Our Crazy Zoo

Before and After

2012-01-09T22:27:00.004-06:00

BEFORE

This is the 1st X-Ray from the morning after Brennan broke his collar bone.

AFTER

This is his X-Ray from today, almost 5 weeks later. You can still see the break, which they said is perfectly normal. You can tell the bone is a lot flatter, and you can see a new white circle around the break, which is new bone growth. They were thrilled with his progress and released him. The doctor told him he no longer had to wear the brace, and could do whatever he wanted. He then proceeded to yell "Yeah, I get to do WHATEVER I want" as he jumped up and down all the way down the hall. lol

Surprise...We're going to Disney World!

2011-12-25T15:08:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:24:00.001-06:00

Our 1st broken bone

2011-12-12T16:43:00.005-06:00

We had a good run of over 9 years without a broken bone in our house. I knew with 4 boys it would eventually happen, but I won't lie and say I wasn't secretly hoping we could somehow avoid it. Just before bedtime on Wednesday, Brandt and Brennan were wrestling when they were suppose to be putting away laundry. Brennan started crying, but nothing hysterical. I didn't think anything of it until he cried an hour later when I tried to put his pajamas on. Anytime we moved his arm he cried hysterically. My heart sank and I was afraid he had broken his collar bone. He wouldn't use his left hand at all and held his arm to his body. Anytime he moved, or sat up, or even tried to walk he cried. He stayed on the sofa pretty much non-stop for 2 days.Brennan eating a chocolate chip cookie at 8:45 at night...anything to keep him from crying. lol He was a trooper and left the ice on there. He only woke up once during the night crying.I took him to urgent care 1st thing Thursday morning and my fears were confirmed. A broken left collar bone. Thankfully, they don't do much for a collar bone so if you have to break a bone this is a pretty good one. :) It was an angular break and not straight across so Brennan has to wear a brace for at least 4-6 weeks to help it heal. Thankfully, he doesn't have to sleep in it.Brennan and his new dolphin that he got for being so brave. After 2 days he started feeling much better. He got off the sofa and started playing again. Bryson said "I am so glad you can walk again Brennan"...too cute! I even caught him trying to do a roll this weekend, although that did end with him crying and grabbing his arm. Poor baby!We had his follow-up appointment today with the Orthopedic doctor. They checked his skin above his break, and thankfully it looks good so he won't need surgery. They said he might have a permanent bump there, but since he is so young everything should heal great. The plus side is they had a pediatric brace that actually fits him! We go back in 4 weeks for another x-ray and will hopefully be released from the brace then. Until then he will need to wear the brace during the day and not do any push ups or upper body playing.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T23:36:00.002-05:00

Yep, that's the flag in his right hand!

1st Football game = Success!

2011-09-24T11:19:00.006-05:00

Today was the 1st Upwards football game for all the boys. The boys each had a great game! Bry didn't get to play offense this game, but was awesome at defense. He pulled 10 flags (he got all 4 flags of both possessions when he played rusher and defensive line). At the end of each game every player gets an award for that game and Bry got the defensive award.

Brayden had his best game yet. He got 2 flags (the quarterback's once and the other was on the line of scrimmage). He also had a great catch under pressure. He got the leadership award for cheering and encouraging his team on during the entire game.

Brandt ran the ball for a touchdown the entire length of the field. He also got a couple of flags near the line of scrimmage. He had his 1st ever interception & as a result got the defensive award. We are very proud of all the boys!

Brennan cheering on his brothers. He insisted on wearing his uniform today too. He is so ready for next year when he will be big enough to play with his guys.

Flag Football season

2011-09-19T09:42:00.002-05:00

Brayden practicing at quarterback and Brandt at receiver. They were doing a great job of throwing and catching together...could be a good duo!

Bryson was so excited for his 1st practice that we had a daily countdown. Once the big day was finally here he wanted to wear his uniform and flags all day. :)

The boys have each had their 1st practice for flag football. Brandt and Brayden are on the same team, the Volunteers, and Bryson is on the Hoosiers. Their 1st games are this Saturday and continue for the next 8 weekends. The boys are very excited!

Awanas

2011-09-18T21:37:00.001-05:00

I can't believe all 4 of my boys are now old enough for Awanas!!! They started last Sunday.

We started Awanas on Brandt's 3rd birthday and here we are 6 years later with our #4 starting Cubbies. This year we have a Cubbie, 2 Sparks, and a T&T. I am amazed at the scripture memorization these boys do, even Brennan came home saying "God made the Heavens and the Earth" which was his verse for the week.

Are you ready for some football...

2011-08-05T10:09:00.001-05:00

On September 30th...

2011-07-21T16:48:00.001-05:00

...this new movie, from the makers of Fireproof, comes out. I can't wait!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-06T10:20:00.000-05:00

Diving board tricks

2011-07-05T20:08:00.004-05:00

Today after Dustin got off of work we took all the boys swimming. The highlight of the day was the diving board for sure.

Brandt barely made a splash at all

Camp Vaughn: Day 5

2011-07-01T22:47:00.001-05:00

Today was our final day of Camp Vaughn. This has been a really fun week, and I am glad I got to do so many fun things with the little 2 guys. I fell really hard on my knee last night, and it is hurting pretty badly today. So I had to change our plans around, and as a result today was a pretty lazy day.

This morning the boys played the Wii for a while. Both the little guys usually default to the big guys on what game to play, so I think they enjoyed picking and not having to take turns. After that we took them to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in the movie theater. The only movies we usually see in the theater are the $1 movies during the summer, so seeing a new release was a huge treat for them. They loved the movie, and Brennan was clapping and cheering during the entire thing.

We pick the boys up tomorrow morning from camp. It has been a long week, but I am sure they had a great time. We have missed them like crazy, but very thankful for some sweet times with my little guys.

Camp Vaughn: Day 4

2011-06-30T20:50:00.002-05:00

Today was Camp Vaughn: Day 4. I had a really bad headache this morning, so Dustin stayed home to help me. Bryson asked yesterday to play baseball again, so Dustin took them to the park this morning before it got too hot. The boys loved it, but they even started to get too hot after a little while. Dustin was pitching to Bryson, and then Brennan was hitting off of our tee. (The video of Brennan will not load).

After baseball we took to the boys to get donuts, which we usually only do on special occasions (like someone's birthday). After that we dropped Dustin's car off to get the oil changed and picked up a Redbox movie for the boys. They love getting to pick a movie out, and I loved the quiet afternoon laying around watching a movie.

After the movie we went back and picked up the car, and took the boys to Marble Slab to get ice cream. Bryson picked blueberry ice cream with almonds and Brennan picked bubble gum ice cream with sprinkles. We hadn't been there in a really long time so it was a special treat for them.
All in all it was a much slower paced day than the others, but we still had a really fun day.

Camp Vaughn: Day 3

2011-06-29T19:16:00.006-05:00

Today was Camp Vaughn: Day 3. We started out the morning watching Monsters vs. Aliens at the movie theater. We have seen the movie a thousand times before, but there is something super fun about watching it in the theater.

After the movie we went to U-Paint-It so Bryson could decorate some pottery. It was our 1st time making anything there, and Bry made this awesome tile we are going to put in their bathroom. It takes a week for them to bake it and glaze it, so we don't pick it up until next week. He did it all by himself, and I am anxious to see how it turned out.

While Bryson painted his tile Brennan painted on the table cover and then did water paint on a paper they brought him. He had a great time too.

After that I took the boys to the splashpad. When the boys were younger it was too scary for me to take them all swimming by myself, because I was so outnumbered and afraid someone might drown. Since there isn't standing water, I would take the boys to the splashpad all the time. However, after being there for a short time today they were ready to go. Sad to say that I think my kiddos have outgrown the splashpad. :(

Brennan

Bryson

When the boys got tired of the splash pad we went across the street to the park. It was so hot, that the pebbles under the equipment were burning to the touch. We didn't stay there too long, but before we left Bry showed off more of his crazy skills.

We finished out the evening with daddy meeting us for some yummy JJ's snow cones.

Camp Vaughn: Day 2

2011-06-28T19:32:00.003-05:00

Today was Camp Vaughn: Day 2. This morning we went to my good friend, Carrie's, house for a play date with Bryson's best friend, Brennan's future wife, and their sweet baby. Bryson has already asked several times when he can go back. I guess that means he had a good time. :)

They jumped...

