Two boys and Photo Booth

I gave the boys 10 minutes tonight before bed to play with the photo booth app on my ipad. This is what they came back with.

Austin with an unbalanced face

Kaleidoscope Austin

Two Austin's

My sweet boys. All 4 of them.

Squarehead Aaron

Chubby Aaron with itty bitty nose

Spooky eyed Aaron



This wasn't all of them, but some of the best! I thought it was funny what they could produce in only 10 minutes!

A day with Austin

Those of you that have more than one child know how important it is to have one-on-one time with each child. Austin and I get quite a bit more time alone than I get with Aaron, but he starts kindergarten in August and I know that will all change. Which makes me want to reconsider Robbie's wish to adopt a baby girl.

But I've never really wanted a girl.

And I don't want to have to redo my house plan to fit another person.

And I don't have $30,000 in my back pocket.

Ok, so maybe I won't be reconsidering that, but the thought of both boys in school full time does make me want to enjoy every little bit of summer we have together.

Aaron went to work with Robbie today, so that left Austin and me with a day alone. He did that yesterday too, but I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry while Austin entertained himself, so today I decided there will be no cleaning and no laundry.

Our theater in town is doing a summer movie program, so twice a week they show older movies and only charge $1.00. This is how Austin and I started our day today. Today they were showing Despicable Me, which is a movie that Austin and I both like. When we got to the window to get our tickets, the cashier said that they were sold out. This was a concern of mine when we pulled up and saw 8 preschool vans in the parking lot, all for this one movie. But just as we were about to walk away a girl came out of the theater and said they had bought 3 extra tickets and asked if anyone wanted them. Umm, yes. I'll take all 3. Even though are only 2 of us, but I'll pay an extra dollar for your perfect timing. And we were in!

While we were waiting on the movie to start, Austin kissed my arm and told me to not tell daddy that he was on a date with me. I LOVE that he still thinks he's going to marry me someday. This little boy absolutely thinks I hung the moon, even on my bad days. He's so loving and sweet. I wish I could keep him like this forever. My friend, Terri, taught Bible hour Sunday morning at church and she said that Austin sat by her and he rubbed and kissed her arm and told her that he loves her. But he made sure to tell her to not tell me about it. He was afraid he was cheating on me and I would be mad about it! I'm so glad Terri told me about it though. I just think that is precious. He has such a loving heart. He believes that if he kisses someones arm it goes straight to their heart. Love that!

After the movie was over, we went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch.

Can you tell I gave him all the power this morning?

One thing that I have always admired about Austin is his ability to make friends where ever he goes. Not just friends, but BEST friends. So he brought a little boy about his age over to our table and said, "mom, this is (looks at little boy) what's your name?" Little boy said "Trenton". Austin said "yeah, this is Trenton. He's my best friend." And Trenton shook his head as if to say, "yes i am"! If only I would've kept count of how many best friends Austin has had in his 5 and a half years...

Anyway, I just happened to be sitting by Trenton's mom, so she and I talked while the boys played. Turns out, Trenton is just like Austin. He has a different best friend everywhere he goes. I let Austin play longer than I had intended because of how well the boys got along. When we were getting ready to leave, Trenton came up to me and said "hey, what's his name?" I said "Austin". He said "Austin is my best friend'. Then he showed my a picture that he and Austin had taken together on the little car camera thing. It was very sweet.

From there we had to pick up something for Robbie and then went by a building supply place to look at front doors for our new house. I'm having issues with the front door choices. I don't mean to be picky, but I don't want a plain, 6 panel door, but I also don't like a lot of the doors I've seen with decorative glass. I still have no idea what I'm going to get.

Walmart was our last stop before home. When we got home the plumber was here, hard at work on our new house. I see progress, but I don't think we're going to see our slab being poured until next week. We were hoping for this week, but I've learned this cannot be rushed so I'm trying to be patient.

This is what it looks like today!

Austin spent most of the rest of the afternoon outside supervising the plumber's work. He was standing there with his hands on his hips looking like little boss man.

Can you tell I just love this boy to pieces?

 I told Robbie today that I want some time with Aaron this summer without Austin. I know exactly what he and I would do with our day, and it will be completely different than my day with Austin. My boys are very different from each other and I love that! I'll have to post about mine and Aaron's day after we have that. I can't wait!

