Here's Barron...

After a long nine-month wait, my adorable nephew is finally here!! What a blessing!

Barron was born Nov. 25th at 2:55 pm, and was 7 lbs. and 20 in. long. Isn't he cute?!!! We are all so excited to meet him and can't wait to hold him! Praise the Lord for this wonderful addition to our extended family!!

Random updates since my blogging 'hiatus'

Well, hello everyone! It seems like forever since I actually took the time to sit down and blog. Not sure really why--I guess with school, kids, and a rather bothersome stomach virus for me and for my family, blogging was really last on my mind. Of course on my time off from blogging, Halloween came and went and fall set in (sort of) here in Houston. Don't even get me started on how we are still bordering 80 degrees here in Houston in November, but I can't complain, it is better than stepping out the door and sweating (most of the time).

For Halloween, Ashlyn and Layton decided to take the superhero 'angle' this year and be Batgirl and a Blue Power Ranger. They were soooo cute. Not only did the kids get to go trick-or-treating on Halloween night, they also got to go trunk-or-treating at our Church and go to my mother-in-law's annual Halloween party the weekend before. So you could only imagine how much candy we had in the house--much to my dismay and my hubby's delight. Needless to say, the kids were also quite happy.

Anyway, I noticed that during my absence from blogging, my dear friend, Michael Ann, tagged me to share 7 random things about me (about a month ago!). So, in order to update my blog and illuminate everyone out there (ha!),here goes... Sorry so late, Michael Ann :(

7 Random Things About Me:

1. I had to laugh at Michael Ann's 7th random thing about herself, because it is something that we have in common (how random is that?!). I also had perfect attendance throughout my four years of high school, never missing a day even for illness. Not to mention, my parents would not let me miss school unless I was on my deathbed, but nevertheless--I never missed.

2. I have a birthmark on my face that I always have to cover up with makeup. It basically looks like someone slapped me on my right cheek, but it has always made me self-conscious. I even tried to get the discoloration removed with laser treatment, but the remnants are still there. As I have gotten older, I've learned not to care about it as much, but it would be nice to not have to put any makeup on it all. I guess we can always find something we don't like about ourselves.

3. I like to bargain shop. I'm not as good at finding deals as my friend, Nikki, but I like to look. I especially like perusing resale shops for great deals--its so much fun!

4. I've always wanted to take ballroom dancing lessons. Jason has always told me that he would do it with me if I wanted to, but I have yet to sign us up. Maybe it's because we have two small children at home that we'd have to find a sitter for. Regardless, one of these days, its going to happen!!

5. I'm with Michael Ann on this one too--we don't have Tivo. I'm sure we are one of only a handful in the country that don't. I would actually like to have it--especially with two small ones, it would be soooooo convenient. Again, (like the ballroom dancing lessons), I'm not sure what we're waiting for, but it sure would be a nice Christmas present (hint, hint, Jason).

6. I play classical piano and had competed when I was younger in numerous piano competitions for a number of years. My sister and I both played and would play solos as well as duets in these competitions (my favorite being duets). Although, I don't currently have a piano in my house (sadly) my dream is to own a grand piano one day.

7. And last but not least, I am about to become an aunt for the first time. My sister, Jackie, is due to have her little boy ANY DAY NOW! and I am soooo excited. Watch out, this baby is going to be spoiled rotten by me!

Anyway, that's my list of 7 random things. I'll try to do better at posting more often (you know how it goes with life these days), but this is a start. Here's to blogging again in the very near future!

Wordless Wednesday

Fun sights in Kansas City

The next day we were in KC, we decided to check out a place that Leah recommended for the kids on the Kansas side of KC--only about 20 minutes away. It was a place called Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead and it was about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Not only was it the prettiest place I've seen in a long time, it was filled with so many neat things for the kids to do. There were wagon rides for the family; cane pole fishing with buckets full of worms (you know I had Jason handle that part!); a 'mining' area to find treasure; an area where you could bottle-feed baby goats; an indian encampment with tepees; a go-cart track for little tractors the kids could push with pedals (it was so cute!); pony rides; playgrounds for the kids and even a barn with tube slides coming out of the top--very cool; a petting zoo and a little 'zoo' for farm animals (ducks, geese, chickens, goats, pigs, cows and other farm animals--not to mention a bison, bobcats, an eagle, an owl); and even a little bunny village full of long-eared rabbits--so cute!

