Happy Birthday K!

Today is my longtime BFF, Kristen's, special day. She is officially "over" 30 just like me. You can learn more about her over at Livin' the Duffey Life. In the meantime I thought I would share a few special memories from our many years of friendship. I don't even think she will remember some of these.......

• Many years of friendship. I don't remember meeting K, but we were in the second grade. We have remained friends all these years minus a few altercations over some silly boys. Looking back, these certain boys were not even worth thinking about much less fighting about. Hindsight is 20/20.


• Roommates at A&M. I don't know how this came to pass since we spent a lot of our high school years fighting, but thank goodness it did. We remained roommates all through college minus the one year she had to live at the sorority house. Since we were both in college for 5 years that would make a total of 4 years living together. I would never have believed it possible, but not only was it possible, we made a really good team.


• Gossip Hotline. I think we were in the 3rd grade when we debuted our new magazine publication, Gossip Hotline. We planned to keep the elementary school gossip mills running with important information and interviews. We made two issues and I still have them. If you would like to subscribe, let me know. My need for gossip obviously started early.


• San Antonio and Schlitterbahn in the 9th grade. I don't know if K will remember, but we thought we were super cool, like most 9th graders. We swore all the lifeguards at Schlitterbahn liked us. Now, I realize they probably thought we were silly little girls. Whatever the reality, it sure made for a fun trip and lots of laughter.


• Cruise during high school junior year. It was my first cruise and I loved every minute of it. Of course, I was the one in bed early while K and her mom stayed out late. I have always been the responsible one!


• Moving day at A&M. The first day we moved into the dorm I was just getting back from fish camp. Fish camp is fun but a very overwhelming and crazy experience. I was really nervous starting my new life at college. When I got into my car, K had put a note on my windshield. I don't know how she found my car among the thousands, but she did. I don't remember the exact wording of the note, but it was welcoming me to our new life. I will never forget that note and how good it made me feel.


• Roommate Sunday. We decided we would do our roommate bonding on Sunday by going to dinner together. This lasted two Sundays, but it was a good effort.


• No shoes on the carpet. We had a nice square of carpet in our dorm room. K made a strict rule to not wear shoes on it. She was relentless about it and I made fun of her. Now I realize what a good rule it was! I don't like shoes on my carpet.


• Ghetto house. After K lived in the sorority house we decided it was time to get an apartment for our last two years of school. We didn't have a lot of time to look and picked something pretty quickly. It was not exactly nice on the outside, but we loved it. It was two story townhouse with a laundry room. What more did we need? We just had to ignore fading and peeling paint on the outside and really horrible carpet on the inside.


• Budget Suites. I have mentioned this before, but it is always worth sharing again. K and I both had internships in Dallas one summer, so she came up to look for housing. She found a room at the Budget Suites. It sounded wonderful. Two bedrooms, maid service, pool, fitness center; all the amenities you could ask for. They were also willing to let us live there short term without hefty fees, which was the biggest selling point. Upon arriving we had to flip a coin for the bedrooms. You see, one bedroom had a big hole in it overlooking the living room. I lost the coin flip, but in the end I think I actually got the better deal. We had decided that whoever got that hole bedroom would get to set the living room rules. I am all about rules, so I had a few.


• Shaggin' Wagon. K had a wreck (while talking to me on the phone) and I headed over to keep her company at the rental car company. Apparently, there was a big run on rental cars this certain day and nothing was available. K noticed there was a big, white cargo van sitting out in the parking lot. It was the type that had no window. Seeing the wheels turn in her head, she asked the agent if she could use that car. He looked at us like we were crazy, but a few minutes later we were driving off in what we proclaimed the "Shaggin' Wagon." Don't worry moms, there was no "shaggin'" taking place, just a fun name. We had so much fun with that van. That night we cruised around Northgate, where all the bars were, honking and waving at everyone. At one point we saw a guy walking to his car from a campus building. We pulled up next to him and pretended to know him. This was made even easier by the fact he was wearing a nametag. You could tell he was totally trying to figure us out, but didn't have a clue. To top off our fun wagon experience, we hightailed it to Dallas for one of K's friend's parties. We decorated the back of the wagon with rugs, pillows, curtains and even an entire papasan chair. We drew pictures with the Shaggin' Wagon name and hung them on the outside. Two others joined us in our trek and it was an adventure. I think we even ended up sleeping in the van because there was no room at the party.


• My dad's funeral. K came to Midland that very next day after she found out about my dad. I don't know what I would have done without her support. She is such a fixture in my life, that I needed her there. She stayed for several days, even missing work to be there.


• My wedding. Again, I don't know what I would have done without her. There are too many little special memories from this weekend to write here, but I will always treasure that weekend with her. I remember her being so strong and in control for me, when I was a nervous wreck.


• My spa weekend at the Gaylord. I didn't really want a full-blown shower for Landen, since he was my second. So, K and Darby planned a spa weekend for the girls. It was such a treat and became a tradition.

There are so many wonderful and special memories I have of our friendship. Like most long term friendships we have had our share of disagreements, but the good times outweigh them. We also don't get to see each other or talk very much because of little ones at home. It doesn't matter, we will always have a special bond. Like I have said before, we are really sisters and that is what being a sister is about - fighting, making up and always being there. Here is a picture from my wedding day. I love this picture of us. This is right before I walked down the aisle. She is obviously the one on the right, holding me up and just being there for me.

Annual Strep Party

When: End of April, beginning of May
Where: My house
What: A celebration of strep throat. There will be sleeping contests, free Chloraseptic spray, and plenty of soft, mushy food for everyone.
BYOA
(Bring your own antibiotic)

As if my lingering cold was not enough, I was confirmed with having strep today. According to the doctor, I had strep this exact same time last year. At A&M we used to say if you do something once then it becomes a tradition. Since this is my second annual case of strep, I officially declare it not only a tradition, but worthy of its own party. I may be the only one attending the big fiesta but that's ok. I realize this kind of party could easily get out of control. It's not for everyone.

