Two Humans and Their Offspring

Christmas and New Year's

2012-02-01T08:46:00.000-06:00

This year we had Christmas with the Stringer's and we had a great time. For about 30 seconds we considered just staying home because we were so tired from all the travel but I knew if we just powered through we would be glad we did. On the Monday before Christmas we were in Chappell Hill, then on Wednesday we were in College Station for the funeral. We drove down to Corpus for the memorial service Wed. night and drove back to Bulverde Thursday night afterwards. Fri. morning we had our own little Christmas, then Kyle worked one day while I hurriedly washed and repacked and loaded the truck. Then we stuffed our family into the truck, not the comfortable minivan, and traveled 7 hours to Winnsboro (it should take 6, but not with kids). We arrived at 2:30 a.m. Whew! Needless to say, I took a couple of naps while I was there. Christmas Eve held the annual Henson (Kyle's mom's family) Christmas party, which was as entertaining as ever. This year was a redneck theme:

And no, she's not really pregnant. Pretty realistic for a towel, though!

Cullen had such fun with his cousin, Chaney.

And Jitterbug was a huge hit, of course!! He's the reason we took the truck! He rode in the back in a hog pen. We might have gotten some funny looks.

New boots and toy guns. Happiness. It was a great trip, even if it took us 10 hours to get home because of traffic. It's always worth it to see family.

For New Year's we had a big college party planned, but for one reason or another, everyone cancelled except the Porter's, some of our dearest and oldest friends. The best man in our wedding. I think it was just what we needed. We had a blast, caught up, and just talked and talked. I never even bothered to take a single picture, which is a shame, the kids had a blast together. We did find a cool snake, a patch nosed snake. He looked like a fat striped garter snake with a cool nose.

The kids all took turns holding him, and since Amy was taking a nap, we decided the snake could help wake her up:

The Dreaded Post

2012-01-27T09:56:00.001-06:00

Yes, it's been a long time since I've posted. It's because I've been procrastinating. Seriously, who wants to blog about their mom dying? Not this girl. So I've been putting it off, but I do miss blogging and have lots to share, so I think it's time to bite the bullet and get it over with. Mom died on December 19th of colon cancer. She was diagnosed in May. We remained hopeful of recovery until the fall. It was a long grueling battle and she won. She got the ultimate prize: rest with Jesus; complete sanctification. To live is Christ, to die is gain. She told me at Thanksgiving that she had tried her best to teach me how to live and now she was going to do her best to teach me how to die honorably. And she did. This is the last picture I took of her:

Yes, the photo is a little photoshopped. I softened things up. Mom was all for wrinkle softening...

Know what she's doing? She's reading a book to Seth about dying. She made it through without crying through only the help of the Holy Spirit, I'm sure. What an amazing woman! Seth seemed to think it was normal book time with Grammy. Kids are so blissfully unaware sometimes. On the other hand, his faith amazes me in its simplicity. I have been a little concerned over his lack of reaction to Grammy's death. He gets frustrated easily, but other than at the funeral, he hasn't cried. So I was worried he was bottling things up. The other day I talked to him and said, "Seth, you know it's okay to be sad that she's gone. It's okay to cry or have bad days." He looked at me, truly confused, and said, "Why would I be sad? She's in heaven. That's totally awesome! She's with Jesus and Samuel, and Grandpa Bennett, and Grandear..." and he just went on and on about the adventures she was probably having. And while I understand that the duality of grieving her and being happy for her is fine and logical, his attitude really impressed me.

I saw people I hadn't seen in years at the services - so many people who love us and have impacted our lives. It was wonderful to see them and such a shame that the only time all those people come together are weddings and funerals, and the family doesn't have enough time to visit with everyone at either! It has been great to see so much of my family too. What a blessing, and a rarity (and great parenting) that we all are healthy (emotionally), have healthy marriages and kids and all genuinely enjoy each other's company. We love Chuck and are so grateful for him. Things could have been really tense over Thanksgiving and the last 2 weeks when we were all there on and off. But everything went smoothly and I was able to stay with her until the end. I was asleep when she passed and so was Chuck. Hospice told us that is the way people usually go - they want a little privacy at the end and tend to slip away when people leave the room!

I have so so so many flaws which I could list, but questioning God is not usually one of them. But I am sorry to say I did that a little the day before she passed. In a nutshell, we expected her to pass sooner than she did, and the thought that she was hanging on suffering was more than I thought I could bear. So I had a little talk with God, and here's how it went down, very paraphrased (I couldn't remember an exact quote to save my life...):

me: Lord, Please take her. Why haven't you taken her? What can the purpose be? I mean, I'm not questioning you...
Holy Spirit: Aren't you, though?
me: Just because I question doesn't mean I don't have faith
Holy Spirit: doesn't it?
me: Dang it! (because I know it's true). I just don't understand...
Holy Spirit: His ways are not your ways...
me: But I can't do this! It's too much! I can't take it anymore!
Holy Spirit: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness... (in the tune of the Accapella song, if you must know)
me: Dang it!
Holy Spirit: Trust His timing
me: Fine! (sulkily). Okay, okay, I'm trusting you.

And then I did. I actively chose to put my faith in Him on this matter. It's an action verb, not a state of being. And then I was filled with his peace. I felt soooo much better after my "Come to Jesus" talk. Why do I think I know anything about anything? Of course God had a plan. He hadn't forgotten her. And he took her home less than a day later. And I was filled with such a profound sense of relief. I am grieving. I miss her and I have some bad days and feel pretty sorry for myself. But mostly, I am relieved. She's happy and healthy. I'm not sure what prompted me to share that with you, it's confession time I guess! Thank you for all the cards, flowers, text, phone calls, and love you have sent my way. I really appreciate it. I love the encouragement and have sorely needed it! Many update posts coming soon!

Weekend in Salado... and chair redo

2011-11-21T19:12:00.001-06:00

The weekend after we found out about Mom's news, I got to spend the weekend in Salado with my dearest friends from Kaufman, Stefanie (on the right) and Crystal. We had set it up months ago and, as always, God's timing was perfect. It was exactly what I needed! We slept in. We laughed, we shopped, we cried (every good Girl Weekend has that, right?)....

We tried on awful wigs...

We ate wonderful food. I just basked in their company. And we missed Debbie, who couldn't come! I am so happy here in San Antonio, but I really wish they would move here...

I also refinished some chairs for Kelly. Here is the before:

And after:

The chairs were previously black, with white primer underneath. With chalk paint you don't have to strip anything first, so when you distress and the layers show through, it just adds character.

Really pleased with the way it turned out!

Redemption Refinishing

2011-11-17T08:22:00.001-06:00

This is the China hutch I refinished for my friend Brittany. I LOVE the way it turned out. I have decided to open a small business refinishing furniture for people and selling refinished furniture on etsy and craigslist. I have no qualms about buying furniture, redoing it, and charging what I feel appropriate. I find it a little trickier deciding what to charge people to refinish what is already theirs. So, a very wise friend explained that I should do a project for a friend and charge them minimum wage by the hour and that how little I make would give me an idea how much my time and skill are really worth. So, I love Brittany and I really would have done it for free, but I asked her to pay me minimum wage and this was a very educational experience for me! I'm definitely worth more than minimum wage...

This mirror was fun to work on because I tried Annie Sloan Chalk Paints. LOVE Them! Pricey, but you make up the money because it requires no prep work. No sanding! No stripping! So easy to distress. I will definitely be using them in the future.

Here it is finished. I did one coat of Paris Grey topped with two coats of Old White, then distressed and waxed it.

The problem with sanding a piece down that you want distressed is that it takes all the imperfections away that would look awesome once it was distressed. So this mirror has a lot of character because I didn't have to sand it to make the paint stick.

My business's name is Redemption Refinishing. A friend came up with the name and I like the idea that I'm taking tired, worn furniture and giving it a new life. Yesterday I got a tax number, business cards, an etsy shop, and drew up plans for a shed for me to work in. I have several projects already in line. I am so excited to have found something I love doing and could actually make money from! I will share the etsy shop's link when I've posted something for sale on there.

From the Fire

2011-11-12T22:15:00.001-06:00

Tonight was the prayer vigil for my mom and I would like to wholeheartedly thank all those that prayed for her. Kyle, Chuck, and I have spent the evening praying over her, loving on her, and singing to her. Just cherishing every minute. I know I haven't been posting on my blog much about mom, but that is because she is a pretty private person and preferred me not to. Tonight, however, feels like the time to share my thoughts on her cancer.

In Beth Moore's study on Daniel, she presents three different answers to walking through the fire:

fire.

Scenario A: We can be delivered from the fire. Dividend? Our faith is built.
Scenario B: We can be delivered through the fire. Dividend? Our faith is refined.
Scenario C: We can be delivered by the fire into His arms. Dividend? Our faith is perfected.

I know that, in direct answer to our prayers, God can reach down and immediately heal my mom. All glory would go to him, and He is more than able. I believe that with everything that I have. Two weeks ago, a family member and I agreed to pray specifically for disclosure. A prognosis from the doctors, information from my mom, we really wanted a clear answer and everyone on the same page. Just a few days later, our prayer was answered. Information came. I feel a peace about having received an answer and I believe that this time, God's answer is that my dear mom is going to have her faith perfected. She is terminal. I do not believe it will last very long. In fact, having witnessed my dad's decline in health with a 10 month long battle with pancreas cancer, I am absolutely comfortable praying that it won't be long. I don't want her to go!!! I cannot fathom a life without my mama. But how selfish of me to want her suffering to be prolonged so that I can get used to the idea!
If I am completely honest, I admit that I wasn't very worried about this in the beginning. Concerned, yes. I felt like she was in for a tough battle. But Satan is wily. I am sometimes tricked into thinking I am safe because of what has already happened in my life. As if tragedy is a vaccine! "Got your tragedy shot?" "Check! I'm done." How foolish. But while I sometimes get caught off guard, I know that God is sovereign. His ways are not our ways. Where was I when He laid the foundations of the earth? I know He has a plan. I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. My mom is looking forward to seeing my dad. To seeing my son. But it is so hard to let her go.
In some ways, it is truly a blessing to have lost someone before this because I know. I know God will carry me through. I know I won't become a bitter person; I will have joy again. That I can rejoice even in this.

More Camping Pics

2011-10-30T22:01:00.003-05:00

I snapped a few portraits while camping...

My awesome mother-in-law, Gloria

My handsome nephew, Carter

My fav of him

Sweet Ruckus Magoo

I am going to use this one as his 2 yr. portrait. Love it!

Okay, this was not while camping, but I had to share.

Oklahoma Camping Trip

2011-10-26T23:33:00.000-05:00

We spent a long weekend up in the Oachita mountains of Oklahoma camping with Kyle's family. With the Stringers, camping means trail riding horses everyday. I had the best time. I always really enjoy it, but it used to really take a lot out of me. This is my first time to do this since my surgery and I felt awesome! I would get up and hike with Seth and nephew Carter in the mornings and be ready to ride after that. Blake was just in awe of everything. He loved every minute. Seth even rode on his own a couple of times and did really well - just around camp, though.

We actually got to see some fall color! Can I just say that seeing Kyle on a horse - how well he works with them, not to mention how good he looks - was maybe 30% of why I married him?

Carlton and Gloria - best in-laws ever! Carlton bought me my own saddle!! I love it. Now, to get a horse... hopefully next year.

Kyle and his mini-me:

Seth burning a stick. It was really cold the first night. Well. It was in the 30's that night and that was plenty cold for me. I live in San Antonio for a reason! Even Dallas was too cold. Thank you Auntie Sue for buying us that electric blanket for our wedding that we didn't register for, it has been used countless times.

Kyle's sister Kali has a miniature horse named Puddin'. Oh. My. The boys were in love. Blake and Cullen were always on him. Seth was a little big.

Any time you would go to get Cullen off, he would lean away and yell "Don't get me off! Don't get me off!" He would have slept there if possible. By the way, don't you just love slack little baby muscles? So cute. I could just eat him.

Pedernales Falls Camping trip

2011-09-24T13:04:00.000-05:00

First off, we went camping with our friends the Pattisons at Pedernales Falls State Park. It was gorgeous!! Even during extreme drought, when the falls aren't even flowing, there are still huge deep gorgeous pools of water that they inexplicably won't let you swim in.

You'll have to excuse different styles of the same photo. I am having so much fun with Photoshop Elements. For those of you who have Photoshop, or Elements are you aware of the FREE actions Pioneer Woman and Coffeeshop Blog offer? They are amazing! I have had and enjoyed PW's actions since last year, but I just downloaded about 15 actions off of Coffeeshop blog and am having fun playing around with them.

love the lens flare sunkissed look!

The falls from higher up

Do not be too harsh on our looks in this photo! We have on no makeup and we all slept pretty horribly.

