sweetness

Camryn’s a big girl now, playing outside and all.  She loves it the most when someone plays out there with her.  Logan sometimes worries that Cami doesn’t love him as much as she loves Connor.  It’s totally unfounded…she adores both her brothers, and as you can see,  she has plenty of love for Logan.logandcam

I wish you could hear her laughing when he peeked over the side.  It was the cutest thing ever!

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Cami wishes there was room for two.  I know this, because about 30 seconds after I took this picture, she was throwing a temper tantrum to get in the car.

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Logan didn’t get out of the car, but he did reach out and give her the sweetest little hug.  It made her happy.

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And it made me happy, too.  I know there will be years ahead where the boys fight with Camryn, but for now I will just enjoy the sweetness.

Next thing you know, I’ll be darning socks

With all my new found free time, I decided I needed to attempt a sewing project.  I found this super cute free pattern online, and I decided to go for it.  I’m just tickled fancy at how it turned out!

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Anybody want one?  I over bought a bit on the fabric, and I could probably make one more size 2 (that’s what C has on) up to size 4.  It’s not perfect…my sewing skills aren’t the best and my sewing machine’s straight stitch is the tiniest bit wonky, but I’d love the practice if anyone is interested!

Two things

First, if you use google ready, you’ve got to check out the “next” feature.  It’s awesome!

The second thing is a story about Connor.  Last night, I went to the back to school parent night at C’s school.  His teacher was telling us all about the reward system that she uses in her classroom.  The kids earn fake pennies, which they can then trade in for nickels, dimes, and quarters, and then they can “buy” different prizes.  There are all different price ranges for the prizes.  Ms. C. was telling us how excited the kids are about this, and they were asking about $1 prizes, $1.50 prizes, and $2 prizes.   Connor proceeds to inform Ms. C and the class that it will be hard to earn $2.00 because they would need 200 pennies for that and there are only 169 days of school.   I was cracking up when Ms. C was telling us this story, because although she did not mention the child’s name, I know it was Connor.   I asked him about it this morning, specifically how he knew there were 169 days of school.  He said he remembered it from kindergarten, but actually there should be about 180 this year if there are no hurricanes.  The kid remembers everything about numbers!

Of course, getting him to remember to use the bathroom or put his dirty clothes in the basket is a whole different story…I need to attach some sort of number system to his responsibilities and I bet he would never forget.

One last first

So Logan and Camryn had their first day of school this morning.  As you can see, they were absolutely thrilled.

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And, I just want to show y’all the evidence of the Houston humidity.  This is what happens to my camera when I first go outside.  Nice.

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Despite the glum face, Logan had a really great day.  I love that he has his same teachers from last year.  This is Logan’s third year at the school, so he’s really comfortable there and had tons of fun today.

Camryn did well, too.  She cried when I dropped her off, which I totally expected, but it was short lived.  According to her teachers, she had a really good day, and the only other time she cried was during a diaper change.  That didn’t surprise me at all…she hates having her diaper changed!

As for me…it was weird having no kids at home!  I went to breakfast with a few friends, went to Sams (where at one point I totally panicked for a split second wondering where Cami was), and then I went home.  That was when it was weird…it was just so quiet!  I did a bit of cleaning, but I also read a magazine, watched some tv, started a sewing project, and caught up on blogs and stuff.  It was nice!  I was so ready to see my babies when 2:00 rolled around, and it was the perfect little break I needed.  Especially since Derek has been gone this week.

It feels so good to be getting back into our fall routine, although it’s definitely been an adjustment.  As a kid, I always liked the start of the school year, and even as a grown up, that has not changed at all.  It makes me want to go school supply shopping and stock up on notebooks and pens and make lists and get a nice, fresh start.  I love it.

We made it!

Our summer officially came to an end today. Good thing, since Connor has declared it the “100% worst summer ever” every single day over the past week. His reasons include a sore neck from sleeping funny, a broken tire swing at the park, a scraped foot from tripping on the patio, and having to go to time out quite frequently over the last few weeks. Ay yi yi. I just don’t know where he get his dramatic tendencies from…

(and anyone who knows me in real life is laughing right now, because lets just say that apple didn’t fall far from the tree.)

