Spencer got to RUN and RUN and RUN. It was great to see him playing and actually paying attention to the animals.
Madison helped us out with Spencer and I got to practice some photography skillls.
My GORGEOUS girl!Saturday, January 29, 2011
January??
Yesterday and today were absolutely gorgeous with 70 degree temperatures and on a Saturday none the less. We headed out to the zoo for a couple of hours. I love living so close to such a great zoo.
Spencer got to RUN and RUN and RUN. It was great to see him playing and actually paying attention to the animals.
Madison helped us out with Spencer and I got to practice some photography skillls.
My GORGEOUS girl!
Spencer got to RUN and RUN and RUN. It was great to see him playing and actually paying attention to the animals.
Madison helped us out with Spencer and I got to practice some photography skillls.
My GORGEOUS girl!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Good Gone Bad
For most of us anytime we are sick there are comfort items that we gravitate towards. For children it tends to be movies, or one particular movie. Children of any age get "stuck" with a favorite movie that they want to watch over and over (and over, over, over and over again).
With most sickness' lasting a few days, the torment of watching the same movie is short-lived and kids get back in the routine of things in a few days.
Then there is the lengthy sickness. Like ten days at home with a lethargic child who doesn't move off the couch.
The sickness which requires a parent to function on interrupted sleep patterns and lack of sleep.
The sickness which requires a parent to sleep in odd and strange places.
The sickness which requires an insane amount of patience.
The sickness which requires multiple trips to the doctor.
The sickness which requires hog tying a child to the ground in order to administer necessary medication.
The sickness which requires the use of soap and hand sanitizers to cause your hands to crack and bleed due to the frequency of use.
The sickness which requires comforting a child in tremendous amounts of pain.
Comforting a child for an hour and half at a time by the only way you know how, Disney/Pixar movies. I am fully convinced, the sole purpose of Disney movies is to save the sanity of parents caring for a sick child.
The downside to this is the insanity leading up to actually watching the movie. For example:
Day 1-3 of Sickness:
Me: "Do you want to watch a movie?"
Spencer: nodding his head yes
Me: "Do you want to watch Monsters?"
Spencer: "ightning and mater on"
Me: "You want to watch Lightning"
Spencer: "yes"
Me: "Ok, mommy put the movie in"
Day 4-9 of Sickness:
Me: "What movie do you want to watch?"
Spencer: "ightning and mater on"
Me: "Do you want to watch Monsters?"
Spencer: "ightning and mater on"
Me: "Ok, are you sure?"
Spencer: "Sally on"
The movie goes in without any further conversation.
Day 10 of Sickness:
Spencer: "igtning and mater on"
Me: "How about Buzz and Woody?"
Spencer: "no"
Me: "How about Monsters"
Spencer: "no"
Me: "Can we Pleeeeeeeeeeze watch Monsters?"
Spencer: "no, ightning mckeen on!"
I REALLY don't ever want to see the movie Cars again. Really, I don't.
With most sickness' lasting a few days, the torment of watching the same movie is short-lived and kids get back in the routine of things in a few days.
Then there is the lengthy sickness. Like ten days at home with a lethargic child who doesn't move off the couch.
The sickness which requires a parent to function on interrupted sleep patterns and lack of sleep.
The sickness which requires a parent to sleep in odd and strange places.
The sickness which requires an insane amount of patience.
The sickness which requires multiple trips to the doctor.
The sickness which requires hog tying a child to the ground in order to administer necessary medication.
The sickness which requires the use of soap and hand sanitizers to cause your hands to crack and bleed due to the frequency of use.
The sickness which requires comforting a child in tremendous amounts of pain.
Comforting a child for an hour and half at a time by the only way you know how, Disney/Pixar movies. I am fully convinced, the sole purpose of Disney movies is to save the sanity of parents caring for a sick child.
The downside to this is the insanity leading up to actually watching the movie. For example:
Day 1-3 of Sickness:
Me: "Do you want to watch a movie?"
Spencer: nodding his head yes
Me: "Do you want to watch Monsters?"
Spencer: "ightning and mater on"
Me: "You want to watch Lightning"
Spencer: "yes"
Me: "Ok, mommy put the movie in"
Day 4-9 of Sickness:
Me: "What movie do you want to watch?"
Spencer: "ightning and mater on"
Me: "Do you want to watch Monsters?"
Spencer: "ightning and mater on"
Me: "Ok, are you sure?"
Spencer: "Sally on"
The movie goes in without any further conversation.
