Snow!!

I bet every blog that originates in College Station has an entry about the miraculous snowfall of 2008!

When we woke up last Wednesday morning, there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. Braden hopped out of bed as soon as I told him, which is miraculous in itself. I took a few pictures of the boys before school, and we were pretty darn impressed by the snow as we drove to daycare. At 3pm, the snow started up again. I let my 7th period sneak out to the windows to have a look--some had never seen snow fall before! By the time I picked up the boys at 5 and drove home, the snow had really piled up (well, "piled up" for College Station standards).

As soon as we pulled in the driveway, the boys were tugging at their seatbelts and begging to get out of the truck. We all jumped out, and while they immediately dove into the snow, I ran in for the camera. I found my truck keys, purse, phone, lunchboxes, etc. still in the truck the next morning.

The boys were amazing--they knew exactly what to do! They were slinging snowballs and creating snow angels like they'd been in snow their entire lives. While I was shivering and shaking, they were just reveling in the wonderment of it all. I had a hard time getting pictures--they just wouldn't pause for a second, not for a candy bribe, or an ice-cream bribe, or a serious threat.

Notice that Braden is wearing his black hat and gloves--he got those at an ice-skating party his friend Catelyn had. Garrett is not wearing gloves (or gwubs, as he calls them) because I'm a bad mom. He is, however, wearing his favorite "dragon hat."

Notice, too, the fabulous lights on our house. My husband is amazing!!

My friend Stormy has a heartfelt and poetic blog entry about the snow on her blog: http://stormyhickman.blogspot.com Check it out.

Garrett's newest accessory

If you recall Garrett's obsession with his sunglasses (see last February-March), you will appreciate this.

Garrett's latest fashion accessory is his Santa hat. He calls it his "christmas hat" and he has being wearing it almost nonstop for the last few days. He hasn't worn it to daycare (yet), but wears it around the house. He slept in it last night. He wore it to the student council babysitting this morning and out to lunch. People think it is very cute. I think it is a bit obsessive.

Those PJs are from Old Navy--they say "chillin' with my homies." Braden also got a new set of Christmas PJs. His say "one tough cookie" and has an image of a gingerbread man cookie. He was NOT interested in putting them on for a picture.

Halloween one month later

In the spirit of the holidays, I thought I should finally blog about Halloween.

We had a great Halloween this year. The events kicked off with a pumpkin carving party at my friend Michelle's house. Michelle and Chris's daughter, Isa, goes to my kids' daycare, and the three of them had a blast playing while I carved a fairly intricate jack-o-lantern using one of those stencil kits.

Halloween continued several days later with the annual fall festival at Sam Houston. We made the trek to Huntsville to "Daddy's ranch" for the party. On the way there, Braden told Garrett all about it and said, "last year, I was too shy to play any games. This year, I'm not going to be shy." And he wasn't! Both kids enjoyed the games, the hayride, and especially the cookie decorating station.

The third event of our Halloween extravaganza was the kids' party at daycare. I dressed them in matching skeleton shirts and black pants, much to Braden's dismay and slight embarrassment. My intentions were good: I didn't want them to mess up their costumes before trick or treating that evening. When I arrived at the daycare to help with the party, however, Braden's friends were quick to inform me that he wasn't wearing a costume, just a shirt. Braden didn't seem to mind too much, though.

Halloween evening was supposed to begin with "trunk or treating" at Keller Williams Realty with The Corleys (our friend Melina is a realtor). When the boys and I got home, though, Kyle was in the driveway cleaning fish from the previous day's offshore trip with Tom. Between the fish, the grouchy boys, and the tired mom, the trunk-or-treating just didn't happen. We did manage to get ready in time to join the neighborhood hay ride and trick-or-treating party. It was great fun!

Oh, as for the costumes. Braden's may look vaguely familiar. He was Elmo the Halloween that he was 18 month old, too. This is the same costume, just in a bigger size. The first Elmo costume was one that he practically lunged out of the cart for. The same thing happened this time. We had looked at costumes at a couple of places, and we were in Target looking at all kinds of great things--pirates, ninjas, puppy dogs, firemen, etc. Braden just HAD to have Elmo. Again. Even though he is four and hasn't watched Elmo in at least two years. The night of the hayride he got very upset that "people keep calling me Elmo, but my name is Braden." Sheesh.

