Back from our camping trip

Well we made it back from our short two night stay in Turner Falls, OK. It was a nice trip. We managed a great weather day on Saturday and let the kiddos play on the beach by the water fall. We also did a short hike. I say short as the trail was not very pretty since suffering some flood damage last year and we just was not able to locate the river by it. So we turned around about 3/4 mile into it. But we did get a glance into nature in its natural surroundings. We spotted a beetle bug rolling a huge (compared to the beetle anyway) horse turd down the trail. Wow what determination. Of course Daddy Dude was so impressed we had to take some videos! What is it with guys and poop? Anyway it got me thinking "Was the poop round like a ball when he found it? or did the rolling help to crate that perfect circle?" Funny how slowing down makes your mind wonder.

I and the other mommy took the kiddos in shifts to take to the showers after the day was spent instead of trying bathing them all at one time. Whew that was some work. Both of mine did not seem to appreciate the treat of outdoor hygiene at all!

We spent Saturday night eating Jiffy pop pop corn while watching some kid DVD’s on our friend’s portable DVD player. Ahhhh roughing it while camping!
Anyway as I said we did have some great weather on Saturday but the nights were pretty chilly. Daddy Dude and I decided to put some small tents that we brought with us for the kids to play in up in the screened in shelter. It was a good call. Sunday morning about midnight the wind starting blowing in a cold front. Yikes. It got really cold and windy quick. And then rain. I was in one tent with T-Bone and Bubby next to me. It was like arms and legs all over me! T-Bone HAD to sleep right under my arm pit the whole night under the sleeping bag! And Bubby was all over that tent. To say the least I didn't get a whole lot of sleep between the howling wind and two kiddos! Daddy on the other hand was in his own little tent in front of the door in case something or someone wanted to get us during the night. Trust me, no one (human or animal) would be out in that nasty weather! Our poor friends was not as fortunate to have a tent so they spent most of the night in their truck! They were sweet enough to let us sleep in and waited for us to get up around 8 in the morning.

The place was great with great company to boot. But the time spent there was too short and there was so much more to do. The cold/wet weather sent us home a few hours early "( We hope to see the place again during off season. I still want to get a pop up or trailer for some trips to the beach, Colorado etc….. I’m not that big on the tents anymore. I’ve grown older and sure can feel it after sleeping on a cold air mattress after a few nights!

Getting ready for camping

Well we made a run to Sam's today. I wanted to do it yesterday while Daddy could watch the boys for me when I went. But to be honest I just couldn't muster up enough strength!
It was a busy weekend trying to get all our camping gear together for next weekend. Sleeping bags, bug spray, lanterns, batteries, air mattress and all that kind of stuff. We are attempting our 1st ever camping trip with the boys. We decided to stay in a screened in shelter instead of having to get a tent for the trip. I am hoping the weather is nice for us while we are there. Oh, we are going to Turner Falls in Oklahoma. We were invited to go with another family that has two children of their own. I think the kids will have a blast out there. Too cold for swimming but there is a beach area for them to dig around in and also hiking and a couple of caves to check out.
We are hoping to purchase a pop up camper and plan some annual trips to Colorado in the fall time of the year. I think it would be a good investment with having two boys.
It's so lovely up there in the fall and you practically have the place to your self!
Fishing, hiking, canoing, or just hanging out to bask in the beauty of it all! As you can tell It's one of my favorite places that I have ever been! We loved it so much that one time we where seriously thinking about becoming some hired hands at a horse ranch up there! Can you believe that? But after much thought, we decided that the long winters would probably drive us crazy!
We could live with visiting it every once in a while :)
As for the boys, T-Bone has broke in his upper eye teeth! Yeah! It's always so much fun when he's cutting teeth ;) He is now starting to talk more which makes me happy. Bubby was such a early talker that I was sort of worried about T-Bone not talking as much at his age. But just like everything else they seem to be opposites! And he's got the cutest little voice!
Bubby has been busy keeping me busy! We brought T-Bone a new small Geo Trax train for him to have since he is not allowed to play with Bubby's train. I'm a believer in sharing but I also think that everyone should also have things that are theirs alone. So it's been really hard for him to not put his hands on his brothers new train set! But he's done well and I'm proud of him.
Daddy is doing fine but is busy at work today. That's what happens with deadline work! Seems like he's either really busy or he's got nothing to do but surf the web. For all of you that are not quite sure what he does, he is a PCB designer. It's fancy way of saying he designs circuit boards.
He's got gobs (is that a word?) of electronic experince that he gained while in the Service. It came in real handy when he was offered his current job. God has a way of providing!
Speaking of providing I better go and try to do some checkbook balancing while the boys are down for a nap!

