The Trampoline is Up

Ethan & Hunter's Christmas surprise.

This is the face that Ethan made when he found out he was getting a trampoline.  Do I really need to say anything else?

Too much time on his hands

My husband the crazy one in the family, decided to entertain the boys. Very creative, but seriously - who is is writer? Aren't they On Strike?

You will pay Aunt Anjie, You Will Pay

Yes, Aunt Anjie, you will pay for giving my children that Snoopy Snow Cone Maker. In the cold rainy weather, I had to make grape snow cones this evening. Not a fun task - holding down a freezing ice cube to make a snow cone the size of a pecan.

And yes they enjoyed it, I'm just saying I didn't. :)

My son knows his music.

On the way home from school yesterday we (the children & I) were listening to Sirius Satellite Radio and the On-Air Personality - is that PC or what? - was talking about how excited she was because Mick Jones was going to be in the studio soon. Her specific comment went something along the lines of ...because he was in the Clash, one of the most influential bands blah, blah, blah... Well, I hear Ethan say:

"I love The Clash."

A little shocked I reply: "Oh yea, what is your favorite Clash song?"

Instead of giving me a song title he bursts into song:

"This is Radio Clash on Pirate Satellite..."

I was shocked and amazed, I mean what 6 year old in the 21st Century knows his Clash. Apparently mine does. Have I done a good job or what?

Oh by the way, I'm taking him to see the Foo Fighters for his 7th birthday. I'm going to be a cool MOM!

Silent but Deadly

Poor little Hunter has Croup. Last night at 2:24 (yes, I looked at the clock) we set up for another steamy shower because his cough got so heavy and congested I was worried he wasn't breathing well. After a good 15 minute steam, I got him redressed in his pajamas and cuddled up next to him in my bed. We talked of huggie pillows & he rolled over and looked at me with a giant smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye and said:

"Don't tell Dad."

"OK." from me thinking Daddy didn't need to know about Huggie Pillows.

"I'm going to fart on his side of the bed."

I laughed at loud. Mason will probably never sleep in the bed again.

#5 for Ethan

Ethan lost tooth #5 this evening after returning from the Dallas Stars' 3 to 1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. GO STARS!!

Happy Thanksgiving

It snowed today. What a wonderful surprise on Thanksgiving! I'm sure you Yankees are not excited about this, but down in Texas where snow is a rare occurrence, it was a pleasant Thanksgiving treat.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday.

The Thanksgiving Feast

On top of the day's sickness drama, it was the Thanksgiving Feast at Hunter's Preschool. Everyone got a line, Hunter's was "Its cold here, I'm not used to the winter." or something like that. He pulled it off, spoke loud and probably will be the actor in the family. Also of note is that of the three pilgrim girls directly behind him, two are his "ex-girlfriends". He is one hot ladies man.

It was an absolutely darling performance, the dress rehearsal went off without a hitch. During the actual performance one girl stopped and started with OK and then got the giggles. It was the most adorable thing. Then the kids started yelling the lines instead of speaking them. The teachers did an awesome job to put together a great play & get 14 four & five year olds to actually remember and deliver their lines. YEA TEACHERS!

Exciting Nights!

I am in Sinus Infection HE double toothpicks! Both boys have sinus infections, they are coughing like there is a foreign body that needs to come out and now Ethan has a headache and is actually laying in bed.

Last night was crazy and at 12:30 we decided to move Mr. Hunter into bed with me and Mason slept in his bed in the same room as Ethan. At 1:00 Hunter got some more decongestant. From 1:00 to 1:30 Hunter & I were watching the Pink Panther on Cartoon Network & at 1:30 Hunter took a hot steamy shower. By 2:00 he was breathing out of his nose and sleeping like a rock. Ethan on the other hand did really good from 11:00 to about 5:30 when he started coughing like a cat hocking up a fur ball.

Both boys took hot showers and compared the color of the snot they coughed up (oh joy!) and Hunter is way farther ahead of Ethan on the getting better scale, however Ethan has been suffering longer so he probably has more to get over.

Happy Thanksgiving to us!!

Icky!!

Like our new night time visitor? I keep telling Mason we have a visitor on the side of the house. Of course I was expecting a cat or a Peeping Tom - not this. YUCK!

Yee Haw!!

