Another Post Marathon!

Seems that lately I've been posting all or nothing! I have all these posts in my head, but never enough time to sit and do them...okay, there's the time, but I start feeling guilty when I'm just sitting when there's SO much to be done (Paul David's party is coming up...quick!)

Anyway, here are some highlights of the last week. Once again, out of order, but they are there!

Just want to mention that you can double click on the collage pictures, and they will come up bigger on your screen. You may have to scroll down and right to see all of it, but at least you can see the pictures better!

Also, I just saw on my Blogger Dashboard that my Rake Post has gotten the most comments of all my posts...ever. That's just funny to me! Click on the words Rake Post above to read that post if you haven't already...then read the comments...they're funny!

TEXAS FIGHT!

Now that Baseball Season has ended, we're on to Football Season!

And Guess What...Paul David LOVES football, specifically Texas Football! We taught him to say "Texas Fight" this weekend during the game. This is his version of Hook'em Horns with his fingers...can't quite get those two fingers to stand up, but he tries!

I have been wanting to get him a foam finger at the UT games...I thought he'd like it...he loves to wear his glove and koozies as gloves. So, last week, I asked how much they were...$10.00 for a silly foam finger that's not even the right shade of burnt orange...no thanks.

Then, Monday night, I had to run to Kroger to get a few more things to finish dinner, and I found this hand/finger thing in the clearance bin...$2.15...I got 2! It's so much cuter and actually burnt orange!

CHARGE!

Or as Paul David says it, "ARGE!"

So sad to see the season end!
Here are the final numbers:
21-Baseball Games This Season (Spring Training, Astros, and Round Rock Express)
13-Astros Games This Season

Paul David's First Haircut!

That's right...poor thing's almost two, and he'd never had a haircut! You all know it was me...I was afraid to cut the curls. It was getting a little wild and crazy...even for me, so we tagged along with Paul on Saturday and got Paul David's cut, too! The same girl did Paul's and Paul David's. The curls turned out fine...they're even better I think!

BEFORE...right out of bed:

BEFORE...with a little spray to tame things a bit:

AFTER:

He did SO well! See the next post for the DURING!

The Haircut!

At first, he wasn't too sure of it, but after she started combing through it, he was fine.

Above: THE FIRST CUT!

Above: This is about halfway through. You can see how short the right side is compared to the left side! Look how soft his hair looks...so sweet!

All Done! What a handsome boy?! Thank goodness Lovey was there to help out!

Paul David and Mrs. Kari...gotta get that sucker! He was such a good boy for his first haircut!

Fun with Picasa!

I've been having a little too much fun with Picasa 3 today, so you'll see a lot of new posts! April had done a cool post of the kids with some mosaics, so I'm copying her!

The posts are completely out of order, but at least they're up!

Astros Game Wed.

This was the Wednesday night before we evacuated! I only took about 7 pictures that night, but four of them turned out so cute! I don't know which one I'll pick for his book! I love the smile he has on his face standing beside Paul. But the one with Junction Jack is really cute because that only happens about once a season! I had to go find him to get this picture!

We're going again tonight for probably our last game of the season...so sad!

Thank You, Susanna!

One of our cousins, Susanna, also evacuated last week from Houston. We got to see her and her parents last Sunday. She brought Paul David, Preston and Kendall all I Spy quilts that she had made. They are gorgeous and all about our kids. It is so cool because she's been reading our blogs, so all the blocks have pictures of things they like or we've taken a picture of them doing. For example, there's blocks of fabric with watermelon and pizza on them. If you remember from my slideshows of pictures of us at my parents, there was one when Paul David and Kendall were eating watermelon. Then last time I was in, we all went to Chuck E Cheese and I got pictures of them eating pizza!
Also, on Paul David's there's shoes, flip-flops, Astros, UT, tons of baseball and fish, Curiuos George, and so much more that is so Paul David! Each one also had their initials in it and a square with money on it! It's so funny because the other day I laid it out and Paul David pointed to the money and said, "Daddy!" HA!

On the other side of the quilt is a fleece piece with Nemo on it...how appropriate is that?

Anyway, it's just wonderful and Paul David LOVES his. We've been keeping it spread out on the floor, and he'll just sit and point to things and say their names!



Thank You So Much, Susanna!

Our Debris

Here's a look at our debris from Ike!

We were SOOOO very lucky! My father-in-law said that our house was the one he was most worried about because we have so many tall pine trees in our front yard! We so lucked out...NO DAMAGE! We just basically have the biggest pile of debris EVER!

