Family Camping Trip #2

I was waiting to post about our Memorial Day weekend because I wanted to post pictures to go with it. Well, we have lost our camera. We are not having much luck with cameras these days.

We left Friday morning and headed to T.S.P. where we set up our tent along with several of Brian's relatives making 16 total campers. Friday evening, Noah and Brian went swimming in the lake and had a refreshing time. Noah told his dad that "he liked swimming in the lake but not the seaweed". (I'm not sure what that was about) We cooked burgers, hot dogs and s'mores over the campfire and then headed off to find a shower.

Getting everyone clean while camping is more difficult then you would think. There is some logistical planning that has to go into it. First, I took Noah. The first shower we went into only had cold water. Lets just say there was lots of screaming and arms flying around. I somehow managed to stay dry because after all I had another kid in the car waiting to be washed. Next was Camden's turn. I tried shower stall # 2 and it did have hot water (please don't mention this to Noah) I managed to wash Camden and myself and after turning the water off and drying off, Camden who was sitting on the handicapped seat looked at me and then proceeded to pee all over my legs. So, we both had another shower. Off to the car where it was Brian's turn.

We had a perfect night to sleep in the tent. Noah was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Camden proved more challenging. After testing the boundaries of his air mattress by jumping and landing several times on the floor of the tent instead of the soft air mattress he finally fell asleep. It was beautiful to look up at the sky and see what God has created but at the same time I was a bit uneasy knowing that I could look up and be staring into the eyes of some wild animal. Luckily that didn't happen and the animals went for the food in the trash bags outside the tent and left us alone.

Saturday was spent visiting 70+ people from Brian's family reunion. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins, eating some interesting food, and seeing who could not go to the bathroom the longest. You see, there were lots of spiders and bugs in the bathroom. Most of the young cousins, including Noah loudly protested using the bathroom and fought with all their might not to go.

We headed to Brian's dad's lake house for the evening where we enjoyed a boat ride on the lake. Both boys got to drive the pontoon boat (with Dudu's help). We are all thankful that they do not hand out licenses until you are older because it felt like you were being driven around by a drunk driver.

Sunday, the boys both caught a catfish with Gigi's help and then we headed to Jefferson to ride the steam train. The excitement was lost on Camden who slept through the train ride as well as the 2 1/2 hour ride home. Camping wore all of us out and we seem to be still catching cat naps as much as we can.

We spent Monday at my parents house celebrating Mark's birthday. Were has the time gone? Can he possibly be 32? I don't think he has aged! He is so young at heart and I am proud to call him my brother. Happy Brother Marky!!!

Wednesday's big fish, a walk, an Aunt and a fever?

2:30 a.m. - I meet Camden in the hallway and he says to me " Mama... Drink"

After a cold drink of ice water and tylenol for a 101 degree fever, he was off to bed.

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Camden awoke feeling great, so we decided to spend the morning at the Dallas Aquarium located in Fair Park. The kids were fascinated with the BIG FISH and mom and dad were fascinated with the BIG Alligator Snapping Turtle that was swimming around. Noah let us know that he is "sorta scared of the plant things", so we didn't stop and look at them much. (coral, algae, etc.) We left the Aquarium and headed outside to walk around Fair Park.

We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and were given a morning snack of Apple Dippers that were left over from a morning walk/run that was held at the Park. We found a nice spot by the lake and ate our snack while watching the turtles jump off the tree limbs into the lake. We strolled around the lake and enjoyed the wonderful weather (low 80's). There is a really cool sculpture at two ends of the lake that resembles an octopus or sea fan or whatever your imagination may be thinking. You can walk on the sculpture over the water and watch the turtles and bull frogs in the lake. The kids had a blast.

Off we went headed for home. After realizing that we don't get to this part of town often, we decided to stop and surprise Brian's Aunt at work. We all went out to the "Pea" for lunch. Camden slept through lunch and awoke with another fever.

Camden is having a very difficult time cutting his last (2) two-year molars. He is pretty miserable and not himself. He doesn't want to eat, his sleeping patterns have changed and he is feverish and irritable. One tooth is 1/2 way in and the other still cannot be seen. Keep Camden in your prayers for the next few weeks.

Under or Over the Hedge?

