Snow in Houston...

So last year it snowed in Houston. A real snow. It snowed for maybe 4 hours and the kids ran around scooping it up with their hands, licking it off of unclean things, throwing snow, catching it on their eye lashes...you get the idea.

I told them to really enjoy it, because it probably wouldn't snow like that again when they were still kids. I had lived here for 35 years and have never seen it stick like that...

Well...They are probably thinking I'm a liar, because it snowed again. They closed school down at 11:00. I was home by 12:00...I ran in, got my camera and ran over to Dana's to take pics of the kids. They looked wonderful out there in her backyard...They were giggling, laughing, screaming, singing. An absolutely magical moment. Dana was knitting hats as quickly as she could, so that they would all have one...even though the girls had hats attached to jackets, she had Kaytlynn in one that had been knitted that day! Jeff was already home, and he made a coffee run and even bought me one! It was a caramel something and it was yummy! I brought Cocoa for the kids and Dana hauled out the marshmallows.

It snowed more this year than I have ever seen...even more than last year. The flurries would come in huge gusts where they were thick and everywhere in the air. The sad news is that it wouldn't stay cold enough for them to actually stick...so they just had a slushy mess on the ground to play with. We are lucky that they are kids, because this really didn't matter to them...it was as good of a snow day as any.

A Special Night...

So the girls are playing dress up and strutting their stuff around the house. We try to get the girls to drink a little milk and lots of water and almost nothing else. Delaney comes into our kitchen in my high heels looking like a child streetwalker and says "May I have some cranberry juice please"....she pauses and then says "because it is a special night". I ask her what makes tonight special to her..."Because we are going to watch a new movie".

Its the little things that make it special for her...or is it just that she's a darn cute manipulator? Its okay. She got the watered down cranberry juice. She deserved it for making me smile, on not such a good day. Which is something she is very good at!

The Girls Try it Again...

We went to Collin Green's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's. Someone asked me if they had a good time and I replied...do you have to ask???? They had a ball, but while we were there Kayla invited the girls to spend the night. We allowed them to do so....wondering if dear Delaney would make it. She told us that she thought that she would...well, I texted Robbie and he said they were behaving wonderfully (YAY!!!). They took the girls to IHOP and watched the movie Elf. I texted him again at about 10:00 and this is what it looked like...

10:11 Me : Are they asleep? I'm seeing if Delaney is gonna make it?
10:12 Robbie: Not yet but working on it
10:15 Me: Would it be good for me to call adn say good night or make it worse?
10:27 Me Did you get my last message?

I wait a few minutes and try to call...no answer. I tell Todd I am getting worried. He giggles.
10:43 Me: Getting worried...is everything ok?
I call several times leaving a message...no answer
10:48 Me: R U there?

I tell Todd to get in the car...he of course takes a million years to get ready with his finger up his nose...I have to get my jacket...I have to get my shoes on....I have to go to the bathroom. I told Todd I was leaving him...I knew it was that he wasn't worried and thought I was being crazy....

He finally speeds up, I get the car started and call one last time ...no answer. But then Robbie calls back. I tell him we are on our way...he says "WHAT???" I tell him we've been worried...and he explains that he put his phone on vibrate, so that it wouldn't wake anyone, but that he was watching a movie with the girls and that he fell asleep accidentally. That Delaney was the only one up. I ask if he wants me to come get her...he said it was okay either way. I tell him to ask her and he hands the phone over to her. She says she can't go to sleep, so I continue down the road to go pick her up.

She at least didn't WANT to go home, but just couldn't go to sleep, so eventually we will get there! Right??? Thank you again Robbie, for watching the girls for us. We had a nice evening and I know that my girls did too. And you didn't even laugh at me for being a crazy mom!

Thanksgiving...

We went to my in-laws house on Friday night. Kevin, Marcia, and Justin came down from Michigan. Marcella and Juliana were there and the girls played with them the whole time. We had Hamburgers, homemade chocolate chip , rice crispy treats.

We stayed home Saturday t(Todd worked), Sunday and Monday to clean and get a few Christmas things down. We drove up on Wed. morning to Corinth where my sister lives. We did nothing but play around.

We didn't have Thanksgiving on Thursday because my mom worked that day, But on Friday, we did. I made Cherry salad, candied yams, and brown and served Hawaiian rolls and that is it. They don't trust me with anything else, & I don't like all the pressure, so I am okay with that list! My sister did green beans, green bean casserole, and other veggies, my mother made the turkey and fruit salad, pumpkin pie and pecan pie.

It was all yummy! But the best part was just spending time together. We brought the Wii and it was used all week, but especially by Jacob and Todd. One night, Mother, Lisa and I played Mexican Train (domino game) and I do believe that this game is becoming some type of tradition with us as we have been playing it for about 2 years now. My parents have never been game players, but all of a sudden my mother has decided this is fun. The day before we left, we even got my dad to play bowling on the wii with us. This was a fun surprise! My mother likes to do this game as well.

