t is for two {and tractors}

He's 2 years old now.

And he loves tractors.

Especially tractors with a front end loader.

Doesn't really have to be one that runs.

It certainly isn't a photo session until we get one with his tongue sticking out.  

I took these at the tractor show.  I'm not sure he's ever been more excited than when we arrived at the tractor show.  

{cajun} seafood medley

May 2012- When my parents came for Brazos' birthday party they brought these with them.  

It is sort of an unwritten law that they can't cross the state line to visit me in May without them.

These too.

Even though the night before a birthday party at our house really isn't the best time to boil crawfish we do it anyway.  

MiMi and Pecos playing with the live crawfish.

After Pecos saw Paw Paw get pinched, it took a bit of coaxing to get him to hold one.

The crabs were so cold they hardly moved so it was a bit easier to get him to pick up one.

A few of my favorite Cajuns...and a cowboy.

This is what we devoured.

Pecos loved the crabs.  But he can't exactly crack and pick them himself.  We're going to have to work on that.

Brazos loved the corn.  

Paw Paw just loved being here.

Meanwhile, in the back yard the smoke monster was raging and working wonders on a brisket for the birthday party.  This is a true fusion of my two worlds.

little drummer boy(s)

May 2012- Harper PTO paid to have a group come and give a fun program to the students.  They call these "On Campus Field Trips".  

This one was Drum Café.  It was a program about diversity, acceptance and communication.  They use African drums- and drummers- to share their message.  Pecos just thought it was about drumming.  

He had a great time.

His new thing to do when he is with his friends is hide from my camera.  We're going to have to have a talk about that.

Brazos had a fun time too.  Especially once he figured out his drum had a handle and he could drag it around.  

choices

May 2012- Choices.  We make hundreds of them all day long.  Most are insignificant like what to wear or what to eat.  But others are more complicated.  And for those choices, when we say yes to someone or something we are saying no to someone or something else.

At this time of the year, like everyone else, we have so many things going on- milestone events for our family.  And our loved ones can't make it to all of them.  I'm not mad about it, and trying not to be disappointed; just making the best of it so the kids don't notice.  I guess I'm trying to accept in my heart what is confusing in my mind.

That is all.

mini-golf {sort of}

May 2012- Pecos has been doing really well in school.  He recently made Student of the Week for the 3rd time this year so we took him for an evening of mini-golf- his favorite thing to do!

This is mini-golfing: 

This is mini-golfing with Brazos:

Any questions?

awards day!

May 18, 2012- Pecos received his award for the Six Hour Reading Club at Harper Elementary Awards Day.  A ticket to Six Flags comes with it so we'll find a day this summer when it is scorching hot to go.  We are so proud of his work this year in Kindergarten!

proof

May 2012- Here it is.  Proof that Brazos needs no more toys.  His room has gotten a little out of control the past couple of months and I just haven't had the energy or focus to tackle it.  But with his birthday fast approaching I knew something had to be done soon.  So we spent a rainy day sorting through the mess and organizing everything.

Brazos LOVES tractors, trucks and trailers.  Basically anything that has wheels or makes noise.  But he has so many they don't all fit in the bin.  And I'm  not getting a bigger bin!

We put away the baby toys, which he was never into very much anyway.  Anything that didn't fit in the toy box or on these shelves had to go.  I don't know how we've accumulated so much.  I think they multiply in there at night.  

Here's the shelf-by-shelf breakdown of where everything ended up.

mom enough to dismiss TIME

May 13, 2012- Mom Enough?  What?  Are you kidding me?  That was my reaction when I read the headline to the controversial TIME magazine cover.  Even someone like me who is too busy being a mom (the sheltering type who shields her offspring from continuous footage of wars, murders and the like) to turn on the national news has heard about and seen the cover.  You know, the one with the blonde haired mom in skinny jeans breastfeeding her nearly 4-year old son who happens to be standing on a chair to reach her mammary organs.  


I was so disgusted by the title I didn't even read the article.  Yes, I get it, TIME is known for shocking and controversial photos on the cover of their magazines.  I can't help but think they are dealing with this one as "any publicity is good publicity".  As the mother of two young boys that push the limits on a regular basis, I've learned to let some things just roll off my back- figuratively and literally.  But not this.  This is not publicity.  This is my life.  And not only are you so far out of touch with it, you have just crossed the line into it.

Since when does breast-feeding define one's worth as a mother?  I breast fed my kids night and day until it hurt.  I had blisters to prove it.  It was not the blissful experience that successful breast feeders may lead you to believe.  It was not easy and I did it as long as I could manage to remain a stable person.  I got help and I tried my hardest.  It was the absolute hardest thing I've ever attempted, but I wasn't able to make it more than a few months.  During that time I became someone I didn't even know or recognize.  My babies needed more from me, and I'm not just talking about milk.  So does that make me less of a mother than someone who was able to do it longer?  Your answer had better be no.


I've received advice about mothering and parenting from the moment I became pregnant.  From other moms, grandparents, friends, doctors, neighbors- basically everyone.  There is an entire army of marketing professionals that target people like me.  They spend billions of dollars to figure out what they think I need to hear and then bombard me with it.  


But let's get something straight.  I have a purpose.  A job.  A mission to raise my boys to be kind, caring, polite, considerate, mannerly and a whole host of other things.  And when you dare to question my methods I will attack you like a beast.  My boys will be men someday.  Someone's husband and someone's son-in-law.  And I want the best of my boys to shine through above all else.  They will not be flawless but they will darn sure have gone through the fire to be good men.  


