ARCHIVES JULY

Monday July 31, 2006
If You Walk a Mile in Someone Elses Shoes Then They'll Have a Whole Mile to Run to Beat You Up
(Offical Edit. I pulled a girl, and it was wrong, so I am taking it out. :o) )
Ok, so I have to stop here because Kalea just brought me a retractable telescope. She showed me how fun it was to tract and retract it open and close and proceeded to hand it to me for a try. I opened it, placed it on my eye and say "I see you!!." Kalea smiled, took it from my extended hand, opened it up and put it on the tip of her nose and said "Iseeyou!!"
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Saturday July 29, 2006
A Moment to Brag......
Today Kalea and Nathan got certificates, free books and metals from the Mayor for their participation in the (Name of City With held) Public Library Reading Program. Before we left, I added up the total number of hours we've spent reading and listening to library books. This does not include the books we own and read to Nathan and Kalea, nor does it include the books that Steve read and returned to the library before I could write them down (I am guessing about 4 hours of Steve and Nathan books). OK so here are to totals.......*drum roll please.......*
Nathan's total number of library book hours- 69 hours and 18 minutes
Kalea's total number of library book hours- 69 hours and 9 minutes (I know it's more but I didn't count the million of times during the day that she brings me a book, crawls into my lap, and lets me read her her favorite stories.)
Kalea wore her metal for the rest of the day. :o) It was bigger than her and went all the way down to her knees.
Posted by at 23:19 Permanent Link Comments (1)
This Week in a Nutshell...the LONGEST BLOG EVER!!
Fear is defined in Webster's Dictionary by "to be afraid or apprehensive" or to " expect with alarm ." This week I've conquered all sorts of fears that have defined me as both a parent and as an individual. The first was on Tuesday when I found out that a co-worker had what sounded like the equivalent of the Rota Virus. Now I am immensely stomach virus phobic, but Rota is a whole different level of phobia. When I found out, I washed my hands at least a million times per minute, prayed over my children, and went into a panic attack everytime my stomach so much as gurgled, and when my kids so much as cried, I would run to their rooms expecting to find a pool of vomit by their little heads. Gross, I know.....moving on.
The only thing worse than getting the Rota Virus, is traveling alone with a baby and getting the Rota Virus which leads to fear number two....getting deathly ill while on the road. Every long trip we take, I feel queezy and begin to panic. My skin gets all pale and clammy and Steve gives me glances out of the corner of his eye debating whether or not I am really ill or just in a state of panic. On Wednesday, my handsome husband and beautiful son drove down to Galveston leaving Kalea and I to fend for ourselves. Which leads us to phobia number three. I'll come back to two in a minute.
Phobia number three....being home alone and being violenting murdered in my bed, going to heaven while my sweet baby starves to death in her crib. In case you ever wondered whether or not I am crazy, now you know! :o) So on Wednesday morning when the sun was up and the world was beautiful, I began to pray. I prayed until the sun went down and the shadows began to grow. I was alone to care for my sweet baby. During my devotional Wednesday night, I opened my Bible to see what God says about fear. I wrote down several verses, but here are the two that changed my heart the most.
"That night the Lord appeared to Isaac and said, 'Do not be afraid, for I am with you..." Genesis 26:24
"When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose Word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4
Upon writing down these verses, my heart realized the validity of what God was really trying to say to me. He is with me, and my job is to trust in His Word and not to be afraid. I closed my Bible and went to sleep. I slept with a calm and peaceful sleep and I NEVER have when I am home alone with my baby.
Now back to phobia number two. After a crazy, but blessed day of work, Kalea and I got in the car to drive three hours to Galveston. Now remember, I don't travel well at all. I popped in a book on CD and drove from the Heart of Texas to Galveston without a single panic attack or pang of fear coursing through my heart. It was an awesome trip! Kalea slept most of the way and only cried for about 30 minutes (and I don't blame her, she was probably scared of all of the crazy drivers. We almost died twice!!!...Ok so I may have exarggated a bit, but there were some close calls in Houston.). After we got to Galveston, Steve's parents took us to the Pyramid Aquarium. I can't think of the real name, but the aquarium was amazing! We saw all sorts of animals and Kalea and Nathan loved running down the ramps and peeking in the huge, glass windows to see all of the different sea creatures. After we got all fishy-ed out, we went out to eat at Fish Tales. The resturant is amazing!!! We always split the Hot Combo. There is stuff on there for everyone. Kalea and Nathan ate their weight in popcorn shrimp and I ate shrimp wrapped in bacon with a side of ranch dressing and guilt. It's hard going from a weekend where my mom is angry at me because I am too tough on Nathan to going to my inlaws where they lecture me by telling me that I am not hard enough on Nathan. It really brings a Mommy down to know that she's not good enough on either side of the rainbow. Anywho, so after that we went swimming at the beach which brings us to phobia number four.
