cleaning out the closet

School shopping is almost done. All that is left is Logan's haircut and 2 bottles of 8oz. glue. We could only find 4oz. bottles, so if I can't find any this week, I will just buy 4 bottles of the 4oz. We went to several different stores to find clothes for Logan, but I am pleased with the results. It is so hard to find clothes sometimes. His bottom is smaller than his top, he has very long legs and a very long torso, but a slender waist. It means ALWAYS buying adjustable shorts and pants. The first store had very little by way of shorts...which is what we were looking for. I wasn't interested in buying jeans. #1 because it is too hot for him to wear jeans right now. #2 By the time it cools down enough, the jeans I buy today probably wont fit him anymore. Anyway, so in buying all these clothes, it means it's time to clean out his closet once again. Landry is actually in need of some new clothes as well, but I didn't quite find anything I really liked, so that will have to wait, but I am going to have to clean out her closet as well. We have meet the teacher night on Thursday. We are all excited. We will take all his school supplies that night and meet his teacher, then school starts on Monday. JR is taking off the early hours Monday morning so that we can all go in together. I can't believe my baby is starting kindergarten!!! Geez!

Sunday - Monday - Tuesday

Saturday after the golf tournament, we went to my parent's house. We left around 11pm and Logan stayed the night with Isabella and Isaiah at my parents house. Sunday, we spent the day sleeping and basically doing nothing. My mom works from 11am - 11pm Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of each week, which meant my dad had 3 kids by himself. We texted each other back and forth all day, until about 7 Sunday evening when he text me to tell me Logan was going to stay another night, and that my mom would drop him off Monday morning on her way to work. Going a whole day without Logan, was NO FUN for Landry! She was more demanding than usual, and kept telling her daddy and I to go get "her Logan" geesh...It will be interesting to have her all by herself Monday - Friday while Logan is at school. Hopefully, it will teach her to be a little more independent since she has always had me and her brother to do things for her! Monday morning, my mom dropped Logan, Isabella, and Isaiah off so she could get to work. The kids played all day long. They were all really great, of course, it just meant there were more people to spoil Landry. She seriously sits around like a Queen telling people what to do, what to bring her, what to watch, which game to play! RIDICULOUS is what it is! I keep waiting for the day that her head spins and she starts spewing lime green vomit! LOL The kids stayed the night with us, and I was really surprised that after Saturday night, all day Sunday and MOnday, and until 5:00 on Tuesday there were only a few minor tiffs. They got along so well. My dad came to pick up Izzy and Isaiah at 5:00 on Tuesday and the minute they walked out the door Landry grabbed her blanket and passed out. Poor girl, she is so used to taking a nap, but she just wouldn't go to sleep Tuesday...too afraid to miss out on something I guess! What did I do while the kids played??? Well, I did the dishes, and 5 loads of laundry. I don't think I have done laundry in over a month. I mean, yeah, I will gather up stuff that we need to get through the week and wash that, but basically - we have all been wearing the same clothes over and over again! Ha! So I finally gathered all the piles and started on it. I still have about 3 or 4 more to get through today, plus all the sheets! Ughhh! A couple of blogs ago, I told you of an upcoming trip to Vegas. JR and I thought about going at Halloween...I thought it would be pretty cool, but he didn't want to miss the kids trick or treating! I guess he has a point, although; honestly, I wasn't too concerned, but I conceded...I don't really want to miss the kids in the Halloween get up, but since our neighborhood trick-or-treats on Friday or Saturday (can't remember) and we wern't planning to leave until the 30th, I didn't see it being that big of a deal. Then, we decided that we would need to leave on a Wednesday. The reason being that my mom will be watching the kids and we didn't want to ask her to take time off of work. My mom will come stay at our house so that she can take Logan to school and we will stay in Vegas Wednesday and Thursday night and come home Friday. That way we can still make it to my dad's football game and bring the kids home with us from there. So for now, our plan is to go to Vegas November 7. We have so much going on right now with JR's work, he is considering taking a promotion, but it depends on what they offer for a salary. Right now, JR works on an hourly basis and while he makes a good deal of money hourly, he usually works 20-30 hours of overtime per week. In order for him to take a salary job, they have to match what he makes with the overtime, and in reality since he will be a lab manager and field technician (increasing his responsibility) we would like for them to pay him more than what his annual income would be if he just continued with the job he does now. On top of that, we are going to do some major shopping this weekend...school supplies, school clothes, Logan's haircut, clothes for Landry, and a few household items. So whether or not we go on Nov. 7 will depend on how much we spend this weekend, but on a good note...we have a back up date...December 12. Either way, we are going to Vegas, it just depends on how much money we will have when we go! We are pretty darn excited!

