I'm Back...With News!

Well...I vanished. I'm sure any reader I ever had has long since forgotten about my blog, but I thought I needed to explain myself. About eight weeks ago, to our GREAT surprise and utter delight, we found out we were expecting another baby! I've never really told about our history in this area, but let me give you a quick rundown. We had trouble getting pregnant w/ our first baby and one month before we were to begin in-vitro, we found out we were pregnant. Then, after we greeted B into the world, we had three miscarriages. A wonderful specialist finally figured out that my body thought it was immune to a baby. So, to be able to maintain a pregnancy, I would have to have gamma globulin infusions that basically would calm my immune system down so that I could keep the baby. The day I found out I was pregnant w/ J, I started my infusions--once a month for 5 months--and we welcomed J into the world nine months later. As you can probably imagine, this process was a financial commitment-although worth every penny. We had not come to the point of deciding if we would have another. It just wasn't an issue that was even on the table at that point. However, I had prayed since we had J, that if it was the Lord's will, He would give us another baby. The Lord had made me perfectly content with two, though, and I felt fine if His answer to that was a "no". I knew that if He wanted us to have another, that somehow, that would work out in good time; He had given me that peace. So, finding out we were pregnant, really was the very best surprise I've ever had. God is good--I love how he never ceases to surprise us. Anyway, I started my infusions the next day, and so far, everything is going very well. I'm 12 weeks pregnant, and am being transferred from our specialist back to my regular ob-gyn this week. So, I hope that explains my where-abouts--I've actually been laying on the couch a lot! I'm feeling much better now, thankfully! So, hi again, to any friends that might actually check this!!

Birthday Banners

I love to have a special breakfast and decorate the kitchen for holidays and my boys' (including my husband's) birthdays. I have this old paper "Happy Birthday" sign that has seen better days. Today, I was in Paper Affair and saw the cutest birthday banners. I came home and looked online for them. I found them at Hullabaloo Gifts. They're made by "Groovy Holidays". They have ones for girls and boys.




Definitely a Christmas Wish List qualifier!

Weigh In On PBS.org

This takes about 10 seconds:

PBS has a short video on Sarah Palin on their website. Also included is a poll that asks: "Is Sarah Palin qualified to be VP?"

I logged on a few minutes ago and 39% percent had voted YES, 60% NO.

Let's turn this around! You don't have to give your name or email address in order to vote. It's very simple.

Here's the link:


http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

My Sister-In-Law's Birthday

I have two adorable sister-in-laws. Both of them are the sweetest, cutest girls and so wonderful for my brothers. One of them had her 50th birthday last week. She also happens to lead my Creative Homemakers group. Last week we had so much fun celebrating her birthday.



We all wore blonde wigs, aprons, and pearls and marched up to her door for our meeting with pink and green balloons, pink gerber daisies, and a pink and green birthday cake. We surprised her and she loved it. For her gift we compiled a list of fifty things we love about her and framed it. It was such a fun night!!



We bought this cake at Society Bakery. If you live in Dallas you have to go check it out; it's at Greenville and McCommas. Their cupcakes are the best and less expensive that Sprinkles!!!

B's First Day of Kindergarten

Here is what the B's teacher's arrangement came out like...My friend S gave me the idea of the apples. She did green apples w/ pink gerber daisies--how cute is that!! I ended up going the red and yellow route. Here is a so-so picture of it.


Here is a picture of B on his first day of kindergarten....


I actually didn't cry at all that day. I think the all of the rah-rah excitement overshadowed any sadness. However, when I dropped him off on Thursday, I boo-hooed. We miss him when he is at school!

Cupcake Carrier Crush

A friend of mine had one of these the other day and I instantly thought--Must--Have--One. She bought hers at Swoozies, and she said they even come in pink! If I was the mother of any girls, I would go in that direction. But, instead I think I'll pick yellow. Here's one I found at Cooking.com. It will definitely go on my Christmas Wish List.

More of the Same

I'm still on the same topic as yesterday. Sorry! So, I need to think of some more ideas for encouraging B's teacher in September. Can you tell this is my first child? Am I way too into this? I keep thinking that it would be fun for her to have something seasonal on her desk. Maybe I could even take it up there the day before school starts. When I was a teacher, I used to love it when some sweet second grader would bring me a little vase of fresh flowers or a little pumpkin in October.

Apples come to my mind for September, but that won't last like a pumpkin does. I went to the Martha Stewart site for some ideas, but I came back empty-handed. I guess I could make some kind of very small flower arrangement and then hollow an apple and stick it down in there...again, that won't last very long. How long will fresh apples last non-refrigerated? A week? Or less? Here are some pictures I found that could be a guide for me. But, I love ribbon...would ribbon kill the simpicity of it? Any input here is welcome.

Cuties...

I'm so excited about my little teacher gift I just purchased! We sign up to be in charge of encouraging our teacher one month out of the year by sending them a note or bringing them lunch, etc. So, I signed up for September. Kappa Prep showed these water bottle koozies from Lily Lane Embroidery on her blog not too long ago. So, I ordered a hot pink one with bright yellow initials and a bright yellow polka dot bow on it.