They played "ghost" baseball in the backyard.

When they started to get hot they cooled off with Popsicles...

...and when that wasn't enough they turned their trampoline into a huge slip and slide.

After lunch I took the boys swimming again. There were more flips from Bryson, and Brennan went down the slide and then swam to the side all by himself...with no help at all from me. Gotta LOVE Puddle Jumpers.

Currently, Bryson is on a date with daddy enjoying Project Yogurt and looking for a new fish for our fish tank.

Brennan is totally wiped out from our day.

Camp Vaughn: Day 1

2011-06-27T16:17:00.003-05:00

The older 2 boys are at Carolina Creek Christian Camp this week, so I decided to have Camp Vaughn with the other 2 boys. Today was day 1 of fun. This morning we went to the park, which quickly became an "adventuring" time. We walked along the trails, saw bunnies and birds, threw sticks into the water, scaled rocks, and just had a really fun morning. Daddy met us at Gattitown for lunch, which the boys LOVED! We have had a movie marathon this afternoon with each boy getting to pick out a movie. Can't wait for tomorrow...

My sweet boys

Brennan didn't want to be left out, so we found a set with the rocks real close together for him.

My little fish...

2011-06-27T11:15:00.000-05:00

My little fish...

Bryson

2011-06-21T21:07:00.004-05:00

My big 2 boys were at cooking camp today so I decided to take my little 2 guys swimming. Our normal pool is closed on Tuesdays so we decided to try out another pool in town. This pool had a diving board, which none of the other pools have. The 1st time he got on the diving board he walked to the edge looked down, and then chickened out and walked back down. He decided to try again and jumped off to the side so he only had to swim a tiny bit. Once he got comfortable with that he jumped straight off the end of the board. Soon after he jumping out and straight down in a torpedo shape. A little while I looked over and he was doing cannon balls. About 1 hour after getting to the pool I look over and catch Bryson (age 5) doing this...

10 Years

2011-06-09T09:12:00.002-05:00

10 years ago today I married my best friend. We were both so young. I had been 21 for a whopping 21 days and he was 2 months away from turning 22. Life has definitely been an adventure, but I wouldn't change it. I love you, Dustin!

Engagement picture

My bridal party included my 3 sisters, best friend, college roommate, and aunt. The junior bridesmaids and flower girl were my cousins' children.

Dustin's groomsmen were friends from high school, my brother, his brother-in-law, cousins, and my uncle. The junior groomsmen and ring bearer were our nephews.

We rode in a horse drawn carriage all around downtown Austin. We spent 2 weeks in Florida for our honeymoon. The highlight was Key West. This is the southern most point in the US, only 90 miles to Cuba.

Margaritaville in Key West, yep we were that sunburned.

We took a jet ski tour around Key West from the Atlantic to the Gulf. It was amazing the difference between the two. The Atlantic was smooth and clear and the gulf was very rough and not clear.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-01T07:03:00.000-05:00

Houston Zoo with Mike

2011-05-28T15:24:00.005-05:00

Mike leaves early next week for his last step of training before he deploys as an officer in the USMC. We wanted to see him one more time before he left, so Thursday we drove to Houston and went to the zoo. My sister Kathryn, her 2 daughters, my grandmother, and 2 nephews all met us there. Then my sister Kim, and soon to be sister-in-law Megan met us when they got off of work, and my brother met us as we were leaving and we all went to dinner. We had a great time, and will miss Mike while he is gone.

My boys waiting on everyone to arrive

enjoying a snack

Brayden, Mike, and Brandt checking out the sea lions

Mike and the boys checking out an exhibit in the reptile house

Brennan...the crocodile opened his mouth when Brennan put his hand up

Brayden and Mike

Brandt soaked himself with the mister fan

Mike and Bryson

Brennan and Brandt

Brennan

Bryson learned to blow a bubble this week

Brandt in the prairie dog exhibit

Brennan and Bryson

Bryson and a llama

Brennan

Brayden

Bryson

Brennan

My sister, Kim and Mike

Blue Bell fun

2011-05-24T14:20:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the boys, some friends, and their kiddos went to the Blue Bell factory in Brenham for a tour. They got to see how the ice cream is made, and the best part...at the end they got to eat some ice cream. It was a really fun day, and doing it with friends made it even better.

Getting ready to start the tour

Brennan checking out the ice cream counter

Brayden at the counter

Brandt and my niece, Bridgett

Brennan and his buddy Logan hanging out

Brayden and Brandt and some buddies

Brennan and friends

Bryson and his best friend Mason, and his little sister Ellie

The boys checking out creamery truck

L to R: Kaylynn, Brandt, Brennan, Bryson, Brayden, and Bridgett

(my 4 boys and 2 nieces)

Aggie Baseball

2011-05-14T21:20:00.004-05:00

My mom, brother, his fiance, my 2 nephews, Dustin, the boys, and I all went to the A&M vs Nebraska baseball game today. It was a lot of fun and the Ags won 5-2.

It was military appreciation day, so the Aggie players wore camo jerseys

Brandt

Brayden

Brennan loved the cotton candy, and had it everywhere!

My nephew, Bryson, and Brayden

Brennan and my brother

My brother, his fiance, and Brandt

As we were leaving a college kid gave Bryson a fouled ball. He was in heaven.

Ags Win!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-11T07:31:00.000-05:00

Way to go, Brandt!

2011-05-10T21:35:00.004-05:00

See this sweet face? This is the face of someone who just hit a 2 run in-the-park homer. That is right, a 2 run HOME RUN!!! Last night was Brandt's 1st ever double, and then tonight he hit it to the fence, and then it was off to the races. So proud of him, and our entire team...way to go, River Cats!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T07:58:00.001-05:00

My Mom is Special!

by Brayden (he was 4) circa 2008

I found this recently and thought it was so cute.

My mom is special because she had a baby in her tummy.

I like it when my Mom holds me!

My mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by bringing her white and yellow flowers.

My mom is as pretty as a flower.

My mom is smart! She even knows how to play t-ball.

Game Ball²

2011-05-06T22:24:00.004-05:00

This was a great week of baseball in our house. Brandt got the game ball earlier this week and tonight we had game ball². That is right not one, but 2 of the boys received the coveted game ball.

Bryson got 2 great hits, one from each side of the plate. Yep, he is a switch hitter, and pretty stinking good at it. He also made a couple of good plays in the field including beating a runner to 1st for an out. Way to go, Bry!

Bryson getting the game ball

Bryson and Daddy

Brayden played an excellent game against a power house of a team. He hit the ball really well twice, and hustled very quickly down the line making it safely the 2nd time. He also fielded a really hard ball and threw it in right away keeping the runner on 1st, which normally would have been a home run. In fact, they held that team to zero runs that inning, which I don't think has happened all year. Good job Brayden!

Brayden and Daddy

Dustin and his boys

Playdoh sculptures

2011-05-04T17:39:00.005-05:00

Brandt's Pokemon sculptures

Brayden's army tanks and airplanes

One of his tanks. He did all the mixing of colors to get the different camos.

Bryson's sculpture

Bryson's tanks and airplanes

Brennan's snake

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

Game Ball time

2011-05-02T21:09:00.005-05:00

Texas in May is usually well into the 90s and hot, HOT, HOT. Today the high was actually cooler than the typical low for this time of year. I don't remember having this type of weather past say March before...especially not into May.

We had 2 baseball games tonight and it was sprinkling and around 50 degrees the whole time. We had to go digging for long sleeves and jackets.

Poor Brennan was freezing

The boys played really well tonight. Brandt had 2 RBIs and 2 amazing stops and throws to 1st for outs at pitcher. He had a really great game, and got the game ball tonight.

Our whole team played very well, and 2 kids received game balls tonight. However, we only took 1 game ball to the field so Brandt got an IOU for his ball...thankfully we knew where to find him. :)

Brandt and his well deserved game ball

3 years old comparisons

2011-04-27T15:55:00.007-05:00

Brennan turned 3 on Friday, and had his 3 year old check up today. I thought it would be fun to compare all 4 boys at 3 years old. Too funny that 2 boys were exactly 35 1/2 inches and 2 were exactly 38 inches.

Brennan: 31 pounds and 38 inches.

Bryson: 33.2 pounds and 38 inches.

Brayden: 31.4 pounds and 35 1/2 inches.

Brandt: 29 pounds and 35 1/2 inches.

