A Day in the Life of an Aggie Guest Coach...

Highlight Reel:

1. Simply doing this! It was VERY cool...watching practice (Wednesday night), getting introduced to the team, getting to see many of the "behind the scene" things (12th Man Productions, coaches production team, etc) and seeing how the "other half" lives (Letterman Club dinner prior to the game; tour of the Zone Club prior to the game and a tour of one of the private boxes)...and experiences gameday, AND being on the sidelines prior to the start of the game. Wow. Just wow.

2. Meeting John David Crow.

3. Having my son not smile for an almost-complete family picture on the sidelines when Benjamin Knox offered to use my camera and take a picture because, "he is a stranger" Yup...you read that correctly - If I hadn't wanted a picture of us it would have been WAY more funny than it already was. (Note to self: we have done a GREAT job of the stranger danger, now we have to work on accepting SOME strangers while in the presence of Mommy and Daddy).

Here are the pictures that he took:

Then after Benjamin moved on, we got Kellen to smile, and here's our "good" picture:

Despite the loss, it was a fun adventure...and No, in case you're wondering - I wasn't one of the guest coaches that they allowed to actually call any plays, so you can't blame anything on me. Had to get that out there, just in case anyone was wondering...

And yes, in case you're still wondering, I'm also reeling about the loss as well. Wow....Just wow.

Praise you in this Storm

"Praise You In This Storm" (Casting Crowns)
I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

So the Lord gave me this song earlier this week, and I thought it was to remind me to praise Him in the midst of some things that had happened last week. Perhaps it was. And perhaps it was also given to me (and confirmed again and again on the radio exactly when I need to hear it) as preparation - to hold me up through THIS WEEK - what has been just a horrific week, as waves and waves of yet another thing happen to those that I love.

I was struggling with Kellen starting kindergarten...Matt was able to take him his first two days, and I took him on Wednesday. Now, let me reiterate that Matt WALKED him to class on Monday and Tuesday, and I had to DROP HIM OFF on Wednesday. Notice the difference? Well, Kellen and I discussed the drop off lane, how it would work, where he would walk, talked about how I wasn't walking him to his class, discussed who was picking him up, etc. It was going well - I had him out of his carseat, backpack on, lunchbox in hand, door shut, and was back in the drivers seat, window rolled down and was telling him 'I loved him' and 'Have a good day' when the realization that I wasn't actually walking him into his classroom rolled over him like a wave. You could actually see it rolling over his body from the back.

He turned, looked at me with a panic-stricken face, raced back to the car as the guards, wearing their brightly colored orange vests raced to the car to grab him, fearful that I didn't notice the child running to my car. But how could I not? How could I not notice the fear on his face? How could I not hear him yelling to me, "Mommy, mommy, I want you to walk me to class! Mommy!" Each syllable of every word was like a knife into my heart. Desperate at this point in time to hold back the tears that were fast forming, I calmly reminded him that I couldn't walk him to class, because all of the cars behind me had to drop off their boys and girls for school and go other places, too, and reminded him that he was just going to walk inside and to go the gym until it was time to go to his class, and that his Maw Maw and Paw Paw were going to pick him up after school.

After some protests, and God sending, in His perfect time, a friend of mine and her child - a friend of Kellen's in another kindergarten class - to help me out by offering to walk Kellen into the school, Kellen finally calmed down. After my last, 'Remember Mommy can't walk you into class, I have to drop you off here and drive because there are other cars waiting on Mommy to go and Maw Maw and Paw Paw are going to pick you up today, he responded with a dejected, 'Oh yeah, I remember.'

It was horrible.

So I immediately tried to call Matt...then when I didn't get in touch with him, sent him a text to let him know it had gone horribly and that I thought I was going to lose it. When he called me back to check on me, I turned into a wreck. And boy, it certainly wasn't fair to him, bless his heart, as he was only trying to help. His comment that set me over the edge: "I felt the same way on Monday."

Uh oh...In my hormonal, upset state, I went into a tirade. You know, the ones where your voice raises three octaves and dogs are running away from the sound blocks away...I can't remember the exact words I used, but the gist was that he couldn't possibly understand, because he was able to WALK Kellen to class for two days and I had to DROP him off and watch HELPLESSLY as he was torn away from my car by school workers, and I had to listen to him BEG me to walk him to class and tell him no. And I was COMPLETELY HELPLESS. I feel that I was perfectly justfied in being upset, but certainly NOT justified in taking it out on my poor husband, who was just trying to be supportive and comforting to me. Bless his heart though, I don't think he took any of it personally, and I have apologized for my explosion - just in case you were wondering.

Then today, I was notified upon arrival to work that one of the faculty members in my department was found dead by his wife this morning. Please pray for his wife, children, grandchildren and family. When I was told, I wanted to scream, 'NO! I just talked with him yesterday afternoon for 45 minutes in the coffee room...we were joking about his class...talking about the location for today...talking about the paperwork the students had to fill out and that he needed to bring to me...' I didn't say that, though...I think I said no, or oh no, or what?, then buried my head in my hands and cried for a few minutes, took the tissue my boss gave me, then started listing logistics for what needed to happen for the students and the class he was teaching. My boss just took notes on things he was going to do and then asked me how to do other things on the list.

I went and worked out the logistical details, made phone calls to various student services offices to explain the situation so that if any of our students needed assistance, we would be able to properly refer them AND the appropriate offices would be expecting them, etc, etc. I was trying to go to 'auto-pilot' when I was letting these departments know what was going on, but it wasn't working very well, so the phone calls were very awkward. I think they all understood and were very patient with me when I had to pause to compose myself or, worse yet, had to make myself stop the tears and breathe.

There are some other things going on that impact some of my dear friends, but they aren't mine to share. Suffice it to say, this is all part of my storm.