UT Game-September 20

Paul David's First UT Game at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium

We escaped to Austin on Saturday and enjoyed a beautiful Texas night doing what Texans love...cheering on their favorite college football team! Paul David did SO well. It was really unbelievable! At first, he was a little overwhelmed and just sat in his seat. Then he asked for Lovey and all was well! He cheered and started mimicing the little boy behind us saying, "Go Texas!" He loved all the cheering and yelling! I just love that he loves to go do this stuff with us! He's so good while we're out that it just makes you want to take him to more and more things! It was just so much fun! Oh, yeah, and the Horns won...by a lot!

Paul David as Nemo!

I finally got the costume on Paul David! He wasn't too terribly fond of it, but towards the end I got a picture with a smile!

We're going to be trying it on several days a week in preparation for the big Costume Party and Halloween!

We're HOME!

We got power today at our house! Can you feel my excitement through the computer? I've been cleaning all night and enjoying the air conditioning, cable TV and lights! I just wanted to give a little update and hopefully tomorrow I can get a chance to download some pictures and post it!

We have a Plan!

Well, our little evacation group has a made a decision about the future! We're going to head south tomorrow morning to check things out and clean up our yard. We've got our fingers crossed that my in-laws will have power at some point this weekend. We're planning to stop in every town we see that has gas and fill up. We're also going to stop somewhere and load our cooler down with milk and other perishables that you can't get at the grocery store. I'm really kind of nervous for some reason!

We'll only have one night of it though because on Saturday morning we're going to head to Austin for the Rice/UT game. We already have reservations, so we feel like it would be like we're evacuating there for a night!

Sunday we'll be back from Austin and reassess the situation. Paul's staying because work is going to open back up on Monday, and his brother has power so he can stay there if he needs to. If there's still no power at my in-laws or our house (I'm really planning that our power will be off a really long time), Paul David and I are OUT OF THERE! I'm just a wimp! I just can't justify being there when I can be here with my parents and power and a sense of normalcy at the grocery stores and gas stations!

Hopefully it will all work out for us, and we'll be there next week! If not, I'll let you know Monday or Tuesday where we've landed!

We have Power...

At my Parent's House!!!! Yay! You should have seen all the "woo-hoo"ing that went on when we turned the corner and saw the porch lights on! It was a sight!

It's so nice to have the sound of the TV in the background and to go to the bathroom without having to find a flashlight first! Oh, the things we take for granted!

We've heard that there are electricity trucks in my in-laws neighborhood, so maybe we're getting close! Not too close though because we still want to take Krystal up on her invitation for dinner!

Thank you to everyone that reads this and has extended an invitation to us for a place to stay! We really appreciate it! We're coming up on a week here, and we all know company starts stinking after a week, so we may have to take you up on it!

We were talking about it today, and we've passed our longest evacuation stay yet! We were here 6 nights when we left for Rita. Tonight will be our 7th night!

Also, we don't have a plan for text messaging (I know we're so behind!), so if you've been texting me, I'm not ignoring you...I just don't text at this point! I'll try to call you soon, though!

Still Evacuating!!!

We're still at my parents! We're planning to stay as long as we have no electricity and the gas lines and grocery stores are crazy! Ironically, my parent's house has no electricity either...my grandparents do though and my parent's buisness does! It's really no that bad though because the weather is beautiful here...highs in the low 80's and it gets downright cold at night...53 last night!

We've heard from my Father-In-Law that our houses are fine. We have some major limbs in our yard, so Paul's already bought a chain saw up here in anticipation of the clean up! We came out pretty lucky down there and up here! I have to tell you all that stayed that I don't know how you did it! The winds up here were horrible...I can't even imagine what it was like there!

So far, Paul is off through tomorrow...but we're not coming back until there's power. Hopefully, things will get better soon, but I have to admit we're having a pretty good time up here!

Bok, Bok, Bok---Evacuation Day 1

Just call us a bunch of chickens, but we evacuated! We don't want to be there when there's NO POWER! It sounded more fun to come to my parents!

I got up yesterday morning with intentions of just going on about my day as usual. Then, Sarah called and asked if I was leaving! I started watching the news and began to pack. Our choices were to leave and go to my parents or go to City Hall to ride the storm. Either way, we had to pack so I just started throwing some things together. By 11:00, I had decided in my mind that we were leaving. Around 11:30, Paul got an e-mail from work saying they were closed Friday. He went and started packing, too. We were packed and gone by 2:15 with Sarah and Justin with us.

