Christmas...all wrapped up in one LONG post

Sorry that I have not been on here to update much. We have had one crises after the other it seems in our house. We have had constant sickness since October and the latest one just about did us in. Alan was not feeling well for about a week and went to the dr. and was diagnosed with diabetes. Less than a week later he was at the dr.'s twice for a staph infection on his side that the first dr. misdiagnosed as an ingrown hair! So my focus has been on everyone else and not on this. We are all doing better now though.

In between all of this chaos were festivities for the boys at their schools and our holiday programs.

Blake was one of the Wiseman for our school's Christmas Program. Cutest wiseman I ever saw!!


Here is Alex at his performance. They did the Polar Express and got to wear their p.j.s and slippers to school. He actually sang and did the movements. It so made me cry, becuase at our old school he would stand there with his fingers in his mouth. I told him this year that no one would be watching him but mommy and daddy, and that all the other people that were there would be watching their own kids. This seemed to help a lot with his nerves.


We were lucky that since we had so much going on in our lives that Nena came to visit us for Christmas this year. It was nice not to have to drive the 12 hours each way to see her. Later the next week we all went to the North Pole to go visit Santa. Every year at Canyon lake we go up and they transform the recreation center into the North Pole. They have a library where the kids get to pick out a book of their own, the toy shop where they pick out a stuffed animal to take home, the bakery where they decorate sugar cookies, a fishing hole, hay rides, Santa, and much more. We go every year, but this year Alex was acting so grouchy. He finally let us know that he wasn't feeling well which is par for the course in the house right now so we cut out a little early. The neates thing about this is though is that the boys really believe that this in the REAL North Pole. It's the cutest thing ever.
North Pole Pics




Then the real fun began. Santa had to have cookies baked and reindeer food had to be sprinkled and Aunt Sarah arrived for a day so that we could spend some Christmas fun with her and open up our Wii that Nena, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah bought them! Overall we all had a great Christmas. Alan has two weeks off for the break and so do the boys and I. We don't go back until January 5th and until then we are going to enjoy each other and just relax at home playing our new toys, games and of course the Wii. Hope that everyone had a great Christmas and have a great New Years!

Making the Cookies For Santa...and for us!

Because you can never have too many sprinkles!

Sprinkling the reindeer food on the lawn so the reindeer have something to eat while Santa is dropping off our presents

Oh Christmas Tree

Yes people....its up...and it's not even Thanksgiving, but gosh how I love it. The tree is up, the stockings are hung and hot cocoa is brewing. :) This past weekend we put the tree up. The boys had a blast putting up all the ornaments on the tree and I love how excited they get to see the ornaments that they have made over the years. Our tree truly is a family tree that consists of ornaments that I made when I was little and ornaments that hung on the tree when I was growing up and also the ones that they boys have either picked out or that they have made for us. And the tree itself isn't the best looking tree either, but it's one that was used by my grandparents at their house. It's the tree that I remember always being decorated and filled with presents at their house at Christmas time. There are so many memories that flood back whenever I even glance at the tree.

And I must give thanks to Alan who took the initiative to hang the outside lights up too. And no we were not the first people to hang theirs up. We would never ever do that! :) So we waited until atleast 2 other people had theirs up. I did have to take down the fall decorations though the next day. Looked a little funny with the lights up and the scarecrow standing in the corner. There is a limit to our madness.

After the tree was up and the hot cocoa was drank the boys decided to take empty boxes and fill them with toys from their closet and then come out and "open" them up in front of us by the tree so that we could see what they got from Christmas. It was so cute. Good night with great kids.

Here are some of the pics from our decorating.



Our littlest angel putting on the angel that my grandparents used on their tree.

Taking a break

We are free...we are free to do anything that we want for the next 9 days! That's right...9 days!! The boys and I are off for Thanksgiving next week and we couldn't be happier. Alex has been counting down his 9 day weekend as he calls it for over a week and he was so happy to go to bed and wake up tomorrow and not have to go to school.