Tooth Fairy Blues

I don't like the tooth fairy. That's right, I said it. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't always been like this, the tooth fairy and I used to be on good terms. I would lose a tooth, she would leave me money. How could I possibly not like that arrangement? Well, easy - she took a part of my little girl away this week.

The day started innocent enough with our typical schedule - gymnastics, errands, and then a meet up of friends at Chick-fil-a. Just another Friday, until suddenly little A exclaims, "my tooth hurts." I thought she might just have something caught in her tooth, until my friend asked if she had a loose tooth. I immediately hushed that silly idea, little A is too little to lose a tooth. Then, I saw it. The tooth was bloody and barely hanging on. How could this be happening? Ashley started screaming in fear. I tried to pull the tooth but was way too nervous. In an odd turn of events, my single, male neighbor happened to be eating lunch. So, my friend, Danesha called him over to pull her tooth. He actually came, ready and willing to help! Poor guy, he might be a little scarred from having children for awhile. Ashley would have none of that. Fortunately, J had just finished a test and was at home. I called and he came to our rescue. What a miracle worker! The tooth came out pristine and all was well within a few minutes. Little A was super excited about having the tooth fairy visit her last night. She drew her a picture and wrote her note asking where her tooth was going to go. It was all very sweet.

So, why does that hurt me so much? This tooth just happened to fall out the day after I had to go to a sneak peak of her kindergarten next year. I have been really excited about this, until I was actually there. Seeing all the little lockers and tables really got to me. The teachers were all super cute and nice but hearing their day's schedule made my head spin. Then there were all the forms: PTA, Handbooks, Manuscript practice, Requirements, Guidelines, How to prepare for next year.... the list could go on and on. I realized I wasn't ready for this even though Ashley is. Then, the tooth. It was like the straw that broke the camel's back. How did I get here? When did it all happen?

Don't get me wrong, I love many things about her getting older. To celebrate her big day, I took her to get her nails done with me. It melted my heart to sit next to her while we did something girlie and special for us. At the same time my heart hurt to know I would never be able to go back and hold her as a baby. Why does life have to be like that? We want our kids to grow up and be independent but at the same time yearn for them to be little forever. I am sure it seems silly to agonize over one little lost tooth but I know that this one little tooth is about to lead to another. Then, the next thing I know there will be no little teeth to pull and she will no longer be my little girl. I look forward to seeing the young lady, then the woman she will become, but I also will always be longing for that special time I will never be able to get back.

Tips

They say that we learn something new every day. I learned a couple of new things yesterday. Some of these things I already knew, but it never hurts to be refreshed from time to time. Since I like to contribute to the greater good, I thought I would pass them along.

1. An entire bottle of ibuprofen is not toxic to small children

While taking a phone call for just a few minutes, I returned to find little man pointing to an empty bottle of ibuprofen in the sink and a chair he had pulled up to the counter where we had the medicine stored. We had just opened this bottle a couple of days ago. There was a little tiny bit on the floor but I asked him if drank the bottle. He replied "Yes." I looked everywhere and couldn't find any other trace of it. He loves the taste of the Berry flavor, so I knew he probably had really done it. Poison control and hubby medical student both calculated the dosing and confirmed that he would probably be ok but would need more food and water. He did have some diarrhea but overall was ok. The one positive was the super good mood he was in.

2. Don't ever turn your back on your child even while on the phone with poison control.

While on the phone, I came back in the kitchen to discover that little man had chosen this perfect time to get himself some orange juice. He opened the fridge pulled down a brand new carton of OJ and spilled the entire carton all over the floor.

3. Soup is messy.

Right after I got through cleaning all the messes, it was lunch time. I thought I would serve veggie soup to the kids. I knew at the time this wasn't the best option cleanliness wise but thought the broth and veggies would be good for little man after all the medicine. Sure enough, during our meal Ashley dumped her entire bowl all over herself and the floor. This is on top of Landen's usual mess. I also had the honor of dropping their plates filled with grapes and chips on the floor.

4. Don't wash disposable diapers.

During the course of my super day, I threw in a wash of the kids' laundry. When I went to put it in the dryer I found that two diapers had been mixed in with the load. Fortunately, these were not dirty diapers but they caused a huge mess anyway. They broke apart and those little absorbant crystals were all over my washing machine and the kids' clothes. This was another really fun cleaning task.

5. Just when you think nothing else will go wrong, it does.

At the end of the day I discovered our upstairs air conditioning is broken. It wasn't so bad last night but it is still broken tonight and is really hot up there. Landen is having a tough time falling asleep as I type because it is so warm.

That was how yesterday went around here. Those were actually the high points, there were several other minor issues that aren't even worth mentioning. Suffice to say, the fun just kept on coming. Today, I decided retail therapy was in order. I am almost healed but a nice pedicure on Saturday might really put me in full recovery.

What am I doing?

Recovering from my bad day. I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Keeping it Real

Today was what I consider the BIG test. You other moms know what I am talking about. It was little man's 2 year checkup at the doctor. I know, you are sitting there acting like you don't know what I am talking about, but let's get real. Moms get very little recognition for our daily care of children, until this day. The annual checkup is when we can highlight all the wonderful things we do for our kids: "Doctor you ask if little man can walk - why yes he can! Can he use a spoon - he can do that too! Can he stack a tower of blocks - YES, YES, YES!!! He is normal. I am doing something right. You mean he also gained a few pounds and grew two inches. MY GOD, I am working miracles around here, I am keeping him alive!"

