TTT: Season 3, Episode 37

1. Mark's 29th birthday was this past weekend. Twenty-nine....such a young pup! ;) Months ago I decided I wanted to set up a little surprise birthday weekend for him. He's constantly making comments like "Let's get out of here, Mama." Or "I just need to get away for a day or two." And I know that there are certainly stretches of time where we go months without doing anything just the two of us. Since Mark is rarely one to ask for something specific for a gift, I figured planning a little getaway for just the two of us would be the perfect gift. Originally I planned on it being a surprise but then I decided that it would be kind of cruel to just up and leave the boys for a full day without giving them a heads up. Anyhow, we didn't travel far...just went to a nice hotel in Houston for the night down by the Galleria and spent the day shopping, eating good food, and enjoying each other's company. My parents watched the boys for us for twenty-four (short in our eyes, long in theirs) hours. It was my first time to leave Grant for a night and he allegedly did just fine. While we didn't come home with many purchases, we definitely did have a good time together and followed our trip up with a little at-home cake and ice cream so the boys could be in on Dada's birthday too.

2. Last week was Kolbe's first day of "pre-school." This week was Kolbe's first week of soccer practice! It's been lots of exciting first for this guy lately, and so far, the transitions have gone pretty smoothly. We've talked about signing Kolbe up for sports for a while but just haven't completely follow through. We didn't want to do it unless he was truly interested and wanting to play. (Nobody wants the kid on his team who is being forced to be there by his over-driven parents.) Recently, our neighbor brought over a set of soccer cleats in Kolbe's size. Her son only wore them once or twice before realizing he needed a bigger size so they were in fantastic condition. Kolbe instantly became hooked on the cleats and wanted to wear them everywhere. After begging and begging, we went ahead and signed him up for the fall soccer season. We all headed out as a family on Tuesday night to witness his first practice. It was entertaining to say the least! Kolbe is a natural at dribbling and kicking with the ball on his own. Not so much when other kids are competing for the same ball! And his team is quite the crew of four to five-year-olds. Everything from the kid who sat on the sideline and refused to practice, to the kid with the mom who stood beside him out on the field the whole time, to the kid who ran around chasing fireflies while his grandma ran after him with a cane shouting, "You get your butt back over there and pay attention!" None of them get the concept of staying in bounds or which goal they're supposed to go for, but I guess they've got to start learning at some point in time. Their first game is on Saturday and should be just as comical.

3. Tidbits:
- My sweet uncle, Don, passed away this week after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Such a kind, gentle soul, he was greatly loved by our family and we're so happy that he no longer has to suffer and can rest in God's love.
- I had another doctor's appointment with my lupus doctor today. About a month ago I thought I had what was an ingrown finger nail. It felt just like an ingrown toe nail but on my left index finger though it never got infected like how toes do. I didn't even mention it to my doctor today but during his exam he noticed the damage to my finger from it and said I had actually experienced a thrombosis (blood clot) in my finger due to my very poor circulation/ Raynaud's. He somehow could identify it just by looking at the purple tissue and detached finger nail. Creepy. I know. Most of you have seen my purple fingers, so it's nothing new, but I hate that I'm starting to develop other issues because of my circulation. Grr.
- With all of the changes going on with Kolbe, Rudy has been the best little boy. One would think he might get jealous of all of the attention Kolbe has been getting but instead he has been genuinely happy for Kolbe and excited and supportive about everything. He's such a sweet, sweet little boy and I can't wait till next year to see all of his firsts. Actually, I can. He needs to stay little Rudy forever.
- I haven't done a Grant update lately...he has his fifteen month appointment in a week or two, so that will be coming shortly, but let me just say that I never, never, never should forget how unpleasant teething is. Especially multiple teeth at a time. And for real, molars should count as like four teeth considering they seem to come in one corner at a time. Sheesh.

Enjoying our Happy-Birthday-Mark Trip!

Helping Dada blow out the candles

Bubble Bath Beard! Or I guess that's more of a goatee.

Mark, Kolbe, and Rudy hit their first high school football game of the fall last Friday. It's their favorite thing to do...Mark loves watching high school football, the boys love taking everything in, and I love the Friday evening break!

