Saturday Night Out, Fun

The Flower Mound Four, and Susan and Lauren: we all went to Medieval Times here in Dallas. We had a great time, and the boys loved every minute of it!!

The Shack

I DID IT!!!

I finally finished my book, and WOW (breathless)....

Thanks to Jenny for the recommendation, more please!!!

This is a Christian/Fiction book, and it's a big hit around here right now. EVERYONE is reading it, and it is changing peoples lives. For me, it was intense and very emotional. But it helped allow me to understand religion especially the trinity much much better. I'm sending my copy to a friend, but you can order it used for pretty cheap on amazon.com... Let me know if you have read it...

Meieval Times

Auntie Sue Sue and La La will be here any minute. I have 2 very excited little boys. But I'm excited too!!!

Tonight we are all going to Medivial Times Castle for dinner and a jousting show.... Can't wait... My family went in Florida when I was probably Laurens age, 15 or so.... Good Memories....

www.mediavaltimes.com

Waiting for School to start...

Most kids started school last week or this week. Lincolns school doesn't start until after Labor Day. Tuesday is meet the teacher, then his 1st day is Thursday. He's just sooooo excited, mostly about bringing a lunch in his lunchbox... But also about his teachers and who the kids in his class are going to be....

Lincoln has been enjoying soccer practices, and has his first game next weekend.

He will also be in the Little Crowns choir at our church. Between two days of preschool, soccer, and choir... I think he will have a well balanced schedule this year.

Kitchen's Coming Along

Well, it's been a tough week here at the FM4 during our kitchen reconstruction. It's been loud, it's been dusty, it's been stinky, I've had stranger coming and going, and I've been washing my dishes in the bathroom.

But things are coming along!D!!D The granite is in and looks amazing. Wow, what a difference from the u.g.l.y. white counter top things we had.... We also had a matching back splash put in. Love it... Our kitchen looks so much "warmer" and brings our whole home more together. We have changed out our stove top to a black/stainless FLAT top... And a stainless Fridge (still need to change out oven and dw to stainless, next).... We put in a new DEEP under mount sink 60/40, along with some new fancy faucets. Ron put in a new garbage disposal with more horsepower... and tonight he replaced all our copper knobs with stainless steel. When it all comes together over the next couple of days, I post some pictures...

My sister Susan and niece Lauren (LaLa) are coming in for Labor Day weekend. Yay!!

Free Photo Book

If you have the time, you can click here and order your very own photo book.
For Free. Plus Free Shipping. Works for me!!!

I ordered my free book today. It took about 30 minutes from start to finish. I had to download the software it needed, but I think it's going to be cute. I did my book on our last trip to Florida.

Just make sure you enter in the coupon code and your total will be $0.00

www.Albelli.com has a free 24-page photo book using coupon code momspaceab81 with free shipping.

1. Install Albelli photo software
2. Launch the software, and choose Landscape, M Hardcover book ($12.95)
3. Enter book title and email address
4. Choose background, and upload your images
5. Choose layout, click order
6. Uncheck "Title On Cover"
7. Choose black, orange, red or blue linen background ($0.00)
8. Enter your address, and coupon code momspaceab81
9. Review the invoice, your total will be $0.00
10. Accept the terms, and click "Next" and your order will be complete.

Winged Cat, Pretty Cool

Winged cats have been known to exist since the 19th century, but only a handful of people have actually seen—let alone owned—one. This woman in Sichuan province watched as her beloved kitty grew angel wings on his back last summer after a bunch of female cats tried to mate with him. "Many female cats in heat came to harass him, and then the wings started to grow," she said.
Geneticists have a less romantic theory. They believe it could be a genetic defect, a skin condition, or the result of poor grooming.

Eat More Chicken

Free Chick Fil A???

Chick-fil-A® is introducing new, bigger, tastier, dippier Chick-n-Strips™ and sauce – and you can try them for FREE.

This Labor Day, Monday 9/01 10:30 a.m. to close, wear any football team logo or collegiate logo for a free three-count of Chick-n-Strips." Last time they did something like this, they would give you as many as people were in the car at that time...

