Game Night

7 Wonders

Foto Friday

someone stole my identity

yup

bought herself a sweet new car

ugh

Home

Whenever Tim travels, I question him about it.  I'm pretty relentless.  Why are you going? Can someone else go instead of you?  When are you coming back?   Isn't there an earlier flight?  Why do you have to leave on XXXday...can you leave one day later?  Do you really need to go?  Can't you just video conference?  Do you want us to come with you?  Oh look at that, there is a storm in kentucky...I bet your flight will be canceled.  Have you checked?  Oh wait...I feel a sore throat coming on...you might not be able to go, I'm going to need you to stay here and take care of me.  

I told you...re-LENT-less.  

Why?? It's different when he is gone. 

I'm fortunate to go through life with him and for many incredible reasons.  (and this is too brag on Tim for a minute, to point out why he is an awesome dad/husband)

 He starts my morning by making my coffee for me (with extra creamer...'I like a little coffee with my creamer') and then helps me get the kids up. Then we all sit on the couch together and watch cartoons. Mason will say that he needs to go potty...and Tim takes him and when nothing happens..says, "Hey buddy, that was a really nice try.  Keep up the good work."  At one point, Olivia usually begs to help make pancakes and tim agrees....and is soooo patient with her.  Then I'll ask if he wants to go for a run, and he runs sssssss-l-o-w-l-y with me....and pushes the 100lb stroller.  And when I'm out of breath and doggin it...he tells me that i'm having a great run.  Of course, the kids will fight or throw something out of the stroller and he tells me to keep going while he deals with it.  When I ask if I can push the stroller...he always says no. We come home and he offers to push Olivia behind her bike, jogging along side her, and when she throws her big Olivia attitude around...he asks her, in a high pitched happy voice, "Do you know what would be really fun???  If we went in the pool."  of course she starts jumping up and down and agrees.  I walk out in my bathing suit and he makes some snappy comment that makes me grin ;)  He then takes Olivia and throws her around in the pool, and plays ku-fu-panda underwater, and practices Masons floating with him. I'll make lunch and when I serve it outside, Tim always says..."Wow that was really nice that Mommy made you such a healthy lunch.  Make sure you thank her for doing that."   During nap time he lets me lay on the couch and massages my feet and asks me what I want to watch.  After naps he usually suggests that we get out of the house...so we go somewhere and do something. He'll fill the car up with gas...because I drive it until it's empty and say..."Oh, well look at that...the gas light is on...interesting". Then since it's nearing 5 o'clock and I'm complaining about dinner - Tim offers for us to go out or to grill something. And since we're trying to make good choices, he'll make sure to include veggies or places that offer a "lighter fare".   After dinner he helps me do the dishes and wipes the kids faces.  We make it through the evening together.  He'll play cash register and acts like he works at HEB, he makes the best lego creations, and eats every dish the kids prepare for them in their kitchen.  Then he looks at me and we roll our eyes together as the kiddos do something "very toddlerish".  Or he'll do bench presses with me because he already did it with Olivia and Mason....and we all end up rolling with laughter...the perfect pre-bedtime routine.   And bedtime is tag-teamed.  We each have a child and we each read a book to the kids.  The day is almost done....  We come downstairs and he always takes care of Jerry and usually has to take the trash out because I didn't take trash out.  And then I sit on the couch and we share a drink together...we talk about about the days successes....and when I talk about my struggles, he makes it better.  We climb in bed into bed and he turns off all the lights and in the middle of the night when I can't sleep...he'll hold my hand.   

So when Tim is gone...you can see how my teammate is missing.  Nothing is nearly as much fun, everything is way to serious, and chores are way to mundane. I'm better with him around me.  He brings out the best in me and makes me want to do more.  And these are just a FEW of the reasons why the past 12 days have been very long and why I NEVER look forward to his absence.    

But I don't have to worry about that stuff for awhile again :)

He's Home!

Friends

My friends made my day better.

I got texts and phone calls from my friends. Friends stopped by for planned visits and unplanned visits.  Incredibly grateful.