We borrowed my parents tent since Leni and Nate don't have one, but we neglected to borrow tent poles. So, Leni and I slept in the tent with all the kids. Oh, did I mention I forgot a fan? So hot. Barely slept. Cullen kept waking up b/c he was too hot also. The men slept outside. Preston and Seth slept in the trailer and when they woke up they woke Kyle up to tell them they were going on a bike ride. Kyle looked at his watch b/c it was still dark and it was 3:45!! They went back to bed. Even without much sleep we had a wonderful time. We hiked and swam and listened to Nate play the guitar .

Cullen and Ruby mugging down. - PW's Lovely action

Sunkissed action from Coffeeshop

Blake's 4th Birthday

2011-09-11T21:29:00.000-05:00

Blake's 4th birthday was August 20th and for the first time ever I actually paid to have it someplace because it was just so hot!! We had it at a gymnastics place and it was awesome! I only wished I had been a little better healed up so I could goof off in the foam pit and on the trampoline too. He wanted a "friend lion" for a cake so this is what we came up with. Definitely not in the same league as previous cakes, but he loved it. I cannot begin to express how much I love that little boy. He is my little mirror for sure! He of all the boys is the most like me and I get a glimpse of what I must have been like: affectionate, sweet, stubborn, a very slow eater, and messy. Hmmm, maybe I'm still like that?

Friggs on his first day of school. He is at a new school and in second grade. He is quite outgoing so he's made several friends already and likes his teacher.

I cannot keep this kid out of the spaghetti noodles! Always worth getting in trouble over and climbing pantry shelves for. Pick your battles, dude.

This is the Ruckus Magoo. We have phased out calling him Nutters. I'm not saying this is any better. Ruckus Magoo has several songs that go with his nickname. One song is to the tune of "The Princess Pat." Anybody remember that one? Blake has a song based on Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" but it's "Potentate" Does anyone else do this? My poor children are growing up with a skewed sense of normal...

What's More Fun Than Dirt?

2011-08-17T08:04:00.001-05:00

Mud, of course! Of course it hasn't rained, but the boys made their own mud next to their little pool.

Dirt and Other Fun Things

2011-08-15T16:47:00.004-05:00

What's fun? Sittin' in the dirt...

I already posted this on facebook so I won't retell the whole story, but in a nutshell, the boys climbed their bookshelf, made it snow, then went to sleep in a blue wonderland. Clean up time with shop vac: 2.5 hours.

Who doesn't love a little filth?

Saving a snack for later...

Who needs paper?

Birthdays

2011-08-11T08:52:00.004-05:00

We did have a birthday party for Seth (7) and Cullen (2) back in May, but I never got around to blogging about it. They had a great time, but I didn't get very many good pics of birthday cake etc. b/c the person assigned to the camera took blurry pics. No pic of cake or even Seth! Fail! Oh well, here's what I got:

Cullen at 2 years

Me and my friend Alison

Mom and Andy. Keep those prayers coming for healing! I truly feel such a peace about her trial with cancer, that she will be healed and look back on this as a trial and a testament.

We actually got an inch of rain in July and this is our creek with water in it! Usually we have a pretty small pool about 10 feet long. After the rain, all the pools fill up with 2-3 feet of water and the whole creek had an inch covering it. And that with 1 inch of rain in an extreme drought! Imagine a wet year...

We moved Cullen to his big boy bed when we moved to the cabin.

It gets mixed results - this is nap time. We are training diligently! Really, I just take a pic first...

We got to go on our annual trip to the houseboat in Arkansas with our Aggie friends. This has become a yearly tradition that is only missed because of having babies or other major things! Our first trip was in 2002 and I meant to scan a pic of that trip but it has been misplaced somewhere (buried in a pile on my desk). I love these friends! God has blessed me so much through the years. While recovering from surgery Colleen (2nd girl from left) came and did my laundry, and Sarah (2nd girl from right) came down, took care of me, and froze me several meals.

I am recovering quite nicely from surgery. I got to keep both ovaries, a major victory. The doctor said my endometriosis was not bad at all - very different from my last few surgeries! It is weird, but with endometriosis, pain level does not correlate with amount of endo. I have had a tremendous amount of help from everyone. Such a testament of God's love! My sisters-in-law took care of my kids for a week. My boys did not miss us at all (a good thing!) they just had an awesome vacation. Then my church family and friends swooped in with meals, housekeeping, visitors, laundry. I have been so blessed. I am a month out now and as long as don't overdo I feel great. I can walk around, do laundry, cook, etc. but I still don't sweep or mop or scrub anything! I know my limits. Thanks to everyone who prayed me through. My endo pain is completely gone.

Front door and bedroom before and afters

2011-07-03T21:05:00.006-05:00

My cabin is about finished! At least with phase one... I feel like I have gotten enough done that when I am recovering from surgery, I will be able to sit around and enjoy the cabin, instead of looking at all the things I wished I had accomplished. So working like the dickens for the last few months has paid off! By the way, this Thursday is my surgery, so keep me in your prayers. Pray specifically that my Dr. can save an ovary for me! I really don't want to start hormones this young if I don't have to. We had a housewarming party last night and it went great. It struck Kyle and I as kind of funny that the flow of people was so much better here in the cabin than in our rent house, which was much bigger. Then we did the math and figured out we have nearly 400 square feet of porch. Awesome:

See my lights? Aren't they lovely? Okay, I knew I wanted the front door to pop, but I wasn't sure what color to do. I would normally choose red, but it didn't feel right. My good friend Sarah took one look at it, and said it should be turquoise. She was right and it looks fabulous. I seriously get excited every time I look at it. She showed me the door on this blog and I blatantly copied it. I even used Benjamin Moore Paint and I wish I hadn't. Because now I know what it's like to paint with nice paint. Will I ever be able to go back? Probably. I'm pretty cheap. But it was like painting with the smoothest pudding that doesn't drip and does exactly what it's supposed to do. Here's the before of the door:
After:

No before photos of the boys' rooms. And I'm not done with Seth's drapes, but here's the current pics:

My "Office":

The loft before:

Who knew all I ever wanted was a charming little cabin? I certainly didn't, but I guess God did. We have absolutely fallen in love with this place. It is a cozy, cheerful home.

Now, on a serious note, most of you probably know this by now, but in case you don't: my mom has been diagnosed with colon cancer. Oncologists have said she is not a good candidate for a surgical cure, and not much hope for remission. She has chosen to be treated by Dr. Truitt, a well respected doctor whom I have researched thoroughly even before she knew she had cancer (I was hoping he treated endometriosis, but he is too busy healing cancer patients...). I truly feel a peace about all this. I feel uplifted and carried through by the spirit. I know the healing power of God, but I know all too well that sometimes the answer is "No." Regardless of the answer, I know where my mom has stored up her treasure, and I know God holds her in the palm of his hand. It is my fervent prayer she will be healed and enjoy many more years on this earth! It is driving both of us crazy not to be able to help the other. She begins treatment this week, same as my surgery. I am so thankful for Katie and Beth, my sisters-in-law for stepping up to fill the gap. They are taking my kids and taking care of me after surgery, since Mom can't. I can't wait to recover enough to go be a help to her.

More cabin updates

2011-06-11T16:22:00.005-05:00

We are blessed to have so many awesome friends. We had friends help Kyle with all sorts of labor, friends help me paint many times, friends who helped pack us, and friends who moved us. Thank you so much! We feel very loved! Now, on to cabin pics. Here is the downstairs bath when we bought it:
After:

Vanity area before:

After: You can't tell that much of a difference in paint color, but believe me, the before was really gross, remember a ringtail cat had been living there.... and the paint color after has a sheen, like pearl.

Inside of vanity drawers before:

After:

My dear friends from Kaufman, Debbie, Stefanie, and Crystal, whom I miss so much, came down and unpacked me. They hauled lumber and trash, bathed my children, did laundry, and were generally all that and a bag of chips! We worked so hard we didn't get a single picture, so this is an old one. They brought some of their kids with them, so there were 10 kids running around making messes and having a blast while we worked.

This is the old dining room table from cabin, you can see it in the living room pic in the previous post. I decided to use it for outdoor dining and painted it the same color as the downstairs bath. And below is the dining room chair before the redo: Why am I switching posting above or below the pics? Who knows, just can't seem to decide today...

I got the fabric 50% off online and everything turned out great, but only because Will Kraft graciously cut me new cushion bottoms and Crystal put the foam together and then gave me explicit instructions on how to finish the rest. Last night we had our first friends over for dinner and ate outside and talked while the sun set and listened to Nate play the guitar and the kids ran around and we yelled things like "Quit lettin' all the paid for air out!"... I have to admit it was as great as I hoped it would be. We have an awesome little home and a fab front porch!

We're In!

2011-06-09T23:11:00.009-05:00

As of Saturday night, we are officially in the cabin! Things are starting to look good around here! We had a Bennett work weekend the weekend before we moved in, and then Kyle's family came down to help us move. We got a ton of work done:

My brother Andy worked on an extra support for the stairs, and a dozen other things

Mark Blankinship trying to keep the cabin from falling over...

Kate and I painting the bathroom

Chuck painting the little boys' bunkbeds

Carlton working on the roof to the well house. Many other people came and worked hard, but didn't get their picture taken...

I know you've seen some of these pics before, but here is the progression of the kitchen and living room renovation:

Look how good a job Kyle did on the floors. They gleam!!

Here is how it is now. Much better, but hopefully will have curtains up soon...

Many more pics to come :)

Luna Moth

2011-05-20T15:24:00.003-05:00

When we were at the Farm for Easter, Claire (my niece) found a caterpillar under tree. When we went to pick it up, we saw there were two. So both the girls and my boys were able to take home a caterpillar.

It made a cocoon within just a couple of days

It came out this week. I must have just missed it, because the tail wings weren't even unfolded yet.

Here is our Luna moth about an hour later, all ready to leave. I let it go that night in the yard. Such a fun thing to do with the kids. They must have checked on it 10 times a day!

cabin pics

2011-05-13T14:53:00.005-05:00

This is the original camp stall style bathroom in the loft

It was in great condition.

With the stall removed, you could see the water damage caused by missing sections of roof.

New bathroom going up. Wall and roof are repaired, bleached, and Killzed before new walls are going up. We will have a full bath upstairs. Although that makes the loft considerable smaller, I think it's a wise choice.

Another view of the new bathroom

Old kitchen. Yes, the previous owner left a fully stocked, rusted, ruined kitchen to be cleaned out. Even stuff out on the counters. Cabinets were falling apart. Everything was ripped out. During the cleanup we went through two 40 yard dumpsters!

Kyle's parents came down and helped clean and repair the ceiling. Very tedious work! The whole ceiling is reclaimed barn wood and every single piece needed to be sealed with foam insulation from the top and caulked from below. You can see here the kitchen cabinets are gone.

New (to us) kitchen cabinets we scored off of Craigslist. Our friends Shelton and Cheryl came out and helped us hang them. Now they are being painted off-white, then glazed, then we will put on new hardware. I am super excited about my kitchen. I will have a bigger kitchen in the small cabin than I do now in the big rent house :)

Okay, fine. Kyle and Shelton hung cabinets and Cheryl and I took the kids on a walk and watched them climb trees!

One more pic of my hard working man! New Pics to come soon. My chandelier is hung, closets are finished out. Things are coming together!

A Flood and Other Happenings

2011-05-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

Is there anything better than boys in capes?

Blake cut some of his own hair.

Easter Sunday

The other day I came home from running errands and noticed water dripping out of the garage in one small area. "Hmm" I thought, "I must have knocked over something in the garage and not realized it." Then I unlocked the front door and stepped onto water. Now, as bad as it looks in the first pic, that was just the beginning. I promptly ran/splashed to the laundry room and turned the water off. I had started a load when I left, 2 1/2 hours earlier, and the washing machine had jerked away from the wall and the hose fell off. The water had continued to pour out the entire time I was gone. It was over my toes. I promptly threw the kids into the back yard and started dragging furniture into the yard, getting stuff off the floor, and putting bowls under things I could not move. A simple observation: I never realized how much of our stuff touched the floor. I mean besides the obvious furniture: baskets, things stored under other things, etc. The closet had to be cleaned out. All the laundry waiting to be washed was sopping wet. It leaked into the garage and I had to save all my curriculum and teaching files. Good Grief!! The water abatement guy came out and did a fabulous job, arriving only 45 minutes later, but by that time all the carpet was wet and ruined. Blake had a marvelous time sloshing around in his rain boots and actually asked if we could do it again sometime. We are totally bummed to have to buy our landlady new carpet a month before moving out. Such is life. I keep telling myself "It's just money, it's just money...."

