Birthday, Farm & Zoo - Oh My!

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted (especially with pictures). We've been going and going lately...I have had pictures to post for 3 weeks, so here you go:

Lolly's BIG Birthday Dinner at Maggianno's - YUM!

Landrie & Karsyn at Luke's Petting Zoo Party

I got to take the girls to the FW Zoo for the first time. Lamar and Landrie have been together and the girls went with Gigi & Grandpa and Pops & Lolly, but never with me. I enjoyed it so much! They loved all of the animals--especially the monkeys, jaguars and elephants.

Two Weeks

We officially have 2 weeks of school...or 8 days with kids! I'm so excited to be off for the summer...I know it will fly by, but I'm really looking forward to fun days with the girls and Lamar.

Tomorrow we're headed to the zoo, so I'll have new pictures to share. Karsyn is really getting into animals like Landrie, so it will be really fun to see her reactions. They've been to the zoo with Daddy, Lolly & Pops and Gigi & Grandpa, but I've never been with them. I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Lolly!!

Today is Lolly's 50th Birthday! I'm so blessed to have a mom that I can call my friend. Not only is she one of my closest friends, she is the greatest Lolly to my girls. They love her so much and look forward to spending time with her. We have such a fun, hip Lolly!!

Janelle wrote a great post on why Lolly is the best! Check it out here!

Happy Birthday! We love you!!

Reading

Landrie has expressed a real interest in reading lately, so I bought some flash cards for her. The cards have a picture and the word on one side and just the word on the other. She is doing such a good job of sounding out the words and figuring out most of them.

It's also helped Karsyn a lot too. She looks at the picture side and tells me what it is. Some of her words are hilarious! I can't quite describe how she says "girl". Hopefully I've captured it on the video:

Speeding by...

May is just speeding by. I can't believe I haven't posted lately.

The bedtime war is still a bit of a war, but tonight was the easiest night yet. Landrie crashed first and then Karsyn went down easily after her. It should be the other way around, but it was fun to have Karsyn one-on-one tonight. She usually doesn't get that.

Lamar and I are keeping busy cooking. We've started eating much, much healthier and have cooked nearly every night for the last 2 weeks! It's paying off though - Lamar has lost 13 lbs and I've lost 9! Hopefully we can keep it up!

I keep promising pictures/videos and hopefully my computer will cooperate tonight.

Landrie & Caleb as lady bugs for their Spring Program.

Karsyn taking her turn on the stage after the program was over.

I'll load the videos in a separate post.

Bedtime Fight

The current score is Mommy & Daddy 2, Karsyn 0. Tonight the fight only lasted 45 minutes compared to 1 hour + last night. We're getting better...

All or Nothing

I'm an all or nothing kind of girl...I always seem to make big changes all at once.

When I was engaged to Lamar, we had set a wedding date of June 7, 2002. Plans were coming along nicely--dress picked out, bridesmaids dresses chosen, flowers bought, etc. One day, Lolly and I were having lunch and we discussed moving it up. Lamar and I both had full time jobs and I hated him living 45 minutes away. So, we moved the date up to December 28, 2001. College graduation - December 14, Christmas and then our wedding. We could manage...

Fast foward to Landrie's potty training. We were moving to a new house, having our second baby and working full-time. Why not try to potty train her? Needless to say, it didn't work.

Tonight I figured was as good as any to transition Karsyn to her BIG bed. This is in the midst of cleaning out the garage, cooking dinner and organizing the girls' rooms. If you know Karsyn, you know that we had a fight on our hands. She loved being in the room with Landrie, but she had a case of the sillies. After several spankings and warnings, she finally fell asleep. I went to check on her and this is what I found:

How can you be mad or frustrated after you see this sweet thing! I think she must have crashed in the middle of climbing back into bed. She's a sneaky thing! Hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier.

Spring Cleaning

I always have the best of intentions--for example: hanging fans, fixing furniture, re-doing the girls' rooms, etc. Lolly knows that procrastination is one of my father-given traits (Thanks Pops!), so she called me on it. This time though, she offered to help.

Saturday morning she showed up to my house armed with cleaning supplies (her recommended brands--I do own my own too), baskets and bins for organizing and her two helping hands. We swept and scrubbed and cleaned until our fingers were raw. My house was way dirtier than it appeared. We found all the dust-bunnies in every nook and crannie in my front room, kitchen and living rooms. It is unbelivable the difference.

