Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Yes, it's quite sad that I haven't posted on my once daily blog in nearly two months now. It is even more sad that I am about to post about a trip that happened in July of this year. :) I should just catch you up with present day events, but hey, the pictures are cute - I have to share. (Well, really, I should be ironing my work jacket, not blogging. ahem.)

In July, we took our first annual "Mommy and Kiddo Road Trip" to Navarre Beach, FL. Three Moms, four kids, one mini van, and enough snacks to feed an army for a week - what more could we need? The trip was such a wonderful learning and bonding experience.

What I learned from 8 days on the road with a group of my favorite people:
1 - Silence, even for a moment, is always golden.
2 - I do not appreciate the way sand feels anywhere other than on my feet.
3 - Having first time experiences through the innocent eyes of an child, melts the heart like none other.
4 - It is wonderful to have a hug from your friends, even when you see them multiple times a day.
5 - Patience is even harder to come by than energy when I have the flu.
6 - Having friendships in which you can disagree yet not loose respect for one another, is priceless. (Love you ladies!)



Raymond's Grandma had us over to her house one day. She is an artist, and opened her studio for our budding artists to create. So fun.

After having the stomach flu for the first three days of the trip, I decided I needed a breadk, so we skipped the beach and headed to the splash pad.

Raymond's Grandpa took us out for the day on his boat! Awesome!



"Mom, there are still some refried beans on that spoon."

Boston LOVES the water, especially the salt water. He kept putting his face in a the smacking and licking his lips.

The was the sound side (above and below). The water was calmer there.

This photo I took just before sunset on the gulf side. Yes, the sand was really that white. :)

Omaha and Family in June

Omaha was a very nice break from the heat, among other things.

I ♥ Faces - Wk. 20 "Silhouettes"

This week at I ♥ Faces was something I actually planned ahead for. (Funny how I am habitual about planning, yet always wait until the last minute to finish/arrive/post, etc. Always running to the finish line I am.) I have never taken a silhouette photo, nor even thought of taking one. Thanks to Susan Keller's Silhouette Tutorial, I quickly learned the technique and found some great inspiration. I immediately knew who my subjects would be, then it was just a matter of finding the right setting. (That's where the planning comes into play.)

Over the Moon About Her Daddy

You still have a few hours to enter the contest if you like. Or just stop by I ♥ Faces for some inspiration. Check back in a bit; I will be posting the runner up photo as well.

Friday Funnies - Go Ahead, Smile Out Loud

This week I am compelled to post something this is not actually funny, but rather something I need to laugh at constantly to make bearable.
As you can see by my once jeans turned faux capris, I am in denial. Shorts are almost my least favorite article of clothing, listed just below Muu Muus and leggings. I commented the other day how, living in Omaha, I wouldn't even go outdoors when it was 95 degrees with a nearly equal humidity percentage, yet here I run and play all day. Yep, that's true denial for you.

Working Towards a Wordless WednesdayPictures Taken from the Chevy Traverse

White Rules

Not- White Rules! But- The rules of wearing white. I am far from fashionista, and I don't follow trends. I did hear once, a while back, that you are not to wear white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. Joke's on me. That is only for you Midwesterners who live in a place where there is most likely snow on the ground during the entire said mentioned 9 month spam. Wearing white, no one would see you after the north wind blew you into a snow drift. In Texas, you must wear white, all the time. Why you ask? Well that would be to spare yourself the embarrassment of wearing a green button up shirt to your friend's son's birthday party (held outside) and having glaringly obvious and grotesque sweat marks displayed in places you didn't even know a torso could sweat.

Great party, by the way, thanks Courtney!

The Battle Within

If I had to, I would say that I was raised not to air your dirty laundry. In fact don't air your laundry at all. Is that bad, no. However, I have just recently learned how liberating it is to be yourself / speak your mind. Like many people do, I too decided on a few things I would do differently after our big move. This is a fresh start for us, so why not. The one that has brought me the most joy and reward, is to just be 'me.' 'It is very easy to be me. I don't have to perform. I can just relax.' (Adopted from Joel Osteen. When I heard this, I thought 'Yes!' this is what I have been doing that is working so well for me.)

