The Rag

Big Daddy has taught his grandkids many important checklist man/Eagle Scout skills in their short little lives. The funny part is that they actually take heed. Starting with Go-Go, the oldest of the cousins, Big Daddy taught them to always carry a rag with them. You never know when the need for a rag will arise! So, when the kids are with Dad, they have a rag hanging out of their pocket. This is when they are doing tasks around the house with him, going fishing at the lake, on the boat...they know to never get caught without a rag! At least when Big Daddy is around.

JBS takes this duty quite seriously. Not only does he carry a rag in the presence of Big Daddy, but he has his own rag here at home. He carries it at all times. There is something about that rag in his pocket that gives JBS that extra swagger in his step. He knows he's important and he knows Big Daddy would be proud. He even sleeps with it. Yes, a rag. Unfortunately, after the last visit to Big Daddy's lakehouse, we discovered it was missing. When Grammy arrived for a short visit this past weekend, praise be to God that she brought the rag back. You would have thought she brought him candy when I showed him that his rag had returned home.

Big Daddy can rest easy, as his work in the rag department is done. That lesson took. On with the next....

Baby For Sale

One of our favorite neighbors in Tulsa just had a baby. I told JBS that our friend, whom he loves, had a baby girl. We were talking about how much fun it would be if we were still there...we could hold her and play with her while her mommy slept. (and give her back!)JBS got a real skip in his step and said, "Mommy! Are we going to buy that baby?" I, of course, laughed and said, "No...that baby isn't for sale." To which JBS said almost in tears, "But, Mommy. I want a baby sister soooooo bad! I want to buy her."

For at least a year, JBS has told me on several occasions that he wanted a baby sister. And his method for solving the problem is just to go down to the store and buy her. Sweet thing. I wish it was that easy.

Anyone have a baby girl for sale? Actually, she could really rock the dynamics in this household.

6:30am

Just to show you what we do at 6:30am, I thought I would take a picture. Grammy is here! And Grammy thought it would be so cute to buy the boys stick horses....that gallop and neigh. They are cute and the boys are hilarious on them. However, they both snuggled with those horses in their sleep last night. So, the first moment of awakening, they were "back in the saddle". Gallop. Gallop. Gallop. Neeeeeeeigh. Neeeeeeigh. I thought it was a dream, but then one of my eyes opened to discover it was a horsey reality in my house...in the wee hours.

The funniest part is that JLS instinctively throws his right arm above his head and rides it yelling, "Yeeeee-haw!" I don't have a clue where he learned that. JBS says, "JLS, let's go get our hats." They both scurry off to another room and they reappear like this. Yeee-hawing and Ya-hoooing.

At least Grammy, aka the purchaser, was awakened by yelling and neighing and clop-clop-clopping at 6:30am, too. You know. Just so she knows what every morning for the next month will be like for me.

Sleep Tight

For all you mothers of girls out there, I want you to know that I often wonder what a day in your life is like. I am sure my opinion is skewed, but I often imagine you sitting around eating bon-bons, painting your toenails while your quiet and very still little girls sit in their rooms and play dolls all day. Don't shoot me, for thinking it. I dream about it!

This house, however, is in constant motion. JBS will snuggle with me in the morning for hours if I would let him. However, that does me no good when JLS comes immediately to my room asking for "mulk" and "vi" (vitamins...praise the good Lord he will eat those!) While I am stumbling to the kitchen, his "ambition" is already attempting double back-flips off the couch while yelling at the top of his lungs for me to turn on "Little Bear". There is NO transition period for JLS. None. The options for us are AWAKE or asleep...no in between.

Despite the constant flow of activity, there are some sweet moments God sprinkles in my day to keep me from going completely nuts. I walked in the den one morning, after begging the boys to let me watch 30 minutes of news in my bedroom while they played together quietly. The quiet was far more than I could stand. I curiously peeked around the corner of my bedroom door and saw a room full of blankets in heaps on the floor....at least five or six little heaps. As I moved closer, I found....the Braum's Milk truck neatly and sweetly tucked in for bed. I found the big fire truck neatly and sweetly tucked in for bed. I found at least three more vehicles tucked up to their "heads" under blankets and the whole room was silent. "SSShhh, Mommy! They are sleeping!"

