A list

Top ten ways you know you have boys:

1. When they request a “pretty” tablecloth for a game of restaurant, they are actually referring to the tractor blanket.
2. It is perfectly normal to have bruises, scrapes, or even a black eye with no recollection of where they came from.
3. The louder the fart, the funnier it is.
4. A thud or a crash is fine and ignored as long as it’s not followed by a scream.
5. They play space shuttle or airplane with any stick-like object available, including cat poop found in the backyard.
6. Cuddling is best done by running full speed into the person like a football player, knocking him or her to the ground.
7. First words are actually motor or siren noises.
8. Everyone in the family can name and identify every type of construction vehicle.
9. It’s okay to push a doll stoller as long as the doll is first throw onto the ground, stepped on, and the stroller is raced around the house at full speed.
10. You relate to anything on this list, but wouldn’t change it for the world.

Chipotle, I love you!

During our trip to Arlington this weekend, I decided to run a 10k with Cindi. That is only the second time I have run since the incident that shall not be named. Perhaps running 6 miles after 3 months of nothing was a bit ambitious…I did finish, and I am inspired to start running again, but I am not sure I have ever been this sore before. I grunt every time I have to stand up, bend over, or climb stairs. Anyway, one of the sponsers of the race was Chipotle, one of my very favorite restaurants. They had a wheel a la The Price is Right, and I won two free burritos (ok, I admit that I did go through the line twice…) D and I decided to use them tonight, but unfortunately for us, the coupons are only good for Chiptole’s in Ft. Worth. But, D took the coups anyway, just to see if maybe they would accept them. Well, the didn’t. No surprise. But the surprise is the manager gave us our burritos for free anyway tonight! It felt like our lucky day! Now I love Chipotle even more! They won some customers for life tonight, that’s for sure!

I feel like there is lots to blog about, but quite honestly I am zonked. I don’t know if I have been this tired in a long time. April has been completely insane. We either had family visiting or we were out of town for 18 days this month (and the past 15 in a row). As much as I love visiting with family, I am ready to get back to normal life.

You might be wondering about the pink blog…yes, I am changing it up. I don’t think I will keep it that color, but I was in a very pink mood that day. New banner and look coming soon! Part of the reason I am changing is because I want to get my blog turned into a book., but I have to change the software.

I am going to sleep so good tonight.

funniest thing ever

grumpycman2.jpgIt was one of those days. To say that Connor woke up on the wrong side of th bed would be an understatement. On the way to school we had a conversation about his grumpy mood. We talked about how it’s okay to feel grumpy and different ways that he could improve his mood. He seemed to be thinking really deeply about the things I was saying. After a long pause, he said,

“but mommy, I can’t find my happy mood because it’s in the prickly forest and it’s too far away!”

I stifled my laughter, and with all the seriousness I could muster, I told him we should pray. “Dear Jesus, please find Connor’s happy mood in the prickly forest and bring it back to him. Amen.”

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I sometimes freak out in the middle of the night. It’s almost like a psychosis or something. The other night, I jumped out of the bed, tore the covers off, ran across the room, tripped and skinned my knee on the carpet, and screamed. Derek, like any good husband, freaks out a little bit because I am freaking out. “Megan! Megan! Are you okay??? What’s going on??!!”
“Poop!”
“What?” Derek asks.
“Poop! There is poop in the bed! I know it! There is a HUGE pile of POOP in my bed!”

Derek, like any good husband, gets me calmed down, and assures me there is no poop in the bed.
I am literally having fight or flight. A physical reaction to the delusion in my mind.
Then we laugh at what a freak I am.

(you can insert roaches, spiders, lizards, or people besides Derek…I’ve had freak outs about all those thing.) She’s a super freak.

Photos and joy

One of the best things about Tuesday’s and Thursday’s is picking Connor up from school. I drive through the pick-up line, and when I get to the front, I hop out of the car to say hi to his teachers and enjoy the best part of the day. Every time, without fail, he runs full speed into my arms. I cannot even describe how much I love this. I know a day will come when he is too cool to run into mama’s arms, but for now I will enjoy every single second of it. The past 3 times I have picked him up, either a parent or a teacher has commented on how much they love watching Connor get picked up. I guess a lot of the kids already don’t do that. Those parents sure are missing out! I am so happy my sweet Connor reacts with such gusto after a few hours without me.