We drove home late Sunday night. It was full of traffic and such, so it took us about 7 hours to get home...no fun, but well worth the week. To add to the drama, Kaytlynn got car sick from watching too many movies and threw up several times. It was of course in the middle of no where, so there was nothing to do, but we were luckily prepared with towels, bucket, and drinks, etc. so it wasn't as bad as it COULD have been, but still....not exactly a prime driving experience.

Micky Mouse Pee'ed on the House!

Yep...it is officially the first crude rhyme that I have actually heard from my girls lips...and the winner is....DELANEY! That's right, not the oldest, or the boldest...The quiet stinker. She was saying it over and over again and I didn't know if I heard it correctly so I asked for yet another repeat and Kaytlynn was more than happy to clarify.

I made her call her Nana...she wouldn't tell her, so again, Kaytlynn had no problem "informing" Nana of the faux pas. Nana told her that we needed to keep our mouth clean and that maybe she needed to learn the Bible verse that she taught me when I was a little girl. Thank goodness it went right over her head that her mother had a potty mouth when she was a little girl :-) My mother had me reciting Ephesians 4:29 like the back of my hand. And so you don't have to look it up
"Let no unwholesome talk come out of thy mouth, but that which is good in building others up according to their needs".

She learned it from a friend. It makes you wonder whats next. I didn't dare laugh out loud like I wanted to do, but I am absolutely thrilled with glee that it wasn't something else and only making fun of a crude bodily function!

So if you have a little one that plays with mine and you hear them saying something about Micky Mouse urinating on something, then you know where they heard it. My apologies in advance :-)

Rainforest Cafe

On our trip to the Riverwalk in San Antonio, we ended the day with an evening at The Rainforest Cafe. The dinner was good, the dessert was awesome, but the decor is what made it worth the money. We had never been and since we don't go out to eat very often, the girls were in amazement the whole time. If you have never been...the walls and ceiling are crawling with vines and trees and have animals like elephants, snakes, and butterflies here and there. About every 15 minutes, the place would get really dark, with audio of a thunderstorm. Every time you heard the lightening "strike" the lights would flash, the animals would start "squaking and trumpeting" and their bodies would move.

Our Table...

We recieved our old table from Todd's parents when we got married 12 years ago. Mrs. Northrup and I went and chose material, I bought it and she covered it and made them look really nice. They are now going back to her house, because I got a new table. The girls, I think, are more in love with it than I am...but I do like it a lot. Very much my style. I don't know what I am going to think of having a wood top vs. a glass top...but boy that glass top was a pain to keep clean. Here is to hoping this one stays nice!

It's Good to Be King!

That's right! I am getting a King Size bed! Wooo Hooo! I used to fight Todd on getting a TV in our bedroom...I wanted it to be a place of quiet for me to read! I finally relented a few years back and I love it. On most nights, all four of us hop in our bed for a family movie. Lately, we have been watching Little House on the Prairie. We bought all 10 seasons on DVD and watch one episode a night. We all love it! This will give us room to stretch out and be close, yet a little more comfortable.

It should be in here in 3 to 6 weeks!

Publish Post

We bought 2 of these!

I currently don't have a dresser, so my closet will be seeing some relief! Cant wait! I don't know why this chest looks miniature, but it is actually VERY large. 55"...but it looks so tiny in the pic that we had to double check.

My new earworm is It's Good to Be King by Tom Petty. I don't list him as one of my favorites when asked, but I really do like his stuff.

It's good to be king, if just for a while
To be there in velvet, yeah, to give 'em a smile
It's good to get high, and never come down
It's good to be king of your own little town

Yeah, the world would swing if I were king
Can I help it if I still dream time to time

It's good to be king and have your own way
Get a feeling of peace at the end of the day
And when your bulldog barks and your canary sings
You're out there with winners, yeah, it's good to be king

Do you know Zo?

Meet my new present from Toddles. I had never heard of one of these things until my sister introduced it to me. She is always trying to educate me on ways to keep me healthy in ways that won't change my lifestyle in be ways...otherwise I just won't do it :-) She has amazed with facts that I never knew and with her ability to change her life and health quality. She was a COKE addict...now she just drinks a handful a year. She grinds her own wheat, makes her own bread and yogurt, drinks raw cow milk (which is YUMMO by the way), and the list goes on.

Well, I am going to be able to do one of the above now that I have purchased a Zojirushi bread machine, foundly known as Zo. It is a fancy bread machine that is fancy enough to use flour from a wheat grinder and makes nice 2 pound loaves. My sister has one...and we threw a loaf together in all of 5 minutes prep. time and it was Deliche!'

