celebrations

family helped us celebrate our sound of music actresses with a 'surprise' visit to watch their performance.

we celebrated at nator's piano recital - a high score on her music guild results, rewarded with a trophy.

and hugs.

the girls and i took a moment to capture the space shuttle... floating on water. that's cause for celebration, yes?  i mean... how many times in one's life will you see a space shuttle on water? 

we won't mention how texas was jilted with a pretend shuttle... or the crazy traffic this attracted.  nope.  won't mention it at all. 

the girls and i celebrated with a lil' shopping.
great prices on two cute dresses found at marshalls and ross. 

...in order to celebrate their annual daddy-daughter dance in style!

i have to confess.  
they came back with some pretty jazzy mementos. yes?

we celebrated when the city pool opened.  
water-slides are the bomb dot com.

what are you celebrating?

Happy Father's Day!

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.  ~Clarence Budington Kelland 

When a father, absent during the day, returns home at six, his children receive only his temperament, not his teaching.  ~Robert Bly

Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.  ~Anonymous 

To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today. ~Barbara Johnson

Nothing is more precious to a man than his children.  If your children are doing well, all your other problems will fit into a thimble. ~Patrick Morley

{the military dads get me every time... kleenex?}

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.” ~Knights of Pythagoras  

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. ~Jim Valvano 

“I love my father as the stars - he's a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart.”
-Terri Guillemets

******************************************************

Happy Father's Day!

Pray you are able to kick your feet up...

and make grocery shopping memories with the family!

That's what's happening in our house today.

Keepin' it real.

******************************************************

Love you, Schmoopie!!!

april-may ~ week 18 {life's a beach}

sometimes, i get so caught up in the logistics of what needs to be done before we can leave our home - even for a few nights - that i'm tempted to think it's not worth the effort.

our schedules have been a lil' on the hectic side, especially hub's.  he doesn't get paid enough for what he contributes to his team.  there.  i said it.  i shall leave it alone now.  i'm sure that was a bloggy sin.  anyone else tire of all the unwritten rules of blogging?  anyone else maybe in need of some chocolate?

needless to say, we yearned to get away.  don't get me wrong.  we love a good stay-cation as much as the next person, but sometimes a person needs to escape the projects at every turn, begging to be finished, in order to truly relax.  our house is feeling like that about now.  things are beginning to fall apart.  dishwasher, anyone?  things need to be organized, painted, and repaired.  mama needs a new {to me} vehicle.  something dependable, while hubs is out of town, you know?  whine much?  pass the chocolate, please.

hahhhh... things are looking better already. ;)

so this week started with school.  again, i will say that i wish that i'd been educated like this.  we are continuing to breeze through the middle ages in history.  we love learning about this time period, but so much of it was flawed... and, dare i say, still quite barbaric?  eek.



relaxed learning. 
totally.
at home, or on the go.

i've been listing older curriculum to sell online to help pay for our much anticipated curriculum, sonlight.  the girls are chomping at the bits to order.  makes me happy to see them eager to receive books for school.  i plan to go through the house to see what else we can part with to raise funds.  wish me luck!

beau's favorite spot?  under my feet. 
right in front of the oven.
waiting for turkey bacon to fall from heaven?

 

theater.  dance and piano lessons.  

you know, the usual.

singing do-re-me harmony with my lil' maria.
dragging my child to the gym.  she has book in hand, snack and ipod within reach.  clearly, she was suffering, while not pedaling.

post-juice veggie massacre.  best multi-vitamin evah.
long-legged jasmine.  she fits in our family, yes?
gracie singing the sound of music upside-down.

a pic of my headboard.  because my 'must-do-before-we-leave' chore-list made me feel overfatigued... and old.  it's where i collapsed.  long enough to instagram a picture, that is.

on our way out, we picked up chili's.  because mom didn't put "cook dinner" on the to-do list. oops. {note sarcasm}  but you should have seen my list! 




when younger, i was a fish.  you couldn't get me out of the water.  this trip, i only craved time spent in a good book.  gracie craved email at the end of the day.  sometimes, she makes me desire an amish lifestyle.  it could be good for her.

we packed food for our three free nights in the condo on the beach.  hubs made most of the meals. lord bless him.  why does a grilled turkey and cheese taste better when someone else cooks it?

he was also the parent that was first to go in the water with the girls.  and build sand castles.  he's pretty awesome at it.

no worries.  mom got her feet wet, too.  searching for shells is what i like to do.  gracie and i collect them.




our closest beach is normally quite murky. brown water. brown sand.  but we're thankful for it.

even if we happen to pick the time of year during the annual seaweed invasion.  it's for the health of the beach, so i guess we can't complain. 



except when a huge batch of it wraps around your leg and you think the loch ness monster is about to eat you alive.

however...
if you stay out of the water to read a good book,
listen to the sound of the ocean, 
enjoy your kids nearby digging to china in the sand,
soaking in the salty breeze,
in the shade,
it's heaven on earth.  
or as close as we'll get to it where we live.

then, all of the work it took to get here, 
suddenly seems worth it.



until you get pinched by a crab.

