Snuggles

Last night Joelie didn't go to sleep very early. She had a late nap so her schedule was thrown off a bit. I ended up letting her come to bed with us for a little while. She got right in the middle of us and talked and talked and talked. Despite being exhausted I loved listening to her. What's really cute is she repeats whatever Casey tells her to say. It cracks me up because he has her say some of the craziest things! Plus toddler language is just adorable!
I ended up taking her back to bed about 2am. It's very hard sleeping with a toddler kicking you every few minutes.
This morning I woke up at 5:30 to Chase asking me to change his TV to Nick Jr. On the way in there he asked me if it was early morning or late at night! :) About 30 minutes later he was back in our room wanting to get in bed with us. So I let him.
He's my snuggle bug. He was in our room every single night sleeping at the foot of our bed well after Joelie was born. It took a lot to get him into his room and we are glad that he's in there... but I enjoyed every moment I had with him snuggling with me. He's my baby boy!
Of course I couldn't go back to sleep so I just looked at Chase while he was sleeping. I thought about how much he and Joelie look alike and how in a few months I'd lose my baby to kindergarten. I also noticed that he was snoring in unison with Casey!! They sounded exactly the same!

Its moments like this that make being a mom and wife well worth all the stress of maintaining a busy household. No matter how little sleep, no matter how exhausted or stressed out I get...  I cherish these moments more than anything. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful husband and amazing kids! 

The Love of a Family is Life's Greatest Blessing

I often find myself questioning what family means...
To me it is my husband and our kids. It's making sure that our kids know that we will always be here to love and support them. It's watching them grow up and making decisions together to raise them to be the best adults they can be. It's spending quality time together and enjoying every moment of it. It's planning for our futures and preparing for the next steps in life. My family is everything to me. 


So I will never understand how a father can pay child support for his children but never make an effort to see them or call them. Or how a father can claim children as his flesh and blood but never send a birthday card or a Christmas gift or be there for sporting events and graduations.

I'll also never understand how a mother can lose custody of her children and not fight with every ounce of her being to get them back and if she can't, decide not to be a part of their lives anyway missing out on all the important milestones in their lives all while blaming someone else for her actions. 

Cabins and Lakes

We took a trip this weekend to Lake Murray in Oklahoma. The ride up wasn't as bad as I expected. The kids were really good. When we turned onto the street with the cabins I was a little freaked out, it looked scary. I didn't feel any better when I went to grab the keys and check in. When I opened the door I was greeted by the smell of something old and wooden. It reminded me of the way my grandmas moth ball filled closet smelled. The surrounding lake area was beautiful.
I was pleasantly surprised when we opened the door to our cabin. It was cute, updated with a flat steen tv, and it was clean!
After we got all of our stuff unloaded we went to the beach area and rented a boat. Casey took turns taking the kids for rides while the others stayed behind and played in the water. There was a cute little water park set up with trampolines and slides but I couldn't bring myself to pay $10 per hour, per kid seemed like a waste. When we got done we headed back into town for dinner and ice cream at Braums. Yum!
We spent the rest of the afternoon out in the lake enjoying a break from the heat! What I loved about this lake is that they net off the swimming area so there were no fish, which I'm afraid of. Something else I really liked was how clear the water was. You could see all the way to the bottom.
I enjoyed being able to sit outside in the dark with Casey and Joelie listening to the bugs. So peaceful!
Later that night when we were all snuggled in bed we were scared shitless when the smoke detector went off! Apparently the air conditioner overheated. It made for a hot night with just one wall unit trying to keep the whole cabin cool but it sure beat sleeping outside in a tent!
This morning when we got up to get ready to leave we were reminded that we were in the middle of nowhere by all the bugs that camped out with us. They were everywhere!!
Overall we had a good time. I'm sure we will do it again one day.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Last week Casey and I got to escape to northern California for an adult weekend. We had such an amazing time. It was so nice to be able to go and do whatever we wanted without having to worry about kids or getting the sitter home at a decent hour. We had time to go and see two newly released movies in an actually movie theater! That never happens at home! We even planned a Memorial Day BBQ with some of my mommy friends and their families. (I wish that Joelie could have been there for it but we still had a wonderful time.) We drove out to Alice's restaurant up in the mountains for breakfast and walked the paths at Muir Woods followed by a drive down the coast. It was just a perfect vacation!

You know... I'm a Texas girl to the bone. Born and raised. I've never lived anywhere else and I have never wanted to live anywhere else... until I went to northern California. I love it there. The mountains and ocean are stunning. Maybe one day we will make it happen? 

How Sweet It Is...

I recently started reading a book that utterly disgusts me. At the same time it has opened my eyes to things I have never thought about and makes me question everything I already know. 


One of the topics discussed is sugar. I personally don't use a lot of sugar but sugar-free or sugar substitutes instead. I even do the same for the kids. It makes sense right? Sugar is bad for you so sugar-free is better for you? 
After reading the book and hearing about all the horrific side effects of aspartame I decided to check labels on products in our home. Low and behold... it's in EVERYTHING! Our Crystal Light drinks, the sugar-free Kool-Aid, yogurt, gum, jam, salad dressing... the list goes on and on. 
Here I think I'm doing something healthier for my kids but this book claims I'm poisoning them and myself. Great. 
What the hell are you suppose to do? I'm reading the "side effects"; headache, cramps, memory loss, vision problems, cancer, depression, increased hunger... on and on and on. It all has to be true, it's written in this horrible book. 
So I come up with this bright idea to use Splenda in everything instead and go back to buying "real" juice vs the sugar-free stuff. But wait... Splenda is poison too? It was discovered while trying to make a new pesticide. That can't be good... right? So, I'm reading the "side effects", again; gastrointestinal problems, skin irritation, chest pains, mood swings, depression, itchy eyes... on and on and on. Now what? 


