you will notice that this background with the Easter Bunny looks familiar. And while we are on the subject of the Easter Bunny, yes I know I'm a little late posting this picture.

Ethan loooooves the Easter Bunny. We patiently waited with a slew of other people waiting for their chance to take a picture with EB too. Ethan then walked up to EB, gave him a huge hug, and hopped (pardon the pun) on his lap. I'm hoping to get at least one more year next year with a picture of him and the EB, but we'll see.

But now to more important matters. My baby is graduating from Pre-K in about 10 days. I seriously can't believe how fast time is flying. One minute we were in the hospital looking at him in awe and the next minute, he's telling us "kindergarten better watch out, cause here I come".

As much as I want him to grow up, I want him to slow down too. It's a bitter pill to swallow! He's questioning things now and holding long conversations with us. It amazes me every day that he is getting so mature.

I'm not going to get all emotional today....no....I'll get all emotional on May 28th, when my "baby" boy turns 5.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge.

Ok so I Lied

2009-04-29T22:34:00.003-05:00

Well, if you every check Twitter, you would see that a few days ago I promised to post pics of our bee drama.

Sike.

Actually, I really had every intention of putting the pictures up...because...well...you know me...I chronicle everything...the camera is an extension of my arm. But, as I was proofing the pictures the other night, I got the heebie jeebies all over again. In theory, honey combs aren't gross.

Uh yeah...until you see them up close and personal.

Sorry everyone, I can't relive that right now. I think I have PTSD. How about I tell you instead?

We noticed bees on the back part of the frame of our house a while back. Finally, I called animal control to find out if we were allowed to remove them. They referred me to a company that kills/removes bees. The genius that called me walked Jerry through exactly what he was going to do (including the chemical he was going to use).

Pardon me...is this thing on? Excuse me...can you hear me?

Sorry, I often wonder if I'm talking to myself.

Anywho.....

Since we were given the play by play of how to remove bees on our own, Jerry took that task and ran with it. We had to take board off of our frame in two parts. Then he sprayed them, pulled the hive thingies out, burned them, and had to scrub the sam hell out of the inside so that it was clean. Jerry only got stung one time.

Now I realize that I summarized this drama in like 3 lines but I promise you...it really did take longer than that in real life! In normal Mikki fashion, I hid way back with my zoom lens and snapped away to my hearts content. Far. Far. Away.

I love my zoom lens. I like to make you think I'm really up close and personal but I'm not.

What is the status you say? No more bees but the pictures scarred me for life. I may post pictures in a few weeks...once I've had time to heal. My spirit has been damaged.

Who gets bees in the suburbs!?

On a totally unrelated note...we got Ethan's graduation pictures in today and they are adorable. I still need to upload his Easter bunny picture, so I'll do that all at once. I was "doing the math" today and realized that he and I graduate one day apart. How cute is that?

I promise to get some pictures up soon. School is winding down next week FOR GOOD (thank God), so I will have more time to bore you with my endless chatter.

Except...don't act like you're bored, okay? Just smile and nod.

Sincerely,

She Who Can't Keep Promises

Thrilling Hellos and Bittersweet Goodbyes

2009-04-15T20:41:00.005-05:00

Do you see this picture? I have tons of these over the years. It's a tradition that Ethan waits at the doors when he knows the boys have just arrived.

Then the first thing he does is hug them tight. Look at the sheer joy in his face. There is something to be said about a bond between brothers. Ethan hero worships his brothers.

Please note that I didn't get a similar picture of Ethan hugging Jacob. No, he threw a fast one on me and darted out the door to hug Jake there. I wasn't quick enough with my camera, so you'll have to trust me when I say that Jake got a hug with just as much enthusiasm.

I made the mistake of taking these photos mid-day. That's a photography no-no, but it was the best that I could do. Lets all just be happy that I got the three of them to cooperate long enough for me to get some shots.

Doesn't Ethan look so happy? He doesn't even look like he cares about the large arm draped over his head. That's how you know a kid loves his brother....the kid will let the brother lean on his head. And not get a blow in to the stomach while it's unprotected....that's what I would have done when I was a kid....

As most of my five readers know....our household (sans me) is a Tarheel household. It's was a huge deal when the Heels won the Final 4. My In-Laws graciously sent all four of my guys a championship shirt. Awwww.....they are quadruplets...but please don't tell them I said that. They won't appreciate the humor like we do.

These last pictures were actually taken at the request of my father-in-law. He wanted all of his boys in a photo with the shirts. These photos were taken about 15 minutes before the boys left to go to the airport.

It was hard to get all four of them to look at me and smile at the same time. You'd think I was asking for them to hand me their arm or something. Hello boys.....? Will one of you hand me your arm? No? Well, then will you please just look at the camera and smile? Thank you.

Originally Jake came out of the house wearing his shirt with red shorts. Yes, red. I admit...I looked at him and said my very common word....Really Jake? Really? This picture was taken while Jake went back into the house to find some shorts that matched. What is it about boys not caring if they match? I think that is the one main genetic difference between boys and girls. Ethan has this affliction too. You ought to see some of his outfits that he will put together. It makes my nose crinkle. Jake especially though, he's such a teenage boy. Clothes are just something to cover his body. That is also what makes him so cute though. errr...don't tell him I said that OK?

This is probably my favorite picture taken all week. It speaks volumes. When the boys left, Ethan wouldn't tell them bye at first. He was too upset that they were leaving. But then the waterworks started. It was one of the most heart breaking things I've been through. Normally we send him to school so that he will be distracted when they leave. Since he's getting older, we let him stay, so this was really the first time that we have gone through the goodbyes in real time.

He was bawling, which in turn made me bawl. He begged me to let him go with them. He begged me to let him go live with them. He begged me to make Daddy bring them back. Finally, we sat down on the steps and cried together. It took about 45 minutes for him to calm down but he was still sad for hours.

It's times like this that make me regret moving away from them. It's times like this that makes me feel like we made a horrible mistake. But, we'll visit that another time.

Boys, if you are reading this....we all love you so much. Ethan adores you, your dad loves you to pieces, and I love you too. We can't wait to see you again soon.

Easter Eve

2009-04-11T21:56:00.005-05:00

Today marked day one of our Easter celebration. We packed up the kid and the puppy and headed to my parents house. Please note that huge Easter basket. Errr...thanks Mom and Dad....we now have enough sugar to last a life time. And while we are on the subject...you just think Ethan is going to get to eat all of that candy...

Oh stop...I'm just playing...or not.

They spoil Ethan. And Boo. And Jaiden. I'd like to use my indignant tone and say that they didn't do the same for us when we were younger...but they did. Easter was always fun in the Steding household. Easter egg hunts were the highlight of the day. As a matter of fact, we had huge hunts up until the day that I moved to NC. You see, there were prizes. Nice prizes. We would have a prize for who ever got the most eggs, but more importantly....there was the Big Kahuna prize egg. I remember one year vividly. My sister Angie got to decorate the prize egg. Would you like to know how we knew which one was the Big Kahuna? Because in beautiful wax script, it read "your mama bitch ass ho". Yep...I swear to you that it said that. Good times.

But now that we have kids, us adults get left in the cold. No more prize egg hunts. No more cool prizes. No more eggs that read "your mama bitch ass ho". Now the kiddos get the goods. Of course, I'm not going to say that it wasn't fun trying to whisper to your kid where the eggs were hidden. Look at Jaiden's face in this picture. She was less than thrilled to be forced to sit through another round of pictures. Her poor little head was eaten up with mosquitoes.

Sorry this picture has such a blue hue to it....I loved it so much that I figured you would forgive me...even if Ethan does look like a light smurf.

I love this picture of Ethan and Pop. They were on Pop's "ship. It took about 5 shots just to get the two of them to look at me...at the same time.

Mommy? Does this smile mean that I can eat more chocolate?

And just because I love this picture in black and white to...here ya go. I'm a sucker for a cute smile.

Wanna know what Barry looked like when he was 4? This. It's eerie sometimes, looking at Boo. If he had lighter brown hair and just a little bit lighter skin...this could be him.

See? I told you!! This picture was taken of Barry back in the 70's. No? Well it could have been Barry....I'm just sayin....

I don't have the heart to tell Ethan that he's to young to drive. Will you please tell him for me? Thank you.

The boys are here, and I did not mention them in this post on purpose. Because they are going to get a dedicated post just to them, and their arrival. I will say though...wow those kids got tall!

Tomorrow is day 2 of the Easter celebration. We'll hunt eggs here at the house and I heard a rumor that the Easter Bunny was going to be stopping by tonight to leave baskets.

Speaking of which...Ethan went to see the Easter Bunny today. We got an adorable picture of the two of them. I'll post it soon. See? I'm going to have lots to talk about in the coming days.

Sincerely,

Mom of a Smurf (that loves chocolate)

Pardon Me While I Climb Up On My Soap Box

2009-03-31T19:34:00.002-05:00

It has seemed over the last year or so that the media is covering more and more child abductions. More often than not, they do not have a happy ending. I myself was almost a victim of an abductor when I was around 1o or 11. We lived way way out in the country. I remember this man driving up in a light colored car and called me over to the drivers side window. He told me that he was lost and was trying to find the closest store. He asked me to get in the car with him so that I could show him the way. When I told him no, he tried grabbing my arm. I shrieked and screamed and took off towards my house. The man peeled out and was long gone before anyone could find him.

Over the years, I have often wondered what happened to that man. Did he ever get caught? Were there any victims that didn't get away? How many children did he hurt?

Ethan is almost 5 years old and is the social butterfly of our family. When I think about all of the sick people out there, I know that his need to know everyone around him is both a blessing and a curse.

We have talked in the past about not talking to strangers but up until now, it has not been a large topic. Until Sunday. Sunday at the park, I took extra notice of all of the children running around while their parents were blissfully unaware of their every move. Add that to the fact that in Pet Co. a few weeks ago, he drifted away while my head was turned for 2 seconds to go look at the fish. So, this weekend I started the discussion of "Stranger Danger". We talked about not talking to strangers when Mommy and Daddy aren't around. We ran through scenarios of different ways that strangers could try and entice him into a vehicle.

It was actually more difficult than I had originally imagined that it could be. It's interesting trying to reason with an almost five year old and trying to explain something to them on their level without introducing too much unnecessary fear. In his mind, if someone lost their puppy, he should be able to get in their car and help them find it. That instilled a fear in me that I had never felt before. I wanted to immediately make him an expert on the subject of strangers.

I spoke to his school as well and found out that they are going to have a "Stranger Danger" program, where police officers will come to the school and discuss this with them.

I'm looking into this book and this one. I'm hoping these books will help me better explain the difference between good strangers and bad ones. I don't want to squelch is friendliness, but I don't want it to get him into trouble either. It's a fine line, I guess.

Bottom line...parents....talk to your kids. Sooner than later.

Boring. Random. Next Please.

2009-03-30T21:14:00.004-05:00

I think I have figured out how to cure the drought that is plaguing us. Get a dog. Seriously. Because, as soon as we got a dog, the sky opened.

Every time we think our yard is drying out, it rains again. This past Friday night the sky even blessed us with quarter sized hail. I have pictures of it on my camera but I'm too lazy to get them off tonight.

So, because I don't have any new pictures tonight (because I'm too lazy), I'll bless you with 15 random things about me...thanks to my besty Erin.

I think anything from the 80's is hilarious...er...and the 90's. Particularly the 90's.
Some of my very best friends in the world are ladies that I never met. We "met" on a message board for mommies due in May 2004 and have been close ever since.
I will have my bachelors degree on May 12th and it can't come soon enough.
It creeps me out when I try and touch my ankles together. It's like nails on a chalk board to me.
The smell of gasoline is one of my favorite smells...it's right up there with Purell hand sanitizer.
I love to read. A lot. I mean...a lot. So much that I often can't remember the names of the books I have read.
My mom is my hero. She has no idea of the impact that she has made in my life. I should tell her. I think I will, tomorrow.
My sister-in-law, Eunice, is like a real sister to me. We can have a cat fight argument and make up in 10 minutes. I guess that's because she's been in my life since the day that God created the sun. Good times.
I love to sing. The thing is....I sound like a wounded possum. That doesn't stop me though, as demonstrated here and here. Don't say I never warned you.
I made my brother run away with me when I was about 11 and he was about 9. We got about a mile away from home and then had a come to Jesus meeting with Mom once we got home. Poor Barry. How did he survive living with me?
I have a serious addiction to Firey Cheetos.
Speaking of Firey. I love spicy things. That's why I love Mexican Food!
I'm very cold natured, much to the bemusement of Jerry. I have a heater on my desk at work and by my side of the bed.
I really really don't like the taste of beer. I just don't get it!
I wish Friends would come back on. There will never be another show as good as that one.

And there you have it, folks! 15 totally worthless things about myself.

Mikki, please shut up and post some pictures next time!