{due to our science lesson, we were able to determine that this little guy was, indeed, a boy crab.  just thought you should know.}

the end.

time with the hubster

we picked up hubs from the airport on thursday.  he worked friday.
by friday eve, mama. was. drained.
{seems to be a theme lately}

being the intuitive guy hubs is, he took the girls on a lil' daddy/daughter outing...
per mama's request.

while mama ran off some stress at the gym, daddy had fun with his girls.
after picking up gracie from dance, they hit the book store, pei wei, vitamin shoppe, tarjet, and a second grocery store.
hubs was earning some brownie points.

saturday, his boss called.
which required us to do a favor for him...  on the other side of the big city.

{crocheting on the go}

 

it's more because hubs is a friend, too.  i get that.

{packing for the boss-man}

which meant we were driving by the cheesecake factory.
aaaand since we had to eat dinner anyway,

{hershey's chocolate cheesecake-cake}

we had to order a piece of cheesecake.
it would have been a sin not to; i'm pretty sure.
so we ordered one piece to share between the 4 of us.

the girls only put their forks down for the picture;
they were still scraping the plate.
at home, they may have licked it.

i believe there was an arm wrestling match, too.
we're quite refined, yes?
{*googles etiquette schools*}

we eventually hit the hay for a night-time nap.
awake at 5:15 a.m., my internal alarm went off.
why would i get up that early, you say?
to take hubs to the airport.
because that's how i roll these days.

for the saints game.  because i'm a good wifey.

at least he opted not to leave on saturday, meeting all the guys at the ufc fight.
it just feels like he's barely been home much this month.
*sigh*
they're getting him the rest of the week...
they have to share, you know?

many of my sweet bloggy friends are quite complementary about how i handle hubs being out of town so much.  {you guys are too sweet.}
truth is, we do okay.
some trips are harder than others.  especially those that invade our weekend family time.

but we deal with it by....
remembering to be thankful for his job, during a time in which many have lost jobs. 
girlie movie nights.  nail painting.  dining out.  and, to be completely honest...

 

{sitting pretty}

jasmine.  she's my buddy, especially while hubs is away.  i guess that would justify the bazillion posts about her?  maybe.  she's {at least} entertaining, right?  ;)

i think she may even have a lil' fan club brewing.  *giggle*  for those who've asked, her paw is doing seemingly well.  she is no longer limping.  even runs, at times.  she thinks one must continue to let the cat know who's boss.  her bandage comes off tuesday.  she's really excited about that... and the fact that another kennel has not taken the place of the old one in our home. ;)

okay... gotta run.  i'm feeling a bit like jazzy in these last pix.  i sent my girls to clean their rooms, but all i wanna do is sleep.  i forgot that cloudy, drizzly days do that to an already tired person.  {thankyoujesusfordrizzle}

{pretty exhausted}

and that one would have to tape one's bandage in plastic, due to wet ground.
go saints!

one of these things is not like the other

 

we took the girls to see their friends, who were performing in the sweetest lil' play.

they had our girls at, "do you want popcorn?"

the girlies will be performing with them soon.

and our wallets will be shrinking in half.

but at least hubs left with a souvenir from a friend, right?

his friend is really into this kind of thing.

he's actually in a club.

a beer club.

who knew?

i was uncertain with what to do with it, so i simply stashed it in the fridge.

right next to the organic eggs.

hubs is only disappointed that i didn't get a picture of the label which read...

"no preservatives."

healthy, right?

what a week!

