Zion Cemetary, 2007. Take 1.

I love springtime. I especially love the month of April. There's Easter, my birthday, Jacob's birthday, and BLUEBONNETS! My favorite flower. Why? Who knows... but I started drawing them in elementary school, and never stopped loving them.
Maybe it's the excitement of that little window in the spring... just a few precious weeks that they are here. Less than a month of their blue beauty, and then they're gone until next April.

In the area I live in- there is one place that you MUST go if you want to see bluebonnets. Zion cemetary. And we went yesterday... Enjoy!

Isn't it GORGEOUS!?

I was so disappointed last year. There were no bluebonnets- not a single bloom at Zion. :(

I think this year they came back DOUBLE! Blue everywhere you looked, and the smell... oh, it was wonderful!

my little prince climbs a fence

(hey- I made a rhyme!)

and the princess

My favorite picture of the day...

We went back again today... I see more bluebonnet pics in this blogs future!

Eggs, Bubbles, and a Bug

I am a bad, slacker mom.
Jacob had to go through almost 5 years of life, never having dyed an Easter egg! Well- last night- I finally gave in! I decided that it was time to get messy, and waste a bunch of eggs- and let my kids have colored fingers for a week!
I had to enlist some prefessional help, though. Someone that had dyed many eggs in her day, and my day...
GRANDMA!

She made it easy on me- we did it at her house.
She mixed the dye, boiled the eggs, and bought ridiculous hats (why hats? I dunno! Lol)

So here we go!
"Hmmm... it's green!"

Unknowingly- Jacob and I drew the same thing on our eggs! :-D
Baby girl applies some stickers

Here's the finished product

Grandma coaches him on technique

Proud of a multi-colored egg

(Holy cow, he looks just like a 4yr old me in this one!)

Afterwards- we headed outside to do some bubble blowing.

CHEEEEEZZZZE!

While these are definitely not our first bubbles ever- we had tons of fun with them, and I have lots of cute pics to prove it!

Look out! ;)

Grandma aims for quality bubbles

Papoo goes for quantity

Group shot-

Little miss... the shirt says it all

Then we found a roly-poly!

"Are you sure it's not gonna bite me?"

"Okay then, it's kinda cool..."

The bug

So now I have a fridge full of hard-boiled eggs, and no idea what to do with all of them!

But the kids had a blast, both sets of kids. Heehee.

And I am over my egg-phobia, so my kids can have a normal childhood from now on! ;)

Bat-who?

Move over dark knight, there's a new favorite hero in town!

As one way to try to help Jacob's school-related anxiety, he was promised a special reward if he was "brave" for 3 days at school.
He and I made this deal last Thursday, so he had entire week to mull over the prize he would choose.
First he was saying a Batman, but after Saturday's adventure, he changed his mind...
He wanted a Spiderman 3 toy instead.

He chose a double pack, with a Spidey action figure and a "bad guy." I thought that was a very smart choice, considering he only got to have 1 toy.
Then, as we were searching for the ever elusive "blue baby pony," he stopped in his tracks. "Momma, I have to tell you something. This toy is not my favorite."
I said okay, and let him run over 2 aisles and pick a new one.
He came back with a Spiderman suit!
And the rest... well it's history.
I got to hang with Spiderman all day.
Target, dinner with Cotton, the mall playplace, Starbucks... we went everywhere. Everyone had to talk to Spiderman. One lady even asked to take his picture!

My 2 heroes :)

Slingin' some web at the mall play place... (Lucy obviously had something to say here- but I'm not sure he was listening)

Here he is doing a very brave stunt...

Proud of his spidey self...

It took well over an hour to convince him to be "Peter Parker" for bed.

I think I finally got him by threatening to wash the Spiderman suit if he slept in it. The kid knows how "quickly" I do laundry- he may not see that suit again for weeks. ;)

I fear that I'll be spending a lot of time with my new pal Spiderman.

I guess he may not be the most fashionable... but I should be well protected from crime, right?

the boys

Crazy me- I took pity and took them both for a ride in the car the other day.

Emmitt was mostly good, Jack-jack was mostly a pain in the butt. That is about right, the average day around here.

But aren't they cute, sitting in the seat together?

I love my four legged babies!

Look who Jacob met!

