Horseshoe Bay

We didn't have Bella Luce like last summer, but we did have a fun Labor Day Weekend with some of the Strzineks in Horseshoe Bay.  It was quite comical how much stuff was packed in the car for our little family of four.  Yes that is the baby gate...that I never needed (you never know!).  During the 4.5 hour drive, I was reminded again how thankful I am for modern technology.  Hence the mindless stare watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while stuck in traffic on I-35.

The timing worked that we got to celebrate Trip's 14th birthday.  How in the world is this kid 14???!!!  I still remember being the "girlfriend" on the day he was born!  :)

The highlight of the trip was time out on the boat. On the first day, I decided to go play some tennis, so I missed what would end up being the only day of no wind.  The water was extremely choppy the rest of the days there, so I opted out of skiing.  It becomes less worth the pain in my old age.  But the crazy white-capped water didn't stop these serious wake boarders.

And I probably should've thought through how choppy the water was before sending Tate out on the banana boat (this pic is in the no-wake area...it was rough).  Once they picked up speed, he got a face full of water and was done, gladly climbing in the boat.  Probably a good thing because two minutes later, the thing completely turned over from the waves.  Woops.

So Tate & Mary Tish decided the best place to be was on the "beach."  The beach is a little cut out for the lake water with some sand.  Works for us.

The only picture to prove my existence on the trip is of my toes at the sandy beach.  :)

With the crazy winds, the best time to be on the boat was at night.  The water would finally calm down, and the sunsets were beautiful.

I was amazed at how pretty this area of Texas is.  Next time any of our West Coast relatives come visit, we need to take you out here to prove Texas isn't completely flat and ugly.

Although he didn't go out on the boat much, Will still had some fun moments and was one happy boy running up and down the hallway of the condo and in and out of the patio. Lots of love from Poppy & Mo Mere.

Toward the end of the weekend, I decided we had to let him go do something fun, so we took him to the baby pool and out side play area.  He loved it!

The weekend went fast, but we all had such a great time and absolutely loved Horseshoe Bay.  Hoping it can be an annual tradition.  And a certain 4-year-old was beside himself happy with all of the time he got to spend with these cousins.  He loves being with them, and I love how much they love him.  It makes this aunt/mommy heart happy.

The weekend ended unfortunately with a little crisis.  I couldn't find my keys.  I don't want to name names, but there are other people in our family that are somewhat notorious for misplacing their keys.  I was convinced maybe one of them had done something with mine.  I think the words, "I'm not trying to be prideful, but I'm not the one who loses keys" came out of my mouth.  Well hours of looking and stressing by everyone later...I got a BIG slice of humble pie when I found MY keys in MY tennis bag.  Ouch...that's my pride slapping me in the face.  :)

Other than that, it was such a fun and memorable weekend!

A Prayer

There seems to be a lot of hardship, sickness, and sadness in the lives of people around me lately.  Although I often feel paralyzed at knowing what to do to help, I found great comfort and agreement in this beautiful prayer by Mother Theresa:

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world,

who live and die in poverty and hunger.

Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread

and by our understanding love give peace and joy.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.

That where there is hatred, I may bring love,

That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,

That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,

That where there is error, I may bring truth,

That where there is doubt, I may bring faith,

That where there is despair, I may bring hope,

That where there is shadows, I may bring light,

That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,

To understand than to be understood,

To love than to be loved.

For it is by forgetting self that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

Super Summer Challenge ~ 2011

Still catching up on blog posts.  This summer was our first time to do Tate's Super Summer Challenge.  The benefit of having friends with older kids is getting to duplicate some great ideas, and this is one of them.  The premise of the challenge is to acquire points for rewards by learning new skills and practicing good habits.  I think by the end of the summer (and it took all summer to get to 100 points), Tate had checked off 95% of them.  

What was great is that in the four categories (Physical, Spiritual, Mental, & Caring/Sharing), there were some that I knew would be really easy for him and some that would be a true challenge.  It helped to have a mixture, so he could stay motivated and encouraged.  And along the way were some rewards.

Tate's 2011 Super Summer Challenge Accomplishments:

(2) Bible memory verses

Fruits of the Spirit memorized

Go to Summer Spectacular (VBS) 

Saying respectful prayers

5 bites of new food (lasagna!!!!)

Eat a cheeseburger

Eating dinner with a happy heart

Watch TV with no thumb

Swim lessons

Hit pitched ball

Underwater for 5 seconds

Learn address & phone #

Preschool worksheets

Art projects

Playing pbskids.org by yourself

Write A-Z & 1-10

Clean bathroom sink

Feed Macy

Pick up playroom

Water flowers

Help Mommy & Daddy

Share toys with friends

Make a card for a family member

It was really fun for all of us to have these goals.  And it made things much less of a battle at times.  I don't have many pictures of the actual SSC activities...will need to do that part better next year.  