Garrett was the cutest lion you've ever seen. Roar!

Braden wrote his first sentence!

This is really what made me update the blog. Braden wrote a sentence all by himself. I'm so proud--I should make it into a giant button and wear it around!

This is a computer-generated version of what it looked like:

I LiC MRCRS.

Isn't he brilliant?? (It says, "I like markers." Sheesh, can't you read?)

He was inspired to write this sentence because he is currently grounded from his markers and crayons. He scribbled on my very favorite coffee table with a red sharpie that he fished out of a drawer somewhere. I didn't yell. I didn't cry. I didn't spank him or put him in time out. What I did was much, much more effective (and maybe a little mean?): I gave him a giant plastic bag and told him to go put all of his markers and crayons in it. When he did, I brought him over to the coffee table and showed him his scribbling. We confirmed that it was, indeed, Braden who did it. I explained that it is my very favorite coffee table and that it is the very first piece of grown-up furniture I ever bought, and that his scribbling ruined it (I'm not sure he caught all of that drama). Then, I told him that as punishment, I was going to put his markers and crayons away for a week so that he would learn not to write on things.

Every day he has asked for his markers back. We then go through the days of the week and discover how many more days there are until Saturday.

So, all in all, this has been a week of learning for Braden: he learned the days of the week, he learned how to write a sentence.

Hopefully he learned not to write on anything, too!

SOCCER!

I'm officially a soccer mom! Kyle's officially a soccer coach!

Braden played U5 soccer this season (that means soccer for kids four and five). The soccer club sent out a desperate email about needing coaches, and Kyle volunteered (I made him). Most people's reaction to that statement is a bewildered, "Does Kyle know anything about soccer?"

Yes! He's a sporty guy! He actually played soccer for a number of years growing up--he says 10, but his mom said is was 7 or 8.

Observing his coaching abilities, I learned something new about my husband: it turns out that Kyle actually does have patience. And he needed it dealing with the six kids on our team. They are all very nice kids with very nice parents (are any of them reading this?) but some of them weren't really motivated to play soccer. They liked the flowers, and the grass, and their water bottles, and the jets that flew over on their way to Aggie football games. They weren't really concerned that the other teams scored three times as many points as us or that they all got in each other's way, or that they often kicked the ball the wrong way and sometimes scored points for the other team. They REALLY liked their trophy at the end of the season!

Braden turned out to be pretty good! He was fairly aggressive (for a four year old) and good on defense. Most importantly, he loves soccer!

So, three months have gone by....

Seriously? What's the deal?

A couple of things:

1) a computer is acting goofy, which means we are down to just one 'puter and it is about 10 years old and kinda slow.

2) the batteries in my camera always are dead. I never could figure out why (I always thought it was because my husband buys cheapo ones on eBay and they just don't hold their charge). I now think it is because Braden often gets ahold of the camera and takes pictures and wastes the charge.

3) I have been busy! What has happened between August 22 (my last post) and now? 13 weeks of school!

4) I've started seriously running and working out at 5 in the mornings, which means I go to bed as soon as I can. I used to blog after the kids were in bed, but now I'm in bed, too.

So, 'nough complaining from you all (mostly Linsey). Now I'm posting...

A circular conversation

Out of the clear blue sky, Braden said to me, with a very matter-of-fact tone, "Mommy, I hate crabs."

"Really," I say, "why?"

"Because I don't like them," was the reply, with a very "duh" tone.

"Why don't you like them?"

"Because I hate them."

"But why do you hate them?"

"I just told you why. Because I don't like them."

sheesh, kid!

Family Fun Night

This was a very long week: The boys were back in daycare full time. Both are in new rooms with new teachers and new kids. I was back at work full time for our New Teacher Induction program and planning staff development stuff for Friday and next week. Kyle was...well, I'm not sure. He had an all-day department meeting one day (and I thought our three hour staff meeting on Friday was long!), and one day I think he palpated cows. He's been in Huntsville alot, anyhow. We're all tired and grouchy in the evenings during the week, and it seems like we just haven't spent much time together--we needed a fun evening out!

