Catching up, once again

I don't mean to be so horrible at keeping up with my blog. This busy time of year, it's hard for me to keep up, but things are finally slowing down, so here I am. I've actually been debating lately if I should continue doing this blog ... still thinking. Need to keep marinating on that one.

Until I decide for sure, he's a quick catch-up of the last month, using photos. It'll be easier for me to summarize with pictures, rather than write and write and write.

Since the last time I posted, a bunch of fun things have happened. They are:

School started! Here is our big 2nd grader on his first day. Amazing!

Karen's birthday! We spent a wonderful day out at her & Malcolm's ranch, eating ourselves silly and relaxing from our crazy work schedules. (Her busy time of year is the same as mine.) It's always fun hanging out with the Young family - we can't wait to go out there again.

Malcolm's feast for the day. It was delicious, as always.

LOTS of twin time! We were lucky enough to spend oodles of hours with this beautiful girl ...

... and this handsome devil. I can never get enough of those two. Ever.

Z's birthday! Our little dude turned 8, and asked me to make cupcakes to take to school.

Him opening a gift before school. Yes, this was taken at approximately 6:30am.

And yes, Uncle Ken came over that early, to be there when Z opened his gift. Of all his gifts, he chose Ken's to be the one he opened before school, because "Uncle Ken always gives THE BEST GIFTS!". Obviously, he thought so again this year. He jumped on Ken to give him a hug when he saw that Ken got him the one thing he wanted most.

My Mom, sister, the bday boy, and my Dad.

Mr. 8-yr old, in the hoodie my sister got him.

The at-home cake.

The party cake.

Hosted a Super Mario themed bowling birthday party for him and 11 of his friends. It was a blast!

We tried a new restaurant with Karen & Malcolm, and this is what I ate. It was damn near the best meal I've ever had in my life. Yes, it was really that good.

Found out our old man might be in the beginning stages of kidney failure. :( We will know for sure sometime in October when we take him back to get blood drawn again.

Finally got some rain! It went on for two days straight, and soaked everything to the bone. Needless to say, I absolutely loved every second of it, and wish it had lasted longer.

I made an amazing pie. This isn't an amazing picture, but trust me - the pie was incredible. Fudge pie with graham cracker crust & Cool Whip topping - how could that be bad? (Thank you again, Amy, for the recipe!)

Joined a fantasy football league for this first time ever. The league consists of me, Aaron, my parents, my sister, and Ken. My Mom chose her team name - The Bone Crushers - and this is the team photo she chose. We laughed for about two days after seeing this, because she's not generally your Grim Death Skull type.

My Dad's team - The Alley Catz. Again, made us laugh for a few days, simply because of the "z" on the end of "cats". He's so gangsta, yo. My parents are simply awesome.

We took Z to a fabulous play at a fabulous playhouse owned by his first-grade teacher! Very family-friendly, and very, very funny. Z loved it.

The witch in the play.

Z's teacher last year ... aka, Rapunzel.

Prince Charming - Z's favorite character in the play. Figures.

Witnessed the twins getting baptized. It was so special. This was my favorite family shot I took that day. I love how the older boys are praying, and Dad is nuzzling with his baby girl. Precious!

Three of the sweetest goofballs you'll ever know.

We started up soccer again! Fall season has begun and we're pretty stoked. This was Z waiting for me and Aaron to finish changing before his first practice last Wednesday evening. Mr. Cool Guy, playing his DS, with his soccer ball.

Random, awesome shot of just how alike they still are.

Beckham Junior, hard at work during practice.

Huddle at the end of practice.

Go Comets!

Whew! That's been the last four weeks, aside from my still daunting workload. All in all, no complaints, and I'm especially glad to be nearing the end of the heap of work from August. Oh, I also joined a group of women on a photo blog, in case you're interested in taking a look. It's called Envisage 365, and you can scroll down to the bottom of the page & click on my name to see my posts so far. It's pretty interesting, and seems like it's going to be a fun project for the next year.

