8 is GR8

Happy Birthday to our sweet Darren.  Everything is more fun when you are around.

Let's try this again

So let's try this again

So last years resolution to "document our lives" better didn't really work out. If you look at my previous post you will see I got as far as February.  As my boys say, "Can I have another chance?" So here are to second third fourth..... chances.  And the glorious phrases "starting over"  "do over" "another chance" and so forth.  Aahhhh where would I be with out those words. They define me.

Anyway, update on us.  2012, crazy. C-R-A-Z-Y.  You name it we did it (or tried not to do it) and it was all just a blur. A good blur and a good crazy so Im not complaining. Im just tired. Tired as in my body just shut down on Christmas eve to the point I stayed in bed for days and I still feel like Im still recovering. But anyway it has all been good but very very busy.

Lance - Has anyone seen Lance? Not sure how many jobs he has now and I don't even try to keep track of his schedule anymore but he seems to be able to do it all.  Work, church, husband, dad, vacations, volunteer community service. Can you believe he doesn't even drink coffee. Its all just pure Lance energy.

Me - I went from being at home all day every day to living in my car, at the school, at the grocery store and places far and near.

I can't even begin to tell you how many things I insanely got myself involved in last year. Learned my lesson on that one.  

 My boys

Individually, I love LOVE time with each of my boys. I try to have a date with each one as often as I can and love the time to really get to know each one at a deeper level. As a group though, hold on to your hat. What is that ride at the fair where you step inside and they spin you around really fast so you are stuck against the wall while they blare loud music so your ears are ringing then when you get off your nauseous and you have to sit down for a while until your head stops spinning. That is the best way I can describe my boys together as a unit. That ride.

 Joshy

Dont call him Josh or Joshua. He insists you call him Joshy. His choice.  Not sure where his toddler years went. He went straight from newborn to potty-talk little boy thanks to his brothers. He is very smart. By two he knew colors, numbers, letters and their sounds, and how to toot and burp on command. He has the mad evil scientist laugh and he loves to tease, play tricks and jump out and scare people. He is classic class clown material. He is super sweet too. He is always asking if people are happy and in any picture he sees he points out all the people that look happy. At night I have to sing good night to everything in his room including the door, his night light, and his pillow. And he is obsessed with Thomas the Train and can sing the theme song word for word.

Cordon

 Cordon my sweet little Cordon. The best way to describe him is a big bad Harley rider that cries at chick flicks.  He is a teddy bear until you make him mad. He loves to tell me all the things that he loves me more than. He still loves movies and he is my little snacker. He is always sneaking into the snack cupboard and stealing treats. I find wrappers hidden every where.  It is hard to tell what he is "into" because he just usually follows on the coat tails of Darren. Whatever Darren likes Cordon likes. They are like Harry Potter and Ron Weasley (sometimes more like Voldemort and Wormtail) and it is hard to think about one without thinking of the other. He still hates underwear and changes into his PJs the moment he gets home from school. He actually likes doing his homework and often has it done before we pull into the garage after I pick him up from school. He started piano lessons and loves to play the piano but is a bit of a perfectionist and gets mad if he "doesn't play it perfectly." He dreams of going to Paris someday and wants to meet up with his Aunt Mary at the Eiffel Tower while she is sill over in Europe. He loves to draw and his most valuable possession is his Artsy Fartsy set he got from Grammy and Grandpa for Christmas.

 Cameron

Cameron has had a big year. He has been in Speech therapy for almost a year now and has made tremendous improvements.  He is talking much more and is actually very animated in his speech. Right now his favorite toys are the pictures of Trains and super heroes that we draw and cut out.  He has a great imagination and can play with those for hours.  He still has a problem with sharing and insists that he always "had something first." He has a love hate relationship with Joshy mostly because he doesn't want to share. It could also be because (I hate to say it) Joshy is quickly surpassing Cam in speaking  and learning and Cam is starting to notice. But Cam is still a good big brother most of the time and Joshy does call Cam his best friend. Cam is starting to get into art and loves drawing people now. I love to look at his People heads with arms coming out where the ears should be and legs coming straight from the chin. 

Darren

Aka Smarty Smartington.  He is smart. Smart as in super absorbant sponge smart. But not smart. Not smart as in "What the .... were you thinking", not smart.  He struggles socially. He is friendly and outgoing but there is no filter between his brain and his mouth and he is very matter of fact so in short, he has a problem with tact. He has more energy than I think is normal so I think his body just sometimes just freaks out on him (usually around bedtime). He loves anything scientific and factual and fictional stories annoy him and is quick to point out that "Clearly, that is not possible." He loves it when I come to lunch with him and will still hug me in public.  He likes to help me cook and is actually good at it. He take piano and hates it even though he is very good at it and picks it up quickly. He is polar opposite when we have one on one time as opposed to being with his brothers. He is so super sweet and great to talk with alone. He is very much the boss of Cordon and sends him on errand to do what he wants.  However, Darren without Cordon is very melancholy and when we took just Darren to Chicago with us for a few days he hardly spoke the whole time and admitted he missed his brother.