Brennan

Bryson
Brayden
Brandt

Happy Good Friday!

2011-04-22T12:50:00.005-05:00

Brennan

Bryson

Brayden

Brandt

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T06:58:00.001-05:00

Me according to my 5 year old

2011-04-19T14:03:00.004-05:00

I asked Bryson (who is 5) the following questions and here are his answers...

1. What is something mom always says to you?
No

2. What makes mom happy?
When I obey you and that is basically all

3. What makes mom sad?
A long time ago I asked you if I could have candy and you said no. I went and grabbed it and ran to my closet and ate it anyway.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
If you say something funny to me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
You liked chocolate a whole lot

6. How old is your mom?
32 (pretty close, I am 30)

7. How tall is your mom?
5 inches

8: What is your mom’s favorite thing to watch on TV?
Stuff that we like to

9. What is her favorite thing to do?
Talk to daddy

10. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Talk to Daddy if he is around.

11. Why does Mommy like Daddy?
You love each other, and you got married.

12. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Your love, that is what I think. It is love.

13. What is your mom really good at?
Watching the dogs

14. What is your mom not very good at?
I don't know, you are good at lots of things.

15. What does your mom do for her job?
homeschooling

16. What is your mom's favorite food?
spaghetti, is that right?

17. What makes you proud of your mom?
For watching the dogs.

18. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I think a princess

19. What do you and your mom do together?
snuggle

20. How are you and your mom the same?
That we love each other

21: How are you and your mom different?
You are a girl and I am a boy

22. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because I am sweet

Opening Day

2011-04-18T10:59:00.004-05:00

Saturday the older 3 boys had opening ceremonies for baseball followed by games. Brandt and Brayden are on the same team in junior minor (machine pitch) and Bryson is in tee ball. Dustin is the head coach for both teams, which surprisingly hasn't been too bad.

Brandt getting a hit

Brandt on 3rd with Dustin

Brayden warming up

Brayden did a great job as catcher

The 1st half of the year you have to hit off of the tee. Bry had a perfect swing with just hitting the ball and not touching the tee.

Bryson's hit went all the way to the fence

Bryson was told that you can only slide into home, so needless to say he slides every time he comes home.

Batter Up

2011-04-13T21:11:00.003-05:00

We are in the middle of baseball season, and with 3 kids playing that usually means we are at the ballpark 4 nights a week. Our one and only night off is Wednesday, so what did we do this Wednesday evening? Why we took advantage of Dustin having a key to the sheds and had our own impromptu batting practice.

Brennan ready to go in

Bryson is in tee ball, but has been dying to practice hitting off the pitching machine. So Dustin went ahead and let him hit and his 1st time up he fouled it twice and got a nice solid hit to the outfield. His next time up he hit 6 of the 8 balls, with 4 going to the outfield...not too shabby for a 5 year old (you have to be 7 to play junior minor where they use the pitching machine).

Love Brayden's expression! He wouldn't smile no matter what I did, not even silly faces worked. lol

Not to be outdone by his little brother Brandt hit almost every ball thrown at him his next time up. Gotta love some friendly competition. :)

As much as Brennan wanted to bat, his job tonight was shagging balls. I was impressed he figured out such a clever way to carry the balls back to the pitcher.

Welcome Home 2011 Women's Basketball National Champions...

2011-04-07T05:17:00.000-05:00

The Lady Aggies made their way back to the Brazos Valley yesterday. A huge plus of homeschooling is we got to take the boys and meet the team at Reed Arena at 2 in the afternoon. It was a really neat event to show the girls how proud we are of them. I loved watching the teams' reactions while they watched the highlight reel. I am hoping this is a memory my boys have for a very long time.

Brandt and Brayden (Brayden made funny faces in all the pictures, becacause it was too "bright") Bryson

Brennan

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

Way to go Lady Ags!!!

2011-04-06T10:00:00.005-05:00

So very proud of our National Champion Lady Aggies and Coach Blair! It was a very exciting game to watch.

How cool is that?

2011-03-08T09:14:00.002-06:00

There is a bargain site that I love and visit daily. On my trip I got on there and these adorable boys were smiling at me. :) How cool is that? Not to mention I got a $10 Amazon gift card for letting them use their picture.

Road Trip!

2011-03-02T14:35:00.002-06:00

I have a very talented friend who is the author of the Flip Flop Learning Curriculum. She is speaking at a homeschooling conference in Memphis this weekend. Thanks to my AWESOME husband I get to go with her to help out at her booth while she speaks. I am very excited, and can not wait to leave in the morning. 4 days with no children (between the 2 of us we have 9 children ages 2 1/2 to 9)...what shall we do with ourselves?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T08:51:00.002-06:00

(Note: Brennan was just being silly, and didn't actually fall)

Proud of the boys

2011-02-13T20:51:00.003-06:00

Our church has an Awana's program on Sunday nights. They have Cubbies for ages 3-4, Sparks for Kindergarten through 2nd grade, and T&T for 3rd grade through 5th grade. All 3 of the older boys are in Sparks this year. Since we are homeschooling Bryson we went ahead and enrolled him in Sparks since he had already done both years of Cubbies (I was his teacher the 1st year so he went ahead and went with me even though he was a little too young).

Their books are intended to take them a full school year to complete, and probably only about 60% of the kids finish their books in that year. Brandt finished his book a few weeks ago, and has been working on an extra credit book. They asked him tonight if he would like to start on his T&T stuff. Brayden and Bryson BOTH finished their books tonight, 6 weeks early. I was really concerned how Bry would do this year since he technically isn't even old enough to be doing it yet. He has completely blown me away, and I am so proud of all 3 of them.

Brandt will now start learning T&T verses and Brayden and Bryson will both start their extra credit books.

Awesome Family Day!

2011-02-12T23:35:00.006-06:00

We had a great family day today. This morning we finished up a marriage conference at our church that was great. Brandt asked us why we were going to a marriage conference since we were already married. lol

After that we came home and decided the weather was too beautiful to stay inside. Now sadly, there are no sidewalks near us, and so to do anything we have to load them in the car and drive. I have taken their scooters several times before during the day since I can handle 4 scooters, but we haven't taken their bikes yet. As a result none of the boys could ride a bike without training wheels, and honestly I can count on one hand the number of times they have even been on a bike. Bad parents I know! So we loaded up 4 scooters, 4 bikes, and 4 helmets (not an easy task) and took off.

Bryson

Brandt learning to ride his bike
Brennan decided this was the easiest way to bring his scooter up the hill. lol
Brayden listening to daddy's instructions
Brayden really was a pro at this
He was riding a long way by himself and loving it!
Brennan
Bry getting a little brotherly help getting his bike up the hill from Brayden
Bryson wanted to try riding the bike without training wheels too
Brayden totally mastered riding his bike. He can even get on and off by himself.

Brandt was more interested in riding his scooter, but is really close to riding his bike. He fell into a throny bush (the only one remotely close to us) and has the battle wounds to prove it. I fully expect him to ride it by himself the next time. He thinks everything through and is a little more timid than Brayden on things like this. Bryson did really well, but the bike was a little too big for him. I think the next time we go we will take the training wheels off his bike and see if that is any easier for him.

Over all we spent almost the whole afternoon outside and we loved it. It was a really fun day!

Snow Day Part 2!!!

2011-02-04T12:20:00.001-06:00

Snow Day!

2011-02-04T10:33:00.003-06:00

Out of the mouth of babes...

2011-01-30T21:09:00.001-06:00

In Sparks they were talking about school, and Brandt responds with "well I am homeschooled so we don't really do school everyday. It really just depends on if my mom feels like it or not".

Can't beat FREE!

2011-01-27T15:21:00.008-06:00

In the last few weeks I have cashed in some rewards points on some of my favorite sites, and managed to get all of this for FREE...

Swagbucks is a search engine site similar to Google. Sometimes when you search you win points, or you can find codes for their site. Once you get to 450 points you can redeem them for a $5 Amazon gift card. In the last few weeks I have been able to redeem points for $10 in FREE Amazon money. I can usually earn 450 points once a week to once every other week depending on how much I am online. I use Swagbucks for all my online searching.

Disney Movie Rewards is one of my favorite rewards programs. They have sent me a free Blu-Ray movie on my birthday and anniversary of joining their program, all I had to pay was S&H. You also get points for entering codes found on Disney movies. I was able to turn in points and order both of these Handy Manny movies and the 2 DVD set of Funny Factory. I am going to put these up for Brennan's birthday, and he is going to LOVE them.

