Two Peas in a Pod

Chaos. That is a good word to describe my house. You would think I have all this under control. There are only two kids and two dogs, and occasional neighbor kid and me here much of the time. However, there are two family members that have joined forces to create mayhem. Ben (19 month old human) and Max (6 month old puppy) are two peas in a pod when it comes to chaos. They are both into everything. I have to keep Ben out of the kitchen because he has figured out how to open the child proofed cabinets. I have to keep Max in the kitchen because he is just plain bad. So the kitchen is gated off. Because of their gated limitations, they have developed a game: drive Mommy insane. Ben thinks its fun to give Max things. So he goes around the house picking up various objects with out discrimination and throws them over the gate to Max. Of course Max thinks this is wonderful and promptly chews up what ever Ben is willing to give him. This has lead to the destruction of some shoes, newspapers, various toys, papers for preschool and college awards. But believe it or not, that isn't the "Let's Drive Mommy Insane Game." That game goes more like this: For some reason, Ben thinks it is wildly funny to give Max his lovey. But once Max has is lovey for more than 5 seconds, he becomes upset and starts screaming to get it back. So, I go and get it from Max. Then, Ben will hold it so Max can see it and Max will begin to bark and bark for Ben to give the lovey to him again, which of course Ben does. And then Ben screams again. This goes round and round until I finally take the lovey and Ben away from the scene of the game. This doesn't stop the barking but it does distract Ben from giving the lovey to Max and screaming for a few minutes. Sigh... I need a vacation. Maybe I will go to Walmart alone when Gerry gets home.

Twinkle, Twinkle

Kari's Shower

(Kari's invitation with pictures of Zachary inserted- we signed a mat and framed it for her)

I forgot to include pictures from Kari's shower in the last post. After rescheduling it due to Hurricane Ike, it went off with much success. We had it in New Orleans at Monica's house. The big drama (besides the hurricane) was the cake. I made the cake. I needed to make it due to Kari's special needs diet and I was nervous about it. I was on a time limit where there was no room for mistakes. I had only worked with fondant once before in an experiment in my kitchen and if I messed it up, I couldn't start over since I bought the batter mix in Dallas and flew in with it to New Orleans. Thank God, it turned out fantastic! As you can imagine, I welcomed the cocktail Aunt Judy made when the cake was finally made and safely inside Monica's house. Everything was beautiful and I think everyone had a great time. Of course Kari looks great. She is one of those cutsie pregnant people you see the the magazines. We were all jealous! It was great to see everyone and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of little Zachary who is scheduled to be here on October 30th.

Here is the cake with the diaper cake centerpiece

The famous cake!

Kari cutting the cake ( I tried not to watch!)

Kari, Me and Monica

Cathy, Kari and Me (I wasn't having a good hair day!)

Sorry Its Been Soooo Long!

Well, folks I think my retirement is over. It was a great couple of weeks. I enjoyed it and I was glad to live with the illusion that I could be retired. Then life happened. As it always does. God is always teaching me that I am not in control and he has written the master plan for me. I admit that I am too hard-headed to learn it the first time, second time, etc... So, I am always learning it.

I am working part time for a preschool. I absolutely love it. I think I have always been a preschooler at heart. Who wouldn't enjoy spending the day making craft projects, snacking, playing at recess, singing songs, napping and listening to stories? The kids in my class are an absolute joy and I am blessed to work with the best staff in North Texas. Anyway, that has been keeping me busy.

And then there is cub scouts. I volunteered to be the assistant leader this year for Gerry's den. Even though I wanted to do a 180 and run after the owl pellet scene at twilight camp, I have stuck to it. In the past two weeks, it has become clear why I should be doing this. Our den has grown to 12 boys and our den leader is needing to spend more time with her family. So here I am! And it has been fun and will be fun since I am kinda planning a lot of stuff. If your boy has the opportunity to be involved in scouts, please take advantage! It is a great program where you get to meet great people. It has been a wonderful blessing to us!

And then there is Marching Band; the phenomena that takes over our lives for about 6 months of the year. Gerry has been working MANY hours with his own school. He is at school about 12 hours a day Monday thru Thursday and Friday he gets to school at 6:30 a.m. or so and returns Saturday at about 2:00 a.m. or so. Because of my "retirement" he has been taking on some judging gigs around the country and here in Dallas. He will also be doing a few clinics in his "spare" time. So, you have already figured out that I am basically a single Mom.

So that is why there have not been any posts. I hope that I will be able to get to this more often because we love to share our lives with you. But don't hold your breath!

Here are a few pictures from the past month or so:

Ben playing on the fire truck at Frisco Firesaftety town.

Gerry won the Musician of the Month Award at his school. We are so proud of him!

Gerry was the Flag Bearer in the flag ceremony at the September Mavs Fan Jam!

Ben in his sailor suit! Isn't he cute!