Saturday

Saturday was a full day for us. JR got up early and went to work for a few hours. When he got home we loaded up to go to Wimberley. The Wimberley Athletic Booster Club puts on an annual golf tournament to raise money for the athletics department at the school. Last year JR and Kyle (Vanessa's boyfriend) played with two other guys while Vanessa and I sat around in the heat watching Logan and Landry. This year, however; my dad offered to watch the kids so that Vanessa and I could play. I have only played golf 3 or 4 times before, but Vanessa has never played. Kyle got his degree in PGA management or some sort of golf thing and he is actually trying to get on the PGA tour...he's kind of awesome at golf! He takes Vanessa to the driving range quite a bit, so even though she has never actually played, she can drive the ball very well. Anyway, the way the tournament is played is that each team has 4 players. Each player tees off, and then you choose the best ball. It could be the one that went the furthest, or the one that is better lined up for you next shot...whatever ball the team deems the best. Then, the other three players pick up their balls and put them next to "the best ball," and each player hits their ball from that spot. Again, you choose the best ball, and each player hits from that spot. Hope that makes sense. Anyway, we ended up winning the tournament,out of 22 teams!!! We all got place first trophies and we each recieved a 1.75L bottle of Dripping Springs Vodka! (Dripping Springs is a town, about 20 minutes from Wimberley. They have several wine vineyards in the town and apparently a vodka distillery as well! HA) I also need to note that before the golf tournament began, there was a putting tournament. JR signed us all up for it and paid the extra money. I was the first person out of 24 to go (although, there were 8 people who decided to pay extra money to have an extra try) and I scored a 5. I got a hole in one on the first putt, and scored a 2 on the next two. By the end, five people (including me) had scored a 5 so we had a putt off. On the second round I scored a 6, three others scored a 7, and the last person to go scored a 5. :( So, I got second place. I should also add I was the only girl!!! LOL Anyway - we had so much fun. after the tournament we had the awards ceremony and dinner. My mom had just arrived with Isabella and Isaiah - they had been in Galveston all week, so we went to the grocery store to get a few things then went back to my parents house so the kids could play. We finally left at 11:30 - Logan stayed there because he wanted to play with Izzy and Bubba. My mom will drop him off tomorrow morning along with Isabella and Isaiah. They will stay the night and my dad will pick them up Tuesday afternoon. Today...I am so sore. We were going to go to a county fair in Fredricksburg...but I think I would rather rest for the day!

so long...

