............. My 2 Beautiful Boys

A fun, free giveaway!! Take a look!

2010-05-13T15:57:00.006-05:00

Yep, you read that right! I have partnered up with Teflon to test out some products, share some yummy recipes, and giveaway one of their fantastic Teflon pans to one of my blog followers.

Did you know that May is Egg Month?? LOL, shhhh, I didn't either. ;o) I've been given the opportunity to try out this brand new 11 inch Teflon pan in corrolation with some fancy egg recipes. Let me just tell you, oh my word, I was in heaven cooking on this pan. I guess I'll be throwing out that can of Pam. Man, I didn't know what I was missing out on by not cooking in a good, nice quality Teflon pan.

The recipe we actually tried out first was a Kris White original. He's my cook of the house. Our scramble included:
2 full eggs
4 eggwhites
ham
turkey
chives
spinach
onions
feta cheese
mozzerella cheese
dash of Greek seasoning

These eggs cooked up so quickly and so evenly it was amazing. Just a few flips with a rubber spatula was all it took. No Sticking!! I loved it!

Teflon has graciously shared an additional pan for me to giveaway to one of my followers. There's multiple ways to get an entry in my giveaway. 1. Become a follower. 2. Leave me a comment to be entered in this blog. 3. Share my blog with a friend for another additional entry.

This giveaway will end May 31, 2010.

How to make Mickey Mouse head tie-dyed shirts

2010-05-12T19:36:00.003-05:00

So, after seeing my Mickey Mouse tie-dyed shirts that I posted on Facebook, I have had a lot of people ask how I did them. Thanks to www.disboards.com, there is loads of ideas and information on how to do this. Here's my step-by-step instructions. Unfortunately, blogger won't let me post more than 5 photos, so you'll have to click here to see my step-by-step instructional pictures.

Step 1: Trace Mickey on plain white 100% Cotton Shirt
Step 2: Sew basting stitch with dental floss just outside the traced Mickey head shape.
Step 3: pull tight so that Mickey is puckered.
Step 4: Use rubber bands and band area below pucker about an inch to create border around Mickey Head.
Step 5: Soak in soda ash 20 minutes (mine came in my tie dye kit) and then lay damp shirt flat with puckered Mickey pointing up. ((If your kit doesn't have soda ash included then your dye probably already has it added in))
Step 6: Using Puckered Mickey, grabing about where the rubber bands are use the Mickey to start twisting shirt. Keep twisting it around, it will eventually twist up to resemble a danish with many many pleats.
Step 7: Using rubber bands, band danish like t-shirt across the diameter and then again and again like you are slicing a pizza until it is snuggly held together. Then, pull puckered Mickey up through the rubber bands that are sectioning the T-shirt.
Step 8: Tip puckered Mickey away from rest of shirt and dye it a contrasting color to those you are going to dye the rest of the shirt. When it is totally dyed, wrap it in plastic wrap and rubberband. This will keep any other dye from dripping on the head.
Step 9: Using three colors dye shirt in thirds with portions overlapping so that the overlapping colors form even more colors (i.e. yellow and blue make green)
Step 10. Wrap the rest in saran wrap and let sit for 4 - 6 hours (I did it overnight)
Finally, the next day unwrap the lovely shirt and rinse in the sink until no more dye rinses off. At that point put shirt in washing machine and wash two or so times.

Leyton's 7th birthday

2010-05-12T18:50:00.004-05:00

Okay, I'm gonna try to get caught up here. Thanks, Amy B. for asking about blogging because it reminded me there's some stuff I needed to do over here. :o)

This year we had a very, very low key party for Leyton's 7th birthday. He knows that this year our Disney trip IS his birthday. And, of course, he's very excited about that trip. Only 3 more weeks!! So, I made some cupcakes and we invited 3 bestfriends, plus the neighborhood boys to come over for pizza and cupcakes. Leyton had a blast. I think he really could have cared less if we did the big blowout party like we normally do. He was happy regardless of the decorations, entertainment, # of kids there, etc.

Lots of fun blogs to come

2010-05-03T19:54:00.002-05:00

Be on the look out, I've got lots of good blogs to share in the upcoming days when I can get a little time under my belt. On the docket:

-A Teflon Pan Giveway in honor of Egg Month :-) and a yummy egg creation recipe a'la Kris White.
-A Mother's Day tribute to my momma
-Step by Step instructions to my tie-died Mickey shirts
&
-Leyton's mini birthday celebration

Simply adorable single serve pies

2010-04-17T20:20:00.005-05:00

These are the cutest, easiest little desserts to make. As much as I would love to take credit for this simple creation, I got the idea off the Bakerella blog, here. And, she got the idea from Luxiare, here.

So, this is exactly how easy it really is. I started off with the pre-made Pillsbury pie crusts. I rolled them out and chose a perfect size heart cookie cutter and cut them all out . My 2 pre-made pie crusts made 22 of these heart pies. I used half a can of cherry pie filling. As Bakerella mentioned in her blog, you can't put much fruit filling in each pie without all the 'juice' spilling out when you press the layers together. She also mentioned that when she made her batch that it seemed they were a little bit too much pastry and not enough fruit in each bite. So, I tried to put atleast 3 cherries and a bit of the 'juice' in each pie. She was right though, all the juice really goo'ed out when pressed together. It seemed like 2 cherries was the magic number.

After filling and pressing together all your individual pies, take one egg white and brush over the top of each pie to give it a nice golden brown glaze.

Bake at 325 degrees for roughly 12-15 minutes or until they look nice and golden. And, here's the final product. Mine definitly aren't as picture perfect as the ones on the Bakerella website but after sampling, we all agreed this is one of our new favorite desserts.

Winkflash flat rate book sale

2010-04-15T20:36:00.002-05:00

Hurry, the coupon code expires April 20!

code: booksale04

Head over to winkflash.com and create a fabulous photo book and add as many pages as you want for a flat rate. A 10x8 book is only $18.95 and even better, get a 8x8 book for $12.95. You can have up to 100 pages.

Thanks Traci, for sharing this great info with me!

A great blog I just HAD to share

2010-03-31T18:24:00.002-05:00

Go check out www.mydfwmommy.com!

She's got ton's of fantastic tips, links for coupons and freebies, and a wealth of other great information. I love all the stuff she posts! Unfortunately for me, my work computer has a lot blocked, including java (which you need to print all the great coupons).

Another great thing about her blog, is 90% of it isn't geared towards just DFW Metroplex stuff. Most of it is links to stuff that anyone can us.

Please note, she posts a lot of new stuff everyday and it's hard to keep up. I have her blog loaded to my Google Reader so I can skim thru all the posts and click on the one's that interest me.

Hope you enjoy it too!

Bacon Cheeseburger Hot Pockets

2010-03-27T18:46:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my friend, Mert, I've discovered a yummy, easy new recipe! Bacon Cheeseburger hot pockets. These were the easiest thing to make and the boys devowered them!

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 small onion (chopped)
1 cup bacon (or about 1/2 a package)
shredded cheese
ketchup
1 can buttermilk biscuits

While I defrosted my ground beef in the microwave, I cooked up my bacon in a skillet. After that's been cooked and the grease has been poured out I started browning my ground beef. I added my chopped onions and chopped bacon into this mixture.

You then flatten out the biscuits onto a cooking sheet. Layer ketchup, a spoonful of your meat mixture and then sprinkle with some shredded cheese. Fold into pockets and bake for about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

I think my boys may have found their new favorite dinner. I can't wait to try some different varieties of this as well. Hamburger with swiss cheese, onions, & mushrooms would be yummy. Another one I can't make to make is hamburger, bacon, and blue cheese bits! You could also make a breakfast variety of this as well with some sausage and egg. Easy, easy, easy!

This is the boys new 'thing'

2010-03-07T17:50:00.002-06:00

I guess it's been about 6 weeks or 2 months now. The boys want to sleep in the same bed. So cute. It started when they were in their bunkbeds and they asked if they could sleep together on the top bunk (there's a tall railing so no one would fall). I wouldn't give in because I knew once I said yes, they would play and talk all night and never get any sleept. Plus, it's a twin and they would be too crowded and kick & elbow each other all night. Well, one night back at the end of January I go in to check on the before I go to bed and find Maddox up on the top bunk sleeping with Leyton. Little sneaky kids!

They've since moved to the guest room with the queen bed and have been sleeping in there for the last 6 weeks or so. Here's a few cute pics of them snuggling together.

SCORE!!

2010-03-07T16:30:00.004-06:00

"Score!!" "Oh, score, score, score!!" "Right there, score!"

This is what I hear 50 kazillion times a day. It's a fun car game some friends of ours told us about. The gist of the game is very simple. Everytime you see a yellow vehice you yell out SCORE! Big semi's, buses, and construction vehicles don't count. My boys love this game and Kris and I have become quite addicted too. Kris and I have even been known to text a picture here and there to one up each other. ;-) I have to say though that Maddox is definitly the best in our family. He can spot those yellow vehicles everywhere!

So, next time your driving with the kiddos this will definitly help keep the occupied and help pass the time.

