lil' swimmers

Today was the last swimming lesson of the summer for Coby and Cale. I refrained from taking the camera to the other lessons , but I just had to get some pics of the last one.

I am happy to report that the lessons were successful this year as far as Coby was concerned...

This boy is swimming all over the place....

but mostly he just wants to be under the water

a little fish this one is

unlike his brothers who prefer to be above the water.

To each their own!

twelve years

This time last week, Darren and I were in Dallas for an anniversary getaway. We had SO much fun and enjoyed our time alone together. We're determined that we will do this at least once a year from here on out. We just didn't realize until we went how good it is for us to get away without the boys. It was by far our best anniversary yet.

We dropped the boys off at Nina and Poppy's house on Saturday morning and headed out. We enjoyed a leasurely breakfast on our way out of town. We stopped in Gainesville to check out the Gap Outlet and couldn't believe how much the outlet had declined in the 10 years since we've been there. It made me sad. Before checking into our hotel, we headed to the Allen Outlets. Wow, just wow! We couldn't believe all of the stores they had. We both found lots more than we probably needed, but it was fun to shop for ourselves for a change.

We checked into our hotel which was fabulous (and the best part, it was $59 a night...you've just gotta love Priceline!). After settling in, we decided to head out for a later than normal dinner. It was so nice to be able to go out late and not have to worry about bedtimes! Oh, the freedom we felt. So, as we drove around the Dallas area, we came upon a restaurant that had an outdoorsy theme. Darren loves anything outdoorsy, so of course, he gravitated toward it. I looked it up on my iPhone to see if I could find a menu or any info on it. The menu looked good so we ended up there.

We went in and loved the log cabin feel, but were both a little surprised by the hostess' attire. She was wearing a skimpy plaid top that was tied just below her.....well, you know whats. Then, her shorts were some of the shortest khakis I've seen and then to finish off the look, she was wearing hiking boots. Interesting, I thought to myself, but didn't think much more of it as she was dressed in colors/patterns to fit in with the cabin, albeit skaddily. However, when our waitress came to take our drink order, we noticed she was wearing the same ensemble. Darren looked at me with the biggest grin and said, "You realize we're at Hooters don't you?" We were cracking up. We really had no idea, but I guess the name should've been a clue. It was called Twin Peaks after all. ha Thank goodness they had excellent food although I don't think Darren would've cared what the food tasted like, he enjoyed the scenery more than anything!

I got online and found this picture of some of the Twin Peaks girls! That is an experience I won't soon forget! heehee

On Sunday (our actual anniversary) we slept in until 10 am, got ready then headed out in search of a place to eat lunch. We ended up at Pappadeux and had some good seafood. From there, we headed to the Grapevine Mall and did some more shopping. It was crowded, but we enjoyed ourselves and found some great deals. After a full afternoon of shopping we headed for Starbucks to sit down and relax for a bit before heading back to the hotel to clean up for dinner (goodness, we did a lot of eating on our trip). We headed to Cheesecake Factory for our anniversary dinner. It was wonderful as always and we ate way too much. After dinner, we noticed a bookstore within walking distance of the restaraunt, so we walked to it and spent some time looking around there before heading back to the hotel for a swim. It was a perfect day.

On our last day, we checked out of our hotel and headed for the Galleria. We did yet some more shopping and then met up with my parents (who had by then dropped off the boys at Darren's parents and headed to Dallas for a vacay themselves) for lunch. We joined up with them at the Grand Lux Cafe. Oh my, it was great! We ordered the chocolate chip cookies that they make while you eat your meal so that theyre fresh out of the oven when they come to your table. Yummy!!!

After lunch, we headed back to the Allen Outlets before making our way home. We found more great deals that we just couldn't pass up! I think both Darren and myself are fixed up clothing-wise for the summer. Finally at 5pm we decided we shoud probably start our 3+ hour drive home. We stopped in Norman for one last quiet meal together before picking up the kiddos. They were happy to see us and were ready to come home to their beds as they were very tired (we didn't get back until after 9). I was glad to be back too, but...

Is it terrible to say that I can't wait until we can getaway again? I had so much fun spending time alone with Darren. The weekend just reminded me of all the reasons I married him twelve years ago.

I just had to add this picture. It cracked me up when I was doing a final sweep of the room while Darren was out loading the car and something on the bed caught my eye. Darren had brought a gun on our anniversary getaway...oh, the romance!!! He always carries one now when we travel because you just never know when you'll find yourself in need of defending yourself. ha! He is a cop after all and what is a cop without a weapon, right?

show us where you live Friday: laundry room edition

I am joining up with Kelly again this week for Show Us Where You Live Friday. This week we're sharing our laundry rooms, bonus rooms and play rooms. Sadly, I don't have a bonus room or play room, so I'll just share my laundry room. I know I'm really late on this, but having three little boys home all day every day for the summer all the while trying to keep them entertained has kept me plenty busy this week.

Welcome into my laundry room. I hope to add a little color in here very soon (as soon as I can get my husband to paint it for me...I am not a good painter at all). I think I want to paint it a bold shade of pink or lime green, but I am still undecided on the color. It will be something fun though! Since it is the only room in the house that I am the only one to use, I figure I can totally girl it up!

this is the view from the hallway looking in

this is the view when standing up against the door that leads to the garage, I wanted to get a good pic of all of the cabinets as all of the storage in here is my favorite thing about the room

I always hang the boys clothes to dry so they'll stay looking nice/unfaded through all three boys!

I love my built in ironing board. I never thought I wanted one, but now I could never have a house without one again. The door on the left is a storage closet (see photo below)

I use it for storing some of my cleaning supplies, laundry baskets, dog food, drinks, extra drying rack, etc. I love having this closet.