OK, OK..I was just filling up space.

Coming soon:

Pictures of the hail storm, Ethan, and of course...Butterball.

My Happy Place

2009-03-23T20:04:00.003-05:00

When people find out that I work full time working mom, they think nothing. Millions of people do that every day, right? Then they find out that I'm in school full time and I get little head shakes with comments like "I could never do that!" or "how do you do it!?". When I add on the fact that I take (and edit) photos all of the time and blog regularly, I get asked things like "Wow, how do you find the time to do all of that!?" and the oh so common "how do you stay sane!?" It's at this point that I no longer have the energy to then tell them that I'm now a soccer mom too.

The mature, adult comment that I use a lot is "Well, effective time management is key to successful living ". (Insert obnoxious snort here).

Would you like to know the real reason I stay sane?

Television.

Sigh.

I have no idea how I would survive me hectic, stressful, often aggravating schedule without it. I DVR a LOT of television shows. Not that I get to watch them regularly, but just knowing that they are there makes me happy. I can catch with my shows whenever I need a break. Some nights after Ethan is in bed, I will watch 2-3 shows in a row.

I was counting last night to see how many shows I had saved (because at this point, I may never catch up) and I'm up to 48 shows. 11 of which are Without a Trace.

Would you like to know what's on my "record" list?

The Unit, Desperate Housewives, House, Criminal Minds, Bones, Big Bang Theory, One Tree Hill, Medium, Castle, The Mentalist, Life on Mars, Flashpoint, Monk, Fringe, Boston Legal, Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, and Numbers.

I just counted 18 shows that are currently recorded on my DVR. Some of them are not even on the air any more.

This is a good time to mention that yes, I do have a life. I do read books, I do play on Facebook, I do spend a lot of time on the weekends out in the yard and at the park, and I do spend a lot of quality family time doing family type things.

It's nice to know that when I do have a few minutes and I'm on the elliptical, that I have something good to watch.

Honestly, I can't imagine a time when I'm actually caught up. But, my shows are my way of blowing off steam with a mindless activity.

Television keeps me grounded to reality. It's my "me" time. So, when I'm not at work, not doing homework, not being a mom, not blogging, not randomly Googling things, not catching up on my message boards, not reading, not doing family type things...I'm usually watching TV.

Hey, at least I'll have something to watch over the summer while all of the shows are on hiatus.

Oh, and while we are on the subject of TV, Steve Wozniak makes me giggle on Dancing with the Stars.

Good times.

Confession Friday

2009-03-20T22:02:00.002-05:00

OK it's been a while since I came out of the Hannah Montana closet so I thought maybe it was time for another confession. I was sitting here thinking to myself "Self, it's time you shared again". Now, for those of you that really know me, this will come as no surprise, because by now..well..you are used to this affliction I have.

Here goes:

I have a serious aversion to voice mail. Voice mail gives me hives. Unless I'm at work really trying to get a hold of someone, I will not leave one. My opinion is that caller ID is the new voice mail. And since we are talking about this aversion, I can honestly tell you that if you leave me a voice mail (work excluded), there is a 99.9% chance that I will not listen to the message. This is a quite common conversation:

Me (thinking to myself glancing at the phone): Oh, So and So called.

I dial So and So

So and So: Hello?

Me: Hey, I saw you called.

So and So: Oh, I left you a message, didn't you get it?

Me: Yes, but I didn't listen to it. I just figured I'd call you back instead.

So and So then has to repeat the message.

This is also where I tell you that I clear out my voice mail messages in bulk...about once a week or every other week. I just scroll through them (not listening to them, mind you) and delete them all at once.

Wait a minute, now that I think about it...this is really rather clever. It's a great time management tool. After all, I could lose about 5 minutes a week just listening to messages only to have to call the person back anyway. I should actually market this theory. People NEED me! I could save them about 4.5 hours a year of wasted time.

This theory does not, however, apply to my work. I could only be that lucky...Well, it does sometimes...I do sometimes just call the person back when they call. But work has an advantage...I get my voice mail emailed to me. Nice.

Moral of this Story: Don't leave me a voice mail...I promise you, I probably won't listen to it.

Hello...my name is Mikki.....and I delete voice mail without listening to it.

OK, I will be able to sleep tonight now that I got this off my chest. You have no idea who much this has been weighing me down. I mean, there are people out there that actually think I listen to their messages. It has been a horrible burden I've been carrying with me. Well, not really but that did sound good, didn't it?

Sincerely,

Serial Voice Mail Killer

Puppy Love

2009-03-15T20:22:00.003-05:00

It has rained for 4 days straight. We finally get a puppy and our back yard floods. Good times. So, we have spent a lot of time inside, trying to entertain ourselves.

Does Butterball look tired to you? Does his eyes looked a little glazed over? That is what happens when an almost 5 year old meets up with a 12 week old puppy. Tonight, they chased each other with a ball to see who could keep it the longest.

It was hilarious actually. Both Butterball and Ethan were having a blast. The world was a better place while I was watching.

But just a few minutes later, this is what I found. One wiped out puppy. Hello? Butterball? Can you hear me? I'm sorry Ethan wore you out. Well...actually, no I'm not.

Of course, while Butterball was snoring, Ethan must have been getting into some chocolate ice cream. He does look satisfied, doesn't he? Poor Butterball just couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for the impromptu photo shoot. Ethan stepped out of the box though and actually suggested that I get some pictures of the two of them.

Ethan? Please don't eat the dog while he is too tired to defend himself. Thank you.

Having a puppy has actually been pretty fun. Although, I get really suspicious when he gets quiet. Except for when he's passed out from exhaustion from playing with Ethan. Then the quiet is satisfying.

Because I know the two of them have found a best friend. Each other.

Tongues and Puppies

2009-03-08T22:02:00.002-05:00

I noticed something interesting this weekend. Every time I turn around, I notice how much alike Ethan and I are. You see, when I was in high school and on the dance team, I had an affliction. I could not dance without sticking out my tongue. It drove my coach to distraction. This affliction never went away. When I am concentrating on something I still stick out my tongue. And so does my soccer ball kicking son. So, as I am snapping pictures of the game this weekend, I noticed a trend. When he runs or kicks, his tongue is hanging out of his mouth. It's humorous actually, because I see myself in him.

See? All he is doing is running...about to kick the ball. I wonder if this is genetic.

Ethan? Hello, son. Sticking your tongue out will not make the ball go further. Thank you.

And now, I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our family. Everyone, this is Butterball. Butterball, this is everyone.

The interesting thing is that it was Jerry's idea to adopt Butterball (formerly known as Buster). Butterball is a rescue puppy that we adopted from Pals for Pooches. He and his brothers and sisters were dumped by loser and they were rescued. Let me just tell you how stunned I am that we now have a dog. Jerry has always been adamant that he does not want any more animals, so imagine my surprise when he pulled into Pet Co. so that we could go look at the rescue dogs. The first dog we wanted needed to have another dog in the house so we couldn't adopt him (we had no intention of getting 2 dogs).

But then we went to the other Pet Co. and found this handsome fella. Ethan fell instantly in love because apparently he looks just like the puppies in the movie "Snow Buddies" and "Rocket Ship Buddies". That's also where we got his name. Butterball is a movie star.

Another interesting note is that they were featured on our local news here. Oh and also here. Butterball is the spunky puppy barking throughout the story.

Jerry and Ethan are also in the local paper! Just click here and scroll through the pictures. Butterball's name was Buster when we first adopted him.

He fits right in. Ethan and Butterball are already best friends. They nap together and even drive around the yard together. It's essential that any pet of ours loves to ride shotgun.

A Long Time Coming

2009-03-03T19:07:00.012-06:00

Disclaimer: Serious post Alert: This post is not about my past per se but about a song that had a profound impact on me.

When I was a teenager, I used to write. A lot. I had a lot of things on my mind, and writing was an outlet for me. The older I got, the less I wrote…then I discovered blogging. I first created my blog to use as an avenue for family to keep up with us, or more importantly, to keep up with Ethan.

Then one day I realized that I had more to say than just regular updates of the family. I got more into photography too and decided that my blog would be more about random musings from me. I would write whatever was on my mind. Mostly it is a story revolving around some pictures I took but every once in a while I like to veer off the beaten path and write about something random. That’s how I roll. Just when you are lulled into a false sense blasé blah updates, I mix it up.

Today I’d like to talk about a song; or more specifically, a particular song that had a very big impact on me. Music has always talked to me but one song hit me in the stomach when it came out and spoke to me in ways that no song had ever spoken to me. It was 1989 and I was an angst ridden teenager. The song was by a “Hair Band” that had pretty shallow music for the most part. I remember when it first came out; it immediately took me back to my much younger years and brought feelings to the surface that I spent many years trying to squelch. When a song like that comes out and speaks to you like that, it evokes feelings that you have no control over. I often wonder if other people have had a song make that much of an impact on them.

House of Pain- Faster Pussycat: Release date September 6, 1989

Let’s skip to years and years later (i.e. about a month ago). I was browsing iTunes for music to add my iPod and decided it would be great to have a playlist of all the music I loved to listen to in my teen years, music by Poison, Warrant, Skid Row, Europe, etc. Then I ran into this song, so I downloaded it without even listening to it.

Driving home about a week ago, I was listening to the songs and House of Pain came on. I hadn’t heard it in forever; seriously it had been since I was in my teens. As I was listening to the song, it immediately took me back again. I once again identified with the young child that was working through feelings that I couldn’t explain and had no control over. It said things that I used to think. I called my mom and we talked about how one song could still make me sick to my stomach...thinking of myself in much younger terms and trying to deal with something that I had no way of understanding. Honestly, it brought back feelings that I had since forgotten (or at least moved on from) and made me bitter all over again.

OK so the song is written from the perspective of a little boy, but really it applies to any young child that lost contact with a parent.

[Song]

It's a little past supper time
I'm still out on the porch step
Sittin on my behind, waiting for you
Wondering if everything was all right
Momma said come in boy
don't waste your time
I said I got time he'll be here soon

[Me]

I used to do that. I used to sit around wondering if everything was OK and thinking that my dad would call or I would see him soon. I didn't understand the dynamic of what was going on. One day he was there and the next day he wasn't. A 7 year old child doesn't have the capacity to understand something like that. They think it is their fault or they blame the other parent.

[Song]

Five years old and talkin to myself
Where were you? Where'd ya go?
Daddy can't you tell?
I'm not tryin to fake it
And I ain't the one to blame
No there's no one home
In my house of pain

[Me]

This part of the song was so significant for me because I didn't know where he went. I didn't know why I couldn't be told. And I did blame myself. Imagine living this and then a song comes out years later that was your life. Imagine the impact that the song would have on you. It really is profound. Even today.

I didn't write these pages
And my script's been rearranged
No there's no one home
In my house of pain
Wasn't I worth the time
A boy needs a daddy like dance to mime
And all the time I looked up to you
I paced my room a million times
And all I ever got was one big line
The same old lie
How could you?

[Me]

I did feel like my whole life was being re-written. Of course when you are 7, you think of it in much simpler terms. I tried and rationalize what I did know-that was he was gone and I must not have been important enough to come and see.

[Song]

I was eighteen and still
talking to myself
Where were you? Where'd you go?
Daddy can't ya tell?
I'm not tryin to fake it
And I ain't the one to blame

This was me too. I was literally 18 years old and still didn't know the answers. By then, Pop was in my life and I saw how he was with his son who did not live with him. I saw him struggle through fighting the battle of remaining in his life..I saw him refuse to give in... and then I knew. It was a choice. At that moment, I let go. I quit being angry and accepted it for what it was. Life. It is what it is.

I still cannot listen to it without going back. But I do from time to time because it was part of me. It still is. Because, even though I did move on and I did "forgive"...I can never ever forget.

Soccer..Take 2: Humble Bombers

2009-03-02T20:25:00.003-06:00

As you know, last year we attempted to play soccer. We knew it would be a risk, because Ethan was only just under 4 years old, but we tried anyway. As it turned out, the soccer field was a great place to do things like donkey kicks, picking flowers, observing people in another field, and getting tangled in the net. We decided after about his 3rd game that maybe we'd just try again next year.

Fast forward to now. He's now just under 5 years old so we thought it would be a good idea to try again. Kind of like the Little Engine that Could...we keep trying. Except, this year it turned out to be a fabulous idea. He decided that he adores soccer. At least for now. Thankfully, he has the same coach that he had last year.

Not everyone on his team loves soccer as much as he does. One little boy in particular down right hates it. And lets everyone know it. Ethan didn't hate it last year, he just found donkey kicks to be much more entertaining. As you can see, he now doesn't get why the little boy doesn't like it. He just stares at him and keeps going.

He is also the biggest kid on the team. He's a giant compared to the other little guys. They are the same age and Ethan just towers over them. He's not old enough yet to enjoy it...enjoy looking down on people. I hear it's a great feeling. Personally, I can't vouch for that since I'm vertically challenged.