Here's us on the wagon/hay ride. It was especially nice because of the wonderful fall weather.

Here's me and Layton on the ride. I love this picture!

Here's a picture of the Jason and the kids fishing at the pond. Although we only caught one fish (and it was Jason's), the kids had fun running up and down the pier and slapping the water with their sticks (or as Ashlyn called it 'pretend fishing').

Here's a picture of the tractor 'go-cart' track. So sweet.

Here's a picture of the pony rides.

This is a picture of me and Layton after our 'disastrous' attempt to bottle-feed the baby goats. We had initially all gone into the pen to feed the goats, but we were soon overtaken by the hungry baby goats--in fact, the ones that weren't eating were nibbling on our clothes! Sheesh! Needless to say the kids were a little scared. This picture was taken after we quickly learned that the better way to feed the goats was through the fence. So here I am with Layton feeding the goats--I think Ashlyn was done after the 'feeding in the pen' attempt.

All in all, it was a very fun time at the farm. More pics and posts on our other KC sight-seeing visits in the next post...

Hurricane Ike, A Wedding and Kansas City, Part II

After all of the wedding festivities were over, we discovered that we couldn't get back to Houston because the airports were closed due to the storm, so what did we do?!! Stay and make a vacation out of it, of course!
First of all, let me tell you what a beautiful city, Kansas City is! It actually made me slightly homesick for Illinois, where I went to high school at. It was actually feeling like fall in the air, and their were so many trees everywhere! Kind of funny to think that is what I noticed, but hey--when you're in Houston so long with humid, hot weather and concrete everywhere, you really appreciate those things! We had a ball!

Our first stop on our whirlwind KC tour was a trip to the Kansas City Zoo. Note the jacket and long-sleeves the kids were wearing. I think the weather was around 60 something that day--I was in heaven!

Here's a picture of the kids posing for us. Can you tell they are making animal faces? :) Not sure what they are pretending to be, but I'm sure it's something scary!

Let me tell you. I was so impressed with the zoo. Its so funny, because I don't think a lot of the locals think its that great, but it was really so scenic. The zoo was split up into different continents--Australia, Asia and Africa, and it was set up to resemble certain outposts in each continent (really very cute). I also loved the fact that we were able to see the animals up close and personal. In fact, a peacock was even walking around the grounds of the zoo. Here's the kids sneaking up on it. (Don't worry all you peacock lovers out there--we made sure they didn't chase it) ;)

I was also amazed that the kangaroo exhibit did not have a fence of any kind around it. The ground was also level where we were--no moat, or dugout seperating us from them. Here's the kids in front of the kangaroos. Look how open the exhibit is--really amazing!

Of course we had to take the zoo train around to all the different 'continents' in the zoo to wrap up our trip. That of course was the highlight of the trip for the kids. In addition to the train, they also had a tram, a ferry ride across the lake, and camel rides. OK, the camel rides were not really 'zoo' transportation, but I was totally bummed we missed the camel rides because the kids were getting tired. Wouldn't you have loved to see me riding a camel?! So would I! :(

Needless to say, we loved the zoo! More pics and posts of our other KC haunts in another post...

Hurricane Ike, A wedding, and Kansas City Part 1

As you can see from the title, I'm not really sure what 'story' to focus on. We have had so much happen in the last week and a half its hard to even know where to start--but I'll try. Here goes...
Wednesday evening, Sept. 10th, before Hurricane Ike was to hit, we had tickets to fly out to Kansas City for my dad's wedding . It was a strange coincidence to be flying out right before a big storm (or maybe providence?!), but we were thankful to be out of harm's way. I was so excited to be there! I got to see my sister, who I had not seen in a very long time. In fact, we stayed in the same hotel just two doors down, so we got to visit (i.e. send the kids over to play) quite a lot. We had a ball staying up late snacking on junk food and letting the kids jump on the beds. Is there anything better than that?! We even got a chance to do some shopping the day of the rehearsal wedding and even got our nails done (yep, amazingly enough my nails are long for once in my life!) Here's Jackie and I all dolled up before the (very interesting!) wedding.

