Game Time

The Alief Library does a great job of offering activities for kids to help keep them busy when they are not in school.  We noticed during the summer months, there was a lot going on at the library.  Now that school is back in session, some of the events have stopped or just changed times due to school hours.  Game time is one activity that my kids loved at the library but we haven't gone in a while.  I decided to take the kids yesterday and I'm so glad I did.  They had a great time and I loved watching them.

The boy is mine

So there are many benefits of being a stay at home mom.  I've never doubted that or taken anything away from that.  I just love to teach and I never felt like my calling was to stay at home.  This phase of our life is different and I know it's the best thing for our family.  Things have been good and I'm keeping busy, but today proved one of those days when having 1 parent stay at home, comes in handy.

Our morning was normal like all other mornings and I was eating breakfast with E and the boys.  A complained of his stomach hurting but he told me it was because he was really hungry.  He ate slowly, but he finished his cereal and his peaches.  The boys made their beds and got dressed, like normal, then watched a show and played before we headed out to story time.  On Tuesdays we go to story time at the Alief Library and today was no different.  I needed to run by the bank first so we left the house just a few minutes earlier.  While in the line at the drive through teller, A started fussing and said his stomach really hurt.  He didn't look good at all so I rolled his window down and told him to throw up out the window if he needed to.  He put his head out then came back inside and said he did not need to.  Then I looked at my side mirror, and he's puking out the window.  Luckily no one was behind me and I couldn't get out because my door was up next to the box that you put your tube in and send it over to the teller. I felt so bad for the boy, so I put Cherry in park and climbed back there with him.  One of my workout towels was still in the van so I got that for A to wipe his face.  Poor kid...threw up his cinnamon toast crunch and those peaches. **Pictures posted so don't look if it's going to make you sick**He looked better, but still not great.  So at that point, I decided against story time and felt like we needed a car wash and some Sprite.  I made my way to the Shell gas station where I knew they had a car wash and while at a red light, A let me know it was coming again.  This time there wasn't anything left, so he just dry heaved most of time with a little spit.  Poor guy!  We got the car wash, I crabbed a 20 oz of Sprite, and we headed home.  At least I was able to care for him and not someone else.  I'm sure there are others that could care for him as good as I did, or possibly better (more sanitary than an old workout towel), but no one with more love.  He is my boy, my baby.  Cleaning his puke, washing the van, changing his clothes, is all fine with me because he's mine. 

peaches...gross

Right after done puking the first time

I'm very grateful that the Lord has given me this opportunity to experience staying home with my children.  I've only had 1 bad day and the rest have been very good.  This day isn't even that 1 bad one:)  Usually seeing someone puke, makes me vomit as well, but God gave me the strength I needed today to watch, hear, smell, and clean vomit without losing my cookies too.  Even W was a helper when A threw up again at home.  We've definitely got a stomach bug in our house, so I wonder who will get bit next??? 

For moms that have to work full time, bless you when you get called at work and have to leave because your little one puked at daycare or school.  For moms that work part-time, bless you when you have to miss work because your child is sick and your only time home is not so fun times.  For moms that stay at home full time, bless you when your child vomits in the bank drive through and at the red light with 2 other littles in the car in Houston, TX...oh yeah, that's me. 

Mississippi Visitors

My mom and Chuck were planning to come visit us in September for over a month.  We were very excited and eagerly anticipated their arrival.  Thursday, September 18th, they left MS around 10 am.  Due to some 5 o'clock rush hour traffic, they ended up getting here around 6:30 pm when it should have been more like 5:00 pm.  In addition to the normal crazy Houston traffic, we were getting crazy rain from a hurricane off of California.  It rained for 2 days straight and there was a lot of flooding around the area.  But they arrived safely and we had dinner (Ranch pork chops) before putting the kids to bed and chatting for a while.  Since B didn't have to work on Friday, there wasn't a big push to get any plans set in stone.  The only thing that had to be done was R to school and we needed to get to Firestone to pick up cherry.   We finally took Cherry in to get the air worked on.  Our AC had been out for about 2 months and we'd been putting it off.  It was way overdue though.  So we picked up cherry and then went to the Y.  E stayed home with the grands and we took the boys because they love the child care there, plus it gave E some time alone with Gram & Granddad which is rarity.  After a workout, the whole family went to Sam's for lunch and then back home for rest time.  G & G picked R up from school at 3:20 and she was thrilled.  Our family dinner that night was at Jimmy Changas. 

Saturday was a fun day.  G & G got to experience a normal Saturday for our family.  We made a quick gym trip and then to Walmart for our weekly grocery shopping.  We had lunch at home, then headed to Katy for an afternoon of swimming, pizza, and football.  We've had several Saturdays like that recently.  The kids love to swim and then they all play while the adults eat and watch football.  It's really a lot of fun. 