I can't wait to use it and smell the smell of warm bread cooking in the house!

Kaytybug Caught a Ladybug

Kaylynn has recently been studying butterflies at school and she has caught insect fever. She loves them right now and was so excited when she found this ladybug that she wanted me to take her picture.

It's A Miracle...

My mother has been really getting on to me for the past year because Kaytlynn hasn't been taught how to ride a bike without training wheels. I remember riding a bike without training wheels for the first time. I was at Sammy and Wanda Beene's house. I had spent the night in their attic, LITERALLY! (is there a more fun hideout?) I was 5 years old and my best friends Shannon and Holly were like sisters to me. Shannon was my age, Holly was a year younger, and we decided to go out and ride bikes. There was a problem...no training wheels. Mr. Sammy, for the life of him, could NOT believe that I didn't know how to ride a bike...he put me on it and off I went. No pushing me off, no running beside me...NADA. I was free as a bird. I'll never forget my mother pulling into the Jarrett Circle cul-de-sac...my mother, driving Daisy The Toyota Corolla, was smiling at us as we rode our bikes. I intentionally slowed down giving her a chance to see the 2 wheels and BEAMED at the fact that I was a big girl on a big bike. My mother smiled and opened her mouth in surprise. This unforgotten moment occurred 30 years ago. And the feelings attached to it is why I believe I remember it so well. To me, it was really a miraculous moment...A true miracle.

Kaytlynn is 7 years old...2 years older than I was, when I first rode without training wheels. I wanted her to not go through the falls, the scrapes, the bruises, the fear, so I put it off, and let her enjoy her bike with training wheels...and let the bike without them gather dust in the garage. Last weekend, my parents came down for a visit. I pulled onto Single Pine Ct and what did I see....My parents running around the cul-de-sac holding on to Kaytlynn...instructing her how to ride her bike. I was happy to see my parents doing this memorable thing with her. I was jealous and a little disappointed in myself, that I wasn't the person doing that with her. But most of all, I was scared. Scared that she would fall, be bruised, cut, scraped, and then never want to ride her bike again. She was soooo wobbley. I was actually surprised that she didn't take to it just as easily as I had 30 years ago. After a few more unsuccessful runs around the circle, Daddy decided the tire needed to be filled up...it had been sitting in the garage untouched for a year, ya know. I casually asked "Are you sure she is ready, she seemed very unbalanced." Without hesitation...but without meeting my eyes, my dad quietly, but firmly said, "she's past ready." While fixing the flat, my dad realized the brake was dragging the wheel the whole time she was riding it. He looked so frustrated saying "Poor kid, no wonder she couldn't do it.", and then to top that frustration...the tire popped. We took the girls bike gear off and Daddy went off to Wal-mart to buy a new tire for the bike. The rest of the weekend it rained so we never went back out to try it again.

Friday I didn't feel well so I took a nap. Kaytlynn comes in to my bedroom , smiling from ear to ear and asks me if I want to come see her ride her bike. I quickly get up and get dressed, not knowing what I was about to see. I go outside, Todd helps her up and gave her a little push and off she went. No one running beside her or guiding her. NADA. She was free as a bird. She went faster and faster, screaming with glee the whole time! Todd said that she literally did it on the first try...so there really was a problem with the brake. As soon as she started to ride she screamed over and over again "It's a Miracle. It's a Miracle" and then ran inside to get me.

"It's a miracle" she said again. And to her, it was. That same miraculous moment that I experienced 30 years ago, she experienced for herself...and to witness it...to witness my daughter doing this thing, accomplishing this small step and feeling so high with excitement and pride, was a miracle as well. We Both had a day we will never forget. Thank you God for miracles like that.

More of the San Antonio Riverwalk Vacation Day

The girls first trip to the Alamo...they think 30 years is old...so they really didn't get it, but thought it was a pretty "building".

Don't we look like tourists here. All we need are hats and cameras. By the way, Kaytlynn wore those sunglasses most of the trip...even when indoors, she would pull them up on her head to use them as a headband. She thinks she is so big!

Do you see the boat? They intentionally made this building to look like a ship...sailing ahead. I'm not a big fan of architecture, but I thought this was really cool.

See the Gargoyles...kind of unusual for Texas buildings...

More ugly faces on the building...They were all put on this magnificent building to keep away bad spirits, negative energy, etc. The building cost a ton of money. They opened something like the day before the market crashed during the great depression. Isn't life ironic...and doesn't God have some rough lessons to teach us that we aren't in control of anything!

The boat tour was fun for the kids for about the first 5 minutes. The rest of the 45 minutes, they were hot and hungry!

