A fun, spontaneous evening

Tonight I wanted to go to Target to see if I could find neck pillows for the kids for our upcoming 8 hour drive to Ponca City. We had a successful trip & decided to grab some dinner at Chipotle. Unfortunately what we ordered the kids was too spicey. Drew took one bite & said "My teeth hurt" then starting getting weepy. Corry took one bite & started bawling. So Jimmy got them something different. They both stayed pretty sad through dinner, so Jimmy asked if ice cream would make them feel better. They both thought that would do the trick....so off to Cold Stone for some ice cream.

Corry got blue cotton candy ice cream & Drew wanted pink (strawberry). They ate their cones & we looked at fountains. They had ice cream ALL over the place. Next we went to the fountains that shoot up out of the ground. During the summer it is always packed with kids running through the fountains. Since it was pretty chilly this evening we had the fountains to ourselves. We really just went over to look at them since they change colors, but the kids had fun playing in them anyway....I guess it was a good way to rinse off all the ice cream. When we got back to the car we stripped them out of their wet clothes & cranked up the heater for the ride home. It was pretty dang steamy in there!

Drew got mad when he saw we were pulling into our neighborhood because he's ready to go to "Honklahoma" and see Uncle Gary. He said "Uncle Gary is going to say 'Holy Cow!' to me." Uncle Gary taught Drew how to say "Holy Cow" a year and a half ago, and it has definitely stuck with him.

Then tonight I was getting ready to comb out Corry's tangles. She started to cry & didn't want me to comb them out. I told her if we didn't we'd have to go and have them cut out. She really got teary then and said "No! Then I'll look like Owen!" For those of you who don't know Owen, he's my cousin that is 5 days younger than Olech & has a completely shaved bald head.

So, Monday evening didn't really go as planned - I had hoped to get all packed for Honklahoma, but we got some good quality family time in & when we got home Jimmy had fun racing all of Drew's "Cars" cars in the empty living room with Corry & Drew while I hung up all the laundry that Mom so graciously washed for me today.

We're excited to leave for Honklahoma on Wednesday after work & to see all our family & to see some of our friends that we haven't seen in years. We're making the trip up for one of my best friend's from highschool's little girl. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor last summer when she was 4 years old & underwent many surgeries at a hospital in Tennessee. They are having a weekend fundraisinng event in Ponca City to raise money for the hospital that took such excellent care of Ally & her family while they were there last summer. Jimmy will be playing in the charity golf tournament on Friday & we'll be attending a dinner Saturday night. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

Let's go fly a kite & the living room floors

Grandma Connie brought the kids kites. Drew could get his to fly (even though we have NO wind) so Corry decided to trade him.....then he made hers fly, so she was desperately chasing him through the back yard trying to get her kite back. I guess Drew just has the knack for kite flying.

Another picture of Meemers

Corry holding the water flutes & getting ready to go see Monsters vs. Aliens
Drew getting ready to go see Monsters vs. Aliens

The living room floors

Some of the tricky living room cuts.

A night of thunderstorms

Last night we had a big thunderstorm come through & Matt & Deachi lost their electricity, so they came by to hang out for awhile. The kids had a blast running in circles around the empty living room. Max even got in on the action, crawling as fast as he could trying to keep up with the wild maniacs, but by the time I got out the camera he was on to something else.

Then Deachi & I decided it was time we were in a few pictures since we always seem to be the ones behind the camera. Here are the results from our impromptu photo shoot.

Notice our matching chin zits? Aren't we cute???

Maddie hardly ever makes it into pictures, so here is a rarely seen shot of her with a child. Meemers was never a fan of children - loves adults, but kids always have freaked her out. She is really wonderful with all our maniacs, but most of the time she chooses to stay in whatever room they are not.

Red eyed Drewski - I don't have a photo editor on the new computer :(

Max eating a domino

An attempt of getting Jimmy in some pictures before the camera battery went dead. Not a great shot.