We took the boys to the Texas Stampede tonight and the boys say Bareback Riding, Steer Wrestling, Saddle Bronc Riding, Tie Down Roping, Barrel Racing & Ethan's personal favorite the Bull Riding. We were even lucky enought to get the behind the shoot passes. It was a great way to start the evening.

The boys had a great time!

A new house for me(ow)!

Look, the humans got me a new house. Unfortunately they are working on the ugliest paint job ever, someone take away those boys crayons!

Signed,

Mario, the cute and obnoxious one.

Thank you Husband dear.

While I was in Las Vegas (can I say that enough?) my husband cleaned most of the house. He cleaned the playroom, the front room and the kitchen den. He even did laundry and folded and put things away. My husband is not a folder, nor is he a put-away kind of guy. I did find Hunter's clothes in Ethan's drawer and Ethan's clothes in Hunter's drawers, but that doesn't matter. He did it and I appreciate it.

Friday Night Chaos

While I was enjoying myself in Vegas, Mason took most of Ethan's soccer team to a Dallas Stars Hockey game. Something like 10 kids - sounds a little hectic to me, but what do I care I was in Vegas.

How 'bout them acorns?

Ever seen an acorn this big? Need a tree?

Nip/Tuck - The Early Years

Ethan's Fall Carnival was last night, the boys went as Surgeons. Nip/Tuck, The Early Years that's what I'm calling it. Do you think I should trust them with a tummy tuck?

Farmer's Market

Wednesday, Hunter's Class took a field trip to the Farmer's Market. 12 kids & 7 adults & although it sounds like total insanity, it was a lot of fun. Here's a picture of the class in the pumpkin patch.

???????

Ethan just informed me that when he is a grown up he probably won't come and visit me. Why you ask? Because I told him he couldn't have dessert unless he ate the carrots on his plate. There were two and theslices were about the size of pennies.

Hunter said he would visit me though, so its not a total loss.

Out of the mouth of babes!

My four year old burned me today. I'll let you in on the conversation - after a hard day and a rather embarrassing mistake this is how it went.

"Hunter, I'm losing my mind."

"What?"

"I think I'm losing my mind."

"What mind?"

My finger is a gun!

As you have probably figured out by now, Ethan has a splint on his finger.

"Mom look, my finger is a gun!"

I thought at first he was misquoting Field of Dreams, but then I remembered he hasn't seen Field of Dreams. He was just being a boy.

Tuesday's Adventures

For the next three weeks Ethan's PE activity is roller skating. For me this brings up memories of disco lights, and Gloria Gaynor's I will survive. For him it just brings disappointment because he can't skate the first week because of his finger. He doesn't quite get the you will injure yourself more if you fall on it while skating. His Coach was awesome this morning and suggested that he be her personal helper during PE helping everyone get properly outfitted. He looked a little more encourage to attend PE, but he was still not ecstatic.

Hunter on the other hand has "kind of" been my little helper today. We made the beds, he sort-of cleaned his playroom and he picked up a little in his room. We did several errands and did great except that he believes we need a "cat house" for the cats which really translates to big giant expensive cat-tree furniture. His favorite one was on sale for $143 which is just a little out of the budget. The cats would probably love it though. I think I will send this argument to his father and let them work it out.

Off to lunches and the next round of laundry and housework.

Another Sunday, Another Trip to the ER

What is it about Sunday's that makes some higher power decide that we should spend it in the ER? Yes, again on a Sunday night instead of doing normal Sunday night family stuff and going to bed and getting ready for another week of school, we spent it in the ER.

Ethan ran out of his room as we were putting him to bed tonight and managed to get his finger caught in the door. It had a noticeable dent where the door hit it and immediately turned purple. I jumped on the Motrin, grabbed the ice pack and Mason & I decided he needed to go to the ER and get an X-Ray. I drew the short straw and off we went. After a painful 3 hour wait in the ER waiting room we finally got into the back were immediately X-Rayed and in came the DR who looked at the very swollen purple finger and said he needed to check the X-Ray again. He came back and informed us it wasn't broken only a deep tissue bruise. OOH Baby!! So he's now in a splint and full of Motrin and hopefully off to dreamland.

I'm off to bed myself. Good night.

A day at the Arboretum.

My friend Traci took Hunter and I to the Dallas Arboretum today. Hunter took 109 pictures. Here are a few of my (and his) favorites.

Concert Time!