NO big plans this week. We are staying home this year and will be joining Dad and Kim at their house for Thanksgiving. Last year we went to moms house for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. This year we opted to take the easier and lazier way and not drive 24 hours roundtrip two times in less than 3 weeks, since we always go back up for Christmas too. We will head up for just Christmas this year, but will be there on Christmas morning though which will be neat. They have never been able to be with our family on the actual Christmas day since the boys were born so I am looking forward to that experience.

Besides that no plans...I want to decorate the house for Christmas and just relax with the boys...and be thankful...
Thankful for them, Alan and my life.

Here are some pics from last year when we were at moms for Thanksgiving. One of the boys favorite things to do is ride bikes or four wheelers down her driveway. It's nice and long and pretty steep which is very appealing to boys and anything with wheels that they can roll down and scare the crud out of me!

Just another Manic Monday

Mondays are my day, Mondays are my day...this is a chant that I need to start saying to myself more often when people ask me to do favors for them on Monday. Monday is my time to go to the grocery store, do our laundry from the week before that I never touched and to organize and straighten the house back up. Mondays are the one day out of the work week that I don't work...My Mondays though for over the last month have consisted of taking children, granddad and dad to the drs. Tons of fun people...tons....and today I am at it again. Off to the dentist with Blakers. Atleast we can be home for a little bit before and after his appt though before I have to get Alex from school.

This past weekend was a good one...relaxed on Saturday and then headed to Six Flags on Sunday. No one was there and the weather was cool. SO nice to be able to spend a stress free day with the boys watching them ride rides and just smiling at their happy faces. Their smiles and laughter is so contagious! One of the days where you feel truly blessed.

I am super excited to put up our Christmas decorations. I even tried to convince Alan that it was ok to put them up this past weekend. My reasoning...that we will be leaving for moms house the middle of December to spend Christmas morning with her and we wouldn't have that much time to "enjoy" our decorations here. He didn't buy it. He is very much one that we shoudn't get the tree or decorations out until after Thanksgiving and I am all about setting it up pretty much after Halloween... :) I love the mood that Christmas time puts everyone in!

Now that I have rambled on for this post I need to get going....putting some chicken noodle soup in the crock pot for dinner tonight...such a good housewife and mom! :)

Where's the kitchen table?

So since everyone has been so sick this week...and the last 3 weeks on top of that, I am admitting that my house looks like it should be thrown out and we should just start over. Mind you that it's not dirty, its just so cluttered. There are shoes laying around there and some toys over there and then wait...is that a kitchen table I see underneath all of Alex's school papers? Why yes it is....So....this weekend we will be doing some "rearranging" of the clutter that has consumed us this past couple of weeks and we will get our "healthy" mojo back and be back to normal. I am praying for one week of healthy kids and parents...please pray with me!! :)

Who do I have to pay?

Who does one have to pay to get exterminate all sickness out of their house? For real...I'm not kidding...

Back to Blake now who has vomitting and fever, Alan who has some sort of nasty head thing going on and now me...Praying that Alex doesn't get it again and that this can be the last round for us. I am tired of someone being sick and not being healthy.

The shortest engagement....Thank God

Just wanted to let everyone know that they no longer have to save the date for Alex and the little girl in his classes wedding. I picked him up from school today and before we even made it out of the parking lot he informed me that he didn't want to marry her anymore. I asked if they had an argument or a fight, he said no he just didn't want to get married.

I hope that he let her know of his plans now and that they ended as friends! :)

I love this blog...and Alex's marriage

I love this blog for the simple fact that not only can I update everyone on how we are doing and what we have been up to, but also for the simple fact that I can take this and have a written record for us to look at years from now. I love the fact I can see what we did during a month or what one of us accomplished or what milestones we went through that year. I also love the fact that when one of the boys does or says something cute there is no way that I will froegt it or lose the piece of paper that I wrote it down on.

That being said, Alex and I had a conversation that even when I told Alan about it, he said that it was blog material...I agree!