Braden said he wanted to eat "somewhere new." (That's a little strange considering the kid only eats about three food products: quesadillas, french fries, and PB&Js). Ninfa's opened in a new location a few months ago, so that's where we went. Amazingly, the kids behaved! They didn't try to run around or climb under the table; they ate their food without fighting over it; they didn't spill their drinks (which were delivered in large to-go cups because they were out of kid's lids). They were all-around very pleasant to be with! Of course, the two Ninfaritas I had could have made all the difference!

Afterwards, everyone was in such a good mood that it seemed a shame to go back to the house. I planted an idea in Braden's head to go to the "fire and fountain" so when he asked daddy to go to the "ice cream fountain" daddy couldn't say no! Daddy also didn't know what Braden was talking about...

We went to the Ben & Jerry's by the fountain and fire torch things on University Drive. Garrett ordered chocolate; Braden ordered yellow. Yellow? Ice cream? Ahh, mango sherbert is what he wanted. Garrett ate about a quarter of his, smeared about a quarter around his face, and gave me the rest. Braden gave me a taste (yuck!) and then ate every last drop.

The boys (including Kyle) chased each other around for awhile until Braden found some large water puddles. We left for home shortly afterwards.

All it all, it was a great evening. We need family fun nights more often!

5 weeks since an update?!

Can it be? What in the world has happened?

Well, a couple of things:

First, our satellite internet went out in a big storm (no, I don't know how those things work--ask Kyle).

Second, I learned that there is life without the internet (gasp!).

Third, it took awhile for us to switch satellite internet companies.

Fourth, I was enjoying my life without the internet so much that I just haven't updated!

So, what's been going on, you ask?
The boys have been having MAJOR sibling rivalry. Garrett wants to play with "Broder" all the time. Maybe I should be more specific: Garrett wants to play with whatever toy Braden is playing with all the time. Braden doesn't want to have anything to do with Garrett.

In fact, Braden has made his opinion known about his younger brother quite a bit lately. Several weeks ago, it was, "Mommy, why do we have Garrett anyway?" And then last week, "Mommy, if Garrett was still in your tummy then he wouldn't bug me so much." Remember that Garrett has been OUT of my tummy for over two years and three months!

I think going back to daycare will be good for them. Give them a little separation. Make 'em miss each other a little bit.

Alright--I hear fussing in the living room where they are both watching Thomas. That reminds me of another reason I haven't posted in five weeks: I can't leave the two of them alone, and I can't sit at my computer and type for more than a few minutes...gotta run...

What a wudrfl world!

Last night, while taking a bath, Braden was playing with his foam letters. "I'm going to spell wonderful!" he yelled to me as I was putting a diaper on Garrett in Garrett's room.

"Great, Braden, go for it."

A few moments passed, then,"Momma! Come look! I did it! Like on WordWorld!"

I went into the bathroom and to my amazement the word "WUDRFL" was in foam letters on the bathtub wall.

Wow.

Can it bee?

Those of you who know us know that we rarely watch movies. Why? Lots of reasons...too much to do, too cheap/lazy to rent movies, short attention spans, etc.

So last night we did something very unusual for us--we had family movie night! Thanks to Tiffany, I am no longer wary of those Redbox DVD rental machines outside of McDonalds. Thanks to Jon & Kate + 8, a family movie night looked like (gasp) fun.

I popped popcorn, made chocolate milk for the kids, hot tea for me, and we ALL snuggled on the couch for an hour and a half of family movie fun.

Can you guess what we watched? Bee Movie! It was pretty cute, and entertaining enough to keep the kids' attention. Braden sat between Kyle and me and covered his eyes a few times at some mildly scary parts (it was so cute!). Garrett sat in my lap and about midway through crashed over on the pillow. Cali snuggled down under a blanket between my legs and Braden's. Kyle looked a bit grumpy at one point when it appeared the movie was taking a turn toward animal rights propoganda. Overall, it was an enjoyable night together. We need to do it again, but considering that we average one movie per year, it might be awhile!

Chef Braden

Braden made his own dinner last night. He got out his special blue cereal bowl that has a straw attached to it, filled it with Cheetos and goldfish, mixed the two together, and then insisted that I pour milk in the bowl.

"Braden that is gonna be disgusting," I said.

