Rambling on

Is it only Tuesday? I am ready for the weekend already. I am not sure why. I just am. Works been good, everything at home has been good, I just want the weekend to be here. Sometimes 2 days isn't enough time off. Do you ever feel that way? I do.

Sometimes you just need a hug right? There is nothing better than a nice hug. I loveeeeee Landon hugs, there is nothing better than Landon coming to me and asking for a hug. He'll say "Hug please mommy." Awe!

We went to Taco Tuesdays at Rosa's tonight, it was like always, delicious. I now have heart burn from it though, I always go for the SPICY salsa and I pay for it later. When will I ever learn. Speaking of when will I ever learn. We went to Walmart tonight to get some groceries since we didn't go this past weekend. I now remember why I don't like shopping at Walmart for food. The aisles are always jam packed and the lines take FOREVER! I was waiting patiently tonight, then I was like what in the world is going on. The line we were in just wasn't moving. I think the Californian in me was starting to come out. I didn't want to wait anymore and those people needed to hurry up. They seemed to be taking one item out at a time as sloooow as possible. I think I forgot where I was. ABILENE, where lots of people are real laid back and take their time. (which that usually doesn't bother me) Anywho, it also seemed everyone was writing a check, I didn't realize so many people wrote checks at the store anymore, ugh, I just wanted to get home. I was tired and had bad heartburn!! Greg had to remind me, "Relax, you picked the line," Oops, thanks Greg! I think I'll stick to my HEB or Commissary from now on.

Parrtayy!

What a great weekend we had! Sunday we drove to Dallas for Ava's 5th Birthday party. Landon was sooo super excited and happy to go. The whole way there we watched Shark Tale, his new favorite movie and he asked several times, where Ava and Oma were. He got about a 45 min power nap in the car, that was enough to have him fully energized. The cake, candy and juice helped too!

Here is the pretty little birthday girl Ava.

The famous Barbie birthday cake. It was very delicious, gotta love HEB. Ava was waiting so patiently all day to cut the cake, I think she asked every 10 min. ha!

It was a perfect day for being outside, BBQin and celebrating. Here we are below, enjoying the weather.

After the pinata, above, they were hyped on sugar and of course dying of thirst. It took a lot of hits for three young kids to break open that pinata. Juice break it was. (below)

What a sweet little face.

We had such a good time. I took a bunch of pictures but it seems any time we go anywhere my battery light on my camera flashes. So I tried to be careful so I could get snapshots of the entire day. There was lots of family and friends there. The food was great, the cake was yummy, the company was even better. All in all the day was awesome. As soon as we got in the car Landon passed out, he got 12 hours of sleep last night. WOW, tired boy, that sugar rush wore off and he was out. I've got lots of house work to do, better get off of here.

Swimmers Ear?

First off I want to wish my dad a Happy Retirement! He just retired this week from 30+years at the Orange County Fire Dept/ Fire Authority as a Fire Mechanic. It was lots of hard work and long hours, his poor hands can prove that. I wish I could have been there for the ceremony, this distance thing stinks! Happy Retirement Dad, we are so proud of you. Have you put in the application at Walmart yet for that greeter position?? (j/k)

The picture below was me and my dad at Disneyland last may. We were on a silly ride and it was HOT as can be!! I was eating some frozen lemonade to keep cool, DELICIOUS!

This picture below was taken probably a few days after the last one. We were at Huntington Beach. One of my favorite places to go when I was in Cali. I spent many many hours laying in that sand working on my tan and checking out all the surfers!

Congratulations Dad, hope you enjoy being home. Don't work too hard, just relax and take it easy. When are you coming to Texas? ha, now that you have all that free time, better come before Walmart calls ya!