After I got over the oddity of the sight, it hit me. These wild and crazy Indians that I have for children "get it" when we snuggle with them, tuck them in and love on them. They may be restless and full of energy 99 percent of their awake time, but they really do understand the love and compassion we try to emulate and they want to reciprocate it, too. They just have to have the right object to express themselves...an object they love! Their language isn't baby dolls, they speak "truck". They love their trucks enough to sing to them, hug them and kiss them good night and cover them up. I never thought we would be treating the garbage truck like a baby, but if that's what it takes to teach my child how to dish out a little TLC, let's tuck in those trucks every day. "Rock-a-bye, Semi, on the black top...."

And that's what a day in the life of boys is like...definitely odd at times and always full of surprises!

Next it's College!

I have been a bonafide true and definitely tried mother for 4 1/2 years. The first 2 years and 4 months were a complete breeze compared to the last 2 years and 2 months. Coincidentally, that marks the birth of our second precious and angelic little toot, JLS. I am trying to learn to laugh more at the times when my boys "body slam" a primadonna at a baseball game or get the woman's hair in front of us tangled in their plastic sword at the circus. In the moment, I am apologetic to my children's victim, but my intensity escalates as the fear of another "catastrophic" event looms. I just don't laugh enough. With boys, I am learning. You have to learn to laugh at the chaos when you have boys like mine. I just don't see that I could make it through life without a little laughter...along with the chaos.

The reality that my first born (and truly angelic at times) little toot is going to be a real pre-schooler in August has just set in. We have had a weekly Mother's Day Out for awhile, but never more than 2 days a week. JBS LOVES school. In fact, it was the conversation when JBS was asking when he got to go back to school that it hit me like a ton of bricks. My baby is the big man on campus now. The leader of the pack...and he is so excited about it!

When we were discussing this in the car...where some of our best conversations take place, I pretended to "Boo-hoo" and pout (although the knife was really twisting inside of me). I looked in the rear view mirror and told JBS that I didn't know what I was going to do. "My baby is growing up!" What would I do without him? He looked at me with complete sincerity and concern and reassured me, "Mommy, don't worry. I will still come back little."

I want to eat him up.

Later that night we were re-hashing this conversation all over again. I told him I just didn't understand how he would stay little, as he was giggling and asking me to rock him in my arms and sing, "Rock-a-bye Baby". He said, "Well, Mommy, when I go to school I will be big and when I come home, I will just go back to little."

Music to my ears...if only it were true.

Take me out to the Ballpark...

Less than 24 hours after our time at the Circus, a friend of Babe's offered us his Astros vs Cubs tickets for the night. Of course, we jumped all over that. In fear of major meltdowns during the game, we whipped a U-turn and went straight home for naps. (These days we operate on an excitement scale...too much excitement in a certain period of time could equal major trauma for all of us when it comes to JLS. Sleep is a big factor in our world.)

We arrived early to incredible seats on the club level right behind home plate. Babe and I had a blast...JBS and JLS lasted really about 2 innings, but we stuck around for 5. As exciting as it was to be in Minute Maid Park, it was a bit stressful with 2 really excited toots. Running, yelling, jumping, laughing. If we had tickets in the cheap seats, this would have been acceptable. However, we had a man named "Franc" sitting in front of us discussing his investments with his "client" while the wives with monster rocks on their fingers discussed the latest gala...they never looked at the field. At one point, JBS got a little wound up and bumped one of the ladies and she said, "I think I was just body slammed!" On that note....we left the game.

Next to the game, of course, I was a big fan of the Chick-Fil-A "Fowl Post". Thus, the picture of the Foul Marker. The hi-light of the baseball game for both of the boys was the Minute Maid orange train that would move across the wall each inning. We tried...someday they will appreciate baseball games. Four and two might be a little young. By the end of our time at the game, the boys were both cleaning the seats with wipes.

At least the cleaning crew appreciated our presence!

Camelbacks

Since moving to The Woodlands, we think we are bike people. There are paths absolutely everywhere and they just call your name. There are also bikers everywhere. So, this family has started riding bikes a lot. The trouble with being "bike people" is that to even try it out, it is necessary to buy several major pieces of equipment. The pictures will be shared at a later date of our obvious professional status when it comes to biking. For today, I would like to oogle over the invention of a Camelback. We use these Camelbacks often and I absolutely love them. If you don't know for sure, you fill the back packs up with water and it has a straw-like extension that hangs over your shoulder while exercising. Then, you don't have to stop or slow down to keep hydrated. Seeing as how I am a chug-o-lugger, I love 'em.

Not only do I love 'em, but the boys do, too. JLS, who has had some speech delays, has learned how to say "pack-pack" because of these babies. He will bring it to me and pat his back...and now he will say, "pack-pack". So, the boys get a kick out of running around the house being fire-fighters or ghostbusters or whatever team of destructos they choose for the day...with the camelbacks on their backs. But when Babe gets home from work, they become Camelbacks again and I chug, chug, chug the water.

