My Leetle Arteests

I love to see careful Shelby crafting her picture in her satiny pink pjs and Wyatt going free-for-all and looking like he might be tinkling in the paint cup.*

*This picture is deceiving. 

I, actually, hate kid paint. 

As far as I am concerned, it's a walking time-bomb at this age. I am too busy to fight that battle clean up battle so it only comes out 2-3 times a year.

First Day!

Mark the year folks: 2012

It is the year the public school system welcomes one special, curly-haired girl to it's numbers.

Being her first day, her dress was chosen with great care.

"Mah signature culah is pink."(name that movie)

(I actually had to heavily edit the pictures. We took so many we could have created a flip book starting with Shelby walking out the front door to her arrival at her Kinder class.)***

Nothing says "Welcome to Kindergarten" like a lump o' playdough. 

(Please observe that the teacher gave her a piece of PINK paper beneath her PURPLE playdough. An auspicious beginning indeed!)

Look! I'm being smothered by a small horde of blonde children!

And lovin' it!

***So, you might be wondering, "What's with the hands in all the pictures?" 

Excellent question. 

About six months ago she took her first visit to a magical place called Disneyland. When she arrived home, we began to notice a theme that seemed to crop up in

EVERY

SINGLE

PICTURE.

The hubby and I were at a complete loss until Disneyland pictures started rolling in. 

See below:

Hmmm...I believe we have solved the mystery of the weird picture hands.

Case closed.

Not to be left out, Wyatt begins his first day of the 3's class in preschool.

And Walker....

well...

I think the new schedule is wearing him out.

Daddy's in charge on Saturday...

Therefore, donuts with special sprinkles

 and comics.

The good life.

Hazards of marrying a vet

So with all this new technology, Seth's photos automatically load to our home computer. Normally, this would be convenient, however, I have also set up our screen saver as a montage of our pictures. See below:

la de da sweet Christmas photo...

 awww...

 1st Halloween...

ha ha silly kids...

SHA-BAM!!!

Unexpected blood and guts slipped in between photos of our sweet kiddos! 

This is truthfully one of the tamer ones (I was trying to look out for any potential blog readers who actually might  want to eat later). We have horrific mouth tumors, intestines, infected wounds and on and on. Just gird your loins if you are ever flipping through our pictures or watching a montage on our computer screen. 

Yep, this is our reality. 

Safe to say our kids probably won't be overly squeamish.

Look! We do get out!

See! Here we are at the rodeo with NO kids! Finally posting a pic of the gals. The "lean-back-upclose" pose is almost as flattering as the hospital bed photo.

You're welcome, Julie. 

You're welcome.

See! Here we are reenacting our version of Aggie "Alien." But instead of a blood-sucking creature with mucus dripping from its fangs bursting from someone's chest, we have a cute maroon-clad baby! (I like our version much better. Less disturbing.)

Wyatt l.o.v.e.d. the baseball game! 

Shelby l.o.v.e.d. the popcorn!

You can see her distraught state when I informed her that she indeed had to share with others the bag of popcorn large enough to feed the Duggar clan.

Kids are hoping for a ball to come their way! I choose to believe that the wet spot on my pants is the damp grass but it's a hard call at this age and stage of children to make any definitive statements about wet areas.

WARNING: American Girl Doll store is open!

I repeat...the American Girl Doll Store is open! Hide your wallets. Tell them the "open" signs are lies. Anything to avoid getting sucked into the vortex that will eventually end with you explaining to your husband why the credit card bill was so high and why matching outfits with your doll is the only way she will have a complete and healthy childhood.

Actually, you can save your breath on the last one b/c husbands will never truly understand the thrill  of matching outfits with your dolls. This does not compute with the Y chromosome much like the confusion over why you cry just cause you feel like it.

So, I have warned all who will have ears to hear. I made the mistake of attempting a return to Old Navy (next door to new AG store) w/o realizing it was OPENING WEEKEND!

Pause and rest on that thought.

You would have thought the president had a speaking engagement based on the winding lines, men with thingies in their ears, the tickets required to earn the privilege to wait in the line (see Shelby below).