This little boy is Ethan's age too. He's a quick little bugger. I blacked out his face because well...he's not my kid and I can't say that I'd be happy to find Ethan's adorable face gracing someone else's blog without my knowledge.

I decided on Saturday that although it was in the 50's and freezing cold...(OK for you Northerners, just keep on reading...no smart comments....that is cold in Texas...Besides...it was very windy and that makes it even colder. I tell you, I couldn't even feel my hands) that watching Ethan play soccer was the highlight of my day. Because even though he scored 2 goals for the other team....he scored goals!!!! He did score one for his own team, which they were very grateful for, I might add.

Once he actually got into the game, he was on fire. He only came out a few times to sit in our laps and get warm...in the middle of the game....But, as soon as we reminded him that his teammates needed him, off he went again. No prodding, no making him play, no forcing our will on him...he loves it.

Yes, I think it was a very good choice to let him try again this year. No more donkey kicks so far, but we did get a whole lot of smiles like this one. Show off...

An Open Letter to my Younger Self

2009-02-27T20:36:00.001-06:00

There is this great song that talks about what this guy would say to himself if he could go back and meet his younger self. Hmmm…That got me to thinking yesterday. I said to myself “self, what would you say if you could meet the younger you?”

A lot.

Because if I were actually able to go back and meet my younger self, I could save myself the trouble of some things that I put myself through.

So without further ado…(and please feel free to skip over it because it’s likely to be long):

Dear Younger Me,

There are going to be some things that go on in your life that I’d like to give you some advice about.

(Pause) If I do this, does it change the future? (Resume)

Try and be a little nicer to our younger brother Barry. As irritated as you get with him, every.. single…day…. when you are 33, you will still feel guilt over how many times you beat him up. Yes, you and he eventually become very close but you will always wonder if he resents you for bullying him.

When you are 8, you are going to bury a letter in the dirt that you wrote to God. When you dig it up, don’t cry…because even though it’s still there, he read it. Just have faith. Oh and while on the subject of God, try not to keep yourself up at night worrying about if you will go to hell or not. That’s way too much burden for an 8 year old to carry around. I have it on good authority that we are tight with God.

When you meet the man that is ultimately going to adopt you and be your dad, try not to give him such a hard time. While his patience is never ending with your foul mouth, he’s going to be there for you no matter what…so you can quit trying to chase him off. Just accept that not all dads bail on you, and this one is a keeper. Trust me. I know these things.

When we you hit junior high, PLEASE oh please don’t frost your hair and then jump into a chlorine pool. Your hair just may just turn bright green. For a long time. And then don’t let your sister put a bowl on your head and give you weird haircut that your mom is going to freak out about. It doesn’t matter if it is early 90’s; green, weird layered hair is not the thing.

When you get your license and go out on your first trip (with Josh and Julie), be careful. You might just hit two cars in one hour. Don’t freak out though because even though your parents told you that they would take your keys if you got in any wrecks, they give them back. Of course, you won’t hit that second car if you just go home after you hit the first one instead of going to the mall.

Don’t cheat in Spanish. You will need that skill later on down the road…it may seem unlikely at the time, but trust me….it’s a useful thing.

When your mom gives you the book “Meditations for People who May Worry too Much”, take the hint and try and relax. You can’t fix the world’s problems and eventually you will figure that out and learn to chill a little. Learn the phrase “it is what it is”. That’ so true.

To my 17 year old self, you do not know everything. You don’t even know a third of what you think you know. Don’t lie to your parents one night and say you are working when you are not. Don’t leave home for a week because you think you are grown. And if you do anyway, accept the month of being grounded with grace. It could have been a lot worse. Because if you don't heed my advice, not only will you have no life for a month, you will miss that very important Mardi Gras parade that you were supposed to be in and you will let everyone down.

Hug your granddad as often as you can. Let him know how much you love and appreciate him for all that he does for you.

Maybe you should try to think before you speak. Social filters are “the thing”, you may want to visit that concept. Not everyone will appreciate your blunt honesty. Sometimes people would rather you lie to them. Try not to wait until you are in your 30’s to figure that one out. It will save you a lot of headache and aggravation.

Your mom is not the enemy. Actually she will end up being your best friend but I think deep down you already know this. She’s been the one constant in your life, your one source of stability and love, and she will be steadfast as you grow into an adult.

If a good friend of yours dies, mourn with your friends but know that it does get easier. You will still remember him every day but eventually it will be with fondness instead of pain.

I also highly advise you to not graduate at mid semester of your senior year. Even though you will return to walk with your class at the end of the year, you miss out on so much. You will miss out on seeing your friends every day and goofing off just for the fun of it. You will miss the last half of a year of being a kid. Don’t try to grow up so fast, you will work full time for the rest of your life. Trust me.

And while you think you want to get into criminal justice…you will just be wasting 3 years of your life with classes that you will never do anything with. How about nursing or something? No, you don’t end up in nursing but it’s a great idea.

If you meet a boy named Steve…just keep on walking. While he is a wonderful person and a great friend…he’s not your soul mate. No matter how much you think he is in the beginning. You will just break his heart in the long run and feel guilty about it for years.

You lose touch with some good friends but maintain close ties with quite a few. You worry a lot about how your life is going to turn out. Don’t….you do just fine. You end up a well rounded, self confident, happily married individual. Your bumps and bruises along the way are worth it, because you learn so much. Learn to accept people for who they are and realize that not everyone can live up to your expectations. But most of all….be happy.

Love,

Older You

Things That Make You go Hmmm....

2009-02-16T19:57:00.008-06:00

I hear tell that every child has a "thing" that they do when they are young. I certainly know that Ethan has a "thing" and lemme just say that I just don't get it. I'd also like to say that once said child did this "thing", you'd think that he'd learn his lesson. That is not the case. Not one bit.

What is Ethan's "thing"? I hear you thinking that very question. And because you are my dear friend, I will share this "thing" with you. Lets just keep it between us, shall we? Thank you.

In the past 8ish months, Ethan has done something to his hair four times. Yes, you heard me right. The first time was the most traumatic on us all. Actually, as freaked out as I was about it, he was really upset. Distraught actually. You see, he took his dads mustache trimmer and shaved part of his head. To. The. Scalp.

See? I told you! He barged into my room freaking out. I will admit that I reacted by gasping. He kept saying "It's OK" over and over again. The only thing that we could think to do was to shave his entire head.

::Intermission::

I'm taking a break from the story to inform all of you {again} that Ethan gets an unfortunate trait from me. A round head. A very round head.

::End intermission::

So there we were, shaving his head with Jerry's clippers. Ethan went into melt down mode when he saw the end result, it was very upsetting actually, having to watch him go through this.

His hair was shaved so close to his head that he looked like a cancer kid. While I am not making fun of this fact, he really did.

He wore a hat to school for days and begged me to make him a boy again.

OK so after such a trauma, you would think he would learn his lesson right? No. A few months later, he got a hold of some Vaseline and proceeded to lather his head in it. We had our heads turned for just a few moments and he recreated the term hair style. Again.

30 minutes post shower and 50 hair washes later, I had most of the damage out. Oh it was still slick, but the worst of the damage was out. All the while he was pleading with me not to shave his head. Ah so he remembered that part, but did it stop him from experimenting? No.

A few quiet months go by so Jerry and I were lulled into a false sense of hair security.

Ethan cut a chunk of his hair out with scissors this time. His safety, kid friendly scissors. I'm here to tell you that kid safety scissors do a fine job of cutting hair. This time I was able to avert another hair shaving incident. Don't get me wrong, it was still quite apparent, but for the most part, his hair was intact.

And then last night rolled around. Did you know that 4-year olds can manage to get stuff in their hair in the most unlikely places? Or at least, Ethan can. I gave him a chocolate covered caramel as a treat. Mistake number 1. Then I let him take it to his room to eat it. Mistake number 2. He came into the room a few minutes later stating that he had something in his hair.

Caramel.

He had caramel on the back of his head. He did such a superb job of getting it embedded that I again had to cut his hair just about to the scalp. At that moment, he remembered his first brush with hair disaster and begged me yet again not to shave his head.

So, my son has a bald spot on the back of his head. Sorry everyone...no pictures.

He does however, make me shake my head in wonder. What is it about his hair that refuses to go quietly into that good night? No, it rages, rages.....eh sorry...I got a little carried away with the poetry. I'm done now.

Sincerely,

I Just Don't Get it

PS- It does make me smile though.

PSS- And the pictures make for such good leverage tools when he's older.

PSSS- Don't think I won't use them to my advantage!

Photos by Angie- Take 2

2009-02-13T19:08:00.005-06:00

Ethan is going through this phase where he really dislikes taking pictures. My sister attempted to get some shots of him last weekend and he wasn't entirely cooperative. He has this tendency to look away or flat out walk off when you are trying to capture a moment. He obviously doesn't get that his cuteness gives us free rights to his image.

This photo tells a wonderful story of a boy that is not happy to have to be bothered by sitting still as the imposing photographer is wasting his time. The little girl on the other hand, the super model, is doing her best to pose like a good girl. She looks so sweet doesn't she? That hat gives her sass. Excuse me Aunt Angie, but are we done yet? I'm wasting precious moments bothering with you while I could be acting as captain of my own ship. That is what this photo says to me. That and the fact that both of them were running to the front of the boat saying "aye aye captain!".

But this photo? This photo melts my heart. He was in a sweetness mood and actually showed off his baby Snow Buddy for a moment. You wouldn't think for a moment that he could actually test your patience as you are telling him to get out of something, right? His cuteness face is very misleading.

As a matter of fact, one of his teachers is on to his cleverness. When he's being bold about something, he will flash the most enchanting smile you ever did see. It actually makes you forget for a moment that you are trying to correct him.

Warning to all future teachers: Do not look him directly in the eye as he flashes his sweet smile. It will totally make you grin at him when you are trying to be stern. Then he knows he has you right where he wants you. In the palm of his hand.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Sincerely,

Mom to Mr. Enchanting

Or alternately,

Mom that adds "ness" on to everything tonight. On purpose.

Hanging with His Homie

2009-02-08T21:43:00.012-06:00

Do you see this picture? I said something incredibly witty, and my niece Jaiden cracked up. I'm good like that. I crack wise jokes and make people around me laugh. OK well not really. But in my own world, I'm witty. Actually, Jaiden spent the night with us Saturday night and in this picture, she was in the process of throwing a ball at Ethan's head and cracking up. Ethan thought it was funny too. I guess I wasn't "in the know" for this particular situation.

We went to the park the next day where Ethan tried to give me a heart attack. He's discovered how to climb the "kiddie rock wall". He's quite good at it actually, but that doesn't make the mother in me feel any less panicky every time I see him climb this thing.

There is a super model in our midst. When there is a camera shoved in her face, she does the exact opposite of Ethan. She strikes a pose. Ethan on the other hand has started telling me "no more pictures". The poor child, if he only knew what was in store for him in the next 15 years. I don't have it in me to tell him that this affliction I have is not going to go away any time soon. I guess he'll have to figure out the hard way.

But my niece, she hasn't been around me enough to learn that I have this handicap. So, she is perfectly happy to pose whenever I sneak up on her with that black thing attached to my face.

Ethan starts off cooperating. He is just happy to be at the park running off all of his energy.

And JaeRae is perfectly happy to go down the slide. Over. And over. And over.

I often watch Ethan and try to think back to when I didn't have a care in the world besides climbing and sliding. Son, enjoy it while it lasts.

Of course, this shot is the epitome of what the joy of childhood looks like. I got this same look on my face when I realized that I could keep my same blog look and not change it to something else.

See!? Don't you just want to have a myocardial infarction when you see him climbing this rock wall!? Oh, sorry...I get carried away sometimes. Like when my son decides that 4 1/2 is old enough to become Spider Man.

Speaking of my son....we had the following conversation last night at bed time:
Ethan: "Mommy? How do I go to sleep really fast?"
Me: "Hmmm....I'm not sure."
Ethan "Do I just shut my eyes tight and tell myself to go to sleep?"
Me "That's a good start. Yes, try that."
Ethan "OK Mommy, I'll try."

See the difference in height? They are only a year apart. My son is a giant. That's what happens when you have a daddy that is 6'2". I have to remind myself sometimes that he's not as old as he looks. I have to remind him of that fact too. A lot.

Because, he already thinks he can drive. He also thinks that he can pick up hitchhikers. I tell him that is not acceptable, but he does it anyway. Errr...wait. Is that my niece in the picture? Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. Ethan? It's OK to give your cousin a ride but no strangers!

Of course, he's stubborn like his daddy. You can't tell him anything. Ethan has never met a stranger when it comes to another child. Our child is a social butterfly. He takes after me.

PS- I have a few pictures that Ethan's Aunt Angie took Saturday. I'll try and get them posted tomorrow.