And when a dog ate a flip flop of a friend who is going on a trip tomorrow and I'm annoyed and wanting to go back out and buy new shoes immediately...the friend says 'stay' that she will deal with it and wants me to sit, chat, and have a beer.

My sister has her bestie coming tomorrow and will be with her all weekend....I got a text with Monkey in the car, buckled up, traveling down the road.  Because that's a part of their friendship.    

“Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.” 

~Louisa May Alcott

Newest Fun Game

Mommy, can we play "squirts" please?

Drinks

On this particular day...it's all about the drinks

6am - coffee

9am - 2nd-ish round of coffee

11am - H2O... holding out hope that i'm just dehydrated/tired

1pm - frappe time.  water clearly not enough.

4pm - it's five o'clock on the east coast

8pm - done

Is it Thursday evening yet?

Breakfast

What happens at 8am when your child requests a breakfast that Daddy normally makes...but since he is gone, can't?

Concert in the Park

Today I ventured out to the concert, by myself :)  I didn't really want to go and it was pretty hot out...but the thought of hanging out in the house all evening actually seemed less appealing.  So we ventured out, picked up Subway, listened to great music, and ended up having a nice evening.   Sometimes it's just about getting started.  

love the way she is checking out swimmer barbie

because no concert would be completely without a person who balances their unicycle on their chin while juggling?!?!

Grateful!

Foto Friday

pretending they are trash collectors

(which tim would probably find ironically funny...especially since this "game" is played in target)

Friends

We had Taylor and Aubrey over on Wednesday and Thursday evening :)  It's always a fun time with them.  They are excellent helpers and provided me with some free time (thank you girls).  They also took the liberty of dressing everyone up as princesses.....

The Lineup In Bed

Olivia, Glow, Princess Barbie, Artist Barbie, Cat, Giraffe, Midnight the Horse

Then & Now

 Then

November 2010 - 3 Months

Now

June 2012 - 22 Months

Tunnels

Happy Father's Day!

We love you lots.

Tim left early Saturday morning for a business trip to China.  He'll be gone for awhile (like June 28th)....blah.  It's only day 2 and we all really miss him.


Olivia woke up this morning and asked if you were still in China.  

I nodded.  

Her response??  

"That's silly."

:)

9 Years

 ♥June 14, 2012♥ 

post is a little late - someone rode her bike for the first time on our anniversary :)

Foto Friday

pool and popsicles with friends yesterday :)

NO TRAINING WHEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read it correctly.  Our newly minted 3.5er is officially riding a bike without training wheels!!!!  

It started a couple of days ago, we just decided to try and take off the training wheels and see how she did.  It took a couple of practice runs looking like this...

But every time we would take her out, she got noticeably better.  And then the other day in the middle of lunch, she declared that she had not practiced riding her bike.  So...riding we went.

And then came today.  Tim took her down towards the mailboxes and I couldn't see them.  The next thing I see it's Olivia coming around the corner...by herself!!!  She knew her reward was a barbie - so Olivia and I are both screaming that she gets a barbie as she was riding :)  Cute moment.

This evening we asked her to go back out so we could get a video to share with family and friends. She was a little hesitant until we mentioned asking some neighbors to watch.  Obviously I went a little overboard because I almost knocked on every door proclaiming that we have a first time rider!!!

Incredibly proud!

Olivia is 3.5

Happy Halfer Olivia!!!

You got a new bathing suit and plastic tracing shapes :)

Tidbits (from Mommy and Daddy)

*Height: 3 ft 3 in (broke 3 ft -- whoop whoop!)
*Weight: 37 lbs
*wears wears mostly 4T stuff although can fit in targets big girl section extra small or small :)
*shoe size 8.5 or 9 - currently loves her "bow shoes" 

*sleeps at least 11 hours at night and usually takes one 2ish hour nap (she can take awhile to get calmed down to fall asleep)

*you will still wear a pull up at naps and night - although almost every nap is dry and nighttime is determined by how much she drinks before bed (summer is hard with that because we play a lot and thus, drink a lot).  Really not worried or working about this...