Good news. Bad news.

Bad news: Shelby is developing reading skills. Normally this would be a cause for celebration. Not when she can read the word "open." 

More bad news: I had just been running in the blazing heat and ten minutes prior had noticed a mystery stain on my sweaty shirt. This is acceptable attire for Old Navy returns. This is not acceptable attire for the AG store grand opening. (I'm basing this opinion on the mother/daughter duos who wore matching outfits)

Good news: there wasn't a wait to get in at 5:30pm. Actually, that might need to go in the bad news column as well. I might have been able to resist the pleading of the face above if an hour+ wait was a part of the bargain.

More good news: apparently all those times I told her "no" as a child and endured the full force of her disappointment have come to fruition. I did not purchase any matching outfits, custom made shirts, or doll accessories. Yep, we went and looked and left with nothing but smiles and a weird book about stars they gave her for free.

Lest I sound too "bah humbug," I really did want to take her to the AG store and have tea in the bistro. My vision was a special time where we would paint our nails and put on lipgloss. We will have to go back again for a better planned "girl time" that involves showers and clean clothes.

Even so, Shelby enjoyed walking around the museum-like display of all the dolls and their accouterments. I'm sure she will enjoy our second trip even more...

Upgraded our security system...

jerry rigged

Wyatt loves his little collection of sad, knotted jump ropes. When we cleaned the garage out he was thrilled out of his mind when we found a few old pieces of frayed rope. Hours later he was still busy roping bad guys, tying up sticks (another favorite) and dragging them around the yard, and driving his sister insane.

When these ropes mysteriously appear inside, all the cabinet knobs help turn the kitchen into some sort of elaborate obstacle course. I tell people that it reminds me of that scene in the original "Parent Trap" when Haley Mills #1 uses all the string to booby trap the cabin of Haley Mills #2. I knew I would use my high school hurdling skill set again!

Ha! Outsmarted yourself now! 

(Or I guess you could drag the chair all over the kitchen until I untie you.)

A celebratory dance! Please note the addition of a scrub brush and aggie helmet. I am constantly untangling all our toys. Oh, and I should take this time to thank Aunt Bonnie in Louisiana for donating a giant crawfish bag full of Mardi Gras beads to our household. Those are my most favorite to untangle.

This picture really says a lot about what Wyatt is enjoying at this stage in his life. 

The Triathlon Weekend-literally and figuratively

Once again, I have gotten a wee behind on the ol' blog, so I am starting from the present and working my way back.  Just throwing that out there for those of you who think I missed blogging about the beginning of kindergarten.

Last weekend was a big one. 

Definition of "Big" as found in the Official Mom Dictionary: a weekend so full of fun that Mommy's double shot and nap cannot overcome the fatigue.

Saturday morning began with Shelby's first ever kids' triathlon. All her gear had to be in the transition area by 7:30 and she was lining up to hop in the water at 7:45 am(!). This may not seem like a tall order but she ain't our only kid and they all wanted some food before we hauled them off to cheer on sister. 

After a minor heart attack over an almost forgotten towel (a princess one of course), the 5-6 year olds were hopping in the water at ten second intervals. I'm no expert here but maaaaybe we should have spread those little ones out a bit more. It reminded me of that scene in the Titanic where the camera pans out and all these people are flailing in the water trying to keep from drowning. Shelby, however, hopped in and cut threw the water like a shrunken female version of a 2008 Michael Phelps. See ya kiddos! Eat my bubbles!

Then we came to the transition area where I began to notice something...

The other kids had clearly done this before. 

Major Clue:

They tore out of the water, clipped on their kid-sized TRIATHLON BELTS, slipped on their own SPECIAL TRIATHLON SHOES by THEMSELVES, put on their own 200 dollar helmets, hopped on their UBER EXPENSIVE KIDS BIKES, and took off like a house on fire.

Do what?!?! 

Shelby still had her training wheels on with her Barbie helmet. Not to mention that Shelby had shoe-laces which the designated helper (parents not allowed in transition area) took ffffffoooorrrreeeevvvveeerrr to tie. 

Watching. this. process. was. as. painful. as. labor. 