My stomach got so nervous as we got to Livingston...that's where we had traffic trouble with Rita. It was smooth sailing through there, but we sat in two lines in Lufkin and one in Nacogdoches. It took us a little over 3 hours to get to Nacogdoches which usually takes us 2 at the most. We ate at our favorite Mexican food restaurant there and got back on the road! No more traffic woes, so we were very, very fortunate this time around for the long, fast moving lines we sat in! We got to my parents around 8:30!

We're not sure how long we'll be here since Ike seems to be coming right into Galveston! They're expecting millions of homes without power! I guarantee you we'll be one of them!

It looks like it's going to hit here, too! Hopefully, it won't be as bad! I hope everyone back home is safe!

Works For Me Wednesday!

One of the blogs I read has Works for Me Wednesday, and I thought today would be an appropriate day to use the title!



I've been wanting to write this post for months now, but always seem to find something better to say! Today, I've finally got nothing to post so here goes!



Sometime this summer, I decided I was tired of picking up tiny little toys! It was taking me about 10 trips across our kitchen, living room, and dining room to get everything to the area around the storage bins. One day, I said to myself, "I need something to sweep all this stuff over to this one area!"...A RAKE!



I bought one, and it has been the best $3.96 investment I've made in house cleaning yet! I just start in the kitchen and "Rake" all the toys to the living room. Then I start in the dining room and rake them all to the living room. Finally, I start raking the living room and get all the toys in front of the storage bins, and start sorting! It saves my back so much grief! It really works for me!



Now, you may be saying, "Candice, you have an almost 2 year old...you really should be teaching him to put things away." Well, I've tried! I tried to make a game of it, but he just thought it was funner to pull everything out of the bins. I just don't think he's quite mature enough to grasp the whole clean up thing. He likes to see all his toys laid out on the floor instead of hidden in bins. Plus, I worked with 5 year olds that still had no idea how to pick up effectively...he's got a couple of years to learn! Honestly, if it weren't for vacuuming, I'd probably just leave it a mess, too!



So that's what works for me!

Paul David's First Day of Mom's Day Out!

****UPDATE at bottom of post!****

Today was his first day! I knew I wouldn't get any pictures when I dropped him off, so I got him ready early and went outside and took some! I wanted him to look super handsome on his first day...he wanted this shirt OFF! He kept pulling and tugging on it! Finally, once we got outside it was okay. I made a deal with him that he could pick them out the rest of the year if I could have this day and picture day! I'm not sure he got it, but that's the deal!

"So, you want a good picture of me? We'll see about that!"

"You're sending me where?"

"Okay, this is as good as it gets!"

"I wonder what I'll learn today!"

So the drop off was quick, and LOUD! Yes, he screamed like he was getting shots! Poor thing...I just have to remember that it was probably for a short time...it's 12:25, and they haven't called me yet! He's going to have SO much fun! They're going to sing and dance, read stories, play, GO OUTSIDE, eat Pizza, and sleep on the floor! How could you not love that?

His school is at the same church that Paul's mom, Sarah, worked at for 20 years when Paul was only 2! Paul and Paul David are going to the same Mom's Day Out school! I think it makes it all the more special! Sarah also had Paul David's teacher's kids back in the day...they're Paul's age now! Sarah worked with both of his teachers and says that they are wonderful! I know Paul David will be loved on so much there! So special!

I'll let you know later how it went! I can't wait to see myself!

****UPDATE****

It went surprisingly well! His paper said that he had a good day. None of the tears that we were expecting. He asked for Mommy a couple of times, but was easily distracted! He ate most of his lunch and had a blast playing outside! When I got there, he was in Mrs. Anne's lap, and when he saw me, he got down. He didn't run into my arms, though, he started going to all the toys like he was showing me everything he played with! They said he'd slept for an hour...on a blanket...on the floor! I still can't believe that!

He asked me for juice when I got there. I wish I'd brought him something for the ride home...next week I'll remember!

He'd been really good this afternoon. He's already changed his clothes, though! He went straight to the dryer where he knows his clothes are...yeah, they've been there a couple of days! Anyway, he wanted his shirt off and now he's wearing a dumptruck shirt, his Astros romper, and now he's added his baseball flag shirt! The layered look is back, right? Sarah had told me to expect him to be cranky, and I he started to fall apart on me around 4:30!! He's down now for maybe another nap! I know it's got to be a really hard and long day for a little guy!

Happy Friday!

Paul David has not only been driving me nuts with the shoe thing, but he's also decided to continually change clothes or add clothing to his already clad self all day! He really cracks me up, this little guy!

Here we have his UT t-shirt with a muscle shirt over it, his fish swimsuit that he insisted was better than his khaki shorts, and some shoes that I got for like $2 that are way too big for him. This is what he clomped around in all day yesterday!

