Tracyecakes

So Much To Do; So Little Time

2012-02-01T12:07:00.003-06:00

Starting with Valentines stuff.

I mentioned last week that I've been invited to a friend's valentine party. It's next week. And I'm not ready.

But, more importantly? I'm having a party here at my house this Friday. And I'm not ready. I know I have a couple days, but still. There is so much cooking, cleaning and organizing to do between now and then. I get overwhelmed really easily, and this is one of those times. I know it's all in my head, and I'm the only one putting this pressure on myself... but that doesn't change the fact that it's there. And I'm feeling it.

I saw on facebook once that cleaning the house while the kids are at home is like brushing your teeth while eating oreos: completely pointless. That is so true! I get frustrated when I'm in one room, cleaning, and they're in another, destroying. Unfortunately, we can't afford daycare, even once or twice a week, so I have to do it all in a mad rush while they're napping, or at night when I should be spending time with Hubs.

Speaking of nights, I'm not sleeping. And I can't figure out why. I've cut out caffeine during the day, and naps, and yet I still lie awake until at least 2:30 or 3 in the morning. Believe me, when you can't fall asleep until 3, and your kids wake up at 7:30 or 8, it's really hard to resist taking an afternoon nap!

Anyway. Enough of my whining.

Yes, I'm in a crappy mood. And not doing much to disguise it.

Hopefully I'll be back to my normal sarcastic self soon.

A List...

2012-01-23T12:52:00.000-06:00

Because that's all the time, energy and brainpower I have.

*The boys asked to go outside, so I bundled them up and sent them out with a few instructions: no playing in the water, no playing in the mud, no climbing the fence, no playing in the dog or rabbit food.

*It didn't take them long at all to violate every single one of those rules.

*But since they're muddy now, I'm taking the easy way out and letting them stay outside, as opposed to punishing them both (and me) by making them come inside and take a bath.

*In just a few days, I'll be halfway through this pregnancy. That's CRAZY.

*The first half has passed very quickly.

*We still have not poured the foundation on our house.

*I've given up hope that it is finished by the time the baby is born, and am now just hoping it is started by the time the baby is born.

*I really hate it when a kind convenience store clerk asks how you're doing, and you decide to show them, by completely breaking down in tears. For no reason.

*I really love kind convenience store clerks.

*I found a really cute desk at a flea market (more like a giant, perpetual garage sale) last week. Hubs stopped by on Saturday and picked it up for me. We put it in Christian's room. Now I just have to find a chair for it. I'll have to take a picture. Seriously cute desk. I'd like to paint it turquoise; it's currently white. The paint job is just fine; I just want it turquoise. We'll see. I want to redo her room in turquoise, black and white, but she's balking at the black. I hate when they get opinions of their own. I could do some ridiculously cute stuff in her room, if she'd just suspend her dadgum opinion. ;)

*I have been having REALLY BAD migraines quite often lately. REALLY. BAAAAAAAAAD. I finally gave in and called my doctor. At first, he said I needed to go to the emergency room. Ha. That will never happen. NEV. ER. HAPPEN. I will deal with a headache until the day I die before I will show up at a hospital emergency room whining about it. After I relayed that message, he called in a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. I think the pharmacy goofed and gave me Smartees though, because these "pills" don't do a bit of good. Which really stinks.

*The baby is moving around more and more. Hubs felt her kick two nights ago. Which made him really excited. He loves seeing me pregnant. I hate it. I feel like such a goober.

*I'm just now wearing maternity clothes. Five months in. I think this is the latest I've ever gone. One day I looked perfectly normal, and the next? POOF. The belly had arrived. I might try putting on regular jeans today, just to see if I'm imagining this belly or not. I really think I'm not, though. So I guess I'll skip the wardrobe change. I'm not really up for it anyway. Wow. That was a complete waste of your time and mine. Sorry about that.

*I'm so unbelievably sick of the mangy, disgusting, flea-bitten stray cats that overrun this town. Seriously. The lady next door (Crazy Cat Lady #1 {Should towns even be allowed to have more than one???}) had FORTY cats in her front yard the other morning. Crazy Cat Lady #2 just opens bags of cat food and pours them down her sidewalk for a morning buffet. Unfortunately, both Crazy Cat Ladies live next to us. One is right next door, and one is on the other side of the street, but still. We have cats on our porch all. the. time. Which maybe wouldn't bother me so much if we weren't allergic. Or if they weren't defecating all over the dang place. Or if they weren't completely covered in fleas and just NASTY, NASTY, NASTY. They hold conventions under our house at night, and get into LOUD disagreements during the breakout sessions, apparently. It's HIGHLY annoying when it happens at 2am. And again at 4. And then they hold the final voting at 5, I'm guessing. Judging from all the growling, screeching and screaming.

*I have a pain in my neck that is radiating all the way down my arm to my wrist. I thought I slept wrong a couple nights ago, but I can't imagine that causing this much pain. Or lasting this long. I bought a heating pad and massager last night. I "slept" with the heating pad all night. And by "slept," I mean I laid there throughout the night, trying not to roll to either side, since that immediately caused lightning bolts of pain to shoot down my arm and up my neck. Fun, huh?

*I took a hot bath and a Tylenol (with codeine) before I went to bed, hoping the bath, massager, heating pad and "medication" would beat the pain. No luck. I seriously think they're 100% sugar.

*A friend "hired" me to help with the party supplies for her husband's grandmother's 91st birthday party this coming weekend. So I will be busy making favors and tags this week. They will be so beautiful. She has impeccable taste. I can't wait to see it all come together. I love doing stuff like this.

*I think my dream job would have to be party planning.

*Except the part where I'd have to work weekends, when Hubs is off. That wouldn't be much fun at all.

*I just found a piece of bacon on the kitchen floor. Which is pretty disgusting, considering we had bacon cheeseburgers for dinner... TWO NIGHTS AGO. Ugh. Might be time to step up the housekeeping standards just a notch. Or let our "outside" dog become an "inside" dog.

*A friend of a friend invited me to her annual Valentine's Day party. Except it's not on V-day. Which is perfect for me. It's pretty elaborate, and everybody votes on the best valentine, best-dressed guest, best homemade valentine box, and this year, the best hat. I'm. SO. EXCITED. I already made my hat, and it's ADORABLE! I'm working on my valentines now, and I think they're going to turn out cute, too. A friend helped me with an idea for my box, and Hubs and I are brainstorming ways to build it. I think it's going to be really cool. I also had an idea for a t-shirt... but I haven't really decided on that one yet. I don't want to... how do I put this? Cross any lines, I guess. I've run it by a few people, and they love the idea, but I'm pretty conservative, and am just not 100% sure yet.

*I've also decided on valentines for Christian's class. They will also be quite adorable. She wants fairly elaborate ones for her teachers, too. I'm starting on them.

*My to-do list is starting to overwhelm me.

*One of my favorite families is moving away. They live in the house next door to our old house. So I can't really blame them for moving away, since I did it first, but I'm so going to miss them. They're heading to Colorado, to her hometown, which is PERFECT for them. But still. Sad for me. I made them a ruler growth chart on Friday as a birthday present, since her birthday was Friday, and his is next week. We went to a birthday party at their house last night, and stuffed ourselves silly. Seriously, they have some awesome parties. Always amazing food, and the company can't be beat. Going. To. MISS. Them.

*Cavan just got a hamburger bun from the pantry and is running outside with it. I asked him why he had it, and he told me "So Bo tan [can] eat it." I told him that Bo didn't need a hamburger bun. "Otay." And then he ran outside with it anyway.

*So my time on the computer has come to an abrupt end.

Happy Monday everyone.

Ruler Growth Chart

2012-01-08T10:50:00.000-06:00

We didn't make it to Home Depot and home again yesterday in enough time for me to make another sign, so I thought I'd post the other project I made on Friday.

I saw it on Pinterest, and in Pottery Barn Kids a few years ago, and I've wanted one ever since.

I thought it would be a great way to record all the kids' heights in the same place. When Christian was a baby I bought a pink canvas growth chart from PBK. But I never bought one for the boys, or recorded their heights on hers. Plus, now that she's growing up on me, it's a little babyish for her room.

I think this is just perfect for all of them, and neutral enough to display anywhere in the house.

I've Been A Little Busy Today...

2012-01-07T01:14:00.001-06:00

I've been wanting to use my Cameo to make a vinyl sign for quite some time. I've made a few things for others as gifts, but nothing for myself yet. Today turned out to be my big day.

I'm a bad, bad blogger, and didn't take photos of the steps, but hopefully I can rectify that tomorrow.

I started with this:

Well, actually, that's not really how it looked when I started.

Let me back up a bit. I bought a cull board (I think it's a 1x6) at Home Depot for $1.01, and they cut it twice for me for free, giving me three sign-size boards for a dollar. Go me!

I spray-painted 3,826 coats (approximately) of Krylon gloss white onto my board, and let them all dry. All. Freaking. Day.

I lightly sanded the edges, then dabbed some Minwax stain (in Provencial) on the edges, and immediately wiped it off. Now I'm kind of wishing I hadn't done that. Up close it just looks a little dirty. From farther away it looks great, so I'll just have to tell my guests to back the heck off if they're all up on it.

I used the "Circus" font, and cut the word "LOVE" out of hot pink vinyl. Applying the vinyl to the wood was probably my easiest project so far; weeding the vinyl? Not so much. That part will make you want to poke an ice pick through your eye socket. But don't do that. You'd have trouble finishing your project.

I also bought a 1 foot by 6 foot by 1 inch board from HD. I wasn't in love with the super-sharp edges, so I sanded them like crazy to round off all the edges and corners. I also sanded all the knots and ugly spots so I'd have a nice, smooth surface to work on.

I bought a sample-size jar of paint from Lowe's (Valspar; Hematite) and painted the entire board with three coats. The jars cost less than $3 each, and I had about a half jar left after painting the board.

I bought another sample-size jar of paint (Valspar; Elephant Gray) and stenciled the foreground using the "Iron Lattice" stencil from Hobby Lobby. I have just about a whole jar left.

This is what it looked like at this point:

I worked all day arranging the verse from 1 Corinthians 13. Changing fonts and sizes and playing with placement. I fed some white vinyl into the Cameo, and let'er'rip.

After applying the verse, I hung my "LOVE" plaque on my subway art using Command strips.

I do believe she could use some crown molding, so Hubs is going to cut some for me. I'll paint it the same dark gray as the background, and put it at the top and bottom. When I do, I'll update with a new picture.

I just love my subway art! I've been wanting a piece for a looooong time, but never thought I'd actually make it.

I put it in the hall to take a picture, and it looks so good with the spotlights on it, that I'm going to make another one tomorrow. The wall on the other side of the doorway needs one, too.

I plan to take step-by-step pictures of the process, and post the how-to as soon as I can.

Family Christmas #3

2012-01-06T00:30:00.000-06:00

Our third, and final, Christmas celebration of 2011 was at our home. It began on Christmas Eve. We got the three yayhoos together for a rare shot... and ever rarer still?

ALL THREE WERE LOOKING AT THE CAMERA AND SMILING. AT. THE SAME. TIME. I'm not sure that has ever happened before. So I wanted to record this holy grail of photographic achievement so I have proof in the future that it actually occurred.

We got them bathed and into comfy jammies, then my mom read the boys the Christmas classic, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Christian said she'd "heard it before," and wasn't interested. Twerp.

But the boys really enjoyed it.

Ooooh! Big yawn, right at the end of the story. I think it's working! After she finished reading, we put them all to bed. Shortly after, we put out the gifts we had bought. I never put gifts under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve, for two reasons: 1. I have two little mischievous little boys who I believe would unwrap/smash/break/steal the gifts while I'm not looking, and 2. I think it makes Christmas morning even more magical to wake up and see tons of gifts under the tree that was naked when they went to bed the night before.

While we were taking showers and getting ready for bed, Santa sneaked in, so I got a shot of the tree with all his stuff under it, too.

Christmas morning came waaaay too early. Especially for my mom, who wanted to sleep on the couch. The boys' room is right next to the Christmas tree, and she said they woke up around 2 am, and opened the door to look at all their stuff! She told them to go back to bed, and they did, but they were up every hour after that, giggling and opening the door.

Christian also got up, but she waited until 4am. Mom sent them all back to bed, but they kept coming back. Hubs and I had NO IDEA any of this was going on. We were dead to the world.

When they couldn't stand it any longer, Christian worked up the nerve to wake us up. I think it was around 7:30.

Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast is homemade cinnamon rolls (PUKE!!!). I make them every year, for us and about 38 other families. I LOATHE cinnamon rolls, but Hubs and the kids (and the 38 other families) go nuts for them, so whaddaryagonnado? Usually I make apple turnovers for myself, but I didn't have the extra energy, so I just drank hot chocolate this year.

ANYWAY.

We were mean and horrible and awful and made them sit in front of the tree and take pictures before we let them get after it.