I guess I could just wear it around town and get my 8 glasses of water a day quite easily. A new fad maybe?

You go first.

The Circus

We had tickets for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus this past weekend. This might be the first time EVER that JLS has been entertained for two hours straight. The greatest aspect of the circus is that while one act is setting up or breaking down, the clowns come out, or the trapeze chickie does her thing. The circus is a perfect scenario for a 2 year-old mover and shaker. I didn't hear a peep out of JLS for the entire show. There was ALWAYS something to catch his attention. We loved it. We got the $20 plastic sword that will probably break in the next week. But, hey! It was worth it to see the boys having so much fun...and getting all the mommy's hair tangled in their swords. That shows those crazy people for sitting in front of us! Surely, after all my apologies, their kids did something wild and unruly, too. Didn't they? It was an excellent show.

Before the show, we visited the animals in their cages. JBS got right up next to the tiger cage because "tigers are my favorite." Right as he got next to the cage and within breathing distance of the tiger, the tiger decided to hiss and growl right in JBS's face. Scared the begeesies out of JBS and for the rest of the night he avoided the tigers like the plague. Those kitties aren't always so nice!

Since we were in Houston, we jumped on the opportunity to eat dinner at The Original Ninfas...our very favorite Mexican food in town! There's really just nothing better. I am certain the boys caused some sort of loud commotion, but Babe and I were so completely engrossed in the divine Mexican food entering our mouths, we wouldn't have known. Really, I might call it the best Mexican I have had...oh, and the circus was great, too!

House Update

Besides the fact that I have been completely humbled by all of your kind emails during my personal blogging trauma, I was completely surprised that almost every one of you said you missed seeing the progress of the house. I thought that surely my mom was the only one reading those blogs. So today, by popular demand, I bring you the update.

We are cruising along. Six weeks to completion and then about 2 weeks from then to wrap everything up with the builder and this family will finally have a home. It will have been 16 months from when we found out we were leaving Tulsa. My, how time flies...even in the state of massive stress! Oh, how I remember the very Sunday that Babe got the call to come into the office immediately...the trading floor had finally been sold. Lots and lots of tears were shed that day.

Since I don't have my old posts to refresh you, the house we are building is a Hill Country house. The Hill Country style is one of my dreams. A little rustic, a little sophisticated, a little ranch-y. I am very excited about it. The smallest detail that I love about this house is the address plate....the stone Texas that is in the mortar of the house. So, here you know we are house number 63!

This is the den, looking thru to the french doors across the back. You can see the painting flaw we had on the back wall. This is being taken care of and the whole kitchen will now become the same color as the den. We had a breaking point issue and the half and half wall of paint just really isn't my thing!

Here is my fireplace that I really love. We were sort of the blind leading the blind on this part with no pictures to work off. Unfortunately for the builder, he had to work off my creative description, which isn't so great. I know what I want, but I can't always put it in words. I have to see it.

This is the view of the kitchen from the den. Again, the paint in the kitchen will change. You can't tell much, but it's the best I could do. The granite "workermen" were there installing countertops while I was taking pictures.

This is my butler's pantry that I am particularly proud of. In the plans, this was just a plain old closet. Always maximizing my storage options, we turned the closet into this nice buffet and I LOVE it. I am standing in the dining room to take the picture, so it's a great location for entertaining and serving....Maybe someday soon I will have enough friends to have a party:)

That's it, folks. It's kind of hard to get good pics of progress inside the house, but I will continue the best I can. Start checking your calendars post September and plan a visit to come see us!

Helicopter Hair

I swiped this valuable term from my brother-in-law, Paulie. When his kids woke up in the morning he would always tease them about their helicopter hair. It was such a fitting term, I have carried on the tradition with my boys.

One day, JBS came home from school and told me about his new friend, Dylan. Dylan is a darling little red-headed boy with curly hair. I asked JBS what he liked about Dylan and he said, "Mommy, he has helicopter hair ALL OVER his head!" At first I didn't get it and then realized he was referring to his curly hair. I said, "You mean like Daddy's hair?" And he said, "Yes, I like his helicopter hair."

While we were at the lake, JBS and his cousin, G2, stumbled out of bed every morning with some serious helicopter hair. This particular morning, it seemed to take the cake. This picture doesn't do the hair justice, but it was too cute not to share. I couldn't decide whose was worse and what the heck they did to get their hair on top of their head that way!