Pampers.com has a Gift to Grow program and you can enter codes found on wipes and diapers. I was able to turn my points in for a $20 Sam's Club gift card.

One of my favorite deals mycokerewards.com had was a $5 Best Buy Rewards Zone gift certificate. I was able to turn in points and got $40 in gift certificates.

A few weeks ago mycokerewards.com had a special where you could get a FREE 12 pack of coke for 30 points. I cashed in on 11 FREE packs of soda!

What are some of your favorite rewards sites?

Several of the sites have referral bonuses for both parties, so if you are interested in any of these sites I'd love to refer you.

Dirty

2011-01-18T16:28:00.004-06:00

The other day I found some gingerbread marshmallows at the store and decided to buy them for the boys as a fun snack. They are light brown and shaped like gingerbread men. I was passing them out to the boys and I got to Brennan and he was very adamant he did not want any. He has such a sweet tooth so I asked him again to make sure he understood what I was saying. He put his hand up in front of his face and said "no, those are dirty". I tried explaining they were suppose to be brown, but he didn't buy it.

First tooth

2011-01-14T08:19:00.000-06:00

Brayden had a very loose tooth yesterday that he couldn't get to come out. Well Brayden woke me up 1st thing this morning, very excited that it had come out. I asked Brayden what he thought the Tooth Fairy brought for lost teeth, and he said $.50. If the dentist has to pull your tooth you get $5. Not sure what the Tooth Fairy brings for a regular lost tooth though. What does the Tooth Fairy do at your house?

Adios, Sayonara, Ciao, Farewell...

2011-01-05T20:56:00.008-06:00

...to diapers!!!

We have had at least 1 child, sometimes 2, but thankfully never 3, in diapers in our house straight for the last 8 years, 4 months, and 5 days...not that I was counting. :)

Today marks 1 full week of Brennan wearing underwear. I was planning on waiting until his 3rd birthday at the end of April to start potty training, but he decided he was ready now.

He had a few bumps in the road (or should we say pants) the 1st few days, but overall did awesome.

However, he has not had a single accident in the last 3 days! He even took himself potty several times today.

Tonight he was even able to go #2 in the potty which he hadn't done before.

So it's official, we are now a DIAPER-FREE house!

I think the boys are just as excited as we are!!!

Welcome to the world, Kaylynn Noelle

2010-12-20T23:23:00.003-06:00

Congrats to my sister Kathryn and her family as they welcomed their 2nd daughter into the world tonight at 10:07. Kaylynn Noelle was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 18.5 inches long.

Kaylynn and big sister Bridgett

Shutterfly Cards

2010-11-23T13:35:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is giving and receiving Christmas cards and getting updates from family and friends. For the past several years, I have purchased my holiday photo cards from Shutterfly. Their quality is great and their prices are very reasonable.

One of the things that I love about Shutterfly is that you can choose a variety of pictures and put them all on one card! This is so helpful with large families like mine, because it would take a miracle to get 4 young boys all looking AND smiling in the same picture. I am planning on using Shutterfly again this year and can't wait to get started.

Shutterfly has hundreds of cards to choose from and this year they have three great design options to choose from.

Folded greeting cards (available in 5X7 size)
Flat stationery cards (available in 5X5 and 5X7 sizes)
Flat photo cards (available in 4X8 and 5X7 sizes)

Shutterfly also has great photo gift options:
Make a photo calendar and share your favorite family pictures all year long plus important family dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. This is my mother-in-law's favorite gift, and she requests a new one each year.
How about a photo mug to show off your cute kiddos? My father-in-law's favorite coffee mug is one of my older kiddos from several years back that I made at Shutterfly. It has really held up well, and I love looking back at how much they have grown and changed.

Shutterfly is a real life saver at my house during the holidays.

Photos

2010-11-22T10:12:00.004-06:00

A friend took pictures of the boys yesterday. We took them at the Academic Building at Texas A&M. The Corps of Cadets was also taking pictures there at the same time, and lets just say the boys had a hard time focusing on the task at hand. Here are the best ones from yesterday.

Weekend of fun at Mt. Aggie

2010-10-26T08:38:00.002-05:00

He could go all the way...

2010-10-23T18:03:00.002-05:00

Way to go Bryson! Not too shabby for a 4 and 5 year old team.

Homeschool Funny...

2010-10-14T21:07:00.003-05:00

Bryson...

2010-09-27T15:20:00.004-05:00

Thankful Thursday

2010-09-16T09:23:00.004-05:00

Here are the top 5 things I am thankful for...

1. A wonderful husband, Dustin.
2. A sweet and compassionate son, Brandt.
3. A wonderful helper, Brayden.
4. Someone who can always make me laugh, Bryson.

5. A 2 year old that gives the best snuggles, Brennan.

Muddy Flashback

2010-09-15T16:16:00.008-05:00

We met some friends at the local Splashpad today, but the boys were more interested in playing in the mud than playing in the water.

Kind of reminds me of this picture from a few years back ...
Sorry this isn't the best quality, but it is a picture of our sepia canvas print

He's got some moves...

2010-09-01T21:51:00.003-05:00

Pictures galore

2010-08-29T17:11:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA from my blog this summer. Trying to keep up with 4 busy boys, not to mention only having a handful of "free" days on my calendar all summer long has made blog time almost non-existent. However, with summer winding down (we start school on Wednesday) I am hoping to make more time to blog and catch up on all the summer happenings.

I have gotten really behind on taking the boys yearly pictures. It is just so hard to find time, and then to take all 4 of them...well let's just say that is not very enjoyable. I still hadn't taken Brayden's 6 year pictures or Brennan's 2 year pictures both of which happened in April. Then Brandt's birthday is Tuesday and Bryson's is just 2 short months later. So we decided to get it out of the way in one fatal swoop. After church I realized they were all dressed nicely and didn't have too many stains on them so off we went on a spur of the moment decision. Here are my favorite ones of each of the boys.

Brennan

Bryson

Brayden

Brandt

Great deal on Energizer batteries and iTunes gift cards at Sam's Club

2010-08-02T21:18:00.004-05:00

Sam's Club has a great deal on Energizer Batteries and iTunes gift cards right now.
Currently, when you buy (2) 24 count specially marked Energizer Max AA or AAA batteries for $9.96 each, you snag 4 codes (2 codes per package) for a $10 iTunes gift card to be redeemed online!
However, you only need 3 codes to qualify for the $10 iTunes gift card. So if you buy 6 packs of batteries, you’ll end up with 12 codes total which means you’ll spend $59.76 on batteries and then you’ll snag $40 worth of iTunes gift cards (note that there is a limit of four $10 iTunes gift card redemptions per person/household/email address)! Allow approximately 2-3 weeks for receipt of an e-mail from iTunes with your gift card information. For more information and to redeem your codes, click here.
Also keep in mind that these specially marked packages of Energizer batteries are available at many different stores, not just Sam’s club. For a list of participating Energizer products, click here.

Frugal Friday

2010-07-23T09:40:00.002-05:00

This week's tip is to find out what days your local restaurants have specials. For instance in our town on Monday's our favorite places to eat are $5.99 large pizza from Papa Johns and Family Night at Carino's where you get the family meal for the price of the single meal (our whole family drinks water and after tax & tip our dinner is $15 total). Tuesdays Double Dave's has B1G1 Free pizza rolls. Wednesdays and Sundays Dickies BBQ has free kids meals and our family's total is usually around $15. C & J's also has kids eat free on Wednesday nights. By going on certain days we save a ton of money, usually approaching 50%. When you have a large family, this can really add up.

If you have some favorite restaurant specials, please leave them in the comments.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-21T21:33:00.002-05:00

Frugal Friday

2010-07-16T14:13:00.002-05:00

One thing that is a must for a healthy marriage is alone time for the 2 of you. That means finding a babysitter and going on a date with no kids, just the 2 of you. Now if you have a large family like ours and no family in town this becomes very difficult. Once we have paid for a babysitter for 4 kids there is no money left over to actually do anything fun with. So my tip today is to find a friend or group of friends and exchange babysitting time. For instance this week you watch their kids for them to go out and then the next week they watch your kids for you to go out...or any other arrangement you work out. We have done this in the past and it was so nice. We got to have some much needed "us" time and our kids got play dates every week. We are in the process of setting this up again and can not wait!

