Tag, Now I'm It!

Shelley at Through Mother's Eye tagged me in her blog post 8 Things.





8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Spending this last weekend together as a family and celebrating Easter
2. Aaron learning to walk
3. Ian going back to school
4. Friends coming to visit
5. A Year passing by quickly... *please Lord, get Bill there and back safely*
6. Summer activities like swimming and water balloon fights
7. Bill's R&R sometime in November
8. 2010

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Got the boys up and ready
2. Went to an Easter party
3. Watched DOOL
4. Went to an FRG meeting
5. Ate dinner with the family at BW3
6. Watched American Idol
7. Read to Ian and opened a Resurrection Egg with him
8. Chatted on Yahoo with Stephanie M.

8 Things that I Wish I Could Do

1. Keep my husband from going to Afghanistan
2. Lose the baby weight overnight
3. Move closer to friends and family
4. Keep my house clean for more than 5 minutes
5. Sleep in
6. Find more time in a day
7. Prevent my children from getting hurt or sick
8. Eliminate worry all over the world

8 TV Shows That I Watch:

1. Days of Our Lives (Sick I know, but I find it entertaining)
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. American Idol
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Brothers and Sisters
6. ER (I'm so sad that it's over)
7. Seinfeld reruns
8. Everybody Loves Raymond reruns

8 People that I Tag:

1. Shelley at Through a Mother's Eye (http://throughamotherseye.blogspot.com/2009/04/tag-im-it.html)
2. Knitter at Become What You Are (http://becomewhatyouare.wordpress.com/about/)
3. Stephanie at The Moody Chipernos (http://themoodychipernos.blogspot.com/2009/04/off-to-good-start.html)
4. Kid Juggler at Coloring Outside the Lines (http://kidjuggler.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/a-few-more-pictures/)
5. Rachel at Steffen Family News (http://steffenfamilynews.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post.html)
6. Amanda at Outnumbered by Testosterone (http://outnumberedbytestosterone.blogspot.com/2009/04/catepillars-over-5-miles-and-quiet.html)
7. Debbie at The Lindstrom Crew (http://thelindstromcrew.blogspot.com/2009/03/kyle-time.html)
8. Dawn at Mike and Dawn Plus 1 (http://thekissels.blogspot.com/2009/04/movie-night.html)

Preparing Our Minds and Hearts for Easter

I took the boys this morning to get Easter photos taken to send out in our Easter greetings that we send to family and friends. The boys were both very well behaved and we got several great shots, but this one turned out to be my favorite from the bunch to send in the cards:



This afternoon we came home to have a lovely afternoon of outdoor activity. Ian loves to play outside, but boy does he find a way to get filthy and fast! He played with his bubble bucket, bounced in his bounce house, played with his Tonka truck and any number of other things. Here is my boy with a dirty face only a mother could love, playing with his bubbles:


This evening Ian and I watched Pinocchio together. It was the first time that he has sat through an entire movie with me. I can tell that he is getting a longer attention span. That is part of the reason why I decided to get the Resurrection Eggs for this year. I got them out and went through the first 3 so that we can get done by Easter. Ian listened intently and could repeat back why the little surprise inside the eggs was special. I have always hated how commercial Easter is and have tried to make sure that we read stories about Jesus during this time instead of things about bunnies. I do think bunnies are fine and the Easter bunny does come to our house, but I really want Ian to understand the real reason behind Easter. These eggs seem to be the perfect combination of the "fun egg" and the real meaning behind Easter. I did have to go through and ask questions about the stories on a preschool level, but Ian seemed to understand the lessons. Here he is holding his carton of Resurrection Eggs and showing off the silver coins from the story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.

Routines!

I just love routines. They keep me sane. Last week when we were on vacation we had NO routine. And while we were having fun, the tiredness crept in and the sickies came to hide and then we came home. And we brought with us crankiness and sickness and our routine was still gone. Well today, I feel like we are getting back to our routine finally! The kids were actually in bed on time, we ate meals at normal hours and we went to the library like we do every week on Thursday.

I think I just need to make a routine for my chores. Maybe then they would all get done! Nah! Routines like that are boring! LOL

No Joke! There IS at Least 1 Thing That I LIKE about Texas

BLUE BONNETS! In all honesty, the wild flowers here are gorgeous and the blue bonnets are especially so. I have always envied those ladies that I have known through the years that have had photos of their kids, themselves, whomever, etc taken in the Texas Blue Bonnets. Well I finally got my chance! I've met some new friends here in Texas and they were able to steer me to the correct spot and one of them even helped me out and took a few photos, too! (Thank you Stephanie Moody!)

A Vacation from Vacation Please!!

I need a recovery from vacation. My kids have been sick with colds and I haven't been getting enough rest. I had to call out from work today to take Aaron to the doctor to get his ears checked. It's nothing. (Thank you, God!) And he seems much better this evening after being up last night with a temp of 101 all night. He actually ate a little bit of dinner, but has been nursing like crazy since we got home. I worked yesterday, but came home to his fever and felt like I had to stay home with him or I'd be a bad mom.

Vacation was good. We visited lots of family as well as Mickey Mouse. It was a whirlwind and I'm feeling exhausted. Our pics are posted on the kids' website. I don't have the energy to upload any for here.

Preparing for Vacation

I work this weekend so I spent the day getting the laundry caught up and planning out a week's worth of clothing for the boys. I have their stuff mostly ready to pack. I still need to fold socks. (Why is folding socks such a chore? And why is it so hard to find their proper mates?) I work Saturday and Sunday so I will spend the afternoons/evenings finishing up my packing and we'll be leaving super early on Monday morning. We have a direct flight into LAX from Austin so hopefully things will go smoothly. We are planning to go to Bill's grandma's apartment in Santa Monica to spend the afternoon. My brother-in-law will meet us there and hopefully our nephew sometime, too. Our plans are for DisneyLand Tuesday through Thursday and then a day in San Diego on Friday. We'll also see Bill's aunt and uncle and his other grandmother in Encinitas. Should be a good time, but I have so much to get done before then!

A Great Family Day

Bill was able to take the day off today since he had just returned from overseas. He slept so-so last night, but still wanted to join us on our trip to the Cameron Park Zoo. Fresh air and sunshine generally help with jetlag anyway! So off we went! We enjoyed the zoo before it got too crowded and even joined in for the story hour and craft. Then we went to Don Carlos' for Mexican lunch and to Best Buy where I got a new laptop! I am so excited. Mine was on it's last leg. I've been trying to clean it up so that Bill can take it to Afghanistan if he wants though I wouldn't be too surprised if we don't get a new one. I've spent the afternoon loading my favorites, etc, and getting everything set just the way I like it!