My most favorite day while they were here, was Sunday.  We took them to Sugar Creek with us and we went to the 9:30 service.  On our way home, we stopped by Walmart to get a cake for R since she was going to be baptized later.  We knew everyone would be coming back to our house for cake/food after the baptism so my mom bough a wing platter as well.  It was so nice to relax and watch the Saints game together and eat wings I had made in the crock pot before heading to church.  All of my favorite things in 1 day: church, family, food, and football.  Sunday was probably my ideal day (the Saints even won!).  R's baptism was great and we were so thankful that G & G decided to stay an extra day so they could attend.  Sunday night ended with an ice cream treat at Baskin Robbins and I couldn't imagine for a better weekend with Mississippi visitors!

Rin's Baptism

Rin's salvation date was May 13, 2014 which was also the week she lost her first tooth and when B graduated.  I wrote about it here with the other milestones that week. We were so excited for her and just thrilled.  The natural next step is baptism.  We met with Pastor Andy before moving and had him ask her a few questions about it.  It was pretty obvious that she wasn't ready so we waited.  We spent a lot of time talking to her about baptism over the summer.  Once we found Sugar Creek Baptist Church, we heard of a Discovery class that R could attend for those children interested in baptism.  This was the perfect class for her so we signed up her.  B took her on Sunday, 9/14/14.  She was excited when she came home because she said that she answered all the questions correctly and she was ready to be baptized.  B was excited too because she'd made so much progress since May. 

The baptism date was scheduled for 9/21/14 at 3:00 pm.  My parents were already going to be in town for a visit so they decided to stay through Monday.  B's sister and brother (and their families) were going to come as well.  This was an important day for R.  We were all so proud of her! 

There were over 70 people being baptized.  The youngest was 6 and the oldest, well, not sure.  Lots of adults and teens too.  We took up an entire row with our family (all 18 of us).  R was in the second group to go behind the Spanish group.  There was no program or anything so we didn't know when it would be her until the speaker announced.  It was so great to watch and I was beaming with pride. 

On the way to church with Daddy

changed and ready!

The cousins came to watch

Rin's life verse

Proud Parents

After the service was over, we had chicken and cake at our house with the family.  It was a fun evening and we were so grateful of all the support for our new sister in Chris!

Texas Tags

We might be a little late getting our Texas Tags, but not for lack of trying.  We tried for weeks to get our inspections done to Cherry and the Camry, but the computer was down for a while.  Once we finally got to get an inspection, it turns out our insurance was still NC insurance.  We had to call our insurance agent and get Texas automobile insurance instead of NC.  Once we got all that straightened out, we went to the Texas Taxes Office to apply for Texas Tags.  The line was long but we waited and waited.  The boys were so good and played their electronics.  E was in her stroller and was quiet for most of the time.  Everywhere we go here, please smile at her and say she's beautiful.  Of course I agree with them, but little blond girls are few and far between where we live.  When we finally got to the front and were called, the lady told us we were missing a form that we should have received when we had our cars inspected.  It's some form that out of state people need.  I don't think the car place knew we were out of state people trying to get tags, so they didn't give us the form.  We had to drive all the way back to the auto place, get this form filled out, then drive back to the tax office.  I think that trip alone took us an hour.  3 hours and $350 later we have Texas tags for both our cars.  In TX, cars are supposed to have tags on the front and back of the vehicle.  Not a problem for Cherry, but the Camry doesn't have a front plate holder.  So that will be our next order of business.  Ugh, again...so much stuff to do when you move!  

Our new Pediatrician

Relocating is tough.  Finding a new place to live, school, and church is just the beginning.  I didn't even think about finding new doctors!  We loved our pediatrician in Wakefield while we were in NC.  It was a small practice, but after having 4 kids, he knew us very well.  I asked B to get some recommendations from the people he worked with and someone suggested Dr. Dickerson to us.  This man has children and said his kids love her because she's like Doc McStuffins.  We love Doc McStuffins too so I thought this must be our doctor.  I called back in August because R turned 6.  I knew she didn't need shots for school, but needed her yearly wellness check up.  When I called, the receptionist told me Dr. Dickerson wasn't accepting new patients but her partner, Dr. Turner was.  We needed a doctor so I said sure.  Their first opening wasn't until October for R so I said, well, sign me up for R and A since he'll be turning 5.  I also told her I had an infant and wasn't sure if she needed a check up at 15 months or just 18 months.  I was able to schedule E an appointment for September 4th for her 15 month check up.  R & A will go in October, and poor W will go when he turns 4 I guess (hopefully not sooner).

