End of Baseball Camp, Beginning of Vacation w/ Brent

Lamar University: Jim Gilligan Baseball Camp

I thought summer was a time for relaxation and reflection, yeah right. This summer has been so busy and vacation starts next week and we are just so happy to be slowing down for at least that ONE week that I just want to enjoy the boys, enjoy Brent and really soak up the summer. It's time to reconnect with my sweetie and spend some quality time together. We have something planned and I am really looking forward to it. So what's on the agenda? Well, we WERE going to San Antonio and stay with some friends outside of Austin but the hotel we wanted to stay at is booked because it's the week of July 4th so I think we are going to do that, but when it won't be so crowded. So the #1 thing on our list is to put down the new tile in the den. I've been wishy/washy with it. Bought all the stain and stuff to stain the cement then decided I really wanted saltillo tile so we are going on some scouting expeditions this weekend to see what we can scrounge up. It seems it's a really hot product around here and everyone is always out of it or the boxes that are left aren't enough. But with the colors we've picked and the furniture, I think it's the best deal for us. So we are trying to make some really difficult decisions as far as drastically remodel?? Build?? Move?? I found a house I really like that is so much bigger than ours but it's in the city limits and Brent's like "No." prfff, whatever. Maybe I'm wearing him down. But we're looking at plans and one day we say this and one day it's something else. I went last night and bought new stuff for our bedroom and at first I was like "uh huh that is fugly" but then it freakin started growing on me today. Not to mention Tricia, my sister, came over and said she really liked it. So now I think I'll use that as a base to keep going and get some different things in here to make it feel more like our personality.


Today was a big day at the baseball camp Ian has been attending all week. His daddy went to watch him on his exhibition day and he was in hog heaven. He was so happy his daddy was taking off work to go and spend it with him. Brent said he got some really positive reviews about Ian's pitching and hitting so Ian was on cloud nine. A coach for one of our teams already hit Brent up to put Ian on his team next year (wtf ??) but he had said Ian was 8, but by next season he'll turn 9 so he'll be too old for that team. So they had a great day and it all went very well. It didn't rain at all the whole week so that made the money definitely worth it. Although today it was about 104 degrees on the field and 111 degrees in my car! This humidity makes it unbearable. I felt sorry for those boys out there all week but Ian told me he didn't really feel hot at all so I knew they were keeping them very hydrated and taking frequent breaks to fight the heat.


Let's see, what else did I wanna say? Oh yeah. How come the obnoxious people you can't stand in life seem to find you on Facebook? There are like 3 people that I just ignore their friend requests so I can block them out if I want to. I guess that's why I love FACEBOOK!! he he he Although that part is great, Brent met and talked to a guy that went to elementary with me at our Catholic school! They started talking about growing up in that area around Lamar University and the years he was there and then mentioned that he went to Catholic school where I used to go and so Brent asked him if he remembered me and he was like "um, yeah, why" and so he told him that he was married to me. It's such a small world. Anyhow, he has two little boys and one was in the same group for 8 years olds with Ian and they really got along. It was the craziest thing when Brent texted me then called to tell me how they had been talking all afternoon and then had just discovered all that. That was a good thing today that definitely put a smile on my face.


What else is going on this summer? Well, the week after we get back off vacation, Ian starts Superkids at Lamar, which he is not looking forward to at all. He said he doesn't want to go there and sit and do science and math! I just started cracking up because it is sooo not like that at all. Liam went for several summers and really enjoyed it. He even brought home a baby chick after they had raised it at camp all week. Liam loved that baby chick, but he went to spend the night with his Auntie T and his cousin and I kinda forgot to turn off the light above it and it didn't have any water so we remembered like two days later and that little thing was all crispy. Liam cried, I laughed and Brent got mad because Liam & Ian made him bury it. I couldn't even go out there because I kept laughing every time I looked at this poor little baby chick all crispy and crusted. (yeah actually it was kinda gross but I think my relief in times of stress is laughter, yep, it is!) Oh Gosh just remembering that day is kinda wild! I don't think Liam will ever forgive us for that but at least now when we talk about he laughs with us, then secretly turns around to wipe his eyes. My sweetie has the biggest heart and the soul of an angel. While Ian is at Superkids I am going with my friend to The Main Dish where you create your own 12 entrees, which is enough for 72 servings. We scanned the July menu and they have some yummy dishes to choose from and we are sooo excited about doing this. You get to put all the meals together yourself and then load 'em up in an ice chest and take home to your freezer. If you do the 12 entrees, you get a free dessert. So that's one good thing right? And this month the dessert is Key Lime Pie so that should be tasty for a summer bbq on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Then Liam has Soccer Camp in Beaumont in mid to late July then he starts soccer practice and football practice in August. It seems as if you stay just as busy, only there's no homework or projects to deal with since school's out!