So, using this logic it only makes sense that we want to shine. Things were going well for me today. Landen weighed in at 32 lbs and measured 361/2 inches. He was in the 90th and 95th percentile respectively, which if I am not mistaken is considered a grade of A (don't bother disagreeing, my delusions are all I have). However, this category is a little biased for Landen since he was born at 10lbs. Then came the section I had been a little nervous about - food. I had come in prepared for what I would say. See, little man doesn't drink milk and don't bother writing in with your comments and suggestions, I have tried them all. I hate milk too, so why shouldn't he? Doctor's don't like this answer though, they want to ensure that kids are drinking gallons of the white stuff. Here is how this portion of my exam went:

Doctor: "So how much milk is Landen drinking?"
Me: "Well, he doesn't drink any but I do everything I can to supplement..."
Doctor: "So he eats plenty of cheese, yogurt..."
Me: (cutting her off very abruptly and loudly) OH YEAH I give him LOTS of cheese, yogurt, and...
Suddenly a sweet voice cuts me off, very loudly and distinctly
Landen: "AND MARSHMALLOWS!"

BUZZZZZZ, WRONG ANSWER! GRADE F! You must return to pregnancy and start all over with this child. He will never amount to anything with junk food like that. Actually, my doctor laughed. I love my doctor. I wish we could be best friends. She never fails me. I guess Landen is just like his father and can't keep secrets. Next year we will just have to practice more before the big test.

Going once....

I haven't been so good lately at doing my week in review. Things have been pretty routine and have mostly involved a spring organization frenzy. I have gotten a lot done, but it makes for boring reviews. Here are some brief highlights from my past week.

• I have been lucky enough to catch a cold and even luckier that everyone else here caught it too. It is still hanging around, even though I tried to kick it out a long time ago.
• I was able to transfer little A to a better school. This has been stressing me out for some time. The school she was supposed to go to was not to my high standards and I was threatening J with private school if things did not go my way. Fortunately, everything worked out. J is thrilled we will not be paying for private school for now. It is still my goal to have them both go private one day, but for now little A is in an excellent public school.
• I finished organizing the garage, Hallelujah! This was a hard job while battling a cold. It is probably one of the reasons I can't get rid of the cold. Dust and dirt are not friends with nasty cold viruses. Now, if I can just sell all the stuff in my "sell pile." If anyone is interested in any kind of electronics equipment, I have some deals for you.
• On Saturday night, the kids' preschool had a fundraising dinner and auction. It was so much fun. They provided child care so we dropped the kids off and enjoyed a nice dinner of Macaroni Grill. They had a silent auction and a live auction. In the silent auction I won a professional photography session and a 11x14 print for $37 and two kids haircuts at a kid hair salon for $10. Now, those are bargains. I also went in with some other 4 year old parents to win a camp out night in one of the teacher's backyards. Little A has been begging me forever for a camp out. This way she can camp out and I can sleep in a bed. The best part of all of this was using my paddle to bid. How fun is that?? If I had more money, I think going to auctions would quickly become an addiction.
• My tivo is starting to fill up with shows. Tonight, I have a new Gossip Girl, XOXO to that! Love it! The Office was very disappointing this week after a good last week and Desperate Housewives is still sitting there. I will say that we are still watching Heroes on DVD and it is probably the best television show I have ever seen. It even beats Lost as far as creativity and execution.

What am I doing?

I quickly grow tired of things, some may even say I am a "quitter." That's fine, I have come to accept it. Since I embrace by quitter status I have decided to stop using my fancy WAID post title. I am over it.

So, what am I doing this week? Organizing the garage. Spare me your jealousy.

What am I watching?

I forgot to mention but some shows are back on post strike. Surprisingly, I didn't care very much. I got used to not watching tv. Of course, watching season one of Heroes on DVD helped me with my transition, and Lost was still on.

This past week I watched new episodes of Office and Desperate Housewives. Office was hilarious. I loved it; however, Housewives was awful. They are officially on probation with me.

What am I reading?

Just finished my polygamy book, so I am in between books. I received my Real Simple magazine in the mail today. I signed up for a free promo thing and am officially hooked on it.

What am I clicking?

My friend JaLisa at Life's Journeys discovered Blogthings. It has tons of fun, silly quizzes that I am totally addicted to. It helped me discover that if I were a nut, I would be a hazelnut and if I were to belong to a generation I should be a baby boomer. That explains a lot.

All in a Morning's Work

Little man's To Do list from yesterday morning. He gave himself a couple of hours to get this all done.

• Take a lid off of a cup of water and "accidentally" pour it on couch and big sister. Watch sister scream.
• Climb precariously to reach a tall shelf containing many wooden puzzles with many wooden pieces. I really need a certain one. Result - spill puzzles with their tiny pieces everywhere.
• Get into Mommy's purse and find hand sanitizer (my personal hygiene fave, you never can be too clean). Pour contents all over tile floor and spread it as far and wide as possible because I think the floor is a little dirty.
• Find Daddy's aftershave and pour into his contact lens case. When Daddy needs to store his contacts at night they will smell extra good on his eyes.
• Since Daddy's eyes will smell good, I will squirt some aftershave on me too and while I am at it go ahead and spritz on several of Daddy's colognes. After all I am a big boy now.
• I am in the bathroom so take the opportunity to squirt nasal spray out on floor. That is cool to watch.
• Mommy will need her deodorant later, so help her by opening it up. Test it out on counter to make sure it will work.
• Go to guest bathroom and find kids' toothpaste. Squirt this out on my hands, to get some tactile stimulation It is so fun to be slimy.
• For my grand finale, find some glue and dump contents of bottle on mommy's label maker, thus ruining it. She is way into that thing anyway.

It was an aggressive plan but he was able to accomplish every last bit of it. There is no doubt about it, my son is a "go-getter." My personal favorite was the glue on my label maker. I loved my label maker and was planning some great things for it this week while organizing the garage. J asked me where I was during all this pandemonium. Honestly, all took place within a few minutes of me turning my back. I already watch him like a hawk because I know how he is, but now I guess the only alternative is to super glue him to my hip.

Crazy Day

Yesterday morning we woke around 4 am to what I thought was a tornado. The wind was so loud it felt as though the house was going to blow over. Looking outside it looked as though we were in the midst of a hurricane. I have never seen winds like that, they were 75 mph to be exact.

