Entertaining Kids and 39 years!

Tomorrow is my parents' 39th Wedding Anniversary. Thirty-nine years...simply amazing! Growing up I just remember always seeing two people who truly loved one another and showed it. They were an amazing example of how a marriage should be. And while I appreciated and loved the fact that my parents were dedicated to each other and their marriage, I REALLY get it now that I am an adult and married myself. Marriage is hard work sometimes, so I just want to say a HUGE thank you to my parents for putting in that hard work and yet making it look super easy. And I love the fact that after 39 years, my mama still bakes my daddy's favorite brownies, cakes and treats, because she knows how much he loves them and how my daddy drives to Brownwood just to fill my mom's car up with gas so she won't be worried about it on the way home and since she hates getting gas herself! (It is the little things I tell you!)

 

Anyhoot, I wonder how many hours of my dad's life has been spent sitting on a bench or fountain in the middle of a mall entertaining kids while my mom was in a store shopping. I can remember the countless hours we spent as kids people watching, tossing pennies, and playing trust or some other competitive activity while mom was in a store shopping. And now that his own kids are grown, he gets to do it all over again with his grandkids!

 

Pops drawing monsters for the twins while Meemaw and I shop at University Park Village.

 

 

Once we got home, it was straight to the playroom to watch Captain America!

Ella Grace working on earning some more jewelry from her Pops! hahaha (Comb his hair and he may just buy her the entire store!)

Uh oh! a long day and now they have both lost their heads! hahaha!

 

Now that there is only one week left of school, the kids and I can start making trips to Comanche to see meemaw and pops instead of them having to come to us all the time!

Story Time

Story Time with Ella Grace....

 

IF you can hear her over her brother!!! Stinkin' boys!  And welcome to my life...both kids talking at once. ALL THE TIME!!! I could be a spy because I am so good at listening to one conversation yet totally listening to a second one at the same time!

Sweet and Sassy

While we waited for Meemaw to arrive yesterday morning I did a little work and the twins were in the playroom, I figured destroying it and making it look like a disaster zone. But I was wrong!

 

SWEET!

 

Once Meemaw arrived we headed to the barber shop and had Reid's ears' lowered and then made a beeline for the Mall! Meemaw and I had shopping on our minds and the twins had bull riding on theirs!

They really wanted to go to the theater and watch Iron Man but thankfully were very agreeable to a bag of Target popcorn, shoe shopping and Scooby Doo movies!

 

SASSY!

 

This girl could spend hours doing this. And Reid could spend hours in the Movie section. I think I am in so much trouble! hahah! Well, I should say Meemaw and Pops are in trouble because Meemaw created the shoe fetish in Ella so she and Pops are going to be responsible for satisfying it as well! hahahahaha!

The Purpose of My Life

My Angel...

My boys...

 

I had a very nice Mother's Day. I didn't get to see my mama, but it was still a good day thanks to the three kiddos that call me mama!  I am super blessed to have three wonderful human beings call me Mama! But not to worry I am not going to wax poetic about being a mother. I am a "tell it like it is" kinda girl so I will be honest. Somedays they drive me to the point of insanity and the words "Just leave me alone!" have come out of my mouth at a very loud decibel. Being a mom is hard work! And I never understood why my mom's lights flickered so often until I became her! hahaha! Kids can make you want to put your head through the wall, but the great moments really make the rough days tolerable.

 

In fact just this morning during our 7:30 am run to Wal-Mart, I was trying to get something off a shelf but having difficulty because a three-year-old was clinging to each of my legs, as is normal for me, when a lady walking by said "Isn't that just the best feeling? Sweet hugs from your babies!" And it really is...funny how it takes a stranger to make me realize how cool it is that I have little rug rats to cling to my legs!

 

My boys picked me flowers for Mother's Day...so much cooler than anything from a store. My little lady attempted to help until she spotted some ants and according to her daddy, our delicate flower that is Ella Grace, about lost her mind! hahaha. The boys came through the door holding flowers and smiling and Ella came through bawling her eyes out! Such a girl.  We got up super early to go eat breakfast at Ole South Pancake House....cause when I really stop and think about it, I really love me a good breakfast!  Then spent a lazy day at home and then the man that made me a mother cooked me chicken fajitas. Nothing better than breakfast and Mexican food!

