149 Days

Countdown to Nick's Graduation: 149 days from today! That's just about 5 months away! I'm already a proud woman, but that will be a glorious day indeed!

Jingle Blog, Jingle Blog

Michael's Stone Soup, after his field trip to Canino's Farmer's Market


Michael at the Renaissance Festival: he really wanted to go [somewhat controlled] bungie jumping. He actually did it!



My tired Renaissance Festival Man...my knight, complete with dragon :)

HESS Christmas brunch, always a nice time!

Trip to Hermann Park, Japanese Gardens, and the Zoo this morning

I haven't blogged in a while. The first half of December was chocked full of busy-ness. I couldn't begin to ramble long enough about how glad I am to have some time off. I got fairly good news from my doctor yesterday, and another great haircut from my new James. Things are looking up. Nick's prospects are becoming more defined and it looks like things are settling down. So, after a crazy, complicated, depressing at times, frustrating at times, exhausting at times Fall season, things in 2011 are looking up.

I knew we'd get there. I am so glad that I didn't know in 2005 what I do now. I feel like this last semester was the last push to climb to the peak of a mountain. Now, pretty much, we're going to sail into the finish line of dental school.

Right now, I am enjoying the company of my guys. The holidays are wonderful when I'm surrounded by them.

Pie-apalooza

Today I spent the day hanging out with the boys and making pies. Such fun! I remember the days when making nine or more pies seemed a perfectly normal preparation for Thanksgiving dinner. Meema stirred dressing in an igloo cooler as no bowl was big enough for the volume needed for everybody. One room was dedicated to food-food, while every square inch of the diningroom table was covered in pie.

Halloween 2010

Recent Photos

NATHAN's Math Websites

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/second/


http://resources.oswego.org/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html


http://www.kidsnumbers.com/addition_timed.php


http://www.kidsnumbers.com/subtraction.php


http://www.paulysplayhouse.com/paulys_playhouse/games/flashcards.html

First Day of Pre-K and Second Grade

Wonderwild

For a last HURRAH, I took the boys to Wonderwild. Kids in San Diego should have no trouble playing outdoors, but right now in Houston, it's sweltering hot! Sooo, Wonderwild is a brilliant brainchild of someone who had ME in mind when creating it. It's an indoor play place with a large climbing structure, slides, a giant jumping pillow, an infant area (we've graduated from that one), and a kid-powered train.

It was comfortably crowded when we arrived, but the place was PACKED soon thereafter. Kids everywhere, running...running fast. Big kids, little kids. Kids climbing, kids flopping, kids tripping, kids hopping.

I'm running out of days to be home with the boys and that makes me incredibly sad. What I have to hold on to is a summer that filled me with so many good memories. I love my boys. I love that we can escape and do fun things together.

HOUSE #1

I finally have a digital photo of House #1! Our first little house seemed HUGE when we built it. We'd have plenty of room for a bunch of kiddos, the two furry babies, and...well...the air would be filled with rainbow sparkles and chirping bluebirds.

We outgrew that house in a matter of months. It was not much more than an apartment on the ground, but it was a great little house.

3742

3742--That's how many miles we clocked over the last two weeks! We just returned from a minivan journey from Houston to San Diego and back. Hoping that all would go well while we planned the vacation, I was very reluctant, and really just terrified about the possibility that we'd be miserable and hostile over the span of the trip. I could not have been more wrong.
We had 14 days of family bonding that was not at all cheesy. We talked, we played, we explored, we experienced, we shared, and we saw. Together. It was amazing, and we're already talking about the next road trip.

Our Pretty Sadie Girl

We knew she was getting older and slower, and more frail. Our Sadie girl. Her time with us sadly ended yesterday.

Nearly eleven years ago, her time with us began. She was already 3+ years old and had seen a tough life as a puppy. Mistreated, chained, and neglected, she was rescued from her first home in Kansas. Charlie needed a friend, so somehow we trekked to Oklahoma City--a half-way point between Kansas and Lubbock--and adopted her from a rescue foster parent. She was extremely skiddish and flinched each time we went to pet her. With each day she warmed up to us and realized that we were there to love her and give her a comfortable dog life.

She was always as gentle as gentle could be. She never met anyone whom she couldn't befriend. She never denied any attention, and even pawed at you for it if she felt she needed more. She had an inner clock for mealtime that got earlier and earlier as she got older. She'd bounce and bounce, bark and yelp frantically announcing that it was time to feed her...and Charlie could eat too.

I chided her often for being between my feet while cooking dinner, or sleeping right beside my bed when I'd get up in the middle of the night...always nearly stepping on her. We told her countless times to not circle the table like a shark awaiting crumb spills from the boys. She got her fair share of "Sadie-don'ts!"

Our family is missing a soft piece now. We're missing velvety ears to scratch, and a tummy that never said no to lovin'. We're missing our girl.

Braces Mug Shot

After 1.5 years with Invisalign and several weeks trying to make a few final tweaks with two brackets, today my ortho resident put on 9 new brackets on my lower teeth. The bracketed teeth (and adjacent soft tissue and bone) feel violated while the UNbracketed teeth aren't jealous of the others at all. I'm ready to be finished with all of this!

Goggle Flashback!

Left: June 2007
Right: June 2010

Summer

Start to the Summer

Happy 11th Anniversary to US!

Today, eleven years ago, Nick and I were married. He is my best friend, and my love forever.

Nathan is SEVEN!

Nathan is officially past 6, 6 and a quarter, 6 and a half, 6 and 9/12ths, 6 and 11/12ths, and 6 and 364/365ths. He is officially SEVEN, and although it's a wonderful thing, IT'S AN AWFUL THING! How absolutely dreadful! My sweet, brilliant son is going through the years at lightning speed. I have no problem with my own age. I am perfectly happy everytime I get to take another breath in another day. However, it is hard to be a spectator as I watch my boys grow up.
I should not complain. I am thrilled to be their mother. I am blessed a million times over that they are happy and healthy and fill the world with love...and a few tantrums, but definitely a sizable chunk of love too. Seven, seven, seven, seven, seven. My, my, my.

Divine Dahlias and a Defiant Darling

Yes, these are MYYYY dahilas! The yellow one is much larger than the purple one in real life. It's 10 inches in diameter! Some of the plants I ordered produced smaller flowers than I expected, but I've enjoyed watching them grow!

And yes, that's my darling, too! He was having a tantrum and I wanted to capture the moment of love on camera.