Thursday nite visit

Gramma and Pop came for dinner tonight...big fun for the boys. Gramma never shows up empty handed...fudge pops for all. Check out the coffee filters to catch the drips...man, that woman is crafty! Parks ran foot races, pretended to be a bandit (he's into being a bad guy these days...hope it doesn't stick!), and they both hit homeruns. Have I bragged on my homerun hitter? Parks can smack it clear over the fence...Papa Bear is sure proud:)

Off to Fairfield tomorrow, then to LBJ for the rest of the weekend. Hopefully I'll return with pics of the boys with their east TX cousins and all of us relaxing at Horseshoe Bay:)

Charlotte

Woke to bad news today...my mom's cousin, Charlotte passed away. We loved going to Fairfield where she lived for visits. I took Parks a couple of times and he LOVED it. Jimmy would take him out on the tractor and around to look at the cows...all of those fun, country things that a city boy misses out on. These are pics from last few summers. Davis never got to go...I'm sorry about that.
We'll miss her and our trips to Fairfield...

Nook

Last night Daniel built the boys a cave out of pillows. They both immediately wanted to curl up inside with books and a flashlight. This supported my recent argument with my husband that every kid needs a nook...I feel a project coming on:)

Friends

This morning was spent with some of our best friends:)

Papa Rock & Parks

Daniel is in Houston, so the boys and I stayed with GG and Papa Rock last night. Papa Rock made good on his promise to teach Parks to shoot a BB gun. Man, he thinks he's BIG STUFF!! Don't read into the target...we were actually big supporters:)

Parks ended the night with his ritual of staying up late with Papa Rock to watch some good old westerns.

That boy loves his Papa Rock!

Aunt Joyce's

Everyone loves Aunt Joyce's house. Its the house we gather at for Christmas, Easter, and many summer gathers for food, fun & swimming. Its casual, laid back and always welcoming...anytime.

I hope that our house is the "Aunt Joyce" house one day.

The Hatters joined us today for brauts and hot dogs on the grill. Gramma & Pop were there so the boys presented them with their hand painted anniversary cards...they were so proud:) Parks followed through (kind of) on his promise to jump off the diving board...he compromised when bribed with a treat and went off from the sitting position. He did jump off of the slide (which is really almost as high as the board...no convincing him of that!). Davis was fearless as usual and even jumped in fully clothed in his PJs and no floatie...luckily Daddy was there. Good times...

B.O.R.I.N.G.

I've started a new little project in an attempt to get myself from under this dark cloud of guilt I have that I'm not doing a better job of documenting my children's lives...am I the only one who looses sleep worrying about this? I've found that I do take many, many pics but the pressure of photoshopping and being clever keeps me from posting or scrapbooking the memories...dumb, huh? So, I'm giving up the photo editing and the need to be super witty and cute and am just posting a "pic a day" as a type of journal for me. The hope is I will be able to look back and see what in the world we spend our time doing each day.

I love my life...especially the everyday-ness of it. You know that song "just another day in paradise"...that's me. I hope to keep up and download into a book for me to have and share with boys. So far, I've never kept up with a goal involving scrapbooking or journaling...wish me luck!

So...if you happen to be a reader, expect NO wit or dazzling pics. This is us everyday...just as we are:)

Happy Anniversary Gramma & Pop!

Today we spent the morning painting anniversary cards for Gramma and Pop...39 years and counting!

Thurs - At the house

Thursday was my day to "regroup"...we've been at GG's all week, which left my house piling up with to-dos. While cleaning up, I went to wipe off a mark on the wall...MISTAKE! That just showed how incredibly filthy the rest of the wall was. So...we spent the morning scrubbing the walls...not much of a task with these 2 helpers:) We also spent some time "hand watering" out in the back yard...we're on water restrictions, so I made sure we were legit:)

See how exciting my life is? :) I'm not complaining...as Mom says, " I love my boring life!"

The afternoon was actually exciting. We went to play with our new friends, Jackson & Allie. Jackson is 5 and a rockstar in Parks' eyes. He has cool toys...all the Star Wars stuff. I sense a new obsession...