Selfishly excited

2010-03-01T14:16:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I just have to say I am super excited I found a way to update my blog from work! It's these small things that help brighten my day. :-)

Nothing too new and exciting to report with us. Baseball season is getting ready to kick in full gear this week. We have our first practice on Tuesday at 5p. Gees, before I was working full-time 5p would have been no big deal. I'd just work my schedule around it. Now, nope that just won't work. How does this coach expect parents who work a 9-5 job to get there on time?? I already told the coach we'd be there at 515p at the earliest!! And, I doubt we're even there by then but, whatever. (Okay, sorry for that small trivial vent...)

I've recently uploaded some new videos of the kids to our YouTube account. You can check them out here. I've got a couple more I want to add. The uploading kind of takes awhile so these are just a few I've already put on. You'll get a big kick out of seeing some of the older videos on there too when Leyton and Maddox were just lil tykes.

Until later...

Snow Day Part 2

2010-02-12T12:21:00.004-06:00

We've had so much fun the past two days playing in the snow! DFW got a record breaking 12 inches of snowfall in a 24 hour period. The most in recorded history. AND, it was a perfect snow to play in, build a snowman in, and for snowball fights! Wet, sticky snow. Plus, the temps have been just perfect for it too. They stayed in the upper 30's/low 40's and that means you can play in the snow and not freeze to death while you're playing.

As you can see, we've had such a blast these past 2 days!

Snow Day fun!

2010-02-11T19:11:00.004-06:00

Snow ice cream! Yum!

It's too quiet, where's Maddox??

2010-02-04T19:16:00.005-06:00

It's too quiet in this house right now...wait a second, MADDOX??? Where are you!? Oh great, he's in the bathroom. Please tell me he's not dumping out the shampoo or unraveling the newest toilet paper roll!! It's never a good thing when your 3 year old is being 'too quiet'. Well, imagine my surpise when I walk in and this is what he's doing:

And this too:

No, it's not even bedtime. We haven't even been home 10 minutes and he proceeded to open his goodie bag from school and brush his teeth. The dentist came to Maddox's school today, "Dr. Laura". Apparantly, 3 year olds DO listen and learn while at school. Go figure, it's not all coloring, puzzles, and legos. "Dr. Laura" gave the kids a little timer (if you look, you can see he wanted to use that while brushing his teeth), a new toothbrush, and floss.

And, check it out, he's learning to write his name too! He's 3.5 by the way. Leyton didn't learn to write his name until he was 4. GO MADDOX! You, over acheiver, you!

***While you're here, look over to the right and become a follower of my blog. You'll get email updates anytime I update my blog. :)

Leyton donates to the children of Haiti

2010-02-03T17:54:00.003-06:00

My son simply melted my heart tonight. All week Leyton has been asking me if he could take some change to school to fill the 1st grade 'bucket'. We gave a baggy with some spare change (maybe a few dollars worth??) yesterday. He wanted to take more this morning. So, before I sent him to school with more money I inquired with his teacher about what he was talking about and what the money was for. 1st graders have a tendancy to be sneaky and spending their 'change' at the student store on Chucky Cheese type junk.

The teacher told me each grade was competing to earn the most money. All the money raised is being sent to the children of Haiti. When I told Leyton we would round up some more of our change for him he asked if he could just empty his piggy bank (including one $1 and a $20!!!) and give that to those kids. I of course said he could do that. If I were to guess, I'd say he had close to $30 in that bag! He said that maybe if he sent his money to Haiti that their mom's and dad's could buy them some new stuff. My goodness! What a sweetie!

After talking about the earthquake some tonight with him he asked me to show him some pictures. After seeing those pictures he asked if maybe his money might help buy them shoes and stuff. I told him I KNOW if will help!

A couple great weeks of pride

2010-01-31T17:14:00.004-06:00

The past couple of weeks Kris and I have experienced great pride in Leyton. The pride came on the heels of a time when Leyton did something where we were really disappointed in him. He lied about getting in trouble at school.

After that week of punishment we've experienced and discovered things in Leyton where a parent couldn't be more proud.

#1 - we got a call from Leyton's football coach from this past flag football team that just ended. He called to let us know they were moving the team to the McKinney league for a couple of various reasons. He said he and another coach (from the team that placed 2nd in the league) were putting together a 'select' tackle team for this coming fall. The coach was very impressed with Leyton's abilities on the field and asked if he could be part of this team. Leyton's still in the early stages of his athletic career, but Kris and I were so proud that they thought he was good enough to be put on this team.

#2 - that same week Leyton came home with a flyer/letter from school. It stated that the school was creating a new Math and Reasoning Club that was to meet once a week after school. The letter said he was selected to be a part of this new club and it was a permission for him to be a part of it. At first I couldn't tell if the school was politely telling me that Leyton needed tutoring in math and needed to stay after school for that, or if this was an honorary thing. Well, it was certainly the latter. I emailed his teacher after getting this letter to get more information. She said she was only allowed to select one child from her class to be in this club and she saw so much potential in him and felt this would be a great thing for him. She said the math stuff they go over in class now is too remedial for him and he needed more of a challenge. Again, GREAT PRIDE! Our kid is a whiz in math! Who would of knew?!

# 3 - the third thing we discovered this past week is the fact that Leyton has some artistic abilities he's been hiding from us. The past couple of months I've seen a few things he's drawn and thought it was pretty good. Spongebob and his friends are currently adorning his bedroom door. The pictures below are what he drew this past week for us. You can see the stuffed animal that he was drawing next to the picture he drew. I think he did pretty darn good!

Time for an update

2009-11-15T10:47:00.003-06:00

It's been way too long since I've updated this blog. All my blogging energy these past 3 months has been pretty much focused on my running blog. I'm so behind on this blog I don't even know where to start and what to update on.

Since I mentioned my running blog that you can visit here, I'll update on me first. Since August 1st I've been training for my first ever 1/2 marathon. 13.1 miles to be exact. I'm running in the Dallas WhiteRock Lake Marathon in exactly 4 weeks from today. In the beginning of my training I was running 4-5 times per week. Our schedules have gotten to hectic lately with Kris' work schedule and such that I've only been able to get out an run about 2 times a week. I have one 'long run' a week and I'm at about 10 miles on that run. Mid-week I'll run 4-6 miles and it's amazing to me that I can now say that running 4-6 miles isn't even hard for me anymore! This picture is a group of us from Team In Training that ran in the Heroes for Children 5K in September.

Kris is waiting tables at Rick's Chophouse. He works pretty much every night of the week except for Tuesdays and he's off on Sundays. So, those are basically the only times we see him now. He has a consulting job for Mineola Country Club, so he drives over there every Tuesday and spends the day there. He's working hard and a lot of hours. The work hours are tough because we never seem to see him anymore. The plus side of his hours is that he is able to stay at home with Maddox during the day. So, we're saving a ton of money of daycare.

The boys are as crazy as ever. Leyton is really thriving in 1st grade and doing very well with his reading. His teacher has put him in the accelerated reading program. That makes his mommy very proud, being the reader that I am. I hope he one day begins to enjoy reading like I do. Yesterday we finished up his first season of flag football. He really enjoyed playing football. I wasn't sure what to expect when we signed him up, but he turned out to be quite the football player. He said he liked playing because it's "like playing chase or tag". The coach either played him in QB or wingback position most the year and he was able to score 4 or 5 times this season. I'll scan his football picture and post that in another blog. He's quite photogenic (well, I'm a bit partial) as you'll see below:

Maddox is ornery! We got him pretty much potty-trained a few weeks before his 3rd birthday. We're still having some #2 issues that we're hoping he'll get over soon! As great as it is financially for us to have him stay at home with Kris, I'd really like to get him in a daycare after the first of the year. He's at a stage where he needs more structure & more discipline (from someone other than his parents). He's gotten quite the attitude and thinks he pretty much rules this house. A lot of it has to do with his personality. He's so different that Leyton ever was. He goes a mile a minute and has nothing on the Tazmanian Devel! During our recent photo shoot I took of the boys this picture was pretty much the only good one I got of him (and the lighting and focus could be much better). But, I'll take what I can with a 3 year old.

Celebrate Good Times! Come ON!

2009-08-17T19:31:00.004-05:00

We had the big party yesterday at our house. This is the first birthday party I have ever thrown at our house. I much prefer to just rent someplace and not have to worry about cleaning, food, and oh, did I say cleaning! We had 16 kids at our place yesterday for the party. I don't think my living room has ever seen that many people before! My parents bought Maddox (and Leyton) a big inflatable waterslide for his birthday. We had planned on renting one, so this was perfect. Here's a few pictures from the party. Now....I'm off to clean!

Maddox birthday celebration(s) - Part 1

2009-08-15T21:25:00.004-05:00

My baby boy Maddox turns 3 years old today. I can't believe how fast time has flown. He's now 95% pottytrained, which happened just a few weeks ago. We're having his big shindig tomorrow at our house, but I couldn't let his actual 'birth' day pass by without some sort of mini-celebration. I had to work at the daycare all day today and Kris was working tonight, so we took our homemade rainbow cake up to the daycare and shared our cake with the daycare kids today. Here's our cake:

Funny quiz

2009-08-01T17:45:00.004-05:00

Thanks Chad...this quiz was fun so I had to copy! :-)

Created by The Oatmeal

New beginnings

2009-07-26T20:03:00.002-05:00

Well, tomorrow I start my new job in Richardson working for Edward Jones. This has been 5 months in the waiting it seems like. I interviewed with 3 differents guys and finally landed this one. I'm nervous, excited, and thankful I am finally there. Wish me luck for my first day!!

