My Choo Choo

Graham is all boy!  He is first and foremost obsessed with trash trucks!  Tuesday is his favorite day of the week because the trash and recycle trucks roam our streets picking up odds and ends.  We’ve even had a few trash men get out of their trucks to say hi because we stalk them so much. But when I pulled up to the train tracks last week and an excited squeal came from the backseat, I knew that trains had moved up his list of favorite moving objects.  I just love this age!

Fun times during a house showing

Having our house on the market has been quite the challenge.  The #1 challenge is keeping it perfectly clean & tidy...all.the.time.  But challenge #2 is sometimes even harder.  Trying to find something to do with your children and dog while someone is looking at the house...sometimes with only a 15 minute heads up.  I've been trying to be creative, and this walk around the neighborhood turned into such a fun outing.  

Fun times outside

We love, love, love spending time outdoors.  The kids are happier which makes me happier.  But these pictures pretty much sum up the alliances right now.  "The Boys" vs "The Princess".  They all seem happy with this arrangement...for now.

Bubble Baths!

Wouldn't life be great if you could take a bubble bath every single night?!

Chuck E Cheese

Chuck E Cheese...wow!  Since we are moving, I decided to take Sam and Sean somewhere fun.  I should have known that they would choose the one and only Chuck E Cheese!  Ben was super pumped (he had a permanent grin the entire time) when I told him that he was going too.  They spent two hours running around Chuck E Cheese and then we grabbed dinner next door at Skeeters.  Such a fun Thursday afternoon with 3 wonderful boys!

Galveston: Life is Great

This weekend, my mom, dad and aunt took the older boys to Galveston for the weekend.  Since we had an open house on Sunday, I drove down with Grace & Graham to meet them.  It was an awesome Sunday in Galveston (it would have been perfect if Scott could have been there too...but someone had to man the open house in Houston).  Everyone had a fabulous time, got a little sunburned and were worn out by the time we loaded up to return to Houston.  The older boys could not stop talking about their weekend in Galveston.  I know it was an exhausting weekend for my parents & aunt, but they made a lot of little people very happy!  Let's do it again soon!

THE Letter

Every Sunday before Scott leaves, he writes the sweetest and most encouraging letter to the kids.  On Mondays when everyone realizes that he's not coming back for a few days & nights, I pull out the letter.  They always gather around and listen as Sam reads it.  A few tears are usually shed after reading it (myself included), but I always end the letter with, "we'll all be together again soon".  As Scott pulls into the driveway on Friday evening, the excitement is like nothing I've ever witnessed (again, myself included).  We love and miss you, Scott/Dad!  See you SOON!

It's Shark Time

Sam and Griffin waiting their turn in the dugout.  Sam played catcher & 1st base tonight.

Deta and I wrangling the troops.  One of the few times that anyone sat down.  As always, I would never have lasted 1.5 hours at a game without you.  Thank you, thank you!

SLOW...this just made me laugh.  

Monkey see, monkey do.  Ben is a unicorn...which is also what he has requested that I buy him for his birthday.  Graham is Ben.

Sam (and Griffin) are such rock stars to their younger siblings on game nights.

The Allergy King

Poor Sam was poked over and over today so we could determine once and for all what he's allergic to.  The outcome...lots!  He was brave and tough and though I could see his sweet eyes tearing up, he never once said it hurt.  The good part is now we know what to avoid (peanut products are #1) and a game plan to make him feel better on a daily basis!  

Grace's Theme

My mom gave this shirt to Grace a few months back.  It's getting a tad small...but I still love it because the phrase is perfectly sums up Grace.

"Though she be but little, she is fierce!"

-William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Such Helpers!

Crazy 1 and Crazy 2

Beyblade has invaded our house

The boys are obsessed with Beyblades, metal spinning tops.  The boys "battled" all day yesterday, woke up at 5:45 (!!!) this morning to play & pretty much didn't stop playing until they went to bed tonight.  They are slightly (or maybe 100%) obsessed!

Bounce House Fun

4 kids + 1 small bounce house = lots & lots of fun!

Dinner Time for Sadie

Sadie is so patient with her younger, human siblings.  I usually try to feed Sadie (in peace) in the garage, but tonight Ben fed her (one of his chores) as we walked in the door from the doctor.  At the beginning of the video, notice Grace telling Sadie to "shhh" from the barking.  Ha!  

Ahoy Matey

I love that I get to "work" while still being able to stay home with my kiddos.  This usually means fitting in Pepper Lindsey while the kids are at school and/or sleeping.  Tonight I was working on a new pirate ship invitation when Sam walked out to say good night.  He took a quick look at was I was doing and then went to clean up his room before getting into bed.  When I went to tuck him into bed, he gave me this fabulous drawing and said I could "copy it if I wanted".  Yes please! 

Fun at the doctor's office

After a few fussy days (and nights), I decided to take G & G to the doctor to get checked out.  Of course, the moment we arrived they were both as happy as could be.  Graham loved playing inside the "desk" and Grace was consumed with her very large bag of pretzels.  But I am glad that we went as they both had a viral infection in the throat and Graham had an ear infection.  I hope they get feeling better soon!

Ben's Bean Plant

Ashley picked up Ben from school this afternoon.  When he got out of her car at home, he had a big smile on his face and this adorable bean plant.  It now has a place of honor in the window of our kitchen.

Bedtime Stories

I just love that Sam can help out at bedtime by reading stories to the younger kids.

I'm not getting in THAT bath...

...with THOSE boys!  This is what Grace does while the boys are taking a bath.  I let everyone get bathed and play in the bath and then at the very end I throw her in and wash her as fast as possible.  Honestly, who could blame her for refusing to get in the bath with three rowdy boys!

Sharks Baseball Game - A Great Meeting Place

Scott, Grandma & Aunt Deta all drove in to see Sam play baseball tonight.  They spent 5% of the game watching and cheering on Sam.  The rest of their time was spent chasing after 3 wild children who wanted to spend the entire game running, chasing and wrestling each other.  Everyone should sleep well tonight.

Zoo Time with Mrs. Prater's Ponies

Sam had a great time hanging out with his classmates at the zoo this morning.  While they enjoyed the morning, their favorite activities didn't involve the zoo at all.  The bus ride and looking for roly polies in the dirt were the activities that most of the students couldn't stop talking about.  

We're in love with the zoo

We always arrive at the zoo right as it opens (9 am) and head to the farthest corner of the zoo and work our way back to the front.  Typically that gives us an hour and a half of a very public but great zoo all to ourselves.  This morning was no exception.  The weather is cool so the animals were very active.  It was an A+ trip for everyone!   

Since the zoo trip went so well, Ben was able to talk me into letting them ride the train.  That portion was A LOT more chaotic but it was worth it to see Ben & Graham smile for the entire ride.

Sam's Sinuses!

Six years worth of battling allergies has gotten us to this point.  On Thursday, Sam and I decided to visit a child allergist to see if we can get his coughing under control once and for all.  The very hands-on doctor showed Sam what a quick swab of the nose revealed under a microscope.  A sinus infection!  The doctor even answered all of Sam's questions about the "purple balls and lines" that he saw under the microscope.   We'll treat the sinus infection first and then we'll head back once it's gone to do allergy testing.