Date Night in TX

A long awaited date night finally happened thanks to Aunt Mo and her family.  B coordinated with her and she agreed to watch our four along with her 3 on a Friday night.  We took our kids to her house and dropped them off.  Of course they were so excited about cousin time.  My kids LOVE spending time with their cousins.  That's been a huge blessing of moving to TX.  I didn't realize how much fun it would be seeing them play and interact with their cousins.  Sure, there are some problems every now and again, but that's normal.  They are learning conflict resolution right? 

Our ride to Katy

Everyone is excited!

Right after dropping the kids off with Aunt Mo

But anyways, B and I planned to go to Old Navy so I could finally use a gift card that I've had since E was born but I refused to buy any new clothes until I lost baby weight.  Well I'm proud to say that I have, so it was time.  We were going to do a little kid-free shopping then grab dinner at Red Lobster.  I knew there was an Old Navy at the Katy Mills mall so that's where we headed first.  They were having a sale so B ended up getting a pair of pants also.  We love sales and we enjoy shopping together.  Not so much with the kids, but when it's just the 2 of us, it's fun.  So after shopping we tried to find the Red Lobster, but couldn't so we ended up at Olive Garden which was just as tasty.  Overall, we had a great date night and it was awesome to just talk. 

My Love

We miss our friends from NC a lot, and one thing they've got going for them is the monthly date night rotations.  It's so important in your marriage to date your spouse and when someone can provide free babysitting, that's a huge blessing.  B and I will try to not let 4 more months go before having another date night and it shouldn't be too hard because our anniversary is in December:)

Rin's School Friend

R has made a friend named Sarah.  She seems sweet and she came over to play one afternoon.  R & Sarah walk home everyday together and one Monday afternoon, R asked me if Sarah could come over and play.  I told her we would have to ask S's mom and that day, S's mom happen to be waiting for her.  Usually we don't see Sarah's mom so this worked out great.  S's mom agreed to let S play until 5:00.  So I made them do their HW together and then they could play.  I'm so glad R has made a friend and I'm thankful that S is interested in hanging out with R.  I love R's sweet personality and friendly disposition.  She's very outgoing and bring joy to others around her.  We thank God for giving us Rin!

Pumpkin Carving....or Not?

I know it's past Halloween but the end of October got crazy busy for us!  Wow, now that I'm reflecting, I think we were gone 3 weekends in a row, wow!

So last year after Halloween, I bought some pumpkin decorations on sale and thought it would be good to change things up a bit.  I got 2 girl and 2 boy things to be fair and every kid was happy.  So when it was time, we bought 4 pumpkins and one afternoon, Daddy took the kids outside to decorate the pumpkins.

*I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to save time and clean up.  There was virtually no mess (except trash from packaging) and it was so quick.  And the pumpkins really look cute. 

Pre-Nuptial Celebration

My cousin Kristin and her fiancee Rich had a pre-wedding party in Hammond before their destination wedding in Hawaii.  It was scheduled to be Saturday afternoon, October 4th starting at noon and the blessing was scheduled for 4 pm.  My dad and Ella were asked to lead the blessing ceremony and of course they were delighted to do that for Kris.  The day was perfect weather with a cool breeze and sunshine.  Family and friends showed up and got a chance to love on Kristin and Rich.  The prenuptial ceremony was really nice and 'Pastor Ella DeDeaux and Deacon James DeDeaux' did a great job.  I was so glad we got to be there and celebrate with them since we wouldn't be at the wedding.  Marriage is such an important bond and it's one of the closest we have to begin to understand God's love for us.  B and I prayed for K&R before we left.

my crazy big brother, Lloyd

The Happy Couple!

Reminded me of when Bubba talked at our rehearsal dinner.

My pops!

Saturday night after getting the kids cleaned and asleep, B & I played spades with Gma Lupe.  I love playing cards with G-Lupe.  I'm always her partner and we usually win.  This night was no different.  We pretty much stomped Bryce and Lorenzo.  It was fun and I haven't played cards with G-Lupe in a long time.  I look forward to playing with her again at Easter.  I love my G-Lupe. 

Abe turns 5!

Another year has gone by and my buddy A is now 5 years old.  There's so much to say about him it's hard to know where to start.  I'll start by his outward physical appearance then approach his inner self.

R gave him the shoes, we gave him the hoodie

A is getting taller and he's pretty heavy.  When he went to the doctor for his 5 year wellness visit, he was in the 50% for weight and 85% for height.  He's lean says Dr. Turner.  She was very complimentary of A when she was checking him out last week.  He passed his hearing screening and was 20/30 in both eyes for his vision screening.  Dr. Turner said when/if the eyes get to 20/40, then a more thorough eye exam is necessary.  B and I know that we need to always be looking out for our kids eyes since my eyes are bad.  It's not if, but when.  A's hair is still thick and dark as well as his skin (dark, not thick).  His eyes seems to be darkening and are more of a dark hazel now instead of green.  He's got the smallest teeth I've ever seen on a 5 year old and the cutest smile too!  He's right handed and getting really good at catching the football.  B's been working with him using his hands and he's got a great touch. 

A's still a very sensitive boy.  Since R's in school, he's my helper and my #1 go to guy.  He feeds Cooper every morning and evening, he opens Cherry's door for me and the doors of all the buildings we enter; he even pushes E's stroller for me when I need to handle something else.  A keeps watch of the house and W/E for me when I go pick up R after school.  He's turned into a very responsible boy.  When I call his name, he responds with "yes Ma'am" always!  His academics are advancing nicely and he's mastering addition and subtraction of numbers 1-10.  A is an auditory learner and he picks up his Bible verses quickly when we listen to his Cubbies CD.  I'm amazed at the number of verses he knows and remembers from last year.  He pretty much knows all of R's assigned verses too.  Since I'm not an auditory learner, I think it's interesting to watch A learn through listening.  I have to remind myself of that sometimes since it's different than my learning style.  Right now A is obsessed with Ninja Turtles and video games.  When he gets to choose a show, he asks to watch you tube videos of people playing ninja turtle video games.  It's the strangest thing!  It's like he thinks he's playing, but he knows he's not....very strange and a little cute. 

Icees with the Marshlands (sleepover night)

A's spot of choice for most of Saturday

Speaking of video games, A wanted a  Wii party.  We decided to have his Wii party Saturday at the Marshlands so Tuesday (his actual birthday) we had a family dinner of his choice.  A picked out hot dogs and popcorn with an evening of Nintendo playing. Done!  For his party, A spent the night with the Marshlands Friday night and played Wii with Micah pretty much all day on Saturday.  Micah even let A be the first player and choose the games.  A was in video game heaven!  We had a TMNT birthday cake and sang HBTY after a pizza dinner.  Uncle Topher, Aunt Jaime, Layla and Asher were with us for the celebration too.  A really had a birthday week and I was more than happy to celebrate this little guy.  His heart is big and there's a lot of love to give. 

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.