First Day Fun

We have been in Tampa for less than 12 hours and I am already exhausted! We got to my parents around 12ish and we have been busy busy busy. Fortunately I had the forethought to take a short nap before Ben and Carly arrived and the fun really started!
Obviously my dad reads my blog because it is our first night and he made chicken and dumplings. Torrey was walking by as he was getting the dough ready and wanted to help and since she was helping Carly wanted to help ... Ben came along too, but his eyes were closed in that picture! The dumplings were delicious ... so worth the 2 hour flight sitting next to the farting man!
The kids all love this oversized chair ... it isn't uncommon to find them all sitting in it at once!
After dinner (and after making crafts and playing and laughing and playing outside ... need I go on?!) my dad and I took the kids to the pool. They had a blast swimming together. The jumped in together, dove for dive sticks, jumped over each other and practiced their flips. They would have stayed all night, but the pool was closing and we were about to get kicked out. But, just as we were leaving they found this ....
a most disgusting frog! They were thrilled with their discovery. Carly asked what she should do with it when it was time for us to leave, and I wanted to say, "Um, give it a funeral", because the frog was two degrees past dead ... but, we had her put it in the bushes instead. She is braver than me!
We ran home for dry clothes and then were off again to go to Sonic for shakes (FYI, Carly told us the caramel shake is "AWESOME!" and Grammy and Torrey said she was right), slushies, smoothies, tater tots and mozzarella sticks. You got to love that place! For our friends in the North who don't have Sonic (or Chick Fil A ... how DO you live up there?!) you don't know what you are missing!

And so ends our first day. Well, there was a hilarious Mad Lib reading when we got home ... perhaps that will be shared in another blog. The kids are in bed (and have been quiet for quite a while ... dare we hope they are asleep?!) but there are big plans for tomorrow ... ice cream cones for breakfast, swimming with the chickens (because they want to get there so early!), a pedicure with Jen, and Tijuana Flats for dinner. Good times. Good times.

Same Song ... Different Verse

So, Torrey and I head out to Florida in the morning and .... you guessed it ... I should be packing! I haven't even taken out the suitcases yet and I really have to pack tonight since we have an early morning flight. Never fear ... I will be packed and in bed at a normal time tonight. Consider it a gift! If only it were an Olympic Sport ... perhaps we could petition the Olympic committee to add "Speed Packing" to the summer games. I think there's time! And now, I must go to pack ...

Is it Wrong that I was Sad?

So on Sunday Torrey and I packed up her American Girl dolls ... forever. She has decided that with the room remodel she doesn't want them up anymore. I avoided the task like the plague because it really made me sad ... my girl isn't a girl anymore. WAAAAAAH! I am so proud of who she is becoming, but I am going to miss those dolls. When in NYC with my sisters a few years ago, I dragged them in the store ... they still tease me about the fact that I paid more for an outfit for a doll than I would for myself! When she was in Second Grade, we took a girls trip to Chicago with our friends the Chevaliers to go to the first American Girl store. The man on the plane couldn't believe we were going all that way for a DOLL STORE ... and we couldn't believe he WASN'T going to the store! Melinda and I couldn't believe our good luck when part way through the day a "personal shopper" discovered us ... I'm thinking the good luck was hers since we bought so much stuff we had to ship it home! And, on Torrey's first trip to NYC, she had Kailey's hair done at the doll salon (oh the insanity!) and ran into a friend from our school in Orlando (ironically enough when I was there with my sisters the year before we ran into a different family from our school in Orlando ... here is where you hum "It's a Small World After All") I knew the day would come and on the advice of my friend Colette, I saved the boxes ... but, I must admit I was a little gloomy that the day was actually here. Later in the day she gave me a gift ... she saved two to put back on her shelf ... I was thrilled! I KNEW she must have figured out how bummed I was about her growing up and she wanted to make it easier for me. If only. Truth is they have dresses that will match her new room color scheme. Oh well ... at least they were saved!

I KNEW This Would Happen!

So, when I started this blog, I had every good intention to blog on a regular basis. Not every day, but on a regular basis. But, it has been almost a week without a whisper from me ... and why you ask? Well, I will tell you that I have been taking myself too seriously and actually have been stressing a bit over the perfection of my blog. Good grief. I just have to get over myself and know that every blog doesn't need a picture, and it doesn't have to be funny, and it doesn't have to be grammatically correct ... because everyone needs an "ain't" every now and then (and, the word "ain't" with a Texas drawl really is fantastic!) It just has to be me ... warts and all! And so, here are a few of my random thoughts from this past weekend ...

First, I came to the conclusion that school is just around the corner. I didn't need to look at a calendar ... the weird dreams have started. Oh they are fantastic and come every year about this time. The ones where my room isn't ready and suddenly I have kids. Or where I can't remember anyone's names. Or where the kids keep coming and I run out of room in my room ... sort of like how many clowns can you fit in a car thing. Don't worry ... somehow I am always ready for the 1st day and the dreams go away.

Then, I really love our church. Our pastor is leading us in a sermon series through Exodus and has encouraged us to read a book called "The Red Sea Rules". It is preparing us for the move back into our worship center which has been undergoing major renovations since the day after Easter. The countdown clock said on Sunday there were 55 days to go (it also counts down the hours, minutes and seconds ... nothing like letting your construction team know that they are on a time limit!) Our pastor is young (OK, younger than me ... he's like 38), but he has a wisdom beyond his years. Occasionally he steps on our toes ... but he doesn't apologize for it. Refreshing.