SPIDERMAN!!!
Yep! The super hero-obsessed child actually got to meet one of his top 3!
I was so thrilled to be able to take him. I think I may have been more excited than my 4 yr old!

He got an autograph...

and learned the proper web slinging technique...

Spidey said he liked his shirt, and told him to be sure to go see his new movie that is about to come out. ;)
They talked quietly for a while, but Jacob hasn't come forth with the details... maybe he is trying to get into super hero school or something. Lol.

It was Very cool to meet Spiderman! Something I know Jacob won't soon forget!!!

The pictures aren't the greatest, because I had to snap them quick, while watching Lucy- who was hiding from Spiderman, scared to pieces. Poor little angel!

But the red guy had his own photgrapher, who did a better job than mommy could.

That one is already framed and on the shelf of honor in Jacob's room, with the autographed card tucked in safe.

Mmmmmm... cake

Cake is goood.

Do you know how long it has been since I baked a cake?
Or ate real cake?
I've had childrens' birthday cakes, and tried to convince myself they were great.

Well, tonight I baked us a cake.
Cotton and I each had 2 pieces, Lucy had 1. Jacob fell asleep before it was ready- but he did lick a beater!
Lucy snuck in and had a little more after I thought she was in bed. :)

Yay for cake!

longest coffee break ever

Three and a half hours, to be exact.
But, as overdue as we were for one, I think it was just the right amount of time, lol.

Thanks girls!

Let's do it again, and often.
Oh, and the tea party, too. As long as *I* don't make the tea!

being a parent...

well, it is really hard sometimes.
Confusing. Stressful. Scary.

You can't just make decisions lightly, because then you might scew your kid up for the next 90 yrs!
So you think, and you research, and you ask for help... and in the end- you just hope you were LUCKY enough to make the right choice.

Ugh.

my funny guys

Last night Jacob asked me the funniest question I'd heard in like 27 years...

"Momma, do girls like to look at magazines with pictures of handsome men while they're trying to go poop?"

OMG.
So yes, there is an explanation.
Cotton looks at Playboy in the bathroom. Well- he reads the articles. He just flips past the pics. ;)
I guess Jacob had questions for him about those magazines. Because, you know, there is no privacy when you have a 3 yr old and a 4 yr old! And there is no end to the questioning Jacob does.
Oh, and poop habits are quite fascinating. We have to discuss them all the time. Fun stuff.


And then there's my hubby.
The fashionista among his buddies. NOT. Lol.

I ordered some way cool vintage t-shirts for Jacob, and they came in today.
I was all giddy and trying to describe them to Daddy.
I told him they are vintage, they look like what we would have worn as kids (if we had been Batman and Superman obsessed).

He says "so they look old?" Well, yes. They are old.
"You bought him OLD t-shirts?" Umm... vintage, honey.
"But they're OLD? Like someone wore them?" Yea- I guess so. Otherwise they wouldn't be all soft and faded and COOL looking.
They're in the wash, so he hasn't even seen them. I'll try to update and let you know if Cotton likes vintage Batman.

Oh, and don't tell Jacob... but I bought him the BATMAN CONVERSE!!! I could DIE I am so excited!
The really cool "chucks" that are black with tiny bat symbols all over... The ones that are nearly impossible to find? Yea. I got em. I am the coolest mom ever.
He is going to freak when he opens that b-day gift!
They are going to look awesome with his OLD yellow shirt that came in today. Haha.

Baby Brandon

I know I haven't ever blogged about Brandon- but tonight it has to be done. Some of you know all of this- some of you don't.
If you don't know Brandon, get ready to have your heart broken...

Brandon is the son of an online friend, Melissa. I "met" her about 5 months ago, on DAM, and had to send her a message- saying that she has the CUTEST TWIN BOYS IN THE WORLD!
Aiden and Brandon, born Feb 20, 2006. They just turned 1, 3 weeks ago. At that time, they were about 8 months.

Get this,
Brandon has stage 3 cancer. A very rare liver cancer.
He underwent several rounds of PAINFUL chemo, in prepeation for a surgery to remove his tumor.
He did beautifully in chemo. The tumor shrunk. Surgery was set.
The cut him open, only to find that his tumor is too "entangled" in major arteries to remove it.
This was last week.