Kyla's 10th birthday party

This afternoon we went to Kingwood to help celebrate Kyla's 10th birthday. The kids had a blast playing on Bryce's fort/swing set, running around the pool, shooting everyone with water guns, playing with Bryce's trains, & eating yummy cake! Drew gave everyone a panic attack....Kyla has the responsibility of watching her classroom hamster for spring break. Drew didn't realize there was a hamster in the plastic ball rolling across the living room & so he launched it across the room. Fortunately Lola seems to be okay.

Here are some pictures from the evening

Drew singing Happy Birthday at the top of his lungs
Scott, Tammi, Kyla & Devin

Devin & Kyla

Corry eating some corn on the cob (one of the 5 or 6 pieces she ate)

Drew making me nervous while running around the pool like a maniac. I'm completely shocked that nobody fell in the pool.

Corry getting ready to shoot someone with a water gun.

Daddy teaching Drew how to shoot the water gun.

Bryce getting his feet wet in the pool.

Corry & Drew splashing their feet in the water

Drewski vs. the Spider?

On Sunday Drew came downstairs crying, saying he needed a band aid for his arm. When I looked at it there didn't appear to be anything wrong, but when I felt it there was a pretty good sized bump. As the week has progressed it became apparent that something had bitten him. Since it was looking pretty awful I decided to call the pediatrician's office. They wanted me to bring him in so they could check it out. They said something definitely got a hold of him, but the bump did not appear to be abscessed & seemed to be healing itself so we don't need to do anything other than keep an eye on it to make sure the bump doesn't get bigger or it doesn't start getting redder. He now weighs 31 lbs, & when asked he will tell you that he's 6 years old. I guess he decided to skip 3 1/2 years.

When we got home from the doctor's office Mom left & I was there with the 4 kids for awhile. Since it was beautiful outside we went out to play. Max was swinging, Corry was picking "flowers" out of the backyard & Calyn & Drew had located a lizard on the slide & were having fun watching his every move while he desperately tried to hide. I was talking to Corry about something when I started hearing lots of squeals of excitement. I went to see what Calyn & Drew were up to & Calyn had the poor lizard by the tip of the tail. He was completely stiff & motionless, so I assumed he was probably dead. I told Calyn that lizards don't like to hang by their tails & to put him on the slide. When she did he scurried up the slide. Drew really wanted to pick him up, but I was able to convince him that lizards sometimes bite, so it may not be a good idea. Corry was checking out the lizard & asked why "his stomach is doing that" (he was hyperventilating). I told her he was just scared because he didn't like being picked up by the tail. Calyn leaned over the lizard & said "Sorry!" I'm kind of surprised the lizard didn't shed his tail - I thought that was what they usually did when they got caught by a "predator."

Another funny Calyn story - Deachi & I are constantly jumping Jimmy's case for eating chips too loud. Apparently it got to Calyn this evening as well because as Jimmy was munching away on his tortilla chips Calyn said "Jimmy, chew with your mouth closed!" I loved every second of it.

Corry the Mathematician

I think Corry can do some math, but I'm not sure that she does it on purpose. It never seems to be a well thought out plan, so maybe its just a fluke. The first instance happened last Tuesday. Deachi & I were taking all 4 kids to Arby's for dinner. As I was buckling her in, she asked how many blue eyed people were going to be in the car. I told her there would be 2 people with blue eyes. Then she asked how many people there would be with brown eyes. I told her there would be 4 people with brown eyes. She then asked "So is that 6 people?" I was a little stunned - she's always loved reading & spelling, but we hadn't really focused on math much (which is weird since math is what Jimmy & I both did well in school). When we got to Arby's Deachi & I asked her if Daddy came how many people would we have - and she just looked at us with a blank stare - so I figured it was probably just a fluke.

Then on Saturday she went into the closet & came out with an armful of empty hangers. She laid them all out on the floor & counted them. She then said "I have 8 hangers, but I want 10, so I need to go find 2 more." So its not like she's shouting out 8 plus 2 equals 10 or anything like that, but it does seem like she's applying basic math skills to everyday life. Pretty cool!!

It just is so amazing to me how much these little tiny people can absorb. I really hope she loves school when she starts in the fall. I often feel guilty because when Corry does things for the first time we all think she's a brilliant little lady - and by the time Drew starts doing the same things its all old hat. I guess that's the advantage of being the first child & first grandchild - everyone thinks you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Drew's an entertaining little fellow though!!!