Last night when Landon woke up he was complaining his ears hurt. It took a long time to get him calmed down and back to sleep. He woke up a few more times crying. Greg and I decided it was time to call the doctors. Luckily Landon's DR's office will take appointments on Saturdays. I called and they said come in asap. I was already dressed, I had to run to base to take Greg his gravey he forgot for his breakfast at the Fire Station. So after I dropped that off we headed to the Docs. Landon still weighs 29 lbs. My big boy, and he did really well. He is terrified of Drs. due to all the ear infections and stuff in the past. The lady was really nice, he didn't cry once. She checked his ears, there wasn't any fluid in them but they were red. She asked if he swam a lot. I said no, just in the tub. So we got a RX of a drop for his ears. It is an Antibiotic drop, they use it for swimmers ear. I guess Landon has a case of the swimmers ear! I was so happy to hear I didn't have to give him oral antibiotics! PHEW..

When it came time after lunch to give him THREE drops in each ear I was a little nervous. I laid him on his belly across my legs, I did the first drops in his ears, his reaction, a giggle and "mommy." Then we did the other side, his reaction with a cute chuckle, "mommy that tickels!" I was relieved it went so smooth. After that it was potty time, I made him sit to try to go #2. Here is how he looked:

Concentrating sooo hard on his shark book, after about 20 mins, NOTHING, just a few cute pictures.





I realized as I was walking around the house, the boy has a ton of animals. Mainly sharks and fish and dinos. This is what I saw on the couch.

Silly boy, he has to carry them everywhere he goes. He loves them. He knows when we go to the stores where the plastic animals are. Too smart for his own good. And below, this is what I just saw when I went to check on him and make sure he was sleeping.

Yes asleep with his monkey and yes a WHALE! Gotta love it though......

Happy Friday

I am so happy the weekend is here. It was a good week, kinda long, but I've just been so exhausted. I am excited about this weekend. Tomorrow to clean and relax with Landon since Greg will be working and Sunday to go to Ava's Birthday party and to see everyone. Tomorrow night Landon and I are going to go over to my friend Aften's house to have dinner. Her daughter Zoey is almost 3 and her and Landon play pretty well together. I am excited. Aften and Zoey kept Landon and I busy and company while Greg was gone!!! Thanks guys.

Of course it is freezing in Texas again. It was almost 90 yesterday and today it is barely 40. I guess we are getting another day to wear our winter clothes then. We are also burning a fire, gotta use up all our wood and Duraflame logs. We ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse tonight. It was YUMMY! We both had steaks, Landon a hot dog.

I love it there because it is LOUD and there are peanut shells EVERYWHERE so I don't have to worry about bothering anyone with a loud 2 year old and I dont' have to worry about a mess a 2 year old leaves. Our steaks were very tasty, they hit the spot.

While waiting for our dinner and to keep Landon happy we took some pictures, walked around and looked at all the aniamals on the walls and colored and drew. Check out Greg and I's attempts at drawing a shark below. DON'T LAUGH! I repeat, DON'T LAUGH and don't make fun of our artistic abilities.

You better not be laughing. I am, when I look at that I laugh. I should have saved it. But I didn't.

Check out the frame/picture we got for Ava for her birthday. I LOVE it and think it is really cute. I hope she likes it. Landon was looking at it, he still thinks he was sitting on a dinosaur in the picture. Silly boy.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Lots of love, hugs and kisses from Greg, Landon and I.

Randomness

Lots of random things to blog about today. First thing. Showers. Last night Landon was running around saying he wanted to take a shower in mommy's shower. He said it a bunch of times and so we asked him. Want to go in mommy's shower? He told us yes, so I get in the shower with him. OH MY! He screamed bloody murder, I have never seen Landon so scared and frightened in my life! He was terrified. I had to finish washing him and I tried to talk him through it and say stuff like "it's raining on us!" I tried making him laugh and everything. NOTHING! I felt bad, and so did Greg. I guess Landon wont take a shower for a long long time! Is this normal for kids to be so scared of a shower? He's taken a shower before when we were traveling and he was younger...?

