Durbin Diary

Cruise Craziness... Part 3 (GRAND CAYMAN)

2012-02-03T15:56:00.000-06:00

I was really looking forward to Grand Cayman. Our excursion just seemed really fun and I just KNEW the boys would love it. Plus, this was the 1 excursion our whole family planned to go on together. That's right, all 8 of our family. We'd decided months ahead of time to all go to the Stingray Sandbar and hang out with some freakshow huge stingray. Huge. Like... crazy big.

Apparently, in Grand Cayman there's no pier. I dunno why and quite frankly don't care. ::shrugs:: The only reason I brought it up was to tell you that instead of just unloading onto land and going on our merry way, we had to get in a tether boat to be taken ashore. That was interesting. Especially when it reached the dock and continuously SLAMMED into it. Anyway, we got to the meeting spot and boarded trolly buses to head out to the boat location for our trip. Once we arrived, we boarded a super cool boat that was essentially a floating greenhouse. Meaning it was encased in windows.

We got to the sandbar and fun was had by all. Dad, Scott and Carter (being held by Scott) chased baracuda around the shallows. ::rolls eyes:: Yeah, you read that right. Trenton and I splashed, played, and chased stingrays around. We got to hold them, they gave us back massages, we kissed them for good luck, we fed them and mom and I even did the "blanket". Er? Basically, some dude (who I HOPE was some sort of guide, although he wasn't with our boat) held me flat in his arms near the surface and a massive stingray LAID ON TOP OF ME. Just like a blanket. Super weird. It sucked on my neck. Perv.

When reboarding our boat to go home, mild chaos flittered about seeing as everyone was trying to dry off, get redressed, grab a drink, etc. Somewhere and somehow in the madness, one of the open windows (think thick wooden framed, heavy glass) slammed down. No big deal, right? Well sure. Not to you. But to Carter, who's fingers were resting on the sill at the bottom, it was a pretty big deal.

I honestly thought his fingers were broken initially. It cut his 4 tiny fingers on both sides. He screamed and cried. Luckily, a fellow adventurer on our boat had a first aid kit. I'd brought one on our vacation. I'm a good mom. Just not a great mom. A great mom wouldn't have left it sitting in our stateroom's bathroom counter.

Carter eventually stopped crying after ointment and bandaids were applied to his finger ("Mommy, they're RED!"). He snuggle up in my arms and spent the boat trip back to port staring at his owies.

Once back, we proceeded to shop for trinkets. Maybe it was guilt, but $94 in random crap later (stuffed stingray's, hand drum, hats, bags, etc.), we boarded our tether to return to ship.

Scott and I decided we could live in Grand Cayman. The weather was AMAZING and I could deal with being at the ocean every day. I'd force myself if I had too. ::wink::

This was Dan (one of our tour guides) handing me a giant stingray. I developed an irrational crush on him after seeing his tattoos and realizing he lives this life EVERY DAY.

Carter giggle the whole time he was meeting this ray.

Trenton was a little scared to touch these swimming pancakes at first.

Me and the kids with my mom and dad

The Blanket

Our boat from the back

Post dinner, Scott went to bed with the boys and I enjoyed the lights and sounds of the onboard casino as we headed for Cozumel.

Cruise Craziness... Part 2 (JAMAICA)

2012-02-02T16:06:00.002-06:00

After 2 days at sea, we finally reached our port in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Yay! Our first excursion (this translates to "adventure"). Catamaran boat ride to a reef where we'd snorkel. This was really fun. As was our entire vacation. I don't mean to make it sound as if it wasn't. We had a GREAT time. It just seems comical how much went wrong.

Anyway, so catamaran and snorkeling. All 4 of us road out to the reef on the nets which was really relaxing. We got suited up in our snorkel gear (except Carter who was just life jacketed for swimming) and hit the water. Scott was last off the boat with Carter. Carter was immediately put off of the ocean when a wave hit him in the face and gifted him a healthy swallow of salty ocean water (ew!). Being the attention whore he is, Scott (if you know him, you probably realize I am laughing hysterically at that insanely false comment) HAD to create some drama. As he slipped into the water from the boat steps, his wedding ring "slipped" off his finger and sunk dramatically to the bottom of the gorgeous reef we were expoloring. In all seriousness, that's a huge bummer. But oddly enough, I was really touched by how upset he was. When told he could replace it, he basically said whatever we bought would be just that. A replacement. Not his WEDDING ring. It's nice to hear how much something like wearing a piece of jewelry that becomes so routine means symbolically to someone. Especially if that someone so upset about losing that sentimental nugget is married to you.