My Angel coloring at the restaurant. At three she colors better than I do now!

 

Blue Ribbons, Cold Geeks, and Coloring

Last weekend my husband and son worked on a science project. It was touch and go most of the time but they did finally complete it. (I tend to avoid these type of activities...too many people with not enough patience!) The jest of the project was does the circumference of a tire affect the time in which it reaches a certain point or something along those lines. Well, anyways it was a full weekend of testing and charting and taking pictures and creating a display board but never in any of our minds did we expect him to walk through the door after school with a BLUE Ribbon, but he sure as heck did! Hahaha!

 

The other morning my Reidy Pete woke up and decided he needed his geek to be cold! Don't ask me where he gets these things. (My voice sounds like I just woke up because I had and it was 6:20 a.m.- so ignore that part!)

My kids are just plain weird. They definitely get it from their paternal side!!

 

My sassy pants enjoys a big coloring space some days!

Seriously! What a face!

Full of herself!

 

My little academic. Just reading away. (Don't be in awe just yet...he makes up his own words/story!)

My house looks like a war zone, in more ways than just this one!

 

Today I had to go to the office to do some work with my boss. We had a lot we needed to get organized and done and I normally can arrange for the twins to be somewhere else on days like this but today no such luck, so they had to go with me. And be prepared because I am about to pat myself on the back for a job well-done on raising my twins. I took 2 3-year-olds to an office and they sat quietly for almost 3 hours. Not once did they interrupt us, get loud, not once did they make even a peep! They sat on the couch and watched Avengers, played their LeapPads and my phone. So here goes...I must toot my own horn for raising two little kids that can sit quietly and behave for such a long time! Of course it helps that they are pretty shy and tend not to look up for at least the first hour, but in my opinion that is a virtue! I love the fact that they can be wild and screaming maniacs, but can also be quiet and still when I need them to. Plus, it makes it much easier for my boss to be okay with having a stay-at-home mom work for her. She gets to see first hand that they don't keep me from getting my business handled! (But she did mention me traveling with her on some upcoming projects...eek! plane ride..gulp! hahaha)

 

Pops' Birthday!

Wednesday was Pops' Birthday! And lucky for us, it was rainy and cold yesterday and pretty much puts a damper on working cows (well, it is a good excuse anyways) so Pops and Meemaw came to see us for his birthday! Boy wasn't he spoiled! hahaha! When Pops walks through the door it takes a good 30 minutes of wrestling, screaming, and rough housing with Reid before Reid can return to a semi-normal state of mind! Pops is like cat-nip for kids! And if I am being honest...I still at 31 years of age, fight my own children for a spot next to Pops! My mom is a lucky lady...she literally married the best man in the world!

 

A moment of calm in an otherwise wild time! 

Thankfully, Target is fairly empty in the mornings and we don't get too many looks as these two scream, yell, chase each other and claim to see the boogie man around every corner! And yes!, my father will find an empty aisle and make the twins stay at one end and he will go to the other end and he has them race down the aisle! I am counting the days until he has them in the living room floor sitting with one leg straight out and attempting to stand up using just one leg a-la Grandpa Eltos!

Pops crashed hard after a morning of shopping and then a big lunch at Jason's Deli.  His sidekick there is pretending to be asleep. Am I the only one that thinks my kids are strange because they have NO interest in toys? Reid only wants to go to the movie section and Ella only wants shoes! "I love movies!," said Reid. "We have to look for me shoes, because I don't have enough!," said Ella. Seriously...they never even ask to go to the toy section! Weirdos! LOL

While Pops napped and Reid pretended too, Meemaw and Ella baked M&M cookies! (yuck) I wanted chocolate chip but was easily over-ruled by Ella, so in protest I just sat and watched! haha!

I am so happy we live close enough to my mom and dad that my kiddos get to see them almost on a weekly basis! And let's be honest...I need it too! I never REALLY cut the cord! hahaha