Well, enough babble. Have a good weekend and enjoy the sun, smile at your kids, and plant a big fat wet one on your hubby - I know that's what I'll be doing.

Pictures coming soon...... yea right. ... not likely.... but probably soon.

Father's Day at the BeAcH!!

Hope everyone had a great and wonderful Father's Day with the daddy's in your life. We went to the beach early this morning to walk and look for shark teeth and sea beans. Ian was so excited because we found four shark teeth and three sea beans. One was really big. Took plenty of pics so when I get on the laptop I will download them to the blog. I hate the way I have to do it on the desktop so I'll just do it all at once. We were relaxed and just played all morning. Granny found a sea bean and she really enjoyed just being down at the beach and putting her feet in the salty water. We had a good time so we decided to come home and cook. All the restaurants around here were fully packed by 1pm so we hit our H-E-B and got all the stuff to make Spanish rice, homemade pineapple pico de gallo, Key West chicken and homemade salsa. My friend gave me some fresh tomatoes from her garden and it tastes great. This batch is really spicy but we like it, but it's probably a little too spicy for Ian, although Liam will probably love it. The beach was great and the sand was hot, what more can you ask for a gorgeous day???


Ian is off to Lamar Baseball Camp this week. he is going to the competitive edge hitting and pitching camp which was one of the best camps Liam ever attended. He learned so much and was really complimented on his techniques by his baseball coaches. Ian is super excited about all of it since his team won the 8 year old Championship in Little League last week. He was all about baseball after that! So he'll be there from 8-4 all week and then we have VBS at a friend's church that he's been invited to attend and his pool party for his baseball team where they will get their trophies for the great season they've had this year. It'll be busy but I love it when it's busy and they are being active.


Brent's yelling at me to go and make the Spanish rice because I forgot: note here: I didn't forget, I chose not to do when he told me to! I will do it on my own time THANK YOU very much and if you do want me to do it when you want me to then you ASK me, don't TELL me. Anywho, I'm trying to be a really nice and kind person on Father's Day so I guess I better get off my cracker butt and get it done. Oh I just remembered that Ian has to bring a lunch to the baseball camp all next week which means I now have to go back to the grocery store to come up with some ideas for food for him next week which means my stomach will soon be hurting from the pressure which means it may ruin my Key West chicken dinner which means I will then be pissed. he he he Nah, I guess I better get all this taken care of before my family falls apart before my eyes.


There's a blog that I have fallen in love with. A lot of the values and morals and ideas about family and children that Amy at The Finer Things in Life express are my sentiments exactly. She has great recipes and her blog is one that I can actually remember to go check if I didn't receive it by email for that day. Thought you all might be interested in it also since it is such a great blog with great ideas for frugal meals, snacks and interesting topics. Take a look if you get a chance. I may even post a comment on the reasons I became a SAHM. It had a lot to do with September 11, 2001 when we sat down and decided that our family as a whole was more important that the $$$ I was bringing home. Plus, I was offered the Office Manager position which would mean full time and if I didn't accept the job, my hours would be drastically reduced anyway. So on September 13, 2001 (we were closed on the 12th) I put in my two week notice and never looked back.


Have a good week and God Bless. Brent and I have an 8:00pm movie night planned, sans the children who will be watching their own movie. I bought him Gran Turino for Father's Day so we are going to cuddle and watch it again. We actually went to see it the day it opened because it was our date night out then also. We LOVE our nights out together so cuddle up with the man in your life and enjoy the rest of his day!!

I'll upload pics from the beach later.... or later this week... or later this month. LOL No, really, I will try to do it after we bring Ian to his first day of baseball camp tomorrow.

Ciao Bella!!

Happy Anniversary: 19 YEARS!!

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary! 19 years ago I married my best friend. I know everybody always says that, but I mean it. He's my heart and soul, soul mate, and the one person who has never let me down or not followed through. He's the best dad he can be to our little boys and every day when I look at that man I think to myself what did I do that was special enough to deserve him? The yin-yang of our relationship and the blessings God has given to us make this one of the things I am most proud of: to be called his wife. After 19 years I still get butterflies when he rushes home from work to be with us, I still smile when he flirts with me and I still know, even though we fuss and fight sometimes, that every night he is going to have my back and keep me warm. And when I think of him during the day, I can feel a smile creeping in around the corners of my mouth. I really feel that I do not deserve such a loving individual, so I'll enjoy the ride and cherish these moments with my best friend.