But here he is doing a worksheet.  This was a good way to keep the handwriting going over the summer.  

And the most memorable (and with highest point value) was Tate's first time to eat a cheeseburger.  This one took LOTS of talking it up before the big day he decided he was ready.  And I have to give him credit that he ate about 2/3 of one...it's a life skill (or at least trying foods you think you don't like)!!!  :)

At 10 points, the first reward was a Campout/Movie Night with just Daddy & Tate.  The tent was set up in the playroom, popcorn, and a movie.  Fun, fun!

And at 25 points, Tate was beyond excited to do the "bungee jump" at the local mall.  I was shocked by how not nervous he was.  

And then at 50 points, I took him to ride the TRE train to downtown Fort Worth (lots of fun for CHEAP).  Clearly I'm not a big city girl and kind of messed up the timing of the return train, so we got to hang out at the downtown train station for an hour when it was 108 degrees outside.  :)

 

For 75 points, he got a surprise toy.  And then right at the end of August (I was getting nervous), he hit the big 1-0-0!  An extra benefit was that it was also a good way to practice counting numbers up to 100 as he would X off each number when he got points.

So the big prize for hitting 100 was a trip to the new "mini" Legoland at a local mall.  (Sidenote...going on a weeknight after 5:00 pm will save you almost half the price and no crowds.)  

It actually started a little strange.  We were rushing through traffic to get there before they closed the entrance.  We finally arrive with just a few minutes to spare and before I know it, we are being ushered into a room.  Just me & Tate.  Doors close.  Lights off.  This mad scientist lady turns on her microphone (for a room with just me & Tate in it) and starts loudly giving her high-energy Welcome to Legoland schpeel.  Freaked us both out.  Tate was clinging to my hand looking at me like I had taken him to a crazy Fun House.  Very odd.

We fought through it and then pleasantly enjoyed the rest of the evening surrounded by legos everywhere.  DIRK!

Go Cowboys!

Downtown Grapevine

 But Tate's favorite part was BY FAR the area you build cars and race them down a ramp.  He really would've been happy staying there the entire night.

It was a super fun way to celebrate all of his hard work with the Super Summer Challenge.  I was really proud of this guy for trying so hard all summer long at learning so many new things.  Can't wait until next year!

Weekend With Gigi

Tate is in the Giraffes class at preschool, and each weekend one of the kids gets to take home the class mascot.  So last weekend, we had an additional member of the family...Gigi the Giraffe!

I have to say I was surprised and impressed with how well Tate kept up with and took care of Gigi.  Gigi went with us everywhere. At night, she was always covered well with a blanket.  I also was surprised how many opinions Gigi had.  Much of the conversations over the weekend were about what Gigi did or did not want to do.  :)  Quite the opinionated non-speaking giraffe.  One funny thing was how hilarious Tate thought it was that Gig had several outfits (a tutu, sequins headband, coat, dress, etc.)  Clearly we are an all-boy household regarding toys, and this was a new concept.  :)


Gigi cheered along the Pirates T-Ball team.

As soon as the game was over, Gigi and our family joined the rest of our (not-so-small) Small Group at church for the annual Family Retreat in Glen Rose.

She went on a hayride, played with lots of friends, and even went down a zip line 50 ft. high and 100 yards long.  She was supposed to go on the zip line with Tate, but even though he got to the very top, harness on, sitting on the ledge to jump off, he opted out.  No problem...he is only 4 after all.  :)  So Gigi got tucked into my harness and away we went. (Wow, wow, wow.  Never done anything like that...took everything in me to put on my brave face for Tate.)  Lots of fun!

And even after that full weekend, Gigi added some more mileage with an impromptu road trip on Monday with Tate & Grandpa to Waco to have lunch with Aunt Shannon and the cousins.  They stopped at Baylor University to begin teaching Gigi about the importance of college.

It was quite the fun weekend with Gigi!

Go Cats Go!

We jumped at the chance to go cheer on our ACU Wildcats at a game in the Dallas Cowboys stadium.  Probably the best seats we're going to have for a game in that stadium for awhile.  They didn't play that well (unlike the great game we went to in the pouring rain 2 years ago), but we all still had such a fun time.

This video is a little pre-game pep rally in the car.

Tate was excited to go, and definitely enjoyed the game.  But his buddy from church, Jack, sitting right by us made it even more fun.  Those two are pretty hilarious together.  Maybe future ACU roomies...Class of 2025?

MoMere & Poppy cheered on the Wildcats as well.