It has been nearly a month since my last blog. So much has happened and yet, not all that much at the same time! LOL It's summer so we are pretty busy. We have been to Sea World/Aquatica nearly every weekend. My niece and nephew have come to stay with us twice over the last month. I am reading more and more...which is probably the main reason I haven't been blogging. It seems I use every extra moment I have to read a new book. JR has decided that I may need help for this addiction. He is seriously convinced that I have a major problem....he might be right. I am very close to the 300 mark on my book list, and it's only August. We met up with my parents 2 weeks in a row in San Antonio to go to the horse track and do some gambling. I actually won some money on our last outing - I was so excited...only to find out that the money I won didn't even cover the amount of money JR lost that night! Ughh...Seriously, I was shaking because I bet $24 dollars on one race, only to find out JR spent twice that! Crazy man. All in all we left $20 short of what we went with - which pretty much covered our food and drinks. We decided to make it a stay-cation....So we got a room at the hilton, took the kids swimming, went to the horse races where Logan and Landry got to pet some of the lead horses, stayed the night and went to Sea World the following day. On Sunday we played putt putt and went to an arcade. The next few weeks are going to continue on the same path...this weekend we will be doing our school shopping for Logan. We have to buy some clothes for Landry Bell too since she has out grown most of her clothes. Geesh! I can't believe we are going to be buying school supplies! Yikes! He starts kindergarten in 3 1/2 weeks! I just can't believe it. Last night we all went to north Austin to trade in the HHR. To be honest, I have never liked that car...but I am far past the point of what looks good. I don't care about being fashionable, all I care about is that my vehicle is dependable. The HHR was at 65000 miles, and we could have made it much further on it. There were no problems with it, but JR has been begging to get a truck for 8 months now. The silly, silly man said he was willing to give up getting a truck if we could get a camaro. SERIOUSLY, Vanessa just got one a few months ago, so I know exactly what the inside of a camaro is like. THERE IS NO SPACE. The only reason I gave in to getting a truck is because I never have any space in our car. JR is constantly using my armrest, and I still lug around a diaper bag instead of a purse. It's kind of crazy, but I holds my wallet, wipes (because you just cant leave home without them), neosporin, band aids, sunscreen, a brush, pony tail holders for Landry (because it becomes a tangled mess if you dont put it up when it's windy outside), alcohol swabs, antibacterial soap, and an assortment of toys. It usually also holds the kids cups, and extra drinks and a few snacks. I am thinking about just carrying a first aid kit...then it would be all contained in one area instead of scattered throughout the bag. Anyway, this bag is usually at my feet, which means I have to ride with one foot propped on the dashboard...which scares the bejeezus out of me, because I am so scared of getting in a wreck in that position....or I have to cross my legs, which I then have to swith frequently because I have bad circulation and I end up losing feeling in my feet if I cross my legs for too long. Since JR uses my armrest I am usually slumped against the door...basically - I am very uncomfortable. Getting the truck has solved my problem, as now I mave more than enough space, but JR now has much more space, and the kids have so much more space in the back, we could actually fit another kid back there...not that we will anytime soon - but, it's nice to know that the space is available! This is the first vehicle JR has ever owned brand new, he has always had used vehicles before so he was very excited! He jokingly made a comment that in 10 years Logan will be close to 16, so this could be his first truck. My first thought was...oh God! My baby is only 10 years away from driving. I can't handle that. My next thought was...hell yeah, this can be his first truck. It will be paid off, and he is NOT getting a new vehicle when he turns 16. JR said we probably wouldn't have it anymore. Whatever! I am all for having a car - paying it off - and going payment free until that car no longer works! JR and I are also planning a Vegas trip for the end of the year...NOv/Dec. We had originally planned to go back to Vegas for our 30th birthday's next May/June, but we have narrowed it down to two places. Aruba or Puerto Rico. So, hopefully we can save up enough and actually do it...with this new truck payment we'll be lucky to buy groceries, LOL! I guess we will see what happens. But the Vegas thing will be happening for sure. I am going to be booking the flight in the next month or so..I am waiting on my dad's football schedule. I have to work it out with Logan's school schedule, JR's work schedule, mom's work schedule, and dad's football schedule...these are important because my parents will be the ones watching the kids. We are keeping it a short trip...just 2 nights! But JR and I need a vacation just the two of us at least once every other year! I will try to do better about blogging so that I dont write a novel next time. Hope all is well!

Independence Day

Today is my last day with Mark! I am so freaking happy about this! It will be really nice to sleep in a little next week. JR is working some crazy hours right now, so he isn't really around to help. He leaves the house at 1:30am and gets home around 3 in the afternoon, hangs out for about an hour maybe two, and goes to bed between 5 and 6. We are both exhausted. I had to go to court last night for my tickets. I plead not guilty so I will have to go back in the next month or so. Eh...whatever, just need to get some of the tickets taken care of. I talked to an attorney who said that if I can prove I did in fact stop at the stop sign, then I can get them to drop the other tickets because they wouldn't have had cause to pull me over in the first place. Honestly, I don't want to volunteer to pay money out the wazoo, but I feel like it's cheating. Sure, they didn't have a reason to pull me over, but I am still guilty of not having the kids in car seats. We were only 2 miles from home, but still, I know better, and I feel like a crappy mom - I just couldn't fit all three car seats in the car. Oh well, I did what I had to, that's all I can do. Can't feel guilty about yesterday, it's over - Just gotta do better today! (My new philosophy! LOL) Landry is becoming more and more independent each day. She doesn't want my help for ANYTHING! In a way, it's great, however, it's also dangerous! LOL She only asks me to help her go potty when she is tired, or wanting attention, but for the most part she is doing it all herself, including wiping and washing hands...although the washing hands thing requires her to stand on the edge of the toilet and lean over. DRIVES ME NUTS! I seriously have to by a stool for the bathroom. She also will NOT allow me to help her dress, or put her shoes on. Ughh! Another big move in her independence, is she is completely off the diapers. Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, she woke up me up in the night to tell me she needed to potty, so I got up with her, took her diaper off, let her pee, then put a diaper back on. The following mornings her diaper was still dry, so Monday night, she went without a diaper. She hasn't had a single accident (so far)! This is so exciting! My little girl is growing up! I am really proud of her - a whole week. It's been really nice to only buy diapers once a month since she only uses one at night time...but to know that we are done...no more diapers, its over - it's just so exciting! We were supposed to be going to a wedding this weekend. To be honest, I would have done nearly anything to get out of going...turns out - we really can't go, with JR's work schedule, we can't do anything right now. I can't drive yet, so it's not like I can take the kids and go myself. Oh well! I am filing a petition with the county court on Monday to get my drivers license. Ughhh...seriously, this has been such a headache, from the special insurance, to traffic court, to lawyers, fees, it's been an ongoing process, but I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! Woohoo.