I may not make the perfect decisions on mothering, parenting, disciplining, feeding, or any number of other things related to child rearing.  But I can assure you, without hesitation, every single decision is what makes sense for my family and our situation at the given time.  It is not selfish and it has nothing to do with what any doctor or journalist or nosy bystander cares to recommend to me.  I think I'm smart enough to hear and read endless amounts of advice and still discern what will work and make sense for us.  I don't proclaim my ways to be the best or the only way.  But I surround myself with mom-friends who have similar values.  They are my support system and my reassurance that even when the little things don't seem to go right, there is a bigger picture.  I don't question their parenting, nor do I engage in this sort of "mom-enough" mentality that would insinuate a judgement or war between mothering styles.  


So remember this, TIME magazine:  You've been around a long time.  But mother's have been around even longer.  I don't need your magazine with its reputation and award winning journalists to get my news or debate an issue for me.  I don't care if you try to win me back with your special issues covering Royal weddings.  I will not give in.  I have choices.  I have the internet for goodness sake.  My generation of mothers and those that follow behind me are surely smart enough to pass over the out-dated format of your magazine.   I am influencing the next generation every waking minute of the day.  And the ones in this home will learn that TIME is poison.  


Now, if you'll excuse me, it is Mother's Day and my kids and husband will spend this day loving me and appreciating all I do for them, reassuring me that I am absolutely MOM ENOUGH!

gully washer

May 10, 2012- 

Gully Washer: a torrential rain that causes ditches to overflow creating flash floods in creeks, rivers and roadways.  

We haven't had one like this since 2007.  At least that's what we can remember.  The road on our property washed out 3 times that year.  We reinforced it as best we could but have not had this big of a flash flood to test it since then.  The downpour came after a few days of nice slower soaking rain.  Then it just opened up.  Casey says we got more rain in 3 days than we did all of last year.  On this day it was over 5 inches.  I think the total according to his weather station was 7.5 inches.  But the rain was coming so hard and fast for so long Casey is not sure it could accurately keep up.  

After the rain subsided we could hear the rushing of water down in the creek.  I'm not sure how many thousand acres drain into this creek before it gets to us but any time we get this much rain we know we may be stranded.  

Casey checked and the water was up about 3 feet over the road.  After supper he loaded us up to check again to see if we'd be able to get across in the morning.  

This is what we had a few hours after the rain ended.  This is only about a foot over the road.  

This is the same view, just a little to the left where the water was flowing over the road, eroding away on the other side and back into the creek.  We have two fairly large culverts running under the road but there was so much water it was flowing through those and up and over the road.  The water gap in the creek dividing our property from the neighbors washed out.

Casey testing out the road to see what was left.

This view is standing in the roadway looking back into the creek and the direction from which all the water was flowing.  I assure you the water was not this calm when the bulk of it first came our way.

 Widow Maker was drenched.  Nice and slick.  She needed a bath anyway.

She looked so ragged and was ready for the rain to stop.

Even with all of that we are so thankful the Lord has blessed us with this much rain.  After the drought for the last few years, especially last year we'll take all we can get.  

appreciating our teachers

May 2012- For teacher appreciation week we made lots of simple goodies to give Pecos' kindergarten teacher.  All ideas are courtesy of the multi-talented people on Pinterest and their willingness to share.  I love a good play on words, even if slightly corny, so Pinterest is like a dream come true.  Most of my ideas came from this blog that I have recently discovered and love.  It has so many ideas and best of all, FREE downloads of most all of the tags.  I altered some of them to fit what I needed and voila- a full week of appreciating Mrs. Sanders.  

Day 1

Drink cups with tea mix for his teacher and lemonade for the teacher's aide.

With these cute tags that I borrowed on a free download from a blogger.  Aren't they cute?!

Day 2
Binder Clips and this note, cut with a 2-inch circle punch.  I used the tag from Day 3 (see below), just changed it up a bit.  The idea was on multiple blog posts and Pinterest boards.

Day 3
Extra gum for an "Extra" special teacher, with this tag cut with a 2-inch circle punch.

 Day 4
Bright colored dry erase markers with this note, cut with a 2-inch circle punch.  I had originally planned to do this one with a pack of highlighters, but when I saw these neon markers I just couldn't resist.

Day 5
Swedish Fish candies with this note, cut with- you guessed it- a 2-inch circle punch.  Punches are my new favorite thing.  The tag is the same I used for Day 4, just a few quick changes in Photoshop.  This idea is all over Pinterest, too.  If you'd like to do it with Goldfish crackers, here's a free cute download to use.

this gift looks way cuter in a clear pillow box, but all i had was the frosted

In addition to the gifts we did for Pecos' teacher, I also helped the PTO with a few ideas.  One of my favorites was this one.  I've seen it several times on Pinterest, but found the tag here and modified it a bit so it didn't just say teacher, since our PTO was giving something to ALL of the staff at Harper ISD.  That's 100 of each item for each day this week!  

After printing I used a 2-inch circle punch on these and attached with a glue dot to the top of an A&W Root Beer can.    Cute, right?

here's all 100 of them!

Here's our other days of PTO thanks:

Can you tell how much we LOVE our teachers and APPRECIATE all they do?