Sob, Sob, Sob, Blow, Sniffle, Sob, Sob

You've been waiting for it. I know. As of one minute ago, it is Thursday morning, a full four days after the first day of school, and yet... no blog. No pictures of my gorgeous children. No witty commentary on the joys and frustrations of getting children out the door to school. No shameless bragging about how amazing the little buggers are. Well, I've kept you waiting for the element of suspense. Okay, not really. I was just busy. As I'm sure you were too. But, humor me for a few more minutes because the witty (or not so witty) commentary is about to commence.

So, here it is, the theme of my week. *Sobbing begins here.* My children are growing up. If you don't believe me (though I'm not sure why you wouldn't unless you're suffering from parent self-preservation induced denial and fully believe that time has stopped since you gave birth - which I often prefer to do), you can just take a look at my big kids below. William is in... sniffle... second grade and... sniffle again... would not allow me to kiss him goodbye after I walked him into class. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot," and stood next to his desk staring at him with a goofy grin, feeling like I'd just been rejected by the cutest boy in school (well, really I was rejected by the cutest boy in school... told you there would be bragging). So far, he's had a great week. His homework tonight? A blank sheet of paper with the question: What is mathematics? Explain using words or pictures. I'm fairly certain I could spend all night thinking about the question and still not get it right. Will's answer: Math is everywhere. Math is numbers. I can add and subtract. Pretty good answer, I'd say. Certainly better than Mommy would have done.

Molly had "Meet the Teacher" today. She was thrilled last night when she found out that she'd have the same teacher she had last year. Ms. Shannon looked just as happy to see her. I was happy that my little girl was happy. They are hoping to build some emergent readers by the end of the year. The thought that in 12 months I will be sending her to Kindergarten... sorry I have to stop and take a breather here... nope can't go on... did I mention she's in dance class? That I can handle!

And, just so I leave no one out. At the preschool, all the teachers commented on how much difference a summer can make when it comes to a baby. Jack is probably twice as big as when they saw him. He couldn't sit up without some support, and now he is crawling, standing, and trying very hard to make Mommy help him figure out how to walk. Oh, and three more teeth are pushing their way through his swollen little gums. Poor guy. Gotta love that chub, though. I love me some chunky baby thigh! On that happy, yummy note...

Here's the big second grader.

She had to put on her new school clothes to see her teacher.
In the next picture, she held up the "MB" magnets for her initials. Genius.

He wanted to get out of the sun. I left my windows down so the car wouldn't get hot. It didn't get hot. It got soaked. Mommy didn't listen to the weather this morning. Silly mommy!

Oh, and this one if for Aunt Holly and Uncle Dawson, who visited a few weeks ago. Apparently, Uncle Dawson is a climbing structure... a very gracious climbing structure. But, he's rewarded with lots of love!

How He's Grown...

Beautiful Little Ballerina

Molly had a first of her own this week. Dance lessons. She has been so excited all summer, knowing that when school rolled around again, it would be time for her to start "Ballerina School." She has been asking all summer when she would get to start. Tuesday, I was finally able to tell her, "TODAY!" She was beaming as she walked into class in her adorable ballet outfit, compliments of Nanny and Aunt Holly. I was so proud of her. She followed all of the instructor's directions like a little pro, helped put things away, and danced her little heart out. It was quite cute! What was also very cute was the line of big brothers peeking in the windows watching their little sisters. Since public school hasn't started yet, they all got to watch their sister's first lesson. Both William and another little boy stood at the window the whole time, camera lenses placed against the glass, snapping pictures proudly. William said to me as class was ending, "I wish she could come after school, Mommy, so I could see her dance." I can't wait to see her at recital time. I'm sure you'll be blessed with many, many pictures! Here are a few from this week. We had to take them through darkened glass, so the quality isn't the greatest, but you can still see Molly Amelia, the Ballerina, in action!

Practicing balance at the beginning of class.

Look at those toes. That's my girl!
(She's actually trying to see the pictures of the Disney princesses on the wall.)

She was thrilled that they provided tiaras... so long as she got the purple one!