What made it so interesting you might ask? Well, for starters there was a tornado not far from where the wedding was held. For those of you who have spent any time in the Midwest, the way people know about tornado warnings (beside radio and television) is through a very loud tornado siren. Well, you guessed it, the tornado siren was going off the ENTIRE wedding! You could even hear the rain pounding the roof and thunder booming in the background--probably not the most romantic backdrop. Not only was the weather bad, but a few other interesting things happened. When it came time to exchange rings, they couldn't get the ring off of the ring-bearer's (Carson's) pillow, Susie couldn't get the ring on my dad's hand, a little boy fell over in his chair during the wedding and not to mention my sweet Ashlyn was still throwing rose petals on them while they were standing at the front. It was definitely amusing! Susie and my dad, though, just kept a great attitude throughout the whole wedding and laughed along with everything. (I guess after all that, what else could you do?!) My dad even surprised everyone by singing 'You are so beautiful' to Susie during the reception. Completely unexpected, but touching in a slightly awkward way--I mean he is my dad after all.

Here's a pic of Susie, my dad and all the grandkids. Bill's (Susie's oldest son) kids were also in the wedding with my kids--Lainey(age 5), Carson (7) and Drew(3). Don't they all look so adorable? :)
Here's a pic of Susie with her two sons, Nathan and Bill, my new step-brothers. Its still kind of strange to think I have new step-brothers. They are both so nice though, and their wives (and children) are so sweet!

Here's a picture of Bill's wife, Leah (on the far left) and her mom and sisters. (Yes, she really is as gorgeous in person as she is in the picture!) Leah and her family are really the sweetest, most down-to-earth people you'll meet. Its so funny, because her and her sister, Rachel's relationship reminds me a lot of mine and Jackie's. In fact, our two sisters are even due around the same time. It turned out that her mom and sister (in the middle of the group) were from Tomball and also stranded in KC until the airports opened. (OK, maybe stranded is not a good choice of words, since we were in such a nice place and surrounded by family and friends.) But we all got to spend a lot of fun time together!

We are so lucky that our new family are such wonderful people. In fact, we spent some 'bonding' time playing ultimate frisbee (if you haven't played that before, you will definitely need to be in shape to play--its pretty intense!) and spent some time visiting. I definitely wished we lived closer, because we get along so well Of course, we'd never get anything done, because we'd be talking so much! ;) (Right, Leah? ;) But all in all we had such a good time! More pics and stories about our extended stay in KC to come in a later post...

Week of First Days

This past week has been a week of "firsts" for my kids. It was the first day back at Mother's Day Out for Layton and Preschool for Ashlyn (sniff, sniff) this past Tuesday. The kids were not completely hyped to be getting their picture (as you can tell from Ashlyn's expression), but I snapped away anyway. Here they are looking so grown up on their first day back. Can't you tell Ashlyn is so excited to get her picture taken? Ha!

Here's Ashlyn with her new preschool teacher, Miss Jessica. We are so blessed that Ashlyn has her this year--Jessica is a new teacher to the Preschool, but she is a former kindergarten teacher and is sooo sweet! Ashlyn really likes her and told me on her first day that "Miss Jessica knew how to tie my shoes for me", which made quite an impression on Ashlyn. Its so funny what kids find interesting.

Ashlyn was also glad to have her friends from the 3 year old class last year, in Miss Jessica's class with her. She was especially glad that she had her friend, Eddie, back in class with her this year. It was so funny (and surprising!) when I asked her about her first day and she told me that she 'kissed Eddie' today. Yikes! I asked her why and she told me that she loved him and wanted him to marry her. Does it start this early?! I guess as long as it stays in the cute, preschool phase it will be okay, because daddy will definitely not be ready for that (or mommy for that matter!)