Today was the big day. Noah has been talking for weeks about "Under the Hedge". Once we figured out that the movie is actually called "Over the Hedge" we took the kids to see it today. Noah loved the movie. We never know how he will react to a new movie because he gets so excited about seeing them and then after we watch the movie he is scared of some part of it. I am proud to say that today he was not scared of the movie.

Brian wins the "awesome daddy" award today for handling Camden during the movie. Camden hasn't read the memo yet on movie theater etiquette. He tries to talk louder than the movie and doesn't understand the one chair per person rule. I'm not sure how Brian did it, but Camden was asleep after 15 minutes and everyone in the theater enjoyed the movie.

If you get a chance to go to the theater, "Over the Hedge" is a cute summer movie.

Tidbits...

Noah: Do you know who is in charge?

Mommy: Yes. Mommy is in charge.

Noah: No, you are not in charge.

Mommy: If I'm not in charge then who is?

Noah: God is in charge.

All right then.

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Mopped the floor. (This is not something that gets done very often, I was quite proud of myself for getting it done)

Breakfast this morning:
Noah: starts screaming because he spilled his whole cup of milk on the floor.

Mommy: "It is not necessary to yell when you spill your milk, it was just an accident."

Noah: "o.k."


Lunch this afternoon:

SPLASH!!!! (You guessed it, a second FULL cup of milk is on the floor)

Noah: "It was just an accident, you don't have to yell"

Mommy: "o.k."

Car ride

Took the dog for a ride today. Yup, the crazy one. She was so excited to go. Once we got going, I started watching her and started wondering WHAT is going on inside her head? Does anyone else do that?

Why is she so fascinated with having her snout shoved up against the A/C vent?

Why, once she is in the car does she looks terrified? Always sitting sideways leaning against the seat with her head wrapped around the seat looking at the back of the car. Isn't it more interesting to look out the front window?

Why are her ears plastered against her head and the look of panic on her face? She was just happy two minutes ago before we got in?

Why all the drool on the seat, isn't the A/C on cold enough?

Why after trying unsuccessfully to lay down on her seat (because she is too large) does she think she can come over to my seat and lay on my lap? I am occupying this space and have a steering wheel in the way. Not to mention when she tries this, I can't see where I am driving or breathe because she is so large.

Just wondering.

Casa de Floato

The pool is officially opened at our house. I finally drug out the pool from the garage, scrubbed it down and added some COLD water and we were in business. The kids had so much fun running and splashing, shooting water guns and playing "duck, duck, goose" in the pool today. Of course we had our sunscreen on, used the outdoor bathroom and flooded the yard.

Note to self: when more water is spraying out of the hose/wall connection then flowing into the pool, that is not a good thing! I am not looking forward to this months water bill. The grass however, was very appreciative of the water. Of course, I did not notice this until an hour after the water had been turned on.

Another note to self: you can not fix a hole in a vinyl pool with super glue. However, super-glued on grass to the hole did make a nice patch.

A play date, pictures and shopping

In honor of turning two, it is imperative that we capture this stage with a decent picture. What Camden, I and the photographer went through to get that decent photo was heart wrenching at best. You can not tell it by the photos but the apple at times was a projectile object and these were the only two smiles handed out during the entire session. In all honesty, I would not expect any thing less. I am quite pleased with the finished product.

Noah spent the morning having a play date at a friend's house from church. They had great fun playing trains, playing outside in the backyard and completely unloading his friends toy boxes. A high compliment was paid to Noah when I was told that he is "very polite and has good manners". Hats off to Noah! Having two boys, I struggle to make sure they are being raised with a balance of having a good time and being disciplined. There is nothing scarier then to see how easy and quickly boys can be turned down the wrong path because they weren't loved, nurtured and disciplined enough.

Off my soap box... while Noah played, Camden and I shopped. I have not had a good shopping experience without distractions in a LONG time. Camden was an angel while I shopped (maybe he knew he had to redeem himself after the photo shoot). There are some great deals out there and I left feeling satisified that things fit AND looked good. Can't wait to show them off.

Timeline

The last few weeks have included some sleep deprivation on my part. Camden has mastered opening his bedroom door and is waking up at all hours of the night ready to play. With that being said last nights fiasco didn't even involve Camden.

11:00 p.m. Lights out.