Anyway, seeing as the ocean was so deep where we were, we had no choice but to let it go. Several people attempted to dive for it, seeing how upset he was, but there was no way.

Nevertheless, we had a great time. We snorkeled, saw some gorgous fish, rode over to Margaritaville on the water and jumped on the floating trampoline, then enjoyed a lesuirely boat ride back to our ship.

I don't even know what we did the rest of that day. They all kind of blur together. I'm pretty sure that's the day we took the kids swimming in the saltwater pool at the back of the boat and then to the lanai hot tub because it was friggin' COLD, lol. I think later that night Scott and I went to the comedy show while my parents watched the boys (who were sleeping in our room).

So if you're keeping tabs on our unaccounted for expenses thus far:

Medical bill from Carter's trip to the ship doctor $300 (previous post)
Replacement wedding ring for Scott (estimated $350 - $400)

I know. PUH-lease. That's nothing, right?! Just wait. :/ More posts to come.

Cruise Craziness... Part 1

2012-01-31T11:32:00.001-06:00

I can't cram this into one blog. Too much went on. It gives me tired head just thinking about the massive amount of Kristin alphabet madness it would take to do one giant blog. So I am going to break this up into easily digestable pieces. You're welcome.

If we’ve met, you realize nothing for me is ever “normal”. Perhaps because I am not normal? Who knows. I prefer not to dissect that at the moment. Whatever the case, this was a theme that carried over into our family vacation last week. My whole family and I just returned from a Caribbean cruise. When I say whole family, I mean whole family. Not just the Durbin 4. My mom and Dad and my brother and his husband were there. Plus my aunt and uncle and her daughter and a friend and a very nice couple I don’t THINK I’m related to, lol.

It started out great. We hoped in the car and headed to Galveston Saturday morning. When we got to the condo we were spending the night in (thanks Richard!), the fog was so intense it was like gloppy hair mousse sitting on the city. Crazy thick. So why were we surprised to learn the next morning (departure morning) that the port was closed? I don’t know. I guess it never occurred to me the ship captain need to see what he was doing as he docked. He must be new. ::Giggle::

The low visibility made me slightly nervous as the biggest headline the week prior to sailing was the Italian cruise ship turned manmade reef thanks to a dingleberry steering and some rocks.

So we waited. And waited. And waited. This would be miserable for anyone. But we had 2 kids with us. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but patience isn’t really a strong suit of America’s youth. Not to mention my youngest, who was in PERFECT health when we pulled out of our driveway, was quickly deteriorating healthwise. His sniffle became a cough which became a struggle to breath. By the time we got on the ship, I was seriously considering getting right back off and heading to the hospital. It was bad, friends. And I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of the ocean with a 3 year old who couldn’t breath. We suffered through boarding and muster drill and took him to the medical center which was closed, but opened up just for us as he was in such bad shape. He got albuterol and oxygen and some steroids via nebulizer and we were told to stay with him and keep him contained for 2 days. Trenton was crying (he has such a soft heart for his little brother) and we were all beat, so we went to bed early night one… still without having set sail because of the still blanketing fog.

I awoke with a… start… at 3:06 AM. It seems the second the boat started moving (we were pulling away from the dock) my body said, “Hell NO!” and my land-loving digestive system staged a violent protest.

At breakfast the next morning my lurchy feeling had not subsided, so my dad gave me some meds which essentially knocked me out. I slept most of our first day at sea, lol. After that, I didn’t have much of a problem except for my hyper awareness of the boats rocking. It didn’t stop me from having a good time.

Because Carter has to be keep out of the water and couldn’t swim, the first day or 2 was… rough. Carter felt MUCH better (Thanks you, JESUS!), but that just meant he wanted to do things we couldn’t let him do. We basically just hung out and ate those first few days. Not that I’m complaining. It was nice to not HAVE to do anything.

2012-01-13T12:20:00.000-06:00

I have become obsessed with looking at houses via the internet. I am SO ready to move. We're probably staying in Plano, but just moving further West. Which I'm mucho excited about. However, because of the stupid economy and some dummies with their adjustable rate mortages, getting a loan is much trickier these days. And while in my fantasies, I'm made of money, in reality, saving for a down payment AND paying off all our credit card debit and bills is seeming like somewhat of an impossibility. UGH! We don't even need that much money! But there's always something to spend money on. Christmas, birthdays, cruise excusrsions... you may be thinking,

"Kristin, you could dial down your spending on these things. That might help." And you'd be right. About it helping. Not about my ability to actually do it. Because I can't. Birthdays are special and Christmas is... well, it's CHRISTMAS. It's supposed to be special and magical. Plus, I am addicted to buying things I think my boys will love. Add that to having to buy the things we need (I swear, where to socks GO?!?!) and it gets ridiculous.