So friday we are driving home from school after I picked him up. I asked about his day and what they did and I got the average response of fine and nothing...no suprises there. Then he says to me in all honestly that he would like to marry a little girl in his class. After his telling me about his impending marriage I told him that you needed to be an adult to get married. He then replied with, "Well mom I am 6 now."
I let him know that "you have to have money though to be able to buy a house to live in and you wouldn't be living with mommy and daddy anymore." I thought that this would get him....but no...He then let me know that "I guesss I will wait until I am 7then." I let him know that this sounded like a good idea. Later that night at dinner we discussed his marriage plans a little more with Alan. We asked Alex how he planned on supporting her and he said that" I will just kiss her and love her."
"But Alex you cant be kisssing the kids in your class."
"Mommy I can if I am married to them."
Got me there.
We finally convinced him to wait until he is 7 and then we will talk more about the subject and Emma. I am sure by then that a new "crush" will come along and we will convince him to wait until he is 8. God love him though...and I love the fact that one day I can share this with his kids about their daddy and his first "crush".

Hard to believe

It's hard to believe that I am now the mother of a 6 year old. Time truly has flown by and I feel at times that I haven't stopped to soak enough of it in. In any case though 6 years have gone by since Alex entered our lives...

We wanted to do something special for his birthday and he is still ADDICTED to Thomas, so what better place to go than the Day Out With Thomas. This place is like Disney for Thomas the Train lovers. He got to ride on Thomas and was so excited when we got there. He still thinks that Thomas is real and we go along with it. Thomas to him is like Santa...we are keeping the innocence there for as long as we can. Since he thinks that Thomas is real though he said that he was disappointed that Thomas did not speak to him. We had to explain that Thomas can only speak on the Island of Sodor where he is from...I don't know if he bought it or not.

So heres to 6 years and many many more. We love you Alexander and you are the best 6year old ever!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Alan....Thanks for being a great daddy and hubby! We love you!

Just when you thought it was over....and Halloween

So....we thought that the sickness had been passed down to Blake and then it was done...that's what we got for thinking...never do that again! :) Alex ended up getting a fever over the weekend only to go to the dr's on Monday to discover that he had strep! Lovely! So after two days at home and starting his antibiotics he went back to school today, and we started prayers that Blake will NOT catch this too from his brother. I mean really, we need to draw the line at sharing somewhere don't we? So if you are the praying kind...and I pray you are, pray for healththy kids in our house as we celebrate Alex's 6th birthday this weekend and Alans 30 something bday tomorrow.

And we have now solved the problem of what to be for Halloween. We went to Party City on Sunday and got Blake a Clone Trooper that he really wanted to be so that he could have a light saber. Let me explain that Party City on Sunday was crowded, but not insane...So then yesterday we headed out to find Alex's costume...and Party City on Tuesday, well it was insane... We were on the hunt for a scooby doo costume that wasn't $50.00...yes has anyone priced kids costumes these days? INSANE! When we got to the store he decided that he infact did not want to be scooby doo, but instead wanted to be bumblee bee the transformer...we happily went along with that since that was only $20.00! Thinking we got a huge savings! Blake then changed his mind and since his brother was a transformer he should be one too, so back went the Clone Trooper from Star Wars(what is a Clone Trooper anyway?) and he decided on optimus prime transformer. SO this year we will have two extremely cute transformers running around our neighborhood. Stay tuned for pics from this year, but in the meantime check them out form previous years!

2005

2006

2007

Lysol anyone?

Good gravy someone give me some lysol....now it's Blakes turn. Blake was sent home from preschool today with a fever of 101. Poor little guy. He came home and took a little nap and then rested on the couch. He was so cute all curled up with a blanket and a pillow...my little man looking so big on the couch. Hopefully it's a small bug like Alex had and that we have seen the worst of it already. I am going to say an extra prayer tonight for a healthy house and some relief from all the crud that's coming our way.

I shouldn't go to school today mommy...I might get sick again

I am so tired...tired of Alex not feeling well. All started 2 weeks ago now on Friday with his tooth hurting and being on antibitoics for 7 days and then having the tooth pulled last Wednesday. I send him back to school Thursday happy as a clam and Friday morning I do the same...only to get a phone call from the school nurse saying that Alex is running a fever. He never runs fevers....shouldn'y say never though I guess. VERY RARELY does he get a fever...so I pick him up and we head to the pediactricians only to have a....VIRUS....no medicines will work, only rest and cold liquids. Suprise suprise! So two ping pong sized tonsils later he is feeling better and will head back off to school tomorrow. So now in the span of less than two months my child has thrown up at school, had a toothache, and now fever....great.

