Zach's 4th Birthday Party

We had another BBQ at our house and this time we celebrated Zach's 4th birthday. He was so cute! I think this was the first year that he actually could anticipate a party, gifts, etc. He had a great time and could hardly sleep that night because he was so excited about everything he got to do.

As always, so pics of the event. BTW, spiderman cakes are exceptionally difficult to make, so no comments about my plastic stand-in!

4th of July

Well, I wasn't there for the 4th. I had a client go into labor and so we had the kids do a few sparklers that morning before I left and then Tom took over duties. My clients baby was born at 9:06pm just as the fireworks shows were all going off around town. I was home in time to put kids to bed. Great day!

So Tom ended up cleaning the whole house and then hosting the big BBQ we had. Poor guy! His only day off and I abandon him with kids, cleaning and cooking. I think he had fun anyway. So here are the few pics I took before I left. My girlfriend Jen took some at the fireworks show since I wasn't there. THANKS JEN!! Enjoy and I hope your fourth was fantastic!

Melted plastic and matches, anyone?

All in one day. And I am sure you can guess who was involved. Yep, Zach. We were cleaning out Dunk's room while he was at EFY and Izzy was sleeping. Zach had been playing legos quietly on the floor. I happened to turn around just as he held up a lit match. Flames! Apparently Dunk had left his match kit for scouts out. Zach got it open, found the striker pad and lit the match. Ofcourse once it was on fire, he dropped it burning onto my carpet! It didn't do any damage and I blew it right out, but can you imagine! We had a long talk about fire safety after that.

Well, as if that weren't enough.

That evening, Tom got home from work and set his big plastic cooler on the counter next the stove. We were on the couch chatting about what needed to be done that evening. Zach went into the kitchen to get a snack out of the cupboard. Tom hollered for him to get down and he trotted out shortly after.

What we didn't know at the time was that he had moved Tom's plastic cooler to the stove so he could reach the cupboard. That wouldn't be an issue normally, except that the knob to the stove was actually on the stove. We normally keep them up to prevent the kids from turning on the stove. Apparently when Zach climbed up he sat on the knob and turned the stove on.

A few minutes go by and Tom sees white smoke pouring from the kitchen. I took the babies out front as soon as we realized it was plastic. Tom had to get his respirator from his truck because the few minutes he was in there trying to get it taken care of made him sick. It didn't catch on fire, thankfully, but it did melt the entire cooler all over our stove. I can't imagine if Tom hadn't been home. It would have been bad, especially because I didn't know that fumes from melted plastic was a very poisonous thing. Thank goodness. He rocks.

Poor Zach was very upset. We weren't mad at him, because it truly was an accident, but he kept saying how sorry he was. He was also very concerned that his dad was "dying" inside the house because it was on fire. I can only hope he learned a lesson that day!

On the funny side, we had his birthday party today (I know... bad mom for making it a month after his real b-day) and some friends of ours gave him a smoke detector! We all got a great laugh out of it and joked that maybe we should just find a way to attach it directly to him!

So for now, I still hold the record of being the only one to REALLY catch our house on fire. Thank goodness... I have to hold the record for something around here!

There once was one... now there are two.

Children who can climb on my counters, that is. Izzy can now get on all our counters, in sinks, on dressers, you name it. She is driving me CRAZY!!!! Her infatuation is with water, so most of the time she climbs to sinks, turns the water on full blast and plays in it. Thankfully the water running gives her away and she doesn't get to do it for long. However, she can throw a monster fit when she wants to. And, ofcourse, everytime she has to get down, that is what she does! Screaming and crying. She waits till you walk away, turns around and gets right back up. Sometimes I wish she didn't spend so much time with Zach and that she wasn't such a quick learner. Man alive!

Almost time!

We are getting close to Benjamin arriving! I am about 35 weeks... which means only 5-7 wks to go! In theory, he could come as early as 1 week, but knowing my luck, that just won't happen. LOL!

We are getting ready for the birth. I got my supply list from my midwife and we are slowing buying the things we need. We are still deciding on whether to rent a pool or to just buy one. They aren't really very expensive (about $100), but I am quickly getting to crunch time and need to order soon if I am going to.

I emailed the birth photographer and still need to have my maternity photos done. I feel like I have put off this stuff for too long! I still have one more client who needs to have her baby before I can really relax and concentrate on my baby. Funny how that works.

