The Watkins World

Why you shouldn't give your little sister your password

2006-12-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm tired of reading about queso waiting for SFG. Not that I wouldn't mind her coming to visit and would be happy to make it for her myself.

Little sister Carrie here folks. Who's ready for Nicole to post something new?

I keep pestering her the way only a little sister can, and yet nothing. Something about kids, holidays, blah, blah, blah...

I mean, I was over at her house for Christmas, lazyily lounging around, playing with the children... (not doing dishes or cleaning or changing diapers, mind you - just drinking her beer and eating all her food), and I still found time to blog. ;)

I.Have.No.Choice

It's time for tough love. I'm bringing out the drunk picture. The one she took with my camera back when we were out for my birthday. I have to do it, my hands are tied.

SFG- I'll have queso waiting...

2006-10-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

My sweet SFG is coming down to see me!! Whoo-Hoo! I have always wanted to meet her. Its weird and cool how you can totally 'click' with people you have never even met! She is not coming really but to amuse her I will update. I am here. I have been SERIOUSLY slacking lately in my blogging efforts! Anyway lemme catch you up.

This week I am in the process of finishing a directory that I volunteered to do for one of Ryans pre schools. I copied my friend Shelli who did one for her daughter Lola's class. It is taking way longer than I thought it would but what the hell. Mainly because when 1 and 3 year olds are awake it is difficult to work on :)

Its basically a picture of each kiddo, the address, phone number and the parents names. When I am done with it in the year 2009 its going to look so cute!!!

I also went to Wal Mart and got a gazillion pumpkin cups that I am filling up with googly eye glasses, rubber eye balls, pencils, candy, stickers, etc for Halloween to wrap up with cellophane and give to all of Ryans school mates.

Anything wrapped in cellophane looks cute you know.

For all of his teachers I got them a candy dish that looks like a candy corn that I am filling with Reeses peanut butter cups (We are partial to that candy :)) Pumpkin candy corns and my new favorite Halloween candy- Creeper Peepers. They are chocolate balls filled with either caramel, peanut butter or chocolate wrapped in foil that makes them look like an eyeball. Eye love them, so will you! HA!!

Did I mention that I love Halloween?

This weekend we are taking Ryan to the Renaissance Festival tomorrow. Although as expected both of my children AGAIN have the freaking sniffles. We are running at once a month with getting sick right now. WTF?! I change their sheets every Monday, we feed them well, they get plenty of sleep, they take vitamins and yet SICK!!! Arrrgh.

It is cold here today which totally throws off my wardrobe. I am used to the usual 85-100 degree flip- flop wearing weather we have year round here so when a cold bit blows through I find it difficult to get dressed. Mainly because all of my winter stuff is up in the attic and I am to lazy to drag it all down. Also my closet is overflowing as it is already and if I went and got the warm stuff down then I would be forced to clean out my closet. I mean really who has time for that?

Next week Franny and I are heading to Las Vegas on Thursday! Yep... VEGAS BABY!!! Our friend Shelli is turning the big 4-0 so what better way to celebrate than drinking oneself into oblivion and losing all our money? Whoo-Hoo! Seriously though we aren't really big gamblers. Can't say the same for the drinking though :) heehee! We haven't been since the whole family went back when Carrie turned 21 and golly that was a LONG time ago!!!! ;) heehee *love you sis* I am a little hesitant to get on a plane and leave my sweet babies behind. I mean as in like going states away from them. That is weird to me because I have never been more than 3 hours driving distance away from them.

I suppose on Sunday I will make my way into the aforementioned closet and start trying to pack oh and maybe go to Sams... I really can see why you people love me- I am so freaking exciting. Ok that's it for me. Have a happy weekend!

Happy Anniversary Nicole and Fran!

2006-10-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Little sister Carrie here.

I know you are all awaiting an update from my big sis, but she is down at the coast with the hubs celebrating their 6th anniversary. (Note: they dated for like 10 years before getting married or something, so they must really love each other :P) My parents have the munchkins until Sunday, so hopefully, they will have a wonderful time!!

They were down at the coast last weekend with the fam, minus me, and only back in town for two days, so she couldn't update you all with her fabby life. Don't worry, SFG, I'm on her ass about her lack of blogging. :)

Who knew, when I first heard about this 'Fran' guy, back when I was still in High School, that he would be the 'one' and that they would become such a wonderful couple and end up with such great kiddos! Not to mention, that I adore my BIL and he has become the big brother I never had, but always wanted. :)

I wanted to post a picture of them from their wedding, but my printer/scanner has decided that it no longer wishes to be of service. :P
I do have their engagement picture, which is just as awesome:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY NICOLE AND FRAN!

Weekend Review

2006-10-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

Friday I kept Ryan home from school again mainly because I was still feeling sick and didn't feel like getting up and going through the hassle of getting him there on time and such. So instead the kids and I had a nice day at home where I did laundry and took them on a walk and then relaxed while they both took their naps. I do not wish whatever this funk is that we have on anyone because it just LINGERS. Arrrrgh!!! Friday night was really nice- it rained and cooled the weather off so we opened up the windows and aired the house out and I made a pot roast (yummy Fall food) and then the 4 of us did as we always do and took a walk that night after dinner.

Saturday we had my cousins wedding to go to at 4. My kiddos were supposed to go and stay overnight with their grandparents but my dad was still illing from the funk that no doubt my kids gave to him. My mom graciously offered though to come over to our house and watch them here so that we, Fran, myself and my sis, could still go to my cousins wedding and then out afterwards for some adult time :) Here is Saturday in pictures:

Fran and I at the wedding:

Carrie and I at the wedding:

My cousin and his new bride- first dance as husband and wife:

My uncle and me: ( I think the large smile must come from my moms side of the family):

My other cousin Clinton and Frank:

My Aunt Carol with Miss Makenzie and Jonathan:

My cousin Shelly and her daughther Emma:

My Uncle and Clinton again- notice the mouths :)

Later that evening we headed over to the new Buffalo Wild Wings here in Cypress and as you can imagine with the Astros playing it was packed but we managed to have a good time :) heehee!

We had the pleasure of meeting up with SuZan and her husband Big G from Celebrating Women, my dear friend (of how many years now?!) Miss Shell, from Shells Thoughts and our neighbors Janice and Jim.

The company was terrific, the food was super yummy, the alcohol was flowing and the Astros won- It was truly a great time :) We even had the pleasure of meeting G2 in the flesh and ladies he is every bit as cute as he is on his moms blog!!!

After wards we went to one more bar and then called it a night.

Suzan and Big G

Shell and Me

Fran

Shell, Fran and I. It would appear that by this time I needed some holding up :) heehee!

Sunday we chilled and watched lots of football- Fran finally got all the baby proof latches on our kitchen and bathroom cabinets since Reese has decicded that she likes to play with bleach and other household cleaning items. That night we were feeling a bit lazy so we did Carrabas for dinner. It was super yummy but if there was ever a food that makes your ass feel like its growing right when you are eating... its Carrabas!

So today its back to the diet grind. Thank you to everyone we went out with and got to see over the weekend! We had a really great time!
Happy Monday!
That is all.

Hi there! I'm a bit of a bore lately, no?

2006-09-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

(it's a bitch to have a little sister who has your password)

Just in case you were all a bit BORED that I haven't updated recently:

I'm still here. It seems, almost my whole family got sick after spending the weekend celebrateing Ryan's 3rd Birthday, and that has kept me a bit busy. (such a lame excuse, I know)

Now that my sis is on the mend, apparantly, my site will be updated to join the Beta-blogger world sometime next week.

Other than that, I'm still fabulous, my kids are still ab-so-freaking-lutely adorable, and this weekend is SURE to provide me with something to blog about. It better, or next week, my dear, sweet, angelic, wonderful, intelligent, incredible, beautiful, amazing sister will once again hijack my blog and post for me. :)

To keep you pacified, until I do actually update all by myself, here are some videos from Mr. Bo-Bo's big weekend that my FABULOUS little sister took:

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Look at what a dedicated mom I am - I even managed to keep my sunglasses on my head the entire time. :)
Note: My sister(not pictured) and I learned that multiple slides down the bouncer causes quite a bit of friction, which leads to a literal occurence of a 'chapped ass'. Who. Knew?

Here's Bo-Bo (Ryan) getting his BIG present on Sunday - can you imagine what we'll see when he turns 16? No hesitation. :) Can you say, 'Boy'????

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Things

2006-09-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

I am sore.

I went back to the gym every day this week- well Monday-Wednesday doing all of my favorite aerobics classes and I am now having trouble doing simple things like WALKING :) heehee! Its a good sore though. I had been really good up until right before Reese's b-day party and then I had to miss one class here and another there- you know how that goes so with my goal being to make it in 3 times a week I have started once again with full force.

Monday (not that anyone cares) I do my weight lifting class with Paula who is probably a 50 something year old lady who still looks like freaking Barbie. Its sickening really but I love her class. ;)

Tuesday I go and do Adelle's step class. Sweet little Adelle. She beats the hell out of my body and I don't even realize it because she is so sweet and is just up there smiling away saying things like "You can do it" and "Thats the way".

Then on Wednesday night I do Susans class. Susan is a professional weight lifter and goes to competitions to compete and what knot. Basically she is built like a brick shit house. Can I say that? Anyway I have finally gotten to where I can keep up with her now and needless to say sometimes at the end of class when everyone else has left I am still in there laying on the floor and they have to drag me out so that the Latin Spice class can begin. :)

Now to add to all of that I am going to start training tomorrow with trainer Randy (on Fridays). Good God, somone please help me. :) heehee! We shall see how it goes tomorrow. Alot will depend on how Miss Reese likes the nursery. Last time I tried to put her in there they came and got me 10, yes 10 minutes later.

In other news I am happy to say that I think Ryan is finally adjusting to his pre-schools. He didn't cry and cling to my leg the last few times I dropped him off so I would say that is real progress :)

He got to see a real fire truck on Wednesday but he was upset that they wouldn't let him climb on the ladder. He also has decided that he is going to be a dentist at the age of almost 3 which is just fine with me.

Speaking of being almost 3 (WOW, where has the time gone?!?) our baby boy will be three next Sunday. Thursday we kick off the birthday festivities with bringing his class cupcakes and it continues on all the way through Sunday. We have lots o' fun stuff planned for young Mr. Watkins to do. Yes, I also love birthdays. :)

His friend-party is at Beyond Bounce on Saturday which is a moonwalk place. I am so pumped because there is no cleaning of my house required, there is no preparing tons of food- We just go with a cake and goody bags, order everyone pizza and they do the rest.

Ahhhh...now doesn't that sounds relaxing? We shall see! Anyway thats about all I got for today. I am off to find my icyhot cream. :)

Happy Thursday!

On we go...

2006-09-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

So what does one do to cheer oneself up when one has had a shitty week? They go to Party City, the Halloween Store!

Let me let you in on a little secret, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE me some HALLOWEEN!!!
Its by far my favorite holiday!

I also in general love the month of October. Fran and I celebrate our wedding anniversary, the time changes to where its darker earlier, Monday night football has resumed, all the good shows are back on, if you live anywhere but TX it starts to cool off... which is of course a great reason to start making chili and cornbread and all the other favorite cold weather foods!!

So here it is the middle of September, and yes I know its early, however last year we waited until the last minute to get costumes and the store was packed full, everything was out, the lines were like 20 people deep and it was MISERABLE!!! So this year we decided to get a jump on it!!!

After much deliberation it was decided that Mr. Bobo is going to be a pirate, arrrgh matey, (because he liked the idea of getting a sword :)) and my sweet Reese is going to be a lady bug, buzzzzzzz. Fran and I have yet to decide what we are going to be...