A lot has been going on in the last few days. Brent's birthday was Friday, June 12th (a nice even number) and we had so much fun. We took the boys to the beach and Galveston for the day, went sight-seeing, ate lunch and then let 'em swim until the sun set. The water was gorgeous and we literally would have sat out there watching them skimboard and play until way past the sunset, but Ian cut his foot very badly on a rock or something. It was bleeding profusely but he had a tetanus when he was bitten by the copperhead so at least we didn't have to go sit at the hospital all night. The cut was across his heel and it was bad but we used to towels to stop the bleeding and after awhile I bandaged him up with some gauze (thank God I bought an extra medical kit for the car) and taped him up for the ride home. It bled a lot but the actually cut isn't that bad. I took pics so I'll post them in a bit. We had a fun, relaxing day. The beach looks so different since Hurricane Ike destroyed it, although it's clean and the sand is beautiful. In Galveston some of the old buildings are marked with blue tape where the Hurricane Ike water line was. It's really sad. It used to be so bustling and busy and it seemed really sleepy that day and probably 50% or more of the businesses are not up to par, either undergoing construction or are not there anymore. I used to love to go into this one kitchen shop and I could stay in there for hours and it's gone, the building is gutted so hopefully they'll be back soon.

I have a bunch of pics to post of the last few weeks so I'll try and do that soon. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we do and if you don't, oh well!

A Few Things I Forgot to Mention:

AWWW I don't have any pictures because I was leaving but Brent came up to Tricia's car Saturday with a 4 foot water moccasin hanging from this hoe/weed thing that had prongs. It was deader than a doornail because Ian shot it about five times with his pellet gun but it was about 4 foot long and was pretty fat. It looked like it had just eaten something. Anyway, Tricia and I left and Brent allowed the boys to dissect it and Liam took out its little heart while it was still beating! Isn't that just the grossest thing? It is to me. Anyway, Sunday morning we were walking around looking at some stuff and plants and in the bottom weedy things of the lemon tree (that I love dearly and have babied through Hurricane Ike) was another friggin' snake. Brent grabbed a hoe and chopped its head off! Then later in the day Ian and my little neighbors were close to their pond and they killed a baby snake that came out of the pond with a metal toy truck. Ian said he told them they had to kill it or it would just grow up and bite them. So these three little boys are chasing down this baby snake that was about 4 inches long. So I guess Ian really doesn't play when it comes to snakes since he has already been bitten by a copperhead when he was two years old and we evacuated for another hurricane. ARGH!!

OK, and I forgot to tell ya that Ian won an IPOD at school on the last day. He was super excited and I promised him we'd download a lot of stuff this week. I'll have to be choosy but he has an mp3 player that has a lot of country songs and some Kid Songs cd's on there so I may just try and transfer those soon for him. So tomorrow Ian is off to summer rec for three hours then we are signing up for swim lessons. Liam has some game he's been dying for that comes out tomorrow so I promised him that for keeping a 98 average in all his classes this year. I have to keep my end of the bargain since he kept his and he wants a mic for the xbox. Yup, his second mic because it seems when he went to a gaming party in March a kid that has since been booted off to his dad's house in Florida because his mom couldn't control him walked off with two of Liam's controllers, his mic for his xbox and his memory card. I'm the type of mom who questions stuff that turns up at my house, although I have never let a child walk out of here without all the crap they came in with. So I told him he had to use his own money to replace the controllers (which he did) and that we'd get the mic and the game he wants. So, just thought I'd add some stuff I forgot earlier.

Have a great week, pray for your family, and remember to reconnect with that special someone in your life, even your kids. We take the boys individually a lot of times to just hang out or do stuff and let them know how special they are as a person, not just as the younger/older brother. I tell my boys every day how special they are to me, to us, and I hope you do the same. At baseball we heard a foster dad saying some pretty mean and rough things to his foster son and Liam started cheering for the little dude and we all started saying things that were positive to this child because to hear a grown man cut down a child when they just struck out and feel like crap anyway is just horrible. I cannot believe the state allows people like THAT to foster these little fellows. Anyway, at the end of the game Liam told him what a good job he did and he was just grinning from ear to ear. So no matter what that old nasty slob tells that child for the rest of the night, he's going to remember what our son said to him and that is all that counts. :)

June Makes Me Think About LOVE...

