The Polar Express

On Sunday night, we took the kids on the The Polar Express! We have had this planned for over a month and bought tickets to go w/our cousin's family and her neighbor's family.

In gearing up for this, I rented the movie for the girls to watch over Thanksgiving break and we already owned the book. Nothing like a little compare and contrast.

At the beginning of the week, Macy was calling it The Polar Exstretch but sadly, she now pronounces it correctly.

me with Jill and Gregg (Gregg and Jill are 1st cousins)

You'd think my biceps would be big in a non flabby way considering how I carry this little around all of the time!

Macy and Tori (Jill's oldest). And surely, Macy needed Tori to carry around all 48lbs of her.

All aboard!!

Paigey in this position about 75% of the time, even turning down the sugar cookie.

With her, it's either clingy momma's girl or crazy two year old. And on a two story sold out train, I'll take my snuggly baby.

ticket punching, cookies, hot chocolate - check! Just like the movie!

Conga line, Santa giving out bells, dancing in the aisles ~ Lubbock interpretation.

Macy told Santa that she wanted a DVS for Christmas. Probably because Jaxon had his on the train.

For.crying.out.loud.

What about that real live cub she's been talking up for the past three months??

We asked her about it later and told her that Santa has been listening to her talk about the cub. And he's probably busy getting it ready to bring to Lubbock.

She said it was ok because that wasn't the real Santa anyways. The real Santa was at the mall and she'd tell him about the cub.

Well, of course.

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving morning, I had a Paigey come crawl in my bed at 3:30am. After about 30min of her not settling down, laying between my legs and then sliding her way off the bed, I took her back to her room.

She said mommy, you nuggie (snuggie/snuggle) me.

So, I got into bed with her.

And I realized I'm lying on something wet. So I put my hand on it and smelled my hand.

Not wet from a leaky diaper but apparently she had thrown up. And I was lying in it. (nothing too bad ~ just a little chicken salad that the girls and I had for lunch - and no, it didn't smell - that is how come I didn't know it was there until I felt it)

I was thankful that her other set of sheets were clean and in the laundry room. (of course, in the mounds of unfolded laundry, they were the only thing, you know, folded)

So, I changed the bed but not before taking a picture of the mess to show Gregg later in the am. (He had been at the store till 1:30am getting it ready for Black Friday)

And I decided against posting it here on the blog.

She was fine the rest of the day and the relatives came over at noon.

I had 12 adults, 1 teen, and 6 little ones here for lunch. Aunt Beth made the turkey, dressing and gravy and everyone else made everything else. I didn't get many pictures because I was running around the whole time, and eating, and visiting.

...I put Paigey down at 11 for a nap because she was tired from being and so she'd be rested for the rest of the day.
before lunch
Tori and our purple sweaters
the kiddie table
Taylor, Kendyl, Ayden, Macy, Paige and Jaxon

After lunch, Lindsey showed all the ladies her wedding dress (I'm storing it here). And later the girls left the men to watch the Cowboys kids play so we could go to a movie (which yes, it was cute ~ typical Vince Vaughn).

Gregg and I have had many Thanksgivings were it was just us. Retail schedules make it impossible to go anywhere for this particular holiday. But this Thanksgiving was alot of fun being w/everyone and seeing our kids enjoy their cousins.

I was more to me this year than "just a meal" and for that, I am thankful.

and sadly, I didn't make a pie

Last month we were looking for something fall to do as a family. And there are no nice pumpkin patches around here like the one we were accustomed to back in the big city. But I kept hearing about a local apple orchard and we went to check it out.

A nice lady from the kitchen staff was kind enough to take a family pic.

Such a tender moment of a mother and her two girls - the little one checking out her boogie.

I digress.

The girls were given a bucket to push through the orchard and put their apples in.

I took probably 57 pictures alone of just Paigey and her bucket. She was very serious about her bucket-pushing. Until she actually found an apple to eat, then I took another 57 pics of her chomping her apple.

And while Paige was occupied with her apple, I sat them down to take some more pics. Gregg was grumbling and I kept reminding him, if we get a good one it'll be our Christmas card pic.

So work with me so we won't have to put the kids in front of the tree again this year.

Oh, I kid.

You know I'll be having their pic under the tree but it is not going to be the Christmas card this year. And if you are on my mailing list, you'll be seeing Paigey and her apple again.

And you can guarantee I was on Sams.com tonight just one click away from ordering my Christmas cards.

And the girls did find some lovely pumpkins to sit by! Nothing says pumpkin patch like a chain-link fence and an RV in the background.