I WILL say, I'm a deal finding nut. I LOVE bargins and my new love is consignment shopping. Not super new, I've been doing it for awhile, but semi new. I LOVE buying something in "like new" condition then looking up what it would have cost brand new. I feel like a trumpet player should be following me around waiting to blast musical praise when I score a good deal.

Maybe I could hire someone...

Anyhoo, this weekend we're heading up to OK for some casino time. Scott's in a poker tourny and I'm going to seduce some penny slots into making me rich. Should be fun. Then NEXT weekend we leave for our 7 day cruise. This cruise has literally been planned for YEARS. My parents have been trying to take us but between Carter being too young then my brother not being able to take time off work, etc., we haven't been able to go. But the stars aligned and our ship sets sail the 22nd. Yay! Bathing suit = bad. However, bathing suit + drinks = who cares. I'll just have to find someone fatter than me to stand next to whilst in swimming attire. Or maybe they'll have an onboard Manatee look-alike contest I can win. I think I have that in the bag.

Manatee

Me trying on my new swimsuit (I know... red? What was I thinking?!)

Fish Tales... or... Tails? No, No Tales. Sticking with Tales

2012-01-07T21:23:00.002-06:00

I love fish! Mostly live ones, but the "x" eyed kind is delicious from time to time. Anyway, it's Saturday night and everyone else is in bed. What am I doing? Sitting on my butt and staring at my aquarium. I LOVE watching those little buggers chase each other around their tank. It's SO relaxing. And my fishies are so pretty!! I have 14 African cichlids and 1 gianormous pleco (like 7 inches long).

I have Jewels, an Auratus, Bumblebees, Yellow Labs, and Kenyi. Lots of blues and yellows with some shimmery red and silver thrown in by the Jewels.

Most of my water peeps were camera shy, but I got a couple of snaps of some of them. They're still teeny babies, but they'll get up to 4-5 inches long when they're grown.

Health Benefits of Aquarium Fish

Do you have a stressful life, high blood pressure, insomnia? Keeping an aquarium may be good therapy for you. Studies going back as far as the late 80’s have shown that gazing at aquarium fish reduces stress and subsequently lowers blood pressure.

DIY Key and Coat Hangers

2011-12-29T14:54:00.002-06:00

Our riduculous plastic contraption that previously held our keys and coats officially died. It broke into pieces and fell off the wall. :/ So while on a run to hobby lobby today (for something completely different), I brainstormed a much cuter way to keep our coats hanging by the door and our car keys from being lost (or stolen by little boys who want to play "drive").
So easy and so inexpensive!

I bought a wooden plaque for $1.99, a cute piece of scrapbook paper for $0.79 and a hook that I LOVE because all three of the hooks swivel all the way around. The hook was $5.99 but on sale for 50% off, so basically $3.

Then I just channeled my inner 2nd grader and modge podged the scrapbook paper on to the plaque. Messy, but fun! :) And you can see in this picture I'm making 2 which will give me a total of 6 hanging spaces. 4 coats and 2 keys. PERFECTION!

Then I attached my hook!

I haven't actually done it yet, but I bought hanging hardware for $1.99 (and I'll have 2 extras!) to hang it on the wall near the door. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. These are crummy iphone pictures. It's roughly 40 times cuter than it appears here. ::wink::

Christmas Catchup

2011-12-28T20:45:00.000-06:00

Wow. That was fast! Christmas came and went in a HURRY! I took off the week BEFORE Christmas because Trenton was out of school and we had him for Christmas this year. He alternates holidays with his father and I. Anyway, so we did a ton of fun things. Some I blogged about, some I didn't. I can't keep up anymore. :)
Christmas Eve came and we went to our typical Christmas Eve gathering of my Dad's family. At Thanksgiving, everyone who wants their kids to get a gift, puts the kids' names into a drawing and they buy for each other. For example, Carter and Trenton were both in the drawing so I drew 2 other kids names to buy for them. For adults, we do a "Nasty Christmas" exchange. Everyone brings something around $25 and we draw numbers and pick gifts in that order. Except you can steal a gift previously choosen until it's been stolen 3 times. Then it's frozen. You've all done it, I'm sure. Trenton got a DS game and Carter got a HUGE firetruck and ramp that he delightfully played with the rest of the evening. Scott and I both made out well in the gift department, too. I was the very last pick so I stole a bottle of Baileys Irish Creme from my husband (lol) which froze it. He then stole a bottle of Disarono for himself. :)

Then we hurried home so we could be in bed sleeping when Santa arrived. We must have just barely made it because we got home late (it seemed) but Santa still came. And bless us he did... after he snacked on the cookies we had to make a special 711 trip for on the way home because someone (um, me) forgot!!

