Update On The Shed

Just a quick update on the shed...Chris and my sister Julie started working on it a week ago. They worked all day Saturday, Sunday, and then again Monday (Memorial Day, and Chris' birthday) off and on in between bursts of rain. Saturday, they got the floor done. It took all day to get that done, and then to lay it out on deck blocks and get them all leveled. Sunday, they got three walls up. And Monday, they got the fourth wall up and the tresses for the roof. (Tresses? Is that right? I don't know.)

My sister Julie rocks! She can do anything... they worked on it again today, and the roof is done. Tomorrow she is coming back, and they will put the shingles on, and then all we have to do it paint it and we're done!! HOORAY!! I will post the final pictures tomorrow, I hope.

What In The World??

I'm not quite sure what goes on in this house when I'm not here, and I'm not sure really that I want to know...

I was gone all morning and part of the afternoon today. I worked adoptions at Petsmart today for our rescue. I got home around 3:00. This is our fireplace...

Do you notice anything out of place in this picture? Anything at all?

That's right, folks...on the top left of the bricks, that is a baby washcloth, stuck to the bricks. What in the world??

It's Almost His Birthday!

Tomorrow, Chris will be 30. We're so old! (kidding!!). I was successful in planning a small surprise birthday bar-b-que for him. When the first guests arrived, he didn't LOOK very surprised, but when I asked him about it later he said that he was surprised, he had no idea, he was just really tired (he and my sister worked all day long putting together a storage shed in our back yard).

Now, I get so busy with enjoying the party and the company that I forget to take pictures, but I got a few last night. Here we are singing happy birthday, and Chris (and Dalton and Quin!) blowing out the candles.

I just realized in the picture above it looks like Dalton has a bottle and a glass of wine! Man, he's going to need to get into AA. He's starting so young...

For his present, we got him a new grill that he had his eyes on...("we" as in myself, his dad and Jil, and his mom and George). Chris was actually mad when he saw it! I kept it at the neighbors' house for a few days to keep it a surprise, then when he was in the shower about an hour before the party, my sister and I moved it over to our yard. Chris kept asking me if he could fire up the grill (I had told him that Heather and Jeramy were coming for dinner so that he wouldn't make plans!)...I told him that he knew they were always late, so just wait.

Once everyone got here, I told him to fire it up. Then he goes out, and he got mad!! He says that he feels bad because he didn't get me a present for my birthday (we had agreed not to get presents), but our grill recently caught on fire/blew up, and we do a lot of grilling, so it really just made sense to get it. So of course this first picture below is right after he saw it, and he looks kind of sad and dissappointed, don't you think?

But all in all, he had a good party. While we were all on the back porch talking, Chris actually fell asleep in his chair!! The poor guy worked so hard all day building the shed. So I sent him to bed around 10:15 or so, and we all kept up the party!!

Chris, you old man, the boys and I love you so much! I hope your thirtieth birthday was something that you'll always remember!

Not Unless My Mom Does It...

Sorry, one more funny story, but no pics.

Usually I cut D's hair myself, by hand with scissors. Last time I cut it, I used electric clippers b/c we had just bought a new pair and I wanted to see how they did. Well, not great. His hair is just so fine that the clippers didn't get it all, and it was WAY TOO short...the longest attachment setting said 1 1/2 inches, but it turned out to be like, 1/8 of an inch.

So last weekend, I decided to take him to get his hair cut at a real salon, to get it all straightened out and fixed before I screw it all up again. We went to Regis, and he's sitting in the chair, and there's this mom next to me with her baby, who'd I'd guess to be about eighteen months old. She says that today is his first hair cut, and would we mind if they watched so that he could see there was nothing to be scared of? I said I didn't mind, as Dalton is really good for hair cuts, so he would set a good example for the kid.

So they cut D's hair, and the little boy's mom is going on about how fun it is, so on and so forth. So we get done, and we're at the desk paying, and the little boy is behind us and he starts crying, and saying "NO NO NO" really loud. Dalton walks over to him and puts his arm around him and tells him, "Don't worry. It's not scary. There's nothing to cry over. It's fine, and you get a sucker when you're done. It won't hurt. Unless my mom cuts your hair, and then she'll cut your ear." And he walks away as the kids cries harder.

Are you freakin' kidding me?!? The little snot just ratted me out! ONE TIME, two years ago, I barely clipped his ear with the scissors, and it didn't even bleed. One time. One stinkin' time!! And the best part is that he says this all nonchalantly and just strolls away licking his sucker, while the kids goes into even bigger hysterics!!

Sometimes, this child cracks me up!!

Facial "Hair" Friday

Okay, so this always happens. I go a week without posting because I'm so stinkin' busy, and then I have so many photos that I want to share, that the post becomes HUGE and has a billion pictures. Well, I'm sure you'll put up with it, because who doesn't want to see my adorable kids?

So we'll start with Facial "Hair" Friday... hee hee.

Here we have a green bean goatee.

And now, we have a sweet pea mustache.

Dalton finally got some flip flops!! You'll recall that he is so obsessed with flip flops that he will wear Daddy's or mine, and then inevitably fall down and hurt himself. We've been searching since a year ago for flip flops to fit his horribly fat foot, with no luck. Well, I finally found some...at Dillard's. And I really had to shell out the dough for them. They are Croc brand, and you may not think that $25.00 is a lot, but #1) that IS a lot, for a pair of flip flops, and #2) that IS a lot for someone who will grow out of his shoes before the end of the summer!! But he's been wanting them for sooooooo long...