If you will look over at my sisters site you can see that her and I are completely nuts :) Happy Wednesday!

2006-09-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

I am honored to be apart of a tribute that Dale came up with to honor each and every victim of 9/11. My tribute is to honor Judy Hazel Fernandez, who was taken from this world, far too soon.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 Judy Hazel
Fernandez decided to go to her office on the 107th
floor North Tower of the World Trade Center where she
worked for Cantor Fitzgerald before she left on her
business trip.

She was a conscientious and organized person and her position as a benefits Specialist in the Human Resources department was a perfect fit.
Judy started at Cantor Fitzgerald in 1998 after she graduated from Rutgers University with a Biology degree. Shortly thereafter she brought her cousin Maria Theresa Santillan to Cantor Fitzgerald.

Judy and Maria were not only first cousins but very close friends. Maria was to be married in May and Judy was going to be her Maid of Honor.

Judy’s Mom said her daughter and her niece "were full of life,
full of ambition." Since Sept. 11, she said, the words "beautiful, intelligent and caring" loom large in her mind when thinking about her daughter and niece.

"She knew what she wanted in life, and she was going to do what she had to do to get it," said her sister, Emma.

Judy Hazel Fernandez was 27 years old.

A Tribute

2006-09-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life... like loving everybody all the time and being nice.

Well, Kathy already knew how to do that, so she didn't have to stay as long.

Rest in Peace my dear friend.

Kathryn Michele (Davenport) Schmidt

August 20, 1974 - August 30, 2006

Reese Honor Watkins turns ONE!!!

2006-08-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday dear Reese...
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy 1st Birthday my darling!

Birthday Pics..

2006-08-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

So, my sister Nicole hasn't updated in a while, so until she gets her pictures from Reese's Birthday party together, I thought I'd share some with ya'll. :) These are all PRE-party, as I wasn't there, but they're still cute! :)

Ryan was a very good helper blowing up balloons and thought it was so funny when one would 'accidentally' slip and fly around the room.

Reesey was also very mesmerized with the balloons:

Take me out to the Ballgame...

2006-08-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

So as luck would have it we Watkins stumbled across 4 tickets to the Astros game yesterday. Our friend Ronny has season tix and he wasn't using them so he offered them to us! Umm ya'll want some FREE tickets that are really good seats? Umm why SUUUUUURRRREEEE!!!

So the 4 of us ventured out to Minute Maid park and since we arrived close to the end of the game we got a front freaking row parking place. Like here we were here and 10 feet away is the entrance to the park. Kewl!

They also had the roof closed so it was actually cool inside (no visible sweating) ! We had a fabulous time and I consider that a "test run" for when we take Ryan to the game with us, his "Papa" and his "Na-Na" for his brithday! (Grand Beebs and Reese will be hanging out together that night :))

Anyway here are the pics!
Happy Thursday!!!

Here is a very good picture of RP...Ryan was upsest because he did not want his picture taken- he wanted to go and get a Sprite. :)

Hmmmms

2006-08-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hmm what shall I discuss today?

I could tell you about how my son almost broke his leg on Monday by falling off a ladder while were were hanging his glow in the dark solar system in his room...nah, to emotional and he didn't by the way... the x-rays proved that.

I could tell you how my friend Jennifer came over yesterday and informed me that she is reading a Feng Shui book and that since I have a bathroom under the stairs I need to get a red light of some sorts so that my children won't be "unruly"....please refer back to the first paragraph ;)...Nah.

I could tell you that I love me some Marshalls and scored a beautimous rug and lamp there yesterday...nah you will have to come to RP 1st b-day to see it. :)

Ok well I didn't get it for $3.00 SHELL but it was a pretty good deal.

I could tell you that my parents are watching the kiddos for us on Saturday/Sunday this weekend and if we manage to get everything done for RP's birthday party then we are going to act like we did before we had children and go and see the Psychedelic Furs, When in Rome and Devo at the Reliant Arena*Whoo Hoo* But, nah...

I CAN tell you evil twin sistah SFG, that I do not want your man. I have my own whom I love, love, love. But if you could sprinkle a little bit of your mans country music lovin on him that would be great! I miss two-stepping!!! :) He used to appease me back when we first met and we would go dancing but he had to be under umm influences of "spirits" :) heehee!!!

Thats all I have today ladies and gentlemen.
Watkins out!

Tuesday

2006-08-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

My new favorite song is

"When the Stars Go Blue" by Mr. Tim McGraw.

I guess thats my inner country coming out in me but I love it. I also am still addicted to the Killers "Mr. Brightside"

Sure you wanted to know that, right?
That is all :)

The Cutest picture, Ever...

2006-08-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ok well maybe not to you but it is to me! This is Mr. Bobo and his Lola Dean. We went to the zoo on Saturday morning and celebrated her 3rd bithday! Well today is her actual birthday so again Lola Grace Happy B-day!

Weekend Review:
Friday evening we hung out with the Sister and the Buddhas. Good food, good company.

Saturday we got up and went to Lolas party and then afterwards (from being out in the sun I suppose)BOTH children took 3 and 1/2 hour naps! WOW! I took this opportunity to go and finally join Sams Club. I have been hearing about what great deals they have from my friend Sherese and from the Deans for years now! We always joke with the Deans that they got Lola at Sams- she was a blue light special :) ANYWAY I went through the entire store, dropped some major dough but I will not need ziploc bags for another year along with laundry detergent and so on :)

Saturday night we went with the sis and Miss Jen to Randy's (Buddha) 36th b-day party at his house and lemme tell you they decorated to the nines! I was thoroughly impressed and had a great time. When it started to get late I asked Ryan "Are you ready to go son?" To which he replied, "No mama, I have fun here" :) I was a loser and had a camera but for some reason didn't use it.

Sunday Reese again decided to not let us sleep in and got up at 7:00- YEECH- but we made a huge breakfast which is our weekend tradition and then we headed over to the pool. We have two pools to choose from in the neighborhood so we tried the one we hadn't been to and I loved it- The water seemed way cooler and it was just really nice. Anyway it also wasn't as hot as hotdogs so that helped and there was a nice breeze blowing.

They have a water slide which my son must have gone down like 109 times, I went down 10 times and the hubs went down about 12. Am I a kid at heart (dork) or what? It was fun! I can't wait until the kids are both older and we can do Schlitterban!!! Yes I am sure we were drawing some looks from the other swimmers because we were all hooping and hollaring even Miss RP, but to me laughing it up with your family at the pool on a Sunday afternoon is what its all about. *OK Carrie yes I sound like a Jane, I know...would it help if I said one of the kids pooped in the pool?* They didn't of course and it was a great way to finish off a great weekend!

That was our weekend. How was yours? Happy Monday!!!

Has Everyone seen the Wiggles Post?

2006-08-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

Because if not I can like leave it up for another week...;) heehee!

Well Happy Friday!

Its 6:30 and I am up- WTF?! I am not a morning person and I have never claimed to be however it seems that my daughter is. She has been waking up at 6:00 a.m. this week but then she goes back to bed, happily.

I, on the other hand, have drug ass out of bed, waddled (yes, you start to waddle at age 32) into the kitchen to make a bottle with my eyes closed, walked UPSTAIRS (I hate stairs) changed her diaper, held the bottle while the sweet princess drinks and goes happily back to sleep. *Score* Then I check on Mr. Bobo, go back down stairs (Have I mentioned that I don't like stairs?) Then decide to sleep or not to sleep. Its like 6:00 is just a bit TO early to actually get up so do I go back to sleep or stay up? Usually its no question and back in bed I go but then what sucks about that is I have to re-wake up AGAIN at 7:30 ish which is her usualy wake time and then rewake myself up again which can somtimes be worse. Did any of that make sense? I need to go and get my coffee...

So while I wish I could say we have been busy doing all kinds of cool stuff- not so much. Its just the everyday doings lately :) We did however finally get the Bobo a new mattress. We have been saying we were going to do this for ages now but never got around to it because of something...as usual :) We WILL get around to it eventually but these days that can sometimes take a while. Me, being the Aries that I am have had trouble adjusting to being all ready to go *whoo-hoo* then someone needs to be fed, changed or a nap * GAWL* but I have learned to roll with the punches I mean there is really no use to offer resistance.

So this week I need to say Happy Birthday to the following:

Miss Lola Dean is turning 3
Miss Riley Tran is turning 3
Mr. Buddha..I mean Randy... is turning 21 again
and Shell's MAN whom if I am not mistaken is the same age as my man is turning a year older and certainly wiser. Also my other friend Rachel will be blowing out some candles this week. Good GOD theres alot of bdays!

Happy Birthday all you Leos!!!

Ok well thats all I got. Give me a break I need coffee! Next week I am going to showcase for you my friend Melissa's talents. Are you intrigued? You should be!

That is all.

The Wiggles

2006-08-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some momentos from our first ever Wiggles show. For those of you with kids, ummm-hmmm. For those of you without kids...your time is coming. :)

It was actually pretty good. (Did I say that?) There were a couple of 4 years olds rushing the stage that had to be contended with- a couple of 5 year olds who o.d.'ed on cotton candy- you know- your every day concert.

Then there were the kiss asses...

OK you are supposed to bring 'roses' to give to Dorothy the dinosaur. So here come mommys and daddys with their dozens of freaking gorgeous real roses. Come on now people have you never heard of the dollar store?! I am quite sure the 2 year old you are toting on your hip didn't request to go to the florist and drop down $100 on the freaking roses.

Then people brought bones, real dog bones, for Wags the Dog, people brought fruit- bananas, apples.. for the fruit salad song. Kiss Asses.

All I can say is I hope that all of those thousands of real gorgeous flowers were taken to a local hospital and that the bones were given to the SPCA. Then at least it would have been for a good cause.

Let me tell you-these guys are genius because they must be making a whopping fortune every time!

Here was the rundown:
3 Tickets: $100
Parking:$10
2 small drinks $7.50
2 chocolate chip cookies: $3.00
1 Wiggles Light wand: $15.00
Total: $135.50

Now lets multiply that by thousands! Golly- I want to be a Wiggle.

Here are the pics- This is us, Mr. Bobo, his friend Lauren and her mommy Dianne.

Happy Friday!

A Shade of Gray

2006-08-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so last week I noticed that one of Mr. Bobo's front teeth was turning gray. Ahhhhhh FREAK OUT!! I was a bit freaked out thinking maybe he banged it on something and it was dead and he'd be toothless until he was like 10 but all in all I handled it fairly well... ;)So I called my dentist and he referred us to a pediatric dentist.

Let me just say this. Both Ryan and I had the best possible experience with this practice.

I love to complain about when things go wrong and such but I should also give kuddos out when its due. So if you are one of my friends with little ones and you have not yet found yourself a pediatric dentist...I STRONGLY recommend Dr. Sheryl Hunter Griffith out in Katy on Fry road.

That being said lets start at the beginning.

I called them Tuesday and low and behold the lady who answered the phone was friendly, patient, listened to what I had to say and my concerns, made me an appointment at 10 and then called me later in the afternoon to tell me that a 10:15 had opened up and would I prefer that since I had mentioned to her it was hard to get them ready and out of the house.

Well yes, I would love the later appointment, why thank you for caring!!! Also she told me to go to the website and print off all of our paperwork so that we wouldn't have to mess with it in the office. Now if you are in possession of a toddler you will know that the less you have to fill out in office the better.

Appointment Setting: A freaking +.