I tried to get a picture of Layton on his first day with his teacher, my dear friend, Heather, but he was too busy to play to want his picture taken (hmmm, maybe I'll take a 2nd day pic and post that). I had wanted Heather to have both of my kids in her class and was overjoyed that she would be teaching Layton this year (she had Ashlyn last year). She has always been so sweet, firm and loving with my kids and they love her. I know this will be a good year at school for Layton (and Ashlyn) and I can't wait to see how they do throughout the year.

Not only was it the kids' first day back at MDO, it was also Ashlyn's first day of dance class. Here are Ashlyn and Layton in front of the sign to her dance studio. (Everytime I tried to take a picture of Ashlyn by herself, Layton jumped in. Oh well, they both do look cute together.)

Here's a picture of just Ashlyn showing me her twirly skirt. She was very excited to be dressed in her purple leotard and tights.

Once we got into the studio, all of the girls went back to the dance room together with their teachers, who were so very nice and good with the children. Layton tried running back to the room with the girls, but I quickly detained him. He wasn't too disappointed, though, once he found another little boy to play with while I (and the other mothers) rushed to take pictures of our girls. It was so funny to see all of the mothers (myself being one of them) running like a pack of paparazzi behind the line of girls going back to the dance room. I had to laugh when one of the teachers had to shoo us out as we were taking pictures to watch behind the window so they could start class. It was definitely one of the cutest things I think I have ever seen. It was so cute watching all of the little 3-5 year old girls twirling around in their tutus. Ashlyn was so excited that she kept smiling from ear to ear and jumping up and down. It was so sweet watching her enjoy herself so much. After the class was over, we all took some more pictures and got to visit with the teachers, who did say that this was one of the best classes they had since the girl's were all so well-behaved. Here is a picture of Ashlyn with her new teacher, Miss Jill, who is also the owner of the studio.

All in all, it has been a fun week for the kids. I can't wait to see how this year goes--its going to be good!

Layton turns 3!

Wow! It just seems like yesterday my sweet, darling boy was just a baby. Boy, those days have changed. Now it seems like our shy, sensitive baby has blossomed into an active, rambunctious, little boy--overnight. So to celebrate the momentous occasion, we decided to have a party at one of the busiest, most chaotic place for parents (a.k.a. Chuck e. Cheese). Needless to say the kids loved it!

Here's Layton and Ashlyn with Aunt Chelsea, Mamie and Pop (Jason's sister and parents) at the beginning of the party. We are so blessed that we have some extended family that is close by (since mine are so far away) to celebrate these times with us. Just looking at this picture makes me think of how quickly time passes. It just seems like yesterday Jason's sister was little and now she's a junior in high school and we are parents of pre-schoolers--where does the time go?

Here's Layton with his best friend, Marcus. They are so cute! Layton talks about him all of the time and tells me that Marcus is a 'sweet boy'. The boys wrestle around and play together all of the time. It is so heartwarming to see Layton developing friendships. He is truly a special person in Layton's life--I hope they are friends for a long time to come.

Here's Ashlyn with some of her friends, Macy and Annelise. Although its Layton's party, I just had to add a picture in of these girls because they just look so cute.

We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends in our lives and our children's lives--God has been good to us.

I am especially blessed to have such a sweet, tender-hearted, active, little boy in Layton. Happy Birthday, Layton--here's to many more! :)

Our second home

No, this isn't actually our second home--although the kid's wish it was. It's the pool at the YMCA in League City, or basically where we spend most of our lazy summer days. What I absolutely love about this pool is that it is 1 to 3 ft deep the entire pool (except for the big water slide area, which adults or kids who pass a swim test are only allowed to go in) so it is soooo much easier for me to watch both of them by myself than in a regular pool. There's also a little playground/water park area for the kids to play in, which they love! Not to mention its all part of having a YMCA membership, so its free. All I can say is the YMCA has been my (and their) favorite place to go all summer!

Do you have a favorite thing to do or place to go during the summer? How are you spending some of the last days of summer?

Girls just wanna have fun...