Phobia number four....viral, bacterial, and any other way to die of an infectious disease. Nathan did not get to actually swim and have fun at the beach until he was about 4 years old. It took me four years to be comfortable with the idea of my baby boy swimming in a pool of germs and whale poop, sea urchants and jellyfish. Determined to conquer my fear and put my trust in God, I put Kalea in a swim suit and walked the long, hot walk to the beach with my boys. Steve and Nathan went straight out into the ocean to swim and body surf, while Kalea and I tentitive walked to the water's edge. Kalea loved the feel of the water on her toes, and the first good wave wiped her out. I held her hands as she was sloshed this way and that and finally settled on sitting far enough on the beach for the water to sweep up and tickle our toes. The boys came to check on us, and laughed as Kalea squished her hands in and out of the sand. As the sun began to come down, the tide got higher and higher and, once again, the first good wave that hit us sent Kalea up and packing. She told that wave "bye, bye" and crawled to higher ground where she grabbed my shoes and was ready to go. Steve came back and convinced her to stay while I went out with Nathan. Nathan and an older boy were laughing and giggling, and Nathan, wanting to be cool followed the boy deeper and deeper into the ocean. We went so far out that the water came up to Nathan's chest and the waves so high they would lift him off his feet and send him giggling towards the shore until the wave broke. Nathan was having a blast, but my motherly fear kicked in quietly and unexpectedly. What if Nathan got sucked down into the water of germs never to be seen again? What if I lose my baby? My hand that was perpetually out to spot him, went instantly down onto his hand. Protesting with every wave, I held tightly to his hand as the water gently carried us towards the shore with each rise and fall of the water. Finally, panic took over and we walked back to shore to "check on Daddy and Kalea."
Our day trip ended with a trip to the Rain Forest Cafe to both watch the volcano explode and to eat one with my InLaws. It was a very yummy meal and I actually got to sit and eat the entire meal because Kalea was engulfed in such terror of the moving and roaring animals that her soft cheek stayed glued to my head. Towards the end of the meal, Kalea released her grasp on me and stood up in the boothe to color her picture. Not two minutes into her coloring did the ligts dim, the animals roar, and the 'rain storm' began. Poor Kalea.
After our meal, we rode the Rainforest Ride that takes you through a jungle of animals. The ride is awesome for those of you who have never been on it. Kalea tolerated it very well and even took the time to admire the 'kitties' before they roared their verocious roars. When the ride ended, so did our trip. We made the fatal mistake of going to Sonic before going to home. It's too late to make a long story short, but let's just say that we wasted more than 30 minutes getting.... or should I say, attempting to get our drinks and left angry. The ride home was a very long trip, but as God assured me earlier, He was with me, and my only job was to trust in His Word. So now we're home. The kids are well. Rota never invaded our systems neither now nor on the road to the beach. Life is good. God is good. Praise be our God!
Posted by at 23:08 Permanent Link Comments (2)
Wednesday July 26, 2006
Cats in the Cradle
I went to get my baby girl out of her bed this morning. and instead of a baby, I saw my big toddler standing there. Where did my baby go?!!
Nathan rode the bus this morning to another school for free breakfast and then off to class with his daddy. All my babies are growing up too fast. :o(
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Sunday July 23, 2006
Deep in the Heart of Texas is Family
This weekend we were able to drive up to North West Central Texas to visit my folks. When we pulled up to their house after a drive that took many years off of my life, we found that my mother's playful exaggeration was actually true and growing right before my eyes. My parent's entire garden and a portion of their yard was filled with fairytale-like giant, green leaves in the shape of frog feet were sprouting from a giant vine with spindles and, yes... a giant pumpkin. It was amazing. My mom always jokes about only being able to grow things on accident. I think I inherited her brown thumb. We always joke about how my house is the plant hospice, the plants go in to die. This pumpkin vine, however, was doing more than fine, it was fantastic and glorious beyond what any plant should be.