Trenton's stuffs

A Laptop?! No way!

Carter's stuffs

Amazed (excuse his near nudity!)

Oh my gosh! My own train table?!

A slew of new pokemon cards?! Yay!

Trenton loves Pokemon and he loves to draw. Score!

1 little package with 9 different DS games in it!! Whoa!

I love how awesome every.single.gift was to Trenton. Such a sweetie!

Carter's new train table is probably his favorite.

And then there's MY favorite gift, the Kota the Triceratops Santa left Carter. This is the CUTEST and coolest toy ever. He's anamotronic greatness. We love Kota.

After all THIS crazy, we went to my parents house for dinner, MORE presents, and games. But I'm tapped out today. More on that later. :)

Z... Zero

2011-12-28T20:14:00.002-06:00

Countdown (alphabet style) is done! Yay!

Y... Yuletide Adventures

2011-12-21T23:50:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's Wednesday. Actually, it's only half an hour until Thursday. Why don't work weeks fly by this quickly. :) I've enjoyed being off since last Friday and spending time with my kiddos. We've done several little projects and gone on several adventures, mostly Christmas themed (with the exception of Trenton and my date to see Alvin and the Chipmunks Sunday night).

Today was no exception. We went out for donuts this morning and each picked a "special" donut. Special means sprinkles when you're under 10. :) Then we made a snoglobe (thanks pintrest!). We would have made more, but the trinket items the boys selected at the dollar tree yesterday didn't fit into the jar. Irritating. Because I brought the jar top to be sure and it seemed like it'd fit. Stupid, weird Santa bear limbs. :/

Anyhoo, after Carter's nap (much needed for him AND me, lol), we got dressed and headed out to visit SANTA! I was thinking it was early afternoon on a weekday. How bad could the line be? An hour and 15 minutes bad. I've heard of worse, but UGH! Trying to keep a wild child 3 year old from going nuts while standing in a horribly slow (seeming) line surrounded by people was exhausting! Luckily, the closer we got to Santa, the quieter and more still Carter got. You can't SEE Santa until you're almost "up" because they form the line behind him. Carter was VERY excited to see Santa... until he actually saw him. Then he realized he was going to be in the presence of a stranger in a garish red getup at that.

Anyway, post Santa visit (no tears, but absolute silence and he refused to LOOK at Santa, despite Santa trying to guide his gaze to him with his hand on his chin), we went home to get Scott and then went out to eat. After dinner, we went on our annual tradition of looking at Christmas lights in Deerfield in Plano. We got there every year. I go back and forth every year about trying some place new. But they are consistant. So few neighborhoods get into decorating like they do. I love it. Carter was WAY into it this year. Glued to the window kind of into it. Yelling and pointing... it was fun. Both boys went to bed...way past their bedtime, I might add... without a whimper of a fight.

It was a good day. A busy, crazy, insane day. But that can be good sometimes. :)

X… Xtra Sugga for Mama!

2011-12-20T12:16:00.002-06:00

Being off all week before Christmas is awesome. Trenton's home so I'm trying to do something fun with the boys every day. I'm getting plenty of relaxing time though too so don't worry.

Project of the day? Candy Christmas trees. I got this idea on Pinterest and I had to try it with the boys. I seriously love that site. So throwing caution to the wind, I bought all the necessary items to make candy Christmas trees. Brave? Yes. But it's the holidays. Adventure in the air.

They were so fun to make. The boys really enjoyed it, I think. They certainly made a big enough mass. Imagine it… Sprinkles, food coloring, sugar, all kinds of goodies all over the counter. It was a literal candy land.

But you know what, those trees are delicious! And pretty dang cute if I do say so myself.

W... Wild nights are calling

2011-12-05T13:44:00.001-06:00

My Bunco group, which meets once a month, had a surplus in our $$ pool. So we decided to use that money to do some sort of group bonding activity. Thanks to Groupon, we scored $5 tickets to Movie Studio Grill. Yay! Last Friday we all meet after work for drinks and dinner at Blue Goose then headed over for our movie. I'll get back to that second part in a second.

