Noah has expressed an interest in having his training wheels taken off of his bicycle. I have no doubt that with a little bit of patience (on our part) and lots of practice, he will be riding a bike solo very soon.
I don't remember riding a bike solo at the age of 4. At what age do you remember riding a bike by yourself (minus training wheels)? Does anyone remember any tricks to learning this monumental task?
My 4 year old just ate 3 GIANT slices of pizza for dinner.
I am afraid of what's to come later on tonight! It can't be good!
The kids and I spent the morning at the Dallas Children's Museum. What fun we had. On Wednesday's during the summer they have a different theme, and todays theme was on the Medieval times. The kids had fun making a family "coat of arms" and a crown to wear on their head. Noah also enjoyed making a stained glass window out of tissue paper. They both enjoyed using glue sticks, markers and the always favorite GLITTER!!! I think we will be wearing glitter for at least the next week, it is everywhere!
They have a kids grocery store to shop in and a hospital to play in. Both boys loved driving the ambulance. We read several stories in a HUGE chair and planted herbs in their own pots to bring home and watch grow. The highlight of the morning though was watching Camden parading around in high-heeled princess shoes while wearing his crown and covered with glitter from head to toe!!! He was very proud of those shoes and threw quite a fit when he had to take them off.
After the museum we headed off for some lunch and ended with a ride on the carousel. It was very magical day!
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I just thought this conversation was cute today.
Noah to Mommy: "Daddy's not home yet."
Mommy: "No, he is at jury duty"
Noah: "Yeah, he had to go to jail today."
Mommy: (laughing) "He's not at jail today"
Noah: "Yes he is, he told me last night that he had to go have a BIG TIME OUT!"
I won't argue with that!
We've been busy enjoying the last few weeks Brian has off.
Thursday, I took the kids to the mall to play and ride the train. They also enjoyed going to the train store and playing with the train set. We also explored the Disney store, had lunch and came home.
Friday, we took the kids to Main Event to go bowling. The kids loved it! Of course, Brian scored the highest with Camden scoring 105 next. His first three frames were spares and he even had a strike. Way to go Camden!!!. Noah also did great, he tried out all the different colored balls and is really developing his swing! He also scored a strike and his final score was around 60 with the bumpers, while Sharon scored in the 50's without the bumpers!
Saturday, my parents came over and we took the kid to Planet Pizza. They loved riding the bumber cars, roller coaster, rocket ship planes and pirate ship. Sharon had the pleasure of accompaning Camden on several of the rides and quickly found out that she will not be going to Six Flags any time soon. The pirate ship ride had to be prematurely stopped to allow Sharon to get off before she got sick! I think her head may still be spinning today (Tuesday).
Monday was not a great day at our house. We found out that Whitney, our oldest dog, has tumors on her spleen that are a high probablitily of being cancerous. I knew this day would come but was not prepared for it none the less. I am confident that she will spend the rest of her life being loved and well cared for here at home.
Tuesday has just begun, I'll blog about our adventures later.
For those of you readers not from Texas, this has been the week that we Texan's dread ever summer. Monday's high was 103, Tuesday's high was 107 and Wednesday's high looks to be around 106 degrees. There is some temporary relief in sight this coming weekend.
This week started out hot outside and inside our house. Tempers have flared at our house and the only thing I can seem to pinpoint as the problem is the rising mercury. I thought Monday would never end. Noah & Camden were constantatly antagonizing each other and trying their hardest to hurt each other every time I turned my back. Noah has 2 bite marks on him and Camden has several cuts and bruises to prove their love for one another. Brian came home Monday night to find me in the living room crying and emotionally spent.
Tuesday wasn't much better. We did change things up a bit and had two different sets of friends come over and play. I thought playing with friends would keep the peace. However, lunch out proved to be a nightmare. It ended with a man in the restaurant yelling at Camden to "Shut-up the crying", not once but twice! This guy was literally on the other side of the restaurant shouting across all the patrons. He is really lucky that I have never taken karate!!!
Wednesday, just like the previous two days started off with time-outs for both kids at 6:45 a.m. I had not even made it out of bed before the fighting started. It is never good to hear a "SMACK" followed by a "Did that hurt?" and then followed by another "SMACK".
So far, it has proven to be a little better today. We ventured out with several families to see "Curious George" at the movies and then off to lunch at Chik-Fi-La with at least 50 other people. What fun!!! The boys did have a great time playing on the equipment with their friends and I am enjoying the calm (as they take naps) before the next storm.
