Mother's Day Tea

My favorite day in elementary is mother's day tea in the first grade. I love it. This year I got to do it with Josie. She painted my nails, which by the way she did much better than Jack and Buddy did. Then she massaged my hands with my favorite lotion. After that the class sang a song and recited a poem to the moms and then fed us muffins and juice. It was great!!!

Garrett Turns 5

Garrett had such a busy day that he fell fast asleep before bedtime.

My Garrett boy turned 5 years old. I can't believe that he is that old. It seems like only yesterday that we were in the hospital being told that they were air lifting him downtown to the children's hospital. Now, he is 5 and healthy as an ox. We went to see his cardiologist a couple days ago and she told us that he was cleared from clinic. That means that he no longer has to go see the doctor for his heart unless he starts having problems again. His doctor told us that most kids born with neonatal SVT usually have a recurrance around 8 years old. I pray that he doesn't have any further problems but at least he will be able to tell us that there is something wrong this time. He is such a fun little boy. We are so lucky to have him in our family. He is very witty and is so fun to be around. He is very talented and is a great ball player. Wes is always telling him that he is the favorite and I think that he really may be. He is so excited to be starting school this year but I am sad that he won't be home with us during the day anymore. I love him so much and am so happy that he is in our family.

Easter Morning

Crystal came over and helped us hunt for eggs and eat easter breakfast. The kids found lots of fun treasures. Ben thought that it was great just finding the plastic egg to play with. That was until the kids started opening up the eggs and dumping out their candy. You should have seen him start crawling around the room. He only does the army crawl but man did he move. The kids got his puff treats and each of them gave him a couple of those when he would visit their baskets.

Shaved Ice is Open Again

Our favorite shaved ice spot finally reopened. Yay!!! We love it. Daddy told us that we are only allowed to go once a week if that. When you are buying 8 icee's it adds up pretty fast. They are soooo..... yummy!!! For those of you in Arizona it's comprable to Bahama Bucks. Ben couldn't get enough. He was screaming at Daddy every time he stopped giving him some. It was hilarious.

Getting Ready for Easter

Easter weekend we were very busy. We cleaned the yard, mowed the lawn, dyed easter eggs and filled the eggs for the easter bunny. While Garrett and Buddy were mowing the lawn Jack and Josie made lunch for everyone. Poor Blake and Ben were pretty sick that weekend but were very patient with us while we worked outdoors. Wes and I took turns coming in and snuggling with the sick ones while the other one stayed outside helping the other kids get the yard ready for our easter festivities. The kids did a great job and were soooo... helpful.

Josie's new style

After seeing a dentist, an endodontist and an orthodontist Josie has a whole new style. She is now sporting braces on her upper teeth to try and pull the tooth that she jammed up into her gums back down. Once the tooth is down, hopefully in the next couple weeks, she will have a root canal done on the tooth. She will have to wear the braces for the next 4-6 months to help stabilize the tooth after the root canal. This blasted tooth is going to cost us a fortune. On a more positive note Josie is taking it all in stride like a real trooper. I know she is in pain a lot but she doesn't complain too much. She is little bummed that she can't eat popcorn, chewy candy or gum anymore but I told her that we would try to find some other fun treats that we can substitute for the time being.
She also changed her hair style. She decided that she was ready for short hair again for the summer. It is all one length including her bangs. I think that she looks darling braces, hairstyle and all. I may be a tad bit biased but I think she is adorable!!!

Garrett's 1st T-Ball Game

Garrett finally played in his first t-ball game. The much awaited date was better than we could have hoped for her. Garrett was able to play left field, pitcher and catcher. He did a great job. He caught the ball, threw and played his postitions like a pro. It was really fun to watch. Jackson also played in his first game of the season that same day. It's hard to go from a select team to a regular little league team. It is a little hard to watch. Not nearly as exciting as the select games are.

Buddy in a Bucket

Okay, this is going to sound really mean but it is funny as heck. The other day I was working in the kitchen and Josie came running in telling me that Buddy was stuck in a bucket. I was sure that he was messing with her but I went out to check it out just in case. When I got out there I could not stop laughing. I ran back in the house to get my camera so that I could always remember it. Apparently, he was crouching over the bucket playing catch with Garrett and Blake and sat down, forgetting that the bucket was right side up, and fell in. He fell in so far that he couldn't get back out on his own. When he got out he had a bad scratch on his back from falling in. I felt bad for laughing at him but it was pretty funny.

