Great Wolf Lodge

Jessica wanted to try this on her own. I was pretty impressed! For the relatively FEW times we've been able to go swimming this year, Jessica has really improved in her swimming abilities. She went on ALL of the water slides. She took me on the "Red" one that was in my opinion kind of scary, but she said it was merely, "exciting". What a brave little girl. She definitely gets that from her daddy. Lily and I are a bit more cautious about such things.

This past weekend we took a quick trip to Grapevine, TX to enjoy the Great Wolf Lodge. It had tons of attractions for the kids to enjoy. We spent two days in the indoor water park, ate great food (their breakfast buffet had EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine for breakfast for kids and adults including a pancake bar made to order), watched an animatronic story in the lobby before bedtime, watched a movie on the flat screen TV, slept on the most comfortable bed I've had in a hotel in a LONG time, and the girls played in the cub club while I visited the spa for a much needed massage! It was a fabulous gettaway for our little family and wonderful early birthday present to me. (We originally reserved this trip over my birthday weekend, but Jhonny's days off were changed and so we moved the reservation up.) Thanks, honey.
We also enjoyed playing Saturday night and Sunday with our friends that we haven't seen in a year. What an exhausting fun trip!
Jeffrey and JessicaDawsonGavin chasing BrooklynDylan and Lily

When Jess got home from school today she and Lily both crashed for several hours. We must have worn them out!

Babysitter

"Look, Mom, I'm the babysitter!"

Doin Dishes

Last week I decided it was high time my girls learned to do the dishes. I have memories of my brother and I standing at the sink - one of us washing and the other rinsing. We weren't ever real excited about doing those dishes or at least I wasn't, but I learned nonetheless.
On the contrary, my girls were SOOO excited at the prospect of this fascinating chore involving bubbles. (My dishwasher is broken.)

It started when Jess said, "This is a wet job," and took off her shirt to avoid getting it more soaked. Lily not wanting to be outdone, followed suit. Pretty soon this led to a strip race until Lily was naked. They finished the dishes and I dumped both of them in the tub for their bath.

sacrifice, a baby shower, and other warm fuzzies

Friday I spent my day in the car. . . It started with a trip to pick up frozen berries for myself and a few others in my branch. I needed to go to the walmart out there to find a gift for this baby shower that we didn't have in our local wanna-be super walmart. . .so I drew the short stick as it were to pick up the lot. . . I enjoyed my rather lengthy wait in line talking to a sister about life as a young mom and kid adventures. . . we laughed and the time seemed short as we pushed her young ones forward. . .mine were buckled up in the running van watching a DVD. She being braver than I. . .

Then on to find the Walmart with the high chair. . .when I walk through a real super walmart, I'm amazed at the selections, the grandiosity of it all. . .reminding myself of the things once taken for granted. . .we found what we were looking for and stopped at the McD's for lunch.

Back home again to make it back for carpool. Oh but first a quick trip to Jessica's school to drop off money that failed to make it into the backpack for needed and wanted items due that day.

Then to meet up with friends to exchange berries before heading out to pick up the carpool. . .one less child to pick up due to strep throat and I worry that my kids might pick it up. They've been a little sick - just congestion, no fever yet - I'm waiting (Lily finally registered fever this afternoon (Sunday) - doctor tomorrow?? more road trips)

Not long to rest for we needed to go to College Station to pick up pictures taken two weeks prior. They were cute - got more than planned.

Then off to Gattitown for dinner. Wish I had been more hungry. Don't know why I wasn't. Home again to fall into bed exhausted.

~~~

Saturday I prepared for the baby shower. This for a friend from Jhonny's work who is here from Columbia with her Venezuelan husband and having her first child, a boy. I've been planning for weeks and I really hoped some people would show up. Fortunately I knew that at least 4 of us would come since we were all assigned a part to put it together. We ended up with 10 ladies total not including the kids (mine) and my husband to hang out with the new dad to be while we ladies did our thing.

Tatiana got some great gifts and everyone was happy to finally MEET each other. Most of us have husbands who work with eachother, and we hear names, but rarely meet face to face. It was good to know of the others who endure the same long hours of missing husbands and other trials. . . It was good and I appreciated those who accepted the invititation to support Tatiana.

Afterwards, Tatiana's husband thanked me like only a Venezuelan can and I felt goose bumps. It was better than a thank you card - really. I wasn't thinking of myself at all through all this, but I guess I did plan it and though I didn't do all the work, I suppose it wouldn't have happened otherwise. He pointed that fact out to me which took me somewhat by surprise.

Perhaps because being a member of the Relief Society, I've taken this sort of thing for granted. Baby Showers, Meals, Service. . . It's like expected. . . The appreciation expressed was one of surprise and sincere gratitude that someone - practically a stranger would do this for them. This all caught me off guard and so when I said the pleasure was ALL MINE. . . I meant it.

