The wall came down!

I felt like East Berlin in the eighties... Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but I was so happy to see the wall between our kitchen and dining room come down! Ryan got the kids to help start it, and then finished it after bedtime. G started with the hinges on the doors - yes, there were two doors to close, just in case a wall wasn't enough to box in the space - and he was able to take them off all by himself. Scout took a screwdriver to them after he'd finished, just to make sure the work was done right. Then, the fun began with the first swing of the hammer. G got out some serious aggression, and was very pleased with himself.

Then, after we put the kids to bed, the real fun started. My precious little girl started calling out from her crib, so I went to check on her and ended up rocking her for a few minutes. When I walked back out into the living room where Ryan was working, the sight, and the smell, were nothing I'd expected. Ryan had broken through some drywall to reveal a rat's nest with a couple of dried up, dead rats. Now, my husband has a stomach of steel, and even he was having some trouble controlling the queasiness. He kept it together, though, and finished cleaning it out, since he was more than halfway done anyway. Thank you, Scout, for calling me at the right moment! We'll skip the details and fast forward to the part when we thought we were almost done, and then noticed the buzzing of a huge wasp's nest full of wasps near the ceiling. Luckily, I knew where the wasp spray was, and Ryan took care of it, stomping on most of them to finish them off. Talk about renovation realities, but we survived. After scrubbing my floor with bleach water (the thought of any contamination from that rat's nest touching my precious children's feet was too much for me), we fell into bed, satisfied with a good day's work. Oh yeah, and we showered, too.

Garrett removing the hinges

It's off!

The first swing

A nice hole in the wall

Scout double checking G's work

The aggression comes out

Coming down

The remains of the nest

Almost done...

The open kitchen!

4th of July

We had a great Fourth. My parents came for a visit, and my dad got to appreciate all the hard work we'd already put into the house. Our neighborhood was having a parade, so we thought we'd decorate the kids' wagon and participate. We had almost no time to prepare, so our decorations were white stars that my mom had cut out of paper plates, little American flags attached to the front corners of the wagon and one for each kid to hold, and some red streamers. I was hoping that this would be enough to blend in to the other bikes and wagons for two reasons: 1) I didn't want my kids to wish they were in someone else's wagon, and 2) I was secretly hoping that we hadn't moved to "one of those neighborhoods", where everyone feels like they have to out-do their neighbors. I crossed my fingers as we got closer to the start of the parade that we wouldn't see any battery packs powering light displays, and I am happy to report that we completely blended in! Everyone looked really cute, and the kids had a lot of fun. We saw funny wigs, poster board greetings, and some cute dogs with bandanas. There were people handing out dog biscuits to the appropriate neighbors, lots of waving and shouting "Happy Fourth!", and free Chick Fil-A kid's meal coupons. The kids were pretty hot by the end, but they enjoyed it.

After chatting with our across-the-street neighbors for a little while, we headed to Rudy's for lunch with friends from our class at church. We sat at their outside picnic tables in the shade, and it was a really fun time. The kids were completely worn out by the end and ready for some good naps. Good family fun!

They make me laugh

Garrett has been loving dressing up in his superhero costumes for the past few months. A couple of days ago, Scout was pulling out all of our placemats and found a Spiderman one. She pointed to it, and said, "G." Garrett looked down and confirmed that the picture was, indeed, of him.

Today, Garrett was feeling especially loving and was telling me what a great mommy I am. He ended with, "I'm not even going to trade you for a new mommy!" I didn't know I was in jeopardy of being replaced. Good thing I bought him some pirate's booty the other day!

Finally, this evening, I told Garrett that I was making seafood risotto and asked if he wanted that or a tuna sandwich. He asked what was in the risotto. I told him things like shrimp, clams and octopus. He said, "I'll have tuna, Mommy. I don't want to eat jellyfish, 'cause it might sting me!"

June

Where May was super fun, June was super busy. We squeezed some fun in, too, but we didn't pause much for it. We sold our house, which is old news now, but was huge then! We were so relieved. It had gotten to the point that I'd quit watching HGTV altogether to save myself from the pain of seeing all of these beautiful renovations that I thought I'd never get to do in our dream fixer-upper. After the relief wore off, the reality of packing up our lives set in. Garrett and Scout joined in the effort and packed a huge box by themselves (G insists Scout didn't help much) of toys from their toybox. G was insistent that I tape it up, but being that we were several weeks away from the move, and their toybox was empty, I decided to leave the box full, but open. The kids seemed happy with that.

Picnic break when spending a day cleaning the new house before we moved in

Playdates with the church started, which were difficult for me to participate in, with all that I had to get done, but they were also a nice, forced timeout from the packing. My kids needed it, and so did I. We fed ducks, played on playscapes around the city, and even visited a farm.