I arrived first with Jenn showing up with her girls shortly after. Her husband was coming to pick them up from the restaurant later. I love her little girls! Mia is SO funny and Lila is absolutely adorable. I jokingly convinced Mia to ask her daddy to take her to get lobster when he picked her up. If you'd seen the amount of chip and queso and tortillas this child put away, you'd understand that I assumed this kid could not, in ANY WAY, eat anymore. I was wrong, lol. Jenn and I got a text after Dave came and got them. It was a picture of Mia and her dinner plate. A giant lobster, lol. You're welcome.

Anyway, there were margaritas and shots and funny dinner conversation until it was time to go.

At that point we left to see our movie. I want to preface this with the statement that there were almost ZERO appealing options. I arranged a vote. I bought tickets to the movie that was voted by everyone.

Jack and Jill.

:/

Yes, this Adam Sandler gem...

I ~~hope~~ think the idea (because I didn't vote for this, lol) was that it'd be so dumb and terrible, it'd be funny. I wasn't convinced. I ordered MORE drinks. It was 8 o'clock. I'd been drinking for a long time at this point and I still thought I'd need more.

But... I would be lying if I said I didn't laugh. Against my better judgement, be it the alcohol or whatever, I laughed. A couple of times. It was predictable and stupid. Duh. But there was several off the wall dumb things that made me chuckle. Random surprise, Al Pachino is in that movie. Um... yeah.

Afterward, Krista and Sarah twisted my arm and convinced me to go back to Blue Goose for a night cap. There were MORE drinks. The night included odd conversations with strangers and singing, full out singing and snapping, and at one point Sarah was hasseling the male bartender to the point we thought he might cry, lol.

Fun Friday... YES! :)

V... Very Interesting Fish Tank Decorations

2011-11-26T23:47:00.000-06:00

I got myself a 55 gallon fish tank. Kind of random purchase, but I love fish tanks and this one was a steal of a deal so I did it. I got some cute decorations and gravel and set up my tank for some new fishy friends. However, I had to let the tank cycle through the filter and let the bacteria supplement set itself, so I had to wait about 24 hours before I could add fish.

This morning, Scott said he thought he saw some stuff floating around in it. Dirt or whatever. I blew it off. We watched tv in the living room and Carter disappeared into the playroom for awhile. I should mention this is where the tank is. Carter playing/watching tv in the playroom is not uncommon. It's typical, in fact. So we didn't think twice about it.

A bit later I went to check out the tank and what Scott might have been talking about with the stuff he claimed was floating around. Well, whatever he saw escaped me. But I certainly saw something in the tank. Correction... some THINGS.

Apparently, my wallet was within reach and Carter had access to the desk and several miscellaneous items.

Cash, change, spoon, mastercard, gift card, replacements for Christmas tree lights...

More cash, bowl, change...

remote...

tape dispenser, old ticket to Joel McCale, sock, ubs connection for my wireless keyboard, tank scrubber.

These don't even include what floated. Things like his shoes, my Kroger rewards card, my insurance card 3 packages of baby wipes, a stuffed pokemon toy, etc.

It was an interesting morning.

U... Usually I wait...

2011-11-26T23:30:00.000-06:00

...but not this year. I couldn't wait to put up my Christmas decorations. I generally have a hard "day after Thanksgiving" rule, but ya know, I'm a grown woman. If I want to enjoy my sparkly Christmas stuff an extra week, I will. I put this stuff up and I take it down. So I'll do so when I please. Thus, the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving the Durbin halls were decked with all the joys of Christmas (manifested in glitter and lights).

Not a huge deal, right? Except we had our family Thanksgiving at my house. My parents, my brother and his partner Richard came over to have Thanksgiving lunch. Thanksgiving feast... with my big Christmas center piece in the middle of the table, lol. Luckily, I discovered they had ALL already decorated, too, and weren't offended by my inability to wait.

I did everything early this year. My shopping is 95% done and has been for weeks. I just have a few small things left and I can just relax and enjoy the seasonal smells {Christmas scentsy and candles... YAY!}, the classic movies, and twinkly lights.

T... These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-11-16T19:17:00.001-06:00

Zombies. I love them. I am going to rock zombiepocalypse when it comes. Or I'll die and become a zombie. Either way is awesome. I used to want to be a vampire. But now that they're synonomous with shininess and tormented {ridiculous} love stories, I'm out. ::Rolls eyes::

Meatloaf. Yum. Meat in a soft bread-like form. ::drool:: Yes.

