Guess where we're going

We're gonna sleep here and make a wish. It's just like home minus the little buddha.
We're gonna sit in here. Yes this is what my living room looks like. Minus the cool lighting. And the cool looking room.
Yep it'll be just like home minus the pool, the view, and the relaxation. Maw and Paw Kettle are going into the big city for a little vacation. Not right now, in the future. The somewhat near future. We wanted to go somewhere away from our kids I mean on vacation but it's a tough gig for someone to take over so we're staying close to home just in case the grandparents need us. You just never know what stunts the kids might pull. Just today I've had to pull out our lifetime supply of Band Aids. Technically it was me who needed them but had I not had all three kids in the bathroom while I was shaving I might not have cut my ankle. Anyway. Doesn't this place look like fun?

And THAT's why we call her Super Nattie

What do you get when you sic Nattie on making her first grandchild something to help him ease into school? A fancy-looking nap mat for about $7 and a few hours of time. Watch the before and after unfold before your very eyes.

His Walmart nap mat that I innocently bought for $15, which is more than the cute one costs.

When you look at it like this, I can see it doesn't exactly scream cozy.

Add in the IKEA sheets we found for $4.99 yesterday and some green thread that probably cost like $1.25 when I bought it five years ago...

Turn your sewing machine on...

And let Nattie work. Help corral the toddlers who keep trying to pry her away from her project saying, "Nattie help, Nattie sit, Nattie read, etc." She needs space to work.
And look what she made. The cutest, cheapest, softest homemade nap mat ever. Our very excited little boy may not sleep on it but I guarantee he'll be happy looking at all the numbers during nap time.

IS THAT CUTE OR WHAT.

She sewed velcro into it so it won't slide around AND so I can take the whole thing apart to wash it. His little pillow is on top and she also made, (well actually that's the only part of the whole thing that I made,) a matching pillowcase that is attached with velcro too. I forgot to add the cost of the velcro--I think she said $3--so his teacher might have to have a PhD to figure out how to roll it up after that first day but I hope she'll cut us some slack. I think it's pretty darn fantastic myself. Mom, once again you made the day. Once again you saved my pride. Thanks for working so hard!

First Day Report Card

Joy wanted to say Hi.

Thanks for the suggestions for what to send with him to school! Going to try every one of them in coming weeks! Today I sent mac-n-cheese in a cooler thing and he didn't eat much at all.

Ty's report card for the first day--NOT FROM HIS TEACHER BUT MY INTERPRETATION OF HER NOTES--just to be clear if his teacher ends up reading this.

Arrival: (A)

Saying bye to Mommy and maintaining composure: (C)

Eating lunch: (C/D)

Staying in line with other kids: (F)

Nap time: (B)

Departure: (A)

Mommy showing up on time for departure with little sisters in tow, plus Nattie to help on the first day so mommy would show up for departure: (A)

We survived. It wasn't pretty but it's over. First day down, lots more to go. Lord help us.

There was lots of sweating, lots of crying, and lots of notes taken to help next time go smoothly. (or at least MORE smoothly.) And I have a confession.

I didn't know what a nap mat was until a week ago when I bought Ty one at Walmart.

Y'all, there is like a whole nap mat market out there that I didn't know was there. One filled with cute, pillow-ish, adorable little mats that you can pay for. Out of the hundreds (no exaggeration,) of kids that went to his school today, I saw one other one like his.

One.

One other little boy whose mother didn't know there was a nap mat market out there for the purchasing. So being the cheapskate that I am, and feeling mostly like paying a lot for such a thing that I'm 100% sure he'll never actually sleep on would be wasteful, I consulted my mom to make him one. While she was here (praise God) we went to IKEA where I'd seen Alphabet sheets and found a sheet set with big bold numbers on it for...wait for it...$4.99 on clearance. They're in the washer right now getting ready to become his nap mat.

