Banana Phone

Last week, I went to see my doctor who I dearly love and would drop any of my friends to be her BFF. I think most women who have babies fall in love with their doctors. Clearly, I am no exception and seem to have fallen harder due to all the time I have spent with her. In fact, Lance is always telling me that I can’t keep having kids just to become friends with her. I’ve tried it, four kids, five miscarriages and she has yet to invite me over to her place. Well, there was that one time two years ago that while 8 months pregnant I picked up bamboo at her house so I could have the kids make a fort with it. It was her suggestion that I use it for the boys, and I was all, “where do you live” as if I didn’t already know from previous stalking. Her house is lovely, not that I was invited inside.

I feel like we have this connection, but maybe that comes from having someone looking at your most private part that isn’t your spouse. So, the point of this besides making me sound like a freak who is in love with her doctor is I was talking to my doctor and asking about her daughter who is home from college. She proceeds to tell me that despite her busy schedule like leaving for work at 6 in the morning and being head of this and that in the hospital, she cooks at least three days during the week, plus the weekends. Like real meals. Fancy meals. She told me some of her menus and how much her daughter has missed her cooking while away at school. I was completely impressed and used this opportunity to invite myself over for dinner. She says anytime, but what does that mean? Am I getting a real invite soon? Maybe if I have another baby she will bring me a meal? Now, that’s an idea!

Okay, so the real point of this post was that I was so inspired by her cooking that I actually made a real meal tonight. Chicken piccata, roasted potatoes and broccoli. I think my family could get used to me cooking again.

I love living in Houston because there are so many opportunities to expose the kids to the arts. For the past two days, the children and I have enjoyed performances at Miller Outdoor Theater. Yesterday, young children from throughout the city performed on various instruments. There was one girl who was six years old playing the violin. Goose could not get over the fact that someone his age was playing the violin. Today we saw the symphony. The boys picked out the various instruments and recognized some of the more popular classical songs.

I really like exposing the boys to classical music, opera, plays, musicals and art. Do I think they are going to love all of it? Probably not, but they can sit through at least forty-five minutes of an hour performance without fidgeting too much and can talk about the music afterwards with me. I would love for one of the boys to really get into classical music and especially opera because my best friend has a library of music that would make most jealous. One of my kids has to inherit this one day!

So far this summer we’ve seen a musical and an opera, in addition to the last two days of music. Goose liked the opera a “little-lot”, which probably means not at all, but that is okay. I am just happy that he is exposed to things like this at an early age. So despite the unbearable heat, we will continue to flock to this wonderful outdoor and free theater the rest of the summer.

This weekend was fabulous. After a long week during which I barely saw Lance, I decided we needed a night to ourselves. We fed the kids a real meal, (not frozen chicken or mac-n-cheese), and put them to bed. (Not Squirt!) We waited thirty minutes for the young ones to fall asleep then took off for our date. We decided on Bistro Don Camillo since it was close to home and they had recently been on Southbound Food. The food didn’t disappoint. We even saw someone there who went after hearing about it on Southbound Food. It was so nice to just sit and relax with my hubby especially since I knew he would be gone for half of the next day.

I was so excited to make it to my Bodystep class on Saturday. I LOVE this class and have missed it so much since the instructor started working a new job during the week. She wants me to come in at 6 in the morning to workout with her, but I’m not sure I have it in me to do that and still deal with the kids ALL. DAY. LONG.

We went to our friends Clint and Shea’s 40th birthday party Saturday night. I met Clint and Shea through Lance, and I love that I’ve managed to become friends with them on my own too. I think they feel the same way. We don’t see them nearly as much as we should, but we have managed to catch a few dinners over the past six months and I’m hoping we continue this trend. I really like that they want to hang out with us, and not us and our kids! The party was fabulous with incredible food. Shea’s mom is an amazing cook and is always willing to give out recipes, too bad my stuff doesn’t come out quite the same!

We had a quiet Father’s Day: got up, went to Mass (amazing sermon), then saw this fellow walking through the neighborhood leaving Mass. Can you believe it? The lady we talked to says there is also a male that runs around with this chick!

We spent the afternoon with my dad and brother, my other two favorite dads. The grilling was awesome as usual, and the kids came home exhausted. My dad even shared the special dessert I made for him. He still has a third left for himself, but I know he was watching us to make sure we didn’t eat too much.