So the song God gives me today on the way home:

"He Will Carry Me" (Mark Schultz)
I call, You hear me
I’ve lost it all
And it’s more than I can bear
I feel so empty

You’re strong
I’m weary
I’m holdin’ on
But I feel like givin’ in
But still You’re with me

chorus:
And even though I’m walkin’ through
The valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I’ve been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will
Ever need
And He will carry me

I know I’m broken
But You alone
Can mend this heart of mine
You’re always with me

chorus

And even though I feel so lonely
Like I’ve never been before
You never said it would be easy
But You said you’d see me through
The storm

chorus

Fitting songs, aren't they?

I don't want to go through anything else, or have my friends go through anything else, for me to learn what I'm sure is a truly valuable lesson from God. But that's not the right choice, is it? I choose, on a daily basis, to try and follow Gods will for my life, regardless. Even if it means that every week will be like this week. And that's really hard.

So on your prayer list, please pray for the Jackman family as they deal with their loss, several friends of mine as they deal with things going on in their lives, and me, to allow God to get ME out of the way so that He can use HIS strength in me to get me through all of this.

First day of kindergarten

Yup...It's that time. Already. Is he really old enough for this? *Sigh* But one look at that precious face tells you that he is, he's ready - but I'm not. Guess I need to get there - and quickly.

As you can see, he finally did pick out a backpack and a lunchbox that were "must have's" for him...Batman and Spiderman. I'm impressed, actually, with his lunchbox. We somehow picked the very last metal Spiderman lunchbox Wal-Mart had. Wow! Even I think it's a pretty cool one!




And he did wonderfully today...he was so very nervous last night...I tried so hard to encourage him, to comfort him, assure him that he was going to make friends, that he was going to be fine today, all of those things that we know how to say. But although I knew he would be fine, could he see through me to my own worry for him, I wonder?

It's amazing, though...whenever we go somewhere, he's almost always on the forefront of the kids...spurring them to whatever activity there is at hand. He's almost never shy unless the activity involves new adults, so it was odd for me to hear him express his nervousness about making new friends, because in my mind, he makes them effortlessly. If only I could get him to believe that about himself, which is what I tried to do last night. Why doesn't he see that in himself?

What I have learned; however, is that he is NOT into girls. At all. He was sitting next to one today and DIDN'T LIKE IT. Girls in his family are ok, but this girl was not. She was apparently wearing her hair in pigtails, and he didn't want to sit next to a girl. He just wanted to sit next to boys.

I wonder when they pass the "cootie" stage?

Nature morning

Well, the kids were wide awake and rarin' to go by 6:30 AM this morning, so I decided to try and get some of that energy out early. We had eaten breakfast and were at the park before 8 so that we could feed the ducks THEIR breakfast. Fun Saturday, right?

I think he decided that he didn't want to take the change of being bitten again...isn't that what it looks like to you?

Then he decided that he DID truly want to feed the ducks again, then wondered why they all decided to swim away when he launched the bread at them...you know, just the way Daddy taught him to throw. I wonder.

So he and I had to have a talk about how to throw food to animals. Poor guy...I guess it is confusing. I told him to throw, and throw he did - just like he was taught!

And we finished off our morning by playing on the playground equipment, of course. Apparently Kellen can climb into the "baby" swing. Who knew?

I'll refrain from going into details about the monster that Kellen turned into on the walk home, but suffice it to say, his body is just not adjusting well to the lack of naps and it is SO impacting his behavior. I was one of those moms - you know...the ones you see in the store, or at the park, or heaven-forbid, walking home from the park - attempting to walk while holding said fit-throwing child and push a stroller with an 18-month old at the same time. The ones that you either feel sorry for, promise yourself you'll never be, or say to yourself, 'my kid will know better than to act like that' - yeah, one of those moms today. Wow. It was great, really.

And to prove my "lack of sleep" theory, everyone took naps today after our large snack at 11...and both kids were OUT until 2:15. Tired? I think so!

How long does your body need to adjust to a new sleep pattern or sleep schedule, anyway?

Kellen first "real" haircut

Well, it finally happened. Daddy took Kellen to the barber shop for his first "real" haircut in preparation for school.







He took Kellen to the guy that used to cut his hair (you know, before he decided to start shaving it completely bald...) and let Kellen have the FULL barber shop experience.

Weekend at Boerne, Part II (Pictures)

I sincerely hoped you laughed at that video, because little miss Tatum was just cracking us up. She was barely past the point of throwing up, and was having "other" issues that morning as well (see the original Weekend at Boerne post for additional details and the full story), and here she was, begging for more chocolate milkshake. Oh my. Apparently the love of all things chocolate IS genetic...Who knew?

This next picture is a view of the spring fed creek bottom (can't you see the spring flowing through the creek? - LOL - we couldn't either, but has been warned and was expected it, so oh well!) off the back porch of the house. It was a beautiful view and we had lots of fun with the kids on the back porch, as you'll see in some of the other pictures below. This is the creek bed where Daddy and Kellen went on their exploration adventure, and came back with the ear-shaped rock...

How fun for us that they actually had a Shrek playdoh set. We did get some fresh playdoh to add to it, and I believe that this was Tatum's first playdoh experience. She joined right in and had lots of fun with it! She even tried to use the tooth mold as a cell phone, which for her was just about the correct size...

I'll end with a note that the nature and wildlife is just beautiful in this area of Texas. I did; however, get a little tired of my dear sweet husband commenting on the fact that he wanted to shoot everything that wasn't human that he saw during our trip. I appreciate the meat we eat and I try (notice I don't say I do) to understand his all-encompassing love of hunting, but sometimes I like to simply appreciate the nature as well :)

2 more molars

How did they come through when I wasn't looking? Or didn't even notice? All of the sudden on Thursday, Tatum smiled at breakfast and I saw them, shining brightly there in the bottom of her mouth.

uhhhh...where did those come from and when did they appear?

And one would think with all of her recent illness I would have seen them had they been there earlier, considering all of the time spend focusing on her mouth, and things coming out of it, so they haven't been there that long.

Amazing how hard the first two were to come through and these two seemed to have emerged overnight.