We finally broke ground on the new building!! No, we're not building a new house. I only wish. We're building a storage shed in the back yard. The place where it's going had this huge mound of dirt on it from when we dug trenches to bury railroad ties so that Toby would stop digging out, so Dalton and I spent one afternoon digging it all up so that the ground will be level to put the shed on.

Dalton looks kind of goofy in this picture because the sun was in his eyes. He's so cute!

I can hardly wait to get all the junk out of the garage and into the shed. The lawn mower, weed eater, the power washer, the skil saw, all the power tools, Dalton's four wheeler, his bike, all the dumb shovels and rakes and clippers. It will be so nice to park in the garage again!!

I think I'm going to stop calling Jackson "Monkey" (okay, let's face it, I won't stop b/c it's cute), and instead call him Roly Poly. Partly because of the thunder thighs, but also because that is his mode of transportation! He rolls from one side of the living room to the other, he's such a champ at it now. And if we start him out on a blanket (to avoid a mouth full of cat/dog hair) then he just grabs the blanket, rolls, and gets all tangled up. It's so cute!

Last weekend, I pet sat for a new volunteer in my group...she has two Weimaraners and a cat. When we got there the first night to sit for her, she had left some Dr. Seuss books for the boys!! It was a nice surprise, because she had already paid me for the trip, and then here's the books, which Dalton LOVES.

One last set of cute pics, then I'm done and off to bed...Dalton has a friend that comes over on Thursdays (and this summer we'll have him three days a week). Michael is a full year younger than Dalton, but for the most part, they play really well together. This week the obsession has been soccer and "snow" angels. :)

Alright, kids, that enough. I'm off to bed to rest my weary head...Hey! I'm Dr. Seuss!!

Six Years Ago Today...

...I married my best friend.

At 2:00pm on Sunday, May 18, 2003, I married the most wonderful man.

He loves me and he takes care of me and he provides for our two beautiful children. He puts up with my many rants and raves, and for the most part agrees with me. He puts up with all the animals, the fosters, the damage done by some of those fosters...and now that I am president of my rescue group, I'm sure he'll put up with a lot more.

Not only does he take care of us, his family, but he takes care of us. He does your typical manly things like mow the lawn, weed eat, hedge trimming, and repairs on the cars or appliances or whatever needs it...but he helps me clean, he cooks dinner just as much as I do, he does his own laundry (can't blame him there, I suck at doing laundry!!).

He helps bathe the boys, he helps get them into bed. He rubs my neck and head when I am suffering with a massive headache. He painted my toes and shaved my legs when I was massively pregnant. :) I trust him with my life and the lives of our children, and other than that, what really matters?

I knew I wanted to marry him within the first month that we were dating. I'm sure it was much later for him, (ha!), but obviously I impressed him enough for him to want to keep me, and all my shoes, and all my pets!!

Chris, I love you more each and every day. You are my life, and I cannot immagine my life without you there. I know that there will be at least 70 more years of love and affection and wedded bliss to come...

Please Pray for Gracie

My best friend, Marcie, is going through a horrible time. Her daughter, who is just over one, had some sort of carpet cleaner sprayed in her eyes. She is being transferred to a better/larger hospital in Houston. As of now, Gracie is blind and they are unsure of the extent of the damage. Please pray for Gracie and Marcie and their entire family.

Oh, How I Love You Boys

Oh, you two. You never cease to amaze me. Dalton, I love the fact that you love your brother so much. You're always hugging him, kissing him, getting him toys. When Jackson cries, you start to sing to him. You bring him a binky, a book, a toy, a blanket. You're as much a mother to him as I am!

And Jackson, I love the fact that you love Dalton so much. You're constantly laughing at him. You think that Dalton hung the moon. It doesn't take much for Dalton to make you laugh. Sometimes you laugh so hard that you choke! And I love it. I was afraid that 3 1/2 years would be a huge age difference. But you two are so much fun together. I hope it stays that way.

I love you both so much, you will never be able to understand it. There is nothing that either of you will ever do to make me stop loving you.

Love,

Mom

I'm a Terrible Blogger

Okay, so I'm a delinquent blogger, terrible person, etc etc. I get it. A week ago Friday (May 1) was my birthday...I call it the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday. :) Chris told me I could do anything I wanted to do. So what did I do, you ask? Well, what else? I signed up and attended a conference on animal rescue. Chris took the day off to watch the boys for me. While I was at the conference, he sent me a text that I had received flowers.

Aren't they beautiful? I love tulips. Chris' dad and step mom sent them. Thanks, guys!

Then that night, we went to Shogun with most of my friends. Shogun is my fav, and we go there for my birthday every year. Of course it rained massive amounts that day, and we were under a tornado watch that evening (which seems to always be the case on my birthday). As of May 5th, we had received more rain than we did the entire MONTH of May last year!

Our neighbors across the street just installed a French drain, just in time! Here is their drain shooting water into the road...

A few hours before it was shooting halfway across the street!! And here is all the flooding in our yard... The morning that it was the worst, I had to drag the dogs out from under our bed and pretty much just throw them outside. I can't blame them...they were probably pretty close to drowning in our yard!

Here's a few cute pics of the boys...They are both growing so fast.

Above, Dalton had me make a giant circle out of all his cars and then sat in J's Bumbo chair in the middle, like a king. :) Then he made me make a square, a triangle, a diamond, and so forth until I couldn't take it anymore.

Grandma and Grandpa Bane will be here for a visit in June, and I'm sure they won't even recognize these HUGE children we have! You guys are in for a surprise!