TTT: Season 3, Episodes 25 AND 26

I know, I know.
I missed last week. Believe me...I heard about it from more than one source! And it still makes me blush just a little bit to know that there are people out there who knowingly go to check on our blog every Thursday without the blaring link on Facebook. You are all to kind to care for our family like you do!

Anyhow, two weeks have passed since I last wrote. Two action packed, totally chaotic, but immensely fun weeks! I did remember to write last Thursday; I just didn't do it. Because the next day I had eight orders to finish up, "closing ceremonies" for Vacation Bible School to attend, tons and tons a food to cook for arriving guest, oh, and a house to get ready, too. So I opted for sleep instead of writing. And the boys had been at VBS all week anyway, so really, I didn't have too much to talk about other everything I had accomplished with just Grant and me. And I could hear Mark singing Toby Keith's "I Wanna Talk About Me...." over and over in my head. So I just let Thursday pass on to Friday and swept the ol' blog under the rug.

But I'm back! And I've got a ton of pictures to unload on you. I think the photos will serve well to tell the stories of the past two weeks. Really, I know there are way too many, but editing anything out would just be impossible. So here we go!

Father's Day! Mark was on-call that morning but we greeted him with presents when he got back home. One of which was a Texas flag for his developing man-garage. See our mengy looking children? We remedied that later that day.

Gotta start a Father's Day race with a good three point stance. I think Rudy jumped the gun.

After eating Mexican food for lunch, we stopped by the barber shop next door and got hair cuts for the big boys. And no, we didn't leave Rudy's in a chili bowl. Had to get a picture of it though! We later had dinner at my parents and celebrated with Pa. Apparently I didn't take any pictures. :(

First day of Vacation Bible School! I was a little worried as this was the first time for the boys to do anything without Mama or another family member...ever. I know. Probably time to cut the cord a bit! The part that worried me was that our church's program ran from 8-3 every day. That's a looooong time for little guys! Especially Rudy with no nap. They were both put in the 4 year old class so Rudy could be with Kolbe and their teacher was a good friend of my mom's that I feel really comfortable with...we see her at mass weekly and she was a perfect fit for the boys. They loved it!

But Rudy looked like this every day once we got home! He still definitely needs his nap!

On Friday night, Uncle Brian, Aunt Cristi, G-ma, and Papa Jeep all arrived for our Birthday Extravaganza! Saturday morning we all woke up and went to the Rob  Fleming Aquatic Center...one of The Woodlands pools that has a full out adult size water slide, a lazy river, and a good kiddie section too. We had a blast!!!

The birthday boys getting a little swimming in!

On Saturday night, my mom came over and watched the boys so that all the adult Asmussens could go out for a nice dinner at Brio, home of my favorite meal...the gogonzola steak. Mark's dad, aka Papa Jeep, was turning sixty on Sunday and I was turning thirty on Monday so we got to do a little pre-celebrating sans kiddos. Here are the original Asmussens!

And then with the "outlaws" included!

Kolbe did a great job of decorating cupcakes for our Sunday birthday parties!

Love, love, love this picture! Papa Jeep and Baby Grant turned sixty and one (respectively) on Sunday!

I'm going to post a whole series of pictures depicting Grant's take down of his birthday cake. It's just too good to miss! 'Cause even though this shot is good, it doesn't fully do it justice. At one, Kolbe was afraid of his cake, Rudy kind of poked and prodded but didn't do much. But Grant more than made up for their passive behavior. He was a monster! And though the cake ended up looking like mass destruction, Mark and I were guessing that he actually ate roughly 4-5 real bites. It was hysterical! He loves to make a mess!

Papa Jeep, Brian, and Cristi had to leave Sunday night, but G-ma is with us until this weekend. We headed over to my parents' house on Monday to celebrate my birthday a little more and enjoyed pizza, German chocolate cake, and margaritas. Nothing like turning thirty with both sippy cups and maragaritas on the table and a baby on your hip! I'm one blessed lady.

