Holiday Travels

Today I am writing this blog sitting in the kitchen of a wonderful cabin in Ruidoso, New Mexico. As I sit here three deer have strolled by paying no attention to the two little boys causing such a ruckus. There is only about ten inches of snow here and yesterday it was 45 degrees, so basically conditions are great for everything except for skiing! It is a little depressing for Bill to be this close to a ski lift and not actually get to use it, but he is managing through. We are going to go tubing with the boys and the rest of the family this morning, then Mom, Grandma and I are going to hit the shops. We have found a tea room that looks just perfect! bill and Dad are hoping to keep the boys all day and the escape to the casinos tonight. This has been a great Christmas gift from my Grandma. I will post pictures soon!

*I almost forgot...last night Bill and I decided to run to the store and get the essentials for breakfast and a bottle of wine. We plugged our coordinates into our new GPS (#3 for us) and off we went. The cabin we are at is about at the middle of the mountain, but the roads leading to it were clear. Well, "Samantha" decided that the quickest way home from the IGA store was over the top of the mountain and to our cabin. What Samantha does not take into consideration is the fact that no one has traveled this road since it snowed ten inches! About two miles into this journey I realized we were not on a safe course. We were winding up these ICE covered roads in the dark. One turn proved to both of us that potentially sliding off the side of the mountain was all together possible. I tensed up and was on the verge of hyperventilating. He said as we stopped the car, "We might really be screwed!" That did not help my level of anxiety1 He was able to slide back down the hill and turn around without falling off the side of the cliff and then drive us back to the cabin. MY HERO! I turned Samantha off after using some choice words to describe my feelings for her!

The Week Before the Week Before Christmas

The stress has hit and the frenzies have started! Christmas is in the air and we can not avoid it any longer. I was feeling pretty good about my Christmas planning so far. I did most of my shopping the day after Thanksgiving, yes I am one of those crazy people. We did all of our decorating that weekend as well. So needless to say I was feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing. That is until today! For some strange reason it hit me this afternoon that I needed to do this and that and get the house clean, and finish the laundry , and blah blah blah! I did not recognize the symptoms at first but I do now it is TWBTWB Frenzies (the week before the week before). For some reason the week before Christmas is ridiculously busy for me. I always thought it was because I was a teacher and usually held off to do a lot of shopping until I got out for break. Now I just think it is going to happen no matter what. So in anticipation for that week before Christmas I have the week before stress. HA! This week I will buy the stuff to bake the goodies, finish the wrapping process, and buy those last minute stocking stuffers that the boys just decided they could not live without. :) We are adding a few detours this week that were not planned in advance. The Wylie Pirates have made it to the State Football Finals and now we are going to Houston for the weekend. Not at all in the plans, but hey we would not miss it. It is also giving us an excuse to go see Chad and Samantha. So to all of you that suffer from the same frenzies as I do know that the cure is only 2 weeks away.

Slacker

It has been brought ot my attention that I am a bloggin' slacker! I think that is cyber talk for we miss you. (I will go with that!) The last few weeks have been a very trying time at work so I have been mentally exhausted when I get home. Anyone able to second that? I am sure it does not matter if you work in or out of the house you just have those days when you search for the sollice of a quiet room with fluffy pillows and not a child in sight. Unfortunately, not all of that is possible all the time. I am however blessed with great children and a wonderful husband that let me have my moments sometimes.
There have been some other things going on as well. As you might have read a few blogs back I was quite frustrated with the way things were, I took the direction of church to focus my blog on, but really there was more. Bill and I had come to a real fork in our marriage. Maybe fork is the wrong word... lets say a speed bump. Our lives had become so busy and "life focused" that we had neglected the US part of our marriage. We were great parents, good Sunday School teachers, good friends and family members, but not good spouses. So we decided to seek counseling. Marci Holloway was the therapist that we started going to a few months ago. The first meeting was brutal! I am not sure what I expected, but I was an emotional wreck when I left. We had discussed so many feelings out loud that my wounds were wide open and they hurt! I ended up taking the next day off just to reflect on what we had talked about and how I wanted to fix me so I could work on the US. She had a gentle way of putting things in a way that made me finally be honest with myself. Bill and I began reading a book together about improving ourselves first in order to create a great marriage. We have taken some huge steps in our relationship, but none as great as those we have taken over the last few months. That is the only reason I feel comfortable sharing this with everyone. We are never finished working on our marriage, but we have some wonderful tools now that we know how to use when needed. I am very proud of the emotional maturity we are working on building together. We have learned that marriage is a masterpiece in progress. As early as our relationship started we should have one heck of a picture when this is all said and done.
I love you Billy Lambert!

Kelley Dances!

My BFF came out of her shell yesterday and danced infront of Garland High School. Of course I was there to support her and now I am there to share it with the world, hee hee! Don't hate me Kell, it was awesome!!

Tyler's Going to the Super Bowl

I am a very proud mom today. Tyler played the last playoff game yesterday and after 4 overtimes they won and now they are going to the Super Bowl! I can not tell you how proud I felt yesterday when my boy recovered a fumble sending them into a third overtime. He jumped up with the ball and did his signature chest pound. I about cried! I have never felt as competitive as I felt yesterday. It was really quite embarrassing now that I think of it. If wish failure on the opposing team and sometime even yell that out, what a terrible thing competition does to you. The way I see it these boys are in a full contact sport with pads and helmets so when I yell at Tyler to "Get me a Quarterback!" it should be acceptable! LOL! I really do not mean bodily harm, most of the time! :) This is getting worse and worse! Oh-well just know I love all these kids I just want mine to win!

LeRay you have got to back me up on this one!!

Aggie Infestation!

To steal a quote from a friend at church, "It was a good day to gloat at our Aggie Infested church today!" Yes, I must admit Baylor fans do not get many opportunities to gloat about football victories so I am taking full advantage. The Baylor Bears beat TAMU yesterday by 20 points! The Aggies are terrible this year and have successfully made it to the bottom of the Big 12, allowing Baylor to move up just a bit. :) It is easy to be a football fan of a school like UT or TAMU because they repeatedly have successful seasons. Being a Baylor fan is a little harder. Year after year we show our support and then get disappointed by loss after loss. However, my friend mark my words the tides are turning. Baylor just might be a force to reckon with in the next few years. Of course they have to over come four top ten teams two of which fight for the number one place week after week. (Guns Up! Hook 'em Horns!) Maybe some day in the future I might be writing about our plans to attend the Baylor Bowl game. (One can always dream, right??)