Practicing a tea party dance.

Stretching and kissing her knee.

Jack still added few more firsts again this week. Two days ago, as he bit down on my finger, I felt something a little sharp. Upon further investigation, I discovered that he's sprouted his first tooth! Then, yesterday, my mom took the kids out school shopping (pics of them in their cute new clothes on the first day of school to come next week!). While in one of the stores, I kept noticing that Jack would lift his arm high in the air and open and close his fist. At first, I thought he was just playing. Then, I noticed him doing it in my mom's direction as she walked behind me. I was still skeptical. But, about twenty minutes later, I walked around the corner toward him and he looked right at me, smiled, and lifted his pudgy little arm and WAVED at me! I could've cried. Well, they say, "It takes a crowd of people to entertain a baby, but only one baby to entertain a crowd." And, I must admit, I am nothing in my life if not entertained!

The Weekend in Review

We had a very fun weekend this weekend. Jack is still under the weather, so on Saturday, my parents and I took Will and Molly to Museum District Day while Dave stayed at home resting and taking care of Jack's runny nose. Fittingly, our first stop was the Houston Center for Photography. As a student of photography myself, it should've occured to me that there may very well be a particular brand of art photography unsuitable for children (read: nudes) in the gallery. Fortunately, there was only one such image. But (and I know that this is going to surprise you), little Miss Molly found it and began giggling and pointing out a woman on the beach with a bare bottom. We moved quickly on and found the room in which they were having a children's activity. The idea was to take digital images of everyone in your family, then display them on the wall on a white sheet of paper on which the children trace the images. The result is really interesting. I think I'll be keeping this bit of artwork for a long time! Next, we moved on to the The Museum of Natural Science. The dinosaurs were a huge hit, as always, and the kids loved the stuffed snake and turtle that Mema and Poppy bought them at the gift shop. Molly slept with Rainbow and Will slept with Sparkle last night when they passed out from our long day. We finished the museum day at the Children's Museum, where the current changing exhibit is the Invention Convention. Both kids had fun building their own "bug catchers" and then using them to catch butterflies made of tissue paper that were blown in the air by a big hairdryer-like contraption. Finally, we had supper and ice cream at the 59 Diner and headed home to SLEEP!

Today, Will worked with Daddy in the garage. Recently, our friends, the Willifords, took Will to the shop class at Lowe's, where Will got an apron and came home with several extra projects. So, today, he built the truck. He really is adorable using his big boy tools and he's so very proud of himself!

And, this weekend also marked Jack's first trip in the baby backpack. Granted, it was just around the house, but he enjoyed it none-the-less. When he gets better, we'll venture down to Jesse Jones Park to take him on a real hike!

Good thing there are no naked people here... only naked dinosaurs.

Waiting in line for the Shuttle bus to the next museum. What is it about kids and public transportation? They love it!

Drawing Mommy and Molly at the Photography Center.

My little woodworker.

"Look at me mom! Check out this cool contraption. I can throw up on Daddy's BACK now too!!"

A Week of Firsts and Picture Overload!

This week, Jack has decided to break his poor mommy's heart and become a big boy! As my last child, I am enjoying each milestone, but wishing just a little that he would take just a bit longer to reach them. So, in the last week, we have had our first real crawl, we have begun pulling up on everything in sight (which unfortunately has resulted on the first bumps on the noggin), we have begun holding our own bottle for the first time, and we now have our first real "Mommy, I hope you brought plenty of tissues cause I plan on using the whole box in the next fifteen minutes" cold, which I fear (as all mommies do, you know) may be turning into his first ear infection. I must say, though, that the dear child has the cutest sneezes you've ever seen and there is just nothing better than when your little wiggly worm decides he needs to take a time out and rest nuzzled up into your neck. Snotty shirt or not, it is so worth it! Now that I've got you all geared up to see all these firsts, you should know that the picture overload is totally unrelated.

And now for something completely different (c'mon you know you're a closet Python fan, or maybe a not-so-closet Python fan)...