*still sucks her thumb, although less throughout the day...definitely during sleep-time

*LEARNED TO RIDE A BIKE WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS - stay tuned for that post!!!

*opinionated, determined, independent, says things without a filter on her mouth, expressive, contemplative, emotional, animated, dramatic

*uses the phrase "I don't want to..." very frequently

*uses the word "silly" as a synonym for interesting, confusing, scary, funny, weird, etc

*loves arts and "craps" (crafts) especially if it includes scissors and glue

*is a mermaid underwater - the girl spends more time under than above 

*related to this, just learned to dive down to the bottom of the pool

*enjoys listening to books before bed, but doesnt often choose to read books during playtime

*inside play includes barbies, legos, princess, cooking

*also enjoys her outside time with bubbles and chalk.  

*asks most mornings if she can help daddy cook pancakes :) one of her favorite jobs

*learned how to play tag and hide-n-seek....very fun games!

*prefers to figure things out on her own rather than be shown how to do something

*likes being in charge and tell other people what to do and what not to do and make sure you are following the rules and inform an adult if you are breaking the rules...and then will test to see if the rules also apply to her

*okay eater - will sometimes refuse...especially veggies.  Although definitely understanding the reward of a "treat" if you eat a good dinner.  Very effective. 

*knows a lot of letter sounds

*asks for wet wipes to clean various things

*really likes consistency and routines - if we drive the wrong way, it's something that bothers her

*very observant - the other day at the gym she noticed someone else was wearing the same shoes as me

*for the first time a couple of weeks ago, asked me to play "teacher" with her :) :) :)

*top teeth have a distinct shape - thank you thumb sucking

*will probably continue to update and edit throughout the next couple of weeks

*And almost everything from her 3 year post still applies

According to Olivia

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Person to Play with: Mason 

Best Place to Shop: HEB

Good Place to Play: walmart

Favorite Animal: Giraffe

Favorite Dog: Jerry

Favorite Food: carrots (don't know where this one came from) and pizza!!

Favorite Drink: lemonade
Favorite Song: tooty ta
Favorite Show: octonauts
Favorite Movie: letter factory (although Mommy and Daddy thought for sure she would have said Kung Fu Panda)
Favorite Thing to Do Outside: play with bubbles
Favorite Book: Library Books

Hands

I realized this picture never got posted that was taken awhile ago when we were in San Antonio.

Absolutely love those little hands

Dentist

Mason's first dentist visit

 Olivia's second dentist visit 

And all is well :)  They'll see us again in 6 months.

The BOAT!

Oh thank you Johnsons for another perfect Sunday out on Lake Conroe.

 As the pictures show, it was a great time.  Everyone tubed (including Mason) and the adults all attempted Wakesurfing :)

my favorite kind of day

11.5 Miles

pulling these kiddos is no joke

Foto Friday

Deep End Jump

Gym Keys

The question from Olivia:  Mommy, why are your gym keys hanging right there??  

Background:  The kids almost always ride in the 4runner.  Today Tim needed the bigger car, so I had both kids in the acura.  In the 4runner, we have the fancy "push to start" option (our keys never have to be taken out of our pocket).  Olivia is not used to seeing these keys.  In fact, the only time I do have these keys out is when I'm signing the kids into the gym - I need to use my access card.  

Summer Lunches

Teething

Lego Store

Our local mall just got a Lego store.

Bet you can guess who is pretty excited!

Ca - Ca

For Tim's birthday, he gifted himself a fancy helicopter...which Mason LOVES and calls "ca-ca"

Anywho - we went out today and watched Tim show off his skills.  

 And then it crashed :-/   Mason went over to tell Daddy how to fix it...however, it needed a new part.

So the kids pretended to be helicopters :)

And then Mommy and Daddy did some flying too :)

Until we all felt like THIS!

Foto Friday

"Remember me with smiles and laughs, for that's how I'll remember you."

My Grandparents surrounded by my Mom and her brothers.

Missing you all lots today and thinking of you.