A Do-It-Yourself-er

So this week I took both children to get their hair cut by someone other than me. I don't know why I feel I have to chronicle this momentous-only-to-me event, but here it is: The initial plan was to get Benjamin's hair cut, but take Ashlyn along so that MAYBE she might decide she would allow her's to be cut as well. It did turn out that after she saw that you get to sit in a car and when you are finished you are rewarded with a lollipop- she was willing! (Prior to the trim)Benjamin's hair has been described by his sister as "crazy hair" and I was in agreement. I found that I always had to have a comb on me, and that every hour or so I was needing to fix it again.It was NOT laying down the longer it got, it was always kinda messy.

So this lady proceeded to cut and clipper away without much input sought from me (that bothers me) and when she was finished she got it to stay by using a fair amount of gel. It looked okay... I thought I might have to take the scissors to it a little bit once we were home.

I was surprised that Ashlyn agreed to cut her hair... ever since she cut it herself she has been adamant about not having it cut at all. But she did amazing, she followed directions, stayed still better than I have ever seen her. After she had 4 inches cut and had the lollipop in hand, she was happy.

So after paying too much for these mediocre cuts we did our other errands. Benjamin's hair started to bother me more and more as the day progressed. I thought I'd see how it looked after I bathed him in the evening before I got involved. However, after his mid-afternoon nap I just couldn't take it any more. His hair has a way of always falling forward just minutes after you comb it to the side- well it was all foward and it looked like someone had weed-wacked his hair. It just looked so silly and as if he was bald on the sides and had long bangs in the front. So, YES, I did it, I got out the clippers and cut it myself! I tried using scissors but couldn't get him to stay still, so I used the clippers on the longest setting, and after the first pass I thought- "what did I just do!?" Once I did his whole head, I wasn't so upset with myself.

I find myself liking it more and more... it was the very best I could do after the haircut I paid for. I know at least my mother-in-law may be dissappointed because it is so short. It looks a lot blonder at this length (the last picture without the flash is to show this), and I don't even have to brush it- you have no idea how thrilled I am about that!! Anyway, what's done is done.

Ashlyn & Payton's Birthday Party

The birthday boy & the birthday girl!Just like we did last year, we did a shared party for Ashlyn and her cousin Payton since they were born a month apart. We had it at Pump It Up- a place with inflatable slides, bouncers, obstacle courses. It was made for kids to enjoy, but there were plenty of adults who participated as well!

listening attentively to the safety video

The pictures from the play areas with the actual inflatables turned out terrible- I think it was my camera or the lighting or both... so essentially the whole fun part of the party has not been included.

the girl cousins Hannah, Ashlyn, and Kaylee

cake time!By the way, having the party at a place like this was the way to go! The kids had fun, and I very much enjoyed not having to set-up, oversee the activities, and especially CLEAN UP! 2 hours and it was over and done- it was awesome!

Look how much they have grown up. This is from last year when they were turning 2... I think this picture was in my very first post.

...back before she had any say in what she woreI thought she was SO BIG then!!

at her first birthday covered in cakeon her actual BIRTH day... check out the black hair!
I still just can't believe that it has been 3 years!!

Funny Little Valentines

This is as cooperative as the kids would be for pictures on Valentine's Day



I took these next ones long before Valentine's Day in an attempt to send out some sort of Valentine's photo card to some family members. It didn't turn out as cute as I had envisioned it could... my friend Sarah has influenced me to prefer taking outdoor pictures and this was around the time that it was always nasty weather outside.

she learned that from Paul's sisters!

Oh, I have been so excited- I got a pink ipod nano for Valentine's Day! Thank you Paul, I love you!!

Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Ashlyn is 3!

silly girl (with food in her teeth)

Ashlyn turned 3 last week! She would say "I am going to be 3, I can't believe it!" I think she may have heard others say that a few times. The whole day whenever anyone would ask her how old she was she would argue that she was still 2. We went to "PappasKitos" on her birthday for dinner. Right before we were seated at our table she said "my birthday is starting!!" On Saturday we drove up to Austin and had a family party that evening. The kids and I stayed until Tuesday since Paul went to Dallas for the beginning of the week.

at Pappasitos- it's her favorite restaurant, can you tell?

Party at my parent's house I think she had at least 2 of these yummy cupcakes!

...I just LOVE this kid, and I too cannot believe she is already 3! It is so cliche, but time has flown by. Happy Birthday my little Punkin!!!

Thought I would throw these pictures in too...

On most evenings we have been walking around the neighborhood and stopping at the playground- these kids love the swings!

Seriously out of touch

Okay... after all the chaos going on in my family, I have gotten so behind on my blogging that I don't even know where to begin. I never did share any Christmas or New Year's pictures; I guess I can start there:

Here are the kids in their matching monkey Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve. Ashlyn wanted to be in Benjamin's crib with him. I've been afraid that she will attempt joining Benjamin in his crib again, this time without my assistance, but she hasn't... yet. Anyway, Christmas was a blast! My camera was low on memory so I didn't get many good pictures- but we did take way too much video so at least we do have some 2007 Christmas memories documented. My big present from Paul was a double jogging stroller- YEA!! Too bad the weather has been so icky that I haven't used it very much, maybe today!