SIC 'em Bears

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween in our neighborhood! As soon as the sun goes down everyone turns on their lights and heads outside. This year we are going to pull out our lawn chairs and sit in the driveway with neighbors as the trick or treaters come by. Tyler is more into picking out a costume and handing out candy than Travis is. He wants to be scared, look scary and get all the candy he can from every house in the neighborhood. So it works well for us! I hope you each have a fun night filled with chocolate and goblins!

The Letter says it all...

My Dad sent this letter out to all of his friends. I just had to post it to my blog. Isn't this the love we all want and the way we would love our men to express it!

Hi Everyone,

I just want to send out a message to all of you and let you know how much my wife has meant to me for all these years on her 50th birthday. Leeann will tell you the first time we met was at Album park in the 8th grade, but I will tell you I had a dream when I was younger that I would like a girl with blond hair and she would be swinging on the swing set (this is true). We actually fell in love at a football game our freshman year in high school. This was so cool to have your sweetheart, a Trooperette, ride home with you. Did I tell you she was “Most Beautiful?” How can a guy go wrong? You want to talk about scared, sit across from Mom and Dad Erwin and tell them you’re going to marry their daughter.

She then became the best MOM any daughter could ever have. She became the spiritual leader the three of us needed and her grandma Dona would be so proud of her (she sings Dona’s songs on the way to church). She has been so solid in that family is “everything” and she does not care what it takes to preserve this. This lady is solid.

We have had the blessing of our daughter marring a great guy and giving us two great grandsons. The days she has spend teaching them how to make cookies, paint on something weird or just go to the Dollar Store for a toy is unbelievable.

This last year has been pretty rough on her, but never has she not kept up her positive attitude to her family and her god. She has made us all understand that when your out of the game your still a player. She keeps all of us going.

I just want you all to know how much this woman has meant to me and how beautiful she is. At 50 she is still “Most Beautiful”. I love her and know this was a god thing. Seeing her on the stage this weekend just reminded me of that day she crowned the Most Beautiful Girl at Eastwood High School . That is an honor most of us will never have. I love her more than life itself, what a catch.

John

50 and Fabulous

On Thursday, October 23, 2008, my beautiful mom will turn 50. We had a blast today celebrating with her. If you follow my blog at all you will soon learn that birthDAY is not in our vocabulary it is more like birthWEEK. Today we took Mom to House of Blues Gospel Brunch. It was so much fun! They pulled her up on stage and sang happy birthday to her. She was a bit embarrassed, but hey that's my job.

My Mom is my confidant and very best friend. I can fight with her, cry with her and laugh my rear off with her. She is the best! I thank God for her every day, but this week I will hope to show her just how special she is to me and my family.

We love you LeeLee!!

Change!

Change is something that I usually handle pretty well, I even embrace it. I am not the type of person that likes to stay put for very long. I like growing and going, maybe I was raised like that maybe I just came that way. Hard to tell! Lately I have felt stuck in a rut. The rut is consuming me. Today I have tried to figure out what the rut is...I know sounds strange. I have not really come to a conclusion. Just that I am not happy the way "things" stand right now.
Our church has been in mild turmoil for the past two years. We lost our pastor and then replaced him, lost our youth minister (and good friend) and are waiting to replace him. In the mean time, I have lost the feeling of a good church home. I have lost good friends that made going to church feel like a close knit family. Today as I looked around I noticed that the close knit family consisted of two or three people now. I know that the people are not the reason why we go to church, but it is why we keep going and why we plug in to go more. I want so bad to have a church that I have others like me, working moms that feel the stress I feel and can meet me online or at Starbucks because they know that either is an acceptable meeting place. Right now I do not see that happening. So maybe my rut is spiritual, maybe I need that cup to be filled. Or Maybe that is just the beginning and the easiest to fix. The other causes are deeper and require much more...

Pizza Eating Contest

For 100 years University of Texas and Oklahoma University have played in the Red River Shootout. This year we have the privilege of being able to experience such a "shootout" firsthand. This weekend our Jr. League Tackle Longhorns will face off with the Sooners. This game has been the most hyped game of the entire year. Tonight we held a pizza eating contest between the tow teams to get them into the competitive mode even more, as if that was even possible. You see, the "big boys" have their eat off tomorrow at Lawry's Prime rib. We are all too cheap to buy steak so pizza will have to do. We descended on the local Double Dave's which just happens to be owned by one of our parents, and the game was on. Tyler and his lineman buddy made it through 4 rounds, by far the most, and we whooped up on the sorry Sooners! It was great to see the boys having so much fun! I am sure tomorrow night at practice Coach will make them run it off, but for tonight they are savoring sweet victory. (Along with a few Tums!)

Fried Anything!

We have just returned from a fun day at the State Fair of Texas. This is a rare occurrence for the Lambert family, because I hate the crowds and the traffic so we rarely go. This year I decided to take a personal day and go during the week. Well, it was a great idea! The weather could not have been more perfect, it was in the mid 70's and a little breezy. The crowd was just right, never too many people in one area. I would strongly recommend going on a Tuesday to the Fair to beat the crowd!

There are a few things that everyone must see at the Fair. We have put together a list of our favorites.

1. Tyler loves the rides, something about the four bolts holding them to the ground while you spin upside down makes it more of a thrill ride!! (not with his momma!!)

2. Travis loves the Fun House! Where else can you find a room full of bubbles?

3. Fletcher's Corn Dogs; now you can get these all around the Fair, but we only eat them from the stand right by Big Tex. Eating a corn dog anywhere else is just another corn dog!

4. I love Jack Fries! These are fresh cut french fries with course salt and vinegar. YUMMMO!

5. Bill loves the Turkey Legs...basically from anywhere...

**The #1 thing that we all agree on is the Fried Options. you see the Fair has a contest every year to find the best fried item. Booth after booth have new and even more bizarre choices. this year the had Fried Diet Coke, Fried Banana Splits, Fried Oreos, Fried Moon Pies, Fried Cookie Dough, and Chicken Fried Bacon!! People come just to try the winner each year. We decided that Bill and I would each try an item this year. I tried the Fried Smores, WOW! If you can take your fry Daddy camping we would really have a new treat! Bill tried the Fire and Ice, this is a waffle cone filled with fried pineapple, frozen strawberries, and whip cream flash frozen. It was fine, but not as good as the smores. Here are a few other fried items I forgot: Fried grilled cheese, fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, and fried gator on a stick.

We are on a vegi only diet for the next few days.

One Word is all it takes...