Peace out, yo!
(slang for "good night")

Self Absorbed Today

2009-02-05T20:39:00.004-06:00

A little birdie (birdy?) told me just the other day that I don't have many pictures of myself on my blog. Of course, because it's my blog, I'm normally the one behind the camera. But last month, in an effort to take pictures of my new hair cut, I took about a trillion pictures of myself. It's always interesting trying to do so and frankly, I almost deleted each and every one....but since we are close, intimate friends....I figured I'd post a few.

This was also one of those moments that Jerry just shook his head and then promptly ignored my obsessive camera behavior. Oh look, that girl in the picture has some good looking nails! Sorry, I was admiring my fingers.

In this one, I look like...well, I'm not sure what I look like....hmmm....holier than thou maybe? Be gone peasants before I squish you with the toe of my boot. Err..or something like that.

There really isn't much to my point tonight. Frankly, I'm just rambling. I do that sometimes. It's an affliction that I have. Rambleitis. Wow! There is a camera hovering over that girls head! How DOES she do that? Sorry, sleep deprivation sometimes causes me to drift in and out of reality.

Please. Please. No autographs today.

And while we are on the subject of rambling. Well, not really but go with me for a moment. Would you like to know what I love about Windows Vista? Automatic spell check! On everything. How did I ever survive without it?

Oh and I'm having a very hard time finding new shoes to wear to work. Mine are falling apart but I refuse to buy any that I have to break in.

And one last thing:

Smile...and the world smiles with you.

Sincerely,

She Who Should Just go to Bed Instead

The Life Behind the Lens

2009-02-02T18:56:00.004-06:00

Whenever something happens, I have an unnatural urge to document it behind the camera. This is something I'm told that only other photographers understand. Please note that I use the term "photographer" loosely. This affliction baffles almost everyone I know. You see, it's hard to explain something that I can't put into words. Sometimes I just feel the need to snap a picture of whatever is going on at any given moment.

That's why I am continually baffled every time Jerry expresses surprise when I jump to grab my camera when something interesting happens. To me, it's as normal as breathing. To him? To him, I'm just plain weird. Although, every single photographer friend of mine reading this understands where I am coming from.

So last night was no different when (as kickoff started on the Superbowl) our satellite went out. Not five minutes later, the sky opened and the most amazing thing happened. It started raining Sonic Ice! This weird occurrence went on for about 15 minutes as I frantically ran from the front door to the back. Snapping. Pictures. Like. A. Mad. Woman.....

It's not every day that it rains Sonic Ice.

Doesn't it look like it's snowing? Our windows were being pelted and we were thoroughly convinced that one was going to break...but did that stop me? No. I was too worried that I might miss a Kodak moment. Jerry (in typical Jerry fashion) just shook his head and ignored me. Well, he ignored me after he said for the gazillionth time "Why do you always feel the need to take a picture of everything?" In our household, that is now a rhetorical question. I could get all anayitical and state that maybe it's because I lost all of my childhood pictures and now I'm OCD about Ethan having plenty....Or not....

No, I really don't think it's that. Not anymore anyway. I think it's just a photographers addiction to capture a moment. The need to document life through a lens.

Besides....without pictures, what would I talk about on my blog?

Sincerely,

She Who Treats the World as if it's a Fishbowl

No Room for Ethan

2009-01-25T19:42:00.005-06:00

For reasons that I won't get into tonight, Ethan has temporarily moved into our room. At first we were making a pallet at the foot of the bed, but when we figured out it was going to be for a little bit longer, we moved his mattress in. I've shown you all of his "babies" in previous posts, but now I would like to introduced you to the way that he sleeps.

He sleeps with every one of his babies on the bed with him. Every. Single. One. Often, that means that there is no room for him. He will be sleeping on the very edge of the bed, with his legs hanging off. Even though he is very close to the ground, it gives me heart palpitations just thinking of him rolling off.

But some nights, he has his babies arranged just right, so that they are surrounding him and he's all set for the night. You will notice though that he also fits other things on his bed. Like his build-A-Bear "house"...er...box. Oh, and if you look to the far right, you will see his Batman house.

Do you see Donkey at the bottom of the picture? He talks. Endlessly. Oh, don't get me wrong...when we first got him, he was soooo cute. We would take him around and show him to everyone. We quickly outgrew that. Now he's my albatross. If I trip over him in the middle of the night, he'll start chattering as I frantically try and shut him up so he won't wake the whole house.

Notice that Ethan is on Spider Man sheets and a Wiggles comforter. That's how we roll. We have matching sets, but for reasons that are beyond me, we never seem to get them on the bed at the same time. Doesn't he look so comfy? For two nights in a row {in the dark} I snuck over and took these pictures.

Because, seriously...How cute is he!? And while I may be partial to him because I carried him for 9 months, I don't know many people that could resist this sweet face.

And as long as I have my camera, I'll capture these moments. Because I always want to remember how precious he looks sleeping with his babies....and because I'll need something to hold over his head when he's 16, bigger than me, and ornery.

Sincerely,

She Who Plots for the Future

Texans Have Thin Skin. Seriously. Well Mostly.

2009-01-19T19:49:00.004-06:00

I determined a few years ago that Texans have thin skin. Well, I have thin skin. I guess it's OK to admit (to my five readers here) that although I don't represent everyone in Texas, in my world here on the blog, I do. Err.. and I will also admit (but don't tell anyone else I said so) that in my mind, my outlook on this is very significant. What do you mean? you ask. Well I'll share. It can be 70 degrees outside and I have the heater on in my car. I have a heater on my desk at work. I have an extra heater in my bedroom. I love heating pads because they make me warm. Blow dryers make my heart sing when I'm blow drying my hair.

This is also a bone of contention between me and Jerry. You see, he's not Texan, therefore he doesn't have thin skin. We recently drove up to Austin (which is about a 3 hour drive). During the course of said 3 hours, we engaged in a temperature war. Every. Three. Minutes. I would continually try and get sneaky....creeping the temperature gauge to "hot" every time I thought Jerry wasn't looking. Obviously, I'm not as stealth as I tell myself I am. So he would then turn it back to cool and we would start all over. Luckily, we both have a sense of humor so instead of this turning ugly, it gave us a good laugh.

Lets take a moment though to step back in time, shall we? I was a senior in high school and was dating a boy with a convertible. One night we were going somewhere (and I have no idea where "somewhere" was) but it was an unusually cold winter night. Well, to me it was an unusually cold winter night. I admit it was probably in the 50's. Apparently, he didn't have thin skin either because that night I do believe I might have singed his eyebrows a little. He was a good sport about it for a while but then he went and got all unreasonable on me! Unreasonable I tell ya! He pulled the car off of the road and in a huff, yanked the roof off of the car!! I tried to sit there with as much dignity as I could muster, driving down the road in the dead of winter with the top down on the car. I do think I even muttered something to the effect of Ughhh what's wrong with you!?

We don't have a convertible now but I wouldn't put it past Jerry to do something similar. I admit, I get a little OCD when it comes to heat. Hmmmm, thinking about this a little more, maybe I am the anomaly in this equation. Although, since this is my blog, I get to set the stage....

So....Everyone in Texas has thin skin.

Well...except for Jerry. And my high school boyfriend. Any my sister-in-law. And my bother. Oh, and Ethan...he doesn't have thin skin either. Or my dad.

But everyone else in Texas does. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Please excuse me while I go crank on the heat...

Sincerely,

She Who Would Not Survive in Alaska

Tonight, I'd like to give a special thanks to Jen. Thanks Jen, for being you. And for letting me harass you endlessly a few moments ago.

Neighbors

2009-01-18T18:51:00.003-06:00

I was sitting in my living room today watching Ethan play in the back yard when he came into the house very upset. It seems that he had kicked his new ball over the fence. That happens a lot. We buy a lot of balls. Personally, I think the manufactures of the balls secretly love our family. Well, they love Ethan.

So, that got me thinking about what it is like being our fence neighbors. We have three yards that we share a fence with. Ethan does not discriminate when it comes to kicking balls over the fence. Behind us lives an elderly couple that must automatically scan their back yard for balls whenever they go outside. It never fails, within a few hours of the ball gliding over the fence, it's back in our yard sitting quietly until Ethan decides to kick it over the fence again. On the left of us is our most sociable neighbors. They are the ones that we quiet often harass. It also seems to be the yard that he kicks his favorite balls into. I guess that's a good thing because whenever that happens, you can bet we are knocking on their door begging for them to retrieve it. They are good sports. Ethan has no qualms about what we should do when he knows his ball is sitting in their yard.

Then there are our neighbors on the right. For one, if I didn't see them in the flesh once every three or four months, I would swear no one lived there. They must live on a very different schedule than the other people in the state of Texas. Ethan gets giddy when he does see them because it's such a rare occasion. Sometimes I blink and wonder if it was an illusion. I also wonder what they do all of the time. They are the reason we spend so much money on balls. Because when one of the balls flies over that fence, we kiss it goodbye. Goodbye ball. Well, unless a hurricane is blowing in. Then we get about 20 balls nicely bagged up and thrown back over the fence. All at once....and Ethan is in ball heaven....as we sit in awe at the amount of balls we own. I wonder if they are vampires. Vampires don't go outside, right? I bet they certainly don't go into the back yard.

I have neighbors with a good sense of humor. None of them seem to mind the onslaught of balls littering their back yards. I think it's become part of their every day lives. Just like breathing is.

So what does all of this mean my friends? It means that you too could live on the edge...wondering when the next ball would fly in your yard...if you lived next to a four year old with a mild obsession with balls.

2008 Revisited

2008-12-31T18:59:00.001-06:00

OK so it seems that every year good things and bad things happen. Every year we learn from our mistakes. It is really amazing to sit back and think about everything that has occurred throughout the year and realize that so much has happened.

My SIL welcomed her son into the world.
A friend of mine got married.
My paternal grandmother passed away.
I spent the entire year in school.
Jerry had a major job changed that required a huge adjustment.
Ethan shaved his head.
A friend of mine got divorced.
I sprained my ankle and it still hasn't healed.
Ethan cut his own hair.
My step-sister and I reconnected.
We marked a year of a friend being gone.
I discovered Facebook, The Pioneer Woman, and TMZ.
Ethan shaved a piece of his hair. Again.
The Twilight Movie came out!
I finally found a hairstyle that I liked.
Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc on our lives.
I got a new phone...and then promptly dropped the new one in milk.
I kicked it into gear with my blogging.
I discovered how much I adore Photoshop.
I made some new friends, and divorced some others.

While some of the things that happened were light hearted, others were significant but all of them shaped me into to who I am today. All in all, this was a good year. My work thrived, my son i s healthy, and lord knows...I'm almost done with school.

What am I looking forward to in 2009? Lots. Mainly getting a break from school before I enter into the MBA program. I gave up setting new year resolutions years ago. I just never keep them. I'm not going to outline what it is I'm looking forward too, I'll just write about it as it unfolds.

Excuse me while I take a break from my deep thoughts to ask Ethan to quit bouncing his ball off the television.

OK, thank you for your patience. As I was saying, I think it will make the new year more interesting if I just share my experiences as they happen instead of trying to predict them. Of course, when I finish school in May, you will likely hear me singing a chorus from the top of a mountain. And when the second Twilight Movie comes out, I'm likely to start doing the Running Man or Rodger Rabbit to celebrate the occasion.

Excuse me one more time while I ask Ethan to please quit trying to give me a heart attack before I'm 34.

Ahem, sorry about that. It's hard to sink deep into myself to share my thoughts as my four year old tries to shave like his daddy does.

I will also strive to break Ethan's fascination with cutting his hair and shaving his head.

While this next part is not a resolution but more of a self improvement goal, I will give you a glimpse. Once I'm done with school in May, I am going to devote much wanted time to improving my photography skill.

So my five readers, I hope you took something valuable from 2008 and apply it to 2009. For those of you that had a bad year, I hope 2009 shines for you. Kiss your kids and tell them how much you love them. Tell your loved ones how much you value their presence. Forgive someone. Learn something new. Kick one bad habit. Embrace your weird quirks. Dance with your young ones and act silly. Reconnect with an old friend. Hold hands with your spouse. And thank God every day for the extra day you have on this earth.

Here's to the new year and a new beginning.

High School Memory Book

2008-12-30T19:24:00.000-06:00

Let's take a walk down memory lane for a few moments, shall we? I was in our storage room today looking for something when I ran across my high school memory book. Then I thought to myself "Self, you should share this with all of your close and intimate friends on your blog."

It's pretty thick, isn't it?

I knew in Junior High that I was going to have a memory book, so I started saving odd and ends in a box to add to the memory book when I finally got it. We moved around a lot when I was a child, so once we settled in Hitchcock, it became vital that I create memories.

Hitchcock High was a wonderful time in my life. I began friendships that are still intact today.

