First Week Random Musings...

I haven't been able to blog since the first day of school because, frankly, my head is still spinning! Seriously, can you say whirlwind? I feel like I have been in a wind tunnel with back packs, uniform, 3000 trees worth of forms to fill out, and four EXTREMELY TIRED kids!

Don't think I didn't have big plans for being bigtime organized when school started back. No more of the helter skelter life that is summer, but back to the straight and narrow complete with morning responsibilities, after school chores, and after dinner responsibilities! And can I say, my grandios plans went over like poop in a punch bowl! My kids took right to it...like cats to water!

In the morning, we did pretty well. Beds were made, teeth were brushed, bathrooms were straightened, and we were ON TIME! After school? Jordan had a 60% completion rate with remembering and actually doing her after school chore. Abbee, Emma, and JW? Let's just say, they are still thinking about it! Utter and complete failure with that whole "let's all work together to keep the place from being a hazardous wasteland" idea. They did enjoy laying out their uniforms for the next day before they went to bed...ALL OVER THE LIVING ROOM FURNITURE! So, they got the broad concept, we just need to work on cleaning up the technique!

JW was also 60% at keeping his color on green (which means he had a great day). Apparently, following directions was giving him a little trouble and also keeping his clothes on (not to worry, he got busted after only removing his SHIRT!). He got back on track on Friday and finished the week with a smiley face stamp!

Abbee finished the week with a HUGE GASH in her knee complete with bright red gushing blood and extreme cries of agony followed by repeated mantras of "it burns it burns it burrrnnnnssss!"
While I mopped up the blood that was making its way down her leg to my COUCH (I don't think so!) and also soothed the pain with an ice pack, Wes was apparently cleaning out the medicine cabinet.(Seriously, this is all STILL OUT ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER!)


He was supposedly looking for the antibiotic ointment while simultaneously mumbling under his breath about the sheer impossibility of this actually happening when there is nothing sharp on her scooter (which was the apparatus on which the grand-canyon sized gash occurred). Meanwhile, Abbee's still crying, moaning, and occassionally WAILING!

Finally, I tell him to let me find it as he assures me it's flat not there because he has looked EVERYWHERE. I actually believed him this time because he had apparently destroyed what was once the medicine cabinet in the wake of his search. However, when I dug through the container labeled "minor first aid" (which was already out on the counter), low and behold there was not one tube of antibiotic ointment. No there most certainly was not...BECAUSE THERE WERE TWO!!! (Wes's complete inability to find things is another post entirely!).

SO, Abbee got patched up. Jordan went to Natalie's for the night. Abbee and Emma went to Gabbi's. And, JW went to Granpa's! Wes and I? We went to dinner... ALONE!!Texas de Brazil thank you very much! I never want to eat red meat again but it was DELICIOUS! Especially the complementary champagne for our anniversary!

So, we survived week one and have spent our Saturday recuperating from the initial shock of it all! Here's to hoping we can fine tune those slight descrepancies between my fatastic illusions of an organized home and the kids' complete mind-boggling ability to thrive in chaos!

Back to School

Today was the the most highly anticipated day of the summer...or at least of the weekend! We donned our uniforms, loaded our supplies (at least most of them), snapped a couple of pics, and were all in the van by 7:28 a.m. That will never happen again! Here was attempt number one at a cute first day of school picture (look closely at JW's eyes!):
So, I forced a do-over:
This, of course, was John Wesley's very first day of school and I must admit, he was in rare form! First, he didn't speak one word when he got out of the bed (this is the kid that I usually have to tell to be quiet until given permission to speak again...he's very annoyingly talkative in the morning!). He continued in silence as he only managed to eat about half of his cereal (another oddity!). Then, he made THREE trips to the bathroom before he got out the door...and they weren't the standing up sort if you know what I mean! As we walked down the hallway, I saw the look of fear in his eyes for the first time EVER! But, he still offered a cute smile for his pose with Ms. Mayer:

As I left his classroom, I overheard him ask the kid across from him (as if he were very annoyed by it), "Why are you scribbling?" I quickly reminded him that we use kind words when speaking to our friends!!