I know I fell into peer pressure and want him to have something nicer than the blue/green number I sent with him today, (which I can honestly say I remember having one just like it when I went to preschool now that I think about it!) I realize it doesn't matter a hill of beans what his nap mat looks like. But I am thinking maybe just maybe this will help him lay down on it a little longer???? The boy sure does love numbers. I'll post pictures of before and after of the nap mat makeover. I know y'all can hardly wait. I'm kinda excited about showing it off if what we have in mind actually works!

Pricey cute nap mat market, eat your heart out.

Need Help

Not the usual kind I ask you for (prayer, character-building Mommy ideas, etc,) but lunch ideas for a kid who eats mac-n-cheese for almost every meal. Except for the times he eats a grilled cheese, pizza, or plain pasta. Really, aside from waffles/pancakes, cheese, and crackers, that's all he eats. I know it's my fault but could we skip the lecture since I'm running out of time? Ha! Got any ideas for what to send with him tomorrow? Really, y'all, I'm at a loss. I tried a lunchable today. I was so excited to see if he'd eat it.

I came and went while he was eating and could tell he was actually eating so I was calling Sean to tell him it was a success when I walked up to the table when he was done and found this.
Wish they made lunchables with three kinds of crackers 'cause that's all he ate.

Don't you just hate it when that happens

So I kinda fell apart

Ty's school was perfect. He has three teachers, all of them adorable and sweet. Since Jennie kept Charlie we walked into the church (not our church,) and looked for his class. It didn't take long to figure out that we would have to go upstairs. Now, with Ty and Joy-who happily stayed in the Baby Bjorn carrier-taking the stairs to avoid the elevator wasn't a big deal. Not having Charlie with us meant we could skip a stroller. When it's just me taking him, in a mere few days, I'll put Joy and Charlie in the double stroller and have Ty hold onto it. Yes friends we're facing two scary obstacles: the elevator and a milestone.

Now, I've never been very emotional about school. Mom says I never wanted to leave school/church because I was 1)the third kid and 2)happy as long as I was playing with toys and fed. I didn't anticipate feeling a tug at my heart when I signed him up for preschool.

But I watched him in his little class, watched him cling to Sean, and imagined what will happen on his first real day. I felt that first twinge of, "I feel helpless...I won't see him, help him, feed him, etc and before I know it he will be in real school. Before I know it he will run into the room and never look back."

And there in that little room in that very big church, I was reminded how fast we came to this day. Some days it seems like our kids will never grow up. The day-in, day-out caretaking takes a toll. We wish they were more independent. But today I decided it was okay to freeze time and enjoy it. I decided I'm gonna work on enjoying sending him off and making the most of the time with only the girls and then be first in line to pick him up. And I'm gonna try to get some good practice under my belt for when they are in real school and I find myself totally clueless about what to do with my time.

So there you have it: what I envisioned as a necessary but not important day turned out to be an important one after all.

Useum

Yesterday we went to the Dallas Museum of Art with Emmy. The word museum will never sound the same to me after hearing Ty say, "Goin to Useum" all day. When we first walked in Emmy showed the lady her membership card and I kid you not this is what the woman said: "Welcome! You should take him up to the second floor and teach him the difference between a portrait, a landscape, and a still life."

Sure.

If only his own mother knew the difference between those.

Here are pictures from our fun afternoon

This was his favorite room--the "children 4 and under relaxation" room. Of all the things to see at the Useum these blocks were his favorite. I'm just glad I signed him up for preschool instead of a Useum Mommy and Me course.
They have really neat exhibits for kids. This is a texture table with crayons attached to teach the kids about shadowing and they encourage touching, comparing, etc.
The fountains outside were the close runner-up to the blocks. Not exhibits really but they resemble a car wash, his current favorite thing.
None of us had any idea why this is considered art but whatever.
Aunt Emmy provided lots of instruction and explanation--she does know the difference between the different paintings.
Right after I snapped this picture the kind lady told me I couldn't take pictures with a flash. This was his favorite painting.
I actually have memories of this from all the field trips we took as kids to this useum.