We went on our annual trip to South Padre Island. This time, we were smart and rented a condo with the Howards, our friends who share this trip with us, now that Ryan and Jay work together. The whole experience was much more pleasant with separate bedrooms from our kids and a full kitchen and living room. Garrett and Cohen shared a room, which went better than I'd expected. We only made it to the beach once, which is plenty for me. I'm not much of a fan, but I feel obligated to give my children the experience while I'm there, even if Garrett doesn't want to go into the water, Scout wanders far off as she chases the gulls, and I feel like I've been through a couple rounds of P90X after hauling my children and all the necessary gear down to the water. The kids loved the pool - thankfully the boys were content to stay in the kiddie pool - and we enjoyed some good food together. We had one late dinner that was touch-and-go, but Jessica and I decided to give up on the notion of tasting our food, gobbled it up, and headed back to let the kids swim again. We also visited Pirate's Landing and the turtle rescue again, which were both even more fun this year. It was a good trip, and the driving wasn't half-bad, either.


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Father's Day was fun, though I had to be prepared for it before we left for our trip. It will be obvious when looking back on this year's card, that Scout had nothing to do with it. Garrett chose a Transformers card, though he knows almost nothing about it. Optimus Prime gives a recorded greeting when you open it, and Garrett asked everyday after we bought it, if that day was Father's Day. He almost couldn't stand the wait. He made it, though, and Ryan loved it. We also got him a book and a toolbelt for all of the projects at our new house. In hindsight, I realize those gifts were incompatible. He's not going to have time to read with all of the work that has to be done, but maybe looking at the cover of it will force him to take a break and crack it open. Hasn't happened yet! Garrett also had a Daddy and Donuts day at his preschool to honor the dads for Father's Day. It obviously happened well before Father's Day, but it was really sweet. They made a card with a poem in it that looked like a suit and tie. We love you so much, Daddy! We can't get enough of you!

I joined the rest of the planet in starting the Twilight series, and, yes, I love it, too! It was a little hard for me to get into it, since I approached it as a vampire book, but once I started reading it from a teen love story perspective, I fell in love with the characters. I also had to get over the fact that a vampire was interested in a teenager. Anyone else think a hundred-year old man hitting on a 17-year old is a little creepy? I've never even understood what a 40-year old could possibly find interesting to discuss with a 20-year old, but I'm over it now. If you're having that problem, too, and maybe I'm unique in this issue, the movie helps when you see two people who look the same age. It's the first novel I've gotten into in awhile. I always seem to have other things I need to read and not enough time to get through those, but after several pushes from friends, who knew I'd love them, I gave in. So glad I did!


Anybody notice it got really hot, really fast in Texas this June? Playing outside in the sprinkler continued, and we added ice pops to the fun.







Moving day was the last Saturday of June. It was insane, and we couldn't have done it without my mom and sister. My mom played the role of Super Grandma, and my sister worked her hands to the bone helping us pull up carpet and linoleum, clean, move in furniture, and cut and lay shelf liner. The Greenes were also lifesavers, bringing us lunch, a little housewarming present, and a much-needed break from the work. We met a lot of really nice neighbors, who all breathed a sigh of relief when they heard we'd bought the place and weren't renting. I learned how to use a tile scraper, which was a heavy machine and super fun! If you need linoleum taken up in your place, rent me one of those, and I'll gladly do it for you. It makes me feel like a beast. The weekend wasn't easy, especially seeing our old, empty house before locking it up for the last time, but we're in!

G helping Daddy scrape linoleum

Scout helping clean up

The living room with no more carpet!

Me loving the feeling of accomplishment getting up the last of the linoleum

Our bedroom with no carpet and the ugly curtains tied up

May days

May was a good month for us. Mother's Day was super sweet. My kids made a sweet card for me, with Daddy's help, and gave me a volcanic stone pedicure at the Woodhouse Day Spa. My friend Christy received the same gift, and we got to enjoy them together. Nice work, hubbies! I was also honored with a tea at G's preschool, which was really tender. He served me my food and drink, gave me a precious card, and then participated in an interview, during which he gave answers to questions about me. They were all pretty cute. Some of my favorites were that he thinks I'm a dentist who works in a nursing home (half-right), that he thinks I'm 7 feet tall and 6 years old, and that one thing I always do for him while I'm not with him is pray for him. From responses he gave on other projects from school and church, I've also gathered that he loves my cooking and my hugs. I also received a potted plant in a wooden wheelbarrow with stickers on it, that G and Ryan made together, as did any of you moms whose kids do the Home Depot projects once a month. On one card, G wrote my name for the first time, and I got lots of pages of beautiful scribbles from Scout. Oh, how I love those kiddos!