A long post and a movie review

Whew. It's been a day. Well, I guess technically every day is a day, but this was REALLY a day. It starts with this morning just after I woke up. I opened the door to let my dog out wearing what I slept in with my hair a mess, and realized that the concrete people were right outside my front door framing for our foundation for our house that we've just begun building.

At this point I made a mental note to self: there may be men right outside the front door for the next several months, so put some clothes on before opening the door.

 I think maybe I'll remember that from now on. Anyway, I closed the door as fast as I could and told Austin to let her out. Austin was sporting some 'Toy Story' underwear, and he was not ashamed.

So after I got a shower and got ready, the boys and I left for town. We stopped by Kwik Kopy to pick up a few more sets of house plans, and then went to the title company. We are buying 20 more acres along with needing to sign for our construction loan, so we met our banker and the guy we bought the land from at the title company. We were told in advance how much our closing costs would be, and I was Miss Prepared with my check, ready to hand it over. Robbie took off today, so we met him there. Everything went exactly as planned and we were just about to leave when they realized their figure was about $400 off, NOT in our favor. Guess what Miss Prepared didn't have? More checks! So this would mean another trip back to the title company at some point in my day.

From the title company, we went to lunch. The 4 of us enjoyed a nice lunch together and then split up again. Robbie was headed to a bow and arrow shop, and I was headed to the bank and title company. Before I made it to the bank, Robbie called and said that our meeting with the guy from Howtex (a building supply company) had been moved from 2:30 to 12:30, so I needed to change course and go there to go over house plans. We met with him for around 30 minutes (the kids would tell you it was 3 hours) and then went our separate ways again. I went to the bank, got the check I needed, and took it to the title company. Mission complete. 

I suddenly realized I was alone with an hour to kill in town before I was supposed to meet Rob and the boys at the movies. I stopped by the movies and got our tickets, and got back in my car thinking PEDICURE! I felt like I had just enough time to get a pedi until I started trying to figure out how I could get to a nail place, get a pedi, and get back by the time the movie started. If you live around Texarkana, you understand my dilemma. So I settled for shopping at Old Navy instead. It's easier just to not leave the parking lot sometimes.

After a semi-successful trip to Old Navy, I met the boys at the movies for opening day of Cars 2. This was a highly anticipated movie in our house. We have all seen Cars lots of times and we were all  (ok, maybe not Robbie) excited about seeing part 2.

 Before I get into how I feel about the movie, I just HAVE to tell you about the guy that sat by me. He was a Japanese guy that had come to the movie by himself. And before the previews even started, this guy was telling me his situation and asking my advice on what to do. I couldn't understand all of our conversation because his English wasn't great, but what I got out of the conversation was that he is a Japanese entertainment cook, like the ones at Shoguns or Osaka's. His problem is that he doesn't make very much money here, and he has an offer in Bel Air, hosting parties for the rich and famous making around $100,000 per party. He's worried about the cost of living in California, and he's worried about them being too stuck up to appreciate his 'art'. He asked my advice as if he were actually going to take it, so I gave it to him. To me, this is a no-brainer. If you can make $100,000 per event, you wouldn't have to do many of these no matter what your cost of living is. So my advice to this man I've known for all of 15 minutes was, move there and try it. If you hate it, move back. And you know what? I don't even think he had considered that. I could've actually made a difference in this person's life today.

I mean, I probably didn't, but who will EVER know?!

So, Cars 2. Ok, I love Matar as much as the next person, and I like that a large portion of the movie was about him, but really. Must we get so deep in a cartoon? I found the first part of it to be a little boring (Japanese guy fell asleep). And then I found myself not knowing for sure what was going on. I went into the movie thinking that it wasn't going to require much thought because, after all, it's a cartoon. But as it went on, it turned into a 'who done it' type movie with spies, bad guys, good guys, bombs, cars getting killed, etc. Seriously? I really just wanted to see Lightening win some races with some kind of feel good message to go along with it. You know, something that doesn't require a lot of thought, but still good. After all, it's supposed to be a kid movie.  That's not what I got with this movie. I wanted to like it so much, but I didn't enjoy it near as much as Mr. Popper's Penguins.

I think Japanese guy and I could have written a much better script for Cars 2. But of course, that's just my opinion.