Taking pictures. I'm a camera whore. It's true. I own it. Deal with it... and smile!

Carter's fire safety speech which is said without a pause at all. "Clothes on fire? Don't get scared! Drop and roll." So insanely cute. I really need to get that on video.

Trenton's jokes. If the punchline doesn't make you giggle, his method of delivery will.

Fires. Be it in the fireplace or outside in a campfire, I love it. As long as it isn't life or property destroying, I love fire. Something so mesmorizing about the crackle of a good burn.

Going out one night a year to look at Christmas lights. My parents took my brother and I growing up and I loved it then. Now I love loading up with our boys with a yummy holiday treat (hot chocolate) and driving through neighborhoods who participate in lighting with gusto. Usually Deerfield in Plano.

Foot massages. ohmygawdohmygawdohmygawd. Is there anything better? No. No massage of any sort, anyway. I found the BEST place, too. I go pay $35 for a spa pedicure and get an hour and a half foot/leg rub. It's ah-maze-ing.

Painting. I very rarely do it anymore. I just don't have the time/stamina/energy any more. But I do still love doing it. It's stress relieving. It makes me happy.

When one of the boys is sick. Is that wrong? Maybe. But when they're sick they're so cuddly. They just want to lay next to you and be sweet. And I like taking care of them, quite frankly. I hate it that they don't feel good, but I love it that they've slowed down enough to just want to be near me. I say that now, but when they are actually sick, I'd give my left arm to make them feel better. ::shrugs::

Terrible, terrible movies. Bad acting, crappy graphics and story lines that don't make sense and have holes that would make a pin cushion jealous. I love it. Mega Pirana. Ice Spiders. Sharktopus. All great examples of the awesomeness of which I speak. All from the Syfy channel. Hmmm...

The Weepies. I love the melencholy of this. I can slip into a zone of complete and absolute nothingness listening to the weepies. And when life is as ::imagine me flailing my arms around:: as it is, sometimes that's really nice.

Carter's 3rd Birthday Party!

2011-11-14T15:18:00.002-06:00

I went with a Dr. Seuss theme for C man's party. He watches "The Cat in the Hat knows a lot about that" all the time. That's his favorite show right now. Yay PBS, lol. Anyway, it made it fun to come up with decorations.

I had Green Eggs & Ham and One Fish, Two Fish {which were 2 different kinds of goldfish crackers} and Red Fish and Blue Fish speak for themselves I think.

I had several things to keep the kids busy. Chalk art drawing, little bouncy house, and a bubble station {which was perfect since it was so windy}...

...and, of course, the train. Would you, could you, on a train? Yes, it turns out the answer is yes.

Fun was had by all, I think. Everyone seemed to enjoy the train and the weather.

Carter, apparently, requested some goldfish and when he was handed a plate, refused it. He then took the entire fish bowl of goldfish and sat down and began eating it like a bowl of cereal. I only caught the end of this spectacle. Little toot.

Post party, we went home and opened presents. Holy cow. Carter was so excited by EVERYTHING. Everything was his favorite new toy. He was overjoyed. Still is, as a matter of fact, days later. He wanted to stop everything each time he opened a gift and play with it immediately. :)

It was a good time. I enjoyed myself. I like having an excuse to see my friends and their little 'uns. Thanks to everyone who came out! I hope everyone had fun. :)

S... Sounds like Happy Birthday!

2011-11-08T21:57:00.000-06:00

My itty bitty baby boy is no longer itty bitty nor a baby anymore. Carter turned 3 yesterday. Seems so unbelievable that he can be that big! Little big man.

To celebrate, Nana and Popaw came over and we 4 went to McKinney Avenue in uptown and rode the trolley. Carter LOVES trains. That being said, it took awhile for him to relax on the (adorably quaint) trolley. We rode back and forth through Dallas twice. Really fun. I want to go back and do it again with my husband or my friends. After the trolley ride, we came back to Plano and went to the indoor safari park. More train rides, robotic animals rides, jungle gym, ball pit, train tables, mini golf... much fun was had indeed. We came home in time to meet daddy and bubba arriving in the driveway. We said bye to Nana and Popaw then went out to dinner. Nothing fancy. We went to chili's. A menu that pleases everyone and an atmosphere that doesn't admonish the occasional loud statement of one or two overexcited little boys. :) After dinner, we came home and gave Carter the ONE gift he gets until his party next weekend... Cars 2 movie! They boys watched most of it and then we all conked out. Long but awesome day. :)

Carter, you little toot. I love you so much. You are so stubborn for seemingly no reason sometimes, but you are the absolute sweetest thing. I love your kisses and hugs and your silly words. My heart melts each time you request your "sugga bug" song when we brush your teeth. You love to sing and play, especially with your brother. There has never been a child as resilent as you, I'm pretty sure. You're as tough as they come. :)

You love Thomas the Train and Cat in the Hat. Sometimes you like Bob the Builder, but mainly you love those goofy tractors.