He is now convinced himself that going to school will cause toothaches, headaches and throwing up. Great start to his first year if I do say so myself.

My Toothless Wonder

Wednesday Alex lost one tooth...not the natural way though, but who is counting right? I mean the tooth fairy still comes no matter what...doesn't she? He had to have a tooth pulled on Wednesday and he looks so darn cute it's not even funny. I was a little sad to see it go though...and as weird as that sounds if you are a mother you probably understand. You look at that smile for years and years and when they lose one of those teeth it forever changes what you have seen....their smile for several years. Their smile will not look the same as it did when they were just babies...sappy and sentimental I know. But gosh he looks adorable and you cant help but smile when he does now. So precious!!

Tuesday night with a full set of teeth

Wednesday afternoon

Can we keep her now?

So mom...aka Nena has been in town looking and we have been loving having her here! The boys have decided that she is to stay forever and Blake even asked when we picked her up from the airport if we got to keep her now. We are hoping so. Please pray for a job nearby and then the boys wishes will be granted! We have been trying to make the most of the time that we do have with her right now though and have been trying to spend it doing the best thing there is...making memories! We have been to ride the train at the zoo which we haven't done in almost a year, went to the Japanese Tea Gardens and then today to the Corn Maze near Hondo.

Train Ride



The boys had a blast at the maze! They could have cared less about the whole walking through the 7 acre maze though...they weren't at all impressed with trying to get through it and the whole concept of getting lost in the maze didn't appeal to them at all...my little city boys! The did however love the corn popper which was a huge trampoline, the slides and even won a bag of kettle corn when they shot the corn cannon and hit the target. Fun was had by all and we loved being with Nena!

Hay Jumping

Barrel Train

Corn Popping

Please return in original condition

I must admit that Kindergarten has been a huge adjustment for all of us. I have to wake up earlier which I am so not liking and actually be pulled together and functioning before the sun is even up. The one though that has had the biggest change is Alex.

He wakes up this ball of sunshine. He is happy with the world, is eager to start the new day and is smiling and happy. I am however wondering what they do to them when they are at school...for when I pick him up he is not the same boy when I dropped him off. He is cranky, moody and irratible. I know that he is just so tired. You can see it on his face and in his body. He has that "glazed" over look like any second he will fall asleep. I know that they are busy and that Kinder is not like when I went and we played in centers for most of the day, then had snack and then a rest time. They are working these kids. He comes home with info in his head that I have trouble putting my mind around. He is reading some books already and is so proud of himself...I would however love to be able to tell them when I am dropping him off to please return him to me the way that I am giving them to him. :) We are blessed though that he has a great teacher who seems to be wonderful for Alex.

Blake has been doing great in Pre-K and is happy to be the big dog on campus this year. He is starting to write his name and has been learning letters already. He loves his teacher Ms Traci who was also Alex's teacher last year. She is amazing and we all love her. Blake talks non stop about her. Alex even asked him the other day why he talked about his teacher so much....cause we love her thats why! Last week he even had a first...his first kiss. This is his fourth year in the same class with this little girl and from the time that they were in the baby room they were inseperable. Well he walked right up to her in chapel of all places and gave her a smooch on the lips. So cute...we had to remind him though that we cant walk around kssing our friends...just give her a hug next time.

Besides that all is well. Mom comes on Monday for some interviews here. We are so excited to have her here for however long that may be. We wish her nothing but happiness and selfishly wish that she found hapopiness here in SA or close by so that we could have more of her time. We all miss her so much when we are apart. We need our Nena!

Alex crashed after a long day at Kinder


Our superhero Blake doing a superhero flying move

Kinder in the house

Sorry that this post is long overdue, but honestly I was dreading it and thought that the more I avoided it that maybe the day would never come....it did though! Alex had his first day of Kinder yesterday and we both made it through it. He seemed a little excited actually to be going to Kinder and it didnt hurt at all that one of his friends from preschool was in his class. He went right in and sat down and just kinda stared at everything and everyone and then colored a little on the color sheet that his teacher had at their desks. I said my goodbyes with Alan and Blake and told him I would love him and only teared up a little during all of this....then I turned to leave and BAM....let the floodgates open. It wasn't a pretty picture at all...sobbing and moms that I dont even know coming up and asking us if I had a kindergartener....was it that obvoius...what gave it away....the crying without breathing?