After the movie was over, I took Aaron to a 2 hour birthday party at Jumpin Apes (yes, it is feeling like the never-ending day to me also). We left there around 8:15 to FINALLY come home!!

The concrete guys worked today putting up the forms for our foundation, so when I pulled up, I saw this:

Which makes me happy.

Also, our friends, Josh and Sara were at our house so Robbie could look at his boat trailer. Actually, I think they used the trailer as an excuse to come see us because, well, it's just been too long. So Josh and Robbie worked on that while our 5 kids rode circles around us on bikes, scooters, and motorcycles. Then we all came in the house for sno-cones and a few friendly games of wii sports resort. It was fun and a really good ending to this good, but loooong day.

The kids- posing for us on the boat.

A weekend in Dallas

With all that we've had going on lately, Robbie and I decided that we needed to just get away for a few days. So Thursday night we left for Dallas with not much of a plan. Which is how I usually prefer it on a "let's just get away trip". We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Mesquite by the rodeo. I must say, I highly recommend this place. It was very nice and clean, pretty pool, and HEL-LO.. 2 waffle makers in the breakfast area AND hot syrup! (Wow, they should totally pay me for that endorsement!)

Friday morning we decided to go to Grapevine for a vintage train ride that goes from Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards and back. There are some times that you can go first class on things and it's just not worth it. This would not be one of those times. First class is the only section that is air-conditioned, and with a train ride that lasts over an hour in temps right around 100, I want my air-conditioning. Totally worth whatever extra we had to pay for it.

This was the train we rode.

Once we got to the Stockyards, there were so many things to do. There were lots of shops (a few that had jewelry just calling my name) and there were things for the kids to do also. We thought it would be fun to go through this maze that they had set up with wooden fences. I wish I would have gotten a picture of this, but I no longer call it a maze, I call it a torture chamber. They give you these cards with the letters M-A-Z-E on them that you have to complete and are timed for. As you go through the torture chamber, there are 4 different places set up with the hole punch for each of the 4 letters. Your game is not complete until all 4 letters are found. Did I mention it was hot? And we were in direct sunlight? For the entire 26 minute ordeal? And I tend to be a little claustrophobic when I can't see my way out of something? But, we made it out alive, and I will never go back. Ever.

There was a cattle drive, a petting zoo, and an electronic bull that Aaron won a million dollars on (well, not really a million, but he did stay on the entire time and I totally think he should've gotten a million dollars for it, or at least my $6 back that I had to pay for him to ride it).

Aaron in the petting zoo.

Austin at the petting zoo.

Ride that bull, Aaron!

This better be the last time I see these 2 in jail.

Ladies, you know you've got a good man when he will carry your 30-pound purse for you when you get hot and tired.

We stayed at the stockyards for a few hours, and then loaded back up for our first-class, air-conditioned train ride back to Grapevine. That evening we went to the Magic Time Machine for dinner, where Austin got the autograph of every person that works there. It was so much fun, and although Joe Dirt was a very cool waiter, I think maybe Woody would've been more appreciated at our table.



So this was my view Saturday morning. You know it's going to be a good day when your biggest worry is if you can possibly get the flip-flop tan line on the top of your feet to go away. We headed to the pool just after breakfast. We then went to visit my Aunt Ruby that is in an assisted living place in Dallas, then met Marty, Sherry, and Melissa for lunch. (That's my birth-mom, her hubby, and my sister). Then we all went back to the hotel where my sister Reva and her family came to swim with us. It was so nice just to get to sit and visit with them. It doesn't happen often enough, and it was a very relaxing afternoon. Late in the afternoon, everyone left, including our kids. They went home with Marty and Sherry so Robbie and I could go to dinner without them.

 Robbie and I had dinner with my brother, Blake, and his fiance Destiny. If you read my post 'Found on the Side of the Road', you'll remember that I mentioned that my birth father had 2 boys that I met only once when I was 18. Well, a few months ago Blake got in touch with me, and I've been texting he and my other brother, J.J. ever since. It was so good to get to meet Blake! After dinner, we went to my birth father's house and I got to see him for the second time in my life. We talked for quite a while, and he mentioned that he would really like to meet our boys, so we went back Sunday with Aaron and Austin so they could meet each other. The boys were SO worn out, so I'm not sure they got much out of that meeting, but I'm glad we had the chance to do that. It's really neat getting to know a side of your family that you never really knew much about. I'm kicking myself now for not getting pictures of them, but I think I just had so much going through my head at the time, I didn't think about it. I will remember next time for sure!