How is it that one word can change a day that has gone so well up to that point? Today I went to pick the boys up from Art Class at school and Travis' teacher came up to me and said, "What is your problem? Where were you?" (insert dazed and confused look here) "Excuse me???" I have no idea what she is talking about. She goes on to explain that we had a conference today at 3:30. Say what?!?!? She goes on to explain that there was a note in his folder (insert bad mom feelings here). I did not check his folder all weekend, mainly because we were not here all weekend. We were at football games!! Now I feel like a terrible mother that has been reprimanded by the first grade teacher. She wanted no part of we are so busy speech. Frankly neither would I!!
It is just the fact that now I am in a bad mood because of it! I was having such a good day...why do I let the way other people think of me affect me so much. (should that be effect?? I never know) I know insert ADD moment here! I am going to go for a short walk and talk to God, I know He will bring me back. Thanks for letting me dump on you! I never feel like a bad mom when I blog...Maybe because no one talks back to me right away... HA!!

Feeling Sick!

So it is 8:15 am on a Friday and I am sitting here sipping hot tea and honey hoping that my throat will stop hurting. I have decided to stay home this morning and try to rest a bit before going back in this afternoon for a meeting. I really hate being sick, but I must say this quiet house is a little bit nice!

Over the last three weeks my family has spent EVERY single night watching, practicing, or playing football. By EVERY I really mean EVERY night. You see Monday Tyler practices, Tuesday and Wednesday Travis practices, and then Thursday is Tyler again. Of course Friday comes and the good old Wylie Pirates play, they are 5-0 so we can not miss that! It is also an opportunity for Tyler to wear his football jersey to a high school game, and after all isn't that half the fun? Saturday brings games of course little league and college and then Sunday is football day in America! This week we are actually attending games Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! Don't get me wrong I grew up with this same schedule, living at the football field and I love it. It just gets hard on the family when we are GOING so much! Believe it or not we are still making it to bed on time and reading a ton. I have even made dinner a few times during this busy week. I guess this is my life right now, take it as it is!

Funny Tyler story...

Last night at practice they were scrimmaging the Senior league (10-11 year olds) and Tyler learned what it felt like to be tackled by someone double your size. This big corn fed boy lined up in front of him and put him on his rear over and over again! You see Tyler is one of the big kids, shocker, and he does not really get laid out very often so this was a bit of a surprise. While he was playing defense he got taken down again and in his words he "felt his brain rattle around in his head." He got up and started crying saying that he could not feel his legs, I was not panicking because he did get up! He got some water and rearranged his brain cells and made it back to shake hands and run sprints. WOO HOO! I know he wished he was still hurting! The funny part came when he got in the car and started talking 90 mph. He had no idea you could have all of those sensations! I am laughing because I know he was ok, but I really wanted to throw up thinking about how my little boy had just bashed his head so hard into the ground that he felt dizzy and weak. Lord, help me be strong and supportive when really all I want to do is hold him close and never let him go!!!

The 1st Football Games

Prayer Among Friends

To my Prayer Warrior Friends!
I have two requests that I would like for you to lift up.
My best friend Kelley has had yet another death in her family. That makes three trips to the same cemetery in the last year. This time her cousin's young daughter has lost her battle with brain cancer. She is a local celebrity around here. Her name was Krista and she was only 11 years old. My heart is breaking for her family! I can not imagine the pain they are feeling right now. Please lift them up in your prayers tomorrow as they lay her to rest. Maybe you can wear pink in her honor, I will! I am also asking that you continue your prayer for my dear friend Kelley. She is such an awesome person and has had such a rough year with the loss of her grandmother, mother and now a child in the family. I no God will never give us more than we can handle, but we begin to question our own strength at times like this. Kell, may the family of your past be the angels of your future! I love you!

Krista's web page- http://www.kristabrewer.com/

Yikes Ike is coming!

So for the last seven days we having been closely watching the Gulf of Mexico in hopes that Hurricane Ike will fizzle out and not run smack dab into our Texas coast. As of today it does not appear that the Lone Star State can out run this bad boy. Ike is packing a punch and is categorized as a level 2 hurricane with winds topping out at 105 mph. Americans are so funny, I don't know maybe it is the human race (Kristen you can be the judge), we love to see disasters. We thrive on the fact that something terrible might happen! Isn't that awful! We have all become Ambulance Chasers just looking for something to talk/blog about. Our close friends Chad and Samantha live in North Houston and our hunkering down hoping that the wind and rain does not knock out power for too long. Sam's parents live in Bay City and are under an evacuation warning, but have decided to stay. Our prayers are with all of them! AS the storm travels up I-45 we are hoping that it gets as bored as I do on that road and take a detour to Louisiana, rather than heading right towards the metroplex. Time will tell! You can bet that we will be watching the weather channel most of the day tomorrow.


Stay dry! and Pray for my friends!

Football Begins!

We are now officially the proud parents of a Texas Longhorn and a Dallas Cowboy! Yes that's right the boys have been drafted on to their little league teams and the fun is about to begin. Tyler begins his practice tomorrow, they practice 6 hours a week. Someone want to tell me how I fit that into my schedule, times two? Luckily they practice at the same park, unfortunately Tyler practices on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and Travis on Tuesday. That leaves Wednesday for church and Friday for the Wylie game. I should be free for some "girl time" some time in December.

This is only half of the fun. We have season tickets again for the Baylor games in Waco, which is two hours away. So just to give you an idea of how full of football we are right now let me explain our weekend to you. Friday we went to the Wylie Pirate game and watched them win 51-12, AHMO. Saturday Bill and Dad took the boys to the park at 10:30 to be evaluated by their coaches. This lasted until 3:00! We quickly rushed home, grabbed a bite to eat, picked up my dad and drove to Waco to watch the Baylor Bears win 51-6 (sound familiar?). Finally today after sleeping way too late and missing church we watched our Cowboys win, no they did not score 51 points, too bad! Of course we listened to the UT-UTEP game all the way home last night.

I am again reminded that I am the mother of BOYS and I'm loving every moment of it!

Facebook Anyone?

Ok, I admit it I am a Facebook Junkie. It started with the blog and now it has moved to all out networking. I love it! I have found people that I went to grade school with, people I went to college with and of course those I teach with now. It is amazing how easy it is. I challenge you to feed your thirst for networking knowledge and join. You will be amazed!

Funny Comments from the Boys!

So I have been reluctant to write a blog like this because my boys are older now and the comments are generally only funny in context. However, after reading through other posts I can not resist keeping some record of the funny things the boys say. Feel free to stop reading now if these things bore you.

