Tagged-8 things about me

My sweet friend Becca tagged me so here goes:

8 TV SHOWS I WATCH:

1. Heroes

2. Mentalist

3. Life

4. Grey's Anatomy

5. The Office

6. David Letterman (sometimes)

7. Conan (sometimes)

8. Curious George=)

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED ME TODAY: (How about yesterday-nothing much has happened so far today)

1. Woke up to a little voice in my ear "wake up Mommy"

2. Made cinnamon toast & a pumpkin spice latte. 

3. Sat on the couch and read while Tobey watched cartoons

4. Built a fire 

5. Was amazed when I looked outside and saw tiny snowflakes falling

6. Wrapped Christmas presents

7. Had dinner at Olive Garden with my husband and we saw Four Christmases afterwards

8. Finished up Christmas cards before bed

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO:

1. Christmas Day

2. New Years Eve in Seattle

3. a new nephew/niece due in May

4. taking Tobey to Disney world (hopefully soon)

5. my sister's high school graduation in May

6. the Revelations Bible Study at my church starting in January

7. the day Tobey realizes who Jesus really is and how much He loves us and he embraces that truth

8. a girl's night out with friends soon

8 THINGS I WISH FOR: (this one is hard)

1. a cute little house in the country

2. a cold cold winter with some snow on the ground

3. for all of Tobey's food allergies to just disappear

4. a new addition to our own family

5. For my master bathroom to be completed

6. For Tobey's new bedroom remodel to be started

7. a grand vacation anywhere

8. a completely potty trained little boy=)

8 PEOPLE I TAG:

1. Suzanne

2. Tricia

3. Melissa

4. Lori

5. Krystal

6. Shey

7. Jaclynn

8. Julie

Benihana Birthday

Last Thursday I turned 30 and it was a good day. In light of recent events I feel very grateful to have reached the age of 30. I can remember back to my 25th birthday and being so sad. I think I cried three times that day. Partly because my mom forgot my birthday that year (she remembered this year and was the first person to call me). But mostly because I was afraid of getting old. We also had been trying to get pregnant without success. In my 25th year God taught me alot about His timing and showed me how to trust in him completely. It was a rough year to say the least but I can honestly say I had some of my sweetest moments with the Lord and alot of eye opening conversations with Him. He was my Comfort. At the end of that year God pleasantly surprised us and I found out I was pregnant. The last 4 years have been rough in a very different way. Motherhood has been so much more challenging than I ever expected but the delight I have in my son is indescribable. I feel blessed beyond measure. I am just grateful to be here in my life, a wife to my husband, and a mother to my son. I am grateful to be on this journey. I still felt the need to celebrate and I decided I wanted to go to Benihana's. It felt worthy of a 30th birthday. Rodney had to work on our plumbing all day on my birthday because we had a pipe break behind my washing machine. This happened on Monday and we had been without water since then. Rodney was out of town Tuesday and Wednesday so Thursday was the first day he had to work on it. My husband is quite the handy man and likes to do things himself. He does a good job so I don't complain even when we are without water for 4 days. We stole water from his mom and dad and did all of our showering and bathing at their house. One morning I ran out of water early on so I went next door and borrowed some from my neighbors water hose (they don't know that yet but I know they won't mind). I felt like I was in some third world country as I carried my jugs of water back to the house. I now know how much water it takes to flush the toilet and it is a lot. Tobey will blow his nose and put tissue in the toilet just so he can flush it. No more of that. It is so very wasteful and I am ashamed I have let him do it all. Anyway Rodney worked on the plumbing all day and Tobey and I hung out with Mimi. Then we all went to Benihana's for dinner and it was yummy. I loved watching Tobey's reactions to the food being cooked right in front of us. That was the best part of the night as well as the spa certificate Rodney presented to me. The food was so very yummy. I had forgotten how good it was. And the green tea ice cream...delicious. I felt so bad for Tobey. He wanted some of the "green" ice cream so bad. But he couldn't have any because of his milk allergy. This usually doesn't bother him because he is so used to it but he was upset that night. He folded his arms and cried. It broke my heart. I should have thought ahead and packed his favorite cookies. Lesson learned. He got a soy ice cream sandwich as soon as we got home and all was better. Here are a few pictures. Rodney snuck away and told our waitress it was my birthday. So at the end I got to stand up and "shake my bon bon" (in the words of our waitress) to their little birthday song and then blow out a buddha birthday candle. That is the picture of me standing up and I love how Rodney is so amused in that picture. Thanks honey! Our waitress even took a picture and placed it in a Benihana frame as a memento. It was kind of sweet. Then we went home and watched The Office and went to bed. Rodney and I have gotten hooked on The Office just this season. I know it is the 5th season but it just never clicked with us before. I think it is because we have a DVR now and we can record it and watch it after Tobey goes to bed without distractions. I love it!  It is one of my favorite times of the week and it is the one show we always try to watch together. So it was a great birthday. We got our water turned back on, I had fabulous food, great gifts, and entertainment from The Office. The 30's are going to be good!