Thai Spice Critique

Last week Wes and I went to Thai Spice for a date night. I was shocked at how good it was. They had a huge menu to choose from and it all looked so tasty. It is set up somewhat like Pei Wei's where you order and then sit down and they bring it to you. Thai Spice has a very inviting environment and everyone that worked there was very kind. I ordered "taste of ginger" and it was soooo good. Wes ordered a curry soup dish that he really enjoyed. He didn't care for the eggplant that was in it so he pulled that out but other than that, he was very pleased. I can't wait to go back and try something else on their menu. I would highly recommend this restaurant. It is hard to find good food, kind people and a nice establishment. They receive an A+ from me.

Bowling

We had a pretty boring spring break this year. Wes was travelling for half of it and I didn't want to spend money. But when push came to shove I felt guilty for not doing anything fun at all so we decided to take them bowling. We all had a lot of fun!! Every time that Garrett got up he did a little celebratory dance as the ball was rolling down the lane. It cracked us up. Blake's ball moved so slow down the lane. I didn't think it was ever going to make it down to the pins. Jack had great form. Buddy had to bowl left handed because of his cast, needless to say he didn't do so well, which killed him. Josie had very little form but seemed to do pretty well at the end. Wes had great form and had numerous strikes. That's my man!! All things said and done we all had fun and luckily that's what they remember about spring break. We may do it again next year too. :)

Haircuts for the boys

It has been a really long time since Wes cut the boys hair. The boys weren't complaining though because they like having longer hair. However, their hair drives Wes crazy. Is not about the style of it all. So, they all got their hair shaved. You should have seen how much hair there was.

Garrett's shaved fingers

So, Garrett's falling apart. The kid is 4 years old and I swear he is a walking disaster. On Friday night I was grating cheese for tacos and once I was done I turned around to finish cooking the meat. Garrett took the grater and decided to grate some cheese for himself. The cheese grater that he was using was the Pampered Chef mandaline, which is very very sharp. For some reason that is unbeknown to me he stuck three of his fingers under one of the blades under the grater. He started crying really loud and when I walked over to the table, where he was sitting, he was pulling his fingers back out slicing the center of each fingernail clean off. It was so gross. It bleed for 30 minutes straight. Wes held his hand up, wrapped in a towel for the full 30 minutes. My poor baby. We took the bandage off on Saturday night and the gauze was stuck to where the fingernail was and so when we took it off it began bleeding again. It's Monday now and he is finally on the up and up.

UT shorts

Buddy is a HUGE University of Texas fan. He tells us all the time that he is going to UT and is going to play football and baseball for them. They have a great athletics program and Buddy wants to be a part of it soooo bad. Wes, however, is not such a huge UT fan and so they have a fun little rivalry between one another. The other day we were walking through the mall for something to do during spring break and Buddy found some UT shorts that were on sale. He begged me to let him buy them for his dad and I finally caved. Wes has no choice but to wear them since Buddy bought them for him but I think it kills him. I personally think that it's hilarious.

Josie Safari Reader

The 1st grade has a program called Safari Reader. It is for all 1st graders to try and read 100 books in a given amount of time. Josie is a fabulous reader and so it was no problem for her to read the 100 books assigned. At the end of the time period they have a safari party to celebrate. They eat safari food like ants on a log, celery with peanut butter and raisins and other goodies like that. Their party was on the same day as Garrett's surgery and so as soon as Garrett was in recovery and doing well Wes and Ben went up to the school to celebrate with Josie. Josie is always ecstatic to show off her family and friends to one another. She is so cute. She read books to Wes and Ben and showed them around her class. She was so excited for the party that she had a really hard time sleeping the night before. She woke up at 3:00 am to see if it would be okay if she got ready. Silly girl.

Garrett's surgery

Garrett has had a mucous cell on his lower lip for the past year or so. For those who don't know what that is, it is a bubble in the lip that forms from bursting a salivary gland. It doesn't usually go away unless you have is surgically removed. Jackson has had 3 of these lovely thing over the past eight years. Once they are old enough to hold still the doctor can do the procedure in the office but for the little ones they have to put them under. We decided that it was time to remove Garrett's so that he wouldn't have any problems with speech in school. It was also effecting his smile and so, it was time. He was a little nervous and cried when the anaesthesiologist took him back to the operating room but he did great once he was back there, from what I was told. He had a rough time in recovery. He cried a lot. I would cry too if I couldn't explain why I felt so funny and was in pain after being asleep. It has been a week and a half now and he is doing awesome. The stitches have dissolved and his lip looks amazing! He is very glad that it is finally gone.

Ben Gets his 1st 2 teeth

Ben FINALLY got his first 2 teeth in. My baby boy has been miserable for weeks because of those dang things. I was so happy to see them in. However, I think the top two may be coming in now and we are going through the same misery all over again. I somehow forgot how miserable teething is. I hate it!!!