So, that's our weekend. And it was so good I'd really like an instant replay every weekend for the rest of the summer.

Well, everything but the maze...



The good. The bad. And the ugly.

THE GOOD: FRIENDS
 
 Friends are one of the things that keep me going through life. Being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, I just wouldn't make it without them. I don't have work associates that I can talk to or do things with, so I rely on my friends and my church for most of my social life. There are some days that I wouldn't see any other adults if it weren't for lunch with a friend. And lunch with a friend is not just lunch, it is a time to catch up, vent, laugh, complain, and enjoy. Lunch with a good friend.  It's one of my favorite things. I tend to prefer one on one, because that is how you can really get to know another person. And lunch with a friend is how I really got to know my sweet friend, Brandi.

About 2 years ago, Stacey, Brandi, and I decided we were going to start meeting for lunch once a week. I didn't know either girl very well at all, but it's something the 3 of us agreed was important, so we started it. Stacey met with us for several months, but work commitments prevented her from coming after that. But Brandi and I decided to keep meeting every week. That was 2 years ago, and we've been doing it ever since. Oh, if the walls of Tamolly's could only talk....

We also realized about a year ago that we were both behind on our scrapbooks, so we ended up pulling a few all-nighters to work on those together. So fun! And again, not about the scrap booking, but the bonding that took place through that. I believe that there are very few people in the course of life that friends like Brandi come along. We are at the point where nothing even needs to be said, we know what each other are thinking, without a doubt. It is such a blessing to be given someone like that. There are really only a handful of girls that I consider myself to be very close to like this, and I wouldn't trade any of them for the world.

THE BAD: SAYING GOODBYE

Brandi is married to an awesome guy named Todd, and they have 2 beautiful children, Blake and Emma. If you want to know anything about Todd, ask me questions! And the same goes for asking Brandi about Robbie! Haha! Maybe we said too much??  Nah...not possible!

Austin took this pic of Blake at church one night.

Todd has been the youth minister at our church for 3 years now and has been so great for our teens. He is the kind of youth minister that you want your kids to look up to and want to be like. He is such a good daddy to Blake and Emma, also. He has good and creative ideas to do with the kids, and it's so obvious how much they all love him.

Todd's dad has been very sick and is dying of cancer. There are also health problems with Brandi's side of the family. One of the problems with this is that they are from Washington, and that is where all of their family is. And they have reached a time in their life that their family needs them to be there. It was a very hard decision for Todd and Brandi, but they decided they need to go where they are needed most, and right now it is in Washington. Todd also decided he wanted to go back to school while he is there. So Saturday we loaded up their u-haul, and Sunday we said goodbye and got our last hugs in.

Great pic of Todd!

THE UGLY: THEY'RE GONE

I'm calling this "the ugly" because I spent most of Sunday smack dab in the middle of the ugly cry. It's just hard to have a little ladylike cry when it hurts this much. Todd was scheduled to preach Sunday morning for one last time. I can't tell you what in the world his lesson was about (sorry Todd, but I was a little distracted by your crying. OK, and my crying), but I can tell you that he told us straight from his heart that he loved us and will miss us. It was heart-wrenching. Watching them drive out of that parking lot for the last time was like taking the breath out of me. Helllloooo....UGLY CRY!!


I said all of that to say this:
 Todd, the impact you made on our church and our teens will not be forgotten. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you made while you were here. And if you ever decide that you want to move back here, I will happily unload that u-haul singlehandedly (yes, apparently I believe that I am wonder woman), and I will fix your house back up as it was. If things remain as planned at this point, I will pray for you as you go through school and wish you all the luck in the world learning Greek and Hebrew (SO glad it's you and not me)!

Brandi and sweet Emma

And Brandi....

Well, I feel like I could leave it at that.

But I won't. Because that would just be mean. :-)

 I've told you countless times (especially in the past 2 weeks) how I feel about you and how much I love you. That will not change no matter where you live. We have been through too much together to just let it go. I know that we will see each other again, and I will look forward to that until that happens. Thank you for loving and accepting me for who I am (I know that's not easy sometimes), and just allowing me to be me. My everyday life will not be the same without you here.  I miss you already.