Grant is definitely in to blocks right now. He's a pretty good stacker for a fourteen-month-old!

After a few "cooler" mornings, I finally decided to brave the park on Wednesday. Of course, Wednesday decided to be back to full on summer mode. We were all a sweaty mess by the time we got home. 

I love how Grant's hair curls up in the humidity. He loves being outdoors!

Future soccer star!

Future movie star!?! (Ha!)

TTT: Season 3, Episode 36

1. It's been a loooong day. And a long week, too! But a good one with lots to be happy about. First of all, my sweet little Kolbe started pre-school today! I really can't believe he could be possibly old enough to do anything but be my little boy. Forever. But alas, he's been getting the itch for a good year now and today was the big day. Pre-school! Granted, he's only going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2, it's still a big milestone for him. And me. This is the first time any of my babes have gone off to any kind of "school" whatsoever. I'll go ahead and say it went smoothly, though we did have just a little bit of a hiccup at drop off. Actually last night Kolbe got a little weepy after we put him to bed. I crawled in with him and asked if he was nervous about school. He insisted he wasn't and swore that it was because he was sad that I painted his room. Which happened months ago. This morning he woke up all chipper and ready to go. Mark had a morning surgery that he snuck out of early so that he could meet us at the church. All was fine and dandy, and even I was not feeling overly emotional when I dropped the dreaded words on him: "Give Mama a hug and a kiss." I squatted down, got my hug, and he immediately started his silent whimper. One of those I-swear-I'm-not-crying-please-don't-let-anyone-see-me-not-being-brave type of cries. And as if on cue, my tears had no problem appearing in an instant. He was so worried about his classmates seeing that he was crying that he refused to pull his little face back off my shoulder so we both wound up sitting on the floor for a minute or two until he gained his composure. Sure enough, once he got his little burst of emotions out, he did just fine. He was nothing but smiles and eager when-do-I-get-to-go-backs as soon as I picked him up. So overall, it was a great success!

I'd like to say that things went as smoothly on the home front but we pretty much bombed our projected schedule. Grant ended up taking two fifteen minute naps both in the car instead of the goal of one long nap at home from 11-1:30. Rudy took a one hour nap, but not during either of Grant's sleeping times. Grant did take another nap when we got home from picking Kolbe up, but of course, by then I was back to referring the shenanigans of two attached-at-the-hip brothers who had been separated for five hours. We made homemade pizza together and had a good time talking about the first day of school, but by the time they finally all went to bed, I was pooped. Must figure out a workable routine for school days or I might go insane! I've got to have at least thirty minutes to an hour a day of no babies. Seriously. It's for the greater good of all involved! Otherwise, Rudy and Grant and I did have fun together. Rudy tends to be the back-up singer to the show-stopper, Kolbe, so it's nice to get to spend some one on one time with him without "interruptions." Rudy is such a smart, unique, sincere little boy and his ideas tend to be drowned out by the big brother dictator. I love getting to see him as the big brother, the "boss", and the decision maker. This will be a big year for him as well.

2. This past weekend we went to Dallas to stay with Mark's brother and sister-in-law, Brian and Cristi, and meet up with Mark's parents as well. As always, we had a blast! The boys love the change of scenery and of course, getting to see their  grandparents and aunt and uncle. There's always no shortage of treats and snacks, and Aunt Cristi makes the best food whenever we go. She has become quite the chef! If only I had the time and lack of children hanging off of my legs, I'd get her to train me! We spent a fun day a local pool, went to mass, watched a little college football, stayed up way too late having normal adult conversations (yes, in our world that's notable!) and enjoyed countless Popeye the Sailor Man shorts. (Kolbe loves Popeye and Brian and Cristi have a DVD with 100 shorts on it....it's the only place he gets to see Popeye so naturally, it's his favorite thing to do at their house!) We're so grateful that Brian and Cristi are so welcoming for all of us to "meet in the middle," even when it was the weekend after the first week of school. (All of you teachers out there know how exhausted you are after that first week! Poor Cristi, having house guests! She's a trooper!) Such a fun weekend...can't wait to see everyone again at Thanksgiving!

Mark's birthday is on Saturday so more fun to come! The rest from this past week is in pictures!