Frugal Friday

2010-07-09T15:59:00.002-05:00

This week's Frugal Friday tip is on extending the life of your pedicure. If you have a nail polish that you absolutely love take it with you to the salon. They can use your nail polish to do your toes, and since it is yours you can touch up knicks until it is time to get another pedicure. Doing it this way I can have great looking toes for over a month as opposed to the normal 2 weeks before I start getting knicks.

Houston Astros

2010-07-08T15:16:00.004-05:00

Dustin was Brayden and Bryson's head tee ball coach this year. One of the parents on our team gave us tickets to the Tuesday, July 6th Astros vs Pittsburgh Pirates game as a thank you for a great season. These were amazing seats. We were literally on the 2nd row behind the Pittsburgh dug out. I spiked the boys' hair red for fun since we were going to be so close to the field. We got several calls during the game that the boys were on tv 3 times during the game and once at the end of the game. Man, I wish we had recorded the game before we left! My sister who lives in Houston was able to go with us, which was really nice to spend time with her during the week. Some friends of ours that were also on our tee ball team this year and their 4 kids went with us. Their oldest and Brandt were on the same tee ball team 2 years ago, and their middle 2 were on the team this year with our middle 2. We had an absolutely great time with amazing company, and the 'Stros won 6-2...who could ask for more?

Daddy and Bryson

Brandt and Kannon

Brayden and Aunt Kimmie

Mommy & Brennan

Bryson

Look how close to the cameraman we were!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-07T23:56:00.002-05:00

Lost

2010-06-30T13:53:00.005-05:00

I am just keeping it real today. Somewhere between changing dirty diapers, folding laundry, cleaning toilets, wiping up spills, picking up toys, cooking dinner, washing dishes, breaking up fights, kissing boo boos, feeding the dogs, taking kids to the dentist, paying bills, and bathing children I have become lost. I see this form that resembles me, but the true me appears to have gone MIA. In my place is some sort of robot that starts first thing in the morning and doesn't stop until late at night, but still doesn't finish a fraction of the things on the to-do list. I feel invisible to the people around me. People that I once thought good friends seem to have gone with the wind. I have somehow lost my identity. I must be in a strange phase of life I guess. I love my kids dearly, it is just that I miss me.

Frugal Friday

2010-06-25T16:55:00.002-05:00

My tip for today is to know which stores take both manufacturer coupons and store coupons on the same item. These combine for a great deal! For instance Target, CVS, and Walgreens all let you combine their store coupons and manufacturer coupons for the same item while HEB does not and you have to choose which coupon you would like to use. My favorite is Kroger which will allow you to combine a store coupon, manufacturer coupon, and an Internet coupon all on the same item. I have gotten lots of Huggies and Pampers diapers for $2 a pack...sometimes even FREE doing this. Shortcuts and Cellfire are my favorite 2 online coupon sites where you load ecoupons onto your shopping cards. I get tons of yogurt for free from Kroger combining ecoupons and manufacturer coupons from the paper.

In a nutshell, today's tip is to know your local stores and their coupon policies. There is a TON of money to be saved using coupons.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-23T21:59:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-16T07:28:00.001-05:00

Plum Picking

2010-06-12T19:07:00.004-05:00

Another homeschooling mom that is on a local email loop with me invited us to come out and pick plums at her house. The boys have never picked fruit before so we decided to take her up on the offer. The plums this year were very small, but they boys had a great time and said they tasted the same as the larger plums.

Brayden

Bryson

Brandt and Brayden

Brennan

It was a dirty job......there were butterflies to watch...

...and toads to catch.

In the end we had a colorful bounty to show for our ~~hard work~~ fun.

Frugal Friday

2010-06-11T19:45:00.002-05:00

Sorry I missed last week's Frugal Friday, but I was attending a homeschooling conference out of town and my sister took us to the Houston Astros vs. Chicago Cubs baseball game that night.

This week my tip is to check out your local hair design schools. We have a local one named Charles and Sue's. I call and ask for a student who is close to graduation, and I usually get someone who is within 2-3 weeks of graduation. I get lots of compliments on my hair, and people can not believe I get it done there. The plus is I can get a hair cut, 2 different shade of highlights, the special shampoo and conditioner, blow dried and styled for $50 after tip. That is at least half of the price of having the same person do my hair 2 weeks later at their new job. An instructor does check your hair before you leave. The downside to this is you always get someone new doing your hair since your last person is now graduated and working at a salon.

10 on Thursday

2010-06-10T10:42:00.002-05:00

Dustin and I went to our very 1st homeschooling conference last week in Houston. Here are 10 things I learned at the conference.

Deciding curriculum is overwhelming, there are so many to choose from.
In the homeschooling community we have a small family, average at best. There were so many families and people that we met that had 5+ children (6 seemed to be average).
While there were families there that the women had very long hair and only wore skirts, most people did not fit that stereotype.
I love spending time with just my husband, even if it is just sitting in a session with him.
We have very similar taste, and only once did we decide to go to different sessions.
When I had my last baby a month before I turned 28 that made me a super young mom. There were lots of women there in their mid 40s and pregnant.
What works for one child might not work for another child. We could end up having to buy each child new curriculum that is best suited for them each year.
Curriculum is not cheap.
The possibilities are endless out there for my children and their education.
I am very excited to start this chapter and considering my children have asked me everyday if we can start homeschooling now I would say they are too.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-02T08:01:00.000-05:00

Frugal Friday

2010-05-28T08:03:00.004-05:00

This week's Frugal Friday tip is to always check out non-traditional ways to purchase tickets to places your family wants to go. For instance, my family loves Sea World in San Antonio but it would cost us over $270 for regular 1 day tickets plus $15 to park...not to mention the cost of all the food and drinks in the park which you know is not cheap.

So I started doing some researching. I came across a bunch of different options. Sea World offers adult tickets (regularly $58.99) at kids prices ($49.99). 4 packs of tickets good for adults or kids tickets for $47.25 each. A Fun Day card, you purchase a regular ticket and get to come back the rest of that calendar year for free. If you have a friend with an annual pass you get 15% off 1 day admission.

They also have a few "better" options in my opinion. Sea World is doing a Sea World Cares promotion right now. When you purchase an adult ticket at regular price you get a child's ticket (ages 3-9) for $5. Kids under 3 are free all the time.

They also have EZ Pay for their annual passes. Annual passes include free parking each time you go, 20% off all food, drinks, and souveniers in the park plus discounts on behind the scenes tours, dining with Shamu, and coupons you can print every month and use in the park like buy 1 tray of fish get 1 free. The one year pass expires 1 full year from the date you first use it. They cost $89.99 or you can set up EZ pay. With EZ pay they will take $7.49 every month out of your checking account for the 12 months to make paying a much easier option. You can also purchase a 2 year pass which expires 2 years from the date of first use and costs $149.99 or $6.24 a month on EZ pay for the 24 months.

Right now they are offering a vacation package promotion where kids stay and play free. Most places offer 1 free kids ticket per 1 paid adult ticket, but not Sea World. We were able to get 3 free kids tickets and only purchased 1 adult. These tickets are also annual passes and not regular fun cards. When I called to verify the staff couldn't believe they were giving out annual passes with this promotion. So we got $360 worth of annual passes, plus a night in a 3 star Marriott branded hotel for $179 after taxes. It is a terrific deal, especially the more kids you have.

So my tip today is don't just settle for regular gate prices. Do some research, it is sure to save you a lot of money!

Tadpole hunting

2010-05-27T08:15:00.004-05:00

Last week we had several huge storms come through dropping lots of rain. During one of Brandt's baseball games the other boys went over to investigate a few puddles left behind. Low and behold there were hundreds of tadpoles swimming around. There were some that were so small you could barely see them, and then some whose bodies were about the size of a pen cap. These weren't huge puddles so the boys were pretty successful at catching them. They took probably 30+ tadpoles over to a friend and we still have probably 50+ swimming in a glass bowl in my kitchen. These things are really hardy. I think only 1 has died so far. They still look almost the same size as they did when we caught them last week. As soon as these tadpoles turn into frogs they are going into the woods in my backyard. Hopefully we don't loose too many in my house before we can get them outside. l.ol

Yes the boys took off their shirts and shoes so we truly looked like the redneck family.
Brennan and Bryson Brayden caught the 1st tadpole and started the catching frenzy. His secret tadpole catching weapon was a plastic spoon.