The pretty stacker rings that the boys gave me for my birthday...Love them! And love that Mark set up his own etsy account to order them for me! Mark also got me a Dyson. And I've run the vacuum at least 4 times in the past few days. I also got a neat chest for the top of the stairs that I'm working on decorating. It was a great birthday!

We have loved having G-ma here this week! She is so helpful and the boys just have a blast with her. And Grant has definitely fallen in love with his G-ma!

We've had so much fun that yesterday, even Kolbe, Mr. I-Don't-Take-Naps-Anymore, dozed off for a little snooze with his G-ma.

So as you can see, we've been up to so, so much and have been loving every minute of it. There are so many more pictures floating around out there that I haven't lifted off of everyone else's cameras so maybe later this week I'll make up for my missed post with a second photo post to include all the other good ones. I have to tell you all, we are such a blessed little family. Life is so good!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 24

1. It's been a pretty long day here at the Asmussen Ranch. It's safe to say that we've come down with our first (and hopefully only!) summer cold. Coughs, runny noses, watery eyes...just a whole bunch of the plain-ol'-don't-feel-goods. Kolbe and Rudy try to soldier on as if nothing is wrong, but Rudy has nearly no voice left and Kolbe voluntarily got in his bed during quiet time...he said to read books...and ended up taking a full nap. When Kolbe naps, you know he doesn't feel right! But Grant has definitely been the worse. Poor fella. His little nose is like a faucet. And he rubs his eyes constantly because they're watery. And on top of that, he's got two little red spots on his bottom gums. Possibly time for a few more teeth. Hopefully this all blows over pretty quickly, because we've got a lot going on in the next two weeks! Vacation Bible School next week, then the birthday weekend extravaganza (Mark's mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law are all coming to town to celebrate Grant's first, my thirtieth, and Mark's dad's sixtieth!), and then a week with G-ma. Can't be sick for any of that!

2. So last week I went on a rant about Mark working long hours and just feeling totally spent with taking care of the kiddos. Luckily, we had a fantastic weekend and Mark was able to take the boys several times and give me a break. So I got to start the week with my batteries recharged. And reading back through my rant, I realized that I probably sounded a bit cuckoo. Because the truth is, I've got it good compared to most people. And so does Mark. Mark finally has a job that he's enjoying, co-workers who treat him really well, and a lot of room to grow and learn with what he's doing. Not to mention the fact that the dreaded pager is a thing of the past and he's on-call way less frequently than before. And hello! I'm getting to live out my dream job in a great house with great children. My husband works hard for us so we can have all of the things we need and many of the things we just want. Life is good. So good. I've got a blessed life and have absolutely no room to complain. So I won't. That is, until the next time I feel totally overwhelmed. (but I'll try not to!)

3. Last week I also mentioned needing to take some sort of action with my little shop. I don't even know why I call it a little shop any more. Being honest, it's not little. Not little when it comes to just one person running it. It went from "steady business" meaning six to ten orders a week to "steady business" meaning six to ten orders a day. And though I try, I feel like I've reached the point where it's just too hard for me to keep up with it without sacrificing time or the quality of the time I have with the boys. I've never wanted my shop to become one of those shops where it takes multiple weeks for orders to ship. I've been running on a seven day production time for months now and that's the longest I want to go. But it's reached the point where I'm intentionally not renewing listings because I know I can't take any more orders for the day. And I always wake up the next morning to several "convos" (as they're called on etsy) saying "I'm trying to order two changing pad covers from you and it says they're unavailable. Are you still making them?" Responding with "Yes, but I purposely didn't re-list because I knew I wouldn't be able to get your order done within the next seven days" seems crazy. So anyway, I'm sure you get the jest of what I'm getting at. I've reached the point where I either decide to keep struggling along, find a way to cut the business off/ slow it down, or find someone to help me with it. And I've decided to go with the last option. I'm shutting the shop down for a week while Mark's family is in town, but when I open back up I'm planning to have a new helper in place. I've got to work on creating a job responsibility list and finding someone to fill the spot. I'm hoping to find a high school-age girl who can come by a few times a week for a few hours at a time to help with cutting fabric, folding, tagging, and packaging orders, printing shipping, and keeping up with the inventory. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll be looking back and saying it's the best move I ever made for my not-so-little shop.