We are in need of lots of prayer, rain and cooler temps!
A week or so ago, I blogged about the best fried chicken in Dallas. Today, I am going to tell you about the best hamburger, hands down, in Big D.
We ventured out of our comfort zone Friday night and drove down to Northwest Hwy and Abrams to the famous Keller's Drive-In.
Keller's has been around since the 1950's and is famous for beer and burgers. You flash your lights to let the carhop know you are ready to order. After ordering, you sit back and people watch.
It's a seedy little place that has you looking over your shoulder, but what you will find is usually pretty entertaining. There are always men on their motorcycles drinking a cold one. I personally enjoy watching the waitresses slide across the restaurant from all the grease on the floor. Typically, you will see 2 or 3 old classic cars as well. Brian even saw a carhop that has been working there since he was in elementary school.
The burgers are served on a bun that is loaded with poppy seeds. (Don't take a drug test after this meal). The burgers are greasy and loaded with toppings. They have the best tater-tots with cheese as well as onion rings. After eating at Keller's, you feel like you have taken a bath in grease! It's the BEST!!!
Check it out sometime, you won't be sorry.
Noah spoke these words after walking into the kitchen and finding me in a heap on the floor.
Yes... I sat in his chair, breaking it into 5 unfixable pieces.
A more subtle situation would have been nicer to tell me that I need to lose weight.
Oh well.
I have to give her credit... she knows what she likes.
She passed up the white bread, wheat bread and bananas and went straight for the white powdered sugar donut. (Which was not an easy task, she had to open a plastic container.)
I thought she was prematurely grey in her muzzle, it really was powdered sugar.
If you haven't been to Bubba's, down in Snider Plaza in University Park, you are missin out on some heavenly chicken!!!! Brian's Aunt Tish treated us to a chicken tender lunch with all the fixins today and I don't want to put anything else in my mouth for a long time. I want to savor the taste of the chicken and mashed potatoes forever. It truly is the best chicken on this planet.
The rain settled in today and I am not complaining because it is much needed. I only hope there is more to come because everything is so dry.
About 4 p.m. though, boredom set in at our house and Brian decided a boat race was in order. At first I was the pessimist and thought this "is dumb". We all put on our rain coats and headed outside to the alley with our "bottle" boats. I brought the flag and when the flag dropped the race was on. The boats floated really well down the alley. They encountered some obstacles (acorns, rocks, etc.) but the kids had fun cheering on their boat to the finish line. The big winner was Noah, followed by daddy with a close second, Mommy came in third and Camden brought up the rear. The rain tapered off and we all headed inside. I have to admit, it was a blast.
With a lull in the rain, Brian went to work on the boats to make them sleek and fast. Currently we have Noah's boat a.k.a. "The shark fin", Sharon's boat, a.k.a. "The original speed boat", Brian's boat, a.k.a. "The pickle fork" and Camden's boat, a.k.a. "The Low-Rider". We also have two "unsponsored" boats that we are currently recruiting drivers for. Brian checked the rain forcast for this evening and the next boat race has been postponed due to "no rain".
Stay tuned.
That's right folks, Sharon is doing her best to find a new sport for the X-Games. She has tried skim-boarding and now she has tried car-surfing. Luckily, no injuries were incurred while car-surfing.
It's really not as exciting as it sounds, but it was a whole lot of fun!
We spent Monday evening at my parent's house where we set up our tent down by the lake. Everyone helped "pitch" the tent and Camden did his best to put as much dirt on his body as possible. First stop, the fire pit where he fell into. (Not burning, of course)
About an hour later, the Park Ranger came by and told us we could not camp overnight on the property so we had the daunting task of moving the tent and 2-air mattresses up the hill to my parent's land with a 2 & 4 year old in tow. I might mention at this point, that the wind had picked up quite a bit!!!
We drove the Tahoe down to the site and loaded the sheets, pillows, fans, lanterns, etc. into the back of the car. Brian and I then wresteled a queen-size-double-stacked mattress onto the top of the SUV. It was tied loosely to the top of the vehicle and it was then decided that I would ride on the back of the bumper holding down the mattress.
Good news to report, the mattress did not "fly" away and nobody was injured during this "sport". It was a whole lot of fun though!
Next the four of us had to carry the 24 x 10 tent up the hill. No easy task, but it was accomplished. Noah led the way singing "what's going to work? Teamwork". Camden brought up the rear touching everything green that we told him not to touch. He also sang the "teamwork" song. More good news to report, no poisin ivy on Camden... Halleluia!
