Springtime Fun

When springtime rolls around in southeast TX you have to take advantage of every chance you get to enjoy the weather. Before you know it, summer's here and you don't even want to be outside. This spring we got the camping fever and decided to go camping two weekends in a row! I love camping, don't get me wrong, but I think I'm done till next spring. But we did have a great time with friends and family both weekends we went.

The first weekend we went with some friends about an hour away from our house right next to a river. We played baseball, went fishing (Marcus' parents joined us since they only live about 30 minutes from where we were camping), roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire...we had a great time!

I took my turn getting breakfast ready.

Marcus even took his turn over the stove!

Austin helped demolish the good camp food...always tastes better when you're camping!

The kiddos in their own little camp chairs, chillin'.

Heading out to catch some fish...at least we were ready to catch some, but we didn't catch ANY!I do love camping, especially with good friends. Can't wait till next year! I hope the new baby will be as good of a camper as my first two are. We have us some happy campers. hahaha!!

Happy Happy Birthday Miss Cali Girl!!!

My little princess early in the day...she kept singing "Happy Birthday" all day. So sweet.A little Mommy and me time.This little girl loves Dora, so she needed her own backpack. She was in heaven!!I still can't believe I have a big 2 year old!! That's my baby girl!This girl loves her chocolate...what girl doesn't?

I can't believe she's already 2 years old!! She is such a ham and loves to have her picture taken. She loves her big brother and wants to do everything he does and be with him everywhere he goes. She's quite headstrong, but very loving. She has her own personality and wants to do things her own way in her own time...I don't know where she gets that. ;)

Happy Birthday Miss Cali Girl!!! We Love You!!!

Latest Project

I love a good, cool weekend with nowhere to go and no real plans! We started by sleeping in on Saturday morning...always a good omen. I just moved, which means that I should have plenty to do around my new house, but if you know me at all, you know that my house is pretty much all settled (all but the wreck of totes in the garage to be organized). So, with the heat soon to be upon us, and my growing belly soon to be a small nuiscance, I decided to build the kids a structure for indoors.

When I was a little kid, my mom built this jungle gym out of pvc pipe that we played on till the thing fell to the ground. So, I got a wild hair and decided to make one of my own for my kids. I went to Home Depot, got all the pipes, fittings, glue, and some screws (my mom gave me an outline of what I'd need). I was so excited but thought it might be even more fun to do it as a family. So I waited for this weekend, and we've had a great time building our little contraption! We got everything put together but we're going to go back and glue most, if not all, the fittings and even screw in the fitting where the sides connect to the ends. I'm so excited to have it all done!!!

This is the beginning of the first side. Niki was just making sure it's all level.Austin thought it was a pretty cool hopscotch...already a great idea.Marcus working on side #2 with his little helper.

Cali hammin' it up while taking it for a test run.Austin was showing me that he's too tall for it and that we should think about making it a little bigger just for him.

It brings back SO many great memories of childhood and I hope it provides my kids with the same great playtime, imagination time, even some fighting time that I had with my siblings. ;)

Actually, we probably didn't have that much fighting time on this thing because it was so awesome!!

Back in Action

With the move finally over, and most of my belongings found and put where they need to be, I can finally breath a little...and blog a little. The move went well, short and sweet. We started loading stuff into the truck on Friday afternoon, cleaned most of the house we were moving out of, and even got to hang out with a few friends after dark. Saturday morning we finished loading up and cleaning and we even got everything unloaded at our new place and the truck returned! We are freakin' professionals...just don't ask me to do it again. We've been here for three weeks now and it's finally starting to feel like "home".

With things settling down a bit we decided to take a little trip to visit my mom in Mississippi. My mom was going to come for a visit over her spring break, but they had a minor pet emergency so I made the decision to pack up the kids in the suburban and head on over. It's only about a 5.5 hour drive if you go straight through...we made it in 6 with a stop at McDonald's and a gas fill-up. Anyway, we had a pleasant visit and it went by quickly. The driving seemed to be the longest part of the whole thing. But we did get to take a trip to a swamp and see some spectacular sites, or at least Austin and Cali thought they were pretty cool. The kids had the most fun just throwing rocks into the swamp and disturbing the frogs and lizards and what not. And I even have some pictures!! (Yes, I found the cord to attach the camera to the computer....hooray!!)

You probably can't see them, but on the log in the middle of the swamp there are two alligators and a turtle just basking in the sun. They weren't very big, but they were big enough! And don't you just love Austin's bubble? He's very proud of himself for his newfound talent of bubble blowing...what a crack-up! And my happy little Cali is turning into quite the little girl. I can't believe her second birthday is in exactly one month!! Where does the time go?

As for me, I'm about 19 weeks along right now and doing well. I have my ultrasound set for April 13th, but we're not going to find out the sex of the baby, so don't ask. ;) I'm still due in August so if you have any tips for staying cool in southeast texas while carrying a watermelon I'll take 'em.

Such a Slacker!

What's a girl to do? We haven't hooked up home internet yet, and I don't know if we're even going to. Marcus has a laptop for work which gives us internet access and ability to do the things we need to, but it's just not the same. I don't have my computer at home to do my searches, blogging, bills, facebook, etc. until after the kids go to bed. And anyone knows how much gets done in those quiet hours...if you're anything like me, nothing! If it's not done while everyone's up and moving, it's not getting done till tomorrow.
Anyway, we're getting settled in our new place. The move went well. We had a lot of friends give us a lot of good help, even though we were leaving them. We even had some old friends come help in the new place with the unloading. All in all it was definitely a memorable experience. And thank goodness it's over. Most of me REALLY hates moving, but part of me actually likes the opportunity for purging things that haven't been used (seen) in a long time and getting to arrange things a different way. I'm cool with a fresh palet.
Speaking of fresh pallet...as soon as I get a chance to hook up my camera to this stupid laptop I'll definitely have to share pictures of this new place before I attack it with new paint!! It's a three bedroom house and I decided to put the kids in the same room from the beginning hoping it would help them adjust to the new place, but also, they're going to end up sharing a room after the baby arrives so I might as well take care of it early. Things are going well, surprisingly. They sleep fine...once Cali finally goes to sleep at night...and naptimes haven't even posed a problem. I am pleasantly surprised. The reason I mention palet is because of the colors in this house, especially their room. The whole thing is the color of the Texas Longhorns....that burnt orange! ugh!! And the third bedroom is pink, but not just any pink...only a picture will do it justice. I can't even describe the shade.
The rest of the house isn't too bad, but it's a yellow. If anyone has ever painted with yellow, you know that it has to be just the right shade. Yea...they didn't quite get the right shade. And it's throughout the entire house!!
And the floors....there is a little consistency, but there could be more. There's hardwood in the living room and thru the dining room into the hallway. All the bedrooms and the family room are carpet (cheap carpet). But the others....kitchen, laundry room and both bathrooms...are linoleum, but not even all the same linoleum. Each has a different texture and pattern...lovely.
But, it's keeping us cool when it's warm, warm when it's cool, and dry from the rain. ;) I'm trying my best to make it feel like home as quickly as possible. We're getting there. I really wouldn't mind borrowing my friend Ilene's mom for a weekend (or longer). She seems to have a knack for warming up a cold room and toning down the busy ones. Maybe I could convince my own mom to take a break from her crazy life to lend a girl a helping hand with some window coverings and painting tasks. I'll let you know.
I have so much more to post, but I'll have to keep a blogging journal and share when I can. I'll do my best to get some pictures up and post more often. To my Crosby friends, I miss you all SOOOO much already...we'll have to set up a lunch/playdate or something soon.