To Blog or Not to Blog...

I have been awful lately. I have not written, nor really wanted to write. Well, I have wanted to write, but I just don't have anything to say. Well, I have plenty to say, but there's only so much I can say. There's so much stored up in this heart of mine, but it's not "out loud" kind of stuff. And I need to post some pics of these kids of mine, but I haven't taken a lot lately. I kind of feel like I'm in some strange la-la land lately and am on auto-pilot. I am busy or tired or zoned out on Facebook (an addiction I really need to overcome).

But there are 4 days left of summer school. Then I am reclaiming my break, my time and my mind. I will write more. Maybe even tomorrow, after T and I go on our marathon garage-sale/flea-market spree. See, my next project is turning his room into a more big-boy sort of space. We are in need of bigger-boy stuff.

So if anybody even still reads this, stay tuned. I will be back to boring you soon. :)

To my Mama on Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

I love you. First and foremost, I love you so very much. There aren’t words to describe how grateful I am to you, in so many ways and for so many reasons.

Thank you for being an incredible example of a mother; you have taught me more through the way you live than you’ll ever know. You have been such a picture of Jesus for me – thank you for your servant’s heart and your quiet passion for Christ. Thank you for raising me in the faith – for teaching me the path to righteousness. Thank you for showing me a mother’s unconditional love. Over the years, you have demonstrated the boundless patience, mercy and wisdom that I hope to show my own kids. Your selflessness is an inspiration and an encouragement to me; I know I would not be the mother I am without your tireless example. I would not be the woman I am. Thank you for your patience with me all along the way.

Thank you for loving my kids. I can’t describe how blessed I feel to be able to hand my little man over to you every day. I know I don’t say enough how truly appreciative I am, but I want you to know how invaluable it is to me to know Tater is learning and growing with you. Thank you for your well-stocked pantry that both my darlings raid daily. Thank you for loving Samm as much as you do. One of the things I love about you is your huge heart; in that heart there is truly no difference between biological and step-grandchildren – they are all yours and that’s all that matters.

Having you for a mother has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. I am so glad to be able to call you my mother and my friend. I am so grateful God decided to give me to you; but truly, you are God’s gift to me. And I am so indebted to you for the life you have poured into me. Thank you will never be enough.

I love you Mama.
Jenni

Capitol 10k

Yes, I know it is hard to believe, but I did actually go through with running the Capitol 10k in Austin March 29th. Well, "running" is not the word I should use, though I did do a little of that. I finished the race, and truthfully, that was all that really mattered to me.

I started semi-training back in September, when my uber-inspirational friend Jenny invited everybody to run the race (a very special race to her) alongside her. Then Samm got here, and I let that be an excuse to quit, though I didn't really need an excuse. See, I don't really like running. In fact, my mantra there at the beginning went something like, "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this..." And so, I quit and returned to my previous slug status.

Then Sara asked me if I was still doing it. And my answer was very vague, but she pressed and I caved. So I started semi-training again. But not really. Dedication to something I have little interest in just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But going to Austin meant hanging with my Fri for the first time in forever, so I was definitely in! I just decided that I would set an easy pace - do what I could and not worry about times or how many old ladies passed me.

Then race day came. It was stinking cold, but I was strangely jazzed. The race atmosphere was just incredible. There were a record 18,000 people registered for the run that day - there were just people everywhere. Amazingly enough, we ran smack into Jenny right before the race, so I wsa thrilled to get to see her. Plus Sara made us these awesome t-shirts that nobody gets but us (that's the beauty of it!). And even though I am SO not a runner, I really felt like it that day!

And then they blew the horn. And we all just stood there. There were about 2000 people in front of us, so it was a little like a cattle drive for a bit. But then we broke free and ran. And I ran longer than I thought before I told Sara I'd see her at the finish line. Then I did my thing - admittedly faster than I thought I would. I of course walked up all the nasty downtown Austin hills, but I did run more than I thought I would. There's just something about being surrounded by people who are pushing themselves that makes you not so quick to give up. I did walk plenty though - they have these race photographers around and every single one of them caught me walking, looking like I'm about to die. But I didn't die, and I finished 6.2 miles in an hour and 15 minutes. Not great, but not total crap.

But most importantly, it made me want to do way better than "not total crap" next time. I am going to continue running. I am going to find a way to like it. And I am going to be proud of myself next time I cross a finish line, because I will have a real goal that I will have honestly worked for. (note - I say all this in the future tense because I am just now recovering from my awful shin splints and the nasty foot-tendon pull that I caused by not training properly - Wednesday will be my first day back on the road).

So I'm not done. Thank you, Jenny and Sara, for giving me the push I so desperately needed. I may be calling when I need it again.

