Thankful . . .

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I don't think I will have time to do this then. I wanted to write down some of the things I am so thankful for. I wish I could sit and reflect on these things more throughout the year because I truly feel blessed. . .

I am thankful for my husband . . . many times I don't give him the credit he deserves. He works very hard to provide for his family. He never brings his job home with him and never takes things out on me even though he probably could. He is a great father to our two children and I know he loves me more than anything. He is a good man and I am blessed to spend my life with him.

I am thankful for Dallas . . . this boy just melts my heart. There are so many times in the day that I wonder how I got so lucky to be his mommy. He is so kind and thoughtful. I don't think I have ever seen him try to hit another child even when he was hit first. He is so funny and charming. I think he is going to be a star one day because he is always performing! He told me today out of the blue that he loved me and it just made me melt. Even when I am having a bad mommy moment and losing my patience with him, he always loves me and never holds a grudge. I could learn a thing from him about forgiveness.

I am thankful for Phoebe . . . this girl is my test. She challenges me to have more patience and be a better mother. She keeps me on my toes and has such spirit. She has a smile that could melt even the hardest heart. Each day she does something new and I am so proud. She has a determination to be a big girl and I wish she would stay my baby forever. Some of my favortie moments are when she is nursing in the middle of the night and is so peaceful. It is at that moment that I feel so thankful to call her mine.

I am thankful for my mom and dad . . . they mean the world to me. My mother is my true best friend and I don't know where I would be without her. She puts up with my numerous phone calls a day and is always encouraging to me. She humors me when I tell her how bad things are sometimes and feel like I am the only one that strugges when I know she is thinking that she went through this too and survived way worse, but she never makes me feel like my issues aren't important. My dad has the softest heart of anyone I know. Just yesterday he was telling me a memory of his from his childhood about his dad playing catch with him after being gone for weeks at a time. He would get home and play ball with his boys before even going in the house to see my grandma. When he was telling me this story I could hear the emotion in his voice and it touched me so much. When they came to visit me and surprised me, it just made my year!! Thank you for the awesome gift and thank you for being such amazing parents! I hope I am half the parent you are to my kids as you are to me. You have always made me feel so loved.

I am thankful for my maw in law Sharon and my father in law Ron . . . I feel truly blessed with our relationship. I never imagined that things would turn out the way they did but I am so thankful that we are where we are. I truly love you both dearly. I am so thankful that you both are such amazing grandparents to Dallas and Phoebe. It melts my heart to see how happy Dallas is when he is with you. He talks of you both so often and I am so thankful that we live near you so that he can have these memories.

I am thankful for my brother Steve . . . I think back to my childhood and so many of my memories include him. He is ten years older than me but he and I have always been so close. When he was in high school and I was just a young girl he took me everywhere with him. Looking back, I can't believe he did it all the time and he never seemed to complain. I was just his little tag along. Thank you for being so great to me Steve, I am lucky to have you for a brother.

I am thankful for my sister Tina . . . I am thankful that Tina has survived another year alive. She has been through so many things in her life. I pray that she gets clean this year and realizes the true beauty she has in her heart.

I am thankful for Merrie . . . I doubt she will see this, but I am so thankful for her. She is my true friend that I don't know how I will survive without her when we move. We are both going through the same things with our kids and I know if anyone understands my joys and struggles, it is her. When I need an encouraging thought or a kind word, she is there.

I have more but don't have any more time. I will try and come back to this later.

I think . . .

that Phoebe and Dallas are starting to like each other. It seems lately they have been playing more together. Dallas asks to have her do things with him. Like when he was reading he asked if she could sit with him. Of course the moments are fleeting at times and we go from happily playing to extreme chaos in a matter of moments. But, the way I see it, at least we are getting some good brother and sister moments. Isn't the fun of being brother and sister that you love each other one minute and hate each other the next?
For some reason, all day he wore this outfit he reminded me of how my dad looked as a child. I am not sure why but I just kept seeing it.

Just some random pics . . .

Mommy says, "I wish he was always this peaceful" Dallas says, "I want you, to give me some toys!!" Phoebe says, "I am so over this crawling business, I want to walk!" Dallas says,"I want to go fast!!" Mommy says, "This is the cutest girl around"

Mommy Moment . . .

I think I am going to start keeping track of the crazy Mommy Moments I have so that one day when I have forgotten them I can look back and laugh.

This was our adventure on Friday. The kids and I had been house bound for a few days. I was feeling a bit antsy and anxious and was really ready to get the kids out. Dallas had been bouncing off the walls for a few days so I decided to pack us up after naptime and head to the mall so that Dallas could play in the inside play area and we could eat an early dinner. We get to the play area and he is all excited to bounce around. I am watching him run all over the place and I take a whiff at Phoebe and realize she needs to be changed. I go to my trusty diaper bag and grab the stuff to change her. Of course, I hadn't restocked my diaper bag and I didn't have any diapers in my bag. Crap. I know I have some in the van so I tell Dallas we have to go to the van and change Phoebe. He wasn't too happy but I promise we will come right back and make an adventure out of it. I get his shoes back on, put him in the stroller because it will be faster and carry Phoebe. On the way out I ask him if he needs to go potty. He says no. I make a mental note to take him before we go back and play. We head out to the van and the nice Salvation Army bell ringer holds the door for me again and says, "Didn't I just see you a minute ago" Which I reply, ""Yup, we'll be right back, I forgot something" I open up the van and start to

