Friends Forever

My mom lives in Chicago these days...and despite the fact that she's been gone for a couple years now, I still miss her terribly. One of the only reasons I moved back to Texas four years ago was to live closer to my mom: for many, many different reasons. So I must confess that there aren't many people I would spend a day with instead of my mom while she's visiting for Spring Break. But for this lady, I did!

She has been my friend for a long, long time. Since we were kids. She has always been an inspiration to me, and an example. As adults, this has been even more true. When I moved back to Arlington, I unknowingly moved down the street from her. She has been a friend to me when I thought I had no one else in the world. She has loved my children as her own. She has cleaned up my children's poop! She is a kind, generous, humble and amazing person. For these reasons, and so many more, I happily gave up a day with my mom to see her and her sweet children. She now lives in Lufkin, and I miss her like I miss my mom. I love her dearly, and treasure the times I get to see her when she comes back for visits. I know a loving Father in Heaven has blessed me with friends such as her, friends I know that I'll have forever. I'm so, so grateful for this tender mercy.

Spring Break 2011

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE Spring Break! I love that spring break signals that winter is nearly over (hopefully), and summer is just around the corner. This year, we were blessed to have my mom, Grandma, here for Spring Break. How great is that?!?! She flew in from Chicago on Sunday, and Monday we started off our break in our usual tradition of breakfast! Our tradition is donuts for the kids from Krispy Kreme, and breakfast for the adults at La Madeleine. It was a little chaotic, as usual, with our crew of hooligans. But still fun. Then Grandma took the kids to Toys R Us for a little spoiling, Grandma style.

Here are the kids at Toys R Us, after getting to pick out a new toy AND a book from Barnes and Noble. They were super spoiled this time around! It was a fun way to start our Spring Break.

Big Girl Bed

You know that saying, don't mess with a good thing. Well...I messed with a good thing. Addison has always been my good sleeper. My 12 hour sleeper. My nearly always slept thru the night good sleeper. As she's getting close to her third birthday, I thought it would be a good idea to transition her to a "big girl" bed. I reasoned that I wanted her to be sleeping in a bed she could get in and out of before I potty trained her. I want her to have the freedom when she's potty trained to get out of bed and use the bathroom if she needs. So I converted her crib into a toddler bed. In Addison's mind, this is the greatest thing ever! Unfortunately for me, it has NOT been the greatest thing ever. The first few nights, she didn't stay in bed. Then she started staying in bed when we laid her down, but she got up early in the morning. I mean 5:30 early! Yikes! So my good sleeper is now a so-so sleeper. I'm hoping she'll start sleeping later after the newness of this new found freedom wears off. In the meantime, I'm tired! And Addison is no where near being potty trained.

Snow Days 2011

The weather forecasters kept saying it was coming...bad weather. Alex even came home from school on Monday and told me that bad weather was coming. They must have discussed the weather at school. Amazingly, the forecasters were pretty accurate this time. Early this morning, I heard thunder and either sleet or hail. It was a strange combo. And sure enough, school was cancelled. We got a call from the school district around 6 a.m. saying that the schools were closed. Alex came into my room around 7, fully dressed. Roger and I told him that it was a snow day. He looked a little confused, so we further explained to him that he didn't have to go to school today. His face just lit up! It was precious. So today was his first ever snow day! He couldn't wait to get outside and play. I managed to stall him long enough to get some breakfast down him, and then we bundled up and headed out!

We were pretty cautious moving around because as we got outside, I realized it was more ice than snow.

The kids with their big chunks of ice! We also realized pretty quickly that we didn't get a real powdery snow...it was more like frozen pellets of water. So it didn't stick together, which wasn't as much fun because it didn't make for good snow balls or even a snow man. We also quickly realized that the wind was blowing 50 mph or more! So it was literally freezing outside! We didn't stay out too long. Once inside, we warmed up with hot chocolate!

I tried to keep Alex busy throughout the day to help the time go a little faster. He went outside again with Roger later in the morning. Then we stayed in for the rest of the day. It was just too cold to be outside. We also ended up making some cookies while Addison napped. Alex is a great helper!

So I think for his first snow day, it went pretty well. I think he also enjoyed just being home and playing! So we played in the snow, drank hot chocolate, played some more, made cookies...now what are we going to do tomorrow on our second snow day?!?!?

First Snow of 2011

We had our first snow flurries back on the 9th of January. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever! Addison enjoyed trying to catch the snowflakes in her mouth. Alex enjoyed just being outside in it. He was trying desperately to gather enough for a snowball. It started snowing around noon, right after we finished church. So we played outside for a few minutes before going in for lunch and Addison's nap. Alex asked me all afternoon if he could go outside and play in it. But the snow just didn't last very long, and it never accumulated. After a couple hours, it stopped snowing completely. Alex was just broken hearted that he didn't have any snow to play in. He was so disappointed! It was really sad. I tried my best to explain that we live in Texas and we just don't get that much snow. But he remembers last year, when we had that freak of a snow storm with a foot or so of snow. And then he kept asking me why we lived here and why we couldn't live where it does snow. I tried to be very diplomatic. But honestly, I hate snow and I'm quite glad that I don't have to mess with it! My gut says Alex might grow up to live someplace where it does snow. We'll see!

Super Hero, Super Day

During the month of December, Alex's elementary school did a cereal drive, collecting boxes of cereal for those in need. The kids were to decorate their boxes of cereal like a super hero, and if they reached a certain goal, they would earn a day to dress like super heroes at school. Alex was so excited to dress like a super hero. Luckily, we have many options. He chose to dress up as Dan from Bakugans. That's his Bakugan "stand"

He also came home with this certificate from his teacher. This is his second one. His first one was for great behavior. He earned that one during December, and was certain he would earn an extra gift from Santa for having great behavior! I was so proud of him for being good at school! Way to go Alex!

January Disclosures

Ugh, I'm such a slacker! I can't believe that January is almost over and I haven't blogged once. I think I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that my first post of 2010 was about Craig Story, an Arlington Police officer killed in the line of duty. And earlier this month, another police officer was killed in the line of duty. It just brought up all those emotions from Officer Story's funeral, all the emotions associated with being the wife of a police officer. It was a weird dejavu (sp) to be starting this year off in nearly the same way as last year. And the month kind of went down hill from there with more bad news. A friend that I went to high school with lost her sister. My bestest, dearest, oldest friend found out her mother has breast cancer. Another good friend lost her mother suddenly. And it just keeps coming! Wow! So I think I've been avoiding blogging because I haven't been in a good place for a while. However, I don't want to miss some of the good things that have happened this month. So I'll start with Alex.