1:24 a.m. I am awakened by Whitney (dog) trying to dismantle the blinds from the backdoor in a not so subtle way. She got my attention and after trying to figure out where I was, I got up and let both dogs outside.

1:30 a.m. I let both dogs back inside.

2:45 a.m. I am awakened again by loud water splashing. Someone, I hope one of the dogs, is drinking quite loudly from the toilet. I did not go investigate who.

3:52 a.m. Once again I am awakened. This time by Noah. He and his sheets are completely soaked. After changing him and his sheets on the bed, I get Noah back to sleep.

4:10 a.m. Still awake and trying to figure out how Brian has slept through all of this.

Mother's Day is officially over!

Mother's Day Weekend

I had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. It was filled with lots of activities and time with my family.

Thursday: Brian had his end of the year concert at the Outdoor amphitheater in our town. I took a blanket and dinner for the kids and I. We enjoyed sitting on the lawn with Duane and Peggy in the 70ish degree weather, eating and listening to four different Orchestra's play. It was a wonderful way for Brian's students to end the year.

Friday: This was Noah's last day of school. He was soooo excited for it to be the last day because he can't wait until August when he gets to go back and have a different teacher. You see, he will be one of "the big kids", a.k.a. the top dogs at the pre-school and he is pumped up about that. He is also excited that his brother will be joining him at pre-school and they will get to play together on the playground. His teacher this year was incredible. She has two boys of her own and really has a special bond with the boys in her class. Noah learned all the sounds of the alphabet, reinforced his knowledge of numbers, colors, shapes, etc. He learned about the weather, how to read a calendar, got to know about dinosaurs, transportation vehicles, insects, etc., he did countless art projects, got tons of practice cutting with scissors and just had a great time playing with his friends.

Friday afternoon while driving my car pool I finally figured out what Camden was yelling about at a certain stretch of road. Each time I drive my car pool, we would get to a certain stretch of road and Camden would yell "ice-cream, ice-cream". All that is there is a field with a house. No ice-cream store, no bill-board with ice-cream on it, etc. Well, mystery solved... it is a water tower. It just so happens that to Camden the water tower looks like an ice-cream cone!

Friday evening we went to our adult Sunday school party and enjoyed eating great Mexican food and playing games. I look forward to the next get together.

Saturday: Noah had his first T-ball game. The score was 20-17 in favor of the Cubs. There were even a few plays made at first base. That evening we celebrated Mother's day at my parents house. Mark, Tiffany and her parents joined us for a wonderful steak dinner and a good time of fellowship. If is so peaceful and quiet out at the lake and I enjoy it more everytime I go.

Sunday: I enjoyed hearing our female pastor speak about Hannah's sacrifice of her son Samuel. Our pastor ended her message with singing a song. I don't think there were many dry eyes in the congregation after that. I received some very special cards from my boys as well as Tulips, a flower pot decorated from Noah and a hand mixer. Yes, I wanted the hand mixer.

Noah had his second T-ball game that afternoon and was the lead off batter. The team they were playing always hit the ball back to the pitcher so only a handful of the kids really had an opportunity to field the ball, one of them being Noah. No matter what position he was playing, second base or left field, as soon as the ball was hit he was off running to the pitcher to get the ball! He got a wonderful workout during an otherwise uneventful game. That evening we ventured out for a New York style pizza. We ended up driving to Chicago for Chicago style pizza that was awesome. At least the drive felt like to Chicago, we ended up in the Carrollton/Addison area. Hey, for good pizza we will drive to any length! We wrapped up the weekend at my brother's place.

My nose and a Jalapeno pepper

After chopping Jalapeno's this morning for a vegetable dish, I made sure to wash my hands several times when I was done. I have had the unfortunate experience in the past of then touching my eyes with my hands and having my eyes on fire.

About fifteen minutes later, I casually rubbed my nose. A few seconds later my nose felt strange so yes, (I will admit to this in public) I touched just the inside tip of my nose with my finger. Found nothing and then blew my nose. This little act spread the little bit of Jalapeno juice further inside my nose. My nose was on FIRE!!!! Every time I exhaled the breath coming out of my nose made the sting 100 times worse! My eyes started to water, I started to breathe heavier (which only made the pain greater) and I started to panic. What do you do when you have Jalapeno juice up your nose and how do you make it stop?