NEWS!!!

Tobey is going to have a baby cousin. My sister-in-law and her husband were in town last weekend and gave us some very exciting news. They are expecting their first child and we are so excited. They came into town late afternoon last Sunday. We were already at Rodney's parents waiting for them to arrive. Shanna called Rodney's cell phone and asked if they could meet us at our house and to bring Tobey. Rod was a little confused and she just said it would all make sense later. So we met at our house and they pulled out this shirt that Shan made for Tobey. It says, "I know I look ecstatic. It's because I have a cousin on the way."

Then we headed back to Mimi & PawPaw's house and Tobey got to share the news about his baby cousin. It was so much fun watching them read the shirt and seeing the moment they realized what it meant. PawPaw threw his hand over his mouth and teared up. Mimi & Aunt Biz (Elizabeth) both stared at the shirt for what seemed like minutes and then gasped out loud. Mimi hugged Shan and then retreated to the kitchen for a few minutes. When she came back you could tell she had been crying. It was all so incredibly sweet and I have had such a grateful heart all week for this new child coming into our family and that I have the great privilege to be apart of Rodney's family and to share in their joy for each other. I love them all so much! Shan is still feeling nauseous but she has that mother's glow already. She has started showing and Tobey was a little fascinated by her belly especially after we told him his baby cousin was in there. He was a little confused because he asked if he had a baby in his tummy too. I love this picture of him pointing to Shan's tummy.

They left the following day and we really enjoyed their short little visit. Tobey rode with Mimi & PawPaw to take Shanna & Jeff to the airport and they said he cried so hard when both of them got out of the car. Thankfully we will see them in three weeks because we are going to Seattle for New Years Day! Yay!

I have so much more to blog about but I need to get ready for our Sunday School Christmas Party. So I will blog about my 30th birthday at a later date. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Thanksgiving at the Fire Station

We got to spend a very blessed Thanksgiving Day at the Fire Station. My father-in-law had to work so we brought the food to him and celebrated with him at the station. I knew Tobey was going to have a blast. He got to sit in a fire truck and hold the fire hose and spray water. He also got to see his Paw Paw leave in the fire truck three different times while we were there. The last time we had Thanksgiving at the station Tobey had just turned one a couple of months before. He actually took his first solo steps at the fire station that year. It is amazing how much he has changed in just two short years. He is such a little man and he loves his family. He was so excited that we were all together yesterday.  I worked the night of Thanksgiving Eve so I slept in on Thanksgiving day while Rodney made homemade macaroni-n-cheese and cookie dough brownies to take to the station. We headed over around lunchtime and feasted. The guys made it through lunch before they got a call for a dumpster fire. When they got back they parked the fire truck outside the station and let Tobey and another little girl who was there spray the hoses. Tobey was in awe. He is already mesmerized by his Paw Paw and now even more. Then we hung around outside and snapped lots of pictures. This is actually Phil's last Thanksgiving as a fireman as he will be retiring soon so I walked around and took pictures of him next to the firetruck. Then we headed inside and ate dessert and watched the game (of course). Tobey found a stash of suckers and handed them out to everyone. We stayed until almost 7pm and then came home and decorated our tree. I love this time of year and I am excited that we will be done decorating today. Rodney is about finished with the outside lights and we will have over a month to enjoy it all. I am off this friday night since I worked the Eve so we are taking Tobey to see the new movie Bolt this afternoon. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a very blessed time with family!

Sitting in the fire truck

Posing with Aunt Biz

Posing with Paw Paw

Posing with Daddy

After Paw Paw returned from putting out fires

Getting ready to spray the fire hose

family pics

Cuddling with Mimi

Stocking up on suckers (I especially enjoyed his little buddha belly in this picture)

The Tool Man

The day before Thanksgiving Tobey and I went outside to help Rodney with the Christmas lights. I made a bargain with the hubs that I would help him outside if he would set the tree up inside. We have to do a fake tree because we are a house full of allergy and I hate setting that thing up. I love putting the ornaments on but I hate setting the tree up. So he set the tree up so it would be ready for decorating later and then we headed outside. We only got around to the ground stuff but Rodney was satisfied with getting half the work done. He is actually outside right now putting the rest of the lights up on the house. His cousin showed up to help and of course Tobey has to be outside with them so I am enjoying some alone time in the house and very happy about it. Anyway back to the day before Thanksgiving Tobey decided he needed his tools outside because he wanted to build something. He played for a good 45 minutes. I don't know what he had in mind to build but he was very intent on it and very cute.

Arrgh...Matey!

Last month when my sister-in-law and her husband were in town for a conference Jeff played pirates with Tobey and taught him how to say Arrgh...Matey. He went around for days saying it and it was really cute. I had been leaning toward dressing Tobey up as Curious George for our Fallapalooza at church. I decided to give him a choice in the matter so I asked him if he wanted to be Curious George or a pirate. Well of course he said a pirate because a pirate is cool like Uncle Jeff.

