70% Chance of Rain x 7

With a 7 day forecast of rain, eerily similar to the forecasts of the past 2 months, my friend Liz and I decided to take Grey, Hope, Holland, Faith and Xomie to the Children's Museum (the big one), because if Mama doesn't get out of the house soon she will need to be medicated. The museum is very hands-on and even if it wasn't, my children would still have their hands on the stuff. It was very busy, but they had a good time. Now I see why I have had such problems getting my mail.

Holland was naturally drawn to the shoe department of the Mexico exhibit. Her love of shoes goes deep.

I'm not sure about this particular exhibit. I believe it is some sort of cooking area. Very foreign to me and not just because it's a Mexico exhibit.

Xomie, Faith, and Holland getting some education in.

Grey talking to Hope via the video phone. This is one particular piece of technology I am in no hurry to see. Who wants to see me talking on the phone in my closet, because let's face it that's the only place you can hide from the kids and talk on the phone in relative peace...for 15 minutes anyway. And yes, I've tried the bathroom, but as any mom knows, as soon as you step foot in a bathroom, an alarm goes off in the kids' brains and they have to find you and ask you something RIGHT THEN, because they might forget in the 2 minutes before you come back out.

Holland likes to add a little drama to even the simplest tasks.

Grey discovers the importance of staying in school.

Seems like a sweet, peaceful scene, until you realize Grey is trying to devour Holland's duck with the Blue Duck of Death.

Both Grey and Holland really enjoyed painting and got along really well....possibly because they were not facing each other.

Just Follow the Plan....

On Saturday night, I lay out the kids' clothes for church on Sunday, and Mac makes sure the same clothes get put on on Sunday morning. So Mac went upstairs to get the kids dressed Sunday and showed Holland what I had laid out. The girl loves a pretty dress. However, this Sunday, the 4 year old puffed her lower lip out and said "Those aren't my colors!" First of all, I think you know me well enough to know that I am not going to send that child out of this house with clothes that aren't her colors. Second, what color can't that brown-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned child wear? She looks cute in any color. And I say that with just a twinge of envy. And if you've seen the color fuschia within 5 feet of my hair, especially when it was redder (back before highlights hijacked the rest of my hair), you know what I'm talking about. Jenn, I know you're knodding your head in agreement. But anyway, Mac's response to Holland's fashion rebellion, "you'll have to take that up with the General (me)." A wise man I married. And just so you know, she wore what I originally laid out for her and she looked cute, lower lip puffed out and everything.

Upwards Soccer Evaluation

Grey and Holland had their soccer evaluations today for their upcoming soccer seasons. Mostly, the evaluations are to get a feel for the individual skill levels of the players so the teams are balanced. (Wouldn't it be nice if the SEC worked that way.)
Since Grey has played 3 seasons of soccer, he did pretty well. Holland, however, is brand new to the sport. At first, she was more excited about wearing her black and pink cleats than the actual sport, but when she got out on the field for her evaluation, she really listened and participated and did her best. People, there was mud out there. Normally, Holland does not do mud, but she totally ignored it and enjoyed herself. Now do I think she will make it through the whole season without a meltdown on the field, no. I mean, this is Holland, who was crying because she couldn't get maple syrup completely off her hands the other night. So a sport of running, sweating, grass, dirt, and somebody taking a ball away from her doesn't really seem up her alley, but we are going to give it a shot. She might just suprise us all....in a good way, I mean.

I think I might play if I got to wear shoes this cute.

Lookin' Much Better Now, Thank You.

(Holland's feet earlier this week.)
Please pardon the peeling-off toenail polish. I didn't really want to mess with her feet until the red spots cleared up. And thank goodness, for the most part, they have.