I was inspired the other day by a friend's honesty on her blog and I thought I too would share something. My endometriosis is back. For those of you who don't know, I first struggled with this in college, and it has been a long and painful journey that has included 3 surgeries. I am beyond blessed to have my boys, as there was a time I truly didn't think I would have any. I am scheduled for surgery in July to clear it all out and have a partial hysterectomy. At first I was really upset at the prospect of a hysterectomy at 33, but my mom reminded me that I was told I would probably have to have one in my early 2o's, so this is quite a victory. To be candid, for years I thought every month that I was just a wimp, I couldn't handle what other women could, why did I never have energy, etc. Now, after giving birth naturally twice, I can affirm that I am in pain! I would appreciate your prayers in dealing with the pain until July and the recovery afterward. Some days are fine, but most days I am on prescription pain killers and not able to keep up with housework and the boys. As the day grows closer I am actually looking forward to my procedure and am hopeful that this will bring a huge change in my life for the good. It is my fervent prayer that when I recover my body will have the energy and strength that matches my personality. I am so thankful for the blessings of my boys and Kyle, who is wonderfully supportive and picks up a lot of slack.

Dresser Redo

2011-05-09T09:44:00.006-05:00

This is how I found the dresser in the cabin. Neglected and even had a mouse nest in one of the drawers. I was going to sell it on Craigslist, but my friend Sarah, whom I usually listen to because she has great counsel, said no, I should keep it and distress it. So I did.

Dark oak, it had a lot of detail that you could hardly see.

They had ruined the top by putting something on it that burned it. This is what it looked like after I sanded it down.

After painting it. I used a gallon of Oops paint I picked up for 5 dollars at Lowes. I really am not a pink girl, I don't know what got into me. I will say that the paint is Valspar, as was the paint for the red chair I did. Hate it! Not easy to work with, even though I added a paint extender, and it didn't cover well. Definitely could have used fewer coats if it had been Behr paint. That's the only comparison I have, however, since I have not had the luxury of actually using nice paint. I splurged on Benjamin Moore for my upcoming front door project, and we'll see how spoiled I get.

After. After I painted it, I distressed it. Look how you can see all that beautiful detail now! Pardon the flash photography and poor lighting. The garage door broke last week so I can't let in any sunlight to get a decent picture, and the lights are flourescent...

Then I rubbed Minwax Dark Walnut Stain on the distressed parts.

Then I glazed the whole thing with a glaze I made from Valspar tintable glaze (which I am a fan of) and Dark Walnut. I purposely left drag marks when I took off the glaze and I'm really pleased. Then I waxed the whole thing with paste wax.

This is how the two top drawers were. Well, actually this is after I pulled out the nasty old green felt that was lining them. I'm sure it was quite nice in the 50's when it was done...

For the drawers, since they were ruined, I mod podged craft paper into them and then put a polycrylic topcoat on them and the inside of the cabinets. I'm going to use this for my dresser up in the loft.

A Warning to Blake

2011-04-29T10:59:00.002-05:00

Dear Blake,

Watch out. The competition is warming up.

I do have cabin update pictures on my camera.... but I misplaced it. It's here somewhere...

More Furniture and a Frog

2011-04-11T14:09:00.004-05:00

Good day for a little boy, bad day for a frog...

Before: My mom bought this table around the time I was born at a JC Penney sidewalk sale for 10 dollars. This is one stout table. We used it my whole life, then it went to college with my brothers, then me, then on to married life with Kyle and I. Kyle regularly performs adjustments on this table! It deserved some TLC.

After

Kyle brought this chair to the marriage, and it will now be my little office chair. The office is going to be the tiny space under the stairs, so we need to get rid of our big office chair.

I thought a pop of color would be nice, so I chose an antique red. It turned out more like shrimp, though.

So, I put a dark walnut stain on it, which I think helped a lot, and then distressed it. I'm afraid I went overboard on the distressing. What do you think? Good? Or should I repaint and stain with less or no distressing?

Furniture Redo and Cabin Update

2011-04-06T22:18:00.007-05:00

Here is one thing I am learning fast: I am not a cabin girl. The experience of living there, yes. Cabin decorating, no. I don't want to decorate with Coca-cola products and sconces with a moose on them. I will not be buying drapes with pine trees and sunsets or pillows that say "gone-fishin". My plan is go for a more cottage look. Kind of Shabby-Chic. When we bought the cabin, it had been abandoned, fully furnished, for 7 years. We have already filled up a 40 yard dumpster and are halfway through another one! Most of the furniture we got rid of, but there were actually a number of salvageable pieces. Along those lines, while I love wood furniture, all that wood against wood is depressing to me. So, for the cabin, I am repainting lots of things. My first project is this sideboard. I am going to refinish and repurpose it for our entertainment center.

I love the way it turned out, and this was my first time to distress and stain something. I loved it! I may have found a new hobby... I was picturing the color a little more blue-green than it turned out, but I still like it.

This is a little better pic of the color

My fabulous husband's first job at the cabin was to build my vegetable garden! I have so missed getting my hands in the dirt.

The fence is now up and he is building me an arbor in front of the gate. In other updates, the pier and beam foundation is fixed, and they are working on rewiring the electric and fixing the roof. Won't be long until I can work on the inside...

Our dear friends Mark and Amy Porter came to see us during spring break. We had a great time, as always. By the way, see my shirt? I'm an idiot. Really. I saw this shirt at Bless Your Heart and thought it was so cute. I bought it to wear to the Tejas Rodeo that night and loved it. My thinking was, "I love red! I like the way I look in brown! I'm a Texas girl!!" So, fast forward to yesterday, when I was hanging it up in my closet, when it hit me: Holy cow, I bought a beer shirt! How did this obvious resemblance escape me? I have no idea, except that I've never drank beer, it smells gross. But I've seen the Lone Star beer logo and it should have rung a bell. Good grief. It's not that I think beer is evil or anything, but I wouldn't wear a Budlight shirt, would I? Now what am I supposed to do with it? You'd think my husband would have told me but he likes to laugh at me to himself and let me figure things out on my own.

This little fuzzywumpled guy was eating his breakfast with his toes the other day.

Our New Project

2011-03-22T15:37:00.006-05:00

Why have I not written in so long? Well, besides sheer laziness and procrastination, Kyle and I have a new project. As many of you know, land is quite expensive here, at least compared to Dallas, where we moved from. And we have champagne taste on a beer budget, as my mom has always said (it's true). So, if we are going to get property it has to be a steal. Well, a few weeks ago, some property came up that was crazy cheap. Crazy Cheap! And we got it. Yay!!! We really weren't intending to move any time soon, we have looked at no other properties, but this just came to our attention and it felt like a gift from God. Even though our house in Kaufman is STILL on the market after 3 years (please pray!), when we move in June we will save a ton on rent. We are the proud owners of 6 1/2 acres and a log cabin. But, You might as well know, it would really be putting a positive spin on things to call this cabin a fixer-upper. It is a dump. Let's go over the pros and cons. Cons should always come first so you can end on a good note.

The Cons:

- It has been abandoned for seven years, complete with furniture and clothes in the closet, and everything has gone to pot. Filthy!

-We had to kick out a ringtail cat and a raccoon living inside and clean all the potty mess they made. Truly bad enough to be on a tv show or something.

-It has no central heat or air.

- It has no central heat or air!!!

- We have to fix the roof, foundation, and put in new insulation.

- It has a ton of other weird things wrong with it.

- It is 1500 square feet

- The third bedroom is the biggest, but it is the loft and open to below.

- It is 1 1/2 bath

- It has no dishwasher

The pros:

- this way we don't have to rent while building or move a trailer onto the property for awhile

- It sits up on a hill in a beautiful spot in the hill country

- 15 miles from church and work

-fabulous school district

-even with all the repairs, we have found a fast, good but inexpensive crew, and are still getting this place for a steal.

- My front porch runs the length of the cabin and is 9 feet deep.

- It has beautiful hardwood floors

- 9 foot wide stone fireplace

- clawfoot tub

- It does have 2 wood burning stoves, but we're not sure whether they work or not.

- We will put in window units

- Because of my general awesomeness in moving into a small place with no a/c and not complaining about it, I know my husband is going to put in 2 dishwashers into the humongous kitchen in the dream house :)

-We will get to build our dream house!

-Kyle is almost done building me an enclosed vegetable garden with raised beds!

- I am going to cover this place in roses and flowers. I have deeply missed getting my hands in the dirt.

- I have MAJOR cute plans for the inside of this place.

- I enjoy working on projects and refinishing furniture and finding bargains.

- I already found a dishwasher from craigslist.

- This is the life I want for my boys: room to shoot guns and slingshots, play capture the flag, go on adventures, swim in the creek (sometimes, it's seasonal), and camp without leaving the property!

- When we move into the house we build we are going to have an awesome guest house.

Here is a before picture:

And here is the view from the loft:

I promise to be more regular about blogging as I will have many before/after pics to share along the way.

Life Around Here

2011-02-18T15:30:00.007-06:00

Life has been busy as usual and I have not picked up the camera as much as I should have, but here are a few happenings:

I admit I get frustrated trying to lose those last 10 pounds, but Blake did this, not me.

A short but interesting phase: for about 2 weeks you just never knew what you would find in there when you went to change a diaper. He would stuff anything from matchbox cars to cheezits down there. I guess the kid needs some pockets.

So annoying. I had cleaned/made the boys clean their room just the day before. Why do I bother? Sometimes I feel like Sisyphus!

My monkeys

2011-01-16T17:04:00.003-06:00

Ok, I have posted many pics about how good of a monkey Seth is, and it looks like Blake is following in his footsteps. Earlier, even. Oh, dear. Since he was 2(!), sometimes we would go in to get Blake up in the morning and he would be in the top of the closet. There are no shelves to climb, just the one rack with a shelf above that. Seth can't even hang clothes without a stool. It defied belief, but I never thought about taping until today. Here you go.

Brother time

2011-01-11T18:02:00.002-06:00

We were invited to go out to Beth's family's land in Pipe Creek for New Year's day. So we went out and the kids practiced with their bb guns and .22s. We climbed trees and looked at rocks. Then we took a trip down to Pipe Creek. The kids waded around in freezing water and we chunked rocks. While we were there, Becky Whittington showed up and then Andy, Kate and fam showed up. What a wonderful surprise! I wish I had on film the look on Seth's face when Maddie and Claire came running down the hill! Being together with all his cousins is just his favorite thing in the whole world. We had a wonderfully lazy time, and then had a big cookout that night, complete with fish, shrimp, and venison. It was just a perfect day.

Blake throwing rocks with Aunt Becky

Caught a nice pic of Katie and Gavin

Christmas

2011-01-08T21:14:00.000-06:00

We made cookies for Santa with dinosaur cutouts. The boys had fun, but I forgot to take pics of the finished projects.

My two reindeer

My little elf. Beverly from Kyle's work makes all of his cute little hats and I adore them.

Henson Christmas Party

2011-01-06T20:51:00.003-06:00

Every year, the Hensons, Kyle's mom's family, have a big Christmas party. Gloria is one of eight kids, so it's usually a big party. They are always fun, and this year the theme was tacky Christmas sweaters. I thought the big hair went well with the horrid sweater.

Uncle Robert and Luke

Gloria in a vintage sweater

Friggs,Luke, Laramie, and Damon. I think the misspelling really adds something.

Ooh la la, they look nice.

me, Gloria, Savannah, Shayla, Kali, and Lisa. Sadly, I don't remember who won. But fun was had by all!! More to come on Christmas later...

Our Christmas

2010-12-22T12:59:00.003-06:00

Stringer boys 2010. We are going to Kyle's parents for Christmas, so we opened our presents today so we wouldn't have to haul them up there. Later that morning, Seth said, "You know these Christmas presents aren't the best ones - the best one of all is that Jesus was born so that He could die for our sins." Amen!! I've never been so proud!

Kyle took the boys to a pottery place in New Braunfels and made this! He drew and painted it himself, with the boys' hand and fingerprints. What a treasure! I cannot believe I married such a talented man.

Okay, not Christmas related, but had to share. Went in to check on the boys before I went to bed the other night and couldn't find Blake anywhere. Finally, I located him asleep under the bed in a box. Why did we buy bunk beds?

More Fall Portraits

2010-12-15T21:25:00.002-06:00

I LOVE this pic. They only lay still for about 3 seconds, but I got one!

Thanksgiving - part 2

2010-12-13T09:51:00.008-06:00

After we visited Winnsboro, we went to my parents house on Tuesday and stayed through Sunday. My dad's whole family came out for the feast, which was awesome because I don't see them nearly enough. Mom set up dinner in the barn at a huge table and we sat on hay bales. She is a wonderful hostess! The food was amazing, of course.

My cousin J.J. with her daughter Caitlin and my aunt Joyce - so good to see them. So many relatives I didn't even take pics of, but I was so thankful to see J.J. in from Oregon and Tyler in from California.

I don't know what other families do when they get together, but we hitched up toboggans behind the golf cart and pulled the kids around. Even Cullen loved it.

His favorite activity was getting rolled around in the new duffel Kyle got for Christmas. He would screech if you tried to remove him.

And we all swang on the tree swing. So fun!

Kyle and I in the hammock

Grammy and Papa with all the grand kids. It was so cold! Look at how the kids are all scrunched up!