Braden, whining, replied, "Nooooo it's not. I looooove it. I reeaaally reeaaally want it."

So I decided it wasn't worth the argument and poured milk into his bowl. He very carefully carried the bowl to the table, eyeing it the entire time to be sure he didn't spill any of his precious mixture. He climbed up into a chair, dipped his spoon into the bowl and....

...didn't like it one bit! Surprise!

I think he'll let me fix his dinner from now on...or at least listen to my advice.

Beach pictures!

A beautiful brontosaurus

Braden colored this picture today. He told me that he used my favorite colors, blue and pink, on the border of the page. He was also proud of the fact that the dinosaur has grey feet. I like how the flowers are all a different color. What a beautiful brontosaurus.

Father's Day 1 week later

My friend Stormy is an amazing writer. Her blog (http://stormyhickman.blogspot.com/) is full of wonderfully written, honest, witty reflections about her life. Recently, she included two Father's Day posts--one about her grandfather and one about her dad. I got a little teary while reading them, especially the one about her grandfather, and I've thought about her posts for a few days. Now, I'm inspired to write my own Father's day themed post, even though it is a week late. Great writing should cause reflection and inspiration...so Stormy, thanks for being a great writer!

I'm lucky enough to have two fathers:my dad and Tom, who married my mom 17 years ago. Dad and Tom are wonderfully different, and I love them both very much. I rarely write my thoughts in cards or notes to them. Heck, I'm happy if I can just get a signed card in the mail within a few days of the event. So here, for all the world to see, are the things I'm thankful for from each of my fathers.

To my Dad,
Thanks for letting my try a variety of sports when I was little, and I'm sorry I wasn't very dedicated or good at any of them. Thanks for introducing me to running when I was little, something I still enjoy doing. In fact, I ran 4 miles around the perimeter of campus this morning! I know that my running stride and my legs look much like yours, and I often think of you when I am running.

Thanks for taking me camping and hiking. I especially remember the trip with Linsey to the mountains in New Mexico and the three trips to Big Bend. Hiking the South Rim with you is a wonderful memory. Someday we'll do it with my kiddos, too.

Thanks for teaching me that all people deserve our love and respect and that is isn't right to call any group of people ugly names, even if they can't hear us. Thanks for exposing me to the civil rights struggles that various people have had in our country and for encouraging me to learn about people who are different from me.

Thanks for encouraging me to love literature and not being afraid to share all kinds of books with me. As I learned this year, there are parents who censor what their child reads, and thanks SO MUCH for not doing that!

Thanks for taking me to church and introducing me to God.

Thanks for finding happiness in your own life. I love that you have a job you are passionate about, live in a place that inspires you, and have a wife who completes you.

To Tom,
Thanks for marrying my mom! You two have such a great relationship and serve as a great model for me, Linsey, and Kristen.

Thanks for teaching me to drive and for buying my first truck. My mom never would have let me drive before I had my permit, and I appreciate you for trusting me enough to teach me. I loved that little truck, and I am so thankful to you for buying it for me.

Thanks for having boats. I probably haven't shown enough interest in the boats, but please know that I love the boats, and more importantly, I love the times we spend together as a family on them. I love being on the water (but not in it!), and I love the unique places we've been able to go because of the boats. How many people can say that they've spend the night anchored off of some little Cay in the Bahamas?

Thanks for being patient and never, ever yelling. You are the calmest person I know. I was amazed when I met boys who played football for you who told me stories to the contrary.

Thanks for teaching me to be conservative with my money.

Thanks for introducing me as your daughter. That speaks volumes about your love for me.

To Kyle,
While I'm thinking about fathers, I should include you, too!

Thanks for being my babies' daddy!

Thanks for changing diapers. Some men don't. Good men do.

Thanks for commuting 100 miles a day so that our family can live in College Station. You have NO IDEA how much I appreciate that sacrifice for our family.

Thanks for being so darn handy around the house...and yard...and cars. I'm pretty sure that you can make or fix anything! I love working on projects with you, and I love that Braden is old enough to "help" sometimes...and that you are patient enough to let him help.

Thanks for taking out the trash every week. I could do it, but it is really nice not to have to, especially the stinky diaper trash in the garage.