As morning broke there was a lot of damage, but we luckily did not have any to our house. Two neighbors had enormous trees fall and block their garages. Amanda at Those Dandy Dillards has some pictures of her tree. Since I was still able to back out of my garage I took one neighbor's little boy to preschool and another neighbor's husband to work. All I needed was to paint my car yellow to make myself official! I really liked being able to help friends and be useful even if it was just a ride.

I can't imagine what people who really experience a major hurricane or tornado go through. Just with our brief storm, it was crazy driving around and seeing trees and power lines down everywhere. It is just amazing how helpless we are in bad weather and how great a power it is.

Long time.....

I am sorry for my absence from my blogging duties. To be honest, my excuse is laziness. With post-vacation stress disorder, Easter, Landen's birthday, Landen's birthday party, and monthly deep cleaning duties I have been too tired to write. I finally feel caught up and have survived a busy few weeks. Now onto our usual routine, because I am all about routines.

Weekly WAID

For those of you just joining us, WAID stands for "What am I doing?" as in What am I doing Wednesday with the Wednesday part dropped for obvious reasons.

What am I watching?

Nothing. You heard me - nothing. That is how busy I have been. There was one night though I caught a part of a movie J was watching. It was called Idiocracy. Whatever you do PLEASE do not watch this movie. If you do happen to watch this movie and actually like it, rest assured you will be banned from ever having a conversation with me or my loved ones again. You can also count on an intervention from me. For those of you have seen it and claim you like it based on its attempt to provide a satirical comment on the way our society is headed, prepare for my wrath. I know satire and this is not it. It is directed by the same person who created Beavis and Butthead - enough said. As I write all of this, please know that my very own husband actually thought it was funny too. He is currently banned from conversing with me too - wait maybe he is getting the good end of that deal.

What am I reading?

Still on Shattered Dreams, the polygamist book. It is ironic I am reading this as the big polygamist camp was invaded this week by the FBI. I find the book interesting but the author does not write to my liking. It is also so hard for me to fathom how these women can find the arrangement acceptable. I know it is drilled into them and they are brainwashed, but I just don't see how they can live that way.

What am I clicking?

If you haven't found Pandora radio yet you need to try it out. It will match up a special song selection for you based on your music taste or fave artist. J listens to it all the time and loves it. I find it a little hit or miss but I am hard to please. Overall, I enjoy having access to a lot of variety.

What am I listening to?

Call me old school but I like Van Morrison (hey, don't blame me, blame my former hippie parents). I noticed today that for the first time his CD broke into Billboards top 10. This man has been singing for decades so he deserves some recognition. My favorite song is Into the Mystic. Once you hear it, I don't know how you can't fall in love with it.

WAID?

This week instead of typing "What am I doing Wednesday?" I decided to go the abbreviation route with the cool "WAID?". Feel free to pronounce it how you like. I prefer "wade." I saw on some other people's blog they have a "Works for Me Wednesday" shortened to WFMW. So I copied the idea but thought I would drop the Wednesday to make it a real word. Now, when you wake up on Wednesday you can say, "Hey, it is WAID day over at Jenn's blog I am just dying to know what she is doing this week." It is all about efficiency people.

On to my list. As an FYI (yet another efficient abbreviation) I am currently eating some Kettle pop corn, it is yummy. If you have never tried it, go get some, you deserve it.

What am I Reading?

I finished "Pledged" and am reading "Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist Wife" by Irene Spencer. Yet another memoir. Will the madness ever stop? Unfortunately, not for a long time.

What am I Watching?

Tomorrow I will be recording the pregnant man on Oprah. I think that is "must see" tv. I also finally watched the Bachelor Update Show. It has been on my DVR for a few weeks. This show has to be the most degrading piece of filth on tv. It plays to every stereotype there is and makes women look like desperate fools all competing for one lousy guy. Do I still watch? ABSOLUTELY!

What am I clicking?

Family Fun has a great website. They have lots of recipes and activity ideas. I have been clicking on their site to find the best activities, craft ideas and healthy recipes for my children. Yes, I am a super, fabulous mother. There is no reason to dwell upon the fact that I happened to enter a free Disney cruise contest and just glanced at the recipes, crafts and activities in order to figure out how to get a prize.

What am I listening to?

Sadly, there is nothing to write about here. I just haven't been paying attention to music this week. The pregnant man story just has me all messed up in the head. I can't focus on other things.

There you have it. My WAID. Like usual, I have a super long to do list and still managed to stay in my pajamas until 3:30 today. I also managed to cross off two of my list items while taking a nap. Don't even bother asking my secret, it will go to the grave with me. Let's just say it goes back to being that "super, fabulous" person I am.

Random Thought/Question of Week

My BFF Kristen over at Duffey Life, included a random thought on her blog one time. I thought it was cute, so being the copycat I am today (see abbreviation idea above) I decided to copy.

Why is it every time I go to a pharmacy, it takes forever to get my prescription? I have been to different places, at all times of the day, every day of the week and with different numbers of people in front of me and every time it takes an eternity.

Often I will get excited when I pull up at the drive thru or go to the counter and see that there is only one person in front of me. I am soon to discover that this doesn't matter. The standard minimum 20 minute waiting period still applies. That one person in front of me has a million issues with their medicine. I just don't understand. When I go to pick up medicine, I simply state my name and I receive it immediately. Of course this is medicine I have already ordered. When you actually have to take a prescription in to get filled I hope you remember to bring supplies with you because you will be there for awhile. Food and water are a must unless you plan on buying the 5 dollar mini water bottle they have for sale.

A-HA! I just figured it out. They make you wait so you will get desperate enough to buy all those impulse items at outrageous prices. "You say the Snickers is 10 dollars? I will take it, I know I will be here awhile!"

Week In Review

Overall a pretty good week around here. Landen was in good spirits this week, which made my week way better. His back wisdom teeth were obviously feeling better but are still not all the way in. I am preparing myself for more grouchy times ahead.

