All things Great & Small

Look close to see Spike & Cheetah the Mediterranean Geckos

Our church had a blessing of the animals this week.  We have never had this since we started attending and anyone who knows me knows how MUCH I love my animals!  No one loves animals more than me except perhaps, Kaitlin....the apple does not fall far from the tree.  Our pastor, the awesome, Rev Kev, said there were no limitations on animals as long as they did not bite.  My dilemma was more about how to get all of my critters

in one vehicle!

Sweet Sassy



and Scooby Doo!



Chunky her dwarf frog

The best part of the entire day was when we were going home I was talking to Kaitlin about how special it was bringing our pets to church and she said, "Mommy, you know that bowl of water Sassy was drinking from, I thought that was the baptising water she was drinking!" .....Yes, I almost wet my pants laughing!!!

Rewinding a Blog - Don't you wish you could rewind life?

I know I beat a dead horse about how BUSY I am and I know that every working mother is busy.   I enjoy this blog and I really like to "journal" this way so I can keep track of the "Kaitlinisms" that I would forget otherwise and have a written account of the day to day things that make up our life.  That is the goal, but sometimes, reality takes over and I choose laundry and lunches over blogging - it just seems to always be the first thing to take the back burner, because basically no one is losing sleep if I blog or not.  

With that said I have about 10 draft blog posts from this summer that I started and never finished or didn't take the time to download the photos off the camera and size them and link to the blog....leaving many things unsaid that I wanted to remember and journal.  My goal is to print this blog in book form once a year as a keepsake.  

So if you wonder why I am just now posting about something that happened in June (like T-Ball!) now you know, I am finishing my "to do list" because unlike so many of the other things in my life that I have no control over - since this is MY blog - I can write a blog post in October and go back and post it on my blog in June ;)  Wish there were more things in life like that!  If you want to read some of the posts, click on the following links:

Waller County Fair Relay 9/24/11

Boycotting Chicken of the Sea 9/6/11

Why God Made Mothers 8/13/11

Going to Schliterbahn 8/1/11

Swingin' Like Tarzan on the Frio 7/31/11

PandaMANIA!!! 7/29/11

Ode to Papas 6/19/11

In Memory of Gracie 6/13/11

Diamond Divas 5/31/11

Sayanara Fields Store PTO 5/16/11

Waller County Fair Relay

Kaitlin and I walked our first relay today.  Not very far, but very fun and it benefitted a great cause - all proceeds from the relay supported the American Cancer Fund.  The race was prior to the Waller County Fair parade in Hempstead.  There is something about walking in honor of those who can't or those who love them.  I feel stronger and healthier than I have in years - and for that I am blessed beyond measure.  

I hope this is the first of many relays.

Boycotting Chicken of the Sea!

In case you have forgotten, a 3rd grader's lunch is a big deal.  Kaitlin loves tuna - plain, no mayo, no pickles, etc. (YUK!) but that is how she took it in 2nd grade when she took tuna cups in her lunch.  This week, I asked her if she wanted to buy her lunch or take a tuna cup in her lunch.  She picked the tuna cup. 

When I got home from work, she was really upset and told me she could "NEVER take tuna to school again!"  When I asked why, she proceeded to explain that all kids made fun of her and told her she was eating CAT FOOD (it does look like the same cups with the pull off top!) and that it stunk and they all got up and moved to another table and they left her all by herself! I knew it must have been pretty traumatic as giant crocodile tears welled up in her eyes :(

She begged me to come to school for lunch today….I told her we would see and then I forgot that we put my car in the shop this am….so at the last minute, I borrowed a co-worker's car, grabbed 2 chicken sandwiches from the kitchen at work, 2 bags of doritos, and ran out the door to make in time for her lunch break.

She was BEAMING when she saw me walk in…I love being a Mom! She was so sweet, I told her to go get us a drink, so she came back from the line with 2 milks, and two itty bitty salads with ranch so we could be healthy – she loves the school’s salad – lol.



Needless to say, the only tunafish she will probably eat until she is 18 will now be consumed secretly in the confines of our home.