This top picture was just too cute, like he's modeling or something...since I was taking pictures of his Punky Brewster outfit, it was fitting!

So the only way to get it all off was to take a bath! I know he'd end up sleeping in it because I'm not very good at standing firm on clothing issues. Clothing is not the battle I'm fighting right now!

He played in the bathtub until the water turned so cold that his lips started turning blue! I love it because I get my bathroom cleaned during his bath time! Multitasking is great!

I just had to add this one because of his adorable little curls...aren't they just the sweetest things! It's amazing how much hair this child has compared to when he was one...which was only a year ago!

On a side note: Paul David starts Mom's Day Out on Monday. We met his teachers, and they are wonderful. I'll tell you more about that on Monday! I will tell you that I don't think I'll be getting any of those cute kid with the teacher or even playing in the room on the first day. I just have a feeling the picture I get is going to have him crying with his mouth open really wide saying, "Mommy!"


On a second side note: Do you guys remember my post about the Neti Pot, well I was blog surfing and saw this one this morning at Rocks in My Dryer...I laughed so hard.

I have never...

This little guy is so weird. You all know he's always had this thing with shoes. From the time he crawled, he's LOVED shoes. Then it was chewing on shoes. Then it became an obsession with his shoes. He has always had a favorite pair and been very vocal about which ones he likes and does not like...we all remember the fake crocs which ended in an ER visit and 4 weeks in a cast!

Anyway, now all waking minutes are in a pair of shoes.

If that's not crazy enough, now I have to have on my shoes. He just spent 10 minutes standing by my bedroom door saying, "Mommy's Shoes!" I kept saying that I don't need my shoes. He would cry and say, "Mommy's shoes!" I finally opened the door, he went in and got my shoes. I put them on, and he's been the happiest child ever since.

What? I have never heard of a kid that is this obsessed. Please tell me this is somewhat normal...or at least lie to me and tell me it will all be okay!

A New Season!

Yes, it's still Summer around here outside, but a new season is upon us...Football Season! Now I will admit that I wasn't much of a college football fan before Paul. A football fan I was, but mostly the Cowboys, then the Texans when they were born. Paul's second year of graduate school, he got me Longhorn Season tickets so I could come to the games with him. Well, after the first one I was "hooked." They are so much fun and so beyond exciting! This year, the Longhorns were opening up like 10,000 new seats, so we decided to take this opportunity to get season tickets! Yay!

Even Paul David's ready for the games!

The season officially began Thursday night. I went to a Southern Living Party and left the boys watching college football. The next day, Paul David kept bringing me his Cooper stuffed animal (it's a baby Bevo that's from the UT Co-op). Cooper has a football jersey on, and Paul David kept saying, "CootCaw" (which means Football in English) and pointing to Cooper's Jersey. After about an hour of this, I finally said, "You know, you have a football jersey!" So I went to his closet and got out his Colt McCoy jersey that Paul had gotten him a while back. You would have thought it was Christmas around here! His face lit up, and he smiled for 30 minutes. He'd walk around pointing to his jersey saying, "CootCaw!" So when I called to tell Paul about it, he said that he'd been doing that the night before when they were watching football, but he didn't think to go get the jersey. How in the world he knew that was a jersey on Cooper, and that it meant football just from seeing football on that one night amazes me. He knows what equipment and uniform goes with which sport! He is ATE UP with football, baseball and basketball...I think we have a sports nut on our hands...which is fine by us! It should keep him busy!

So our first Longhorn game was Saturday! We took Paul's dad with us because it's August in Texas, and I really didn't think having 25 pounds of HEAT on me during an already HOT game would be fun at all. Plus, we wanted to check things out...like the parking, the walk, etc. We have three other games that Paul David will be getting to go to! Here we are in our seats!

"HOOK EM HORNS!"

We had a great time! The Longhorns won and played really well. Always makes for a long season when your team comes out and stinks the first game! We're looking forward to the rest of the season!

More Longhorn Pictures

One of our favorite things about going to games is taking pictures with our Canon Camera. We got this camera in December 2005, and boy have we ever gotten our money worth out of it! Paul had the telephoto lens from his Canon 35 mm that fits, so he gets the most amazing pictures when we're at sporting events. If we'd been closer or it had been earlier in the day, they probably would be a lot better. I think he got some great shots considering the elements though! I can't wait for him to be able to capture Paul David in action when he starts to play! Here's a little sampling of the pictures he took this week!

This last picture I took. When the Longhorns win, they light the tower in orange. This is the fountain not too far from the stadium that we always take Paul David's picture in front of...it's the one you see during the movie Road Trip.