G serving me at my Mother's Day Tea

Ryan took G to his company picnic, which is always during naptime. I've been once, and I decided to stay home to let Scout sleep, while the boys had fun together. Garrett mostly enjoyed a very elaborate face painting design and a bunch of balloons he insisted upon bringing home for Scout. She loved them, of course, and played with them the rest of the evening.

Ryan and I celebrated 12 years of marriage on the 16th. I wish I weren't catching up and had an entire post to devote to my amazing and wonderful partner in this life that God has granted me. Ryan is an incredible husband and a fabulous father. He is a perfect compliment to my slightly compulsive, if not completely neurotic personality. He loves me for who I am, yet holds my hand and supports me as I try to grow into the person I want to become. He's hard-working and selfless, easy-going and fun. When I knew I was hooked more than 12 years ago, before I was consciously aware that I wanted to be his wife, I simply knew that everyday was going to be fun if he was with me and that I couldn't imagine a day that I wouldn't want him by my side. So far, so good! Not every day has been perfect, but I thank God that He's allowed me to spend them with my true love.




The kids also spent a lot of time playing with the water hose in the backyard. Because we were trying to sell our house, I didn't let them inflate the pool in the yard, so they settled for running from Ryan, while he tried to soak them. They got in a pattern of running from corner to corner for refuge, getting sprayed along the way. Garrett even became the protector, holding and shielding his sister in the corners of the yard.

Summer feet

Taking a break

Garrett finished his first year of preschool. I can't believe it. I was so proud of all that he'd learned and all the ways he'd grown. He had some special teachers to guide him along the way, and for that, we are thankful. The year ended with a Splash Day, that was a lot of fun for him, and he brought home those sweet school projects and poems that choke you up. Scout didn't know school was over, but she's certainly been happy to have him home. How that girl misses her big brother when he's gone. It makes a huge difference in her day.

Garrett also got third place in his first fishing tournament. It was a catfish that he caught in a tank outside of Academy. It was really cute, and he was so proud!






The finale of the month was my sister Andrea's birthday celebration. We rented kayaks and a paddleboat on the river, which was fun. Garrett definitely enjoyed it more that Scout, although I think the lifejacket was bringing her down. We then went to The Oasis for dinner, which was beautiful and fun. I wish we didn't have to abide by bedtimes, because it was a perfect day to watch the sun set over the lake. The kids took to the dance floor after dinner, and we had to carry Scout out of there kicking and screaming. That girl likes to groove! We finished with a strawberry cake, which G decided to cut for us. It was a fun weekend. Happy Birthday, Sis!

Catching up...in a new place

I've been away from blogging for too long, and I know my mother-in-law is anxious for me to get back to it, even if she's the only one. So, I'm going to spend some time trying to catch up on the last couple of months. The reason I've neglected my blog, is that I was spending time packing up my house, taking a break for a short vacation, and then moving into a new house while trying to start renovating it. Oh yeah, and I'm still raising the two short people who live in our house. Yeah, we decided to keep them in the move. It was up in the air for awhile, but in the end we decided they were too old to leave on Heath's firehouse steps.

They were actually my biggest concern in all of this mess. I had my own emotions over leaving our other house, even though I was really excited about the new one, but I was mostly concerned about how my kiddos would take it. Scout is generally easy-going, and is really too young to get it, anyway, but my sweet, sentimental Garrett was worrying me. He didn't quite understand what we were taking with us, and would often ask at a random time during the day if we were taking something, like his bed, our closets, or the air vents. We talked up the new house as much as we could, though, in the end, I had to come to peace with the fact that he would miss the old house to some degree no matter what. I felt sad about leaving the place where Garrett learned to walk, where all of my kids' birthday parties have been so far, and Scout's first home. G was just going to miss it because it was all he'd ever known, even though it wasn't his first home.

He has adjusted surprisingly well. We traded in a three-year old house for a thirty-year old one, which has been pretty neglected most of those years. Before we moved, G kept saying that the new house was "not very nice", and then I'd follow with, "but we're going to make it...", "nice", he'd finish. The first night we spent here, the kids just had beds in their rooms, the only improvements we'd done were pulling out the old flooring and sanding the concrete below it, and most of our things were in complete disarray. Without belittling the exhausting effort it took to get the house to that state, it was a wreck. As Garrett climbed into his bunk, I asked what he thought of his new room and finally staying in our new house. He smiled his sweet, sincere smile, and said, "The house turned out great, Mommy!" Since then, he's expressed a desire to go to our old house only a handful of times, and both kids seem to be happy.

Though we have a long road ahead of us with this renovation, we feel blessed to be here, and Ryan and I wouldn't trade it. I have to give my hubby credit for seeing the gem that this sad, neglected little house can be. I won't pretend that it's anywhere close to even halfway finished - we are, after all, doing most of the work ourselves - but visit us in a few years. I think the gem will be starting to shine!