Off now to hang out with my boys, since it's Friday night, and Aaron has the rare treat of being off from work tonight. We'll probably spend it at HEB getting groceries, like lame-o's, but at least we'll all be together. Until next time ... peace & pastries to all. Or, as my friend recently said, "love, peace, & chicken grease." I may have to amend my "peace & pastries" to that, permanently. I'm diggin' it ...

Ode to school

Oh, school. How I have missed you so. Why, you ask? Many reasons. And not just the obvious beauty of how busy & engaged you keep my kid for 10 months. (That is a big one, though.)

I have missed the camaraderie & the sense of community. There is a genuine air of love and concern for the kids who go to our school, and it's nice to be surrounded by like-minded parents. People who will get involved and do everything they can to make their children's learning environment the best it can be. That just rocks. Granted, there are always a few in the bunch who grate on my nerves, & take things to a ridiculous look-at-me-I'm-super-Mom level, but for the most part, they are good people trying to do the right thing by their kids.

I've missed the recitals, the spaghetti dinners, & the field trips. The festivals, the class parties, & the book fairs. I was actually looking forward to the parent orientation the other night, so I could see the lot of familiar faces from three months ago and simply say hello.

Your halls provide a safe & fun place for my kid to grow. He has made really good friends through you, and he's thriving academically, socially, & spiritually. He wants to participate in the activities you have to offer, and he soaks up your traditions more each year. I dig that.

No, you may not be as new, as shiny, or as technologically advanced as other newer schools of your kind. But, we still feel we've made a good choice in keeping our kid enrolled here, because we see how happy it makes him. Therefore, it makes us just as happy, and we are so grateful we're able to afford tuition another year.

School, we're so glad you're back, and we're so glad we are fortunate enough to join in all you have to offer. I'm still in awe that Z is starting second grade this year, but we have big hopes and anticipation of all the challenges and laughs that lie ahead. We grow closer to more families each year who are on the same journey as we are, and we can't wait to see what all is in store for us. For tonight though, the eve of second grade, we will get Z's uniform cleaned, label what needs to be labeled, sharpen every pencil, all while doing the the happy dance that you have returned - FINALLY. No matter what our kid says, we're glad you're back. And we know deep down, he's glad to be going back. Don't let him fool you. ;)

Mission: accomplished

Cruise countdown: 312 days.

The floors are in. Glory, glory, hallelujah!

I have been comprising a lot of "before and after" photos, so I will post those soon. We're still putting the house back together, which means my computer is still out of commission, which means my photos are still trapped on my camera. Trust me when I say, they look mahvelous dahling. Simply mahvelous.

But, mahvelous came with a catch -- what am I dealing with now that I never saw coming? Stress about the new floors. I foolishly thought my life would be running-through-daisy-fields-type happy once I got rid of carpet. Instead, I spend my days running around behind my dog with a towel, cleaning up water drips that fall from his giant, floppy lips every time he drinks water. Or I get up at 3:00am to clean the floor after I hear the cat puking in the living room, because I don't want it to sit there until I get up at 5:45am. Or I sit around weighing the pros and cons of ever getting a new puppy once our old-man dog has died, because I don't know if I can handle the stress of what a new fur-child might do to my floors. The beauty and relative ease of carpet cleaner has been eliminated from our lives, and it's all on our shoulders to preserve our giant investment. How scary and stressful is that? What were we thinking taking on this level of responsibility? I never anticipated being blind-sided by new forms of stress, but I keep telling myself this will subside after the sticker-shock has worn off. Maybe. Hopefully.

[cringing right now at what my dog could be doing while we're not home ... praying he will just stay snoozing until I can get there to let him out ... ]

A friend of mine recently blogged about results she received from a silly astrological birth chart analysis. Purely for fun, I found a free one online, and found the following observation a tad interesting & relative. (I bolded the pertinent sentences.)

"You have an instinctive need to help others. You should also have a fine sense of discrimination & a strong analytical ability. For example, you have a natural ability to separate a problem or situation into its component parts, and then see how they relate to each other. In this way, you can be of help to others. However, there may also occasionally be a tendency to worry too much (like when I install new floors), or to be overly critical if others don't come up to your standards. You're a naturally tidy person, but this can be taken to extremes." (Like when I install new floors.)

