Weekend Fun.. NEver Taken For Granted Again.

This weekend started out perfectly.

We were not expecting for Daniel to have the weekend off, but much to our delight, he had not just one but both days off.

We kicked off a beautiful weekend with a picnic at our favorite splash park.

It was pure delight. Food served picnic style always taste better, don't you think?

After we ate, we let the kids run through the water park while Daniel and I laid on the blanket reading, talking, and just taking in the beauty of our lives.

I think there is nothing sweeter than the sound of shrieks of joy that come with my babies running, laughing, and playing!

I brought watermelon as a fun treat.

I think it was a big hit....

But as much fun as it was eating it...

It was even more fun to food fight with!

Daniel is to thank for that fun time!

After a couple of hours at the splash park, we loaded up and headed for our favorite yogurt shop. The rest of the day was laid back and care free... it really was perfect weekend day!

Sunday started off much the same.

Beautiful weather.

Church and then lunch with friends.

A little Sunday Shopping.

This is our usual routine on Sundays, and I love it. Sundays are probably my favorite day of the week.

At lunch, one of our friends invited us over that night for small pool party and BBQ with four other families. It sounded like another piece of perfection pie for our weekend.

We had the best time with our friends. The kiddies played in the pool while mommy's sat and chatted as we watched our babies play. The men split there time between the pool, the grill, and the TV watching the Mavs.

It was one of those sweet life moments that you want to soak up.

I even said to our friend who was hosting that we should do this every Sunday.

Then comes one of the two most scary moments of my whole life.

We had been watching the kids very closely all evening, but at the end of the night everyone starting buzzing around getting things together to go. The next thing I know, I see a shadow at the bottom of the pool. I was trying to figure out what it was right as I heard my friend say "Who is at the bottom of the pool?"

Panic set in as we realized it was her little boy.

I will never forget the image of him being there. Ever.

The next moments were full or horror and fear.

I don't even want to recall them, in part because I don't want to relive it, yet again (I have many times since then) and in part for privacy of this family.

I will say that I have heard of "a mother's cry" when their child is gone or in danger if dying, but I had never heard it.. until that night. It was straight from her soul. I'm not sure I'll ever forget it. CPR was given, and the little boy was saved.

The little guy is perfectly fine. He is his normal, sweet, funny little self and he doesn't get what the fuss is about. I love that kids are so resilient and I wish that adults were too.

I can tell you that I have hugged my kids tighter, been more patient, and taken less for granted since Sunday night. I do hope that the horrible memories and the feelings I get when I think of them subside, but I hope that I never forget how precious life is and how quickly it can be gone.

I have been slow to write this post for two reasons. One, I almost felt guilty about how lovely our weekend was in realizing that it was almost so awful for dear friends of ours. I know that doesn't even make much sense, but like my hubby says "You can't help what you feel." 2. I've just needed time to process it all. We had an amazing sit down with all the families involved tonight and I feel like I can start breathing now, know my friends are all going to be okay.

Daniel's parents just arrived tonight and we are so looking forward to some family time and happiness.

Thank you, Lord, for every day that we are blessed with. For every breath that you give to us. Help me to not take for granted, but to still be able to live and enjoy life. Amen.

The Mommy Reset Button

I love being a mommy.

I would not trade my days with the kids for anything.

I feel as though I was meant to be a mommy and I find amazing satisfaction in striving to be the best Mommy possible.

Most of the time.

Like, maybe 85% of the time.

But some days.

Dude.

I'm tired. I'm cranky. I have zero patience.

I do not feel like being a good mom, or that am one.

And you know, some days, I'd really rather be at some office working an 8-5, any office that would supply me with abundant adult interaction, than to be a stay at home mom.

I use to feel incredible guilt, like the kind that consumes your whole body and makes you nauseous, for having even a sliver of the above feelings.

I would brush them off just as soon as they landed in my head.

Then I would thank the Lord for my kids and feel bad for having any sort of negative feelings about being with them.

Until one day I realized that thinking any of those things did not make me love my two beautiful babies less. It didn't make me ungrateful for being their Mommy or unequipped to do a great job. These thoughts make me human. I think having embraced that very thought has actually made me a better Mom.

Sometime you just need to hit the reset button.

Today is an example of this.

I found myself increasingly short with both of the kids, feeling exhausted, and even a bit overwhelmed.

Thankfully, my mom invited them over to spend the night.

I kissed them good bye, checked my guilt and the door, and now am enjoying a little quiet time until my Hubby gets home and we have a little date night.

And then.

In the morning, Daniel and I will go pick up our love bugs and have a funfilled family day.

And...

I'm looking forward to it.

Get this...

I've been with out the two sprouts for about two and half hours, and I already feel rejuvenated. I'm already missing them a bit.

When I think of London, I think of her sweet giggles and spunky little spirit. Early today I would have said those awful shrills and sassy know it all attitude.

And Dylan, I'm thinking of his creative little mind and what a genius he is.

Earlier today I would have said the way he wiil.not.ever.stop.wanting.to.show.me.his.new."scripts".EVER.