It finally stopped raining and was beautiful out this evening, so Deachi, Matt, Jimmy, & I took the 4 kids to the park to play. They all had a wonderful time as usual.

Entertainment Center

The perfect hiding place




Jimmy hiding in the entertainment center with Corry, Drew & Calyn

Daddy & Drew smiling for the camera


Daddy & Drew sharing a Dr. Pepper


An empty living room

Big smiles from Drew

Bathing Beauties

Mmmmmm Brownies

We had a nice evening tonight - every night when I get home from work I have to send our company's late night trades, so now anytime I go into the study Drew starts crying & says "No, Mommy, don't send trades." He usually cries next to me, relentlessly, until I've finished sending trades. Sometimes I've been known to say "Drew, you're wearing me out." So tonight when I started to send trades he told me "Mommy, you wear me out."

After dinner the kids & I made brownies. Their favorite part is licking the bowl. Pictures & video below.

Miserable & Upset & Sprinklers

When we got home from eating dinner Corry asked to watch cartoons. Usually at 6:30 during the week Noggin is playing Diego. Today, it was "The Upside Down Show" which Corry is not particularly fond of. She watched it for a bit, but when I walked into the room she said "I don't want to watch the Upside Down Show, it's making me miserable and upset."

We're getting ready to put our weed & feed down & start doing some spring planting, so Jimmy has been testing the sprinkler system for the last couple of days. Drew LOVES testing the sprinkler system. As soon as Jimmy turned it on Drew started squealing & running through all the sprinklers. Wish I had my camera out - he was too funny. When he finished playing he had to come inside & take a warm bath. It made me cold just watching him!

Not much else to report. Cleaning ladies came today & I wanted to have at least one day of a nice neat house, so we haven't started ripping up the remainder of the baseboards or carpet yet. It may be Friday before we start that project since I'd like to focus on the yard this week. We've had wonderful weather & I'm loving having an hour more of daylight....my body's just not so excited about getting up an hour earlier!

Bedroom's done!

Couple pictures below - up next, the living room!

The boys

Cruising the backyard in Corry's Mustang

Oldies but Goodies

Deachi emailed me these pictures today, so I thought I'd post them on here. Always good for a few smiles.

This is of us back in the early 2000s when we went to Disney World. It was supposed to make us look like cartoons, but in actuality it made us look like "we'd been eating black ink pens" as Deachi put it. Mom thought we were all supposed to be making silly faces, so was a bit perturbed when we saw the finished product & she saw us all with normal smiles & she looked like an escaped mental patient. I guess that could be construed as some to be "normal" for T-Dawg.
And another one I had forgotten about that surfaced on Deachi's computer at work. Corry was a very colicky baby & being carried around in the Baby Bijorn was one thing that always calmed her down. Here's a picture of Daddy continuing on with his own source of entertainment while keeping Corry from screaming her head off.

Fun pictures from Sunday

Our cousin Whitney is moving to The Woodlands!!! Yea! She arrived with Auntie M this evening, so we all went over to Grandma Chebs & Grandpa Bob's house to have some cheese, cakes, cookies & beverages. The kids had fun, as usual. Corry found her Dora bathing suit from last summer & came waltzing into the kitchen wearing it (over her Boots the Monkey panties) and excaiming "it still fits!" You be the judge.....

Whitney had a laundry mishap & a cute little dress of hers was a casualty. The dress is now Corry's (Whitney is 24, Corry is 3). Whitney's loss is Corry's gain...picture below.

Today we spent the day laying the flooring in our Master Bedroom. We got about 3/4 of the way finished. Apparently Drew wanted to help because we walked into the bedroom & found that he had put together all the scrap pieces we have accumulated. He said "Look! I built the floor!" Then asked "Is it a good job?" Too cute. Here's a picture of his efforts at helping us floor the house.

As usual, the weekend went by waaaaay too fast. I think we should be finished with the bedroom by next weekend, then we can start in on the living room. The living room is the room that needed the carpet yanked out the most, but its the most inconvenient room to have disrupted. I'm getting anxious for this project to be behind us!