Grammy with her boys.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T23:22:00.006-06:00

This is one for the wedding video....well, one can hope. SEth was kinda sweet on Mallory. So adorable. Seth had the whole week off for Thanksgiving, so I took the boys up to Winnsboro for the first half of the week while Kyle was still working. We had so much fun! The Porters came down one day and we had a big time - the kids played on the hay, and Gloria pulled them around in a wagon behind the four wheeler.

This is the only photo I got of us three. Seth took it. Obviously.

This is the Porter's newest cutie, Luke.

Pa with Cullen. Glo-Glo and I are so last year whenever this guy is around.

Seth abslolutely loves Man vs. Wild, so one day Gloria and I played "Survive in the Woods" with them and we showed Seth how to build a shelter/ teepee in the forest. Holy Cow, what a hit. He cut vine to use as rope, and green branches to weave in and out. At one point he said "I'd be fine out in the woods, and all those other babies would go cryin' to their mamas!" Then later he said something about "boys who can't do this must be wearin' pink panties!" (WHOOP! Yes, my kid just quoted Bob D.) Anyway, he thinks he's ready to go live off the land.

We also went horseback riding...

I also (finally) took some time to get fall portraits of the boys:

Why I had boys: little slim cut wranglers.

Kaufman Girls Weekend

2010-11-23T16:40:00.004-06:00

Last Weekend I met my best friends from Kaufman at my mom's for the weekend. She spoiled us and made fabulous things to eat. We didn't do much. I did get to take pics of Stefanie with baby Merrick, which was fun. We did shop on Saturday, but other than that we just talked and talked and talked and basked in each other's presence. It was awesome. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such friendships. I think a large part of the reason we are so close is the hardships we have endured together: fertility struggles, marriage problems, depression, you name it. We had some years of trial! but, you grow closer when you are helping each other and praying for each other's daily struggles.

Being with these girls makes me also thankful for my San Antonio life. We are so happy to be here and God has blessed Kyle with a great job, us with a fabulous church family, and me with wonderful friendships here, too. I really feel they've deepened over this last year.

Here's how my brain works:

- I've known my Kaufman friends 7 years.

- I've known my San Antonio friends for 3.

- How awesome is it going to be when I've known them 7?

Thank you, God for awesome friends!!

Camping

2010-11-17T07:53:00.002-06:00

We went camping a couple of weekends ago to Guadalupe River State Park with our friend the Pattisons. We had such a great time! Friggs took one look at Ryder, who is younger, riding his bike without training wheels and decided to take his off. Off he rode, no looking back! It felt great during the day and was very cold at night. We felt great though because Kyle and I always bring the electric blanket. That might be cheating. Don't care.

We played in the river, sang while Nate played the guitar, had fun cooking out, and just really enjoyed good company. I am so glad Cullen is getting to an easier stage to take camping; I have really missed it.

Cullen video

2010-11-11T08:04:00.002-06:00

I don't know if I've posted a single clip of Cullen yet because it took about an hour to put anything together on my computer. But since my fabulous husband bought me a mac, this took about 10 min. Yay!

October

2010-10-28T08:26:00.006-05:00

Seth played flag football for the first time this year and loved it. It was really neat to see a group of boys go from knowing nothing to actually running plays. Seth wishes it were tackle football, however. He tried to work in as many dives and rolls as possible. His coach was always saying, "Seth, let's stay on our feet today!"

Find the Friggs! That kid definitely has Bennett blood in him. He is such a monkey. This is the magnolia tree in front of my brother Roger's house. We went down this weekend for Laura's birthday and had a good visit.

Seth and Colton in the tree.

Seth showing off his missing teeth - all four front teeth at once.

Love this pic! Blake and Cullen went home with my parents for a few days at the farm. On the way home, Seth and I stopped at Van's BBQ. The light was perfect so I snapped a few pics while waiting for our food.

At the party they got to dress like chefs and decorate cupcakes. Blake also wore Colton's goggles. He looked like a mad scientist.
Cullen and his Papa
Grammy and Cullen. For those of you wondering, he does have a nickname. Not like Friggs, which he goes by 3/4 of the time, but just a little nickname that will eventually phase out: Nutters. When he was born, he was a little peanut. Clearly. Then he was my Nutter Butter. Now just Nutters. I'm not saying it's cool or catchy. It just is.

Cullen loves to give sugars now and puckers up his lips like a little fish. So cute.

My sweet little walker! He is 17 months now. He has been walking for a few months, but it's just weird to see my baby so big.

Brilliant ideas

2010-10-12T09:51:00.002-05:00

I can see the appeal. Didn't work, though.

Another great idea. A snack for later.

Grocery List

2010-09-24T09:18:00.002-05:00

This is the grocery list Kyle made for me:

- meeyulk
- kuhreeuskoh
- too powundz uv powderd shoogur
- dressin
- buhnayuhnuhz
- vehjeez
- ahf
- rayunch stahl beenz
- spinuch

August Happenings

2010-08-29T20:33:00.005-05:00

Tabouleh is yummy. My kids love it. But what's especially nice is rubbing it all over yourself after you're done eating it. It makes you quite happy.

The weekend before school started we went down to the coast to go fishing offshore. It's a bit of a pilgrimage, I suppose. I miss The Gulf. I love San Antonio and trees and I want to live here, but I need to go out on the water more often than I get to. It feels like home. August is the best time, usually flat for going offshore. Not that day - 5 foot seas. Since Kyle gets sick in the bay and we had the kids with us, we decided to stay in the bay off the Liddy Ann channel. Andy and Katie took us out. We even got a sitter for Cullen so I could have fun (no offense, kid). But alas, the fish were not biting. Here is Seth with one of few fish caught - a skipjack that he reeled in. I am thrilled that my boys seem to love being out there as much as I do.

It was a beautiful day! Blue green water, blue sky, and lots of dolphins that day!

I caught the only keeper of the day - a redfish. Yum. I got him while Andy and I were wadefishing. Andy was great - he was patient and cast my line out for me and baited my hook at times (both things I am fully capable of doing, for the record. He was just being sweet). As a grown-up, a sister doesn't get much quality time with her brothers and it was great.
We also went cooning for Rock Crab. In case you don't know what that means, you put on a glove, muddy the water so the crab doesn't see you, stick your arm down his hole, yank him out (easier said than done), and rip off his claw. Then you throw him back. He'll grow a new one. This is the best food on earth and if you haven't tried it, I feel sorry for you. Roger and Andy got most of them, but I got a few. After feasting on crab that night with all Bennetts and Stringers, Roger and his family took Andy and the girls and Seth and I flounder gigging. Also one of my favorite activities. It was fun and exhausting and by far the latest Friggs has ever gotten to stay up - I figure he fell asleep in the canoe around midnight. But we only saw one 4 inch flounder. Boo! Nevertheless, we all had a blast. You may have noticed Kyle did not do many of these activities. Not because he wasn't interested, but because he's awesome. He knows how much I love these things and watched babies while I had fun. I married well :)
Friggs's first day of school. He is in first grade now and loving it. Doesn't he look adorable with missing teeth? And he lost another one that night. By the way, yes "Friggs's" is correct. A singular possessive should have " 's " even if it ends in "s". Sorry. I couldn't help myself. I'll stop now. Blake's 3rd birthday cake! He loved it, talked about it all week. Was so excited to see it. It turned out very well, thanks to the buttercream icing recipe I used. It's much easier to make the star things (don't know the term...) than to make smooth icing look good. I baked 2 13 x 9 cakes and Kyle cut the pattern out and arranged it - he drew it himself. I just iced it. We used mini marshmallows cut diagonally for the teeth. Success! This was my nicest looking cake yet.I will post pics of the birthday boy later! I need to take some new ones. He is changing - losing the toddler look.

Ever kissed a wad of frogs?

2010-08-11T21:32:00.004-05:00

Blake has. Ok, I know I have more than the average number of posts about frogs, but come on, my boys adore frogs. They are perpetually catching them, so they make a good prop for pictures.

Here's Cullen's 1 year pics. The light was a little weird that day, so I'm hoping to get some better ones soon, but I guess they won't be 1 year portraits anymore!

A Post by the Dad

2010-08-06T20:49:00.003-05:00

Kim has been hounding me to blog again, and I just never take the time to do it. I have been wanting to relate a great Blake story. Many of you have already heard it, because I tell it quite often when I'm speaking to people in the real world. It seems I have little else to offer people, as I am often asked, "So, what funny things have your kids done lately?" Well, here's a gem of a conversation I had with Blake a few months ago.
The back story is that Blake truly believes himself to be Superman. Their identities are one and the same to him. I came downstairs one morning to find him rummaging through the pantry, which is dangerous, as devotees will recall the garbage can footprint incident- that also happened when the pantry was mistakenly left open. He had pilfered a bag of Doritos from one of the top shelves by scaling them, and was happily munching away with cheese-dusted fingers when this conversation ensued:
Me: Blake, you know you're not allowed in the pantry, Sir.
Blake: Hi, Dad! I eat now.
Me: I see that you're eating. But that is not what we're having for breakfast. (I took the bag away and he squinted his eyes into a menacing glare and pointed a cheesy finger at me.)
Blake: Superman eat CHIPS a breckuss! (a breckuss means "at breakfast" for those who don't speak Blakenese)
It was, of course, one of those moments when it's completely impossible to keep from laughing. Justice can be swift, though, even if it finds you amusing.

What the ladies want...

2010-08-01T23:16:00.003-05:00

Seth: Mom, I crack you up everyday, don't I?

me: Yes babe, you sure do! All the time. Do you know that's one of the major reasons I picked your dad? (then, backpedaling a little bit) Well, he was a Godly man and I knew he would be a wonderful father, but any guy I married would have had to be those things. Your dad made me laugh all the time.

Seth: And you picked him because he chewed with his mouth shut.

me: What was that?

Seth: Dad. When he was eating. He chewed with his mouth shut. Girls notice these things, you know...

Boring Day

2010-06-28T11:18:00.002-05:00

This summer when the little boys are napping, Seth has to read, write, or draw. He always picks reading so sometimes I have to force him to sit at the table and write and draw. I know, call the authorities, I'm horrible. This is the book he wrote the other day: (I have to write it out b/c he wrote in yellow and the camera wouldn't pick it up)

Page 1: "Buring Day"
Page 2: big "X" to show nothing is happening
Page 3: "Look on bak-"
Page 4: another big "x" - 'because still nothing is happening' he told me...
Page 5: "I can't beeleeve it." (pictures of kids sitting looking angry)
Page 6: This is the werst day ever.

The end.

Birthdays

2010-06-09T15:40:00.003-05:00

We had a joint birthday party for Seth and Cullen a couple of weeks ago, since their birthdays are only 3 days apart. Every year I let Seth pick out his own cake. I do find them fun to construct, but mostly I do it so Seth will always remember them and the trouble I went to. Have you ever read The Five Love Languages? Wonderful book. Really helped our marriage. Well, Friggs is little Mr. Acts of Service. We spend time researching the cake. He got excited seeing me draw it out, buy the supplies, and start baking days in advance. It filled his little love tank. Who knows if it will be important to the other two or not. Blake might rather snuggle.

This year he picked a castle cake - complete with a blue jello moat. It was a snickerdoodle cake with cinnamon buttercream icing, so it was yummy, too. The whole thing was fine - After the jet plane cake fiasco a couple of years ago, I know to freeze it in sections and then ice it together. Well, I put it all together that morning and the cake towers were too heavy (if you are reading this thinking "I could do this..." take my advice and ice some rice krispy treats for the towers instead). So it cracked down the middle and started falling apart! Kate and I (with Andy's engineering expertise) shoved so many skewers through that thing - and zip-tied them together that I didn't know how we'd ever serve the thing! In the end, it looked good, but whimsical instead of tough. It was a Tim Burton castle.

the kiddos around the cake

Cullen's first bite of cake

It's good!

A Second Helping of Blake Doings

2010-06-04T10:07:00.004-05:00

Blake is a Messer. He's always been a Messer. He has slowed down a little bit these last few months, but I have a feeling he will always be into something. If you missed the first review of all the things he gets into, click here. He is so hard for me to get mad at for some reason. He reminds me of when I was teaching. There was always one kid who was always in trouble, but I had a hard time not laughing about it. They still got in trouble, but I was also cracking up inside. Around here it is nothing for me to go get a camera, take a picture, and then go get the spanky switch. I try really hard to not laugh, so maybe he thinks taking a picture is just the documentation phase of discipline? Who knows.

Blake helped himself to some cold pizza while I was getting dressed

Another day, another snack: velveeta

Frozen peas and a lid full of water. So refreshing!

Art time

The bountiful harvest. He is always getting into the Cheezits even though he's not supposed to. This time he outsmarted me and stashed them in the barn. Unfortunately, Cullen sniffed them out.

Painting concealer onto my glasses.

Just getting out of the shower and getting dressed.

