Paw Paw and Granny's house

My dad lives in New Waverly, TX, along with my grandmother (Granny.)  New Waverly is a small town close to Huntsville, and is where I used to spend my summers growing up as a kid.  The house is on two acres of land, has a small pond, and is surrounded by lots of nature.  Even now my dad has his own water well, there's no trash service, the cell phone towers are too far to get good reception, and you can't get cable TV/internet on his land.  It's funny to think how primitive it still is considering the town is only an hour from Houston.  I had to use my imagination to keep myself entertained all of those summers that I spent there.  I drew lots of pictures, made mudpies in the dirt, rode my bike, swung on a swingset that my Dad built, and played with my granny's numerous dogs and cats. 

Now my kids love going to PawPaw and Granny's house.  They get to swing on the same swingset, make mudpies in the dirt, and play with Maggie, their little dog. 

Jack, Brian, and Maggie

My dad has taken up several hobbies over the years.  He is excellent at woodworking, can build practically anything, and is very meticulous.  Besides his favorite pasttimes, hunting and fishing, he has made intricately detailed model airplanes, built wood furniture, made bottles and bottles of wine, brewed his own beers, and built a smokehouse for smoking meats and making sausages.  One of his current hobbies is gardening.  He has turned a large portion of the backyard into a garden full of many fruits and veggies.

We visited him not too long ago and helped him plant some fruits and vegetables. 

Country Boy

PawPaw and Jack talking to each other



Arden and Brian planting seeds

My dad always send us home with homemade sausage, newly brewed beer, and lots and lots of produce!

Spring Break

We didn't have big plans for spring break, but that didn't keep us from staying busy.  It was a super gorgeous week.  No rain and the temperature was perfect.  If we weren't away from home, the kids were playing in the sandbox.

That sandbox has hands down been the best thing we have ever done for the kids.  They LOVE it and will play for hours.  All three of them.  This means freedom for me!  I was able to sit back and read a book in the backyard while they played.  Sure there's sand on my floors, in the bathtub, and in the washing machine.  I don't care, though.  It's nothing compared to the great time that they're having.  I think Halle has built a thousand tunnels and Arden has built a thousand and one castles.  Jack just eats the sand.  His poop now comes out gritty.  Seriously.

The first Saturday we went to Myleigh's Frosty the Snowman Party.

Arden dressed in toilet paper as Frosty

Myleigh has been begging Crystal for two years now to have a Frosty party.  Seeing that her birthday is in March, Crystal shot her down.  Crystal relented this year and Myleigh got her wish.  It was such a cute party! I forgot to pack diapers for Jack in his diaper bag, so poor kid had to wear Delaney's size 2 diapers!  (he's in a size 5)  They were Brazilian cut on him, ha!  We then all stayed the night as Crystal's house while I was on call.  I got called in around 10 pm so the party was over for me.  Brian and the kids stayed and hung out.  I didn't sleep at all that night, and went to retrieve my family from the Green's around 7 am.

On Sunday evening (after I slept all day)  Mike and Christy came over for a small birthday celebration for Jack.  Ryan, Christy's son, was in town and also came to visit.  He now lives in Georgia for work, so we don't get to see him very often.  It was nice to catch up with Ryan while we watched Jack open and play with his gifts.

 Halle was so cute on Monday.  She had mapped out an itenerary for the entire day:
9:00-12:00  arts and crafts - make puppets
12-12:15 puppet show
12:15-2:00 do something from Pinterest (I kid you not, that's what it said)
2:00-2:30 play outside
..... and so on...... She didn't exactly stick to the itenerary seeing how she rolled out of bed at noon, but she tried, lol.

After the puppet show we made an impromptu trip to the park with Crystal and the kids, so the schedule was soon forgotten.