Camden then found the dirt on my parents screened porch. After pressing his face against the screen he was pretty well covered. So, off to the tub for a bath. Taking a bath in my parent's tub proved to be quite a challenge for Camden. They have a jacuzzi tub that is very deep. Camden thought that the back of the tub was a slide and kept trying to slide down the tub. Maybe we just found another new X-Games sport.
Camping was fun. We had a great breeze which made it pretty cold by 2 a.m. No animal sightings... that is always good as well.
Tuesday morning, my parents invited their neighbors over for a "get to know one another breakfast" that was a success. The food was awesome and it was great to meet each of their neighbors.
We headed home and all had a 3 hour nap. We are now ready to go watch the fireworks. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day!!!
Let me set the scene:
Noah is in the bathroom with Camden watching (Yes, he is taking it all in and learning to use the potty by himself), Brian is on the other side of the house in the kitchen when he hears Noah yell:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Brian peeks out of the kitchen to see Camden running with the toilet paper in his hand.
This would not be such a bad thing except that the other end was still attached in the bathroom on the other side of the house!
Courtesy of Noah-
I had just towel dried my hair and was getting reading to blow it dry when Noah says:
"Mommy, I like your hair."
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh,
"You look like a dog."
Thanks!
(Later he explained that when it was hanging down in front of my eyes, I looked like a shaggy dog.)
First of all, I have to thank Peggy for the week of vacation in Florida. Our trip would not have been possible without her! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I also have to thank my mom and dad for the use of their car (which gets much better gas mileage than ours), for the use of their cell phone (Yes, we don't have a cell phone) and for taking such good care of our dogs at the "resort" for the week! THANK YOU!!!!
We drove 20 hours to enjoy a week of vacation staying in a lovely condo right on the beach in Treasure Island, Florida. We drove through LA, MS, AL and FL, states I have never been to and can now add to my map. The trip to and from was pretty uneventful with a 2 & 4 year old, and for that we are grateful. The kids did great in the car and even napped and slept all night in their seats. Noah enjoyed driving over the L-O-N-G bridges spanning the ocean and driving through a tunnel in Alabama. We drove through pretty hard rain on the way home and were optimistic that Texas received some of that rain, but we were told not a drop was shed at home. The only negative to the drive, was listening to game 4 of the Mavericks vs. Miami game in spanish!?!? What's up with that????
Brian's mom, Sharon a.k.a., Tutu also joined us for the week. We are thankful to her as well for all she did for us this week. We were so happy that she could join us and get a much needed vacation as well.
The week was filled with visiting different beaches. We spent a day at Fort Desoto Beach, which was ranked #1 in America last year. It was a beautiful beach with white sand and shallow water as far as you can see. The kids loved it because the waves were non-existant.
We also visited Clearwater Beach, # 4 in America and for good reason. Again, the sand is white and soft, the waves are at a minimum and the kids loved playing in the water. We ate at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on the beach and had awesome shrimp and a Grouper sandwich!!! In Clearwater, we also took a ride on Captain Memo's pirate ship. We were treated to a good old fashioned water fight between the adults and the kids. The kids went on a treasure hunt for coins and everyone got a surprise out of the treasure chest. Next, we heard a pirate story, got our faces painted like pirates and shot the cannon at a hostile ship. I haven't had this much fun since I was 5!!!
We also visited Passe de Grille beach. Again beautiful!!! Noah and Brian saw a stingray swimming by their feet and we all saw a giant sea snake at least 30 feet in length!!! It's body was about the size of Brian's thigh (HUGE!!!). It was only about 50 yards from us swimming in the ocean along the shore. Occasionally it would lift it's head and slither its body. Pretty cool!
Back at the beach in Treasure Island we built sand castles, watched the sun set , and enjoyed the ocean. Brian and I saw a crab out for a stroll in the ocean until it was attempted to be caught and then he stuck his pinchers in the air and became quite animated and headed back out to deeper water. Too cute to watch! Camden was a just a little fearful of the waves. I think because of the noise they create. He was fine once he knew Mommy or Daddy was holding his hand. Noah enjoyed riding his "surf" a.k.a. boogie board in the waves and I attempted the X-games sport of skim boarding. It was more like attempting to cause great bodily harm in shallow water. I came out of it with a bruised hip, cut hand and elbow and wounded pride. Noah will not be trying that for several years to come! The kids also enjoyed chasing and watching the Egrets, Pigeons, Gulls and Pelicans. We all had great fun collecting the sea shells on the beach and came home with quite a collection.
