School Daze

I know I should have "school days", but after this morning I feel like I'm in more of a daze. Two other mothers and I got together and decided that it would be a good idea to start our own little preschool for our preschoolers. Since none of us can afford to send our little ones to actual preschools around here, why not? The group includes all boys and one poor little girl, but she's a trooper. There's Austin (4.5), Mya (4), Dalton (3), Keegan (almost 3), and Garrett (almost 3) so there's a pretty good range of ages and definitely a range of personalities. (Oh, and btw, I teach sunbeams on Sundays too...Austin and Mya are in my class.) There are three of us moms involved, but only three of the kids belong to us. The two youngest are watched by the other two moms everyday. Today was the first day of "school" and it was here. Let me share...

Austin is a really good kid, most of the time. The poor guy is the oldest of the group and his other friends all just started kindergarten. Needless to say, he wasn't too excited when I told him that school was going to be at home this morning. He tested my patience the whole time! Luckily, he's sleeping right now....much needed nap time.

Mya is great! For being the only girl, and rather quiet, she holds her own. She did have one little breakdown, but I can't even remember what it was for because it lasted for a whole 15 seconds. She's a pretty smart kid and really wants to learn whatever I'm teaching...and she wants the boys to listen too, but that didn't happen much.

Dalton is the cutest kid in town! He's such a little fireball and does whatever Austin does...there's trouble. But, he is a leader in his own right which is impressive considering his size (he's a little guy). His favorite parts of the day were eating his apple slices and throwing the peel on my grass and singing the "apple and banana" song. What a crack up!!

Keegan has a rhythm all his own. He's SUPER smart, especially for being not quite 3 yet (Nov.), but he's definitely walking to the beat of his own drum. He was one of the boys that I watched for a week so I'm familiar with him, and I expected a tantrum (or two) but he just went right along with the flow. With one exception....he didn't want Austin to push him in our little car outside. There were a few tears but we worked it out by running a few races. (Oh, and Garrett starts with us next week.)

I do have to confess that I was a little under prepared! We decided to have it be a 3 hour block, 9-12, and I felt like I had plenty of things to do to fill up my 3 hours....close, but not quite. I didn't really think through that they would be done with their crafts so quickly. I either need to do harder, more involved crafts, or break things up just a little better. Live and Learn!! Next week will be GREAT! I felt like we covered a lot today, had a lot of fun, and I wore them out for their moms....my job here is done.

Now I have to figure out what to do for next week. *whew*

Hurricane Gustav????

I know that Big Bad Gustav did some damage in Louisiana, but it didn't even drip one droplet of rain on us here in Houston. Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing for sure where it was going to hit and how big it was going to be. But just this once, I wish my husband would have actually listened to me and not been so quick to run...er...evacuate. Having his dad work for the big electric company down here in the southern region doesn't help any either. They both got so worked up about this storm that we were packed and heading out the door before I could turn my head.

We had seen the reports of the impending hurricane and had seen the footage of it tearing through Jamaica and Cuba, but I still wasn't even nervous. We watched curiously Friday evening on the news of the possibilities of where it would be making landfall in the gulf of mexico, still not nervous. We watched most of the morning Saturday, had a leisurely breakfast, played and cleaned, even went swimming....not even close to being nervous. After lunch Marcus got a phone call from his dad telling us that we'd better head out because the storm could lurch to the west and devestate the gulf coast, so we did.

There was a lot of debate in our packing whether I should just take the kids or all of us go together, where should we go, how much should we take, what about all our food storage, etc??? I think I raised a stink about any little thing just to make Marcus give up and finally just let us stay, but it didn't work. Having been through this before, he was a little more nervous about waiting it out...hurricanes are just too unpredictable.

When we lived in Texas before moving to Oregon we had been through quite a bit. We watched as Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and then just a couple weeks later here comes Hurricane Rita. Rita made landfall within miles of our house, and there was no way of knowing before hand, but I had the "instinct" that we need to get out. We left our house on Tuesday and Rita hit Friday morning...I was glad I followed the prompting to leave, and to do it when I did.

I think having been through that the last time we lived down here really made Marcus MUCH more cautious. We left our house Saturday afternoon around 4pm. We headed to Marcus' parent's house to pick up my m-i-l so she wasn't left to fend for herself. We finally got out of there and on the road by about 8pm....we had a long night ahead of us! We made it to Marcus' uncle's house in Arkansas around 4:30am. Good times....Cali cried so much that I finally gave in and let her sleep in my lap, don't turn me in for not having her in her carseat!!!! Austin slept on the floor between the two captains chairs. Marcus lived on Monsters and sunflower seeds. Like I said, good times.

Cali found a friend. Marcus' cousin's little girl, Teyha.
This was the beautiful country view we enjoyed. This was their beautiful home.
Marcus' uncle has mules and took us on a wagon ride....super fun!
Marcus' cousin, Nanette, with her husband and two little girls....they LOVED Austin!!!
This was the older girl, Soleia....They became quick buddies. Too adorable!
"Can I have that camera??"
We did have a nice visit with family, and I did take some pictures of where we stayed. But with us, nothing can be normal. We were enjoying a fun time Monday afternoon when the call came from Marcus' dad that we needed to return home or wait a couple more days because the storm was headed straight for us....ugh. We packed up within 30 minutes and were back in the car by 3pm. We had a much better time in the car on the way back, but didn't make it home till 12:30am....at least it was to my own bed this time. ahhh...glad to be home.

