Family Vacay

We are still on our Family Vacation in Lake Placid. Hijacked this laptop and posted a couple of pictures. We are taking TONS of pics I can post later and we are having a fantastic time. Our nephew, Stephen flew in from NY to come with us. He is having lots of fun...

Out

Outta Here. Don't check back for new posts until Monday!!

By the way, I had a new babysitter today for a couple of hours. When I got home she had unloaded the whole dishwasher. WOW, never had a babysitter do anything like that... She's a keeper!!! And she and Lincoln "love" each other.... She was his summer school teachers daughter who was the teacher aide. Lincoln talked about her all the time, and on the last day she sent him home with a note that she wanted to babysit him.... She's 19 and drives..... this is good news.

Visit to Taylors

Last week, Lincoln was invited to spend an afternoon over at his friend, Taylor's, house. He had lunch with her, went swimming with Taylor and her Dad, played, and watched a movie. Apparently he had a blast. Taylor's mom, Gina, sent me this picture of the two... She said he had fun playing with the dogs... Next year they will be going to different schools, so we want to keep getting them together for playdates. And they will be in the same Sunday school class at church.

Cool Kids Websites

For you with kid's who love computers, like mine.

Click right HERE for lots of cool kids websites.

There is also this new website called www.totlol.com

It's like YouTube for the Toddlers

Check it out, it will be worth your time, lol....

Lincoln likes this one

BathTub Paints

While Lincoln was at Vacation Bible School this morning, I made some bath paints for Lawson to play with.

I gave him one of Daddy's paintbrushes, and he had a blast. He said he was painting the bath like Daddy painted the fence....

Shhhhh... Don't tell Ron we did this. One of his pet peeves is anything to do with kids, paints and baths all together. BUT, these paints had a much easier cleanup than the store bought ones. Ron will never know, we cleaned up every last drop!!

In every cupcake holder put:

1. 1 TBSP Cornstarch
2. 2 TBSP Baby Liquid Soap
3. 4 drops of food coloring

Future Fireman???

Date Night

Date Night Tonight

Fun Fun Fun

I'm in Love with my Husband

The Apple Doesn't Fall Too Far From the Tree

Lawson went to a Home Depot Kids Camp this morning. He made this birdhouse. He is very proud of it, and is carrying it around and he won't take off his work apron. He LOVES working with wood, hammering in nails, and just making things. He really takes after Daddy....

On the other hand, right now Lincoln and Daddy are at Studio Movie Grill (one of those theatres that is also a restaurant) watching the new movie Wall-E. Lincoln has been waiting about 3 months for this movie to come out. He is a little bit "obsessed with Wall-E" which is a Disney movie about robots. The 1st words out of his mouth when he woke up today was, "Today is my LUCKY day... I get to see Wall-E today". That was one excited little boy. He is a little movie buff.... He will be talking about this movie for weeks after he see's it today. He will remember every single part.

Lincoln and Lawson are doing that summer reading program through the library, where they read for 20 minutes a day, and after 7 days, they get to turn in the log for a prize. Well, this weeks prize was passes for a free movie at the Movie Grill.... We had never been there, so I sent Ron and him there today. Matinee before noon is only $5.00 for adults. So, for the two of them to see a movie today was a total of $5. We'll see how much they spend on the lunch, popcorn, etc...

We hope to go up to the FM pool for swimming today after naps.

Good Luck Nathan

Our Cousin Nate had been staying with us for the past two months

He left this week, to return to Florida in order to leave for the Navy.

He will be stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois. Good Luck Nathan!!

The boys already miss you.

Happy 4th From the FM4

This is the 3rd year we walked in the Flower Mound 4th of July Parade.

It was HOT (100) but we survived. Later we will BBQ and go watch the FM fireworks.