Rodeo 2009

Ah, rodeo. A time of excitement and irritation in my household. Excitement especially for the other 3 members of my family, slight irritation for me, since I end up basically a single mom for the entire month of February, cleaning up messes, literal and otherwise. But this year was not too bad. R and our friends who came up from San Antonio rented an RV to stay in both weekends, so he didn't have to mess with trying to come home at 2 am and leaving again 5 or 6 hours later every day. And amazingly enough, everybody stayed well for rodeo this year, ever Randy, which has never happened. Samm really got into helping out at the rodeo - her daddy put her to work and she took her job very seriously. I was really proud of her. She ended up staying out at the trailer the last weekend too... even rode the mechanical bull! I think she had a lot of fun in spite of herself. :)

Here's Samm's first bull-riding experience - just the tail end. The guy running it went pretty easy on her at first and she was doing great.

A tradition I hope we continue - Tater and Daddy with all the bull-fighters and Lecile Harris, the most famous rodeo clown in the country. We got a pic like this at Tater's first rodeo, but unfortunately didn't last year. He and I were both sick last year and only made it to part of one perf - he was very cranky and very little picture-taking occurred.

At the carnival - Tater wasn't as ready for the rides as I though he was. He was just plain scared. I put him on the motorcycles, and it was great until they started moving. He screamed so much I had to ask the guy to stop the ride so I could take him off. Then we rode the carousel together and he even cried a little there. We went before the Friday night perf, so he may have just been worn out, I don't know. But even when we came back Saturday, he had no interest in getting back on those rides. Samm didn't really either, just the big swings.

Then Saturday night, Sara and I got an actual babysitter (for the first time for both of us!) and had a girl's night out. We had great seats and enjoyed a great performance!

And I'll leave you with a few pictures of my beautiful kids - taken especially for Grandma Mueller. My only regret is that I didn't get a picture of all us together this year. Oh well - I know a great photographer - I'll be calling her really soon. :)

Tater's Alphabet

And I quote:


A B C D, E F G,

H I J K Lemmo Lemmo P.

Q R S, T U V,

Devil-u X, Y and Z.

Now I know my ABC's,

Next time won't you SING WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!

I. do. not. want. to. work. today.

I have 4 million things to do for today. And tomorrow and next week.
But I don't wanna.

I am a slug today.

Ugh.

'Twere the nights before Christmas

When I put up the Christmas tree this year, I wondered just how much of the whole Christmas concept Tater would understand. Between the Jesus part and the Santa part, would he really get it?

Well, he did. He got it and then some. I think there were times the kid had more Christmas spirit than I did. We worked our way through the Christmas story using our advent calendar and talked a lot about why we celebrate Jesus’ birthday at Christmas. They had a little birthday party for Jesus at Church the week before Christmas, which was too cute. We sang Silent Night and O Holy Night before bed at night. We discussed how the three kings brought Jesus presents, and that’s why we gave each other presents at Christmastime.

And then there was the whole Santa thing. I was worried that, like most kids, he’d be a little leery of that big ole’ hairy guy in the bright red suit. But he was fascinated instead. He learned all the words to Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (which I never got on video, try as I may). He asked every day if Santa was coming tonight. “I want to see him, Mom!” He even started taking my lines, telling ME that if I didn’t stop getting on to him then Santa wouldn’t bring me any presents. And when he was at the mall with Nana and had the chance to go talk to him, he didn’t freak out. He sat in his lap and talked to him; and two days later, when he was at the mall with Mommy, he made a bee line for the Jolly Old Elf. He asked Santa for a sword and some mistletoe. Yeah, I know. Luckily he forgot about the mistletoe when he told me later what he’d asked Santa for, because even though we have plenty of the stuff around, I was not looking forward to having it disintegrate in my house in the days to come.

And then there were the movies. We had to watch every Christmas special ABC Family had to offer. The three Christmas DVDs we own were worn out (although he love to watch The Grinch all year round – go figure). For 3 weeks, it seemed like if the TV was on, it was playing something Christmas.

And the lights! Oh the lights!! Tater was in awe of all the lights, especially the light tour on the river sponsored by the city. Grandma and D-Pop took him for the first time, and he couldn’t stop talking about it for days. We went again with Samm, Dana and Levi, and I think he kind of got annoyed with our constant chatter the whole way through. He was just so entranced by those beautiful colors and designs.

All in all, it was just a fun season. Christmastime is my absolute favorite time of the year, and it seems Tater may join me in really getting into the spirit, even if my other two grinches don’t. J It just touched my heart to see how truly magical Christmas was in his eyes. I pray it stays that way for years to come.