I dunno it it was the pumpkin vine, or being out of our house, but Nathan picked this weekend to enjoy nature in the buff. Yes, my maked (Nathan for naked)-phobic boy has decided to let loose and be maked. His first attempt was while he was playing in the sprinkler in my parents yard. He joyfully let the water squirt up his shorts, and upon deciding that it just might feel better maked, he let his hair down....or should we say he let his shorts down. My mom caught him right as his shorts were down to his knees before she called out his name and he hastily pulled them back up again.
Nathan's second attempt at his natural freedom was a canoe trip out with the boys. Nathan, Steve and my dad were all out in the canoe and as soon as they skimmed across the water to the other side, Nathan announced that he had to go potty. Being a gang of manly men, Steve and my dad convinced Nathan to pee on a rock. Nathan has gone almost 5 years without enjoying the manly feeling of communining with nature in a way that only men can truely appreciate. I'll never forget how my little brother enjoyed this freedom. He liked it so much that one day after chuch, we were playing in my parents van, waiting for them to come outside, and my brother decided that nature was calling his name. Doing something that only little brothers can do, my little brother rolled down the window, stood up on the drivers seat and peed out the window in front of all of the leaving church goers. I was horrified.
Posted by at 23:21 Permanent Link Comments (0)
Wednesday July 19, 2006
Goldfish, Goldfish Everywhere
...So Nathan stayed with Steve's parents for the week, and Steve's dad decided that it would be ok if Nathan just didn't take his asthma medication for the ENTIRE WEEK, so now Nathan is really sick. Yeah, thanks Sam. Nathan was up ALL....NIGHT...LONGGGGG *Said very dramitically!!!* !!!!!! I woke up this morning sore and exhausted from climbing up and down his bunk bed ALL....NIGHT...LONGGGGG *also said very dramitically.* Instead of getting up extremely early, I went ahead and slept in until about 6:50AM and then took my shower. Kalea started freaking out towards the end of my shower so I jumped out, threw on a towel and ran to her room. Both her feet were stuck in the slits of her crib. I gently pulled her out and took her to the kitchen for her morning 'juice juice.' When I got to the kitchen, I found Nathan on the floor. My abandoned child couldn't wait until 7:00AM to eat breakfast, so he had climbed to the top of the pantry, pulled out the rationed box of goldfish, poured the entire box onto the floor and sat contently eating it until I decided to get up and be a mommy.....I can tell it's going to be a grrrr-eat day!
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Tuesday July 18, 2006
SaRaH the Inappropriate
SUNDAY:
Going to the Watermelon Festival brought back my high school days when I had to go through initiation for Thespians. (Yes, I was a drama freak for a week to get the eye of a certain hot guy....and FYI I got him!) I was in the auditorium with a whole bunch of Seniors (I was only a Sophmore) and one of them picked me out of the crowd and threw me on stage where I had to belt out an embarassing rendition of the Watermelon Song not just once but several times (the first five times weren't loud enough). I will NEVER forget that song....EVER!!!!
Just plant a little watermelon on my grave and let the juice (slurp) slurp (slurp) through,
Just plant a little watermelon on my grave, that's all I ask of you.
Well a preacher has chicken and I think that's fine,
but I would rather have a watermelon vine
Just plant a little watermelon on my grave and let the juice (slurp, slurp)
let the juice (slurp, slurp) let the juice slurp through.

Today at work the Preschool Minister snaped at me and I was so shocked, that I just busted out laughing and I couldn't even stop laughing to tell her what I needed. She just stood and glared at me. I think there's something wrong with me. :o)

Posted by at 16:12 Permanent Link Comments (0)
A Little Cha With the Choo/ Just Plant a Little Watermelon On My Grave
SATURDAY: Ok so I am a little behind with my posts. I have no clue what I've been doing, but I sure know I've been busy. On Saturday, we went to the Watermelon Festival in Hempstead and the on to ride the trains in somewhere, Texas. Kalea LOVED the Watermelon Parade. Everyone agreed that she was much cuter than Little Miss Watermelon. We'd enter her into the competition except for the fact that when she hears the word, 'cute' she immediately shoves a nubby finger up her nose and....well....you can imagine the next not-so-cute thing that she does.