At any rate, they're going in the baby book at being cut on Thursday...

Weekend at Boerne

You know how the movie with a similar title is filled with a variety of funny events? Well, our weekend included some of the same types of moments. Memorable moments. REALLY memorable moments.

So memorable that OTHER people - strangers, actually - will have stories to tell for years to come. Uh huh.

But I'm jumping ahead...

We took a fabulous drive on Thursday after lunch to Boerne, through Bastrop, and stopped to get milkshakes at what I'm told is just the best hamburger joint around. Well, we had already eaten lunch, but who doesn't have room for milkshakes?? We all got milkshakes except for Tatum, who had been sick (oh yeah, forgot to mention that...I'll fill you in on that one in just a second...) and they were really good. Daddy and Maw Maw decided to take pity on the poor child and begged me to let her have just a little of the milkshake.....I relented, with the caveat that if she got sick, out of EITHER end, that I wasn't going to be the one to have to clean it up. Oh my goodness...It was hilarious! We have footage that I believe might be good enough to send in to America's Funniest Video's or something...My daughter - and at this point in time I do have to say my daughter - LOVES chocolate milkshakes (see why I had to call her 'my daughter' on that one?). So after her drink, she would open her mouth, wag her tongue, sign for more and sign for please...but the opening of the mouth and EXTREME wagging of the tongue (think: cow tongue and you might come close to what she looked like) was enough to put us in stitches laughing.

Rewind to the backstory of her getting sick: Wednesday night as I was packing things up for the trip I heard a funny sound from her room, went in to investigate and she had thrown up and was continuing to throw up. I grabbed her, tried to comfort her, rushed her to the bathroom and plopped her in the tub, stripping her of her clothes in the process. I tried to calm her down as I was rinsing her off and washed her, but the shock of what had happened to her was pretty bad. She proceeded to get sick every 10 or so minutes for another two hours, so she learned how to throw up in the toilet, how to clean off her face with tissue, and I learned that she knew how to blow her nose when a tissue came near her face. In the meantime, between episodes, I took her temperature to discover that she didn't have a fever (yay!), called Daddy and Maw Maw to make them aware of the situation and potential implications for our planned trip the following morning (uh oh), and tried to ready myself for a l-o-n-g night.

I know that there are a lot of pathetic things in the world, but watching your daughter, who doesn't understand what is happening to her as she's getting sick or why she's getting sick sign "all done" as she's throwing up because she's desperate to be finished with this particular process is really heartbreaking. And it just as equally pulls on your heart strings to then watch her realize what it is that she's supposed to do....and have her show Daddy, Maw Maw and Paw Paw later how 'Tatum goes blah in the potty' by walking over to the toilet, leaning her head over it, making the 'blah' sound, grabbing toilet paper and throwing it in the toilet, then turning around, looking at you and clapping for herself because she did what she was supposed to where she was supposed to do it. There are truly so many things worse, but I distinctly remember the first time that Kellen got throw-up sick and will now remember the first time Tatum did as well. Poor babies...

Let us now return to our fun vacation story:
After we enjoyed Tatum's antics with the begging for more milkshake, we went to Bastrop State Park, where Paw Paw abandoned the slow and luxurious scenic drive to try and break the world record for the fastest time through the scenic route. I believe he was having a bit too much fun on the curves...much to Kellen's delight, I'm sure. We wanted to check it out for potential future weekend get-a-ways...nice!

We got to the house we had rented for the weekend, settled in, had dinner and then Maw Maw and Paw Paw went to pick up Aunt Boo from the airport in San Antonio, leaving us some time to just hang out and veg. Matt and Kellen took a long nature walk, and came back with a rock shaped like an ear - really, it is, then Kellen got to experience a jacuzzi tub.

He liked it, just in case you were wondering. But what he didn't like was the fact that Mommy had forgotten to turn off the water and walked out of the room to tell Daddy something.

Whoops...

No harm done...he just had a really full bath that night. Then Matt joined him, and they had LOTS of fun splashing around in that big ol' tub.

On Friday Aunt Boo had some her friend and kids come to the house to visit, play games, hang out, have lunch and then we went to Guadalupe State Park to let the kids get in the river and play. They had lots of fun there as well! Then we went back to the house and played some more games and just hung out. Nice!!

Saturday was our day for Aunt Boo, Daddy and I to float down the river. The place we were staying had private entrances and pick ups for the float, and the float time was approximately 2-4 hours, depending on the level of the river. We were hoping for about 2 hours so that we might be able to do it again with Kellen later on Saturday or even Sunday morning, but had already decided to go once without him, just to test it out. We really wanted to be sure that his first river adventure was a good one...

That was one of the best decisions we made on Saturday.

We got in the river at about 10 AM...it was a really pretty day, slightly cloudy, but warm and nice. The river felt WONDERFUL! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed being on the river...even with it being lower than the optimal floating conditions and us not moving really fast, and minus lots of rapids or chutes - aaaahhhh - it was SO RELAXING just to FLOAT!!! We floated for a while and had sandwiches at about 12 or so, and by that point in time had been looking for our pick up place for 30 or so minutes and continued to do so from then on. Matt and I had been to the pick up site on Friday, so we both knew what we were looking for and we certainly didn't want to miss it.

Hours went by...we continued to float...4 hours on the river...then 5...then close to 6. We had passed some people and asked them if they knew of the community where we were staying - they didn't - but we didn't think too much about that, because I'm not sure if they would have know their own name, actually. I finally made the suggestion to consolidate from three to two contraptions and just pull the innertube along after us, which we did for a while...I was trying to think of any way to speed us along to our pick up point, which we all continued to feel MUST be just right around the next bend, or past the next bunch of rocks, or after the next chute, etc... Then the beautiful day starts to look not-so-beautiful as the storm rolls in on top of us. The rain begins, slowly at first, and then starts pelting us. I hear the thunder, but don't see the lightning, so I take that as a good sign, seeing as how we were on the water and all...