So, here's our loot. The apples were teeny but we sure ate off of them all week. Macy took three to her teacher the next day, because Mrs. Hendrix has three people in her family.

I made sure that she got the prettiest ones and not the ones that had Paigey's teeth marks.

***I just posted this and went to check my blogs, and Mrs. Hendrix had posted that she is pregnant!! Whoo hoo! I have been praying for her to get pregnant with this much anticipated baby! Thank you Jesus for answered prayers! And Hollie, I'm so glad Macy gave your baby something healthy to eat! :-)**

Christmas in July

As wholesome as the parade was, well the rest of the evening wasn't.

Fun, dirty, hot, a bit creepy ~ yes.

Wholesome ~ not so much.

It was planned out with the best of intentions. My girlfriend, Margi, and I had scoped out online all kinds of places that was showing local fireworks. Not on Thursday night (the 3rd) or on Saturday night (the 5th) but you know, on the 4th of July. With the rest of the country.


We found out that the local horse racing track was doing fireworks after the last race. So, the plan was meet up for dinner, go see the horseys, and then watch the fireworks.


In.air.condition.


So, that morning, the girls and I went to the parade, grabbed lunch at Sonic to take home, the girls napped, I took them to the pool that afternoon and then it was off to meet more friends for dinner and festivities.


We're makin' memries' here.


We met the Howard's at On the Border for dinner. The iced tea hadn't even been ordered when the night immediately went downhill.


That would be when my elbow knocked the hot sauce out of the waiter's hand and all over Gregg's white tshirt and khaki shorts. And my denim shorts and red shirt. And my purse. (5min earlier..."I'll just stick some wipes in my purse instead of taking Paige's bag in"....)


Yes, I am clumsy like that on a regular basis. But my back was towards husband and the waiter because I was discussing the vast differences of cheese quesadillas and cheese nachos to my two and five year old.


Choose pppllleeeaaaassseeee, dear children. Cheese on a chip or cheese in a tortilla??!!


Gregg hurried himself off to the bathroom to clean the RED sauce out of his white tshirt.


Like that was going to come out.


Then when he came back, me and my purse went to go clean up. The purse wiped up good. I wiped off the excess sauce off my clothes. No worries, I'm a mom. I'm stained, wet, and smelly on a regular basis.


When we were almost finished with our dinner, Ana and family walked by. Crazy to see all of our dear friends in one day!


I love how it is, indeed, a small world after all.


After the restaurant, it was close to 8pm but Gregg needed some new clothes. Seriously. We backtracked to the closest Walmart so I could run in and get husband a new outfit. (Target was way down the road and any nicer stores were closed for the night)


It wasn't in the best part of town but I ran in to find Gregg something that would get him through the next couple of hours. After much searching, I found a navy pullover and some khaki shorts that were not folded and on hangers. Because there was no going home to run the iron over them.


When I got back in the car, Gregg was all disgusted at how ghetto the Walmart was like his own store in South Dallas. He said he saw one of his thieves walk into the store while her pimp waited in the getaway car for her.


Macy said she saw Keith Urban. But Gregg said it was just a tan, homeless man with long hair.


I jumped in the drivers seat so Gregg could change clothes while going down the access road. And I told him to just go on and ignore the fact that his new shorts had a teeny Wrangler tag on the cargo pocket.


We are not country folk like that.


Apparently, everyone in the metroplex decided that a/c and fireworks were a good combo. We turned out of the parking lot as soon as we turned in and called the Howard's for a Plan B.


Then the wailing in the backseat about not seeing horseys deafened me for a good 247 seconds.


Lo, and behold!


Santa has a cousin who lives on Skid Row! And for $10, he'd let me park in his parking lot so the kiddies can see some fireworks.
just south of that beard is a wad full of $10 bills...


And in case we need some refreshments, there was a snack shack waiting for us!


I parked the Murano and jumped out to hold the spot next to me for Margi (who was in line).


Get this. A lady in a minivan pulled right on up to me. I sweetly told her that my friend who was in line was going to park next to us. She snorted, "so you're saving this space?" Yep.


Then, with her windows rolled down, she cackled her ride the 20 yrds to the next available space. I'm like, "Gregg! Do you hear that woman laughing at me??!!"


It was all I could do not to walk on over to her and have some church right then and there.


All was forgotten when all five kids ~ ages 5 and under ~ reunited.

I love how Baby Gannon is giving a thumbs up.


Margi and I quickly ran off so we could get a closer look at Santa and the snack shack. And decided that probably inside the shack were some bathrooms that nobody was going to be using that night. Funny thing is, the kids never asked to go. And the adults, well, we held it.