See!

Amazing.

Here's to a quiet and relaxing night and then a fun filled day with the babies tomorrow!

And here's to knowing its okay to need a little time to yourself and STILL being a good Mommy!

Happy Weekend, Ya'll!

Last Day of the First Year

Today was the last day of Dylan's first year of elementary school!

My sweet boy graduated from Kindergarten to First Grade, where as he puts it "is the first REAL grade in school..." and we could not have been more proud of him!

I have to admit, I didn't count on being so emotional this morning, but the ooie-gooey-mommy-mushies really got the better of me throughout the morning. We began the day with a celebration breakfast at our local donut shop, because everyone knows donuts are the breakfast of champions (and my sprout is surely a champion!) and because this is where we ate to celebrate the last day of preschool last year and I am very sappy like that.

Then, all three of us, Daniel, London and me, walked our big guy in for his big day. I got a little misty when I saw Ms. Erwin and even more so when I asked her a picture with Dylan.

Before school started this past year, I prayed to the Lord that he would give Dylan the right teacher and the right kids in his class to be friends with. The Lord listened and blessed us with Ms Erwin and an amazing group of kids in his class (I've already begun praying for next year!) !

Ms Erwin was a dream teacher for Dylan, caring and patient, gentle yet firm. She was exactly what he needed in a Kindergarten teacher. It has not gone unnoticed to me that this woman spent as much time with my son as I did this past year. I mean, thats a big deal. I'm beyond grateful that she was so great and trust worthy and that it was time that I was comfortable with Dylan spending.

I watched as Dylan put away his bag into his little cubby. It was second nature to him, this classroom is his own space and he knows it so well! And then I remembered the first of the year, my little guy very unsure of this new place and new responsibilities, slightly nervous but so very excited. My heart just melts. He has grown so, so much this past year. Physically. Emotionally. Academically. Spiritually. In every way I can think of. Dylan has grown so much.

We are so proud that our hearts could just burst!

Dylan,

You are a little rock star, Buddy.

Daddy, Mommy, and London couldn't be more proud of you if we tried!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

We had the.best.Memorial.Day.EVER.
Really and truely, it was so exactly what our little family needed.
Daniel has been working crazy hours and with the end of the school year seems to come a crazy amount extra things to be put on the calender. I do love to be busy (with things we love) but its been a bit much.
Anyways, this past weekend Daniel was able to leave work at 5 on Saturday (yes, thats early these days, and yes, I think its crazy too, and yes! we are very thankful that he has a job and we should not complain) and then the best part? He had the next two days in a row OFF OF WORK! YAYEEEE!
*For the record, he doesn't work these kinds of hours all year round, and his company is amazing at working with him and our family to make it as easy on us as they can when he does have these hours (but I'm still human so I'll still gripe from time to time).

So how did we kick off our Memorial Day weekend? Why, with an All-American sport, of course!
We took the kids to see the Texas Rangers play!

I have to admit, I had no idea how big of a deal the Rangers are to some people or how many fans they have.
We arived and the trafic was bananas.

I told Daniel that "I had know idea this was a big deal".
We had to park a mile away

(and pay nine bucks for it! yes, I'm painfully cheap at times)

and again I say to Daniel "No idea this was such a big deal!"
People are pouring into the stadium,

"Dude, I really didn't know this was a big deal like this"
We walk into this HUGE stadium with tons and tons of people.

Ya'll. It WAS a big deal!

All I could say was "I REALLY had no idea."
I wish we were paid $9 bucks for everytime those words came out of my mouth!
In retrospect, they are a major leauge team

and they did go to the freakin World Serries last year.
Of course they are big deal.
We just aren't huge baseball people, so I didn't know.

We went because:
A. It was free thanks to an awesome hook up!
B. Dylan has played tball for two years now, we thought he would get a big kick out of it (and he did)
C. We thought it would be a great, fun experience for our family and provide some much needed time together (and it did).

Bottom line is that it was such a neat experience and so much fun. I think we will definitely do it again sometime.

Think thats all the fun we had? No way! Sunday we attended church together as family, had lunch with my mom, and then Sunday Dinner (our favorite weekly tradition) at her house. Followed by an impromptu swim in her pool. Literally. Im.promp.tu. As in, we walked down to the pool area just take a walk and then I noticed our boy staring longingly into the pool, decided he should go for a swim, pulled his shirt off of him (with out telling him one word about what was to come next), picked him up and threw him into the pool. You should have seen his face! And Daniel's! I then decided he shouldn't be the only one to enjoy the fun, so I ran (for reals) down to my mom's and grabbed mine and Daniel's suits (that she keeps at her house for us) and that was that. Family swim time. London didn't have a current suit, as she has outgrown the ones from last summer, at Grammy's so she went in her undies. I'm not usually very spontaneous, but when I am... I have to say it feels pretty darn good!

Daniel and I even snuck off for a little unplanned date to the frozen yogurt shop while Grammy watched our babes (no worries, we paid her in frozen yogurt). It was such a great day!

