Growing Up on The Carousel

Since Coleman's first trip to Montana at 9 months old, Grandpa and Grandma have been taking him to The Painted Pony Carousel. Last week he was riding on his favorite animal, a dinosaur that he calls Puso because it is the same kind of dinosaur as his stuffed animal Puso. I started thinking about all the pictures I have of him on the carousel and how neat it would be to see how much he's grown over the years. For the first few years he's not riding the dinosaur because he didn't get Puso until Spence's first birthday trip to Build-A-Bear.

The Painted Pony Carousel and Ice Cream Parlor

First ride - October 2005

Feeling a little more confident
July 2006

He's not on Puso, but Grandma is!
Christmas 2007

He discovered the animal that looked like his Puso!
May 2008

Christmas 2009

August 2010

So many memories. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for taking us to the carousel every visit! Think we can bribe Coleman to get on Puso when he's 15?

Pretty Little Dress

Thank you Aunt Bea for this adorable dress! It is so special to have something made by Allie's great-great aunt.

Allie was being a little uncooperative for these pictures! Aunt Bea made another dress that is very similar but has blue trim. I think these dresses will fit her perfectly next Spring, so I'll probably get some better pictures next time!

All dressed up and ready to play pirates!

I'm done. See you later!

Deep Thoughts

I have no deep thoughts today. I'll say I'm functioning, but that's taking all the energy I can muster. Our flight home was supposed to leave this morning at 6:00, but we found out last night at 11:00 that it had been cancelled. There was no way to get us from Helena to Houston on Wednesday, but they were able to get us out of Bozeman, a town about 90 miles from Helena. So we got up at 4 am and Rita drove us to Bozeman for our 7:45 flight. It worked out pretty well since we originally were going to go through Minneapolis and only would have 45 minutes to change planes. (Note: It takes me that long to get everyone in and out of the bathroom.) With the new flight we were able to change planes in Salt Lake. I know Salt Lake airport and felt a lot better about having an hour and a half between flights. I'm sure the people in first class, separated from a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 1 year old by a flimsy curtain were glad we were on that flight too! They got to hear all of Coleman's video game noises and Spence's thoughts on how we were all in a big chocolate chip cookie in the sky. At least their feet couldn't reach the backs of the first class seats. Most times I feel like I'm on defense - swatting feet away from unsuspecting seat backs for the whole duration of the flight.

Well, as I said, I have no deep thoughts. So I'll leave you with Coleman's deep thought for the day:

Coleman: Do they speak English in Alaska?
Mommy: Yes. Alaska is one of the states.
Coleman: Then why are they stuck to that other country up there?

Good question.

Mixed Up Siblings

Or alternately titled: One Day I'll Need Therapy Because of the Pictures My Mommy Took of Me. That seemed a tad long though.

Last night Rita and Gale invited some friends over for dinner. One of the couples has a boy that is a few months older than Coleman, a boy that is a few months older than Spence, and a girl who is about 6 months older than Allie. The kids had the best time! They brought some of their girl's toys for Allie to play with while she is here, but I think Spence is enjoying them more! File this picture under "things Mommy can use against Spence one day."

Loving the princess crown and accessories

Spence in the crown
Allie playing with G.I. Joes
(I promise this is how I found them. Completely not staged.)

We miss you Daddy!

Mountain Hiking With Grandpa and Spencey

This post is written by Coleman

Yesterday we climbed a mountain - Mt. Helena. Lucy didn't get a drink until close to the bottom and all the way to the top! We got to the Devil's Cave! You could fit a car in there! It was a long mountain. We got really high. My legs started to hurt. We were walking slow up but fast down. There were two trails and I wanted to take the short cut but it was too steep!

Someone gave us a picture and we rocked and rolled!

We looked and looked for the house, but we couldn't see it anywhere.

The cave was the hugest I ever saw! I thought you could fit 10 cars in there. Whoa!!!

It was a long walk and I got a FIRE STICK!!! And it could burn down everything around it. There were lots of trees.

There was a fence. We saw it and that meant we were getting close to Devil's Cave. We saw lots of hikers also.

The most fun thing was seeing the Devil's Cave! I hope you liked my post Grandpa and Grandma! Thank you for taking us mountain hiking. It's so steep and I want to look out for rocks. The end.