Walking back to the car, I saw husband in his new threads.

Clearly, he's thrilled to see me.

Delirium started setting in with Paigey choking and poking.

And even a Kleenex box had lost it's battle in the wrestling pit.

It was time to call an intervention in the form of lets-turn-on-a-movie-in-the-truck. I turned on Leap Frog Letter Factory and told the kids go on and learn something.

I got crazy with the camera and did another one of those hold your arms out and shoot pics. It took us almost 11 years to do the 1st one, but by golly, we've done 2 in a month now!

(July 3rd marked 11 yrs since our 1st date)

Once the kids could each recite all of the alphabet and their sounds, we let them back out of the truck. It was nearing 10:00 and surely, the fireworks were going to start!

Brandon and Gregg took over the tailgating. And Macy and Preston later enjoyed some time together ~ with their clothes on.

I love how when Preston smiles, you can see every single one of his teeth...

Finally! Some fireworks showed up behind the snack shack! (But really, the real fireworks were to be in front of us, not behind us.) We let the kids that was it and it was time to go now.

Once we got all five kids loaded in the cars, there was a little tap-tap at the window. The sweet girl parked next to us had just heard from a friend (that was really at the racetrack)and word had it that the real fireworks were about to begin.

Aw crap.

We got all the kids out again and got them into position.

And the twinkle in their eyes made it all worth it.

South Padre Island 2008

This post has been haunting me for two weeks. So here goes ~ all smashed together in one post.
We left Saturday, May 31st and drove home Thursday, June 5th ~ a good 10hr trek one way. On our way into town, we stopped at Pizza Hut in Port Isabel (we always eat pizza the night we get on the Island). Usually we pick it up on our way into town, but since Meme and Grandaddy weren't coming until Monday, we ate it at the Pizza Hut. Then it was off to the Wal-Mart for groceries.

Sunday: First thing that morning, we got busy mopping the balcony. Then that afternoon, we had some pool time after nap.

After we got cleaned up, it was off to The Palmetto Inn for some good Mexican food. Meme says it was the one of the 1st restaurants on the Island. Alot of the family likes to eat at Jesse's but the last time we ate there, we had to pay for the chips and hot sauce! And the service is not conducive to hungry, sweaty little children.

After dinner, we drove out to the very end of the Island to see the sand dunes, walk along the water and gather the big, pretty seashells that you can't find on the busy part of the beach.


But before I knew it, both girls were fully clothed in the water! We had brought towels to dust off the sand but no change of clothes!


Monday: We had always heard we should try the Radisoon for their breakfast buffet. We got there and guess what? The buffet is only on the weekends. So, we ended up at McDonald's for breakfast (which Macy has been begging to do for months) and fed the whole family for the cost of what one buffet would've been. Then it was back to Wal-Mart, naps, and then the beach for real ~ to play (wearing swimsuits this time), chase birds and be on the lookout for jellyfish (4 were spotted that day!)

Antonio and the beach Barbie gang came along and Paige gave them their spa treatments.

That night we got cleaned up to go out to our favorite restaurant of all on the Island ~ Sea Ranch.

Shortly after coming home from dinner, Meme and Granddaddy showed up from the 12 hr road trip from Levelland. How an 80 and 88 year old make only one stop on a 12 hr drive astounds me...Regardless, we didn't tell the girls they were coming, so we had two excited little girls to see their great-grandparents!

Tuesday: Now that Meme was there to make her famous cheese balls for bait, Macy was ready to go fishing! She caught six catfish that morning but wouldn't share her cheese balls with Gregg ~ he didn't catch anything but seaweed and he stayed busy baiting Macy's hook.

After fishing, we headed to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center. Then we swang back by the condo to get Meme and Jimmie to go to lunch with us at Blackbeard's. Totally tradition to go there for their lunch specials.

The rest of the day was more pool time, dinner and more fishing for Macy and Gregg.

Wednesday: We all went on the morning dolphin watch boat. It is an hour and a half tour and it is alot of fun. What's not to love? Being on a boat with Kenny Chesney's music playing...oh, and I saw some dolphins too...


This was the first year at the condo that we didn't need the foldaway crib or did I take a booster seat. Paige was big enough for the twin bed and bar stools! She also fell in love with Meme's leather couches and was a bum there.

We are so fortunate to have such a nice place for our family to vacation together at...now if we could just get all of the family there at one time would make it even more perfect!

**If you are feeling really crazy and want to see all 80+ pics, click here.**