Sorry about the order of the pictures...He did like coloring at the texture table.
and now some big news: righthisminute we are getting ready to go meet Ty's teacher for school this year. Jennie is keeping Charlie so we can actually talk to the teacher and hear any instructions she has for us. Thanks Jennie! I'm sure there will be news to share after seeing his little classroom, meeting his teacher, and just his overall first impression of school. I hope he'll be THIS excited about school after today!

Mimi's Lasagna

Okay girls get your recipe cards out. This one's a keeper. Mimi, my MIL whose real name is Louraine, has legendary lasagna and she just taught me how to make it. It's one of those recipes that tastes much more complicated than it is and you can tell your friends/husband that you've slaved over it all day and really you just make your stove slave over it and you don't have to do much at all. Good luck! If you make it let me know how it tasted! Freezes very well.

Louraine's Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cans Hunts Diced tomatoes (28 ounce can) either plain OR with Basil Garlic and Oregano

2 cans Hunts tomato sauce (15 ounce can)

1 package lasagna noodles (She suggests Barilla 1 lb package)

3 tsp Oregano

8 oz package of grated Mozzarella cheese

8 oz package of Monterrey Jack cheese

1 9x13 pan, plus 1 8x8. The recipe makes enough to freeze one smaller pan.

The sauce needs to cook all day or at least 5-6 hours. It reduces by almost half and it's an important part of the recipe. Empty tomatoes and sauce into large saucepan and fill each can with water and add it to the pan. Now you can throw the cans away! Add oregano and stir well. Put pan over low/medium heat and stir occasionally, (literally, I stir it maybe once every hour.) Reduce heat if liquid boils too much-you don't want to make a huge mess.

After tomatoes have reduced or you're ready to show off for your in-laws/boss/husband, remove tomatoes from heat. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease pans for lasagna. Mix cheeses together in a bowl. Brown chopped onion and meat in skillet and then add to tomato mixture. Boil lasagna noodles for 10 minutes even though it says 8-9 on the package. Don't ask questions just do it. That's what Louraine said to me when I asked her if she was sure about the 10 minutes. Drain noodles and place one layer (trim noodles to fit) in bottom of pan. Then spoon a thin layer of tomato/meat mixture over to cover noodles. Sprinkle cheese mixture over meat mixture--again, a thin layer--and then start a new layer with noodles. There should be three layers total for the lasagna.

The key to this recipe is thin layers--just enough meat/cheese/noodles to cover the layer below and not too much of any one thing. It sounds like it wouldn't matter but it's exactly the right amount of ingredients AND it's melt in your mouth good if you just put thin layers. Like she said, don't ask questions just do it.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving to let the liquid soak back up into the noodles. Yum. Enjoy!

Meet Robin

Robin is a family friend who happens to be a hair stylist. Did I luck out or what? Since Mom is here I got to go get a haircut today and I thought it'd be fun to show you what Robin can do with hair. I thought about having her dye it black or cut it really short for shock value but in real life I have to live with my hair so I opted for a trim. Here we are before.
That's how I wear my hair 99.9 % of the time when I'm home with the kids. I needed a mommy makeover.
and here we are after, with straighter than it'll ever be with me fixing it hair, feeling like a girl again. Isn't it wild how a haircut can make you in a better mood? It's still really long in the back but she added new layers to make it less heavy. In the winter we're gonna try bangs again. I try them every year and like them but during the summer it's a no-go with the humidity. If you know me in real life you're shaking your head, "Yes, yes, we've seen the lion look on you." Ha!

Where was I four years ago?

On this day four years ago here I was. See my veil blowing sideways? We had to bring fans in so we wouldn't pass out.

My groom begging me to go through with it. That's Emmy, my brother Graham and his wife standing beside Popeye. Isn't Ana a beauty?