Boys Will Be Boys

2010-05-28T16:46:00.003-05:00

The other day Blake had a play date with a new friend. As is usual with a 2 year old and a young 3 year old, we kept hearing "Mine!" and whining and the general arguing that goes with playing with someone new for the first time. Allison and I sent them outside and a little while later we realized they weren't arguing anymore - they were getting along.

What could they be doing? Oh, well it seems they found an activity they can both enjoy and do in tandem. They were proud of their skills.

Since this bonding experience they have gotten along splendidly for each playdate :)

Marin Blankinship

2010-04-28T15:33:00.003-05:00

Anyone who knows the Bennetts knows that we grew up with Randy and Mark Blankinship and consider them brothers. It is a tremendous blessing to all of us that he and his wife, Tamra, just a baby girl, Marin Grace.
My mom is the most awesome, diligent prayer warrior I know. I am not on her level! Don't get me wrong, I pray all the time, but I think I'm more of a sprinter than a long distance runner (yes, I'm working on that). But I have fervently prayed, most every day for years, that God would bless Mark with a loving family. Isn't God faithful?!? I just praise His name for this sweet family. Tamra has no idea how much we adore her and we are all so excited to have a new niece! Welcome to the world, Marin! We love you so much!!

More pics!

2010-04-26T14:21:00.003-05:00

Glo Glo (Kyle's mom's name is Gloria, for those of you not in the know) came down for Kyle's cousin's wedding and we had a good weekend. The boys loved getting her all to themselves! We were very sad that Pa couldn't make it, though. Blake also managed to poke a finger into the wedding cake before the Bride got to see it. I, Kyle's graceful bride, managed to fall on the dance floor. But I don't want to talk about that.

Seth and Glo Glo.

Papa and Grammy covered in boys.

No smiles, but at least everyone is looking at the cameras!

Bluebonnets

2010-04-23T17:00:00.001-05:00

I will post more later, but my computer is so slow it took me over an hour to process just this one... but you can enjoy it while I do the rest. It's really the best one by far. The little guys hardly looked at the camera.

Dinosaur cookies. And breaking news about my personality.

2010-04-12T14:28:00.004-05:00

The boys and I found the cutest dinosaur cookie cutters the other day and we had a great time making them. I love how Blake here is imitating me checking the measurement... even though it's a sifter.

In other news, I am scatterbrained. As if anyone who reads this didn't know. Well, I've had these lovely dreams of someday "getting it all together" but perhaps I should just accept my fate and move on. I mean, I'm not talking about lack of organization, that can be improved. But what good does it do to look at your planner, which you so purposely filled out, tell yourself to remember, and then forget five minutes later? The other night I was getting ready for bed when I remembered that I was supposed to throw something in the crockpot for tomorrow. Fine. I was even proud of myself for remembering. So I went downstairs and did it. The next morning I woke up to ruined meat. Forgot to turn it on. Dang it! How am I supposed to get better at that kind of thing?! My "helpful" and naturally logical and pragmatic husband kindly suggested that from now on I should simply remind myself to check to see if it is on. Really? I mean, if I could remember to do that reminder, I could just remember to turn it on in the first place! Sometimes I just feel so "wispy, wispy, wispy!!" - That's a Big Business quote, in case you don't remember your obscure early 90's movies. Great movie.

Cullen at 10 months

2010-04-06T15:44:00.002-05:00

Doesn't he look like Seth here?

He is crawling everywhere, standing up while holding on to something, still toothless (!), and generally a happy little clam. Very easy going.

Bonus pic of Seth. He's at the awkward smile stage. Such a sweet kid. For the record, I know all my horror stories are of Blake, but don't let Seth's innocent big green eyes fool ya. He did plenty in his day, too. I just wasn't blogging yet!

2010-03-03T10:16:00.004-06:00

Seth saved up 200 tokens for doing chores and cashed them in to go bowling. It was a huge hit!! We had so much fun. Blake loved it too. Cullen didn't care.

By the way, I wanted you to see the difference between the last two pics. Our digital camera broke last year, the little one we throw in the bag when I don't want my big one. After researching, I decided the best little point and shoot digital camera under $200 would be The Nikon Coolpix S220. Don't get it! The white balance compensation is all off. On auto, it turns most everything yellow, as in the bottom photo. The top photo isn't very good at all, but it's the best I could fix it with editing. Auto does fine in sunlight, but not indoors. So, if you want a good a good indoor shot, you have to go in and manually preset the white balance for each new setting. Kinda negates the ease of a point and shoot.

A Conversation Between a Dad and His Son

2010-02-23T11:00:00.001-06:00

Scene: Yesterday during breakfast

Friggs: I had a really weird dream last night.
Dad: Oh, really? What was it about?
F: Well, I dreamed Bean (Blake) was made of chocolate.
D: That's weird. Like a chocolate bunny? All chocolate?
F: No, he looked normal, but on the inside he was chocolate.
D: Huh. So what happened?
F: Ummmm, I ate him. But I felt kinda bad afterwards.

Silence.

Dad: Huh. Well, you probably should.

2010-02-15T08:34:00.002-06:00

So Friggs got a yellow at school the other day. This happens sometimes, but it's usually for stuff such as swinging his lunch box in line or something. Normal Kindergarten stuff. This time, though it was actually disobedience. His teacher had to tell him three times to sit down before he obeyed. That is not acceptable to disobey, so I made him write her an apology letter. Is it wrong to think his letter is so stinkin' cute?! I love it. He sounded out all the words and spelled them himself, no help from Mom, which makes it all the cuter. He was so adorable writing that note in a contrite spirit I could have just eaten him up. I didn't let on, though. I was the very soul of sternness with a small touch of "you reap what you sow."

Festivus

2010-02-07T21:59:00.004-06:00

Between Christmas and New Year's my good friend Amy had a Festivus party. For those of you not familiar, Festivus is "the holiday for the rest of us!", a made-up holiday created on Seinfeld by Castanza's dad. You gather around the Festivus pole and have the Airing of Grievances, quickly followed by the Feats of Strength. Then you exchange gifts.

It truly was the most fun I've had in a long time. We did have the Airing of Grievances - It was funny then, but wouldn't be in the retelling. They even erected a Festivus pole in their living room. Awesome. We had a White Elephant exchange - always fun, and then for the Feats of Strength we played Spoons, which I don't think I've played since Junior High. We wrestled for spoons, got bruises, fell out of chairs. And all this time the kids are having a wild rumpus of their own upstairs. A good time was had by all. It must become a yearly tradition, even if it means the Sharps have to drive back from Missouri to come.

Kyle is secure enough in his masculinity to wear the ugly neck scarf he got as a white elephant gift.

Kelly and Amy grappling for a spoon - this went on for several minutes.

Sweet victory for Kelly

Kelly's tacky Chinese Calendar

Kyle A. got a pregnancy test and an ovulation predictor.

Gerry, Amy, and Kelly

Playing Catch-Up

2010-02-06T11:41:00.004-06:00

I wouldn't be surprised if no one reads this blog anymore, I have been so horrible about posting. I am resolved to catch up on the last couple of months, though and be a much better blogger. I have been so busy. I mean, I'm sure everyone is busy, but definitely more so than usual around here. I did not have time to read a single fiction book the whole month of January. This says something HUGE about the state of affairs around here. We have been passing sickness around like you cannot believe. I got sick on New Year's with a stomach bug and was so kind as to send it home with Kyle's family. Then Kyle got it. Then Seth and Blake got a cold. Then Blake and Cullen got pink eye. Then Kyle and I got the regular flu. Then Cullen got pink eye. Then I got pink eye, and here we are.

I guess he started to get out of bed to make mischief and was so tired he fell asleep!

What would a Bennett family get together be without shooting guns? Here I am with Friggs teaching him to shoot a .22 for the first time.

Here's a pic of the Stringer family. Gloria got us all camo gear for Christmas. For New Year's we had a cookout out at the land. I was able to go hunting for the only time this year, but did not see anything. See how everyone's smiling? That's because they have no clue that they will be violently ill within 24 hours.

Had to take a pic of this, I thought it was so bizarre. At the house next to the DQ in Kerrville, there is a patio table with 3 concrete birds. Are they eating or playing cards? Notice the one chair is wheeled, and the other two birds are on concrete blocks!

So cute! I'll be sad when I have no babies to wear outfits with ears on them.

Cullen at 7 months.

He looks sooooo much like Kyle.

December and New Year's in pics

2010-01-04T21:01:00.006-06:00

We took a trip to Kaufman because I was having serious withdrawals from my girls. See how big we're smiling? And we had already been together all day. We're just that jazzed about being together again. I deeply miss their daily presence in my life. I miss having prayer partners who know the ins and outs of my marriage, because they were there with me through some tough times. Of course, they are just a phone call away, but only one of the three really carries her cell phone and answers it regularly (Names are withheld to protect the guilty). Now, San Antonio friends, don't get sad, I love you too. I'm glad I'm here. Wouldn't change it. I just want these girls to move here, too. We stayed up late and talked til the wee hours of the morning, we did Christmas shopping, we managed to cover all manner of deep topics as we usually do. I feel filled up. Recharged. Thanks. Come see me.
Debbie, aka "The Baby Whisperer" making Cullen laugh more in one night than I have total. Knew she would. She's got the gift. He looks a little orange and I have since cut him off from all orange vegetables. Why do all my kids do this?

Grammy with the cutest elf ever. Can you get enough of that hat? I couldn't. I'll probably bust it out again in March and call him a leprechaun. A girl at Kyle's work knitted it for him and it is just to die for.

The whole Bennett crew. We opened up Christmas presents at our house and then got in the car and headed to the farm. We had too much food and played lots of game. We even cooked cabrito. Yum.
I've always been a sucker for the eyes. Man.Friggs with his new camo gear from Glo Glo and Pa. He loves it, of course.

Beyond Gross

2009-12-17T21:21:00.002-06:00

As parents, we all have our strengths and weaknesses dealing with bodily fluids. Poop is not a big deal for me. Well, unless they've taken their diaper off and done something with it. I really hate snot, though. Snotty, drippy noses. Mucus streaks on my shoulder from a crying kid. Gross, gross, gross. Well, I should have been thankful for the shoulder swipe because Bean has found a new place. For the record, I am pretty vigilant about wiping and blowing, but the thing is a faucet this week. So, where, you may dare to wonder, is this new handy handkerchief? I'll give you a hint: It's about his height, so it's pretty handy. It's always covered with fabric. It's nicely rounded to give him a good swiping place. Yep, the kid will walk up behind me and wipe his snot on. my. bottom. YUCK! It is sooooo violating and disgusting. I mean, when it's on the shoulder you can try to wipe it off and rationalize, "You can barely see it. It's nothing compared to the pureed squash droplets." But with this new location, I can't see what he's done, but I know I can't even sit down. I don't have a million pairs of ratty pants to change throughout my day! I'm really trying to nip this habit in the bud.

Editor's note: I am aware that my mother will be appalled that I put this on the internet. This is no reflection of the genteel lady she raised me to be.

Cullen at 6 months

2009-12-10T19:15:00.003-06:00

Here is Cullen at 6 1/2 months. I won't go into all the details that no one but grandmothers care about, but he is a joy and it's been awhile since I posted a pic. We shaved his head a couple months back because it was falling out very patchy, so this is the new growth and I think he has brown hair. Yay! I love blonde, but it's nice to have variety. Love those expressive eyebrows!

Quiche

2009-12-08T21:57:00.002-06:00

I think I've mentioned in a post or two that I've been teaching a cooking class. It is seriously the most fun I've had in a long time. My friends and I were having a playdate one day and we were talking about how we need to share our knowledge or skills - Amanda is the most amazing seamstress, Kelly has mad organizing skills, etc. They said I should teach them how to cook better and I said "OKAY!" in a very peppy, Monica-from-Friends way. So I thought a few people would come, but it has grown and now we have 8 girls signed up. I send out the menu, divvy up the ingredients, they bring them, we crowd into my kitchen, I teach, we eat, they clean. It's heaven. I love cooking. I love teaching. I love eating. I hate dishes. It's a no brainer. So it's been a blast and I toyed with the idea of starting a cooking blog, but decided I'm not ready for the commitment. I don't post on this blog often enough, although I have great intentions of coming up with fresh and witty posts on a daily basis. I just don't need another blog to feel guilty about. So I thought I would just post them on here and if you're not interested you can skip it and check back later when Blake does something naughty again.

I feel that I should emphatically state that not any of my recipes are purposefully low fat or fat free. I try to avoid processed foods, boxed meals, so on, but not fat. I would rather have the good stuff and eat a smaller portion. I use good oils, like olive oil, and butter, not margarine. You will never see a dessert recipe on here that calls for applesauce instead of oil! I would rather not eat it. We do eat plenty of healthy things, like tabouleh, and thai food, so if I remember to keep posting recipes, you will see a very eclectic mix.