Just when I think my head is going to explode with an overload of information and confusion I decide to further investigate Carcinogenic foods, which is the part about sugar and artificial sweeteners that scares me the most, and find a top 10 list. 
1. Any charred food. ANY. 
2. Meat, especially overcooked. 
3. SUGAR
4. Salt and Spicy Foods. 
5. Sodas 
6. Trans Fats (think fries/chips) 
7. ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS
8. Excessive Alcohol 
9. Foods cooked at high temperatures. 
10. Farm-raised fish. 
Yep. I'm a horrible HORRIBLE mother. 

Anywhere Is Walking Distance, If You've Got The Time

I have no desire to get up early to go to the gym or stay up later to get a good workout in. I'd rather just say my workout comes from cleaning house and chasing after kids all day. Of course I complain about never being able to lose or maintain weight and it becomes obvious "why" I'm unable to... because I'm lazy. 
Casey and I have tried every fad diet over the years except eating healthy and working out. Sadly none of those fad diets last long and when they are over we always end up right back where we started. 
It was Casey who decided he had enough and was ready to make a life style change. He started taking time during his work week to get exercise and has been watching what he eats. It didn't take long for me to jump on board. 
I started reading labels and watching what we eat or cook with. We limit ourselves to healthy snacks and we walk every single day. I can't claim some miracle and say that we are dropping pounds left and right but I can tell you that we feel great and we are loving the quality family time it's giving us too (most of the time). 


Every evening after dinner we throw our tennis shoes on, grab some waters, and head out on our family walk. Joelie always tags along. I mean... she has it easy, she gets to ride in the jogging stroller while enjoying the sites and playing on the iPhone or iPad. What a life!
Pacey and Chase go with us most of the time and they can almost always keep up. There are times that Joelie has to slide over and make room for them to ride along. Sequel is always along for the ride. He's such an active kid and loves the way it makes his muscles feel (so he tells me)! I think he's only missed one walk since we started.
During the weekend we find time for two walks... our normal evening walk and an earlier (around lunch time) walk. I don't always make both walks on the weekend but I try. We also throw in some basketball or play time at the local park to top things off. Most weekends we end with 5-7 miles total per day! 


I never thought I'd say that I really enjoy walking, but the truth is... I do! It makes me feel really good and I love spending the time with my family! 

Memory Is A Way Of Holding On To The Things You Love...

The Things You Are, The Things You Never Want To Lose. 

It sure is a busy life I lead. I was thinking last night that not only do I need to update my blog, I also need to write in my journal. I used to be really good about recording my thoughts in my journal every few weeks. I checked today and the last time I made an entry was July of 2010. That is major slacking on my part. 


I'm so afraid that I'll forget all the meaningful things that have happened to us over the years. I have such a horrible memory. I can hardly remember Venus and Sequel being babies. If it weren't for photos I'm pretty sure I wouldn't remember anything at all. 
So I try and make a habit of updating my journal with where we are now. I'm going to do that a little later but I thought I'd do it here too. 

Joelie is a mess! Casey is always teasing that if we had her first, we wouldn't have had more kids. :) I still can't get over how beautiful she is. I'm always looking at her and thinking about how she surpassed my expectations. 
The girl loves to sing and dance. She can sing just about any song she hears twice. One that we hear a lot is What's My Name (Rihanna) or any song by Big Time Rush (thanks to Chase). Her dancing normally takes place in dress shoes or while standing on something, like the ottoman. Too cute! 
She is so smart with a huge vocabulary. She amazes me everyday with how much she knows and she is so loving! She is all about hugs and kisses and is a good mommy to her baby dolls. 

Chase. My baby boy. I can't believe he starts school in a few months. I'm not ready. Chase is so much fun. He loves to go places and do things. The kid could live in a hotel and be happy forever. He is so funny, always being silly. I have some amazing videos of him that he records with my phone and we post on his Youtube Channel!
Chase is very loving. He always has to kiss me when I leave the house and before he goes to bed. He's so handsome with his dimples and the only lefty of the clan (minus Casey). I'm going to be a mess come August. One of my favorite things about him is how easily happy he is! 


Pacey is my smart, emotional boy with amazing hair! He is very handsome. He has the classic "middle child syndrome" which breaks my heart. I think we may have gone overboard with the babying when he was younger and now we are trying to correct our mistakes. It isn't easy.
Pacey has a big heart and loves hanging out with his brothers. He gets along really well with Chase. I think they will be good buddies forever! He reads like a pro and makes good grades at school. He loves playing his iPod and video games. His current favorite, Plants Vs Zombies! He has such a beautiful smile and a contagious laugh that I never get tired of hearing! 


Sequel is my all-American kid. He is good at everything he does. He struggles a little bit in school but is about to graduate from fifth grade in two weeks! He got a suit to wear and everything. I couldn't be more proud of him! Sequel is hotheaded (kinda like his mom) but he is so sweet and loving to his family, especially Joelie. He is such a great big brother!
Sequel has lots of friends and spends so much time out of the house. He's very active and quite creative! He got his braces off a few months ago. So handsome! 


Venus is a crazy preteen. He is so funny and is always joking but the kid can flip the switch and carry on some crazy in depth conversations. He is so freaking hardheaded and drives me nuts but I'm thinking it has a lot to do with age? I hope. He struggled this year in school but I think it had more to do with being lazy than anything else.
One of my favorite things about him... his smile. I don't get to see it often but when I do it melts my heart. He's a cute kid. Smart too. He spends every minute of his days locked in his room on Skype and playing online games. I wish he did more with us as a family but I'm glad that he's happy and having fun. 


I think that's it... until next time.