Extra in The Ordinary

It's already mid summer, and it's hot, and the kids are bored. We decided today to go to the beach and it was beautiful! The kids dug in the sand, I wrote an article on the beach, and then we all played in the water. I even got a few funny boomerang pics of boogie boarding. After we went to the sea wall, I wanted to take the kids to do something new or different in Galveston, but with a little bit of a lower budget lately (I stayed home this summer!), we were sort of limited in our options. Last time we were in Galveston they wanted to do the ferry but the lines were too long, so I thought I'd take them and see how long the wait was. I'm so glad we did! The line was not long at all (maybe 5-10 min), and while we were waiting Punkin tells me "this will be my first time on a boat!". Well, people, she is 9 years old, and to be honest, maybe she has been on a boat before and I'm just not thinking of it, but it's very possible this was her first boat ri...

Spring break has never been so fun! This year I rented a suburban, left Husband at home in Houston, and took my girls, my sister, and her 3 kids on a road trip. In case you didn't catch that....that's 5 kids. And no daddies to help. Yes, it was a brave trip, but it was SO much FUN!! It's like the thing you're really supposed to do on spring break- usually we don't travel very far, and/or we try to get too much done at home. This year the theme was definitely:"Get out of town!!" 1) Thank you to husband for letting me and the kids desert him for 6 days . The fridge had no food in it when we left. I just didn't have time to grocery shop. So he ate out of the pantry and slim pickings of the fridge for the week. Why do men prefer that to going to the store for food? Anyways, he made like 3 batches of soap while we were gone, so I think he had some fun. 2) Round trip, this was 1200 miles. I drove it, but my SWEET sister was the parental referee. Oh m...

So, here's part 2 of our 2013 Christmas timeline! December 25th , Christmas Day was Wednesday: We opened presents early. Punkin had a stomach ache, probably from the antibiotics after the ear infection diagnosis the day before. IPK made blueberry muffins for her daddy. Good morning and Merry Christmas!! Punkin was pale and not feeling well :( Punkin's loot IPK's loot. That little purple ball is a Monstaz. All I know is it makes noise. Punkin feeling better! IPK was STOKED about Monopoly Empire Pink pants! yeah! IPK making muffins for daddy 2 sisters in new outfits from Grandma= 1 good Christmas! Christmas dinner was yum! Thank you Grandma!! December 26th , the day after Christmas was full of guns and bowling: Punkin's first time to shoot. Aim fire ready! Grandma giving bowling lessons.....the others are being silly.  Cheese! We played 2 games, lots of fun, but they were tired.  Wow- that wa...

Last week I was reading Family Fun magazine, and I came across a cute idea. Ya know all the crazy, funny, adorable things kids say- the things that make you giggle? Well, rather than feeling guilty that you don't have time to journal and scrap book every waking moment of your children's lives, try making a Giggle Log. This can be a notebook you keep at home in the book shelf, or a list you keep in the kitchen, or whatever works. I love the "notes" on my iphone, since it goes with me everywhere, so I keep my Giggle Log there. Anyways, you just jot down the funny things your kids are saying/doing about once per week.  First of all, the day before I started the Giggle Log I got this pic of the girls, which seemed fitting.  Ok, so here's what I have so far (I just got started) Giggle log: (general earlier memories) When IKP would go with mommy to the obstetrician while pregnant with Punkin, IPK wanted to go up the "alligator" (elevator). Pun...

When it's been a while since the last post, you know we've been super busy. Work has been full of wonderful opportunities to go early and stay late, and limited time to write. I always regret not taking enough time to write, but at the moment resting seems smarter than burning the candle at both ends, so I'm glad for that. After 12 weeks of unexpected additional responsibility at work, I feel like I came through it stronger, and even more healthy, rather than getting sick. Ok, enough about me! Back to family stuff! During the past few weeks, we: Watched our lil Punkin graduation Pre-K, and she did a great job!! We celebrated lil' cousin Tighty's 3rd birthday. Or you can call him "Batman": We celebrated IPK's 8th Birthday in Dallas with brother G and sister S: Here's go karts with brother G and sister S. We love them so! Here is Punkin' in her very first solo go-kart ride: Oh, and we went to a few day...

So, what have we been up to lately? Oh, we have been extraordinarily busy! Here is an update so you know where we've been! (by the way, wet fingernails so excuse any creative typing) In the past 30 days: We got to see my mom (Memaw), and we had not seen her in 10 MONTHS. She was here in town for both Christmas as well as a special arrival you'll hear about in just a moment. The kids just couldn't get enough of Memaw while she was here (neither could I).  We took a wonderful, magical Christmas road trip to Tennessee to see Grandma, and it SNOWED. We left town at 3pm Christmas day and didn't get to grandmas until 4:30 am on the 26th. We arrived safely through snow and ice and after hours of going only 45mph (because of snow and ice). I've never been so happy to get somewhere! Thank you to Mr. Extraordinary for driving 90% of the way there and for just being the best husband ever. We got a new nephew, and for fun we will call him Mr. Ash. He is a teeny ...