The letter "J"

Ok this is yet another gripe. Yes I really like venting on this thing! It feels good. I don't want to come across as really negative but......
Anywhoo, did any of you notice something strange or different with the way the capital "J" appears in the English text these days? Take a good hard look at the j in the title and tell me what you see.
With homeschooling my elest son I am teaching him writing skills. While teaching him to write using some flash cards in our hooked on phonics box I noticed that the line is missing with the hook in the capital J! I thought "Wow, funny that they would make an error on a letter". I then remembered Grandma writing something with using the capital J and Bubby then corrected her (no line with the hook mommy) about it. I thought wow he knows the difference and I thought she was just using an artistic flare while writing it :)
Well I called Daddy to see if he knew anything about a "change" in the letter J. He didn't know of any. So then I decided to call my dear friend that we will call Aunt J on this blog. I knew that she would know since she is a fellow home school teacher and is a few years ahead of me. Well she told me the sad news that it is true. The letter J appears different than the olden days of before. Wow have we resorted to removing part of a letter to make things faster? I think that there is way too many "shortcuts" today in our society. You no longer need to sacrafice years of hard work and patience to become an actor/singer anymore. Just appear on a number of reality shows and your known around the world and a record deal to boot! Doesn't seem to matter whether or not you even have any self dignity either! We seem to be just as interested in watching you go down as watching you come up. Ahhh the mystery of all the old celebrities are now all gone. Yes, they where just as jacked up as todays but we just didn't know about it nor did we want to. We wanted to believe their lives were perfect. Ok I'm stepping off of this before I take to much of your time just venting :)
In short (no pun intended), I am hoping to teach my children the long form of life if you get my drift :) Life does not need to be easy to be enjoyed. For it to be rich with truth, wisdom and Godliness one must be willing to go the long, rough road. I pray I will set a good ex sample!

Soccer day and memories

Well today was Bubby's first day at Soccer Tots. He LOVED it and did very well at it too.
It seems a better fit than ASI for him. It was a huge indoor soccer arena and he had plenty of room to run! He was thrilled to see that Daddy Dude was able to come out and show his support and get some action pics of the moment. He took directions well and did everything the coach ask of him. It was great watching him out there. I was thinking to myself that it must feel awesome to be a kid in that huge thing kicking a soccer ball around like a big guy! I can remember having that feeling of awe with places and things and feeling that they were huge. Now I look at places that I went as a child (swimming pool, parks and stuff like that) and think wow that is so small :) One of the downsides to living in your hometown that you grew up in, seeing things change so much. I suppose there is both good and bad sides to living so close to where we grew up. I love seeing my old schools, fields that I searched high and low for so many hours during recess trying to find a 4 leave clover. And the bad, watching my old neighborhood fall apart and waste away. I use to have a strong desire to leave here and find my "own" place for me and my family. But as the years go by I realize that the search for contentment is not at a "place" it's more of a peace of mind. I think you can go anywhere and get anything you would desire and still not be happy and want something else. I suppose it's in our sin nature and part of living in a fallen world. It's a struggle until we come face to face with our maker and finally be completed in his presence.
So for now unless God directs us we are here just a few blocks from where we grew up watching our own children spend time in some of the places we did as children ourselves :)