Full Details Here

That works for me! We'll be there on Monday to score a free lunch.

Lawson Swims

Lawson, our little 2 year old athlete decided to start swimming on his own this week. In this video, he is swimming in the shallow end.... but he can also go into chin high deep and swim across the pool. Pretty amazing, he just pretty much taught himself.... He hasn't had any lessons or anything. If he keeps swimming through the fall/winter, he will be a pro by next summer.

Lincoln Phelps

We have been trying to squeeze in every last bit of swimming that we can this summer. We have been going up every afternoon, and the boys have come a long long long way since the beginning of the summer. My GOAL is to keep them swimming year round... at the indoor Flower Mound pool. That way they don't lose everything they learned.

Today I asked Lincoln if he wanted to jump off the indoor diving board... He said sure and just went off and jumped. Then he proceeded and did it again at least 25 more times!! He did great, and had no fear. I remember being a lot older than that and being scared. to. death. to jump off!! So, watch the video and see how well he is swimming in this 11 foot water!!

The Worm Farm

I never imagined what mothering two boys was going to entail. Well, right now we are growing a Worm Farm. Inside. In Lincolns room. Yuck. It's supposed to teach them what the worms do to the soil, and how they are good for our environment. Seems like we always have some sort of captured creature such as a lizard, frog, or weird insect.... I'm having to let my "tomboy" side come out a lot more as they are getting more adventurous.

Cheeeeees Muffins

Tonight I tried out one of Pioneer Womens Recipes... Cheese muffins. These muffins call for THREE CUPS of cheese, so you can just imagine how cheesy these rolls are.... nice and yummy.... They were a hit, so we will make again... 1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.

Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 12.

The Fridge

OK OK OK OK I overly exaggerated on the $5, 000.00 Fridge.

I confess!!

I actually don't even know how much it cost... Ron doesn't usually tell me these things....

But I like it!!!

A Weekend to Forget

Glad this stressful stressful weekend has come to an end. I'm not going to talk about it, just forget it ever happened. I was on the verge of a breakdown, really. Getting a speeding ticket was the last straw.
The goods news is I came out of this weekend with not just a new Fridge, but brand new washer and dryer too. And I got that kind I always wanted where you can see through the doors..... And this is our week for our Granite kitchen countertops, and with that we will be replacing our stove top with the flattop kind.... Love those.... And a new very deep sink.... So, we are kind of getting a mini kitchen makeover.

So for your enjoyment and mine, here are 2 pics taken today of our 2 1/2 year old....

Don't Ask, Long Story

The Box

Brand New Refrigerator: $5,000

Having to replace everything that was lost in Fridge: $250.00

Hours of time invested in purchasing, transporting, setting up, etc: 15

Tools for Installing: $100.00

Truck Rental for transporting: $59.00

Playing with the Empty Refrigerator Box: PRICELESS

*

Can Kids Eat Free??

You know how I am about good deals...
Here is a website that tells you all the restaurants where kids can eat for free.
My Kids Eat Free

Awards Day

Today was Awards day at WinKids. The last class for the summer semester. Lincoln finished up his last swim lesson, and Lawson finished up his last "mommy and me" class, and now gets to go into a big boy class and I get to sit out and watch instead of being in there participating. I think I'm going to like that!! Not that I don't enjoy the quality mommy and me time, but honestly my whole day is mommy and me time, I'm looking for that little break to get to sit down and maybe pull out a book....

Christmas List

So when did my 4 year old grow up and become a teenager??? We have to put together Christmas/Birthday lists pretty early, because at this point they don't get anything new... I always just say lets put it on your Christmas list. So, Lincoln at age 4 has been putting together his own list.

This is it, so far...
IPOD
Cell Phone
CD Player
Game Boy Games
Digital Camera
A Pet Parrot

So I was wondering where are all the Elmo toys??? He is such a "teenager"!!
(BTW, Mom I have been putting a list together myself from him for you...)