One more week!

I have a bunch of stuff to do today! Yuck. Most of it is making phone calls, but for you mom's out there, you understand how stressful it can be to try to be on the phone with 3 kids running around! On a good note, I have today, and then next week -- and I am done watching Mark! YAY! Another good little piece of news, Amber is done with her class, so she should be coming to pick him up around 2 every day. Of course, I figure she will probably go home and try to pack up some more stuff while she doesn't have Mark to distract her, but still maybe she will be able to get him around 3:30 or 4, but I am still hoping for 2! LOL I am really glad to get this second half of the summer with just my kiddos. It will be nice to be able to take them to the pool during the week, or go back to story time at the library. Or, just not be so exhausted all the time. For the 4th, JR bought a 10 lb. brisket, and smoked it. Yummy! Amber and Mark, and my mom and dad came over. We had the brisket, baked beans, baked potato salad, regular potato salad, grilled corn, and some cupcakes..plus the chips and dip. We sat out in the front yard while JR did a few fire works...JR called the city, but they couldn't give us a definitive answer on whether the fireworks were legal or not inside city limits...we found this incredibly strange. Our neighborhood watch guy came by and said we couldn't do the fireworks anymore...which was fine, since we had just popped off the final one. JR and I decided it would still be okay to let the kids do the sparklers...guess it wasn't. The neighborhood watch guy called the cops. The police officer was really cool, he was laughing with JR, so it wasn't that big of a deal. My mom was freaking out about the cops coming...it was funny. The cop told us if we wanted to continue with the sparklers or if we had fireworks, we could do them in the back yard. HUH??? Confusing right? First, let me say that fireworks were going off all through the neighborhood. Many people were popping them, apparently the cops had so many calls, that they weren't getting out of their cars to knock on doors. They were only stopping the people that were out walking around, kids doing the fireworks in parking lots, or people in their front yards. It was 10:00 when he came by about the sparklers, we decided just to head in and go to bed! My mom and dad even played a couple games of washers with JR and I. It really was a lot of fun! Tomorrow, my mom is keeping the kids for us. JR and I are heading to Dallas to go watch a Rangers game. JR seems to have a special talent for winning things on the radio. I think this is the 5th time he has won Rangers tickets. I have never been with him, opting to let him take a friend or Logan, but I think it would be nice to get away for a day with my husband. Baseball isn't exactly what I would have chosen, but - oh well, there you have it. I kind of wish we were going to sea world again, but maybe we can go on Sunday. I was hoping JR and I could go to Houston next weekend for a friend of ours turning 30, but we can't find a babysitter. His mom is working, my mom is working, and Amber is moving - not that I would really ask her to watch the kids over - night, but still. So frustrating! Plus, I have to go to a wedding. In Iowa Park, which is forever away. Trust me, if I could get a sitter, I would ditch the wedding, but, I do need to be there. I am just not looking forward to a 6.5 hour drive with the kids! Ughhhh Happy weekend everyone!

ups and downs!