Venting

Well I have to vent. I really didn't have a good morning. I know that it could be worse but it was still a bit frustrating for us.
As I said in yesterdays post, T-Bone had an appt with my ENT today. Well I got a call from his associates office yesterday saying that he was no longer taking appts at his office that we go to in N. Dallas.
So they told me that I could bring him in to their Greenville office and see him there at the same appt time. I did ask why at this time but she said that she didn't know and that they had just told her to make the calls.
So a grudgingly said yes since it was a recheck and I wanted to make sure his ear was healed. Well we went to the appt and got there on time. When I walked up to the reception's desk I was informed that Dr. Sule was no longer working with them. What?! I did forget to tell you that I had been informed via mail from his associates that he would be leaving them on April the 30th. I was going to ask about it when I went in for T-Bones recheck. So something fishy was going on here and no body is telling me anything. Well I was on the spot. I again asked why and no body had any answers for me. They then told me that they (the other doctors) would be happy to see him if I was ok with that. At the moment my answer was yes. I just got the kids up and drove all the way out here! Yes I'm going to see someone! So there I waited in the waiting room. luckily and sweet little boy came in with his mom and Bubby had someone to play with at the children's area. Finally they called our name and we went back. They didn't seem to know why we was there. They thought it was for an ear infection. We then got placed in a room and waited and waited and waited. Now I don't know how some of you feel about waiting but I am a bear about it at a Dr's office. I mean thats WHY I make an appt to begin with! I understand that things come up and sometimes they can run behind but you better come in and tell me about it. Well while waiting I had some time to think about what just happened. Why didn't they call me and tell me that Dr. Sule was not there BEFORE I drove out here? I felt a bit tricked. So I loaded up my sons and out of the room we went. I walked up to the desk and stated that I was not going to wait any longer (My appt was at 10:15 and it was now 11:45 and the boys were losing their minds and so was I) they then asked me if I wanted to reschedule. I must have given them a look to kill because they just kind of stopped moving and looked down to the ground. I calmly (yes calmly but firmly) said no and that I wanted my co payment refunded. They apologized and then I explained that I was a bit frustrated with the fact that was running through hoops to have my son rechecked and nobody seemed to able to tell me why.
During all this time I have to admit that I am at the "hormonal" time of my month. Not good at all. I was proud of my self control to be honest. Thank you Jesus!
I left and decided that the boys needed a treat for being so patient so we went to the closest Chick fil A's. That too proved to be a great test of my patience! I wonder just how much that place brings in annually? :) Located at Greenville Ave. and Walnut Hill they must have been the only one in Dallas because everyone in Dallas was there!! Yikes.
Well we picked up our chicken and headed home. 3 1/2 hours wasted. We had a nice lunch and then all laid down and took a nap! I was a great way to end the morning and start new in the afternoon!
Oh yeah, did I tell you that I got a card in the mail from the associates of my ObGyn? They told me as of April the 1st, Dr. Bascom (my doctor) is no longer with them. What's going on here?
Daddy Dude suspects that there must of been some sort of Doctor's sting operation going on and all my docs where involved :)

Lazy day

Well today is just lazy. Nothing else. We all loaded up and made our bi weekly visit to Sprouts and picked up some fruits and veggies. We did manage to stop by our local donut place and pick up some piggy rolls and donuts holes first! It's owned by this wonderful Asian couple that speaks with this great Asian ascent! I do whatever I can to get them to say anything to me just to hear it. I sure do miss hearing my own mom's voice tinted with Japanese color. She was the best. I can remember when I was young hearing her voice deep in her chest while having my ear pressed against her. It was one of the most soothing sounds I have ever heard!
I'm laying low today. I really need to work out but a movie sounds better while the boys sleep :)
I've got to take T-Bone back for a check up on his ear that I injured while trying to flush the wax out of it tomorrow. When your mom tells you to put nothing smaller than a elbow in your ear, trust her! I do have some great news. T-Bones ears are clear and fluid free!!!! We where told to get tubes in his ears and have his adenoids removed since having so many sinus/ear infections. We were not too comfortable with this decision and I decided to look into it further. I really feel like he didn't have an infection every time I took him (just inflamed and fluid on his eardrum from allergies), so the Antibiotics where a wast of time and helped to keep him sick by taking ALL the bacteria (good and bad) out of his system. And by using antibiotics so often it can cause the bacteria strain to become stronger and harder to kill in his sinuses. I did not know this can happen. Ok enough on the medical lesson :) Anyway I decided that he was having common allergies and started treating him with an antihistamine daily and giving him probotics and irrigating his sinus twice a day. Well within days he was alot better and within weeks the fluid that was suppose to take months to go away was gone! Praise God for his wisdom! I'm very happy about this. I did not want my son to go to surgery.
Bubby is suppose to start Soccer Tots on Friday. He is taking a class with a good friend of his that is a month older than he. I can't wait! I have already bought him a soccer outfit :) I have a picture of him in it but it's not loaded on the computer yet (something that daddy needs to show me how to do). That away I can post some pics on my posts!
Well I suppose I need to decide on a movie or exercise :)

