Three Thought Thursday: Episode 39

1. My parents left for Italy yesterday for a ten day trip. I know...I'm jealous too! Ten days in Italy must be magnificent. I'm so happy that they are getting to experience it together. I think my dad has gone before. As a former Air Force officer, he's been nearly everywhere. But it's a trip my mom has always dreamed of. I even remember her talking about it when I was a child. Early on in their married life, it was never an option. Heck, they didn't even get the chance to go while we were living nearby in Germany! You see, with an Air Force officer's salary, a stay-at-home wife, and five children, my dad couldn't exactly afford to fulfill that dream for my mother. They always chose us and our family over their own desires. But now he can. Thirty-and-a-half years after their wedding day, he can. I'm so happy for them! And it makes me realize that all of those "somedays" that Mark and I dream of might also eventually come true. For now we're happy to keep dreaming and keep choosing our boys instead. It sure would be magnificent, but we wouldn't trade it for these two little guys any day.

2. Once upon a time I wrote about a day when I had my Mommy "A" Game on. Meaning pretty much the perfect day of mommyhood. Monday was not one of those days. No, I certainly wouldn't give myself...or my children for that matter...an "A." It was more like an "F." Total failure. I won't even go into the full litany of shenanigans that took place. Just the first few hours will give you enough details to know that it was all down hill. The boys woke up unusually early. Like 5:50ish. I turned on this little Wheels on the Bus video that they're obsessed with, covered my entire body and head with a blanket and fell back asleep on the couch. Soon after, they decided they were ready for breakfast. I set them up at the table with their yogurt, bananas, and milk. I escaped for two minutes to use the restroom only to have Kolbe pop up outside the bathroom door with a message: "Mama!!! Rudy spilled his yogurt!" Great, I thought, imagining his yogurt spilled all over the table. Returning to the kitchen, my fears were far beyond realized. A small, small portion was spilled on the table. The rest he had dumped in to his lap. Grinning from ear to ear, he looked up at me with his little doe eyes as he did his best to rub it in from his ankles to his waist. Lovely. Just lovely! I thought. I grabbed him from behind and carried him straight to the tub. I started rinsing him, clothes and all, quickly stripping off each piece as I went. Then came the diaper. Wouldn't you know it, that thing was full of good ol' numero dos. Straight into the tub. And the rest jammed between his fat little butt cheeks. I rolled my eyes at the fact that I would now be cleaning the bath tub too. Forty-five or so minutes later we were all cleaned up and in one piece, ready to leave for our first music class of the fall "semester." We arrived at the community center just in time to find out that classes didn't start until next week. And of course Kolbe was not willing to understand. He was bound and determined to see Miss Kris and devastated that it was an impossibility. See. I told you the first few hours of the day would be plenty enough to get the point across. Just imagine the same thing over and over for the rest of the day. Thank God it was only twenty-four hours.

3. I've been consigning some of the boy's old stuff or stuff we have duplicates of at a little consignment shop here in town for the past year or so, but prior to last Friday, I had never been to an consignment "event." You know, like the ones you see on TV where it's just for one weekend and a ba-jillion people show up and race to get the item of their dreams before someone else does. This one was kind of like that. I went with my friend Melanie and yes, there were people waiting outside, but not thousands or anything. And no, the selection wasn't insanely good, but I must admit that there was a lot of cool stuff there. And sure enough, I went with just one item on my search-and-find list and left with quite a few more than that. But still managed to stay under $20. I can totally see why some people get hooked on going to those things. I definitely think I'll go again in the spring when it comes back around. Why not? I'm always up for a good deal!

So long, Sweet Summer!

Sad, but true, the summer of 2010 has entered the winter of it's existence. We've had several cooler days in Lubbock and even the mosquitoes seem to making their exit. But before it's completely over, I thought I'd share a few pics that didn't make any other posts but are just too good to not show.

First up, the boys and their beloved baseball helmet. I'm not even sure where this thing came from. Left over from Raider Awakening, maybe? Regardless, the boys love it and love walking around with it on. Usually backwards. They crack me up.

And then there's the boys' and my self-portrait. Kolbe loves to take pictures. Every now and then I'll give in and let him snap a few with my camera.  But one day he was very determined to get a picture of me, Rudy, and himself all together. I explained that that would be very hard to do. No matter to Kolbe. He still wanted it done. So we took a few out-stretched-arm pics of ourselves. And got two of the better pics of the three of us that I've ever seen. Sheesh! Should have tried that a long time ago!