Miss Lora surprised Mark with a cake from our favorite baker in Lubbock,  Kerry. Best. Cake. Ever. Though probably just over 2000 calories per piece.

Oh no. He's not looking much like a baby anymore. But man, he's got great eyes!

Making burgers with Aunt Cristi! Kolbe has always been a great sous chef.

Dada: sleepy. Grantness: ready to party.

My little Sunday napper. Anyone else jealous of those lashes!?!

I can't remember the last time I got to take a snooze with my Rudy. Ahhhhh. Felt great!

Rudy cuddling up with his G-ma.

Nothing like a Texas road trip sunset!

I finally finished putting our "new" room together, though you can't really see it all. I have turned this house upside down trying to find the charger for our normal camera and I can't find it anywhere so I'm left taking not-so-good cell phone pics. They don't do it justice, especially because this room is so hard to photograph with the wall full of windows, but oh well. I painted the entire room, made new pillows for the bed, made a new 133" curtain rod, made full length curtains that can close across all of the windows, oh and a room full of new furniture that you can't even see in the picture. Mark and I both love it!

And I finally finished painting the nasty trim in the bathrooms too! Mark thinks I'm crazy, but he's also color blind so he doesn't count. I took the picture above to prove I'm not crazy. You all can see what I'm talking about, right? There's nothing like crisp white with a light blue wall. The cream/off white/beige/yucky had to go. See? Not crazy.

My oldest babe. I just want to reach in to this picture and grab him and squeeze him and force him to stay just like this forever. He really is that adorable.

Kolbe and Dada outside of his school. He was so excited that Dada showed up to drop him off for his first day, even if it meant leaving surgery just to turn around go right back. Kolbe loves his Dada. And Dada is so proud.

TTT: Season 3, Episode 35

1. I have been looking forward to this week for quite some time: my "home improvement" week. And now, with just half of one day left, I'm ready for it to be over! I set out with lofty expectations of making curtains and pillows, shopping, assembling furniture, re-organizing my sewing area, making something new for our mantle, painting the master bedroom, painting the trim in the half bath and boys' bath, cleaning out the pantry, and cleaning the whole house. I'm happy to say that I was (mostly) successful! The pantry still looks the same and I only got the trim done in one bathroom instead of two. Oh, and I'll be spending tomorrow morning cleaning the house and putting the finishing touches on our master bedroom. But otherwise, I accomplished all I set out to do! (toot, toot!) But I have to admit that I'm completely exhausted. Doing all of these things while still taking care of my babes...so in other words, doing all of these things during nap time or with them "helping"...isn't easy work! They, of course, had a great time helping and loved getting to try out all of the tools, but let's be honest: they don't exactly expedite the process! Anyhow, there's been many a day where I've sat sewing orders for customers and wished I had time to squeeze in a project here or there for my own home. Now I just can't wait to sit peacefully and work on orders instead of all of this manual labor! (Though I do love the results of everything I've worked on.) I might just have to squeeze in a home improvement week more often.

2. My husband tends to get a little nervous whenever I decide to break out the tools. He's prone to say things like "Please don't try moving anything that's too heavy" or "what in the world are you trying to do?" And his favorite: "You're going to do too much and cause yourself to have a flare up." It's true; I've done that before. More than I'd like to admit. But I guess I'm kind of to the point that I really don't care. I'm too bullheaded. If I set my mind out to do something, I'm going to prove to myself that I can. Luckily, it's Thursday night and I managed to get through the week without a flare up, despite lots of moving, lifting, building, drilling, etc. So thank the Lord for that! But I didn't escape completely unscathed. On Monday I took our headboard out to the garage to paint. I propped it against the garage wall and took a good four or so steps away from it. My back was to the headboard as I panned to room looking for my paint when all of a sudden I got nailed in the back with the headboard. I'm really not even sure what happened. Was it not propped up well? Did something under it slip? Had I been a little closer, it probably would have just hit my upper back/shoulders and I could have caught it, but I was so far from it that the sharp, squared corner hit my lower back and left me with a pretty big gash and nice sized bruise. I've got to say, though, thank God that it happened the way it did. Thank God the boys were on the other side of the garage playing with rocks and not standing close by. It has been a bummer to deal with, but it could have definitely been much worse!