A new skill per T-Bone

Well all things cannot remain the same regarding children so T-Bone has decided to make his move. He has learned the art of climbing on things, Daddy's computer chair to be exact.
So far he's fallen off a few times but dust's himself quickly and moves on. He a toughy for sure, I suppose he has to be since he is the little brother :)
He sure is proud of himself sitting up there. Soon the newness will wear off and other things will need to be conquered. Nothing will be sacred.
No more putting things out of reach. Time to step up on training. Yeah.
That is one of the nice things about them getting older you can leave you stuff out and not worry like you once did. I know some folks leave their stuff out and "train" their children to not touch but I believe in the "you pick your own battles" line. I try not to pick much. At least while they are young and I want to let them to explore their new world in safety. My home is child proofed to the hills. Yes I believe in outlet covers, baby gates and any thing else I can use. I suppose I'm on the extreme side compared to my friends. But when it comes to germs and safety I can't let too much go. Can't say just where it comes from. Maybe I should take some time and think about some :)

Another day as a mommy

Howdy, well today we decided to lay low as this weekend seemed kinda busy. And Bubby had a busy day at church and a great visit at Grandma and Gram pa's house yesterday so he was bushed today. We decided to have a Pajama day! The boys played/watched TV while I tried to clean up the house from the weekend and catch up on some laundry.
Well here goes. I struggled with sharing my story because of the content and didn't want to spread any embarrassment on Bubby's part but it's such a mommy story that I'm sure many of us share.
While cleaning I was talking on my phone to my friend when I heard a faint cry of "mommie I need help" in the background. Oh that's not a good sound.
I followed the sound to the closed bathroom door. I found Bubby turning the corner from the potty saying "sorry mommy" over and over again in a really small voice. I said it's ok baby what's wrong? I noticed a strong poo poo smell when I opened the door but saw no evidence of anything out of the ordinary. He points to an area on the floor just behind the door (a place where I just walked) and said I tried to wipe. I then turn around and see a big ole mess on the floor and then some wipe circles around it. I tried to clean it up momma he says. I keep saying "it's ok baby" keeping the whole potty experince a positive one. I then remember that I just walked through that area and cringed and looked down on my feet. Yuck. Then I noticed that there is a stack of toilet paper on the counter. Yes they were dirty as well. Double Yuck.
So I do the whole bathe the child clean the mess thing. But while doing this I'm thinking " why was he by the door?". Well I figured it out. There is a door mirror on the inside and he was trying to wipe himself while bending over and looking between his legs so he could do a good job. While I was a "yucked" by the whole experince, I also was proud of his effort :)

Who's your daddy?

I was challenged at church today to really take a look at how I see God as my father.
My first thought was "Of course a loving giving God" but upon digging deeper I realize that my vision of him was distorted. Many times we see God through our own relationship or lack of one with our own fathers. And in turn causes a struggle with our faith in him.
It's great when we come from a family that really loves and forgives no matter what we do, but sadly that's not always the case. And in any family we all fall short with really sharing the grace of God. I have really tried to convey to my children that it's not THEM that I am unacceptable of but with the choices that they sometimes make. Something that I wish my own father would have done. It's only by the grace of God that I try and do different than him.
Parenting is hard and if done anywhere close to right needs to be examined often. I know that many books and programs are written to examaine a child's heart but what about the teachers heart condition? It's a challenge to my heart to ask myself why I am seeking a certain behavior in my children. Is it selfishly motivated or am I trying to teach them something on their behalf?
And what a challenge it is when you are at your wits end trying to just get some of the simplest duties in life done while these kiddos are fighting you every bit of the way :)
I used to think that having children was for my husband and I to be somehow complete. I have learned that it's quite the opposite. My life has never been more messier than it is now. The daily challenge of having to bend and grow with being a mom is not an easy task even with God beside me.
But with it comes a new sight and understanding of God's overflowing grace towards me. Praise God for tears and frustrations of being a mom for they make me more like him!