Tyler- (at Linens and Things)Mommy this box has a bad word on it. He is shocked! I just blow it off, I'm shopping, and tell him to just move on. When we get in the car he is clearly disturbed by the word and asks why they would put such a thing on a box to sell. Now I am intrigued as to what "bad" word this is. I ask what the word was and he said the B word. To me it is butt, but then before I can comment he says it ends in an S. HMM! I'm stumped! I asked if it was butt and he said it had that word in it. HMM! Still stumped! I asked for other letters and he said CKS! WHAT?!?! Thinking fast, I said BUTTOCKS! Laughter fills my car, Travis is in on the conversation now. Yes! That's the one! Isn't it terrible? Now Travis thinks it is BUTT-Talks and tries to use it all the time.

Travis- Mommy at what time will we reach our destination? (no more GPS for him)

Tyler- (listening to me tell Bill what to get at the store) I tell Bill we need two cans of biscuits and no nuts. At the same time Bill and Tyler say "You need a toucan with no nuts?" Oh-My! Then Bill adds it mus be a girl toucan! More Laughing!

Travis- (limping into the kitchen from outside) Mommy if I rode my scooter off of the ramp and fell into the street without asking would I be in trouble? When it is clear that this is what he has just done!

I am sure there are more, but that is all I can remember for now! The rest you can read in Family Circus!

Farewell Good Friend!

Good Bye Summer!
You were a good friend! Faithful to bring sunshine to my days and entertainment through my nights. I loved the feel of the warm summer breeze as I left the pool knowing that I could rest on my couch for an hour or so because with you, dear friend, dinner can wait until seven. Thank you for that, it will be missed. Farewell to the schedule-less days and the ability to sleep in. With you I never felt judgement over staying in my jammies, because I know my close friends do it too, and you love it. With you Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil, Soaps, Oprah, and Tori and Dean became my topics of conversation. Now I must focus on test scores, abilities, parents, schedules, and little league.
Don't worry I will be here next year when your time comes again. For now, I will treasure your memories down deep in my heart and hope that I can create even better memories next year! Farewell good friend, see you soon!

Back to School Pictures

The boys and I had our last "fun day" of summer today. We started a tradition of buying school shoes, taking a yearly back to school picture, and having a nice lunch. Ok, so the fun day is more for me, but they did have a good time. We ate at Cheesecake Factory which we all love and bought some new shoes. I have loved this summer more than any other so far. The boys and I had such a good time just hanging out together.

Olympics 2008

I must admit it we are Olympic Junkies! All of us! The last week we have watched more TV together than we have in years. Travis just thinks it is awesome that he can watch random sports on TV and then turn on the Wii and play them for himself on Mario Olympics. The spirit of these games are so amazing! The other night Bill and I were laying in bed watching the Men's Swimming Relay and literally jumped out of bed when they won. It was awesome! Micheal Phelps is a household name now. Travis can not wait to go swimming and practice his turns in the pool. HA! If only it was just the turns that were holding him back. I just wondered if anyone else had a junkie in their house.

Funny!

What does a robot dance, ten push-ups, three sexy poses, and a belly flop have in common?

What do you mean, you don't know... I thought news in the US traveled faster than the speed of sound!

Ok, I will tell you! those are a few of the qualifications needed to be crowned Macho Man of the pool. Yes, ladies and gents my husband is the official Macho Man 2008!!

Monday afternoon we were heading back from lunch and they were looking for volunteers for this contest. By looking I mean dragging men out of the pool. Bill could not run away! The Activities Team pulled him up to the chairs placed at the front of the pool. They began describing the rules of the contest and I began to blush beyond belief. You see my husband is quite the character, DUH!, but when there is no one around that knows him he is QUITE THE CHARACTER!! A few men get up and do their dance, push-ups, sexy poses, and then their not so impressive belly flops! I know that in order to win, because we have to win, he must successfully complete the belly flop. Remember we have just left lunch, hee hee! Bill is the only man fully dressed, a mistake we never made a again. It was his turn and the music started. It was all I could do to watch! The dance was somewhere between Justin Timberlake and Max Hedrom (if you do not know who that is you are too young to read my blog!) The robotic arm was a big player and then he fell to the floor and yes, attempted the worm! Oh My! It was more like a crotch cruncher. After what seemed like an eternity the music stopped. Everyone around the pool was cheering for him! He did the push ups with ease, and then the sexy poses. Finally the belly flop! Well the Justin Timberlake portion of his dance required him to rip his shirt off! So now he is in his shorts and flip flops. He takes his belt off and the announcer says, "You're doing it naked?" Oh My, NO! He steps up dressed thank goodness and spreads him arms, jumps and flies in the air. KERSPLAT! SLAP! OHHHH! were the sounds we heard. Then the crown went wild! He ended up tying for first place with show-off of sorts kind of 20 something! A tie was acceptable, we walked back to the room victorious! He was forever known around the pool as Billy the Macho Man!! (I am so proud!)

Mexico Trip

Cancun, Mexico

The Lamberts have returned, well half of us have. The boys left last Saturday for El Paso to spend a week with my grandmothers, their great-grandmothers (Amazing! I know). The trip started off a bit rocky with CRYPTO virus consuming their life, but it sounds like it was a blast. We pick them up this afternoon so I am sure I will need to make additions to this blog. More to come on them...
Bill and I left Sunday morning bright and early, 6:00am, for Cancun/Play del Carmen, Mexico. Before leaving, however we stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel that is connected to the new international terminal at DFW. WOW! It is five star all the way! Our room was upgraded for our anniversary, it was awesome! Unfortunately we could not stay and enjoy the view. We were off to see the Caribbean Sea. We walked through security at 4:15 am Sunday morning. Ouch! Isn't it funny how time does not matter when you are leaving for vacation?? Just in case you were wondering the stores in this terminal open at 5 am so no real reason to get there before that. Ha! So off we went!
As we arrived at our hotel we were in awe! The Royal in Playa del Carmen is more than amazing it is exquisite. We were greeted by the friendliest people who by the way all spoke English.
Sidebar on that...why is it that I saw more Spanish billboards driving through Garland, Texas than I did driving in Mexico?? AND Why do the people in Mexico strive to speak English and we change things here to meet the need of the Spanish speakers?? (soapbox moment) Back to the trip!
We were greeted by our own personal concierge who showed us around and gave us the keys to our room. Again beautiful, marble floors, huge bed with lots of pillows, a jacuzzi in our room, and the list goes on! The pictures will tell the rest of the story.
Bill and I met some great people, most from Canada, and ate some very tasty food. Ok, too much of the latter. Every meal was gourmet, beautifully presented and tasted great. We had caviar, escargot, foire goir (sp?), lobster bisque (more than once), steak, crab, sushi, and guacamole at every meal even breakfast. It was heaven! Right up until Wednesday.
Wednesday night Bill started feel ill and by Thursday I was calling his dad to figure out what prescription strength drugs I could buy at the pharmacia to help him. He could barely move his head and felt like an alien was growing inside is belly. It was terrible! We transferred to the same resort in Cancun to be closer to the airport on Friday morning. Bill slept the remainder of the day and night and I did a little shopping. I hope the pictures will tell the story of how much fun we had until Wednesday.
More to come on the vacations and illnesses...

