A year of Sundays

I am starting to see a theme with me. I like projects, but I rarely finish them when they should be finished, or at least I procrastinate until the very. last. minute. and always seem to pull it off. Somehow. Well, I am starting another project that I can't procrastinate. I am going to start taking a few pictures every Sunday to document our lives. I like this idea for a multitude of reasons. First reason, life changes so drastically sometimes week to week, and other weeks it stays the same. It will be fun to see what little bits of life I capture. The second reason is that I NEED to learn how to take pictures indoors WITHOUT the flash on this camera. I HATE the flash, and I have up until now been too lazy to take pictures (or try and learn to take pictures) the way I WANT to take pictures. So, I figure after awhile I will get embarrassed of posting these blurry weird photos, and I will make myself learn how to make them look good! Now I am not going to take a bunch of artsy fartsy pictures. Just pictures from my every day life, and who knows maybe some weeks will be artsy fartsy, maybe some weeks will be big blobs of blur! I am excited to see if I can keep up with this, and I hope I make at least SOME effort to make the pics look better over time. Whew! What an explanation!

And now, week 1.


Brady with his breakfast of choice for the last week or so (waffles with peanut butter and syrup) and my breakfast of necessity (yogurt and pain pills). Oh, and the church bag all packed and ready to go.
Natalie's new dress (and socks and shoes).
First real season Cowboys game: today! Cowboys vs Browns. 28-10!
Playing nicely. For the moment. Brady finally got to open his new digger toy, bribery for sleeping in HIS bed, and staying there all night, for more than one night at a time.

Obsessed much?

A while back we borrowed a movie from our favorite movie store, Sarah's house. You may have heard of the movie, Toy Story 2?? Yes? You know the film? Well, so do my kids! I swear they watch it at least once a day all the way through, and it is on as background noise more than that. Which, I know, is totally horrible, but it just so happened that last week I was working, so yeah, the kids watch too much TV, and then this week I got my teeth out, so I was too tired to take them anywhere (thanks Lortab), so it has just been that they have had lots of free time. Of course I make them play together, but after so much of that they need a break, and this is their movie of choice! They love it so much!

They can quote parts of it, which cracks me up. "No Buzz! I AM your father!" Brady has actually even pulled out the Toy Story toys we have had FOR-E-VER and is playing with them! He likes to carry Zurg and Buzz around. Looks like someone is actually going to be easy to shop for this Christmas! Thankfully it is a classic movie and they still sell the characters, if not I would be hitting the Ebay right about now!

Here are some pictures of Brady from 10 tonight watching it on my bed. It is Saturday night so we aren't pushing bedtime, plus he is being good and quiet, and not to mention really stinking cute! The pictures aren't the greatest, but I hate to use the flash, and I am working so I really didn't have time to work with the settings, but look at those legs! Oh man, it is all I can do not to jump on him and squeeze his little body! And I love when he lays like a big kid with his feet crossed. Man! He is just being TOO cute tonight!

I love this little man! And I have to say I am glad they have picked such a non-irritating movie to watch all the time. I even like it better than the first one, more funny parts!

Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who played along! And thanks to all of you that read along, my blog wouldn't be the same without you! Woo Hoo for Missy who was the big winner, it was a close finish there at the end, but as the screen shot (woot! new trick!) shows, Missy pulled out a win!

Natalie's Quiet Book:

the Gospel from A-Z
Here is is, all ready to laminate and bind. Lots and lots of time went into this bad boy. The pictures are HORRIBLE, but you get the general idea. I love it, and I think Nat will too! If you want to make your own, I got the words and idea here.

The first 2 pages I made, and 2 of my favorites!

I LOVE this page.

This is my number one favorite, I love the picture and the words and the colors too!

Update on The Teeth

*Update: 4 sides of Chili's mashed potatoes only equals 8 bucks, with tip! Can't beat that!*

Ugg, so the bottom left to you, right to me side of my mouth is still numb-ish. Not numb so that when I poke it I don't feel it, but numb so that it feels like I have a fat lip and I can't really open my mouth very wide. I called the Doc and he said that every should be fine since it is slowly coming back, just that maybe the blood clot is pushing on the nerve or some other such technical thing. Ugg. I think the worst part of the conversation is that I am supposed to really, REALLY only eat soft foods for a week. Um, yeah, that sucks! Those mashed potatoes from Red Lobster are sounding PRETTY good right now. I love my food, so this is KILLING me, especially because it is my off days, and this is when I like to cook fun stuff and we always inevitable go out to eat! Did I mention, ugg?