Day 10 of Sickness:
Spencer: "igtning and mater on"
Me: "How about Buzz and Woody?"
Spencer: "no"
Me: "How about Monsters"
Spencer: "no"
Me: "Can we Pleeeeeeeeeeze watch Monsters?"
Spencer: "no, ightning mckeen on!"
I REALLY don't ever want to see the movie Cars again. Really, I don't.
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Teenage Passage
For many teens getting braces is part of being a teenager. Madison followed that path and got braces put on last Monday. Here are her before and after shots.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
San Antonio, Texas
Our family and my mom hopped in the van and headed south to San Antonio. My aunt and two cousins flew in from New Mexico to meet us.
On Monday Justin, Madison, my cousin Kelsey and myself headed to Sea World. I have mixed thoughts about it. We did a dolphin encounter so we were able to touch, feed and rub down a Pacific Coast dolphin named Kai. I LOVED this, highlight of the trip!
A lot of the park was closed because of the cooler temperatures and let's face it, who wants to get wet when it is only 50 degrees outside. Not me. The two large roller coasters were open and Justin decided the best way to heal his back was with a very large and winding roller coaster. After reading the ride restrictions (which included "do not ride if you have back injuries"), him and Madison got in line and only waited 5 minutes. One of the perks of visiting in the off season, little to no wait times.
We decided to go to an authentic Mexican restaurant and ended up at Pico de Gallo. My van only sits seven people and we had eight. We made it work. Notice how Spencer is really confused as to why my cousin Mark was "sitting" in the middle. Thank goodness, we didn't have to go far.
The restaurant had a Mariachi band playing throughout the restaurant (for a small fee of course) and Spencer was fixed on finding, watching and listening to them play while we waited for our food. We asked them to play something upbeat, thus, "The Chicken Dance" was played right behind Spencer. He was more interested in chowing down on his rice than watching. It was very entertaining.
While we were at Sea World, my mom, aunt and cousin Mark took Spencer down to the Riverwalk. He loved the boats and getting pushed around in the stroller.
Tuesday came with rain, LOTS OF IT. It rained the entire day. We went out with intentions of seeing the Alamo. We saw it after buying ponchos and the local gift shop. I honestly think that 75% of the people in the Alamo were only there because it was DRY. Holy cow it was wet. We were all soaked and hungry, so we headed to the Riverwalk Center Mall for lunch. So, the chances of finding someplace to eat at lunch time for eight people in the only dry place in town are slim to none. OH, did I mention there was a small football game the next day called the ALAMO BOWL and 50,000 Oklahoma State fans were also in San Antonio? An hour wait at Chili's. Next door was Hooters. Immediate seating....we will take it!
Here's my thoughts on Hooters. I had never been to one before. My cousin Mark enjoyed the view (sorry, but I had to throw that in). The food was great, cheap and the service was the best (I'm not kidding here folks). PLUS, they had a CLEAN diaper changing station in the women's restroom while I have yet to find a Wendy's that has one. Just sayin'.
Wednesday was game day and it was dry, so we headed out to do as much sightseeing as possible before Spencer needed a nap. We did finally get to see the Alamo, yeah, it's there. I actually LOVED San Fernando's Cathedral. A-MA-ZINGly beautiful.
These were a few of the many prayer candles in the cathedral.
Kelsey, Connie (my mom), Spencer and Mark all taking a break from walking outside of the cathedral.
The whole crew in OSU "ORANGE POWER" before the game. Kelsey, Connie, Mark, Nancy (my aunt), Madison and Justin. Spencer and I stayed back at the hotel and watched the Disney channel.
On Monday Justin, Madison, my cousin Kelsey and myself headed to Sea World. I have mixed thoughts about it. We did a dolphin encounter so we were able to touch, feed and rub down a Pacific Coast dolphin named Kai. I LOVED this, highlight of the trip!
A lot of the park was closed because of the cooler temperatures and let's face it, who wants to get wet when it is only 50 degrees outside. Not me. The two large roller coasters were open and Justin decided the best way to heal his back was with a very large and winding roller coaster. After reading the ride restrictions (which included "do not ride if you have back injuries"), him and Madison got in line and only waited 5 minutes. One of the perks of visiting in the off season, little to no wait times.
We decided to go to an authentic Mexican restaurant and ended up at Pico de Gallo. My van only sits seven people and we had eight. We made it work. Notice how Spencer is really confused as to why my cousin Mark was "sitting" in the middle. Thank goodness, we didn't have to go far.