I looked this place up on their website and read a little about them.  It seemed like a nice enough place and it's in Sugar Land, where we think we want to live.  I read a few reviews and they were mostly positive.  E's appointment was for 8:30 in the morning which is the way I like to plan doctor appointments.  We ate breakfast and headed out of the house a little after 8:00.  I used the Tom Tom to help us find the place.  We were the only ones there so we only had to wait 3 minutes before we were called back.  The nurse was very nice and she took E's weight, height, and head circumference.  Dr. Turner came in and asked me some back ground questions for her records, but she was also super nice and friendly.  E was shy and didn't like all the poking, but she was a trooper and did fine.  She weighed 21 lbs 7 oz and was 30.5 inches long.  When her stats were plotted on the graph, E was 25th percentile for weight, 45th percentile for height, and 75th percentile for head circumference.  I was so thrilled that she was back on the chart!  E received 2 shots and cried a bit.  But overall, Dr. Turner said she was healthy and beautiful.  Praise Jesus for healthy kids!

Our Texas Labor Day

Labor day has always been a day off from work and school, but we've never really paid much attention to it.  R asked us why it's a holiday so we actually had to look it up.  It started great discussion as to the difference of secular holidays and Christian holidays.  We may have confused her.  She thinks Halloween is a holiday but she doesn't get school off.  I know....it's confusing.

But anyway, we planned to spend the majority of our Labor Day weekend in Katy at Anna's house with the M. Hantla family.  Saturday we met them in Katy for an afternoon of swimming and hanging out.  Paul dug up some weeds for a while before going to visit his mom, Citi, since she just had surgery.  B and M grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner.  Everything was yummy and we had crack dip and puppy chow too.  B managed to get the OU game hooked up so we watched football too.  OU destroyed LA Tech (duh) and then we watched most of the LSU game (not as easy).  Our goal was to leave around bedtime (a little later) to head back to our house for the night.  We were not going to spend the night because we have Cooper to think about of course.  We stayed late though; til around 11:00 pm I think.  All I know is that all 4 kids fell asleep on the way home and we had to carry each one into the house and put them to bed.  I know they were exhausted.

Sunday we went to Sugar Creek and instead of eating lunch at home, we met the family at Jimmy Changa's.  I'm not sure why we went out to eat because I know there must have been left overs at the Marsh house....but oh well.  The kids had a good time playing and I'm starting to like chips & salsa a whole lot!  After lunch we headed back to Katy for an afternoon movie (snooze) and chill time.  M & M left around 5:30 because strange enough, College Station had school on Monday.  Very weird.  We stayed through dinner and watched American Ninja Warrior with the Marsh family before heading home.


Our Monday was spent eating lunch with a couple from Sugar Creek.  We were so excited someone finally invited over to their house for a meal.  We've been longing for some connection (besides our wonderful family) and one couple did.  They are in their early 30's and have 3 kids: Jude is almost 6 in Kindergarten, Emily is 4 and Ben is 20 months.  Our kids got along great with their kids and the time we spent with them was really nice.  The rest of our day was relaxed and pretty lazy.  We need those days every once in a while, right?!

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First day of School 2014

Sending R off to first grade isn't as nerve racking as Kindergarten, but being in a new school, new city, new state makes me a little more nervous than had she been going to WFES.  But in Hantla Clan fashion, we all walked R to school for her first day together.  She's happy to be going to school and meeting her teacher and making new friends.  I packed her lunch like usual and she ate toast for breakfast.  We didn't have any milk for cereal since we had just gotten home from Mississippi and I did not have enough energy to make it to the grocery store.  Toast was the breakfast choice for everyone that morning.  She looked so cute in her uniform and I french braided her hair.  A is a little sad that he's not going to school, but I know this time next year will be here in a flash.

The dynamic has changed a bit since R's not here during the day.  A is the oldest and takes on more responsibility.  He and W play A LOT more together and actually get a long great.  E doesn't have a play mate, but she holds her own when the boys decide to play sword fight or wrestle in their room.  She's not scared to get in the mix and I believe that's going to be her personality.  R said she had a good day at school when I met her at 3:20.  I took all the kids with me after school.  We waited at the corner and when she was released, she walked to meet us.  She was excited to see us and I think we all felt a little better after seeing her.  The boys missed her, especially A.  E was so happy to have her big sissy back too.

R didn't have a whole bunch to say about her first day of school except for that she has 10 boys in her class and 5 girls.  Her teacher's name is Ms. Rodriguez and speaks both English and Spanish in the class.  R said she was nice and funny.  As long as she's not complaining, I guess we are good with that. 