My highlight of the weekend…My Goose learned how to ride a bike. A girl bike, a midget bike, but nonetheless, A TWO WHEELER! I am so excited for him. He was so proud of himself and so were his brothers.

Happy Father’s Day to the best man I know. It is a privilege raising these kids with you. Most of the time. Others I’d just like to sell them. Lance, I say it all the time, you are truly the best person I know. The fact that you are an amazing father makes me love you even more. You are the leader of this family no matter how hard it is for me to accept at times, the wise one, the forgiving one, the loving one and the silly one. Thank you for all you do for us.

St. Joseph continue to intercede for my husband and my family and for all fathers!

Today my baby brought home the MVP trophy from the Rockets Houston Media Classic. 1560 has won four years in a row! This year was even better because Lance and Johnny Harris have worked so hard to be in shape for this game. Not only does my baby look super sexy to me, he feels great and is able to play like a teenager again. Okay, maybe not like a teenager as he actually had to stretch and tape up before the game, but he did manage to snag that trophy today! Congrats to my husband and to 1560 for killing the competition. Again. Double Rods!

Goose and the Baby Hulk have been asking for an orange burst all day. I finally told them if they had a fruitable, (juice box that contains a serving of veggies), they could have one. Goose took one sip and said he would rather have a bowl of broccoli. The Baby Hulk gulped his down, but still got stuck with some broccoli for his afternoon snack.

After Lance found me like this earlier, he had a talk with Baby Hulk and Goose about last night. Goose was very clear: he wants to sleep with me and plans to continue to do so. Unable to deal with a wife who wants to sleep all day and is cranky, he told the boys they must sleep in their own beds. Since it was mom they wanted, we thought pictures might help them feel like I’m right next to them. Hopefully, this solution will last.

Last night, I woke up to find Goose snuggled in bed with me. Actually, I didn’t really notice because he is smart enough not to make any noise when he comes to my room. If he doesn’t wake me up, I can’t send him back to his room. Gifted, this child. The Baby Hulk isn’t quite as smooth. He came to my room to find Goose already next to me. And started crying. Loudly. If Goose had seen this scenario, he would have pushed the offending child out of the way or gone to the other side of me. Not Baby Hulk. Finally, I told him just to snuggle on top of me, but then realized how dumb that was. So off I went to the lower bunk bed to help the Baby Hulk fall back asleep and not wake up a third child. (Actually, a third was already awake feeling like he was going to puke.) I had not been in the little boys’ room very long when I heard the thump thump of foot steps and someone climbing up the ladder. Then I heard more movement going back down the ladder. Finally, Goose asked if I could sleep with him in his bed. Turns out he left MY room in search of me so we could still sleep together. After getting Baby Hulk back to sleep, (no easy task as he is a talker once he wakes up), I got Goose to sleep and returned to my room. The only problem, the person I was supposed to be sleeping with had already left for his show. Sigh.

I took the boys to Moody Gardens today. BY MYSELF. Okay, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I can say that I won’t be doing a short beach vacation by myself and the boys. First, it’s a little difficult trying to watch two that can swim and want to go EVERYWHERE and two others that want to just wade. Second, I hate beaches. Why do I always forget this fun fact? Last summer we took a vacation to the beach, and while I loved the company and the history we were able to see, the beach part was just so-so. I can’t stand sand. So much so that I literally used ONE towel today just so that the rest of the towels I brought didn’t get sandy.

Besides me being OCD about sand, I have to say that today was nearly perfect. For both me and the boys. There are days when I look back and am so sad at how I’ve behaved as a mother, but not today! I am so happy that despite things getting a bit hectic a couple of times and the Baby Hulk throwing a screaming fit, I held it together and it showed in how everyone behaved. I was so proud of how everyone got along and listened to me. I love days like today and it shows that I can be that mother that my boys deserve and that I so desperately want to be.

We enjoyed the Aquarium and Palm Beach, then stopped at Whataburger on the way home! A perfect ending as far as I’m concerned! The Aquarium was small, but fine. It’s hard to really enjoy aquariums after seeing Shedd and the Atlanta Aquariums, but the boys had fun and actually read a lot of information about the various sea life. The beach was fun, but I must admit that within ten minutes I sent Lance a text asking when I could leave. I lasted an hour longer than I thought I would. The boys really had a great time and were so appreciative of this outing.

Not a great picture, but I thought it was kind of cool.

My two penguins

I knew I had four kids!

I think this means we had a great day!