3. I won't go in to huge details, but our barely-a-year-old mini-van had to be towed to the car dealership on Monday. After having to be jumped twice on Sunday, I called Monday morning to take it in for service. After fetching a neighbor to help jump it yet again, we discovered that it couldn't even be jump started any more. Luckily, it's still under full warranty with Toyota's road side assistance so they payed to have a tow truck come pick it up. Somehow, after just over a year and a little over 15,000 miles, it already needed a new battery. Not very impressed, Toyota. (though I was very impressed with their customer service) We still love our van, I'm just praying this little hiccup isn't a sign of things to come. Lord willing just a fluke!

We are headed Dallas this weekend! We found out that Mark's parents were going to go down for Labor Day weekend and decided to crash their visit to Brian and Cristi's so we could see everyone too. Plus, Mark is off on Monday and not on call either, so with a three day weekend, we'd be crazy not to go. Though I haven't packed a stitch of clothing yet, we're really looking forward to it!

Rudy has been in rare form lately. A few nights ago, post bath, I sent the older two off to their room to get their pajamas. I headed to Grant's room to get him dressed for bed. A few minutes later, Kolbe (the typical oldest child) came in and said, "Mom. You are not. going. to be. happy." "Why, Kolbe?" I responded. "Rudy just took all the books off the book shelf to make a mountain." Um, he was definitely right. Not happy. (Note: young children do not know how to put books back on the shelf properly, therefore, Mom ends up doing it all. And we have a lot of books.)

My awesome back injury, day one. Hard to tell, but it starts just below my bra buckle and goes down to the top of my pants. To be honest, it looked worse the days following because all the bruising set in. Not one that I'd like to repeat again. Ever.

My new mantle "artwork" that I made. It was a pinterest idea, of course. I need to hunt down who to give credit to since that's the right/polite thing to do in the blog world. But I'm too tired right now. Basically two fence posts cut in to three pieces each and built out like a mini fence. I ended up just spray painting it, sanding it a bit on the edges and then hand painting the lettering.

Grant. Grant. Grant. He's trying to help out Dada's bid for new shoes, apparently. Now that he can walk really, really well, he's in to everything. And is really in to shoes right now. Just like Kolbe was at this age. He is mirroring Kolbe in so many ways! 

Rudy is the hide-and-seek master around here. The kid comes up with the best spots and is a total expert at playing the game. (keeping silent, not moving/giggling) A few days ago he went in his closet with the light out, wrapped himself in an egg crate mattress topper and stood there in hiding for a good ten minutes. I even opened the closet door, looked in there and moved on without him giving himself away. I finally gave up and he revealed himself. In this picture, Mark and I had just finished emptying out some old dressers. He managed to climb in this drawer and have Kolbe close it for him. Most kids would be terrified but he obviously doesn't have a problem with claustrophobia. I was totally freaked out when I found him there. (What if he got stuck!?! What if the dresser toppled over!?! Can he breathe!?!) He's such a fun, clever, brave kiddo!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 34

1. The hubs and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this weekend. 2,190 days and we're still in love. Toot, toot! We snuck out to have dinner at a favorite restaurant of ours, Brio. (ok, it's probably more mine than his but when you're married what's mine is yours and that includes favorites!) We were reflecitng on the past year(s) and how, though we've certainly been through our share of ups and downs with life, our marriage has always been a strong and steady constant. There are certainly things in life that I'd do differently, choices I'd change, and actions I'd take back. But without a shadow of a doubt I know for certain that I made the right choice in marrying Mark. I'm sure you've all seen those "tips for a happy life" posters that all start with "Marry the right person." Thank God I did.  I love my husband.