So there it is. And update on everyone. Im gonna try to keep up on it this year so stay tuned. We have big plans for this year too and we want to remember it all!

That's what I love about you

Every year for Valentine's Day I make the boys dress up and we have a formal dinner right here in our dining room. I love this tradition but the boys hate it. Well at least the dressing up part. I keep thinking this will be the perfect opportunity to introduce some basic rules of table etiquette but alas my efforts were again in vain. Any time you get candles, silverware and shish kabobs along with four boys at one table it is bound for disaster.

The flame in the candles lasted until about the last person sat down to the table. The skewers turned into swords, Darren kept belching from the sparkling cider and somehow Cordon managed to survive sticking a knife into the outlet that was feeding electricity to the red neon heart hanging in the dining room window. The knife however, is toast it burned two holes right into it. As well as blowing the fuse in the circut breaker and cutting out the electricity to the room. It was chaos but the food was good and no glassware was broken. Bottom line is I love these boys no matter what happens and Im glad to have a day to celebrate it.

Here are the basics about my boys:

Lance

Lance is a good sport to be married to me. He is working hard trying to be supportive with all my hairbrained ideas. He works hard and is gone a lot but is always willing to give me a break from the boys. He funds my travel addiction and graciously poses for all the pictures that I take. He loves spending time with me and I never doubt that I am the most important person on earth to him.

Darren

Just turned seven and obsessed with books. He reads everything he can get his hands on.

Cordon

Cordon is my little sweetheart. We are still dealing with some temper issues but he is such a teddy bear most of the time. He is just now starting to do some basic reading and math. He loves gymnastics and coloring. His little bum is prone to wedgies and prefers going commando.

The other day as he was getting his PJ's on he said to me, "Aren't you so proud of me, I wore underwear all day."

Cameron

Cam is still fascinated by all sea life and can name way more species of Sharks, and whales than I can. He is making tons of progress on his speech and loves preschool. He loves to make people laugh and makes up his own knock knock jokes. His favorite lullaby is "Happy Birthday to you"

Joshua

Good thing he is cute cause he can be a little devil. He rivals any of my boys on mess making and is obsessed with playing in the toilet. He is a picky eater and even a worse sleeper. He laughs when I say, "No" and runs away when its time to get dressed. He does love to cuddle and is completely "Daddy's boy." When Lance comes home Joshua is first in line to say hello (pronounced Aaaaghh). He has "class clown" written all over his personality and I know he is going to give me a run for my money over the next umpteen years.

All different and all wonderful. I love these guys!

bummer

I found Cordon in my closet looking at the big white bag that holds my wedding dress:

Me: Cordon, do you want to see my wedding dress

Cordon: yes yes

Me: Do you want to try it on

Cordon: (shy smile) uh huh

Cordon with the dress on "I can't wait until I get bigger and I can have my own wedding dress!"

Lance: I hate to burst your bubble but....

These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray....

....Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York

If someone were to ask me, "What do you enjoy doing?" My number one answer would be traveling. However, technically that is incorrect. I love being in new places. Traveling I actually hate. But I can't have one without the other so I suffered through another self-medicated all night flight to get to (drum roll please) NEW YORK CITY. This has been a destination I have long wanted be apart. I grew up in a small town, I went to college in a small town and I currently live in a small town so NYC, needless to say, has always seemed very intimidating to me. My curiosity though has always kept a pin in this destination on the map. And since my SIL and BIL are currently and probably temporarily living there while she gets her master's at NYU we jumped on the opportunity.

I just have to say that I am so lucky that Lance loves to "travel" just as much as I do because I can get him on board for just about any trip that comes into my flighty little mind. (As long as we can find a place for our kids.) So that being said I will get to our big city experience.

Even though I survived the flight our travels weren't over. I had to brave the subway. Lance loves public transportation but I loath it. I know it sounds princess of me but one bus ride with a bunch of teenage boys and a rabid cat and I am always on my guard when riding public transit. And our first experience on the NY subway did not put my fears at ease. Some crazy racist guy was very loudly cussing out some people on our train. When he started getting close to my baby I thought "I was going to contribute to the city's crime rate by killing this guy" but he just looked at Lance and said "Your baby is cute." and then continued on is expletive filled racist rantings. An unnecesary two hours later we got off at our destination.