Trip To Mississippi-------Cancelled

If our plans had held we would be eating a nice plate of spaghetti in Mississippi right about now. But alas, we are not. Our trip that was supposed to include a visit to see Baby Nash, see Jennifer and Will, hit 2 Family Reunions, and even personally deliver a Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law had to be cancelled. Why, you ask? Well Holland has been sporting this rash on the tops of her feet and her knees that has progressively gotten worse. And then Grey started to get a milder version on his toes and knees. Since "rash" and "houseguest" don't mix, I figured I ought to have it checked out. The doctor didn't really give me a definitive answer. She said it could be an allergic reaction to something she has come in contact with. She asked if Holland had been running in some grass or woodsy areas. Now, if you know Holland, you know she doesn't run around in grass or woodsy areas. (Can I get a witness?) But the doctor did say it wasn't infectious which is always nice to hear. It's hard to maintain friendships when you're infectious. Anyway, we are going to keep an eye on it and hopefully it will go away on it's own.
Our second issue was that Holland's sinus/allergies are starting to give her problems. And 9 times out of 10, it turns into a sinus infection. So, the good doctor went ahead and gave us an RX to have if it turns that way. And I did notice this afternoon that her nose was getting that green, crusty look. No charge for the visual.
Now add those two problems together and you get one very CRABBY princess. I couldn't have driven 10 hours with the whining and irritability. I would have hated to call Mac and tell him to pick her up at The Cracker Barrel in Lafayette, LA because I just couldn't take it anymore. So here we are still in Texas, with a foot and knee rashed, crusty-nosed, crabby 4 year old. Consider yourself lucky, Mississippi.............

A True Southern Cheerleader Always Wears Her Pearls.

A Public Service Announcement

After our Crocs vs The Escalator incident, a friend told me that she saw a news story about this very subject. I thought I would post a link to it so you can read for yourself about the dangers of wearing Crocs on an escalator. Some kids have not been as lucky as Holland.
ABC News Story on Crocs and Escalators.

Jay Nash McCrary

My cousin Lu and his wife, Katie, had their handsome baby boy, Nash, on July 18th. Technically, Nash is my 2nd cousin on his daddy's side, but I'm gonna ask if I can be an "unofficial" aunt. I'm all about the title. You can see more pictures and get more info at their blog and you don't have to wade through any of my commentary. You know me, I get off track rather easily.




On a side note: All these sweet babies give me a little bit of baby fever. It's a low grade fever, but it's there nonetheless. The pictures make me a little teary-eyed, because I remember how precious those moments are. I tried holding my neighbors' 5 month old, you know, just to get my baby fix, but then I hugged him and smelled him and then he smiled at me, and I just melted. I found myself eyeing the baby clothes and all the new stuff they have for babies and I sighed. (Sigh) Of course, I think I feel like this because my kids slept in until after 9:00 am this morning and I've forgotten how sleeplessness feels. Maybe I should just concentrate on keeping my kids' feet from getting sucked into escalators instead of having more babies.......

Alexander James Kingdon

Congratulations to my friend Stacey Kingdon and her husband and little Andrew on their newest addition Alexander James, born July 12th! Stacey is my friend from our days in San Antonio.
I haven't seen her since we left, but we've kept in touch with email and the phone, that's right, I said the phone. Anyway, we'll be heading that way in August for a mini-vacation. Maybe somebody should warn her.........

A Pearl Of Wisdom

I know I promised no pearls of wisdom. (see paragragh under "About Us".) However, I am going to make an exception today, because I figure sometimes it's better to learn from somebody else than to have to go through it yourself. Today is our AMC Summer Movie Camp. Basically the theater shows free movies on Wed. mornings all summer long. The movies are usually a year or so old, like Barnyard, Charlotte's Web, Flushed Away, etc. and the kids can get the Kid's Pack with popcorn, drink and a candy for $3.00. That makes me giddy all by itself. Ok, I'm getting off track. On to the pearl of wisdom.....

After the movie, we headed home and took the escalator down to leave the mall. Halfway down, the escalator grabbed Holland's shoe and sucked it off of her foot and down into the moving stairs. We were in the MIDDLE of the escalator. Fortunately, Holland was wearing her Crocs which have a lot of give to them. It still hurt her because it grabbed and twisted it off so fast. But she is fine. However she is none too pleased about losing her shoe, and I had a hard time telling if she was crying so hard because her foot hurt or she was so mad that the escalator took her shoe. So here's my pearl of wisdom: Have your child stand as close to the center of the stair on the escalator and still be able to hold onto the rail. And be extra, extra careful if they are wearing shoes with laces. I can't imagine what might have happened if she had had shoes with shoelaces (that I always doubleknot) on. Would her foot have gone into the stair and gotten trapped, twisted, or crushed? I didn't want to go there, but as a mom, I have to consider that possiblity. Needless to say we filed a report witht the mall and they shut down the escalator. So there's my pearl. Don't worry, I'll be back with nonsensical posts tomorrow.

