100th Day of School

I was organizing the pantry earlier today and found Madison's bag of "100 things for the 100th day of school". She had to describe the contents of her bag to see if her classmates could guess. Here were her hints:

1) It's sweet.

2) You can eat it.

3) Kids like me.

Have a guess??

Smarties (the candy)! I really need to work on her self image.

AAAAAHHHHHHH!

So, mom invited the boys and I over for dinner last night. It was the first time we had been back in the house since we moved out over a month ago. Can I just say the boys were TERRIBLE!!!! Tanner taunted Grady endlessly, taking cars and other toys. When he wasn't doing that, he was whining about more bread or the PURPLE GRAPE JUICE he spilled all over the floor. There was of course some breakdown outside when mom and dad's dog tried to join in the Grady/Tanner fun. Hellloooooooooooooooo? We have TWO dogs, and Tanner decides to have a meltdown? Is he high? Grady was completely out of control-running around screaming and hitting Tanner with a stick. Speaking of that incident, when he hit Tanner with a stick, I put him in time out until he said he was sorry. It. took. a. long. time. Mom advised me when it was over that a "swift swat on the butt gets it over faster-even though I know you don't agree with that". AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I spank my kids constantly!!!! (ok, maybe not constantly-don't turn me in just yet.) However, I think it's a little difficult to correct hitting by hitting. Crazy I know. I finally managed to get the kids in the car and drove away with snot and tears smushing all over the back windows.

I don't think I'll be going to dinner again any time soon.

Rain Rain Go Away

So after about 24 hours of nonstop downpour I think the sun is emerging from behind the clouds. Sadly, most of our dirt is washing down the slope of our acres and our grass seed has made a nice little pasture downstream from our would-be lawn. *sigh* I think we need to take out a loan and spend the $ on actual palets of grass, otherwise our house might be floating down the road before too long.

On another note, yesterday took me back to the "good ol' days" when my friend Kimberly stopped by. She had planned to leave her kids and make a trip into the metroplex to run some errands, but the flooding caused a change in her plans. The boys played nonstop as we sat and visited. In Keller, we would trade our kids at least once a week to help eachother out with errand running. Our kids became the best of friends, and our visits upon kid pick-up brought us closer as friends and moms. Since our move to Decatur, and the craziness of school in general, those days have become very far and few between. Those days will become even more rare in the years ahead. As her youngest starts kindergarten next year, she's hoping for a job in the school system. In some ways we are both looking forward to returning to the work force, and in other ways we are both scared. Things will change soon, and the memories of days like yesterday will always make me pause with overwhelming content and happiness.

House Pics

I said I would post some pics of the finished product. Here are my fave spots in the house:

The Dining Room-dark walls were a little of an adventure for me, but I like them. (excuse the scrapbooking mess-always a work in progress)

The Kitchen-I love the rock on the under side of the bar-should be kid proof-right?

The Cozy Living Room-this room turned out a little different than what I thought, but it's really cozy and almost part of the kitchen-which I think will work. A carpet picnic was in process at the time of this pic-a little windy today, and it was all I could think of for some St. Patty's day fun.

The Footlockers-by far my favorite part of the whole house. You would not believe the crap the kids have all the time! Exampled here: easter buckets, coats, shoes, diaper bag....
My bathtub-it's a girly party of the house, and o so relaxing. I don't share.

So that's it-our 'forever house'. Todd thinks we will make one more move in our lifetime, but I'm thinking we will just add to this when we can. It is a great home, and I hope we have great memories here.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I love St. Patty's Day! I love the soda bread, the green beers, the shamrocks and leprechauns. I have to say I'll pass on the cornbeef and cabbage though-yuck! I did make it once. Only once. Guess that Irish blood doesn't pass down completely generation to generation.

To begin our green fun, my friend Shelly and I took our boys down to the Ft. Worth Stockyards. What better way to celebrate than walking around a little festival with balloon animals, stilt walking guys, and "beer to go"? We sent the boys into a maze and watched from a platform as they meandered through. Such fun. We ended the day on the patio of a mexican restaurant sipping margaritas and watching a parade.

Luck o' the Irish to ya!

I want to wash my hands, face, eyes, and ears in SNOW.

A winter blast hit us last week, and things were so beautiful. Madison and I were coming out of the fog of illness during the snowstorm. Todd actually had to call and tell us to look out the window.

This is what we saw:

backyard

front yard

the snowmobile

I wish I had been able to have more fun in the snow-but death was knocking at the door. He's gone now. Thank God.

I've been hit.

and I'm down for the count. Spring needs to get here even faster.