To counteract Landen being good, Ashley was in poor spirits this week. She is still not caught up on her sleep from our trips and when she is sleep deprived, everyone knows it. On the bright side, Ashley is still very manageable even when she is in a bad mood. I am thankful I have one low maintenance child!

Jessie bought a new car this week. With gas prices being astronomical, he needed a good commuter car unlike his gas guzzling truck. We got a 2004 Honda Civic. It is really cute and drives nicely. I haven't thought of a name for it yet, but it will come to me. (For those who don't know, I like to name my cars.)

Probably the worst thing about the week was me. I have been completely "off." I started the week feeling as though I was getting a cold but I never really got one. Instead, I have had a hoarse voice and feel extremely tired. It must be allergies. To top it off, I have been clumsy and forgetful. Last night I burned hot dog buns right after J told me about 10 times not to burn them. Also, I was attacked by our faucet after the nozzle came unhooked. A force greater than a typhoon hit me in the face. It has been one thing after another all week. If I could remember it all I would share it, but forgetfulness is of course one of my problems!

Baby No More

Today is my little man's second birthday. Landen Jerrison turned two! These past two years have flown by and crawled at a snail's pace all at the same time. Landen has always been the exact opposite of Ashley in every way, so he really rocked our world when he came along. We were used to a quiet, calm baby. Landen is loud and crazy. He has made for some challenging days but I don't know what we would do without his sweet and fun personality. Not to mention a smile that lights up the darkest of moments. Here are some tidbits about the birthday boy:

Favorite Color: He loves pink and purple. I think this is persuaded by his older sister. It might be the only two colors he knows. Part of me was thinking he might be color blind but just today he identified Ashley's shirt as green. I guess he is just a pink and purple man.

Favorite food: Hot dogs and candy. I swear if that is all I ever gave the child, he would be perfectly content. He also likes pizza and pasta.

Favorite toys: Tools. He loves to dress up and play girlie stuff with Ashley, but if there are tools around that is what he wants to play with. His teachers are always commenting on how he is the carpenter of the class. At home he will find Jessie's screwdrivers and walk around pretending to screw the hinges on doors. If Jessie is working on something, he absolutely has to take his tool box and work with him.

Favorite sentence: "I want......" I hear this all day. He always wants something. His speech is growing by leaps and bounds by the day. He can say long sentences and identify almost anything I ask him too. He can also name most of his letters.

Favorite thing to do in car: Point out every bus and "big truck" imaginable. That boy can spot a bus or truck miles away and scream "BUS" or "BIG TRUCK" as loudly as possible until I concur that there is indeed a bus or truck.

Favorite physical activity: Climbing. If you know us and seen him in action, you know what I am talking about. He can climb better than Ashley and that is not an exaggeration.

Biggest Fears: Dogs and Cats

Favorite Parent at the moment: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. Did I mention Daddy? He can not get enough of Daddy.

Favorite books: He loves these little letter books that Ashley also used to love. He also likes "Trucks," "Touch and Feel Tractor," "Brown Bear," any Sandra Boynton book and those little books you get from Chick-fil-a.

Favorite Movie: He has never watched tv. I wish he would, even for a few minutes. It would have made our travels a lot easier. Even though he doesn't watch, he does have the ability to name all the characters and shows.

To sum our little man up, he is about "all-boy" as you get. He loves running, climbing, kicking balls, jumping, yelling and causing destruction. He also is very sweet and will hug everyone if they let him. This probably goes along with his very outgoing personality. He cracks us up all the time with the funny things he does and is joy and a blessing to our lives. Happy Birthday my precious baby boy!

Dickens/Head '08 Mountain Adventure

Part two of our two week vacation was the main event. Like I mentioned before, Dickens/Head annual vacay had been cancelled the past two years because of new babies and school schedules. Instead of our usual adults only trips, we decided to make this year a family affair.


Our original plan was to drive the 14 hours to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. After some consideration, that plan was dropped for flying. Since Jessie has his Aunt Joye, Uncle Ken and four cousins I have never met in Atlanta, it made perfect sense to fly into Atlanta, spend a day, then drive on into Tenn, which was a four hour drive. Much more manageable and much to our surprise went relatively smoothly. Well....as smoothly as it gets with two little ones. Here are some memories from the trip. There are so many of them, I might have to write more another day.

• A LOT of luggage! We had two big bags, Ashley's little bag, two car seats, a stroller, Ashley's backpack, Landen's backpack, Jessie's backpack, my bag and to top it all off - Jessie's golf bags encased in a military armor style contraption. When the rental car shuttle came to get us, he looked at all of our luggage and heaved a big, exaggerated sigh. He then got on the radio and said "Overload situation, I need backup."



• Wonderful hospitality, food, and company at Aunt Joye and Uncle Ken's house. It was great to meet all the cousins and kids. There are four girl cousins and they are each married. Each couple have at least three or four kids. Add our kids to this mix and another visiting cousin and we had a party.



• All the fun toys at Joye and Ken's house - a four wheeler, a trampoline, a movie theater, a Gym. a Corvette, a Harley and a boat. We got to ride the four wheeler and watch a movie in the theater. The other toys will have to wait for another visit. We decided next vacation we will just stay there.



• A great aquarium in Gatlinburg. It was the best aquarium I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot). They had the most exotic collection of fish I have ever seen. To top it off, none of kids fell into the sting ray feeding pool, which was perhaps one of the bigger accomplishments of the trip.



• AWESOME Dickens/Head '08 shirts. Jason and Ashley worked really hard and outdid themselves on this year's shirts. We had shirts in Cancun that we ordered online but these were a lot better. We got a lot of comments and stares when we wore them and they really helped us identify each other in a crowd.



• An incredible cabin. It was so beautiful. It was three stories and had everything we could ever need - a hot tub, a big screen tv, an air hockey table, a pool table and great views.



• Ober Gatlinburg. We took a big tram up the mountain to Ober, which is a ski/amusement resort. There was a really fun bobsled ride down the side of the mountain. I loved it. Even the kids went on it. Landen even rode the ski lift up to catch the ride and didn't fall out. Another major accomplishment down.



