Chaos No More!

(This is a picture of 'chaos' but I don't think MY chaos is this organized. That would be a great concept--believing that your chaos is actually organized to create something so COOL....yeah, not a chance.)

Whew!! I think I've finally done it!! After almost of month of "chaos" in the house, I think I'm caught up!

No more tripping over buckets, shoes, artwork, toys, dowels, etc. as you walk through the front door.
No more "extra" car seats laying around (why, I wonder do I have four??)
No more miscellaneous boxes sprawled out in every room.
No more "rinse that spoon and use it again because we don't have a clean one..."
No more wearing of each other's clothes (the boys went through that for about a day or two).
No more mail that's lost amongst all the "unecessary papers".
No more missing shoes.
No more misplaced library books (finally found them all).
No more eating on TV trays because the kitchen table had been taken over.
No more "that goes in the attic"...it's all finally in the attic!
No more "Gimpy's in the way"...we finally put him back where he belongs!
No more "What's for dinner?" I'm finally making it regularly again.
No more parking the car on the driveway...finally got the garage cleaned up...again.

Course, this all may be short-lived. But I'm feeling pretty good about our accomplishment! Now, I can sit down and enjoy a puzzle on a clean table! And just be able to take a break and not feel overwhelmed by the disorganization around me!

Oh, and some pics of the boys for your enjoyment...thought these were cute, the way I captured them!

FYI: Our sunflowers are turning out to be rather stunning!

Our Three Day Adventure!!

I know I'm a bit overdue in explaining what we've been up to since my last post. Truth is, we've just been busy and blogging hasn't been on my mind.

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a cub scout day camp known as Twilight Camp. I volunteered to lead the group known as the "Me-Toos". This consists of kiddos ages 3-5. Yes, you say "cub scouts aren't that young..." Well, these were the little ones of any adult volunteers. As long as a parent was volunteering at camp, they could bring their preschool age child to participate in the "Me-Toos" group. With my preschool teaching background, I felt qualified enough.

Let's just say...we had a blast!! We had a few kinks and issues (that of course we got all worked out by the last day) but overall it was a great experience for me. And, I'd do it again. Yes, to all those FAD volunteers, you heard me...I'd do it again.

Here I wanted to list a few things that I learned at Twilight Camp as the "Me-Toos" leader (in no particular order).

1. Lanyards make great boomerangs and chew toys
2. Just because the child is wearing a nametag, that doesn't mean it's their name
3. There's no age limit to being scared of thunder/lightning storms
4. Three most favorite activities: shaving cream, the parachute, marble painting
5. Three most favorite toys: Fisher-Price Little People, Mr. Potato Head, Tinkertoys
6. It helps if EVERYTHING belonging to the child is LABELED!
7. Snacks and movies are absolutely mandatory (atleast for 20-30 min.)
8. A written schedule is merely a guideline.
9. Youth volunteers may be just as childish as your preschoolers (that can be good and bad)
10. Herding cattle is easier than herding these kiddos
11. It's normal to become the designated "towel-holder"
12. The word "WALK" may as well mean "RUN"
13. They prefer hoses and squirt bottles to waterguns (and it's mandatory that the leaders approve to getting squirted or hosed by them)
14. It's mandatory that towels be dragged in the water
15. Fire Trucks are AWESOME!

My two boys attended this camp as well. The oldest said that "Twilight Camp was better than video games!!" That's a good sign!

Of course, I'm still "picking up the pieces" in my house. Reorganizing and cleaning up after Twilight Camp has proven to be almost an impossible task. So, my house is still screaming "Twilight Camp"...especially my piano room. We'll get there, eventually.

Such a teaser!

We didn't plant a garden this year knowing that I would not be able to keep it up. So, instead we filled our garden box with sunflowers. First time for me to plant sunflowers. It's taken a while for many of the young plants to do anything--the cutworms kept getting to them (once I learned how to deal with those pests, it was too late). Since we've had more growing quite well, the boys and I go out everyday (and I mean everyday) and check on them.

We noticed the first sign of a bloom on the tallest plant (stands about 6ft. tall now) about a week ago.Couldn't wait for it to bloom. But man, that sunflower teased us for days!

Day 1 & 2

Day 3 & 4

Day 5: FINALLY--No more teasing!