So, Quiche Lorraine. Kyle loves my quiche and says it is his favorite thing that I make. Of course he says that about several things, but this does get good reviews.

Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients:

Pillsbury roll-out pie crust

3 cups fresh spinach, packed

1 ¼ heavy whipping cream or half and half

6 eggs

1 heaping Tbs. sautéed onion (or dried minced onion microwaved in butter)

½ tsp. dried mustard

1 ½ tsp. Mrs. Dash

½ tsp. McCormick Seasonall

1 ½ Cups cheese (any ratio of swiss and/or cheddar, I used all the brick of gruyere and then whatever’s left I used cheddar)

5 pieces crumbled bacon – you can use Hormel bacon pieces (about 1/3 cup) in the condiment aisle, but microwave on a plate for about 30 seconds to crisp it up.

1 tomato

Microwave spinach to wilt, layer in pie dish with spinach, bacon, and cheese. Mix all other ingredients with whisk or fork, pour over. Slice tomato and arrange on top.

Remember, Quiches are VERY forgiving! Take the same basic recipe and put all swiss cheese and Herbs de Provence instead of Seasonall, or use ham and broccoli with cheddar, mushrooms are good too, whatever. Be creative.

Bake at 400° for 10 min, then reduce to 350° for 30 min or until toothpick comes out with moist crumbs on it. Let set for 15 min. before serving.

I've included all the shortcuts to take, but obviously, the less shortcuts, the better the quiche. I usually take a few shortcuts but not all.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T08:45:00.006-06:00

- We had Thanksgiving in Winnsboro and a ton of relatives came this year, although by no means all.
- We went horseback riding and on an adventure walk. His parents have a lot of land, and about 10 acres of woods to explore! We pretended to be Indians.
- We pulled an old sled behind the golf cart - super fun!
- We ate too much.
- Gloria and I did Black Friday shopping. I didn't buy much though and I still have tons to do.
- We went down to Longview and saw Mark and Amy. Love their new house!!! Makes us want to build when the time comes. We miss them so much and wish they lived here.
-Thought about accidentally-on-purpose leaving Daisy at my in-laws house, but decided I liked my mother-in-law too much to do that.
- The trip home took over 8 hours - it's a 6 hour trip. I35 was a parking lot from Dallas to Austin, so at Hillsboro we drove an extra hour and a half west and came down 281 instead. I'm sure we made it home faster and at least we were moving. It was actually not that frustrating of a trip, or the longest trip home from Winnsboro. That would be this one.
-Not sure why I did this in bullet points.
-We almost hit a huge owl that swooped down in front of our windshield.
-Decided to listen to Jingle Bells as many times in a row as Friggs wanted. The winning number? 30. Did he get tired of it? No, he fell asleep. In fact, I turned it off at 25 because I thought he was asleep, and he sat up and groggily said "Hey. I'm still awake." Hmmff.

Halloween pics

2009-11-24T15:59:00.006-06:00

Cutest little giraffe ever!

Queen Amidala and Darth Vader (that's us, folks!)
Our annual Halloween party went well. The theme this year was Movie Couples, although some people just did famous couples and that was okay.

Doctor and OctomomHomer and Marge

PeeWee Herman and his love interest

Batman and Catwoman

Danny and Sandy

Juno and Paulie Bleeker (The Winners!!!) - He came complete with orange tic -tacs

Jenny and Forrest Gump

Robin Hood and Maid Marian

Han Solo and Princess Leia

I have to say, I somehow neglected to get Carrie and Kyle's costumes on film, and they were awesome! Their theme was Psycho, so she came wrapped in a shower curtain with a knife sticking out, and He came as old Mrs. Bates. I'm sad I didn't get a pic.

In the trenches

2009-11-19T16:45:00.002-06:00

Sorry for not posting more. The kids haven't done anything abnormally funny, nothing greatly exciting has happened, and nothing witty has come to mind to share. I think this fall I have just felt like I've been in the trenches of motherhood. I've been committed to training Blake into better behavior (more on that in a bit), getting into the school schedule, helping with homework, trying to maintain a clean house (failing at that one...), participating in a bible study, potty training, introducing solid foods, doing MOPS, teaching a cooking class (so fun!), working on my milk supply which keeps dropping, ... the list goes on. As I write this I am covered with the following: spit up, green bean and sweet potato baby food, poop (just a remnant, I'm sure), snot, and hair (I gave Blake a haircut today). Not, I haven't gotten a shower today. I have run 6 loads of laundry and baked a quiche. This really isn't a gripe fest, I am so happy to be a stay at home mom, and am content with my lot in life. I wouldn't miss these days for the world, but Good Grief, I'm tired. Do other moms feel this tired or do I have mono or something? I guess I just feel harried, always scurrying about, feeding, cleaning, changing, repeat. So, not much inspiration for blogging.
Blake, at least is getting his tantrums under control. He will start to scream and throw a fit, and then abruptly stop, take a deep breath, and say "Happy." And then he chooses to be so. It's awesome and it's been a lot of hard work and training!! He doesn't always do this, of course, but we're on the right track.

In case you were wondering...

2009-11-01T16:41:00.002-06:00

In case you were wondering who Blake looks like...

Why I Never Get Things Done (or, Blake)

2009-10-21T08:14:00.004-05:00

I wonder why sometimes I feel so unproductive, so inefficient? Oh, wait. I know. Blake. BeanBean is always into something. Always. He's sweet. He's cute. He's into everything. He feels that almost everything is worth getting disciplined for. Please don't think we let him do what he wants without consequence - or training - we are actually quite consistent. But he's a stinker. For about 3 weeks I carried the camera around and took pics of what he did. By no means did I get them all, and I never took pics of the same thing if it happened more than once. It does. A lot.

tumping over the chair - never allowed

wiping his nose on the sheet that got put on literally less than a minute before

Messing with the forbidden stereo - notice his balance, it's actually quite impressive.

Getting into the chocolate torte. What's a little forbidden dessert right after a bath?

Massacring the tres leches cake

How helpful to "re-organize" for us - glad Kyle checked before pre-heating!

dressing up during nap time

playing with dish soap - He's saying "Uh-oh!" as if it were an accident. I know better.

Orange juice dumped on his head.

Saying "No touch!" while messing in the grill.

he superglued his tongue. Yep.

spare change from his mouth - an almost daily occurence. No, I do not leave change where he can reach it. The kid has problem-solving skills.

Coffee, anyone?

The only time he's at peace! And how sweet he looks when he is.

Mean Mom Award

2009-10-15T19:41:00.004-05:00

I'm pretty cheap and unsympathetic to the grocery store pleadings of my five year old. So it should not have been so surprising when today he looked at me with confusion and asked, "Mom, what is Kool-Aid?" (pronounced like it was a very exotic sounding word). Apparently he heard about such wonderful liquid goodness from school. At home he gets water or milk. Poor kid. I ought to put a kool-aid packet in his stocking or something.

To top it off, here are some angry baby pics. Apparently, pumpkins really tick Cullen off. Is it so wrong to love angry baby pictures? Cause I think it's really funny. He got happy for a very short while and I got some cute ones.pumpkins make him sleepy!

This is his "Joey" face. "How you doin'?"

John 3:16

2009-10-09T13:58:00.002-05:00

Halloween party

2009-10-07T16:11:00.005-05:00

Just a few pics from previous Halloween parties. Good times! I miss you Crystal and Ben, Stefanie and Joe. I guess I can't reasonably expect Scotty and Kristen to come to our party from India, either. We usually have one every year, but this will be our first one in San Antonio! Theme - Movie Couples. Should be fun.

Working on the land

2009-09-30T13:34:00.003-05:00

We have been readying our land out in Hunt for hunting season: clearing brush, setting up feeders, etc. While we were there on Saturday we moved some rocks and found this guy. When he stretches out he is almost as big as my hand! He is a Texas brown tarantula. We left him under his rock.
Yesterday we told Seth that we had him so that we could eat his belly any time we wanted to (we were holding him down and zerberting him, as all good parents should and do) and he said, "No, you had me to be a hard worker!!" He has such a servant's heart. Most kids would be offended by that idea!
Start them when they're young! He had fun working like Dad.

My smiley little guy. What an easy baby! He has to be - he is always getting yanked out of bed to go here or there, or popped off the breast and set on the floor so I can rescue Blake or discipline one of the older boys. He usually just lays there happily for me to return.

Out with Socialism, in with Capitalism!!

2009-09-23T17:05:00.003-05:00

No, this is not a pointed remark towards Obama (although it's certainly apt), this is in reference to the playroom! I read an article several years ago on an approach to getting kids to share toys and at the time I found it unworkable and sort of crazy. But about a month ago, now that Blake's favorite word is "mine" and they are interested in playing with the same toys, I was going crazy anyway listening to them whine and argue. I hate refereeing. I want them to work it out themselves, but I don't want one of them to be the bully (don't assume it's always Seth...). I was always saying things like "Who had it first?" or "Can brother have a turn" or "I know that it's yours but let him play with it. Learn to share. Be happy." For us it wasn't working. Things weren't horrible or anything, but I always felt sort of at a loss as to how to handle the situation each time. They did not play well together.
So, I reread the crazy article and decided to give it a go, at worst it would be a memorable experiment. I decided I'd try it for a month and then blog about it. Maybe it would be helpful, maybe not. Here is what the article proposes: Socialism doesn't work because it encourages selfishness. Having ownership settles disputes. How warm and fuzzy would your heart be if you were forced to share your car with another family? Chances are you wouldn't like it and would struggle with your attitude. Why force your children to do something you aren't capable of? Under the "who had it first, all share" rule, kids are concerned with getting to the good toy first, and when one kid is enjoying a toy, it makes the other kid want it. When they own a toy and decide to share it, it feels good, and they share more.
I followed the steps it layed out. I went through and labeled all the obvious owned toys with an "S" or a "B". I piled all, ALL, the community toys in a pile and called the boys. They took turns picking and I labeled away. They may not play with each other's toys unless given permission. Blake is a little young to always know whose is what, but it still works because Seth will check the initial and then tell him. I explained the rules: "These are your toys. You may decide whether to share or not. You do not HAVE to share anymore. If you leave your toys out, they're fair game." Of course, my huge fear was that they would each be content in their selfishness and never share or play together again.
Results: IT WORKS!! Really well, actually. There is no arguing. Kids love having a solid system. It's the same with Rock, Paper, Scissors -there's just no arguing with the results. Seth checks the initial and moves on, or asks Blake if he can play with it. Seth shares a lot on his own and you can see how good it makes him feel to decide to be nice. They play sweetly together - unless physically hurting each other, but that's another story. More than once in the last month, Seth has come to me and said "Mom, I think you should change the "S" on here to a "B", and I'll give it to Blake!" Oh, to see the kindness in his heart! And I haven't heard "I had it first!" in a good three weeks.

Blake turns 2!

2009-09-17T17:18:00.002-05:00

Did you know a tree this small could even be climbed?! When I saw him I said "Friggs! How are you ever going to get back down?!" He said, "Same way I got up here, I reckon." You know you are from Texas if your 5 year old uses "reckon." By the way, he did shimmy right back down with no problems.

We celebrated Blake's second birthday at Katie and Andy's house. We were going down anyway, and didn't want everyone to have to makc a trip the next week, so we had it there. What a great sister-in-law to host a nephew's party! He had a great time and enjoyed the cake.
Seth's first day of Kindergarten. I cried the night before, but the morning of I did fine. My sweet husband went in late to work so that we could all drop him off at school together. Seth loves it, and is doing great. He is so big!

Long time, no blog

2009-09-10T17:49:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe it's been a month since I last posted! We have been so busy, and I tried to not let myself blog until the house was clean and all my chores were done. Hence the no blogging. In a month. HA! So, the new system is to work a little time into the day for blogging, as I will rarely be all done with housework. I am working on that though. Organization and lack of clutter is the trial of my life! (Hey, I'm thankful it's that and not so many other things.) My house is clean, mind you, but cluttered. I have been rereading How Not to Be a Messie by Sandra Felton and I had forgotten how much I loved it. The author is funny and I have a sneaking suspicion she crept into my house one day and took notes watching my inefficient attempts to keep things tidy. She talks about distractible people, saying they tend to "start looking at a book while dusting the bookshelf; go to put the socks away and end up re-organizing the sock drawer." I am much better than I used to be, however, and I am generally not embarrassed to have unexpected company, as long as they can overlook a pile of clean clothes. But, with a new kid I am re-committing to a schedule and trying to stick with it. For any fellow Messies out there, the following web sites have been very helpful:
- www.flylady.net
- justorganizeyourself.blogspot.com

I will catch up blogging on the events of August soon, but I'll leave you with some pics:

What's more fun than shooting at a dead raccoon with your Grammy? Doesn't everyone do that?

Cullen and his sweet smile, complete with spit bubbles.