Well, Elmo came to the rescue. Elmo the ice pack that is. Wow, ten minutes later all was right with my life. (Except for the fact that I admitted to semi-picking my nose)

Manic Monday, Tiring Tuesday...

Monday started with water, LOTS OF WATER. I just needed about 5 minutes to vacuum and I thought allowing Camden to play with the water in the kitchen sink for a few minutes couldn't be all that bad. WRONG! Two clothes changes, 6 soaked bath towels, a very wet kitchen floor and cabinets along with a load of laundry later... Mommy realized that wasn't the smartest 5 minutes of her life. Oh well, at least he had fun.

Next, Camden was off to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Lets just say it was a repeat performance.

Monday was also "my book club" night. I have really enjoyed being a part of this book club. Before book club I only read romance novels, the Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts variety. I have enjoyed reading books that I would not normally choose. I have not always liked all the choices but I have appreciated the discussions about them and learned more about myself and in the long run have been more open to reading other books.

Tuesday was a long day. It started off with all of us buckled in the car with no place to go. Try explaining to a 2-year old that we can't go in the car because it has a "boo-boo" (dead battery) and we don't have a band-aid big enough to fix it. I'll just say it did not go over well. In fact most of the day was spent crying from fatigue, teething, not wanting to share... You name it. We did get to play outside in the morning before it got so hot (I think 95, with a heat index of 108). The kids had fun covering themselves with sand, riding bikes and of course the all-time favorite, swinging. Brian and I even found time to put up the crown molding and do a little bit of decorating in Camden's room.

Gracie Sunshine

This is a blog about my dog. (As Noah would say... "that rhymes, Mommy") Well actually it is a blog about one of my dogs. Gracie, a.k.a. "Gray-Gray", "Honey", "Gray-honey", "big fat brown dog", "big brown", "Grace", etc. was born on August 8th 2000, the day after my birthday. That should of given us a hint that she would be somewhat on the dramatic side but we were just thrilled when 6 weeks later we brought home our chocolate Labrador. The first year was filled with LOTS of chewing. No matter how much we walked her and played with her she found time to chew the dining room table legs, the dining room table chair legs, the kitchen table chair legs and she even ate the kitchen windowsill. One two different occasions I came home from work to find an unidentifiable electronic device laying all over the house. It took days for us to figure out that it was the T.V. remote control. At night, we would push on Gracie's stomach to turn the channel (just kidding). This should have been our next clue that she was going to be high-maintenance in the food department.

Just how high maintenance is she? I have never owned a dog so obsessed with eating!!! Her only goal in life is to eat as much as she possible can and it doesn't matter what it is she is eating. She eats mud clods, acorns, dirt, sand, sticks... that reminds me of the time... she was in the backyard chewing on sticks when she started pawing at her nose. I just thought she got stung by a bee or something. After 10 minutes she still was pawing at her nose and I went out to investigate. I pried open her mouth to find the stick she was chewing on lodge between her top front teeth. I tried to pull it out and it was stuck. Brian arrived and tried to pull it out and it was very stuck! So... off to the Vet she went. The Vet had to use pliers to pull the stick out of her mouth and it left an indention in her top palette. After $150.00 later, we arrived home hoping she had learned her lesson. Out to the backyard she goes and immediately is chewing on another stick.

Gracie eats not only her food, but her sister's food, the food crumbs left in the garage by her food bag, the food that falls under the washer/dryer, the food that the kids drop, the food that the kids are eating but have turned their head away from, anything left on the counter, she even has a preference to margarita's and Corona's (long story). That brings me to my next story... I came home to find an entire pan of brownies and tin foil gone from the counter. I didn't worry so much about the brownies but the tin foil bothered me a bit. I called the emergency Vet to see what I needed to do. After swallowing LOTS of hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting she still was happy as a clam. More hydrogen peroxide and we finally had tin foil. You would think she would learn her lesson. NO! The next day she ate a loaf of bread and the plastic wrap with it. More hydrogen peroxide. It is a permanent fixture in our house and a regular part of Gracie's diet.

The most bizarre thing Gracie has eaten would have to be the star fish we brought back from Hawaii last summer. It lasted on our bathroom counter as a decoration all of 15 minutes before she inhaled it. If I didn't just remember putting it out I would have never known it existed.