Visit with Some Cousins

Last week, we met up for dinner at Paapasito's with some cousins of ours who live in the Dallas area. Ginger is Ron's cousin (his dads brothers daughter, got that?) and she has 3 kiddo's: Jen, Chase, and Jack... Uncle Steven and Aunt Karen came into town and treated all 12 of us to dinner at Pappasito's... The kids really enjoyed playing with each other, we haven't gotten together since the Christmas holidays. They live in Mansfield which I think is about an hour away, and of course we have all been so busy...

Here they were asked to make thier funny faces. Funny thing is the faces look almost like the non funny faces...

Circle of Friends

Today's the day... Circle of Friends starts at Gymboree (until the 24th)... I LOVE this sale. I bought the boys a total of 11 shirts for $90.00 and that included shipping and taxes, and also $25.00 of Gymbucks to use later.... I got some shirts for about $5.00!! And they were cute cute cute....

So the sale is 30% off everything (including sale items), $6.00 Flat Shipping Rate, and chane to earn Gymbucks to use on your next purchase....

Anyway, thought I'd pass it on.... Love the styles and quality of Gymboree but only the prices when they have sales like this!!

Anyway, if you go to Gymboree online enter the promotional code CFCIRCLE

Make New Friends But Keep the Old

While we were in Houston, we met up with some old friends from when we used to live in Katy. Promise and Lincoln were BFF's back then.... They would see each other practically every day. Then right as we were moving, Courtney and I had Lawson and Parrish.... We miss them, but will they will always be a part of our lives in some way or another!! It was great to see them, and Lincoln and Promise had so much fun playing together....

Asleep At Last

This is the 1st time that the boys successfully slept together in the same bed all night long!!! I actually jumped in there too... and we all 3 had sweeeet dreams.

Future American Idols??? Well, maybe not but they had fun!!!

Lincoln, Lawson and Bristol sang Itsy Bitsy Spider at the Kids Karoaoke at the childrens museum.....

See here for yourself.

Facepainting and Cow Milking

The Houston Children's Museum was a hit... Here you can see they could do their very own face painting. And Lincoln go to milk water out of a cow!!! They even did kids karaoke which I will dl a video in a bit....

Tram Fun

On Monday, Tom Courtney and Grammy all took off of work for a fun day. For a little added excitement, we took the Houston Light Rail Tram to the childrens museum. Wow, the boys loved that!!
And it was such a nice walk from the the tram drop off to the chidren's museum...

Here are the boys with cousin Bristol waiting for the Tram to pick them up...

Sister in law, Courtney and Bristol, Lincoln and FM Mom

Joe's

While we were in Houston, we got to spend one day with The Wilson's (sister, Sue and her kids Matthew and Lauren).
Here we are at Joe's Crab Shack for a yummy and fun dinner. Lauren dislocated her knee this week at dance camp... Hope it gets better soon La La....

Lawson is very attached to Auntie Sue Sue.... His Godmother...

We R Back

We are back from our trip to Houston, and I have plenty of pics to post later.... Thanks Tom, Courtney and Bristol for your great hospitality!!

HB to my Dad

Happy Birthday to my DAD, Grandpa Lucek to the boys. Sorry, I didn't call: it's been a crazy crazy day.... Hope you had a good birthday, and we will celebrate next year.

Gas Flair

Speed Dial

So if you are lucky enough to be on my speed dial 1 through 9, I owe you an apology.... My boys have been calling my number 1-9 repetitively during the day. They know every one's numbers and call them AT LEAST like 8 times each every day... I'm sorry. Feel free to screen your calls. They love talking to you but I realize you are busy. DAD, today I removed you off of speed dial because I know they have continuously been calling you and bothering you at work. So, today Dad you were bumped from your slot and we gave it to La La... So, look out La La you will begin to be harassed.

And by the way, did you numbers 1-9 tell all the people in your neighborhood about Lincoln seeing the movie RV???

Caught without Makeup

Uma Thurman caught without makeup. Now I don't feel so bad.