With the smell of the buttery cinnamon rolls in the oven (I love the smell; hate the taste) and no gifts in their hands, I'm surprised I got this many.

We finally gave in and turned them loose.

They wanted to start with their stockings.

Those stockings were STUFFED. I was actually a little worried that all the gifts wouldn't fit in them, but we forced it. I mean, SANTA, forced it.

Then they went to town on all the packages under the tree.

Hubs wore the Christmas jammies I gave him last year, depicting his favorite Christmas movie ever.

Cullen would pull just enough paper off a gift to figure out what it was, then he was on to the next one. The kid doesn't waste time.

My mom will probably kill me for posting a picture of her in the morning, with no make-up, having SEVERELY interrupted sleep all night long. Poor thing. She flew in from Nashville, and got pink-eye on the plane. She drove the three hours from Houston in the middle of the night, not able to read any street or highway signs. It's a miracle she got here at all, much less safe and sound. I etched her initials on a glass trifle. I was really proud of it, but apparently didn't have the foresight to take a close-up of it.

Christian got lots of adorable clothes. And she wasn't exactly excited about it.

Cullen mostly got toys. Which he was quite happy with.

I also made my mom a set of silhouettes of the kids. Which I also neglected to photograph.

After the gifts and stockings were opened, we cleaned up the gigantic mess and got lunch on the table. It was a traditional Christmas dinner with roasted turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, green beans, corn casserole, and parker house rolls. Homemade pecan pie was dessert. It was delicious, if I do say so myself.

Right after that, Mom had to head back to Nashville, so we said good-bye. And immediately fell into a four-hour coma.

It was heavenly.

We had an amazing Christmas, from start to finish, and hope you did, too.

Family Christmas #2

2012-01-05T00:30:00.000-06:00

This one was at my parents' house on Christmas Eve. We started out by gobbling up yummy appetizers. Well... most of us did. I was ready to puke, so I didn't eat very much.

Then we tried to get a picture of the three yayhoos.

Which is not an easy task.

Since they're constantly looking around, and playing, and wiggling, and laughing and messing with stuff...

Then Cullen noticed the seven stockings my stepmom made, labeled with the grandkids' names, hanging in the family room. They appeared to have things inside them.

And he was ready to find out exactly what might be inside them!

Cavvie was more interested in this Santa.

It rode a tricycle around in a circle while it played music.

He thought it was pretty cool.

Then my nieces and nephews arrived...

And it was time for the obligatory picture of all the grandchildren.

Which is even harder to get than with just my three babies.

Seven faces, constantly looking in different directions...

And Cavan playing with the cat's toys...

But we kept at it....

And then confiscated the cat toy so there would be one less distraction.

Jaxsyn wandered up...

But didn't really feel like sitting down for a few thousand pictures.

Then they started getting really silly.

Soon after that, SANTA STOPPED BY!!!

The kids went nuts!

He had what appeared to be a bag of something... but what?

Caylee was up first. She got a wrapped gift and a candy cane full of m&ms.

Who's next?

It's Cullen!

Cullen climbed up on Santa's lap...

Where he also received a gift...

And a candy cane.

I was really proud of him. I didn't think he would sit in Santa's lap, but he seemed really excited about it.

Colton was next.

He also got a gift and candy.

Then Santa pulled Cavvie's gift out of his sack.

And my sweet baby boy climbed on Santa's lap...

And listened while Santa asked if he had been a good boy this year.

I'm not sure what he said, but I hope he told the truth! ;)

Santa must not have kept great records this year, because Cavvie got a gift and candy as well.

Cayden was next.

Finally, he called out Christian's name.

She was so excited to meet him!

Jaxsyn got something, too.

Courtlyn was last.

She wasn't too crazy about the idea of sitting on a perfect stranger's lap... and I can't say that I blame her.

But she did great! After that, Santa said he had to get going, but he'd be back to their houses later that night, so they all should make sure to get to bed early!

And with that, the chaos began!

All the kids tore into their gifts with gusto!

But Cavvie was really more interested in the candy cane full of m&ms that Santa left!

My dad really loved the vice we got him. Apparently he really needed one.

See BabyChocolateFace?

Holding a half-eaten lollipop?

Sweet Cayden said he had some battle scars from a run-in with a fence.

He liked the spurs we got him, and asked us to put them on his boots right then! I'm happy he likes them.

Cullen decided Grandma needed help opening ~~his~~ her gifts.

He believes if it is gift-wrapped, it must be for him, no matter what the tag says.

Christian made Grandpa a sun-catcher.

He loved it. Or so he said.

I love this picture. I just wish it were actually in focus.

Each year I make a calendar for my dad. It has all the dates he should remember, but never does.

It started out as a joke several years ago, but now he says it's his most-anticipated gift each year.

Which really makes my heart smile.

Cullen is still trying to ~~steal~~ help Grandma open her gifts.

I etched her initials in a glass bowl... which I never even got a picture of!

But that didn't bother Cullen. He said it was his anyway. I guess he really needs a footed glass bowl with someone else's initials on it.

After all the gifts were opened, we ate a little more, then hurried home to bed so Santa could come.

More coming later...

15 Years Ago Today...

2012-01-04T00:30:00.000-06:00

My grandfather and my aunt (now deceased) traveled many miles to a small church in a small town.

15 Years ago today...

My husband's friend walked his grandmother to her seat.

15 Years ago today...

My grandmother (now deceased) and grandfather came all the way from Washington to our small town.

15 Years ago today...

My husband's friend walked his parents down the aisle to their seats.

15 Years ago today...

My stepmom was led to her seat in the front row.

15 Years ago today...

My mom and her brother traveled many miles to this small town, to take their place in the front row of the church.

15 Years ago today...

With tears in both of our eyes, my dad took my arm, and escorted me down the aisle to my best friend; to my future.

15 Years ago today...

My husband and I said, "I do," and kissed for the first time as husband and wife.

15 Years ago today...

We joyfully walked out of the church, arm-in-arm, to a life we could only dream of.

15 Years ago today...

My best friends were with me as I tearfully got dressed, and took that long walk.

15 Years ago today...

Hubs' best friends were with him, as he got dressed, and they all joked about his life being over... and took goofy pictures of him passed out on the floor of the groom's dressing room. The bunch of goobers.

15 Years ago today...

I wore the most amazingly beautiful bridal gown my mind could ever dream up. And wore the most ginormous veil ever conceived. And carried a bouquet that had its own zip code. And had a hairstyle with so much hairspray, we actually used it to cut the cake.

15 Years ago today...

Hubs and his groomsmen decided to take ONE serious picture before the ceremony. Thank you for that, Hubs.

15 Years ago today...

I stood in front of a groom's cake, with someone else's name on it. (Actually, it was my name, but it was misspelled... so it may as well have been someone else's name on it!) Here is the photographic proof that I showed very little class, and POINTED IT OUT.

15 Years ago today...

My friends dragged my non-dancing husband onto the dance floor, to have a little fun with him.

15 Years ago today...

It worked.

15 Years ago today...

I got to dance with my husband's cousin... whom I can forever claim as my own.

15 Years ago today...

Cousin Kody and Melanie (who just happened to introduce Hubs and me) caught the garter and the bouquet.

15 Years ago today...

I made the best decision of my life.

I love you so much, Hubs. Thanks for being everything I could ever need, and everything I could ever want. This has been the best 15 years of my life, and I can't wait to see what the next many, many years (waaaaaaay more than 15!) hold for us.

Family Christmas #1

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

Right after Cullen's birthday party, we headed out to my in-laws' house for our first family Christmas celebration. This particular celebration includes bunches and bunches of people, and there's always waaaaay too much good food.

We all got our cameras ready for some shots of tons of kids going wild ripping wrapping paper to shreds. I was so excited to show Kelsey and Aunt Laura something I recently figured out on my own camera: how to custom white-balance to a specific room's light. I figured they already knew how to do it, and would be all, "Duh. I've been doing that, for, like, years now." But we all did it together, and all the cameras were ready.

So the kids dug into the pile!

"Come on, Bamaw!!! Get those presents passed out already!!!"

Patiently (?) waiting for his. Probably because he had just opened all his birthday gifts at his party!

My sweet sister-in-law, Kelsey, with my beautiful, always-happy niece, Harper.

Waiting...

More waiting...

NOW we're talking!

It's always so funny to me to watch the kids rip open their own gifts, then immediately go check out what everybody else got.

My mother-in-law found some flashlight rings, that the kids all LOVED.

Cavvie took this opportunity (read: the opportunity while Cullen was scoping out gifts) to play with Cullen's new tractor.

Gotta hurry and get lots of playtime in with it...

Because Cullen is bound to notice someone is touching HIS new tractor.

Aunt Laura was making her grandson, Austin, laugh with her HUGE red lips!

Cavvie JUST. LOVES. his cousin Harper.

He is fascinated by everything about her, and everything she does. I love watching him interact with her.

Makes me have hope that he will be the good big brother!

The day after Cullen's big birthday party, and the big family Christmas party, we headed back to my in-laws' house for a small Christmas celebration with them, my family, and my brother and sister-in-law and their kids.

It wasn't long before the kids got into the gifts all over again!

Even the big kids! We got Papaw a Hog hat, since he's from Arkansas (just like me!) and they're his fave team. I think he was okay with it.

Harrison didn't have any trouble opening his gifts...

Even though Cullen thought he needed a little help!

My sweet Cavvie. Bamaw made the boys boxes with their pictures on it.

Complete chaos.

Utter chaos.

I think Harper had it all figured out, too!

Christian got sooooo much this year! I think I need to get rid of everything she owned before Christmas, just to make room for all her new stuff. Think she'll mind?

Rick and adorable Harper. She needs another gift to open!

Cavan and Harrison looooooove their Papaw.

Hubs with my sweet baby.

See? Sweet. He loves his little cousin, and is always talking to her and smiling at her and touching her.

And my tall drink of water, Cullen. Look at that skinny little butt! No wonder he wears a belt every single day. It's the only way his jeans will stay up!

Kelsey put Harper on the floor for a bit, and Cavan jumped on it. He immediately started wiping her chin, saying she had "burped up."

Then they piled on Bamaw's lap for a while.

And Christian got in on the action.

It was a busy, hectic, jam-packed weekend, but we had a blast.

Stay tuned... more Christmas to come!

Cullen's Party... Two... or Maybe Three... Weeks Later

2012-01-02T06:19:00.000-06:00

Cullen really wanted to have his party at Lowe's this year. Unfortunately for him, I put the halt on that one. Instead, I gave him the choice between a local gymnastics place and the kids' museum. He chose the gymnastics place. It's the same place we held Christian and Cavan's combined party this past June. Ahem, three and two months after their respective birthdays.

The only party date and time available during the month of December was 9:00 in the morning on an already jam-packed Saturday. But that's what he wanted, so we grabbed it.

Since the party was so early, I kept it VERY simple, with push pops and sodas. I was crazy enough to need my sodas to match the color scheme of the party. And crazy enough to make labels for them.

I think they turned out adorable, and the kids loved them.

The cake pops were a huge hit. And super easy to serve. Bonus!

I bought matching vintage paper straws for the sodas... which were another hit. The kids just loved glass sodas and paper straws.

Mmmmmm.... these were the easiest birthday party treat I've ever served.

And yummy, too!

Cullen finally conquered his fear of the rock wall. YOU GO, CULLEN!!!

He also LOVED jumping off the platform into the foam bricks.

Christian waited at the top of the rock wall to scare her baby brother.

And Cullen jumped off the platform. Again. And again. And again, ad nauseum.

This is one of my most favoritest faces in the whole entire world.

When it was time to sing "Happy Birthday," Cullen couldn't wait to blow out his candles. In fact, Hubs had to keep the cake pop moving until the end of the song, so he wouldn't blow them out before we finished singing!

THIS IS THE BEST! PRESENT! EVER!!!

CHEERS!

Cavvie loved all the sugar!

And we still have a few of these left over!

I can't believe my precious baby angel is five years old already!

Happy birthday to my Baby Love!

My Little Guy is FIVE!

2011-12-09T07:46:00.001-06:00

And I just can't believe it.

Five.

FIVE!!!

How did I blink, and five years have gone by?

Well, it happened, and we tried to make the best of his birthday, even though he had bronchitis. Poor little guy.

He gets sick every year on his birthday, but I think this year was the worst. He had fever for days, and wanted to do nothing but sleep on the couch or snuggle with me during the day, and throw fits at night.

I'll take the snuggle time, but the rest I could have done without!

Anyway.

There were three things he asked for this year: a train cake (AGAIN!), a Christmas train set, and his very own Christmas tree.

Maybe it was because I'm realizing that this is his very last year at home with me, since he starts kindergarten next year. Maybe it was because he was so sick. Or maybe it's just because I'm a sucker for his sweet little smile, but he got all his wishes.