Abbee (along with Parker) walked herself to class...but that didn't stop me from peeking in for a picture:
She has one of the best teachers in the whole universe! She is so excited to have Ms. Estes and I'm hoping Ms. Estes and I are still friends at the end of the year!

Emma was so patient waiting for her turn to be walked to class! Here she is with her wonderful teacher Mrs. Summerhill:
As she sat down at her desk and we began to unload her supplies, we realized she had left a whole sack of supplies at home! And, it happened to be the sack that had her school box, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, and pencils in it...all of which are first day NECESSITIES! The sweetest little princess beside her said, "Here. She can have some of my crayons...I have THREE WHOLE BOXES!" She was so sweet to offer and that made Emma feel much better!

Finally, these two would only let me take their picture BEFORE we got to their school...they are WAY TOO COOL for teacher pictures! It worked out nicely since I ended up loaning my camera to another second grade teacher who had seemingly misplaced her own! Here are two of the MOST TALKATIVE girls on the TIS campus:
After dropping FOUR kids at school, returning home to get the forgotten supplies, and writing an enormous check to the cafeteria staff, I finally returned to the house at 8:50...whew!

I'm so excited that all three of my BHE kiddos have teachers that are also my friends. It makes me feel very comfortable knowing they won't be able to get away with anything!!

When I picked JW up from school, I asked him what he learned today. He replied, "I learned that I need to walk quietly in the hall!" (I guess the vow of silence wore off!)

All in all, it was a perfect day for all of the kids. We are all looking forward to a great year!

Finishing Strong...

Well, summer is SCREECHING to a halt (like it or not!) and we are squeezing every last moment out of it!

Today, we spent the day at the Fort Worth Nature Center where we stayed just long enough to get hot, tired, hungry, cranky, and stung by what I'm supposing was hornets (okay, that last one was only John Wesley but it was the highlight of the hike for sure!).

After a look at some of the animals at the nature center, a couple of short hikes, and a picnic, we were on our last hike...a little jaunt to explore the island...talking about alligators (Parker was pretty sure they are nocturnal!), big fish, snakes, and other scary critters we hoped not to see. As we hiked further and further into the great wilderness, the kids got pretty far ahead of Kristy, Landry, and me. All of the sudden, we hear BLOOD CURDLING SCREAMS as the entire pack of kids is running as fast as they can back toward us! There was so much screaming and comotion, it took me a minute to process what I was seeing. As they raced closer, I could see a SWARM of some sort of bugs following closely behind!

Once they reached us, we figured out it was John Wesley who had been stung. I could see several stings on his hand and he was just wailing, flailing, and going NUTS! I tried (unsucessfully) to calm him and asked him if he had been stung anywhere else. He sobbed, "yeeeessss!" I asked, "Where?" He said, "I don't know. Everywhere, somewhere!" (Well that certainly narrows it down!)

Upon further examination, he has 8 stings on his hand, one on his upper lip, one on his leg, and one on his upper back! I believe that's a grand total of ELEVEN! He got eleven times more stings in one fowl swoop than I have had in my entire life! He's a tough little bugar and with a little icepack and some encouragement from his friends, he was smiling again in no time!





We finished the day at the pool. Jordan, Alex, Abbee, and Parker did some serious Olympic swimming while Emma, Lexie, Luke, Landry, and JW managed to get right in their way! They broke some serious records and I'm pretty sure there is a future Michael Phelps in the bunch. It was great fun until the BEAUTIFUL summer rain forced us indoors.

Tomorrow, we pack for our last summer hoorah to the mountains! I'm looking forward to sitting in the coolness and doing some serious reading and relaxing...I'm hoping my kids are down with that plan!

So, there you have it! Any last minute plans for finishing YOUR summer with a bang???