Ian's First Communion April 2009

New patio chairs to replace the ones blown away by Ike? $80

New umbrella to replace the one blown away by Ike? $58 (on sale at Lowe's)

Sitting outside with Brent on a gorgeous Sunday and having one of the best talks of our life? PRICELESS

Sappy, I know but after yesterday and just sitting around and talking and having that reconnection, it is now MANDATORY that we spend more time together alone. Ian happened to be swimming in my neighbor's ponds with her and her children and Liam was at Tricia's with Drake and Bailee (well, he's still there) so we were all alone from about 9:30am to 6pm and we were totally in sync with each other. It was so nice not to be yelling "go ask your daddy" or "why are you bringing a dead snake into the kitchen" and stuff like that. We hit Lowe's for the new patio stuff and then decided we wanted to do a shrimp boil for a late lunch so we had to drive to Port Arthur to get some fresh shrimp. We were having fun and as much as we LOVE spending time with the boys, I absolutely am in my own world when it's just me and Brent. He told me last night he really enjoyed our day, and even though it was impromptu alone time, we enjoyed it thoroughly. Trying to think of something special for his birthday and our anniversary so any suggestions would be helpful... I have been really stressed out with the momma situation so to just relax after Saturday was very much welcomed. When we came home Saturday evening and I had been gone all effin day I kind of had a fit and yelled - I think I scared my neighbor who was talking to Brent? lol Anyway they are trying to form or mold or whatever this "burn" whatever the hell that is, on the track but really it's just a giant mudhole to me. We had storms and a lot of rain this week so it was just sitting water so he told the boys to take the four-wheeler and make it mud so it would dry faster? WTHELL??? Anyway I was PO'd. They were throwing mud all over the picnic table, themselves, it was a mess. My poor neighbor. He told Brent "Yep, I got one of them." Now that was funny. Anyway they got everything put away and cleaned up then I cleaned Ian up, Liam took a shower then went to Drake's with him then we made fajita tacos for everybody to eat. I sometimes think after a stressful day like Saturday that when I get home I just want peace and tranquility, NOT dirt bikes, mud, four-wheelers, and dirty, muddy kids running around the back yard. Brent said that's part of the collateral damage of having boys. I am guessing at this point he was right. So Sunday was quiet, just the two of us for the most part, and one of the days where you just need to reconnect after the stressful week of class parties, awards programs and just finishing up all the loose ends of the school year. Hopefully we'll have more of those this summer.

The equipment Brent used to spread all the dirt on the track that is now one big mudhole.

My little momma is staying with my sister in Houston this week so hopefully everyone will make it out alive! Nah, just kiddin. I told my sister while they were on their way to beware because she may feel momma's little talons around her neck! She was not happy but we put her in the truck and said she will enjoy herself once she gets there which I'm thinking may be the case. She seems to gripe and moan but then we just tell her we are making these decisions because we love her and want her to thrive, not wither away. She weighs 72 pounds and is no bigger than a minute, but I can see an improvement just since she was at Tricia's and interacting with all of us more. Me and all my sisters are in this together and we are going to make sure her life is peaceful and quiet from here on out. Not having to deal with grown useless kids and grandkids or anything like that. As my daddy used to say "Baby, nothing's fair but the weather," which is a saying that seems to ring true each and every day.

My sister just called and told me we have to go see The Hangover. She said it was hilarious. Hopefully Ian and Liam can spend some time with their friends and Brent and I can sneak out to the movies and go see it.

I cannot believe on the 16th we'll be married 19 years. That anniversary hasn't even arrived yet and I'm already planning and deciding what we are going to do for our 20th!! That is going to be so strange, I used to think people who had been married for 20 years were almost dead, but like we say all the time: We fall more in love with each other all the time. It's funny because sometimes we can't get enough of each other and then sometimes we need space so he can do things he likes and I can do things I like ... and the boys usually like what he's doing so they pick to do the stuff daddy's doing. It's ok with me because with so many sisters and some true friends around, I always feel like I have somebody to do stuff with. That's the thing we talk about a lot, we do fall in love with each other over and over. I guess that's the secret: love the person enough to keep falling in love with them. Or maybe it's just that we're too stubborn to give up!!! Either way, I'm happy as long as we're together.

Ciao Bella!