I got a text from Greg, the time the text was sent was at 6:52am. I was already at work, Greg should have been leaving for work. Anywho, my lunch today was at 1030. I checked my phone and saw I had a text. Greg texted me saying I had is car keys in my purse, I opened my purse and there they were, OOPS! Why did I have his car keys? We went to the mall last night after dinner (in my car) and he was going to leave his keys (which don't have a key to my car) in the car, I told him no and put them in my purse. I never thought twice about it. So I called him, 3 1/2 hours later laughing and apologizing. He just laughed too but said he was going to get me! Uh-oh. I'd better watch out. hehe

We are so excited, this weekend is our niece Ava's 5th birthday and they are having a party for her. Greg is off work Sunday so we will be driving to Dallas to go. We got the invitation in the mail today, Landon was SOOOO happy! He loved it. He told me "I want to go to Ava's party." Landon adores Ava. It will be nice to be around family again.

I've got 9.5 miles of running in this week. Some days I couldn't walk once I got home. But today I am feeling really good. Most days I have been averaging 2 miles, others 2.5. To finish off my week I would really like to do 3 miles. I think I can do it, I just need a good nights sleep. That's up to the lil man of the house.......

Sleepy

Boy oh boy am I tired and ready for bed. I have to get used to working the morning shift. I am also tired from our field trip today. It was a lot of fun, not stressful like I thought it would be. I had to drive the big 16 passenger van with 8 LOUD kids, they made me laugh though. Every bump and turn they'd giggle and throw their hands up.

I've been trying to blog daily, some days I feel like I don't have much to say, or nothing really has gone on, I am also not sure if anyone is reading. I know some of you are, especially Katie, thanks for all the comments!!!!! So if you are reading this leave me a comment or SOMETHING :) You don't have to have an account or anything.....

I am kinda bummed, I didn't make my 3mi mark running today like I wanted to. I stopped at 2.5 miles, I just had nothing left in me, I was TIRED! I am going to try tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed I can do it, well, I know I CAN do it, I just don't know if i'll be able to walk out of the gym!!! hahahaha

Let's go fly a kite

Or try to fly a kite I should say. In between hanging outside garage lights and basting our delicious brisket we got outside to fly a kite. Let's just say that Abilene is ALWAYS windy, so kite flying is pretty much an option for something to do. Greg picked up a cute little Elmo kite that you blow up. I guess the wind was a little crazy and TOO windy, we never fully got it up, but Landon thoroughly enjoyed it. He was even running down the street like we would tell him to do....so funny. He was mad when him and daddy came in, he got in trouble, I guess he wasn't listening to Daddy....uh oh.

In the morning before we started the brisket and kite flying we went to Target, MY FAVORITE PLACE, and Lowes. We found some new outside lights to hang that match our new entry way light. These are the before ones,

And these are the after ones. I wish they were a tad bigger, but they put off more light and I think they are a lot cuter!

After cooking our brisket for about 6 hours it was falling apart, it was soo tender and juicy. I made some potato salad and rolls to go with it. Greg and I couldn't move when we were done with dinner. That also meant I had to work harder at the gym today. I ran 2.5 miles. I haven't sweated so much in my life. I had more time today because I worked the morning shift. I am looking to run 3 miles tomorrow. I need to take my headphones though, helps pass time and keep my mind off of running.

Tomorrow morning we have a field trip to a little farm about 20 mins off base. We are going to visit, learn about and feed the animals, it is fun for the kids, stressful for us teachers, well I have fun, but it can be stressful. I just hope it doesn't rain tonight so we can go...

DIY

We had a GREAT Saturday today. Greg got home from work this morning and made some breakfast, then we were off for some shopping. We walked through Lowes, it kills me walking through that store, I want to buy everything and re-do EVERYTHING. Then we had lunch at Abuelos and after we walked through Hobby Lobby. Landon was a good sport, VERY talkative, repeating everything he said about 10 times and HYPER!