Or in our case, seven women away from the kids and the husbands for a weekend. This past weekend, six of my dearest friends went away for a girl's only weekend to the Houston Galleria to eat, eat, eat, and shop, shop, shop (what else do you do on a girl's weekend?!) Of course, our fave restaurants had to be involved (at least once every day to be exact)--La Madeleine and The Cheesecake Factory. Can one ever have enough cheesecake?

Here's our smorgasbord of cheesecake we passed around and ate.

Godiva chocolate cheesecake--it doesn't get any better than this!

Before, during and after eating we (what else?!) shopped! No, those aren't celebrities ;)--its just me and my friend, Deanna, trying on some of the latest fashions.

And of course... we had to get pedicures! We found a place that would do several of us at a time, so we sat back in our luxe massage chairs and chatted and visited. Amazingly enough, it was Deanna and I's first time for a pedicure, so we sat back and enjoyed the experience (although, somewhat nervously I might add)! That foot scrub sure tickles!

Despite having to deal with Galleria traffic, and a very confusing mall directory (who knew L2 meant Level 2? hee hee!) we had a blast. There's so much to talk about perhaps in a later post, but right now I just need to catch up on my sleep!

July 4th 2008

This past holiday weekend, Jason and I took our annual 4th of July trip to the beachhouse. Every Independence day weekend, Jason's parents rent a beachhouse on the Bolivar Peninsula right off of Galveston. We spend the whole weekend at the beach sunning, swimming, and shooting fireworks.
Although the beach isn't like (or anywhere near) a beach in Florida, it's only about 40 minutes to drive to the ferry from our house to get there. Even though the beachhouse is just a ferry ride away, the waiting lines were a nightmare. We had to wait two hours to get on the ferry and two hours to come back home. Not much fun when its hot! Here we are sweating it out...

Once we got there, we put the kids in their swimsuits and headed out to the beach. Here's Layton and Ashlyn (water gun-ready) all ready to go. Unfortunately, five minutes into our time at the beach it started to storm (just our luck!), but it quit soon after and we had sunny skies the rest of the weekend.

On the night of the 4th, we went to the beach to watch people shoot fireworks and shoot some of our own. I mainly watched other people shoot them, because I do not like to handle fireworks--just watch them. Boy, was it loud! Here's Ashlyn covering her ears. She didn't seem to like the noise of the fireworks too much.

Layton didn't mind too much--here he is even holding his own sparkler.

After a short time (before we lost all hearing), we went back to the beachhouse porch to watch from a safe distance. All in all, it was a fun, relaxing time had by all.

Hope your 4th of July was great!

Wordless Wednesday

Go Astros!

This evening we took the kids to their first Houston Astros game. I know, I know--we live in Houston and haven't been to a game yet, but since Jason got free tickets handed to him at work and the kids were old enough for us to go and actually enjoy the game, we went. Here's an excited Ashlyn and Layton in the car on our way to the game. In their baseball caps of course.

After we got to the game, the kids were a little overwhelmed by all the noise, but after some cotton candy and ice cream they settled right in. Nothing that a little sugar can't fix!:)

Here's me with the kids. Why do I always look so tired in all my pictures ??!!

Ashlyn & Layton enjoying the game.

Although we didn't stay for the entire game (we left after the 6th inning), we still had a blast!

My Summer So Far...

Well, after $200 in doctor's visits, trips to the pharmacy and two consecutive weeks of illness--I can finally say we are all feeling better. The eye virus is gone and we are ready to begin our summer! (Phew! I thought we'd never get over that one!) What shall I do next? Not particularly sure, but I know some things for sure--its going to involve popsicles, sitting by the pool (or beach) and staying in the shade!

What are your plans this summer? Are you a pool-goer? Do you have any major trips or vacations planned? Any ideas to keep the kids entertained this summer?