The Devil

2009-08-04T13:26:00.002-05:00

Seth: Mom, you know how that old devil lies and tells us we can do whatever we want to do?
me: Yeah?
S: Next time he comes knocking on our door, you let him in. I'm gonna push him down the stairs, wrestle him to the ground, and punch him in the face!! (Said very emphatically complete with arm motions)
me: Sounds good to me!
S: Yeah, I'm pretty strong. I can beat up the devil.
me: With God helping us, we sure can!
S: Well, maybe a little help from God.

Find the Friggs

2009-07-27T17:10:00.004-05:00

Do you see him? This tree was completely covered in grape vine. Underneath it is just a lattice work of vines, so Friggs had a great time climbing all over. We - just Seth and I- went to New Braunfels on Sat. to pick grapes. It was good to spend some time with just him. We picked grapes and shot the slingshot at trains. Good times were had by all.

The Swamp Thing

The other morning the boys were on the couch quietly watching a movie. I went upstairs, put on my clothes, put on contacts, put my hair in a ponytail, and went back downstairs. Blake was on the kitchen counter, covered in butter, which he was, of course, eating and smearing on everything. The little toot jumped a mile when he saw me, too. Fine. I pick him up, swat him, and deposit him outside to continue getting dirty until lunch. I turned and looked at Friggs. He had decided to cut his hair. He said it was bothering him being in his eyebrows. Sheesh. I was upstairs maybe 5 minutes tops. The new 'do. Pretty cute, I admit. But I like it better longer!

Aggie Weekend Continued...

2009-07-23T12:33:00.002-05:00

I mentioned in the last post that we had a lot of company, The Porters, the Dyers, and all their kids. We had too much fun on our "staycation." Together with the Cummings, who are also local, we went to Sea World on Friday. We were a big crew, but we had a ton of fun. We even got rained on a little, which was awesome. Cullen did really well and didn't seem to care at all about the heat. I am so thankful God has blessed Kyle and I with such wonderful friends. We all met our freshman year in Aggies For Christ (except for Amy, who clearly chose the wrong school!) In fact, Victor Cummings was actually on my first date with Kyle - we double dated. The next day when I saw Victor he said Kyle and I hit it off so well he knew Kyle was the one for me - he even put it in writing that we would be married within three years. And we were! So, here's to old friends!!

Mallory Porter and Friggs

Cullen and Elly Dyer

my guys

Aggie Weekend

2009-07-22T12:04:00.003-05:00

This last weekend 9 people staying with us. Nine! Really, I thrive in chaos, so it was wonderful. We had the Dyers in Cullen's room, the Porters in the playroom, and Jarod's mom in the boys' room. The week before, at Grammy's house we let the boys sleep together in their little tent, and they did great, so we thought that it would work again. Wrong. All the grown ups are downstairs playing a game and all the kids are upstairs going to sleep. I thought our boys were doing well -they're zipped up in a tent, what could possibly happen? A lot. I heard noises so I went up to check on them. This is what I found.
So much for that idea! We ended up putting Blake in the pack-n-play in our closet and letting Cullen sleep in his swing. Seth remained in the tent. And here's a pic of Cullen. I love it when they're little and floppy and sleep so heavily wherever they are!

4th of July and Girls' weekend

2009-07-20T10:38:00.005-05:00

This year for the 4th we went up to Winnsboro. Cullen got to meet everybody, including his Nanny, Kyle's grandma who is 91. The trip really was idyllic. We rode 4wheelers, Kyle, his dad, and I went horseback riding (it's been way too long since I've been without kids on with me!), and then we went to the lake. We had fun in the water, ate too much and watched fireworks over the water. Seth said "Mom, this day is SPLENDID!! I want this day every day." Quite a word for a five year old. That's what he gets for having two parents with big vocabularies. He's going to be really cool at school when he drops stuff like, "Interestingly enough..." . But, I digress.

The next weekend we went to my mom's and then from there I took Cullen and went to a reunion. I am so blessed that our group of girls from college has remained close. They are the Class of 2000 Aggies for Christ girls and we get together every other year still. It is awesome to see what God has done with each of our lives. This year we went to Jenny's lake house and basically did nothing. It rocked.Jenny, Paige, me , and Tonya

Katie (my sis-in-law), Lisa, and me
While we were there I was once again reminded how blessed I am that Andy married someone that was my friend first. She is awesome.

Here we all are. It was a bare-bones crew this year, but it was kinda nice because I got to visit with everyone that way.

Just for fun, here is our pic from 2007.

Delicious Snack

2009-07-14T14:22:00.001-05:00

The other day Seth asked me if he could make himself a PB&J. I was busy nursing, so I said sure. When I went downstairs, he said he couldn't find the bread so he made himself something else. Something really, Super Delicious!! Here's the recipe because I'm sure you'll want to make it too. Hey, it's full of protein.
In a bowl, mix:
peanut butter
oatmeal
a little water
cashews
Stir. Top with a handful of grated cheddar cheese.
Eat with a spoon.
YUM!

Of course, I have have trouble getting the kid to eat enchiladas, but whatever.

Cullen updates

2009-07-08T18:06:00.003-05:00

Okay, we've been busy since I last blogged, We went to Winnsboro for the 4th and had so much fun, but I haven't edited any of the pics, so I will post about that later. I finally have Cullen in the nursery at nights - I sleep much better not hearing every little noise, and Blake is in the boys' room full time. Transitioning from crib to bed for Blake took many evenings of standing outside their room and catching him, disciplining him, and putting him back in bed - sometimes 20 times an evening. I would just sit outside his room with a magazine and go in to train him every few minutes. I would much rather devote a week or two of constant training and get it over with and the battle won, than have to live with a kid getting out of his bed all the time. Anyway, except for the occasional lapse, he stays in bed at night and during naps now. Mom is triumphant. That is a strong-willed kid. We told Seth to stay in bed and he did. Although really, Seth is strong-willed too, he just picks fewer battles. To Blake, they're all worth fighting. Many times. So, with Blake out of the nursery I could get out the cute bumper rails out again and the crib skirt and such. So, here are pics of the nursery. We decided we have company too much to not keep the double bed, so we squeezed it in here. And the room decorations are as cute as I can do in a rent house without being able to paint. I am using the same bedding I had for both the boys. I got it in Canton at First Monday and was a little shocked and guilty at how much I spent on it, but it has held up very well, and with 3 boys I have definitely gotten my money's worth!
In other news, Cullen will be 7 weeks tomorrow and weighs 10 lbs! He's doing great. We are completely over the dairy allergy. NAET really works well. He turned out to be even more sensitive than Blake - I know this because within an hour (sometimes right before my eyes) of an allergy treatment he would break out in a rash. It would go away in a day or two, only to reappear at the next treatment. Now we are done, no problems with dairy, no rashes. If you need a provider in your area (I get asked about this a good bit), look at NAET.org.

Whitney Coker

2009-06-25T08:24:00.002-05:00

Hey Whit. I don't remember your married name. This is a little weird to post a note to you here, but I don't have your email and you follow my blog. You changed your blog to invitation only sometime while I was busy having a baby. Invite me! I miss seeing pics of your adorable kids. Do you need my Google name or email or something? Let me know.

Aren't blogs funny? I feel like I've gotten back in touch with people and have renewed friendships through our blogs, even though we still may not have seen each other in years. Gotta love the internet.

Zinnias

2009-06-22T10:36:00.002-05:00

Nothing much to say as I am still dreadfully exhausted, but I thought I'd share a couple of pics I took of one of my zinnias, one of my favorite flowers because they're so cheerful and easy to grow from seed.

More newborn pics

2009-06-17T20:14:00.002-05:00

Okay, here's some pics I took the other day. I will probably use one of them for the baby announcement, so act surprised if you see one of these again!

This last one is of Blake. It was taken by a real photographer (Stefanie, who did my maternity pics), hence the better quality :) I think he and Cullen look so much alike as newborns it is uncanny. Of course, Cullen has more hair, but that is about it!

Last night we played Sorry with Seth and Kyle made up some "crazy cards" and put them in the deck too, they said things like: "flail your arms until your next turn" and "wear a crazy hat for 2 rounds." Friggs, being as weird as us, absolutely loved it. In fact, he had so much fun he was inspired to sing us this song, set to no discernible tune:
I had the funnest day ever
In all America
and the world and the universe
not leaving any place out in the world
Some days I get spankings
cuz I need them...
but not today.
I want to do only things I want to do,
but I don't always get to.

Cullen at three weeks

2009-06-12T14:45:00.002-05:00

We are doing well around the Stringer household. Cullen eats like a champ and is a pretty easy baby, although he is turning out to be sensitive to dairy, like Blake was. No problem, we're taking care of it with NAET like we did with Blake. By the way, that's Natural Allergy Elimination Therapy. It sounds kinda hokey, and I would never have tried it if I had not had a solid, trustworthy recommendation for it. But, we did it with Blake and it worked, so we're doing it again for Cullen. Basically it's Applied Kinesiology and acupressure. I don't really care what it is, if it works, I'll do it. But, I digress. Cullen is doing well, and I am adjusting to little sleep. Hopefully it won't be too long before he's sleeping through the night - maybe a month or so. Seth and Blake slept through at about 6 weeks, but I'm not sure what to expect for a heavy preemie. Do those conditions cancel each other out and make him normal? Or will he do things at the "adjusted age"? We'll see. Anyway, here's some 2 and 3 week pics. He's three weeks old as of yesterday.

Breastfeeding

2009-06-04T08:38:00.002-05:00

That's right men out there. This post is about nursing, so if you're squeamish turn back now...
Okay. In general I really do love nursing my babies and I nursed Seth and Blake for a year. It's all fine once you get the hang of it again and your body settles into it. But may I just take a moment to gripe here - I hate engorgement. It's ridiculous that I have had more pain medicine for my boobs than for giving birth! They're huge, they're leaky, I could feed about 2 and a half kids. Now, I know that too much milk is a blessing, but sheesh. Here is a list of things that make me have letdown:
1. My baby crying.
2. Anybody's baby crying
3. My baby making nursing sounds
4. Kyle pretending to make nursing sounds just to annoy me.
5. Thinking about how much I love him.
6. Ambulance sirens
7. Baby goats bleating (seriously, when I had Seth our neighbors had goats. It was ridiculous. They sound a lot like a real baby crying).
8. Writing about letdown...

Is it this way for everyone?? I go through approximately 20 nursing pads a day.
Venting aside, we really are doing great. He has already surpassed his birth weight and is a happy little guy.

More Cullen Pics

2009-06-01T20:04:00.003-05:00

We're nowhere near settling into a routine at the Stringer house. Cullen is 11 days old today and we have had company at the house every night since he was born. It has been awesome to have family staying with us, cooking, cleaning, oohing and ahhing over the baby, and cousins running a muck with wild abandon. But, we're also looking forward to a little more "normalcy"- or as close to it as we ever get, anyway.
I have a ton of pictures of Cullen already, but I wanted to dedicate this post to his admiring grandparents. Both of these pictures were taken while we were still at the hospital, as our parents met their newest grandson for the first time.

Chuck and Marilyn, aka Papa C and Grammy

Carlton and Gloria, aka Pa and GloGlo

Home at last!

2009-05-27T22:33:00.002-05:00

We are home with Cullen. We came home late Monday night, so he has had his second full day at home. Follow up with the pediatrician today went very well. Cullen is nursing like a pro and sleeps the rest of the time. We are so thankful to be home now and so blessed with as few complications as he had for a 35 week preemie. Thanks for all the calls and prayers. I should get some more pictures posted within the next day or two.

Update on Cullen

2009-05-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

Cullen began nursing again yesterday after follow up tests came back well. He also began "making big poops" in his diaper after nursing. I'm sure he will appreciate everyone hearing about his bathroom issues. He was allowed in a room with Kimberly and me last night. He is technically still "in" the NICU, but they have a family room that is right next to it that serves as a transition from constant monitoring to being released to go home. He did perfectly last night. He is eating and sleeping and pooping like a champ.
They initially thought one night in the transition room would be enough, but his bilirubin levels were up this morning, so they have to keep him at least another 24 hours. This is more precaution than anything else. We were hoping to get to come home with him maybe this evening, but it will now be tomorrow at the earliest.
Thanks for everyone's prayers and encouragement. We are frustrated with having to hang out in the hospital, but that's easy to deal with knowing how blessed we are to have Cullen doing so well.

Cullen James Stringer

2009-05-22T21:00:00.004-05:00

Kyle here. Kimberly sent me home from the hospital to post a blog about our newest addition. I'm sure most of you have heard that boy #3 arrived rather unexpectedly. He seems to have been in some kind of a hurry to join his family here in the outside world- he wasn't due for another five weeks. Here's the stats on the littlest Stringer:
Cullen James
born May 21, 2009 at 1:17 am
6 lbs 6 oz
19.5 inches long

He's doing well considering the preterm issues he's dealing with. He weighed more than they expected, which was probably due to Kim having gestational diabetes with this pregnancy. He has been in NICU since delivery, but he did not require oxygen at all. He is breathing on his own, regulating his own body temp well, and his blood sugar is stable. He did have some bowel issues, mostly just being stopped up. They said it was because the motility of his colon was not strong enough to pass the meconium. They had to do a barium x-ray of his tummy, and it showed no abnormalites. He still can't nurse due to the bowel issues, but they will let Kim try to feed him again in the morning if his follow up xray still looks good. As of now (9:00 pm on friday), he is still on IV fluid only. Pray for a good test result in the morning.
Here are some pics.