HUH? Did you say hyper? Landon stole my WW ice cream tonight. TURD! It was yummy, he has the messy face to prove it!

So when we were at Lowes we bought a new light for our outside entry way. The one we had is VERY basic and just not very attractive. We found one today that we REALLY liked, Here is the before....

The new one is cute, almost like a lantern with a bronze finish. Greg is a pro at hanging lights now, he's replaced so many of our light fixtures in our house! He's only got zapped once, boy was that scarey.

Ta-Da, our new light. It puts off a LOT of light now. I love it, tomorrow I am taking Greg back and we can get the pair to go on the outside of the garage! He just doesn't know it yet.

Landon keeps pointing at it and saying "daddy make a light." It was cute, Landon is so proud of anything anyone does. I love that little boy so much, even if he did drive me bonkers when we were out today AND when he takes my ice cream :)

Tomorrow we are making a brisket, going to start it nice and early in the morning and let it cook at a low temp all day. I can't wait to eat it.

Happy Spring!

Who doesn't love Spring? I know I LOVE Spring. It's one of my favorite seasons. There is nothing better than the fresh spring air, watching everything turn green, the flowers blooming and wearing flip flops and tank tops. I do have to admit, Spring time in Germany or Europe period was beautiful!

I guess since Spring time is here that means starting tomorrow we have to get out in the yard, pull some weeds and starting watering the grass!! I actually really enjoy yard work. Not mowing or weed wacking but planting flowers, watering the flowers and the grass. Sitting out back on our porch listening to the birds chirping. I will save the mowing and stuff for Greg. I did plenty of that when he was deployed. ha! I hope everyone had a wonderful week. I am so glad it is Friday. I love coming home on a Friday night, putting on my comfy pants and RELAXING, I love the feeling of not having to work tomorrow. Don't you just love that?

Got Sauce?

Which type of sauce do you prefer? Sweet & Zesty? Texas Pit? Devil's Spit? Rich & Sassy? Our favorite tonight was the Sweet and zesty, it pretty much explains it's self. It tasted great on my brisket! We ate at Famous Daves tonight. Have any of you guys been there? It's a chain BBQ place, pretty good food. It hasn't been in Abilene for very long. I had the chicken and brisket plate. It came with coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob and corn bread, Greg had the rib's and brisket and Landon had the mini corn dogs with fries and oreo cookies! It was pretty good, not the best BBQ I've had, but it hit the spot tonight.

Landon made us so proud tonight. He is turning in to such a big boy. He was very fun and laid back tonight. He sat and ate, then he played with his mini dogs and my corn on the cob. He was saying it was a "crab" (the corn dog). It was very funny to watch him play and talk. There is nothing I love more than watching him role play like that.

Landon and I started our day with a quick stop at Walmart, then we ended it tonight with a quick stop at Walmart! I wanted to walk through the mall or Target, BUT they don't carry milk or yogurt. ha! This morning I had to get a few things for work and then tonight we needed a few groceries. Have you ever tried any of the Weight Watchers Ice Creams? I got the fudge bar ones, they are very low calorie, low sugar and GOOD! That is my guilty pleasure at night. I need something sweet and that pretty much makes me happy!!! It doesn't help that I ate BBQ tonight. I feel like a pig, I guess tomorrow I have to run even longer, I don't know if my poor legs can handle it.......

Change of Plans?

Some of you may know that Greg and I were planning a road trip vacation to California in the beginning of May. I put in leave a few months back as did Greg. Well Greg left me a text today saying his leave was cancelled due to manning. There will be too many people deployed and so forth. GRR! He told me the month of June is open at the station, put in two weeks in June and to let him know which two weeks I have chosen. Sooooo without knowing if it is going to be approved or not I requested June 22-03 July. They "cant tell me" until two weeks prior. SOOO stupid. So looks like our plans are getting pushed back.