We had a yummy dinner at James’ and Kathy’s house tonight with the fam. They have such a pretty backyard, complete with a pond! I have been wanting to get some pictures in their yard, and I had a chance tonight. Originally, I wanted to get all the kids together, but that just wasn’t happening. Here are a few of my favorites:

My niece, Kayla.
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My Dad. I love this picture of him.
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Dad and Rebecca. My dad has nicknames for all his daughters. He calls my sister Rie, he calls me Bobbie, and he calls Rebecca Donkey. I am not sure how Rie and Bobbie came to be, but Rebecca made up the Donkey nickname. I have to ask about that story again…it’s such a funny nickname! But it’s so sweet when my dad calls her the beautiful donkey. Ok, it doesn’t sound sweet written on here, but it’s really sweet when he says it!
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My man. I love this picture! I realized that I never take pictures of just him, so I forced him tonight. You can bet this picture will be on a scrapbook page really soon!
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Twofer

This is too funny! Go to Google and type in “________ Needs”. No, dork, don’t type the line! Type your name. So “Megan Needs”, according to google…

1. Megan needs a summer intern.
2. Megan needs to go back to school.
3. Megan needs a pep talk.
4. Megan needs to have a sit down chat with her mum.
5. Megan needs an ass kicking, now. (I am not making this up!)
6. Megan needs a lot of encouragement.
7. Megan needs help.
8. Megan needs a very quiet home. (only in my dreams!)
9. Megan needs a theme song.
10.Megan needs to find a man. (I already found one, thanks!)

What do you need?

Family Frenzy

It’s still in full effect! Although maybe it’s taken down just a notch now that Dad, Maggie, and Rebecca are staying at my brother’s house. We’ve been have a really great time doing lots of hanging out with a few fun things on the side. I think the exciting week finally caught up with Connor because he slept until 9:30 this morning! It was great. He was nice and refreshed for a day at the beach! Here are two of my favorite pictures from the beach today.

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Logan was a maniac at the beach! He was running full speed into the surf, falling nearly every time. Luckily the water was relatively calm, so I didn’t worry too much about him getting swept away. I definitely want to keep the sweeping away to a minimum. I think I am going to take the kids to the beach more this summer. We really have a blast! I always wonder if all the prep and the clean up afterwards is worth it, but every time I realize it is. Especially now that they are a little older, and even playing together. I love watching their relationship grow more and more.

That’s it for now! I won’t bore you with anything else. I feel like my blogging has gotten really boring lately. I promise to pick it back up once April is over! April has been almost as busy as Christmas time!

Oh, and for those of you begging for us to come to the PRCC reunion (all 3 of you :), we are coming! See you this weekend!

Aunt Rebecca

I’m not sure I will ever stop chuckling at Connor and Logan’s aunt Rebecca. I still remember very vividly the night we got the phone call. I remember exactly where I was sitting. I remember the pride in my dad’s voice and the stunned silence following the news of Maggie’s pregnancy. At age 20, 24. 29, and 31, my brothers, sister and I never expected to have another sibling. But what a fun surprise it has turned out to be! I think it’s way more fun for Connor and Logan to have an aunt their own age. It’s pretty neat to have a baby sister, too.

We are having a really good visit. Pretty low key so far. We took the kids to story time at the library, but other than that we’ve just been hanging out at home. I have of course been taking pictures, so I will leave you with a few favorites so far.

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From the mind of Megan

You know the phrase “she looked at me like I had grown a second head.”?
For some reason, every time I say (or think) that phrase…which has been often for some reason. Do you ever just get a phrase or word stuck in your head? That’s mine lately. Weird.
Anyway, I digress…
In the mind of Megan, that phrase goes like this:

“She looked at me like I had grown a third head.”

Tuesday and Friday

garbagetruck.jpgTuesday and Friday mornings are really exciting around our house. At approximately 7:15 a.m. on those two days, the garbage truck comes. We hear it when it’s on the street behind ours, and the excitement starts to build. By the time it gets to our street, the boys are bursting with excitement. I wonder what the garbage men think about the two pajama clad boys that are always outside watching them and waving to them. Today, the driver and both men waved back. It was a good day.

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I was having some issues logging into my blog to post, but luckily super genius Derek fixed it for me. Last week, Derek had a conference down in Galveston, so the boys and I got to take advantage of the fancy schmancy pool at the San Luis Resort. James and Kathy even watched the kids one night and I got to stay with Derek. I considered staying with the kids overnight, but then I remembered how little we all sleep when crammed into one room together, so I came home every night. When I got to the hotel for the first time, Derek said “hey Megan, the room has robes for you to use. You love when hotels have robes.” Um, honey…I’ve never stayed in a hotel that has robes. I am not used to living in the lap of luxury like Dr. Thurman! He has definitely been spoiled since starting his real job. They treat their employees really great on trips!

Anyway, the fancy pool. It was fabulous. Heated to the perfect temperature, a hot tub, a warm tub with a cascading waterfall, and our very favorite thing…a water slide! Oh, how I loved the water slide! By the end of our second day swimming, even Logan was going down the slide alone! And let me tell you, it was fast. Check out Derek and Logan coming down together…

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The boys love to swim, and I can’t wait for the summer swimming we are going to do! Logan is a total fish. He does everything Connor does. We are going to have a blast this summer. (Annalee, will you come swim with us since you love to swim more than any other person I know?)