Our officiants Mark and Jason with us on the big day, about 30 minutes before they would make it official. If you look closely you can easily see we are all sweating. I think I'm as bad as they are!
Bonnie (remember pics from her recent wedding?) She dropped by yesterday on her way home from work and the whole house lit up. So glad she lives down the street from us!
On this day four years ago I wasn't nervous or scared. I was relieved and excited. I was thankful and ready. I lied. I was a little nervous but only because the next day I was boarding an airplane. You know how scared I am of flying. To make our wedding our own, (what an obvious statement,) we had the musicians play, "I'll Fly Away," a great hymn with an extra significance because of my husband's occupation. Even hearing the music made my stomach turn a little bit. I need counseling. Ha!

Dad: "Are you SURE? Now's your chance..."

Just kidding. We were trying to figure out if we missed the cue to open the doors. That's Emmy and Maggie in the picture trying to help us figure it out. Emmy is, well, you know her and Maggie is my oldest friend. Like from before the womb. She's a surgical nurse now how cool is that? I tried to pull some strings and get her into the delivery room with Joy but she has cooler surgeries to do and apparently you can't just pull a nurse from whichever hospital you want to bring them into whatever surgery you want. Who knew.
See how happy I was to be marrying my man? See how hot I was even before the wedding started?

Fast forward (literally, very very fast,) and here we are today. We both look a little different than we did at our wedding. Sean has a few more gray hairs (or is it grey?) anyway, and I have a completely different body but we are the same people, still working at our relationship and still ready to face the world--or the kids--as a united front.

Four years ago today I made one of the easiest decisions I've ever made. And I was right. Sean, thanks for sticking around. I love you.

Too much extra time

Is it time to pull out the fall clothes since school is starting? Around here it's still hovering around 100 degrees so I'm tempted to say a big NO except for the painful awareness that my girls are outgrowing their summer clothes. Since you've heard all about the hand-me-downs around here, you might infer that I take full advantage of our wealth of clothes and rarely buy the kids clothes at all. And if you did infer that, you'd be right. I'm pretty sure that's not the proper way to use the word infer but you know what I'm talking about. I know how lucky I am that aside from the occasional tutu or shoes, our clothing budget is spent solely on me and Sean.

Oh who are we kidding. It's spent on me.

Except when one of the kids actually needs something specific. And about once a year when Sean needs either more work shirts or socks. While we're on the topic of his clothes, I'll update you on our dry cleaners incident. I think I forgot to do that!

Sean hardly ever has dry cleaning. I'm lucky I know. He has a uniform for work and the shirts they have to wear are designed to be tough/stand up to a ton of wear so besides the occasional church outfit I never take anything of his to the cleaners. Since I'm a girl, inevitably I end up with more "dry clean only" dresses than I'd like and the dress involved in the stand-off was one of the picky little tagged ones.

The day after the police came to help us, (two weeks ago I think,) the kid texted me to set up a time to try again. After back and forth texts--really weird to do with a business--Sean went to pick up my dress and get the full story. Maybe I should say, "try to get the full story." The kid really is just a kid-17 years old and the son of the former owner of the business. Since his father was too much of a weasel to meet his customers himself he made his son do it day after day during his summer break from school. Without going into how many different kinds of wrong that is I'll just say two things: I'm glad I got the dress back and I'm glad my husband would never run away from something like that if he'd been the business owner. I'm thankful for his character.

Okay back to the topic I started on: kid clothes. Specifically Charlie's clothes since Joy is wearing everything that used to be Charlie's. I get the in-between or specific things from various stores, always on sale. Resale stores are great too. Miss Charlie isn't exactly a wall flower and if I spent lots of money on her clothes I'd always be frustrated with how not-so-gentle she is while playing. Soooooo today when I had way too much free time, (all three kids went down at 12:30 and the first one woke up at 3:30!! Praise Jesus!!) I looked online for fun.

