I kinda don't know what to do...

Today was the very first day the Cleaning Lady came, and I'm just in awe of the house.  I keep walking from room to room just bathing in the cleanliness that surrounds me.  Now, I know how spoiled it sounds, and I acknowledge that I don't NEED someone to clean my house.  But, I did warn Todd that my sanity would be in question if I didn't somehow find some help with the laundry or the house.  And, to his credit, he has REALLY stepped up since school started back up, and has made dinners weekly.  But, with three kids now running to three different baseball-type practices, school, and everything else (that I know we all have some version of), something had to give.

And I'm just so glad it wasn't my sanity.

Tonight we finished dinner early, and are now all curled up watching one of the many Star Wars movies we have on hand (it was Tanner's pick).  I'm folding laundry here and there, but honestly?  I have this weird thing I'm not used to.  Free Time.  I even already submitted my Mom Blog for the night-usually that's a 10:00-ish chore.

It's weird.  Nice weird, but still...Weird.

I'm famous.

Just sayin'.

new phone

Supposidly I have the fanciest phone ever now. The HTC evolution I think? This is a test blog.

First Communion

Madison made her First Communion on Sunday.  I remember my First Communion with vivid detail.  I remember the dress-it was very itchy, and the ceremony of walking into the church with my classmates.  I read the Responsorial Psalm to the entire congregation, and I remember how nervous I was to speak into that microphone.  I remember my parents hosting a big party at our house afterward, with a big, fancy cake and the day being filled with Joy.  I wanted Madison to feel that same Joy, and to look back on this day with same Peace and Happiness.

She did a fantastic job, submitting to wearing her dress, veil and even tights for the duration of the ceremony.  I feverishly snapped over 100 pictures, to record the special moment.  She sat with her class during church, and I marveled at how Holy and Innocent each of them looked.  Father addressed the class specifically during the Homily, noting the 3 times Madison had yawned since the service began.  We all laughed, and she blushed just a little, but that didn't stop her from the yawning epidemic for the rest of Mass.  He compared their lives to a toothpick, and Jesus to a nail.  Alone, the toothpick broke easily, but when resting with the nail, the toothpick was just as strong.  I loved the analogy and watched all the kids listen with intent-albeit with a yawn here and there. I think they will remember that story though, and remember the strength behind Faith that goes right along with it.

After Mass, we snapped a few more pictures, much to Madison's chagrin.  But, I did manage to get one with her Godmothers, Aunt Patti and Baby Sona-not forgetting Baby Andrea.  Madison was blessed to have Michelle and Cameron in for the ceremony as well, along with both sets of Grandparents.  We took up a whole pew, which made me laugh.  I'm not used to being surrounded by so much family, and sometimes it catches me off guard-in a most wonderful kind of way.  I got few of us with her, but wished I had made the entire family pose for a few shots.  I need to get better at that-being the boss of getting everyone in the pictures, but people tend to ho-hum when I do that.  Any tips on making that happen in the future?

We hurried home to prepare for the celebration lunch, and afterparty with family and friends.  I tried to make it a stellar event, even pulling out my very fancy punchbowl and "shower dishes."  Sona was most impressed with those, we explained the mass collections most people in Decatur had.  I think she will be even more amazed when we start hosting Wedding Showers-Decatur knows wedding showers.  Jared and Thaine stopped by to congratulate Madison on her special day, along with Rita-Mom's friend turned family.  We are blessed with many of those, now that I think about it.  We snacked on chicken salad, champagne punch, normal punch, and other "girly foods" for the rest of the afternoon.  It seemed just perfect, and I think Madison felt the love-even as she ran to play Wii with the boys.  At least she wore the dress a few minutes longer.  She was suprised people brought her presents to add to the celebration, and looked wonderingly at her new cross necklaces, bible, rosary, and Mary Figurine.  She also came up to me at one point in the afternoon, gave me a big hug, and said, "Now I can take Communion with and Daddy every Sunday, right?"  I don't think the reality had sunk in until just that moment, and it was precious.