I am going to now try and re-focus on my ever-growing workload, and hope this little venting session on my blog will help bring my anxiety level down a notch. More soon ...

A whole month just went by??

Cruise countdown: 320 days.

So, that was a blur. I just realized it's been 31 days since I posted anything. Things haven't calmed down much, which is the reason why this summer is blazing by. To add to the hectic fun, we've had three deaths (a cousin I never got to meet, my best friend's father-in-law, and an old friend's sister) and Aaron's stepmom diagnosed with colon cancer. [sigh] Two of the three recent deaths were from cancer, too. Eff you, cancer. Can someone please pass me a vodka tonic?

Aaron's stepmom is still weighing out her treatment options, so there isn't much to tell about it at this point. Just please, if you pray, send one up for her & my father-in-law. No one wants to be faced with cancer, and it is definitely a diagnosis that came out of the blue, completely unexpected. Important thing though -- she found out because she went in for a routine check-up. Check-ups pay off, people. Please get one, if you haven't lately.

On a happier note, Z went off on his first solo trip. Five whole days with no Mom & Dad - we wondered if he was old enough to handle it when he left, and boy, was he ever. He had an absolute blast, not one tear shed! (Well, on his part, anyway. Mom was sniveling a little each night when she had no one to tuck in ... but hooray for him being more confident and balanced than his Mother!) He went with Thomas & his parents to South Padre Island, where they packed in a ton of activities including a pirate ship tour, a turtle conservancy, a dolphin watch, and many trips to the beach & pool. Whew! Karen, my dear friend & Thomas' Mom, was sweet enough to send me updates via text message, as well as pictures of what they were doing each day. Bless her, for she kept me sane and happy while he was gone.

The drive down there.

Cheeseburger in paradise.

Best buddies.

Modeling his shark tooth necklace.

On the pirate ship tour.

Aarrrrrrrr.

The night he came home - one happy little worn-out dude.

He let us know we need to come with them the next time they all go, because it's "even better than Port Aransas". Hmmmm, I think I'll be the judge of that ...

Aaron and I enjoyed the week alone, though we still had to work. Mom & Dad can't miss work if we need to keep funding summer trips with Z and his friends. ;) We did go eat one day at a little cafe in Marble Falls, and stopped by a cemetery on the way home, so I could snap a few photos. It was blazing hot, but definitely a fun trip, sans the kid.

Other than that big trip, we've just been working & spending a lot of time with Amy and her family. The twins are getting so big already - make it stop! I love this age! Who wouldn't love spending time looking at these two faces?

Amy has a son Z's age that he's played with since his birth, as well as a 3.5 year old. When we go over, the three boys play together, and Amy & I get to visit and play with the babies. It's a win-win! Z has been spending the night over there a lot, which helps immensely with my work schedule, and it gives me an excuse to have to go over there so I can nibble more on babies. LOVE IT.

Lastly, since summer isn't busy enough, we finally decided to take the plunge & get laminate floors installed. NO MORE CARPET! HOORAY! [big cheesy grin] After countless hours of research, trips to stores, and internet scouring, we decided to go with Lumber Liquidators. Our two final choices came down to:

The samples outside, in the sunlight.

And the winner was:

The right sample from above, but indoors.

I'm seriously as excited as I usually get for Christmas. I have wanted to get rid of this carpet for the past 10 years we've been here, and now my dream is finally coming true. [another big, cheesy grin] The install starts Thursday morning of this week, and everything should be done by Friday night. We'll be spending the night with my parents on Thursday night, to avoid the mess & the fact that our beds will be broken down into pieces in the garage. All hectic and added stress, but well worth it in the end. I can't wait.

School will start in a mere three weeks, then time will really flip into high gear. Before we know it, we'll be staring down the holidays, and planning our flights for our cruise next summer. (Awesome!) Work is officially about to start sucking worse than any other time during the year, so I'm putting my game face on, reminding myself that I'm lucky to have a job - let alone, a job I like. Hope everyone is having an amazing summer, and soaking up all the fun time before schedules and school kick back in!

Peace & pastries to everyone. Please keep my in-laws in your prayers, and I'll udpate soon. xoxo