Crazy Crazy Crazy AND it's almost August!??

Things have been a whirlwind around here in this tiny 2 bedroom apartment as of late. I've just looked at the calendar and can't even grasp the fact that August is merely a week away! Where has the time gone? Our "house buying" expedition has sent us on a long treasure hunt of paperwork, but we are finally closing in on the grand prize...our own home. We can see the end around the bend....but it has taken us 3 and a half LONG...VERY LONG months to get there. I'm so proud of TJ and how he's handled things with the "house people" as we refer to them. He's not rude or disrespectful, but stern and holds his ground. That makes me love him even more. Mind you...we are still learning our own little things about one another, so we still have our "young love" with us. It makes me feel so much more secure to know that he is a man that will stand up and take care of things when need be. That says a lot for his character. The boys are SUPER excited about school this year. A new place...they are the Panthers..Blue and Black. Most of the lower grade schools are some type of cat...The cubs, the Bobcats...etc. So they are getting psyched up for the new faces they'll see and the new schools they are all going too. Ben is excited to get a chance to ride his bike to school and Gage said he's just ready to make some new friends. I've just realized recently how blessed I really am with the kids that I have. Calen is fearless and outgoing, loves his big brothers...and almost Step brother Gage. Ben is inquisitive, smart and goofy..but tries to be SO grown-up. and Gage is the best role model I could ask for. He's amazingly imaginative and respectful...but he goofs around with me and lets me pick on him without beating ME up too much...he's strong for a 12 year old!! Must be in the genes for him! :) I just know that when times got a little tense around here because we are all living in such tight spaces...all 3 of those boys stepped up and did what it took to make it work. And that's a lot for kids. Not to mention our merging families. I'm so proud of my boys!

Well...the move-out cleaning duties call and so do some boxes awaiting the packing tape! Y'all have a great rest of July...don't miss it...it's gone in 7 more days!

July 4th and other happenings...

Well, I'm a little late but I've posted some July 4th pics. We had TJ's best friend and his family with us; Shaggy, Tina, X-man, Lunchbox and Goose. We went to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Patty's house for the LONG weekend. They are in South Texas..not too far South, but South for us D/FW folks. It's affectionately called The Ranch since it's 45 acres for the kids to get lost on. I was so nervous to let my boys out of my site, but by the 2nd day, I was all for them going out to explore! They set possum traps, feed the chickens...squirted the chickens with the water hose and then collected their eggs for breakfast! They learned the basics of gun safety and got to hold BB guns while the bigger kids "hunted" snakes in the fish pond. They ran around the fields during the day and played Volleyball at night. The "big" kids(us) went to buy fireworks Friday night and spent all our allowance! The Big Boys shot off an hour or so worth of Fireworks on Saturday evening and the rest of the crew watched in awe. I finally got a digital camera..so I got some alright shots. Ben lost a tooth on Saturday night...so the ToothFairy came and paid him a visit. Sunday morning after being up all night on the porch chit-chatting we had a big ol country breakfast complete with fresh Ribeye steaks, farmfresh eggs, real Milk[from the store :)], and some fresh bacon and sausage. It was some of the best food I've eaten in a long time! So fat and happy...still tasting the drinks from the night before, we gave out our hugs, loaded up the truck and headed home...TJ drove while me and the boys slept! I loved that part!

The drive out there..five minutes down the road and Calen is already passed out!

Lunchbox enjoying the ride out to the Ranch while not having to sit next to her baby brother X-man!

Ben and X-man enjoying the ride to the Ranch while not having to sit next to A-a little brother, & B-a big sister! :) Oh, the joy of "Swapping Kids"!

Everybody DUCK!

Pey-Pey...she looks sweet...but she's Country!

Ben, Calen, and Lunchbox checking out each others guns

Sean-Tj's little bro

Nook-TJ's other "younger-not really-little" bro

Cousin Tanya

Shaggy

TJ-my baby...

Tina

Deacon



Calen's Parachute Guy

Cole and Pey-Pey's shoe...Mama said get shoes on...next which ones!

X-man and his fireworks

Shaggy lighting them for us

TJ helping Calen light his

Fireworks Time--the good ones I got

Everybody...well except us girls and the some kids

This past weekend Shaggy, Tina and their kids came up down to visit again...cause they missed us SOOOO much! LOL! And we all went to Hurricane Harbor. Just an FYI..I'm mostly Irish and therefore, the sun and my skin have a tendency to disagree...ALL OF THE TIME! I had an ally this time though, because Shaggy also seems to fall into this category with me, so we had no shame in bustin' out the Kids SPF 60 and spraying ourselves down like a Call Girl on a Hot Saturday night! Well, through all my efforts and the stock in CooperTone, I should've purchased,

an hour and a half into the day, I was as red as a lobster! Shaggy fared better than I, getting away with a bit of pink on his feet... Calen was just tall enough to ride all the rides...he braved the Black Hole and the Sea Wolf with now problem, however the drop down slide from a MILLION feet up...by himself posed a problem when he realized he had to "race bubba" by himself. Tears ensued and I ended up carrying him away..screaming all the way down the winding steps...probably striking terror in the other little braves souls waiting their fate in the long line! Other than that, the boys and girls all had a great time. I ended up with a "lack of sleep" headache and sleep the last hour with my head on a picnic table in the shade. But Tina and Shaggy got to see the "grouchy" side and still weren't afraid to come back for another night. Tina and I went shopping at the Half-Price Books Store...one of my new faves and the boys BS'd all night long. Sadly, they headed home on Sunday and Ben spent an hour trying to convince me it'd be alright if I just let him spend the week at their house...in Texarkana...after helping him realize how far that really is...he decided we should take a vacation there and visit the "hood" as Shaggy affectionately calls it. I really enjoyed the company...the girl talk...and the laughter, so I'm looking for to a Halloween when they'll be down again for our rendezvous at Screams and hopefully my 1st Annual Halloween party YAY!