One day, I'm sure we'll look back and laugh at your tendency to remove your diaper in the middle of the night. However, the messes you make are less than humorous when I find them in the morning.

You are SO incredibly smart. You've been counting and have known your numbers for quite some time. You had fire safety week at school. You hilariously repeated, "Clothes on fire? Don't be scared! Drop and roll!!" for a some time. Occasionally, we're still blessed with that super cute tidbit.

Your big brother is your hero and you adore him. And he does you, as well. He is SO good with you. You're a very lucky little boy.

You've made so many friends at school and I love how they get excited and greet you when you come in. You little charmer.

I love you, little nugget.

R... Rockin'

2011-11-08T20:56:00.000-06:00

Like... literally.

Experienced my first "earthquake" this evening. So... yay? Very odd feeling. Couldn't quite grasp what was going on. I went outside, lol. Didn't have much of an effect on my evening. I kept right on with my crafty birthday party projects. But it was interesting.

It's officially Sunday the 6th of November. Which means today is the last day I'll have a 2 year old. :(

But I took Monday, his acual birthday, off work so fun will be had.

Q... Quite the Project

2011-11-01T15:30:00.002-05:00

Imagine my delight ::heavy sarcasm:: when Trenton told me he wanted to be Snivey for Halloween. Who’s Snivey? What? You AREN’T familiar with your basic level grass type pokemon?! Hm. Well, apparently most people aren’t as retailers don’t sell Snivey costumes. So after making absolute 100% sure that’s what his heart was set on, I set out on the project of making his costume. It was… a project.

This is Snivy

Quite the project indeed. Especially for someone as anti-domestic as I. Never have I used a sewing machine before and while sewing itself isn’t particularly difficult, the bobbin is the devil. I hate it. I broke needles, broke thread, loaded the bobbin wrong, didn’t realized the foot wasn’t down, loaded the bobbin wrong again, googled bobbin loading for 18 kinds of machines that weren’t even remotely similar to the one I was using…

Anyway, Snivey was eventually complete. Or as complete as he was gonna get, lol. It wasn’t perfect. Not even halfway close. But it worked. I am SO glad it’s done.

Carter’s costume was bought. And it was pricey. $50 and BELIEVE me, that was a good deal for his plush Lightning McQueen costume. But I was so excited for him. I ordered it weeks ahead of time. He loved it… until it was time to go trick-or-treating. Then he wanted to be Thomas the Train. ::Sigh:: Really? Tis the story of my life.

Anyway, we eventually convinced him he wanted to be Lightning, although I don’t remember how. The promise of pizza and candy perhaps? I don’t know. So we loaded up and headed to the Binnings for Halloween festivities and trick-or-treating, much like last year. We had a GREAT time… much like last year, lol. The kids all looked adorable in their costumes and everyone behaved and shared and was sweet. Trenton was in his element, being Mr. Man to Mia (Cheetah) and Kinzie (Lady Pirate) and Carter pulled up the rear. For being a racecar, he had ZERO concern for his pinto pace. The other kids were often a house or two ahead, lol. And Lila (the Tin Man) and Greyson (Fuzzy Monster) sat happily in his stroller while his parents collected candy on his behalf, lol.

And, of course, my costume was awesome, like me. I wore it all day... yes to work and it got rave reviews. Possibly because I was the only person in the office dressed up, but whatever. Some lady chased me down in Walgreens to touch my legs. An odd moment... but I took it as a compliment.

Octopus Kristin

P... Projects

2011-10-18T22:38:00.001-05:00

Thank you, PINTREST, for filling my head full of projects and receipes to fill my spare time with. I've had so many projects lately! In the last few days, I've finished our playroom storage bins. We have an ikea storage shelf which I love, but it had some red storages boxes that I didn't love. Translucent red eye sores really. Didn't match anything we have in the playroom.

