Back to Normal

David went back to work this morning and the boys and I are sort of fumbling along trying to get back into our routine. Actually, it occured to me the other day that we have not had much of a routine since we returned from Corpus, but that's okay. I am trying to roll with it. We have not had an "official" family fun day in a few weeks, mainly because everyday has been family fun day while Daddy has been home.
Our garage sale went great. We cleaned out the closets and got rid of some stuff we really didn't need. The following is all of the boxes that had not been unpacked in the entire year we have lived here (slightly embarassing). Most of the contents are now spread across Killeen in various garage salers' homes-- or possibly on eBay, we looked like we had some professionals visiting our sale!


We had LIFEGroup last night and had a great time over at the Marks family's house. Jonathan showed off his new walking ability and Benjamin ran around and played with Colten and Caden, two of the other little boys in the group. Here's our group huddled around the munchies. That's our friend Beth on the right. She is expecting...isn't she cute?


I am still so amazed at Benjamin's ongoing fascination with Cars. All week, he has been pining away for the new Dinoco Chick. We're trying to teach him that a trip to Wal-mart does not mean a new car every time. Plus, I can't find that car...anywhere! Here he is in the playroom with some of his faves. Notice how he completely "rearranged" the place and the Cars rug is in a heap behind him. He was actually driving the cars on the heap of rug-- they were on hills! Pretty creative. He also used various Thomas the Train depots and bridges and Little People houses and barns to create Radiator Springs right there in the play room.


So now it is back to everyday life. Gone are the days of bacon, eggs & pancakes replaced by our old standard of bananas, cinnamon bread, and Diego yogurt. The house could certainly use a good scrubbing and the laundry is calling me. The boys already had to talk to Daddy on the phone this morning and we've already had a major meltdown (by the three-year-old!). In some ways, I am quite ready to find our routine again. But we sure do miss Daddy hanging out with us. Have a great day at work, David. Your fan club will be waiting for you when they hear the garage door open tonight.

Stop, Time, Stop!

Benjamin has a Thomas the Train book entitled, Stop Train, Stop! which we read pretty often. I stole the title of this post from it. I want this week to just freeze so we can have more time to just hang out.
David is off of work this week and it will be the last long stretch of time he is off until the holidays. And I just love it. And so do the boys. We have had leisurely mornings with big breakfasts fixed by Daddy and fast-paced afternoons of preparing for a garage sale while the boys nap (or at least one of them does).
After the kids are in bed, we've stayed up late (way too late last night, but I'll get to that later), watched re-runs of Frasier and read books (yes, I am actually reading a real book, not a magazine for a change) and snacked on Pretzel Salad and sodas. We haven't really done anything, but it has been just the best.
Sometimes we think of how great it would be for David to work from home. But, I guess it is a little hard to manage a middle school campus of 700+ (including faculty/staff) when you are in your jammies all day. So, the real world keeps creeping up on us as the minutes tick by.
Benjamin has really enjoyed it, too. Tonight I went to check on him after he should have been asleep (but wasn't). He was laying with his feet on his pillows and his head on his bear just sort of day dreaming. When he saw me, he immediately asked, "When it is morning, is Daddy going to work again?" I reassured him that no, he wasn't, and he just smiled so big.
It's just been a nice, relaxing (ok somewhat, we are getting ready for that garage sale) week of quality time together.
I don't have much else to "report". I did manage to conquer a big fear last night. I am a bit of a wimp about getting out at night alone (who isn't, we all watch the news). But last night, I could tell I was getting a painful bladder infection (maybe TMI, sorry). I knew even if I waited until morning, there was no guarantee I could get an appointment today. And even if I did, doctors' offices take 3-4 days to process this type of infection through a lab, and I was already in so much pain. I actually get these a couple of times a year and always go to the ER so I can get a prescription and treatment immediately. So, at 12:30, I drove myself to the Killeen Hospital. David offered to get the boys up and we could all go, but that would have been insane. I stayed on the phone with him entering and exiting the hospital. And I took the truck so I would seem...tough? After hanging out at the ER for an hour and a half I headed to the 24-hour Walgreens to, literally, wake the female pharmacist at the drive-up. She seemed annoyed (and incoherent) that I wondered if she would correctly fill my meds. Hello, you are the only 24-hour pharmacy in town, you are open for the very purpose of receiving business! Wake up and at least make me feel confident that you'll correctly help me...I am in pain here! Sorry to ramble, that just really bugged me.
And after my night on the town, I made it home in one piece at 2:30 in the morning! And I actually enjoyed the Killeen hospital...which I had reservations about in the past. They were very kind and chipper for the late hour! Way to go, Metroplex Health System!
That's about all I know. I could just use another week hanging out with the hubs. He is such a blessing! Love, love, love you.

Celebrating Eli's 4th on the 4th!