Starting with the cake. It was all-buttecream, which I SUCK AT! But it was much faster (and less messy!) than making a fondant-covered train cake... so this is what he got. We had some issh-ahs with this one... not to mention the fact that I had lots of "help"! Christian was just DYING to help make her sweet little brother's cake. She named his train "The Get-Well Express." Clever girl!

There is also a heart in the upper left corner, and a 5 in the lower right.

Opening gifts...

Look at that face! I was soooooo relieved to find that dadgum train! The store that he found it at had sold out by the time I got around to buying it for him!!!

Hubs lit the candles...

As we all sang "Happy Birthday."

My sweet little Baby Love!

Then he coughed all over the cake and I sprayed it with Lysol and we all enjoyed a nice chemical-ly piece of sugared goodness.

(I'll let you figure out which parts of that sentence are true, and which might not be!)

Despite being sick... AGAIN... on his birthday, I think he enjoyed the day. Him's my wittle love, and I just can't believe he's five. Or that he'll be climbing onto a bus every day, wearing his very own backpack, in just 8 short months.

Sigh.

I'd do well not to think about that.

Hormones, you know.

My Christmas List

2011-11-21T20:54:00.001-06:00

People (mainly Hubs) ask me all the time (not really) what I want for Christmas. There are always a few things I'm wanting. But it seems the second someone asks you, every thing you have ever wanted completely escapes your memory.

So... to make it easy (on myself!) I thought I'd post a list of what I'm hoping finds its way under my tree this year.

{DISCLAIMER: I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ADD TO, SUBTRACT FROM, AND/OR MODIFY THIS LIST AT ANY TIME.}

{BUT IT WOULD BE REALLY OUT OF CHARACTER FOR ME TO SUBTRACT FROM MY WISH LIST.}

{JUST THOUGHT IT FAIR TO WARN YOU.}

{I'LL STOP NOW.}

{YOU'RE WELCOME.}

And away we go..

1. Some vinyl. I have a bunch of projects swimming around in my head that I'd really love to actually make.

2. Some fabric ink. See reason #1.

3. Some heat transfer material. See reason #1.

4. A Food Saver. Lots of people I know have them, and even more people recommend them. I think it would make my life a little easier.

5. A Keurig coffeemaker. I've lost my taste for coffee, but that's pretty normal for me during pregnancy. I have not, however, lost my taste for hot tea or hot cocoa. And I'm sure I'll get my taste for coffee back. I'm thinking one that brews multiple sizes of drinks (i.e. 4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz, 12 oz), and one that has a large water resovoir.

6. A pretty casserole dish. A big one.

7. Fancy-pants kitchen cannisters.

8. Pretty much anything found at Pottery Barn or in the Willow House catalog.

9. A new set of king-size sheets. Preferably white or pale blue.

10. New pajamas. I just looooove new pajamas. I think I'm due for a pair in a toile print.

11. A Le Creuset (apparently "Le Creuset" is French for, "HOLD ONTO YOUR WALLET, SISTA!") dutch oven. (Side note: HOLY CRAP! I just looked at the price of these things, and all I can say is "WOW!") So it doesn't have to be "Le Creuset." Any pretty-colored enameled, cast-iron dutch oven would be nice. Lodge makes nice ones, I believe.

12. Fluffy white towels.

13. This chandelier. But Plow and Hearth doesn't have it listed anymore, so good luck finding it! Seriously, I've tried. So if you happen to find this chandelier and give it to me, you'll be my hero forever.

14. An embroidery machine. It's my list, and I can be as extravagant as I want with my wishes!

15. A NEW CAR!!! (yelled in Pat Sajak's voice) But not really. Because I absolutely loooooove my vehicle. And it was last year's Christmas gift. But it's not a car. Not by a long shot. Heh heh heh. But you can give me a gift card to any gas station! That would be great!

16. And... while I'm dreaming big, a pool for the new house. Specifically, this pool. The other items above I'm willing to take your choice on the sizes or colors, but I must put my foot down somewhere. And I choose here. I'm taking a stand, and I say if you get me a pool for Christmas, it should be this one.

SINCE WE TOOK OUR CONTRACT AND PAPERWORK TO THE MORTGAGE COMPANY TODAY!!!!!! YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! We may actually have a home to put a pool behind very soon!!!

17. Since we're building a new home, Lowe's and Home Depot gift cards WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED! Any little bit helps the bottom line.

18. While we're on the subject of our new home, I would love to have a Command Max HVLP Sprayer by Home Right. We have sooooooo many pieces that need to be painted (an unfinished pine armoire, two dressers, nightstands, beds, walls, exterior siding!) and the Command Max would make that job so much easier!

19. Apparently, the baby has developed a fondness for Whataburger fries. So a big orange "W" card wouldn't be inappropriate, either. You know, to nourish the baby. The BABY. NOT my bottom. Which seems to possibly be getting a little too much nourishment.

20. I have beautiful babies, and, since I'm about to have another one, I'd love a new camera lens. Specifically, the Canon EF lens, 50mm 1.8. It's a great lens for shooting portraits, or other subjects up close (read: cakes/crafts) and I have been wanting one for some time.

And, if Santa's not too busy, he could bring peace on Earth and goodwill to men and all that jazz.

But only after he brings me my pool.

Stenciled Cake

2011-11-14T17:30:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted many cake pictures lately... mainly because I haven't made any cakes lately. I've taken a bit of a break in cake-making, but I'm happy to report I'm back in the saddle again.

Which is not to say I won't take another break, if I so choose!

This cake was for a little girl turning two. Her mom wanted a sugar figure of her daughter, wearing a black t-shirt with a pink "2" on the front. She also wanted a rainbow pettiskirt on the girl.

The cake was to be two tiers covered in white fondant, with black damask, and pink accents... so here it is:

This was my first attempt at stenciling. I found a damask pattern I liked, cut it out, and stenciled black royal icing onto the white fondant.

It was by no means perfect, but I think it's a very pretty cake. Especially for a first try.

And I really love the bows. I think they make the cake look so sweet and girly.

Sometimes I have to put something in my sugar figures' hands, to cover a flaw in their fingers. This time, as I made her left hand, I thought, "Wow. I think that's my best hand ever." And then I made her right hand, and thought the same thing, so I put posed her with them spread on her skirt. My stepmom saw it, and the first thing she said was, "Wow! Her hands look really good!" So I figured it wasn't just me.

It was a really fun cake to do, but way more time-consuming than I counted on it being.

I had to wait for each stenciled section to dry completely before I could move on to the next section. It really added to the total decorating time.

But I think it was worth it this time!

The Most Epic Post Ever

2011-11-08T23:05:00.000-06:00

Exactly three months ago today, Hubs & I helped my dad and stepmom move my grandpa and his wife into a nursing home.

It was a difficult day for so many reasons. It was unbearably hot, being the first week of August. They weren't really ready to go, either. Not physically, anyway. Nothing had been packed or cleaned, and there weren't any boxes to put their belongings into. The fridge and pantry were full of food, and stuff was everywhere.

Grandpa is nearly blind, and Marie has Alzheimers, so that didn't make things any easier.

But the hardest part of the day came, not when we loaded up the trucks and trailer, but as I unpacked my Grandpa's shirts, and hung them in his new closet. It just broke my heart, condensing his entire life into such a tiny little room, barely big enough for their beds and comfy chairs.

That's when the tears came for me. It was just really, really hard to face the fact that this was his last move.

But God makes all things beautiful, and out of that difficult day, Hubs and I both were extremely blessed.

We got such a sense of family and joy, knowing how much we were blessing Grandpa, and even my parents. My dad was just getting over being really sick, and there was no way my stepmom could have done all that by herself. I love knowing I was there for Grandpa on such a hard day. I got some special time with him, and loved on him, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Since he and Marie would have hospital beds provided by the nursing home, my parents asked if we would like their twin beds to give to the boys.

Funny thing is, the day before they made the offer, I had been thinking about looking for twin beds to buy for them. I went so far as to list their crib bedding sets on e-Bay that night!

So after a long, difficult day, we were blessed with twin beds for the boys, and even a new couch for the playroom!

Now I had a new challenge: outfitting the boys' new beds with matching bedding.

I really love a quilt a friend made for Cavan when he was born, and wanted to attempt something similar.

I started searching for the fabrics. Since the fabric collection was in stores more than two years ago, they were all discontinued. It took many, many late nights, looking at quilt fabrics online, but I finally found and ordered what I needed. There was only one fabric that was completely unavailable, and the pony print had been changed a bit, but other than that, I came pretty close.

My stepmom is a talented quilter, and she gave me some pointers that I never would have figured out on my own. I cut out a few pieces, and sewed my first quilt block. It wasn't perfect, but it gave me the confidence that I'd be able to make an actual quilt.

The next day, my parents came over, and my stepmom helped me cut out all the pieces for two twin quilts! She showed me how to sew them together quickly, and that day we got 36 (3/4) of the blocks sewn together. She was at the table cutting, and I was at the machine, sewing. It went so much faster than I ever dreamed it would.

I sewed all the blocks into strips, and then sewed the strips into one huge piece. That took an afternoon; again, way faster than I thought. The next week, she came back and helped me put all the sashing and pony print borders on.

I cut all the remaining fabric into strips and pieced the backs together in an afternoon.

Then I bought all the finishing supplies and went to her house to quilt them. I had NO IDEA what I was in for!

She showed me (and added CONSIDERABLE help!) how to lay out the fronts and backs and sandwich them with the batting. Then it was time to start quilting.

I did it on her fancy-schmancy machine, and I'm so glad I did! It was physically exhausting, pulling the quilts tight, and feeding them through the machine. They got very unwieldy, very quickly.

My stepmom is a very good, very patient teacher, and I would never have gotten as far as I did without her.

Before I did the quilting, she embroidered each boy's name on the back,

along with a little label (right below each name) that has the date, and who made the quilt.

The labels were the perfect finishing touch, but they make me laugh a little. I'm not going to show them to you, because they have both our last names on them, but they say I made them "with help" from Grandma.

And to that I say: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

I think it's actually the other way around. These quilts would still be nothing but a pile of fabric if it weren't for her.

She also finished them both for me, sewing the binding on by hand.

They look AMAZING.

I couldn't be happier with them.

The boys slept on them last night for the first time, and they were a hit! Which is shocking. Both boys are pretty set in their ways (at 2 and 4!) and I thought I would have to confiscate the blankets they've been sleeping with.

It's late, and I'm sick, so I'm going to wrap this novel up.

But I just wanted to show off my latest projects! They're something I never, ever thought I'd be able to do.

And I wouldn't have, without Pat.

Thanks, Pat. I love them, and you, too!

It's Here! It's Here! It's Heeeeeeeeeeere!!!

2011-11-04T15:03:00.000-05:00

Once we finalized our blueprints, and started talking contracts with our builder, we began looking at all the things that finish a home.

I have been spending mucho, mucho time online, looking at light fixtures and faucets and chandeliers, and kitchen sinks.

I want a farmhouse sink, one large enough to wash my largest cake pans, cookie sheets and canning pots with ease.

So Hubs and I started looking. I found an exceptionally "average" sink somewhere on the Net (don't remember where now) and was determined that it would be the one. Because it was cheaper than any other sink I had found. Which is Hub's love language. Not spending money. :)

But then he showed me this:

And I died. My search was over. Forget that run-of-the-mill, so-very-ordinary stainless-steel sink, even though it did have a rounded apron. This was The. One.

And then I saw the price.

And got sick.

But that could have been the baby in mah bellah, because she's been making me quite sick since before I even learned she was there.

I knew there was NO. WAY. Hubs was going to spend that much money on a kitchen sink. A sink, for goodness' sake. I was so disappointed, and, truth be told, annoyed that he had even showed me the thing in the first place. I knew no other sink could ever hope to measure up. I knew someday, I'd be washing dishes at my run-of-the-mill, so-very-ordinary stainless-steel sink, and think back to the sink that all sinks dream of being when they grow up.

And my heart broke, just a little.

Well, it broke a lot.

I saw the dream of that sink being in my very own kitchen go swirling down the drain. Pun intended.

The next day, Hubs told me to order it.

And then I checked his temperature.

And made him take some Tylenol anyway, cause the boy just HAD to be delirious.

And then I stopped looking a gift horse in the mouth and did the dance of joy.

In exactly two months, we'll be celebrating our 15 year anniversary, and this is his gift to me. Nevermind the annoying little fact that he keeps telling me my real gift from him is the gift of life.

Har. Har. Har.

The traditional 15 year gift is crystal; the modern gift is watches. I think he did waaaaaay better than either of those.

My beautiful, glorious sink arrived today!!!

And it's HUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!

And BEEEEEEE-YOOOOOOO-TEEEEEEE-FUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLL!!!

I'ts handmade, hammered copper, with a nickel-plated accent behind raised scrollwork.

So... it's our first new-home purchase!!!

And, yes, we actually did buy a kitchen sink before the foundation has been poured.

He Cracks Me Up!