I have been a crazy nesting lady too. I haven't cared a lick about my house for 8 mths and all of a sudden I looked around and it was disasterous! I have gone crazy cleaning and sorting and my garage is full of stuff for the garage sale we intend to have in a week and a half. WOOT! Can't wait to purge.

I should be posting belly pics. I just haven't had the time to take any. My belly is getting big, but not as big as I would expect. Who knows. He is just growing at him own rate.

So, that is about it for my baby... we are all looking forward to meeting him soon!

Dunkan and High Adventure

So my poor baby had quite a trip! Dunkan went on High Adventure with his Scout troop. They went to Possom Kingdom Lake and went rock climbing, then they took canoes down the Brazos river for 3 days, then came back to PK lake and spent the day water-skiing and tubing. It was quite a trip!

First off, they could only pack enough to fit in a 5 gallon bucket. This meant clothing, toiletries, TP, sleeping stuff, etc. Food was packed seperately. This way if their canoes tipped, everything stayed safe. Apparently alot of boys brought sleeping bags or mats that were out of their bucket. Dunk followed the rules and didn't but wished he had. He took a queen size sheet and a small blow up air pillow to sleep on.

If you know my babe, you know that he burns VERY easily. His red hair and fair skin are not a great combination for a canoe trip. We bought the top notch sunblock... 50 spf, waterproof, sweatproof, lasts 8 hours. It is good stuff. Apparently, the first day of the trip, he set it on his pack and forgot it when they moved camp. Being the dilligent good kid that he is, he applied sunblock borrowed from a friend several times a day. The sunblock... NO AD. BLEH! That stuff is worthless! It wasn't even waterproof. Needless to say the burns were bad. His arms were the worst. They had blistered and then popped and were full of puss. He had tiny blisters covering his arms, legs, feet, neck and face. Here are some pics, but the lighting is terrible and it doesn't look that bad. He is covered in a salve, so that is the white on his face.

As if it wasn't bad enough, the next evening he finally showered in a cool/warm shower. Later that night he came in to say that he had a few bug bites that were bugging him. I told him to put Tea tree oil on them and see if that helped. In the morning he said he had a little rash. He pulled up his pant leg to show me and the poor kids was covered in hives! Little rash... whatever! A little digging determined it was poison ivy. Unfortunetely, it can take up to 4-6 days from the time you are exposed to the time it appears. The shower didn't help it either. By midday, it was over his entire body... arms, legs, back, face, neck, etc. Our wonderful homeopath, Vonette, got him on some great remedies and he was feeling significantly better within 24 hours. Withing 48 hours, it was almost completely gone and his sunburn was nearly gone as well. Man I LOVE HOMEOPATHY!!! Nothing else even compares to working that well.

So, needless to say, he had quite a trip. He said he still had a great time. He figured out how strong he actually was because he didn't have any muscle soreness at all and most of the guys were sore after the first day. His physical fittness merit badge really helped! I will admit, he is getting quite strong!

Catching up... Tom and work

I have been so busy this month... it has slipped away!

Thought I would update everyone on Tom's work situation. He did not get the job with Meyers and after FINALLY getting ahold of them, it seems to be the best thing.

He is working at Home Depot on the freight team M-F from 4am-8am. They pay reasonably and we get Full benefits for the whole family. Medical, Dental, Vision, Short term disability, and 401K for all of us with no yearly deductibles thru United Health Care for $275 a MONTH! Isn't that amazing! We are so thrilled.

Then he heads straight to Little Giant Bee Company. He is working there killing bees. He basically drives all over the metroplex (about 200 miles a DAY) killing bees. Ofcourse, he is crazy and loves it. It is hot though, especially in a bee suit. He starts at 8am and then gets off between 6 and 8pm. He is literally exhausted. He is doing the bee stuff M-Sat and thankfully has Sunday off for Church.

He then comes home, showers, scarfs down leftovers from the dinner he just missed, helps get kids ready for bed and crashes. Then he gets up and starts all over again at 3am the next day.

He is amazing. He works so hard for us. I know it is difficult to keep this pace. I just hope we can find a job that will give us benefits and great pay so he doesn't have to do this forever. What a man. We are proud of him, even if it is hard to never see him!

Keep him in your prayers!