I'm sure you've all heard the saying that when you have kids and it suddenly gets quiet, something bad is probably going on. Kolbe has finally reached the point where that's not always the case. He often disappears now and can be found coloring or writing all on his own. He's turning in to a real boy. Bittersweet.

We had a whopper of a storm the other day. I was on my way to my parent's house and as I left the sky was dark so I checked the weather ap on my phone and it said we only had a 30% chance of rain. But by the time we got to my parent's it was full-on chaos. I was supposed to be in that turning lane above. Not so much. So many trees fell in The Woodlands. They were everywhere!

Last Friday I was working on some laundry and asked Kolbe if he'd fold and stack all the wash rags while I got Grant down for his nap. Twenty minutes later I went down to my bathroom and found this. How awesome is my kid!?! He said the stack kept falling over so he just laid it sideways. Ha! Usually I just fold them in half once and then in half again...he opted for the three fold process, making them look like tiny spa towels, and I simply couldn't bring myself to change them. They went in to the drawer just like that. He was so proud. And so was I.

My precious little baby and me! (I'm going to keep calling him that as long as possible, because it's definitely fading away way too quickly)

Peekaboo, Grant!

Two brothers sliding at the mall playground (that's probably where we picked up the cold!)

The Woodlands has thirteen different pools and we're on a mission to hit them all by the end of the season. This one was a lot of fun! This entire play structure area is only a foot and a half deep so it's super easy to let the boys go wild without having to worry too much about them.

Kolbe during his voluntary nap...they're all about the swimming and now all about the goggles! I walked in and found him just like this.

Trying out their new goggles in the bath tub!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 23

1.       It’s been hot here for a while…ok, let’s face it, it never did get cold…but the real summer heat has officially set in. Like the walk-to-the-mail-box-and-come-back-soaking-wet kind of heat. I only wish I was exaggerating on that one. It’s really, really miserable. Luckily, this year we got pool passes for the thirteen different pools in The Woodlands. We skipped out last summer since I had just had a C-section and also had a non-pool friendly newborn. But this year, it was a must. And so far we’ve been three times in a little over one week. The boys love it. And I do too! It gives us something to do…something that burns energy. Sure, it’s kind of difficult with Grant. He’ll sit in his baby raft for about twenty minutes, let me lug him around the pool for another fifteen or so, and then he’s ready to be cut loose. So for at least the second half of our trip, I’m posted on the edge of the shallow end where I can quickly grab either of the bigger boys in the water and I can also monitor Grant crawling around by the spray ground. But hey, it keeps us cool, keeps us active, and keeps us happy! We attempted to go to the park on Tuesday. Bad idea. Never again. At least not until late September-ish.  The second bad decision on that one was taking the wagon. By the time we got home, I was drench from A) walking in the blazing, humid heat and B) pulling a good sixty plus pounds behind me. I was literally shaking after we walked in the door and stood in front of the fridge, doors open, for several minutes. If you’re looking for us this summer, it will either be at a pool or indoors. Sorry, nature. See you this fall.

2.       It’s been a long week. And do you know what makes a week long at our house? Mark’s work schedule. Man, it’s been ridiculous lately. Part of it was that he was on call this past weekend, which I must add is still way better than his old job, but it did mean that he had to go round on patients Saturday and Sunday mornings. And when they service something like six or seven hospitals and there are lots of patients at each, rounds take a long time. And then beyond that, he hasn’t been home by dinner a single night in the past week (other than Saturday and Sunday). I know that doesn’t mean much to some people, but eating together is important to us. It’s kind of like our family time. And heck, he hasn’t even made it home before the kids went to bed on a few of those nights. So I sound like I’m complaining. And I guess I am. I realize all weeks aren’t like this, and right now it’s just really busy. But man, oh man, are weeks like this hard on the both of us! He’s exhausted physically and mentally by the time he gets home, and I’m just completely spent on the whole childcare gig by the end of the night. I love taking care of my babies, but I’ll be the first to say that I have no desire to be a single mom of three babes, four and under!