No Phone Story

Apparantly there have been some bets on the reason my phone is broken.
No funny story on the broken phone. It's just it's time to go bye bye. That thing has gone through ALOT in the past 1.5 yr. Considering that I share it with a 2yr old and a 4yr old. I couldn't count the times it's been dropped on the floor, thrown, chewed on, stepped on, ran over, etc, etc... Needless to say, I have to take some responsibility for it not working. When I took it in, they said the sensor said it was submerged in water. I'm sure it was.
So, I got my new phone in the mail today, off ebay, and hope to get it activated in the next 24 hrs. It only has to last me (us) 6months when I will be eligible for a free phone from Verizon. Then I will put it back on ebay for sale... Or give it to Nanny if she still needs it.

Omelet Anyone??

This is how my day is going. Enough Said.

FM Pool

We spent 4 hours swimming today at the new Flower Mound Pool.

We love it, doesn't it look like so much fun??? There is so much to do for the kiddo's: a lazy river and even a rock climbing wall in the water..

We have a summer membership, so we will be spending hours and hours here. We actually like it better than Lifetime, where we swam the past 2 summers...

Choosing Battles

I needed todays Daily Mom Motivation:
Choose your battles wisely ~ give patience where patience is due, and continually ask God for wisdom in discipline

Is Bugs Heading Down This Road???

Mom says that if Bugs keeps eating at the rate he currently is, this is going to be how he ends up.....

Cell Phone

Friends and Family:
My Cell Phone is TOTALED. So.... if you need to get ahold of me use the home phone for now. I'll let you know when I get a new one... (Jen, do you still have your old razor? I am eligible for a free phone in 6mo, so I don't want to buy a new one yet...)

Date Night

Tried out a new bsitter last night, all went great. We went to a dinner party for Ron's work. Lincoln took this picture of us when we returned home....

My Lettuce!

"No, MY Lettuce...."

Your tickling me...

Front Yard Fun

After an early dinner, all 4 of us went up to new FM pool for an early evening swim. It was great... Then just a little more outside time to top them off for bedtime. Night Night Boys, you had a great day...

Randomness

Lawson is counting to 11, very cutely...

Lincoln's last day of his summer preschool program was today. We are glad.

We joined the new Flower Mound Activity Center today.... Now we have a brand new pool to use... We swam today and it was awesome. We will be spending a lot of time there this summer.

I think Bugs Bunny eats more than me. I'm not joking. We feed him ALL DAY long, and he eats everything we put in front of him. I think he is going to be one those big fat rabbits. But he does get plenty of exercise....

We are trying out 2 new babysitters this week.

The boys will play hide and seek for HOURS if they have a willing participant like Daddy or Nate.

I learned (the hard way) that Lawson isn't ready to sit in a movie theatre. They have $1.00 movies for the kids on Wednesday am's here: thought it would be fun to take the boys. Didn't work... Sorry Lincoln...

In TWO weeks our nephew Stephen will fly in to visit with us.

In TWO weeks, we will go on our annual family trip to the LakeHouse: Finally... We have been looking forward to this since last yr.

We are getting some estimates done to have GRANITE counter tops put in the kitchen. We can't wait to have them put in.... It will give our kitchen a complete new look. AND we are going to replace all our appliances with stainless steel. Then Ron will redo our cabinets. Focus on the kitchen.

All is good. Busy, but good. And we have tans.

The Mats

We have been so busy around here, and the boys have been so well behaved,

that our Naughty Mats have been pretty lonely...

Swimming Today

Lincoln swam a total of 3 different times today. First he had swim lessons, then we went downtown to the Ritz Carlton and swam with Grandpa Lucek, then tonight the neighbors across the street invited him over for a swim before bedtime... Wow, that's a lot of swimming for one day...

Grandpa Lucek

The boys are having fun with Grandpa Lucek while he is visiting here in Dallas. Today we will go downtown to swim and eat lunch where he is staying, at the Ritz Carlton. Last night, Lincoln and I went down there for a quick moonlight swim on the rooftop!!

Cubs

Ron brought us all CUBS shirts from the game.

Chicago

Ron has been in Chicago all week for a work conference. He gets back today, it will be nice to have him back. He said that he really liked Chicago and I told him not to get any idea's..... He even got to go to a Cubs game.

On another note, this afternoon my Dad is flying in from Chicago too. Tonight is our big dinner out at III Forks, yum....

