We just returned from vacation, and while the pictures will do most of the talking, here are some tidbits about the trip.

• With seven people traveling, we mostly drive.  So yes, we drove to Colorado.
• No, my kids don’t watch television much while we drive, in fact we don’t have a television in any car we own, nor will we ever.  (I am sure I will regret this statement one day.)
• They watched one movie on the computer the entire trip, that happened on day 2
• My kids are freaking rock stars.  I’d like to really call them fucking rock stars, but I don’t think you are supposed to refer to your kids as fucking anything.
• 38 hours total in the car.  Crying time for Sunshine?  40 minutes.
• I’ll say it, she fucking rocks.  (But we all knew that.)
• The kids listen to music, books on audio, read, draw, talk, check out scenery
• Our favorite time as a family~ Would You Rather cards
• Lance and mine~ trivial pursuit.
• We played the 80’s version this time.  It was a tie.
• LZ and I also play guess the artist; our car had XM, and I kicked his ass this time.  Every time I win, he always tells me that Solis would kick my ass.  Then I remind him that he always knows the 90’s shit songs while I get all the 90’s Lithium ones.
• I loved listening to XM again.  There were songs I hadn’t heard in years.  Some I will probably never hear again, which is more than fine.
• I don’t love it enough to ever subscribe again.  XM Radio still sucks.
• I made three full batches of cookies for the trip.  Plus two loaves of Pumpkin Bread.  Most of it was gone by the time we arrived in Colorado.
• I worried a bit about the fact that the whole family would be together in one house.
• It’s hard to some degree to parent with your own parents around.  Mine go two ways: one thinks the kids are fine no matter what they do, the other parrots me while I am disciplining.
• By the end of the week, the one that thinks the kids are fine was over Snax and his BS.  Of course, now he is back to thinking Snax is perfect.
• I didn’t yell at them all week though.  I think I should pretend my parents are around all the time.
• On the subject of parents, I have some pretty great ones.  And not just because of their generosity.  They both have that down perfectly, from money to time.  Really, it’s the fact that they are generous enough to me and my brother to take a vacation together.  Anyone who has divorced parents or has been divorced knows this is huge.  Huge.
• Is it terrible to admit that the one time I heard my brother fuss at his daughter I was kind of relieved?  If only because it always seems like Lance and I are the only ones who fuss at their kids.
• We only had to pull over once so a kid could pee on the side of the road.  All other bathroom breaks came at scheduled stops.
• Highlights from the week include: my mom zip lining and my dad riding a horse, Goose going first zip lining and deer just walking down the street close enough to touch.
• Really, the big highlight was getting to wear a freaking sweatshirt and walking outside to a beautiful view of the mountains.
• I think everyone had a great time from my dad to the baby girl.  Not a bad thing!

Truthfully, if school wasn’t starting next week, I would be planning our next vacation right now.

I’m documenting our vacation backwards.  For today.  Tomorrow I’ll probably skip back to the beginning, but I was just so anxious to see the photos Lance took today.

And they are great.

The Dallas Arboretum is such a beautiful place and with the Chihuly exhibit, it’s even better.

I’ve been dying to see this garden exhibit for years.  Despite frequenting Chicago, Atlanta and St. Louis fairly regularly over the years, I have missed this exhibit in each of their gardens.  Once I found out the exhibit was going to Dallas, I wanted to see it so badly, I suggested we celebrate our anniversary there.

I was so torn between seeing this exhibit and White Sands on the way to Durango.  I gave this up, but somehow managed to convince Lance to stop by on the way back to Houston.

 It’s so beautiful and though pretty hot outside, we enjoyed the exhibit.  The boys managed to keep their hands to themselves.  Mostly.

I even got one more family picture, not really Christmas card quality, but family nonetheless.

I have much to document, but little time before our wonderful adventure ends.

I love vacations.  Small, big, but in general, I like an actual destination.  It can be San Antonio or something like Colorado.  I just like to “do things”.   Spending time together is important, but I feel like you can spend time doing stuff together.  (Plus everything is a learning opportunity to me.)