"mama, what are you gonna do?
an evening at home all by yourself!"

ummm...
feed the dog.
inhale some dinner.
upload pix while doing above task.
quick edit.
really quick.
blog {quickly} about current events.

noticing a theme here?

most of my blogging has been quick lately.
i apologize.
complete sentences are hard to come by this week.
complete sentences have been hard to come by since having two kids.

mama is in a hurry.
so i'm gonna be short and sweet here.
gotta go pack.
ah!

nator enjoyed tennis camp this week.
more than she realized she would.
we're not lookin' to go pro,
but we had fun.
four days worth.
and she gained a new friend.

no pictures of the action.
i dislike coverings on fences.

but i guess it's necessary for providing a little shade.
when you have 110 degree heat indexes.
thankfully, we met early.



gracie had a great time at dance camp.
between her exhausting afternoons and nator's early mornings,
we've had really early bedtimes.
that's new for us homeschoolers, you know. ;)

they distributed a total of 4 trophies.
she received one for being the most accomplished in hip-hop.
apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
ehem.

if they had noticed her leap, she may have won one for that alone.
in my book, anyway.
do you know how hard it is to get that back leg up??
it's hard.
i may or may not have tried it.

 

straight from dance camp recital...
time to get ready for the daddy/daughter dance.



where's dad, you say?
he arrived home from dallas just in time to change clothes.
bless his heart.
the girls waited patiently.

yes, these are the same dresses from last year's dance.
they are pretty.
and they still fit.

but we did buy new hair accessories.




and shoes.
better for dancin'.

from what i see via text,
they are partying it up with corsages, masks, chicken dance...
who knows?
maybe there will be a carriage ride, too.
i just know there will be memories made.

****************************************************

thanks so much for all of your sweet comments on our bedroom makeover.  you guys crack me up.  for real. 

okay.

i'm signing off.

wish me luck.

i'm kinda nervous-excited.

nervous about the travel.

excited about alaska.

alaska!!

{still can't wrap my brain around that one.}

life is not always this busy

i'm not one to usually over-plan my days.
possible case of denial.
i'm a parent.
busy comes with the territory.

but you know... i like quiet.
quiet doesn't always come with the territory.

our girlies have been looking forward to their 'summer' activities all year.
it's here.
as well as the much anticipated mommy-daddy get a way.

hubs hugged me this morning on his way out the door.
headed to dallas.
WAAAAAAAAAH!
okay, i'm done.
maybe.
*sniff*

in the dark, he whispered in my ear, 'just think.  this time next week, we'll be headed to a helicopter, on our way to a glacier.'

these words excite me, yet they don't compute.
this is soooo out of the ordinary, yet i long for an adventure outside of my daily routine.
i love my daily routine.
it involves my girlies.
i love my girlies.

now... if only i can survive this week's routine.

today...

nator's tennis lessons.  check.
take pictures of her.  to come.

talk gracie into makeup lesson while sister is in tennis lesson so that i have time to shower before dance camp.

instead of doing this again.
it's hot.

 

and dry.
i miss the sound of rain.

the ground agrees.

gracie may have almost gotten lost in a rather large hole.

and fallen to her doom to the center of earth.

she informed me that lava was there, during yesterday's tennis lesson.

follow up eye apt.
i've been testing new contacts.
with a new prescription.
reading up close is a problem with said contacts.
it wasn't in my old prescription.
i called the next day... lady with a tude told me i'm pushing 40.
in my pms state, i thought it was great she chose to say this via phone.

don't be skeered.
i wouldn't have done anything other than smile and nod in person either.
what happened to good costumer service these days?

pick up gracie.
come home.
make dinner.
wishing i could collapse on sofa.
but will make sure funky laundry and dirty dishes are tended to.
then collapse.
and maybe watch the voice.
have you seen it?

tomorrow will be the same, minus the eye apt.
that will be replaced by taking nator to join her sister in the swimming part of dance camp.

thursday will be the same, minus the swimming.
that will be replaced by final preparations in packing.

friday will be the same.
and we'll add making a refreshment to bring to mini-dance recital, then getting two girlies dolled up for a daddy/daughter dance.

saturday we hit the road. 
destination: granny's house.

sunday...
*shivers*
i get so giddy just thinking about it.
minus the expected tsa pat-down when i 'opt-out' of the radiation/nude pic box machine.
we fly north.

 

escaping the 'oppressive heat', as my hubby rightly calls it.

i nearly shaved myself bald yesterday.

it was considered, anyway.

signing off...

this sleep-deprived-mama-hen needs to stir the baby chicks. 

there's breakfast to make before the marathon begins.

team work

we picked hubs up from the airport on friday... sandwiched between gracie's hip hop class and preparing for a garage sale.

i know.  i never thought i'd have another one.  it turns out when you procrastinate long enough... well, eventually you'll end up with too much to haul to the salvation army.  no worries, though.  my mom-wagon is loaded with left-overs for the cause.

where was i again?  oh... yes, hubs.

he keeps quite the schedule.  i know that i was not built for his schedule.  i do well to keep up with the one i have.  and although we gals like to do things, we long for the stay-at-home days the most...

most days.