Austin made him self comfy...can you blame him? That boy is OUT!!Me and my mil...she thinks she's SOOO funny.Even evacuating she's still cheesin'.Thanks Gustav for a fantastic Labor Day weekend!!! sheesh...

Crazy Week

There are two reasons I haven't blogged in a week: Aiden and Keegan. I had the pleasure of watching two extra kids this past week, therefore, I had no time to even sit. It's funny to think that I'd like to have four kids one day, but not tomorrow. It's a gradual thing (unless you have quadruplets!!) and usually you have a chance to plan and prepare over time. For the last five days I was the "mother" of four: ages 5, 4, 2 (and potty training) and 16 months.

My girlfriend and her husband are both high school teachers/coaches. School doesn't start until Monday, but there's always a week of meetings and preparations, and for my girlfriend practices and games. They arrived at my house before 7am (before 7:30am a couple times) and were with me until after 3pm when their dad arrived to pick them up or I dropped them off.

Don't get me wrong in my stressful words, it wasn't as hard as I make it seem. It really wasn't all that "hard", just challenging. I was on my toes; constantly watching, helping, fixing, etc. for three active boys and my whirlwind little girl. It was just a non-stop day, everyday. We played, swam, played, cleaned, played, colored, played, ate, played, and two took naps while the other two...played. ;)

The older boy, Aiden, and my big guy, Austin, get along well, for the most part. Put any two boys 4-5 years old together and there are bound to be quarelling, arguing, tattling, etc. but for the most part, they do really well together. Keegan and Cali, on the other hand, not so much. There are moments of cuteness and sweetness, but they are definitely few and far between. They are both the baby of big brothers that are rough and bossy, so in turn, they too are a little rough and bossy with each other. Not a good combo. I almost feel bad for Keegan because Cali isn't afraid to fight back and get what she wants. Oh well, they'll learn.

If anything, it's made me thankful that my kids aren't super close in age like some poor moms that have kids back to back within months of each other. I could actually have had all four of these kids if I'd wanted to, but I'm sure glad that my two are 3 years apart and there isn't a baby in sight just yet. (soon I hope, but not yet)

Thinking last night how glad I was that the week was finally over, my loving, wonderful, helpful husband reminded me that I have them a little longer...two more days next week. Luckily, Aiden starts kindergarten monday so I only have him part of the day.

Whew!! It makes me tired thinking about the past week. ;)

And here are just some recent pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Marcus and Austin riding the fourwheeler at Grandma's house last weekend...no meat this time.

Cali and Grandpa working on the tractor.Playing in the mud after a rainy day.Austin just likes getting the camera out and taking random pictures. He's so sweet!!Cali was "helping" Marcus do his push-ups....wearing her necklace, of course.

Weekend at Grandma's

As most of you know, a weekend at Grandma's isn't just a typical weekend. There is usually some sort of "activity" involving animals, whether they be live or whether they be dead. This weekend, it was dead. The weekend I was away Marcus took the kids to stay with Grandma and Grandpa (his parents), mostly for help with my two little angels, but his main objective was to kill and cut up a cow....yes, a cow. He did get the killing part done, but not all the cutting up part, that's what our weekend at Grandma's was for....to finish the task. I didn't really take that many pictures of this "event", mostly because my hands were very involved this time. The men cut the meat, even put it through the grinder, but my job was to make bags of ground beef. We did get some great steaks, roasts, and ground meat out of it, but it's not exactly my idea of a relaxing weekend. **Just as a warning, the first picture might be disturbing. May I just remind you...this is my life.

Before...

After Cali found Grandpa's hunting hat

These are just a couple pictures of the kids during the past week....nothing special, just adorable!!

Cali liked this little bandana...isn't she just too cute?? Even though he can't tear his eyes from the TV, at least I got a smile. :)This is her "cheese" face whenever we pull out the camera.Reading Breaking Dawn....duh!

Girl's Weekend!!!

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to send the kids, and Marcus, to grandma's house and get away. I had never been away from my kids for more than overnight before and I was REALLY nervous to go, but I'm really glad I did. We had a really great time!! Before we moved to Oregon, we lived in a little town close to Lamar University where Marcus was in school....the girls that I went with were my friends from those times. We've stayed in touch, and pretty close, and we have a lot of fun together. There were supposed to be 4 of us, but the fourth had to back out due to a family situation...we missed her greatly!!! But we tore up San Antonio!!! Here are some great pictures, at least the ones I'm allowed to share....teehee!! ;)

This is my friend Abby driving the first leg of the trip.

This is my friend Mandy...these are my crazy friends, just wait.

The second day of our trip we went to Schlitterbahn...they were waiting in line for cotton candy!

This is just us being silly in the elevator. What dorks!

The third day we went to the Alamo...but they wouldn't let us into the basement!!! Punks!

This was our outing to Market Square to eat at MiTiera's...and it was goooooood. I can't fit it in, my mouth isn't big enough....hahaha!!This was on the ride back to the hotel on the trolly. I'm sure the driver thought we were nuts. Abby is really hard core, can't you tell?Since we had no kids, we were acting like kids. Look how much air she got!!The last night of "freedom". Cheese!!