~~~

This morning in church, we had one speaker. Rather than preparing his talk yesterday, He was in Lake Jackson wearing a yellow Mormon Helping Hands T-shirt to help clean up debris from Ike's aftermath. Regardless, his words were inspired. He spoke of our Savior and the atonement. He related experiences of how the atonement was applied in the lives of people he has known. He spoke of insights received in Temple service. His words seemed unrelated at times, but I knew better. Being led by the Spirit, he seemed to address one by one issues being dealt with by members of our tiny branch. Perhaps we were being blessed because of his rendered service . . .

I felt like the Spirit was truly teaching us - like we were in the presence of . . . I felt like I was sitting in the temple learning at the feet of the Savior. I pondered my own trials and wondered how the atonement could apply to me. As if on cue, the speaker addressed that issue and I found a little hope or at least a renewed knowledge of how well the Lord knows me and that he indeed knows how to succor my needs. He knows. Others may think they know, but only the Savior REALLY knows my heart. Even now. . .I've felt Him close today. I didn't realize I had been missing Him so much.

Then we just continued to be fed in Primary. C.G. gave his talk on prayer which was eloquent as usual. I'm not sure if it's his ability to deliver or his mother's ability to write, but his talks are always sooo good. I love listening to him read with that little country boy twang that reminds me of a Southern preacher. Sister Husher delivered her lesson on prayer and how Heavenly Father knows us by name. Even though she may not have felt like the message was being received due to some distractions and wiggles, it was a great lesson and I felt it. I love the simplicity of the gospel and the scriptures we read where the Lord called his servants by name. . .