After the sun sucked all of the fun out of the Watermelon Festival, we drove on Southward to the Steam Train Association. It was about a million degrees outside and we waited in line with about 100 other smelly, hot, sweaty people. Just when I thought I would pass out, it was our turn to ride the trains. Nathan sat with his friends, and Kalea sat with her daddy, so I was alone and kidless. I randomly adopted a girl about 8 or 9. We talked the whole way about wild animals and such. The ride was about 30 minutes and Kalea oooo-ed and awwww-ed at all the right points and would randomly shout out "CHOO CHOO!" Steve said that she was really cute and had a lot of fun. The ride was actually a lot more fun than I imagined. We sat on elongated box car things front to back hugging the middle of the train with our legs. I was worried about Kalea bailing ship, but she sat still and enjoyed the ride.
Saturday night we went to a wedding reception for Steve's friends. I knew NO ONE. It was really weird but the food, oh the food, was awesome. I imagined that I was a wedding crasher and randomly met new people and acted like I'd always known them. I met a lady about my age who'd recently divorced her husband after a short attempt at marriage; a newly married couple who fought the entire time; a lady who left her husband at home but claimed to be happily married; and an entire table of married men talking about when they graduated from A&M and where they worked now. Needless to say, Steve and I left early to walk around Target in our nice dress up clothes eating popcorn and drinking Dr Pepper.
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Saturday July 15, 2006
At the Show....
So our band was practicing today, and our sweet baby Kalea decides that being maked (naked in Nathan language) is much cooler than being clothed, so she slowly sneaks into the kitchen to shed her unwanted layers. The problem?! Kalea is a woman of 18....months that is, and she is not quite as coordinated as she thinks she is. Not long after she sneaks into the kitchen does she come running out with her white spanish shirt stuck over her beautiful baby face and her blue jean skirt stuck half way down. Steve and I were cracking up so bad that we dropped our instruments to help Kalea out of her delimma. Much to her disappointment, we redressed her and she immediately went boneless.
Our band played a show in the grand city of Houston, Texas, and as soon as we got off the stage, a crazed fan ran up to Steve with a sharpie. Anyone who has seen Steve on stage knows that he goes from little brother silly to hot rawksta that no one can resist....so needless to say, I am used to crazed fans running up to him with Sharpies. The girl ran up to Steve and said breathlessly "will you sign my..." This is the point where Steve's eyes grow huge and the other guys nod their knowing macho-you're the man nods...after a dramatic pause the girl says, "....jeans!" There was a wave of disappointment over the guys, and a look of extreme relief on Steve's face. It was funny, because I always wondered what he say if the girl asked for him to sign something inappropriate.
Posted by at 22:49 Permanent Link Comments (1)
Wednesday July 12, 2006
Singed Eyebrows and Purple Cows
"Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful, where Your streams of abundance flow, Blessed be Your name. And blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness, Blessed be Your name. Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise. And when the darkness closes in, Lord, Still I will say....Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your glorious name. Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me, When the world's "all as it should be" Blessed be Your name. And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering, Blessed be Your name. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name." Blessed Be Your Name by Beth Redman & Matt Redman
We went out to eat today with Steve's dad (who is staying at our house for the week). Kalea was crazy and squirmy and protested very loudly. Dispite all of the games and toys I brought, both kids had a lot of wiggles. When the food finally came, Nathan ate the garnish, then threw it back up all over the table, shouting, "expensive lettuce is gross!" I was thinking how great it would be to, just once, be able to go out to eat and not have someone throw up on the table. Just once. Then I thought about our day at Sea World after we just found out my brother-in-law, Andrew died. How, no matter how I tried, I just couldn't seem to catch my breath. How I felt that I would be broken forever and that I would give anything to get him back. He was the one person every holiday who knew how it felt to be an intruder on the Saenz family celebrations and always made me laugh with whispered jokes making fun of them. He was so nice and so funny and most of all he was Kaela's husband. They were supposed to grow old together and have a million stylish, lankey kids. Then I thought about how going out to eat would feel, except without Andrew, it was without Steve or Nathan or Kalea, or even Steve's dad. After all the resturant Nathan threw up in, was the very place we announced our pregnancy with Nathan to Steve's parents. At the time, I thought I was going to throw up on the table while telling them the news. I am so blessed to have my children and my husband alive and well. I am so blessed that I can wake up tomorrow morning and see Nathan's beautiful brown eyes, and Kalea's silly grumpy faces, and Steve asking me "watcha doin'?" even though it is something obvious like putting Kalea's socks on her grumpy morning feet as she goes boneless with anger. I am so blessed with their lives, that looking back it almost makes me giggle that Nathan thought that garnish was really expensive lettuce, and that he's probably perminately ruined on lettuce. I can't wait to tell his kids and all of girl friends what a silly boy he was.