Brennan enjoying a candy break
Once Brayden caught the tadpoles he put them in the Fuze bottle.
Brennan
Bryson
Success! Brayden was able to catch 2 in one attempt

Brandt did join his brothers after his game. He immediately took off his cleats and shirt as well. The battery on my camera died before he got over there so there are no pictures of him (although I did manage to get a few with my phone's camera). Almost everyone leaving the ball park had to stop and make a comment to the boys.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-26T07:59:00.000-05:00

Game Ball

2010-05-25T08:50:00.005-05:00

Dustin gives out a game ball after every game to the MVP of that game. The game ball has become the highlight of the game with each kid eagerly waiting to see if they have earned the coveted prize. Brayden got the game ball on April 23rd. He got 2 great hits off of the pitcher, fielded several balls, and got an out at 1st base by beating the runner to the base.

Brayden showing off his game ball

Brayden and Daddy
Bryson, Mason (Bryson's best friend), and Brayden

Last night Bryson got his game ball. He has been very concerned he wasn't going to get one. Truthfully there have been at least 3 other games where Bryson earned a game ball, but one of the drawbacks of being a coach's kid is if it was close we have given the game ball to the other player. Not to mention we thought Bryson needed some motivation to keep trying his best, he sometimes wanted to quit in practice if he had already gotten his chance to bat. He got a great out at 2nd base by fielding the ball and beating the runner to the base. He also is getting pretty good at switch hitting. He hit a ball into right field off the tee his 1st time up batting right-handed. Then when he came up to bat again he hit the ball off of the pitcher to center field batting left-handed.

Brotherly love: Brayden mobbed Bryson in his excitment!
Brayden finally gets to hug and congratulate him.

Daddy and Bryson

He was so proud of his game ball, and even slept with it last night.

Brennan didn't want to be left out of the pictures. Please ignore his horribly messy shirt, he poured my soda all over himself as soon as we got to the game.

"Not Me!" Monday

2010-05-24T10:33:00.008-05:00

This week I turned 30, gulp! The boys took me out to eat to celebrate my birthday. No way was my 2 year old so terrible that I pretended that I had to use the bathroom to just get a few QUIET minutes alone. Nor so bad that Dustin asked the waitress to not sing to me so we could make a quick exit to our car. So it wasn't me that sat quietly in the car and cried until I could compose myself. I guess he is taking it heart that he turned 2 last month so he needs to exhibit the terrible 2s now.

This week I did not show up at the ball park to take pictures of the boys only to realize I had left my memory card at home in my computer. The next day when I got to the ball park I was so proud of myself for remembering to grab the memory card on the way out the door, but when I went to take a picture nothing happened. No way did I grab the memory card, but fail to grab the battery that was still sitting in the charger at home. Nope, not me!

This week during one of Brandt's games (you know one of the days when I could actually remember to grab ALL necessary parts of the camera) I did not let the boys catch tadpoles. I mean how redneck would that be? Imagine 3 little boys in just their shorts standing in 2 ~~pools~~ puddles of water aimlessly grabbing into the murky water. I would never allow that...never to the tune of over 50 tadpoles currently swimming in a glass bowl in my kitchen.
This weekend we took the boys to Sea World in San Antonio. While we were feeding the sea lions my 4 year old started shouting he had to go potty. I of course dropped everything and immediately took him to the nearest bathroom. So it wasn't my child that peed all over himself and his daddy while he was at the hand washing station. Nope, not us!

Would you like to share what you have not been up to lately? If so, join the Not Me! Monday fun! Simply write your own post on your blog, link back within your post to MckMama's blog, and sign up with MckLinky.

Frugal Friday

2010-05-21T09:52:00.005-05:00

My family jokes about me being extremely frugal. Some people may take that as an insult, but I take that as a compliment. While I try to spend as little money as possible it doesn't mean that I want to live without certain luxuries just that I want to find a cheaper way to do it. So I am going to start Frugal Friday where I will share one of my frugal tips with you hopefully each Friday.

My 1st tip is how to get a salon looking pedicure at home for a fraction of the cost. One of the great things about a salon pedicure is they can easily remove the callous you get on your feet, especially when you are wearing sandals a lot. A friend recommended a Ped Egg to me. I was very skeptical at first. It looks like a small cheese grater, and honestly scared me. However, it does not hurt at all and does an amazing job at making your feet smooth. I love my Ped Egg and could not live without it.No matter how hard I try I just can't get my toe nail polish to turn out right at home. Even regular nail polish doesn't look the same if it is painted at home vs at a salon. So after I have my feet nice and soft using my Ped Egg I go to the salon and ask them to just paint my nails. Most salons charge between $7-$9 to paint your nails depending on if you pick a plain color or white tips, etc. That is drastically cheaper than the standard $25-$30+ for a pedicure. In the end my feet end up looking and feeling the same. I just did the ~~grunt work~~ easy stuff at home and saved myself at least 66% of the price. Gotta love extra money in your pocket!

Do you have any frugal tips you would like to share? If so, please leave them in a comment.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-19T06:28:00.000-05:00

"Not Me!" Monday

2010-05-17T12:23:00.006-05:00

The boys stayed with my parents Saturday night so we could get some work done on the house. It did not take me all day long just to clean my bedroom. I never use my room as the catch-all-room to throw things in when company comes and I don't have time to put things away. Even if I did I would immediately put it away after the company left. Plus, wouldn't it be hypocritical of me to expect the boys to keep their room clean, but not keep mine clean? So since I would never do that, it wasn't me that had this conversation with Bryson this morning:

Bry: "Wow, your room is clean. Who is coming over?"

Me: "No one, we just decided to clean it".

Bryson: "Well that was a VERY good decision".

My children never teach the baby bad things (by the way how long until he tells me I can't call him the baby anymore? I mean he is 2 now). So it wasn't Brennan who walked into the living room this morning shaking him bottom and whacking it. He now makes monkey faces, silly faces, and can shake his booty all compliments of his brothers.

Our family has decided that we are going to homeschool the boys next year. I will no longer be the computer teacher and they will no longer be enrolled in school. I am not at all anxious or completely excited by this huge step. Nor am I counting down the days until the huge homeschooling conference this summer when we get to actually touch and feel all the different curriculum. I mean summer isn't even here yet, I should totally not be looking forward to the next school year already.

You might be a redneck if...

2010-05-15T16:09:00.003-05:00

...this is your antenna topper

and these are your backyard pets.

"Not Me!" Monday

2010-05-10T13:27:00.006-05:00

This week Dustin was gone to Dallas on a business trip and on my end we had a trip to urgent care, a positive strep throat test, and poop in the bathtub. Yep, not a very fun day at all! With Brandt being sick I had to miss my in-service day at work. I did not take the boys out scooter riding and to the splashpad on my sick leave. When my kids are sick they stay in bed all day, and every move I make is centered around them.

Nor did I take the afternoon off of work this week for an appointment that happened to be a hair cut, highlights, and a pedicure. I never do those things for me and I never take time off unless I absolutely have to so that certainly wasn't me. It isn't like that I am trying to spend my last few hours before the end of the school year.

For Mother's Day my husband asked me if I wanted to go to Target (my favorite store). I did not tell him that I wanted to go to my all-time favorite Target (an hour away). That would be ridiculous, because I have a Target 10 minutes from my house. Nor did my awesome hubby take me there. We made a detour by the outlet mall so I could look for a specific outfit that I desperately wanted that was sold out at local stores. This outfit of course would have been for me, and not a Gymboree outfit for my 2 year old. I mean a 2 year old boy could care less what he has on. I would never have been so incredibly excited for them to have the shirt I wanted in the size I needed that I had to refrain from jumping in the store. Nor would I make my child wear it today without washing it 1st. I always wash my kids clothes BEFORE they wear them.

Friday Funnies

2010-05-07T07:54:00.003-05:00

My friend Karlise emailed this to me:

Truths for mature humans....

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing is worse than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

9. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

10. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

11. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -Ever.

12. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? DangIt!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

13. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

17. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

18. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Q & A Time: ANSWERED

2010-05-06T10:49:00.001-05:00

A while back I posted a Q & A post. Sorry it took me a while to answer the questions, but without further ado...

