Spring Break is coming to an end!

SeaWorld March 19th, 2009

The Children's Museum March 21st, 2009

Well, Spring Break is coming to a close for our family. Chris and myself had to work for most of the week, but were lucky enough to both get Thursday off so we could take the kiddos to SeaWorld in San Antonio! That was a quick fun trip! (Of course, next time we will look further into the location of the motel we book!) It was me, Chris, Chris's mom Nikki, Katie, Nathan, and their cousins Sioux, Shelby, Cole, and Jack. We drove up there late Wednesday night, and got up early Thursday morning to eat breakfast with Shamu! We tried really hard to cram all we could into one day; needless to say, we did not get to do or see everything, but the kiddos still had a blast!

Today, my mom and me took Katie, Nathan, and Katie's friend Lucy to the Children's Museum. Like always, more fun was had! We were just there two weeks ago for the sneak-peek of their new exhibit, but even more new areas had opened since then! This place is REALLY neat-o! If you have kids, you must take them there... if you haven't already!

A visit from "Hale"

Today we had the biggest Hale-storm we have had in quite sometime! The hale was not even that large, but the quantity was outrageous! It started off sounding like a light rain, then the noise got louder and louder. Katie asked, "Is that Hale"? I had been sitting in front of my laptop ALL DAY doing math problems for my online class, and I jumped up to look... sure enough, it was hailing loudly! I scrambled to locate my camera, with no luck at first. Our housekeeper had placed my silver camera into a silver item, and by time I located it, the hale storm had passed, but the hale was still on the ground! It was 2-minutes of sheer 'hale'!

"Katieolas"

Chris and I have been creating a new look for our front yard by pulling weeds, tilling, and planting some simple, yet attractive landscaping. Since our house is red brick with white trim, we decided to stick with plants that bloom only white flowers. We planted 12 Indian Hawthorn bushes and outlined those with a light gray retaining wall; 3 white gardenia bushels in an existing red brick alcove; and 3 really neat-looking water conservative plants in another pre-existing alcove near our front door. The color pattern looks very nice.

However, Katie wanted to have a 'special' flowered plant inserted into our patterned color-scheme. The only problem is that Katie LOVES any and everything pink. Needless to say, we ended up getting her a very small pink flowered plant. We planted it in a small corner near the Indian Hawthorn bushels because the directions said to not allow direct sunlight to hit the flowers. The plant was not clearly labeled, so I asked Chris what the type of flower was, and he answered, "Katieolas". (Like Gladiolas...) He was joking, but Katie fell in love with it!

Katie is VERY proud of her 'special' flower named "Katieolas"!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Nathan-man!

Nathan puts up a front like he's a tough little guy, but mommy knows better...

Last year when he was three years old, he had to get his yearly shots. He was so cute when they gave him three shots, all he said was, "Ouch" in the calmest voice. He was done. Yesterday was his four-year old yearly shots; and he had to get five shots! We (mommy and daddy) explained to him that he was going to have to get five shots, and they may hurt a little, but we know he can be a brave little boy. He kept looking back and forth between myself and Chris and he said, "That's OK, I like shots". We just looked at each other. So, there he was, laying on his back on the examination table, Chris holding his arms, and the nurse holding his legs. After the third shot, the nurse told Nathan to not move his legs, and Nathan told her, "I'm not, I was just stretching them". He got all five shots without saying a word!

However, right after the nurse left the room and he was sucking on his lollipop, he looked at me with sad eyes and said, "It still hurts mommy". All I could do was give him a hug... then drive straight home and give him Tylenol! We took both kids to Target and let them pick-out a toy for good behavior, and we let Nathan pick-out an extra toy for being so brave!

No more shots until age eleven!! Yay!

A Bug Birthday

Today my Katie Bug has turned 8 years old! Thinking about how fast she has grown is something I'm sure every parent has experienced with their own children too. My mind has been reflecting back to the day she was born to her first steps to her first day at school to her roller-skating through the house! She is so vibrant and full of joy and has such a kind heart! Katie is growing into a young lady and being able to see her learn life's milestones has put a thousand smiles on my face. She makes me proud! I am wishing for her to have a super silly fantastic day today! I love you Katie Bug! Happy birthday!

From Mommy

A roller-skating motorcyclist...

If you are a parent, then you will get a kick out of this. Before graduating high school, our kiddos will tell us 20+ different things they want to be when they grow-up.

Katie: wants to be a professional roller-skater because she LOVES to roller skate! She has a pair of skates that she barely fits into, and she skates all over our hard-wood floors! I tried to explain to her that roller-skating is more of a hobby than it is a career choice, but she doesn't want to hear it... so all I could tell her was, "Skate-on"!

Nathan: wants to be a motorcycle rider! When I asked him 'why' he wanted to be a motorcycle rider, he answered, "Because I want to ride one of those little bikes like I see on TV". (He was referring to the motor cross races.)

So, I can see it now... my son decked out with a Mohawk, wearing black leather chaps, pulling my daughter while she's wearing pig-tails and pink sparkly roller-skates!

I love being a parent!