Ragamuffins

This weekend Tony and his brother traveled to Houston to see their parents- a long overdue visit- and I got to spend some time with the kiddos, just the three of us and Abby. 

Friday night we went to dinner with friends and Tony left Saturday morning as the kids were getting up, he was gone a little over a day and was home by the end of nap time on Sunday. The trip worked out great because his Mom got to have her boys back around her kitchen table (just missing their big sister), and Tony got to see the kids and spend time with them as well.

With Tony gone, Harper, Jack, and I were little home bodies. We did manage to all get dressed and do some grocery shopping, and we did go for a walk/run, but aside from that, we made the most of our weekend snuggled into together playing, reading, dancing, and eating- I even made pancakes on Sunday morning and the kids fed themselves yogurt. The kids were little ragamuffins all weekend and I loved it. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend- enjoy!

Our Last Week of Summer

I knew this day would come, but I haven't even begun to mentally prepare for it- tomorrow I start back to school. Summer seemed to sneak up and then dash off before I could feel fully rested, renewed, and ready to go back to work. But, the time comes whether I am ready or not, so I spent this week trying to savor little moments with the kids, and remember that it will be another 10 months before I get to enjoy this again.

With that being said...here's how we spent our last week of summer:

Funny Hat Day:

We found these hats from Aunt Becky while we were cleaning out the closet and getting "fall clothes" out.


Funny Sock Day:

 Harper and Jack emptied the sock drawer and she insisted on wearing some of the treasures they found- she had two socks on each foot and one on each hand- silly girl!


Eating:

1. Mexican Food

Jack LOVED rice and beans; Tony and I were pleasantly surprised by how much they ate.

2. Sloppy Joe's

My mother and mother-in-law would be proud to know that I cooked 3 meals at home this week (really cooked, too- no sandwiches or microwave meals) one of the meals I cooked was Sloppy Joe's from scratch. Harper LOVED this dinner and was covered in food. She had two helpings and the kids went straight to the tub afterward- they also left their first "ring around the tub" after that bath.

3. Hibachi Dinner

We went to dinner at a Hibachi restaurant tonight and Jack was very excited. We told him that the chef would be at our table and he could watch them make our dinner. He kept saying "cook" "cook" and immediately took note of their chef's hats- he was impressed. Harper handled the fire aspect of the Hibachi pretty well, but Jack was scared of the big flame and cried a little bit. After the initial fire went up and calmed down, so did Jack and dinner was fun- we'll have to go back.

Walking:

We took a few walks this week; I will miss walking with these guys in the mornings. The new BOB has been treating us right and we've been putting the miles on it. The kids even like to use the stroller as a jungle gym when it's in the house...FYI, we officially have "climbers" who have learned to roll their little sit-on Jeeps up to climb into the stroller.


We finished out our week with a trip to see Tony at his office. We surprised him, and the kids were so excited to see him that they squealed and yelled "Daddy" when we got into his office. I told Tony that the kids and I walked in from the parking lot together and rode the elevator, the three of us holding hands and them walking on their own the whole way to his office. Tony said that they're getting so big, so fast, and I know that he's right.

Here's how the kids were positioned when Tony came home from work earlier this week. Harper and Jack were playing in the living room and heard the garage door go up. They both dropped everything and ran to the door; Harper grabbed a Highlights magazine on her way to the door and insisted that Tony read it the moment he walked in. I know that he's looking forward to many more homecomings like this one.

Finally, here are some random pictures of us playing this week because that really seems to be where the meat and potatoes of life take place: in those random, everyday moments.

As much as I'm not ready to return to work tomorrow, I know that working helps me to be a better mom- I am more focused and attentive with Harper and Jack, and I appreciate the time I do get to spend with them so much more. So, it's off to work I go tomorrow with these two little ones close to my heart.

Oklahoma!

This week my mom, the kids, and I made our annual trip to Oklahoma. It's about a 4 hour drive and the kids did great on the way up. Harper slept the first hour and 1/2, then we stopped for lunch, and Jack slept the next hour and 1/2. Both kids were done with car riding when we had 30 minutes left in our journey, but some snacks helped make the last bit of our drive bearable.

We walked into Grandpa and Mama Reba's house, and the kids made themselves right at home. They were a little leery about this new place, but that didn't stop them from exploring and finding out what cool things they could play with.

Harper took an immediate liking to a wooden rocking horse that belonged to my cousin, Cody. This horse is at least 32 years old, and I used to ride on this thing many moons ago. It took Jack a little longer to build the confidence to try the horse, but as you can see, it was a hit with both of them.

Jack also had a great time running from the front door to the living room. He convinced Harper to run with him and the two of them went back and forth squealing and laughing and wearing each other out.

While we were in Oklahoma we helped Uncle Andy celebrate his birthday and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins Bronc, Clancey, and Blaze. The boys were so sweet to the little ones and Harper and Jack followed the "big boys" around watching everything they did.

We also got the opportunity to spend time with my aunt and uncle and cousin who live in Minnesota and came south for a visit. Tucker, Becky, and Aubrey had never met the twins, so it was nice for them to be able to see the kids in person. They arrived on the last night we were in Oklahoma, and by that time, the kids were used to "new people" coming in and out, so they didn't act quite as timid as they normally do. In fact, Harper, the girl who is notoriously shy around strangers, opened her arms wide upon first meeting Aunt Becky and she hardly left Becky's lap until we headed home the next day. I joked that Harper and Becky are kindred souls. My mom and I couldn't help but laugh; that is the only time we've ever seen Harper so eager to meet someone new.

Aside from spending time with family, Mom and I also took the kids for walks and explored downtown; Harper even got a new pair of tennis shoes from our trip!

While we were out on our walks, the kids found some pinecones- as you can tell, they were excited to figure out what these things were (we don't see many pinecones in north Texas).

We also played in Grandpa and Mama Reba's backyard. Harper's favorite activity was climbing the back steps- she spent 10 minutes going up and down saying "up, up, up" while she climbed and then clapping when she got to the top.

Jack liked the cement pig in flowerbed; his favorite activity was picking up rocks on one side of the porch and then carrying the pebbles over and putting them on the pig. I think Jack made seven or eight trips back and forth "decorating" the pig.

We also made a couple of stops at places of significance to our family. The first stop was the Cherokee Nation headquarters to update some information. The kids liked the art work and interacting with all the people we saw. We also walked around campus at NSU and stopped to take our picture by the statue of Sequoyah. NSU is the alma mater of many of my family members, and I have been visiting campus during the summer for 25 plus years and the campus is beautiful.

Our time in Oklahoma wasn't all spent on the go, we did make time to sit and talk and relax. One of Harper and Jack's favorite things to do is read a book, and we read lots of books. We also managed to take naps- Harper and Jack were very interested in Grandpa when he was trying to take a nap. The kids also had fun watching old western movies with Grandpa.

The only "mishaps" we had were small things. Jack managed to break a knick-knack and a glass about an hour before we were set to leave, and as we were saying our final goodbyes, Jack stuck his finger a little too far into his mouth, gagged himself, and had to change shirts. I was frustrated in the moment, but now I'm glad it happened before we got in the car and on the road. Aside from those last minute hiccups, the trip went great.

I feel so blessed that we had the opportunity to see our family and that we had a safe trip. Now, however, it's back to reality and back to work for me this week. I don't know where the summer went, but to cheer myself up, and to add a "throwback" aspect to this post- check out what Harper and Jack looked like when we traveled to Oklahoma last year.