Last night, Mema, Molly, and I dressed up in our sixties gear, ratted up our bouffants, and went to go see Hairspray with a big group of women from our church. We had a blast! Molly was very excited to dress up with her friends and enjoyed the musical immensely (almost as much as she enjoyed the tootsie roll pop that was passed out to everyone in honor of "Penny" (a character in the movie). The movie is a lot of fun. Side note: It's filled with innuendo that fortunately passes over a four-year-olds head, but there is one "cover her ears" moment in case you are considering taking a child). Here is a picture of our big group. Can you find us?!


Today, the kids and I rode with G.G. (Dave's dad) to see Grandad (Dave's grandad) in Brenham. As always, we had a great time and the kids enjoyed hunting in the attic and touring the big beautiful house in search of butterflies. We haven't seen Grandad in a while but my kids don't seem to mind a bit. They take no time to warm up. Within seconds, Will is breaking out the marbles because Grandad first taught him how to play and Molly is climbing into his lap. It's really very sweet. So, here are a few pictures of our adventure...

Jack with Grandad's friend, Betty. No stranger anxiety anywhere in sight. He loved her!

Elevator Rides! Wow, Grandad's house is COOL!

Any architects out there? I can't remember the name of this part of the house but the kids asked to go out there as soon as we stepped foot inside.

Big smiles.

Add G.G. in there too.

We have a picture almost exactly like this of Dave and his dad when Dave was little, so I'm loving this one.

When we got home, the kids were playing when I made dinner.

And, Jack was all smiles with his favorite toy... a spoon. He's easily amused.

Thanks for reading. Pics of the firsts to come soon. I promise!

I Can't Believe I Find Time for This Nonsense!

Some time ago, I found a site online where you could transform your family into M&Ms. I had a lot of fun doing this...


Then, tonight, I found a site where I could transform us into Simpsons characters (www.simpsonizeme.com)...


Yes, this is why my home didn't get cleaned tonight. Somebody stop me!

Jack, My Big Boy

Hmmm, you think I can do this?

I am SO cool!

Yes mommy?

A Break from all the Kiddo Talk

So, today I'm diverting from my usual blogging about my sweet kiddos to blog instead about my sweet husband. In January, we will have been married for ten years. While we were engaged, I worked with an architecture/engineering group. One of the guys joked once, "Just wait until you are married ten years and have some kids. You will think very differently about getting married!" I wish I remembered the gentleman's name because I'd like to call him and tell him that he married the wrong girl, or more likely, his wife married the wrong man! After almost ten years of marriage, and almost fourteen years with David, I can truly say that I am every bit as in love with him today as I was then, and watching him grow into the loving, striving father and husband that he is has deepened my affection for him ten-fold. A couple of days ago, he woke me up with a present. When we were first dating, he had made me a "mix tape" of many different songs. He'd put it together on his Mini-disc player, which hasn't worked for a long time, so it's been a long time since I've been able to listen to it. Well, he'd found his list of songs when we organized a few weeks ago, and put it all together on my ipod for me. So, I've been spending time listening to the songs and reminiscing about our early years together. The words to one of the songs (Nowhere Else, the 77s):

There is nowhere else I'd rather be
Than in your heart
There is nowhere else I wanna be
But in your eyes
In your arms

The moon blew through the valley
Carried away the clouds
The stars seem so much brighter this night
Orion's belt is shinin'
The big dipper's upside down
Over us it's pourin' out it's light

You slip your arms around me
Draw me to your side
The full moon's shinin' so clear
Is that music in the distance?
For a moment of time
There is nowhere else but here

There is nowhere else I'd rather be
Than in your heart
There is nowhere else I wanna be
But in your eyes
In your arms

I could walk across the desert
Build my own oasis
Where the palm trees shade me from the sun
I could swim across the ocean
Find a desert island
But your arms would always draw me back home

There is nowhere else I'd rather be
Than in your heart
There is nowhere else I wanna be
But in your eyes
In your arms

My sweet husband of almost ten years, there is certainly nowhere else I wanna be than in your arms with the beautiful children we've been blessed with in mine. And, in the words of "Toad the Wet Sprocket," I will not take these things for granted.

I love you!