I have wonderful memories of vacations growing up.  Lance says my memories are evident in my planning and my desire to make vacations “perfect”.

It’s true.  Vacations were the best.  I remember the drive to California, stopping at Carlsbad and seeing a tarantula walking, hitting the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon, Circus Circus in Vegas before getting stuck on the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland with my dad (can you imagine just how mad my dad was sitting at the highest point of the ride for over an hour waiting and waiting…) San Fransisco and Lombard Street, the Redwoods.

That trip was in second grade.  One trip.  Probably my favorite ever, even over Europe.  Maybe it’s the divorced parent thing, I don’t know.  I just know my vacations meant so much to me and instilled a love of traveling that has yet to stop.

I have a lot of hopes for my kids, one is a sense of adventure.  It might not be the same as mine, but I hope they enjoy this beautiful earth, whether they travel down the street or across the world.

This trip was really good, some great memories and fun times.  Was it perfect?  No.  I had to change plans more than once, but I am getting more flexible.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

As summer comes to an end, I am grateful for this chance to spend time with my kids, my parents and brother.  And always, with my wonderful husband.

Sunshine, I’ve been keeping your monthly updates private.  No real reason, but sweet girl, this has been such a big month for you.  I just have to share.

The big news!  You walk!

Yes, you’ve been trying to walk for most of the summer.  Back in June, you were taking about 4-9 tentative steps.  Then you just kind of stopped.  Seriously, I didn’t know when you would start again.  You kind of liked crawling around.

Then right before my birthday, you started with the slow steps again.  And on my birthday, you were more sure of yourself, until you just took off.

And now, you walk as much as you crawl.  I find you standing up all the time.  You are still a little Frankenstein, but you don’t fall over.

And so what happened once you began to walk?  You moved up  a room at the gym’s child care.  I couldn’t believe it.  It’s summer, it’s a busy time at the gym.  Yet, they still moved you, assuring me that you were ready, that if you were overwhelmed, they would let you come back.  I asked won’t you miss her?!  It’s one room over, the rooms are connected, you can stand up and see them, hear their voices; clearly, they can see you.  But still…I know they love you, they told me “we had her 19 months, it’s time”.

And it made me more than a bit sad to think of you growing up, moving on.  They commented on how they love the little babies, move them to the next room and soon the kids fly past them barely waving hello.

Clearly, it won’t be the same with me, your mother.  You won’t be moving on from me anytime soon.  Yet…Life demands that you grow.  That you take new steps. As you start something new, you leave something behind.  I know this, I’ve watched it with each child.  But as the baby in the family, it does pull the heartstrings more than ever.

 Saturday, at the boys’ basketball game, I didn’t have to hold you.  You wanted to walk around and tease us from where you were playing.  Yes, playing.  You are sort of a mini me about mess.  You’re just not a fan, so often I find you dumping items out only to immediately put them away.  You will interrupt your brothers to put away their toys.  You love the castle, and I can already picture you playing with the doll house you’ll be getting this Christmas or maybe the red kitchen.

The sweetest thing you do is your response to “do you love mom?”  You say “love momma.”  I must record that.  Must.

I do wish you were a bit sweeter with other people, like say Mimi and Grandpa, maybe your father!  Baby Hulk.  Here’s a secret I told BH, you are all the same.  You all wanted me.  In time, you will go straight to them without needing me  Even now, you go to them, but only on your terms.

You are so possessive of me that if someone touches me, you push their hand away and say “uh-uh”.  The boys all shout, “she’s not just your mom.”  (I love it, a couple of them are getting a taste of their own medicine.)  You hate for anyone to push the shopping cart or to share me.  It’s sweet to me, but oh so frustrating to them.

You communicate to me so clearly.  To others, not so much.  You know exactly what we say to you.  It’s an interesting thing for a parent to realize that you understand every single thing we say.  I’ve known it for a year.  Your dad is still amazed.  We can all certainly understand when you don’t want something.