Training for the marathon is going really well as well. I love seeing myself go further and further each day. I made it 1.8 miles today and really pushed myself. Now, if only I can start receiving some fundraising money. :( I sent out 89 emails and haven't received anything yet. I'm thinking all the emails must have went to everyone's spam or something. It's just hard to imagine that out of 89 emails I still haven't gotten any money. It will get there, right? Right!?!?

If you'd like to donate you can click my fundraising link on my training blog, www.trinitystraining.blogspot.com.

My new running blog

2009-07-21T18:14:00.001-05:00

Come check it out. I wanted to blog daily about my daily training. I knew it would help keep me motivated to see my improvement each day and to see just how far I've come. I can't wait to look back on this in December to see just how far I've come.

http://trinitystraining.blogspot.com/

Totally motivated and maybe a little bit crazy!!!

2009-07-19T09:44:00.002-05:00

Oh my word, what have I commited myself to??? Last Thursday evening some girlfriends and I attended a Team In Training meeting and signed up to run the Dallas White Rock Lake Marathon on Dec 13. These men and women are coaches for a reason...they are motivational, inspirational, and supportive. It was exilerating. We (my girls and I) went in with expectations to sign up for the relay team and each of us would train and run 5-6 miles of the marathon. By the end of the meeting 3 or 4 of us (including myself) were motivated and inspired enough to make our goal the Half Marathon (which is 13 miles)!

One of the many great things of joining up with Team In Training is that in training and running with them we raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Here is my webpage to help fundraise for the charity.

I went out this moring and did my first run and now I am scared! I put a training app on my phone and it coached me thru my run. It is an awesome app and was very helpful. But, let me tell you, now I am SCARED of what I've signed myself up for. I'll be brutally honest...I made it 1.2 miles and thought I would die. AND, I didn't even run all of that. The training is/way broken down into run 1 min, walk 1 min, run 1, walk 1, then it slowly goes up to run 2 min, walk 2. By the time I got to run 3 minutes I couldn't push myself to do it. I am going to need all the support I can get! I'll try to post back here often so we can see how far I've come with my training.

Check out this cake!

2009-07-02T16:27:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine shared this website/blog of this cake she's going to try and make.

http://www.omnomicon.com/rainbowcake

I LOVE it and can't wait to have an occassion to try and make it too!

10-10-10

2009-06-30T13:32:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine recently recommended the book, 10-10-10 by Suzy Welch, to me.

http://www.suzywelch101010.com/about_book.htm

It's a book about making tough decisions based on the 10-10-10 approach. The premise is about when your faced with a complex dilemma, stop and ask, "What will the consequences of my options be in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years?

Wow, I love the concept and it really has helped in trying to decide what step I should take if/when both job options are offered to me. In taking job #1 or #2, yes I know how it will effect me in 10 seconds, but how will my life be altered in 10 months and where do I see myself if I should stick with either for 10 years. In looking at job #1, I can truely see myself still working there in 10 years. I see myself being a successful administrator, making decent money for my family, and will have begun the set up to a great retirement fund for my family. In job #2, I'm not fully convinced I want to get my teacher certification and begin that profession. I love the profession, I think I would love doing it, but I'm not fully convinced.

Everyday my mind changes on what I want to do. One day I've fully convinced myself I should do job #1 and then I'll lay in bed and think about things and by the next day I've convinced myself it's job #2. I've changed my mind almost everyday. Who knows, maybe even after all this thought and stress about jobs one (or both for that matter) won't even be offered to me. I guess then I'll let fate take it's place.

I need someone to make the decision for me

2009-06-27T17:31:00.002-05:00

As you know, I've been on the hunt for a full-time job for the past couple of months. I haven't really tried hard in finding a job because what I am doing now is going okay and I want to find the right fit for me. I've now potentially found 2 jobs that could come my way. They are completely opposite in fields and have totally different pros and cons. The pay is also WAY different. And, I have NO IDEA what to do. :(

Job #1 - better money, 45 minute commute, 2 man office and a lot of responsibilty, possibly a job I'll keep for many years. Did I say better money?? Yeah! Good benefits.

Job #2 - in the teaching field at my son's elementary school, pay is AWFUL. I'd be bringing in around the same amount of money I bring in now, would motivate me to possibly get my teacher certification and move forward with that dream. Insurance is paid 100% for me.

It's hard to get into specifics without going into more detail on what the jobs are and what I'd be doing, but I'd rather not delve into that right now. Neither job has been officially offered to me, but I have really good feelings on both them. Maybe in the end it will work itself out and maybe I won't get offered one of the jobs? If they both get offered then I've really got to decide where I want my future to be. Do I go with the money or do I go with something I love to do?

I know that honestly, as an outsider reading this it seems like a simple answer. Go with what you love. But, to me, it so much harder. I also love office admin type jobs as well and I know I'll be successful if I go that route too.

I guess I'll be back in a few weeks to post how it all goes.

Leyton's birthday celebration

2009-05-10T13:24:00.004-05:00

This year my friend Jessica and I decided to do a shared birthday party for our boys. They both were turning 6 with a week and a half of each other. And what better way than to have an awesome party is to share the cost. We opted this year to use our neighborhood park and rent a bounce house and a face painter. The weather for the 2 weeks prior to the party was rainy, rainy, rainy. So, we did some hard praying that it wouldn't rain on our party. The rain stayed away! YAY!! It actually was perfect. Low 70's and not to windy. Perfect weather for a group of kiddos that have been cooped up inside because of all the yucky weather we'd been having.

Leyton and Grant had a blast at their party! It was such a great time and all the painted faces were adorable. Thank you to everyone that came and made our kids day extra special. Here's a link to more birthday party pictures if you want to check them out.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93262&id=550201512&l=f7c68b2a38

My Prosper Predator

2009-05-06T15:27:00.002-05:00

Here is Leyton's cute little U6 baseball team. Their team is currently in 1st place in our league. We have a great set of little players! I'm sad the season is almost over.

Mother's Day Tea

2009-05-06T15:19:00.006-05:00

Today, in celebration of Mother's Day this Sunday, Maddox's class hosted a Mother's Day Tea. It was so adorable. I love going to the little parties that his teachers throw for the parents. Here is Maddox showing me the placemat he made for mommy. You can see on the right side where he drew his picture of mommy. The teachers said he did it all by himself too! Not bad for a 2 1/2 year old.

Next, was the prayer before the muffins and tea.

And, here is Maddox holding the present he was giving to mommy. It was a hand towel with his handprint and some other stamped designs he put on it.

Thank you Maddox! I love you sweetie!

Happy 6th Birthday Leyton!

2009-05-06T15:08:00.003-05:00

Monday, May 4th was Leyton's 6th birthday. Leyton woke up at 6:15a and the first thing out of his mouth was "I can't believe I'm finally 6!" He was so excited for this special day. Later in the morning he was eating his breakfast and told me his arm was hurting. I said, "Well, it's probably from playing your new Wii this weekend". He said, "No, I think I'm having growing pains since today is my birthday." LOL, what a cutie!

My parents are going to be able to make it to his birthday party this weekend, so my mom decided to drive down for the day and surprise him with lunch at his school. He certainly was surprised to see grandma and so excited to see his big bouquet of balloons too! I think he mostly like all the attention he got from all his friends when they saw he had balloons.

He had a baseball game later that afternoon and then grandma took him to his favorite restaurant. You'd guess Chucky Cheese or Peter Piper Pizza. Nope. Macaroni Grill! That's my boy!

His party is this Saturday and we have our fingers, toes, and eyes crossed it doesn't rain! It's in our neighborhood park and we'll have a bounce house and a face painter!

Some fun giveaway contests I found

2009-05-06T14:50:00.002-05:00

I am a big blog follower and love finding new blogs to add to my reader. I came across to great Mother's Day Giveaway contests that I thought I'd share on here as well!

The first contest I found is for a muslin swaddling wrap, made by Aden and Anais, http://www.adenandanais.com/index.html. It's a wonderfully soft swaddling blanket that gets softer and softer with each wash. Check out this blog to hear this mom's testimony. http://www.travelingthetightrope.com/ Leave her a comment and you'll be entered in the contest to win one of these cute blankets!

The other contest I found is for a new Kodak Digital Camera! What an awesome giveaway! Here's the link to this blog and how to easily enter that giveaway as well! http://www.5minutesformom.com/6032/mothers-day-giveaway-2009/

Daycare fun

2009-04-10T13:23:00.004-05:00

Ever since Kris started working nights at the restaurant, unfornately, the boys have had to spend more time with me at the daycare. Thankfully, it's free for them to come and play while I'm working. Friday and Saturday nights are the hardest is the late nights because we close at 10p thru the week and midnight on weekends. So, as much as I need the hours for $$, I really pray parents will come early so I don't have to keep the boys there so late. So, far there's only be 1 Saturday night we've had to stay until midnight. There have been a handful of nights the boys are there until 10p with me, but we're making it work!

These are just a few fun pictures I've taken recently of the boys playing at the daycare. Leyton is mostly into the video games, but Maddox LOVES everything at the daycare. Both boys have made a ton of friends in the year and a half I've worked there too!