Hey, Hey Big 3rd Grader!

As a parent, I am AMAZED each year on the first day of school that summer is over & that my child is now classified as a THIRD grader...how did that happen?!  I saw all the kindergarten moms leaving with tears in their eyes and my heart breaks for them....it seems like yesterday that was me.  I would be lying though if I didn't admit that I teared up while praying with her on the way to school and asking God to watch over her this year.  I am turning a new leaf though - I vowed to stop constantly dwelling on the baby I am losing and embrace the young lady that she is becoming.  It won't be easy - she is my baby, but I don't want to miss the triumphs because I am always in a state of mourning and sadness. 

There is just something special about the first day of school.  Everyone is excited and has shiny new backpacks (some even shine from glittered K's), new shoes, and they can't wait to see all their friends again.  We all love fresh starts - even children. 

Kaitlin loves to bring her teacher flowers in an apple on the first day of school and I figure it never hurts to let her teacher see her big heart before they hear her gift of gab! lol  Her teacher this year is Mrs. McSwain and we are so excited and looking forward to a wonderful year.  I can't wait to see how much she grows and learns this year - I'll try not to blink....

Going to Schlitterbahn

Day 3 of our mini vacation was a stay at TbarM in San Marcos - a work competitor so I was very eager to check out the competition.  We took a quick trip to Gruene Hall and had dinner at the Grist Mill and then went back to our hotel where we enjoyed an outdoor family movie with popcorn and headed to bed early to get some rest before Schlitterbahn the next day.

I had been one time before, but it was over 15 years ago!  Way before there were 2 parks.  We started with the tidal waves and Kaitlin loved it - this was her first trip to a large water park since she just got the hang of swimming this year (swimming lessons since she was 3, but swimming was just not her thing).  She really liked it and next we got in line to do the large family intertube launch - what we didn't realize was that there was a 2 HOUR wait!  As you can see it was worth it to get a shot like this:

We broke for a tailgate picnic lunch and then did most of the main slides and rivers before showering and heading home.  It was a lot of fun and I think it will now be an annual trip.

Swingin' like Tarzan on the Frio

So our sweet friends the Garretts invited us to the Frio for a weekend in his parent's cabin.  Who could say no to a sweet FREE trip like that?!  Not this family who is always on a tight budget.  Even if it meant leaving at 9pm after a final VBS closing and not arriving until 2am - who cares - we're there!  Ok, so it took a little coaxing to get Billy to make the haul that late, I bribed him with an extended overnight stay in San Marcos and free tickets to Schlitterbahn which would be our only Summer Vacation this year.  (and other wifely things that I won't post here)

We arrived around 1:45 in the am to a house full of friends sippin wine, sharing stories, and kids tucked away in a house clearly built with grandkids in mind.  The next day we headed to the Frio.  Mindful that with the drought this year - the river would be very low.  We set up our shade tent, threw our lawn chairs and coolers in the river and Timmy cranked up the river tunes.  Every 100 ft was a tree with a giant rope swing and kids and adults plunging into the cold Frio river.  Hesitant, Billy andI decided to sit and chat, I wasn't sure if I wanted to take the plunge or not.  We kayaked with Kaitlin, had a picnic lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed the day

Later in the day, I decided that I should try the rope swing - I mean after all this girl did NOT beat cancer to sit around and not take life by the horns right?!  Well after the first swing, I decided that I fell in way too fast and it was not because I was 42, no, not at all, it had to be because I could not get a running start...that's it.  So I decided the rope down the river looked better with a better take off. So we all ran to it.  
I saw some roots and repeatedly told all the children to make sure they swung out to avoid hitting them when they landed.  Next it was my turn and I grabbed the rope with a rope extension that some genious had piggybacked onto the main rope so you could reach it easier.  Somehow when I jumped, the extension rope coiled around my arm and when I let go...it did NOT let go.  There are no printable words to insert here to describe the pain that came next, but the rope on my arm was not the worst part...no it was the tree root that I straddled when the extension rope prevented me from going out far enough.  Let's just say I teared up and wanted to pack up my toys and go home. 

