today is my birthday. i love birthdays. when i was little, i would get soooo excited as the month of october would roll around and each day i would be filled with a little more anticipation. as far as i am concerned…and i have always thought this…october 24th is the best day for a birthday. i would always get to have halloween birthday parties; it is well into fall (my favorite season); the weather is getting cooler (if we are lucky); it is an even number (everyone in my family was born on an even number); and the anticipation of the holidays is upon us…a perfect time to celebrate ME!! last year, u2 was actually in houston for a concert at this time and chad surprised me with great seats for my birthday. that was one of the greatest times ever!! anyhow, i am turning 32 at about 5:30 pm. there, i said it. i say it this way because i am still holding on tight to 31. i had it all planned out. this was going to be the year that i strategically lost a year. i figured that this would be the year that no one would notice. it is not a big milestone, like 30 or 21 and who really remembers what year i was born? (except maybe my mom and dad…and i was prepared to let them in on my plan and felt they would play along.) so, it was all planned out…i am turning 31. and it was working perfectly. chad actually played right into the palm of my hand by asking, “how old are you going to be again?” i replied…very convincingly, i might add…”31″. he totally believed me too, until he went and ask his mom how old his sister was (he knows that she is only several months older than me) and she told him 32. oh well. turns out, it would not have worked anyways. my brother, totally unaware of the plan, decided that this would be the year that he would make me a shirt that says “the tres-dos” on the front, and “seventy four” (the year i was born) down the sleeve. now if that didn’t blow my cover, what would? how funny AND ironic is that? as if God was saying thru him, “there’s no hiding it and no reason to.” kevin (my brother who lives in alaska) and i have kind of started this tradition where we make each other t-shirts for our birthdays…because, let’s face it…one can not have too many cool t-shirts. last year, i sent him one that said “say uncle” on the front with a number 3 under that… you know…because he has 3 niece and nephews. and then he sent me one that said “say aunt” with a huge 00 under that because he obviously does not have children, (although he forgot that i had 2 nieces that i adore who live in iowa)…but i understood and appreciated the sentiment. and that brings us to today. i was getting chase in his carseat to take him to school and found the tightly taped box in the back seat of the van that was addressed to “SISTER”. chad must have got it out of the mailbox and forgotten to give it to me. anyhow, i was so excited to open it. just as excited as i was to open a present when i was little. i was tearing into it in the parking lot at the school, waiting for chase’s teacher to come out to get the kids because i am an instant gratification kind of girl with absolutley no patience when it comes to these things…

side note: chad just called me to see if i had checked the blog today and i had not. so i just went and saw the sweet post he made and all the responses. how meaningful and thoughtful. thanks baby!! now you all understand his title! 🙂

…and it was a starbucks alaska mug (i am collecting the starbucks city/state mugs from the places that are important to me for one reason or another. i have houston, austin, atlanta, and now alaska so far) and that t-shirt. my first birthday present to un-open this year. i love it. i will wear it proud…and i’ll wear 32 proud too.

Kindergarten (circa 1979)

Happy Birthday! We love you very much. Thanks for being a terrific wife and an outstanding mom. We hope this is a very special day for you. Please forgive Aiden for hijacking your blog.

We love you!

Chad, Colton, Chase & Aiden

well, i decided this morning that i am what you call a closet un-organized person. on the surface, everything looks neat and tidy, clean and organized. the rooms that anyone ever sees are usually spotless, freshly cleaned and smelling like “moonlit path”…the room deoderizer spray that santa put in my stocking last year or vanilla…the candle that burns when i know someone will be coming over OR when i am just in a particularly “vanilla” mood. however, two days ago, i had this impulsive desire to organize every room in the house. if any of you start to feel this impulse, take it from me…IGNORE IT! this style of organizational living is how i am most comfortable for sure, and after surveying the damage, otherwise known as the closets, i could not believe i had let things get so out of control. the guest-room closet was literally the picture of opening the door and having everything fall down on top of you. it was the go-to closet when we did not know where to put something. i actually found my old highschool and TCU dance team uniforms and pom poms deep in the back of the space. when i walked into that closet, i felt a little like lucy from the chronicles of narnia when she got lost in the wardrobe. anyhow, i digress…i am 2 days into this project and about $60 down from purchasing so many rubbermaid containers, but the guest-room closet looks great. i have completed the coat closet and the master bath as well. and there is absolutely NOTHING under our bed for the first time in our entire marriage. i have started aiden’s closet and all her clothes that she has outgrown are going into sage green rubbermaids and i have to go to target to get blue ones for the boys clothes. (the mis-matched, ugly, gray ones that they are currently in just won’t do now…their closet has to measure up to the guest-room’s). i can use the gray ones in the garage, which is chad’s project. he’s thrilled. i’m in too deep to turn back now. so, the point is, i’m coming clean. out of the closet. literally. my house may have looked clean…but deep inside the closet, where no one ever sees, was a mess. i feel like my house was starting to mirror my spiritual life. or my spiritual life was starting to mirror my house. i’m not sure which came first. lately, i have felt un-organized personally and spiritually, yet on the surface things looked neat and tidy. how have both my house and my spiritual life gotten this way? well, i think it is a mixture of being either pregnant or nursing for the past 6 1/2 years (give a girl a break) mixed in with some procrastination and laziness. but, i’m fed up with an un-organized life…both physically and mentally. so, in an attempt to achieve real authenticity…i’m coming (un)clean.

double click on the triangle at the bottom left-hand corner to see a video of chase’s birthday weekend in san antonio.