We float and paddle along in the rain for about 15-20 minutes until we came across what appeared to be a private river entrance, where we gathered to consider our options. They were: 1) continue our current status quo and press on down the river in the rain; 2) continue on the river until we got under the bridge (just a few hundred yards away from where we stopped) and wait out the storm, then continue down the river; or 3) get out of the river and attempt to find/hunt down help.

I voted for option #3. Adamantly.

Luckily for us, as we were walking out and toward the highway, a truck was pulling into the parking lot. Now, I don't really believe that it was lucky for us, since I had been praying for a while for God to PLEASE help us out, and then even harder once we had gotten out of the water for someone to please come and help us get back to the house. So I don't really consider the fact that this truck pulled in RIGHT as we were coming to the parking lot as luck - but whatever. *grin*

Matt went to speak with the guy about our *ahem* situation and asked if he would take us to the first house we came across so that we could ask to stand on their porch and contact Maw Maw and/or Paw Paw to come and get us. Honestly, that's what we were willing to do. So he generously gave us a ride (Thank you, Eric!) to the first house we came across and Matt again approached the house, knocking and ringing the doorbell. Nada. Never the one to let little things stand in his way and certainly not one to let much stop him, Matt goes around back - yes ladies and gentleman, to the backyard (there WERE cars in the driveway and the garage WAS open, so we were fairly certain people were actually home) and introduces himself to the folks, lets them know what's going on, and asks for the help that we wanted (let us stand on your porch and tell us where we are, please!). God answered my prayers and then some, because they not only said yes to that, but brought out towels for us to dry off with, loaded us up in their truck and drove us back to the house.

It took them almost a half hour to drive us back to the house and that was because they had a special code to cut through one of the gated neighborhoods. We were a L-O-N-G way from where we needed to be.

But we had NO idea how we had gotten there, because Matt and I STILL insisted that we hadn't missed the pick up point. But they got us home. Thank you, Eric (yes, another Eric!) and your gracious wife...I hope and pray that you sell your house (oh, we interrupted a showing of their house, which is why they were in their backyard and didn't answer their door). May God truly bless you for the kindness you showed to us...even though we were Aggies.

You guessed it...They are 'sips.

Needless to say, despite repeatedly reapplying the SPF 50 sport and waterproof sunscreen that we had with us, we ALL looked, in some form or fashion, like lobsters after the day was done. Matt had it the worst. His ENTIRE chest and back were so red that they were almost a purple hue...his legs aren't much better. I'm convinced that no matter how many times you reapply, when you're on the river for 7 hours floating, there is no amount of prevention that can stop a sunburn. We tried. I reapplied. Don't tell me I know better. I did what I was supposed to do. I also firmly believe that having a base tan DOES help prevent a sunburn. I'm the most sunburned in places that haven't been as exposed to the sun this summer and that therefore did NOT have a base tan - my mid-lower back and the backs of my legs.

Ahhhh, the misadventures of the river.

So, we got back to the house in one piece, and played with the kids, lathered up as much as possible with lotion, and played games on Saturday night while watching as much of the Olympics as possible (which we did quite a bit of over the course of the weekend).

Sunday morning we were determined to find out what went wrong. None of the three of us were content to just let it go, as Matt and I were still fairly convinced that we had't missed the pick up point. So we head to the pick up point, then to the drop off. Then some of the questions that the three of us had individually - the ones we had all mentioned a time or two but hadn't given much stock to - start coming out:

--Why does the pick up point tell you how long the float will be and suggest for you to plan your float accordingly if it's the PICK UP POINT?
--Why is the drop off point set at a more shallow area with a larger rock base - more like a beach area?
--Why is the drop off point south of the pick up point?

So we come to the conclusion that 1) either the map is incorrect and the pick up and drop off parks are incorrectly labeled on the map (and in case you're wondering, there are NO signs at the actual parks themselves) or 2) the map was read wrong and we got IN the water where we should have gotten OUT of the water and we never had a chance to miss the pick up point. So we headed back to the house to take another look at the map.

Can you guess which one it was?

So then we just hung out and packed things up to get ready to leave the house, and left immediately after lunch and timed it pretty perfectly so that Tatum slept almost the entire way home and so that Kellen actually took a little nap himself as well. Who am I kidding...I slept too, and apparently I am not a graceful car sleeper *grin* But I was one tired Mommy after that weekend!

Bouncing and nature

Today our adventures consisted primarily of bouncing and nature.

After we took Tatum to school, we picked up coffee (for me) and a donut (for Kellen), and headed to The Bounce, for their toddler time bounce (9 - 11AM, ages up to 5, I believe). I was meeting a group of moms there so that I could have some folks to chat with while Kellen went crazy on the bounce equipment...and crazy he went! I think he was sweaty within 20 minutes! We stayed until about 11:30, and I'm learning (it's amazing what you learn in 5 years...) to give him "count downs"...so as it was getting time for us to go, I had told him 10 more minutes, and showed him on my watch what time it was, and what time it would be when we needed to leave. Plus, it helped that we had already made plans for the entire day...plans that includes LOTS of other stuff that HE wanted to do...So anyway, when it was time to go (when the open jump was happening and the bigger kids were running amuck), I just walked over to him and told him "times up, let's go" - and he finished his turn in the one he was on, got his shoes on, and went to the door. I had to actually catch up with him!

We went home, got our picnic lunch ready, including lunch for the ducks (the heels of the bread and crusts from his sandwich) and headed off for the park that we hadn't had a chance to explore yet (and we've been in this house what now...a month and a half??). We walked there, which again, is something I just LOVE about this location!!!

As we "discovered" the pond (and really, I wouldn't have known it was there if someone hadn't told me...you just CANNOT see it - even if you're playing on the playground equipment!) the ducks automatically started to walk up to us. You can tell that they're used to being fed. Kellen was so cute...I gave him the bread and he started feeding them, but he wasn't throwing the bread very far because they were so close to him. Well, there was one duck, in particular, that was fairly aggressive, and started trying to take the bread out of Kellens hand. Initially, he thought this was pretty cool. That is, until the duck actually did it. Kellen looked at me with a surprised look on his face..."Mommy, that duck bit me!"