I hate to admit any of this--I don't want ya'll to think my house was crawling with rodents or roaches or anything. It's not. I just don't have take the time to deep clean.

This afternoon, we tackled the garage. When we moved into our house nearly two years ago, we had lots and lots of boxes. Most of them were storage type things, but Lolly decided it was time to be Nate Berkus. She stood along with me as I went through each box and decided what was keep, Goodwill and throw away. I am proud to say that we took 2 loads to Goodwill, dumped a ton at a local dumpster and only have a few things to deal with here at home.

Funny story - the only thing I "found" was my social security card--kind of important!!

The final task this week is to tame the beast otherwise known as Karsyn & Landrie's rooms. I am converting Karsyn's room into our playroom and moving both girls in together. The transition will definitely be interesting! I'll be sure to take before and after pictures.

Thanks Lolly for all of your help! I appreciate it more than you know!!!

Crazy Day

When we're not dealing with WILD weather, we're dealing with other crazy things! Today our school was put on lockdown for close to 2 hours. When our principal came on the speaker and said "we're on lockdown" we knew it was for real. We quickly ushered students from out of the halls and away from the classroom doors. I had to go outside and lock our door and then went inside my classroom with another teacher and about 15 kids.

We were nervous for a while, but thankfully our local newspaper updated their website and we found out that there was a bank robber loose close to our campus. Once we knew that it wasn't a crazed student, we all felt relieved.

Things were a little tense today. You never know how you'll react in a situation like that and God definitely gave me a peace.

Thank you, Lord, for your protection over my school, my students and me. Amen!

PS: Landrie's Spring Program was tonight. I'll post video/pictures this weekend. Just a sneak preview though--she didn't have her finger in her nose!

Dump

I just dumped my camera and have a few random pictures to share:

Last week we had a crazy storm that caused a lot of damage in our area. We heard the sirens go off, so we woke the girls up at 3:30 and took them to their bathroom. Those sweet things snuggled up on Landrie's pillow and just layed there until the storm passed. It was too cute not to take a picture.

Miss Karsyn pulled out her Snow White dress up set this week and begged me to "open it Mommy." She loved it! She can put the shoes and skirt on by herself so that makes it great for me. She has pranced around in that outfit like crazy! I had to fight her to take it off for her check-up yesterday.

Speaking of check-up: Karsyn was 35 1/2 inches tall (90%) and 27.8 lbs (60%). She's a big girl! I was excited to see she was over 35 inches...that means she can ride most of the rides at Disneyland! She's my little daredevil so I'm sure she'll love them all.

Summer-itis

As a teacher of seniors, we always talk about the infamous "Senioritis". By Spring Break, my kids are on the countdown for all of the end of the year excitement - prom, graduation, etc. Their desire for summer is infectious--I have a touch of summer-itis myself. We have 7 more Monday's at school!

I'm excited about our summer. We have a few things planned - another trip to Conroe with church friends, a 30th Birthday Celebration for Lamar, a trip to Disneyland and lots of fun and relaxation.

I pray that I can stay focused and finish strong!

Softball

It seems like we're always in some season or another. Softball season ended Monday night and Spring Football begins on the 16th. We went to our first game Monday. Landrie has gone to a few games with Daddy, but this was the first one for Karsyn and I. The weather was nice and the game was close by, so I picked up Sonic and headed to the field.

After the first game, the girls visited Daddy in the dugout. The team was really sweet and sang Happy Birthday to Karsyn. She loved it! We stayed in there as the second game started, but the girls were a little unruly. Karsyn wanted to go on the field, so we headed home. At least I got a few cute pics out of it.

The Party

Last weekend was fun and crazy - as usual. Lamar had 2 games on Saturday, so I had most of the party prep to myself. It actually went really smooth!

We had a family party with all of our cousins and ended up with close to 40 people! The weather was perfect, so the kids were able to play and eat outside. We are blessed with a very close extended family...it's fun, but a lot of chaos.

Here's some highlights from the fun day:



The Birthday Girl wasn't feeling 100% but she had LOTS of help opening her presents. All in all - it was a fun day!

Happy Birthday Karsyn Alyssa!

