Has it been over a year?

Wow! I can't believe that it has been well over a year since I last posted! How do people find the time? Between blogs, facebook, meetup boards, twitter, texting, church, husbands, kids, family, friends, dogs, and your job how do we survive? I guess like me, by the skin of my teeth! What is up with that saying anyway? Teeth do not have skin? What the ????

I hope to get back in the swing of it.....

Bad to the bone....

Well, I've lost him! Ryan is officially "bad to the bone"! Tom has tatooed him and he is showing us his tuff side! Watch out girls!

Moms Weekend Away!

Every mom should do it! Get away for
the weekend with their friends that is!
I had the opportunity to go to Austin, TX
with 7 of the moms from my moms group.
We had a blast! Here we are on 6th Street
at Logan's!

A day at the park....

It was a beautiful 70 degree day here in Dallas today so we went to the park today after school with my Moms Group and boy did we have fun!

Jake is such a ham! He loves to smile and say cheese!



I can not believe that he climbed across this foot ladder without falling - he must have done it 5 times. Kinda funny that one time a really big kid met him right in the middle and I just watched the big kid stare him down, not willing to budge. But Jake held his own! He just stood there and stared right back up at him - not budging either! The big kid finally turned around and went back the other way. (Now I realize that Jake had no idea what to do - he didn't understand how to go back and I think the big kid realized that he just a little guy and gave him a break). But, in my mind - Jake is a superhero!


Hmmmm, I wonder what he is thinking about?? Ryan is such the thinker whereas Jake is such a meathead like his Dad! (said with so much love) It is amazing to see Ryan do the wall climbing at this park - they have 3 really big ones and whereas he used to just go up one level - he goes all the way up AND over now!

Moon brothers...

Well, here they are! So sweet and obviously having fun together. Ryan loves to ride Jake around on his motor toys - although Jake can reach the peddles on both - but drives right for the pool! We have to turn the wheel so he just goes around in a circle - but he seems happy with that!

You know, one huge difference in them is the way they respond to animals. Ryan takes after Tom. They love the horses and our dogs - but do not feel inclined to love ON them. Now Jake - he takes after me - he is constantly petting the dogs, laying with the dogs, kissing the dogs. I will find him just laying with both of them talking up a storm - like they are his people friends! He reminds me of me so much in this area - I loved laying with our dogs and hugging on them when I was a kid (and still do). Really neat to see his loving side (which does not come out very often!)

I live in the country....

Sometimes I forget that I live on a beautiful piece of property and tonight Tom made me take it all in. As usual, I was pulling my hair out while the boys were terrorizing each other, the house and me! Tom came home and I just burst out in tears and after a few moments he grabbed my jacket - put it on me. Grabbed a beer and gave it to me. Opened the back door and told me to go out to the pond - sit on the dock - throw my feet over the side and enjoy the outdoors.

And I did.

And it was wonderful! I just sat there and listened to the birds, the horses and the water and it really did calm me. I wish I had more moments like this in my life. Thank goodness I have a husband that makes me stop and smell the roses (or the horse poop) once in awhile.

I no longer have babies....

Well, today I took "Baby" Jake's crib down. He has been crawling out for about a week now and I guess it was time. Last night after putting him to bed in his crib - I walked out of his room and of course he crawled out - cried at the door for about 15 seconds and then all was quiet. I wondered where he ended up?

About an hour later I go in to see where he had fallen asleep and there he was on the floor in between the crib and his big boy bed flat on his back with the covers meticulously spread over him with his feet sticking out and arms stretched above his head snoring like no one's business!
He was sooo cute - I picked him up and put him in his big boy bed and he slept all night.

I am not sure how I feel about it - it is bittersweet. He is no longer a baby.

I remember the day when I was pregnant with Ryan that Tom and I went shopping for a crib. It seems like forever ago. We were so excited to be parents. Now, the Moon house does not have a crib in it. Don't get me wrong - I DO NOT want any more children - I am looking forward to this new stage in our life. (Now I just have to get everyone to wipe their own ass!) :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

So this is a conversation that Ryan and I had as I was dropping him and Jake off at school yesterday, Valentine's Day:

Ryan: Mom are you coming to my school valentine's party?
Me: Yes, Ryan.
Ryan: Are you coming in now?
Me: No Ryan - I will be back at 10am.
Ryan: Why don't you come in now?
Me: Mommy is still in her pajamas and she has to go home and take a shower and then I will come to your party.
Ryan: Oh.