3.       It’s nearly half way through the year so I thought I’d check in on my 2012 Bucket List.

(1)(2)- Drinking more water and trying new foods are still a work in progress. We still have not gone to get Thai food. But we’re planning to go to a Brazilian steak house for my birthday. A place that serves only meat? I’m in.

(3)- I’ll admit it…I’ve kind of fallen off on my daily devotionals. And I did well the first quarter of the year! I need to move them out to the family room so I don’t have the Mark-is-already-asleep-so-I-can’t-turn-on-the-light-excuse.

(5)(6)- I’ve definitely made at least one thing for our home each month, and I think I have the curtains covered too! Granted, I didn’t make the family room ones and have since decided that I don’t want any in the boys’ room (the new paint stands out plenty on its own); I’ve got the kitchen and game room down.

(8)- The house cleaning schedule…I posted about that a while back and have still been trying to maintain it. The only part I really don’t like is that, while everything is getting periodically cleaned, it’s never all clean at once. There’s something about having that totally clean feeling that’s nice. So may have tweak this one.

(9)- No trip with just Mark and me yet, but I did go to see him in San Antonio for one night!...with Grant…

(10)(11)(12)- Kolbe reading, Rudy letters/numbers, manageable discipline plan…I’d say we’re getting there on all of these! Kolbe is starting to sound out words and understand how the letters represent certain sounds. Rudy is golden on the letters and numbers. And it’s really something we haven’t had to work much on. He just “gets it.” No numbers past ten, but he can nail the letters every time…unless he’s being a turkey. And with our money jars, the boys’ behavior has really been pretty good lately. I can’t complain!

(13)(14)(20) are all suffering- Rosary? Not nearly enough. Volunteering with kids? Nope. Spa day? Uh, no. Maybe after summer when my feet are totally abused from wearing sandals non-stop.

(17) Donate items at least 6 times during there year- I’m excelling at this one. I’ve already been six times and it’s only June. It feels so great to get rid of “stuff” and have a more polished home while helping someone else in need.

(18) No little family trip yet, but we’re headed to Austin in October for my cousin’s wedding. Thinking we’ll make this it!

(4) The budget, (19) writing letters, (7) blogging, (15) actively listening, (16) less cell phone- are all somewhere in the going-well-trying-hard-doing-my-best-working-on-it-daily category. Hopefully by year’s end I’ll have legitimate results on these that I can be proud of.

(21) And last but not least, my shop. Oh, the shop. It’s almost humorous to read “meet my yearly business goal for my shop.” It’s only June and I’m on track to meet it by early August. Guess I should have aimed higher! We’ll talk more about that next week…I think I’m to the point that I need to take action.

A little light on the pictures this week! Didn't figured you'd want to see a shot of me standing in front of the fridge with the doors open or trying to break in to Mark's car because the boys locked the keys in there. :/

Waiting for adult swim to be over so they can jump back in!

Grant has been a champ at using a straw since around 8 months. Now he's even mastered the more tricky Camelbak straw!

The ill-fated trip to the park. Kolb got to ride with Grant on the way they're and then Rudy got to ride with him on the way home. Lucky me, I got the pull there and back.

Un-edited pic of Rudy upon returning home from the park. And he was the one riding in the wagon! Not pedaling the bike! It was ridiculous, I tell you. Call me a bahumbug who never leaves the house; I don't care. WAY too hot!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 22

1. I've made it a bit of a bad habit to come sliding in to home plate just as the ball reaches the catcher's mitt these past few weeks. In other words, I've known what I've wanted to write about in my weekly blog post, chatted it out in my mind, and just haven't had the time to sit down and type it all out until it's nearly no longer Thursday. And here I am again this week. But here, nonetheless. Anyhow, I really did want to wait until tonight to write this week because I was anticipating the arrival of my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece. They're only in town tonight and tomorrow, but since they live in Mountain Home, Idaho, we pretty much never get to see them so it's a real treat. We had a lot of fun with them tonight over sandwiches at Potbelly and then strolling around The Woodlands Market Street. Man, I wish they lived closer! The boys were having a ball with Jackson (who is every bit as tall as Rudy and is more than a full year younger!) and all of us were oodling over Miss Kennedy...our only girl! I'm pretty sure that I'm somewhat of a grandma even though I'm still in the baby phase of parenting. I love loving on my niece and nephews and don't feel the least bit bothered when they are out of line or disruptive or doing any sort of "wrong." There's just something about being able to love on a little one without having to parent or feel responsible for their behavior. Does that sound ridiculous!?! Who cares if it does. I spend nearly all day, every day doing the full deal with my three little monkeys. It's a joy just to get to do the fun part with the other little ones. And I guess it isn't so bad having to see their mom and dad either!