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby!

I couldn't imagine how I could love anyone as much as I loved Landrie and then you came along. My love mulitplied! I love you and Landrie both equally and so abundantly I cannot even describe.

You are such an energetic, happy and funny girl! You are fearless and do everything with a smile! I cannot wait to see what God has in store for your life--I know you will do great things!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. " Psalm 139:13-14

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

Karsyn found Landrie's old Cowgirl boots. They have been her newest accessory for the last few days. "Look at me, Mommy!" is her constant cry.

Ta-Da

Jennisa did such an awesome job and was able to turn my crazy vision into a work of art.


If you're interested in a re-design or just starting out, Jennisa's designs are so clever and fun and very reasonable. From the time we started working on it to now was less than 1 week! WOW! She does have a waiting list, but as you can tell - it's definitely worth the wait.

Thanks Jennisa! I absolutely love it! Thanks Lolly for this fun and unique birthday gift!!

Coming Soon...

A new blog design! Courtesy of Lolly & Jennisa at Once Upon a Blog!

Until the big reveal, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The hunt is on! Karsyn didn't have a clue last year. She did better this year, but still needed help.

The girls LOVE candy! I heard Landrie in the kitchen saying "this chocolate is good." I found her eating a giant easter egg. Yuck!

Another attempt at a family picture. Notice Lamar in his pink shirt - very handsome!

Crazy Cousins - minus Hayden + a friend of the Gainers. It's always a circus when we're all together, but so much fun!

Karsyn decided the fork was taking too much time. She decided the 2 fisted approach works much better. I guess she's practicing for her birthday on Saturday.

Get excited for my new blog! I can't wait for it to be up and running!

Boring is a Good Thing

I haven't posted recently because I haven't had anything excting to post about. That can be a good and a bad thing I guess. I'm going to consider it a blessing... So many people have much more hectic lives and so much hanging in the balance all the time. I feel blessed to have a family who loves me, healthy little girls and a job I love. I'll take that kind of boring over life and death excitement any day!

Happy Easter

Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you."

Matthew 28:5-7

American Idol - Top 12 Wrap-up

I really like the Beatles, but I just didn't think it was too "hot" last night. I was really surprised by all of the judges' reactions to the songs. I do think it must sound different live than it does through the TV because I just didn't get it.

Sayesha - She was just OK. She's usually really good, but she seemed nervous today.

Chikezie - He was GREAT! He really came out of his shell and entertained. You could tell he was proud of himself. The judges really liked him too. I'm sure he'll be around next week.

Ramiele - Let's just say-we fast-forwarded through her performance. Boring! She's good though and will be around for a little longer

Jason - Good, but a little boring. I'm not sure how much longer he'll stay in.

Carly - the judges love her, but I'm on the fence. I really would have expected Amanda to sing that song rather than her.

David Cook - Pretty good. He's growing on me, but I'm not sure how versatile he is. We'll see what he can do in the next round.

Brooke - She is my favorite, but I have a hard time seeing her as the "idol" type. The judges like her, so I think that will work in her favor for a little longer. I do believe she is very genuine and a good girl.

David Hernandez - way too over the top this week. I'm losing interest in him, but he'll make it to the top 10.

Amanda - I'm just not a fan. She does the rocker-girl thing well, but I don't think she could sing anything else. You can't understand a thing she sings either.

Michael - he disappointed me this week. Just a boring performance. He'll go through to next week, but if he doesn't come out next week with a BANG he'll go home.

Kristi - She's just trying way too hard and it's not working for her. The country thing was overdone this week.

David Archuletta - Poor kid! He was so nervous he forgot the lyrics. I felt really sorry for him. Hopefully the voters did too, otherwise he might be going home.

Bottom 3:
Kristi
David A.
David H.

Going Home - Kristi

Celebrate Good Times - Come On!

The last 10 days have been full of celebrations. It started off with Jordan and I going to see Matchbox 20 in concert. That was my Christmas present from Jordan! It was an awesome show and we had great food before hand - Pappadeaux.

The week continued with my birthday (eeek - 28, ouch!). Lamar and I celebrated on Thursday night at La Hacienda.

Jordan and I celebrated her birthday on Friday night at the Melting Pot.