2. Before our anniversary dinner we snuck over to the mall to make a large purchase. As of Sunday, we have officially joined the world of Mac owners. Both our desktop and laptop computers have been on the skids for quite some time. Our laptop was even giving us the "your battery has reached the end of it's usable life and though it may work while plugged in, it must be replaced" message. We've been saving up for a while to purchase a Mac so when the laptop decided to give up on life even when plugged in, we decided to finally pull the trigger and get our new computer. Can I just say... ouch! These puppies are expensive! I know some of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking Dang, Mark is a PA, Laura has her own little business...it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Our student loan payment is just a few bucks shy of our mortgage payment, people. I kid you not. Sure, we may be making pretty good money now, but we're still living tight for the next eight years or so. And knowing me, even then... But I digress. With this investment, we're trying hard not to let the boys get their grubby paws on our new iMac. At least until they know how to respect it properly. Which means it is not upstairs in the game room. And which also means that I have not had the time I'd like to sit down and figure it all out. (there's almost always at least one urchin hanging over my shoulder) But I'm determined to learn the whole Mac system and use it to its full potential. In other words, I don't want to invest this much in a computer to only use it for web surfing and word processing! I need a guru to just come over here and give me a full demonstration. (yes, I know they offer that at the store but let's get real people...)

3. My youngest brother, Dave, came to town this week and we had a blast with him! Dave and I have always been close. Heck, I was eight when he was born...he was my real life baby doll! He will be graduating from Tech in December which makes me feel oh, so old. And should make my parents feel even older. No kids in high school is one thing...no kids in college? Yikes. (I kid, I kid... Kind of.) He came over on Monday night and helped us with the new computer. Oh, and uploaded all of his MP3s to our hard drive. Gotta love free music! We had lunch and dinner with him on Tuesday and then got to spend a ton of time with him yesterday. First we went to the Rob Fleming Pool which is like a mini water park here in The Woodlands. Grant stayed with a neighbor friend of ours so that we could really take the whole swim complex in with the bigger boys. (Grant has reached that impossible stage at the pool.) Afterwards, I took Grant home for a nap and the older boys got to stay and hang out with Uncle Dave. They played games and explored the old toy closet at Pinkie and Pa's. Then Uncle Dave took them to Toys-r-Us and spoiled them with a new Cars racetrack. They've only been begging for one of those for months! Dave is such a great uncle, brother, and friend. His patience with the boys is actually pretty remarkable for a guy his age! We're looking forward to seeing him again at Christmas. (I got no pictures while he was here! What's wrong with me!?!)

Mark brought me the prettiest roses for our anniversary

Enjoying dinner at Brio!

Aaaaand the annual trying-on of the ol' wedding dress.  Still "fits!" (read: I was able to get the zipper up, had to cut the sewn in cups out long ago, and could only keep it on comfortably for a few minutes) The boys love seeing Mama's wedding dress and it has become a special little tradition for our family. I think it's important for them to see how special our marriage is to us.

My little Rudy up to bat

Kolbe had is annual check-up this week. He's 39" tall and 34 pounds.  Tiny little fella, I know! He passed all of his tests (vision and hearing) and is a healthy, happy little guy. I can't believe he's almost five!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 33

1. Ok, peeps, I'm going to try to make this short and sweet. I'm having a flare up in my wrist from my lupus so typing makes it hurt and probably makes it worse. It's horrible at night which is why I'm posting this morning instead. Grrr.
Anyway, it's been a good week around these parts, minus the flare up, and we had a fun family weekend. Haircuts for the boys...including Grant's very first one!...our first trip to the roller rink, and our at-home kiddie Olympics added to all of the excitement. I love when Mark is not on call and we can actually make plans and do fun things with the boys. Even though he is on call this weekend, we should still have fun...it's our sixth anniversary!

2. One major thing that we worked on this week was transitioning Grant to just one nap. I know it probably seems kind of early, but I have my reasons! First of all, during his morning nap lately, he goes in there happily (he has never complained about being put down for any kind of sleep) but I can hear him in there just rolling around. Sometimes by the time I go in, it's as if he hasn't slept at all. And maybe he hasn't. The second reason is that Kolbe starts his little Tuesday/Thursday program in a few weeks. We are very excited that it's at the Catholic Church but kind of bummed that it ends at 2:00pm. So in order to pick him up on time, we'll need to be out of our house by 1:30pm. Grant's used to laying down for his afternoon nap right at 1:00pm so that's obviously not going to work out. We've switched it up this week and he's be stretching out from the morning nap and just going down at 11:30am. I figure I'll wake him up at 1:30pm on school days and then let him sleep longer on the five remaining days. So far, so good! He hasn't skipped a beat. I'm the one trying to get used to it!