So Wed morning (running late as usual) we stopped by my parents house to pick up Grand Beebs who wanted to go with us to help out- Always good to have a Grand Beebs on board. We arrived at the office about 5 minutes late- when we walked in the lady was also very nice- checked us in and we sat down. Chicken Little was playing on a large tv where they had a nice plush rug and a bunch of large pillows so the kiddos could lounge around and watch the video. We waited for about 5 minutes.
Wait time: A flippedy +

Once the nurse or hygenist whatever she was came to get Ryan (and I kid you not) she was on him like white on rice. And being the attention deprived toddler he is well he couldn't get enough. First she showed him around the office... which every room was painted in some different theme and he got to pick which room he wanted. My son of course chose the Beach room.

So we went in and she put some rubber gloves on Ryan and then introduced him to Sammy the Snake and hands him a large toothbrush so he could brush Sammys teeth. When the lady came in to take the x-ray Ryan was having so much fun he didn't even think twice about putting the film in his mouth and holding still.

I am telling you every time the child did anything they gave him something. You did great on the x-ray- Have a Dora coloring book. We need another x-ray, here have a monster truck. I was thoroughly impressed with the constant distraction ...I mean entertainment... they provided. They never let him be bored for even a second.

When Dr. Griffith came in Mr. Bobo did everything they told him while she checked his teeth. Proud parent moment! (I had envisioned kicking, screaming and some biting...;)) When he was all done he got to pick out a new toothbrush to put in his goodie bag they gave him, then he got to pick out 2 stickers and received a balloon. I am telling you this place was better than Chuck E. Cheese.

Overall experience: A FANTABULOUS ++++!!!

So while I know life is hard and people don't shove presents at you everytime you do something right *although it would be really nice* For them to make him think of the dentist as a "fun" experience as a child can't be a bad thing.

So. Need a dentist? Want me to take your kid there for you? I just loved it and they shall be our dentist from now on.

And the dx if you were wondering was trauma to the tooth. Apparently it is very common in BOYS. Mr. Bobo must have hit it at some time in the last month ...the only time I can remember was one rocking horse incident. They said to monitor it and most often times it will turn white again- There is just some nerve damage currently.

So for today we are off to see the Wiggles, Live! this afternoon. They are an Australian group who dress in colored Star Trek looking outfits and sing and dance on a cartoon channel for kids. Popular songs include "Friut salad, yummy, yummy" and "Shake your hips with Wags the dog"

So we are going to take Ryan downtown and check them out. His friend Lauren and her mommy Dianne have seats right next to ours so either way the event should be fun. Anyone have any vodka? ;) KIDDING. Ok not really... give me some alcohol!!!

Have a Happy Thursday!
That is all.

2 Year and 10 month old Boy=Broken Window

2006-08-01T06:48:00.001-07:00

Don't go breaking my Windows...

Yep. As of last night at approximately 8:30 p.m. my son, Mr. Bobo, broke his first window.

Scenario:
Bobo and RP are playing in the game room what is actually my dining room peacefully and quietly...

Ok well neither of those but they were playing.

I, being the outstanding mother of the year that I am, had my happy bootie plopped in one said green bean bag not more than 6 feet away from the alleged children.

I was sitting there like any good mother would be eyeing them like a hawk to make sure no unnecessary roughness would occur. ;)

Ok... not exactly- actually I had my sights set on Supernanny thinking to myself... I am sure glad my kids aren't that bad! Whew! :)

Action:

Let me give you the run down of how my two children play.

Mr. Bobo has a train table if you will in the middle of the room that random toys are scattered about on. RP who has not yet figured out that she can walk holds on to the table and follows Mr. Bobo around it wanting whatever he has his hands on.

After swiping the toy from him if he lets her, she takes it, inspects it and then just like any girl would do tosses it over her shoulder and moves on to the next item.

Mr. Bobo tolerates this pretty well except for when his sister dares take his "prized possessions"...aka King Kong, Hot wheels, well just about any toy of his in general. ;)

So there they were peacefully playing with me eyeing them "like a hawk" when out of the corner of my eye and ear I hear "No, RP!" and see a foreign object hurling through the air and then "Crack".

Apparently RP had tried playing with the super speed racer toy and Bobo went to grab it not realizing that RP was holding on for dear life at which point he had to pull harder...she let go and wheeeewzers- through the air goes the super speed racer all the way into my window.

First broken window: 2 years and 10 months.

Luckily for us I think that I have the broken windows policy in the insurance. I guess we will see how many ways they can screw me today when I call to see about getting it fixed.

When asked WHY did you throw that super speed racer through the air, son??

Mr. Bobo replied: "I don't know mama."

So sweet so innocent.

So I tell him from now on *yeah right* we do not throw ANYTHING in the house to which Bobo replied
"And no firecrackers inside the house because they could hurt you."

Ummm yeah, what the two almost three year old said. :)
That is all.
Happy Tuesday~!

Weekend Review!

2006-07-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

This was a fabulous weekend.

Friday we went out to dinner with my sis and Miss Shell whom I haven't seen since May. Both kiddos lit up when they saw her- I think Reese actually remembered her way back from hunkering down through hurricane Rita :) Anyway Shelley walked in and swooped up Reese and didn't give her back until she was leaving and she was playing with Ryan all the while. It was hot as heck on the patio but it was a really nice evening just hanging out. You can see the pictures on either of their sites.

Saturday we cleaned the house(something new, right?!) then after I got Ryan down for his nap around 3 I went and used my gc the hubs got me for Valentines day. This is how long it takes to get free time with 2 kiddos under foot :) So 5 months later I finally got my mani, pedi and an hour long massage. While I am not big on spas and such or other people rubbing me...I have to say when I walked out of there I was SO relaxed and my nails looked pretty, to boot!

Sunday we worked in the yard which kind of messed up the aforementioned nails...but what can you do? Then got ready and headed downtown to the Houston Press Music awards. While I was expecting it to be really hot and way to crowded- I was very pleasantly surprised that it was nice and breezy and not crowded at all. We went to Live Bar and saw Pierre and the Zydeco Dots...who totally rocked and were going to see Luther and the Healers however Cabo's tacos (while not on my diet) were calling my name. So we ate at the bar downstairs, talked without interruption, and people watched the throws of people wandering about downtown. It was a great end to a great weekend.

Thank you to my sis who watched the little Watkins so we could have some time together :)

Anway this week on the agenda we have the Wiggles on Thursday afternoon (that should be interesting) and its back to my aerobic classes tonight to start working off my chicken taco and fried plantains I gobbled up last night...:)

Happy Monday!

I've Been Tagged

2006-07-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am back. I have been majorly slacking here but at least that means I have been devoting more time to my chillins!

They are both doing great- RP is standing up all by herself now and I think she could totally walk if she wanted to but she just hasn't figured out the forward motion quite yet.

My RW is such a radiant ball of sunshine. He is always talking non stop and is so polite and sweet! I am very proud of the 3 year old he is turning out to be. I love being in his company.

The hubs and I are good- I decided to start doing my aerobics classes in the evenings so that I can spare RW the trauma of the gym nursery. FW makes sure he is home in time and then watches the kiddos for me, no complaining. What a guy! He has also been making the kids dinner and having them all fed and the kitchen cleaned by the time I get home! WOW. I love him so much!! Ryan will be starting school (MDO) in about 2 more weeks so when that happens I can go again in the mornings. I have been faithfully going 3 days a week and I am proud to say that last night I actually kept up with the lady the whole time! Yeah!

Ok so Sheri and Suzan over at Celebrating Women have tagged me!! I have never actually met them in person but I love their blog and I plan to meet them soon at one of their infamous poker nights. So here goes:

When did you first start blogging and why?
I started back at the beginning of the summer because my sister Carrie and my friend Shell both had a blog and I thought it would be a great way to update all my friends and family about the daily going ons in this wacky Watkins household.

What don't you talk about?
Sex. I don't talk about sex. :) GAWL!

Are you and your blogging persona the same person? Yes we are the same thanks for asking... and as SuZan says... "What you see is what you get, BABY!" :)

How do you use blogging to build friendships?
I actually programmed my blog to hypnotize anyone who reads it into wanting to be my forever friend...So far it has worked on her and her.

How would you describe your writing style? Hmm...sarcastic with a drop of bitterness and a drop of sun freaking shine.

Ok that's it for me. I am off to get the canoe and paddle my way to get my son from summer camp. I am going to tag TBG, Melissa and SFG! Haaaaaaa!!!
Happy Wednesday!

Caption This...

2006-07-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Nicole is majorly slacking in her updates lately... something about having two children under the age of three under her feet all day long... whatever... :) hee-hee so to keep you entertained until she comes back and entertains us with her sharp wit, I give you a game to play...

If she could talk, what do you think she'd be saying?

This is like picture number three-thousand-and-one of the kiddos not wanting to pose and smile for me. :P

Guess what I just found OUT!!!

2006-07-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Sherese is pregnant!!!

WOW! I am so excited for her- She and her husband have been trying for baby #2 for a year and a half now!!!! Yeah!

Congratulations my love!!!!

My bets are going to be for a baby BOY!!!

Apples and Wine

2006-07-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ahhh...so true, so true :)

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to climb up and reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.

The apples at the top may think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now Men.... Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Share this with all the good apples you know.

Pictures and Pizza

2006-07-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

So what's up?

Lets see... here is a brief weekend review. Friday I went and worked out with my sisters trainer, Mr. Randy and lets just say that for the rest of the weekend I couldn't move! I thought that after 2 c-sections I had no abdominal muscles left but apparently I do because they are SORE!

Anyway the rest of the weekend was nice- a little yard work here a little celebrating my mommys birthday there. The parents came and got the kids for 4 hours on Sunday so the hubs and I had some alone time!

What do we do? We go shopping :) It was nice to leisurely look around. We got Ryan one of his BIG birthday presents because it was on sale and a bunch of other stuff we had been needing. That was about it :)

Yesterday I drug the kiddos over to get their pictures taken and they both did really well. You never know how its going to go until we get there :) Ryan however was in a very accommodating mood and wanted to be in every single shot.

Ahhh...taking after his mother already :)

That and the promise of a nice fat piece of pizza, an ice cream cone and some video games if he did well couldn't have hurt anything :)

Anyway boring as it is that's all I got! Happy TUESDAY!

Global Warming...

2006-07-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

SPF Fridays!

2006-07-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

First...Yeah! Its Friday!

Secondly Kristine from Random and Odd wants us to show your tootsies, your feet, this week.
So here ya go:

As you can tell while my foot is recovering from the slaughtering of two nights ago- (see below) :) what I really want you to focus on the trash can.

I was at Lowes last night getting curtain rods and came acorss this baby. You have to understand that our old garbage can was a piece of garbage- but really who sits around and thinks...Gee...I need to go out and buy a new garbage can?

So anyway it was on sale, (although when I got home FW was like "You paid HOW much for a garbage can?!?" Sigh...men...) so I tested it out in store and liked it so it now lives here with us in the Watkins World.

That is all.
Did you play???!

Just a quick note

2006-07-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

So last night Ryan and I drive over to my sisters to take her dinner because she was having apartment leakage drama. Turns out it was really gross.

Upon opening her door she lets Ryan walk in and as I am walking in she apparently thought I was walking to slow so she starts to close the door at which point the metal on the bottom of the door scrapes across my pinky toe.

I scream and Carrie is like "oh...whoops" Geez! :)

So I ignore my pain which BTW my 2 year old asked me if I wanted him to kiss it and make it feel better *So Sweet* make small talk and notice a Coach shoe box on her counter.

