When Texas Invaded Maryland and other Historical Facts

Joe prepared me before we moved that the friends we were so close to in Texas would soon become distant and that life goes on and I should just accept that moving means change (Isn't he so positive??). I cried an ugly cry after that conversation. I have a close group of friends and I couldn't even imagine them not being in my life and even more so, being a big part of my life. So we moved and things did change but not the relationship with "my People".  Each one has called on a weekly or sometimes daily basis and most have made trips up to see us which I LOVE.  Leah was the first of my group to come and she brought her whole family which Cuatro and the girls were so excited about. These kids have known each other since they were in diapers and in Cuatro and Carson's case since they were in the womb. The Calder's are some of our closest friends and it was our pleasure to have them come visit. Their spring break was two weeks before ours but that didn't stop us from having fun. I yanked my kids out of school for 1.5 days while they were here so we could soak up every minute of fun. They came on Tuesday night so we just had dinner and let the kids play and get reacquainted which took about 1 second! On Wednesday, Joe went into work and I took everyone to Annapolis sans Audrey who stayed home with a babysitter.  We walked around downtown and the historic harbor and then toured the Naval Academy and museum which the boys loved (think guns, astronauts, and ships and they were in boy nirvana).  I then took them to a cute restaurant overlooking the harbor and the kids gulped down their meals and rested their feet. We couldn't leave without getting some homemade ice cream and fudge so we ventured three doors down and terrorized entertained the employees with all of our antics.  (Sidenote: I didn't find out until a week later that Cuatro had put a chocolate cross in his jacket pocket and left with it--so yes he shoplifted a cross which must be an all-time low for us) The rest of the day was spent at home since Cuatro was still getting over a virus and had begun to run fever again when we got home.

On Thursday, Cuatro was still feeling puny and the girls had girl scouts and piano lessons so I let the Calder's take my car into DC for the day. I think they had fun despite the chilly temperatures.  

On Friday, Cuatro returned to school because his preschool was putting on a circus for the parents and he was one of the tigers. So Joe and Todd went to Joe's school for the morning while Leah, Maddie, and Carson tagged along with me to Cuatro's performance. I must say I was impressed by everything that went into this little circus:

As soon as the "big top" came down, we rushed to get a wheelchair I had rented for Grace (did I mention that Grace had broken part of her foot at the growth plate a week before and was in a boot??) and then go pick the girls up at their school, get a quick lunch and head to DC to meet Joe and Todd. We rode the metro in and we looked hilarious pulling a wheelchair through the metro and up the escalator to the Mall (incidentally I dropped my phone while I was lugging the wheelchair up the said escalator and it landed perfectly on the bottom step and we all cheered for it as it came SLOWLY up the belt).  The Air and Space Museum was on our bucket list that day but we stopped for a quick ride on the antique carousel before getting all "educational".

We split up at the museum between boys and girls because frankly Leah and I were about to disown our sons. The girls had a great time exploring but the best thing we got to see was the 3-D movie about the Hubble Space telescope. This was an incredible documentary about the last NASA space team sent to repair it as well as the images sent back from it. We all had our mouths open in amazement most of the time except for Maddie who went to sleep:)

The rest of the day was a blur. Cuatro was clearly done and needed to be locked up somewhere but we kept plowing ahead to Chinatown to meet some of the Calder's friends for dinner. I was looking forward to authentic Chinese food and a place to sit down but it was not meant to be. I will keep this part short because it got real ugly real fast. We may or may not have tried to bum feminine products off complete strangers for the sake of Leah and we might have accidentally walked into the middle of a protest against "the white man" with two really tall white guys we happen to love, and we might have carried a screaming Cuatro five blocks to the metro and drive thirty minutes home with no dinner in our tummy's because someone (though I am guessing you know who that is) could not behave at the authentic chinese restaurant I really wanted to try out.  It's all a blur and I really hope I forget all of that someday. 