Just keeping busy busy busy. These boys don't really ever slow down. Doing lots of swimming and other fun summer activities...

Etch A Sketch

Bored? Looking for something to do?

Try this online Etch A Sketch

The Afro

Here is a good example of that kinky Afro I was talking about. That's me on the right.... with the rats nest.

Oh yeah, and the two other adorable girls are my two sisters...

Blogging, It's Good For You

The therapeutic value of blogging becomes a focus of study!!

Read about it here.

A Swimming We Will Go

Here in the big D, it's HOT during the summer. It's been over 100 all week. So, we want to swim swim and swim. I plan on doing an abundance of swimming with the boys this summer. I want to take them every chance we get. The Brand New Flower Mound Pool is finally built and opened. We will go check it out this afternoon with the 2 neighbor boys. Tomorrow we have a playdate planned with Cara and kids at thier neighborhood pool, then a playdate on Friday morning with Debbie and Ben (college friend). Lincoln is doing well in swim lessons. And Lawson loves the water. I put him in a life vest so he is safe and can have more fun.

Lawsy and Bugs

Lincoln is at VBS at our church today, so Lawson has dibs on playing with Bugs Bunny all morning.

Introducing Bugs Bunny

Today we added an addition to the FM4, we got the Cutest Bunny!! Win Kids where the boys go for gymnastics/swimming had a bunny camp last week and purchased 2 bunnies for the kids to play with and take pictures with. Anyway, they decided to keep one bunny at WinKids for the kids to watch, and they need a home for the other one. So, of course I couldn't pass up bringing home this bundle of fur.... I always had bunnies growing up, and we all love bunnies so we are going to keep him.

His name was Hopper, but Lincoln wanted to change his name to Bugs Bunny. He will be responsible for the upkeep of the bunny: feeding and changing the pan... He already has to feed and water both the kitty and the dog every morning, so now he will be responsible for all 3. He likes responsibilities, and of course that's good for him. He played with the bunny for 8 hrs today, he loves Bugs!!

Hopefully we didn't bite off more than we chew.

Bunny

We don't need to go get "live bunny" pictures anymore at Easter time.

Today, we adopted a bunny.

More to come on this exciting news.

The Watch

For Father's Day, the boys and I got Ron a Tag Heuer watch that he has REALLY been wanting. Here is a look at it.... He loves it, it looks great on him. Happy Fathers Day Ron....

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day To All You Dads out there.
Happy Fathers Day to Ron, Papa Paul, Grandpa Lucek, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Tom, Uncle Steve, and Herb. This is your day, ENJOY it.... Love the FM4

Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name.
~~ William Wordsworth

None of you can ever be proud enough of being the child of SUCH a Father who has not his equal in this world-so great, so good, so faultless. Try, all of you, to follow in his footsteps and don't be discouraged, for to be really in everything like him none of you, I am sure, will ever be. Try, therefore, to be like him in some points, and you will have acquired a great deal." ~~ Victoria, Queen of England

"A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father."
~~ Gabriel Garc Muez

"Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young,Who loved thee so fondly as he?He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue,And joined in thy innocent glee."
~~ Margaret Courtney

"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" ~~ Lydia M. Child It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.
~~Johann Schiller

Three Forks

Next Saturday night, we have reservations to go here, to III Forks, a well known Steak House in Dallas. My DAD is coming in town, and is taking us (w/o the kids...) Looking forward to it, we have heard ALOT about it...

Electric Company

Anyone grow up watching the Electric Company?? I did... I loved it.... I checked out some DVD's of old episodes at the FM Library, and Lincoln LOVES it. And yes, I do remember some of these old episodes. Remember Letterman??? And the show opening up with a lady screaming Hey You Guys.... Memories... Good times.

Childhood

Childhood Confessions and Memories:

1. I went to speech therapy from K-5th grade. I couldn't say my "R's", I said them like "W's". My one hour a week of speech therapy was my favorite time of the whole week: It was a blast getting out of class and spending some one on one time with the therapist earning neat prizes. I guess what I am trying to say is the last couple of years, I may have been not trying real hard to say my R's....