I just laughed (once I knew it didn't actually hurt him, of course)...and told him to make sure to throw the bread AWAY from him so the ducks wouldn't try to get it out of his hands and to not let them do that again. After he fed them all of their lunch, we sat down to eat ours and just watched them.
Kellen decided to name them all as well. It was fairly easy with some of them with markings, but the solid white ones were a bit harder (except the one that bit him - his name was easy). So we have the following "duck friends", if you will, now:

Meaniac (the duck that bit him...)
Brownie
Blackie
Crownie
Honey
Caramel
Beautiful (this was the somewhat "generic" name for the solid white ducks, and he kept changing which duck was being called Beautiful, although he'll never say that he actually did that...)
Greenie (a black duck whose feathers actually look green in the light...pretty cool!!)
There were some more that I can't remember, but I think you get the point...

We also got more of nature than we thought we would...we saw some squirrels up close and personal, too. Very personal. As in, I-guess-it's-mating-season-personal. I initially only saw one squirrel, so I of course, pointed it out to Kellen. He's the one that pointed the second squirrel out to me. Then pointed out that they were wrestling. Uh huh...They WERE wrestling, but that's not all, folks. Anyway, this is a G-rated blog, so that's all on that subject.

After we enjoyed the ducks for a L-O-N-G time, and talked about why they wouldn't be good pets (you can laugh now), we went to the playground area of the park and played for a while, then walked back to the house for a rest.

I did it. I gave in on the nap. I HAD to have one today! It's my vacation and I can nap if I want to, right? So I told Kellen to lay down for a short rest, and I did the same. I fell asleep and only later in the day did he tell me that he didn't. But he did stay in his room and rest, which is what I wanted and needed him to do.

Anyway...he went to his Little Dragon lesson after watching some cartoons (I decided against the pool after our "rest" time...we both needed to just chill out and hang) and once again did wonderfully! He even challenged the instructor! So they sparred...and Kellen ended up telling me after class that he couldn't beat the teacher, but that he was going to practice really hard so that one day he could beat him. He did really well, and sparred really well against the other student, too! I'm so proud of how he's doing in there with that instructor! It's like night and day with that instructor vs the one on the weekend...Goodness gracious! Kellen's attitude and bahavior are AMAZING when he's with Mr. B...

Then it was off to pick up his sis and back home for dinner, and on the way to do those things is when I learned that he didn't actually go to sleep during his "rest" time...as he was so very tired and fighting falling asleep (his normal pattern when he doesn't get a nap thus far). He did manage to stay awake, and had only a minor melt-down when we got home, but I talked him through it and he was able to calm himself down enough to have dinner and help me get things ready around here, so that was good.

All-in-all, another fabulous day with my Kellen!

The vacation continues...

So yesterday Kellen was a music maker...it rained on us, so although we didn't have a lot of plans set out for the day, we weren't able to do much. His daddy DID take him to go and get registered for kindergarten, which was something that actually NEEDED to get done, and afterwards he and I went to The Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley and P-L-A-Y-E-D!!! It was so fun!!

(It's not quite to the level of the Houston Children's Museum where he shot his video, but hey...what really will ever be able to match that experience, huh?)

They have a lot of different activity areas, and his favorites were the train tables, the rocket ship climbing area, and the music room. He played with all of the instruments, and even conducted his own band of one (me)....



He also liked the physical and medical area, and thought it was cool that they had a set-up that looked like the back of an ambulance with a part of a person on the back of a stretcher. He even used the walky-talky to "call" daddy for assistance. It was precious!

After we played there for a while, I decided it was in everyones best interest to forego the Little
Dragon lesson for the day. The lack-of-naps transition plus a 5:30 Little Dragons lesson simply would not have boded well yesterday. Honest.

But despite not having lots of things planned out, we still had a great day, which again...is the whole point!!

And they're off...

to get registered for kindergarten.....There was a flurry of activity and chaos prior to them leaving, as we had a momentary loss of the necessary documents, but they were found and all was well.

When Kellen returns to the house he should be officially registered for kindergarten.

Wow.

Redefining vacation?

According to dictionary.com: vacation - noun 1. a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday: Schoolchildren are on vacation now.

Hmmm...

My first "official" day of vacation consisted of wonderful family time - and no, I'm not being sarcastic. I had the distinct honor of watching my mother become Dr. Gerren in her commencement ceremony...and celebrated the day with some of her friends, my brother and father, and my family...We went to lunch, hung out afterwards, and just enjoyed each others company. And if you read my earlier post, we did finally open that bottle of champagne and I think there were a total of 3 glasses drank out of it. Oh well!! But it was a full day. And activity was certainly not suspended.

This weekend was also a wonderful family weekend...slightly more restful since Matt was around and I believe I even got a nap snuck in there somewhere. Ahhh...bliss...

Today...well today was just wonderful, despite the fact that my dear hubby wasn't here. Kellen and I had a BLAST today, which was precisely the point of the day. We all got up, had breakfast, and he and I took Tatum to school and dropped her off...We then headed to Starbucks and got coffee for me, chocolate milk and a donut for him. Well, it was officially for him but after one bite, I got to finish it off...it apparently sounded much better to him than it tasted.

Then we went to drop off rented movies at Blockbuster and to the lab to get blood drawn for me (always some small tasks to be run, aren't there?) for an appointment later on this week. He and I talked extensively about the blood draw...it was freaking him out that they were going to stick me with a needle. Wow...We really had to work through that one, and I'm not sure that we're all the way through it yet, honestly.

