The new math

One quiet toddler + one side tracked mother = a very big mess

This isn't just a one time deal. This is just about every time. Maybe I should get off the computer and start checking up on my daughter every now and then. But it'll be your loss. No more blogging from Mary. I should get a nanny. Nope, then life would be too boring. I'll take the messes with my kids. They are sweet even when they pour out all of the baby formula on the floor, color all over themselves with pen and get dressed in Kaden's clothes. They make life fun!

Photo Shoot

I had to post these pictures because Abby is so dang cute! I was trying to get a good picture for my new header and these are the ones that I got. Say cheese!

Opposites Attract

Picture this: Last night when Ryan went to sleep, he turned on the fan in our room, slept only in his garments and was half under the covers and half on top of the covers. I, on the other hand, slept with socks, long exercise pants, and an extra sweatshirt. I also had put an extra blanket on my side of the bed and was curled up tight under my covers. What is up with that? We might have to invest in a duel electric blanket so I can keep my side toasty warm with Ryan's side not even turned on. What a funny pair we make!

The New Header

Okay, let me just tell you how LONG it took me to make this darn new header. It took all day. At one point I had even given up on it, but happened to show Ryan what I had created and he helped me transfer my word document into a jpeg file. I'm giddy that we got it to work and it turned out so cute. Hooray for smart, computer literate husbands! We're a good team. I make it look cute, he makes it practical so I can post it!

Who's Child is This?

Josh really likes snakes. I'm not sure where that came from. Certainly not from my side of the family. This is his pet webkinz snake Stripy. Of all the stuffed animals to chose from, he picks that one.
I let Josh use my markers this particular night and he drew this very colorful snake.
I've never seen a kid bring home so many snake books from the library. Sometimes he brings home 2 or 3 at a time. They are really gross with lots of close up detailed pictures of all kinds of snakes and their thousands of babies. Yuck.

Abby's New Craze

We have started the dreaded potty training (for real...not just the do it when it's convenient for us). Abby is actually doing quite well....with one exception. She had decided that she wants to strip completely naked when she goes potty. She stripped for the babysitter last night. I caught her jumping on the trampoline naked. And best of all, she stripped while I was mowing the front lawn and she came out to find me. I'm having a hard time keeping clothes on the little one! Hey, I'll take a naked child every now and then for potty training progress!

"Josh, mouse, dead, funny"

This is our little dead mouse. How he ended up dead is unfortunate. The story is as follows:

After our camp out, I was in charge of clearing out the tent. I would throw everything outside in a pile and Ryan and the kids would pick it up and take it to the van. Ryan was juggling several different things, including our pillows, when he decided that he needed to rearrange his load. As he was switching the pillows from one hand to the other, he noticed something small fly off the pillow and land on the ground. He wasn't quite sure what it was but noticed that it was scurrying away. Josh had a stick with him and in one fast swoop, he smacked the mouse and killed it. Now, this mouse is tiny. And mice can really move! I'm not sure how Josh was able to kill that thing in one shot.

Now Abby seemed to think that this was very funny. For days now, she's been telling me "Josh, mouse, dead, funny!" I'm not thinking that it was all that funny. I immediately came home and washed all the pillowcases. Yuck. To even think that a mouse has been scurrying on my pillow gives me the willies.

This poor little mouse was already dead, but Ethan needed to make sure. I guess he wanted part of the action too.

So, that's our story. Next time you talk to Abby, ask her about the mouse. She thinks it's great!

A Camping We Will Go

I love Texas (well okay just fall, winter and springtime.) It's October and we're still warm enough in the evening to go camping. This last summer Ryan and I decided that we wanted to do more things together as a family so we bought a tent, sleeping bags and some other camping gear. We made plans to go but something always came up and we couldn't go after all.

We camped at Lake Ray Roberts State Park. It's only about 40 minutes away from home so it was a nice place to camp. However it did take us a little longer than 40 minutes to get there...we got a little lost. We took off the wrong exit and drove all the way around the lake before we found the right place. Because we started off a tad late, plus the longer drive we ended up putting the tent up in the dark. Luckily our tent is fairly simple to put up and we put it up in the backyard so we knew what we were doing.

Abby loved being outside. Her favorite thing was throwing rocks into the lake. The boys tried to skip rocks with Ryan. I tried to skip the rocks and failed miserably. The boys also loved "roughing it" by going potty in the bushes. There was a outhouse type restroom just down the path but they got their kicks by being "one" with nature.

We all had a good time. I think we're planning on another trip in a few weeks. This next time around we'll get brave and make tin foil dinners and attempt a dutch oven cobbler. Never made one of those before. I guess I better learn how to cure my dutch oven!

I Couldn't Believe It

I never thought that I would see the day that gas would drop under 3 bucks! Just a few months ago we were over 4 dollars a gallon. I saw this and immediately had to snap a picture to make everyone jealous! Yay for falling gas prices...not so much for the crapy economy that is making the oil prices fall, but at least cheaper gas is a silver lining to all the panic and uncertainty right? To be honest though, I'm not all that panicked. Should I be?

Markers and Quiet Time

Abby has been having quiet time. It's basically having a nap all sweetened up so it doesn't sound so bad. I tell her she can sleep, read or play with her toys but she has to stay in her bedroom. Not that she has a choice...I've put a child lock on the door so she can't get out. I know, sounds mean doesn't it? So today, Abby was playing nicely so after an hour went to get her out. I opened the door and discovered Abby's lovely art work. I'm not sure how the marker ended up in her room, but she had a great time. No wonder she played so quietly!

I was worried about getting the marker off the wall and carpet, but it came off really easy. I recently bought Don Aslett's Perky Spot cleaner and it works WONDERS on my carpet. I would suggest that everyone should get some. It's oh so fabulous!!! The website is www.cleanreport.com if you're at all interested.

So I guess from now on I'm going to have to take a double check of Abby's room before I leave her unattended in there. She's already unloaded her dresser, pulled out all the wipes and now the marker art work. At least I was smart enough to take out the diaper rash cream and the lotions before I let her at it!

10 Things I've Learned

It's been 1 year that we've lived here. It's strange that it goes by so fast. Here are10 things that I've learned since living here in Texas.

1-People here don't speak with as much southern accent as I thought
2-They do say ya'll and ma'am a lot though
3-Texans are very proud of their state. They even sculpt flower beds in the shape of Texas! I've seen stepping stones too. Can you even imagine Utah shaped stepping stones in your garden?
4-I hate bermuda grass
5-The winters are lovely
6-The summers are not so lovely
7-You can actually trick-or-treat in your Halloween costume and not have it covered up with a coat
8-You could get totally lost without a GPS. There are no mountains to help with sense of direction
9-A two day trek with kids to see Grandma and Grandpa isn't all that fun
10- I really miss my family. Lots and lots. Thank goodness for blogs and email to keep me updated with news and family pictures.