2011-11-03T20:05:00.000-05:00

Tonight, it's supposed to get pretty cold here.

And by "cold," I mean down to 38. I think it's the first time it's dipped that low since last winter. We're all eagerly anticipating the colder temperatures, but it gets rough for Bo.

He's a Golden Retriever, and will be 14 years old this December. Hubs and I bought him on our first anniversary.

He's a great dog, but his age is really catching up with him. Sometimes his joints bother him, and he stumbles when he climbs the porch steps.

Christian noticed him doing it tonight.

"Dad, Bo was having trouble getting up the steps tonight," she said.

Hubs told her she should give him a baby aspirin.

"Okay. How do I give it to him?"

"In his heinie."

There was absolutely no hesitation when she said, "I think I'll pass."

We actually had to go find her, to tell her to just wrap it up in a piece of bread so he would eat it!

I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

Halloween, 2011

2011-11-01T14:28:00.002-05:00

Fall is always busy around here.

That was dumb.

Fall is busy for everybody.

Halloween weekend is particularly busy. I'll get on with it now.

You're welcome.

First up, was Red Ribbon Week. Christian's school did all the crazy dress-up themes like all the other schools do. But Friday was different. She was one of three fourth-graders in her class to be selected to walk in the school Red Ribbon parade. Each grade chose a different theme for their part in the parade. Fourth graders dressed up as famous/notable Texans. She was asked to dress as Barbara Bush.

I bought a suit off e-bay and borrowed some pearls. I found a wig at a costume shop that was the right shape, but it was dark brown. No problem, right? I had Hubs spray-paint it white. Only, it didn't turn out white. It looked more like Amadeus. So I had to figure something else out. In the end, I sewed an old pair of her white tights closed, and hot-glued unrolled cotton balls all over it.

She had so much fun, wearing that get-up to school!

Here, she's waving to her little brothers, who are bouncing up and down with excitement over seeing their big "Stister" walking in the parade. They thought she was all that and a bag of chips. And, truth be told, so did I. I was actually choked up watching her. Dumb, I know, but I'm one proud Momma.

Hubs worked so much last week, that he took the day off to join us. He chased her down for one last picture. She was so proud that her Daddy was there!

After school, it was time to get dressed for Aunt Laura's annual Halloween party. Didja hear the one about a cheerleader, a pirate and a sheriff? No? Me neither.

For all his wanting to be a pirate for the last two weeks, Cavan wanted NOTHING to do with his costume. But did I spend all that time, energy and money putting together his costume, only to let him go in jeans? Why no, no I did not.

We dubbed him, "Pirate McAngrypants."

Laura's party always starts with pictures.

I just love the little vignette she came up with! It makes even my kids look sweet and wholesome and innocent.

We never got the "money" shot, but we got a few cute ones.

My friend Nikki and her little guy Eli came this year. He was supposed to be a "Yeehaw," which translates to a cowboy in toddler-speak. But he had Cavan's attitude, and didn't want to put on his costume. Nikki is much nicer than I, and didn't force him. I did, however, receive a text and picture from her, saying they decided on a Texas Ranger... and I must say, he's the cutest little Texas Ranger I ever laid my eyes on!

We ate a bunch of food... Cavan ate a bunch of "pops,"... we visited and enjoyed a bonfire... and went home to crash.

Saturday evening, the kids donned their costumes again, for our town's 16th annual Scare on the Square. Kids trick-or-treat along the town square, and play games, go on hayrides, eat lots of junk, enter costume contests, and then sprawl on blankets and watch a movie projected on an exterior wall of one of the local businesses. It is so much fun. Especially the movie. We bought hot chocolate and popcorn and wrapped up tight, trying to stay warm.

Christian and Cullen are speed-walking to the square, despite our calls to wait for the rest of the family! There is CANDY to be had!!!

We stopped at the Library's table, where they had a lantern set atop a quilt. A high-school student read the Halloween book, "Hampire," to Cavvie, while he ate the candy they gave him.

Our sheriff always has a candy booth. He has a bowl of candy with a hand in it, and when the kids reach in for the candy, the hand clamps down.

Cullen got a kick out of watching others reach in...

But WOULD. NOT. reach in himself!

We bailed a little early on the outdoor movie. We were tired, cold and hungry... and Cullen had spilled an entire cup of hot chocolate on one of the quilts. So we ordered pizza and ate it while we watched "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," in the comfort of our jammies and warm living room. With the lights dimmed for effect. So it was all good. We still snuggled under blankets and got "all toesy," which is one of Cavvie's favorite things. He loves getting all toesy. Or, cozy, for those of you who do not speak toddlerese.

The Big Day finally arrived. Halloween. The night when children all over our great nation run from door to door and house to house, mindlessly grabbing as much candy as their treat bags will hold.

We started next door to the house we sold earlier this year. Which was one county over.

It's not often that you get your picture taken while trick-or-treating. At least by the person opening the door! Karon gave them suckers that are kind of a cross between ring pops and wax lips. They're ring pop-shaped lollies on one side, and the other has a crazy looking mouth. They were fun.

Next up, was my parents' house, another county over. Christian is SO. EXCITED. She's been wanting to go see them for a while.

They got the stuff from "the good bowl!" And even though it came from my parents, I still must do my own parental duty and thoroughly check those Whoppers, Snickers and Twix. Which sometimes includes a taste test. I'm not one to shirk my parental duties.

Grandma and I took the kids trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

And this little guy got lazy REAL QUICK. He suckered Grandma into carrying him ALL NIGHT. She got a workout, I'll say that! He'd walk down the sidewalk to her, and jump into her arms, whether she was ready or not!

See that face? He knows EXACTLY what he's doing. Little con artist.

Then this little beauty queen showed up.

Along with the Red Power Ranger. He's really filled out since I saw him last.

They played and ate junk and enjoyed each other. And then we made them sit together for a picture. Cuties, every last one of them.

But, as all good things do, the night came to an end. We loaded up and headed home... which was FOUR counties away. I didn't realize that until we were on our way home. We drove four counties to take our kids trick-or-treating.

But we had fun, and that's all that matters.

So... Our Plans Have Changed Just a Bit

2011-10-25T11:07:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we were happily dreaming about our new home. Looking at light fixtures and sinks and hardware and doors and tile and flooring, and etc...

We had just met with our builder the day before, and made a few changes to our blueprints. The next step was for the architect to make those changes, so our builder could re-bid the job.

AND THEN...

Hubs had taken the week off to work on the road/driveway to our place. He had been unloading and moving material around for days, and packing it down, getting it ready for the big trucks to start hauling in cement and wood and all the other things that go together to build a house.

He had taken Christian to school, but the boys weren't up yet. I woke up, and still tired, tried to go back to sleep. But sleep, as usual these days, eluded me, so I got up.

On a whim (maybe not a complete whim) I took a pregnancy test out.. and within about 3 seconds, it was positive. Or, I thought it was positive. The line was pretty faint.

I walked into the living room in a daze, and showed it to Hubs.

"Do you see anything here??? Am I really seeing this???" I asked him.

Shell-shocked, we just sat on the couch and stared at each other for a while. He, of course, was quite happy.

Me, not so much.

I had a completely different plan for next year. One that didn't invove a newborn.

Cullen will start kindergarten next year, and I was really looking forward to having just Cavan at home with me. I envisioned us playing together, getting out more, and just snuggling lots and lots. He's a champion snuggler.

I envisioned lunch with friends, ladies' Bible study each week, and decorating our new house.

I envisioned a life free of diapers.

Sigh.

That day, I calculated how far along I should be (as I write this, it should be about 8 weeks), and then went into town for a blood test.

The nurse called me a few hours later to kick-off the myriad doctor's appointments I will be participating in over the next year. But she said that the number from the blood test was really low, and I couldn't be more than two weeks along. Which surprised (and scared) me, since I know beyond a shadow of a doubt when my last cycle began. And also approximately when... umm... the baby was probably... umm... "put in my tummy," as we say to Christian. :)

So they cancelled the ultrasound originally scheduled for yesterday. They said it wouldn't show anything at all, since there wasn't much to see yet.

I went in yesterday, to see the doctor and get more blood drawn.When I finally got to see him (I went from one department to another to another, and spent over 3 hours there yesterday) I asked him about it. I really got the feeling that he wasn't expecting this pregnancy to be viable. He said if I were truly 8 weeks along, my "numbers" would be in the thousands, not 64, which is what it was two weekss ago. He said before we get to talking about all the stuff we're going to talk about, we need to make sure that number goes up. And the results wouldn't be in until the next day... which happens to be today. He said his nurse would call me when they knew more.

I left and called Hubs and told him. Basically, we just didn't know anything.

Fifteen minutes later, my cell phone rang.

"GET USED TO BEING PREGNANT!" My doctor sang into the phone. Everybody else had gone for the day, but the lab had left my results on his desk. My "number" was now 20,000. So he's re-scheduling my ultrasound, for as soon as possible. They're going to call me today to set it up.

I've been feeling quite tired and nauseated lately.

Oh, the nausea. It's been fantastical. Faaaaaaaaaar worse than with the other four pregnancies. Faaaaaaaaaaar, faaaaaaaaaaar worse. Not even in the realm of imagination worse.

We've stocked up on crackers and ginger ale and preggie pop drops (I loathe that name), but so far nothing is really helping.

I take a Zyrtec every day. I have for the last six or seven years. I itch violently, all over my body, if I don't. And they told me yesterday to stop taking them until I'm 12 weeks along. Yippee. Adding to my misery. I really don't know how I'm going to make it without that tiny little pill.

To make matters worse, they told me I'm considered "high risk" because of advanced maternal age.

Well.

Thank YOU very much.

If you'll excuse me, Mamaw's got to take her Centrum Silver and lie down for the first nap of the day. Hopefully I'll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when the National Enquirer gets here to take my picture. Maybe later I'll meet Hubs at the Denny's for the early-bird dinner. Say, three o'clock?

They Got Me

2011-09-19T13:19:00.000-05:00

I celebrated my ~~twenty-fifth~~ ~~twenty-eighth~~ thirty-mumble mumble birthday this weekend.

I am so blessed to have these two gorgeous (inside and out) ladies in my life:

They took me to Houston to see... ahem... Paula Deen. She was at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show. We were a little disappointed, because she... well... she didn't cook. Anything.

Her husband Michael was there, and he cooked, but she regaled us with stories of her summer and her family and friends, and they both made a few jokes (which, as Nikki said, everybody has read in various e-mails). It was entertaining, but it wasn't what we thought it was going to be. We really expected her to COOK. SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Or at least give out the recipe for what Michael cooked. Nada.

We fought our way through the crowds at Reliant, shopping for ourselves and early Christmas presents, and then headed out into the RAIN! Yes, it rained all weekend!!! Hallelujah and Thank You Jesus!!! Sweet, blessed RAIN! So that's why my hair was lacking in the volume department. As Paula says, southern girls like big hair, so it gets them closer to Jesus. Well, Jesus liked my hair at the beginning of the day, but once it rained, well, not so much.

After the show, we went to P.F. Chang's. It was YUM. EEE. I had never been, and probably will never go again, since Hubs is not a connoisseur of Asian cuisine. But we liked it. We split honey crisp chicken, dan dan noodles, almond and cashew chicken, fried rice, and fried green beans. Everything was delicious. I'm still thinking about those green beans. And, SCORE! I just remembered I have leftover fried rice and almond and cashew chicken in the fridge. I know what I'll be eating for lunch in a bit!

They stuck a candle in a raspberry cheesecake and sang to me. It was also quite yummy. We had so much fun. Mostly to and from Houston. It was nice to have six hours with two of my favorite people, to do nothing but talk. And honey, did we talk!

When I got home, I noticed a wrapped gift in the kitchen. Hubs went on and on about how well he did this year, and how I could open it if I wanted, but then I wouldn't have anything to open on my actual birthday. So I waited. But I asked him if he had: 1. wrapped my gift in an empty diaper box, and 2. if he had weighted the box. He pled the 5th on both questions. The only thing I could guess he might have gotten me was Pioneer Woman's book, but the box was way too big for that.

So Sunday we awoke to pouring rain (thank you, Jesus!) and he got my favorite donuts for breakfast. Cullen was bouncing off the walls, begging me to open my gift.

I got a case of diapers. With an old (but clean) bath towel stuffed inside. Along with actual diapers.

And Pioneer Woman's book. :)

So I was right on all counts! Because I know him so well, and he knew what I wanted. He said he went all over town, and it was the LAST ONE. The bookstore he bought it from showed that they didn't have any, but someone scrounged one up.

Later in the day, after the boys (and I!) napped, Hubs woke me up, telling me we had to go! Now! RIGHT NOW!

Apparently, the electric company is going to be running our electric line this week on our land (YAY!) and he had to go to his parents house, load the tractor, and drive it back to our place. At that point I stopped listening to all we had to get done, but I heard "Blah blah blah, WE HAVE TO GO! blah, blah, blah, DAYLIGHT IS BURNING! blah, blah, blah, SO MUCH WORK TO DO BEFORE NIGHTFALL! blah, blah, blah."