I heart this picture. It's my dad and sister Angie. Pop was cooking chili. Whoa, he was about my age when this picture was taken.

My house was the neighborhood hang out. I had all kinds of friends. Even Italian exchange student friends as seen in the middle of the pic.

ACK! I often wonder what I was thinking. I used to wear my bangs in a wave with a gallon of Aqua Net. Oh and doesn't that mini pony tail just complete the ensemble?

Growing up, we had the horrible chore of alternating kitchen duty. I had kitchen duty every third night. We had no dishwashers. No, we had to slave on the dishes by hand. We also had to walk a mile, up hill, in a blizzard, with no shoes, to get to to school every day. No lie. I had a hard life.

Lawsy Mercy. Who are these cowgirls? Sigh. Yes, that's me on the left. Tiffany, my best friend, is in the middle. We met the summer of my sophomore year as we participated in the dance squad called the Swingerettes. Man! Look at the eye brows on that girl on the left! Whew! Oh wait, that's me.

See? OK so I only danced for a year, but what a year it was.

I can't even remember where I got this. I think it was something that we got for the Friday pep rally's. Yes, I kept it. It's folded up neatly in my memory book.

I took many random pics through out my tenure in high school. Two of my friends on this page are no longer with us.

Ahhh...remember the Friday game ribbons? I kept them!

I also swapped tons of small sized photos of my friends. Yes, many of the pictures are of the same person as we got older. Oh and I have some Italian money!

These two mature men made the biggest impact on me. The man on the left (Mr. Wright), was probably the biggest influence on me as I went through school. He introduced me to literature that was way ahead of our time as high school students. That mature man on the right (Mr. Parker), was my Government/Economics teacher. That slave driver made us learn every single country in the world. Not that I could recite them today. They were friendly rivals because they knew they were the smartest men in the school.

This is what I did in Spanish class on my book covers.

Oh look, another Friday ribbon.

Some good friends and I went and had our pictures done. Josh was my best male friend. He was not in our circle and detested my other friends but I still dragged him along every where I went.

Yes, that's my brother Barry on the lower right.

Here is another picture of me and Josh. This was senior year at a pep rally. By then I was in cheer leading and he was the drum major for the band.

This was Senior Night (also Homecoming); one or both of our parents escorted all of us that were participating in either sports, cheer leading, dance, or band. Pop was escorting me down the field before the game. I love my dad.

Don't you dare say a word. Yes, this is one of my senior pictures. I made the mistake of going to some country salon to get my hair done before pictures and this is what the lady came up with. Do you know that my hair did not move in 30 mile-an-hour wind? This was also during my country cowgirl phase. Oh to do this year over again. That's called Country Helmet Hair.

So now you have had a glimpse at my memory book. It was fun looking back at how horrible my hair was...and seeing how much my friends and I have changed over the years. It's hard to believe that I graduated so long ago. It seems like just yesterday. Well, maybe the day before but I can't believe it has been so long.

Boats and Imagination

2008-12-30T09:45:00.000-06:00

Ethan has always had a fascination with my dad's boats. Well, not even so much my dad's boats, but boats in general. Ever since he was a toddler, he would bug my dad to take him out to his boat so that he could drive it. Have you ever driven a parked boat? Me either, but Ethan is quite the pro at it.

Now that he's older, Ethan doesn't need my dad to put him on the boat. He can climb into it all by his 4-year old self. You can turn your head for 30 seconds, and there he is. Sitting on the boat in pure bliss. The funny thing is, he's never been on a boat that is actually in water. I wonder how he would react to the bobbing of the boat over waves.

But my dad has a rule. He won't take either boy fishing on the boat until they can swim. I agree. Even though they have life jackets, anything can happen and I will feel much more secure knowing he can swim. Of course, right now Ethan doesn't know what he's missing. Because in his imagination, he's navigating his boat to his hearts content.

Watch out world. This is one boy that is part fish at heart. Here's to the day the day that he can actually see what it's like when the boat is on water. Of course, fishing with my dad is going to be a different matter all together. Do you think he'll be able to sit still and talk quietly as to not scare the fish away? I kind of doubt that, but we won't tell my dad just yet. Let him find out the hard way!

Photos by Angie

2008-12-25T20:14:00.002-06:00

My sister Angie got her camera out today to take some shots. She's been doing photography since we were in high school. This is my nephew Boo. He's a star wars fighter in his heart.

This picture cracks me up. It's Jaiden, my niece. She wasn't thrilled having her picture taken.

This is my Gram's new puppy, Jack. Jack is tiny.

How sweet is this? Angie can snap a picture with no cropping needed. Ethan loved holding Jack. Jack and Ethan were fast friends.

Sigh. I love him.

I thought I would throw a black and white in there for those of you that love black and white.

Or if you like color, here you go.

This is not a great picture of me, but it was the best of the day. I need a haircut, I know.

Isn't this a neat process of the picture? I love Photoshop.

I wonder how come he never smiles like this at me when I'm behind the camera.

I just adore his blue eyes.
You can click to enlarge any of them.

Thanks Angie, you rock!

Christmas Trees and Chickens

2008-12-25T18:55:00.000-06:00

I love this tree....the lights look like ribbons, don't they?
It has sort of a dreamy look, I think.
Of course, when you turn on the lights, it changes the entire mood. Santa decided to leave Ethan's presents on the couch this year. That actually confused him, because in the movies, Santa does not leave presents anywhere but under the tree.
See that Batman "laptop"? That was one of his favorite presents this year. He asked Santa for this for about three months. Actually, every time we went to Target he mentioned it. Every time...

You know a gift is popular when the child forgets to finish opening presents so that they can play.

The PJ's that he's wearing are his Christmas Eve present from Mommy and Daddy.

Hello Star Wars man. Have you seen my son? He's about your height.

The theme at Mom and Pops this year was Star Wars. Boo (my nephew) was a lot more animated than Ethan was. Ethan was a little overwhelmed I think. They both got a load of Star Wars loot. Ethan got his first digital camera too!

Boo was ripping into his presents while Ethan lagged behind a little bit. I'm not sure what was up with that.

Doesn't Boo look just like Barry? For those of you that don't know Barry...he's my brother. He looks like this little man.

Ethan of course got my round head. We have no shape to our heads except round. It's both a blessing and a curse.

This is Jaiden, my niece. She is my brother Josh's daughter. She's sassy and can hold her own against two little unnamed boys.

Now this was the surprise of the day. My sister Angie sashayed into the room with.....a chicken! In the house....a chicken in the house. No, I swear we are not redneck. She was on her way out of town yesterday when this pet chicken of hers got attacked by something, so she had no choice but to bring it. It's hanging out in the spare bathroom. I still have a hard time putting this together. Chickens. House. There was a German Sheppard in the next room. It was all so surreal.

The poor chicken had part of his wing missing and only one tail feather left. Ethan wasn't so sure about her. Or him. How can you tell? I couldn't. Anyway, it was a new experience for Ethan. Experience is good. He petted a chicken. At my parents house. I'm still getting used to that.

Now this is the epitome of redneck. I have been trying to get a picture of this house for weeks, but every time I pass it by, I realize I don't have my camera. Today, on the way to my parents, I had Jerry slow down so I could hang out of the window to capture the moment. Unfortunately, people were home...so, we had to speed up and act like we weren't up to anything weird. Well, I wonder though...what do they define as weird?

Don't you love the fleece and head gear these mannequins are wearing? In almost 80 degree weather.... Also, please note the "snow" on the ground and all the festive miscellaneous holiday decorations. My sister has vowed to sneak over there tonight when it's all lit up. OK, I have a confession. This yard makes me giggle. Actually, it made my whole family giggle today just talking about it.

Ahhhh....Merry Christmas everyone! PS- you can click any of the pictures to enlarge.

A Christmas Message

2008-12-24T21:25:00.000-06:00

This year, especially the past few months, has really been a roller coaster. We've had some unexpected turns in the road that have taken us down a different path. While it has not been easy, and we as a family have had to re-adjust, it has made the meaning of family so much stronger for us.

Ethan is four years old this Christmas and his innocence is so refreshing. We have decorated for Christmas, made cookies and Oreo truffles, sang Christmas songs, and have really gotten into the spirit of Christmas. I have started talking to him about the birth of baby Jesus and what Christmas means but I think maybe next year it will mean more.

Tonight after we went to look at Christmas lights, Jerry and Ethan baked cookies for Santa. Then we made reindeer food and he sprinkled it all in the yard for Santa's reindeer. I cherish these moments because I know at anytime, some random child at school will ruin the belief of Santa by telling him that Santa doesn't exist.

We also went to the store today to get stocking stuffers for the two stockings that Ethan was making for his cousins tomorrow. He then helped me wrap some gifts. I'm not sure if I have told you this, but Ethan is a big helper. He loves to help. He helps us clean, cook, and bake. If you are doing something, he pitches in to help. So, it was no surprise when he wanted to help wrap the presents. We encourage this so that he feels valued.

I'll take many pictures tomorrow and will try to have them posted ASAP. Grandma Wendy and Papa Ronald sent him a big box of presents and it's been an act of congress keeping him out from under the tree. He has spent tons of time lingering by the tree in hopes that I would let him open just one. We do have a tradition that on Christmas Eve he opens one present (pajamas to wear to bed), so he got to open that and a Santa "baby" that he's been asking for. I thought it was appropriate to have his Santa sleep with him tonight.

To all the family and friends that we can not be with this season: Have a blessed and Merry Christmas. May you also take a moment to remember why we celebrate Christmas. Enjoy the children and embrace the little moments.

Love,

Mikki, Jerry, and Ethan

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Santa's Email Message to Ethan

2008-12-22T19:50:00.000-06:00

Let me just tell ya that this was an enormous hit with Ethan. Basically you just type in your child's name, some basic information, and then upload a pic...Santa will email you a personalized message! Ethan was answering Santa just like they were talking. When he saw that Santa had his picture, he was thrilled! We go through a daily routine of telling him to be good in school, listen to his teachers, and be nice to his friends. We just want to establish at a young age the importance of being kind and listening to his teachers.

We chose to have the message say that Santa knew he was trying to be good in school and Ethan immediately perked up and said "I need to tell Miss Sheila!!!!!" Miss Sheila is his teacher.

Anyway, you can check out Ethan's video. Let me know what you think!

Click here for Santa's Video.

Rudolph: Ethan Style

2008-12-18T19:44:00.000-06:00

Rest in Peace

2008-12-14T18:27:00.000-06:00

Borning Cry

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell.

When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun.

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

Pigs Really Do Fly

2008-12-10T19:38:00.001-06:00

OK so maybe pigs don't fly but well...you could knock me over with a feather right now. Let me start by saying that the one thing I love about Texas (well one of the things) is lack of majorly cold weather. You see, if a person could be allergic to cold weather, it would be me. Picture imaginary hives...picture imaginary puffy eyes and sneezes. All right, all right, I know you can sneeze and get all puffy for any number of reasons but this is my "virtual" allergies we are discussing. I lived in NC for 4 years and for the most part it was OK; except for those evil months that it was cold. I'd cringe, and glare at the weather as if I could see it. I'd try and will it away. It never worked.

Yesterday here in the Houston area it was in the 70's. I adore the winter when it's in the 70's. Winter like that makes my heart sing. Then today came and nearly froze me to death. Those hives I just told you about were there...Well, they would be there if one could be allergic to cold weather…but never mind that, I’m talking in circles now.

Jerry came inside a few minutes ago and informed me that he and Ethan were throwing snow balls at each other. I scoffed at the idea..Snow in Houston? I don’t think so. At least not the kind that would actually stay on the ground!

Hmmm…that sure is suspicious stuff in my flower bed.

Oh my! What is that on my van?

It does give my Christmas stuff a bit of a Christmassy feel, don’t you think? Is “Christmassy” even a word? For the sake of this post, we’ll just act like it is. Thank you.

Santa sure seems to be enjoying himself this fine evening. Hi Santa!

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of snow? Hard. My lens was trying to focus on so many different snowflakes that it was confused. It was as confused as I was. I’m still a little baffled. I can admit that since it’s between friends.

This is a brand new experience for Ethan. Although he saw snow when he was a baby in NC, it’s nothing that he remembers. He is absolutely delighted to be throwing snowballs at me while I’m trying to take his picture. Hmmpphhhh

I have no idea what is on his face. Let’s just act like that’s not there, shall we?

He was way too distracted by the cool white stuff to bother with smiling for the likes of me. Mommy is an afterthought at the moment.

Ethan? Don’t you dare throw that at me! I’m serious!!!!!

Fat lot of good that warning did for me…..see that big white ball flying at my head? It hit me.

Yes, it’s definitely the hives I’m getting. I wonder if there is an ointment for an allergic reaction to cold weather.

AN HOUR LATER:

OK so once I heard on the news it would be back in the 70's in a few days, I couldn't resist sneaking back out and snapping a few more pictures. I hope my flower bed makes it.