Then we went to Wal-Mart to pick up his school supplies - yes, I'm typing it and not crying. And here's the funny part...he's not even registered for school yet! HAHAHA - Matt gets to do that either tomorrow or when he's watching him next week...Anyway, so we picked up the school list and did our shopping, and the grand total didn't come out to nearly as bad as I thought (less than $20!), especially considering I am shy only a couple of things on the list (the bath towel doesn't count, because we'll send him with one from home - I have NO idea why I would consider buying him a brand new towel when we have some here at the house I can send with him??). I can't find the assorted colored construction paper in the correct size (12 X 18") (2 packages, mind you) - I guess that's a "my bad" for starting on this school shopping thing so late; and will buy the dry erase markers and the 2nd box of tissues later.

Anyway...he was getting excited about the school supplies and it was really neat to watch. We looked at the lunch boxes and back packs, but he told me that he didn't like any of them there, so we'll continue to look for the ones that he tells me he "has to have" - we just haven't seen them yet, I guess. Then we found a steal of a deal on some lawn chairs - marked down to a buck...Yes, ladies and gentlemen...lawn chairs like I have been looking for all season long, and like my dear sweet husband and Kellen bought as a surprise for me Sunday night (yup...you read that one correctly...), on BIG TIME SALE today for a buck. So I bought some more to add to the set that they so sweetly had gotten me last night.

We then continue our fun day (and yes, he really was having fun through all of this except the lab part) and go to Once Upon a Child for a quick clothing drop off...then to the mission for a drop off there as well. Sidenote story: I had mentioned while we were getting ready this morning that we were going to take a trip to the mission and that if he had any toys he wanted to get rid of to bring them to the kitchen to pack up...So Kellen goes in his room and starts going through his toys and brings out about a half dozen small toys that he's decided he wants to take to the mission. Isn't that just the sweetest? I just love that he's able to think about others - even if he doesn't do it all of the time, he IS capable of it!

Headed back to the house for lunch, unloaded the car from the Wal-Mart shopping trip (wouldn't want to melt the new school crayons, right?) and then got ready to go to the pool...And it was off to the pool for us (And we walked there! I LOVE being so close!!). We stayed there about 2 or so hours, and Kellen just had SO MUCH FUN! He and I just played and played and played. He would dive to me, swim underwater to me, throw his toys and dive and swim for them, you name it...We had a BLAST! We finally left there at about 3 o'clock....walked home and got cleaned up. Kellen got ready to go to Little Dragons and I started cooking dinner for a couple in Sunday School that had just had a baby.

So we went to Little Dragons and Kellen did exceptional in class! Finished up there, came back to the house, Kellen changed clothes, I grabbed the dinner and we left again...stopped by Once Upon a Child for the 50 cents they paid me for the two onesies they decided to buy (I'm glad I didn't go out of my way for that trip today....I would have been upset because the GAS would have been more than that!), picked up Tatum and got Milkshake Monday at Chick-fil-A, then dropped off dinner to our friends.

Bless Kellen's heart...by this time, as you can imagine, he's utterly exhausted, and I'm trying desperately to keep him awake, but it's no use. He snoozed a little on the drive, then woke up when we get back to house to eat. Luckily, despite being completely exhausted and worn out, he really didn't give me too hard of a time tonight, but ate really well, drank his milkshake, and I allowed him to watch a little TV (which we obviously hadn't done much of all day). He helped me put away the laundry (oh, I didn't mention that between all of these various outings I had been keeping the laundry going, so there is barely a dirty piece of laundry in the entire house, and it's ALL put away in its appropriate place...YAY!!!), AND the dishes have been run twice AND put away - WOO HOO!! So at about 7:30 I had him start getting ready for bed and a little before 8 I was reading his bedtime story to him...He was ready!

So the point of all of this is to say...I had a WONDERFUL day with Kellen, but as far as the second official day of my vacation goes, the "period of suspension of...other activity.." definition isn't really fitting my "vacation" very well...Hmmm...

I think I'm going to throw the textbook definition out the window...'cause yesterday Kellen and I talked about all of the things that he and I wanted to do today, and we did them ALL. The only things that we didn't get done today that we wanted to were things that we added to our list as they came up...we want to play with the new toy I bought him at Wal-Mart; walk to the park close by our house, look at the pond and feed the ducks if we see any; and play in the "park" in our backyard (we have a relatively new swingset which he thinks is as good as going to a park). He also wants to go to The Bounce, which we're planning to do on Wednesday, and wants to go back to the pool.

Sounds like a plan to me!

My Kitchen Aid Mixer

My mixer is usually used by Matt, who does a wonderful job of using it to cook breakfast burritos, among other things. I, on the other hand, am just USED to using my hand mixer. You know, the good, old-fashioned, hand mixer. That's what I grew up with and what I know best. Although I wanted the Kitchen Aid mixer, I've been intimidated by it ever since we got it.

Oh, and by the way, we got it when we got married...almost 8 years ago.

Well, after hosting the REU-EXCITE students at the house and twice watching them effortlessly use the Kitchen Aid mixer to whip up their batches of "dirt" both times, I decided to give it a whirl tonight when making the graduation cake.

I just have to say, "I love my Kitchen Aid mixer!"

I really think I can get used to using it! Really! Most of you are probably thinking, well - duh!, but that's actually a pretty big turning point for me, since I wanted to actually put it away in the cabinet when we moved rather than leaving it out on the counter.

I just might have to start baking more often...and my midsection WON'T thank me for that one, I'm sure...

It's official - I'm VACATIONING!!!

Whoo hoo!! I'm officially on vacation! Yes ladies and gentlemen, you read that correctly. I did it. I took vacation. And no, the kids aren't sick, I'm not taking off to clean house, and I'm not on maternity leave. Laugh all you want, but those three things listed above are basically the main reasons for any leave that I've taken in the last 3 or so years. Seriously.

I left a L-O-N-G list of things for my student worker and some follow-up stuff for a faculty member to do, and it will *hopefully* all get done, since the day I get back that faculty member and I are conducting our departmental new graduate student orientation, but I'm going to try my hardest NOT to stress out about it!