Pinewood Derby

The boys had their annual pinewood derby races. We bought the kits, which is apparently frowned upon, and let the boys sand, paint and prepare the wheels. Wes took the boys to the church early so they could weigh and add the weights. The boys had a blast!!! Jackson is disappointed that the 11 year old scouts don't get to participate in the event. Wes told him that he could still make a car next year and race it with the boys at home after the official pinewood derby. I don't know if it's the same for Mr. Competitive. haha Each boy received an award. Jackson received the Captain Jack award and Buddy received the fade to black award. They both came in 2nd place for most of their races and had a lot of fun. I think this is probably their favorite thing about scouting.

Restaurant Critique

Alright, so Karen and I have decided that each week we are going to visit a new restaurant in our area, that we have never been to before, and then give a critique on this blog. We are doing it just for fun for us but if it can help someone else try somewhere new than we have done some good.

Last week we went to a Viatnemese noodle house called Pho Saigon. It is located onn Mason by Tuesday Mornings. When we were first looked at the menu I was very overwhelmed because there were so many things on the menu and I had no idea what any of them where. However, after some serious studying of the menu, I decided to order #67 Bun Ga Nuong Cha Gio. See why I would have trouble ordering. It is a vericelli noodle with char broiled chicken and fried egg roll. It comes in this cool bowl with sprouts, carrott shavings, mint, noodles, chicken and chopped peanuts on top. It also came with a sauce that you pour on top before eating it. I was shocked at how amazing it was. I often feel sick after eating most meals but this was very light and fresh. I loved it!!! I also ordered the Goi Cuon, or the fresh spring roll. If you go to other places spring rolls have a dough like wrap. However, this was a sticky white wrapper. It was very different but I liked it. I would suggest this restaurant to all of my friends. It was very yummy!!!

This week we went to a little shop called Sweet and Salty Gourmet Bakery. It was a very cute little bakery. When you first walk in you see these amazing desserts that you can't help but drool over. They have little sandwiches in all different types of breads. We ordered a couple of different sandwiches to try out the selection. They have sandwiches on white bread without any crust. These were not my favorite. I ordered the roasted pepper and cheese and I felt like it needed another componant. Like sprouts or some other seasoning for flavor. However, they have another sandwich called a locatelis that I thought was delicious. The roll that they serve it in is so yummy. I could eat several of these sandwiches in one sitting. They were delicious. I also tried the ham and cheese empanada and it was also very yummy. We couldn't leave without trying their scrumptious desserts. We had a chocolate cup, which was literally a chocolate cup filled with vanilla cake, tres leche, merinque, whip cream and cherry. It was very good, rich, but good. I wish that it had some sort of custard in the place of the cake but that is just my personal opinion. We also had the chocolate eclair and who can go wrong with an eclair. It was delicious. The filling was very light and the pastry was very tasty. I personally think that Sweet and Salty is by far better than Ooh La La and priced much more reasonably as well. I won't be rushing back to this restaurant but it wasn't bad.

Josie's knocked out teeth

This is Josie a week ago at the rodeo prior to the accident

This is Josie after the accident with her missing teeth

On Sunday night Josie was playing with a little friend on a gate. They were swinging one another back and forth on the gate. Josie's friend pushed Josie pretty hard so that she would have a really fun ride but instead Josie's face hit the fence and she broke her two front teeth. When I got to her I thought that she had broken her right tooth up to the gum line. However, after x-rays and consulting with her dentist it looks like she jammed it back up into he gums. They are both broken a little bit but it may not be as bad as we originally thought. Her gums are badly bruised but all in all it could be a lot worse. We are hoping that the tooth will come back down on it's own and that the roots will be okay. We will go back to the dentist in two weeks for another x-ray to check on the roots and to see if the tooth is coming back down at all. We are praying for the best.

Spring Break Blast

This weekend Jack and Buddy's select baseball team had another tournament. They won every game they played. Totaling six wins just for this weekend. We found out yesterday that their team is now ranked 7th in the state of Texas for 10 year old teamms and 27th in the nation. Since we have become the Katy Cougars our record is 11 and 1. Not to shabby, huh? Two weekends, two first place trophys, 10 very happy boys and lots of very tired family members. They have been very long weekends but so worth it. It is so much fun to watch them play. We now have a five week break until we play in our next tournament so hopefully we will get plenty of rest to hear up for it. This group of boys have been playing together for 2 years now and some of them have been playing together for 4 years. Our select team is truly like a second family to us.