He made it though...he didnt get lost, seemed to have a good time...and went back again today without kicking and screaming. He talked more today about what he did and who he sat next too etc...and I didnt cry in the hallway either when I left his room....overall it was a great 2nd day.

Here are some first day pics that we took!

The countdown begins....

I have been dreading the start of August....because when August starts that means that summer is almost at an end and when Alex will be off into the big world of Kinder. I am excited for him...sad for me that my baby is growing up and "moving" into a new phase of his life. He will be on his own in a big school without Blake or I with him. This scares the living crap out of me!

I am not going to get too sappy though today, because I am sure there will be that ONE BLOG where I break down and all emotions come pouring out. Not today though....today I will be strong and think happy thoughts! :)

Yesterday was another fun filled day at 6 Flags....I swear the kids could live there. After 6 flags we came home and rested, got some lunch and then rested some more. So hot to do anything during the day except swim. So last night we went to Hemisfair Park. For those that don't know its a wooden playground downtown by our convention center. The boys had never been so we headed downtown for some late night fun. They had fun playing and we walked by the convention center which has waterfalls and a large hill that was screaming for the boys to roll down. So they rolled and we left only to have Blake scream half the way home that he was itchy from the grass....last time he rolls in the grass thats for sure without a bath readily available to wash him off after.

Fun was had by all though and we marked one more day off of our end of the summer calendar...countdown to school....

Waiting for the swing


Thinking about life at the end of the slide


Rolling

Summer Nights

Lord help me to remember these nights when everything seemed just right.

The boys riding their Power Wheels in the front and then running through the sprinklers, then jumping up and hitting their bellies like they are in some sort of wrestling match and thinking that this was the funniest thing ever...and last but not least hearing the ice cream truck and sitting out on the driveway eating our spongebob and ninja turtle ice creams.

Help me to remember the easiness of tonight and all the fun we had just being carefree during the summer nights...

Getting ready for the belly bump




Sprinkler Fun

I want to rock and roll all night...and party every day!

A friend of mine was over at the house for a day this week and she brought her Wii with her. I am so glad that she did, because I have been trying to convince Alan that they boys would love one. I love the fact that with a lot of the Wii games you are up and moving around rather than just sitting there. Needless to say Alan loved it and so did the boys. I thought they were going to cry when they left with it. Here are some of the pics of them rocking out playing Rockband! Too cute..and you gotta love just how serious they were when they were playing!!

Home

We are home now. We actually got back home last Thursday, but quickly fell back into our everyday lives here and I got busy and didn't post it. Fun was had by all at my moms, but must admit that it is so nice to be able to sleep in your own bed!

Now the fun starts of getting everyone ready for school. We have all of Alex's school supplies already, but still need clothes for everyone and some little things before we are done. Hoping to get it done early so I am not scrambling at the end to finish it all up. I am already having enough anxiety about Alex starting Kinder and Blake and I being at a different school so I don't need anything else to stress me out!

Mud Island

The other day we headed over to Mud Island to let the boys splash in the water. Mud Island is a neat little place where they have a smaller version of where the Mississippi River runs and then they fill it with the "Mississippi River" and kids and adults can walk the path of the river. At the end of it there is a great little water fountain where you can actually run around and "swim". There are no water parks nearby here so there were actually people there in their suits with a little cooler letting their kids splash for the day. Just funny to think that this is their little water park...

The best part for Alex about going to Mud Island is that you get to ride a Monorail over to the Island. Alex LOVES any type of transportation, especially any type of train. This pretty much makes the trip for him when he gets to do this. He wanted to ride the trolleys after this, but since the temp here with the heat index was about 106 that day and I don't think the trolleys have air, we passed on that. Maybe at Christmas time!

Blake and Nena on the Monorail


Alex and Nena on the Monorail


Looking at the Mississippi River


Texas Boys!


Walking the "Mississippi River" with Nena


Blake in the river


Alex walking the river


Splash area at the end