Mason & I took Ethan & Hunter to the Blue Man Group last night. It was so good and Hunter started out dancing and jumping around - but after the busy weekend we've had going to the State Fair & a hockey game Friday night - he was just plain tired and was a little less energetic.

Ethan on the other hand, was so enthusiastic. He didn't want to go, but after 60 seconds of the opening act he was hooked. He danced and wiggled and screamed and said it was "Awesome."

Surprise, Surprise, even Mason enjoyed it.

Look ma, no teeth

Last night, Ethan, lost another front tooth. He now has a big empty hole where teeth used to be, no longer will he be able to enjoy corn on the cob. Boo Hoo!

Texas State Fair

Today was Ethan's Fair Day so the family took off to the Texas State Fair. We checked out Big Tex, all the cars, and of all things road the Texas Skyride. This was not a pleasant thing for the chicken (that would be me) I held on to the seat tight, but I didn't close my eyes and Ethan, aka "Mr. Daredevil" got out of his seat and posed for a picture. It was a good day if you don't count the over-heating walking around in temperatures that are just WRONG for October.

Check out the photo album below.

After too many hours walking around in the 90+ degrees with the sun beating down on you Hunter has the best idea about cooling off.

Ethan aka "Mr. Daredevil" climbed a rock wall.

The look on Ethan's face says it all doesn't it?

The boys broke away from the parental units - that's me & Mason for a quick roller coaster ride.

Field Trip!

Today Hunter's class took a field trip. There were 11 kids & 5 adults & let me tell you it was an adventure. I was in charge of two kids, Hunter & D - it was fun. We walked to the Dart Rail & then walked probably 6 stories under ground and rode the mass transit train down to the West End, had a picnic lunch, ice cream and headed back. Everything went fine for me, until we had to go to the surface. The first set of stairs - probably 2 stories was fine, we walked up the stairs. The second set of stairs - I think it was really 4 stories up the kids wanted to ride the escalator. YEA, you say. NO NO NO. I am terrified of heights. Now I'm sure most of you are thinking well, your going up its looking down that's the problem.

NO, NO, NO, this is not true. When I'm up and looking down and going down an escalator, I know I am getting closer to the bottom and that's OK, however when I'm going up I know that I am getting farther and farther from the ground and that's not good. I couldn't hold on to the rails because I had a kid holding each hand and by the time we got 3/4 of the way up I was almost on my knees and was holding on to sanity with my last breath. I started to hyperventilate while we were getting to the elevator - the full blown panic attack happened in the elevator. By the time we truly got to the surface I was better.

I'll probably have nightmares about heights tonight. Yippee!!

Hunter, the Photographer

Hunter, my charming 4 year old, is exploring his artistic side and is completely into photography. I couldn't talk him into a walk this morning, until I told him he could take the camera. He took these all by himself, I made no suggestions about subject matter. I also made no adjustments to the photos except to re-size them.

Who knows, this may be his thing.

Love them Dallas Cowboys!

Mason took the boys to the Dallas Cowboys game this afternoon and were lucky enough to get on the field.

What a way to experience your first Pro Football game!!

The power of playdates

Edwin came over for a play date with Hunter this morning. It was great fun. They played a little Wii, they played some board games, they played some Hot Wheels - what is it with boys & Hot Wheels, as a girl I will never truly understand. They also had some fun on the swings. Its always fun to have friends over.

Hunter's First Photograph

Today Hunter & I went for a walk and took the camera. I was feeling uber-patient and Hunter took his first picture. Not bad huh? Should we get him his own camera? If you look closely, there is a moth on top of that flower.

The Ladies Man

Hunter is a ladies man. Almost every girl he meets wants to be his girlfriend, or wants to play with Hunter. He's all about making people feel loved. He likes to snuggle, do stuff together (his words not mine) and is just an all around fun guy.

Soccer Hottie

He's getting so big, I can't believe it.

Injury update, Part 2

Ethan has a giant bruise on the inside of his upper lip from the fall, it looks like it has a blood blister in it as well. It also looks like the bruise is coming up on his face as well, all along his right side from the tip of his nose all the way down to is upper lip. Its beginning to look a little off color. I'm going to hate to see what he looks like in the morning.

Injury Update

Ethan is improving, he is still having problems breathing from his nose. When he wakes up in the morning his upper lip looks like and old Hollywood siren after a lip injection. Luckily a little Motrin takes it back to manageable size.