Here's to helicopter hair!

The 4th

We blazed a trail to Oklahoma for the 4th of July. Depending upon the number of stops, it takes 9 hours to get to the lake or 7 1/2 hours to get to my parents. Either way, its a long drive with the two toots. We like to leave in the 5 o'clock hour, hoping the boys go back to sleep on the drive. Unfortunately for me and Babe, the excitement was too high for sleep...even in the wee hours of the morning. Excitement+tired=cranky JLS and evidently a small bladder in JBS. It was a long trip to the lake. That doesn't even take into consideration that Babe is on a "park the Burb" kick. This means that we have a comfortable Suburban with a DVD player and lots of space that we left at home. In place of that, we crammed ourselves into the Hybrid Camry, toted a laptop for movies and we all smiled while we did it...right? But, by golly, we saved money on gas!

HOWEVER, the exciting part was that we arrived in time for the annual 4th of July Golf Cart Parade. Yahoo! The kids love to ride with Big Daddy in the parade around the neighborhood and we got there just in time. The only trauma that came out of the parade was the JLS, in his excitement, fell off the back of the golf cart. He was OK.

There are some things a "spirited" child just has to learn on his own!

Welcome Back!

Well, it's starting to feel a little bit more like home on this page. I need to work on some spacing issues, but other than that, how does it feel? There has been such a void in my life the last two weeks, not having been blogging. I finally explained it to Babe like this. I spend the entire day taking care of two little toots. Sometimes they are toots and sometimes they are well, royal toots. The one and only outlet I get in a day is blogging. Maybe this is my adult conversation (sad, if it is), maybe its something that gives me a little diversion. It is definitely something I feel like I can objectively accomplish in a day. Something to measure. I need to measure!

So, welcome back to my domain. (is that a pun?) In regular form, I would like you to see the cutest little bottom there is.

Naked boys. Now, that feels like home!

Here's the Deal

It has been 2 weeks since I lost my blog. Today I type with ever-so-much pain. I am mourning the loss! I never knew how much I loved blogging until I lost mine. I have no back-up, no print-outs, NOTHING of the documentation and stories and fun of my family for the last year. BUT, as much as I loved that year, I would surely miss out by not blogging on. In the grand scheme of things, what is one year? So, I plug away.

This is what happened. When I started my blog over a year ago, I signed up under my Yahoo email address. Somewhere in the last year, Google joined Blogger and they became a team. Therein lies the problem. Google required me to get a Gmail account to continue signing in to my blog. However, after I got that account, I continued to sign in with my Yahoo account for everything I ever did with Blogger. Eventually, I forgot about that Gmail account. Obviously.

Two weeks ago, June 26th to be exact, I decided to go on a cleaning frenzie. (dadgum that clean gene I have!!) I had multiple Gmail accounts for various reasons. I closely checked each account and decided one of them was not in use for any specific purpose. So, I deleted the Gmail account. It took about an hour for me to realize that Gmail account was linked to my Blogger account and before my very eyes, slowly and painfully, my blog disappeared. It was like that picture on "Back to the Future" where each person slowly vanishes. Every time I checked, one more element was gone. I was as close to a lunatic as I have ever been before. Babe was worried enough that he questioned if the boys would be safe until he got home. I was frantic. The HOURS and the STORIES and WORK and the MEMORIES....gone. Devastation.

Google could quite possibly be the most difficult company to get ahold of. No number, no email, just a very hidden "complete the bubble" form that states that they may or may not be able to help and they may or may not get back to you. Thanks. I really appreciate that kind of service. But they can do it. They are Google. They suck. I want to scream and cuss and yell at them, but they don't care. It won't help. So, today, two weeks later, I am venting and attempting to get back in the blogging habit. The thought of putting my page back together again makes me want to vomit. But I will do it. Hopefully, I will hear from Google soon and they will, without a fight and with the click of a button, restore my precious-to-me blog of my boys, my family, my life.

In the meantime, I want everyone I know and love to back up their blogs now. I have discovered 2 ways to do it and, for the record, I will be doing both. First, follow this link to back-up a blogger blog. The second way would be to go thru "Settings" and click on the "E-Mail" tab. Set up an email account exclusively for your blogs to be e-mailed...set up two! That way you will have every single blog saved. Of course, you can print it all, too. Do SOMETHING, so you don't lose your journalling like me!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has helped and mourned and shown pity. I know its probably small beans to most, but thank you for understanding my pain. You just gotta pick yourself back up and get on the horse....

I have one foot in the stirrup right now.