Ok, Seriously?!

I start this blog OK, Seriously, because that is what I have said about 20 times today. Enjoy the drama... Since my last blog I have paid two co-pays, filled three prescriptions, cleaned up vomit once, slept in the "new bedroom," and taken 3 vicodin. You pick which one I liked the best!! Why you ask? Well, we are putting the boys on a plane to El Paso in the morning and we are off to Mexico on Sunday. Enter drama...
On Tuesday I was diagnosed with Shingles. This required many Google searches to be sure I wasn't going to die! I have a small rash under my arm which began to hurt like the dickens, not itch just hurt! At first I thought it was sore muscles from a hard workout, but it did not go away. I decided to go have it checked out, hoping to get some cream to make it go away. I had no idea I would go on anti-viral meds, steroids, and pain killers. Apparently this is chicken pox the remake! They can not really determine why I got it normally people who are under a great deal of stress or fatigue are at risk. This does not really describe a teacher on summer vacation. so it remains a mystery! Luckily, today I am feeling better. WHEW!
If you know me at all you know it will take a lot more than that to slow me down. After all we have a vacation to prepare for. Yesterday, Tyler began complaining about a stomach ache. If you live in the DFW area you know that we are fighting the CRYPTO virus in a large majority of the public swimming areas. This virus is always present just more widespread and publicized this year. We have swam in numerous public pools in the last two weeks. Thus giving us the virus. It begins with cramping and diarrhea and then continues with lack of appetite for about a week. Nothing to horrible, right? I decided to take my little drama king in to the doctor just in case, hoping for the miraculous recovery that the waiting room so often brings. NO LUCK! Instead he vomits all over the bathroom and then we still had to wait for 30 minutes. OK Seriously?!?!? The doc suggests a bland diet and lots of liquids and does not think it is anything worse than a virus.
Then finally this morning we get a call from Bill's dad telling us that his Uncle Joel had been taken to the ER in El Paso for not feeling well. Come to find out he has a perforated colon. Ok Seriously!?! The boys are supposed to be staying with his aunt and uncle for two days while in El Paso. Clearly his aunt will need time to be with Joel so we will need to make other arrangements. Not too big a deal, thank goodness for a loving family! Prayers were answered and Joel made it through surgery. He is still critical and in ICU, so please remember him in your prayers.
I am hoping that the worst is over and we will need to just mop up the mess. Our plans to go to Mexico have not changed. Ok Seriously! This is a rough day!!

ME DAY!

Today I celebrated the annual ME DAY! Ok, so this is sometimes a semi-annual event, but none the less a very important day. My in-laws had given me a gift certificate for a massage, mani, and pedi for my birthday, so I figured what a better time than on ME DAY to use it! I took the boys to ASI gymnastics for the day, which is a blog in itself, and off I went.





SIDEBAR- I had signed the boys up for a day at ASI a few weeks ago and then changed my mind and canceled. All of this took place two days before they were to go. Apparently the moment you sign them up they charge you. If you cancel the only thing you get is credit to come again. FOR REAL!?! Oh well I knew I would use it at some point. They got me hook-line-and-sinker!





BACK TO ME DAY- My massage started at 10:00am! It was the best massage I have ever had in my life. I love Theresa at Firewheel!! As I rolled out relaxed as can be I had a few minutes to spare so I shopped the $7 racks at New York and Co. Massage and shopping, can the day get any better? About noon I headed north to my next stop...the OB/GYN! (screech...fun stops) I met my new doctor, Dr. Garner. He is quick witted and talks about 100mph. All and All it was pretty painless! Then I was back to Firewheel Salon for the rest of my gift certificate! Yes, sandwiched right in the middle of a nice relaxing soiled day was a PAP Smear! Man I can not understand why no one wants to come to my parties! ME DAY is so fun?!?!? I did the mani/pedi thing and that was very nice. I finished the day off with an eyebrow wax, OUCH! I did however, deny the upper lip wax. Have you ever done that? HOLY COW! That is worse than childbirth! Been there done that and will only do it with drugs, lots of them! As far as I know there is no epidural for your lip. (lol- that is making me giggle just to think about it!!)


Good Night ME DAY! See you in a year! By the way I would strongly recommend making a day out of your yearly exam, it really lightened the blow!

(Here are my pretty toes all ready for Mexico! We leave in 4 days!!)

(Yes, they are purple!)

Big Changes

So here I sit, lonely and lacking in adult conversation today. It is 11:29 and the only personal adult conversation I have had is with my friend Kelley for about 15 minutes today. It is killing me! I love my boys to death and we have had a big day today, but it just does not compare to the "grown-up time" I have with Bill when they are not around. I feel so selfish when I complain so please do not be offended, I just like to talk to grown-ups sometimes. I think that is a good thing!
Today we dove head first into our BIG "Daddy's-gone-now-what Project!" Tyler has decided that he is too big to share a room with his little brother anymore. He wants out, he wants independence, and freedom! Personally I can not blame him, I loved all of those things growing up (still do, kinda). I knew that Bill would want us to wait until he got home, so it became our big secret. I needed to clean out the playroom anyway so it seemed as good of a time as any. I took the boys to Art and Worship Camp this morning and headed back to begin purging the playroom! Can I just say that Mc Donald's should be sued for giving away so many useless toys that junk up my house! I got to the point that if it even looked like a happy meal toy I was throwing it away. Not even Goodwill needs that! So for about three hours I worked my way through dress-up clothes (old Halloween costumes), Rescue Heroes (only had 1 billion of those), and of course the countless little toys from who knows where. None of which my boys have even touched in two years. It was a bit emotional at times, but I quickly got over that. By the time I picked up the boys I was knee deep in garbage bags. They were amazed and could never imagine that Tyler would even be able to sleep in there tonight. So work we did, Travis is the best little worker man God has ever made!!! He would carry shelves out and lug bags to the hallway without complaint. Tyler on the other hand will make a great boss someday! He would check in periodically move a few things around and then disappear. Now keep in mind this is all being done for him! That's my boy! By 9:00pm a mere 12 hours after I got my start I loaded the last bag into Bill's truck and could finally walk down my hallway. Success! or maybe not!