Go Mustangs

We signed Lincoln up for Soccer this year instead of Tball. That way he can try it out and see what he likes better. He starts his soccer practices this Wednesday, and his team name is The Mustangs... Of course, I'll be posting plenty of soccer pictures this year... I used to play soccer and loved it... I'll find out on Saturday if he likes it... he sure is excited about it.

Outdoor Movie Tonight

Making Lincoln take a nap today, so he can stay up with me to go to this Movie in the Square. How can you beat an outdoor movie, laying on your blanket... sounds fun to me... Any of you other Flower Mounders out there should go!!

Movie in the Square, Aug 14, 2008, 7pm
7:00 pm

Come to Parker Square the evening of August 14, 2008 for a Back to School Bash featuring the movie RV starring Robin Williams.
Parker Square invites you to come out for the event featuring safety for back to school along with an outdoor movie that is projected on a 26′ inflatable screen. The event begins at 7pm with kids activities including face painting, the Excite! Choo Choo and kids crafts.
Donate school supplies to Communities in Schools (www.cisnt.org) at the show and be entered to win a $50 gift card to Toys R Us! Movie show time is at 9pm. Picnic on the lawn prior to the movie - bring your lawn chairs and blankets and join in for a great evening family fun.

Already "Picking Up" the Girls...

Lincoln and Taylor (his best friend) had a fun playdate (formally known in my day as going over to some kids house) yesterday. Boy did they play play play all day.... Here is Lincoln trying to "pick up" Taylor. I may never have a daughter, so I love having some "girl" time with Taylor!! She is such a good kid, she is welcome any time!! They will be going to different schools this year, so we hope to continue to get them together. They will be in the same class at church.... and I talked Taylors mommy in joing MOPS this year... We all need our MOPS...

Facebook

If any of you out there are on facebook, let me know so I can add you as a friend. I'm having fun over there, thanks to Jen for talking me into it...

FM4 Updates....

Been busy busy busy, I know you have been too!

Today, the boys are at Win Kids Gymnastics camp, Super Hero theme: they will have a blast.
Then, Taylor will be coming over for the rest of the day...
A granite estimate at 2, and a potential pet sitter interview at 5.

Going to Houston. Soon. Excited.

Ron and I are working on an "invention"... Shhhhh... we can't tell you our secret that is going to change the world!!

Summer is almost over. Bittersweet. Lincoln will start his new preschool soon, and also soccer. Lawson will remain in gymnastics, and MOPS will be starting soon. Lincoln will be in AWANA again. Looking forward to our Fall schedule, but will miss some of this summer fun.

The boys have been obsessed this summer with SnoCones. We go to a little hole in the wall snocone place right by us.

Ron and Lincoln are going to a Texas Rangers game on Saturday. We have some out of town guests coming in on Friday, and we will leave for Houston on Sunday.

Lincoln can swim across the whole pool.

We got some new neighbors with 2 kids the same ages as ours...

Lucky came home from the kennel last time with kennel cough, so we are going to try this time an at home professional petsitter.

Bugs Bunny has escaped and returned 3 times now. A certain 2 yr old, not to mention any names, keeps letting the bunny out of the patio.... Luckily we have always found her...

We needed that pool today...

After being sick and quaratined all week, we sure enjoyed spending the afternoon at the pool today...

Are you smarter than a 4 year old??

This weeks theme is SICK, since that is what we have been here all week...Today is much much better finally

(FM Mom had the full blown out 6 day flu... I had the flu shot and it's not flu season, how could this happen to me??) (Lincoln has congested lungs requiring breathing treatments, zpac antibiotics, allergy meds, fever, tummy ache, hives all over face...) (Lawson had a little bit of both of ours, but never went "down": he has continued to be a ball of energy)... It makes it just more miserable to be sick when it's HOT outside....

4 trips to the Dr: $80.00
6 Prescriptions filled: $75.00
Pedialite and crackers (my diet): $7.57
Feeling Better Today: PRICELESS


Are you smarter than a 2 and 4 year old??
THEME: SICK

What does being sick mean?
Lincoln(age 4.5): Not feeling very well. When you feel like laying down and my teeth hurt.
Lawson (age 2.5) : My tummy hurts.