Posted by at 23:37 Permanent Link Comments (1)
Monday July 10, 2006
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday, we went to a carnival at the library. Nathan went around and played all the games while Kalea went around and ate all of the food. When Nathan won more than one of the same item, he would give the other to Kalea without even being asked to! When we finally made our way to the back of the library, a girl with a curly mullet (Steve guessed that she must have been homeschooled to have hair that bad) announced that they were going to play musical chairs. Trying to look excited, I asked Nathan if he wanted to play musical chairs. He looked at me with an expression of seriousness painted all over his face, cocked his head to one side and said, "isn't that the game where they play music and then they take away your chair?" I laughed and tried to think of a better way to explain it, but before I could answer, Nathan said, "I don't like that game, it's mean to steal chairs." He ended up playing anyway and as the fist kid got out, Nathan threw his head back and let out the loudest evil laugh to ever be heard in a library. I waved my arms and tried to give Nathan a no no look, but in my head I was cracking up. He wasn't trying to be mean, he's not a mean kid, but he lacks knowledge of what is appropriate and what's not. He stayed in for quite a while and when he finally got out, he walked out giggling with pride that he had gotten as far as he did.
Losing gracefully is a learned art in our family. Steve is not very good at it, and Nathan tends to pick that up from Steve. Nathan got second place in a game earlier that day and his prize was given to the wrong kid by accident. Because the prize was a free burito I thought Steve was going to pop which caused Nathan to be upset, which caused Nathan to squint his eyes and shake his fist (a gesture we do in pretend anger when we are playing around, but are apparently going to have to stop because our child is now doing it in public in real pretend anger). I ended up having to pull both kids (Steve and Nathan) from the game and talking to them about good sportsmanship, all this while Kalea was stuffing two oreos in her mouth at the same time.....it's hard being a mom of three..... :o)
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Wednesday July 05, 2006
A Day Late and a Buck Short
Welp, the 4th of July was a hit yet again! As parents, Steve and I try really hard to set up traditions that the kids will begin to look forward to each year for both comfort and heritage. We got our Old Navy flag shirts, made red, white and blue beaded necklaces, colored paper flags, and looked up all of the area parades. When the sky opened up and began pouring down rain, however, we resigned ourselves to the idea that, perhaps, the 4th of July would be nothing but the 4th. Like the 4th of May is not any more special than the 4th of October. We went to the mall and walked around in our matching outfits, got a bit grumpy and then decided to call Steep Hollow Baptist Church to see if, perhaps, there was no rain over there. Our pal, Kathy said that she talked to God and He said that it would be clear over there by the time the party would start, and yes, ladies and gentlemen, she was right! We went outside and blue skies filled the area around SHBC and gray ones shaddowed everywhere else. We packed up the kids and drove down the long, country path to the church. Nathan and Kalea made themselves at home the second they got out of the car. SHBC is one of those churches where they take to heart the saying "it takes a village to raise a child." Everyone is friendly and all of the kids run wild being watched from each corner of the open field by Mrs. So-and-so while Mr. So-and-so patrols the middle of the chaos warning the kids to watch out for fire ants and untangling the kids from the soccer goals (yes Nathan was one of those kids). There were old fashioned games like sack races, over and under and the hula hoop relay. Kalea and I won the Cake Walk after several...ok a lot... of failed attempts. When the sky finally darkened, we sat in our row of four and lifted our eyes to the Heavens. When the fireworks first started, there were a few pops and fizzes to the music. Kalea stared up in a mixture of excitement and horror. Nathan snuggled into Steve for the show and Kalea sat frozen in her chair. As the tempo of the music increased rapidly, so did the pops and explosions of the fireworks overhead. Kalea, finally deciding that the firewords were more scary than fun now let out a paniced cry. I threw down the remains of our snowcone, popcorn, and whatever else I had collected in my arms and grabbed up Kalea into my arms. She gripped MiMi (her bunny) and snuggled into my arms where she continued to watch, in horror, the beautiful colors that danced into the sky perpetually changing and moving. She finally gave into the urge to sleep, or hide (I am still not sure which) and she snuggled even farther into me and fell asleep. Afterwards, Nathan was so excited that even words failed him. He stuttered and made sounds but nothing real seemed to want to come out. The night ended a 'bang.' :o)
Nathan-ism for the night- Before the fireworks were set to go off, Steve asked Nathan if he wanted to go potty with him before the show started. Nathan said, "no daddy, you're 27, I think you're old enough to go alone."
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