"Thunder, Everybody out of the Pool"

You might say we have had our fair share of rain, and the forecast for the next week doesn't look much different than the forecast for the past 6 weeks. It can be quite deceiving. We wake up in the morning, and the sun shines bright, and we think, surely the rain will spare us today. We get our swimsuits on and wait for the pool to open. And of course, as soon as we get a toe in the pool, the thunder booms and everybody has to get out of the pool. And if you try to wait out the thunder, you'll only get caught in the torrential rain. So we head home with a disappointed 7 year old and highly aggravated, non-understanding, crying, screaming at the thunder, 4 year old. Good times.

However, we saw a beautiful rainbow over our house after one of the showers. And then we looked again and saw another rainbow right above the first rainbow. We had never seen that before. It was so pretty, for lack of a better word. And if you have some scientific explanation, don't tell me, I prefer just to enjoy it, not explain it.

ITZ Fun

As you may know, Mac travels all throughout the city for work and quite often he finds new and different places for us to check out. This week we checked out a new place called ITZ. And I have to say it was quite fun. It had some indoor rides, games, bowling, bumper cars, and all the pizza you can eat. (Oh, just check out the link.)

Our first ride was the DISCOZ. (see spinning disk in the picture on the side.) Mac and Grey got on and fastened in their seats and waited for a few others to get on, and then Grey cracked and had to get off. Mac, however, rode without him. After Mac's ride, we tried to get a credit back since Grey got off before the ride began. They couldn't accomodate our request. Since I don't like to waste credits, I rode it....ALL BY MYSELF WITH NO ONE ELSE ON THE RIDE. I am convinced that rides that spin at high rates of speed are not for people over 30, especially if that person is riding by herself. Next time, I'm just going to let that credit go, just let it go......

The kids rode this bouncing jeep. There was a lady in the jeep in front of them riding with her young daughter, and I noticed everytime she went by, she was either holding her stomach or had her hand cupped over her mouth, sure signs of someone over 30.

The kids also rode the mini roller coaster and jumping Monkey ride.

Our favorite was the Mini Bowling. My first couple of frames were dismal, but I rallied at the end to beat Grey. And I raised the roof in victory. Holland wasn't really competing with us. I'd like to think she was in competition with herself, you know, beating her personal best. It's what I like to think. And Mac? (sigh) He always beats everybody by a ridiculous amount so we don't even count him.

Texas vs The Exercise Ball

Exercise is a crucial part of Texas' weight loss program. Here he is working out with the Exercise Ball. Honestly though, I just don't think his heart is in it.

The Fourth of July

We enjoyed our Fourth of July. We went to our town's local Fourth extravaganza, (the term extravaganza may be a little exaggerated, but I like the way it sounds.) Anyway, we ate dinner, then went out to the "Town Center" and checked out the booths, scoring some "free parking at the airport" coupons, enjoyed some free diet cokes, and listened to the band, who were really great, and that is no exaggeration. It's nice to see and hear my tax dollars at work. Holland especially enjoyed the music and did some of her freelance dance for us. And then we watched the fireworks, and nobody got burned by a Sparkler this year which was nice for a change.

We dined at The Olive Garden. (That's Denny, our waiter in the back.) And, yes, we ate Italian on America's Independence Day. I think we've already established we have no shame.

Our friends and neighbors, Holland, Hope, and Faith.

You know the folks on the left. On the right, is Faith and her dad, Mr. Derek.

That's a lot of stripes for any occasion.

Dining out with the family, from my perspective.

Where ya been?

Okay, I know I have slipped on keeping the blog as current as I should. I mean with the nonstop rain we have had the last 30 days or so, you'd think I would be just spend hours blogging. Well, that would be the case if I hadn't been introduced to Webkinz. Yes, a week and a bit ago I was blissfully unaware of the existence of this phenomenon, using all my computer savvy on this blog, or cheap therapy as I fondly refer to the blog. BUT, my friend, and I won't call her name, but you can find her at dswalling.blogspot.com, introduced me to the Webkinz. It's technically for the kids, but Holland needs some assistance with the computer (translated, I get frustrated and just take the mouse from her) so basically I've taken over her Webkin. And as you can imagine Grey is totally into it to. What is Webkinz? Good grief, how many links do I have to put so you click on it and find out for yourself? Beware, if you have kids, you will become addicted. Consider yourself warned.....