change Phoebe. She is moving around a bunch and just at the point I get her diaper halfway on Dallas tells me he needs to go pee. I tell him to hold it just a second and finish with Phoebe. Well, then he starts yelling "OH NO!!!!!" I set Phoebe in her carseat but don't strap her in and I pull Dallas out of the stroller and of course he has just had an accident and there is a puddle of pee in the seat. I tell him it is okay and that we will fix it. I look at Phoebe who is now standing up in her seat and strap her into her carseat because I don't need her falling out of the van and with my luck it probably would happen. I take off Dallas' pants and underwear and tell him to finish going potty next to the van. He does and somehow manages to pee on his socks. Crap! I always have a spare set of clothes in my van but I hadn't switched from the summer stuff to winter stuff. I put Dallas into new underwears and a pair of shorts and I stick his shoes on with no socks. I thought of just heading home but I knew he would be upset so I tried to wipe off the stroller but it was too wet. Thankfully I had my smaller stroller in the van. I go and change out the strollers and put all our stuff into the smaller one. I get Phoebe strapped into it and hold Dallas' hand and we head back into the mall for him to play. He looks so silly wearing these big winter shoes with no socks, shorts and a long sleeved shirt but there is a smile on his face and that is all that matters. He is already thinking about playing while I am thinking that being a mommy is tough work.

Backyardigans Live . . .

The Backyardigans, Tasha, Austin, Uniqua, Tyrone and Pablo

After much anticipation, it was finally time to go see Backyardigans Live. We bought our tickets back in August and Daddy and I have been so excited to take Dallas. We told him all morning that we were going to go and see Pablo. I don't think he had any idea what it meant because to him Pablo has always been on TV. We rushed to the Nokia Theater to go and see him and of course there was a bunch of traffic on the way. We had to go through on accident and then the highway was under construction so it went down to one lane. I was so worried we weren't going to make it on time and it was really important for him to be there when it started. We get to the place with ten minutes to spare, but we still have to park, go inside and have a potty break and make it to our seats. We run to the bathrooms and I get Dallas to potty then I start to hear the music and freak out and finish with him but the music was just playing and we hadn't missed it.

We get to our seats and a few minutes later it starts. The look on his face was priceless. I dont' think that his little mind could comprehend what he was seeing and he just sat absolutely still staring at the stage. Phoebe was squealing with delight because she has heard the music so much that she was so happy. I started to get teary eyed because I was so filled with joy for them both. It was such a special thing to be doing and my emotions just took over. The production was just amazing. There were so many set changes and the characters moved exactly like they do on the TV show. There was an intermission half way through and when the second half started up I took Phoebe out to get her to sleep. I was bummed I missed some of it but she was getting tired and her sleep was more important. Daddy said that Dallas loved the second half and was jumping around and asking questions and having fun. When it was over we had a huge meltdown because he wasn't ready to leave. Out of the 1,000 kids there he was the only one screaming and crying but I am not going to let that ruin our time. I think it is because he just had to much fun.

Daddy and Dallas with their Knight Sheild

Daddy and Miss PrissMommy and Dallas, he wouldn't look at the camera.You weren't supposed to take pictures but I had Daddy sneak a few at the end.

Fall Fly In . . .

Last Saturday we went to the Fall Fly In. Amazingly we were up and on the road by 8:30. We went to this place in the spring and Dallas loved it. We were both very excited to take him back again. Of course it was a beautiful fall day in TX and we were able to walk around and see all the planes. There were a ton that were landing and a few taking off. There was even four planes that flew over head in a formation a few times. Dallas was in heaven. Phoebe was unimpressed, but what else is new.
Watching a plane taxi.

Me and my sweet boy

Can you believe it is November and we are still in short sleeves and daddy is even in shorts, crazy!Riding in the helicopter, we kept going back to let him have another turn. He loved sitting in it.

Dallas really wanted Phoebe to sit in the helicopter with him, such a good big brother.

Our Halloween . . .

We had an awesome Halloween with our Thomas the Train and our little Hawaiian girl. Dallas was so excited to be Thomas. He kept running around the house saying, "Choo Choo, I Thomas, Choo Choo!!!"

Our town held an event at the college baseball field for all the kids. It was a free event with little booths and games set up around the outfield. We walked around and Dallas played games and got candy. He loved his costume and loved holding his Halloween bucket. We also went to a church that was having a trunk or treat with cars decorated passing out candy. By then it was getting late and Phoebe was getting tired so we headed home.

I just have to say that only in TX can your kids wear shorts and a T-shirt to go out trick or treating . It was like 78 degrees when we were out. Isn't that crazy? All of my Halloween memories as a kid were of me trying to stay warm and dry in the WA rain. Costumes had to be planned so you could fit a big coat under them to keep you warm.

Practicing her hula Dance. Surprisingly she left all of that stuff on when we were trick or treating.

Daddy said he had the best chick magnet carrying Phoebe around. Every girl around flocked to her because she looked so cute. Playing one of the games. I didn't get other pictures because Daddy had Phoebe and I was helping him do all the games. Oh well, he had fun though.