No exaggeration. It took great parental willpower to keep from hopping the barrier and shoving her aside. 

After the bike round, which is safe to say was not Shelby's best leg of the race, she hopped off her bike and GIRL TOOK OFF running.

My shock could not have been greater than if she had declared the color pink ugly, princesses silly and thrown away all her jewelry! I'm serious people! I saw her "train" and the running leg was not her "most motivated" leg.

Here is a picture of our super star finisher! I may or may not have been a leeeeetle teary-eyed.

After the awesome/exhausting morning, we loaded up and took off for A&M's first SEC game!!!!

A few people showed up

I took the kiddos to Millican where we played and watched the game on tv.

                              (pictures from the previous weekend when we spent the night)

 Shelby & Wyatt looove fishing!

 Daddy explains that those are good eatin' Walker!

 Walker, of course, struggles with any sort of containment or lack of movement.

 These kids love the gator! If I let Walker crawl, he guns straight for the driver's seat and throws his body back and forth on the steering wheel in an attempt to get it to go.

We didn't make it back until 9:00pm that night followed by church the next morning (helped with the nursery), a trip to the clinic, a meeting after church, and dinner with friends. 

Good times with family and friends!

Who ever thought Monday would be the restful day???

How they went to school

I said, "Shelby go get dressed for school" and this is how she emerges...

Her earrings were all the preschool rage I heard.

Who needs pierced ears??? I say they slow you down!

Work it girl! Act like you own the camera!

Wyatt accessorizes with camo and a wicked awesome facial wound (thanks sis!). Not quite as flamboyant but I'm really ok with that.

freebies

Mema is always thinking of her little ones. She recently scored some loot at an insurance conference.

I guess the old saying is right. One man's trash is a five year old's treasure. Or something like that.

Shelby ironically seems to favor the combo comb mirror. 

Now might not be the best time to promote any hair product.

Oil Ranch

If you've ever been to Dewberry Farms in Brookshire, the Oil Ranch is a lot like it... just further away with sicklier animals.

I just want to give a shout out to Mom who remembered sunglasses (but forgot sunscreen). I guess we can't win them all.

Not exactly Secretariat, but Shelby enjoyed it nonetheless.

Shelby's favorite-the chicks

Shelby milks a cow.

 I felt strangely akin to Ol' Daisy as her poor, sagging udder was yanked on by children.

Ah. The obligatory line-up-all-the-sweaty-tired-kids-facing-the-direct-sunlight picture. Always a "framer."

Yay preschool field trips and Ms. Johnna!!!

An Adult Trip

Seth and I were finally able to slip away for a few days for a vet conference in DC in April. Did we have a good time? Let's just say when Seth came back to the hotel room on Friday at noon, he found that my only accomplishment thus far had been to put on some clothes and crawl back into bed. Pretty dang awesome if you ask me. 

I was able to rest because deep down I knew my babies were cared for. 

I mean, they barely said good by to us. Can't imagine why...

-new toy gun from Bass Pro

-Pappy church date complete w/ all the accessories she wanted

-chick-fil-a

-chocolate milk and ice cream

Yes folks, the kids were real torn up over our time away. Crying and begging us nightly to return home. 

Oh wait.

That was Nini and Pappy.*

Lovebird going on 12 years

*Just teasing. Thanks Mom and Dad!

heeeee's baaaack

So if you have read my previous blog you will recognize the bear being strangled in the first picture is Bennie Bear himself. I was *ahem* less than thrilled at our last weekend with Bennie Bear since it turned out to be not the best timing for me to photograph Bennie's "exciting" weekend with us. Good news is that I was able to embrace the experience a little more for round 2.

Anybody wondering what a glamorous weekend at the Landrys looks like?

Hugs!

String Cheese!

Pool!

Floaties!*

Coloring!

Dress up!

Errands!

Sit ups at the workout park!

Watching the dying wildflowers!

I know.

Your head is whirling with all the activity and excitement.

*important sidenote: these pictures were taken in May and if you attempted to put floaties on Wyatt now his three year old look of scorn would shrivel you into a raisin. Of all the insults!