Apr 4 - Date Night with Leyton

2009-04-10T13:16:00.002-05:00

So, last Saturday night I had a date night with my favorite soon to be 6 year old. We decided to hit up the local cinema to see the 3D version of Monsters-vs-Aliens. What a blast! This was Leyton's first time to see a 3D movie. As excited as he was to see the movie, he was also nervous too about seeing the 3D version for fear it would look like things were really going to hit him. Needless to say, he LOVED it (and so did I)! It was so fun watching it in 3D. Sorry for grainy quality of the photo, but of course it was very dark in the theater when I took this picture that I took with my phone. After the movie I promised him ice cream. I really wanted to take him to Ben & Jerry's, but they closed at 9p so we didn't get to make it there. So, we decided to go ahead and pick up Maddox from our friend's house and head to McD's for a hot fudge sundae. What a yummy $1 treat! He was pretty much over me taking his picture so he can see his nice 'fake' smile below.

Brett's Blessings

2009-04-10T08:49:00.002-05:00

For those of you that follow my blog, I wanted to update you on the family that lost their son in that tragic car accident this past December.

Amber and Chris have started a new foundation called "Brett's Blessings". They are collecting new, unwrapped toys to donate to the ICU at Children's Hospital. Here's a blurb from Amber's blog:

Chris and I have started - well I guess you could say foundation, but it's not there yet. We have called this yearly annual toy donation Brett's Blessings. I racked my head for days on what to name "it" and Chris came up with this in a minute and what a perfect name it is. Brett was a blessing. What better way to honor my child than to make other children, of all ages happy? Brett's Blessings will help bring smiles to children in the ICU at Children's Hospital Dallas. My mission is to ask everyone that I know if they would be willing to donate a new, unwrapped toy for many children who are in the ICU. This year we have picked the ICU department specifically because this is where Brett spent his last few hours before passing away. I hope that next year I will be able to spread this toy drive to Children's Medical Center in Dallas as I have now been told by two people that they have nothing like this. Who knows, if this toy drive gets really big, I might just be able to do it this year. Wouldn't that be a blessing. Please spread the word.So today I leave you with this: Open your hearts. Give to those you don't know. Someday you might be in need of the same.
Amber

Adventure Kids and Stonebridge UMC are the 2 main drop-off points for the toys. I'm so happy to see the boxes at both location are filled to the top with toys! What a tremendous, caring community we live in!

This is just what 2 year old boys do...

2009-04-07T17:31:00.004-05:00

There is no explanation needed for these photos. It's just what little boys do. ;-)

Yes, that's mud!

April 5 - PYSA Sports Festival

2009-04-07T17:23:00.002-05:00

The Prosper Youth Sports Association hosted their 1st Annual Spring Sports Festival. It was a time for all the spring associated sports (volleyball, basketball, baseball) to showcase and introduce their teams. It was a chilly day, but all the boys really had fun 'parading' onto the football field and waving to the stands.

It's times like this that make me realize just how old Leyton is getting to be. Leyton's team name is the Prosper Predators and he has his first game this tonight. (April 7)

Sicko's

2009-04-07T17:05:00.002-05:00

I'm so ready for my family to be nice and healthy. We've been going on a month now that someone in this house has been sick with something, and most of it is the same thing being spread back and forth.

A month ago, right before Spring Break I got a cold. I had the cold for almost 2 weeks. Well, I we got home from Spring Break and Kris caught my cold. Again, he held onto it for about a week and now Leyton has had it. Leyton's had this nasty stuffy nose and cough for 3-4 days now. Poor kid doesn't feel good at all and has napped almost everyday for about 2 hours at a time.

Now, Maddox, he never did really show signs of the cold, but lucky us he caught Hand/Foot/Mouth. They symptoms showed up yesterday afternoon with a few spots and by bathtime last night his bottom, hands, feet, and mouth were COVERED in the painful rash. Thankfully, it's going away about as quickly as it came on. Almost 24 hours later and most of the rash has started going away.

SICKNESS, BE GONE!

Spring is upon us

2009-03-07T11:32:00.003-06:00

Tex-Ice - January 28

2009-03-07T11:18:00.002-06:00

These are very late in sharing, but I just stumbled upon them and wanted to share.

My son got sent to the principal's office today...

2009-03-02T15:52:00.003-06:00

Yep, that's twice this year he's been sent to the Principal's office. And, yes, my friends I am referring to Maddox. My 2.5 year old!

Apparently, today he decided he was going to try and sneak out of his classroom...4 TIMES! He was either trying to get something out of his cubby in the hallway, look in other cubby's, or go play with this big workshop toy that sits by his classroom. He'd get caught every time he's sneak out because he'd slam the door behind him.

This boy is going to be a handful growing up. I can already tell. He loves to push his boundaries to see how far he can push and see what he can get away with. But, how can you get mad at a face like this.

March 1 - A day with Papa Rick

2009-03-01T17:06:00.000-06:00

Papa Rick came over to visit today. He took us to lunch, played Nintendo with Leyton, and let Maddox jump all over him. They love him so much and LOVE it when they get to see Papa Rick.

Neighborhood-lum's

2009-03-01T16:58:00.000-06:00

This pair is quite the duo. They are literally inseperable on the weekends and over the summer. They've been bestbuds for a few years now. If Leyton's not hanging out at Brandon's house, then Brandon is over here. Brandon lives 2 doors down. Brandon's little brother Brian is now coming over and becoming buds with Maddox. Brian is a year older than Maddox (Brian will be 4 this summer). Next time he's over, I'll have to try and get a shot of the two of them together too. Here' s a few shots of them from last weekend.

Feb 21 - He's on 2 wheels now...

2009-03-01T16:47:00.000-06:00

He's finally figured out! Last summer Leyton made great headway in learning to ride his bike without training wheels. He had the balance thing down, he just couldn't figure out how to get on and start on his own. It got to where he never wanted to ride his bike because Kris or I had to be outside with him to get him started. We ended up putting his training wheels back on so he could ride his bike with his friends this past fall. So, last Friday I got home and saw this...

Apparantly, Maddox ran over Leyton's bike with his Jeep and bent the training wheels. His bike wasn't rideable unless they came off. So, he was forced to learn. I'm not sure why, now, he picked it up so quickly, but he was literally riding within 30 minutes of the training wheels coming off. Now that the weather's been nicer, we can't hardly keep this kid inside.

Feb 20 - My Sweet Leyton

2009-03-01T16:26:00.000-06:00

I was telling some friends of mine how Leyton wears his leg warmers on his arms. They're technically called "Baby Legs" and are meant for babies to wear under skirts, onesies, etc. However, Leyton and his cousins are starting a new fashion trend. His friends think they're pretty cool too. My cousin sell them in her shop and I'm going to get a couple new pair for him when I go back in March.

And this next shot is just a cute one of him.

EJ update on me and a brief update on Kris

2009-02-24T18:37:00.000-06:00

The Edward Jones recruiter called me this afternoon to tell me that I am still a front running candidate, but Mike still is in the 'interviewing process' and will have a decision by Friday. (insert eye roll here) Ugh, SERIOUSLY!! If I'm a freaking front runner, then why interview anyone else. LOL! So, hey atleast they called to keep me posted so I don't have to keep wondering when they'll call. I'm just so over this whole process and ready for it to be over so I can move on to something else if I don't get this job.

As for Kris, he officially started to work with Rick's Chophouse last night. He had his orientation and he has training every night this week, including Saturday. More training the first half of next week and then hopefully he'll be on the floor by next weekend.

update

2009-02-19T17:29:00.001-06:00

So, last night Kris went for 4 hours of server following. This was his 4th and final interview in the process. When he left the manager said that he wanted to talk to the servers and get their opinion on Kris and that he'd call Kris by tomorrow about the job. Wow, it's amazing the hoops he has to go thru to get a job at this place. He almost regrets not just going to Macaroni Grill first. Mac Grill is where he waited/bartended for almost 5 years. He'd probably be on the floor already there. But, going to the restaurant he did is going to give him better tips in the long run.

Barring that Kris gets this job, Monday he will start his training for 2 weeks. It's a thorough training on the history of our city, history of the restaurant, the owner's charity that he supports, loads of information on wine, and of course the steaks and food they serve. The reason for the intensive training is because it is "THE" hot spot to go to in our town, located in our historic town square. So, it gets a lot of tourists and such.

Kris also got his letter about unemployment today. He will receive the maximum our state allows, which is $392. It hardly anything, but at this point we'll take whatever we can get until Kris starts bringing in a paycheck again. They are still 'reviewing' his account to make sure he qualifys for unemployment so I"m not sure when we'll get that first check?

As for me, I go in tomorrow at 3p to see the Edward Jones guy again. Hopefully after tomorrow I can better nail down a date for when I might get to start that??

Roll Call

2009-02-17T21:16:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I wanna know who's here and reading. Duh, I know it comes across as a note on FB too, but I'm curious to see who likes to come here and read my blog. It's been pretty boring in the past, but lately as you see I've been writing a lot about what's going on with Kris and I.

Blogging, for me, is sort of like writing in a diary of sorts. Writing out what's on my mind helps me get it off my chest. Even if NO ONE reads my blog, it helps just to get it out there and out of my head.

Hopefully, some of you lurkers reading will come out of the wood work and start commenting so I know you're there and reading. :-)

Thank God!

2009-02-16T19:07:00.000-06:00

Yes, he's looking out for us! Maybe he doesn't want me to have the stress and worry that's been a burden on my heart this weekend?