I feel like JR and I have been fighting for the last week and a half. I finally just stopped talking to him. 1) It seemed we couldn't get through a single conversation without it ending in a fight, and 2) I didn't really have anything nice to say to him. Obviously there were some underlying issues that had to be worked out, but man I hate when he gets in those moods. He can be so mean, and he twists everything around...which just causes me to be mean. Plus, now that it's all worked out and over, I can't help but think back and laugh at ourselves. We try really hard not to fight in front of the kids, so each time we got into an arguement we had to keep taking time outs because one of the kids would interrupt. LOL Saturday we stayed home...this caused yet another arguement...Gah! JR wanted to get out of the house and do something, so I told him to go. He said he wanted to do something with the kids, I said great, have a good time. He got mad because I didn't want to do anything. I told him we were having a family day on Sunday when we went to Sea World, but I just didn't want to go do anything. He turned it around to say that I just didn't want to see my kids on the weekends! Ughhh. I tried to point out that he can't get mad just because someone doesn't want to do what he wants them to do...he didn't seem to get it. Ughhhh! On Sunday, we went to Sea World. My sister, Vanessa, and her boyfriend, Kyle, were able to meet up with us. They live right next to Sea World, but they work so much that it is hard to get together with them. After leaving the park, I told JR that something really awesome about getting the season passes is 1) they have already paid for themselves since we have gone twice...it's amazing that if we would have paid for single day admission, two times, we would have paid more than what we paid for the season passes. 2) We were there 9 hours last weekend and 6 hours this weekend, and it was like going to a completely different place. Last weekend we watched the Sea Lion show called "Cannery Row Caper", "Shamu Rocks" The Orca show, plus we did some rides, including the "Shamu Epxpress" which is a smaller roller coaster for kids. Logan is actually tall enough for the big coasters, but I am too scared to put him on one...obviously JR or I would go with him, but I'm scared to put him on one - maybe by the end of summer! Then we spent time in Aquatica (the waterpark), the kids got to pet sting rays, then we went to the wave pool, and a splash pad, then a smaller pool with a couple of smaller slides for Landry. JR and Logan went off to ride some of the big slides, then we went on a huge four person tube ride called "stingray falls". It's the only ride Landry is tall enough for, and it is so awesome. So that was all last week, and when we left, Landry was a little upset she didn't get to see dolphins. Yesterday, we went to Aquatica to get our locker. While I went to get the locker, JR took the kids back over to pet the sting rays. They have feeding times, so JR bought some fish and let the kids feed the sting rays. I don't know if we will do it this year, maybe next year - but I really want to do some of the interaction programs. They let you put on wet suits and get in with the Beluga whales, you can feed and pet the dolphins and the sea lions and they have a penguin interaction. They also have a deal where you get into the water with the stingrays....anyway, we might do the begula whales at some point. Anyway, sfter feeding the stingrays, we met up with Vanessa and Kyle and took off for the dolphins and sharks. The dolphins were AWESOME. Again, we bought some fish so the kids could feed the dolphins, Logan kind of just threw it out in the water...he liked seeing them, but he didn't really want to pet them or get too close...I think he saw the teeath and got a little concerned. Landry on the other hand, we were pretty much having to hold her against the wall other wise I think she would have jumped in with the dolphins. She loved it. Sharks came next....basically it's just an Aquarium. But Landry is really into "Finding Nemo" right now, so it was funny to watch her get excited about "Dory" and "Nemo". Next, we went to the gift shop - well one of them, and bought these souvenir cups. We chose to get a Large one, because you can get refills all through the park for $1...BEST IDEA EVER. I think we filled it 3 times! Next stop, The Pacific white sided dolphins and beluga whales show called "Azul" This show was AWESOME. Both kids enjoyed it. There was suynchronized swimming, divers, Parrots flying...some other types of birds, there was some cirque stuff going on with a lady doing the acrobatic dance and trapeze artists, and then of course the actual dolphins and belugas...it was great. After the show, we did a roller coaster, then went to Aquatica for some water play. It was so much fun. Something I should also mention is that the Orca's have another show caled "One Ocean" that goes on through the day - "Shamu Rocks" is their night time show. The dolphins and Belugas do "Azul" throughout the day and have a totally different show called, "The Beluga Story" which shows at 7:30, and the sea lions do a night time show called "Sea Lions Tonight", but during the day have the "Cannery Row Caper". So you can see the same animals doing different shows..not to mentio the 4 different sesame street shows and 4D Pirate movie, and a daredevil ski show. So it is really awesome to think that there is still so much we haven't done. So much to look forward to! It feels like we went to a completely new, exciting place than we did last week! I'm loving it! Can't wait to go back next weekend (hopefully). Only 2 more week to watch Mark! YAY! Plus, I get Wednesday off because of July 4th! Hooray!