2. Wow! I had lots of positive comments, emails, and texts about the "money jars" that I wrote about last week. Wish I could take all the credit, but as I mentioned, it was just an idea from my own childhood that I've tweaked to be age appropriate for our guys. We're still going strong after two full weeks and the boys seem to have really bought into it.  I will mention a couple of things....for one, I think the money jar is great for kids roughly three and older. They have to understand what money is and why one would want it. The boys have really just started to catch on to the fact that in order for us to take something home from the store, we have to give the store money in exchange. It's been a hoot to explain debit and credit cards too! I'm pretty sure Kolbe's mind was blown when I told him that we give our money to the bank and then the bank gives it to the store. Craziness, I tell you. But back to the money jars. Another thing that we're trying to build on with it as both a discipline process as well as a life lesson-type thing is the whole payout process. It doesn't mean anything to them unless they see actual results. So determining some finite amount is important. And I think there are lots of ways to go with it. For example, once you reach fifty coins, you get to go pick out a prize at the store. Or more direct: fifty coins equals $5. Earn fifty coins, get a $5 payout, and head to the store. Having an at-home store would work too. Like trade in twenty coins to stay up and extra twenty minutes with Mom and Dad. We've also started working on "Well, you'll have to save some of your coins to get a little birthday present for Grant." Or "Don't forget...we're going to set aside a few coins each to put in the offering at mass on Sunday." Like I said, there's lots and lots of ways to go with this whole idea that can grow and develop as the kids get older. And thanks so much for y'all's encouragement! I'd love to hear about it if any of you give it a try or have success stories.

3. Three Thought Thursday's Three Random Tidbits:
- I had that dental work done that I mentioned last week. Brutal. Someone forgot to remind me that fillings involve shots in the gums. And spending hours with those massive brackets that hold your jaw open. I immediately went to the store and stocked up on a plethora of dental products. Never. Again.
- Kolbe: Mom, guys are supposed to have hairy arms, not girls.
  Me: Yep.
  Kolbe: So why are your arms so hairy?
  Me: I don't know. I guess that's just the way God made me.
  Kolbe: You should cut that all off so you don't look like a guy.
  Me: Well maybe I should but then it would just grow back.
  Kolbe: Well you could shave it when you take a shower like your legs.
  Me: But I don't even like having to shave my legs.
  Kolbe: Yeah, but you have to. Or people will think it's gross. So you should shave your arms too. 'Cause they'll also think that's gross.
  Me: Thanks, son. Leave me alone. (Thanks for the self esteem booster!)
- The countdown is on. We've down to not months, but days until my baby is one. Am I the only one that feels sick in the stomach over this? My parents gave me a Mother's Day card that said something like "the days are long but the years are so short." That couldn't be more true. I really was pregnant with Grant last week, watched him roll over for the first time on Monday, and cheered as he learned how to clap yesterday. It went by way too fast and I'm kind of feeling like I just wish it would stop and replay over and over. He has been the best little baby.

After early baths one night, Mark took the boys out to hit practice golf balls. They love it.

It's hard to tell but he's balancing on a narrow little slanted ledge. He's getting pretty brave, this one.

11 months

Kolbe and Jackson...I think Kolbe was teaching Jackson a few of his shenanigans!

Market Street has live music on Thursday nights in the summer...I wish we could have stayed to listen to this band longer! Yes, that guy in the middle is playing a set of spoons on his washboard. Reminded me SO much of my years in Mississippi!