3. I'm really looking forward to my little week off of "work" coming up! I've worked up a list of everything I'd like to accomplish, and though I know I have lofty goals, I'll definitely give it the good college try. Here's what I've come up with:
- paint trim in the boys bathroom and half bath (actually, the whole house needs to have the trim painted but that would require several weeks in and of itself. Our trim is not white. It's off-white. And to me it looks dingy. Especially in bathrooms where the cabinets are white. I didn't fully notice it until I painted the half bath and boys bath walls a light turquoisy blue. I couldn't figure out why it didn't look as clean as I wanted it to until I focused in on the trim. And in the boys bathroom it looks like the trim has been touched up with a slightly different colored flat paint too. Yuck. It's a project that will have to gradually be completed over time, but I'll start with those two little rooms.)
- make curtains for the master bedroom
- make pillows for the master bedroom and family room
- trip to Ikea
- assemble anything that needs assembling that makes it way home from Ikea
- re-organize my sewing area
- paint master bedroom
- new mantle artwork
- clean out/ re-organize the pantry
- clean the whole house
Like I said, lofty goals. And I'm sure you noticed what got placed last on the list. Ha! We'll see how it goes...surely all of this can get done in one week, right?

Grant's first haircut! It was an experience! He absolutely freaked out every time the hairdresser came near him. We alternated between the juice cup and the dumdum sucker I had in my mouth to keep him under control. The clippers were off limits. (he's terrified of noise making things...vacuums, blenders, dust busters...) So needless to say, not much got cut off, but at least he's a little more evened up.

Handsome new haircuts!

No weekend is complete without a nap with Dada

"Mom, these skates make my legs real heavy."

Kolbe was a champ at the rink! Sure he had his share of falls, but he bravely hopped back up and went for it again. Rudy had a much harder time getting the hang of it.

One event in the Asmussen Little Boy Olympics! Kolbe won the Kleenex pull, but only by a few tissues. They had so much fun with all of the crazy games we came up with.

But their favorite part was standing on their podiums, getting their medals, and singing the national anthem. Love my little American boys! And man, if either of them ever does make it to the Olympics, won't this just be the money shot! ha!

Mr. Irresistible climing the steps to the slide at the pool. I could just gobble him up!

The boys are really in to coloring right now and Grant likes to think that he can join right in. He has become a pro at climbing up into the boys' chairs and sitting there like a little future schoolboy.

TTT: Season 3, Episode 32

1. We had our first bout with summer sickness this week. Everybody gets a little sick at least once each summer, right? Like a little summer cold. No? Well for us it was a fun little baby virus called Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. It typically only afflicts littles aged six months to four years, and wouldn't you know it, all three of mine fit in to that category and all three picked it up. Grant was the first and the worst. You know this fella is sick when he actually sits with me and lets me cuddle him. When he's well, our cuddles last no more than five seconds. He woke on Friday morning with an obvious fever and nothing more. Poor guy, you could just tell he couldn't get comfortable. I went ahead and got him a doctor's appointment since it was Friday and I didn't want to get stuck on the weekend with an ER trip if things got worse. And sure enough, by the time we went to his appointment, he had a noticeable rash all over his feet, legs, hands, and even a little around his neck. The doctor swabbed him for strep but when it came back negative and his ears also looked fine, he checked his throat (which wasn't hard at all as Grant was wailing in sheer terror over the fact that I laid him down on the exam table) and he confirmed that is throat looked just like the rash he had elsewhere. By Saturday Reagan was also running a fever, though no rash. The two of them were finally cleared up by Monday and I assumed that Kolbe had dodged the bullet. But on Tuesday he too had a fever that just lasted one day. Now we are all finally cleared and healthy. And after a week and a half absence, we made it to the pool today! Call me selfish, but a summer illness that mama doesn't have to worry about getting isn't too bad after all!