It doesn't look very positive, does it? See that weird little miniature palm tree looking bush in the middle of the picture? That's my favorite plant. I love that plant. I have no idea what it's called. I'm sure it doesn't like cold weather either.

My poor tree bush thingy. I hope it's OK too.

Well, my van does look pretty with white, doesn't it?

I'll probably take more pictures of this anomaly tomorrow.

Sincerely,
She Who Should Live in the Tropics
Or alternately
OK I’ll Suck it up and be Happy for Ethan

A Boy and His Babies and Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-07T19:08:00.001-06:00

I tell people all of the time about how Ethan loves his babies, but I finally figured it was time to give you a peek at just how many he has. And although he has this many, they are never enough. We will pass some in the store and he insists that he can't live without another one. He especially loves the ones that you can win out of those claw machine thingies. (pppsttt...you can click on the pictures to enlarge.)

This isn't all of them, mind you. No...these are the ones that he sleeps with every night. Yes...I said sleeps with them. Yes, I'm serious. No, you are right, there is hardly any room on the bed for him but somehow he manages. If he sleeps in another room, they come with him. Sigh. See the duck that he's holding? That's Ducky. He's had Ducky since he was an infant. For a long time, we could go no where without him. Everyone at his daycare knew Ducky. Once, I went online and ordered him a new one since Ducky was so pathetic looking. Ethan took one look at the new duck, sniffed him, and threw him back at me. Did you know that a child's "baby" has a special scent? I do now...He informed me that "that is not Ducky" and walked off in a huff.

This is the gingerbread house that Ethan and Jerry built yesterday. Actually, Jerry built most of it while Ethan was scheming at how to eat most of the icing. He ate a lot of icing. Jerry and I suffered for it later while he was busy bouncing off the walls at an electrifying speed.

Ethan? Ethan??? Quit eating the gingerbread house, please!!

Thank you

Now what was I saying? Oh yes....He was really happy with the outcome. I think it turned out pretty well, don't you? Ethan did most of the candy decoration.

Everyone should make a gingerbread house at least once. But, what do you do with it once it's done? Do you eat it? Hmmmmm...I wonder how long they last.

Sincerely,
Smothered by Babies
or alternately
Mother of a Sugar Addict

It's Beginning to Feel a lot Like Christmas!

2008-11-29T18:40:00.000-06:00

Would you like to know my favorite thing about being a home owner? Well, one of my favorite things? It's decorating our yard for Christmas. We normally try to do this the weekend of Thanksgiving, as we did today.

The main reason we decorate? This face...

Ethan loves Santa. He's such a great helper, holding him up. Please ignore where his head is...that's the thing about candid photos...you just can't avoid moments like this....

Oh look....my feet....

Sorry, I digress...

Anywho...my favorite time is watching Ethan's face as we get the yard ready. This is his favorite time of year. Not because of the presents, but because of the decorations.

And how can we say no to a moment like this?

Or a moment like this...which (I might add) doesn't come along very often..Did you know that 4-year olds don't like to pose for pictures that much? I had to bribe him with the inflatable Santa to get him to do this...the things a parent will do to get a good shot...

More pictures to come hopefully tomorrow.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T22:39:00.000-05:00

I'd like to share a little tidbit of information with you, if you please. You have never enjoyed Halloween until you have experienced it through the eyes of a four year old.

I bet you can't guess who this super hero is....

OK OK, just because you guessed Iron Man doesn't mean you know everything. Or maybe you do..

Last night we prepared treat grab bags for his little friends at school. 25 of them as a matter of fact. We put green monster fingers, ghost whistles, games, spider rings, monster erasers, bug jelly candy thingies, toy snakes and spiders, Dora candy, Diego Candy, Sponge Bob crabby patties, and a few other knickknacks. Ethan helped me make all of them and then got to pass them out to his friends at school during his Halloween party. He wore his Iron Man costume to school for his party.

Hello? Is there a doctor reading this by chance? If so, I think my son is morphing into a frog. He has a wild look in his eyes and his tongue is doing weird things. Or it could just be all of that candy he had during the day today. Well, that or he's just plain weird.

While Jerry stayed home for the first wave of trick-or-treaters, Ethan and I set off to pounce on unsuspecting innocent people that were giving out free candy. Ethan was determined to walk up to the doors by himself while I hung back. That worked for the most part until he went up to one door that was cracked open and walked right on in as I was dying of embarrassment. Luckily the nice neighbor got a kick out of it. We circled the block and then set up camp at our own house to dole out goods. We had soooo many trick-or-treaters tonight that I was seriously stunned.

See all this loot? Ethan made it his personal goal to eat every bit of it. Luckily, Mommy was a step ahead of him and hid all of that addicting poison.

ACK- sorry about the blown out look...I was lazy and didn't' feel like proofing it before I posted it.

I heart Iron Man.

Sincerely,
Hyped up on Sugar
Or Alternately,
She who will not be able to Sleep Tonight

A Little Known Fact About Ghosts

2008-10-28T22:17:00.000-05:00

I bet you think you know everything about ghosts, don't you? I did too. That is, until yesterday when my 4 year old informed me of something that only a 4 year old would think of. Well, I'm here to burst your bubble. Your "I know everything there is to know about ghosts" bubble. Come please, come with me while I take a walk down memory lane:

Pre-script: Ethan and I have a "thing". Our thing is that almost every day, we go back into the backyard and I push him on his swing whilst we talk about random things. We have been planning on Ethan being Iron Man for Halloween. We've had his costume for about 3 weeks when he decided a few days ago that he wanted to be a ghost. Jerry and I haven't said much because we know for a fact that if we get him a white sheet, and cut eyes out, he will NOT wear it longer than 5minutes.

Ethan- Mommy I want to be a ghost for Halloween.

Me- Well, why don't you wear Iron Man to school for your party and you can be a ghost to trick-or-treat.

Ethan- (deep thought)

Ethan- Wait, ghosts don't have feet!

Me- yes,I know

Ethan- I can't be a ghost! I need my feet to go trick-or-treating.

Me- well, maybe you can be Iron Man and Daddy can be a ghost.

Ethan- No he cant be a ghost! He needs his feet to take me trick-or-treating.

See! I just bet you didn't know that ghosts cant trick-or-treat because they don't have feet! Don't be bitter, we all learn something new every once in a while!

Sincerely,

Now I Have Heard it All
Or Alternately,
She Who Likes to Use Big Words Like Whilst

PS: I promise to get some new pictures up very soon!!

I'm NOT a Creature of Change

2008-10-27T19:40:00.000-05:00

I have always secretly known this to be a fact but until recently, as I went through my blog drama it suddenly hit me....Change gives me the hives. What blog drama you ask? Giving it a face lift. You see, my friend Erin designed my blog for me. I decided I needed a change so she designed an entire new look. After she slaved for weeks on end, I got to see it. That's when it hit me...I didn't want a new look. I wanted my current look. I got nostalgic thinking of everything my blog and I have been through. Well, that and I just like my colors and the general feel of it. Then I started to panic. I wasn't ready to tell my blog layout goodbye. I wanted to tell it hello every time I logged on.

Hello Blog, you are one of my best friends. I can impose tons of pictures of my family on you and you never complain! What? Oh yes... well I do realize you can't talk...maybe that's why I like you so darned much...that, and I still just love the colors. Blog? Remember that time when I was writing in you and you told everyone...? I didn't think that I could ever forgive you for that but some how I healed. What's that Blog? That's what you do? Oh, I remember now, I'm sorry Blog, I forget that sometimes.

OK I'm back, I was having a private moment with Blog. Anywho...You may not notice, but I have a new blog topper thanks to Erin! What my topper was missing was a picture of my step-son Jake. Now, it's complete and it still looks the same! WHOOOOO

So yes, I assure you...I am not a creature of change. Oh and I talk to Blogs.

Signed-
Yours Truly,
She Who Talks to Blogs
Or alternately:
She-Blogs-a Lot (Get it!? These are my new Indian names)

Please Leave Your Message After the Beep..

2008-10-08T08:23:00.000-05:00

.....because I'm not here! I actually wanted to let you all know that I have not given up blogging, I have just had a temporary setback. After 11 days without power because of Hurricane Ike, my wireless went out. As soon as we got the wireless issue resolved, my laptop completely crashed. It's currently undergoing exploratory surgery with the Geek Squad and I hope to have it back this week. I promise to get back to normal here shortly!

My Dirty Little Secret

2008-09-11T22:28:00.001-05:00

Since we are on the topic of "TV" (well OK we were talking about movies, but go with me for a minute), I thought I would mention that I have a confession. This confession will make me lose credibility with my grown up readers. I say this like I have tons of readers....I probably have like five. OK so for my five readers, you will never look at me the same. I have made peace with this and can now move forward. Hello...my name is Mikki and I'm a closet Hannah Montana fan. *gulp*

Now that this is out in the open, I can take a breath of fresh air. Do you have any idea what it's like to carry that burden around? I have another confession. Jerry likes her too. I totally place the blame on my step-son Joey. While he was here for the summer, we watched a couple of shows. At first I would act like I was not watching, and would sneak a peak over my book. By the end of the summer, I was blatantly recording them and watching them by myself!

On the same topic, Ethan likes her too. I believe he likes her by default from someone at his school. He calls her Hana Batana. For the longest time, I really thought that was a nickname for a little girl in his class, but no...he was talking about good ol' Miley. He can even sing her intro song. Now that, it cracks me up.

OK, I feel so much better now that I'm not carrying this secret alone. I can sleep tonight. That is, if I can quit stressing about Hurricane Ike.

I'm Allergic to Sad Movies

2008-09-07T22:14:00.000-05:00

I'd like to preface this post by saying that if I hear a movie is a tear jerker, I will not watch it. I'm a firm believer of happy, predictable Hollywood endings. I want the warm, fuzzy, ooey, gooey feeling at the end. What movies have I not seen? The Notebook for starters. A few people told me it made them cry and I ran for the hills. The Pursuit of Happiness is another movie that I refuse to watch. The previews just look like they would make me bawl.

There are three movies that I have watched that have made me bawl. I'm talking curled up and sobbing so hard that I get the eeps. The eeps you ask? That's when you start making that weird eep noise because you can't catch your breath when you are sobbing.

Sling Blade. That was the first movie that had me crying so hard that I couldn't catch my breath. It was however so good that I called my mom as soon as it was over to tell her that she HAD to watch it. She didn't sound so convinced though because I was still bawling while I was telling her she had to see it. I was bawling so hard that I couldn't get my words out. I cried for a good 30 minutes, and to this day I won't watch that movie again.

A Walk to Remember. Now, this is that cheesy movie that has Mandy Moore in it. She has cancer and falls in love....The night that it made me hysterical was about the 100th time that I had seen it. Yes, I had gotten a little teary the first 99 times that I saw it but (and I'm not sure this one counts because I was pregnant and totally hormonal) I vividly remember how wired I got. It was the middle of the night and I was laying in bed crying so loud that I woke Jerry up. My pillow was soaked, my blanket was soaked, and I got the hiccups. My nose was all stuffy, my eyes were swollen....and Jerry wakes up. He calmly looked at the TV and then looked at me....and had the nerve to ask "haven't you seen this movie a thousand times already?" I did not appreciate him acknowledging the fact that I was a blubbering idiot but since he went back to sleep, I forgave him.

I lasted almost 5 years without seeing another movie that would drive me to wanting to curl in a corner in the fetal position while I got dehydrated from all of my blubbering. Then last night happened.....

The Bucket List. Oh man!!! This movie had me laughing the entire time up until the end. Then the end happened and I felt the tears welling up. They started off normal enough but then I started sniffing and here it came....I was crying so hard that at first Jerry thought I was laughing. When he realized I was again SOBBING he asked that redundant question that I can't stand hearing when I'm upset..."Are you OK?" That just made me cry even harder and all I could say is "This is SO sad!!!!!" This lasted for 10 minutes. Then when it was over, my nose was stuffy again, my eyes were swollen, and I called my mom again. Yes, I was still bawling and she found this hysterically funny. I found myself bawling and laughing at the same time. When it was all said and done, my sinuses were clear. We did both agree that it was a darned good thing we hadn't seen the movie at the theater.

I'm glad I can laugh at myself. This should get me through another 5 years before that happens again. So, since I laid it all on the line, please let me know if there is a movie that will make me cry...so I can avoid it like the plague. Thank you.

Photo Friday

2008-09-05T20:34:00.000-05:00

Ethan is going through a phase where he likes to dry himself off after a bath. He insists that he's a big boy now and can do it himself. For the most part he does a bang up job. He also is pretty selective in the towels that he will use. He has a Shrek towel, a Spiderman towel, and right now...his favorite....a Transformers Optimus Prime towel. I guess that Optimus Prime dries the body better than a regular run of the mill towel that we use. Hey, it works...

