hellooo spring, facebook & god bless preschool

the kiddos were on spring break last week so i had them all to myself. and as much as i love their sweet-dirty-snotty-attitudinal faces, it sure is nice when they go to school :) we had a good week, although what exactly we did escapes me at the moment. oh yeah, livestock show, library, park, oh heck i don't know. all i know is spring is here and the trees are getting their leaves and the annuals are being planted. i love the colors of early spring. it almost inspires me to get out into the yard, almost. we whipped out the baby pool last week and even though the water was a little chilly the boys really enjoyed splish-splashing away. i was very glad to be able to clean my casa today, we were going on 2 weeks - isn't that against some health code in regards to my young kids? i know it definitley makes my ocd skin crawl. but when is the last time you tried to mop a floor with a 4 and a 1 year old at home? or clean a toilet? its impossible i tell you. so the house was clean for, oh all of five minutes until they got home & well, at least the bathroom doesn't smell like pee, yet...


so facebook, friend or fo? its kind of crazy the people that i have connected with (mostly for a brief message back and forth, and i'm sure i will not "talk" to again) regardless its been interesting and fun. pretty cool the revelation that has come with this that i don't have to hide from anyone. now this may seem strange to some of you but i was not always this fabulous, loving woman i am now, haha. in my "former life" i was a selfish, raging, crazy you-know-what. just knowing that i am not that girl today is AWESOME!
i have had two very good experiences in the last week as a result of fb. on sunday i went to my old bff's sons 1st bday party. we have known each other since kindergarden, have lost touch, reconnected, lost touch, etc. we were the friends that would leave school and go home and talk on the phone until dinner time. she was a rock for me, when things were, well, rocky at my house. we have yet to sit down for lunch but hopefully will be able to do that soon. it was wonderful to see her doing well & happy with a little man of her own.
the other was as a result of an email i was sent from, as my mentor phrased it, "the boy". this was the guy i dated my senior year in highschool, and talk about 17 year old love (swoon!) and the following angst i experienced when he finally got tired of my crazy a$$. (yeah the one and only time i have been arrested involved him & some really bad behavior-of mine, and i am being vague here b/c i think i have some family members that read this that i'd rather not share that part of my story with) anyway i had an oppurtunity to have a long overdue convo with him where i got to own my stuff, make amends, ask forgiveness. good stuff.


so i am grateful today. happy. content. i have been really working on being conected lately, and its working. i think i have finally leveled out hormonally after weaning stephen. praise god!

howdy partners

we went to the livestock show today and had a great time. we got to see a baby calf that we just missed being born by 2 minutes and a mamma cow that was about to deliver. my favorite were the baby chicks trying to peck out of their eggs to be born. mason went on the pony ride and a couple of the carnival rides with his friend caedan. a beautiful day today!

home again

well i had a wonderful time on the retreat this weekend. it was SO awesome to get some time away to recharge & spend time with 29 other women, most of whom i did not know. it was a very powerful, rejuvenating MUCH NEEDED weekend.
the boys seemed to do pretty well while i was gone. apparently there were some difficulties at night, like stephen took a long time to fall asleep and mason woke up & stayed up for a couple of hours both nights. i guess when you're used to having mommy around all the time its unsettling when she's gone for a couple of days.
so i'm home, and grateful. i missed my boys, quite a bit actually.

adios amigos

i am going on a womens retreat tomorrow for the weekend to camp allen in navasota. i am sooo excited and looking forward to GETTING AWAY for a couple of days. so be thinking of mike this weekend as he goes solo with the boys :)
this will be the first time since mason was born that i've gone away for the weekend, well at all for that matter. and though i will miss my kids, well maybe not so much...... no i will, its good for me to steal away every so often. i think one weeekend a year from here on out is perefectly reasonable!
so i have waited to mention this b/c my mom was out of town & just found out but I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT!!! my sister becky is pregnant and due in early october. i am so super excited for her and Momi. i only wish we lived closer to one another so i could share this experience with her and be able to watch my niece/nephew grow up. so now thats 6 pregnancies people. SIX!!! whats the deal? congratulations to all of my preggo friends, you are all beautiful ladies and i love each of you.
i'll let yall know how my weekend is.

first haircut......sniff sniff

i took stephen to get his first haircut today. he was a freaking ROCKSTAR! i will so miss the wild & crazy 'do that he's been sporting for the past few months. my little baby is growing up. he's even been on a daddy kick lately and for the first time did not cry when i dropped him off at school yesterday. time really moves so fast (even when it feels like "its never going to end" when they go through a difficult stage) but really they are only little for such a short period. sigh.

she lives!

its been a couple, or i guess a few weeks since i've written on here. i think thats because they've been very..... challenging, difficult (dare i say terrible?) no not terrible, just quite uncomfortable and unpleasant. mason has been having a very hard time. i cannot explain it, although i have my theories. my little man has been very emotional, impatient, angry. the power struggle in my house has been exhausting. i have fallen short in my consistency and patience. there has been a lot of screaming from both of us, a lot of time outs and many many apologies. i had another revelation a couple of days ago. the word that came to me:aceptance. not the first time that god has flung this word at me (or beaten me over the head with it) in regards to our beautiful son. so i am trudging trying to use the tools that i've been blessed with. ack. i live to try again another day. all of this has taken place at home. at school he is doing well. i get nothing but praises and encouraging words from masons teacher. that he is so mature and respectful at school. he is moving forward and he is doing more pre-reading work and being given more challenging excersices. he has gone through a growth spurt, the clothes that fit a month ago are quite suddenly not fitting as they did before. so he continues growing in many ways, so maybe that accounts for the craziness. growing pains? i know i get a little nutty during times of growth, so why not he?

stephen has really begun to walk in that oh so cute frankenstein toddler way. arms out, trying to find the balance that will keep him from falling on his bottom. i love this age.

there are many babies growing in the bellies of my loved ones bellies. six total, i am so excited to watch my lovely mommy friends grow. some with their firsts, some with their thirds. its an exciting time (don't drink the water or breathe the air, it appears to be contageous!)

freedom house is doing well and we are embarking on phase two, which is the upstairs. it is going to be a step up from downstairs offering one bedroom apartments to those with 6 months or more of sobriety. so although we move forward and feel without a doubt that we are doing what we are supposed to, the money fear visits me. there is a lot to be done before we can open the top floor up, and that takes mulah. it is ok, it will work out. just a little intimidating. we are going into our fourth month of operation and up to this point we have been succesful. i am still amazed that this thing is happening.