hubs.  he was taking a business call at midnight last night.  my heart doesn't skip a beat with middle-of-the-night calls anymore since he's been in this line of work.  it's just par for the course.  tech-savvy jobs are always on call.

don't get me wrong.  having a tech-savvy husband has its perks, too.  i know who to call if there's a glitch.  he's usually great about not making me feel completely silly if the solution was something obvious.  umm... to him, that is.  ;)



i've informed him that he's in charge of teaching gracie's guitar lessons and all computer courses.  you know, since i'm in charge of teaching them how to read, write, solve equations, learn from history, the function of dendrites, and the everyday daily grind. ;)

he works hard, but squeezes in quality time as best he can.  like here.  he taught gracie the g chord before leaving out of town.  she was oh-so-proud to show nator and me all week.  sweet girl.

we are all looking forward to the next lesson.  you know... another chord.  ehem.



just excuse the glowing bella eyes and piles of mess.  soak in the tender moment instead.

we do sort of a tag-team garage sale.  mama organizes and prices.  dad works the sale.  he's much better at saying good-bye to our things.  they're just things, i know.   hubs has to remind me that we're not selling the memories.  see?  he's much better at this.

i love having him home.

not only did he get to help with a garage sale...

he got to kill a bug, too.

hahhh...

life is good.

bucket list

Being married to a busy guy can have its challenges.  Lately, hubs has spent a lot of time going back and forth to Dallas due to a big project he's working on.  Last week, we had little family time together due to working overtime while he was in town.  We do what we can.  And Sunday, we made another trip to the airport.  *sigh*  Girl movie nights anyone?

We {as in, the girls and I} seldom {if ever} get work-related perks.  I'm not complaining.  Really.  In this economy, we're thankful he has a job.  It's just life.  Life, for us, goes on as normal.  Schooling, laundry, taking out the trash, running to the store, cooking meals, watering the lawn {texas drought}, miscellaneous errands, and even killing my own bugs.  

*shivers*

There's not a ton of time off for hubs, but I know that if something came up, his boss would be understanding.  There's something to be said for that.  Don't get me wrong.  He loves his job and co-workers.  There's something to be said for that, too.

However, this past Saturday, we were gifted with baseball tickets.  Yea!  A perk!  A baseball game is one of our favorite things.

Long story short, they were gifted to us from a co-worker of hubs who needed computer work done.  And these were not just any ol' tickets.  These were DIAMOND CLUB tickets!  Crazy, right?!

Four. rows. behind. home. plate!

Hubs said this was on his bucket list.  I quickly wrote it on mine and checked it off.  

We should seriously make one of these lists.  Have yew-awl?  Can't help myself.  We do live in the south, you know.

Things we will remember:

'free' parking.

really close.

the field, within arm's reach... as we walked out of the {seemingly underground} tunnel toward our section.

pence #9, on nator's t-shirt. 

trying to 'play it cool', as if we were not the only ones who've never sat in the 'rich people' section.

then feeling relieved upon hearing the row behind us gasp at the novelty of diamond club, too.

'free' peanuts.

'free' water, with service.

really. they kept bringing it to us.

cold. and wrapped in a napkin.

'free' frozen treats in a lil' freezer.

nice restrooms. 

a cool, cozy lounge for dining.

'free' buffet.

first time to eat a yummy, salmon salad at a ball game.

on a real dish.

seeing the players so close.

almost becoming famous... on tv.

only if the camera had panned a little more toward the right.

korean war veterans.

hearing the star spangled banner.

teaching the girls the etiquette of removing their hats.

even if we are girls.

johnson bobble-head giveaway.

several homeruns.

and the Astros win!!

The only thing that would have made this better??  If any of the Bush family had been there.  Seated 4 rows in front of us, where they normally sit.  What an honor that would have been.  We've been studying our presidents, you know.

Come to think of it, Nator said it right when she leaned over to me during the game... "I hope Daddy's friend has computer problems again."  

We're re-adding this event back to our bucket list.  Who says it can't happen again? ;)

Hmmm... What else should I add to my list?  
What's on yours?

{2011} easter weekend

we had thoughts of taking the girls to san antonio. sea world.

there was also conversation of taking the girlies to visit relatives in louisiana.

gracie was deeply concerned that the easter bunny many not find her anyplace other than home.

then there was the whole 'mama is sick' issue. i've been under the weather. feeling run-down. seems life has caught up with me. my throat was uncomfortable and when i could speak above a whisper, it sounded more like an elderly man who'd smoked a pack a day all his life. nice, huh?

i'm feeling a bit better today.

thankfully, hubs was off for three. days. straight.

ummm... let me say that again.

hubs was off {of work} three. days. straight.