Monday and Tuesday was filled with playing in the backyard and at the park with the Green kids.  Crystal and I also practiced making cake pops for Arden's party.  I usually do a trial run on my cakes a few weeks before the party to make sure it's not a total disaster.  I also do it because I enjoy making and baking.  Jessica also comes over and helps out with the cake decorating and we have a great time doing it.  My kitchen turns into one big powdered sugar/marshmallowy/chocolately mess.  And my family loves practice cakes...  because somebody has to eat it of course!

Wednesday Halle had her friend, Jenna, over.  We went to the park, had lunch, and then went to Chuck e Cheese.  The girls kept hitting the jackpots on the games, so they won lots and lots of tickets.

At Chuck e Cheese Jack kept sucking his toes.  Ewww!

Thursday was spent at the zoo with Jess and the kids.  Besides me getting lost on the way there, and Jess getting lost on the way back, it was pretty uneventful.  I swear they moved the zoo; it wasn't in that location the last time I visited ;) Trying to keep up with 5 kids was both fun and tiring.  This was Jack's first trip to the zoo, but he was too tired and still too young to enjoy it. 

On Friday we attempted to see a movie at the drive-in with the Greens.  The closest drive-in theatre is thirty minutes from our house.  We've been there several times and it has never been very busy.  With the perfect weather and spring break it was a different story, though.  We got there forty-five minutes before the movie started to get tickets and hopefully get a primo spot.  When we got there, though, the line was already a quarter-mile deep.  The cars were lined up down the shoulder of 2920.  After twenty minutes of inching forward we were able to see a sign that said the movie we wanted to watch was sold out.  With dejected and hungry kids (we had planned on eating at the drive-in) we made our way back home and came up with plan B.  We set up the tent in the backyard and let them watch a movie inside the tent on the laptop.  They had a blast doing that, and Gracie stayed the night.

Saturday the kids ran around in what Arden called "sprinkles"  Brian turned on the waterhose and let them play in the driveway.  They then constructed bows and arrow out of hula hoops pieces, stick, leaves, and thumbtacks.  They had a good time shooting the arrows.  Halle is a good shot; she may might be the next Katniss.



Sunday we went to a crawfish boil with our Sunday School group.  Halle perfected her crawfish peeling skills.  Our Sunday School teacher came up to me and told me that my daughter (Arden) had gotten into something and had white stuff all over her face.  She found someone else's sunscreen.  Needless to say she didn't get a sunburn that day.

Well that's all she wrote!  That sums up our Spring Break!

Jack's First Birthday- Puppy Party

I had fun planning this party. I got the idea to do a puppy-themed party a long time ago when Halle attended one as a three year old. I decided Jack's first birthday would be a great opportunity to plan one!   

Invitation

I was a GORGEOUS day for an outdoor party!  I was thrilled.  The weather was perfect!

My kid has become the most laid back little guy.  Every time I pick him up from childcare at church or the gym, the staff ooohs and ahhhs over how happy and good he is.  Not at his party though.  He was in a foul mood, lol!  But I didn't mind.  There were plenty of adults to pass him off to.  ;)

Our birthday gift to Jack was a sandbox.  Brian spent the entire day before the party building it.  It's 4 ft by 8 ft and is awesome!  He did a great job building it.  Arden and Halle both helped with the project and were super excited to have a sandbox.

I originally asked him to build a sandbox by the party-date so kids could dig for "bones".  Funny how I completely forgot about that part by the time the day rolled around.  Awww crap.  Reminds me that I also forgot to do the Barking Contest.  Oh well.  This sandbox was the highlight of the party.  At one point I think 17 kids were packed in there having a great time.   

For lunch we had Pup-peroni pizza and the kiddos ate out of doggy bowls :)

Other items on the menu were Toilet Bowl Punch, Pupcorn, Fetch Sticks, Puppy Chow, Ruffage, and Pupcakes!

We had a doggie "photo booth" set up.  Honestly I didn't think the kids would care to dress up and take pictures, but they stood in line and begged for their turn.  Colton (on the left) especially liked pretending to be a dog!