Thanks for buying me a kayak.

Oh wait! You haven't done that...yet!

Didja know?

(editing note: I realize that this post has several irritating errors: 1) there are not paragraph breaks. That is because I wanted a bulleted list, and I can't figure out how to correctly align the paragraphs in a bulleted list using blogger. Yes, I know how to do it in Word, and I'm sure if I spent more than three seconds, I could figure it out, but oh well. 2) I used the indefinite "you" which is a HUGE pet peeve in my students' writing. In fact, just to prove that it can be eliminated, I'll do so right now)

Recent happenings for the Stutts family:

• Two weeks ago, we bought a new car! I'm so proud of Kyle for finally making a decision about our vehicle situation. It's a 2008 Nissan Altima that we bought used. It is fun to drive, gets great gas mileage, and has a keyless start. Crazy! The key just has to be in the car somewhere (bottom of the diaper bag, in a pocket, etc.) and the driver pushes the button and the brake. Braden's reaction to the new car as he stroked the headliner: "Daddy, this is so nice. There's no rips or anything!" The plan is to sell the Saturn (how sad! I've had it for 11 years) and the Taurus. Kyle will drive the Altima and I will drive the truck. On weekends, we will use the Altima as the family vehicle.
• My mom had surgery last week to remove her spleen. She's had very low platelet counts since about Christmas time, and the hope is that this will solve the problem. The surgery went well, and early results seem promising. She had a rough first night in the hospital, but was doing better by the time I got there on Friday evening. I was glad I was able to spend Friday night with her (and her roommate).
• Kyle and the boys drove down on Saturday to visit Grandma in the hospital. They visited both Saturday and Sunday. They were very cute working puzzles, playing Memory, and coloring with Grandma. Braden really liked the elevator and the fact that mom's hospital bed could weigh all of us.
• Saturday night Jan treated us to Chuck E Cheese's. Garrett says "Chuck Jesus." In fact, a few weeks ago, Garrett must have seen a commercial or something and was walking around talking about "Chuck Jesus." Braden said to me in wonder, "Mom, Garrett's trying to find Jesus!" I gave the standard Sunday school answer: "Jesus is in our hearts" and got a very quizzical look in return. He'll understand someday. Anyhow, back to Chuck E Cheese's: much to my delight, it was wonderful! Jan had just as much fun as Braden, and it was GREAT to see them play together. Linsey joined us too. Perhaps it was the fact that we had four adults to two kids, but this was the first time I enjoyed Chuck E Cheese!
• On Sunday we drove down to Galveston and met our good friends the Corleys. After waiting (and waiting and waiting) in line for the ferry, we rode across to the Bolivar peninsula. Patrick's dad's cousin has a beach house on Crystal Beach, and the Corleys invited us to stay for a few nights with them. We went to the beach Sunday evening...the world's biggest sandbox. So fun! We ate dinner at Steve's Landing, a place Kyle and I had been to with Mom and Tom. It's on the Intercoastal--great food, but (like every restaurant we went to this trip) really slow service. Garrett and I walked around outside several times. Once, a small boat was coming in from a day fishing trip, and the men gave us all of the bait shrimp and fish they had left. I tossed them up in the air to the seagulls, much to the enjoyment of the gulls, Garrett, and the men who got a kick out of Garrett's dance of delight!
• Monday was a jam-packed day of fun! Amie and I started with a walk around the neighborhood and dreamed of buying a beach house. Then we all went to the beach. Parker was a pro at body surfing! He and Patrick were so cute--Patrick would push him into a wave, and he would surf it all the way to shore. Braden wouldn't even hear of going deep enough into the water to try it. (sigh). The babies had fun digging in the sand, splashing in the shallower waves, and finding shells. We took lots of pics on the Corley's camera--as soon as I get them, I'll post 'em. After the beach was lunch, then naps for the babies. That afternoon we went to an awesome water slide. It was like the old Jungle Surf in Galveston where people climb a hill, then slide down one of two slides that meander down the hill. We put life jackets on the kids and marched up the hill. True to form, Braden began wailing as we approached the top, "I don't want to do this. I don't like water slides." I took Garrett down the slide first while Kyle held a screaming, squirming Braden at the top. Garrett loved the slide! He laughed, he shrieked, and as soon as we landed in the pool, he was climbing out and marching back up the hill (he repeated that drill the entire 45 minutes we were there). Braden, meanwhile, was still at the top of the hill crying. When we got back up there, Kyle and I traded kids, and I took Braden, kicking and screaming, down the slide. By the second curve he was no longer crying and by the fourth curve, I think I heard a giggle or two. At the end he said, "momma, that was fun...but I don't wanna do it again." Too bad! We walked back up the hill and this time, I didn't have to use so much force to get him on the slide. After that, he wanted to go again and again, but never by himself. Parker, who has no fear of the water, went over and over by himself. After the water slide, we had snow cones, then changed clothes at the beach house and went to dinner at Bob's Place (or something like that). My crab nachos were delicious!
