Birthdays, kids, and houses

So I turned 32 the other day. I didn't know it though. I never can remember how old I am. I usually ask my brother in law, because his birthday is 5 months before mine-he's the older one! lol He told me he was 33, so that meant I was 33. REALLY?! aw crap. He totally had me going. I thought I missed a whole year!! The funny thing-I used to get so mad at my grandma cause she did the same thing. She never knew how old she was. She always asked me. Of course, being on the receiving end of great gifts-why would you know how old you are?! But that doesn't happen anymore, so I don't give a crud about birthdays anymore. :-) But my sister and the kids called and sang to me-that was cute. I did buy a house gift with some money I got from my dad and my mother in law. I will totally post pictures of it when I get it set up in the new house!!

Speaking of that-we're hoping to know soon!! Kevin goes out of town Sunday, so we are doing a power of attorney paperwork in case we do get to close while hes out of town. Just so I can get in-and get out of the in laws house!! lol They already have the sold sign in the yard-and we don't own it yet. That was exciting. I met one of the neighbors and I may be babysitting her 5 yr old after school, which is good. I planned on watching a few afterschoolers or one child all day-so I am guessing it will be after schoolers!

Austin has played his first football game last week and they won. Well, he didn't play-he didn't have a helmet. Apparently he took after me and got my big ol head! I had to go to the local high school and get one of their helmets to fit him. tomorrow is another game, he might play. I hope so. I hate sitting in those stands just scanning the field for him and then nothing. It reminded me of my high school days though. I remember dating one football player and I always looked for him while I was up in the stands. I was always so proud that MY boyfriend was on the football field!! But now, my heart just swells thinking of MY son out there! if only they would get him out there!! lol

I am tired of the computer-I will try to upload photos this week-I swear!

I need to mention some sad news that affects a friend

In all my house joy, one of my friends and his wife are going thru a very tough time. I found out Friday night that his brother in law (her brother) committed suicide. It has been a very tough time for both of them. He had to plan a funeral, tell his 3 yr old about death, he lost his brother in law and she lost her brother. In such a tragic way.

Like I have said in the past-suicide should never be an option. There is ALWAYS someone who cares. Just reach out. It's hard, but it is NOTHING compared to the pain you will leave behind. And though you may not be suffering the hurt anymore, you leave guilt and pain and the question-why? It never goes away.

So please think about them while you are arguing with your siblings. Be thankful for the opportunity to be able to have that argument.

I am just jumping for joy lately!!!

I just can't stand it!!! I just want to jump on the highest skyscraper and scream all my good news here lately.

We sold out house. 8 long months and it finally happened.

2 days later we got our electricity back.

That same day our offer was put in, while the original offer was not accepted, they came close with the counter-plus we got blinds (it's a brand new house, so we need those), closing costs and a new fridge! (I wanted a second fridge so bad)

My dad's in town helping to restore power-while i haven't gotten to actually hang out with him, he is here and that counts. (he lives in central Mississippi for those that don't know)

And with in 14 hours 2 people that I care deeply for contacted me to let me know they are pregnant!!! But what makes that even more special-they both suffered miscarriages recently. While all of my news is wonderful-I would give it all back, just to have that last bit of great news!!!! (I can't say names yet, because they may not want everyone to know-so that will come later)

On another note-today I went out and in my quest to be a little more "green" bought FANCY napkins!!! No paper towels for us-we get cloth!! lol I was never a paper napkin person, but paper towels were used a lot. (as opposed to some family members that buy paper towels AND the folder paper napkins) With my family of 5-that's a lot of paper towels. Bed, Bath and Beyond had a lot on clearance so I snatched em up. I also bought some of that Holy Cow cleaning stuff. We'll see how I like that. I ran out of coupons, but I am going back to get the microfiber cloths and the dryer balls. Heck, I'm even gonna try hanging my clothes out to dry!! (that may not go over with me, but I WILL try!)

One thing I haven't been able to give up is air freshners. Does anyone know of any "green" air freshners? I HATE...DESPISE....DETEST.....CAN'T STAND incense, so no go there. If you know any green hints-give em to me!! But don't talk about showering every other day-uh huh. no way! :-)

The end is almost near.....

Electricity has been restored!! woohoo!! Last night I slept in my own bed again. It was ooooh so nice! Sam and Gabe both slept late-though it did me absolutely no good, since I still had to get up early. Had to get up and head of to sis in laws and clean out our bathroom and do general cleaning-ya know as a good guest should do. And I was supposed to watch Desperate Housewives and Bros & Sis's, that she recorded for me-but I FORGOT!! OMG!! So I don't know what I'm going to do. Is it really worth $3.50 a gallon to drive 30 miles one way......uhmmmmmm. YEAH!!