The boy doggies

Princess Puppies

The kids played some doggie games too.
"Feed the Pup" was the favorite game among the kids and even some of the adults.  The kids took turns throwing dog biscuits into the pup's mouth.

This next game didn't quite go as planned.  It was a relay race and there were two teams.  Each player was to go on all fours down to the end, fetch a newspaper with his/her mouth and return.  Except the preschoolers didn't understand that they were to wait their turn! Or go only once!

There were watercolor pictures to paint as well.  Mostly the girls enjoyed this.

Bingo is a dog, so we played his game.  Almost everyone bingo'd at the same time!  Worked out great so we only played one round.   

And Blue from Blue's Clues left some scavenger hunt clues for the kids which led to what he wanted to do at Jack's party.  Some of the kids (the ones not playing in the sandbox) followed Crystal around to search for the hidden clues.  The bigger kids helped the younger ones figure out the clues.  I asked Crystal to be animated like the show.  The older girls cracked me up because they felt awkward playing along.  Blue led them to the birthday cake!

CAKE TIME!!!

I probably could have personally licked all of the Oreos to remove every bit of white frosting, but I don't think the guests would have appreciated that.  

Jack was being a toot because he was cranky.  At first he didn't want the smash-cake and kept trying to push it off of his high chair (middle picture.)  That's before he realized it was cake, though!

He was in a much better mood once he had his cake.

Arden and Cole helped Jack open his presents.  He got lots of toys, clothes, and sippy cups!

For goodie bags, the kids got "doggie bags."  They got a bone cookie, dry dog food (Reese's cereal), and a dog food can filled with plastic toys.  

I always give my sister, Ruby, a hard time for showing up when the party is over.  This time she was only an hour and 15 minutes late!  That's improvement!  Here is my god son, Austin, to prove that they made it, ha!  I love that sweet face.

I personally think the party was a success.  I am usually stressed out during parties, but at this one I was relaxed.  I enjoyed it.  The kids had a great time, which is really all that matters.  I love planning parties for them and giving them memories.

This is two hours AFTER the party ended.  The kids are playing the Feed the Pup game again!

Life Lesson Learned

We have all heard,

"Don't ever leave valuables in your car."

"You can never be too careful."

"It can happen anywhere."

Well it did happen.  In our driveway.  On Saturday night.  Probably about 4 in the morning. 

Brian and I were out on Saturday night and didn't get home until close to 3 am, so it was sometime after that.  We didn't know until we sent Halle outside around noon the next day to get the trashcan.  (We were in Jack's room working on his floors and needed the large trashcan from outside.)  Halle ran inside in a panic to tell us that Brian's side truck window was shattered.  We run outside to check it out and sure enough there's glass everywhere.  His work laptop is also gone.  Stolen. 

Brian usually brings his computer inside the house when he gets home from work everyday.  This time for whatever reason, he didn't.  He forgot about it and it was sitting behind the driver seat in his very high truck on the floorboard.  The truck was pulled up close to our garage, not in the street.  Someone must have been walking up and down the street with a flashlight peeking into all of the car windows looking for something valuable to take. 

This saintly person used a screwdriver to pry between the doorframe and window, thus shattering the window.  This person not only busted the window, but did body damage to the door, making the repairs very costly.  Although that computer is highly important to Brian, we are thankful that the laptop was the only thing taken.  But also we are very angry because of all of the damage done to the truck.... just for a computer. 

When someone steals your personal belongings:  You feel violated.  You take it personal.  You feel unsafe.   You feel helpless.  Most of all, you feel pissed off.  You are pissed that people in this world are selfish, and you are pissed at yourself for not taking more precautions.  Then at the same time you are pissed that you have to take precautions in the first place.  Why can't people just be honest and respect one another? 

And seriously, bad guy, why can't you be more considerate when breaking into someone's vehicle?  You are already stealing something precious.  Can't you at least try to minimize the vandalism?"  Kidding, of course.  But really, come on!