Rub a Dub Dub

2008-09-03T19:53:00.000-05:00

So, Ethan is normally a shower boy. He loooves to take showers. Well, last night I got him a few new toy boats and some Iron Man bubble bath..boy did he have fun. This is my favorite shot of the night. You can click to enlarge.

I'm Not Michael Phelps...I'm Steve!

2008-08-20T20:50:00.000-05:00

This video is priceless...and funny as hell. This is a real video (not a joke)...He also happens to be a swimmer but watch how this unfolds! OMG I laughed so hard when I saw this the first (and second) time...Let me know what you think!

I.

2008-08-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

I am…a very strong willed person. It’s both a blessing and a curse.

I want….to reconnect with a few of my friends. There are 2 in particular that I really miss talking to.

I have…developed a strong addiction to the Olympics. I have not missed one single swim that Michael Phelps has been in.

I wish I could…have the time to truly devote to photography. Additionally, I wish I could wake up tomorrow morning and be a pro at Photoshop.

I hate…that our troops are still being sucked into the black hole of a meaningless war.

I fear….losing my baby boy.

I hear…that they just found Big Foot’s dead carcass. It sure does look freaky too!

I search…for answers to some of my questions all the time. Especially with Google. You can find anything with Google.

I don’t think…my ankle is every going to heal. Even though I hear they eventually do…it’s taking FOREVER! Hmmpphhh

I regret…the relationship that I have with my paternal grandmother. Even though it was beyond my control, it sucks.

I love….kissing my boy’s cheeks and giving him hugs. There is something amazing about the love you can feel for your child.

I ache for…the day when I’m finished with school. It seems so far away!

I am not…as trusting as I was when I was younger. I guess the older you get the more cynical you become.

OK, now I tag Erin, Jen G, and Jen M.

Cousins at Play

2008-08-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

Today was an eventful day! We spent the afternoon at my parents house and then Boo came home to spend the night with Ethan. We decided to go to the park to finish off the day.

Notice how easy Boo makes this look. He glided on the swing as if he had been doing this forever.

I'm not sure what the attraction to the swing was, but it sure did entertain him for a few minutes.

Doesn't he look like a future Olympic star? You should have seen him on the monkey bars...not that I got pictures of him in time.

Can you see his mini Mohawk? It suits him, doesn't it? Notice he's up high- he spent the entire time at the park (minus the time on the swing) climbing on every thing he could...he is so agile!

Ethan spent an equal amount of time climbing too but he's not quite so agile. As a matter of fact, he tried to do the monkey bars once he saw Boo doing them and promptly fell to the ground. He hurt his wrist again...and we are watching it.

Do you know my Brother Barry? No? Well, he looks just like this...only bigger. Actually- this is exactly how my brother looked when he was this age. It's weird looking at this picture..I could be back in time.

See? Look how far ahead Boo is of Ethan. I tell ya...he's part monkey. That boy sure can move.

Hand down, this is Ethan's favorite thing to do at the park. The red thing rotates and he swings about half way around before dropping to the ground.

I totally love this picture. Jerry was helping Boo across these modified monkey bars (these are not the ones that he was doing by himself). Note Ethan helping him out. This shot cracks me up.

Ethan didn't get farther than this. He leaned out to grab the second bar only to realize that it was a long way down...and he had already fallen off of the other ones. Isn't this a cool picture? I changed it to black and white and then introduced just a little bit of color back in to it.

And for your viewing pleasure....Ethan's very own Andy Warhol collage. It's snazzy, isn't it?

On a side note...did you see the Olympic Swimming today!? Whew! The US men whooped some Olympic butt today! Michael Phelps broke the world record in the 400m.

I Heart Photoshop

2008-08-06T21:43:00.001-05:00

I have a new passion/hobby...an addicting hobby that I just can't leave alone. Have you ever tried Adobe Photoshop? Whew! It's hard and confusing but man does it make a nice editor. I have only been doing this for a few days but with lots and LOTS of help from two friends, tons of online tutorials, and general googling "how to" sites, I think I've really made some progress.

See this first picture? It' s one of my all time favorites. It was taken on my Minolta Maxum 35mm (real film) camera then scanned on to CD...this is the SOOC (straight out of the camera shot).

This is the edited version...granted...it's a little bright, but it sure does pop, doesn't it?

This next picture is another of my new favorites...it's just about perfect except the color is a little off.

BOOM...KABLAM...SWISH!! Just look at this version:

This is a silly shot of the boys back in Jan. Up until a few days ago, I would say nothing is wrong with this picture...

But then waaalaaa....look how Joey's orange shirt pops. Nice, right?

This last one was a picture just for fun...it was a full color picture taken at Boo's birthday party on the train ride. I ran something called an action on it..two actually...and ended up with this masterpiece.

Now, while I have literally only scratched the surface of what this program can do...I must say....I heart Photoshop!!!!

School Pics and Brother Pics

2008-08-01T19:38:00.000-05:00

Every year Ethan has "beach" pictures done at school. They always turn out so cute. We also got the boys pictures done while they are here. You can click to enlarge. Enjoy!

What was I Doing When I Ate Pavement?

2008-07-30T19:52:00.000-05:00

Isn't this a gorgeous playground? This is where we come every weekend so that Ethan can play and ride his bike. Notice the shade. Each piece of this playground was donated from members of the community. It's called Be an Angel Playground.

Ethan often gets stuck right before he gets going. I guess the peddle is hard to move from up there. Notice the track turf surrounding the playground. I love walking on this stuff...you kind of..bounce.. It makes me feel athletic again....I'm not sure why.

Joey is kind enough to get off of his bike to give Ethan a little push to get him going. See that helmet? It's state law. Make your kids wear helmets! Head injuries are horrible. Again..look at that beautiful turf ground.

Isn't this a great picture? I love when they ride together. Ethan will look to the side and veer off of the asphalt. Oh wait...he must get that from me.

And this my friends is what I was doing when I looked off...and veered off the pavement. I was watching 2 of my boys bonding. See, if Joey wasn't pushing him right there, I would be the one doing it. Thank God for big brothers.

My ankle is healing nicely and so is my leg. My camera is OK but my best lens got a piece broken off. It's OK though, still usable. So there you go....I injure myself just to bring you shots of the boys bonding. I'd say that's over and beyond the call of duty, dontcha think?

Cheers...

Grace

Just Call me Hop Along...or Not

2008-07-28T19:27:00.000-05:00

Well yesterday proved to be eventful. Not quite what I pictured for a nice Sunday afternoon, but eventful anyway.

We spend quite a bit of time during the weekend at a really nice playground down the road from us. The ground on the playground is a track turf, so it's a little bouncy if the kids fall. Above the playground, much of it is covered to keep the sun off of everyone. Surrounding the playground is a nice asphalt track that kids ride their bikes on and parents walk while kiddos are playing.

Yesterday (as we do at least twice a weekend) we went to the park so that Ethan could ride his bike on the track. It's much safer there than in our busy neighborhood, so he rides to his hearts content.

I was busy taking pictures of Ethan and Joey riding their bikes and not paying much attention to anything else. Let me stop right here to mention that I had a bad feeling about taking my nice expensive camera on the walk with me for some reason. I kept envisioning it dropping to the ground and breaking.

The track is raised about 5-6 inches above the ground and I must have been walking on the edge. All of a sudden (in slow motion I might add) I slip off the side, twisting my ankle as I go down, and hit the ground face first. My camera (of course) slipped out of my hand and hit the ground.

I laid there for a good 5 minutes in severe pain. I couldn't move my ankle and Jerry was trying to see if I could move at all. I looked at my right leg and saw huge scrapes on my knee and shin. My right elbow was busted up too. After about 10 minutes, Jerry was able to help me get to a table that was close by. By then I was severely nauseated. Ethan was freaking out so I was doing my best to act as if nothing was wrong. He was so sweet! We finally got him to agree to ride his bike one more time around the park while I elevated my ankle to see if it would keep hurting.

Jerry helped me stand up to see if I could walk to the truck (a LONG way away) and I just couldn't. Ethan came over and informed us that it was time to go home. They all walked to the truck and I stayed where I was. There is no where for vehicles to drive in the park so Jerry had to cut through our soccer field and ride the fence line to come and get me. He was able to get the truck right up to where I was and help me in. Ethan was telling me that it would be OK and that I just needed to breathe! LOL He was actually being very helpful and adorable. He was really worried.

We got home and cleaned up my battle wounds. Fast forward to today....I spent all day (of my planned vacation day) laid up in bed. I can get around a little better today, it still hurts to walk on my ankle but I can hobble around. My ankle is about the size of a knee cap now so the swelling is going down. I go back to work tomorrow, so that should be interesting! Wish me luck!

Growing Up

2008-07-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Reality hit me a little hard today as my baby boy visited his new classroom. What does that mean? It means that he's about to start pre-school curriculum, PRE-SCHOOL! He already can count to 20 in Spanish- they have Spanish every day, takes computer class 3 times a week, has Opus music once a week, gymnastics once a week, and a special art class once a week. He's been on a basic pre-school track since he was 2, but now it's going to be the real thing.

He was slated to move up mid-August when school starts but plans changed this week. His current teacher turned in her notice and that meant he was getting a new lead teacher. Rather than getting him used to a new teacher only to move classes, we thought it best to go ahead and move him.

What will he be learning? Phonics-based reading, basic math, how to tie his shoes, his address and phone number, how to write the alphabet, and how to write his name. That just scratches the surface. All of this will be incorporated with regular fun things, water park once a week, 4 field trips a month, picnics 3-4 times a week, computer class, Spanish, Art, gymnastics, Opus music, etc.

It's just hard to believe that he's already "there". He's so darned excited to be going to a big boy class now but it's so bitter sweet. I seriously understand now what it means when someone says "They just grow up so fast". We are just really lucky to have found such a great place for him to go- he really loves it there.

....And Then Boo was Four!

2008-07-22T20:45:00.000-05:00

Boo's birthday party was this weekend (the 20th). Eunice and Barry had his party at the Galveston Railroad Museum. We had pizza, cake, and ice cream in a passenger car; and then we went on a train ride!!! Happy Birthday Barry Chas Steding! We simply adore you! You can click to enlarge

I think he was hanging on Barry...that, or he's part monkey..

My favorite family besides my own!

I'm not sure why Eunice was holding his head! LOL

How sweet is this?

I love this picture:

Pouting

Clearly this shirt is too small for him...I see that now...lol

3 of my boys (Jake 14 yrs-left and Joey 11yrs-right)

Ethan just discovered a pink flamingo

Now we must ride it...

This is the train we rode

See the scratch on the tip of his nose? Joey did it while they were wrestling around...and we heard about it for 6000 hours!

After the train ride

Beach Bums a la Galveston

2008-07-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we took a trip to the beach because well, we enjoy subjecting ourselves to the hottest part of the day in Texas. Actually, there was a pretty nice breeze blowing and the water was a cool 85 degrees. Hey, I know that sounds hot to many of you but when the heat index is pushing 110, you take what you can get. It's interesting really...how Jake and Joey have no tolerance for Texas heat. They are used to mild temperatures in NJ. I guess us Texas natives are just used to the oppressive heat. You can click to enlarge. Enjoy.

"Oh No She Didn't!"

2008-07-10T21:07:00.001-05:00

So have you ever had one of those moments when you are watching someones most embarrassing moment of their lives and you think "Wow, I'm really glad I'm not him/her!"? Have you ever been the him/her that people are referring to in their thoughts as they are mentally cringing as they are watching the worst possible moment play out before them?

That was me once...long ago while I was young and oh so naive. Yes, naive...because I had never been subject to the "Wow, I'm really glad I'm not her". Ahh, I remember those days....to be naive again...sigh.

OK, sorry...I digress.

Well, I never intended to make this public but last night as I was remembering this moment (and cringing the whole while), I decided I was going to blog about it. Next I will tell you about my friend and her unnatural fear of frogs; but tonight I will take you along with me while I re-live my horror.

Back in 2001 I up and decided to move to NC to work at Duke. The weekend before I left, I went to Huntsville, TX (which is about 2 hours from where I live- give or take) to go party with my best friend Tiff. There was a club there called Shenanigans that had a 2 clubs within. There was a Country side and then there was the "club" club side, that had all of the dance music.

Tiff and I were on the Country side that woeful night that I had my moment...We were dancing and having a blast, without a care in the world. Oh yes, those were the days. Now, the neat thing about this club was that it had a shadow box that people could dance in. It was lit from inside; and while you were dancing, the people on the outside only saw your shadow. What a neat little concept, right? I thought so too.