Suffice it to say, we were all more than ready to get back into our school routine. Connor was pretty nervous about the new year until we went to meet the teacher yesterday. Once he met his sweet teacher, sat at his desk, and took in the classroom, he was feeling “1000% ready for first grade.” (He likes numbers. A lot.)

What he doesn’t like so much is the obligatory first day of school photo.

I had Logan take one of my baby big boy and I.  I like that he still has his early morning, tired eyes.  He did great waking up early, but he definitely didn’t wake up on his own.

And then we were off.  He didn’t even want me to walk him inside, little Mr. Independent!  But he let me.  And he let me give him a hug and a kiss in his classroom.  I’m not sure how many more years I’ll get away with that!

We found his desk, which he loves because it’s a real desk this year, not just a table.  First grade is big time.

Then he was off and working hard.

And then came my favorite part of the day.  One of the best things about school is I get a chance to miss him while he’s gone.  And that makes when he gets off the bus one of my favorite moments of each and every day.  I love this picture so much!  My happy, sweet, first grader.  You can see all over his face that he had a great day.

Here’s to many more great days, just like today.

A day in the life

My friend Danielle just did a day in the life post, and I loved it.  It’s been awhile since I did one of these, so I figured the (almost) last day of summer would be a good day for this.

7:00-Someone little and snuggly climbs into my bed.  I feel like it can’t possibly be morning yet, but of course it is.  Logan and I snuggle in bed for another 20 minutes or so.

7:25-I hear Camryn talking to herself.  The talking quickly turns more urgent.  Time to get up.

7:30-We all say good-bye to Derek.  Connor has stumbled out of bed by this point.  Good-bye includes hugs and kisses for all, and all of us waving to him as he pulls out of the garage.

7:45-make my coffee, Logan’s bowl of cereal, and Camryn’s cinnamon toast.  Connor isn’t ready to eat quite yet.  I eat some cereal, read blogs and emails.  Finally make Connor and english muffin for breakfast.  Oh, and Logan also eats a pizza lunchable.  Choose your battles…

8:00-the boys watch Diego and Dora while I get myself and Camryn ready for the day.  I clean up the breakfast mess and take a moment to think about the day and make a to-do list and a shopping list.

8:55-Help the boys get dressed.  They can do this themselves, but they are having a bit of a helpless morning.

9:10-Leave to run our errands.  I need to go to Target, and then decide to go to Wal-Mart, too.  I was hoping to find a pool on clearance big enough for all 3, but no such luck.

11:15-Home again.  I only had to remind the kids 3 times to use inside voices, and only had to say no to 15 different “can I haves”.  Not too bad.  No tears, no tantrums, and I stuck to my list.  That’s a successful shopping trip in my book.

11:30-Feed everyone lunch.  Ham and green beans for Camryn, ham and cheetos for the boys, and a leftover meat cupcake for me.

12:00-Clean up lunch.  Start a load of laundry.  The boys alternate between playing a few computer games (Webkinz for C, Nick Jr. for L), and have motorcycle races complete with rock and card obstacles in the dining room.

12:30-Put Cami down for her nap.

12:35-Fold yesterday’s laundry, put away the last week’s laundry, make my bed, do a quick bathroom clean, and break up several fights between the boys.

2:00-sit here and start this blog, read other blogs, enjoy the (relative) peace and quiet.  Logan is watching Max and Ruby, Connor is playing a computer game.  (Sidenote…it sounds like we’ve done a lot of tv/computer time already…usually they are limited to 1 hour per day, but it’s the last day of summer, and I’m just letting them play.)

2:30-Camryn wakes up from her nap.  I make snickerdoodles, she walks around being cute, and the boys finish up their shows/computer games.

3:00-We all go out in the (hot as you know what) backyard.  I fill about 50 water balloons.  What takes me half an hour to accomplish is undone in less than 5 minutes.  But the boys are having fun, so it’s all good.

3:30-Camryn and I head inside.  The boys continue their water fight just using the hose.

3:40-Everyone is back inside.  Camryn and I take a little walk to the mailbox, and the boys spend about 15 minutes just running around the house naked, eating cookies, and cleaning up the cards from this morning’s obstacle course.

4:00-Finish making the snickerdoodles.  Eat too many of them.

4:10-Boys go back outside to play with our neighbor.  I have no idea exactly what they are doing, but it definitely involves dirt, the hose, some cars, some legos, and some sticks.