Let's go Choctaws!

It's been about 7 years since I've been able to play in the MC Alumni game.  I definitely didn't play in 2008 when Rin was born and I don't remember if I came back for the 2007 one either.  Now that we are in Houston, we agreed that it would be fun to go back to MC for the weekend.  The game was on Saturday the 23rd which was the weekend before school started.  We left Thursday after B got off work and drove to Hattiesburg.  It was really late when we arrived at my mom's house so we just let the kids crash on the sofas.  Friday morning we ate breakfast with the family and just had a relaxing morning.

I think we left around 10:00 and headed north to Clinton.  It's been a long time since we've been on MC's campus and we were excited to show our kids where we met, went to college, and got married.  R was especially excited about that.

Provine Chapel

We at lunch at El Sombrero then toured MC for a bit.  We ran into Dr. Randle while in the English building and also saw Coach Longabaugh when we went to the soccer field.  It was hot while we walked around, but overall a good visit.  We were staying with Erin and Steve for the weekend and their 3 kids (June, Holland, and Wyatt).  Our dinner plans were centered around Ashley because she was moving into MC on Saturday.  B wanted to go to Keifer's in Jackson (where we had our rehearsal dinner) and Ashley met us there with her mom, Ryan and Emma.  My mom and Chuck were with us also.  Dinner was nice and I enjoyed catching up with Ashley and Deenie.  Ryan sat on the other end with A & W.  

Dinner Group at Keife's

cousins

After dinner we headed back to E/S's house.  The boys were going to sleep with Gram/Granddad at the hotel to make things a little easier.  After we put all the kids to bed, the 4 of us adults stayed up 'til midnight just talking.  Steve is a high school English teacher and soccer coach so we have lots to talk about.

Saturday we ate breakfast at Ren's house then headed to the field.  We got there right at 9 as the game was about to start.  I just grabbed a uniform (didn't even look at the numbers) and ran on the field.  I didn't even have shinguards on either.  I wasn't in the starting line up so it didn't really matter.  I was so excited to see Meredith and Danae.  We've been chatting back and forth about this weekend for a while and I hadn't seen them in years.  Jen Ben and Kirby were also there as well as Bethany Harris. Bethany had her new baby girl (7 weeks old) with her and of course, I got baby fever again.  Good thing we can't have anymore kids or I'd be pregnant!  So not much to report about the game except for we lost.  I played about 30 minutes total and got blisters on my big toes! 

#28

half time

post game picture

oldies but goodies

with Coach Longabaugh

We lost 10-1 and our goals (by Kirby) came when we had 13 players on the field.  We were so old and out of shape...there was not question after about the first 15 minutes how this game was going to end up.  It was fun though and the kids had fun too.  While I was on the field, B would get them cheering for me.  It was sweet to hear their little voices cheering for mommy...my biggest fans.  Once the game was over, we were all hungry so we went for lunch at McAlister's Deli (one of my favs).  I guess a lot of people had that idea because it was very busy.   Since we were all sweaty from being out in the sun for over 2 hours, we thought it would be nice for a swim in the pool hotel.  The kids are always up for swimming and I was looking forward to cooling off too.  Trying to get rests in for the day was interesting.  We had no pack-n-play at the hotel so after trying to get E to lay down, I just took her to the lobby so she could wonder around.  No reason to keep her in the room all fussy and stuff.  Everyone else got a little nap though.  Our dinner plans consisted of a cookout at E/S's house.  We pitched in drinks and cookies and they had the meet and chips.  My parents came and so did Megan Tubman with her twins (Riley and Sydney).  Tubby didn't come to the game but it was nice to visit with her for a short bit.

Hantla Clan plus Taylor Tots

 After dinner Mer, Danae, and Coach Carter stopped by and we had a blast just talking and reminiscing.  Coach Carter is hilarious anyways, but she's the best at retelling funny stories. We even shared with my parents the story of a few of us girls sneaking out of our hotel on an away trip to the Ozarks and going into this country bar...my memory is a little blurry about this one, but Coach Carter brought me to tears.

Sunday morning we got on the road after some cereal.  I was so glad that we made the trip and I had such a great time seeing old friends.  It reminded me of how special MC really is.  It's a wonderful school and Ashley will love it there.  The opportunity to attend a Christian college with small classes and professors who actually know who you are is amazing.  I know people love their big schools with 300 people in a class with a professor who doesn't even know if you are there, but that's not for me.  God's plan for me to attend MC and meet all these awesome people was his Perfect Plan...silly me thought I wanted to go to Clemson University.  I'm glad God worked it out and it's just a reminder of
Romans 8:28
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.