Our eye saga

This past week has been a particularly interesting week for our family. Not only did my dad and his fiancee come up to visit this past week, our house has also been host to some rather unwelcome guests--of the virus variety. Yes, this past week, my two adorable children and I have had to endure pink-eye (not to mention fevers for both of my kids). How many days have we been sick with just the pink-eye, you might ask? Well, its been 6 days now and COUNTING! Yep, it's been almost a week and it has not been getting any better. So, after two pediatric visits and one eye doctor visit for me, its been determined that we all probably have a strain of 'hemophilus influenza' or basically, the flu for our eyes. The doctor seems to think that I probably got coughed on by some sick child (most likely in the face) and from that I got this wonderful eye condition. As a Mother's Day Out toddler teacher it does seem like a likely scenario. Nice, huh? So, with no particular end in sight, and another prescription of eye drops--we'll see...

Has anyone out there had to deal with stuff like this for this long?!

Dad and Suzy

This past weekend I got to meet my future stepmother, stepbrothers and family. You could say I was a little overwhelmed...but pleasantly surprised.

On Saturday, we drove up to Tomball to meet everyone. Since it was at Suzy's (my dad's fiancee's) daughter-in-law's parent's house in Tomball (yeah, it was hard to wrap my brain around that one too!), we had a nice, casual cookout by the pool while all of the kiddos swam and played. Suzie was so warm and kind and so were all of her family. I really hit it off with her daughter-in-law, Leah, and her husband Bill (one of my future stepbrothers) while our kids played with theirs (Carson, 7 yrs; Lainie, 5 yrs; and Drew, 3 yrs). I also got to meet Suzy's youngest son, Nathan and his wife and they were very nice as well. When we got a moment alone, I asked Nathan and Bill what they thought about our parents getting married. Their responses were the same as what my sister and I had--that their engagement was surprisingly fast, but in both of their best interests to have someone in their lives. You could say it was quite refreshing to not feel like we were the only ones who felt that way!

After we left the cookout, Suzy and dad followed us back home where we visited some more. Here's a recap of the next few days: Ashlyn got sick, we went to the zoo, we went to the Kemah Boardwalk, and then my dad got sick (all in that order!) After a nice (but eventful) visit, they went on their way to visit San Antonio.

What were my feelings during this time, you might ask? Well, they were definitely mixed. I was very happy for my dad and Suzy because they were obviously very happy together and I liked Suzy so much. But as I was putting Ashlyn to bed the next night, she told me that she liked her 'new grandma'. When she said that my heart literally ached for my mom. All I could tell her was that my mom was her 'first' grandma and that she was in heaven looking down on us. When Ashlyn asked, "how can we talk to her?", I told her that we could ask God how she was doing. I had to laugh when Ashlyn asked me what my mom was doing up in heaven, and she told me that she thought she was probably just "laying around". Oh, to have the innocent mind of a child!

Overall, I am very, very happy that my dad has chosen such a wonderful person to be his next wife. She is a Christian woman who is very gentle, kind, and sincere. I couldn't have picked a better person myself!:)

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

Ashlyn & Layton with their new friend from the backyard, baby snake.

My little girl is afraid of heights, but not afraid of holding snakes--Go figure! :)

Feeding the ducks

Yesterday evening, Jason and I decided to take the kids for a nice leisurely night out--feeding ducks! Since we've been on a kick lately of doing things with the family that are new, different, and exciting (okay, exciting might be a bit of a stretch, but it is different!), we thought it might be something fun for the kids. So, with some stale vegetable crackers in tow, we were off!

Here are the kids feeding the ducks out of their hands. I was quite impressed that the kids let them get that close!

Here's Layton taking a quick bite before handing his cracker over to the ducks. I'm just glad it wasn't the other way around.

What are the kids doing in this picture, might you ask? Why learning to spit off the bridge, courtesy of 'Daddy 101'. If you look close enough in the picture, you can even see the spit flying out of Ashlyn's mouth. Ha!

After a rousing game of ,'Let's see who can spit the farthest', we went on our way to pick flowers and take an up-close look at the wildlife.

Next, Jason took the kids over to catch some bait with his casting net, while the kiddos picked the minnows off the ground and threw them in.

After a few rounds of casting and picking up fish, we headed home. It was such a cool, summer evening and a fun time for our family.

What are some out-of-the-ordinary activities you like to do with your family?