It was a surreal moment watching her walk up to the alter in her beautiful white dress.  I was bombarded with memories of carrying her up to the same alter in another beautiful white dress for her Baptism.  That was just short of 9 years ago.  9 years.  In another 9 years she will be 18 and headed to A&M.  Well, that's the plan anyway.  In the meantime, I hope these minutes start slowing down just a little, or a lot.  A lot will do, too.

3D Tavern Fun

A few weeks ago, we traveled to the Big City to see How to Train Your Dragon.  We went to the Movie Tavern, and even paid full price for non-mantinee tickets.  On a sidenote-the Movie Tavern is the MOST awesome place to watch a kid movie.  Kids eat pizza.  Parents drink beer.  All is awesome.  Anyway, the movie was also in 3D!  With everyone sporting such a Glamour-Do, I had to snap a few pics to savor the moment.

wow

I forgot my cellphone today.  When I got home, I had 46 text messages and 10 missed calls.  No lie.  It was the deadline for Wise Hoops, but still.

wow.

And no, I'm not that popular.  I just have that much crap taking up space in my brain.

my day off...

Chrissy and I were lounging in bed, me trying to write something fantastic, her taking a, as luck would have it, catnap, when the world exploded.

Really just a few oil tanks across the street, but it pretty much sounded like the whole world.  I walked outside to find black smoke filling the yard, and orange flames peeking out over the hill.  So, as any self-respecting blogger would, I grabbed my phone to do a little texting, and my camera to capture the moment.  Not long after the explosion, we were officially surrounded by the paparazzi of two news helicopters and one careflight helicopter.  Two were injured in the explosion, although I think with only minor burns.  Apparently, they were welding and a spark went somewhere it shouldn't.  I made a few friends as we watched from the road, submitted some pics to The Messenger and went about my business of my day off...but ya, a little excitement that I wasn't anticipating in little ol' Decatur.

Edit:

I think it's safe to tell this part of the story now, it's all pretty much old news.  So, Friday afternoon the Fox 4 newscrew showed up at my front door wanting to INTERVIEW ME ON CAMERA about the whole explosion thing.  I politely declined, citing my lack of make up and yucky hair as definite negatives for them and for me, but the girl begged and begged.  I stood firm though, and sent them off in the direction of other neighbors I knew had been home during the excitement.  I just knew Mrs. Hlavek across the street would be a great interview and could add some local color.  :)  I had no-kid plans Friday evening, so I began primping for that event, which, as luck would have it, was an excellent plan on my part since the news crew returned not 15 minutes after I had sent them away.  The cute pregnant girl begged and begged telling me "I was her only hope."  I'm still having heart palpitations at the thought, but I agreed to her interview, but asked that they mention the Messenger in their story, since our local paper was out on the scene within seconds of the explosion.  She asked if I worked at the paper, and I explained the Mommy Blog, but that I wasn't a real-life reporter or anything.  She was gone quickly after that, and I began stressing of my 15 seconds of fame.  I told only Todd, who then went on to tell the free world, and then I had to admit to frinds that night I had been "on camera" that afternoon.  I finally put it behind me, but Tanner wanted me to watch it Saturday, which I did.  Ugh.  Nothing worse than seeing yourself on camera, and I was annoyed that the reporter got her facts a little mixed up by saying I worked for the Messenger and began "blogging about the incident immediately"-which wasn't true, but oh well-it's over.  I can rest easy knowing my 15 seconds are up, and I didn't run out in my pjs and rollers claiming we were ALL GONNA DIE...as one of my friends suggested I might should have done.  :)

The Ripstick

Mom bought Madison and Tanner ripsticks for Christmas, and we had yet to figure them out-until this weekend.  They are crazy hard skateboards that I'm not sure I would ever master.  But, Madison hopped up on that thing and had it down like a pro before long.  We decided her short height gave her the center of gravity advantage.  She looked like a skater dudette.  Tanner struggled a little more than she did.  First getting frustrated because she was so successful, and then there was a moderate crash on the asphalt that set him back.  Finally, he took the baby steps needed to get his balance and maintain it down the driveway. Mom helped with a genius bit of barstool placement (you can see them in the background of the pics). He was so proud.   Grady had a razor to scoot around on during all this crazy ripsticking, but the important "ready, set, GO" job was way more important.