Boy were we glad to see Kristy and Bryson and Kristy made us some super yummy pancakes that hit the spot after a long night of traveling. We detoured through central park on our way to Church with them and I got in a much needed power nap during the service so I was ready to go by the time church let out. We headed over to our hotel at Times Square and Kristy and Bryson graciously watched Joshua while Lance and I enjoyed some culture watching "Wicked" on Broadway. I loved it. Absolutely wonderful. Then we got some take-out at Junior's and ate it back at the hotel and watched the end of the Superbowl. I enjoyed the food way more than the football but it was fun to be there when New York won! I hit the pillow hard that night but was refreshed and ready for fun the next day.

Monday we were total tourists. We walked by Radio City Music Hall, went skating in Rockefeller rink, Joshua made an appearance on the Hoda and Kathie Lee hour of the Today show, we met up with Kristy and Bryson at the Hard Rock for Lunch and I got my shot glass.

Then Krysty and Bryson agreed to watch Joshua again while Lance and I got back on the subway and went to see the 911 Memorial. The memorial is not finished yet but it is sobering to be on the spot where thousands died in such a horrible act of terror. We then walked down to Battery park to look at the Statue of Liberty at sunset. Then we walked back up past Wall street and caught the subway back to our hotel. Then we all went out for dinner at a steakhouse called (aged.) It was fantastic! I don't claim to know a lot about food but I do know that I love it. And I do know that crab cakes can either be really really bad or really really good and this place had the latter. I had a spinach salad and crab cakes and Im pretty sure that good crab cakes are my most favorite food ever. After that it was another night going to bed exhausted.

When my alarm went off the next morning I was half tempted to ignore it but I was more determined to GET ON TV! This was my day, the one I was waiting for! I have been watching the today show for years and now it was my time to shine. I got up and ready and headed over to Rockefeller plaza to needlessly save us places. This is February and even in a city of millions your not going to find a whole lot of people standing outside for hours for 3 seconds of fame. But I sure as heck was! Lance and Joshua met me about an hour later. I was hoping that since we had a baby that Matt or Ann or Al would come talk to us but the little girl next to us happened to be her birthday so they talked to her instead. Anyway, we did get on TV a few different times and I have it recorded and show everyone that comes in my front door.

After that Bryson introduced us to the "Shake Shack" and ooooh baby wish I could take that home with me. Good burgers, but the concrete creations (ice cream) are what sold me. That is some good stuff right there. Then we headed on over to the American Museum of Natural History. My guilt over took me there. My boys (mostly Darren and Cameron) would have died! A larger than life blue whale swimming through the air and all the sea creatures you could even look at. Not to mention the dinosaur and space exhibit. WOW! I would make another trip to New York just to bring my boys there because they would absolutely LOVE it!

Anyway, after that we had to say our good-byes! Kristy and Bryson, you guys are just awesome and we were so glad we got to hang out with you even for just a short time. Your hospitality was awesome and we can't wait to see you again!

So this small town girl survived the big city and even loved it. But as much as I loved the visit I sure wouldn't want to live there. Besides the subway there are some pretty odorous smells floating around NY and getting caught in Rockefeller center at lunch time was dizzying. But I would go back in a heart beat just for the food!

Outside the American Museum of Natural History

Outside of K & B's Party pad

View from our room (not too shabby)

Lady Liberty. Isn't she beautiful?!

Hangin at the Hard Rock

Top of the Rock ( Our hotel is behind his head)

The boys and the Empire State building from Top of the Rock

I got Lance on skates!

MMmm All the yummy food. My favorite part!

Just talking with Al (off camera of course)

January 14

On Darren's big day he turned seven. SEVEN! Amazing he seems so much older yet I still call him "My little first born babe" which he loves because he thinks that makes him that much more special. If I could use one word to describe Darren it would be smart. Book smart. He loves to read non-fiction, science, trivia, quizzes whatever, if it is a fact he wants to know it. He could care less about stories or fairy tales though he has gotten into Harry Potter but he does not waste much time on the made up tales. Socially he borders on nerdy. He has no sense of personal space and can be a tad (understatement) boastful. But he is a witty little boy that knows what he wants and then goes for it. Life sure moves at a different pace and volume when he is gone at school during the day.

Darren is such an amazing kid and I wish that I had just a toe full of his energy. He is non stop sun up to sun down and then hits the pillow hard. I love this little guy!

The traditional texas doughnut birthday breakfast!

Look Mom, Im SEVEN!

PARTY PEOPLE

Harry Potter Birthday cake!