Girls weekend

Well, I got back home around 6:30 yesterday (Sunday) evening. It was SOOO much fun to go and hang out with the girls.

We got down there Friday around 5 or so, hung out in the room (there were 10 of us in 2 rooms- with only 4 double beds. You do the math!) ordered pizza, then walked to a bar next to where we stayed. It was pretty boring there, so we met up with some friends of the one of the girls we went with, and they took us in their Suburban to a dance hall (called "The Watering Hole"). We stayed there until last call at midnight, dancing and just having a blast. (And of course, there are always at least 2 girls that stay up late drinking and driving everyone else bonkers. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep that night.)

Saturday we got up, got our 'toobs' all rented and situated, then the lodge took us in their bus and dropped us off about 15 minutes away. We then floated on the river until 4 or so. (There were SOOOO many people on the river, it was crazy!!) We all got ready (another fun thing to do with 10 girls!) and went to the Gristmill for dinner. After an hour and a half wait, we finally got to eat! By this time, Kelli (the girl I went with) and I and another girl I went to high school with, were EXHAUSTED (remember, we were kept up the night before!) so we went back to the room to chill out, and the rest of the girls went to the Aaron Watson concert. I think they all got back around 1:30 or so (but I'm not sure on this one.) ;-)

Sunday we got to sleep a little later- 9ish- and then we got up, got ready for the day, and then Kelli and I left to go to the San Marcos outlet mall (no one else wanted to go so it was nice to have the car to ourselves!) We ate lunch at The Cracker Barrel (you know, I had NEVER eaten there before then!?) and then shopped until 4 or so (I spent WAY too much money, but it was a ton of fun. And I got Jace & Kelton just about settled for school clothes! (Daylon already went school clothes shopping and Blayden just doesn't need anything right now.))

Anyway, we had a blast but I was so glad to be back home. I can only handle so much beer and then I'm DONE!!! ;-) Here are some pictures from the weekend:

The back of our shirts: (The front says "2nd Annual Girls Weekend, New Braunfuls, TX")



Hanging out at Billy's Bar on Friday night:



Me and Kelli at Billy's Bar:



Dancing at The Watering Hole:



Waiting outside for our table at The Gristmill Saturday night (left to right: front row- Meagan, Tara, me, Amanda. second row: Kelli, Christy, Carrie, Blessing, BJ, Ashley, Randy. Then 2 random guys butted in on it as well.):



Me and Kelli at our table:




I also have pictures of us on the river, but I'm going to have to get them developed, then put on a CD (had to use a waterproof camera.) Hopefully I can get them done pretty soon, and I'll post those as well. :-)

I'm leaving!!!!

Well, for the weekend that is! ;-)

My friend Kelli and I are leaving tomorrow with a group of about 15-20 women to head to San Marcos/Gruene for the weekend. We're going to hang out by the pool, drink without worrying about kids getting into it or having to drive anywhere, and then we're going to float on the river Saturday, go to the Gristmill Saturday night, sleep late Sunday, have breakfast, stop at the San Marcos outlet malls, then come home.

You have NO idea how excited I am about all of this!! I have NEVER been away for even a night without at least 1 child or a husband. I know it's going to be different, but it'll be so nice to be able to relax!!!

Now... as long as Matt can REALLY take care of all of the boys on his own, we should be good!!!! ;-)

Pictures to come soon!

Why I hate summer....

1. It's HOT. I hate spending the majority of my day miserable and dripping sweat. So gross.

2. The boys are all home and they are "BORED." I wish they all could read, all enjoyed reading, and could/would spend their days in their rooms reading. That's MY ideal summer break, why can't it be theirs?!?!

3. Matt works CONSTANTLY in the summer. Enough said.

4. I like soups and stews. You can't enjoy soups or stews in 100 degree weather. I've tried.

5. The light starts earlier in the morning and lasts longer in the evenings. So, my children assume that their days should start earlier too. And then they don't want to go to bed at "bed time" because it's not all of the way dark yet. And I need a break from my children by that time of the day. Or I go crazy.

6. It's really, really, really, REALLY hot.

7. The boys want to go swimming every day. I don't want to go swimming every day. Swimming while watching 4 boys, messing with at least one of them at all times, holding a baby b/c he can't swim by himself and hates the life jacket, and stressing over one of them drowning, is just not all that fun for me. I'm happy with swimming once a week or so. By that time my stress level has gone down from swimming the week before.

8. The structure of school and activities is gone. I LIKE having the boys in school so they know what comes next, at what time, etc. Yes, we have a little structure here (lunch at noon, then nap time, then usually running errands, then supper, then baths or showers, and then bed time) but it's different. I need school. For my sanity.

9. I have too much time on MY hands. Even with the boys in camps, etc, I find myself being too lazy (minus the boot camp every morning at 5:30!!) ;-) I spend too much time on the couch, reading (thank goodness Blayden is still taking 2 naps a day!!) :-)

10. It's hot. And humid. And hot.

House pictures- FINALLY! :-)

Okay, I had taken pictures as we went too, and then took some more this morning of the (almost) finished project.

