Mothers of the Year or Insane?

We have been planning for a few weeks that we would go to Sea World today. The kids were so pumped(well, just Barrett and Tate, Brooklyn and Grant were oblivious to anything out of the ordinary). Julie and I loaded the kids in the car(while it is pouring rain) and headed down to San Antonio.
Yes, I know it has been raining here for several days, but it has been clearing up too. So, we figured it would rain some and then it would be a nice cool day. Well, it POURED on us the whole way. Julie was a great driver in the rain and with her noisy passengers. We weren't giving up until we saw for ourselves the condition at the park.
We get all the way to Sea World. Pull up to park(yes, it is still raining) and they say "It's free to park today". Well, sure because there are not many people going in today. We go to the parking lot and are debating what to do. That we are even contemplating going in means we are wonderful mothers, don't you think? We see lots of people coming out of the park, so we decide to go eat.
We talk with Derek on the phone and he informs us that most likely this rain is going to continue(90-100% chance the weather channel says). So, we decide to go eat and then head back to Austin.
We had seen a Chuck-E-Cheese on the way down, so we tell the boys that we are going there instead of Sea World. They were really great about a change in their plans. We told them we would go another day and they seemed ok with that. The kids had fun at Chuck-E-Cheese and we were there a while letting them play. Around 2:30 we headed back to Austin.
It was a slight change of plans, but it turned out to be a good day. And I enjoyed talking with Julie for such a long time. We NEVER get to do that. It was awesome. And I guess we'll be going back in a few weeks. This time hopefully there will be no rain!

On another note, thirteen years ago today my best friend,Allyson Beckering, died in a car accident. She was a wonderful friend to me. She was full of excitement and always so fun to be with.
I was at work when my mom called and sad that Ally had been in an accident and they were life flighting her to the hospital. I truly didn't believe it and I remember thinking, she is going to be okay. My mom picked me up and we went down to the hospital. All of our friends were there . We were all in shock and crying. Allyson died after her freshman year at Baylor. I remember gathering with our friends, the friends Ally made at Baylor and some of my friends from college and all being joined by this special person.
To me, she died too young. She never finished college. She never got to be a lawyer like she wanted. She never got married. She never had kids. She didn't get to grow up. But, in the short time she was on earth, she touched my life and many others.
My little girl, Brooklyn Allyson, is named after Ally. She was my best friend and a friend of Derek's too. We think of her often and miss her often. I am proud that my daughter is named after this wonderful friend of mine.

Tagged by Anita!

Tagged. My friend Anita tagged me and my sisters. I think I am the first one to finish! Yeah for me!
First memory - Playing with Kara at our house- having tea parties, playing house

First real kiss - Heath Scardino, ummm...6th grade(don't ever tell my kids) on the swings at the Northland(my school) playground. Lets just saw it wasn't a real great experience. I clearly remember thinking; "This is so gross. What is all the hype about". Obviously it was his first kiss too.

First love - James Hamilton, my sophomore year. I thought I was so in love!

First Concert- I think it was Acapella at Spring Woodlands, back when it was called Oak Ridge North. I remember loving them. I went to my first concert without my parent to see Michael Bolton . I really liked him back in the day!

First thing you think in the morning - What time is it? Are the kids awake yet? Coffee!!

First pet -Golden retriever dog. I had 3 of my own dogs growing up. If you know anything about me, I am so not a dog person.

First book you remember loving -Anne of Green Gables
First question you'll ask in heaven - How did Jonah live in the whale for 3 days?

First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation - Beach!

First best friend - Monica Rodriguez. We met in elementary school and were great friends for a long time. Going to Northland, I lost touch with alot of my neighborhood friends.

Last time you dressed up - For Valentine's, Derek and I went out to eat at a nice place. I took the opportunity to get dressed up.

Last thing you ate -Chocolate chip cookie dough(I am eating it right now)

Last CD you bought - I can't remember. I've been doing I Tunes!

Last good book you read - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Last time you cried -I teared up reading the book , My Sister's Keeper, other than that I think it would have been at a baptism at church. Those always touch my heart.

Last time you told someone you loved them - Tonight telling Barrett and Brooklyn I love each of them before they went to sleep.

Last really funny thing you did - I am not a funny person. It would probably be dancing around the house with Barrett, both of us with our "microphones". It would probably look funny if anyone saw it.

Last thing you watched on TV - I actually watched a rerun of Oprah today. Nothing real exciting!

I tag Christy, Jonna and Jessica. I can't wait to see what you have to say!