So on Saturday, Todd and Joe took the boys to the Spy Museum while us girls wisely stayed behind and got pedicures, had a nice lunch out with three sweet 8 year olds and went shopping at the local mall.  We all reunited for dinner and cake at our house and let the kids stay up and play for the last time until summer.  

Thank you Leah and Todd for coming to see us. We had a blast and made some good memories!

The Father-Daughter Dance

When I married Joe, I knew we would have kids one day. I knew he would be a good father. But in the eight years we have been parents, I have observed him be an incredible father and doting daddy to three lovely girls.  So when Grace and Laura came home and asked him to go to the Father-Daughter dance at school he quickly obliged without any hesitation. He knew they would leave him the second they entered the doors of the gym to find all their friends but he went anyway. He knew he would be uncomfortable because he would only know two people but he went anyway.  He is that kind of man to his daughters--someone they know they can trust and someone who lives to put a smile on their face. I, however, took this opportunity to teach my girls social graces and southern ways. So we shopped for the right "poofy" dress and we curled their hair and we had the conversation that they were not to slide across the floor in their dresses and were to sit with their legs together. I even went so far as to ordering wrist corsages for Joe to give them that night so that they would come to expect flowers from their future suitors:).  Around ten that evening, the girls came throught the front door with huge smiles on their faces and milkshake mustaches and said they had a good time. The girls even danced one dance each with Joe but drew the line when Joe tried to teach the entire room the "Cotton-eyed Joe" (**sigh**-You can take the boy out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the boy).

THE Talent Show

When we moved to Maryland I was prepared for how different things would be in relation to Texas.  I was NOT prepared for the importance of the talent shows around here. This folks, is a BIG deal. Hours of mandatory practice days, permission slips, mandatory volunteer hours, a FOUR hour dress rehearsal, and a rush to get tickets for opening night were not what I expected but is what I signed up for when the girls decided to do "Heart and Soul" on the piano.  We signed up in January and the show was the end of February so we practiced hours to get their duet right. There were tears and frustration and there was a a meltdown or three but we persevered and it was perfect.  My mom came into town and graciously sat through the above mentioned rehearsal with Starbucks in one hand and a smile on her face. We decided to attend the show on its second night so we were guaranteed tickets.  That means I had to drop the girls off thirty minutes before the show on the first night and walk away and hope it went well. I was nervous and praying in the hour they were gone and so I timidly went backstage to pick them up and was met with smiles and a good report that they had done well and that the audience went "crazy" (I have since then seen the video of that night and the audience clapped but there was no "crazy" so bless their hearts they love the roar of the crowd).  The second night rolled around and my mom, Joe, me, and Cuatro sat in the audience and watched ten performances before the girls came on stage.  They did great and were so poised.  I went backstage and brought them in to sit with us for the rest of the show because Cuatro was having such a great time watching all of the talent! You would have thought we had brought him to the circus!! He was smiling ear to ear. So we stayed and endured sat through the rest of the two and half hour program. I am so proud of Grace and Laura for being so brave and performing so well. I guess we have next year to look forward to with Cuatro starting Kindergarten and eligible for the show....

Valentine's Day 2013

I try to carry on some of the traditions my parents gave us.  Some are meaningful and some are just for fun. Every year, my mom would put together special valentine treats for all of us and set it on the counter so when we came downstairs we would see it and be surprised. I loved this special tradition and it was just enough "holiday" without the overkill.  Every year she would put out the cards each grandparent sent in addition to our "loot".  I have done this every year with the exception of the card mailed from the grandparents only because they could receive their Valentines in person. But not this year. So it was with a smile on my face that I added the cards my parent's and Michael Ann sent to each child and fondly remembered all the years my grandparents sent me a card with $5 and a sweet handwritten note.

Below are the kids in their "festive" clothes-a tradition I created when the girls started pre-K and I realized that every mom in their class bought their child a valentine shirt and I did not--big mom fail:(

We ended the day with homemade heart pizzas that each child made themselves. They were really good and so easy that I think this might become a new tradition!!