Poor Halle, she was in tears.  She was scared because a "bad guy" had been so close by.  Arden kept saying over and over, "This place is not very good."  They were both shaken up.  Arden didn't want to sleep in her bed that night because she was scared of the bad guys.

Well we learned the hard way. "Don't ever leave valuables in your car.  You can never be too careful.  It can happen anywhere."

Pinstrosiversary - Icecream Cone Cupcakes Pinstrosity

It was my husband's birthday so I was excited to try out this pin.
http://pinterest.com/pin/71846556526042457/


I loathe making cupcakes.  I hate pouring the batter into each little liner, the liners folding over and making a mess, and having the batter drip on the cupcake pan between each pour.  Ughhh.  I'd much rather pour the batter into a big fat pan and be done with it.  I also hate peeling the liner off when eating the cupcake.  It's messier to me than just using a fork. 

But...... the idea of baking and eating the cake right out of an icecream cone really appealed to me.  What a great idea!!!!!

Except these are how mine turned out! 



Hahahaha!  I overpoured the batter, and the batter melted the sides of the cones.  You can also see that one of the cones turned over.  I should have put them in a cupcake pan so they would stay upright.  Since the cones are so tall (I used the jumbo cones) some of the cone-cakes weren't completely done.  Oh well, it was 6 pm on my husband's birthday so I just "made-do."

I cleaned them up the best I could and decorated them.

If I turned them just right you didn't notice the bad parts as much.  :)

Now for the taste test.  The cake-part was outstanding (after I baked them longer than I initially did.)  They were very easy to eat and my kids loved them.  The cone had a spongy texture though, rather than crunchy.  I did not care for it.  At least there was no cleanup, though.  No paper plate to throw away or cupcake liner to throw away.  The only clean up I did was my son's face!

 

It Keeps Going and Going and Going....

This is the saga of Halle's Science Fair project.  For her project Halle decided that she wanted to test three different battey brands to see which one was the most cost effective.  Halle learned a whole lot from doing this project.  These are the things that Brian and I learned from this project as well:

We are dumb.
Hmmmm, we are dumb.
Oh, and we are dumb.

Science is my thing.  I'm nerdy when it comes to science stuff, and I always aced my school projects.  I even have a degree in Biology/Chemistry.  But apparently that doesn't qualify me to help with a 5th grade science project.  Brian is a guy.  He's suppose to be naturally good at this stuff.  Nope.

Her teacher required her to submit a topic for her science fair two weeks before it was due for approval.  So that's only two weeks to do the project. We were busy the first week so she didn't get started until the week it was due.  Halle tells me that she needs to test three different batteries and do three separate trials.  She wants to see how long they last by hooking them up the old school way: connecting the batteries to light bulbs via wire.  She said that she did this at school in fourth grade with her Science teacher and that it was simple.  I believe her.

I took her list to the store:
3 brands of AAA batteries- 3 each
wire
9 light bulbs

After debating hard over which batteries to get in order to keep the cost down as low as possible, I decided on Rayovac Heavy Duty, Energizer Max, and the regular Duracell Coppertop.  I was also in the craft section and saw some jewerly beading wire which is what I grabbed because I did not want to go to the Man section (you know, the automotive, tools, confusing and foreign section of the store that I'm not familiar with) and try to find wire there.

I get home and Brian just looks at the wire and then at me like I'm an idiot.  The beading wire isn't really wire at all.  It's pretty much plastic.  But he tries to strip the plastic off to make it work. I'm proud of him for trying to be resourceful.  I'm not proud that he didn't know you can't stick any ole battery to any ole light bulb.  I didn't know this either, but I'm a girl so it's ok.  Even after YouTube-ing how to connect light bulbs to batteries he and she still couldn't get it to work.  She says, "Oh, maybe it's because we used 9 volt batteries in class."  I'm done with the project at this point.  I've aided my kid with her project and provided the emotional support (yes her science fair packet said that our job was to provide "emotional support."  What???)  and Brian is more than willing to help out because he's a control freak like that.  So I go off to do what I do best.  Take a nap.