• Ober Gatlinburg's less than five star restaurant. We probably should have had a clue when we couldn't even find the "acclaimed" restaurant. Upon finding it, we were the only ones there. After our waiter took our order he disappeared for a really long time. When I requested his presence, another person told me that a cook had quit so our waiter, who was about 17, was cooking our food. Hmmmm.... The food was actually fine and Ashley declared her meal the "best chicken fingers ever." Of course this is the same girl that declared the breakfast buffet at Comfort Suites the best breakfast ever. Maybe we need to expose her to more food.



• Fudge, fudge and more fudge. It was our mission to find the best fudge. We had some at Ober that didn't measure up at all. Later, we bought some more in downtown. I never felt like we found the very best fudge but it was fun trying.



• Pancakes, pancakes and more pancakes. Before we hit town, Jessie said he wanted to make sure and get some pancakes for breakfast at some point during the trip. Well, he was in luck. There was literally a pancake house on every corner. Pancake houses are like gas stations are here. We ate at the Flapjack House one morning and that was ok, but the Pancake Pantry in downtown was YUMMY! They were the best pancakes I have ever had.



• Hillbilly Golf. One night we decided to do mini golf. Mini golf courses are a lot like the pancake houses, one on every corner. We picked one that proclaimed itself as the "most unique mini golf course in the world." I don't know about the world, but it was the most unique I have ever played on. You had to ride this tram thing to the side of the mountain where the course was. The kids loved hitting the balls around. Dickens and Heads tied.



• Yahtzee. Unfortunately, the game tie was soon to be broken as we embarked on a Dickens/Head Yahtzee match. To give you an idea how this went over, in one game Jessie scored three Yahtzees and I scored three Yahtzees. It was amazing and am sure has never been done before. We were the undisputed champions. Later the boys calculated the statistics on such a feat and it was like 1 in a 5 trillion I think. I am not sure though because the girls were in the hot tub while the boys were being nerds.



• Hot Tubbing. Speaking of the hot tub, we used the hot tub every night. That is what I call a vacation. The small B.B gun pellets we found in the water were a little disturbing and caused us to ponder how they got there, but did not force any kind of evacuation of the tub.



• Girls Day Out. Another true vacation moment was when I indulged in a facial and a massage at the local spa. It was a little different than some of the spas I have been too, but still relaxing.



• Boys Day Out. Don't worry, Jessie got his indulgence too. The boys played golf one day while we took the kids to a petting zoo. My kids were of course scared to death of all the animals. Ashley did get to ride on a little pony named Smokey. I didn't know until I paid that I was the one responsible for the leading the pony around. Those of you who know me, know I am not exactly an animal person. I did manage to lead that little pony around and didn't even step in any horse poop. Check another major accomplishment off the list.



• Bandits and a Southern Belle. To commemorate our trip, we took the kids to get their "old time photo" done. Again, these are like the mini golf and pancake houses, there are plenty to choose from. Jackson didn't care for the costume too much but the picture turned out great. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.



• Motion sickness. Neither one of us had third row seats so two people had to sit in the back cargo area. I always ended up being one of those people and I would get terrible motion sickness.



• Food City. I think I visited that store at least a dozen times.



• Wedding chapels. BFF Ashley loves wedding stuff as much as I do, so on our girls day out we went and looked at a couple of chapels. I had no idea it was such a popular wedding destination.



• Psalty. The Heads brought this video for the kids to watch. It is a Christian video and I am not against Christian kid videos in any form or fashion. However, I am against gargantuan sized noses that blow confetti out of its nostrils when it is time to praise the Lord. It is not bad enough that Psalty's costume is enough to give me nightmares the rest of my life, but his partner in praise is a huge nose. At one point, this nose come alive and walks on its own. Call me old fashioned, but Jesus and enormous noses don't work for me.



• Super nice people. I think Tenn has the nicest people in the world. Everyone we came across was sincerely friendly. I really loved their accents. Maybe that is what made them seem so friendly. Everything sounds better with an accent.



• New catchphrases. The first night Little Ashley got in the hot tub with us she declared it was hot, "Hot like a dolphin." So, pass it around. All the cool kids are saying it.



• Fans. When I sleep I have to have a fan on to block out noise. It used to drive my BFF and college roommate, Kristen, nuts. It turns out there are a lot of closet fan sleepers. When we arrived I looked at the fans at Food City and a big, burly man pulled one down from the shelf. He told me that he could not sleep without his fan. The next day I went back for the fan, after I indeed could not sleep without it. I had to ask another man to help me get it down. He asked if I was on vacation and told me he couldn't sleep without a fan either. So, I say it is time to make a stand. All of you fellow fan sleepers come out and be proud.



• Jessie, the Mountain Man. For some insane reason, the boys decided to take two 2 year olds and a four year old princess girl on a 1. 3 mile (each way) hike to see a waterfall. It went up a mountain so high that a sign half way up warned "Danger, Child Deaths Have Occurred." I was at the spa this day, otherwise there is no way we would have done this hike. However, Jessie is relentless about the kids' exposure to nature, especially when a waterfall is at stake. The hike was every bit of a disaster as you could imagine. Landen was hard to contain and Ashley didn't want to walk. She is a big time diva, no walking, no bugs, and no sweating are her motto's. Jessie ended up carrying both kids at the same time, the majority of the trail. Now that is a weight loss program.



• Babyland General Hospital. As a child I loved Cabbage Patch Kids. I had several of them. It would have been my dream to go to the actual place they are made. Well, Ashley got to live my dream. Uncle Ken told me that the hospital where the kids are "born" was only about an hour from their house. On our way back we took the slight detour and arrived. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind. In fact, most people would probably pass by and never give the small little building another glance. Inside, it was just a bunch of dolls. I thought we were going to see the kids being made but it was just a fancy store. Ashley and Landen both loved playing with the dolls though, until I found out one of these "original" kids was between $175 and 350 each. I put an end to that playing. We also got to see a kid being born. They do a little show where a doll pops out of a cabbage. Ashley got to name her. There is now a kid that bears the name Ashley Abigail. If I had been willing to pay a million dollars she could have been all ours. Of course, we couldn't leave without something. Ashley got her first "toy" Cabbage Patch. It was the more reasonably priced $20. To make a long story short, we traveled hundreds of miles to buy Ashley a $20 doll that we could have bought 2 miles from here at Toys R US.