Spring is in the air

Today was a get things done day. Most Saturdays we really try and keep it laid back but we've put some stuff off long enough!
Our van needed to be inspected. The tags went out in March. I refused to do it the same month and always try and get it done the following month. I figure I get a free month per year or one free inspection per 12 months. (?) Or something like that anyway. Please don't let me know if I'm wrong. Let me just blindly think I'm ahead of the game on that one ;)
So hubby ran that errand for me while I stayed home with the boys. Nice.
Between the wind, rain and cool weather we have manage to neglect the yard for a while but it was time to crank up the mower and other lawn tools and just get busy!
So the hubby and I teamed up while the boys where down for a nap and went to work on the yard.
I love doing yard work. I love how you can see the results quickly!
Something that God reminds me is not the case with being a mom :)
Anyway it looks great and is done until things grow out again.
I love spring almost as I love fall. But spring is too short here is Texas usually. It seems as soon as things are turning green they become yellow and dry from the hot Texas sun! Fall is the season I really like. Cool crisp air after hiding indoors for at least 2 months with the A/C.
Why do I live here anyway, if I don't like the heat? I suppose I'm still living off of my parents decision that was made 40 years ago! I'll probably live out my years and die here.

My mistake

Ok let me start off with saying that not all sales persons annoy me. Just the ones that are really pushy and high pressured. :) No annoying is too nice of a word. I can't find a clean strong word here for what feeling I am trying to covey, but I think you get the idea. I mean even if they have a great product for really cheap I'm passing it up just because of the disrespect aspect of it.
Well I had just gotten finished with getting both boys down for a nap and sat down to the computer when the door bell rang. It didn't ring too loud because I strapped a big ole ugly piece of duct tape on that thing right after we got Bubby home. I decided to answer this time since I was waiting on a package to come. I thought I would just open the door and wave to the UPS dude as he was getting back into his truck and take my package inside. But I was wrong. Upon opening my door I can see two guys with bright red shirts and carrying a clip board. YUCK.
Well they were selling door to door Vios from Verizon. Double yuck. As you see we had waited with GREAT anticipation for Vios to come to our area only to be really disappointed with their customer service. To the point that we decided to not get Vios. I won't bore you with details but it was SO bad. We thought maybe with some time under their belts maybe things would get better and we would try again in the future. Well I think having the two sale guys at our door changed out minds on that one as well. :)
He begins with trying to flatter me with some Dallas Cowboys comments (I was wearing my my Cowbow T shirt, its a shirt. I could care less about football) and talking really loud. I asked him to please keep it low since both of my sons where taking a nap. He then points behind me and says "you mean your one son". I turn around and there is Bubby standing behind the glass door wondering who these guys are through his very sleepy eyes. Ok we haven't even got started and he's got a BIG mark already. I tell Bubby to get back to bed. I then turn back around to face the sales guy and while pointing at my boy leaving tell him that was he was seeing was HIS fault.
He then starts pounding the sales pitch info at me. Bigger mistake. I mean can't they see it in my face that I really don't care? I tell him that I don't want to waste his time and that he should move on. Oh he says "Your not wasting my time" while I am thinking "No it's my time that your wasting". By this time I really am trying to stop kicking myself in the booty for even opening the door in the first place! Well after going from the point of being polite and saying that I just wasn't interested, to the point where I calmly asked if he could even hear me at all. I was starting to feel like I was in Ohio somewhere in a Twilight Zone episode. Are they aliens doing some sort of experiment or something. The guy didn't even flinch at my questions. He just would continue with his speech. I finally had to just resort to the only thing I knew to do to get him to stop. I slowly opened my door and went inside and closed it behind me. It worked!