I want to see the shoes- She gets them- They are cute- I want to try them on- Slip on the shoe at which point I notice the said toe is bleeding. Sisters reponse "Don't bleed on my Coach shoe!" And we both start cracking up. I dunno- I just thought that was preety funny. :) That is all. Happy THURSDAY!

Hardy Har-Har....

2006-07-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Birth underwater...

Now thats just funny...

SFG...What time shall I be over for dinner and what can I bring? :)

Oops its Wednesday :)

2006-07-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

In continuing with my "Week in Nicole's Music" lets talk about Blues Traveler. :)
I'll try to make it more personal.

I love, love, love Blues Traveler.

My love affair dates back to like 1996ish when the hubby and I went with our friends the Boudreauxs to a local pop rock stations all day concert out at the Woodlands. I think the headliner was Duran Duran. They sucked so it doesn't really matter.

Anyway it was a really hot day and we were listening to all these boring bands go on and perform when out come Blues Traveler. Now they weren't all that popular yet but let me tell you what.... They started playing and they rocked the entire pavilion. People sat up and took notice.

I was totally mezmorized. They played for like and hour and a half and it turned out to be the best show of the entire day. The most impressive to me was the harmonica playing. Ever since then I have been hooked. My favorite songs by them are The Mountains Win Again, Stand, Look Around and Just Wait. Hmmm... I bascially like all of their songs and they rock out. My friend Shell love them to and we all just may go and see them in 2 weeks. Whoo-Hoo!

End of review.

In other news...today Ryan went back to his one day a week summer camp. He missed last week because we were at the beach and the week before he was sick. He cried a little but it wasn't the total breakdown. I have to leave in about 10 min to go and get him.

With our free time Reese and I went over to Lowes and we picked out some flowers for the front bed. I picked blue ones and Reese picked Purple and white. I also got some sage for my pseudo herb garden. I needed something because all of my Petunias have kicked the bucket.

We also ventured to Kirklands and Hobby Lobby and I think I finally found some curtains that will go nicely in the kitchen. I will have to do the test run thing and tack them up for a day or so and see if I still like them. I am weird like that :)

So for today's agenda after we get home I am going to go outside and plant some flowers while sweating to death and getting bit by mosquito's. I just love gardening....well in the cooler weather I do :)

I did try my hand at bow making last night and while it isn't as easy as I thought it would be I think my first bow ...although rather large... turned out pretty good.

I can see how that can become addicting. Now I look at all of Reese cute outfits and in the back of my mind I am picturing different ribbons to go with them...:)

Anyway that's all I got- Gotta run!

Gaw Lee Dianne

2006-07-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

Geez- So my friend Dianne told me that my posts are boring. Well in my defense I am running around tending to 2 very demanding chillins (Who I love with all of my heart) and I have not one second of free time except for in the evenings and by then I am TIRED. Just ask my sister. She comes over and hangs out a couple of nights in a row and then she needs a break :)

Anyway here is what is going on with me:

I am planning Reese's 1st b-day. It is going to be a family/friends thang here at the house much like her older brothers 1st b-day was. I found the invites I like but haven't ordered them yet- refer back to the time issues. I want to get Carls to cater it but have to check and see how expensive that is.

My computer is running really slow today and keeps pausing and its ticking me right off.

We just got home from yet another jumpy place that we went to with Jack, Catcher, and Zoe. I didn't quite like this one as much as I had to hold Reese the entire time and that isn't to much fun when she wants to get down and crawl the whole time. The place was cool though for Ryan. I am now sweating my bootie off because its hot as heck here in Houston.

Speaking of hot we just got our electric bill and its $553.34. WTF? I keep the air on 71-72 at night and turn it up to around 74-75 during the day. Is that like outrageous or something? I mean I would really prefer not to be here chasing kids AND sweating my arse off.

We have new neighbors right across the street- A 25 year old to be exact. His mommy bought him the house. She will be moving out in December. They moved in like 4 weeks ago and still have yet to mow their yard.

They have a trailer with a bunch of mufflers in it that he puts out in the grass. He also finds it appropriate to "drag race" his loud ass mustang up and down the street at night. Lucky for him we were out of town when this happened or my hubs would have probably ripped him a new one.

The police were called so hopefully that won't happen again. Lets see...He also is the owner of a lovely little pit bull who lives in his garage. I am seeing a Tammy situation arising.

I got up and got ready to go and do aerobics this morning when I got a call from SD saying that Ryans friend Lola had an accident at school yesterday.

She ran full force into some play stuff they have there and hit her head directly in between the eyes. The school called 911 and both SD and BD. She said that they both were driving like crazy to get there and when they did there was the ambulance with the lights flashing and she just lost it. When she was telling me ths story I started crying myself.

She said it was the most horrible feeling pulling up to see an ambulance that you know your daughter is in.

Lola is fine the cat scan came back ok but she is still in a bit of pain. I hope she gets well soon. She is a bright shinning star in my sons life.

I was actually relieved though that I could skip the workout.

Ryan has started this thing where he screams "Don't leave me" and throws a fit crying and holding on to me for dear life whenever I leave him anywhere. It makes me mad and breaks my heart at the same time. I hate to drag him up there and put him through all that but shouldn't I get one hour to myself a day?

This perplexes me as a mother. And no I can't go in the evenings- When FW gets home we do the dinner thang, the spend time as a family thang and then its bedtime. At least school will starting soon so I guess I can go then.

When I hear Dani California I think of SFG. Why? I dunno. Maybe its befcause they say Sweet Louisiana or something :)

My friend Melissa is making me some freakingly cute cute outfits and thats all I can say about that since the recipients of the outfits read this.

I went to JoAnns fabrics yesterday to get some ribbons and I am going to start making my own bows. I keep seeing adorable ones on the internet and they are WAY to pricey so I figure I'll make my own. We'll see how that goes. Refer back to the time thang.

I miss my friend Shell who I haven't seen since Cinco De Mayo.

I love my sister because she got a new camera and her mission is to take great photos of my children. She came over last night to take pictures of Reese for me. (Which you can see if you click on her name) She is becoming quite the photographer. She also is our number one babysitter and we so appreciate that. Please don't ever think we take you for granted.

My parents are coming back in town from the beach today so this weekend we will finally get to celebrate my moms bday.

My favorite thing to do is watch my husband with our children. He is such a great and patient father in a world where not all dads are like that.

Lets see I am reading 24 karat kids and its great- I happened upon Cinderella Man last night on HBO and it was actually really good- I am planning on finishing it tonight.

Thats about it. Is that detailed enough Mrs. Buddha? heehee! Dianne hates that name, but I love it. BTW Hashy when are we getting together this week?

That is all.

I love me some Dave.....

2006-07-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'll make this a week in Nicole's favorite music....aside from the Wiggles lets start with Dave....

Reasons why I love Dave:
Reason #1:
Dancing Nancies

"Could I have been anyone other than me
And then I'll
Sing and dance
I'll play for you tonight
The thrill of it all
Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes
But I'll work it out
And then I
Look up at the sky
My mouth is open wide lick and taste
What's the use in worrying, what's the use in hurrying
Turn turn we almost become dizzy"

Reason #2:
Rapunzel

"For you I would crawl
Through the darkest dungeon
Climb the castle wall
If you are my Rapunzel
You let your hair down
Right in through your window
Good they locked the door
I do my best for you
I think the world of you
All of my heart I do
Blood through my veins for you
You alone have all of me
I give my world to you
To you I will be true"

Reason #3
Crush

"Lovely lady
Let me drink you please
I won't spill a drop
I promise you
Lying under this spell you cast on me
Each moment
The more I love you"

and if that isn't enough...
Reason #4
We'll Make the Best of Whats Around

"See you and me
Have a better time than most can dream
Have it better than the best
So we can pull on through
Whatever tears at us
Whatever holds us down
And if nothing can be done
We'll make the best of what's around
Turns out not where but who you're with
That really matters"

_________________
Ahhhhh....I mean really.
I have to say that if someone sang to me- "You alone have all of me"...well they would have had me at YOU!!!

He's a coming into town too.
As Bobo says... "I need to go and see him."

That is all.

Oh lookie what came in the mail

2006-07-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

And yes.
In case you were wondering that is a fruit puff on the counter. These are the shots people. Deal with it! :)

Stuff Portrait Friday

2006-07-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

This week the lovely Kristine who is getting MARRIED tomorrow wants us to show:
Your Love (Show us some love)
Take us on a honeymoon (bring us somewhere with your pictures)
Something Blue (No sad faces before my wedding)

While I wasn't planning on playing since I did the MONSTER post below about our vacation when I saw the subjects I had to because I am a sucker for LOVE :)

Anyway here goes...

Your Love:
Fran and I met 13 years ago. I was being interviewed by him to work as a hostess at Atchafalaya which was a restaurant where he was the General Manager. I will remember the first time I saw him until the day I die...he came bursting out through the kitchen doors, ran around the bar, jumped on a barstool and slid right up to me and flashed that charming smile that makes his eyes shine. He took my breath away and still does to this very day.

Your Honeymoon:
We were married here in Houston and then flew out to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We loved everything about it.
It was simply perfect.

Something Blue:
Well that's easy.
My two little loves have bright blue eyes.

That is all-
Did you play?

We're Baaaaaack :)

2006-07-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

We are back. We had a great vacation and while I could recap the entire event we would be here for days so I will touch on the bright points!!!

As you will recall we took the kids last Wednesday to the dr and RP had an ear infection Ryan was sick and I was sick. Well my mother who I affectionatley call Beebs called on Wednesday night and bascially TOLD me that I would be leaving Reese with her and my dad.

I put up a tired protest of "No mom, its ok, we can take her and I am sure she will start sleeping...blah, blah" and then Beebs fired back with "No, the baby has an ear infection and you don't need to be dragging her out in the hot sun to a sandy beach. She will stay here and then I can have some time to bond with her and you can get some sleep and get better."

Battle over.

As good as of a mom as I think I am... I even know when to wave my white flag and say OK, you're right.

So it was settled, we dropped Reese off on the way out of town on Thursday and therefore Ryan had us all to himself which I think he needed too :)

Let me give you an example of just how tired the three of us were. We went to sleep on Thursday night around 10 ish and all three of us slept until NOON the next day. Ummm-Hmmm thats right...NOON!!! Ryan included!

My parents have the blackout shades down there so no sun gets in if you don't want it to and it just so happened that a nice thunderstorm rolled in on Thursday night so it was dark, cool and rainy. Peeeerfect-o sleeping weather :)

After the marathon sleeping we took Ryan into Corpus and went to the Texas State Aquarium and then to HEB to load up on groceries and such. Our friends the Deans were headed in that night with their camper and were planning on staying on the beach. Well... I won't go into all of the mishaps they encountered but the poor babies ended up staying with us on Friday night :)

And when I say "camper" don't take that lightly like I did. When they rolled up I basically gasped at how long and big the darn thing was- It was like an entire street long and when its opened its like a freaking traveling hotel suite on wheels. Kitchen and fireplace to boot! WOW.

They got settled on the beach on Saturday morning and that is where we spent all of our day and night. By Saturday I was actually starting to feel somewhat like a human bean I mean being again. It was great.

Sunday we got up and went to the beach again just in time for some ribs hot off the grill that Byron cooked. Ummm. And I wonder why I can't lose weight;) Sunday night we hung out at the condo and grilled burgers and spent some time with my sister and her friends Jenn and Janelle. :))

Ryan in his new Reef flip flops

Monday was another nice stormy and rainy day in Port Aransas, thundering and lightening day again- so all we did was watch movies the entire day- In Her Shoes, Down with Love and Just like Heaven. The Deans actually went back on Monday due to the fact that the camper had sank into the sand like 6 inches and was not showing any signs of stopping. It was sad to see them go but I could understand as I have seen entire cars that get eaten by the sand and tides :)

That night we took Ryan to ride back and forth on the ferry boat because he had been so good all day and cooped up! After that we went to the beach to look for baby sand crabs that come out at night.