2. When I was young and lived in Illinois, I baked cookies every year and entered them in the 4-H contest. I even had to do a demonstration to the whole group during a 4-H meeting (Sue are you recalling this...). It was always my peanut butter cookies that won 1st place. Later in life in middle school, both my sisters went to "clogging" every Sunday, and I remember making Peanut Butter cookies every Sunday. I guess it was the only type of cookie you always had all the ingredients for. Well, I don't think I've made PB cookies since middle school, 25 yrs...... Well, I made them tonight and they tasted as good as ever...

3. My Mom made these really comfortable pink and white PJ's that I kept and wore during my WHOLE childhood. They were great, I STILL think about how comfortable those were, and haven't been able to find any to replace....

4. Sue and I would play a board game "PayDay" for hours and hours on end. We had ALL our own rules made up, and it was sooo much fun. Wondering if my boys will ever sit for hours on end playing a board game, somehow I doubt it.

5. I remember the day Jen and Tom were both born, and I remember them coming home from the hospital.

6. My 1st memory is of my AUNT DEB picking me up and out of the crib upstairs at the farm... And I remember the day we moved to the farm when I was 2.

7. I had curly hair that looked somewhat like an Afro (I find some pics). My mom couldn't comb through it. I remember taking my once a week bath on Sunday's and she would sit and try to get out all the tangles and knots. I cried through the whole thing. I used to wear a bandanna on my head when I played outside so I wouldn't get things in my hair like burrs or ticks or whatever.

8. I had to wear those orthopedic leg braces from waist to shoe, yup like Forest Gump.

9. So I've come a long way from that rat nested hair, speech impediment, crippled young gal... not to mention the extreme shyness and being just skin and bones... I'm sure I looked quite frightening....

10. I guess this is a good time to stop!!

Please Just No Mud Today, Thanks

Life's a Beach

Today we met some friends from MOPS/Church at Life's a Beach. There were 10 Moms and 20 kids. You get to sit outside in the shade with misters, while the little one's play in the sand, etc... We like it there!!

It gets hot for the kids though, bc the whole play area doesn't have any shade.

The atmosphere makes you feel like you really are at the beach, Jimmy Buffet playing and all.

Patio

We FINALLY got a new patio set to put on the "addition" "back porch" "mud room" to the house. It is a very comfy love seat, 2 chairs, end table and coffee table. I guarantee we will spend many many hours utilizing this area. The 1st night we got it, Ron and I sat on the couch and watched the boys play on the playground. The 2nd day we had it, it was raining and me and the boys sat out there watching/listening to the rain and reading books, then the 3rd night we had it: Ron had several hours of work he brought home so he camped out there and really really enjoyed it.... There is a ceiling fan so it cools it off significantly, and screens on the windows for no bugs.... It's a great little area for us.... Here is Lincoln's cheesy smile: posing on the love seat...he was happy bc he went with to pick it out and this was the one he liked...

Packed Full Tuesday

Around here, Tuesday's always seem to be our busy busy days. We started our morning off by dropping Lincoln off at his summer preschool program (9-12). I took Lawson up to Win Kids for his gymnastics class, (he did amazing). After picking Lincoln back up from school, we ate lunch at Captain D's b/c kids eat free on Tuesdays... and lunch specials are $3.99. That's right, all three of us can eat seafood for $3.99!! After naps and dinner, I took the boys up to the spray fountains down the road. It is in front of a Mexican restaurant and the boys LOVE to salsa so check out these video's of them doing the Salsa at the Spray Park.... (oh yeah, we also brought Miss Lucky up to the fountains to enjoy the water: that was a hoot....)

Now the boys just got out of the bath, are enjoying their milk and earning points by reading for the library's summer reading program... And it's almost time for bed!!! Ron flew out to Iowa, so it looks like a book and movie night for me.... Nate is home and is studying for his Navy test. (By the way, Nate struck some good luck and sold his truck.... He has been using Ron's bike and has learned that by living in FM, you can get anywhere you need on a cycle....)

The Cross

Lawson took this picture of me this morning.