The outdoor theater. Todd and I came here for 2 days after we got married. They were getting ready for a live nativity. I spotted a goat on the stairs and went to pet it. When I was about a foot away...the goat leaped away faster than a rabbit. Literally. Have you ever seen a goat leap and dart away? Come to find out, it wasn't a goat, it was a small reindeer...and they weren't very happy with me, because a reindeer was now on the loose in San Antonio...I wanted to look at everyone naively and say...Did I do that?

Stopping for a snack! They really did just enjoy hanging out.

'Fraid Not

So I notice one of my pumpkins are missing from the fireplace mantle. I ask Todd what happened to it. He immediately asks the girls if they knew what happened to mommy's 3rd pumpkin. Kaytlynn is wide eyed and says NO Sir, I didn't touch her pumpkin. Stinker Delaney says "fraid not", and then purses her lips as if to say..."too dang bad for you". I'm embarressed to admit it, but it was one of the first times I saw myself in her!

Daddy, You're My Heroine

A few weeks ago, we were driving home from an evening at Grandma and Grandpa Northrup's house, when all of a sudden we hear Kaytlynn say "Daddy, you're my heroine." Todd and I froze. We went stiff and bug eyed. I then asked her to repeat herself and she did...loud and clear as a bell..."Daddy, you're heroine."

After a little bit of questioning, she correlated the word with the book Fancy Nancy, when Nancy learns that Sacagawea was a heroine...as in a FEMALE HERO.

Lots of giggles followed, and it just showed me in 2 things that I already knew. Kids really do learn a lot of new vocabulary words just through someone reading to them...AND...I have spent a lot of time from kids from the hood...cause I went directly to the drug!

A Fly in the Eye

Delaney was running around the house a couple of days ago (she doesn't really know what walking is, unless she is in trouble). Suddenly she starts screaming. I am thinking she is just playing around until Todd calls for me. I tell him to bring her to me and he proceeds to tell me she is saying that there is a bug in her eye. I assume what most would...that a bug hit her and she freaked out.

I lay her on the tile with a pillow under her head, so that I can look at her eye to make sure that there is no evidence of actual damage...and so she will calm down. I'll be a monkey's uncle if I didn't find an ACTUAL FLY under her bottom eyelid. Half of the fly was going back behind her eyeball, but the other half is moving around as if to scream ...Help Me, I'm trapped! I'm scared to grab it. I don't want to scratch her eye or only get the half that is in front of the eyeball. I suck in, get the jitters out and try not to focus on the fact that there is an insect in my child's body moving around...and tell Todd to go get some eye drops. I think that maybe the drops will make the bug go to the corner of your eye, just like it does all the gunk in your eye each night. That sounds like a good idea, right?

WRONG...One drop and one blink later, the 100% of the bug goes behind her eyeball. I watched it with my own eyes in complete HORROR. I lie to Delaney and say..."all gone". She is happy, she doesn't feel it anymore, (thank you Lord.) I tell Todd to take her to the bedroom and put on a Saddle Club movie (her newest video fascination), while I call my mother Nurse Kay to ask whether I go to the ER and get laughed at or go to the ER because this is really serious. My dad answers to tell me that Nurse Kay is at work...figures. He tries to talk me into spraying a baby aspirator full of water into the corner of her eye to flush the bug out...but I know how much pressure that is going to take to get behind the eyeball and am scared I will hurt her. All of a sudden I hear a BLOODCURDLING scream...I hang up on my dad...literally and sprint to the back bedroom and find out the bug has now resurfaced and is again halfway behind and halfway in front of the eyeball. I go in with my finger and sweep all but a wing out!

She was sooo mad at that bug...we let her yell at it a little while and cuddled with her as we finished her movie. Isn't it crazy what happens to kids under the age of 10???

The San Antonio Boardwalk...

They just finished throwing pennies in the fountain and making a wish. It is the first time the girls had heard of this...I guess we don't pass by many fountains!
My girls think they are stylin' with their sunglasses! Can ya tell?

The kids had a terrific time playing in this adorable little church!




As I posted earlier, we took the girl on our first week long vacation to San Antonio. We went with our neighbors, The Crenshaws. The first day we were there, we went to the boardwalk. The girls had a good time at some places, but I think they were still too little to love it. They got tired and hot...but its July in Texas.

Not Baptist...

"Hey look MOMMA, I am magitating" is what Kaytlynn yelled on the alter of the church just before I snapped this picture!

She learned this from our neighbor Ethan and I laughed so hard that my side hurt!

They did think that the kneeling bench was cool in this church too. They had never seen one.

It actually reminded me of the first time that I saw kneeling benches on a pew. I can't even remember where I was because I was so little, but I actually thought they were a foot rest. I thought to myself "How convenient ...they have a little place to prop my feet up!"

What is that saying..."You can take the girl outta the country, but ya can't take the country outta the girl" :-)