Ryan loved this.

We also inherrited a bon- fire that some people had left so it turned out to be a really fun evening.

Tuesday, or rather the 4th of July we saw Carrie and all of her friends off then headed to the beach.

After staying there for a while Ryan wanted to go on the "Dolphin" boat again so we did that then went and ate at Virginia's on the water.

Review: YEECH.

I didn't like anything. The music even was bad. That and we paid 8$ for Ryans chicken strips. GOOD GOD. Way to expensive for crap-o-la food. After that lovely feast we headed back to clean everything and pack to go home the next day. They did the island fireworks like they always do and we watched from out in front of the condo. It was cool.

Yesterday we packed the car and stopped off in Aransas Pass at this little old town strip center place to eat called the Old Town Grill. It was cheap and the food rocked.

While we were in there eating another horrendous storm rolled in and when we went to get in the car our tires were almost covered by water. No kidding. From Aransas Pass to Rockport the highway was flooded and at one point the minivan was floating. Lovely. The trusty Nissan got us through though and we made it home to our sweet Reesey. Ahhh it was so good to see her- I swear she grew while we were gone!!!

So thats it!! We are back and its raining here in Houston. I actually don't care though, I mean if I had to be sick all last week and I have to be sad today that our vacation is over it may as well be raining :)

Until next time...:)

What Happens When Your Sister Has Your Password...

2006-07-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, but I am tired of coming over here and seeing the 'Desiderata' or whatever post... sis, you are slacking! :) So, I'm going to guest post today. :)
I give you some pictures from about a week ago:
Reese and Nicole

Reesey-Peesey

Ryan

and I'm going to Guest Host Nicole's first FUG Thursday picture - another pirate wanna-be (see my blog if you don't get that) - with yet another tacky bandana and a big ass necklace with a large beer bottle cap. Nice wife beater dude...

Nothing says 'dance with me' quite like sweaty armpits. :)

hee-hee-hee-hee

Desiderata

2006-06-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

For someone who is supposed to be gone I sure am blogging alot :) In my absence I will leave you with this- its one of my favorites!

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Ummm not so much.

2006-06-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

So we were supposed to be leaving today to head for the sunny skies and sandy beaches of Port Aransas...HOWEVER once one has children one must learn that things rarely go as planned.

RW came down with the sniffles on Saturday.
RP came down with the sniffles on Sunday.
Mommy came down with a freaking miserable suck ass cold on Monday.
RP has not slept through the night since Monday.
Daddy has been getting up with RP and now he is dead ass tired.
Last night she was up from 1:00 am- 4:00am.
Between being sick and awake all night todays vacation quickly became a NO-GO.
Instead we took a trip to the DOCTOR.
I think Dr. Chen could tell from the dark circles under my eyes, my shallow breathing and growling that she had better put at least one of my children on an antibiotic :)

Anyway everything happens for a reason right? RIGHT?!?

Reese is starting her antibiotics today for her ear infection.
Ryan was diagnoised as being viral and is finally starting to show signs of the sweet boy who was obviously trapped in his body under all the mucous.
I will probably feel better if I could get some freaking sleep!!!
I have a date tonight with a tall, dark bottle of Nyquil.

If everything goes accordingly we will be off tomorrow.

I hope you all have fabulous 4th of July weekend and will be back next Wednesday!

Weekend Review

2006-06-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh.. what a good weekend.

Lets start with Friday.

Friday Reese and I took Ryan to get a hair cut. He is getting really good at sitting there for them- I think it is the promise of a lollipop at the end that intrigues him :) Anyway they lady started chopping away so much that I had to tell her Whoooooaaaa there missy... thats enough!!

His hair is a little on the short side but he looks so cute! Afterward we jetted over to the bouncy place so they both burn off some energy.

(After haircut:))

That evening we all went to Willies Ice house for dinner. We went with my sister and our neighbors Janice and Jim. The double J's :) Carrie has pics- I will add them later :)

We sat out on the breezy patio and drank margaritas while Ryan proceeded to get completely covered from head to toe in sand. Can it get any better than that? :)

Saturday we Watkins ventured outside- I cleaned the garage, Fran mowed the yard, Ryan painted with his sidewalk paint and Reese walked around in her Jeep walker. She likes to go in reverse :)

Then our other neighbors Paul and "Henry" :) Or rather Henrietta... Ryan calls her "Henry" came out with a little plastic pool that Ryan and Mr. Paul played in while mommy and daddy finished the yard work.

(And yes...thats my kick ass yard on the left :))

(Ryan spraying Mr. Paul)

After a while Ryan and Mr. Paul thought it would be fun to completely soak mommy with the hose (HAHA) and so in the end we all sat around the pool with our feet in it. Yard work in Texas. I tell ya! :) Heehee!

After all that excitement the little Watkins went down for their nappy poos and FW and I watched the Family Stone. It was good but it made me cry at the end.

So after a long afternoon of lounging on the couch nobody felt like cooking so we went to get BBQ from Carls for dinner.

Sunday Aunt Na-Na came over and watched the little Watkins so that we could go and see NACHO LIBRE :)

It was... in a word, HILARIOUS!!!! I laughed throughout the entire movie. I love Jack Black though- he cracks me right up!

Then last night Fran and I discovered that our new favorite show is Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. Have you seen it? We love us some of the Whiskers.
ANYWAY...
That is all. :)

It only hurts when I laugh...

2006-06-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

That is the state that my poor, poor, sawed in half twice and put back together, still trying to recover abdomen is in. I have heard that once you have a c-section the muscles are never connected again but dude- either way they are all sore from all of this exercising I have been doing. I am TIRED and SORE. :)

I have to give kuddos to SD because the girl works out freaking 6 days a week. I have done 2 aerobics classes this week and some cardio and I am spent like a 2 dollar bill. Wheew...!

In other news my hubs brought RW his first ever PEZ dispenser. It is a Chicken Little and he also got the Daisy Mallard for RP that is currently in Ryans care until she is old enough to have it :)

Ryan is getting addicted to candy lately. Fran took him though Chase bank one day and the lady thought he was so cute that she sent him out a lollipop... which is all fine and dandy but now when we go to the bank the child expects candy!!!

I really can't blame him though- Its a nice way to stick it to them for all the overdraft and atm fees over the years...right?

Anyway has anyone seen SFG?

I so miss her when she isn't around. You know we are long lost twins, right? Well except for the fact that she lives in LOUISIANA and she doesn't like crawfish. Thats like living in Texas and not liking bluebonnets DUDE. :) I guess I will have to work on her. :) The Poor Dear. :)

My friend Shelley is going to some freaking grasslands for vacation. I say why not?! I could use a little serenity in some wind blowing grassy fields. :) She actually emailed me though to tell me that NO she isn't going to grass lands- I read it wrong- it was a misprint on a map and it said GAS lands. Now thats just funny. :)

Our friends the Buddhas are about to embark down to Port Aransas, Texas on Friday. We are missing them down there by like 2 days, dammit. Have fun you guys. I have warned the PA officials that Randy will be on the island :) heehee!~

In closing I will leave you with some pictures of their chillins, Lauren and Evan with my chillins
enjoying the Sunny D-A-Y-S....
Chasing the clouds away.......

That is all for now.
Thank you and Good morning!

Quote

2006-06-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Melissa just got married so she is still in marital bliss la-la land...

but here is a quote that I think is preeeety funny! I saw it on some new show- Tuesday night book club or somthing like that last night:)

"If you want to sacrifice the admirations

of many men for the criticisms of one,

go ahead, get married."

Katharine Hepburn

I got NOTHING

2006-06-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Ok people. I have nothing to talk about. What is up with that?

So today we are in gym class and we are a good 20 minutes into the workout and in walks this chicka. (I will refer to her as the long- haired workout nazi) Mind you this class is popular and so its tight and crowded...well she takes her step and plops it down right in front of my friend Shelli.

Now any fool can see that its not going to work but she sets it up and then starts in with the routine forcing Shelli to stop and move her step back.

So WTF? I mean really would it be to hard to just go on the side? Were you trying to make a point? I just think its completely rude.

When deciding on whose space to invade she must have seen the look on my face "Go ahead and mess with me I dare you" and decided to prey on poor Shelli.

I was fit to be tied because this morning when I deposited the chillin's off at the nursery Ryan throws a huge monster FIT.

I mean screaming and clawing hysteria. "Don't Leeeeeaaaaave me mama!" So I, being the mother of the year, say it will be ok and walk out. I have learned with school that the sooner I exit the sooner he calms down.

Come on over here... workout nazi-I dare you. ;)

So 40 minutes into the routine and after about 20 rude glances toward long hair workout nazi, in comes the nursery people. Umm Mrs. Watkins...ummm....your son won't stop crying. You may want to come and get him. Workout over.

Poor punkin. There he was crying in the middle of the room. In his defense I think he woke up to early due to his screaming sister. He came running over to me. "Mommy, Mommy!!! You left me!" So to make amends we took him to Beyond Bounce later in the day and let him run wild. What can you do?

Tomorrow Ryan has summer camp. It is racing day so I have to go and find him a shirt with a car on it or something. :) They are letting his class "wash cars"

Oh. Dear. :)

That is all.

Monday, Monday....

2006-06-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here is how our Monday morning started: Torrential flooding and rain. Lovely. I did however make it to my aerobics class at 9:15 through the rain and all and my yard seems pretty happy to have all the water.

Anyway today is really boring and I don't have much to tell as I am just doing the usual routine of cleaning and laundry and trying to entertain the children who would probably rather be running outside. Whoopie!

So I guess I will give some weekend pointers-

SOMEBODY I know got married over the weekend. Congratulations!!!

We took Ryan to his very first movie yesterday and saw Cars. He did so good- He sat there for about the first 30 min and then Fran took him out to play in the game room for a while then he came back and watched it all the way through the end.

It went totally smoothly! I am excited because now we can start taking him to see other movies! AND BTW Cars was awesome! I loved it!

Next time I can rope the sis/parents/person on the side of the road into watching the kiddos ;) I want to go and see Nacho Libre!!!

Thats all I GOT!

Happy Monday!

So. Very. Tired. :)

2006-06-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ok yes sister Carrie. This HAS been a slacking week for me but we have been on the move!!!! We didn't get home from the Zoobilee last night until 11:00!!

This weekend is going to be busy too!

Tomorrow- the LUV of my life and I will have been together for 13 YEARS people. Now that's a mighty long time. :) I date that back to the first time we kissed/started dating each other at Atchafalaya where we met. Awwwwwww....take a moment if you need it.... :) Awwwwwww. :)

Also we have Ryan's cousin Devins 3rd birthday party on Saturday, Frans daddy and brother will be in town from San Antonio, I have to score us some Wiggles tickets, and Sunday is Fathers day! Wheeew I am tired already!

**Sidenote* Carrie and Shelli- I will see you at the gym tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM! **

Here are the pictures from last night. Umm yeah...I take alot of pictures :) I am laughing to myself because it occurred to me that I have the same shirt on last night as I do for my blog picture. Maybe its me that needs clothes sent :)

Have a fabulous weekend!!!!

And the Polls are OPEN...

2006-06-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

These are the two outfits that I am considering for Reese's 1st birthday. I think I have already figured out which I am using but will find it interesting to see what you think!!!

Please cast your votes.