We had a fun New Year's too- Paul and I have a tradition to do something new and fun every New Year's Eve. In years past we forget to plan anything until Christmas is over, but this year Paul planned out our celebration way in advance! I was so proud of him, and a little surprised too. We stayed in a suite at the Hotel Contessa down on the Riverwalk. There was a little carnival down in La Villita where there was so much to do for fun. One of the vendor's booths had the BEST kettle corn I have ever tasted. After spending most of the afternoon there, we went back to the room to try to get the kids to take a nap (ha, ha). After it got dark (and really COLD!) we bundled the kiddos up and walked a few blocks to get some dinner down on the Riverwalk.

In the historic La Villita- before all the New Years crowds

On the riverwalk , the part right behind our hotel. It was so pretty outside. This is when it got freezing! But Benjamin always thinks its funny to put on his big coat with the hood.The best part were the fireworks that we watched from our room. It was awesome to be able to put the kids to bed at a decent hour and since we had a suite, Paul and I didn't have to go to bed early too!- this is something new to us can you tell? At midnight we woke Ashlyn up to watch the fireworks- she loved it of course. I think what she liked best was that she could watch and enjoy but not have to be scared by the loud booms since we were watching through a window.

This was the view... the fireworks were going off right above and around the Tower of the Americas.

All of those details to tell that we had such a fun New Year's- Welcome 2008! (Yes I know that we are already 22 days into it, I said I was seriously behind!)

In Benjamin news: My baby is really ALL OVER THE PLACE now, he mostly enjoys being under things. Under the chairs, tables, toys, any place he can crawl under, he will! I've been told that he is such a happy baby, and I do agree, but he also has a shy-side. When strangers come up to "goo-goo-ga-ga" at him, he hides his face on my shoulder. Quite different from his sister! He still is doing this silly inch-worm crawl with some real speed behind it, but most recently he has been pulling up to standing! He is so lightweight that this task is seemingly effortless for him even when he first started trying it. Oh, and thanks to Paul who has taught him to climb stairs too, so now he is super-mobile. I guess it is my job to have to teach him how to climb DOWN the stairs so he won't hurt himself! Thanks honey!

these are from when we were at the hotel in Austin with Paul a couple of weeks ago.

The last couple of weeks

Well, where do I even start? I am sure that I will leave out many things that are worth writing about, but for everyone's sake I should summarize and just mention the most notable events.

Jan 5th- My greatgrandmother "Mama" passed away after living 100 years (almost 2 months away from 101 yrs). She was a wonderful woman and her legacy of faith is one of the many things that I can be thankful for. The funeral to celebrate her incredible life was this past Saturday. Here are a few pictures that are special to me:

Mama holding me

Mama and Ashlyn
Mama and Benjamin
Ashlyn and Mama at her 100th birthday party
Benjamin with Mama just a week before she passed away
She was so full of love and always had such a heart for children.

Last Monday, the kids and I followed Paul up to Austin and stayed with him in a hotel suite. It was great and I especially enjoyed returning every afternoon to a space that someone else had cleaned for me! The week past by very quickly- I had some things planned to keep us busy, but we hardly found time to do any of them. We left Thursday to return to San Antonio for one night and then drove back to Austin Friday for the visitation at the funeral home that evening. Saturday after the funeral, Paul and I left the kids with my parents and siblings and we went to a friend's wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding and we had so much fun! Such a long and odd day for me- a funeral and a wedding in the same day. Thankfully both events were celebrations.

Carly is doing better nearly a month following the car wreck- she still is recovering though. That kidney still has a lot of healing to do so she has to be careful and make sure that she is getting rest and she is having trouble making it through a full day of school. My parents are both still limited in their mobility: my Mom with her arm and shoulder, and my Dad with his hands and both have to be careful (especially around rowdy grandkids) to not further injure themselves.

I guess I could also mention that we narrowly escaped being in an accident ourselves. Let me start by saying that I do not believe in coincidences. Saturday afternoon, just so happens we stayed late at the graveyard to also visit my mother's father's & mother's brother's graves. Just so happens that there were too many people to ride comfortably in my parents' car (their new car) and so Ryan rode with us. Just so happens I sat in the very far back. We stopped at a stoplight that is at an odd angle (instead of facing 12:00 and turning left to 9:00, we were facing 2:00 and turning left to 9:00- get that?) had I not been in the very far back of the van with my unique vantage point, I may not have seen an SUV who didn't stop but instead sped through their red light and nearly smashed into us. Thankfully Paul heeded my warning in that split second and slammed on the brakes. It was scary- I still am not certain how we did not end up being in an accident. All I could think the rest of the way home was that my family did not need ANYTHING else like that to happen, especially right now. Later Paul pointed out to me that it would have been him or Benjamin who would have been closest to impact if he had just gone ahead and turned at our green light- I don't even like to think about it. I am so thankful to God that that was just a near miss!!

Finally this evening, we have returned to our own home! We certainly have gotten some use out I-35 over the past month. My mom and I were saying that we sure would like to have life get back to boring again. I hope to be able to spend some time this week reading other people's blogs, checking my e-mails and voicemails and all the other things that I have been neglecting.