We were so excited to see our first sunflower!!

Speaking of teasing me...are those strawberries growing in my potted vinca plant...??? How in the world??

A 'Fully Interlocking' Home

I initially pulled out our collection of puzzles to put them all together to see of any of them were missing pieces. No, I'm not just going through a period where I MUST see if all my puzzles have their pieces--that would be "not normal". On the contrary, I wanted to use these puzzles for Twilight Camp this week. So, as a result, the boys have been putting them together for me...over and over again these past several days. Honestly, I think we lost our minds...now my house is ONE BIG puzzle cuz there are completed (and not so completed) puzzles everwhere!!

In the kitchen...

On the boys' art table (this is my 500 piece puzzle that Aidan started cuz he wanted a bigger challenge)

On ALL the end tables in the house...

The ottoman (there are 2 puzzles here)...

And ofcourse, all the open floor space is being taken up by puzzles

But, I must confess that our family LOVES puzzles (maybe not Jaren so much). If I had a designated puzzle table in my house, there would ALWAYS be a "fun" puzzle out to work on. But, at the moment, I have no table big enough for my 1000+ puzzles. I've used my kitchen table before...yeah, we ate on TV trays for a week. And my kitchen was off limits for fear that someone would mess up the puzzle--unless they were actually there to work on it. Decided using the kitchen table wasn't such a good idea after that.

Some SeaWorld Moments

Finally taking a few moments to share some photos of our trip to SeaWorld in San Antonio. Despite my oldest fighting an illness, he was able to enjoy himself somewhat. And, thanks to my mother-in-law, I'm actually in a photo! So yes, I was there too!

Although, I got kind of tired of being included in all the warning signs... Not sure how I felt being included with some of these people mentioned. This was the first time EVER that I was not allowed to ride any rides at a park! Oh well...

Let the fun begin!

The boys with dad on The Rio Loco

The boys got SOAKED on the above mentioned ride. Apparently a waterfall found them. They weren't too happy about getting their shirts all wet.

Taking a popcorn break before going tubing...again.

Perhaps one of his favorite things was damming up the water in this waterplay area. And, this is the only picture of me pregnant...so far!

We saw and participated in so much more than what I captured on camera. I was too busy enjoying it all to stop and take more photos! We will definitely be going back...

Thanks Mom and Dad Fort for taking us!

A trip to the store...

Okay, my day is barely half over and I'm not sure I can keep going!!

It all started with a typical errand day. Actually, it's been awhile since I've had both my children with me as my oldest is always in school when I would have days like this in the past. But, with school being out--I have both boys home all the time. Honestly, I dreaded this day. It started with a trip to Wal-Mart. I knew this would be a big shopping trip. I went to great lengths planning our trip: mapping out the store, dividing up my list, eliminating the not-so-important stuff, etc...

Why did I bother...

I should be prepared for the shelves NOT to be stocked. I try to allow my kids to feel involved by letting them find certain things that we need but it never helps when the shelves aren't stocked and the item can't be found...kid gets frustrated that he can't find it...throws a tantrum...feels responsible that the item isn't there.

Letting my child "drive" the cart. He's a pretty good driver actually. But, he's a "Sunday driver." So, it takes us FOREVER to get from one aisle to another. I shouldn't complain...atleast he's occupied. The problem comes when both kiddos want to drive...

Okay, trips to the bathroom are pretty normal no matter if I make the boys go before we begin our shopping. But four times!! Of course, you're never near a bathroom when someone's really gotta go. But, I'd rather take several detours than the alternative. I think it took us almost an hour just to get through half our shopping list.

Bathroom trips--not a problem compared to our next adventure...again still in Wal-Mart. Not sure if any of you moms out there have experienced this little adventure. If you have--I can now sympathize with you. Your child throwing up in the store--as you're running to the bathroom. Now that I think about it, it was handled as well as it could have been handled. But, as the mom, I couldn't help but feel rather embarrassed and apologetic to not only those shoppers around me, but to the poor guy who had the wonderful privilege of cleaning up after us. Hey, I've been there...I know what it's like to clean up some stranger's vomit. Believe me, I would have done it myself if I had the chance. Luckily ALL the people around me were moms and were empathetic to my situation. But, nothing could take away my feeling of embarrassment. But, hey--atleast he finished in the bathroom and didn't mark anything but himself and the floor. This is now trip #5 to the bathroom.