So this afternoon, I've held my children a little closer. I lingered a little longer at my son's crib . . . I held my two year old a little longer. . . I hugged my six year old and told her I loved her. . . I kissed my husband goodbye as he rushed off to prepare for another job tomorrow. . . I'm blessed.

~~~

My husband just called to tell me his truck broke down and he's been waiting for a tow truck. All will be well, but it's certainly not convenient and my heart beat a little faster when he told me he was waiting for a tow - accident? Are you all right? No accident - just truck trouble.

Jess came to ask me if dad was alright. I said he would be. "Thank goodness for prayer," she said. See? Someone was listening in primary today. . .

I finished sewing the romper and should now be back in focus for mothering. . .

I was a little worried that this little thing would be too small - but so far so good. It only needs to fit for another couple of weeks.
We're blessing Gavin in the Copperfield Ward on Oct 12 in conjunction with Jake's mission homecoming talk. Sacrament Meeting is at 8am I think.

Motherhood 101

That's right folks, I've made it to 101 posts on my little family. So I thought I'd post 11 things I've learned in my courses of motherhood thus far:

1. There is room in my heart for all my children; this is easier felt in theory than demonstrated in practice.

2. Saying "No" to your kids is not the worse thing you can do.

3. Passifiers are easier to get rid of than thumbs, although not quite as accessible.

4. Toys are meant to be played with; so there's no sense in picking them up until the end of the day.

5. It's important to take time for myself even if it means I don't get that relaxing soak in the tub until 11pm.

6. Potty training is seriously funny business.

7. Time out IS punishment enough and will work if instigated properly.

8. Coloring is good for dexterity.

9. Motherhood changes perspectives on things once dreaded and now cherished. (i.e. PBS, Nursery, Naps. . .)

10. _______ has already happened and is guaranteed to happen again whether you laugh or yell; so you might as well apply a sense of humor.

11. Praying and Reading scriptures daily helps keep the grumpies away.

End of the day

Mandy responded and they are out of power, but they have a generator so all is okay. I heard Jason was out helping neighbors clean up today. Mom is hanging around until the power comes back on in Houston. We'll see how long that takes.
Mom distracted my kids today so I could get half of Gavin's blessing romper finished today. This is a project that I've been sitting on for over a month. I'm quickly running out of time to get it done, so I'm really happy she came and filled in a little.
The best news I can report is that Jhonny finished the plumbing problem!! The washing machine is back in business! He worked pretty hard, but was able to find and dig out the old pipe, pull it out, roter root out the mess, and replace the old pipe while inserting a clean out that didn't exist previously. Yeah! It looks great and I'm even more impressed with his home improvement skills than I was before. Is there anything this guy can't fix? Given a little time and materials, he really can do it all. Thanks honey!

Ike yikes!

The winds are gusty here in Rockdale, but it looks like this is the place to be if you're in Texas this weekend. Here's the lowdown on our week since things really became a concern.

Thursday: 3:17pm - Rumor of no school on Friday. How obsurd for Rockdale. Cars already pulling through town evacuating from Houston and the coastline.
4:30 A call to the school confirms that Rockdale WILL have school on Friday.
4:35 Leaving for Dance lessons in Temple - gas lines are piling up and campers are passing by. Mom says she's going to stick it out in Houston since the Mayor encouraged inlanders to hunker down and let the coast get out. Dad is asked to forget that emergency relief isn't his job anymore and will consequently be working at the storehouse through the storm. I tell Mom to just come anyway, but she's trying to be brave. Dad had promised to try and come home for the night of the storm so Mom won't be alone.
5:50 Jessica loves her dance class and does great. We were late because we were following an RV going really slow!
6:30 Lily sooo excited for her first class. The teacher suggested we do a mom and me class first. I was willing, but 2 minutes into the class, Lily doesn't need Mommy anymore and has adopted her teacher to take my place. I'm the only Mom with no kid in the class. Okay not really true - Gavin was in his car seat needing me more than Lily and Jessica, who was supposed to be helping me with Gavin, was enjoying the class next to Lily and the teacher. I'm abandoned by my children in the Mom and Me class!
7:30 finally driving home. There is a steady stream of cars heading north.
8:30 Dad calls to inform us that after his bridge call they decided to send Mom to our house because they are expecting Tropical Wind storms Friday morning and Dad doesn't think he'll make it home Friday night.
11:15pm Mom makes it to our house with slow downs on 290 in a couple of places.
11:20pm Dad calls to make sure Mom made it okay. He's staying in the Bishop's Storehouse for the storm and to work the the emergency relief protocal.

Friday
2:00am Gavin wakes me up
4:00am Gavin wakes me up
6:30am Gavin wakes me up and I wake up Jessica for school
7:30 Jessica leaves for school and Katelyn arrives to play with Lily
All day Friday we watch the news to see the progress of the Hurricane. Everyone is happy that Mom made it here.
9:00am Jhonny begins working on the clean out for our sewer line that was clogged up. He pulls out tons of roots and junk from the pipes and ends up digging up two broken pipes to be replaced. I can't do dishes now because the pipe is missing. It's to be replaced hopefully on Saturday.