For our trip we were going to fly but the cost of plane tickets is outrageous, especially since we have to pay full price for a two year old who will most likely be sitting on our laps. ANYWAYS, we came up with a great idea to drive! We have lots of friends and family in Arizona and according to Mapquest it is about 9-10 hours away. That's a perfect day of driving, then stop for a few days and have some time in AZ. After that we would possibly stop in Havasu and then press on to Cali. We will stay there for a bit and visit with friends and family and then head back to Texas. Now that Landon is older and remembers things and gets excited about stuff we are really thinking it would be fun. I want to take him back to Disneyland, the beach and to visit with family. Last time we were in California, Landon was sick and he wasn't a happy camper. We will let everyone know for sure what is going on as soon as we find out. Keep your fingers crossed everything works out!!!!!!!

I guess since we have been planning this trip i've come to realize that I NEED to loose some more weight! I am sick of not being happy with the way I look and my body. I've been going to the gym on my lunch breaks like I've said in my past blogs. I have lost about 3-4 lbs since i've started back, my jeans and pants are DEFINETLY fitting different, they are nice and loose! I am starting to feel better about myself again! Today I went to the gym before work to see how that goes. It was nice, I actually ran TWO yes 2 miles!! WOOHOO, and it didn't take me that long, I did run WITHOUT stopping at all, just kept running and running! I was so proud of myself. In a few weeks we have shift changes at work and I am most likely going back to mornings, woohoo I am excited about that. I then can get off around 130pm and then head to the gym while Landon finishes his nap. Then I don't have to rush and be exhausted for the rest of my afternoon. SO excited!!!!!

I can't believe Easter is around the corner. Easter falls on Greg and I's anniversary this year. April 12! We will have been married for 6 years. Wow! I can't believe how quickly time passes, I also can't believe that this year we have been together for 11 years!!!! Most people say high school sweethearts don't last, but we are proof that they can last!!!!! I love you Greg!!!!!

Funny stories

Today was a Monday for sure but I work with preschoolers so there is always something for me to laugh at. Today was one of those days. One of the first things to make me chuckle is this one girl. She is 5, very smart, and she makes me laugh all the time. Anywho another child was getting picked up by a friend of the family named Hector. Well the funny girl was sitting on the computer playing a game when Hector walked in. She looked at him smiled and said, "Hey " Tractor, how are you?" and went back to playing her game. I busted out laughing because Hector started laughing, he turned kinda red, I just laughed and told the girl, "No his name is HECTOR!" She payed no attention to us which made me laugh even harder.

My second chuckle happened when we were coming inside from playing on the playground. It was very nice weather today, mid 80's nice and sunny. This little boy had really dry lips that were starting to peel, so when we got inside I asked him if he'd like to put some Vaseline on them to make them feel better. So we go over to the cabinet and his friend was following behind. I said, "Here is your Vaseline," to the little boy and handed him a Q-Tip with some on it. He began swabbing it around on his lips. The other boy comes closer and says "yeah, give him some gasoline for his lips, they are really craccky." I said "Gasoline?" He said, "Yes he needs GASOLINE for his lips, they are hurting him!" I just laughed. I told him, "No it's Vaseline not gasoline." The little boys BOTH laughed and went back to playing.

I am still chuckling as I write this. Kids really do say some funny things. I could go on and on about all the things kids say, but i'd hate to bore you all, I just wanted to share the few that made me laugh today, I needed it, Monday's are Monday's and today was definetly a MONDAY!

All About Landon

When are our days ever NOT all about Landon? Landon's been asking to get a hair cut for a few days, I think he knew he needed one. So this morning we went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids and got Landon's hair trimmed. He loves to go there, it is fun for him, he gets to play with the trains if there is a wait, suck on a lillipop when getting his hair cut, gets to watch a cartoon of his choice AND sit in the firetruck car! Not bad. He used to always cry, lately he enjoys it. We are very thrilled about that. After getting his hair cut we went to have lunch at TaMollys. It's a Mexican food place, the food is cheap, they give a Military discount on top of that and they are SUPER FAST which is always great when you have an impatient 2 year old. When we were done eating Landon very politetly asked, "feed giraffe's crackers please daddy?" I looked at Greg and smiled and then Landon said, "Go to ZOOO daddy please?" It was so cute. How can you say no to that? Today is actually the first sunny day we've had for the past 4 days. We definetly needed to get out and enjoy some much needed freash air. So of course we went....