I woke up to find that Halle and Brian got smart.  They said screw the lightbulbs (haha I seriously didn't see that pun coming) and wire.  They went to Home Depot and bought some small LED light devices that took AAA batteries.  They placed batteries in each light and planned on testing them by observing which light went out first.  Unlike flashlights, these fancy lights could stick to the project board thus making a good display item.  Ok.  This could work!  No more messing with finicky wires.  Each light took three AAA batteries, so he had to buy more batteries, too.  Now Halle only had five days to complete the project, but  Brian was positive that the lights would go out within a day.  Halle could then perform two more trials with plenty of time to spare.

So she turned on the lights and waited.  And waited.  She checked the lights every so often.  She went to bed.  The next morning Brian took the lights to work to monitor them since Halle had school.  He brought them home.  He was CERTAIN they would die that evening.  Waited.  We went to bed.  We woke up.  The lights were still on.  The Rayovacs started to dim, but were on nonetheless.  The Energizer and Duracell were still going strong.  He took them to work.  He came home.  Still on!  Just die, stupid batteries, die!!!

Day 3.  Duracell and Energizer going strong on the left, and the fading, yet resilient, Rayovac on the right

Halle is sweating because she knows she has to do repeated trials and she wasn't going to have enough time.  Why didn't we buy more lights and test them all at once, you ask?  Well because the lights were $6 each and that would be another $36 to the $60 we already spent on this "little" project.  For all we know anyway, the Energizer and Duracell could last for weeks.  She tells her teacher her dilemma and her teacher just tells her that she should have started sooner.  Sigh.

 So.... being the honest people we are we do what any good parents would do;  we decide to cheat.  Brian and I want to fake that the batteries died and lie to Halle about it so she can move on with her results and finish her project.  We even concoct a plan to make our cheating plausible.  Shhhhhh.  We don't want to tell Halle because we don't want her to know that we are cheaters and that cheating is ok.  Plus she's a high achiever and wouldn't ever go for that.  I'm thinking, it's just a stupid science fair project, right?

But of course my conscience takes over and I head to the store.... again.... to try to find a solution to Halle's problem.  Halle recommended we find an electric moving toy that drains the batteries down quickly.  That's a great idea, but I don't want to have to buy 9 expensive toys!

She is two days away from the project being due.  We walk into the Dollar Tree hoping to find some electronic cheap device that will drain down batteries quickly.  I'm praying as I'm walking through the store,  "Lord please help me find something cheap for this project since we are trying to be honest and give honest results and teach our daughter the right way to do things."  I turn the corner and I see...... ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSHES!  For a dollar each!  Woohoo!  They take AA rather than AAA, but at least they only take one battery each.  They surely will drain a battery quickly if continuously left on.  I purchase nine of them.  I then go to Walmart again and buy three different types of AA batteries.  We get home and immediately started jamming the batteries into the toothbrushes to get them going as soon as possible.  The first three toothbrushes wouldn't turn on!  Ugghhhhh, stupid dollar store cheap crap!  Thankfully after some more praying and banging them on the counter they turn on.  We now have nine dancing buzzing toothbrushes!

the nine dancing toothbrushes

Halle was able to complete the rest of her project in 1 1/2 days and turn it in on time!  She recorded her results and worked on her board the whole evening.  And it looked really good!  She was exhausted and didn't get to bed until midnight.

You're itching for the results aren't you?  Without further ado, the Duracell batteries (at $0.94 each) lasted the longest.  They went over thirteen hours.  The Energizer lasted 12 hours, and the Rayovacs (at $0.24 each) lasted only about four hours.  But when you look at the cost comparison the Rayovacs lasted the longest for the price.  It would be a pain in the butt to change out the Rayovacs three times as often as the Duracell, but still the Rayovacs were more cost effective, which was what she was testing.  So the solution is to buy Duracells when they are on sale!

