Random Thoughts and a very cute picture

It has been a very long time since I have updated the blog and sometimes I don't think that I really have anything to say that is important. My life keeps going on and on mostly it is like a repeat of the previous day. Some days are harder than other and some just fly by so quickly. I often find myself thinking that I have so much to get done, but yet I my to do pile keeps piling higher.
I was talking to Eric the other night and he made the comment that I don't know how to relax and just sit. I must admit that it is very hard for me to do that and take a few minutes for doing nothing but sitting and thinking, napping, or reading. I always feel like I have to be doing something (the laundry, dishes, picking up after Alex or myself, a project, etc.). The other day Eric was off and he literally made me sit down and relax for a few minutes while he cleaned up the kitchen. I must admit that those few minutes were wonderful, so I guess it is okay to relax for a few minutes during the day.
I am trying to get things ready for Christmas and having family in town for the holidays. I enjoy spending time with my family, whether or not it is the family I grew up with or the one I inherited.
Anyway, I have rambled enough now and I guess that I can count this as "me" time today. Here is the cute picture I promised.

Calling All Gamers!!!

Eric and I LOVE to play board games and we are searching for people to play games with. We have your standard games, but we also have a lot of not so well known games and would love to introduce you to some of them and would love to be introduced to some of your favorites. Here is a short list of some of the games that we have:

• Catan Board games (Original, Seafarers, Cities and Knights and the Catan card game)
• Saint Petersburg
• Puerto Rico
• San Juan
• Ticket to Ride
• Citadels
• Acquire
• Standard ones- Monopoly, Taboo, Risk, card games, etc.

So all you bloggers out there we are looking for people to come and play with us. We would love to play anytime, anywhere. We can travel... All we need is to bring our Pack'n Play for Alex and a dark room if any of you want to play at night. If you love to game or know someone that loves to play games, let us know. If any of you have played these games let us know what are your favorites. We look forward to playing with you.

Car Keys are Not Toys

Here is a note of advice that I have learned recently. Do NOT give your car keys to your kids to play with. (Especially if they have the car clicker on them.) I learned the hard way.

Here is how my story goes:
One day last week I took Alex and Trenton to the mall to play and as we were getting in the car to go home, I did a dumb thing. Something that you probably would never think twice about doing, but now I know from experience, so learn from me.
I got the boys in the car, gave Alex my keys to appease him while I was putting the stroller in the back. I shut the door and was walking to the back of the car to open it up to get the stroller inside. Before I did that, I heard the locking of the car with the boys and my keys on the inside. Alex had pushed the lock button on the clicker while he was playing with them. I kept peering into the window to try and get him to push the unlock button, but it was not working. Thankfully someone next to me let me borrow their cellphone to make an emergency call to Eric. I didn't get a hold of him, so I tried to reach my friend to bring me my spare keys to unlock the door. Thankfully it was not a hot day, so the boys were fine. It just felt like an eternity before they were able to come and rescue me.
Eric had received my message and left straight from work to rescue me, but my friend got there first. I am so grateful for wonderful family and friends to come to my aid. So learn from me, don't let your kids play with your keys, especially around your car.

Removing the "Garden"

Last month we have been getting letters from our HOA about weeding our flower beds. So we kept weeding the front beds, because those are the only real flower beds in our yard, but we kept getting letters. Then finally one day I was talking to Eric and said maybe it is our "Garden" that needs to be weeded. This whole " garden" project began a few years ago very enthusiastically, but as the ants moved into the garden I very quickly decided to abandon the project. Naturally, because I wasn't weeding and taking care of it regularly, the toads, ants, wasps, mice, and fence-high weeds found it an oasis. Could this be the possible problem with our yard?
It was time to begin the project of ripping it out and going back to grass. Much like Jana, I kept repeating "I am a brave girl" every few minutes to keep my spirits up. I was only in danger of having a heart attack once or twice as a toad jumped out of a hole in the bricks straight at my face. It took many hours of hard work and perspiration to get the job done, but it was worth it. It is not a garden now, only a little patch of dirt, but at least it is something that I can manage.
For right now, I will just be having a container garden.

New Tricks I have learned this week

These are some of the things that I have discovered this week. Boy has it been busy.

1. Stairs --
I have had a busy week learning all kinds of new tricks. Tuesday, I learned to climb the stairs all the way to the top. I actually have done it twice but I haven't learned how to get down them the correct way yet. My mom sure hopes that I learn that very soon.
2. Dishwasher--
Did you know that everyday (or almost everyday) my mom puts dirty dishes into this box and then when she opens it up they are clean again? It is amazing. Boy do I love to help her by pulling some of those dirty dishes out. I just have to be part of that action.
3. Toilet Paper--
I discovered the toilet paper and how much fun it is to unroll it and put it into my mouth. I just love to pull and pull that white soft paper until I can't pull on it anymore. Then I just leave it on the floor in a heap.
4. The Cat's water bowl---
My favorite thing that I have learned this week was that if my mom is not watching me all the time, I can sneak over to the cat's water dish and play in it and then dump it all over the floor. If I make a really cute face at her she probably won't be so upset with me when she has to clean it up. See for yourself.