The choices:

A. This beautiful pastel pink and yellow dress was given to Reese by her "Aunt" Sherese before she was born. I always jokingly say that is who she was named for. It actually has a 1 on it and is so light and feminine.

B. This outfit I found at my most favorite baby clothes store- Baby Towne in Old Town Spring. I like it because I could do the entire party in the pink and black theme.

So there you have it. The invitations, Reese's 12 month portraits, the balloons, the cake, everything will be based on which outfit we go with!

Lemme know what you think!!!

Ahhh...A new week!

2006-06-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hello. Did you miss me ?:)

So this week things are looking up and our summer schedule, if you will, is starting to form. I am the type of person where I need things to do to keep me, I mean the kids... entertained ;) and have a schedule!!!

Firstly, Ryan will be starting his summer camp tomorrow which will be every Wednesday until the Fall. Secondly, I also enrolled him into a gymnastics class which he will be doing every Friday with his friend Jack.

As for myself, today I took the plunge and started doing aerobics again. I met my friend SD over at my sisters gym this morning and placed both children in the nursery which really looks like a Discovery Zone, signed the 1000 release and information papers regarding them (which made me feel better) and went to it.

We of course took our places in the back just in case the old high school drill team moves didn't kick in. :) One hour later I lay on the floor moaning, soaked in sweat and SMILING. I was so excited that I had made it through. It was just fun to have Shelli there to laugh with mainly at my dumb ass with when I ended up facing the wrong way or falling on my butt :) OK well I didn't fall but it would have been funny if I had :)

I can't stand "serious" work-outers. Come on people would it freaking kill you to crack a smile? Oh and the next time you cut in front to me to rushedly get your weights I am going to trip your ass ;)

ANYWAY... After all was said and done I have to say I LOVED it and was very pleased with myself for going.

I think when one has two children full time 24/7, that an hour of time to oneself a day isn't to much to ask for and its a great way for me to release stress and or any irritability that has built up.

The kiddos, in case you were wondering, did great and get this... when I went in to get them Ryan had placed himself in the baby pit and was sitting right by his sister making her laugh. I almost cried. Does that not melt your heart or what? At least if anything ever happens to Fran and I they will always have each other. Ahhhhhh....

Thank you Mrs. SD.
I REALLY needed that.

When the hubs gets home I am going to go and officially join and start going at least 3 times a week if not more.
Yeee- Freaking -Haw. :)

In other news we went and tried yet ANOTHER jump place yesterday called the Ruckus Room. Ryan and Lola jumped from 2:30 until 5:00 and they only stopped when we dragged and I do mean dragged them out kicking and screaming. They would probably still be there now if we had let them stay!

Here in the desert, I mean Houston... its to freaking hot outside during the summer and the kiddos get so bored staying in. These places are great- $6 for unlimited jumping which in turn equals tired children and a happy mommy :)

I am still not sure which one I am doing Ryans b-day party at but am narrowing it down as we go:)

We have the Houston Zoobilee this Thursday night which is for members and thier kiddos. When the kids walk in they get a treasure map and they have to go and find all the animals listed. When they do they get a stamp or a token. They have a childrens DJ, flame throwers, jugglers, magicians, the works. I think that will be a hoot too.

I LOVE, LOVE weeks like this. :) I will leave you with a picture of the kiddos from yesterday.

Come back later in the week...I will be posting Reese in two different birthday outfit possibilities and will have a vote to see which one people like the best. Doesn't that sound exciting?

Peas out-
Workout Mommy Nicole :)

Please send us some clothes :)

2006-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh!" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"

"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw.
"I just wanted to be sure of you."

Saturday afternoon humor...

2006-06-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is funn-y!
Have you seen it before?

Two Old Ladies:

Two old ladies are outside their nursing home, having a drink and a smoke, when it starts to rain.

One of the old ladies pulls out a condom, cuts off the end, puts it over her cigarette, and continues smoking.

Maude: What in the hell is that?
Mabel: A condom. This way my cigarette doesn't get wet.
Maude: Where did you get it?
Mabel: You can get them at any drugstore.

The next day, Maude hobbles herself into the local drugstore and announces to the pharmacist that she wants a box of condoms.

The pharmacist, obviously embarrassed, looks at her kind of strangely (she is after all, over 80 years of age), but very delicately asks what brand of condom she prefers.

"Doesn't matter Sonny, as long as it fits on a Camel."

Stuff Portrait Friday

2006-06-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

OK so this is my first attempt at this which is brought to us by Kristine so if it is stupid well then so be it :)

Anyway...

Wide Open Space:

Childrens Museum in Houston. Wide Open Space. The blue blot is my son running in the wide open space which is always good for when nap time rolls around.

Brightness:

I mean really...Does it get any brighter than this? :)

In the dark:

"Holy white ghost Batman!" This is the result of 2 months of tanning so to me I am sooo tan...well much tanner than the whitey white girl I used to be.
Yes folks apparently I am "In the dark";)
So there you have it!
Did you play???!

In other news:
Dear CNN. Com.
When I open you up in the mornings because you are my default page, I do not want to see a picture of some nasty a** looking dead guy.
Flowers and Sunshine,
Nicole :)

***EDITED***
The hubs is HOGGING the computer today doing "work" stuff "...*whatever* so I will come and see everyone later. Smootches!

Three Guys and a Girl

2006-06-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Last Comic Standing:

I liked Wild Willie and am very sad you did not pick him. I guess I will still keep watching because Roz is preeety funny. That is all.

Ok since there is no Way Back Wednesday this week I am just going to do my own little version of it :)

And a little side note for all of my longtime friends...
I have pictures and your day will come :)
ANYWAY...

Meet Jennifer.

She and I have been bestest friends since we met each other our Senior year of high school WAY back in 1992. Ok well she thought I was a snob when she first met me but then she saw through all the bling, hairspray and poofy hair to the true crazy inner person that is ME :)

We basically have been bosom buddies ever since. Be it rooming together in college, (Hey the poodle look was in back then)

floating down rivers, (Damn, eat some food Jennifer :))

camping out, going to parties, drinking our fair share of alcohol together, being bridesmaids in each others weddings, watching the gaggle of children we now have play together, and so the story goes.

So one day back then Jennifer announced to me that she was pregnant. Meet Jackson.

I think that his arrival was specifically what made me determined to have my own little family :) Thanks alot Jennifer :) heehee.

Jack was born November of 2002 and in January 2003 I found out that Fran and I were expecting our own little Watkins finally after a few complications.

5 months later we found out that it was a he, and 4 more months later we had our Ryan. So Jack and Ryan are 10 months apart.

14 months later from Ryans birth enter Mr. Catcher, 10 months later enter my Sweet Reesey. So Reese and Catcher are also 10 mo apart.

Have I confused you enough? Case in point we have been friends forever and I hope for the same with all of our crazy, LOUD, wild, offspring :)

3 guys and a girl.

That is all. :)

Official Announcement and Avocados

2006-06-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed.

In other news...

I am addicted to avocados.

I love them- I put them on my omlettes, my sandwiches, burgers, wraps pretty much everything. My husband informed me last night that I was going to turn in to an avocado if I kept this up. ANYWAY...

I took RP to the Dr. today for her 9 month check up. Bobo agreed to go with us as long as it was "only for Reesey, right mama?" Yes Ryan no shots for you today!

He was the perfect angel- They both were. Proud mother moment :) Anyway she is doing great- she is 26 and 1/4 inches and weighs 18 lbs 10 oz.
They said she was perfectly "petite"
I snickered to myself thinking...hmmm... I too once used to be petite :) Maybe its all the avocados I eat?

We coasted out of there with no poops, no spit-ups, no melt downs, and one lolli-pop richer.

Here are some recent photos of Miss RP trying to stay cool from this hot Houston weather.
If you look closely you will see that she is pointing to an AVOCADO. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Get your Kleenex ready...

2006-06-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog''s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very much attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker''s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker''s transition without any difficulty or confusion.We sat together for a while after Belker''s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why." Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I''d never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?" The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don''t have to stay as long."

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

Tom Petty vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers

2006-06-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

The RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS' recent hit ''Dani California'' is uncomfortably similar to TOM PETTY's 1993 song ''Mary Jane's Last Dance,'' according to two Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, talk-show hosts who posted an MP3 comparing the tracks online this week. ''It's not just the chord progressions are the same -- the entire theme of the song is the same, and some of the lyrics are the same,'' says Jared Morris, a producer and talk-show host at WGMD-FM. But while published reports allege an infuriated Petty intends to sue over copyright infringement, the singer wasn't available for comment and spokespeople for the longtime Heartbreakers frontman wouldn't talk.
Not only that, a University of Chicago musicologist says the ''Dani California'' passage is hardly similar enough to ''Mary Jane's Last Dance'' to hold up in court. ''The opening parts of both songs have very similar grooves, they use pretty much the same chord progressions and the ways the melodies are patterned are similar. And it pretty much stops there,'' says Travis Jackson, an associate professor who specializes in recording technology. ''Chord progressions are really hard to claim as a basis [for a lawsuit]. That's a pretty standard groove. You would have to do a lot more to say there's outright copying.''
ROLLING STONE
Posted Jun 02, 2006 6:01 PM

My personal take:
Before my step-daughter Taylor informed me of this information last night, it really didn't even occur to me that the two songs sound the same. Do they? Well maybe a little bit but come on- I mean really. Are Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden going to going to start suing every "grunge rock" band for copying them? I. think. not.

SO.
Do I still like Tom Petty? Yes.

Will I go and sweat my ass off at the Woodlands to see him again for the like 5th time? Yes.

Will I still like the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Yes.

Will I go and sweat my ass of to see THEM perform at the Woodlands? Yes.

Did I really want to name my son Ryan "Layne" after Layne Staley from Alice in Chains but Fran wouldn't let me? Yeppers.

Nothing wrong with a bit of free publicity every now and then though.

Oh my, my...

That is all:)

Raising Boys

2006-06-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

OK I am SO TIRED this week that I just don't feel like composing anything that is worth your time to read. So I promise to be better next week and participate in SPF and WBW. Until then I will give you this- I think its pretty funny...and a little note on the side...judging from some of the little girls I know I don't just think it applies to little boys! :)Happy Weekend!!

The following came from an anonymous mother in Austin, Texas...

Things I've learned from my Boys
(honest and not kidding):

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq.ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in acrowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a longway.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a4-year old Boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR's do not eject "PB &J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

For those with no children - this is totally hysterical!

For those who already have children past this age, this is hilarious.

For those who have children this age, this is not funny.

For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.

For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.

Vacation Pictures

2006-06-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ok because I am "Mother of the Year" I got all the freaking way down to Port Aransas with my camera but when I started snapping away I realized I had left the memory card at home in the computer.

Crap.

I am not the President of picture taking- I give that to Sherese or Shelli Dean but I am the Vice President, dammit. SO I hijacked my parents camera but the pics are still being developed.

Instead for the moment I can show you the ones my sister has up on her site go here: Carries: and have a look.

Be Sure to scroll all the way down- and then keep on going- there are like 3 posts of pictures. When I get the others I will put them up too!
FABULOUS.

That is all. :)

Vacation Blues

2006-05-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hello all- I am sure you have missed me.:) We are back from 5 and 1/2 days of fun in the sun down in Port Aransas, Texas. That is all I have to say about that. I am in sad "I still want to be on vacation" mode today so bear with me :)

In recent news:

Reese turned 9 months yesterday and she is a little curly haired fire cracker. She is teething, spitting, blowing raspberries, pulling up on everything possible and yelling back at Ryan now. I am going to place my bets that she will be walking in one more month.