The worst part was to come later and it looked something like this:

So when we left the next day to go to Schlitterbahn on the way home, Billy begged me to cover it up - hmmm.... somehow I forgot to pack long sleeves for a river trip!  So I told him he better be really nice to me all day or I would act real submissive and tell him " I'm sorry honey, I promise I'll be good!" in front of everyone so they would think he did it! lol  He didn't see the humor in my threat. 

Even with the injury, I am glad that I jumped and that I didn't sit on the sideline.  Life is more fun when you go for it - even if you get a few bumps and bruises along the way ;)

PandaMANIA!!!

I LOVE Vacation Bible School.  When we started attending ours at New Hope UMC when Kaitlin was just 3 - I can still remember leaving in tears that year because she was such a "pill" at the age of 3 and I could not reason with her during the lessons.  Kaitlin has grown to love VBS as much if not more than I do.  I have become very involved over the years and normally handle the decorations and outreach for the summer event. 

This year we chose Pandamania and I have to say it was our best VBS ever!  We turned our little church into a Chinese bamboo forest!  The best part was that we had our best turn-out in the history of our VBS - we had over 40 children attend and they all seemed to really enjoy it.  That is a lot considering our regular Sunday School attendance is around 10 children each Sunday. 

This year our pastor, Rev Kevin Gilmore, decided that we would raise money for fire victims by having the kids bring coins for eithe him or me and whoever's jar was the fullest got to slam a pie in the other's face.  (Luckily I won!)

I can't think of anything better than VBS - the faith of a child is immeasurable and so immense - I love teaching them how MUCH God loves them!

Letters from Camp

Kaitlin went to summer camp for the first time this week.  We spent the day before she left girl-bonding: lunch, pedicures, and a movie with Grammy.  We hugged a thousand times if we hugged once, trying to "store up" enough hugs to last us both for the week she would be away from home.

Even though I work in the offices there, I try not to abuse that priveledge and I do not go in the campsites.  It makes the other kids homesick if they see another kid hugging their Mom.  I have been to canteen twice this week to check on her, my neice, and a few other kids that I know that went this same week.  She is loving camp but does seem to be getting a little homesick, but mostly just at night.  I got this letter today:

Translation:  " I miss you alot! and I cride myself to sleep really quiet. and I really liked the gifts they are fun.  and Im having fun to. and I have sumthing for you to in the invlope! :)

(Heart) Kaitlin

My "gifts" were a white rock that she found and a butterfly she drew with two hearts.

I went to canteen today for the second time & when she saw me coming her face lit up, we stepped inside the canteen where no one could see us and we hugged and hugged!  I think I can make it until Saturday morning now.  She is loving camp and I am so grateful for this amazing experience for her. I am grateful for such an AMAZING camp staff that not only love the children they serve, they share their love of Christ with them every day. 

More camp photos to come....



Shakin' My Groove Thing...Chipmunk Style

I have discovered that I cannot excercise without my ipod - the sound of my heavy breathing is disturbing and I have tried to meditate, but I just can't clear my mind long enough for meditation....not at this point in my life anyway. So I listen to my ipod workout playlist that has Pink, Black Eyed Peas, and 80's music like Erasure, Prince, Bon Jovi, etc. Anything that makes me feel youthful and therefore more fit!~hey whatever psychology it takes to get me to hit the pavement!

Sadly, my ipod is on the brink and I can no longer sync my playlist or see what songs are playing. Today, it would not turn on at all, so I grabbed Kaitlin's pink ipod shuffle reasoning that Justin Bieber and Hanah Montana would sound better than my heavy panting! The first song was Wildfire which makes me cry everytime I hear it, so I fast forwarded to perhaps the best workout music ever.....The Chipmunks! The revved-up speed of the Chipmunks combined with modern songs reminded me of my workout playlist on crack! I found myself stepping double time!

Shake your Groove Thing, Shake your Groove Thing, Yeah, Yeah!!!