• Tuesday morning, we had to get up really early because I needed to be at school at noon for a meeting with the English department and our new principal about TAKS data, curriculum design, etc. I was a bit nervous about this first bit of interaction with the new principal, but I was happily surprised by how receptive he seemed to all of our comments and ideas.
• On Wednesday, Garrett moved to a big boy bed! About a month ago, I found a posting on our school district's "Swap Shop" from a lady at the Barbara Bush Parenting Center--she had a client who was in need of a crib with a drop down side. I thought to myself, "I have a crib with a drop down side...I'm almost done with it...it was given to me (thanks Jan!) and it would be good to pass it on to someone else..." so I called the lady. Turns out she lived in Madisonville, but was going to be in College Station for an appointment on Monday, June 16. I wrote in on the calendar, and then...forgot all about it. She called me on Monday, and I was at the beach! Oh, I felt so awful! So, I offered to take the crib to her as soon as I got back (hey, I have nothing else to do, right?). She suggested we meet in the middle, at the "North Zulch Grocery and Gas." Soooo, Wednesday morning when Garrett woke up, Kyle began disassembling Garrett's crib (and Braden's crib and Katie's crib). He made a detailed drawing and labeled some pieces so that they would be able to put it back together. While Kyle was taking the crib apart, I talked to the boys about what we were doing: "Garrett doesn't need his crib anymore because he is such a big boy. I know of a little baby who needs a crib, so we are going to give this crib to that little baby." The boys seemed absolutely okay with no concern whatsoever that this was a major milestone in their lives...I mean, this crib has been in constant use in our house for FOUR years. Getting rid of it means that we don't have a baby anymore! Did the kids care? Not at all. As planned, we met Robin and her baby at North Zulch Grocery and Gas and moved the crib from my truck to hers. Robin is young, early 20s, and very, very sweet. She was so appreciative and went on and on about how pretty the crib was and how much she liked the bedding (she must not have noticed Braden's teeth marks on the crib). I asked how she came to be in touch with the lady at the Barbara Bush Parenting Center. She said that when she was pregnant, she began going to the pregancy outreach center in Bryan. There, she would watch videos on parenting and child development to earn baby supplies...blankets, a car seat, etc. When she inquired about a crib, they told her that they didn't have cribs. Another mother in the waiting room overheard, and suggested she visit the Parenting Center, which is part of our school district. She went there, and they too said that they don't have cribs, but the director offered to put an ad out on Swap Shop...and that is where I came in. The best part about this crib exchange was that Garrett and Braden (and I) were able to meet the little baby boy who was going to be getting their old crib. I also think it is good for the kids to see us model helping out our fellow man (or woman, as the case may be). God has so blessed my family, and it is so important to me to pass on those blessings as I am able. I want my children to learn that value, too. Meanwhile, back at the the Stutts house, Kyle had thought of a great plan: We moved Braden's double bed into Garrett's room. That will also be the new "guest room." We moved Linsey's old trundle bed from the attic to Braden's room, thus making more room for the train table and toys in Braden's room. Oh, and when I say "we" moved the beds, I mean "Erin." Kyle did get the trundle down from the attic before he left for work, and it isn't his fault I did it by myself: I was just too impatient to wait for him to get home. So far, the bed switching has been fine. Garrett keeps sneaking out of his bed and into his closet at nap time (a gate at his closet door may stop this--I try it today), but bedtime has been great. And so far, he's stayed in his bed all night. Braden, too, has slept in his bed all night two nights in a row! It has been glorious!
• On Thursday around noon, we listed the Saturn and the Taurus for sale on Craigslist and on Swap Shop. I think we had about 8 calls about the Saturn; four were people who wanted to come look at it. We sold the Saturn that evening to my friend Randi's father-in-law for our asking price of $1800. Thanks, Randi! Now we can concentrate on selling the Taurus, and we'll be back down to two cars like a normal family.