10:00am We go to Walmart to stock up on food. The parking lot is full of people who have evacuated. Rumors are that there is no more gas. There is still gas, just more expensive.
5:00pm we head to College Station to return the roter rooter (sp?) to Home Depot. Everyone is buying up plywood. We're wondering why they're so worried here in College Station.
6:30pm We get into Gattitown for dinner and enjoy the food and fun.
9:00pm Home and getting ready for bed. Gavin shows signs of a little runny nose. I know I'm going to have a long night.
1:00am Gavin wakes me up
2:00am Gavin wakes me up
3:00am Gavin wakes me up
6:00am Gavin wakes me up
7:00am Gavin wakes me up
7:45am Lily wakes me up and I stay up.
8:00am We finally see signs of some wind in our area. News reports lots of flooding, power loss, and winds in Galveston, Louisiana, and Houston. We can't call Mandy. I'm guessing her phone line is down and probably out of power. Hope she's okay. Not wanting to call Dad because he's probably busy. If you read this call us if you can and let us know you're okay.
9:30am Dad calls to update us. He's on generators at the storehouse since 3:30am. The water tower is out of power. There's no water pressure. Dad got soaked when he went out in the rain to turn on the generator. Trees are down and/or stripped of leaves. There's flooding and no power in Houston. Dad's glad he boarded up the windows at the house. Shingles are off of the older homes. There's a lot of wind, but the Hurricane is over Hunstville by now. The trees were over flat in the wind. Dad says it's the worst storm he's been through. Copperfield Bishop emails dad to let him know they had some roof damage and minor leakage. Dad will try to call Mandy.
9:45am Jhonny goes back to work on the sewer line.

Missing Jhonny

Jhonny is gone again. I saw him briefly last night when he popped in and left again for a job 2 hours later. It's tough being a field engineer's wife. If he's home too much - that's not good for our finances. If he's gone too much, you miss him a lot. I'm getting used to it, but he's been gone a lot lately. He's worked more of his days off than not for the past month. This was to be his 4 day weekend off, BUT the schedule was changed and so he doesn't get a day off now until NEXT Friday.
That will make 37 days with no days off. Meanwhile - I still feel like I'm camping out with a broken dishwasher and a clogged pipe that makes laundry difficult. I've been making do by standing over the machine and holding the drain tube out the door as to avoid more floods in my laundry room. These are the things he's been promising to fix since July 31st. We're well into September now. But how can I drag him out of bed when he is home? Especially when he's working round the clock with 2-3 hours of sleep between jobs?
On a brighter note, I got a job! A perfect job. I'm watching a 3 year old girl three mornings a week for 2 hours each. It's a win-win all around. The money is just right for my purpose for it, Lily gets a playmate, I don't have to leave the house or get a sitter for my kids and I still have a lot of freedom with my time. Best of all it doesn't conflict with my drive to dance lessons - the need for the job in the first place. So it couldn't have worked out better.
I also got an invitation out of the deal to go to MOPS once a week where I get to drop off my kids in the nursery for a couple of hours and play with some other moms in town. I'm all for it! I've been trying to figure out how to make friends in this community for over a year now. It would be great if we had a ward that had lots of moms around wanting to get together - but our little branch doesn't lend itself to midweek activities very well with the price of gas and the geographical area we cover. So I'm excited to see how this goes. . .
One last mile stone to report - Gavin slept in his own room last night for the first time. I was a little anxious about how it would be for him, but he was great. He slept until 2:45am before waking me up for a feeding and then slept again until my alarm went off at 6:45am. Woohoo!

Save you money!

I was on the phone yesterday doing research when Lily asked me what I was doing.
"Saving money," I replied.
"Can I save money with you?" She asked.
"Certainly!" I said. "It goes like this. Clap your hands and shout 'Woohoo!'"
"Woohoo!" she shouted.
After calling my services that were negotiable, I was able to cut our bills down $46 a month. Woohoo! Here's how:
I don't need my landline now that we have a magic jack - I just need the internet. Att said that I don't need a landline any longer to just have the internet - I was able to upgrade our internet service, get a $50 rebate AND still save $17 a month! Consequently our landline phone number will be disconnected next wednesday.
I cut down my cell phone minutes - $20
I tried to cancel my ADT, but we still have a 2 year contract. However the lady said she could knock $10 off of my rate - ? It didn't change any of our services either. How? Don't know, but I'll take it!
Woohoo!

My Sweet Jessie

I'm not sure if Jessica is happy to be in school this past week or not. The first day she was excited to see her friends. So excited in fact that apparently her teacher had to get on her more than once to pay attention and stop talking to them. Being in trouble upset her and it affected her attitude at home. When I put her in time out - something I rarely have to do with her anymore, she told me I didn't understand because her teacher yelled at her that day. I listened and commiserated and we discussed the matter.