"I love this wall. You should all have a wall just like this one. Because this one is really great. So I will lean against it and gesture to it, because I love it so much."

I dressed in old jeans, a holey t-shirt, and giraffe-print rubber boots. It had rained quite a bit, and I knew the land was going to be soggy, so I thought it was a fairly appropriate outfit for a day of work outside in the muck. (I have NO IDEA what I'm doing in that picture, but I'm fairly certain I'm not scratching or adjusting anything.)

But I did turn thirty-mumble mumble yesterday, and didn't really want to feel completely UG on my birthday, so I put on a faceful of make-up, my new lipgloss and new perfume, and I fixed my hair. All the while, Hubs is telling me we have to go, and I'm just going to get sweaty and ruin my hair and make-up anyway, so what's the point?

The point is, at this stage in my life, it's either a faceful of make-up or a burlap sack. You take your pick.

My dad had called earlier in the day, to wish me a Happy Birthday, and said something about taking us to dinner. I had a freak-out moment, thinking we were going to be out working, and they were going to stop by the house to pick us up for dinner. So I called them to clarify. They didn't answer. So I called his cell. He said they were just outside, but weren't coming today.

So we loaded up and headed to Hub's parents' house.

When we rounded the curve, I saw a bunch of vehicles in their yard, which is really nothing new. I mean, between the two of them, they have SIX VEHICLES at that house. Not counting the tractor or 4 wheeler. And there is ALWAYS someone over for dinner. I looked at Hubs and said, "Who's here?"

He said he didn't know.

As we turned into their drive, I saw BALLOONS. Tied to the gate. As in, "THE PARTY'S HERE!"

And lots of familiar vehicles.

And my dad.

The big liar.

Which were the exact words I yelled when I got out of the truck.

I. Had. No. Clue. This was coming. Or I would NOT have worn old jeans, a holey t-shirt, and RUBBER. BOOTS. To my party. Giraffe-print or not.

Inside my boots, my toes were pretty dadgum cute, since I was trying to impress Paula the day before.

We didn't get too many shots of my chic outfit, but we did get about 493 pictures of my butt. With Hub's hand reaching for it. And my ta-tas. I had no idea until I got home and downloaded them all. He's a perpetual twelve year-old.

Once I got over my shock, we partied, and ate, and then they broke out the cakeS.

My sweet baby girl baked and decorated two cakes for me, and my stepmom made YUMMY key lime bars and my friend, Karon made YUMMY chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter filling.

"Happy birthday to MEEEEEE!"

While I was busy being serenaded, Cullen sneaked closer...

AND BLEW OUT ALL MY CANDLES!!!

The little twerp.

My beautiful (and very stylish!) friend, Emily, re-lit them, and they sang to me all over again.

It's a tough job, but I took it on.

This time I got to actually blow them out allbymysay-ulf.

EVERYTHING was good.

Sooooooooo good.

Ahem. Tooooooooo good. :)

She enjoyed the fruits of her labor along with some homemade ice cream. I never got around to that. There was just so much to eat! And so many great people to hang out with.

Like these two.

Eli really enjoyed his cake, too!

Christian made me the sweetest. card. EVER. She also gave me a little figurine of a mother and daughter, sitting together, in white t-shirts and blue jeans. I love it. It reminds me of those faceless Willow Tree angels. Karon is an amazingly talented painter, and she's going to paint the hair to match mine and Christian's. The hair on the figures is just a little too dark.

See? Nice party outfit, huh? KLASSY. He is just sooooo lucky I did my hair and make-up. I think someone would be filing a missing person's report on him by now had I not.

Emily makes the best raspberry margaritas I've ever had. Well, actually, hers are the only raspberry margaritas I've ever had, but I can't imagine anyone making them better than hers. They're dangerous. Sinful. Soooooooooo goooooooood.

So she gave me some margarita glasses. She said she'd give me her recipe, but I told her I'd rather just have her come over and make some more! Because it's just not going to be fun to drink them without her.

My stepmom (and Dad, but he had no idea what "they" were giving me!) gave me a whole bunch of stuff I've really been needing lately, and she's the expert on, so I was SOOOOOO excited to see all that she filled that bag with.

And she can really fill a bag, let me tell you! Once I finish my big project, I'll post pictures and tell you what exactly she filled that bag with.

The last box I opened was a complete shock. COMPLETE. SHOCK.

I have been wanting a silhouette cutter forever, and have been telling Hubs for about five months that I'm going to order one, but just never get around to doing it.

Well.

He ordered it.

SHOCKED, I tell ya.

He had already given me the book I really wanted, so I thought that was it. And I was perfectly happy. Beyond happy. I had a new book that I've been wanting to read, I had an amazing surprise birthday party with sweet friends and treasured family, lots of very thoughtful and appreciated gifts, so I was set.

And he just took it one step further. I'm still so shocked that they all got me so completely. I really had no clue any of this was coming. I kept telling him last night how special and loved they all made me feel. I am just so blessed beyond words.

I have friends.

I have friends that are more like family.

I have the love of an amazing family.

I have it all.

The End of Summer

2011-09-15T20:43:00.000-05:00

Our summer was long and lazy, which is just how I like it. We don't over-schedule, we don't go away for days or weeks at a time, and we generally don't have anywhere we have to be.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

There were a few weekends when we had two or three events, and that just makes this homebody twitch.

For the most part, it was staying up late, sleeping late, and playing hard.

This year we went out with a bang.

My mom visited from Nashville, and we made sure to get the most out of our time together.

We woke up at the crack of nine Sunday morning, and I made Belgian waffles and fruit smoothies for breakfast.

We took our time getting dressed, and hit the road, headed towards the Kemah Boardwalk. It's basically a year-round carnival, with lots of restaurants scattered among the games and rides.

Of course we stopped at Buc-ees on our way there. Got some beaver nuggets, some beef jerky, some fudge, a few cinnamon-roasted almonds. It was imperative that we get good, wholesome food in us to prepare us for the rigors of carnival rides.

And no trip to Buc-ees is complete without a few bags of toys for the kiddos.

We got to our hotel, but our Kemah tickets (part of our package) hadn't arrived yet, so we went down to the pool and walked around. The kids played a little golf.

Don't let the stance fool you.

I really think he's found his calling.

At the tender age of four, he just has that special "something."

I really think he's headed for a gold jacket one of these days.

His swing is just so.... so... pure. So raw.

This little guy was pretty good, too.

He didn't get the memo that cowbabies shouldn't squat with their spurs on.

Probably wouldn't matter, even if he did get the memo. He's not really what you'd call a rule-follower.

As evidenced by the fact that he didn't bother too much with using the club to bump the ball into the hole.

He found it was much faster to just use his hands.

She's really the only one that looks like she belongs out there.

But then again, she spent some time on the course with my dad this summer. He's a retired instructor.

They really wanted in the pool, but a cool front swept in, dropping the temperature to a balmy 87 degrees.

And Christian forgot her swimsuit.

So they climbed up on the rock waterfall and tolerated me taking a few pictures.

He's such a silly little boy.

And he's growing up too fast.

He's getting more handsome with every passing day.

This face makes my heart hurt. But in a good way.

They're all wearing new cowboy boots here. I bought FOUR pairs this week. All three of my babies had outgrown theirs, and I found a pair for me at a price that was almost free, really. Cullen and Cavan wear cowboy boots every. single. day. Cavvie even wears his with shorts. (Ugh. I pick my battles. Boots and shorts is not one of them.)

This was the only shot where all three of them looked relatively normal. Unfortunately, they weren't all looking at the camera.

So we tried again. But Cullen doesn't really appreciate his sister grabbing his head.

See?

(He reminds me of my Gramma here. I don't really understand why. Oh. Wait. It's coming back to me. That's the face she used to make when my brother and I were driving her CRAZY. It's the face that usually accompanied her yelling "EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" And then saying we weren't allowed to visit at the same time anymore. Good times.)

Hubs was trying to clean Christian's face...

And Cavvie took advantage of his Daddy's distraction to try to touch the lamp that I had just told the other two not to touch.

Right about this time, the hotel manager came out to the pool and gave us our Kemah tickets... so we headed there. We figured it was probably time to get the heck outta there, before we got escorted out. And not in a good way.

First thing the kids wanted to do was ride the carousel.

While we were in line, Cullen dragged my mom to one of the nearby games.

It was that "strong-man" game. The one where you hit the hammer as hard as you can on the platform and see how high you can make the ball fly up.

He loved that game! Unfortunately, he can wear his daddy's wedding band as a bracelet, so we weren't expecting much.

I was shocked that he won something! They gave him a stuffed dolphin. Mom said he told the lady, "I don't want an animal."

So mom told him to take it anyway, and maybe he could give it to someone.

So he (very sweetly) asked her if he could give it to Stister. Mom, of course, told him he could. (Made. My heart. MELT.)

Cullen ran over to Christian and held up the prize he had won for her. And she told him, "No thanks!"

But Cavvie wanted it, and he carried that thing around with him for the rest of the night. He now sleeps with his fishy. Which is kind of weird, but a lot of things about him are weird.

This is where Cullen sat during the carousel ride. He was perfectly content to sit on a bench and spin in circles from there. We were among the first on the ride, and the kids immediately headed to the second floor. Which was the right choice. You could really see the whole park from up there.

Christian rode the ostrich,

While Cavan chose a horse. Kind of appropriate, considering he's wearing spurs. There is nothing cuter than a wild, rough little boy in wranglers, cowboy boots, and spurs.

This is my mom and Cullen waiting for Hubs, Christian, Cavan and me to get off the ferris wheel. We tried to ~~force~~ encourage Cullen to ride it with us, but he wouldn't do it.

In total honesty, he. FUH-REAKED. OUT. It was like trying to stuff an octopus into a pair of pantyhose.

I'm guessing here. I haven't actually tried stuffing an octopus into a pair of pantyhose. But I bet my experience with Cullen and the ferris wheel comes pretty dang close.

Her's so preeety.

And Hubs apparently believes the camera will steal his soul if he cracks a smile. I now understand why people that meet him think he's so serious.

Hi Cullen! Hi Mom!

This is while we were standing in line, waiting to ride the train. Cullen was so tired. He asked Mom to hold him, and then just layed his sweet little head on her shoulder. I almost yanked him away from her, but thought that might be a little rude. Not that it wasn't rude of her to take MY BABY. But whatever.

After this, Hubs took the chillins to the car to watch a movie, while Mom and I rode the scary rides.

But first we stopped and got frozen margaritas.

That were 3 feet tall.

For REAL.

It was liquid courage.

It worked. We rode them all. And the liquid courage stayed down, even while the rides threw us all around, so I think everybody won.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so much.

And not just because I drank 36 inches of frozen margarita.

Progress

2011-09-01T12:18:00.001-05:00

We submitted the plans I drew on graph paper (and then in Excel) to our builder, who gave them to his architect.

The architect took the plans and drew up actual blueprints.

It's an awesome feeling, watching something you've worked so hard on, lost sleep about, and obsessed over, actually become plans for your future house.

Our first house wasn't quite so complicated. We picked the lot (the one with the most trees), we chose a plan out of a book of hundreds (based on how many bedrooms, baths, layout, etc. that we wanted), we selected brick and tile... and the builder turned it into our home. Uniquely ours.

This time it is completely different.

We drew the plans from scratch, for starters. We have to put in a road, a septic system, and electric. Plus the tiny little fact that we're building on our land. This time, there aren't any do-overs. We won't be buying more land (we might, actually, but it's only to expand our current property), selling this place and building again. This is it. The Big One.

But nothing could happen until some trees were removed. It broke my heart, but there were so many, you couldn't get a vehicle in there, so a few had to go.

My father-in-law knows a guy that does land clearing, so Hubs and I walked the property, marking trees to be removed. We marked a space for our road, and then we mapped out the footprint of the house and marked everything inside it. Hubs cut down the largest trees for firewood, and stacked the logs to dry out. The smaller trees were mulched.

A few weeks ago, Hubs took the week off and started working on the road.

He scheduled two truckloads of crushed limestone for delivery; the first one was to be there early in the morning, the second later in the afternoon. This would give him time to spread the first load, and a place to put the second.

The first driver showed up late. He started backing into our driveway, got scared he might go off into the ditch, and dumped his load in the road. Hubs started yelling (since it's a highway, and we're situated smack dab in the middle of a curve) and the driver took off, leaving Hubs alone with a huge load of limestone in the middle of the roadway.

Thankfully, an off-duty officer came along on the way home from work, and stopped traffic on the blocked roadway while Hubs cleared it.

The limestone company said they would give us a free truckload, for the driver's... ummmm... error.

It took all morning for Hubs to get that limestone off the roadway, and spread it around the entrance to our place.