Yay ripsticking!

Chrissy is a genius cat.

She pees in the shower.  True story.  Enough said.

Pumpkin Patch?

A few weeks ago, I noticed a plant I didn't recognize growing in my flower bed. I let it be, not quite remembering what we planted last summer, and hoping it was just a wonderful surprise of something that "came back." Fast forward to last week. I was at my Mother-in-Law's house harvesting some free flowers for our endless landscaping projects, and she showed me a pumpkin plant that had decided to grow in her compost pile. Cool. Plants are like that at her house. They just "grow" and "take over." Not so much over here, but we're learning. Anyway, as I was working near the Fort, I noticed this little beauty above. Same plant. Pumpkin Plant. Proof here:
Now that I know what the plant looks like, I've discovered no less than 5 pumpkin plants growing around the yard-one in the front flower bed. How did they get there? Well, we just sort of threw our Halloween pumpkins back there when we turned our focus to Christmas. I guess pumpkins don't take too much TLC to "take over." It's exciting though; we might just grow our own Jack-O-Lanterns! But it looks like there'll be extras, so maybe we'll give a few away to our friends too.

rest time

Days when we stay completely at home tend to drag on in the late afternoon, so in an effort to establish a daily routine, today I implemented a new summer tradition: rest time. The older kids haven't napped in a few years, and Grady is on the verge of giving up his afternoon siesta as well (wiping a tear from my eye). But, I thought a good hour of "alone-in-your-room-time" might do us all a bit of good.

I approached the subject carefully, to not completely anger the natives. I explained that on our "down days at home" that we should embrace the opportunity to relax and discover our own hobbies. I told Madison and Tanner that they would spend one hour in their own room while Grady napped. They didn't have to sleep (that would just be crazy), but they could read, draw, or play with things that are in their rooms (legos, magnets, barbies, pixos, etc.) There was definite reluctance, and attempts to escape their rooms throughout the hour, but I held tough and actually extended the time to an hour and a half (taking into account the extra explanations that were needed).

After the appropriate amount of time had passed, I released them from their solitude. Surprisingly they didn't bolt out of their rooms right away. Tanner had written a book, and wanted to finish. Madison decided to organize her books and prioritize her reading list for the summer. Yay us! We celebrated with a snack of homemade cookies and koolaide. Sum-sum-summertime and the livin' is easy, as long as mommy has super sneaky plans of relaxation up her sleeve!

Meet A Friend of Mine!

This little dude tried to ambush me in my final ascent out of the canyon. Growing up in Texas I have always been keenly aware of the possibility of seeing a rattlesnake in some of the places I find myself walking from time to time. I have always wondered what it would be like to have a rattlesnake rattle at me as warning before I knew where he was. Well...I no longer have to wonder what that is like. I experienced it. And yes, I changed my underwear at the top because when I turned to look he was about 3 feet from me.

I took this pic after he moved a couple of feet from where I spotted him. He was essentially on the top of a rock on the trail. He is a Grand Canyon Pink Rattlesnake. They blend in very well with surroundings. A ranger told me they were a non-agressive species of rattlesnake, but I am not so sure I believe him. This dude looked poised to strike and did not back down one inch...this was his territory. I let him keep it.

The Swine

I'm not sure what to think of the Swine Flu craziness. I am usually not one for overreacting, but all this craziness has left even me searching out a little more Purell. FWISD is closed until May 11? Crazy.

I've read my fair share of internet info, and I'm still not freaked out. Yet. Maybe tomorrow when the State of Texas closes I will understand the pandemic a little more clearly.

bird on a ceiling

We have birds living on our back porch. They recently constructed a lovely establishment, I'm sure the envy of all their little friends, on our back porch speakers. Todd was not excited about the construction, but I refused to let him demolish the homestead these little guys worked on so diligently for 2 weeks! Such reckless behavior would have left them homeless! and I'm sure there are babies on the way! It's our job to help provide a little comfort for them during this stage of their life-until they get back on their own feet anyway, and find a nice tree of their own to call home.