Kris was at his final interview tonight with the owner of Rick's Chophouse. 10 minutes before going into the restaurant Kris gets a call from the guy who laid him off. The guy proceeded to tell him that they did some 'recalculating' (????) and decided to go ahead and pay him severence. It's only for 2 weeks pay, but hey, who cares!! That will help us out TONS. It takes such a wait off my mind. Since I've already paid the next 2 weeks worth of bills, this check will pay us thru until the middle of March. By then, we'll have a couple of unemployment checks and maybe some of Kris's restaurant training money.

So, yeah, Kris goes in on Wednesday to do an 'employee follow' thru out the night and he'll start his mandatory 2 week training on Monday. Kris has also received word from 2 different golf courses about some positions that may be available for him. They are lower paying gigs, but with the restaurant money it will work until he can find a more permanant position.

Speaking of permanant position, Kris is applying all over the country for another superintendent position. Alabama, Ohio, 2 in Colorado, Las Vegas, and even Cancun! Sheesh, at this point in the game as long as the pay/benefits are right, I guess I'll move anywhere. Although, Denver would be ideal since my brother and SIL live there and then my parents could easily come visit us both at the same time.

Our testing and challenging time lately

2009-02-15T10:23:00.001-06:00

God has really tested my strength and patience this past week. Kris got laid off from his job last Friday. He had really bad vibes this would be happening and unfortunately he was right. The gold course he was working at has no more money. 2 months ago Kris had to lay off 6-7 crew members and about a month ago he was asked to lay off his assistant. In the meantime we tried to stay positive and tell ourselves there was no way they'd lay off Kris. There's no one higher than Kris at the course except the GM who runs the operations of the course. Well, we were wrong. They're out of money and the one way to get more money is to cut from the top. Kris was replaced within 3 days with someone making $20K less than Kris. It was apparant they had been looking/interiewing while Kris was still employed.

I've tried my best to stay positive and optimistic for Kris this past week, but it's getting harder and harder with each passing day. He picked up his final paycheck from the golf course yesterday and found out they re-nigged on thier severence offer. Initially they told him maybe a month of severence, then when he went on Monday to get the last of his office things they told him they'd probably be able to offer 2 weeks severence. And then the assholes didn't end up giving him anything. I about lost it. So, we have his paycheck to pay the bills for the next 2 weeks and then we're screwed. And, I just paid bills and we have NO more money for the next 2 weeks. Thankfully, our vehicles are full on gas, Maddox has diapers, and we did our grocery run. So, we're all covered there. The only thing I gotta figure out is lunch money for Leyton. I can pack his lunches on some of the days, but the more I do that the quicker we run out of food too.

Kris filed for his unemployment yesterday. He has submitted his resume/applications to multiple places. The great thing about Kris is he will do whatever it takes for his family. One of the jobs it looks like he has a great chance of getting is about 3 steps back in his profession and $30K less a year. But, we have to have SOMETHING right now. He also is pursuing going back to waiting tables as a 2nd job. He has a lot of experience with it and made great cash in the past when he waited tables and was a bartender. There is a fine dining establishment here in McKinney that is hiring and he has already gone thru 2 interviews with them and passed. He has his 3rd/final interview with the owner of the restaurant on Monday. Hopefully then he'll find out when he can start his 2 weeks of mandatory training and when he would get paid for that training.

I'm really, really stressed. Keeping our credit in good standing is of the upmost importance to Kris and I. So, it's imperitive we pay our bills on time. We've never, ever been in a situation like this and I think that's probably why I'm really stressed and getting depressed about this. I've put on this outer shell of happiness and 'everything's going to be okay' and my shell is crumbling piece by piece. The boys have no clue of what's going on and that's the way we'll keep it. All that matters is that mommy and daddy are happy. There's no reason for Leyton to know that daddy is not working or switching jobs. It's too much for him to take in and he doesn't need that stress/burden either. So, Kris and I try to remain like nothing's changed to the boys, but that's why I'm crumbling on the inside. The facade is getting harder and harder.

Edward Jones

2009-02-09T16:47:00.000-06:00

Last Friday I had an interview with an Edward Financial Advisor to be his Brank Office Assistant. Basically, in a nutshell, I would he his assistant. The interview went great. I was with him for an hour and a half at Starbucks. The pay is so-so, but it's more than I'm making now and even with paying for Maddox in daycare I'll still be bringing home extra. The benefits and bonuses and great. When I left the meeting he asked me to call him today, Monday, and let him know a time frame for when I'd like to start.

So, I talked to the Edwards Jones guy again today. I told him I could start for him anytime after Spring Break, so basically anytime after Mar 23. I figure that will give me a month to let the preschool know I'm leaving and get me replaced. He then asked me if I would be able to start on March 1 if he'd give me the week of Spring Break off. I was shocked. That's so SOON! I was really hoping to give the preschool more advance notice, but he said he'd make sure I can give them atleast 2 weeks. The job hasn't 'officially' been offered to me either, but obviously I think he's ready to move forward, lol. The St. Louis headquarter office contacted me via email about 1.5 hours after I talked to Mike to set up my phone interview that is required for all applicants. I also have to fill out a 12 page application and fax it to them!

I'm very anxious about it all. I mean, wow, that means I have to find a daycare pronto for Maddox and get him enrolled. (Boo, that means I have to tell his teachers he's leaving too. :-( ) I also still need to figure out what I'm going to do with Leyton after school. I'm going to talk to my carpool friend tonight to see if she'll watch him. Ugh, I hate change, but this is good change, ya know? I just really, really hate that I'm going to have to tell the preschool I'm leaving. I mean, duh, it was inevitable ya know. But, I hate letting people down and I know my director will not be happy and this will just add more stress to her plate on getting me replaced.

Update on ATI

2009-01-29T16:16:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, so I was a little crazy for thinking I maybe wanted to go back to ATI. After I was there and interviewed for my old position I looked at it from a whole new perspective. But get this, can you believe they didn't offer me the job?!?! Yeah, yeah, so I had already made the decision that I didn't want to go back. But, I mean seriously, I really would have preferred them offer me the job so I could turn it down. I guess it's true what they say, that it's harder to get back in the work force after you've left it to have kids. Kris choses to believe that they didn't offer me the job because they didn't want to pay me at the salary that I left at when they could have easily hired the same position at entry level for $8K less. IDK, maybe they didn't think my personality would jive with the others??

I don't know what my future holds, but what I do know is that I have got to find a better paying job to help us get out of our DEBT. I can't keep doing what I'm doing. Working 2 jobs and 40/hrs per week sucks! The pay sucks! I am so sick of living paycheck to paycheck. It sucks. I have got to get out there and get a job paying a decent amount of money. Thankfully we'll be getting our tax return soon and that will all be applied to debt. That in itself will help lower our monthly debt by some. My mom is very encouraging. She's always telling me that she and my dad were in the same boat when they were raising my brother and I. Raising kids is tough and very expensive. We'll be out of our financial rut someday, I'm just so ready to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Am I going crazy or do I really want to go back?

2008-12-31T13:30:00.000-06:00

Back to Anthony Travel, that is.

ATI has really been on my mind a lot lately. My friends, my old job, what a great company it is, and just memories in general. Some of this has been sparked by finding some old work friends on Facebook. And, some of it is because I think about how much $$ I used to make there and how much we're in debt now because I chose to quit and stay home with the boys. A few nights ago I had a dream of working at ATI again and it was a good dream. I couldn't get it out of my head at all. On a whim, I decided to pull up their website to see if they were even hiring. If they didn't have any positions than it would be easy for me to just toss the idea aside. Low and behold, they are hiring for an Event Manager, which is what I did when left there doing.

So, I made the call! I called my old boss. Maggie and I left on great terms. She understood my need to leave at the time. We still exchange the occassional email, Christmas cards, etc. She was so surprised to hear my voice and even more surprised when I told her I was considering coming back to join them.

Rejoining ATI would be extensive traveling again, which is one of the sole reasons I had to leave. With a 3 year old and a newborn baby at home, the traveling was just not an option for me anymore. But, not that Maddox is 2 1/2 years old and Leyton is in Kindergarten they are much more self-sufficient and Kris can easily handle them while I'm out of town.

There are tons of advantages for rejoining ATI. 1) The money, of course. This could really help us pay down our cc debt and get us into a new house much quicker 2) Full insurance benefits. I'm on a plan now that works for our family, but full benefits again would be tremendous. 3) I could start contributing to my 401K again! 4) I could quit my 2 jobs and not work nights/weekends again (except for when I'm traveling of course).

The disadvantages. Well, there are some, but there more hurdles than disadvantages. 1) Getting Leyton to/from school and after school care. I think I have a plan of action for this if I go back to work. 2) I'd have to pull Maddox from his preschool and enroll him in a full time daycare. Not the end of the world, especially since he's older now. He'll thrive wherever he is. 3) Ugh, I'd have to tell both jobs I'm quitting. Neither of them will be happy about that. :(

So, I'll post when I have more news. I am going in next Friday, I believe to do an 'interview'. I guess it's just protocol and following procedures. I can't expect to literally call and them say, come in, you start on Monday. ;)

Christmas thru the eyes of a child

2008-12-28T13:51:00.001-06:00

This has got to be one of the best Christmas mornings we've spent as a family! Now that Maddox is almost 2 1/2 he really got into the Christmas spirit this year. Leyton, being 5, was so into Santa and the mystery's behind him. Don't get me wrong, it's not all Santa and his reindeer's. Both my boys know that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday as well. Leyton even asked me how old Jesus was this year...uh...how do you answer that, lol! Maddox loves to read his nativity book and see the pictures of "baby Jesus". Too cute!