A bit serious now... I have even taken Gracie to the vet to ask for a Pet phycologist and/or if there is a medication available to stop this insanity. Unfortunately there is not. His recommendation was to feed her green beans as a snack between meals. I don't have enough money or storage space for all the green beans it would take to satisfy her for one day. So that brings me to the end.

Gracie is a bit high maintenance but I wouldn't change anything about her. She is a very loveable, contagiously friendly, loyal dog who also happens to love chasing a ball until she drops (which thankfully helps her maintain her girlish figure). She is a part of our family that is also a bit high maintenance as well. We couldn't have found a more perfect dog!

The Weekend

This weekend was pretty much the usual. Friday, we went for a walk around our neighborhood and met two new neighbors across the street. There have been so many house sales in our subdivision it is has been hard to keep up with who is coming and going. I have been hoping for some young families with kids and one of the families I met on Friday fit that description.

Saturday was filled with work for Sharon. Brian, along with several teachers took 900 kids to Hawaiian Falls on Saturday and somehow managed to get sunburned even though it was gray and cloudy. It even rained twice during the day. He was wore slap out by the time he got home.

On Sunday, our church had an all church breakfast that we attended and we ate like kings!!! Nothing is better than sausage biscuits and gravy! The boys even ate like champs. One of things I really like about our church home is it is small enough that you get to know just about everyone and it feels like family. The breakfast was a huge success and probably fed about 350 people. After the breakfast our youth had a cake/bake auction to raise money for their mission trip. We of course could not pass up dessert. We bid on and won a Chocolate Buttermilk Bundt Cake. It is delicious!!! After church and naps we headed back to church for the evening service.

The kids are in bed and Brian and I are relaxing before we start another fast paced week.

What have we been up to?

Warning: this may be a long post!

To answer the question... LOTS!!!

Noah wrapped up his first soccer season with 2 goals in his last game. He was on fire!!! Several of his teammates including Noah put it all together and played a real great game. They were kicking the ball, stopping it, turning it around and taking the ball away from opposing players. Hats off to the Tiger's for a great season. The Tiger's celebrated at Peter Piper Pizza with cake, pizza, games and of course a trophy! The day wouldn't be complete without one of my children using the bathroom behind an office building. (Don't ask, I have said too much already.)

Noah has now switched gears and is enjoying playing T-ball. The Cub's have their first game this weekend and will not doubt have a great time. If not they will definitely look great in their uniforms!

Brian's mom, Sharon a.k.a. Tutu, came in town for a visit last week. We enjoyed the short time we had with her. Her visit was cut short because of a medical emergency. Please pray for her and Ross as Ross is beginning his battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. While she was here she enjoyed Camden's birthday, a little bit of shopping and Noah's field trip.

About Noah's field trip... Tutu, me and Camden all went with Noah's pre-school class to the Heard Museum in McKinney, TX. We had a great time hiking through the woods and spotting Armadillo burrows as well as 250 year old trees. The kids had a good time playing in a log house and the chaperones had a challenging time keeping the kids on the path and out of the poison Ivy! We all enjoyed a picnic in the woods and then came home and had a good nap!

Noah has only a few classes left of pre-school for the year and he is already sad to be leaving his new friends. He is however, looking forward to August and meeting his new teacher and having his brother at school with him. Mom is looking forward to that also.

Camden is cruising right along with his speech therapy and is now saying 2-3 word phrases. He was recently evaluated and is approx. 2-3 months behind his peers but is catching up fast. He is saying almost everything verbally and now needs work on articulation.

Camden has also been practicing for the X-Games. (Extreme Sports) He is sporting a new look on his face these days. Instead of an adorable little nose, his nose is completely covered in scabs as well as his upper lip. He was having truck races and his truck as well as his face LOST BADLY!!! (I just pray that it won't scar to bad.)

Camden's room is a work in progress. The last two weeks have been filled with lots of painting. The walls and furniture have been painted. A shelf has been stained. His new bed is set up and the crown molding is just waiting to be installed. All that is left is decorating and sewing a few things. That's the fun part and I am looking forward to it. The bathroom is next and in desperate need of some repair!

This should just about catch us up to the present.