After that ordeal I was torn between taking my obviously sick child home or finishing my shopping. I decided to continue with my shopping since he seemed to perk right up once he had emptied his stomach. And I knew if I left--it would be another 24 hours before I came back--not to mention my cart already full of stuff. Course, there was the vomit-stained shirt, pants and sandals that ofcourse was a BIG DEAL. He refused to walk anywhere with the oh-so-dirty shoes on. We washed the sandals in the sink (trip #6). We quickly grabbed some inexpensive clothing in the boy's apparel and we changed his clothes--right there by the rack. I was NOT walking back to the bathroom!! As pregnant as I am, I was done walking that worn path that we had made to the bathrooms. And then the older brother had the audacity to vocally declare his jealousy of not getting new clothes like little brother...I refused to go there.

We finally got out of there 3 and 1/2 hours later!!! That includes the time we spent waiting in the check-out line while the lady in front of us proceeded to go the oh-so convenient bank in the store so she could pay for her groceries (good thing we didn't have to wait for her to order a Big Mac and fries and get cash back). And, that includes waiting for a "price check".

In the end I realized there was stuff on my list I didn't even get to, let alone buy. The rest of my errands certainly are not done yet today...but I'm exhausted. Needless to say, we came straight home.

And, to top it all off, I just realized that I left a bag of groceries there...

Tagged...again!

Alright, Toni--here goes:

*Two Names I Go By: Ashley and Ash
*Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Navy blue T-shirt, blue jean capris
*Two Of Your Favorite Things To Do: Play the piano and walk around my yard
*Things You Want Very Badly At This Moment: To not be pregnant anymore & for my hubby to be home from work!
*Two Favorite Pets: Gimpy (I've ever really only had this one)
*Two Things You Did Last Night: Went to an Astros game & ate a BIG pretzel
*Two Things You Ate Today: PB&J Sandwich & a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats
*Two Last People You Talked To: My two boys
*Two Longest Car Rides: Canada to Houston, TX; Washington to Houston, TX
*Two Favorite Holidays: Christmas and Spring Break (though that's not really a holiday)
*Two Favorite Vacations: Oregon Coast & Yellowstone National Park
*Two Favorite Drinks: Cherry Limeade & Virgin Screwdriver (sprite & orange juice)

Birthplace: Houston, TX

Favorite Vacation Destination: Yellowstone National Park

Favorite Color: Burgundy

Dream Career: Museum Curator

Guilty Pleasure: Oreos & Milk

Favorite Hobby: Piano

Favorite Restaurant: Red Lobster, China Bear (Jaren just introduced me to that one)

Favorite Actor/Actress: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon (but I have many)

Favorite Place to shop for myself: JCPenney and Palais Royal

Favorite Flower: any wildflower

I won't be tagging anybody else just yet because I've already done that today...maybe next time.

Double Tagged!

Okay, so I've been "double tagged"--I guess I really should participate. So, here goes (I guess I'm doing it right):

* 3 Joys:
1. Witnessing Jaren playing with the boys...also known as being "beat to a pulp"
2. Playing music (piano, organ, clarinet, radio, CD, etc.)
3. Being at The Lake Livingston Lodge

* 3 Fears:
1. My children going astray as they get older
2. Losing my hubby too soon
3. Unanticipated financial obligations

* 3 Goals (present):
1. Regaining a scheduled, family life
2. Getting the nursery ready for our baby girl
3. Getting enough sleep

* 3 Current obsessions/collections
1. European History
2. BSA Twilight Camp
3. All things girly for our baby!

* 3 Surprising Facts about me
1. Caves fascinate me--I'd love to explore them--not just take a guided tour.
2. I want to own a xylophone & a set of tone bells.
3. I'm not athletic at all!

I tag Megan, Gayle and Amy. It's your turn to spill!

Time out from blogging....

With the Fort grandparents here for the next week I'm sure I'll be busy enjoying some wonderful time with them rather than spending hours on my computer (okay, maybe I'm not that bad).