Then, I ordered one of these insulated lunch bags in lemon yellow w/ a hot pink monogram from Two Funny Girls. I thought I'd take her lunch to her one day w/ these cuties!



Speaking of cuties...here's B and his buddy JP after playing in the hose and mud today. They LOVE to play in the mud! They will be in the same class this year. Is that a good thing or a bad thing??? I don't know, but I do know they'll have fun!

I Love the Mountains, I Love the Rolling Hills...

The boys and I have just returned from a fun vacation to Taos, New Mexico. My husband's parents have a place there, so we were able to spend some time with "Bird". She is such a fun grandmother...we are blessed!



One day B and I rode the chairlift up to the top of the mountain where we had a picnic. I thought we'd hike back down, but he really wanted to ride that chairlift some more. So, we just rode it up and down the mountain. We've been reading Cubby in Wonderland and I was so glad that I'd brought it with us. It was the perfect read for that setting. Then the two of us stopped at the Taos Cow for ice cream for heading back home. We had such a sweet time together.

J loved Taos as well. There is the most amazing toy store there called Twirl. It has a backyard area that has a huge climbing playscape, a waterfall feature, and a great sand area. We went there five times during our visit. The boys absolutely loved it. Oh, how I wish Dallas had something like this! The toys they sell are unique and well-made. They have great costumes, too.






One night we roasted marshmallows over a fire (I mean a match b/c we couldn't seem to start a fire). While we were looking forward to cool weather, it was pretty warm the whole time we were there. It did get a little cooler last night, though.

The Taos County Fair was this last weekend. We arrived just in time for the watermelon eating contest, and guess who participated? It was a great effort, but he didn't win this time. We'll have to practice!




We had a great trip, but I was so glad to get home and see my husband. I missed him!

A Little Teary Today

I'm a little sad today. B is now five and going to school this year. These years with him at home have been so precious; I'm really going to miss him. Even though he'll only be gone two days a week, that sweet little chunk of life is coming to a close. I have loved having him at home for five years. I have loved not having to rush him out the door every morning. I have loved having days where we stayed in our jammies all morning and read books. I've loved having every day to explore, discover, and play with him. I'm sad to have to hand over those days. He is so much fun. His world is getting ready to expand. He is getting ready to have a teacher that he will love and adore and hang on her every word. That is good--that is hard. He is going to kindergarten, and his world will be bigger than home, mommy, daddy, and little brother...that is good..that is hard. I'm a little teary today, but I know that the next stage will be even more fun than this...it's just been such a sweet five years and it's hard to say good-bye to the special perks of those.

Inspire the Imagination

I saw one of these in an amazing toy store in New York called Enchanted. I loved it! Think of the hours of imaginative play it would inspire.

Catching Up...

1. We're going to see The Jersey Boys tonight w/ our good friends! I cannot wait to see it again. My husband and I saw it in April in New York w/ my dad and I've been listening to the CD ever since.
2. Two weeks ago, I had to call poison control TWICE!!!! The first time it was because our usually very conscientious exterminator was here but was not so conscientious that day. He left his stuff out on the floor and J got into it...thankfully, none ingested, no damage done. The second time I called that week was because J bit into a glow stick. Let me tell you how humbling it was to call poison control again. But, they said they get that particular call all the time and all was okay. I'm thankful the Lord watches out for these children! That thought seriously comforted me after such a scary week.
3. My husband and I saw the movie Mamma Mia a few weeks ago and loved it.





4. The Shrimp and Grits homeshow is this week, so we're gearing up. I received all of the cute ribbon headbands (for children and adults) and school spirit ponytail ribbons in the mail to sell along w/ the personalized bows, keychains, and ponytail buttons. They are very cute...we usually do well with these. I wish my hair was in a headband stage so that I could wear one of those wide jacquard headbands. My husband isn't looking forward to all of this starting--he calls this twice yearly event "The Week of Neglect". Poor baby.
5. We played a really funny joke on our neighbors last night and are still giggling about it. They, coincidentally, were going to see the matinee of Jersey Boys today. The husband, who is not a fan of musicals, has not been excited about seeing it. I've told him our friendship is all riding on this--if he doesn't like The Jersey Boys, then we cannot be friends w/ him. So, late last night my husband and I snuck over there and shoe-polished all of the windows of his Suburban w/ things like "Jersey Boys Express" and "Frankie Valli Rules". We got an early phonecall this morning when they discovered it.
6. My other extracurricular responsibility (besides the clothing show) involving my five year olds' school has been in high gear and I've been busy with that.
7. I watched "Rumor Has It" the other night on T.V. It was cute--hadn't seen it. I always love Jennifer Anniston. I get so mad at the bad rap she's gotten compared to Brad and Angelina.
8. That is all that I can think of for now...I'm off to get ready for our fun night!