Monday, we went swimming again, but sadly I had an awful headache and decided to go lay down at my mom's. Daniel, the kids, and Grammy had a great time though (which I'm glad for). I made up for it as best I could with a trip to the frozen yogurt store, family style! Daniel took the kids to see a movie they've been dying to go to (love that its their thing) while I had a VBS meeting and we finished the weekend off with a picnic in our backyard complete with story time.

It was two days filled with pure bliss. Looking forward to more!

Mothers Day 2011

Hi. I'd like to think that my blog and I are like old friends. You know, the kind that can go months without communicating and then when they finally do, they just pick right back up where they left of? Let do that, shall we? Rather than ramble about why I slacked off and how I'll try to do better, lets just jump into whats been up lately. Sounds good? Great! Maybe I still have two readers left.

Mothers Day was last week and it was pretty amazing. Daniel and the kids woke me up with breakfast in bed, a little yogurt parfait, and then they all jumped in bed to snuggle me. *Bliss*

My mom joined us for church and then we headed out for a beautiful and fun day at the Fort Worth Zoo. We brought sandwiches and had a little picnic there. It was perfect, minus the stupid bee that was apparently hungry and though our food would make a great meal for him too.

After our picnic we headed out to explore all of the Zoo. We stopped at the giant walk through bird cage first. Birds usually really, really freak me out but for some reason I really was digging these birds. I think because they were very calm and mellow. Maybe they had been drugged. Probably not, but I appreciated their mellowness. The kids loved the birds, I think London the most. My mom has always been a "bird person". She and my dad used to sit outside on their patio and "bird watch" in our back yard. They would have a book with all kinds of birds in it and binoculars. So it goes with out saying that she was loving the giant bird cage. I'm pretty sure thats not what the zoo called it, but that is exactly what it is.

After the birds we saw all sorts of fun animals. I can't believe it, but this was London's first trip to the Zoo! I wanted to take her several time last year, but Daniel worked crazy hours all Summer long, and it never panned out. She enjoyed it so much! At first she was a little standoffish but she warmed up quickly to the animals. She enjoyed making all the appropriate animal sounds for whatever animal we were looking at. She also enjoyed all the little telephones that were through out the Zoo. You pick them up and they tell you about the animal near by. She couldn't get enough of "talking on the phone."

Dylan is much like his Daddy when it comes to visiting the Zoo or a museum. He likes to stop and look at everything and read all the information about it. I love that he wants to learn and I'm thankful Daniel is patient enough to stand there and read everything. I'm more of a walk through and see the big animals kind of girl, and my mom and London seem to be the same way. As soon as we got to the Zoo, Dylan was asking when he could go to the play place. Really? We are here to see animals. He was finally able to understand that we would eventually make our way to the play place and that he should enjoy the animals along the way, and he did. I think his favorite thing, other than the play place, were the birds.

After our trip to the Zoo, we headed over to a burger place we've been dying to try, Twisted Roots. Its a "gourmet burger" joint and we've heard all sorts off great things about it. It was very yummy, but I didn't think it lived up to its hype (sorry!). Maybe if I hadn't known how much the burgers cost! Hah! The Rootbeer was off the charts good, and the company was even better!

I think this was one of the nicest Mothers days we've had and I'm so glad that we were able to spend it with my Mom!

Happy Mardigras!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Growing up in Mississippi, Mardi Gras was a holiday that most everyone celebrated, or at least recognized. My parents are both for South Mississippi and both lived many years in Louisiana, where Mardi Gras is a HUGE a holiday, so it was celebrated in our house.
Now that we live in Texas, I am SHOCKED by how many people have never even heard of King Cake (a staple of Mardi Gras). I tried to make one for my Sunday School class, but it was a bit of a flop. It is the thought that counts though, right!?



I wanted Dylan and London to get to celebrate the holiday though, so I asked Dylan's teacher if my mom and I could come in and share some about it. So yesterday, we headed to Dylan's school with London in tow and my mom read a book about Mardi Gras to the kids while I helped them make mask. All of the kids loved it and Dylan was SO excited to have us there.

London came with us and I think she was just as excited as Dylan. She loves going to "Bubba's School". She is all but counting the days until he gets to go to school to.

I do hope that one year we can take our kids to Louisiana and let them really experience Mardi Gras (not in New Orleans though!), but I think for now we are making fun memories that will hopefully last forever.

Lets Go Fly a Kite

Last Friday, after finding out that Daniel was going to have the day off work, we decided to seize the day and have ourselves a picnic in the park. We checked Dylan out of school early, packed up our picnic basket, called my mom to meet us there, and headed to the kids favorite park.

After we ate, we created some magical memories flying kites. Both of the kids loved flying their kites, but I'm pretty sure Daniel and Grammy loved it best.

Grammy brought some bread so that we would be able to feed the ducks. I think this was London's favorite part of the day. There were two big geese that were letting her get SO close to them, and I was a nervous wreck, but she had the best time. Dylan like the duck feeding too, but he soon decided to go back to kite flying with Grammy.

I think days like Friday are what life is all about... sweet, simple, lovely moments.