Now, this beautiful baby boy has to wait for a liver transplant. And continue with chemotherapy.

I have followed his story, well... since before he was sick. I fell in love with the first picture I saw of him and his beautiful brother.

Now, Brandon and his family own a piece of my heart. I think about him every day. Cry for him almost every day.
Tonight, his mom posted a slideshow of family photos. I bawled like a baby. I am still crying.

WTF is wrong with this picture. This child is 12 months old, and FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE! They are pumping him full of poison to kill a tumor. He has painful sores in his mouth, and loses his beautiful fuzzy hair.
I am just ANGRY!
I can't even fathom the pain his parents feel... I have never met him, but I just think of him and weep.
It just isn't right. It isn't fair. Cancer is... there is no word that is horrible enough.

Cancer is a major ass-hole.

And Brandon is beautiful. Aiden is beautiful. They are innocent little angels. They deserve to have a wonderful, happy life. They should be carefree, PAIN free, playing together. Enjoying every thing that 1 year old babies enjoy.

Did I mention that their mommy struggled with infertility to have them? They were also born premature. They beat all of that, to LIVE!!!
And now... cancer.

It's just f****d up, I tell you.
It makes me want to scream and cuss, and throw things. I do a lot of crying. With every update she sends, every picture she posts... I cry.

I want to do something for them. I want to make it go away. I love this family, and I hurt for Melissa... who cares if I've ever actually heard her voice.
She is a mother, and I am a mother. I know her heart, it's the same as mine.

There you have it.
The most awful, unfair thing that I have ever witnessed.

If you'd like to read about Brandon, in his Mommy's words- keep up to date on his condition, and see pictures of the family:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/brandonheather

Be prepared to fall in love, and have your heart break, all at the same time.

First FAMILY fishing trip!

FINALLY!
Cotton wasn't working, the weather was semi-nice, and we were all together!

LET'S CATCH SOME FISH!!!

"Reel girls Fish!"

See? Even her shirt says so-

and they do it in style!

She wouldn't touch the big fish (wonder where she gets that? lol), but minnows are a different story...

Jacob shows off a catch...

That's our baby girl!

My first cast on my new PINK pole, and...

(thanks Dad, for the PINK fishing pole, by the way ;D)

Daddy getting Lucy set up...

They are not physically capable of looking at the camera TOGETHER!

Check out those guns. We're fishing, not hunting! ;-)

His idea of heaven...

"Jeez Mom! No more pictures!"

I LOVE this pic of me and my honey- but what's that fluffy brown stuff in his face? Lol!

This guy is an old pro by now! He's been fishing since he could walk!

We didn't catch any worth keeping- so we had soup and sandwiches for dinner. Maybe next time...

But we've been waiting a long time to be able to fish as a family, and Lucy has been asking to go fishing for MONTHS- so this was definitely a very special day!

The first trip of many!

Jack-Jack

Meet Jack-Jack. A sweet little mini pin, that Cotton knew would wiggle his way into my heart!
I can't resist a baby- be it 2 legged or 4... and this guy is about as irresistable as they come.

He's snug as a bug with his minky-blanket (handmade by his new momma). You can see some toes in the background- they belong to me. Lol. He is always on my lap, or not far from it!



She's gonna hug him and squeeze him and kiss him....



"So what if I look like a rat?"



How cute are these guys?

More pics to come later. Right now I have to go shop for a purse to put him in! ;-)

girly stuff

Miss Thang got her first Bath and Body Works stuff today.
She has been asking for a squirt of my body spray lately, and honestly, I want her to smell like a little girl. Not like me.
So she is now the proud owner of a strawberry lotion and body spray set. They have a really cute line for little girlies there! We may be addicted!

I also got some new spray-detangler for her curls. It smells like vanilla... yummmm... If I like it, I'll go back and get the shampoo and stuff for her.

And mommy got a new spring tote for FREE! Woohoo!

weigh in: weeks 6 and 7

combined- I've lost 1 pound. (13lbs total so far)
I am so over this dieting stuff. Yuck.

I am not giving up, though.
In fact- I *plan* to kick it back into high gear.

I am such a darn emotional eater. And I've been having a rough week... so I have been eating like crap.

But I'm about to get back on track! I mean it!