Back to School Blues

Typically, I'm totally jacked about the start of a new school year. This year, not so much! It seems like summer has FLOWN by...and my kids are growing up TOO FAST! Just thinking about Jordan beginning SIXTH grade makes me so sad. And my little Emma in second? It just doesn't seem possible. Abbee is in her last year of elementary...where does the time go? I have really enjoyed spending time with my kiddos this summer; and, while I totally love the early bedtime that the school year brings, I'm going to miss the late night parties we've had this summer.

On a side note...I took Emma and Abbee shopping this evening for a few last minute school necessities. When we were turning into the mall, Emma asked, "Why does the mall have Dillards [she pronounced it dill-arrrrds] written on the side?"

When Emma asks these sorts of questions, there is always an ever so brief moment of silence before EVERYONE cracks up laughing. The best part is that Emma rarely understands why we think she's so funny! But, she giggles anyway! Love it!

Anyone else fighting the back to school blues??

Things that make you go...HMMMMMM?

Me: John Wesley, I need you to pick up all of your toys and put them back in your toybox, brush your teeth, and get ready for bed.

John Wesley: OK. And, Abbee, when I get back in here, can you turn me back into a human?

The Greatest Friends Ever!

About three weeks ago, my friend Jenny called and said, "We're going to celebrate your birthday August 1 so put it on your calendar." My birthday was in June but we were all busy and never got around to doing anything, so I agreed and never thought about it again...until Thursday. Jenny called again asking how late I was working on Friday. I told her I wasn't sure, it would depend on how much work I needed to do. She responded by telling me, "Well, we're leaving at five to celebrate your birthday so you need to be finished by then." (Until this point, I had forgotten all about my birthday celebration; but, being given this detail began to raise my suspicions just a little.)

So, yesterday morning, I get another call from my never-been-much-of-a-planner friend Jenny and am told to dress for warm weather because we're going somewhere after dinner that's outside. (Suspicion meter hits level red!) I ask her where exactly that might be (because I had spent the entire day before outside and sweaty and I wasn't sure that I wanted to do it again for my birthday...and it was MY birthday after all and Jenny was being unusually BOSSY!) and she would not give me a straight answer!

SO...I do what any rational person would do in this situation...I googled "fort worth events august 1." And I got NOTHING. But, I didn't stop there. I decided to google "dallas events august 1" and low and behold first on the list: JOHN MAYER IN CONCERT AUGUST 1!

I got giddy excited about this being the possible birthday surprise but I needed more details before I got my hopes up too high. I surfed around a little more and discovered that he was playing at the superpages.com center (AN OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER) on August 1 in Dallas. I couldn't stand it so I sent a text to Jenny saying, "just tell me now we are going to mayer so i can just die!" To which she replies, "where's mayer and what do you do there?" WHATEVER! So, I banter back and forth in a futile effort to get Jenny to admit it knowing that at this point I'm screwed if it isn't Mayer because anything else we do is going to be utterly disappointing!

Leigh happens to call and I see my opportunity to corner an unsuspecting victim...I answer the phone like this: So we're going to Mayer tonight? That totally explains why you weren't upset that James was going with Danny and not you. DRAMATIC PAUSE. Leigh replies, "UUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH, what are you talking about? I don't even like John Mayer." I press harder. "Yeah, but you love Colbie Callat...Don't lie to me. I just talked to Jenny." Leigh continues to play dumb while trying desperately to change the subject.

At this point, I'm fairly certain I'm right but so far I can't get anyone to cave. So, I do what any smart detective would do. I call Deneise! (What I didn't know at this point was that Jenny had already sent out a text message to everyone warning them not to answer their phones because I was getting suspicious!) So, no answer.

Jenny calls with a final attempt to convince me I'm wrong. I was pretty sure she had had some coaching from Matt because she was now calm and adamant that we were not going to the Mayer concert and she was sorry she hadn't thought of that.

I decide to lay low for awhile and let Jenny settle down because I had rattled her pretty good and on the ever so slight chance that I was wrong, I had just totally ruined whatever Jenny had up her sleeve!