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

i saw this preview for an oprah show and as well as i could tell…she was answering questions that viewers had for her. “what is in your purse?”, was one of the questions that the viewers of oprah had. now is it just me, or are there more important questions to be asked? or, is this a very good question, because after all, you can tell a lot about a girl by what is in her purse. i decided that people were interested in this for the same reason shows like laguna beach and newly weds: nick and jessica are or were hit tv shows. we all have a touch of curiosity…most of us do anyway. maybe chad doesn’t. he can’t believe i am actually excited about the umpteenth season of the bachelor. “but baby…this one’s in rome!!” close your eyes tight and you may actually see him rolling his. well anyhow, today i’ve been wondering if anyone would actually ever ask me what was in my purse. am i as important as oprah or the high schoolers from laguna beach, california? i decided i was. we all are. luckily we have a God that watches our lives as much as we watch others…and not only watches, but is wrapped up in them as much as i am wrapped up in the bachelor. my prayer today is that i would be as much wrapped up in him. so, in celebration of us all being as important as oprah…here is a list of what is in my purse:

rustic brown leather wallet
3 half empty bottles of antibacterial hand gel (can you dig it?)
1 package of monster’s inc. snacks
2 hair clippys (1 brown and 1 black)
5 sharpies (one can never have too many sharpy markers)
1 bottle of advil
a glue stick (just in case!!)
travel wipes
a medicine measurer and dispenser
2 double a batteries (????)
appointment reminder for NASA bone and joint (for chase’s follow up)
antibiotic ointment
2 car seat clips (in case i have to install aiden and chase’s car seat in someone else’s car for whatever reason…i have never actually had to do this.)
children’s tylenol meltaways
infant tylenol concentrated drops
infant motrin with dispenser (in case the tylenol doesn’t work)
lansinoh (i have no idea why that is in there…we are getting into the inside pocket region)
blue pen
black pen
a bunch of gift cards that are half used with like $1.28 left on them
and my favorite tangerine lip gloss

well, there you have it. if i ever get discovered and am a big star, in the eyes of people other than God that is, you can tell everyone you know what is in my purse.

On the river walk in beautiful San Antonio

all three kids mesmorized…PRICELESS.

here’s how you know you’ve lost control:

as aiden and i picked up colton and chase from school yesterday, i notice in the mirror that colton is holding his left ear and his eyes are really bloodshot. when we got home, he basically collapsed on the couch while i was getting aiden and chase in from the car. i felt of him and he was burning up…the thermometer agreed and displayed 102.5. i gave him motrin and he was asleep. while i was dealing with this and seeing our san antonio, seaworld, superman birthday extravaganza going up in antibiotic-filled smoke, i hear chase scream from the other room. as i round the corner i can’t help but do a double take. am i seeing this right? there’s chase running toward me while holding his enire cast up in the air in his right hand. is it just me, or is the whole purpose of the cast to stay on. how could a three year old get the thing off. this is not just a temporary cast people, this is the full on tightly fitting, fiberglass cast that we are dealing with. i was just noticing the night before how tight it seemed around his thumb and fingers, wishing that they had made it a little looser so that it could at least air out a little. (imagine the activity level, sweat, bacteria and dirt of a little boy all contained in a dark, moist place. needless to say, the smell of the exposed arm was not pleasant.) all-the-while…aiden is carrying a bottle of ranch dressing around the house and i have absolutely no idea how and when she got it. in case you’re wondering…this is the moment you realize that you are no longer in control. i used to live in control…now it’s just a place i occationally visit.

quick funny story…the other night, we had an early dinner so that we could all go outside and enjoy the cooler weather. we were playing baseball in the backyard. colton was the pitcher, chad was the outfielder, chase was the run around the yard (field) kicking a soccer ball while feeling a part of the game guy, aiden was all-time cheerleader while swinging on the swingset, and i was the batter. i had already hit a few and been chased around the yard by the boys trying to get me out, and pelted a couple of times by chad while rounding 3rd (which i was beginning to get tired of, by the way) when colton gave me a special treat. i’m all prepared to knock it out of the park when colton, while peaking out at me over his black baseball glove(something he’s picked up watching andy pettitte) winds up for a great pitch. i make a mental note that this one’s going to be good. then he pitches like he’s never pitched before. he drills it right at my head and i happen to quickly catch it before it hits me. as i do, i feel that the ball is wet…i mean REALLY wet. i say, “uhhh, why is it wet?” and colton says, “that’s what you call my spit ball.”