And even though he was still wearing his CAL apparel (and Giants hat...really??!!), Grandpa came to support our team as well.  Only fair considering how many Bears' games we have gone to.  :)

Bummer of a game, but so much fun.  Purple, white, purple, white...fight, fight, fight!

Happy Birthday Wade!

At the end of August, Wade had a big birthday.  I happened to have another Groupon for the self-guided tour of Cowboys Stadium that was about to expire.  It made for a fun birthday for a 4-year-old.  Why not make it work for the birthday of a 36-year-old?  :)

It was a great afternoon for these football-loving guys.  I was the photographer, so no pictures of me.  But fun was had by all!

Finally it was time to leave and head home to celebrate the birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Wade!  We love you and couldn't ask for a better husband and father!!!!!!

Reunited

Back in 2008, Newsweek and I broke up. We had been very close for about nine years. It's fair to say I'm loyal. During our years together, I loved getting home to find my Newsweek in the mailbox. Yes, this is bringing to light much of my nerdiness. But toward the end of our years together, the design changed, the writing styles changed, and my favorite columnist ever (Anna Quindlen) left the magazine. I wasn't feeling the love and found myself barely reading each issue. So one day, I abruptly broke up.

While we have been on a break, I've received countless letters and emails pleading for my return. At first, I wanted nothing to do with my former news source. After all, I had Brian Williams, my local news, my news radio, and my occasional newspaper. I could go on without Newsweek just fine, thank you very much.

But life continued to happen over the last three years. My then baby turned into a busy toddler. I started working part-time on freelance projects. I had another baby. Life took on a new form of busy. And I found myself barely able to pry my eyes open late at night trying to read at least one morsel of news off my iPhone. I was clueless. In fact, if it wasn't for Facebook, I would have never had known about Osama bin Laden's death.

I am a graduate of an acclaimed Journalism & Mass Communication Department, so it goes against everything in me to be reading my news on Facebook. Wow, could that sound any snootier? No self-righteousness, I just have a weird addiction to good, quality news.

So the inevitable has happened. Newsweek and I have reunited...and it feels so good.

(That song should be stuck in your head now for approximately 8 hours.)

Tate's First Day of Preschool ~ 2011

Hard to believe this was Tate's LAST first day of preschool. Next year is Kindergarten! This is his 3rd year at our preschool, and he was beyond excited to go. The highlight of this year for Tate is being upstairs. He really thinks that is cool. :) He is in the Giraffes class with two wonderful teachers (one of which first met Tate when he was 5 days old!). This year they will learn all of the fun Pre-K things plus they will have Spanish, Chapel, Literacy Lesson, and an extra long Discovery class (which I know he will LOVE). He also gets to go to the TOTs basketball program again.

It was bright and sunny this morning as we attempted the First Day pictures on the front porch. Trying to explain to a 4-year-old how to not squint but still smile is pretty much impossible. But I still got some shots of my handsome, squinty Giraffe. :)

Once all family members had been photographed (per Tate's request), we were off to the first day.

Can you tell someone is just a little excited and ready to go?

It's become a little trickier getting details out of him after school as he has learned the "I don't remember" response. But I did get out of him that today he had fun playing pirates outside and learned that giraffes eat leaves and that when you push 2 and 3, you get 5." Not too bad for a first day, I think.

I know it's going to be a great year, and I can't wait to watch him learn and grow even more!

On This Day In...

I just recently discovered the little sidebar on Facebook that shows your status update a year ago or two years ago. Quite entertaining, actually. And quite a way to get some perspective.

So on September 1, 2009, I decided to make it "Facebook official" by announcing that I was pregnant. I vaguely remember being excited, nervous, oh-so-tired, and already looking forward to meeting this new baby.

And then on September 1, 2010, I decided to announce to Facebook that Will (4 months old) had slept 10 hours the night before. I vaguely remember still being absolutely exhausted and absolutely excited that he slept so long.

And here I am on September 1, 2011. I can't believe he is already 16 months old. What a difference one year makes. What a difference two years makes.

He is no baby anymore, and I find myself barely able to really remember him being little. It feels bizarre and almost wrong that I can hardly remember him as an infant. So strange considering it wasn't that long ago. Surely I'm not alone in this weird maternal memory lapse?

Knowing that there is a pretty good chance that we will be a 2-kid family, I tried so hard this past year to really savor every moment. So how in the world have I already forgotten it? I guess it can be blamed on sleep deprivation or the franticness of life.

But for today, I'm thankful to have that quick Facebook trip down memory lane. To remember the excitement of this unknown person that would be ours. And then to remember the relief in knowing it is possible for me to have uninterrupted sleep again.

Now to wonder what it will say in 2012?