While they are visiting from the great state of Washington, we are venturing over to San Antonio to catch Sea World and other sites. Then we'll head up to The Lake Livingston Lodge for a bit.

Before they leave we'll catch an Astros game!

So, until next week--happy blogging!!

"This is my last day of first grade."

Ahhh, the last day of school has come to a close. Don't we always look forward to our child walking through the door and promptly dumping out EVERYTHING from their desk. Now you have yet another pair of scissors to add to your collection, plus another crayon box, 100s of more crayons, markers, etc. All of sudden your number of notebooks around the house has tripled. Then, you have to sort through ALL the paper and art...have to decide what to keep and what to throw away. Course, that's always the hardest part--DECIDING what to keep and what to throw away.
But, my favorite part was getting to read a year's worth of journal entries written by my 1st grader. The best part is the phonetic spelling of his words. Here are some of my favorite entries (unedited):

1. October 22, 2007
I playd with geo trax on my brothers birthday on satrday that was the best part of my weekend. Did you know that my brother acshle trnd five on the ninethtingth not on the twoneith

2. October 23, 2007
My monster is big and scary and strong! My monster has twelv legs and nine eyes. I think you wod not wont to get ner my monster.

3. December 17, 2007
The best part of my weekend was I got a notepad and I rit stiky note on it! Did you know that stikynote is a note that is stiky it is funny.

4. December 19, 2007
First get a mixing bowl.
Second put sum flour in the bowl.
third ster intill your arems hrt.
fourth put sugar in the flour.
last put them in the ovin and take them out.

5. If the Polar Express stopb at my house I wold get on.

6. December 21, 2007
What is the difrints butween Green and blue
A. Yellow
B. red
C. Green
Blue

7. January 24, 2008
If I would get stuck in a snow storm, I would put the wind shild wipers on and lisin to my CD player with hed fones or go sleding or make a snowman. I will drink hot coco. I will do a snow ball fhite.

8. January 29, 2008
If I had a magic pebble, I would wish for a stunt car with the remote! I will wish for a trampuling! I will wish for a pupy! I will wish for all legos! I will wish for a holl bonch of colring paper!

9. February 5, 2008
If I were 100 years old, I would go to the super ball and wach it.

10. February 21, 2008
If I were president, I would get a lot of peace. I'd be rich. i'd stop the wars. I'd let everybudy have freedom. I will make my contry happy. I'd read a lot of books.

11. February 27, 2008
This is the way I take care of my teeth. First I brush my teeth. Second I flos my teeth. Third I rins my mouth out and spit the water out. Last I eat then do it all over agen.

12. March 24, 2008
The best part of my Spring Break was when I swam in my Grandma's lake. Now I know I have a baby girl. I wanted a baby boy.

13. March 31, 2008
The best part of my weekend was I got a hear cut. I went to K.F.C. and I got a kids mill! I went home and I will eat my kids mill! I don't like to have food made at home. I don't rily don't like haveing no dinner.

14. April 3, 2008
My favorite part about going to the zoo was when the monkys that were makeing a mess! They were like a donky like on ponokyo! That is funny hahahaha! They were orraitang! I had a monkey blast!

15. April 7, 2008
The best part of my weekend was I played my game cube on Friday night! My dad and me played mareo party 7! We played intil 10:56 at night! I had a blast!

16. April 16, 2008
If I were a frog, I would say my name backwerds going ribit but I haft to hide orels I will get cot. My name backwerds when i'm a frog I would say ribit ribit ribit. I'll cach a fly afterwerds.

17. April 22, 2008
The best part of my weekend was I went to a party! There was a big efladable alagator! The alagator was for the children won't both the adolts. The adolts were taering krofish clas. Krofish stingk.

18. May 7, 2008
My mom cook the best chochlet rise krisby treats because I love the taste. Their so chochlety. I eat them when mom makes them.

19. June 2, 2008
The best part of my weekend was when I went to the pool. I jumped off the diveing bord. I did a caninball and a frontflip into the pool. I had a blast! That was on Saturday. My brother did not go on the diveing bord. He had a blast. My mom and dad had a blast too!

I could comment on many of these entries--but that would take too long. It's a delight to see that he has recorded many of our family adventures. If you need clarification on any of these entries, just ask!