colton and chase are at school and aiden is watching baby wordsworth so i thought i would blog instead of clean or do laundry…this is way more fun. after we dropped chase off at school, aiden and i went to michael’s to look for cake pans for chase’s birthday cake that i am going to make and take with us to san antonio. how am i going to do this, you may ask. well, easy…my trip to michael’s was such a success…i not only found a wilton superman cake pan, but also a super cool tupperware cake carrier thingy that has a handle and everything. it also has a tray that you can carry cupcakes in. this lead me to decide to take superman cupcakes to chase’s class on thursday instead of a cookie cake. the cookie cake would be $20 and we are leaving on friday for san antonio so the extras would go to waste. they had superman cupcake liners, the super S triangle symbol made of candy to go on the cupcakes and all the icing i needed. yea!! and bonus…now i get to carry them up there in my cool new carrier. colton’s teacher is very sweet and is going to let colton come to chase’s class to have a cupcake with him. and i got superman plates, napkins and masks for each kid to have. this is total overcompensation on my part, i am aware, because of not having a birthday party.

i have purchased my first bag of candy corn. i wait for these all year. i try hard to wait until october 1st, but some years i just can’t. this year was one of them. my very favorite are the pumpkin candy corns, but they did not have these at walmart. i was very torn because even though regular candy corn taste the same as the pumpkins, the pumpkins are still way better. i never get the indian corn with the brown bottom instead of yellow…beware and don’t be fooled. they are imposters. i stood in the isle for a while holding the bag of regular candy corn and torn because i really wanted the pumpkins…do i settle or do i wait for the best? due to the fact that aiden was 48 seconds from throwing a fit (she had started that whole back arching in the cart thing)and i still had to check out, i settled. i talked myself into the regular, thinking they would be a better size for the kids (smaller…less suger) and i knew they would constantly be beggin. well, i have always been too impatient and now i pay the price. when i do get the bag of pumpkins…it just won’t be the same. why is it called candy corn anyways? it’s not shaped like corn…and trust me…after my 2 year stint in iowa, i know what corn looks like. this leads me to the question i asked myself today…is it candy corn or just corny candy?

Here are a list of some firsts in my life over the past week or so:

1st cold front: i wait patiently for this every year when approaching fall…i get the same feeling now that i did when i was little on the first day that you feel the cool fall breeze. it makes me happy.

1st guitar lesson: colton and i are taking guitar lessons together. my repertoire includes twinkle twinkle little star, mary had a little lamb, and happy birthday…which i will play for chase this coming weekend for his birthday.

1st bow: aiden got her very first bow for her hair yesterday. this is important in a girl’s life!! it is small (but not small enough to choke on…SAFETY FIRST!!!) and pink and it looks so cute for about 2.5 seconds before she yanks it out and throws it across the room.

1st technical cold: aiden woke up with a substantial runny nose friday morning…her first real cold. she is handling it well…no fever, etc. colton, about 30 minutes ago yelled from the other room…”mom, i have boogers running out of my nose.” great. chase should come down with it just as we are loading the car for san antonio.

1st broken bone: chase has a buckle fracture of his radius and ulna at the wrist. he is the tough one of the bunch. i think he personally thanked every nurse, doctor, aide, or volunteer that we came in contact with. he has not complained or cried once about the cast up to his shoulder…however, it is putting a damper on the super-fit of the superman costume. the left sleeve is just not happening. his superman action figure has a cast made of masking tape. the two are off fighting crime as we speak.

1st trip to sea world: we are going to san antonio with my mom and dad this weekend for chase’s birthday.

1st absence from kindergarten: colton missed friday because he had a low grade fever the night before. rules of the school…no coming to school if fever within 24 hrs. this is probably the same cold aiden has.

1st time in my career as a mom to not do a birthday party for one of the kids. colton has had 5, chase 3, and aiden 1…that’s 9 birthday parties, but this year it is seaworld instead for chaser. i’m a bit conflicted about this being that he keeps saying “no shamu” after we suprised him with the idea the other day. oh well, we forge ahead anyway.

1st time to be a room mom: i went to a room parents meeting on friday to learn my duties as colton’ s class room mom. this is going to be way more than i thought…but should be fun. i’m working some booth at the fall festival…i didn’t even know there was a fall festival.

1st time aiden said “hi”

1st time all three kids got in a fight: i had my back turned 1 second too long the other day…all i know is that it involved 1 superman, 1 rescue hero, aiden’s baby doll, spiderman fruit snacks and every throw blanket and throw pillow we own. what??????????? i still don’t know.

1st time i caught a gecko all by myself: one got in the other night and chad was at a meeting…did i mention that i HATE geckos…they really give me the willies. i mean they’re see-thru. nothing is natural about that!! usually i stand on the table or couch while chad gets it…but tonight, mom came through. with all 3 kids watching…i caught him under a tupperware. then i panicked and got the neighbor to come finish the job…which involved letting it go with at least a 3 house buffer.

well, that’s it. a list of firsts. i better go help chad downstairs with the kids. i just heard a loud bang followed by chad saying “ouch” and colton and chase laughing. that can’t be good.

aiden annee-grace — 16 months

colton lloy — 5 1/2

joshua “chase” — almost 4

ALRIGHT…finally!! you would think that we were trying to launch the shuttle or something. uploading pictures…not easy. i called in chad for reinforcement and he did it for me. there was lots of clicking involved…kinda scary!! hopefully it will get easier.