Sweet girl, you continue to light up our lives.  You are amazing.  Your smile and excitement makes me happy when I’m sad.  I love who you are, and I love watching your personality emerge.

I’ve been trying my hardest to find a doll for you.  You deserve a doll.  I was ready to go all out, spend whatever it cost, but let’s be real, I don’t want you to get freaked out by a doll. And so many dolls are kind of creepy looking.   So I will search, perhaps ask some people with girls.

Little girl, I love you with all my heart.  Congratulations on your steps!

A friend gave Goose a prayer board on his First Communion.  This was his first prayer…

Sweet.

But I thought the entire family needed to be in on the action.  I moved the frame to the dining room, the one place where we meet every single evening.  Together.

And here are our prayers for this week.

Two of the prayers will stay with us.

One: A happy, happy prayer, both in thanksgiving for the gift of life and to maintain a healthy pregnancy.  With our history of miscarriage, praying for pregnancy is a serious thing.  My children, even Squirt, have no idea of our history of miscarriage, but they are good prayer warriors.  A random fact, I remember finally telling Chelsea in college about it- A sure sign of crossing the threshold to becoming an adult.  I digress…there is joy.  So much joy for my friend right now.  So we pray and will pray until there is a safe delivery.  Every. Single. Day.

The other, a prayer for healing.  A friend has lymphoma.  He has had several varieties of cancer.  That sounds flippant, but I don’t mean it to be.  He’s beat cancer so many times.  Right now, he’s sick.  We saw him today, and he looks weak.  We will pray until remission comes.  I have a wonderful healing prayer that I say for him.  I beg His mercy.

Thanks to my friend who gave Goose this gift.  It truly helps our entire family.

The boys’ basketball season ended on Saturday.  It was a great season, and the boys had such a good time.  Technically, Goose and Baby Hulk weren’t supposed to be on the same team, but I am so glad about the slight mess up during registration that allowed them to play together.  And not just because it makes things much easier for me to have them on the same team.

Goose has turned into a pretty decent little player.  He had several great games, and despite being a major ball hog, he had two games in which he actively passed and made those around him better.  Including his brother.  Baby Hulk was the youngest on the team, and while it showed at times, he was good too.  One of my favorite moves is to watch him dribble the ball.  He has this cool move where he flips his leg while dribbling.  Lance says that technically, it’s dribbling between your legs, but that’s not really what BH does.

Goose was clearly the better player of the two, but they both loved playing.  Baby Hulk might have liked the Gatorade a bit more than the actual game, but that’s okay.  He’s still young.  They play basketball at home nonstop.

The games were exciting to watch, and I had to force myself not to become that parent.  I left that to my parents!  I am so glad that the boys were able to have the whole family watch games as well as my parents.  Today, BH took his trophy to the store so that my dad could see it.  They were so proud of themselves, but also willing to hear how to improve their game from Lance.

I have to compliment the YMCA for their youth sports program.  It’s not too intense for kids.  It’s fun like it should be.

I hope this isn’t the last team they are on together.  I loved watching them compete together.  What a season!

Fun fact: The boys wore the same clothes each week for their games.  Goose wore his Butler gear, while BH wore his Texans clothes.  The morning of the last game, he was freaking out because he couldn’t find his red shirt.  I love that I’m not the only OCD person in this house.

Yes, we’re ready.

A HUGE thank you to my dad for buying us so many treats on Sunday.  New backpacks, (repeat after me, they will last 3 years), new shirts for the season, a new book, basketball, reading lights for the night time nerds, (I say that as a former flashlight reader), a monster truck…

Then there is this…

It fits!

Have I mentioned how much I love smocked dresses?

Hook’em!

Each evening, I pray over my kids.  Part of the prayer is a blessing and giving thanks for the gift of them..  Lately, I’ve been thanking Him for the little boy with a twinkle in his eye.  After I say that, Snax always asks: “do I have a twinkle, Mom?”