How do you get better when you are sick?
Lincoln: Eat some medicine, mommy says to rest. Go to the dr. Warm chocolate ovalutine (bubbletine) makes me feel better mommy, can you make me some?
Lawson: Lay on mommy's bed. My tummy hurts. Water help me.

What number on the thermometer does it mean you have a fever:
Lincoln: 98 (can you tell how many times he has been the dr this week?)
Lawson: TWO!!!! Yucky

Who gets sick the most in your house?
Lincoln: Mommy does.
Lawson: Daddy!!

What do YOU do when you get sick?
Lincoln: Go to dr and get stickers and lollipop, take my medicine, shake my booty (?????), play Gameboy, play with my dog Lucky.
Lawson: No my tummy hurts. Take Pooh medicine, lay on mommy's bed, get ice.

Celebrations

Happy Birthday to my MOM, aka Grammy. See you in a couple of weeks!!

Also, Happy Birthday to Lucky, our Golden Retriever. Her bday is today as well as she turned 4!! And yes, we celebrated by putting a candle in a doggie treat and singing to her. You have to do these things when you have little boys...

AND, Happy Anniversary to my sister Sue and Steve.

Scooby, Another New Pet

OK, see that doggie running around my blog. Lincoln HAD to have that there, just like his cousin La La has. He named him Scooby, and if you click on that red ball the doggie will chase it....

Cheap Shoes

Any Ladies out there need some new shoes???
I found this SALE, too good to pass up. All these shoe's are marked for $9.99 (WOW)... Normally priced up to $99.00. AND FREE SHIPPING!!!!
I haven't shopped yet, but will soon bc I'm sure the sizes will be picked over....
SOOOO, if you need shoe's ladies now is the time to buy, click here:

shoetrader

Lincoln Driving???

That's right, Lincoln went driving today. Ron took Lincoln to an indoor gocart track along with some neighbors.

Lincoln was the EXACT height (42in) to be able to drive his OWN car.... Apparantly he had a blast, here is a video clip Ron took.

Afterwards, we went to church service, out for dinner, then to Nestle, then running in the water fountains. What a fun day.... We know how to beat the heat!!

FM4 Will Be Staying Indoors

Extreme Heat Advisory In Effect This Weekend

The National Weather Service has upgraded the Heat Advisory to an Excessive Heat Warning lasting until 7 p.m. Monday. This means the extreme heat will be high enough to make heat illness -- including heat exhaustion and heat stroke -- likely during prolonged outdoor exposure.
Heat Index values will be between 108-115 during the afternoons the next three days. Remember, the temperature is measured and the heat index is calculated in the shade. If you are directly in the sun, you can add another 10 degrees to what it actually feels like to your body -- so we're saying it could feel like a temp of 125 in the sun!

Lawson's New Look

I finally did it today.

I had Lawson's long hair chopped off, don't worry I kept the curls: good thing bc he doesn't have any anymore.

No more bedhead (Jen witnessed this rats nest)

No more being called "pretty"

No more chasing him around the house to comb out his tangles.

I like it a lot more than I expected. It didn't take away his "baby" look, I think it actually gives him more of a baby look bc now his baby face is more pronounced.

Anyway, here is a video clip while I was putting him to bed tonight.

Let me know what you think of the haircut...

Long Baths

Something we do a lot of around here during a heat wave is take a lot of long baths. They will stay in the tub together and play for an hour.... Keeps them cooled down, clean, and busy...

Dear Lawson

Dear Lawson
Please don't wake me up at 6:45 am tomorrow like you have all week. Please wait until around 7:45, so I can sleep in a bit. You see, I'm up way past my bedtime, and I don't want to be too tired tomorrow, we have lots to do.
Thanks and I Love You,
Mommy

Dating..

Here is a blast from the past. Ron and I when we were dating....

so young and innocent...life was so easy back then.