Errands

Well today was busy running some errands. I decided that since we are going to Dad's work we might as well pick up his check and then go the bank. And while we are by Daddy Dude's work we might as well return some library books over on that side of town and pick up some more for the next cycle. And since we are at the bank it's so close to Braums we should pick up some milk because we are out.................Ahhhh being a mom is all about time management and taking advantage of when and where we are! I can barely remember when I used to be able to just "run" up to Walmart for some silly something that I was working on :) Now with having to get two children in and out of the van, muscle up enough to man power to handle a wobbly wheel on the buggy (why don't they just fix those things or retire them!) and then fight my way in and out of those awful tight aisles just to realize while I'm strapping my seatbelt to leave that I just went way over my weekly budget and forgot the one thing that I really went in there for! I can't tell you the number of times that this has happened to me. That is why I now avoid Walmart like the plague.
I now shop at Tom Thumb around the corner and make a produce and fruit run at Sprouts every two weeks off of Marsh and Forest Lane. Yes it's a good drive to Sprouts but we use the HOV lane (another wonderful benefit of having children) and the savings is SO worth it to me!
Well I am planning on a Mom's night out with the girls tonight. It's always great to get some adult conversation with my friends. I looking forward to being able to hear their many stories about their children and husbands that mirror my own.

Adjustment time!

Well today was out monthly adjustment at the Chiropractor. Can I say how much I LOVE going to that place! Not only have they helped us out with our aches and pains but they have become part of our family as well. We seem to spend an hour or so talking and visiting with them. Daddy Dude has even become a part of the bi weekly jam that Dr Paul and his buddies have at his home and became quite good friends with their son Nick. They have begun a small business adventure with making guitar effect pedals. Hey it comes in handy being a circuit board designer. Bubby even makes a B line into Dr. Marsha's office and lie flat on the bed awaiting his adjustment with more stillness then I could ever get out of him! It's just a happy place where we really feel cared about on all levels of our lives not just the medical part :)
Funny how I now feel so comfortable with going to a chiro. I can remember not always feeling that away. Mostly because of things that I had heard and thinking that they were kind of voo dooie. I suppose some are. I've met some pretty wacked out western medicine doctors as well.
But I really am thankful for finding some treatment that doesn't require taking meds that might help one thing and hurt another.
It's kind of quiet around here today. Boys are being kind of low key. I think they might be tired since I slept in Julian's bed last night and I'm sure I snored. Julian says that he likes it when I snore. Sure. What he really means is "I don't care that I have to put up with your snoring just stay with me".
It's so hard to say no to those huge brown eyes while he's saying "Mommy, please sleep with me". Yikes, my heart skips a beat! The nice thing is that I do it from time to time and it never has become required for me to be in there for them to get to sleep.

I'm blogging?

Well here I am. I can't believe that I am attempting to do something else in my life!
But having enjoyed reading my friends blogs I have decided to join in.
So far today has been busy with the usual glamor as most. Laundry, cleaning bathrooms and trying to keep the peace in the home and teach the art of sharing between my two sons, Bubby and T-Bone!
I'm figuring out that the skills of sharing and patience don't come easy. It's still a struggle at 44 so I can imagine it's a toughy at 3 and 17 months! But with God's grace we shall prevail!
With the weather not being contestant we are spending much time indoors for this time of the year. Yuck.
The sandbox and clubhouse is calling our names but Mr. Winter seems to have missed his train!
I am hoping that we will have at least a few weeks of mosquito free time before it gets too hot out there.
As of now, my oldest son Bubby is attempting to be a baby again by doing some sad bouncing in his brothers jumper. It looks something like a grasshopper stuck in a spiders web with those really long legs protruding out every which way! As for my youngest, he is wandering the house from room to room happy and equally as determined to find something that he is not suppose to have. I'm sure he'll reach his goal to then find sadness when mommy has to take it away. It's a vicious cycle.
Well I guess I'll end this thing for now and maybe the boys will get a nap and I'll workout for awhile. :)