This is the letter that Leyton wrote to Santa on Christmas Eve.

The boys woke up about 7a on Christmas morning. Still starry eyed and sleepy, they dug into their stockings to see what Santa had left them.

Santa also left about 5 presents for each child to unwrap. In addition to the 'Santa' presents the boys had plenty to open! So many in fact that everytime an 'adult' opened a gift, they each had one too. Needless to say, they had a great Christmas. Leyton's big gift of the day was the infamous 'DS' that he told Santa he wanted. Maddox's big gift from Papa Steve and Gma Kathy was his new ride-on Jeep. Here's a few morning pictures from our Christmas morning.

Our Christmas Holiday

2008-12-28T12:49:00.000-06:00

It's been such a fun, relaxing week for us. I somehow managed to get off work from the daycare for the week so I decided to spend some much needed quality family time back in Oklahoma. The boys and I drove up on Sunday afternoon. Monday we went to see my grandma up in Perry, OK. Whew, SMALL TOWN AMERICA. This is a representation of just how small it really is:

After Perry we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with my cousin's kids. All the boys are really close in age and just have a blast together. Tuesday Leyton and I caught up with the flowergirl, Molly, from my brother's wedding and went to a movie. Molly is my brother's wife's neice and is also 5. After the movie we hung out at Kris' grandparents for a while and then went over to my MIL's house to see Kris' sister and my sweet niece, Kyrsten. Here she is sporting her new tutu that Aunt Trin bought her:Wednesday, Christmas Eve we spent the better part of the day and evening in Tulsa. We celebrated the holidays with Kris's mom's side of the family. It's always a great time and I hate that we only see them once or twice a year. Here's a few pictures from that day:

Christmas day gets it's only blog post entirely. :-)

Kris had to go home on Christmas night, but the boys and I stayed in Guthrie until Saturday morning. I wanted to spend more time with my bro and SIL before they went back home to Denver and Leyton's cousins were coming back over to play on Friday. It was a fun filled week and I'm so glad I got in all that quality family time.

Hug your kids a little tighter today

2008-12-10T16:23:00.000-06:00

It's been a hard week. On Monday morning I received word that a 4 year old boy that attends the preschool I teach at passed away in a car wreck on Sunday night. It hit so close to home because I knew the mom and kids fairly well. Amber and I used to be in the same local moms group and attended several playdates together. Not only that, Amber's 2nd grader attends Leyton's elementary school and she is just about as active as I am in the PTO. I'm just surrounded every which way by this tragic story. I've received emails from the preschool director, the elementary school principal, parents in Leyton's class and fellow friends who know Amber and her children.

Amber had all 3 of her children in her minivan on the way home from attending a birthday party. They were struck by someone who ran a red light. The vehicle hit on Brett's side of the van. Amber's 2nd grader is still in the hospital with a shattered leg. He's already had one surgery to pin his shin back together and he will still need more. Amber and her 2 year old daughter were unharmed.

This tragedy has really effected me. I drive thru that same intersection everyday when I take Leyton to school. All week I've been afraid to even drive my car with my children for fear that a tragedy like this will happen to me. I'm buckling the boys up extra tight, giving them extra kisses, and telling them I love you even more.

Here's is a small story on the accident:
Amber and her 3 beautiful kids were in a horrible accident yesterday evening heading back home from a party at the 380/Lake Forest intersection. It is with a very sad and heavy heart to report that 4 year old Brett wasn't able to fight through his injuries and passed away at 2:47 am this morning. Many of Amber's friends were at the hospital shortly after the accident and were able to give this amazing little man our love and many many tears before we had to say goodbye.

Andrew has a serious injury to his shin which will require several surgeries to repair the damage, one of which he had early this morning and came out like a trooper. He will be in the hospital at least a week undergoing surgeries. Amber and Danielle were not injured in the accident. Chris was in town and was able to be at the hospital shortly after the accident took place.

Yay for the weekend!

2008-12-05T08:47:00.001-06:00

Thank goodness today is the start of the weekend for me. I had such a craptastic week that I really need this break this weekend.

So, the week started with Kris leaving to go out of town on Monday. I'm used to him traveling, so that's not a problem, it's just this time I wasn't able to ask off from my night shifts at the daycare which means the boys had to be up there all week while I was working. So, Monday and Wednesday nights the boys didn't get in bed until 1030p. Very stressful. Leyton does fine at night, but is just a bear in the mornings when he has to get up for school. Maddox on the other hand is a bear at night because he's used to going to sleep at 8a.

On top of dealing with that, Maddox has really gotten worse with his biting. He started biting his brother about 3 weeks ago. Bad bites too! Then, last week he bit a little girl at the daycare. And, this week he bit 3 times at the preschool! I feel just AWFUL everytime he bites. I do not want to have the 'biter' kid everyone talks about. :( Wednesday night while at the daycare working he attempted to bite a kid. Luckily, the kid caught on and got away from him and bit him back!! He came running to me and I gave him no hugs and love. I'm hoping this will help teach him a lesson. Actually later that night he tried to bite his brother. Since I was there when it happened I marched him to the bathroom and bit him on the arm. I hate that I resorted to biting him and it made my stomach turn to have to do it, but at this stage in the game, I'm desperate and I want him to STOP it. There was no biting yesterday at school, so fingers crossed it worked.

TGIF!

Sleep Issues

2008-12-02T21:48:00.001-06:00

Poor little Maddox, he's never been a good sleeper. The first six weeks he was so colicky and would only be held, my mommy, no less. Daddy just didn't have the bouncing, shhh'ing, rocking thing down to calm a colicky baby. Well, the colic disapated and turned into a typical baby who just wakes in the middle of the night. 2 and 3 nights he would wake up crying. We tried everything from feeding him before bed and even feeding him cereal in the middle of the night to keep his belly full. The kid just doesn't sleep well. By 18 months Kris and I were at our wits end. He's was still waking up once a night even then. Maddox was 21 months old before he ever slept thru the night without waking up once. Now at 27 months, he is still waking generally 3-4 nights of the week crying. He'll either wake up and yell from his room for mommy or daddy to come bring him a cup of milk, or he'll wake up from nightmare.

Last night for example he fussed/whined/cried in his sleep for a good 15-20 minutes. When I finally determined it wasn't going to stop I went in to pat his back and calm him down. You could tell he was still asleep, but just crying out. It was so sad. :( I got him quiet and calm and within 20 minutes he was up crying again. This time, yelling in his sleep (like he was fighting with his brother or something?). I decided to go ahead and bring him to bed with me and wouldn't you know, being with mommy the rest of the night I didn't hear a peep out of him. He slept quiet and calm the rest of the night. I guess having the safety and security of mommy next to him helped him sleep.

The Elves are watching

2008-11-30T12:54:00.001-06:00

I've totally got Leyton convinced that there are lil elves spying on us in our house and in the toy aisles. Being that he's 5 now, he's really getting curious and has been asking a lot of questions about how does Santa know what he wants. We mailed Santa a letter a few weeks ago, but now Leyton is all concerned since he's changed his mind on what he wants, lol. So, I told him that Santa sends his elves to all the toy stores so they can listen in on the children's conversations and send the information back to Santa. He's buying the story and I love it! We were at home this afternoon and he's completely convinced the elves are hiding in our house too. I caught him taking the books off our bookshelf to see if he could find an elf behind the books. It's so cute. I even acted like a saw an elf (kinda like I'd see a mouse or something) and Leyton goes running to see if he could see the elf running behind our couch. He is going to be so ticked at me when he's older and realized mommy was just playing a joke on him. It's all just simple fun, right? I say, whatever you can do to convince your kids Santa still exists, do it. ;)

Family Portrait time

2008-11-12T18:07:00.001-06:00

Well, since Maddox was in my tummy last time we had a family portrait we thought it was probably about that time to do an updated shot of our family. We had such a fun time doing this photo shoot and for once, it was great to be in front of the camera instead of behind it.

After meeting the photographer I found out she's not a lot different than me. She's a preschool by day (like myself) and takes portraits for people 'on the side'. Her camera was only one step up from mine. She's inspired me to try and start doing this myself. I'm getting my fancy editting program for Christmas and once I have that I can hone in on my editting skills.

Here's a few of our fun, family shots.

You'll have to wait for Christmas to see some of the better ones.

A day at the Arboretum

2008-10-31T13:28:00.001-05:00

Maddox and I enjoyed a nice mommy & me day at the Arboretum on Monday. I was off from school for the day, but Leyton still had to go since he's in another school district then where I teach. I have really been itching to get behind my camera and take some shots. It's been awhile since I've gotten to play around with my camera. I took about 170 shots that day. Maddox was being very photogenic too, which just helped my trigger happy finger. Here's just a few funs shots I took.

Flu, Flu, Go Away...

2008-10-30T12:54:00.000-05:00

Yep, our family was hit with some string of the flu bug. Amazingly, it hit all us in different ways. We're not sure, but we think we may have gotten it from Maddox, although he NEVER should signs of being sick?! He threw up in the middle of the night last Saturday and had one diarrhea diaper on Monday. And that's it??? Then, Monday night I woke up around 11p and was up for the next 6 hours hovering the porcelein goddess. Thankfully, Kris took both boys to school on Tuesday and I was able to sleep on the couch all day. I went to bed very early and woke up 110% better on Wednesday. It was back to work and school for everyone. So I thought...