On a lighter note, I am ALMOST actually done with Natalie's quiet book? Remember me mentioning that thing?? I should have it finished and ready to laminate by tonight, and I will take pictures and try and post them. I NEED to finish a craft! I keep starting stuff and not getting it completed, and now I am bound and determined to get going on some MAJOR crafting this week!

details

Well, the mountains of gauze are out, and I can't put off "journaling" about this anymore! I have to admit the whole thing was pretty smooth! I really liked Dr. Moore and he and his assistants went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I opted only to use the nitrous gas (and of course the local anaesthetic) for the extraction, and it really was all I needed. I kinda heard a minuscule scrape and he was like, there's the first one, then before I knew it the Dr. said he was half way done. The only issue came with the last tooth, they had to use something noisy and then pop! it was out too. They said it was a perfect tooth removal and I am glad it went so smooth. I think it helped that they kept making me laugh! The assistant said "Oh! You are doing such a great job" and then the Dr was like, "Oh, thanks! I have done this a few times before, but still..." Haha, it may have been the nitrous talking but that made me giggle. But, they did say I did good, I am so proud of myself, no crying or cringing (well, a little cringing when they did the last 2 shots on roof of my mouth, those one HURT!). Soon enough it was all over, I was packed with gauze and I headed home with my lopsided smile and chipmunk cheeks! I totally forgot to take pictures though, and I will use the excuse that that is the Mommy's job to get the embarrassing photos!

The only real trouble came when we went straight to WalMart to get my Prescription and they told us 45 mins, so we wandered the store for a while and then headed back to see if maybe they were done early. They weren't, of course, so the kids and I went and sat in the car while Keith waited the last 15 minutes to when they SAID it would be ready. One HOUR later, still no prescription, the kids are cranky and hungry, my gauze is getting filled with blood, my mouth is getting filled with blood, and I am freaking out and frantically texting Keith (since I can't talk at this point!!) that he either needs to throw a fit and get my meds NOW, or we need to go home so I can change my stuff! I had no idea if not changing it when I should would make a difference on the wound being able to clot, so we decided to get me home! After dropping me off so I can clean up and rest a bit, Keith took the kids to lunch (they were famished, you know, just WASTING away!) and then they went and got my meds. They finally got them at 1:30! We were supposed to get them at 11! I am SO angry, and you know when I can talk again I will be calling management, and we are no longer using WalMart Pharmacy for our prescriptions! I found out from Keith there was another lady that had just gotten out of a 5 day hospital stay and she had been sitting there for over 2 hours!! The Pharmacists were calling and verifying something or other, but they didn't tell us what was going on! When they SAY 45 mins, it should BE 45 mins! Ugg! That REALLY made me mad, and it even made me cry!

Anywho, now that I got my drugs (lortab, penicillin, fancy mouthwash, and something for inflammation) I am all good. For some reason my mouth is still a little numb and I am really tired, but I am able to eat soft foods and drink, so that is nice. I thought maybe I would be able to lose some weight with all the yogurt and soup I will be eating, but it doesn't help that we have some leftover cheesecake in the fridge! You don't have to chew cheesecake!

Oh, and here is a picture of the teeth! I was nice and cleaned of the SKIN still left on some of them! Ick...but still cool! The one second from the right is the one they had to cut out a little bit! I wonder if I put these under my pillow if I will get $350 from the tooth fairy to pay for the surgery? LOLOL, wishful thinking!

gone

wisdom teeth out. it hurts. more on this subject later. feel bad for me.

First day of Preschool, again

*Warning, this turned into quite the long post, because I started to do my journaling thing again. I guess that is what happens when I am too lazy to write in an ACTUAL journal!*

Natalie's preschool started up again today. I have to say she was SO EXCITED to start, she has been missing on her teacher for the last month or so, and just within the last few days has been asking if school is "tomorrow?" every day. We have been ready for school to start in a lot of different ways. Natalie is just one of those kids that loves to interact with "her friends" and she loves school so much, so needless to say she was starting to get a little stir crazy after two months of no school.

It doesn't help that we live in an apartment and she has to share her personal space with a 2 year old boy who is learning more and more every day on how to annoy his big sister. She needs the time away from him, and he needs the time away from her too! It makes such a difference and they are so much NICER to one another after even a brief period of separation. It just shows me the difference of boys and girls. Brady and Nat are best friends in the sense that they love each other to death, but they are still so different in play styles and likes that it is just a different sibling dynamic than say with 2 boys or 2 girls. Something neither Keith nor I have ever experienced so it is fun to watch and see how they show love.