Probably not a bad thing that my head didn't make it in the picture.

But, he did a good job at getting a picture of my new necklace that I got from

Ron and the boys for Mothers Day.

Someone asked to see a picture of my new cross, so here it is compliments of

my 2 year old Lawson...

The Last Couple of Days...

Friday, the boys and I went up to the hotel my aunt was staying at and enjoyed the resort style pool right on the lake. It was such an oasis. Loved it, want to go back. Nathan went with me and swam with the boys too. Then we introduced Nate to his first Chic Fil A experience for lunch. THEN Nate and Lincoln went out to see Kung Fu Panda. THEN we went to dinner with Ron at Bari's: busy day....

Saturday: The boys went to a bday party at Chuck E Cheese (pic below), which totally wore them out for a lonnnnng nap. Then Nate babysat while Ron and I went to an important work dinner... It was for the City of Dallas, and RON was presented with an award. It was also Casino night, so we got to sit at the black jack table for an hour or so. Dinner was great, thanks Nate for taking care of the boys (he did mention it was a bit challenging at times....)..

Aunt Joan

Thursday: Aunt Joan from Illinois came into town for a conference. So, my Mom and nephew Matthew drove up from Houston for a quick visit. We picked her up from her hotel which was right here in Grapevine, and we had an evening of dinner and visiting... Great to see you Joan. And it was great to have MOM and Matthew over for an overnight visit. The boys LOVED seeing you guys...

Aunt Joan is my moms sister, don't they look alike???

Swimming

Today we went out to Argyle, another suburb of Dallas way out in the country, to swim with some friends from our church who also have 2 boys... Anyway, they have a terrific community pool and all 4 four boys swam for several hours this morning. You know how Lawson wants to kiss everything....

New Activity Center

One of our most exciting things happening this summer is the opening of the new Flower Mound Activity Center. It's just about a mile from us, and it opens in a couple of weeks. It looks AWESOME!!! Since we cancelled our lifetime fitness membership, this will be our replacement. This is where we will SWIM ALL SUMMER!!! We can also work out there, there is a tot drop for the kids. I love the idea of this center, because there is NO OBLIGATIONS. Like you can just GO and pay for the day, bring guests!!!, you can pay by the month, etc....

ANYWAY everyone here in FM is really pumped up about the opening of this. It's going to be the place to be!!

Check it out here!!!

http://www.flower-mound.com/cac/index.php

Soccer

Lincoln is officially signed up on a Soccer team for next fall. Then he will decide if he likes soccer better or Tball better (actually next yr it wouldn't be Tball anymore it would be coach pitch). Anyway, he is really excited about soccer and has been kicking the ball around to practice. Last night we were playing soccer, and Lawson stepped on a bumble bee and was stung. Ouch....

This week Lincoln starts a summer enrichment program through his summer school. It will be every Tues and Thurs morning for the month of June only, and is from 9-12. He is looking forward to it, and Taylor will be in his class!!

Next week Lawson will start his summer gymnastics class. Which will be his last Mommy and Me class: meaning after the summer I will not have to participate in the class, I'll get to sit and watch, yay.... I get enough mommy and me time.....

Next week Lincoln starts a Swimming Class for the summer at Win Kids, Swim Kids. He gets to go once a week for the whole summer.

I got to pay for the kids summer activities through ebay profits. I'm selling some phones for my brother and that has been profitable, and of course the garage sales have been great for finding ebay treasures...

MY MOM is coming for a quick visit this week. Her sister (my aunt) Joan will be in town for a work conference, so she will get to see her.

Merry Go Round

Remember these contraptions?? You NEVER see these things anymore. When we were growing up, the merry go round was always the biggest hit at the park. I guess they were too dangerous??? They have one at the pumpkin patch, and the boys played on that thing for at least an hour while I found some shade to watch them from.

Wrong Baby

After 28 years, a women finds out she was switched in the hospital. She actually had an identical twin, who grew up alongside someone else believing it was her twin.

Ever wondered if you were switched in the hospital and brought up by the wrong parents? (not me)

Read about the story by clicking here.