Audrey is 3!!

Audrey turned three in February and she and I had a fun day at the mall in Annapolis. Audrey loves Chick-fil- A and ice cream so we grabbed both after she played in the toddler area and built her very first "Build-A-Bear". She chose the pink "Princess" bear with the princess dress.  We finished the day with the whole family at home eating pizza and homemade strawberry cupcakes with pink icing (do you sense what her favorite color is?).  She enjoyed opening all of her presents but has since then insisted it be her birthday everyday:)

My darling Audrey you are so full of spunk and are all girl as in you love any princess and any pink thing you see. I love that you still love to snuggle and hold my hand when we go anywhere. You love to shop and you love the lollipops I give you to give me a few extra minutes to grab everything.  Your sisters and brother still dote on you and you are a natural at bossing them around. You LOVE your daddy and insist on being with him every minute he is home.  You are hard-headed though. You WILL NOT be potty trained. We have exhausted all of our bribes and have come up short. At this point, I am praying you don't go to Kindergarten in a diaper!!  We love you my sweet girl and are so thankful God was not finished with our family when He gave us Cuatro. You have taught me to treasure the unexpected and embrace what God gives as a gift.

Turning 8 so let's Bake!!

Grace and Laura turned 8 at the beginning of January and I really struggled with their party theme this year. Not knowing enough about the area, I decided to do this year's festivities at the house. We also had the dilemma of not knowing many girlfriends yet so we just invited those girls whose parent's I DID know.  We invited 6 girls but only 4 could come.  We made the best of it and I think the girls had fun decorating cupcakes and having a tea party with their friends and American Girl dolls.  I went Pinterest nuts and therefore was not able to move for two days afterwards from sheer exhaustion.  SO here are some pictures of that day:

My sweet Grace,
You continue to amaze me and I continue to fall more in love with you everyday.  You are still the little mother hen and have begun to take disciplining your siblings into your own hands which gets you into trouble. You like things a certain way and are learning to deal with the disappointment of imperfection:)  You are good at every sport you try but you are not overly competitive.  You have made so many friends already and it amazes me how many emails and phone calls I get to have you over for play dates. You and Laura continue to be close but you both have started to make your own friends and become competitive with each other when we have one friend over to play with the both of you.  You are a sweet and kind little girl and you have a heart for Jesus. I can see it in the questions you ask and the way you listen and respond to our Bible lessons and readings. You are so innocently bold about proclaiming Him. For instance you came home from school one day bothered that a boy in your class told you that he didn't believe in God. When I asked you what your response was you told me this:"How can you NOT believe in God? He is everywhere. He made the world!!"  I am sad that you are seeing this already but on the other hand, it has given us some really good conversations at home.  I love you so much and I pray you continue to grow in the grace and the love of Christ this coming year.

Love, Mommy

My darling  Laura,
You are your mother's daughter in so many ways but I have loved seeing your own personality come out even more this year. You are our peacemaker and the one who is first to give up a fought over toy or say you are sorry. You are so sweet to everyone and show no preference to anyone.  You love your younger siblings and have become more nurturing than last year.  You are my little shadow and love to help when I need something done.  You are a people pleaser and try so hard to make people like you. You have cried tears over not having a lot of friends here and I have cried for you. This year especially, I have started to see that as a mother your hurts are my hurts and I ache to make you feel better and for you to see how incredibly special you are. You are also good at sports but have no competitiveness in you at all which is so opposite of me but so much like your father.  You are becoming a beautiful young lady on the inside and out and are also asking hard spiritual questions like your sister. I love that you want to know more about Jesus and I love that you actually miss going to the BSF kids night program like we did last year. I see your willingness to hear about our heavenly Father and it makes me so happy. May this year bring you closer to Jesus and may you learn that He is your everything.

Love, Mommy