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As usual, Connor expressed himself with costume. He wore the goggles the entire time we were there. I love that he cares not a single bit that he looks like a huge dork! I’m not trying to be mean…honestly, look at him! He is so cute and such an individual.

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One more of the cutie Logan Bug.

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A Story

Once upon a time there was a girl who thought of a great thing to blog about. But she had to find the perfect picture to go along with it. She knew this picture was somewhere in the large bin of pictures waiting to be organized. So she started digging through the pictures, and in the process found many that needed to go on the blog.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who liked to dress up in crazy outfits. Because that is what you did in the dorm after curfew.
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That is also a fun game to play while visiting friends in San Francisco.

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And it’s also fun to dress up on the last day of school with a best friend who you called (and still call) fatty.

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This girl who liked to play crazy cleaned up nicely when there was someone else to do her make-up, hair, and pick her outfit, as evidenced by this picture with the beautiful Hillary.

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Once upon a time, there was a girl who went to ACU. She made wonderful friends and memories, including the time she did ear candling with her roomate…

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and the time she was at the bottom of an Annalee and Sara Kate pile.skalmeg.JPG

And then after she moved to California, she got this postcard from Annalee. It made her laugh the day it came in the mail, it graced her refrigerator for years, and it once again made her laugh tonight.

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Once upon a time there was a girl who married the love of her life and followed him to California. She bought a surfboard at a rummage sale. She felt real cool until she went in the water and discovered that surfing on a short board is a lot like trying to surf on a beach ball. Her dreams of joining the cast of Blue Crush were shattered. Luckily, she made some friends who liked to surf, so she got her chance to ride the waves a few times on a long board.

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This California college girl changed her major several times before deciding she wanted to be a P.E teacher/coach. She even had the wardrobe to match.

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But God had other plans, and now she is a mama. And now she needs a bathing suit that looks like this.
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This is what happens when D is out of town and I drink a large coke at 5:00 p.m. I get super distracted.
Now, let’s get to the pictures that started this whole thing. The ones I went looking for and eventually found at the very bottom of the bin.

Once upon a time, Ryan asked Derek if we wanted to vacation with him and Maggie. Since Ryan is his best friend in the world, of course he said yes. So we went to Vegas with them. Now, Derek and I had been to Vegas once before, and it has gone down in our history as some of the worst, most unpleasant days we have ever spent together. It was the worst vacation ever. First, we stayed in perhaps the most ghetto hotel on the strip (Circus, Circus). Second, we were poor and cheap. Vegas is not fun without a little bit of money to spend. We got in the biggest fight ever over spending $10 to ride the roller coaster on New York, New York. It was hotter than you know what the week we were there. We walked for miles. It was pretty much just a miserable trip all around. So we were hesitant to take another trip there, but since it’s D’s BFF, we went for it. But this time we got tickets for some shows, decided we could spend some of our tax refund money, and stayed in a nicer hotel (NY, NY) And D promised me I could ride the roller coaster this time around.

We had a great time. Seriously, it was such a fun vacation. I think it was the first time I had ever spent any time with Maggie, and we totally hit it off. D and I decided that maybe Vegas wasn’t so bad after all. We just needed to do it with the right people.

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I really have so many fun memories of that trip. Like Maggie winning a bunch of money from a nickel slot, a guy placing bets for me while I rolled for him at the craps table, and then insisting I keep the winnings, playing the horsie game at one of the casinos… (ok, it sounds like all we did was gamble, which couldn’t be farther from the truth! But Ryan did teach us all how to play craps, which was fun. You gotta remember that Ryan is a minister so we weren’t doing anything too crazy at all!)

Anyway, my most favorite memory of Vegas. Perhaps one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me. I think Maggie might still be a little jealous (*wink*). We went to see the Blue Man Group, and I got pulled up on stage and I was part of the show! It was so cool. It was in front of a pretty big audience (I would guess at least a couple hundred), and let’s just be honest…if there is one thing I love, it’s attention! I don’t even know how I got picked. The Blue Men were walking around the audience doing this freaky staring thing, and when they came over to us, I just stared right back at him. I was really fascinated by their paint and he had the biggest eyes ever. So he pulled my arm and I stood up. Then the other two came over and started walking me towards the stage. I remember lots of clapping. I got on stage and I just went along with them. I really don’t remember exactly what I did, but the audience was laughing. It was so cool! At the end of my bit, bananas squirted out of this thing they had put on me, and they took this picture and handed it to me.

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After the show, all these people kept coming up to me because they recognized me. Lots thought that I was a planned part of the show, which just proves that I was actually really fabulous. It was my movie star moment, and I will never forget it!

Ryan and Maggie, let’s go on vacation together again. That was so fun!
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Remind me not to drink that much coke again at night. It’s 11:47 and I am still completely wired.