John Mayer Concert

Last night I went with four of my girl friends to see John Mayer in concert. The concert was in San Antonio so we went to eat at this Mexican food restaurant first. The decor was cool and we had lots of fun talking and laughing. After our dinner we went to the concert at the AT&T Center. He put on a really good show. I recognized more songs that I thought I would. He was really into the instrumental part of the songs and the songs came across more rock than his songs sound on the radio. I was really entertained and it was so enjoyable to relax and listen to music and talk with my friends. Andrea is about six weeks from her due date and she didn't complain once. She was a trooper.

I totally recommend seeing him if you like him at all. We laughed and talked the whole way home. I pulled into my driveway at about 12:45 and it hit me I was tired. But I had such a great night. I feel so blessed to have such good friends that I can laugh with and just be myself. And thanks to my wonderful hubby for taking both kids to VBS while I was out with the girls.Andrea, Amy and Julie at dinnerBeth and me after dinnerBeth, me, Julie, Andrea and Amy

These friends of mine are awesome! What a fun night we had.

Our Week

Nana with B and Brooklyn. They love her so much!

The 3 cousins, Brooklyn, B and Elizabeth

Nana bought matching dresses for the girls. Aren't they cute?

We have had a busy week. And it has been lots of fun. On Monday, my mom(aka Nana) came to visit us. Barrett was beside himself with excitement. Then on Tuesday, Kara and Elizabeth came to stay with us too. We went to the swimming pool, got sno cones, and let the kids take naps while we hung out and visited. Barrett and Elizabeth had fun playing together. On Wednesday, we went to the Children's Museum. It was a blast. Barrett always likes going there and even Brooklyn seemed to enjoy it. On Thursday, we went to Target and ran into Andrea, Blake and Andrea's mom. Blake and Barrett made a fort in all the stroller boxes. Derek got into town and met us at Target. He didn't even need to call to locate us, apparently he heard us from a ways off. After lunch at Chick-fil-a, everyone headed home. We had a fun time with family and were sad to see them go. Thursday night, I went to a jewelry party and got to see some of the moms who have kids in Barrett's school. It was fun to hang out and get some new jewelry too. Today we had a shower for my friend Andrea at our house. It was a great time and good to spend time talking with everyone. Now we are off to take naps and enjoy our Saturday together. One more week until Derek has his sabbatical!!! We can't wait. (For those of you who don't know, Derek gets the month of July off. He has worked for AMD for 7 years and that is a benefit for working there that long. We are super excited!!!) Tomorrow we have church and VBS starts tomorrow night. And tomorrow night, while Derek is at church with the kids, I am going to see John Mayer with four other friends. We are going to have a great time.

Barrett and Elizabeth rockin at the Children's Museum

Nana and BrooklynB playing Connect 4Brooklyn playing chess

Blocks, Blocks and more Blocks!!

Barrett really got into the whole serving food to us. Maybe we should try this at home.

Blake and Barrett eating a snack in their fort( also known as the shelves at Target)

Here are the letters I made for Dane's room. I gave them to Andrea at her shower.

It was fun making these for them.

Terrific Ten

Brooklyn turned ten months old today. We celebrated by having a picnic at the park and then playing there for a while. Barrett and Brooklyn had a great time playing together. Barrett helped Brooklyn out on the slide. She had a blast. I am glad that they enjoy being together.
Here are some things about Brooklyn at ten months. She is pulling up on everything! She is getting more bold and confident in what she can do. She loves Barrett so much. He can make her belly laugh and it is so cute. Brooklyn still has no teeth, but I think we are getting close to one coming in. Brooklyn seems to be getting tired of baby food and likes eating our big people food. She loves chicken, pasta, couscous, sweet potatoes and ice cream! We love our little girl! She is such a blessing.

FATHER"S DAY

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, Derek. He is an awesome father to Barrett and Brooklyn. They are so blessed to have Derek for their daddy. He is so patient and loves to play with them. He is never too busy. He is so great at teaching Barrett things. And, he loves God and shares that with our children. I love to watch Derek with our kids. I love to see how they light up when he comes into the room or home from a trip. So, Happy Father's Day Derek, you are a terrific father and I look forward to watching your relationship with our kids continue to grow.

Derek and his kiddos. They love their daddy!Like father, Like son

Brooklyn has captured her daddy's heart

I am so blessed to call this family mine!

I also want to wish my dad and father-in-law a happy Father's Day. You are both wonderful Christian men and I have learned so much from your examples. I love the relationships you have with Barrett and Brooklyn. You are both wonderful grandpas.