Landon changing his monkeys "poopie."

This was taken while I was cleaning out the closet in our spare bedroom. He had so much fun.


Giving thumbs up after a great meal and a great haircut! My boys are sooooo cute, I love them.

The sun was shinning on my face.....

My little man so happy to be at the zoo, Landon kept saying how "happy" he was. He ran every where and knew exactly where everything was. (goes to show you how often we go to the Abilene Zoo.) Of course because it was all about Landon day we stopped at the gift shop and Landon got to pick something out. He picked out a Ring Tailed Lemur stuffed animal. HE LOVES IT! He won't put it down.

Landon sportin his new hair cut. He asked us a few times, "like Landon's haircut?" and he would rub his little head. So silly that boy. Right now I can hear him laughing, he has been running across the living room and Greg tosses pillows at him. He cracks up when one hits him and then he will throw it back at Greg, those boys. I guess the saying, "Boys will be boys" is true. Anywho, once we got home from the Zoo Landon passed out almost instantly. I got to go to WalMart by myself and get some groceries and some odds and ends. It was nice to get out and have some peace and quiet. It was kinda weird though. I'm not used to such a simple shopping trip.

We are on day 14 of undies. Still doing great, making some progress with the pooping. It will come with time I'm told. hmm...... I am also still going to the gym on my lunch hour. I've been running and enjoying it. If I don't go I feel like I'm cheating. I havent lost any weight but I have been toning up. My jeans aren't tight anymore and I FEEL GREAT!!!! I might actually get in a bathing suit this summer!!! yeah probably not, Have a great week everyone!!!!!!

Fun Day

It's still cold and rainy here in Abilene TX, but that doesn't stop me from getting out and getting some shopping in! Myself, Landon my friend Aften and her daughter Zoey went shopping today. Our first stop was Ross. Who doesn't love a good bargain at Ross? I got myself this really cute summer dress that is pink and black. VERY cute! (I hope I actually wear it) and I got a three piece set melamine mixing bowls for $8 and I bought Landon a book about Dinosaurs. The kiddos were really good, but they were ready to go and eat pretty quick.

Aften and I hadn't ever eaten at Jason's Deli, so we decided to go!

I don't know if many of you are familar with Jason's Deli, I wasn't, but I am glad we went. I got the salad bar, a cup of French Onion soup and bowl of fruit with fruit dip. Landon got a cheese pizza. My oh my! It was really good!!!! Aften and I were pleasantly surprised. It was hard to decide what to get, they had a bunch of different sandwiches, wraps, paninis etc. I WILL definetly go back. Next time I have to take Greg, I don't think he's been either.

Landon enjoying his soft serve Ice Cream at Jason's Deli.

He REFUSED to let me hold it AND eat it! Stinker!!!!!

After filling our bellies we stopped at Old Navy and Target. I had a 30% off coupon for Old Navy so we wanted to go see what they had. I just got myself a shirt and Landon some flipflops. When we got home Landon and I both passed out and took a nap, I was FINALLY able to take one of those good couch naps, I think I may have been drooling!! :)

Since Greg is at work today we are just relaxing now, I'm getting laundry done. What fun right? Landon is playing with his monkey and "changing his diaper!" It is cute. Landon's been sleeping good AND his pooed in the potty yesterday morning!!! Greg and I were sooooo stinkin excited. Landon was pretty happy too. But last night we went to a friends house for a BBQ and he pooed there in his undies, and once today while we were out and then again a little bit ago...hmm. I just don't know what to do about it!