Last night, Jordan, Pops and I celebrated again by attending a concert for a singer/songwriter (Verlon Thompson) that we've followed for a long time. After the show, we made our ritual trip to Starbucks. While we were there, he walked in! My dad was on Cloud 9!! It was so fun to watch his reaction and to hear Verlon answer all of the questions he had. He is such a genuinely nice person. It was a fun night!

Finally, today is Jordan's birthday. So although she and I have celebrated her birthday, I haven't had my official family birthday meal. We are having brunch at Blue Mesa and I can't wait!

My celebrations will continue next weekend when Janelle comes home and we go for a visit with Gigi & Grandpa. It's just a little bit too crazy - as we like to tell Landrie, but I love it! As you can see, all of our celebrations revolve around food. Maybe that's why I have some extra weight to lose! I'll work on it again next week...after all, I'm still celebrating!

Happy Birthday Jor! There's not anyone else I'd rather share my birthday week with!!

Idol Boys Top 8

Wow...very interesting this week.

1. Luke - liked the song, but he's just not going to cut it. He's out this week.
2. David A - weird song choice for him, but he's still really, really good. Top 2?
3. Danny - Gross me out! I could spend an entire post on him, but I won't. He'll make it to the top 4 though I'm afraid.
4. David H - weird to sing Celine, but it was good. I'm a little grossed out by his past profession though. Look at TMZ website for more info.
5. Michael Johns - AMAZING! Definitely my favorite. Top 3, but won't win.
6. David Cook - I like him, but I just can't picture him winning. Cool arrangement of the song though! Pretty impressive.
7. Jason - loved the song. His best performance so far.
8. Chickeze - I love him, but I'm thinking he's out this week. Seems to "old" for Idol.

Bottom line: Luke for sure and I'm not sure about #2...Danny (I hope), but unfortunately, I think Chickeze is out.

Landrie didn't watch and I'm glad. Danny is just too gross for words!

Crazy Texas Weather

Who would believe that I took thesee pictures on Saturday:

(yes - you do see both girls cooperating for a picture - amazing, I know!)

And these tonight.

Still half-asleep

Throwing a snowball at me!

It's snowing - IN March!


Jor came over for dinner tonight. When she was leaving around 7:45, it was just barely snowing. I was shocked when Lamar called at 9 to say it looked like a "blizzard" (for Texas anyway). I looked outside and knew that Landrie had to see it.


She is always talking about the snow and wanting to build a snowman and throw snowballs! She had been asleep for maybe 30 minutes, but I decided to wake her up anyway. I carried her to the living room, put on her Hello Kitty slippers and a hoodie and she finally woke up. Once we got outside, she was thrilled!

When Lamar got home, he decided Karsyn needed to join in the excitement too. He carried her outside in her PJs and she just stared at the snow. I'm not sure she knew what to expect at all.



I know it seems crazy to wake them up, but tomorrow's supposed to be 60 degrees and I wanted to make sure they saw the snow. Luckily it paid off and they both went to sleep right away dreaming of a White March.

Idol Results Week 2

The Idol girls didn't excite me much this week at all, in fact - I fell asleep right after Brooke White sang. She's really good, but for the most part the girls just don't do much for me. The judges keep surprising me by calling this the best season ever. I just don't get it.

As for the results, my picks were

1. Jason Yeager
2. Luke Menard
3. Alexandrea
4. Amanda - rocker chick

I was 2 for 4. The rocker chick is good, but she can only sing rock. I don't think she'll last after next week. Luke looks like he should be singing on a cruise ship. He has a great voice, but definitely not the "Idol" type. And - did you see Danny crying at the end? Give me a break! Surely he'll be gone next week. Landrie would be disappointed, but Lamar will be singing a hallelujah chorus.

For Gigi & Janelle - I took some video and pics of the girls today. Hopefully, I can get them posted this weekend. The girls were doing the Chicken Dance---hilarious!

You know you're a coach's wife if...

...You plan the delivery of your children around your coaching schedule.

Landrie was due on October 5, 2003--right in the middle of football season. Luckily though that weekend was a Bye Week for Lamar and the P-W Pirates. After much discussion with the doctor, I convinced her that it would be more convenient if we could induce that weekend, especially since she would be on call that weekend and we could have all of our family present.

