April 19, 2009 at 1:30 am (family, friends, my love)
I LOVE bluebonnets! Sad thing is that East Texas does not have any! 
However, a few years ago I discovered that a city close by has a festival dedicated to them! Hoy lleve’ unos amigos a esa ciudad para ver las bluebonnets! Here are some pictures of our day!
Era un dia magnifico! We had so much fun I am considering making the drive again tomorrow after church! I LOVE bluebonnets!
April 6, 2009 at 3:24 am (baby, family)
My mom came to visit me for the tail end of her spring break a few weeks ago! We had a ball! We ate out! Played! Didn’t do much shopping (which is odd for us)! Here are some pictures of our weekend. My mom brought my 7 year old niece. Together, she and Nathan kept us on our toes!
There was a craft show in the park that we went to on Saturday, but I didn’t get many good pictures there! It was fun and the kids had a ball! On Sunday afternoon after church, we went to the Discovery Science Place. My niece LOVES that place. It is still a little old for Nathan but he still had fun! There were balls there so he was happy!
He rode the dinosaur for a little bit, but the thing he loved the most (besides that ball room) was running up and down the ramp shown below! He went up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down! Probably for 20 minutes! He didn’t want to go in the tunnel that the ramp lead to. He just wanted to go up and down and up and down! 
On one of his trips down the ramp, he stopped and posed for a picture! He is quite the ham!
We also spent a lot of time in the ball room! Nathan loved to pick up the balls that fell on the floor and put them in the bucket! I helped him put the balls on the ramps a few times, but he was happy just to pick up the ones on the floor.
After the ball room, Nathan recieved a brief lesson on Osteoporosis prevention! We had quite a fun time! Thanks for coming mom or, as Nathan calls you, Mawmaw!
February 24, 2009 at 2:57 am (my boys)
Nathan has learned to climb the stairs and slide down the slide all by himself! I got this series of pictures during one of his ups and downs!
Climbing over the gentle giant! Rusty is so tolerant of Nathan!
February 8, 2009 at 3:40 pm (baby)
Several times this last month, as I have watched my baby turn into a boy, I have been completely awestruck as well as slightly heartbroken! It is going by way too fast! I honestly believe that I have enjoyed every stage of his little life so far, but each stage is met with another much too quickly! I asked my mom a few months ago as Nathan was growing in to the next size of clothes if moms are EVER ready for the next stage in their child’s life! If moms are EVER ready to let go just a little bit more! She said of course not!
I saw this picture and immediately thought, my kid is growing like a weed! I am a little afraid to blink for fear that I will miss something!
Ten days old . . . blink . . .
15 months old!!!! Where has the time gone?
On the way back home from one of our trips, we stopped for a break and Nathan chose a bag of cheetohs! He was content to just hold them on the rest of the ride home (I didn’t want to find out if cheetohs cheese comes out of car seats)! We ate them as an afterschool snack one time this week! HE LOVED THEM! You can tell by the amount of cheese on his fingers, face and shirt! (Note to self . . . next time take off boy’s white shirt before you give him cheetohs)!!! He went straight to the tub after this snack! Super fun!
I LOVE the cheetoh goatee!
On another note, I have decided that I am going to stop buying toys! Why? Well, all Nathan wants to play with are things that he finds lying around the house . . . for example, the syrup from the pantry and the ice cube trays that were on the shelf! He would rather play with non-toys! So, for Christmas next year I am going to ask Santa Claus for cardboard boxes, tubes of toothpaste and empty yogurt cups!
Nathan’s newest trick! He won’t let mommy feed him anymore! He has to do it himself! Mom, remind you of someone? MY DO MYSELF!! He loves the new utensils that I got him at IKEA! He feeds himself peas, yogurt, applesauce, meat, you name it he feeds it to himself trying to use a fork or spoon!
I love this kid and am in awe that God has intrusted me with him! I have never felt such love and fear! Being a mom is both wonderful and very difficult!
January 31, 2009 at 2:27 am (baby, family)
I have thought about buying Nathan one of these several times over the past few months, but wasn’t sure if he would like it. Hmmm . . .
We went to Houston a few weekends ago to visit Nana and Nathan loved this new toy! It popped, of course, but it also played music! The cutest thing is that when the music would play, Nathan would stop walking and start dancing along with the music! Precious, Precious! I got a few videos and will try to post them later! The kid loves music and dancing! Hmmm . . .
This is Nathan with his cousin Colten! We celebrated Colten’s birthday while we were there!
After Nana showed Nathan what to do with the stick, Nathan looked like a pro! He gave the football several good whacks!
Colten was given a swing and was kind enough to let Nathan swing in it! I just might have to get Nathan one! He loved it!
Shandi and Eric had a fountain in their back yard! Nathan kept returning to it throughout the day!
We had fun in Houston! It was great to get out of dodge for the weekend and hang out with my adopted family!
January 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm (Uncategorized)
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* J ust over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don’t have children if you want to be ‘rich.’ Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, and Dr. Seuss books
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for :
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so o ne day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!!!!!! It’s the best investment you’ll ever make!!!!!!!!!
January 20, 2009 at 3:38 am (baby)
I was getting ready for school on Friday! Nathan had walked into his room and got quiet all of a sudden! I went to investigate because silence is usually not a good thing . . . at least it wasn’t when I was a child!!! This is what I found.
He had taken this book . . . apparently his favorite book . . . off the shelf!
Sat down on the floor!
Then he began to read the book . . . making/inventing noises for the animals and turning the pages!
I stood there in utter amazement for a minute and thought . . . this kid is only 14 months old! They copy what they see, huh? My goodness!
He LOVES books! He walks over to his shelf and says, “buh, buh, buh” and starts grabbing books! This book is usually the book that he ends up with!!!! The noises that he invents for the animals makes me laugh! He is creative!
We went to Houston this weekend and he wanted his book! I gave it to him while we rode and he was content for a long time! Again, making his own noises for the animals! At this rate, he will most likely be reading by his second birthday!
My little book worm! Mommy loves you, big guy!
December 22, 2008 at 2:15 pm (my boys, puppy)
Well, yesterday we celebrated Rusty’s birthday – he turned 6! I know, that sounds silly to you, but he is my buddy! He has been with me through my hard times and we just have a special bond and he holds a special place in my heart! We didn’t do the usual celebration (Sonic drive thru)! I did, however, put on his “It’s My Birthday” bandana and I gave him a special treat! I also tried (notice that I said tried) to take some cute pictures of Rusty with Nathan!
Happy Birthday, Big Guy!