Wed - Sea World!

We are kicking ourselves for not taking more advantage of our season passes to Sea World. We trekked out there Wednesday with our friends and had a ball...especially at the waterpark. This is the last week for it to be open...bummer!

Then we were off to GG and Papa Rock's for one last evening with the cousins and Aunt Frannie before they headed back to Houston to pack up for their big move to Kansas:(

Surprise

OK...so, I'm not the best blogger. Here goes my next attempt at keeping up...

Tonight we returned home from a long day at GG's with the cousins to find a BIG SURPRISE on the porch...a belated birthday gift from the Rubiolas...and man, was it ever a good one! All Parks could say was "WOW!!!" as Davis stood closely by eyeing the new toy. As soon as it was out of the box, the boys headed out back (at 9:30!!!) to chop down trees. Perfect gift! As Jen said, in response to my thank you text, "what boy wouldn't love a chainsaw?".

If you give a boy a box...

it will become a fort...LOVE THAT!!!!

Johnny & Tasha's New Digs

We're lucky...Uncle Johnny and Aunt Tash bought 22 acres, and our boys LOVE being out there in the country...I mean LOVE!!! We've been out there several times while they are re-doing the house that is on the property...they are basically gutting the whole thing and starting over. They work quick and I love to see the progress with each visit. The boys just love roaming around and riding in their "hunting vehicle." They help Grandma gather firewood, throw rocks (Davis clocked Parks in the head last time...you gotta watch that boy!), pretend to shoot things with their guns and just have a ball. Its quite a drive, but I think we'll be pretty regular visitors:)

17 Months

At 17 mts, Davis is:

**finally off his knees and walking upright...this happened over the holidays.

**in an intensive VOCABULARY BOOT CAMP that we've started around here since the boy won't talk. Since boot camp has started, he now says: APPLE, NITE-NITE, PAPA, HI, BYE, BALL, MAMA, DADA, and POW!! (he says this while pointing his favorite toy at you...his completely inappropriate pistol). Not much, but making progress and does finally seem somewhat interested (when he wants to be!!)

**always snotty...Daddy's to blame for those allergies, not me!

**cracking us up all day...he is so funny and HARD HEADED...where did he get that!?!?

**pretty go with the flow and laid back...unless he gets ticked, then watch out! He is a head butter (is that how you spell that??..seems weird??). He'll either butt you, or the floor. Mimi says he comes by this honestly...from Papa Rock:)

**tough, tough, tough as nails. He got his 15 mt shots last week (I know, bad mom for being late on that!!)...3 shots in a row and didn't bat an eye. He tumbles often and knocks himself pretty good, but rarely carries on for long.

**stingy with the hugs and kisses, but still sweet as can be and getting sweeter...today I got 3 kisses:)

**doing better with the school routine, but wants me to be the first mama to pick up or he gets mad waiting once the other moms start coming in.

**still loves his froggy. We left him at school one night on accident, and he was genuinely sad.

**sleeps like a champ...bed by 8 and sleeps until 7:30.

**finally sitting still to listen to a book...he really likes books these days...yeah!!

**goes to the kitchen and brings you a bowl if he's hungry or a cup if he wants juice. I guess this is easier than actually asking for them...

Be Mine

We spent today preparing for Parks' Valentine's party at school tomorrow. We like that homemade touch...except the little heart cakes, of course:) We will be spending our Valentine's in Corpus with Becca, Wade and Jack-Jack...boys playing golf and girls at the spa...how romantic:)

Cutest Cowboy E-V-E-R!!!

Papa Rock scored us some tickets to Taylor Swift Tuesday, so off to the rodeo we went. Parks got all duded up and man, was he something...so proud of those boots and hat. He had fun checking everything out, but I can tell you this...he will NOT be entering the mutten busting anytime soon...maybe Davis:) While he did enjoy the show, he spent most of the ride home talking about how he didn't like "those baby cows getting roped like that"...G.G., in her wisdom, compared it to a football player getting tackled...all part of the game. He felt better with that explanation and has spent today running around with his make shift rope roping imaginary calves:)