What Summer Should Be

Summer should be going to the park, playing in the backyard, picnics on the patio, running through the sprinkler, strolling around the farmer's market, hiking up a mountain, a concert in the park, and having fun with family. The kids, Nana, and I are doing all that in Montana! We are having the best time. I have so many great pictures, but I'll just share a few for now:

Spence is very taken with Grandpa's waterfall and pond that he built in the backyard. And so am I. It is awesome!!!

Sitting on the front steps listening to a story

Ready for a tour of Helena (which was enjoyed for about 30 minutes. Too bad the tour lasted 60 minutes.)

A fan of the carousel!

Not a fan of the carousel!

It's a bit chilly, but the kids enjoy getting in Grandpa's pond

And what's summer without getting ice cream...

...all over...

...your face!

Loving our time in Montana!

Allie's First Pony Tail

I've noticed that Allie's hair on top is getting a little long. She has no tolerance for bows, so I decided to buy some tiny pony tail holders and see what she thinks. I'm not sure what she thinks, but I think she looks adorable! You may have to click on the picture to get a better look.

First pony tail

Spence thinks she looks pretty adorable also

Imagine how cute it would've looked if I had brushed the rest of her hair! Ever since Allie was born, I've been a little nervous about being responsible for making her hair look cute. If you haven't noticed, I'm not the best at brushing and taming wild hairs for my boys. Is there any hope for Allie? I remember when I hit Jr. High age I was all about hairspray and "fixing my bangs." It took longer to fix my bangs than the rest of the getting dressed routine. And no one told me this: they needed to be fixed a little better! Well, most of us Texas girls in the late 80s and early 90s looked the same! I'm going to put aside all pride and show you a few pictures.

Freshman 1991

Sophomore 1992

OK, now erase those images from your brain! And let me promise Allie that I will never tease, poof, and spray her hair like that! Unless she's going to a '90s costume party. Then I'm her stylist!

One of My Favorite Shopping Seasons

I love the Mall!

School shopping has begun! Last week I bought Coleman a pair of Sketchers one size up from his last pair (which he had never complained were too small, but his toe broke through the end of about 2 weeks before Pre-K ended!). When he tried on the new ones, he said they felt tight, so I took his feet back to Kohl's with me and found that he bypassed two sizes and now wears a boy's size 2! Earlier this week I went through the boys' closet to get an idea of what they have and what they need. They of course do not need anything but shorts and T-shirts or polos for the next 3 months. That's nice, 'cause those things just happen to be on clearance now! I bribed them into the mall today with promises of the mall playground, food court McDonald's, and cinnamon sugar pretzels. OK, the pretzels were more my reward. Here's what we got!

I know it seems odd to buy new shorts for the beginning of school, but Coleman has been wearing most of his shorts for the past 2 years. They were beginning to look pretty small. He should be able to wear these until October or November, then again in the spring. The little red guy is the Iron Man toy from one of their Happy Meals. Spence insisted he be in the picture.


Children's Place had T-shirts for $5, and I love their clothes! The Star Wars shirt is not from C.P. and was not $5, but he begged me (politely) for it, so I couldn't say no. It came with a little Clone Trooper toy (it's on the bottom of his shirt in the picture). I'm pretty sure it was more about the toy than the shirt, but I know he'll wear the shirt a lot.

And I can't just let Spence have all hand-me-downs, so he got a $5 T-shirt also. He picked it out himself! Both the boys' flip-flops blew out a few weeks ago, so we took advantage of the clearance flip flops too! And Grandma, all the Children's Place items were bought with the Christmas gift card, and we've got money left. Thanks!

Here is Allie showing off Coleman's new shoes. Allie's first word, besides DaDa and MaMa, was shoes! She says, "Sooos!", and loves to carry around her shoes or any other shoes she can find.

Last month I started looking for back packs that I could get Coleman's name on, and found this Star Wars back pack and lunch box on Pottery Barn Kids. Coleman loved it!

The lunch box hooks on to the front of the back pack so it doesn't have to be stuffed in the back pack and take up lots of space. So cool!

I know everyone may not get excited about school shopping, but I love it! It brings back so many good memories for me. My mom and I used to go on a back-to-school shopping trip every year. We had the best times! Even though my kids aren't in to it yet, and the boys probably never will be, it is still a lot of fun for me! One day, Allie!

