They're Coming...

As you may have noticed my blogging has slowed considerably... With the end of the school year, two kiddos, and a scanner needing software to be reinstalled, I have been slacking! Now that summer is here, I will be playing catch up! Lots of stuff to post about the boys, incredible resources we have found, and other miscellaneous stuff. I'm pretty sure you will be sick of me by the end of the month.

Bright & Shiny

Guess who learned how to take his diaper off??

Summer Reading

Let me start with one of the most overused phrases ever: "Don't judge a book by its cover"

Now saying that, I still have such a hard time practicing this. Publishers spend tons of money creating covers for books to grab your attention from the shelves. I am an avid "Chick-lit" reader, so when I search the library for a new read I hit up the fiction section looking for bright colored spines and cutesy cartoon-esque illustrations. If they don't jump out at me, they are overlooked.

A friend of mine insisted I read this book:

ummm...not necessarily screaming "read me." It sort of looks like a cheesy romance novel.

I took it home not thinking I would waste my few minutes of quiet time at night cracking this snore-fest open.

The school year started wrapping up and my friend asked if I would be reading and returning her book before summer. That night, while soaking in the tub, I figured I would at least give the first chapter a chance.

Life changing.

Besides the bible, it is the best book I have EVER read. This novel has made me want to be a more forgiving, less judging person, as well as a stronger Christian.

(I'm obviously no author, so I'm warning you that my description will not give it justice.) The story takes place during the Gold Rush of 1850 with Angel, who has had a tough life and because of this is unable to trust men, and Michael, a Christian who learns that Angel is the one that God has called him to love. It is a biblically-based fiction novel that illustrates unconditional love, the importance of forgiveness, and the changes that happen when you surrender to God.

As soon as I finished the last page I immediately got online and ordered three copies from amazon to give as gifts and am now waiting for them to arrive.

For those of you looking for a good read, here it is. :)

Tribute to Albert

When Brian and I first moved in together in 2004 my parents cat had just given birth to a litter of kittens. We decided to take two of the kittens with us: Albert, the boy, and Riddick, the girl who we originally thought was a boy. That first year I learned something new: just because animals are siblings doesn't mean they won't breed. Nine kittens later I learned our lesson and had Albert fixed. lol

A few years later we had Carson and moved into our new house. Both cats were amazingly patient with Carson and would let him pet them and would just get up and walk away if Carson started getting on their nerves.

We hadn't been in the house very long when Riddick passed away, making Albert our only pet.

When I say he was the best cat in the world, I really mean it. Even friends of ours that aren't "cat people" loved him because he was just so friendly.

When Carson was little we would go on walks through the neighborhood and Albert would accompany us, and would even stop and wait if we talked to neighbors.

He knew his name only when I called him and would meow in response each time I called for him.

He really turned into more of an outside cat the past few years, but would still greet us by the front door every morning as we left and again when we arrived home.

On Easter weekend, while we were out of town, we received a text message from our neighbors saying that they had found Albert. It appeared to them that he must have been attacked by dogs due to a large amount of cat hair found in the yard and no signs of being run over. We were devastated; he has been a part of our family even before we were a "family." Even worse, we had to tell Carson the news on Easter during our drive back home. He cried the entire way, he has known Albert his whole life. :(

I probably sound like a crazy cat lady writing a blog about Albert, but since he was a "Scott" I wouldn't feel right not paying tribute to him.

I am sure one day we will eventually find another cat, but Albert will be a tough act to follow!

Painting with a Twist

One of my best friends, Lindsey, celebrated her 29th birthday yesterday by hosting a party at a place called Painting with a Twist. The way it works is that the host chooses a piece of artwork that all guests will learn to paint while sipping wine. Our instructor was a soon-to-be retired kindergarten teacher and her husband, and the art of the evening was a fleur de lis ("florida leaf" according to my co-workers lol). We used the same basic image, but chose our own colors based on how our homes are decorated. I have been trying to find something to hang on the wall in our master bathroom, so this event was able to kill two birds with one stone.


We started by tracing a large stencil on our canvas with a pencil and then painted around it for our background. (I thought about lying and saying I painted that free-hand, but if any of you attend a class I would be caught!)



The birthday girl and her mom:


After the background was painted we dried it and painted the inside.

Two hours later we had finished "masterpieces" to take home!

All the girls:

It was slightly stressful, just because we were perfectionists, but we all had a really great time!

Registered!

Last night we signed Carson up at an elementary in the district where I teach. We are hoping he will be accepted into the Dual Language Program where he will learn in both English and Spanish and be fluent in both languages by the time he enters junior high. He was evaluated a couple of weeks ago, now we are just waiting for the school to finish testing the other applicants.

At the meeting we learned a few things that we need to work on over the summer, like shoe tying and learning our address, and also what he will be capable this time next year, the most amazing being the level of reading he will do!

I know I say this all the time, but where does the time go?? How is my little guy already about to enter school?? Why can't we freeze time and keep him this age forever?? I am thinking I need to start stocking up on kleenex now because I am going to need it come August!

Mother's Day

Life has been busy, mostly with work! Between TAKS and 8th grade dance preparation, I have stayed late at school pretty much every day for the past three weeks. This week I didn't get home before 8pm any night, making me miss my guys so much. So, I wanted to spend Sunday having some quality family time.

We decided to invest in season passes to Schlitterbahn in Galveston, so that we can have a fun place to go this summer while the boys and I are off. We had such a great day!

After sleeping in, I was woken to breakfast in bed and a bouquet of flowers. We got dressed in our swim suits and headed to Wal-mart to fill up an ice chest for the day. (A plus to going to Schlitterbahn is that you can bring in outside food and drinks)

We are only about 45 minutes away from the park, so it didn't take long to get there and hop in.

The water was still a little cool, but Carson didn't mind a bit.

Deacon thought the water was hilarious. He must have known it was Mother's Day because he repeated "mama" over and over the entire afternoon! :)

With Carson's new haircut, he looks like such a KID. The baby look has left his little face, and he is getting so big. Next thing we know he will be losing teeth too! How is it possible that this is already my 6th Mother's Day!?!

Brian and I took turns the rest of the afternoon hanging with Deacon, while the other rode the big slides with Carson. The bad thing about water parks are that you can't take as many photos (...well unless you have a waterproof camera, which we do not) so all the photos were taken close to where our bags were. But seeing as I am about a million blogs behind now, it is probably better that I didn't have so many photos to go through!

I couldn't have asked for a better day or a greater family than the one God gave me! I am one lucky gal!