It was a wonderful trip. All the exhaustion was worth all the fun we had and we can't wait for our next adventure with the Heads. Here is a pic of us in our shirts. The front of the shirts are cars with each person's head stuck on a person. The sleeve had another car with the opposite fam's pics. On the back it summed up the trip perfectly:

Dickens Head Vacation

1. Miles to Smokey Mountains: 1339

2. Hours in car with screaming kids: 21 (the kids' shirts said Hours in car with boring parents!)

3. Potty breaks along the way: 32

4. Dickens Heads together in the wilderness: Priceless!

San Antonio

The first part of our vacation took us to San Antonio. At first, I was worried we were possibly overdoing the whole vacation thing by adding a few days in San Antonio before our mountain trip, but now I am glad we went. Everything turned out great. Here are some events from the trip.

• A fun drive down as described in my Dr. Pepper Dreams post.
  
• Upon arriving in San Antonio, it was late and we just wanted food fast. We chose a mall because we knew there would be a lot of options for the kids. After arriving and walking for a few minutes, it became obvious we were out of our element. I was a tad scared for my life as some unsavory characters looked at us in disdain. Needless to say, this was our first and last visit to this mall.


• More unsavoriness followed us at a local arcade. We had a little bit of time one day, so we decided to let the kids play a few games. I think our first hint of sketchiness should have been the two guys that looked like they were 17 with three kids in tow. One of the kids, a baby, about 8 months was set on the floor and allowed to just crawl around the arcade himself without any supervision. I think that qualifies as sketchy behavior.


• On our second day of the trip we took the kids to the zoo. It was a lot of fun. There was a butterfly exhibit where you could walk into a special tent and see tons of beautiful butterflies. I have been to something like this here in town but the butterflies at this exhibit were really incredible. At one point Landen reached down to touch one and I am pretty sure he squashed it to death. The butterfly was still moving a little but I don't think it was going to last. We left very quickly. I was sure we were going to be taken in by the high butterfly security they had going on. These people searched us going in and going out. If they knew we had killed a butterfly, I am pretty sure we wouldn't be seeing anyone again.


• At the zoo was a little train stop that promised a train ride around Breckenridge park. All day Ashley wanted to ride this train. She didn't care about anything else but getting on that train. When it came time to ride we had to wait in line forever. As the train approached the stop, Jessie proclaimed, "That's it??" It was not exactly the train we pictured but much, much smaller. Some might even question the use of the term "train" to describe this particular ride. False advertisement comes to mind. It didn't matter to the kids, they still loved it.


• When you go to San Antonio one of the best parts is eating. I had purposely avoided Mexican food for a couple of weeks so I could be prepared for all the yummy food I was going to eat. We ate at Casa Rio on the riverwalk a personal fave of mine that Jessie didn't care for. Off the riverwalk we ate at Alamo Cafe which had to die for tortillas and queso. I have decided that there is just not one perfect Mexican food place. Each place has their own strengths. For example, Casa Rio has awesome enchiladas but the salsa is a little lacking. Alamo cafe had great tortillas and queso but the food was lacking. Why can't there be one perfect place??? If you know about one, let me know.


• We did take the kids to the riverwalk. I was nervous about this because when Landen sees water he wants to touch it. I could just envision my son falling head first into that dirty water. I had nothing to worry about though, the kids both survived. They especially loved the bridges that crossed over the water.


• If you go to San Antonio with kids I highly recommend taking them to the Children's museum in downtown. It was the best children's museum I have ever been to. It was raining on the day we had planned to go to Sea World, but this turned out to be the best rainy day activity. They had the neatest exhibits, like a real plane the kids could sit in and fly.


• Because of the rain our Sea World trip got postponed by a day. This turned out to be for the best because the weather was absolutely gorgeous and there were no crowds. The kids loved Sea World. Even Landen sat and watched all the shows quietly. They were mesmerized. I think both of their favorite parts was feeding the dolphins and Jessie's favorite part was the free beer in the beer house.


• Of course our trip wouldn't be complete without one poop incident. One evening after the kids had gone swimming, they were playing in the bath. Landen had not had a poopy diaper in a couple of days, so he was due for one. As I was sitting on the computer I heard the familiar noises. I yelled at Jessie to get him out but it was too late. The damage had been done. Jessie ended up having to use a spoon to scoop it out of the drain.
• The trip was extremely exhausting. We never put Landen down for a nap because we were always out. At night, he didn't like his pack and play and wouldn't go to bed very easily. So, we were on the go all day until about 11 at night and then started back up again at about 9.
• The best part of the trip was hearing Ashley's responses to everything. This is the first vacation where she is fully aware of everything. She was always saying things like "this is the best breakfast ever," when in fact it was the worst breakfast I had ever had. She declared " I want to live at this hotel forever," when I don't care if I ever see another hotel again. And on everything we did she proclaimed "this is the funnest thing I have ever done." Just for all of that excitement, it made the exhaustion worth it.

I am including the only family photo we got of the trip. If you notice, Jessie's hand is in a tight fist. I think the long days with the kids and myself stressed him out a little.

Sneak Peak

To tide you over until I share more about our trip, here is a pic from our travels. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

No Place Like Home

After two solid weeks of traveling, we have made it home. San Antonio and Dickens/Head '08 Mountain Extravaganza were both a blast but extremely exhausting. All of our travel was relatively smooth and the kids did pretty well considering the lack of sleep and constant activity they faced. I know you are eager to hear all about it, but I need to collect my thoughts and get some sleep before I can share all of our adventures.