One day Kolbe decided that it would be fun to fill up the tub in the backyard that houses all of their balls. We had done this before when we did shaving cream, but hadn't ever done it solely for the purpose of "swimming." Needless to say, it provided an entire afternoon of fun. I wish I had better lighting in the pics, but I had to put the tub in the shade to avoid sunburns. They still turned out mighty cute though!

Apparently I'm raising a spider monkey...I went inside to grab their juice cups only to hear a rap on the window from a little animal perched on the sill...

And since I'm sure you have an appetite for a delicious baby, I'll indulge you...

Yummy little fella, ain't he!

September 11th

Per family tradition, we made our annual trip to a nearby park to visit the September 11th Memorial flag display. You might  remember my post about it last year. Though it seems like not that long ago, it's amazing how much changes is just one year. Though I'm sure for the families of the victims of September 11th, it never really gets better. My heart still aches for them.

One year ago, the boys looked like this:

And here they are this year!

And if memory serves me right, it was at our trip to see the flags last year that Abby and Andy joined us and brought the good news that they were expecting their first baby! Just one year ago on this day, I think she was about five weeks pregnant. And here's this year:



Life does go on. And new life begins!

Fifth and Final Stop: Houston, TX

So to end our travel extravaganza, the whole fam took off (literally...we flew this time) to Houston to visit my parents. Our goal was to do absolutely nothing. Just chill before Mark had to start his new job. We knew it would be at least Christmas before we'd be able to do this again, so why not!?! Needless to say, we achieved our goal. We had a fun, relaxing time doing our usual Woodlands activities of going to the park, the mall, the carousel, the splash pad, and swimming. And while we were there we celebrated Mark's birthday. Oh, and Mark and I got to go on a date. We went to a restaurant called Brio and I ate the most amazing steak I've ever had in my life. It was life changing. At least in a dietary sense. No steak will ever compare. Sorry for the random tangent; now on to the pictures!

Splash Pad! Yes, in clothes. We were at the bookstore, but it was raining so they were wet anyway. Why not let them enjoy it even more?

I know this pic is fuzzy (it's from my dad's camera) but it's one of the few we have from the park. And it's adorable.

Rudy and Pa in a paci war. Kolbe has a blanket; Rudy has a paci. It's his attachment item and I hate it! We've gotten him down to the point where he only gets it when he's sleeping, but when he gets hurt we usually have to cave and let him have it for a minute or two. Case in point, he got hurt at the mall playground and cried and cried until I busted it out of my purse. Pa teased him with it but we all know who won.

Grr.

At least Kolbe had a good time playing!

And everyone loved the carousel.

Swimming at Miss Karen's was much better than last time. Why? Because no one was sick and Dada and Pa were able to come swim too!

We went to on of Mark's favorite restaurants, Los Cucos, on the night of his birthday. It's right beside a grocery store and the boys just had to check out the cool shopping carts.

Afterward, we had chocolate cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday back at my parents' house. Take a guess at who the biggest fan of the cupcakes was!

Travel Interruption: Tim and Meredith's Wedding

Two days after returning home from Colorado, Mark too off on a week-long trip to Chicago for a board review conference. Meanwhile, the boys and I welcomed Pinkie and Pa for a short visit to celebrate my cousin Tim's wedding to a beautiful girl named Meredith who just happens to be one of my former students. Yes, that does make me feel old. But in my defense, she was in eleventh grade when I was her student teacher. Meaning she was sixteen or seventeen and I was twenty-one. There. That makes me feel a little better!

Just as at all the weddings in our family, we had so much fun! Here are all the pictures for proof:

The boys looked dashing...Pa had to get a pic on his phone!

Meredith headed down the aisle with her dad

And headed back down with Tim!

We always attempt to get a pic of all the cousins when they're together...and one of these days they'll all be looking at the camera!

Hey! In this one I think they're all looking at someone's camera...just not mine!

The only one missing from the giant family pic was Mark. And it wouldn't be a Hefferly family pic without someone (Andy, Dave and Pat) being goofy!

Kolbs and Pinkie dancing

Rudy got his dance on for a while, but he's a boy who loves his sleep. It quickly turned to this:

I was blanket-less so Pat's tux coat had to suffice.

Kolbe, on the other hand, partied with the best of them!

Even the babies got in a dance or two!

Tim and Meredith "getting iced"....whatever. Pat begged me to take this pic. Here it is!

Speaking of, that guy had a great night!

And we got to see Katie, Jared, and Logan again too!

My mom and her four sisters

We spent the next entire day recovering, catching up on sleep, and visiting with Pinkie and Pa before they headed back to Houston. Of course the boys had to squeeze in some rumpus time with Pa. They're always down for a wrestle-mania or two!