4:22-It starts to thunder.  I’m hope the storm holds off a little longer.  They are having a great time outside.  I play with Camryn, and start working on Connor’s official Morning and Nighttime Charts.

5:00-Outside time is over.  The thunder and lightening is close, and it’s going to rain any minute.  The boys run back to their room to play.  They play nicely together for the next 45 minutes, which is a rare thing these days.  I finish up the charts and sort of putter around, waiting for Derek to get home.

5:45-Derek is home.  Yay!  We eat leftovers for dinner (taco salad for me, meat cupcake for Connor, nachos for Logan, sausage and tortellini soup for Derek, and quesadilla and peaches for Cam.)

6:35-We all load up to go see the class lists at C’s school and to rent a movie.  I was definitely the most excited to see the class lists.  I loved that part of starting a new school year!

7:15-Home, with Shrek the Third and a Diego movie.  The boys get their jammies on, I give Cami a bath and get her ready for bed, and Derek finishes cleaning up the kitchen.

7:30-Camryn goes to bed and the boys start their movies.  I clean up a few things, and then get out Connor’s yearbook from last year to see his teacher and try to find the kids who are going to be in his class.  I’m such a dork!

9:00-movies over, time to brush teeth and head to bed.

9:10-Goodnight hugs and kisses all around, and boys are tucked in.

9:12-Logan is out of bed because his nightlight isn’t plugged in.

9:14-Connor is crying because he doesn’t want a nightlight.

9:20-silence all around.  All the crying was just a last ditch effort to stay awake.

10:00-finish up this blog, and I’m headed to bed!

(sorry for the lack of pictures.  This would have been way better with pics.  Oh well!)

Guest Post

The picture portion of this post is brought to you by the sweetest, cutest, 4 year old I know.  Logan loves to get my camera and take pictures, and I always love to see what he comes up with.

(And just so you know, I didn’t crop any of these.)

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Last weekend, I had to clear all the furniture out of the living room to steam clean the carpets after the Great Vomit Fest of 2009.  Derek and I discovered that Wii bowling is really fun when there are absolutely no obstructions.  We played a somewhat embarrassing number of games that day.  (The kids played, too.  But not as much as us!)

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Camryn looks thrilled to have her picture taken here.

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Soccer season has started up again.  This season, only Connor wanted to play.  Logan is going to be taking gymnastics.  He wanted to “do that thing where you do tricks.”  I think it’s going to be a great fit for him!

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Legos.  It’s all about the Legos.  Usually, they play with the small ones, but everyone once in awhile they dig back into the big ones.

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I think I will have to get Logan one of those kid digital cameras for Christmas.  He’s pretty good with mine, but it always makes me nervous!  Do any of you have a kiddie camera?  Are they any good?

So yesterday, we had one last event before school starts.  Derek took the day off work, and we all went down to Schlitterbahn in Galveston with some of our good friends.  It was such a blast!  Even Camryn was able to do a lot of the rides with us.   They have these double tubes that have a bottom in the front seat, so Camryn could ride with us.  She ended up falling asleep twice while riding the lazy (really, not so lazy) river.  The river has a lazy part, a whitewater rapid part, and a wave part.  It’s so much fun!  She could also do a lot of the smaller slides on my lap and some of the family style rides where we all ride in one big tube together.  We all had such a good time, but of course we were exhausted.  It was 12 hours from the time we left our house that morning until we were completely done, kids bathed and tucked in, food put away, showered, etc.  It’s totally worth it, though.  I’m such a waterpark freak!

In other news, I’ve decided to sign Camryn up for Mother’s Day Out this year.  I wasn’t going to…I love the school, but Cami is my baby and I just didn’t think I would be ready.  Well, I’m ready, lol!  This mama needs a break, and I know she is going to absolutely love it.  She is such a social litle thing.  I wasn’t even sure the school would have an opening (most of the classes have a wait list), but wouldn’t you know that there was exactly one spot left on the days I wanted.  Now I’ll be able to do things at Connor’s school, I’ll be able to grocery shop alone, and I’ll just be able to catch my breath a bit.  I have been feeling really worn out…almost burned out lately.  I think having 10 hours a week alone is going to be a great thing.