A Perfect Summer Day

I LOVE Summer ! If you know me, I love to be warm. I love the feel of the sun beating down on me. I even love to get in my car when it has been sitting in the sun. Growing up we spent the summer outside. Whether it was swimming in the pool, going to the beach or just hanging out in the backyard. Summer brings back those carefree and relaxing days.
In college, my friend Anita and I spend the first and last part of our freshman year at Nelson Park laying out. You should see our pictures from Freshman Follies. We were so tan. And when we all lived in our house on College St, we would lay out on the roof , all lathered up with baby oil(I know, so bad for you), and talk and read . It was so relaxing to just chill out.When I was teaching, I would spend almost all my days reading and laying out the pool. It just relaxes me so much.
Since having kids, those days of soaking up the sun are not as frequent, but I still love summer and enjoy being outside. We go to the park, play in the backyard, turn on the sprinklers and go to the pool. It is a little more active then how my summer days used to be spent, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.
Yesterday, we had a perfect summer day. We got up, had breakfast and coffee for me(Andrea and Jonna, I did good- only 2 cups today). The Brooklyn took her nap and B and I played. Then we ate lunch and headed to the pool.
This was my first time to take both kids by myself. We met Andrea and Blake at the pool. The boys had so much fun jumping in the water and splashing around. Brooklyn loves the water too, but wanted to be held instead of in her float. We did have to get out because of some thunder, but the boys didn't care. And, it was sunny so Andrea and I got to visit and catch some rays. We got back in and swam for a long time. It was a blast. We got out to go, but the boys were having fun just playing so we got to sit in the sun for a while longer.
At the pool there is a sno cone place, so of course we went there. It was the first snow cone for the boys. They were so good!! There were these little tables set up under umbrellas where we could all enjoy the treat. Brooklyn liked the sno cones too.
Everyone took long naps and then we ate dinner, went to Lowes(saw Edith and Greg), and then to Scoops for ice cream. I love lazy days like this where I can relax and enjoy the important things in life and not get bogged down with my TO DO list. I go to be with my family, visit with friends and spend time with Derek. It was the perfect summer day. I look forward to many more. I hope you have lots of days where you can stop and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

Guess who found my stash of candy?

The other day I found this pile of Hershey kiss wrappers on the floor outside of my bedroom...

And then Barrett came around the corner with chocolate on his face.

I guess he has a sweet tooth like his mom and Nana!

Water fun at our house

Yesterday we had our friends from our care group at church over to play outside. There were lots of kids, big and small. The kids seemed to have a blast playing in the sprinklers, jumping in the pools, spraying water guns, playing with the water table, and just running around. And I hope it was fun for all the moms too. I know it was a great time for me.
The babies got in the pool for a little bit. It was funny to watch them fight for the beach ball and get in each others space. Brooklyn's ruffle and rear end kept getting in Taylor and Cohen's way. They all just sat and played with the toys. Brooklyn and Cohen each tried to get out of the pool. Looks like these kids are getting really mobile. The babies seemed to enjoy the water, but all were ready to get nice and cozy after a while.
After the kids had played for a while, we ate pizza, watermelon and lots of yummy desserts. Julie brought popsicles for the kids and they loved eating those. It was great to be able to have them get clean in the water after eating those.
After lots more running and playing in the water and yard, we turned on the bubble machine and had a fun time catching bubbles. Ty and Seth even started shooting the bubbles with the water guns.
It was a fun time for the kids and I really enjoyed have my friends over and getting to talk and relax. Of course, after everyone left, we all took GREAT naps. My kids and me are so blessed with these wonderful friends. Thanks for hanging out with us everyone.

Swim Lessons

Barrett has been having swim lessons these past 2 weeks. He has always loved the water and not been afraid of it, but this year he has been a little more fearful of the water and not wanting to try alot. The first few days of claas, he wasa little apprehensive with the teacher and he was a little cold, but by the end he was more confident and having fun. Which is what I really want swiiming to be fore him-fun. He had a great time at swim class and learned some new things. Hopefully he will get more comfortable in the water as the summer goes on. I really want him to enjoy being in the water and try out new things. We are planning to spend lots more time at the pool these next few months. Barrett got a little patch and certificate for graduationg his swim class. Swimming pool... here we come!!

Yummy Blackberries!

This morning, after our Starbucks run, we headed out to Sweet Berry Farm in Marbles Falls. Its blackberry season and we LOVE blackberries. Barrett can eat a whole pint in one sitting!
We get to SBF and Barrett is ready to go. We get our container and head over to the blackberry bushes. There are so many blackberries. And they are huge and very ripe. Of course, we had to sample some along the way. I think B ate more than he put in the basket.
After we got as many blackberries as we needed, we went to look at all the animals. There were a bunch of goats. Both kids liked looking at the goats. Some of the goats even climbed a tree. We also saw the chickens, horses and donkeys. Barrett liked feeding the horses grass and even petted them. Horses have such big teeth!
After looking at the animals, it was time to go check out and get some ice cream. They have the best Berry Berry ice cream. Barrett also got a strawberry popsicle. He even shared with Brooklyn.
The kids fell asleep on the way home. It was a fun day and a great time for us together as a family. I highly recommend you checking it out if you live near Austin.