The restaurant had a Mariachi band playing throughout the restaurant (for a small fee of course) and Spencer was fixed on finding, watching and listening to them play while we waited for our food. We asked them to play something upbeat, thus, "The Chicken Dance" was played right behind Spencer. He was more interested in chowing down on his rice than watching. It was very entertaining.
While we were at Sea World, my mom, aunt and cousin Mark took Spencer down to the Riverwalk. He loved the boats and getting pushed around in the stroller.
Tuesday came with rain, LOTS OF IT. It rained the entire day. We went out with intentions of seeing the Alamo. We saw it after buying ponchos and the local gift shop. I honestly think that 75% of the people in the Alamo were only there because it was DRY. Holy cow it was wet. We were all soaked and hungry, so we headed to the Riverwalk Center Mall for lunch. So, the chances of finding someplace to eat at lunch time for eight people in the only dry place in town are slim to none. OH, did I mention there was a small football game the next day called the ALAMO BOWL and 50,000 Oklahoma State fans were also in San Antonio? An hour wait at Chili's. Next door was Hooters. Immediate seating....we will take it!
Here's my thoughts on Hooters. I had never been to one before. My cousin Mark enjoyed the view (sorry, but I had to throw that in). The food was great, cheap and the service was the best (I'm not kidding here folks). PLUS, they had a CLEAN diaper changing station in the women's restroom while I have yet to find a Wendy's that has one. Just sayin'.
Wednesday was game day and it was dry, so we headed out to do as much sightseeing as possible before Spencer needed a nap. We did finally get to see the Alamo, yeah, it's there. I actually LOVED San Fernando's Cathedral. A-MA-ZINGly beautiful.
These were a few of the many prayer candles in the cathedral.
Kelsey, Connie (my mom), Spencer and Mark all taking a break from walking outside of the cathedral.
The whole crew in OSU "ORANGE POWER" before the game. Kelsey, Connie, Mark, Nancy (my aunt), Madison and Justin. Spencer and I stayed back at the hotel and watched the Disney channel.
As with any vacation, we were happy to come home, but everything was an experience and I am glad we went.
Christmas and the Emergency Room
The Wednesday before Christmas started like any other. I took the kids to school and Justin took Spencer to daycare. Unfortunately, things changed quickly. Justin was helping Spencer at daycare and aggravated an existing pinched nerve in his back. He struggled throughout the day. My mom arrived from Iowa that evening and while she stayed with the kids, we went to the ER. I have to say that the doctor that treated him listened very well and treated him quickly (two shots) and prescriptions for pain medicine.
I was in panic mode considering that we were to leave on Dec. 26th for a vacation to San Antonio.
Christmas arrived with much excitement (primarily from Madison because Spencer didn't understand). The kids had to wait for Justin to get up (zonked out on pain medicines and muscle relaxers), so we had a late start.
Madison FLIPPED out at the sight of her Kindle. It happened to be her last gift. Notice the stack of books on the fireplace behind her. As of typing this, she has already finished two of them. YES, she NEEDED a Kindle.
Spencer was still a bit perplexed. He enjoyed stacking and sorting the presents more than actually opening them. Once he opened the first present, he wanted it ALL the way opened up. Needless to say he will be able to build until the year 2020 with all of his LEGOS and his army men will guard the forts. His primary focus was the stockings. The stockings contained chocolate. Enough said.
I was in panic mode considering that we were to leave on Dec. 26th for a vacation to San Antonio.
Christmas arrived with much excitement (primarily from Madison because Spencer didn't understand). The kids had to wait for Justin to get up (zonked out on pain medicines and muscle relaxers), so we had a late start.
Madison FLIPPED out at the sight of her Kindle. It happened to be her last gift. Notice the stack of books on the fireplace behind her. As of typing this, she has already finished two of them. YES, she NEEDED a Kindle. 
Spencer was still a bit perplexed. He enjoyed stacking and sorting the presents more than actually opening them. Once he opened the first present, he wanted it ALL the way opened up. Needless to say he will be able to build until the year 2020 with all of his LEGOS and his army men will guard the forts. His primary focus was the stockings. The stockings contained chocolate. Enough said.We had a lovely Christmas with my mom and the day was spent cleaning and packing for our trip.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
NEW HOUSE
Justin and I have been looking to move for awhile now and we have finally found the perfect house. We have kept it a secret from everyone because it was under construction. Below are the pictures of the construction process. Unfortunately the builders were pretty shoddy and we are not going to be able to move in any time soon. We took pictures as the construction process took place. SIGH, we won't be moving. :(
GOTCHA!
GOTCHA!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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