The true test came when bedtime approached. You see Travis had been showing signs of being nervous all day. He has never slept in his room alone, EVER! I was just planning on crossing that bridge when I came to it. Here I am!! Tyler needed an extra hug and kiss and he was fine. Travis is asleep on Bill's pillow right now and has begged me not to take him back in there tonight. He is planning on trying it again tomorrow. (grin) I guess I have until Saturday to either get Travis in his own bed or put the playroom back as it was, because Daddy is coming home! I am sure we have not heard the last of this!!!

Prayers for Bill

Mile High Mission Trip

My wonderful husband left this morning for Colorado with the youth group from our church. They will be leading a VBS and working on various service projects throughout the Denver area. If you know Bill at all you know that this is one of his most favorite things to do. He looks forward to it all year long! He has such a heart for these kids and loves hanging out with them. He also thinks Colorado is where heaven and earth meet. I might agree if it wasn't for the fact that they measure snow in feet and not inches there! However, there is a better than even chance we will some day end up living there. Please pray that God will work in the lives of the people that they come in contact with as much as He works in the lives of the youth and adults that are on the trip. I also ask for your prayers for safe travel. They have called and said that the first flat tire came in Witchita Falls, only three hours away from home on a 16 hour trip! They are on their way now, again!

God Speed My Love, come home soon! I miss you already!!

Welcome Home!

Yesterday, we drove to Irving to welcome home Bill's cousin Christopher from Afghanistan. This was an awesome day! The neighborhood association had put flags up and down the street and a few of their neighbors placed signs in their front yard welcoming Chris home. I had a lump in my throat as we drove down the street. How AWESOME! As Chris and his wife Brandi drove up we all walked out and greeted them. The kids jumped in the back of his truck and held the flag as they drove down the street looking at the signs. I'm telling you I could not contain the pride I had in him for serving our country so bravely and in the people that do not even know him showing their support as well. We can disagree on a lot of things as Americans, but we all rally around when the "boys" come home safe. That is what being an American is! I am glad that my boys got to be a part of this, too.

After Chris came in and took a breath he dropped another surprise on us. He has been awarded the Purple Heart! Tears again! Chris has not lead the easiest life, and that is putting it mildly, but to see him get honored in service for a job well done is great. A lot of people have prayed for God's will to be done in Chris and yesterday I felt those prayers had been answered.

Thank you friends for all that you do to keep us "sometimes thankless" Americans safe! I love ya'll!

Fitting Room Frustration

Yesterday, I had the brilliant idea to go buy a new bra. I had seen the new style from VS that has the see through straps and that seemed like a great idea. I had a $10 off coupon so off I went. You know me, I never pay full price for anything, especially at Victoria Secret. So why you ask am I blogging about buying a bra? The fun started when I mentioned to Bill what my plan was and he agreed to come along, remember from previous post that we were kidless. Bra shopping with your husband...he has a completely different image of this than I do! I hate bra shopping! So off we go to the mall. I am thinking that this is not going to be too bad. I know my size and I know what style I am looking for. The only thing I need to do is choose a color and try it on. Bill is somewhat uncomfortable in VS, but he is getting better, so I know I need to hurry. I find what I want and make it to the fitting room. All sounds very normal, right?

25 minutes later I come out sweating and completely frustrated, no bra in hand.

You see as soon as the VS worker closed the door the war began. In one corner the bra with plastic straps and in the other corner me! I begin by replacing the regular straps with the clear straps. This immediately started my frustration. You see two rubber bands laced through a plastic loop tend to stick together when you adjust them. Stick like SUPER GLUE! After finally getting the straps adjusted and teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown I put the bra on. Only to have strap number one fly off and hit the mirror in front of me. Holy Cow! That is not going to be good in public! I take yet another deep breath, and put the strap back on and begin to readjust the bra, SNAP the strap on the other side flies off. OK, where are the cameras because surely I am on some sick TV show that just wants to watch women going completely nuts and throw things. As I am taking the bra off the straps stick together and pull my hair. GRR! I get it off, throw it on the floor, and put my clothes back on. As I am walking out, I see Bill. He is amazed at how long it took me in there and now I am empty handed. He tries to calm me down and says surely there was just a malfunction and goes to get another bra. Oh No, Mister! I am not going back in there with that thing alone! You do it! We take the bra to the nice VS worker and have her put the straps on for me. This takes her about 10 minutes. Now it is the principal of the matter, I am getting a new bra by golly! Bill is just giggling because he can not imagine that this is that difficult. This time he comes in there with me. It does not take as long, but still more that the usual bra buying. After we paid I was able to laugh, only because I knew I could blog about it and you all would get a kick out of my evening!

Sleepovers

We have entered the age of sleepovers in the Lambert House. These are days I remember very well! The boys have only slept at home 3 times in the last week, and one time was with another boy. I must say I love this! Bill and I lay in bed, after telling them to stay quiet for the 5th time, and just listen to them giggle. How many nights did my parents do this same thing?
The other side, the best side if you ask me, is the fact that Bill and I have been able to spend time together that is not necessarily considered a date. You see I never even knew such a time existed. Prior to this our dates would have to be carefully scheduled and compact. Those of you with small children understan. You must accomplish as much as you can until the kids come back. These "sleep overs" create a whole new date night, the unplanned date night. Sunday night the boys were gone and Bill and I sat around staring at reruns on the TV. Finally I said I am going to go get the mail, he jumped up and said he would come with me. WHAT?!?! Remember I said it was Sunday? We went outside anyway! HA! You can see we are still new at this.
We have learned, yet again, that our boys are growing up. So far I am enjoying every stage just a little more than the last. Bill and I are looking forward to being bored together again tonight!

Dreams

I have not added a post in a long time. Trust me it is not because there have been a lack of things to blog about, just a lack of time to gather my thoughts and add them, without interruption. Emphasis on the interruption part!
Moving on...
Have you ever had one of those dreams that last all night and you wake up thinking about it? Well, last night I dreamt that Bill had a girlfriend. WHAT!!??!! It was so vivid and lasted what seemed to be all night long. This morning when I heard him get out of bed I was so mad at him. I am having to fight off the anger right now. Isn't that crazy? The poor guy has done nothing wrong and I can not shake this bad mood. Dreams are crazy like that! I am sure that some of you can analyze the meaning of my dream, if it is not good don't tell me! I do not need any other reasons to be upset! HA!
Love you guys!