This is hidden behind the laundry room door and is where I keep important school notes, coupons, etc.

This is what I see when I walk out of the laundry room. Sometimes I just need to be reminded of my many blessings...especially after I've spent a day doing laundry!!

Thanks for stopping by! Next week I get to share my favorite room in the house...our master bedroom.

show us where you live Friday: bathroom edition

I am joining Kelly's Korner again this week for show us where you live Friday. This week we are sharing our bathrooms and if you haven't done so, you should hop over to Kelly's to check out all of the amazing bathrooms. We have two and a half baths in our house and I can't wait to show them to you! So, welcome to our home! Come on in and take a look around!

We'll start in the boys bathroom. I went with a western theme in here.



Next, is the half bath. I thought it would be so nice to have an extra bathroom that would always be clean for company, but you know what? It just hasn't turned out that way. This is the boys favorite bathroom to use during the day because of it's central location in the house. Oh well!

Last, we have the master bath.

Thanks for stopping by! Next week I'll be sharing my laundry room. Boy do I spend lots of time in that room! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. We're celebrating twelve years of marital bliss (okay, so it's not always blissful) this weekend so I just know ours will be a good one!

random cuteness

At the zoo today while pointing at a gecko, Cale said, "Look at that yucko."

While sitting and waiting for the ENT doc to come into the room the other day, Coby told me, "I wish I didn't have strep throat. It would be nice if we had a wishing well." Oh, my sweet baby, I feel the same way. Poor guy. (I think his wish is gonna come true to finally be rid of the recurrent strep throat as his tonsils are coming out at the end of this month.)

After Connor caught a fly ball at a baseball game, Connor asked us if we saw him rob a player (by catching the fly ball). Oh, this kind of terminology tells me my baby is growing up for sure (not that there was much doubt!). Unfortunately, we had to inform him that shortly after watching him rob a player we saw him get robbed himself as another player caught Connor's ball. It's that type of thing that keeps a boy humble!

I asked Darren a question the other day and Cale's response: Heehee. Don't call him Darren! Me: What do I call him? Cale: You call him daddy.

Last thing. Cale hurt himself the other day. Did he come to me, his momma for kisses and love? Nope. He went straight into the bathroom where Coby (always our loving caretaker) was taking a bath. Cale says, "I hurt myself, Coby." Coby asked him, "Well, what do you want me to do about it Cale? Do you need me to kiss it?" Cale of course said yes. From the other room, I hear Coby kiss Cale's injury. Cale said, "Oh, thank you Coby!" and then came running in to tell me that his owie was all better. I so love it when my boys take care of one another. I hope that they'll always be there for one another...and that all the brotherly bickering will start to fade away soon. A girl can dream can't she?

impromptu

We've been working hard on our landscaping this week with much help from my mother-in-law. Yesterday the boys were outside playing, so I decided to drag them over to the new flower bed for an impromptu photo shoot. At first I couldn't get Cale to put his (my very old) phone down as he had lots of calls to make. Anyway, I just sat down to look at the pics I got and I realized something....

MY

BABIES

ARE GROWING UP!

They all look so big. I knew that they were getting bigger, but my goodness, my babies aren't babies anymore. I love these guys!

tickled

Over the past few days, Coby has said some pretty cute things that tickled me. Connor was spending the night at a friends house Friday night, so I told Coby and Cale that they could stay up late and watch a Scooby Doo DVD. Cale clearly needed to use the bathroom so I told Coby I'd turn on the DVD once Cale was done. Well, Cale tried and tried to go, but nothing was happening. Coby came in and said very seriously "Mommy, just give him a suppository already, so we can go watch Scooby Doo. I'm sick of waiting!" Then, Coby proceeded to climb onto the counter, get into the cabinet and pull out the box of suppositories (which by the way we haven't used in loooong time, so I don't even know where Coby came up with this idea!). Actually, I guess if you've ever had to have one, it wouldn't be an experience you'd soon forget, so no wonder he knew about the suppositories!

Coby told me that he wants to be grown up. I asked why and he told me that when he's grown up he can buy all the legos he wants. He really wants some Batman legos and is saving up his allowance to get them, but is feeling frustrated at how long it takes to save $10. He is starting from scratch because he just saved up and spent $10 to get some Star Wars legos. When you get $2 a week it does take time, but Coby is so good at knowing what he wants and saving until he reaches his goal. I won't mention any names (he's 9 and his name also starts with a C) but our other child that receives allowance spends it as soon as he gets it! Totally reminds me of his daddy. That money just burns a hole in his pocket, whereas Coby is like me and saves it until he can get what he really wants! It's funny when you start to see pieces of yourself in your kids.

Last night, Coby wanted to know why his pistol (yep, that's what the boys call it!) wasn't big. I said it's perfectly proportioned to your body size, Coby. No, just look at it, it's not big at all he told me. He pulled down his pants and was showing me while he was talking about it. It's really small, it's only 3 degrees, he continued. I have no idea what three degrees means when it comes to size, but to Coby it's not a good thing at all. I told him everything is fine, it will grow as he grows.

Sometimes I just have to laugh....I still can't believe this is my life. The boys are always doing something to cause me to laugh out loud! They are hysterical and I love being a boy mom! I was such a girly girl growing up and to this day I hate getting dirty. I never enjoyed playing or watching sports either, but oh how I love watching Connor play baseball or playing a game of tennis with Coby on the driveway. I just know that God has a sense of humor because I never would've imagined I'd be the mom of three little boys (or three kiddos at all for that matter!). The funny thing is that my sister told my mom a while back that she just couldn't imagine me having girls. What does that mean? I hope it means that I'm just a really good boys' mama!