But, I have to be an adult about this-because we just signed a contract on a NEW HOUSE!!! I am so excited I can't stand it. It's been 8 months...8 LOOOOOOONG MONTHS that we have been here in my mother in laws house. I don't know what it feels like to have real privacy. To be able to come out in the living room and hang out with my kids with no input or someone else correcting my kids constantly. (or telling me my clothes are done in the dryer/washer-that really drives me batty!! lol)

We looked at some GORGEOUS homes-I really wanted an older home from the 80's. I think they are so much more character than new homes. But our last home needed repairs and Kevin is such a handyman (and a bit anal retintive) they were all fixed ASAP-even if the money wasn't there. So...new home it is. We had one lined up, but we knew they wouldn't except our offer (I was not sensitive to their feelings, cause they are corporate, so I didn't give a flip!) I asked for $55K off AND some more in concessions!! lol We found out today they didn't except, and their counter offer was reasonable, but still more than we wanted to pay. Plus I really didn't like the house. (I didn't hate it, it was nice, but it wasn't what I wanted)

So we looked. After all the older homes, we drove out to another neighborhood and we found one we both agreed on. The kitchen is GINORMOUS!!!!!!!! I mean, really I'm going to have to learn how to cook!!! :-) (well, cook better) I have an island!!! And my master bedroom is upstairs with the kids-which is what I want, unfortunately, I am in the minority on that point, so builders don't build like that anymore. My living room overlooks the backyard, as does my breakfast nook and my kitchen! My wash room is upstairs next to the kids rooms. And it's neutral brick with white trim and black shutters!!! Exactly what I was going to do to the other house!!!!!!

We are still going thru all the loan crap-but we've already been preapproved (pulled our credit), now they are just verifying. I am hoping our rate is good-I am so scared with everything going on.

OH and yes, this means we did sell our house finally!! It is GONE!!!!! We closed Thursday, it funded on Friday (the day Washington Mutual went down-agh!) We freaked when we heard that. BUt all was good.

We probably won't move in until closer to the end of October, because Kevin goes out of town for 2 weeks. Damn ol job! (but it's paying for my nice new house, so I will deal)

Off to search my decorating mags-I am so amped up for this new house!

We survived!!! (and today is my 5th anniversary)

Sorry to not update (not that anyone is reading this besides Jenn!)  I am limited on computer access.  We have no power, so we are currently staying in the Richmond/Rosenburg area with Kevin's older brother and his family.  (my mother in law and father in law are at the younger brothers house in Katy).  Luckily their house suffered no damage, so all is good.  But we don't know when we are getting power.  We have heard this week, but we have also heard middle of October.  So no telling.  But the neighbors across the main street (thru the neighborhood) have power!! LOL  oh well.  

And yes, today is our 5 year anniversary. Feels more like 50 years in hell!!! :-D  hahahaha  He forgot until almost lunch time.  Then he calls me asking why I didn't say Happy Anniversary this morning.  Yeah, like I am the one that forgets stuff!  He tried really hard to play that one off, but he got busted.  I don't care though.  It's cool.  

Thursday we are making the trip up to Grand Prairie one last time and we are finally selling our house!! woohoo!!!  I am so sad to see that chapter end....I love my house and it was the first time I ever felt like it was MINE.  But it's his career that I support and it brought us here.  Which I am grateful to be back with all our family, but it's so sad to leave.  I feel like that's all I have ever done is move and leave.  I have no real roots.  The same with Austin.  But hopefully Sammy and Gabe will have the roots and what roots Austin gets now will ground him in high school and college and when he eventually has a family.   (which hopefully I have at least 10 years before that happens!)

so yes, we are ok, but I just don't get on the computer much here.  Till I post again......

Some people are just nice

I was really upset when I posted my previous post. really upset. So I took a break and got out of the house to go find bread. Find bread you ask? Yeah-I went to 6 stores!! lol I did finally find it (at the most expensive store in town) and it was wheat (which none of this family eats, except me). But we needed more bread.

The manager laughed at me when I almost knocked him down to get it. Then I got in in behind this woman and she saw I had bread and she was shocked! So I told her about it, held her place in line and when she came back, she let me go ahead of her! (she had a whole basket and I had 4 items) Then the lady in the line next to us let another guy who only had bread, ahead of her!!

then we all complained about HEB, because they actually had a line to get in the store! It was horrible. I will gladly pay $1.00 more for this store's bread than fight the crowd at HEB. (though I do normally love HEB).