Whoo hoo!! Bring on the fun stuff!!

I DO have to get Kellen registered for kindergarten next week *sniff* - Let's see if I can make it through that without crying - and we're actually doing some family stuff at the end of the week next week as well, but other than that we're doing an awful lot of hangin' around!!

My first "official" day of vacation is already pretty packed...mom is graduating with her PhD at one of the graduation ceremonies and she, my dad, and Jonathan are driving into town in the morning when dad gets off of work. I've just baked a celebratory cake and am chilling champagne and a bottle of wine as I type for the festivities. I figure I've had the champagne since Matt and my wedding, and we'll probably never drink it, so why not actually open it up for a festive occasion, right? After the ceremony, we're all going to Snook to eat steak for lunch and then we're just hanging out here at the house while my dad takes a nap before they drive home. Then we might go to the pool for a while - who knows!!

I'm really looking forward to spending some time with Kellen next week before he starts to school...We're trying to wean him off of his naps, and Matt's done a really good job with that while he's been with him this week, so we'll try to keep going with that next week as well. I've had to pay for it in the evenings, but Kellen DOES actually recognize that he's tired, so I guess that's a good thing. Poor guy. He needs his nap but we're just having to get him ready for school when he'll only have about a half an hour of "rest" time...so we figure if we try to wean him off of naps this month and move his bedtime forward to at least 8 PM, we should be in good shape. I will say though that the few days he went without a nap, he went to bed around the same time as his sister or shortly after. And her bedtime is 7. And he KNEW and RECOGNIZED that he was tired and ASKED to go to bed. Yup. Sure thing, buddy...

I'm SO looking forward to my vacation!! YAY!!!

Blessed

I am so blessed...Let me just try and count the ways...

It has been a while since I've posted, and I'm desperately behind in pictures, but this may not be the post to catch up in that respect...bear with me, please.

The REU-EXCITE students have come and gone...and they were more fun that I could have ever imagined. For those of you who don't know to what I'm referring, in addition to my "normal" stuff this summer at work, I also coordinated an NSF grant where we brought in 8 students from across the US to do a 10-week research program in our department, the first REU program in a department of entomology, we believe (YAY!). The last few weeks of this program have been a whirlwind, with Matt and I hosting them week before last at the house for a movie night, then last week on Wednesday being the culmination of their entire summer displayed in the form of our departmental student symposium where they gave oral presentations on their research to our departmental audience. They were F A N T A S T I C!!! Then later that afternoon they participating in the University-wide REU poster presentation and our group was heads above the rest of the groups in terms of at least the overall "look" of the posters (so at least I'm told...I didn't make it over to the poster presentations). I was helping to get the rental car for the field trip for the next day.

"Where did we go?" You ask...

Well, note above when I indicated that these students were from all over (our cohort ended up having 5 native Texans, but we weren't sure how that was going to pan out when it was planned), so we had a field trip to Schlitterbahn planned into the grant all along...And myself and a faculty member took the students to Schlitterbahn on Thursday. All went well...No injuries of which to speak, thank God, but lots of funny stories and fantastic memories.

Then on Friday night Matt and I hosted them again for a final farewell, which consisted of Matt cooking hot dogs on the grill and us all watching A Bug's Life (while everyone was eating and the kids were still awake) and then watching The Fly once the kids went to bed (well, once Tatum went to bed and Matt took Kellen into our bedroom to watch something else, anyway). The students were so appreciative of everything that the department had provided them, and I really had to fight tears off and on all night long, especially when one of them shows up with a dozen roses for me just to say, "Thanks" for everything I had done for them all summer long.

It's students like this and moments such as these that help me to remember and realize that I'm EXACTLY where God wants me to be, touching lives in the manner in which He wants me to. I made an impact on these students that will hopefully resonate for years to come. And no, this isn't a "look what Rebecca did" post, but I did need that oh-so-much right now for so many reasons, because this summer has been so overwhelmingly stressful on so many levels and having that as a little God-reminder was so precious to me!

Moving on...

Kellen
Kellen had his birthday party on his birthday this year...it will warrant its own post, full of pictures of the many friends that came to share in his day, but that day was quite the blessing in and of itself. The poor guy almost wasn't able to make his own party! He had been sick the day prior with an unbelievably high fever that I just couldn't get to come down, despite all of my normal tricks of Tylenol, cool baths, little clothing, the works, but with many prayer warriors doing their thing, he woke up feeling much better on his actual birthday and, although wasn't completely himself by party time, was able to attend, play, and have a good time. WHEW! Crisis averted on that one!

This past Friday I picked Kellen up from school...his daycare that we've always called his school...and I cleaned out his cubby for the last time. I didn't cry, but it was close. Friday was his last day there. For the remainder of August until he starts kindergarten on the 25th, Matt will do daddy-duty every day, except for the days he works, then Kellen will ride with daddy and go to MawMaw and PawPaw's to stay.

Can I say again that I'm not ready for him to start school? Why did I think that it would be easier on me since he always gone to school? I did, though...I honestly thought that the transition from day care "school" to actual school wouldn't be that hard on me. WRONG. Every time I let myself think about it for more than 30 seconds to a minute, I have to stop myself from breaking down into a bumbling, crying mess.

Why is that?

Matt seems to be dealing with this very well...and I'm blessed that he's going to a GREAT school that is SO CLOSE to us! If we didn't live in the days that we did, he could actually walk to school, we're THAT close.

Tatum
And Tatum, what to say about her....She's finally gotten both of those top molars in all the way, but the other teeth that I just know she's cutting haven't come through yet. I'm convinced she's cutting teeth. it's either that or she's like the dog in Turner and Hooch and has a major drooling problem, and surely it can't be that...She's just gone through or is still going through a growth spurt, and I went through her closet tonight pulling out her shoes and some clothes that no longer fit her. How is it that my 17 month old - as in 17 months old TODAY - is wearing 24 and 2T clothes - and if they're shirts they're already fitting too snug and should be 3T? There's something inherently wrong with that, isn't there? *sigh* Then again, I guess it just depends on the outfit, because the 18 month size dress looked adorable on her today at church other than the straps continually falling off of her shoulders. Ha...It's a clothing manufacturer conspiracy I tell you!