Kid Rock has a song called "Cowboy" that the DJ decided to play at just the right time. My 20 something self decided that I needed to dance the song away in the shadow box. Tiff didn't see it that way at all, and decided to stay on the dance floor. All by my lonesome I went. Right into the shadow box. Never would my life be the same. So, there I was- dancing to "Cowboy" and thinking I was all that. I did some neat little things in with my arms that I was sure was making me look so cool to the people outside of the shadow box. Out of the blue- the song stopped. There was no warning, it just quit cold turkey. I stopped dancing too, curious as to why the music would stop mid-song. Something must be wrong with the CD, yes, that was it! All of a sudden, the DJ comes over the mic and I hear "What the F is that in the shadow box!?" It took a moment for it to register that he was actually talking about me... I was still by then and he continued "It looks like a blob or the abominable snowman!" Now right here I need to interject to say that even though Huntsville is a college town, it's out in the country. Because of that, there are not many clubs around so this place was packed. Packed I say! People start laughing. Rolling actually. I was totally mortified, and could feel my cheeks burning. See, the DJ didn't just start the music up again, he went on and on and on. Tempting me to step outside of the shadow box so that everyone could see the form that was inside. What went on for a few minutes felt like a lifetime.

Apparently, the closer you get to the front of the wall of the shadow box, the more it distorts your form. I must have been really close! Now, the DJ finally had mercy on my soul and started the music back. At this point, there was no way that I was leaving that shadow box, so I just stayed...praying that Tiff would come get me. She didn't. Finally a group of about 5 people climbed in and I remember a girl saying to me "OH MY GOD! I bet you are so embarrassed!" Little did she know, I was beyond embarrassed. But, about 5 minutes later I got my chance to leave that prison. I left in the middle of their group as they were getting out. See, that way no one knew who it was that was the blob during "Cowboy". I was able to save face. Until I saw my friend Tiff, sitting in the corner...laughing until tears were coming out of her eyes. She informed me that there was no way she was going in there after that, I was on my own...that's why she didn't come save me.

That has been about 7 years and I must say--I still blush when I remember.

Jake, Busted Pipes, and General Ramblings

2008-07-08T18:41:00.000-05:00

Yowser! This week has been beyond hectic. I would like to preface this post by apologizing for not updating sooner, but my wireless has been out. My wonderful husband fixed it for me today after trouble shooting for several days. So Jake got in this past Thursday and Ethan waited by the door for him, just like he did for Joey. He has been so thrilled to have them here. We are going Thursday evening to get the boys pictures done, so I will get those posted once we do. I also have some summer school pictures of Ethan, we just have to get them scanned.

Now, lemme just tell you about our weekend...yeah...our weekend. Friday was nice, we decided instead of going to the big Houston Party "Freedom Over Texas", that we would pop fireworks at home. It turned out to be a wild success, and we even had some neighbors cheering for us! They sure do make some amazing fireworks theses days!! They makes boxes that you can light and they launch firework after firework that actually looks professional. Ethan wasn't totally sure about the noise, but as long as he covered his ears, he was fine.

Saturday morning we woke up to a lake in our front yard! A pipe broke up against the front of the house that just happened to be in my flower bed!!!! Jerry had to did part of it up (about 3 feet down) to find the pipe and then spent most of the day trying to fix it himself. After 4 trips to Lowes and Ace Hardware, we both decided that this was beyond his "Mr. Fix-it" powers and we had to call a plumber. We spent most of the day Saturday with no water, we turned it back on long enough to take quick showers and such. The plumbers came out on Sunday morning and broke the news that the pipe was not fixable and had to be totally replaced. They bypassed the pipe and created a new one. This entailed digging up almost half of my (very large) flower bed and digging up under our cement walk way. Oh, and they had to break into the wall of my garage to reach the other end of the pipe. Finally at around 6:30 that evening, we got water!!! I will tell you this...I will never take running water for granted again! Yeck! Anyway, below you will see some pics of Jake arriving, hanging out back, and pics from the 4th. You can click them to enlarge. Enjoy. Oh- and I've added some new links to my blog roll on the right hand side. There are some really good blogs on there, you should check them out!

Joe Joe is Here!!

2008-06-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

Joey got here on Friday night and Ethan was so cute waiting for him at the door. As usual custom, I took pictures of him arriving. I totally can't get over how tall he has gotten!!!

Saturday we went to Chuck-E Cheese and then to the pool for the first time this season. Today we didn't do much, just went to the park for about an hour. I think the weather shell shocked Joey a little, he has gotten used to mild weather in NJ. I guess you just get used to it, because I thought today was pretty mild at 95 degrees! LOL Here are some pics from this weekend, you can click to enlarge.

Waiting for Joe Joe

What's it Like Being 4?

2008-06-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

I think it must be nice! Or at least on the days that we spend playing!! Here are some pictures of Ethan riding his new bike and then some of Ethan and Boo playing at the park! You can click to enlarge. Enjoy!! :)

Bounce City Birthday Party

2008-05-31T19:47:00.000-05:00

So there is a place called Bounce City that has all of these inflatable jumping things that Ethan just adores. We went to our first birthday party there about a year ago and Ethan fell in love! We had his birthday party there today and both the kids and adults had a blast...We had a private room with about 5 different inflatable jumpers. The big slide and obstacle course were the 2 biggest hits. Here are some pics from today...you can click to enlarge.

I told him not to run:

Little brother Josh:

I love this picture...

Boo:

Jaiden (J Rae) in the obstacle course- she's a little wildfire:

Ethan and Daddy racing in the obstacle course:

Wait, I didn't know adults were supposed to be having so much fun! Barry and Josh:

Josh is plum worn out:

Don't they just look sweaty and like they just got finished having a blast??

Power Ranger cake:

Eating the icing off of his favorite Ranger (the blue one):

It's present time!

Walk Down Memory Lane: Photo Style

2008-05-30T20:51:00.000-05:00

This week I have been doing a lot of reminiscing back to when I was carrying Ethan, his birth, and just him generally growing up. I decided to compare photos from birth until today...it's amazing, really.

4 days old:

About 6 months old:

1st birthday:

2nd birthday:

3rd birthday:

4th birthday:

Ethan's Birthday!

2008-05-28T19:19:00.001-05:00

Although Ethan's actual birthday party isn't until Saturday, we took him cupcakes to school today so that he could celebrate it with his daycare buddies. They sang to him, ate cupcakes, and then we left. Afterwards we took him to the playground for a while before dinner and then home to open presents. Tamara and Lagrand sent him some binoculars, and we got him a few Power Rangers movies. For dinner he asked for Pizza...all in all it was a good day. My baby is 4!!!!

He called Aunt Jenny today and informed her that she could wish him a Happy Birthday....lol

Enjoy the pics, you can click to enlarge.

We just walked in to his daycare:

Singing Happy Birthday:

Transformers cake:

Climbing at the park:

Climbing the rock:

It's present time!

"Birthday Party" #1

2008-05-25T21:43:00.000-05:00

Well today marked the first of 3 (mini) parties that we are having for Ethan. We drove the hour to my moms house and hung out with Barry, Eunice, Boo, Josh, Jaiden, mom, and Pop. He was biting at the bit to open his presents from my parents. Pop kept telling him that it was clothes in the packages and Ethan was firm in his beliefs that no, it was TOYS.

We opened presents and he got: (from Boo)- a Power Rangers set of glasses) in which he then did his best Power Rangers pose for me (see below for a picture). My parents gave him a bubble machine, Bumble Bee the Transformer, and a Power Ranger thing-a-mabob. Uncle Josh gave him moola! They also spent part of the afternoon hanging out in Charlie's kennel. I don't know what it is about that kennel, but all of the kiddos love it! After we got home, Jerry put up a slip-n-slide and Ethan went to town on it!

Jaiden is now 2 1/2, and she's so adorable! Boo is 3 months younger than Ethan and will be 3 in July. Enjoy the pics, you can click to enlarge.

I just love this smile:

Power Ranger Pose:

How cute is this??

Showing off the Transformers!

Can you seriously resist this smile?

And the Kennel fun begins!

I'm 4!!

Chasing bubbles

Slip-N-Slide fun!!

Boy Howdy!

2008-05-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I know I promised new pics a few weeks ago and I PROMISE that they are coming. I figured that I would at least update you on what's going on. Ethan is going to be 4(!!!!) next Wed! He's so excited that he can barely stand it. We plan on taking cupcakes to his daycare on Wed. to celebrate with him there. The cupcakes will actually look like a cake on top- frosted with Transformers. On Saturday (the 31st) we are having his party at a place called Bounce City . We invited all of his daycare friends and of course his cousin Boo. Then we still have a cake and presents waiting for him at Nee Nee's and Pops. He is on a huge Power Rangers kick and his main party will be all Power Ranger. I'm pretty sure that we are going to get him a bike this year. We tried last year but he just wasn't ready.

We are getting ready for the boys to get here for the summer. We can't wait! Ethan is talking about it constantly, he really misses them.

School started back for us today. I can't say that I'm terribly excited about it but I'm almost done. This time next year I will be done with my bachelors degree and on to my masters for my MBA.

Work is going great, just really very busy.

I think that sums it up for now. I'll have some pictures of little man on his birthday that I will try and get posted as soon as I take them. Until then....cheers!

ACK! Sorry for Not Catching Up!

2008-04-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

OK OK...so I know I have not updated in a while and I'm sorry! I'm going to try and get some pictures taken and posted next weekend. We're going to a birthday part this weekend at Old McDonald's Farm so that should have some good candid shots.

Ethan is doing great! His hair has grown out and he got a haircut this past weekend. We just shaved the sides and back a little to give his hair an actual "cut". We are still letting the top of his hair grow back a little more but he looks so cute! He still continues to crack us up on a daily basis.

The boys are coming to stay with us this summer so we are going to get some family pictures done. I can't wait to get shots of the boys together.

School is still going. I'm taking a marketing and accounting class this term and they are incredibly boring! Jerry is also in an accounting class and environmental science.

Other than that, I don't really have a lot to update. I'll really try and get some pictures up soon!

Reconnecting with Old Friends

2008-03-29T20:40:00.001-05:00

It's such a great feeling when you "bump" into an old friend that you have not talked to in ages. Catching each other up on your lives and then boom....all of a sudden it's like you have not been apart at all! That's how you measure a true friendship...if you can pick up where you left off. That has happened a lot me me this past year. In fact, it's happened more this year than it has since I've been out of school. Well, high school that is. There are 3 girls in particular that I have been close with since we were IN school and we pick up quite a bit. Those 3 girls will always be some of my closest friends. In fact, all 3 of them were in my wedding way back when. It would be neat to say it's because we are from a small town, but I know that's not the case.

You Really Need to Check This Out!

2008-03-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

So you know I have mentioned the Pioneer Woman's blog before. She launched her
new site today! YAY! The Pioneer Woman

This is a link to 2 of my favorite stories by her (the first and the 3rd- but the middle one is funny too!) click here

Let me know what you think!

Happy Easter, Easter Bunny!

2008-03-23T20:22:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter, Everyone! We woke up this morning and ran downstairs to see if the Easter Bunny came over night...and indeed he had! Ethan looked through his basket and found coloring books, a Sponge Bob Movie and some candy! We then went outside and had a fabulous Easter Egg hunt.

Afterwards, we went to my parents where he had a HUGE basket waiting for him. It seems that the Easter Bunny visits grand parents houses too! There he got more coloring books, stickers, a Diego movie, Bob the Builder video, a cool cup, candy and tons of other goodie. Boo came over and the boys had a blast going through their stash. Hugs to everyone...click to enlarge.

Basketball

2008-03-15T20:01:00.001-05:00

One thing that I miss about living in NC (besides working at Duke) is basketball rivalry. To be frank, Texas just does not have it. Not to the extent that the East coast does. We're a football state, and well, I'm a basketball girl. I do have the Houston Rockets to fill my need, but it's odd to try and discuss the big Duke and UNC game to some one here, and get a blank stare. Heck, some people have never even heard of the Big Rivalry.

Really, there is no point to this post...I am just grumpy because Duke lost today! BOOOOOOO

Soccer Soccer Soccer!

2008-03-02T19:50:00.000-06:00

Well, I must say that this weeks soccer game went much better than his first one. I have to thank his actual practice for that though... We didn't get rained out of either. His coach is really good with the kids and Ethan listens so well to him. They played on 2 fields at the same time, so he had a lot of playing time. Let me tell ya, he took a GOOD nap afterwards! Anyway, here are some pictures...click to enlarge. Enjoy and love to you all!

A Must Read Blog

2008-02-22T15:09:00.000-06:00

So, thanks to my good Friend Erin, I'm now addicted to this blog. It's written by a city girl that married a cowboy and moved to a ranch. She was even featured on CNN.com. Anyway, she started writing about how she met her husband and it's SO GOOD! I'm going to post the link just to that story. Read from the bottom. Once you are all caught up, go to her home page and check her out.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/category/the_night_i_met_marlboro_man

My 15 Minutes of Fame

2008-02-21T13:51:00.000-06:00

OK, here it is!! I'm at the very end. Don't look at the horrible jacket they made me wear though...