Berry Good Day

On Saturday we met my sweet co-workers Lauren, Paul and his wife Jennifer, and their sweet little boy, Jackson at the King's Orchard in Plantersville.   

Lauren wanted to go berry pickin' and I had always wanted to take Kaitlin.  Great fun, but SUPER hot - we went at 9am, but we were still parched. 

Did you know blueberries grew on large olive-treelike shrubs like this?

I didn't!

We got a bucket o' blueberries and some yummy peaches.

We made homemade peach ice cream for father's day and froze the berries that we didn't eat.  I never really even liked blueberries until I tasted fresh ones - WHAT a difference, these were so sweet and yummy! 



We will make this an annual tradition and next year I plan to go in March for Strawberries....wanna come?!

Father-Daughter Dance

Kaitlin's Brownie troop had a Father-Daughter dance on Friday.  Kaitlin was so excited and couldn't wait to bring her Daddy.  Billy asked me 10 times why I wasn't going with them...I kept explaining that this was a special night only her Dads. 

She was SO excited to get dressed up and even get a corsage from Daddy.  She came home and told me they did the Jitterbug, 2-Step, slow danced and even did musical chairs! 

The best part for me as a Mom was when she came home and asked me to press her corsage so she could save it as a memory forever! (I know the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!) 

Thank you Billy for loving our children the way you do.  Although this little girl has you completely wrapped around her little finger...you try, for what it is worth, not to melt when she batts her eyes at you and says "Please Daddy?"

Ode to Papas

On today this day, I celebrate all the fathers in mine and Kaitlin's life.  She is so lucky to have loving men in her life and I am blessed beyond measure by the Daddy God gave me. I say it all the time, but they broke the mold when they made my Daddy - he calls me EVERY day, brought me flowers every week when I had cancer, and is the one person I always turn to in a crisis because I know that no one will ever protect me the same way he does.  There is nothing like a father's love.  I love the fact that I am 42 and he still calls me Angel and P.J. - his nicknames for me.  I'll love that I will never outgrow that.

 Kaitlin made this special shirt with her own handprints for Billy.  Billy has a special way of being silly with Kaitlin that I seldom do - he will tell her stories on the way to school and watch cartoons with her and I love that he finds a way to let her be a kid - I envy that about him, but I am also grateful that he loves her the way he does.

We spent the day with Billy's dad and family and enjoyed bbq, bean bag toss, and being together. 

Sadly, the day ended with a major fire that billowed over our heads.  A major forest fire started a few miles away in Grimes County.  It was the beginning of a very long week as many co-workers were evacuated, one of my best friends evacuated and almost lost her home, and we saw thousands of acres burn before our eyes.

The CATS Meow!!!!

(A month after the fact, but hey better late than never!)
I have wanted to go to see the musical Cats for YEARS, literally.  In fact, I refused to see it until I could see it on Broadway in New York.  Then as luck would have it, the longest running show on Broadway cancelled.  So I finally conceded to see it in Houston, it was the broadway touring company and I thought it would be the next best thing.  In the summer of 2005, I told Chad to help Billy pre-order us tickets for my birthday, that was all I wanted, but I wanted good seats if I was finally going to see it.  Then after he got orchestra seats, his lung collapsed on October 1st and he was hospitalized for the next three months.  On the week of the performance, I asked his doctor if there was any way he could go and he surprisingly said yes!  Then on the night of the performance, Billy had a reaction to a medicine and we could not go and we lost our money on the tickets. 

So with that said, it is obvious why I put CATS on my post cancer bucket list.  One morning a few months ago I was getting ready for work and; I saw that they were coming to Houston again!  I knew Kaitlin would like it because she likes anything with cats, lions, cheetah, etc.  Every time the commercial came on she would comment that she really wished we could go...so we did!  My mom and I surprised her and got tickets for her birthday present. 

It was everything I imagined it would be...the costumes were AMAZING! 