I get a call around 130p on Wednesday that Leyton was sick at school. :-( Poor boy. Got him all picked up and the hershey squirts were blessing him with their presence for the rest of the afternoon. He never has felt sick or achy, but I've kept him home all day today to keep him from infecting his classmates. It would be a lot easier to feel sorry for a sick boy if he'd actually ACT sick.

Kris also was graced with the 'maria' all day yesterday and came home early from work because he was achy all over and couldn't keep his eyes open.

So, today, while I'm at home with Leyton this house is getting super cleaned and sanitized. All comforters and sheets are being washed, toothbrushes thrown out, and everything in sight is being hit with Lysol and/or Clorox!! Go away flu!!

Death is an evil bastard!

2008-09-28T10:07:00.000-05:00

The title says it all. Death is an evil bastard who sneaks up on you just when you're least expecting it.

I recently found out this week that a dear friend of mine from year's past has been taken away from us at a much too young age. Robyn and I were college roommates. We lived together for almost 2 years and shared many travels and road trips together. Two very long roadtrips all the way from Oklahoma to Niagara Falls and one snowy trip I’ll never forget to Colorado. And of course, our 6 week journey to Scotland and England will never be forgotten. All of that was over 10 years ago!! My goodness, life sneaks up on you and next you know it’s been 10 years!!

Sadly, and to no fault of my own, I’d lost contact with Robyn after college. We went our separate ways and onto our separate lives. I got married a year out of college and moved to Dallas. There was no myspace 10 years ago and email had barely hit the ground running. Keeping in touch with friends took more effort, sad to say. Although I lost contact, she will always, ALWAYS be in my heart. Our memories will always remain. Loosing contact with a loved one does not make death easier. If anything, it brings in loads of guilt for letting our lives and too many years separate us.

Since digital camera’s didn’t really exist ‘back in the day’, here are a few ‘vintage’ photos of Robyn and I.

My most embarrassing day EVER!

2008-08-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

So, this morning I took the 2 boys to a bday party for one of Maddox's 2 year old buddies. They party was really cute. They had a company bring out farm animals for the kids to pet. All the kids really loved the animals. Leyton loved the bunnies and Maddox loved the piggies and goats. So, Maddox eventually thought he had had enough of the animals. He was hot too and wanted a juice box. So, while everyone was still out in the backyard petting all the farm animals, playing on the swingset, etc. Maddox wanted to come inside to do a puzzle. So, I let him go in to play. I kept checking on him every few minutes or so to make sure he was playing nicely with the toys inside.

Well, probably no more than 3-4 minutes of me not checking on him he decided to...

SPREAD POOP ALL OVER THEIR COUCH AND SOME TOYS!!!! Oh, and he was naked waist down and had poop all over his shirt!

Thankfully EVERYONE was outside so they didn't see me acting a fool to get him and the house cleaned up. I made a mad dash to the bathroom to wash him up and in the meantime clogged their toilet with a papertowel! I mean, seriously, what else could go wrong?? Oh, just wait!

So, I get Maddox cleaned, get the baby wipes and start cleaning the poop on the wood floor, toys, coffee table, and suede couch! At this point, my friend, the bday mom came in to help and she was very kind about it all. I'm sure, now that it's over with she's a little peeved. I mean, EWWW!!!! We sprayed some Oust, clorox wiped what we could, she got me a new shirt for Maddox, and we continued on with the party. Okay, so you think it's all done now. NOPE!

As the kids are eating cake I went back to the playroom just to do another double take to make sure there were no more toys with poop on them. I found a lego toy and OMG it was on a white cloth bench under a toy!!!! Um, yeah, I couldn't get it out. It left a stain. This was probably one of the most embarrasing moments of my life I believe. All thanks to my terror of a 2 year old. I couldn't wait for that party to be over so I could high tail it out of there!

Maddox is 2!

2008-08-18T14:21:00.001-05:00

Oh my, I've certainly slacked from my blogger responsibilites. This past month has just flown by and it seems like my daily schedule sends me in multiple directions a day.

Maddox celebrated his 2nd birthday last Friday and he is the Big 2! We had a family celebration for him up in Oklahoma a few weekends ago. He's such a big kid and I love watching him grow and learn. He's speaking 3-4 word sentences now and is definitly getting an attitude. Ah, the terrible two's they call it?! He is definitly a terror at times and will push your buttons.

Here's my cutie. I took these shots a few weeks ago back at my parents farm.

Project Black. Take One

2008-07-15T11:41:00.000-05:00

Leyton and I had a quick, fun photo shoot in the backyard yesterday afternoon. I wanted to get some shots of his cute new mohawk that he's been begging for. I also needed some shots for Project Black. http://annacpics.blogspot.com/ Thanks Anna, for inspiring me to get out and take some more creative shots with my son.

And, I know we aren't supposed to use B&W's for Project Black, but I couldn't resist adding this one to this blog post.

It's time to potty train

2008-07-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

I've been putting off potty training for as long as I think I can with Maddox. He's 23 months and according to some the right age to start. But, according to others, proably still a little too young. It's seems like if I remember right we also started pt'ing Leyton around this same age and he's was fully potty trained by 27 months.

Maddox has been regularly taking off his pants/diaper for about the last 6 weeks atleast. It's now gotten so bad that he immediately takes off his diaper right after he pees or poops. So, with him doing that, plus the fact that he'll pretty much pee everytime we sit him on the toilet, I've decided it's time.

Maddox will basically be naked anytime he's at home and I plan on taking him to the potty every 30 minutes. This is what we'll be doing for the next week or so until he gets the hang of things. Since I just decided today that we're 'officially' training, I still need to go out and buy some reward candy to help incentivise him to go on his own. Wish me luck, I really hope this doesn't last for months. I'd like to get him in undies by the time he goes to preschool at the end of August.

It's Official, I'm a preschool teacher!

2008-07-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry that it's taken me so long to update on what's going on with the prospect of me becoming a preschool teacher. I had to keep it on the down low for a little while for fear that some of my co-workers might let it slip to my director that I was looking elsewhere for a job. I'll be officially telling my director this week about my new job.

I will be an assistant teacher in the 4 year old, 4 day program. I'll be able to move up to my own class next year to become a lead teacher. Because of my experience in the field I will be getting paid more than I initially thought I would. So, I won't be taking too much of a pay cut from my current job. It's a paycut, but a very tiny one.

At this time, I hope to still work at the daycare 2 days a week and a few weekend shifts that are required of all employees. My fear is that my director won't want to keep me on for only a couple of shifts per week. So, I guess I'll see what happens there. I just want to keep the possibility open to work there too (especially around Christmas when the extra $ would be great).

Thank you to everyone for you kind remarks to my other blog. I appreciate everyone's support.

Summertime Fun

2008-06-27T14:54:00.001-05:00

Not much to post on, but I wanted to share some photos of some our summer time fun so far.

Maddox LOVES the water and to 'swim'. But, this kid has NO fear. On this recent trip to the Frisco Athletic Center he was begging to slide down the kiddy slide and 'swim' in the lazy river. He wanted nothing to do with being held by mom and dad. He'd rather try to do it on his own. This kids gives his mommy and daddy a heart attack every day. Yesterday while at the pool we stayed in the kiddy pool that was 1 ft deep. Maddox would walk on his hand down the slope until he couldn't go any farther without drinking water. He also decided he liked jumping off the side of the pool!! YIKES! NO FEAR!!!

Leyton loved the water slides too. As you can see by the smile on his face, he loved every minute of it! Fun times!

And the last is a picture of a dear friend of mine Jolynn and myself. JoLynn's husband got an excellent job offer he couldn't pass up and they are moving to Arizona. :( We are really going to miss their family, but can't wait to visit them for a 'spa weekend' really soon!

The last of Project Blue...Daycare Blues

2008-06-11T14:47:00.000-05:00

My, oh my, I found a lot of blue to capture at my daycare. Everywhere you turn there is a blue toy, a blue chair, a wall, and loads of other stuff. Here's a few pics I captured.

This is from our 'Sports Wall'. Kids compete against each other to hit the lights up on the wall and see who gets the higher score.

This next one is a foam block. Yuck, look at all the teeth marks on the surrounding blocks. Kids obviously prefer these as chew toys than they do building castles with them. Thank goodness we sanitize nightly.

A chair...

A word...

Ropes...

Thanks for looking. As you can see, I had a hard time choosing just one.

Mmmm....Sonic

2008-06-09T14:17:00.001-05:00

Yummmm.....My all time favorite fast food joint. I stop here almost daily, sometimes twice a day for a nice refreshing drink. You just can't beat a Sonic Diet Coke (easy on the ice). The Sonic Blast's are yummy too, but at my local Sonic you have to ask for 'extra candy' or they'll try to skimp on the candies.

If you don't have a Sonic in your area, I'm so sorry.

Project Blue. Take One

2008-06-08T15:19:00.000-05:00

It's a 3? It's an M?? Nope, it's the W from the back of my work shirt.

When racking my brain to get the creative juices flowing, I just starting taking pictures of anything with blue in it. This particular picture came from the front seat of my car. I was on my way to work, with my shirt in the front seat. Ah...BLUE.