(we pull up to the schools carpool line and as I stop a teacher comes to get the boys)

Teacher: Good morning!
Ryan: My mom is still in her pajamas and she has to go home to take a shower before she comes to the party!
Me: Completely humiliated!

(another teacher comes out)

Teacher 2: Good morning!
Ryan: My mom is still in her pajamas and she has to go home to take a shower before she comes to the party!
Me: Still completely horrified!

Gotta love them and their honesty!

Here are a few pics from a Valentine's playdate they had the day before.....

Ryan is on the right - eating a cookie that he just decorated!


Now Jake, on the other hand, chooses to eat his differently!


And there is the smile that we all love!

We Miss You Daddy!

Tom is out off town and the boys made this sign for him and wanted me to put it on the blog so he can see it in Costa Rica!

We miss you!!! Hugs and Kisses!

Exhibition night at the boys school!

Tonight the boys had an exhibition night for all the parents. It was quite an event! The parents went into the classroom with their child and they showed us some of the things that they work on throughout the day. Well, the school asked that you give your child your undivided attention during this time and to make sure we were prompt with coming and going as other classes still had to come. Well that is great if you only have one kid! How am I suppose to do this with 2 kids while Tom is out of town? Jake's class was scheduled to go at 6pm and Ryans at 6:30. So, to be fair to both the boys (and for me to be guilt free) this is what I had to do: Asked a friend to meet me in the parking lot of the school at 5:45pm - she climbed in our van and sat with Ryan watching a DVD while I took Jake in - after we were done and I chased him down and took him out to the van and exchanged him with Ryan! Whew! I give the single parents out there a shout out - cuz man - it ain't easy! Well, here are the boys showing me their work in the classroom as well as what is on display in the gym.


Jake was so cute - he got his mat out and unrolled it - went to the shelves and pulled out his favorites - animals!



Here is Jake (wearing one of his hats!) showing off his artwork.



Here is Ryan - showing me how the binomial cube works! The what? Binomial cube? How old are you? Time was up and we had to move to the gym and Ryan went running - so I tried to finish it and could not figure it out! I had to leave it out because I could not do it and then had to tell the teacher - how embarrassing! (She told me that normally Ryan puts it together in 2 min!) I am in TROUBLE!


And here Ryan is showing off his color bead chart. The color beads in Montessori teach you how to add!

Hats!

So lately, Jake has had an infatuation with winter hats (like the one he is wearing at the park a few posts ago). This is obviously something that he has inherited from his Great Grandma Helen - her passion for hats! He carries them all over! Around the house, in the car, to the dinner table and now he has to have them to go to bed! He chants over and over - hat, hat, hat! He has one in each hand - snuggles them up to his face and tells me nite nite! I have to say it is the cutest thing! Ryan has his blue blanket and now Jake has his hats!

Puzzle Playdate!!

Well, today was MLK day so the boys were out of school ~ so we hosted a puzzle playdate with the Moms group I belong to! We had a blast! Puzzles were being made all over the house and well kids were running all over too! It was great to be able to host again - I love having all the kids over (the moms too!).


Ryan and his buds - and sweet Hannah - the only girl at the playdate - but don't let her size fool you - she can hold her own with these boys.


Okay so we have how many tv's in the house? They HAD to watch Toy Story on the little DVD player of course!


The little ones takin a break!


I just love Jake's laugh here. He felt so cool being with the older boys!

Let's try this again....

GRANDMA!!!!


JAKE!!!


BIG BROTHER RYAN!!!


TOO CUTE!!!

Beautiful weekend in Texas!

We all had such a nice weekend - the weather was beautiful - 60's in January! My mom and I went out for lunches, dinners, movies and shopping! The kids had a great time playing with Grandma and showing her where they went to school and especially their classrooms and teachers.

I will post pics later as blogspot is not able to upload right now! :( AND, I am off to have margaritas with the girls! :) C ya!