My friend Jenn from high school asked:

When do you plan on coming to Austin for a visit? We will be there some this summer for sure. My MIL is having hip surgery June 2nd so I know I will be in town for that.

When you do, can we meet up for lunch/dinner/drinks/laughs? Absolutely! Preferably sans kiddos. lol Although I would love to see McKenna and for you to see the boys!

Did you know that I follow your blog? No I didn't, but glad you do! I just found your blog from your comment.

If you were a hot dog, would you eat you? No, but my kids would give me a run for my money. They LOVE hot dogs.

How many times a day do you call one or all of your boys by the wrong name? Until recently I could have answered never, but now sometimes I have to stop and really think hard of who I am wanting to call. I blame this on 4 children, and not that their names all start with a B, because I have several friends that do this and their kids names are not even similar.

Are you and Dustin planning on adding to your already awesomely adorable family? Nope, Brennan is our caboose, and we have taken permanent measures to ensure this. Although, adoption is something that has always been on my heart and we haven't shut the door on that option yet.

What is your favorite memory of me? Definitely being in the same company in Blue Belles together. That was a really fun year.

Do you remember what I wore to your wedding? I do, which is weird because I can't remember a conversation I had last week. I was going to cheat and go look at pictures, but alas I decided to be honest here. No I don't, but I do remember what I wore. lol

My friend Kierstyn asked:

What's the most romantic thing Dustin has ever done for you? Dustin does so many sweet and romantic things for me. I am all about the little things. When he was gone on a business trip for almost 2 weeks when the boys were 6 months, almost 3, 4 1/2, and 6 he sent me a wonderful edible arrangement (they are like a bouquet of flowers, but made from fruit instead). Being as frugal as I am, I am not really into getting flowers. Granted I love flowers, but I can think of way better ways to spend our money. So it was a huge surprise, and made me feel so special knowing he was thinking about me while he was gone. Not to mention he sent it to work, so I got to munch on it all day.

If money were no option, what would you want for Mother's Day? A trip alone with Dustin sans kids. Maybe somewhere in the Caribbean. Ahhhh, sounds heavenly! Feel a little guilty that my Mother's Day wish does not involve my kids. lol

My friend Amanda from high school asked:

1. How did you go about choosing your boys' names? I picked out names I liked from baby books. Dustin vetoed them all, he could come up with a reason against every one (Colby: it is a cheese, Cameron: my parents live off of that road, etc). Once I picked a name or 2 I liked I would mention it every so often and after a while he came around to them. We didn't intend for all the boys to end up with a B name. In fact, had we known we would have had 4 boys, we probably would have named the younger 2 something other than a B.

2. Ever wish for a girl? :) Growing up in a family with 4 girls and 1 boy I always envisioned myself with a lot of girls. God knew better than I did. While I would have loved a girl, I can't imagine my life with out my boys. I love boys. In the future if we do adopt, we will adopt a little girl. But if we do not I will be content with my 4 amazing boys.

3. Does your family have any pets? Yes, we have a 3 year old lab mix named Shelby, a 1 yr old boxer named Kendall and a 90 gallon fish tank with guppies, mollies, etc.

4. What kind of car do you drive and is it your dream car? If not, what is your dream car? I drive a Chrysler Town and Country minivan. It is very practical for this stage in my life (all 4 boys are still in a 5-point harness and we have no plans to change that anytime soon) so there aren't many other vehicles that could easily handle 4 car seats. My dream car would probably be the brand new Chevy Suburban fully loaded or a fancy little 2 seater convertible, but until we get completely out of car seats I am not planning on leaving the minivan stage.

5. Do you like to cook? What is your favorite go-to meal? I like to cook when I have time, but that doesn't happen very much. My favorite go-to meal is chicken spaghetti. Every one of my kids LOVE it, even super picky Brayden. They get several servings each and our family polishes off the entire 9x13 pan (normally that size pan makes at least 2 meals for us).

6. Something you never leave home without? My cell phone and a diaper. Both very vital and equally important.

7. Favorite guilty pleasure? I had a pedicure yesterday and it was heavenly! It falls into the same realm of I can think of so many other things to spend money on, but every once in a while it is so nice.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-05T19:50:00.001-05:00

Another eventful day

2010-05-03T22:09:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was certainly a doozey of a day, but I wasn't going to let that slow us down. We had another extremely eventful day today, but this time a good eventful. This morning when I took a dirty diaper outside (ah the joys of being a mother to young children) I noticed it was pretty cool out. When Brandt woke up he was feeling great, and acting like his normal self. He wasn't feeling bad and hadn't run a fever since yesterday evening. We decided to make the most of my unexpected day off and the nice weather since it was suppose to be 90 by the afternoon.

I loaded up the boys' scooters and went up the road to where there is a nice sidewalk.

Brennan quickly decided he was too big for his sit and push scooter and decided to carry it instead
We got out Brayden's old scooter and with Brandt's help it worked well

Brayden sharing his knee and elbow pads he just got for his birthday

Bryson

Brayden was a scooter pro: He would push off at the top of the hill, and ride it all the way down

After riding scooters I took the boys out to eat lunch. On the way home we stopped by Redbox and rented the boys a movie. When we got home the baby took a nap and the big boys got to watch a movie and rest for a little while.

Once everyone woke up we headed over to a local splashpad.

The boys love the bucket of water dumping on their heads

Bryson and Brandt

Brennan

Bryson

Brayden

Brandt

After the splashpad we went home and got ready for baseball. All 3 boys had a game tonight at 6 and at 2 different fields almost 10 minutes apart. My dad came into town and took Brandt to his game, and I took the middle 2 to their game. After their games he treated them to a kid's meal from Sonic for dinner. When we got home I realized I had forgotten Brayden's homework, so we quickly finished that. At that point I am not sure who was more tired me or kids. Whew, what a day! We sure had a lot of fun though.

Whew, what a day!

2010-05-02T21:18:00.004-05:00

Have you ever just had one of those days? Well today was my turn to have one of them. Dustin has a business trip out of town and had to leave this morning. He took all of us out for donuts this morning, and after all the last minute running we did he ended up also taking us for an early lunch. It was really nice to get to spend a little extra time with him before he left.

Next on the plate was Brayden's best friend's birthday party. The boys had a blast and thankfully were well behaved so it was pretty easy for me to watch all 4 by myself even with them going in different directions. About halfway through the party it was time for cake and when I looked over at Brandt he was holding his stomach and grimacing. I asked if he felt ok and he told me his stomach was really hurting. I told him I wanted him to try to use the restroom, but when he stood up he was in too much pain to walk. So I picked him up and carried him about 2 minutes way to the bathroom. I told him I would be back to check on him, but I had walked off and left Brennan sitting in a chair eating cake and I needed to go back and check on him. I told him if felt like walking to come back to me, otherwise I would be back in a few minutes to check on him (note: this was a private party so there was nobody else there except our party...otherwise I would never have left him). So I got the baby and went back to check on him. When I got back he was sitting on the floor bawling. He said it hurt to bad to walk. So I had the 2 yr old walk and I carried the 7 yr old. Our good friend (birthday boy's mom) is a nurse and she told me she would take him in to be seen since at this point he has now been in fairly severe pain for almost an hour. She offered to watch Brayden since she had an extra booster and 1 extra seat in her car. So I loaded up the other 3 boys and headed off to Urgent Care.

I called my mom to tell her what was going on (she lives an hour from me), and she tells me that she was actually in town buying mulch and would meet me at Urgent Care to watch the other boys. I remember seeing a new Urgent Care in town and head that direction not sure if they are even open since it is 4:30 PM on a Sunday. Low and behold they are open until 5 AND they take our insurance at just a doctor's copay. By the time we get out of the van Brandt is feeling much much better. At this point I am not sure whether to take him in to be seen or go home now that he appears to be ok. I decide since it is almost after hours it is better to go ahead and be seen just to make sure he is over whatever was going on earlier. After a few minutes my mom and dad show up and go on Brennan and Bryson duty respectfully, and I head back with Brandt to be seen.

Brandt has a 101 fever even after Tylenol, but isn't bothered at all by the poking or prodding on his tummy. The doctor tells me that Strep throat is going around and it can do really weird things to you including severe stomach pains. Brandt tells him that his throat does not hurt at all. We go ahead and test him, and it comes back positive. The doctor is certain this was the culprit of his stomach ailment which is just really odd to me. Of course this is after we were at my parents' towns' homecoming yesterday, a wedding last night, and a birthday party today. Nice. I am suppose to have in-service tomorrow at school, but will now be staying home with all 4 boys.