That being said, today has been a battle. I run Tuesday nights. Tonight I wanted to take Cambry to see a Ventriloquist at a local church, so I would need to run earlier. Before running, I needed to make a playlist on my mp3 player because I was tired of listening to everything and having the hear "The ants go marching two by two, Hooray!" in the middle of my run. (Cam and I share the mp3 player.) Well the d*&% (sounds like ma'am) thing wouldn't work. Then it froze up completely. After an hour with tec support, I threw in the towel. I can't run without music, so I guess I'm done running. Without running, I will never loose the weight I need to. I'll be fat forever. (Yes, that was the thought process. I even verbalized it to Joe. He is so patient with me. lol.) Here is a little cartoon that reminds me of me. Remember: I'm a work in progress.


www.nataliedee.com

After slapping some sense into myself (literally), I spent another three hours on the thing, and finally got it up and running. Despite the fact that it was nap time, we were going running. If I didn't do it now, I never would. That's where the battle comes in, I drag myself to run each time (3 times per week). I feel great afterwords, but list off millions of excuses for why I don't need to or shouldn't run. I thought running would help me loose weight. Yes, still just over 50 lbs to go. Yikes! We I read recently that unless you are running 30+ miles per week, running alone is not enough to shape your body and loose large amounts of weight. Clearly. I have been weighting for weeks in hopes to see even just a couple of pounds shed - not helping the motivation so much. I thought maybe is I posted my measurements and checked in (like other bloggers), I would be held accountable. Not so much into that, I am still a little sensitive about it all. Then I heard something great today. "Treat it like a full-time job." (Thanks Noelle) Love it! My only job right now is to take care of the kids; I can handle another job right? I put my heart into making things the very best I can, why would I deliver any less on this job? So there you have it, I'm hired.

P.S. Check out the temperature. The picture was taken just before we set out to run 2 miles, yes outside. What was I thinking?

Working Towards a Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday is an entry many bloggers make each week by just posting a picture. I tend to be wordy; I will have to work towards that.

Houston doesn't mess around when it comes to weather! This photo is actually from last weeks rain storm. This is the park right across the street from our house. The photo was taken from inside the Traverse as I drove by. I was blown away by the amount of water. Turns out, when you are at sea level, you create parks to hold water. Being home to playgrounds and ball games is their second function.

This week, on Monday night, was the the first night ever (in my adult life) that I was woke up by a storm. Our area of the city received 4 inches of rain in an hour, and it kept on coming, accompanied by hail and severe thunderstorms. Roads and homes alike were flooded. Our home was fine. We were unable to leave for most of the day though. All the roads leading to the freeway were closed. Joe traveled 8+ miles out of his way to get to work Tuesday morning. The trip took him about an hour and a half.

So that was far from 'wordless.' Like I said, this will be a work in progress. teehee.

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In other random ramblings...

We make a lot of dust. What is the deal with that?

The Gulf

On Monday Papa Joe had the day off, so we took a little road trip down to Galveston Island. It has been 7 months since hurricane Ike destroyed much of the city. We were amazed by the buildings that had been rebuilt as much as we were amazed by the damage to structures that had not yet been repaired. Once we got down to the water, I kept my disappointment to myself. I have only been to the ocean a handful of times in my life. The site of the Gulf of Mexico, just off of Galveston Island was not the ocean I know or have come to love. I walked to the water's edge, closed my eyes, and just listened. After hearing the waves crashing for a few moments, I decided it was going to be a great day. We built sand castles together as a family, walked along the beach, waded in the water, and soaked up the sun. Awww!

As promised, here are a couple of photos. My editing software is only functioning at a basic level right now (many updates and downloads to go), so I have just included a couple for now.

Bring the Rain

It has just been one of those days. And really, after coming off of yesterday's high, of course today would be Meh. I have had this Bubble Blast Playdate all planned out for the longest time. Today was our third attempt at it; past attempts were called on account of rain. Today, imagine that, looks like rain again. Most Mommies here stay in if it rains or even looks like rain - understandable. I, on the other hand, take the kids out almost daily regardless of weather for my sanity - well theirs too. So rather than be all disappointed about Mother Nature raining on our parade, I decided to invite people over to play inside. Thankfully, two of my favorite Mamas and their kids came. We were also joined by a new Mom - super nice lady - who I hope to get to know better. We all had a great time!

In other news, I have changed the settings on the blog to allow anyone (yes, you my family) to comment here. I am not sure what that means for security, but we will try it for a bit. Go ahead, share your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you.