SOOO, thanks to some super cute things I saw on Pintrest, I decided to paint them with chalkboard paint. That way they could be labeled and colored on and embrace the atmosphere of the PLAYroom. I love them! I had 8 which filled up half the shelf at one point. But 2 fell to the whims of rough play and children climbing inside them. But I still have 6. Trust me, if you saw the way those 2 little boys use them, you'd be impressed with their durability.

I also did some VERY early Christmas decorations. Experiments, really. I made snow globes to see how easy of a projects that would be for the boys to do. Results? SUPER easy and soooo cute. Added bonus? InSANEly inexpensive.

Canning jars (1 quart) 12 for $6. Tree was $1 at Dollar Tree. And the bells and fluffies in the one on the left were things I already had in. Forgive my yucky iphone pictures. (*TOTALLY random sidenote, I ordered my new iphone so in a few short weeks, maybe my crappy iphone pics won't be so crappy)

All the fluffies and bells swirls around when shaken. The tree is hot glued to the lid. I love the sound the bells make as they clink around. So fun!

And of COURSE they both have enough glitter (snow) to choke an elephant. Yay!

I still need to hot glue a cute Christmasy ribbon around the bottom, but loving how cheap, easy and awesome this crafty goodness is.

O... Ode to Chalkboard Paint

2011-10-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

I am in LOVE with chalkboard paint. It truly is addicting. I want to spray EVERYTHING with this stuff, lol.

I spray painted the translucent red boxes that store toys in the playroom. It looks so much better already! And once I got through and purge the unnecessary, I can then reorganize and label everything. I keep trying to keep Carter's trains and cars separated, but when an almost 3 year old and an 8 year old are putting things away, they don't always make an effort to put things like they found them. Thus, the labels. In chalk. So that when we outgrow trains and grow into... whatever... simple fix. Pictures later.

I also spray painted an extra canvas I had for indoor fun (it's gonna get cold here in Texas eventually) and changeable little man art. I'll probably make several of these in several sizes for T and C to decorate and hang. :) It's also a fun way to leave notes for your family (this room is how we leave and enter the house).

Please forgive my crappy old iphone picture.

N... Never enough time...

2011-10-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

For blogging that is.

M... Murphy Maize Days!

2011-09-26T15:52:00.000-05:00

We did this over the weekend. SO FUN! And it's free! I could not get over that! I'm used to going to these things and buying tickets for rides, buying popcorn, paying for face painting, etc. But everything except vendor food was free. Such a great, cheap way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Scarecrow contest
Vendor row for shoppers
Live music
AWESOME rides for the kids (and energetic adults)
Hay and pumpkin photo spot/play area
Craft area with neat crafts and activities
Fireworks were cancelled but we got a fun lazer light show that was so "clubbing" it was funny. Imagine a see of people with glow necklaces (rave-ish, yes) and lazers over the water and on the walls of the building near you with people singing and dancing away. So fun, lol. They even had "shuttles" for parking which were school buses. This worked out well for us because Carter LOVES buses.

We met the only Binnings parental unit in town, the mister mom of Mia and Lila and we moseyed around together for awhile until they had to head home. Then we played some and settled in for 1100 Springs music and then the lazer show. :) Good time!

We will be back for sure! Thanks city of Murphy! I love you even more now!

Of course I got my face painted with glitter paint I am still finding in my hair. :)

We Love Sugar!!

See what I mean by cool free stuff to do?!

Hi Trenton!

L... Little

2011-09-25T22:16:00.000-05:00

Little things that are unarguably adorable.

Baby Hands and Feet

Teeny Liquor Bottles

Golden Retriever Puppies

White Seal Cub

Itty Bitty Baby Shoes

And Surprise Kitty!

K... Kristin

2011-09-25T21:44:00.000-05:00

It's my middle name. I know. You're all, "Whaaa?! But, I've always known you as Kristin. How can you be known as anything else?!"

I know. It's been a pain my whole life. Every new school year. Then when I got older, every CLASS every year. Every new job. Doctor offices, applying/signing up/requesting ANYTHING officially. Unless want to be called a name I won't respond to, I have to correct them. Which 70% of the time then leads an explaination I'm sick of giving, quite honestly.

It's just... a pain. But what are you gonna do? Nothing. Except have a really good case for psychosis and dual personalities should I ever need "temporary insanity" plea. :)

J... Junk food!

2011-09-19T21:55:00.000-05:00

I love JUNK! Random collection of my favorites...

Oreos

Cheez-its and slim jims... yes, together.

Chocolate covered pretzels

Goldfish crackers