I'm cracking myself up-

Anyway, last night-when Todd took the dogs outside for their "evening business", one of the birds FLEW IN THE HOUSE! It was the most hilarious site to watch Todd run all over the living room, stopping every now and then to JUMP UP AND TRY TO CATCH THE BIRD. He opened all the doors and tried to herd the bird out, and cussed me occassionally for not helping. I gently explained that birds are not herd animals, and it was just going to have to find the exit on its own-independent decision making skills are vital for survival you know. :)

Eventually, the bird did fly out the open door and we all settled back down. It was a funny 15 minutes though. Laugh out loud funny I tell ya.

Danielle, there are NOT Shasta Daisies growing in our yard....

Ummm...really? because this is what I found growing under some trees out back. Call me crazy, but I THINK that's a daisy...TODD

I totally found these beauties growing "wild" in my backyard! It was like finding buried treasure in my love and peace kind of world. :) Everywhere we've moved I've planted some Shastas, and this time they popped up all on their own like some little present from nature. How cool is that??

this can't be for real

When Todd is out of town I become quite the insomniac. I guess I feel safer with my big strong man around. right.

So, while I was watching TV in the late hours of the night, or early hours of the morning depending on your perspective, I was slapped with a commercial for this website.

http://www.onlinebootycall.com/

How weird is that?? Is that how it is out there in the dating world?? If so, I'm enrolling my kids in a convent and monastery ASAP. I can do that, right?

Coffee

In the absence of diet coke, I have taken up a coffee habit. Only-I can't make it worth crap. I tried twice last weekend. The first was just coffee flavored water, and the second was tar-flavored coffee. I've been drinking the coffee at school with vanilla creamer. Yummy enough...but I'd like to recreate that at home on the weekends.

What's the secret? Do I have to join a club or something?

Withdrawl

I'm working on Day 3 without my sacred Diet Coke. It has been brutal. Yesterday afternoon I was literally jittery and someone thought that I was not in the best of moods. I didn't realize that I was actually an addict-I thought this drinking habit was just a guilty pleasure.

Guess not.

This morning even Todd was craving some of that luscious carbonated caffeinated beverage. He mentioned switching to beer.

I headed for the wine cabinet.

Kidding...but still. I don't know how I'm going to last another 37 days!!! Life is just not as glorious without my Big A Cokes, which I guess is the entire point of the sacrifice.

a lenten sacrifice

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent-the 40 days before Easter. As Catholics, we make small physical sacrifices during this time, such as giving up meat on Fridays. This is really the first year we've talked about the "giving up" during Lent with our kids. I've always abstained from the meat, etc., but now with Father Todd in the house, we are more cognitive of all the Catholic Traditions. Tanner plans on giving up candy, and Madison is still overwhelmed at the idea of giving ANYTHING UP, so we'll see what she comes up with in the morning.

Which brings me to my lenten sacrifice-I'm going to give up DIET COKE for Lent. I know what some of you are thinking-that I won't last 40 minutes, let alone 40 days-but I'm going to try. Todd is also making the same sacrifice. So, now that you all know, I'll be caught red-handed if I fall off the wagon. The first test will be when I get home from Mass tomorrow night solo with all 3 kids. (Todd will be dining at Del Frisco's. Ask him what he plans on ordering-just ask him!)

I'm going to go figure out the coffee maker now.

Subbing Suicide

Tomorrow I am subbing in Tanner's kindergarten classroom. As a teacher who prefers those crazy 7th graders, this should be interesting. I'm pretty sure I was high when I agreed as a favor to his teacher. It's a full moon, Friday the 13th, and a Valentine party-complete with red icing cupcakes brought by yours truly. Lord-you'll need to pay extra attention to me tomorrow.

and Mary? Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Edit: I survived, but don't plan on teaching kindergarten full time. :) Everyone received their valentines, cupcakes, cookies, and bingo sheet-along with other treats and eats...I'm having mine now in a long stemmed glass.