If I had unlimited funds to blow on totally unrealistic/impractical things for Charlie, I'd get her this. Or this. Or at least this.

Now that was fun. Pretend online shopping never looked so good!

The Pioneer Woman

I plan to write more later but wanted to share a quick link--

I've been reading The Pioneer Woman's blog for a few months and I just think it's great! This post is an example of how cool her life must be and she captures the moments with her kids' daddy so beautifully! Read about her Captain Forearms here.

Update

Virus conquered. At least for now. Joy and I seemed to escape its wrath. Hallelujah.

Hmmm well let's see. An update. Because you're all pins and needles.

Baby Joy news first: I called the surgeon's office to schedule her CT scan and haven't gotten a call back yet...I called last Wednesday. Guess they forgot. I'm adding "call them back," to my to-do list tomorrow now. Okay done. If you remember back to May 4th, the day we found out that her tumor was gone, (that seems like four years ago easy) we talked to the surgeon's nurse and she said that if all went well when she was born he would do a CT scan of her lung when she was 3 months old. She's now over three months old and while some may think we're bad parents for a plethora (does anyone know how to spell that? did I spell it right?) of other reasons, we don't like to miss appointments like this one. When I did what I was told--which was call when she's two months old--he said to push it another month to give her lungs that much longer to mature so here we are. Trying to make the appointment. In other news, she is sleeping roughly 10 hours at night, but we dream feed her pretty late at night and she usually wakes up once and fusses a little but doesn't eat. If you count all that then she's sleeping great! Taking 3 or 4 naps depending on the day but she always takes a good morning nap. In my book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child, which, to be clear, is not my book but the one I use, ha ha, it says they will develop a consistent morning nap between 3 and 4 months but it will take a while longer to develop a good afternoon one. The guy who wrote that book is a genius. The way I see it she's getting in a great morning routine about one week before the Fall events start and we're never home in the mornings. What am I thinking?

Then there's the update on the other kids.

Ty is getting ready to start school (MDO) for the first time and I know he'll love it. Once we get past the mommy dropping him off in a strange place with strangers (not at our church,) thing, the whole "healthy snack" thing, the napping on a nap mat thing, the "we can't microwave your child's lunch" thing, and the "Ty's not in charge of how long we stay outside" thing, I think he'll be fine. And I do know he'll love it then, once those things are all out of the way.

Charlie is still loving being a big sister to bay, the artist formerly known as Joy. She is also talking a ton out of the blue. She says all kinds of new words. Her favorites are: hep (help,) nu (no,) dux (duck,) daddy, ty, dax (max,) emmy, popeye, eat, and mo (more.) There are about 400 other words she says that we aren't sure about yet but she also sings the alphabet song and hits every other letter--she's a genius I tell you--and she can count to ten. Kind of.

If you care for an update on Max (are there any Max fans there?) he is thriving as usual. Lucky me.

You weren't born yesterday

I'm sure you can guess what's happening in our house by sharing my grocery store receipt:

I 2 liter 7Up
1 box saltine crackers

Yes folks, we are ahead of the normal virus season. lucky us. I'm pretty sure the big kids have had it already, and Sean is coming home early from work because he has it. Bracing myself for a long winter...


Surely these two faces will brighten even a sick Daddy's day!

perspective

It's been quite a summer. Our little wee one, who I've started calling "Bay," thanks to Charlie calling her that--Charlie talk for 'baby'--lots of changes in our routine, lots of chances to grow in patience and faith, lots of less-than-perfect mommy moments. I'm sure you can all relate. At least to the chances to grow part. God does this at the worst times. The times when we think there's nothing left to give because we are at the very end of any rope in our house. What's He thinking sometimes? I don't intend to push the limit on questioning God at all. I am simply being honest about my reaction to His timing. It is perfect. It has everything to do with Him and His provision. But sometimes lately it feels like it's off.

"Consider the work of God:

For who can make straight what He has made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful,

But in the day of adversity consider:

Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other.