Pajama day!

It is 4:30pm and we are still in pajamas. At this point is it even worth getting dressed?

Summer means...

...carrying a diaper bag instead of a purse because the boys are always with me.

...not having to pack lunches!

...trying to get the kids to sleep twice--once for naps and once for the night.

...watermelon so cold that my teeth hurt!

...having time to keep the house clean and the laundry done.

...reading books instead of papers.

...waking up at 5:15 to run before it gets hot (well, the last two days anyway).

...memorizing the daily schedules of Nickelodeon and HGTV.

...it doesn't really matter that one of our hot water heaters went out last night! Who wants a hot shower anyway?

...flip flops for the entire family.

...watering the plants every day. Sometimes twice.

Memorial Day weekend

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Kyle's Aunt Sam's house in Galveston. She lives on Offatt's Bayou, near Moody Gardens and the airport. Her house is at the end of a small road, and she has a neighbor on only one side. The other side of her house (the end of the road) is a local spot for fishing, kayaking, etc. We attempted to find hermit crabs, but didn't have much luck.
Here is Kyle's mom and the boys--check out Grandma's muscles! She helped the boys look for hermit crabs. We didn't find any, but Aunt Sam did. She kept claiming that she was an expert, and she was right! She found the biggest hermit crab I've ever seen. We watched it walk around for awhile, then let it go back into the water.
This is Sam's neighbor's pier. Kyle is fishing at the end of the pier, and Braden is walking (very, very carefully) out to Daddy.
Perhaps the boys' favorite part of the visit was playing with all of Sam's animals. She has two dogs, a few cats (two are just visiting), a parrot, and fish. Garrett loved the dogs while Braden was most impressed by the parrot, especially when Sam took him out of his cage to sit on her shoulder. I tried to get a picture of Garrett, Sam, and the dogs, but none of them would cooperate. This is the best I could get!
Moody Gardens has recently leased the Galveston Municipal Golf Course, and they have totally redone it. A new fancy housing development has gone in by the golf course--about a half mile down from Sam. The neighborhood park is pretty cool--it is a "real" pirate ship (according to Braden). He and Grandma had lots of fun sliding down the fireman pole.

Ahhhh, the first day of summer!

I've deemed today the first "official" day of summer for the boys and me. We slept in (well, until 7:45 when Tiffany called on her way to teach summer school), we watched morning cartoons, I straightened up the house, then took a shower. It was nice and relaxing. It's weird, though, knowing that I have absolutely nothing else to do...no papers to grade, no emails to respond to, no lessons to plan, nothing at all. Sweet!

Braden had his first swim lesson this morning with Rachel, the sister of one of my students. She and a friend teach private lessons in the summer in the friend's pool at her house in the historic Southgate part of College Station. I figured Braden would do better for Rachel if I wasn't there, so I packed the jogging stroller in the car and Garrett and I took a 30 minute walk while Braden swam. We got back in time to see Rachel trying to get Braden to put his face in the water--it didn't work, not even after I tried to bribe him with a snow-cone. Maybe tomorrow. She said he swam the length of the pool with her hand under his belly barely supporting him.

After swim lessons, we went to HEB. Funny, all of the "race-car" carts were gone. Turns out that Monday morning is when all of the stay-at-home moms and home-for-the-summer moms go shopping. There were kids everywhere! They also had lots of samples out--more than they have in the evenings and on the weekends when I usually shop. We munched our way through the store.

The boys are eating grapes right now--Garrett keeps calling them "stwawbewies" and making Braden mad. I think he's doing on purpose just to get a reaction out of his brother. He's kinda clever like that. In just a minute I'm going to put Garrett down for a nap, put Braden in his room for "quiet time" and begin my quest to catch up on my scrapbooking.