My mom is coming! My mom is coming!

That's right! My mom is coming down to Texas for a visit (and to see a specialist) this weekend! I can not wait to see her - the kids are soooo excited too! I will post some pics of our weekend.......

Over 4 months since my last post

Well, it has been awhile, hasn't it? So much has been happening that I have not had a chance to stop and take a breath. I have wanted to start posting so many times, but I just did not know how to jump back in after what has been happening. I have wondered whether to post about it or not - what is the right thing to do? I read through all my posts and remember how much I enjoyed sharing stories and pictures of us. So tonight is the night. I have this to say....

My dad is gone and my mom is facing breast cancer - all in 2 months time. Not fair. Not fair at all. It continues to be a tough time in my life, but I will keep moving forward.

This is all I am going to say about this - I will keep this blog for precious and happy moments in my life. It brings me joy to share our life with our family and friends that live so far away. So, forgive me if this is slow going, but I would like to start sharing with you all again.

I would be remiss if I did not thank everyone for their love and support. Thank you.

Overnight trip in the RV

Well, Tom and I are getting ready to leave for an overnight trip in the RV. Kathryn our "awesome" babysitter is here giving both the kids a bath as I type and I am, as always, waiting for Tom to finish getting ready. We are heading out to Possum Kingdom Lake to the lake house of a co-worker of Toms. We are bringing the RV and will hook up to the house. This will be our last trip in it before we put her on the lot and sell her. THANK GOD! :)

Ryan's playdate...

Ryan and his friend playing ferocious animals!


At the "grocery store".....


Busy being artists...


Rockclimbing....


I can not believe that he is going to be 4 next month! Where did the time go??

Jake's playdate....

Where is Jake?


There he is!

Too cute!

The world is not a nice place sometimes.....

Well - the blog will be slow for awhile as the wonderful digital camera that my awesome husband gave to me on my birthday this past June was STOLEN! I just can not believe it! And of all places? A kids playhouse! Very upsetting to me - but I am glad that I walked out with my children and not my camera instead of my camera and not my children! I know that it was just something monetary but it still SUCKS!

See you all soon.......

Where I would rather be right now.....

The BAHAMAS!!! When things start to get really crazy around here, I lock myself in the bathroom, close my eyes and envision that I am back on this island! I can hear the waves, feel the sun and smell the salt water!


Gorgeous!

View from our balcony! Great snorkeling!

Another from the balcony.....

Private path from our house to the beach where there was a tiki hut that we sat under to get some rest from the sun!

Awesome beach 25 feet from our house!

View from the tiki hut!

Another gorgeous view from the house!

FYI - this is the Island of Eleuthera, one of the northern islands, Double Bay Beach - our house sat right on the beach and we only saw 3 people on it the entire time we were there! The name of the house was Hakuna Matada~No Worries! Just wanted to go down memory lane and thought I would take you all with me!

My family reunion!

I went ahead and posted a bunch of pics for my family to see and download if they wanted - easier than sending an email and having files waiting to come up etc... So note to my family - just double click on a pic and then right click on mouse and you can save it to your hardrive.

Now, there are so many that I did not get pics of and I am so sorry! I didn't even get a pic of my mom or my grandma! I just can't believe it! And all the babies! Well, hope you all enjoy what I did get......

Have to start off with the hottest guy there!

My man - Tom

Daniel, Tracy and Baby Noah!

Jessica and Dan!

My aunt Brenda and Uncle Andy!

Love this pic of my Uncle John!

Eric and Sarah!

My hottie young cousin Kristen!

My niece Tammy and her man Corey!

Baby Noah!

Again - my young hottie cousin Kristen - always chillin!

My godfather and uncle John! (and hottie Kristen's dad!)

Some of the gang - but there is my SIL Tracy and Baby James on the left!

My 2nd cousin Colin and nephew Michael!

My awesome Aunt Deb! (and my bro in the background)

Float trip pit stop!

My gorgeous OLDER sister Sandi!

Abby!

Abby's sister Emma!

My neice Rachael!

My cousin Eric without his BETTER half Erica!

My brother Andy and cousin Marc! (to all the singe ladies out there - he is available!) My cousin Marc that is - not my bro! :)