Ryan has decided that he doesn't like the water down at the beach unless you take him in holding him. He "Can't like it." He does however love the pool and "needs" to go swimming 24/7 and took to riding in a boat very well. He developed his sea legs while dancing with a little 3 year old girl we met named Lois while we were out looking for dolphins on the Dolphin Encounter.

Saw Last Comic Standing last night and was encouraged that some of the comedians actually made me belly laugh out loud. I can't remember what his name was but the guy talking about when you don't have kids and here they come to give you a hug and they are slobbering on your pants and he was like hey wait a minute kid those are Banana Republic! Heehee! I SO remember being that person. Anyway at least now there is something to watch in the evenings :)

As for my creative side it is non existant today so I will leave you with a quote from Jay Leno on the tonight show.

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,
Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

That is all for now- Happy Wednesday!

LOLA

2006-05-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Sing along with me if you know the words:)
Clearing throat.....

I met her in a club down in old Soho
Where you drink champagne
and it tastes just like Coca Cola
See-oh-el-aye ... Cola.

She walked up to me
and she asked me to dance.
I asked her her name
and in a dark brown voice she said,
"Lola"
El-oh-el-aye , Lola,

la la la la Lola....

Well I'm not the world's most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight
she nearly broke my spine
Oh my Lola

la-la-la-la Lola

Well, I'm not the world's
most passionate guy

But when I looked in her eyes

Well, I almost fell for my Lola

La, la, la, la Lola....

La-la-la-la Lola

la-la-la-la Lola, Lola
la-la-la-la Lola
la-la-la-la Lola!!!!
Ok so its the edited version....
The End :)

Survey

2006-05-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yes my readers... a survey about ME for YOU.
I was tagged by my friend Shell so here goes:

I am...Nicole -Freaking- Watkins. Hear me?!

Ok... Ok... I am a Red Headed Aries. Need I say more?

I said..."OUCH, dammit. You dropped the fishing pole set on my toe." Then Ryan said "I'm sorry mama. Want me to kiss it?"

I want... a Nissan Pathfinder again.

I wish...I could charge, charge, charge and not pay, pay, pay. :)

I hate...a variety of things...animal cruelty, folding laundry, putting new pillow cases on pillows, it takes so long...the fact that I drive a MINIVAN. I cannot be my kewl self rolling up in a freaking Quest. I also hate living in a two story house. With little ones go with the ONE STORY. :)

I miss... my waistline from high school and college.

I fear...no beer.

I hear...nothing. Ahhhhh....

I wonder...what my children will look like when they are older.

I regret...that I didn't spend more time with my grandfather.

I am not...going to make dinner tonight!

I dance... around the living room with my son, daughter and husband all the time. We love the retro channel, we are dorks :)

I sing...louder when I have been drinking

I cry... When my Miller Lite runs out.

I'm not always...drinking but... Hey! sometimes it makes life more fun :)

I made...two GORGEOUS, sweet, precious and loving children.

I write...down "to-do" lists every day and LOVE crossing each item off!

I confuse...the time of boiling pasta, potatoes and eggs. Is it 12? Is it 15? I have to ask Fran almost every time :)

I need...Hugs and Kisses- lots of them every day. It makes it all worthwhile.
I should...be cleaning my house.

I start...each day with a strong cup of coffee.

I finish....each day by telling Fran right before I fall asleep "Night, Love you, Sweet dreams, See you in the morning."

I believe in...God, soul mates and happy endings.

I know...that my husband love, love, loves me. :)

I can...make you feel better when the world gets you down.

I can't... (don't want to)clean the litter boxes- they make me gag. I deal with enough poop on a daily basis. This also applies to toilets.

I see...my little Meadow Watkinos walking across the street. Yes, she is mean as shit but she loves us :)

I blog...so leave me a freaking comment :).

I read...preeety much these days when I am on the pot. OMG Did I just say that?! How embarrassing. :)

I am aroused by.. Fran's smile.

It pisses me off...when people lie to me.

I find...hot wheels, toys, all over the freaking house.

I like...sunsets on the beach.

I love...my family.

Saturday Night Live

2006-05-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

So this morning while I was feeding RP I heard a clip from my favorite SNL.

Its the one where Will Ferrell is Gene in the Blue Oyster Cult and he is playing the cow bell. Christopher Walken is legend Bruce Dickinson and he keeps interrupting the taping session to say he needs "more cowbell...explore the space baby" :) See it here. Go down to 'Watch the Cowbell skit.'

I LOVE the Blue Oyster Cult and that is my favorite song by them- Don't Fear the Reaper- Anyway I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Happy Tuesday! :)

P.S. If you are ever going to see the BOC heres a hint- Don't wear a pink shirt...;) Trust me on this I speak from experience :) You are better off in something black. That is all for now.

I needed that

2006-05-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Deep breath in...hold it... and exhale slowly. Ahhhh....time alone away from the kiddos. It was soo what we both needed!

People NEED time alone without kiddos I think because it reminds you what got you to having these children in the first place- Catch me?:) I don't know about you but it also makes me a much better parent...kind of like.. ok my little Watkins... mommy is refueled and ready now... bring it on :)

Anyway after a very relaxing fun weekend I am back to the grove today (yeech) doing laundry and other fun stuff like that. At least this time though its in preparation to leave for Port Aransas for Memorial Day Weekend- Whoo-Hoo! I am really looking forward to some more relaxing days on the beach. Something about that little town just relaxes me instantly.

Today, while RP was napping Mr. Bobo decided he wanted to "paint" with his new washable paints that his Grandparents bought for him. It was actually quite fun and mommy got in on the action. What's even cooler is when you're done its completely washable and comes right out of anything it might have gotten on :) I have seen these kits at Target for like 15 clams. Totally worth it! So that is what I will leave you with today- Ryan and I's new career in sidewalk art.

Weekend PASS

2006-05-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

So this weekend my parents the Beebs and the Pats are watching my children for the entire weekend. Can I get a WHOO-FREAKING-HOO?

Yes... this will be the FIRST time in 9 months that we are completely childless.

My dear open mouthed sister is always gracious to watch the little Watkins whenever things come up for the evening or during the day *she totally rocks* HOWEVER we still have to drag ourselves out of bed the next morning no matter how much fun we have had the night before. *hiccup* ;)

So this week my little R's both tried to get sick and such but mommy took their cute little sugar booties in to the Dr and got them on antibiotics. NO SICKNESS FOR YOU. Mommy and Daddy NEED a weekend to themselves! And let me say that after this week it couldn't come at a better time. All week I have been covered in snot, drool, spitup...it was hard to even get a shower in.

So for our weekend ...aside from just being together, alone...I am personally thinking a little Da Vinci Code movie action tomorrow afternoon, then immediately afterwards proceeding to Pappasitos (I have a gift card and while I am not the gift card QUEEN like Shelley... Free is always good :)) for some nice COLD margaritas while enjoying the zydeco band...maybe some drunken dancing somewhere there afterwards, then possibly throw in a bit of laying on Galveston beach action on Saturday and some good ol lets get stuff done that we have been putting off around the house for a year on Sunday... Sprinkle in lots and lots of un-interrupted SLEEP and there you have it!!!

So here is my question to you..my very few readers;) What do YOU do when your kids are away?

Have a good weekend....:)

I HATE RESIDENTIAL Speeders

2006-05-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

OK.

DO NOT SPEED DOWN MY FREAKING STREET. I sit here and watch these little 16 year old PUNKS who live down at the end of the street speed past my freaking house everyday. I have yelled at them, shot them the bird, whatever. For my next stunt I am going to just throw a freaking tricycle out in front of them and see if they have time to stop.

Does that sound bitter? I am tired and grumpy so don't screw with me little punk boys. That is all. ;)

Baby in a Bucket

2006-05-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here is my almost 9 mo old daughter. Isn't she cute?! :)

In other news three of us Watkins have sinus infections. Lemme give you a hint- I am the hold out. FW has been sick for almost like 3 weeks now. RW is working on week 2 and RHW just started last night waking up screaming from 12:30 am- 1:45 am. So BACK to the freaking doctor we go today. Arrrgh.

Sick 2 year olds are so much fun. Here is how my morning went. Ryan wakes up and says..."Mama I want spaghetti." I, not having had my coffee yet am perplexed for only a second in which he picked up on and threw himself on the floor crying. "What about lasagna?" (because we have some left over from the other night) "NOOOO MAMA. I can't like lasagna!!!!!" So you get the picture. After 10 minutes I convinced him to have waffles.

Sick and GRUMPY.

The good news is that they are all on antibiotics or will be and hopefully will be somewhat better by this weekend, RIGHT? A girl can always dream...

Why did they have to kill Denny???!!!

2006-05-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ok I am totally crying here and am so sad! Why???! If you watch GA then you know what I am talking about. Bwwwwaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

We have Crawling

2006-05-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yes as of last week my sweet immobile Reesey Piecey has learned to go from scooting and rolling about to officially crawling. How did mommy discover this? I found her in the kitchen playing with the cats water. That's right. She got out of the living room and made her way into the kitchen.

Now for those of you who know me lets think back to when Bobo was going through this phase. Do you remember the transformation my husband did with the living room furniture and the tables? The Baby Pit? Arrrgh. YES it is nice knowing they can't get out and all that but my living room looks like a wreck!!! I can handle that our house looks like freaking candy land on any given day but the baby pit is hard for even the seasoned mother to take! I guess I would need pictures for you to see and understand. Basically he moves the couches together and all the furniture so she can't escape the living room. Not exactly home beautiful.

Anyway so she is crawling and her favorite thing to crawl to or on is ber brother, the Bobo. He is like "Mommy get Reesey off me!":) Heehee! Gone are the happy days of her playing in her saucer or simply just not moving...pleaase let me take a moment here...Ok Jennifer you can stop laughing now. Crawling. What happened to my BABY! Gawd next she will be dating!! That is all.

The Best Mothers Day Card....

2006-05-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you Dianne... I couldn't have said it any better myself! HAAA!!! :)

Food and Sleep

2006-05-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

Let me review for you when my 8 mo old daughter decided to wake up last night. Ready???

10:30 p.m.
12:00 a.m.
2:15 a.m.
5:30 a.m.
5:59 a.m.

Diagnosis: I think GAS, a little teething, some good ol growing pains and the sniffles. Either way doesn't she know her mommy and daddy by now? I personally am horrible about getting up in the middle of the night. If that makes me a bad mommy than so be it. It made me have flashbacks to when both kiddos were newborns-**Shiver** I need at least 7 hrs or I am a disaster the next day.

Then on top of that trying to explain to a two and a half year old why you don't want to play with him every waking moment of the day because you are tired and grumpy is not an easy thing to do. SUCK IT UP MOMMY!!!

Anyway luckily for us this does not happen very often or I would most likely be in a mental institution. :)

So now, on to a BRIGHTER subject, FOOD.

Recipe of the week:
I love good recipes and when people pass them along to me, so I will pass ones I find on to you! This one is brought to us by the Albright Family. My friend Sherese is one of those gifted chefs who can throw a bunch of crap together and make it taste gourmet. My husband is the same way. Its annoying to me because I am not. I NEED a recipe to follow. When I try to "Wing it" well just ask my husband about the dish he titled "Turkey Surprise" ;)

I have made this recipe twice now and while it was originally meant for the bbq grill I just throw it in the oven. Still amazing and so EASY. **Side note to those with kids. My son will eat the basting sauce by itself if I let him. He really enjoys this because of the maple syrup flavor:) **

Maple Glazed Pork Loin.