Rainy Summer Days

Today was the second rainy day of the week. This really hurts the Lambert Family Motto for the summer (see earlier blog). Today they decided to entertain themselves by preparing a puppet show for Bill and I to watch after dinner. Of course I loved this idea, it occupied about two hours of their time. AMAZING! They made posters to advertise, tickets, seat names and numbers, props, and play money. The only thing they forgot was to write their lines to the play! (LOL) Regardless, it was a hoot! I have tried to summarize it with a photo show. I wonder if this is how Scorsese got his start!?!

Fort Worth Zoo

We had such a blast at the zoo yesterday! My original plan did not work out, but the day turned out awesome all the same. I had planned to ride the train to Fort Worth and the transfer to the zoo. Apparently that is not a very popular route, because after all of the transfers it would have taken us 3 hours to get to the zoo and 3 hours to get home. (never mind!) My attempt to save gas and go green was trumped by my ADD and need to get there and more importantly get home when I am tired! So we packed a picnic lunch and headed out in my car to Fort Worth, it only took us an hour to get there. (much better) However, we almost got a speeding ticket on the way. Did I tell you Bill went with us! Yes, the cop had his radar gun out and the car in front of us slammed on his brakes, Bill sped up to pass him and then saw the cop. OOPS! You know that feeling??? The cop immediately put the radar gun away and got in his car. GREAT! I am thinking three hours on the bus will be less that a speeding ticket on the highway. So we slow down and move to the far right lane, knowing that the cop will surely pull up right behind us. No Cop! We go ahead and pull off the freeway, still convinced that he will pull up behind us. As we pull into the nearest gas station I see the cop coming down the ramp. GREAT! He comes down to the light and I am thinking...Go Go Gadget Invisibility! He turns, away from us! WOO HOO! I think we effectively evaded the law! I am sure our picture is posted in Grand Prairie somewhere as a most wanted, but really how often do we go there? The boys were asking 900 questions as all of this happened. Travis is terrified of the police so he was shaking in the backseat. Tyler reached over and held his hand! HA! We had a good nervous giggle as we drove the speed limit to the zoo!

Summer in Full Swing

The boys and I are 5 days into this summer and so far so good. I created a list of chores and expectations (rules) that Super Nanny would be proud of. I think these have saved me! The boys are trying very hard to stay "green" (yes, we have a color chart at home, too). We have set a summer motto that we are living by : SWIM AND GYM! I said that in passing one night and both of the boys are holding me to it! They told me on Monday if we did not go to the gym we would be breaking one of our rules. HA! We also have a song for the summer, any guesses??? It is from my favorite movie HSM2 the song is What Time is It? Of course it talks about summer vacation!
I have always said that I have the best of both worlds, I get to go to work 190 days and stay home for 2 months. I have always thought the 2 months is harder than the 190 days. That is, until this year. We have been able to move and groove as much as we want to. I think I could get used to this...Unfortunately, my bank account suffers greatly when I am on summer vacation. There are just so many great places to spend your money at! (Shhh! don't tell Bill!)
This is a boring blog, I know, but I wanted to have it on record that the system we set up worked for at least 5 days. It could all change in an instant!
Tomorrow we are going on the train to the Fort Worth Zoo! Yep, riding the real train to Fort Worth! I am sure there will be lots to share after that!

10 Years of Wedded Bliss

Bill and I have been married for 10 years today. This seems like a long time to be married, but it has gone by so fast! When I think about all of the things that have happened in the last 10 years, it amazes me. I thought I would share some pictures of our life together. We have been married 10 years, but have actually been together for 17 years. Looking through these pictures made me laugh. I have found notes that I wrote him in high school and letters that we exchanged in college. Tyler was amazed that we actually wrote to each other. In his mind he thought e-mail would be so much easier.

This is our first picture together. We were on a Mission Trip to Colorado. He was my Missions Leader. That is a Hyper-Color shirt he has on, remember those??

In this picture I am 15 years old. Oh-My!

Bill proposed after Christmas Eve Candlelight Service in 1997.

We were married in El Paso surrounded by all of our friends on June 6, 1998. It was an absolutely amazing night!

Our life together has been tremendously blessed. I knew I had found a treasure the moment I met him. He is the best Daddy and my very best friend!

I got this in an e-mail yesterday and just had to share it with you!

Live your life in such a way

that when your feet hit the floor in the morning,

satan shudders & says...

"Oh no....she's awake!!"

Proud Momma

Yesterday we attended a small awards ceremony for Tyler's 2nd grade. Each kid was honored by their teacher for something, the awards varied from best smile to best athlete, best reader to class clown. Being a teacher I know the struggles that go through picking an award for each kid. There are some that come easy, and others that I would agonize over for days. How do you give an award for making it to the principals office more than any other 4th grader in a way that sounds politically correct? As the teachers called out awards I fretted over what type of award he would deserve this year. Best Handwritting, NOT, Most Athletic, NOT, Class Clown, Not really, Best Smile, maybe (cop out award if you ask me!) Well, he received Most Caring Student in his 2nd grade class. I was filled with joy! He recieved an award last year for the same thing. I would love for Tyler to make straight A's, be at school every day, win at every sport he played, and have the best smile, but really I would trade all of that for him to be considered a caring person. That my friends is something that will help him be a better MAN and that is my goal as a parent! So it is with tears in my eyes that I say, I am so proud of the young man I have in my house. Tomorrow he ends the 2nd grade, where has the time gone!

Casualties of Field Day

Today was the big day that the kids look forward to all year... Field Day! I will admit as a teacher I also looked forward to it. It was a time to just play and be a big kid and it was ok. It also allowed for my competitive personality to come out just a bit. (LeRay?) This year I was not able to go play with my boys, but that did not slow them down. As you can tell from the pictures, Field Day was a success!

I am sure they have great stories to tell, but they fell asleep so fast I have not even heard any of them. More to come with this story I am sure!