Ok...hope everyone does ok starting tomorrow.

Ike is coming!!!

Can I say I hate hurricanes?! Really, I do. Though I am better at handling them than tornadoes. (at least we knew Ike was coming!) So we are all home now (well, at my inlaws) and everything is put up in the garage....and now the fun begins. do you know how much fun it is to have 4 adults and 3 kids with 2 dogs inside a house for probably the whole weekend? yeah...that.

I'm already ready to bite heads off, because people are stupid and just want to be mean. But I have to be the bigger person. Don't understand it, but whatever. If I say anything, then i'm the bad guy, so I'll just leave well enough alone and just be pissed off.

So.......for those of you that don't know where we are...we are in SW Houston. If you hear them talking about Sugarland, Richmond, Rosenburg, Stafford-that's close to us. (for non Houstonians, it's easier to listen to the other cities around us, then to look for us in Houston). We will be impacted by Ike, depending on how strong it stays as it comes ashore. But we will not have a storm surge. We are a good hour, hour and a half away from the shore-thank God.

I will get back on and let ya know how we faired when I can. Hopefully we won't lose power. Oh Lord help me if we do.

Parents are not supposed to bury their children-it's just not right

My kids are fine...please don't worry!

But there is a story that I read about back when I was pregnant. It was awful. A couple in California was driving down the freeway and a semi truck came up too fast on their mini van and crumpled the back end of the van. Where their 3 children were. Kyle, Emma and Katie were killed that day. I remember being so thankful that my 2 boys were home safe with me, and thanking God that I was having a pretty healthy pregnancy of my 3rd little boy. Then I felt guilty that I was thankful for my kids. Of course, I couldn't help it. Then I cried. 3 little innocent kids were gone. Parents that absolutely cherished these children were left heart broken and alone. All I could think of was-how do you go on? How can you find it in your heart to love again-knowing what could happen?

I'm so glad these beautiful people did go on. Because now there are 3 more in their family! They welcome Ashely, Ellie, and Jake into the world back on April 30 of this year. Can you imagine? I go back and forth on my faith and what I believe and what not. But this story...wow. I mean, you lose a little boy and 2 little girls in one big swoop and then to get 1 little boy and 2 little girls all at once? Really? How can you NOT believe that's the kids watching out for their mom and dad? (and grandparents too!) Not that one set of children replaces the others...there is no way that will ever happen. But now there are 3 more people in this world to remember Kyle, Emma and Katie. To help pass on their legacy.

And because of their loss, the family has been involved in fixing the truck safety on the highways. HOw can they NOT help? Who would doubt what they say as they show pictures and videos of those beautiful happy children?

I think about them all the time, which is weird, since I don't know them. But those children....they just speak to you. You watch their videos and you look at their pictures and then you know they are gone. But they aren't. You know? Their parents want to make sure no one forgets them...and I have to say I don't think I will ever forget this family. Which means that this is one more person that will keep their legacy going. I hug my boys a little tighter because of them. I watch cars around me constantly because of them. I drive slower than I used to...because of them.

Here's their story if you would like to see these beautiful kids.
http://www.laderatimes.com/Coble_Diary.html

My oldest baby is a QB!!!!

But he wants to quit already...after 2 days of practice! ugh

Y'all know, I love me some football! And I have tried to get Austin to play football forever. This year my dream finally came true-he was signing up for football. We paid the money for the school insurance (in addition to ours), paid for the physical, went to an athletics meeting and waited for practice to start.

Monday no school because of Labor Day. So Tuesday and Wednesday he had practice. We teased about him dying after practice, but he seemed to be handling it pretty well. Then Thursday he "forgot" his gym clothes (their practice uniforms were being assigned on Friday), so no practice-according to him, per his coach. Today we get a phone call there is no practice. I KNEW that wasn't true. So I called the school, talked to the volleyball coach (the only coach in the office at the time) and then I marched my butt out on to the field and talked to the HEAD coach!! lol Yes, there was practice, and he may be late, but he was getting out there! I was not shelling out the money I had for him to quit!

I mean he is the QUARTERBACK!!!! I would understand if I really pushed him into it, but I gave up a long time ago. It's actually my sister in law's boyfriend and his father that commented on him joining football and then the coach noticed him throwing.

I just wish he wouldn't give up so easily. I'm going to try to get pics tomorrow at practice. So far I have been told I can't. But tomorrow he can't stop me, cause i have daddy home tomorrow! neiner neiner neiner!