Yes, Snax, you have a very big twinkle in your eyes.  May God increase my patience and always keep you safe.  You are a special boy, indeed.  And I love you for all that you are, most especially that twinkle in your eye!

:: It’s August.  The third to be exact.  Less than 27 days before school starts.  Am I sad?  Pretty devastated to be honest.  I hate the thought of the boys going to school.  I’m more than a bit worried about the Baby Hulk starting school.  And not just because I think I’m the best teacher for him.

:: In my angst, I actually reached out to someone online.  A blogger I read.  It sounds pretty crazy.  I have great friends, people who have listened to me go on and on about my desires to homeschool.  I’ve never written or even commented on this person’s blog.  She not only responded very fast, she was thoughtful and helpful, and didn’t seem to think I was crazy.  Obviously, she wasn’t going to provide an answer to this issue, it’s not her job to do so, but her grace was pretty amazing.

:: Wednesday, I had an appointment with my gynocologist.  I’ve know this doctor for some time, we generally talk sports, but yesterday we talked birth control.  She basically wanted to know why I wouldn’t use it.  It seems she doesn’t have many Catholic patients who have a problem with birth control.   It was an interesting talk, and I was happy that we were comfortable enough to talk about what can sometimes be a touchy subject.

:: In the sweetest news ever, the ladies at the gym are praying that I have another baby.  Can you imagine?  I love them so much.

:: As someone who loves to make lists, this book immediately caught my attention.  Right now, I have several lists going…school supply list, chores to do before school or vacation.  I didn’t really have time to read through it, so it may be really dumb.  (I didn’t even consider buying it because I have so many empty books to fill up with lists and lists before I can consider buying something new.)

For Today…Monday, July 30, 2012

Outside my window…the sun is shining.  It’s brutal.  So brutal.  The kids run in and out, I just can’t bring myself to join them.

I am wearing…black shorts and a pink Nike shirt.  Need to change out of my workout clothes.

Moments of grace…friends who listen, my kids running all over the place, time to read, the chance to spend time on the phone.

I am praying for…a special intention, that our vacation goes really well, for patience and forgiveness, and for school to go really well for Baby Hulk.

I am listening to…the Olympics.  Finally, finally my kids are interested.  I purchased this book to jump start a unit, but we never sat down to read the book until Saturday.  It’s a great book, with lots of interesting information.

From the kitchen…the menu isn’t planned, but I do know one thing.  We aren’t buying anything new.  We’ll eat whatever is here.  There may or may not  be something sweet from the kitchen.

Learning all the time…we are reading nonstop in this house.  That’s about it.  Guess it’s a good thing the beginning of school is review.  I am slightly worried about BH’s handwriting.  It was so good back in May, but he’s such a perfectionist when it comes to writing that he needs some practice.  Maybe it’s time to implement 30 minutes of drills a day.  With the Olympics on daily, we will be doing quite a bit of geography.  Even Snax is involved with this puzzle.

I am reading…Divergent.  Just started.  In fact, as soon as I finish this post, I am ready to read.  I love our reading hour because that’s my reading time as well.  One of the best lessons for kids is to see their parents reading.  Right?!

To live the liturgy…Saturday we’re celebrating the feast of St. John Vianney.  We’ll going to mass and then our church is having a party.  Since St. John Vianney was such an amazing confessor, we’ll go to confession as well.

Random fact…I’m a bit OCD.  I hate mess.  My house gets dusty (no matter how often I dust), but not messy.  I have a few kids who seem to make a lot of crumbs.  Is now the time to admit that I make them go outside to eat things like pumpkin bread, granola bars?  I know, I am kind of shitty.

I am creating…lists.  Packing lists, school lists and a very small shopping list for BH.

One of my favorite things…friends.  I don’t find new friends often.  I’m happy about this one.

Oh how I love…my crappy, cracked phone.  I finally am back to using it and had a glorious conversation with my best friend today.  Going to Best Buy tomorrow to buy a new phone though.  Fingers crossed that it works.

A few plans for the week…planning.  A possible play date with the twins and the Titanic exhibit.

A picture to share…