What I did learn today is that she seems to L I K E trying on clothes. Yes, you read that correctly. She likes it. Shoes and all. Oh boy. I'm in trouble! I was trying some shoes on her that I wasn't sure would fit her because, like I mentioned earlier, I realized she had grown quite a bit....tried on some and they didn't fit, got the bigger size out and tried them on her and it went something like this.

"Tatum, come here and let's try these shoes on." (She proceeds to walk to me, turns around and sits in my lap, putting one foot out near the shoe I'm holding in my hand)

I put the shoes on her. "Walk around and see if you like those." (She prances around her room)

"Do they feel good? Do you like them?"

Appropriate head shake according to her preferences.

Wow...this has to be genetic because it certainly isn't learned behavior, but where did this genetic material come from?

And me...
Well, I have decided that I'm actually going to take a week off of work. Yup. Seriously. A WHOLE week. So after this week of work, I'm taking off! YAY me! We have a family vacation snuck in there for one of those weekends, but other than that, I might not do much of anything but watch movies with Kellen and take him to the pool. And nap. A lot.

Sounds like a plan to me!

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back into my running routine again this week...with the craziness of the REU-EXCITE schedule last week, it just didn't happen. I won't say there wasn't a way, but it would have required even less sleep than what I got, and I don't function well on little sleep (can those of you who know me say BEAR?). But I miss it, and I'm hopeful that I'll find a way to make it happen in a feasible manner this week.

Brain on Bugs

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0bUEKfZpz4k

Progress!

Well, Sunday we got back to making some progress on the house. Now don't get me wrong, we have been doing stuff, but we made real headway on Sunday.

All of the decorations have been hung in Tatum's room and it looks just ADORABLE, if I do say so myself...(Thanks Maw Maw!!) Then we put up the vast majority of the items on the walls in Kellen's room - his will take longer because just about every wall has a different theme. Yes, I'm being serious. There's the Aggie wall, then the Norman Rockwall wall, then the baseball wall...you get the idea. So he has something up on all of the walls, and more to come on the baseball and Aggie walls, but I think he feels better about having some of his familiar items up on the walls.

And I think the kids are adjusting quite well to the new house. Kellen continues to tell us how much he likes his backyard - and WE just love watching him be able to go outside and PLAY in his backyard. Wow...what a great feeling!!

Matt also got the curtains hung in our room and he had managed to wash virtually all of the dirty clothes before we headed out of town for the weekend, so YAY!

We're getting there!!

Annoyed

I'm annoyed at a very odd thing...I have a few shows that I REALLY like to watch. As in, I'll DVR them (what a wonderful invention!) and watch them, but not many.

However, two such summer shows are, well, I should say - WERE, The 4400 and The Dead Zone, both formerly on The USA Network.

Is anyone else bummed that USA canceled these two shows? I LOVED to watch these - especially The 4400 - I didn't watch much of The Dead Zone last season and we hadn't gotten DVR yet at that time - and I'm really just annoyed that they canned them.

I mean REALLY ANNOYED.

I know. It's an odd thing to get annoyed at. And I'm not using proper grammer either. But I feel like I only have a few things that I allow to be "mine" - and that/those shows were one of them and now they're gone and I'm mad about it!

ARG!

Update, as promised!!

Sorry I've been scarce...but here's an update (I'll give you all the short version)

1. We've moved, and are 95% moved and settled into the new house
2. I managed to get a staph infection in the process, actually, prior to the move if you want to truly get technical - got a rocephin shot (antibiotic #1) and antibiotic #2 (about a week and a half ago)
3. The sulfer-based antibiotic(#2) given to me to treat the staph infection caused a secondary infection (NOT fun), which necessitated another antibiotic (#3) ON TOP of the other antibiotic to treat the secondary infection (approximately 4-5 days after the onset of the staph infection...Tuesday of last week)
4. I missed most of last week at work.
5. I finished both of those antibiotics yesterday and thought I was over with it all.
6. I called the dr's office this morning to get the results of the staph culture and found out I have MRSA staph - so the ENTIRE family has to bathe in hepiclens soap & use bactroban in our nasal cavity (sorry, TMI, I'm sure) and on any cuts/scratches/wounds for 10 days, AND I have to take ANOTHER antibiotic (#4) for 10 days.

It's been oh-so-fun around here...and the move and my healing time would have been greatly dimished, in my opinion, if my mom hadn't been staying with us, so a BIG thank you goes to Grandma for all the help!! The kids already miss you terribly!!

And, it probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, prayers would be MUCH appreciated for healing!! I especially would like prayers that NO ONE else in the family gets even ONE IOTA of this. I'll take it all so that neither of the kids gets this.

Kellen funny...

Our internet is going in and out in our new house (yes, we've moved and I haven't updated you, sorry!), so I'll make this quick:

1. While reading him his story before nap today, he asks me when he'll see Jesus and God, and I tell him that we'll see them when we die. He proceeds to tell me that for him that will be a long time, but not for me 'cause I'm old. "You know Mommy, you ARE getting older, you know?"

I didn't take offense, promise, but had to hold in the peals of laughter to finish the story and NOT wake up Tatum. And I promise, I DID tell him not to say that to anyone else, so don't blame me if he says it to you someday.

2. Then he told me a joke..."Have you ever seen a dog in the bathtub with his clothes on? That's so funny."

Ok, so the poor kid has my non-ability to tell jokes and sense of comedic timing...but he's trying!

3. I'll preface by saying that this one isn't a funny....Since I've been sick (ok, flame me later for not updating the blog...when the internet it working properly I will, I promise!) every time he prays, he asks God to make Mommy feel better. It is so absolutely sweet!!