P.S. I think one of the best things about going on vacation for a long time is the amount of mail you collect. I had our mail held and the postman delivered it today. It was a HUGE bundle. I just love mail and I love the 10 magazines I pulled out even more. It was like Christmas morning!

Tag

We survived part one of the 2008 Dickens family vacation marathon. We arrived at 11 pm last night and I have spent the entire day preparing for part two. Tomorrow we fly to Atlanta to spend a day with J's aunt, uncle and cousins. Then we will drive to Tennessee for the Dickens/Head annual vacation. Dickens/Head annual vacation had to take a break for the past two years, but we have been resurrected. A cabin awaits us in the Smoky Mountains. I am not sure if I will have Internet access, so if you see a lack of posts I direct you over to J's blog at The Family Guy. He can post pics using his phone. I will be back in full force next Thurs.

Now on to more important matters, I have been tagged!! It is so awesome. I haven't been tagged in years. For those of you new to blogging (for example - my mom), when you are tagged, that means someone has invited me to answer questions or follow their lead on their blog. I feel so honored to have Michelle tag me.

What I was doing 10 years ago?

It was the second semester of my junior year at A&M. I was living in the University Commons apartments with Suzanne. We were so excited about these apartments because we each got our own bedroom and thought it was party central. We were right on that. Unfortunately, there was a fire alarm that was easily pulled by any drunk party attendee. So, on weekends and many weeknights our fire alarm would shriek as loudly as you can imagine at all hours. It was torture. I eventually hammered a pillow over the siren but it still didn't help.

I think the most surprising thing to note about me 10 years ago is the fact that I hardly ever watched tv, didn't care about celebrities, didn't have any magazine subscriptions, didn't use the Internet, didn't email and didn't have a cell phone. What kind of world was I living in???? It is amazing to think how far we have come in such a short amount of time. I can not imagine my life without our modern technologies. At the same time, I do miss the old fashioned letters I used to receive and write to friends.

As for the tv, I did watch Friends but that was the only show I remember watching. Now, I am addicted to tv, celebrity gossip and magazines. These interests developed when I started working and had more time to read and do other things besides study and go out with friends.

5 Things on To Do List

My list today was crazy long. Here are just 5 selections:

Laundry from San Antonio, Pack for tomorrow, Mail Landen's invites, Buy 2 new bags for trip, Make baggage tags

My Favorite Snacks

I am not a big snack person. I prefer to eat a solid meal. If I have to snack I usually eat a piece of bread with butter and maybe a piece of cheese. Of course I love chocolate and sweets and could always eat these for snacks.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire

My list would be endless. I would give tons of money away to all my closest family members (you might want to start kissing up just in case...). I would also make sure the kids were taken care of for a good education and in the future. I would also give money to several of my favorite charities. Of course I would save a lot to make sure we never ran out. Finally, I would just have fun by traveling and buying myself and the people I love things they wanted.

3 Bad Habits

1. I leave the cap or lid off of things.

2. I take a nap most days when Landen takes a nap.

3. I can be wasteful. My first instinct is to always buy something new rather than look and see what we have to use.

5 Places I have Lived

Midland, TX; College Station, TX; Dallas, TX; Plano, TX; and Denver CO for a brief time.

5 Jobs I have had

Assistant Manager of a bridal store; Assistant to the Brand Manager at the Association of Former Students; Assistant Buyer at Neiman Marcus; Account Manager in Public relations; Assistant Recruiting Admin at a law firm.

I just noticed there is a lot of "Assistant" titles. I guess I was just preparing myself for the permanent personal assistant job I have taken on around here.

Now I answered my tag, I now tag the following people, Amanda, Kristen, JaLisa, Brit, Jessie, Amy, Sarah, and Darby.

Dr Pepper Dreams

After two years without a vacation we have decided to cram it all into two weeks. J gets two weeks off for spring break before he has to hit the books super hard, so why not hit the road? Well, one reason not to would be the two year old who won't go to bed in the next room. It is 10:00 as I type. He has been up since 6:30 and only slept for about 30 minutes in the car. The boy needs to sleep. Right now, him and Ashley are in bed together, much to my chagrin. It is the only place he will lay without screaming. At least we have a suite.

Our first day of the Dickens' road trip started out good. We stopped in Waco for some Rudy's BBQ. Mind you, we can eat at Rudy's fairly close to our house, but things always taste better on the road. The kids were well behaved and my brisket was to die for. After Rudy's we took a mini tour of Baylor. The kids loved a bear statue but we didn't actually see the real bear. Oh how easily they are entertained. Waco could have been our final vacation spot.

Once we had our fill of bears, we headed over to the spot I had been looking forward to all day, the Dr Pepper museum. Waco was where the magic all started. We paid our overpriced admission tickets to see the original bottling plant. It was interesting for me to see all the old memorabilia, but J and the kids were unaffected. The best part for them was the real soda fountain. They made our Peppers the old fashioned way, with real syrup and pure soda water. To be honest, it tasted like any other Dr Pepper, but still was exciting to me, a true Pepper lover. FYI, originally Dr Peppers were called "Wacos" since that was the only place you could find them. People would go to the bar and say "Shoot me a Waco."

Once we arrived in San Antonio it was late and happened to hit bad traffic. We were tired and hungry and decided the mall close by the hotel was the best place to eat for the kids. This mall was not the usual mall we were used to. It was a little sketchy to say the least, but we survived. Now, we are back at the hotel and baby boy will just not go to sleep. We are trying to "go with the flow" but it isn't very easy. I am quickly remembering why we haven't traveled much in the past couple of years.

Like I said, we will be traveling on and off for the next two weeks. We have San Antonio for the next couple of days and later a brief stop in Atlanta followed by a cabin in the Smoky Mountains for a Dickens/Head annual vacay. If you want to follow our many adventures the next two weeks keep checking for updates and you can always go to J's blog at the Family Guy for pics.