All you photographers and mommys to little girls

Take a look at this! This lady is having a contest to win a tutu and they are super cute! I want one for props for the girls in our family, but they are perfect for all you girl moms!

http://yayapapayatutus.blogspot.com/

good luck-hope I win!!! lol

finishing previous post...

I don't know what the heck happened on previous post...but here is the rest.

Ok..Martha Stewart I am not, but this cake was fun making with Sammy. He helped me pick out the decorations and he even decorated the cupcakes...after he tested every color of the DOTS candy.

And here is mister man now...the only photo I have of his face from the whole party!

And here is BIRTHDAY BOY! He is leaning in for a bite on that left photo. he was so funny eating his cake. He tried to feed Nana, Daddy and even the party hostess! He loves to share his food...though usually it's with the dogs.





















We had a lot of fun...including a disappearing cousin. He joined the BIG party going on in the next room. We had a scare for about 2 minutes, but luckily we found him sliding on their slide. He was completely oblivious. 3 yr olds are so funny.

***just to let everyone know, the photos are limited because not all of my family wants photos of their kids on here. Also, Austin and Sam do not sit still for photos at home, they certainly aren't going to do it in a play place. And because I freaked out by some freaks claiming photos of various kids as their own, my photos will have a "watermark" on them. I'm not claiming them as copyrighted, just making sure no one tries to use them.****

Birthday update

I promise I haven't forgotten about my new blog already! I have been working thru all my photos to see what I was going to post. Y'all know me-I don't go somewhere with my kids and family and take 24 photos...what do you think I do-use a roll of film? oh HELL no.....I had to wade thru almost 300 photos!!! Now these are from the birthday party, the day before and after the party, and it was his first! So I have an excuse...right? lol

Let's start the film then!

This is Gabe the night before getting his big present! He and Sam had so much fun playing in the lil kitchen. But he particularly loved the sink. The ball would go down the drain and he would look down the drain like "hey, where did it go?"


We had the party at Bounce U-an indoor bouncing place. Not the typical place for a 1st birthday, but Gabe loves them. So does Sam. After everyone had gotten there, our hostess said since the birthday boy wasn't walking yet, EVERYONE should crawl to the room where the party was! So.....
we did! lol ok...the grown ups didn't. Austin didn't even do it.

Here he is playing with his Nana (and her playing with Austin or just sliding)




Daddy and Gabe were having a blast!


for some reason I can't load anymore photos...gonna try in another post

random stuff....

I was going to post photos from Gabe's birthday party today, but my computer is being weird and it's just pissing me off, so I'm not now. I will try again tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow-please think of the people on the coast. My family was directly affected by Katrina and thankfully my mom and grandma have moved away from the coast. But I still have my cousin Rachel and her new hubby Nathan down there, plus her sister and my uncle & aunt. (and her brother and his family too) Plus all my friends-one of which lost their home in Katrina too. I think we are overly prepared this time, which I think is good. Better safe than sorry. (I say this ALL.THE.TIME.)

It's getting close to when they (the weather teams) think Gustav will make land fall, so I am very anxious. I am so scared to go to sleep and see what is on the news in the morning. It's like deja vu all over again. (deja vu and all over again are kinda like repeating something huh? I mean, the 2 phrases are repeating what the other is saying...not the actual meaning of the phrases..oh crap, I'm confusing myself!) never mind.....

Ok, going to bed. Maybe my brain got jiggled in the bounce houses today...or maybe it was the cupcakes with demonic icing. (story for tomorrow with pics)! off to sleep...

New header!!!

Just a little too excited about that! hehehe (doesn't take much for me ya know) Thanks to Jenn & Jordan (both over in my stalkerish file) for helping me with this. I can't believe how easy it was. And the fact that I love my boys on the graffiti wall makes it so much better.

One note-I did not leave my background white. I did add a photo of the graffiti (that Austin took). It doesn't show much, but I didn't want white background.

I don't know how much time I will get on tomorrow since my lil wee man will be one tomorrow!!! Probably will try to change some more things tomorrow night. Sunday is the big party-that hardly anyone is coming to. Damn Gustov and Labor Day!

Here we go...

Since I have been bloggin on myspace I have decided that I like it. But myspace makes them disappear, so....what's the point? Plus some of my friends aren't on myspace, so I figured this would be good. Lame post I know...but Kevin is sleepin and getting pissed that I am typing, so I think I'm done. Will play with it this weekend and will add photos and all that stuff. Maybe I'll make it pretty?! lol