1 (3 lb) boneless pork loin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons grated orange rind

Rub pork loin with mixture of ginger and salt.

PreHeat oven to 325.

Place loin on a baking sheet lined with foil. Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until internal temp is 170 degrees.

Baste loin every 30 minutes or so with mixture of barbecue sauce, maple syrup and orange rind.

Remove to serving platter and cut into thin slices.
Garnish with red grapes, green grapes and parsley sprigs (optional).

Badda Bing- Thats it! I served it with creamy spinach and rosemary mashed potatoes... but it goes well with just about anything and AGAIN its SO easy.

Boring post I know but I am so very TIRED :) Have a great weekend and a very Happy Mothers Day to all of the mommies out there!!!

The Evoultion of Dance

2006-05-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Need a LAUGH?
Like to dance?
Check this out!!!

The Evolution of Dance

Its JUST FUNNY!!! Thank you miss Shell...

Umm... Carrie I am taking back my blog now...

2006-05-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

Hee-hee! OK You gotta love a sister who loves you.

Anyway today I present to you my garage...Trumpets sounding:

"Holy Neon Lights, Batman!!!"

So for my 25th...I mean my 32nd b-day I received from the Beebs and Pats (my parental units) a cool ass Miller Light neon sign which I had been wanting for like 4 years now. (And really is there any other beer that is better? I think not.)

Fran hung it up for me the very next day in the garage which I someday see as being sort of a barish type gameroom LOUNGE if you will..for my kids and the hubs and I to hang out in. Might as well keep the kids at MY house where I can keep an eye on them... RIGHT?!!!

So follow me now- I am thinking dart-board, ping-pong table, air hockey, comfy old couch, some oriental rug I can find cheaply at a garage sale, an Area 51 arcade game, disco ball and strobe lights, maybe a fog machine for Halloween parties and bar signs. Hence...A COOL GARAGE :)

So yesterday afternoon before my sister and I had so much fun giggling the night away creating the previous blog.. Fran and I's friend Buddha stopped by. Well what does he have with him???! A NEW Fabulous MILLER Light Sign...FOR ME!!

!!Happy Dance!!

Randy (Who we affectionately call Buddha and his family "The Buddhas" which his wife Dianne *HATES* sorry, it has just stuck all these years my love...) is the general manager for a local HOT spot here in Houston - The Goode Company Taqueria on Kirby- and apparently my hubs had asked him if he could "get his hands on one of these neon signs for Nicole's birthday" Well to put it in Randy's words.."I always deliver baby. It might take me a while (my birthday was April 5) but I always deliver. Uhh--Huhh! That's what I'm talking about!!!

Well thank you Buddhas for adding to my dream of having a cool ass garage LOUNGE someday that the kiddos when they get older... and I have to worry about their where-a-bouts... will maybe like to hang out in. After -what- like 10 years of being friends with you guys you still never fail to amaze me. (((((HUGS AND KISSES)))) Your friend Nicole.

Now to follow are some pics of the garage Voodoo Lounge to be:

First the new sign:

Second: The neon Miller Light sign my parents got for me and another one I ordered online:

Then we have the crappy old refrigerator that used to be ours back in the day but now is preeety much only good for keeping juice boxes and beer cold:

My license plate I had when I was 16..well because I was HOT back then:

My New Orleans sign that I LOVE and ordered for a crawfish boil party we had. The "Beer on Draught" sign that my daddy painted for my mother when they were dating:

AND finally my son, Mr. Bobo, who is wondering why in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks are we out taking pictures of the garage?!:

That is all for now.

Why I LOVE My Sister Carrie

2006-05-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am such a lucky bitch!!!! I am blessed with my little sister who is not only soooo much more brilliant but also so much more fabulous than me. Thankfully, she was available and blessed me with her presence tonight to set me straight about what I was doing wrong blogging.

Dear Lord, I can't thank you enough for the blessing you bestowed on me all those years ago, that was in fact a pretty little gift, all wrapped up in a blanket at the hospital, my sister, Carrie...

*I need a moment to compose myself*

Whaaaaaahhhhh, I Love you sister!

Oh she who can do no wrong, who is never FUGly, who is always right, even when I really want to believe I am.

She is not only the ABSOLUTELY MOST BEAUTIFUL person I've met, (Why oh why can't I look like her????) she is the most intelligent person to ever grace this planet.

Damn. Ya'll are some lucky bitches to know her. I'm going to go cry some more into my beer while I praise the Lord for blessing me with her.

Can I get a "Halllelujah!!!!!"

Now that's just funny... and yeah, Carrie posted the words, but Big Sister Nicole now has the power to come in and add pictures... paybacks are a bitch...

Bwhahahahahaahaha

2006-05-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

The Strange, Mysterious, Re-Appearing POOP.

That's right folks the reappearing poop. My sweet Reesey decided to have her afternoon poop today at the close of her lunch. How can one tell a poop is occuring? Well for starters she starts grunting, next her face turns red and then afterwards she laughs. Taking after her mother already about thinking poop is funny. ;)

So upon changing her she decides that it is no fun to stay stationary for mommy to wipe the poopy away and begins rolling around. This was fine because I thought I had wiped off the majority of the poop and was in the clear. Alas, no.

As I am about to put on her diaper I see some brown on her leg. Maybe its because mommy doesn't have her contacts in today but is that poop? Yeppers. Upon closer inspection it IS poop. Ewee. Wipe, wipe. So that poop is gone and I go back to applying the clean diaper when I notice a brown spot on her foot. Is that poop? YES, Its poop!

At this point I am bewildered at where in the hell all this poop is coming from and how it keeps sneaking by me.

So AGAIN I wipe the poop away and inspect the child from head to toe. No poop. Was it on me? Is it on the changing table? I have yet to find where the source of this particular reappearing poop came from but I now feel the need to take a shower. Will I look back 10 years from now and think this is funny? I think not. :)

2006-05-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

ZOO Days....

So yesterday we decided to once again venture out to the zoo.:) We copied our friends the Deans and became zoo members back in February(ooh.la.la.) which to all of my friends with little ones I totally recommend doing.

The FAMILY membership is around $79 clams and after you pay that you get in free for the rest of the calendar year. Not to mention its a nice tax write off. Anyway we figured out that if we went as a family 3 times it would be paid for with the regular price of our admissions. We always go alot in the first part of the year and then again when Fall hits so it seemed like a great deal. I know we have already gotten our moneys worth out of it.

The membership also lets you get $1 tokens for the carousel, a discount on any merchandise, and you get to go in through a special Members only entrance which on the weekends is REALLY cool as you are walking by all the poor non-members waiting in the long ass lines :) Sorry but its TRUE!!!

Here are some pictures of Ryan and his friend Zoe. Reese was there too but in every picture she had her eyes closed, DANG IT! I will do a separate post of my sweet Reesey- Piecey later in the week. This was probably the last time we will be doing the zoo unless we get some freaky cool weather or until Lolas b-day party because it was HOT, HOT, HOT. Enjoy!!

2006-05-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ok this is just cool-

Social Distortions version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"
Click to hear:
http://www.socialdistortion.com/audio/qt/ringoffire.mov

I don't know if that is the correct way to post a link but oh well.

The. Song. ROCKS.

My husband loves to tell me about the time him and his friend Craig Boudreaux went and saw Social D many years ago and were crowd surfing...Isn't he SO super cool!?!

That just one of the many reasons I LOVE HIM! :) Enjoy!!

2006-05-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Ok now this is what I am talking about...Lets just make mine a cool even $200K since they haven't even bothered to calculate the time and effort it takes alone to change various poops, pees, throw ups, etc ;)

Anyway...Here are some quips from an article my sister sent me. Check it out!

Study: US mothers deserve $134,121 in salary

By Ellen Wulfhorst Wed May 3, 9:11 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work, an amount similar to a top U.S. ad executive, a marketing director or a judge, according to a study released Wednesday.

To reach the projected pay figures, the survey calculated the earning power of the 10 jobs respondents said most closely comprise a mother's role -- housekeeper, day-care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive and psychologist.

"You can't put a dollar value on it. It's worth a lot more," said Kristen Krauss

Employed mothers reported spending on average 44 hours a week at their outside job and 49.8 hours at their home job, while the stay-at-home mother worked 91.6 hours a week, it showed.

An estimated 5.6 million women in the United States are stay-at-home mothers with children under age 15, according to the most recent U.S.
Census Bureau.

Salary.com offers a Web site (http://www.mom.salary.com) where mothers can calculate what they could be paid, based on how many children they have, where they live and other factors. The site will produce a printable document that looks like a paycheck, Coleman said.

On average, the mother who works outside the house earns a base pay of $62,798 for a 40-hour at-home work week and $23,078 in overtime; a stay-at-home mother earned a base pay of $45,697 and $88,424 in overtime, it said.

2006-05-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am going to try my hand at BLOGGING. :) My sis has been doing it for a while now and I find myself reading her and her readers sites so I thought why not...and what a nice way to vent when necessary!

So on to it... Today's post is about the following:

The Titmouse Club.
You heard me right the "Titmouse club." heehee! Snickering to self. Well that's what I did when my friend Sherese invited myself and the Bobo (my son) to join them for the event. I thought what in Gods name is that word but apparently it is actually a bird as you can see here on their site:

So after hearing about how cool this place was from Sherese for like a month I decided to go ahead and venture out with both children to this little outdoor morning club. I had read on their site that they "Begin promptly at 10 and if there are more than 20 kiddos then they will have to turn you away so I planned to be a little early (what is that?!)

I, like any good mother, set the alarm for 7:30 am- yeech- if you will learn one thing about me from this is that I am NOT a morning person. So when it went off I dutifully hit the snooze button and slept in until 7:50 at which point I got up and began the morning routine. Basically its get self and the little selves ready to go. Strangely enough both kiddos slept until 9 so I had to wake them up get them dressed and gave Ryan some goldfish to eat for breakfast (Mother of the Year right here) as we were running out the door to jump in the oh.so.stylish. Nissan minivan to speed over to the Memorial area running late...AS USUAL!

On the way over there I had to laugh to myself because here I am speeding and zipping in and out of traffic so we will get there on time because I will be dammed if I got up early with BOTH kids and drove all the way over there to be turned away. "Look out people! Out of my way! I have to get to the Titmouse club on time!!!" Now, that's just funny.

So we get there and as Sherese said yes...it is really cool. Its like this outdoor completely shaded by trees wilderness place right off of Memorial. It has nature trails, ponds, bridges, bayous, a log cabin...the works. So we take a nice little hike back to the cabin where we sign in and listen to the leaders teaching the kids about the topic for the week "Fish" They actually had a dead fish that they were show and telling with. Ryan of course was more interested in the woods though and kept deciding to run off all the while Reese is sitting in her stroller wondering to her baby self where in Gods name have those two drug me to now :)

So long story long Ryan eventually decided to sit and listen with his friend Zoe to the story about the Rainbow fish. Then came time for the art project. They brought out like 6 huge dead fish and announced that the children would be painting then and then making a print on cheesecloth. So either its the girl in me or the mommy but I was like EWWWE germs and ewwe dead fish! My son however was thrilled... dead fish and paint what could possibly be cooler?! So we sat down and Ryan painted two dead fish and we made prints which actually turned out really cool! Then after that they take the kids into "the woods" for a nature walk to look for the topic which ended us up by a pond looking at tadpoles and turtles. Ryan just thought this was heaven.

Sadly I thought we could do this all summer but they are ending the club in just 2 more weeks. Wah. So we can go 2 more times and then will have to start again next September. So there you have it folks...The TITmouse Club...who would've thought that's where I would have been at this point in my life ;)