The next driver showed up around lunch.

Here he is now.

He drove down the roadway until he could turn around to back in at a better angle.

He backed up a little ways, but too far to the left.

He opened up his truck's doors and dropped the crushed limestone... and got stuck.

Hubs and I got shovels and tried to clear some of it out so he could drive forward, but more limestone just poured out over the spot we cleared. It was futile.

Hubs got the tractor and pushed from behind, as the trucker gave it some gas.

But there was just too much limestone, and his tires wouldn't grip the sandy soil.

All this time, I was standing out on the asphalt (it was about 102 degrees, but it felt so much hotter on that blacktop) stopping cars. Finally, the driver of a heavy-duty truck stopped to help. He pulled the 18 wheeler, as Hubs pushed with the tractor. Still, nothing. That 18 wheeler would. not. move.

The Good Samaritan drove a little way down the road and got this off his trailer:

It took his industrial-strength equipment (a digger-outer-puller-thing) pulling the 18 wheeler and Hubs pushing with the tractor to finally get unstuck.

It was a looooooooong day in the heat, and seemed like it was doomed-for-failure right from the beginning.

But Hubs is a super-hard worker, and he finally got all that limestone spread enough that big trucks can now get in. The sprinkling of rain we got a week ago helped compact it into a hard surface, similar to concrete.

A few days later he dug a 3 foot deep trench, from the fence all the way back to where the house will be. Now we're just waiting for the electric provider to drop some line in there, and we can move on.

Baby steps, hard work, and lots of sweat.

Small, slow progress, but we'll take it.

They Don't Always Look Like This

2011-08-29T15:17:00.000-05:00

But it's a very good thing that they sometimes do.

Because most days it's the only thing that keeps me from listing them on e-bay.

Take last week for example.

"Last week, Tracye? The whole week? Really?"

Really. The. Whole. Week.

I'll spare you the details, but-- wait! No, I won't spare you the details. This is my blog and this meaningless drivel is what you come here for.

First, a list of the things these two boys attempted to flush down the toilet:

A pair of underwear
An entire roll of toilet paper
A comb
A pillar candle

I emphasize attempted, because their efforts were thwarted. Which you would think would be reason to celebrate... if you weren't the person that had to thwart those efforts by retrieving said items from the toilet.

God only knows what they succeeded in flushing.

Monday was fairly uneventful (aside from it being Christian's first day of school, in a new district). They really didn't get into much.

Tuesday I've blocked out.

But Wednesday. Ohhhhhhh, Wednesday was a doozy. I never want to see Wednesday again. Or Friday.

It started right after I took Christian to school. I fixed the boys' breakfast and left them to eat their cereal and milk in the kitchen.

Almost immediately, Cavvie started screaming.

I ran in there, only to see his sweet little baby face with rivers of milk cascading down it. He was blinking milk out of his little eyes. If it weren't for the milk covering twenty square feet of the kitchen floor, walls, counter and refrigerator, it would have been funny.

Seems this little guy didn't want Cavvie touching his cereal, so he threw a full sippy cup at his brother's face.

I cleaned it up and moved on.

Two hours later, Cullen decided to fix himself a snack. By the time I realized it, I walked into the kitchen to find the floor and counters covered with every cracker, peanut, and almond we had in the house, as well as a whole bag of caramel popcorn.

I cleaned it up and moved on.

Two hours later, I fixed lunch. I don't even remember what I gave them, except for their drink. I decided to be ~~an idiot~~ sweet, and make them slushies to wash down their lunch. Five seconds after they were situated, Cavan comes running to find me, telling me he wants more slushy. I checked his cup (it was FULL) and told him to go finish eating.

He ran, screaming at the injustice, into the kitchen, where he threw (dropped? I don't know) his cup on the floor. That's riiiiiiight. I was cleaning the floor, AGAIN. This time it was sticky slushy.

The rest of the day passed quickly. I put them down for a nap, and a couple hours later, Christian was home from school.

The next morning I was going to a birthday party at a friend's house, and the boys were going to Aunt Laura's. I got them dressed and fed, and then stared working on myself. But that quickly got pushed to the back burner, when Cavan got the Nestle Quik powder out of the pantry, poured it over his head (trying to drink it) and across the kitchen floor. I guess the powder made him thirsty, because he followed that up with a cup of water.

ARE YOU %@&^!#$*%&) KIDDING ME?????

The next day, Friday, was more of the same.

Cullen wanted oatmeal for breakfast, and ended up trying to make it himself. He had a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup packed full of cooked oatmeal. I don't know how he did it so fast (while I was changing Cav's diaper), but it was done. No biggie, right? I just put some of it in a bowl for Cav, and some in a bowl for Cullen. I was proud of how I handled it, given the events of the week.

Next thing I know, they're talking to each other about "cleaning it up," which is NEVER good.

I walk into the kitchen, and they have poured over half a gallon of milk (all that we had in the house) onto their oatmeal. It was mostly in Cullen's giant bowl, but Cavvie had poured a considerable amount into his little bitty bowl. It overflowed, and was running down the counter and onto the floor.

That's when I lost it.

LOST. IT.

I sent them both to their room, where I baby-gated them while I cleaned up yet another mess.

I transferred all the milk and oatmeal into a pan, and set it on the stove. For the next 30 minutes I stood at the stove, crying and stirring that oatmeal, trying to get all the lumps out and the milk absorbed. I had a measuring cup with SIX CUPS OF COOKED OATMEAL. I hoped the 30 minutes of crying and stirring would soothe my nerves and get all the frustration out.

After it was all cooked together, Cullen asked if they could come out for a snack.

I brought them out and set them at the counter with... more oatmeal.

Cullen asked why I was making them stay in their room, and I couldn't hold back the tears.

"BECAUSE I'M TIRED. BECAUSE ALL YOU TWO DO IS DESTROY. I WORK ON CLEANING UP ONE MESS, AND YOU'RE IN ANOTHER ROOM, MAKING ANOTHER. IT'S RIDICULOUS, AND I'M TIRED. I'M SO SICK OF WATCHING YOU TWO MOVE FROM ROOM TO ROOM TO ROOM DESTROYING EVERYTHING YOU CAN."

All this, while I was shaking and tears were streaming down my face.

Poor Cullen. He sat there at that counter, holding Ganket in his fists, with his fists up to his mouth. He was crying too, but silently. After my tirade, he got down from his stool, walked into his room and laid down on his bed and cried some more.

That day, they got oatmeal. For breakfast, lunch and snack.

And then they went back to their room.

It was fun, let me tell you. Fun for all of us.

That day I started thinking about what kind of work I'm going to start looking for. I'm thinking about something here in our small town (less money but less travel, too) versus driving to the next county for more opportunity.

But I'm guessing all this will just be waiting for me at the end of the workday.

Laundry, cooking, cleaning, messes.

I just don't know if I want to keep fighting this battle, because there are two of them, and only one of me.

And right now they seem to be winning.

Stream of Consciousness

2011-08-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

I love babies.

Specifically, I love my babies.

But I love my nieces and nephews, too.

We've called Cavvie, "Chubs" since he was born (among other, just-as-unflattering nicknames) because he weighed 10 pounds at birth.

He's not so much chubby anymore.

Quiet time is over.

The boys woke up from their naps full of energy.

I wish I woke up with that much energy.

Cavvie just gave me a sweet little kiss.

Or, as he calls it, a "tiss."

His breath kind of smells like peanuts.

Which is better than it could be, I guess.

I'm so sick of watching/hearing Caillou.

I got a couple things accomplished today.

I've been meaning to do them for a couple months now.

Cavvie pronounces "blue" as "buh-leeeew."

I love it.

I think we need to continue the working on obedience around here.

I'm cooking meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight.

The kids LOVE meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Hubs doesn't.

But he won't be home until after dinner.

Hence, the meatloaf.

School is starting three weeks from yesterday.

I registered Christian yesterday.

I took the school secretary (and principal, teachers, et all) cupcakes.

They were butter pecan cake with brown sugar buttercream.

Hubs said they tasted like pancakes.

I'm not sure that was a compliment.

I thought they were yummy.

I hope Cullen gets to go to preschool here.

But I doubt they'll let him.

Either way, he'll start kindergarten next fall.

I can't wait.

And yet, I can.

I need to charge my iPod.

Baby peetsies are adorable.

I love that Cavvie truly believes his bo-bos are better after I kiss them.

Christian and I have had some enlightening conversations lately.

I need to put the laundry away.

Cavvie loves to "sit you," which means sit in your lap.

He's doing it now.

It's very hard to type while he "sits you."

I gave them divided "cafeteria-style" trays for lunch.

They had strawberries, blueberries, carrots, celery, ranch dip, pretzels, peanuts, crackers, and sesame sticks.

It was a success.

Cavvie just "hurt say-yulf," which means he needs me to "tiss" another bo-bo.

It's better now.

I gotta go.

I told Christian she could help me make the best chocolate chip cookies ever.

And then meatloaf.

Love that girl.

Your Thoughts Would Be Appreciated

2011-07-29T19:04:00.000-05:00

What do you think?

I made this today, and am thinking about having it be my "logo" for my cake business.

I printed it out and mod-podged it to a cake box for the mother of a former student. She ordered two dozen cupcakes, and the box manufacturer had their logo (and the price of the box! Tacky.) on the box, so I originally printed a small one to cover that on the bottom. But then I thought, "Why not go all the way with this?" and printed out a large one and mod-podged it to the top of the box. It looks very professional and clean, and I'm quite happy with this method.

I just need opinions on the colors/fonts/shapes.

So... WHAT DO YOU THINK??? ;)

P.S. I do not live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Nor is that my phone number. So instead of calling me with your opinions, you can just leave a comment!

I Could Stand a Few More Days Like This

2011-07-29T15:11:00.000-05:00

Don'tcha just love days when you give the kids a bath before leaving the house, and then go only one place where they sit the whole time, so they're not at all dirty when it's bedtime?

And don'tcha just love when the dentist cleans their teeth, and paints fluoride on them, and tells you not to brush their teeth before bedtime?

And don'tcha just love when, on the way home you're trying to come up with what you're going to cook for dinner, you remember you made stuffed shells last week and froze a fully cooked, from-scratch meal, all ready to go into the oven without the least effort at all from you?

Yeah.

Me, too.

Jakob's Cake

2011-07-06T12:47:00.000-05:00

My little cousin Jakob's fourth birthday party was rolled in with the big Independence Day celebration our family had over the weekend.

His mom asked if I would make a purple guitar-shaped cake.

The cake was too big to keep cold (super firm and solid) so I had some shifting/sagging issues with the fondant.

I wanted to try airbrushing some silver flames to break up all the purple.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKOB! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR CAKE!

Sunday's Festivities... Part 2 of Our Busy Weekend

2011-07-05T23:14:00.000-05:00

After Saturday's big family party, we had to head home so I could finish the next cake on my radar.

It was for these adorable twin girls...

That this kid says he's going to marry someday. Side note: ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! He's my four year-old Baby Love! He CAN. NOT. be talking about who he wants to marry already!

Grumplestiltskin didn't want me to take his picture... but then, he never does.

Rick and Emily are adorable! Well. Emily is, anyway. ;)

That's their oldest son, Zach. He was trying to be obnoxious behind their sweet moment.

4/7 of our combined children played on the trampoline, with the sprinkler going,

While these two goobers tried to hotwire the Gator and find a real party. One that didn't include their lame parents. Because parents are like, soooooooo for babies.

Two words: Raspberry. Margarita.

Two more words: My. BFF.

These twerps had to make do with juice boxes. They were okay with that. Not that it would have changed things if they weren't okay with that.

He's the strong, silent type. Except when he's giving me grief.

And he wasn't exactly silent when Rick took an exaggerated sip of Emily's margarita. I belive the name, "Sally," was mentioned a time or twelve.

Oh. My. Good. NESS. My heart cannot take so much squishy, adorable baby cuteness in one place. I do believe this picture will be finding its way into a frame. But then I say that about most pictures of this sweet little face. And I have yet to frame any of them. BAD MOMMY!

Ummmm... Will? Sweetie?

With these three on the loose, you might want to get up.

Yeah. Before THAT happens. Sorry. I tried to warn you.

Oh! That's right! I'm writing this two days later.

So you probably didn't hear me, huh?

My boys investigated the playhouse...

While the girls jumped on the slip'n'slide.

She's. So. CUTE.

Wow, Christian! You got some air!

All the kids dried off, got dressed, and came inside for cake.

The candles just HAD to be placed in the exact right spot.

Zach got such a kick out of lighting the candles with the flexible lighter.

With each candle he lit, he had to twist the lighter into a new position.

Will and Christian, patiently waiting for all the candles to be lit, so they could sing "Happy Birthday," and get some CAKE!

The girls were patiently waiting for the same thing.

And now it's time: "Happy Birthday Maddie & Jessie!!!"

They got 'em!

And cake for us all.