Funny Things

Happy Memorial Day!
I wish we could say that we have spent this weekend doing all of the fun "summer" things that you are supposed to do on Memorial Day. Not so much! This year we are remembering the fact that we started school late in August and therefore still have 8 more days of school. This year seems to be dragging on. Will summer ever get here?
Ok, enough whining!
We have had a great weekend with family and friends!
Yesterday was Sunday so we were off to church. The boys are at an age now where we have tried to get them to pay attention to the sermon, rather than coloring and just being quiet. I will say this is a struggle each week, but we are making progress. Our pastor uses an outline for each sermon and the points are projected on the big screen. (I am sure most of you know the drill.) Bill and I use this outline to help the boys stay focused on the sermon. Each boy picks their favorite pen and listens/watches for the next phrase or word to be mentioned. Well, being the good Baptist preacher that he is, he normally has three points with some sort of alliteration or rhyme to start with. Tyler has picked up on this and can sometimes predict what the next point will be. It is a bit of a game. Hey, at least he is paying attention! What we did not know is how close Travis has paid attention to the pattern of the outline. Yesterday, we hand each boy a sermon outline and Travis says, "WHAT?! There are four points on this outline!" HA! The people behind us giggled and Bill and I could hardly contain it! How could a good baptist preacher add four points to his outline? Doesn't he know we need to be out of church before the Methodists or the lines will be too long at Luby's?
Needless to say we had a good laugh, thanks to Travis, AGAIN!

Needed: New Recipes

Do you ever go through a slump where you feel like you are making the same seven things for dinner every week? Not that I cook seven times a week, lordy no! I just feel like I am in a cooking slump. I make tacos, spaghetti, chicken, pork chops, etc... over and over again. Tyler asked me yesterday if we were going to have chicken and broccoli or chicken and corn. WOW! What a variety I provide!
I need some new ideas, and this is where my blog buddies come in. Please share your favorite recipe with me. I will then post my favorites, too.
My family will thank you!

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day,

With little time to stop and pray,

For life's been anything but calm,

Since you called on me to be a mom.

Running errands, matching socks,

Building dreams with building blocks.

Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes,

And other stuff that children lose.

Fitting lids on bottled bugs,

Wiping tears and giving hugs.

A stack of last week's mail to read,

So where's the quiet time I need?

Yet when I steal a minute Lord,

Just at the sink or ironing board,

To ask the blessings of your grace,

I see them in my small one's face,
That you have blessed me all the while,

As I stop to kiss that precious smile.

Pictures

Absolutely Amazing Weekend!

Well, it is official I am "30 something!" Don't get me wrong it really does not bother me too much. Turning 30 was a milestone, 31 not so much! I have realized lately that I am getting older. You see I always hung out with older people, therefore making me the one that know one could believe I was only... I was also one of the young teachers, young moms, and young married couple. Just recently I noticed that I am a "seasoned teacher" a "school-aged mom" and an "over the hump married couple." Where does time go?
Ok to the point!
Bill planned a wonderful weekend for just the two of us to celebrate my birthday. If you do not know me I like to celebrate in "weekends" not "days." It is all about stretching it out if you ask me!
Our weekend started off with dropping the boys off at his mom's house on Saturday afternoon. We spent the next few hours walking around the mall enjoying the beautiful day. (one of my most favorite things to do!) We then headed off to Downtown Dallas where we would stay for the evening. Bill had booked a room at the Magnolia hotel. For those of you familiar with the Dallas skyline it is the building with the Pegasus on top. It was built in 1905 and had amazing architecture. Bill and I ate dinner on the 3rd floor balcony of a restaurant called the Iron Cactus. Mexican food of course! They had New Mexican green chilies and not poblano peppers, hot dog, felt like home!! We had a great time watching the locals walk their dogs around the "concrete park" and then sit down to dinner with the dog in the chair. : ) not kidding! We had to be sure and be back at our hotel before 10, not because we are old, but because our hotel offered a cookies and milk bar from 8-10. Yummo!
Sunday morning we were off and running. We walked around the Farmers Market, which we planned another trip back to very soon! No time to linger too long we had reservations for Brunch at the House of Blues. They have a gospel brunch every Sunday. I would highly recommend this to everyone, it was so much fun!
Bill and I then took in more shopping and movie! I told you it was the best weekend ever! And I am still not done.
After our movie we had tickets to the Stars Game 6 Playoff Game! I was so excited for this game. The Stars had won 3 games and only needed one more win to move on to round two. I had not so secretly wished for them to lose game 4 and 5 so that I could get a chance to go to game 6. It worked! We had seats on row 7, awesome! The game ended up going into 4 overtimes! Yes, I said 4 over times! It finally ended at 1:30 AM! After the weekend we had, I was so exhausted! We picked the boys up and fell into bed at almost 3 AM! Guess I am not that old after all!
As I laid in bed preparing for a good night's sleep I thanked God for the best friend He has given me in Bill! Thanks, Honey!

When I was Younger...

As I walked through a classroom today I observed a teacher who was doing a writing lesson on the topic. "When I was younger..." This did make me laugh because none of the kids in our building are older than 10. However, it got me thinking about the past 30 years of my life and I can not get it out of my head. Which to all you bloggers out there you know what that means...I must blog about it. This is my therapy!
So here goes...
When I was younger I could run to my friend's house two blocks away to see if she could play outside. Now I call my friend to see if we can plan a "play day" so we can talk, and it might happen in the next two weeks.
When I was younger I could talk on the phone to my boyfriend for hours, now we are lucky to talk to each other over dinner. (I hear that changes when the kids grow up, still waiting!)
When I was younger I could wear what I wanted, eat what I wanted, and not worry about a thing! Now...not so much! I am at the point where shopping must answer these questions does it make me look too young? does it make me look to old? does it make me look fat? is it on sale? does is it so on sale everyone has it? BLAH!!
When I was younger I thought I knew it all! NOT!!
When I was younger I could sleep until noon! I miss those days!
BUT...
When I was younger I did not know what true friends were, I do now!! Thanks for being my friends!

"I'm Two Hands Now!"

Yes, it is official we are no longer one-handed in this house. confused yet? None of us can count our age on one hand. Travis is now six! Where does time go? I remember being a new mom and people saying to cherish these moments because they do not last long. At the time I thought, are you sure each day drags on forever. : ) Now I am the person saying, "I remember those days..." Travis has become such a little man since starting school. He is very responsible and has more common sense then a lot of the 4th graders I taught. He has a huge heart and is tough as nails! Travis is the kid that wants everyone to get along so that we can all play together. The key is to play and he doesn't care if it is with girls or boys, just together. I am so proud of both my big guys! Here are some pictures of the first few days of Travis. He was named after the strong most God center man Bill and I have ever know, Travis "Grandy" Sykes. Travis is now 90 1/2! He has beat many illnesses and stared death in the face more than once. God is not finished with him yet! I can not wait for my Travis to understand what an awesome namesake he has. This picture is to show exactly how HUGE this kid was. This picture is taken the first night in the hospital. He is not even one day old! Notice the cheeks...my word!

Happy Birthday my little man!