2. As I've mentioned many times before, my shop has taken off this year in a way that I never could have anticipated. And due to it's growing success, it has really left me with very limited time to do projects for our home. We moved in last May, just weeks before Grant was born, and over the past fourteen months, I've spent the majority of my time caring for a new baby, taming wild animals raising two young boys, and managing my growing shop. Needless to say, though I look around my home day after day thinking of all the things I'd like to do to improve it's 'homey-ness," nearly all of it has gone un-done. Partially due to money, but largely due to time. (Not every home improvement project has to break the bank!) In fact, several of the projects I've been planning have already been bought and paid for...just remain incomplete in the form of cans of paint, piles of fabric, etc. I've already picked the colors, bought the supplies, and yet it sits undone as I certainly can't do it while the kids are awake and free time during the day is all spent filling orders from my shop. So I've decided that it's time for a little break. My little helper, Angelina, will be going back to school in two more weeks, so I'm going to utilize her help for the time being and then shut down shop for a week to tackle some projects. Hopefully by next week I'll have a clear outline of all I want to conquer, but for now, I'm just looking forward to actually doing some of the projects I've had planned for quite some time.

3. A few more days and the summer Olympics will be over. And, thankfully, I'll be able to return to my normal bed time! One of my favorite things that I've loved noticing in our boys as they've watched the games is their observations of the athletes. While they do take note of certain features such as long hair, baldness, tattoos, etc, they have yet to ever point out the color of someone's skin as his/her outstanding feature. For example, Rudy tells me the other night, "Hey Mama, that guy with the brown head is real bald." (referring to Usain Bolt...so obviously he's aware that Bolt is Black, but finds his baldness more notable.) And then from Kolbe: "She has a long pony tail like yours." (referring to Allyson Felix) My parents raised me well. They raised me to never ever even notice or consider a difference is a person based on their skin color. We lived in Germany, San Antonio, TX, Columbus, MS...plenty of places where we were exposed to people of different races. None, of course, can quite compare with our time in Mississippi. I remember walking in to a Burger King on our very first trip from Lubbock to Columbus and suddenly becoming very aware that the people in my family of seven were the only white people in the entire building. I told my mom "Mom, we're the only white people in here." And she replied with, "That's okay. That's just how it is in Mississippi." And that's just how it was. I quickly learned that not everyone was raised the way I was. In fact, most weren't. They were raised from very early on to notice a difference. To assume a difference in color meant a difference in quality. Lord, I am so thankful that I was raised to know better. To know more. To respect life in all shapes, sizes, stages, and shades. To know that people are people and my opinion of them should be based on their actions and words alone. And oh, I pray that my babies will feel the same way. So far, it makes me so happy to see that they quickly point out the fact that someone's accent sounds funny instead of the fact that his eyes aren't shaped the same as theirs. I'm certain that in time they will be exposed to opinions from others that don't matter, but I just hope that we will have raised them well enough to recognize the ones that do.

Snuggling with my sick guy...at least he still knows what "Say cheese!" means.

We had a nice rain shower on Sunday afternoon and once the thunder and lightening passed, we took the opportunity to play in the summer rain. The boys had a blast!

My handsome crew

Does this say 'summer fun' or what!?! Grant loved making mud pies!

Listening to thunder on the front porch...I can't believe my baby is almost five.

Even Grant has gotten in to the Olympics!

Working on their synchronized diving routine

My future Michael Phelps!

Kolbe, my little artist, loves working on pictures during his daily quiet time. After finishing a picture this week, he showed me where he had written "Pa" at the time, as Pa (my dad) was to be the lucky recipient. I told him we could hold on to it until the next time we saw Pa but he told me that he wanted to mail it to him instead. Thus begain our first lesson in envelope addressing. He was so proud of his first piece of out-going mail! I think I better stop by the post office and pick up some more stamps...he's ready to send Kolbe-grams to everyone!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 31

1. I now interrupt my incessant viewing of Olympic events to bring you my weekly blog post. I'll be brief. Thankfully, my DVR is on pause, and really, let's be honest, if my DVR was nonexistent, I'd probably be skipping this week's post and rolling it in to next. How did I manage to watch the summer games four years ago with a newborn and no DVR!?! Sheesh. Shamelessly addicted to modern technology. Anyhow, I'll admit that I have managed to keep the TV off most of the day and have strictly used the DVR to record the events I want to watch, but I'm not kidding when I say that I've stayed up till at least midnight every night since Friday watching all of the events. So yes, I'm a bit tired. But it's well worth it! I only have two complaints: 1) I don't like not being able to watch live. (Yes, I know it's available on the internet, but let's get real people.) They leave things out when it's not live. Like if the Americans are doing horrible, they just cut to another country. I still want to see USA, misses and all. 2) The USA's gray podium jackets are ug-ly. Perfect Dr. Evil Halloween costume attire. Couldn't they have at least gone with white? Or navy? Heck, it doesn't have to be blaring red or have stars and stripes all over it, but at least something that might even come close to saying, "Hey, those might be Americans." I've loved all the swimming and of course the gymnastics, but I'm ready to start seeing some track now. Go Team USA!