They look fairly happy with it.

Such a Busy, Busy Weekend

2011-07-04T23:57:00.000-05:00

And it all started with a little boy's birthday party/family reunion/4th of July celebration.

I made the cake... which was supposed to be a purple guitar. I decided to add some silver airbrushed flames. I really like how it turned out.

My sweet sister-in-law brought my precious niece down for her first visit... and then left as soon as we got there! The. Nerve. ;) It was suuuuuuuuuuper hot out there, and the baby really needed to cool off. They came back later, though, so you'll have a little more eye candy at the end of this EPIC post.

My parents came... and were so happy to see Chubby Dubby.

He was quite happy to see them, too! He's been asking about them a lot, and he got his fix on Saturday.

Poor Chubs has a black eye, and a small cut on his cheekbone. Apparently he had a run-in with some furniture at my in-laws' house.

But it didn't stop him from getting in the lake! Nothing did, actually. That kid swam all. day. long. Six hours, to be exact!

This kid did, too. They had a blast! Played. And played. And played.

Here is the birthday boy's momma, Misty, and baby brother, Austin. Misty even did her toes red, white and blue! They were adorable!

And Hubs, annoyed that I interrupted his conversation with Granny, to get a picture.

Cullen thought he needed to hijack this kayak... but he wasn't brave enough to actually get in!

So he just dragged it around my aunt's cove.

LOVE this picture. This is Hubs, with Chubs, and Granny. Maybe we should call her Grubs. So it rhymes. But that's not really flattering, or accurate, so maybe we'll just stick with Granny.

My dad got Cullen a little canned drink from the cooler, which he then carried around the whole day, unopened, and sucked the condensation from. Approximately 28 people asked him if he needed his drink opened, but he was adamant that it remain sealed. He was content with ice chips and water droplets, I guess. And an apple. He carried that around, too.

Weirdo.

THERE'S THAT BIRTHDAY BOY! Aunt Laura cut up a watermelon, and kids came from all over to get a piece. Or three. It was my first watermelon of the summer, and it was goooooooooood.

Cullen temporarily exchanged his (unopened) drink for a slice of watermelon. He even swam around with his drink/apple combo, and his watermelon/apple combo.

Weirdo.

Hubs thought he would spit seeds at us... and one hit its mark. Actually, two. There's another one stuck to his chubby little back.

Aunt Laura had the cutest koozies made up for the party! Chubby wasn't very far from one of these all day.

Hubs, visiting with Aunt Roxie and Uncle Wade.

Aunt Laura, giving her hot grandbaby something coooooooold to drink. I. LOVE. his. hair.

Cullen and Jakob trying to hijack another kayak, but unwilling to put their drinks/snacks down to do so.

Chubs almost got away with this one!

But he got kicked out before Cullen could push him out in the middle of the lake and abandon him.

My dad thought a cow (on the other side of the lake) was in the water... so I put on my big lens to find out. Sure enough, it was! It. was. HOT.

Whatcha getting a picture of, Misty?

Ah. I see. I'd say that's pretty camera-worthy.

Cara and Cavan were sooooooo cute!

They were working together to get that chair into the water.

Which they did.

Momma Corri and Grandpa Wade are watching the little cuties.

My goodness, but they had fun on this.

Once Cavan went down the first time, he was HOOKED.

Uncle Wade was so sweet and helped him up again each time.

My turn!

On the belly this time!

Ummmm... Uncle Wade? MY BABY IS HEAD-FIRST IN THE WATER!

But he came up laughing, and Uncle Wade grabbed him up quick! I think Cavvie slid down another 1,583 times.

Beach baby.

Christian is showing her Daddy the prize she won in the Candyland game.

I don't want to watch him!

And then protesting chasing her baby brother back out to the water trampoline/slide thingy.

Once she got up there with him, she had fun.

She is such an amazing big stister.

He slid down...

And she started jumping...

As he ran for the ladder. Again.

Grandma watched it all, and relaxed under the trees.

So did Grandpa.

Aunt Laura didn't get to relax much. She spent most of the day running around, making sure everybody had what they needed. And taking, are you ready for this? Over 1,100 pictures. She did a phenomenal job, too! I took 170, and I thought that was alot!

Drink up, Dad! It's hoooooooot out here!

This is my adorable niece, Harper. She's two months old, but she came waaaaaaaaay too early. Since Dad LOVES tiny babies, he held her for a while.

I don't think she even knew we were there! She was quite content, sitting in the papasan chair my dad's lap made!

I just love this picture of Uncle Deano. He belongs to Aunt Laura, and spent most of his day at the barbecue pit.

I know I keep bragging on my photography skillz... but here I go again! I love this picture of my father-in-law. It's how I picture him (without the new mustache, though!) in my mind when I think of him.

Once Uncle Rick and Aunt Kelsey got back to the party, Christian wouldn't quit jumping on his back! She told me she really wanted him to get wet!

Sweet baby Austin's first birthday is coming up next!

Kelsey and Rick cooled off... a little... in the lake...

While my nephew, Harrison, played close by.

I (only!) uploaded about a third of the pictures I took. You're welcome. Blogger's being a jerk right now, and won't let me upload a picture of Jakob's cake. Maybe I'll get around to that tomorrow. Or next week. Whatever.

Since I'm here,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!!!

I'm Not a Beach Bunny

2011-06-26T16:24:00.001-05:00

Maybe it's because I really, really like doughnuts.

But it's probably also because I'm pretty white.

That's actually a bit of an untruth. I'm actually more blue-ish than white.

And I hate the beach. I prefer air conditioning. And feeling clean. I have yet to find an air-conditioned, sand-free beach.

This little guy likes the beach, though.

That's him, right next to his Daddy.

What surprised us all was how much Cullen loved the beach.

Cavan was a bit of a daredevil yesterday.

But that's not surprising at all.

They played in the waves for hours.

They played in the sand, too.

I think this was Cavvie's first trip to the beach... that I remember, anyway!

We bought some shovels and pails and things to make the trip a little more fun.

But their favorite thing to play with...

Turned out to be the water itself.

I think that's about how much sand I washed out of his clothes last night.

Where'd the water go??? It was just here!

Working together to build a masterpiece...

That the ocean would destroy.

He really, really likes doughnuts, too.

But it's so much cuter on him.

I really don't think that's fair.

He's white like me, too.

Still cuter on him.

Why does the water keep leaving me???

Dadgum, but I love this face.

These are a couple of my faves, too.

Cullen LOVED jumping in the waves.

Which shocked us all.

Oooooh! She's about to get a mouthful of salt water!

One second you'd be standing in ankle-deep water...

And the next second you'd be in water up to your knees.

The tide was really strong.

This happened to us all. A lot.

And then they'd get enough nosefuls of salt water, and play on the beach for a bit.

This one... oh, this one. He would have walked out to sea if we'd have let him.

Just before I took this, she was completely covered with water.

It was a beautiful day, and we all had a blast. They're already asking to go back.

Fishing With Daddy

2011-06-24T12:40:00.000-05:00

A couple Saturdays ago, Hubs wanted to go fishing...

So he took a little buddy with him. This is one of my most favoritest faces in the entire whole world.

I'm so impressed with how far Cullen has come. He has always been so scared of new things and loud noises.

I remember our first few boat rides... not. fun. at. all. But then, it's hard to have fun when you're holding a screaming child as you're flying across the water. Of course it was hardest on him, being completely terrified, but when so many situations, places and noises terrify him, you kind of have to say enough's enough. Wow. This post is really upbeat today.

Now he loves boat rides. He loves the feel of the sun on his face and the wind in his hair, and he sings nonstop at the top of his lungs. He loves how the wind carries his voice away. Boat rides with Cullen are pretty amazing, now that he realizes they're actually a lot of fun.

Hubs isn't really allowed to go fishing alone anymore. Which is fine with me, since I'm not really allowed to go to the bathroom alone anymore.

Fair's fair.

They love spending time together, just the two of them.

I kind of like it, too.

The Sweetest Party Ever

2011-06-18T19:40:00.001-05:00

This year, Christian's birthday fell right after our big move. And on the day of my stepmom's retirement party. She spent her entire adult life working as the accountant of her school district, and we wouldn't miss her colleagues honoring her, so Christian didn't get a party. Or even a cake. Unless your grandmother's retirement party cake counts. Which I don't think even I can justify. :)

And then Cavan's birthday was three weeks later, and I didn't feel right giving him a party when we hadn't even celebrated Christian's birthday.

And then (more excuses, anyone?) we were looking down the barrel at the end of the school year, and tests, parties, award ceremonies, etc... Before I knew it, her birthday was three months gone, and Cavvie's two. I felt terrible. She had told me she wanted a party at a gym in the metropolis one county over (insert sarcastic tone here) so I scheduled a combined party for the first available opening... which was yesterday. And we were underway!

She wanted a Candyland party, so here was my take on it:

A sweets table. The owner of the gym just LOVED this setup. She kept going on and on about how cute everything was and wanted to know how I came up with my ideas... it's called "Too Little Sleep."

I made six different cupcake/filling/frosting combinations. She wanted peppermint, so some were chocolate cake with peppermint filling and peppermint buttercream, with some crushed mints on top. Some were chocolate cake with white chocolate truffle filling and vanilla buttercream and chocolate sprinkles, my personal favorite!

We had glass jars filled with candy. These were Mike and Ikes. You can see one of the party favors in the background. I made tags that read: "Thanks for making our party so sweet! Christian & Cavan"

We had Whoppers, chocolate-covered peanuts, caramel corn, Tootsie Pops...

gumballs, Sour Patch kids, and more cupcakes. From the top down: peanut butter cake with peanut butter filling (some had chocolate buttercream and some had vanilla; they all had mini Reese's cups on top), vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream and Whoppers on top, and strawberry lemonade cake with lemon curd filling and strawberry buttercream.

Why yes, yes I am obsessive enough to make wrappers for the juice boxes so they match the rest of the party. And no, no I do not have that much free time. It's called middle-of-the-night crafting.

Here is a rare photo of me. The only reason I even have it is because my sweet friend insisted that I needed a photo of me next to all my hard work.

The kids and I rolled the napkins and tied them with colorful ribbon and put them in a wire wine basket given to me by my mother. She bought it from Southern Living eons ago, and I think it's been living in the trunk of her car since the day she received it. I think. But who am I to judge? I have Teddy Grahams living on the floor of my car. And pretzels. And popcorn. And one day I turned around to see Cavan eating a McDonald's chicken nugget. And we hadn't been there in at least two weeks.

Here's my Daddy. He's standing next to my pride and joy. Yes, I bought one. On clearance. With free shipping. SCORE!!!

Here is one of my gorgeous nieces. She is beautiful, and brilliant, and sweet. And she matched our party!

And here is one of my nephews. Also adorable, brilliant and sweet. And by the end of the party: sweaty. VERY SWEATY.

And here is one of Christian's boyfriends. I say "one of," because she has a few. This one happens to be the son of Hub's BFF, a.k.a. Hub's work wife. Or work hubs. Whatever. This kid is a sweetheart.

Here is one of my friend's sons. Also a cousin of my niece and nephews. I've been friends with his mom since I was in ninth grade. Funny story: I got married. Then she got married. Several years went by. She got pregnant. Then I got pregnant. She had a girl. Then I had a girl. Then she got pregnant. Then I got pregnant. She had a boy. Then I had a boy. Then she got pregnant. Then I got pregnant. She had a boy. Then I had a boy. My kids are all six months behind her kids, and their body types are all identical! Christian and Hannah are sweet, dainty little girls, Cullen and Braeden are skinny, tall drinks of water, and Cullen and Blake are chubsters!!! I told her I swear I wasn't copying off her paper. She told me she was done and I was on my own from now on!!!

Here is Hub's BFF's other son. He's adorable! And knows it!

Here is my friend's other son, Blake, running up and down the play structure.

Here is Christian and her teeny-tiny little BFF, Brooke.

And here is my friends-since-ninth-grade, always-pregnant-together-friend, Kimberly.

Cousin Savhannah, who is growing way too tall and beautiful, waaaaaay too fast!

Here is Braeden & Blake's sister, and Kimberly's daughter, Hannah.

Chubbers, running around the gym floor.

He loooooooved these giant balls. He'd run-run-run, then BAM! Completely bowled over.

See? Bowled over.

One of Will & Zach's sisters, either Maddie or Jessie. I can't ever figure out which is which.

Playing on the mountain.

My mil, a.k.a. "Bamaw," put Chubs on top of Savhannah, and bounced them together! Cavan loved it!

Kids jumping in one of the foam pits!

Here is my friend, Emily, a.k.a. Zach, Will, Maddie & Jessie's mom. I convinced her I had put the camera down... GOTCHA!!!

Here's my friend, Kim, going down the... um... pipe? Fireman's hose? Not sure what you call it. But she did it!

And Cavvie climbed the rock wall over. And over. And over. And over.