Also, Kimberly is doing great. She did still have her stitches in, which miraculously broke without damaging her very badly. The doctor really doesn't know what happened, just that somehow the stitch came undone and then Cullen came very quickly. The stitch was not scheduled to be removed for a few more weeks, like it was with Seth and Blake. We barely made it to the hospital in time. We got there at 12:50 am and Cullen arrived at 1:17. That's 27 minutes folks. Kim hates to waste time. But really, she is up and walking around- you probably would never guess she was pregnant 36 hours ago. We have no idea how long until Cullen can come home, but I don't think it will be more than a couple of days if he continues to do this well. More details later.

Pirate Party

2009-05-20T09:33:00.003-05:00

We just finished with a crazy weekend! Saturday morning I had my shower - I'm so surprised and grateful that my friends threw me a shower even though this is my third boy. But hey, Clothes wear out, things get broken, and diapers are always needed. We had a lovely time. As I was taking pics at the shower it occurred to me that I had never taken any pics of my friends here, and I do in fact have friends in San Antonio. I have been going to church at NEBC for a year now, and God has richly blessed me with friends - closer friendships than I thought I would have in one year, and I look forward to becoming closer still. So, here are some shower pics:

My hostesses: Amanda, Sandra, Leni, (me), and Kelly

Kelly and Leni

Mom, me, and Katie
P.S. Katie might win sister-in-law of the year award because she swept and mopped my floor for me before the party - which I knew was futile but really wanted done b/c I am in that stage of pregnancy!

Sandra, Wendy, and Dawn

And here is the pirate cake! It turned out really well, and I had fun making it. I never would have thought I'd be the type of mom to do cool cakes, but I really enjoy it and it's not hard. I think I like it b/c cakes like this are more in the vein of building, which I can do, than creating. If I had to make a wedding shower cake look pretty or something I would be pretty lost. It really helped to do this cake in stages and freeze it before I started icing the exterior. The party was a little crazy - it poured rain and we had to very quickly clean out the garage to make room for all the tables. Fortunately, it dried up in time for the pinata! Then that evening family and friends went out to the Grist Mill to eat! All in all, it was a great time.

Ladies, he did good...

2009-05-12T20:18:00.003-05:00

I had quite a Mother's day. I got homemade waffles for breakfast, homemade cards from the kids, a sweet note from Kyle and we went out to eat for lunch. I even had a nap. All this is my usual treatment for Mother's day and I love it. I have no other expectations whatsoever, so I was shocked by Kyle's extravagant gift. He got me a little blue box. That's right, ladies. Kyle bought me a pearl necklace from Tiffany's and I write this not to brag about my necklace (well, maybe a little, it is gorgeous) but to brag on my husband. He's amazing! I've never gotten a little blue box from him before, and frankly I don't expect to ever get one again. I'm not a huge jewelry person, but I have been asking for pearls for the last year. Let me clarify, though. By pearls, I meant maybe a $20 knockoff from Dillard's or something. You know, one up from Target maybe. This was so far beyond my expectations that I was speechless. Take note, men out there. Every once in a blue moon, a girl needs a grand gesture! He did awesome!

Also, just a pic to show you how I'm doing. I'm at 33 weeks now and definitely feeling huge. I'm not fishing for compliments, here, I know I haven't gained too much, but I FEEL huge. I also think I've dropped already. He's just so much lower this whole week than last week. Really, I'm doing great, very little swelling and no real complaints, just general pregnancy gripes.

Easter

2009-05-07T11:36:00.009-05:00

Okay, here are my Easter pics - very belated, but oh well. I just got Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and it is very addictive. I have had a lot of fun learning cool ways to edit my photos. I didn't use it for all the pics, just the first 3. It is incredibly slow on my computer. Really makes me want a Mac!

Roger and Beth. I Love this picture! Kyle took it.

I think I should frame it.

Claire (Andy's girl) painting an egg

Easter eggs!

Laura (Roger's girl) Both girls are so pretty! I didn't get a portrait pic of Maddie this time, I will have to try again soon.

All the Bennett grandkids

My boys on Easter morning.

Numbers

2009-05-05T17:15:00.003-05:00

1/2 inch: depth of water covering floor of upstairs bath when I checked on Friggs in the shower today. He had plugged the drain. It is a shower only.
1: number of times Friggs turned the sprinkler on me.
1: number of books I've had to read in the last nine days (not acceptable! Library, open!!)
2: number of hours Kyle and I spent training Blake to stay in bed last night.
4: number of times I got up to use the bathroom last night.
5: number of times Blake has climbed into the top bunk in the last two days, even though the ladder is not on there.
6: number of items Daisy has completely eaten in the last two days.
9: number of days kids have been at the house without leaving, thanks to swine flu and everything being cancelled.
12: number of buttons I've fished out of Blake's mouth.

Frogs and Such

2009-05-01T19:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, obviously I have posted before about Seth and frogs. They are all different frogs; we find one and keep him for about a week and then I say something like, "Friggs, I think he misses his family, we have to let him go." Enter this week's frog. Let me just say that I hope PETA is not reading this, because little boys are rough on frogs! I mean, Friggs is just playing with him, it's not like I would let him take a hammer to the frog or anything, it's just that at the end of each frog's stay it probably has a little internal bleeding. Friggs runs him around the yard like an airplane. I have tried to explain the finer points of holding a frog under the armpits to do this, but he usually holds his legs, leaving the entire body to flail back and forth. He throws him up in the air and tries to catch him - I do get onto him for this one. Last Sunday took the cake, however. My parents and Kyle and I were playing Catan, Scooter was napping, and Friggs was outside happily playing with his frog. He came running in and said ,"Everybody come watch! I made my frog a swing!!" Uh-oh. So we run out there, and sure enough Friggs has tied the frog up under his arms with the loooooong cord of the outdoor roll-down shade. He then backs up about three feet and let's him swing, and precedes to gently push him, all the while smiling at himself for being so friendly and being such a good host to the frog. The frog is seriously swinging about five feet back and forth. If it is possible for a frog to look ticked, this one does. The frog did live (he did look a bit swollen) and lived to at least hop, hopefully far, far, away.

Growing up, I always loved the little boy from Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson and thought it would be fun to have a mischievious little boy like that someday. Little did I know...

In other news, I'm sure everyone is aware that we live in Cibolo, where there is swine flu. I'm going a little stir crazy staying home and even the public library is closed! How's a girl supposed to cope without a book!! I guess with all this staying home my house should be sparkling clean! But, hey, I'm me, so it's not. I am doing a lot, but I have officially reached eight months pregnant, and I get tired easily, and don't sleep well at night. That's just the way of it!

Random Montage

2009-04-16T11:20:00.003-05:00

Okay, sorry it's been awhile since I posted. Things have been crazy. Seth had got a stomach bug when we were at the farm for Chuck's b-day. Then of course there was Easter, and now I have pneumonia. It's not a bad case at all and we are very thankful for it. In fact we spent Tuesday in Urgent Care praying specifically for pneumonia because the doctor felt it was either that or a pulmonary embolism - blod clot in the lungs, which is very serious and would have required major tests that have some risks to the baby and surgery. So, yea pneumonia! Thanks to those of you who prayed and for Kelly who so awesomely took care of my kids for a day and a half!! I see creme brulee in your future...

So, this post is just catching you up with some random photos. I will post on Easter as soon as I get the photos edited!

Here is Seth on the way home from the farm when he was sick. He just sacked out in the car. I couldn't resist a picture of those lashes! They are just like Kyle's. Why do boys get them??

When we were at the farm, Kyle said, "Okay, Blake come here, it's time for your bath!" Blake didn't come, so Kyle came out of the bathroom and asked where he was. We had just seen him, but now he was nowhere. Immediately (it's a big house) we have me, Kyle, Grammy, and 2 aunts fanned out and looking. It took a minute, but finally, Grammy called from her bathroom, "Bring your camera!" Blake had obeyed. He went to Grammy's tub, got in - clothes and shoes still on, of course- turned on the water (thankfully cold) and was attempting to scrub himself!

This is Seth and Rylan Cummings at Braden's b-day party. I just thought it was so sweet that they don't get to see each other often, but love each other and pick up right where they left off!

Look what we found when we moved some furniture in Blake's room!

Look at this little flirt! I have no idea where he would get that! He is going to be a ham, I can tell you that now. His little personality is really starting to show.

Maternity Photos

2009-04-03T18:05:00.003-05:00

My dear friend Stefanie drove all the way down from Kaufman and did my maternity photos for me yesterday. She does all my maternity and baby pics and she is awesome. In case you are in the DFW area and ever want to use her, here is her info: Stefanie Reese, Reflections of Faith Photography, 469-261-0211. She is very talented at working with natural light and settings. Anyway, I have to admit that the idea of having all these portraits made of myself seems incredibly vain to me, except for the fact that I am pregnant, and I always feel so special when I am pregnant, like I am walking around with physical evidence of God's great blessing on my life. So, I love maternity photos and have an album for each kiddo. I will say that yesterday was crazy! It was nice and sunny, with sustained 35mph winds!!! It was very hard to work with, but that's okay. We took the pics in Gruene, some at Gruene Hall and the Gristmill. Such a cool place. We pretty much took pics all day, with a couple of breaks for shopping and lunch. I would never take so many if it were a paid session, but I am her guinea pig and I do what she tells me and we try lots of things and have fun. She took over 400 pics! Don't worry, I won't make you look at them all. That many pics means that a few turned out perfect. I also asked her to take pics of Kyle and I- something I realized we haven't done (professionally) since our wedding! I love them.

If you want to see the rest, check facebook or click here.

Precocious

2009-03-31T21:51:00.003-05:00

Today while driving in the car, we had this conversation:
Friggs: Mom, who were you talking to?
Me: I just got off the phone with your dad. He's on his way home for lunch.
Friggs: And he's already driving in his car, I presume?

Snake business

2009-03-26T22:04:00.005-05:00

The other day at Landa Park the kids and I noticed a snake. No, I'm not scared of snakes at all due to my upbringring, although I run away from roaches. I didn't say it was logical. Anyway, we kept a respectful distance away, well out of striking range, but I did point it out to Seth and we talked about it. It cracks me up. I'm sure most of the kids there will grow up terrified of snakes because of their mother's reactions. They were shrieking and making their children get back about 20 feet. Like it's some kind of amazing uber-snake that leaps great distances at people, away from its habitat, the water. Anyway. I couldn't tell while first looking at it whether it was just a water snake or a water moccasin - poisonous. So here's your snake lesson, you be the judge (Arwen, please have Randy look at this and give me the verdict!)

Here's the snake I saw:

Water snakes: non-triangular head. Usually long and skinny. Swims with only head out of water (I didn't get to see this one swimming). Can be banded. Round eyes.

Water Moccasins: triangular head. Has vertical slit-like pupils. Hour-glass banding. Can vary in color. Usually very thick for its length. Swims almost completely on top of water.

I know of a way to tell whether or not a snake is poisonous by looking at the underside of its tail, but I'm not getting that close if I'm not sure and it's not dead!

Diamond backed water snake (harmless)

Brown Water Snake:

Banded Water Snake:

Water Moccasin (venomous):

For the record, I am pretty sure it was just a Diamond backed water snake. We'll see what my brother Roger says - he's the resident animal expert!

Newest Niece

2009-03-22T20:12:00.002-05:00

I'm a tad late putting a pic up of my sister's daughter, who was born in January. I drove up to Winnsboro right after she was born, but Kim and the boys have yet to meet her. She is very cute, as you can tell, and she is bound to be spoiled. She is, so far, my parent's only granddaughter. And, apparently, we can only concieve male children, so she may be the only one ever. My sister, Kali, and her husband, Justin, are very proud of her. She is doing well. In an effort to prevent wrath from my sister, I cropped her out of this picture. Hopefully soon she will send me a whole family picture. They also have a son, Carter, who is 9.

Crazy??

2009-03-20T16:32:00.002-05:00

Last night Kyle came home from Walmart and said, in a somewhat freaked out voice: "I think I just saw a crazy person. Seriously. Not just a little off, or weird, but seriously loonybin crazy."
Me: "Why? What were they doing?"
Kyle: "She was sitting down, cross-legged, in the middle of the baking aisle, just eating a tub of icing."
Me:"What kind? How was she eating it?"
Kyle:"It was chocolate. She was digging into it with her fingers. She never even looked up."
Me:"Hmm. Could be PMS. Sounds about right to me."