He was a great looking pirate although he refused to wear the eye patch. He did let me take one picture with it on.

I didn't realize how menacing the skull on his hat looked when I bought it. I hope he didn't frighten anyone at Fallapalooza.

Tobey got to hang out with Aunt Biz. This was in line waiting for the costume contest and he is asking her to go on the stage with him.

And she did like the loving Aunt she is

Then she went through the obstacle course with him.

After Tobey played games at church we drove over to the Fire Station to see Paw Paw who was working. Tobey was so excited and he practiced saying trick or treat in the car. We walked up and rang the doorbell but no one answered. Then we walked around to the back and saw that the fire truck was gone. Tobey was so sad. He cried on the way back to the car.

Then we met some friends for ice cream and I let Tobey eat as much candy as he wanted. He was so candied out that the next day he didn't even ask for any. Now for some reminiscing.

2007-Cowboy

2006-Tigger

2005-Cute Baby

A Day at the Zoo with Tobey & George

Last Wednesday, Tobey and I made a random trip to the Ft Worth zoo just to get out of the house. He was in need of a change of scenery and we hadn't been in a while (over a year i think). I found out that admission is half-off on Wednesdays so it was less than $10 for both of us to get in. I packed our lunches too so it was an overall cheap date. He was so much fun this time and so excited by all the animals. He was so cute be because he kept asking for animals specifically. "I want to see the little monkeys now" or "I want to see the giraffes" or elephants or tiger. His new obsessions are Curious George and Clifford. We brought George along with us and he would hold George up so he could see the animals too. I teased him all day and called him George and he would reply back every time so innocently "I not George mommy, I Tobey". Our favorite stops along the day were the monkeys, the white tiger, the penguins, and the lioness and her cubs. The spider monkeys were especially active when we arrived and Tobey laughed at how they swung around on their playhouse. The white tiger was on the prowl as it paced back and forth in front of the viewing window. Tobey was in awe. The penguins are a fairly new exhibit that we had not seen. I love the penguins at the Dallas zoo so I was excited to see that the Ft Worth zoo had them now too. We had alot of fun watching them splash around under the water. The best part though was watching the lioness and her cubs. We stayed quite awhile at this exhibit. The cubs were in a playful mood attacking their mom and each other. The poor lioness just wanted to lay down and rest. She would reach back and nudge them with her nose and then shake them off and move to a new location to lie down. She kept her eyes on them though. One of the cubs wandered off by himself and she watched him for a few minutes before going over to check out what he was doing. It was amazing to watch their interactions. And of course we rode the train. Tobey's favorite part. After the ride and the train stopped for us to get off he said "no mommy I want to ride more". It took a little convincing to get him off the train. It was a really fun day for us. The weather was beautiful and the zoo wasn't crowded at all. It was definitely worth my 10 bucks.

Pumpkin Patch

Last week I met my cousin and her two children and we headed out to the Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound. I took Tobey last year and got some really good pictures. This year was just as fun and he had a blast playing with his cousins. Maison is in kindergarten this year and Tobey's idol. Every blonde haired boy we see around 5 is a Maison to Tobey. It was so cute watching Tobey trying to keep up with Maison and his little friend who came along with us. Tobey so wanted to be a big boy with them. Mackenzie is 2.5 years old and a little sweetie. She's the perfect mix of cutie pie girl and rough-n-tumble tomboy. My cousin and her family just moved to the Coppell area from Ovilla. She is more like a sister than a cousin to me. I actually lived with her and her husband the year before Rodney and I got married. They were so gracious to open their home to a poor college girl. I have really enjoyed having her a little closer to us. Our visit with the pumpkins was more chaotic than anything - trying to keep up with four wild kids. But it was still fun. We even went on a hayride. Nikki and I enjoyed that part the most. We were able to relax for a few minutes before chasing the kids around again. We were going to eat a corny dog before we left but the corny dog stand closed by the time we got to it. So rude! All was good though because we just went to Sonic instead.

This is last year at the pumpkin patch. I can't believe how much my boy has changed!

The pumpkin house is my favorite part.

Maison

Mackenzie

Tobey

Trying to keep up with the big boys!

Hayride

I think you are supposed to stand or sit in the pot but Tobey seemed to think he should straddle it like a potty

Tobey and his cuz

Ileeta's funeral was yesterday and it truly was a celebration of her life. She had the opportunity to write out the order for the service before she passed away. That is so amazing to me. Ileeta had a beautiful voice and sang with our church choir for many years. They all came together to sing at her funeral in remembrance of her. Several of her close friends got up and spoke about her, recalling funny moments over the years and just confirming what a joyous and sweet and positive person she was. The whole service really focused on celebrating her life here on earth and her new life in heaven. I am touched and lifted up and inspired by her journey here on this earth and so happy imagining her walking with Jesus by the crystal lake! I surely will miss her and her contagious smile though!