I'm pretty sure I was the only one there who teared up while waiting in line to get a program! I hate to harp on the subject, but if you do not have a bucket list...please make one.  It is so gratifying when you get to do something that you always wanted to do. Life is so much sweeter after cancer.

Diamond Divas

This was Kaitlin's first year to play softball.  The last two years she played co-ed t-ball with her best friend Austin.  She was sorry to not see Austin each week for practice and games, but more excited to get to wear funky socks...what can I say an 8 yr old girl has priorities!  Her team is appropriately named the Diamond Divas and she gets to rock some lime green and black diamond socks. 


She got an amazing young coach this year and she has learned so much.  I have to admit the first time I saw that ball literally FLY out of the pitching machine - I gulped and almost jumped up and dragged her off the field.  But then I remembered how badly I always wished I had played sports and how I don't want her to be afraid of the ball when she is 40! (sad but very true).  She has the cutest batting stance you have ever scene - maybe it is that cute j-lo booty, but I can't help but smile every time she swaggers up to the base to bat.  She strikes out sometimes, but overall she does pretty good and she even made a homerun this year and got the game ball TWICE this season! 

I'm sure that this is no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I am the loudest, proudest mama on the field and every time she runs across home base or makes a good play they can hear me yelling, " That's MY girl!" two fields over.  This is the stuff that makes parenting fun, seeing them grow and learn and having so much pride for your child that sometimes it feels like you will burst if you hold it in any longer.  Have I mentioned how much I love being a Mom?  GO DIVAS!!!

Sayanara Fields Store PTO

These are some very special ladies that I fondly refer to as my Waller Mommy friends.  Most of whom are friends I made from the Fields Store PTO.  I love the PTO and I love how hard this group of Mamas works for the benefit of our children.  We hold annual fundraisers to make the school and our kids' education the best it can be.  Over the years we have bought new playground equipment, school supplies, books for the library, music & science supplies, and this last year we bought a very nice digital marqee sign for the school to display public notices, school messages, etc.  This year we raised funds to install a fence around the children's playground. 


After two years on the PTO - I got sick and I  promised Billy and my Mom that I would cut back some and make more time for me.  I had to pick between PTO and church and since there are more Mothers to help with PTO and less for our small growing church - I decided to take a leave of absence from the PTO until Kaitlin's last year in elementary when I will help one last time. 


I will miss our fun meetings and getting to visit with all these amazing Moms, but they promise to keep in touch and even though I will not be an active member - I will still volunteer when I have time and it will be nice to be able to do it when I want to help and not because I have to . 


Thanks for ALL you do Fields Store Elementary PTO - Carry on!

8 Years in the Making - Happy Birthday Kaitlin!

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Today my sweet baby girl turned 8 years old.  I guess I am not unlike any other parent, every year I am amazed that my child is as old as she is - it just seems like yesterday that she was born!  She is EIGHT and this is what my bright-eyed 8 year old has to look forward to this year:

*  Going to Summer Camp for the first time
*  Having her first "job" feeding a neighbors animals
*  Washing her hair all by herself...I know, but it's long!
*  Finally swimming from one side of the pool to the other
*  Playing Fast Pitch Pixie Softball for the first time
*  Grammy taking us to Disneyworld in November

Most of you know that we had to move heaven & earth to finally have a child and we are thankful every day for the miracle that God gave us and for all the joy that she gives us. 

I love you "Boo Boo", "Cheetah", "Pooh Bear", "Katybug".... ahem, I mean, Kaitlin, I forgot you are EIGHT now! 

Girls Gone WILd

Better late than never, spring break photos are finally ready! 

Me, Grammy, and Kaitlin took one of her BFF's to the Zoo.  We took a picnic, but ended up "tailgating" on the medical center rooftop parking since everyone else in Houston thought that the zoo was a great idea for Spring Break.  We made the best of it & once we finally got into the zoo - had a great day!  We even ran in to some of my neices and nephews while there. 

After the zoo, we went to Chili's for dinner and to see Rango (two thumbs down from the adults).

This was a great start to a great Spring Break 2011! 

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