My living room with EVERYTHING in it from the kitchen and living room, and the carpet gone:





The slate tile when they first laid it down:



Kitchen before they put in the granite countertops (we touched up the paint in there and actually finished the paint job- went all of the way to the hallway you can see in the back of the picture- with the yellow paint):



Kitchen countertops installed (new black sink too):



My front yard with the tile (and the mess) in it:



Finished kitchen (with the flowers that are not looking so hot! LOL):



View from the dining room (new chairs and we brought in our black fridge from the garage- we had been using a white one):



My dining room and new table:



Living room with new floors (and we brought in the big chair from our room- I love it in the living room now!):





View from the front door (I still need to refix the curtains- the boys pulled them down):



I think the hardwood floor looks really good next to the tile (we still need to put in the "transition" pieces between the hardwood and the other flooring next to it- tile or carpet (in the boys rooms):

Crazy life!!

Seems like it's just been super crazy around here the last few weeks.

Daylon and Jace finished Camp Miramont on Friday and had a BLAST. I'm seriously thinking about putting them both in it again for the next two sesions (but it's $150 a session per kid, so we'll see.) It gave them something to do though, and they really enjoyed it. Soo....

Anyway, after they were done on Friday, I picked them up, brought them home, and then Matt loaded the three older boys up with him in his truck and took them all to Kemah to go out on the boat. Blayden and I weren't feeling well so we stayed at home and chilled (and man, let me tell you- having one kid is SOOOO much easier than four!!! LOL) I had to meet Matt in The Woodlands at 2:00 on Saturday to get the boys from him, and I was supposed to get my new table Saturday morning. After waiting ALL morning and no table, I had to leave. Thank goodness for my mom- she was able to come over and let the guys in when they got here and I got my new table!! It looks AWESOME and I love it! It's so incredibly nice for all of us to be able to eat at one table at home!

The boys and I went to a birthday party on Saturday evening at the swimming pool and had fun there. Then some friends came over to hang out and watch the UFC fight. It just wasn't the same without Matt there too, but it was nice.

Matt came home early yesterday (Sunday) morning and was just worn out from the fishing and driving (he met a few of his friends in Kemah on Saturday and took them out on the boat- they went WAY out there and caught quite a bit of fish). We were able to chill a little bit yesterday afternoon, and then went to Red Lobster for dinner. (That's what happens when I see a commercial for food- I REALLY want that food that day!) :-) Red Lobster was okay, but we had to wait for over an hour for a table because Fire School is in town this week (and apparently the Fire School Olympics are being held here... fun stuff and hot guys= GREAT EYE CANDY!!!)

Anyway, I got up early this morning for boot camp (yep, still doing it and going strong- I've lost a total of 15 pounds in like 6 weeks or so, (today started the 3rd week of boot camp though) and am building muscle. I can tell a difference in the way my clothes fit, but I still have a ways to go!!) and then came home and layed down for a bit. Since then it seems like I've had a million phone calls, I did some book-keeping to get everything up-to-date, and paid bills. Now I'm just waiting for my mom to get here to watch the boys so I can go to a Dr's appointment and run a few errands.

And I'm sure I've got about a million other things to do the rest of this week (although, not near as much as Matt has to do- I think over the next 2 weeks he's digging like SEVEN pools or something crazy like that. And that't not counting the pools that he's already started and are at different stages of the process. Crazy!!!)

So... I'm off!! I think I'm going to get my camera and FINALLY take some pictures of the house all finished. Hopefully I can get those taken and posted by tomorrow. :-)

New books!!

So, I haven't bought any new books in awhile so the boys and I made the trip to B&N after lunch today. They each got to pick out a book for themselves (I picked out like THREE for Blayden just so he would sit quietly in his stroller- something that he has learned that if he gripes enough, I WILL let him out of, because, you know, he's the baby and everything!!!)

Anyway, I'm excited by what I got!

I'm going to start off reading "The Shack" by William P Young. This book sounds AWESOME and already seems like something I'm going to be recommending to everyone. I have a feeling it's going to be one that I just can't put down. Here's the description from Amazon:

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives as the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant 'The Shack' wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book.


Doesn't that sound like something that is going to be REALLY good??! I've read the Foreword already, and I'm hooked. I can't wait to read more.

I also bought "Twilight" by Stephanie Myers (I figured that if SOOOO many people really like it that much, maybe I will as well, although it doesn't really seem like my "thing!") And I bought "When You Are Enjulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris. I think these three books are all completely different from one another, but that's what makes life fun and interesting! :-)

Already a "Boaters Widow"

I picked up the keys and the title to Matt's new toy (see post below) on Thursday (had to meet the guy in Conroe because Matt was super busy and I'm a good, sweet, kind, caring wife.) ;-)

So Matt went down to Kemah yesterday with a friend of his so he could figure out how to drive it, etc. Neither one of them has ever driven a boat that big or in the ocean. From what I understand it is a serious miracle that Matt didn't wreck the boat within the first 5 minutes of having it out of the boat slip. It apparenltly got really bad for a few seconds and Matt honestly thought his heart was going to come out of his chest it was beating so hard. I am SOOO glad I wasn't around to see that- I think I would have been freaking out a LOT.