This is the finished project board.  Those LED lights got their spotlight afterall (again no pun intended) by lighting up her display board.

Wire $2
Project Board $6
Lightbulbs $7
Toothbrushes $9
LED lights $18
Batteries $41
Ink for our printer $45
Doing something the right way and learning from your mistakes Priceless

If you are ever an overnight guest in our home and forget to pack your toothbrush, don't fret.  We have plenty!

I am so glad this is over.    

New Years Party

Brian and I had a small New Year's Eve party.  Actually we had two parties: one for the adults and one for the kids.  The Greens and The Collins joined us, and between us three couples our kids almost outnumber us 2:1.  That's right.  Six adults and 11 kids.  Halle was the hostess of the kid party and kept them entertained while we adults played our own games.  The kid activities were suppose to be done outdoors, but with the pouring rain they mostly stayed inside.  Arden and Myleigh didn't care it was raining, though.  They got soaked from swinging.  The kids weren't allowed at our party and we didn't interfere with theirs.  It worked beautifully.... except for them blowing the horns constantly!  

Poor Dalton looks like the culprit here, when in reality Arden was the biggest noise maker of them all!

KID party:

I blew up some balloons and tied them to a string.  Each balloon had a specific time on it.  The kids popped each balloon at the corresponding time because there was a piece of paper on the inside with an activity.  So every thirty minutes they had something new to do.  They played hide and seek, did a New Years themed scavenger hunt, made foil animals, wrapped each other in toilet paper, etc etc.  I made sure all of the games were easy and fun for the big and little kids.  

Jakob and Jackson playing a game on the make-shift ping pong table. 

not sure who Jackson is wrapping.  Halle maybe?

Nope, have no clue who this is either.  

Halle made a bow out of her foil

On to the adult party!  We had a great time.  Well I did at least!  We played cards, played a few games, and ate and ate and ate.  In addition to the chili cheese dogs, Chuy's dip, and drinks, we had a deep-frying party!  Being the end of the year and knowing that we were about to all commit to fitness goals, why not go out with a binge....  I mean, bang?

Look at that talent! Beating Brian and Nik at this pong game and being a dad at the same time ;)

We fried so much junk.  We fried Twix, Snickers, and Oreos.  We even made biscuilt-donuts and topped them with chocolate and glaze.  Mmmmmm!  I made a funnel cake batter that we used as the breading for our fried treats.  Then we made funnel cakes with the leftover batter.  Nik and Brian got good as swirling the batter in the oil for the funnel cakes; they may just need their own booth at the Rodeo this year.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was all so delicious!  I was a little disappointed with the fried Snickers, but the Oreos more than made up for it.    

Brian posing with the Oreos while poking holes into the "donuts"

enlarged to show detail

 Doesn't that look so greasy and bad for you????  Yes it was, but it tasted so good.  Alright I'll stop talking about it now because my mouth is starting to water.  Where's my celery sticks and hummus?  

While we ate like pigs we played the mustache game.  "Cheers!" when the mustache lined up with a person on TV. 

Jenny McCarthy mustache you a question.

My husband's a dork.  This was a lot funnier in the moment.  Not sure who Brian was impersonating here, but he had a British accent and was shaking his finger at everyone.

Right before midnight we prepared for our champagne toast.  These are the kids' glasses of "champagne"  It's sprite poured over cotton candy.  This would have been a lovely looking drink if the cotton candy was the right color.  We couldn't find PINK cotton candy at the store, so we ended up with something that looks like it came out of a sewer plant.

what it was suppose to look like, lol.  

Oh well the kids didn't know the difference

We all missed the New Year by a minute or two, so we did our own belated countdown.  Apparently the boys were very excited about this.

The kids then had fun with lots of sparklers.  

By adjusting the shutter speed and after many outtakes I was able to capture this on my camera !

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!