So that man can find out nothing that will come after him."

(Ecclesiastes 7:13-14)

Does this give you comfort?

Well friend, it should. It gives me comfort when I start thinking about timing. Think about it. Perspective really has everything to do with who we're thinking about. If I'm thinking about me, what I want to do, what time I need to do something, how hard whatever is, I'll always be frustrated. If I think about what God is doing and other people He is doing things through, I have a brand new perspective and a lot less frustration. It's an elementary idea and I've been really failing to execute this lately. Like that day I found grass in my bathtub, I'm gonna pray for help with the moments when I feel like I'm all done. Instead of saying, "God, help me get through this," I'm gonna work on saying, "God thank you for the chance to do this...help me do it in the way You want me to, not just get through it." See the difference? If you know me in real life and want to hold me accountable, please do. If I act like you make me mad when you do it, do it anyway! Ha! I'm in need of some sharpening, friends.

"As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17)

Think about your perspective. Pray about your perspective. Let's do this together so I don't feel like a failure.

grin.

Now that that's said, enjoy some pictures taken on my phone as usual. While you're at it, consider forgiving me for once again using the phone instead of a real camera. Oh, what's that? You're used to it? Oh good.

Perspective: Instead of getting sad that I can't take my kids to the pool (for safety's sake,) I can be excited about my little Target blow up pool in my back yard. I can be thankful for friends coming over to keep me company while my man's on a trip. I can be thankful somebody makes sunglasses that fit a little man like Cody and that Cody wears them instead of thinking back to when I got some of those for Ty and he wouldn't have it.
Perspective: Instead of wishing I could take all of the kids to the park and being frustrated that it's Africa hot and Charlie gets overheated easily and vomits because of the heat, (she did it yesterday,) I can be thankful there is a cute little park right down the street from my house that is almost completely shaded. It might not have slides or swings but it has branches to play with.
Perspective: Instead of getting mad at the girl behind the counter at Plato's Closet who told me some of my clothes I was selling were "too mature," (a humble moment,) I can look at Charlie who just discovered sunglasses and say, "thank God for my kids whose lives have taken a toll on my body and closet yes but have made me a completely different person, I think for the better." I can be glad I'm considered mature even if it's only because my clothes are more suitable for old ladies. At least 30 year-old ones.
And because she's just that cute, I can find one more about her

Perspective: Instead of panicking that my house was coming down with a virus yesterday, I can calmly think through my plan of action. I can get extra crib sheets ready and pray for strength. In truth I still panicked a little bit. Y'all, there's nothing worse than a virus, don't you think? I was praying with every step I took that I hadn't exposed Cody or David to a virus and thankfully she was 100 % fine after her nap and it was, in fact, just that she got overheated.

Here's hoping for some new perspective today for you too, even if you're already good at this thing I'm working on.

Closed Until Further Notice

Not the blog, not me. My dry cleaners.

A few weeks ago I dropped off a dress at the cleaners and went to pick it up last week. Timing something like that is simple, (you'd think,) but really it takes careful planning. You can't unload all of the kids for a quick trip to go anywhere. Since I try to minimize chaos as much as possible, (what's the point?) I waited to try to retrieve the dress until Sean was home.

A little history:

One of the reasons I chose this particular cleaners was it is about a 45 second drive from my house. The other reason is that I tried another one when we first moved and they didn't give me a receipt when I dropped something off. I'm not a detail person so it never occurred to me that I didn't get receipts each time until I tried to pick up my favorite winter coat and they didn't have it. They had no record of it whatsoever. In fact, they didn't have a record of me whatsoever.

So I switched.

Discernment is key to a healthy relationship with any business.

Back to the dress and the new and improved cleaners. When I drove up to the building I noticed a sign on the door. Weird but nothing to worry about. I got out of the car and walked closer. There was a sign that said:

"CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PLEASE CALL NUMBER BELOW TO SCHEDULE A PICK-UP."