Anyway, God was watching out for my husband (and his friend and our boat!) and everything was fine. They figured out how to do most of the stuff on the boat, and Matt got pretty good at driving it.

He got home around 12:30 or so last night, and then left again this morning to go back and work on a few of the "kinks" in the boat. (He let me sleep in and took all of the boys to McDonalds for breakfast, and then brought me back a coffee- sweet hubby!) He'll stay on the boat tonight and then the boys and I are going down in the morning to join him. Honestly, I am just NOT looking forward to it at all. Four kids 8 years old and younger and 2 adults on a 33 foot boat just does not appeal to me. Especially since I know Matt doesn't know how to drive the boat THAT good! I guess as long as we keep the shore line in our sight, we'll be good. Hopefully we can just take the boat over to one of the restaurants on the Kemah boardwalk, get out and eat and let the boys play, and then we can all come back home! LOL

No, I really am excited about the boat and happy that Matt has a "hobby" but I'm just exhausted. I haven't slept much in the last few weeks (especially the last week with getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the boot camp!) and I'm just so tired I don't want to do anything but SLEEP. And that's just about impossible with 4 kids. ;-)

Late Night TV

So last Saturday night Matt went to watch the UFC fight at Buffalo Wild Wings with a friend. He gets home around 12:30 (or something- don't even remember!)

Anyway, I was still awake watching Grey's on my iPod (BTW, I'm finally caught up and now ready for the new season!! LOL) so when he got home we turned the TV on to watch for a bit. I don't remember what channel it was (maybe QVC or something like that) but they were selling DILDOS and vibrators and such!!!!! It was SOOO funny!! And these girls were just so matter-of-fact about it all too!

They did have some really pretty glass dildos they were selling, and I swear to God, one of the girls said "it's so pretty, you could set it on your mantel for a pretty conversation piece!!!" Matt and I were like, seriously?!?!?

The funniest thing about it was some of the guys things. They had this one thing like looked like a flashlight. Then when you took the top off, it had a "mouth" and it vibrated. The girls were talking about how you could take it camping and no one would know!!! Matt and I just about died laughing!! Can you imagine your husband going camping with some guys, and one of them bringing a flash light vibrator?!?!? If the other guys found out, I think they would kill him!!!!!

Anyway, I just thought it was too funny and something to post about. Now I KNOW I will not be getting cable TV for the boys rooms for a LONG LONG time!! (However, we have the rating protection on all of the TV's anyways, so they couldn't turn it on. But still!!!)

Oh, the things you can learn on late night TV.....

Adventure Boot Camp

Well, I started a boot camp this morning at 5:30 (!!!!) :-)

It actually went really well and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to get up (I was up just about every hour from 12:00 on though, afraid that I had slept through my alarm going off!!) The workout was tough, and I was definitely sore and tired after it, but I did feel a lot better getting up and then having it DONE for the day.

My mom is going to be joining me tomorrow so that'll be nice to have someone with me. And then on Wednesday we have a timed 1 mile run and a push up test so we can compare where we're at now to where we'll be at the end of the camp (1 month).

Wish me luck- I'm going to get hot and sexy! Or sexy and hot.... or something. :-/

(the website for this camp is collegestationbootcamp.com)

Kid Safety Bands

I just got the boys two of these each. (Just in case we loose one!) The price is GREAT ($4 each!!) and I will feel a lot better taking them to Sea World, etc, with them wearing these. Just wanted to share.

http://www.kidsafetyband.com/index.htm

House Update (again!)

Well, it's still slow going on the house. The guys started working on the slate floors around 11 on Monday morning and are still going at it. We're putting them down at a diagnal and so it's a LOT more cuts and work for them. It's absolutely beautiful though, and I'm so excited for it all to be done (they have a small bathroom, small hallway, and my laundry room to finish laying tile and then about that much to finish the grout. So really not too much- they should be done today around 5 or so, I would think.)


We also got most of our granite countertops in yesterday, but apparently they didn't measure a small part of the counter between the oven and refrigerator. So they are cutting that piece right now and will come back later this afternoon to finish it. So far it's awesome looking though!!


Once all of that is done, Matt and I will put sealer on the slate tiles this evening after the boys are in bed (apparently it's REALLY strong and stinky! Ugg!!) And then I can move everything back into my kitchen tomorrow and we'll start on the wood floors. Woo-hoo!!!! I can't WAIT!


Oh!! And I ordered a table yesterday from Ashley Furniture. It won't be here until July 17th or so, but I don't care. We have a glass top table right now that only has 4 chairs with it and I HATE it. This is the table I ordered:




(It has a leaf with it to make it bigger). And then I ordered 2 extra chairs with it and 2 barstools.

Okay, I'm sure ya'll aren't too interested in all of this, it's just exciting to see it all getting done. I'm SOOOO ready!!!

Well, we're off to run some more errands. I do have pictures of the house in progress so I'll try to post those this afternoon. You can see the mess I'm living in right now!!!! It's going to take me a few weeks to get everything cleaned and back to normal after they're all done here!