New Addition to our Daytime Family....

We have a new addition to our daytime family. I am now watching a little 2 month old baby for my friend. It has been a week now since I have begun this new daytime adventure. I must say kudos for all of you multiple moms out there. I have always heard that having two kids is hardest to cope with until you get used to it. Now I know.
It really has been getting better day by day. Monday by far was the hardest maneuvering the kids around. I decided to take the bull by the horns and venture out on the first day with multiple kids. I knew that if I stayed at home everyday then I would go insane and so would the kids.
I decided to go to baby story time at the library. I wish some of you could have seen what I looked like. I have one kid in the stroller and a diaper bag across my shoulder and then another baby strapped in a snugglie all of us heading for the library entrance. I heard comments like, "Boy, do you have your hands full." or "Wow, how did you manage that?". I also realized that you also need to allow about 15 minutes extra to get somewhere with all of the newly acquired gear and bodies. Trying to hold a crying/fussy baby and play with a baby that wants to pull up on everything is really challenging, but we made it... and I felt triumphant.
Thanks to the generosity of Melanie, my friend, who lent us her double stroller life and outing have been much easier. We have been to the park and shopping and having more fun. It also helps if you can get both of the kids on a schedule, but at the end of the day boy am I pooped!

We have a Water Baby!!!!

Water Baby

We have a water baby. He loves to take baths, crawl towards the cats' water dish, and loves to splash in the pool. I found out that the Houston Parks and Recreation department has a few water playgrounds around. One is in Herman Park not to far from the zoo. With Eric being out of town, I decided to take advantage of this outing to give me something fun to look forward to during the day on Friday. I have to admit that the zoo was much more entertaining for me than for Alex, but we had a lot of fun. Alex really liked the petting zoo and laughed when he was able to pet a goat. But the real winner for the outing was the water playground. Take a look for yourself...

San Antonio Trip 2007

Baby Play Group

A group of friends met this week for a baby play group. It was more for the adults to have some time to spend together and chat than for the babies to actually "play". I think that it was a success... way to go Ashley! It was kind of funny to see the kids interact with each other. Most of the kids don't really have to share toys at home right now and I could see some assertive streaks coming through Alex as he took toys away from others or as he bulldozed his way through the crowd. We did get a picture of the kidos before they got too distracted and wanted to leave. Here's to many more play groups.

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we had a chance to take a mini-road trip. This was a trial run to see how it would go if we chanced another one in the future. Overall Alex did great. He was a little tired when we arrived in San Antonio but was a real trooper. We visited the Alamo and the Riverwalk and stayed the weekend with my parents at a timeshare that they have around New Braunfuels. It was fun to have a little time to relax and spend time as a family.

Fall Cometh....

I love fall. This is a time that I look forward to in the year. It means that Halloween is coming and then Thanksgiving and AHHHH-- Christmas. This season means cooler weather (finally) and then spending lots of time with family and friends. So in honor of the fall season, I became more festive. After seeing pictures of Spencer with his cute pumpkin hat from Target, I too rummaged through the dollar bins to see what I could find. I have to agree with Ginger. Target dollar bins are awesome!!!

I also grabbed a shirt and a hat for Alex to wear. I have to admit that it was more for my enjoyment than his. I did put the hat on him and wheeled him around the store while I did my shopping yesterday. It lightened my mood to look down at him and I chuckled to myself to see him looking so festive. Every now and then I caught a few people smile and laugh at the sight as I paraded him proudly through the aisles. Why, who could not help but smiling at a sight like this...

Date Night

Last Friday Eric called me from work and asked if I wanted to go on a date. Are you kidding me??? I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. I couldn't believe that we were going on an actual date.
He further intrigued my interest when he called back and said that we had to be somewhere by 6 pm, but he wouldn't say what we were doing. My curiosity was peaked and I tried to subtly get the information out. He had zipped lips and no information was leaking through. He said we needed to pick something up from one of our friends houses and and we traveled over to pick up what we needed. What are we doing? What do we need to pick up? Well my questions were answered when our friends jumped into the car with us. It was them that we needed to pick up. We were going on a double date.

Bowling, dinner, 3 rounds of board games and about 6 hours later our double date ended. It was so much fun, even if I did have to wake up at 6 the morning after. I am just glad that I chose to wear socks.