We are in the middle of a few renovations in the house. While Torrey and I are in Florida, Dean is going to redo her room (from blue to pink ... which is her signature color!) and he is going to make me a desk for my craft room. Everything started because the part of the doorbell that you push broke so we needed a new doorbell ... that has been installed along with new lights in the movie room. (I will post pictures of everything when everything is done) I am thankful for a husband who knows how to do things and is willing to give in to every whim of his girls!

Then, Torrey and I head out to Florida on Thursday to spend just over a week with my family. My favorite part of the trip is always seeing Ben and Carly's faces when we first get there. Actually, their joy has nothing to do with me ... it is all Torrey. I have never seen 3 kids who play so well together. Our move to Texas was quite a blow to them and we try to make it up to them with lots of visits. We will swim until we are prunes (I have learned the hard way to not tread water in the deep end too near to Carly because she has a tendancy to jump on my back and near drown me!) And watch movies and eat popcorn (they usually stay with us at my parents and more than once my mom and I have looked at the clock in disbelief because it would be after 11 and they would STILL BE UP!) They will eat ice cream cones for breakfast ... my mom's specialty! And, I will drink lots of coffee ... I usually head home with the shakes from drinking so much coffee while I am there! We are looking forward to Tijuana Flats chips (yummy!) and Chicken and Dumplings while we are there. I figured if I put it in my blog and my dad read my blog I would actually get the chicken and dumplings ... I do have a back up plan however ... I make Torrey ask for them!

And, finally, on Monday my mom and two sisters and I jump in a car to go on the "Someone Turned 40 and We Are Going on a Trip Together Somewhere" trip. I am the someone and I got to pick the where and I picked Savannah, Georgia. I thought it just sounded like a girls trip place to go. We are staying in a bed and breakfast for 3 nights and going on the Paula Deen tour (hokey, I know) and then we have no other plans. But, whatever it is we decide to do, it will be fun ... and, there will be rules!

And so there it is ... a new blog entry from me. Might not be too interesting to some, but it is a blog entry none the less! Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday and watch "WipeOut" tonight ... although the hilariousness of the show may be watching it with Torrey!

How Fast Are You?

66 words

So I saw this on someone else's blog (I guess I bloglifted) and I had to try. There was a time in my typing career I was over 90 words a minute ... so I am not thrilled with my score. But, since you all love me it goes without saying that this is my best score out of 5. Sad, but true. So, give it whirl (and enter my dork world!) and let me know how you did. And, if some of you (and you know who you are) try to tell me you had a higher score than me, I will question the validity of the test!

Actual Sighting in Dallas (I am NOT Making This Up!)

Friends, meet Lance the Lemur. We met Lance at THE RODEO in Mesquite ... I did not know that lemurs were rodeo animals. Anyway, Lance broke his leg when it was slammed in the car door (I wonder if he was driving!) and his leg was in a cast. A blue striped cast (perhaps his owners were trying to make it look like his tail?) And he was wearing a sock. And, posing. Perfect. Only in Texas!

On a side note ... the rodeo in Mesquite was really fun. Jen and Ryan had gone a few years ago with his sister and raved about it. Best part ... mutton bustin'. That's where little kids (under 50 lbs) see how long they can ride a sheep ... most don't make it out of the gate! Again ... only in Texas!

Big Fun in the "Big D"

So, last week, Torrey and I drove to Dallas to spend a long weekend with Melinda, Gretchen and Megan. Megan's volleyball team was participating in the Junior Olympic Volleyball thingy at the convention center ... it was kind of neat because there were several girls on both the 12- and 13-year old teams that went to school with Torrey in Orlando. We stayed at a beautiful hotel in downtown Dallas (The Fairmount) and navigated our way around town (thanks to the Garmin ... we only had to "recalculate" a few times!) Torrey had gotten her braces the day before, so the trip was a good distraction ... because Brother! was she in pain! So, here are a few pictures from the trip ...

When Melinda said we were going to a volleyball competition, I didn't know she meant I was going to a volleyball competition! Fact: the 12 year old team that won the championship could have taken me blindfolded. They were good. We didn't stay to see the 13 year old team championship ... I'm sure they would have beaten me blindfolded AND sitting in a chair!
I always get a little happy to find an allee ... I wish I could figure out a way to plant one in my backyard. Here are Torrey and Gretchen on Day 1 ... I think I might have heard Torrey whisper to Gretchen, "Just smile and get it over with!"
This little cabin is the actual cabin of the first settler of Dallas. The plaque says "Bryan Cabin". It is literally in the middle of downtown. I saw it when I was 12 on my way through Dallas while on a mission trip to Mexico ... I really thought it was in a big grassy field then. Who knows. I will say this ... it was hot this day. I mean really hot. I didn't think it could get any hotter ... and then came Day 2!

One last pose on our way out of town ... I realized we really hadn't taken any pictures of the skyline (we really didn't take that many pictures to begin with!) We were tired and hungry and dreaming of a grand slam from Denny's (OK ... that was me. I had been talking about it since the night before!)

It is always nice to meet up with friends. This wasn't our first "Girl's Weekend" (we did Chicago in 2004) and I'm sure it won't be our last ... we were all sad when it came time to put our sweet friends back on the plane!