So, 5:00 rolls around, everyone shows up at Jenny's house, I'm given a light up wand, tiara, and some jewels and a gift...I play along thinking I'm going to have to muster every bit of fake excitement I can if this in not Mayer tickets in this bag! So, I take my time before ripping into the envelope which would prove me...RIGHT!!! JOHN MAYER CONCERT TICKETS!!!! WHOOP! I knew it!

I HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS EVER! Several of them do not even appreciate John Mayer like I do and they went with me to an OUTDOOR CONCERT IN AUGUST that started an hour late to listen to one of my all time favorite musicians. It was the best birthday surprise ever! Mayer was awesome and the company was even better! We shared loads of laughs and even taught Deneise a few new dance moves!

So thanks to all my fantastic friends for thinking of me and planning such a super surprise! I really am so blessed to have everyone of you as my friend...YOU ARE THE BEST!

More Flags, More Fun...

On Thursday, the kids and I went (with our good friends the McKees) to Six Flags for a day of thrills and excitement mixed with a little sunshine and sweat! I must admit that I WAS NOT looking forward to it at all. I was secretly dreading being hot and clammy all day while walking and walking and walking to wait and wait and wait! However, let the record show that we had a FANTASTIC time!
We opened the park at 10:30 with our first priority being to secure Demi Lavato tickets (check!), then it was off to ride! After an hour or two of riding, I asked the kids if they were ready to go to van and eat the picnic lunch I had packed...they were not! (I was starving, but I couldn't change their minds!) So we rode some more! It was 4:30 when they finally decided they were hungry! (If we had been at home, they would have been asking for a snack every 15 minutes!!)

The highlight for Jordan and Emma was the Demi Lavato concert! I got a nice picture of idollatry as I watched my daughters scream and wave furiously at someone they have never met, but totally want to be like! At one point, Emma looked over at me and said, "I really wish I could just touch her hand!" Jordan kept yelling, "I love you, Demi!" I enjoyed watching them enjoy themselves so much, but it made me realize how easily my kids are drawn to the idols that are being marketed to them.

At the end of the night, it was time for the BIG RIDES! Sarah, Jordan, Preston, and I hit the Titan...and I thought I was going to puke! Then, we moved on to Batman. We were next in line to get on the ride when DEMI LAVATO was ushered in and took our spot right in the front of the ride. Jordan FREAKED OUT!! She was yelling her name and waving. The lady next to me looked at me and said, "Who's Demi Lavato?"

On the way home, Jordan and I had a great discussion about fame (she has decided she wants to be famous!) I'm pretty sure I didn't change her mind about it. She saw first hand the perks of being "famous" and she just wants everyone to love her and yell her name! Such a dreamer! Love that girl!

After a full day, I basically dragged the kids out of the park...they wanted to keep riding! They had so much fun and never complained about the heat or the walking. We saw our friend "Robin" as we exited the park and took one last picture for the road! More flags was definitely more fun for us!!

Friendly Cursing!

Just for the record, the curse I put on my good friend Kristy was a friendly curse!!! Because I'm competitive, being challenged will force me to run further and longer and more often; but, because I'm also lazy, I will not enjoy it so much! Just a little joke to get my competition fired up and ready!

Curse you Kristy Bagg...

Those of you who know me well know that I do not have a competitive bone in my body! (Hold on just a second while I wipe the sarcasm that is dripping from my computer!!) However, I have many other friends who just can't get enough...friendly competition that is. Just when I was settling into a good 3-3.5 mile groove where I could actually run that distance and feel good, my used to be good friend Kristy challenges me to see who can run the most miles in the next two weeks or so. And she was pretty sneaky in setting up the challenge...I never saw it coming! So, I had to get up early ON MY DAY OFF to get a good start on the challenge...my mileage is top secret for now!

In other news...my kids and I spent the ENTIRE day at Six Flags today! I used to wonder what kind of idiots went to Six Flags in August. Now I know! There's lots to tell but it will have to wait...I'M POOPED.