Different Kinds of Excitement

Every day of motherhood has its own excitement. Some days there is excitement over new milestones reached by one of your children. Other days you visit exciting places. Then there are days like today. Days where the most exciting thing that happens is that someone poops in his underwear and you have to make the decision to use the dunk and flush method* or just chunk 'em. Today was a chunk 'em day. Kind of a "someone pooped in his underwear day" all around. Then while making dinner I got a call from my sweet husband who told me he got a nice compliment about his family at work, to which he replied, "Yes, I married up." Awwwww. I needed that! Brian, you made my day!

And, no, I didn't just mope around and clean up poop all day. The boys and I played a few rounds of the memory game. They like to add rules that make the game a little more interesting. I'm so blessed to be called Mommy by these sweet little people. They make even the poopy days all worth it.


*If you don't know, the dunk and flush method is where you hold the soiled undies by the waistband and submerge into the toilet. Then flush and repeat as many times as needed until most of the poop has been removed. The problem is that you're left with soaking wet, stinky underwear that now has to be transported to the washer. I don't know about you, but I don't like wringing out skidded up underroos. If anyone has found a better method please let me know!

Watch Out, Michael Phelps!

Guess what we've been doing the past few weeks? Taking swimming lessons!

Coleman and Spence started swimming lessons on July5th and finished on July 23rd. They had 8 lessons with Miss Katie. She did an awesome job teaching them. Coleman learned the freestyle, the elementary back stroke, and began learning the breast stroke. He also did some diving. Spence had fun learning his arm motions by pretending to scoop ice cream! And he learned that his body goes into different positions that look like a chicken, an airplane, and a soldier when he does the back stroke!

Coleman using the kickboard to swim across the pool

Spence doing his scoops and kicks

Coleman diving in for a toy

Allie couldn't stay out of the pool either!

Coleman has always been a little fish, and now he's becoming a really good swimmer! And now Spence knows some of the basics and should be ready to learn a lot more next summer. I think Allie may be more like Coleman when it comes to the water. She seems to have no fear and enjoys being in the pool!

His Dilemma

More breaking career news! This morning on the way home from swim lessons, we saw a landscaper on a really cool mower. That got Coleman's wheels turning and had him scratching his head.

Coleman: (literally scratching his head) I can't decide if I want to be a construction worker, a mower, or a prairie dog shooter. They all sound good! How will I choose?!?!

He was quite distraught that he had so many choices that all seemed so good. I told him he had a while to make up his mind.

Spence: I can't decide if I want to be a conductor or a shark!
Coleman: You can't be an animal. You can only be a human.
Spence: I would wear a shark costume! (In his best "well duh" voice.)

So I could be raising future prairie dog shooters and sharks. I'm one proud momma.

The Piks Meet the Pecks

This past week I spent over 20 hours in the car with the kids and ate at too many McDonald's to count! But we had a great time on our trip, and it was all worth it to get to spend the week with Theresa and her girls!

Stretching our legs at a McDonald's for breakfast about 2 hours into our trip

After arriving in Oklahoma City and getting acquainted with the girls, the kids quickly formed a band

On our second day there, we put all the car seats into Theresa's mini van and headed to a children's museum

Callie, Emily, Coleman, Spence, and Allie ready for a day of fun at the museum

Ready for take off!

Spence showing off his mechanic skills

Emily seems to know her way around under the hood!

Grocery shopping! Spence said, "Yum, corn!" Like he would ever eat corn!

Allie picking only the best produce

Emily and Spence checking out

Spence and Callie ready to fight a fire

The children's museum was a lot of fun. The next day our fun activity was Chuck E. Cheese!

Allie riding on Clifford

Callie's turn on Clifford

I like to think Spence and Callie might get married one day. They'll either make a great couple, enjoying each day to its fullest, or they may both try to steal the show and be the dominant one. We'll have to wait and see!

Emily showed Coleman how to play the Wii. Now he knows our Nintendo 64 is not the top of the line in video games!

Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of Theresa and me. Of course, we probably would have looked a little frazzled since we were trying to keep up with, entertain, feed, discipline, and talk over five kids. We enjoyed our visit though. Hopefully we can get together again soon!