I will help you mommy

Today I am home with the stomach flu. Braeden had it last night so he knows how yucky it feels. My little sweetheart says "mommy, I will be your helper all day and get you whatever you want." I really didn't need anything but his cute smile and willingness to help made me order. "I will just have a drink buddy." He came back and handed me a drink. I took a large gulp and ...... "what exactly is in this drink?" " I put milk, candy, not the soft kind 'cause that would be too yucky, orange juice, seeds, not from oranges (ok, don't even want to know where he got those), and ice." He is rubbing my head saying, does it make it all better mom? Yes sweetie it does, thank you. :-)

snow day!!!

Every year our community brings in loads of snow for all of those in Texas that never get to play in it. This is Devin sledding down the hill. What you don't see in this picture is the line to get to that point. It goes all of the way down the back side. Most of the parents waited in line while their kids ran and made snowballs and then came to pelt them. The kids had so much fun. Who knew that so many people had sleds on hand. I did see a lot of boogie boards and water sport "sleds" though. There were a TON of people there. I remember last year they actually postponed the snow day due to cold weather. I wish I had a picture of the sign. I laughed forever about that. It was pretty chilly this year which made it seem like winter for a day. Braeden could not get enough of the snowball fights. I actually had to carry him kicking and screaming to the car. He could have stayed there all day.

I had to take a picture of this for all of those up north. This is a sign at our park. We have an alligator down the street from us that we visit regularly by the school. I will make it my mission to take a photo of him this week.

The death of our table

Crack, the last chair from our table set just lost it's seat. It was a dangerous thing to sit on that one. You see, our chairs have been dying off one by one this year and duck tape and glue could not put those puppies back together. Ok, I was anxiously waiting for the last one to fall so I could say, We NEED a new kitchen table. So, yesterday, my hubby bought me this. It is as sturdy as sturdy gets. It is made of Mango wood and is SOLID. Thanks Brett!

Annie

It has been so fun having Annie home. She leaves today to go back to school and we definitly feel her absence. Today she and I shopped for hours on end and I never once heard, ANOTHER STORE MOM! Which having all boys home is what I hear often. Most of all I treasured the talks late in the night and the hugs. Dad spent some good time with her. I think her favorite time was on the shooting range with her. It is an annual tradition. I did however say no to the firearm she wanted for Christmas. That could be scary, huh.

The boys could not wait to wake her up in the morning. Braeden would ask me over and over, can I get her up yet? She is cute with them even when they are bouncing all over her and smothering her with affection.

Let it SNOW!

Outside the whole neighborhood was out- even adults to see the every 4 year Christmas snowfall- do you see it-It's that white stuff on the pavement. I decked the kids out in all of their winter stuff we bought from our visit in Utah last year and we rode bikes...in the snow.

Later, when it accumulated. Dev and his buddies made snowballs on the trampoline. I am laughing as I write this- I remember when I was little, we once had to dig a tunnel to practically get out of our door. No kidding. I am glad the kids were able to ski last year. But I tell you, when it snows in Texas- you can't beat that.

Part 2 Palooz

The whole cafeteria was filled with Silent auctions donated by our community. That was the hardest part- we sent letters but ended up going door to door. Did I say I was not doing this again next year? I made it very clear to the principal that I wanted to be a kindergarten room mom or just a Tuesday folder stuffer. Ahhh

We set up tents outside for the carnival and had tons of prizes. I think the younger ones liked this the most. Nearby we had vendor booths for pizza, hamburgers, icecream (yes, in December) and funnelcakes- my sons favorite. Other vendors sold their items and we they just paid a booth fee. We made $1,000 just off renting space alone. Glad this is all done and I can say- I did that and survived!

The Palooz is OVER!

I am so glad the the Gatorpalooza is over. This is a school fundraiser that I was in charge of and by a miracle, survived!

We had each class make a basket for the Silent Auction. We also held a live auction which made quite a bit. Someone bought a parking space for a few hundred.

The rock wall was a hit. In the background you can see silly string and confetti all over the place. I bought 1,000 cans of silly string and sold out within 1 hour. We had 4 people hired to clean all of it up. But it was worth it. It was one of the kids favorites.

I rented 5 bouncables and had wristbands so they could go as many times as they wanted during the carnival.

The Chili cook off. Ok, at first I thought- do we really need it? They talked me into it and I am glad they did. It was a success. We had judges and the kids also were able to pick a favorite.