And the family made their presence known...I believe there were close to 30 people in the waiting room while I delivered!

I went in on Friday night and 26 miserable hours later, sweet Landrie was born. Earlier on Saturday, when they broke my water, there was meconium in my fluid so they were concerned she was under stress. The doctor was prepared and there were NICU nurses standing by as I delivered. Landrie was grey and limp and didn't cry at all. It was the scariest moment of my life. The nurses worked on her for what seemed like forever, and she began to cry and "pink" up. Her first Apgar was a 2, the second a 8-9. Dr. B never could determine what the problem was, but thankfully Landrie suffered no effects from the delivery.

God was watching over us all that day - She truly is my miracle girl!

Look for more installments of "You know you're a coach's wife" - Coming Soon

American Idol - Week 2 Boys

After last week's AI, Landrie has had a new imaginary friend--Danny. It seems that every where we go, she's talking to him or about him. Yuck! She has even dubbed him the "new Sanjaya".

Tonight, we bathed the girls and put them to bed, but once Danny came on Lamar let her come out to hear him sing. Honestly, he wasn't as bad as last week, but I still CAN'T stand him. She was thrilled though and went to bed a very happy little girl.

My top 3:
David Hernandez - just a good entertainer
Michael Johns - not as good as last week, but still a favorite
David Archeletta - "Imagine" was great, but I was surprised that the judges thought so too.

Bottom 3:
Luke Menard - good singer, but not the "idol" type
Danny - see above
Jason (not w/ dreads) - just average

The girls definitely have big competition with the boys. Can they do it? We'll see tomorrow.

American Idol - Week 1 Boys

We are loyal AI fans. We are always waiting for the new season to come out and we watch every episode. We don't let Landrie watch the auditions part because we don't want her to see the really bad people who are made fun of, so her first episode was last night.

She always likes the boys better than the girls, so she was very excited to watch last night. She also has very unique taste in the singers. Lamar and I liked the "normal" ones - like David Hernandez and Michael Johns. Landrie, on the other hand, thought Danny was the greatest! In fact, she spent today imitating him and talking to him as her imaginary friend. She also commented to Lolly about how he makes Daddy sick because he wears girl pants. Oops! I guess we're going to have to watch what we say around her.

I predict that Garrett Haley and Luke Menard go home on Thursday.

I'm excited to see the girls tonight! We'll see what interesting comments Landrie has for us - I'll report back tomorrow!

My Babies are Growing!

Last night I went to check on the girls one final time, and couldn't believe how BIG Karsyn looked in her bed.


How did she go from this...





To this...




She is such a ball of fire and a bundle of energy. I just can't get enough of her sweet smile and little words that she learns each day.



Landrie is such a little girl now...any trace of baby is long gone.




I think I'm growing nostalgic as Karsyn's 2nd birthday approaches. It's hard to believe that she will be 2 in less than 2 months, and Landrie will be 4 1/2. Time has really flown by! Both girls are such blessings! Who could ask for more?

Happy Heart Day!

This morning started off VERY early. Lamar jumped out of bed at 4:40 this morning! He heard something and saw the light come on in the kitchen. Landrie was wide awake eating Skittles at the kitchen table! We sent her back to bed and thankfully fell back asleep. Usually, if I wake up in the middle of the night it takes at least an hour to fall back asleep again.

Landrie's sleep habits have been very interesting lately. She's almost 4 1/2 and she still takes a nap almost every afternoon. If she doesn't have a nap, she's a bear to be around, but if she does have a nap, she wakes up in the middle of the night. I think the nap is going to have to go - hopefully we can all handle that (you too Lolly!).

Lamar and I exchanged Valentines this morning once we got up for real. For me, cute coupons and the movie "No Reservations". For him, new running shoes.

We woke the girls up with their Valentines too. Karsyn opened her present all by herself (a first) and had a priceless reaction. She got such a surprised look on her face and then yelled "Oh Gosh"! I wish I had my video camera!

Landrie wasn't as thrilled - she handed Karsyn her Beanie Baby Bear and asked if there were any more presents! What am I going to do with her?? :)

We're having a very low-key night. Lamar had a softball tournament today, so I'm going to pick up Macaroni Grill courtesy of Lolly and Gigi and we'll have a quiet dinner at home after the girls go to bed.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, love-filled day!!