On Father's Day, we visited the Tampa Aquarium. It was a beautiful aquarium that I would recommend to anyone visting the Tampa area. Part of the aquarium had a mini-water park for the kids. There was a pirate ship where they could shoot water guns, a cargo net to climb up, a water slide, etc. We all had a good time enjoying the marine life and getting wet.
We took in the movie "Cars" one day and loved it. If you haven't seen it, again I would also recommend it. Brian spent half a day deep sea fishing and caught a handful of fish. Tutu and I had a massage and enjoyed ourselves a little too much at dinner. Good food and bad jokes, it doesn't get better than that sometimes. Brian and I also enjoyed an evening out to ourselves, while Tutu spent valuable time with the boys. The adults even watched some good old fashioned movies at night to unwind.
I just want to mention some tidbits that I want to keep for the kids later on.
*Noah was a master at running the elevator. He always knew what buttons to push and what button not to push (The alarm button). Way to go Noah, I think we have found him a summer job for next year.
*Brian and Tutu were great at reading a map. We never went the same way twice, always an adventure.
*Whoever slept with mommy was in for a long night. Brian has always said that I take up most of the bed, and that was proven on this trip. Whoever slept with Sharon ended up on the floor with a thud at least once sometimes twice a night. Noah and Camden were glad to come home to their own beds.
*After hearing a loud thud one night Brian came in to find Sharon holding Camden, rocking him and yelling "get the thermometer, get the pacifier, hurrying up and put it in his mouth." Brian calmly told a sleeping Sharon that Camden hasn't used a pacifier in a LONG time.
*Brian, Sharon and Tutu played shuffleboard most nights and we had fun teaching Noah how to play. Camden was a big helper moving the disc where he thought they should go on the board. That always makes the game much more fun.
We did not think a vacation would be possible this year. We are grateful to all those that made it possible. Thank you again.
a 30 foot sea snake,
held hostage on a pirate ship,
X-Games failed initiation,
an attacking crab (No, not Camden)
and 20 long hours...
what else but...
F L O R I D A!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will blog about it when I am conscious again....
Nothing overly exciting has been happening at our house. I guess that is good in some ways. There is good news to report, Camden is over tonsilitis and Noah is over the Stomach virus. Yeah!!! Brian had a mishap yesterday that thankfully did not require stitches, but hurt pretty bad none the less. His head is healing and he feels better today.
This week both boys have continued swim lessons and we have headed to the "neighborhood pool" to play in the water and ride down the water slide. One thing about our neighborhood that I wish we had was a neighborhood pool. Instead, just 2 minutes down the road is the city pool and I am going to call it my "neighborhood pool". The pool has a water slide just for toddlers/pre-schoolers, it has steering wheels to turn and water shoots out of pipes as well as a rope to pull that showers you with water. There are also 3 tall "mushrooms" that water cascades down from, all this in a pool that is not much deeper that 2 1/2 feet. The kids love it and I am so thankful. It shouldn't be a surprise that they love the water, because I was in the pool daily from 8 am to 8 pm, it seem like growing up and their Dad was water skiing by the age of 5, on one ski!!!
We have something BIG next week that I will blog about later. For now, I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
I love summer-time. After Christmas, it is probably my favorite time of year. Swimming, popsicles, ice-tea, and barbecues are some of my favorite things.
This week has been filled with Vacation bible school and swim lessons. Both kids are loving VBS. I got to watch Camden for a little while yesterday while he was in the music room. He marched right in and sat in the front row. He followed the directions and was interacting verbally with the leader. I was so proud of him. Noah is having tons of fun with his friends, singing and making crafts. Noah even did his daily challenge that was asked of him today.
Swim lessons are going great. Noah is so willing to try everything that is asked of him. I think it is only a matter of Noah practicing and we will have a swimmer in our midst. That will make mom and dad's job just a little less stressful at the pool. He is putting his head under, holding his breath and swimming through a hula hoop. Yeah Noah!!!
Camden equally loves the water and is reaching his arms, kicking his legs and blowing bubbles. I would not be surprised if by the end of the summer he is also swimming on his own.
Not much more to report.
I don't typically like surprises. However, today was an exception.
You gotta love it when you are digging around in the freezer looking for dinner and you find COLD, HARD CASH!!!
SURPRISE!!!