I get to the pharmacy to drop off his Rx and pick up Bryson's Eczema Rx since he is having a severe flair-up that is not responding to Aquaphor like normal. The Pharmacist tells me that Bryson's prescription is not covered by insurance at all since it has to be mixed. I see dollar signs floating before my eyes. I am too afraid to ask how much, since the last Rx he got for his eczema was $75 our part AFTER insurance. I finally get up enough courage to ask what it will cost and we he tells me a little less than $12 I have to hold myself back from jumping out of my van to kiss him, but I refrain and stay seated and just had him my debit card instead.

I finally have a chance to go pick up Brayden and get almost there and my children pipe up that they are hungry. I look down and it is almost 6:30 and they normally eat closer to 5:30. I pull into McDonalds (for the 2nd time today...I have to get bonus cool mom points for subjecting myself to that 2 times in 1 day). I grab food to go making sure everyone has their own drink and really stress to the boys to not drink after each other. We had the following conversation:

Me: "Boys I bought you each your own drink, so please do not drink after each other"
Bryson: "So I can't share with him? But mommy, we are suppose to share".
Me: "No Bry, please do not share with him. This is just for you and no one else".

Wow, after all my hard work getting them to share with each other without squabbling and then I just kill it.

I finally get there to pick up Brayden and I tell the boys they are not going in since I don't want to get the other family sick. Brandt is very concerned that I am going to stay in there talking to long. Who, me? So as I am getting their food out to hand it to them (you know so they have something to do while I am talking talking talking) birthday boy's daddy comes and gets us and tells us to come eat inside. They have Brayden in the shower so that would be one less thing I have to do tonight. Have I said how much I love them? Really, they are plain amazing!

I finally get all of my chickadees home and get ready to start baths/showers. I get Bryson is the shower downstairs and just as I set Brennan in the bathtub upstairs Brandt comes running in to tell me that Bryson has pooped in the shower downstairs and is screaming and crying for me. Keep in mind Bryson is 4 1/2 and has been potty trained (day and night) going on 2 years now. So my mind starts imagining that there is massive blow-outs and soon to be throw up everywhere. Brayden is helping me with Brennan. I tell him I have to run and check on Bryson and I have to leave him in charge of the 2 year old. I give him very strict orders on what to do and race down the stairs. By the time I get there Brandt has gotten in with Bryson and most of the poop has gone on down the drain. I ask Bryson how he feels and he is so upset with himself he starts crying. I explained he wasn't in trouble I just wanted to make sure he was ok. Turns out he thought he was tooting and a little more came out. Whoops! He wants out so he can finish on the potty which I way prefer to the bathtub. So I get him out as quick as I can and race back upstairs.

As I get to the middle of the stairs Brayden yells down that Brennan is crying and wants me. So I am about out of breathe at this point and turn the corner to see soap suds all over Brennan's head. I ask Brayden if he did that, and he very proudly tells me that he washed Brennan for me. He actually did a really good job, minus the soap suds in the hair. I finish rinsing the soap out of his hair and he rewards me by pouring 2 huge cups of water all over me and the floor. Nice, icing on my already wonderful day! I am hoping Dustin's day wasn't nearly as adventurous as mine.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-28T08:16:00.000-05:00

"Not Me!" Monday

2010-04-26T09:58:00.004-05:00

This week after his baseball game Bryson was eating his snack when he started spitting and gagging. When I turned around I did not see him pull a half chewed cricket from his mouth. I mean he was eating Cheese-its, not crickets. I also did not spend 5 minutes looking in the grass to see where he threw it just so I could take a picture of it to show his dad who was coaching his brother's game at the time. Nor was it 5 minutes later and he was still picking black pieces of cricket from his mouth. Nope, that would never happen in our family!

This weekend Brandt's cub scout troop had a Pinewood Derby. Our family is always prompt and on time with everything. So it wasn't us that got ready to put our weights on less than an hour before check-in only to realize they were the wrong weights for his design. This didn't result in Dustin making a mad-dash to Michael's and a 20 minute delay in the race starting just to get it finished, splintered wood and epoxy flying everywhere and all.

Brennan just had his 2 year check up this morning. I took him in between classes, so it was just him and me. It was not my child that walked himself to the door when they called his name and then proceed to turn and try to run when he realized what was about to happen. Nor did I have to get on the scale with him and then weight myself without him while he laid on the floor and cried since he refused to get on the scale. That would totally not be MY luck! Nor did these antics proceed while the evil nurse measured his length, took his temperature, and did his head circumference. So when the nurse came back to give him a shot I got in position to pin him down on the table, since of course this was going to be terrible since getting him to stand on a scale sent him over the edge earlier. Nope, it wouldn't be the same child that actually sat still for the shot, cried maybe 2 seconds after the shot, then proceeded to wave and blow kisses bye as he grabbed a sticker and sucker on the way out the door. Nope, no way was that the same child.

Our house is always so crazy and wild I would never run out of things to blog about and start a Q & A post on my blog. My friend Kierstyn did one a few weeks ago, and I would never ~~steal~~ borrow her idea just to see what followers and lurkers a like want to ask a very testosterone driven household. (So if you have any question, silly or serious I'd love for you to ask it...even if you are a lurker and don't normally comment)

Q & A Time

2010-04-20T14:56:00.004-05:00

I feel like blogging, but I am very time-strapped right now. So I figured this was a perfect time for a question and answer session. So readers and lurkers, feel free to ask me ANYTHING (from the silly to the serious). I'll be picking a few questions and answering them in the next few days.

If you're a lurker, and have never commented, here's your chance. Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

P.S. I am stealing this idea from my friend Kierstyn.

"Not Me!" Monday

2010-04-19T09:19:00.004-05:00

This week we started our insane 4 nights a week of baseball, and that is just between 3 boys on 2 teams. I can't imagine how insane it will be when we have 4 boys on 4 different teams. It wasn't me that loaded the diaper bag FULL of snacks and kept shoveling them down Brennan's gullet just to hopefully get a few minutes of peace to watch the games. Even if that was me I would have only fed him healthy snacks like fresh strawberries, pretzels, water, etc. So when I realized those weren't going to hold him off long I did not break out nerds and other candy just to buy me more time. I would never decide that a few moments sanity was worth a very messy child in dire need of a bath by the time we made it home. Nope, not me!

This week in class while watching their iMovie projects, I did not make my freshmen class watch the Mutton Bustin' video I made of the boys along with their projects. I mean true, I think the video is pretty stinking hilarious, but really who would make their students watch it too? I doubt freshmen would want to watch a bunch of little kids riding around on the back of sheep anyway. Since I didn't make them watch it, it wasn't them that was cracking up the entire time either.

This week we took Bluebonnet pictures. This has become a yearly tradition for our family. We have taken pictures of the boys in the Bluebonnets every year since Brandt was a baby. Since this is so important to us, we always rush out the second the Bluebonnets bloom. We never wait until the absolute last minute and have to drive all over the place searching for a semi-decent patch to take pictures in. That would be insane to sometimes drive over an hour just to take pictures of boys in flowers. So this year we heard there was still some nice patches left in town, and as we were driving over there it started pouring on us. Remember we had baseball the other 4 nights this week, and that left this one and only night to take pictures. By the weekend the chances of the Bluebonnets still being there were slim. So it wasn't me praying the entire way over there for there to be no rain. I mean who says prayers like that? Plus it was only 15 minutes from our house and it was pouring at our house and on the way over there, that is until we got 2 minutes from where we were taking pictures. Ah, success! Now getting 4 boys to look and smile at the camera at the same time, well that is a whole different ballgame.

Bluebonnets

2010-04-15T18:24:00.001-05:00

We took our annual Bluebonnet pictures yesterday afternoon. You can see last years HERE or the year before HERE. We drove through rain to get there, but thankfully it wasn't raining on the other side of town.

Dustin took this picture, and I think it turned out awesome.

Brandt

Brayden

Bryson

Brennan

Of course there are always blooper pictures when you try to take pictures of 4 young boys, ah the joys of photographing children.

Brennan was done having his picture taken!

The boys Mutton Bustin' Video

2010-04-14T22:52:00.003-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T07:12:00.000-05:00