*sigh*

during this time, i provided my friends with well-informed tweets and facebook updates:

Enjoying a great 3 day weekend with the family. Taking it all in... #lifeisgood

hubs bought the needed supplies for egg dying, boiled the eggs, and is now helping the girls decorate. #lovehim i'm off to take pictures...

the hubster just started playing christmas music while the egg decorating is happening. #hecracksmeup

he buys me chocolate. he cooks a lovely breakfast. he cleans the kitchen. he is working on his meat-marinade for lunch. *sigh* #lovehim #mamaissick

so, as you probably guessed, we stayed home.  and truthfully, i think we were all thankful for the time spent together.  even if mom was curled up on the sofa easter sunday.

there were plenty of lil' hugs wishing everyone a happy easter eve! daddy and gracie dancing to christmas music... gotta love michael mcdonald's christmas cd! then, two lil' voices over the moon with excitement on easter morning.

 

the girls were excited to receive their bunnies, legos, books, clothes, coloring books, play-doh, and lil' m-and-m container.

as predicted, gracie ate her candy before mom and dad were out of bed, while nator took her time.

i love that lil' something extra kids add to the holidays.

i picked up jasmine's deposits in the backyard {did i mention i was sick?}, and filled the plastic eggs with money.  hubs grilled the meat and helped hide the eggs.  i love that he made the girls cover their eyes while he gave last instructions.

i've never been one to push candy in our house, so we've always filled the plastic eggs with substitutes.  when they were younger, it was stickers and 'healthier' cookies and such.  

these days?  it's money.  they were thrilled!  we counted it all at the end and separated it evenly to avoid sibling rivalry.  $6 each. not bad for 2 minutes worth of work.

i'd say it was a successful weekend, with great memories made.

*******************************************

i've decided that life would be much easier if hubs could take a 3 day weekend every week. ;)  but sadly, we gals are off to enjoy another week of movie nights.  so, you know what that means. 

tonight... it's peter pan for nator and me.  scooby doo for gracie.  i rented rabbit hole {with nicole kidman} for myself, but... i think it will be a hard movie to watch.  have you seen it?

hoping you and yours had a wonderful easter weekend!

{did you imagine me saying all of this with my old-man-voice?} ;)

spring and spa induced hot flashes

Water-hose on the trampoline. 
Girlie *giggles*.
A lot of... "Mom, look at this!"
and "Mom, look what I can do!"

Picnics on the trampoline.
Reddi-wip a must.
To eat with organic strawberries.
First sunburn.  *sigh*



Trimming a baby tree.
And dreaming of future projects.
Ringing in the first day of spring with pedicures.
And manicures.
Hub's idea.
Promise.

{the middle pic features mine and nator's fingers, not toes.  just thought you should know.  in case you thought my fingers were toes.}

Funny... mostly because hubs has very sensitive feet.
I feared for the life of the lady giving his pedicure.
He could have reacted when she touched the bottom of his feet.
And rendered her unconscious.

She survived.
As did he.
But not without a lot of squirming.  ;)

************************************************

Oh how I wished that I could have captured a picture of Gracie.  She had someone working on her toes, and another on her fingers.  All while watching Despicable Me through their portable DVD player and headphones.  Too funny.

Nator tolerated the experience.  I talked her into choosing a color, instead of clear polish.  So, purple won.  Her massage chair was getting a bit carried away for her body size.  Had we sat next to her, we could have helped.  Maybe next time?

I asked the lady working on my toes to please change the channel {twice} on one of the large flat-screens.  Why?  Think Travel Channel, spring break, college students... gone wild.   And directly in Nator's line of view.

Obviously, no one felt the urgency to change the channel. 

During my third attempt, I may have said, "I'm getting mad now.  If someone cannot change the channel, I need someone to turn it off until we leave!"  You know.  The whole language barrier.  I wanted to make sure they understood me the third time.  I'm pretty certain this spa experience brought out my first hot-flash.

A fellow mother sitting next to Nator gave me an understanding grin.

The employees' foreign language dialogue picked up speed.  We may have been a hot topic for a few minutes.  Sticks and stones, right?  Especially when you have no idea what they are really saying.  Good times.  ;)

At least our nails are rockin'.  Gotta love a french pedicure.  Is it sad that I can't remember my last pedicure?  Think years.  {Thanks, Schmoopie!}

Mama needs more pampering.  Minus the hot-flash.  ;)  Bring on the sandals and flip-flops!

How did you ring in the first day of spring?