Jackson loves Pa! He kept asking for a kiss across the table at Potbelly. So cute!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 21

1. It's a known fact that in my 4.5 years of parenting I've tried many-a-method when it comes to taming my crazy monkeys. Yes, they are just little boys. But they're two boys, just fifteen months apart and, if given the freedom, would run the world amok. Really, they are fabulous, smart, good little boys. I just want to keep them that way! So when we returned from our beach trip and sassy attitudes were at an all time high, I decided to give something we did when I was a child a shot. Knowing how in to money and coins my kids have been, I thought it just might be effective. When we were growing up we called it "Dimes." It consisted of us each having a baby food jar with ten dimes in it. Any time we cut out of line, we lost a dime. At the end of the week, we each got to keep our remaining dimes. While it didn't work at all for some (Andy was known to ask my mom to take all of his dimes on the first day...), I used to walk away with my full dollar's worth every week. I decided to mix it up a bit and go from the positive side of things with the boys. They each have a jar on the kitchen counter. Each time I get a "yes ma'am" or catch them doing something nice or they do something the first time I ask etc, etc. they get a money in their jars. (penny) And with each "no" or sass or fighting or whining or disrespect it's a money out. To say it has been a success would be a serious understatement. Especially with Kolbe. He's gone from Mr. Sassy-Pants to Mr. Perfect overnight! I knew from the get-go that while it would be a hugely popular idea to begin with, I'd have to work hard to keep up the results despite the fact that the actual coin-in-the-jar procedure would die down. For example, we went to the coin jars every. single. time. on the first day. By today, I think I went maybe three times. But still had the same fabulous behavior as day one. We just keep a good running tally in our minds! Anyway, I should have known that something that worked so well for me as a child would work well for my little clone. Now to just channel it in to non-stop "yes ma'ams" because Mommy deserves them instead of because a penny is attached!

2. On Saturday I woke up to a facebook post from a sweet friend of ours saying that she was going to the Texas IronMan to watch her sister run. I knew it was in The Woodlands because we went to watch it last year. And we planned on going this year as well. Sure enough, we got to meet up with Miss Lisa Myers twice and watch her sister, Laurie, finish her first IronMan! Can you imagine? I can't even fathom doing one leg of it, let alone all three. (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and then a full marathon) And not only did she finish, from what I hear she actually won her age division. Craziness! But it was so fun to see lots of people complete such an amazing feat and even more fun to catch up with such an adorable friend. We can't wait for her wedding here in Houston this summer!

3. I spent a good chunk of my day today at the dentist. Before I had kiddos I was one of those goody-two-shoes-every-six-months type of patients. But then the kids came and we lost dental coverage for a while and when we got it back, wouldn't you know it, I had another newborn. Finding time to squeeze in a dental appointment was nearly impossible. Especially amongst countless "pregnancy" appointments. (high risk people go all. the. time.) But alas, I finally got my butt in gear and went. No, not because I just up and decided it was time. And not because my teeth were aching and I thought I might have a cavity. Nope. It took a full-on chipped front tooth to finally make me go! And I have absolutely no "dental phobia" whatsoever. Just always chose something else over going to the dentist. (can you blame me!?!) It almost felt like going to confession..."Forgive me, doctor, for I have committed a dental sin. It's been three years since my last visit..." And beyond the chipped tooth, my penance was a return visit next week for fillings. Doh. Guess I better pull out all the dimes from my good girl jar to pay for this one.

My Mother's Day chairs finally in place on the front porch. :)

Every baby needs to have at least one kitchen sink bath, right? This guy loved it.

Watching Lisa and her parents wait in anticipation for their sister/daughter to round the corner to the finish line at the Texas IronMan. No lie, it was just as fun watching them wait and cheer for her as it was actually seeing her run by!