The swings have been removed from the play center until said nose and face are back to normal. They can enjoy the monkey bars until further notice.

Am I too overprotective?

Ethan, don't stop a fall with your face!

Ethan was getting the most out of the play set in the backyard when he lost his hold on the bar he was swinging on and went face first into the ground. Yes, he literally "hit the dirt." As he is loading up for a trip to the ER, he said, "This is the worse bloody nose I've ever had."

After 3 1/2 hour ER trip he is sound asleep in the bed, his nose is not broken, but it will get worse before it will get better. The doctor informed Mason it would probably be purple before it was all over.

The thing that gets me is that I told him to come inside 10 minutes prior to the accident. He just wouldn't listen. Now look what happened. Kids will never learn, and parents will have to keep going to the ER because of it.

Wii Would like to Bowl

So instead of two kids tonight, we have four. (Yes, I know that makes us crazy.) Ford & Cash came over to say with Hunter & Ethan and they decided to do some Wii Bowling.

Final Scores

Ethan: 183

Hunter: 161

Ford: 112

Cash: 118

Is this a mother's dream or what?

As I vacuumed the den this morning, Hunter ran up to me and asked, "Can I do some? Can I help?" What mother would say no to that? So he vacuumed his playroom. What a birthday gift!

Hunter's girlfriend

I picked Hunter (the 4 year old) up from school this afternoon and the teacher showed me the most adorable picture of him and his "girlfriend" Sophie. I asked if I could keep a copy. We then picked up Ethan (the 6 year old) from school and headed home. Hunter showed him the picture.

Ethan: "Is this your girlfriend?"

Hunter: "Yes!"

Ethan: "That's too silly, you're too young to have a girlfriend."

Isn't this just the cutest thing?

Don't you just want to say AAWWWWW! isn't that cute?

New Hairstyle or Mugshot?

Ethan decided last night after his shower to see if he could get his hair to stand up straight. Personally, I think it looks like a celebrity mugshot.

The tooth extraviganza, Part 2

OK, so after talking to the teacher & the principal twice, it seems that Ethan, yes Ethan, failed to give me the full story. Imagine that, a 6 year old not telling the whole story.

Apparently, Travis accidentally hit the water bottle that Ethan was drinking out of during lunch and that was what knocked the tooth out of Ethan's mouth. In fact she said, giggling I might add, that the first thing out of Ethan's mouth was "First I have to say this was an accident."

Strike one for Ethan. I guess here comes Lecture #37, the importance of telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Another one bites the dust.

Ethan greeted me this afternoon in front of his school with one of his front teeth in a Ziploc bag. It was very exciting, and I asked him when he lost it and his reply was "Travis punched me and it fell out."

CAN YOU SAY - MOM SEEING RED?

I immediately got to where I could talk to him about it and then when I had the story down, I called the principal. She was ignorant of the incident (even though Ethan said he told her, but then said I don't think she heard me.) She is currently in searching down the story with the teacher, the nurse and the assistant principal who supposedly were all involved. I am upset that no one from the school called me and not even a note was sent home. She's calling me back first thing in the morning.

I'll keep you updated.

Luke, I am your father

This is Luke, our beta. He's pretty and orange with a few red dots here and there. My children are into Star Wars so they decided to name the fish Luke, however it has morphed into Luke, I am your father. We love him and he's thankful the three cats haven't eaten him. We are too.

The Parents

These are my parents, Judy & Walt. My mother wants to dress me weird and my father just wants peace and quiet. They are good people - we love them, the kids love them, even the cats love them. I know this to be true, because Zelda only sits in Dad's lap (she won't even sit in mine) & Turco told me so.

Thanks for having us this week. You Rock!! (that means you're cool in my generation)

One big, happy family!

We actually got a picture where no one is making a silly face. This is our last night in San Antonio with my parents - guys it was great, thanks for having us, thanks for feeding us, and thanks for putting up with us. We love you!!

Night in old San Antonio

Well, we got to San Antonio, and after dinner, the gang and I headed over to Big Grandma's house. I spend the time visiting with her, while the boys took off outside and went for a night swim with their daddy.

Going with Grandma

Hunter got his chance to be like big brother Ethan today, he left for an overnight with Grandma. We are heading down to see everyone tomorrow, so he gets a day with Grandma & Papa all to himself. Ethan was sad to see his brother go!

What a grown up boy Hunter has become!