Yeah because it's only fair that you call someone whose cell phone mailbox is full for a few days before you hear back from them to schedule a time to pick up your own clothes. I guess this is their reasoning? After texting back and forth with the owner of the cell phone (really, y'all it was like I was on candid camera a few times,) we planned to retrieve the dress this past Saturday. You know, Popeye's Birthday. Since he needed to feel spoiled and celebrated we decided that he'd go with me to the cleaners. Mom thought since the people were so shady I might need Dad there and while I was initially like, "Oh, I'm sure it's not a big deal..." I was glad to have help just in case.

I'm glad he came with me because before it was all said and done, which of course since I don't have the dress, it's still not said and done, there were four very frustrated customers. 45 minutes after the planned meeting time, a teenage boy walks up and says he is the person we're meeting. Um okay. He is the owner of the cell phone. That explains the texting. He is the person in charge of giving us the clothes trapped inside.

Oops he says. I forgot the key.

Oops he says. I live 20 minutes away so if you just wait here I'll drive home, get the key, and come back. This conversation takes place 45 minutes after the planned meeting time.

45 minutes later translated into "further notice." 45 minutes after we started standing in the 100 degree heat. 45 minutes before our movie was going to start. The movie to celebrate Dad's birthday. Julie and Julia. Good movie! Anyway, 45 minutes.

Which is precisely when one guy called the police.

And they came.

Two different police cars.

When our time there was through, I learned that the police couldn't do more than scare the kid into calling the owner, (turns out it's his father,) and encourage the kid to drive home and get the key and drive back to give us what we needed.

But since we had a babysitter coming and plans to see the movie, we just punted and didn't wait around to see if the kid actually remembered the key that second time. I'm still getting texts from him telling me to let him know when I'd like to pick up my clothes. What do you think? Should I send Sean or should I just send Max? I'm all done doing business with the place and I'd rather enjoy the night without coordinating with Mr. Forgot the Key business manager.

Popeye's Birthday

Me and Dad in our skinnier days. Actually he is still pretty skinny. Me? Hmmmm. Haven't looked like that in a bikini in quite some time. In fact, I think this was the only one I ever owned before the ones I bought for my honeymoon. Ha!
I honestly have no idea where this was taken...on a vacation somewhere for sure. We didn't have flowers like that when I was little. Mom and Dad do now. I should have warned Graham and Emmy that these pictures were coming. Oops.


Dad preparing to walk me down the aisle at my wedding in the Africa heat. It was, after all, August 20th in Texas. Instead of complaining about wearing all that garb, (which even my groom did,) Dad just took it in stride.
Dad, me, and Mom. Popeye and Nattie had their wedding in the same church a very long time ago and I can pretty much guarantee it wasn't as hot as it was this day. No day was as hot as this day. On record. Well maybe I'm making that up.

My dad, commonly known as Popeye around here, turned 60 years old on Saturday. Rather than spend his big day walking the streets of Venice, (which he would have loved more than just about anything,) he spent it at my house slaving away over my kids. Or rather being my kids' slave.

Whichever way you look at it, he slaved.

And you know what?

I think he loved it.

Dad, you are better with words than I am but I hope you know how much you mean to all of us. There's no greater joy than watching my kids with you and mom. I know that they will have many memories of you giving them whatever they want against my wishes. Cookies for breakfast, Fritos (and nothing else,) for dinner, and Blue Bell any time they wish. How could they NOT love you?

Happy Birthday Dad. We love you.

The weekend in pictures

And as usual, a few words


Emmy have you seen this? It's a sucker. It's fantastic.


What do you mean it's not good for you?


Vacation at Emmy's for a while. Dern, she's about to start back to school. What will we do without her? Seriously. What?


I'm 3 months old and love my (not) new walker.




My big sister is so smart she knows everything.



Like my new haircut? I lost weight with this one. And I look like I'm 6 years old.