We established a while back when Grant got bit above the eye that he has quite the gnarly reaction to mosquito bites. So I've been extra cautious when taking him outside. Using deet free repellent and just keeping a watchful eye. No one wants to stay inside all summer! But apparently I didn't get any repellent on his poor ear...red, hot, and super swollen. :(

His poor ear was so swollen that it stood out like a monkey for the entire day. But he stayed happy and didn't seem to even notice it. And he's still pretty darn cute, if I must say so myself!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 20

1. We are at the beach! Ahhhhhhh. There's no place quite like it, I tell ya. And while sleeping in the same room as my three pups, and thus waking way more often in the middle of the night...like every time one of them squeals or squirms...is not ideal, I really have nothing at all to complain about right now. It's all good and we're having a blast. The boys love the ocean. Sure, they're slightly...okay, very...hesitant toward going out too far into the water. But they love the sand. And the shells. And the tiny little holes the crabs make. The excitement of the beach house. The awesome pool. Watching Looney Tunes on Uncle Dave's computer. It's great. So much fun to see these little guys experience the ocean. And so nice for me to have full time help for five days from three other adults! And of course, nice conversations, good food, and reliving old memories with my parents and brother. Okay, so maybe I do have one complaint. My husband isn't here. And nothing is quite as good without him. He's back at home working. And going through all kinds of hell right now. Really, really, really wish he was here. Dada needs a vacation too! And I wish my other brothers and their wives and kiddos were here as well. But I digress...it's been a fantastic vacation. And we're hoping and praying for a smooth ride home!

2. Though it already seems like a long time ago, my Mother's Day was fantastic! Let me just say that my husband went way over and beyond. First, he surprised me in San Antonio by telling me that on Friday, a cleaning service would be coming to the house to deep clean for me. He knows it's been something I've been wanting to do for such a long time. And I've often thrown out "well, maybe this month I'll splurge with a little bit of the money I made through the shop and get the house cleaned"  but never pulled the trigger. So he just went for it for me. And I'm so thankful he did! The house looked awesome when all was said and done and I didn't have to lift a finger. But that was only half of my Mother's Day surprise. On Sunday morning I slept in a bit before getting up and getting ready for mass. After mass, we went over to my parent's house for brunch made by Mark and my dad. And while we waited for them to finish the cooking, my second surprise was revealed: two white rocking chairs for my front porch!!! I've dreamed of having rocking chairs on my porch since I was little. Like since I imagined my house and drew pictures of it with crayons. Yet another thing I've never been able to pull the trigger on. Just can't justify it! But Mark has heard me mention wanting white wooden rocking chairs for roughly eight years now. And I suppose he just decided that if he was going to over-spend on Mother's Day, he might as well go all in and get me the much coveted chairs on top of the house cleaning. So after brunch we headed home and I took an awesome two hour nap. Followed by a bowl of chicken pot pie soup from Jason's Deli. Awesome Mother's Day! And best of all, it was spent with all four (five, including my dad!) of my guys. And my own wonderful Mama too! I know that only one woman in the world can have The World's Best Husband. So glad that it's me! And who can believe my luck...I've also got the world's best dad too! Many thanks to him for helping out Mark with the rocking chair surprise.

3. Since not much is going on beyond beach, beach, and more beach, I'll cut straight to the photos! More to come when we get home of our awesome vacation.

With my Mama and my babes...the very reasons we celebrate Mother's Day!

A great family pic in my new rocking chairs! Can you tell I was excited!?!

I mentioned last week that I was sewing like a crazy woman last week while Mark was in San Antonio. After I returned on Friday night, the boys went to bed really easily and so I had a few hours to get in a very productive work night. Lots of chevron orders!

On the road to South Padre...when you pass a sign that informs you that the next town is twenty-five miles away and your children are wailing out claims like "It's coming out! It's coming out! It's coming out!" you just have to abandon all hopes of good form and pull over. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures! And obviously Rudy hasn't mastered the art of just pulling down the front portion of his shorts. He went for the full buns.

Grant's very first feel of the ocean. It's a wonderful place, my friend!

Kolbe was so fascinated by the wind-blown sand dunes and their "zebra stripes"

Making sand stew!

So yes, my kids have been waking up way to early for this to be vacation, but hey, at least I get to witness this every morning!

Three brothers playing on the beach!

And don't you know that's some hard sleep! Play hard, sleep hard.