I have to admit that I totally struggled with some major mommy guilt over this decision.  I didn’t sign the boys up this young (Logan was 2.5, Connor was almost 4.)  I feel like I should be able handle everything better than I do and needing a break makes me a failure.  But after a talk with a good friend I realized that I really can’t compare life with 1 child, or even 2 kids, to my life now.  I don’t have to be a stay-at-home-mom hero.  It’s okay that I need time, that I feel overwhelmed, that I struggle with keeping my cool, and on top of that, my better half has a job where he travels all the time.  It’s okay.  I’m okay.

Talk to me Wednesday, though.  That will be the first day all 3 are gone at the same time.  I’ll probably be here, sitting on the couch, trying to figure out how to deal with all the silence and free time.

(and isn’t it funny how 10 hours of free time seriously feels like all the time in the world?!)

catch up

Been a bit of a blog slacker this week…it’s not so much that there isn’t stuff going on, I just haven’t been feeling bloggy.  Bloggy.  I think that should be a real word.  I like it!

So, in list form, here’s a run down of the week:

–Love my kids.  Love that I get to stay home with them. Wouldn’t change it for the world.

–So ready for school to start.  I’ve hit the wall. 9 more days.

–Took a road trip to Boerne to visit my friend Amy. We all had the best time. The kids ran wild (in a well-behaved, controlled way), I got lots of good girl time, and stepped foot into Anthropologie for the first time. I might never be the same.  (and I also totally failed at taking pictures.)

–Took a road trip to Wimberly to visit my friend Carmin. The kids swam in a river and fed deer in Carmin’s front yard.

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–We drove 550 miles total, just me and the kids, on our little adventure. And I really had a blast doing it. Don’t tell Derek, but I’m starting to like good, old-fashioned road trips.  (I’m pretty sure the dvd player in the car has a lot to do with my love of road trips.)

–I left Wimberly at 6:00 p.m. to drive back home. At 6:15, I turned around and saw this:

Sleepy Logan

Sleepy Camryn

I plumb wore them out! My favorite part is Logan’s hand in the goldfish bag.

–I found a sno-cone stand about less than 15 minutes from my house. It’s not quite a cajun cone, but they are pretty tasty. We’ll definitely be going back next week.

–We’ve done some swimming, played with friends, rented a few redbox movies, and played lots of wii bowling.

–I pulled an all nighter with a vomiting kid for the first time ever.  Poor Logan…now I’m just praying none of the rest of us get it.  It was pretty miserable.

–But now I have lots and lots of clean sheet and towels, and fresh, steam-cleaned carpets.

–I got a letter in the mail nominating me for Who’s Who Among Executives and Professional Women. It’s about time that someone recognized me as an executive.  It totally made me laugh.  I’ve never even had a full time job or a career of any sort.   I’ve been stay at home mom ever since I graduated from college 7 years ago.  I would really love to read the profile that the Publishing Director believes “would make a fitting addition to our Honors Edition publication.”  I wonder if it’s my stain removing skills or my Candy Land prowess that most qualifies me to share space in a book with “thousands of fellow achievers across the nation.”

–I took this really sweet picture of Logan and Derek the other day.  D had been out of town all week, and on his first morning back in town, Logan was giving him the full on silent treatment.  But once he heard Derek’s garage door open, he flew out of the house into his arms and gave him the best hug ever.  Logan is such a little love bug (on his own terms and in his own time.)  I’m so glad I ran back inside to get my camera.

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Hope everyone had a great week/weekend!

Suddenly, she is a toddler

It’s not just because of the constant toddling that’s been happening.

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It’s also the pig tails.  Oh, how I love her little pigtails, even if they are pulled from what is pretty much a full on mullet.

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It’s also in the way she plays.  After her nap time spent in her crib not sleeping, she put on all her bling, carried her tea pot out to the living room, and climbed on her toy.

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She smiled at me, completely charming me once again.

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She makes lots of really expressive faces.

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She throws herself face down on the ground, crying, when something doesn’t go her way.  (Not Pictured.  Not because it doesn’t happen…I just haven’t caught it on camera yet.  There’s plenty of time for tantrum pictures.)

She is definitely the cutest baby girl that I’ve ever had.
And I love her to pieces.

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I dare you not to smile

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Connor proclaimed her The Camryn Monster when he saw this picture.  I can’t think of a more appropriate title.

Oh, and the black stuff in her molars?  Not decay, don’t worry.  Just a little bit of pepper from the seasoned french fries she chowed down on at Texas Roadhouse.