For the FOJ this year, we headed to Abilene to have a combined Independence Day celebration/4th birthday for our nephew, Eli. We partied over at David's brother, Sam and his wife, Arly's house and had a great time getting together with all the Dominguez/Davidson bunch. The Davidsons are our sister-in-law, Syndi's family. We've overlapped in several areas of "how we know" and "how we're related to" the Davidsons...from church in Abilene, from ACU (I was in school with Syndi's sister, Shellie), from holidays in Pecos, etc. Anyway. It was great to get together with everyone! We had a super-fun time!
Sam and Arly were great hosts and did so much to make the day great for all-- thanks, guys! It is really nice to have their house in Abilene that we can all "meet in the middle" for get-togethers.
The kiddies played with squirt guns and in wading pools. Eli had a Cars birthday, so you know Benjamin was loving that! Grandpa grilled up some doggies and burgers and we feasted on a great spread! My favorite? Aunt Arly's apple pie-- the girl can bake.
The boys crashed for the first part of the drive home-- they were so tired! We somehow managed to time it pretty well to see three fireworks shows from the comfort of the highway driving through Rising Star, Brownwood and Goldthwaite. Pretty fun stuff.
Happy 4th, Eli! Hope your day was fabulous, kid!

At 16 Months & 11 Days.....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

He took his first steps.


How it happened:
David and Benjamin left for church and I stayed home with Jonathan since he's been a bit feverish. I truly think it is those molars, but I didn't want to take any chances and get other kiddos sick. About twenty minutes after they left, I am sitting on the couch reading a magazine debating about putting him to bed early since he wasn't feeling so hot. He is standing on the floor in front of me playing with a toy cell phone.
He throws down the phone sort of playfully and just stands there for a moment.
He takes one step to the right, sort of a side step...and I thought, could he?
And sure enough, he takes FIVE steady steps in a row, looks at me and claps as I start to clap, too. He sits down on his own and then gets right back up to take three more.
That is when I called David (I knew he wasn't to the church building yet)... and he asks if I recorded it.
Gulp.
So I ran and got the camera and this would be the third set of steps he took. Please ignore my high-pitched squealing in the background. That is why I tried to add music...I thought it would cover it up but no such luck.

Anyway. We're awfully proud.

Odds and Ends

Just thought I would take a minute and catch up. I can't believe it is already July. Wow, one-third of the summer is long gone and the rest isn't far behind it. Swimming lessons start next week and then it is all downhill after that. I have already started school shopping for the boys since everyone (including me) starts Preschool in September.
Currently, Jonathan is cutting a molar, possibly more than one. He is miserable, and truth be told, so are we. He has run a low fever and just hasn't been himself. I can for sure feel one of the molars trying to poke through, but he gets a little "bite-ish" when I try to fish for more.
Camp Hope continues to be a blessing to us. I haven't posted photos of the last few sessions because I don't have any. Benjamin is now going in with his therapists by himself-- and doing great! Yesterday when I went back to his therapy room after he was finished, his therapist and another told me to have a great time at Target. Apparently, he let everyone know our agenda for the afternoon. Although he did neglect to tell them we were actually going to buy birthday gifts; instead he told them we were going to buy "lots of new cars." Dream on, buddy. David and I can both see definite improvement with Benjamin in several areas, including throwing and kicking a ball. He no longer has to come to a complete stop before kicking a ball and his throw has gotten amazingly sharper and stronger. He is also using scissors way better than when I was trying to work with him on it. He can cut on a line beautifully! He is also riding the Amtrykes really well. We should get one for the house by the end of the summer. I can't wait to take him over to the parking lot of the school across the street and let him loose with his new tryke when it arrives. We are still working on a lot of eye contact and stuff like that, but overall, I am already amazed at his successes!
David's parents ended up not getting to come down last weekend due to a member at their church passing away. We missed them, but understand completely. We will get to see them for the holiday on Friday in Abilene, though. We are having a cookout/birthday bash for Eli over at Sam & Arly's house.
Speaking of the cookout, Arly...I will also be adding to my list cucumber salad because of my out-of-control cucumber crop.
And speaking of my out-of-control cucumber crop, I am about to give up on my garden. The grackles have taken over my tomatoes and I am about fed up with it. They are pretty audacious about it, too. I have even put pinwheels and other "bird frighteners" out there to no avail. I think they are mocking me. At first, they would just eat the red tomatoes that were ready to be picked. So, I started picking them when they were just turning and setting them in my kitchen window to ripen. Now, they eat the green ones, too. The squash didn't survive our vacation. And the peppers, well, are the wrong species and were apparently mislabeled. I thought I was planting bells, but they are serranos and are HOT! I only have a handful of recipes that I even buy jalapenos for, so the serranos have gone to my neighbors (along with lots of those cucumbers) or in the trash.
I fixed Black Bean enchiladas (pictured above) for supper last night and they were a big hit. Thought some of you might enjoy the recipe. It was from the 2006 Southern Living Annual Recipes Cookbook if you have it. But, I also found it on their web site, here.
I couldn't find the Tostitos Queso it called for, so I used this:

And it turned out great! These are great for busy weeknights because you don't have to cook the filling or sauce seperately like with normal enchiladas. The only cooking it does is in the oven-- could it get any easier?
If you have never seen the Cardboard Testimonies video clip...you have to check it out! You can find it on YouTube or click here to see it on my friend, Becky's blog. It seriously brought me to tears. David loved it, too! Powerful stuff.
I think that is all I know! Whoa, this got a little longer than I thought.