Breakfast with Santa

Santa came to our favorite local diner, The Downtowner, Saturday morning. The boys were were so excited to go have Breakfast with Santa, even though when they got there, they either tried to act cool (Bryce), were very nervous (Jayden), or couldn’t remember the lengthy list of gifts (Rylan) he had typed up with the help of his big brother.


Bryce tries to sabotage all my pictures… this is our attempt to get him to smile… blurry.

Jayden trying to assert his independence by cutting his own pancakes.
 

Happy Birthday To My Main Man!

We had fun celebrating Dan's birthday this week! Just some good old-fashioned family fun!

Yummy Paula Deen Strawberry Cake with strawberry cream cheese icing... to die for!

Jayden is full of surprises... keeps us laughing all the time!

These are the men in my life... don't know what I would do without them.

Dan enjoying his birthday cards.

Jayden wanted to write on the envelope... for some reason, seeing it made me feel all mushy inside. My boys mean everything to me, and they are growing up so fast... Jayden with his straight up and down writing, insisting on calling Dan "Dad" instead of "Daddy" , trying to be all grown up... this is the "stuff" people, this is the "stuff."

Back to School 2009

We all went "back to school" in Hooks, Texas this year. Dan, as a coach and P.E. teacher at Hooks High School, Tammy as a 5th grade Math teacher at Hooks Junior High (only responsible for one subject for the first time in 12 years of teaching... yahoo!), Bryce-4th grade (how did that happen so fast?), Jayden - Kindergarten (or as we are calling it, "Super Kindergarten" since he was barely old enough last year, we decided to give him an extra year in kindergarten), and Rylan in Pre-K, all at the elementary school. This is a super exciting year for us as it is the very first time that we are ALL going to school in the school district and the first year since Bryce was born over 9 years ago, that we are not paying for childcare. Also, very exciting for the sons of two schoolteachers, they get to ride a schoolbus... they are delivered to me afterschool at my building. Our little family is growing up... we do feel blessed, at peace, and we are loving a much simpler life as we grow accustomed to our "hick town", as my late brother told my grandmother after he visited us last year. Here are a few pictures ... I have been having fun on a new photo editing website try it...

Summer so far...

The kids got out of school on May 29th, but I worked with kids who needed extra help until June 10th, so by then I was more than ready to join my kids in Summer Vacation 2009!!! We've been busy with normal summertime activities and trying to keep cool as Texas summer heat is in full swing.

Dan and I at a country concert.. we had so much fun!

My parents came to Plano for a week (Dad works in Plano often) and the boys stayed with them for a few days until I was able to meet up after school got out. Dan was busy with summer coaching so he held down the fort in Hooks. I also got to have some great fun time with Jill, my longtime friend, and to get together with some of my DFW area friends. I celebrated my 34th birthday this week, feeling blessed beyond belief by my sweet husband and boys, but missing so much Mark, on a day important to our family.

Jayden playing with Grandpa Big Mark

Life is plugging along, and we all know that's the way it should be. We are counting our blessings and doing our best to enjoy every day, especially in the slowed down summer pace that we teachers adore! However, having lost my brother, who passed away unexpectedly on May 16, nothing seems normal. Dad, Mom, Angie, Dan, and I best describe it as an empty feeling, a real physical feeling that is always there. We can be enjoying dinner or a ballgame, or swimming with the kids, and then it just hits. It is the loss, the pain, the memories, and especially the feeling that he should just be there with us, or at least be around to look at the pictures and laugh with us later. For all of us, crying is part of each day, somedays it is worse than other days, some days the memories are easier to swallow, and other days the why? and how? questions weigh heavy. We get through it day by day, moment by moment, all of wishing that we weren't having to go through this at all. We just miss Mark, we miss the role he played in our family, and we miss our sense of "normal" that we are used to, as wacky as it may have been at times.

My sweet friends

So, we pick up the pieces, day by day, and put the puzzle together as best we can just for that day. We keep texting and facebooking and telling each other that "we will get through this." We know now more than ever that life is about today, and that our time on earth is unpredictable by us.

The boys with Grandma

Four Hours of Therapy

Hair Therapy, that is... needed to do something for myself, and since I always color my hair out of a box (been noticeably gray since my early twenties), and haven't had it done professionally since Rylan was a baby (He's 4 now!), I thought I'd splurge. I found a gal who did Mary's hair for prom. Charming little shop that she works in all alone. It was kinda' a nice escape to sit in there for 4 hours (didn't know it would take that long) and talk to someone who doesn't know what all has happened in the last two weeks. We just chatted about this and that... nice escape. Here are the requested pics... 

Muffins for Mom

Ms. Shayna

A Few Pictures

With Dan (Coach B) and Mary after the Sports Banquet. Mary was the Offensive Player MVP!
With my boys on Mothers' Day.  Jayden had fallen asleep in the car and wasn't really in picture-taking mode. Can you tell?
With Mary, my Italian daughter!
Son #1
Son #3
Son #2- the one who looks like me!

Enter at your own risk... overabundance of Easter pictures!

Spring School Pictures

Jayden

Bryce

Rylan

I only buy school pics once a year in the Fall, but here are some scanned in copies of the Spring proofs... very interesting expressions on my rowdy boys faces!

Let Them Be Little

Jayden just before he scored today in his first soccer game

Bryce giving Rylan a "piggy bank" ride today

Bryce, Jayden, and Rylan 2005

I heard a song on a friend's playlist tonight that gave me that feeling in the pit of my stomach. I often write about how if only I could freeze time.




I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand. Felt so good in it, no bigger than a minute. How it amazes me, you're changing with every blink. Faster than a flower blooms they grow up all too soon.

Jayden 2003

So let them be little, cause they're only that way for a while. give them hope, give them praise, give them love, every day. Let em cry, let em giggle, let them sleep in the middle. oh, just let them be little. Bryce, Jayden, and Grandma 2003

I've never felt so much in one little tender touch. I live for those kisses, prayers and your wishes. Now that you're teaching me things only a child can see. Every night while we're on our knees all I ask is... Jayden 2003

Let them be little... so innocent, a precious soul, you turn around. Its time to let them go.

Bryce, Dan, Jayden 2004

Let them be little.

So long March 2009

Goodbye March... we had lost of fun...



Spending time outside and getting new freckles.

Eating Nachos at the Lady Hornets softball game

Having a friend spend the night

Playing at the park

Hunting for diamonds

Learning to Rollerskate

Listening to music outside in the sun

Building forts in the backyard with the brothers

Running through the sprinklers and drinking lemonade on that one really warm day

Daddy sent flowers to Mom's school for no reason... the best reason of all!

We look forward to more warm weather in April and lots of pictures, of course!

Pleasure in the Flowers

Excerpt from A Prayer in Spring
by Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

I had actually never planted flowers myself before today. Well, today I had two little helpers, but I've never been in charge of the project before today. I'll keep you updated on how my little flower garden grows.

"Soccerball"

Jayden had his first ever "soccerball" practice tonight. He calls it "soccerball", which when you think about it, makes perfect sense. Our other main sports are baseBALL, footBALL, and basketBALL, so why wouldn't soccer be called "soccerball." He was so excited, 5:30 just couldn't get here soon enough.