School prep officially started when Natalie and I tackled Target 2 weeks ago during the tax free weekend (I know, what were we thinking??), and we had SUCH a blast! I wanted to post about the trip all by itself with pictures of her modeling her clothes, but a fashion show just never got done, so I am smooshing that experience into this post! Anywho, we went late on a Saturday and had so much fun looking at all the clothes. Natalie was all, "Ohh, this is cute!" and "Oh my goodness, that is so cute" and "oh! How cute", she was being well....really cute! I let her pick out a lot of her own things too, within reason, and she got some great stuff! She even found this super awesome clearance jean skirt that was hanging in the wrong place, but we snagged it up! What a find, she is a bargain shopper at heart, just like me! After Target we headed to Wal Mart on the hunt for a non tacky Tinkerbell shirt. I normally hate, HATE shirts with characters on them, but since we got all nice and normal clothes so far, I figured one shirt that she will just LOVE won't kill me! Anywho, I had no idea that there was a stinkin' baseball game, so it took us FOR-E-VER to actually GET to Wal Mart. I mean we were driving down this street, then that street and had to take this detour, then cut behind that building, and then finally snuck behind some cones to make it out of there and make it to a normal non blocked street to make it to Wal Mart. And after all that, no non tacky Tinkerbell shirts! Dang it! But, because it took us SO long to get there, by the time we left the baseball game was coming to a close, and that meant FIREWORKS! So Natalie and I pulled over on the side of the road and watched a seriously rockin' display of fireworks! It was amazing, the best end to a great night!

Well, if any of you actually read all that, kudos to you! And now for your viewing pleasure some pics of Natalie in some of her school clothes!

Here she is this morning in her first day of school outfit, new shoes, shirt and pants! LOL, I remember the days of picking out just the right thing to wear on the first day. She loves this shirt so much, it came from the "big girl section" and she is so proud of that fact!
This is my favorite top that we got (clearance!!) and the skirt that she found! She loved it so much that I gave in and let her wear this to church. I tried to be a stickler and make her save all her school clothes for school, but I am a softie and she asked so sweet!
Don't you love the purple socks? She wore her cowboy boots so you couldn't see them, but I love that they were her choice of socks. (yeah and that is Brady laying on the floor refusing to get in the picture!)

Anyways, today went off without a hitch. She had a great time in class, and after a bit of sadness over some of her friends not being there (they have moved on to Kindergarten) she settled right in. This year she will be one of the big kids, and I think she will enjoy that very much! I can't wait to see what the school year holds for her and for me too!

400 posties!

Yay me! That is a whole lot of talking and pictures! I have to say I am so proud of what I have done with this blog. I am NOT a journal writer and I can never ever EVER seem to keep up with one! This blog has helped me so much to keep track of our lives over the last year, better than any journal ever has, it actually has inspired me! If I ever stop with the blog, I will always continue with a journal. There are so many mundane things that happen that you don't think are important until you start recording your every day. Then one day a year down the road you read it and it takes you back to something you otherwise would have missed. I am grateful for these archives that I have created (one day I hope to get them printed!), and for the memories that I have recorded!

I missed my blogiversary, and I really wanted to give something special away for that, but I am not missing this! So leave a nice comment to be entered to win 4 authentic Black Apple bookplates (you can buy your own here)! I love these things, and yes they come in packs of 12, but I am keeping 4 (gimme, gimme, gimme) and the others are being saved for a special occasion. So we are sharing the bookplate love. Yay for Black Apple!

*Oh, and the comments will be closed Friday night at midnight, and we will pick a random winner Saturday. Oh! And one entry per person, because you know SO many people are going to want to enter I want to give everyone a fair chance....LOLOLOL*

Labor Day: aptly named

First off I have to give a shout out of Congratulations to Keith's sister in law Danielle who gave birth to a healthy baby boy today! I will post a picture as soon as we get one! I love little newborns!

In other news, Labor Day is the signifier of the end of summer, at least it always has been in my eyes. School always starts right after (if you are lucky) and the weather seems to start changing pretty soon thereafter as well, at least when you live in a place with a normal climate! LOL, meaning NOT Texas! I am pretty sure it will be hot here for a while still, ah well.

So, anyways Labor Day isn't Labor Day unless you do something to "rest" from your labors, and since I have to work tonight (sooo worth the holiday pay) we ended up getting together for a fun BBQ at the Kirchmann's house. The kids and dads went swimming while Sarah and I chatted away, and then we feasted on some yummy burgers, peaches and chips! The perfect BBQ food! Sometimes it is so nice to be able to just hang out, no pressure and enjoy being with friends, and the kids were really cute too!
I asked Miss Bella to smile for me, and she rolled over and went to sleep. Cracks me up!

Brady had so much fun playing with Daddy! Brady is still a little tentative in the water, but we will work on that next summer.
Aube was impressing me greatly with her skills. Even Brady wont go out by himself! She is fearless!
This picture kills me.
Natalie all of a sudden was so brave today! She only had the arm floaties on and was jumping in and going underwater all on her own. Then she had Keith throw her in the air into the pool. The first time she came up smiling and happy so I had them do it again...
...she came up a little less thrilled that time!

It was a good time, and I know the kids loved it. I love doing things like this because not only do the kids get to be out of the apartment where they are constantly up in each others business, but I feel like it makes good memories. And they are learning how to play so nicely with other kids. I love to see them interacting with little people their own age, it cracks me up and it shows me how quickly they are all growing!