There is much more to come. I took my camera to work that day, a daycare full of colors. Stay tuned for the endless possibilities of blue stuff at a daycare.

Update to previous blog

2008-06-08T10:20:00.000-05:00

A lot of you have been asking and I wanted to give a quick update on my previous post. Our group has pulled together and is beginning to become like our oldselves again. We had a come to Jesus which I think probably helped for our future communications. I had mentioned in the previous post that there were 4 girls who all kind of felt like thier feelings were hurt. Sadly, one of them has still yet to come back to our group. I know many of us have tried to communicate to her thru email, to let her know she's missed and what an important part of our life she is to us. Well, I know from my communications, she's preferring just to cut ties. I'm still very confused by this? I still don't understand how/why she got hurt as bad as she claimed she did? She is a dear, dear friend of mine and I am still holding out hope that she'll eventually come back and try to make amends.
_________________________

As for this blog, be on the look out for my upcoming Project Blue. I've tried to get myself behind the camera a little bit the past few days and I'm anxious to get some photos posted for you. For more information on my Project Blue, click here http://annacpics.blogspot.com/.

Online friendships

2008-05-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

This past week has been a really hard week on me. I've been bickering with some of my dearest online friends. Let me strike that, they aren't 'online friends' anymore, I truely consider 'in real life' friends. A brief history - I have known online these girls for going on 2 1/2 years. We met in an online website because we all were having babies with a due date the same week of August 2006. We are what you'd call a sisterhood of sorts. We became so close knit we moved our group off this well-known website to a private forum. This is a picture of 9 of us with our babies from a meet-up in Baltimore last summer.

Well, being that we're all women there's going to tend to be bickering and fighting every now and then, right? I mean, there are close to 20 of us and we all have different personalities, opinions, and viewpoints. As much as we're all very close friends, we can't all agree 100% of the time. There's been 2 or 3 times when one member of the group will do or say something that offends a lot of us and some bickering will start. Well, this past week was the first time in over 2 years I felt like our group may be splitting for good. Sadly, we're becoming divided. It really hurts to know that there are 3 or 4 members who have seperated themselves emotionally from our group and continued to have thier own little 'email' group, if you will. These 3-4 girls were hurt by something and instead of going straight to the people that hurt them, they chose to back away and not try to get things right again. I think the hardest thing I'm dealing with right now is the fact that of the 4 girls whom are pulling away emotionally from the group, 3 of them I really felt closest to in the group.

A part of me deep down feels like we're destined to become one again. I just can't imagine our group without them and I really hope they understand that. I really hope they reconsider and come back to our group. Here's another shot of some of us at another meet-up in Philadelphia this past January.

Graduation Day

2008-05-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

I've been perplexed for the past couple of weeks on what to blog on. Nothing in my life seemed too over exciting to post about and share my pictures.

Last night was Leyton's preschool graduation. It was very sweet. The 6 classes marched in to the pomp & circumstance tune, all adorned with their caps and semi-gowns. They then sang about 4 songs, one in spanish and one about Kindergarten. I teared up a bit watching my lil guy up on stage. I wasn't sad he was graduating preschool and going off into the big world of elementary school. The tears were from joy and being a proud parent. I couldn't believe I was looking at my 5 year old boy up on stage and that I have many more of these type school performances ahead of me.

The preschoolers were called on stage one by one to walk across and received their diploma and hugs from thier teachers. They had to speak into a microphone and tell everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up. Leyton wanted to be a baseball player. Funny because only 2 hours earlier he told his daddy he wanted to be a fireman, and the day before he told me he wanted to be a magician?!?!

Leyton had such a good time and you could see from the happiness in his eyes he felt not only grown up, but accomplished. He was proud. He was a kindergartener!

Whoopie Cushion Wars

2008-05-07T13:56:00.000-05:00

Maddox - "Mine!"
Leyton - "No, Maddox, it's mine!"
Maddox - "MIIIIINNEE"!
Leyton - "No, it's MIIINNNEE"

This is all I've heard for a week now. Maddox wants to play with all of Leyton's new birthday presents and in the process has learned an ear screaching word, MINE, that I have to hear 50x's a day. The big toy they fight over is the ever so funny noise maker, the whoopie cushion. Yep. The whoopie cushion that cost a whole measley 75 tickets at Peter Piper Pizza. How many funny ways can you sit, lay, stand, throw, or step on it to make noises? Leyton's new favorite way is to fill it with water and well, pee, out the whoopie cushion. Oh lord, the boys are a mess!

Happy Birthday

2008-05-05T12:35:00.001-05:00

Wow, 5 years have flown by. 5 years ago I was in a hospital room holding my first born baby boy. Such an easy pregnancy and a very fast labor (4 hours!) I obviously get very sentimental around birthday times. It so hard to imagine your children growing so fast. Now, all the sudden, Leyton has hit this milestone where he is certainly not a baby anymore, not a toddler, and he'll be out of preschool in a mere 3 weeks. My boy is old enough for kindergarten! It just doesn't seem possible that he can be so big.

He had a big Star Wars celebration at Peter Piper Pizza (a pizza joint with games that shoot out those blasted tickets that earn you next to nothing, lol). Here's the cake:

He had such a good time with all his friends. 16 of his friends to be exact. It's so fun to have all his favorite buddies at the party. Look at how much fun he's having:

Whew, one party down and another to go in August. Sadly, the party perfectionist that I am, I've already started planning that one too. :-)

Five Year Old Feet

2008-05-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

I'm not really sure what it is about this picture I like so much. I mean, they're just feet. Gross, sweaty boy feet at that. Ah, but they also belong to my sweet little boy that is about to turn 5! Wow, 5! What happened to those baby feet???

Fat Cat

2008-04-30T15:54:00.000-05:00

This is our tabby cat, Fat Cat. The boy's named him. I think they did a good job naming him. If you could only see this cat in real life. He's only about 18 months old and he's male. When people see him they say, "Is she pregnant?" Uh, nope, that's just his fat rolls, LOL.

We really couldn't have asked for a better cat for our sons. He was raised with a German Shepard and a 2 year old little girl. We adopted him this past December. From day one he's never clawed at or been mean to the boys. You can only imagine the torture this poor cat goes thru with a 5 year old and almost 2 year old. They chase him, lay on him, pick him up, pull his tail, poke his ears. The cat just lays there and takes it. Sometimes he even purrs. ;-)

Project Green. Take Three and Four.

2008-04-28T15:07:00.001-05:00

So, I decided to have a green photoshoot in my backyard. I mean, I've got all this lush, green grass out there so I might as well see what I can get out of it. Well, as you can see my son wasn't having anything to do with my photoshoot.

He actually loves to be the center of my attention. And, for the most part he's happy pose in front of my camera. On this particular day, he just wasn't having it. It was too sunny and bright he said. (insert eyeroll here)

I also have this beautiful bush that recently flowered. It is pretty, don't you think?

Project Green. Take Two

2008-04-28T14:34:00.001-05:00

So, the first thing that came to my mind when I thought 'green' was this:

Now, taking the shot wasn't as easy as I hoped. The 'natural' lighting in my garage was non-existant. I suppose I could have drug the recyable bin outdoors to get better lighting, but that would have been too easy. ;-) I had to use my flash, which ever since I got my new fancy, dancy camera I avoid using the flash at all costs. I love natural lighting and I love how crisp and clear the pictures look without the false light.

I've got some other 'green' shots I'll be sharing in the next few days. Even though a new task won't come out until the end of May, I plan on keeping my very own project green alive until then.

Project Green. Take One.

2008-04-24T12:40:00.001-05:00

Not only is this a photo for my new found blog, Anna's Photo of the Day, but it's also from a previous assignment I had for 'Leading Lines'. This was taking from the tree in my front yard. I love looking at other people's photographing, seeing thier ideas and creativity. I'm looking forward to more Project Green and to see what new assignments come our way. Thanks for the inspiration, Anna.

2008-04-24T11:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, so yes, my main intentions for this page were really just a place to keep and post some photos. I'm not a writer nor am I a good story teller. I am so NOT a blogger. ;) But, lucky for you, I've got a lot weighing on my mind right now and I really need to get it off my chest. Where better than here, right? So...here we go!

As a lot of my close friends know, Kris just recently took a new job with an up and coming company in Addison. The company sells/installs water sensors on golf course irrigation systems, large corporate landscaping, municipal parks, etc. The sensor sends a message that the grass needs watering and/or has enough water and shuts off the irrigation so there is no overwatering. The whole concept is very smart and potentially can lead into great things because of how America is turning everything 'green' and environmentally friendly.

When Kris took the job on he was given a base salary, plus commissions on all new sales the company has. While they were in 'talks and negotiations' they pretty much told Kris they had 4 or 5 courses up and coming that they've almost 'sold' the product too and they had many meetings set up with courses in Las Vegas and Houston. Well, 60 days into the new job Kris is now learning they weren't really telling the truth. There's not really too much lined up and the product is harder to sell than he originally anticipated because it is so new.

Kris still believes in the company and he still believes that once it takes off, it will really take off. It's just that we were really hoping those commissions would be coming in much sooner. Bills are tight and raising this family is expensive. Each and every little commission that comes in will only help us pay down debt and save for a new house we so desperatly need. It will also allow me to finally quit this part-time job that I have. The question is now, how long does he stay and give them a chance? 6 months? A year?? I suppose only time will tell for now.