Things got better as the week progressed. On Friday she announced that the teacher told her she could sit in the back since she was being so good. I'm not sure this is a great idea, but she took the compliment with pleasure. I hope this teacher learns that flattery will get her everywhere with Jessica.
We got the "site words" for the first test in a couple of weeks. Jessica read them over in ten seconds and tossed the paper aside. I really hope she gets something a bit more challenging soon. She doesn't seem to mind as much as I do that it's too easy for her.
This little girl of mine isn't so little any more. At moments I reflect on how much she has matured over the past year or so. She's lost the "cute" factor. When she's not pulling an attitude with me, she's sweet and pretty. She leaves me notes on my pillow, writes in her journal, reads her own bedtime stories, and tries to do her chores without being told. She's getting ready to lose a third tooth and has more permanent teeth growing in. Saturday, I let her help me make some pans of Lasagna. She mixed the cheeses and helped me with the layers. She's my nose when I'm in doubt and my second set of hands when the baby won't wait for me to finish the dishes or make dinner.
She's growing up. Before I know it, she'll be a teenager and asking me to drive the car. When I was six, the world was slower. Summer lasted forever and an hour was a long time. Now it's a blink of an eye. I wonder if it's the same for her or if time seems to stand still as it did for me?
When I look at her, I see her whole life ahead of her with so many choices and opportunities. My hope for her is to enjoy every minute and to embrace all that life has to offer. I hope she will learn to choose wisely from the buffet of life.

I love you too, Lily Lou

• This tiny tot only looks like she's 1. Her vocabulary gives everyone reason to pause and puzzle over just how old this girl is. She's "smart as a whip" as my mother put it today
• This past week as we were getting the house ready for Grandma and Grandpa's visit I requested her help to pick up her toys. Lily decided it was less painful to just sit in time out and gathered her things to beat me to the time out stool rather than help clean up. After thinking it over, she ended up in an extra long time out. I figured it would work better if she were given the minutes of her intellectual age.
• On parentcenter.com I was reading that her grammar at this age may not make sense. Okay here is a clue that she is truly advanced. Her grammar is nearly perfect. She speaks very well and it doesn't take much to repeat whatever word you say to her. When she doesn't express herself so fluently, it tends to be on purpose like last night when she climbed into Gavin's carrier and said, "Gaga, goo goo. I'm the baby Mom!"
• Lily loves to sing. Her signature hymn is "I am a Child of God" to which she almost knows all the words. While visiting my parents' ward, the nursery leader marveled over the fact that Lily sang during singing time. The other kids looked at her amazed that she was singing because it hadn't occured to any of them that they should do this too. After receiving encouragement and permission, the rest of the class also joined in. Yesterday, during sacrament meeting she declared that she would also sing and did a fair job following Sister Husher in "More Holiness Give Me."
• On a not so Holy note, she rearranged the words to a popular tune mixing up the original lyrics and some that I made up to help along her potty training. My lyrics: "Tinkle, tinkle, little pee, come on out from inside of me." Her lyrics: "Tinkle, tinkle little star, come on out from inside my butt." I have to give her kudos on understanding the idea although I was trying to be less vulgar about it.
• Last night over dessert, we were talking about who would take care of us when we're too old to take care of ourselves. When I asked my girls who would take care of me they both said, "Me!" But then Lily rethought her answer and said, "Jessica!"
• Lily loves her thumb, but sometimes she is willing to work on not sucking it. A few tricks of mine that only work temporarily - lip gloss, and nail polish that speak to her vanity, and Dora. The show suddenly pauses when she sucks her thumb (thanks to TIVO). Of course I have to watch her the whole time for this to work. It's almost torture for her to sit comfortably and concentrate so hard on NOT putting it back in her mouth.
• Lily is independent. She ignores threats and demands things on her own terms. She has come to believe that saying "sorry" abolishes her from responsibility of any wrong doing past, present and future. Now if it weren't for the fact that she is so darn cute, we'd probably be wringing her neck. But she flashes us that cute grin of hers and says something completely distracting that makes you want to laugh or melt rather than yell as she bats those beautiful dark lashes over her chocolatey brown eyes.
• One of my favorites: "Mom, I love you. I want to give you hugs and kisses."

Gummy Gavin

Gavin, gavin, gavin. This little boy is certainly stealing my heart. He's starting to talk and coo at me. The way he looks at me, I can tell he loves his mama. Yesterday in church we were listening to a really great talk that was probably a bit on the serious side when he started his smiling almost giggle over my shoulder. The sister behind me was just as distracted as I was by his bright gummy grin and dimples. What a cutie pie!

Labor Day

We had planned a trip to Houston for Labor day, but my parents decided to come here instead just in case Gustav decided to get nasty. I hope they had fun. The girls didn't want them to leave. We went to the park and then did some window shopping at IKEA. It was packed and even though we saw things we might want, the lines discouraged us from actually purchasing anything but lunch. Jhonny had to work today and so he missed out. Tomorrow it's back to school.