My first parent/teacher conference!

I had end-of-the-year conferences today about Braden and Garrett. My kids are, of course, very smart, well adjusted, emotionally well developed, and have excellent fine and gross motor skills!

Braden's teacher, Salina, said that when she was testing him on counting, she asked him to count from 1 to 50. He was at about 15 when he stopped, looked at her quizzically, and said, "Salina, do you know how to count to 50?"

She said, "yes, Braden, I do."

He asked, "then why do you need me to do it for you?"

Clever little sucker, huh?

She noted on his number chart that he asked why he had to stop at 50 when they always count to 200.

Salina wrote on his report that "Braden is such a sweet boy! I love having him in my classroom! He is such a great helper; he is always willing to help other children with their lessons." Perhaps we have another teacher on our hands!

Here is a scan of his shape worksheet:

Garrett's teacher was out today (her daughter is graduating from high school tonight!), so I met with one of the daycare directors. He "always" meets all of the developmental skills, such as "match sounds to animal" and "sing some words to songs." The report also says that he always "can copy housework." Hmmm...now that I know that, I need to put the kid to work!

Here is a scan of some bugs made with Garrett's fingerprints:

Change Places!

Can it be? 74 degrees outside on May 27 in College Station, Texas?? A very windy but precipitation-free cold front moved in this afternoon, and it feels fantastic outside!

After a yummy dinner of Little Caesar's Hot-n-Ready pizza (they've gone up to $5.99!) and a round or two of Dora, we moved the Stutts Tuesday night party outside onto the deck. Braden decided to play imaginary baseball. He stood in one corner of the deck, swung his "bat" and hit the "ball" with all of his might, and then yelled, "CHANGE PLACES!" at the top of his lungs and ran his stubby little legs to the opposite corner of the deck.

Apparently he doesn't understand how baseball works.

His yelling did get the neighborhood dogs to barking, though.

Garrett picked up on things (he does and says everything that big brother does), and he was soon yelling "tange paces" and running around the deck, too. Kyle and I just laughed and pretty soon we were pitching and batting, too!

"Dress like your favorite community helper"

Yesterday Braden's daycare class celebrated the end of their lessons on community helpers by having a dress-up day.

We borrowed the mailman outfit from the Corleys--Parker wore it for Halloween. Braden was SO excited and got lots of compliments about how handsome he was!

Splishing and Splashing with good friends

Last night we went over to the Corley's house to just hang out and relax after a very long week. Parker is an expert at the Slip 'n Slide, but Braden caught on pretty quickly. Tyler and Garrett had a great time splashing in the water spray.

We all reminisced about the Slip 'n Slides of our childhood, and agreed that they sure have come a long way since we were kids when they were just a flat piece of yellow plastic, and you had to use your own sprinkler!

The boys capped off the evening with ice-cream sandwiches and bike/trike riding on the patio. Garrett sure made a mess of his sandwich!

Linsey's graduation!

A few weekends ago, Linsey graduated from the University of Houston-Clear Lake with her master's degree in instructional technology. We had a very nice, relaxing weekend with lots of family fun.

Our little family drove down to Houston on Saturday morning and went to brunch with Linsey, Mom, and Tom. Linsey chose a yummy Mexican restaurant near her apartment in the River Oaks area. The restaurant reminded me of the fancier restaurants found in Mexican border towns (If you've never been to one, I guess that doesn't make much sense, but trust me; this place was great!). Linsey, post the name of it in the comments section!

After we stuffed ourselves, we went back to Linsey's apartment and took pictures of Linsey. Isn't she pretty!

We skipped the graduation ceremony itself so that the boys could take naps and Kyle and I could attempt to catch up on schoolwork. That evening, my Dad and Janet came over and cooked a delicious dinner of grilled shrimp, chicken, and veggie kabobs. We swam in Linsey's pool, and the boys opened birthday presents from Linsey, Dad, and Janet. They're in a diaper/underwear in the pictures because we had been swimming, then came inside to eat, and I didn't see the point in getting them entirely dressed when we were just going to head back out to the pool.

Braden loves Linsey's apartment, especially because of the pool. He swam with the safety lifesaver around him. It had a long rope attached, which made for lots of fun when we pulled him across the pool really fast!