And gave me a heart attack every. single. time. The kid has no fear. But it's okay. I have enough for both of us.

Here's my oldest nephew coming out of the slide...

Followed by his little brother.

Chubs saw how much fun they were having, so he climbed right back up that rock wall, followed by his older cousin, and they slid down together.

And then he climbed up behind Will. Jakob entered the arena to see if the kids were really having as much fun as it looked like they were having.

Cullen took a break by the foam pit... and it looks like Savhannah is about to put a block to his head!

Then they all jumped back in.

It looked like they were having TONS of fun!

Ummm... I don't have any idea what is going on here. But that smile! It's the stuff dreams are made of!

The zip line. It looked like lots of fun, so I decided to try it.

I have no idea what I said here, but the gym employee was laughing pretty hard. I'm almost certain whatever I said was kid-friendly, since my nephew is standing right next to me. Fairly certain.

I guess he was tired of me talking, and just wanted to get the show on the road already, so he could go again. Because it looks like he pushed me down. But surely he wouldn't do that.

And I'm off!

I must be insane to post this picture on the Internet. All in good fun.

And now it's Kim's turn!

And my Dad. Let's zoom in a little, shall we?

That's better. I do believe I've found the cover to the family calendar I make for him every year at Christmas!

There he goes!

And there he went! I couldn't stop laughing, and my stepmom has the video to prove it!

Here's Rick. I think he did the zip line better than anyone. The big jerk. ;)

Christian and her cousins and friends playing in the rolling wheely thingy. Hannah told her mom that Christian looks just like Judy Moody! I thought that was pretty cute.

Rick again, showing us all how the cool kids do it.

And making Christian wonder why he's all up in her grill when she's trying to make her birthday wish.

Cavvie doesn't care what's going on around him. He's just concerned with getting that icing into his mouth.

Mmmmmm... Icing....

I think Blake is wondering where his cupcake is!

Two precious, sweet, chubby baby boys.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures ever.

And this one, too.

We tried to get all the cousins together for a group shot... but poor Cavan had just fallen down the stairs...

And wasn't really in the mood to smile.

Sweet Cayden tried to comfort him.

Or maybe he just wanted Cavan to quit wailing in his ear.

I don't think I'm going to have their, umm, divided attention for much longer.

Those lollipops helped, just a little, but sugar only goes so far.

I LOVE those six little knees on the front row. Absolutely precious.

One last effort: GROUP HUG!

I don't know what Cullen thinks a group hug is, but that isn't it.

Aaaaaaaand... WE'RE DONE!

Christian couldn't wait to get in the car and start in on her favorite party favor. I love this picture.

It was a great day. I think the number of sweaty, red-faced kids we sent home with giant bags of sugar in their little hands proved that.

Three months late or not.

The Three Whitest Kids in America

2011-06-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

I have gotten some very weird comments (some

in gibberish, some in other languages, some anonymously)

so I set my blog to be invitation-only. But then I realized

that most of my readers would have no way to contact me

to be invited. So... I'm going to be setting it up to be private

again, but wanted to extend the opportunity for you to

read it if you so choose. Leave your e-mail address in

the comments, and I'll send you an invitation to be

an authorized reader... provided I know who you are!

But, oh, how they love to play in the water!

Cavvie has gotten so big... and so brave!

He went up and down and up and down... and then started doing belly flops off the slide!

Which gave me a heart attack!

Christian is such an amazing big stister!

She was so careful to make sure Cavvie got up safely... and down!

He LOVED it!

Believe it or not, this is a happy face.

Cullen has always been the timid one...

But even he has discovered the fun of the water slide!

They thought putting their pirate ship sand/water toy thingy in there was the best idea EVER!

Until we made them stop trying to ride it!

My favorite part of the water slide?

It wears them SMACK. OUT.

I Had a Little Party

2011-04-26T20:49:00.002-05:00

One of my best friends attended the funeral of another one of her good friends recently... on her birthday. So it wasn't a "Happy birthday" this year, as I'm sure you can imagine.

To do what little I could do to cheer her up, I had a girl party at my house... and we had.

BLAST.

My friend, henceforth known as Karon, since her name is, well, Karon, received a lovely gift on her birthday. A split-glass beverage dispenser. I was instantly jealous, but have since found one on the net, and will be placing my order very soon. That is, of course, unless one of you decides you would like to gift me with one. I will gladly offer you many thanks, should you be so generous.

Anyhoo, I made raspberry lemonade and sweet tea, and served them in the beautiful jar. I used my gorgeous ice bucket (in its very own stand) and some pretty glasses. Just the sight of everything all prettyful made my heart sing.

I prepared chicken spaghetti, green beans (cooked the traditional Southern way in lots of bacon and onion, and long enough that there's absolutely no trace of nutrition in them so that they can scarcely be classified as vegetables), garlic bread, and salad. It was... beyond words.

Nobody was shy, so as soon as we thanked the Lord for all the food, we dug in.

And continued digging.

And then we gathered 'round the table and ate until we couldn't eat no more!

But then we ate some more, because it was delicious, and because I also made this:

It's a strawberry-lemonade cake, and it was DEE-VINE. I made fresh strawberry jam and fresh lemon curd the night before the party, and spread them both between the layers of cake. Then I piped some homemade strawberry buttercream all over it and slapped some strawberries and lemon curls on top and called it a day.

I wanted the house to be festive, so I made tens and tens of tissue paper balls and suspended them from the ceiling in the entry hall. The ceiling is high enough that you couldn't reach them, even on your tippy-toes. Each time the air conditioner was running, the balls would spin lazily in the breeze. It was lovely.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARON!

If I am remembering correctly, I haven't posted a picture of the hallway, yet, so after the ladies left I got a few. The hallway is about seven feet wide, and 30 feet long. Which is probably another reason all those paper balls don't make it feel cluttered.

On either side of the hall, nearest the dining room, are little niches. In one we have a mirror, which currently reflects two of my favorite faces in the whole wide world. I like that the mirror is arched at the top, like the front door and the windows next to it.

In the other niche, directly above two of my favorite faces in the whole wide world, are pictures of three of my favorite faces in the whole wide world. Cavan has feeber, so he's eating popsicles. Cullen is showing the love for his brother by eating sympathy popsicles.

Don't let the blue eyes fool you. This kid knows how to work adults.

I made a wreath for the front door. And it's still there. A week after the party. But it's okay because Cavan's birthday was five days ago. And I'm not ready to acknowledge the fact that I've run out of babies. Again.

Cullen wanted me to take his picture, so I did.

But then he wanted me to let "them" see him going "RAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRR!" So I did.

Here are the boys, at the other end of the hall, desperately trying to open the french doors, despite the fact that I told them they could not go outside, and throwing a screaming hissy fit, despite the fact that I told them to cut. it. the heck. out.

I don't know why I took a picture of the bookcase that I use as a hall table. Maybe I just felt the need to torture you a little more before you left my little corner of the world.

It's days like this that you realize who your true friends are, not that I had any doubt. And it's days like this that you just can't stop smiling, and thanking the Lord for placing them into your life.

As I had the pleasure of sitting around my own dining table, and listening to beautiful women talk about heavy (and not-so-heavy) topics, I just couldn't stop thinking that I am so unbelievably blessed. It felt like Sunday dinners at my aunt's house, when all the ladies in my family would sit around and talk for hours about everything and nothing at all. It just felt... right.

We sat there so long that eventually plates were filled again... and my chicken spaghetti was no more.

Miserable, we went to the town square to adorable little antique shops, before we went back to my house, where Karon fixed us iced coffees.

I can't remember a more perfect day.

I hope you enjoyed it, Karon. I love you from the bottom of my heart, and wish you many more.

I Have Some Thoughts

2011-04-25T10:10:00.000-05:00

Every now and then, anyway. ;)

And I have pictures to show you.

LOTS and LOTS of pictures.

But at the moment, my house is filthy. A long weekend, and everybody at home (for the very first weekend since we moved) makes for a very dirty house, very quickly.

So I'm just popping in for a sec to say I'm still here.

Cullen is currently in time-out (and I'm using a very cute egg-timer to show him exactly how long he has to stay there; thanks, Kelsey!) but once he's out I'm kicking the boys outside to play. Hopefully I'll get something done while they're out.

Working on Plans

2011-04-13T11:06:00.001-05:00

How do I blink, and a week goes by since my last post? I thought for sure it had only been a day or two.

We met with our builder last week. He showed us some houses he is almost finished with. I am quite impressed. He does BEAUTIFUL work. Not only that, but he ACTUALLY CALLS US BACK! We have met with a few builders recently who don't seem that hungry for our business. But this one has met with us twice (once during his daughter's track meet, which really spoke to me. I mean, he was in our town, and met with us between her events. It was important to him to see his daughter perform, and important to meet with new clients), returned our calls even when we didn't leave a message, answered all kinds of questions, offered good suggestions, drove us all over South Texas to show us houses, and offered the kids gum when I ran out. :) So we've pretty much decided to give him our business.

Hubs is taking the plans I drew up to an architect today, to see about having them made into blueprints. I'm starting to look at flooring and appliances and faucets and paint color and cabinetry and countertops... and feeling a little overwhelmed.

We built the house we just sold, and got to choose lots of things, but that builder wasn't so great about communicating with his clients. We would walk in and think, "OH! There's tile in the bathrooms. Huh. I didn't realize he was going to make a pattern. I guess it looks okay." And the next time we'd go look, there would be cabinets (all the way to the ceiling, which is how I told him I did NOT want them), and we'd say, "Wow. That's not really the color of stain I was wanting, but, okay."

Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty house. Every realtor that showed it had nothing but good things to say. Our realtor said it was the best-showing house on the market in our price range.

I'm just saying that I didn't get to pick out everything that went in there.

And right now I'm thinking that might have been a blessing!

But, since this house is being built on our own land, instead of on a lot in a neighborhood, I feel like it has to be just right. Not just okay. There aren't any do-overs with this one.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal, but I am feeling anxiety about making sure the cabinet color matches the paint and the paint matches the countertops and the countertops coordinate well with the flooring... Ugh.

Don't even get me started on bathroom layouts.

Well, I guess I just got me started on bathroom layouts. Again, not a big deal, but I want to make sure that this house fits our family, for the life of our family. I want all three kids to be able to (efficiently) get ready in the bathrooms, ten years from now, as well as today.

I want to make sure the kitchen is warm and welcoming, in addition to being efficient for regular family meals, large holiday parties, and baking huge custom cakes.

That's probably a pretty tall order, but that's what I'd like to see happen.

And that's where we are. Looking at TONS of pictures. Researching materials. Tweaking layouts.

Dreaming about our new house.

Sophisticated Dinner Conversation

2011-04-07T06:18:00.001-05:00

Monday night we had the in-laws over for dinner. I had a roast I was planning to cook, but at the last minute wussed out and thought it wouldn't be enough... so I made an emergency trip to the grocery store.

I left the house at 3:48. I drove (slowly, through a school zone) to the grocery store, went inside, and bought 14 items: a bigger roast, red potatoes, carrots, bananas, grapes, strawberries, eggs, bacon, biscuits, 2 packages of dinner rolls, coffee, and nestle's quik. I checked out, loaded my bags into the car, and left. I got home and looked at the clock just before I got out of the car. It was 3:56.

I had driven to the store, shopped, and driven home in eight minutes.

EIGHT.

MINUTES.

And that is when I admitted that there MAY be advantages to small-town living.

I cooked both roasts that night, but we only ended up eating the one I already had. The second one wasn't touched. Which was fine, because I wasn't crazy about it. It was on the tough and dry side, and the carrots were still crisp. Which annoyed me, because I marinated the meat for a couple hours before I cooked them and put the carrots in during the last hour of cooking. {SIDE NOTE: The second, bigger roast just happened to be a "Nolan Ryan" roast. I have no idea what that means, except it was the only kind the store carried, and cost about two dollars more per pound.}

So last night I put the Nolan Ryan roast, the leftover carrots and the juices back into a clean roasting pan, and slow-cooked them for a couple hours at 275.

They were delicious. They were moist, tender and full of flavor.

As we were eating, I told Hubs, "This roast is so much better than the other one."

He said, "I know. The whole texture and flavor is completely different."

I replied, "It's annoying, though, be-"

Hubs interrupted, "It's a Nolan Ryan, baby!"

I said, "I know, but-"

"NOLAN RYAN!"

"Yes, I get that it's-"

"NOLAN RYAN!"

"OKAY. I know it's a-"

"NOLAN RYAN!"

Big sigh from me at this point. I obviously wasn't going to win this conversation. So I gave up.

Hubs answered a question from Cullen, once he figured I wasn't going to say anything more.

I took that opportunity to turn to Hubs and quickly say, "It cost $14. Two dollars more per pound than the other one."

"WHAT??? IT'S NOT A BABE RUTH!!! WAS HE EVEN A HALL OF FAMER???"

Dear. Lord. Help. Me.