2. Amidst my jumbled mix of life, work, and Olympics, we managed to get to spend some time this week with my brother, Mike, his wife, Casey, and their babes, Jackson and Kennedy. They were passing back through from Alabama on their way home to Mountain Home, Idaho and got to stay for several nights. Since they live so far away, the times we get to see them are few and far between so we feel bless that we got to see them not just once, but twice this summer, and they'll be back for Christmas this year too! Jackson is the cutest little fella and follows along great with the big cousins, Kolbe and Rudy. And Kennedy and Grant were so cute babbling back and forth at each other. Okay, I'll be honest...Grant would screech to get attention and then Kennedy would echo him in response. Ha! We sure wish they lived closer! And I'm pretty sure that with their visit, our summer "events" are pretty much over. Back to normal life for now.

3. It's August. Just five more months left in 2012. Starting to have thoughts of Oh yeah, remember that bucket list you created? Are you going to be one of those people that tries to get it all done in the month of December? No, not you. Get off your butt...okay, after the Olympics....get off your butt and get some of these done! So have I made any progress? The water drinking (#1) is still hit and miss, though I have a great old friend who sends me email reminders from time to time. An accountability partner of sorts! But I've discovered that part of my hatred of drinking tons of water is having to go to the bathroom all the time. I don't like to be interrupted for such trivial things. Ha! I did try some sushi that Mark brought home a few weeks ago so the trying new foods (#2) thing is going alright. As for the sushi, it was just eh. Not bad, not great. Needed salt. Blog more often (#7) is slipping. I'm behind all the way back to Grant's first birthday. And a lot has happened since then! Maybe I'll make that my mission this week. Or when the Olympics are over. One horn that I can definitely toot and check off my list is #21-meet my yearly business goal for my shop. Seriously. It's August 2nd and I've already met it. Never in a million years did I think my business would become so legit, but it did. And it's kind of cool. Keeps me living in a constant state of action and semi-stress but I've determined that that's just how I like to operate. If I didn't have it, I'd find a way to create it. I don't sit still easily.

Kind of short on pictures this week. ...What? You wanted a shot of me sitting on the couch with a large ice water watch gymnastics? I'll save that for next week.

We did another pinterest activity this week--glowsticks in the bath! Rudy stumbled into the Target dollar/junk area at the front of the store while I was strapping Grant in to the cart and came out with a $1 package of 15 glowsticks. He asked what they were and I immediately remembered the pin from Pinterest and tossed them in the cart. They had a blast with their illuminated bath water and stayed in long after if was no longer warm.

At night I love to lay in bed with the boy and tell them stories or chit chat and Kolbe has been asking a lot about heaven and Jesus lately. The older they get, the more we tell them about how Jesus died and why and what happened when he was on the cross. A few days ago I was sprawled out on the carpet just wrestling around with the boys and Kolbe asked me to hold out my arms. After I did, he took his American flag stick and started tapping it into my arm and said, "So you can be like Jesus." Sweet boy. Simple, but also so symbolic.

We had dinner down at the waterway on Monday night and fed the fish in the water afterwards with Jackson. While there were tons of little fish as always, there was also several huge catfish. Like 4-5 pounders! If you had a line and a hook, you could have dinner!

My baby. His eyes get bluer, his hair gets blonder, his tan gets darker (for real, he's dark!), and his screech gets louder. Any tips for a screamer!?! It wasn't that bad until the summer and now it has become his sole way of getting attention. And there's only so long you can do the just-pretend-you-don't-hear-it-because-if-you-acknowledge-it-he'll-keep-doing-it. Especially in public. Ugh!